MERGERS & ACQUISITIONS

Part III: Down Under

By Dino Pollard

X-Corps HQ; Australia

Utilizing his superhuman gift of speed, James Proudstar dodges the hail of bullets that fly from the guns of Cole, Macon, and Reese. He clears the area quickly, trying to locate some cover. If he could glance over to his teammate, Mimic, he would find him flying through the air, twisting and manuevering as best he can to avoid the bullets from Pretty Boy, Skullbuster, and Bonebreaker.

“Hey guys, some help out here would be nice!” he says through the use of telepathy.

“Mimic? What’s going on?” comes Maverick’s reply.

“You been sleeping on monitor duty, Maverick? Proudstar and I are up against intruders!”

“Intruders?” asks Rictor. “Who?”

“Reavers.”

“About time. I’ve been waiting impatiently for battle.”

“I’m on my way out, try and hold them off as long as you can.”

“One more thing — does anyone know where Archer is?”

“You can’t locate him?”

“No, he’s nowhere in my range.”

“Dammit…”

“What?”

“Worry about it after we take care of the Reavers.”

“This is what you wankers get for invading our home!” exclaims Bonebreaker. A bullet strikes his shoulder blade, and he turns to find Maverick standing there with a smoking gun.

“As I recall, you were using this place as a waystation while you went across the globe committing robberies and killing people,” he says.

“Job’s a job, mate,” says Pretty Boy. His chest cavity opens and mechanical tendrils whip out, ensnaring Maverick. The former Team X operative attempts to evade them, firing off bullets at the coils, but one of them pulls his gun arm down to the side. The other tendrils quickly contain him and Pretty Boy pulls him closer. Smaller coils protrude from his eye sockets and link onto Maverick’s head.

“Just relax and soon you’ll be one of us,” he says.

Before the personality reprogramming can take place, a sword cuts through Pretty Boy’s eye coils. Pretty Boy recoils in pain as Shatterstar severs the chest tendrils. Maverick quickly pulls what remains off his body as Pretty Boy pulls back.

“Thanks,” says Maverick. Shatterstar makes no response, simply runs towards Cole, Macon and Reese to draw them away from Proudstar. Maverick turns towards Pretty Boy and presses his gun against the Reaver’s head.

“Now you and I are going to have a little chat,” he says.

“Heeeere birdy, birdy, birdy…” says Bonebreaker. His rocket launchers target the Mimic as he continues firing off bullets. Before he can fire the rockets, the ground begins to violently quake.

“What the devil…?” he asks. He looks at Rictor standing there, hands clasped together, index fingers raised to direct his seismic powers. Bonebreaker cracks a sly grin and the rockets fire from their housings — two in the air towards Mimic, two on the ground towards Rictor. The rockets lock onto his heat signature and he leaps around them, trying to put as much distance between him and them as possible. He points his fingers at them. Both rockets begin to experience turbulence until the seismic waves become so powerful that they explode.

In the air, Mimic glances behind him and sees the rockets coming towards him. He dives, heading back towards the battle. Bonebreaker sees him coming and begins firing ammunition at him that bounces off of a telekinetic bubble he erects around his body. As he gets closer, his body suddenly transforms into ice and he uses his telekinesis to give him an extra boost into the air. The rockets lock on to the closest heat signature — Bonebreaker’s — and strike.

Proudstar dodges past Skullbuster’s bullets and closes in, moving at top speed to collide with the Reaver at maximum force. As he approaches, Skullbuster kicks his leg out, and it eplodes out as a piledriver, striking Proudstar square in the chest. Skullbuster leaps in the air, and his piledriver legs come crashing down, which Proudstar quickly rolls away to avoid. He grabs the leg before Skullbuster can retract it and jumps to his feet. He pulls the leg with him, causing Skullbuster to topple to the ground.

Skullbuster pulls himself to his feet and begins scanning the area for Proudstar. The ground begins to quake beneath his feet and he finds himself struggling to maintain his balance. At that point, Proudstar tackles him from behind. Proudstar moves quickly around Skullbuster, using his speed to his advantage as he delivers blow after superhuman blow. Skullbuster blocks one of the punches and counters by slamming his open palm against Proudstar’s chest. The X-Corps operative feels ribs crack from the blow.

Skullbuster moves in for a second strike, but Proudstar grabs his arm this time and flips him over, tossing him away. Rictor stands waiting and claps his hands together. Seismic ways rocket out from his hands and leave Skullbuster a pile of spare parts.

Shatterstar charges forward, his sword a blur of steel as he uses it to sever Macon’s arm. He grabs Macon and hurls him forward into Reese’s gunfire. When the two Reavers regain their composure, Shatterstar leaps towards them. While in the air, he is encased in an energy net, fired from Cole’s weapon. Shatterstar struggles in the net, but finds the more he attempts to fight, the stronger the net becomes.

“Target acquired,” says Cole.

“…what?” asks Shatterstar.

As Cole moves towards Shatterstar, an optic blast knocks him back. The Mimic flies over to Shatterstar’s side and examines the net. He forms a telekinetic bubble around Shatterstar and expands it until the net can no longer take the strain and dissipates.

“Should watch your back,” says Mimic.

“Fekt,” snorts Shatterstar. “Did you hear what he said?”

“No, why?”

“He sounded like a Sentinel,” replies Shatterstar. Rictor and Proudstar come to the group, Proudstar leaning against Rictor for support. Maverick approaches, dragging Pretty Boy.

“Sounds about right,” says Maverick. He drops Pretty Boy in the center of the small team. “This wasn’t a random encounter, and it was more than the Reavers trying to reclaim their turf.”

“What do you mean?” asks Mimic.

“That’s where you come in,” replies Maverick. “I need you to see what you can get from Pretty Boy’s mind.”

“I’ll try, but I’m not sure if his brain is still completely human or if it’s been co-opted with technology,” says Mimic. He approaches Pretty Boy and places his hands on the Reaver’s temples. Pretty Boy jolts his head away and spits in Mimic’s face. Maverick cocks his gun and points it at Pretty Boy’s head.

“Go ahead and shoot,” says Pretty Boy with a chuckle. “You put a bullet in my head, you won’t get any intel.”

Maverick says nothing, just moves his gun just slightly and fires. The bullet takes Pretty Boy’s ear clean off and he cries out in pain. Maverick leans down and forcefully grips Pretty Boy by the hair, pulling his head back so he can speak into the man’s one good ear.

“Don’t worry, there are plenty of body parts I can shoot before I even have to think about touching your brain,” says Maverick. “You want to guess where I go from here?”

Pretty Boy offers no response. Maverick looks up at Mimic and nods. Mimic once again places his fingers against Pretty Boy’s temples. He begins to probe the Reaver’s mind and it doesn’t take long before he discovers the information he needs.

“AIM,” he says.

“What?” asks Rictor. “You mean those guys with the stupid-looking helmets?”

“Exactly,” replies Mimic. “Seems they’ve expanded their turf into the mutant-hunting business. The Reavers here are their first attempt at experimenting with Sentinel technology.”

“Not good,” says Maverick. “You alright, Proudstar?”

“Few cracked ribs but other than that I should be fine,” replies Proudstar.

“Ric, take him to the infirmary, see to his wounds,” says Maverick. “Mimic, Shatterstar — you guys are on clean-up duty. Round up all the Reavers…”

He stops himself when he looks at the remains of Bonebreaker and Skullbuster.

“…or what’s left of them,” he continues. “Prep them for transport. I’ll contact the top brass and bring them up to speed.”

Hellfire Club; New York

A limosuine pulls up to the entrance of one of the oldest and most prestigious clubs in the world. The valet steps up to the limo and opens the rear door. A robust, bald man who appears to be in his forties or fifties steps out from the limo. The valet closes the limo and runs to open the front door to the club. Standing inside is a woman with pale skin and jet-black hair. She is dressed very elegantly in a form-fitting black dress which accentuate her curves.

“Hello Mr. Zurit,” she says as she steps up to him. “My name is Tessa Niles, an associate of Mr. Shaw’s. On his behalf, I would like to welcome you to the Hellfire Club. I trust you had a good flight?”

“Yes, it was fine,” replies Zurit. “Where is Mr. Shaw this evening? I was under the impression that I would be dining with him tonight.”

“Oh, you will be,” says Tessa. “But he’s presently in a meeting that has gone a bit longer than expected. He asked that we start without him, and he’ll join us shortly.”

“Very well,” says Zurit.

“Follow me, please,” she says. She wraps her arm around Zurit’s and leads him towards the private dining hall. As they walk, he can feel Tessa’s mental abilities poking around in his mind. Havok had warned him of this — the Hellfire Club has many psychics in their employ. He silently prays the mental blocks and the memories of Zurit are able to sufficiently mask his true identity and intentions from Tessa. Despite that what little intelligence they have on Tessa lists her psychic abilities as being low-level, there is apparently more to her than anyone — perhaps even Shaw himself — knows.

In the dining hall, Tessa leads him to a small table where a man and woman sit. The man is bald, with a healthy tan and a dark green suit. The woman is wearing a dress similar to Tessa’s, with her black hair resting on her shoulders.

“Jacob Zurit, I would like to introduce you to some of our associates — Telford Porter and Jennifer Astra,” she says.

“Nice to meet you,” says Porter. Astra nods a hello.

“Perhaps we should begin?” asks Tessa.

“If you’ll excuse me, Ms. Niles, where is the restroom?” asks Zurit.

“Oh, down the hall and to your left,” replies Tessa.

“Thank you,” says Zurit.

“Would you like us to order you a drink?” asks Tessa.

“Scotch, please,” replies Zurit. “Not too much ice.”

Tessa nods and Zurit leaves the table and the dining hall, walking out into the hallway. Instead of continuing on to the restroom, he instead makes his way up a flight of stairs. He moves carefully through the corridors of the Club. He sees a light on under a door at the far end of the hallway, and there is a plaque on the door which reads “SEBASTIAN SHAW.” He moves away from the door into another room. A computer terminal is in there, and he activates it. He begins searching through the files, using the access codes Fixx located in the mind of the real Jacob Zurit and planted in his memory.

“I would like to thank you for coming all this way,” says Sebastian Shaw.

“Astral travel poses no difficulties for me, Mr. Shaw, you know that.”

“Yes, I do,” replies Shaw. “I believe you’ve already discovered my plan…”

“I have.”

“And…?”

“I could care less about the machinations of the Hellfire Club or your attempts to increase your monetary power base. However, the end result of these actions… it seems most entertaining to watch. As such, I believe I will assist you in your campaign.”

“I thought you would see it that way,” says Shaw with a grin.

“By the way, are you aware that one of the occupants of this building is not what they seem and is now attempting telepathic contact?”

Shaw turns towards the man who stands behind him silently.

“See to it,” he says. The man nods and leaves the room.

“Fixx, you reading me?”

“Thanks to Cerebra, you’re coming in loud and clear, Angelo. What’ve you found?”

“More than I bargained for. Check out my short-term memory for the people Tessa just introduced me to, maybe the names will be familiar.”

“We have no information on anyone named Jennifer Astra. But Telford Porter… according to Cerebra’s files, he’s from the X-Men’s early days. He’s a teleporter and he would steal intelligence reports and sell them to the highest bidder. Called himself the Vanisher. But he hasn’t popped up in some time, it was assumed he was either dead or retired.”

“…dios mio… are you scanning this information I’m reading on Shaw’s plans and the Sentinels?”

Skin receives no reply from Fixx.

“Fixx? Are you still there?”

Someone grasps Angelo’s shoulder from behind and pulls him away from the computer terminal. The sudden surprise causes Skin to lose control over his transformation. He looks at the tall, extremely-built man standing before him, cloaked in red. He holds a large broadsword, and his face has odd markings on it.

“I… I was…”

“No more tricks, you’ve been discovered,” says the Red King.