Alternate X-Men #57
Michael Triggs at TRIGGS_M@bentley.edu
===================

Cover : The X-Men are in the background, in black and white. In the
        foreground stand the members of the Psionex, including
        Night Thrasher, Rage, Impulse, Pretty Persuasions, and Coronary.
        The Psionex face some figure in a purple shawl, the faces of the
        Psionex illuminated a dull red.

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Top Of Page    : In Blue Letters : "Goodbye X-Men : Enter The Psionex!!"
Bottom Of Page : In Red Letters  : "Red Light On The Crossing <Part 1>"
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Title : Who's Watching The Psionex??

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@ Prelude @
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It -could- be any house in America. A kid sits in front of the television.
His eyes dilate, as he sits entranced by the television:

<"Teenage Mutant Snooper Turtles">

He switches the channel, clicking at the remote.

<"Mighty Watchin' Power-Peerers">

He yawns, clicking the television off. Suddenly elated, the child speaks 
outloud to himself.

"I know! I bet there's something interesting on the radio!"

He walks over to the radio, clicking it on.

<"Eye'm The Man" by Anthrax plays loudly.>

"Nope. Been there. Heard that."

He tunes his radio to a different frequency.

<"Eye Am Eye" by Queensryche comes in rather weakly>

He clicks the radio off, angrily.

"Dammit! The reception out here sucks!! I'm so bored!!! There's nothing to
 do!!"

>From another room, a nagging, motherly voice cries out.

Voice : OH YES THERE IS SOMETHING TO DO, YOUNG MAN!! DON'T YOU HAVE A
        PROJECT TO FINISH FOR YOUR ALTER-DIMENSIONAL HISTORY CLASS??

Child : But Mom! Alter-Dimensional History is soooo BORING!

Voice : No excuses, young man. Nobody ever said education was fun. Now, get
        off your butt, and get to work, or no supper tonight.

The Child suddenly disappears in a flash of light, muttering curses under his
breath as he leaves.

<fadeout on a family picture sitting on the mantle. The people in the picture
 seem a little, well - bald>

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***END PRELUDE***
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-\@/-
_/@\_
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@ Introduction @
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Scene : The Moon
----------------

Largely abandoned, on its darker half, an ancient structure remains etched into
the moon's face. His name has been largely lost to time. He was once called
Uatu. Now he goes by another name : The Watcher. Calm and expressionless, he
stands. His stare pierces through the walls of this comic book, and out to you.

"I am the Watcher. There was a time when my race was mortal. When we acted..
 Our actions caused the downfall of an entire society.. Marred by our mistakes,
 we no longer act.. It is simply too painful for us.. All we can do now is
 watch.. By not acting, we cannot be blamed for all the countless violence that
 happens from one end of infinity to the other."
                                         
Scene : New Jersey
==================

An Image : New Jersey. The waterfront looms in the background. A chilled wind
blows in from the river, bringing in more in than just a cold breeze. From one
building to the next, a cloaked figure leaps, quickly and silently. His brown
hair blows in his face, as he perches upon a nearby building. A single red eye
stares out through the darkness.

<The Watcher>

"Nathaniel Essex lives in his secrecy. Yet his entire life is no secret to me.
Even hiding in the body of another, his every whim is known to me. And complex
whims they are.. Usually. However, tonight, he is simply on a supply run. You
see, Essex creates people. And people supplies aren't easy to come by.."

An Image : Essex stares at the damaged ruins of Genetech, which lies just
across the road below him..

Essex <peering down> : Hm, it seems that the government managed to beat me to
the "supermarket", and steal my supplies.. Hm, despite all the red tape, it 
looks like they managed to do something quickly and efficiently for a change
oh well.. My loss.. I suppose I'll have to go elsewhere..

Essex stares down from his perch, in the direction of the remains of Genetech.
He sees figures moving about, digging through the dirt. Curiously, he leaps
from his ledge, skittering down the side of the building, to get a better look.

<The Watcher>

"It is said that curiosity kills the cat. However, Sinister is more than a 
 cat. He is panther. He smells oppurtunity. And when a panther becomes
 curious, the innocent lambs tend to die."
                                          
Image : Genetech, in New Jersey.. What remains of it, anyways, after being
        reduced to ashes<*>.. He digs through the rubble.. His casual street
        clothes ripped from work, he throws a pile of rubble down, and raises
        his large hand to his brow, wiping the sweat from his forehead..

(* Alternate X-Men #50  --Mike)

<The Watcher>

"His name is Elvin.. He has been working for twenty-four hours straight. As
Rage, he stands stronger than most mortal men.. However, with one of his
newly acquired teammates missing, as well as another close friend, he feels
only .. useless."

Suddenly, a hand-held radio, latched onto Elvin's belt, begins blaring..

"<<Taylor here. Have you had any luck on your end finding Mathy or Rosen?>>"

Elvin grabs the radio clumsily in his hands, beging careful not to smash the
thing with his grip.. His voice drops..

Elvin <over radio> : <<No.. There's no sign of them..>>

In another part of the ruins, sirens still blare.. Dwayne Taylor angrily
throws his radio against the remains of a wall.. It smashes into a million
pieces, short-circuiting..

<The Watcher>
                                                
"Dwayne Taylor : As Night Thrasher, a metallic avenger, he was once
a New Warrior. He was their leader, although never a team player. While off
doing his own thing, the other Warriors suffered a painful loss, that he may
have been able to prevent, had he been there. They kicked him out. Angry at
first, he sought to redeem himself, by being the leader to the Psionex that he
couldn't be for the New Warriors.. And now he can only wonder if he has failed 
again.. Has history repeated itself?"

Elsewhere, in the remains of Genetech, three figures take shovel in hand,
digging through the remains the best they can. The expressions on their faces
show their exhaustion. It has been a long day.

Role Call : 

+ Pretty Persuasions has looked prettier, the dirt and grime from all the
  uplifting of rubble soils her arms and legs and face. Scantily clad, and
  apparently quite <<cold>>, she hammers her first into the dirt, tossing the 
  shovel away in frustration.

+ James was once just a medical student. He then became the victim of a
little genetic experimentation. His form deteriorated. His natural human beauty
permanently shattered. James died, and the being known as Coronary appeared in
his place. Within the last two weeks, Dr. Walter Rosen has been able to reverse
the genetic mutation to some degree, making Coronary much more human-like. He
should be happy, but for some reason, he is not. His crystalline body reflects
the moonlight, as well as his misery.

+ Impulse stands, in a black and white suit, holding his mask in hand. It
served to block his emotions from outsiders. It masked the man underneath. Now,
with the masked removed, the anger echoes from his face.

<The Watcher>

"They are the Psionex. They put their trust in a man called Night Thrasher.
 They have lost one of their own. Unlike the New Warriors, their thirst for
 revenge is greater than their love for each other.. It will be this thirst
 which holds them together during tough times.. And the fireworks have only
 begun.. A simple case of mistaken identity will doom the life of another of
 them before the night is over.. I could stop this violence from happening with
 a snap of my fingers.. However, in the past, my race acted, and only made
 things worse.. So, I can only watch.."
                                          
"..As the events unfold."

Image : The remaining members of Psionex group out in front of the smouldering
remnants of what was for some of them, a home. Tired, and not knowing entirely
what to say, they stand, waiting for one of the others to talk. Coronary
stands, his unnatural form being being concealed from onlookers by a cloak.

Coronary : "We need to get Mr. Rosen back. He might be the only person who
            can return me to normal. Give me my life back."

<Night Thrasher remaining silent>

Pretty Persuasions <shivering intensely from the cold> :  Lighten up, Jimmy.
Life sucks. It's not worth having.

Coronary : Just because your life sucks, don't assume they all do. I had a
chance to be something! They took that chance away from me. And right when
Rosen was on the verge of healing me, he goes and disappears, along with Mathy.

Impulse <clenching his fist> : This isn't about Mathy or Rosen. This is
personal. Somebody wrecked our house. We wreck them. It's that simple.

Night Thrasher finally speaks up. He wears his armor under a thick undercoat,
yet his helmet remains in his hands.

Night Thrasher : We -will- get revenge. But it will be on my time, Hubbard.
Just like your namesake, you act on impulse too much, and thought not enough.
Before we can avenge anybody, we need to figure out who did this. Anybody have
any big enemies they've made lately?

<The Watcher>

"Silence emerges between these young superhumans. Night Thrasher cringes in his
mind, knowing the only person guilty of having a lot of enemies is himself.
Little known to him, he is being watched. Is by a friend, foe, or somebody else
entirely? We already know the answer to that question."

-*-

>From behind a pile of rubble, his red stare breaks the night sky. He eyeballs
the young lady known as Pretty Persuasions, scantily clad in purple and black.
Sinister is his name.

Sinister <momentarily distracted> : It's amazing what climactic extremes these 
superheroines will endure simply for the sake of comeliness. They'd freeze 
before covering up their <cough> natural beauty.

Sinister, regaining his concentration, stares down at the entire group of
Psionex. A smile cracks upon the face, which isn't even his, as the red
energies in his visor crackle.

Sinister : Ah, perhaps I can make use of coming here after all. There is
unbridled anger coming from these young people. Probably caused by the
government function that beat me in stealing the genetic material here.. Now,
it's just a matter of redirecting the hatred towards another group..

Sinister leaps up from his hiding place, revealing the body of Scott Summers,
which he currently inhabits.

Sinister <running behind another damaged wall> : And when I wear the face of
this other group, I don't think this'll be a problem..

Sinister's glowing red eyes peer, forth, with the full intensity of hell
itself, ever-looking..

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@ Interlude @
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Scene : An X-Mansion.. Some other dimension..
=============================================

He sits up in a tree. The kid named Arnie watches something.. He also listens
to..

The clucking of chickens??

Image : Several Chickens go strutting by. One of them is dressed in a uniform
        similar to that of Cyclops. Another one is wearing a very Psylocke-like
        swimsuit. A third is wearing a tan and blue uniform similar to that of
        Jean Grey. The latter two chickens begin duking it out over the first
        Chicken, who suddenly launches a beam of red plasma from his eyes,
        trying to break up the two more feminine chickens from fighting.

"Cool!! This will score me an -A- on my X-Men paper without a doubt!!!"

Another voice suddenly pops out from a speaker on his jacket..

Voice : "Arnie! This is your mother! Didn't your teacher say that you had
         to study a human faction of X-Men????"

Arnie <rolling eyes> : But Mom!! Humans are so borrrring..

Voice : "No Buts! Get -your- butt to another dimension this minute!!"

Arnie disappears in a flash of light.

-*- 

Scene : Another Dimension - Inside The X-Mansion.. 

Arnie suddenly appears in a flash of light, inside an X-Mansion on another
reality. He is in a bedroom. 

Suddenly, two people come rushing into to the bedroom. Rogue looks back and 
forth, making sure the coast is clear, as Gambit runs in, with a bundle in his 
hands. The bundle moves. Gambit rips the bundle open, letting out a short green
chap.

Rogue speaks up : "Quick, sugah. Blindfold Leech, and stick 'em under the bed."

Arnie remains invisible to the prying eyes of the people currently in the room.

Arnie <elated> : Oh boy! I sure love voyeurism!! Woo! Woo!

Suddenly, the speaker on Arnie's jacket starts emitting noises.

Speaker : AutoCensor program in effect. By Watcher Statute #22, such
dimensional materials are inappropriate for somebody your age. Initiating
auto-dimensional transport.

With a sigh on his face, Arnie disappears in a flash of light..

-*-

Scene : A desolate wasteland.. A fierce battle takes place.. Several large
        robotic-constructs, radiating green with energy, seemingly as large
        as small buildings, ravage through the remains of a few buildings.
        
        In the street, a blonde-haired woman, wearing grey cloak over
        a blue uniform, is being attacked by one of the machines, the
        shape of which changing by the minute. It creates huge gun-like
        appendages, from within the technological mass of its body, and
        begins firing blasts of raw plasma, decimating everything in its
        path. The intense grinding of machinery blocks all noise out.
        
        Except for a single scream of another cloaked individual, well over
        six feet high.. The machinery-construct begins to vibrate, falling
        appart at the seams.. Only to restructure itself..
 
        From the shadows, Arnie watches, invisible to those he monitors..

Arnie : This is a cool reality!! Almost the end of the world!! Professor
        Beakman will eat this up.

The speaker on Arnie's jacket kicks in again :
                                    
<The speaker> : "Greetings, Arnie this is your professor. While I find 
                 this to be a very interesting reality, it is at slightly 
                 too late a date for you to do your report on it."

Arnie mutters, tapping his fingers : "It figures.."

<The speaker> : How's this --> I'll give you a hand. I'll teleport you to
                a dimension that might be appropriate for your report.

Arnie suddenly disappears in a flash of light. Judging from the expression
on his face, it sounds as if he was caught offguard.. 

-*-


Scene : The X-Mansion.. It lies, large parts of it being reduced to rubble..
        Arnie suddenly appears in a flash of light.. He watches the events
        as they unfold..

        Jean Grey, barely able to stand, points herself towards a camera..
        Her voice is barely audible, as she struggles to speak towards the
        camera.. Footsteps can be heard coming from the distance..

Jean Grey <hoarse> : Should have never trusted ..      

The footsteps from behind Jean Grey grow louder, as they echo through what
remains of the X-Mansion..

Arnie yawns, scratching his head..

Arnie <rolling eyes> : Oh come on! Everybody knows what happens next.. I
                       ain't doing my X-Men report on something BORING
                       like this!! There's gotta be some dimension where
                       the X-Men are doing something interesting!!!
 
<Arnie disappears in a flash of light> 

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@ End Interlude @
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Scene : Genetech - The Remains
==============================

Night Thrasher stares off towards a nearby pile of rubble, apparently
distracted, He holds his hand to his ear, dropping his helmet to the ground
with a loud clank. He mutters to the others, who have their eyes locked
on him.

"I could have sworn I heard something coming from over by that pile of 
 rubble. All this ruckus has gotten me all wound up and paranoid. I
 must be just imagining things.."

<a loud clanking>

Impulse pulls his white mask back over his head, running towards the pile
of rubble, suddenly a force sends him flying backward, causing him to land
face first into the rubble. Rage and Coronary help him up, as Night Thrasher
runs forward, with Pretty Persuasions lagging behind Thrasher. 

Night Thrasher [to Impulse] : What happened?

Impulse [a little shaken] : If that's just your imagination, then it's
                            definitely running away with you!

Pretty Persuasions bends over Impulse, looking towards Thrasher.

"Or maybe it would be better to say that it's running away -from- you."

She twists her head, pointing. In the distance, the shadowy figure of a 
man can be seen running back towards the river, into nearby New York.

Night Thrasher begins running, motioning the others to follow. He grabs
his helmet from the ground, placing it over his head.

"Maybe we should try and catch up with my 'imagination'. Whoeever that is,
 he might hold a clue to what happened here."

-*-

In the distance, the fleeting form of Sinister snickers under his breath, 
muttering words to himself:

"Go ahead. Chase after me. Superheroes nowadays are so predictable. This
'shoot first, ask questions later' philosophy they have will make it all
the easier to manipulate you into doing what I want you to do."

Sinister's words stop short, as does his movement. A loud crunch
rattles through the winter air, as the enigmatic Essex is stopped by
a large fist, that of red and black Night Thrasher. His voice echoes
through his face plate, twin turrets on his arms ready to strike:

Thrasher <peering at him to get a better look> : You better talk and talk
         quickly. What were you doing spying on us??

The eyes of Sinister begin to glow red. An intense streak of red energy
stream from his eyes, sending Night Thrasher flying about ten feet, tearing
his armour badly.

Sinister : My plans are so far beyond your understanding, that they're not
           even worth repeating.

Night Thrasher goes limp, being caught by Rage, who is lumbering behind
him slowly. Sinister, takes the oppurtunity to make a hasty retreat, 
the legs of the young body he is residing in moving him much faster than
that of his older body could have.*

[* Sinister's mind was implanted into Cyclops' body a few issues back -Mike]

The river comes into view, as Sinister leaps and bounds, a cold snow
just starting to fall collecting in the cracks of his trenchcoat. He
suddenly stops, clenching his hand to his heart, holding it in pain. 
Standing above him is the being known only as the Coronary, his crystalline
body apparently unaffected by the cold of the snow. There is an expression
rivalling that of Death himself on his face. 

Sinister <clenching> : This certainly was an unexpected twist of events.
                       However, I must really be going.

Sinister suddenly clutches his heart even harder, his breath becoming heavy
and irregular. The wind whistles over his breathing, as it knocks about a 
loose shingle, rattling against a dockhouse nearby.

Coronary <grimace on his face> : You're not going anywhere until you tell
me what happened to Rosen. He's my ticket to making me normal, and your
silence is your guilt.

Sinister <difficulty breathing, eyes flaring> : Why he's dead, of course. 

-- "How's this, You Can Join Him."

<Firing Optic Blast at Coronary>
                        
-*-

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@ Epilogue @
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<The Watcher>

"Amidst the darkness of this cold winter night, an intense red-light can
 be seen from above. People in airplanes passing overhead might mistake
 this for Christmas lights, however, it is in reality in the eyes of
 Death, blinking their despair in this season of hope. I am the Watcher,
 and we are witnessing the beginning of the end. It interests me how an
 act as simple as this can lead to the end of this world. However, I
 can do nothing to change it. I can only watch."
 
<The Watcher sits down on his easy chair.>

"After witnessing these events, it makes me glad that I can enjoy the
 solitude of my private abode on the mood, one of the few places in the
 universe where things still make sense."

<A sudden flash of light, and a small kid, wearing a funky jacket, and
 lacking hair on his head appears. He walks up to the Watcher, and slaps
 him five. The Watcher seems rather caught off-guard by this exchange.>

Arnie <To The Watcher> : Greetings, distant, extra-dimensional cousin!
I'm doing a report for my Inter-Dimensional History Class. I was just
wondering if I could hang with you for a while, while I monitored this
dimension's X-Men..

The Watcher : Well.. Um.. Uh..

Arnie <cutting Watcher off> : Cool! I knew you'd be a sport about it! You
      won't even know I'm here.

Arnie walks off, knocking over a rare artifact, which falls to the floor
with a loud clank.

The Watcher <muttering> : The "solitude of my private abode"?? Bah!!
                          What was I thinking? 

Ending : <Closeup on a plaque on The Watcher's wall, engraved on which:>

"Home is a four-letter word."

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@ To Be Continued @
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Next Issue:
-*-

"Red Light On The Crossing" Concludes. 


