The State Home For Foundlings
Sage, Nebraska

“Shit…” said Dr. Whitt. “They’re already here. And it looks like they’re not alone.”

The monster looked at the monitor displaying the feed from the surveillance camera outside. His long, gray hair hung over his body, a purple respirator concealing most of his face. “Do you have the tesseract technology figured out yet?”

“Not yet, no.”

“Contact our benefactors, we’ll need reinforcements.”

“Maurius, that will take time. They’re already about to break down the front doors.”

“Make the call, I will hold them off,” said Emplate.

Avalon
Genosha

On the outskirts of Genosha’s capital city was an airfield long abandoned. However, it had been given to Alex Summers by the current Genoshan government, used to secretly house the terrorist X-Men faction.

It was one of the rooms Kachenh Domnur now found herself seated on an old, rusty, metal chair, hands bound behind her, legs bound to the chair’s. The room was completely bare and Domnur was stripped of everything, including her clothes. The rust scraped against her skin with even the slightest movement and she grimaced with each tiny scrape. The only other object in the room was another metal chair, although this one was not rusted.

The door to the room opened and a woman entered. Unlike Domnur, the woman was clothed—albeit not in much. She wore what resembled a leather bikini with red trim, her top in the vague shape of an X over her breasts. On the bottoms sat a round red buckle, with criss-crossing lightning bolts also forming an X. She wore long gloves and boots, although her hands were bare. Her hair was short and black, but her ethnicity was impossible to divulge given the orange-hued snake skin that made up her body.

“Welcome to Avalon,” said the woman. “My name’s Ecstasy, and I’ll be your torturer.”

Domnur flinched and Ecstasy smiled. “Do you know anything about hormones, Kachenh?”

The Cambodian woman said nothing.

“See, my mutant power is I can control hormones, the ones in my own body and the ones in the bodies of others,” said Ecstasy. “There’s one that’s really effective, it’s called epinephrine. You might know it better as adrenaline. See, what it does, is it boosts your body’s supply of oxygen and glucose to the brain and muscles and suppresses other bodily functions. Do you know what triggers it?”

Ecstasy flipped the chair around so the back of it faced Domnur. The X-Man sat on the chair, her arms draped over the back as her fingers slowly danced on the Cambodian’s leg.

“Fear,” she said. “And not only can I control this hormone, but I can also detect it. And guess what, little girl? Your adrenaline is so strong, it practically stinks.”

Kachenh Domnur felt a growing warmth between her legs. Her head began to grow light and Ecstasy just watched her with those yellow, serpentine eyes of hers. Suddenly, Ecstasy abruptly removed her hand and Domnur immediately felt the crash.

“Did you like that?” asked Ecstasy.

Domnur was now panting, the arousal she felt from that brief contact unlike anything she had ever felt before. Her head dipped a little and once she recovered from the rush, she looked up at her captor.

“Would you like another taste?”

“P-please…” said Kachenh.

Ecstasy shrugged. “Suit yourself, babe.”

Once again, her fingers slowly danced on Kachenh’s leg. Slowly, the feelings came back, although this time, Kachenh felt her neurotransmitters virtually explode with pain and she cried out.

“Oops,” said Ecstasy, pulling her hand away and covering her mouth in a girlish fashion. “I guess I should have also mentioned that not only can I control hormones to give you pleasure, but also pain as well. But I guess you know that, now. My bad.”

“Wh-what do you want with me?” asked Domnur.

“Should be obvious by now,” said Ecstasy. More pain shot through Domnur’s body and Ecstasy had to shout over the Cambodian’s screams. “I want to know why a mutant would willingly betray her own kind to keep a hell like that prison hidden!”

“AHHHHH!!”

“I can keep this going all night, babe. I can suppress my hunger, I can suppress sleep, and I can do the same to you,” said Ecstasy. “Never tested my limits, but I’m sure I could keep this going nonstop for at least a day or two. You want me to see how far I can push my abilities?”

“N-no… please… I’ll tell you…”

“So do it,” said Ecstasy. “What made you sell your soul to those bastards?”

“It was to save myself… and my family…” said Domnur. “Sometimes, you have to do what’s necessary for your own survival. I wouldn’t expect someone as pampered as you to understand that.”

“Pampered?” asked Ecstasy, anger growing in her voice. “Take a good look at me, you little bitch! What makes you think I’ve led an easy life? I didn’t have anyone from the government give me a free pass.”

She dug her nails into Kachenh’s thigh and the screams echoed throughout Avalon.

TASTES LIKE CHILDREN

Part II

By Chris Munn and Dino Pollard

The State Home For Foundlings
Sage, Nebraska

“Nanny,” said Havok.

Him and his fellow X-Men—Avalanche, Skullfire, Xorn, Lila Cheney, Chamber—stood beside the thief called Gambit, staring at spherical ship suspended in the air by giant spider-legs protruding from the hull.

“And who might that be?” asked Avalanche.

“A psychopath,” said Havok. “Opposed the Right and their experiments on mutants.”

“I fail to see the psychosis there, Havok,” said Xorn.

“Because that was just the start,” said Havok. “She believes all parents of mutants are unfit and her and the aptly-named Orphan-Maker go around killing those parents. We’ve met.”

That last word dripped with venom, Alex Summers recalling how he believed he killed Storm because of Nanny’s machinations. Recalling the despair he felt at his powers lashing out. He and Nanny never had a reckoning and that was about to change.

“I’m staying out here,” said Havok.

“Gambit, he want to be dealt in that game, too,” said the Cajun thief, flicking his wrist to allow a few plastic playing cards to slide into his waiting fingertips.

“Lila, take Chamber and Xorn and pick up Phoenix, then get inside,” said Havok. “Skullfire and Avalanche, you’re out here with Gambit and myself.”

“And here I thought you wanted me to level the place,” said Avalanche.

“Once we’ve taken care of Sinister,” said Havok. “In the meantime, I don’t want any unscheduled demolitions, understand?”

“Yeah, I follow,” said Avalanche.

Lila, Chamber and Xorn vanished into a portal as Nanny and the Orphan-Maker made their descent from the ship. Rings of energy began to surround Havok, the cards in Gambit’s hands glowing a bright pink as he converted the potential energy to kinetic, and as Skullfire’s skin turned to a translucent green, his skeleton became visible while Avalanche held out his hands, already his fingers vibrating.

“My dears, so wonderful to see you again,” said Nanny.

Havok responded by throwing out his arm, a burst of plasma energy firing forth and knocking Nanny several feet back. He walked closer, his eyes crackling with cosmic power. “The feeling’s mutual, you psychotic bitch.”

“YOU LEAVE NANNY ALONE!” shouted the Orphan-Maker, his arms converting into energy cannons that he began firing wildly and erratically.

“Summers, faire se coucher!” shouted Gambit, leaping into Havok and knocking him to the ground, the pair narrowly avoiding Orphan-Maker’s blast.

The ground rose up before Dominic Petros, protecting him from Orphan-Maker’s energy blast. When it fell, Avalanche grinned. “Nice try, kid. Now it’s my turn!”

Vibrations spiraled from the terrorist’s fingertips and stone columns rose around the mutant called Peter, arcing over his body and then falling down upon him in crushing blows.

“See? No need to panic,” said Avalanche.

He heard a rumbling noise and the metal arms of the Orphan-Maker shot through the ground. Peter pulled himself free. His armor completely masked his emotions, but it seemed particularly obvious from his body language that he was far from happy.

“That wasn’t very nice!” he shouted.

“Aww shit…” muttered Avalanche.

Avalon
Genosha

Ecstasy emerged from the room where she had interrogated and nearly collapsed. She felt an unseen force keep her body up. Her eyes looked to the side, expecting to find Jean Grey-Summers, but she was given a surprise by the person she saw instead.

“You were in there for some time,” said Magneto. His purple and red outfit resembled the robes of an emperor, that familiar helmet held under his arm. “Some food has been prepared for you.”

“I’m fine,” said Ecstasy.

“What did you learn?”

“She didn’t know jack,” said Ecstasy, groggily moving past him. “Told me just about every detail of her life, but she couldn’t tell me who was running that hellhole.”

“Pushing your powers to those extremes, it takes a lot out of you,” said Magneto, his gaze following her. “Or is there another reason you feel sick?”

“Y’know, it’s kinda funny to hear the most-famous mutant terrorist lecture me on morality,” said Ecstasy.

“I make no excuses for my past, Stacy,” said Erik Lehnsherr. “But I want you to be aware of the path you’ve embarked on. Remember, as you gaze into the abyss, the abyss gazes into you as well.”

“I’ve read Nietzsche, Alex insisted we do it when he brought us together,” said Stacy. “Now if you don’t mind, I’m gonna take a nap…”

Magneto’s gaze remained on her as she left. In many ways, what Alex was doing was what Erik Lehnsherr fought for during most of his adult life. Another old adage came to mind—be careful what you wish for.

He opened the door and saw Kachenh Domnur unconscious in the chair. Not a single mark adorned her body, no scars whatsoever.

At least, no visible ones. And it made Erik Lehnsherr wonder what scars the X-Man’s soul bore—both before and after today.

Mutant Town
New York

“Here’s what we got,” said Detective Ismael Ortega. “Found dead after a tree exploded out of his back and went through the entire tenement. The city’s still trying to figure out how they’re going to get rid of that. Probably demolish this whole building, nothing but squatters anyway.”

The man dressed in a uniform adorned with an X on the shoulders knelt down and examined the victim. “He wasn’t a mutant though, was he?”

“No,” said Ortega. “We haven’t been able to cut him loose yet, but some blood was taken. Toxicology confirms it.”

“Mutant Growth Hormone,” said the man, sniffing the dried blood on the ground.

“Have to admit, I’m a bit surprised X-Corporation sent someone out here to investigate,” said Ortega.

“Why’s that?” asked the man. His long, black hair was pulled behind his head in a ponytail. His skin possessed a reddish tint.

“Just seems like a bit small for you guys, that’s all,” said Ortega.

James Proudstar focused on the dead man. The X-Corporation credentials were somewhat legitimate, thanks to the X-Men’s connections. But he was sure that if he wasn’t careful, red flags would go up. Last thing he needed was Worthington or worse, his old teammates in X-Corps, joining the investigation.

“MGH can only be engineered from mutant DNA,” said Proudstar. “Which means someone’s abusing a mutant, if not many mutants. That concerns the X-Corporation, Detective.”

“No problem, just making an observation, that’s all,” said Ortega.

“What do we know about this guy?”

“Not a lot, I’m afraid. Quite a few human runaways have found their way to Mutant Town. Attracted by the new mutant glam.”

“So I see,” said Proudstar. He stood and walked past Ortega, making his way to the exit.

“That’s it?” asked Ortega.

“I have everything I need to continue my investigation, Detective,” said Proudstar. “Thank you for your assistance. I’ll take it from here.”

The State Home For Foundlings
Sage, Nebraska

Long, bony gray fingers ending in sickening nails reached into one of the incubation cribs, pulling out the small infant. Free from suspended animation, the child slowly stirred in the monster’s massive hands.

“Yes… that’s it, my child, open your eyes,” said Emplate. “I do so love it when they squirm.”

Upon opening his eyes, the child began to cry, looking into the face of this strange beast. Emplate lifted one of his hands, a mouth in the center of his palm completed with jagged teeth. The mouth stirred, salivating with hunger. Emplate clasped his hand over the child’s stomach and the razor-sharp teeth dug into the baby’s flesh.

The child wailed louder but slowly, the wails began to subside as the baby’s body grew weak, quickly becoming emaciated.

“What are you doing?”

Emplate looked over his shoulder. Dr. Whitt adjusted the wire-rimmed glasses she wore and had a look of annoyance on her face.

“I believe I already told you that you’ve had enough snacks tonight,” she said.

“I need energy if I’m going to hold off the X-Men until our benefactors can arrive,” said Emplate. He dropped the remains of the infant into the crib, now nothing more than a husk of wrinkled flesh and bone. Emplate moved past Whitt, his body coming out of synch with this plane of existence just enough to make him appear invisible to the eye.

Outside the room, Chamber came to a stop. The other three X-Men looked at him in surprise.

“Jono? What’s wrong?” asked Phoenix.

{Something’s not right here…}

“My, my, my… if it isn’t my favorite little snack…” The raspy voice echoed all around the X-Men.

{My telepathy is picking up traces, but nothing solid. What can you tell me, Xorn?} asked Phoenix via a psychic link.

{There’s an odd gravitational flux here,} said Xorn.

{English, please?} asked Lila.

{Someone who exists between dimensions,} said Xorn.

{An’ I think I know who it is,} said Chamber. {Gordon Bennett, thought we were finished with this bastar—}

The form of Emplate suddenly came into view, his hand wrapped around Chamber’s head, lifting the young X-Man into the air. Chamber could feel the fangs beginning to burrow into his forehead.

“Language, Mr. Starsmore,” said Emplate.

“I don’t know who you are, but you’re going to let Chamber go right now,” said Phoenix.

“Of course, my dear,” said Emplate. “I only desired a little taste.”

He hurled the mutant at Rachel Summers, who halted Chamber’s momentum with her telekinesis. The air around Emplate’s chest became distorted as a burst of psionic energy erupted.

Emplate moved through the smoke and debris and as it cleared, he saw the X-Men standing still as if nothing had happened, Lila’s hands glowing.

“You’re not the only one who can move through dimensions, asshole,” said the rock star with a grin.

Phoenix charged forward, the fiery avatar of her namesake surrounding her body. She flew towards Emplate, swiping her hand and the talon of the Phoenix avatar following her movements. The flames seemed to pass through the monster with no physical effect, but inside, Emplate’s mind flooded with pain.

He recovered quickly, leaping into Phoenix’s avatar and gripping her throat. The fangs dug into her flesh. “You seem like a delicious little morsel, Rachel,” he said. “Not as strong as your mother, but I suppose you’ll do before I can find my way to Genosha to devour her.”

A burst of solar energy knocked Emplate free from Rachel. The Phoenix fell to the ground, where Lila helped her to her feet. Xorn hovered past the pair, literally walking on air. Beneath the metal helmet he wore, the energies of the star that made up his brain crackled brightly, illuminating the room.

“Have you ever heard of Samudaya?” asked Xorn.

Emplate offered no response, simply tried to return the attack with the psionic energies he absorbed from Chamber and Phoenix. The energies seemed to vanish inside Xorn, moving into a miniature black hole he had opened before him. The gravitational force of the black hole began to suck Emplate towards him.

“Samudaya states that the source of all suffering on this earth is desire,” said Xorn. “You are sick with desire, my friend. My name is Xorn, I can heal you.”

Emplate dug his claws into the floorboards, trying to hold his ground as he felt his body being sucked towards the small black hole. Behind Xorn, Phoenix held herself, Chamber and Lila at bay with her telekinesis, anchoring them to the ground.

{Xorn, stop this!} she shouted telepathically.

{Is this not what we are now, Rachel?} asked Xorn.

{It’s no good if you kill us as well! If you keep this up, that black hole will grow unstable and take all of us with it!}

For a few moments, Xorn seemed to ignore Phoenix’s pleas. But then, the gravitational forces began to subside before they were gone entirely and the hole was closed.

“You should have killed us all when you had the chance,” said Emplate. “You’ll wish you had.”

Outside, Skullfire moved to the center of the battle, exchanging his radioactive energy bolts with the energy cannons of the Orphan-Maker. Avalanche aided his new teammate as best he could, keeping the Orphan-Maker off-balance, literally, and rendering his aim useless.

Havok and Gambit moved towards the puppet master, however. Havok unleashed another plasma burst, but this time Nanny defended herself with a repulsor field. Rockets fired from her egg-shaped body, which Havok easily vaporized.

Gambit moved around, trying to sneak up on the cyborg from behind. Nanny could sense his presence, however, and spun at the final moment, a chemical spray emitting from her body. “I think someone needs to be a bit less disagreeable, don’t you?” she asked.

The “pixie-dust” in conjunction with Nanny’s own low-level telepathy should have been enough for Gambit to fall under her control and regress his mind to a childlike state. For a moment, the Cajun’s eyes seemed to glaze over.

“Nanny…?” he said in a slightly higher voice. He walked to her side and Nanny turned to Havok.

“That’s a good boy,” she said. Her finger pointed to Havok. “Now, if you could take care of this naughty child.”

“Yes, Nanny,” said Gambit. He rose his staff, and began to charge it, prepared to hurl it like a javelin.

“Gambit…” said Havok, the energy encircling his hands.

Gambit did not throw the staff, however. Instead, he slammed it against Nanny’s hide and leaped away as it exploded. Havok went to the thief’s side as Gambit stood from the crouch he landed in.

“What was that about?” asked Havok.

“Derivatif,” replied Gambit with a smirk. “Gambit, his powers make it difficult to control his mind.”

“That… wasn’t very nice… I think someone needs a time-out…” said Nanny, beginning to rise from the attack when an energy burst struck her again. Gambit and Havok looked up and prepared themselves for a new attack.

“Dit mon la verite…” muttered Gambit.

[X-Men, we have you surrounded! Stand down and surrender immediately!]

Surrounding the orphanage were armed soldiers as well as a few robots, about three stories tall, purple and red.

“Sentinels…” muttered Avalanche.

“What’s the verdict, boss?” asked Skullfire.

“Good question…” said Havok.