ISSUE #28 MUSE Part 2 The Heist by David Ingram

An interstate highway in Kansas Peter Sosa fidgeted in his seat for what had to be close to the millionth time and utilized every once of will power not to ask the two men sitting in the front 'Are we there yet?' or perhaps to begin with, 'Where the hell are we going?'. It had been one week since the two men sitting up front, Jason Blackwood driving and Weapon X, sitting in the passenger's seat sans his advanced super suit, had saved Peter from both being thrown in jail for various computer related crimes and the Friends of Humanity. In the time following that, few words were exchanged between this odd trio of mutants. Blackwood simply stated that he had a mission he needed Peter for, and all comments directed towards Peter after that were largely orders that consisted of, in some form or another, 'Eat, Sleep, and Shit'. Weapon X was a little different, though as equally unsettling. Weapon X rarely said a word, never speaking unless spoken to, and even then the warrior avoided saying anything. And even then his calm, even manner towards others was disturbing. Peter had seen this guy kick serious ass almost as casually other men brush their teeth, and had heard more than a few rumors about him on line. Peter stared at the back of Weapon X's baldhead for several minutes, wondering what had happened to the young man to turn him into such a fighting machine. Sensing Peter staring at him, Weapon X craned his head around, an act as creepy and scary as the girl in Exorcist spinning her head 180 degrees to Peter, and stated, "Yes?" "Wha…what, me?" Peter stammered. "Staring. Why?" Weapon X asked evenly, "Uhhh…are we there yet?" Peter quickly stammered. "We're getting close, mien friend. Just a few more minutes more," Blackwood commented as he turned off at an off ramp. After several minutes and about five intersections later, Blackwood turned the car down into what looked like an average neighborhood out of 'Leave it to Beaver' complete with stupid kids running around in the street. "One of these houses is a Muse safe house, Sosa. Care to guess which one?" Blackwood asked. "Not a damn clue," Peter said. "Come on kid, use that brain and some direction," Blackwood stated. Hoping to both shut and impress him just a little, Peter looked around, taking in everything around him, from the street name to the placement of flowers, until finally he said, "The light green two story house at the end of the block." "That's a good guess, boyo. Correct, tae," Blackwood said in a smooth, natural Scottish accent as he slowed down and parked into of the house Peter pointed out, "How'd ye ken?" "We were driving north and I saw a window that had been broken on the north side and taped up. The tape formed an 'X'," Peter explained as he got out of the car, "so I guess this means I'm in, huh?" "Pretty much," Blackwood said with an almost unperceivable smile as he took out a key and opened the trunk of the car and picked up his suitcase. "So now are you going to tell me how the Muse survived? I thought that Sentinel attack a while back finished you guys," Peter asked as he picked up his own suitcase, full of recently purchased clothes, since his old ones were now property of the F.B.I. Weapon X wordlessly picked up his suitcase and politely stood behind Blackwood and Peter, waiting for them to lead the way, "And on a related subject, what the hell is up with your accent? You've gone thru a good two dozen accents on the trip here, sometimes in mid sentence!" "What can I say kid? I've played so many people, from so many backgrounds, it's just second nature. As how the Muse is still around, I don't see no reason why not," Blackwood said, suddenly uncharacteristically talkative as they started to walk up to the 'safe house', "See, the Muse ain't no singular organization. There are dozens of branches everywhere, some connected, some with no connections to another cell, all with different heads. Xavier himself built it that way. He recruited one person he trusted completely, and had them build their own Muse cell. Renee Majcomb was kinda the boss of the Muse, but as much as I miss the woman, she isn't vital to the Muse's operation. Neither am I. Cut one of us down, and another'll get up and take our place." "Kinda like Hydra, huh?" Peter asked as Blackwood rapped lightly on the door. Blackwood glared daggers at the young man "Excuse you?" he said thru gritted teeth. "Uhh, the Hydra monster, man," Peter explained defensively, "you know, cut off one head, another takes its place?" Blackwood snorted, and didn't get a chance to reply before the door opened to reveal a African American woman easily in her late fifties, "Jason, it's about time you got your fool butt here. I've only been waiting for a week with Michael and that Fixx woman, and they've done near driven me up the wall!" "Sorry Heather, traffic stunk," Jason said as he gave the woman a friendly hug, "Where's Ben, that husband of yours?" "Oh, he's in the basement tinkering with Fixx and Michael to keep him company," she as she motioned for Peter, Blackwood and Weapon X to come in, "I see Brandon's with you, is this Peter Sosa?" she asked. "Umm, yeah, that's me, ma'am," Peter said as he extended a friendly hand, "Umm, what's your mutant power?" he asked, trying to make friendly conversation as he had been deprived of it for some time. "That woman can burn anything, including water," a voice chuckled from just outside the foyer where the three men were standing. Peter say this voice belonged to an African America man likely about as old Heather. "It's amazing to watch, really." "Oh, ahh, that sounds kinda cool," Peter said good-naturedly. Blackwood smacked the kid upside the head with his index and ring finger, hard. "It was a joke, mate," he said, "These are the Bryants, Peter, and they're regular folk." "We're hardly regular. Welcome to the club, kid," the old man stated, "My name's Ben, you're Peter Sosa, right?" "Yeah, how'd you know that?" Peter asked as they shook hands. "I'll let Jason handle that question," Ben said. He looked towards Blackwood. "Michael's already scoped everything out, and I've got something set up for Peter. Let's get down to the basement and get this over with, this ain't no boardin' house, after all." "So, when are you going to let me in on the joke?" Peter asked as they followed Ben down to his basement, "How come everyone knows my name, and why are we here in the first place?" "De Bryants know who you are 'cause dey volunteer computer programmers fo' da Friends of Humanity," Blackwood explained. "You're…joking, right?" asked Peter. "Naw, not one bit. It was because of them that I found out about the Friends' little ambush they had ready for ya," Blackwood explained. "See, the Bryants are scientists at heart, damn good ones too I might add. They know that mutant is just another word for human. I met them when I was with the bureau, and when I formed my own cell, asked them to join. Then, naturally, I asked them to join the Friends o' Humanity." "This stuff just gets weirder and weirder," Peter stated as they stepped down into the basement. It looked like a mad scientist's playground, far wider than the average basement and filled with all kinds of devises Peter doubted there were even names for. Waiting with their arms crossed was a raven haired woman in a light green sweater and blue jeans with 'M' tattooed across her right eye, and an Arabic man, six feet tall with broad shoulders and a powerful build wearing a sleeveless shirt and camouflage pants. "Jason! I'll be bamfed if we delay this mission one moment longer! Do you have any idea how important our task is!" the woman demanded. "Michael, good to see you again," Blackwood said, seemingly oblivious to the woman, "Have you checked out the site yet? I don't expect you to know it backwards and forwards, but a little recon is preferred." "What the hell has been keeping you? The Blob could have gotten here faster!" the woman declared "I have, Jason. If your new friend can do what you say he can, our mission should be a relatively easy one," Michael answered. "Jason! Are even paying attention to me?" the woman snapped. Blackwood finally turned towards the woman to address her. "Yes. Fixx, shut up, okay luv? I know how important this mission is, I organized it, remember? And I got here as fast as I could. We're not the bloody X-Men; we got a tight budget and more than ever have to stay off the radar. Understand?" he demanded, "Christ, why couldn't Moira have taken that stick out from up your ass while you were recovering on Muir?" Fixx was still angry, but she managed to keep it to herself. "Good. Peter, these two sacks of flesh are Fixx and Michael Howlett," Blackwood said, "They'll be our partners on tonight's mission." "Mission? Oh man…" Peter whined. "Okay folks, gather 'round and listen up," Blackwood ordered. Ben handed Blackwood a small devise that looked very much like a palm pilot, "This briefing is largely for our new guy here, but the rest of you could probably use a refresher." "I doubt I'll ever need to be reminded of why we need to do this mission," Fixx murmured. Blackwood activated the devise in his hand, and a three dimensional image of the globe emerged, covered with little blue dots with differing frequency on various continents, "This ladies and gentlemen, is the world on mutants. What you're looking at is an old image of the world via the eyes of the mutant detected devise Cerebro. Cerebro finds mutants by detected the unique brainwaves produced by all mutants all over the world." Peter, despite himself, found himself staring at Michael. He couldn't put his finger on it, but something about Michael felt odd to Peter. Like there was something about Michael that he should recognize, despite the fact that they'd never met before. "Basically, it's a mutant tracker. However, recently, it's become all to easy to track mutants via thru unique brainwaves," Blackwood pressed another button on the 'palm pilot', and the globe was replaced with the image of two very different faces. One man had white hair and a goatee with slightly pink skin while the other face was that of a golden bald man, with circuits crisscrossing his face, "These two bastards are known as Bastion and Harvest. Using decommissioned Sentinels and long range mutant tracking devises, they managed to kill some 100,000 mutants all over the planet, and more than a few mutant operatives of the Muse." Blackwood paused for a moment, allowing this information to sink in, "I think it goes without saying that we can't let this happen again." "But, how do we do that, exactly?" Peter finally asked. "I'll answer that, Jason," Ben said, "See, son, most long range mutant detection devises rely on detecting a mutant's unique brainwaves. They stand out like a sore thumb really. What we intend to do is create a masking devise." "But how are we going to get them to every single mutant out there?" Peter asked. Ben looked towards Jason, "He is kinda green, you sure you want him for this mission?" "Naw, but I'll take what I can get. With three telepaths watching his back, he should do okay," Blackwood replied. "And to answer your question, Peter, we're going to slightly alter the Earth's E.M field that it overlaps mutant signatures, in essence camouflaging mutant brainwaves. That should prevent long range scans for mutants and make sure something like that Sentinel massacre doesn't happen again." Peter blinked twice, "Umm, okay. Sounds like an ambitious plan. But what about those X guys or those who actually need to find mutants?" "We'll inform the appropriate allies when this is all over," Blackwood answered. Ben walked over to Peter and pushed a laptop into his hands. "Little something for your mission, son. It's designed to compliment your powers, son," Ben explained, "A lot of government computers are guarded against psychic energy, but this baby will let you just bypass all them like they weren't even there." "Are you sure?" Peter asked. "Positive. After all, I designed the shields that guard against mutant powers in the first place," Ben said with a smirk. "Okay, here's how we're going to do this," Blackwood stated, "Ben needs one last part for our masking devise, and we already know here to find it. Peter, Brandon, Michael and I will infiltrate the compound where it's being stored and bring it back here. Fixx, you'll cover us using Cerebro." "You mean that thing?" Fixx pointed towards the corner where a dilapidated collection of mechanical parts was sitting, with a makeshift helmet on top that looked vaguely like the X-Men's legendary Cerebro. If it was made out of old car parts and bail wire, that is. "I may just kill myself to save us all some time." "Man, the special effects budget here sucks," Peter said under his breath. "Ben assures me that that thing will work just fine." Blackwood stated evenly, "I ain't asking or expecting you to take on the Shadow King, Fixx, just watch our backs." "So, where is this part Ben needs?" asked Peter. "Fort Jackson," Blackwood replied, "The fort's used as a military storage facility for compounded hardware, about twenty miles from here." "Whoa, hold up!" Peter said, putting his hands out in protest, "You guys can't be serious! Breaking and entering into a government building a little beyond the pale, don't you think?" "I dinnae see ye whinnin' when we saved yuir bony arse from the F.B.I," Blackwood stated. "Forgive me if I see minor hacking as a little less harmful than breaking and entering! What if you're caught?" Peter demanded "We won't be, kid," Blackwood smiled, "Now shut the hell up. I've got some watering to do before we get out of here." "Trust Jason, Peter," Michael said in a warm friendly voice, finally speaking up, "I have worked for many dangerous men in my time, and he is easily the most dangerous." "Like that's supposed to cheer me up," Peter sighed and then mumbled under his breath, "Hey, humans, you can trust us mutants, it's not like we're secretly plotting to break laws and violate due process. Oh wait, we are. Kiss and make up?" "Do you think this is funny, whelp?" Fixx snapped, grabbing Peter's mind in a painful mental hold, "I was nearly killed because of the Sentinel's ability to find mutants! Thousands of others were killed! Now, you will fall in line or…" "Enough," Weapon X stated telepathically, reaching out with his own telepathy and severing Fixx's hold on Peter's mind. "Don't tell me when it's enough, Brandon. This overfed whelp thinks this is a joke!" Fixx snapped, "Don't get in my way when I'm teaching a lesson." While the two telepaths argued, Peter kept his head down and rubbed his sore temple. And not for the first time, cursed himself for getting himself into this mess. "Take a deep breath and calm down, Fixx," Blackwood ordered telepathically, "Peter's just making jokes because it lets him deal with the stress. Just like you've recently learned to lash out when stressed." Peter hadn't heard the telepathic conversation, but suspected that it was Weapon X who'd prevented him from getting brain fried. "Thanks," he said to Weapon X half-heartedly. Jason returned from the bathroom in moments, wearing a form fitting black leather uniform. He had another one tucked under his arm. "What's with the biker outfit?" Peter asked. "Stealth," Blackwood replied, and tossed the uniform in his hand to Peter, "Put it on, kid." "I'm not really into fetish wear," Peter remarked. "Me, neither. That thing's filled with a good dozen devices that will hide your butt from security systems," Blackwood pointed to the stairs, "Use the bathroom. Put it on, shut up and lets get the hell on with this mission." "Okay, okay," Peter sighed as he walked pass the makeshift team and up the stairs, "How can you tell when a mutant's serious? It's when they're wearing leather." Fort Jackson Entering Fort Jackson had been easy, for the most part. Weapon X and Blackwood's telepathy had alerted them well in advance of any possible witnesses, and Michael, whom Peter had gleaned was former military, had found already scoped the grounds out in advance. Now, secreted up against the shadowed wall of a hangar, the mission was about to get a little harder. "It's all up to you now, Peter," Blackwood said, using his telepathy to prevent anyone from spotting them. Both Weapon X and Michael, carrying some advanced piece of weaponry Peter felt he should recognize, stood guard while Blackwood worked with Peter. "I'm not sure about this, man. I mean, I never really examined my power beyond 'complete control of computers'," Peter explained "Well, then it's good news you don't have to today," Blackwood calmly stated, "Ben explained what the little laptop he gave you can do. Just pop it open, and do your magic." "Okay," Peter set the laptop up on an empty drum and popped it open, "nothing to it, I've done this a thousand times before," he concentrated on the laptop, and used it as a medium thru which to connect with every computer in the base. Once he had their attention, he asked them to do him a favor, and they complied, like always. But this time was slightly different, as he was returning to his body; Peter felt his conscious brush up against something. It was like other computers, yet at the same time, fundamentally different. Before he knew what was happening, Peter was, for the briefest of moments, aware of every single mutant on the planet. Suddenly he knew the mind of a Scots werewolf, the mind of a British telepath and her highflying lover, the mind of a secret agent with weapons as hot as the sun and a mind like a steel trap. For the briefest of moments, he knew almost every single mutant in the world. He then was returned to his body, a little shaky, the memory of his almost God like experience quickly fading and being summed up in one word, "Whoa." "Everything okay?" Blackwood asked as Peter shook his head to clear the fog. Not sure what to make of his experience or even how to describe it, Peter decided to keep what had happened to himself for the moment, "Umm, I'm not sure, ask M lady." "Fixx, you mean," Blackwood corrected. "Whatever." "Anything odd, Fixx?" Blackwood asked telepathically. "Not that I can sense. In fact, I'm having some trouble making almost anything out," Fixx replied from her seat in the make shift Cerebro at the Bryant's home. The make shift cerebro projected her conscious directly to the strike force, allowing her to watch their backs even more effectively. "Probably the base guarded against scans," Blackwood said, and then looked towards Peter, "You do like I asked?" "Yep," Peter motioned for Blackwood to look at the computer, "Check it out," Peter had co-opted the feed from a security camera. He focused the camera on a trashcan that placed in a rather unassuming hall. "These guys have tech I don't even have names for, which is actually good for us. Keep your eye on the trash can," Blackwood did as he was told, and Peter typed several quick commands into his laptop, and the trashcan disappeared, "Cool, huh? I created a filter program. Basically means they only see what we want them to see. I programmed us into it, thus we don't have to worry about a single camera while we're on the base." "Good work, kid. You're actually worth something when you pay attention." Blackwood smirked. "You really know how to make me feel appreciated," Peter said with a scowl. Blackwood ignored him, and mindful of the possibility of other security features, led his team inside the hangar who's shadow they were hiding in. After getting a quick telekinetic feel for the place, discovered a secret lift off to the side, just where his Intel said it would be. "Into the depths once more it seems, Jason," Michael commented as the four men stepped onto the ramp. "I was thinking more along the lines of 'Abandon all hope ye who enter here'," Blackwood replied, "But same diff." "Yes, that makes me feel so much more comfortable and relaxed," Peter mumbled as the lift lowered, "Is anyone down here, Jason?" "Not that me or Weapon X can sense, Peter, though we need to keep an eye out anyway." Answered Peter, "There's no real night shift, though let's get a move on anyways." Blackwood jumped off the platform a few seconds before it reached the floor below and started sprinting down the large metal corridor. Weapon X and Michael followed suit, easily keeping pace. Peter Sosa, however, was another matter. "*Huff…Wait up! Guys, wait up! *Huff*" He panted as he fell farther and farther behind. Trying desperately to keep pace, Peter didn't see the janitor walk out a side door until he smashed into him full tilt. They both went tumbling to the ground, but Peter was up almost a second later, fearfully realizing their cover had been blown to kingdom come. "Shit, I gotta stop drinking so much before I clock in!" The janitor said as he picked himself up, completely oblivious to the mutant frozen still standing directly in front of him. The janitor picked up his dropped glasses, and thankful that none of his supplies had been spilled, went on his way. "Peter! What on earth is taking you so long!" Fixx demanded telepathically, "the others are already at the vault and need your skills to open it so they can get the hardware that Ben needs!" "Fixx, something weird just happened," Peter replied, "I think that…" "What you think is unimportant. So far, no alarm has been raised. Now get off your lazy ass and finish this mission!" She snapped. Peter decided to comply before Fixx decided to bring on the pain. Thankfully, they weren't to far away, just about twenty feet down the hall. The three men were standing in front of a large vault door that looked like it was supposed to be protecting large sums of money rather than secret military technology. "About time you got here, mon. Use dat laptop Ben gave you and let's get dis over wit'," Blackwood ordered, pointing towards the vault's keypad. Peter opened a small compartment in the front of his laptop and pulled out what otherwise looked like a regular plug, except that it had no prongs. He attached it to the keypad and a silver liquid seemed to pore out of the plug and into the keypad. The silver liquid was nanobots, microscopic machines that allowed Peter to directly connect his computer to any other computer with no trouble. With little more than a mental nudge, Peter opened the vault door. "Open…" "Shut up, Peter," Blackwood snapped, "I hate clichés. Brandon, you and Peter take point. According to the records Ben obtained, the part should be around here somewhere. Fixx'll psi-link us with Ben in a sec so we know exactly what we're looking for." "Please excuse me, Jason, but is that supposed to look like that?" Michael asked, pointing to the now lit interior. According to their briefing, the inside of the vault should resemble that of a well-kept and perfectly organized storage room, where there wouldn't be a single item misplaced. What they actually saw was completely different. There were no boxes and crates whatsoever, rather the entire room looked like a techno jungle with wire vines hanging from the ceiling and stumps of technology all around. "No…it's not," Blackwood said, his voiced guarded, "I think we need to find what we're looking for, and scram. Brandon and Peter first." "Now I know how those red shirts on Star Trek feel," Peter mumbled as they walked into the vault. He wasn't afraid, not one bit. That was because he was long past fear and was heading straight into apathy. Weapon X, as always, said nothing as they entered the techno vault, then, without warning, his head snapped to the side and his eyes locked on Peter. "What's…" Peter never got a chance to finish his sentence, Weapon X moved so fast. Pivoting on one leg while raising the other up and back, Weapon X snapped his leg out and hit Peter squarely in the chest. The blow had more force than speed to it, and so it knocked Peter off his feet and several feet away. No sooner had Weapon X coiled his foot back after striking Peter had the area been blasted with ice and fire. Peter would later realize that Weapon X had saved his life by acting so quickly. Weapon X, knowing Peter was safe, examined the situation before him. Six beings (his instincts told him they were neither mutants nor humans) had suddenly appeared before him. A young woman, controlling both fire and ice and wearing a purple suit and what looked like a clown mask immediately attacked Peter. Men in black who looked like the X-Men's Havok and Colossus and on her right was woman who looked like the shape shifter Mystique only with wings and a large blond man flanked her on her left. Finally, floating above this team of faux X-Men was a red haired man wearing a uniform similar to that of the phoenix. "Surrender, intruders," The Grey King ordered, "or face the wraith of the X-Men!" Next: Blackwood, Michael, and Weapon X vs. the New X-Men!