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t was her first night on Utopia X. Monica Ramierez laid down to sleep after a long day of orientation. As she cast off into dream sleep, she saw several images of mutants she hadn't ever seen. They weren't among the 198, she would've known. All of the mutants met a violent end by some of the X-men's deadliest foes, the Marauders. Monica awoke from her sleep and recorded everything down. She wasn't sure if it had been a dream, or her powers manifesting in a dream.
She had remembered a young man who had been killed by Sabretooth. In that part of the dream, Storm had been mourning over him. Monica tracked down Professor X. to see if he knew where Storm was, she wanted to ask her if she knew the young man. Professor X. surprised her, "Yes, child. Ororo and Orin went back to Wakanda just moments ago. They will be out of radio contact for a while. Try calling them tomorrow."
"Tomorrow will be too late." she thought. If she had seen the most urgent probability, he was going to die as soon as he touched down. She nodded politely and hurried on her way. Checking her database she saw that Pixie was just finishing a Danger Room session. She met Pixie as she emerged from a training session with Nightcrawler. Monica asked if she could open a portal to Wakanda. "Sure" said Pixie, "but why?”
"Oh I'm just recording power levels." replied Monica. "Can you do it for me?"
"Sure" Pixie chuckled opening the portal.
Instinctively, Monica jumped through the gateway and landed on her keester. She was an X-ecutive assistant, not the most war-bound of X-men. As she gathered herself and dusted off she looked up, seeing the Royal Wakandian guard with spears drawn on her. It was a hunting party. In the short distance she heard the sounds of struggle and cries in Wakandian. The guard turned and ran toward the fight. Impulsively, she followed, staying hidden. She saw a giant hairless ape fighting the guard. After a few moments, the ape had downed most of the guard and jumped into the high tree line. The guard recuperated and continued searching. Monica held her breath as the guard marched by. As they disappeared into the foliage, Monica turned to run coming face to face with the giant ape. Startled her power activated and she saw a good probability that he would eat her....and fainted.
As she awoke she was sitting across a fire from the ape, which was enjoying a recently acquired bunch of bananas. She gasped a bit, gather her wits about her. Speaking slowly she said "I....am.....M-o-n-i-c-a, Monica. Who...are...you?"
The ape shifted his eyebrow up, and swallowed. “My name is Gork." Monica sat stunned. She couldn't believe it. "I am not a Gorilla. I am a mutant." The words rang through Monica's ears as she recalled her dream. He was in it. He was against Blockbuster and Scrambler....and was ultimately killed when scrambler disrupted his power and Blockbuster beat him to death.
"You are going to die...." Monica “I am a mutant too. I saw you....."
"Wait!" Gork interrupted. “His nostrils twitched as his head slid to the side. Gork grabbed Monica and raced up a tree. He placed her on a branch and warned “Stay here...." Gork went back down as Blockbuster came into view. Gork roared as he pounded his chest. The two titans clashed and the jungle shook. Gork was the stronger of the two. He was beating the tar out of Blockbuster handily. Then Scrambler emerged from the tree line, his hands blistering with energy. She cried out, but her warnings were drowned out by the raging battle. Monica leapt at him, striking him and driving him into Blockbuster. Blockbuster was immediately de-powered. Gork stared the two down and roared once more. They fled. Gork turned to Monica. "Thank you." he growled, a small smile escaping his lips. Their attention was drawn immediately to the landing aircraft. Monica recognized the X insignia. It was Ororo's plane.
"We have to get there fast!" Monica blurted out. "There is another mutant in danger." Gork snatched her up placing her on his back, and shot through the treetops.
As the plane landed, the normal festivities were carrying on, welcoming the queen home. Orin was going to be named the royal court consort, accompanying the Queen wherever she would go. Orin exited the plane ahead of Ororo and T'challa. Suddenly, Sabretooth attacked the Royal family knocking out T'challa and ripping across Ororo's back. He turned his attention toward Orin. "Boy..." chuckled Sabretooth.”Even if you weren't on the list, I'd enjoy this." Orin and Sabretooth engaged trading fierce blows.
Monica and Gork arrived staying just hidden in the jungle. "We have to warn him, Gork!" said Monica. "He is going to die!" Gork stopped her and pointed out a glint on a far hillside.
"It’s a man with a gun." Gork whispered. "He'll kill you before you warn him."
"Scalphunter." she breathed. "Then how do we warn him?" Gork picked her up and threw her at Sabretooth. She collided with the Marauder, falling at his feet. Orin jumped back as a trail of shots ripped up the ground at his feet. Orin spotted Scalphunter and charged dodging an array of gunfire. Scalphunter lobbed a smoke grenade and made his escape.
“Well well well pretty skirt...." snarled Sabretooth.” What do we have here?"
"I'm an X-man you lumbering pile of wannabe Wolverine testosterone. Sides, you don't scare me, I've seen badder beasts in this jungle..."
"HA HA HA!" cackled Sabretooth. "Who is badder? Frail, King Kong ain't got nothing on me...."
"Nothing but a chokehold.......GORK!" Gork raged from the jungle grabbing both of Sabretooth's arms with his feet and pummeling him mercilessly with his oversized arms. Monica placed her hand on Gork. and Gork let go. Orin came back. "Sir..." Monica started “I saw in a vision you were going to die. I know how crazy it sounds, but you were supposed to die today."
"Silence, X-man." rebuked Orin. “I care not for your chattering. My destiny is my own to make."
"Monica." said Ororo coming over with the aid of a guard. "Nice to see you again....how...."
"Pixie." Monica replied. " Storm, Ororo... I had a vision. This young man was killed by Scalphunter and Sabretooth, but we averted that."
"And you have my sincere thanks, but why were they after you Orin?"
"Sabretooth mentioned a list." scowled Orin.” A list of mutants he and the Marauders were supposed to kill."
" My vision showed several other mutants, but I don't know who they were or where they were...and obviously, time is of the essence...."
"Use your power, touch Sabretooth..." said Orin
"My power doesn't work that way...." Monica answered.
"How do you know. Think of your vision, concentrate on the mutants, and maybe the physical touch will act as a catalyst."
Monica hesitated and looked at Gork, who shrugged his shoulders. She closed her eyes, concentrating and then laid her hand on Sabretooth. A flash in her mind as she saw the list and a replay of her dream, this time with dates and hours. She released and fell back. "We have to get to ."
"Take the X jet Monica." offered Storm "And Orin....please accompany them, as a personal favor to me."
"For you Ororo."
The three boarded the Xjet and launched towards .
Across the world in , a young man named Johan looks at the suit before him. "You want me to join the Xmen?" He said with a thick brogue as the shadowed figure before him nodded affirmatively. "And you want me to infiltrate this new brotherhood who are posing as X-men?" The figure nodded again. "I'm your man." The figure stepped forward, it was Professor X. " I knew I could count on you Johan. Now take your uniform and take the blackbird waiting outside. Cerebro is already programmed into the computer, so just think of where you want to go, and the plane will fly itself. But before you get to …..you have one small stop to make…"
The cage door on her cell slammed shut. In grease pen, a man marked on the side: Salome 17. The man walked away. She hardly knew what was going on. She had been drugged and removed from her abode, and was now caged like some animal. She had been a servant of Sebastian Shaw V. One of the entertainers at his Hellfire Club. It was a life of little want and yet less ambition. She had become ambivalent to charming her clientele out of their wealth. The last thing she remembered was the X.S.E. raiding the Club and taking all of the female employees. After an injection, she ended up here. There was a vid player on in the background. It looked really old. As she watched, she saw it was playing a newscast. The newscast then read the time and date......how did she end up back in 2009?
"So that is the long and short of it Noah..." said Beast. " The collar will inhibit your power long enough for me to run some tests. Don't worry about a thing, the X-men will take care of all of your needs while you are with us. " Noah nodded and lay down as Hank went to the front of the jet. His thoughts washed back over the past week. At least he wasn't glowing anymore. That was something to appreciate....BOOM! The ship shook at an incredible pace. Hank's voice came over the intercom. "Brace yourselves for impact!!!" The ship smash landed ripping the hull in two. The cockpit was thrown far from the cabin.
As Noah awakened he saw a woman and man searching the wreckage. He called out to them, and they turned. As they came closer, he recognized them. It was Harpoon and Arclight! Noah tried to get up but was pinned. As he struggled the twosome hovered over him. Harpoon readied his weapon. Then in a flash, the harpoon he was holding disappeared. The two Marauders looked around, stunned. Arclight collapsed unconscious. Harpoon went flying and crashed into a tree. The debris pinning Noah vanished. Noah looked up and saw a man clad in a black armor type suit. "Come, with me if you want to live....well actually, we have time, and those guys will be out for hours. My name is Blitzkrieg.....what’s yours?"
"Noah....Noah Faith."
"Well let’s get out of here Noah Faith, I got the feeling we are not gonna want to be here when they wake up." With that, Blitzkrieg snatched him up and streaked off. “Where are we going?” coughed Noah. “Little Britain.” answered Blitzkrieg. “What about Beast?”
“Oh….uh” answered Blitzkrieg. “The other X-men have him.”
In a manor in the small town of , Essex, a young girl sat waiting by the window. Today was the day that she was going to the Utopia island to be with her mum, Betsy Braddock. She had been impatiently waiting the day and now it had come. Anxious feelings swelled inside her as she saw the Blackbird land. She raced out, bags in hand to meet the plane. She was taken back when she saw Blitz and Noah get off. “What is this? Who are you?” she stammered.
“I’m Blitzkrieg and this is Noah. We were sent to come get you and accompany you to . Then we’ll meet up with the X-men and go to the island.”
“Did me mum, Allison send you?”
“Yeah, why else would we be here?”
“My mom’s name is Betsy…” Shereen said taking a defensive position. Blitz moved to grab her. He avoided he swipes, but just barely, and grabbed her arm. The adrenaline had been coursing through Shereen’s body activating her poisonous secretions. As Blitzkrieg grabbed her, he was stunned by the poison. Had it not been for his accelerated metabolism, he might have died. The ensuing result, he lashed out with an energy field that knocked Shereen for a loop. As he got to his feet, Blitzkrieg was blasted by Noah. Noah helped Shereen to her feet, careful not to touch exposed skin. “Hi….I’m She….Reptilia” she said. “You’re Noah right? What is his deal?”
“I’m not quite sure…” Noah said. “ He saved me, and said we had to come here before we went to . Let’s get him secured in the plane before he wakes up. I was headed to Utopia too. Maybe we can get there together…?”
“And maybe the wizard will get us home and give him a brain….”she rejoined as she smiled. The two locked Blitzkrieg in the brig and Noah sat at the ship’s controls. Looking around, he saw a destination was already computed into the flight pattern. Looking at Reptilia one last time to assure his nerves, he concentrated on his destination. The plane lifted off with ease.
In , Gork, Monica, and Orin had landed in . They turned on the cloaking device and headed towards . Monica gave Gork an image inducer to make him appear human. They arrived at an entrance to the old Morlock tunnels. Gork sniffed about. “There are people down here….several.” he grimaced.
“Then we shall free them.” Voiced Orin.
“Wait….not without a plan.” Cautioned Monica. “ Gork scout ahead and stay out of sight. Orin, you’ll be with me. We’ll try to locate the girl in my vision. Gork, I’ll need you to be our anchor if something goes wrong.” Gork and Orin nodded. They ventured into the tunnels with Gork climbing overhead. Coming upon a small side passage, Monica heard voices. She and Orin edged in closer. Monica was amazed. She saw all of the Marauders there meeting with…..Bishop! She knew Bishop had turned on the X-men, but why was he working with the Marauders? She had drifted too far in thought not noticing Riptide and Prysm leaving the fold. She heard Orin shout and turned around. There they were, surrounded by Marauders. She picked up a lead pipe and smacked Orin in the back of the head with it knocking him unconscious. She then dropped the pipe…”Take me to your leader….heh heh”.
The door of her cage slammed shut and Arclight made sure the lock was closed. Orin awoke from his forced slumber. “Why in the Hell did you do that woman!?!”
“I see all probabilities Orin, like our chances of winning that fight or the chances of you voluntarily giving up…..which were slim and none. “she barbed. “We needed to find that girl and get her out of here before….” With that, Monica’s eyes fell on the cage marked Salome 17. A beautifully sullen girl sat there, her soul pleading for release. “Salome…” Monica called out, averting the young girl’s attention. “Why are you here honey?”
Salome turned and began to answer in a voiced that rode on gossamer wings. “I am not from here. I am from the future. There I serve and do what is expected of me. I do not know why I am here….or where here is.”
“That’s easy…” boomed a voice from the doorway. It was Bishop. He lumbered in looking at Monica. She noticed his cybernetic arm had a pink hue to it. “Ya like the arm? I made it from stolen Nimrod technology. Allows me to travel in time, but I have to use the life-force of mutants to do so. Mutants aren’t so plentiful anymore. So I just go to another time and take them. Like Salome here. ‘Cept Salome is going to be sold to one of my many clients. It’ll fetch me millions. You two will get me two more trips to the future, plus the bounty that’s on your heads. And don’t waste your time trying to use your powers on me Monica. You’ll fid I’m what they call “time blind” a person out of synch with their time, unable to be read by precogs. Now, sit back and enjoy what little time you have left. “ Bishop kicks Monica’s cage and stars to leave the room.
“So you couldn’t hack it as an X-man, so what? Now you are a time traveling pimp?” Monica remarked. Bishop ripped off her cage door and grabbed her by the neck raising her above his head.
The blackbird automatically landed in a secret tunnel entrance of the Morlocks. Reptilia grabbed a handheld directional GPS unit from the control board of the plane. She and Noah stepped out and proceeded down the tunnel. A few feet in they heard a commotion and rushed to the source. There they saw Grok fighting with Harpoon, Scrambler, Vertigo, Prysm, Arclight, Riptide, and Blockbuster. Immediately Shereen jumped into the fray attacking Vertigo. Noah hesitated at first, but then joined in and blasted at Prysm, who returned in kind. Gork grabbed Prysm and shattered him on the head of Blockbuster. Reptilia tossed Harpoon into Vertigo impaling her on his harpoon, making her lose her powers. Noah blasted Blockbuster down. The three turned towards Arclight and Scrambler who stood their ground, hands crackling with energy. Suddenly a loud boom followed by a small earthquake and a blinding flash of light occurred. When the dust settled, there stood Blitzkrieg over the two fallen Marauders.
“Look,” Blitzkrieg said. “I know we got off on the wrong foot. I’m one of the good guys, really. Prof X recruited me himself.“ The four agreed to a truce for the time being.
“C’mon” Gork explained. “We gotta help Monica an’ Orin!”
Back in the prison, Orin smashed at his cage door trying to break the lock. “If you want to fight Bishop, be a man and fight me!”
“Oh, you’re next…..Scalphunter! get the girl your master wanted and get out of here.” Clamored Bishop. Scalphunter grabbed Salome 17 and started to usher her out the door. “Now….Orin is it? We’ll see if your girlfriend can withstand having her throat crushed….I hope for your sake darling, you have a mutant healing factor!” BLAM! BLAM! BLAM! Bishop fell to the ground. Over him stood an entranced Scalphunter clinging to Salome 17.Monica gained her breath and opened Orin’s cage.
“How did you….what?” questioned Monica.
“My power.” Salome answered. “It does have its side effects though. As she let go, Scalphunter fell to the floor unconscious.
“Great! Lets find Gork and get outta here.” At that moment, Gork, Reptilia, Noah, and Shereen walked through the door. Monica immediately recognized the three people. “Johan! Shereen! Noah!” she exclaimed! Did the Marauders kidnap you as well? Just then Bishop rose up, his eye flashing pink.
“Nimrod Bio-Sentinel Designate Bishop ready. Executing prime directive….” A huge set of cages crashed into Bishop, pinning him to the ground. Gork smiled. “RUN!” yelled Monica. The group reached the blackbird. As they boarded, Noah stopped.
“I’m not going with you if he is.” Noah said pointing to Blitzkrieg. “I don’t trust him.” Shereen nodded in agreement.
Monica started to speak, but was interrupted by Blitzkrieg. “No, they are right. Stick me in the brig, lock me up.” Johann went into the brig of the ship. The group headed to . After landing, they looked at each other and decided the next step. “You were all in my vision” Monica explained. “You all died, none of you are supposed to be here now. The timeline has been changed, now we have to decide what to do. First, I’ll deal with Blitzkrieg. Why don’t you guys get settled in to the mansion’s base quarters?”
“I don’t take orders” Orin shot back. Gork furrowed his brow and snorted. “But you have proven to be an effective leader so far Ms. Ramierez.”
Half an hour later, Monica made her way to the sub basement where the group had gathered. “I let him go, he was just misguided. He clearly didn’t want to put us at jeopardy. Blitzkrieg won’t be back.” As she finished, shots rang out through the room tearing into the whole group. One by one they fell, victims of an unyielding arsenal. Blood soaked floors told the story of heroes killed before their prime. Scalphunter looked at the bodies, boarded the blackbird and took off.
A lone pair of footsteps could be heard scuffing across the floor. Blitzkrieg looked at the fallen bodies in disbelief. Leaning down by Monica’s head, he whispered…..”It worked boss.” Groggily, each of the mutants rose up from their slumber, looking at the ichors that covered their clothing.
“I had Blitzkrieg knock you all out and cover you with fake blood….and catch all the bullets. I see all possibilities, remember?” Monica smiled wryly.
“Then why did you let Scalphunter get away?” questioned Shereen.
“From the beginning, there has been a plan, and we have been on the defensive. Now, the mastermind thinks we are dead and his little flunky is taking a low-jacked blackbird right back to him. All probabilities, remember? Advantage us. So if you want, we can make a go of this ourselves, a covert vanguard against people who would do mutants harm……the CV!”
And here we go…..!

Description

t was her first night on Utopia X. Monica Ramierez laid down to sleep after a long day of orientation. As she cast off into dream sleep, she saw several images of mutants she hadn't ever seen. They weren't among the 198, she would've known. All of the mutants met a violent end by some of the X-men's deadliest foes, the Marauders. Monica awoke from her sleep and recorded everything down. She wasn't sure if it had been a dream, or her powers manifesting in a dream.
She had remembered a young man who had been killed by Sabretooth. In that part of the dream, Storm had been mourning over him. Monica tracked down Professor X. to see if he knew where Storm was, she wanted to ask her if she knew the young man. Professor X. surprised her, "Yes, child. Ororo and Orin went back to Wakanda just moments ago. They will be out of radio contact for a while. Try calling them tomorrow."
"Tomorrow will be too late." she thought. If she had seen the most urgent probability, he was going to die as soon as he touched down. She nodded politely and hurried on her way. Checking her database she saw that Pixie was just finishing a Danger Room session. She met Pixie as she emerged from a training session with Nightcrawler. Monica asked if she could open a portal to Wakanda. "Sure" said Pixie, "but why?”
"Oh I'm just recording power levels." replied Monica. "Can you do it for me?"
"Sure" Pixie chuckled opening the portal.
Instinctively, Monica jumped through the gateway and landed on her keester. She was an X-ecutive assistant, not the most war-bound of X-men. As she gathered herself and dusted off she looked up, seeing the Royal Wakandian guard with spears drawn on her. It was a hunting party. In the short distance she heard the sounds of struggle and cries in Wakandian. The guard turned and ran toward the fight. Impulsively, she followed, staying hidden. She saw a giant hairless ape fighting the guard. After a few moments, the ape had downed most of the guard and jumped into the high tree line. The guard recuperated and continued searching. Monica held her breath as the guard marched by. As they disappeared into the foliage, Monica turned to run coming face to face with the giant ape. Startled her power activated and she saw a good probability that he would eat her....and fainted.
As she awoke she was sitting across a fire from the ape, which was enjoying a recently acquired bunch of bananas. She gasped a bit, gather her wits about her. Speaking slowly she said "I....am.....M-o-n-i-c-a, Monica. Who...are...you?"
The ape shifted his eyebrow up, and swallowed. “My name is Gork." Monica sat stunned. She couldn't believe it. "I am not a Gorilla. I am a mutant." The words rang through Monica's ears as she recalled her dream. He was in it. He was against Blockbuster and Scrambler....and was ultimately killed when scrambler disrupted his power and Blockbuster beat him to death.
"You are going to die...." Monica “I am a mutant too. I saw you....."
"Wait!" Gork interrupted. “His nostrils twitched as his head slid to the side. Gork grabbed Monica and raced up a tree. He placed her on a branch and warned “Stay here...." Gork went back down as Blockbuster came into view. Gork roared as he pounded his chest. The two titans clashed and the jungle shook. Gork was the stronger of the two. He was beating the tar out of Blockbuster handily. Then Scrambler emerged from the tree line, his hands blistering with energy. She cried out, but her warnings were drowned out by the raging battle. Monica leapt at him, striking him and driving him into Blockbuster. Blockbuster was immediately de-powered. Gork stared the two down and roared once more. They fled. Gork turned to Monica. "Thank you." he growled, a small smile escaping his lips. Their attention was drawn immediately to the landing aircraft. Monica recognized the X insignia. It was Ororo's plane.
"We have to get there fast!" Monica blurted out. "There is another mutant in danger." Gork snatched her up placing her on his back, and shot through the treetops.
As the plane landed, the normal festivities were carrying on, welcoming the queen home. Orin was going to be named the royal court consort, accompanying the Queen wherever she would go. Orin exited the plane ahead of Ororo and T'challa. Suddenly, Sabretooth attacked the Royal family knocking out T'challa and ripping across Ororo's back. He turned his attention toward Orin. "Boy..." chuckled Sabretooth.”Even if you weren't on the list, I'd enjoy this." Orin and Sabretooth engaged trading fierce blows.
Monica and Gork arrived staying just hidden in the jungle. "We have to warn him, Gork!" said Monica. "He is going to die!" Gork stopped her and pointed out a glint on a far hillside.
"It’s a man with a gun." Gork whispered. "He'll kill you before you warn him."
"Scalphunter." she breathed. "Then how do we warn him?" Gork picked her up and threw her at Sabretooth. She collided with the Marauder, falling at his feet. Orin jumped back as a trail of shots ripped up the ground at his feet. Orin spotted Scalphunter and charged dodging an array of gunfire. Scalphunter lobbed a smoke grenade and made his escape.
“Well well well pretty skirt...." snarled Sabretooth.” What do we have here?"
"I'm an X-man you lumbering pile of wannabe Wolverine testosterone. Sides, you don't scare me, I've seen badder beasts in this jungle..."
"HA HA HA!" cackled Sabretooth. "Who is badder? Frail, King Kong ain't got nothing on me...."
"Nothing but a chokehold.......GORK!" Gork raged from the jungle grabbing both of Sabretooth's arms with his feet and pummeling him mercilessly with his oversized arms. Monica placed her hand on Gork. and Gork let go. Orin came back. "Sir..." Monica started “I saw in a vision you were going to die. I know how crazy it sounds, but you were supposed to die today."
"Silence, X-man." rebuked Orin. “I care not for your chattering. My destiny is my own to make."
"Monica." said Ororo coming over with the aid of a guard. "Nice to see you again....how...."
"Pixie." Monica replied. " Storm, Ororo... I had a vision. This young man was killed by Scalphunter and Sabretooth, but we averted that."
"And you have my sincere thanks, but why were they after you Orin?"
"Sabretooth mentioned a list." scowled Orin.” A list of mutants he and the Marauders were supposed to kill."
" My vision showed several other mutants, but I don't know who they were or where they were...and obviously, time is of the essence...."
"Use your power, touch Sabretooth..." said Orin
"My power doesn't work that way...." Monica answered.
"How do you know. Think of your vision, concentrate on the mutants, and maybe the physical touch will act as a catalyst."
Monica hesitated and looked at Gork, who shrugged his shoulders. She closed her eyes, concentrating and then laid her hand on Sabretooth. A flash in her mind as she saw the list and a replay of her dream, this time with dates and hours. She released and fell back. "We have to get to ."
"Take the X jet Monica." offered Storm "And Orin....please accompany them, as a personal favor to me."
"For you Ororo."
The three boarded the Xjet and launched towards .
Across the world in , a young man named Johan looks at the suit before him. "You want me to join the Xmen?" He said with a thick brogue as the shadowed figure before him nodded affirmatively. "And you want me to infiltrate this new brotherhood who are posing as X-men?" The figure nodded again. "I'm your man." The figure stepped forward, it was Professor X. " I knew I could count on you Johan. Now take your uniform and take the blackbird waiting outside. Cerebro is already programmed into the computer, so just think of where you want to go, and the plane will fly itself. But before you get to …..you have one small stop to make…"
The cage door on her cell slammed shut. In grease pen, a man marked on the side: Salome 17. The man walked away. She hardly knew what was going on. She had been drugged and removed from her abode, and was now caged like some animal. She had been a servant of Sebastian Shaw V. One of the entertainers at his Hellfire Club. It was a life of little want and yet less ambition. She had become ambivalent to charming her clientele out of their wealth. The last thing she remembered was the X.S.E. raiding the Club and taking all of the female employees. After an injection, she ended up here. There was a vid player on in the background. It looked really old. As she watched, she saw it was playing a newscast. The newscast then read the time and date......how did she end up back in 2009?
"So that is the long and short of it Noah..." said Beast. " The collar will inhibit your power long enough for me to run some tests. Don't worry about a thing, the X-men will take care of all of your needs while you are with us. " Noah nodded and lay down as Hank went to the front of the jet. His thoughts washed back over the past week. At least he wasn't glowing anymore. That was something to appreciate....BOOM! The ship shook at an incredible pace. Hank's voice came over the intercom. "Brace yourselves for impact!!!" The ship smash landed ripping the hull in two. The cockpit was thrown far from the cabin.
As Noah awakened he saw a woman and man searching the wreckage. He called out to them, and they turned. As they came closer, he recognized them. It was Harpoon and Arclight! Noah tried to get up but was pinned. As he struggled the twosome hovered over him. Harpoon readied his weapon. Then in a flash, the harpoon he was holding disappeared. The two Marauders looked around, stunned. Arclight collapsed unconscious. Harpoon went flying and crashed into a tree. The debris pinning Noah vanished. Noah looked up and saw a man clad in a black armor type suit. "Come, with me if you want to live....well actually, we have time, and those guys will be out for hours. My name is Blitzkrieg.....what’s yours?"
"Noah....Noah Faith."
"Well let’s get out of here Noah Faith, I got the feeling we are not gonna want to be here when they wake up." With that, Blitzkrieg snatched him up and streaked off. “Where are we going?” coughed Noah. “Little Britain.” answered Blitzkrieg. “What about Beast?”
“Oh….uh” answered Blitzkrieg. “The other X-men have him.”
In a manor in the small town of , Essex, a young girl sat waiting by the window. Today was the day that she was going to the Utopia island to be with her mum, Betsy Braddock. She had been impatiently waiting the day and now it had come. Anxious feelings swelled inside her as she saw the Blackbird land. She raced out, bags in hand to meet the plane. She was taken back when she saw Blitz and Noah get off. “What is this? Who are you?” she stammered.
“I’m Blitzkrieg and this is Noah. We were sent to come get you and accompany you to . Then we’ll meet up with the X-men and go to the island.”
“Did me mum, Allison send you?”
“Yeah, why else would we be here?”
“My mom’s name is Betsy…” Shereen said taking a defensive position. Blitz moved to grab her. He avoided he swipes, but just barely, and grabbed her arm. The adrenaline had been coursing through Shereen’s body activating her poisonous secretions. As Blitzkrieg grabbed her, he was stunned by the poison. Had it not been for his accelerated metabolism, he might have died. The ensuing result, he lashed out with an energy field that knocked Shereen for a loop. As he got to his feet, Blitzkrieg was blasted by Noah. Noah helped Shereen to her feet, careful not to touch exposed skin. “Hi….I’m She….Reptilia” she said. “You’re Noah right? What is his deal?”
“I’m not quite sure…” Noah said. “ He saved me, and said we had to come here before we went to . Let’s get him secured in the plane before he wakes up. I was headed to Utopia too. Maybe we can get there together…?”
“And maybe the wizard will get us home and give him a brain….”she rejoined as she smiled. The two locked Blitzkrieg in the brig and Noah sat at the ship’s controls. Looking around, he saw a destination was already computed into the flight pattern. Looking at Reptilia one last time to assure his nerves, he concentrated on his destination. The plane lifted off with ease.
In , Gork, Monica, and Orin had landed in . They turned on the cloaking device and headed towards . Monica gave Gork an image inducer to make him appear human. They arrived at an entrance to the old Morlock tunnels. Gork sniffed about. “There are people down here….several.” he grimaced.
“Then we shall free them.” Voiced Orin.
“Wait….not without a plan.” Cautioned Monica. “ Gork scout ahead and stay out of sight. Orin, you’ll be with me. We’ll try to locate the girl in my vision. Gork, I’ll need you to be our anchor if something goes wrong.” Gork and Orin nodded. They ventured into the tunnels with Gork climbing overhead. Coming upon a small side passage, Monica heard voices. She and Orin edged in closer. Monica was amazed. She saw all of the Marauders there meeting with…..Bishop! She knew Bishop had turned on the X-men, but why was he working with the Marauders? She had drifted too far in thought not noticing Riptide and Prysm leaving the fold. She heard Orin shout and turned around. There they were, surrounded by Marauders. She picked up a lead pipe and smacked Orin in the back of the head with it knocking him unconscious. She then dropped the pipe…”Take me to your leader….heh heh”.
The door of her cage slammed shut and Arclight made sure the lock was closed. Orin awoke from his forced slumber. “Why in the Hell did you do that woman!?!”
“I see all probabilities Orin, like our chances of winning that fight or the chances of you voluntarily giving up…..which were slim and none. “she barbed. “We needed to find that girl and get her out of here before….” With that, Monica’s eyes fell on the cage marked Salome 17. A beautifully sullen girl sat there, her soul pleading for release. “Salome…” Monica called out, averting the young girl’s attention. “Why are you here honey?”
Salome turned and began to answer in a voiced that rode on gossamer wings. “I am not from here. I am from the future. There I serve and do what is expected of me. I do not know why I am here….or where here is.”
“That’s easy…” boomed a voice from the doorway. It was Bishop. He lumbered in looking at Monica. She noticed his cybernetic arm had a pink hue to it. “Ya like the arm? I made it from stolen Nimrod technology. Allows me to travel in time, but I have to use the life-force of mutants to do so. Mutants aren’t so plentiful anymore. So I just go to another time and take them. Like Salome here. ‘Cept Salome is going to be sold to one of my many clients. It’ll fetch me millions. You two will get me two more trips to the future, plus the bounty that’s on your heads. And don’t waste your time trying to use your powers on me Monica. You’ll fid I’m what they call “time blind” a person out of synch with their time, unable to be read by precogs. Now, sit back and enjoy what little time you have left. “ Bishop kicks Monica’s cage and stars to leave the room.
“So you couldn’t hack it as an X-man, so what? Now you are a time traveling pimp?” Monica remarked. Bishop ripped off her cage door and grabbed her by the neck raising her above his head.
The blackbird automatically landed in a secret tunnel entrance of the Morlocks. Reptilia grabbed a handheld directional GPS unit from the control board of the plane. She and Noah stepped out and proceeded down the tunnel. A few feet in they heard a commotion and rushed to the source. There they saw Grok fighting with Harpoon, Scrambler, Vertigo, Prysm, Arclight, Riptide, and Blockbuster. Immediately Shereen jumped into the fray attacking Vertigo. Noah hesitated at first, but then joined in and blasted at Prysm, who returned in kind. Gork grabbed Prysm and shattered him on the head of Blockbuster. Reptilia tossed Harpoon into Vertigo impaling her on his harpoon, making her lose her powers. Noah blasted Blockbuster down. The three turned towards Arclight and Scrambler who stood their ground, hands crackling with energy. Suddenly a loud boom followed by a small earthquake and a blinding flash of light occurred. When the dust settled, there stood Blitzkrieg over the two fallen Marauders.
“Look,” Blitzkrieg said. “I know we got off on the wrong foot. I’m one of the good guys, really. Prof X recruited me himself.“ The four agreed to a truce for the time being.
“C’mon” Gork explained. “We gotta help Monica an’ Orin!”
Back in the prison, Orin smashed at his cage door trying to break the lock. “If you want to fight Bishop, be a man and fight me!”
“Oh, you’re next…..Scalphunter! get the girl your master wanted and get out of here.” Clamored Bishop. Scalphunter grabbed Salome 17 and started to usher her out the door. “Now….Orin is it? We’ll see if your girlfriend can withstand having her throat crushed….I hope for your sake darling, you have a mutant healing factor!” BLAM! BLAM! BLAM! Bishop fell to the ground. Over him stood an entranced Scalphunter clinging to Salome 17.Monica gained her breath and opened Orin’s cage.
“How did you….what?” questioned Monica.
“My power.” Salome answered. “It does have its side effects though. As she let go, Scalphunter fell to the floor unconscious.
“Great! Lets find Gork and get outta here.” At that moment, Gork, Reptilia, Noah, and Shereen walked through the door. Monica immediately recognized the three people. “Johan! Shereen! Noah!” she exclaimed! Did the Marauders kidnap you as well? Just then Bishop rose up, his eye flashing pink.
“Nimrod Bio-Sentinel Designate Bishop ready. Executing prime directive….” A huge set of cages crashed into Bishop, pinning him to the ground. Gork smiled. “RUN!” yelled Monica. The group reached the blackbird. As they boarded, Noah stopped.
“I’m not going with you if he is.” Noah said pointing to Blitzkrieg. “I don’t trust him.” Shereen nodded in agreement.
Monica started to speak, but was interrupted by Blitzkrieg. “No, they are right. Stick me in the brig, lock me up.” Johann went into the brig of the ship. The group headed to . After landing, they looked at each other and decided the next step. “You were all in my vision” Monica explained. “You all died, none of you are supposed to be here now. The timeline has been changed, now we have to decide what to do. First, I’ll deal with Blitzkrieg. Why don’t you guys get settled in to the mansion’s base quarters?”
“I don’t take orders” Orin shot back. Gork furrowed his brow and snorted. “But you have proven to be an effective leader so far Ms. Ramierez.”
Half an hour later, Monica made her way to the sub basement where the group had gathered. “I let him go, he was just misguided. He clearly didn’t want to put us at jeopardy. Blitzkrieg won’t be back.” As she finished, shots rang out through the room tearing into the whole group. One by one they fell, victims of an unyielding arsenal. Blood soaked floors told the story of heroes killed before their prime. Scalphunter looked at the bodies, boarded the blackbird and took off.
A lone pair of footsteps could be heard scuffing across the floor. Blitzkrieg looked at the fallen bodies in disbelief. Leaning down by Monica’s head, he whispered…..”It worked boss.” Groggily, each of the mutants rose up from their slumber, looking at the ichors that covered their clothing.
“I had Blitzkrieg knock you all out and cover you with fake blood….and catch all the bullets. I see all possibilities, remember?” Monica smiled wryly.
“Then why did you let Scalphunter get away?” questioned Shereen.
“From the beginning, there has been a plan, and we have been on the defensive. Now, the mastermind thinks we are dead and his little flunky is taking a low-jacked blackbird right back to him. All probabilities, remember? Advantage us. So if you want, we can make a go of this ourselves, a covert vanguard against people who would do mutants harm……the CV!”
And here we go…..!