MUTANT UNDERGROUND HQ
ATLANTA, GEORGIA
“So, do we have a plan of attack or are we just gonna stand around here measuring dick,” Alison snapped as she stepped between Kitty and Warren. The tedium of their argument considering her recent ordeal was more than she could be bothered with. “Lest we forget that Kitty and I were actually getting shot at less than an hour ago and there’s a whole organisation here that doesn’t seem to be getting run by anyone.” She placed her hands on her hips. “So, by all means, Warren, why don’t you continue lamenting about your investment.”
He seemed affronted by her rebuff but, after a moment’s hesitation, he backed down from his argument. Instead, he crossed his arm and ruffled his feathered wings uncomfortably. His attention turned back towards Kitty but as his anger subsided, he became more composed. “Okay then. What do we know about the attackers from the hotel? Did Ruth manage to gain any insight?”
Kitty shrugged. “You know what it’s like getting anything from Ruth. Cryptic and largely unhelpful. She managed to break from her oddities for long enough to warn us. If you ask me, it’s about time we invested in another telepath. It would have made this a lot easier.”
Warren looked towards Alison but she simply shook her head, echoing the lack of information Kitty had offered.
“Well, that’s an excellent start,” groaned Warren. “Maybe we could put a call into the institute and see if one of the telepaths there can break through Ruth’s . . . oddities.”
Piotr jumped in. “There is always the old-fashioned way of investigating the scenes.”
Kitty exhaled.
“It’ll be the quickest way, Katya.”
Warren interjected. “I think it’s best to get the school involved and have an actual team of X-Men look into this. As Ali said, there’s too much work to do here. The Underground won’t run itself.”
Kitty unfolded her arms in exasperation. For the first time in a long time, the mutant woman who had always been politically motivated, found herself unsure how to react. As a member of the X-Men, Kitty had followed orders. She’d been allowed to think with her fists rather than her mind because the threat was immediate and potentially fatal. She was unaccustomed to the monsters that lurked in the shadows but as three mutants were already dead in instances that seemed related, mentioning the erratic behaviour of these mutants in the run-up to the attack, she was lost as to which step she should now take. Yet, she found herself looking into the face, handsome as it was, of one of the original X-Men and all she wanted to do was punch her way through his judgement. Still, Kitty knew she needed to be better than that. Diplomacy had to be her friend, even if Warren and his allegiances seemed to be drifting away from her.
“We have to do something.”
Warren sighed, rubbing between his eyebrows. “You’re putting me in a very difficult position, Kitty.”
She exhaled heavily. “I understand that. I really do. If Worthington Enterprises feels the need to distance itself from the Underground because of this then so be it. I won’t stand back and allow this to happen. This goes much deeper than mutants attacking civilians or each other. Ali was there. She saw it and something didn’t add up. It’s our responsibility to get to the bottom of this or all of the work we’re doing here will be for nought.”
She placed her hand on the elbow of his designer suit, forcing the blond angel to consider her thoughtful hazel eyes.
“If the system we’ve fought so hard for, the justice we’ve earned through blood, sweat and tears, crumbles then we have nothing, Warren. There’s no coming back from that.”
He gave a curt nod. “Fine. Investigate this situation.” His words fell sternly upon the room. “I want you to remember something when you’re out there though, Kitty. This isn’t the X-Men anymore. As far as the world is concerned, the Mutant Underground and its brand are simply a safe space for the beaten and downtrodden mutants of the world. If the media catches wind that this organisation is acting as an offensive unit, I will be forced to disavow you and all funding will be cut. Am I clear?”
She nodded to his warning instinctively but quickly noted that his sapphire gaze was reaching beyond just her, pleading with Piotr and Alison silently for their support in the matter. He slumped towards the doorway with none of his familiar swagger, his blond locks bouncing aimlessly, before he came to a pause.
“Good luck,” he mumbled. It was his last exchange before he disappeared into the hallway and out of their sight.
Piotr stepped forward, breaking the silence, as he placed his sturdy hand on his girlfriend’s shoulder. “You did well, Katya. He had to know that someday there would be a need to act. We can do what we can and keep our word. Rest assured on that.”
“I think he always knew but that he never understood the realities until now,” she replied quietly. “We’ve been reactive and cautionary until now. We’re asking him to back us as we search for trouble. I understand his concerns. I’d have them too if I was in his position, but I’m not and that allows me to see this situation clearly. Three mutants are dead and the civilian death toll is rising. If we don’t get in front of this, we’re all going to suffer the consequences.”
Alison crossed her arms and interrupted. “Not that I’m not loving this whole romantic rendezvous but is there an actual plan of attack here or are we just going to monologue all day about what we should be doing?”
Kitty shot a glance across her shoulder at the mutant musician, cocking a brow playfully. “I thought you were out of the game, Ali?”
She shrugged. “So did I but I’m quickly seeing that desperate times call for desperate measures. So, what’s the plan Kitten?”
Kitty stood in front of them. Her authority and sense of the room unquestionable as she smiled.
“Right, so listen up."
ATLANTA, GEORGIA
“So, do we have a plan of attack or are we just gonna stand around here measuring dick,” Alison snapped as she stepped between Kitty and Warren. The tedium of their argument considering her recent ordeal was more than she could be bothered with. “Lest we forget that Kitty and I were actually getting shot at less than an hour ago and there’s a whole organisation here that doesn’t seem to be getting run by anyone.” She placed her hands on her hips. “So, by all means, Warren, why don’t you continue lamenting about your investment.”
He seemed affronted by her rebuff but, after a moment’s hesitation, he backed down from his argument. Instead, he crossed his arm and ruffled his feathered wings uncomfortably. His attention turned back towards Kitty but as his anger subsided, he became more composed. “Okay then. What do we know about the attackers from the hotel? Did Ruth manage to gain any insight?”
Kitty shrugged. “You know what it’s like getting anything from Ruth. Cryptic and largely unhelpful. She managed to break from her oddities for long enough to warn us. If you ask me, it’s about time we invested in another telepath. It would have made this a lot easier.”
Warren looked towards Alison but she simply shook her head, echoing the lack of information Kitty had offered.
“Well, that’s an excellent start,” groaned Warren. “Maybe we could put a call into the institute and see if one of the telepaths there can break through Ruth’s . . . oddities.”
Piotr jumped in. “There is always the old-fashioned way of investigating the scenes.”
Kitty exhaled.
“It’ll be the quickest way, Katya.”
Warren interjected. “I think it’s best to get the school involved and have an actual team of X-Men look into this. As Ali said, there’s too much work to do here. The Underground won’t run itself.”
Kitty unfolded her arms in exasperation. For the first time in a long time, the mutant woman who had always been politically motivated, found herself unsure how to react. As a member of the X-Men, Kitty had followed orders. She’d been allowed to think with her fists rather than her mind because the threat was immediate and potentially fatal. She was unaccustomed to the monsters that lurked in the shadows but as three mutants were already dead in instances that seemed related, mentioning the erratic behaviour of these mutants in the run-up to the attack, she was lost as to which step she should now take. Yet, she found herself looking into the face, handsome as it was, of one of the original X-Men and all she wanted to do was punch her way through his judgement. Still, Kitty knew she needed to be better than that. Diplomacy had to be her friend, even if Warren and his allegiances seemed to be drifting away from her.
“We have to do something.”
Warren sighed, rubbing between his eyebrows. “You’re putting me in a very difficult position, Kitty.”
She exhaled heavily. “I understand that. I really do. If Worthington Enterprises feels the need to distance itself from the Underground because of this then so be it. I won’t stand back and allow this to happen. This goes much deeper than mutants attacking civilians or each other. Ali was there. She saw it and something didn’t add up. It’s our responsibility to get to the bottom of this or all of the work we’re doing here will be for nought.”
She placed her hand on the elbow of his designer suit, forcing the blond angel to consider her thoughtful hazel eyes.
“If the system we’ve fought so hard for, the justice we’ve earned through blood, sweat and tears, crumbles then we have nothing, Warren. There’s no coming back from that.”
He gave a curt nod. “Fine. Investigate this situation.” His words fell sternly upon the room. “I want you to remember something when you’re out there though, Kitty. This isn’t the X-Men anymore. As far as the world is concerned, the Mutant Underground and its brand are simply a safe space for the beaten and downtrodden mutants of the world. If the media catches wind that this organisation is acting as an offensive unit, I will be forced to disavow you and all funding will be cut. Am I clear?”
She nodded to his warning instinctively but quickly noted that his sapphire gaze was reaching beyond just her, pleading with Piotr and Alison silently for their support in the matter. He slumped towards the doorway with none of his familiar swagger, his blond locks bouncing aimlessly, before he came to a pause.
“Good luck,” he mumbled. It was his last exchange before he disappeared into the hallway and out of their sight.
Piotr stepped forward, breaking the silence, as he placed his sturdy hand on his girlfriend’s shoulder. “You did well, Katya. He had to know that someday there would be a need to act. We can do what we can and keep our word. Rest assured on that.”
“I think he always knew but that he never understood the realities until now,” she replied quietly. “We’ve been reactive and cautionary until now. We’re asking him to back us as we search for trouble. I understand his concerns. I’d have them too if I was in his position, but I’m not and that allows me to see this situation clearly. Three mutants are dead and the civilian death toll is rising. If we don’t get in front of this, we’re all going to suffer the consequences.”
Alison crossed her arms and interrupted. “Not that I’m not loving this whole romantic rendezvous but is there an actual plan of attack here or are we just going to monologue all day about what we should be doing?”
Kitty shot a glance across her shoulder at the mutant musician, cocking a brow playfully. “I thought you were out of the game, Ali?”
She shrugged. “So did I but I’m quickly seeing that desperate times call for desperate measures. So, what’s the plan Kitten?”
Kitty stood in front of them. Her authority and sense of the room unquestionable as she smiled.
“Right, so listen up."
Issue #2 (August 2018)
"Anarchy in the Aftermath"
Written by Gavin McMahon
"Anarchy in the Aftermath"
Written by Gavin McMahon
Featuring:
Archangel
Colossus
Dazzler
Shadowcat
Dreamer
Marrow
Warpath
Ashton Simonson
Forge
Spyke
Lydia Nance
Leper Queen
|
THE TABERNACLE
ATLANTA, GEORGIA Dazzler kicked some of the rubble from her path as she looked around. The remnants of her stage banner still fluttered in the wind as the mutant investigators moved through the damaged concert hall. It caught her off-guard: the abandoned equipment of her band, the police cordons and her tattered name. She hadn’t known what to expect or how she would feel as they’d ascended the steps of the hall but now the sorrow washed over Alison as she remembered the fateful night that had led her right to this moment, the destruction of her career at the behest of a life she’d been running from. “It seems so surreal.” Piotr rested a hand on her shoulder. “Are you okay? I can imagine this is hard.” “Let’s just get the job done and get out of here,” she said as she shrugged him off and moved into the centre of the room, observing it as she twirled. Marrow walked up behind him, her face contorted into the same smug smile as it always was. Despite what he’d imagined, the bony-faced mutant seemed less shaken by her presence at the scene. As they’d entered, Marrow had observed the broken building with the same curiosity that they all had but she’d yet to make a singular solemn comment on the fact the destruction had been caused by her former ally, and probable friend, Fever Pitch in his final moments. Colossus never knew where he stood with her and, even during her brief tenure amongst the X-Men, she’d made him uncomfortable. “Not everyone feels the need to cry and talk about their feelings, Ruskie,” spat the former leader of the Morlocks. “Contrary to what you believe, sometimes people do better just getting on with it and punching some shit.” He frowned. “This is about saving lives, Sarah. Not punching . . . some shit.” “Don’t worry, you’ll learn. It’s always about punching some shit,” snarked Marrow as she waltzed off. “That’s how lives get saved.” He balled his fists as he watched her go. Irritated both at her words and the fact he was getting to her. Kitty placed her hand delicately on his arm as she stepped ahead of him, staring into his face with a soft smile. “Bozhe moi.” “Don’t let Sarah get to you,” said the Chicagoan. “You know how abrasive she can be. We should just be happy she hasn’t actually started punching things yet. Forget her. Let’s just look around and see if we can find anything that the cops have missed.” A moment of comfort and tenderness shared between the lovers. They had come so far since they had first met upon Kitty’s arrival at the school. Piotr had been reluctant to begin a relationship with her, as she was so many years his junior, but after years of furtive glances and hidden smiles, a relationship had blossomed. Throughout their dalliances, they had spent just as much time breaking one another’s hearts as they had mending them. Against the odds, they had found their way back to one another. Piotr’s decision to follow Kitty in this venture had been a simple one, he would’ve followed her to the ends of the world if she’d asked him to. As she walked off, he couldn’t help but watch her before finally turning his attention to the wreckage. “Anything that can tie Fever Pitch’s actions to an organisation or terrorist group. That’s what we’re looking for.” Dazzler complained. “It’s going to be like finding a needle in a haystack Kitty. The cops will already have scavenged all of the evidence.” “She’s not wrong,” continued Marrow. Kitty glared at them. “And yet, we’re going to look anyway.” The four mutants spread out and scavenged, tearing through the remainder of the crime scene but none seemed able to draw up even the slightest clue towards finding the direction they should take next. Kitty found herself pondering if the previous two crime scenes, Massachusetts and Florida, would prove more fruitful. Just as she was losing all hope, the mutant felt the familiar buzzing in her head. The call of Ruth. Kitty! You must go to Athens. It’s happening again. Her lack of hope was quickly replaced by fear as she spun and faced the others, each blissfully ignorant. WORTHINGTON ENTERPRISES MANHATTAN, NEW YORK “I appreciate you taking the time to meet with me, Mister Worthington. I’m sure you’re an incredibly bus man.” From the moment Ashton Simonson had entered the room, he’d been in charge of it. It was the same as the many environments he’d been able to adapt to during his lifetime and rise to political credibility. “Mister Worthington was my father, Ashton. I still prickle at the name. You’re fine to call me, Warren,” replied the winged mutant as he stood and shook the politicians hand. “I have to say, I was surprised when you reached out to contact me. I’m sure you’re aware that Worthington Enterprises has always kept a firm neutrality on political matters. As my father used to say, that’s simply good business. I’m not sure if I can be of service.” “I’m not here for money or sponsorship, Warren, if that’s what you’re concerned about,” laughed Ashton heartily. He could see that the former X-Man turned businessman was suspicious of his intentions. People often were. Politicians had a propensity for being insincere and self-serving but Ashton learned long ago that honesty and charisma could be the making of a man. “In fact, it’s not so much what you can do for me as what I can hopefully do for you.” Warren remained silent but he was listening intently. Ashton took his silence as an opportunity to continue. “I’ve been following the humanitarian movement you’ve been funding since you exited the X-Men. The Mutant Underground? I can see the good work they’ve been doing, proceeding to assist both mutants and humans through non-violent means. It really is a sorely underrepresented corner of the market. I’ve built my platform on understanding the plight of mutants and attempting to turn the tide and I believe involvement with an organisation such as the Mutant Underground would offer some validity, to both them and myself.” Warren nodded. “I can assure you that the Underground are already very capably staffed and working better because their largely absent from the spotlight.” He cleared his throat. “If you don’t me asking, Ashton, just why are you so involved with the rights of mutants? Forgive me if I’m wrong but you aren’t one yourself. It would be much easier for your political career to tackle a less controversial platform.” “I’m a human, yes, but we’re all the same species. Variations of that species to be sure but I don’t see those differences as automatically detrimental,” replied Ashton. He crossed his legs. “In fact, I do have a reason for supporting mutants. When I was six years old, my mother and father were brutally murdered in a home invasion gone wrong. I survived by hiding under the bed but I saw it happen. Traumatised, I sat on the sidewalk in the rain whilst officers swarmed my house and waited for social workers to collect me.” A soft smile shivered across his face. “It was freezing. I remember the chill running straight through me and the churning of my stomach. Seemingly out of nowhere, an old woman appears and pulls an apple from beneath her tattered shawl. She was so kind but I could sense the loneliness in her eyes, I could feel it mixing with my own pain and twisting into something powerful and overwhelming. As these men, the brave blues of New York, moved around me. She’d noticed me.” Brushing his hair back from his face, he met Warren’s eager eyes. It was a story he’d held close for most of his adult life but it had been the most formative experience of his childhood. “She told me her story. It was about the hard life she’d led and the children that she’d had taken from her through death and decay. Yet, she continued to live. Perhaps the tale was a little dark to tell a young boy, but it strangely offered me comfort. She said that the comfort was to help me but it wasn’t real, she was controlling my emotions because she’d sensed my fears.” It was a tale that seemed to catch Warren’s attention, even the darkest memories he’d tried to forget. “Annalee.” His voice was almost choked. “I know her story. The woman was Annalee, from the Morlocks.” “Yes,” replied Ashton. “She was Annalee. I heard she’d been murdered a few years later.” Warren nodded, his fists clenched as he recalled it. The trauma he’d shared with so many of the Morlocks on that fateful night that the Marauders had pillaged their home. “Quite a few years later. Annalee was one of the Morlocks to die in the attack. She deserved better. She really was just a sweet old lady. I was there.” “Annalee saved my life that night,” Ashton stated. “If it wasn’t for her I don’t know what would have become of me. She sat with me for over an hour before the policemen realised I was still waiting. She did deserve better than the pain she suffered and my fight began as hers but she was selfless. I know she’d want me to do what I could to protect you all.” Warren simply nodded. ATHENS, GEORGIA “You don’t have to do this.” The tenderness in Marrow’s voice was a rarity that seemed to surprise her colleagues. There was even a hint of sympathy in her eyes as she remembered the time she’d spent assisting the young mutant with his emerging powers. Evan Daniels, the mutant known informally as Spyke, had passed through the doors of the Mutant Underground’s compound as so many others had done but he seemed to have gained his own life when he had disappeared into the night without so much as a goodbye. Marrow, although she’d refused to admit it, had been hurt by his actions just as she had been hardened by the betrayals that had succeeded them. She was the first of the four mutants to burst from the car, her eyes wide with fear as she watched him stagger through the streets. At her side, Alison saw what she’d been unable to in the fiery composition of Fever Pitch’s body. Sweat beaded against his dark skin, dark bags encircled his grey eyes, and he didn’t look menacing or violent, but frightened. Instinctively, her hand shot to her chest as she realised the erratic movements of Fever Pitch and now this, unknown to her, mutant had been the cause of an ailment she’d become familiar with. Still, as her eyes travelled towards her metallic comrade, she knew he was more intimately acquainted with the memory than most. “This can’t be,” he murmured. Kitty protectively reached for him but he stumbled backwards, out of her reach. “We don’t know anything yet. For now, we help Evan.” Marrow had already bolted away, her composure lost as she moved towards him. “Spyke!” she yelled. “Whatever this is, you have to fight it, stay with me!” She reached out. “Please.” Spyke turned towards her, his eyes pleading for her to move from him. He attempted to speak but the words caught in his throat as the echoes surged through his brain, overwhelming all of his senses. Buckling to his knees, the African-American mutant managed to scream as his power unleashed. Shards of bone projected from his flesh, hurtling through the streets. Marrow was struck immediately and flipped into the dirt as Shadowcat swung her body in front of Dazzler, grasping her quickly enough that the released bones passed through them and pierced a nearby car. The alarm was blurring as Colossus swung his arms, deflecting the shards that almost struck his invulnerable metallic body. As the chaos died, Shadowcat bounced towards Marrow, skidding to a stop beside her. With a couple of slaps to her face, the former Morlock roused but her eyes remained vacant and groggy. Colossus moved towards the panting youth, Dazzler following hot on his heels and moving in his shadows as if he were a shield. The duo quickly reached Evan and, despite the hesitance of Colossus to be near someone he suspected of carrying the plague that had once killed his sister, the Russian mutant remained the sympathetic entity that he had always been. “I . . . I can’t stop it,” cried Evan as the tears on his face intermixed with the rapidly produced sweat. “It just hurts so much.” Dazzler could feel her heart sinking. She’d thought she’d seen the last of mutants looking so pained and fragile and without control over their own lives, or impending deaths. Colossus, somewhat reluctantly, patted him on the back. “We can help you. We can find–” “How can you help this?” screeched the youth, stumbling to his feet and moving further away. His flesh burned hotter than before. “Oh God. I don’t . . . What’s happening to me? I thought I was safe with you. I thought I’d be okay but now look at me. I’m a curse. I just want my mom.” His body felt as though it was on fire. “You can’t help me. No-one can fix–” His cry would never be finished as the heat finally overwhelmed him and, despite all the pain he’d felt and suffered, Evan felt a fleeting moment of peace. As his life ended, his mutant power kicked into overdrive and unleashed a second and final flurry of bone shards. Between the efforts of Shadowcat and Colossus, the foursome remained impervious. Through the explosion of bone, Marrow’s scream could be heard, but as the cacophony of noise ended . . . the body of Evan Daniels slumped to the ground. HERITAGE INITIATIVE PENTHOUSE AUGUSTA, GEORGIA Lydia looked arrogantly across the top of her newspaper as the woman sauntered across the glaring whiteness of the building. “Ah, look whose crawled out of their hole.” Her remark was haughtier than needed but the working relationships she’d been forced to undertake to spread her worldview had been less than savoury. Behind closed doors, Lydia was free to air her distaste. “How has the operation in Athens been proceeding? I hope it hasn’t been a monumental failure. I never did see the merit in this one. He seemed less . . . combustible.” The pun seemed to offer her a moment of amusement, but as with all moments of levity since her crusade had begun it was fleeting. Leper Queen shook her head, the clinical mask she wore carried her words like an echo of someone trapped in a well. “Less to plan than the others, definitely. There was a complication. Apparently, this runaway had connections to the X-Men or whatever subset of them arrived on the scene. He couldn’t be contained, like all the others, but he proved less effective than the previous three.” Lydia ran her tongue across her teeth, setting her steaming coffee on a table mat, before she stood and marched towards the terrorist. “So, he was subdued by the X-Men?” snarled the white-haired organisation leader. “At least tell me there where casualties and they can be painted as incompetent in controlling the menace of their own breed.” Leper Queen, not deterred by the rising anger of her leader’s voice, stepped forward and closed the gap between them. A gesture to show that although their plans currently aligned, she would never be a subordinate to Lydia. “The casualties ranked in single figures. This method has proven to be effective but if a troupe of these mutant bastards are now hunting down our bombs then they have to be confronted directly.” “And how do you suggest we do that?” Lydia scowled as she folded her arms across her chest. “We can’t just target that school upstate, it’s much too heavily guarded. Allowing them to get their hands on one of these assets could expose this whole situation and destroy everything I’m building. I’m not risk adverse, Miss Page, but I’m very far from an idiot. Subtlety was the key to this operation.” “Your subtlety has lost its touched,” replied Leper Queen nonchalantly. “The time for action is upon us. I suggest we identify these particular mutants and we weaponise them to send a message. If they can’t be weaponised then we terminate them. We already have Dazzler identified amongst them, it won’t be hard to verify the others and the factions they’re currently associated with. Eliminating a teleporter is enough to close their localisation to Georgia.” Lydia was silent, considering the options provided to her whilst running through scenarios of her own. Leper Queen was unwilling to wait for a calculated response, she sought action. “We can use your little pet to identify them properly and then the Sapien League and I will do exactly what we were created to do. Hunt.” Lydia laughed. “He’s been willing this far because he’s our captive and he knows his little friends are out there, ready to correct his role in this. You honestly believe he’ll turn them over to you?” “He won’t have a choice.” Without waiting for a response, Leper Queen stormed from the room with the countenance of a militant as Lydia’s jaw dropped at her disrespect. The Sapien League, and their ruthless leader, were an unsavoury taste in the virtue of her success but the woman had long ago realised that they were better as an ally than an enemy. Lydia was left behind as Leper Queen moved to the lower floors of the Heritage Initiative building until she came across the cells that had contained so many of the mutants they’d previously deployed as weapons. Her eyes searched for a specific mutant as she drowned out the pitiful pleas of those that remained to be used. In his cell, proud and unrelenting, the Native American Forge glared back at her as she peered in. His face was barely recognisable beneath the bruises he’d sustained under the ‘care’ of her Sapien League but the irony was that he was as responsible for these deaths as she was . . . Forge had developed the machine they’d been using to infect these mutants with Legacy-4, an incredibly virulent strain of the thought to be erased Legacy Virus. Leper Queen smirked beneath her mask. She’d been told once that when an animal was cornered and in fear of its life, it would do anything to survive. Forge had done exactly what the theory has suggested he would, he lived because they died, but she would never allow him to live to the end of it all. “I presume you want something,” he croaked. Leper Queen nodded as she pulled a tablet from her pocket and brought up the imagery of the incident in Athens. “I’m gonna need names for these mutants so that we know how best to tackle them,” she said. “Don’t feign pride or indignity on this one. I don’t have time and you’ve already sent enough of them to gallows.” Forge remained silent, his eyes watching the screen in the hope that he would see trusted allies and possible saviours from this hell. “You live by my good grace,” spat the Leper Queen. “I can end it all for you as easily as I will for them.” Forge cleared his throat. “Colossus, metallic skin. Shadowcat, intangibility. Dazzler, light-based powers. Marrow, the same as the kid in the video. X-Men and a Morlock but I’ve been locked in here so god damn long they could be the new Fantastic Four for all I know.” She ignored the end of his rant and spun on her heels, drawing a walkie-talkie from her pocket. “Sapien League, meet in the hangar. We have a mission.” As she disappeared, Forge was left to lament on the betrayal and hope that they would survive the experience, at least for long enough to rescue him. |