DAMOCLES RISING!

Part II

By Shawn Gauthier

Tony Treptow has been delivering pizzas in the San Francisco area since he was just a boy. Through thirty years of deliveries, Tony has met many unusual people and found himself in many strange situations. He is a legend. All those native to the area know of Tony and have meet him at least once. After all, everybody eats pizza, right? It is even rumored that the local Metro Police Department has often called upon Tony for assistance in identifying a suspect or body.

None of this however will prepare him for the delivery he is about to make. As he pulls up outside the warehouse in his new Mercedes (hey, being a legend in this town has its advantages) he takes notice of the limousine that is parked on the other side of the street. It is probably the biggest limo that Tony has ever seen, with shiny jet black paint that matches the darkly tinted windows. Parked underneath the solitary street light the car almost seems ominous, but Tony quickly disregards the feeling as he parks his car and reaches for the pizza box resting in the passenger seat.

“Mmmm, that pizza smells delicious,” calls a feminine voice from behind him as soon as he is outside of his vehicle.

“It’s the best in San Francisco,” replies Tony, as he turns around to face what he assumes is a hungry passer-by. However, when he looks around he can find no sign of who had made the comment. Frantically he looks up and down the street looking for any sign of life, but there is none.

“It must’ve been all in my head” thinks Tony, trying to calm himself down. “That limousine must have spooked me more than I thought.”

As Tony spins around to make his delivery he finds that his path is blocked by two hulking forms wearing trench coats and hats. Their size is massive and Tony catches a glimpse of something red underneath the smaller ones trench coat. Their hats are pulled down tight as to not to let anybody get a clear look at their faces.

Startled and scared, Tony says the first thing that comes to his mind: “Did either of you two gentlemen order a pizza?”

“Do we look like the type of fellas who eat pizza?” replies the shorter man, lifting his hat and revealing his face – it was clearly not human!

Tony doesn’t know it, but he is now one of the few humans on Earth to ever see the true face of a Deviant. Tony tries to flee, but the larger of the two men grabs him with a vise-like grip.

The two men spin Tony around to face the limo. The rear window slides down to reveal yet another monster’s face – this one has blue reptile like skin with spikes on his head. Later, when Tony recounts these events to his friends, they will laugh at him as he tells them that the monster was wearing sunglasses and smoking a cigar.

“Let the delivery man go,” ordered Indigo, “but keep the pizza…”

Inside the warehouse, the members of X-Force are enjoying some recreational time together. The small group of mutants are gathered around a large screen television watching Wesley Snipes kick some vampire butt. The television is yet another gift from the recently rich again Roberto DaCosta. All seem engrossed with the movie with the exception of Cannonball.

Sam Guthrie, a.k.a. Cannonball, is lost in his own thoughts. Since leaving the X-Men to return to his former team, X-Force, he has felt out of place. Maybe the saying is true that you can’t go home again. Plus Bobby’s and Tabitha’s new relationship is proving to be more difficult to handle than he thought. But if he didn’t belong with X-Force or the X-Men then where did he belong? Sam is startled back to reality when the doorbell rings.

“That must be the pizza!” states Bobby, as he crawls out from underneath Tabitha to answer the door.

As he walks to the door, Bobby cannot help but smile as he looks back at his friends who are presently enjoying their new entertainment system. For the past several months Bobby was forced to rely on his friends for financial support. It was only recently after it was proven that he was not the villain known as Reignfire that Bobby’s trust funds were unfrozen. Since then he has really enjoyed using his newly acquired funds to pay back his friends for their kindness.

These thoughts however were quickly erased from Bobby’s mind as he answers the door, because standing on the other side is the teams’ enemy, Odysseus Indigo, holding a pizza.

“Somebody order a pizza?” asks Indigo snidely.

“Guys!” yells Bobby as he transforms himself into his Sunspot identity , “We’re under attack!”

Sunspot rockets Indigo and himself outside, away from the warehouse. Bobby knows that Indigo would not be attacking them alone so that his team of Deviants called the Sword must be near by as well. Bobby also knows that Indigo is the most dangerous of the group because of his ability to cancel out the powers of any mutant in his vicinity. So his first thought is to separate Indigo from his friends.

Unfortunately he could already feel his powers being drained as he carries his enemy across the abandoned street. The two of them strike Indigo’s limousine at high velocity, luckily missing the trunk in which an unconscious Domino and Bedlam are imprisoned. Since his powers were mostly drained by Indigo, Bobby was left defenseless against the impact. In the end, only Indigo gets up after the collision.

Indigo slowly rises from the wreckage, picks up his sunglasses, relights his cigar, and finally adjusts his tie before making his way back towards the warehouse.

Meanwhile, inside the warehouse, the rest of X-Force reacts to Bobby’s warning just in time as The Sword strikes.

Both Siryn and Cannonball take to the air, but before Siryn can get clear she is targeted by Argos. Argos’ laser strikes Siryn just as she is preparing to unleash a sonic scream, causing her to fall unconscious to the ground. A concerned Cannonball separates Argos from his fallen teammate by grabbing hold of him and blasting through the roof.

While this is taking place another member of The Sword, Stranglehold, punches through one of the walls of the warehouse. Though the wall proved to be little to no obstacle for Stranglehold he soon finds a challenge in Warpath. Because of his lightning fast reflexes and quickness, James Proudstar is able to avoid all of Stranglehold’s crushing blows. At the same time, however, Warpath’s blows seem to have little to no effect on the giant. These two seem evenly matched.

At that same moment on the other side of the warehouse, Tabitha Smith, a.k.a. Meltdown, finds herself in a hot spot. She has squared off against Pyre, another member of The Sword. She has already tossed several of her explosive plasma bombs that are her birthright at her sparring partner, but they had no effect. Now she finds herself pinned into a corner of the warehouse.

“You know you are kind of a looker,” remarked a smug Pyre, “but I like my blondes a little more on the crispy side.” With that Pyre raises his hands to deliver what would be a killing blow.

“Wh… what is happening to me?” screams Pyre, as he feels his body slowly start to vibrate. Unknown to Pyre, he has attracted the attention of X-Force’s most recent returning member, Rictor, who has the power to agitate molecules causing them to vibrate and create shockwaves. Rictor is currently using his powers directly on Pyre, but the results are unexpected. The agitated molecules of Pyre’s body cause his powers to flash out of control burning everything around him including Tabitha. They both collapse to the ground in flames.

“Nooooooo!” yells Rictor, as he quickly covers the distance between himself and the burning Tabitha. By the time he can put out her flames it is obvious that she is badly burned and needs immediate medical attention.

Everybody in the room is momentarily taken back by the display of Pyre’s explosion. Unfortunately for Warpath his sparring partner, Stranglehold, recovers first delivering a devastating blow to his head. Warpath’s limp body crumbles to the floor.

Moonstar was standing near the doorway after Pyre’s detonation, and was unprepared for Odysseus Indigo’s re-appearance. His presence has a devastating effect on her powers. Recently Moonstar’s powers have gone through a metamorphosis due largely to her diminished psionic powers and a recent run in with the child called Arcadia. Unbeknownst to Moonstar, it was her original mutant powers that were able to hold her newly formed powers in check. Once Indigo entered the room and used his ability to cancel out her mutant powers, her new powers burst free from within her.

Her body starts to convulse as she loses herself in the strange sensation that fills her. She can see and feel the life force of all those in the room at one time including the diminishing life force of her friend and teammate, Meltdown. A scream is ripped out of her lungs as her mind is pushed to the brink of insanity. To make matters even worse for Moonstar, the invisible form of Zona is slowly creeping up behind her.

Miles above the warehouse, a rocketing Cannonball is pushing his powers to their limits. As he approaches the upper limits of the atmosphere he tightens his grip on his enemy, Argos, and reverses his direction rocketing both of them back towards the Earth. Cannonball’s speed is doubled as gravity is now working with him. His blast shield protects him from the heat that comes with travelling at such speeds. Unfortunately for Argos, he has no such powers as his armor begins to heat up and scorch his skin.

Cannonball directs their descent back towards the warehouse that has served as X-Forces’ home for the past month. The two strike the roof of the structure like a comet. Once inside Cannonball releases his hold on Argos directing his path towards one of his teammates. Argos strikes his teammate Stranglehold like a missile, and both members of the Sword disappear into their own impact crater.

Upon seeing Moonstar’s condition, the experienced Cannonball changes his course to intercept his teammate. His intention is to remove her from danger, except as he gets close to the struggling Moonstar her powers explode from her body filling the room with a light as bright as the sun itself. When the light dims, both Cannonball, Moonstar, and the now visible form of Zona lay unconscious on the floor.

Only Rictor and Indigo remain standing in the room.

Smiling, Rictor raises his hands in an intimidating manner at Indigo. “Get ready to pay for what you did to my friends, you ugly bastard!” Rictor cries, but as he tries to use his powers nothing happens.

As a confused look starts to cross Rictor’s face, an agitated Indigo starts toward him with both fists clenched.

A dazed and confused Sunspot is aroused by the sound of approaching sirens. He slowly pulls himself to his feet despite the fact that every muscle in his body is aching. He then notices the damaged condition of his warehouse. There are numerous holes in all of the walls and half of the warehouse appears to be charred from fire. Through one of the holes he notices Indigo approaching his friend Rictor. Anger rises up in him, but it is quickly replaced with dread when he notices the burnt form of his girlfriend and teammate Tabitha.

Hurt and exhausted, Bobby allows his instincts to take over. He flies through the hole in the wall, past Indigo and grabs Rictor taking him out of Indigos’ reach. He then cuts a wide arc around the room and as gently as possible he scoops up Tabitha’s charred body and exits the warehouse through the hole in the roof, as Rictor exits through one of the holes in the wall.

Tears fill Bobby’s eyes as he is forced to leave the rest of his teammates behind.

NEXT ISSUE: Could this be the end of X-Force? Can Rictor and Sunspot save their friends from the hands of Indigo and The Sword. And what will be Meltdown’s final fate?