Back to Gatefold#26 - "The Price of Past Sins - Part II"
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"President Mbeki it is my pleasure to be in your country. It is quite beautiful here. I wish I would have seen it far earlier in my life," Gamemaster said as he walked into the office of South Africa's leader.
"It is a pleasure to have you hear. Genosha and my country have never been the best of friends, but it is my hope that we can build new bridges. Please take a seat," President Mbeki said as he offered Gamemaster a chair.
Sitting down Gamemaster looked around at the pictures of various apartheid heroes in the country. Nelson Mandela had one of the most prominent pictures in the office, "Oh we will most definitely have opportunities to build bridges. I have an offer of great potential for you."
"I like the sound of this Gamemaster. Tell me more of it," President Mbeki said as he pulled out a glass of wine and passed the omnipath a cup of it.
"Angola, Cameroon, Senegal and other countries have already signed onto a treaty that Genosha has drafted up. It promises security and peace between all its members with Genosha furnishing out many, many benefits to its allies," Gamemaster explained as he took a sip of the aged liquid.
Rubbing his thinning gray beard the President laughed, "My friend you must tell me more."
ChinaThe Chinese Republican Patrol would become the pride of their country. Especially if their leader, Er Lang, had anything to say about the matter. His people had been in dire need of a hero after the vicious murder of Collective Man by the hands of the Genoshans. He was not near as strong as the legendary hero, but his strength was enough. Er Lang would see his team regain his country's honor.
The short man who bore a striking resemblance to the video game character, Lui Kang, twirled his energy baton. Er Lang was anticipating the attack of one of his teammates, Mu King. Mu King was one twin in the Republican Patrol. His brother was Mu Gong and they both looked like a young Shang Tsung. King had immensely powerful fire abilities and Gong was gifted with immortality. The two worked together better than anyone else on the team and Er Lang was trying to break their mold. He wanted all of his team to share the same level of teamwork like the two brothers.
Continuing to twirl his baton Er Lang charged forward at Mu King without the least bit of fear. He had told his team member not to hold back and King had been known to unleash flames that melted through solid steel within seconds. If one of those flames were to strike Er Lang the results would not be pretty. Luckily, he had another ability besides his strength.
Mu King backed up a bit at the approach of his leader. Pulling his hands to his right side Mu King let the energy build up within him. Slowly the fire began to take shape and become a hot globe. King smiled as he flung his arms forward and sent the fireball flying at Er Lang with the speed of a professional baseball pitcher. King didn't waste any time as he was forming another ball of flame before the first one even made impact.
Er Lang looked at the fireball with disdain and flung his energy baton forward. The weapon collided with the flames and exploded. Energy and fire went in every direction, but he had achieved what he wanted. The flaming ball was a non-threat. Within moments the mutant leader formed two long energy swords in his hands. Continuing his charge forward he cut through the second fireball and had his other sword on King's throat.
Fan-Kui clapped at the display as he had been watching the whole battle from the sidelines. He was a master of axes and knives so loved the use of sharp weapons. Elbowing Mu Gong he said, "Looks like Er Lang got the drop on your brother again."
"My brother's strategy was flawed. He should have known that Lang's agility in a fight is second to none. He should have done his scorched earth maneuver and called it a day," Mu Gong replied.
"Hopefully he won't be as weak when we fight the Genoshans," Ba teased as he walked up on his two chatting teammates. He loved to cut into conversations as he enjoyed the reactions a great deal. Seeing Mu King getting humbled actually pleased him a great deal as the twins always chastised him for his abilities. Ba's specialty was draining moisture from any living thing. His ability required him to get up close and personal, which could be a problem with the Genoshans.
"My brother and I will make sure we leave the weak mutants for you," Mu Gong replied with a brazen smile.
Fan-Kui fought back a laugh at the bickering between the two. Around Er Lang they would act like perfect angels. Fan-Kui enjoyed the fair share of acting that went on with his teammates. Luckily, he kept his time between lifting weights to build up his already muscular frame and talking to Qin-Shu-Pao. He was the only sensible member of the team.
An Ju Le Ye. That was Fan-Kui's motto. Live and work in peace and contentment. Dealing with the twins, Lang, and Ba would bring him absolutely no peace. Qin-Shu Pao was different though. He enjoyed his peace every much. He was probably off flying around as an eagle and hawk. His ability allowed him to split into two animals. Whether they were real or of mythological nature. Fan-Kui admired the powers of his teammate. It made his axes and knives look boring.
"So anyone have any idea when and how we're going to get back at the Genoshans?" Ba asked having just realized that despite all their training no one knew when the revenge would begin.
"The cart will find its way around the hill when it gets there," Er Lang said as removed the sword from King's throat and wiped the sweat off his forehead.
"He heard me?" Ba whispered to Fan-Kui.
"Yes I did Ba. You don't need to whisper. The Genoshans will be ours soon enough. Don't worry," Er Lang reassured.
Mikhail Rasputin overlooked the new Fallen Angels. All of them were present minus Feral who was on a personal mission for Magneto. He wished that the President had sent someone else because Feral was by far his favorite Angel and he enjoyed her company. She was feisty and full of life. Being a mutant was something she seemed to enjoy and Mikhail appreciated that.
The eyes of Ever were damn near burning through Mikhail and the stare was one born of hate. Mikhail looked to the former Morlock and kept his expression tight, "Is there a problem Ever?"
"None," Ever grunted.
"Good. I won't be your shoulder to cry on like Exodus. Now all of you listen up," Mikhail commanded.
Glad he at least lets us know he's an ass upfront, Orphan thought.
Could his accent be any thicker, Metallique asked herself.
Ever oughta punch homeboy, Anarchist thought while chewing hard on a stick of gum Meltdown gave him.
"Gomi has reported that there are mutants in Sudan being hunted down by Arab forces. The member nations of the UN are pointlessly debating about the situation. Hell, they wouldn't get involved when humans were being slaughtered. I doubt mutants will make much of a difference. So Magneto wants you to go in there and rescue the mutants. Bring them back here to Genosha. Understood?"
"Totally," Tabitha said as she turned back to her teammates, "Lets get to work guys and gals!"
Sudan (3 Hours Later)Meltdown stared down at the group of rabid militants as they chased down a young mutant girl. Tabitha figured it was probably in the hopes of raping her. The girl's physical mutations were obvious as she had a tail and two green horns growing from her head. Monsters like these didn't care about looks. All they cared about was power and how much they could hurt another person. The men she saw below her reminded her far too much of the man who tried to raise her.
"What are we going to do here?" Metallique asked trying to keep the rage from slipping over. She had once been a part of a lifestyle that involved giving a very precious part of her away for money. That little girl below deserved better. Having to sit back on a hill and watch her getting chased down angered her to no end.
"Ever put a stop those men…literally. Mana make some vines and keep the girl immobilized. We need to find out where the other mutants are," Tabitha ordered.
The Morlock and former Exile reached out with his telepathy and made the simple-minded militants stop dead in their tracks. He tried not to read their minds too much. Ever didn't want to see anything that might actually make him sympathize with these monsters. He didn't want any reason to have compassion for someone who would chase down a little girl. A year on The Hill would have probably done them some good. If they could even survive that long.
Mana hated having to wrap the already frightened girl up, but she knew that she was the best bet at catching the girl. The very Earth bent to the will of Mana and she knew it. Where there was once barren land she could make rain forest. Where there was rain forest she could make desert. Even the creatures at the bottom of the ocean beckoned at the command of Mana. And as she went to work capturing the young mutant child she wasn't aware that a pair of eyes was locked on her.
How can anyone be that beautiful, Ever asked himself as he looked over the golden skin of Mana.
"I did not think drawing you Angels of Magneto out would be so easy," a voice proclaimed sending all the Fallen Angels into attack mode.
Before any of them knew it twelve energy knives were headed their way. Orphan caught all of them and flung them back the way of their sender. He laughed as he said, "I smelt you coming from a mile away Chinaman. Nobody sneaks up on me."
Ever was too busy impressed with Orphan to see Mu Gong come up behind him and stuck a neural neutralizer on his neck. The Morlock crumbled into the arms of the immortal. Multiple Man was the closest to Ever and tried to save him from Gong's grip, but a wall of fire suddenly came between him and Ever.
"Don't even try American," Mu King laughed as a barrage of fireballs reigned down from the sky and nearly struck Multiple Man in the head.
Mana took control of the fire and sent it the direction of Er Lang. Raising up a large energy shield the leader of the Republican Patrol was able to block most of the heat.
"Foolish little whore," Ba exclaimed as he wrapped his hands across Mana's mouth and drained enough of her moisture to put her into an unconscious state. Placing a tiny red dot on her arm the Angel vanished with a Star Trek flare.
Looking to Mu Gong he said, "That makes two."
"Actually three," Gong replied as he flung a red dot onto Madrox's chest and teleported him away.
"You're way too cocky!" Orphan yelled as he punched Gong in the face and kicked his feet out from under him. Guy Smith enjoyed the sound of Mu Gong hitting the ground with a thud. He was right on top of the Chinaman and about to deliver a deadly punch to the throat when a knive lodged itself in his shoulder.
"Ahh!" Orphan yelled as he teleported away.
"Oh that was too nice," Fan-Kui grinned as he licked one of his knives. The one he had attacked Orphan with had a red dot already on it.
"Not nice enough," Metallique said as she sent a roundhouse to Fan-Kui's head. The warrior went spinning to the ground, but still kept his grin.
"I got another one for you lovely," Fan-Kui laughed as he flung an axe into the metal woman's chest.
"Fucker," Jessica managed to get out before she too disappeared.
Anarchist was doing his best to avoid the teeth of the tiger and the lion as he continued to burn away their skin with his acidic secretions. Seeing that it was just he and Meltdown the Alaska native began to feel very alone. Tabitha was too busy with the energy flinging guy and the blue skinned ass that had zapped away Mana.
"Leave these children be!" a powerful voice boomed as suddenly the lion and tiger were flung away from Anarchist with great force. The two that were fighting Tabitha were lifted into the air and smacked into each other repeatedly.
Looking upward Tike saw that his savior was Exodus, Genosha's VP. The sigh of relief he let out would have been enough to power windmills.
"Damn it! Execute Plan C2!" Fan-Kui yelled as he and the rest of his teammates vanished.
"Thanks for the save my man! We were about to get ass raped there," Anarchist said as Exodus landed on the ground.
"I had sensed that Ever was in distress. Seems I was right."
"Do you know where they've been taken Exodus?" Meltdown asked trying to think of how many excuses she could give Magneto upon getting back to the island.
"They've been taken to Beijing. Some kind of trial. I can only assume for the Fa Clinic incident," Exodus replied.
Putting a hand to her forehead Tabitha gritted her teeth. What price would her team's past sins bear?
Next Issue: The remaining Angels are forced to track down and save their own!
"It is a pleasure to have you hear. Genosha and my country have never been the best of friends, but it is my hope that we can build new bridges. Please take a seat," President Mbeki said as he offered Gamemaster a chair.
Sitting down Gamemaster looked around at the pictures of various apartheid heroes in the country. Nelson Mandela had one of the most prominent pictures in the office, "Oh we will most definitely have opportunities to build bridges. I have an offer of great potential for you."
"I like the sound of this Gamemaster. Tell me more of it," President Mbeki said as he pulled out a glass of wine and passed the omnipath a cup of it.
"Angola, Cameroon, Senegal and other countries have already signed onto a treaty that Genosha has drafted up. It promises security and peace between all its members with Genosha furnishing out many, many benefits to its allies," Gamemaster explained as he took a sip of the aged liquid.
Rubbing his thinning gray beard the President laughed, "My friend you must tell me more."
ChinaThe Chinese Republican Patrol would become the pride of their country. Especially if their leader, Er Lang, had anything to say about the matter. His people had been in dire need of a hero after the vicious murder of Collective Man by the hands of the Genoshans. He was not near as strong as the legendary hero, but his strength was enough. Er Lang would see his team regain his country's honor.
The short man who bore a striking resemblance to the video game character, Lui Kang, twirled his energy baton. Er Lang was anticipating the attack of one of his teammates, Mu King. Mu King was one twin in the Republican Patrol. His brother was Mu Gong and they both looked like a young Shang Tsung. King had immensely powerful fire abilities and Gong was gifted with immortality. The two worked together better than anyone else on the team and Er Lang was trying to break their mold. He wanted all of his team to share the same level of teamwork like the two brothers.
Continuing to twirl his baton Er Lang charged forward at Mu King without the least bit of fear. He had told his team member not to hold back and King had been known to unleash flames that melted through solid steel within seconds. If one of those flames were to strike Er Lang the results would not be pretty. Luckily, he had another ability besides his strength.
Mu King backed up a bit at the approach of his leader. Pulling his hands to his right side Mu King let the energy build up within him. Slowly the fire began to take shape and become a hot globe. King smiled as he flung his arms forward and sent the fireball flying at Er Lang with the speed of a professional baseball pitcher. King didn't waste any time as he was forming another ball of flame before the first one even made impact.
Er Lang looked at the fireball with disdain and flung his energy baton forward. The weapon collided with the flames and exploded. Energy and fire went in every direction, but he had achieved what he wanted. The flaming ball was a non-threat. Within moments the mutant leader formed two long energy swords in his hands. Continuing his charge forward he cut through the second fireball and had his other sword on King's throat.
Fan-Kui clapped at the display as he had been watching the whole battle from the sidelines. He was a master of axes and knives so loved the use of sharp weapons. Elbowing Mu Gong he said, "Looks like Er Lang got the drop on your brother again."
"My brother's strategy was flawed. He should have known that Lang's agility in a fight is second to none. He should have done his scorched earth maneuver and called it a day," Mu Gong replied.
"Hopefully he won't be as weak when we fight the Genoshans," Ba teased as he walked up on his two chatting teammates. He loved to cut into conversations as he enjoyed the reactions a great deal. Seeing Mu King getting humbled actually pleased him a great deal as the twins always chastised him for his abilities. Ba's specialty was draining moisture from any living thing. His ability required him to get up close and personal, which could be a problem with the Genoshans.
"My brother and I will make sure we leave the weak mutants for you," Mu Gong replied with a brazen smile.
Fan-Kui fought back a laugh at the bickering between the two. Around Er Lang they would act like perfect angels. Fan-Kui enjoyed the fair share of acting that went on with his teammates. Luckily, he kept his time between lifting weights to build up his already muscular frame and talking to Qin-Shu-Pao. He was the only sensible member of the team.
An Ju Le Ye. That was Fan-Kui's motto. Live and work in peace and contentment. Dealing with the twins, Lang, and Ba would bring him absolutely no peace. Qin-Shu Pao was different though. He enjoyed his peace every much. He was probably off flying around as an eagle and hawk. His ability allowed him to split into two animals. Whether they were real or of mythological nature. Fan-Kui admired the powers of his teammate. It made his axes and knives look boring.
"So anyone have any idea when and how we're going to get back at the Genoshans?" Ba asked having just realized that despite all their training no one knew when the revenge would begin.
"The cart will find its way around the hill when it gets there," Er Lang said as removed the sword from King's throat and wiped the sweat off his forehead.
"He heard me?" Ba whispered to Fan-Kui.
"Yes I did Ba. You don't need to whisper. The Genoshans will be ours soon enough. Don't worry," Er Lang reassured.
Mikhail Rasputin overlooked the new Fallen Angels. All of them were present minus Feral who was on a personal mission for Magneto. He wished that the President had sent someone else because Feral was by far his favorite Angel and he enjoyed her company. She was feisty and full of life. Being a mutant was something she seemed to enjoy and Mikhail appreciated that.
The eyes of Ever were damn near burning through Mikhail and the stare was one born of hate. Mikhail looked to the former Morlock and kept his expression tight, "Is there a problem Ever?"
"None," Ever grunted.
"Good. I won't be your shoulder to cry on like Exodus. Now all of you listen up," Mikhail commanded.
Glad he at least lets us know he's an ass upfront, Orphan thought.
Could his accent be any thicker, Metallique asked herself.
Ever oughta punch homeboy, Anarchist thought while chewing hard on a stick of gum Meltdown gave him.
"Gomi has reported that there are mutants in Sudan being hunted down by Arab forces. The member nations of the UN are pointlessly debating about the situation. Hell, they wouldn't get involved when humans were being slaughtered. I doubt mutants will make much of a difference. So Magneto wants you to go in there and rescue the mutants. Bring them back here to Genosha. Understood?"
"Totally," Tabitha said as she turned back to her teammates, "Lets get to work guys and gals!"
Sudan (3 Hours Later)Meltdown stared down at the group of rabid militants as they chased down a young mutant girl. Tabitha figured it was probably in the hopes of raping her. The girl's physical mutations were obvious as she had a tail and two green horns growing from her head. Monsters like these didn't care about looks. All they cared about was power and how much they could hurt another person. The men she saw below her reminded her far too much of the man who tried to raise her.
"What are we going to do here?" Metallique asked trying to keep the rage from slipping over. She had once been a part of a lifestyle that involved giving a very precious part of her away for money. That little girl below deserved better. Having to sit back on a hill and watch her getting chased down angered her to no end.
"Ever put a stop those men…literally. Mana make some vines and keep the girl immobilized. We need to find out where the other mutants are," Tabitha ordered.
The Morlock and former Exile reached out with his telepathy and made the simple-minded militants stop dead in their tracks. He tried not to read their minds too much. Ever didn't want to see anything that might actually make him sympathize with these monsters. He didn't want any reason to have compassion for someone who would chase down a little girl. A year on The Hill would have probably done them some good. If they could even survive that long.
Mana hated having to wrap the already frightened girl up, but she knew that she was the best bet at catching the girl. The very Earth bent to the will of Mana and she knew it. Where there was once barren land she could make rain forest. Where there was rain forest she could make desert. Even the creatures at the bottom of the ocean beckoned at the command of Mana. And as she went to work capturing the young mutant child she wasn't aware that a pair of eyes was locked on her.
How can anyone be that beautiful, Ever asked himself as he looked over the golden skin of Mana.
"I did not think drawing you Angels of Magneto out would be so easy," a voice proclaimed sending all the Fallen Angels into attack mode.
Before any of them knew it twelve energy knives were headed their way. Orphan caught all of them and flung them back the way of their sender. He laughed as he said, "I smelt you coming from a mile away Chinaman. Nobody sneaks up on me."
Ever was too busy impressed with Orphan to see Mu Gong come up behind him and stuck a neural neutralizer on his neck. The Morlock crumbled into the arms of the immortal. Multiple Man was the closest to Ever and tried to save him from Gong's grip, but a wall of fire suddenly came between him and Ever.
"Don't even try American," Mu King laughed as a barrage of fireballs reigned down from the sky and nearly struck Multiple Man in the head.
Mana took control of the fire and sent it the direction of Er Lang. Raising up a large energy shield the leader of the Republican Patrol was able to block most of the heat.
"Foolish little whore," Ba exclaimed as he wrapped his hands across Mana's mouth and drained enough of her moisture to put her into an unconscious state. Placing a tiny red dot on her arm the Angel vanished with a Star Trek flare.
Looking to Mu Gong he said, "That makes two."
"Actually three," Gong replied as he flung a red dot onto Madrox's chest and teleported him away.
"You're way too cocky!" Orphan yelled as he punched Gong in the face and kicked his feet out from under him. Guy Smith enjoyed the sound of Mu Gong hitting the ground with a thud. He was right on top of the Chinaman and about to deliver a deadly punch to the throat when a knive lodged itself in his shoulder.
"Ahh!" Orphan yelled as he teleported away.
"Oh that was too nice," Fan-Kui grinned as he licked one of his knives. The one he had attacked Orphan with had a red dot already on it.
"Not nice enough," Metallique said as she sent a roundhouse to Fan-Kui's head. The warrior went spinning to the ground, but still kept his grin.
"I got another one for you lovely," Fan-Kui laughed as he flung an axe into the metal woman's chest.
"Fucker," Jessica managed to get out before she too disappeared.
Anarchist was doing his best to avoid the teeth of the tiger and the lion as he continued to burn away their skin with his acidic secretions. Seeing that it was just he and Meltdown the Alaska native began to feel very alone. Tabitha was too busy with the energy flinging guy and the blue skinned ass that had zapped away Mana.
"Leave these children be!" a powerful voice boomed as suddenly the lion and tiger were flung away from Anarchist with great force. The two that were fighting Tabitha were lifted into the air and smacked into each other repeatedly.
Looking upward Tike saw that his savior was Exodus, Genosha's VP. The sigh of relief he let out would have been enough to power windmills.
"Damn it! Execute Plan C2!" Fan-Kui yelled as he and the rest of his teammates vanished.
"Thanks for the save my man! We were about to get ass raped there," Anarchist said as Exodus landed on the ground.
"I had sensed that Ever was in distress. Seems I was right."
"Do you know where they've been taken Exodus?" Meltdown asked trying to think of how many excuses she could give Magneto upon getting back to the island.
"They've been taken to Beijing. Some kind of trial. I can only assume for the Fa Clinic incident," Exodus replied.
Putting a hand to her forehead Tabitha gritted her teeth. What price would her team's past sins bear?
Next Issue: The remaining Angels are forced to track down and save their own!