Osaka, Japan, 1:40 AM

Quicksilver looks on in horror as Rogue lies unconscious on the ground after getting sliced in the stomach by the colossal Vargas. His eyes turn from fear to rage. His remaining teammates: Archangel, Blink, Pyro, and Sabretooth are behind him, awaiting their orders. Blink has two javelins charged up, while glancing to her side to check if Joseph was all right.

"He's mine," Quicksilver growls.

Vargas sticks his sword into the street, leaning on it. He sighs, making a gesture that motions for Pietro to "bring it".

Quicksilver charges Vargas in a flash, only Vargas surprisingly dodges out of the way, increasing his momentum. Pietro has little time to react or to stop his amazing speed as he skids off the street, past the docks, and into the ocean.

The other X-Men look on in amazement. No one made a fool of Quicksilver in a long time. Archangel takes the skies, firing multiple photo-feathers at Vargas. The large man easily dodges them all, blocking some with his sword skills. Using uncanny agility, Vargas scales the side of a building and performs an impossible roundhouse kick to Warren's jaw, sending him crashing into the side of the next building across the street. Archangel remains sprawled out on the building until the G-force finally wears off and sends him plummeting to the ground.

Vargas takes the initiative and leaps for Blink, who teleports out of the way of his sword. She appears behind him and slashes his back with one of her javelins. Rearing in pain, Vargas retaliates with a swift sword swipe, which Blink has to arch her back and literally sit on her heels to avoid. Blink twirls her legs to get herself back upright and into the fight. Blink stands with her javelins in a defensive position. Vargas takes a breathtaking swipe, slicing off the sharp tips of the javelins.

"What the--?" Blink questions right before Vargas grabs her hair, kneeing her in the face. The stunned Blink simply falls limp on the pavement.

Sabretooth growls. "Think you could...release these?" he asks Pyro, referring to his restraints.

Pyro generates a fireball in each hand, "Maybe we should--"

"RRAAAGGGHHH!!!!!" Sabretooth howls as he charges into battle with Vargas.

"--use teamwork? Bollocks."

Sabretooth savagely drives his fists into Vargas. Vargas slashes him with his sword, but Sabretooth shrugs it off. Blood trickles from his wounds, but Sabretooth just smiles. "You know what they say about a man with big weapons?"

"What?" Vargas asks.

"They need to compensate for small genitals."

Vargas grits his teeth, taking a swipe at Victor's throat since his guard was down. At first, the incision doesn't appear to have done anything, but the moment he tries to talk, blood spews from the wound. Making a sickening gurgling sound, Sabretooth collapses to the ground, trying to keep as much blood and tissue inside his throat as possible.

Vargas peers out of the corner of his eye and sees a giant stream of fire coming his way. He dodges out of the way, but the flame follows him, burning his wounds sustained from Blink. He shouts in pain, dropping his sword. Pyro adjusts his sunglasses, smirking.

"S'matter, mate? Baby touch the stove?" Pyro mocks.

Out of nowhere, Vargas throws his sword like an ax at Pyro. "Shit!" he shouts, blasting it with a burst of heat. He fails to see Vargas come in and closeline him. Pyro hits his head on the asphalt. "Well, that didn't hurt to much...damn it...ow."

Quicksilver darts from behind, completely dry and begins punching Vargas from all angles at superspeed. Pietro crosses his arms, raising a cocky eyebrow as he watches Vargas heave for breath. Suddenly, Pietro feels a sharp grip on his ankle as Vargas throws him into the side of a dumpster, creating a man-sized dent.

Vargas grabs him by the hair, "Don't mess with the Jigoku." He throws him to the ground. "Anyone else?"

Steam emanates from the manholes in the street and the nearby harbor. From the shadows behind some crates, a voice mutters, "Why yes."

Vargas grabs his sword and twirls around to see a 5' 11" woman with a strange red mark on her face glowing. It was Psylocke.

The large swordsman swallows, "You...?"

"Back off," she says, remaining completely still.

Vargas snarls, "I was ordered to take the X-Men out...I won't back down."

Psylocke smiles, "Have it your way." Betsy holds out her hand, causing the shadows to form an eerie globule mass, forming into a black sword that glows with a faint violet color. Psylocke flips above Vargas, taking a swipe with her sword which he blocks.

The two clash blades some more. Psylocke forms another blade from the shadows. She smiles devilishly as the Mark of the Dawn glows like an LED on a stop light. With inhuman speed, Psylocke twirls her swords and proceeds to duel with Vargas. The large man is able to counter most of the blows, but he suddenly slips up and finds himself short a sword. In his moment of shock, Psylocke delivers a massive left hook, sending Vargas tumbling backwards with a new bloody lip to sport.

"I...will not be defeated--"

Psylocke ignores the man's banter and thrusts her punches and kicks through the shadows, hitting Vargas from all directions at once.

"--by a woman...ugh..."

Psylocke smiles at the sound of the large mass hitting the street. "Return to your master and tell him the X-Men aren't as pathetic as you. We won't give up that easily."

Vargas wipes the blood from his mouth and reluctantly runs off. Quicksilver recovers and sees the incident. He zips to Psylocke's side. "Why did you let him get away? That thing is dangerous; he almost killed all of us! And just where in the hell were you? You ran off without telling anybody!"

Psylocke arrogantly rolls her eyes, "Don't be so dramatic, Pietro. I was investigating the Jigoku using connections that belonged to Kwannon."*

<(* Kwannon was the Asian assassin whose body was switched with Psylocke's original body. Kwannon's mind was transferred into Psylocke's body and vice versa. Kwannon used the handle, Revanche, while in Betsy's body, but eventually succumbed to the Legacy Virus -- Brad)

Quicksilver folds his arms as the other X-Men slowly gather behind him. Archangel rubs his head, but his flinch of pain is lessened with the relief that Betsy was all right. "Let's hear it," Quicksilver commands.

"Well," Psylocke begins, "it seems the new leader of the Jigoku is a man named Marcus Tsung. Unlike Nyorin, Tsung made the Jigoku a major...and relatively well-known threat. Historically, the Jigoku were very low key...never like this."

"But they're definitely gettin' away with it," Rogue observes. She grips her abdomen. "Man, if Ah was flyin' any faster and that oaf swung that sword any harder, Ah'd need stitches right about now."

"You all right, Joe?" Blink asks the long, silver-haired mutant.

Joseph replies with a detesting groan. He keeps pressing against his temple, expecting to find blood on his fingers.

"Yer not bleedin', Magnet-boy," Sabretooth grumbles. "Quit yer worryin'."

Pyro defends Joseph, "Leave 'im alone. We don't fix up like you do, mate."

"Quiet down," Quicksilver says, as if he was talking to a class of first-graders. "Continue, Psylocke."

"It seems this Tsung character is a vicious killer," Psylocke begins.

"I like him already," Sabretooth snickers.

"He holds no qualms about destroying people's lives. All he cares about is the money and the ego-trip."

"This shouldn't be too hard, just find him and beat the tar out of him," Archangel says as he causes his fingertips to form into long, sharp talons.

"It's not that simple, luv. Marcus Tsung has the mutant gene for murder. He can fire virtual bullets that can pass through anything. They're unstoppable," Psylocke explains.

"I'll bet they can't go through adamantium," Sabretooth boasts. Quicksilver heard the comment, but silently agrees with it.

"Will a magnetic shield stop these...bullets?" Joseph asks.

"I'm not positive, Joseph," Psylocke says. "It's probably best that we avoid getting to up close and personal with Tsung."

"What about Mr. Creed?" Blink suggests. "Adamantium is unbreakable and he has a healing factor...these bullets can't do that much harm to him."

"What are you suggesting?" Quicksilver asks.

"Yeah, what are you suggesting?" Sabretooth reiterates.

Blink blushes with the sudden attention of everyone. "Um...have Mr. Creed take on Tsung?"

"Well conceived, but we want Tsung alive," Quicksilver says, glaring at Victor.

"Thanks, Mr. Sensitive. Way to be," Sabretooth mutters.

"Do we?" Psylocke asks, "If this cancer isn't eradicated, it will spread throughout Japan. I can't allow that to happen...for Kwannon's honor." She sighs, "I know Tsung's private residence."

"How'd you find that out?" Quicksilver jumps.

"Um...telepathy?" Betsy says. "But anyway, he spends most of his time there. If we go now, we can probably catch him."

Quicksilver rubs his chin in deep thought.

Tsung's Penthouse...

Surrounded by five Asian women in bikinis, Marcus Tsung sits in his Jacuzzi throne, eating grapes from his concubine slave woman. The women laugh as if they are aroused by every move Tsung makes.

Vargas walks in with a sullen look on his face. He drops his sword on the floor. Tsung gets out of the hot tub. The women help to dry him off and get him into some casual clothes. Seductively, the women start "playing" in the hot tub.

"Well?" he asks.

Vargas is slow to answer. "I...was defeated."

"WHAT!?" Tsung shouts, but he isn't angry. He begins to laugh. "You were defeated by the X-Men? Hah! Are you serious? You are off your game, friend."

Vargas isn't showing any bit of emotion. "The one they call Psylocke defeated me. She formed swords from the shadows themselves. She overwhelmed me."

"Her...?" Tsung mutters, horrified. He growls in a rage, holding out his fist and causing exit wounds to form from the skulls of the five women in the Jacuzzi. Tsung turns his fist towards Vargas, who is on his knees, begging.

"Don't! Please! I was able to dispose of the other X-Men quite easily," Vargas pleads.

Tsung snarls, "Don't you know what this means with her here? It will ruin everything I've worked so hard for...nothing must interfere with the Jigoku. My Jigoku..."

Vargas looks at the bubbling water of the hot tub gurgling with blood and brain tissue and five corpses floating in it. "If you get every Jigoku agent there is--"

"It won't be enough, you idiot! I should kill you where you stand," Tsung says with disdain.

"She attacked me with magicks, fool!" Vargas spits, grabbing his sword. "She wasn't fighting fair! If you want her dead, do the job your fucking self! This is NOT my fault, Tsung!"

"Don't talk to me in that tone, Spaniard. The Jigoku trained you, turned you into a warrior, turned you into something more than a Gypsy circus freak!" Tsung shouts.

Vargas growls, "All right, I owe the Jigoku everything, but that does not give you the right to speak of my heritage in that manner!" Vargas inches his sword towards Tsung.

Tsung smiles, almost appalled. "What do you think you're doing? I can kill you in the blink of an eye. A bullet right through the brain stem!"

I'd like to see you try... Vargas thinks.

"I don't know why this is so big o' deal," Sabretooth says. "Let's off this mother and go home."

"The Omega team doesn't kill. We're more prolific than the other teams, so we need a clean record. We can't risk tainting that, Betsy," Quicksilver says.

Blink casually reminds, "I've got the exit portal located at Tsung's place. I can still open the transit from here to there if need be."

"This isn't the Avengers anymore, Pietro!" Psylocke screams. "We need to start being proactive. Really proactive."

"We already are proactive, remembah?" Rogue asks.

"Yes, I certainly remember. We ended up fighting the wrong enemy and almost killed Blink in the process!"* Psylocke growls. "We've never lived up to our proactive pledge until now..."

( *Back in #28 - Dino )

"It would get us some well-deserved recognition and admiration...not to mention accommodation," Archangel says. "We owe it to Charles...and the entire mutant population. We need to give the world a positive rolemodel for mutants."

"You say mutants like it means pop stars," Pyro jokes. "Who was that one alcoholic Backstreet Boy?"

Joseph rubs the large bump on his temple, "Warren's right. We need to show the world we're not all Magnetos or Apocalypses."

Quicksilver sighs, "All right. But we're not going to kill anyone, got it?"

"What if they provoke it and there's no other choice?" Sabretooth asks with a sinister grin.

"Just try to stay in control," Quicksilver says. "Okay, Blink. Let's go."

Blink nods as her eyes flash white light and the space in front of them seems to tear into a circular darkened hole. The X-Men dive through with Blink following last to ensure the portal closes...

"...I'm not done talking to you!" Tsung flames at Vargas. "Don't back away from me, coward..."

Vargas silently points to the patio window, where a portal has just opened. Tsung turns around just as Sabretooth crashes through the window, tackling Tsung to the ground. The rest of the X-Men follow.

Quicksilver points to Vargas, "I believe an ass-kicking is in order."

The other X-Men, balling their fists, quietly smirk.

Pyro flicks his lighter to light a cig. He exhales smoke, "Should I call the fire department? Yes? No?"

"No," Psylocke says. "Let the bastards burn."

NEXT ISSUE: The conclusion to "Hankou" as the X-Men go up against Vargas and Marcus Tsung!