#5
May 2001
Mutants and Manhunters
by Chip Caroon and Ritchie Filippi
|
#5 May 2001 |
Mutants and Manhunters by Chip Caroon and Ritchie Filippi |
*(X-Men Secret Files #1)
They were all huddled together, trying to stay away from the Manhunters. Another big concern in their minds were mutant haters. For a week, they had been thrust into a world that truly hates and fears them.
Suddenly, they heard footsteps.
"Please just go by . . . please go by . . . " Jubilee muttered.
The six tried to press against the wall, hoping that whatever it was could pass them by. They didn't want another encounter with a Manhunter.
Alas, the footsteps continued to grow louder.
Climbing back down, Henry McCoy turned to face his partner, and longtime friend, Jean Grey.
"So, it's bad?" she asked.
"Very bad," Hank replied. "Looting all over the place."
"We should get back to the others. They need to know what is going on."
"But why? What are we going to do? We are outcasts. Our mentor is dead, and somehow we've banded into a mutant task force. What are we called . . . the X-Men?"
The two began walking back to the tunnels from which they came.
"The press gave us that name, and Clark seemed to like it," Jean said.
Hank frowned. "The press. Hmmph. What do they know? And how exactly did we all get on this team anyway?"
"Hank, you do realize that if Xavier was still alive, we'd be in this team anyway?"
"What?"
"Why do you think Xavier called everyone back? Clark was going to be the leader. However, Xavier was hoping to have a couple more of his original students, as well as being around to mentor us."
Hank sighed. "Well, I'm in this for the long haul, I guess. C'mon, Callisto left the lights on for us."
It began with an event he wished was a dream - the destruction of the Xavier Institute of Higher Learning. However, he knew that the large majority of his dream was based in truth.
Looking around, he saw the mansion in flames. He could tell that Clark was shouting to him. Iceman ran over and began helping him lift Morph, who had been badly injured.
The next thing he remembers is a flash of light, and suddenly, the mansion is gone. At first, he thinks it's been completely destroyed, but then he notices that the fire is gone, and they are in a damp room or something.
By this time, Morph is able to stand mostly on his own, and so Clark and Bobby put him down, letting Sarah assist him in walking.
Just then, the darkness is lifted, and the X-Men can tell that they are in a tunnel. Standing in front of them were a homely little woman, and a bunch of odd looking people and creatures.
Iceman could tell that Clark muttered something. It was like he knew who these strange people were. Clark was communicating with them, but Bobby couldn't tell what was going on. He was in a daze.
The next thing Iceman knows, the X-Men are following these people.
And then, the border between dream and reality starts to get fuzzy. Every time, the dream is different here, and Bobby can never remember if any of the scenarios were real.
As the X-Men were walking, Iceman noticed the walls were moving. He stopped, and tried to look. Suddenly, a monster popped his head out.
"BOBBY! WAKE UP!" it shouted.
Bobby woke up with a start, glad that the dream was over, and saw Clark standing over him.
"Hey, man," Clark said. "Hank and Jean are on there way."
"Well?" Clark asked. "How is it?"
"I'm not sure," Hank replied. "I keep seeing rioting and looting, but I can't ascertain the true cause of it all."
"I have also heard similar reports from my Morlocks," Callisto interjected. "They said something about machine men running around above ground."
The X-Men looked at Clark. "We might as well go out and find out what's going on," he said.
"But what about the anti-mutant hysteria?" Iceman asked.
"If something major is going on up there, I don't think they will care about trying to stop us," Clark replied. He turned to Jean, who had been unusually silent. "Jean, what do you think?"
Jean acted as if she was concentrating on something else. Her mind was reaching out, seeing what was going on directly above them. Debris started to fall from the ceiling. Jean opened her eyes, and leapt for Hank, pushing him down. "Watch out!" she shouted.
Before the last part of her warning left her mouth, the ceiling came in, and a figure with both humanoid size and form crashed through.
It stood in the middle of the chamber, looking down. It was wearing jeans and a white tee-shirt, but its angular geometry let everyone know it was anything but human. Finally, it looked up, and it's fingertips started glowing.
"I am one of the Sentinel Prime," the thing said. "I have been equipped with technology alien to you, which allows me to track down and eliminate the mutants known as . . . the X-Men."
"I don't think so," Superman said. "We're not going down without a fight." Within a second, he was already flying at top speed towards the Sentinel's midsection. The force sent the Sentinel flying toward the surface, breaking through the pavement above.
Jean used her telekinesis to hold the ceiling up once Clark had flown through. She turned to Callisto. "Get the Morlocks out of here quickly!" she shouted.
"What the -- ?!" Superman exclaimed as a dark figure stepped out from behind the Sentinel.
"I am The Shadow," the figure said. "I am also a mutant, and I've been looking for you for some time. Lucky for me, this Manhunter found you."
"Manhunter?" Superman asked, very confused.
"I've had a run-in with this guy before.* His central systems have been co-opted by an alien race."
*(Spider-Man #12)
"Oh," Superman replied. "But why did he go to you first, why didn't he try to take out the X-Men?"
"Who knows?" Shadow replied. "I have a few ideas though."
Before he could finish his thought, the Sentinel came back online.
Morph and Sarah were talking to a few of the Morlock children. All of the children were radically different, and none could even pass for human, let alone be seen in public.
"I'm Leech," the little green boy said.
"Hey Leech, my name's Morph." As Morph said that, he transformed his body to look like an older version of Leech.
"Wow, your power's cool!" Leech said.
"Thank you little guy, what are your powers?" Before Morph could finish, his body turned from an adult version of Leech to a normal sized human. His skin became a pale white and his hair light brown in color. Surprised, Morph grabbed his face with his hands and felt it.
"I . . . ? My powers?"
Leech clapped his hands and smiled.
"I can take powers away of others," Leech said. Morph turned and looked at Sarah.
Sarah smiled as she looked at Morph's face.
"So, this is your real face? Now, I know why you always hide it!"
She laughed and Morph also gave a fake laugh and smiled.
"Hehe, yeah, I guess it is."
Could this really be my face? My real face. It's been years since, since I have known the true me . . .
Morph's thoughts were interrupted when he heard a loud crash nearby. Morph and Sarah began moving back towards the others.
"I don't think so!" Superman exclaimed as he flew over and decked the Sentinel in the jaw. The Sentinel stumbled back a step or two, but was able to keep its balance.
Son of a - ! Superman thought. He's too good.
"TARGET DESIGNATE: SUPERMAN . . . " the Sentinel said.
"Very good, your eyes work," Superman said as he came in for another punch. However, the Sentinel fell down before Superman could get near him.
"Hey, Sentinel, better watch behind you . . . " Iceman shouted out.
The Sentinel tried to stand up, twisted its body and turned to face its new foe. "TARGET: ICEMAN . . . " It lifted its right arm and prepared to fire an unusual energy blast at the mutant made of ice.
However, Iceman saw this and thrust his hands out, sending out more ice at once than he ever had before. When he opened his eyes again, he found the Sentinel completely encased in ice.
"Cool," he said. "No pun intended."
Superman used this opportunity to use his heat vision to melt the ice, as well as part of the robot's body. The Sentinel fell to the ground, and Beast came flying through the air, landing once on his chest, causing massive damage to the mechanical torso. In the same leap, he jumped off the Sentinel, and landing several feet away.
As the Sentinel attempted to stand up, the Shadow put out his hand. The Sentinel lifted its head a few inches before falling back to the ground hard with a loud THUD!
"Very interesting use of your powers," Beast said, coming up. "But I do believe we still have a slight problem."
"And that might be . . . ?" The Shadow asked.
"The Sentinel is still here, and partially operational."
"Keep following this path. I'll get another group and then catch up," she said.
Jean walked to where the boy was crouched. He was trying to hold back tear, she noticed. She squatted down to come eye level with him. "Hey, there. My name is Jean. Are you a lost Morlock?"
"Wh-what's a Morlock?" the boy asked, lifting his head slightly. Jean was able to see that he had black hair and appeared to be in his mid-teens.
"Then what are you doing down here?"
"The power went off, and then some robot came after me, saying I was to be eliminated."
"Robot? Are you a mutant?"
The boy looked up at her, and put out his hand. A small globe of green energy appeared, floating above his hand. It formed into crystal, and then back into energy before the boy absorbed it. "I guess so," he replied.
"Where are your parents?" Jean asked.
"I don't know. They went to see a movie. I was out with some friends."
Jean put her arm around the boy's shoulder, and got him to stand up. "Come on, I know where you can be safe for now . . . "
Luthor was jolted back to reality by the ringing of his cell phone. "Luthor," he said.
"Mr. Luthor . . . " Lex recognized the voice. It was his assistant, Happersen.
"What is wrong now?" Luthor snapped.
"You know that second phase of Sentinel production you approved?"
"You mean the Prime Sentinels?" Lex said with a smile.
"Yes. Well, somehow, one of the prototypes has been stolen, and it appears that it is on the loose."
Luthor ended the call and threw the phone against the wall.
"The Manhunters! It has to be! Who else would steal a robot?! That's twice in one night* they've interfered with my plans!"
*(The first being Iron Man #8)
Iceman quickly formed the ice sheet and waited. Beast came in close to the Sentinel.
Finally, Superman gave the order, and the Shadow lifted his shield, allowing Beast to grab wires as planned. The Sentinel began sparking.
"MUTANT . . . "
Beast ran back and grabbed Iceman, knocking him out of the way as Superman slowly melted the ice.
"DES . . . The melting ice fell into the Sentinel like rain, causing the robot to short out.
"term . . . ted . . .
The Sentinel fell back to the ground, eyes black, as dead as a robot could be.
"Oh, my goodness . . . I had no idea," Jean said. She grabbed the boy's hand and they crawled back down. Jean turned to face her new friend.
"Look, I'm going to take you to a place where there are some people who will be able to help you for a while. They might appear frightening, but trust me, they're probably more scared of the world than you are. I'll be back, but I have to help my friends."
"O-okay . . . "
Jean and the boy walked through the tunnels, to where the Morlocks were regrouping. Jean took the boy to Callisto. "Cal, please watch after this guy for a while. I have to get back to the X-Men."
"Certainly, Jean . . . He'll be well taken care of until you get back."
"This sucks," Strike said, finally realizing that everything was not worth it.
"Yeah, big time. I joined the 'Brotherhood' to be safe from 'mankind', not to fight other mutants, to attack a school. I mean, this is all crazy. Maybe Bobby was right to join the other side. I mean, peace between us and humans, that would be better than war." Fog was a little unsure of her words, but she meant them.
Wind passed by her, and Quicksilver appeared.
"WHAT DID YOU SAY?"
"I . . . It's just that . . . peace would be ni . . . "
"IMPOSSIBLE! They . . . The humans will never let that happen. This Registration Act is only the beginning, they can and will do a lot worse. Unless, we strike before them. Father might be out of it for the time being, but I am not. I say we strike hard and unseen. Never letting up. They think that we're dangerous . . . We'll prove them right!"
"But there are only four of us." Fog argued. "Rogue got captured, Havok quit, prob went after her . . . And Maggott just seemed to have disappeared after the big fight."
"It only takes one of us to attack at any given time. The attacks will be quick; they will not even know what is happening! But they will fear us, fear mutants."
"Now that he's taken care of, we try to find out where he came from . . . "
"I think it's pretty obvious," Jean said. "He's part of the whole government anti-mutant campaign."
"Maybe," Superman replied. "But I would think there would be more than one."
"Someone freed him, and then Manhunters got hold of him," The Shadow added. "Or maybe the other way around."
"Any idea who's involved?" Superman asked.
The Shadow nodded. "Naturally . . . But first, I need a little proof . . . "
He peered out from the manhole, looking out at the chaos on the streets. He could see looters running around. Clark's not going to like this.
Back in the Morlock tunnels, Iceman was lying on the cot that he had been using for a bed. For the past week, the same dream had been haunting his dreams. Unfortunately for him, it was still around.
Hank and Jean returned to the main tunnel. Callisto sat in a chair in the center of the room. The other X-Men were standing around.
On the surface, Superman was able to gain the upper hand against the Sentinel Prime. He finally was able to punch it and catch it under the jaw, sending it flying into the air. When it came down, something punctured the torso before it hit the ground.
Elsewhere, within the tunnels.
"TARGET . . . DESIGNATE: SHADOW . . . reinstate elimination sequence . . . "
Jean Grey was underground, helping Callisto clear the tunnels of Morlocks. As she led a group around a bend, she found a young boy huddled into a corner. Jean turned to the scaly mutant standing behind her.
Lex Luthor had been in his sub-basement office for most of the night. He found it strangely comforting. Maybe he could work out of this office all the time . . .
"Iceman, create a sheet of ice in the air," Superman ordered. "Shadow, keep the invisible shield on him until I tell you to drop it, at which time Beast will dig into the Sentinel's chest and pull out some wires. Everyone then stand back while I melt the ice . . . "
Jean and the boy reached the end of the tunnel and crawled out into the street. It was chaos. Riots were happening everywhere.
Abandoned Building. Somewhere in New York.
The place was a mess; notes, diagrams, charts and maps were thrown all over the place.
Resting from the events prior to today were Strike, Force, and Fog. They were keeping cover from the craziness all around them in New York.
As Jean came out of the tunnels, she saw The Shadow standing by the X-Men, surveying the damage they had caused to the Prime Sentinel.
Continued in The Shadow 2000 #5!
Next Issue: Death!