RECRUITMENT DRIVE

Part IV: Established

By Dino Pollard

Tokyo, Japan

It is like a scene from a Godzilla movie, thinks Tabitha Smith. Called Meltdown, she runs through the streets of Toyko. Running behind her, and clutching her hand, is a somewhat stocky man with pink skin with no ears, nose, and a large, oval-like object in the center of his head as opposed to eyes.

“What was that?” asks the young man.

“That, Brian, is my partner saving your life,” replies Meltdown. “God, this is so not what I signed up for… working with the Juggernaut… this is nuts.”

She turns and looks at her new companion.

“What’s your deal, anyway? Brian Peters isn’t a name you find that often in Japan.”

“Exchange program,” says Brian. “Umm… what’s that big shadow?”

“MOVE!!” exclaims Meltdown. She pulls Brian away moments before a large man dressed in black armor lands on the spot they were just standing. Meltdown moves over to him.

“Hey Juggy, you alright?” she asks.

“Uhhh… been awhile since someone hit me that hard…” mutters Juggernaut. “The kid okay?”

“Yeah, he’s good,” replies Meltdown.

“Good, get ‘im outta here,” says Juggernaut.

“Hell with that, you’re not taking this guy on by yourself,” says Meltdown. She concentrates and several glowing orbs begin to manifest around her body. She watches through her sunglasses as the massive form of Anteus arches towards them. The various plasma orbs fire off from their locations and strike Anteus and the area around him, resulting in huge explosions.

“ARE YOU NUTS?!” exclaims Juggernaut.

“What?” asks Meltdown. “Sheesh, a girl tries to help her partner and this is the thanks she gets?!”

“Y’ stupid blonde, didn’t you read the files?!” exclaims Juggernaut. “Anteus feeds off of elemental energy! Like fire!”

“Oh…” mutters Meltdown. “Shit.”

“Yeah, shit is right,” says Juggernaut. He climbs to his feet and cracks his knuckles. “Get back, I’ll try an’ hold ‘im.”

“But I…” Brian begins.

“Not now, dude!” exclaims Meltdown.

Anteus’ size begins to increase and the Juggernaut notices this. Juggernaut picks up a car and throws it at him.

“You’ll have to do better than that, spike!” exclaims Anteus as he catches the car and tears it into two.

“Two things—first, the car was a distraction” says Juggernaut. Anteus is surprised to find that the former villain is now inches from him and his massive fist slams across Anteus’ face. Juggernaut follows it up with a blow to Anteus’ chest. The Neo is stunned long enough for Juggernaut to heft him up and slam him against the pavement.

“And second…” says Juggernaut. “I’m no mutant, y’ piece o’ trash. So just quit it with the spike talk.”

Anteus rolls back onto the palms of his hands, and uses them to propel his body up. His feet slam directly against the Juggernaut’s helmet, causing him to pull back slightly. Anteus grips a streetlight and rips it out. He swings it at Juggernaut, using it as a bat.

“Over here!” exclaims Brian.

“Hey, get down!” exclaims Meltdown.

Anteus looks down at Juggernaut, but then starts to walk towards Brian Peters. He towers over the young mutant and then says, “Are you prepared to die, spike?”

“No,” says Brian. A blinding, bright flash of light appears from the small object in his head. Anteus just stops in his tracks, frozen.

“Whoa…” mutters Meltdown. “What did you do?”

“Seizure in my brain produces the light, light paralyzes people,” says Brian.

Dublin, Ireland

“Y’know chica, a body could get the impression that you’re ignoring him.”

Sunpyre raises a dark brow at her gray-skinned teammate, and then rolls her eyes and turns away from his gaze.

“Don’t be ridiculous.”

“Who’s bein’ ridiculous?” asks Skin. “Since we hooked up with X-Corps, you’ve barely said a full sentence to me.”

“Oh please, we had sex last night,” replies Sunpyre.

“Yeah, but…”

“But what?” asks Sunpyre.

“I dunno,” replies Skin. “I guess I was hopin’ that with the X-Men behind us an’ Cameron not being here, that meant we could…”

“What are you trying to say?” asks Sunpyre.

“I dunno… maybe become official,” replies Skin.

“Are you serious?” asks Sunpyre.

“Why wouldn’t I be?”

“We had a deal, remember?” asks Sunpyre. “No strings, as you put it.”

“Look, I know what I said, but a man’s entitled to change his mind.”

“Oh please, don’t get all stalker ex-boyfriend on me,” says Sunpyre.

“Aha, boyfriend!” exclaims Skin. “See? You think so too!”

“Ugh, enough,” says Sunpyre. “This conversation is giving me a headache…”

“I just don’t see what the problem is, Leyu,” says Skin. “I mean, why not?”

Sunpyre puts her hands on Skin’s shoulders and turns her towards him. She then grasps his face and looks him directly in the eyes as she says to him, “No. Strings. That’s the deal. And it’s Sunpyre when we’re in the field.”

“Oy… you’re such a stubborn bitch,” says Skin. “What’s your damage anyway?”

“I just don’t want a relationship, okay?” says Sunpyre. “I would think that would be easy enough for even an idiot like you to understand.”

Sunpyre rubs her eyes and looks away from him.

“Look… we have fun, right?”

“Yeah…”

“We both enjoy it, right?”

“Oh hell yeah!”

“So why ruin a good thing?” asks Sunpyre.

“I dunno, I was just…”

“How sweet…”

Large hands wrap around both Sunpyre and Skin’s necks and hoist them up in the air. Their assailant turns them so he can look them in the eyes and they find themselves looking at a large man with bronze skin and a mowhawk with red face paint.

“Jaeger smells the hormones on these spikes,” he says. He pulls Sunpyre closer to her and breathes in her scent. “Mmm…”

Skin lets his body go limp, and his neck grows thin enough so he can slip through Jaeger’s grasp. Once Skin hits the ground, he concentrates and his skin around his hand forms into a large ball that he slams against Jaeger’s head. The assault stuns Jaeger momentarily and he releases Sunpyre. She reacts right away with a discharge of hot plasma against Jaeger’s chest.

“Well… that sucks,” says Skin. “Where is this chick we’re supposed to find anyway?”

“Spikes hurt Jaeger…” he mutters as he gets back to his feet. He springs up and lands on Skin, drawing a knife. “So Jaeger hurts spike!”

“NO!” exclaims Sunpyre, releasing another discharge to knock Jaeger off. She runs to Skin’s side and helps him up. “Go, find this Jackie Miller girl.”

“What about you?” asks Skin.

“I’ll try and hold him off,” replies Sunpyre.

“Fuck that,” says Skin. “You go up against a Neo alone, no way in hell you’re comin’ out on top.”

“I don’t need to come out on top, I just need to distract him,” says Sunpyre. “For once in your life, use your brain, Skin. I can fly and strike from a distance. You can’t. And neither can Jaeger.”

“You tryin’ to say my power’s not as effective as yours?” asks Skin.

“No, that’s exactly what I’m saying,” replies Sunpyre. “Now go.”

“This is gonna turn into one of those competition things, isn’t it?”

Skin runs off while Sunpyre erects a wall of fire around Jaeger. She takes to the skies and increases the intensity of the flames, and directs other blasts at Jaeger himself. She looks off in the distance and sees Skin running.

“Be careful…” she mutters.

Skin runs, moving quickly. He can feel the heat from Sunpyre’s assault on Jaeger, and it has already begun to make him sweat. He tries not to think about what might happen if Jaeger is able to get his hands on her. He knows Sunpyre is capable enough to handle herself in a fight. He continues running, and he nearly trips over something lying in the road. He stops and looks at it.

A shoe.

With a foot still inside it.

He picks up the shoe and walks into the small alleyway. He sees blood on the ground, and he looks inside the open dumpster.

“Dios mio…” he mutters as he turns away and tries to keep himself from vomitting. He drops the shoe in there and then runs back out of the alleyway. He looks down at Sunpyre and he shouts out to her.

“SUNPYRE!!”

“IN CASE YOU HAVEN’T NOTICED, I SORT OF HAVE MY HANDS FULL AT THE MOMENT, SKIN!”

“WE’RE TOO LATE!”

“WHAT?!”

“WE’RE TOO LATE!” exclaims Skin. “JAEGER ALREADY KILLED HER!”

Sunpyre drops her assault and looks over at Skin. She looks down at the area she was concentrating her blasts on and sees nothing but a scorch mark on the street.

“Jesus, did you vaporize him?” asks Skin.

“No,” replies Sunpyre. “There would be something left.”

“So he disappeared?” asks Skin.

“One of the Neo can teleport,” replies Sunpyre. “They must have gotten Jaeger out while I was attacking him.”

“He killed her, Leyu,” says Skin. “Left her in the dumpster.”

“These are dangerous times to be a mutant,” says Sunpyre.

Moscow, Russia

Within the town square, a man with short, white hair, dark sunglasses, and a metal arm leaps in the air. His uniform is black and navy blue, with X symbols adorning it. He holds a pair of guns in his hands.

“EVERYBODY DOWN!” he orders to bystanders as the bullets fly from the gun barrels. He is called Cable.

The man he targets is built like a linebacker, with long black hair and a beard. He is called Barbican. He raises his arm and the ground moves up to act as a shield that stops Cable’s bullets. Cable grits his teeth in frustration and lifts his wrist to his mouth and speaks into the communicator attached to it.

“Xorn, it’s Cable. Have you located the mutant?”

“Not yet, my friend. But I can detect his energy signature nearby.”

“Good, find him and keep him safe,” says Cable. “I’ll keep Barbican busy. Cable out.”

The street rises up around Cable, forming a dome over his head and it begins to close in fast.

“You have got to be joking,” says Cable with a half-grin.

His left eye begins to glow brightly, illuminating the small space he occupies. Cable erects a psionic barrier around himself which stops the dome from closing in any further. He pushes out with his mind, increasing the size of the barrier and forcing the dome to expand. His eye glows even brighter and the dome explodes. The debris still floats in the air and circles around Cable’s body. He looks towards Barbican, and the debris circles around him, closing in on him and moving fast enough to strike different areas of Barbican’s body.

A moment ago, Xorn was walking through the streets of Moscow, trying to find the young mutant targeted by Barbican. Now, he finds himself standing in the orchard in China where he was born. He finds himself in a Buddhist temple, where he found enlightenment.

“No…” he says. “No… this isn’t true.”

A blinding flash of blue light emits from the iron mask used to conceal Xorn’s face. When the light fades, Xorn is back in Russia, standing in the middle of Moscow.

“Illusions are useless against me,” he says. “I don’t visualize things in the same sense that you do. Please, don’t be afraid, I’m not here to hurt you.”

Xorn sees a young man standing before him. Tall, handsome, with short, black hair and brown skin.

“This is still an illusion, young one,” he says. “Please, you can trust me. I only want to help.”

“Your mind…” says the young man. “So radiant… I can’t see past it.”

“None can,” says Xorn. “Where you have a brain, I have a tiny star.”

“That… that thing came after me,” he says. “How do I know you’re not with him?”

“If I wanted to kill you, you’d already be dead,” says Xorn. “I am Xorn. And your name is?”

“Slick,” he says.

“No illusions, Slick,” says Xorn.

Slick turns away from Xorn, but then looks back at him. He stares into the eyeslots on Xorn’s iron mask and looks into the blue energy contained within. He sighs and closes his eyes and the illusion fades. Xorn glances down and sees Slick’s true form—a small creature no taller than a couple feat with pointed ears and webbed hands and feet.

“There’s no need for you to hide anymore, Slick,” says Xorn.

Cable falls back as slabs of concrete strike his telekinetic shield. He opens the shield slightly over the gun barrels so the bullets can travel without any form of obstruction. Barbican blocks the bullets once more with the use of his structural morphing abilities. Barbican’s structural shield crumbles and Barbican feels his own body beginning to grow heavy, the point where he falls to his knees.

“Don’t bother trying to get up,” says Xorn as he steps up to Barbican. “I’m increasing the gravitational pull on your body. If I wanted to, I could do far worse than that.”

Barbican looks up at Xorn and then places his hand on the ground. Cable gets a flash of Barbican’s thoughts.

“No!” he exclaims, but it comes too late. A large wall is suddenly erected, separating Cable from the battle while the ground around Slick rises up and forms to a sharp point. It comes crashing down and impales the young mutant.

“NO!” exclaims Xorn. He turns to look at Barbican and his eyes flare up brightly.

“Nathan, my friend, stay behind the shield,” he says. He lifts up his finger and turns the small key attached to his helmet. He opens his mask and reveals his face to Barbican.

Detroit, Michigan

The black man with the shaved head, sunglasses, goatee and M tattooed over his right eye is Bishop. His companion is Roberto DaCosta, called Sunspot. The two are operatives of X-Corps America. They walk into an apartment building and press the button next to the name DANIELS.

“Just how far are we going to take this, Bishop?” asks Sunspot.

“As far as we have to,” replies Bishop. “You already made the first step with your attempts to help mutants through the Damocles Foundation.”

“That’s what Wisdom said, too,” says Sunspot. “I gotta admit, I’m a little weary about this whole thing. It could all blow up in our faces.”

“Wisdom and I are well aware of your concerns, DaCosta, because they’re our concerns as well,” says Bishop.

“But my real question is who foots the bill?”

“What do you mean?” asks Bishop.

“C’mon Bishop, don’t insult my intelligence,” replies Sunspot. “No way could the Damocles Foundation fund an operation on this scale. Not only that, but what’s Rory Campbell’s role in it?”

“You’re right, we do have others supporting us financially,” says Bishop. “I know where our funds come from. So do Wisdom and Campbell. And that’s all I’m permitted to divulge, for security reasons.”

“Hello?”

“Hello, my name is Special Agent Lucas Bishop with the FBI,” says Bishop into the intercom. “I’m here with my partner, Agent DaCosta. We’re here to speak with Evan Daniels.”

“Is something wrong?”

“Can we come in?” asks Bishop.

“Yes, hold on a moment.”

A loud buzzing sound rings through the small foyer. Sunspot opens the door and walks into the lobby, holding it open for Bishop. The two men enter the elevator and Bishop presses the button for the fifth floor.

“Security reasons?” asks Sunspot.

“Yes,” replies Bishop. “Our organization must remain as secret as possible. It’s simply unnecessary knowledge for you, and it poses a liability if you’re ever captured and tortured by the enemy.”

“You saying we’d crack?” asks Sunspot.

“I’m saying anyone could crack, myself included,” replies Bishop. “It’s a risk we’re not willing to take, the less people know who funds X-Corps, the better.”

With a DING the elevator arrives at the fifth floor. The doors open, and Bishop and Sunspot step out. They look at the door across from them and it reads 516 on it.

“Hmm, that’s a long walk,” says Sunspot. He steps up to the door and knocks on it. “Lemme guess, you’ll do all the talking.”

“Correct,” says Bishop.

The door suddenly bursts open and slams against Sunspot. Standing in the doorway is Dominia, wielding an energy whip. Bishop’s hand shoots to his leg and he draws his gun from its holster. Before he can take aim, Dominia’s whip wraps around the gun and pulls it from his grasp. Dominia hurls the whip again to strike Bishop. He lifts his arm up and the whip wraps around it. Bishop’s eyes glow brightly behind his sunglasses as he absorbs the energy given off from the whip. He aims his hand and redirects the energy, sending Dominia flying back.

“Sunspot, you okay?” asks Bishop.

Sunspot tosses the door aside, his skin now pitch-black and his head taking on a flame-like shape.

“Never better,” he mutters. “Where’s the kid?”

Bishop steps inside the apartment and looks around. He sees a young, black man with bleach-blonde hair sitting in a corner.

“Evan Daniels?” asks Bishop. The young man nods quickly. Bishop points at him and says, “Stay down.”

Sunspot follows Bishop in and looks around.

“Where’d she go?” he asks.

Above them, Dominia keeps herself up by bracing her body between the small entryway. She drops down and drop-kicks Bishop. She moves to strike Sunspot, who blocks her arm with his own, and then fires off a solar blast against her torso. Dominia recoils, but retaliates quickly. She leaps over Sunspot’s head and kicks his legs out from under him. She grabs him by the neck and lifts him up, hurling him out the window. She then turns her attention to Evan.

“You’re next, spike,” she says, an energy dagger appearing in her hand. Evan lifts his arm up to block, and sharp bone spikes shoot out from his forearm, striking Dominia. At that moment, Sunspot flies back in through the window and slams his body against Dominia as hard as he can. Bishop grabs Dominia’s energy dagger and he smiles at her before he throws her towards the window and releases the remaining energy at her.

“We have to get out of here before she can find a way back up,” says Bishop. “Is he okay?”

“Yeah, I’m fine,” replies Evan.

“Good,” says Bishop.

“Who are you guys anyway?” asks Evan.

“X-Corps,” replies Bishop.

X-Corp HQ; Muir Isle

Five young men and one young woman stand in a line. Each of them is dressed in a black bodysuit with a red belt and two red stripes running down the left side of their bodies and their left leg. A woman with long, black hair and an odd implant on her forehead, as well as an M tattooed over her right eye stands in front of them, wearing a similar uniform, but with silver instead of red. Another man in the standard X-Corps uniform, and with short, blonde hair, addresses them.

“This is the former Muir Isle Research Center,” he begins. “My name is Alex Summers, and I run this branch of the X-Corps. My codename is Havok. The woman standing here is one of my teammates, Fixx. She will serve as your chief instructor during your time here. You will meet the other operatives at a later time. You’re here because Black Womb wanted you for genetic fodder and the Neo tried to kill you. We’re going to do something better—we’re going to train you to fight them. Here, you’ll learn not only how to control your mutant powers, but you’ll also learn valuable skills that will benefit you as future operatives of X-Corps. You’ve all agreed to train here under us. Once your training is complete, you have one of two choices. You can return to your lives and leave all this behind you, or you can continue on as X-Corps operatives. Your uniforms are all designed with a red trim. Any officers with either silver or gold on their uniforms are superior officers, and you will regard them as such. Do you all understand?”

No one speaks out against Havok’s words.

“Good,” he says. “Now, if you’ll all follow Fixx, she will give you a tour of the facility. Good luck, and welcome to X-Corps.”

Fixx nods and steps forward and says, “Follow me.” She steps through the open door and the new recruits follow her. Havok turns his attention to Ecstacy and Fantomex, who enter the room.

“Something wrong?” he asks.

“We’ve got a problem,” replies Ecstacy. “I checked with every morgue in London, and no body was found that met Rax’s description.”

“But that’s not possible,” says Havok. “Your report said Fantomex killed him.”

“That’s the problem…” says Ecstacy. “Should I tell him?”

“No, I’ll do it,” says Fantomex. “Do you know what makes the Neo so deadly?”

“What?” asks Havok.

“Uncharted healing capabilities,” replies Fantomex. “There’s yet to be one, successful reported instance of a Neo being killed. They can recover from any wound, regardless of how fatal. Not even other methods of death, like asphyxiation or drowning have proven successful.”

“How do you know all this?” asks Havok. “Some of this knowledge seems too much for a former Black Womb prisoner.”

Fantomex pulls his mask off and Havok and Ecstacy recoil slightly when they see similar tribal markings on his face to the ones the Neo sport. He pulls the mask back on.

“I’m one of them.”

X-Corporation HQ; Chicago

Rory Campbell reads over the reports from the various X-Corps branches via his computer’s satellite connection. He reads the reports of the new recruits, and smiles. He reaches for the phone, dials a number quickly, and waits for the ringing to subside.

“It’s Campbell,” he says. “Everything’s going according to plan.”