Australian Outback

To many, Erik Lehnsherr was a ticking time bomb. A genetic terrorist who wanted nothing more than the extermination of the entire human race. And now, in a position of leadership of the island nation of Genosha, the man who had come to be known as Magneto seemed more dangerous than ever.

One large part of that is because he has been harboring a group of mutant terrorists called the X-Men. Although there is no evidence to prove that Magneto has sanctioned the terrorist X-Men, suspicion is a very powerful thing. Recently, things became even more strained when another group of X-Men led by Storm attacked Genosha, followed immediately by a Sentinel strike.

This attack prompted Havok, the X-Men’s leader, to investigate other potential locations for the X-Men’s base of operations. The obvious choice was a town in the Australian Outback that once served as a base for the X-Men in the past, as well as recently for one of the X-Corps’ factions.

Since it was on Magneto’s behalf that Havok sought out a new home, Magneto felt responsibility once Havok and his teammates, Phoenix and Avalanche, lost contact with Genosha. That was why the Master of Magnetism currently hovered above the sands of the Outback base.

“You find anything else?”

The question came from James Proudstar, the X-Man called Warpath. He had recently been stationed at this base when he was a member of X-Corps. That, plus his tracking abilities, made him the ideal candidate to accompany Magneto on this mission.

“There are lingering traces of electromagnetic radiation,” said Magneto. “Those traces would not still be present if this base was indeed in disuse since X-Corps’ departure.”

“Meaning someone turned on the lights recently,” said Warpath. “But the way the trail just stops, think whoever’s got Alex and the others used a teleporter?”

Magneto shook his head. “If they had, there would be some lingering trace I could detect. But I sense nothing of that nature.”

“So that means they’re still here.”

“And I will tear this town apart in order to find them.”

“Hold up on that, Mags,” said Warpath. “Better if we got the element of surprise on our side. We don’t know who or what we’re going up against, or how many of them there are. Besides, if you go through like a wrecking ball, that pretty much makes this place useless for us.”

Magneto hesitated for a moment. His zeal to find his missing allies did blind him to the consequences of such a full-scale assault. “You’re right, James. I’ll locate the core, seems that’s our only lead at the moment.”

“I’ll stay above ground, see if I can pick up the trail again,” said Warpath.

STRICKEN

By Chris Munn and Dino Pollard

Dominic Petros grunted as he shifted on the hard, metal floor. He just awoke to find his body incredibly stiff. His hands moved to his silver helmet, sliding it off his head. Rachel Summers, who sat in the corner of the cell they shared, just stared at him.

“Man…I haven’t felt this bad since the morning after my cousin’s wedding in Athens.” He caught sight of Rachel sitting nearby. “Word to the wise, Red—never challenge an old Greek woman to an ouzo-drinking contest.”

“I’ll keep that in mind,” said Rachel.

Avalanche glanced around the small room a second time. “Where’s the other Summers?”

“Good question,” said Rachel. “I only woke up about ten minutes ago myself. You were the only other person in here.”

“I was jumped by a Reaver,” said Avalanche. “But he wasn’t the same as the last time I fought ‘im.”

“I know. Upgraded with Sentinel tech,” said Rachel. “X-Corps went up against them a while back, apparently AIM messed around with them a bit.”

“So what do they want? Thought no one was using this place.”

“X-Corps managed to chase them off. Why they’re back is anyone’s guess.”

“Seem a little coincidental they show up at the same time as us?” asked Avalanche.

Rachel nodded. “That thought occurred to me.”

“Well, we’ve wasted enough time in here. Avalanche got to his feet and placed his palms against the wall of the cell. Nothing happened. He looked down at his hands in surprise, and then tried once more. His mutant power to generate vibrations was somehow blocked.

“They’ve got a dampening field on the cell. My powers have been blocked as well,” said Rachel.

“So what now? Think Havok’s still running loose?”

“We can only hope.”

Warpath approached the pile of rubble and began sifting through it. Avalanche’s scent was here, so that meant this was definitely his doing. Just like before, he also picked up the mingling scent of another, a cyborg.

While Warpath was stationed here with X-Corps, he encountered the Reavers. Their technology upgraded by AIM, they proved to be quite formidable. James had hoped it wasn’t them, but the evidence was undeniable. They must have taken the base back after X-Corps was shut down.

The Apache mutant detected a new scent in the area. Moving with the incredible speed granted by his mutant abilities, he drew one of the vibranium daggers sheathed behind his back, turned and hurled it with deadly accuracy. The blade struck the Reaver called Macon in the shoulder. It threw off the cyborg’s aim and bullets from his rifle shot up in an arc.

Warpath charged into Macon, jamming an elbow in the Reaver’s chest. He drew his second dagger and slashed with it. Macon was quick enough to duck this strike and shot off an energy blast from the device in his palm right into Warpath’s chest.

Proudstar flew in the air, but quickly reoriented himself and landed in a crouch. He took off in another run, dodging past Macon’s bullets. Metal tendrils shot out from Macon’s chest and Warpath tried his best to avoid them. He held out his arm as one of the tendrils wrapped around it. Warpath gripped the tendril, summoning up all the strength he could muster to use it against Macon.

The Reaver just smiled as thousands of volts of electricity traveled through the tendril, right into Warpath’s body. He fell limp, only the tendril holding him up. Macon retracted the tendril, causing Warpath to collapse at his feet. He slung his rifle over his shoulder and hefted the mutant over his shoulder.

“One heavy bastard, aren’t you?” muttered Macon. He opened a communications channel. “Cole, I bagged another X-Man. Looks like Summers has some back-up. Keep your eyes open.”

“Roger that,” said Cole as he patrolled the tunnels beneath the town. His sensors were scanning the area in a wide radius, but he was picking up some sort of interference. He thought he detected something, but it was difficult to pinpoint.

Cole readied his rifle and stepped carefully. Whenever he came to a corner, he was cautious before turning, ensuring no one was there. He approached the power core.

“Hey Reese, did you turn the core back on after we bagged the mind witch?”

“That’s a negative. Why?”

“‘Cause it’s back on n—”

Cole’s entire body froze in mid-sentence.

“Cole? You reading me?”

Cole couldn’t respond, his body beginning to hover off the ground. Slowly he was turned around and he found himself face-to-face with the Master of Magnetism himself. Magneto glared at the cyborg, his helmet keeping his face shadowed—save for the electromagnetic energy that burned brightly in his eyes. He held his hand out in a fist.

“I will make this simple, Reaver—you tell me where I can find the X-Men and I’ll consider not ridding your flesh of the cybernetics which perpetuate the miserable existence you call a life.”

Cole spat, the saliva striking Magneto’s helmet. “Do your worst.”

“As you wish.”

Magneto opened his fist and as his fingers outstretched, Cole felt the metal parts of his cybernetic body tear free from what remained of his flesh. Bolts and rivets fired off with the force of bullets and cables were stretched to their breaking point and then pulled even further until they split. The unholy screech of metal being sheared from metal echoed in the corridors of the underground complex.

Still, Cole refused to scream, refused to give the mutant scum the satisfaction of knowing how much pain he was in.

Blood and motor oil stained the floor as the remains of Cole’s body were dropped on the stainless steel. His eyes were open and vacant, parts of his cybernetic body still twitching from what little power still coursed through what was left.

Macon approached the entrance of the room which they had set up for their interrogation. Reese stood outside the door and held his hand held to his ear and was speaking over the com-link.

“Cole? Cole, do you read?”

He sighed and fixed his attention on Macon. The Reaver dropped Warpath’s unconscious body on the ground, landing right near Reese’s feet.

“Cole’s not responding,” said Reese.

“Guess this redskin didn’t come alone.” Macon kicked Warpath in the ribs for emphasis. He nodded to the closed door. “The boss still in there?”

“Yup. Not sure what’s takin’ so long, though,” said Reese. “But looks like we’ve got trouble here, so we’ve gotta let him know what’s what.”

Reese rapped on the door a few times. He waited patiently for a couple of moments before the door opened. The man who stood in the open doorway had a shock of white hair and wore a priest’s collar. He was the Reverend William Stryker, a priest who preached that mutants were demonic entities sent from Hell.

“Come in, my brothers,” he said, holding the door open. Reese and Macon entered the room and saw Havok lying on the ground. His face was bruised and his hands were still bound in shackles that sapped the cosmic energy that powered his plasma blasts.

Stryker wiped blood from his hands with a white face cloth, which quickly became stained with crimson streaks.

“We got a problem,” said Macon. “I found another X-Man while I was patrolling the town.”

“And?” asked Stryker.

“I took him down, but I don’t think he’s alone,” said Macon.

“We’ve lost contact with Cole,” said Reese. “And my scanners have picked up an unusually high level of electromagnetic energy.”

“‘And it was given unto him to make war with the saints, and to overcome them: and power was given him over all kindreds, and tongues, and nations,’” said Stryker. “The Beast has come to this place.”

“What do we do now?” asked Macon.

“Distract him.” Stryker glanced down at Havok and dropped the cloth on his face. “My work here is done for the moment. I have places I must be.”

Avalanche tapped his fingers in succession against his knee as he watched Rachel sit in a meditative state. He sat against the wall of the cell, his head resting on the metal and sighed.

“What the hell are you doing anyway?” he asked.

Rachel Summers gave no response. She just remained oblivious to his questions. About ten minutes ago, she went into this state and hadn’t come out of it. Avalanche stood and began pacing around the cell. He flexed his fingers, trying to see if he could conjure up at least some fraction of his power. Of course it was futile and he knew that even before he tried.

“C’mon Red, if we’re stuck here together, might as well make the most of it. Why don’t you tell me your life story? Maybe I’ll finally be able to make sense of the Summers fucked-up family tree.”

Rachel’s eyes opened suddenly, but they were not their usual green. Instead, they burned like flames and the avatar of the Phoenix appeared over her right one. Her voice began to echo inside his mind.

{You talk too much, Dominic.}

Avalanche nearly messed his pants at this revelation. “How the hell—”
The Phoenix hovered from her seated lotus position, her body stretching out and she gestured to the wall. Molecule by molecule, it disassembled before them, leaving an opening into the corridor.

{It’s time to go.}

“Uhh yeah…whatever you say…” muttered Avalanche. He slid his helmet back on and followed Rachel into the corridor.

The Phoenix hovered above the ground, moving extremely purposefully. An aura of psionic flames surrounded her body. Avalanche had no idea what just happened or how she was able to overcome the dampener field. Whatever the case, now that he was outside the cell too, he could feel the vibrations of his own power coursing through his body once more.

They eventually came upon Warpath lying unconscious and unattended. Phoenix looked down at him and whispered into his mind, {it’s time to wake up now, James.}

Warpath stirred and slowly his eyelids rose. He looked up in surprise at Rachel as he got to his feet. “And here I thought I was supposed to rescue you.”

{Next time,} she said with a smile. She turned to the door and it crumbled under the stare of the Phoenix avatar. Havok was awake now and struggling against his shackles.

“I could use a hand here,” he said.

“Got it, boss.” Avalanche walked over and placed his palms on the shackles. They were quickly reduced to dust.

Havok flexed his fingers, rubbing his wrists. “Thanks.” He closed his fist and the plasma energy caused it to glow bright white with small, concentric circles emanating out. “Now just point me in the direction of the Reavers.”

Macon and Reese stepped out onto the sand-dusted roads of the ghost town, holding their weapons at the ready. Not far from them, hovering in the air, was Magneto. He stared down at them and just grinned as the two cyborgs opened fire on him.

Magneto held out his hand and the bullets slowed to a stop right before him. He flicked his hand back and the bullets moved in reverse at an even faster rate of speed. The two Reavers went for cover as Magneto came closer to them.

“Metal weapons against the Master of Magnetism—you never learn.” Magneto clicked his tongue. “No wonder we’re called homo superior.”

The ground suddenly opened up in a wide rift and the other X-Men rose out on a wave of earth. Once they were on solid ground again, Magneto lowered himself down to their level. He noticed the bruises on Havok’s face then reached out with his powers to freeze Macon and Reese in place.

“Alex, would you care to do the honors?”

“Don’t mind if I do, Erik,” said Havok. Concentric circles emanated, growing ever larger, from his fists and chest. Alex Summers held his arms out and braced his legs against the ground as he channeled the cosmic energy in his body in the form of an incredible burst of plasma energy.

Bits and pieces of machinery were all that was left of the two Reavers, trickling down like raindrops. Magneto gestured to the refurbished train car he used to bring Warpath to this place. It rose into the air and he laid it down carefully in front of the X-Men.

“This isn’t over,” said Havok, glancing at Magneto. “They were working for Stryker.”

Magneto nodded in understanding. “We’ll find him.”

“And once we do, he’s mine,” said Havok.

Randall Kitson stroked his chin as he watched the footage play on his laptop. It was smuggled out of Genosha, footage of the recent Sentinel attack there. Kitson was a bounty hunter hired by the Leevald family to find their missing daughter, Stacy. She disappeared two years ago after joining a mutant theatre troupe.

Through Kitson’s contacts, he discovered that the so-called Theatre of Change was a front. Rumor had it the X-Men shut them down. Whether or not that was true is something Kitson still planned to discover. But now his lead on the whereabouts of Stacy Leevald was the X-Men.

That led him to the Genoshan footage. He paused the video, then went back several frames. One of the women involved in the Sentinel attack was dressed in clothing that displayed her snake-like orange skin. It could simply be a coincidence, reptilian mutations weren’t exactly uncommon.

But the man who called himself Lockdown now had a firm, solid lead on his prey.

Australian Outback

The remains of the Reavers sat still for a long time after the X-Men departed. Once several hours of being exposed to the sun had passed, Reese’s eyes suddenly lit up. Cables extended from his severed head, connecting to other parts of his body.

Macon’s body did the same, the parts beginning to reform together, linking back up and bringing the cybernetic systems online once more…

NEXT: The Lord’s Ammunition