"Ah think she's awake!" a soft voice murmured. Gentle, warm hands brushed away Ororo's snowy white mane, carefully supporting her majestic head.

"Unh . . . goddess . . . " the tempest-bending warrior pushed herself into a semi-sitting position, coming eye to eye with a pair of warm, earthy brown orbs. They belonged to a round woman, maybe in her early thirties. Ringlets of auburn hair framed her pudgy, smiling face, and she was clad in a checkered shirt and jeans, as well as cowboy boots.

"Howdy, sugah. Ah do hope you're doing fine!" she said, her Southern drawl soothing to the stunned Storm.

Ororo glanced around. She was in a good-sized cell, with a fairly high ceiling, maybe the same size as her bedroom back at Callista's mansion. She and the Southerner weren't the only occupants of the cell. A young woman, maybe in her twenties, stared at Ororo. She had sickly pale skin, and her blonde hair was limp. Two boys cuddled up in the corner. One had reddish hair and green eyes, the other was Latino, with a much darker complexion. They were about fifteen years of age, and both were dressed like models. The redhead had his arm lain comfortably across his partner's shoulder, and the Latino seemed struggling to stay awake.

"Ah'm Sue," the woman who cradled Ororo's head introduced herself as. "Ah c'n turn myself into a poisonous fog. That girl over there is Siobhan; she's got loads of mental powers. Them two boys are Glenn and Juan . . . Glenn can use this sparkly, powerful energy, and Juan makes and controls this weird red fire. Pretty nifty, if you ask me . . . Who're you?"

"I-I am Ororo . . . " Storm pushed herself the remaining way into a sitting position.

"What can you do?" Sue asked.

Ororo was confused. "What can I . . . do?"

"Aren't you a mutant? I can't see why those buggers would kidnap you otherwise," Siobhan added in. Her voice was tinted with a strong English accent, and her gray-blue eyes were cold with fury. She fingered her neck. "Those bastards nicked my necklace . . . but I still can't see them kidnapping someone if they weren't a mutant."

"Mutant?" Ororo was confused; the Tribal Elders hadn't taught her that word.

"Glenn's knows more about this than me . . . he c'n explain it better," Sue said.

"Someone who was born with a genetic defect, and gained superhuman powers as a result," Glenn replied, adjusting his position so that Juan was more comfortable.

"The skies themselves heed my commands," Ororo said, uncertain. "But my gifts are from the Goddess . . . it is through her grace that I have them, not a random manifestation of Fate."

"When did your powers develop?" Glenn asked.

Ororo thought hard. "Around when I fell in step with the moon . . . "

Glenn raised an eyebrow. "She's talkin' about her . . . you know . . . " Sue coughed, unwilling to discuss such private feminine mysteries openly. "Well . . . I think that settles it. All mutants get their powers when they're about thirteen or fourteen."

"But the Elders of my Tribe . . . "

Siobhan rolled her eyes. "She's going into bloody denial. Sorry, sweetie, you can't explain away your powers that way. You're a mutant, plain and simple. They've kidnapped tons of Alphas - that's their name for the most powerful mutants - for their experiments. Our cell is one of hundreds. I believe that they're going to cut us apart and try to clone us. Fun, huh?"

Sue glared at the haughty girl. "You hush right now, y'hear? This poor gal's been through a lot, and the last thing she needs is your pessimistic attitude!"

"If you are all . . . mutants . . . " Ororo asked, the unfamiliar word rolling uncomfortably off her tongue. "Why haven't you escaped?"

"I wish it were that easy," Juan spoke up, drowsily pulling his head off of Glenn's shoulder. The other boy still kept his arm around him, though, holding him close for comfort. "But that light up there blocks off our powers. It's a real pain."

Ororo realized that her nauseam was the result of being cut off from nature, in a more profound way than she ever had experienced. She was cut off from the all-sustaining earth . . . her mother and her friend. Ororo knew she could not, no matter how hard she tried, touch the warm dirt, or catch the sun's rays across her bare skin, or feel the wind in her hair, and it made her want to scream.

Donna nodded. "Well . . . I've been trained for as long as I can remember in a form of martial arts . . . an ancient and unique form, which allows me to use my chi, or inner force. I attached a ball of chi to the leg of one of the robots that attacked Ororo, and I can feel a pull in that direction."

Diana was genuinely surprised. "Thank Hera!"

"Please, let me go get dressed and get my sword, and I'll be right with you."

Minutes later, Troia, clad in a white bodysuit and a fur-lined coat, an ancient Chinese sword slung across her back, was seated next to Wonder Woman in the Transparent Craft.

"Just go northeast . . . " Donna said. Her hands were set out in front of her, slim fingers splayed out. Her eyes were closed in meditation.

"Sister, I pray to Athena that you're right!" Diana replied, as she willed the craft forward.

Ororo glared at her, looking away from the wall of the cell. Siobhan was really beginning to get on her nerves.

"Please, we need to get out."

"What if we do get out?" Siobhan hissed. "What then?!"

"Be quiet!" Ororo replied harshly.

"Will both of you shut up?!" Juan snapped. Glenn laid his hand on the angry boy's shoulder, attempting to quiet him.

"You shut up!" Siobhan replied.

"All of you, please! We ain't gonna get nowhere by fighting like children!" Sue yelled.

Storm tapped her jaw thoughtfully. "They bring you food, don't they?"

"Yes . . . what's your point?" Siobhan asked.

"Do they do so in person?"

Glenn nodded. "I see where you're going, but the five of us, powerless, aren't going to do much against an armed and trained guard."

"Do any of you have any combat experience?" Ororo asked.

It was a unanimous negative.

"Well . . . it's worth a try anyways," Sue said.

"Better than waiting here," Juan agreed.

"Good . . . then this is the plan."

Diana gazed in wonder at the base below, innumerable tiny complexes spread out over a small valley in the Swiss Alps.

"It's like a small city!" the Amazon murmured. She turned to her companion. "Will you be coming with me?"

"Of course!" Donna replied. "Look, that entrance only has a few guards around it. It's probably best to land over there."

Wonder Woman willed the plane to hover a few yards above the soldiers.

"Ready?" she asked. Donna smiled, white teeth dazzling.

"Let's go!"

The top of the craft melted away, and the two women fell upon the soldiers like wildcats upon hares. Diana landed directly behind the nearest soldier, downing the Nazi with one powerful swing. The others turned their guns upon her, but the deadly hail of bullets was deflected uselessly away.

When will they realize the insanity of their choices?! Wonder Woman scooped one Nazi above her head, tossing him like a doll into his comrades, bowling two of them over.Hera help us all if their dreams come to fruition!

Troia smashed her stylish white boots into one of the Nazis. A flash of steel cut the muzzles from the guns of her other opponents. She kicked one opponent in the jaw, before whirling around to land a vicious back kick to his stomach.

"Someone as cute as you should be a model . . . " Donna ducked a right hook. "But of course . . . every good man is either married, gay, or a psychotic super villain bent on world domination." A swift knife-hand chop felled her opponent, before she swiftly dispatched the remaining one with the flat of her blade.

"Impressive, sister," Wonder Woman commented as she rushed into the compound. Donna followed, struggling to keep up.

"Great Hera!!" Wonder Woman screeched to a halt as a glowing energy enveloped the man. Grayish armor appeared from nowhere as the man grew to inhuman proportions.

"Miss me, babe?" the Juggernaut smiled as he charged, fists swinging. Troia shot between his legs, while Diana vaulted into the air.

"Troia, run!" Diana cried. The Juggernaut stomped like an angry pull, and stampeded towards his shining target. Wonder Woman braced herself, but nothing on earth could stop the Juggernaut when he charged, and the Amazon Princess was carried with the force of his charge, smashing through the thick wall. Troia entertained the thought of assisting her companion, but the sounds of battle from the other room made her think twice. She was skilled, schooled in ancient martial arts techniques that had been hidden in the monasteries and covenants of Asia for seven thousand years, but she knew that even those wouldn't be enough to make the Juggernaut blink.

With the fluidity and grace of a cat, Donna sprang at an air vent, using her sword to slash into it.

"This seems to be an easy way to find Storm," she murmured as she sheathed her weapon, crawling on her hands and knees through the vent, leading deeper into the lair.

His small mouth opened to release another disparaging comment, but Sue slammed into his stomach like an enraged bull. Juan's fist hammered into his nose, and Ororo tackled him to the ground, smashing his skull against the linoleum.

"We're out!" Ororo yanked the gun from the man's holster and tossed it to Sue, who caught it and pulled out the bullets, scattering them uselessly across the floor.

The quintet of mutants poured into the narrow hallway. Ororo's perceptions nearly exploded as she felt her powers return to her. It was like being reunited with a long lost twin, and she allowed the elemental energy to suffuse her eyes with milky whiteness, lightning crackling at her fingertips.

Almost immediately, guards began running towards them. A scarlet wall of energy appeared between them, deflecting the bullets, and Sue's body melted away into a coppery mist that engulfed the Nazis, causing them to cough uncontrollably. Siobhan reached out with her mind, and the soldiers found themselves smashed together by her telekinetic energies. They poured onward, leaping over the bodies of their unconscious guards.

Siobhan placed her fingertips to the side of her head, reaching out telepathically. "Mary Mother of God! The fear . . . It's unbearable!"

"Move past it . . . you need to find the control room. Sister, ignore the pain and the fear!" Ororo urged softly.

With a sigh, the Englishwoman eased past the overwhelming emotions around her, her mind racing through the surrounding area.

"That way!" she cried, pointing down the narrow corridor.

Diana launched herself at the Juggernaut, aiming a powerful kick at his head. The unstoppable behemoth grabbed her ankle in a massive paw, whipped her slim frame through the air, and slammed her into the ground.

Stars danced before Diana's eyes as a sharp pain shot through her back. Groaning, she looked upward. The Juggernaut loomed before her, casting her slim frame in his huge shadow, hefting a massive chunk of the wall above his head, preparing to crush the stunned Amazon.

"Let's see if we can make your face as flat as your stomach!" the Juggernaut roared gleefully as he swung down.

"No!" Wonder Woman shattered the chunk of stone with a swift chop. She hammered the Juggernaut in the stomach with a powerful right hook, before slamming him into the ground with a powerful toss.

Quick as a flash, her lariat was in her hands. "Your brute strength is once more overcome by Amazon skill!"

"I think not, Vonder Voman!"

Something smashed into the back of her head, a blow rivaling her strongest, and the Amazon was sent hurtling into oblivion.

Pressing both hands against the vent, Troia silently popped it loose. I have to time this exactly right . . . now!

The vent whistled through the air, smashing into the skull of one of the guards. She fell with a soft cry, and the guard nearest to her spun, only to have Troia's boot smash into his face, dropping him instantly.

"Not bad. And who might you be, my high-kicking broad?" A man clad in old-fashioned, pristine white clothes stepped from the shadows, a billowing cape streaming from his shoulders. His reddish hair was slicked into two disturbing points, and slashed with white.

Donna glared. Reaching within herself, she summoned her inner power, suffusing it into her sword. The ancient blade flickered with aquamarine light, illuminating Troia's smooth skin. "I don't like that word, buddy. I'm Troia. Who are you?"

"You can call me the White Magician!" the man said, as pinkish energy danced from his fingertips, giving them the appearance of sparklers.

"Ah . . . chauvinistic AND a white supremacist!" Donna sprang at him, a blur of pearl, her sword raised above her head. "This should be fun!"

"It will be," the White Magician smirked, as the energy from his fingertips poured outward, smashing into Donna. "For me, at least."

"Ah . . . our pet Amazon had awoken! Velcome to the world of zee living, Diana!" A sarcastic voice brought Diana fully to consciousness.

"Great Hera!" She was strapped onto a table like a specimen being readied for dissection. A chain wound around her ankles, but more importantly, one bound her bracelets together. Diana felt her Amazon powers draining away rapidly; a man must have secured the chains and invoked Aphrodite's curse. When a man binds an Amazon's bracelets together, her powers fade away. To top it off, her Lasso was gone as well.

Wonder Woman glanced about to assess her situation. The Juggernaut stood next to a throne, beefy arms crossed over his broad chest. Sitting on the throne was a slim woman, with harsh features. Her skin was pale and her blonde hair was pulled sharply away from her angular face into a tight bun at the back of her skull. She wore a beige military outfit, a scarlet armband with the swastika symbol of the Schutze Der Menschheit around her left bicep.

Next to the shackled Amazon, Troia was similarly bound. Diana had to hold in a gasp at the sight of the martial artist. Her bodysuit was torn and singed in many places, and faint burns crisscrossed her face.

"Don't worry about your comrade's wounds, Princess. They will fade with time; the White Magician's magic only lasts so long!" the woman on the throne murmured.

"Who are you?" Diana demanded. "What did you do with Ororo?!"

The woman shook her head, chuckling. <"So many questions, so little time. If my sources are correct, you Amazons place much pride in your learning, and you'll be able to speak my native tongue. I am Baroness Paula Von Gunther, granddaughter of Adolf Hitler himself! That savage friend of yours was acquired by my Wachters . . . they are adaptations, designed by me, of the Sentinels. She's being used in my . . . experiments. That's all you need to know.">

<"Experiments?!"> Diana was outraged. <"Ororo is not a test subject!">

The Baroness chuckled. <"Of course she is, you silly fool! She's a black mutant! That's about as low as you can go, I'd place my hounds before her!">

The Amazon was livid, struggling to hold on to her cool. <"Hateful witch! Ororo is one hundred times the person you are!">

With a sudden boom, the doors to the control center exploded open, knocking down several guards. Paula Von Gunther looked upward, ever calm and calculating, as Ororo swooped in, borne on winds of her own creation. With lightning cocooning her slim body and her snowy white tresses flaring out like the mane of a lion, Ororo looked to be every bit the savage guardian goddess of the African plans. Below her, Sue, Siobhan, Glenn, and Juan burst in.

Paula raised a thin eyebrow. "And vat have we here? Guards! Dispose of this rubbish!"

"Heil Gunther!" The cry rose to the high roof of the control center as guns flared to life with a deafening roar. Bullets bounced uselessly off the shield Juan erected, before Siobhan overloaded their minds with a telepathic blast.

"That was easy," Siobhan laughed.

Paula snarled. "Ugly leetle brat! Juggernaut!"

"On it!"

Suddenly, a violent peal of thunder shook the control room. Clouds began to form, blocking out the fluorescent light. But the room was illuminated anyways, by jagged slashed of lightning. Storm had found her prey.