  #7 JAN 2000 |
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Xi'an: Once known as the Desert Ghost, Xi'an Chi Xan is the former leader of the X-Men, now Head of the Xavier City Council. A man who works to keep the dream of Professor X alive, his mutant ability to touch something and heal with one hand or destroy with the other, added to his keen intellect and devotion to mutantkind, make him a force to be reckoned with. |
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Cerebra: Shakti Haddad is the founder of X-Nation, and the driving force of the X-Men. Shakti is also a member of the Xavier City Council. Once possessing telepathic powers, Shakti's nervous system has been destroyed and her powers seemingly with them after mental contact with the robot named Franklin. Shakti is now confined to a wheelchair. |
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Krystalin: The ability to form crystals out of thin air, to her own requirements, makes Krystalin Porter a vital member of the X-Men, though not as dedicated to the cause as some of her friends, she is one of the original founders of the X-Men of 2099, joining at the same time as Meanstreak, her best friend. |
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Meanstreak: The fastest man alive, leaving a blur behind him as he uses his power, Henri Huang went missing before the Phalanx War, somehow returning in time for the expedition of Earth's heroes in to space to breach the barrier surrounding the planet. How he returned and where he was remains a mystery. |
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La Lunatica: Almost feral, Luna is the least trusted of the X-Men despite having proved herself many times. Possessing vast strength, dense skin and the ability to feed of the emotional pain of others via touch, she has begun to hunger for emotion more now that she has lost the love of her life, Tim Fitzgerald. |
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Metalhead: Of all the X-Men, Edward 'Eddie' Van Beethoven's career has been the most tragic. His ferromorphic abilities having been reduced to less than what they were, resulting in him being trapped in his metallic form, unable to return to normal. He was recently possessed by the Phalanx, but thanks to his abilities managed to rid himself of the majority of the transmode virus infection. |
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Morphine Somers: Formerly a member of Doom's cabinet, now a Council member in Xavier City, Morphine has the power to rapidly age whatever he touches. Bearing a striking resemblance to Gambit, and a name closely linked with Cyclops, Morphine is a wild card, whose game plan works out to the benefit of one man - himself. |
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Victor Ten Eagles: The human link in the Xavier City Council, Victor Ten Eagles is the voice of humanity in Xavier City. A master tech-smith, he sports a bionic arm of his own design, and is one of the few people who knew Xi'an in the old days, riding with him as a member of the Lawless. |
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Dust: A powerful psion with a life span of 150 years, he is a man who needs forgiveness from all those who have worn and now wear the X... including himself. |
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Miguel O'Hara - Spider-Man. Holder of the hammer of Thor, Mjolnir, given to him by Captain America before his death in space. He can lift it but not access its other powers, but it signifies his status as leader of the free world. |
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Mr Fantastic: A trans-temporal duplicate of Reed Richards, created by Uatu the Watcher to bring humanity together, he retains every aspect of the original Mr Fantastic. Possessed of Reed's vast intelligence, as well as the ability to elastically stretch his body. |
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Invisible Woman: A trans-temporal duplicate of Susan Richards, also created by Uatu the Watcher to assist her husband in uniting humanity, she remains as faithful to the original as possible. She has the ability to turn invisible, as well as create invisible constructs out of thin air, including a nigh-impenetrable invisible forcefield. |
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Skullfire: Tim Fitzgerald was Xi'an's last recruit into his band of X-Men. Possessed of the ability to absorb electrical energy and rechannel it in vast quantities, Tim was recently freed from corporeal form as he mutated into a being of pure energy, able to give himself form and mass. Formerly field leader of the X-Men, Tim has been missing since they arrived in the Savage Land. |
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Exodus: Bennet du Paris was a Knight of the Crusades, until he stumbled cross the temple of Apocalypse and was transformed to Exodus, a being of great power. Formerly an Acolyte of Magneto, he has survived the passage of time to re-establish the cause of both his former masters. |
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Garokk: Long-time foe of both the X-Men and Ka-Zar, Garokk is the former self-styled Sun God of the Savage Land. Reawakened in the year 2099 by the young Strange, Garokk defeated her in mystical combat and usurped the title of Sorcerer Supreme. He uses his new found powers to plot the destruction of the X-Men of 2099 and all they stand for. |
'War is like love, it finds a way' - Bertolt Brecht, Mother Courage
"You tell me what I want to know or I'll dissolve your heart!"
"Xi'an!" said Morphine stepping from the aircraft. "Is that anyway to greet the heroes of Latveria?"
"Shock you, Morphine, I want to hear what Richards has to say for himself."
"Back off Xi'an," said Sue Richards, creating a forcefield between the leader of the Xavier City Council and her husband. "We may have dropped Ben and Johnny in New York, but it doesn't mean we can't take you out without them."
"I want to know what he did to Shakti!" demanded Xi'an his touch creating a green flare against the forcefield.
"You have to forgive him," said Victor Ten Eagles. "There's been trouble in town
and tempers are a little frayed."
(See Spider-Man 2099 #3 - David.)
"I'm sorry Shakti felt the need to kill herself, but I have come to terms with my role in it," said Reed, able to get a word in between the shouting going on. "Why can't you Xi'an?"
"Because," said Shakti, walking on to the landing platfrom of the Four Unity Plaza from the shadows, "recent events have brought things doubt on your innocence."
(In the soon to be deemed classic X-Men 2099 Annual #1 - David.)
"SHAKTI!" cried the X-Men as they gathered around her, asking her question about what happened, how she was.
"It will wait," she replied then she saw Eddie coming from the craft with Rosa in his arms. "My God!" Her injuries from her battle with Luna and her torment at the hands of Brimstone Love were evident, and she was still catatonic. "What happened?" she said as Xi'an ignored Reed and went over to the young woman.
"Luna and Brimstone Love," said Eddie, a sombre tone in his voice. "Xi'an, can you help her?"
(See last issue - David.)
"I can try," said Xi'an. "Richards, go to my office. I'll speak with you there." Then he placed his healing hand on Rosa and let the power channel through it. The physical wounds would heal, the emotional ones he didn't know.
Outside of the city, in the Savage Land, Garokk awaited the return of Meanstreak. He could feel his presence, he knew his slave had been tormented by doubts in Latveria. However he was still his, and he accepted a drink from the reanimated corpse of Kazar, whilst his wife Shanna washed Garokk's feet. Some vengances were worth waiting for.
He glanced over at the items he possessed - the adamantium skeleton of Wolverine, retrieved from where it was buried in the Savage Land, the Magneto robot taken from the citadel of Magnus just outside the Savage Land and one of the armour variants of Iron Man, stolen from Stark/Fujikawa.
(In X-Men 2099 #2, #3 and #4 respectively - David.)
However it was the Magento robot that seemingly threatened all his plans, not by its presence but by the very fact the citadel he stole it from was inhabited. Inhabited by Exodus. The scion of Apocalypse, alive and well, living within his reach, but that meant he was within the reach of Exodus as well. Exodus had gathered his own Acolytes, as Garokk had gathered his Reavers and now war was declared. It was not a very advantageous situation to be in.
(And that was in X-Men 2099 #5 - David.)
"It all comes down to which of us makes the first move," said Garokk to himself. The two zombies looked at him blankly and carried on with what they were doing and Garokk vaguely wondered if he ought to give them some more sentiance and send them in to battle with his Reavers, augmented by technology of course.
Shanna would like that, given her aversion to technology in life. The best place to get technology now was Xavier City itself, but it was too soon to start a full scale assault with Exodus breathing down his neck. Unless...
"But of course!" said Garokk standing up. He needed a diversion to obtain the technology and as he had just said, it all came down to who made the first move. He knew that it was going to be him. "Let's see how good you really are, Exodus!" he shouted at the sky and went to make preparations.
In the infirmary, Xi'an was doing what he could for Rosa, as Eddie watched. Dust was up and walking as well, so he was about to give Eddie moral support.
"What happened?" he asked and Eddie told him what had gone on. "What happened to Luna?" asked the aged mutant.
"We don't know," answered Eddie. "I was angry and upset and lashed out and she fled. Thinking about it I was wrong to do so. The Theatre has good brainwashing techniques, they proved that with Xi'an."
"It ain't your fault," said Dust. "Luna'll have issues to deal with on this for a long time. Shame Fitzgerald is gone, we could have done with his help with her."
"From what we could tell, she and Sinister are related," said Eddie. "What do you know about him?"
"Master scientist, cold bastard and all round manipulative SOB. There ain't many who've taken him on walked away unscathed." Dust sighed. "The past just keeps coming back."
"Huh?" asked Eddie.
"Exodus, Sinister and more recently Charles Xavier and Magneto."
"They came back?"
"In a manner of speaking," said Xi'an approaching. "It is a very long story and you have work, Metalhead. She's awake."
"Thank you Xi'an. You okay?"
"Just. Her injuries were grave, and her emotional torment won't fade over night. Dust, when you recover would you assist Miss Vasquez?"
"I'll do what I can. I might not be the psion in the head department Xavier was but I can give it a shot."
"What you can," said Xi'an placing a hand on his shoulder. "Now I'm going to go speak with Richards and if he doesn't co-operate, I'll give him to Morphine."
"What the heck happened while we were gone?" asked Eddie as Xi'an stormed out of the infirmary.
"Check on Rosa, then we'll go for a coffee," said Dust, "and I'll explain everything."
"Victor," said Krystal, knocking on his open door.
"Oh, hey, Krys," he said looking up from the reports he was going over on the damage done by Spider-Man and the so-called Black Widow. "Could have done with you people."
"Why?" she asked and he passed her a report. "Shock." Her eyes went wide as she read the report. "Punisher, Spider-Man and someone else brawling in Xavier City? Can we not leave you people alone for five minutes?"
(See recent issues of Spider-Man 2099 - David.)
"It's not funny," said Victor, flexing the motors in his bionic arm to enhance the scanners built in to the windows. He just saw something from the corner of his eye in the park outside the council buildings. "This could only be the start."
"Another metahuman invasion? Is that a touch of racism I hear?"
"Don't be ridiculous," said Ten Eagles, shocked at the implication and his heart stopped as it came from the lips of someone he cared so deeply about. "Jammit! Is that what you think of me?"
"No," said Krys, quietly. "I'm sorry." Her heart pounded with regret at hurting him. "I..."
"There a reason you came?" he asked, the hurt of her words still evident in his tone.
"Yes," she said, thinking about it. 'I nearly died in Latveria and it made me think. I came here to tell you how much you mean to me. How much I love you. How I want to wake up next to you in a morning, to feel the tenderness of your touch, the warmth of your breath on my lips. How much I want to be with you, to call you mine and how I need you.' She shook her head, bit her lip and closed her eyes. "I wanted to ask if you were free tonight." In her eyes this was a compromise.
"Nothing I can't cancel," said Victor, the hurt of her earlier words fading from his memory. "In fact I..." He stopped as he looked out of the window at a flash of light. "What the shock?"
"What is it?" asked Krys then she heard the explosion and looked at Victor for an explanation.
"Iron Man just hit town. With repulsor blasts!"
Xi'an walked towards his office, as Shakti stood outside waiting for him.
"You look exhausted," she said, placing a hand on his arm.
"It's not been an easy few days," he admitted. "You, Spider-Man, Rosa."
"How is she?"
"Recovering. How are you?"
"Better. I took a walk this morning in the park outside the council buildings, felt the grass underneath my feet, each blade damp with the morninf dew brushing against my toes. I realised how lucky we are, how lucky I am."
"And how's...?"
"The baby? It's weird. I always thought when I had a child I'd be able to sense him or her with my powers but without them, I'm normal. I don't feel any different, just a radiating warmth when I touch my abdomen."
"Have you thought about what I said?" Xi'an removed her hand from his arm and held it both of his, looking directly at her, his eyes looking in to her, his voice having the same effect it did when he was speaking to a crowd. Shakti sighed.
"I'm thinking about it. It's a hard decision to make."
"Just so you know you aren't alone in this. Now, I think it's time I spoke with Richards. Join me?"
"Wouldn't miss it," she answered as he freed her hand.
"What is the meaning of this, Xi'an?" asked Reed as they entered Xi'an's office. "I'm not accustomed to being treated as a criminal."
"Then maybe you ought to have though of that before hand," answerd Xi'an coldly.
"I've read your medical reports on Shakti, how you fought Mephisto for her soul and how with the help of her father, Zail Haddad, she is able to walk again. However there is one section I have restricted access to."
"What's going on, Xi'an?" asked Sue.
"Explain the function of the Franklin robot," said Xi'an taking a seat behind his desk.
"The robot? Well," answered Reed, slightly perplexed but not wholly surprised, "The robot was designed by me to aid humanity in its survival in the new world created by the Phalanx War. A database of every information based in one computer system as the others around the world crashed."
"But it gained sentience. Why?" asked Shakti as Xi'an sat there, his fingers steepled as his arms resting on the desk.
"I don't know. If I was Doom, I expect I'd be able to tell you, but at best I can only surmise that with all the data it gained sentience through knowledge."
"And psionic powers?" asked Xi'an.
"What?" asked Reed.
"It gained powers, didn't it? It used them to attack Shakti. To rape Shakti. To make Shakti pregnant."
"What?" asked Reed, now confused.
"I'm pregnant," said Shakti. "The Franklin robot impregnated me with a psionic lifeform. In five months I will give birth."
"How?" asked Sue.
"That's what we're asking," said Xi'an. "Computer run holotapes."
The tapes played, showing Shakti sensing a massive psionic presence and Franklin had been going on about a mate. Then it happened. Shakti had been crippled, and her powers gone.
"Replay from time index 152634 to index 152645 and enhance the Franklin robot," Xi'an told the computer, which did as instructed. Reed watched and his mouth opened slightly.
"Again," he said. "Oh my."
"What?" asked Sue.
"Again," said Reed, watching the tapes waiting for what he was after. "Hold!" The picture froze and he looked at the robot. "A glitch in reality..." he said, then looked at Sue. "There was a slight variance in the robot's visual systems, similar to glitches in reality. I recognise the signature."
"I thought you might," said Xi'an. "Franklin?"
"I think so," Reed replied.
"I don't understand," said Sue. "Are you saying that the robot was possessed by my son and psionically raped Shakti, using her to warp reality?"
"They aren't saying it," said Reed. "I am."
"How?" asked Sue.
"A good question," said Reed. "Give me a moment to think and..." Then they heard the explosion and Victor's voice came on the commsystem.
"X-Men to Lensherr Memorial Park! Iron Man is attacking Xavier City!"
"SACRILEDGE!" cried Exodus as he felt the attack. "Garokk is dead." He made his way to the antechamber and looked at the available Acolytes. "Perfect," he said as the energy sparkled from his eyes, reworking his victims mind. "Go, destroy Iron Man."
"Yes, my master," said Timothy Fitzgerald and vanished a green blur of energy.
Eddie and Dust sped to the park, finding Krystal and Ten Eagles running to the site as well.
"Where's Henri?" asked Eddie.
"Not here," said Krys. "Looks like we're on our own."
"Not you," said Victor. "You're broken arm makes you a liability. Gentlemen?" Eddie nodded and began to block the shots being fired. In his adamantium form the repulsor rays would do him no damage. It didn't stop them hurting though, as Dust went to work.
"It isn't human," he said, scanning the armour. A red circle with energy spokes within it was over Iron man's head as he did so. "It's empty, but there is another source controlling it."
"Is it on automatic?" asked Victor
"I... uh oh," he answered. "Forgot that. Must be getting old."
"What?" asked Victor.
"Stark fitted his armour with psionic responders in case of psionic attack on the operator. It has a system that sends the armour to a protected automatic state. I can't do anything to it with psionic assaults."
"We are seriously lacking in firepower," said Victor. "What I wouldn't give for..."
"TIM?" shouted Krys.
"Yeah, he'd do perfect," said Victor. "Whoah, why'd you say that?"
"Because he's here," said Eddie.
"Well, well, well," said Victor. "This is getting interesting."
"This is bad," said Dust. "I can sense Exodus's hand in this."
"On the armour?" asked Eddie as the armour was being attacked by Skullfire.
"On Tim."
"Shock," said Krys. "So what do we..." Then there was an explosion at Four Unity Plaza. "What now?"
"I don't know," said Victor, "but as Iron Man is being dealt with by Tim, we'll head over to the Plaza. There's nothing we can do here. Not yet."
"What's going on?" said Xi'an who had been heading for the park until the explosion at Four Unity Plaza. Meanstreak was lying on the ground under a pile of rubble.
"Attacked," he whispered as Xi'an destroyed the offending material. "Bloodhawk, Junkpile. They broke in to the labs. They..." he sighed. "Stole something." Then he collapsed in to unconciousness.
"Why?" asked Xi'an, pulling the fallen X-Man free. "Who is responsible for this?"
"Exodus," said Dust as the others entered. "That explains where Henri was."
"A diversion," said Victor, then there was a tremendous bang. "This is getting ridiculous."
"Xi'an, Iron Man was just decimated by what looked like Tim." It was Shakti on the commsystem. What's going on out there?"
"Exodus declared war on Xavier City," said Xi'an grimly. "Find Morphine, gather in his office. If Exodus wants my city, he's going to have to go through us."
"That doesn't explain the armour," said Victor.
"When Henri wakes up, have him meet Shakti. They can tap the Stark/Fujikawa systems and find out what's going on."
"Henri I can understand, but why Shakti?" asked Victor.
"She used to work there before the X-Men, before Xi'an," said Eddie and Victor nodded. It was time to regroup and as they went on their way, a solitary figure stood in the shadows, and lit up a cigarette.
"So the speedfreak's a traitor?" he said to himself. "Morphine, it looks as if there's another serpent in the paradise we call the Savage Land. Xi'an you're wrong, this is my city, and it's about time certain people found out who's in charge around here." He spat the cigarette out and stamped on it as he walked back to his office. All of a sudden he wasn't in the mood to smoke.
"What's going on?" asked Reed as Xi'an returned.
"Nothing we can't handle," said Xi'an cutting him dead. "Worked out your theory yet?"
"I think so," he replied. "Back in the 20th Century, the X-Men, New Mutants, X-Factor and Fantastic Four met with the adult version of our son from the future you now know as the Sentinel Dawn. He did a lot of damage by being there. When the adult Franklin was erased from the timeline it was by being discorporated by a machine from the future and I thought no more about it."
"So?" asked Xi'an impateint to get with the others.
"You can't just destroy a being like Franklin but I thought no more about it. Perhaps in my desire for my son, driven by Sue's pleas when I was building the robot I subconciously gathered my son's essecnce before it was destroyed and in an effort to live again he... impregnated Shakit."
"Is that it?" asked Xi'an. "What a crock of sh...."
"NO!" said Sue interuppting him. "You demanded an explanation, Reed gave it. If you don't like it, tough. Never ask questions you're not prepared to hear answers to." Shakti stayed silent, keeping her own counsel but her friend could not.
"Maybe your desire for your son is influencing your judegment, Mrs Richards," said Xi'an, a touch more harsh than he wanted to be.
"I could be wrong," said Reed. "Without empirical evidence..."
"Reed, she's carrying our grandchild," said Sue. "We don't need evidence."
"Get out of my city," spat Xi'an. "You're not welcome. Not anymore."
"Now, hold on, son," said Reed and Xi'an punched him.
"I said get out," he repeated. "Next time I won't be so polite."
"Okay," answered Reed, getting up with help from Sue. "We're leaving, It'll give you time to calm down." He looked at the young woman standing against the wall. " Shakti." Sue's silence was ominous as they left.
"Xi'an," said Shakti after they'd left.
"Don't," said Xi'an. "We have a war to plan." She nodded.
"I was going to say 'yes., Xi'an. Yes, I will." Xi'an smiled.
"Thank you," he said an they went to Morphine's office, where they'd make the announcment and plan for the coming battle.
In X-Men 2099 #8: The Heir War begins! The X-Men go after Exodus only to be confronted by old friends, as Garokk makes his move on Xavier City. And find out what Shakti has said yes to.
