X-WRITERS PRESENTS: X-Force #49 "Banks" by Keanu e-mail: mdfst12+@pitt.edu ========================================= NOTICE 1: X-WRITERS is an electronic mailing list, dedicated to X-Men fan-fiction. The owner of the X- characters' copyright (Marvel) has not given permission to use their property. We mean no harm in the use of these characters; we merely mean to have fun. X-Writers is a non-profit group and is not sponsored by any other person, organisation, or slush fund. And no, we aren't a front for a money laundering operation. NOTICE 2: All X-Writer stories may be cross-posted, distributed via e-mail, or any other medium know to human kind (oh, and you aliens can feel free to send it telepathi- cally or whatever). We do ask, though, that the X-Writers and the author be contacted beforehand and credited in full. Trust me, don't make us angry. You wouldn't like us when we're angry. ========================================= WHAT HAS COME BEFORE: In an attempt to become independent, the members of X-Force have decided to break away from Xavier, and move out on their own. Before they left to become a work-for-hire team in California, Xavier asked them for one more favour, to check on an unbefore seen mutant presence in Atlanta... ========================================= "Down this way," shouted Siryn towards Warpath as they trudged down the empty side streets of Five Points, deep in the downtown area of Atlanta. It was dark and cold as the rain was misting over the cityscape. Siryn and Warpath were on the trail of a little boy, who knew something about a man they were looking for. A man known by the name of Raymond Banks... *** X-Force was on their way out to California to start a new life for themselves as what they termed "Freelance Operatives." That is, they were planning on selling their services out to certain businesses and estates for their protection. They had enough of the duty of protecting mutant kind. But as they were leaving to begin their new life, their old mentor, Charles Xavier, had asked them for one last favour. You see, Xavier had discovered a mutant presence in the city of Atlanta. It was a strong mutant presence, but one he had never noticed before, and since the rest of his legions were out of town, he asked X-Force to check it out for him. He paid them, of course -- up front. So, the team took a detour on their way out to the land of movies and stars to discover just exactly what it was. *** flashback, the previous night... Tabitha peered into the small scanning device that had been supplied to them by Xavier. It was showing a strong mutant presence in the bar district, better known to the locals as Buckhead. She was walking in front of two of her team- mates, known as Sunspot and Caliban, as they searched the streets for the source of the presence. The team had split up in hopes of finding him or her more quickly. Boomer, Sunspot, and Caliban scanned Buckhead. Rictor and Shatterstar were in charge of Midtown. While the team's leader, Siryn, went with Warpath into Down- town. Of course, being in one of the main hangouts of the entire city, Sunspot and Caliban would have stuck out like a sore thumb, and the south didn't really have its fair share of mutants. They were more like a novelty. So, it was fortunate for them all, that they had also received some image inducers courtesy of the Beast, Dr. Henry McCoy. And, lucky for them, they were a gift and not on loan. "Boomer, Caliban does not understand." "What don't you understand this time," she sighed in response to her dim-headed companion. "Where are all the movie stars?" replied Caliban. "Jeez, Cal. How many times do we have to tell you? We're in Atlanta, not LA.," she answered. "Not LA.?" he questioned. "No!" she yelled back, getting a bit miffed, "No we're supposed to be tracking this guy, and you're our resident tracker. Why don't ya shut up and start tracking!" "Caliban is sorry," replied the Morlock, who ran out in front of her and began to check for any signs of mutants. "Boomer," interceded Roberto, "Why don't you take it a little easier on the big guy? It's not his fault he's a bit slow..." "Yeah," agreed Boomer, "I know, I've just been a bit... y'know, out of it lately, is all. Besides, Theresa is making me sick with all her orders. Why in god's name did Cable put her in charge?" "Good question," replied 'Berto, "And one that will probably be under debate now that Cable's gone." Boomer peered ahead but could see no sign of Caliban in front of them. They had wandered off the main street a bit and he had disappeared into the darkness. "Cal?" she called out, "Find anything yet?" There was no response. Unless, of course, you consider chirping grasshoppers to be a response. "Crap," she turned to Sunspot, "I don't like the looks of this." "Neither do I," replied a voice from behind her. They both turned to see a large shadowy figure before them, holding up Caliban's body. His image inducer was broken and was flickering on and off. As I said before, it was a good thing it wasn't on loan. The figure swept down towards the two team-mates, as they gulped in fear. And then it was quiet once more... *** elsewhere... "Boomer. Boomer?" Rictor spoke into a communicator which had, up until that point had been in contact with the other two teams. Now, it was in contact with only Siryn and Warpath. "I lost contact with 'em," Rictor continued, this time speaking with X-Force's leader, Siryn, "They were just there a second ago." "Aye," replied Siryn, "I noticed. We lost contact wi' them as well. Tell me if anythin' else comes up." "Isn't she the least bit concerned about what happened to them?" asked Rictor, who wanted to check up on his team- mates. "Where I come from, Julio..." started Shatterstar. "Ric," corrected Rictor. "Sorry. Where I come from, RIC, a warrior's duty is not to his team-mates, but to accomplishing the mission," replied 'Star. "Team-mates come second." "Well," answered Rictor, "We're not on your world now, are we?" "No," answered Shatterstar, "I guess not." "C'mon," replied Rictor, "Let's get this show on the road. I'm not picking up anything on the scanner." "Perhaps we should head back North, towards Boomer and her squad. That way we can look for the mutant while we find out what happened to their communications." They both were about to begin walking, when they suddenly froze with fright. The large shadowy man was upon them. "No need to go looking," he said, "I'm already here." *** elsewhere, again... "Damn," yelled Siryn, banging on the side of the communicator, "Now we've lost Rictor and Shatterstar, too." "Maybe we should go look for them," answered Warpath. "James, I'm beginning to think you are right," she replied, "Maybe these communications outages have something to do with the unknown mutant." "Can you fly us there," asked James, "We've been walking around all day and my feet are killing me." He sat down on an old bench, which had graffiti written all over it, almost to the point that the wood below couldn't be seen. "Okay," replied Siryn, "But I've got to rest a bit, an' all." As they were sitting on the bench outside of a subway station, they watched the people stroll by. Most of them were not well off, being in the poorer section of town. Bums walked by here and there, asking for a stray hand out. James had to shoo a couple of them away. Soon, Theresa noticed a small black child wandering the streets alone. A old grey hooded sweatshirt masked his face, as he walked from person to person, asking for some food. He was probably no more than six years old. Theresa sighed, "Poor kid. He prolly just wants a good home." The child began walking up to the two X-Force members, and then he spoke to Warpath, "You're a big man. You must be strong. Like Banks." "Banks?" questioned Warpath. "Yeah!" responded the child enthusiastically, "He saved me last night!" "Saved you?" asked Theresa, "From what?" "Uncle Gus," replied the boy, "He's my father. Not my real father, but my adoptived... uh, apodtive... my foster father. Sometimes he is real nice, but most of the time he curses at me. Doesn't let me eat." "That sucks," replied James, "What kind of jerk is that to raise a kid." "He tried," answered the boy, "At first, but then the neighbours got mad when I grew these." The boy lifted his hood, and James and Theresa could see small horns growing from the top of his head. They were slight, but they were noticeable. "They said I was a devil child," the boy continued, "And then Gus would chase me away, saying muties 'ain't worth the trouble'." "That's so sad," said Theresa. "But Mr. Banks," the spoke out again, "He comes and stops him." "This Mr. Banks?" replied Warpath, "Is he a mutant, like you?" "Yessir." James and Theresa both looked at each other. They had their first lead. They didn't know if it was the mutant that they were looking for, but it was a start. "This Mr. Banks, can you take us to him?" asked James, "We're mutants, too. We're interested in meeting others." The boy slowly backed away, shaking his head negatively, and he soon started running in the opposite direction. "What?" yelled Warpath after him, "What's wrong? What'd I say?" "Mr. Banks say most mutants are bad," the boy yelled, quickly gaining speed as he ran, "He say me and him are the good guys." "Wait!" yelled Siryn running after him, but he was soon gone, "Damn, our best lead, down the drain." "Quick for a little fella, isn't he?" added James. "Yes, I would say so." *** back in the present... Siryn and Warpath had spent all night searching for the little boy. His signal barely showed on the scanner which they held. They didn't know if it was due to his power being weak, or if there was something masking him from contact. Whatever it was, the search had begun to drain on the two mutants, and it was now the next day with no luck. On top of that, the five other members of the team were missing as well. They never showed up at the rendezvous point. Warpath laid down on another old bench, his back aching from all the walking. "I'm so tired of looking for them," he yawned, "Why don't we get a hotel room so that we can rest?" "But our friends are missing!" exclaimed Siryn. "Don't you think I know that," snapped back James, "It's just that neither of us can do any good when we're this damn tired. We both need the rest. Maybe something will come up tomorrow morning." As they walked to the hotel, James mind was slipping in and out of sleep, so it wasn't that odd to him when the large shadowy figure appeared before him. Theresa, however, didn't take it so well. She screamed out as the figure swooped over her. She wasn't using her power, James noticed, she was screaming in terror. But James was unaffected. Maybe it was due to his lack of sleep. "I see you are not afraid of me," mentioned the figure, in a deep ominous tone, "That is... unusual to say the least." "What did you do with Theresa?" demanded Warpath. "I heard you were trying to attack one of my children," replied the figure, "And I figured you were coming after me. I guess you could call this a pre-emptive strike." "And you would be...?" James asked facetiously. "Banks," replied the man, "Raymond Banks." ========================================= NEXT ISH: Die hardest! ========================================= -- *Marysia* | The Original Holy | "Live without your Keeper of the | Virgin of the | sunlight. Love with Labyrinth Flame | Church of Xbooks | out your heartbeat." ---------------------------------------------------------- Editor in Chief of x-writers at majordomo@minuteman com