They are former members of the New Mutants and X-Force.
Now, following the death of Professor Charles Xavier, they have chosen to follow a different path--Magneto's path.
Now, following the death of Professor Charles Xavier, they have chosen to follow a different path--Magneto's path.
Genosha. A small island-nation off the coast of Africa. The country was once the envy of the world, but Genosha held a secret--it was built on the backs of mutant slaves called mutates. After the X-Men, X-Factor, and New Mutants caused a ruckus in Genosha,* the country began to change its methods. This resulted in a civil war between the now-independent mutates and the former oppressors, the magistrates, a situation further inflamed by Cortez attempting to rule the country, and later Exodus.**
[*The X-Tinction Agenda **Bloodties--Dino]
Recently, Erik Magnus Lehnsherr, the mutant known as Magneto, was thought to be de-aged with no memory of his past, and calling himself Joseph. Joseph turned out to be a clone of Magneto, a fact which was revealed when Magneto made his return, demanding control over a country by threatening the world. The UN complied with his demands, and ceded him control over Genosha.*
[*The Magneto War--Dino again[
Now, although the magistrates continue to try and reclaim their land, Magneto has far exceeded the UN's expectations of him. Genosha's laws, dubbed the "Word of Magnus." is enforced by the Acolytes, the fanatical followers of Magneto.
However, Magneto has recently acquired a second team of mutants. They are former followers of Xavier's dream, former members of the mutant strike team called X-Force. Now, they go by another name: the Fallen Angels.
"If I may be so blunt, Magneto, what's the purpose of this exercise?"
"You have a lot of courage to question me in such a tone, Amelia," Magneto replied, turning to face Amelia Voght, the field commander of the Acolytes.
"I've always been a gutsy kind of gal," she replied. Magneto grinned at her response. His other Acolytes thought of him as a messiah. But Amelia was different. She respected him and believed in his dream, but she didn't worship him as a god. It was nice to know that there was someone close to him whom he could connect with.
"The purpose is to discover who is best fit to be the leader of the Fallen Angels," Magneto stated.
"Shatterstar seems to have the most battle experience," Amelia noted. "He's a warrior, born and bred."
"True, but I am not simply looking for a warrior to lead this team," Magneto retorted. "If I was, then Unuscione or Cargil would be leading the Acolytes as opposed to you. I make my decisions on many factors, Amelia. The main reason you were chosen was due to your leadership qualities. As well as the fact that, as you put it, you've always been a 'gutsy kind of gal.'"
Amelia stifled a slight chuckle. For some reason, she felt comfortable around Magneto. Most people, the Acolytes included, would be filled with fear. But, Amelia was different. Magneto was a strong, passionate man, and she found herself very comfortable around men like that.
"So, any thoughts on the outcome?" she asked, breaking the air of silence.
"I will keep them to myself for now," Magneto replied. Despite the fact that he was a lot more comfortable with Amelia than with the other Acolytes, he still didn't trust completely. After all, you have to keep some things to yourself.
*****
The battle was opened when Tabitha Smith, called Meltdown, hurled a plasma time bomb into the center. Roberto DaCosta, Sunspot, replied by unleashing a solar blast at his teammate.
Sunspot looked around, analyzing his competition. Maria Calla-Santos, Feral was the most dangerous, due to her extremely blood-thirsty nature. There was also Benjamin Russel, Shatterstar, a born warrior. Those two needed to be taken out first.
Drawing as much solar energy as he could, he unleased a barrage of energy blasts at Feral. He was greeted by another of Meltdown's time bombs.
"Sorry 'bout that, Bobby," she said. "But no way can I keep you up a--"
Meltdown was cut-off as the ground began to shake, courtesy of the team's walking earthquake: Julio-Estaben Richter, known as Rictor.
"Watch your back, Tabitha!!" Ric exclaimed.
"Thanks for the assist, Ric," Sunspot stated as he downed Meltdown with a solar blast. "And sorry about this."
"Sorry about what?"
Before Sunspot could (or would have) answered, he immediately lowered his descent at a rapid rate, slamming his legs into Rictor's chest.
*****
"Surrender, beast!!" Shatterstar ordered, slashing Feral's abdomen with one of his swords.
"Hey!!" Feral exclaimed, using her claws to scratch his face. "Watch where yer pointin' that thing!!"
"Perhaps it's time you paid more attention to the other details besides my swords," Shatterstar retorted, executing a flawless roundhouse kick. "Like where my feet are!!"
Feral went flying and struck the hard, metal wall of the training room. She slowly got to her feet, to find Shatterstar advancing on her. She saw something streak behind him, coming up fast. And then, Sunspot rammed into him.
"Sorry about the sucker-punch, 'Star," Sunspot said. "But sometimes, these things are necessary."
Feral slowly got up, staying as low as possible to the ground. Then, his hands began to glow, seconds before a solar blast struck her in the chest.
"Can't have that, Feral," he muttered, as he delivered another blast to take Shatterstar out of the picture. Then, it took a simple punch to finish off Feral.
*****
"Well, it looks like Sunspot's the victor," Amelia noted, looking at Magneto.
"I see that..." Magneto stated. "I half-expected Shatterstar to take him out. But, it turns out Roberto has grown much more powerful since he was a New Mutant."
The windows of the observation room (lined with metal, of course) began to slide apart, allowing a passage for Magneto to hover down to face the Fallen Angels. Amelia met him down there by using her mutant ability to teleport from one location to another.
"You all performed well in the simulation," Magneto began. "Yet, this battle was not only to test your capabilities, but to discover who the leader should be. And now, I've decided that Sunspot is best-qualified."
There didn't seem to be any conflict with Magneto's decision. After their battle with X-Force,* they had suspected that Sunspot was the leader. Only now was it made official.
[*X-Force #2--Dino]
"Now then, it's time for your first mission," he began. "You must travel to South America to find a young girl."
NEXT ISSUE: Enter--the Three!
[*The X-Tinction Agenda **Bloodties--Dino]
Recently, Erik Magnus Lehnsherr, the mutant known as Magneto, was thought to be de-aged with no memory of his past, and calling himself Joseph. Joseph turned out to be a clone of Magneto, a fact which was revealed when Magneto made his return, demanding control over a country by threatening the world. The UN complied with his demands, and ceded him control over Genosha.*
[*The Magneto War--Dino again[
Now, although the magistrates continue to try and reclaim their land, Magneto has far exceeded the UN's expectations of him. Genosha's laws, dubbed the "Word of Magnus." is enforced by the Acolytes, the fanatical followers of Magneto.
However, Magneto has recently acquired a second team of mutants. They are former followers of Xavier's dream, former members of the mutant strike team called X-Force. Now, they go by another name: the Fallen Angels.
"If I may be so blunt, Magneto, what's the purpose of this exercise?"
"You have a lot of courage to question me in such a tone, Amelia," Magneto replied, turning to face Amelia Voght, the field commander of the Acolytes.
"I've always been a gutsy kind of gal," she replied. Magneto grinned at her response. His other Acolytes thought of him as a messiah. But Amelia was different. She respected him and believed in his dream, but she didn't worship him as a god. It was nice to know that there was someone close to him whom he could connect with.
"The purpose is to discover who is best fit to be the leader of the Fallen Angels," Magneto stated.
"Shatterstar seems to have the most battle experience," Amelia noted. "He's a warrior, born and bred."
"True, but I am not simply looking for a warrior to lead this team," Magneto retorted. "If I was, then Unuscione or Cargil would be leading the Acolytes as opposed to you. I make my decisions on many factors, Amelia. The main reason you were chosen was due to your leadership qualities. As well as the fact that, as you put it, you've always been a 'gutsy kind of gal.'"
Amelia stifled a slight chuckle. For some reason, she felt comfortable around Magneto. Most people, the Acolytes included, would be filled with fear. But, Amelia was different. Magneto was a strong, passionate man, and she found herself very comfortable around men like that.
"So, any thoughts on the outcome?" she asked, breaking the air of silence.
"I will keep them to myself for now," Magneto replied. Despite the fact that he was a lot more comfortable with Amelia than with the other Acolytes, he still didn't trust completely. After all, you have to keep some things to yourself.
*****
The battle was opened when Tabitha Smith, called Meltdown, hurled a plasma time bomb into the center. Roberto DaCosta, Sunspot, replied by unleashing a solar blast at his teammate.
Sunspot looked around, analyzing his competition. Maria Calla-Santos, Feral was the most dangerous, due to her extremely blood-thirsty nature. There was also Benjamin Russel, Shatterstar, a born warrior. Those two needed to be taken out first.
Drawing as much solar energy as he could, he unleased a barrage of energy blasts at Feral. He was greeted by another of Meltdown's time bombs.
"Sorry 'bout that, Bobby," she said. "But no way can I keep you up a--"
Meltdown was cut-off as the ground began to shake, courtesy of the team's walking earthquake: Julio-Estaben Richter, known as Rictor.
"Watch your back, Tabitha!!" Ric exclaimed.
"Thanks for the assist, Ric," Sunspot stated as he downed Meltdown with a solar blast. "And sorry about this."
"Sorry about what?"
Before Sunspot could (or would have) answered, he immediately lowered his descent at a rapid rate, slamming his legs into Rictor's chest.
*****
"Surrender, beast!!" Shatterstar ordered, slashing Feral's abdomen with one of his swords.
"Hey!!" Feral exclaimed, using her claws to scratch his face. "Watch where yer pointin' that thing!!"
"Perhaps it's time you paid more attention to the other details besides my swords," Shatterstar retorted, executing a flawless roundhouse kick. "Like where my feet are!!"
Feral went flying and struck the hard, metal wall of the training room. She slowly got to her feet, to find Shatterstar advancing on her. She saw something streak behind him, coming up fast. And then, Sunspot rammed into him.
"Sorry about the sucker-punch, 'Star," Sunspot said. "But sometimes, these things are necessary."
Feral slowly got up, staying as low as possible to the ground. Then, his hands began to glow, seconds before a solar blast struck her in the chest.
"Can't have that, Feral," he muttered, as he delivered another blast to take Shatterstar out of the picture. Then, it took a simple punch to finish off Feral.
*****
"Well, it looks like Sunspot's the victor," Amelia noted, looking at Magneto.
"I see that..." Magneto stated. "I half-expected Shatterstar to take him out. But, it turns out Roberto has grown much more powerful since he was a New Mutant."
The windows of the observation room (lined with metal, of course) began to slide apart, allowing a passage for Magneto to hover down to face the Fallen Angels. Amelia met him down there by using her mutant ability to teleport from one location to another.
"You all performed well in the simulation," Magneto began. "Yet, this battle was not only to test your capabilities, but to discover who the leader should be. And now, I've decided that Sunspot is best-qualified."
There didn't seem to be any conflict with Magneto's decision. After their battle with X-Force,* they had suspected that Sunspot was the leader. Only now was it made official.
[*X-Force #2--Dino]
"Now then, it's time for your first mission," he began. "You must travel to South America to find a young girl."
NEXT ISSUE: Enter--the Three!