Every instinct I have tells me I shouldn't be here.

But I am.

I'm ignoring those instincts for some reason. I know that this goes against every fiber of my being, but I just had to be here.

I had to see the extent of the damage.

Once we heard of the attacks, Chicago became a place of mass hysteria. Everyone was worried that perhaps the Sears Tower would be the next target.

It wasn't.

In my era, there was no World Trade Center. When I came to this time, I pondered why it could be that the Towers existed here, but not in the New York of the future. I never knew exactly what caused it.

These attacks have opened the eyes of everyone - myself in particular. I cannot help but wonder if this is a prelude. If war breaks out, will it lead to the events that formed my era? If mutants are blamed for these attacks, or found to have taken some part in them, then will the Sentinels be unleashed? If that happens, then it could lead to them taking over North America - and eventually, the Summers Rebellion which led to the formation of the XSE.

Welcome to the future, New York. It's about to get worse.

Ravencroft

Her name is Martinique Jason. She is the daughter of the late Jason Wyngarde. Recently, she has followed in her father's footsteps by joining the Brotherhood of Mutants. Her first mission was to free the Brotherhood from the Vault using the same illusion powers that her father possessed - as well as telepathy.*

( *As seen in X-Men Unlimited #9 - Dino )

Recently, she was captured. The Brotherhood commited a terrorist act in New York, by rigging a bomb to an anti-mutant activist. A bomb accidentally set off by Spider-Man.* She has been placed in Ravencroft, awaiting transport to the Vault.

( *As seen in the incredibly good Amazing Spider-Man #19 - Dino )

The door to her cell opened.

"Martinique Jason..." the guard muttered. It was obvious that he wasn't happy. "You're free to go."

"What?" she asked.

"I said you're free to go," the guard stated. He felt disgusted with himself as he said the words. "New evidence has turned up that shows you of being innocent at the time of capture."

Martinique smiled at this and walked past the guard. He led her to the prisoner property room where she was required to sign some forms before receiving her personal effects - among them the bodysuit she wore when she was apprehended by Spider-Man.

"Your ride is waiting out front," the guard stated. Martinique pondered what he meant.

Ride? Who would go to all this trouble of springing her?

She walked out to the front to see a limo parked. The chauffeur opened the door for her as she approached.

"Ms. Jason?" he asked. She nodded. "Congratulations, you're now a free woman."

"Who's behind all this?" Martinique asked.

"All of this is courtesy of Mr. Shaw," the chauffeur replied.

"Shaw? I thought he was killed."*

( *In Cable #25 - Dino )

"Everything will be answered shortly, ma'am," the chauffeur stated. He closed the door once she got in and moved to the driver's side.

The wind grows stronger around my body. I already know what caused it.

A small wind pocket is generated beneath her legs, gently and gracefully lowering her to the ground.

"Bishop..." she says.

"Storm," I reply, turning to face her. Her look has changed since last we met. She's wearing a black bodysuit with the silver outline of an X across the front, and a leather trench coat over that.

"I must admit a bit of surprise at seeing you here. I haven't heard from you since you called requesting information on Mountjoy.* How did things work out?"

( *As seen in issue #3 - Dino )

"They worked out fine," I reply. "Mountjoy is dead."

"What?" Storm asks. "How?"

"I killed him."

"Bishop, that is not the way--"

"--the X-Men operate. I know, Storm. But I'm not an X-Man anymore."

"What happened to you?"

"My powers are gone."

"I know that, but how did it happen?"

"A madman named Deus," I begin. "He wanted to use the powers of Crystal, Psylocke, Joseph, and Blink in conjunction to split the earth into a Heaven and a Hell. I absorbed a great deal of energy, and somehow, it overloaded my powers, wiping them out."*

( *As seen in the X-Men Omega Annual 2001 - Dino )

"What of your team?"

"Worthington's estate was destroyed by a gas leak - at least that's what he told the press."*

( *The estate was destroyed in X-Men Omega #24 by Harvest and Warren's broadcast happened in X-Men Omega #26 - Dino )

"You don't sound so convinced.

"Because I'm not. The X-Men have a lot of enemies. Deus knew our location, as did the Brotherhood. And they have recently escaped from the Vault."

"And you left the team because you felt as if you were a liability without your powers."

"Yes," I tell her. But also due to the fact that I felt I was beginning to lose my sanity when I kept seeing visions of the Witness.

"You weren't."

"What?"

"You weren't a liability."

"Why do you say that?"

"Because I know it to be true, Bishop," she replies. "Before you joined the team, there was a time when I, too, was without my powers. Yet, I remained on the team. And my skills were nowhere near as good as yours."

"Different times, Storm," I tell her. "The world has become a dangerous place."

"Do you care to go into a bit more detail about your activities in Chicago?"

"Chicago is... different. There aren't supervillains on every street corner like there are in New York."

"Why Chicago?"

"High crime rates, low metahuman activity. It seemed like the perfect fit. I felt like expanding my skills in other areas. Ironically enough, I've ran into two faces from my past. One was Mountjoy, the other, Pamela Greenwood."

"Who is that?"

"A former waitress at Harry's Hideaway," I tell her. "It turned out that she was actually Fatale spying on me for McCoy. And now, I've discovered that Pamela Greenwood left New York shortly before Fatale assumed her appearence."

"Interesting life you have forged for yourself, Bishop," she says. "You can live life as a normal human for awhile."

"My occupation is far from normal, Ororo, as am I."

"You have lost your powers, you're working as a private investigator. Whether you'd like to believe it or not, Bishop, that's as close to a normal life that any of us have ever gotten. For the first time since you came into this era, you've been given a second chance at life."

She has a point... I had never looked upon this as a blessing - more of an inconvenience.

"However, I am curious..." she states. "Why have you come to New York?"

"I had to see it with my own eyes," I tell her, motioning to the area where the World Trade Center towers once stood. "It's a precusor, Ororo."

"Precursor to what?"

"Destruction."

Shaw Industries

"Martinique Jason... at last we finally meet."

"Shinobi Shaw?" Martinique asked. "You arranged for my release?"

"Of course," Shinobi replied. "You see... it's kind of hard for the police to hold you when the evidence against you suddenly... disappears."

"Why?" Martinique asked. "What's so special about me?"

"Quite simply - we felt it was time for a change."

"'We'? Who's 'we'?"

"'We' would be me," another voice stated from behind her. Martinique turned to see a young man, about Shinobi's age, step out of the shadows. Like Shinobi, he was dressed in a suit, but he had green hair and a goatee to match. He held out his hand to Martinique. "I don't believe we've met, Ms. Jason. I'm Trevor Fitzroy."

"Obviously you both already know my name, now what's this about?" Martinique asked, ignoring his hand.

"Have a seat," Shinobi stated, motioning to the chairs in front of his desk. Both her and Fitzroy took their seats. Shinobi leaned forward towards Martinique as he spoke. "Tell me - what do you know about your father - the late Jason Wyngarde?"

"I know enough," Martinique replied. "What does my father have to do with any of this?"

"Our fathers were... assosciates," Shinobi began. "It's up to us to carry on their legacy."

"What legacy?" Martinique asked. "What are you talking about?"

Fitzroy and Shinobi exchanged glances before looking back to Martinique.

"The Hellfire Club," Fitzroy stated. "The time has come for the Inner Circle to return."

"We thought, that given your father's assosciation with the Hellfire Club, that we should offer you the position of the Black Queen," Shinobi said.

Martinique's open mouth shifted to the form of a smile.

"Do we take that as a yes?" Fitzroy asked, his smile apparent.

"Of course," she replied.

"Destruction? What are you talking about?"

"It's relatively simple, Ororo. I come from a world torn apart by war. This could be the first of those wars."

"I think you may be overreacting, Bishop," she says. "So far, there is no proof that anything we have seen will lead to such disastrous consequences."

"I admit that there is much I do not know about my era's history, Storm. But, I believe that this is too big to ignore."

"Perhaps..." she states, obviously denying my words. It wouldn't be the first time. She doubted me when I accused Gambit of being the one who would betray the X-Men. Yet, she was right...

"I should head back to Chicago," I tell her. I lie. The fact is that I have no hurry to return home. However, the tension is so thick that you could cut it with a knife. Although the two X-Men teams have accepted their new roles, and respect each other's choices, and although I am no longer an X-Man, the spectre of Charles Xavier still looms between us.

"So soon?" she asks. "You are not going to stop by the mansion? Scott and Jean have recently returned from their mission on Shandilar."*

( *Check out Team X #1-4 for more details on the space mission - Dino )

"I really need to get back," I reply. "I have... things to do."

"As you wish, Bishop," Storm says. "But remember - no man is an island. Please don't hesitate to call us if you need any assistance."

"I won't, Storm."

"And be mindful of your options," she warns. "Very few people receive a second chance at life - especially in our line of work."

With that, she generated an air pocket beneath her legs, flying off into the distance.

Perhaps she was right... perhaps this truly is a blessing in disguise. A chance for me to adapt to this era once and for all.

It certainly gives me something to think about on the drive home.

NEXT ISSUE: You're just gonna hafta wait and see!

CHECKMATE

Only one letter this time, from Russ Anderson. C'mon people, send me mail!!

Okay, first of all, it DOES matter whether Bishop introduces himself as Luther or Luthor. Assumed name or not, it's HIS assumed name, and he would need to know what everyone knows him as.

Oh bitch, bitch, bitch... I make ONE spelling error and I end up paying for it for the rest of my life!! Am I still hounding you for characterizing Holocaust as a street thug?

Second, I'm glad to see some more footnotes in this issue, since my past Bishop reading is pretty sketchy (there weren't many footnotes last issue). This lets me know when something actually happened in the books and when Dino's just making stuff up. :-)

The footnotes were always there... I just placed them in the Checkmate section before I got to the letters.

That Reiger, what a guy. Gives a bum a $20 so he can get a bed for the night. The leap in logic he made from the bum not knowing where he had been, to Davis not knowing where he had been, to "oh-shit-I'd-better-go-find-Bishop" was Olympian in scope, but that's why he's a detective, I suppose. It's good to see Dino treating the problem-solving aspect of crime in this book a little more thoughtfully. It can only make Reiger look better in the long run.

  I've been researching crime a bit more, and I'm starting to feel a bit more comfortable writing it.

  Pay attention, kids: Mountjoy's mention of not getting to kill Storm is called FORESHADOWING, and leads into Ororo's appearance next issue. Look at Dino, pulling out the literary devices and such. Makes the rest of us look bad, bastard.

Hey, if I don't make you look bad, then who else is gonna do it? Exner? Pfft... ^_^

I usually dig Dino's use of onomatopoeia, but writing:

*KNOCK*
*KNOCK*

to represent someone knocking on a door is kind of over-the-top and a little bit annoying. (Yeah, I know this isn't the first time he's done it in an issue I've reviewed, shut up.) When you're trying to establish a mood, repetitive sound effects can go a long way toward accomplishing it (see Dino's "Crow" work if you don't believe me), but some sound effects should just be left to description within the prose. In this case: "Reiger pounded on the door" would have been tons more effective.

  B-but, it's not the first time I've done it in an issue you've reviewed!!

  I'm also a little disappointed in the anticlimactic ending. Bishop crosses Xavier's line, pops a cap in Mountjoy's ass, and Mountjoy gets up and walks away from the morgue in the final scene. I don't mind MJ surviving the encounter so much, but I didn't read anything in the issue that convinced me he wasn't just going to walk out of the icebox and renew his killing spree, starting with the desk clerk at the morgue. I would have liked to have seen a little more closure, or -- barring that -- at least a reason for Mountjoy to not keep bumping people off so noisily.

The original ending had Mountjoy six feet under, but I couldn't leave him that way. He's too cool of a character to just kill off like that!! I think Mountjoy's reason for not bumping people off right away is pretty obvious - he just got his ass kicked. Mountjoy's gonna be waiting in the wings for awhile, but he'll be back eventually.

The Verdict:

This book is getting there. Dino still isn't entirely comfortable in this genre, but each issue seems to 'fit' the crime mold more than the last. It would probably help to get the book away from all the X-trappings -- Mountjoy in this arc, Storm showing up next issue (though I gotta admit I'll be happy to see Storm). Hopefully Dino will stick with it and keep stretching himself as a writer.

Aside from Storm's appearence, there are at least two more X-related stories I'm going to be doing in Bishop. One is, obviously, the Hellfire Club. The other starts next issue, and I can't tell you what's in that one.

I still think this book should be on the Knights branch, though...

We know what you think...