Deep within the sewer lines beneath New York City lie a system of routes which were once inhabited by mutants deemed 'unworthy' of living among surface dwellers. This came to be known as the Morlock tunnels, and though the Morlocks lived on dispersed through various other regions, the tunnels they once claimed were for the most part vacant. Save for the one mutant whom found the uninhabited spot to serve as a perfect place of residence. Where else would one go if they truly wanted to escape the watching eye of the world, and do as they pleased without fear of enemies disrupting their solitude.
At least one could only assume that was the intention of Hank McCoy. No, not the former Avenger and sometime X-Man, though he has been known to fool people at times. This was the appropriately named, Dark Beast. The alternate reality-displaced counterpart of that 'other' Beast.
McCoy however was no stranger to these tunnels. In fact a good portion of his time in this reality was spent dwelling within these sewers, so this was in many ways just him returning to his home away from home. It was also here that the mutant did a fair deal of research, if the man's twisted expirements could even be described as such. Though in recent years the Beast known as McCoy found it was much better for his own personal safety to keep a friend or two around. Case in point, the femme fatale appropriately known as Fatale whom was layed rather comfortably on a bare table in silence. She had long been the right hand of the Dark Beast for quite some time now, but Fatale was hardly the guest of honor at the moment. No, that title went to the sedated man sealed in what could only be described as a containment chamber positioned behind McCoy.
This man's name was Alex Summers, and strangely enough, he should by all means be dead.
Xavier's Institute For Higher Learning
Standing within the office of Professor Charles Xavier, were two young mutants whom were less than pleased to say the least. Monet St. Croix and Jonothan Starsmore were brought here under the belief that they were to be the next in line to serve as X-Men, but find that they couldn't have been further from the truth.
"Pardon if you don't mind my asking Professor, but why have X-Men all been dispatched on a mission, yet me and Chamber here were ordered to remain on the grounds?" Monet asks only to continue before Xavier could respond, "Maybe I'm in the wrong here, but I thought the whole point of dismantling Generation X and bringing us to this place was so that we could operate with the X-Men. Seems to me like all we're doing is letting them do exactly what we could of stayed in Massachusetts for, which is teach."
"Monet, your far to intelligent to believe that things are done around here without reason. My reasons for leaving you here is because quite frankly, you were not needed." Charles explains in as calm a tone as he could muster.
"Now though this is of no importance, but this mission that the X-Men are on is one which is quite personal to those that have been sent out. There was no need to deploy everyone, especially when you two are still not ready for action in the field." Charles says, ignoring the facial expressions of Monet.
{The bloody hell are you sayin', must we remind you of all the stuff we went through with Gen-X. Stuff we were makin' it out of before we even had a grasp on these powers of ours?} The silent thought-speech being broadcasted from the mind of Jonothan more than made up for his lack of a face. It was hard to sense ones tone through the mind, but Charles was also a telepath whom has had his fair share of outbursts.
"Which is why you two were especially held behind. The X-Men can't afford to just make it out of situations. We strategize, we plan, and then we act. Not knowing what your up against doesn't just lead to defeat, but also death. As long as I can control it, no blood will be spilled at our expense." The Professor spoke much harsher than intended, and for a moment almost felt as if he wasn't quite himself.
Letting loose a small cough, Xavier decided it would be best to end this little spat.
"Now if you excuse me, I have some things I need to tend to. Please do not take this personally, it was a precaution that had to be done." Xavier says as he forces a smile on his face as the two former Gen-X kids leave him alone in his office.
Left alone to sift through his thoughts, Xavier was growing used to the constant questioning of his decisions. The complaints from Chamber and M were minor, but still noted. They needed to be trained properly, and until Charles Xavier was satisfied with their progress, then their status as far as field missions stood. That however; was not what weighed heavily on the mind of the Professor.
Looking up on the wall of his office, his eyes rest on a picture of his second generation of X-Men. That was the team which made Charles realize that the X-Men he was overseeing were no longer eager young children, anxious to get a grip on their powers. No, some of them were adults when found by Charles, each having dealt with their own experiences in the world. Among this new class was of course Ororo Munroe, whom Charles remembered had been reluctant to join the X-Men. When he found the woman, she was under the guise of a Goddesss, and was being treated as such.
In time she grew to become a loyal member, and even more capable leader of the X-Men. Despite all of this, Storm maintained her own sense of independence. Never one to simply sit by and allow things to happen, Ororo challenged anything against her own beliefs. Most recently, it appeared that Charles was whom she needed to challenge. Storm had grown to become someone whom Charles could confide in, even more so than he did Scott or Jean.
With the recent addition of Emma Frost, Charles was at a cross roads. Emma was here because she has made a tremendous, if unorthodox change from her days as The White Queen of the Hell Fire Club. Her appointment as co-headmaster will be welcome change, and the first step to redefining why Charles continued on with this crusade. His only regret, was that there may come a time when he is forced to alienate those to whom he is closest. With this weighing heavily on his mind, Xavier hoped that his decisions will at the least be understood, if not forgiven.
Morlock Tunnels
"So you guys are sure this is the right place." Bobby Drake asks as he motions his flashlight around the dark corridors of the sewer.
"Emma pinpointed the coordinates to this exact location Bobby, leaving us to figure out the rest." Lorna Dane responds as she takes the lead, followed by Logan and the woman known as Domino.
The four X-men knew exactly who they were looking for, and also who they weren't. No strangers to these tunnels themselves, the quartet was perfectly aware of the people whom once inhabited these sewers. Morlocks and otherwise. Which is why Wolverine and Polaris had been hunting down the assassin Fatale these past few weeks. If Alex Summers was indeed alive, then the green haired woman knew exactly who else would of been looking for him.
"Hold up there a minute." Logan says as his head shoots up looking around the vicinity. Having heightened senses is what gave the feral his advantage over his enemies. Well, at least one of his advantages. There was a long running joke that Logan was the best there is at what he does, whatever that was exactly was still uncertain. Regardless at the moment, he knew that they were not alone.
SNIKT!
The sounds of his admantium claws extracting from his hands was the best sign that danger lay up ahead.
"Looks like we got company. Iceman you and Polaris follow on down the main path, Domino stick with me. Somethin's stinking up the place, and it ain't the footload of shit we've been treadin' in." Wolverine says as intstructions are carried out. Whatever was just up ahead was going to discover exactly why Wolverine was the best at what he did.
McCoy's Lab
Not far from where they X-Men were positioned was the lair of the Dark Beast. Having known of the mutant group's exploits of following his right hand in recent weeks, it wasn't surprising that they would still be on the hunt. However it did surprise him that they had managed to discover his hiding place. Fatale was a teleporter with a psi-block embedded in her brain as defense against pesky telepaths. Something the X-Men certainly seemed to have far to many of.
"We have trouble coming Doc, how do you want it handled." Fatale says as she caresses the blade of the dagger in her hands.
"Yes, Random is already on top of things. Go make sure he things add to our favor, while I keep an eye on our prized posession here." McCoy instructs as Fatale disappears with a flash, leaving him alone with the former X-Factor leader. Once upon a time the Dark Beast and Havoc, as the man called himself, worked together. They were a team whom McCoy had believed shared the same ideals and goals. Granted McCoy did abduct him and also tamper with the man's mind, but after a time of mistruct, the Doctor had believed Alex to be a genuine ally.
His mistake for trusting the man. So it was only fitting when the furred mutant learned news of Alex's imminent death, only wishing the mutant had suffered longer. Imagine his surprise when the body of Alex Summers was found alive, and apparently unharmed at the site of his explosion. Not one to question the how's, why's and if's like his counter-part of this world, McCoy was content in having his hands on his most valued weapon once more.
Placing his hand on the tank, a smile spread across his wicked face.
"Soon, your mind will be mine to toy with, and we both know how much fun we had ripping through those buddies of yours in X-Factor." McCoy says as he looks through the glass which separated him from Alex, and countless volumes of liquid which surrounded the motionless survivor whose only piece of clothing was that of tight briefs.
"Unfortunately you are unready at the moment, so the X-Men will have to settle for Fa-" he stops as his eyes light up in surprise as the face of Alex Summers springs to life.
Apparently at a lost for words, McCoy slowly begins to step back, wondering why Havok was concious, and also what that meant for his expirement.
The answer never came, as in a matter of seconds a large burst of energy was discharged, shattering through the glass barrier and lashing out in every direction, dismantling everything the demented Doctor had worked to preserve.
Havok was more than just alive. He was awake.
***
On the otherside of the sewer line, the explosion caused by Havok could be heard all around, even by Wolverine and Domino.
"What the hell was that," Domino says as she looks around in confusion.
"Don't worry about, now duck!" Logan shouts as he leaps forward onto the ground just as a cannon blast was fired off from in front of them.
"Oh this lame looks pretty familiar. How goes it Random?" Domino asks as she quickly side-steps the shot while drawing two hand-guns of her own. The woman known as Domino had powers of her own that she rarely had to use purposelly. They just had a habit of starting up when they were needed.
"Pretty good Domino, same I can't say the same for you two," the mutant bounty hunter Random says as he charges toward the two X-Men, while restructuring his protoplasmic arms into that of two enormous cannons.
"Only if you feel like bein' gutted today bub." Wolverine says as he lunges in towards Randoms mid-section, taking a quick swipe at the mutants abdomen region. Chunks of protoplasm flesh were ripped off, more to the man's annoyance than anything else.
"Admantium is tough, but I'm built from stickier stuff." Random says as he uses the opportunity to let loose a few blasts towards the feral X-Man. Wolverine dodged all but one which hit him square in his chest. For most the blast would have rendered them unable to proceed, but as Logan was about to demonstrate, he was built from stronger stuff.
Not forgetting the presence of Domino, Random dodges a quickkick coming from her while maneuvering through the limited area.
"Gotten quicker huh Marshall? I'm impressed." Domino says with a smirk.
"No, just call it an upgrade from the Doc'." he says as he reverts one of his hands back to normal, while increasing the mass in his body.
"My I do love a man who takes pride in his body." Domino teases as she ducks down from the hard swinging punch aimed at her from Random, "Except you just made one of the biggest mistakes of your already pathetic life." she says as she fires one of the guns directly into the side of Random. Random could take quite a few rounds as long as he kept his body shifting going, but once he was in a solid state it was hard for him to ignore such pains.
"You may be made of stickier stuff, but your a dumbass for going all tangible on us. Your turn luv," she says as Logan comes up from behind the Bounty Hunter, stabbing through the man with three claws.
Piercing through the unstable body of the bounty hunter, Wolverine made sure that his mark was gutted. Embedding his arm until it had pratically went through entirely, Logan quickly withdrew while sheathing his claws. Falling face front coughing up what could best be described as blood, Logan simply stared at the mutant. It wasn't his intention to kill, just to remove him from the situation. Very few had the finesse to accomplish what Logan had just done, a feat that the feral wrote off as routine.
"Not to subtle at all huh luv?" Domino says with a grin her eyes slowly trace over Random.
"We're wastin' time, let's move it. The kid will live, 'less the rats get to him first." Logan says as he begins the march onward.
***
Much closer to McCoy's lair than the others, Polaris and Iceman heard the explosion all to well. Stopping their trek as they look around for any indication of warning, the assasin Fatale stalked them from the shadows, though the noise did capture her attention as well. Not one to dwell on things out of her control, she ignored the sound and stayed true to her task at hand.
"Any idea what that was?" Bobby questioned as he looked at his partner with concern.
"No clue so let's hurry this up," Polaris says as she watches the shadows inexplicably move behind Bobby, instantly realizing what was going on.
"Bobby watch out!" she screams as Iceman heeds her warning without question, instantly converting his body to ice. The transformation came just in time as Fatale leaped from behind the X-Man stabbing him in the shoulder with her dagger, only for it to become lodged in ice to her dismay.
Not one to wallow in disappointment, Fatale once again used her agility to her advantage, using Bobby's shoulders as leverage to come around and house kick Polaris, connecting with a side of her face.
"Ready to finish this?" Fatale smirks as she continues her attack on Polaris, only to find that the mistress of magnetism was more than able to counter her advances, balancing the inevitable fight between them.
"A cat fight eh? Definitely makes up for the whole knife in shoulder thing." Iceman says aloud as he readies himself to intervene in the altercation.
***
Where am I? the thought runs through the mind of Alex Summers as he rests on one knee inside the lab of the Dark Beast. At least what still remained of it. His initial display of energy had left the room every bit dismantled, even cracking the foundation which kept the room from caving in. One look at the floor and all that could be seen was tarnished expirements, and various other items which surely had no positive purpose to them.
Scanning over the room trying to find some sort of clue as to what was going on, Alex's eyes stopped upon the still figure of the Dark Beast. Alex instantly recognized the man, though that wasn't saying much. In the world that he had been in, evil incarnations of the X-Men ran rampant. This certainly resembled the Beast whom Havok had outted shortly before his apparent 'death', but for all he knew this could just be another corrupted McCoy in yet another corrupted reality.
Uncertain how he got to this place, the last thing Alex remembered was a wave of energy. Not really much to go on, but he knew that it was real, and something to fear. Of course that didn't say much for his current predicament. The former X-Man needed to find out where, and when he was. Having spent the last part of, how long had it been, a few months, possibly even a year, in a reality not like his own. There Havok discovered that people whom he considered friends and family in his homeworld, were anything but in another.
Which meant that he had to get out of this place, and figure out his next step. No one could be trusted, and everyone was an enemy until otherwise.
Taking one last look at the still motionless Beast, Alex went against his better judgement and checked to see if the mutant was alive. There indeed was a pulse, which was all that mattered as Alex made haste out of the laboratory.
***
"Ok ladies as entertaining as this has been, we really have to end this." Iceman says holds out his hands in front of him unleashing a blast of ice towards Fatale. The attack would have proved useful, had Polaris allowed it. Mustering up a magnetic force to block Iceman's attack, Lorna then glares at her teammate.
"No! This is personal." Lorna snaps as she readies herself for Fatale's next move.
"My, are you still mad that I stole your little boyfriend from you. Please, poor Alex just couldn't cut it." Fatale says as runs up on Lorna with another barrage of kicks and jabs. Having been skilled in the form of martial arts, Fatale clearly had the upper hand. Unfortunately for her, Lorna was a woman on a mission. No longer fit with recieving a beating at the hands of the former X-Factor villian, Polaris clutched wrapped a magnetic field around the body of Fatale, before letting loose with a blast matched by none. The blast pushed Fatale into the wall with such a force, that it was hard to imagine her walking for sometime after it.
"I'm tired of being played with. I'm tired of chasing after people, and quite frankly Fatale, I'm tired of you. Now where is Alex?" she finishes as she extends her hand to fire bolts of magnetism into the body of the assassin. Fatale began to writhe about in pain, signs of torture.
Shocked at the woman's brutal display of power, cause for concern seemed to grown in Iceman. Lorna was not acting like herself, but there was a certain master of magnetism that she did resemble best at that moment.
"Lorna enough!" Bobby says as he grabs hold of the green haired woman for fear of what she could possibly do.
"Let me go Bobby, I'm not done!" she shouts as she fights the firm hold, only to make Bobby lower the surrounding temperature around them in an effort to literally cool her nerves.
Footsteps seemed to close in as Boby turned his head around to see the comforting faces of Wolverine and Domino steadily approaching.
"Boy am I glad to see you two, ran into some trouble, Lorna here got a little out of hand, but there was an explosion up ahead that we should check out." Bobby says until he notices that Wolverine and Domino aren't looking at him. Confused, Bobby slowly turns toward the direction their eyes were aimed, relinquishing the hold he had on Polaris.
Even Lorna had calmed down enough to wonder what had caught everyone's attention, and the sight before her eyes was almost enough to make her faint. Standing in front of them all in this filthy, horrendous smelling sewer tunnel was the half naked X-Man, Alex Summers.
"Alex?" Lorna says softly, almost in disbelief.
Looking at each and every one of them in confusion, Alex recognized the faces, if not the costumes of all that stood before him. There was one in particular that stood out more than any of them, and it certainly wasn't Polaris.
"You!" Alex says with his eyes focused solely on Iceman.
A look of confusion spreading across the face of the ice covered Bobby, Iceman had no clue as to what was wrong with Havok.
"Stay away from me!" Alex shouts and with his next act, used the last of his energy to expel another earth shattering blast, which targetted everyone in sight, knocking back all of the gathered X-Men and the still weak Fatale. Using this to his advantage, the confused Havoc then made his way past the fallen, making way for the surface world above.
Not one to be easily outdone, as the only one in the group still concious, Wolverine uprights himself against the wall, using his mind to guide him. The advantages to having a healing factor never seemed to end, and always came to be a blessing during incidents such as this.
{Frost, we have a problem.}
To Be Concluded...
______________________
Next Issue- As the X-Men attempt to subdue Havok, who's that knocking on their door? Find out in the conclusion of 'New Genesis'.
Author's Note
Well here it is, the anticipated second issue of Uncanny X-Men. My apologies for the wait, but due to an unfortunate series of random events, my writing was put to a halt. In any case, those problems are behind me and Issue #3 should come fairly soon without question. The next issue will end the first story arc of the title, but that's not to say all questions will be answered. At least not the ones you would expect. That's all for now so until next time...
-Eric Roman 1/2/06