-
- CYCLOPS
-
- PHOENIX
-
- THE BEAST
-
- ARCHANGEL
-
- SHADOWCAT
-
- PSYLOCKE
-
- CECILIA REYES
-
- LONGSHOT
-
- DAZZLER
-
- MOJO
X-MEN: THE MOVIE
Part III: Cancellation
By Ryan Krupienski
Mojoworld.
This world is centered on televised entertainment… the one with the highest ratings rules supreme here. That one just happens to be Mojo, who just experienced his greatest ratings success in ages. He kidnapped the X-Men and placed them on individual sets, as his audience watched on with amazement. However, the show is over, and a new one’s about to begin…
“That’s it, I’ve had it! You little twerps have screwed me over too many times!” Mojo shouts angrily, pointing his yellow, claw-like finger at the X-Babies. “Major Domo, send in the WARWOLVES!”
Within seconds of Mojo giving his command, a dozen silver dog-like creatures enter the stadium and immediately attack the X-Babies. Longshot jumps in front of the X-Babies to protect them, but instead is pinned to the ground by three of Mojo’s monstrous creations. The remaining Warwolves turn their attention to the X-Babies, Psylocke, and Dazzler.
“Eeeeep!” Cee-Cee shrieks as a Warwolf approaches her. “Get it away! Get it away!”
Rouge replies to Cee-Cee’s cry for help by grabbing one of the Warwolf’s hind legs and tossing it away. “There ya go, sugah!”
Jeannie, Mayhem, Gumbit, and Pawn fight off a trio of the metallic creatures, while Psylocke struggles to reach Longshot in an effort to free him.
“Betsy, keep Alison safe! Please!” Longshot begs, kicking a Warwolf off of him. “Free the others… we need their help!”
Unusually, Psylocke obliges, returning to Dazzler’s side. “Quickly Alison, we must free…”
“RRRAAARRR!” comes the screech of a Warwolf near Psylocke and Dazzler. Psylocke is almost tempted to use her psychic knife, but remembers she dare not use her telepathy, or she’ll release the Shadow King from imprisonment. Instead, she turns to Dazzler for assistance.
“Alison, I believe your light beams are our best hope at the moment!” Psylocke says.
Dazzler nods in agreement, and blasts away at the Warwolf, dissolving it into a puddle of liquid metal. “Alright Betsy, let’s… get… our…”
Dazzler begins to squirm in pain, grabbing her stomach. “No… no… it’s too soon…!”
“Alison? What’s wrong?”
Dazzler begins to pant rapidly and lets out another cry of pain. “The baby… it’s coming!”
Back on Earth, on the sub-basement level of the Worthington Estate…
“Designate: Cyclops, not found. Designate: Beast, not found. Designate: Psylocke, not found. Designate: Shadowcat, not found. Designate: Reyes, Cecilia, not found,” said the monotone voice of Cerebro. “Search for designated queries again?”
“No… end program,” Jean sighs. She turns to her teammate Warren Worthington III, the Archangel, a look of sadness on her face. “Nothing, Warren. Nothing.”
Warren puts his hand on Jean’s shoulder. “I can’t imagine what happened to them… it’s been days since they left to fight Hazard. It’s like they vanished off the face of the Earth!”
“I can’t establish a psionic link with any of them! Yet, I know they can’t be dead… I’d know it in my heart if Scott was dead,” Jean says. “The only logical explanation is that maybe… they’re not on Earth?”
Warren raises an eyebrow. “That’s… feasible. Lilandra’s been known to snatch the X-Men up out of thin air without notice,” he replies. “Can any of this stuff send transmissions to the Shi’ar?”
“I doubt it… this is all basically backup equipment, not as powerful as the stuff we have back at the mansion in Westchester. Even if we could send a message to Lilandra, it would take much too long to reach her.” Jean gets up out of her seat, still looking at Warren.
“So… what now? Do we wait around here for them to return? Do we contact Professor Xavier?” Warren asks. “It’s your call, Jean… I’ll trust in whatever you decide.”
Jean thinks for a moment, considering all the alternatives. ‘Do we wait for the others to return? The only problem is who knows when they’ll return… if they do. Contact Professor Xavier and his team of X-Men? It would be nice to be around them all now, even if we are somewhat at odds. Continue on without them? I don’t know if I could do that…’
“Warren, I… I don’t know… I just don’t know…”
Back on Mojoworld…
“What? The baby’s coming?!” Psylocke exclaims.
“Please, Betsy… no matter what happens to me, promise me you’ll save my child!” Dazzler pleads, still cringing in pain. “UHH! I can’t…”
“ALISON!” calls Longshot’s voice. He rushes to her side and takes her hand. “What’s going on?!”
“Your child is ready to be born… and it couldn’t have picked a worse time,” Psylocke says coldly. “Stay with her… I’m going to free my teammates!”
Psylocke dashes towards the center stage where Mojo and Major Domo are standing near the imprisoned X-Men. Major Domo attempts to stop her, but instead is tripped to the ground and knocked out with a swift kick to the head. Now it’s just Psylocke and Mojo alone on the stage.
“Well well well, if it isn’t the little ninja who could!” Mojo bellows. “Bet you think you’re hot stuff since you escaped from me… well, think again!”
Mojo sends energy blasts in Psylocke’s direction, which is exactly what Psylocke wants. She runs around the stage in a circle, dodging Mojo’s blasts, until she reaches the four glass cylinders containing the X-Men. She leaps on top of the one which Cyclops is in and jumps off just as Mojo’s blast is about to reach her. Instead, the fiery blast hits the glass cylinder and shatters it, effectively freeing Cyclops.
“Wha…?” Cyclops moans, looking around. His eyes catch sight of Mojo, and he immediately reacts with an intense optic blast. “Mojo!”
The optic beam hits Mojo, sending him flying in the air. The crowd gathered in the massive stadium gasps in shock as the lord of the Spineless Ones lay motionless on the ground. Cyclops, on the other hand, pays no attention to Mojo, opting to free his teammates instead.
Within seconds, Beast, Shadowcat, and Cecilia are all free, albeit sore and tired. Along with Psylocke, the four X-Men rush to Longshot and Dazzler’s side.
“Longshot, is she all right?” Cyclops asks worriedly.
Beast takes to the task of examining Dazzler, and deduces her condition. “She’s in labor, Scott… her contractions seem to be thirty-one seconds apart.”
“How long ago did this happen?” Cecilia asks Longshot, trying to keep her cool after her traumatic experience.
“I don’t know… about five to ten minutes ago?” Longshot replies nervously.
“What? This can’t be… she just went into labor…!”
Beast interrupts, “We’ll worry about the hows and whys later… right now we need to…”
A loud boom comes from behind the group of X-Men. A large hole has been made in the wall, and through it have come two of Mojo’s deadly servants, the father and son duo of Gog and Ma’Gog. They have the X-Babies trapped, and can easily kill them at any time.
“Prepare to die, little ones!” Gog yells, swiping at the pint-sized X-Men with his massive claws.
“Back off!” Cyclops shouts, zapping Gog’s hand with an optic blast. “Why don’t you pick on someone your own size?”
Gog turns to Cyclops and growls. “So be it… I’ll take your head off first!”
Cyclops stands firmly on the ground, ready to fight. “X-Men… attack!”
Meanwhile, back on Earth…
Jean is sitting on the leather couch in the massive living room of the Worthington Estate, drinking what little tea she can. As she stares vacantly into space, trying to figure out where her husband and friends have gone, Warren re-enters the room with a stack of mail in his hand.
“Jean, there’s a letter here for you… Jean?” Warren walks over to Jean and sits down next to her. “Jean, are you…?”
A bit startled, Jean turns to Warren. “Oh, Warren, I’m sorry! I was just… thinking.”
“It’s all right, Jean,” Warren replies with a slight smile. He holds out an envelope in his hand. “Here… this came for you.”
“I’m not sure if I’m in the mood for any mail… but maybe it’ll help take my mind off things for a few minutes.” Jean takes the envelope from Warren, telekinetically setting her tea cup down on the table in front of her to free her hands. She opens the envelope and pulls out the paper inside. It’s a letter, and as soon as she sees the handwriting, she knows who it’s from.
Dear Jean,
It’s been a while, darlin’. I’m sorry I wasn’t there for the reunion… I should’ve been, but I had business to attend to. I’m opening up a Princess Bar here in Chicago, and I’m hoping you’ll show up for the grand opening. It’s down Wacker Drive, near where the Sears Tower used to be. See you there.
-Logan
Jean folds the letter up and puts it back in the envelope. She puts the envelope down on the table, acting as if nothing important is in the letter.
“Well… who was it from?” Warren asks.
“No one… wrong address,” Jean replies, taking a sip of tea.
Warren eyes Jean suspiciously, but says nothing. ‘No one? I doubt it. I wonder… why won’t she tell me who that letter is from?’
Back on Mojoworld…
“Hit them with everything you have, X-Men!” Cyclops commands, sending out beam after beam of concussive force blasts from his eyes.
Cecilia remains at Dazzler’s side, while the other X-Men battle Gog and Ma’Gog. The X-Babies make their way away from the massive monsters and run to Dazzler. Dazzler has seen the X-Babies many times, and isn’t shocked at their resemblence to the X-Men at all. Cecilia, however, doesn’t know what the heck an X-Baby is… and is suprised to see one that looks just like her.
“Please, keep them away!” the X-Babies cry, grabbing onto Cecilia as children would grab onto their mother.
“What… what are you?!” Cecilia asks in shock, studying Cee-Cee, her X-Baby counterpart. “You… look just like me, only younger!”
“That’s cuz I am you, silly!” Cee-Cee chirps. “Me llamo es Cee-Cee!”
‘This place is too weird… first I encounter someone pretending to be my father, and now I meet a little girl who’s modeled after me! I don’t know if I can take much more of this… I have to stay strong though. For Hank, for this woman, Alison, and for these frightened kids.’ Cecilia embraces the tiny X-Babies, trying to calm them down. “It’s okay… it’s okay…”
Not far away, the other X-Men are still fighting Gog and Ma’Gog. Beast, Shadowcat, and Longshot are busy throwing punches at Gog, while Cyclops is blasting Ma’Gog into submission with his optic beams. Psylocke has found another sparring partner – Spiral, the woman who once switched her mind with that of the Japanese assassin Kwannon.
“Give yourselves up, humans! You cannot possibly hope to defeat us!” Gog roars, shrugging off the X-Men’s attacks. “I shall grind you all into dust!”
“You can’t grind what you can’t touch!” Shadowcat replies, phasing as Gog’s tailed whips through her.
Beast leaps onto the top of Gog’s head and covers his eyes. “Guess who!” he jokes. “Longshot – now!”
Lonsghot nods, and pulls out a trio of small blades. He hurls them at Gog as Beast jumps out of the way. The blades pierce Gog’s right arm, the right side of his chest, and his left leg. He roars in pain and tumbles to the ground.
About the same time, Ma’Gog falls to the ground, courtesy of Cyclops. Psylocke is still fighting Spiral, but their battle is short-lived due to a hard punch to Spiral’s jaw by Psylocke. Their enemies downed, the X-Men regroup by Cecilia, Dazzler, and the X-Babies.
“Gog, Ma’Gog, Spiral, and the Warwolves are down… Major Domo and Mojo have vanished, and none of the audience members are bound to do anything, seeing as how they think this is just a show,” Cyclops states. “It’s time we get out of here… Betsy, if you will…?”
“NOT SO FAST, X-MEN!”
The X-Men spin their heads around, only to see Mojo standing on a platform levitating in the air, with an armada of Warwolves and armed robot soldiers surrounding him. “You’re not going anywhere… you’ve caused me enough trouble! Warwolves, Mojobots – kill them all!”
“Betsy, get us out of here – NOW!” Cyclops orders.
Psylocke complies, opening a shadow-slipping portal mere feet away from the assembled group. As Mojo’s forces charge forward, Beast scoops Dazzler up in his arms and jumps through the shadow. Cecilia and Shadowcat follow, leaving Cyclops, Psylocke, Longshot, and the X-Babies by themselves.
“Cyclops, I can’t just leave! I have to stop Mojo, free my people!” Longshot says, drawing more blades from his pockets.
“Longshot, we can’t worry about that now! Mojo will overwhelm us, and you won’t be of any use to your people as a martyr! Come with us!” Cyclops replies, shooting down a few Mojobots.
The X-Babies, standing near Psylocke, back away from the portal. “Where does that go to?” Pawn asks.
“To Earth, children… hurry up and go through!”
“We can’t! We have to stay here!” Jeannie replies.
“Cyclops, Betsy, go now! Take care of Alison! Promise me you’ll do that!”
“No, Longshot! We’re not…”
Psylocke grabs Cyclops’ arm and drags him into the portal. “Betsy, no!” Cyclops yells. “Don’t…!”
Longshot watches on as the two X-Men melt into the shadow, and out of sight. He’s now alone on Mojoworld… and in mere minutes, he and the X-Babies will be overwhelmed by Mojo’s forces.
Seconds later, at the Worthington Estate…
A black portal forms on the floor of the living room, and out come Cyclops, Beast, Shadowcat, Psylocke, Cecilia, and Dazzler. Jean rushes over to Cyclops and kisses him, while Warren welcomes back the rest of his teammates.
“Scott! Thank God, you’re alive!” Jean says happily, hugging her husband tightly.
Cyclops looks over at Psylocke, ready to go off on her. Why did she disregard his orders and leave Longshot? He intends to find out… but not now. Right now, his wife needs him.
“We’ve got to get Alison to the med-lab quickly… she’s in labor!” Beast exclaims. He rushes out of the room, Cecilia and Shadowcat following behind him. Cyclops, Warren, and Jean took a seat on the couch, while Psylocke leaves the room to parts unknown.
“What happened to you guys?” Warren asks.
“After our battle with Hazard, Spiral showed up and teleported us to Mojoworld. Mojo had us star in one of his sick and twisted movies, and during the course of our time there, we met up with Longshot and Dazzler, plus a small group of the X-Babies,” Cyclops explains.
“Where’s Longshot? And what about the X-Babies?” Jean asks, puzzled.
Cyclops sighs. “The X-Babies refused to come with, saying they had to stay on Mojoworld. As for Lonsghot… that’s where Betsy comes in. She blatantly disregarded my orders and forced me through her teleportation portal! She left Longshot there alone… and now we don’t know whether he’s still alive or not.”
An expression of worry washes over Warren’s face. ‘My God… what kind of monster is Betsy becoming? She left Longshot to die? That’s not the Betsy I remember. Something’s wrong… something’s very wrong.’
INTERLUDE
Mojo walks over to Longshot, a large grin plastered on his face. “Ooooh, poor Longshot! You should have surrendered when you had the chance, blondie! But you’re like that, aren’t you… too proud, too stubborn to ever give up! Ah well… you’ll probably bleed to death at the rate you’re going, so… ciao, babe!”
Mojo walks towards the prison cell door and shuts it once he’s outside. Now Longshot is all alone, in a dark, cold holding cell, bloody and bruised.
“Alison’s… safe… at least…”
Mojo looks in through the peephole in the door as Longshot collapses. He then turns to Major Domo. “Remind me never to bring the X-Men here again, Domo… they mess things up everytime!”
“I shall take note of that, obesity.” Major Domo nods in agreement.
“It’s time to move on to bigger, better things, Domo. Let’s focus on our new project – the Avengies!”
END INTERLUDE
Meanwhile, in the Med-Lab at the Worthington Estate…
“Contractions are three seconds apart, Hank!” Cecilia exclaims. “This baby’s coming out any minute now!”
“Are you ready, Alison?” Beast asks Dazzler, holding her hand. “Just take deep breaths, and when I tell you to, push as hard as you possibly can!”
Cyclops and Phoenix come into the room seconds later. “How is she, Hank?”
“The baby’s coming! Kitty, take her other hand! Cecilia, get ready! Scott, Jean, back away please!”
“AAAAHHH!” Dazzler cries.
“Hang in there, Alison! Push! PUSH!”
With all her strength, Dazzler starts pushing her unborn child into the world, until…
“NO! STOP!” Cecilia yells nervously.
“What’s wrong?!” Shadowcat asks.
A cold sweat forms on Cecilia’s forehead, as she looks up at Beast and motions for him to walk over to her. “Cecilia… what is it?” he asks.
“Hank, something’s wrong… the baby’s coming out feet first! It’s a breach birth! If we don’t turn the baby around… it’s gonna die!”
NEXT ISSUE: What will be the fate of Dazzler’s baby? Why are Cyclops and Psylocke butting heads? Will Professor X come to Angel’s aid? What’s Trish Tilby doing in Chicago? And which X-Man will be leaving the team for good?!
Recent Comments