YOU CAN NEVER GO HOME AGAIN

By Rob Ballard

“Fixx, we have to go. Are you ready yet?” Shard called out impatiently.

“Just a sec. Let me give it one more shot.”

“There’s no time.”

“Give me a minute! I think I can wake him.”

After a long pause, Shard yelled back, “They’re expecting us in less than an hour. You know how traffic will be.”

“Shhhh! You’re distracting me!”

Fixx closed her eyes tight, shutting Shard out. She then sent a swarm of her sprites into Trevor’s mind. Their butterfly-like manifestations would be able to attempt to delicately stir his consciousness while not disturbing the other corners of his mind.

Trevor’s reality warping powers were not well understood by X-Factor, and when he attempted to send Polaris on a rescue mission, he inadvertently sent Forge away, too. Afterward, he’d collapsed. The team’s only working theory was that the strain of sending them to a precise destination in another universe was too much for him.

Trevor was still alive, but had been outcold for hours. Now their time was running short, as their only link to get Lorna and Forge back would soon be missed. To top it all off, the bosses were calling – and didn’t seem likely to take “no” for an answer. It never rains but it pours.

In the living room, the rest of the team was debating what to do next. “Our first priority should be getting Forge or Lorna back,” Shard suggested. “Tell the others to hold their horses.”

“As difficult as this may seem, we don’t just stop being X-Factor until they return. We may be needed,” one of three Jamie’s replied. The other Madrox’s nodded their agreement.

Shard rolled her eyes. “But this is different. This is an emergency. Doesn’t Val understand that?”

“Dr. Cooper said we can work out the details later. Right now the head honchos want our attention,” DeeDee told her.

“Since when did we jump every time the government goons say so?”

“Since Guido said they’re more than tripling our budget,” Jamie number two offered.

Shard’s holomatrix eyebrows shot up in surprise. “Really? Well, I think that changes a few things. We hear them out first, then get our team members back?”

“That’s the plan,” the third Jamie concluded, just as Fixx stepped back into the room. She was followed behind by a bleary-eyed, ragged-looking redhead boy who looked like he’d been sleeping for days. He rubbed his eyes and squinted at the light.

“Trevor, we need you to get Lorna and Forge back! Can you do that?” Shard asked hopefully, despite the decision they’d just made.

Before Trevor had a chance to answer, Fixx replied, “No. I’m afraid he can’t.”

“Hey, how are you feeling-feeling-eeling-ling-ing?”

Lorna’s eyes fluttered, but did not open. Deep in the recesses of her consciousness, she swore she could hear the voice, the echoing words, of someone she knew was dead. It had to be a dream, her own little voice told her. Still, she allowed the rich baritone to carry her away. She felt like she was dancing, floating above a field of flowers on a magical carpet powered by sound.

“You can’t sleep forever, you know-now-ow.”

There! There it was again! She laughed to herself as her personal magic carpet seemed to bob and weave playfully with each syllable. Silly girl. You know better than to torture yourself like that. After all, that was so long ago. So, so long ago. Still, it was so relaxing…

“I give up. Elektra, honey, what did the doctors say?”

Lorna’s eyes snapped open, but the sharp glare of the lighting in the room made her reflexively partly cover her eyes and squint. As she started to sit up, she was rewarded with a stinging pain in her neck and side. “Ow!!! Ouch….”

“Easy. You took a pretty good beating from Chance back there! You’re in no shape to go anywhere. Honestly, I’m surprised you’re still with us. You’re damn lucky it wasn’t a direct hit.”

Lorna heard the words…but couldn’t believe what she was seeing. She was looking into the face of a man who, over the years, she’d learned to love, to hate, to comfort, and to share countless intimate nights with. Through the flood of emotions tearing through her, she couldn’t find the words she was looking for. Damn it, why couldn’t she bring herself to say something, anything? What was wrong with her? She could feel the tears welling up inside despite her efforts to stay calm.

When she didn’t say anything after his comment, Alex shifted uncomfortably. Somehow, she seemed different, vulnerable somehow, not at all like the aloof, headstrong daughter of Magneto he’d met before . He began to wonder if the accident had hurt her worse than he’d first thought. He took a deep breath, and decided to continue. “Wow, honestly I thought we’d never see you again. When we’d seen you killed in that attack we figured that was the end of you and and your father. Now here you show up all of the sudden.”

Her head cocked a little to one side. The voice was Alex but the words were foreign. What was he talking about? Her, killed? She didn’t understand. Her head hurt like hell, and she didn’t understand what was going on. And here, in front of her, sitting on the bed, was Alex. This was not the reunion she’d been hoping for. Finally, out of sheer frustration, the words found a way to her lips. “What…what are you talking about?”

Alex was looking at her as if she’d grown another head. “Don’t you remember? You, and Magneto and the other X-Men were killed in that explosion. At least we thought you were! What happened?”

Lorna shook her head, and realized that hurt, too. “What are you talking about? I- I was never in any explosion, Alex. I…no…you…you were in an explosion. You were on that plane. With… with…what was his name…Greystone. And that’s the last I ever saw of you.”

Alex’s ice-blue eyes narrowed as the memories of his last moments in the other dimension flooded his consciousness. It had been so long ago, the memories seemed so surreal, now. Like a dream. He…remembered telling Polaris that he had to save Greystone himself. It was another stubborn move, in an effort to prove to himself he still had what it took to lead a team. He should’ve known better. He should’ve used all the resources he had at hand. Greystone was frantic, and the ship was going to blow…and…

His mind shook himself from the reverie, as he made the connection, realizing that this had to be the Lorna Dane he knew from before. His eyes went wide and he whispered, “Oh…my God…Oh my God! Lorna! Lorna!”

Instinctively, he threw his arms around her and gave her a tight hug. “Owww. Ow! Easy, Alex, I’m – in a little pain here…”

He pulled back suddenly. “I’m sorry! But…what are you doing here? How did you get here?” He had a million questions all trying to fight their way out of his mind.

“I – ummm,” she struggled to remember. Her mind was clouded, and she had no idea how long she’d been unconscious. It seemed like days…maybe even weeks. Slowly she recalled the details, like something that had happened to her a long time ago. Their encounters with Trevor, and his power to alter reality. “It’s a long story. I don’t even know if I can explain it, yet. For now, let’s just say I got here on a hunch.”

Still at X-Factor’s HQ…

“I said, ‘Trevor’s reality warping powers are gone.’ Poof.” Fixx snapped her fingers in demonstration. “Just like that.”

Shard, DeeDee, and Jamie looked like they either didn’t believe what she was telling them, or didn’t want to. Either way, panic seemed to be slowly creeping it’s way across their expressions.

“What do you mean, gone?” DeeDee asked. “Maybe his powers are just burned out?”

“I don’t think so. He allowed me to probe his mind with my sprites,” Fixx replied, as two of her sprites fluttered playfully around her head. “They reported back with him having no recollection of being able to activate his power. In fact he could only barely remember having the power, and that was after we chatted for a moment.”

Shard looked impatient. “This is ridiculous. Mutant powers don’t just disappear!”

Fixx shot her a glance. “Actually, that’s not quite true. In any case, we know that they can and do evolve, especially for young mutants. Trevor’s powers may still be in a state of flux, trying to orient themselves. It could be that warping reality was just a transitory phase. If Forge were here…”

“…but Forge isn’t here. That’s the problem.” Jamie said.

“And we are out of time. Guys, like it or not, Forge and Polaris are on their own…and so are we.” Seeing protest from her other team members, DeeDee added, “…at least for now. Later, hopefully, we can get Father Bloch to let the Professor take a look at him. For now, we’ve got work to do. Let’s go.”

Forge rubbed his temples, trying to relieve himself of the splitting headache he’d had since he woke up. He noticed he was in less than luxury surroundings. He was seated at the head chair of a rectangular wooden table. A single incandescent bulb burned dimly above an ancient light fixture hanging from above. The stench of stale cigar smoke lingering faintly in the air.

Surrounding them were wooden boxes piled several meters high. It was some kind of warehouse. He didn’t understand. One minute he was sitting there with the team, watching as Lorna began her reality shift, and the next…the next…he couldn’t remember. Now he was here. Where was here?

Forge was about to get up when he heard a sound of a slamming door. He quickly looked around for an escape. There was no place to hide, and before he knew it, a large grey man in sunglasses, with a bandanna tied around his head was standing before him. It was clear he wasn’t happy. His arms folded, chomping down on the stump of a cigar, and the scowl on his face made that painfully clear to Forge. Forge felt the word form on his lips “Random?” – but a sudden realization drove him to keep his mouth shut.

After what seemed like an amazingly long moment of silence to Forge, the huge mutant finally spoke, in that voice Forge knew all-too-well. “Welp, she got away,” he said as he shook his head and rolled his eyes.

If he’d been paying attention, he would have seen Forge’s eyes squint ever so slightly in concentration as he adjusted to new surroundings. Instead, he only heard the words. “Did she?” Forge asked flatly.

“Yeah. I thought I had her, but that damn Summers’ got in the way. I think I may have killed her, though. Didn’t get a chance to stick around and find out.” The grey man shifted nervously and bit down on his cigar.

Forge only nodded his acknowledgment and said nothing. As he suspected, the man continued. “You know, I love that green hair of hers but it makes her a helluva target at night.” Suddenly he turned and looked at Forge carefully. “Honestly, I thought you’d be a little more pissed at us letting her get away, again, boss. What’s the deal?”

The man’s words came down on Forge like a ton of bricks. To his credit, his face remained expressionless. He knew he had to choose his next words very carefully. Best to be vague, and, if possible, keep him on the defensive. By some stroke of luck, it appeared to be that he was supposed to be here. He was apparently playing a role. “You think you may have killed her?” Forge added a touch of irritation to his voice. Not enough to make the change too obvious, though.

“Well yeah, I definitely scored a good shot. Knocked her out of the sky when she jumped from her hiding place. Can’t figure out why the hell she’d do that, though. Honestly I thought she was a lot smarter than that.”

“You’d think. Exactly where did you incapacitate her?”

The man winced. “It was in front of the Summers’ mansion. I know, boss, you told us not to go there, but look, that’s where I found her, okay?”

Forge poured it on. “You went there after I told you NOT to? What the hell were you thinking?” For emphasis, he pounded his prosthetic fist onto the table, nearly collapsing the rickety old thing.

“Hey, hey, the important thing is we’ve got her out of action for awhile, right?” Chance said, trying to minimize the impact of their error.

“NO! That is NOT the important thing. You imbecile, now we’re gonna have to fix this mess.”

“Boss, what’s the prob? The other guys can back me up. I told ’em where she went down. All they have to do is sit it out and wait for the happy Summers’ family to go to bed, and wham, they’ve got her.”

“You think it’s that easy?” Forge sighed impatiently and stood up. “C’mon, we’ve got work to do.” As he followed Chance out the door, Forge blinked hard and took a deep breath. “I hope it isn’t going to be that easy,” he thought to himself.

The whole team, except, of course for Polaris and Forge, was gathered in a small conference room, around a “C”-shaped table. They were joined by their government liason, Doctor Valerie Cooper, and a man Guido had already come to know as Mr. Smith. By the time the rest of the team had arrived, neither Val nor Guido had any doubts about Smith not being his real name.

While he’d been speaking, Shard scrutinized him carefully. An small Asian man, probably in his 50s, rather distinguished looking, with a head of grey hair, in reasonably good shape. His grin and smooth talk reminded her of a used car salesman.

“Why do you not trust me?” the man said in near-perfect English, with just the slightest accent, his arms spread wide. “We’re giving you a big chance to come out heroes, to strut your stuff and put an end to the anti-mutant nonsense once and for all.”

“We don’t like high-profile missions. We’re a ‘behind the scenes’ team,” Shard said coolly.

“Frankly, sneaking around in the shadows isn’t exactly a way to gain people’s trust. Why not take a more visible approach?”

Shard was about to answer, but Val cut her short. “Maybe a new approach is exactly what we need, Mr. Smith. It’s certainly worth a shot, right?” Val put special emphasis on the last word for Shard’s benefit. Shard, unfazed, was about to disagree when the rest of the team shot her glances that implied they’d prefer if she kept her reservations to herself. So Smith’s next words caught everyone by surprise. “The young lady is right, indeed. Nothing comes without a catch.”

“What is the catch, then?” Fixx asked, trying to sound nonchalant.

“This time, you’re going to have to come across as ordinary individuals. No powers. We want you to investigate what we feel to be a potential threat to the delicate balance we have in place today. How do you feel about heading to a small tropical island in the west Pacific? Like Vanatra?”

Guido whistled, and Fixx “ooohed.” It sounded like a dream come true. “Who can resist a visit to a world class resort island?”

“Indeed. I’m afraid, though, that the ‘resort’ part of your visit will have to wait. We first want you to investigate a group of mutants that appear to be putting together some sort of army.” With that, a picture of a redhead appeared, holding up his index finger and grinning maniacally. He was dressed in a meticulous, black Giordani suit.

“Many of you may be familiar with this man,” Mr. Smith paused for effect, and continued when he saw a couple nods from the team members. They certainly recognized the man, but not his outfit.

Guido squinted at the image. “Since when did Arcade get the Superhero Villians’ Platinum card?” He quipped. Valerie shushed him and nodded for Smith to continue.

“In the past, as I’m sure you’re aware, Arcade has proven himself to be little more than a nuisance. A dangerous one, admittedly, but usually a threat to only a few at a time. Now, though, he seems to be massing some amount of strength. We have nothing to pin on him, yet, but we are, I think, understandably concerned.” With that, Smith pushed a button. The room darkened, and a video monitor came on.

“Hello, chumps!” The man in dark shades and short, red hair taunted. “I’m back, and I have a proposal for you. How long has it been since you had a vacation?”

“Too long. We all know what a slave driver Val is,” Jamie mumbled.

“Shhhhh!”

“I’m giving you twenty-four hours to send your little government goons out here to pay me a visit. In return, I agree not to unleash my nasty computer virus until I deem it appropriate and necessary.”

This time, Val spoke up. “Mr. Smith, it would seem to me that this is something we need to tackle head on. Sneaking and slinking around won’t help us any. We’ve dealt with Arcade before.”

Mr. Smith chuckled lightly. “Dr. Cooper, you sometimes forget that the best way to solve the problem is not always the easiest or most direct way. In this case, discretion is probably the better part of valor.”

Val was about to disagree, but the team as a whole nodded to Mr. Smith.

Shard, ever the XSE strategist, suggested, “Without two key players, this team is not even close to being at its full potential. We need to tread lightly until we know what we’re up against. Once we get over there, we’ll see what we can find out, and decide where and how to proceed. In the meantime, I’ve got an idea.”

Bannerman’s Castle, 2243 hours…

Well, this certainly is awkward, Lorna thought to herself. Her reunion with Alex was hardly going the way she’d anticipated. After all, she’d never expected to find Alex with another woman. Hell, she’d never expected to find Alex, period. So finding him with someone else was an added shock she was totally not prepared for. It had the potential to greatly complicate the situation.

She’d have to handle things delicately. She was doing her best to be patient…polite, even, but she really wanted to talk to him, alone. Now that she was here, it was time to cut through the formalities and have Scotty get in touch with Trevor to bring them back. Alex didn’t seem to be in any hurry, and somehow he wasn’t

Alex took a deep breath. He remembered that their last moments together had been strained. Surely they were beyond holding a grudge, though. “So. I noticed you cut your hair,” he said matter-of-factly. Lorna had kept her hair long for him; he’d preferred it that way. Without Alex, well, she’d decided to experiment a little, and now her emerald tresses were shoulder length.

Lorna looked out the window into the night. Tiny wet snowflakes had begun to mix in with the steady rain now falling outside. “Yeah.” That was all she could say. “How eloquent,” the voice inside chided her. She cursed herself, as she forced a look toward Alex. Sitting there holding hands with someone he called Elektra. The little voice in the back of her mind told her he was doing it on purpose. And then she cursed herself again.

What was the problem? After all, She broke up with him. How hard was that to remember? Why should she care? Shouldn’t she be happy just to see him alive again?

“I still can’t believe you’re here. How long has it been?” Alex asked.

Happy for the change in subject, she thought for a moment, and replied quickly, “About a year and a half. In my timeline, at least.”

“Wow. I’ve been here, what’s it been, honey? Three years?” Hearing the sound of Elektra’s pet name grated on Lorna’s nerves like fingernails on a chalkboard. She had to make a conscious effort not to grit her teeth.

“Yes. Three years,” the attractive brunette purred with a slight European accent. Alex smiled warmly back at her. Apparently he’d been enjoying every minute of it, Lorna thought dryly.

Suddenly a light bulb went off in her head. Alex was happy here. Or, more accurately, he wasn’t unhappy here. Since her arrival, he hadn’t said a word about his previous life. He hadn’t asked about what had happened to X-Factor. Or Scott and Jean. Or the X-Men. Had he forgotten about them? Not a chance. It was more like he just didn’t care, and it was damned disconcerting, to say the least

Without being sure she wanted to know the answer, Lorna asked, “So, how’ve you been keeping yourself busy for the last three years?” She cast a glace toward Elektra before she could stop herself. What she really wanted to ask was, “Looks like you’ve made quite a home for yourself here – care to explain why the hell you could never bring yourself to do that with me?” – but she thought better of it.

“Oh, wow, it’s been incredible! One day, I’m trying to rebuild X-Factor. The next, everyone here is telling me I’m the leader of a team called ‘The Six.’ – it’s not the best name, I know, but I kind of was stuck with it when I got here. Things are so much the same here, but different, too. This world has mutants, and their problems. But the problems are different.

“At first I had no idea what had happened. I thought maybe the Shadow King or Arcade had been playing games with me. They all thought I was crazy. They told me I was married to Maddie Pyror…” Lorna winced. Alex really had been busy. “…and we’d fought together, as a team, with Iceman…and Hank…and Storm,” Alex’s voice trailed off as he remembered everything that had led up to the acceptance of his new life.

Lorna saw an opportunity to steer the conversation in a direction she hoped would get him thinking. “So, Alex, what happened to the other – you know – the Alex that was here? I mean…” Lorna’s words were cut short as the living room’s bay window shattered violently inward, followed by three heavily-armed thugs who landed in front of them, feet first.

Instinctively, Lorna leapt behind the chair she’d been sitting in for cover, in order to give her a moment to establish her situation. Alex and Elektra on the other hand, seemed considerably more prepared for an attack. The two of them jumped up and before she knew it, they were throwing everything they had at the guys, as though it were routine for people to smash their way into their living room. Polaris suddenly felt a little sheepish behind the chair and decided to join in on the fray.

Havok’s body began to glow as he utilized his mutant ability. Cosmic energy, stored within his body, not unlike a photoelectric cell, was being released as bolts of concentrated plasma. It was so powerful that Lorna could feel the room heat up several degrees, despite the destroyed window and the rain and snow pouring in. She also noted that Alex seemed to use his mutant power with greather confidence and control than ever before. Gone was the clumsy, out of control, raging Alex Summers.

His first blasts had no effect on the attacker, who seemed to be using some sort of shield to absorb the energy. The hooded figure, dressed entirely in black, would throw his hands up as he fired. It didn’t take him long to outsmart the attacker, however. As Havok deliberately poised for what would be an attempt at a direct hit, the attacker corresponded by readying his shield and preparing to move in. In a split instant, Alex fired in a totally different direction, toward the large mirror above the couch. The mirror took the brunt of the energy, but the light and reflected was enough to blind the attacker, distracting him long enough to score a shieldless, direct hit.

As a ninja, Elektra didn’t need energy powers. While her opponent was skilled, she was even more so. In rapid fire, she planted a few well placed kicks. The intruder was relentless, though, and insisted on continuing the fight. “If that’s the way you want it,” she warned him finally. From seemingly out of nowhere, two katana appeared. The glittering blades whipped through the air as Elektra skillfully and efficiently handled them. It only took an instant before she scored a most lethal slice on her attacker.

Polaris tried to stop her attacker with a weak EM pulse to his brain. Ideally, this would induce instant unconciousness. The effect was less than successful, though, as the only result was a brief display of vivid, yet powerless colors.

“Fine. If I can’t use my powers, then I’ll have to try something a little more conventional. She steadied herself, still feeling a bit off. Polaris recalled some of the painful lessons she’d picked up during advanced physical combat sessions she’d had with Shard. “Sometimes,” Shard had told her, “all you gotta do is wait for your opponent to make a mistake, leaving you with an opportunity.” So when her attacker suspected he wasn’t going to get any resistance, he foolishly rushed toward her with an ear piercing but otherwise harmless scream. At the last instant, Polaris squatted, lowering her center of gravity enough to cause the man to falter. She snarled, and used the man’s own momentum to lift him off the ground and into the air. He flipped like a rag doll and landed hard on his back, coughing up blood.

Elektra was just about to skewer him like a shish kebab, her katana poised just centimeters above the man’s face. “NO!” Polaris and Havok yelled simultaneously. Elektra stopped and looked at them questioningly.

“Don’t kill him, yet. We may be able to get some information out of him,” Alex ordered. His qualifier wasn’t lost on Polaris. “Yet,” he’d said. That worried her. Killing was never an option for him before; he wasn’t a Logan. Or a Sabretooth, the voice inside her added ruefully. She hoped it was just a bluff to get him to talk. Seeing the two dead bodies littering the living room floor, she couldn’t be so sure.

The three of them gathered around the last assailant, Elektra keeping her katana poised above him, ready for any false move. Havok checked the man for any kind of identification, and found none. “Now what?” Polaris asked.

“Now, you’re all coming with me,” a voice called out from the destroyed bay window, leveling a large weapon at the three of them, and pulling the trigger.

“Fo…?” Polaris eeked out before she, Havok, and Elektra fell unconscious in the midst of a pale blue beam.

“Well, that takes care ‘o that, eh boss?” Chance snickered.

“Indeed.” The mutant named Forge said flatly.

NEXT: More trouble for one of Marvel’s longtime couples…and just who’s side is Forge on, anyway? And what’s Arcade’s beef this time?