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- NIGHTCRAWLER
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- DOMINO
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- HAVOK
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- SCANNER
THEATRE OF PAIN
Part I: Curtain Call
By Ryan Krupienski and Dino Pollard
Author’s Note: This issue takes place after Uncanny X-Men #25
Death Valley, California. Just as the name implies, not much happens here. The only sound that is heard across the barren land is the sound of jet engines coming from the modified SR-71 Blackbird jet that rockets across the valley. Behind the X-shaped, red tinted glass is a pale-skinned woman with a dark oval over her left eye known only as Domino piloting the ship. The slim, demonic man by her side whose body is covered by a fine layer of indigo-colored fur is her partner. Kurt Wagner, or Nightcrawler as he is sometimes called. These two are the co-leaders of a squad of X-Men.
Behind them sits Alex Summers, a man better known as Havok. Across from him is the young woman called Scanner. Alex feels somewhat strange being in the same area with Scanner without being forced to battle her. When these two mutants first met, it was on opposing sides of the law. Havok was the leader of the government-sponsored team of mutants called X-Factor, whereas Scanner was a member of the Acolytes – a group of religious fanatics who looked upon Magneto as their messiah.
All four of the mutants take note of the uncomfortable silence which hangs in the air and lingers there. Some may think it odd that Domino is the co-leader of this squad of X-Men, given her checkered past and loose association with Xavier. It is something Havok knows, yet he keeps his reservations to himself. Same goes for his reservations towards Scanner. It was Jean’s decision to structure the team like this, and although he may not agree with her judgement, he trusts it nonetheless.
“So…” begins Scanner. “What is it we’re doing out here in the middle of nowhere?”
All ears in the plane perk up at the sound of Scanner’s voice. Previously, the only sound heard in the Blackbird was the hum of the engines. A voice with a hint of a faded German accent offers the reply to Scanner’s question.
“Jean said that there was a mass psionic disturbance in this area,” says Nightcrawler.
“How come there’s no telepath with us, then?” asks Havok. “I don’t think Ever was up to anything.”
“Grey thinks it’s too risky,” replies Domino. “Says the mass emotions might overwhelm them or something.”
“Any idea what it is we’re supposed to be looking for?” asks Havok.
“Not really,” says Domino. “We’ve got the Cerebro unit scanning for any positive x-gene manifestations.”
“And…?” asks Havok.
“Zip,” replies Domino. “Well… not completely zip. I’m getting readings, just can’t get a hard lock on anything.”
“I thought you were supposed to be lucky,” says Havok.
“Obviously my powers aren’t working if I’m stuck in the middle of nowhere with you,” offers Domino with a slight grin. Havok chuckles a little at her remark.
“Whatever we have out here, it’s big,” says Nightcrawler. “Cerebro may not be able to locate the exact source, but why don’t you all take a look at what the Shi’ar scanners have picked up?”
Kurt presses a button on the console before him, and the four X-Men look out the window to see some sort of electric disturbance appearing in midair.
“What’s causing that?” asks Scanner.
“Hold on… I’m jamming the signal,” replies Nightcrawler as he flips a switch. “Annnnnd….. wunderbar!”
As he presses another button, the electric disturbance seems to grow larger. Out of nothing, the X-Men see a structure appear in the middle of the desert. A large, ominous building with gothic-esque construction and no obvious markings on it which can even hint to its identity.
“What the hell is that?” asks Havok.
“Well, either I haven’t been paying attention and they’ve decided to relocate the Sistine Chapel, or I have no idea,” replies Nightcrawler.
“Sounds like you’re a bit out of practice, Elf,” says Havok.
“Scanner, would you mind?” asks Nightcrawler, ignoring his teammate’s quip.
“I’m on it,” says Scanner. With a thought, her eyelids close and her entire body goes limp in her chair. The X-Men know that this is a sign that Scanner has left her body in her bio-electric form in order to do a bit of recon.
“Domino, activate the cloak,” says Nightcrawler, his voice becoming slightly more serious. “We don’t want to risk being spotted until we know what’s going on here.”
“AHHH!!!”
The X-Men turn and see Scanner’s body beginning to convulse. Havok, being the closest, runs to her and pins her arms to her sides in order to prevent her from harming herself. He detects the scent of sulfur and knows that Nightcrawler has teleported behind him.
“Is she okay?” he asks.
“She’s in shock,” replies Havok. “Scanner, snap out of it!”
“Oh… oh my God…” mutters Scanner. Her eyes go wide once she realizes she has returned to her body. She looks at Havok and tears begin to well up in her eyes. She collapses into his chest and begins to sob.
“It… it was horrible…” she says. “What I saw… it was… perverse… people being tortured… raped… so much… pain. There are people in trouble, we have to help them.”
“Land the plane, Domino,” says Nightcrawler, turning to his partner. “We’re going in.”
Domino nods in response and turns her attention back to the controls. She activates the Blackbird’s VTOL – Vertical Take-Off and Landing – system and the plane is slowly lowered down to the ground, kicking up dust around the cloaked jet. Domino hits a various amount of switches, powering down the plane save for the back-up power supply that keeps the cloaking device up. She activates the passcode system which would thwart anyone who does not have the code from accessing the Blackbird’s systems. She stands from her chair and draws a handgun. She removes the clip to ensure that it is full, and upon discovering that it is, slides it back into the weapon.
“Alright, let’s rock,” she says.
Nightcrawler places a three-digit hand upon the surface of the building and begins to examine it. Havok is by his side, monitoring his actions. In his arms he holds the prone body of Scanner.
“There a way inside?” he asks.
“None that I can fine,” replies Nightcrawler. A hand grabs both their shoulders, and they both turn in shock to see Domino standing behind them.
“I just scouted around, couldn’t find an entrance,” she says.
“How’d you sneak up on us like that?” asks Havok.
“Oh please,” replies Domino. “Don’t insult me.”
“Nothing,” says Scanner, her eyes opening. Havok sets her down on her feet now that she has returned to her body. “There’s no entrance.”
“Only one thing to do, then,” says Nightcrawler. “Scanner, I trust you can make your own way in?”
Scanner hesitates for a moment, recalling what she witnessed in there, but nods. Her entire body seems to become ghostlike, and her body transmutes into a form composed of bio-electricity. Unlike before, in this form, Scanner is visible to the naked eye. She travels through the wall.
“Domino, Havok, take my hand,” says Nightcrawler as he extends his arms. Domino and Havok both grip onto the X-Men’s co-leader. Nightcrawler breathes a sigh of hope and in a flash of smoke with the scent of brimstone, the three mutants vanish. They reappear on the other side of the wall with Scanner standing before them. Nightcrawler stumbles slightly, and Havok stands behind his teammate, putting his hands on the teleporting mutant’s hips to steady him.
“You okay, Kurt?” asks Havok.
“I’ll be fine…” replies Nightcrawler. “Just… give me a moment to… regain my composure.”
“Where are we, anyway?” asks Domino.
“You ever see Eyes Wide Shut?” asks Havok, looking around at the massive, gothic construction.
“Eh, didn’t care for it,” replies Domino. “Not that I wouldn’t do Tom Cruise, though.”
“Come on,” says Nightcrawler, stepping towards the front. “We should get a move-on. Scanner, you’ve been in here before, you lead the way.”
“Do I have a choice?” asks Scanner.
“Not really,” replies Domino.
“Oh joy… follow me.”
Scanner begins to walk towards a door at the end of the hallway and the three X-Men follow her. Domino, Havok, and Nightcrawler all scan the area they are in, trying to take stock of this situation. All of them understand that whoever owns this place obviously does not like visitors and possesses the technology to prevent them from finding him. Scanner stops at the door, and places her hand on the wooden frame. She closes her eyes and mentally prepares herself for what she is about to see. She pushes, but is met with resistance. She tries again, but to no avail, and she says a silent prayer of thanks.
“It’s locked.”
“Stand back,” says Havok. Scanner moves away from the door. Alex Summers begins to channel the ambient cosmic rays that course through his body and directs them towards his hands. They explode in a release of plasma energy that reduces the door to splinters. Nightcrawler steps over the splinters and enters the room, with the X-Men following. They find they are in a large, dimly-lit room. The walls are dark metallic, and three of the four walls has a doorway centered in the middle of it. The one wall which doesn’t, directly across from them, is draped by large, red curtains. The curtains open to reveal dozens of monitors. Each one displays a different image. Images of torture, of death and murder and violence. Images of rape and child abuse and molestation. Images of war.
“Mein gott…” mutters Nightcrawler.
“Welcome, friends!”
The booming voice comes from behind them, and the X-Men turn to see a large balcony above them; they had not noticed it before. They cannot see the man whom the voice belongs to, but they can tell that his voice comes from the balcony.
“Welcome to the Theatre of Pain,” he says. “I sense great suffering in all of you.”
“…You hear that?” asks Havok.
“Yeah, we all heard it,” replies Domino. “How could you not?”
“Not that guy,” says Havok. “I’m talking about that growling noise.”
Domino stops and strains her ears. She hears it to, as do Nightcrawler and Scanner. The X-Men begin to gather close together as four feral-looking women begin to emerge from the doorways and surround them.
“Oh shit…” she mutters. “I thought my days of dealing with those feral-types were done.”
“So much for the power of positive thinking, I guess,” says Havok. One of the women, who is snake-like in appearence, leaps for Nightcrawler. He teleports away from her, and when he reappears, he realizes he underestimated the strain his last teleportation had. He stumbles slightly and tries to stay up when the woman leaps at him again and grabs his neck. He collapses instantly at her touch.
“They’ve got Kurt!” exclaims Scanner. She attempts to convert to her bio-electric form, but before she can, a cat-like woman tears into her back. Scanner goes down by the time the woman makes another slash, and the woman roars in victory.
“Then I guess we gotta take them out fast,” says Havok. He begins to power-up and fires a plasma blast at a lizard-like woman with a tail. She nimbly avoids the blast, and her tail lashes out and slams into the brother of Cyclops. He falls nearby Domino, who helps him to his feet. In one hand, she holds a handgun and fires off three rounds. Each round hits one of the women.
“Guess you are lucky,” mutters Havok.
“Not totally lucky,” says Domino. “They’re still alive.”
“Weren’t there four?” asks Havok. Before Domino can offer a reply, they find themselves covered in a sticky substance of some sort as the fourth woman, who bears an insectoid appearence, drops from the ceiling. She quickly disables them.
“Very impressive, my Norns,” says the man on the balcony. “Take them to the audition room, and at nightfall, confiscate their aircraft.”
The Norns nod and take the X-Men away from the room. The man watches as the images on the monitors are replaced. The new images which begin flashing are those of various other X-Men. As the man watches this, he smiles to himself.
So there you have it (finally), the other half of the core titles ‘relaunch’, if you will. Trust me when I say, though, that you ain’t see nothin’ yet!
~Ryan
January 9th, 2003
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