SUPERNOVA

Part VIII: Unlikely Allies

By Ryan Krupienski and Dino Pollard

Morocco

Earlier, these six rogue X-Men – Cable, Nightcrawler, Jubilee, Fantomex, Deathbird, and Proteus – came to this small village in Morocco. Inside one of the huts, Proteus and Jubilee stand and look at Nightcrawler as he sleeps.

“I don’t know how anyone can sleep at a time like this,” says Proteus.

“Not like he has much of a choice,” says Jubilee. “He was teleporting like, all day before we found him. Plus, he was teleporting two people. No wonder the guy’s exhausted.”

“This is bad, isn’t it?” asks Proteus. “I mean, have you guys gone up against something like this before?”

“You kidding?” asks Jubilee. “Dude, someone betraying the X-Men has been like, our thing for years. Remind me to give you the skinny about the whole Onslaught thing some day. You’re not turning scared rookie on me now, are you?”

“Hell no,” says Proteus before he offers a little smile. “I’m looking forward to beating the shit out of Cassandra.”

“Y’know something Pete, I think there’s hope for you yet,” says Jubilee. “You kinda remind me of me when I first hooked up with this outfit.”

“Ease off, Jubes, are you trying to scare me off the X-Men?” asks Proteus. The two young mutants share a little chuckle at the good natured ribbing.

Outside the hut, Fantomex and Cable look into the air and watch Deathbird circle the village overhead. Fantomex moves his eyes away from Deathbird, and he eyes Cable somewhat cautiously. Fantomex is a new addition to the X-Men, and as such, he doesn’t know of Cable’s history with the team. However, Fantomex doesn’t quite trust Cable – he thinks Cable’s story is far too convenient.

“Take a picture, it’ll last longer,” says Cable. “There a reason you’re staring at me, ninja boy?”

“My reasons, like my thoughts, are my own,” says Fantomex. He taps his forehead a few times. “I like to keep it that way if you catch my drift.”

“You don’t trust me, I get it,” says Cable. “You might as well just come right out and say it instead of tiptoeing around it with these innuendos.”

“Very well, I don’t trust you,” says Fantomex.

“Good, because I don’t trust you, either,” says Cable. “I don’t like the idea that you’re invisible to my telepathy.”

“From where I’m standing, that’s a good thing,” says Fantomex. “It means if my suspicions are right about you, then I’m the only one you won’t be able to control.”

“And if my suspicions are right about you, then I won’t know what you’re planning until it’s too late,” says Cable.

Their conversation is broken as Deathbird lands in front of them, her scythe in hand. “The area’s clean for now,” she says. “I did a complete sweep of the village and the surrounding area. No jets, no one tracking us by foot, nothing.”

“Good,” says Cable. “Where are Jubilee and Proteus?”

“Right behind you,” says Proteus.

“Just got your little mind-call,” says Jubilee as she exits the hut and stands next to Proteus. “Kurt’s still asleep, though.”

“I know, let him rest,” says Cable.

“We got a plan?” asks Jubilee.

“I’m going to try and get in touch with Blaquesmith,” replies Cable. “Then we can bodyslide back to the Z’noxx Chamber and make our next move from there.”

“I was wondering why we haven’t gotten over there yet,” says Proteus.

“I wanted Kurt to get some rest before we moved on,” says Cable. He lifts his wrist to his mouth and activates the communicator on his glove. “Blaquesmith, this is Cable, you read me?”

Static is the only response Cable receives through the communicator.

“Blaquesmith, do you read?” he repeats.

Again, nothing but static.

“I’m guessing that’s not good,” says Jubilee.

“You guess right,” says Cable. “I’m not sure if it’s just communication interference, or something else.”

“What do you mean by something else?” asks Deathbird.

“I mean that I have a feeling Cassandra may have found the Z’noxx Chamber,” replies Cable. “I’ll have to keep trying, but…”

Cable suddenly goes silent and looks around as his left eye begins to glow brightly.

“What is it?” asks Proteus.

“I don’t think we’re alone…” replies Cable. “Deathbird, do another sweep, contact me immediately if you see anything.”

Deathbird leaps into the air, and the mechanical wings she wears lift her higher into the air. She circles around the area a few times, and in the distance, she can see an aircraft lowering.

A Blackbird aircraft.

She quickly drops back down to the rest of the team.

“They’ve found us,” she says.

“Stab his eyes…” says Cable. “I was afraid staying in one location too long would alert them to our presence.”

Cable removes the psimitar from his belt and with the push of a button, it extends to its full length. Fantomex’s guns slide into his hands as they are moved out by mechanical arms concealed beneath the sleeves of his trenchcoat. Deathbird activates the energy blade on the end of her scythe. Cable draws one of the sidearm blasters attached to his leg and tosses it to Proteus.

“What’s this?” asks Proteus.

“Shapeshifters aren’t much use in an all-out battle,” replies Cable. “And I don’t think you have enough control over your power to use your body as a weapon.”

“Fair enough,” says Proteus as he looks down at the blaster.

Nearby, the VTOL engines of the Blackbird lower the jet to its resting spot on the ground. The back hatch opens, and the ladder extends. Cassandra’s X-Men emerge from the aircraft – Iceman, Ecstacy, Kwannon, and Skin with Domino and Bishop taking point. Domino steps forward and scans the area quickly before looking to the small Cerebro unit she has with her.

“They’re this way,” she says and points towards the small village in the distance.

“You gonna be okay with this?” asks Iceman. “After all, you and Cable…”

“Cable and I have no connection beyond allies,” replies Domino. “Not anymore, anyway. I’m more worried about you and Kwannon dealing with Jubilee.”

“Don’t worry about us,” says Kwannon. “I don’t want to do this, but it’s for Jubilee’s own good. We have to stop her before Cable makes her do something she’ll regret later.”

“Indeed,” says Bishop. He draws the twin guns hidden beneath his trenchcoat and steps forward to take point. “Good to see that you’re on the same page as the rest of us. Drake?”

“Yeah… yeah I’m ready…” mutters Iceman.

“Good,” says Bishop. “Psi-scramblers on. I don’t want Cable messing with any of our heads.”

“We’re moving in,” says Domino. She tries to take a step forward, but finds herself frozen.

“Something wrong?” asks Ecstacy.

“I can’t move…” replies Domino.

“It’s Cable,” says Bishop. “He must be using his telekinesis on us.”

Bishop continues to advance forward, but finds his body frozen as well. The other X-Men all find they have the same problem.

“Oh shit…” says Domino. “Cerebro’s picking up another mutant presence.”

“Who?” asks Bishop.

Before Domino can offer a reply, Bishop discovers the answer to his question on his own. In the horizon, a figure flies towards them rapidly. When this figure comes into view, Cassandra’s team of mind-controlled X-Men can see that it is a man. Wearing a sort of grey dignitary’s uniform, complete with cape, with a deep crimson helmet covering his head.

“Magneto…” mutters Iceman.

“Hello Robert,” says Magneto. “It’s nice to be remembered.”

“Magneto, listen to me,” says Domino. “You’re wearing your helmet, so I know that no one’s influencing your mind. I don’t know what you’re planning, but you have to help us. Something’s happened to Cable, he’s influencing the minds of some of the X-Men. The Professor thinks his dark side might be taking cont-”

“Spare me the pathetic excuses, Domino, I was sent by Xavier himself,” says Magneto. “You are the ones being influenced here.”

“How’s that possible when we’re wearing these psi-scramblers?” asks Skin.

“Y’know Angelo, for some reason, I find it hard to believe anything Magneto tells me,” says Iceman. “Maybe it’s because he’s been trying to kill me since I was fifteen.”

“And it seems you are going to make me regret never actually going through with it,” says Magneto.

“So this is him, huh?” asks Ecstacy. “Magneto. The Magneto, right? I’m not impressed.”

“It doesn’t matter, I’m not here to impress you, child,” replies Magneto.

Bishop remains silent as Magneto speaks. His body soaks up the electro-magnetic energy Magneto uses to hold them in place by the iron in their bloodstream and the small bits of metal on their uniforms. Bishop’s eyes begin to glow brightly, and he absorbs enough energy to release him from Magneto’s hold.

“You obviously have a short memory, Lehnsherr,” says Bishop. “We’ve done this before, remember?”

He breaks away and unleashes the pent-up energy at Magneto in the form of a massive energy blast. Magneto’s shield protects him from the brunt of the attack, but he loses his concentration in that split second, and he loses his hold on the X-Men. Once the X-Men break free, they move in on their oldest enemy.

“Hit ‘im hard and fast!” orders Domino. She lifts her gun and fires off several rounds. Magneto extends his hand and the bullets freeze in midair. He turns them around and hurls them back at Domino. However, the bullets only strike non-lethal blows – not a single killshot.

Not far from where the X-Men battle Magneto, Cable and his allies step forth from the village, prepared for battle.

“Is that… Magneto?” asks Proteus.

“Yeah,” replies Cable.

“Wait… is he helping us or just trying to kill X-Men?” asks Jubilee.

“Not sure, only one way to find out,” replies Cable. His eye begins to glow.

“Dude, what are you doing, he’s wearing his helmet,” says Jubilee.

“His helmet doesn’t block telepathic communication,” replies Cable. {Magneto, can you hear me?}

{Yes Cable, loud and clear.}

{Mind telling me what you’re doing here?} asks Cable.

{Xavier sent me to collect you,} replies Magneto.

{Xavier?} asks Cable. {Where is he? Where has he been?}

{We can discuss that later, once we’ve defeated Cassandra’s followers,} replies Magneto.

{Fair enough,} says Cable, and then he breaks contact with Magneto. “He’s on our side.”

“How do we know this isn’t some big set up?” asks Fantomex.

“We don’t,” replies Cable. “But would you rather stand around and do nothing?”

“No, not particularly,” replies Fantomex. He breaks out into a sprint towards Magneto and the X-Men. He leaps into the air and fires off several shots at Bishop before striking the ground in a roll. He rolls until he comes to a stop at Kwannon and pushes his body up so he can deliver an upwards kick at Kwannon’s head.

“Deathbird, please, you’re not yourself,” says Bishop. He keeps his gun aimed at his lover, who remains in a battle stance. Deathbird retracts her scythe and hooks it onto her belt. She lifts her clawed gauntlets and lunges forward. She makes short work of Bishop’s gun, and then drives her talons into his gut. She removes her hand and delivers a roundhouse to his head to finish him off.

“I’m sorry, my love,” says Deathbird. “But you leave me no choice.”

Proteus fires off blast after blast from the gun Cable gave him. His shots are somewhat erratic, however, as he isn’t accustomed to using a gun. When facing Ecstacy, however, he has little choice. He doesn’t want to engage her in hand to hand combat, too much of a risk of her touching his skin and using her phermones to knock him out, or worse.

“Oh hell no!” exclaims Jubilee once she catches sight of Iceman. “That bitch is using my boyfriend!”

“Jubes, stop,” says Iceman as his body transforms itself into its ice form. “We don’t want to hurt you. Cable, he’s controlling your mind.”

“I’m sorry, Bobby,” says Jubilee. She lets loose with a flurry of pyrotechnic explosives. Their intention is not to cause harm, however, simply to blind Iceman. Before she can make another move, something wraps around her and pulls her back.

“Listen to us, chica, we’re your friends,” says Skin. His fingers wrap themselves around Jubilee, attempting to restrain her. “We’re doing this for your own good, Lee.”

Jubilee stops struggling as she detects a familiar scent in the air. Instead, she simply smiles as Nightcrawler teleports behind Skin and drives his foot against the young mutant’s skull.

“For shame, Jubilation,” says Nightcrawler. “Who gave you permission to have fun without me?”

“All rested up?” asks Jubilee.

“More or less,” replies Nightcrawler. “Cable informed me of the situation via telepathy.”

{There’s more to it than that,} says Cable. {I’ve been trying to break Cassandra’s hold on the X-Men, but it’s like there’s some barrier around their minds that won’t even let me get through.}

{Psi-scramblers,} says Magneto. {They’re apparently plastic, so I can’t disable them. We should grab one of them, though, it might be helpful.}

{Right. Kurt?} asks Cable.

Nightcrawler teleports on Skin’s shoulders and pulls the communicator from his ear, then teleports off.

{This must be it,} says Kurt. {Our communicators are installed in our gloves, so there’s no reason for them to be wearing earpieces.}

{Good,} says Cable. {Magneto, where are we headed?}

{Genosha.}

{I need you to help me hold the X-Men at bay,} says Cable. {Everyone get in close, we’re going to bodyslide.}

{Can you do that without the Z’noxx Chamber?} asks Jubilee.

{I have safehouses all over the world, Jubilee,} replies Cable. {I don’t keep all my tech at Xavier’s.}

Combined with Cable’s telekinesis and Magneto’s powers, the two mutants hold their attackers at bay long enough for their allies to gether in close. And, in a flash of light, they vanish from the battlefield. The only ones that remain are Cassandra’s X-Men.

“Just great…” mutters Iceman. “Now we gotta tell the Professor that we lost the X-Men, Cable, and Magneto…”

CONTINUED IN AVENGERS ASSEMBLE #3!