His name is Nathan Summers. He is the Askani'son, the Chosen One, known to most as the mutant outlaw, Cable. He possesses the powers of telekinesis and telepathy, both of which have potential to make Cable the most powerful psi - quite possibly, mutant - on the planet.

For as long as Nathan can remember, Apocalypse has been a name burning in his mind. Every time he heard that vile man's title uttered, his blood ran hot. Apocalypse was the reason why Cable came to our era from the 40th Century. Cable was to kill Apocalypse before his war-torn timeline came to pass. Cable was so determined, that he'd kill in cold blood if he had to.

Often, Cable was torn between his mission to destroy his arch-nemesis and his obligation to friends and family. Sometimes, he regrets some of the things he did, like leaving X-Force, a team he founded comprised of the New Mutants, to fend for themselves just so he could concentrate on locating Apocalypse. Then there was his parents, Cyclops and Phoenix. His biological mother was Phoenix's clone, Madelyne Pryor, but...she wasn't entirely loving. And with Cable's parents, as always, there were the X-Men. Cable saw them as worthy allies, but he never considered making them his friends, especially Wolverine.

Then there were Cable's rocky relationships. Domino, Stacey Kramer, Lee Forester, Moira MacTaggart: none of these women have been able to accept Cable's mission. Irene Merryweather, former tabloid reporter and currently Cable's biographer, is possibly the only woman on Earth who understands him, or at least knows where he's coming from.

But now that the Dark Lord has been defeated,* what will Cable do now that his life's mission has been completed? The logical answer would be for him to do the things he couldn't do. Apocalypse's destruction had been the one thing in Cable's life he cared about, ironically. Now, there's nothing but emptiness in Cable's soul.

(* See the Apocalypse: Ageless Fury maxi-series - Russ)

Apocalypse is dead, but so are Aliya, his wife, and Tyler, his foster son. He accomplished his mission, but for what? A nod from the common bystander? He'd go back to X-Force, only they seem to be doing fine without him interfering.* He'd go to the X-Men, but who can work with their parents and stay sane? It was mentioned he really dislikes Wolverine, right?

(* See how well they're doing in the pages of Jay Corafa and Dino Pollard's X-Force - Russ)

Hell's Kitchen...

"I haven't done this that much while I've been in this time," Nathan says to Stacey Kramer, his human girlfriend, as he shaves his rugged face in front of a mirror. "I didn't have to conform to your society much until now."

Stacey playfully hits him, "Well, at least you and I will have more time together with Apocalypse dead, right?"

"Of course," Nathan says as he kisses his love on the lips. For a moment, Nathan reminisces about his late wife, Aliya. He has to blink a couple times to finally realize it's Stacey he's kissing. Time to move on, Nathan. Aliya's gone. Accept it. But why can't I get rid of her image in my mind?

"HEY! I'm hungry!" Kenny Kramer, Stacey's younger brother yells.

Stacey gasps and shoots her brother a look. "Kenny! Alright, I'll get you some breakfast! Sheesh!"

Nathan laughs. He admires the little tyke. Kenny suffers from Down's Syndrome. His cells house an extra 21st chromosome, which causes some learning problems for him. Stacey once approached Nathan asking if he could somehow "cure" Kenny of his condition. There were some things Cable just couldn't do. Kenny's problem was genetic, not mental. He had to break Stacey's heart by telling her that.

Cable feels a certain need to be with Stacey and Kenny. Almost... like they're a family. He can start fresh. Apocalypse is gone, so Cable should be able to settle down for once. Nathan has even stopped calling himself Cable. Nathan was a soldier from the future whose personal agenda was to destroy Apocalypse. Now that his mission is completed, he's been "discharged". Not every warrior fought his whole life. Even George Washington had to stop somewhere.

Nathan grabs a towel from the rack and dries his face. He rubs his chin to check the smoothness. "Hmph, and with a woman's razor, no doubt."

Stacey, who couldn't hear what he said from rummaging through the kitchen, yells, "What?"

"Nothing, Stace," Nathan says. He looks at himself in the mirror some more. He peers at his right eye and runs his finger across the scars resulting from his techno-virus. Apocalypse had infected Cable as an infant with the deadly virus. Only Cable's telekinesis is able to hamper its growth.

His left eye is glowing slightly, as it always does. Rach could hide her scars with her telepathy, maybe I can, too. Nathan listens to his conscience and creates a telepathic illusion, cloaking his scars. Satisfied, Nathan then concentrates and causes his techno-organic arm to mimic human flesh. Then he lowers the glow in his left eye. Maybe living here-actually living here-won't be so bad.

"Stac, I'm going to the safehouse to pick up some things and say goodbye to Blaquesmith... and Irene," Nathan says.

Stacey walks into the bathroom. "So, we're really gonna be living together?"

Nathan nods.

"No more hero-stuff?" Stacey asks, almost begging.

"Nope. Just us. And Kenny."

Stacey smiles and hugs the 6-foot, 8-inch man. Stacey smirks and asks, "Are you planning on playing with the Knicks? Man's got to have a job. Hell if I'm workin' for both of us."

Nathan smiles, reassuring her, "Don't worry, I've got plenty of money." Please don't ask where I got it...

"Where do you get this cash? You seem like a spoiled brat!" Stacey laughs.

"Well, I don't have to pay income taxes...the government has no idea that I'm really Nathan Summers, who was just born about four years ago," Nathan says.

"I hate it when you men lie," Stacey says, shaking a finger.

"I'll explain later, Stace. Bye." Nathan says as he grabs his coat and heads out.

Kenny walks up to his sister, chomping on some Frosted Flakes. He swallows and asks, "Is Nathan really four years old?"

"No...," Stacey says as she smiles. She stares at the closed door and sighs. "He sure acts like one, sometimes. I wish he'd just tell me where he gets all his money. I don't care if he stole it, I'll love him just the same."

The safehouse...

"You love this woman, yes?" Blaquesmith, the gnomish mentor to Cable, asks.

"Yeah, I love her," Nathan responds. "How am I gonna tell her?"

"Tell her what, Dayspring?"

Nathan sighs, then grumbles. "She's wondering where I'm getting all the money from."

"Oh...," Blaquesmith says. "Afraid to reveal the truth, are you?"

"No...I just don't think she'd like the answer. When I was a mercenary, I acted as one only to find Stryfe. It wasn't to be a career. Finding Stryfe took a long time. I took assignments left and right from corporate and government officials. I had made a fortune by killing people." Nathan closes his eyes.

Blaquesmith notices Cable is hiding his scars, "Why do you hide the past?"

Nathan looks up at his mentor, "I need to move on. You do too. Apocalypse is dead, old man. So why don't you just get a job as a technician. Give Forge a run for his money. Something!"

"No, my place is to be here to monitor you," Blaquesmith says with indifference.

"And my place is to write your blasted biography!" Irene Merryweather says in a loud tone as she hangs up her coat. She carries her lab top in a pouch that she carries on her shoulder. She takes out a package of floppy disks from her purse, as well as some more floppy disks bound in a rubber band. "Your history is complex, what did you expect? I almost need a ZIP file for all of this!"

"I'm sorry, Irene, I'm not going on anymore adventures. I'm settling down with Stacey. You won't need those disks. You'll have to cut your chronicles short--" Nathan begins saying.

"What?" is all Irene could say. Tears fill her eyes. "I'm not going back to the life of a tabloid reporter."

"There's always the job at the Daily Bugle Jameson offered you," Nathan says comfortingly.

Irene wipes her eyes, "You're just going to ditch us?"

Nathan lowers his eyes, "I need some sort of happiness in my life. I've gone too long with no one to love. I've reconciled with my parents... not Madelyne so much, but I have come to terms with them. And I respect them as people, I just..."

"You are ignoring your duty, Dayspring. You have power, you should use it," Blaquesmith says. "There's constant balance in the universe, Nathan. Strike down evil, and it will just find a different form to come back in. Nur is dead, but you must keep on fighting for the future--"

"What FUTURE??!!" Cable exclaims. "There is no future! The future is whatever you make of it now! And I'm deciding my future! Get the hell out of my life, Blaquesmith! You've always been a nag, I'm sick of it. Go patronize someone else!" Cable grabs his duffle bag and storms out of the safehouse. The slam of the door makes Irene jump.

"Just as stubborn as ever," Blaquesmith says. "He'll be back."

"I hate to say it, Blaquesmith, but I think he's serious," Irene says as she looks at her stack of floppy disks loaded with journal entries. She picks up the stack and tosses it back into her purse.

Nathan walks down the Hell's Kitchen sidewalk with a snarl on his face. He slows down, calming down. I'm such a selfish bastard. I'll make this up to you, Irene. Just not now. Someday.

Suddenly, Nathan hears a shout within his mind. That was Stacey! Something's wrong!; Nathan reaches out with his telepathy, calling out to his girlfriend, "Stacey?! Stace? What's wrong?? Answer me!"

Nathan begins running, sprinting. He jumps onto a stopped cab and jumps across the street by hopping car tops. The angry drivers greet Cable with middle fingers and profanity, but he blocks it all out. All he can concentrate on is getting to Stacey. Cable decides to screw running up all the stairs to get to her apartment, so he telekinetically lifts himself to Stacey's window. He notices it's open already. He climbs in and immediately sees Kenny crying.

"Shut up, you freakin' retard!" a thug with a purple mohawk screams. Kenny cries some more. He and his lackey friends laugh it up. "I bet he can't even sing his A-B-C's! HAHA! What a stupid kid!"

Cable's left eye glows with a fury. He crashes through the wall leading into the living room from Stacey's room. "Don't call him a retard, you--" Cable realizes why Kenny is crying. There on the floor is Stacey - battered, bruised...no thought patterns. She's dead. Cable stands motionless for a moment. He probes the punks' minds: They tried robbing her, but she wouldn't let them in! They crashed through the door using an axe. They knocked Stacey unconscious and raped her! They killed her! And poor Kenny watched it all!

"Smoke him!" the mohawk thug shouts as he pulls out a gun and starts shooting. His other two comrades start busting caps as well. The bullets never got a chance to hit Cable, they stay suspended in front of him.

"What the hell?" the only black kid shouts. "What is this freak!? It's a mutie!"

Cable still stands motionless. He finally raises his eyes at his enemies, with his left one pulsing with psionic energy. "Lesson number one, jackasses," Cable says coldly, "never fire a projectile gun at a telekinetic." Before the goons can react, Cable reverses the floating bullets' momentum and causes them to fire back at the gunmen! They had no chance of dodging them. They were all dead in an instant.

"Stacey...," Cable says craddling her lifeless body in his arms. Kenny's whimpers cause Cable to shed a tear. He's just a kid. He may have Down's Syndrome, but he's still a kid! He has no one now...

Cable walks up to the cowering boy, who's still clutching his stuffed teddy bear. Cable kneels down and puts his hand on Kenny's head of blonde hair and strokes it. Kenny tosses his teddy bear aside and hugs Nathan tight. "They...they hurt my sister, Nathan...," Kenny says between sobs. "Should we call a doctor?"

Cable shakes his head. "No.. .we can't do anything for her now..." Cable puts his hand across Kenny's forehead and concentrates on his memories. Cable picks up on Kenny's recollection of the event and shuts down that particular memory. Cable carries Kenny out of the apartment, across the street, and all the way back to the safehouse without saying a word to anyone.

Hours later, Nathan finds himself talking to the police. "Now who did you say did this?" the officer asks.

Cable is telepathically making himself appear to have been shot in the right arm, complete with sling, to avoid suspision. "Three of them. They must have been part of a gang. Stacey's younger brother is with me now."

"Where do you reside?" the officer asks.

"That's not for you to know, buddy." Cable's telepathic voice commands. Surprisingly, the officer doesn't question him anymore and just walks away. Cable sighs. Another officer walks up to Cable and gives him a teddy bear.

"This was found around the crime scene. Does it belong to anyone?" the female officer questions.

"Yeah, it does. Thanks," Cable says.

"I'm sorry, Dayspring," Blaquesmith says with sorrow. "I know you loved this woman."

"No, I'm sorry, Blaquesmith. I shouldn't have ignored you, or yelled at you," Cable says. Irene walks into the room and hugs Cable.

"Kenny's resting comfortably," she says. "Poor little guy. Did he see everything?"

Cable nods. "He did, but I had to erase his memories of it. He doesn't deserve to live his life with that dreadful experience."

Blaquesmith grunts, "Why did you do that? The only way for the boy to become well is if he accepts the past and moves on. You, above all people, should know that. I suggest you give those memories back. He can get through it with all of our help, no matter what age he is."

Cable nods silently. "I'll do it in the morning. Right now, I've got some business to attend to." Cable goes into his unlit room and opens his closet door. Irene and Blaquesmith eagerly wait. He comes back into Blaquesmith's study with a brand-new costume on. Irene smiles while Blaquesmith breathes a sigh of relief.

Cable's large boots klunk as he walks across the floor; he grabs his psimatar and feels his telekinesis surge through it. In a way, it sort of relaxes him. As he holds the sacred weapon, he realizes how impractical the psuedo-spear really is. "Blaquesmith, I'll need a new, more portable psimatar. Possibly a retracting feature?"

"An easy task," Blaquesmith says as he hobbles off into the shadows of his study. He begins rummaging through scraps of metal and wires.

Cable goes up to Irene and consoles her, "I'm sorry I scared you there. I'd never shun you from my life. Not now, not ever."

Irene smiles and leans her head against Cable's chest. "I better get typing."

Cable smiles. "I'm going out."

"To save some people?" Irene asks.

"Of course. It's what I do. My name's Cable, isn't it?"

Irene smiles, "You are back. I haven't heard you call yourself that for over a month!" Cable says nothing and walks out of the complex just as it starts raining. He erects a thin telekinetic shield. He stops on the stoop.

Rest easy, Stacey. I'll never forget you...

With that, Cable resumed doing what he was born to do: to be a hero. He realizes now that it is his destiny. He must never turn his back on the world again. It's been said that evil triumphs when good men do nothing. Cable learned that painful lesson today. He'll NEVER make that mistake again!

NEXT ISSUE: Cable takes on a threat he may not be able to beat! Plus, who is watching the Askani'son