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#19 March 2005 |
MARVEL 2000 PRESENTS...
STAR-CROSSED
Part II: "Old is the New Trend"
by Brad
Horton
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Archangel |
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Psylocke |
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Colossus |
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Maggott |
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Diode |
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Pyro |
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Xorn |
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Proteus |
A
thin bald African man bust through the stained wooden doors, huffing and
panting in his navy blue business attire -- all the while cusping a brown
paper cup filled with coffee. "Yeah, I'm late...my bad."
The man's name was Hugh Japheth, but more commonly refered to by the public at large as Maggott. He had the priveledge of possessing a mutated digestive system...which took on the form of matter-ingesting slug-like creatures. In turn, the nourishment his slugs, Eany and Meany, provide him give him enhanced strength and durability. Not to mention a skin tone akin to a smurf.
Maggott took his seat at the long, glossy board room table and opened the folder that was conveniently placed in his spot. He set his coffee down and looked at the itinerary for the week. He arched an eyebrow, "Layoffs?"
A tanned Caucasian blonde man with angelic wings that overlapped his chair, protruding from the back of his off-white colored suit, sighed, "...anyway, as I was saying, we seem to be over-staffed in our various departments." Archangel, the founder and CEO of X-Corp, folded his hands and found himself winking at the purple-haired beauty that sat just to his right, "We're going to have to determine what we need and what we don't, because it's becoming difficult to compete in the business world when we're wasting our finances on pointless endevours."
"Like Pyro's strip club?" a fiesty Latina woman with short black hair quipped as she twirled a pen in her fingers. An electrical charge shot out of the tip as Diode bit the other end, "Meow!"
Pyro, the strip club owner in question, simply chuckled as he rubbed his hand over his curly blonde hair, "I can't help it if I want to help out mankind in my own way...by allowing jaded husbands of America to pop their loads over some midwestern broad's ass." He reached into his leather trench coat pocket and pulled out a silver zippo lighter, flicking it open as the singular flame seemed to erupt and form into the slinky form of a curvaceous woman, "There'd be less prejudice and hatred if everyone would just bloody give in to their desires."
"And yet, giving into my desires cost me dearly," Xorn, a man in a metal mask, said amidst a room of uncomfortable stares.
"I doubt there would be less hatred, comrade," the Russian-born Colossus spoke in the utmost of seriousness as he broke the awkward silence. "I seem to remember trying to stop you and Mystique's Brotherhood from assassinating Senator Kelly."
Pyro removed his orange-tinted sunglasses and widened his eyes in anger, "Oh, fer the love of shit, I meant sexual desires!"
"That is what I alluded to with my personal situation," Xorn responded with the eerie, vacant stare of his skull-like mask.
Pyro rolled his eyes as he muttered, "Yeah...no kiddin', Xorny, I was talkin' to the big queer dumbass from Siberia over there."
Piotr Rasputin glared at his onetime foe as a spark of light signified that his flesh and bone became dense and reflective organic steel, "You might be part of an organization associated with the ideals of Xavier...but he didn't choose you. He never would have."
Pyro smirked as he replaced his sunglasses, "Suuuure, hide behind the giant invulnerable skin, priss. Why don't you go paint the sunset or some other art fag thing."
"John!" Psylocke shouted as she slammed her fist against the table. "Lay the hell off."
"Betsy, I can fight my own battles, please," Colossus insisted as he got out of his chair, each footstep he took sounded like heavy weights that clanked against the floor.
"Heh, holy crap, Colossus is totally going to break Pyro's pelvis!" Diode shouted inappropriately. She elbowed Maggott in the ribs as she pointed at the large metallic man, "I always knew he'd be the one to snap."
"Feck you, Roni," Pyro hissed.
Xorn quietly shook his head and looked downwards, "Statistically, this is the seventy-sixth Monday morning board meeting that has led to Pyro dropping the f-bomb."
"Sit down and shut up, children," Archangel growled. He met eyes with his once "Gold Team" associate in Colossus and said, "I'm not lying, Peter. Sit."
Colossus responded with an almost weary reluctance and sat back in his chair, simultaneously transforming back into human form.
Diode leaned in and whispered as she playfully batted Maggott's snickering face away, almost bursting into laughter herself, "So uh...teehee, when you transform, your hair turns into this helmet shell kinda thing. I been meaning to ask...what happens to your pubes and/or ass hair when you're all Steel-Man?"
Colossus blushed as he tried not to acknowledge Diode's antics. He whispered back, "I'll draw you a picture later."
"Heh, sweeeeeeeeet," Diode snickered as she high-fived Maggott...which caused the inevitable spillage of his coffee.
"Aw, what the...," Maggott whined as he stood up, observing the dark stain around the crotch of his pants. "These are brand new! Not last week new, but two days ago new! Two days ago new!!"
Diode burst out into laughter, which prompted Pyro to follow suit, then Colossus and Psylocke. Even Xorn chuckled, "Hehmm. Look, it appears he urinated upon himself. Hehmm!"
Archangel's eyes seemed to become bloodshot from frustration, "AS I WAS SAYING, WE NEED TO FIRE SOME PEOPLE!!" To Warren's surprise, the playful levity seemed to disappear in the eyes of his various employees, including his fiance, Psylocke.
Warren could almost feel the horror which was behind him. What else would cause his team to actually take him seriously on a day (Monday, of all days) which had no epic impact on their weekly business routine? Aside from the impending layoffs, he's barked out orders before, something he was not always entirely used to when it came to the X-Men, but the business aspect of it...as chairman of X-Corp, it was his arena.
But still, when he looked into the blue eyes of his precious wife-to-be, something wasn't right.
Archangel muttered, "Spider-Man better not be mooning me again."
As Warren looked out the massive window which overlooked the Manhattan skyline, an old friend looked back at him...and Archangel instantly understood the reason for his team's duress. He looked at the white-haired man's gray suit, holding a briefcase in his hand, hovering with an intense look of anger and resent, but also a need to belong.
With a magnetic hum, the windows flung open and the man slowly flew inside the board room. As he set foot on the carpeted floor, the windows closed. The man cleared his throat, "So, if you're firing a lot of people...does this mean I can have my job back?"
Joseph had returned.
The man's name was Hugh Japheth, but more commonly refered to by the public at large as Maggott. He had the priveledge of possessing a mutated digestive system...which took on the form of matter-ingesting slug-like creatures. In turn, the nourishment his slugs, Eany and Meany, provide him give him enhanced strength and durability. Not to mention a skin tone akin to a smurf.
Maggott took his seat at the long, glossy board room table and opened the folder that was conveniently placed in his spot. He set his coffee down and looked at the itinerary for the week. He arched an eyebrow, "Layoffs?"
A tanned Caucasian blonde man with angelic wings that overlapped his chair, protruding from the back of his off-white colored suit, sighed, "...anyway, as I was saying, we seem to be over-staffed in our various departments." Archangel, the founder and CEO of X-Corp, folded his hands and found himself winking at the purple-haired beauty that sat just to his right, "We're going to have to determine what we need and what we don't, because it's becoming difficult to compete in the business world when we're wasting our finances on pointless endevours."
"Like Pyro's strip club?" a fiesty Latina woman with short black hair quipped as she twirled a pen in her fingers. An electrical charge shot out of the tip as Diode bit the other end, "Meow!"
Pyro, the strip club owner in question, simply chuckled as he rubbed his hand over his curly blonde hair, "I can't help it if I want to help out mankind in my own way...by allowing jaded husbands of America to pop their loads over some midwestern broad's ass." He reached into his leather trench coat pocket and pulled out a silver zippo lighter, flicking it open as the singular flame seemed to erupt and form into the slinky form of a curvaceous woman, "There'd be less prejudice and hatred if everyone would just bloody give in to their desires."
"And yet, giving into my desires cost me dearly," Xorn, a man in a metal mask, said amidst a room of uncomfortable stares.
"I doubt there would be less hatred, comrade," the Russian-born Colossus spoke in the utmost of seriousness as he broke the awkward silence. "I seem to remember trying to stop you and Mystique's Brotherhood from assassinating Senator Kelly."
Pyro removed his orange-tinted sunglasses and widened his eyes in anger, "Oh, fer the love of shit, I meant sexual desires!"
"That is what I alluded to with my personal situation," Xorn responded with the eerie, vacant stare of his skull-like mask.
Pyro rolled his eyes as he muttered, "Yeah...no kiddin', Xorny, I was talkin' to the big queer dumbass from Siberia over there."
Piotr Rasputin glared at his onetime foe as a spark of light signified that his flesh and bone became dense and reflective organic steel, "You might be part of an organization associated with the ideals of Xavier...but he didn't choose you. He never would have."
Pyro smirked as he replaced his sunglasses, "Suuuure, hide behind the giant invulnerable skin, priss. Why don't you go paint the sunset or some other art fag thing."
"John!" Psylocke shouted as she slammed her fist against the table. "Lay the hell off."
"Betsy, I can fight my own battles, please," Colossus insisted as he got out of his chair, each footstep he took sounded like heavy weights that clanked against the floor.
"Heh, holy crap, Colossus is totally going to break Pyro's pelvis!" Diode shouted inappropriately. She elbowed Maggott in the ribs as she pointed at the large metallic man, "I always knew he'd be the one to snap."
"Feck you, Roni," Pyro hissed.
Xorn quietly shook his head and looked downwards, "Statistically, this is the seventy-sixth Monday morning board meeting that has led to Pyro dropping the f-bomb."
"Sit down and shut up, children," Archangel growled. He met eyes with his once "Gold Team" associate in Colossus and said, "I'm not lying, Peter. Sit."
Colossus responded with an almost weary reluctance and sat back in his chair, simultaneously transforming back into human form.
Diode leaned in and whispered as she playfully batted Maggott's snickering face away, almost bursting into laughter herself, "So uh...teehee, when you transform, your hair turns into this helmet shell kinda thing. I been meaning to ask...what happens to your pubes and/or ass hair when you're all Steel-Man?"
Colossus blushed as he tried not to acknowledge Diode's antics. He whispered back, "I'll draw you a picture later."
"Heh, sweeeeeeeeet," Diode snickered as she high-fived Maggott...which caused the inevitable spillage of his coffee.
"Aw, what the...," Maggott whined as he stood up, observing the dark stain around the crotch of his pants. "These are brand new! Not last week new, but two days ago new! Two days ago new!!"
Diode burst out into laughter, which prompted Pyro to follow suit, then Colossus and Psylocke. Even Xorn chuckled, "Hehmm. Look, it appears he urinated upon himself. Hehmm!"
Archangel's eyes seemed to become bloodshot from frustration, "AS I WAS SAYING, WE NEED TO FIRE SOME PEOPLE!!" To Warren's surprise, the playful levity seemed to disappear in the eyes of his various employees, including his fiance, Psylocke.
Warren could almost feel the horror which was behind him. What else would cause his team to actually take him seriously on a day (Monday, of all days) which had no epic impact on their weekly business routine? Aside from the impending layoffs, he's barked out orders before, something he was not always entirely used to when it came to the X-Men, but the business aspect of it...as chairman of X-Corp, it was his arena.
But still, when he looked into the blue eyes of his precious wife-to-be, something wasn't right.
Archangel muttered, "Spider-Man better not be mooning me again."
As Warren looked out the massive window which overlooked the Manhattan skyline, an old friend looked back at him...and Archangel instantly understood the reason for his team's duress. He looked at the white-haired man's gray suit, holding a briefcase in his hand, hovering with an intense look of anger and resent, but also a need to belong.
With a magnetic hum, the windows flung open and the man slowly flew inside the board room. As he set foot on the carpeted floor, the windows closed. The man cleared his throat, "So, if you're firing a lot of people...does this mean I can have my job back?"
Joseph had returned.
Sister
Maria De La Joya found Joseph amongst orphans, poking and proding him
with a stick. He wore a cape and a strange helmet...and he displayed remarkable
powers. So remarkable, that she could have sworn he was divine. But science
reminded her of what he was...a mutant.
It was months ago that he delivered another mutant into her care in her
Guatamalan orphanage. A third-generation Mexican-American from the Los
Angeles area. His true name was something he had forgotten in all of his
years of living with a more advanced mind. But underneath the piercings
and tattoos, Warp Savant was still in there somewhere...waiting to re-emerge.
"Maria...is that you?" Raul asked as he huddled his legs closely to his
chest, shivering.
"Sí...," was all she could whisper, trying not to wake the other children.
"D-did you bring me my magazine...?" he asked.
Maria sighed as she revealed something in her grasp from behind her back.
She tossed the periodical into Raul's lap. As he gazed upon the front
cover of TIME, he smiled at the headline.
X-CORP LOOKS
AFTER MUTANTS IN NY AREA, POST-WASHINGTON RIOTS
"You want to talk about it, Xorn?" Psylocke
asked as she casually piloted the smaller custom jet Seraphim-A over the
clouds in the afternoon.
"Feng Tu has set up a meeting with me later this week...apparently regarding
my national hero status of China...," Xorn replied from the co-pilot seat.
Psylocke sighed, feeling a bit uncomfortable, "I meant about Joseph returning."
"Oh...," Xorn said as he tilted his head. "I suppose..."
Psylocke pressed her lips together, "You suppose what?"
"I suppose I want to talk about it," Xorn said. He crossed his arms, "You
asked me if I wanted to talk about it, yes?"
Betsy chuckled, "Alright then, out with it."
Xorn patiently looked out the window at the cloud formations, "I am not
a mind-reader like you...so I cannot judge...but I feel that Joseph, whatever
he has been through...his aura is whole again. I feel we...and especially
I...can trust him."
"His aura?" Psylocke wondered. "You mean electromagnetic?"
"Yes and no," Xorn replied. "I perceive the world differently. Each person
has his or her aura of energy - their chi. With Joseph's particular abilities,
as well as my own particular abilities, I can sense that his chi is whole
again...somehow."
Psylocke bit her lip, "Warren sent us on this mission because he didn't
want us there. He was afraid of...well, you know...the whole bloody thing
with Joseph."
"Are you referring to our accidental role in causing Joseph's temporary
bout with psychosis?" Xorn asked.
Psylocke nodded, "I sensed something with him, too." She sighed, "I did
a real hack-job with trying to heal his mind...not that I was trying to...his
mind was just so...jumbled. Deus made it almost impossible to figure out
who Joseph was." She shook her head, "But this morning...his mind was
seamless and stable. He was at peace with himself."
Xorn leaned over and touched Psylocke on her shoulder, "It was not your
fault for what happened."
A tear ran down Betsy's cheek, "I was wrong...should have let Jean or
Marcus Raven...or someone else...it was stupid of me to even--"
"--think that I could trust her," Joseph replied. "But she showed me who I really was."
"And what did you say this telepathic psychaitrist's name was?" Archangel asked as he leaned up against his desk.
"Dr. Diana Russell," Joseph replied.
"How can you trust her?" Colossus asked.
Diode snickered, "She's probably jonesin' for a little twenty-something like yourself to satisfy her lonely housewife urges. She's manipulating you, dude."
Joseph shook his head, "She's a level-3 alpha mutant. Not that powerful. She's good at what she does, but I don't think she'd go through all the trouble of pulling something like that...besides...have you looked at the DNA tests yet?"
Archangel cleared his throat, "Someone in Xorn's department is still waiting for the read-out on your blood sample, Joseph."
"It pains me to ask why we didn't even try a DNA test in the first place," Pyro interrupted. "No matter what's goin' on inside Joe's melon, his DNA is better proof of who he really is."
Maggott sniffled as he leaned up against the wall, intentionally bulked up with his eyes glowing bright red, "So what's the deal, Joe? Who are you for real, maat?"
"I am Kevin MacTaggart. No doubt about that," Joseph said. "But I don't know why my appearance took on the characteristics of a younger Magneto. That's what I hope to investigate with the DNA sample...I haven't had access to the resources to perform it myself."
Colossus cleared his throat, "So...you are not Proteus, I take it? In terms of power, I mean."
Joseph's piercing blue eyes looked into Peter's, "I don't know...do you feel the urge to plunge your metal fists through me?"
"Joseph, don't start," Archangel warned.
Pyro lit a cigarette and took a drag before he asked, "He ain't gonna kill us. I know he fought the X-Men to a standstill all those years ago, yeah -- I heard the stories. But now, Joseph is...well...he got the help he needed, and now he's alright."
"I'm no where near 'alright,' John," Joseph spat. "I killed a lot of people senselessly, including my own father..." Joseph looked at Colossus cautiously, "But I paid for my crimes with my life. Then, I was brought back, and brought down Magneto's amplification device...only to sacrifice myself again, and then Deus brought me back a second time...that had a lot to do with all of those random magnetic imprints in my brain...all the dying and resurrecting just isn't meant to be done in nature."
Diode smirked, "Unless you're Jean Grey...or...the nineteen eighties."
"Basically, I came back a little different each time...," Joseph explained. "But Dr. Russell helped me filter all of that trauma out...and now I'm here."
Warren glared at Joseph, unsure of what to do. Archangel shruged, "The only way I can really hire you back is if the board discusses it."
"The board?" Joseph scoffed. "I've worn the X proudly, with Xavier's blessing, no less! My time with the Exiles really opened my eyes to how you people run things...it's all business -- legal bullshit -- and no honoring the past. You've spit on the Professor's dream."
"Times have been tough for us, I'll give you that," Archangel said as he tried to hold his anger inward. "But we're trying our best to fight for Charles' dream the best we can. We've already taken in a bunch of mutant kids off the street -- many of them are Morlocks. I'm trying to give them jobs so they can feel like they are working with society instead of against it."
"Well, then give me a job...any job," Joseph replied. "I don't care about the money...as long as I'm a part of the team."
Pyro sighed as his shoulders slumped, "Come on, Worthington, give the bloke his old job back. He's already trained. I mean...shit. Give 'im the science department back."
"Xorn runs the science department," Warren said.
"I was actually in charge of special projects," Joseph said. "The Danger Room, included. I see it still hasn't been completed."
"Oh, come on!" Diode exclaimed. "When have any of us actually paid attention to what we actually do around here?"
"Actually...I'm not even sure what the hell I do," Maggott revealed sheepishly with a grin.
"Me either," Pyro snickered.
"Er...yeah," Diode chuckled. "Aside from joke-cracking, I don't do much, either."
Archangel buried his face in his hands and then looked at Colossus, who knew for sure he was the head of the design devision. Warren pointed to Pyro, "Entertainment devision." He then pointed to Maggott, "Research and development." Diode was pointed to last as Warren sighed, "Public relations."
Maggott stood with a dumbfounded look on his face, in the form of an outstretched upper lip, "...research and development...? The hell...? I mean...what exactly am I supposed to research?"
Pyro laughed to himself, "Ah, yeah...forgot we have this new record deal with Dazzler. My bad."
Archangel rolled his eyes, "Yeah, I do finances, investments, and avionics. Betsy handles the mutant threat missions and helps out with finances, too." He crossed his arms, "Man...you'd think we'd have this down right away, not almost a year in business."
"So, am I hired back?" Joseph asked.
Archangel was met by eager faces in Colossus, Pyro, Diode, and Maggott. Joseph stood nonchalantly in the board room as he brushed off his business suit.
Warren sighed, "Fine, but the moment you get out of line, you're gone. Xorn is more than a match for you."
Joseph glared at Archangel and smiled, "At least, now that his balls finally decided to drop..."
Just outside
Guatamala City, Guatamala.
Psylocke and Xorn quietly exited the Seraphim-A just as a black limo pulled up on the small runway. Archangel had ordered photographers and newscasters in the area to keep the mission secret. As the head of Mojoworld, the paparazzi and local media really had no other choice but to obey Worthington.
Xorn glanced over at Psylocke and wondered aloud, "Your hair...the dyes have been washed out."
Psylocke grimmaced as she tightened her grip around the sheathe of her katana, "Not for lack of trying to get it blonde again. I think I have to accept that there are certain things I can't change."
"Hmm?" Xorn pondered.
Psylocke approached the limo and slid into the back seat. Xorn followed suit. Betsy placed her katana on the floor of the stretch limosuine and sighed, "I went to see Dr. Strange...astrally, the other day." Psylocke looked out the window at the setting sun, "He says my hair turned purple because of the unique circumstances regarding my DNA..."
"Which is...?" Xorn inquired. Both he and Betsy suddenly felt the limo speed towards their destination as it left the small airfield.
"Spiral...she used magics and Mojoworld technology to meld Kwannon and I, body and soul," Psylocke explained. "The removal of the Crimson Dawn power inside me caused the DNA of Kwannon's body to resemble that of my old body...since, I suppose it removed the magic that originally mucked with my body."
"And Feng Tu's performance enhancers triggered this...unnatural mutation," Xorn deduced.
"It's not a mutation," Psylocke said. "I dyed my hair purple years ago...as sort of a trendy punk thing..." She met eyes with Xorn, "Don't ask." She sighed, "I don't understand why the effects of the performance enhancers haven't worn off yet...or why they changed my hair."
"Perhaps Warren should release Spiral from her prison on Mojoworld," Xorn suggested. "Get her to fix your fluctuating cellular structure."
"I'd ask Dr. Strange, but...part of me is afraid of what might happen...I'm tired of having my face change," Psylocke said. Betsy shrugged, "Not that it's a total burden. I just don't want people to think I have some kind of surgical addiction."
"I wish I knew what it was like to even have a face, sometimes," Xorn replied. He lightly ran his fingers against the rivets in his iron helmet, "And not...this."
Psylocke smiled to herself, "You have no idea how many people envy you, Xorn."
"Well, I--"
*CRREEEEEEEAAAAAAKKK*
Xorn and Psylocke suddenly jerked forward in their seats as the limosuine screeched to a halt and seemingly hit something solid. The limo then felt as if it was rising in midair.
"Driver?!" Betsy called out. "Kent?"
Xorn suddenly became silent as the interior lighting of the limo turned to darkness, "I sense...a problem."
Psylocke and Xorn quietly exited the Seraphim-A just as a black limo pulled up on the small runway. Archangel had ordered photographers and newscasters in the area to keep the mission secret. As the head of Mojoworld, the paparazzi and local media really had no other choice but to obey Worthington.
Xorn glanced over at Psylocke and wondered aloud, "Your hair...the dyes have been washed out."
Psylocke grimmaced as she tightened her grip around the sheathe of her katana, "Not for lack of trying to get it blonde again. I think I have to accept that there are certain things I can't change."
"Hmm?" Xorn pondered.
Psylocke approached the limo and slid into the back seat. Xorn followed suit. Betsy placed her katana on the floor of the stretch limosuine and sighed, "I went to see Dr. Strange...astrally, the other day." Psylocke looked out the window at the setting sun, "He says my hair turned purple because of the unique circumstances regarding my DNA..."
"Which is...?" Xorn inquired. Both he and Betsy suddenly felt the limo speed towards their destination as it left the small airfield.
"Spiral...she used magics and Mojoworld technology to meld Kwannon and I, body and soul," Psylocke explained. "The removal of the Crimson Dawn power inside me caused the DNA of Kwannon's body to resemble that of my old body...since, I suppose it removed the magic that originally mucked with my body."
"And Feng Tu's performance enhancers triggered this...unnatural mutation," Xorn deduced.
"It's not a mutation," Psylocke said. "I dyed my hair purple years ago...as sort of a trendy punk thing..." She met eyes with Xorn, "Don't ask." She sighed, "I don't understand why the effects of the performance enhancers haven't worn off yet...or why they changed my hair."
"Perhaps Warren should release Spiral from her prison on Mojoworld," Xorn suggested. "Get her to fix your fluctuating cellular structure."
"I'd ask Dr. Strange, but...part of me is afraid of what might happen...I'm tired of having my face change," Psylocke said. Betsy shrugged, "Not that it's a total burden. I just don't want people to think I have some kind of surgical addiction."
"I wish I knew what it was like to even have a face, sometimes," Xorn replied. He lightly ran his fingers against the rivets in his iron helmet, "And not...this."
Psylocke smiled to herself, "You have no idea how many people envy you, Xorn."
"Well, I--"
*CRREEEEEEEAAAAAAKKK*
Xorn and Psylocke suddenly jerked forward in their seats as the limosuine screeched to a halt and seemingly hit something solid. The limo then felt as if it was rising in midair.
"Driver?!" Betsy called out. "Kent?"
Xorn suddenly became silent as the interior lighting of the limo turned to darkness, "I sense...a problem."
X-Corp.
Manhattan.
"You sent them where?!" Joseph exclaimed as he hovered in Archangel's personal office.
"Cerebro picked up a pretty big spike in Guatamala. The locals were getting spooked by disturbances in the area," Warren explained.
Joseph became deathly pale, "...that orphanage is where I sent Diode's brother..."
"Warp Savant?!" Archangel brayed. "God damn it! Why didn't you say anything before?!"
"We have to get down there," Joseph implored. "If his powers are back..."
Archangel reached into his coat pocket and pulled out a silver cell phone. He dialed a few numbers and looked at his watch, "We're going. So help me, if Betsy's hurt..."
"What about Roni?" Joseph asked. "Isn't she going to be a hinderance on the field when this guy is her brother?"
"I dunno, you better just put a stop to this once and for all," Archangel growled as he replaced his cell phone for his gold-plated gun. "Get into the Seraphim."
"Xorn, get out of here!" Psylocke shouted as she back-flipped out of the way of the very earth being uprooted and directed at her like a tidal wave.
Xorn replied as blasts of blue heat fired at a barrage of land masses from the eyeslots of his helmet, "We are partners on this mission! Even if this particular mission requires going up against the man who nearly ruined our business!"
Warp Savant, his eyes glowing with an eerie green luminosity, smiled as he hovered nonchalantly in midair above the two celebrity mutants, "I didn't ruin your business, if anything -- I helped it!"
Psylocke growled as she reached into her trenchcoat pocket and pulled out a small dagger. She skillfully leaped up the amorphic land masses until she was high enough. She sprung off the highest peak of reality-warped soil and prepared to drive the dagger into a non-fatal position in Savant's body.
The brother of Diode smirked as a third arm shot out of his chest and grabbed Psylocke by the neck in mid-jump. With his other arms, he effectively disarmed her of her ninja dagger. He licked the side of her face as he smothered her mouth with his hands, "Heh...what'sa matter, lil' pook? Your ninja skills fail you again? Looks like those performance enhancers are finally wearing off..."
From below, Xorn's eyes flashed, "Let her go!"
Warp Savant ignored Xorn's warning as he whispered into Psylocke's ear, "You're probably wondering how I knew about those performance enhancers that fucked up Feng Tu guy administered into your system...well...I've been keeping tabs on all of you dorks my sister has suctioned herself to...and I must say you are REALLY treating the guy who made you famous LIKE SHIT!"
"You didn't make us famous, Savant!" Betsy shouted with her telepathy, as she could not move her mouth.
Warp smiled, "Come on, I had every single one of New York's heroes on the ropes...and then this mutant corporation comes to the rescue...and beat me ON A FLUKE! I want my share of the profit you assholes made ever since your fame skyrocketed."
Xorn suddenly rose into the air and met Savant face to face, "If you have been doing your homework like you have so eloquently noted, you would have noticed that X-Corp acquired Mojoverse and all of its media assets here on Earth. We've been giving equal time to other organizations, the Avengers and Champions in particular!"
Warp's eyes began to glow as he growled, with Psylocke incapacitated in his grasp, "I want my money!"
Xorn did not budge as he hovered closer, "X-Corp is a business, not a reality show. We don't gain nor lose from however the media presents us. We are a self-sufficient corporate identity!"
"Bullshit, you fucking Chink!" Warp Savant growled as his body seemed to radiate energy and consumed the struggling Psylocke into his form. "I'm entitled to a share! Give it to me or she dies!"
"Betsy!" Xorn shouted as he reached for her.
Warp instead grabbed Xorn's arm with his own and smiled. Xorn attempted to retrieve his arm's freedom, but the grip on it was strong. "Feel that?" Warp asked.
Xorn wondered what it was, but suddenly, his body felt strange as the green reality-warping energy began to feel across his entire being. Feeling sick, he crashed to the ground, creating an explosion of blue solar energy. As the blue light dispersed, Xorn's body slowly arose, but with alarm.
"No...," was all he could say. "You couldn't have!"
Panting, Xorn's hands rushed to his helmet as he unlocked the hinges. As the iron skull-faced helmet clanged against the dry soil, Xorn's shaking hands touched something he never thought he would again.
His face.
His skin tone was a yellowish tan, and although he was bald, Xorn could not stop the impulse to stroke the counters of his skull, his nose, and his eyelids...most importantly, his mouth and ears.
"What have you done...?" Xorn spoke with his actual vocal folds for the first time since he was thirteen.
"You should be happy...," Warp smiled, "I reversed the effects of your little star brain cluster or whatever. Sure, I had to twist and tweak your DNA to make you normal...and graft pieces of trillions of molecules to reform your head."
"You...had no right!" Xorn sputtered as tears began to flow from his stinging eyes.
"Still playing the role of 'oh, I'm a Buddhist and don't want the luxuries of a face'!?! Well, allow me to give a big psionic shout out to ya by saying...FUCK YOU!"
Xorn gripped his skull in emmense, blinding pain as he cowered on the ground.
Warp smiled, "Heh...yeah, having an actual brain that's suseptable to telepathy kinda sucks now, doesn't it? You should have been around for that Shadow King/Onslaught slobber-knocker...astral vibrations were never that high. Woo, let me tell you, I still have a bit of whiplash from that one!"
"Nnng!" Xorn grunted as he bashed his discarded helmet against Savant's jaw, knocking him back.
As he wiped his bloody lip, Warp gave Xorn a murderous gaze, "Mighty brave of you, Hong Kong Phooey. I don't care what they say about Asian men and their dehabilitating genital sizes...you've got some cojones, vato!"
Xorn stood helpless as his body suddenly became granulated and rocky, disintigrating and reforming into a massive circular sandstone Aztec sun calender.
Warp laughed to himself as he surveyed his work...and then toppled the sun calender on its side, crashing to the ground, wobbling a bit like a coin would.
"Deactivate stealth mode!" came a feminine shout from above.
Warp shielded his eyes as a cloaking device around a golden jet in VTOL mode suddenly regestered with his senses, becoming both visible and audible. In the confusion of what just happened, Savant unfortunately forgot about the woman's voice, as she delivered a massive-electro-enhanced punch to his solar plexis.
Savant toppled end over end in midair until he eventually regained his "footing" and remained afloat. He smiled as he marveled at the feminine form embodied with an almost etheral electric display, "Well, sis...it's about time you showed up!"
"Damn fuckin' skippy!" Diode growled as she dove at her brother, "we got here just as you turned Xorn into that giant stone thing!" A sound that mimiced lightning and thunder exploded from Diode's hands as massive streams of pure electrical energy connected with Savant and sent him firing to the ground. Roni flew for the impact site and fired upon the giant scorch mark with her electricity.
"AH! Christ, cut it out!" Warp quipped as various streams of static electricity seemed to rise off of his skin.
"Where's Psylocke?" Roni demanded as she generated the equivalent of ball lightning in each hand. "Don't try any of that sneaky Mr. Mxylpzlk stuff, either. I've got some nice telepathy-blocking, reality-warping-resistant uber-voltage surrounding me. Joseph's got the Seraphim in a magnetic field, too, so don't try anything with the rest of my team."
"Pft, Psylocke? I think what you really want to know is where dad is...," Warp smiled as he slowly got to his feet. "After you became a comedian, he had no one to turn to. Mom died giving birth to your fat ass, Humberto overdosed on drugs...all that was left...was me."
"I've stopped trying to look," Diode said as she tried to retain her seriousness. She grit her teeth, "Turn Xorn back and release Psylocke, or so help me..."
"Let me finish the story, Veronica...I think you'll enjoy the ending...see, my mutant powers manifested later than they should have. I was 18. You were in juvy for being a whore or something, and I was slated to go to college...only after high school, my powers took over. Dad was so impressed...and I gave him the only thing he ever wanted," Savant explained with pride. "A family estate in Cancun."
"Wrong answer!" Diode shouted as she pummelled Warp Savant with her lightning, only when the electric current connected, it was with Psylocke. "Damn it! Shit!" Diode cried.
"Idiot!" Warp Savant bellowed as he back-handed his sister and blasted her with a pulse of energy. "I killed dad, I gave the drugs to Humberto to go kill himself...and now I'm going to kill you!"
"For once in your life, shut up!" Joseph yelled as he quelled Warp with a barrage of every metal object in the vacinity. After Savant was completely buried under the metallic scraps, Joseph craddled Diode, "You okay?"
"Bets...?" Diode muttered. Joseph looked over his shoulder and saw Archangel huddled over Psylocke's motionless body. It looked like he was performing CPR to revive her heartbeat.
Maggott, Pyro, and Colossus rushed up to Archangel as he pounded on Psylocke's chest with his fist. "Come on!" Warren shouted with tears in his eyes. He leaned his ear against her chest. "Still nothing. Come on, Betsy! Elisabeth! Come on!"
"We got it," Joseph said as he approached them, hand in hand with a limping Diode. Together, they combined their powers into a soothing stream of electric energy directed at Psylocke's heart. Just one zap was enough to jumpstart it.
"Guh!" Psylocke gasped as she jerked awake, immediately losing consciousness afterward.
Archangel glared at Joseph as he craddled Psylocke's body and took flight for the Seraphim, still hovering in midair, "I'm going to get her hooked up to the onboard medical equipment in the jet, everyone else, make sure Savant stays down."
"What if he doesn't?" Pyro asked.
"You can make any and all executive decisions necessary to get the job done," Archangel muttered coldly as he flapped his massive angelic wings.
Diode's eyes sparked with energy as she began limping towards the huge junkpile of metal scraps, "This asshole killed my father...and my second oldest brother. Now Psylocke is critical and Xorn...might be dead, too." She paused as she looked back at the rest of X-Corp, "I'm going to kill him."
"No, you're not," Joseph implored. "You've never taken a life. And you never will. You won't be able to handle it. Trust me." He eyed Colossus suspiciously as the Russian man transformed himself into living steel.
"He's starting to move," Colossus said as he observed trembling within the metal scrap heap.
"You got him down?" Maggott asked Joseph.
Joseph flinched as he concentrated the pressure over the heap, "I think so."
Pyro snapped his fingers as the flint on his glove fingertips ignited into vigorous flames, "Doesn't look like it's enough, Joe. Maybe you should dig deep into your real powers."
"No," Joseph shot back. "I'd start to deteriorate."
Tiny streams of green light glowed from within the heap as Diode grumbled, "Aw, shit..."
*FOOOM*
Soon, the energy exploded outward, sending the metal scraps in every direction. Diode deflected the metal with short controlled bursts of electrical currents, but a giant metal spike still managed to skewer her left arm through the shoulder, "AHHH! Bitch!"
"Sweet mother of--" Pyro gulped as he was suddenly yanked by his shirt collar by Maggott's massive mitt.
Maggott, with Pyro gagging and choking from being wrenched by his collar, wisely dove behind Colossus, who was the only one able to withstand the impact. All three of them were repelled by a green blast of energy from Savant's eyes, however. As they landed on the ground, paralyzed by the energy, Colossus garnered enough strength to press his earpiece, "Warren...get out of here, take the jet and get out...get as far away from here as you--"
"No...," Joseph breathed as a bright yellow energy began to protrude from his chest, becoming brighter and brighter. "Everyone get out of here!"
"Come on, Proteus...," Warp Savant shouted in an unholy tambor of voice as he hovered menacingly with streams of green light dancing around him. "I've idolized you for years. Show me what you've got!"
"You...don't know what you're unleashing...," Joseph warned as he gripped his chest.
{{"You're breaking up,"}} Archangel yelled in everyone's earpieces.
Joseph let out one final howl before his entire body exploded outwards, its energy scorching the land and knocking the Seraphim out of the air. As the X-Corp's premeire jet crash-landed, Diode crawled up to the unconscious Colossus and laid her head down onto his now-flesh chest. Maggott was also out cold. Pyro, on the other hand, was barely conscious, still reeling from the blast from Warp Savant.
Joseph's form eventually became distinctive as that of a being made up entirely of yellow energy. He almost seemed surprised he was able to retain his form on some level. As Warp Savant relentlessly giggled, Joseph's innate rage and anger surfaced. And in that moment he knew, if not that Warp Savant was more powerful than he expected...
It was that he was Proteus once more.
NEXT ISSUE: Warp Savant is back, and it looks like things will get progressively worse from there. One thing is certain that when the smoke clears, X-Corp will never be the same. All this and more next month! STAR-CROSSED continues!
BIBLIOGRAPHY
-Warp Savant made his presence known during the GANG RELATED storyarc in issues #2-5 (Vol. 1); at the end of which, X-Corp suddenly found themselves in the spotlight.
- Joseph's fall from grace took place during the EXTORTION storyline in issues #6-8 (Vol. 1). This was also when it was discovered he was actually the former villain, Proteus.
- The "Washington Riots" took place in M2K's X-Men Prime #13-17 (vol. 1).
- X-Corp took
over Mojoworld in issue #15.
- Dr. Diana Russell first appeared in M2K's CABLE 2002 ANNUAL.