Worthington Estate, Colorado

Blink, also known as Clarice Ferguson, is the youngest member of X-Men Omega. Despite having tattoos over her face, she also has lavender skin and magenta-colored hair, Clarice experienced the memories of her counterpart, native of a reality long since dead. She possesses various teleportational abilities, which she is still trying to learn.

*BLINK*

...But she's pretty skilled with what she's got already.

A drone has just been displaced by a javelin charged with Blink's teleportation energies.

"Come on, make this hard," Blink taunts.

Two drones blast plasma at her, as she easily flips out of the way, causing the blasts to hit other android drones.

{{ End simulation. }}

"Hey, what gives?" Blink wonders aloud. "Computer--"

"I shut off the 'puter, petite," Witness says, his red eyes glowing from a deep shadow within the Danger Room.

Blink rolls her eyes. "What do you want? You're starting to really annoy me. Rogue is especially freaked out by you. And I think Quicksilver wants to kick your ass."

Witness smiles mysteriously, "Why would dat be? Hein?"

"Maybe it's that raspy Cajun accent," Blink retorts. "Or the resemblance to--"

"Dat's enough o' that discussion," Witness interrupts.

"Well, Pyro's especially pissed you've been drinking his Foster's beer," Blink says. "Psylocke is mad...as well as Archangel...that she may have seen you going through her underwear drawer. Sabretooth hates you, period. Joseph...who knows..."

"Et tu?"

"Let's just say I'd rather go back to that reality Joseph came from than even look at you," Blink mutters. "Why are you here, exactly?"

Witness' eyes waver, "To prepare you."

"For what?"

"De unknown."

"Uh-huh," Blink says bluntly. "Wanna know a way to prepare for the unknown?"

"Shoot..."

"Training in the Danger Room!" Blink yells. "Now leave me alone, you're butting into my training time! The Real World is on TV later!"

"TV can wait...your trainin'...dat's something you need. You can't waste a single moment," Witness explains.

"I'll do what I please, Witness. I'm sick and tired--"

Blink pauses.

"...why are we in my pocket dimension?" she asks. The surrounding area is an endless space of pink energy swirling around. The Danger Room is gone. "You're really starting to scare me, Witness."

"It's what I'm best at, petite," Witness says. "Time to hone dose powers o' yours..."

"A joy, as always..."

The Next Day...

Pyro and Rogue enjoy a music video on MTV. It was a new hit single by Willa Ford, called "I Wanna Be Bad". Both X-Men have an uncomfortable look on their faces, most likely for being former criminals under Mystique's Brotherhood of Mutants.

"I won't change it if you won't, sugah," Rogue says.

Pyro, who was paying more attention to Willa's body, says, "Mmhm....tha's great...."

Blink walks into the living room and plops on the couch, in-between her teammates. She lets out an exhaustive sigh.

"Witness put you through hell last night?" Rogue asks.

Blink silently turns her head, which is resting on the top of the couch, and nods. "And most of it was a scientific look at how my powers work...it was like a stupid segment on The Learning Channel."

Joseph appears in a blue shirt with khakis shorts. His eyes land on the television, then on Willa Ford.

"Oh my," he breathes.

Pyro pulls the pillow that was resting at his side and motions for Joseph to sit and watch the rest of the video. Joseph gladly sits down.

Rogue and Blink roll their eyes. "You boys wanna bib?" Rogue asks.

"No, but I'll have a beer," Pyro says without taking his eyes off the television.

Quicksilver zips into the living room in his X-Men uniform. "What's going on here? A party?"

"No, just a little break," Blink says innocently.

"Well, break's over. Get suited up and get in the Danger Room," Quicksilver commands.

"But," Pyro begins. "There's a mighty fine specimen on the tele..."

Quicksilver arches his eyebrow as he catches a glance of Willa Ford. He exhales. Crystal flashes in his mind.

"I don't care, John. Be in the Danger Room in five minutes."

Pietro zips away, causing some coasters to fly off the coffee table.

Blink groans. "I'm gonna kill Witness..."

Rogue rubs Blink's shoulders reassuringly, "We'll all kill 'im....just not before Pietro's superiority complex tantrum." Clarice smirks.

"Still," Rogue mutters. "He stays on task...Ah kinda like that in a man. Responsibility..."

"What?" Blink echoes. "I didn't catch that, you're mumbling."

"Nevermind, girl," Rogue says, sighing.

Meanwhile, Joseph and Pyro remain on the couch gauking at the TV. Quicksilver zips in front of them, shouting, "GET UP! SUIT UP!" He zips away.

"We heard you the first twenty times, ass-wipe," Pyro grumbles as he gets off the couch. "C'mon, Joe."

Joseph doesn't respond.

"I know she's a nice broad, but we gotta--"

Joseph stares at the television. "Something's wrong...the electricity isn't flowing the way it should..."

"Probably just a power glitch, no big deal," Pyro says, dragging Joseph with him.

Later...

"Damn microwave," Psylocke growls, punching the side of it.

"What's wrong, Bets?" Warren asks.

"The microwave is being...difficult," Psylocke responds. "Some kind of power outage? Did you forget to pay the electric bill again?"

"Maybe, I don't remember. Things have been hectic, lately." Warren pours himself a mug of coffee. He takes a sip. "What the--? It's cold." He checks the coffee machine and notices the clock is flashing 12:00 constantly.

"Is it plugged in, luv?"

"Yeah," Warren says. "Do you sense anything with your telepathy? Someone could be playing with us..."

Betsy shakes her head, "No. Nothing, other than the team."

Warren's eyes begin to flash yellow light, "Be alert...I have a funny feeling..."

"I will, Warren."

He sighs, "You know, I've been meaning to talk to you about your Crimson Dawn powers..."

"Oh? What about?"

"I don't know...it's just...you've changed, Bets."

"Look who's talking. We've been through a lot with Charles dying and Deus almost turning Earth into a Heaven and Hell. Not to mention Apoca--"

Warren's light-based wings blare, "I don't wanna hear that name. Ever."

"Sorry, it's just ironic that you're worried about change...it's something that happens," Betsy says, gently rubbing Warren's arm.

Warren kisses Betsy on the mouth passionately. "Now I remember why I fell in love with you...we're kindred spirits."

Psylocke smirks, "I thought it was the sex..."

"That too."

As the two lovers exit the kitchen, little do they realize the electronic devices flashing in synch...in a strange pattern.

Sabretooth's Cell...

Blink hands Creed a plate of rare steak and some vegetables through a little panel located to the side of the titanium door. "There you go, Mr. Creed."

"I'm gettin' nervous everytime you call me that," Sabretooth says, taking the plate of food and stuffing it in his face.

"Let's just say...I understand you better than the others, I guess."

"But you're the shy one...," Sabretooth says with a smile. "I'm amazed you even talk to me. You an' me both know what I'm capable of doing--"

"Which is why I trust that you won't do anything to me," Blink says. "If you keep those adamantium claws off me, I won't displace every last one of your atoms. We got a deal?"

Sabretooth ponders this offer between chews of raw meat, "Hmm...Logan had the little firecracker and the bookworm....guess I can have a sidekick..."

"I'm no one's sidekick," Clarice says. "Let's just say...we're partners..."

"I can live with that," Sabretooth declares. "Everyone else hates me...but I think they're really just scared o' me...."

"Well, you partook in a battle that almost killed Warren...and you slashed the crap outta Betsy."

"So? Angel boy's got some new wings and the nymph has some new shadow powers. I helped them, if anything. They're more powerful than before."

"You don't get it, do you?"

"Get what?"

"Doesn't it bother you that you're caged like an animal? Why can't you at least try to civilize yourself? Get control of yourself like the Victor Creed I used to--"

"Used to what?"

"Nevermind. Usually, prison gives criminals a chance to think about what they've done. You should be considering working for the X-Men instead of against us all the time."

"Prison also gives criminals a chance to plan their next big killing spree...," Creed says with a cold laugh.

"Ugh, you're impossible--"

"I was kidding, Blinky. You shy types are all so tense."

"That's Blink...Blinky is the name of that three-eyed fish on the Simpsons."

Suddenly, there is a flash of energy and Blink staggers backwards until she falls on the cold metallic floor. Her hand rushes to her ribs and sees her charred skin. Before her stand three Danger Room droids.

{{ Designate: Blink, status: wounded. Proceed with execution mode. }}

Blink winces in pain as she drags herself across the floor, trying to reach for her quiver.

"Need some help Blinky--I mean Blink?"

The droids then turn their attention to Sabretooth and send an electrical stream into his body. With his adamantium skeleton acting as a superconductor, a small current is more painful than usual, even with a healing factor.

"YAAARGGHH!!!!!" Sabretooth shouts.

By now, Blink has unsheathed three javelins and has them charged. She throws the javelins at the robots, which pierce them with deadly accuracy -- causing them to displace and explode. Clarice inches her way to stand up on her feet. She limps over to Sabretooth's cell and opens the door.

Creed is lying on his back, looking like a dead animal.

"Victor?" Blink strokes his hair, trying to wake him up.

Creed unexpectedly grabs Blink's forearm, teeth glaring. When he sees who he's holding, he releases his grip.

"Sorry..." Sabretooth mutters.

Blink smiles.

Sabretooth sees this and yells, "Don't tell anyone I said that."

Blink salutes, "Yes, sir."

Out of nowhere, plasma fire enters the cell. Sabretooth throws himself in front of Blink, getting his hide burned. He grimaces, "Whatda ya waitin' for? Make 'em disappear or whatever you do."

Blink's eyes light up as the drones seem to fizzle then explode.

Creed slumps to the floor as blood and puss drip from his burn wounds.

"You alright?" Blink asks.

"Yeah...I'd be at one-hundred percent if these damn shackles were off..."

"Sorry," Blink says, taking out a remote control, deactivating the shackles. The metal restraints seem to retract into smaller compartments on his wrists. His muzzle does the same, retracting into a neck piece of sorts.

Blink's communicator blares, {{ "X-Men. This is Quicksilver. The Danger Room drones have begun attacking us with deadly force! Use whatever methods necessary to put them out of commission so we can fix the problem." }}

Psylocke appears from a shadow of the cell, with her Mark of the Dawn glowing bright red. "As much as I hate to say it...we need your help, Sabretooth. Clarice? Are you hurt?"

"It's not bad," she responds. "How bad is it?"

"They're all over the estate," Psylocke informs. "My telepathy doesn't do much to these drones." She unsheathes a katana. "But this does."

"I'll 'port us to the surface," Blink says in an instant.

*BLINK*

Above...

"Bloody hell!" Pyro shouts as he activates his flame throwers, intensifying the flames with his powers. The drones keep on coming until Joseph uses his mastery of magnetism to crush them.

"Indeed," Joseph says. "I told you something wasn't right."

"Well next time, Joseph," Rogue says while judo-flipping a drone, "don't be afraid to tell us if somethin's wrong. You shoulda learned by now that a minor disturbance could be somethin' serious."

Quicksilver, meanwhile, is simply disassembling the drones bit by bit at superhuman speeds. "Tell me again why we have so many of these?"

"They're cheap...mostly," Archangel says as he flaps his wings, sending sharpened feathers of light at a group of robots.

Rogue gets dogpiled by at least ten of the robots. Gritting her teeth, she uses every ounce of strength that was not always her own and tosses the group of robots out the living room window of the Worthington Estate. "Sorry, Archangel...you know that saying. Desperate times call for...something something..."

"Desperate measures?" Sabretooth finishes as he appears with Psylocke and Blink in tow. Creed savagely leaps into the midst of robot drones, tearing and slicing them up with his set of adamantium claws on his fingertips.

With Psylocke brandishing her katana and Blink baring two charged javelins, the two female X-Men leap into battle, picking off the drones that Sabretooth missed.

Suddenly, Blink sees something move. It was all around the large living room. She knew what it was. She hoped she'd never see it again. It was techno-organic "dung", as the Technarchs call it. It was Phalanx.

It was Harvest.

He laughs as he snags Clarice with a techno-organic rope, pulling her towards his face, as well as the other faces on his chest of the people he absorbed into himself. The other X-Men are too busy with drones, that seem to be coming in droves now.

<< We meet again, Designate: Ferguson, Clarice, >> Harvest says. << Or should I say Designate: Blink? >>

"I thought you were destroyed!" Blink shouts, teleporting herself from Harvest's grip. "After I was plucked from my pocket dimension, you were supposed to be eradicated."

Harvest smiles, << I was merely rendered partially inoperable, carbonite. I was waiting for the right time to strike back. After your little training session with Designate: Witness, I was able to follow you back here, to this reality. >>

"Well don't expect to--" Blink begins, but gets cut off by the loud sound of the roof collapsing.

More drones storm the mansion, causing the X-Men to work overtime.

Blink fails to see a techno-organic spike flying towards her and gets sliced in the back. "ARGH!!" she screams. Her eyes beam with energy. Harvest sends another spike at her, but this time, Blink simply causes the molecules of the spike to disperse.

<< ARGH! >> Harvest shrieks. << System failure. Loss of mass *tkt*. >>

Harvest morphs his left arm into a massive energy gun and charges it with energy, aiming it at Blink.

"Get away from her!!"

Before Blink can see who it was, Sabretooth savagely leaps at Harvest, tearing off the techno-organic appendage.

Harvest morphs his head into a massive version of it and chomps on Creed, flinging him out the window. He then extends his arm while at the same time morphing it into a sharp blade. Blink creates a portal in front of her, creating the exit portal directly behind Harvest. He ends up stabbing himself through the back.

Keeping the portals open, Blink jabs a javelin into Harvest's shoulder area and pushes him into the entrance portal, only when he is about to come out the exit portal, both portals are closed, severing the head and legs of Harvest. Before he can regenerate, Joseph comes in and delivers a massive EM blast to the techno-organic torso, causing the mass to shrivel up and appear to melt.

As the techno-organic material melts away, a spherical object remains. A strange little device that's counting down.

"Oh God...," Blink breathes. "A bomb!" Less than three seconds remain.

Without hesitating, Blink concentrates on her teammates and shoves them all through individual portals just as the estate explodes...

Amidst the fiery rubble, Witness watches from high atop a mountain. He smiles. "The lil' pup got 'em out alright...the question is...where will dey reappear?"

NEXT ISSUE: The Worthington Estate might have gone kablooey, but Blink saved X-Men Omega just in time! To quote Witness: where will they end up? Well, it's some place far away, but not all too unfamiliar...and the X-Men will have to face some familiar enemies as well. All this and a shock ending! Don't miss the milestone 25th issue of X-Men Omega!