JARARD

By Shawn Gauthier

Atop a grassy hill sits a man alone. He, however, is not just any man. He is the Askani’son, the man destined to stop the Apocalypse and end a thousand-year struggle against an absolute evil.

He has come here today to try to get some answers, answers to some very difficult questions. Questions like what it means to be the Askani’son, the Chosen One. The man, now called Cable, has only recently learned of the possibility that his devotion to the cause was not his own but the result of a brainwashing technique that was used on him two thousand years into the future. Confused? So is he. That is why he has come here searching for answers to the very questions that define his being.

Deep in meditation, Cable calls out to the one person who he is sure has all of the answers, the Mother Askani. She is the mysterious leader of a cult of rebel warriors from the future whose sole purpose is to stop the Apocalypse from claiming all. Little is really known about the woman from an alternative timeline except that she is the daughter of Cyclops, Cable’s father, and Phoenix, who could best be described as Cable’s stepmother. Cable has allowed his mind to momentarily wander as he ponders whether or not this made her his sister, his half-sister, or his stepsister.

Shortly after appearing in this timeline she joined the England-based mutant team Excalibur. After one Excalibur adventure her teammates thought she was lost in the timestream forever only to have her return as the Mother Askani, the leader of the future’s Askani Clan. The Askani believe that she has set into motion events during different parts of the timeline that will inevitably bring about the end of the mutant menace called Apocalypse. At the center of her plans is the man called Cable.

The whole experience has made Cable feel like a pawn on some cosmic temporal chessboard that will ultimately decide the fate of all that lives, has lived, and will live. The only problem is that he doesn’t know the rules to the game.

Cable has only recently learned that he has within himself the ability to communicate with the Mother Askani by using his powers in a new way. He is now trying to use his powers in this manner to contact her again but he is failing miserably. Unsure whether his failure is the result of his doing something incorrectly or her inability to answer his call, Cable grows more and more frustrated. He is frustrated because Cable is not a man used to failure. Refusing to give up, he doubles his efforts.

Suddenly a couple of feet to his side the air begins to crackle as if coming alive. Breaking his meditation he turns to face the phenomena as the air begins to shimmer and take on a new form, that of a strangely garbed man. Cable immediately recognizes some of the markings on the man’s uniform as those of the Clan Askani.

“I… I… I made it,” stutters the exasperated man as he collapses to the ground in exhaustion. Looking up the man sees the confused look on Cable’s face and tries to explain what has happened to him. “I was caught in a temporal displacement beam during one of the Askani War battles. Since then I have drifted helplessly between the then and the now until I heard your call for the Mother Askani which I followed back to you, here.”

Seeming to have regained some of his strength the man pulls himself back onto his feet before noticing the confused look still on Cable’s face.

“You were calling for the Mother just now,” comments the man. “Has she returned?”

“I don’t know,” answers Cable, not sure of how he should respond. “Returned from where? And who exactly are the Askani fighting in this Askani War?”

“How is it that you know of the Askani Mother and not of the Askani War?” asks the man who is now just as confused as Cable. For the first time the man notices his surroundings. Slowly he bends down and runs his fingers through the grass at their feet before standing once again and inhaling the air in one deep breath.

“Where are we?” finally asks the man, but before Cable can answer the mysterious stranger seems to figure out the answer to his question himself. “You’re him. You’re the Askani’son aren’t you? Then that means I have traveled to the past.” Suddenly the stranger seems to be overwhelmed by what he is saying and seems panicked before suddenly dropping to Cable’s feet and bowing his head in silence. “Askani’son, I am at your service.”

This act of homage only serves to make Cable uncomfortable and even more confused. ‘Have I really managed to use my powers in yet another new way to pull a man from the future back into the past?’ he wonders. This realization makes Cable feel weary of his own mutant abilities.

‘I had come to this hill seeking answers only to find new questions I hadn’t even thought to ask,’ thinks Cable. ‘But maybe there is still a way for me to get some of the answers I seek.’

“If that’s true then stand up and answer a few questions for me,” states Cable in a calm voice. Just as he hoped the man rises to his feet to comply. “Who are you?”

“My name is Jarard. I am an Askani Prime Warrior,” answers the man all too eager to serve.

“Okay Jarard, can you tell me where the Askani Mother has gone?”

“Nobody knows. She simply stopped appearing throughout the timestream. Some think that a tragic accident has occurred that is restricting her from visiting us while others believe that she has met her demise at the hands of the Apocalypse.”

“How long has she been missing?”

“We are unsure. When it comes to the Mother Askani such things as time take on a whole new meaning.”

“Fair enough,” responds Cable understanding all too well how time traveling can complicate such things. “You claim to be an Askani Warrior but the Askani Warriors I knew were only women. How do you explain this?”

“I never claimed to be an Askani Warrior. I am an Askani Prime Warrior. We are an off-shoot of the original Askani Clan. After the Askani Mother’s disappearance there was a rift in the clan. Most of the sisters of the clan still believe that the Mother will return and that her plan will still succeed against Apocalypse. They remain faithful to a defeated cause. Only one Askani Sister had the bravery to see the truth, Sister Clarity. Only she realized that the Mother was gone to us forever and with her the knowledge necessary for us to carry out her original plan.”

The name cuts through Cable’s soul like a hot knife. Sister Clarity, the woman who took advantage of Cable when he was a small boy and brainwashed him into becoming a loyal member of the Askani. Only Cable’s desire to hear the rest of what Jarard has to say enables him to keep his opinion of the woman to himself.

“She took the knowledge that she had and left to start her own clan of followers who would assist her in battling the coming Apocalypse first hand. She started her own plan to destroy the Apocalypse. Thus the Askani Prime was born. Since then we have been forced to battle both Apocalypse’s forces and the original Askani Clan because they fear that our aggressive behavior could jeopardize the plans that the Mother has already put into place.”

“So the Askani War is really a civil war being fought within the Askani Clan.”

“Yes.”

The whole situation seems ludicrous to Cable. One thing is clear to him, however: with the Askani Clan fighting amongst itself, the timeline is left defenseless against Apocalypse’s forces. The Askani Mother has to be found and soon.

“If I may be so bold to offer a suggestion,” offers Jarard. “I couldn’t help but notice that you were still plagued with the techno virus. I could help eliminate it from your body. That is if you would desire such a thing.”

“How?” asks Cable in disbelief. Since he was a baby Cable’s body has been in a constant battle with the techno virus that Apocalypse infected him with. In fact it was later revealed that only by dedicating a large part of his mutant powers to the battle against the virus could Cable survive. As a result Cable no longer has full access to his mutant ability.

“Sister Clarity has taught each of her Askani Prime Warriors how to tap into the power of the timestream and how to use that power as a weapon. I myself had had such training. I am now able to alter a person’s physical body so that it either devolves to a previous condition or I can cause a persons body evolve at an advanced rate. I could use this power to remove the virus from your body.”

“Are you saying you have the ability to evolve a body to a condition it would have taken in the future if nature had been left to take its course or you can devolve a body back to a previous condition such as a child or baby?” asks Cable with equal parts amazement and fear.

Jarard nods in the affirmation.

“But I was a child when I was affected with the virus. Wouldn’t your powers have to revert me back into a baby to remove its existence?”

“No. The virus is a living thing. I could use my ability on the virus itself causing it to continue to devolve to a state of nonexistence. There is a risk, however. The strain of the process on your heart will be great.”

“But you would be able to remove the virus completely from my system with no lasting side effects?” asks Cable.

“Yes!”

“Then do it!”

Jarard wastes no time. Contorting his hands and fingers into an unusual position pointed towards Cable, Jarard closes his eyes and begins to chant. Cable hears enough of the chant to recognize that it’s in the Askani tongue but he is unable to decipher what Jarard is saying.

Suddenly sharp pains begin to shoot through Cable’s body as he falls to the ground gasping, trying to catch a breath between the stabbing pains in his chest and head. Instinctively Cable brings his hands up to his eyes as what feels like white-hot pokers are thrust through his eyes and into his brain. Cable’s world is on fire as he struggles valiantly to remain conscious only because he’s afraid that if the darkness swallows him he’ll never wake up.

Finally, after what seems like forever, the pain slowly begins to subside leaving Cable weak and exhausted on the ground with barely enough strength to remain breathing on his own.

“NOOOOOO!”

The scream comes from behind Cable and even though he is unable to turn himself to see what’s happening Cable knows the identity of the screamer. He would recognize his voice anywhere. Blaquesmith is here.

Behind him Cable can now hear signs of battle.

“Your type will undo our last hope at surviving the coming Apocalypse!” blares Blaqesmith’s voice.

“We are only taking our destiny into our own hands instead of refusing to admit that the Mother is gone,” comes Jarard’s voice in response.

“Traitor to the cause!”

“Coward!”

The two continue to struggle and grapple with each other into and from Cable’s line of sight. Cable continuously tries to muster enough strength to get to his feet or at least to shout at the two combatants to stop but he is much too weak to do either.

Realizing that his body has failed him Cable decides to try another method to cease the hostilities. Ignoring the smoldering fire still in his brain he reaches out with his mutant powers of telepathy to try and stop Jarard and Blaquesmith.

It is then that he first hears the voice. The voice is weak and obviously coming from some great distance. Somebody is using telepathy in an attempt to contact him but what is most disturbing is how he’s being addressed.

‘Askani’son… Askani’son,’ repeats the call over and over again.

Only a select few in this time know that Cable was the Askani’son and even fewer refer to him as such. ‘Was the call from yet another unknown pawn upon the cosmic chessboard or was it from another visitor from the future? Or could it possibly be from the Askani Mother herself?’

This last thought fills Cable with hope. Maybe he can put an end to the Askani War here and now by finding the Askani Mother. But first he has to stop Jarard and Blaquesmith from fighting because he’s going to need all the help he can get in his current condition if he’s to go up against something strong enough to capture the Askani Mother.

Mustering up the last of his strength Cable blasts one thought into their minds. Knowing that his strength will limit what he can say Cable makes sure that what he says counts.

{I know where the Askani Mother is!}

Immediately both combatants stop in their tracks as they realize the importance of what Cable has just said. If the Askani Mother is found then their battle with each other will have been pointless because only she can reunite the Askani Clan.

Blaquesmith is the first to arrive at Cable’s side but Jarard is not far behind.

“Is this true Nathan?” he asks as he gently rolls his former pupil over. “Do you know where she is?”

“Yes!” Cable is so weak that his words are barely audible above his wheezing breaths. “Or at least I think I do. I can hear her calling me but I’ll need both of you to help me reach her in my current condition. Will you help me?”

“Yes, of course. My ship is cloaked only a short distance from here. But, Nathan, this thing that has been done to you, it should not be,” whispers the Blaquesmith in Cable’s ears.

“We can deal with that later, my friend. Right now we have a legend to save,” utters Cable before finally giving in to the encroaching darkness of unconsciousness.

NEXT ISSUE: Discover whom Jarard, Cable, and Blaquesmith find calling for the Askani’son. Who are the Guardians and what do they have to do with the Askani Mother’s disappearance? What does an elderly man in a retirement home waiting for death have to do with the future of the Askani’son? Find out all this and more in the next issue!