THE FINAL SAY

By Brent Lambert

Elena, Red Lotus, and Ruby Claw had watched, as their friends were taken captive after fighting a group of flying women sent their direction by the crime lord, Hokuten. X-Factor had been in route to the main base of Hokuten when they were side tracked by his little harpies. Now the three of them were about to make their way to the base themselves. Come hell or high water they were going to free their teammates and make Hokuten wish he had never crossed them.

“None of you move! Trying to be stupid won’t help anyone!” a voice cried out from above the three mutants.

Looking up the three mutants saw a muscular Asian man adorned in black fatigues with matching boots and a shirt that looked like the Japanese flag had been wrapped around him. In his right hand he was carrying a handgun and in the left he had a long golden staff that bristled with blue flame at the tip towards his ankle.

Red Lotus looked at the clean-shaven Genemaker and groaned in annoyance, “What do you suggest? Sit on our asses and wait!”

Elena looked up at her former fiancée and added, “I know he’s your brother, but you can’t let that blind you.”

Ms. Witch wasn’t sure what it was that she felt for Ricki anymore. It wasn’t love…she knew that much. Her heart was with Vargas, but still it wasn’t hate either. At least not anymore because for quite some time she hated his very existence, but seeing him again when he helped save Vargas and Lotus made things different. She understood Ricki on a more intimate level after feeling his mind and that made her more empathic to him. Empathy wouldn’t override her reason though and going for her friends was the main priority.

“Trust me Elena. I’ve put aside our blood relation long ago.”

“You definitely sound real convincing. Pssh!” Red Lotus rolled his eyes in response to Genemaker’s declaration. He didn’t like the guy and he wasn’t afraid to show it. He had hurt Elena, a very close friend, in ways no man should hurt a woman. Being the amazing person that she is Elena has seemingly forgiven him. The former Triad was not going to be so kind.

Finally coming in contact with the ground Genemaker flipped his staff so that the blue flame was heading upwards. Looking at Elena pleading he said, “Think about it. My brother has troops out the ass. If a bunch of winged women can take your team then what chance do the three of you realistically have against ALL his forces?”

“Genemaker is right. The four of us would have a hard time against the bulk of Hokuten’s forces. We can’t just go charging in there. It’d be suicide,” Ruby Claw agreed thinking of how quickly they would all be slaughtered. She wanted nothing more than to wrap her hands around Hokuten’s throat, but the Red Diamond Syndicate had taught her that patience could be the key to victory. The idea of impossible odds admittedly excited her, but she had to let reason dominate her thinking.

Elena shook her head, “Not necessarily. Few have experienced what I can do when I push myself to my limits. We could handle his forces.”

It was Genemaker’s turn to shake his head. “Elena, I won’t see you put yourself at risk. There is no way of knowing if my brother doesn’t have mutant mystics of his own. It’s too big of a risk to take.”

Red Lotus laughed mockingly. “Now you care about her welfare? How touching! Look, though… Elena is a grown woman and she doesn’t need you to be her white knight. If she thinks she can help us then by all means I say go for it. What other options do we have at the moment?”

Genemaker was so tempted to turn his staff on Lotus, “I’m surprised X-Factor is so quick to let their teammates put themselves in harm’s way. Wondeful teamwork I must say.”

Red Lotus wanted so bad to wipe that smug look off of Genemaker’s face, “I’m this close to sticking my foot so far up your ass…”

“Can it gentlemen! We can’t hope to beat Hokuten if we’re fighting amongst ourselves now can we? So drop the testosterone and start using your other heads,” Ruby Claw exclaimed.

A satisfied smile spread across Elena’s face, ‘Well said Ruby. You’re going to fit in just fine.”

“I still have that one mutant from when I helped rescue Vargas and Red Lotus. He could provide a distraction that’ll allow us to free X-Factor rather than having Elena expend all her energy,” Genemaker suggested.

Red Lotus threw up his arms in frustration, “And you didn’t say this before why?”

“Your bitch did a real number on us. I’ll give her that,” Tanya laughed as she rubbed her body closely up against the chained Vargas. She wanted to make the Spaniard lust for her. Have his only thoughts be of her even as he lay dying on Dark Beast’s dissecting table.

Vargas leaned forward as if to whisper something in Tanya’s ear. The Angel of Hokuten was eager to hear what the warrior had to say. Unfortunately for her that eagerness proved to be her undoing. Quickly lashing out with his teeth Vargas took a chunk out of Tanya’s ear and sent her reeling to the floor.

“YOU BASTARD! You bit my damn ear!” Tanya yelled even as she watched Vargas spit out a chunk of flesh from his mouth.

“If you weren’t acting like a school girl you might still have your ear,” Gabriel chastised as she came into the circular room with Dark Beast at her side.

“Now don’t be so harsh, Gabriel. My dear Tanya only wants to procreate with the best. It’s a trait to be admired. Just don’t let your hormones overload you next time sweetie pie,” Dark Beast said with a twisted grin as he stuck a syringe in Tanya’s neck to ease her pain and help the ear to grow back.

Looking up at Vargas the geneticist let forth a toothy grin, “You made a mess. Do I really need to give all of you bibs too?”

“I’d suggest giving them all a taste of my blade,” Fatale commented as her high heels made her presence known in the dimly lit room.

Lorna could barely stand the sight of the woman so many had said she betrayed. Looking at her now Polaris could feel the guilt welling up inside of her. It was like having a bad case of acid reflux with a couple of nails thrown in the mix. The taste of her guilt was putrid, but there was no removing it. Her sin had been committed and Lorna was going to forever have to stew in it.

“C’mon Fatale. You’re better than this! You don’t have to listen to Dark Beast’s bullshit!” Shard exclaimed. Her bonds had been a bit more sophisticated than everyone else’s since she was a photon based lifeform. So the only part of her body that was even mobile was her mouth and that was only so Sugar Man could enjoy her pleas as she was made into energy for his latest invention.

“You all sent me right into Dark Beast’s ‘bullshit’! I would figure this is what you want for me. I never was good enough for X-Factor. At least not in any of your eyes. With Dark Beast I’m at home and at peace,” Fatale replied. The members of X-Factor could only stare in horror as they saw a single tear slip down the green cheek of their former teammate.

‘She’s in hell and we put her there. May God forgive us,’ Vargas thought.

Fireheart Enterprises

Puma leaped over his desk and wrapped his hands around Slade’s throat. “You ever come into my office making threats again I will snap your head clear off!”

“Mister Fireheart, would you please let go of my associate or things might get ugly,” Mr. Beatrice said as he pulled out a Beretta and pointed it the way of Puma.

“Now you pull out weapons! You both must not want to leave here alive,” Thomas growled as he let go of Slade and let his body hit the ground with a thud.

Carlton was backed into a corner. In front of him was an angry Thomas Fireheart and behind him was a rather large desk and behind that a very large window. Mr. Beatrice had no intention of being flung from a skyscraper today. Putting up his gun, Carlton held up his hands in mock defeat. “You don’t know what you’re doing here today. Durklan Incorporated is a very powerful corporation. Crossing them is not in your best interest.”

Getting only inches from Beatrice’s face Puma growled, “You tell Durklan I’m watching them and that they’ve picked the wrong person to try and intimidate… Mister Beatrice.”

Adjusting his tie, Mr. Beatrice moved towards the door, “I’ll let you send Mister Slade on his way when he wakes up. Just remember… we warned your sorry behind.”

Feng Tu

Junpe Rivera had hoped that getting into Feng Tu would have been harder just so he could report failure to Yvon Rendom. Luck wouldn’t be so kind to them today. Entering the base had been easy as pie, but trying to find a specific mutant amongst the captured hundreds was going to prove far more difficult. They were only five mutants and could only cover so much space before dawn reared its ugly head.

“Wha are we goin ta do next boss man?” Ingersoll asked. He was around seven feet tall and had a nasty build about him. The guy could probably crush a car in half without even trying. Sadly enough his mutant ability was controlling the size of male genitalia. The power was great for sex, but sucked on infiltration missions.

The thought had crossed Junpe’s mind that they all got assigned with this mission because Yvon thought them profitless. Who in the hell would want someone who could control the size of your slong? In Junpe’s case who would want someone that could turn hair into dust? Not unless you had a fetish for bald women or something.

“We’re going to find that mutant. That’s what,” Junpe answered. Despite the fact they were all lacking in impressive mutant abilities they had been outfitted with plenty of tech to compensate for that fact.

“And probably get shot up in the process,” Kaleb grunted at the thought of facing hundred of heavily armed Chinese guards. All he had was his pathetic mutant ability to make people cry uncontrollably.

“Boy oh boy I love the optimism,” Alexi added. His Russian accent was extremely thick and with a fiery red beard he looked like he could be a match for Perun. Despite his build his mutant ability was quite frail. He could only make his skin translucent, but he was far better off than the last of their five-man group.

Nick Bridge could only make pimples appear on the body and only in small amounts. It was an ability so pathetic that Nick had earned the scorn of many of his fellow mutants with more potent abilities. It made Nick have to earn his keep in other ways though and no one to date has managed to beat him in a fair arm wrestling match.

“Lets move out people,” Junpe ordered growing tired of hearing the negative talk about the mission. It was already bad enough they were pretty much fish bait.

Before any of them could take another step forward a rumbling knocked them to the ground and hundreds of guards poured out from hidden locations throughout the mutant prison. Junpe realized just how outmatched they were really were and how easily they would have been killed.

“What’s happenin’ boss?” Ingersoll asked not understanding the vibrations traveling through the earth.

“I think we’re about to find out,” Junpe replied as he pointed forward at the sprout of blue energy that was pouring through the ground.

Hundreds of bullets struck the body of the ebony-skinned mutant that was a creation of Genemaker. The ammunition was simply absorbed into the body of the mutant and added to his physical strength. Genemaker stood from afar with Lotus, Elena, and Ruby at his back. The mutant was both pleased and frightened with his creation. The power possessed within it was tremendous and that’s what scared Ricki. He could only control his creations for so long before they gained free wills of their own. The time was always random so Tan knew that at any moment his only white podder could be in control of himself at any moment.

The Mengo Brothers were at the head of the attack against the charging mutant and they quickly back stepped behind the Red Diamond Syndicate sharp shooters. Stan looked over to his brother and asked, “Do you think we should be heading inside the compound?”

“Without a doubt,” Gregg answered.

“Not so fast boys!” Elena laughed as she appeared above the two men and lifted them up into the air by their feet.

“You have got to find better ways to talk to men,” Stan groaned.

“I don’t think pissing her off is a good idea at the moment bro,” Gregg gulped as he thought about the long fall they would have to endure.

“At least one of the bunch has some brains,” Elena smiled, “Now tell me where I can find my teammates.”

Before either of them could answer a throat was pushed up against Elena’s throat. A tender voice whispered in her ear, “You must pay more attention. No telling what could be flying around.”

“One of Dark Beast’s flying women I assume. Thought I put you bitches on ice,” Elena replied her neck stiffening under the pressure from the metal object.

“Well, Hokuten is not without his mystically adept people,” Charlene responded.

“I figured as much,” a voice called out from behind the Angel of Hokuten.

Charlene turned her head quickly and was shocked to see Ms. Witch floating there with green energy wrapping itself around her body. Where her knife had once been across Elena’s throat there was now a balloon replica of the woman. Charlene had been tricked and would have her retribution. Unleashing her two knives Charlene concentrated on her mutant ability.

Instead of the intended response electricity ripped through Charlene’s body and sent her tumbling towards the ground with smoke emanating off of her body. Elena smirked at the sight and held up a tiny blue orb in her hand that contained the real Stan and Greg.

“Now where were we, boys?”

Red Lotus stood before the two soldiers of Hokuten and couldn’t wait until he landed his first kick. Rhais and Thais looked at him smugly as if knowing that their battle with him would be a brief one. The words of Rhais still stung Lotus and though he didn’t let his teammates know it the words had struck him in the heart. He had been called a traitor of sorts and dishonor was not something that Lotus took lightly.

“You two are standing in my way. I suggest you move,” Red Lotus warned as he cracked his knuckles.

“The filth is telling us to move. Do we oblige him sister?” Rhais asked keeping his eyes forward on the former Triad. He knew not to underestimate the assassin. His reputation was an earned one.

“If the filth wants us to move he will have to make us do so,” Thais growled. She knew the battle before them was going to be a tough one. Especially, now that it seemed as if Red Lotus had altered himself into a new state.

“Time to put these new abilities of mines to use,” Red Lotus whispered as he charged forward at the two mutants.

Running uphill along the concrete passageway, Red Lotus didn’t feel the least bit fatigued despite the fact he had been in constant fights for the past few hours. Something about his mutation made his endurance and stamina a great deal longer. That meant he had even more of an edge against the twins. It was an edge that he was not willing to give up as Shard and the others depended on him. As much as he didn’t want to admit it part of him missed Shard’s presence greatly and he would be damned before he saw harm come to her.

Thais moved quickly so as to land the first punch. Flinging her arm forward she had hoped to strike Red Lotus in the chest. The X-Factor member ducked the blow and drove his shoulder into the shorthaired woman. Lifting her up into the air Red Lotus flung her into the wooden door that held the way to his friends.

“Infidel!” Rhais yelled as she punched Lotus across the face and sent the former hitman into a Buddha statue. Lotus’ collision with the statue was of such force that he quickly found himself indented in it and unable to move.

“Now you’ll pay for your traitorous actions,” Rhais smiled as he went to work with his mutant ability creating laceration after laceration across Red Lotus’ body.

Lotus could feel the blood beginning to flow, but he would never acknowledge that he was in pain. To do so would give Rhais satisfaction and Lotus was nowhere near prepared to do that.

“With an ability like yours you should think about the masochist field,” Red Lotus said with gritted teeth as he felt tiny cuts begin to form all over his eyes.

“Oh you have no idea how much pain I can inflict,” Rhais replied keeping his gaze on Lotus.

“Bet I can do more,” Genemaker boasted as he ran up behind Rhais and stabbed him through the shoulder with his electrically charged lance. Rhais let out a cry of pure pain and slumped to the ground unconscious with blood flowing freely from his shoulder.

Running over to Red Lotus he tugged the X-Factor member free of the statue he was caught in.

“What the hell took you so long?” Red Lotus groaned barely able to see because of the blood flowing from his eyes.

“No thank you? Boy, I can see Elena is rubbing off on you guys too much. C’mon, we gotta get inside. I’m sure our lil’ ladies are already making a mess,” Genemaker laughed as he hefted Red Lotus on his shoulder.

“You might as well leave. I’m no good to you all banged up,” Red Lotus warned. Part of the fact was that he didn’t want to have to hear Shard’s mouth when she found out Genemaker had to carry him around.

“Think boy. Once we get inside Elena can work a healing spell on you,” Genemaker reminded as he cracked open the wooden doors prepared for whatever dangers might be coming their way.

“Do you think they were smart enough to go for back up?” Shard asked contemplating on what status their three free members could be in at the moment.

“Knowing Red Lotus, I bet they’re trying to storm their way in here right now,” Polaris sighed as she tugged at her non-ferrous chains. Even if her powers weren’t nullified she wouldn’t have any effect on the metals holding her teammates captive.

“Don’t underestimate Elena guys. The girl has enough power to come barreling through here,” Forge reminded trying to think of the positive. As it stood now he could imagine that he would be without his bionics in a few hours. Sugar Man always had a tendency to stare at them like he wanted to auction them off.

“Forge is right. Elena will be able to do something,” Vargas said.

“If they didn’t decide to go for back up of course,” Shard added.

Just then the door that was their only exit – if they escaped their chains – was blasted wide open along with a good portion of the wall along with it. The bodies of the Angels of Hokuten came flying through and landed on the metal ground with a thud. Floating in the doorway was a glowing Ms. Witch and behind her was Ruby Claw. She had Dark Beast on her shoulder and Sugar Man under her arm.

“Looks like you guys could use a hand,” Ms. Witch smiled as she waved her hand and turned all of X-Factor’s imprisonments into a congregation of doves.

“Bought time you guys showed up,” Polaris said rubbing her raw wrists.

‘See Elena! They don’t appreciate all that you’ve done for them! Why save such worthless people?’

Ignoring the voice Elena said, “Hokuten is not too far from here. We can catch him and make this mission more than just a success.”

“Hokuten is for me to handle!” Genemaker exclaimed as he came up behind X-Factor.

“Just when did this creep get added into the mix?” Shard asked disgusted at the sight of the mutant trader.

“Hokuten is my brother. Let me deal with him Elena,” Genemaker pleaded.

“No offense guy, but our mission was to take down Hokuten and we’re not leaving until that’s happened,” Polaris proclaimed.

Setting Red Lotus on the floor gently, Genemaker turned his eyes to Elena, “He is my brother. You have Dark Beast and Sugar Man already. Give me this much.”

Knowing that she was going to get laid into later on Ms. Witch nodded her head solemnly and teleported all of her teammates along with Dark Beast, Sugar Man, and the Angels of Hokuten away from the coming battle.

“Thank you Elena,” Genemaker murmured as he turned to the sanctum of his brother. To his surprise Hokuten was already standing in front of the entrance anticipating the coming of his brother.

“I should have dealt with you years ago!” Hokuten exclaimed as he cracked his knuckles ready for battle.

Shaking his head sadly Genemaker looked up to the roof, “I’m not going to fight, but he will.”

Looking up in mixed shock and horror Hokuten was pounced on by Genemaker’s companion. Hokuten had no time to unleash his mutant ability of flesh corrosion. It required him not to be in contact with the target and the Asian man was most certainly in contact with his opponent. So all he could was physically try to break himself free of the monster’s grip.

“My brother, if you return I hope you return a changed man,” Genemaker said sadly as the mutant and his brother disappeared in a flash of red light.

Ricki had taken care of two problems with one stone. The white podder would take himself and his brother to another dimension. Upon entrance into that dimension, the white podder would kill himself and thus eliminate any chance of him gaining free will and becoming a potential threat that Tan had always feared he would become. Hokuten would not be seen for quite some time if ever, but Genemaker saw it as the only way. He could not kill his brother, but his sibling had become too out of hand. If he had somehow managed to gain control of the Red Diamond Syndicate all would have been lost. At least this way Ricki could always assume his brother was alive and that things just might work out in the end.

With the horrid deed having been completed Genemaker begun the long walk home.

X-Factor HQ; A day later

“I don’t see what the big fuss is about. Dark Beast, Sugar Man, and the Angels of Hokuten have all been captured. Hokuten himself is more than likely a non-threat. I think we accomplished plenty,” Ms. Witch said as she squiggled uncomfortably in the seat that was in front of her Valerie Cooper and next to Polaris.

“Fatale, Rhais, and Thais are all still out there. That is enough to make me worry. Not to mention that we have zero confirmation on the fate of Hokuten. We only have the word of a scumbag to go by. Someone who was related to our target,” Polaris commented. She was still extremely upset at the carelessness of Elena. She had let her feelings get in the way of making a sound judgment. It was a decision that possibly cost them their mission objective. Hokuten could still very well be out there for all they knew.

Valerie’s brow furrowed as she looked at her high school friend. “I have to agree with Lorna on this one. You made a stupid ass move, Elena.”

“We wouldn’t have to worry about Fatale being a threat if it wasn’t for Polaris’ bitterness. And if it wasn’t for me, Polaris and all the others would be on Dark Beast’s dissecting table by now! I think I’m owed gratitude – not flack!” Ms. Witch exclaimed.

“Agreed. Drop this matter, Polaris and Valerie. Elena deserves to be commended,” Director Nero said as he entered into the room unexpectedly.

“But sir, she disobeyed-”

Holding up his hand to stop Valerie from continuing he said, “I really don’t care. The point of the matter is that we have Dark Beast and Sugar Man. Two very dangerous criminals who have eluded us for quite some time. If Hokuten is still out there we will find him another day. Since we’re on the subject of China… there has been an escape from Feng Tu.”

“Feng Tu?” Elena asked dumbfounded as to why Polaris and Cooper looked so shocked.

“It’s a big mutant prison in China. No one has ever escaped from there alive,” Valerie explained.

“Apparently there was a break-in. The break-in distracted the troops and resulted in one mutant getting out. A very powerful mutant. All we know is that he was an Italian tourist taken hostage. He’s got kinetic control that’s off the charts,” Nero informed.

“Do you want us to track him down, Director?” Polaris asked.

“Maybe. Right now I have the Shroud looking into it. If any leads come up I’ll be the first to inform you all,” Director Nero said quickly leaving the office.

“The Shroud?” Polaris and Elena both asked simultaneously.

“He’s a former hero disguising himself as a villainous drug lord. He’s been associated with us for some time and is a fountain of information. We have other agents about than just X-Factor you know,” Valerie said her voice filled with brimming anger. She didn’t like being overridden in front of the ‘troops’ like that. She was going to have to address the problem with Director Nero.

Nero picked up the phone and heard a familiar voice on the other end, “How close are we to getting her to teeter over?”

“Very close, Mister Dane, but I’m going to need you to do me a favor,” Nero said as he sat down a few files on his desk and looked out the window to the north.

“Ask it. I’ll see what I can do.”

Nero smiled. “Get me Echo. I have a coven that needs to be taken care of.”

Yvon Rendom smoked out his cigarette and set it down on his desk that was in desperate need of a painting over. Five of his henchmen walked into the room and each one had their heads low to the ground. They were some of his most pathetic mutants and Yvon felt he probably should spare them the hard life and just shoot them already. Fortunately (or unfortunately depending on the point of view) he had found a profitable purpose for them.

“Don’t look so glum, boys. I’m damn proud of you. You freed that mutant,” Yvon said in his thick Russian accent.

“We live to serve boss,” Junpe responded still holding his head to the ground.

“Ahh, I love the fact you don’t have a Mexican accent. Makes it so much easier to talk to you. All of you sit down,” Yvon said offering the seats in front of him, but he quickly pointed a finger at Ingersoll, “Except you big man. I really don’t need to replace any chairs.”

Ingersoll let out a weak laugh trying to hide his embarrassment. Before the situation got anymore awkward a bald Indian Man with black slacks, a dark blue turtleneck, and red sunglasses walked into the room. Yvon ran his hands through his slick black hair and leaned back in his chair, “That my friends is Dr. Osman. He’s going to be giving you all a hand.”

“What do you mean by help boss?” Nick asked. He had never been very trusting of people that claimed to be “helping” him. When he was six his uncle claimed to be “helping” him while molesting him. When he was eight his mom claimed to be helping him when she sent him to a psychiatrist who had a thing for little kids. When he was 16 his dad claimed to be helping him when he gave him a hundred bucks and told him to get out the house. Nick and help had never much gotten along.

“Don’t freeze up, nut job. He’s going to help all of you with your abilities. He’s a top class geneticist and I paid a ton of buckos to get you boys the treatment,” Yvon replied.

“Ya would pay fo us sir?” Ingersoll asked feeling overjoyed at being able to be one of the cool mutants. Not being made fun of anymore was all he could think about the moment.

Yvon laughed, “Of course I would pay for all of you after the risk you took at Feng Tu. It’s the least I owe you. Now all of you get the hell out of here and start packing!”

“Thank you boss. I really appreciate it,” Junpe exclaimed as he reached across the desk and Rendom a handshake. The process repeated itself until the five mutants were out of the room and well on their way to getting packed.

Taking off his sunglasses and rubbing them with a napkin, Osman asked, “How often do you lie to people like that?”

Kicking his feet up on his desk Yvon laughed, “Quite often. And you know what the beauty of it is? No one can ever lie to me.”

“Then you know I’m not bullshitting when I say that your money is already deposited into the specified account,” Osman replied, putting back on his sunglasses.

“Exactamundo!” Yvon exclaimed as a smile crawled onto his playboy features.

“Then it was a pleasure doing business with you, Mister Rendom,” Osman said cordially as he turned to walk out the door.

“Hold on! Just one question before you go,” Yvon implored, catching the doctor’s attention and annoyance. “What do you need them for, out of curiosity?”

“The Hound Program,” Osman answered.

Quickly knocking on the door, Valerie walked into the office of Director Nathan Nero and was honestly hoping that she would barge in on him doing something stupid just so she could have the pleasure of reporting him. He had overstepped his bounds so far this time that she was damn near about to blow. If she wanted to get her point across though she was going to have to play it cool. Real cool.

“Director Nero. We need to talk,” Valerie demanded. His back was turned to her as he was just wrapping up an e-mail from the looks of it.

Swiveling around in his chair the bald, caramel colored man smiled, “Indeed, we do need to talk. Do you know anything about Cable?”

Valerie didn’t like the way that her superior had asked her that question. She always had a gut feeling that something was wrong with Director Nero and now that feeling was blaring off in her stomach, but nonetheless she responded without flinching, “Yes, a rebel supposedly from the fortieth century.”

“Oh, there is no ‘supposedly’ to it. He is from the fortieth century. I know him personally and spent time with him before he came to the twentieth century,” Nero explained.

Valerie could feel a lump form in her throat and common sense was telling her to run out of the room, but her agent’s instinct made her want to learn all she could, “Who are you?”

Nero laughed, “See that’s a good question. Right now I’m Director Nathan Nero. Want to know how I came up with that name?”

Standing firm, Valerie replied, “Wow me.”

The African-American man laughed once again, “You are quite the feisty little one. Nathan is the first name of my greatest rival, Cable. Nero comes from a Prelate I worked alongside with in the fortieth century. Her name was Diamanda Nero. She’s well on her way to existing in this time.”

“Still doesn’t answer my question. Who are you?” Valerie repeated.

“Ch’Vayre.”

“The name doesn’t sound familiar.”

Ch’Vayre smiled. “It shouldn’t.”

“So why here? Why now? X-Factor has nothing to do with Cable,” Valerie pointed out.

“Durklan has given me a much better motive and opportunity. They freed me from that Arctic prison Shaw put me in and now it’s time for me to become a power player again. My mind was too much of a puzzle. I’m an outcast from multiple timelines and they fixed me somehow. I’m going to return the favor.”

“And what makes you think I won’t spill this to everyone that’ll listen?”

The man from the future shrugged his shoulders, “It doesn’t matter. I’ve already conditioned your mind. You’re my stooge. I just felt like gloating.”

Nero snapped his fingers and Valerie’s eyes turned a deep cobalt color for only a second before returning to normal.

“So, Miss Cooper, tell me again why you feel that X-Factor should try and find Fatale,” Nero demanded, trying to keep a mischievous smile from making itself known.

Valerie shook her head in confusion and slightly numbing pain, but continued with what she thought she was saying. “Fatale would be easier to interrogate than Dark Beast. That man runs circles around any interrogator and Fatale is in no way as skilled in arts of the tongue.”

“Perhaps, but she is durable and could hold out for quite some time without saying anything. Mission request denied,” Nero replied bluntly.

Genemaker made his way down the stairs to check on his multi-colored pods to find that they weren’t so differently colored anymore. In fact all of them were white podders and in the center of the white whirlwind was Elena Boon floating on a magic carpet of various pinks and purples. As happy he was that Elena had decided to pay him a visit he still couldn’t believe or understand that he had all white podders now.

“Did you do this?” Ricki stammered as he continued to look around bug eyed.

Elena laughed, “Yes I did, Ricki. I also sent the Mengo Brothers to track down Fatale. And tomorrow I’m going to start working on creating personal avatars. The day after that I just might get into resurrecting the dead. And who knows? I might start my own team.”

“Don’t joke with me, Elena. Did you do this?” Genemaker asked the tone of his voice hard as granite.

Getting off the floating carpet Elena walked over to Ricki and touched his face gently, “Yes I did Rick. A war is coming. I need soldiers for it. You can always make new mutants.”

“What are you up to Elena?” Ricki asked his eyes pleading with Elena to tell him the truth.

“Remember how you use to watch Dragonball Z day and night and how I would always ride you about it?” Elena asked.

Genemaker nodded his head confused at where Elena was going with the question. Seeing the confusion plastered on his face Ms. Witch giggled, “My powers are kinda like a Saiyan. Every time I use them and especially when I exhaust them I get stronger. My time with X-Factor has made them a ton stronger. And after this recent few battles I’m starting to see things Rick.”

“Like what? Please tell me Elena,” Genemaker asked, his lip trembling. All he wanted to do was hold Elena and tell her everything would be alright. He couldn’t do that though. She had moved on past him, but he couldn’t help but to want the woman. He was almost able to call her ‘wife’. Ricki would live with the mistake of leaving her for as long as he lived.

“What if we had gotten our happy ending, Rick? We were supposed to be together. We were meant to be together,” Elena sighed.

“You’re starting to scare me, Elena. Talk to me here. You know I care about you.”

“I used my powers to take a brief glimpse into the future. What I saw…”

Genemaker reached out and hugged Elena as tight as he could. She began to cry uncontrollably in his arms. Stroking her hair he looked up into the sky and a tear fell from his eye as well. He wouldn’t ask her what she saw. It was partly because he respected her, but partly because he was afraid to know himself.

And as Elena cried the pods all began to return to their original color.

“I didn’t want to see it Ricki. I didn’t want to see it,” Elena managed to get out between sobs.

“I know, Curly Fry. I know,” Genemaker said, calling Elena the nickname he had always called her when they were engaged. Part of him never wanted to let go of Ms. Witch, but he had hurt her too much. She deserved someone who would never stop loving her and who would never put anything ahead of her. Ricki had fallen short of the goal line. It was time to let someone else step up to the plate.

“You’re late.”

“When am I ever on time?”

“You’re right about that, Blue, but doesn’t change the fact that you’re late.”

“One, of course. Two, don’t ever call me ‘Blue’.”

“Fine. Just take the file and get the hell out of here.”

“What’s on it?”

“The location of a Department K facility that is holding a group of mutants. Mutants our mutual allies want you to enlist.”

“Department K, huh? So they associate themselves with Alpha Flight?”

“Pfft! Department K has just made a resurgence recently. They’re trying to stay completely under the radar and they’ve done a good job so far, but we both know our allies have major resources.”

“Once again, of course. So once I do this, what’s next?”

“We give X-Factor the beating of their life.”