Vision Comics presents X-Men in:
OMENS
Beast looked at the man lying on the bed beside him. His hair was
long, reaching past his shoulders. It had the weirdest color of white,
making the bearer stand out in a crowd. His face was young. If people
would look at him they would say he was no more than twenty five. Yet,
those who remembered the events of the last ten years, would recognize in
the man, even though he appeared younger, one of their greatest enemies.
One who came to calling himself...Magneto. Few months ago people would be
fearing this man, for obvious reasons. But now, as Magneto has been de
aged, his mind wiped clean, bearing the name of Joseph, he was a totally
different person. He has sworn to protect those who he wanted to kill just
few years ago. That was until Joseph's memory started to come back. He
started to act strange and behave like the old Magneto at times. This was
one of them. Just few hours ago, Joseph attacked two of his teammates,
Rogue and Gambit nearly killing them both. If it wasn't for the
interference of X-Men, they would be dead. Now just few hours later,
Joseph was still unconscious lying in Beast's lab.
< What is happening lately ?> thought the X-Man known as Beast. < We
have known of hard times, but I never thought it would be so bad. Just few
hours ago one of us tried to kill Gambit and Rogue. All through I think
it's because of Joseph's amnesia, but still the actions were bad. And then
? Val gets murdered, by God knows who. What is going on... ?>
"Uhhh, what happened ?" Joseph's voice got Hank back to reality.
"Joseph, you're awake !"
"Yeah I suppose I am. What happened ?"
"You mean you don't remember the fight ?"
"I remember fighting with, Gambit... Oh God I remember it all now.
How is he ? Have I done any hurt to him. What about Rogue ?"
"They are both fine, nothing major. The person I'm concerned with the
most now, is you." Said Hank looking at Joseph, who was still trying to
remember what exactly happened.
"Any explanation to my actions ?"
"Yes. I think it's because of your amnesia."
"Could you explain more Hank ?"
"Of course. I think that your memories are coming back and as the
result of that your personality is changing. So in some moments you are
acting like the old yourself. You see both of what you did to Gambit and
Rogue, you have done to other people before, when you were Magneto."
"Oh great. So I'm going crazy."
"Not crazy. Just that your mind is playing tricks on you. Next time
it happens you must make sure it doesn't control your actions. Do you
understand ?"
"Yeah I suppose I do. So what do I do now Hank ?"
"I suggest you get some rest and don't train at the Danger Room for at
least a week. Come and see me if you feel something happening to you."
"Okay. Thanx Hank." With these words he walked out of the lab as
quickly as he could.
< He's ashamed,> thought Hank. < All this time he's been hoping that he
is going to be a better man and now he's turning out not to be. I feel
sorry for him. But also I'm afraid, that this may happen again. And then
it might be more than just cracked rib.>
^A week later^
Senator Kelly looked in the mirror. Not for the first time he didn't
recognize the man he saw.
"Yes, yes I was leaving already." said Kelly. He checked his suit in
the mirror and left the bathroom. He walked up the stage, lights were
shining everywhere. As he walked up to the stand he looked around. The
hall was filled with reporters, with notepads in their hands, photographers
sitting next to them flashing their cameras to get a picture of him. There
was about ten television cameras pinpointed on him. Then he spoke.
"I have been sent here by the Government of US of A as the Senator in
charge of mutant affairs. One week ago three of our agents have been
brutally murdered. It is highly suspected that the terrorist was a mutant.
That message shook the White House. The president has finally decided to
do something about the mutant threat that is terrorizing our country. We
will not allow our citizens to be terrorized by mutants. It has come to
far ! A innocent citizen can't feel safe in our country. This is why the
Government has already taken action against mutants. And this time all of
the mutants will be kept in custody until we can prove their innocence and
that they aren't a threat. From now on there shall be no mutant threat."
A woman raised from her seat and looking at Kelly asked a question.
"Senator, Trish Tilby from CBNC, what exact steps has the USA
government taken against mutants ?"
"That remains a secret for the time being. But not for long. Within
the next few weeks citizens of USA will see our line of defense against the
mutant threat."
Trish sat down unsatisfied. < Not exactly what I wanted to know.>
Senator Kelly looked around the room. "Any more questions ?"
Other reporters got up and started to ask questions. Trish got up and
left.
Bastion leaned back in his chair. He was looking at the TV with
anger. So what that the Government had finally legalized Operation Zero
Tolerance ? So what that Prime Sentinel program was well under way. So
what that he had Charles Xavier in his custody ? A week ago someone killed
Valerine Cooper and other two agents. When Bastion found out that those
three were the only people who knew something about Xavier he was furious.
On top of that, all of the files on Charles Xavier had been destroyed. He
had Xavier but he didn't have a clue who he was and why he was arrested.
And Operation Zero Tolerance was stuck. X-Men have seemed to disappear and
no one has seen them for months. All he could do was wait. And he didn't
have much time to do that. He got up and went out of the room. As he
walked down the halls of Hulkbuster Base he stopped by Xavier's cell.
While he was opening the door, he saw Xavier sitting on his wheelchair
watching TV, which has been put in for Bastion's request. He thought if he
knew what Xavier was watching he would find out something about him. But
Xavier just watched the news and on no topic in particular. Just as if he
knew that Bastion was watching him. Xavier glanced up at him. "Have you
come here to spread your words of destruction, Bastion ?" he asked.
"Ah, Charles as usual you are cold and unwilling to cooperate. Why is
that ?"
"I will not help you in killing innocent people Bastion. No matter if
they are Homo Sapiens or Homo Sapiens superior."
"We'll see about that Xavier. I will find out your little secret and
then you won't be so sure of yourself." Bastion walked out of the room.
He stormed out of the room with fury. While walking around the corner, he
stopped and came into a different room. It was all filled with equipment,
from computers, through, operating tables, to giant water tanks with
figures of people in them. A man dressed all in white, with a beard and
gray hair glanced up at Bastion.
"Good Morning Sir."
"How is the experiment going Dr. Harper ?"
"Actually, Sir it's already finished. Waiting to be seen by you."
"Then show it to me doctor." Harper pushed a big, green button. A
door on the far left wall opened and a man walked out. He was about 6 feet
tall, with brown hair that reached to his shoulders, his face full of
piercing, tattoos on his hands. His naked body exposed more tattoos on his
chest and legs. "Impressive Dr. Harper."
"That's not all Sir. He looks, he talks, he behaves like a normal
human. In fact, he is a normal human. He doesn't recall anything being
done to him. This is what happens when his program is turned on." Harper
pushed few keys and the man began to change. His body was enlarged and
turned into a costume, similar to the one Bastion was wearing. His eyes
started to glow red. Harper pressed few more keys and the man started to
fight a hologram of a solider that appeared in front of him. In few
seconds the fight was over. The man's hands lighted up and he blew the
hologram apart.
"Very impressive Dr. Harper. Very impressive indeed. Are we ready to
start massive production yet ?"
"Yes Sir. We're awaiting your order."
"Then let the production of Prime Sentinels begin. I want 2000 units
by end of the week Dr. Harper. Is that understood ?"
"Yes Sir. That will be done."
"I'll be back here tomorrow morning. And I want to see results."
"Yes Sir. Of course."
Angel looked down at the scene at the Danger Room below him. Cyclops,
Jean, Storm, Iceman, Beast and Wolverine have gone out on Valerine's
funeral. The rest: himself, Bishop, Psylocke, Cannonball and Joseph were
in the Danger Room training. Angel glanced at the TV in front of him.
Quickly, he sat up and grabbed the microphone.
"Guys, you better come here and see this." In few minutes everyone
was up in the Control Room. They just got there to hear Senator Kelly's
last words.
"..This is why the Government has already taken action against
mutants. And this time all of the mutants will be kept in custody until we
can prove their innocence and that they aren't a threat. From now on there
shall be no mutant threat..."
Angel looked at them. "Kelly has just started a war against mutants."
"Great." said Bishop. "Last thing we need." Suddenly the screen
changed.
[ CNN SPECIAL REPORT ]
"Now what ?" complained Angel.
"This is Vanessa Calksby reporting live from the Central Park in NY
where a mysterious villain has appeared out of nowhere and is creating
terror amongst the people." Then the screen showed the villain. His face
showed a evil grin. He had a gun instead of his left hand. His massive
body was covered in some sort of a yellow glass amour.
"We're out of here." said Angel.
"Wait Warren. Who is this guy ?" asked Sam. Just then the TV
reporter appeared again and started talking.
"This mysterious person is calling himself..."
"Holocaust."
Everyone looked at Joseph who said those words in the same time as the
reporter.
"You know this person, Joseph ?" asked Betsy.
"Yes... I just remembered now. He is the person who destroyed
Avalon."
"Great. So he is powerful enough to destroy a space base. And there
is five of us against him. Sounds fair to me." Joked Sam.
"We'll measure our chances on the way there. And let's make it seven
of us. Where is Gambit and Rogue ?" asked Warren.
"No one has seen them since the morning." answered Bishop.
"Dam. Where are they when we need them ? I guess we have to go
without them. Everyone to the Blackbird. NOW !" They all started to move.
In few minutes the plane was on it's way to NY.
Scott looked at the tombstone in front of him.
[Valerine Cooper. 1967-1997. She died on duty]
He looked around. Most of the X-Men were already sitting in the car.
Only Hank was waiting for him few meters away. Then from behind a tree
came a person. He was wearing a long, black trench coat. He had short,
blonde hair. He appeared to be around 40 years of age. But Scott didn't
fall for the illusion. He knew exactly who the person was. As the man
walked up to him, Scott said. "Hi Forge."
Suddenly the person changed and before Scott was standing a tall man
his skin in a bright shade of red, with short black hair. "Good Morning
Scott." He said in a dull voice.
"Look Forge, I'm really sorry for what happened to Val. I know that
you two worked for a long time together."
"We did indeed Scott. That was until we went Underground."
"Yes, well you did what you thought was right. You can't blame
yourself for that."
"I can just hope I did the right thing."
"Look Forge we'll catch this mad person whoever they are..." Scott
didn't finish because Forge interrupted him.
"Listen Scott. This is X-Factor business. I don't want X-Men to come
into this. We'll find him if it's the last thing we do. And I don't want
X-Men's help. Got it ?" A portal appeared and Forge stepped back into it.
He looked at Scott. "And don't try to stop us." Then he was gone.
Cannonball looked out the window of the Blackbird. The battle scene
was underneath them. He could see the villain tearing terror in the middle
of the park. It didn't look good. Trees were flying in the air and
Holocaust, as he called himself was standing on the middle of it all,
laughing. "Guys, It doesn't look easy." Sam said while turning around.
Bishop looked up at him, while loading his gun. He was perfectly
ready for battle. "It's never easy Sam. But we're going to do it. We
have to."
"Okay, we're down in 10 seconds. Be prepared to leave." Said Angel.
They all got ready. The door dropped open. Quickly, they got into
combat positions. "I don't want anyone to work on their own. We take this
guy down together." said Angel.
Everyone examined Holocaust, while he turned to look at them.
"X-Men !" he shouted.
"Uh huh he knows who we are. That's never a good sign." sad Sam. No
one paid attention to him.
"I'm here kill you."
"Well nice try Holocaust but you're the one that's going down."
"Forget it kid."
"We'll see about that big guy."
With these words Sam activated his powers and dispersed towards
Holocaust. His arms extended in front of him his hands clenched into
fists. Holocaust looked at him and laughed. Meanwhile, Bishop aimed his
gun at Holocaust, Psylocke started to run towards him, Joseph using his
powers flew right after Cannonball and so did Angel. But Sam was the first
to reach the villain. Believing his blasting field would protect him he
was going at full speed. He was sure Holocaust would be blown away. But
when Cannonball slammed his fists into Holocaust he didn't even move.
Instead, Sam bounced off Holocaust and went flying upwards. He landed on
the ground few meters away, holding to his arm in pain. Barely conscious.
Holocaust was standing where he was when X-Men landed. He looked at
them with a evil grin. "You X-Men were supposed to be good." "From what
I've seen, that kid is no match for me. Let's see how the rest of you will
do."
In that split second Psylocke went flying in the air and landed in
front of Holocaust. She looked up at him. He lifted his arm and slammed
it down to the ground. Psylocke leaped into the air and landed on his
head. Quickly she activated her psychic knife and hit Holocaust with it.
To her surprise nothing happened. Holocaust looked at her. Then he grabbed
her by the throat and lifted in the air. "You are no match for me !" he
shouted.
"Think not bad guy." Came a voice from behind him. It was Angel.
Flying at full speed his leg extended in front of him he kicked Holocaust
in the head. He wasn't prepared for an assault and he fell to the ground
dropping Psylocke. The instant he hit the ground metal rose from
everywhere and bound him to the ground.
"What the...?"
"That would be my doing." said Joseph
"Ah, Magneto, nice to see you back in action." Teased Holocaust. By
now Bishop was standing next to Joseph with his gun pointed at Holocaust.
Angel was helping Betsy up. They all stood around him. Joseph spoke
first.
"I am not Magneto Holocaust. I am Joseph. I am not the man you used
to know."
"Whatev..." replied Holocaust. He didn't have time to finish because
Bishop pointed his gun to his face inches from it.
"Be quiet."
Angel looked at Holocaust. "We are taking you in. We don't know who
you are, but you are a threat. And you better start answering questions.
First one is why do you want to kill us ?"
Holocaust laughed. He looked at Angel. "Who has thought you those
hard lines Archangel ? Was it Apocalypse ? But no you are too noble now
to use them."
Angel just looked at him trying to control his anger.
"What do you want ?" Asked Bishop with a firm voice.
"Fools !" Shouted Holocaust. Suddenly he lifted his body and the metal
he was held with was broken into parts. With a quick swipe of his arm he
hit Angel and Psylocke. Bishop fired his gun but it barely did anything to
him. Holocaust pointed his gun at Bishop. He fired. The energy hit Bishop.
Biting his lips, he got up. His body was flowing with energy.
"Eh ?" wondered Holocaust. Suddenly Joseph attacked Holocaust. He
lifted his arm and punched Joseph. He missed and while Joseph jumped up
he sent a magnetic pulse at the ground beneath Holocaust. The ground
exploded. Dust was everywhere. Joseph looked around.
"Very....good...I...suppose....you....X-Men....are good."
Suddenly he lifted his hand and hit Bishop. The X-Man fell the ground
barely alive. Slowly Holocaust got up.
"But you're still no match to me." He took some kind of a device and
started to type something. Suddenly his face appeared full of pain and his
body swayed. He hit the ground.
"I don't have a clue why you want X-Men dead, but these people are as
close to friends as I get and I'm not going to let you hurt them."
Angel who was just getting up looked over to where the voice came
from. Over Holocaust's body was standing a boy. He was no more than 20.
He had brown hair with a little white strip.
"Nate."
"Archangel."
Psylocke was coming around now too. She looked up at Nate and smiled.
"Thank you Nate."
They came over to him. Bishop was slowly walking towards them too
holding his stomach with pain. Joseph was awaking too. They all came up
to Nate and Holocaust.
"What do we do with him ?" Suddenly a portal appeared under him and
before anyone could react Holocaust was gone.
"Well I guess that solves the problem." Said a voice behind them.
They all turned around. It was Cannonball. He was limping and they could
see he was biting his lips in pain, holding his left hand.
"C'mon let's go before we get in more trouble." Said Angel.
Everyone walked back to the Blackbird. Angel was the last to enter.
He looked back at the battle scene. < What did he want ?> He wondered.
Seconds latter the plane drifted into the air.
The End
Plot and Script: Tom
NEXT ISSUE:
"Life goes on"
A easy-take a breath, issue before the hell breaks loose in 98 ! Iceman
flashes back to the time when he was with his father. Prime Sentinels are
ready to attack. Plus more insight on Gambit's secret !