THE FACE ONLY A MOTHER COULD LOVE

By Rob Ballard

Two days ago, Tuesday morning, outside X-Factor HQ…

One thing no one could ever accuse Guido Carosella of is being dull. That’s why when he saw the woman with emerald-green hair walking up the stairs to X-Factor’s Poughkeepsie headquarters, he saw an opportunity and grabbed it. Or, to be more precise, grabbed her – around the midriff, gently tickling her. “How are ya, Lorna! Long time no see!”

Much to Guido’s surprise, the young woman gasped, and in one quick motion, turned around and slugged him. Despite Guido’s enormous size, the right hook packed much more of a whollop than he expected, knocking him on his rear with a resounding ~thump~.

“Hey, what’d ya go and do that for?!” he yelled, rubbing his jaw. It was only then that he realized his mistake. “Whoa! You’re not Lorna!”

“Ummm, no!” she told him, head cocked to one side and voice dripping with sarcasm. “And just who the heck do you think you are?”

“I’m Guido Carosella, at your service, ma’am.” he bowed slightly.

“Guido? Oh, you’re Guido!”

“Yea,” he laughed, “I think that’s what I just said…is my jaw out of alignment now or something?”

“No, I mean, you’re the Guido that Lorna was telling me about – yea! Pleased to meet ya!” She offered her hand and Guido flinched. “Don’t worry! I’m not going to hurt you! My name’s DeeDee.”

Guido took the hand warily and shook it. “Sorry about that. Don’t take this the wrong way, but you’re awfully strong!” At that, DeeDee pulled him back up to his feet, with little trouble despite their difference in size.

“No offense taken. That’s part of my gamma abilities.”

“Gamma abili-huh?”

“Like the Hulk,” she offered.

“Oh!” He laughed. “You’re much cuter than the Hulk, let me tell ya,”

DeeDee blushed. “Thanks. Shall we?”

Guido wasn’t sure how to answer. “Shall we what?” he asked cautiously.

“Go inside, silly! X-Factor is waiting for us!”

Guido was very glad he hadn’t made any assumptions about her meaning. “Yea, that would be a good thing, I think. Nice earrings, by the way!”

DeeDee absently brought a hand to the trio of rings in her right ear. “Thanks,” she told him as they climbed the stairs to the Brownstone. Guido knocked at the door, and after a moment Shard answered.

The photon based holomutant regarded them both dispassionately. “Uh-huh. Right. Well I hate to break the bad news to you, but I’m sorry, the Polaris look alike contest was last week. I’m afraid she’s too late,” she said dryly, jutting a thumb toward DeeDee.

Shard started to close the door when Lorna, seeing who it was, magnetically pulled it open again, and greeted them with a warm smile. “Guido! DeeDee! Hi! Oh my God, come in, come in! I’m so glad you made it!” she said, giving them both hugs. “Let’s go sit down!” Lorna gestured for them to follow. As Guido passed Shard, he stuck his tongue out mockingly at her. Shard shrugged it off and followed anyway.

Lorna paged the rest of the team, and moments later, everyone gathered in the team room. “Well, hon, I’ve gotta ask. Please tell me you’ve gotten rid of Sabes and Misty. ‘Cause, no matter how nice a guy I am, I just can’t soar like an eagle when those turkeys are around, ya know?”

At that remark, everyone chuckled. “Sabretooth is long gone, Guido. Mystique, on the other hand, is one of the reasons we need your help,”

“Whatever you need, you just ask! I’m there fer ya, babe! Hey, where’s Jamie, anyway?! I can’t believe he’d blow off my triumphant return!

“Jamie’s been kidnapped.” Forge figured it was better to break the news quickly. Unbeknownst to Forge, Lorna had really wanted to give Guido a little time to settle in before dropping the bomb on him. After all, Jamie was Guido’s best friend. She had no idea whether or not his heart had completely recovered from its trauma awhile back, and was a little miffed at Forge for spilling it all at once. Lorna tried to be professional and conceal her feelings, but the brief scowl and negative vibes were not lost on Fixx, who kept that knowledge to herself.

Guido turned pale, then crimson. It wasn’t a pretty sight. To those that knew him, it was clear he was keeping the full force of his anger inside. Nevertheless, after a moment, it passed, and Guido simply said, “Who gets to learn what a mistake it is to mess with Strong Guy’s buddy?”

“It’s not as easy as that, Guido,” Fixx told him. “We aren’t sure exactly sure who or what we’re up against yet. I want him back, too, but there are some other pieces of the puzzle left.”

“What could be so hard about getting Jamie back?” Guido asked, cleaning his glasses, with still a trace of impatience in his voice.

“We found out from our informant that Mystique has been delivering radioactive material to someone who has recently been identified with the Hound Program. Since we’ve recently scrapped with him before, we’re betting he’s holding Jamie hostage to weed us out,” Lorna told him calmly.

At that, DeeDee perked up. “Radioactive material? Like, what, exactly?”

“Stone said that he saw Vanadium and Hafnium on the label of the container. I was hoping you could help us in that regard.”

“Hmmmm,” DeeDee thought. “Either of those could have any one of a dozen different uses. The good news is, it’s highly unlikely they’d be used in anything like a nuclear bomb.”

“And the bad news?” Shard asked.

“Well, there are several different isotopes of each, as well as any different combination of possibilities of elements to bond with. If you can get me close enough, my gamma-tracking can probably identify how it’s being utilized.”

“Great, but if we’re close enough, we won’t need a gamma to tell us that,” Shard remarked dryly.

Let’s work on a plan and get down there,” Lorna said.

“The sooner the better,” Guido said with relief. “‘Cause it ain’t gonna feel like home until Jamie’s back.”

The present…early Thursday morning…

‘At least that’s what we all thought. Geez, it shouldn’t have been that difficult!’ Shard told herself under her breath. She crawled through the woods on her hands and knees, her photon-based holomatrix form grotesquely phasing in and out of it’s normal shape and focus. ‘Damn it, we fought those guys before!’

And that was the problem. They’d gotten blindsided because they figured they knew who they were up against.

Back in time…Wednesday night…

“This is as close as we can get without being spotted, I think,” Forge whispered, checking his scanner.

Guido looked through his binoculars. “I don’t see any patrols outside the building. How about you, Lorna?”

Polaris preferred to be referred to by her codename when on a mission, but this was hardly the time to make an issue of it. “There is a lot of interference and electrical noise from within the building. In order to penetrate it, I’d have to actually modify the electromagnetic field – that would be a dead giveaway for Bowser and his cronies.”

“I could send my sprites out to reconnoiter,” Fixx stated, “but I don’t dare send them inside. No doubt they’d be spotted, especially if Daydreamer’s around.”

“All right, have three of them scout things out for us. In the meantime, we’ll wait here.”

The trio of sprites flew as fast as they could, bobbing and weaving like a pair of butterflies silently down the hillside, about 500 meters to the side of the building they knew was not occupied. When they got there, they decided to each take a side of the building. One by one, they all found no sign of a sentry or anyone else with hostile intentions. Relieved, they all met at the corner they started at, and headed back up the hill.

From within the building, a deep emotionless voice droned, just once, “Intruder alert.”

“1…2…that’s strange…hey, Fixx, didn’t you send three sprites out on surveillance?” Guido asked, watching the fairy-like beings flutter their way back.

“Yes! They don’t know where the third one is,” she said, flustered.

“Damn,” Polaris muttered. “They have to know were here, then. I had really hoped this would go a little more easily.”

“Is anything ever easy?” Shard remarked.

“It certainly wasn’t back when I was a card carryin’ member of this club!” Guido quipped.

“Shush, you two! Geiger, do you think we’re close enough to establish where the radioactive material might be?”

The gamma-enhanced woman squinted. “At this distance? No…I wouldn’t even want to hazard a guess.”

“No joy here, either.” Forge shook his head as he double checked the scanner display.

“Well, that’s it, then. We’re going to have to go in.”

Shard shook her head. “It doesn’t take an X.S.E. agent to recognize this as a trap, Polaris.”

“I know. I don’t see that we have much choice – right now they’re holding all the cards. But, at least we know who we’re up against, and we can use that to our advantage. We’ve got to get Jamie out of there. And get the radioactive stuff out of Bowser’s hands.” Reluctantly, everyone agreed. “Forge – I want you, Shard, and Geiger in charge of retrieving or otherwise neutralizing that stuff. Guido, Fixx, and I will set about Jamie’s rescue. Let’s go.” Silently, they made their way down the hill toward the building, in two separate groups.

Meanwhile, Daydreamer gently petted the quaint little psi-creature, which trembled like a leaf under her touch.

“Time to power up, my friend,” Bowser patted the enhanced Hound.

“Bio-mechanical systems returning to full power.”

“I’ve waited for this moment for such a long time,” Bowser said happily.

“Command not recognized.”

“Never mind. Continue to monitor X-Factor’s movements.”

“Acknowledged.”

“…and the rest of my team?”

“We’re all ready, boss. Time for the attack?” Furnace asked.

“Yes. Let’s get into position, shall we?” Bowser clapped his hands together like an eager child.

Shard was ready for anything. This is what she’d been trained for. X.S.E. all the way. This was as close to feeling alive as she’d felt in a very long time. She took point, leading Forge and Geiger down the dim hallway. “Do you have anything yet?”

“I caught just a whiff of Vanadium, up ahead and to the left,” Geiger whispered, a trace of uncertainty in her words. “We’re definitely getting closer.”

“I’ve had enough wild goose chases for one day. Are you sure?”

Geiger nodded. “Okay, then, wait here a sec.” Shard edged her way against the wall up to the corner, and peered around. The coast was clear. “All right, come on,” she waved, making her way around the corner.

~POW!!!~

From nowhere, she caught the blast from a pressure wave that sent her sprawling. The deafening crack rattled the walls and the floor, and echoed its way down the hall. Forge and Geiger ducked for cover, hearts pounding. As soon as he’d realized what happened, Forge called out, “Shard? Shard?!” Shard was nowhere to be found.

“Next!” The eerie voice echoed down the halls, laced with mocking laughter. Forge recognized it as Soundwave, the mutant hound who could amplify and throw sound at many times it’s typical. Strong enough, to compress the air enough to cause damage to those nearby…including unarmed mutants.

“We’ve got to go,” Forge motioned for Geiger to follow.

“But what about Shard? We can’t just leave her!”

“Listen, if we don’t get out of here,” Forge said wide-eyed, looking over his shoulder, “the rest of our team is going to have to pick up our shattered little pieces! Shard’s a big girl, she’ll be all right.” With that, Forge and Geiger made a run for it.

“No Guido, we aren’t going to just ‘bust our way in’! We have to try to keep what little element of surprise we have left!”

“Awwww, that figures. ‘Subtle’ is for the birds, I tell ya.”

“Hmmmm, what have we here? This hall opens up into a large open room up ahead,” Polaris told them, using her electromagnetic powers not unlike a bat using radar. “The room seems to be empty – I don’t recognize any biological EM signatures.”

They edged their way, one by one, into the room, staying close to the wall – Polaris first, then Fixx, and Guido.

“Nothing in here but a bunch of junk,” Guido said, casually kicking away a metal folding chair. Suddenly, Fixx gasped, catching the attention of her teammates. “There it is! Come here,” she called out to her lone sprite, shimmering in the darkness and fluttering it’s way across the empty space.

They watched as the lone sprite returned home, into the mysterious device stuck on Fixx’s forehead. Upon it’s entry, Fixx took a deep breath and somehow seemed slightly relieved.

Suddenly, the lights came on. Across the room, Bowser, Furnace, Daydreamer, and Saw-arm stood next to an immobilized figure, hanging inside a pale-yellow stasis field. “Pardon me for asking,” Bowser called out, “but were you looking for someone?” Bowser flipped a switch, and the figure screamed and writhed in agony.

“Jamie!” Guido bellowed. “What have you done to him! Why, I oughta…” Guido began stomping his way steadily across the room toward Bowser, who grinned defiantly.

“Guido, wait! No!” Polaris tried to stop Guido, to no avail. He hadn’t been mentally prepared to see his friend in so much pain.

“Come on, Fixx! We’ve gotta get Gui…”

~WHAM!~

Polaris didn’t even have time to flinch as the metal folding chair smashed into the side of her face. She fell limply to the floor, out cold and unmoving. With a glazed stare, Fixx absently regarded her fallen comrade. Her fingers released their grip on the chair, which noisily clattered to the floor.

“How ironic,” Bowser chuckled. “Our very own Mistress of Magnetism succumbs to something as insignificant as a folding chair! Truly amazing.” Furnace and Saw-arm cheered and whistled.

Meanwhile, Guido was totally oblivious to what had just happened. He only knew he had to rescue his best friend, at whatever the cost. He stormed across the enormous room toward Jamie.

“Well, who do we have here? You aren’t on the roster!” Bowser called.

Furnace fired a few of his fireballs toward Guido, who sidestepped the small blasts without even giving them a second thought. “That approach doesn’t seem to be working, does it?” Bowser said calmly, as if it was what he expected all along. “Let’s see how this oaf fares against my trump card…Command beta-two-seven-zero!”

Guido hadn’t noticed when the enhanced hound was activated. He only knew that something had grabbed him from behind and was slowing his approach to rescue Jamie. When he finally turned, he met with the ugliest creature he’d ever seen.

“Target designate is not recognized,” the creature informed him.

“Yea? Unnnhhh – well, I -unnnnhhhh- love you too!” Guido shouted back, desperately trying to keep the razor sharp claws off of him.

“Fixx, why don’t you come over here and join us? I think you and Daydreamer have something in common, do you not?”

Fixx’s eyes were glazed over as she answered in monotone, “Sure.” She walked across the room, bypassing the struggle that was going on between Guido and the hound.

“This has gone on long enough,” Bowser decided. “It’s time for you to put an end to it, Fixx.”

“I understand.” Fixx obediently sent a swarm of her sprites, making their way into Guido’s head. Seconds later, he fell to the ground with a loud ~thud~, sound asleep, and the sprites returned.

“Now that’s what I call a knockout!” Bowser laughed. “This is going better than I planned. And considering the suprises X-Factor had planned for us! We simply must demand a raise next time!” Furnace and Daydreamer gave each other a high-five and laughed their agreement.

Early Thursday morning…

Shard was clearly having trouble staying coherent. Her form would drift in and out of focus, occasionally disappearing for a second or two before rematerializing. Nevertheless, despite brief short-term memory lapses, she tried to make her way back the way she’d come. Forge and Geiger were nowhere to be found, which was no surprise, considering Soundwave’s ambush. She just hoped they’d made it out alive.

Eventually, she found her way back outside. It was night now, and raining. She ran for the woods, her mind racing to try to think of a plan. Her intermittent matrix failures were driving her crazy, and slowing her progress down.

“The others are still in there…” she thought. “…and if there’s any way I can help…” she phased out of existence again momentarily. When she popped back in again, she was surprised to see who was waiting for her.

“It’s about time you showed up,” the enormous granite man told her.

“We figured this might happen,” a familiar blue skinned woman said humorlessly.

NEXT: X-Factor has gone up against some formidable opponents in the past… but have they finally met their match?