X-Writers Presents: CABLE 25: The Trial of the (38th) Century By anon NOTE: ****** X-Writers is a fan fiction group. We don't have permission to do this. Don't sue us, we don't have any money. We don't get any money for doing this. So just enjoy it. ********* "That's all we know." Those were Jenskot's words to Cable and Domino as they trekked through the jungles outside Applecrust. The noonday sun blazed high above their heads and made the trip through the jungle exceedingly difficult. I'd forgotten how how hot it is here, Cable thought. That's what two thousand years of global warming will do, I guess. Although I don't remember it being THIS hot... "Nate? You awake?" Domino asked, interrupting Cable's thought. "Sure I'm awake. Who could sleep in this heat?" he replied, hacking his way through the underbrush. "Doesn't any of this worry you in the slightest? The fact that it's actually you we're trying to save here? Do you remember any of this?" Domino asked. "No, no, and no." Cable hacked away at another branch. "Don't you think you'd remember meeting your future self?" "Not necessarily. Looking... looking at Jenskot...I...I figure I'm only about seventeen or eightteen now. That's a long time ago for me." "Do you want to try maybe looking in my general direction when we talk?" Domino sliced at the branches Cable missed. "Sorry, Dom... I'm just thinking." "Well, are you thinking what I am? That none of this seems right? Even to a novice time-traveler like me this seems a little hinky." "What?" "Hinky. Didn't you ever watch Kojak?" "No. But you're right. This is strange. If this psionic illness is as serious as Jenskot says, that I think I'd remember. That's what's got me worried." "That and your dead wife." "Well, that too." Jenskot, Cable, and Domino walked the rest of the way to the Clan Chosen encampment in silence. They arrived at the camp almost an hour later. All three of them were sweaty and tired, but Cable didn't show it, standing in awe of the sight before him. Whoa... has it really been this long since I've been here? he thought. It's good to be back... but something's not right... can't quite put my finger on it... "Come, Cable. Our brother Blaquesmith is waiting to explain to you the matter with the Dayspring. He is waiting in his tent, over there," Jenskot said, pointing to a bivouac on the north side of the camp. "All right, I'll go talk to him," Cable said, turning to leave. "Uhm... Cable?" Domino grabbed his arm. "Dom?" "And you want me to do... what?" "Dom...you...you stay here with Jenskot while I talk to Blaquesmith." "You can't keep runnign from her forever, Nate. And you trust Blaquesmith? After what went down in Bolivia?" "That was a long time ago for us, Dom. It hasn't even happened for him yet. And yes, I trust him. He got us here, didn't he?" "That's a good thing?" "Don't worry about it. Just stay with Jenskot and keep your eyes open... something seems weird." Cable walked away, leaving Domino to run after Jenskot, mumbling under her breath. "How am -I- supposed to know what's weird here?" Cable arrived at the Dayspring's tent shortly thereafter. "Blaquesmith? Hello?" he asked, pushing aside the tent flap. "Yes?" HTe short alien looked up from Dayspring's bed. "Ah, you must be Cable. Thank you for coming..." Blaquesmith took a good look at Cable. "You look so like him, but... that scar. I don't recognize it. No, you can't be him. What a silly thought." Blaquesmith walked around the bed to face Cable. WHAT?! WHAT?! NOT BE HIM?! I -AM- HIM! Cable thought. OK, calm down. Something's really wrong here... I've had this scar since I was a baby... there's no way he can't have it... Cable bent over the Dayspring's bed to get a better look at him. The child had no scar over his right eye. No... this can't be right... this isn't possible... Cable thought. "Is something wrong, Cable?" Blaquesmith asked. "No... nothing's wrong, Blaquesmith... I need to be alone with the Dayspring for a while... try to ascertain what's wrong with him," Cable replied. "Very well, then. I will leave you. Let me know when you're finished." With that Blaquesmith left the tent. Cable stood next to the bed and began to think. This CAN'T be happening. There's no way. I've had this scar since I was a baby. Which means... I don't know what it means, but it sure as hell ain't good. He began to pace at the foot of the bed. Could this be a plot by one of my enemies? Sinister? No, he's never shown much interest in me before. Tyler? A possibilty, but unlikely. That guy Spider-Man used to fight, Mysterio? Never seen him before, but I suppose there's a first time for everything. I guess I'd better try to figure out what the kid's problem is. Cable reached out with his mind, attempting to probe the Dayspring's unconscious and learn the cause of his malady. There's definitely something here... some kind of psychic presence... but... it's not really hurting him... jsut slowing him down a bit... there's no way this is going to kill him, I don't see the problem... maybe if I try and pinpoint the disturbance's source... !BOOM! The telekinetic backlash blew the tent to shreds and sent Cable and the Dayspring flying. Members of the clan came running from all sides. "What happened? What's going on? Is the DAyspring all right? Did they survive?" Jenskot and Domino rushed to the spot where Cable was crawling up. "Cable? Are you all right?" Jenskot asked, clearly agitated. "I'm... I'm all right, Jenskot... I just need to see Blaquesmith for a second. Could you get him?" Cable replied. "Of course!" Jenskot ran off. "Nate, what just happened?" Domino asked, supporting Cable with her arm and shoulder. "I tried to figure out where the psychic interference that was messing ith the kid was coming from. Once I got it, the feedback created a TK explosion." "So did you figure it out? What's going on?" "There was definitely a strong psychic presence in there, Dom. Someone familiar, too." "Someone you know?" "Yeah, but I can't quite put my finger on it... the contact was pretty fleeting." Cable and Dom waled over to where Jenskot and Blaquesmith were standing. "Well, you always tell the kids to stop and concentrate." "OK, OK..." Cable stopped and closed his eyes. "I... I know this person... but I can't..." "Nate, think about it. How many superpowerful telepaths do you know here?" "The only one I can think of is Stryfe, but... it's not him... it's somebody else..." Cable opened his eyes. "Oh boy." Eight hours later, Cable and Domino were hacking through a forest in Ancient Michigan. "Nate, Rachel Summers is dead! You told me so yourself!" Domino said to Cable, stepping over loose tree limbs. "I thought so too, Dom. But there's no denying it was her in the Dayspring's mind," Cable replied, cutting a path through the foliage. "But how is that possible?" "You thought I was dead for a while, didn't you?" "Well..." "Besides, there was always this crazy rumor when I was a kid that the Mother Askani was actually Rachel Summers anyway." "What?! You knew that?" "Rumor, Dom. I never said I knew. Besides... I don't think this is my future, anyway." "WHAT?!" "I saw the Dayspring's face, Dom... he didn't have the scar." CAble stopped as they entered a clearing. "But... but you said you had that scar since you were a baby." Dom sat down on a stump. "I know, Dom... I know." "But... if this isn't your future... then where are we?" "Well, one of two things happened. One, Jenskot didn't temporally displace properly and came back to the wrong timeline. Or..." "Or what?" "Or... she's from this timeline... and I'm not." "Nate... that's not possible, is it?" Domino leaned forward on her elbows and stared at Cable. "Sure it is. I've done a lot in the time I've been back. I could have changed enough that the timeline was significantly altered." "Then howcome you're still here?" "My time still exists, Dom. It's just not the one you're from anymore. It once was, maybe. But if I'm right, it's not anymore." "OK, fine. But whatever happened, why are we HERE?" "Before the tent blew to pieces, I had a brief flash of a place... Soult Saint Marie... the island we're on." "The Mother Askani hangs out in a 2000-year-old tourist trap?" "I don't know, Dom... we'll know when we find her," Cable said, picking up his gear. "How?" Domino asked, following behind him. "She'll be there." They arrived in Soult Saint Marie about two hours later. "Hard to believe there was once a town here," Domino remarked of the thick underbrush and shattered stones that littered the expansive clearing. "A lot can happen in 2000 years, Dom. The wars were harsh." Cable looked around. "Well, if she's here, she's doing a good job of hiding herself." "No longer, Nathan." A voice came from above them. Looking up, Cable and Domino saw the floating form of the Mother Askani, AKA Rachel Summers. "Rachel... but you... Scott said... but..." "Yes, Nathan, but as you surmised, this is no longer your timeline," Rachel replied, lowering herself to the ground. "So... it's true? I have changed enough?" Cable asked. "You have indeed... but surely you hoped not to erase teh line from whence you came?" Rachel replied. "Well, it mighta been nice..." Cable muttered to himself. "No, Nathan, you have changed much, but this line is still in need of you. Those who hope to weather the coming storm will need staunch allies, and you must prove yourself the greatest of these." "Storm? Allies? Rachel, what are you talking about? What's going on here?" Cable asked, bewildered. "When I learned that an alternate version of the Dayspring existed far in the past, I realized that having the Chosen One in place in the far past could stem the tide of evil that so dominates our time... and, whether you choose so or not, you are the Chosen One. And the Chosen One must be tried before he is deemed worthy." "So that's it? This was all just another trial for 'the Chosen One'?" "Indeed, Nathan. But be wary, for this trial is minor compared to those that you will face... farewell, Nathan. With a motion of her hand, Cable disappeared. "Waitaminute. Then what am I doing here?" Domino asked, wildly looking about. "Everyone has his or her place, Domino. Yours here was to realize your true feeling for Nathan, and to help him move past the love he can no longer have," Rachel replied. "Uhm..." Domino was speechless. Don't know quite how to respond to THAT, she thought. "And now, Domino, you too shall go ho,e... forget not what you have seen here, for if things are not changed, this is what your future will be..." And with another motion of her hands, Domino disappeared as well. Rachel did not linger long before vanishing herself. THE END NEXT ISSUE: Cable leaves X-Force and destroys a 7-11! WRITER'S NOTE: Hi there. anon here, X-Writer of Cable. As you can see, I'm taking ol' Nathan in some pretty different directions from what you may be used to. That's the idea. From the very start, I wanted to put my own mark on the character, and by pretty much disassociating myself from what has transpired I feel I can make the new direction wholly my own. Bear in mind, this is not a retcon or a reboot. Everything still happened, it just matters less now. So, you wonder, what's coming up? Well, I'll tell you. Cable, to me, has always been a man defined by his failures. He lost the war, he lost his wife, he lost his son (three times); and now, he's lost his entire time. But now, rather that jsut keep on truckin' and doing the same old things, Nathan's going to be changing his MO a bit. Gone is the whole "mutant soldier with an attitude", although he's still going to be a soldier and the attitude is staying. He's just going to be doing things differently. What you're going to see here is Cable at his purest: fighting the good fight, taking it to the bad guys, but now on his own (well, with Domino sometimes). Nathan's going to be leaving X-Force in the hands of... well read our X-Force to find out. Suffice it to sasy that Cable's taking an extended leave to do his new thign, one that I hope will make some really exciting, FUN stories, which is what comics are supposed to be all about. An element of Cable's past that has largely ignored of late is, well, HIS past. Cable was introduced as someone who was "connected." He knew everybody. So, the next ten issues or so are going to see a veritable plethora of guest stars: Kane (a personal favorite of mine), Wolverine (who's supposed to know Nathan REALLY well), Pete Wisdom (!), and Thor(!!). And, roundabouts issue 29 or so, our new direction is going to take one hell of a hard left as Nathan starts to, as Dom will put it, "play Indiana Jones." Yes, some wild thigns are going to happen here, and you've got a front-row seat. So sit back, buckle your seatbelts, and hang on. Thigs only get better from here. And, BTW, if I get enough EMail to warrant it, I'm going to turn this space into a lettercol, just like in a "real" comic. So, even if you're already on the X-Writers mailing/discussion list, send your Cable-specific questions and comments to: anon And, if I get enough good ones, I'll run a lettercol. Laters! anon