Cable's Hell's Kitchen Safehouse

My name is Irene Merryweather, I'm twenty-eight, single, and apparently the world's last hope at survival. After almost getting myself killed by the Hellfire Club while trying to do some muckraking, Cable -- a mysterious mutant soldier from the future -- saved me and offered me to take on the job as his biographer. He, in turn, supported me financially and gave me shelter in his safehouse. Recently, however, I've realized Cable intrigued me so much...that I love him.

Aéulgo, a godlike being from a dimension beyond our comprehension, told me about...three hours ago that my job as Cable's chronicler is more important than I first realized. At first, I thought it was a way for him to live on after the fateful battle with Apocalypse a few months ago -- in case he died, that is. But he didn't die...which made my documents continue. After facing down Deathglare, a threat that seemed worse than Apocalypse, Cable came out of that victorious as well. Cable even battled with his own darkness -- which formed a persona of its own named Vice -- and won.

Boroh? Oh yeah, he's gone like it was nothing. I actually helped with that...kinda exhilarating. I'm beginning to wonder if anything can beat Cable...except maybe himself.

I've titled the work The Book Of The Askani'Son, but from the way Aéulgo talked, I may as well call it the damn Bible. Apparently, Cable's deeds will set an example for the universe in years to come. I could take this opportunity and benefit from it...but for some...moral reason, I can't. I love Nathan too much to turn my back on him, not after Hammer, his former friend, has betrayed us.

Now, I'm in a cage, no thanks to the sneaky alliance Hammer formed with the Hellfire Club. Blaquesmith, Nathan's mentor, is dying. Rachel, Nathan's sister, is going insane. I'm the only one able to free us all. I'm not sure how I'm gonna pull this off...but I will...

The Hellfire Club...

"Welcome, our new White King -- Nathan Summers!" Shaw says proudly, applauding. The other members of the Inner Circle, save Gloom and Chen Mang, applaud as well. Madelyne, Cable's mother, gives him a warm hug. Cable wishes he were dead. This is degrading.

Cable takes a seat at the long wooden table on the end, across from his mother, with Shaw at the head. Did we mention he's dressed up in regal attire from the 18th Century? Tessa approaches from behind, pouring wine into the glass that sat in front of Cable.

"What is this?"

"It's Vino Suave, made from hand-picked grapes in Italy," Tessa responds.

Shaw picks up his glass after Tessa filled it, "A toast, to our White King..."

"Just a few hours ago, you were going to kill me, now you're kissing my ass. I hate when people do that. Pisses me off," Cable says.

"Now, Summers, is that anyway to treat--"

"Don't call me that...you can call me Cable. That's it, junior, nothing more. You don't have the right to call me by any other name."

Shaw smiles, taking a sip of his wine, "That's it, get mad. Soon, we'll dig Vice out of your stone cold exterior. Vice is still in you, isn't it?"

"Oh yes," Madelyne responds, playfully swishing around the wine in her glass, "I can feel him...he's ready to break out of his prison..."

Cable feels his lips curl up in a snarl, but he knows getting angry will just work against him. He calms himself, "Aren't you the assholes that drove the Phoenix insane? You caused the deaths of billions."

Shaw cocks an eyebrow, "Don't feed me that rubbish, Summers. Yes, so the Phoenix wasn't really Jean Grey. Maybe it was a force of nature, so what? We were merely trying to get her to become a powerful asset to the Inner--"

"What makes you think Vice won't just kill you all?" Cable asks with a smirk. "Granted, I don't know how he thinks, but I know what he likes. And what he likes is death...torture...destruction. You bastards are teasing the cobra...if you catch my drift."

"Just call me the mongoose, then," Tessa says. She seductively runs her finger against the side of Cable's face. "I'll keep Vice under control. I know what all men like, whether they're psychotic, split personality, or not."

Cable rolls his eyes, "I don't know whether to be turned-on or sick to my stomach. My mother is at the table, after all..."

Tessa sighs, "Whatever..."

"Gloom, Mang...you two seem to be the silent birds over there," Shaw speaks up, raising his wine glass.

Mang is resting his chin on his elbow while Gloom is sliding her empty wine glass across the table. "I can't find anything to say with him in the room...," Mang says carelessly.

"What about you, Gloom?" Shaw asks.

"I just don't give a fuck," she says apathetically.

"Nathan," Madelyne says telepathically. As Shaw continues a conversation with the others, Cable worries about Tessa, who is also a telepath, but remembers Madelyne's mind is now somehow a "private line".

"What?"

"I've been thinking..."

"You? That's amazing!"

"Shut the hell up! Listen, together, our powers out do all of these idiots."

"You sure about that? You don't know what I am capable of doing...and I'm not talking about my powers..."

"What do you say we take over? Rule the Inner Circle as mother and son! We can get rid of all our enemies. That Sanctity person bothering you? We'll have her killed. X-Cutioner trying to frame you for something? We'll have him killed. All those Horsemen still locked away, they'll die before they escape to cause more havoc. The Brotherhood, they'll die. Magneto tries to start a war, we'll have Genosha bombed--"

"Hell no, Madelyne. You're crazy. I really thought you had changed, but I see all you care about is yourself. You don't care about your only son you almost killed to turn this place into Demonland? I'm sorry, I can't care about you anymore. You're my enemy now, just as Apocalypse was, just as worse as Stryfe, badder than Deathglare..."

"I'm sorry to hear that, my son..."

"I'm not."

The Safehouse

I've had it, I have to do something. I inch my finger towards the guard standing by all three of our cages. I can't see the man's face, but that mask he's wearing makes him look freaky. "Come here, bad boy," I say.

"Quiet," he says.

Well, that's depressing. Guess I've been out of the dating loop for too long. Oh well, cover your eyes, Blaquesmith, this might give you a heart attack. I start to untie the lingerie get up the Hellfire Club put me in.*

( *Check Cable #21 -- Brad...why are you all staring at me like that? )

The guard was getting antsy now. A little guilty pleasure.

"Child....what are you....?" Blaquesmith tries to say, despite his weakness.

"Sure you don't wanna come here?" I say, sporting my fake smile. That has come in handy for some of the dirt I've dug up...or made up...mostly the latter.

The guard gulps, "I...I know what you're trying to do....and it's not....*ahem* going to....um.....work?"

I stand up, turning around, then back again. Damn high heels. Here it comes, the ultimate female weapon to make men our slaves: I fling my hair.

"You know," I begin. "This cell is too big for one person..."

This time the guard cocks his rifle and points it at me, walking right up to the cage. "Stop it, or I'll kill you, I swear to God."

The barrel was sticking into the cage, between two of the energy bars. By some subconscious command, I grab the barrel, causing the gun to fire off, hitting the ceiling of the cage. Disoriented, the guard's grip on the rifle loosens and I take it in my hands and just blast the crap out of the cell door. The guard raises his hands in a surrender. His hands go behind his back and he pulls out a knife.

He takes a swipe at me, but I back up quickly...dropping the gun. As he reaches down for the weapon, I deliver a sharp kick to his head. I check his body laying on the ground and it's limp. Wait...how the frick did I just do that? I can't even do a cartwheel, much less fight.

I take his keys and open the other cell doors. Blaquesmith looks really pale and more wrinkly than usual.

"Tend.....to Rachel....." he says to me. I admire his nobility.

I pull off the simulator Hammer put on Rachel's head, slowly. Her eyes are horrifically wide open and has a devious smile. She's shaking slightly from the experience.

"Rachel?" I whisper. "Are you okay?"

She doesn't answer. I hear Blaquesmith say something, but I can't make it out. I scan the area and see that there are no guards visible. All I see is the glow of the main computer. Hammer is typing something...I can hear it. He sounds crazy.

Of course! I'm going to have to disconnect that huge conduit from his head, that way Blaquesmith can get regenerated and Rachel can...well...awake from dreamland. This should be fun.

Back at the Hellfire Club, Cable sits on a plush chair with the other Inner Circle members sitting around him. Shaw has his left shin resting on top of his right thigh. His fingers are touching each other, "Alright, since Summers is new here, we'll have to inform him of what has been going on."

"Great," Cable says sarcastically.

"Well, we've halted trade with China after that whole spy plane business. Mr. Mang here helped with that," Shaw begins. Mang nods with a smile. "How much money have we saved from that?"

Tessa stands up, "Well, we've saved millions and gained another ten-thousand."

"Not bad at all."

Cable sighs and shifts in his chair. It's uncomfortable listening to criminals plan out their next spree, especially when he can't do a thing to stop them.

"Next order of business, our new technology of the...?" Shaw questions.

"Fortieth century, sir," Tessa finishes.

"Ah, nearly two-thousand years into the future...that should benefit greatly for us," Madelyne says. "Oh course, Nathan has used this technology as a crutch, we shall use it as a weapon."

"Actually," Cable says. "We do have something in common...I don't use anything as a crutch." He morphs his left hand into a techno-organic blade and gently presses it against Madelyne's throat.

"What are you doing?" Madelyne asks. "Don't!"

Cable smiles, "You wanted Vice, well here he is..."

The other Inner Circle members get uneasy looks on their faces. "Is someone going to help me?!?" Madelyne pleads.

Shaw rests his chin on his fist, "Stop, Summers -- I saw that bluff from a mile away."

Cable gives Shaw a cold look, reverting his hand to its normal form. "You can't hold my friends in containment forever. Soon, you'll have to find a new way to force me to be a part of this organization...it would have to be a pretty damn good reason."

Shaw smiles, "If the information Hammer sent us was correct, you have many allies. Some of them are pretty prominent in the world. George Washington Bridge, perhaps?"

"That wouldn't be a good idea to try and off GW," Cable says.

"Why not?"

"Just take my word for it..." *

( * Check out M2K's Excalibur to find out what Cable's inferring -- Brad )

"Alright then, what about...Moira MacTaggart? According to this newspaper article from about ten years ago on Muir Isle, there was a minor disturbance there involving a strange man with white hair seen leaving with the geneticist...*"

( * As seen in Marvel's Cable #-1 -- Brad )

Shaw continues, "The first person you met when you traveled to this era...that would be a waste, wouldn't it? We've already got agents of the London branch of the Inner Circle shadowing her. You start with the threats, all it takes to kill Moira is a cell phone memory dial code."

"All it takes to kill you is a small telekinetic pinch to the main artery in your heart. Either that, or I can telekinetically snap your brain stem."

"I thought you Xavier-lovers didn't do that...," Shaw wonders.

Cable stares at Shaw, his eye beaming with psionic energy. "I'm not an X-Man...maybe I could have been if I wanted, but not now. Not when you've threatened the people I love most. I'm not afraid to kill...I know the consequences."

Shaw reaches for his cell phone and opens the receiver flap, "Keep it up...and Moira's life WILL be the consequence! As well as Irene and your sister's. Blaquesmith is as good as gone, anyway..."

The anger in Cable is swelling now, but that's just what they want. "Don't you people do anything normal...besides crime?"

"We do a little charity...when there's suspicion afoot..."

"Uh-huh."

Suddenly, there is a loud explosion from outside. "What was that?!" Madelyne shouts.

"It was an energy pulse," Cable says, staring off into space. "Fired from an energy cannon I've never heard before..."

He's uploading something, that's for sure. Hammer hasn't moved for at least twenty minutes from what I could tell. I have a feeling his mind is so attuned to the computer that he didn't even bother to check the security cameras to see that I've just freed myself and the others.

I've got to make this quick. I run over and yank on the cord that connected Hammer to the computer. As I pull it out, the last thing I see on the screen is "Upload Complete". Hammer's body slumps down as the computer returns to its regular format.

"Hey! Get back in your cage--"

*ZAP!*

"--ungh!"

I spin around to see that the Hellfire Club guards were back, but I also realize the security system was back as well. The lasers make short work of the guards. I shout at the computer, "We need a medic team for Blaquesmith, pronto!"

Suddenly, a hatch opens, and out pour three androids. Their skinny arms and legs branch out of their slender silver bodies and horizontal heads. They carry the comatose Blaquesmith and put him into his regeneration chamber. A white light envelops the room.

I rush over to Rachel, who seems a little bit stoned. "Irene...?"

"Come on, we need to get Cable back," I say. Rachel's a tough cookie. She slaps herself in the face and stands up. She rushes over to the computer.

{{Warning: Incoming plasma fire. ETA: Two minutes.}}

"Plasma fire?" Rachel asks. "Computer, trace origin of the plasma signature."

{{Scanning...Blast origin found. Boroh's ship.}}

What? "Boroh's ship?" I ask.

"Search for Cable's bio-signature," Rachel commands.

{{Cable found.}}

"Bodyslide him here."

{{Bodyslide in progress...}}

*ZZZPPP*

The white flash clears, and Nathan is there, as I knew he would. I run up and kiss him. He hugs me in the embrace, a little too tight, but I don't mind it. "Are you alright?"

I was about to say yes, but he probably knew that already. He was talking to his sister. "I'm fine," Rachel says. "Blaquesmith is in regeneration. There's plasma fire from Boroh's ship headed here..."

{{ETA: 30 seconds...}} the computer blares, on cue.

Cable sees the body of Hammer on the floor. He checks for a pulse, "He's dead..."

Blaquesmith hobbles over to the group, looking healthier than a horse. "Computer, bodyslide by four...sector 24183," he commands.

Before I know it, a white light surrounds me, and I'm outside on a pier overlooking the East River. There is a flash of heat and a large explosion...a very large one. The plasma fire must have been programmed to hit the safehouse in a precise location. Suddenly, it makes sense.

"Hammer uploaded himself into Boroh's ship," I hear myself say, but I don't know if the others heard it from the noise left in the destruction's wake. "Um...hello?"

"I heard you," Cable yells. Something's wrong. He and Rachel are huddled over someone. My heart suddenly sinks. Where's Blaquesmith? I peer over their shoulders and Blaquesmith is on the ground, wheezing. He's pale again, looks worse than before.

He must have cut his regeneration short to save us all...tears pour from my eyes. I gasp as I feel a stinging feeling in my throat. "Oh, Blaquesmith..." I sob.

I notice for the first time Blaquesmith has my laptop strapped around his shoulder, causing me to tear up even more. Man, to think I forgot that thing! He sacrificed everything for Nathan, Rachel, and I.

Rachel takes the laptop and hands it to me. I clutch it close to my chest. Rachel is tearing up just as much as I am. Nathan is fighting not to cry.

I see Blaquesmith's weakened finger point to me, "Aéulgo told me...you might be needing that..."

I sniffle, "Thank you..."

Then Rachel kisses Blaquesmith on the forehead, whispers good-bye and walks behind me, taking me by the shoulders, leaving Cable and his mentor to be alone. Apparently, it's some Askani custom. I respect that and continue to walk away. The tears are still coming.

"We are but only a spec in the universe, a grain of sand in the desert," Cable mutters in his native language. It sounds so alien, but elegant in a way.

( We are but only a spec in the universe, a grain of sand in the desert. )

"But...in death....we are more....," Blaquesmith breathes. "We fight our oppressors and defend the oppressed....there are costs to war...but one thing stays the same...."

( But in death we are more. We fight our oppressors and defend the oppressed. There are costs to war, but one thing stays the same... ) Cable remains emotionless as a single tear falls down his ridged face, "There will always be Askani..."

( There will always be Askani... )

Blaquesmith's head lowers slowly onto the ground. The Askani Chant of Sorrow has finished between the pupil and mentor. His breathing has become more labored.

"The Twelve...." Blaquesmith says. "Do not....forget......who they are.....more importantly....do not forget......what they mean to you.....your destiny......."

Cable kneels at his mentor's level, his hand lifting up his head off of the ground.

Blaquesmith gathers the strength to speak one last time, "Aéulgo....will guide you from now on...."

Cable lays his mentor's head back on the ground. Cable picks up the frail body and begins walking towards Rachel and I. Rachel takes her cloak and wraps Blaquesmith in it, taking hold of the body.

"What now?" I ask.

Cable's left eye glows bright white instead of its usual yellowish color. His 18th century clothes are transformed into his uniform. That must have been a hefty load of telekinesis...I didn't even see the techno-virus flare up. Rachel hands Cable his psimatar.

Cable extends the weapon into lance-mode, sending a chill down my spine. I can't imagine the pain he's in. He looks up at the skyline, at Boroh's ship, which has begun blasting down random buildings.

He finally turns his head around slightly, saying one word in the coldest tone I ever heard him speak in:

"Payback...."