In another 70-100 years, the man known as Bishop will be a commander in the XSE (Xavier Security Enforcers). His two partners included Malcolm, a mutant who had a sixth sense that allowed him distinguish between mutants and humans. He wore a harness, which came equipped with dual guns strapped to his arms. The other was Randall, who was immune to radiation. He carried a large rifle with him. When Bishop came back to the past with them in order to recapture criminals freed by the mutant Fitzroy, he unfortunately witnessed their deaths.

You can imagine his surprise to be seeing them standing before him.

"It's been a long time, Bishop..." Malcolm said.

"The last I recall, we were killed because of you," Randall stated.

"You both stood between me and the gunfire..." Bishop said. "There was nothing I c--"

"Save it, Bishop," Randall said, lifting up his rifle. "These guns are loaded with projectile bullets. Your powers are useless against them."

"Where could he have gone?" Forge asked, looking around Bishop's room.

"I'm scanning the area around the estate right now..." Psylocke replied. "There's.... some sort of interference... I can't get a lock on him..."

"Assemble the rest of the team downstairs, then," Forge ordered. "I'm worried that Bishop might not be in the best mental state right now."

"Are ya'll sure about this?" Rogue asked.

"I admit I don't know that much about Bishop, but are you sure he's insane?" Clarice asked.

"We're not really sure what to think right now," Forge said. "Whatever the case, Bishop is gone, and we have to find him."

"I could scout around the perimeter," Pietro noted.

"No," Shard said. "I told Bishop that his nightmares were nothing. If I'd have done something earlier, I would've been able to help him..."

"You couldn't have known what would've happened," Betsy retorted.

"I'll go find him," Shard stated. "You guys just stay here."

Shard stood up from her seat and ran through the wall, becoming intangible. Forge gave her a suspicious eye as she did so.

"This isn't real..." Bishop said. "Some sort of--ARGH!!!!"

Even if that were true, the leader of the X-Men couldn't deny the fact that the pain he felt as the bullets from their weapons passed through his body was very much real.

"Think what you want, 'sir,'" Malcolm said, lifting up his weapons. "Think of us as delusions, think of us as reality, it makes no difference to us. All that matters is that the last thing you see before you die is our faces."

"I know yer there, Forge," Victor Creed stated. "I can smell ya. Yer nervous, unsure."

"Enough Creed," Forge said, deactivating the security grid on Sabretooth's cell. "I don't care what you have to say, but right now, I need your senses to help me track down Bishop."

"An' if I refuse...?"

"I never said anything about a choice."

Before Malcolm could unleash his bullets on Bishop, the two were separated by an energy blast.

"That's enough, Malcolm!!" Shard exclaimed as she landed between them.

"Shard..." Bishop mumbled. "Thank god...."

"You've got this the wrong way, Bishop," Shard stated, turning to face him. She held a rifle in her hand and cocked it. "True, I saved your life, only because I wanted to have the joy of killing you."

"Shard?!" Bishop asked. "I don't understand... why?"

"Stop asking why," Shard replied. "Call it whatever you want, but we're here to take you down. You were a commander, you should've laid your life on the line for your men."

"I TRIED!!!" Bishop exclaimed. "Blast it, I faced down all of them, faced down the X-Men, to try and avenge Malcolm and Randall's deaths!!!"

"Save it," Randall said. "We don't give a damn about the detai--URGH!!!"

"Nice gun, kid," Sabretooth said as his claws tore through Randall's back. "No substitute for my claws, though."

"Creed....?"

Bishop watched as he saw Sabretooth dodge around the bullets with ease, taking out their guns immediately. Even with the gauntlets on which prevented him from attacking any of the X-Men, his adamantium claws were still available to him, and allowed him to easily tear through the weapons.

"He's not alone," Forge said, holding some sort of device. When he activated it, Shard, Malcolm, and Randall cried out in pain.

"This isn't over!!" Shard exclaimed. "We'll be back, Bishop!!"

The three dead XSE agents ran off, turning intangible as to avoid being pursued.

"How are you feeling, Bishop?" Forge asked.

"As well as can be expected," Bishop replied. "I still don't understand what happened. How are Malcolm and Randall alive? And why did Shard try to kill me?"

"Malcolm and Randall exist in much the same way Shard does," Forge stated. "As photon-based lifeforms. As for Shard, I thought her recent behavior seemed a bit odd. She seemed reluctant to allow Quicksilver to search for you, despite the fact that he could do it much faster. There was something interfering with Psylocke's ability to locate you telepathically, and I assume Shard intended that. However, she didn't think that I would use Creed to find you, and that's what caused her downfall."

"The question is still why," Pietro repeated. "Why would Shard betray Bishop?"

"It could be some sort of malfunction," Forge replied. "Remember that she exists as a hologram. If someone figured out how to control her, then they could have her do anything they wanted. I can't be sure, but I assume whoever's responsible for Shard's betrayal is also responsible for the re-creation of Malcolm and Randall."

"It would explain why Malcolm and Randall didn't seem like who they really were," Bishop said. "Shard's consciousness was downloaded into a holographic projector. Obviously, theirs' weren't. We need to find out who's responsible for doing this to my sister. And then, we need to take them out."

NEXT ISSUE: Ryan Jent, the man behind Gambit, Mutant X, and Gargoyles takes over X-Men Omega for awhile, giving Dino a much-needed break.

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