CONFRONTATION

By Ryan Krupienski and Dino Pollard

Somewhere In The Sahara

He is Fantomex. That is the only name he has ever been known by. He was born in the Garden – or rather, grown there. It’s a creation of the Black Womb, they grow mutants in vats and accelerate their aging. Technically, they’re not really mutants – they’re something more.

Fantomex was engineered for assassination missions. As his name implies, he is like a phantom. He moves with uncanny speed, his marksmanship is unmatched, and he is virtually invisible to psionics and radar. He was designed to feel no remorse, and the word ‘morality’ has never been part of his vocabulary.

Now though, he feels a pang of guilt and failure. When he escaped from Black Womb, he thought he was free of them. Until he discovered they used his genetic material to produce another mutant. His offspring, his son or daughter – he never knew which. And now, he fears he never will. Amanda Mueller and Black Womb have found a way to keep their claws latched onto him. He’s going to find out what he can about his child, even if he has to destroy Black Womb in order to do it. And no one, not even the X-Men, will stand in his way.

He takes one last look at the Blackbird and the small gathering of mutants camped outside of it before beginning to walk in the opposite direction. Before he can take his next step, however, a small fire erupts before him.

“Where are you going?”

Fantomex turns and sees the figure of Leyu Yoshida hovering behind him. She is one of his teammates in the X-Men, called Sunpyre.

“That doesn’t concern you, Miss Yoshida,” he replies.

“Where are you going?” she repeats.

“Back to the wreckage,” he says. “I’m going to find any survivors from that base, and I’m going to make them tell me where my child is. And if they refuse to tell me, or if they plead ignorance, I’m going to shoot them. Repeatedly.”

“Are you an idiot?” asks Sunpyre. “The Blackbird is damaged and Ever is out of commission, so we can’t attempt a telepathic link. We have to wait for someone to answer our radio signal.”

“Then you wait for an answer,” he replies. “I joined the X-Men for one reason – and that reason was to find my child. So if the X-Men aren’t willing to assist me, then I’m going back on my own.”

He turns from Leyu once more and continues walking from the campsite.

“Coward…” mutters Sunpyre.

“What was that?” asks Fantomex.

“You heard me,” replies Sunpyre. “You’re a coward.”

Fantomex turns and walks back towards her. He stands a few feet from her and holds a gun to her. He presses the barrel against her forehead.

“I don’t think I heard you correctly,” he says. “Please repeat.”

Sunpyre keeps her eyes trained on his and then she repeats herself, “You’re a coward.”

“I’ve killed people for less than that, child,” he says.

“You’re the one having the temper tantrum and I’m the child,” says Sunpyre. “That’s rich.”

“Do you have a deathwish or something?”

“No,” she replies. “I just call it like I see it. And what I see – what I’m looking at – is a coward. You heard what Nightcrawler told us about Cassandra, and it scares you. For the first time, the mighty Fantomex is terrified. So instead of standing your ground, you’re going to run off, hoping that you’ll avoid all of this.”

“You’re so far off-base it’s not even funny,” says Fantomex.

“Then why were your eyes shifting?” asks Sunpyre.

“I was…” he begins and for a brief instant, he is speechless. He regains his composure and quickly replies with, “I was scanning the area.”

“Please,” says Sunpyre. She lifts her hand up and places it on the barrel of his gun. Then, she lowers it, keeping her eyes locked with Fantomex’s. “Don’t make me laugh.”

“She’s dead…”

The words come from the mouth of Alex Summers. One of the X-Men, the mutant called Scanner, sacrificed herself in order to save the rest of the team. Havok hasn’t spoken a word since then. He’s just remained silent, and his actions are not lost on his fellow teammates. Many of them knew something was happening between Havok and Scanner, and just when the two finally admitted it, she was torn from him.

“Hmph, about time he opened his mouth,” says Deathbird. “All this over a pathetic little terran woman. One who wasn’t even much of a warrior to begin wi-”

Havok turns his gaze to Deathbird. Bishop can do nothing but watch as Alex stands from the ground and walks over to her, his eyes fixed on her form. He offers no words, and never misses a beat as he approaches her. Deathbird smirks as she sees him approach, but before she can open her mouth, Alex’s hand clenches into a fist, and he slams it across her face. Deathbird is taken aback from the blow, so much that it almost knocks her off her feet. Her hand rushes to the spot where Havok struck her, and she stares at him with a mixture of rage and shock in her eyes.

“How… dare you!” she exclaims.

“How dare you!” exclaims Havok. “Alyssa may not have been the battle-hardened warrior Wolverine was, but she was your teammate, lady! She saved your life! If not for her, you’d be nothing but a charred skeleton and some half-burned feathers! I don’t care how well or how little you knew her when she was alive, I don’t care if you never even said a word to her – she still deserves your respect after what she did!”

Havok stands and stares at her for a few moments. During those seconds, his body tenses up. With his teeth gritted and fists clenched, Bishop waits for him to strike Deathbird again. Instead, he turns from her and walks into the damaged Blackbird.

“You…” begins Deathbird. She looks to Bishop, the man she is currently romantically involved with. “Are you going to let him speak to me like that?!”

“Yes, I am,” says Bishop, crossing his arms across his chest. “He’s right, Scanner deserves our respect. You were out of line, moreso than usual.”

“This is becoming preposterous,” she says.

“Deathbird, if you don’t shut your mouth, I’ll shut it for you,” says Bishop. “Things are bad enough, you don’t need to go and cause more trouble.”

“I… you’re right, beloved,” says Deathbird. “Where are we anyway?”

“Somewhere in the Sahara I imagine,” replies Bishop. “Stay here, I’m going to see how Domino and Nightcrawler are doing with the plane.”

“Try it now.”

The voice of Kurt Wagner comes through Domino’s communicator. She does as she’s told and attempts to start the Blackbird’s engines, but, just as before, she has no luck.

“Damn…” she mutters. “It’s not working, Kurt.”

The scent of brimstone signals Nightcrawler’s arrival as he materializes beside Domino in the Blackbird’s cockpit.

“I’m guessing it’s not good,” says Domino.

“No, it’s not,” says Kurt. “It looks like the Blackbird took more damage than we thought.”

“Can we get back to Westchester?” asks Domino. “Or at least somewhere we can get it repaired?”

“Nein,” replies Kurt. “We’d be lucky if we could get it to fly a few miles.”

“So what’s the plan?” asks Domino.

“We just wait,” replies Kurt. “Until…”

Kurt stops himself when he sees Havok enter the Blackbird from the hatch, visibly upset or shaken.

“Alex?” he asks. “Something wrong?”

“No,” replies Havok. “Everything’s just fine.”

“You sure?” asks Kurt.

“How’s Ever?’ asks Havok.

“He’s doing good,” replies Domino as she walks over to the medical bay where Ever lies. “He’s just sleeping, now. But still out of commission. The Black Womb encounter took a lot out of him.”

“Not surprised,” says Havok.

“Alex.”

The new voice belongs to Bishop, who follows Havok into the Blackbird.

“Listen,” he begins. “I have to apologize for Deathbird out there. She…”

“Don’t worry about it,” says Havok.

“Umm… did I just miss something?” asks Domino.

“Yes,” replies Havok. “Let’s leave it at that.”

“Hooookay…”

“Kurt, any word?” asks Bishop.

“The Blackbird’s shot, mein freund,” replies Nightcrawler. “Only thing we can do is either wait for the mansion to respond to our signal or wait for Ever to awaken and make telepathic contact with Jean. Whichever comes first. But we have more pressing matters to deal with.”

“Cassandra,” says Bishop.

“Right,” says Nightcrawler.

The Blackbird

Another Blackbird jet rockets across the stratosphere. Cyclops and Storm sit in the pilot seats. Iceman, Colossus, and Ecstacy sit behind them in the passenger seats.

“I have their location,” says Storm. “They’re in the Sahara.”

“Good,” says Cyclops.

{Have you found them?} comes the telepathic voice of Cassandra Nova Xavier in their heads.

“Yes, Professor,” replies Cyclops. “They’re in the Sahara, we’ll be there shortly.”

{Remember to take them alive,} says Cassandra. {Godspeed, my X-Men.}

The link is broken and Scott accelerates.

“Get ready,” he says.

The Sahara

The X-Men gather around inside the Blackbird, with Nightcrawler standing at the head of the group.

“Here’s the situation,” he begins. “We’re effectively stranded for now. We’ve been trying to reach the mansion, but we’ve yet to have any luck. And after what we’ve learned about Cassandra, I’m beginning to think that she’s done something. I’m afraid that not only was Scott right to mistrust Cassandra, but that perhaps she’s been working with Amanda Mueller and Black Womb this whole time.”

“It would explain a lot,” says Bishop.

“I’ve gained most of my strength back,” says Nightcrawler. “I’ll teleport around the area a little and try to find help.”

“Not good enough, blue,” says Domino. “It’s not a good idea for us to split up, especially with what we know. It wouldn’t surprise me if Cassandra was aware of what we know, and stranded us on purpose.”

“It’s a good strategy,” says Bishop.

“Which is why it’s probably what’s going on,” says Domino. “Best thing we can do right now is…”

“Blackbird, do you copy?”

The voice comes from the Blackbird’s radio controls. Nightcrawler bamfs to it instantly.

“Blackbird here,” he says. “Scott, is that you?”

“Yes.”

“It’s good to hear your voice, mein freund,” says Nightcrawler.

“We’ve tracked you to your location. A rescue team is en route, we’ll be there shortly.”

“We’ll be waiting,” says Nightcrawler.

A short while later, the second Blackbird touches down beside the damaged one. Kurt and his team stand outside as Cyclops, Storm, Iceman, Colossus, and Ecstacy disembark from their jet.

“Glad you were able to find us,” says Domino. “For a minute there, we thought you guys were trying to get rid of us.”

“Relax now, everything’s cool,” says Iceman. Domino cocks an eyebrow in response to his comment.

“You feeling okay, Drake?”

“Never better,” replies Iceman.

“Scott, could I speak to you for a moment?” asks Kurt.

“Yes,” replies Cyclops as he follows Kurt away slightly.

“Scott, I think you may have been right about Cassandra,” says Nightcrawler. “She’s not who she says she is.”

“What are you talking about?” asks Cyclops.

“Well, to begin with, she lied about her past,” replies Nightcrawler. “When we were at Black Womb, we…”

“I don’t want to hear it, Kurt,” says Cyclops.

“Scott, this is important, you have to listen…”

Cyclops releases an optic blast at Kurt, sending the veteran X-Man to his feet.

“That’s enough!” says Cyclops. “It’s time to come back to the mansion. Now.”

NEXT, IN UNCANNY X-MEN #37: SuperNova Part 1! The X-Men/Avengers event of 2004 kicks off as Cassandra attempts to dig her claws into the remaining members of the X-Men – can anyone stop her? Featuring the return of Cable and Blaquesmith!