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ANNUAL #1
JAN 11 |
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“Enter Weapon X”
Previously in X-Force: Emma and Logan have charged Alex Summer with leading a black ops team that would handle the threats to Xavier’s newfound mutant/human peace. They first faced down the dual threats of Selene and Dark Beast over Phalanx samples which alerted them to a high level black market dealer named Eric Adel. They tracked one of Adel’s connections, a new Genegineer, to Somalia where they encountered Ahab and his Pirate Crew. They had no success in finding Adel, but discovered Emplate had been there as well. X-Force dug further and found out Adel had dealings with AIM, which led to the discovery of a reborn Legion. All the while, Weapon X was waiting in the wings…
Mikhail sat at a decaying brown table buried in a bunker right outside of Moscow. The little shanty room was one of many safe houses that Rasputin’s mutant underground had dispersed throughout Russia. Originally, the underground engine was the handiwork of Blind Faith, but Mikhail had been passed the mantle. It wasn’t easy work, but it helped Mikhail forget wrongs he had done.
Seated across from him was a shivering middle-aged woman throwing back a bottle of vodka with another one on the table; some called the drink Russia’s water but Mikhail had lost is taste for it over the years. Besides, he didn’t need the alcohol to create an illusion of warmth. His mutant powers allowed him to alter the air molecules around his body to create a temperature pleasing to him.
The one lamp in the room shook as a car rushed by overhead. Mikhail ignored the ordinary disturbance and said, “We should receive word soon on whether Abel got them to Ukraine.”
‘Them’ were five mutant teenagers marked by the government for one of two things: recruitment or extermination, and Mikhail didn’t have time to figure out which it was. The files he had received from the KDF in exchange for the neogenics technology only listed names, not the intention behind them.
Mikhail’s lady friend stopped drinking and started carving into an apple. “You sound worried, comrade.”
“Not worried,” Rasputin sighed. “I just think that we are going to need more help shuttling people out. Genosha may be an option.”
“The land of stuck-up mutants, eh? I would rather us ship our cargo to France,” the woman said as she took another swig of her drink.
The door to the bunker swung open and a bald woman stepped in followed by a dangerously lively redhead. “France’s countryside is actually quite lovely in the summer. You should make the time to visit.”
Mikhail gulped at the sight of the two women…he had been dreading this moment for some time. Only a few days after foiling the Dark Beast’s plan to steal Phalanx samples, Mikhail was astrally approached by Cassandra Nova. She had threatened to destroy the Russian Mutant Underground if he didn’t give her the information she wanted about X-Force. He had wanted to tell Alex but he knew this woman’s type: she was dangerous and too deadly to not abide by. Mikhail hated what he was about to do.
He nodded at Cassandra and said, “What do you want, Nova?”
Cassandra pulled off her red scarf and set it on the table. “I have come for my pound of flesh, Mr. Rasputin. I want to know everything you know about X-Force, down to the minutest detail.”
Muir Island
Dr. Reyes’ Medical Office
Cecelia picked up the book from her duffle bag and passed it to Abyss. “This one is called Green Eggs and Ham.”
Nils took the thin book from the woman and his face contorted in a way no normal human’s couldn’t. “Seriously, Doc? Has anyone actually even eaten green eggs?”
Cecelia worked to keep a smile off her face. “You said you wanted to learn how to read. Well, I’m no teacher, but I can’t think of anything better to start off with than Dr. Seuss. It’s how my Dad got me to start reading.”
“And you were probably what? Five? I’m a grown man.”
She pulled up a stool next to Abyss and said, “Well, it’s not like we can start with Moby Dick.”
“Can we not talk about anything Ahab related?”
While in Somalia, the mutant had been injured by Ahab and was still sore from the attack. He didn’t like being trounced and he felt embarrassed that he had been hurt. The only consolation in it was that Pipeline had been hurt along with him, even though it was just a fraction of the pain that the Magistrate actually deserved. There were a lot of people that would have liked to have been notified of Pipeline’s injury. They probably would have celebrated it.
“You going to open the book or what, Nils? This is normally my private time and I—”
“Sorry, Doc, sorry…just got a little distracted,” Abyss said as he cracked open the book and tried to read the first page.
After a few long, frustrating minutes Abyss closed the book. “I just can’t concentrate. You must think I’m stupid.”
“No, I think you’re brave. I have relatives who can barely talk, let alone read, and they’re twice your age,” Dr. Reyes said as she took the book from Nils’ hands. “The fact that you want to do this says more about than you’ll ever know.”
Abyss felt a swell of confidence about what he was doing, but he knew he wouldn’t be able to continue unless he got recent events off his chest. He had wanted to tell someone before the New Mexico mission, but the time just never felt right. “There’s something I gotta tell you, Doc.”
“What?”
“I’m married,” Abyss said and, with a cartoonish grin, added, “with kids.”
Cecelia quickly pulled away the cup of coffee she was about to take a sip of. She was glad Abyss hadn’t waited a second longer. “Ok, Nils, you’re going to have to give me a really good explanation.”
“Selene and me have sort of been seeing each other. She cast a spell that took us into our own dream world where we stayed for a long time…a hundred years to us, but a few minutes to everyone else.”
“So, some sort of time compression?” Cecelia asked and Abyss nodded. He figured Doc Reyes knew what she was talking about. “I swear, ever since Drake walked into my life it’s been one crazy thing after another.”
“I wasn’t planning on it, but I love her, Doc.”
Cecelia wasn’t going to pretend that she could wrap her head around it, but she saw Abyss’ sincerity. “So…a century, huh? Why didn’t she teach you to read?”
“Kind of never came up. We were sort of busy.”
“You have just conjured images I rather not think about.”
“Not like that, Doc. We had a family, a big one.”
“Ok, so let me get this straight,” Cece said taking a sip from her coffee. “You and she were alone in your own fantasy world with your kids.”
“And grandkids and their kids. Things got crowded.”
Dr. Reyes tried to imagine Selene as motherly but, from everything she had heard about the woman, it wasn’t an easy visual. “So where are they now?”
“They who?”
“Your family; I know they just didn’t go poof,” Cecelia said, immediately regretting the statement. It was very likely they could have disappeared once the spell was over with. She crossed her fingers hoping that that wasn’t the case.
“They’re with Selene. She’s trying to figure out what to do with them.”
“I’m kind of scared to ask how many are there. What are you going to do about Alex?”
Abyss shrugged. “I don’t know. He’s going to probably kick me off the team.”
“Well, you can’t keep this a secret. If you love her then stand by it. I can tell you from experience that secrets like that just eat you alive.”
“I know. It’s just that I was finally starting to make friends—”
“Who’ll understand passion, love and family are not things to be ashamed of,” Cecelia said as she sat a hand atop Abyss’ cold one. “I wouldn’t mind a bit of that in my life. Medicine has been my only love for so long that…well, this isn’t about me. If Selene loves you then you love her, case closed.”
Abyss grinned and kissed Cecelia on the cheek. “Thanks, Doc. I needed that. Knew there was a reason I missed you so much.”
Holding up the Dr. Seuss book, Cece said, “Don’t think I forgot. You still owe me some pages.”
Weapon X Compound
4 Days Ago
Dikithi slithered across the cafeteria floor to Fatale’s table. “Is this seat taken?”
All alone, Fatale motioned a hand to the chair and continued eating. Dikithi pushed the chair out of the way and coiled his lower body so his body was condensed to the level of the table. “So, any pressing news?”
Across the room, Lady Deathstrike and Junta continued their flirty balancing act while Mr. X tried to impress them by slicing and dicing an apple into a hundred perfect little cubes. Kimura was chatting with Dark Beast about his latest work as they walked out the cafeteria.
Sure that everyone was busy, Fatale leaned in and said, “The big push is about to start.”
Dikithi returned the discretion and whispered, “Against the X-Men?”
“Yes, and it’s going to happen very soon.”
“You ready?”
Fatale smiled. “I’m always ready for a chance to gut Alex Summers.”
Muir Island
Abyss felt relieved that someone finally knew about him and Selene. It had been a burden on him for too long and he felt disloyal to his family for not telling someone about the life he had led. For a hundred years it had just been Selene, him and his family. No matter how much time had passed for everyone else, Abyss couldn’t discount that experience. He was happy to be back amongst familiar faces and he didn’t want to lose them, but he couldn’t be that cold. Not to his family, especially when he had lost his own when he was forced to become a Mutate.
The thought of his family lingered in his mind as he was walking back to his room. As fate would have it, Pipeline had just walked out of his room and saw Nils. “Abyss! Abyss!”
Nils turned around and upon seeing who it was, rolled his eyes. He had no great love for Pipeline because of the man’s role in supervising the Mutates of Genosha. His family connections had kept Pipeline from undergoing the Mutate process and being put in the Press Gang. He helped make sure that the oppressive regime of Genosha had remained in place; Pipeline claimed to have changed since then, but Abyss couldn’t buy it. Nor could he forgive him…at least not yet.
“What do you want, Cormic? I don’t feel like flinging insults today.”
Pipeline shook his head. “No insults, man, just wanted to talk to you.”
“Ok…” Abyss said letting the word hang there.
Clearing his throat, Pipeline said, “I know I’ve been a pain and I know you don’t much care for me, but I’m trying to do right.”
Nils folded his arms across his chest and scowled. “You got a long way to go.”
“I know, but I have to start somewhere. I been calling in some favors and I’ve found your family, Abyss.”
Abyss stiffened. He hadn’t seen his family in years. In fact, despite everyone’s perception being different, it had been over a hundred years for Nils. His memories of his family were so vague that he could pass by one of them on the street and not know it. Too much time had passed, but even that vagueness still tugged at his heart. He wanted to know his family and, eventually, he wanted his kids to know his family too. As awkward as that explanation was going to be, they deserved to know where they came from. He just never thought he would have that opportunity until now.
Seeing that Abyss was at a loss for words, Pipeline continued. “I did some research on them. They’re living in South Africa. Your Mom and brother have been there ever since Magneto came to power in Genosha.”
“What about my Dad?”
“He died of diabetes complications a few years back. I’m really sorry.”
Abyss sighed. “I never really knew him anyway, just little stuff. My powers manifested when I was five.”
“I’m sorry, man, about everything. I know that’ll never be enough, but—”
Abyss reached out and hugged the man he had spent so much time loathing. “It’s a start, Pipeline. I don’t know how I can thank you. You have no idea—”
“Don’t thank me, man. I owe you a lot more,” Pipeline said as he pulled from Abyss’ embrace. It made him uncomfortable and happy all at once. He reached into his jean pocket and pulled out a piece of paper. “This has their name and address and phone number. Hopefully you can get in touch with them.”
Taking the paper from him, Nils looked down at the names of his brother and mother. He smiled literally from ear to ear. “I can’t believe it. I never really thought I’d see them again.”
Pipeline stuck out a firm hand and said, “Least I could do.”
Abyss nodded, took the hand, and gave it a firm shake. “Friends?”
“Friends.”
Muir Island
Commons Area (Ten Minutes Later)
Nils walked into the commons area still looking down at the paper. In an instant, he almost wanted to forgive Pipeline for everything he had done. This was a gift that he could never repay. The only reason he didn’t call them right this instance was because of the fear in the back of his mind. What if his Mom and brother had moved on? What if they didn’t want to talk to him? He wasn’t sure if he could take that rejection.
Looking up from the paper, Abyss saw M filing her nails and watching Jersey Shore on the plasma screen TV. He laughed and said, “Even in high-def those guys don’t look any smarter.”
“I don’t watch them for their intelligence. Everyone needs a reminder of why they’re superior to the masses. This one is mine,” M said as she continued filing her nails. The file had to be specially made for her considering her super tough composition. She had answered Abyss as if he was just a wisp of wind that was going to quickly find its way out of the room.
“They need a mutant to help spice things up,” Abyss said.
M looked back at him with a vindictive smile. “You’d make a perfect candidate.”
“You know you could stand to be a little nicer. Like your boyfriend.”
M laughed. “Given how he treats you, darling, you should consider me for sainthood.”
Abyss smiled and plopped himself on the couch next to her. “Maybe yesterday, but not today; today he helped me find my family. He’s been looking for them for a while, I guess, and today he gave me my mom’s phone number and everything.”
“Guilt can make people do strange things,” M said as she sat down her file and started flipping through the channels. Jersey Shore lost its appeal if she was going to have to listen to Abyss chatter away in the background.
“I wouldn’t exactly call helping someone finding their family strange.”
“He had no obligation to help you or any other Mutate. His time in the Press Gang was necessary for his survival. Any one of you would have taken the opportunity to join it if given the chance.”
Abyss knew M was catty, but this was ridiculous. “Mutants were sheltered and treated like animals and you try to justify it?”
“Not justify, just being realistic about it,” M said as she stood up and walked over to the microwave not far from the TV. It had just beeped and she pulled out a TV dinner meal. She loathed the things, but the doctor hadn’t gone shopping and these were all that were left.
“Well, here’s a bit of realistic fact for ya: Pipeline can’t possibly like you for your personality. You’re as ugly on the inside as I am on the out.”
Sticking a plastic fork in the steaming meal, M said, “Ugly people just say that to make themselves feel better. Besides, you shouldn’t be so excited about meeting your mom.”
“Why the hell not?”
“Family is dangerous. They disappoint you, they use you, they hurt you,” M said, the last part of her warning spoken softer than the others. Thoughts of her time as Penance began to race through her mind. Her own brother had used her as food…
“I doubt my family is as fucked up as yours,” Abyss said as he got off the couch and stomped out of the room.
M shrugged and commenced to eating her meal.
Muir Island
Gym
Havok ran a good even pace on the treadmill. He was running at a 6:30 minute mile and was going to attempt to keep that pace for six miles. It would hopefully be enough to exhaust him for the day. He had too many things on his mind, things that no one on his team knew about and if he let himself get too bored those thoughts would never stop eating away at him. The deeds he had done before this team was formed and behind this team’s back were ever present in his mind. Work was the only way he knew to quiet them.
He was surprised when Abyss walked into the gym because the mutant’s physiology gave him a constant strength. Not being made of traditional muscle mass, Abyss couldn’t get any weaker nor could he get any stronger. He would always remain at the same level of physical strength so exercise was a futile thing for him. That could only mean he was looking for something else.
Slowing his run to a light jog, Havok said, “Something I can help you with?”
Appearing sheepish for a moment, Abyss finally asked, “Do you get along with your brother?”
It was an odd question that prompted an odd glance from Havok, but Alex knew Abyss wasn’t exactly the most normal of people, so he indulged it. “We’re not trying to kill each other, but I wouldn’t say we’re writing love letters. I know he cares about me, but we just clash.”
“Why?”
Havok slowed his pace down to a walk and wiped his forehead with his black towel. “We’re too much alike, I guess. He’s a damn good leader and I’ve always wanted to be respected like him.”
Just as innocently and honestly as a small child, Abyss said, “But you are a good leader, Havok.”
Alex smiled more than he would have liked to. “Well, thanks, Nils, I appreciate that.”
“So would you like to get along with your brother if you got the chance?”
“Yeah, I think I would but I don’t know if that’ll ever happen though. Guess I shouldn’t complain, though; as far as siblings go in Xavier’s world, me and Scott are actually pretty well off. Sometimes I just feel like Xavier stole him from me.”
“Maybe you should try, Alex. He might like it.”
If it was that easy Havok would have done it a long time ago, but Scott was set in his ways and, really, so was he. “The work we’re doing here is too important for me to worry about my personal life, but maybe one day.”
“I guess I’m asking because Pipeline did something for me today. He let me know where my family is living and I’m just scared how they might react to me.”
“Don’t be. Family is too important to be scared of it. Find them,” Havok said and, with a smile, added, “you might be surprised.”
Abyss come to me. Your family needs you.
Hearing the voice of his wife in his head, Abyss began to quickly back away from Havok. “Thanks for the advice. I appreciate it.”
Seeing the awkward turn, Havok put his lips to the side and said more than a bit confused, “No problem. Any time.”
When Abyss was out of the gym, Alex started back to his run. “Strange kid.”
Frost Biological Solutions HQ
“SHIELD could be a problem,” Christian Frost said to an audience of Damien Tryp, Emplate and Eli Bard in his private conference room. Not a single employee knew of its existence and it wasn’t in the building’s floor plans.
“What did they want?” Bard asked. He was garbed in an immaculate black suit that was more expensive than some cars. SHIELD made him nervous; they only got involved when they felt there was strong enough lead to work off of. How had Christian managed to draw attention to himself?
Christian saw Eli’s displeasure but didn’t flinch in the face of it. If you could look Winston Frost in the eye then everyone else was easy. “Bridge was asking about Dr. Ryan and he wanted to know about my dealings with you and Damien. Of course he had no warrant so he didn’t get answers. Still, I know he’ll be back.”
Tryp tapped his fingers lightly on the large oval oak table. “He’s fishing for something.”
“Because he has something he’s not sure what to do with,” Emplate said through his respirator. “We need to be careful in how we proceed with our plans.”
“Agreed. Bridge is a persistent bastard if nothing else,” Damien said. Singularity Securities had been scrutinized by nearly every law enforcement agency on the planet and he had encountered Nicky Fury and G.W. Bridge both at one point. There were enough veiled threats from the two of them to constitute a lawsuit.
Christian poured himself a glass of ice water and he took a sip before continuing. “He also wanted to know about the Crafter.”
“Then we, without a doubt, have a leak then,” Eli said as he twirled a pen between his fingers. “Our connection to the Crafter must not be discovered.”
“Frost brought this on us. If his sister wasn’t so prominent, SHIELD would never have paid us any attention,” Emplate said.
Eli sat his pen down and intertwined his hands. “If that’s the case then Bridge is only looking at us because he wants to find some way to put a dent in the X-Men’s new found popularity.”
“Let’s not assume anything,” Tryp said. “Our best course of action is clear.”
Frost felt that Emma was becoming a point too often hammered, especially since it had been Bard that had ordered him to make contact with her. They might have been able to buy themselves more time out of the spotlight if not for that. If Bridge was snooping around then the fault wasn’t with him. Damn what Emplate had to say about it anyway.
“I’m assuming you have an idea, Damien.”
“Of course. We simply give Bridge something else to pay attention to.”
Eli smiled. “A distraction. A simple plan not easily executed in this case.”
“If we put our minds together then I’m sure we can think of something.”
“What of your older counterpart?” Emplate asked.
Damien snorted. “His usefulness is starting to dwindle. We’ve changed the timeline too much.”
Eli waved a dismissive hand. “No matter…I believe I have an idea.”
Muir Island
Conference Room
Havok’s cell phone had alerted him to an incoming video call and he had sprinted to the conference room to catch it. Before switching the video on, he wiped the sweat off of his forehead with his towel. He hadn’t time to look to see who as calling and he wanted to look somewhat presentable, especially if it was Emma. That woman could find flaw in anything.
He was relieved to see the face of Mikhail Rasputin. “Hey! I haven’t heard from you lately. How goes things?”
“Well, comrade, very well,” Mikhail said. His face was pale and Alex noticed he was more tense than usual. “I have good news. My sources have discovered Adel’s next meeting location.”
Havok’s face beamed. “Damn good new, man! Send me what you got and we’ll pounce on it.”
Mikhail nodded. “Good, my friend. I hope you are able to apprehend him this time around.”
“You can bet on it,” Havok said as the video call came to an abrupt end. Alex just figured it was a power shortage on Mikhail’s end.
Halfway across the world, Mikhail felt sick. He was sending his friends right into a trap, and he had to do it with Cassandra Nova smiling behind him the entire time.
Muir Island
War Room
Havok sat at the intercom system in the team’s conference room of sorts. This was where they were briefed on their missions and where they discussed any major rumblings in the mutant world. Since X-Force was a covert unit that meant keeping abreast of all things current amongst mutantkind was of utmost importance. It would be impossible to move in the shadows without knowing the light that created it.
Leaning into the microphone, Havok said, “X-Force, may I have your attention.”
Abyss pulled away from the kiss of his wife and looked up at the corner of his ceiling. He turned back to Selene and said, “We’re going to have to do this later.”
“You need to tell them about us.”
“I will,” Abyss promised as he got up from the bed.
A mission has unexpectedly found its way to us.
M pushed her hair back into a ponytail and looked at the sweat glistening across Pipeline’s chest. This lovemaking session had been a particularly good one since Cormic had been on the sidelines for a while, and she’d wanted to make him feel better about how things had gone in New Mexico. Havok did not know her lover’s worth, but he would one day. She would see to it.
“Guess we better see what Alex is talking about,” Pipeline said as he searched the bed for his shirt.
It is a mission that I think will end our fight against Adel.
“Remember that your stance and good balance are two key elements to any type of hand to hand combat,” Shatterstar said as he walked out of the sparring room with Dr. Reyes. The two had recently started working together in improving the doctor’s combat ability.
“I’ll keep that in mind. Guess you should go see what your boss wants,” Cecelia said as she turned to walk back to her office.
“And you have been greatly improving, Doctor,” Shatterstar said before taking the opposite direction to the War Room.
So drop whatever you’re doing and report to the War Room now.
Madrox threw the last dart and struck a bull’s eye. He threw his hands up in celebration and stuck his tongue out at Marrow. “I win! HA!”
“Only because pretty pretty Havok wants us. Next time that dart will be up your ass,” Marrow said as she walked out of the room.
“So intel suggests that Adel is going to be hooking up with AIM again,” Havok said as a hologram of the globe appeared in the center of the table everyone was seated around. A tiny blinking, blue dot in central Africa indicated where they were likely headed. “Supposedly, he is going to be meeting with them in Chad. The objective here people is to capture Adel, dead or alive.”
Marrow didn’t wait to be asked for her opinion. “Why are we tracking down this petty human when McCoy is still out there?”
“And let’s not forget about the Genegineer,” Pipeline added. “The bastard is cutting up kids.”
“Don’t forget my brother,” M said. “He’s probably snacking on the ones that the Genegineer gets tired of.”
“And what about Eli Bard? Someone like him sitting out there getting stronger is not a good idea,” Abyss said.
Havok took in all the complaints. “I have a good answer for all of those: I believe every last one of those people are connected in some way to Adel, and I think if we can take him out of the picture things will start to become much clearer.”
M cut her eyes at Havok. “And what about AIM? What are we going to do about them?”
Alex knew why he was getting that stare and he was thankful M had enough tact to not lay out every gory detail in here. “We’ll handle them as we come across them. AIM is an organization recently on the rocks, so I don’t think we’ll need to do much to them.”
“I wondered how that came to be,” M muttered.
Ignoring the comment, Havok said, “We’re going to leave in three hours. Get some shut eye or do whatever you want. Just make sure you’re ready to leave by then.”
Weapon X Compound
Fatale could feel her team’s energy like an aura of brimming red violence. They had been operating in a restrained manner for too long and the moment was finally approaching when they would get to cut loose. The X-Men were the fattest buffalo in the herd and they were the lions about to feast on them, a meal that so long overdue was sure to build some excitement in the ranks. She was just happy that she was getting to see more than her fair share of it.
“If you don’t know already, our team’s target is Xavier’s little dirty secret, X-Force,” Fatale said, laughing inwardly at history repeating itself. Havok was always in the trenches of Xavier’s wars. She remembered vividly his time pretending to be a thrall of Dark Beast and, even though he had been undercover, Fatale knew Havok had enjoyed part of his time in the Brotherhood.
“Guess McCoy complained enough to Nova, huh?” Scalphunter said as he looked into the scope of one of his rifles.
Fatale smiled. “McCoy’s trouncing actually proved useful since X-Force revealed themselves to us without even knowing it. So we’re going to lure them into a trap.”
Frenzy burped and rubbed her stomach playfully. “So what are the mission objectives?”
Omega Red gave her a hearty smile while Fatale turned up her nose; she had watched Frenzy eat two Philly subs earlier and couldn’t imagine the burp smelling anything less than onions and methane. The lack of manners went hand in hand with Frenzy’s ‘take no prisoners’ attitude. Cargill didn’t give a damn what anyone thought about; Fatale could respect that, but it made her a wildcard.
“Our primary objective is the capture of Marrow. The Director has specific plans in mind for her. Everyone else needs to be dead,” Fatale said.
Omega Red snorted. “We should be able to kill Dark Beast’s little pet.”
“Agreed,” Fatale said, “but that’s not for us to decide. I want everyone to understand this though: Havok is mine and mine alone. No exceptions.”
Scalphunter slung his rifle over his shoulder. “I think Shatterstar might be interesting.”
Sauron, silent throughout the briefing, pulled his wings around him tighter than they already were. Fatale thought the behavior odd, but as long as Lykos did his job he wasn’t going to evaluate his mental state. She just needed him to draw blood.
Chad
A sequence of bright blue lights signaled the arrival of X-Force in the Central African country. The humidity of the Chad jungle was instantly felt by all of them, prompting M to tug at her shirt and say, “Perhaps we should have came with a little less attire.”
Marrow snickered. “Always trying to find a way to get out of your clothes.”
Abyss faked a gag. “It’s like breathing clouds.”
“Focus people,” Havok said as he began to push through the vines and brush in front of them. “We need to find this base Mikhail’s intel was talking about.”
Shatterstar unsheathed his swords and began to cut through the green foliage with expert ease. It would have been too easy for Havok to simply blow all out of this out of their way, but there was no telling what defenses AIM had, and they could easily have something involving their mutant nerve gas. He was still angry that they had not been able to stop AIM from getting their hands on that substance…the idea of such a weapon existing only made the job of X-Force that much more important. He could only hope they would get some more clues about it here.
After a few minutes of cutting, pulling, slashing and complaints from Jamie, they found themselves in front of what looked like it could have been some sort of clandestine base, except now it was covered in thick vines and what metal was visible was clearly rusted. Glass windows were blown out and the fence had been yanked down to the ground. Random bird nests were planted in the upper reaches of the building and there were a few burnt out cars placed around the circular complex. The worst indication of long term neglect was the bleached human skull right at the complex’s entrance.
“This place looks like it was attacked,” Madrox said.
“A long time ago,” Pipeline added.
Havok’s face immediately tightened into a scowl. “This can’t be right. Mikhail’s coordinates were right here. M and Blind Faith, scan for any life signs.”
Monet wanted to tell Havok a few choice words, but she knew the more she insulted him the more people would start to wonder what the source of the tension was. So she shouted a string of curses in her mind and closed her eyes. Alexi closed his eyes as well and the two telepaths searched the area for mental signatures outside of their own.
Blind Faith opened his eyes and said, “Nothing.”
Havok was disheartened. “Nothing?”
“That’s what he said,” M confirmed, “and he’s right. Not a single signature in the nearby vicinity.”
Madrox pushed his lips to one side and said, “Looks like Mikhail might have put us on a wild goose chase.”
Havok remained quiet for a minute and started shaking his head. “No…Mikhail’s intel isn’t wrong. Someone is trying to trick us. No way would AIM leave a base this intact. Even with the damage, someone could still come in and put it back online. No, we’re being tricked. Someone doesn’t want anyone to come in.”
“And let me guess?” Madrox groaned. “We’re going in.”
“You’re damn skippy,” Havok said as he pointed a finger at the building. “Adel is in there and I’m going to find him.”
Frenzy and Fatale watched from behind the vines and trees as X-Force walked into her ability. Fatale had a natural camouflage ability that she had learned to extend to a small radius around her, which allowed Cargill to share in the power. Frenzy couldn’t wait for the mutants to be out of hearing range. “Those idiots! Havok can’t be that desperate to nab this Adel guy.”
“Apparently he is,” Fatale smiled. “Let the hunt begin.”
Frost Biological Solutions
“The idea is to distract SHIELD correct?” Eli asked. “And if Bridge seems to have a problem with the X-Men’s newfound popularity then let us combine the two concepts to our favor.”
Before Bard could go any further, the door to the conference room opened and in walked two other members of the Coven. Brimstone Love was the first to walk in, given that his hulking size and large horns took up the whole length of the doorway and his long black cloak trailed behind him. Mr. M followed behind him; he was shirtless, glowing blue and wearing a Fedora hat. Eli laughed at him and said, “Did you really need to come in without a shirt?”
“Fine,” Absolon said as he manipulated the air molecules surrounding his body into a black a t-shirt. “Is that suitable enough for you?”
“It’ll do. You gentlemen have walked in at the perfect time; I was just about to outline my plan to get SHIELD off of our proverbial asses.”
Brimstone Love laughed and sat down at the chair specially made for him. “This should be interesting.”
“As I was saying, Assistant Director Bridge is suspicious of the X-Men’s new popularity. So let’s use that to distract him from us,” Bard said. “There is a very large attack about to take place on the X-Men.”
“From whom? The bastard running the Brotherhood?” Damien Tryp asked.
“No…not yet at least. This attack is coming courtesy of a newly reformed Weapon X Program. They’ve been waiting in the wings to attack and, through an informant of mine, I know that they’re about to attack soon.”
Tryp wasn’t making the connection. “So how is this going to help us with SHIELD?”
“I am aware of some of the Program’s objectives in this attack. One of these is kidnapping the member of X-Force known as Marrow. We can intercept Marrow after she is kidnapped, warp her mind to our own purposes, and unleash her as a weapon to discredit the X-Men.”
“Why Marrow? I’m sure there are other more famous X-Men we could pursue for such an attack?” Christian Frost asked.
Eli held up two fingers and said, “One, Marrow has been off the radar for a while and, given her history the X-Men, won’t immediately be suspected of mind control by either them or SHIELD. Two, X-Force has been in our way and this will keep them distracted as well.”
Brimstone Love leaned forward and said, “This plan all hinges on Weapon X actually being successful in their attack, something I’m not entirely sure they can be. The X-Men of my history were quite resilient.”
“That’s why with a bit of a push here and nudge there we’re going to make sure that Weapon X succeeds,” Bard said as he leaned back in his chair completely satisfied with his plan.
Chad
1st Floor Control Room
Havok looked around at all of the burnt out computers and said, “This doesn’t mean this base isn’t operational. Lower levels might actually be where the action is going on.”
“It would have to be,” Shatterstar said as he leaned down to look at one of the computers. “These are completely shot.”
Pipeline saw something underneath one of the turned over chairs and walked away from the group to check it out. He bent down and grabbed the all too familiar collar. “Well, that’s interesting.”
Alex walked over to Cormic and asked, “What?”
Holding up the yellow and red collar, Pipeline said, “This look familiar?”
Havok held the collar up against what little light was coming into the control room; the emergency lights for this facility were still on amazingly. “What the hell is this doing here?”
“A lot of tech from Genosha made it to Africa after the Magistrates abandoned ship,” Pipeline said. “I’m just a little worried it looks like AIM is interested in some of it.”
Abyss saw the collar and was instantly flooded with anger. “What the hell?!”
Havok shushed him and said, “We know, and all the more reason to keep looking around this place. Even if Adel isn’t here I want to know why the hell one of these is.”
“Can’t hurt to look around; it’s not like we sensed anyone in here,” Blind Faith said.
“That information is unreliable now if one of those is involved,” M said. “If they have these then it stands to reason there might be some psi-blockers in here as well. We could be walking into a trap.”
“Not scared are you, pretty pretty?” Marrow asked. The look she got from Monet made her time in this humid jungle worthwhile. She could never pass up a chance to knock the little princess down from her perch. “If you want, just teleport back; I doubt we need you anyway.”
“Leave it alone, Marrow,” Shatterstar said as he stepped between the two women. He cared nothing for Monet and her arrogance, but this wasn’t the time for taunting. X-Force needed to focus on the mission at hand. Genoshan tech being mixed in with AIM just added to his worry that the organization was going to make a major move against mutants.
Havok sat down the Genoshan collar on top of a computer and said, “We’re going to split up and cover this facility as quickly as possible and I want it done top to bottom. Something has got to be in here we can use to our advantage. Blind Faith, Marrow and Shatterstar will be one team; Pipeline, Abyss and Madrox will be another. That leaves me and M as the last group.”
“You always get the big, strong ones to cover you,” Madrox said. “First Guido, now her.”
Monet took a deep breath to keep her calm. She didn’t want to be alone with Havok, not after what had happened with Legion. The thought of being alone with Havok again made her more uncomfortable than she was willing to admit. Alex had roped her into doing something she’d never wanted to do. He had been able to read her better in that situation than even Emma could have. It was scary to be around somebody with that much power over you.
“Stay in communication, people, just in case this is a set-up,” Havok said.
1st Floor Cafeteria
Havok swung open the light metal door to the cafeteria, which was about the size of an average high school one. M kept her distance behind him with her arms folded across her chest, looking around the cafeteria and up at its roof. “I have no idea what you intend to find in here.”
“Might be something worthwhile if you got the stick out of your ass and actually helped me out.”
“Why don’t you just program me to help?” M shot back.
Havok stopped looking around and looked Monet square in the eyes. He knew the source of the woman’s animosity and he understood it, but there was a time and place for everything and a mission was not the place to air out personal grudges. “Look, Monet, I get you’re pissed with me, but we did the right thing. Turning Legion over to Xavier’s would have been a mistake.”
“How? They could have helped him.”
“Legion doesn’t want to be helped. He didn’t want to be helped in the past and I doubt he does now, especially with AIM merging all his personalities. A man like him is best used as a weapon. Let him give in to his nature.”
“Could you be any more of a classless jackass? Who are you to judge anyone’s nature?”
“I know exactly who I am,” Havok said. “That’s why I’m leading this team. Emma and Logan knew I could make the choices that needed to be made. And I thought you could too…that’s why I picked you.”
“I’m not some telepathic missile you can guide and shoot where you want.”
Havok threw back his head and laughed. “Trust me, woman, I’m not sure any man could direct you. I picked you because I thought you were like Emma: capable of doing what had to be done regardless of what it was that had to be done.”
M had always looked up to Frost and hated being called anything less than her. “There is a line, Havok. Everything has a line.”
“Turning a criminal against other criminals is the line for you? Are you sure you’re on the right team?” Havok asked.
M was about to respond but she immediately froze and signaled Havok to be quiet. I picked up on others in here, Alex, but for just a moment…
Before Alex could make a move to react, a swirling orange portal opened up on his side and a purple heel struck him across the side of his head. M was about to reach out for the offending leg when a fist smacked her across the back of the head and she went flying over Havok’s downed body, crashing into a round table. As she flew through the air, an electrically charged bullet struck her in the back. M cried out in pain as thousands of volts surged through her body and smoke came off of her sizzled skin as she lay there unconscious.
“C’mon, Havok, you can’t say hello?” Fatale asked as she lifted a disoriented Havok up by the collar of his uniform and tossed him into a molded refrigerator next to the food line.
He crashed into the refrigerator hard and slid down it. He tried to force himself to stand up, but Fatale stabbed one of her heels right through his shoulder and into the door. Alex cried out as pain ripped across his entire left side even as poison from Fatale’s heel immediately began to numb Havok’s body so he couldn’t move as he was kicked across the face again and again. When she was satisfied with the attack, Fatale bent down and spit in Havok’s face. “Long time no see, you bastard.”
2nd Floor Locker Room
“We don’t need the geezer with us,” Marrow said as she looked back at Blind Faith. He was a few feet behind them and cautiously scanning each row of lockers with a pistol in one hand. “We’d move faster without him.”
“Don’t be so quick to discount our priest, Marrow. He led a successful mutant underground for years,” Shatterstar replied. Blind Faith may not have been physically impressive but his mind was sharp enough to make up for it. “And Havok trusts him. That should be enough to for you.”
“Both of you shut up!” Blind Faith said. “I hear something.”
Marrow and Shatterstar went silent in an attempt to hear what Alexi had. They quickly picked up on it and began scanning the vicinity for its source. It was a whirring noise that was steady growing louder. Blind Faith put his pistol to his side and began looking through some of the rusted lockers. “This is strange. We should—”
Alexi’s advice was cut off as a neon blue spear exploded through one of the lockers and struck him in the shoulder. Metal shrapnel exploded in every direction and cut Blind Faith across his cheeks as he was lifted off his feet. The spear carried him through the air and painfully lodged him to one of the lockers and he whined as the weapon dug deeper into his flesh.
A terrible caw followed the attack on Blind Faith and Sauron leaped down from the roof on top of Marrow. The mutant’s wings wrapped tight around the Morlock and kept her from reaching a bone dagger and she screamed in frustration as the leathery flesh restrained her. Blind Faith’s attack had distracted her and made her easy pickings.
Shatterstar lifted up one of his swords to strike Sauron but a bullet shot the weapon out of his hand and the sword clinked across the concrete floor until it skidded to a stop. He turned his head to find the bullet’s origin and was nearly struck in the face by another bullet. Quickly jerking his head back, he was able to avoid it, but now he was pissed a he spotted a body moving between the lockers.
“Now you’re mine,” Shatterstar said as he leaped on top of one of the lockers. He hopped from locker to locker without making a sound, his hollow bones giving him an advantage in the arena of stealth. His opponent wouldn’t know he was above him until it was too late to do anything about it.
Blind Faith watched Shatterstar move away and tried to pull the spear from his shoulder. He damn near blacked out every time he tried and was scared too hard a yank would send him spiraling into an unconscious state. He closed his eyes and said, “Lord give me strength…they need me.”
2nd Floor Laboratory
Pipeline rummaged through a pile of burnt documents, reading a few here and there in search of useful information. He saw a few notes about projects involving locals, and anything that looked worthwhile he folded up and stuffed it into his pockets. Lately Havok was gobbling up whatever information he could get; if he could come across something useful then Alex might realize he was worth something on X-Force.
Abyss was opening up cabinets and drawers looking for something they could take back to Muir Island. “How the hell did technology from Genosha end up all the way out here anyway?”
“A lot of the Magistrates sold whatever they could for clothes and food,” Pipeline replied as he folded up another partially burnt piece of paper.
Nils didn’t respond. He felt absolutely no sympathy for the Magistrates or their families and felt they had gotten whatever was coming to them. Normally, he would have voiced that sentiment, but Pipeline had done him a tremendous favor. The least he owed him was silence today.
Madrox and five of his dupes were searching the area in much the same way as Abyss and Pipeline. All they were finding were broken beakers burnt papers, and busted computers. Jamie was pulling apart a tangle of wires and said, “I don’t think there’s shit in here. Whoever came through this base was on it.”
Suddenly a metallic tendril burst through the wires and wrapped around Jamie’s neck. He was lifted into the air and slammed into the roof. The other dupes were caught in similar predicaments as more tendrils ripped through the ground and started tossing them around like rag dolls. One dupe’s back was broken as it was slammed into a burnt out computer console. Another’s neck was snapped by the pure pressure of the coil wrapped around it.
“Holy shit,” Abyss said as he rushed to Pipeline’s side. “What do we do?”
The source of the coils exploded up from the ground behind the two mutants. Omega Red took advantage of the surprise by kicking Pipeline in the pelvis and choking Abyss. The Magistrate skidded across the ground and knocked the back of his head on a metal beam; the world began to spin around him as he tried to focus. Abyss and Madrox needed him to get up and help them.
“It is going to be fun popping you like a pimple,” Omega Red grinned as he tightened his grip on Abyss.
Nils was trying to respond to the Russian’s coils with his own custom tendrils, but he was horrified to realize he couldn’t access his powers.
Eliphas’ Dimension
Bard floated his hands above the torn picture of Abyss and said, “I bind you from your powers. Be crippled and broke. I bind you from your powers.”
He had pictures of other X-Force members but he had a special hate for Abyss. The ugly bastard thought he could steal the affections of Selene. He was Selene’s only love and that was the way it was always going to be. There was no one else who was going to have a say in the matter. He would see Selene burn in the fires of some hellish world before he let another love her.
Brimstone Love walked into Bard’s office without knocking and said, “We have Selene’s location.”
1st Floor Cafeteria
Alex lifted up his good arm and lobbed off a close range blast at Fatale. She rolled sideways and avoided the attack and his energy beam slammed into the far wall and shook the entire building. Havok’s solar charged metabolism was working the poison through his system so feeling was returning to his limbs and, as quickly as he could, Havok rose to his feet.
Fatale came back with a swift roundhouse and cut Havok across the cheek with her heel. A thin red line appeared on Havok’s face and the blood began to trickle down. She licked her lips, overjoyed at the success of her attack. Alex had this beat down coming after betraying the Dark Beast and her. She had actually trusted Havok when he was in the Brotherhood, and that fact made her angrier at him than anything else.
Touching his cheek, Havok said, “I don’t know what’s going on here, but I’ll be damned if I don’t find out.”
“Two words, sweetie: Weapon X.”
That was the last name Havok had expected to hear. He was familiar with the name for a number of reasons, but he thought the organization dismantled. Why were they here? He was almost positive Fatale wasn’t in charge so who was? And how had they found out about X-Force?
“Don’t look so confused. I’ll lay out everything before I kill you,” Fatale said as she charged.
Meanwhile, Frenzy had a gun loaded with titanium bullets aimed at an unconscious M’s head. She cocked the gun, put it out in front of her, closing one eye as she aimed it at M. “Sorry, cutie.”
M, hearing the parting words, woke up and grabbed a chair that she flung at Frenzy just as the gun went off. The chair deflected the bullet and M rose to her feet. Telepathically attacking Frenzy and Fatale was her first move, but they were too heavily psi-shielded; they probably didn’t even feel a tug. So, instead, she flew off the table she had been thrown onto and punched Frenzy on the chin.
The blow knocked her head back and sent her dreads flying in every direction, but she held her ground. Frenzy responded to M’s attack by wrapping her hand around M’s neck and body slamming her into the floor. Dust, plaster and tile flew into the air as M’s body created a crater in the floor. M reached up and grabbed Frenzy by her hair, pulling the Weapon X agent down and mashed her head into the floor. Frenzy flipped over and landed on her back.
Standing shakily to her feet, M grabbed a nearby table, lifted it high above her and slammed it repeatedly into Frenzy’s face. After a few dozen smashes, M tossed the table to the side and shook plaster out of her hair. M went to reach for Frenzy’s hair when the woman’s foot reared up and connected with M’s collarbone. Monet cried out as she was knocked back away from her opponent.
Frenzy got to her feet and wiped away the blood at the corners of her mouth even as a black eye was quickly forming on the right side of her face. She cracked her neck and said, “I always liked my pussy rough.”
M flew at the woman and they began to exchange a flurry of punches. It ended with Monet delivering a hard uppercut that lifted Frenzy off her feet and, before Cargill could make contact with the ground, M grabbed her dreads and flew up into the air. She slung Frenzy like a bat into the roof and then tossed her back into the ground like a bowling ball. Frenzy wasn’t getting up anytime soon.
Fatale did her best to not get distracted by Frenzy’s fight, keeping her focus on finishing off Havok. Alex tried to throw a punch, but she dodged it and flipped him over. He fired off a blast at her before he hit the ground, but Fatale flipped out of the way. Painfully, Havok got to his feet and lifted his injured arm to fire two blasts at Fatale. She danced between them like a ballerina, flipped forward and slashed Havok deep across the throat with her wrist blade. Alex doubled back from her and reached up to cover his throat; he could feel the blood squirting between his fingers.
M saw the attack and closed the gap between her and Fatale in seconds. She grabbed the wrist that had the offending blade and flung Fatale through the cafeteria’s doors. Normally, she would have thrown her heard enough to turn her bones to dust, but Frenzy had worn her out. It was Fatale’s lucky day.
“Alex!” M said as she rushed to a bleeding Havok. She could see that his skin was starting to lose its color.
Scooping him up in her arms, M activated her teleportation band and was gone.
2nd Floor Laboratory
Madrox tapped his ear communicator and said, “Guys! We got a big f’ing problem down here and its name is Omega Red!”
When he received no response he let loose a large volume of profanities. They had to have walked into a trap. Why else would Omega Red suddenly come in busting heads? And if the others weren’t responding then they were probably caught up in their own messes. He really felt like kicking Havok’s ass at the moment.
“Get back!” Madrox shouted as he pulled out one of his pistols and shot at the tendrils trying to ensnare him again. He had never known Omega Red’s coils to be this long and extensive. While he never personally encountered the guy, the government kept detailed files on other countries’ operatives, and Jamie had this nasty habit of snooping.
Pounding his chest three times, Madrox created additional dupes and pointed at Abyss. “Get to him! Now!”
He watched helplessly as the dupes tried to get to Abyss, but they were batted away by the tendrils of Omega Red that seemed to cover every corner of the room. Something about this just wasn’t sitting right with Madrox so, on a hunch, he put on his spectrum goggles. He worked his way through the various modes that Shatterstar had put into the goggles before stopping on infrared. Clear as day, he now saw the source of many of the tendrils: there were invisible orbs placed throughout the laboratory that were the source of the coils whipping his dupes’ ass.
Taking the rifle from his back, Madrox split himself into seven more dupes. With their newfound sight, they started to shoot down the orbs creating the endless supply of metal vines. It wouldn’t be long before they could get to Abyss.
One of the dupes ducked under a coil as it whipped past its head, then he shot his pistol at one of the orbs and shattered it. The coils attached to the orb straightened out and shot off like missiles. One struck Madrox’s dupe in the shoulder and ripped clean through him. The same effect was repeated every time one of the tendril spewing orbs were destroyed, leaving dupes strewn across the laboratory, injured and dead. The main Madrox had avoided injury and moved in to help a gagging Abyss.
Omega Red moved his face close to Abyss’ and the Genoshan could smell Arkady’s breathe. “What’s wrong, comrade? No fight in you?”
Abyss was too busy struggling for air to muster a response. He couldn’t access his powers and he knew exactly why. In the century that he had spent with Selene, she had never once taught him magic. He asked one time and her raging response was his cue to never ask again. Eliphas had scarred her too deeply he supposed, but she did impart one lesson on him. She taught him how to sense when the magical arts were present and, right now, that energy was all over him. Someone was using magic to prevent him from accessing his powers. But who? And why?
“A pity you have no fight in you,” Omega Red said as one of his tendrils inched towards Abyss’ back.
Pipeline finally woke up from the hard impact he had been given from Omega Red’s kick. He shook his head to clear his starry vision and checked his right thigh to make sure his energy rifle was still in its harness. Thankful that it still was, Pipeline was about to rise to his feet but found himself still dizzy. Sliding back down to the floor, he saw Abyss still locked in Omega Red’s death grip.
Cormic watched helplessly as one of Omega Red’s tendrils arced high into the air, thrust towards Abyss’ back and ripped straight through his chest. Abyss gave a silent, painful cry as his body shook and his head looked up towards the roof.
Pipeline jumped to his feet and screamed, “NOO!!!”
He stretched out his hand and immediately used his mutant ability to digitize Omega Red. He used his unique form of teleportation to hurl Omega Red to the other side of the room. Pipeline’s power had the effect of disorienting its target, so a dozen Madrox dupes were able to begin unloading their weapons on a confused Omega Red, and the Russian could slowly feel the bullets banging and chipping away at his armor.
Pipeline ran to Abyss and scooped the bloody mutant into his arms. Red liquid was rushing across Cormic’s hands and forearms. He looked in the direction of Madrox and said, “Find the others and get the hell out of here!”
With that he teleported away, hoping he could save his injured teammate.
2nd Floor Locker Room
Sauron expanded his wings and dropped a nearly suffocated Marrow to the ground. She was gasping and wheezing for air. Cawing at nothing in particular, Sauron then turned his attention to the trapped and bleeding Blind Faith. This was one of the mutants he didn’t have to keep alive.
“I shall feast on you, old man, and make you my scream before all is over,” Sauron said as he moved closer to Alexi.
Alexi was pale from blood loss but he still had the good sense to know when someone was going to try to claw his face off. Gripping something behind him, he waited until the pterodactyl man was only a few feet away. Sauron expanded his arms outward and was about to rip his claws into Blind Faith’s face when the priest brandished a gun. With a vengeful squeeze of his finger, he unloaded six bullets right into Sauron’s face. Chunks of beak and flesh flew in every direction as Sauron gave an inaudible scream.
Blind Faith was too weak to curse the mutant as he fell to the ground. He watched with delirious curiosity as Sauron began to revert back to his human form. Alexi didn’t know if the man was still hostile or not and he didn’t care. If he had had more bullets in his gun he would have finished the job, but all he could hope was that Sauron stayed down.
Marrow, finally breathing normally, stood to her feet and looked at Blind Faith. Her voice was coarse as she said, “Old man, you have some balls.”
“Just get me out of here,” Alexi said, unable to even lift a hand to tug at the spear trapping him.
Marrow nodded and moved to put two hands around the weapon. She tugged and Blind Faith screamed like a wounded animal. Fortunately, screams didn’t bother Sarah; she had known them all her life while growing up on the Hill, but she knew when she wasn’t succeeding. Stopping her tugging, she looked down at the entry wound and said, “I think this tool is fused to your skin, upworlder.”
“Father help me,” Alexi said before finally passing out.
Shatterstar heard the gunfire delivered by Blind Faith, but he couldn’t respond to it. He was on the hunt for whoever was ducking and dodging through the lockers. It was obvious that his opponent was on the hunt for him as well or he would have been helping Sauron. ‘Star wished he could have made time to skewer that coward in particular, as he freshly remembered that monster’s attack on Sam with the original X-Force.
Leaping across the lockers almost silently, Shatterstar finally caught sight of his prey and he held his breath and moved to pounce on the man but, at the last second, Scalphunter spun around and shot his rifle off. Twisting his body, Shatterstar narrowly missed the bullet as it whizzed past him. He planted his food on the back of a locker for leverage and pushed off it. In mid-air, he did a roundhouse that connected with Scalphunter’s jaw. The attack caused the Weapon X agent to lose control of his rifle.
“Bastard,” Scalphunter cursed as he spit blood from his mouth. He quickly rose off the floor and avoided one of Shatterstar’s swords by inches, though he sound of it cracking through the concrete resonated in Greycrow’s ear. He was starting to think that he had bit off more than he could chew.
Using parts hanging from his belt, Scalphunter assembled a shotgun with inhuman speed and took aim at a charging Shatterstar. He ducked behind a locker after the shot so he didn’t see ‘Star deflect the slug load with his sword. Greycrow began to move towards the exit because it was now evident he was going to need help. While cutting through the lockers his only thought was that he hoped his teammates hadn’t encountered opposition this tough. Otherwise…
The thought distracted him and didn’t allow him to prepare for Shatterstar’s shoulder slamming into him. Greycrow flew into a locker and his head was ringing from the impact. ‘Star was only seconds away from cutting right through Scalphunter’s stomach and impending death gave Greycrow a second wind. He pulled a taser out of his back pocket and used it to strike ‘Star in the chest.
Voltage surged through Shatterstar and his weapons only helped in speeding along the task. He fell to the ground unconscious, smelling of burnt skin and hair.
Muir Island Infirmary
Bright blue light signaled the arrival of Pipeline and a very injured Abyss. Cormic frantically rushed Nils to a bed and yelled, “Doc! Doc!”
Cecelia bust into the room already garbed in blue scrubs and a face mask. Her hair was pulled back and tucked under a shower cap. On her hands were plastic glove already tainted with blood. She quickly saw Abyss and pushed past Pipeline. “Madre de Dios! What the hell happened?”
“We were ambushed. Walked straight into a trap.”
Now that Doc was out of the way, Cormic was able to see Alex on another be in another room. All the anger he had felt at Havok in recent days vanished and he was now filled with dread. Rushing into the room, he saw a large white bandage wrapped around Havok’s neck that was spotted with red. His eyes were shut, but at least he was breathing normally.
“Cormic? Are you alright?” M yelled as she saw the blood covering her lover.
“I’m ok,” Pipeline said as he received an unexpected hug from M.
Monet pulled back from Cormic and said, “Then who…”
Her eyes followed his and they saw Cecelia desperately working Abyss. Monet covered her mouth and silently mouthed the words, “Oh no...”
“The bastards, whoever they are, nailed us,” Pipeline said as he tightened his fists.
“I know exactly who they are, I heard Fatale tell Alex. This is an attack from a revived Weapon X Program.”
Pipeline didn’t know much about the organization but he’d heard rumors. Supposedly, it cranked out mutant super soldiers. “We have to get the others out before this gets worse.”
“You’re right,” M said as she tried to activate her teleportation band. She tried it a few more times before saying, “It’s not working.”
Cormic’s anger grew. “Mine either. This has got to be deliberate.”
“Do you think the others are hurt?”
Pipeline shook his head. “I don’t know. ‘Star I’m not so much worried about but Marrow is a hothead.”
“And Blind Faith is physically vulnerable.”
“There’s just one thing I don’t get,” Pipeline said as he looked back to Doc.
“What?”
“Why the hell didn’t Abyss use his powers?”
2nd Floor Locker Room
“That was close,” Scalphunter said to himself as he stood over an unconscious Shatterstar. He pulled out a pistol and aimed it at ‘Star’s head. It was a shame the guy didn’t get to go out in a blaze of glory, but Greycrow had no problem admitting that he was shameless.
“Not close enough,” Shatterstar said as he flipped forward, his ankle knocking the pistol out of Scalphunter’s hand. Coming back to his feet, ‘Star delivered a swift kick across Greycrow’s face with blinding speed. He watched Scalphunter twist through the air and smack his face across one of the benches.
Shatterstar picked his swords up and moved in to finish off Scalphunter. Out of his ear, he heard the rushing of feet too loud to be an average person. Leaping into the air, he gracefully dodged a punch from a sprinting Frenzy. He smiled as Frenzy clumsily tripped over Greycrow and crashed head first through a locker.
That smile quickly turned to shock as a circular, golden portal opened up on Shatterstar’s right side. He tried to turn in mid-air to face whatever was about to come through the portal, but was unable to avoid the mid-air collision. The razor sharp heels of Fatale dug into his shoulders and she had a malicious smile on her face the entire time as they went down. When the two mutants crashed hard into the concrete floor, Fatale’s heels only dug in deeper. Shatterstar gritted his teeth to keep from crying out in pain.
Fatale raised her wrist blade in the air. “This isn’t Alex, but it’ll have to do.”
Scalphunter saw what was coming at his squad leader from a distance and said, “Watch out!”
He ran forward, knocked Fatale off of Shatterstar and narrowly missed a bone dagger stabbing through his head. Frenzy picked the bone dagger out of the wall and turned it to dust in her hand.
Marrow was standing before the three mutants, twirling bone daggers in her hands. “If you’re really looking for someone to cut, try me. I think it’s kinky.”
Fatale was helped to her feet by Scalphunter. “Just the mutant mutt we were looking for. The Dark Beast wants to have a talk with you.”
“He’s going to have to wait a long time for that,” Marrow said, crouching down like a predator ready to leap.
Scalphunter loaded his shotgun. “Your friends aren’t coming for you. I made sure of that.”
Marrow’s eyes narrowed in rage as the three Weapon X agents charged.
Muir Island
Shatterstar woke up to a bright light hanging over his head. He tried to sit up but it was too painful; Fatale’s heels had cut him deeper than he wanted to admit. Standing over him was Pipeline, who put a restful hand on his chest. “Take it easy, buddy. You kind of took a beating there.”
‘Star turned his head to the right to see Blind Faith next to him with a large series of bandages wrapped around his shoulder. Leaning his head back on his pillow, Shatterstar asked, “What happened?”
“Madrox found the two of you, but no Marrow. We searched that place up and down.”
“Why would they take her?” Shatterstar groaned. “How’re Havok and M? Where’s Abyss?”
Pipeline took a deep breath. “You might want to lay back for this man.”
45 Minutes Earlier
Cecelia pressed the defibrillator against Abyss’ chest and yelled “Clear!”
The flat line was still staring in her in the face like a taunting monster. She charged the machine up again and pressed it to Abyss’ chest. “Clear!”
No change.
She started to press her hands against the man’s chest and began to press furiously. “Breathe, dammit! Breathe, Nils!”
Cecelia looked back to M and said, “Tell him to breathe!”
M fought back the tears she wanted to cry. “I already tried, Cecelia. He’s gone…”
Cecelia shook her head and picked up the defibrillator again. “No! No, he’s not!”
Present
“She kept on like that for twenty minutes before she finally stopped,” Pipeline said. “Omega Red’s attack was just too massive to Abyss’ system.”
Shatterstar threw his head back on his pillow and let loose a guttural roar. “I swear to you, Cormic, I will have vengeance.”
Pipeline patted Shatterstar’s wrist. “I know a few other people who might want a part of that party.”
Frost Biological Solutions
Eli toasted a glass of wine with Frost. “My interference has led to the death of that bastard Abyss.”
“And you are sure X-Force will never be able to discover that you were at the source of it?” Christian asked. He knew the X-Men were a large family and it would not take kindly to one of their own being struck down.
“I never say never, Christian, but the chances are slim. Besides, no one has the right to love Selene but me. I hope that bastard realizes that now as he burns in hell.”
“And what of Marrow? Are you still sending Ahab?”
Eli shook his head. “No, I have changed my mind in that regard. We’ll concoct some other plan to draw away the attention of S.H.I.E.L.D., my friend. Using Marrow may alert them to our role in Abyss’ death.”
Christian couldn’t help but wonder if the whole plan had been a ruse from the start to allow Eli to cement his revenge against the man who would claim Selene’s heart.
Weapon X Compound
Director Nova’s Office
“You have done exceedingly well, Fatale. Though there was only one fatality, you accomplished the main goal; I think McCoy will be quite happy to have Marrow in his possession.”
“Thank you, Director. We did our best,” Fatale said.
Nova nodded as she finished typing up a report summing up Fatale’s mission. “Of course you did, darling. That is why I want you to come with me on a personal mission of my own.”
“Of course, Director. May I ask what are we doing?”
“Paying my dear brother Charles a personal visit; it’s time he pays the piper.” Nova smiled like an old lady buying cookies from a Girl Scout.
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To Be Continued...
Next: In X-Force #16: The team is obviously reeling from the loss of Abyss and Marrow’s kidnapping, but who will fill in the gaps left by the two of them? Havok isn’t going to see eye to eye with Emma and Wolverine on who to choose.
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