X-men 2099UG #14

The Driver made his way confidently into the Cup O’Jonah. It was early in the morning and the coffee slash-sushi-bar was packed with the customers who needed their morning fix. This was apparently the place of business of a cyber-savant named Broken Haiku. His only hope resided here. The Driver allowed himself a smile. Sometimes life brought you down roads you’d never thought you’d drive on.

The Driver considered his options as he scanned the bar. Every stool was taken, undoubtedly by some of the more loyal patrons of the establishment. A waitress pushed by him as he mulled over the situation. It wasn’t likely that any barstool would open up before noon. Around the place sat solitary businessmen, looking harried in their cheap suits and quickly greased hair. Their tables were always a mess of data pads and morning specials. The Driver felt a tinge of scorn for them. Their day began at the moment they woke up and never ended until they dropped off to sleep. Who could live such a life? Chained body and soul to a corporation.

Around the outskirts of the bar sat groups of the less pushy customers. Early riser art students and their motor gang mates sitting and chatting side-by-side with young entrepreneurs or Mercado employees who hadn’t been to bed yet. One of the tougher-looking men in that crowd spotted the Driver staring at them. The Driver ignored him, if the youth wanted a fight then he could oblige. He had lived through the Great Purge, gone unnoticed as the megacorps emerged; he had several lifetimes of combat reflexes embedded into his very nature. He doubted the young tough could show him anything new.

The Driver made his way towards the bar, bypassing the line of customers waiting. Up front, several young women were scurrying about, mixing drinks and serving up various entrees of raw fish. The combination of sushi and java was a potent vehicle. A blast of bitterness to start off your day. He had no intention of trying it.

“Excuse me,” the Driver said to one of the girls who was preparing a drink. She seemed impatient.

“There’s a line,” she responded without looking up from her task. “The Chamber doesn’t open until 4 PM.”

“Errr…the Chamber?”, the Driver asked, caught off guard.

“Yeah, for the kaf-heads, the jav-junkies. We don’t open it until late because the regular customers get disruptive,” the girl said.

“I am not a caffeine lover,” the Driver said flatly. Now he remembered, some of the busier coffeehouses offered rooms such as “the Chamber” for the richer addicts who could afford to take pure caffeine supplements, by mouth or intravenously. There were even stickers you could apply to your skin to the same affect. The enormous charge of energy lasted for a long time and by the time it wore off, the Chamber would be open again.

The girl passed the drink on and took another order before looking up at him. “You sure? You wear that metal mask for comfort?”

“I am in need of information. Where is Broken Haiku?”

The girl started at him blankly, annoyance painting her face. “I don’t keep track of the people who frequent the Chamber. I stay out of those games.”

The girl thought he was role-playing. “I know she owns this bar. I need to speak with her. It is very urgent.”

“I’m really busy right now,” the girl said as she went back to preparing drinks.

Anger laced his tone. “How can you not know who the owner is?”

The girl looked ready to kick him out. “I don’t know who you’re talking about, buddy. Ulysses is the owner. Always has been.”

“Then let me speak to him.”

“He’s busy,” she replied flatly.

The Driver fought to keep himself calm. This girl was not going to keep him from the answers he sought. “I find that hard to believe.”

“I’M busy, then. Look, why don’t you come back later, okay?”

“You’ll have to forgive Marianne for her devotion to the customers,” a voice said, the Driver spun around to face a four foot tall black man. “But the morning crowd gets pushy if they’re not served immediately. I understand you’re no stranger to devotion yourself, Driver.”

The Driver was taken back. “You know who I am.”

“SHE knows who you are, to be more precise. Come with me,” Ulysses said as he walked away, motioning for the Driver to follow.

The Driver walked with Ulysses into the Cup O’Jonah’s storeroom, the noise of the café fading behind them. The nondescript door they headed towards slid open automatically at their approach. Ulysses stood to the side and motioned for the Driver to enter first. “If you would,” he said.

“She resides in here?”, the Driver asked. “There are no security or armaments.”

“She IS the security. The door wouldn’t have opened if she didn’t want you in,” Ulysses answered. “Now, inside if you please, she is quite a busy woman.”

The Driver walked inside the dark chamber, his curiosity piqued. He did not expect what awaited him, though. A human sized monolith of circuitry stood before him, laid diagonally on a platform. Various tubes ran into the figure, monitors behind - her, he supposed - displayed medical and statistical readings. Was it a computer he was dealing with? Or was there someone underneath it all?

“This is…Broken Haiku?”, the Driver asked.

“Yes,” Ulysses answered nonchalantly, walking up to the Driver with a pair of what looked to be sunglasses. “Here, take these, they’re cybersimshades. They’ll allow you to interface with Haiku without actually entering cyberspace.”

“What is Haiku? Is it a computer or…”

“I am human,” a feminine voice answered, seemingly coming from the air around them. “At least, as much as you are yourself, Driver.”

“You know of my body’s synthesis with technology,” the Driver stated.

“I know much more than that,” Haiku answered. “There is a large amount of information about you that has only recently come to light. You have traveled in interesting circles, Driver. Perhaps more interesting than you know.”

“Do you always taunt your patrons with riddles?”, the Driver asked, an angry tone creeping into his voice.

“You are here to find the answers to the questions that plague your very existence,” Haiku said. “Here you stand, in front of your path to salvation. You can forgive me if I wish to dwell in the myth and mystery for a bit.”

“I did not come here to play games,” the Driver responded flatly, taking the cybershades from Ulysses with a yank. Slowly, he unclasped his mask from his face. He let the air touch his exposed face for a bit, savoring the moment. It was not often that he chose to expose himself like that. He handed the mask to Ulysses. “I assume this can be entrusted to your care?”

“It will be safe, Driver,” Haiku answered. “Ulysses is worthy of your utmost trust.”

“I suppose…,” the Driver said as he fit the shades around his eyes. “…I’ll simply have to take you at your…word.” In an instant, the Driver was back in The Garage, the old silobox he had called home for years. Everything was in pristine condition, although imbued with a golden tint. It was like being inside a decayed and yellowed photograph.

Next to the Accelerator stood a woman in a loose-fitting robe. Her golden skin was completely featureless, her eyes were red, her small round head devoid of any hair. This was Broken Haiku.

“I never expected to come back here, in reality or virtual,” the Driver said to himself, looking around at the cyber-constructed environment. “It is almost an exact replica.” The Driver looked at Haiku. “Of course, you would know.”

“Your Accelerator was more interesting a puzzle than you knew,” Haiku told the Driver. “Imagine being skilled enough to roam all of cyberspace, unlock any door, and then come upon an impenetrable wall. I imagine it’s quite like the internal struggle you face now.” If Broken Haiku could have her way, she’d exist autonomously in cyberspace, without the problems and cumbersomeness of flesh. Cyberspace utterly amazed her. Here was a place - an entire dimension, really - solely created by the combined efforts of humankind. Built from numbers, electricity, and imagination. It was an ideal world for her. A higher plane of existence. It gave her faith in humanity. If such a nirvana could be created almost accidentally, then imagine what people could do if they put aside their differences and finally cleaned up their act.

“The Accelerator was not meant to challenge you, it was meant to ward off intruders,” the Driver said, grimacing.

“Oh come now, Driver,” Haiku said as she stroked the makeshift Accelerator. “It was meant to happen. No man is an island.”

“Your sense of humor galls me.”

“As does your sense of justice for mutants,” Haiku shot back. “Destroying their bodies and saving their genetic codes on your fancy hardrive. Surely you had to have realized how utterly ridiculous the very notion was.”

The Driver hung his head solemnly. “I do now.” He looked back up at Broken Haiku, who was pacing towards him. “But you know that is why I’m here. To repair the damage I have done.”

Haiku looked him right in the eye. “I do. And I have much to tell you, Driver.”

*     *     *

Halo City was a place forced into existence by a frightening man who covered himself in armor. There was no place for squabbling in his America. He gave mutants, the next step in human evolution, a city of their own. Here, he might have been heard to say, take this and lead the lives you have always wanted to. Govern and control yourselves. Or else.

This man also gave them a team of superheroes to watch over them. Guardian angels who the common populace could look to for protection and moral guidance. The situation was ideal. Create the human/mutant utopia you have dreamed of for over one hundred years. It was a mythical proclamation, but the X-men were ready for it.

That myth seems to have shattered.

The lift sped downwards towards the Halo Tower’s ground floor, inside were all the X-men currently present in the city. Krystalin, Cerebra, Sham, Xi’an, Metalhead, and the newest recruit, Shell. Tim was gone, off to find the mythical mutant metropolis Avalon. Luna had gone with him, refusing to be left behind. Neither of them had been in contact since. Tim was searching for a colony where mutants lived peaceably with one another. If he could find it, he had reasoned to them, then maybe he could apply to Halo City what he learned there. No more riots and no more protests. Meanwhile, the rest of the X-men were the ones who actually had to deal with the unrest. The irony was not lost on Krystalin.

She stared at the X-men as she leaned against the back wall of the lift. Things were so much different now than they were a year ago. The six of them had wandered the desert, righting the wrongs and fighting for equality for everyone. Xi’an had been an inspiring leader to all, and a man seemingly at peace with himself. Metalhead had been a musician. Tim hadn’t even entered the picture. She and Henri leaned on each other when things got tough. And Serpentina had been alive. The only one who hadn’t really changed was Shakti. She had always been a motherly figure of sorts, keeping them all together through the various changes and upheavals.

It wasn’t that things were completely bad now. It was just…different. Eddie was back, at least. But she was the defacto leader now, and had two wet-behind-the-ears kids to make into X-men. Xi’an was giving her trouble and Shakti wasn’t even a member of the Protectorate. Henri had gone to New York City a few weeks ago to mourn his friend Jordan Boone. It worried her. He hadn’t called or contacted them since he left. When things cooled down in the city, she was going to NYC herself to find him. IF things cooled down, anyway…

And then there was Ten Eagles, an old friend of Xi’an’s. A man who had apparently had just as violent a past as Xi’an did. The notable exception now being that Victor hadn’t come out of it with multiple personalities. There was a quietly heroic stoicism to Victor now. Almost as if he was a warrior for peace, as corny as that sounded. To her, Victor represented stability and common sense, and she had found herself being drawn closer and closer to him ever since his arrival in Halo City***.

***X-men 2099UG #1 (Vol. 2)

“What’s going on here, Victor, you said this same thing happened yesterday,” Krystalin asked.

“There was a protest in front of the tower. It wasn’t nearly as big as this one, though,” Victor answered, thinking back to the event. “Apparently a group of citizens are concerned over the property damage and endangerment of lives from the recent battles. And with the recent riots, I guess some of them have decided the X-men simply aren’t worth it anymore.”

Krystalin bit her lip as she thought over the situation. The crowd was justified in their concerns. The X-men hadn’t been too productive in the arena of mutant/human relations lately. If anything, they’d made it worse. Was the crowd right? Were the X-men simply a nuisance now? Krystalin couldn’t quite accept that, but she had her doubts.

“Yeah, also some of them were going on about how the X-men are totally mutant exclusive. Something like that. Now isn’t that a weird thing to protest?”, Sham added.

That WAS kind of odd, but then again, Krystalin could see where that was coming from as well. The city’s population consisted of mutants AND humans. A Protectorate that consisted of one section of the populace seemed detrimental to the idea of unity between all walks of life.

“Their concerns are valid,” Shakti spoke up. “Although their method of communication puzzles me. They act as if we have ignored what they have to say.”

“Perhaps we have,” Xi’an said. “After the last riot, most of the X-men left the city. That isn’t exactly an encouraging sign that the city’s guardians are working in the people’s best interests.”

“Perhaps,” Shakti said quietly, half in thought. “But that does not explain the riots that were seemingly centered around Sham. Something is not right here.”

The lift slowed to a stop as it approached the first floor. “Let’s try and keep this calm, everyone,” Krystalin ordered as the doors slid open to the Halo Tower lobby.

“Sure, Krys, whatever you say…,” Sham muttered, wide-eyed. Pressed up against the locked transparent doors of the lobby was a sea of humanity. A massive throng of people from all walks of life milled and pushed against the doors. They acted as one, all of them seemingly intent on gaining entrance to the Tower. Inside, security had acted quickly and sealed the exits, but that wouldn’t hold for long.

“Ms. Ogada!”, a Guardian called out to Krystalin, running up to the X-men. Krystalin’s eyed widened in surprise, how had they gotten here so fast?

“Yes, officer?”, Krystalin answered. “How did you get inside so quickly?”

“Lieutenant Markson, ma’am,” the Guardian said, introducing himself. “I was already here when the crowd showed up. May I ask what you plan to do? They’re obviously in heat over something or other you X-men have done.” Lt. Markson’s gaze settled on the protestors outside.

“We’re going to talk to them,” Krystalin said. “But that’s obviously going to be a more difficult task than anticipated. We have to reinforce that entrance. Have you contacted the Guardians yet?”

“They’re en route with riot gear and crowd control but they’re not going to interfere unless the protest becomes violent,” Lt. Markson answered. Krystalin nodded and then abruptly started towards the doors. “Ms. Ogada, what are you doing?”

“Krystalin, wait!”, Xi’an warned.

“Krys!”, Victor yelled, almost in unison.

Krystalin turned. “Guys, c’mon, let’s get out there.”

“But they’ll crush us!”, Shell exclaimed. “Well…,” he added, looking at the other X-men. “They’ll crush YOU.”

“Don’t worry about it, I have an idea. We only have to approach them.”

Shell shrugged as the X-men walked with Krystalin towards the doors. His superhero career was really getting off to an odd start. Weren’t they supposed to be out fighting evil mutants or megacorp assassins or something?

As the X-men approached the doors the crowd seemed to calm somewhat. They backed away from the entrance, their faces still set with intent. A space formed to let them outside. Victor frowned, he didn’t like this situation one bit. To him it looked like the crowd intended on turning the sidewalk outside into a killing floor. Waiting for the X-men to herd themselves onto it.

Krystalin stopped short of opening the lobby door. “That should do it,” she said to no one in particular. The crowd had outlined a small semi-circle for them outside. Now that Krystalin had stopped, though, they seemed confused.

Suddenly the crowd vanished from sight; the X-men’s line of vision was completely blocked by a massive crystalline structure that covered the entire entrance outside. The structure was disorienting to look at directly, its angles refracted light in every possible direction. Steps were carved into the structure, which rose a good forty feet up. Distantly, they could hear the crowd screaming in protest. What was Krystalin doing?

Quickly, Krystalin unlocked the door and slung it open. The noise from the crowd intensified as it reached their ears unfiltered. “We needed a dias,” she explained to the X-men. “Something above the crowd where we could listen and talk to them out of harm’s way. Come on.” Krystalin climbed the steps carved into the crystal structure, motioning for the rest of the X-men to follow.

Victor Ten Eagles and Xi’an started up the stairs last. The dias was a good idea, better than simply plunging into the crowd at least. But Victor was still wary. The X-men made an excellent shot for any would-be assassin up there. He nodded to Xi’an. “You thinking the same thing I am?”, Victor asked as he drew out a small laser pistol.

Xi’an furrowed his brow in confusion. “Obviously not.”

“Krys is an irresistable target up there. Lt. Markson!”, Victor yelled.

The Lieutenant lifted his head up from his communicator. “What is it?”

“The X-men are going to speak to the crowd. We need some extra eyes to look out for sharpshooters. Can you help us?”

“Just a second,” Markson said as he finished up his communique. “Alright,” he said, unholstering his sidearm. “I’m with you.”

Victor and Lt. Markson made their way up the crystalline dias. Victor turned his head towards Xi’an. “You coming?”

“No. I would be a hindrance. And besides, I do not wish to be shot again***. I’m all out of second mutant powers.”

*** X-men 2099 (regular series) #1

What was Xi’an on about? Victor let the comment slide. “At least come up halfway, stay behind the base of the dias. We may need your healing if anything happens.”

Xi’an nodded. “Very well then,” he responded, joining Victor and Markson as they made their way up.

*     *     *

Krystalin felt overwhelmed by the sheer amount of people below. They all had something to say. It wasn’t going to be easy addressing the concerns of the crowd. Especially since she didn’t have any training in this kind of thing.

“Sham,” Krystalin turned to Sham. “Can you amplify my voice? You and Victor have been working on that kind of thing, haven’t you?”

“Sure, Krys.”

“EVERYON…,” Krystalin and the others flinched as the voice boomed outward before them. Krystalin turned to Sham and whispered. “Too loud! Too loud!”

“Sorry!”

“Good goin’ there, Sound Check,” Shell needled her.

“Shut it!”, Sham bit back. “Try it now, Krys.”

Krystalin cleared her throat and prepared herself in case Sham still hadn’t gotten it right. “Everyone…” She smiled. Perfect. Now…how to go about calming the crowd… “Everyone, I’d like you all to calm down for a moment.”

“Race traitor! Elitist scum!”, members of the crowd yelled back.

“Excuse me? Um…if we’ll all just calm down we can listen to your concerns in an orderly and peaceful fashion,” Krystalin remained calm, although the baseless accusations did make her a bit upset.

“Get out of Halo!”, someone below screamed. The crowd roared their approval.

“Why do you want us out?”, Krystalin asked them.

Shell flinched. “Oooooh, don’t give them an opening like that…”

“…lost my store!”

“…lost my leg thanks to you, witch!”

“…picking fights with ordinary citizens!”

The crowd answered all at once. Their comments were too garbled and quick for her to understand them all. What she could make out, though, saddened her. Krystalin wondered if an apology would help. She guessed not. She turned glumly to Cerebra. “Shakti, I don’t know what to do here.”

Suddenly, rocks, bottles, and other various things were being thrown upwards at them. Most impacted against the base of the dias’. Some of them were coming too close for comfort.

“Friggin’ shock!”, Shell cried out. “These are the people you want to protect?”

Shakti stepped further back from the edge of the dias and stood behind Krystalin. Krystalin turned to face her. “I wish I could help you, Krys,” Shakti said. “I really do.”

*     *     *

Morphine Somers is a snake. A man who slithers through the world pulling strings here and there, working towards a goal that only he knows.

The Hellfire Club are very much the same. Wealthy, powerful, and influential men and women who walk proudly through the world, pulling strings here and there, and doing whatever they see fit. The addition of Morphine Somers to their ranks was only a matter of time. Truly Morphine is among his own.

And yet, he’s never felt more uncomfortable, and more in danger, than he does now.

Irony? Or just common sense?

“This is an important meeting, Somers, I can feel it in my bones,” Jonathan Richards, the Inner Circle’s Black Bishop, said excitedly. “My head is tingling with anticipation.”

Morphine grimaced, why had Richards insisted on attaching himself to him? “You sure that’s not a side effect of your power?”, he said blandly. Richards could intercept radio and electromagnetic signals and hear them as thoughts in his head. He was a human antenna, and it was mostly the reason why he was where he was today.

“Oh it is, but it’s in the air today, if you’ll pardon the pun. The air itself is excited with the portent of the news that you and Shaw shall bring to us,” Richards responded, a mad grin affixed to his face. He’d look like just another street corner kook if not for the groomed cut and expensive blue suit he had on.

Morphine needled Richards with a withering look out of the corner of his eye. “What do you know about it?”

“Enough to suspect that Shaw has an ultimatum for all of us here in the Inner Circle,” Richards said with a grand gesture to the other four Inner Circle members currently in the room. “And that your work and sage advice were crucial to getting to this point. I simply can’t wait to hear it…if only Shaw would be so kind as to simply arrive.”

Shaw and Aloria Craven, the Black Queen, had not yet arrived. Morphine knew what that meant. Aloria and Shaw were closer than anyone knew. Disgustingly close. Morphine wondered if Richards knew that Aloria’s last name wasn’t really “Craven”…

“Of course, your aide Christopher and Gavin Rentaro are also conspicuously absent,” Richards continued, much to the dismay of Morphine’s patience. “Perhaps they’ve become friends and are outside playing in the snow…”

“Bug off, Richards,” Morphine interrupted harshly. Richards’ was probably joking, but it wasn’t very funny to Morphine. Henri had disappeared yesterday, and Morphine wasn’t so sure Henri had meant to. His discreet searches had turned up nothing. If Henri’s identity had been revealed…well, they both were going to get it. Morphine was stuck between the hammer and the anvil. If he was outed, the hammer would come down during the meeting. If he was outed, skipping the meeting was as good a sign of guilt as a written confession. If he hadn’t been outed, skipping the meeting would have aroused suspicion. He had to see how things played out. Had Henri managed to escape? Or was Henri laying dead in the underground levels of the Complex? Morphine had to play his allegiances carefully if he was going to find out anything.

That allegiance’s name, however, was Aloria Craven. And she was most likely off somewhere with Shaw, the two of them ensconced together. Aloria had a deep hatred for Shaw, a hatred she covered almost perfectly. Aloria and him had a mutual partnership against Shaw. He wanted Shaw’s position and power, Aloria wanted Shaw dead. Morphine had to admit that he would want the same if he were in Aloria’s position and forced to…how to put it without retching…willingly accept Shaw’s “brotherly love”.

Morphine quickly left the subject and concentrated on his surroundings. The room they were all gathered in was not the usual meeting place, with its sparse décor and solid oak walls. Here the walls were covered in instrumentation and large monitors. Three workstations were set equal distance apart along the wall in the circular room. In the middle, on the floor, was a flat circular video panel. Holographic images were projected through them. The panels were transparent when inactive; but right now they were displaying the Hellfire Club’s sigil. A flaming shield divided into four quadrants. A scarlet “H” in the top left corner and an identical “C” in the bottom right.

Six members of the Inner Circle were present, including himself and Jonathan Richards, the only representatives of the Black side of the Inner Circle in the room. The other four, the entirety of the White faction of the Inner Circle stood together on the other side of the chamber.

Nathaniel Dumakas, the White Rook and lofty vibranium dealer, leaned against the wall with an annoyed frown on his face. Of them all, he was the only one who wore the impatience they all felt openly. In the beginning Morphine had tried to make an ally of Dumakas. The prospect dried up quickly, Dumakas said little of his loyalties, even though his emotions were so obvious. Morphine let Dumakas fall by the wayside, he wouldn’t be much use should sides be taken. Dumakas was an electrical energy caster, which was quite useful in a combat situation, but battles in the Hellfire Club weren’t won by sheer power alone.

Domingo De Solas, the White Bishop, stood patiently, his face a stone of impassiveness. Occasionally his sharp eyes would glance at another Inner Circle member from behind his trimly shaved Fu Manchu moustache, but mostly De Solas simply stared at the door. Domingo was a South American red market czar, operating off the southern tip of Argentina. Funneling people from the continent like cattle and acting as a waypoint between Africa and the rest of the Pacific. Domingo made headlines when he bought the Falklands from a bankrupt Brazilian government fourteen years ago. Domingo was hardly foolish enough to base his red market operations there, though. He turned the Falkland Islands into a sprawling and popular resort nation. De Solas was another energy caster, except his wasn’t self-generating like Dumakas’ was. De Solas absorbed inorganic objects into himself, converting their mass to energy.

The White King, Martin Rentaro stared cold death at Morphine as the White Queen, Amanda Mallie, tittered in his ear every so often. Rentaro had not hidden his hatred for Morphine one bit. Rentaro felt threatened by Morphine’s presence. Morphine had done what Rentaro could not, hand Shaw Halo City on a silver platter. To Rentaro, Morphine was gunning for the White King position. Martin Rentaro would not allow that to happen, even if meant ripping Morphine to shreds with his own bare hands. Morphine wasn’t going for Rentaro’s position at all, but that knowledge would do nothing to dissuade Rentaro. He still didn’t know what kind of power Rentaro had. The White Queen was a mystery to him as well. Mallie gave off a constant chill, despite her open and seductive exterior. Amanda was the most emotive of all of them and was never uncomfortable in any situation. In this manner Mallie almost seemed to be…playing…with the Inner Circle until a better game came along.

The door to the chamber slid open and Shaw and Aloria waltzed in. Both of them smiling. Morphine smiled inside. Aloria was perhaps the best actress of them all.

“I call this meeting to order,” Shaw barked roughly. “Are all members present?” Shaw had some nerve asking that of them, but Shaw was anything but subtle. All the members of the Inner Circle answered affirmatively and Shaw continued on. Aloria took up a position behind one of the workstations.

Alexander Shaw smiled proudly, his hands clasped behind his back. His smile lingered on Morphine. “My informant in Halo City informs me that the circumstances in Halo City have peaked. The citizenry are distrusting and hostile towards their protectors. The X-men themselves have suffered one withering assault over another. And, it seems their leader has abandoned them.”

That one took Morphine by surprise. “Fitzgerald left them? Do you have confirmation on that?”

“Confirmation enough. Skullfire and La Lunatica were reported leaving the city in an unmarked vehicle some days ago. They have not since returned. In fact,” Shaw turned to them all. “The X-men themselves seemed to have disappeared.”

“From the city?”, Morphine asked. “They could simply be on a mission outside it. I wouldn’t count on their absence being any sign of hope.”

“Probably so,” Rentaro interjected. “But whatever battles or negotiations they have undertaken on whatever ‘mission’ they may have taken up will leave them weary and unfocused.”

“Yes. And when they return they have the city’s populace to face.” Shaw’s eyes seemed to gleam. “Your plan has worked to perfection, Somers. And the time to strike has come.”

Morphine smiled despite the sinking feeling he felt in his stomach. No. It wasn’t supposed to be this soon. The plan wasn’t supposed to have worked that well. Where the hell was Henri? Everything was coming down around his shoulders. “When shall we be leaving, then?”

“Rentaro and I have drawn up a battle plan for the Halo invasion. Aloria, if you would…,” Shaw said. Aloria silently punched at the keyboard on the workstation. A large hologram of Halo City appeared before them all, several arrows and lines were drawn into it, and several sections of the city were magnified. The focus points of the assault.

“The Inner Circle will not be taking place in the assault, but our forces will relay scenes from the combat to the Alaskan Complex for our perusal and analysis,” Shaw said. “We will be using ground forces only, an air assault is unnecessary and a waste of resources. We don’t want to destroy too much of Halo City. There will be a ring of artillery surrounding the outside of Halo to prevent the citizens from escaping. Halo City Harbor will be similarly enclosed…”

Shaw went on and on about the particulars of the assault. Morphine could only watch in silence as Shaw described in graphic detail every aspect of the assault on Halo City and its peoples. All of it thanks to Morphine Somers. Morphine knew all too well the despicable things he had done in his life. But this one…he would not escape judgment for this. Morphine’s eyes glazed over as he stared unblinking at the hologram. And when Shaw’s presentation was finally over and the hologram vanished, Morphine knew his future was vanishing with it.

*     *     *

Morphine caught up with Aloria in the passageway to the hangar. The assault was tomorrow but Aloria had some pressing business to take care of beforehand. “Hold it, Aloria,” he demanded as he strolled up to her. She paused and smiled as he approached.

“Morphine,” she stated bluntly.

“I have an important task for the partnership set between us,” Morphine said just as bluntly. “My aide has disappeared.”

“I noticed,” she responded. “He was not sitting by your feet and licking your hand at the meeting.”

Morphine frowned. “I haven’t been able to find any trace of him. Gavin Rentaro’s gone missing, as well.”

“And you wish me to look into Rentaro’s affairs, as he doesn’t despise everything I stand for and wish my death?”

“Something like that.”

“I’ll see what I can do.”

“It needs to be soon,” Morphine stressed. “I require his services in the assault tomorrow. And I need not stress his importance in your own plans against Shaw.”

Aloria let an abrupt laugh bubble up from inside her. “Of course, of course, I would be remiss to let so convenient a sacrificial pawn slip away. I will find your Christopher.”

“Alive, preferably,” Morphine said as Aloria turned around and headed towards the hanger.

“That’s not up to me, Somers,” her voice echoed back. “That’s not up to me.”

*     *     *

Alex Moss loves a good crowd. They’re infectious. They mill around in cities and make everything look important. So many lives criss-crossing everyday, following one would inevitably enfold all of them. It was the vibrancy and utter lunacy that drew Alex Moss in. That, and it was easier to lose pursuers in a crowd.

Not that Alex Moss, mutant precog extraordinaire, was being pursued at the moment. Not by anyone important, anyway. A determined looking fellow in a homemade booth in the subway station was trying to sell various fruits and sandwiches to him. But he was harmless. Or was he? What if one of the fruits contained a small neutron charge? What if the flustered looking salesman suddenly stopped babbling non-stop and pulled out a laser rifle? What if this was a signal to others in the crowd, others that had even been on the same subway car as he? They would enclose and encircle him with viciousness and professionalism that only hired assassins could muster. It scared the dickens out of him. Which ones were the real people and which ones were the phonies? Which ones had personal holograms fitted on? Which ones were packing heat? And was it really possible that the food vendor who was still talking endlessly had the best pears in all of Halo? Alex doubted the veracity of the man’s claims. He also doubted his own sanity and growing paranoia. But mainly the fruit. First things came first.

Alex Moss climbed the stairs out of the Halo Tower East subway station and had the decency to be just as surprised as the rest of the people who had crested the stairs with him. There was a crowd in front of the Tower. The crowd was big. They had signs and holograms and things to throw. The crowd was NOT friendly. The crowd was growing in size and intensity. Alex Moss didn’t like crowds anymore.

And apparently, as Alex was just now seeing, the crowd didn’t like the X-men. Some of them were atop a big crystal platform pleading to the crowd for some kind of sanity. What was up with Halo City and its superheroes? He wasn’t a big fan of the X-men, but they did okay. He didn’t take them as seriously as the crowd seemed to. To Alex Moss, he imagined the origin of the X-men to be something like this:

Mutant #1: “Hey guys, I’m bored.”
Mutant #2: “We could order a pizza?”
Mutant #3: “We already did. You ate it all.”
Mutant #2: “Oh yeah.”
Mutant #4: “This is boring.”
Mutant #5: “Guys! I got it! We’re mutants, right? Let’s pretend we’re a team and call ourselves the X-men!”
Mutant #1: “That’s a great idea!”
Mutant #2: “Yeah!”
Mutant #6 (panicked and bursting into the room) “Dudes…where’s my car?”

And the protestors were everywhere, too. They filled the square in front of the Tower. The very same area that had been blown to pieces by the whole Exodus fight a month or two back***. An area that was littered with the trappings of reconstruction. New foundations for buildings with construction machinery sitting inside them. Metal lattices surrounding buildings that weren’t yet completed. Piles of debris that had been moved out of the way. Re-routed streets. The square itself was messy on a good day. With the crowd here now, it was chaotic, people were climbing up on things they weren’t supposed to, the people on the ground were pressing up against each other, and there were even people watching from the rooftops.

***X-men 2099UG #50

Alex froze where he stood, some people bumped into him and shoved him here or there, but he didn’t pay attention. There were more than just people in the rooftop crowds. There was one very noticeable person in the rooftop crowd. Not noticeable in any kind of way that the normal person would notice him in. (If that made any kind of sense.) But noticeable in that “I’ve-seen-the-horrible-people-that-the-Hellfire-Club-regularly-employs-and-THAT-GUY-is-one-of-them” way.

And then, as if Alex had sent some fiery beacon up into the air, the man looked at him. They were hundreds of yards apart, but there was no mistaking the evil fire that always seemed to lurk behind the fellow’s gaze.

Alex ran.

*     *     *

“Krys! Come on! This isn’t going to work!”, Victor yelled, trying to be heard above the noise of the crowd.

Krystalin looked at Victor sadly as she backed away from the edge of the dias. She didn’t want to give up, she had to make the crowd see reason. Victor was right, though, it wasn’t working and it wasn’t going to work. The crowd was deadset in what they wanted. Krystalin couldn’t accept it. The X-men and Halo City seemed inseparable to her. She didn’t want to give in to the crowd’s demands and leave. But forcing a city to accept them wasn’t the X-men’s way, was it? Something wet hit Krystalin’s cheek and she wiped it away. Was she crying?

“I agree with Victor, Krystalin. This is quickly becoming a futile exercise. Our presence seems to only exacerbate the situation,” Shakti said as her and Victor tried to convince Krystalin to leave the dias with them.

Krystalin couldn’t help but feel a little angry towards them. They didn’t have to face the prospect of leaving the city their efforts had created. Shakti and Victor both had to stay and teach the kids of X-Nation. But Shakti was an X-man and Victor was…just as important. She couldn’t leave the city with the X-men and leave him…them. The X-men would be shattered beyond repair by this. And now Victor and Shakti were telling her it was an impossible fight. The anger and sadness mixed inside her and Krystalin felt hopelessly confused.

“I can’t just leave, Shakti…,” Krystalin said to her. “I can’t just…” She paused. Someone was struggling their way through the crowd and straight to the dias. The crowd refused to part before him, but he came on anyway. There was a crazed determination on his face.

“Someone’s running towards us,” Krystalin said, the alarm in her voice growing. She looked at Shakti. “A suicide bomber?”

Shakti concentrated. “No, actually. He’s panicked, but not dangerous. He wants us to…”

“Help me!”, Alex Moss screamed, pushing through the crowd. He was making a scene for the agent from the Hellfire Club, but he didn’t care. He was close to the X-men, they would protect him. They would protect him. They BETTER protect him. Or else…geez, he hoped he could get to them.

Without thought, Alex jumped up to the sides of the dias. The crystal was edged and pocked, almost in imitation of a rock face. He could climb it. He could TRY to climb it anyway.

Shakti and Krystalin stared over the dias. “He’s trying to get to us for protection.” Alex Moss scrambled his way up the side of the dias. Scrambled was the word, because he wasn’t getting anywhere.

“Some handholds seem to be in order then,” Krystalin said as tiny crystal blocks seemed to rise out of the side of the dias. Relief seemed to paint Alex Moss’ face as he grabbed a hold of them. That relief was short-lived, though, as Alex felt strong hands grabbing at his legs, trying to drag him down. He yelled for help as he tried to struggle upwards.

“This mob doesn’t want to let up!”, Shell said as he peered over the dias at Alex. He raised his hand. “Maybe we need to heat things up.” Purple ultraviolet rays poured over the mob pulling at Alex. The crowd shirked away, some of them falling to the ground.

“Dex! Stop that!”, Victor yelled as he yanked Shell back away from the crowd. “Are you nuts?”

“I was just trying to…”

“You don’t just fire off your mutant powers at people!”, Victor yelled.

“I…I’m sorry!”, Shell stammered out. “I’m new at this superhero thing…”

“Get back in the building, you’re no good to us up here,” Victor ordered. Shell stalked off sadly.

“A little help?”, Alex Moss said, between gasps for air as he crept over the edge of the dias towards them. “Please?”

“We gotcha, don’t worry,” Krystalin said as Shakti and her pulled Alex up. “Shakti says you want something.”

Alex looked up surprisingly at Shakti as he got to his feet. “How do you…oh right, telepath. Listen, we can do each other a favor. There’s someone behind these protests and I know where he is and how you can stop him.”

“Let’s get back into the building, then,” Victor said. “Maybe we CAN put a stop to this.”

*     *     *

“Well…see now…it’s like this,” Alex Moss said. “There’s this powerful organization out there called the Hellfire Club that I was a part of and they have this thing called the Inner Circle which is comprised of wealthy and influential mutants and I was in the Hellfire Club once but now I’m not and I don’t know why the Hellfire Club sent that guy there but I’m pretty sure its to bring me back because I deserted and I can tell the future and that’s obviously a worthy talent to have in an organization like that…”

“Slow down, Alex!”, Sham said, interrupting Alex Moss’ crazed babbling.

“Sorry…I’m sorry, it’s just that…I’m safe with you guys, right? He’s not gonna get me with you guys around, right?”

“Who is ‘he’?”, asked Xi’an.

“Okay, well, here’s the part that affects you guys. This guy, this agent of the Hellfire Club…”

“What kind of name is ‘The Hellfire Club’?”, Shell muttered quietly.

“…has the mutant power to amplify negative emotion. Not emotion itself, but rather the chemicals in the body that make people irritable and jumpy and irrational and angry and so on. He’s not a telepath. But he’s the one who has been pumping the crowd.”

“Are you positive about this?”, Shakti asked Alex.

“Did Alchemax fall? I’m completely and totally sure about this. He’s out there right now.”

“You must understand my suspicions about this. The city has been plagued by sudden riots and protests lately. As odd as they were, it is hard to believe that there is one man behind it all.”

“Things like this are rarely so simple,” Lt. Markson spoke up.

“I’m just telling you what I know,” Alex said. “I don’t know why he’s causing riots. The Hellfire Club does weird things.”

“So what do we do?”, Eddie asked.

“We find this villain,” Xi’an stated.

“Yes,” Krystalin said. “But not ‘we’, Shakti and Sham.”

“What?”, Sham said.

“Explain,” Shakti responded.

“He’s no telepath, so all we need is for Shakti to sneak up and give him the good old telepathic whammy,” Krystalin explained. “He’ll be watching for us or the Guardians though, obviously. That’s where Sham comes in. Shakti needs a disguise. We’ll all go back up on the dias to keep the Hellfire agent distracted. The catch is, though…we’ll need to give the illusion that Shakti is still at the Tower as well. Think you can handle all the separate illusions at once, Sham?”

Victor crossed his arms, smiling at Sham. “She BETTER.”

*     *     *

His smile returned as the X-men returned to their makeshift crystal dias. Excellent. This could all end here. Shaw would reward him quite handsomely for the destruction of the X-men. He had waited since before New Year’s Eve. He was tired of waiting. It was past time for action. The X-men could make all the pretty speeches they liked up on that dias. It would do no good.

He had made the city into a bubbling cauldron of seething hatred and resentment against their own protectors. The X-men would fall into that cauldron and be burned alive. There was no escaping it now. The net had been weaved around them, and now it was time to tighten it.

He was quite fortunate to be able to deliver Alex Moss to Shaw, as well. He hadn’t counted on Moss to show up in Halo City. Luck had to be smiling down on him right now. This effort would surely land him on the Inner Circle. And then…then the REAL havoc would be…

The Hellfire agent crumpled to the floor amidst the spectators on the roof. The people around looked at his body puzzlingly, but made no move to help him.

Two strangers, an obese old woman and her son strolled up to the agent’s body and knelt down beside him. “Aw, dammit Earl,” the woman said in a domineering tone. She looked up at a questioning crowd member. “He was up all last night. I told him he should come to this but he went anyway.”

The woman turned to her son and whispered quietly, “Did we get the right one, Shakti?”

“I hope so,” Shakti whispered back.

“Well,” the obese woman grunted, pulling on the Hellfire Club agent. “Let’s get him back home!”

And down in the crowd, the people began to actually listen to what the X-men had to say.

*     *     *

“Is it helping any?”, Tim asked Luna as she sipped at a long cup of triple-concentrate almond espresso. They both sat with in a booth along the wall of the Cup O’ Jonah. A wave of weakness had come over Luna shortly after they left the hospital. Both from lack of sleep and from the weakening effect Luna’s powers were having on her. Stuck for a quick solution, the heavy coffee was all Tim could come up with.

“Sitting down is helping more than the coffee is at the moment. This stuff is absolutely putrid. I doubt even the Theater of Pain would use it on its victims,” Luna replied.

“I’m amazed you can even joke about the Theater like that,” Katrina said. Katrina was a new addition to their little “party”. A blue-skinned mutant woman who looked almost exactly like Luna. To top it all off, Katrina claimed she was Luna’s sister. And maybe she was, she had the exact same powers as Luna did.

“I’m too tired to be angry,” Luna sighed, taking another sip. Maybe if she drank the espresso enough she would come to like the taste. Probably not. “…sis,” Luna added in a biting tone.

“It’s time for an explanation,” Tim said. “Why have you been following us around and causing trouble?”

“The hotel thing was an unfortunate accident,” Katrina explained. “But when I found out you were in El Paso, I had to find you before I left.”

“Why? Are you from the Theater? A diversionary tactic to put us off-guard so the Theater can capture Luna?”, Tim asked.

“You and I both know if I the Theater was after you…you’d already be taken,” Katrina answered. “If anything, the Theater is after me. I escaped two years ago and I’ve been fighting them off and on ever since.”

“You were on your way to Halo for protection?”, Luna asked.

“For help, basically. I’m…,” Katrina searched her mind for the right word. “…changing, mutating. There’s something inside me trying to come out. It’s something powerful. And its growing. It came out once, those two years ago when I escaped the Theater. Afterwards…I was so intent on staying out of the Theater’s clutches that I completely ignored it. But in that time it gestated inside me and grew in power. At this point…it’s a daily struggle to keep it inside.”

“I still don’t see what this has to do with Luna,” Tim interrupted.

“I found out about Luna and her position with the X-men. I saw her picture on a telecast and I knew,” Katrina’s gaze became excited. “….I knew we were connected. I figured if I traveled to Halo then I could get some help. The X-men have a whole city of resources from which to draw from.”

“Makes sense,” Tim said.

“Our meeting here was chance. I was passing through here on my way to Halo and all of a sudden…here you are.”

“And now you want us to take you the rest of the way to Halo City?”, Luna offered. Katrina nodded affirmatively.

“No thanks,” Luna said flatly. “I’m not bringing the Theater of Pain to my doorstep.”

“Luna!”, both Tim and Katrina yelled in unison.

“Don’t you want to know the connection between us? Doesn’t it intrigue you?”, Katrina asked.

“She needs our help, Luna. The X-men helped you in your fight against the Theater,” Tim said.

“The X-men didn’t have an entire city’s population to worry about then,” Luna edged in, glaring at both of them. “And yes, Katrina, it does intrigue me.”

“The Theater wouldn’t dare move so publicly against an entire city,” Tim countered. “And if they did, we’d waste ‘em.”

“And what if Brimstone Love decides to take part in it personally? It took enormous telepathic power, luck, and the U.S. government to fight him to a standstill last time. Shock, Brimstone could destroy Halo Tower with a stroke of his hand,” Luna said. “Bringing her along is not a good idea. And a huge tactical error on our part.”

“Since when were you so concerned about tactics?”, Tim said, surprised. Wasn’t he supposed to be the one worrying over that stuff. “And besides,” he added. “we’re going to Avalon first. I’m betting we can find help for her there. A whole colony of mutants! They’ve got to be experts in mutant physiology.”

“So we damn the city we don’t know instead of the one we know?”, Luna said.

“You’re being awfully pessimistic about this,” Tim said.

“It’s just my way, sweet thing,” Luna responded. She sighed. “If you want to bring her along I can’t stop you. Just realize what you’re stepping into. The Theater will be dogging our heels non-stop. They’ll send circuit break after circuit break. Assassins. Cold-blooded servants like I was…”

“Luna’s right,” Katrina added. “They will not stop. We will have to be ruthless towards whatever they send. But I will help in you every way I can. It’s the least I owe you.”

“Not to mention the Norns and the Controllers,” Luna continued. “They may come en masse and overwhelm us. They’ve never done that to the best of my knowledge, but I wouldn’t rule it out. They might even open up the Splatterpits…”

“Alright! I get it! Enough!”, Tim stressed. “Whatever they send, I’ll be ready. We’ll be ready. Besides, I don’t think they’ll even have a chance to touch us. As soon as the Driver finished with Broken Haiku, we’re off to Avalon.”

“Indeed we are,” said a familiar voice. Tim and Luna jumped at the sudden intrusion. Katrina bared her teeth and looked ready for a fight.

“Did I startle you? I apologize,” the Driver said, his attitude was somber and shiftless. Whatever had happened in the back with Haiku could not have gone well.

“What’s the answer from Haiku?”, Tim asked. “When does the Great Reconstruction begin?”

The Driver sighed. “The Great Reconstruction died with my foolish beliefs, if it even had any chance at all. The data is gone forever.”

Tim’s mouth hung open. “Oh. I’m sorry, Driver. It must have been hard to find that out.”

“I have known that for some time, Fitzgerald. I just did not believe it until Haiku lifted the blinders from my eyes,” the Driver said, staring sadly down at the table. “I have been used all these years. By a pair of malcontents that called themselves ‘The Shadows’. I was a tool for them to keep the mutant population down. Nothing more.”

“Maybe these ‘Shadows’ have your lost data, then,” Luna offered.

“No, it is over. I have engineered the slaughter of thousands and I am accountable. We will go to Avalon. I shall be judged by the precious few I managed to save.”

Silence reigned between them before Tim finally spoke up. “So, I guess it’s time to go then.”

*     *     *

The cowboy watched the four leave the Cup O’ Jonah from his booth in the corner. So the Ascendant had finally sought out the failure. He could capture them both right now. And slaughter that accursed Fitzgerald where he stood. The pleasure he would derive from it would be immeasurable.

But this…an entire colony of mutants? Was it even true? This bared further investigation and study. He would have to postpone the Ascendant’s capture until later. He would follow the Driver to Avalon. And when he found it, he would bring the Theater of Pain to it in full force. Nothing would be denied Brimstone Love.

Nothing.

NEXT ISSUE: A great big fight! The Hellfire Club comes to Halo City and the X-men stand ready. But how can a few mutants defeat an entire army?



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