Issue #134
Natural Disorder Part 3
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As the next stage of human evolution, mutants are hated and feared by humanity. Professor Charles Xavier trained his X-men to confront that fear, fighting for peace and understanding. As conflict between humans and mutants escalated, the X-men have fought many foes. But their latest foe, the Mutant Liberation Front, has proven very tenacious.
Led by a radically transformed Toad, these mutant seek to destroy modern infrastructure in an effort to revert mankind to a more natural order where mutant domination is assured. To do this they rebuilt the mutant amplification device once used by Magneto. After capturing his daughter, Polaris, they activated it atop a cargo ship anchored in New Orleans. The X-men arrived to stop them, but in the process something went horribly wrong. Now, the machine is poised to destroy much more than infrastructure.
And the X-men aren’t the only ones affected. While they battle the Mutant Liberation Front, another conflict involving a new anti-mutant force is unfolding. Henry Gyrich and General William Kincaid have been trying to convince President Kelly that their GRSO unit is better equipped to combat dangerous mutants. The unit’s first mission led them to a confrontation with Rogue and Domino. Now this confrontation threatens to clash with the X-men.
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Skies Over New Orleans
“You cannot escape!” proclaimed Bastion, “Hiding behind the forces of nature will not protect you!”
“Who’s hiding? Ah’m just enjoying the fresh air,” quipped Rogue.
“Speak for yourself,” grunted Domino.
Escaping from Bastion proved both difficult and dangerous. The fight that started at the West End Park was now unfolding in the thick storm clouds that hung over the river. Rogue flew blindly through the dense mist, holding onto Domino while she fired back with her guns. Even with her marksmanship, the chances of her hitting much weren’t good. Bastion and the remaining GRSO soldiers were still determined to subdue them, despite the unfolding chaos around them.
Bastion was now getting uncomfortably close. Rogue was grazed by a few shots from the GRSO soldiers. Her response was to fly deeper into these mysterious clouds. At times she saw flashes of lightning. They grew more frequent with each passing moment. It was a dangerous position for them, but the same applied to Bastion.
“There’s too much interference!” said one of the GRSO soldiers, “We can’t track the targets!”
“A cunning maneuver, albeit one I’ve already accounted for,” said Bastion flatly, “All remaining GRSO soldiers, under my order you are to fall back. Maintain a secondary position while I subdue the targets.”
“Yes sir!” they all said in perfect unison.
The four GRSO soldiers broke their formation. They flew back from the darker parts of the clouds and towards West End Park, leaving only Bastion to take on Rogue and Domino. He was closing fast and preparing his final assault. No amount of interference was going to keep him from accomplishing his mission.
“He’s getting close and my bullets aren’t doing squat!” shouted Domino over the wind.
“At least there’s only one of him now,” said Rogue, her face numb from the rush of cold air.
“Our chances still aren’t very good. Even with my luck, we won’t avoid his next shot.”
“We don’t need to get lucky with Bastion’s shooting. We just need to be lucky with the lightning.”
Domino looked around and saw what Rogue was referring to. Up ahead they noticed an unusual lightning display. Powerful bolts were shooting out from a single point. The bolts were so large that they couldn’t be natural. It looked like a dangerous place to be, but with Bastion closing in they had to take a chance. However, they still needed their share of luck to get through this.
Luck was the last thing on Bastion’s mind. He had already figured out their tactic. If he wasn’t more machine than man, he might have admired them. But such drastic tactics wouldn’t do them any good. He saw the same anomaly and had no intention of flying right into it.
“A most respectable strategy…relying on lightning to vanquish your enemy,” he called out, “Unfortunately, your time has run out and so has your luck!”
Bastion prepared to fire upon the two mutants. They were still too far from the lightning for it to affect him. There was no escaping now. He was going to accomplish GRSO’s mission.
Then something Bastion didn’t foresee literally flew right by him. He was so focused on hitting his targets that he didn’t pick up on a large metal sphere flying in at high speeds from the east. It flew so fast that it caused a powerful wind shear, throwing Bastion off his mark.
“What is this?” he exclaimed.
“Whoa! Was that your luck again, Domino?” said Rogue, who felt it too.
“I wish,” said an equally baffled Domino.
Bastion tumbled through the air, drawing him closer to the lightning anomaly. It was much closer than he had calculated for his counter-attack and by the time he had stabilized and locked onto his targets again it was too late.
Through the clouds, they could see the source of the lightning. It was a large hovering machine with spinning rings that were glowing with tremendous power. Rogue and Domino were able to fly off to the side and avoid the bursts of lightning that came from it, but bastion wasn’t so lucky.
“I…had not calculated this,” lamented Bastion as he approached the machine.
“But Ah bet you can calculate what comes next,” taunted Rogue.
Unable to change course, a large bolt of lightning shot out from the machine and engulfed Bastion. After the first one struck, more lightning bolts found their way into him from the surrounding clouds. It became so bright that it lit up the evening sky for miles. And as the electricity surged through Bastion, his systems were overwhelmed and severely damaged.
“ARRRRRGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHH!”
“Now that’s my kind of luck!” said Domino with a smug grin.
“Ah’m sure it was all you,” said Rogue, rolling her eyes, “But where the heck is all that lightning coming from?”
“Well since my lead with Vertigo was a bust, why don’t we follow up on this one? I’d rather not be here when sparky over there explodes.”
“Works for meh!”
The two mutants flew in lower to escape the chaos while Bastion, who was supposed to be the solution to the mutant agenda, continued to fail. Once the lightning around him ceased, he fell helplessly out of the sky. His last transmission was a grim signal back to GRSO headquarters.
“Bzzt-Bastion/GRSO offline. Bzzt-critical error. Bzzt-mission-bzzt- failure.”
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Cargo Ship – Main Deck
The X-men faced a dangerous new threat. The Mutant Liberation Front had been defeated. Toad had been subdued and was kept docile under the telekinetic grip of Phoenix. She kept him under control while Cyclops, Iceman, Beast, Storm, Shadowcat, Gambit, Colossus, and Psylocke looked desperately for a way to stop the mutant amplification device. Madison Jefferies told them the device entered a dangerous state and if they didn’t stop it, the whole world could be at risk.
None of this bothered Toad. Even under Phoenix’s crushing psychic grasp, he was as smug as ever. His plan wasn’t supposed to threaten the world. Yet in trying to stop him, the X-men doomed them all.
“And you guys say I’m the bad guy,” scoffed Toad, “I wasn’t out to hurt anybody, but you X-men are willing to destroy the whole world to stop me. It would be the world’s funniest joke if it weren’t true!”
“Shut up, Toad! You were the one that was playing with fire!” yelled Phoenix.
“And you guys bought the napalm,” he quipped, “Some heroes you turned out to be.”
“You’re assuming we won’t stop it.”
“Maybe Jefferies isn’t stupid enough to not install a fail-safe, but I’d say the clock is ticking. Those storm clouds are looking pretty damn nasty!”
Phoenix pinned Toad harder to the deck of the ship. If it wasn’t enough to spite him, it would at least keep him quiet. She didn’t need to be reminded of how bad it was. Looking up at the sky, she could see the massive clouds erupting with more lighting. The machine was now a ball of glowing light and looked ready to overload at any minute.
Cyclops and an injured Beast helped Madison Jefferies with the control consoles. Iceman and Gambit stood close by, lending help wherever they could. Colossus and Shadowcat were helping gather some of the cables that had snapped. Storm and Psylocke were injured so they could only help sparingly. Most of the main controls had been fried or disconnected. The ship was still rumbling from what Wolverine did in the engine room, but the shaking was the least of their worries.
“This is bad! This is very bad!” lamented Madison Jefferies.
“You can stop trying to convince us, Mr. Jefferies. How do we fix this?” asked Cyclops.
“Surely there’s another fail-safe,” said Beast, who was still clutching his broken arm.
“Of course there is! But since the connections to the machine were severed, I don’t see how we can activate them!”
“And if we don’t activate them?” questioned the X-leader.
“Then the amplifiers will continue to draw upon that girl’s powers. It’ll keep building and building until the magnetic energy reaches a critical level,” Jefferies explained.
“And what happens when it exceeds that level?” asked Beast anxiously.
“At that point, the Earth’s electromagnetic field will become permanently distorted. Cosmic rays and solar winds will penetrate our atmosphere. The surface of the planet will literally be cooked with radiation!”
“So we end up fried like leftover gumbo,” surmised Gambit, “I say that be right up there with Magneto’s old asteroid gimmick.”
“Between being crushed and being cooked, I’ll take the asteroid,” grumbled Shadowcat.
“I would rather have neither,” said Colossus strongly.
“You and me both, big guy,” said Iceman, “Ex-girlfriend or not, I need to get Lorna out of that thing!”
“Then quit looking up and help me,” said Colossus as he moved faster, “We will not find a solution by running around with our…”
Before the Russian mutant could finish, he stumbled over a pile of wires and debris. In the process he revealed a component that had been blown away from the controls when the ship started shaking. It didn’t look like a computer. It looked like a head. Curiously, Colossus picked it up from the pile.
“Whoa! I’ve never seen that in at Best Buy,” said Shadowcat.
“What the hell kind of gizmo is it?” asked Gambit, who saw it as well.
“I haven’t a clue,” said Colossus as he looked at it strangely.
This commotion drew the attention of Madison Jefferies, who was still working with Cyclops and Beast to the systems running again. As soon as he saw the head of his most prized possession, his face lit up with new hope.
“Danger! She’s okay!” exclaimed Madison as he ran over.
“Danger? Who’s Danger?” questioned Iceman, who was nearly knocked over when Jefferies shoved him aside.
“This is exactly what we need!” he said as he grabbed the head from Colossus.
“I’ll table the questions about why this Danger looks like a woman’s head if you would kindly explain,” said Beast as he ran over with Cyclops.
“She’s my greatest creation for a reason,” said Jefferies as he made his way over to one of the active computers, “Danger is a conglomeration of all my research, including my work on the mutant amplification device. It was her AI that activated it. That same AI can shut it down!”
“Before you go into detail, how soon can you get it to work?” asked Cyclops intently.
“Soon enough!” affirmed Jefferies, “In every program I’ve worked on, I implanted a special resonance chip in the hardware. Think of it like a digital fingerprint with a back door built in. That chip is connected directly to Danger’s AI. Even without any connection to the machine, I should be able to use that entry point and trigger an emergency shut-down.”
“This sounds like great news and all, but there has to be a catch. It’s never that easy,” said Shadowcat.
“First time for everything, petite. Why can’t it be now?” shrugged Gambit.
“Give me a minute and I’ll let you know how easy this will be,” said Madison, “I need these lousy computers to hold up for just a little longer!”
“You need not worry,” assured Beast, “Even with one arm, I can keep these poorly assembled array running.”
Madison worked quickly, hooking a few wires into Danger’s head and using a computer with a busted screen to run the protocols. Beast and Cyclops went to work, holding the device together despite small bursts of sparks. Gambit, Shadowcat, Iceman, and did their part as well by added more connections to the cables while Colossus used his strength to hold the array in place in case of more tremors.
The next few moments were tense. Madison’s face dripped with sweat as the electronics within Danger lit up. The skies above weren’t getting any calmer. Back towards where Phoenix had Toad restrained, Storm and Psylocke watched the dazzling lightning display nervously. Psylocke was still injured and in no condition to help so she kept an eye on Toad. Storm was trying to buy more time for the others, using her powers to control some of the clouds.
“That lightning is getting uncomfortably close,” commented Psylocke, “Any chance we could get some extra breathing room, Storm?”
“I’m…trying!” said Storm, who was concentrating hard on the clouds, “This storm is not a product of nature. My control over it is…limited.”
“Well it looks like our tech boys are working on something, so push those limits as far as they’ll go. The last thing any of us need is more distractions.”
Storm concentrated harder, trying to disperse some of the clouds. The air was so volatile that it was hard to connect with them. Through intense focus, she kept the lightning from hitting the ship. She became so focused that she didn’t notice a strange object streaking down from the sky.
“The bloody hell is that? Storm, watch out!” said Psylocke, who did notice.
Despite stabbing pain in her ribs and a collapsed lung, the young psychic shoved Storm back to avoid the incoming object. It narrowly missed them, but it didn’t impact the ship as Psylocke expected. Instead, it landed. By the time the two X-women recovered, they realized it was one of Magneto’s transport spheres.
“Thanks for the assistance, Psylocke,” said Storm, rubbing her head.
“Don’t mention it, luv. But is that what I think it is?” said Psylocke as looked back towards the orb.
“I believe so,” said Storm, “It seems our activities haven’t gone unnoticed.”
Storm went back to holding off the lightning while Psylocke kept an eye on the orb. Phoenix noticed this sudden arrival as well along with the rest of the team. When it opened, Havok came storming onto the ship.
“Havok!” exclaimed Phoenix, who still had to restrain Toad with her telekinesis.
“Where is she? Where’s Lorna?” he exclaimed, his hands glowing with energy.
“Whoa there, little brother! You’re a little late to the show,” said Cyclops, “We’ve taken care of the Mutant Liberation Front. We’re still working on saving Polaris.”
“I don’t care how late I am! Where is she?” he demanded.
“Where do you think?” said Iceman, pointing up into the sky.
Havok looked up and saw what Iceman was referring to. He paled at the sight of the hovering machine. The way it lit up the night sky with simmering energy made it clear that his lover was in a great deal of trouble. There was no telling how much pain his lover was in, making the younger Summers brother all the more determined to save her.
“Damn you, Lance,” he mused, “I need to get to her!”
“Maybe you didn’t notice, but it’s not exactly safe to be near her,” Shadowcat pointed out.
“I don’t care! I didn’t overload a transport sphere and leave riot on Genosha just to watch her suffer!”
“Wait…a riot on Genosha? When did that happen?” asked Storm.
“One crisis at a time, Storm,” said Cyclops as he ran over to his brother, “I understand you’re anxious, Alex. I’m not going to bust your balls like you’re used to, but I need you to trust me. The X-men will handle this.”
“Cut the crap, Scott! If it was Jean up there, you would already be on your way up there! So don’t tell me to just stand here and wait!”