'A little more than kin, and less than kind.' - William Shakespeare, Hamlet, Act 1, Scene 2

He entered the main area of the citadel.

The intruder had disturbed many alarms, but not detected them. Either the intruder was a fool or supremely confident in his abilities. However, the base villain considered himself, he was wrong and it would be proven so. Everything seemed as it had been left, though there was definitely something awry... but what?

His long hair flowed down his back, and the yellow energy that leaked from his eyes, cut a light in the darkness, highlighting the redness of his skin. His psionic prowess would reveal the intruder to him. He had taken to wearing the uniform of Magneto's chief Acolyte, the one he had worn in his moment of glory, when it had taken the combined might of the Avengers and the X-Men to stop him, and then they could not stop him fully. Apocalypse had made Bennet du Paris very powerful indeed and he had taken the name Exodus.

(as seen in the Bloodties Trade Paperback and the Black Knight: Exodus one shot - David)

Then he had been taken down by Holocaust and Nate Grey, the X-Man and he had been humbled. Holocaust, as the son of the Highlord - a fact revealed to Exodus later on - had been immune to his powers and Grey had been engineered to stop Apocalypse so taking on one of his creations hadn't been that hard, and Exodus had still been weak from the Holocaust incident. Now things were different. There were very few telepaths these days, a quirk of genetics that even Sinister could not have predicted, and that meant that there was no one who could stop him now. Exodus smiled as he psionically recreated the scene and saw the intruder and what he had stolen - the Magneto robot. He even recognised the thief from Magneto's personal files.

(these were seen in X-Men #43 and X-Man #14 respectively - David)

(last issue - David)

Garokk, the former sun god of the Savage Land. How was it he was still alive? No matter, for the theft of such an item was an act of war, and Bennet du Paris was a warrior born. A smile came across his lips as he went to make plans.

The X-Men could wait. Garokk would be the next to feel the wrath of Exodus.

The aircraft had been supplied by the Fantastic Four, based on a design of the jet used by the X-Men in their twentieth century incarnation. They were heading to Latveria to stop the war before it began in earnest.

The unasked question was why would X-Nation do this? There was no rhyme or reason to the decision. Krystalin and Dust sat at the controls, with Eddie, Henri and Luna in the back preparing themselves for the battle ahead. They were flying low so that they might not be detected by radar. It wasn't much of a hope, but it was all they had. This would be the first real test of the X-Men in this new world. They had all heard the conversation earlier between Xi'an and Miguel O'Hara...

"What's going on?" asked Xi'an of Miguel as he arrived, delivering the craft on behalf of the Fantastic Four who were in Atlantis starting preliminary talks for the peace settlements. The craft landed on the building known as the Four Unity Plaza next to the Council buildings, where Xi'an, the X-Men and Dust were waiting.

"We received a message several hours ago from Latveria, breaking diplomatic relations and declaring that the rest of the planet is now an enemy of Latveria. No warning was given, no sign of Nostromo, no nothing. Since the X-Men are the closest to X-Nation, and since this is something that would fall under their new charter, I'd like for them to go and see what's going on and see if they can resolve this without difficulty."

"Is it likely?" asked Xi'an.

"I pray to God that it is," said Miguel.

"Then the X-Men are on their way," said Xi'an, who turned to Dust. "Will you join the team? You never answered my question earlier."

(last issue again - David)

"I'd be honoured," replied Dust. "It's 130 years overdue, but I reckon it's the right thing to do."

"I'm glad," said Xi'an. "With the experience you carry, your help will be invaluable." Dust said nothing, and joined the X-Men boarding the craft. The hatch sealed and it lifted off in to the air, heading for Latveria.

"Godspeed," said Miguel. "Xi'an, I have to return to New York. If there are any developments I will let you know."

"There is a vessel waiting for you," said Xi'an who had figured that would be the case. "We will speak later."

"Later, my friend," said Miguel, and fired a web-line across the skyline, and headed towards the harbour. After all he was Spider-Man.

It was Eddie who broke the silence in the jet first. "What do we do?" he asked, a question that was in the minds of all of them.

"We stop a war," said Luna, "by whatever means necessary."

"I can't believe that the kids have changed so much," said Krystalin. "It doesn't seem right."

"Remind me to tell you about X-Force," said Dust grimly, "but I agree that there's something wrong here."

"What do you mean?" asked Henri, half from curiosity, and half to find out as much as he could for his master, Garokk.

(as seen in issue #1 - David)

"You heard O'Hara. A brief message, no face to face contact. A warning from one of the most technologically advanced countries in the world, rebuilt by techno-organic materials?"

"You think the Phalanx have a hand in this?" asked Luna, remembering the trouble they had earlier.

(see the 2099: World Of Tomorrow series for more on the Phalanx War - David)

"Or something worse," said Krystalin.

"I hope not," said Eddie, who was still not fully over his temporary possession by the alien race.

(2099: World Of Tomorrow #8 - David)

"We'll find out soon enough," said Dust. "We're approaching Latveria now."

"INCOMING!" called Krystalin a moment later. Latveria had opened fire on the ship.

"Evasive manoeuvres!" said Dust, as they had already planned for this eventuality. The rehearsal had been a talk through and now it was the real thing, and if there were any flaws in the plan, then they would soon be realised. There didn't seem to be any as the firing stopped. Dust and Krystalin looked at each other. Why stop firing the guns?

Then something else hit them. A blast of energy from the surface, undetected by the radar, which meant it had been organic in nature. Some kind of mutant power had been used on them and it had sliced through the right wing of the jet, severing it and sending the craft downwards, falling apart as it did so. Luna had been sitting at the window of the wing that had been shot off and she knew the energy signature, but before she could say what she had seen, she hit her head as the craft began to fall and was out for the count. Dust and Krystalin did what they could to keep the jet airborne, but it was futile and as the ship fell apart, the X-Men fell out, heading towards the ground. It was lucky that they had been low, or the fall would have killed them.

The mission was not off to a good start...

Back in Xavier City, Shakti sat in her apartments going over her life. Crying at her failures. They had started when she had left her father and had continued ever since. She had been repulsed at his bio-shops, even though her skills in bio genetic engineering were great. She had fallen in love with a man - Ryu Kobolt, who had been dying of a degenerative disease, that her skills and the resources of his patron's could not cure. He had lived, and created a paradise which threatened to kill the whole planet. She considered it a failure that he had died in the collapse of his Oasis, at the hands of the X-Men - a failure because her love could not stop his madness.

(see the X-Men 2099: Oasis one-shot - David)

She had felt a failure when Xi'an had been shot, when Serpentina had died, when Xi'an's psychosis overtook him and he joined the Theatre of Pain. The same thoughts had echoed through her when she thought she had failed to save the lives of Zhao's engineered X-Men, when the X-Men had been captured by the Theatre of Pain, and that the bond between her and Xi'an had not been enough to convince him to help them. A failure when she'd been unable to help Norman, a disfigured mutant, who given her a harsh lesson in reality by telling her that 'not all fairy tales come true.'

(these events occured in issues #1, #3, #13, #15, #25 of X-Men 2099 and the X-Men 2099 Special - David)

Then there had been X-Nation. She had failed with them as well, thinking herself as good a teacher as Xi'an had been. Half their number had died, and now had declared war on the world. Her teachings, her crimes, and now her physical helplessness and uselessness to the world. Nothing she did was ever right, and it always found a way to go wrong, with people ending up being hurt or killed. Now she was angry and she stopped her tears, though unable to dry her eyes. One way or another the failures that were her life ended today. No more innocents would suffer because of her. She used her chair to move about her apartment, This would take a lot of setting up.

(see both the X-Nation 2099 and 2099 World Of Tomorrow series' - David)

Xi'an was sat in his office, wondering how the team he had founded were doing as he went over the administrative chores that were part of his office. He didn't like doing them, but he didn't have much of a choice, if Xavier City was to run smoothly. Then a holo-call came in for him, and immediately he put the paperwork down to answer it, hoping it might be the X-Men with word of what was going on. However, it wasn't them, it was Miguel.

"Any word from the X-Men?" he asked.

"Nothing," said Xi'an. "They haven't checked in yet either. I'm a little concerned, though I feel that they will be able to handle any problems that arise."

Then the door burst open.

"Sir, you have to see this!"

Xi'an looked at him, then back to Miguel. "Duty calls," he said.

Miguel nodded and Xi'an followed the aide, sending a signal to Victor Ten Eagles.

Japan, the land of the rising sun, or more currently the land under water. Asia had come off badly during the flooding of the planet, however those in power had seen to it that the flooding had affected them as little as possible, and Stark/Fujikawa had been saved.

(see the final issues of all the monthly 2099 books - Eric)

Certainly, it had lost a lot, but that was to be expected. The important parts had survived, and that was the key. Garokk smiled as he walked through the labyrinthine corridors that made up the corporate headquarters, invisible thanks to his magic. Stark/Fujikawa had a turbulent time one hundred years ago. Now, things were different. The American influence had been more or less removed completely now.

There was no Stark in the company that bore the family name. That wasn't to say that the founder - Tony Stark - had been forgotten. The armours he had designed, those which had survived the battles and such as part of the Avengers before humanity turned against the heroes of the planet, were here.

Stored as monuments to technological genius. The final design of the armour was one that contained a special artificial intelligence, based on the last person to wear it. Stark had created it at around the time of the Sentinel Dawn, where those who survived the purge of heroes were crushed under the heel of the Sentinel armies.

Stark had died before he'd had a chance to use his armour, and it lacked the codes to start it. Not even today could the codes be cracked, meaning that it was a combination of security protocols unique to Stark himself.

However, no technology was greater than the power of magic, and Garokk cast his spells. The armour vanished from it's case and appeared in the Savage Land cave next to the other items he had claimed.

In the next level he could sense voices talking, and he wondered what about. He went upstairs to hear what was being said, using a simple translation spell to understand the Japanese language in which they spoke.

"I tell you, this Milbury is a genius!" said one of them.

"Yes, the cloning techniques he has provided us have been exemplary, far ahead of anything we originally designed."

"Our creature will provide the downfall of our main competitor, and secure the place of Stark/Fujikawa." They chinked their glasses and drank the liquid down.

Garokk frowned. Clones meant trouble, and the name Milbury was familiar. As soon as he had dealt with the X-Men, he would deal with these people and their cloning experiments. Unless it affected him directly, in which case he'd use the X-Men to put them out of commission.

Now that would have irony, he thought as he left.

Back in Xavier City, Xi'an rushed into an alleyway with one of his aides. The man had explained what was going on, but he still needed to see this for himself.

He saw the criminal and his jaw dropped. The webbing that covered him was confirmation of the sightings that had been going on all day. He'd thought it had been Miguel, but this wasn't Miguel's doing.

It wasn't really that surprising as mutants did make a good proportion of the cities population, but it was still stunning anyway. Assuming it was a mutant. A human with technology could have done this. The identity of the newcomer was a mystery for now.

"The lady who called this in said it was Spider-Man!" the aide said. "She said he saved her life."

"I want the line to Miguel re-opened by the time I get back to my office," Xi'an ordered. "He'll want to hear about this." Of course, how to tell him is another matter entirely.

He passed Victor on the way back to the council chambers. "Find out what you can in a few minutes. Then I'll tell Miguel."

The holo of Miguel was up by the time Xi'an got to his office, just as he'd ordered. Miguel look more anxious then he had been several minutes ago.

"What is it, Xi'an?" he questioned, wondering what had happened. He wasn't expecting his call back to sound so urgent. Xi'an looked directly at Miguel and swallowed. There was only one way to do this.

"You're not going to believe this. I just saw a sign that there's a new Spider-Man in town..."

"Come again?" Miguel's face didn't betray the shock he suddenly felt. He'd not worn the red and blues since the Phalanx War, but they were his. A communiqué came up from Victor in the alleyway and Xi'an patched him in.

"There seems," said Victor choosing his words very carefully, "to be someone in Xavier City, wearing the original costume and using some high tech equipment." He checked the readings once more to make sure. "The cameras confirm it. He's calling himself 'Spider-Man'..."

(the story continues in Spider-Man 2099 #1 - David)

Back in Latveria, Eddie awoke to find himself alone.

'The crash must have separated us!' he thought, and he wondered how everyone else was. He could see no wreckage, but there was a dent in the ground from where he'd landed in his metallic form. Even though he could now change back to his human persona, he found he liked it in his metal form... at least until his hair grew back. He couldn't see anyone, and it was also quite dark.

"Hello?" he called out. "Guys? You all okay? Krystalin, Luna, Henri?" He couldn't remember the other guy's name. Dirt or something. In the bushes he could hear something moving, and his eyes were adjusting to the light. It could have been an animal of some kind, but it could also have been one of his friends. He had to find out and he made his way to where he heard the noise, the metallic leaves tinkling against his own adamantium hide. It was like wind chimes he thought as he made his way, keeping an eye out for any of his colleagues. Then a light came on, shining directly in his face. "What the?"

"Halt, in the name of Doom!" came several voices that sounded exactly like the former ruler of Latveria. However, there was a metallic tint to them, that Eddie did not remember hearing before. Perhaps he had survived the Phalanx assault.

"It's me, Metalhead of the X-Men!" he said. "Doom?"

He shielded his eyes to see that there were many figures dressed like Dr Doom, in the old style that he had seen in the history files. There was only one explanation. "Doombots," he whispered. There had been some that had survived the passage of time, but most had been destroyed by Tiger Wilde, who ruled Latveria before the return of Doom, who had quickly ousted him from power. They began to fire their energy weapons at him, which bounced off his hide. Eddie smiled. After being taken out by Glitterspike so easily, he needed something to hit that would crumple with ease. It looked like he'd found what he wanted, and the clang of his fist in to the face of a robot was immensely satisfying. The only thing it would take was time, and that might be something his friends didn't have.

(see Doom 2099 #1-3 - David)

Meanstreak looked down at the inert form of Krystalin. How easy it would be to snap her spine or break her neck as she lay helpless and blame it on the fall. However, his mind was in turmoil.

Kill her! said the part of him controlled by Garokk's magic.

But... she's my best friend! retorted the part that was free.

By reporting to our master, you've betrayed her already. If she dies now or later, it's all the same.

NO! It isn't! I won't let her die!

You don't have a choice.

Yes I do! he said, and the stalemate was maintained. Away from Garokk, the influence of the Sorcerer Supreme was not as powerful. He wouldn't kill her, but he couldn't help her.

"Oh..." she said stirring, ending the mental discussion. "Henri?"

"I'm here, Krys."

"Where are the others?"

"Not sure... but I couldn't leave you." he replied. 'Because I was thinking of killing you...' he added in his thoughts.

"Oh, my arm... Henri, I think it's broken!" Krystalin started to make a splint of crystal and bind her arm.

"Can you walk?" he asked.

"I think so," she said and stood up, a little uneasily. Then there was a flash of red light behind them. A tree fell down. "Was that what I think it was?"

"Couldn't have been," said Henri, suddenly worried. "It took three of us to take them, with the help of Sham and Quiver."

"Although this time, there are two of you and no children will save you this time, X-Slags!"

"The Chosen?!" exclaimed Krystalin, as she saw who the new arrivals were. Wingspan, One-Eyed Jack, and Psycho-K - beta class mutants genetically altered by the senile psion Zhao to be his customised imitations of the original X-Men. Two had died due to the faulty treatments by Zhao, but these three had been fixed and further enhanced by the Theatre of Pain.

"Oh shock!" said Henri, as the three of them began to attack.

Dust looked around. He could hear the sounds of battle raging in the area, but he couldn't tell where. The techno organic nature of the landscape distorted the sounds too much. He reached out with his telepathy to try and find the X-Men, but was confronted by three minds directly in front of him.

"And you are?" he asked, sensing they had hostile intent. The fall had knocked him about so his concentration wasn't one hundred percent. This could be trouble.

"I am Euphoria."

"I am Felicity."

"And I am Bliss. We are the Norns."

"Theatre of Pain, eh?" said Dust. "I know of you people. Know of your family ties as well. Luna, and your father..."

"Then you know that we're more than capable of taking you out!" said Bliss.

"Oh, I don't think so," said Dust. "Let's get it on!"

The Norns leapt at him, and Dust went to work, psionically deflecting them with telekinesis. They were hard to grip and even harder to attack psionically. "So he's worked on you as well?"

"We can't all be mutants like Luna," said Euphoria.

"Fair point," said Dust, and the fight continued.

Of all the X-Men, Luna was the one who had come off best. How exactly that had happened she was unsure, but she awoke to find herself, lying safe. She stood up immediately, knowing who had fired the blast. Her enemy couldn't feed her hunger, but he could feel real pain, and that was what she was going to give him. Ready for action, she tensed as she heard a noise behind her and she turned.

"You?!" she said.

"Yes," said the deformed creature in the hoverchair, "It's been a while, Luna."

"Give me a reason not to kill you, Book!" said Luna, knowing that he had lied and, in her eyes at least, betrayed the X-Men. He kept secrets from them, hid truths within lies, and used them to take what he needed and gave nothing in return.

(X-Men 2099 #31-35 - David)

"Because we shall not allow it!" said a familiar voice. She turned again to see two people. One she was very familiar with, but the other was hidden in shadows, though there seemed to be a faint red glow around his head. The one she recognised was Brimstone Love, patriarch of the Theatre of Pain, and by his claim and that of Book, part of her family.

"The time has come," said Book. "I told you that I knew your connection to Brimstone Love, and now you shall too. He is your brother."

"No!" hissed Luna, more in defiance than denial.

"There is more," continued Book, "Brimstone Love is not the only family you have."

"I already know about the Norns," said Luna.

"No, there is another," said the man in the shadows. He stepped out in to the light and Luna saw that he was a white skinned fellow, with robes of black and a thin moustache above his white lips. The red diamond on his forehead, was half hidden in the long black hair that he sported. Luna knew of him in legend only.

"I am your father."

Luna fainted at the revelation, and Nathaniel Essex, once known as Sinister, caught her.

Xi'an was still stunned.

There was another Spider-Man in town, and Miguel had taken it surprisingly well, though the shock would kick in later. How the man was gave a surprising number of alternatives - time displacement, mutant, clone, the possibilities seemed to go on, but that wasn't what worried Xi'an. A costumed vigilante would have to be watched and kept from destroying the dream of Xavier. Xavier City wouldn't cave because of one man, no matter who or what he was.

As he walked he found himself outside the rooms belonging to Shakti. They hadn't been close since the Theatre of Pain business, though they were still friends and he regretted that. He also regretted that his powers couldn't heal her. Perhaps he just needed to try again. He knocked on her door, which opened.

"What the shock?" whispered Xi'an. Shakti's defensive capabilities were now virtually none, and if she'd been attacked she could be in real trouble. He kicked the door open, his other hand - that with the power to destroy - powered up. He saw a gun pointing at her and watched it fire, the laser burning through the green body armour that she wore, hitting her square in the torso. Xi'an tried to shout, but no sound came from his lips as he saw the true nature of what was going on and he ran towards her. There was no assassin in the room and the gun had been pre-set to fire. She looked at him for a last time.

"I'm sorry," she said, a trickle of blood coming from her mouth and she closed her eyes, her head going limp. Then Xi'an let loose his emotion.

"NOOOOOOOOOOO!"

In X-Men 2099 #5: Family continues, as the X-Men face off with the Theatre of Pain, and a few secrets are revealed!

Plus, in X-Men 2099 Annual #1: A special Family tie-in! Learn the fate of Shakti, as Xi'an meets with two of the most revered figures in the history of the X-Men!