The X-Writers Present:
X-Factor #120 Written By Jon Bartley
Edited by Marysia

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X-Writers is a group of non-profit e-mail storytellers. X-Factor 
and all related characters are copyright to Marvel Comics 
Entertainment Group, Inc. Their characters are used without 
their permission. Stapple, Astra, Devious, Fast Lane and this 
story are copyright to Jon Bartley and are used with permission.
Note: This story may contain violent acts and language that may 
not be welcomed by all. It also contains humour. If you don't 
like to read about these things, then don't!
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"The Devious: Part Two -- The Trail of the Sentry"

Dr. Valerie Cooper didn't like to visit Falls Edge unless she was 
truly needed. Today, according to Dr. Freddie McConfith, was 
one of those rare occasions. Val Cooper walked through the 
halls of Falls Edge with an annoyed expression on her face. 
Today, she had expected her orders to bring Spoor into the U.S. 
to come in. She had expected. It was one of those days where 
something went wrong and it seemed as if everything else would 
too. It had been yesterday that things had truly gone wrong, but 
they had only mildly affected her. A young boy by the name of 
Sydney Pierce had walked into her office, as she had called him 
there, and Val asked him if he would be willing to become a 
temporary member of X-Factor. He had refused more quickly 
than anyone she had ever seen. Then, as if to cry out to her, he 
had stolen one of the other agents wallets, a petty crime, and 
morphed into a small animal.

She saw Dr. McConfith walk her way. Trying to elude him now 
wasn't possible, she thought. He seemed to walk toward her 
faster now that she spoke unpleasantly of the visit in her eyes.

"Good, Dr. Cooper! I'm glad you're here."

"Wish I could say the same," she said underneath her breath.

"It has taken me only but this one night to do it, yet I'm 
confident that our friend, Adam Moore a.k.a Stapple, has 
finally, with my help, unstapled his genetic memo." The doctor 
was talking about the boy Wild Child had brought to Falls Edge 
yesterday. The boy suffered from a retardation that affected his 
decision making. Most thought it was due to his parents getting 
divorced that he had unknowingly stapled such a memo to 'heal' 
the pain in an abstract way. If the doctor's words hit Val's ears 
right, he no longer suffered from that retardation.

"So he's all better. We can give him a slap on the back and send 
him about his way?"

"No," McConfith sounded enthusiastic first, but now he 
sounded saddened. "I've found unstapling it meant exposing 
those emotions he's repressed since he was ten. They flooded 
his mind, not even an experienced telepath could handle being 
burdened with the repressed and painful emotions of four years 
all at once. He's asleep now, but there's something I'd like you to 
take a look at."

The two walked down the hall and into a private lab of 
McConfith's. It was laced with flasks and vials of blood, 
analysed and labelled with a dark black ink. The desk space was 
cluttered with papers and folders of other clients and patients. 
McConfith walked over to his desk and fingered through the 
stacks of papers. "Ah!" He ran back over to Val and handed her
a batch of papers that were bound by a small paper clip.

"I'm very proud of your ability to put a stack of papers together 
with a paper clip and make it look all nice, but I see nothing 
here. If this is the only reason you called me fifty miles away 
from where I should be right now, there will be a tribute to 
Lorena Bobbitt right here today."

McConfith sighed. "The top sheets are Adam Moore's brain 
waves. Two samples from two different times. The first was a 
sample from when his brain waves were being tested and were 
tested positive for being a mutant. Notice how scattered the 
chart is." Val took a long look at the first chart.

"I thought that Adam's mutancy wasn't proven until now," Val 
questioned.

"I obtained all his records and began studying them. Now, the 
second sheet is a little more help. The brain scan was taken 
yesterday. See this and that...? More wild." The second sheet 
had a date in the top corner. It was two hours after Stapple's 
initial unstapling. "I have a hypotheses. It could be that his 
emotions control his power."

"As in, 'If I'm happy, it works'?"

"No, the more depressed he becomes, the more power he may 
assume. Probably a part of Mother Nature's master plan." 
McConfith joked. "Stapple has no reason to live, he has more of 
a chance of living and surviving."

Val fingered through more of the papers between the paper clip. 
"Ah ha! So this is the reason you called me down here." She 
began to read off a list. "Four SuperCharge mutant restraint 
collars, sixteen neuro-monitors, etcetera, etcetera ad infinitum! 
The list goes on, doesn't it?"

"Well, I do need more supplies if I'm going to help this poor 
chap to get well. Just sign on the dotted line and we'll all be 
happy-happy."

Val  laid the paper down on the desk and signed her name at the 
bottom. "Great. Things are going so great for me. I knew that I 
was going to have trouble with this Stapple character, must be 
psychic. I probably got the order to bring Spoor into the country 
by now, to have top security for the operation, and a cell all to 
himself. But here I am signing requisition orders. Did you really 
need me to come all the way out here for this?"

"Things with Adam aren't going to be getting easier until I find a 
trust between me and him. He doesn't like anyone right now. 
That could be dangerous."

"Yeah. Like he's going to wake up and come crashing through 
that -- " The west wall of McConfith's private room exploded 
with pieces of the metal wall flying in every direction. In the 
hole that was now present stood Adam Moore, Stapple, twenty 
feet tall with bulging muscles and his eyes glaring. "-- wall."

"You son of a bitch! You just wanna kill me, don't you?! Why 
do you put me through all this, for a buck?" The enlarged 
Stapple said.

Val took two steps over to the wall intercom, connecting her 
with every room in Falls Edge. She pressed the button and 
began to speak. "Attention -- X-Factor. A hostile situation is 
taking place in Dr. McConfith's private lab in Section B-C of 
the medical research compound. Your assistance would be 
greatly appreciated." Val looked back at Adam, who was staring 
at her now. "Relax, kid. Nobody wants to hurt you. We brought 
you here to help you."

"I'm no kid, I'm ten."

"Of course your not a kid. You're a lot more than that right 
now. You're also growing into a young man. Just listen to me 
and I'll help you. My name is Dr. Valerie Cooper. What's your 
name?"

"Adam. They call me Stapple."

"Why's that?"

"'Cause I can staple things to people's cells and DNA an' stuff."

"Oh, is that why? Well, I have the ability to make things happen. 
I understand that you're in a lot of pain right now. All I have to 
do is make a few calls and I can make your pain go away. It 
may take a while, but I need your help."

"No, all of you want to kill me. I was fine before."

Val began to walk forward. "Yeah. Well, reduce in size and I'll 
help you to become better than fine."

Adam began to think and move around a few steps. "Why did 
she leave me with him? Did she not care about me? I cleaned 
my room almost every day. Dad wasn't around 'cause of the 
new hours at work. The only one around when I got home was 
the damn cat."

"I can't answer those questions. I don't know you, your father, 
your mother, or anyone in your family. Remember? We just 
met." Valerie moved closer as Adam's body swelled with a 
yellow light, bringing him to his normal height. Adam covered 
his eyes.

"Don't look at me!" he sobbed.

"McConfith, leave. I can play nice for a while."

*****

In a New York Deli, a massive blood smear caked on the floor 
behind the counter began to dry, a painful reminder of innocent 
blood that would be present long after it had been cleaned away. 
The owner of the deli, Madchen Atkinson, began to cry as she 
watched the men that were supposed to save her daughter make 
insensitive jokes about the condition of the dead body. The door 
of the deli, with the glass window shattered, opened to greet 
Wild Child, Kyle Gibney and Mystique, Raven Darkholme, with 
it's broken frame.

Kyle walked over to the man who looked like he was in charge 
of the situation. He was your typical television cop, loose tie and 
an expression on his face that says aloud, 'This is my case.' 
"Hello, I'm looking for --" Kyle began.

"I'm sorry, you'll have to leave. Deli's closed," the man said.

"Oh, you must be Officer Pinch. They told me you'd an asshole, 
but I really didn't expect for you to be so well tagged. My name 
is Kyle Gibney, Wild Child, from the X-Factor project. This is 
my uh... co-worker, Mystique. I suppose you got the uh... 
memo?"

Officer Pinch nodded. "Oh yes. 'Lizard Mutant -- Carcass is 
private property. Kill.' I know. That's usually our first action 
when we see a mutant disrupting the peace, we've never had the 
order to detain the mutant if possible so a team of mutants, that 
couldn't even make the creature flinch in a battle yesterday, 
could return to Virginia with him." 

Kyle glanced back at Mystique and said, pointing at the blue 
woman accusingly, "Uh... she started it."

"C'mon. This way." Pinch began to walk toward the scarred 
floor where blood painted the walls, floor and ceiling; dripping 
from tables, and pooling on plates and such. Kyle found it 
difficult to find clear floor. "Early this morning, the owner 
claims that a green-skinned mutant came in and sat down in a 
free chair in the corner. He was allegedly talking to his hand and 
apologising for many things. The owner, Madchen Atkinson, 
walked over to the mutant and asked if there was anything she
could get for him. Upon looking at her, he began to attack the 
tables, slicing his way through five customers, including her 
daughter, Alex."

"Anything else?"

"Yes, muttering of the name, "Summers" could be heard." As 
fast as Pinch said it, Kyle stopped him.

"Wait. I've had enigmas before and it's usually taken me a very 
long time to figure them out. I mean, hell, four letter words in a 
crossword puzzle and me don't exactly mix. But if he was 
muttering Summers like he was yesterday when we fought him 
and one of the victims' names is Ale -- Oh! I just better shut up 
about that." Kyle's face turned a bright red with embarrassment 
as he nearly mentioned Alex Summers' name. Best keep this 
one to themselves till they figured out what was going on.

"Hey, Pinch." A voice called from the corner belonging to a 
bald man with rubber gloves on his hands. "Found this rubber 
dog in this corner. Ain't this the one Lizard Boy was in? Well, 
bottom of it says, '(C) 1996 Sugar-Tong Toys. Made in 
Genosha'. Ain't they in the middle of a civil war right now?"

*****

Inside the Falls Edge compound, within the deep halls that 
sometimes talk, and reaching down into the core of the 
compound, the holographic young lady known as Shard walked 
with a new-found hobby playing on her middle finger. Her yo-
yo bounced up and down, slowly losing it's string and bouncing 
back into her palm. Shard continued this redundant activity until 
she reached the end of a hall and faced herself with the stature 
of the door that lead to Forge's office. Things were boring. 
Shard wasn't exactly considered a full member of the X-Factor 
team. Sure, she was useful for a plasma rifle. Shard was a 
member as long as she performed well in the battlefield. Other
than that, only Kyle cared for her as a human being. Shard 
opened the door quietly and began to take the first steps inside.

She felt the ground moist under her feet and pulled back when 
she saw she was about to step in a pond. "What the heck -- ?" 
she questioned.

"Oh," Forge said from his desk, that seemed to float in the dead 
centre of the pond. "I adjusted the holo-fields in my office. I like 
the birds." Shard looked around and saw nothing short of a 
mythical nirvana as far as she could see. Trees stood tall, yet 
seemed to have impressions of file drawers on their trunks. "I'm 
sorry. Here.... let me adjust this a bit." Forge pressed a few 
buttons on his bionic leg and stepping stones appeared floating 
on the pond perfectly aligned for one to walk over to either side
of him or stand in front of the desk without feeling the oddly 
realistic feeling of the pond that wasn't there.

"Thanks. Hey, I was wondering where everyone is?"

"Shard," Forge sighed. "Really, I don't have time for anything 
you have to say. I've got to process this pile of junk by seven 
today. I'm running an hour behind and -- "

"Fine! I can help. Just give me a stack of it and that'll cut the 
work load in half." Forge handed her a vast heap of papers.

"Get started."

"Okay." She pulled up a seat next to Forge's desk in the water 
and began to fill the papers out. Shard had seen the process of 
filling them out before, in the future. Of course, in the future 
there's no need for things to be on paper, only computers and 
things of that nature. So this task would take her longer to do. 
"So... What's my payroll?"

Forge laughed. "Yeah right. I really don't think that -- "

"Please! I may not have a whole body. But I have as much need 
as a soul, a spirit trapped on Earth. A guardian angel has to help 
out humans, but I really think he or she would like the taste of a 
hot dog once in a while. Minimum wage or you might just have 
to be explaining why half of these aren't finished by seven to 
your superiors."

Forge didn't say anything, but he nodded in her favour.

Hours went by working in silence and with every passing 
minute, Forge began to develop more and more of a smile. The 
paperwork was getting done faster because Shard had kicked 
Forge in the gut, where it hurts. Had Lorna or Kyle done it, 
they would be in some serious trouble. But Shard, being
less of a being, had the advantage. "Hey, Forgie, on this card 
here... Would you like for you or Va --"

The whole room went black in mid sentence. Forge called for 
someone with a cautious voice. The holo-field had been shut 
down, so, as Forge assumed, Shard was no longer in the room. 
His office holo-field was better than hers. A flashlight beam 
emerged from someone's hand at his office door as the intruder 
began to circle around the room, staying away from the shaman.
"Who are you?" Forge said, as cables emerged from his bionic 
body parts and beamed themselves across the room into the 
'backup box.'

"I'm sure in a few moments you will know. That lizard that 
attacked you yesterday? His name is Devious. He *will* kill 
your team, if you're not careful." The intruder's words were of 
help to Forge whether or not they were true. Any information 
given to government agents was believed if it was from Forge's 
mouth.

"Oh, is that so. I'm sure that that gem of info isn't available 
anywhere. Can you tell me how you know all this?"

"No, I'm loyal to my master like a good dog." The voice was 
beginning to sound more and more feminine to Forge. "But 
there's this mixed breed sitting in my master's chair right now. A 
mutt that shouldn't be there. He sent Devious to kill your team 
by accident." Forge's cables were almost into the core of setting 
everything back, but a little trick up his sleeve wouldn't hurt if it 

didn't take too long.

"Dogs. I remember what someone told me once. 'Don't talk to 
strangers.' I like to add to that, 'unless you have the upper 
hand'." The lights, as well as the holo-field, came on with a 
slightly different holo-situation in place. The intruder now stood 
in a cage as the office stood in a dungeon sequence. The 
intruder was Fatale.

"Very nice. Too bad it won't hold me long." Fatale stood with 
scars on her belly as well as a massive wound on her leg.

"What cat did you pick a fight with?"

"The attacker I spoke of, Devious. I will be leaving here in six 
minutes. And Devious will have killed four people in that time. 
He has an agenda. He will return to Falls Edge to attack. And 
whoever he messes with will... Well, one of them won't leave 
the battle alive."

"My team isn't beaten that easy; it's got some of the best people 
I know on it. You can bet that it will be Devious who doesn't 
leave alive."

"Oh, I'm quite sure of that."

*****

It's Washington DC. The time is 7:04 pm and for four hours 
Val Cooper has been running non-stop. Earlier today, she was 
called to Falls Edge by one of the new resident doctors there. 
Still, the thought of why he called her fifty miles away to tell her 
of the new progress in Adam Moore escaped her. Though, had 
she not have been there, Adam would've destroyed the 
compound.

Val ran into her office, with this moment being her only free 
one in the day. The atmosphere was different. There was a 
smell that wasn't supposed to her there. "What's going on here?" 
she whispered to herself.

"Hello, Dr. Cooper!" said the temporary secretary that had been 
called in. Val's usual secretary had called in sick this morning. 
Valerie had expected not to see the temp till tomorrow morning. 
"Did you know that the coffee machine was broke? I had to call 
in my brother to fix it."

"Oh? Yeah, I knew. What did he charge me?"

"Nothing, he's my younger brother. 'Nuff said. My name is 
Charleton. Just so you know what to call me." Charleton moved 
to Val's desk neatly layed down a brown envelope. "This was on 
my desk when I came in."

"Oh, yes. This is probably the order." Val eagerly slid her finger
underneath the seal and broke the flap. The papers inside were 
thick. She eyed them strangely when pulling them out. The top 
sheet was the notice she would have to present before a group 
of officials to bring Spoor into the United States. The rest of the 
sheets were agents to assign the operation to and other pieces of 
paper that were slid in that really meant nothing, but would 
make the envelope thicker more important looking. "Yes, this is 
it. Look, Charleton. Can you do something for me before you 
have to leave at eight?"

"Anything."

"I need you to call everyone on this list and tell them to call me 
back. Private things. I just need them to know I've got some-
thing ahead." She handed Charleton a little list of numbers and 
began to walk towards the door. "If the Gamis number gives 
you any trouble, act like you don't have to be speaking to them. 
It always works for me. Charleton, never forget, one of these 
days, men will be at our feet."

Val opened her door and took two steps out of her office before 
the limp body of one of her associates slid across the hall to her 
feet. She bent down quickly to check for a pulse, for any signs 
of external wounds. "Damn, I'm just jinxing myself today." As 
her head raised to view the hallway, two violent figures raced 
within the halls, flattening anyone in the way of accomplishing 
their unknown task.

The first figure had brown hair and enlarged fists, yet his form 
seemed to change with each person who tried to stop him. Dr. 
Cooper had a little difficulty trying to figure out who this young 
man was, but then as fast as confusion came, the revelation of 
his identity came to her. "Sydney," she whispered to herself. 
The other figure how ever, a red-headed woman, was new to 
her, even though she tried to race through her mind and try to 
find a name. Val would never know it, but her name was Astra.

"No one will stop us from doing this." Sydney yelled. His 
enlarged fist smacked into four agents. "Evil as this may seem, 
we are ensuring less violence for tomorrow than we commit this 
day." He persisted.

Astra bolted pinkish bolts from seemingly nothing. "Don't talk," 
she whispered in his head, using her mental powers. "They 
would know us."

"Whatever... Sean said," he drove another government agent 
into the ground. ".. for us to stop this department. I'll amuse 
myself if I need -- " Sydney whizzed from his position beside 
Astra to one of the cement walls in the large halls. Astra, 
distracting herself from finishing the job her brother, Sean, had 
sent her to do, though it hurt her to, eyed Sydney to find what
would make him do such a foolish thing. As it was, Sydney was 
just as surprised.

Sydney's head was driven into the wall, unharmed by his shape-
changing into a partial rubber, and a man dressed in blue and 
red spandex, about fifteen years old, had his right hand laying 
on the back of Sydney's almost innocently, but trying to imply 
guilt at the same time.

The young man spoke. " -- and my hobbies include beating 
rogue mutants in hand-to-hand combat. Yes, but I'm a 
accomplished poet in my spare time." Everyone in the hall, 
including Astra, looked at the young man. "Oh yeah. Put down 
the girlie. Oh... my name is Fast Lane. I'm here to save a few
asses." Fast Lane bolted across the room with lightning speed 
over to Astra. "I implore you not to confuse me with such super 
heroes as the Avengers' Quicksilver. I don't run, I vibrate. Don't 
make me hurt you, Miss. I hate hurting girlies."

Astra let go of a carefully placed array of mental bolts. Several 
of which hit Fast Lane, only to pass through him seconds after 
reaching his skin.

"*sigh* Yeah, yeah, yeah." Fast Lane fakely said. "Oh no. 
Hurting... please quit. For the sake of goodness..." He returned 
his voice to normal tone. "I told you I vibrate. Do you actually 
think I'd *quit* using it at some point? Okay. *sigh!* Let's just 
*say* you won, kaybe?" Fast Lane ran forward, puncturing his 
arm into Astra's astral form and vibrated his whole left arm, 
making quite a bit of noise in the process.

The astral form of the telekinetic witch started to buckle. When 
minutes of this vibration turned into pure annoyance, the 
vibrating man stopped and Astra faded into nothingness. Of 
course, with the situation under control, Val Cooper had to have 
words with this young man.

"Who the hell are you?" she questioned sternly.

"Oh please... I much more prefer the question, 'Who the hell do 
you think you are?' It makes me feel like the question is directed 
to me, Fast Lane, and not to my alter ego, the one you'll not 
know the name of. I *think* I am a super hero who just saved 
this department, but I could be wrong. Did Wolverine come in 
at any moment? I wouldn't know, cause I'm just so smug." He 
laughed. "Well, it's been fun saving you, and I love what you've 
done to Washington, but I really must kiss the girl and get going. 
Oh, here's one." Fast Lane pulled Val close to him and pressed 
his lips against hers. Val pushed him away with her infamous 
slap. "My first slap. Hm!... Hope it was good for you, cause that 
just plain hurt me!" As fast as he came, Fast Lane bolted from 
the halls and vibrated through the walls with no more words 
spoken in those halls.

*****

It is about eleven o'clock at Falls Edge, when most should be 
asleep, but most aren't. Forge is known to hit the sack early, 
after work is done. Kyle and Mystique haven't returned and 
probably won't until tomorrow. Other are awake for The 
Tonight Show. But one individual is trying to explain himself
over the telephone to an unknown employer. His name is Dr. 
Freddie McConfith.

"Yes, I *did*! Yeah... Cooper did come as I asked. Yeah, but 
she didn't suspect me. What? Well, yeah she's alive. I arranged 
it, but Adam's heart was too open to Val. Yes. Okay. What-
ever... Okay! It'll get done. If not here, DC. Bye, Tong."

---------------------------------------------------------------
Next Issue: The Devious Finale! Devious vs. Polaris! Alex fights 
his way back home from McCoy's lab! All this and a little more 
in X-Factor #121: "The Devious: Finale -- Is this seat taken?"
--
*Marysia* |"Just love me, fear me, do as I say and I
 Keeper of the  | will be your slave." Jareth, Labyrinth.
Labyrinth Flame |-----------------------------------------
and Holy Virgin |  x-writers at majordomo@minuteman com
  of Scotland.  | Info at http://minuteman.com/x-writers