No
Barrier Pt. 1
Blackheart
failed in his attempts to erect a barrier around Europe, but the problems
facing the world were far from over.
When something apparently was wrong in space Captain
Rogue bravely underwent genetic treatments by Moira
McTaggert that allowed her to access all her
abilities. Captain
Doom planned a major offensive attack against a
Martian base utilizing ever available Doombot and
Sentinel that he could muster. Union
Jack was nominated to lead a team into another nearby base and free superhuman
captives. Doom’s plan worked and the
Martian took a heavy hit.
Black Knight decided that things weren’t moving fast enough and turned to Mephisto for aid. He promised the devil his soul and servitude if he would banish the Martians. The demon agreed and unleashed the full fury of his armies upon the alien invaders. Their defeat was evident and the Martians were gone in a week, but the demons remained. Vanishing one enemy meant having to go to war with another. Dr. Doom and Dr. Strange spearheaded the war against Mephisto.
The power of Mephisto had
twisted Black Knight into an evil demonic general, Nero Dane. With the Ebony Blade at his side the general
slew Union Jack and Spitfire in
With the vanquishing of
the Martians and Mephisto the heroes of Earth were left to deal with a scarred
Earth. Dr. Doom would not have his land
so assaulted without vengeance. So he
devised a plan. He called the Z’Nox and Skrull convincing them
that the Martians had obtained DNA from their respective races and were doing unholy genetic experiments. In only a month Mars was a lifeless
wasteland.
In all the destruction
there came hope. Cybermancer
and Iron Man were wed to the surprise of many.
Lorna and Havok were finally engaged and began
wedding plans. Rogue having control of
her powers at long last discovered she was pregnant with Remy’s child. When she was a plump 8 months, Alex and Lorna
were married. Neither Warren nor Iceman
could bring themselves to come to the ceremony.
The deaths of Scott, Jean and Betsy were still open wounds spewing forth
emotion.
Shortly
after the wedding Storm left with Dr. Strange to learn more about her mystical
bloodline. While
her training commenced a new Pendragons team formed in
Killing Helmut had snapped something in Iron Man and
he took it upon himself to rid the world of what he found to be disgusting and
foul. To this effect he formed a new
Force Works and went about destroying the various telepath plants that had
sprung up all over the world in the wake of Captain
Nocturne dropped a flower by the headstone of
Captain
“Betsy we miss you darling. Every day that goes by without you makes this
country seem a little less livable,” Nocturne said softly.
Angela Golden hated seeing her leader go soft on
her. She had been used to working with
cold, calculating bastards. Damon Dran had been on the top of that list. He used her looks to get over on his male
enemies and if that didn’t work she just kicked their asses. She was far from the world’s best martial
artist, but she got the job done. It was
during the Martian Invasion that she met up with Nocturne the first time. Something about being with the Pendragons
felt right though.
“Ahh look at the precious
Pendragons. All weepy over their
leader,” a voice teased from far away.
All three Pendragons immediately went into battle
stance and began searching the area for their would be
attackers. Looking to the south of
Betsy’s tombstone they saw four beings making their way towards them. The woman in front of the group was floating
across the ground. She had long green hair
and wore a purple body suit that was lined with tiny spikes down the center. To her right was a large man/beast that had
the tail of a scorpion and green skin.
Pointed ears and winged ankles were also seen on the mutant. Behind him was a strangely familiar red
headed woman with glowing red eyes and next to her was an Edwardian era dressed
woman.
“Why do you idiots just keep coming to your
deaths?” White Tiger asked as she unsheathed her claws and prepared to do away
with the imbeciles.
The woman at the lead shook her head, “Weapon X
told us you would be prideful, but I had no idea how much so.”
“Weapon X?
Are you their agents?” Nocturne asked fearing what they could possibly
be up against. Weapon X was one of the
worse subversive agencies in the world and the creations they managed to
concoct were among some of the deadliest.
Something else was bothering the leader of the Pendragons and it was the
look of these foes. The woman at the
lead reminded him far too much of Sue Storm and the man/beast’s winged ankles
spoke too much of Namor. Just what were they up against here?
“Sexy Eyes. Give him the 411,” the green haired woman
ordered with a malicious smile.
Suddenly information flooded Nocturne’s mind and he
understood what was occurring. Weapon X
had been developing hybrid warriors using the various DNAs
of the world’s heroes. The green haired
woman was called Malice and she was a combination of Polaris and Invisible
Woman. Scorpion King was the name of the
man/beast and he was a combination of Scorpion, Lizard, and Namor. Sexy Eyes was created from the combined DNA
of Jean Grey and Cyclops. The woman
garbed in the white S-shaped corset was called Classy as she was a combination
of Tessa Niles and Sebastian Shaw.
Together these four were a deadly collection of power and if Weapon X
kept producing such weapons they could threaten to overrun the world.
“Oh no…” Nocturne mumbled as he fell to the
ground. The information was running
through his head over and over again. If
someone didn’t stop what Weapon X was doing then they were all doomed.
“Oh no is right Nocturne. You’re dead and so is everyone else,” Malice
guaranteed as she began to bust blood vessels throughout the three heroes’
brains and gave them multiple aneurysms.
It was far more than their bodies could stand and they were quickly
dead.
“So that leaves us with a few more Pendragons to
take care of,” Scorpion King said lavishing in how easy it had been to kill
these three. If things were going to be
this easy then maybe Weapon X didn’t need to create any more agents.
“You’ll have us to deal with first,” a young, but
commanding voice said. A cloaked figure
flipped through the air and with a glowing blue saber chopped Scorpion King’s
head clear off. As the smoking head rolled
to Classy’s feet the cloaked man pulled back his
hood, “You face a Jedi and I shall show you the true power of the Force!”
Malice laughed wickedly, “You’re insane! You think you’re Anakin Skywalker? Go home shapeshifter
before I decide to kill you.”
“He’s more real than those fake tits you have tramp!” Bluestreak yelled as she
ran full speed and clobbered Malice over the head with her techno organic
arm. Malice went flying through the air,
but was able to reposition herself into a more favorable position.
Anakin pushed Sexy Eyes into the embrace of Reed
Von Doom who crushed her ribcage and lungs with his metal arms. Classy threw aside her dress and kicked Reed
in the head. Her heel missed entering
his ear by mere centimeters, but the blow was still enough to send Reed
crashing into the nearest tombstone headfirst.
Before she could pull back her leg it was grabbed by Blink who stabbed
her with a charged pink javelin. It was
only a matter of seconds before the agent of Weapon X was a pile of bloody
flesh.
The Jedi quickly shifted his attention to Malice
who was already about to be confronted by Bluestreak,
Stepstone, and Belladona. Before the fray could be
joined though everything seemed to freeze. Anakin noticed it because his powers seemed
to come to a halt, as if someone had simply pressed the brakes. Looking around he felt everything was
motionless and frozen except for the Exiles.
Scanning the area for possible sources of the disturbance the young Jedi
Master saw a rift forming in the very air behind what use to be Classy.
“I think we need to talk,” a young Brazilian woman
said as she stepped out of the forming portal.
A black woman with braids and glasses followed behind her. Something about that woman caught his eye. She had a great strength about her and she
reminded Anakin of Luminara Unduli. He had cared about that woman a great deal
and it pained him when Darth Shugo struck her
down.
“Astrid? Is
that you?” Stepstone asked getting the eerie feeling
that this was the Astrid Bloom of her world.
The telepathic woman who she called best friend might be standing right
in front of her. What response could Illyana give and if this was her friend just what was she
doing here?
“Yes, it’s me Illyana. All of us are familiar to someone on this
team. That’s why we’re here,” Astrid
explained.
“Elsa and Northstar? I thought the two of you were dead!” Blink
exclaimed to the Brazilian woman and her close companion. She had encountered the two on a world ruled
by vampires and they had been part of the small resistance to the rule. It was on that world that she had lost Morph
and Sunfire to death.
Then she lost Mimic, Nocturne, and Thunderbird to Timebroker. So the memory of that world stuck with her
and it killed her that she had abandoned Bloodstone and Northstar.
“Yes, it’s us.
Not that you should care too much.
We’re not your friends.”
The words hit Blink like a punch to the gut because
it reminded her of just how many lives the Exiles wrecked while they were
trying to fix things. This game Vange and Timebroker played never
ceased in its destruction of lives.
Elsa’s harsh words had served as reminder of that.
“So did you guys ever get in touch with Ms.
Summers?” Mindwarp asked Reed von Doom.
“Let me guess.
You’re the two mercenaries from that world with Daredevil and President Zemo?” Reed von Doom asked knowing that he was more than
likely right.
“And you’re the pansies who went soft on ol Murdock,” Black Knight replied his fingers itching to
reach for his sword.
The last person to step out of the portal garnered
a gasp from Bluestreak. It was the daughter of Justice and Firestar. Her
nemesis since childhood, Redfire had managed to track
her down across a thousand dimensions.
The young woman who was a couple of years older than Bluestreak
smiled viciously at the sight of the now disfigured speedster.
“See you got some new parts. So you figure you can make the cut by going
all Stark on me?” Redfire asked knowing that she was
probably hitting a sensitive spot.
Up until that point Bluestreak
had been fine with her new arm and didn’t have a problem flaunting it. With Redfire’s
insult the arm suddenly became a bane, but it was a bane that Quicksilver’s
daughter wanted to bat across the bitch’s head.
“So just what are you all doing here?” Stepstone asked.
“We’re Dark Guard.
Division A.
Team 12.
We work with King Brian, the ruler of Otherworld. Basically we’re a team of dimension travelers
like yourself, but we have some say in where we
go. Think SHIELD, but with a mystical
dimension traveling twist,” Astrid explained.
“You intend to destroy this world don’t you?”
Anakin asked feeling the sinister intentions resonating off of the Dark Guard
members.
“Anakin is usually never wrong on his feeling. I don’t know any of you so I have no problem
beating you to a pulp,” Belladona, a new member
alongside Skywalker, said. She was one
of the fiercest fighters her world had ever known. The Band of Seven had trained her since
childhood and when she got old enough to discover she was an External the
warrior began her centuries long struggle with Black
Womb. So she had plenty of combat experience and the Dark Guard could very
easily become privy to it.
“Not the entire world. Just the superhumans,”
Black Knight smirked.
“I’d strongly suggest explanations,” Blink warned
hoping that things wouldn’t have to turn violent. She didn’t know who this King Brian was but
if he were sending out world killers then she’d have to put a stop to it.
“I’d strongly suggest you all duck!” Elsa said as
she hit the ground along with the rest of her team. Clarice created a portal under the Exiles
that took them out of harm’s way from the gigantic fireball.
The source of the fireball laughed as time once
again began to play out. Elsa cursed
under her breath as she had hoped to negotiate with the Exiles before their
main target showed up. But he was here
now and there was nothing she could do about it. Looking up Bloodstone thought she would see
Nero Dane. She saw him, but he had not
come alone. Elsa recognized one of his
new allies and it chilled her to the core.
The Kirigi of her world was with Nero Dane
along with the Daredevil of Mindwarp’s world. There was one unfamiliar in the mix, but from
the looks on the faces of the Exiles he was dangerous as well.
Elsa took a deep breath,
“Okay looks like we got ourselves into some deep shit.”
This was Weapon X’s second mission and Drake was already getting tired of carrying the Tallus and being the leader of this team. Back on his world he had been a solo hero and did everything on his own terms. His powers allowed him to control water in all its forms and he was amazingly powerful. Now he had to work with others and keep his powers in check. It was frustrating to say the least and the only thing that kept him sane was Diamondback. Right now though the team was in the midst of a fight with the Thunderbolts and staying alive took precedence over staying sane.
Bolt sent electricity arcing through the air and it struck Grim Hunter square in the chest. The son of Kraven quickly rose to his feet despite the attack and threw a spear Bolt’s way. Gorilla Grodd jumped in the way of the attack and caught the spear. With barely any strength at all he snapped the spear in two. Drake had seen the save and was grateful he had Grodd on his team. The big ape had proven to be a genius in both combat and other arenas of expertise. Hopefully, he’d turn the tide in this battle against the Thunderbolts.
“Pay attention to the battle at hand!” Bullet Biker said as he revved his bike up and came charging at Drake full speed. The leader of Weapon X simply held out a gloved black hand and froze the gasoline in the motorcycle and froze Biker’s gloves to the vehicle. The momentum the Thunderbolt had created flung him clear off the cliff he had been battling Drake on and sent him to his doom in the ocean.
Drake was about to help Black Adam, but he saw that the man was holding his own against Ultra Girl, Endotherm, and Morlun. Quite often Drake underestimated Adam’s power, but he was definitely proving himself in this battle against the Thunderbolts. The Tallus had told them that their mission was to free Mattie Franklin from the Thunderbolts, but the team had proven to have more numbers than expected.
“You’ve attacked my team and you’re going to pay for it,” came the voice of Mikhail Rasputin, leader of the Thunderbolts and better known as The Master.
“I could freeze your blood solid and not even think twice about it,” Drake warned. The Mikhail of his world had been one of the Four Horsemen. It had been him, Sinister, Holocaust, and Abyss who tore across his world after the Avengers killed Apocalypse. Drake had been offworld at the time and always felt guilty about not being there to help.
“I manipulate molecules. Try me if you dare,” The Master laughed as he created a sword from thin air.
“You wanna get it on? That’s fine by me,” Drake replied as he sent a powerful blast of super-heated steam into Mikhail’s face. The Thunderbolts leader cried out in pain while Drake used the opportunity to send his black boot into Rasputin’s face. While his powers were vast, Drake preferred to get down and dirty with his opponents. It was why Diamondback and Vermin loved him so much and it would be why The Master would hate him.
Author’s
Notes
I
finally made it to issue 12 and I like to think of this as a new chapter in the
Exiles saga. Things are being set into
place and you’ll get a chance to see Weapon X back-ups for the foreseeable
future. Big things are going to be
happening with this title though and I do fully intend to make this a fun
ride. Some of these characters in here
are pretty obscure so I’ll give you some links to look them up at.
Golddigger
http://www.marvunapp.com/Appendix/golddig2.htm
Endotherm
http://www.marvunapp.com/Appendix/endothrm.htm
Bullet
Biker
http://www.marvunapp.com/Appendix/bulletbk.htm
Well
till next time guys,
-Brent
Lambert