Sandstorm
Egypt

A single klaxon sounded over the loudspeaker. All the inhabitants of the secret black site prison facility known as Sandstorm knew exactly what this meant—morning had begun. And before breakfast would be served, the prisoners were required to head to the gathering hall, where they would be led in a group prayer session.

Once the cell doors opened, the prisoners filed out and lined up. Each of them wore orange jumpsuits and collars around their necks, with blinking lights indicating that the dampening effect of the collars were in effect, rendering the mutant prisoners powerless.

Dominic Petros stood at the head of the line. Bruises lined his body and his face. Behind him was Stacy Leevald, followed by Alex Roberts. When his nuclear powers were active, his skin appeared translucent and a black skeleton could be seen through the green glow. But now, he was just a regular young man.

“Hey, you.”

Alex peered over his shoulder. A beautiful woman with platinum blond hair smiled at him. “You’re him, ain’tcha?”

“‘Him’?”

“Yeah, the guy who took everything the warden gave. Heard everything you said to him,” she said. “Wanted you to know that when the shit hits the fan, I’ve got your back.”

“And who are you?” asked Alex.

“Name’s Siena,” she said.

“We’ll both have your back, handsome.”

Alex looked at the new voice that entered the conversation. A woman with light-blue skin, flowing white hair, and bright red eyes. “I’m Vanessa. You can count on me, too.”

Alex smiled at this. Two beautiful women now ready to follow his lead. An elbow jabbed him in his back and he turned around. Stacy glared at him. “Hey Romeo, keep it down, okay? Last thing we need is an excuse for these fascists to go to town on us.”

“Why’s it just us?” asked Alex. “Don’t see any of the others.”

“Rachel’s probably still in her coma,” said Dominic. “As for the rest, warden probably got a bit too forceful with the interrogations. Don’t count on them comin’ outta their rooms any time soon.”

“What’s our escape plan?” asked Alex.

Dominic scoffed. “First time on the inside, kid? There ain’t no escape plan. Not yet.”

“What do you mean? What about Magneto?”

Stacy stomped on his foot and Alex cringed. “What was that for?”

“Ix-nay on the Agnus-may, moron. We don’t want ‘em goin’ full-on invasion in you-know-where, do we?”

“So what, we just put up with this?” asked Alex.

“That’s exactly what you do ’til you hear different from me, kid,” said Dominic. “This ain’t my first rodeo. We wait until we have an opportunity. Be smart and plan it out. We know our caped buddy won’t be helping out, so we’re on our own.”

“What about Jono?”

“He was lucky he was off on a back-from-the-dead reunion with his old buddies when we got pinched,” said Stacy. “An’ if he’s got any sense, he’ll turn that luck into a permanent vacation.”

“Bottom line is we can’t count on any outside help,” said Dominic. “We don’t got many friends on the outside, and the ones we do have probably don’t know where we are or would have to be stupid to come after us.”

Undisclosed Location

“You must be completely stupid,” said John Allerdyce.

“That was actually part of the job description for British intelligence, mate,” said Pete Wisdom. “‘Wanted: Stunningly-handsome, morally-flexible super-spy. Must be absolutely fucking daft and have no sense of self-preservation.’”

Wisdom stood at the head of a wooden table. Flanking him on either side were the two women who helped him put this operation together. On his right was Elisabeth Braddock—a British psychic in the body of a Japanese assassin and his on-again, off-again lover. On his right was Tessa Hartley, a living computer and, until recently, the Mutant Underground’s mole in Sebastian Shaw’s Hellfire Club. In addition to Allerdyce, a former author turned fire-manipulating terrorist, was also Jean Philippe, a genetically-engineered super-soldier and world-class thief. The final member was Calvin Rankin, a man who could copy the powers of any mutant in the vicinity, and permanently granted the abilities of the original five X-Men.

“Right, so let’s go over it again, make sure we have all our ducks in a row,” said Wisdom. “Tessa will run EVAC and surveillance from our getaway vehicle. She’ll black out the site with an EMP. From there, Mimic will blast his way in. Pyro, Fantomex and myself will lay down cover fire, all while Lizzy locates and locks onto our targets for rescue.”

“I’ve got a question,” said Calvin. “Why can’t Psylocke just teleport in and grab the X-Men one-by-one?”

“Because we don’t have a complete lay-out of the prison,” said Betsy. “And even if we did, we have no way of knowing which cells hold the X-Men and which don’t.”

“More than that, the X-Men have been dealt a major blow after Washington. We need to eradicate this prison to send a message,” said Tessa. “It will make future Strykers think twice before they declare war on us.”

“There’s something you all need to know before we move on,” said Wisdom. “This is a black site. It’s only due to recent legislation that we have any inclination that these places exist. Although they’re off-the-record, places like this and Iron Hell have been around for some time. We will be breaking a lot of laws—American, Egyptian, and international—by doing this.”

“In other words, a lot of people won’t be too pleased,” said Jean Philippe.

Wisdom smirked. “That’s one way of putting it. Another would be to say they’d be right fucking pissed.”

“And if we run into any hitches?” asked Allerdyce.

“Then we kill our way out with as many of our mates as we can.”

Allerdyce grinned. “I like your style, Wisdom.”

“Stick around, then,” said Wisdom. “We only get one shot. If we bollocks this up, chances are any survivors will either be moved to another prison or be killed in a way that can only be described as deeply pornographic. So everyone stay on-mission, got it?”

FOREVER ENDEAVOR

Part III

By Dino Pollard

Sandstorm

As they passed by the guards into the gathering hall, Dominic spoke to one of the guards. “I’m starving. When the hell are you gonna feed us?”

“Breakfast will be served only after a well-behaved prayer meeting, genejoke,” said the guard.

“Right,” muttered Dominic. He filed into the gathering hall with the other prisoners. On the stage, high enough from the ground so none of the inmates could attempt to rush it, the warden approached the podium.

“Today’s prayer meeting is a special one,” said Ahmet Abdol. “The Reverend Stryker and some of his Nephilim have made a special pilgrimage to visit you this day.”

He stepped away from the podium, making way for Stryker. The reverend wore a white suit with black shirt and a priest’s collar. He flashed the bright smile that he brought out for the talk shows these days as he came up to the podium. Following him were several members of the Nephilim. Including the most-recent addition.

“Sonnuva bitch…” muttered Dominic. “You seein’ this, Stacy?”

“Yeah, I see it.” Stacy’s tiny fists clenched in anger. “Fuckin’ traitor had the nerve to show his face here.”

Alex Roberts was silent, just watched and let the rage inside him seethe. On the stage, with the rest of the Nephilim, was Alex Summers—the X-Men’s former leader, Havok. He remained stoic, standing with his arms crossed over his chest and a grin on his face. He no longer wore the red and black uniform that identified him with the X-Men, but instead wore a variation of his classic black and white containment suit, but without the mask.

“My brothers and sisters,” said Stryker. “You are blessed to be here. It was in these very lands where the true fight for equality began. The Book of Exodus tells us that Moses saw the persecution of his people and led them away from certain death. Like you, they were killed for who they were. Like him, I know the path to lead you from the desert. Brothers and sisters, I can lead you to salvation and safety.

“It’s not necessarily easy. First, you must renounce Satan. You must accept that you are his perversion of humanity, created to circumvent the Will of God. But while the Lord’s vengeance knows no bounds, neither does his compassion. He has forgiven others and He will forgive you as well, you only need to let him. And you have it easier than Moses and his people, for you won’t need to wander the desert for forty years. All you have to do is join me. Accept Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior. Welcome Him into your heart. Pray for forgiveness for the dark gifts you have embraced.”

Stryker gestured to the mutants gathered behind him. “My Nephilim, loyal soldiers in God’s Army, have already done this. Their souls are saved, their place in Heaven is guaranteed. Join us, and together, we shall lead all of mutanity out of the desert of oppression and sin.”

Ever since puberty, when the tiny star in his brain activated, Kuan-Yin Xorn couldn’t see, hear, smell, or taste. Having your entire head save for your skull vaporized by your own body made it somewhat difficult. But his powers gave him a different way of perceiving the world. And for the first time since then, he was truly blind and deaf.

They tried to torture him. But it was useless. With his powers inhibited, the star that acted as his brain lay dormant. Anything they tried, Xorn just sat there, motionless, not reacting in the slightest. Ironically enough, the very thing that enabled them to keep him imprisoned also prevented them from discerning any information from him.

But now, the lights had dimmed. As did the lights on his inhibitor collar. And as they dimmed, the star within Xorn’s helmet slowly began to emit a faint, blue glow. And as it did, Xorn felt his conciousness restoring, like awakening from a deep sleep.

“Shen…?” Xorn stepped off the cot he laid on. He spoke, but in Chinese, not English. “It’s been so long. Of course I know what I’m doing, you should not question me on these things.”

He looked around the darkened cell, perceiving things in ways no human senses could. And now when he spoke, it was in English. “No, this isn’t your doing, Shen. This is someone else…I can feel disturbances in the electromagnetic field… A pulse…”

{It’s been a long time, Kuan-Yin.}

The voice echoed in his head. Xorn saw movement in the shadows, and now there was a lithe figure in the room with him, with a glowing red mark over her left eye. Slowly, she came into tighter focus, a woman with long, purple hair.

“Psylocke, indeed it has,” said Xorn.

Psylocke offered her hand. “I’ll need your help to heal your teammates.”

Once the pulse hit, the gathering hall went into chaos. It was then that a crimson burst of energy burst through the ceiling, followed by sand pouring in. Mimic blasted his way through, a telekinetic bubble clearing the path for him, as well as Pyro, Fantomex and Wisdom.

The darkness was broken by Pyro’s flame-throwers, causing small bursts of fire to turn into flaming replicas of the guards at Buckingham Palace. They lined up against the walls, standing tall and firm like their templates and providing plenty of illumination. Once Avalanche saw his old teammate, he went towards him.

“Pyro, you kangaroo-eatin’ bastard! I heard you were dead!”

“Just MIA for a bit, Dom,” said Pyro with a grin.

“Stop them!” shouted Stryker to the Nephilim.

“Sir, you need to get to safety,” said Havok, pushing Stryker to the side. He approached the edge of the stage, balling his fists, the cosmic energy building up inside him, concentric circles emanating from his hands. He threw his arms out, powerful bursts of plasma energy rocketing from his knuckles.

“Hey boss, think we got some trouble,” said Mimic.

“Certainly seems that way,” said Wisdom.

“I take it you’re on our side, Petey?” asked Ecstasy.

“Always, love.”

The Orphan-Maker stepped forward, raising his arms and the guns equipped into his armor. He fired off bursts of energy in rapid succession. “You broke the ceiling! You attacked a priest! You’re bad people, I don’t like you very much!”

Fantomex flipped, avoiding the energy bursts. He got to some cover, ducking behind an overturned table, followed by Ecstasy. Upon noticing his former teammate, he smiled at her. “Been a while.”

“Seriously, what’ve you been up to?” she asked.

Fantomex shrugged as he readied his guns. “Robbing from the rich, giving to the needy.”

“Needy, huh? Never figured for the altruistic type,” said Ecstasy.

“Actually, it’s all for me. I need a lot of things.” Fantomex popped up from cover, firing several rounds from his handguns and ducked down again. “You wouldn’t believe what they’re charging for caviar and Dom Perignon these days. And they call me a criminal. How about you?”

“Y’know, life as a mutant terrorist. Work, work, work,” said Ecstasy.

“Sounds exhausting,” said Fantomex.

The Orphan-Maker approached them, but suddenly, he was surrounded by a ring of fire. Then, the ground rose up, slamming into him from different directions. “IT’S NOT NICE TO PLAY WITH FIRE!”

“You hear that, Pyro? Apparently it’s not nice to play with fire,” said Avalanche.

“Go figure. I suppose that’s why no one ever accused me of being nice, eh mate?” asked Pyro.

Avalanche smiled. “Me neither. Tag-team?”

Pyro nodded. The two terrorists combined their powers, and flaming pillers jutted out from the ground, slamming into the Orphan-Maker from all directions, almost all at once. As the two old friends laughed over their dominion of their opponent, suddenly they were thrown apart by an invisible force.

Madelyne Pryor hovered between them. Her body was surrounded by the flaming avatar of the Phoenix, keeping both Avalanche and Pyro pinned to opposite walls. “Y’know boys, take it from a woman—the whole bromance thing is really a turn-off.”

“How ‘bout a four-way then?” asked Mimic, his wings holding him aloft behind her. Madelyne turned to him and chuckled.

“Really? You think you’re going to pose a challenge?” she asked.

Mimic waved one of his hands, and a flaming talon surrounded it, striking Madelyne and sending her flying. “They don’t call me Mimic for nothing, you dumb bitch.”

The Overrider sat on his hovercraft, trying to reactivate the collars on all the prionsers. If he could get the collars working again, that would be all the edge the Nephilim needed to take control of the situation. Bullets cut through the air, striking his craft and throwing him tumbling off. Fantomex stood watching, his guns pointed at the Overrider. But then it was Ecstasy who came between the pair, tackling Overrider to the ground.

“Think we’re gonna have some issues if you re-activate those things.” She tore his mask off and clamped her hand onto his face. She threw his senses into overdrive, and the Overrider experienced a multitude of different sensatons. He went from orgasm to agony and cycled between all those in-between, on a constant loop.

Wisdom moved for Havok, the two of them standing as if they were at a Mexican stand-off. Both men held their arms down at their sides. Havok’s fists were clenched, the rings of plasma energy flowing around them. Wisdom’s fingers were extended, growing longer and thinner, turning white-hot as they did.

“What brought you here anyway, Wisdom?”

Wisdom cocked a brow. “You mean you don’t know? Guess Pryor did a number on you. Summers men always did have a weakness for redheads.”

“Maddie’s got no power over me,” said Havok. “I’m in my own mind.”

“Something tells me you’re not lying,” said Wisdom. “But you’re not being honest, either.”

Havok fired a plasma blast. Wisdom jumped to the side to avoid it, hurling his white-hot knives as he did. And the battle between the two mutant leaders was joined.

Xorn blew open the door to Rachel’s cell. He raised her comatose body from her cot, hovering her over to them, joining with Psylocke and Warpath, whom they had just liberated. Xorn held her in his power carefully as Psylocke did a quick telepathic inspection of her.

“What’s the verdict?” asked Warpath.

“She’s okay. This is a self-imposed psychic coma. Once she gets to familiar ground, she’ll probably come out of it shortly,” said Psylocke. “I can sense Gambit and Lila nearby as well. The others are in the hall and—ARGH!”

“Psylocke?” asked Xorn.

Psylocke’s face contorted, like she was gripped by a massive migraine. She rubbed her temples with one hand, while waving for the others to continue without her with her other. She could sense someone else in here, another figure on the Astral Plane.

“I was surprised to find another telepath so powerful in here, and without a collar,” said her opponent. He was a chubby man of Southeast Asian descent and dressed in a military uniform.

“Who are you?” asked Psylocke.

“Once I was a student, of none other than Amahl Farouk,” he said. “But these days, I am called the Headmaster.”

“Amahl Farouk? Really?” Psylocke smirked. “I flogged the Shadow King. Forgive me if I’m not impressed. So what is your agenda, little man? Are you a prisoner?” Psylocke paused, using her powers to sense where the Headmaster was emanating from. “No…you’re a guest. You’ve been possessing Stryker, haven’t you?”

“For some time now,” said the Headmaster. “Do you really think a zealot like Stryker would believe any mutant capable of salvation?”

“I admit, it seemed a bit far-fetched,” said Psylocke. “So what’s your goal? And how is Alex Summers involved?”

The Headmaster smiled. “My dear, do you really think I’ll reveal my true purpose to you?”

Psylocke watched him carefully, trying to skirt around the edges of his defenses. “Of course. You may call yourself the Headmaster, but really you’re still just a student. Only now, you have a different master, don’t you?”

The Headmaster moved for a strike, but suddenly fell to the ground. “What is this?”

“Headmaster?” asked Psylocke, suddenly surprise overtaking her. “What’s happening?”

Stryker was crouched in his hiding spot, as the Headmaster engaged in his psychic confrontation with Psylocke. As such, he was vulnerable to outside attack. Which made him surprised when suddenly, his body was raised into the air. Hovering near him was the form of Siena Blaze, smiling at her.

“Hold on, Padre. You’re part of the show.”

She threw him out into the center of the podium, right at the feet of another figure. Alex Roberts, now with his powers restored, had transformed his body back into the form of Skullfire. He grinned down at Stryker.

“That was a really beautiful story, Bill—can I call you Bill? That whole Moses thing.” Skullfire grabbed Stryker and hefted him off the ground. “And you were right—there is someone who will lead mutanity from persecution. But it certainly won’t be a flatscan like you. And we aren’t running. No, we’re going to wipe your people off the Earth like scraping dog shit off my heel.”

“Wait…you don’t understand…” pleaded ‘Stryker’.

“I’m your god now, Billy. And it’s time to experience that whole ‘Lake of Fire’ thing firsthand…in a manner of speaking.”

Skullfire’s hand pulsed with nuclear energy and Stryker’s body began to glow. His flesh began to bubble and sizzle, burning off his bones. Stryker’s screams echoed throughout the hall during the entire ordeal and Skullfire just laughed as it happened.

“NO!” screamed Havok, moving in for a strike. But an electromagnetic blast from Siena Blaze threw him back. Skullfire discarded the charred skeleton that remained of Stryker and turned his attentions to his former leader.

“You’re even worse, you Uncle Tom piece of shit!” Skullfire unleashed his nuclear powers on Havok. “You just aren’t strong enough to stand up and be yourself, are you? So die!”

“Stop!” shouted Wisdom, hurling several of his white-hot daggers, but they made no impact. A hand fell on his shoulder and he spun, prepared to strike. Instead, he just saw Psylocke behind him.

“We have to get out of here now,” she said. “There was more going on here than we knew. And if we don’t leave now, we may be trapped.”

Wisdom nodded, giving a final glance to Skullfire and Havok, before disappearing into Psylocke’s shadow-portal with Pyro, Mimic, Fantomex, Avalanche, and Ecstasy. Skullfire continued bathing Havok in nuclear energy, until he heard his name being called. Intensifying his blast, Skullfire shocked Havok’s burnt body into a charred husk, blackened beyond recognition. He turned and saw Siena Blaze and Copycat, holding U-Go-Girl captive.“We got a convert, boss,” said Copycat, a little surprised, and pleased, by how quickly her new leader had done away with the powerful Summers brother.

“This was all a scam from day one, okay?” said Edie Sawyer. “You promise not to kill me, I’ll tell you whatever you wanna know.”

Skullfire nodded, then turned away. “But first, let’s leave this place a smoking crater. As a message…”

Genosha

Magneto was surprised by word of sudden activity from within the abandoned airfield that had served as the headquarters of the X-Men before they were captured in Washington. And now with Jean in New York, his duties had become even more crucial. But he was able to manage a personal visit out to the site. And once he arrived, he found Xorn, Warpath, Gambit, and Lila Cheney. Lying on a bed, comatose, was Rachel.

“What’s the situation?” asked Magneto.

“‘Not good’ would be an understatement,” said Lila.

“There’s a lot t’ fill you in on, Magnus,” said Gambit.

Undisclosed Location

Ahmet Abdol reviewed the footage taken from Sandstorm. Overrider was at least able to get those running again before he was taken down. And only one part was important, that of Skullfire killing Havok. He watched this footage with a wide grin plastered over his face. This would serve his purposes nicely.

A knock came on the door and Abdol stopped the video. “Enter.”

A young man in a military uniform entered. “Excuse me, sir. You asked to see me?”

Abdol ejected the disc containing the movie and handed it to the soldier. “Yes. I want you to make sure this gets into the hand of every major news network.”

“Yes sir, but what is it?” asked the soldier.

NEXT: The All-New, All-Deadly X-Men!