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#2
NOV 09 |
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“Green Tryp”
Writer’s Note: Takes place between #15 and 16 of X-FORCE
Damien cut into his steak and smiled at the waitress as she brought him the glass of Chardonnay that he had ordered. He had had a yearning for the wine since he had woken up trying to fight off his hangover from the night before. Trying to drink a Russian under the table was nearly an impossible task, but he had managed it. It had helped him to seal the deal and earned him a pretty penny of knowledge.
Before biting into the steak, he looked across at his company and said, “You could stop looking so dour, Christian. It really doesn’t become you.”
Rubbing the bridge of his nose, Christian said, “Not as if you cared, Damien, but I had appointments I needed to deal with today. But you just had to insist that I come here instead of one of the others. Wouldn’t Love have been better? It’s not like he’s working on much nowadays.”
Damien chewed on the tender steak and ignored Christian while savoring in it. Once he was done, he looked up in annoyance. “Be reasonable, Frost. Do you really think Love could be in here? He’d have everybody screaming liked they’d seen the bloody devil.”
“Of course he would, but you might actually get to the point faster with him because of it. You wouldn’t want to be around when the authorities showed up,” Christian said.
Damien shrugged and dabbled his mouth with his blue cloth napkin. “I wouldn’t go that far. There is no law stating a mutant can’t have a good meal. We should know, we’re eating one right now.”
“Did I not just say I had appointments to deal with? Could you please cut to the point so I can try to salvage them?”
Damien gave an all too smug smile. “You’ll think twice about those appointments once I tell you this. What if I told you that I could get the System a sample of the Hulk’s DNA?”
Christian leaned in across the table and cut his eyes into Damien. “Whether or not you’re joking, either way you’re the biggest fool to ever walk this planet if you think that can be done.”
“I can do it.”
Laughing with a mix of pity and disbelief, Christian said, “Perhaps you haven’t seen the news stories. The Hulk is an unstoppable monster that gives even the Avengers headaches. What makes you think you can do any better and what makes you think Eli will even give you the authorization to try?”
“Because the Crafter is now in the fold.”
Christian did his best to try not to scream like a little schoolgirl who just found out the school quarterback wants to make out with her. “How did Eli manage it? I thought the Crafter was dead set against working with us?”
Damien smirked. “Love offered him a spot in his new Theatre production. The Crafter was ecstatic.”
“This is excellent news! The work at my company can move ahead full speed with the Crafter onboard,” Christian said.
Taking another bite of his steak, Damien looked up and shook his fork at Christian. “I see that your entire demeanor has changed. I have even more good news: I was able to convince the Tan siblings to join Singularity.”
“The Tans? It seems we’re having all kinds of luck today.”
“Things are looking up for us, Christian, and I intend to ride this wave of luck right into the Hulk.”
Frost frowned. “I think you’re taking this a bit far. We have been fortunate, but the Hulk is simply too much for our resources at present.”
“The Hulk is in a different place than you think,” Damien said. “My information has told me that the Hulk has recently gone through a significant transformation. He’s been split up into various colored versions of himself.”
Christian blinked. “You’re joking right? And the world hasn’t lost its damn mind because—”
“They don’t know. Well, some do of course, but the heroes have managed to keep this event pretty much under wraps. Me, I don’t care about the blues and yellows. I’m just after the good ol’ fashioned green one.”
Christian ran what Damien had just told him through his head. That’s when the geneticist in him spoke up. “What’s to say that this green one’s DNA is similar to the one we all use to know? If what you say is true, then some sort of massive event must have occurred to caused it, an event that very well may have altered the Hulk’s DNA to the extreme. Hell, it might not even be viable.”
“Frankly, those are variables I’ll concern myself with after the DNA extraction is over. This window of opportunity is too small to pass, Frost, and with the Crafter’s aid I’ll be able to achieve my goal.”
Christian ran it through his head. The opportunities were enormous but the risks were even bigger. Still, a sample of Hulk DNA would push so many areas of his company ahead leaps and bounds. “Ok, Damien, I’ll convey this to Eli, but if you want him to be convinced then I’m going to need details.”
“I run a security firm, Frost. My business is all about the details,” Damien said full of satisfaction.
Muir Island
8 Hours Later
Havok paced back and forth across the room as Shatterstar typed away furiously at the three computer consoles in front of him. Alex didn’t mind losing a prisoner after they were no longer valuable, but he hated not knowing who an opponent was. He didn’t know the men who rescued Matthew Raynor, but he had heard one word.
Singularity.
“Find me everything you can on Singularity and related clandestine organizations. Comb the Internet and every database you can hack your way into. I don’t like surprises and we got one big fucking one in London.”
After a minute of typing and furious reading, Shatterstar said, “Singularity Securities. Run by a man named Damien Tryp. A high-end security firm recognized globally for its use of super powered individuals as employees. He’s either lauded or feared by almost every military on the planet.”
“He must have been contracted out by GenTech. I’m going to check with Mikhail and Emma, you keep reading. I want to know everything. This Tryp got in my way and I’m not going to let it happen again,” Havok said as he walked out of the room that was only illuminated by the shine of Shatterstar’s computers.
The Mojoverse native continued to surf through the electronic information, running up whatever he could about Singularity Securities.
SINGULARITY SECURITIES CRUCIAL IN DEFEAT OF TAMIL TIGERS
SINGULARITY PROVIDES ASSISTANCE IN CAPTURE OF HIGH TARGET TERRORIST
TRYP TO TESITFY IN ITALY TODAY ON COMPANY ABUSES
ITALIAN PARLIAMENT FINDS TRYP INNOCENT
SINGULARITY SECURITIES ASSIST GENOSHA IN PROTECTION OF NEW PRESIDENT
The last article headline in particular disturbed Shatterstar. Xavier and the X-Men had vested ties to Genosha, especially with the new government coming into power. If Tryp was indeed really bad news and not just a dime-a-dozen weasel businessman, then that could spell problems for X-Force. Their entire mission was to protect the interests of the X-Men and mutantkind for their own good. What happened when interests started to conflict?
Havok leaned back in his chair while talking to both Rasputin and Frost on a split screen. He had a cup of coffee in his hand and took a nice, strong swig from it before asking, “So what do either of you know about Singularity Securities or Damien Tryp?”
Mikhail was the first to answer. “It’s a major private security company; I’m surprised you haven’t heard of it by now comrade. It supplies guards to almost every government on the planet. Only the US, Canada and Britain haven’t signed on with him, though he’s working aggressively to make that happen.”
Emma followed behind him. “He’s an interesting mutant if nothing else.”
“Wait, Tryp is a mutant?” Havok asked. “Is it public knowledge?”
“No, but I’m assuming that is why those three countries aren’t trying to give Tryp any access to their national security forces. Xavier and I have made tremendous strides in mutant/human relations but not on that kind of level. Considering the intelligence resources those three countries have, they probably figured out Tryp’s true nature a long time ago.”
“I need to know where he is going to be next. He interfered with a prisoner transport and he needs to be sent a message.”
Mikhail frowned. “I’m not sure going to war with Tryp is such a good thing, Alex. He has a lot of friends in a lot of places comrade.”
That was when Shatterstar walked into the room. Havok kicked his feet off of the control console and asked, “What can I do for you, Star? I am in the middle of a bit of business.”
“I know, sir, that’s why I’m here. Aren’t you going to tell him the whole truth, Emma?”
Emma’s face quickly matched the demeanor of her last name. Her words cut into everyone within earshot of them like hard icicles. “What are you implying?”
“Those friends Mikhail was talking about…your older brother is one of them,” Shatterstar said as he handed over a picture to Havok.
Alex looked down at the picture and saw what he assumed was Damien Tryp shaking hands with a much younger man who had Emma’s hair color and her almost exact eyes. Anger bleeding into his vision, Havok looked up and said, “You knew about this, didn’t you?!”
“No. I only recently reconnected with my brother and I have been looking into his activities, but I didn’t run across that connection yet. I’m as surprised by it as you are.”
“Then I’m going to need you to find out what your brother knows about him. Mikhail, is there any way you can dig into this for me?”
Rasputin laughed. “I have not survived this long by not being well-connected, friend. I will see what I can find.”
Emma was livid with herself, Shatterstar and her brother. Damn him for being wrapped up in whatever shit Havok was stirring and damn her for not looking hard enough. Most of all, damn Shatterstar for trying to make a fool out of her; that inbred genetic warrior had no right to speak to her that way, but he had angered her enough to want to help more if not just to shut him up.
“I’ll do you one better, Havok. Cerebro can track down Tryp; I’ll use it and provide you with Tryp’s exact location.”
Havok nodded. “Sounds like a plan Emma.”
The screen went black on both ends and Alex swiveled in his black leather chair to face Shatterstar. Havok had a smug grin on his face that Shatterstar wasn’t quite sure how to respond to.
“What?”
“I appreciate the tip, Star, but pissing off Emma Frost is not something I normally advise people to do.”
It was Shatterstar’s turn to smile. “She is like your big bad wolf; she does a lot of huffing…in and out of the bed.”
Havok threw his head back and laughed. “That’s pretty good. Just don’t say that around the Professor.”
X-Force War Room
30 Minutes Later
“So, I’ve just received word from Emma on the location of Mr. Tryp,” Havok said as a holographic image of the Earth rose up in the middle of the table. Alex looked over to Marrow. “We finally got your light pictures for you.”
All the reply the Morlock could muster was, “About time, upworlder.”
Havok smiled. Sarah had the strangest way of showing that she was happy, but a life spent in hellish dimensions and sewers didn’t teach someone how to express their emotions properly. Alex could forgive it.
“Are you sure Tryp had something to do with Raynor getting kidnapped?” Pipeline asked. He didn’t want to go after someone full force without any real proof to back it up.
“I heard the word ‘singularity’. I know it’s making a bit of a leap, but we need to be sure. If someone as powerful as Tryp is against us, then I need to know now rather than later.”
“And what if by knocking on his door we end up making him an enemy?” M asked. For all they knew Tryp’s forces rescuing Raynor could have been just a one-time job. Going after Singularity Securities like they were Selene or the Dark Beast could very well create a new enemy that they did not need.
Havok understood what Monet and Cormick were trying to get at. “Look, we’re not going to go in guns blazing. I just want to talk with him and see where his head’s at.”
M rolled her eyes. “What you really mean is me poking around in his head?”
Blind Faith jumped in. “Think this through, Monet. He runs a global security firm that employs super powered beings. You really think he doesn’t have telepathic blocks?”
Madrox groaned. “Isn’t there an easier way to do this? Can’t we just send Emma to talk to him? Do we really need to corner him?”
Havok shook his head. “This man is a global personality; he has no reason to meet with Emma on a whim. If we’re going to talk with him we’re going to have to make time to talk with him.”
Abyss saw Havok’s point. Guys like Tryp had too much on their plates to entertain anyone who was out of their sphere. They were going to have to do things in the way only X-Force could to get the answers they needed. “So where is he?”
Havok was glad to have someone who wanted to cut to the chase. “New Mexico.”
“So when do we pack?” Pipeline asked.
“Actually we’ll be doing a bit of teleporting,” Havok said as he looked to Shatterstar. “Star developed some teleportation wrist bands for us that will put us in Tryp’s proximity.”
“They are only prototypes so they aren’t one hundred percent accurate yet, but the situation calls for them.”
Pipeline patted Shatterstar on the back. “As long as my hand doesn’t end up teleported in my ass, we’ll be good to go.”
“Lovely image there, darling,” M said as she rolled her eyes. “Please try to remember your breeding.”
Desert Lab, New Mexico
A butterfly landed in the Hulk’s hand and he looked down at it like a child witnessing one of God’s little miracles for the first time. It looked like a small nothing sitting in his giant green hand and the Hulk watched with childlike eyes as the butterfly flew off into the wind. He didn’t know how the creature managed to survive in the desert, but that didn’t really matter. All that mattered was that it was beautiful.
“Are you ok, friend Hulk?” Ech, a humanoid cactus, asked as he walked up behind the green behemoth.
The Hulk stood to his feet and nodded. He was sad to see the butterfly go, but he had many friends amongst the Outcasts. They were like him, they understood him. The world had tried to hurt them like the world had tried to hurt the Hulk, but they didn’t have to worry about that anymore. He would start doing some hurting if the world came back.
“It is quite the beautiful butterfly,” Kkk-kkk, a humanoid ant, said as it watched Hulk’s eyes follow the insect into the desert sky.
Hulk smiled at Kkk-kkk’s observation and walked closer to his friend. He never wanted to leave the desert. He was happy here. The world didn’t bother him anymore. He didn’t get angry.
“Friends! We must go! We must go!” Vult, a humanoid vulture, said as he flew down from the sky in front of the Hulk and Kkk-kkk. He looked frantic and crazed as he flapped his wings and squawked.
“What is wrong, friend Vult?” Ech asked, calm and steady as a plant.
Vult pointed to the west and as he did so, a number of helicopters appeared over the horizon. Hulk pounded his fist together, but was calmed by Kkk-kkk. “No fighting today, friend Hulk. We hide. We run.”
“They might not know we are here. Hiding is good idea,” Vult said.
Ech nodded. “Gather the other Outcasts. We will hide.”
Nawon Tan flew next to one of Tryp’s helicopters and pointed down at the grouping of monstrosities surrounding the Hulk as they scattered and shuttered themselves away from the view of the helicopters. Pressing his white earpiece, Nawon said, “Mr. Tryp they’re trying to escape. Was Tawana able to get a visual lock?”
His twin sister jumped in enthusiastically. “Yes, I got a lock on all of them creepy looking bastards. They’ve gone into tunnels.”
Her brother cursed under his breath because Nawon seriously hated being underground. It reminded him far too much of being buried alive and the possibility of such a thing was always apparent when he dared go below the surface. Being the oldest sibling, however, he wasn’t allowed to show that fear. It was one he had kept privately to himself as he kept many other things from his siblings. As Leader of the Tans he didn’t have time to indulge in emotional conversations that allowed for a release. His sole job was to find his family work and keep them alive while doing it.
“How do you suggest we proceed, Mr. Tryp?”
“We’ll land our helicopters at the Desert Lab and proceed on foot to track down the Hulk. Tans, make sure all of my security protocols are in place. Good men are not easily replaced and I don’t want to needlessly lose any today.”
“Yes sir!” All four Tan siblings (Nawon, Tawana, Mintaka and Igiro) said in unison.
Tryp found obedience to be such a proper trait for the people around him to possess. He was glad that the Tans were aware of it.
Seven blue lights formed side by side in the desert and grew brighter until the members of X-Force were able to step through the light like a door. Abyss looked around at the empty landscape, scratched his head, looked down at the red bracelet on his wrist and said, “Well you did say these things weren’t perfected yet.”
Shatterstar glowered at his teammate. “They aren’t faulty. Tryp is somewhere near by.”
“Shatterstar is right. I feel thoughts coming from there,” M said as she pointed to the west.
“Then that’s where we’re going,” Havok said.
Pipeline was flabbergasted by the sudden decisions. “We don’t have any idea how far Shatterstar’s devices threw us off from Tryp’s location. We could be walking for miles considering how powerful a telepath M is.”
“I’m sure M is always willing to fly with a passenger.”
Havok’s reply cut Cormick like a knife and he shut up. If there was one thing Pipeline wasn’t that was lazy and he didn’t appreciate being called it, and he didn’t appreciate even more being called dependent on Monet. Anger was bubbling up in him, but the soldier in him quieted it. When he was on the Press Gang, Genoshan government officials had said far worse things to earn his ire.
“If M flies to look for Tryp I can calibrate the teleportation bands to move us closer to her location with a few adjustments. While you all were talking, I already made the needed ones to mine,” Shatterstar said.
“One of us shouldn’t be heading into danger alone,” Abyss said.
Pipeline shrugged. “I guess I will be a passenger then.”
“No you won’t,” Havok cut off. “Madrox will. He’s a safer bet if resistance is encountered. Sheer numbers count for a lot in unexpected visits.”
Again Pipeline was shut down in front of the team. He didn’t like it and, with Shatterstar’s wristbands around, he felt like his powers were essentially worthless. By now he would have thought he would have earned Havok’s respect. They may not have worked together for years, but they worked together long enough.
Alex looked at his friend’s face and was able to make out what he was thinking. “I’m not trying to belittle you, Cormick. I have complete confidence in your battle capability but—”
“You don’t need to coddle me, Alex. I get the point,” Pipeline said.
Havok nodded. “Good. Then let’s get moving.”
With that said, Madrox hopped on M’s back. He wrapped his arms around her neck, but not too tight. Monet probably already was in a bitchy mood about having to give him a ride. “So, does this thing come with seat belts or what?”
“Must every single solitary thing that comes out of your putrid mouth be a joke?” Monet asked as she rose into the air with her teammate.
Jamie smiled. “Awww, you really do love me.”
The Desert Lab rooftop
Damien stepped out of his helicopter and fought to keep his tie in place from the winds being rustled up by the blades of his vehicles. For Tryp there was a great value in one’s appearance and he refused to be seen as unkempt or not well dressed. If one didn’t look the role then they didn’t get a part in the show. It was as simple as that and, in the game of world mover and shakers, Damien had mastered the look.
As his men were unloaded from the helicopters and they began to pull away, Damien said, “Fan out! Kill or capture those freaks that were with the Hulk. If you encounter our target immediately inform everyone.”
Nawon Tan landed behind Tryp and said, “I hope the Crafter’s creature is powerful enough to help us win. Otherwise I feel we may have walked into a fool’s errand.”
Damien took a breath and turned to the young mercenary with a businessman’s smile. “Trust me, Nawon, I’m not paying you for a suicide mission. The Crafter’s work is well renowned.”
The leader of the Tans was still not convinced. “I know the potency of the Crafter’s creations, I have faced a number of them, but the Hulk is on another scale. It would have taken the Crafter weeks to—”
“Nawon, I pay you to fight, not to think,” Tryp said.
“Let me make something clear, Mr. Tryp: I am not so hard up for money that I have to stand by and take your insults. So speak to me as such again and I will kindly leave with my siblings.”
There was a fire in the young man that impressed Damien; Nawon was not simply some mindless warrior. He was even more assured that bringing the Tans into the fold was the right choice to have made. “So it would seem your tongue is as sharp as the sword you carry on your back.”
A long red katana was strapped to Nawon’s back standing out against his black uniform. He wore a thick black vest that went along with pants, boots and gloves of the same color. The sword stood out like a blazing light in a dim room. It seemed to glisten even when there wasn’t a shred of light around and threatened to cut his ponytail clean off if it swung too close.
“I simply ask for respect, Mr. Tryp, nothing more.”
“Granted. Now I think we have work to do.”
Nawon nodded and took to the skies, flying away from the Desert Lab in search of a green behemoth, one Damien intended to capture only for a moment, but that moment would change the course of his status in the world for years to come.
Hulk lumbered through the underground tunnels along with the rest of the Outcasts. He didn’t like running away from anyone but his new friends wanted him to. He didn’t want his new friends to be mad with him because the Hulk could not say that he had a lot of friends in the world. Friends were a commodity that it was hard for someone like the Hulk to come by. He had spent most of his existence being hounded and dogged by people who either hated him or wanted to use him.
“Friend Hulk, do you think we will be safe?” Ech asked, uncomfortable with the idea of outsiders being so close to them. He had not seen any in such a number since the last time the Hulk had came to reside with them. The Hulk had been asked not to come back for that reason, but Ech had argued to allow the Hulk back in.
He was now beginning to wonder if he was wrong in fighting for and convincing the others to allow the Hulk to return amongst them. Fear ran through him now because he knew that the outsiders wanted the Hulk and cared nothing for them. That meant that these outsiders would do whatever they wanted to the Outcasts to get to the Hulk.
Hulk grew angry at the fear he saw in his friend because he knew that he and the outsiders had caused it. He wanted to bring down every last flying toy that made his friends scared. “Hulk will make sure you are safe, Ech. Don’t worry.”
Ech could only hope that was true, but part of him felt that things were going to end quite horribly today. It was a sinking feeling in his gamma irradiated chlorophyll that he just couldn’t shake. These outsiders were dangerous and the Outcasts were going to suffer because of them.
As Ech continued to run into the tunnels he kept his focus forward and never saw the bullet that tore into the back of his head. Chunks of cacti matter and liquid green chlorophyll splattered on the back of the Hulk’s head. He looked back to see Ech’s lifeless body twisted on the rocky dirt. Rage quickly erupted through the Hulk and he flashed angry eyes at Ech’s killer.
She stood at 5’7, was clearly of Chinese descent and had green hair that was streaked in white. Tattoos of white doves were right below her eyes. Nestled tight in one arm was the rifle she had used to kill Ech. It was sleek and flashy, much like its owner, and the Hulk was going to shove the weapon right through her chest.
“Target found. Everyone converge on my location!” she said into a communication device that the Hulk couldn’t see.
The green behemoth’s nostrils flared. “Hurt Hulk’s friends! Hulk hurt you!”
Tawana Tan smiled. “You’re welcome to try, big fella.”
“RRRAWRR!!!” Hulk yelled as he charged forward at Ech’s killer. He intended to smash the woman like a grape, but before he could lay a hand on her she sped away in a blinding blaze.
“You’re gonna have to move faster than that, ya green doof,” Tawana said, tickled with herself. How many could say they pissed off the Hulk and lasted more than 10 seconds afterward?
“Do you really think he can pull it off?” the red behemoth asked Christian Frost. His voice sounded like something that had crawled out of Hell, but there was much about Brimstone Love that was hellish.
Frost had grown use to it, though he was admittedly taken aback during their first meeting. Love stood at twelve feet, had a wall of muscle for a frame and horns that were easily as wide as Christian was tall. He looked like a demon and one of importance with his large black cloak wrapped around him. Christian was comparatively small walking alongside him.
“This is the Hulk we’re talking about. My gut tells me no, but a possible success was too valuable for Bard to pass up.”
“The System would benefit greatly from such a success.”
“But we need to tread carefully. The Hulk, even in his most violent stages, has friends. We need to be vigilant.”
Brimstone scoffed. “None can get through our systems. You said yourself our security was one of the best.”
“And it is, but that does not make it unstoppable and us immortal.”
The two were almost to Frost’s office when they heard, “So, I take it you have no faith in my counterpart?”
Christian rolled his eyes and turned around with a contemptuous smile. “Aww, young Tryp! You know better than that. We are simply trying to be realistic.”
Tryp was a more powerful mutant than he let on and one of his abilities allowed him to create duplicates along his personal timeline. Two such duplicates existed at the moment: a 20-something Tryp and elderly Tryp. The world believed the duplicates to be Damien’s son and father. Honestly, Frost was surprised that one of the duplicates hadn’t been sent to track down the Hulk given how dangerous the creature was.
Reading the question on Christian’s face, the young Tryp said, “My counterpart wanted this victory for himself.”
“Has Bard not instructed us to lay aside all individual glory for the greater good of the System?” Brimstone Love asked.
“We all know what Bard has taught us, but there’s no denying the rewards the Hulk will bring.”
Christian smiled sinisterly. The foot was planted right in young Tryp’s mouth and the youth probably had no idea. That hardly meant mercy was going to be shown. “So you would go against Eli’s wisdom? I wonder how he might feel about that?”
“He praises my counterpart’s efforts in actually getting something done for the System. What have the rest of you done?”
Brimstone’s already menacing voice grew deeper. “Watch yourself, boy. I wouldn’t want your tongue getting you into any accidents.”
“Mr. Love, I would have expected better from you. Threats don’t scare a Tryp.”
Rage simmered in Brimstone and Frost saw it. “Is there an actual reason you’ve come to harass me?”
“Eli wants me to deliver a message to the Crafter. Where is he?”
“A sub-level far below this office that you’ll need me to access. So wait out here till my business is done.”
Young Tryp folded his arms across his chest. “I don’t have time to wait for this. I’m supposed to be in Mongolia tonight.”
Brimstone’s eyes burned into him like coals. “What business do you have in Mongolia? None of us were made aware.”
Tryp blinked his eyes rapidly and ran a hand through his hair. “I don’t have the time, Love. I need to speak with the Crafter, so finish whatever business you have with Frost quickly.”
Finally having lost it, Brimstone charged at the boy and snatched him up into the air. “I warned you once, you little worm. It is my luck Damien can create another one of you.”
Tawana ran out of the tunnel entrance with the Hulk still at her back, moving as fast as she could, which usually ran at a max of 109 miles an hour. Her super speed wasn’t exactly top of the line, but it was enough to help her get away from the Hulk. Getting a good ten yards from the tunnel entrance, Tawana stopped and took a breath. Offing one of those little freaks in front of the Hulk probably wasn’t her brightest idea, she reflected.
“RRAWRRR!!”
The ground beneath Tawana exploded as the Hulk burst through the from below. Rocks, big and small, flew in every direction and one about the size of a grapefruit knocked Tawana across the head and sent her flying back into the dirt. Her unconscious body slid across the ground and narrowly avoided the impact of a few boulder-sized rocks. When the Hulk landed back on the ground, her body visibly shook from the impact.
“Woman hurt Hulk friend. Crush lil’ woman!” Hulk said as he moved towards the unaware mercenary.
He stared down at the lithe woman with a burning rage. She would be smashed into oblivion by his fists; he wanted to flick the bones off of his knuckles. Friend Ech could not be brought back, but Hulk was going to make sure that neither was she. Rearing one fist back, he prepared to grind Tawana’s body into the ground.
“NO!”
The inhuman growl came from Igiro Tan as he fell down from the sky and slammed his hooves into The Hulk’s head. The humanoid ram stood in front of his sister as the Hulk tumbled back a few steps from the blow. Snorting at his new opponent, the Hulk charged forward and the two bodies collided with a gigantic smack. Flying through the desert air, the two behemoths crashed into a group of Tryp’s mercenaries. One unfortunate man was caught under Igiro’s body as it fell into the ground and gore spluttered in every direction.
“Bastard!” Igiro yelled as he dug his knees into the Hulk’s mid-section and pushed the green behemoth off of him.
Damien looked over the edge of the Desert Lab’s roof and saw Igiro engaged with The Hulk. He pressed his ear to activate his communicator and said, “All units! Target has engaged Igiro! Initiate submissive measures! I want The Hulk captured yesterday!”
-CLICK!- “Lofty goal there, buddy. Not too sure if it’s a smart one though,” Madrox said as he held a gun to the back of Tryp’s head.
“You’re either bold or stupid. My guess is the latter.”
“Hey I’m just the messenger, baby. It’s my boss who you got pissed off.”
Tryp laughed. “Just one more little ant trying to make his way through the colony. If he’s upset with me I must have crushed him in the past. I’ll be sure to do so again.”
“With who?” M said as she floated down in front of Tryp holding one of his enforcers in each of her hands. “These pathetic little men.”
Tryp snarled at the easy disposal of his men. “Who exactly are you? Little worms off the street just don’t take down my men. So who are you really?”
Madrox pounded himself on the chest and produced a dupe. That dupe pounded on himself and the cycle continued until there were fifty dupes who all said in unison, “We’re the guys who came to piss on your parade!”
“Figures I’d be dealing with a jackass,” Damien said as his eyes turned green and the roof collapsed underneath Madrox’s dupes.
Taking advantage of Jamie’s distraction, Tryp elbowed Madrox in the stomach, snatched his gun and fired off two shots at M. They bounced off harmlessly to M’s annoyance and Damien’s frustration. He muttered under his breath, “Why can’t you just shoot people anymore?”
“Catch!” M yelled as she flung the two unconscious bodies into Damien. He fell back into Madrox and they were a mess of arms, legs and heads tumbling through the hole Tryp had created with his elemental abilities.
Monet knew Madrox was plenty capable of taking care of himself. She needed to see what the situation was before Havok and the rest of X-Force arrived.
“Madam, only because Mr. Tryp is such a generous employer will I have to ask you to surrender.”
M turned around, looked her opponent up and down, and said, “Better men have tried. You can have your shot if you want.”
Mintaka ran to his sister’s side and pressed a hand to her forehead. Blue light flowed from his hand and the wound on Tawana’s head began to rapidly heal. She stirred under her brother’s glow and asked, “I’m not dead?”
“Pretty damn close you hothead,” Mintaka scolded as he helped his older sister to her feet. “What were you thinking trying to take on the Hulk like that?”
Tawana pulled away from her concerned brother and dusted herself off. She didn’t want nor need to be coddled. “I was trying to complete the mission. He needed to be drawn out and I did that.”
Mintaka grabbed his sister’s arm and this time he was not gentle. “We complete the mission so we can make it to another one. Our bank accounts stay empty if we’re dead.”
Tension hung between the siblings as they stared at each other like two cowboys in the Wild West readying themselves for a gunfight. There was enough fiery heat between them to set off a few fireworks, but it was Mintaka who caved first. “Igiro needs our help.”
His sister still looked like she wanted to send a bullet through his head. “You’re right. Let’s go.”
“Aww, don’t be so quick to leave.”
A purple boot came across Tawana’s face and sent her spinning back into the dirt while Mintaka found himself digitized into electrons and reconstituted back into flesh and blood. The disorientation was enough to send him to his knees and knock him out cold. The two attackers, Shatterstar and Pipeline, stood between the siblings and looked over to their leader.
“Thanks for taking care of that guys. I doubt big boy over there can make it much longer against Hulk,” Havok said in reference to Igiro Tan who was still locked in combat with the Hulk surrounded by Singularity Security agents, who were trying various methods to subdue the green behemoth. “So let’s make this quick.”
Blind Faith walked from beside Havok to where his teammates were standing. He closed his eyes to concentrate for a moment and said, “They have strong psi-blocks. I was only able to pick up on a few things. Apparently they’re here to get Hulk DNA.”
Havok’s response was quick. “Sounds like a good idea.”
All three men seemed taken aback and Pipeline shook his head in defeat. He knew there was no point in arguing with him. “You’re serious, aren’t you?”
“You’re damn straight I am. Look, we can do what we came here to do and then some. If Tryp’s men can actually subdue the Hulk…do you know what Hulk DNA would go for on the black market? It’d give us a potential beeline right to Adel.”
Blind Faith folded his arms across his chest; he wasn’t going to just give in. “Do you realize how dangerous and unscrupulous something like that is?”
“We don’t have time for this, Alexi! In case you didn’t notice, the Hulk is trampling Tryp’s men. We’re going to have to help them anyway. Why not get some benefit from it?”
Shatterstar unsheathed his swords. “Havok is right, we don’t have time. Let’s do this and we can hash it out later.”
“Fine,” Blind Faith said as he pulled out his handgun, “but don’t think this is me saying yes.”
Havok patted the priest on the back. “Wouldn’t dream of it, old friend.”
Alexi often wondered why Havok made statements such as that when they had not really known each other that long at all. They had indeed hit it off months ago when he was approached to join X-Force, but the priest hardly considered that a long-term relationship. There was something in the way that Havok said ‘old friend’ that made Alexi shiver a bit. Alex really believed what he was saying…it was not at all said in the casual sense. Often, Blind Faith had wanted to ask him why, but the time never seemed right. This time was no different.
“Stay behind me, Blind Faith, I’ll cover you,” Pipeline said as all four men ran into the battle to aid the Singularity Security employees against a rampaging Hulk.
“Who are you? Why are you interfering in my associate’s affairs?” Nawon said as he floated back from M. He unsheathed his sword from his back and brought it down to his side.
M smirked. “You don’t need to be secretive, rat. I already know this a Singularity Securities operation.”
Nawon didn’t flinch, but he felt like a fool for trying to conceal it in the first place. They were out in the middle of New Mexico. Of course this woman would know who was out here. People just didn’t stumble across places like Desert Lab. He didn’t care much for being made to feel foolish.
“Then you have me at a disadvantage because I don’t know who the hell you are!”
“And quite frankly, I think I like it that way,” M said mustering up a cocky smile.
Again, Nawon did not like to be made to feel foolish. “We shall see how long your tongue stays quiet!”
Nawon charged forward and slashed downward at M. He wasn’t prepared for her super speed as she dodged out of the way and crashed her fist into the back of the man’s neck. The mercenary went flying through the hole in the roof that Tryp had created and crashed right into one of the many Madrox dupes that were trying to dog pile Nawon’s employer. The unconscious dupe below him was just the opportunity that he needed.
One of Nawon’s mutant abilities was to absorb the life force out of living things. Once absorbed he could convert this life force into any power that he could reasonably conceive. The length of time he had that power depended on what life force was drained and what power he was attempting to utilize. He thought he had just the power he would need to crush his attacker. Tryp would have to wait.
Smothering the face of the mutant with his hand, Nawon began to drain the man’s life force as rapidly as he could. He was going for a total drain this time because he wanted to make sure he could hold on to his power for as long as possible.
“Let him go! Now!” M said as she rapidly descended down from the sky coming like a Fury for retribution.
Looking up with a smug smile, Nawon let the lifeless dupe drop to the lab’s floor and said, “Don’t go any further!”
A sharp pain suddenly struck M and she lashed back in mid-air writhing like a snake, but only for a moment. Because then she began to laugh cruelly and looked down at Nawon, “Telepathy? Little Man, you don’t know the meaning of it!”
The mercenary felt his mind ripped into like a tiger’s claw pushing through a piece of paper. She ripped through his most recent memories and dug out everything having to do with his involvement in Singularity Securities. Blood was trickling down the man’s nose as he fought to try and keep M out of his head, but it was hopeless.
I was just going to pound you silly, but then you had to go and make it personal, she said in his head.
With that last insult, Nawon fell to the ground unconscious and leaving Monet satisfied. She turned to the dog pile of dupes and saw that dupe after dupe was being blasted away by bolts of lightning. It seemed there was a bit more to Tryp than met the eye. Licking her lips together, M savored the idea of finishing off Tryp and getting another victory. Another victory, another reason that her perfection could not be in doubt.
Igiro groaned under the blows of the Hulk because they grew more powerful with every punch. Tawana had really managed to piss the bastard off. Truthfully, he wasn’t sure how much longer he could survive against someone as massively strong as the Hulk. Love or loyalty for those little freaks must have existed for the Hulk in order for him to be so enraged at one of the creeps meeting an early end. In retrospect, forcing him to give chase in anger probably wasn’t the best idea, but he gave his sister credit for being bold enough to try. She always had a way of getting things done while making it infinitely harder to get the mission accomplished. Nawon had made his sister’s often reckless behavior a point of contention on many missions, but their bank accounts still managed to get filled so he couldn’t make too big a deal about it.
“Hulk crush puny horn man!”
Igiro ducked another fast blow from the green behemoth and dove forward into his chest sending the Hulk onto his back. As they fell, the Hulk pounded his fists on Igiro’s back and the man swore he was seeing stars. Where were Tryp’s men?
“Dart the bastard!”
“Shoot ‘em!”
“Right in the head!”
Hearing Tryp’s black-clad men, Igiro rolled off the Hulk and allowed the men of Singularity Securities to go to work. A dozen men rose up sleek cannon guns at the Hulk and opened fire. Every round unleashed by the men sent ten darts into the Hulk and, by the time they were through, there were easily over 700 darts in the green monster. The Hulk roared in anger and tried to charge at the men, but each step was labored and space seemed to be slipping and sliding all around him.
The Hulk was beyond furious, but his body was not allowing him to respond properly. Every step was like vertigo; the puny nothings had done something to him that he couldn’t explain. Right now, the effort to stay awake was enormous. His consciousness felt like Atlas trying to carry the world. Any moment the intense pressures of its task would crush it and the Hulk would be out cold.
Igiro saw the staggering Hulk and at that moment sprang on the opportunity to strike. Charging forward, Igiro slammed his horns into the Hulk’s back and sent him crashing to the ground. Jumping on top his back, Igiro began to pummel the Hulk with powerful blows. Part of him felt like a coward for striking at the brute in his weakened state, but trying to have a fair battle with the Hulk was pure stupidity. So he could at least take comfort in the fact that he was acting intelligently if not bravely.
“Step back, Mr. Tan. We’ll take it from here.”
Singularity agents had surrounded the Hulk and hoisted on their shoulders were laser cannons that Igiro had personally seen cut through a wall of steel in a matter of seconds. Flesh, even flesh as though as the Hulk’s, wouldn’t be able to stand up long against an onslaught of a dozen such cannons. They had the Hulk dead to rights and Tryp would be the one lauded for it.
Pushing himself off of the Hulk, Igiro sprung into the air and out of the way of the cannons. As soon as he was out of range, the fireworks started. Twelve pillar beams of red light slammed into The Hulk’s body at various points and began to burn into his flesh. Igiro watched as green skin burned to black and muscle was turned to ash. The beams were tearing into his arms, pectorals and buttocks. One beam burned into his abs and burnt intestines spilled to the ground.
Angry roars were issued from the green monster as he slammed his fists into the ground sending out a shockwave that sent the security enforcers to their feet and laser beams flying in every direction. Igiro watched in horror as the soldiers cut themselves apart with their own weapons. Hulk’s injuries were quickly healing, but he was still too hurt to make a move, but rage was even more painted on his face.
Igiro knew that his ram form was no longer going to be able to cut it in this fight. He was going to have to try and use something else besides for strength. Two other forms were available to him, but which to use?
“Stupid, stupid men,” Hulk grumbled as he walked forward and picked up one of the security enforcers by his thick Kevlar vest. The soldier was unable to fight back because his arm had been burnt off and the pain was far too much to work through.
“I’m going to have to ask you to put him down,” Havok said as he arrived on the scene of carnage with Blind Faith, Pipeline and Shatterstar.
The Hulk, with a gaping hole knitting itself together in his stomach, roared at the members of X-Force in warning. Havok shook his head at it. “Bad listener.”
Alex raised his arms up in the air and cosmic energy ran from his hands and slammed into the Hulk’s forehead. The impact was nearly enough to move the proverbial Titan back, but Havok wasn’t going to give up. He had hurt this bastard before and he knew that he could do it again. For a moment, the Hulk appeared to be stunned as Havok’s power burned into his head, but he quickly raised a hand up to take the brunt of Alex’s blast.
Havok frowned. “That did not happen last time.”
Shatterstar ran at Havok and dove into the air. “Look out!”
The two of them collided with the dirt just as a tiny blue beam ripped through where Havok had been standing and struck the Hulk’s hand. Flesh and muscle burnt away like ash leaving a bloody skeleton of a hand. The beam whipped a few inches to the side and did the same to half of the Hulk’s face. Blind Faith looked on in horror at what had just been done, but knew that it had to be continued if the Hulk was going to be stopped.
At his feet was one of the lasers that the Singularity men had been using. The priest picked it up and wrestled with his weight until it was nestled squarely in his arms. He closed his eyes in anguish for a moment and then said, “This has to be done.”
The red beam launched forward and cut right back in the abdominal hole that was almost healed up. The Hulk threw his arms up in rage and cried out even as half his face had been disintegrated to the bone. Pain such as that made his screams even more blood curdling. Blind Faith had no problem inflicting pain because pain was part of God’s plan. Steel could not be made strong unless it went through fire, but something about this felt wrong to Blind Faith. They were helping the wrong people, but the sheer strength and animalistic ferocity of the Hulk made him impossible to reason with.
Havok stood to his feet and looked back at where the disintegrating blue beam had come from. Blue smoke was billowing from one of Mintaka’s eyes as he approached the members of X-Force. “I don’t know who the hell you are, but you’re obviously trying to fight the Hulk too.”
Alex grabbed the man by his throat. “You damn near took my head off!”
Pushing himself away from Summers, Mintaka said, “Look, we need to stay on The Hulk if we’re going to get the men I still have alive out of here in one piece.”
Pipeline pulled a cell phone of his pocket. “I can handle that.”
All the Singularity men that were still breathing were digitized into tiny electronic bits and sucked into the cell phone. Handing it to Mintaka, the Genoshan said, “Wait till you get somewhere you can give all these men medical attention and open the text message in the phone. They’ll all rematerialize once you do that.”
“And take these two with you,” Abyss said as he appeared along with the rest of X-Force. He unwrapped Nawon Tan and Damien Tryp from his tendrils and dropped them to Mintaka’s feet. “Whatever you’re up to can wait. The Hulk is going to go berserk.”
The Tan looked over his shoulder and saw a helicopter approaching in the distance. “Then I guess I’ll leave you nice people to handle the Hulk. I hope we’ll be seeing each other again. Always a pleasure, Pipeline.”
Havok wanted to blast every single one of them away, but he knew that wasn’t the solution, and how the hell did that bastard know Pipeline’s name? It was a question for another time. He spat at Mintaka’s feet and said, “Count on it.”
“If you’re going to do something then I suggest you do it now. This thing has run out of juice,” Blind Faith said as he tossed the large laser to the ground.
It was like the wounds that had been caused by him and Mintaka meant nothing. Where there had only been bones and space, muscle was already beginning to reform. Blind Faith knew one thing for certain: the longer they battled The Hulk the more they were setting themselves up to lose.
Marrow took hold of a bone dagger she had been holding between her teeth. “You sure letting Tryp leave is smart, upworlder?”
“Especially after the throwdown we had with him,” Madrox said, nursing a black eye.
Havok’s eyes were glued on the gory chunks of Hulk flesh that Tryp’s lasers had torn from the behemoth’s body. “We’re not staying here to fight the Hulk. I wanted Tryp gone to get what we needed. M, Marrow, Shatterstar and Abyss, run interference on the Hulk, but be careful.”
The four mutants ran and flew at the Hulk. Pipeline stared angrily at Havok and his leader could feel it piercing the back of his neck. “I know Cormick, but I need you on stand by to teleport us out of here the minute I grab what we need.”
“You’re not going to keep doing this to me, Alex, but ok,” Pipeline said as he sat back with Alex and Blind Faith to watch his teammates engage the Hulk.
M slammed into the beast’s midsection to no effect other than soliciting an annoyed grunt from the Hulk. Shatterstar meanwhile was crawling up the creature’s back like an agile spider. When he reached the top of his opponents back, he wrapped his legs around the Hulk’s neck and slammed his swords into the Hulk’s eyes. A blood-screeching howl went up from the gamma beast as Shatterstar twisted his blades and pulled them out.
“Worked for the Juggernaut, works for you too,” Shatterstar said as he rolled off of the Hulk’s back.
Abyss’s tendrils were wrapped around the Hulk’s arms and sending out terrible mindquakes that didn’t seem to be slowing the Hulk down. M flew back from the thrashing creature and stood next to a struggling Abyss. “Let him go. He’s a vessel of rage. I sense no other emotion.”
Havok ran past the two mutants just as Shatterstar was doing his back roll. With each one of his hands, he scooped up a piece of intestine that had been burned out of the Hulk. Looking back to Pipeline, he yelled, “Time to go!”
Pipeline banged in the coordinates to Muir Island and the team was gone leaving a very hurt Hulk behind. The bad men were gone, but he was still so angry and in pain. He sat on the desert ground and began to pound away at it. The vibrations were felt for miles and miles…
Somewhere You Don’t Wanna Be
2 Days Later
“I’m not a fan of failure, Mr. Tryp,” Eli said as he stood up from his chair and walked over to his office cabinet where he pulled out a bottle of wine. “So why did you allow him to go in their knowing he would lose?”
The aged Tryp took a breath and seemed to be trying to gather his words. Running a hand through his long white beard, he said, “It is a loss he needs to solidify himself down the line. If he had been allowed to win today he would have grown soft and complacent.”
Eli stared out the window into a black land of shadows, fire and cackling demons. Sprouts of black ice shot up from lava veins that were somehow simultaneously deathly cold and hot at once. The sensation usually killed anyone it touched because it was too much for the body to handle. It was why Eli had found this dimension and decided to make it his HQ; the chances of a team knocking on his door were far slimmer.
“Perhaps you are right, Mr. Tryp, but I want full disclosure from this point forward. If I ask it, I want it answered. Understood?”
“Of course,” the elder Tryp said with a courteous smile.
Taking a sip of his wine, Eli wiped the back of his mouth. He looked at his reflection in the pristine glass. “First things first: why did you really let Tryp lose?”
The old Tryp grinned. He had almost forgot how clever Eliphas really was. “My failure in procuring the Hulk is what would lead you to your new love.”
“Who?”
“I’m not sure I should—”
Eliphas was curt. “Tell me now or have your throat cut out.”
“Monet St. Croix. Her name is Monet.”
Nawon looked down at the cast covering his forearm and groaned. He hadn’t broken a bone on the job in nearly five years, but something was different about the woman who attacked him. She was elegant and furious all at once. If there was ever a modern day Amazon then she was it. Everything about her was in perfect proportion and the way she smiled…
“Don’t look so down, Nawon, it was just one mission,” Tawana said as she entered into his pitch-black room with a plate of food.
“We were embarrassed. I do not intend to let it happen again.”
Tawana sat down a hot plate of food at the foot of his door. “Well, before you go all Von Doom on me you need to eat.”
“I am serious, Tawana. We’re going to find who attacked us and make them pay heavily.”
Blind Faith looked at the two canisters containing the Hulk flesh and said to Havok, “Be careful, my friend. We are starting to amass enough stuff to make the wrong people notice us.”
“I know, but this is going to be worth it, Alexi, I can feel it,” Havok said as he ran a hand across the two canisters. “Adel is not going to be long for this world at the rate we’re working.”
“It’s not Adel I’m worried about. We’ve made an enemy of Singularity Securities just like M said we would. What was going on was none of our business, but you turned it into a dangerous business venture.”
“What did you expect me to do? Watch men get slaughtered?” Havok questioned as he felt his temperature begin to rise.
“I’m smarter than that, Alex, so don’t feed me that line of bull. All you have been doing since this team started is try to play your angles. Don’t make it seem like you were being some grand hero out there.”
“A few mercs died fighting the Hulk. Big deal.”
Blind Faith shook his head. “Singularity Securities is going to want revenge for this. You know that, right?”
“Let them come. We can handle them,” Havok said.
Alexi wanted to tell him how the soldiers they encountered in New Mexico were only human with a few exceptions. He wanted to tell Havok that Tryp had not even unleashed his superhuman soldiers on them yet, but he stopped. Blind Faith stopped because he knew that Havok wouldn’t listen. The stubborn man had accomplished his goal and was completely basking in self-righteousness. There was little point talking to him.
“Good night, Alex. Let us pray you continue to make the wisest decisions,” Blind Faith said as he turned to walk out of the lab containment area.
“Don’t make a big deal out of it. Tryp is on his way down and we’re going to be the ones to send him there.”
Singularity Securities
Houston HQ Sub-Basements
Kkk-Kkk opened up his eyes and looked at the world around him. Above him was the smiling face of Damien Tryp and terror flooded into the creature. He had seen this man before; it was him who led the bad men into his home and killed friend Ech. Why had he been brought here?
“You really are a fascinating creature,” Damien said as he ran a finger down Kkk-Kkk’s thorax. “But unfortunately you are not who I am looking for. Where is the Hulk?”
“At home with us,” Kkk-Kkk answered as truthfully as he possibly could. Honestly, he had no idea where friend Hulk was, but he had a feeling that the bad man was not going to take that for an answer.
“See we went back there and he wasn’t home,” Damien said as he bent over and picked up a blowtorch off of the ground. “So I guess we’re going to have to do this the hard way.”
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The End...
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