Blood On My Hands
What if Wolverine Had Led the X-men?
By Adam Bourret/Evil Pickerel
Proffesor Charles Xavier furrowed his brow and adressed his X-men. "My
students," he began, "Cyclops is no longer an X-man, he prefers to tred his
own path without us. And in wake of his departure I have decided that Storm
is to lead the X-men."
The Watcher listened to the words from across the multiverse. His empty
eyes glittered in thought, his gloved hand scratched his hairless chin.
"What if ....."
%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
Prolouge
"And in wake of his departure I have decided that Wolverine is to lead the
X-men. Wolverine, now it is you in charge of this team."
Wolverine beamed in pride, "thanks Chuck."
"You're welcome."
The next evening Logan called a meeting in the war room. As all slid into
their seats Logan examined the smiling faces of his friends around him. He
spoke.
"I been readin Chuck's case files," he said, "an I don't think we're havin
much impact."
"What do you mean by "impact"" asked Storm.
"We're going too soft Ororo, bad guys are gettin away laughin!"
"Actually herr Logan," Nightcrawler said logically, "I don't think our
most recent failures have anything to do with functioning as a team."
"It has everything to do elf," Logan replied, "we need to toughen up,
we're only using half our power here."
Colossuss spoke, "so you are suggesting that we "turn up the dial" so to
speak?"
"Exactly Petey."
"I am forced to disagree," said the proffesor.
"So am I" added Storm.
"I'm with Wolverine on this one," Angel commented, "we should be doing
better. We've been acting like a cork used to plug a dam."
"So you believe our objective of peace will be enough to paradox this new
and more violent approach?" the proffesor seemed troubled at the thought.
"Fraid not Chuck but it is gonna keep people like Magneto in check."
"And increase the population of anti-hero mutants," Peter added, "But I am
with you on this comrade."
"Me too," Kitty piped.
"I am with you Herr Logan."
Xavier turned his eyes to Storm. "Are you with them Ororo."
She looked troubled. "I do not know, Wolverine makes sense but you're
dream is more ideal than his plan."
"And much more impossible I am afraid," Xavier frowned. "I will not judge
you my children. I see logic in Logan's plan as well."
"As do I," Storm surrendered. Nightcrawler produced a bottle of wine and
several glasses.
"Now men friends," he said trying to lighten the mood, "shall we drink to
our new approach." The glasses were passed, filled and lifted. Kitty
readied a camera.
"To all races," Charles proclaimed.
"Ta good friends," Logan added.
"To comrades ..."
"And new dreams."
*CLINK* *CLICK*
And so they drank to their own doom.
Chapter One
Nearly seven years later, the tunnels beneath New York
Logan held the photograph in his hand examining the happy faces and lifted
glasses. He remembered the exact feeling, smell, sight and sound of the
picture when it was taken. It was a new beginning for him. Wolverine,
leader of the X-men.
How could it go so wrong?
His thoughts were interupted by a knock at his cabin door. Climbing off
the bed he walked across the near empty room and opened the door.
"Logan, you look like death warmed over lad."
Logan examined himself quickly. He looked very ragged. Whatever of his
body not covered by his boxers and undershirt showed several scrapes and
ragged scars. He inhaled and spoke.
"Go back to bed Sean, whatever it is we can talk about it in the morning."
"Aye but it is morning lad, yer getting to be such a ragged old man."
"What time is it?"
"Nine thirty three boyo."
"Then, the new recruits are here?"
"They are."
"Take me to them."
"Aye." Wolverine stepped barefoot into the dirty tunnel and followed his
comrade down the hall. At times having Banshee as his lieutenant commander
was a bad thing. At times Sean could annoy him or make him angry. But
despite of all these factors, Sean had stuck with him when others had
abandonded him. He was as close as Logan could get to a friend now.
The tunnel ended in a large room, formally a subway stop and now a sealed
off meeting room. The room was occupied by a single lit subway car and five
of the six mutants he had drafted into the X-men.
The west door of the room was boarded up. It was here that the new
recruits would arrive. The massive mutant known as Sunder blocked the door
menacingly. When the Sentinels had ransacked the tunnels back when the
Morlocks lived in them Sunder alone had surrvived. When Logan and Banshee
arrived there they nursed him to health and made him their first recruit.
Their second recruit sat in the center of the room mantaining a campfire.
This was the mutant Torch. When Sunder had found and recruited her she had
been nothing more than a sadistic punk nicknamed "Flambe." Her mutant power
allowed her complete protection against flame. She frequently ingested it
and spit it out again in battle. A gust of air doused her meager campfire.
She swore and started it again.
The gust had come from the rafters where Pteronodon flew. The pink
dinosaur like mutant had been located and drafted by Banshee after her
original team of Avengers rejects were murdered by the Sentinels.
Originally weak and raw she became Banshee's pupil and eventually a warrior
worthy of Wolverine himself.
A second gust yielded a yell from on top of the subway car. There the
young mutant called Bomblast sat trying to moderate the energy levels of his
energy suit. Logan watched the mutant in grief as he thought of the
circumstances in which he joined. Originally spurning his current leader
Bomblast was kidnapped by a Sentinel in possesion of a machine called the
Hypercharger. The machine pumped the mutant's energy talent to such a high
level that it leveled an entire city killing hundreds along with his wife.
Now free Bomblast was forced to be cybernetically attached to a clumsy
cybersuit to be able to control his mutant energy. The suit offered him
much pain and only a little control.
The fourth member of Logan's crew was sitting against the south wall
humming an inuit tune to herself. This was Snowbird, one of the two non-
mutant member of the team. Following the death of their previous team in
the now infamous Liberty Battle she and her husband Puck fled to the sewers
to find their old teamate. He found them and drafted them into his private
army.
Sunder grunted at his leader's approach and pulled the boards off the west
door. The empty doorway revealed Puck, the team's dwarven member followed
by four other unrecognizable mutants.
Puck cleared his throat and then spoke. "These mutants are what I managed
to find."
Wolverine lowered his eyebrows, "you were gone for three months."
"Ain't exactly easy eh?" Puck snapped, "trying to find mutants that are
actually alive."
Wolverine gestured at the four. "Who are they?"
"This here is Wildside," Puck began pointing at a wing-tipped white haired
mutant. "He can warp imagination. The red haired girl doesn't have a
codename and won't tell her real one, I just call her Sparkplug, she's got
heat blasts. This young man calls himself Slider, total control over
friction and this guy here," he gestured towards a massive mutant that
appeared to be made of grape jell-o. "Well, he just told me to call him
George."
Logan nodded gruffly to them. "Hope you know what yer gettin into."
"We do old man, I'm ready for this," Wildside said.
"I am as well," was George's comment. Logan snorted at the rookies and
then called the others to his attention. While his lieutenants lined up in
front of him Logan introduced the rookies to the veterans.
"New orders troops," he rasped, "Puck and Snowbird, take these rookies to
the Danger Room and start their training. I want a report on each of them
in two hours." Puck and Snowbird nodded and took their leave, motioning for
the rookies to follow.
"As for the rest of you, I think we're gettin too unstructured. He nodded
to Sunder, who went inside the boxcar and came out carrying a state of the
art portable computer system. Logan tapped a few buttons. The three
screens lit up showing images of former battles.
"We're getting too big to go together as a team," he continued, "after I
get the 411 on the rookies Banshee and I are gonna be divided you into coded
units. The units will probably be bout three or four members each."
Torch spoke first, "But what about .."
Logan waved her off, "questions later."
"But .."
"Later!"
She stalked off and spoke in a voice just loud enough to hear. "Questions
later, that was always yer X-men's motto wasn't it?" The sentence ended
with a screech as Logan tackled her. His claws pressed to her throat.
"WHAT did you say?"
"Nuthing."
"WHAT DID YOU SAY ABOUT THE X-MEN?"
Banshee laid his hand on Logan's shoulder. "Ere now old man, back to bed
fer ye."
Logan shot him a look and pushed his hand away. He left the chamber.
"Logan?"
"What."
"It's me, Narya, I have the reports on the recruits."
"Come in."
Narya entered and faced him. He supposed that, compared to an arctic
avatar, he looked pretty grungy. His voice was a gruff snarl. "Well?"
Narya sifted through the papers she had in her hand and began to read
orally. "The mutant called Wildside shows ferocity and rough potencial. He
chooses not to use his actual power and instead fights with the poison
tipped claws he is equipped with. In battle he is raw, vicious,
uncoperative and unpredictable.
The mutant known as Sparkplug is the second most promising of the
recruits. She is fully able to launch both heat blasts and heat shields and
is fully invulnerable to her own heat. However she too has a more vicious
nature and has never practiced on control the heat and power of her attacks.
In battle she is only useful in "shoot to kill" situations for a short time
before her control diminishes.
The mutant known as Slider is practically combat useless. He is nowhere
near his prime and has never been trained in proper fighting skill. However
in situations which involve barricading and escape he could be useful.
The mutant known as George has renamed himself "Glob" and is the most
practical and useful rookie. He is nearly in full control of his body and
uses himself ruthlessly and logically in combat situations."
She handed him another paper. "This is a power graph of their combat
ratings. Shall I fetch Banshee?"
He nodded. "Get Puck too and stay for the meeting yerself. I need some
help on this."
"I and my husband are glad to be of service Logan."
"Thanks kid."
Chapter Two
The following evening the X-men and the rookies assembled in the lobby
area. Logan stood atop the boxcar at a self made podium. Banshee, Snowbird
and Puck stood beside him.
Logan cleared his throat and spoke. "To start off I'd like to introduce a
new member." A woman appeared at the south door. "The lady's name is
Moondragon, she's going to act as a telepathic communicator that'll link us
all up during missions. Try yer best to welcome her aboard." Moondragon
took her place among the X-men ignoring all her new teammates. Logan
cleared his throat again.
"And now fer the the new structure," he began, "we've decided to divide
the X-men into three teams of four. The teams will be named Weopon X, X-
squad and X-force. Banshee leads Weopon X, Puck's his second, Snowbird and
Bomblast are on as well. I'm the leader of X-squad, Slider, Pteranodon and
Wildside are all with me. I'm also co-leader of X-force with Sunder.
Torch, Sparkplug and Glob are all with him. Wolverine's lieutenants looked
upset and started objecting. Logan silenced them.
"Everyone except Puck, Banshee, and Snowbird are dismissed. The solidiers
nodded and took their leave. Wolverine turned to his friends.
"I know, this isn't what we planned, ta jam all the rookies on full duty
teams and cage you up in a single strike force." He breathed out, hoping
this wouldn't come out wrong, "but the fact is I've deemed you all too
humane to be on the other teams."
"What? Have ye gone mad boyo?"
"No, I've gone realistic. I care about you all, I'm not letting what
happened to the first X-men happen to you. I'm going to train the others
kiddies to be killers. They're gonna be evil bub pure evil. I wan't them
out there blowing up sentinels, murderin their makers, the whole nine
yards."
"Are you insane?" Puck gasped.
"Mabye I am dwarf," he replied, "but the only way to fight killers now is
killers. Peace won't work anymore. The sentinels are too powerful, too
bloodthirsty. The others are both useful and expendable."
"X-men are not killers," Snowbird said sternly.
"Mabye not dead X-men," he shot back, "I don't care about these people,
they're sadistic and blood-driven. If you think you can stop them. Forget
it. Now here's your choice, stay or go."
"We are yer friends boyo, we won't desert you." The other two nodded.
"Good." They still looked a little stunned. He sighed heavily. "Fer
what it's worth bubs keep this in mind. The blood's gonna be on my hands
and theirs, not yours, remember that."
When Logan finished the statement his former comrades regarded him with
untrustworthy looks. Havok spoke first.
"How do you expect us to believe you old man," he said, the Summers temper
flaring inside him.
"Ya don't," Wolverine replied, "I ain't gonna lie to you Summers. The X-
men are dead, the Sentinels are rampagin cross the whole bloody world."
"And whose fault is that?"
"Alex," Lorna Dane's eyes were wild and worried.
"Mine," Logan's voice was pained but accepting, "I coulda lead the X-men
better if I'd killed all of em myself."
"And instead Logan-san," Sunfire gestured to the headless montrosity that
was once the Statue of Liberty, "you chose this."
"I didn't choose it Hiro, I didn't think I could make that bigga mistake."
"But ye did lad," Banshee's voice wavered in the breeze.
"Got that right," Logan snapped, "the new X-men, the Liberty Battle, the
Purple Siege all my fault. I got the blood of hundreds of friends and
mutants on my hands now bub, and I'll be damned if I die leaving a world
like this behind."
"So you think repeating the past will ensure the safety of mutants in the
future," Alex was angry now, angry and vicious.
"Yeah."
"And why boyo," Banshee challenged.
"Because Irish, violence and harm didn't work back in the good ol' days.
Naw that ain't right, it worked too good. So good that it managed ta make
the world the same way. I've already screwed this world. The only thing I
can do now is keep on goin. Keep on hitting the Sentinels hard and wipin em
out completely."
"That will not change the world Logan-san."
"But it'll at least give it a break. That's why you're all here. I need
lieutenants to help me find and train angry young mutants. Use their anger
against the Sentinels. Whaddya say X-men?"
"You try it once and you'll try it again old man," was Alex's reply, "and
everyone on the planet is gonna fall deeper and deeper into you're damn
hole."
"Polaris."
"I'm standing by my husband on this one Logan, you're on your own. I'm
sorry."
"Sunfire?"
"I will not be a part of your mess Logan-san."
"Banshee."
Sean looked trapped. He looked at the empty faces of the others and then
at Logan's full of pride and guilt. What else is there for me to do? he
thought Moira's dead now ye bloody fool, who ya gonna run home crying to
now? He bowed his head in submission. "I'll do it Logan, but I'll be
damned to hell if I help ye doom the X-men again."
"I remember saying those words two years ago Logan, I hadn't forgotten em,
I never will."
"I know Sean," Logan's voice echoed in the darkened room. "That's why I
created Weopon X, so you won't have to take part in the killing. Only the
heroics."
"Heroics compared to what?" Bomblast's voice was hollow and emotionless,
generated from thought waves voiced by a throat computer. "You wan't us to
stand and look pretty while you and your brood kills everyone in sight."
"I'm sorry but yeah that's about it."
"I do not agree with this," Snowbird said, "my husband and I came on this
team with clean conciouces. We will not watch as others die, enemy or
otherwise."
"I'm with her Logan," Puck's voice was soft.
"Then leave," Wolverine rasped, "go back to you're empty country and
you're dead friends. Go cry on Mac's grave and watch this whole unravel.
At least we will have done something."
"But what will ye have done lad?" Banshee sounded timid, "will ye have
saved the world or destroyed it?"
"We'll have done neither, you know that," Logan's voice was harsh, "but
we'll have least put down the Sentinels."
"And endanger human and mutant alike without them?" Snowbird asked, "the
power on each unit is immense, a single battle could endanger hundreds of
lives."
"Then my hands'll just get redder," Logan whispered, "they'll look to you
as heroes, and we'll take all the crosses."
"Ye don't care about those lives?" Banshee asked, "the Sentinels strike
and kill more mutants, the mutants strike back and kill more humans. What
will ye do when a million souls are on your back lad?"
"I don't care anymore Sean, my decisions have wasted hundreds of lives.
Some say I'm a tyrant and some say I'm a savior. I don't care what they
say, I'm gonna wipe out the Sentinels. And I know you'll help me. What can
you say X-men? What choice do you have."
"What indeed?" asked Snowbird, her voice as cold as arctic ice.
Chapter Three
From far away Eric Magnus Leensheer, the mutant master of magnestism
watched the TV screens before him with morbid fascination. Only a week
after Logan had envieled his new plans, the X-men had taken the world by
storm. On screen one Sparkplug released a blast of hot energy blowing a
robot to pieces in Phnom Penth. Screen two showed Banshee's sonic scream
puncturing two clean holes in an attacking sentinel in Albertville. Screen
four showed Torch setting fire to a crowd of terrorists in Greece. The
other screens were very much the same, Pternodon butchering a group of
russian anti-mutant skinheads, Sunder snapping the spine of an african homo
sapien demonstrator, Bomblast blowing a austrailian Sentinel factory to
ashes, Wolverine running from a pile of dead Sentinel factory workers. "How
could they accomplish so much in so little time?" he wondered aloud.
"Moondragon is with them," from the shadows behind him the demi-god Thanos
stepped, the glittering time, reality and soul gems nodding proudly on his
forehead. At the end of the leash he carried was a massive green monster,
the strength gem imbedded firmly in the rabid beast's forehead. "She had
stolen the gems of mind and space from me before our partenership came to
pass. Wolverine must have been the only refuge she could find from me."
"And now she is acting as a teleporter and communicator for his personal
murderers." He paused to watch Sparkplug reduce a chinese crime lord to a
skeleton. "Oh Logan you have fell so very far."
"I have come to announce my oribtal station is now cloaked and ready. It
will serve as an excellent base for our own little strike force."
"Excellent, where is M-tron?"
"Already on the shuttle and ready to go."
"What about the skrulls?"
"Don't worry. Our third partner did his job quite well."
"The station's monitoring systems?"
"Working excellently."
"Good, shall we be off then?"
"Yes we shall."
They both dissapeared in the tingle of a transporter beam.
Wolverine rubbed his eyes as the green spots faded from his eyes and he
beheld the desert formerly known as Cairo around him. The place brought
back memories he would rather forget. Behind him X-squad fanned out across
the sandy desert. Slider held a portable cerebro in his hand. All were
dressed in the traditional X-uniform except that the blue was now black and
the yellow changed to red.
"Mutant battle is going on twenty clicks east of us Wolverine," he said.
"Get moving," Logan replied, "neutralize everyone in the battle, yer free
ta kill anyone whose usin deadly force. "
"And you?" asked Wildside.
"Go on ahead of me, there's something I gotta do here first."
"Suit yourself." X-squad began moving across the sand. Ten footsteps
later they could see that the nearby village was clearly aflame. Shrieks
came from within.
"Get em X-squad," Wildside shouted. The mutants dashed into the streets
sliding across the now glassy floor Slider had created. Within seconds they
had located the problem.
In the very center of the village they counted at least ten mutants
gunning down the locals and destroying the buildings. All wore form fitting
body suits and were bald headed. They shouted to each other in drunken
voices and adressed each other as numbers.
"Number 33, man with gun go east!" the central mutant shouted. He unlike
any others of this brood wore drak red sunglasses. He lifted them
momentarily. A bright red light shot from his eyes slicing a statuesque
wood carving neatly in half.
"Me got him 61!" 33 shouted in a scottish sounding accent. She pounced on
the running man and bit his throat.
"61! More muties! They not mutates!" a purple eyed mutant numbered 85
pointed at the hidden X-squad. "I smell their minds!" her voice was thick
and british.
"Good work 56!" A blast of hot red energy blew apart the shed that
concealed X-squad.
"Damn, we'be been made," shrieked Wildside, "take them all down!"
"Mutates," shouted Slider, "what does that mean?"
"Mutates very good resource in Genosha," yelled an incoming mutant
labelled 82, "make good profit, sell dead muties to Doom." The mutate
slammed into Slider and surprising bounced off the squad member's chest
knocking him backward. The bouncing mutate flipped backward with ease in a
rush of small globes of coloured energy.
Five mutates had now ceased their attacks on the village and were running
towards X-squad. Wildside made a quick study of them. The wolf-girl, the
bouncing boy, a monster sized indian named 55, a female coded 908 who
wielded some sort of green energy field and a male mutant completely purple
in color. With a scream of rage, he rushed to meet the attacking mutates.
Chapter Four
"So this is where they put ya eh?" Wolverine stared at the lone tombstone
sitting in the middle of an empty desert accompanied by a boquet of long
dead flowers. "You were right Ororo, you were right in disagreeing, right
in quittin. I'm so sorry you wound up here." His thoughts turned back to
the tombstone. It made him remember old times ...
"I'm leaving Logan,"
Wolverine jerked his head around and dropped the weight he was lifting.
"What?"
Her eyes were sad but defiant. The grey somber overcoat she wore matched
the night weather outside. "I'm sorry Logan, but you've gone too far."
"Ororo, I know you took this hard but .."
"The others trust you, they'll aid you in tommorrow's battle. They never
saw him die."
"Ororo, don't?"
"It's too late to argue Logan, my mind is made up." The alcohol in his
system was making the bedroom swirl. Ororo's face was unchanging, the same
deep color of the wineglass beside him.
"Baby?" he whispered, trying to force rational thoughts from his mouth.
"Goodbye Logan." The wedding band slipped from her finger and landed with
a faint splash in the chardonnay. He drunkenly watched the ripples it
made.
"Oh Gawd baby, no, no." He lifted his head, the doorway was open, she had
left him. Releasing a roar of frustration he threw the glass against the
wall. It shattered staining the sheets of the bed. He scooped up the
bottle that lay filled almost to capacity on the floor. Almost an hour
later he grabbed a communicator.
"Fuzzy elf?"
"Right here mein herr."
"Ready the team."
"Why"
"We're going to retake the statue of liberty." The bottle lay empty as
Logan stormed from the room.
"SHREEEEEKKKK!" Pteronodon flew forward batting the wolf-girl from her
sight with razor sharp wings. The other mutates had abandonded the area and
were moving in to other parts of the village. The three X-men were alone
with their five attackers.
"Wildside, I have them off their feet. Attack!" Slider's power made the
ground slippery as new ice. The purple man, the green energy woman and the
indian fell. The bouncing boy lept into the air. Pteronodon flew up and
clipped him before he could descend.
"Attack yourself boy! This rover chick is all mine!" Wildside lunged at
the wolf-girl and smacked her with his claws. She pounced again, knocking
him over and then flew up as he lift-kicked her off him. Before she could
regain her footing he was upon her, biting and clawing.
"Pteronodon, help!" Slider's power was losing it's effects as the mutates
regained their stances. The pink skinned mutant responded and dived right
into the propelled fist of mutate 55. She crumpled back as 85 secured
Slider in a grasp of green energy. The purple mutate advanced. Wildside
was still tearing at the wolf girl and Pterondon was wandering dazed.
*Moondragon, help me!*
*The purple man has some sort of mental power Slider, you've got to break
free!*
*I'll try, I UKK* Moondragon felt the mental comlink click off in her
head.
"Damn"
On the battlefield the green energy receded around Slider, his face an
empty stare. "You mine now mutie," whispered the purple man, "get that
genejoke!"
"I will get him." Slider raised his hands and suddenly the ground under
Wildside was glassy and smooth. As Wildside took a tumble the beaten and
bloody wolf girl started running across the village street panicked by the
pain. Pteranodon cut her off sliding a bladed wing across her neck, then
sprialing up to dodge a green blast of energy.
Wildside found himself knocked forward by the recovered bouncing mutant
and then punched back by 55. The bouncer rebounded off a tree and struck
him again, knocking him on his side. *Moondragon, we're gonna need some
help here hurgh!" He was cut off as the big indian booted him from his path
and charging at the landing Pteronodon flanked by mutate 85 and the purple
man.
*Sunder,* Moondragon's psionic whisper echoed in the X-men's heads, *ready
X-force for an on the spot teleport attack.*
*Gotcha.*
*Wolverine, your team is in danger!*
Chapter Five
*I'm on it Moondragon.* Wolverine began moving swiftly across the sands.
At the gate of the village he was suddenly blocked by a menacing feral
figure. Though it was made up like the other mutates Wolverine recognized
his foe instantly.
"Wild Child?"
"Me be 45 genejoke, you be dead!" The feral man lunged forward screaming
and tasted Wolverine's adamantium fist.
"Gotta be you, still as sloppy as ever." Wolverine landed a kick to the
mutate's chin sending him falling backwards. *Moondragon, you seein this?*
*Indeed, a breed of mutants brainwashed to be like robots. They are being
used to eradicate humans.*
"Great, bloody spectacular!" Wolverine judo flipped the incoming mutate
and retracting his claws. The mutate rolled over putting five bloody
streaks down Logan's chest. "Argghhh!" Wild Child ducked his claws and
came up with an uppercut that knocked Wolverine down. Logan could feel hot
blood trickling down his face. He twisted as the mutate pounced tripping
him at the ankle. Wild Child toppled foreward. SLIT, his claws punctured
the mutate's head. He struggled to a standing position.
The mutate lay in the snowy sand face down. Blood was trickling out
staining the frost bright red. Wolverine looked in wonder at the blood
vessels that stained his claws. He had killed the mutate and it was not
even in control of itself.
With a grunt he fled into the village.
Wildside was groggy to the point where he felt drunk. He could see
Pteronodon caught in the female's green web recieving punch after punch from
55. He was almost thankful when Slider struck him over the head with a tree
branch and knocked him out cold. The purple man ran to Pteronodon.
"55, you hit Slidey-one, pink genejoke will make much better slave."
Slider stood stock still until 55's fist connected with his head. He went
out just as the purple man's control was transferred from him to
Pteronodon.
The mutate was short, fast and labelled with the number 103. Wolverine
ducked and swerved trying to avoid the punches his opponent threw as he
circled him in a whirlwind. A fantastically massive mutate named 2024 was
heading towards them. Wolverine stuck out his foot. The superspeeder ran
right across it and jacknifed into the air. But it was too late to prevent
an attack from 2024, whose massive fist swept Logan aside like a kewpie
doll. Wolverine crashed through a hut and out the other side. He smelled
blood even before he cleared his vision. The sight he saw was anything but
controlled.
X-force had arrived resplendant in their gold and black uniforms and
seemed to be causing more damage than good. The wolf-girl lay off to one
side, torn to death by Pteronodon and Wildside. The big indian was engadged
in a fist fight with Sunder. Pteronodon flew above the fallen Wildside and
Slider dodging waves of heat thrown by Sparkplug. Flambe had established a
central position, breathing flame wherever the battle was hottest. Glob had
stretched out to encircle the courtyard trapping the other four mutates in
his powerful skin. Wolverine moved to join the fray but was knocked aside
by the now arriving 103. 2024 was not far behind.
"Wolverine!" Sunder shouted smacking his fists across the indian mutate's
face. "This guy fight bad, me beat him! Now what?"
"Get the big one Sunder, leave Tonto to me!" They exchanged places in the
battlefield. Wolverine finished off his opponent in seconds. A wave of
fire set the fallen mutate aflame. "Torch?"
"That Moonwitch told us bout these baldies. Murdering em strikes me as a
good thing!" There was no time to meditate on that thought.
"Wolverine!" shouted Glob, "this purple one does not seem to exhibit any
power, perhaps he is responsible for Pteronodon's URGHKK!!" Glob screamed
as he suddenly turned inside out, forced into the position by a loophole of
energy from the female mutate. The four rushed free of their prison. The
female redirected her power on Sparkplug, the other three ran towards the
center.
"Torch, toast the purple one," Wolverine jumped the incoming superspeeder
and dropkicked him into a tree.
"Knew ya had it in ya boss!" A fireball struck the chest of the purple
mutate. He died with an unearthly screech. Pteronodon suddenly stopped
flying and then turned and attacked 2024.
"Need some help here!" Sparkplug was instantly snared in the green energy
grip.
"Somebody get to her!" Wolverine was otherwise occupied trying to keep
the bouncing mutate under control.
"I have this one Wolverine," Glob said in a slurry speech, disoriented as
he was he caught the mutate easily in his skin. "What do you want done to
him?"
"Hold him there. Torch give Sparkplug a hand!"
"Im trying, she's got some sorta shield." Torch was cut off as Sunder
suddenly became airborne and collided with her.
"Dumb mutie," 2024 shouted punching Pteronodon from the sky, "the more you
hit the stronger I get! Now you all die!"
"No thank-you," Glob's purple skin suddenly encompassed 2024's body, "this
way you die quite painlessly." Glob swiviled his head to see 103 running
back to the center. "Hey! This one's going for Wolverine!"
"No he's not!" The ground was again turned glassy and 103 was thrown
forward and out of the circle. This time his head connected with the
support pole of a hut, bringing the entire structure down upon him.
"Good work Slider!"
"I didn't mean to kill him, I .."
"Forget that, help Sparkplug!"
The green energy mutate slipped on the now glassy surface and landed head
first on a purple patch of skin made superthick by Glob. Sparkplug was
released gasping, she collapsed. Glob slid his gelly fingers over the
fallen warriors' pulses. "They are both out cold Wolverine, I believe the
two in my skin have suffocated."
"Good. Eject em and come on, there are still two mutates left .. ARGGH!"
The red blast caught him in the neck knocking him face first into the sand.
"You killed our mutants," shouted 61, "serious offence. Now you become
like them. 85!" The female mutate's head seemed to glow in a strange
winglike shape. The remaining X-men collapsed in seizures as she attacked
their minds.
"My God," whispered Wolverine, "Scott?"
"I am not Scott, I am 61, you resist 85's power, you will be useful."
"Then it's true, they wiped out your brain, controlled your actions. The
bastards!" Logan lunged forward claws outstretched. The clumsy mutates had
no time to react to his fury. In seconds they were but corpses littering
the ground. "Bastards," he whispered again.
*Wolverine.*
*What?*
*Are you quite done?*
He swore, *yeah, bring me and the others home, grab a mutate as well, we
can study it.*
*As you wish.*
The bloody scene before him dissapeared in a shower of green dots.
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