United We Stand

Cable and the others had made it into the city and had set up headquarters in an abandoned warehouse near the Citadel. Cable had set up his headset to moniter Genosha's police bands, so as to keep up with the magistrate's movements. He now turned to Cyclops and said,
"It's a good scheme, Summers. Those with quite powers, set the charges and locate the prisnors...while you sound and light men will act as shock troops. Hold on a minute...somethings coming through on the police bands. The Genoshans have captured someone else...Wolverine...along with at least one other person."
"Wolverine, what the devil is he doing here?" Beast asked.
"What we're doing, I expect, Beast. I just hope we have more success than he did." Cable answered him.

Hodge had been busy, in the meantime, he had also turned Rahne, aka Wolfsbane, into a mindless mutate, just as he had done to Storm. Rictor, Tabitha and Jubilee had seen the announcement, made on the television stations about this, and they decided to return to the Citadel and rescue their friend, even though Jubilee was the only one among them with her powers.

Cable, Jean Grey, Gambit, Sunspot and Forge had made their way into the Citadel and were in the process of planting the explosives. Jean was telekinetically lifting them up to where the bombs needed to be planted for maximum effect. Cable just hoped that the scramblers that Forge had made kept them undetected until they got the job done. He turned to Sunspot and asked,
"How's it going, 'Berto?"
"One more to go, Sir. Scheduled for the President's suite. Take me a few minutes to set it and than..."
"Sunspot, out of the way, Kid. Guard comin' onto the the balcony!" Gambit interrupted him, while drawing back, and charging up, the bomb casing he had been holding. In midair, the casing transforms, releasing it's stored up energy with a flash of silent impact, on the approaching guard, which knocks him over the balcony railing. His reaction, though, is far from silent. Cable imagines that the scream can be heard for blocks. "Swell, Bloody Swell!" He says to the others.
Almost instantly there were dozens of magistrates upon them. Once again, Cable and Forge took the front line, while the others took the enemies flanks. They were doing quite well, until, Hodge and Wipeout showed up. Wipeout negated everyone's powers and Cable and the others were immediately overwhelmed. Hodge took this chance to gloat. He brought forth Rahne, now a mutate, with shaved head and a blank stare in her eyes.
"Rahne!" Cable shouted.
"Excellent, Cable, you recognized her immediately, even in this bonded state. A pity, is it not, that she cannot recognize you. Now, tell these criminals, Child, what reward they can expect as enemies of Genosha." Hodge ordered her.
"Ye will soon be tried and condemned and will serve Genosha loyally as mutates in expiation for your crimes...as I myself now serve." Rahne said in a monotone voice.
Cable shut his eyes tight to hold back the tears that he would not let this madman see.
"Over half of the mutants have been captured...not bad for a few days work." Hodge gloated while Cable and the others were being handcuffed.
"Just because you have us, Hodge, don't begin to think that you'll keep us, or that you've won this war!" Cable told him.
"Won? Of course I've won, Cable. My tame Genoshan mind-reader has plucked the key to victory from your memories. I only regret that Forge remains unconscious. He is the one I need, for his knowledge of cybernetics is unequalled." Hodge said as he tossed Forge to Alex Summers and told him to take the new prisoners to their cells.
As they were being led down the hallway, Cable noticed Rahne and called out to her.
"Rahne! Rahne, listen to me. Things look bad, but hang on. We'll get out of here. We'll free you..."
Cable was interrupted by a magistrate's rifle butt being slammed into his face, knocking him to the floor. Hodge once again, saw a chance to gloat and wasted no time doing so.
"It seems, Cable, that you do not understand the full impact of what was done to her...or what will be done to you. Let me elucidate. It was worse for her than the others. I have seen to that..."
Cable's rage grew greater with every word out of this monster's mouth. He strained at the handcuffs and they finally gave, with a snap. In an instant, Cable was at Hodge's throat.
No sooner had Cable locked his hands around the wires and cables that now passed for Hodge's throat, than twenty or so tentacles snapped around Cable's arms, torso and legs, pulling him away from Hodge and slamming him into first one wall and than another. Over and over until Cable could feel himself blacking out.
"I had hoped to make a contribution...to enrich the lives of my students...but how can I call myself their Mentor, if they can be brutalized like that while under my protection?" Cable thought as he was slammed into the wall yet again. This time though, Hodge held him pinned there and fired his spikes stabbing through Cable in several places, nailing him to the wall. Cable gritted his teeth to hold in the scream of agony that he would die before letting this monster hear. He turned his thoughts again to his students.
"Boom-Boom and Ric are free...escaped...with the skills I taught them. I have made a differance...in their lives...their safety...and maybe, free, they will find a way...to make a differance in Genosha."
These were Cable's last thoughts, before blacking out, blood pouring form over a dozen puncture wounds. The magistrates took him down, from the wall and dragged him along, as they led the others to their cells.
When Cable awoke, he doctored his wounds as best he could and went deep into a healing trance, that Blaquesmith had taught him, in his youth.
It was the next morning when Cable came back to himself. He overheard the guards talking about the capture of Cyclops, Beast, Archangel, Cannonball and Banshee, who had attacked the Citadel in an attempt to rescue their friends. Hodge had them all now, and their trial was set for this afternoon.
At the appointed time, Cable and the others were shackled and led to the Courthouse. During the trial, Wolverine, enraged at the sight of Storm as a mutate, attacked the judge. However, with his hands shackled behind him, he was soon put down. This angered the judge who ordered that, since the magistrates didn't seem up to the job, the prisnors were to be turned over to Hodge. They were led over to Hodge's lab and, one by one, had their shackles removed so that they could be shackled to the walls of the lab. As it came Cable's turn, he clobbered his guard the second that his shackles were off, Gambit, who was behind him, took the cue, as his guard, who had just unshackled him, turned to fire on Cable he neatly flipped her into the other guards. Cable took out four guards in three seconds, grabbed a gun and turned towards Hodge to finish this monster once and for all. Hodge was taking no chances, however, he had grabbed Psylocke and was holding her as a shield between himself and Cable.
"So shoot. I'll make it easy for you. I won't move an inch, scout's honor. "Course, pretty little Psylocke can't make that promise. That's a nasty big gun, Cable, bet it'll send a bullet right through her face and into mine...Am I worth it?...Is she? C'mon, mutie, what're you waiting for? At this range, on these terms...you can't miss!"
Cable's heart raced. Hodge had to be stopped. He hardly knew this woman, Psylocke. His finger tensed on the trigger. "Where do you draw the line?" He thought to himself. "How many friends are you willing to take down in order to achieve a greater good? Am I willing to become the enemy in order to stop him? How would I ever look my students in the eye, after killing their friend?" All these thoughts raced through Cable's mind in a mili-second. He drew in a deep breath...and dropped the gun.
"Drat, Drat and bother! I so wanted to see the look on your face, Cable...when she died and I didn't!" Hodge immediately fired the spikes once again. Gambit tackled Cable, knocking him out of the way, though Cable still took two in his left arm while Gambit took one in his left leg. They were soon strapped to the walls of the lab, like the others, all except Psylocke. She surrendered herself to the genemod process to be turned into a mutate. Havok took her away.
Unknown to the others, Havok had finally regained his memories and was just waiting for a chance to free the others. Half way to the Genegineer's lab, Psylocke jumped her guards and freed herself. She took a heavy machinegun plenty of ammo and took to the ventilation shafts to try to help free the others.
Back in Hodge's lab, he had set Archangel and Wolverine at each others throats, by taking control of Archangel's wings and using them to attack Logan. They were soon both lost in the red rage battle. Gambit took advantage of this distraction to first lift up his legs so that he could pull the spike from his leg using his teeth. He than dropped the spike, catching it with his feet. He than lifted his feet over his head and picked the lock with the spike using only his feet. He soon had all the others free.
Hodge, meanwhile, had discovered a plot, by the Genegineer to take him out. Hodge had summoned Wipeout, who was to be used in the Genegineer's plot to kill him, and killed him in such a way as to frame Havok for the murder. No sooner had Hodge done this, however, than he was attacked by a squad of magistrates led by Chief Anderson. Psylocke came upon this and tried to take out Hodge, she failed at this but was able to rescue Storm and Chief Anderson, who told Psylocke that she had the key to restoring all their powers. Anderson led the way to Hodge's lab, with Hodge in hot pursuit of the trio, all the way.
Upon reaching the lab Anderson had Storm touch Cyclops which activated a failsafe the Genegineer had planted within Storm that restored Storm and Cyclops' powers and also restored Storm to her rightful adult age. Before Storm could restore any of the others powers, however, Psylocke entered with machinegun blasting away and shouted,
"Clear the way! Trouble's right behind!"
Sure enough, Hodge came charging into the lab. This time he was in for a surprise, however, as Cyclops blasted him, with the full strength of his optic blast, knocking him through the lab wall. Storm quickly restored Jean's powers as Hodge came crashing back through the wall and the trio attacked him, working as one. The battle was cut short by a massive explosion. After which Hodge screamed, "My laboratory! No!" and phased through the floor.
The explosion had been caused by a robot bomb, created by Forge, to seek out the technological heart of the Citadel and destroy it. Forge had remained voluntarily unconscious to hide the bombs existance from Hodge during the mind probes.
Storm quickly restored everyone's powers, while Cable and Cyclops mapped out a plan of attack. Storm and Chief Anderson explained that Moreau, the Genegineer, had arranged it so that the instant Storm touched one of her team-mates she would be restored to full power and memory...and would be em-powered to free them as well. This puzzeled Cannonball, who asked Cable,
"I don't get it, Cable. Does that mean, now, we an' the Genegineer are on the same side?"
"Just because we have similar short term goals, doesn't make us blood brothers, Sam." Cable answered.
"Good. I ain't forgotten what he did to Rahne." Same said.
"Neither have I." Cable replied.

Meanwhile, Rictor, Boom-Boom and Jubilee had captured the Genegineer and were holding him prisnor. While in the cell block where Havok was being held. The explosion of Forge's bomb had both freed Havok and killed his guards. He found the key to the power damper, that they had placed around his neck, on one of them and removed it.

Cable, Storm, Cannonball and Sunspot had split off from the rest of the group, to search for Rahne, before re-joining the rest in their search for Hodge. They now came upon Rictor, Boom-Boom, Jubilee and the Genegineer who had just found Rahne. Jubilee was in the middle of telling Moreau what she would do to him if he didn't restore Rahne to her former self when Cable and the others entered. Storm re-stored Ric, Tabitha and Rahne's powers. There was a differance in Rahne however. Moreau explained it,
"My genemode process has released your innate strength, your unrealized power. As a werewolf, you will be stronger, more powerful than you ever were."

Hodge, meanwhile, had decided to stalk the stalkers. His inbuilt sensors allowed him to track the mutants and his phasing abilities allowed him to surprise them by phasing down through the ceiling.
Cyclops had split his team into two groups. The second team, consisting of Iceman, Psylocke, Beast, Banshee, Gambit and Forge were now caught unawares as Hodge descended on them from the ceiling. He took out Iceman first, since he posed the greatest danger to him. Forge had spotted Hodge's phasing unit and he yelled to Banshee,
"Banshee, shatter his back hump. I think that's what holds his phasing unit!"
Before Banshee could let loose with one of his sonic screams, however, Hodge fired a bolo-like weapon that wrapped around Banshee's mouth and neck, muffling his scream and choking him. Psylocke used her telepathic abilities to warn Cyclops about the back hump being Hodge's phasing unit just before Hodge took her out of the fight with a plasma blast.
With spectacular aim, Gambit hurls a chunk of ice...which transforms in mid-air to energy...and explodes against Hodge's cyborg body with a silent devastating impact...even as Forge's weapon hits Hodge full blast, while Beast attacked from underneath, ripping away at the very guts of this huge, unstoppable, monster.

Meanwhile, Cable and his group had found Hodge's nearly destroyed lab. Rahne ran to Warlock's remains, tears streaming down her face. Rictor's anger boiled over as the tears welled up in his eyes also, he said,
"Warlock...the kindest, gentlest, most innocent among us...died...because that mutant hating monster decided to take 'Lock's power. Let's see how he reacts when we take his."
Ric and the others than proceeded to destroy what reamained of Hodge's lab. While several floors above, Hodge had took out Forge and Gambit while Beast had been busy ripping his guts out. Hodge now turned to Beast and slammed him twenty feet down the hallway and into a wall. Before he could finish any of them off, however, information system after system began to shut down.
"My computer functions are failing. They are in my lab, and they will destroy me. Leave me blind, deaf and powerless. I must stop them, now!" He screamed as he phased through the floor.
As soon as Hodge entered his lab he fired four spikes which found their marks, pinning both Jubilee and Sunspot to the wall, by impaling them through both shoulders. Boom-Boom threw bomb after bomb while Wolfsbane jumped on Hodge's back and began to tear at his circuitry located there. Hodge fired two more spikes pinning Boom-Boom through her shoulders as well and electrocuted Wolfsbane to remove her from his back. Cannonball took off to attack but Hodge shot several tentacles out snaring him from mid-air and slammed him into the wall. Cable blasted away at Hodge with his plasma rifle while he yelled his orders out to the others.
"First order of business is to free Cannonball. Storm, freeze the tentacles! Rictor, hit it with everything you have!"
This freed Cannonball and Hodge seemed to be affected by Cable's fire much more than he had before. His force-field was gone and with every shot, Cable destroyed more and more of his systems. Than the Genegineer ran to a weapons locker and got a rocket launcher. The first rocket knocked Hodge back several feet, but he still stood. He scooped up the Genegineer with several tentacles and Moreau fired the second rocket right into Hodge's face. Hodge screamed and snapped Moreau's neck like a dry twig and phased out through the floor. Retreating before Cable and the others could finish him off. Storm turned to Cable and said,
"We have to go after him, Cable."
"We...want to come too." Boom-Boom said.
"I know how you feel, Boom-Boom. You, Sam, 'Berto and Jubilee helped rip Hodge apart, now you want to finish him...but you're too injured to engage in further conflict." Cable told her and the others.
Rahne gave Tabitha, Warlock's ashes and asked her to scatter them on Doug's grave, since she knew that is what Warlock would have wanted. Tabitha took them and said,
"S...sure, Rahne, sure I will, but you'll be back. All of you. Just...just punch a few extra holes in Hodge for us when you see him, okay?"
Cable answered for them all as he and the others set out to search for Hodge.
"We will Boom-Boom. Working together, we've ripped a big hole in Hodge and his plans for Genosha. Now we're going to hunt him down and finish what we started!"