FORGING AHEAD

By Brent Lambert

Four people were left of X-Factor and all of them were crammed together in Valerie Cooper’s small office. There had been seven of them until a few days ago while on a mission in Mexico one of their own, Fatale, was kidnapped by Sugar Man and Dark Beast. A day and a half later X-Factor were given permission to track down Fatale in possible locations where Dark Beast was believed to be conducting his experiments. The team split up to cover the areas faster. Shard and Ms. Witch traveled to Toronto while Forge and Polaris investigated Istanbul. Red Lotus and Vargas had been assigned to Madrid, Spain. They haven’t been seen since.

“So Lotus did turn on the emergency signal?” Elena asked concerned for the only real friend she had on the team and the man she was starting to fall for, Vargas. If there was anyone she figured would be safe together it would have been those two. They were incredible hand-to-hand fighters and were well known for their ability to kill someone sans mutant powers.

“Yes he did. We tracked the signal down to the club Joy Enslava. It was there that Vargas and Red Lotus were taken down. According to the few eyewitness reports we have he was attacked by what seems to be Dark Beast, Sugar Man, the Mengo Brothers, Fatale, and some unknowns,” Valerie reported trying her best to look as stiff as one of the department store mannequins. She couldn’t be seen as having emotion. As the government liaison to X-Factor it was her job to be professional and keep her cool though she was hurting just as much as X-Factor over the disappearance of Red Lotus and Vargas. She wasn’t exactly good friends with either of the two, but they were under her command. That alone made her feel an attachment to them. It was a little strange, but she thought of all of X-Factor as her children and she was their mother.

Stress lines began to form on Forge’s head as he sighed and said, “So when do we leave to look for them?”

“About an hour Forge. I already have a plane ready for you. Take a break for now though. I don’t want you guys getting tired and end up being sloppy against Dark Beast. You can’t afford to be. Remember he has Fatale again and she alone poses a tremendous threat. Dismissed,” Valerie exclaimed as she turned her attention away from X-Factor and answered a phone call she had been keeping on hold.

Once out in the hallway the four members began to go their separate ways to take a break as best as they possibly could under these circumstances. Elena had something to get off of her chest before she retired though.

“Forge can I talk to you for a second?” Elena asked a little sheepishly. Forge had always been such an imposing man to her. He never seemed to falter and when he talked to you those deep piercing eyes never stopped focusing on you. Ms. Witch knew though that if she didn’t say something now she would never get the courage to. And besides there was no better time like the present.

“Sure Elena. What is it that you want to talk about?” Forge asked. It was clear to Elena that from the expression on Forge’s face that he was blaming himself for Red Lotus and Vargas being missing. Right now he looked 20 years older than he should and every line his face could manage to squeeze out was present. Not to mention his eyes held that glossy glow to them that spoke of despair. Seeing his face made Ms. Witch doubt for a moment if this was the right time to talk to Forge, but she had to let him know what was bothering her.

“I really didn’t need that armor that you gave me Forge. I am plenty capable of handling myself on the battlefield. I would appreciate it if you all had more confidence in me. Especially now because you can’t be looking at me wondering if I’m all right and fight off Dark Beast. It just ain’t going to happen. So basically give me a little R-E-S-P-E-C-T if you know what I mean,” Elena said talking so fast she wasn’t sure if Forge had even picked up on a word of what she said. As a child and teenager she had an awful tendency of talking really fast when she was nervous to the point where she was inaudible. It seemed she hadn’t entirely shaken that habit yet.

“You’re right Elena. I’ve tried to be a father to all of you for too long. The truth is all of you make me feel old and looking after you made me feel like I had a purpose in this team again,” Forge explained.

His response had shocked Elena. Forge had always been a man of such poise and confidence in her mind. She could have never imagined him feeling inadequate about himself. Especially when he had absolutely no reason to be and she was going to let him know it, “Forge we all need you. Now more than ever. Don’t ever count yourself as unimportant. There’s no one else I rather have as a leader and I do see you as a father in a way. A bit overprotective sometimes, but damn sure worth my respect nonetheless.”

“You saying that means a lot to me Elena. Now go and take some rest already. We have to be ready. Our friends need us,” Forge said turning away from Elena and walking down the hall.

“Well, that went over alright,” Elena whispered to herself.

But how long will things be alright Elena? Can you be sure that you’re on the right side? Is Val really your so-called friend?

The voice caught Elena off guard and she began to turn around wildly looking for a source of the voice. Angered she yelled out, “Who the hell’s there?”

She received no answer from her query and with a sigh to calm herself down she said, “Must just be the stress getting to me. I need a damn massage.”

Despite having calmed herself the questions nagged at Elena’s mind. What did they mean? Were they her own thoughts just finally giving themselves voice or was it something else all together?

Madrid (A nice cool bath, some meditation, binge eating, and a rough flight later)

Elena had heard of the beauty of Madrid, but she was really having a hard time enjoying it at 2 a.m. In truth she was getting to see the underbelly of this city more than anything. Right now the team were looking for clues at Charmartin. It was one of the cities two large train stations. Forge had picked up on Vargas’ bio-signature here. At this time of night the station found itself brimming over with scantly clad prostitutes trying to entice homeless men and waiting for potential customers to pass by in cars. One thing was bothering Elena though about X-Factor conducting their investigation at Charmartin and it certainly wasn’t the mob of prostitutes.

“You picked up on Vargas’ signal, but not Red Lotus. Why is that?” Elena asked in a hushed voice as they continued to scan through the train station for any signs of a struggle. Polaris’ magnetic sweep scan of the foundation and walls of the station hadn’t turned up any signs of unusual structural damage that would have indicated signs of a struggle. In truth though, Lorna was inexperienced at using her magnetic fields to sweep through a building and feel out things. It was all new territory for her. Though if she were going to co-lead X-Factor she would need to be versatile in her abilities.

“I honestly can’t tell you why we only found on signature, but at this point we have to follow upon any leads we come across,” Forge answered as he held out a gadget that looked similar to a Geiger device, but really functioned as something that picked up on residue mutant bio-energy signatures.

“If you’re looking for leads you might as well put away that device and listen to me,” a tall Chinese man said coming out from behind a nearby pole garbed in a jet black sleeveless shirt and dark blue fatigues.

Immediately Shard pointed her gun at the man’s chest and demanded, “Why should I listen to anything you have to say or any of my team for that matter?”

“Easy Shard. I know him. He’s on the level and if he ain’t I’ll kill him myself,” Ms. Witch said burning holes into the man’s shirt with a fiery stare. X-Factor’s sudden visitor was someone Elena had hoped she would never cross paths again with, but yet here he was back in her life. The universe could be quite cruel at times. At this moment Elena felt that it was downright torturing her. To cut to the chase, she wasn’t happy to see this man at all and she hoped he knew it. As if her icy expression and slanted posture wasn’t enough to get the point across.

Knocking his long black ponytail off of his shoulder the Oriental man said, “You look well Elena.”

“A lot better than you if you don’t start explaining yourself,” Elena replied coldly.

“I see past wounds are still raw,” the man said finishing off his statement with a gulp.

Moving up to the man’s face she spat, “You betta believe it Ricki. What you did to me was wrong! But that’s neither here nor there. Just tell me what you know about my friends going missing.”

Taking a couple of steps back to keep from being so close to the enraged woman he replied, “They don’t call me the Genemaker for nothing sweets. My rep is well known in mutant underground circles.”

“I’ve heard of you. Your ability allows you to literally creates mutants,” Polaris said as she suddenly erected a magnetic field around the Forger and lifted him high into the air, “And I also heard you sell those mutants on the black market whether it be as slaves or spare parts. Maybe I should make you a spare part?”

“Enough Lorna!” Forge exclaimed and upon taking one look at that stern stare Lorna set the very scared mutant to the ground. Looking at him apologetically Forge said, “Can you please just tell us what you know?”

“I know where Dark Beast’s main stronghold is at. He’s holding your teammates there,” Genemaker said quickly still shaken up from his experience with Lorna.

“Where is it located?” Shard asked still keeping her gun pointed at the man.

Honestly, Elena couldn’t say she felt sorry for him at the moment. Especially if what Lorna had said about him was true. She had no idea back when they saw more of each other that he was a mutant. The thought never even crossed her mind. Of course she had never revealed to him she was a mutant either, but he didn’t seemed surprised by that fact at all. Maybe there had been more to him the entire time she knew him and had never been smart enough to catch on to it. Ms. Witch had been naïve back then and the world was projected through rose-colored glasses.

“It’s located in the middle of Sudan. The country is pretty much a wasteland and run by warlords. It’s the center of a lot of mutant underground activity. And I have lots of personally made informants so I keep myself knowledgeable on the world of mutants,” Genemaker said gloating just a bit.

“You’re going to take us there and I don’t want to hear a single objection or I will show you why guns and me get along so well,” Shard said not having a hint of humor in her voice.

“What’s in it for you Ricki? What do you get out of helping us?” Elena asked holding out her hand and forcibly entering into the mind of Genemaker using her magical abilities. In a sense her powers allowed her to do almost anything, but she only had so much magical energy in her. For the longest time she had been afraid of losing all this energy and so held back on her powers until coming to X-Factor where she learned the more she used her powers to their limits the more energy she would build up in her body.

Peering into the mind of Ricki she saw flashes of many things. Small metal boxes holding mutant children and ship decks full of chained men and women screaming for food. Money being passed around in large, ragged wool bags in exchange for mutant girls as sex slaves. All this sickened Elena and she finally saw what Ricki wanted from the Dark Beast. But it didn’t stop there. Her mind kept flooding with the thoughts of Ricki.

Elena’s body began to freeze into a statuesque form and she began to mumble many things under her breathe, “Trapped in this world. No way out. Free me. Free me please. Why did it have to be her? I’m sorry Elena. Forgive. Hokuten has strayed so far. I must follow.”

“What’s wrong with her?” Polaris demanded lifting the man up into the air and turning him upside down.

“I have a bunch of mental blocks and traps in mind. She stumbled onto them. The effect will go away quickly. I promise,” Ricki exclaimed as he could feel the blood rushing to his head.

Ms. Witch’s body regained its movement and she fell to the ground, but just in time catching herself from hitting the linoleum floor. Standing up on weak knees she gave Ricki a fiery stare and said, “I don’t remember everything I saw, but you shouldn’t have kept so many secrets Rick.”

Genemaker’s heart almost fell out of his chest. Whenever Elena had called him Rick back in the day he knew he had truly hurt her feelings. In this case he had never meant to do what he did to her. It was wrong how he left her and he would have to live with it every day of his life. Elena had been something special in his life and he walked away from her. Left her at the moment when she was supposed to be the happiest.

“I’m sorry Elena. I was wrong,” Ricki replied his face practically red from being held upside down so long.

“We don’t have time to retread our pasts here. Put him down Lorna and let’s get out of here before the police come,” Forge ordered as shimmers of the sun rising peeked through the train station’s windows. Most of the bums were packing up their stuff and moving out to find places where they wouldn’t be bothered for the day. The prostitutes were already long gone back to their crackhouses where they would lounge until the night called for them again.

Vargas tugged at the metal chains that were restraining him against the wall and groaned to himself at feeling the bruises that lined his back and ribs. The Mengo Brothers had been a bit too rough dragging his unconscious body into this tiny, unlit room he was now in along with Red Lotus. Fatale and the rest of Dark Beast’s goons had captured the two of them in Madrid less than a day ago. The Spanish ninja cursed himself at how stupid he was in the battle with Fatale. He should have expected such trickery from that witch.

“So my brave little boy finally got up? How delightful,” Fatale laughed haughtily as she stood leaning on the exit of the small room. Her arms were folded across her chest as she licked her lips seductively. Pushing herself off the wall the assassin moved close to the chained Vargas and gently ran her finger down the middle of the Spaniard’s chest.

“What are you doing witch?” Vargas questioned as he fidgeted his body back and forth at the physical contact of Fatale. It had been sometime since a woman had touched him that way and he certainly wasn’t about let Fatale do it. The thought of any sexual attraction towards that woman made him want to puke.

“I’m going to give you the kind of attention you’ve been needing. As tense as you are I bet you haven’t felt a kiss in months,” Fatale answered as she edged her face closer and closer to Vargas. It was to the point that Vargas could feel the woman’s breath across his face. Turning his head to the side quickly his long locks flew out and smacked Fatale in the face.

“Dang I think someone just got dissed,” Red Lotus laughed weakly having built up the strength open his eyes and witness the rejection. The immediate reaction of Fatale had been too sweet for Red Lotus not to laugh.

Quickly backing away to the door Fatale made an ominous warning, “Dark Beast will have his fun with you.”

“Tell him don’t forget the beers,” Red Lotus taunted before she walked out of the door. His comment earned the former hitman a piercing glare.

“Disgusting!” Vargas declared spitting on the ground at the thought of kissing Fatale.

“Hey at least she didn’t try to get in your pants,” Red Lotus replied with a bit of a chuckle.

“I fail to see how any of this is funny. If you haven’t noticed Dark Beast is about to come in and do who knows what to us,” Vargas reminded.

“Humm I don’t know about you Vargas, but I plan on getting out of here before DB and his little sugar guy come in and mess me up,” Red Lotus replied tugging hard at the chains that held him captive.

“Trying to rip your bonds from the wall won’t do any good. Everything in this room is connected together. It’s all one organic creation. More than likely Dark Beast combined the DNA of some plant with DNA from a super strong mutant,” Vargas explained as he watched Red Lotus futilely continue to struggle with his organically produced chains.

“And you know this how Vargas? It all looks like metal in here to me,” Red Lotus replied skeptically. Though he had a pretty good feeling that Vargas was going to show him out. If there was one thing his teammate was good for it was that. The Spaniard constantly made a fool out of Red Lotus. Especially in the situation they had found themselves in now.

“My powers allow me the ability to feel out organic matter. This entire room is composed of it. That is to our advantage though,” Vargas said as he puckered his lips together and out popped a safety pin, which was illuminated in the glowing black energy that was part of the warrior’s mutant powers. The pin impacted the ground and the entire room quickly began to wither away like a dead flower. The two were easily able to break through their chains.

“Man you’re like freakin 007 here,” Red Lotus exclaimed as the two men made their escape through the still crumbling door. Yet, they quickly found out they were now faced with another problem.

In front of the two men was an expansive laboratory and right at the fore of it was Fatale along with about five mutants of the variety that X-Factor had encountered back in Mexico. With a look of defeat on his face Red Lotus said, “You had better have a lot more safety pins Vargas.”

“We’ll fight our way out of here with our bare fists if that is what it will take,” Vargas proudly declared preparing himself to fight in hand-to-hand combat.

“I know every fighting style that man has ever made, but fists can only get us so far Vargas. Think this through here. These freaks probably already have abilities specially tailored to handle us,” Red Lotus said trying his best to sound rationale in that Dr. Spock way. It seemed to be the only thing Vargas ever really responded to.

“And what do you suggest we do?” Vargas barked. He wanted nothing to do with Red Lotus’ cowardice. The only way they were going to escape the clutches of Dark Beast and Sugar Man was by fighting. The Spaniard had let himself get so infuriated with Red Lotus that his neck was turning a bright shade of red. It was often an indicator to tell when Vargas had let his temper get the better of him.

“Why don’t you two yahoos just take a nap!” a voice called out from the balcony above. Looking up Red Lotus and Vargas saw the two Mengo Brothers with guns aimed at them. Two tranquilizer darts were speeding through the air headed for the necks of each mutant. Simultaneously the both of them dodged the darts and grabbed them out of the air with their bare hands.

“Fine Vargas. Have it your way. Lets take this fight to them,” Red Lotus said reluctantly.

“Glad you finally saw it my way. Give me your dart,” Vargas commanded. Red Lotus passed him the dart and leaped into battle with one of the mutates behind Fatale.

Holding a dart in each hand Vargas charged them both with the life draining black energy that his X-Factor gene provided him with. Carefully, he launched both of the darts into two of the deformed men that were about to come to the aid of their fellow mutate who was receiving a severe beating from Red Lotus. Within moments of the darts puncturing flesh the two mutated men hit the ground. Expecting merely a couple of loud thuds Vargas was instead surprised at seeing the two creatures burst and send green slime in every direction.

A large chunk of this gunk hit Red Lotus directly in the eyes. He began to tear at it wildly leaving the brutish, one-eyed, orange skinned mutant he was fighting to land a punch in the Hong Kong native’s stomach. The former hitman’s body flew back high into the air and slammed into a nearby table full of test tubes and chemicals.

Finally getting the goo out of his eyes Red Lotus groaned in pain, “I think I’ll just pretend to be knocked out cold until the typical dramatic rescue happens.”

“Unfortunately my boy I doubt that will work out for you,” Dark Beast said standing over the bruised and chemical drenched body of Red Lotus with a large malicious grin.

“It wouldn’t surprise me anymore,” Red Lotus laughed weakly as he kicked the legs out from under Dark Beast. With the remaining strength he had the young man jumped up from the wreckage of test tubes. He began to stomp on Dark Beast’s head repeatedly.

“Are you that jealous of my dashing good looks?” a bloodied Dark Beast asked as he latched a hand on Red Lotus’ calf and with his superior strength flung him forward.

The body of the Triad assassin flew across the room right past a battling Fatale and Vargas into a metal wall. Red Lotus was agile enough to position his body so he landed on the wall in a frog position. As soon as he made contact he used the momentum to throw himself off the wall and send his knees right into one of the Mengo Brothers who was trying to sneak up behind Vargas.

“Now I know your momma taught you better than that. Sneaking up on folks just ain’t polite,” Red Lotus jokingly scolded as he sent Stan into the ground hard.

Vargas didn’t have time to thank Red Lotus for his quick assist as he was currently doing his best to keep Fatale’s wrist blades from stabbing him in the neck. Time and time again he dodged her poison-tipped weapon. He knew though he couldn’t block it forever. Snatching her wrist he held it tightly, “Don’t you know I can kill you right now. All I have to do is charge your wrist blade and you’re through.”

“Then go ahead and finish me off,” Fatale replied.

“Any other time I would. Without hesitation, but right now you’re being controlled. Don’t you see that? The last thing you wanted to do was come back to Dark Beast. Remember Mexico. Think Fatale,” Vargas implored increasing his already tight grip on Fatale’s wrist. It was almost to the point he was about to break bone.

“I do remember Vargas. How you all betrayed me!” Fatale cried out as she slammed Vargas in the groin with her knee. Quickly taking advantage of his sharp pain she yanked her wrist free and roundhoused the Spanish ninja in the face. Vargas went rolling back and held one hand where the sun didn’t shine. The other hand was frantically searching for some object that might have been scattered on the ground to slay Fatale with.

“Ah ha! Gotcha,” the diminutive Sugar Man laughed as he landed on Vargas’ face and shot in the face with a syringe filled with a thick green liquid. The substance quickly knocked out Vargas.

“A mutant power suppressor?” Fatale asked.

“You know it baby,” Sugar Man laughed licking his lips with his disproportionately long tongue. Moving slowly down from Vargas’ face the geneticist stomped his way down the Spaniard’s body with excessive glee. Fatale watched the childish display with a bit of displeasure. She didn’t understand why her master held loyalty to such a frail and weak creature. His only success had been creating the Genoshan Mutate Bonding Process and even that had its own flaws. He was nowhere near the caliber of geneticist her master was.

“Do you have any more of that suppressor around?”

“Why do you ask?” Sugar Man replied finally having reached the end of Vargas’ right foot where he was now standing.

Pointing over and behind Sugar Man the femme fatale said, “Because I think Greg is going to run out of weapons soon and Red Lotus will have him.”

“How the hell did Dark Beast manage to hide a base this large in the middle of Sudan?” Polaris asked as she maneuvered the jet they were all in for a landing near a group of flat rocks about a half-mile away from the massive, glowing dome structure.

Leaning forward in his seat Genemaker looked over Lorna’s shoulder and said, “As I told you all Sudan is basically a country without a government. And that’s not Dark Beast’s base. It’s mine.”

“Maybe you didn’t hear us. We said we wanted to get into Dark Beast’s base. Never did we say anything about making detours,” Lorna replied agitated with being taken around the bush.

“I plan on keeping my promise, but do you honestly think all of us will be enough to save your teammates. We’re going to need help,” Genemaker explained as he unbuckled himself upon the plane touching the ground.

“When you say help you mean one of your mutant slaves,” Shard commented. People like Genemaker made her disgusted. She had come from a world where machines had dominated both humans and mutants. Then the humans tried to dominate her people. Seeing other mutants take advantage of other mutants was the low of low.

“Think what you will of me. Either way you know I’m right. We need help.”

Unbuckling himself from his seat Forge made it clear to everyone in his team, “Genemaker is right. We’ll need whatever help he can provide. The Dark Beast’s stronghold is more than likely full with boobie traps and his enforcers are there. Fatale by herself is a major threat let alone with a bunch of mutates backing her up.”

“You’re right Forge. Just get us the help we need and lets get the hell out of here Ricki. The more time we waste the less of a chance we have of getting Vargas and Red Lotus back unharmed,” Elena reminded sternly as she moved ahead of her teammates and was the first out of the plane by using a simple teleportation spell.

“Just what kinda limits do your powers have Elena?” Genemaker asked, as he was the first to get out of the jet through natural means. It had been so long since he had seen Elena and he was extremely curious. They had missed so much time together.

“All magic that exists in this dimension can be reached through my powers. At least I think. I haven’t exactly tried anything too risky in terms of magic yet,” Elena answered.

“Well, if you wouldn’t mind teleporting the short distance to Genemaker’s base we can save some time,” Forge said attuning his tracking equipment to make sure nothing strange was in the vicinity. He was picking up on hundreds of lifeforms in Genemaker’s base though they seemed more like they were all in a coma state.

“Hold on everyone. This can be a little disorienting,” Ms. Witch warned.

A tingling feeling overtook everyone as his or her bodies were literally being disassembled. Suddenly, a sharp pain overtook them, but before any of them could cry out they were in front of Genemaker’s large dome base no worse for wear. Genemaker was the only one to comment on Elena’s transportation as he said, “Damn girl. Could you be any rougher?”

“Shut up and get us inside already. We don’t have time to waste,” Shard exclaimed.

“Keep your pants on,” Genemaker replied as he kneeled down to a tiny red circle that took the place of a doorknob. A red light beamed forward scanning Genemaker’s eye. Then standing up Ricki placed his right hand on a tiny white square only a foot above the red circle. After holding his hand a few seconds on the square Genemaker pulled his hand back. A small gray metal spike popped out from the left corner of the square and the man pressed his hand against it hard enough to draw blood. A wheezing sound could be heard as the door squeaked open.

“What the hell was all of that?” Lorna asked a little mystified by all that Genemaker had just did.

“To enter my base you have to do a retina, hand print, and DNA scan. You also must do the scans in a certain order and the order changes every time this door is opened. In other words if you want to get into my base you’re going to have to come guns ablazing,” Genemaker said taking the first step into the dark stadium sized building.

“How do you manage to keep this place hidden?” Forge asked the life signals he had picked up on earlier becoming stronger.

“My computer handles all defensive matters. Curly Fry light this place up please,” Genemaker requested as beaming lights activated all along the awkward shaped roof of the building. Covering the ground was a grotesque sight that shocked all of X-Factor.

All along the linoleum floor of the building was a variety of different colored gelatin pods. Upon further inspection of the pods one could see what looked to be the outlines of tiny babies in them. All the pods needed were a bunch of cords connecting them and it would look like a scene right out of the Matrix.

“Care to explain what all of this is,” Elena said in a more demanding tone than an inquiring one. She was almost about to smile when she heard the computer’s name was Curly Fry because that had been Ricki’s nickname for her, but seeing this pods that appeared to hold children both frightened and disgusted her.

“They’re the pods I create. Before my mutants can be “made” so to speak they must be incubated. The incubation process takes about a weak, but I don’t have to release them right away. Now come on. The one I’m looking for is in my basement level,” Genemaker said walking carefully through the fields of pods making his way to a staircase in the middle of the circular building.

“Why are they different colors? Is that just your sick way of decorating?” Polaris asked still a little bit disturbed by the sight of babies being trapped in pods that made her stomach turn.

“Each pod signifies the potential power of each mutant I create. The darker the color of the pod the less potential the mutant has,” Genemaker explained as they all continued their descent down the four flights of stairs leading to the sub basement level. The basement was no different from the top floor in that pods lined the floor. Pointing to a far corner Genemaker said, “There it is.”

“There what is? I don’t see anything,” Elena complained as she squinted her eyes to see what Ricki was talking about.

“It’s a white pod. Guess that means you got a powerful mutant stashed in there,” Shard said as they finished off the last flight of stairs.

“Oh hell yea. The guy is more than powerful enough to smack down the Avengers and X-Men together. That’s why I’ve only ever made one white pod. The power it takes to make one is too scary even for me. In this case though I think releasing him might be justified,” Genemaker replied.

The blue brute looked over the body of Vargas mischievously. The Spaniard was laid out on a tilted metal slab that had him strapped down around the wrists and ankles. Only a few feet away from him was Red Lotus who was just as unconscious as his teammate. With his yellow cat-like eyes the Dark Beast studied the face of Vargas as if he were searching for some great truth.

“The powers of these two intrigue me. Just where does the knowledge their powers innately give them come from? Another dimension or are their minds connected instantaneously to those who have the knowledge they seek? There are too many questions for me to answer in one day,” Dark Beast said full of excitement.

“I’m sure you’ll have fun studying them,” Sugar Man remarked as he wobbled his way up beside Dark Beast.

“Fun doesn’t begin to tell the story,” Dark Beast replied rubbing his hands together in twisted anticipation.

Suddenly there was a loud rumble throughout the base and purple electricity began to arc from the roof striking down test tubes and chambers holding the latest experiments of Dark Beast and Sugar Man. Looking skyward the two geneticists saw a whirling circle of sparking purple light. A mutant with ebon colored skin and large green bug eyes was the first to come through the display of power.

“The story ends now!” the mutant yelled as he created a lime colored spear in his hands and flung it towards the ground. Dark Beast thought it was meant to hit him and quickly dodged out of the way. Instead the spear merged into the ground and turned all of the floor into a red color.

“Ahh help me McCoy!” Sugar Man yelled as he quickly felt the temperature of the floor quickly rise. It went from being quite cool to blistering hot. Dark Beast was hanging from one of the pillars of the building and leaped from it to another pillar. Along the way he snatched Sugar Man up with one hand.

“It would seem X-Factor has entered the stage,” Dark Beast growled as he watched the X-Factor team along with an unknown enter through the whirling electricity. Elena Boon is the last one to emerge from the portal and slams shut after she enters.

“Surrender our teammates to us. Now!” Forge ordered as he shot off an energy gun at the hanging Dark Beast. McCoy barely dodged the blast and rolled on the floor. After completing the maneuver he threw Sugar Man at Polaris like a baseball. The diminutive man landed on Lorna’s face and began to tear at her.

“Get off me!” Polaris cried trying to smack the freak off of her.

“Give this affair up now!” Genemaker’s creation yelled as he ripped Sugar Man off Lorna’s face and Dark Beast off the pillar with powerful telekinesis. He knocked them both unconscious instantly with a powerful mental blast. The creation dropped both of them to the ground with a thud.

“Ahh!!” Fatale yelled out as she leaped from a portal behind Elena and tackled her to the ground. Ms. Witch instantly used a spell to turn her body into flame setting the clothes and flesh of Fatale aflame. Screaming the green skinned assassin rolled across the ground.

“Get us out of here!” Genemaker yelled seeing the horde of mutates that were heading their way and being led by the Mengo Brothers.

“You don’t have to ask. It was my plan from the moment we got here!” Polaris yelled ripping Vargas and Red Lotus free of their restraints and wrapping them both in magnetic shields.

Creating a purple staff in his hands Genemaker’s creation raised it up above his head and it turned into the purple swirl that Dark Beast had witnessed only a few minutes ago. All of X-Factor along with Genemaker began to dissolve away and were sucked in the portal.

Finally putting out the flames Fatale rose from the ground every movement full of agonizing pain. Gritting her teeth she exclaimed, “This isn’t over!”