THE CAST

Storm- Weather manipulator.  Former member of the X-men.

Ozymandias- A former servant of Apocalypse.  Due to manipulation by Onset he has been granted a powerful prophetic slight.

Dania- Bursts of super-speed, mutant detection, and able to heighten mutant abilities.  With Storm to find her brother.

Ramirez- Body growth and wind manipulation.  Friend of Dania.

Genzo- Body chemistry manipulation, incest creation.  Friend of Dania.

Red Lotus- Mutant ability allows him to best anyone in hand-to-hand combat.  Ally of Yukio.

Yukio- A ronin samurai.  Longtime friend of Storm.

Mario DaVingi- Mutant slave trader. 

Somnus- Bodyguard of DaVingi.  Able to emit nocturnal gas and has superstrength.

Noveau- Bodyguard of DaVingi.  Healing factor, skilled fighter and able to sense danger.

Triad- Bodyguard of DaVingi.  Able to split herself into three people and each always has different abilities.

Jadianna- Alternate reality daughter of Storm and Wolverine.

N24- A creation of Sinister.  The genetic son of Deadpool and Storm.

---

Some Time Ago…

Ever since finding the resurrection gem, DaVingi had been seeking a way to use it to its maximum effect.  It wasn’t often when someone ran across something so fortunate and he didn’t intend to waste this gift.  He knew that he wanted to bring back someone of great power, but he also knew that he wanted it to be someone that he could control.  Noveau, Somnus, and Triad were loyal to him and he trusted his life with them, but he wanted someone working for him who possessed more power.  Mario wanted to be able to strike fear into his enemies with whoever he resurrected.

He took his time and combed through every bit of information on deceased criminal super humans that he could find.  Many of his nights were spent searching through the gathered information because somewhere in his search he would find his inspiration.  He would find the one person who would take him to the next level.  It was almost after a week of searching when DaVingi would stumble upon the story of a deadly mutant called Cyber.  The details of his demise complicated DaVingi’s plans for resurrection.  The gem required that DaVingi have some sort of vessel to work with, but Cyber’s body had been completely destroyed.*

(*- By death beetles delivered on him by Genesis)

DaVingi had found his inspiration though and he would not be deterred from it.  He was determined to bring back Cyber one or another.  He paid The Aguilar Institute to construct a suitable body for him and brought enough adamantium off the black market to recreate the indestructible arms that Cyber possessed.

He had made sure his three bodyguards were at his side the moment he intended to bring Cyber back from the grave.   The constructed body was laid out on a large medical table with metal laced straps holding it down.  Noveau looked at the mutant frame and said, “Are you sure this is a good idea boss?  Seems like he could be dangerous.”

DaVingi laughed.  “Seems like?  He is dangerous.  That’s the point here Noveau.  I want someone that will make people scurry and hide on sight.  He will be that soldier.”

Somnus kept his thoughts from being expressed on his face.  While Noveau was quick to object to DaVingi the road of patience was taken by Somnus.  He preferred to let DaVingi’s decisions blow up in his face and come back later to give his thoughts.  Cyber was indeed a dangerous being, but DaVingi’s arrogance was even more dangerous.  He believed that he would able to completely control a monster like Cyber.  There was no guarantee that Cyber would even initially agree to work for DaVingi.  Somnus wished he would have stolen that cursed gem from DaVingi while he slept and flung it into the nearest ocean. 

Triad made sure to keep her guns in her hands.  “No offense boss, but for all we know he could try to rip us all to pieces as soon as he gets up.  If he tries I’m filling him with lead.”

DaVingi cut his eyes at the woman and looked down to her handguns.  “You will put those away now!  This gem is a one shot deal and I won’t have you making it a complete waste.”

“I thought Aguilar made his body tough?” Noveau asked.  He wished Triad wouldn’t have opened her mouth about using her weapons. 

Noveau was beginning to grate DaVingi’s nerves.  “They did, but I don’t remember the specific traits they imprinted into the body.  I don’t have the paperwork with me.”

And this is the man I work for, Somnus thought to himself as he put his hand to his mouth to suppress a laugh.  DaVingi was ruthless in his business practices, but he was possessed of an enormous ego that made him falter from time to time.  He overlooked details that he should have paid a great deal more attention to.  The fact that he didn’t know exactly what abilities The Aguilar Institute had imprinted into the Cyber body was troubling and indicative of DaVingi’s one track mind.  He had a goal and there was nothing that was going to keep him from it.  The trait was admirable and faulty. 

Triad slid her guns back into her holsters and her face turned to a mixture of anxiety and anger.  DaVingi saw this and said, “Why are you all so worried?  I know what I’m doing.  You’re supposed to be my bodyguards. Why are you more fearful than me?”

“A good bodyguard knows how to assess a situation and gauge how dangerous it is.  That’s what you hired us for.  Not to be cheerleaders,” Noveau said. 

Triad added to the discussion.  “You yourself said that Cyber is dangerous.  He’s beaten the crap out of one of the most dangerous X-Men.  I think that’s enough reason for us to be cautious especially when we don’t know what extra features The Aguilar Institute put into his new body.”

DaVingi threw his arms up into the air in frustration and then pointed a finger at Somnus’ large chest. “And what do you think about this?  Would you all prefer for me to just give up?”

Somnus took a deep, impatient breath and said, “I would prefer for you to decide whatever it is you’re going to do.  You have a meeting with some potential customers in an hour in case you’ve forgotten.”

DaVingi smiled.  “Finally!  At least one of you is business minded.  It took me a great deal of money to enlist the materials needed to create this vessel.  It would lack any and all logic to not use the gem to resurrect Cyber.”

Triad cut her eyes at Somnus, but said nothing.  She hated when he just didn’t come out and say what was on his mind especially when it came to DaVingi.  The man could be a complete mule even when danger was staring him right in the face.  He would stand in the middle of oncoming traffic if it meant proving a point.  DaVingi was so intent on proving himself as a man of importance in the black market that he failed to understand he already was.

The mutant slaver approached the table with the gem in his hand.  Somnus was to his right, Noveau to his left and Triad was behind him as he placed the gem on Cyber’s chest.  According to DaVingi, the gem only needed to know the intent of the last person holding the gem.  No special incantations or magic circles were required.  That seemed to hold true as the gem began to glow and melted into the chest of the new Cyber.

DaVingi was gleeful as the process took place while his bodyguards became incredibly tense.  Cyber’s eyes opened and the images of his reborn life began to fill his senses.  He saw the bright light above him, smelled the cold in the air, and felt the straps rubbing against his torso. DaVingi clenched his hands in success above the newly arisen Cyber and said, “The name DaVingi will be feared now with you at my side!”

Noveau shook his head and muttered, “We’ll have X-Men at our doorstep in no time now.”

Cyber heard the name X-Men was filled with rage.  The X-Men was where Wolverine was and it was Wolverine that was responsible for his death.  He immediately snapped free of his strap and one hand went to wrap around Noveau’s throat.  The bodyguard was unable to breath and the grip threatened to render him mute forever.

Guessing the source of his anger, DaVingi said, “Don’t worry Cyber.  We hate the X-Men as much as you.  Noveau is your friend.”

The grip lessened and Cyber eventually pulled away his hand to put it to his forehead.  “Where am I?  I was dead.”

---

Storm suddenly felt a sword press up against her throat and whatever vertigo she had from her fight with Ngozi quickly started to fade away.  “Ask nice and I might make this quick.”

Ororo swallowed hard and felt the blade pinch a little more.  Ngozi had her in a compromising position, but Ororo had never been one to beg.  Her life had been too harsh for her to ever expect anyone’s mercy and she would never ask for it.  So her answer to the Kenyan’s offer was simple.  “I’d rather die first.”

She couldn’t see Ngozi in the darkness, but she felt him smiling.  “Of course you would and I’d be happy to oblige.”

Storm wasn’t sure if he intended to fulfill his threat.  He had been ordered to kill her in Kenya, but in her heart she didn’t think Ngozi was a cold blooded killer.  If he had been he would have simply stabbed her in the back instead of giving her a chance to actually fight.  There was some honor to the man and Storm regretted realizing that.  It made her beating him that much harder.

Before she left the X-Men she had been working on different ways to use her abilities.  Apocalypse had called her an Omega level mutant* and that meant her potential was limitless.  It was possible that her fine tuned emotional control had inhibited the growth of her powers, but that control probably saved the world from many a natural disaster.

(*-In recent issues of Cable and Deadpool)

Now was the time to try one trick she had learned from a suggestion of Domino.  As the sword pinched against her neck, Storm’s eyes whitened.  Ngozi lifted his sword back to smack Storm across the face with the flat of it, but as he did so muscle spasms wracked him in his arm and back.  The sword dropped from his hand and he fell to the ground clutching his lower back when more spasm struck him in his legs.  He landed on his back and began to convulse across the ground wildly.

Storm surrounded herself in a lightning field and rose slowly from the ground.  Her body was still sore from the fall and cuts Ngozi had inflicted on her, but she was smiling.  Domino’s idea had succeeded beautifully.  “You know what controls muscles?”

Ngozi was in too much pain to give an answer.  Storm stepped over his body and said, “Electrical impulses essentially.  Electricity happens to be one of my many domains.”

The Kenyan was writhing wildly under Storm’s continued assault.  She wouldn’t admit it, but there was some strain involved in keeping Ngozi ineffective.  Send shockwaves through his muscles and not killing him was a more precise operation than she was use to.  Storm still got some enjoyment at finally having the upper hand in the fight.

Bending down she pressed her face close to Ngozi’s.  “Ask nice and I might make this quick.”

Remembering that she had fellow mutants to rescue Storm pressed her hand against Ngozi’s mouth and said, “This one time I’ll spare you the bother of the request.”

Air was quickly rushed in Ngozi’s mouth and down his lungs.  The speed of the normally precious oxygen was too much for an already pained Ngozi and the attack knocked him out cold.  It was another trick that had come from time spent with Domino.  The woman had a knack for thinking up new ways to hurt people.  For that reason, the X-Men was never really the place for her.  She belonged on different battlefields where talents like hers would be best put to use.

As she stood to her feet the lights in the staging area cut on and Storm could have screamed at fate.  If the emergency generator had decided to kick in a few minutes earlier she might have been able to walk away from her fight with Ngozi relatively unscathed.  Now, she was going to have to go the rest of this mission limping and bloody. 

“That was a neat trick babe.  You’d be a hot dominatrix,” a gruff voice said.

Storm looked to the direction of the comment and found a dismaying sight.  In front of her was Cyber and in his hands were the beaten, unconscious bodies of Genzo and Ramirez.  “Believe me.  If I had a whip right now I would put it to good use.” 

Lorna actually wished that she was back at X-Camp and that miserable thought let her know just how miserable her reality had become.  She would rather have Caliban drilling her to death than being stuck in this musty, rat infested cell.  It wasn’t long after her separation from the mutant boot camp that Lorna was kidnapped by one of DaVingi’s bodyguards.  She wasn’t quite sure of his name, but it was something along the lines of Nover or something.  Her family didn’t care enough to look for her and she doubted that anyone from X-Camp had tried to check in on her.  The New Warriors she had no idea about, but they probably had no idea where to begin looking for her if they did know she was missing.  She really had only met them once and she doubted they cared enough to try and find her.

The closest thing that she had to a friend nowadays was the three rats that made daily visits to her cell.  She had given them the names of Franklin, Lincoln, and Washington.  They had all been important figures in their day and ultimately they were everything Lorna was not.  People cared about them.  People celebrated them.  No one even thought about her.  She was a blip on the radar.  One of many millions that was used and forgotten.  DaVingi’s men had no qualms about reminding her of that.

The steel door keeping her captive began to creak open and Lorna assumed that it was the guards coming to administer their daily dose of gene suppressant.  Her telekinetic powers would have allowed her to escape from this prison a long time ago, but DaVingi only wanted her powers on display when he was trying to sell her off.  He reminded her of her father in that way.  Lorna was as much a piece of meat to him as she was to DaVingi.

Yukio stepped into the prison cell and asked, “Is anyone here?”

“Who are you?” Lorna asked covering her eyes up from the sudden eruption of light throughout the cell.

“I’m Yukio and I’m here to help,” the ronin samurai said as she knelt in front of Lorna.  She had managed to procure a set of keys from one of the guards.

Lorna managed to weakly say, “So which group are you with?”

Yukio smiled.  “Just me and some friends looking for a party.”

“Well, not too sure how much party I could give you,” Lorna said as she pushed sweat matted hair out of her eyes.

“Can you at least stand?” Yukio asked.

“I can do that much at least,” Lorna said as she stood to her feet and dusted dirt off of her shoulders and knees.  “DaVingi doesn’t want his customers to see a bad product.”

“Yea I’m really looking forward to punching that guy,” Yukio said.

“Well, you might have to punch them first,” Lorna said as she pointed behind Yukio.

The ronin turned around and went into a battle stance.  Two African men were blocking the doorway to Lorna’s cell.  Yukio knew she was at a disadvantage because her room to fight was limited and she was going to have to protect the mutant girl.  She could only hope Red Lotus would take the time to check on her.  Two on one and having to cover another person put her in a bad way.

“So are your powers available?” Yukio asked.

“Most I could probably fling around right now is a nickel,” Lorna replied.

Cracking her neck and knuckles, Yukio went into a battle stance and said, “Guess I gotta do this on my own.”