SAVAGE LAND

Part II: Ka-Zar

By Dino Pollard

Avalon; Training Arena

One man is Scott Summers. The other is Logan. The two stand face to face and begin sizing each other up. Both are dressed in uniforms given to them by SHIELD, identifying them as members of the X-Men. Wolverine clenches his fist and six foot-long, razor-sharp adamantium claws extend from his hands. Logan crouches down and brings his claws up in front of his face.

“Go ahead,” he says. “Attack.”

Cyclops moves a hand up to his visor and turns the small dial on the side of it. The ruby-quartz lens opens, unleashing a stream of crimson concussive force. Wolverine leaps over the blast, eliminating some of the distance between the two X-Men. Cyclops fires again and Wolverine ducks under it and moves in closer. Cyclops jumps back and fires off a third blast and Wolverine sidesteps it, then leaps forward. He retracts his claws as he slams his open palm on the underside of Cyclops’ jaw. Scott’s head snaps back, his optic blast firing skyward. Logan follows it up by kicking out his teammate’s legs from under him. Scott falls hard on his back. When he opens his eyes, he sees Logan’s clenched fist hovering above his head.

“Bang, Scotty,” he says and with a thought, the claws pop out, stopping mere centimeters from Scott’s face. “You’re dead.”

“Cutting it kind of close, don’t y’think?” asks Cyclops.

“I don’t cut any other way,” replies Wolverine. He retracts his claws and opens his hand, offering it. Cyclops grabs it and Wolverine helps to pull him up. “By th’ way, you scored a piss-poor on this performance evaluation.”

“Wha?”

“Your powers are long range, mine are short,” says Wolverine. “You should’ve lasted a lot longer than that.”

“Hey, I tried to blast you, but you move too fast!” exclaims Cyclops.

“Then you gotta be faster,” says Wolverine. “Use the environment to yer advantage. Your powers are concussive, so use ’em in the right spots. Don’t just use ’em as a battering ram, find more precise ways t’ take down your target. Y’ gotta get in better shape if you ever plan on leading this outfit.”

“What the hell are you talking about?” asks Cyclops. “I’m no leader.”

“Yer more qualified than you think,” replies Wolverine.

“Besides, why are you shopping around for a new leader?” asks Cyclops. “You plan on going somewhere?”

“I ain’t goin’ anywhere, but I’m not gonna be around forever,” replies Wolverine. “When I’m gone, I need someone I can trust t’ take over. And you know I don’t trust Magneto.”

“What about Jean then?” asks Cyclops. “Or Hank. Either of them are far more qualified to lead than I am.”

“Hank’s too busy brooding over Monet,” replies Wolverine. “As f’r Jean, my gut tells me there’s something not quite right with her.”

“What do you mean?” asks Cyclops.

“All this Phoenix stuff, gives me a bad vibe,” he replies. “Doesn’t mean you’re without yer faults, though.”

“Aside from the whole my sucking part?” asks Scott.

“I mean because you’re hung up over that chick you were bangin’ back in New York,” replies Logan.

“Hey, wait just a damn minute…”

“Oh, touched a nerve, did I?” asks Logan.

Scott opens his mouth to protest, but then shuts it once he realizes Logan’s point. His head drops slightly, as if he were a child being scolded by an authority figure.

“You’ve got problems you gotta sort through, and chief among them is that chick,” says Logan. “Have y’ even spoke to her since you got here?”

“I called her once, told her what was going on, what had happened,” says Scott.

“And…?”

“She… didn’t sound too happy about it,” says Scott. “She tried a long-distance relationship before, when she first went off to college. With her boyfriend from high school. It didn’t last. Long-distance relationships are tough, man. Especially when one person is in Antarctica and the other’s in New York.”

“Even though y’ got access to a teleporter,” says Logan.

“Who, Gateway?” asks Scott. “Yeah, I’m sure Magneto would just love that I’m running off to New York to spend time with my flatscan girlfriend.”

“Doesn’t matter what Magneto wants or doesn’t want,” replies Logan. “Y’ gotta do what y’ gotta do.”

“Yeah, I suppose you’re right…” says Scott.

“And it seems like yer still pretty freaked out over what happened when y’ came to my room,” says Logan.

“Not freaked out… it’s not like that,” says Scott. “I mean, it’s not like I have a problem with it… but it’s just like… you’re this stereotypical, Clint Eastwood alpha male and… I find you in bed with a guy. It’s just… shocking.”

“Slim, do y’ really wanna talk about this?”

“Not particularly, no,” says Scott.

“Good, ’cause neither do I,” says Logan. “Whoever I fuck is no one’s business but my own. So suck it up and keep yer mouth shut.”

“Wait… wait just a minute…” comes the voice of Kurt Darkholme. “Jean, you can’t be serious, can you?”

“She is,” says the mysterious man called Ka-Zar. “She saw it inside my mind, she saw what Magneto has done to us.”

“Tell me…” says Jean Grey, her eyes glowing with the bright intensity of the sun itself. “Tell me everything. There’s more you’re not telling me, Mr. Plunder.”

“What?” asks Kurt. “I thought you said your name was Ka-Zar.”

Ka-Zar sits down on the ground, leaning back against a tree. The orange, sabertooth tiger he calls Zabu sits by his side and Ka-Zar begins scratching the large cat’s head.

“My name is Kevin Plunder,” he begins. “I worked, or used to work, for the United States government. I was a geneticist, exploring the possibilities of human evolution. In an attempt to study the effects of global warming, and what could be done about them, I was sent here alongwith a team of other scientists. The head of our little expedition was a man named Nathanial Essex.”

“…what?” asks Jean. “Nathanial Essex? But that’s not possible…”

“I worked with him personally, it’s not only possible, it happened,” says Ka-Zar.

“What are you talking about?” asks Kurt. “Who’s this Essex guy?”

“We ran into him shortly before you and the Brotherhood appeared,” replies Jean. “But he was calling himself Sinister. According to Fury, he disappeared after World War II.”

“That may very well be true,” says Ka-Zar. “Essex was responsible for the terraforming technology which created this place. As time went on, we discovered we had lost more and more contact with our superiors. Then, one day, we discovered that Essex was performing his own genetic experiments, attempting to study evolution. Zabu here is one of the products of his tinkering. Soon, we discovered that we weren’t here to study the effects of global warming. In fact, we discovered we weren’t even here on behalf of the U.S. government. We were here for Essex’s behalf, so he could have test subjects.

“We attempted to confront Essex, attempted to rebel, but he was prepared to attack us with a small army of what he called mutates—humans who were genetically modified to serve as his slaves,” he continues. “We were forced out into the wild, living on our own. We knew he was using people for the terraforming technology, and with no weapons and no supplies, we were forced to contend with what little we had. That was when Magneto and his followers, the Acolytes, came. Magneto promised us salvation from Essex, a chance to return home. He gave us hope that we could win. Together, with Magneto and his Acolytes, we took on Essex and destroyed him.”

“That’s impossible,” says Jean. “I saw Sinister die with my own eyes. I watched as Scott’s brother killed him.”

“I don’t know how to explain that,” says Ka-Zar. “All I can tell you is what I saw with my own eyes.”

“What happened after that?” asks Kurt.

“At first, it was a nice arrangement,” replies Ka-Zar. “For several months, we lived in peace with the mutants. Until knowledge came that the generators Essex built to maintain the terraforming technology wouldn’t last much longer. We had decided to return to our homes, but Magneto said that Avalon was to maintain a haven for mutants. I tried explaining to him that there was no way we could remain here without some sort of power source. He said he knew of one. That was when… they took us prisoner. Used us to power the technology.”

“Damn…” says Kurt. “It’s like The Matrix or something.”

“I was able to escape, with Zabu,” says Ka-Zar. “That was a few months ago. Ever since then, I’ve been striking at the Acolytes when I can, trying to remain hidden and live day by day, long enough for the day when I can invade the generators and free the others.”

“Kurt, you stay with Ka-Zar,” says Jean. Flames begin to appear around her body as she rises in the air ever so slightly. “Stay out of sight, I’ll contact you as soon as I can.”

“Where are you going?” asks Kurt.

“I’m going to tell Logan and the others,” replies Jean.

“You don’t approve of what I’m doing, do you?”

“You already know the answer to that question.”

“I’m sorry…” he says. “But this is something I have to do. I have to do whatever is necessary to maintain all that we’ve struggled to build. You remember what happened the last time I was weak, don’t you?”

“Of course I do, that shouldn’t even be a question. But that’s not what I’m referring to, Erik. Those humans deserve whatever fate you grant them. If not for you, they would have squandered this Eden that was created for them. It would have become a place of corruption in no time.”

“If it’s not their fate that bothers you, then what is it?” asks Erik.

“These X-Men. They don’t belong in Avalon, they don’t belong here in Heaven. They are tainted by the sins of humanity, and you know it.”

“They were deceived by their human oppressors,” says Erik. “I blame them no more than I blame the Sonderkommandos who burned the bodies of my family.”

“Our family. I was the child of a survivor, too, or have you forgotten?”

“I forget nothing, you know that,” says Erik. “They were Charles’ students.”

“No they weren’t, Charles Xavier never even knew them, save for Jean Grey. He was under the control of the Shadow King the entire time.”

“The Shadow King was also controlling me, unless you’ve forgotten,” says Erik. “My weakness is what allowed the Shadow King to possess me. And the attacks he waged on humanity announced my presence to the world before I was prepared to. The government sought out Charles in response to my actions, unaware that it was all part of the Shadow King’s plan.”

“I know this story, Erik. You don’t have to repeat it for me.”

“But I feel as if I should,” says Erik. “You must know, I’m doing this for our benefit.”

“I know you are, and I appreciate everything you have done. You are a good man, Erik. But you and Xavier had ideological differences. He wanted to coddle the humans. In this world, we must be strong if we are to get ahead. We have to build our armies, and we have to strike at the humans to claim this world that is rightfully ours.”

“I… you’re right… you know that, don’t you?”

“Of course I do.”

“I love you so much,” says Erik. “You’ve always been my greatest source for advic—”

The sound of knocking on the door interrupts Erik in the middle of his speech.

“Sir?” comes a soft voice from the other side of the door.

“Enter,” says Erik. He sits back in the large chair sitting behind the oak desk. Mist appears to seep in from under the doorway, and it coalescences into a solid form, that of a young woman with long, red hair.

“Forgive the intrusion, Lord Magneto,” she says.

“It is quite alright, Voght,” says Magneto.

Voght looks around the room with a hint of surprise and curiosity on her face. Magneto takes notice of this.

“Is something wrong?” he asks.

“No… I just…” she begins. “I’m sorry, Lord, I thought I heard you talking to someone.”

“You were mistaken,” says Magneto. “What do you need, Amelia?”

“There’s been a Ka-Zar sighting,” says Voght. “He ambushed and killed the Richter boy.”

“Hmph…” mutters Magneto. “It seems his activities have become public again. We mustn’t risk raising the X-Men’s suspicions.”

“My Lord, if you’re suggesting what I believe you’re suggesting, then I must beg o—”

“I suggest nothing, Voght!” retorts Magneto. “I am Magneto and in Avalon, my word is law. And yes, my method for removing Ka-Zar is exactly what you fear it is.”

“But my Lord…”

“Don’t you dare question me again, Ms. Voght,” says Magneto. “Release it.”

Nightcrawler watches with rapt attention as Ka-Zar sharpens his arrowheads.

“So… I guess you must’ve been a scout or something,” he says.

“Not exactly,” says Ka-Zar. “But when you’re forced to survive on your own, you either learn really fast or you die.”

“I see…” says Nightcrawler. “Anyway, why do you call yourself Ka-Zar?”

“Y’know something… I’m really not sure,” says Ka-Zar. “I just liked the way it sounded.”

“…why?”

“Well, Kevin Plunder doesn’t exactly strike fear in the hearts of mutants, does it?” asks Ka-Zar.

“Yeah, you’ve got a point there, I guess,” replies Nightcrawler. He looks out over the skyline and sees something flying towards them. “Hey… what’s that?”

Ka-Zar glances up, then turns back to his arrows. Once the sight registers in his mind, his head snaps back up just as Zabu rises to his feet and starts to growl.

“Run,” says Ka-Zar as he stands.

“What?” asks Nightcrawler. “What do you mean?”

“It’s coming towards us, you idiot,” replies Ka-Zar. “Now run!”

“What are you talking about?” asks Nightcrawler. “What’s coming towards us?”

“Sauron!”