“What’s the status on the others?” The mutant known only as Forge sat behind the controls of a smaller X-Wing craft he built himself. The heads-up display featured an image of Hank McCoy back at the Xavier Institute.

“They should have reached Muir Isle by now, but they haven’t reported in.”

“I don’t like the sound of that,” said Forge.

“I concur, but I’m certain they’ll be fine. I’ll keep you posted nonetheless.”

“I appreciate that.” The HUD showed a map of the area below in the South Pacific, marking one spot in particular. “I’m closing in on this guy you wanted to recruit. Although I have to admit, strange I’ve never heard of him before.”

“That’s the way he prefers it. He’s done a very good job of staying under a lot of radars,” said Hank.

“For quite a long time, if these reports are any indication. And he’s still active after all these decades?”

“He’s very good.”

Forge’s plane slowed over an island, switching to hover mode. He activated the VTOL systems and the craft slowly lowered to the ground. “I’ve arrived.”

“Forge, be ready for anything.”

The Maker stood from his seat and moved to a small storage unit. He opened it, withdrawing a series of weapons components. With Forge’s mutant ability for inventive genius, he could quickly combine different components to have a variety of weapons at his disposal. The sidearm blaster he kept holstered to his leg served as the basis for all of them.

“Don’t worry about me, Hank. Years of working both for and against the government have taught me to over-prepare.”

Forge activated a switch on his belt buckle that opened the plane’s hatch. He affixed a scanner over his left eye that tracked his quarry in the wooded area. “Are you sure these are the right coordinates, Hank? Because I’m picking up a lot of different life forms, none of which are our man.”

“What are you picking up?”

Forge raised his gun as the life forms came from behind the trees. They were all dressed in uniforms and their flesh appeared to rot. Despite this, they moved towards the X-Man with incredible speed.

“Zombies.”

“Come again?”

“Nazi zombies.” Forge opened fire with his blaster, taking two of them out with headshots. He reached for his belt and pulled loose a small device which he tossed in the air and then leapt away. The device released a chemical that, once it coated the zombies, caused them to spontaneously combust.

One of the zombies pounced on Forge from behind, landing on his back. Forge struggled to pull it off as the zombie tried to bite into his flesh. Then, the zombie’s body stiffened and it fell lifelessly to the ground. Forge saw that the zombie had been pierced by some sort of hypodermic projectiles.

Another flurry of the projectiles shot out, striking the remaining zombies and they also fell instantly. Forge kept his weapon up and found himself face-to-face with another man. He was dressed all in white and also held his weapon at the ready.

“You picked the wrong island,” said the man in white.

“I came looking for you,” said Forge. “Doctor Nemesis, right?”

“Who sent you?” asked Doctor Nemesis.

“How about we lower our weapons and talk about it?” asked Forge.

“You’re free to.”

Forge nodded and slowly lowered his blaster. But Nemesis kept his at the ready. “I thought we had an agreement?” asked Forge.

“I never said I would lower mine.”

“My name’s Forge. I’m here on behalf of the Xavier Institute.”

“So?”

“We’re a group of mutants, like you,” said Forge. “And we could use your knowledge and skills.”

“Did you not see what just happened here?” asked Nemesis. “I have my own battles to fight. I don’t have time for yours.”

“We have a lot of questions. Questions you can help us answer,” said Forge.

“Then you’ve wasted your time, Forge. Now hop in your plane and get out of here before you get in my way.”

Doctor Nemesis began to back away from the area. Forge called out after him. “Wait, I have a feeling you’ll want to hear what I have to say.”

“Then say it quickly.”

“The Legacy Virus.”

“It’s been eradicated.”

“But why did it work so well?” asked Forge. “There’s evidence that the x-gene is mutating even further. And then there’s also the matter of resurrections. Mutants seem notoriously hard to kill. Don’t you find that more than a little curious?”

Nemesis lowered his gun and slipped it into a shoulder beneath his coat. “Very well. Let’s talk.”

SUPERNOVA REMNANT

Part II

By Chris Munn, Hunter Lambright, and Dino Pollard

Muir Isle

Banshee’s powerful mutant vocal chords cut loose with a sonic scream that decimated three of the Slipskulls almost instantaneously. Shadowcat utilized a combination of offensive and defensive tactics, first phasing through a Slipskull’s razor-sharp claws, and then solidifying just long enough to behead them with the samurai sword she brought along.

A Slipskull loomed over her, snarling as it moved. Shadowcat raised her free hand and balled it into a fist, activating a switch that extended a claw from beneath the sleeve of her flight jacket. She brought that claw up through the Slipskull, tearing it in half.

“When’d yeh start carryin’ that around?” asked Banshee.

“Thought it’d be a nice way to remember Logan,” said Shadowcat.

Rogue plowed through another Slipskull at her top speed, completely obliterating it. Several more piled on her, trying to overpower her. It took all her strength to force them off, one at a time. She punched through one of them, its skin extremely malleable and soft.

“Ugh…” she muttered, shaking the remains off her hand. “These things are disgustin’. Why can’t the bad guys ever make henchmen who aren’t so gross?”

“Because then they wouldn’t be bad,” said Shadowcat.

“Colossus, Magik, protect Nova!” shouted Banshee, his scream blowing through another Slipskull.

“If they’re after her, maybe we should just give them what they want…” muttered Shadowcat.

“I better not hear any talk of that again, lass.”

Shadowcat said nothing, just concentrated on tearing through the Slipskulls. But each one she killed, she mentally pictured as Cassandra.

The sibling team of Colossus and Magik stood between Cassandra and the Predator X. It opened its large mouth, spitting some sort of acid at them. Colossus raised his arms and took the damage, the acid causing his metal skin to smolder slightly. But despite the pain, it left no permanent damage. Colossus charged at the behemoth, grabbing its arm as it tried to slash at him. He jumped onto its back, wrapping his arms around its neck and trying to take it down. The Predator X’s strength fluctuated in response to the attack. Its hide hardened, making it more difficult for Colossus to gain any sort of leverage over it. The creature’s arm dislocated and shifted, then snapped into a new location so it could pull Colossus off.

Magik appeared through a stepping disc above, slicing across Predator X’s back. Predator X’s howl of pain was proof that her Soulsword’s power was a weakness the beast couldn’t compensate for. She cut through it again, this time able to pierce its shell. But the creature was still powerful and it only took slightly longer for it to heal from her strike.

Cassandra backed away as the pair battled Predator X and kept its attention. With the inhibitor helmet on, she still couldn’t access her vast psionic powers. It left her completely helpless in this fight and she could only try to escape as quickly as possible.

And where do you think you’re going?

Urizen. The voice in her head. The one that pushed her too far. “It’s coming now, isn’t it?”

You need me, Cassandra.

“What I really need is it. That will ensure your influence goes no further, wouldn’t it?”

The Predator X broke past Colossus and Magik, knocking them both to the ground. Colossus called out to Cassandra: “You have to run! Get away!”

Cassandra simply stood her ground as the Predator X ran towards her. It raised its massive claws, snarling as they came down. But then, a massive swirl of energy emerged from Cassandra, surrounding her body and holding the Predator X’s arm in place.

When Cassandra Nova opened her eyes, they held an unearthly glow.

“Now, we are one,” she said, her voice like thousands speaking in unison.

Avalon, Genosha

Jean Grey-Summers, President of Genosha, had been on a tour of a newly-completed genetic research center with her husband, Scott. During the tour, she screamed out in pain and her legs gave out from under her.

Scott was shocked but able to catch her before she hit the ground. He gently lowered her and began to lightly shake her. “Jean? Jean, what happened? Can you hear me?”

Her green eyes slowly opened. “Scott…it’s here.”

“What’s here?” he asked.

“It’s been awakened on Earth.”

“What?” asked Scott. “Jean, you’re not making any sense.”

“Cassandra…she’s merged with it,” said Jean.

“Nova?! Where is she? Hank assured us that—”

Jean’s body surrounded itself in an aura of telekinetic energy that resembled a flaming bird. She hefted herself up, hovering above the ground. “Scott, we have to find the X-Men. We have to get to Muir Isle. Before it’s too late.”

The rest of the entourage looked at the couple with confusion. “Madame President, is everything—”

Jean smiled at the cabinet member who spoke. “I’m sorry, but something very important has come up.”

The flaming wings of the Phoenix enlarged to include Scott as well, and the couple flew from the research center.

Muir Isle

“What’s with the light show?” asked Rogue.

The light show in question was swirling energy that resembled barely some sort of creature. And hovering in the center of it was Cassandra. The Predator X kept trying to claw its way into her, but its efforts were useless. The remainder of the Slipskulls found themselves drawn to her as well, trying to break past her defenses.

“Nova,” said Magik. “She just cut loose with a massive display of power.”

“But the helmet…” began Shadowcat. “It should have cut her off from her powers.”

Magik simply gestured to the scene before them. “Maybe someone forgot to tell her that.”

“Something’s not right,” said Banshee. “Cassandra never displayed anythin’ like this before.”

Magik closed her eyes and her Soulsword pulsed with mystic energies. When she opened them again, she said, “you’re right. There’s something else in there. Something ancient.”

“What?” asked Colossus.

“I don’t know. But it’s very powerful and very, very pissed off,” said Magik.

Cassandra raised her arms. The Slipskulls and Predator X all stiffened and rose into the air, surrounding her. One by one, the Slipskulls disintegrated into nothing, broken down at the molecular level. That left the Predator X for last. She tore it apart, tooth by tooth, claw by claw, followed by its arms, legs, and head. Each piece of the creature then had its molecules torn apart, leaving no remainder of it.

She turned her attention now to the X-Men and slowly began to approach them. As the writing creature of psionic energy around her attempted to strike, it suddenly stopped. Cassandra’s eyes shifted to normal and when she spoke, it was in her own voice.

“No,” she said. “They aren’t who you want. I have something much, much better for us.”

The creature roared and power pulsed out from it, the psionic backlash powerful enough to leave the X-Men unconscious. Cassandra rocketed off into the skies, leaving a glowing trail behind her.

Black Womb

“Sir, we’ve lost all trace of Nova,” said one of the technicians.

“Also, the Slipskulls and Predator X appear to be offline,” said another.

“That’s impossible,” said Adam Harkins. “How could we have lost all trace of them?”

The facility’s alarms began to wail with a shrill, piercing sound. Harkins looked towards one of the security officers. “What the hell’s going on?”

“We’ve got a security breach, sir!”

“I know that, you moron! I want to know who or what it is!”

“I’m putting up the surveillance feed on the main screen.”

The feed appeared on a large monitor. Harkins and the rest of his technicians watched as Black Womb soldiers opened fire into a smoke-filled corridor. Tendrils of psionic energy lashed out from the distance, burrowing into their heads and rendering them lifeless. Some of them turned towards the cameras, their eyes now glowing vacantly as if they were drones. They floated along with the creature just as the feed was cut.

“We can’t track it, sir,” said the security officer. “But the surveillance feeds are being cut one by one. And it looks like it’s heading—”

The doors to the room they were in were blown off their hinges. Soldiers opened fire on the creature, but they froze as they passed into the energy field. Once there, they were completely disintegrated.

“This is…impossible…” said Harkins, watching intently. He peered past the swirling energy, and could see the figure floating in the midst of it. “…Cassandra?”

Cassandra’s psionic tentacles lashed all around the room. The technicians and security officers were left lifeless husks, one by one. Their consciousness was absorbed into the creature. Cassandra could feel them floating around inside of her, swirling all around. But the power was too much. Even for one such as herself. She knew what she needed to do to finally be rid of all this.

Harkins was the only one left standing. Cassandra moved towards him and lowered to the ground, the energy vanishing inside her body. Harkins’ jaw was hanging open, still in surprise at what he had just witnessed.

“The power…I knew it was incredible, but this is…this is incredible.”

“That’s because this is something different,” said Cassandra. “This is much, much more than Amanda Mueller could ever dream of. This isn’t the Mummudrai, it’s the ultimate weapon to fight against it. It’s what you need to accomplish your goals, isn’t it, Dr. Harkins?”

Harkins nodded. “Something like this…it’s so far beyond anything Weapon Plus has ever developed. Beyond anything we’ve ever seen. But if it’s not the Mummudrai, then what is it?”

Cassandra smiled. “It’s the Hecatomb. And its power is unbelievably vast. You will never have a better opportunity than this, Harkins.”

“I must have it.”

She nodded. “And I’ll let you. Provided that once you’ve taken possession of the Hecatomb, you leave me to my own devices. Do we understand each other?”

“And what will you do, Cassandra?” asked Harkins. “Where will you go? You think the X-Men will let you walk away like that?”

“You let me worry about the X-Men. You worry about controlling the Hecatomb,” said Cassandra. “But we haven’t much time. There are already forces gathering against us.”

“What forces?” asked Harkins.

“The Phoenix.”

To Be Concluded…