Marvel's characters used in this story belong to Marvel and are borrowed without permission with no profit made. Visions characters belong to Visions and if for some reason you'd like to use them, ask us, we'll probably say yes.
#31, November 1999
LAST ISSUE: After convincing the world that he's his own twin brother, Charles Xavier delivered a beautiful and memorable speech on mutant rights to the thousands of people gathered to remember the fallen heroes: the Avengers and Fantastic Four. But upon returning home with the X-Men, he found the mansion invaded by someone they all thought they'd never see again: Revanche! Yes, but isn't Psylocke's old body with the mind of her current body dead? (seesh try to figure that one out). Read on true believers!
Visions has a little story for you:
"I'M STILL ALIVE!"
Tom: Sittin' home alone @ the age of sixteen
Link: Walks slowly across the young man's room
"I don't know who you are, but if this is your idea of some kind of a sick joke you're going to pay!" The words escaped Psylocke's lips in one fast sentence, filled with anger and rage. Just when she thought she had put her life back together again, someone was playing tricks with her. Just when she thought she buried Revanche, someone was digging up her past all over again. And this, she didn't like.
"I'm surprised you don't recognize me Betts," Revanche replied with no less viscosity in her voice. "After all, don't I look exactly like you, before you stole my body?" she announced, grinning evilly.
"Stole?!! I didn't steal your body; the switch was done against my will!!" Psylocke was loosing her temper to a dangerous level. She didn't even notice that the X-Men weren't reacting to this whole scenario. As if they weren't there.
"Sure that's your version of the story," Revanche began, grabbing the katana she was leaning on with the palm of her hand. She pointed the blade at Psylocke. "But you haven't heard mine yet!!" she screamed launching into the air with the sword drawn over her head.
Psylocke dogged the attack effectively and faced Revanche. "Who sent you? What do you want?!!" she spat through clenched teeth.
"Did not you ever wonder why Matuso drained the Crimson Dawn from you?!!" Revanche screamed launching into the air again. This time Betsy was slower to move and Revanche's foot connected with her jaw, knocking her down to the ground with a loud thump.
"Matuso?!!" Psylocke shouted in disbelief; she dodged another strike to her head and rolled into a defensive stance. "He's the one who did this?!!" (Matuso drained Psylocke's Crimson Dawn powers and gave them to a cloned body of Revanche in XMGB #18-19) "That's why he lured me into his home?! But why?!"
"It will all become clear soon, witch!" Revanche replied. "But in the meantime, you've not only given me your Crimson Dawn powers, but also allowed me to do this!" Revanche's right arm lit up with psychic energy, forming one giant psy-sword. At the sight, Psylocke stumbled back few steps. "Impressive isn't it? It's much more powerful than your puny psychic knife. I haven't tested it yet." With those words Revanche was at it again, using both her katana and the psychic sword against her. Psylocke was dangerous position; she carried no weapon and her telepathy was useless against Revanche's mental shields. And she couldn't count on her ninja skills since Revanche had a katana and a psychic sword. Getting in close range wouldn't be a good idea.
She wondered where the X-Men were as she fought to keep a safe distance between her and Revanche. She turned to find them all by the door, frozen in time, watching the fight with great apprehension. It must be Revanche's doing. If she could only reach out with her telepathy and try to free them....
"ARRGGHHHHHH!!!" she cried suddenly in pain before falling to the floor. The last thing she remembered before passing out was that she should have kept an eye out for Revanche's psychic sword.
Revanche stood over Psylocke's body, triumphant. She hurt her, but it wasn't time to kill her yet. No, her end would be slow and painful, that she wound make sure of. She reached out telepathically and made her presence aware to the unconscious woman. Her work here was done.
"You won't take us down so easily!" came a voice from across the room. She looked up surprised to find the X-Men free and attacking. Gambit was the first, heading for her with his hand full of charged cards.
"It was only a matter of time before we broke free from your attack an' now if you've hurt Betsy, you're going to pay." His voice was cold and angry.
***
Somewhere on Empyrean's Island
"So you want us to join the new Freedom Force?!" The man called Avalanche could not believe he had just said those words. After Freedom Force broke up in Iraq, he had never thought there would be so much as a possibility of being on the team again.
"What's the catch?" St. John Allardyce, better known as Pyro asked from across the room where he was sitting.
"No catch at all, Mr. Allardyce," Senator Robert Kelly replied. "The world needs heroes. The government needs heroes since X-Factor are believed dead. Right now we're trying to fill in the void. Since Freedom Force always worked well for the government we agreed on reassembling the team. I've already gotten Crimson Commando, Blob and Mimic to join and you two are the last remaining members," Kelly said waving his hand around the room where the mentioned people were sitting.
"What about Raven?" Pyro asked in between coughs.
"Mystique was believed dead up until not long ago but she has been spotted along with rest of X-Factor in Denver. (in our yet-to-be released Unpredictable X-Factor #2) Right now we're trying to locate her so that we may offer her the leadership of the team," Kelly asserted before leaning back in his chair and looking at both Avalanche and Pyro.
"St. John is very sick, Mr. Kelly," Avalanche began.
"Yes, I have heard about his unfortunate encounter with the Legacy Virus," Kelly said looking towards Pyro. His cheeks were hollow and he was so painfully thin. At times Kelly wondered how he managed to survive as long as he did. "I can assure you the best medical attention our people can offer you, Mr. Allardyce, if you join." The last part seemed cruel, but he had no time for charity cases.
Dominic looked towards St. John, checking for his reaction. "Then I guess we better start packing, mate, because we're going back to America," St. John declared. "I rather kick the bucket while fighting than sitting here and doing nothing. And if there's a chance I can get a shot at a cure then the hell with it, let's go!" A small smile formed on Pyro's lips and he jumped out of bed energetically.
"I'm glad to hear that," Kelly replied getting up to shake their hands. Commando and the rest were right behind him, ready to unite with their teammates and friends again.
***
Mojo Verse
Her breaths were growing sharp and rapid as she ran through the dark alleys. She knew he was after her and if she didn't get the hell out of here he would find her and then probably..... She pushed the thought out of her mind. She didn't even want to think about it, didn't want to remember it. Tears flowing down her face, she pulled out a little black box with nine buttons and a small screen and began punching in the code. Her hands shook and her body trembled as she tried to key in the correct sequence.
She had to get away from him. He was going to beat her, maybe even kill her. She had to get away, and she had to get help. "DAMN IT!" she screamed, unable to see pass her tears. She wiped them away with the back of her shaking hand and tried calming herself down so she could insert the proper code into the box.
After few failed attempts she finally managed to do so and with a flash of white light she was gone....
....and appeared in the distant Dyson Sphere, landing on the floor.
"Alison?!!" Lila Cheney, the owner of the house Dazzler just teleported to, asked looking at her friend lying on the floor. She quickly ran up to her and helped her up. "What happened, Alison? You look awful. My God, what happened to your eye?!!!"
Alison held back the tears as she sat on the couch, next to Lila. "It's... it's Longshot....." she choked out before breaking into tears again. "Lila, he's.... dear God, he's gone insane!"
***
Mansion
She moved like a fish in water, briskly and gracefully, fighting more than one foe at a time. With great ease, she stood up to each one of them and beat them back. As the X-Men, regrouped they understood they would have to work together to take Revanche down. She looked over them, a small grin twisting her lips. "Is that all you're capable of X-Men? I must say I expected much more."
"Well let's see how I do against you since I'm not one of the X-Men," Anne Marie Cortez shouted pointing her arms in front of her. A blue energy beam burst from her fingertips, knocking Revanche against the wall, which she hit with a loud thump. "I can control momentum, Revanche, which means I can move you at any direction and with any speed I like whether you like it or not." (note: this is the first time we've ever seen Anne Marie Cortez's powers)
Revanche wiped the blood away from her face. The wall she hit didn't gain any momentum and instead it all reverted back into her body. The effects were not pleasant but she would live with them, after all she was a fighter. "Impressive indeed, girl. But you have to hit me with those blue rays of yours to take me out and it's not going to happen again." Even before she finished those words she was on her feet and in the air flying at Anne, her katana pointed at her.
Suddenly, she literally froze, her body covered in silver ice-like coating. "She's not the only one who has pretty rays, Revanche," Chrome said clearly pleased with himself. He had just chromed Revanche and she was now floating, suspended in midair.
"Well done, Chrome, but be careful, Revanche may be able to break out of her prison," Magneto warned.
"Not a chance of that happening, Magneto," Chrome replied while helping Anne Marie up. "Nothing can break through my chrome," he stated. And as if to prove it, he walked up to Revanche's frozen form.
"See--" A sudden explosion silenced him and sent shards of chrome everywhere taking him and Anne Marie out.
"That was an insult," Revanche spat through clenched teeth.
Magneto looked at her, clenching his fists. This wasn't going well at all. He knew the team was waiting for his order and he had to make the right call before someone got seriously hurt. Psylocke was out so there was no way of contacting the team without Revanche knowing. He had to rely on the team's familiarity with each other and ability to work together. "Rogue, Iceman and Beast, you will assist me in distracting Revanche," he whispered while looking knowingly at Gambit. He wasn't sure if the Cajun understood his intentions but he immediately disappeared into the shadows.
"NOW!" Magneto shouted pointing at Revanche.
The X-Men did their best job at keeping Revanche occupied, their minds protected by Xavier from telepathic assaults. Gambit stayed hidden in the shadows and circled the area. He moved directly behind Revanche and the X-Men surrounded her. He guessed that Xavier was cloaking him from Revanche because he knew that even a thief with his skills couldn't hide from a telepath. It had made his job much easier. Seeing that she was preoccupied, he prepared for his assault. He sprung from the shadows like a panther, grabbing Revanche by the waist and pinning her to the ground.
She cursed as her katana fell out of her hand. She managed to twist around to face Gambit before she hit the floor hard. His knees were pressing down on hers, keeping her pinned to the ground. Her clenched teeth portrayed rage. Gambit was smiling.
"It always ends up like this doesn't it, cherie?" he remarked clearly pleased. Before he could say anything else her knee came up to his groin that sent him rolling to the floor.
Magneto cursed under his breath. Teamwork was a joke on this team and Gambit's romantic endeavors were only going to get him killed. He should have disabled Revanche first instead of putting the moves on her. Before Magneto could think what else would go wrong two mechanical slugs jumped towards Revanche, snatched her katana out of her hand and ate them, leaving no trace of them.
"WHAT IN EARTH IS THAT?!!" Revanche shrieked, clearly shocked and insulted.
"These are Eanie and Meanie. The girls," Maggott proudly announced.
"You mean those are your powers?! EWWWWWW!" Bobby voiced his opinion eyeing the two vermin as they swirled on the ground, returning to Maggott. Everyone else just stared at Maggott dumbfounded, not sure whether to laugh, cry or both.
"I HAVE HAD ENOUGH!" Revanche announced in a stern voice. "My work here is done. Remember Psylocke, this is only the beginning. I've only come here today to make my presence known. I shall be back, and believe me you're going to suffer for what you did." Revanche disappeared in a puddle of shadow on the floor.
"NO!" Psylocke screamed throwing herself at where Revanche was standing but it was too late. She was gone.
Betsy landed on the floor and looked around. Everyone was gathered around her, still not sure what was going on. Betsy clenched her fist in anger. She didn't know what was going on. She hated not knowing what was going on. Who was Revanche? Why did she hate her? They made peace before she died. What was this suffering Revanche promised her? Her train of questions was stopped as Bishop ran in through the door. He was glowing with pure energy, ready to fight anything and anyone. (note: Bishop has just come back from visiting his sister in god-knows-when we'll release it Unpredictable X-Factor #5)
"What happened here?" he asked looking around the wrecked lounge.
Before any of them could open their mouths the lounge was filled with a flash of bright light and a woman appeared in the center right next to Psylocke.
"X-Men! Thank heavens I found you," Lila Cheney shouted looking around the room. "Something bad has happened. We need your help."
"What's wrong?"
"No time to explain!" She lifted her hand and began teleporting away anyone who was in her reach.
Then with another flash of light, Iceman, Gambit, Rogue, Magneto, Maggott, Psylocke, Bishop and Anne Marie Cortez and Lila were gone.
Hank, Charles and Jeremy were the only ones left in the whole house. They looked at each other unsure of what to say or do. Finally, Xavier was the first one to snap out of it. He looked around the room and then at his companions. "Gentlemen, I suggest we find a dustpan."
***
INTERLUDE:
Trevor Fitzroy was a happy man. Having just found an endless energy supply under the streets of New York, he could use his powers again to bring his partners in crime from the future to stage a takeover. Right now, his scientists were working on transferring that energy to his base up in the Arctic where he could channel it. There would be no stopping him! And his first target would be his most hated enemy.... Bishop!
END INTERLUDE
End.
NEXT ISSUE:
Whoa! Looks like Bishop is gonna be in trouble, but not just yet. Next issue we take a trip the Mojo Verse to solve the mystery of an insane Longshot? Believe me it's not what you think and I can already feel the hate mial coming in, but you're gonna be shocked! And you're gonna love the Mojo Verse after this story. Do you hear me? You're going to love it. You're getting very dizzy. As to why you're going to love it, you'll see next issue!!! Bawahahaha ! God help me I've gone insane myself.
Plus more on Wolverine and Storm in the distant Africa! (that is unless you live in Africa... snicker :))
Or