Bullets sliced through the air, flying from the tip of the semiautomatic firearm held by the assassin called Deadpool. Cyclops dodged for cover whereas Wolverine charged forward, ignoring the bullets as they pierced his skin.

When the feral mutant got close enough, he sliced off the hand Deadpool used to hold the gun. Almost instantly, the hand regenerated and Wolverine could see severely damaged skin.

“What the hell are you?” he asked.

“I’m you, the sequel,” said Deadpool. He cut open Wolverine’s throat with his sword and kicked him in the chest, forcing him back. “Weapon X synthesized your healing factor and improved it. So cut off a hand, another takes its place.”

Wolverine covered his throat and gargled blood, waiting for it to heal together. Once he felt the wound beginning to close, he pulled his hand away and shook the blood off.

“SHIELD had me follow your buddy Wisdom after he went AWOL,” said Deadpool. “Once he went into one of those portals, Fury figured this was where Wisdom would come. Looks like he was right.”

“An’ you think just because you’ve got my healing factor—”

“—a pumped up healing factor,” said Deadpool.

“—that you can take me out?” asked Wolverine, ignoring the assassin’s remark.

“Hmm…” muttered Deadpool, tapping his masked chin, apparently deep in thought. “That’s a very good question. I think I’ll have to answer with… yup!”

He leapt forward and brought his sword down. Wolverine used his claws to block the strike. Deadpool flipped over the X-Men’s leader and threw a handful of shuriken at Cyclops.

Cyclops unleashed an optic blast, but Deadpool avoided it and the blast instead struck Wolverine, sending him flying across the room. Deadpool looked at Wolverine then at Cyclops and said, “nice shot!”

Cyclops turned his attention to Deadpool and fired off another blast. Deadpool blocked it with his sword and charged forward. His sword caught Cyclops’ stomach, drawing blood. Deadpool then delivered a high kick that connected with Cyclops’ jaw.

“Hey you!”

Deadpool turned and saw Wolverine approach. “We ain’t finished!”

Logan leapt across the distance that separated them, his claws held at the fore. Deadpool tried to guard with his sword and Logan tore at the man’s body with his claws, but Deadpool’s enhanced healing factor took care of the wounds before Logan could seriously injure his opponent.

Deadpool reached into his belt and pulled out a small, round object. He slammed it against Wolverine’s chest and a small explosion erupted and separated the combatants. Deadpool stood, his body already knitting itself back together.

“Gotta tell ya, this healing factor is really helpful,” he said. “And what’s better, the drugs they pumped me full of mean I can’t even feel any pain. Sometimes when I’m bored, I’ll just cut off random body parts for the hell of it. I’ll tell ya, you haven’t lived until you’ve seen your unit grow back.”

“…this guy’s insane,” said Cyclops.

“Yeah, I’m startin’ t’ get that feeling,” said Wolverine.

“Ah well, talk is cheap,” said Deadpool. He reached into his belt and pulled out a grenade. “I wonder if I can survive a full-scale explosion? Whaddaya think? I got a chance, but you boys don’t! Nobody can stand up to Daredevil!”

Before Deadpool could turn thought into action, an arm wrapped around his neck and slammed him against the wall. It was the man from the stasis tube. Steve Rogers—Captain America himself. Alive and well.

“I’d like to test that theory,” said Rogers.

CLASH OF THE TITANS

Part IV: The Living Legend

By Dino Pollard

Triskelion

Located beneath the Atlantic Ocean near New York, the Triskelion is a prison designed to house the most powerful criminals ever. Run by SHIELD, it has also become the home of their new team of heroes, the Avengers.

The prisoner population had grown by five—the Beast, Dazzler, Thunderbird, Nightcrawler and Colossus. Known as the X-Men, they were former operatives of SHIELD now turned outlaws. Following the deaths of the Hellfire Club’s Inner Circle, the President of the United States ordered Colonel Nick Fury to apprehend the X-Men. After a fierce battle with the Avengers, he was able to do just that.

John Proudstar was strapped down to a chair, shackled with thick, metal gauntlets that his great strength failed to break through. Before him was a man with tinted glasses, short blond hair and a goatee. SHIELD Agent Brent Jackson.

“Hello Mr. Proudstar, or should I call you Thunderbird?”

Thunderbird said nothing.

“Fury tells me you won’t cooperate and let him know where your teammates have gone,” said Jackson. “Maybe you’ll tell me?”

“I can’t tell you because I don’t know,” said Thunderbird.

“Right, Fury said you’d say that,” said Jackson. “What about Charles Xavier?”

“Xavier’s dead, you guys have his body,” said Thunderbird.

“That’s right, we recovered his body after the… incident at the mansion,” said Jackson. “No brain activity.”

“So what makes you think he’s still alive?” asked Thunderbird.

“Don’t insult my intelligence, Johnny. Charles Xavier is the most powerful telepath known to history, easily capable of transferring his mind to another body before his death. My bet is he transferred it to Jean Grey.”

“What are you talking about?” asked Thunderbird.

“Think of it, Johnny. Not long after Xavier dies, Jean starts calling herself the Phoenix, a name that symbolizes rebirth. Not only that, but she starts exhibiting a far higher level of power than she ever has in the past. Also, keep something else in mind—Jean was in a coma before this new power emerged in her.

“So what does that tell you? See me, my theory is that Jean went into this coma and Xavier, knowing that SHIELD was onto him and his plans, transferred his consciousness into his student. Now, he’s been reborn in a new body, adding Jean’s own powers to his own and boosting them considerably. Then the two of them together shut down Magneto’s mind—something Xavier claimed to do in the past—and then she goes after the Hellfire Club, an act she knew would attract the attention of SHIELD.”

“But we stopped her,” said Thunderbird. “Scott… he killed her.”

“Or maybe that’s just what you were led to believe,” said Jackson. “I need you to fill in the blanks. I know Logan wasn’t with you guys the entire time you were in London. Which means you had someone else helping you. Who?”

Thunderbird smirked. “Ali G.”

Jackson nodded and circled around towards the door. He knocked on it a few times before turning back to Thunderbird. “I know about you, Proudstar. I’ve studied your file. You’re not the type to give in easily to torture. At least, not on yourself. But what if I tortured your brother James?”

Thunderbird tried to lunge forward, but was held back by his restraints. Jackson just grinned slyly. “Don’t worry, Johnny. I wouldn’t do that to you. Mainly because I think there’s someone else I can torture, a method that would be far more effective…”

The door opened and another prisoner was brought in. She was restrained similarly to Thunderbird, but the restraints were mostly metal around her hands. The rest of her body was held down by straps to a gurney. The agent who brought her in left the room once he situated her in Thunderbird’s line of sight.

“Ali…” muttered John.

Canada

Rogers held Deadpool’s neck with an iron grip. He hefted the genetically-engineered assassin into the air before tossing him into a control console. The sparks flew and before Deadpool had a chance to get up again, Rogers was on him, delivering blow after blow.

Wolverine and Cyclops could do nothing but watch in stunned silence as the original Captain America tossed this assassin around as if he were little more than a rag doll. Even reading stories about Captain America, Cyclops always assumed they were exaggerated. Something thought up by propaganda experts to motivate Americans at home and abroad. But now, watching Rogers in action, Cyclops knew that the reality was far more incredible than the legend.

It became almost monotonous after awhile. Deadpool would attempt to strike and Rogers would break the bones in whatever limb Deadpool was using. The bones would heal together almost instantly and Deadpool would come at him again. They say that the definition of insanity is performing the same action over and over again in hopes of a different result. If that was the case, then Deadpool’s insanity truly was more than hyperbole.

Rogers snapped Deadpool’s neck, hefted him into the air, and dropped him hard to the ground. He pulled the mercenary up slightly and twisted his head further around, twisting it and each time it moved with sounds that would haunt Cyclops for the rest of his days. Rogers continued to twist Deadpool’s head until he pulled it free from the man’s neck, leaving just a stump that Deadpool’s healing factor instantly healed over. Rogers stood and held the head in the palm of his hand and looked at it.

“Try healing from that,” he said. He threw the head against the wall with such force that it splattered upon impact. Rogers turned back towards the two X-Men and regarded one of them with curiosity and familiarity.

“…Jim?” he asked.

Cyclops looked at Wolverine in confusion, but Logan seemed similarly confused. Steve Rogers slowly approached the X-Men’s leader, studying his face carefully. Wolverine regarded him with caution and asked, “you know me, bub?”

“…yeah, it’s definitely you,” said Rogers with a smile. “You look a bit more ragged than you did before, but you’re still the same old Jim.”

“Dunno what yer talkin’ about. The name’s Logan.”

“Not the way I remember,” said Rogers. “You an’ me, we fought together against the Nazis. Remember Normandy?”

Logan paused and racked his brain. He remembered fighting in Vietnam and he had nightmares that seemed like they had taken place in World War II, but he never realized those were actual memories. Just how long had he been alive and what was the extent of SHIELD’s experimentation on him?

“What’s going on here, Jim? Why are you dressed so strange? And what the hell is this place? It looks like something out of Buck Rogers.”

“Steve, what’s the last thing you remember?” asked Wolverine.

“…I dunno, I remember… a meeting… lots of shouting… I think… Truman? Then everything went black.”

“The government turned on you, Steve. The rest of the world was afraid of the States when they had the Invaders and the atom bomb. So they gave the Invaders the axe by putting you in suspended animation,” said Wolverine.

“…that’s not possible,” said Steve.

“You couldn’t be deactivated like the Torch an’ you couldn’t be swayed like Namor,” said Logan. “But they didn’t wanna waste yer genes. So they put you in cold storage in case they ever needed you.”

Steve took another look around the lab, then slowly turned back to Logan. “What year is this?”

“2007,” said Wolverine.

“That’s… impossible…” said Steve.

“’Fraid not,” said Wolverine.

“But you…?”

“Healin’ factor, kept me young,” said Wolverine.

“Apparently for longer than you thought,” said Cyclops. “Logan, when this is over I’d like to have a long chat with you about your past.”

“Yeah… that makes two of us,” said Logan. “I gotta find out just how long I’ve been around.”

“Talk to me, Jim—what’s this all about?” asked Steve.

“The people who froze you, SHIELD, they’re up to some pretty dirty tricks,” said Logan. “They’ve accused me an’ mine of crimes we didn’t commit, all to cover their own asses. What they did to you they’re doin’ to us. They’ve already captured most of my team.”

Steve looked down at the inert form of Pete Wisdom. He bent over and stripped the body of the black slacks and white shirt and pulled them over his own body. They were a little tight on him, but they would have to do. “Let’s go,” he said.

Triskelion

“Little Ali Blaire,” said Brent Jackson, running the tip of a dagger along her neckline. “It’s kind of funny, don’t you think? Of all the other women that have been on this team—Monet St. Croix, Ororo Munroe, Marie Darkholme, Jean Grey—even Kitty Pryde. The only one that survives the longest is the pop star. A pathetic little girl who never knew what she was up against.”

“Don’t!” cried out Thunderbird.

Jackson looked up from the Dazzler and approached Thunderbird. He stared him directly in the eyes and then said, “what was that, Johnny?”

“I’m no gentlemen, I don’t buy this ‘ladies first’ crap,” said Thunderbird. “You wanna torture someone Jackson? Get to work on me.”

“If you insist,” said Jackson. He slid the dagger into the sheath on his belt and placed his fingertips on Thunderbird’s head, then looked to the Dazzler. “Just so you know Ali, you can stop this at any time by telling me what I want to know.”

He turned back to Thunderbird. “Oh and Johnny? One more thing, this ain’t physical torture. I’m Level Five Psi-Ops. It doesn’t get much higher than me. I can peel away the layers of your mind like an orange and I can make it extremely painful.”

Jackson proved his point as he began to tear through Thunderbird’s psyche. John Proudstar gave voice to his pain, screaming out in agony.

“Stop it!” shouted Dazzler. “If you’re psychic, why don’t you just read our minds?”

“I’m good, but not good enough to break through Xavier’s psychic blocks,” said Jackson. “But if I tear through your mind enough, the pain alone should make him talk. Or watching the guy you flirt with getting mentally flayed may be enough to get you to talk.”

It felt like there were flaming knives slicing away at John’s body, slowly by slowly. As if his skin was being cut off in thin slices. Every single nerve in his body exploded with the pain of the attack and John’s screams only grew louder and louder as Jackson continued to probe deeper and deeper.

“We havin’ fun yet, Johnny?” asked Jackson with a snarl. He glanced over his shoulder to look at his other captive. “What do you think, Ali? Is this fun or wh—?”

In his brief glance, Jackson noticed a bright light coming from behind him. He released Thunderbird and turned fully around, watching as Ali’s entire body began to glow brightly with yellow energy, especially her eyes.

“So I’m just a weak little girl, huh?” she asked. “Well, I guess you didn’t bother to fully read the file on this former pop star, Agent Jackson. You see, I absorb sound. It fuels my power. And John’s screams combined with you shouting over them to posture? Well, they pretty much charged me up to my breaking point.”

The Dazzler’s body was surrounded by a ball of light and when it faded, her restraints were vaporized into nothingness, her hands and eyes still glowing just as bright as ever.

“Now it’s time to show you what the Dazzler can do, jackass.”

“I believe the words you’re looking for are ‘oh fuck’,” said Thunderbird with a slight grin.

Feng Tu

The chamber that held the Man From Room X exploded outward, catching the staff of Feng Tu as well as Henry Peter Gyrich and William Stryker completely off-guard. Once the dust cleared, they viewed as the monstrous beast stepped forth, his visage like something out of a nightmare.

“No…” muttered Gyrich.

“Oh yes, Mr. Gyrich,” it spoke in a deep, reverberating voice. As if it were two voices speaking simultaneously. It leaned close to its creator and smiled with rows of jagged teeth. “You’ve given me life, attempted to use me to destroy mutantkind. Unfortunately, I’ve come to realize you’ve had it backwards. No one can stand in the way of evolution, Mr. Gyrich. Not even you.”

The creature leapt from the floor, crashing through the ceiling and roaring through the sublevels of the Feng Tu complex before reaching the sky and then flying off towards its destination.

Stryker crawled towards Gyrich. “What the hell just happened?”

“Its gained sentience,” said Gyrich. “Our answer to exterminate mutantkind… its decided it would rather exterminate humankind.”

“We have to warn Washington, we have to warn Fur—” But Stryker’s plan was stopped before he could put it to action as the Feng Tu facility exploded in a ball of flames, including all the personnel left inside.

The Onslaught had begun.