Boom-boom-boom!
Someone started banging on the doors of our hideout, and I could even imagine who it was. Not good, now there are no other options left; I'll have to follow Kaliban into the ventilation shaft. And what kind of name is that, anyway?! It sounds like something from a cannibal's trail, ugh, I don't even want to think about it!
The ventilation shafts were wide enough for Kaliban to move easily with her build; I had a bit more trouble, but I think that's just because of my lack of experience. I've never been a master of stealthy movement or a hacker, always preferring brute force over any tricks. It's a shame this body still doesn't meet my usual standards, but I'll fix that when the opportunity arises.
Actually, I did have such an opportunity, but I chose to let it pass. Yes, yes, I'm talking about that vampire I happened to run into by chance.
What am I even saying? As far as I remember, the original Rogue's powers allowed her, under certain circumstances, to steal other people's abilities not just temporarily but permanently. The only thing is, she hardly ever used it. Why? Well, the cost was too high, and her conscience didn't allow her to kill the donors of those abilities.
Personally, I didn't consider myself a bloodthirsty maniac willing to do anything for power. But at the same time, I was ready to take a life from some scumbag if it would make the world a little bit better. Considering myself a follower of the light side of the force, I was still the one who could not only wield a sword but also use it for its intended purpose.
The blood-obsessed vampire died by my hand, though. But I didn't dare kill her with my abilities; I simply chopped off her head. I think it's clear why I did that, right? After all, besides her powers, I'd also inherit vampire weaknesses, which wouldn't be ideal. I still love the sun to give it up and stay out of walks under it.
Anyway, no big deal. I think I'll find more "worthy" candidates to be permanent donors. The key is to not rush and not make hasty decisions.
Contrary to expectations, we didn't crawl through the ventilation for too long. Kaliban led me to a dark tunnel, and judging by the cobwebs and general desolation, it had been a while since anyone had been here. But when I shone my light on the ground and saw the laid tracks, I realized that at some point, metro trains had passed through here.
"So where are you taking me?" I asked my savior once again.
"To a safe place," her answer didn't change no matter how much I pestered her.
"And where exactly is this place?" I tried a different angle.
"Down."
"Is it far?"
"No."
Arggh! She's getting on my nerves! Not only does she look like a walking corpse, but she's also as tight-lipped as one! All I could do was follow Kaliban without a word. Even though I had a flashlight, I doubted it would help me navigate this dizzying maze we were in.
She led me through abandoned metro routes, then into the city's sewer system, and finally into tunnels that looked like they were left behind by aliens!
My memory allowed me to track our approximate route, but some of the junctions were confusing, so I wasn't sure I'd remember everything perfectly. That said, I wasn't going to try to find my way back unless absolutely necessary.
But Kaliban wasn't lying; we arrived at her "safe place" pretty quickly. It must be noted that it eerily reminded me of the home of some mutated turtles. I clearly remember that in some movie, they lived in an abandoned but well-preserved metro station. If Donatello or Michelangelo had popped out from around the corner with a slice of pizza, I wouldn't have been surprised at all!
To my childlike disappointment, we weren't greeted by the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Instead, it was a group of people—or rather, mutants. I could only tell some of them were mutants by their physical traits, especially when I looked at the first girl I saw.
The pink-haired girl, around ten to twelve years old, stood out because she had a real bone crown growing out of her skull! I could also see sharp bone spikes growing from her forearms.
"Kaliban's back!" the girl shouted across the station, rushing toward an old, slightly crooked train car standing on the tracks. "She brought a newcomer! Hey, everyone, we have a new addition!"
By the time we reached a battered metal barrel with someone carefully tending a fire, a decent-sized crowd had gathered. The first thing that caught my eye was a pair of giants, real behemoths towering over the crowd! Each of them was at least two and a half meters tall!
One looked like a version of Bigfoot, covered in light, wheat-colored fur. The other looked more like a regular person but had incredibly ugly scars all over his face and body.
Then my gaze landed on the man standing at the center of the welcoming committee, dressed in a long black cloak. Something about him reminded me of the infamous Darth Sidious after the Sith were exposed and he dropped his disguise, revealing his grotesque face. Ah, that's exactly what he looked like!
On either side of him stood two women. One was a goth with black hair and an eye patch. The other was a rather pretty brunette who was lazily chewing gum.
Also, at the adults' feet, the pink-haired beast with the bone crown was still there. That was the entire group.
"Very glad," the man in the cloak said in a creaky, unpleasant voice. "We're happy to welcome our new friend and fellow mutant into the ranks of the Morlocks!"
Morlocks? Hmm, that sounds familiar. Yeah, they aren't the most famous characters in the Marvel universe, but those who are fans of the X-Men should know them. If I remember correctly, the Morlocks are a group of mutants living underground in New York.
They differ from the X-Men in that they take in more mutants whose appearance immediately screams 'mutant!' Unfortunately, I don't remember much more useful information about them. I think something about them kidnapping someone and then Storm found them and gave them a good thrashing.
"Nice to meet you," I decided to maintain good manners, but still stay alert. "But how do you know I'm a mutant?"
"Well, you were brought here by Kaliban," the ugly guy in the cloak explained. "One of the manifestations of her mutation is that she can sense other mutants and find them to help if possible."
"Yeah," added the blonde. "If it weren't for her, the Morlocks might not even exist."
"Skyds!" the ugly guy's lackey grumbled. "Men are speaking now!"
"As you say, alpha," the blonde, Skyds, replied with no respect.
"Ahem," the ugly guy cleared his throat. "So, let's get to know each other! My name is Masquerade, and I'm the leader here! The brunette on my right is Callisto, my second-in-command. On my left is Skyds, she tends to be a bit too free with herself, so don't mind her. Behind us are Samson and Sander—our muscle, but they're both a bit dim, so they don't speak much and only communicate with each other."
Masquerade's hand pointed specifically to the people I had initially mistaken for men. Crap! Even now, when my mistake was corrected, I still found it hard to believe these two were women! They looked way too manly!
"Morrow is the youngest among us, and you already know Kaliban."
"Yeah, right. She saved me from a rather unpleasant situation," I acknowledged, to which everyone else nodded knowingly, as if they had no doubt about their friend's abilities. "You can call me…"
I paused. The Morlocks, as I understood it, mostly introduced themselves not by their real names but by nicknames. So I should do the same. The problem was, I didn't have a nickname. Well, I couldn't just go by Rogue, could I?
I had a nickname in my past life, and I'm proud to say it was given to me by one of the legendary Sannin of Konoha, the great Orochimaru! But that nickname died along with that life.
Some of my colleagues, I'll secretly admit, like to use the same nickname across worlds. I, on the other hand, didn't have that habit and liked to come up with something new for each world, or as in the case of the Naruto world, I left it up to the world itself, via Orochimaru.
How should I name myself here? Since the world was still giving me the freedom to choose, I figured I wouldn't stray too far from canon.
"Rascal, call me that!" I said, smiling broadly and fixing my light bangs.