RIGGED UP

By Brent Lambert

Valerie looked through the glass window and tried to wipe away the fatigue that was at the doorstep of her eyes. She had been keeping watch over her high school friend ever since she found her at her doorstep. Elena had been dramatically changed and Valerie feared deeply what her reaction would be once she woke up. Whoever the psycho was that did this to her would play. Valerie would use every resource in her command to make sure of that.

Seeing Elena in a hospital bed was painful enough, but it was made all the worse because Vargas was only a few feet away from her in a hospital bed of his own. Nero had sent him on what was supposed to be an “easy” assignment and instead Vargas came back carved up like a Christmas ham.

The other members of X-Factor were on their way back to base now and it wouldn’t be long before they saw the horrifying sight she was looking at now. X-Factor had been through their fair share of trials and tribulations, but things had seemed tougher than ever since this latest squad was formed. Something was moving in on them from all sides. Valerie couldn’t quite be sure what it was, but she had a feeling it involved something far beyond her control.

“How are our two agents doing?” Director Nero asked from across the hallway. He was walking towards Cooper and she had to make a conscious effort not to give him the meanest look she could muster up. Her agents were injured and he had the nerve to sound chipper.

“They’re fine considering all they’ve been through. You shouldn’t have sent Vargas on that mission. At least not alone. Skinner and Kaine alone were too tough for him to handle solo.”

“I had faith in the abilities of one of my agents. Is that so terrible a crime?” Nero asked with almost a hint of innocence.

“Don’t play that game with me Nero. You had a reason you sent Vargas out there! What was it?” Valerie demanded a bit louder than she had meant to.

“If you’re implying that I was purposely trying to get Vargas hurt I suggest you come again. Vargas has proven himself to be the most capable of handling solo work. The team is already small in number. I couldn’t afford to divide them anymore. The matter in L.A. was more important,” Nero explained as he kept his gaze locked on the now cybernetic Elena.

“They had the back up of Shroud and his agents. You could have at least sent Shard with Vargas. Besides that I thought I was the manager of this team. You going behind my back and dealing out missions is undermining my authority.”

Nero laughed, “Your authority comes through me so I’ll damn well assign any missions I deem necessary. Noh-Varr’s attacks were of deep concern to the government. X-Factor had to contribute to the cause against the little brat somehow.”

“At what cost, Nero?” Valerie said as she began to walk away from Nero, “The other X-Factor members are returning soon. I’ll make sure to send them your way for an explanation.”

“Man what do you think happened that only Val can tell it to us in person?” Red Lotus asked as their plane neared the government complex they were housed at.

“Who knows, but Val was clearly shaken. I’m almost afraid to know what it is,” Polaris said as a sudden chill came over her.

“Perhaps it has something to do with Elena,” Ruby Claw said earning him dark stares from everyone else in the plane. They all figured it had something to do with Elena, but none of them wanted to come outright and say it. Claw had just reminded them of a harsh reality.

Lotus hung his head low and shook it, “Why did Elena have to go and run off? We could have taken Pierce as a team dammit!”

“We can’t beat ourselves up over something Elena decided to do. All we can do is hope that she’s fine,” Shard advised.

“Shard’s right,” Polaris added, “We just gotta hope.”

“But man oh man we better hope that Vargas hasn’t come back from his solo mission yet. I can hear him fussing at all of us now,” Lotus said.

Claw nodded, “An angry lover is not a pretty sight.”

“If Vargas is back I’ll just magnetically glue him to a wall. I really don’t have time for his bull. We have other business to take care of because if something did happen to Elena we’ll hunt Pierce to the ends of the Earth,” Polaris promised.

Director Nero slammed the door behind him and banged his fists on his desk. Valerie had the nerve to try and threaten him. If he weren’t a man of such patience he would have strangled the life out of her. Pretending to be this Nero character was beginning to tear at the former Prelate of Apocalypse. He was better than this. To be threatened by a mere human and not responding in kind nearly drove the warrior mad.

Still he would persevere on and complete this mission. By doing so he would earn the favor of Durklan and become a major player on the global scale. All he had to do was keep pushing these X-Factor ants a little longer. Then he would have everything he could ever desire.

Apocalypse may be long and gone, but Ch’Vayre would continue the legacy of his master. Only the strong would survive and he would be one of them.

Polaris touched the glass and broke down in Red Lotus’ arms, “Who would do that? What monster would do that?”

“I don’t know,” Red Lotus answered as tears streamed down his own eyes. He knew Elena would never be the same. There was no going back for her. Donald Pierce had done something that was too terrible for words. He stripped Elena of her own familiarity with herself.

Shard wasn’t able to express her grief in the way Polaris and Lotus could. Tears were unable to come from a being composed of photons. Just wasn’t happening so Shard mourned, but she mourned within herself. Poor Elena and poor Vargas. Two lovers found themselves so close yet so far apart.

“Guys I’m really sorry that all of this happened, but we all are going to have to pull ourselves together. Pierce is still out there and I want him caught,” Valerie said sternly as she interrupted the team’s grieving session.

Polaris wiped away her tears and looked at Valerie with renewed passion, “Oh believe me the people responsible for this will pay. I’m going to pull out every screw and metal plate from Pierce’s body slowly!”

“And that’s if she gets to him before me,” Red Lotus snapped.

Valerie smiled, “Good to see we’re all on the same page here.”

Sherrie Steinberg had been on this oilrig for the past three weeks. To say it was beginning to aggravate her was hardly putting a face on the problem. She was stuck around greasy, chauvinistic men all the time. If she had a penny for every time she was hit, she’d have a fortune to rival Bill Gates. Of course the world wasn’t going to be that kind to her.

So she just kept working on the bills of the oilrig and was trying to configure the cost of repairing various damaged parts when the door to her office suddenly slammed open and flew off the hinges. Sherrie leaped over her desk to avoid the metal door and let out a shriek at the sight of the man who knocked away the doorway.

He had to be about 8 feet tall and his back was covered with a yellow crusty carapace. The crust had holes in it that tinier versions of the large black man climbed in and out of. The square jaw and beady eyes of the mutant made Sherrie think he had called straight out of the black lagoon.

The mutant behemoth walked over to where Sherrie was cowering on the ground and lifted her up with one hand wrapped around her tiny throat. As she was being pressed up against a cold metal wall she saw another fantastic looking man make his presence known. He looked like walking blue flames and he grinned upon seeing Sherrie.

“Drop her Tusk,” the man ordered and the mutant did as he said. Sherrie gasped for breath as she gripped her own neck to make sure it hadn’t been crushed by Tusk’s hand.

“You’ll have to forgive Tusk. He can be a tad bit harsh sometimes. So you’re Sherrie Steinberg I assume?” New Son asked.

The young woman barely managed to reply, “Yes I am. What do you want with me?”

New Son bent down in front of Sherrie and looked genuinely disturbed by what he was about to say, “Unfortunately you had the pleasure of knowing Lorna Dane and that is why we are here today.”

“What does Lorna have to do with any of this?” Sherrie asked her mind spinning at what kind of trouble she might be in.

“I’m looking to piss her off. The quickest way to do that is to harm someone she cares about. An old friend falls into that category I’m afraid,” New Son, answered matter of factly.

Sherrie began to cry, “Please don’t hurt me. I’m married. I’ve got so much left to do…”

“As do I,” New Son said as he put a finger to Sherrie’s forehead and lit her body afire with kinetic energy, “Forgive me. I do what I must”

Tusk and New Son walked out of the room as Sherrie’s body exploded blood, bone, and entrails everywhere. The death had been a quick one, but not a pleasant one to look at.

New Son sighed, “Gather the others. I’m going to destroy this rig and begin the destruction of X-Factor!”