Marvel's characters belong to Marvel and are borrowed without permission. No profit was made. Visions' characters belong to Visions, we like to keep track of them so ask if you want to use them. We're nice people.
July 1999
VISIONS brings you the tale of dreams, goals and decisions in: "Dreams are for people who sleep" Sleeping: Tom Dreaming: Link Dedicated to Joe Kelly and Steven T. Seagle
I would just like to take a minute to honor the two great writers, Joe Kelly and Steven Seagle who, as most of you know, took over Marvel's X-Men books for a brief 15 issue run last year. It was magnificent. Never before had I been so amazed with the X-Men titles and suddenly I felt like XMGB couldn't tell better stories than Marvel's X-Men like it was supposed to because nothing could top those stories. Those people were great writers, and great people when I met them. They breathed new life into the characters who had been misused for so long. Unfortunately they left both books due to "editorial differences" (to which I will not dwell into because it's a sad, sad story) and with them returned the editorial regime over the Kelly and Seagle went then so did I. All my rallying, petitions, letters to Marvel made no change and the books fell under heave ediotrial control once again. So I stopped reading X-Men. Still, these guys will not ever be forgotten and when I met them, they convinced me to carry on with my writing. They gave me my inspiration. And for that I thank them. This issue features Maggott, a character that really grew under that creative team. I have committed myself to write this character as well as Joe Kelly has, to make his speech just as unique. I will be using whatever was revealed about Maggott for his back story in Visions but I'll be also building onto it to what I think happened before we were introduced to this character. Writing Maggott is my tribute to both Joe Kelly and Steven Seagle, I'll try to do this character justice, since he's not being used by anyone in Marvel now anyway. Whether I succeed, you, the reader have to tell me. Once again guys, thanks for the short entertainment, thanks for your inspiration you're the best!
Tom
***
*This issue happens after the 1999 XMGB Annual
EPILOGUE:
Somewhere in Cairo, Egypt
She arrived in the room with a flash of white light, breaking the silence that filled the empty house which was as empty as her heart. Through clenched teeth and eyes full of tears she fell to the floor, half conscious, gripping her bleeding arm. She pushed herself up and in a slow and unconfident pace made her way to the kitchen, leaving a trail of fresh blood behind her. Once inside the kitchen, she swung open the cupboards with her other uninjured arm, looking for something.
Her frustration grew as she struggled to find the first aid kit. She pulled out the items inside the cupboards, looking for a bandage, or at least something to stop blood flow. Finally, through a flood of tears she managed to find a white roll of bandage and a small bottle of anti septic. Pouring it over her cut she howled in pain, the flood of tears blocking her vision even further. Swaying on her feet she began wrapping the bandage around her arm, hissing as the material touched the raw flesh. Once she was done she looked around the room hazily, the pain in her arm growing more and more savage.
Swaying she made her way to the bedroom where she fell on her bed, breathing deeply. Her arm was on fire, but she ignored the sharp pain. Instead she let herself slip into a deep sleep, her tired aching body welcoming the rest. Her vision blurred and she no longer felt the pain. With a final blink of her eyes, Lukin passed out.
END EPILOGUE
***
South Island, New Zealand
"Your name doesn't sound familiar, young man and I am tired of these intrusions into my life." Magneto's voice was ice cold and sharp, and the young man before him shivered. He had seen this man kill people in cold blood before and this was exactly the tone of voice he used in those times.
"Jislaaik, How can you not remember me, Magneto? It's me Japeth, hey."
"Japeth...?" Magneto said in a less villainous tone.
"No, remember when you saved my guava in South Africa all those years ago, hey."
Magneto's eyebrows narrowed as he concentrated running along in his memory, trying remember Maggott. Suddenly his face returned to its normal grimace and then a smile slowly emerged. "Of course I remember you Japeth. I am sorry for hesitating in the first place but my memory has been failing me lately."
"Safe, my mate," Maggott said extending his hand to shake Erik's. The two slugs sat on his shoulders looking at Magneto curiously, making strange sounds.
"So what are you doing here?" Magneto asked after withdrawing his hand. His memories might have returned but the details were still a little hazy.
"Apart from catching a tan?" Maggott asked jokingly. "It's not like I just rocked up, you sent me here, remember?"
"That's right, I sent you here before I went totally crazy. You were supposed to retrieve something if I recall correctly?" Magneto answered searching his newfound memory deeply.
"No, that's right. You were in quite of a dwaal at the time but I went anyway, found the place but then you mucked with the magnetic dingie and I couldn't get back to Avalon. Then I heard you disappeared. I decided to stay here. There is enough kos here for ten years and I knew you would come back like you promised. You didn't dop me." Maggott's face was lit up with a giant smile as he said those words in almost one breath.
Magneto sighed. "I'm sorry for taking so long, Maggott. It was only few weeks ago that my memories were returned to me. I still don't remember many details, one of them that you were here waiting for me."
"Swright china," Maggott said in a faint voice. "I had no tom or anything, staying here wasn't so bad. So what brings you here?"
"The Maelstrom technology, I needed to hide it from my enemies somewhere. This seemed like the best place for it," Magneto said nodding at the cache of technology hovering behind him. "Come, we can talk while I work inside."
The two of them walked down the corridor, engaged in a casual conversation. Erik took note of the man following beside him. A stranger or friend, he couldn't decide which yet. Maggott was a tall African man, with a single streak of white hair on his bald head which fell onto his eyes like a fringe. He was relatively young and dressed in a strange fashion. He had a white sheet of material slung over his shoulders, with a hole for his neck in the middle, which appeared to be an old worn out poncho. He had a loose white shirt underneath, which was strapped tightly around his waist with a wide leather belt. His grey pants were normal until they reached his knees where he wore enormous knee pads. He was wearing old worn out Doctor Martens. His eyes were covered by blue sun glasses. His two "girls" were two fifteen inch long slugs, apparently made of metal. They were wider at the head with two red eyes and a mouth full of sharp razor teeth.
"Ag matt, I need to do something, I feel like I'm wasting time," Maggott was reasoning with Magneto.
"I understand you Japeth, but however if you're referring to my cause then I must warn you that I realized it was useless. Right now... I'm searching for alternatives."
"Swright Magneto. I always thought the cause was deurmekaar. I'm sure you'll make a plan," Maggott reassured with a grin on his face.
"All right then, you can go with me and the Acolytes..."
"Acolytes??" Maggott interrupted, his voice hesitated.
"Not those Acolytes you're thinking of. They were disbanded when Avalon blew up, or at least that's what I'm told. The Acolytes I am with now are the original four who died with me. You see, I wasn't the only one who Chrome managed to chrome. They were all in state of suspended animation." Magneto's voice went soft for a while as he remembered when he woke himself from near death state to find his followers around him, dead. He left them there, he didn't check whether they were dead for sure....
"Then when I unleashed the magnetic wave on earth I awoke them," Magneto concluded with a deep sigh.
"I'm sure I'll get along with them matt," Maggott said grinning widely. "Especially if they have cherries with nice stems."
Magneto chuckled slightly. "You're already fitting in, Japeth. We're here," Magneto announced as he stopped in a large room, deep inside the mountain. The room was empty and Magneto decided it was the best place to put the Maelstrom technology to rest.
"Need some help?" Maggot asked clenching his teeth and fists. "Nggh--" he moaned for a moment before his skin turned blue. Grinning he looked up at the impressed Magneto. "I've been practicing, hey."
"Good," Magneto replied finally putting the cache on the floor. "If we are going to make a difference we need all the power we can get."
***
New York, the studio of CBNC
"Welcome to this week's Eye on Affairs. I'm your host Trish Tilby and my special guest today is Warren Worthington, known widely to the world as a successful business man, as well as a mutant." Trish paused and took a deep breath before looking straight at the camera. She nervously crossed one leg over the other.
"Lately all eyes have been on the controversial government campaign, called Reach Out. Fully backed by the government, this campaign is a collective effort to ease the human-mutant friction that has been steadily increasing in the country. Prejudice is an issue we have faced with ever since the formation of this country. It hasn't died since then and has been plaguing our people over the years. If this reporter may reveal her opinion, mutant hunts such as Operation Zero Tolerance and FOH have been no better than the vile Ku Klux Klan. But that's all behind us now," Trish said smiling slightly.
"Now we're entering a new era in this country's history where prejudice against mutants is discouraged instead of encouraged. It's been a tough fight, but the Reach Out campaign has been accepted by the Senate and is going ahead full steam. From all parts of the nation, people are appearing, ready to give up their time and money to make America a fairer country. One of these people is Warren Worthington. Welcome to the show Warren."
The camera zoomed out from Trish's face and focused on the man sitting in a chair next to her. The wall behind bore the name of the station. His skin was blue and he was making no apparent action to hide that fact.
"Thank you for inviting me Trish, it's nice to be here," Warren responded with a smile.
"So Warren, you used to be a well known business man, after you took over Worthington Enterprises from your father, but a year ago you disappeared from the arena. What happened at the time?"
"Well you see Trish after I finished my association with X-Factor and I decided I needed some time off. The company was running well so I thought it'd be good to just take a break. I occasionally helped out in some mutant affairs but for the most time I was just laying low, enjoying the pleasures of life. Unfortunately our shares dropped dramatically in price and the company went to ruins. After considering my options I decided I should give it another try, and a honest one this time. And this is how I came to be now, Worthington Enterprises is currently finishing employing new staff and we're in the process of making plans for the coming year. One of them is, of course supporting the Reach Out Campaign."
"Yes, Reach Out. How did you get involved in that?" Trish asked leaning forward in her chair.
"Well, it was all over the news, once it was accepted and my adviser Eddie Cameron thought it was something I should be interested in. I thought about it and I agreed with him. I contacted Senator Kelly and he was very enthusiastic about it, since everyone knows I'm a mutant. I mean I know what Senator Kelly is fighting for. I have been chased with a baseball bat by a member of FOH, I've seen innocent mutants beaten up because they were different. It's appalling, it's like what's happening in Kosovo now and America is stronlgy oposing that, I'd like to think they have the same sympathy for mutants. So it was more than just helping innocent people in need, I'm helping my own race," Warren concluded with a pleasant smile on his face.
"I can understand where you're coming from Warren," Trish said sympathetically. "But from what I understand most people don't quite understand where mutants came from. I think this is mainly what Reach Out is about."
"Exactly. Something that is not understood by people is fear. It's just another facet of human nature. We've always been like this and we can't change that, we're always going to fear something we don't understand. Instead what needs to be done, and what Reach Out is doing is teaching people about mutants, and teaching them how mutants come to be. Also what people must understand, and Reach Out is really pushing this to the forefront, is that not all mutants can lift a ton or shoot plasma blasts. It's only a small fraction of them and most of them fight for good of this world, just like the Avengers and Fantastic Four use to. Most mutants have very minimal differences, like a sixth toe, red eyes or an immunity to a certain disease. I think this is one of the most important points about mutants, they're not much different from normal people. I'm very glad that Reach Out will be going into depth on those issues.
"Just breaking away from the subject for a minute. You mentioned the Avengers and Fantastic Four. Many people blame the Heroes death on mutants. That will definitely be a obstacle in Reach Out's way. What are you doing with this issue?"
"Well actually a lot," Warren responded taking a deep breath. "In few weeks New York will be holding a Memorial day for the Heroes. Reach Out is going to be there, and Senator Kelly will be one of the speakers. What we want people to understand, and this is a personal matter for me as well, is that the Avengers and FF were heroes. They died in the line of duty. I cannot think of a more noble way to die than to save the world. Many people blame the mutants for killing the Avengers and FF. However they do not understand that if mutants made the same sacrifice as the Heroes, Onslaught would have lived on, fueled by their mutant powers. The X-Men in particular, didn't choose to stay, they had to. I have in my time been a part of the Champions and X-Factor and I know what it is to be a hero. I think the world needs to finally understand that mutants are the only heroes we have now," Warren concluded with a serious expression on his face.
"I see," Trish replied shortly but sympathetically. "Getting back on the subject, what exactly is it that you're doing for Reach Out? What's your input?"
"Well..." Warren began gaining his thoughts. "Worthington enterprises is backing the program financially, the budget has been generous with its funding but there's always a need for more money. Also I think my presence will be very important at any occasions where we appear in public. I have already talked to Senator Kelly about speaking at few of them, as a mutant. Because I'm a somewhat known person in the country, I won't be just some mutant, people know who I am and what I do. I think that will help the cause a lot. Also I have few friends who would be perfect speakers and I'll be soon arranging for them to join us. Also, Worthington Enterprises is in charge of another part of the Reach Out Campaign that is still kept a secret. I can't say what it is yet, because it's all in the planning stages but it will be announced very soon. What I can say is that this will definitely do well with the younger people of this country. We understand a 16 year old teenager won't be interested in coming to a seminar about mutants. We have something that they'll find more interesting." Warren stopped, with a mysterious grin on his face.
"I can't wait to see that, Warren," Trish replied with a smile, seeing their time was up. "Well that's this week's Eye on Affairs, I would like to thank Warren Worthington for coming once again."
"It's been a pleasure, Trish."
"For more on the Reach Out Campaign keep watching CBNC for any updates. I wish Warren and Reach Out all the best of luck."
"Thank you," Warren responded cheerfully.
"For Eye on Affairs, this is Trish Tilby. Good-bye."
***
Xavier's Institute For Higher Learning, Xavier's study
Charles Xavier watched, his chin rested on the tips of his index fingers as the door of his study closed. The man behind it, Bishop had just had a discussion with Charles about taking over the leadership of X-Men from the injured Cyclops. The results were less than pleasing.
While both Cyclops and Charles thought Bishop was the best replacement, Bishop himself wasn't so sure about it. According to him, he had taken too much "time off" from leading in his days in the future and in result had become a slack leader. He based his opinion on the unsuccessful mission he led to Savage Land, where Fenris almost killed Magneto. Charles understood these fears but he was sure that once Bishop took over he would do great. Bishop said he'd think about it.
That wasn't the last of Xavier's worries. As the furniture that was ordered last month with government money arrived to the newly rebuilt mansion, he couldn't help but think of the future. His dream is dead, he was the one that destroyed it by becoming Onslaught. It was all his fault, not Magneto's. Once he saw Joseph once again they would need to talk. Right now though, he was mostly worried about the dream. The school hasn't been the same since it stopped being a school.
Sighing, Charles pulled out the grey folder from his desk and began flipping through it. Change was going to mean many new commitments. Could they do it?
***
Few moments earlier, outside of Charles's study
Bishop closed the door behind himself and headed down the corridor. Xavier had just offered him the leadership of X-Men. Normally, he would be stunned but this time, he just wasn't sure. He was reminded just what kind of a leader he was when he led X-Men to the Savage Land. His leadership had almost cost Joseph his life. He had been slack. The X-Men need a reliable leader, one who knows what he was doing, the X-Men....
His chain of thoughts was interrupted by a voice behind him. "Hey mon ami!"
He stopped and turned to see Gambit behind him, dressed in plain clothes, the ever present cigarette in his mouth. His red eyes were glowing as always, and the Cajun had been strangely cheerful lately. Bishop thought it had something to do with Psylocke, but it wasn't really his business. "The Professor has forbidden smoking inside the mansion, Remy," he remarked with a small smile on his face.
"C'mon Bish. You're not going to tell on me now, are you? B'sides Logan smokes cubans in here, I get off lightly. But that's not important now. Congratulations on getting the job. I just hope you're not as strict as Cyclops, he really drives me nuts sometimes."
"Gambit," Bishop said rolling his eyes as the two began walking towards the living room. "Should you know anything about me, it is that I am very strict Remy. Expect training sessions at 5 am and exercises in the snow," Bishop said smiling.
"Yeah you wish," was Remy's short answer and he inhaled his cigarette.
"But seriously, I don't think I'm going to take the job. My last attempt at leading almost cost Joseph his life...."
"Hey, to be honest with you I wouldn't mind if bucket head stayed dead," Remy whispered, chuckling slightly. "Don't worry big guy!" He suddenly raised his voice, patting Bishop on the back. "You are the best person for this job, no one can lead X-Men better than you. Well maybe Stormy can but she's in Africa now. You'll do great, trust me."
"I don't know, Remy. I...." Bishop began unsure.
"Just give it a go, Bish. If it means anything, I'm sure you can do it. Now, sssh," he said placing his index finger on his lips. Bishop looked at him puzzled. The corridor ended now and they were in the living room. Few feet in front of them the new couch stood and before it the new TV. The single occupant of the couch was Psylocke, the back of her head popping out above the back of the couch. Gambit, with his cigarette in his hand begun silently walking towards the couch, Betsy seemingly not noticing him. When he was just a foot away from it, he leaned over the back and put his face close to her ear.
"How 'bout that dinner you promised me, chere?" he whispered in a charming voice.
"No," was Betsy's short reply.
"Ha..." Remy began, not understanding the rejection. His eyes then traveled to the TV screen where Betsy's eyes were. She was watching Eye on Affairs, with Warren Worthington as the guest. ^Ouch.^ Remy thought. "I see..." he said calmly. "Old feelings return, huh?"
"You could say that," Betsy answered unemotionally.
By now Bishop had walked up behind them and was watching the broadcast silently. So there was something between Remy and Elizabeth. He only slightly smiled. The program was just ending when suddenly the screen flashed and words SPECIAL NEWS REPORT came onto the screen.
A man appeared on the screen, holding a microphone in his hand, sounds of gunfire behind him.
"This is Christopher William's reporting for CBNC from downtown New York where a villain calling himself Battery has been on a rampage. The villain appeared apparently out of nowhere, rampaging down the 6th Avenue, towards the Four Freedoms Plaza, the now empty headquarters of Fantastic Four. NYPD officers have barricaded the streets. Everyone is told to stay out of the immediate area. There is a large possibility of an explosion. A source has told us that the Quantum Energy Reactors that provide energy for the Fantastic Four building have not been turned off since their death, and if Battery, who is emitting some sort of energy gets inside he could cause a explosion that would sweep through all of America, if not the world. We understand the impact would be thousands times more powerful than one of atom bomb." The reporter stopped for a while, letting his words sink in and probably himself realizing the danger of the situation.
"NYPD is only able to slow down Battery for so long, and the National Guard has been called in. There are doubts however, if they can stop him, if they get here on time. A year ago, the Avengers would have been called in, or the Fantastic Four. Now, there's no heroes here...." his voice trailed off for a moment but Gambit and Psylocke weren't paying attention to him anymore. Their heads turned towards Bishop who already knew what they meant. He looked at them hesitantly for a while and then nodded.
Instantly, Bishop's eyes lit up and it seemed he already had a plan. "Elizabeth, contact Iceman, Beast and Rogue. I want them in the hangar bay in five minutes. Same goes for you two, be dressed and ready. We haven't a moment to lose."
***
New York's 6th Avenue Sth.
The villain calling himself Battery walked on, unhurt by the bullets
fired at him. The armor he was wearing looked like an old costume Iron Man wore when he
first joined the Avengers. It was gold in color and covered the whole of his body. It was
a two piece, the bottom piece starting at the feet and ending at the neck and the second
piece, a square helmet, with two rectangular holes for the eyes and one diamond hole for
the nose. From the holes, two human eyeballs stared at the guns before him, looking very
annoyed.
"Battery is annoyed with you whimps!" he shouted in a low snarl. "Your useless bullets can not stop him and you're annoying him! Battery will steal your power and you can't do anything about it!"
The policemen didn't reply and kept firing from behind their cars, awaiting for the cavalry to arrive. They couldn't hold Battery off for much longer. For now, they were slowing him down. A S.W.A.T. team was nearing behind Battery, ready to catch him in the crossfire. First shots rang out from behind and the officers looked up to see their comrades, shooting at him. He turned around, surprised. Once again, the bullets were bouncing off him.
"Pah!! You can not stop Battery! No one can stop Battery!"
"Keep dreaming tin can!" one of the S.W.A.T. officers shouted firing from behind his car. Battery looked at him for a while and then began advancing the car. The officer kept firing but Battery walked on. He then reached out with it's giant hand and grabbed the officer by his shirt.
"HA HA HA HA!" Battery laughed triumphant, looking at the terrified cop straight in the eyes. "You are all puny! You cannot take down Battery. Battery will pop your foolish head to show you how wrong you are!" The cop struggled to get free but couldn't break Battery's iron hold. Fear slowly crept in his face.
Suddenly there was a flash of green and the cop was gone from Battery's hand. A southern voice spoke like a sweet melody as the cop landed on the ground next to the others. "Yeah right, like Ah let a cutie like you die," Rogue said, smiling.
Battery stood there, dumbfounded, watching Rogue placed the man that was in his hand just a second ago on the ground. Suddenly he felt slight explosions against his back. "WHO DARES!" he shouted in fury turning around.
The X-Men were dropping from the sky. Gambit was one of the first to jump off Iceman's ice platform, throwing another series of kinetically charged cards at Battery. "Pah who are you?!!" he shouted looking up at them.
"We are the X-Men and we're here to take you down!" Iceman shouted. As they landed on the ground Bishop was already giving out orders.
"Beast, take care of evacuating the policemen, we don't want them to get caught in the crossfire. Psylocke, I've heard you use to maintain a telepathic link between the whole team. Are you able to create such link now?"
"Well sure, it's been a while but yes I think I can," Psylocke replied.
"Good," Bishop said as Psylocke closed her eyes for a while and concentrated. When her eyes opened everyone heard her voice in their heads.
#There you go guys. If you want to communicate with each other just think about it and your thoughts will travel like a voice to everyone's head.#
#Thank you very much Elizabeth, you have been of great aid.# Beast called back while hopping towards the police officers.
"You probably heard our fearless leader guys and gals. It's time to move those pretty cars of yours back the street so you can..."
"No way mutie. We're not going anywhere, how do we know you're not working together with that thing?" one of the officers spoke up.
Beast sighed. "Oh ye of little faith. Is it not obvious that the X-Men have arrived to save the world?!" he exclaimed with a huge grin on his face. "And gain at least a piece of the fame my old friend Simon always had?!" Best added in much quieter voice, chuckling to himself. "Sessh guys, I thought it was obvious," he shouted opening his arms out wide.
The policemen looked at him, scratching the backs of their necks, unsure that to do. "Officers," Beast began again. "Is it not obvious that the X-Men are the only people who can stop this walking replica of Iron Man's earlier days? If we don't stop him it may as well be the end of the world as we know it. And I'm sure none of us want that to happen do we now? I mean I've only seen the new Star Wars flick ten times, and any true Star Wars fan knows the lower limit is fifteen. I mean they would cancel my membership in the Official Star Wars Club if they found out."
The policemen still stood there, now dumbfounded until one of the leading officers spoke up. "Okay guys get into your cars and back down a couple of blocks. Let's give the weirdo and his group some room."
"On the behalf of the X-Men, I thank you for your co-operation, sir," Beast said grinning as the policemen drove away. He turned back around and joined the rest who were already in combat with Battery.
Beast hopped up to Bishop who was standing before Battery with Gambit and Iceman circling above them. "So what's the plan, fearless leader?" Beast shouted to Bishop.
"It's hard to tell Beast, he seems to be immune to our powers. Any energy we throw at him only makes him stronger."
"Maybe I should try hand to hand combat then," Beast said bouncing upwards towards Battery.
#Okay but be careful Hank.# Bishop answered telepathically.
Beast bounced off the ground and extended his leg towards Battery's head, hitting him square in the helmet and pushing him to the ground. He screamed in anger and began swinging his arms trying to hit Beast but he dodged his attacks. "So Mr... uh Battery care to give up your pointless crusade and tell us what you want?" he asked landing on Battery's chest plate grabbing him by the edge of his helmet.
"ARRGHRRHR," Battery roared with fury.
"I thought so," Hank simply answered. #Elizabeth dear, could you try to get into his head while I hold him down?#
#I've already tried Hank, but I can try again. He's heavily shielded.# Psylocke's voice fainted as she closed her eyes and reached out to Battery's mind. In answer, he screamed.
"Get out of Battery's head you witch!!" he shouted swinging his arms around wildly. Beast ducked under to avoid the attacks but wasn't as fortunate this time. Battery's left fist caught him on the jaw and sent him flying into the air with amazing force. He was yanked back with sudden force from his flight and he looked up to see Rogue's face smiling at him.
"Ah gotta do this for money," she said bright-eyed.
Meanwhile Iceman and Gambit were getting ready to strike as Battery was getting up to his feet. They began circling Battery and Bobby couldn't help but make fun of him. "You know, you should get your batteries recharged, you don't look too well," he shouted while he rained blocks of ice onto him, making him sway."
"ARRGH! Puny snowman! Come down on the ground and face Battery instead of sliding above him," Battery shouted.
"Maybe later Energizer Bunny, but now I'll drop you my friend!" he shouted as Remy jumped off his ice platform and landed before Battery. #Bobby, Bishop and Elizabeth wait for my sign, then hit him with all you have to make him move.#
#Wait Gambit, what are you doing?!" Bishop shouted back telepathically but Gambit wasn't listening anymore. Instead he looked at Battery, smiling slightly.
"Honestly, mon ami the 60's are so out of fashion."
"HA! Who are you to tell Battery how he looks?! You're half the size he is!"
"Size is not important mon ami, it's the quality," Gambit replied with a smirk charging up his arms, making them glow with energy. "Now I don't do this often, but for such a Bunny as yourself I couldn't resist." With those words Gambit leaped at Battery and landed on top of his head and placed both hands on his helmet and began charging it with kinetic energy. Battery was waving his hands but couldn't reach Gambit.
Gambit clenched his teeth as he kept the energy flowing, doing the impossible, charging up an unmoving object. He knew that if Battery stayed unmoving then the energy would wear off. With a final flow of energy he jumped off Battery's helmet and landed on the ground few feet behind him, breathing deeply. #Strike now! Everyone except Rogue,# he shouted telepathically and both Iceman and Psylocke were up against Battery pushing him back, making him move slightly.
#Now Rogue!# Remy shouted. #While he's moving hit him as hard as you can, that blast should take him down easily!#
#You got it sugah!# Rogue shouted back picking up speed from up in the air and charging down towards Battery. She clenched her fists and her teeth as she picked up as much speed as she possibly could. #Betsy, Bobby, drop back, it's gonna be a bit of a impact!"
Just then Bishop realized what Gambit's plan was, and what Battery's secret was. #Rogue NO!# he shouted. But it was too late. Rogue hit Battery on the chest full force, releasing the kinetic energy that was stored in his armor, creating an explosion.
"NOOOOOOOO." Bishop's voice faded as the perimeter of the explosion spread. Then in a flash of white light, the X-Men and Battery were gone.
***
Kenya, Storm's village
Wolverine watched patiently as his claws extended in and out of his hands, the familiar SKINT sound starting to ring again. His claws were still mainly bone, but in more and more places the bone peeled off to reveal pure adamantium underneath. He wasn't sure what that meant. When OZT put the adamantium back into him he assumed it was like last time, the adamantium bonding with his skeleton. But now he was having doubts. If the claws were any proof then the adamantium were under his bones, therefore replacing his whole skeleton with adamantium. If that was the case then he didn't understand why he didn't feel like he had a adamantium skeleton. When Lukin hit him during the fight, it hurt as if he had a normal skeleton.
^I've never been a man of science and I never fully understood how my skeleton worked. Guess it's gonna be like this with this skeleton too. Oh well as long as my claws are adamantium I can just see what happens next.^
"Hey Ororo," he said out of the blue, without turning around.
Storm sat down beside Logan and smiled. "Still on guard every minute, friend?"
"Yup. Love what you've done to the hair," he said grinning.
"While thank you Logan. I felt like I needed a change, I've had long hair for so long...."
"Last time ya were talkin' 'bout change ya wound up with a Mohawk, 'Ro. I'm glad this time your head is fully shaven," Logan said chuckling to himself.
"Very funny indeed, Logan," Storm said crossing one leg over the other and drawing circles in the ground with her toe.
"Nice place you got here Ororo, good people too. 'cept for that Embu guy he's really driving me nuts."
It was Storm's turn to chuckle. "He's always been like that, everyone pretends to agree with him but I think he knows deep inside he's no great warrior."
"Suppose getting beaten by a woman didn't help matters either," Logan said in a cold, distant voice.
"No I wouldn't think so," Storm answered in a similar tone.
"What happened that night, Storm? I've known you for a long, long time and you're no murder. You didn't...."
"I did," was Storm's short reply. They both remained silent for a while before Storm began explaining.
I was young back then, just reaching the age of 15, I thought I was going to be a thief all my life, it all seemed so important at the time. I thought I knew everything, but I was wrong. Pick pocketing had lost it's magic and I saw it as a game kids play. I wanted to get into the heavier stuff. My teacher decided I was ready, he gave me an assignment, my very first one and I was so proud. I was supposed to steal a priceless Rama-Tut vase from a European home. I hadn't been given much information about the man, all I knew was that he was from Canada. I approached this job with amazing determination, watching the house for days, figuring a way to get in soundlessly and leave as quickly.
Then after a week I was ready. I climbed up onto the roof. The house had a big skylight which above the living room where the vase was. There was no such thing as alarms, at least in Cairo, so my job was quite easy. I cut a hole in the glass, attached a rope and lowered myself down to the floor. I thought I didn't make a sound and I packed the vase to a little bag I had which I would wear like a school bag. All this time I had the knife with which I used to cut the glass in my hand. Just then I heard soft footsteps behind me and I knew I was caught. I turned around quickly, pointing the knife towards where I thought the person was but I miscalculated. He was right behind me. Before I realized my hand followed the movement of my body and drove the sharp knife straight into the man's heart.
It was that exact moment that the little girl who would become Lukin entered the room and saw me standing over her father's body, which was on the ground. His face displayed a grimace of terrible pain. Lukin looked at both of us for a moment unsure what had just happened. She was young, maybe two or three years younger then me. Then, she began screaming. I saw lights go on in the house and I did what any other panicked thief would do, I ran. I climbed up the rope and onto the roof then down to the street before anyone else could see me. Then I ran even further. I left Cairo the same night, not saying good-bye to anyone, just running as far as I could. I've never heard of Lukin again.
Storm sighed a wiped off a small tear from the corner of her eye. "I never told anyone why I left Cairo, I said I wanted to get in touch with my mother's homeland again. The truth was I was scared of being caught and killed. I heard they displayed posters of me all over the city, even put a price on my head, but I ran away and no one thought to look as far as Kenya."
"Sessh, that's harsh, Ororo. But you can't blame yourself so much. It was an accident. You were only a kid," Logan reassured her, patting her on the back.
"I thought I was the best there is, I thought I was ready for such an assignment. But I was proven wrong, I ended up killing a person." Ororo finally broke down in tears and leaned on Logan's shoulder. "I didn't want to kill him, I never wanted to kill anyone. I only wanted to prove what a good thief I was. I ruined Lukin's life by doing it.... she should have killed me."
"Now, don't get carried away, 'Ro. You saw yourself that Lukin understood killing you wasn't going to take away her hate. You saw her when she couldn't finish what she started. She understood her mistake, ya should too. Killing her dad was an accident. A unfortunate one but an accident. You can't blame yourself for it, you need to move on. And believe me when I say you've made up for that one death more than once. Saving the world gives you about five billion lives on the recovery list."
"Thank you, Logan."
"It's all right Storm," he said smiling. "Now tell me more about Aniet, she's really a character isn't she?"
Storm smiled.
***
Gambit opened his eyes slowly, blinking countless of times, breathing in and out deeply. Sand entered his mouth and went down his throat and he coughed it out. Sitting up he looked around hazily, noticing the rest of the team laying around. They too, were slowly waking up. They were on some kind of a desert. Sand stretched as far as he could see, and out in the darkness a big building towered in the middle of nowhere. The sky was purple. ^Purple. Mon dieu, where am I?^
He got up and looked around. "Well anyone have any idea where we are?"
"I'll tell you after I catch my stomach, gumbo. Smells of inter-dimensional travel to me," Iceman said holding on to his stomach.
"Inter-dimensional travel?" Remy said scratching the back of his head. "That's not good."
"I think I know," Bishop spoke up. "Battery was some sort of a energy absorber. All the energy we threw at him, it didn't hurt him he absorbed it. It was something either to do with him or his armor. He wanted us to hit him with pure energy, suppose that's why he was heading for Four Freedoms Plaza. If he fed on those reactors he would have more than enough energy to go back home, you gave him exactly what he wanted."
"Oops," Remy said grinning slightly.
"Yah mean he just wanted to go home?" Rogue asked from where she was sitting.
"I doubt it," Beast answered from behind. He had been quiet up until now. "I am more than sure that there was a third party involved in this operation. I speculate Battery was being used by someone else, who wanted to bring us here, for some reason. Battery seemed pretty alien to earth. If he just wanted to go home he wouldn't have bother with us. He would go straight for Four Freedom Plaza. I think someone wanted to bring us here," Hank finally concluded looking at his teammates.
"Sorry for getting you into this mess, mes ames. I just wanted to stop him," Remy said apologetically.
Bishop opened his mouth to say something and then closed it again as Beast got up and hopped towards Remy. "Don't worry Remy!" he said slapping Gambit on the back, making him sway on his feet. "You were trying your best and we understand that. You couldn't have known what Battery really was. It could have happened to anyone."
"Yeah I suppose. So what do we do now?" Remy asked. Everyone looked to Bishop.
"I suggest we head that way," Bishop said pointing towards the dark building far away.
"I am in full agreement with you fearless leader. Bobby if you could do us the honors...." Beast said looking at Iceman.
Iceman turned his body into ice within a second. He began forming a wide ice platform before him. "All abroad the Drake Inter Dimensional Ice Service!" he shouted swinging his arm towards it, mentioning for the rest to get on the ice platform.
***
Later
X-Men stood before a large, tall castle. This was the building they had seen from so far away. It had two large towers on each side and a big wooden gate in the shape of a upside down U. The place looked cold and deserted. Once again everyone turned to Bishop. "We'll go inside," he said. "Rogue fly over the wall and see if you can drop the door down for us."
"Ya got it sugah," Rogue said disappearing behind the wall. Minutes later, the gate dropped open and formed a bridge over the empty ditch around the castle that supposedly once held water. Rogue was waiting on the other side, her hands on her hips. "There's no one here as far as Ah can tell," she said as they walked across the bridge.
"I can feel a human presence here. There are also other beings somewhere in this castle but they're not humans," Psylocke said.
"You are right woman, I am the only human in this damed universe." a booming voice said behind them.
They turned around at once, looking behind them. A man was hovering above them. He had a black goatee beard and shoulder length, black and white hair. He was wearing a dark purple costume with a long white cape and white boots and gloves to match. There was a big red oval on his chest, which connected with two other ovals on his shoulders which held his cape in place.
"Who the hell are you?" Iceman asked springing into air on his ice-platform.
"By my stars and garters! It can't be, but it is! Graviton!!" Beast shouted, clearly surprised.
"Yes that is correct, Beast. Pity you're not with the Avengers anymore but the X-Men will have to do."
"X-Men ain't gonna do nothin' for you!" Rogue shouted lifting to the sky and speeding towards Graviton. She stopped in mid air and then rocketed to the ground like a falling comet.
"Ah, don't you people know who I am? I'm Graviton!!! I control gravity. Your powers, no matter what they are, are useless against me, I control gravity itself. You cannot defeat me!"
"We'll see about that Gravyfreak!" Iceman shouted forming an ice-platform before himself speeding towards Graviton. Once again Graviton sighed and snapped his fingers. Iceman's platform took a sudden turn towards the ground and Iceman fell down, similarly like Rogue. Suddenly, Beast was there and he caught Bobby before he hit the ground.
Graviton sighed and lifted his index finger. "Well if we're going to fight let's fight then," he said. A large piece of rock ripped open from the ground and speed towards Beast hitting him in the stomach. As he lost his balance and fell backwards another piece came from behind him, knocking him in the head and unconscious. "You're no opponents to fight against," Graviton said sighing.
Graviton turned his attention to the three remaining X-Men who were standing together.
#We're not working as a team!# Bishop shouted telepathically. #Betsy try to enter his mind and take him down that way.#
Betsy concentrated and closed her eyes. Graviton screamed in pain and fell to the ground, loosing control over his powers. Betsy smiled to herself as she walked up to Graviton who lay on the ground. "Not so tough anymore, eh Graviton?"
"Actually YES!" Graviton sprung from the ground and hurled millions of pieces of dirt towards Betsy's face, knocking her down. "I haven't used my powers in combat for too long but you won't take me down. No one can take down Graviton." Gambit was already in the air, delivering a kick to Graviton's face but like his teammates he was cut off in mid air with small pieces of earth swirling around his body and knocking him in the head. He fell to the ground unconscious.
Bishop was the only one left standing, looking at what happened to the X-Men. They were taken out in less than five minutes. So much for his wonderful leadership. Suddenly he felt himself stiffen. He tried to move but he couldn't. He lifted his eyes to see Graviton above him, smiling. "I'm not going to take you out like the others, you're important."
"What do you mean by that?" Bishop asked.
"You'll find out soon," Graviton answered picking up the rest of X-Men and pulling his gravitational field over them, like he did with Bishop, carrying them behind himself. He entered the castle and walked up some stars and down a long corridor. They saw no one on the way and the rooms they passed were empty. By the time they got to a big double wooden door and Graviton opened it to reveal some sort of a lab.
"Ahhh finally this day has come!" Graviton said as if to himself. "I remember it as if it was yesterday, I was a mere human, Franklin Hall a scientist working on the teleportation beam. The experiment went wrong and there was an explosion which gave me my powers. I got into trouble with the law, fighting Avengers, Spider-Man and many others. Then, during my final battle with Avengers I merged my body with that of Vision. When he turned diamond hard he knocked me out of reality. Everyone thought I died but in fact I was transported here, this strange dimension which I called X-71."
"But why send out Battery, Graviton? What do you want from us?" Beast asked.
"You? I had no business with you. There is nothing in this world. Only this castle and a small village of people living in medieval conditions. I found all this technology here and I managed to build a teleportation device, using the same teleportation beam I worked on back on earth. All I needed was energy to power it. I found however that people who lived here were able to teleport between dimensions much more easily than normal humans. I choose one villager and sent him to earth in the suit to break into the Four Freedom Plaza and charge up on the Quantum Energy Reactor. His suit would allow him to store the energy and once he was fully charged he would have enough for him to teleport back and for me to store and use the energy to come back home."
"Unfortunately... You intervened. I knew that Avengers and Fantastic Four died and I didn't count on anyone interfering. You did and Battery didn't get enough power. One of you charged him up and the blast automatically triggered the teleportation device in his suit bringing him back home, and you with him. He however lost all the energy when he came here."
"So you mean we're stranded here without a power source?" Beast asked concerned. The rest of X-Men kept quiet, not sure whether to show compassion or anger.
"Luckily, we're not. I understand one of you is a energy absorber." He said looking at Bishop. "You absorbed the energy of the blast that Battery created, stopping the whole street from blowing up, didn't you? The energy is still in you, my sensors tell me so. The energy that you have should be enough to transport us all back home."
"I'm supposed to help you, Graviton?" Bishop asked clearly not amused.
"Look at it this way. If you help me, we'll all get home. I can turn myself in, all I want to do is to get home. If you won't help me then I'll just kill you and your teammates right now. One flick of my fingers and your oxygen supply is cut off. You choose."
Bishop looked at him hesitant. #Hank?#
#He's right Bishop. I've faced Graviton before and he can do what he said. I don't think he's fooling us... Elizabeth?#
#He's telling the truth. As far as I can tell. And he really wants to get home too. I didn't even have to go into his mind to read that. His thoughts are screaming. He hates this place.#
"Okay, Graviton I'll do it," he said and immediately he was released from Graviton's grasp.
"Wise decision. Now walk over to that tube, step in and close the door behind you," Graviton ordered pointing at a big glass tube which stood in the corner. It was about as high as Bishop and had numerous tubes connected to its top.
Bishop stepped in and watched as Graviton walked up to his computers and began pressing some buttons. The X-Men were still in his grasp. Bishop thought about escaping but Graviton still had X-Men under his control, and Psylocke had told him that Graviton was being honest with them. It was his faulty leadership that sent them here and he was going to get them out. On a sign from Graviton he powered up and began releasing all the energy that was stored in his body. It filled the tube and then traveled up the smaller tubes out to an oval glass container where it was stored.
When all of the stored energy was gone Graviton mentioned for Bishop to come out. He was still working at his computer. Sparks began to fly out from the top of the container and energy began boiling, twisting and swirling. A small white portal appeared in the middle of the room and it grew larger as the energy from the container disappeared. Finally all the energy was gone and the portal was wide and high enough to fit two people at a time. Graviton turned back to X-Men. "I've been waiting for this day for years, X-Men. It is time to go home." With these words he released them from his grasp. "Follow me," he said and he walked up to the portal. When they were all behind him he took the first step and vanished inside the white energy.
Psylocke once again entered his mind before he disappeared to make sure they were truly going to earth. That taken care of she looked at Gambit who was the only person aside form her left in the castle. "After you madam," he said with a charming smile.
"While thank you, Remy," she said smiling and then moved towards the portal. "Watch your step, the first one's a killer."
Then she was gone, and Remy behind her.
***
With a flash of white light, a big round white portal of energy opened in a back alley and X-Men and Graviton stepped out of it. It closed once they were all out.
"I'M BACK!!! YOU HEAR ME WORLD?!! I'M BACK HOME!!" Graviton shouted with joy. The X-Men exchanged glances with each other.
"Now if you follow us, Graviton, we're going to..." Bishop stopped in half of the sentence, not able to get a word out of his mouth.
Graviton turned around. All of the X-Men were in his grasp again, and this time they couldn't even talk. The gravitational fields around them let in enough oxygen for them to breathe. "Did you honestly think I was going to turn myself in, X-Men? After years of imprisonment in that dimension which is worse than prison, you really thought I was going to surrender myself? I'm a free man now and I'm not about to waste that chance. You haven't done me wrong X-Men, so I'll let you live. But remember, next time we meet, it will be under different circumstances."
He lifted his hand and the gravitational fields around X-Men began closing, cutting off their supplies of oxygen. They began choking and gasping for air but there was none. Their faces turned blue and their eyes grew wide. Then one by one, they passed out from lack of oxygen and fell limp to the ground as Graviton released them. Bishop was the last one to faint and Graviton saw extreme anger in his eyes, Bishop was furious. But as he too fell to the ground unconscious Graviton turned around and flew into the skies. He had much thinking to do. A lot has changed since he disappeared.
***
Xavier's School For Higher Learning
Charles Xavier breathed in the fresh spring air deeply, comforted with its clearness. With his hands crossed behind his back he walked around the school buildings, thinking.
It had taken a lot of thinking and planning but he could do it. He had to do something to revive the dream, to make it is a reality again. It had been just an illusion for too long, the school stopped being a school long time ago. It was so lively, so inspiring back then., now it's just become a home base for X-Men. No one in the school is "young" anymore. ^I've considered all pluses and minuses of it and it is time to change this school, time to go back to the roots.^
His thoughts were interrupted by a loud booming sound above. He looked up to see the Blackbird returning and heading for the hangar bay. He smiled. Perfect timing.
#X-Men see me in the War Room immediately. I have an announcement to make.#
***
War Room
He looked around the faces of his students, all of them there, including Jean and Cyclops who were leaving tomorrow. When they were all seated he got up from his chair and looked around them. "I've been doing a lot of thinking since I've woken up from my coma X-Men and I came to many conclusions, mostly about the dream. I killed it, I myself killed my own dream. By becoming Onslaught, I did what Magneto, Sinister, Shadow King or anyone else couldn't do; I killed the dream. It wasn't Magneto's fault, it was all my fault. The problem, however did not start there."
Charles stopped for a while and took a deep breath. Everyone in the room was paying strict attention. "The trouble with the dream started when the school fell apart, when the New Mutants broke up and created X-Force. When the mansion was destroyed. After I returned from space I fooled myself into believing that there was hope for the dream. There wasn't. All the time since then we've spent trying to keep ourselves alive, we were not helping the human mutant relations at all. And as we've all seen with Operation Zero Tolerance, the matters are getting worse. Thankfully the government is beginning to see it's flaws and is starting out fresh from what I've heard. And now with the Heroes gone, X-Men will need to take on more of the heroic role, as basically the world's last hero group."
"That is why I think that if the dream is to thrive, two things need to happen. One is you, X-Men must take on a much more active role in the world's affairs. This isn't only about saving the world, this is about working together with the government to some degree on any mutant affairs. Our cooperation with them has been a strained one but we must try our hardest if mutants are to be treated equally."
"The second thing..." Charles took a deep breath. "The second thing is that the dream needs to move on to the younger generation. The dream was always about teaching young mutants about their powers so they could co-exist with humans. Now look at us now. Everyone is over 20 years old. Where is the young generation? We've tried this with Generation X but the problem with them is that they're based in Massachusetts. We need a school that's alive and lively in here." With these words he reached to the table and picked up a grey folder he had been looking at for so long.
"In this folder," He said holding the folder up in his hand, "are files of six young mutants. They are the only files that were not destroyed by Bastion when he took over the school. Shortly before Onslaught I made copies of these files and hid them in the underground complex. These six teenagers are now in danger from Prime Sentinels. True they were supposed to join Gen. X once the time came, but I'm sure you understand why I can't send six new mutants to Gen.X. Given the circumstances and the new direction of the dream I'm taking, I've decided to reopen the school and restart the New Mutants."
And the jaws fell.
End
NEXT ISSUE:
"Each end is a new beginning."
NEW MUTANTS??!! Whoa baby change is on the way! We don't think we need to tell you what the new Visions book is going to be!! But that's not all of course. Scott and Jean leave the X-Men as the team gets smaller and smaller. The final confrontation between Psylocke and Jean! The two telepaths have been bumping heads ever since Betsy tried to seduce Scott, now as Jean leaves they will finally resolve their differences. Plus Magneto arrives at the mansion's doorstep and the new X-Men leader is finally chosen. It's all here as we finally establish our status quo. Be there, it would be a shame if you missed it :)
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