A WORLD OF PROJECTS

Part II

By Brent Lambert

with a plot assist from Dino Pollard

Sunpyre struggled fruitlessly at her chains. None of them had been fed for days and she was too weak to have any real effect. “Damn it! This is such bullshit!”

“We all feel the same way luv,” Psylocke sympathetically said. Leyu was only going to make herself weaker by fighting against her imprisonment. Ahab was aiming to make them weak as possible and then twist them like he had Skin.

“Feelings won’t get us out of here!” Sunpyre screamed as she tugged furiously at the chains. Then she began to cry. “Angelo needs us! What the hell were we thinking sending him out here alone?!”

“Angelo knew the risks,” Cable replied. He was beginning to feel weak and he knew it wouldn’t be long before the techno-organic virus began to suspect he was without his telekinesis. Ahab had been injecting him with some kind of drug and Nathan could only assume it was something to slow the spread of his techno-organic virus.

Leyu snapped her vision to Cable. “How dare you?! We’re the lucky ones here! Our wills haven’t been twisted to serve some sick freak! Tell me about risk when you’re the one walking around taking orders from Ahab!”

“Calm down Leyu. We’ll save him. We still got some people out there,” Havok said in rebuke to his nephew’s insensitive statement.

Cable laughed, “If Fantomex wasn’t included in that bunch I wouldn’t be placing much hope in them. Guess we got lucky.”

Nightcrawler sensed that the discussion wasn’t headed in a positive direction and asked, “Anyone have any idea where they might be keeping Juggernaut?”

“Juggernaut’s not exactly someone you can keep chained up. They probably have him in some special holding facility,” Bedlam answered.

“If they haven’t already turned him like they did Angelo,” Leyu darkly added.

“The mystic nature of his abilities makes changing him a bit more difficult than normal,” Ahab answered as he entered into the room with a smug smile. The room they were all being held in was bugged and every bit of conversation was fed into Ahab’s earpiece he walked around with.

“I thought you were trying to avoid becoming Ahab? You were weaker than I thought after all,” Cable insulted.

Ahab laughed, “I’ve come to realize something Cable. I don’t think Rachel was ever telling the full story about my future self. See, the world has become polluted with super powered beings. They command the very fate of this planet and I believe that’s the world Rachel’s Ahab was living in. I believe Rachel led us to believe Ahab to be some malicious being when his cause was really a noble one.”

“Noble!” Sunpyre screamed. “You call what you did to Angelo noble?!!”

Shrugging his shoulders Ahab said, “I wouldn’t expect you to understand. What I am doing is for the good of the planet. If super humans are allowed to roam unchecked you will all bring down the very planet!”

Before Leyu could shout another insult five of the usual Hellfire Club guards came into the musty room. Ahab turned to them and said, “Gather the young ones. They’ll be next.”

“No!” Cable shouted. “Leave them alone Ahab! Take me instead!”

“For God’s sake Rory they’re just children!” Nightcrawler screamed.

“Please! Don’t do this Rory!” Psylocke pleaded.

“I swear I’m going to kill you! I swear!” Sunpyre roared.

“Hey let go of me!” Jinx yelled as the guards unchained her. “Help! Somebody help!”

A tear rolled down Meltdown’s cheek. “C’mon Ahab, don’t do this! They’re just kids!”

Ahab almost appeared sad. Why couldn’t they understand he had their best interests at heart in all of this? If they were controlled then they wouldn’t be persecuted. If they were controlled the threat of genetic war would disappear. “They are children with amazing talents. Talents that I intend to use. They won’t feel anything. I promise.”

Cable could see the sincerity in Ahab’s statement and that’s what made him the most dangerous. Robert really thought he was doing the right thing.

“You better hope we never get out of here Rory because if we do I’ll be spoon feeding you my gun,” Maverick threatened in a violent tone more akin to his former teammates, Wolverine and Sabretooth.

As the last of the young recruits was drug out kicking and screaming, Ahab looked directly to Leyu. “I understand your anger with me. Skin was someone close to you, but what I have done is better for all of mutantkind. The existence you live now is one of strife and destruction. As a Hound you would truly be free.”

“You’re sick,” Leyu mumbled to herself over and over again, even after Ahab had left. “You’re sick.”

The Shiva series of robots were employed by the Weapon X program to keep their agents in line. The machines were so dedicated to their programmed directives that they functioned for decades after Weapon X had been dismantled. Mueller had proven with the Marauder clones that she fancied the work of others. That point was being driven home again as the Shiva robots surrounded the four X-Corps members.

“Am I the only one who thinks that these guys look like Shredder when he was doped up on the ooze?” Warp Savant asked as he began to convert torsos of the robots into psionic energy and pulled them into his mind. But it seemed for every Shiva he destroyed, three more took its place.

Fantomex rose to his feet and whatever wounds had been inflicted upon him were gone. “It’s The World! Someone left a Shiva simulation running. More and more robots will pour out of the doorway until we close it.”

“I’d bet my fortune that Domina left that program running for us,” Sunspot said as he rose into the air and blasted Shiva robots from afar. His attacks were only damaging the robots and that damage wasn’t anything significant. The battle against the Marauder clones had drained a good bit of his energy.

“The treacherous bitch!” Shatterstar bellowed as he swung his body in a circle and decapitated two Shiva robots. Another tried to fire a missile at him, but Shatterstar dodged it and deflected the weapon into a crowd of Shivas gathering at the entrance to The World. Not much harm had been done by the blast and it would only serve as a temporary distraction.

“Fantomex!” Shatterstar yelled above the roar of the machines congesting the doorway. “If your finger opened that door maybe it could close it!”

“Even if I could the doorway is overloaded with those robots. It’d be pointless!”

Suddenly, all the robots began to glow yellow. Fantomex and Shatterstar quickly discovered the source of this strange occurrence. Warp Savant had energy pouring from his eyes as he pushed his powers like never before. With gritted teeth he said, “Close that damn door before I get a hernia!”

Just as Fantomex was about to move towards the door, it closed shut. Warp Savant fell to the ground and as his body fell, the form of Peter Wisdom was made visible. He finished taking a drag from his cigarette, looked up at his teammates, and said, “Fancy running into all of you here.”

Fantomex pointed to the door to The World and said, “I’m guessing you were responsible for that.”

Peter smiled. “Called in a few favors. Got WHO to loan me some of their boys. They hacked into the system and shut that feckin door ASAP.”

Sunspot landed in front of Warp Savant, bent over, and put the man on his shoulders. “Would you have helped if you did the deed before another one of us hit the dirt.”

“I’m here now. That’s what matters at the moment. We need to regroup before we make our next move. WHO has provided me with the location of the rest of our teammates. They’re being held in an underground facility in Turkey. We have reason to believe Shinobi Shaw owns the facility.”

“Did your people manage to recover any information from this base?” Fantomex asked wondering if anymore clues had been found that might point to his son’s location.

Wisdom shook his head. “We just found surveillance tapes. Seems The Neo gave you all some assistance.”

“They were here for The Neo in The World. At least 700 of them,” Fantomex said. “Unlike your men we found a stash of information about what as going on here.”

“You think your son was in that bunch?” Wisdom asked hitting at the core of Fantomex’s frustration.

Fantomex gave Wisdom a cold stare and turned his back to the Englishman. “Send some men to follow me. The information we found is too crucial to leave.”

When Fantomex was out of hearing distance Sunspot said, “Don’t take him too seriously man. He’s just trying to find his kid.”

Wisdom smiled. “Believe me I’ve been offended in far worse ways than a simple snubbing. So let’s see what we can do for Savant.”

“I’ll be going with Fantomex. I want to see if I can pull up anymore information on those primitive computers,” Shatterstar said as he turned and walked away from the two men.

The long, rectangular table was draped in an elegant pink silk and had four golden candleholders spread evenly across the vertical middle of the table. Hot wax dribbled in perfect order off of the glowing candles. Not a single flicker was below or above the other. Such order was what Sebastian Shaw always demanded at his dinner table.

Raising a delicately sculpted wine glass into the air, Sebastian smiled and said, “Our victory grows closer by the minute. The Psi-Sentinels have begun to round up mutants in South Africa and India.”

Candra snickered. “Shaw, I am only in this venture because I’m bored. Forgive me if I don’t see the benefit in locking up your own kind.”

“Fools like you wouldn’t,” Shinobi snapped. “By capturing these mutants the Hellfire Club controls them.”

The External laughed at the young man’s brashness. “That’s quite the lofty goal. Manipulating humans is an easy matter, but trying to lord over mutants…no one has yet accomplished that.”

“According to Ahab, the Sentinels end up doing just that. Sentinels that we currently control,” the Red King reminded.

“And these Sentinels are far more advanced than any that have been produced,” Tessa added.

Shaw smiled devilishly and said, “Have faith Candra. I promise that your boredom will be assuaged.”

Candra knew men of Shaw’s caliber and knew what he eventually hoped to become. He wanted to be a god. Mythologly shown when mere mortals attempted to grasp eternity they were crushed by the weight of it. She smiled to herself and thought of how entertaining Shaw’s fall would be. Her boredom would be soothed indeed.

The insolence of Candra was barely fathomable in the mind of Tessa. She knew why Sebastian had assembled this council and why he allowed his treacherous son back with open arms, but she was highly protective of Shaw. She’d be damned before she let harm befall him again. Admittedly, the Psi-Sentinels made her uneasy, but she wasn’t going to question Shaw. If he had complete confidence then so would she.

Astra watched the controlled antics and knew that her employers were correct in sending her to Shaw. For all his ambition Shaw always surrounded himself with jackals. He was arrogant enough to believe he could control them and that was his failing. For now though he would survive because her employers demanded it and they were not the kind of people you failed.

“So what progress is Campbell making in regards to the Hound process?” Astra asked.

“Ahab,” Shinobi corrected with emphasis.

“Doesn’t change my question. I think we’re too quick to trust Ahab,” Astra said, glaring at Shinobi with her last word. She disliked Shaw’s son a great deal. He was a pampered maggot feasting on his father’s flesh. Disgusting.

The doors to the dining room flung open and three men made their presence known. At the fore of them was the cybernetic mutant hunter, Ahab, and behind him were the omnipath, Gamemaster, and the teleporting drug cartel leader, Vanisher. Ahab smiled at Astra and said, “I would you hope that your feelings change about me after my briefing, Ms. Walters.”

“Before that Ahab we need to address a more urgent issue,” Shaw said. “Vanisher please distribute the psi-dampeners.”

Telford walked around the table and handed each Hellfire Club member what looked like a golden bracelet. Candra held the object in front of her face and asked, “What are these for? Decoration?”

Shaw laughed at her sarcasm. “No my dear. These psi-dampeners are the best money can buy. Even then they might not be enough.”

Before any more questions could be asked Shaw pulled out a remote control and clicked up at the roof. The ceiling tiles cracked open and a two-sided plasma screen TV descended to the middle of the table. Shaw clicked another button and an image of Stryfe appeared on the screen. He then held up his psi-dampener and said, ” These are our only defense against him.”

“I believed him to be dead,” Astra said.

Shaw clicked another button and the image changed to the building layouts of a hexagonal shaped building. The label for the building was in bold white letters and it said “Black Womb Base #2004”. In the center of the layout was a red circle with a tiny picture of Stryfe in it.

“The original is dead, but Black Womb seems to have a penchant for resurrecting dead ideas. They’ve created a new Stryfe and it seems to have escaped from this facility,” Shaw said as he slipped the golden dampener around his wrist.

“I see that says 2004. Just how many bases does Black Womb have?” Candra asked, wondering just how Shaw planned to remove Black Womb from the playing field.

“It seems they’re using dimensional bending technology to hide the true amount of facilities they possess,” Shaw replied.

Shinobi slipped his dampener on and asked, “Do you think this Stryfe will be here soon?”

“Yes,” Shaw said. “Very soon.”

“How do you know?” Astra asked.

“The Psi-Sentinels are detecting a very large psionic presence,” Ahab said. “It nearly blew their sensors.”

Astra suddenly lost her appetite and pushed her plate away from the table. “So just what do you intend to do Shaw?”

Ahab answered for Shaw. “I’ve managed to turn the X-Corps young recruits into my latest Hounds. Among their number is a powerful telepath named Quentin Quire. He’ll be our defense against this new Stryfe along with Gamemaster. The other Hounds will serve as a distraction. The mutants, Estacy and Fixx, will be amongst their number in the next hour.”

“And I suppose that’s what you had to report to us earlier?” Shinobi asked.

Campbell shook his head and said, “No. I was actually coming to report that within the next two weeks The Hound Program would be in full swing. I’ve compiled genetic data from every mutant we’ve captured thus far and that data will be put to use in genetically producing Hounds.”

Suddenly, Astra grew even wearier of Ahab. The man was now in control of a great deal of power. Along with the impressive Psi-Sentinels he would also be commanding mutant slaves that answered to his will. Shaw was giving the fanatic too much leeway for Jennifer’s tastes.

“And what of the rumored US government Hound program? How will you deal with that?” The Red King asked.

“Rumors like you say. Nothing more,” Ahab quickly said.

Candra grew annoyed with the babble and said, “Lets stay on topic here. Our real concerns need to be this new Stryfe and those X-Corps members who have yet to be captured.”

Sebastian was in agreement with Candra. “Yes, what progress has been made on finding those still free from the X-Corps assault?”

“We haven’t been able to track their precise movements yet sir,” Ahab said. “But I’m sure they’re close. They won’t try to not save their friends for long.”

There were abruptly two quick puffs of smoke off in the corner of the dining hall and a strong brimstone smell filled the room. A tattooed, blue-haired man stepped out of the smoke and smiled. “You damn skippy Ahab! Time for you asses to give it up!”

Shaw stood from his chair and stared down the audacious invader, “How dare you come here? Don’t you know who you face boy?!”

“Obviously not father,” Shinobi said rising from his seat. “But I think we ought to show him.”

Warp Savant laughed, “Didn’t come here alone pretty boy.”

Reaching into his mind Savant released the dozen WHO soldiers, which he had transported in his mind, above the Hellfire Club members. Tessa looked up and let out a gasp. Before any of them could react the soldiers were pointing a gun at each Hellfire Club member’s face.

Savant had a huge grin. “How you like me now?”

“Let us free. We have a bigger threat to stop.”

Savant smirked. “And what would that bigger threat be Mr. Gamemaster?”

“A new Stryfe you whelp! And he’s on his way!” Shaw said.

“Correction,” Gamemaster said. “He’s already here.”

Cable was in agony. He felt like he had just been smacked across the head with a sack of bricks. “Do you feel that Psylocke?”

Betsy barely had the strength to respond. “Yea luv. What the hell is it?”

“You think it’s the X-Men launching some kind of assault?” Archer asked. He wasn’t a telepath himself, but he could see the signs of a psionic disturbance. It was obviously a big one considering the pain that Cable and Psylocke were experiencing.

“No…it’s not the X-Men. They don’t have a telepath that can cut loose like that anymore,” Cable said.

“Sshh!” Maverick said. “Someone’s outside!”

The door creaked open and there wasn’t a single face without a smile when they saw it was Fantomex that had opened it.

“Bout damn time!” Mimic said. “Hurry up and get me out of these chains so I can whup that traitor’s ass!”

“Your need for revenge is great,” Fantomex said as he carefully unchained Bishop first. “But understand that we need to free these mutants first.”

“Who all else managed to elude capture?” Havok asked. He knew that Estacy and Archer had initially escaped, but were later captured. The former Norn, Fixx, and the X-Corps recruits had headed underground, but were tracked down by Skin and the Psi-Sentinels. Archer still hadn’t explained how he had been captured.

“Warp Savant is confronting the Hellfire Club now. Everyone else headed for where Wisdom’s intelligence says The Hounds can be found,” Fantomex said.

Cable shook his head as he was released from his chains by Bishop and asked, “Maybe you can tell me what the hell just whacked me across the head mentally?”

“No I cannot. Our information is limited, but we know that Shaw has every intention of making this a complete global operation soon as possible.”

Bedlam could only imagine the devastation caused by Shaw and his Sentinel program. Jesse knew what it was like to have to hide underground for most of your life. His time in the Mutant Underground program had seen him shuttled from home to home. He didn’t want that kind of life for mutantkind. With balled up fists and a stone cold face he said, “That shit is not happening!”

“Exactly why we need to move quickly,” Bishop said, “The Psi-Sentinels and The Hounds are our main priority. We’ll let Savant keep the Hellfire Club on their toes for the time being.”

“Remember these guys are our friends, but for their sakes we have to take them down,” Cable said.