WHAT’S HIS IS HIS

Part I

By Brent Lambert

The metal doors of the Black Womb facility crumbled at the touch of the Neo known as Barbican. He looked back to his fellow Neo behind them and motioned for them to move into the building. Rax, Seth, and Kilmer charged into the building as Barbican followed behind them. Before he took off in a run as they did, he rebuilt the doors as easily as he had destroyed them.

Quickly catching up with his fellow Neo as they descended down a flight of stairs, he said, “Take the next exit door. Down the hall we’ll find what we’re looking for.”

“Excellent. Another of Mueller’s prized children sent to its merciful end,” Rax said completely believing that he was dispensing a favor to the people he intended to kill. Better to be dead than the servant of Black Womb.

As they exited the door, and quickly looked to the right, they saw a man barely visible beneath his shining metal armor and flowing red cloak. Beside him were two tall, lanky men who wore black leather from the neck down and each were carrying a golden sword in hand. One of the men had long, white hair and the other’s was short and spiky. Their names were Trajan and Hadrian respectively. Barbican saw on the other end of the hallway, four traitors to his very race.

“The Lost Souls!” Barbican hissed.

“Scum!” Rax yelled. “What is the meaning of this?”

Funeral, leader of the Lost Souls, said in his eternally melancholy voice, “Our master wants some information from you. We intend to have it.”

Crouching low and preparing his crossbow, Rax said, “Then come and take it from us.”

“Gladly,” Trajan said as pink telekinetic energy surrounded his body and he used it propel himself forward at jet speed. Using his sword he cut off Rax’s firing hand and kicked him through a wall.

Stryfe caught the Neo with his telekinesis and slammed Rax into the wall on the opposite side of the hallway and held him there. “This is useless. Give us what we want to know and we’ll be on our way. The reason you came here no longer matters.”

Seth charged at Trajan and knocked him to the ground. “We will not suffer the wretches of Black Womb to live!”

<[>“Tiberius, Otho, and Vitellius have already been taken from this place and delivered to Sinister. Your mission was a failure before it even started,” Stryfe said as he flung Seth off of Trajan and into the arms of a waiting Requiem.

Squeezing the Neo tightly till almost the point of no breath, Requiem said, “Give it up brother. This battle is a foolish one.”

Thinking quickly, Barbican stomped his foot on the ground and the metal beneath his opponents shot up into dozens of thin spikes. All of the Lost Souls were pierced again and again, allowing Seth to break free of Requiem’s grip. Stryfe surrounded himself in a telekinetic field instinctively, but doing so released Rax from his grasp. Trajan and Hadrian attempted to cover themselves, but a spike tore Hadrian’s arm clean off and Trajan was pierced through all his limbs. The two were still alive, but only because of their own telekinesis slowing down their blood loss.

Kilmer elongated one of his liquid metal hands into a knife and pointed it at Stryfe. “Whatever it was you sought from us, you will not have it!”

Rax’s hand was healing, but it was still merely a stump and the wound still painful. “Let that be a lesson to not cross Domina’s Neo!”

With that final warning the four Neo disappeared in a burst of pink light. Using the utmost precision, Stryfe removed the spikes from the bodies of his allies. With telepathy that reached across the globe, he said, {Sinister. We need transport. We have wounded.}

{Did you get what I needed?}

{The minds of the Neo were far harder to penetrate in the heat of battle than I suspected.}

{A revelation not unknown to me, Stryfe. Now answer my question.}

{I was only able to discern an ending syllable. Istan.}

{Istan? Do you know how many places end with that? This helps my search none!}

{Be patient, Sinister. My brothers and I can sniff her out. Just allow me the time to do so, but hurry. We need assistance.}

{Gaunt and Perfection are en route. Make sure not to fail me again Stryfe or you may find yourself abandoned.}

Psylocke sat behind the desk in the chair that was normally occupied by Pete Wisdom. It was a common scene for the X-Corps. Mission debriefings were being done with more and more frequency given the growing tensions revolving around Black Womb. If the overall situation was stressful, Psylocke showed no physical signs. Her face was as alluring and youthful as the first day she stepped onto the runway. Years of adventuring, unlike the average person, had probably kept her body invigorated and youthful. Betsy knew, even if she was sometimes reluctant to admit it, that the thrills of being an X-Man gave her more pleasure than anything else in her life. The tumultuous times that X-Corps was facing were like candy to Psylocke.

Standing in front of her was Maverick minus his normal armor. David felt uncomfortable without his usual gear, but his body needed a break. The amount of weaponry he carried was by no means light. Unlike his two former teammates, Logan and Creed, he wasn’t blessed with a healing factor to compensate for the wear and tear. North was getting older and he was actually beginning to finally feel it. Considering the life he led, retirement didn’t seem like an option.

“Would you deem the mission a success or failure?” Psylocke asked bluntly as she began the evaluation process.

David knew his answer and blurted it out just as bluntly, “It was a failure and frankly I have you to thank.”

If the comment surprised Betsy, she didn’t let it show. “The information in that facility wasn’t worth all your lives. I did what needed to be done.”

“Your actions rendered our mission pointless.”

Betsy smiled. “That depends on your definition of the word.”

Maverick gave a narrowing stare and balled his fists tightly. “I have a hard time seeing how adding more enemies to our already long list is a success. Maybe you know something I don’t.”

”The Sapien League has shown us that a high level, viable Black Womb scientist is alive and well somewhere. That’s a major clue we need to capitalize on,” Psylocke said as she crossed her legs.

”I give you that,” Maverick replied as he hesitated and looked around the room. “Where’s Wisdom? I’m more used to his dressing down.”

Psylocke smiled. “It’s the difference between listening to punk metal and classical.”

“That’s one way of putting it,” Maverick said as he folded his arms around his back. “So where is he?”

Betsy’s expression darkened as she leaned back as far as she could in the chair. “With Shaw. He took Cable and Bishop was back-up.”

Shrugging off his worry, Maverick said, “At least he knew who to take with him. Shaw must be feeling generous again.”

“Shaw sees us as the smaller problem right now. That’s the only reason he’s been offering up information.”

“I can’t dispute his assessment. Black Womb and Sinister pass us up on the totem pole,” Maverick admitted to Psylocke, who immediately grimaced at the comment. North knew she was a proud woman who commanded respect on and off the field. Having to hear she was beneath anyone did not vibe with her.

“Hopefully tracking down Mother Matrix will give us a new advantage against both Black Womb and that gothic bastard.”

“We’re going to need it. I get the feeling that Sinister didn’t take dying so well,” Maverick said with only the humor a man tested in battle would be able to understand. The only way to get past the enormity of someone like Sinister was to poke fun at him.

“If worse comes to worse, we may need to call in Jean again.”

Maverick could clearly hear the reluctance in that statement. “I have a pretty good feeling that Sinister has some defense against her. He never struck me as the type to let the same thing beat him twice. I think we need to find X-Man.”

Psylocke sighed. “That miserable child. I can only imagine what Black Womb has done to him. He already came from such a tortured world.”

Elizabeth knew her own share of torture. Slaymaster and Mojo had taken advantage of her along with Spiral and Sabretooth. It was nowhere near the amount of trauma the young Nate Grey had experienced, but she could at least relate. For him to now be in the hands of Black Womb was heartbreaking.

“He’s the centerpiece of one of their projects. Finding him will not be an easy task however you cut it,” Psylocke said to Maverick’s grudging agreement.

“We still have our fair share of psionic power with you, Cable and the Quentin kid around,” Maverick added.

Quire was an item of interest to Betsy. He had displayed psionic abilities to rival that of the late Xavier. Pyslocke hated to admit that he surpassed her in power by far. Without another major psionic, the X-Corps were at a disadvantage. At that thought, Psylocke said, “I have your next mission.”

Hiding any hint of eagerness, Maverick said, “What is it?”

“I want you to take Mimic, Northstar, Omega, Meltdown, and Nightcrawler to a Black Womb base in South Africa we have on file. You’re going to capture Severus of Project: ROMAN and bring him here for some re-education.”

Bishop would have been more comfortable in a back alley or bullet riddled building. This high class, fancy restaurant was Shaw’s element. It was where he thrived. He could see that Cable was as uncomfortable with the environment as he was, but Wisdom was playing it cool. Taking a long drag from his cigarette, he said, “You got us these tuxes so your information better be damn good.”

Shaw laughed and swirled the wine in his cup with arrogant flare. “I gave you the locations of over twenty Black Womb bases the last time around. Should the richness of my information really be in doubt?”

“I don’t doubt your legitimacy, but let’s not pretend you don’t have a reason for dragging us out here,” Wisdom replied as he exhaled smoke towards the baby-faced waiter bringing them all their orders.

Ignoring the rude display, Shaw said, “Sinister took something from me. I want it back.”

“Care to elaborate or should we guess?” Cable mocked.

“What he took from me is only a small part of why I called you here,” Shaw said as he took a sip of his wine and cut away a piece of medium rare steak. “In trying to get what I lost I uncovered something rather startling.”

Cable scowled. “Again, do we need to guess?”

Shaw continued as if Cable had never spoke. “The purpose of a certain Project: ROMAN was uncovered by my agents.”

Wisdom and company’s attention was caught with that statement. Shaw smiled, knowing he had them. “I had hoped that would get you to perk up. I would not be much of a friend if I didn’t provide sufficient gifts.”

Sliding a CD across the table to Wisdom, Shaw said, “Analyze this and get back to me. I have a repayment plan in mind.”

Wisdom slid the CD to Shaw and said, “Not that simple Shaw. You don’t just hand us information and expect us to roll over out of gratitude. You should know us better by now.”

Wiping the corner of his mouth with a delicately threaded napkin, Shaw said, “Of course I knew you and your whole lot’s classic stubbornness. I had just hoped recent events would have altered your outlook.”

Bishop had yet to touch his food. “You keep Ahab as an ally and expect us to greet you with open arms?”

“If our stubbornness hasn’t changed, your arrogance certainly hasn’t,” Cable added with the typical hostility he carried in his tone. The Hellfire Club was the last group of people Cable wanted to deal with, but they were at war with Black Womb. Allies came how they came. That didn’t mean they had to like each other.

“Just give us the long and short of what you want,” Wisdom said.

Shaw sighed and rubbed the bridge of his nose in frustration. “Project: ROMAN was commissioned by the United States government. They paid Black Womb in full to create the bio-weapons. I haven’t been able to find out who specifically made the order, but I do know it has something to do with Ahab’s Hounds. For that reason alone I had Astra gather some materials for me.”

“Care to elaborate?” Wisdom smirked.

“Astra is able to traverse dimensions at her will. So I had her gather ten of the worst and most powerful mutants she could find. My intention was to keep them contained till I felt the need to unleash them appropriate. Unfortunately, the convoy transporting them was attacked by Sinister himself.”

“So he has your toys and you want them back?” Wisdom asked as he lit another cigarette to Shaw’s displeasure.

“Better I have them than Sinister. I’m your ally remember?”

Cable scowled. “We remember that and how many of us you’ve to tried to kill as well.”

“Repeatedly,” Bishop added.

“They’re still sour over the Psi-Sentinel affair,” Wisdom said.

Shaw hated that smug grin coming from Wisdom. “You should have brought Elizabeth or Roberto. They tend to understand my line of thinking.”

“So what do you want us to do about your little problem?” Cable asked, full of contempt for the Hellfire Club leader. The soldier in him was screaming to leap across the dinner table and strangle the life from Shaw. No matter how long he stayed in this era, that part of him would never quite go away. It was probably for that reason Wisdom brought him along. In case things got heated he would react immediately to it.

The hustle and bustle of the restaurant picked up as a loud party of ten made their way to the table behind Cable and Bishop. Shaw cut his eyes at the rambunctious group and said, “I need you to retrieve my cargo for me. I’m sure the disc can assist you in tracking Sinister’s movements.”

“Why us though? I know you have enough resources to conduct your own search for Sinister if you wanted,” Bishop stated.

“Of course I do and I have a team trying to locate Sinister now, but your organization actually has the training and firepower to engage Sinister directly,” Shaw explained as he beckoned for a waiter to come to the table. Holding up his glass, he said, “I asked for more wine fifteen minutes ago!”

The young server nodded too many times and scurried off. Bishop loathed the fear coming from the young man, but let no sign of it show. “So we get this information and in return we capture these mutants for you?”

“Is there a problem with that?”

Wisdom put out his cigarette. “Nope. Consider it a deal.”

“That is why I like you Peter. Business is always business with you.”

Two Hours Later

“So do you think he’s being straight with us?” Psylocke asked from her usual place atop Wisdom’s desk. Peter was back in his chair with Cable, Bishop, and Sunspot leaning against the wall in various places throughout the office.

Sunspot grunted. “It’s Shaw we’re talking about here. When is he ever straight about anything?”

“True enough,” Wisdom agreed. “But I believe his offer to be genuine enough. Besides, I wouldn’t mind knocking down Sinister a peg.”

“Do you really think it’s a good idea to run Essex’s attention away from Black Womb and to us?” Bishop asked.

“But do we want Sinister with any more powerful mutants in his stead?” Cable countered.

Wisdom took a deep breath and exhaled. “Sitting around and having a big debate about this won’t get anything done. I already accepted offer, but if you want to turn him down let’s vote on it. All in favor of helping Shaw raise your hand.”

Cable, Psylocke, and Wisdom raised their hands. Sunspot looked at them and said, “Sorry guys. I’ve dealt with the Hellfire Club before. I can’t in good conscience vote to help them in anything.”

“It’s settled then. We track down Sinister and find Shaw’s goodies, “ Wisdom said as he pulled Shaw’s CD from his jacket pocket. “Guess it’s time we take a look at this.”

“I would suggest we wait until all our operatives have returned to base before pursuing this mission,” Bishop said.

Abruptly, Sunpyre stepped into the room and asked, “So does this mean my mission is postponed?”

“No luv. We’ve put too much together to close that affair out now,” Wisdom replied, mad with the eavesdropper.

“Good. I’m ready to leave,” Leyu said matter-of-factly.

“Psylocke and I will debrief you then,” Wisdom said giving Cable and the others a cue to leave the room.

After they were gone Psylocke cut her eyes at Sunpyre and said, “That was extremely rude of you! We were in the middle of important business.”

Leyu did not falter under Betsy’s stare. “I apologize, but I am simply eager to begin my mission. My appointment with you was supposed to have been ten minutes ago.”

“Well, as you can tell, stuff came up,” Wisdom said. “Have a seat.”

Sunpyre did as ordered and took the seat closest to Wisdom. Peter looked at her for a moment as if he were trying to size her up. Leyu didn’t care. He could stare at her all day long. As long as she could get away from here and from Angelo.

Wisdom leaned back in his seat and said, “Your mission involves a new lil’ mutant terrorist group for hire calling themselves the Dictators.”

NEXT ISSUE: Mother Matrix feels the heat as forces begin to close in around her!

Author’s Notes

This was definitely a fun little issue for me. Inevitably, this will all lead up to the extravaganza that is going to be issue #25. Pay attention to everything going on because it will come into play again. Things are really starting to heat up. Stick around.

Brent