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Issue #11 |
Written By Tom Moses |
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"Sunfire, Storm!" Alex called out to his friends, hoping they can hear him, "Take to the air, we need some aerial defenses."
The Madrox duplicates continued to close in around the group of X-Men, spectators find their way away from the battle that promised to take place. The Silver Samurai smiled a twisted smile from behind his sword as he circled the leader, not showing an ounce of fear at the energy that crackles around the hands of Alex Summers.
"Look Samurai, we're not here to fight anyone." Alex attempted to reason, "We only want to find out why these buildings were destroyed."
The blade took a long swipe at Summers as he finished his statement, the attack doing nothing but severing a section of the body armor he wears. "You're a fool, Havok. If you cannot see you were baited here, then my condolences will go to your brother."
"If that's the way you want to play," Havok smirked at his attacker, "X-Men take out them out!"
Without a command from the man who leads the duplicates, the battle starts as if controlled by yet another. Each X-Man takes position around their leader, forming a circle of their own, drawing on each other for their defense. Taking flight Sunfire removes himself from the group at the sight of a Madrox Duplicate tackling Storm and keeping her grounded while on defense.
Each duplicate converges on his target according to the Samurai's plan. Drawing the X-Men even closer to one another preventing use of their abilities. The acrobatics of the Beast are taken into consideration as two duplicates take their turns pummeling the furred doctor with two pairs of fists. Cecelia Reyes taking no physical injury, though feeling every blow the duplicate hits her force field.
"Indeed X-Men, it seems as though you are the betters on this battlefield!" Samurai lunged at the leader of the strike team, furnishing his sword hoping to slash at the blond man's neck.
Havok takes a grounding stance as his hands shine a bright yellow, pulling in a charge of unknown cosmic energy into his body. The Samurai coming down fast upon the mutant, Havok showed not an ounce of emotion. Thrusting his hands upward into the air his blasts meet into one and pound the unsuspecting silver man in the chest; hurtling him backwards several hundred yards and unconscious.
"Jamie, can you do something about these duplicates?" Havok screamed as he watched the Silver Samurai fall through the air.
"They won't listen to my mental commands Alex," his words are shortly disconnected as a fist lands into his jaw. "I don't think I can re-assimilate them either!"
"I'm sorry I have to do this to you Jamie." Havok whispered with a turn towards the fight. "Storm!" he shouted, blasting the duplicate away from the goddess. "Take to the air, and provide us some air support."
"The X-Men?" Zelda asks with a look of caution. "You mean to tell me.ever since I first met Bobby and Hank."
"I know this must be a shock to you, but you must understand our need to protect ourselves, not to mention the town below," Charles Xavier said, as tried to calm the young woman.
"No.it's not a shock at all, in the most strange way this makes complete sense," she said, and grasped Bobby's hand tightly. "Every time he disappeared I thought he was just going around seeing other people behind my back when we were younger. And without any kind of warning he was just gone, no good-bye, not even a letter, and I meet him again right here where I grew up and he went to school. This all makes too much sense now."
"Miss Clarke, Bobby and I attended this school while you and he were dating." Warren said softly, making time to slap the back of Drake's head. "If it's any condolence about the past, there was a bit of a falling out between us back then, we.we all went our separate ways for a time, but for some reason we all end up where we started."
"It's ok Warren," she smiled away his concern, "I'm not angry in the least, that was the past and I'm sure there were good excuses for the way he acted back then."
"Ok, ok, the third degree can stop now," Bobby said, pressing a hand to his scalp. "Warren is a big enough story to explain away, but I'm sure when you see Hank, things will start to get a little strange for you."
Zelda smirked at the Iceman's words, kissing his cheek she can't help but laugh at the punishment his friend had given him. "Bobby, I'm not exactly the shallow type, with respect towards Warren over here, I'm guessing he has one of those things too. I mean you really can't all be blue can you?"
The three men stare at each other forming an uncomfortable silence. "Not all of us my dear," Charles said. "I read from you a kind of genuine personality that most would strive hard to find. What is it that you do professionally?"
"She's the greatest waitress of all time!" Bobby is slapped in the head again for his comments though a different hand is felt this time around. "What?"
The other side of the world.
"Alex, I've got good news!" the original Madrox screamed holding one of his turned duplicates. "I can re-assimilate them if they're injured or unconscious!"
"Get on it Jamie!"
Grasping the rogue clone by the collar, he forces a look by another close by as it transcends into a state of energy. The clone absorbed, flowing into the chest of its maker. "Let that be a lesson to you seventeen."
"Sorry about that pal, we're not your slaves any longer!" another Jamie Madrox stared the original down. "It's been way too long since one of us defected, we figured it was about time a group of us did so, and could you imagine that each of us holds the ability you thought only you did?"
Madrox's eyes grow wide as the aptly named Seventeen claps his hands together forming yet another copy of himself. "I always knew you could do what I can. Though making a copy of a copy is never a good idea," Jamie smirked at one of four rogue clones left. "Destroy him."
Though the rogues have found the will to leave the control of their master, that will apparently did not filter down into the minds of the others. As the copied rogue turns on his creator.from behind, snapping his neck and disappearing into Jamie's chest. Taking the place of the destroyed Seventeen.
The fight continues throughout Jamie's discovery, the duplicates fighting with more a fury now that the weakness is discovered. One of the few left standing, does so gloating over the unconscious body of Cecilia Reyes holding a grey square in his hands. He looks to the sky - more so at the mutants flying within it - as though he is waiting for something.
"Havok!" Jamie cried from his end of the battlefield. "Three dupes down, and Silver Samurai has flown the coupe. I think we're in trouble here!"
Blasts of yellow rings flow throughout the fighting ground, doing little damage in the ways of the opponents. "What are you thinking Jamie?"
"Samurai didn't finish what he set out to do." Multiple Man said simply, "this mission is a failure unless this building complex is completely destroyed, I don't think X-Corps is going to accept a failure this early in their game do you?"
"Not in the least," Havok muttered, turning his attention to his radio attached to his collar. "Storm, this is Havok. I need you and Sunfire to recon the building area, we've got the situation handled down on this level.find the Samurai."
"Consider it done."
"This is something I have been considering for a long while," Charles Xavier tells his guest and friends alike. "It seems that the young Miss Clarke can help me with something that I've seemingly neglected."
"Charles, I only brought Zelda here to give her a clue on what my life involves, not to actually involve her in this aspect of it."
Xavier takes a quiet sip from a glass of tea, "Bobby, I assure you that I would never ask her anything in the matters that you are thinking."
"What would you propose Charles," Warren speaks up in interest of his own, "I don't recall you neglecting anything in recent times."
Zelda remained silent while listening to the differing opinions of both men to their mentor's idea in the forming. Xavier simply allowed the two to say what they must; finishing off his drink, he sat up in his wheelchair. "Warren there are many things that continue to change without our say so. It has come to my attention that the everyday matters of the X-Men are not something I necessarily need to concern myself with," he said. "Fighting for acceptance is only one half of the purpose I founded this institution, and in order to fulfill the second part of the dream of coexistence I need to be more active on the front lines, I need to be there when the attitudes of the newest generation of mutants forms their ideas about humanity as a whole."
"Is he like this a lot?" Zelda whispered into Drake's ear while Xavier spoke.
"I'm sorry I do get long winded at times," Xavier said, pretending as though he was not interrupted.
"Charles. It sounds like to me you are trying to convince yourself of an idea you have more than wishing for our blessing," Warren said. "What are you planning?"
Xavier smiled at his friends' business frame of mind. "Warren, this is something I put into effect long ago, but have since neglected its stature in the frame of things. My mutant underground is something much in the working; I just need to do two things. First I need to take an active role, and second I need the help of several associates."
Bobby Drake takes a long breath inward relieved somewhat. "What do you need us to do Charles? You know you can count on the two of us if no one else."
"It isn't your help that I require Bobby, though it is appreciated your presence is needed where you are, I'd like to ask your girlfriend for her assistance if you wouldn't object."
"I don't own her Charles, whatever she wants to do has no part to do with my say so."
"Smooth one Drake," Worthington slapped his teammates shoulder saying in approval.
"I'm glad you think so highly of me, but you hardly know me Charles. How can I be of any help to the X-Men?" Zelda asked, mostly surprised over the turn of the conversation.
"Storm!" Beast screamed as his concern for his friend takes precedence over his wish to leave the duplicate mostly unscathed through their fist fighting. Frantically searching for his communication device attached to his belt, he leaps and runs to his comrade quickly as the worries of the original Madrox is realized.the final building in flames and both Sunfire and Storm hurdling to the ground below them.
"Havok!" he screamed into his intercom, "One of the duplicates set off more explosives, Sunfire and Storm have been knocked out of the air, Sunfire is alright but Ororo on the other hand is a whole story on her own."
"Hank, Cecelia is unconscious. You are the only medically qualified person among us, make sure she is all right and get her to safety. Jamie and I will take care of the remaining dupes and meet you on the Blackbird."
"Understood."
"I understand you are working at Harry's until you can acquire the funding to take your bar exam," Xavier smiled at her surprise at the information. "May I ask where you achieved your degree?"
"Yale," she said, taken aback by his knowledge. "How do you know all this?"
"Warren, would it be too much to ask you to hire someone into your firm?"
"I don't know Charles." Chairman emeritus of Worthington Enterprises mused. "I'd have to see credentials, work experience, I don't think I could assume responsibility for hiring an amateur just because she's my friends' girlfriend."
"All joking aside Mr. Worthington, all I would need is just some way to legitimize a few happenings to continue with my plans," Charles explained, "If I were to sponsor your exam miss Clarke, would you consider coming to work for me and my underground?"
"I'm speechless Charles," Zelda returned. "But what do you need to legitimize?"
"Doing such things that we do, we need to make sure of it's legality, and second we need to maintain a certain amount of secrecy."
"Havok, the scene is worsening before even the slightest of news can relieve us of anything dramatic," Beast called out with aid of his communicator. "Sunfire is unconscious, the blast surely doing some sort of damage to his system though I'd image he'd be immune to the collateral heat generated by the flame."
"At least that's good news," Havok said in a conversational tone. The X-Corps uniform of the Madrox Duplicate in his fist, Alex holds the man his friend refers to Eleven to a near-by wall. "I was going to go easy on you, but you had to pull a stunt like this." He attempted to reason the act he plans on. His hand glows while still attached to the duplicate Madrox's uniform.. the being soon reduced to a smoldering ash from the heat belonging to Alex's plasma rings.
"This is not good Alex," Jamie mustered up the will to speak from the co-pilot seat he assumed.
Busy carrying and fastening down the unconscious doctor Reyes, Alex hardly paid attention to his long-time friend. "Jamie, my mind is full enough without you stating the obvious, finish the preflight so we can get out of here."
"Alex, go easy on the boy," Beast tried his best to be come to the aid of his ally. "I've got the casualty situation in line, get us out of here before we cause any more problems for ourselves."
Silently the lead man agreed and steped towards the captains' chair of the blackbird. "Is everything in order Jamie?"
"Everything checks out good. A scanner sweep says we're clean of any foreign device, we're good to go." Multiple Man said, "take us home Alex."
"There shouldn't be a problem with adding Zelda to my books of employees Charles; while I'm at it I may as well add Bobby to my staff of accountants to keep her profile low."
"Good thinking Warren, but at least allow the young lady
time to make up her mind."
"Charles, there is nothing I need to think about," Zelda stood as
she speaks. "There is a lot that needs to be done to make this world a
decent place, I'm thankful to play any kind of part in that. What will
you need from me?"
Setting his glass on the table near him, Xavier wheeled his chair close to the young woman and Bobby Drake. "My dear, if at all possible I'd like for you to take residence within our walls. It may take me some time to reorganize the underground into what I want of it, and until such time that I would need your services as a legal counsel.I'd like you to get adjusted to life that you will find yourself within."
"I don't have to refer to Warren as Wingman or whatever Bobby calls himself do I?"
"Not at all. The codenames I assure you are the means of the strike team, I wouldn't dream of including you in that silliness."
"And Zelda I think you have things a little backwards," Warren eyed his friend, "it's your boyfriend who's the uncreative one. I at least mention myself as Archangel, isn't that right Iceman?"
The group of three burst into laughter at the expense of the embarrassed comrade. "Sure so long as Hank isn't around it's pick on the guy who picked his code name out when he was sixteen day.lets all forget about the guy who changed his name because he got brainwashed and turned into an embodiment of evil or something along those lines."
The return flight should take more or less a day to complete with the plane as large as the homebound X-Men travel in. Though several modifications - most of them nowhere near the scope of human understanding - make their trip speeding through the sky at a speed unmatched by any aircraft of their planet.
"How are things looking back there, Henry?" the pilot asked the medically inclined mutant.
"Storm is stable, though she needs a more adequate medical attention I cannot provide here."
"I'm pushing this bird as fast as she can handle, Henry, just keep her going." Havok switched the radio console to the night vision green labeled home position. "X-Mansion, mission away team en-route. One member in need of critical medical care, prep the infirmary.over."
<TBC>
