BUSHWHACKED!

By Shawn Gauthier

In a back alley of one of New York City’s most run-down warehouse districts, a large shadowy figure keeps to the shadows. Slowly the figure makes its way down the abandoned street, staggering as it goes. Suddenly it stumbles forward into the light as it falls to its hands and knees. Once in the light the shadowy figured is revealed to be none other than Cable.

With great pain, Cable uses a nearby signpost to pull himself to his feet before he continues on his path. Gasping with each step he pushes himself onward. His legs are shaking, threatening to send him back sprawling to the ground. Concentrating on one thought Cable fights off the blackness of unconsciousness, which seems so enticing.

‘I’ve got to get to the safety of my warehouse before I can rest,’ he reminds himself over and over again.

The warehouse is actually one of Cable’s secret ammunition depots in which he stores many of his weapons and equipment necessary to carry out his mission. It’s located just a couple blocks from his current location.

Cable is still unsure how he came to be in New York. His last memories are of a three-way fight with Apocalypse and Master Mold in a small town called Haven, which was in truth, a secret government military base. He remembers a fleeing Master Mold dropping thousands of explosives down on the base as Cable struggled to reach Ozymandias and the other inmates of the Haven Base. What happened after the explosion remains a mystery to him. One he is not entirely comfortable with.

Lost in a world of hurt and pain, Cable is suddenly surprised to find himself standing outside his secret warehouse. He is even more surprised to see that the alarm system has been deactivated and door stands slightly ajar.

‘This can’t be good,’ thinks Cable. ‘I stashed enough firepower and advanced weapons in there to take over a large city like New York.’

He knows whoever was good enough to bypass his state-of-the-art alarm system is a serious threat, especially in his current condition.

Like the trained soldier that he is, Cable bursts through the door, somersaulting to a place of cover behind a crate just opposite of the door. His eyes quickly adjust to the darkness inside as he surveys the warehouse from his vantage point. He can detect nobody. However, where his eyes show him nothing, his ears can detect the soft sounds of somebody breathing in the far corner of the warehouse, near his personal quarters.

Without a sound, Cable creeps toward the breathing. Along the way he is constantly arming himself with weapons from the various crates and boxes as he goes. By the time he comes within sight of his unwelcome guest he is fully armed and ready for battle. Glancing over a crate Cable can make out a person’s form laying on one of his armory tables. From the person’s steady breath Cable deduces that his approach has gone undetected.

Setting down the high-powered assault rife in his hands on the floor next to him, Cable pulls free a sniper’s rifle from the crate in front of him. Using the state of the art, infrared scope on the gun Cable gets a better look at the form on the table.

“Sam!” shouts Cable in shock, giving up his position.

Samuel Guthrie, a.k.a. Cannonball, rolls over from his place on the table and crashes to the floor. In less than a second Cable closes the distance between him and his former charge, catching him before he hits the floor. Pulling Sam to his feet Cable, begins to embrace the boy who he considers his own son before noticing his wounds. There are two large gun shot wounds to the boy. The first is a bloody but non-life-threatening wound to his left shoulder while the other is a far more serious gut shot.

“My God, Sam! What happened?” asks Cable as he eases the boy back on the table.

“Ah’m sorry, sir. Ah came here looking for you when somebody bushwhacked me.” There was a look of shame in Sam’s eyes as he spit the words out. “Ah never saw who or what hit me. The next thing Ah knew Ah woke up here.”

“From the looks of your wounds I would say that you were shot twice, but not by any gun that I’ve ever seen,” comments Cable as he examines Sam’s wounds before beginning to treat them.

“That ain’t much of a surprise when it comes to us, is it sir? There ain’t any shortage of people out there willing to kill us, an’ they seem to developing better and better means to do it too,” winces Sam as Cable applies a clamp to stop the bleeding in his shoulder. To his credit though he does not cry out, even when Cable dumps a clotting acid on the wound to seal it.

Finishing the shoulder wound Cable immediately moves onto Sam’s other injury, the hole in his gut. It doesn’t take Cable’s years of field experience to know that the injury is well past his limited medical abilities. Just glancing at the wound confirms he will have to get Sam to a hospital quick if the boy is to survive. First, however, he has to stop the wound’s bleeding or the Sam would die of blood loss.

“Are any of the other X-Men in the area?” asks Cable, trying to change the subject. Things are grim enough as it is.

“Ah’m not a part of the X-Men anymore,” answers Sam. “Ah strived so hard as a part of X-Force so that someday Ah could become an X-Man, only to find out that they aren’t any better off than the rest of us. They were supposed to be the best, the standard by which all the other mutant teams such as X-Force, X-Factor, and Excalibur were supposed to be judged, but all that ain’t true, is it, sir? They don’t have all the answers. They’re just like the rest of us, doing the best they can as they go. Ah was no better as an X-Man as Ah was a member of X-Force.”

“So go back to X-Force then, Sam. I’m sure that they could use you.” Cable is in truth only half listening to Sam. His main concern is to keep him talking so that he’s sure that Sam is still conscious.

“Ah tried, but Ah guess it’s true when they say that there is no going back.” Sam pauses for several moments before continuing. “Why do we do it, sir? Why do we put ourselves through all of this if we only end up back where we started? Despite our sacrifices, things ain’t gotten any better. There seems to be more people out to get us today then ever before. The anti-mutant threat seems to be at its strongest, and yet we struggle on.” Again Sam pauses before finishing. “Sir, do you think Xavier’s dream is ever going to happen?”

“You have to decide that for yourself. I will tell you this, however. You cannot live your life following somebody else’s dream, even if it’s the dream of a great man like Xavier. You have to listen to what your own heart tells you and then follow it. And if it tells you to follow Xavier’s dream of coexistence then you must first make his dream your dream. You have to think of it as your dream, your life’s work. You have to refer to it as Sam’s dream and not Xavier’s dream.”

Suddenly Cable notices that he has rambled on and he hasn’t heard the boy speak in a while. “What does your heart tell you now, Sam?”

“That’s just it, sir, Ah don’t know. Ah used to, but not anymore. Ah believed whole-heartedly that mah place was with the X-Men and Ah was wrong. What if Ah’m wrong again?”

“What is… is,” responds Cable.

‘Why did I say that?’ thinks Cable. ‘Again I’m faced with the dilemma of deciding whether my actions are because of my own freewill or if they are because of some Askani programming many years ago.’ The irony does not escape Cable. Here is one of his former students afraid to exercise his own free will, taking advice from a man who is unsure if he truly ever had any free will at all.

“Do you have any idea who could have done this? Could it be an enemy that you fought when you were on the X-Men or could it be some villain from your past with X-Force?” asks Cable, trying to gather information while trying to keep Sam awake.

“Ah don’t know who it could be, sir, but why do you suppose that whoever it was would attack me out of nowhere and then bring me here for you to find instead of finishing me off?”

‘Damn! The boy is right. Obviously the boy was left for me to find here meaning that this is probably a trap. I let my feelings for Sam’s well-being cloud my judgment. The person who shot Sam was most likely after me. Could whoever is behind this also be responsible for getting me here from Haven? Damn, there are too many unknowns here.’

“Sir, are you all right?” asks Sam seeing the concerned look on his mentor’s face. “Is mah wound that bad?”

“I need you to listen to me. I’ve tended to the wound in your shoulder, but the wound to your mid-section is more serious. I stopped the bleeding, but I need to get you to a hospital quickly. First, however, I need to make sure whoever did this to you is not waiting for us outside. So I need you to just lie still for now. I will be back really soon.” Without waiting for an answer, Cable heads back toward the warehouse’s door, picking up a few more armaments as he goes.

Mary Grey is unsure what she is doing in her aunt’s attic at such a late hour. All she knows is that something is compelling her forward. Something in the attic is calling her.

Mary had arrived at her aunt’s about a month ago as a part of her graduation present. She was full of excitement at the thought of spending a couple of months living in her aunt’s castle located in a small quiet town in Ireland. She immediately began indulging herself in the culture that surrounded her. She often filled her days with trips to the countryside and her evenings with a few new friends at the local pub. Her days seemed to be filled with joyous laughter and beauty.

Mary’s nights, however, are a different story. Ever since arriving at the castle, Mary has become a victim of a sudden and severe case of insomnia. She has spent many restless nights tossing and turning in her bed until she gives up and wanders the darkened castle alone for hours. It’s gotten so bad that she’s begun to dread going home to the castle after she departing from her friends.

This night is far worse than the rest. Fatigued and half crazed from a lack of sleep Mary begins to wander the castle’s corridors in a daze. She’s so exhausted that when the voices begin speaking to her she doesn’t notice. She thinks that the voices are her own and that she must be talking to herself.

The voices instruct her up to the attic. With glazed eyes Mary walks through the darkness of the crammed attic without tripping over any of the objects in her path. The voices guide her. She’s even impervious to the many cobwebs that cling to her face or to the fact that she lost one of her slippers on the attic stairs.

Suddenly she stops and kneels beside a large trunk covered with dust and dirt. With an eerie grace she uses her hand to brush the top of the trunk clean. A small plaque is revealed underneath. Upon the plaque is a single name.

“En Sabah Nur.”

Since Cable isn’t sure who he’s looking for, all he can do is scan all the thoughts of those in the immediate area. Quickly he sifts through all the incoming mental information looking for any thoughts dealing with either Cable or Cannonball. There are none.

‘That means either I’m being paranoid and the gunman has already left or that the gunman knows I’m a telepath and was trained to mask his true thoughts,’ thinks Cable as he prepares himself to exit the warehouse. The later possibility worries him because that means whoever is after him knows more about Cable than Cable knows about him. Cable is a seasoned enough veteran to know that it’s the unknown that can often get you killed.

Having no other choice Cable slowly edges the door of the warehouse open and slides his head through the crack to survey the street beyond. Immediately his ears detect a gun’s report from the rooftops above. He barely has time to pull his head back in and roll away from the door before a hole is blown in the door the size of a bowling ball.

After rolling out of harm’s way Cable crouches just to the side of the warehouse’s doorframe. Using his telepathic powers Cable sends out a warning to all the minds he detected earlier for them to flee. Obviously one of those minds is the shooter, who will most likely ignore his warning and stay in the area. All Cable has to do now is wait until there is only one other mind in the area.

Unfortunately, the mysterious gunman has no intention to let Cable wait. Through the same hole he previously put in the warehouse’s door, the gunman shoots several gas canisters. Choking, Cable quickly rushes to the back of the warehouse where Cannonball is waiting. He is not exactly sure what’s in the cannisters, but he’s sure it won’t be healthy to breathe. As he closes in on Cannonball’s position he draws a small backpack from his body and tosses it under the armory table.

The backpack beeps several warnings before it erects a small force field around Sam and the armory table. By that time Cable has already scaled the largest stack of crates to reach the rafters above. Once there, he quickly takes up a position where he can see the whole warehouse and dons a gas mask. He hates to use Sam as bait, but he’s confident that the force field will protect him.

To his surprise he can already make out the outline of the gunman in the gas cloud of the canisters, as he cautiously approaches Cannonball’s position. He’s wearing some kind of breathing apparatus that protects him from the gas. Not wanting to let him come any closer to Sam, Cable uses his rifle to take aim at the stranger’s mid-section.

‘An eye for an eye,’ he thinks as he squeezes the trigger.

To Cable’s astonishment the stranger below him has lightening quick reflexes. Hearing the report of Cable’s gun the man dives for cover. There is no doubt that he’s good, but he still isn’t entirely good enough to escape Cable’s shot as the bullet tears through his right thigh.

Letting out a scream of equal parts rage and pain, the gunman uses his free hand to toss several grenades in random directions with the intention of flushing Cable out.

‘Oh @#$%!’ thinks Cable. He knows instantly that the grenades are going to trigger a large series of explosions as they detonate the ordinance stored in the surrounding crates. Realizing that Sam is safe behind his force field, but that he himself is all too vulnerable, Cable uses his rifle to blow a hole in the ceiling above him.

Hoisting himself up onto the roof Cable hears the first of the grenades explode. By the time he’s on his feet he can hear the second and third explosions beneath him. Sprinting for the edge of the roof he is reminded of the injuries he suffered in Haven as his progress is slowed.

‘This is going to be close,’ he thinks as he reaches the edge of the warehouse.

He dives over the neighboring alley in hopes of reaching the safety of the next warehouse’s rooftop. To his horror he hears his whole warehouse explode in a deafening roar of thunder. The blast is so powerful that it not only throws Cable across the alley, but also his intended landing area on the next rooftop. As a result his body slams against the side of yet the next building and falls to the ground below.

A blinding light fills a large wooded glen as a mysterious figure from the future returns to the past. When the lights fade Blaquesmith finds himself alone in the middle of the North American woods.

“The Askani’son! I MUST find him! I must warn him of the prophecy!”

Shattering an abandoned crate in the alley, Cable makes a splint for his broken ankle. With a small cry of pain Cable pulls himself to his feet. Whatever healing his body did on his previous injuries is now undone. Using his rifle as a crutch he slowly begins to make his way to back to his warehouse.

Unfortunately his warehouse is no longer there. In its place is perhaps the world’s largest campfire. Frantically he pulls a device from his belt that’s a part of the force field pack that he used to protect Sam and is relieved to learn that the force field held. Sam is safe underneath the wreckage.

‘I’m going to have to pull the boy out of the wreckage before the firemen arrive, but first…’ trails off Cable as he suddenly becomes aware of movement in the debris. Throwing the device to the ground and pulling out a handgun that’s strapped to his thigh, Cable approaches the pile of moving boards and planks.

‘Well it looks like our mysterious gunman has also survived the blast,’ thinks Cable as he leans on his crutch to pull the boards free. He immediately levels his gun at what lays behind the boards. Nothing.

‘What was moving the boards then?’ Cable thinks before he sees the string that’s tied to one of the boards that he moved. Following the string Cable notices the gunman standing in the shadows at the far end of the street. Before he can react the gunman fires two shots. The first shot hits Cable’s handgun causing him to drop it. The second shot blasts the rifle he’s using as a crutch causing him to fall to the ground.

‘Oh this guy is good,’ thinks Cable, ‘but now I’m ticked off!’

Using his telekinesis Cable pulls the stranger’s gun towards him. To his surprise the gunman refuses to give up his firearm opting instead to accompany it across the street toward Cable. Once close enough Cable punches the man in the face before the stranger tackles him to the ground. It’s while they are grappling on the ground that Cable realizes why the man will not give up his firearm. It’s a part of him. His firearm is literally his arm.

“Who are you, Random’s brother?” asks Cable as he gives the man a gut shot.

The man counters with his own punch and rolls on top of Cable. “I don’t know who you’re talking about, but I guess you have a right to know who is going to kill you. I’m Bushwhacker.”

The name sparks a dim memory in Cable. “Bushwhacker? I heard of you! You fancy yourself some kind of mutant hunter, right? Well you picked the wrong mutant to screw with this time!” screams Cable as he throws Bushwhacker off of him.

“I don’t do that gig anymore. I’m no bigot. I’m a pure mercenary now. This is for the money!” Getting to his feet first, Bushwhacker uses his morphed arm to smash Cable’s nose in, causing him to stagger backwards.

“Money? What money?” asks Cable, buying himself time to counterstrike.

“Somebody is paying big bucks for the death of anybody related to X-Force with the exception of the one called Sunspot. So I figured why not bag myself the team’s two former leaders and a healthy paycheck to boot?” boasts Bushwhacker, unaware that Cable is once again using his telekinesis on a large chunk of debris behind him, that is until the debris strikes the back of his head. Staggering forward Bushwhacker stumbles right into a lunging Cable.

The two once again resume their fight with either of them refusing to give in. The fight may have gone on forever if not for the sudden explosion of debris as Cannonball blasts his way back on the scene.

“I’m getting really tired of having to blast my way through tons of blown up buildings only to find people fighting above me!” screams Cannonball in an intimidating voice. “Somebody is going to pay!” Unfortunately freeing himself is all that his wounds will allow him to do before forcing him to slip into unconsciousness. His body falls limp to the ground.

Though Sam wasn’t able to back up his boast, his sudden appearance serves as a distraction to the fighting Bushwhacker giving Cable the opportunity he needs. Grabbing a large chunk of brick and then slamming it into the nozzle of Bushwhacker’s arm, Cable taunts his enemy. “What’s wrong with you? Afraid of a little boy mutant are you? It’s no wonder you’re no longer a mutant hunter.”

Enraged, Bushwhacker lands a punch that sends Cable flying through the air. Bushwhacker then aims his gun at Cable and pulls the trigger.

*KABOOM!*

Bushwhacker’s bullet strikes Cable’s brick causing it to explode in the gun’s barrel. Bushwhacker falls to his knees clutching his bloody stump of an arm. He then falls unconsciously to the ground.

Finally hearing the sounds of sirens in the distance, Cable scoops up Cannonball and departs not wanting to explain what just happened.

A couple of hours later in a small hospital recovery room.

“So, Bushwhacker was really after the both of us because of our link to X-Force?” asks Sam from his hospital bed.

“Yes, but don’t worry yourself about that now. I promise I will take care of everything and find out who is behind the contract on X-Force and more importantly why Bobby has been excluded from it. All you need to focus on is resting up and recovering from your wounds.” Cable can’t help but smile, as he’s relieved to see Sam well once more.

“The doctors said Ah’d be fine. Plus Ah think you probably have other more pressing things to worry about than babysitting X-Force again. Ah’ll go back to the team and warn them. It’s time for us to take care of our own messes.”

“Then you have decided to go back to X-Force then?” asks Cable.

“Yeah, Bushwhacker was only trying to kill us because of some secret price tag on our heads. According to you, he even stated that he no longer hunted mutants. Something must have changed his mind, and if a creep like Bushwhacker can change his opinion of mutants, so can everybody else. Ah’m going back to X-Force and help make that team everything that Ah thought the X-Men were. We’re going to make a difference.”

“I admire your optimism and enthusiasm, Sam, though I don’t know if your opinion of Bushwhacker isn’t a little too high.”

“Ah’d like to think that Bushwhacker couldn’t actually bring himself to kill us. He had his opportunity when he shot me before, and instead decided to just use me as bait. Maybe he’s changing, and that means there is hope.”

Cable decides not to tell Sam of Bushwhacker’s attempt to shoot him, opting instead to let Sam bask in his newfound dream. It may be the same old dream of coexistence, but it now has a new dreamer.

“Then I will go. I know that X-Force will be in good hands.” Cable turns to leave, but pauses at the door before turning around and continuing, “I’m proud of you, Sam. I’m confident that you will become a great man and touch the lives of many people with your never faulting optimism. It makes me proud to think that I may have played a small part in what you will become, but I’m prouder still to be able to call you my friend.”

“Wow! Thank you, sir! That means a lot to me coming from you. Ah don’t know what you mean by greatness, but Ah promise to do everything that Ah can to make you proud. Ah just hope Ah don’t let you down.”

“You won’t, Sam. I can almost guarantee it…”

Cable gives Sam one last smile before exiting the room.

NEXT ISSUE: Introducing Jarard! Who is this mysterious man from the future, and what is his connection to the Askani? And when he makes Cable an incredible offer, will the Askani’son accept or refuse?!