TRUTH OR DARE

By Ryan Krupienski

The State Home For Foundlings, Sage, Nebraska.

A young man stands before the quaint brick building, wondering why he’s been led here… and by whom. For what seems like an eternity to him, he’s searched for clues to his past, wondering who he truly he is, where he comes from… who his parents are. Weeks ago, he was ready to give up… he had come up with nothing in all his travels. He sought out a man, a man who supposedly had all the answers he sought. A man known to him only as ‘Essex’.

He was ready to give up the search for Essex, to start a new life somewhere on Earth, and forget about his past. Then… he received a note. A note telling him to come here, an abandoned orphanage in Nebraska, that, unbeknownst to him, once belonged to a very… sinister… man…

The young man, whose braided blonde locks flap about in the wind, walks up to the door, peering through the windows on either side of it to see if anyone is inside. He sees no one.

‘There’s no one here… this place is obviously abandoned. I’ve wasted my time in coming here…’

“So, you’re finally here,” comes a cold, icy voice from behind.

The young man spins around quickly, almost jumping into a battle stance. Down the steps of the orphanage, on the frosted grass, stands a man with paste-white skin, draped in a metallic blue uniform, with a devilish smile on his face.

“Who are you?” the young man demands, walking cautiously towards the evil-looking man.

“There is no need to act so defensive, Adam X,” the man replies. “As for who I am… I am the one you’ve been searching for.”

“Essex?”

“Yes… although I do go by the name Mister Sinister these days. Come, Adam X – or do you prefer X-Treme? – I have much to tell you…”

Sinister motions for X-Treme to follow him, walking around to the back side of the orphanage. X-Treme obliges, and follows along behind Sinister, eager to hear what he has to say.

‘This… this could be it!’ X-Treme thinks to himself. He coan feel his heart racing… he’s been waiting for this day for a long time. ‘I don’t know if I should trust this man… his name is reason enough not to, but… I have no choice. He may be the only one who holds all the answers I seek.’

Seattle, Washington.

Remy LeBeau never intended to come back here… not after what happened all those years ago, and certainly not after what happened between him and Rogue not long ago, when the memories she absorbed from his mind led her to this run-down theatre.

‘Guess I’m done here… I did what de New Son asked, now it’s time to go home…’

Gambit inhales one last puff of smoke from his cigarette before tossing it to the ground and crushing it beneath his heel. He takes a final look around at the old theatre, then starts towards the exit, only to stop in his tracks once more…

“Who’s dere?” he asks. He has a feeling that someone’s watching him… following him. And he’s right.

An armored woman reveals herself, coming out of the shadows, as Gambit turns around to face her. “Who are you? An’ why’re you followin’ me?”

“I am in need of your help. My name is Chyna,” the woman replies, stepping forward.

Gambit laughs a bit. “Heh… really? ‘Ninth Wonder Of De World’, huh? Well, I don’ know what I can do for you, chere… but go ahead an’ ask anyway.”

“I am looking for a man… his name is Cyclops. I need to warn him of Essex’s plans to steal his unborn children…”

Gambit feels a chill go down his spine. “Essex… Sinister? What do you know ’bout him?”

Chyna sighs and looks down. “Nothing you don’t know as well, Gambit. That is why I sought you out… you, too, were used by Essex, but you escaped, and Cyclops is your teammate. I need to know where he is.”

“Normally, I wouldn’t do dis, but since we got some mutual enemies an’ all…” Gambit pauses for a moment, unsure of whether he should tell Chyna where to find Cyclops. “He’s in Chicago, livin’ in a mansion owned by Warren Worthington de Third. Dat’s all I know.”

Chyna looks at Gambit, the facial expression underneath her mask a happy and relieved one. “Thank you… you’ve just saved the children of Cyclops and Phoenix.”

“Anyt’ing for de lovebirds,” Gambit replies sarcastically. As the two begin to part ways, Gambit stops and turned around. “Wait a minute… how didja know to look for me here?”

Chyna turns around. “This is where the New Son sent you, correct?”

Gambit’s eyes go wide. “De New Son? You know him?!”

“Yes… and you do as well.”

Gambit is a bit puzzled. “Who is he?”

Chyna turns away and starts walking off once more, shouting out her reply, “Essex knows. If you truly must know, ask him.”

Meanwhile, deep below the estate of Warren Worthington III in the X-Men’s make-shift War Room…

His name is Scott Summers. For every year of his life since he was 16 years old, he has fought the endless battle to bridge the ever-widening gap between humankind and their genetically-superior offspring, mutants. For longer than he’d like to admit, he was what many considered the ‘lapdog’ of Professor Charles Xavier, the man who, for all intents and purposes, saved his life. Several months ago, that changed.

Scott became fed up with the constant lack of advancement in Xavier’s goals… relations between humans and mutants had gotten worse, not better, since the X-Men first debuted little over a decade ago. Once upon a time, mobs would be content to run a mutant down for fun, just to scare him or her. Now, those mobs have evolved into massive anti-mutant organizations that will stop at nothing to wipe mutantkind from the face of the Earth. And for the X-Man known as Cyclops, that’s showing that Xavier’s dream is getting nowhere.

Cyclops decided to takes matters into his own hands, forming a ‘splinter’ team of X-Men that had the same goals as Xavier and the X-Men who had stayed loyal to him, but had a different way of achieving those goals. While Xavier’s team would, as the X-Men always have, sit back and wait for the enemy to strike, Cyclops’ team would go out and look for the enemy before they could make their move, and take them down by any means necessary. The first time Cyclops did that was almost immediately after the X-Men split up, when he led the X-Men into battle against the Thunderbolts.

That proved to be somewhat of a mistake on Cyclops’ part… the Thunderbolts had been framed for a crime committed by the Masters of Evil, thus making the battle between the two teams unnecessary. Although the teams reconciled and teamed up to defeat the Masters of Evil, Cyclops still feels that he could have handled that situation better.

Although the attack on the Thunderbolts proved a mistake, Cyclops still has faith in his new direction for the X-Men. The X-Men knew next to nothing about the Thunderbolts, save for the fact that they were the first incarnation of the Masters of Evil. The X-Men have several enemies that are still at large… ones that Cyclops knows should have been taken care of ages ago. That list includes…

‘The Upstarts, a group of mutants who play games with peoples’ lives for the fun of it. Last time I checked, Shinobi Shaw, Sienna Blaze, Trevor Fitzroy, and Fabian Cortez were all a part of this group… if that’s still true today, then it’s high time that the X-Men find them and put and end to their madness.’

‘The Brotherhood of Evil Mutants, a team created back in the days of the original X-Men by Magneto. The Toad, Blob, Mystique, Avalanche, Pyro, the Dark Beast, Fatale, the Mimic, and even my own brother have been associated with this team at some point… I’m not sure who’s on the current roster, but that doesn’t matter seeing as how they always present themselves as anti-human terrorists.’

‘The Hellfire Club, a veritable cult of the richest and most powerful mutants on Earth… the same mutants who helped seduce the Dark Phoenix! Emma Frost, the former White Queen, changed her ways a while ago and joined Banshee in training Generation X… but Sebastian Shaw is still the Black King, and who’s taken the other positions within the Club is unknown.’

‘The Gamesmaster… we know practically nothing about this guy, besides the fact that he’s an Alpha-level telepath and may have some sort of connection with the Upstarts. He’s dangerous, no doubt about it, and needs to be found.’

As Cyclops prepares to click a button to bring up the next file, the War Room’s sleek, metallic door slides open with a soft swishing sound, revealing the form of Alison Blaire, better known as the Dazzler. “Scott… there you are,” she says, walking over to Cyclops.

Cyclops swivles his chair around to face Dazzler, a bit shocked to see her up at this time. “Alison, what are you doing out of bed, and at this time? You should be resting…”

Dazzler takes a seat around the large, oval table centered in the room, and replies, “I needed the walk… I’ve been in bed for days. I actually just got up to change Rebecca, and couldn’t go back to sleep, so I decided to come and find you, because we need to talk… now.”

Back in Nebraska…

“Do you have the slightest idea at all where you come from, Adam?” Sinister questions, walking slowly in front of X-Treme.

X-Treme thinks for a moment before answering. “I… I know that I’m not completely human. One of my parents was Shi’ar.”

“Your father was Shi’ar, and your mother human. I happen to be quite familiar with both of these individuals,” Sinister replies, an evil smile on his face. He arrives at the back of the orphanage, and opens the door. He and X-Treme both step inside, and almost immediately, the floor beneath them begins to sink, bringing them down beneath ground level to Sinister’s hidden base of operations.

Sinister walks off the platform and treads forward into his base. X-Treme stares in awe at everything he sees before him… never has he seen such advanced technology on Earth. He quickly turns his attention back to Sinister, who’s not far away at a computer monitor.

“Impressive,” X-Treme comments, walking over to Sinister.

“It was once destroyed by some enemies of mine, but I’ve since rebuilt it.”

“Where did you get such technology?” X-Treme asks.

“I was once an… employee… of a very powerful man. He had the technology of a race of aliens called the Celestials at his disposal. When I left, I took some of it with me,” Sinister informs X-Treme. “While my research is, for the most part, based here on Earth, I am able to observe people and events far off into space… one race that has caught my attention is the Shi’ar race.”

At that moment, Sinister has X-Treme’s full and undivided attention. Sinister turns to X-Treme, studying him carefully. “Half-Shi’ar, half-human… your Shi’ar heritage shows through the alien markings around your eyes, and your pointed ears. However, the fact that you have blonde hair, and not feathers like the other Shi’ar, is evidence that you are of human origin as well.”

“Please… just tell me who I am… who my parents are, where I was born…”

“Of course,” Sinister replies. He touches X-Treme’s forehead, causing visions to flash inside his mind. X-Treme clutches his head in pain, as Sinister watches on.

“Tell me, what do you see, Adam?”

“I see… four humans. A man, a woman, and two young boys… they are flying, in a primitive human aircraft… they’re being attacked by a Shi’ar scoutship! The woman, she’s… pushing her children out of the plane! The… the man and woman are… being taken prisoner…”

“I… I see another man… a man I recognize… the former Shi’ar emperor, D’Ken… he’s in a bed, forcing himself upon the human woman from before… he’s hurting her… raping her! It’s over… he’s gotten off of her… now she’s being taken away…”

“What do you see now, Adam?”

“I see… I see a child, being held… by D’Ken… the human woman is lying helpless before him… he’s angry, looking at the child with disgust… he… he killed the human woman! Blood… everywhere… the child is being taken away…”

The visions in X-Treme’s head stop, and he falls to the floor, struggling to recover from the headache that Sinister’s ‘gift’ has induced. Sinister helps him up off the floor, as he says, “I apologize if that was painful… I thought it would be easier if you saw the events leading up to your conception.”

X-Treme, still a bit groggy, looks up to Sinister, a puzzled look on his face. “My conception…?”

“Yes, Adam,” Sinister replies, an evil smile plastered on his face. “The human woman in that you saw… that was your mother. D’Ken, your father. You are the son of D’Ken Nermani and Katherine Anne Martin-Summers, Adam… or should I call you by your full name – Mil’Cree Adam Nermani-Martin?”

Back at the Worthington Estate…

“Kitty told me all about your disagreement with Ororo and Charles, and I’ll admit I was shocked at first… I don’t mean to offend you, but I never thought you of all people would stand up to Charles the way you did…”

“..Because you thought I was effectively devoid of free will, and would always mindlessly follow his dream no matter what,” Cyclops says, finishing Dazzler’s sentence for her. “I used to think that too… but while Jean and I were on leave from the X-Men last year, I did some serious thinking. Thinking about the X-Men, about Charles’ dream, about how much the X-Men had accomplished… and that’s when it became clear to me.”

“In all our years of existence, the X-Men have saved the world a million times over, stopping the ‘bad guys’ from achieving their goals of world domination, destruction… whatever. Everytime we did that, we felt like we were getting somewhere… we felt like humans might accept us just a tiny bit more because we saved them. But it was exactly the opposite… every battle just brought more hate towards mutants. For me, Operation Zero Tolerance was the last of those battles.”

Cyclops grits his teeth, thinking back to all the things Bastion did, and turns back to the computer monitor. Dazzler is taken aback, never remembering Cyclops to be so opinionated. She takes in what he said, and realizes at that moment… she agrees.

“And you’re absolutely right,” Dazzler replies, putting a comforting hand on Cyclops’ shoulder. “You’re the only one who had the guts to stand up to Xavier and let him know he’s not God… you had the courage to question his way of doing things, and point out his faults. He couldn’t handle the fact that you were right… so he disagreed with you, forcing the X-Men to split. And of the two teams… I choose yours.”

Cyclops turns his head and flashes a small smile. “Thank you, Alison… you don’t know how good it feels to hear that. Does this mean you’ll be rejoining the X-Men?”

“Yes, it does,” Dazzler replies. “I know Mojo’s back in charge of Mojoworld, and most likely has Longshot as his prisoner… but I also know that there’s nothing I can do about it until I find a way back to Mojoworld. In the meantime, I’d be happy to rejoin the X-Men.”

“Then consider yourself back on the team,” Cyclops announces. “But are you sure you’ll be able to do this? You are a mother now…”

“I’ll handle it,” Dazzler says with an innocent sigh. She turns to the computer monitor and inquires, “So, what are you up to?”

Cyclops also turns back to the computer monitor, and, continuing where he left off, broings up the file on one of his most hated enemies…

“Sinister?”

“I’m going through the files on dangerous mutants who are still at large… and Sinister is one of them.”

Dazzler can feel herself getting excited. “Oooh… I am liking this, very much!” she replies. “I think I hate this slimeball almost as much as you do… taking him out would be a pleasure, especially considering what he did to the Morlocks.”

“He’s done that, and more. Sinister’s one man this world can definitely do without, but there’s someone else I’m even more worried about…”

Cyclops clicks a button, and displayed on the monitor is the file of the man whom Cyclops considers the most dangerous man that ever lived…

“…Apocalypse. He’s the most evil and diabolical man to ever walk the face of the planet. His motto – ‘Survival of the Fittest’. He envisions a world ruled by him, where only the strongest of the strong are on top… and those he deems weak are dead. He’s unimaginably powerful… he’s endowed with the powers of the Celestials. And what he did to my son, Nathan…”

“Nathan? Why would he try to harm him…?”

“Apocalypse has always been able to come back from the dead due to the fact that he’s immortal. Nathan, after having developed his powers completely, supposedly would have been able to destroy Apocalypse once and for all.”

Dazzler feels her heart break for Cyclops, thinking that his son had died. “And to prevent his ultimate destruction, Apocalypse killed your son? Scott, I’m so sorry…”

“No… he didn’t. But he came close. Too close. Apocalypse infected Nathan with a techno-organic virus, and if not for the time-traveling Askani warrior that took him into the future to cure him, Nathan wouldn’t be alive today. Today, he’s the man known as Cable… and his final battle with Apocalypse is prophecized to occur at the end of this year.”

“And you’re afraid that Apocalypse will win, and kill your son? But… Nathan’s power…”

“Nathan isn’t nearly as powerful as he could be… the virus requires him to use a large portion of his powers to keep it in check, to stop it from ravaging his body beyond repair. Fighting that andApocalypse at the same time… I’m not so sure he can do it. That’s why I’m scared, Alison… I’m scared that Apocalypse has something horrible planned for the world, and that no one, not even Nathan, will be able to stop him. That’s why I’ve decided I’m going to hunt Apocalypse down… and destroy him myself.”

Cyclops and Dazzler get up from their seats at the same time, and stand facing each other. “And I’m going to help you,” Dazzler adds, glancing once more at the image in Apocalypse’s file, then turning back to Cyclops. “We’ll take Apocalypse down, Scott… once and for all!”

Sinister’s Lair…

“So you see, Adam, you are the product of rape. A mad intergalactic emperor and a poor, helpless human woman…”

“NO!!!” X-Treme cries, pushing Sinister away in an angry rage. “You dare mock me with these lies?! You’ll pay, madman!”

In an instant, X-Treme activates his mutant powers and ignites the electrolytes in Sinister’s blood. Sinister cries out in pain, having not prepared himself for X-Treme’s attack. “Burn, you twisted freak!”

X-Treme continues his attack on Sinister, this time slashing him across the face with one of the retractable metallic blades imbedded in his wrists. Sinister falls to the ground, enabling X-Treme to relax for a moment… or so he thinks…

Before he knows what hit him, X-Treme is struck on the back of his head, and knocked unconscious. “You truly believed you could defeat me?! Hahaha! I hope you had fun with that little illusion… you may be the brother of Cyclops and Havok, but it matters not… in the end, Sinister is always triumphant!”

The fun continues in the 1999 Uncanny X-Men Holiday Special! It’s time to celebrate the holidays – X-Men style! As Beast and Cecilia go out for a romantic dinner, Cyclops and Phoenix are surprised by a very special guest star! But as the year 2000 approaches, the merry mutants can’t help but worry about the prophecized ascension of Apocalypse. Will the new year arrive peacefully, or will Apocalypse bring it in with a bang?

NEXT ISSUE: It begins here – Genetic Eclipse, the storyline that will change the X-Men forevermore! The Year 2000 has dawned… and the time for the Age Of Apocalypse is now! Apocalypse has come for Kitty Pryde, but her teammates aren’t about to let him take her away! It’s the battle of the year as the X-Men take on Apocalypse!