|
#3
DEC 09 |
 |
“Indigo”
Writer’s Note: Story takes place after “May I Introduce the President” arc in X-FACTOR
“What the hell is it?” President Maximoff asked as he looked down at the picture that Polaris had slid across his desk. What he was looking at appeared to be a large indigo sphere dotted with glowing white nodules. He had seen his share of weird so he wasn’t too concerned, but he didn’t appreciate random objects floating over Genoshan airspace.
“Not sure. We spotted it about two hours ago. Sage is working like crazy to analyze it,” Polaris said.
Amelia closed her cell phone from across the room and said, “Doesn’t seem like anyone has a clue as to what it is either. Wakanda, Atlantis, NATO and Russia all seem as clueless as we are.”
President Maximoff sighed. “Which means they aren’t going to lift a hand to help us…we’re on our own here, people.”
“We could always ask the—
“No. They’re off the table. I won’t have my sister screaming down at me for putting her boyfriend in danger. Besides, we have to be able to handle things on our own or people won’t respect us.”
Amelia ran a hand through her hair and said, “What do you suggest then?”
“I want Polaris to take an exploratory team to this vessel, if that’s even what it is. See what data you can gather and report back here ASAP. If it gets hostile do not engage.”
“Ok. I’ll take Melissa, Neal and Quentin with me.”
Amelia laughed. “Quire is going to hate having to be held by someone.”
Polaris shook her head. “Actually, he’s learned to fly with his telekinesis. Just took a few bumps on the head and one very long weekend for me.”
“Good work. Our national team needs to be as effective as possible. Now, please hurry; I would like to know exactly what we’re dealing with before lunch.”
“Speaking of lunch,” Amelia said looking down at a chart listing various construction projects. “The Subway won’t be open until tomorrow.”
“Dear lord, what do I have to do to get a damn teriyaki chicken sub? Do I need to go and build the place by myself? My left pinky could finish the job faster than these human construction companies.”
“We’re building up a sufficient mutant construction squad. Future projects should be speedier,” Amelia said trying not to laugh along the way. Pietro managed to get angry over absolutely anything.
Feeling a bit awkward, Polaris said, “I’ll assemble the team and go.”
“And be careful out there, Lorna. Maybe the damn thing will spit out a sub for me,” Pietro complained as he slumped down in his chair.
And he slept. Sleeping was the only time he could create his art. When he was asleep the massive knowledge he had could be put to could work. He had built his machine to help him harness and make use of his massive intellect. Now he intended to create the ultimate art.
Living, breathing, beautiful art.
His mind was connected as one with his machine. The DNA strands flowed in from as far back as ancient Egypt and as far forward as New Canaan. He lusted over every nucleotide and the X-Genes called out to him like the guttural roar before an orgasm. Knowledge was truly pleasure.
Now the fruits of that intercourse would be born. He would create. Reaching out into the neural net of his command sphere, he sent orders. Orders for life to be born.
FITZROY…JUBILEE…[DNA COMBINATION SEQUENCE ACTIVE]
RAMROD…INFECTIA…[GENETIC BREEDING PROCESS ACTIVE]
MORPHINE SOMERS…VERTIGO [DNA COMBINATION SEQUENCE ACTIVE]
They would be the first among many. His living art would breathe a refreshing new life into this world. The Earth was like an overfilled canvas, and far too many dull colors were in the way. His art would help to clean up the canvas and make way for new creations.
Approximately half the world’s population went to bed without a meal. What use were such frail creatures? Utterly dull and depressing art. Perhaps Dali could have constructed something worthwhile, but his day was done.
It was time for new art. Time for super art.
“That thing is ugly,” Thunderbird said as he approached the giant indigo sphere along with his teammates.
Omega shrugged. “I sort of like its color scheme.”
Quentin’s hair was a fluorescent pink and he had enough piercings to give someone pause on just how far they go.
“At least that’s one of us,” Polaris said as she tried to see if she could feel out the layout of the ship through a magnetic scan, but the ship didn’t seem to be even made of metal. The bleeping blue nodules were definitely glass, but the rest of the ship was something else.
Melissa could tell Lorna was concentrating and asked, “What did you find?”
“That’s the crazy thing…nothing. I didn’t find anything. It’s not made of metal.”
The four X-Factor members moved closer to the sphere and were only a few feet away. Neal was surrounded in atomic fire, ready to blow the thing out of the sky at a moment’s notice. He just hoped he was actually capable of doing it. For all they knew, whatever this orb was could be completely impervious.
“Do you sense anything in there, Quentin?” Polaris asked. Lorna preferred to not give direct orders in the heat of battle. It was better to ask questions that pretty much let be known what you expected to be done. That way those under you felt like you were asking them instead of giving them an order. Only so many orders can be barked before it begins to grate a person.
“One mind. Very much like a mind in REM, but it’s deeper than that…deep enough that it almost drew me in with it. So whatever we’re dealing with seems to be asleep.”
Neal scratched his head and asked, “What’s sleep?”
Melissa laughed. “C’mon, don’t be stupid. Everybody needs to—wait, what were you asking again?”
Polaris looked around bewildered. “Does anybody even remember why we’re up here?”
Omega looked at his three teammates with his mouth tight and brain burning. “Ok, guys, ummm…don’t know what’s going on but I think we need to back away from this thing.”
“What thing?” Neal asked and then he turned to see the giant indigo sphere. He jumped back and said, “Woowww!! That’s a pretty big bouncing ball. You guys think we can play kickball with it?”
Omega telekinetically shoved his three teammates away. “Yea, definitely need to step back. Bloody kickball, of all ‘effin things!”
Polaris was back in Pietro’s office and she had only Quentin to thank for it. “I don’t know what happened. One moment I was planning our next move and the next thing I know I can barely remember my ABCs. It was like that sphere stupefied—”
Quicksilver held up his hand in protest. “Please don’t say that word. Luna had me watching Harry Potter with her all last weekend.”
“Before long she’s going to be running around here like her aunt,” Polaris smiled.
Pietro grimaced. “I hope you mean that because she’s a witch and not because she’s pregnant.”
Rolling her eyes, Polaris asked, “Where’s Amelia? I’m sure she’d tell you how stupid of a question that was.”
“She’s headed to Switzerland. Her European tour begins tomorrow and I’m flying out tonight for San Marco. My weeklong tour of South America will coincide with her European trip. I want to show the people of that continent I respect them as much as I do the Western powers.”
Polaris found a great sense of symmetry there. Quicksilver had helped his father temporarily conquer San Marco years ago as a member of the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants. Now, as President of the world’s only mutant homeland, he would be bringing a message of peace.
“So who’s going to run things while the two of you are away? We haven’t exactly figured out a succession of power and our Constitution hasn’t even got out of the planning phase yet.”
Speedily bunching together a mess of papers, Quicksilver said, “As Minister of Defense, you will be charged with running Genosha until we come back.”
“Me? Look I don’t think—”
“It’s settled. And I had Shola scan this sphere while you were up there. It’s definitely hollow and someone is definitely inside, though I seriously doubt their human.”
Polaris was curious. “So how was that conclusion drawn?”
“Shola tested the mass of the creature and it easily weighs over 700lbs. You’re looking at a Hulk-sized creature in there. So you’re going to need to bring in the whole team. I have the Press Gang on standby to back you up if need be.”
“Wait. What exactly are you wanting me to do?” Polaris asked. Pietro often moved so fast he forgot to cover actual details.
“Get inside of that ship. Find out what’s going on, see if there’s anything useful to us and then bring it down however you have to. Just try not to leave too big a mess.”
Polaris looked up at the sky from the last floor of the Presidential parking deck. She had assembled her team there so Davis could get a clear angle of the sphere. “Ok ladies and gentlemen, our orders are pretty simple. We go into this thing, we see what it’s all about and if it can help Genosha, and then we destroy it.”
“Sounds like a plan to me. Let’s go kick some ass!” Washout exclaimed eager to put his powers to work again after the trouncing he had faced at Barnacle’s hands. It had been an unexpected attack and the taste of defeat was something that John was eager to get out of his mouth.
Speedball slid on his gloves and said, “At least one of us is all happy, go kick assey. I had plans to go to the beach today, man.”
Melissa laughed. “Isn’t that like the fourth time this week?”
Baldwin shrugged as he slid his goggles on. “The weather beats the hell out of NY, what can I say?”
As much fun as the banter was, Polaris knew X-Factor had a mission to run. “Focus, people. Slipstream, you ready to get this show rocking?”
Cracking his knuckles, Davis jumped on his hoverboard. The machine lifted him off of the ground and a swirling silver portal opened in front of everyone. “Ready as I’ll ever be.”
Washout nudged Speedball playfully. “Time to get all happy, go kick assey, bro.”
Speedball took on the voice of a star-crossed lover. “Oh John, you just have such a way with words.”
With that, X-Factor ran into the portal and headlong into whatever was waiting for them inside of that sphere.
The Indigo Hulk felt the arrival of the mutants. They were not like his artwork, but they were done by an artist of the same quality as him. Still, they could not be allowed to interfere with his work. He would not allow it. His creations were too close to being done. The world deserved an art show the likes of which had not been seen since the Big Bang. His only course of action were to pre-release some of his ‘art’ to take care of the problem.
His mind reached out into the computer’s neural net and let free those who would be able to repel the saboteurs. While he did not enjoy the destruction of such living art, he could not sacrifice his to preserve another’s.
ELECTRIC EVE/RAIN BOY COMBINATION ACTIVATED.
WOLVERINE/DESTINY COMBINATION ACTIVATED.
Those would be his soldiers. They would keep the saboteurs distracted long enough for his work to be finished. While they may not appreciate the importance of his art, soon the whole of the world would. And the knowledge that could be discerned and absorbed from the event he was about to create was too tantalizing to ignore.
No, his grand painting could not be stopped.
Slipstream dusted his hands together and said, “One more successful teleportation onto the list.”
“Good work. Now let’s try to see what the hell this thing is all about,” Polaris said as she looked around the dimly lit sphere lined with giant canisters full of neon blue goop. The meager light that was in the sphere was provided by the blinking buttons of computer consoles and the goop itself.
Washout stepped up to one of the canisters and bent down to look at the thin metal plating that was at the bottom of it. “Whoa! Guys, you might want to check this out!”
Lorna walked over to John and stood behind him. “What is it, Washout?”
“This thing says Polaris/Quicksilver Combination on it.”
“Freaky,” Speedball said as he walked over to another canister and bent down. “This one says Callisto/Storm combination.”
“I’m sure Ororo would love that one,” Lorna said. “Seems we’re dealing with a geneticist of some sort here.”
Sage looked in the direction of the computer console next to the canister Speedball was standing to. “I suggest that we try to find a central operating system to discern the purpose of this structure. I need to see exactly what we’re dealing with here. Terrasect technology is obviously at play.”
The complex looked to be easily thirty times larger on the inside than it was on the out.
“Agreed,” Lorna said. “We’ll split up and try to see what we can find. Speedball, Washout, Thunderbird and Songbird come with me. The rest of you head with Sage and try to find something we can work with.”
As the groups were formed, Polaris looked to Slipstream and said, “Whichever group comes across this main operating system first you must teleport the other one over.”
“Won’t be a problem,” Slipstream said. In the weeks since he had arrived in Genosha he had become more and more confident in his teleportational skills. Lorna was a better teacher than she would allow herself to own up to.
As much as she liked being in charge, she still wasn’t quite sure if she was up to it. There were people who looked up to her as Magneto’s daughter in the same way they saw Pietro as his son. She had never thought she would have to live up to the legacy of Magneto, but like it or not, he had been good for the mutants of Genosha. He had done more for them than Xavier or any other mutant fighters ever had. That wasn’t bias, but just cold hard fact and now Lorna was expected to live up to a similar standard. She just wasn’t sure if she was up to the task.
Now wasn’t the time to think about that though. “Ok people, let’s move. And remember to be careful. No stupid risks.”
“She’s looking at you Baldwin,” Washout teased.
“Hey! I’m the model of maturity,” Speedball said.
Songbird rolled her eyes. “Is there any way you can throw me with the other group?”
“And have me lose my sanity alone? Not a chance,” Lorna winked as the two groups separated.
“So couldn’t you just tap into one of those side computer consoles and figure out what makes this place tick?” Strong Guy asked Sage.
“I could, possibly, but Omega said there was something very large and sleeping in here. Me tampering with the computer systems may well wake this slumbering creature up. So if I’m going to tamper with a computer I want to make sure it’s the right one. I’m not going to trust Slipstream to deliver our teammates speedily to us if we run into trouble.”
“Hey! What the hell? I’m standing right here,” Slipstream said from behind Guido and Sage.
With a voice as dry as a Ben Stein commercial, Sage said, “The point still stands. Your teleportation could use some more work.”
“And so could your personality,” Slipstream snapped back.
“My personality is irrelevant. Only ensuring the safety of this team is.”
Omega walked up beside Slipstream and whispered in his ear, “Sometimes I think she has more in common with a Borg.”
“Yea. Definitely Seven of—AHH!!!”
Electricity coursed through Omega and Slipstream causing them both to cry out in agonized pain. The power of the blow pushed them forward a few feet and they flailed into the arms of Strong Guy. Sage took an offensive posture against the attacker and said, “As I told you. I would not trust Slipstream to deliver our teammates to us.”
“So who wants to bet Sage snaps someone’s neck before the day is out?” Washout asked as they walked down a narrow corridor one behind the other.
“Does she even PMS?” Thunderbird jokingly asked. “I doubt she’s snapping any necks.”
“Man, you know Sage has that crazy kung fu she does. I heard she even managed to nail Wolverine a few times,” Washout replied.
Neal had been witness to a few of those times. “She’s definitely his equal, and that’s saying a lot, but Sage is never violent for violence’s sake.”
Songbird didn’t really care to hear this conversation drag on much longer so she decided to cut it short. “I think what Washout is trying to get at is that this place is bound to be crawling with someone we’re going to have to put knuckles to.”
Thunderbird thought on that a moment and said, “Then no way you’re getting a bet from me. People like us seem to run into trouble like my niece runs from her grandma’s curry.”
“All the time,” Speedball smirked.
“Bingo.”
Lorna pointed down the hallway. “There’s an elevator. Let’s see where it takes us.”
Speedball cringed. “What if that thing tries to eat us?”
Songbird rolled her eyes. “You’re on a mutant team, Baldwin. Chomping elevators should be your last concern.”
“But I should be,” a hairy woman said as she dropped through the roof and landed on top of a surprised Songbird. She quickly revved one arm back and claws popped out of it.
Thunderbird fired off a blast of heated plasma right at the woman’s face, but she dodged it at the last moment. When she rolled away from Neal, she snarled. “Pathetic aim; that is why the Heir will kill you.”
“Whatever you call yourself lady, you’re going to give us answers!” Polaris yelled as she encased the hairy woman in a magnetic bubble and stuck her to the roof. Lorna looked up and stomped her foot. “Damnit! We could use Omega right now.”
The woman tried to twist and turn under Lorna’s magnetic field. “You have no sway over me, commander of Genosha’s armies. Your reign will end in fire!”
Songbird moved to Polaris’ side. “What the hell is she talking about?”
“Be quiet wench! You don’t deserve to speak amongst the friends you shall betray!”
Songbird was taken aback by the statement. “Who are you? What do you know?”
Magnetically clamping the woman’s mouth shut, Lorna said, “I don’t think we need to be asking her anything else. I have a feeling she knows more than we want to.”
A sense of dread crawled up Neal’s spine. “So you think she was telling the truth?”
Polaris shook her head. “I don’t know, but I do know there is something going with mutants in here. I know those claws look familiar to all of us.”
Washout raised his hand. “Not me. I haven’t been in this game as long as the rest of you.”
Baldwin laughed and patted John on the back. “It’ll come in time man.”
Honestly, Polaris wasn’t sure what to make of the raving one who had far too much in common with Wolverine. Whatever was going on in this place wasn’t good and it needed to be stopped immediately. Then there was the question nagging at her that she didn’t want to voice because she couldn’t rattle her teammates.
Was what this woman saying the future?
“Ok, pull it together everyone. We’re about to head down this elevator and see what the hell is going on here.”
Songbird objected. She pointed up at the roof and said, “We need to interrogate her. She can probably answer all our questions. The woman has a healing factor so we can rough her up—”
“Out of the question Melissa! We don’t have time for it,” Polaris said meeting Songbird’s stern look with one of her own. “That’s an order.”
Neal pushed past Melissa. “Next there is going to be a purple-furred Beast in here.”
Speedball laughed. “If we got a green and gold one, we could start some Madri Gras festivities.”
“I don’t know why you just don’t give that idea up. Pietro isn’t going to let Genosha become some party spot for drunken college students.”
“Drunken college students spend drunken money,” Speedball said earning a ‘shut up’ glare from Polaris. “I’m just saying.”
One by one the team packed themselves onto the elevator and descended downward not knowing what the hell could be waiting for them at the bottom.
The attacker doused Proto-Goblin in electricity, but it did not debilitate him as it had his two teammates. He leapt on top of the watery woman and raked across her face with his claws. No damage was done and Proto-Goblin felt like he had just splashed his hand in a pool of water. He tried to pull back for another attack when a sprout of water erupted from the woman’s face and sent Proto-Goblin flying back away from her. He careened through the air and slid across the ground.
Sage watched the attack, but not with the same astonishment that Guido had. Her red sunglasses were analyzing everything about their opponent down to the very nucleotides that made up her DNA. All of this information was being funneled into Sage’s head and processed in a hundred different ways. The woman’s powers were determined, her body language decoded to figure out her level of coordination, and the effect releasing voltage had on her body overall to figure out the maximum amount of electricity the woman could output.
Guido watched the attacker take out three of teammates in under one minute and had to stop from letting his mouth hit the floor. He sat down Slipstream and Omega on the ground so he could ready to have his turn at the water lady spewing electricity. There was humor in that somewhere, but Guido couldn’t find it at the moment. Then there was Sage. Strong Guy was starting to understand why the woman was respected by so many that she worked with. The woman never flinched. Never.
Guido now respected her. “So what are we going to do?”
“You start breaking up these floor and wall panels. Try to expose wires. I’ll take care of the rest.”
Strong Guy wasn’t exactly fond of being kept out of the fight, but Sage didn’t flinch. “Ok.”
Sage ran at the woman. “I don’t know who you are, but my teammates will not continue to be your target practice.”
As she ran forward, she pulled a tiny white capsule from her red belt and gripped it tightly in her hand. The watery woman shot a stream of electricity at Sage that she nimbly dodged. Body language and a body heat spike had indicated to her that the mutant was about to attack. The missed attack was the one mistake the mutant was allowed to make as Sage came into close proximity and drove her fist into the mutant’s watery head.
Sage opened her fist the capsule was released from her hand and floated in the watery substance that made up the woman’s physical form. In a matter of seconds, the capsule exploded oozing a white substance that quickly began to grow and stretch out like an out of control amoeba. The attacker gripped her head and began to flail around in confusion trying to figure out what was happening to her. Sage watched her once again without flinching.
“According to my scans you don’t feel pain so I am sure you are confused by what is entering your system at this moment. Trust me, if you do not start answering my questions this coagulant will not stop until you are a frozen statue. Are we clear?”
Strong Guy walked up behind Sage. “I busted up some panels like you said. Now what?”
Sage knelt down on one knee to watch closer the mutant woman who was writhing on the floor. “Now we wait. If this woman is any indication, this place has security. All the damage you caused should attract more.”
Proto-Goblin groaned as he rose to his feet, shaking his head. “I thought you were supposed to be smart? Why the hell do you want more of them here?”
“Because if we’re going to get answers we’re going to have to start interrogating people,” Sage said as she looked to the water mutant. “So, first question: who built this place?”
The woman went into a fetal position and cried out. “No! I won’t!”
“Either you will or you will be dead in a few short moments,” Sage said.
Strong Guy didn’t like what he was seeing. “We can’t just—”
“We can and we will!” Sage interjected. “Tell us what we want to know now.”
The coagulant spread further through the woman’s body and it would not be long before she was dead, as Sage had promised. Strong Guy turned away because he didn’t want to watch the woman’s last death throes. He hoped that Sage wasn’t being serious in allow the woman to die, but he wasn’t sure. There was never any inflection in Sage’s voice so there was no way of telling if she was bluffing. Guido really hoped she was because he didn’t know how he would be able to stay on the team with her if she wasn’t.
“This is pointless,” Sage said as she inserted another pill into the attacker’s watery body. The coagulant material began to dissipate.
Sage stood to her feet and handed Guido two pills. “They’re adrenaline. Give one to Slipstream and Omega.”
“Sage come in! Do you read me, Sage?”
Sage pushed a button on the side of her glasses. “I’m here Polaris. Go ahead.”
“You guys need to get your asses down here right now! We’ve found our culprit and it’s the Hulk!”
“On our way. Sage out.”
“What’s going on?” Guido asked.
“We’ve found our architect and it’s wrong on so many levels that I’m still trying to wrap my brain around it,” Sage said as her eyeglasses began to load websites into her brain involving the Hulk in the hopes of coming across something. “We need to get to the others now.”
Awake and moving, Slipstream said. “Ok, I’ll take us there now.”
“And everyone be prepared. We’re about to deal with the Hulk.”
Guido slapped his forehead. “F’ing great, man. Just great.”
Polaris erected a magnetic shield around the entire team to protect them from the punch of the indigo-colored Hulk. She wasn’t sure what was going on, but as soon as they made it to the last floor they were pounced on by the behemoth. The last thing she expected to find down here was the Hulk, but this wasn’t the same monster that Alex and her had encountered once. No, something was different here and Lorna was afraid that difference could cost them their lives.
“You have disturbed my artwork! The strokes of a genius need no interruption. Leave!” Indigo Hulk said as he continued to pound on the magnetic wall that Lorna had erected.
Lorna knew that she wasn't going to be able to hold back the blows of the Hulk forever; he was far too strong for that and she honestly how no idea how strong this new Hulk might be. The way he was pounding on her forcefield, she probably had a couple of more punches before it caved, then it would be her team trying their best to hold their own against an unknown variable that seemed to have all the strength of the original Hulk, and that behemoth was able to fight the Avengers' best to a standstill. She really hoped Sage and the others showed up fast. Otherwise, they probably weren't going to last very long at all.
“So we jus gonna sit here and get pounded on, boss?” Washout asked. He knew that he could do something to help in the situation if given the chance. They all could, but Polaris could be so damn protective of them sometimes. She was truly the veteran in terms of experience, but she had to give them a chance. He had to damn near force himself into getting some action when fighting the Acolytes.
Polaris saw the expression on Washout's face and knew what he was thinking. ”Look, we're going to hold here for as long as I can or until Sage and the others show up. I can handle it!”
“And so can we!” Washout shouted. ”Just give us a chance already.”
“Ok!” Polaris said. She was just trying to keep her team out of harm's way, but she saw she was annoying them more than she was helping. Thunderbird had been an X-Man at one point and Speedball had a long standing history with the New Warriors. Songbird had done her fair share of fighting with the Thunderbolts. It was time she just trusted them to be able to handle themselves. ”I'm going to drop the shield! Get ready to attack!”
Lorna dropped the force field and X-Factor sprang into action just as a wormhole opened up behind the Indigo Hulk. Out of it came the other members of X-Factor. Strong Guy was the first to charge out of it and rammed into the Hulk's backside. The behemoth didn't even budge, but Guido's attack provided a distraction.
Washout ran forward and shot out two ice spikes from his hands that landed square in the Indigo Hulk's eyes. The Hulk cried out in pain as he tried to rip free the two spikes. Lopez's attack was followed up by plasma blasts from Thunderbird and solid sound blasts from Songbird. Contributing even more to the onslaught, Washout took charge of all the water in Hulk's body and began to raise its temperature to nearly the point of being steam. Polaris added her own flavor to the battle by wrapping Washout's ice spikes in magnetic fields and pushing them deeper into the Hulk's cranium. The indigo man reeled from the attack thrust upon him.
“RWARR!! You would ruin my art!” Indigo Hulk screamed as he began to flail his arms wildly looking to smash into anything.
While this was happening, Sage was able to hack her way into the main computer system. Omega was standing guard behind her as she did it and asked, “So you figure out yet what the hell this thing is?”
“A chronal genetic scanner enhanced with terrasect technology that functions alongside sophisticated genetic engineering components. It is quite the machine, to be frank.”
Quire watched as his teammates battled the Hulk. ”Great. So how the hell do we shut this thing down?”
Sage's eyes narrowed. ”Someone already tried to and they were unsuccessful. Our odds are not much better with the immediate threat creating a limited amount of time to effectively engage in shutting the machine down.”
“So, basically, get the Hulk the fuck out of here?”
Sage nodded. ”That would be correct.”
Quire shrugged. ”Shouldn't be too much of a problem.”
Guys! Sage says we need to get the Hulk away from here. Slipstream teleport this guy somewhere he can't do any harm!
“My artwork will not be ruined! It will not!” the Hulk roared as one of his flailing arms hit Songbird's solid sound shield and sent her flying through the nearest wall. If he had hit her in the flesh she would just be a pile of meat.
Seeing the attack, Polaris became enraged. ”Do it now Slipstream!”
“Alright! Sheesh,” Slipstream said as he mentally formed a wormhole under the feet of the Indigo Hulk that sucked him in still shouting about the importance of his super art.
Polaris breathed a sigh of relief. ”So, where you dump him?”
“The Mariana Trench. I figured he would probably survive but it'd be a while before he gave anyone else anymore art lessons.”
Songbird walked back through the hole that the Hulk had created with her body. She wanted to give the monster a little payback, but that opportunity looked like it was going to have to wait till another day. For now she had Slipstream to blow some steam at. “Art lessons? Just stick to the teleporting, kid; comedy is not for you.”
“Least my comedy doesn't get me knocked through walls,” Slipstream said with a playful wink.
“Shut up, both of you. Sage, tell me what we’re looking at here, and in layman’s terms please,” Polaris said as she walked over to where Sage was still staring into a computer console.
“Imagine if Cerebro mated with a time machine. This machine has recorded DNA stretching back from ancient civilization to as far in the future as the year 4000, but this machine has actually recorded DNA along five different alternate timelines giving it a catalogue of literally billions of mutant DNA patterns,” Sage said as she typed in a few keys and on the large screen on the far side of the room popped up an image of Storm. “Much like Cerebro, this thing has recorded personal information, genetic information and even gives a detailed history on every mutant catalogued.”
“Holy shit! So that hairy lady we fought was probably some freaky mutant from the future,” Speedball said.
Sage shook her head. “No, not at all; she a genetic hybrid of Wolverine and Destiny, a mutant gifted with prophetic sight. In addition to all I just told you, this place is capable of recombining and creating entirely new mutants…up to nine-hundred ninety-eight when at full capacity.”
Thunderbird frowned. “This machine is far too dangerous. Whoever possesses it will be--”
“Extremely powerful and that’s why it is now the property of Genosha,” Polaris said. “Sage, do you think you can navigate this thing to the ground?”
“Shouldn’t be an issue, but we have another problem.”
Polaris remained silent and waited for an answer. Sage adjusted her glasses and pulled up on the large screen a blueprint of the structure they were in. It was far more immense on the inside than it looked from the out. There were hundreds of glowing red dots on the top floor. “That is where the mutants are actually produced. The Hulk unleashed two of them as a means of distracting us. There are four hundred seventy more due to be activated in five minutes and they’ve all been implanted with personalities that will make them hostile to mutants.”
Polaris groaned. She had thought the hard part was over. “Any way you can shut it down?”
“Only shut down method I’ve come across would reconstitute all the subjects back into proteins and enzymes. Essentially, spare parts.”
“We can’t do that!” Slipstream exclaimed. “That would kill all of them.”
“Thanks for stating the obvious,” Songbird said, “but the kid’s right. We can’t do that.”
“It’s too late. I’ve already started the process,” Sage said to the shocked and horrified looks of all her teammates. “I did what needed to be done. The rest of you would have argued and allowed nearly five hundred hostile and powerful mutants to tear through Genosha. I think the President will agree with my decision.”
Speedball flung one of his hands up at the roof. “What the hell, Sage! Those were people up there!”
“Be quiet, Robbie,” Polaris said in a voice harsher and colder than any of them were normally use to. Lorna turned to Sage. “I don’t appreciate what you did one bit. You don’t operate without my say so, is that clear? And you will be reprimanded for this.”
“Understood. I think given the circumstances, a reprimand would be far more desirable than dealing with a mutant army unleashed by outdated morals.”
X-Factor’s leader didn’t respond to the comment. “As it stands people we have a few unanswered questions…
“Who the hell was that we fought because it sure wasn’t the Hulk we knew?”
Jericho Drumm sat across from Pietro’s desk with concern on his face to match the annoyance on Pietro’s. “Mr. President, I am sorry that you were forced to deal with the Hulk issue. It is one that my team is currently trying to contain.”
Truthfully, Pietro didn’t even need the man’s apology. No damage had been done to his country, his men were relatively unscathed and he had gained quite the weapon. “It should have been handled sooner, Mr. Drumm. My people could have easily been hurt or killed by that rampaging madman! What the hell has happened to the Hulk?’
Jericho bit his bottom lip for a moment and said, “We believe that his personality has been fractured along color lines creating multiple Hulks that behave in ways we really can’t tell as of yet.”
Pietro pretended to not be floored. The idea of multiple Hulks running around was enough to send a normal person running and screaming into a titanium enforced bomb shelter. “Do you think you’ll be able to bring him together again?”
“Not sure as of yet, but we are working on it. Quite diligently.”
Standing up from his desk, Pietro reached out and shook Jericho’s hand. “Thank you for stopping by. I appreciate the explanation. My guards will show you out.”
“It’s been my pleasure, Mr. President.”
A few minutes passed before Amelia walked out of a side door to the right of Pietro’s office. “You think he’s being on the level with us?”
“Who cares? As long as the problem doesn’t find its way to my doorstep again, Genosha has gained a very powerful tool because of whoever did this to the Hulk. I want to hug them to be honest.”
Amelia wasn’t quite so enthusiastic. “We should be careful with that damn thing. I have a bad feeling about it.”
“Sando is analyzing it along with Sage very carefully. They’ll make sure all the bugs are out before it goes operational again.”
“I hope so. I don’t want that thing to bite us in the ass.”
“Who gave Hulk the resources to build the machine because I know he just didn’t pull it together from spare parts?”
“Master, it seems that the Indigo Hulk failed in his intended goal,” a jaguar/human hybrid said from behind his creator.
“I know, Jago. I felt his failure. Part of me sincerely hoped that his experiment would have succeeded. It would have been a great boon to the overall planet.”
Jago was always sad to see the master upset. “I think we should take back the machine master. Complete the experiment ourselves.”
“No, my friend, let the Genoshans have it. I think even in their possession the machine can still be of use to the greater planet. I know Pietro quite well. He’ll use it to its fullest potential one day and then a new power shall be born…something worthy of claiming the planet as its own.”
Jago smiled. “Let the Genoshans destroy themselves. Yes, an excellent idea sir.”
“But before that happens I think I shall entertain myself in their affairs. Pietro and I have a long-standing relationship. We will have much to talk about.”
The High Evolutionary walked away from Jago and went to ponder on things to come.
“Last but not least, who tried to shut down this machine before we did and why?”
DOWNLOAD 100% COMPLETE
The skinny, pencil-nosed African-American man pushed up his glasses and held his metallic clipboard close to him. “Dr. Palance, it’s a miracle our systems were able to store all of that information. Our work will be accelerated ten times faster now.”
“Far more than that, Dr. Keller, far more. We have just managed to copy one of most the comprehensive genetic databases ever conceived.”
Dr. Keller had been working with Dr. Palance for nearly three years and had never once really seen him express any real happiness. Now, the expression could hardly be wiped off of the man’s face. “So what’s our first step?”
“First step? Ha! We don’t have to think in such terms anymore my friend. Tonight, we begin the work that will lead to a new plague spreading across this planet, one that shall elevate humanity to a new height. It will be quite the pandemic.”
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
The End...
Previous Issue | Next Issue