X-Man Issue 10 by Andy Banks. The X-Writers is a fan fiction group intended on furthering the storylines set forth by Marvel. We are not affiliated with Marvel or any other group, company or MUSH, just each other. The following is Fan Fiction based on events and characters of the X-Men by Marvel Comics Group, Ltd. All characters and likenesses are copyright and trademark by Marvel Comics Group and used without permission for hobby and not-for-profit purposes. Copyright restrictions apply. Do I sound like a lawyer? Gawd, I hope not. *************************************************************** X-Man Issue #10 "To Find a Friend" "WHAT?! Wait a second. You know Maddie? You know where she is? Is she OK?" Nate asks frantically. "Of course I know her, my clamorous friend. I have known young Madelyne since the day she was born, and I know that right now she is in a lot of trouble," Henry remarks with a fake, yet convincing look of distress. "Well...we gotta go find her. We gotta save her!" Nate shouts as he drops his utensils and gets out of his seat. "Now just hang on a second, my uppity friend. She'll be okay for the time being and she can take care of herself. She is a very crafty young lady and I'm sure that she will be able to fend for herself, but not for very long. It is imperative that you seek her out, but not until tomorrow. It is too dangerous to attempt anything tonight." Henry says very calmly. "Besides, tonight is too early for my plans," Henry thinks silently, "I'm not expecting my friends to arrive until tomorrow, and if they don't get to see both Madelyne and you, they'll be so disappointed." Henry finishes off the last of his meal, and promptly rises from his chair. "We're almost there" he says. "Who's got Maddie and what do they want with her? Is she a mutant? If it's Sinister that's got her, so help me..." "SINISTER? Ha ha ha!" Henry bellows, "No, he's doesn't even know that Maddie exists, he's not the one who's got her. He's definitely not the one." Henry turns, still chuckling, and proceeds to walk to the front of the craft. Nate feels somewhat intimidated after the ordeal. Trying to hide his uncertain fear, he exclaims, "You know, where I come from, Sinister was one of the most evil people in the world and I wouldn't put it past him to do something like that." "Yes, I see," Henry replies, "but you must remember that this is not where you come from and Sinister is nothing but a second rate geneticist who lacks the foresight necessary to accomplish such a hefty task as kidnapping Madelyne Pryor. By the way, we're approaching my lab now. Gather your things and we'll take a look at you to find out why your powers keep giving out on you." Nate gathers his torn leather clothes from the seat where he left them. He is now more confused than he's ever been and wonders to himself, "Well, I've obviously figured out that I'm now longer in a world where Apocalypse runs everything. But it seems like a lot of the people that I've met before exist in this world. Maybe I should seek out the people that I trusted before like Forge or Terrie...and how did Henry know that I come from a different place? I don't trust him at all, but he could be my only hope to get over this burnout problem." During the silence, Henry reiterates to himself, "Yes Nate, where you come from, Sinister wasn't below kidnapping. He wasn't then and he isn't now. It is about time that he is done away with and what better way to die than at the hands of your two finest creations. Timing is critical though. I will have to make sure that the game is played with precision." A smug smile warms the Beasts furry face and he turns to Nate to share the smile, but not the thoughts. Nate stares downward while the hatch opens on Henry's craft. Henry walks out the door first and turns to Nate with his arms spread wide to show off his underground palace. "Welcome to my most humble abode, Nate. Please feel free to make yourself at home." Nate looks upward and gasps at the technological wonders before him. Computers of every kind and design line every wall of the huge chambers surrounding him. He stands in an underground technological wonder that almost pulsates with life. Nate looks back and notices the small harbor where the submarine is docked and the dark tunnel leading into uncertain blackness. He glances around again to see that each computer monitor has something running on it, and some of them are images of the outside world. Images that are sacrificed by the lack of windows. "Nice digs." Nate says while trying to act unimpressed. "I prefer to call it my 'home'. I know its not much to the visitor, but the decor befits my taste just fine," Henry replies as walks in his unique quadruped fashion to the far end of the chamber. "Nate, come over here, I want to take some tissue samples. We'll get to the bottom of your problem just yet." Nate walks slowly to the other end of the huge room while turning and looking at all the screens and wires. Henry points to a chair, motioning for Nate to sit. Nate looks cautiously and sits down, still glancing around. He turns to Henry and quietly says, "I've heard stories about the Legacy Virus. Do you think I've got the Legacy Virus?" "Hhmm," Henry says while rubbing his chin, "No, with as much power expenditure as you have exhibited over the past few days, you would be dead right about now if you did have the Legacy Virus. That cursed virus has claimed so many of my companions lately. But, that is neither here nor there, roll up your right sleeve Nate, whilst I prepare the biopsy gun. This won't hurt that much, but it will help me to determine why your powers are starting to fade at such a vigorously young age." Henry places the small, yet dangerous looking device up to Nate's right forearm and says, "OK, on three. One..." Suddenly Nate feels a pierce on his arm and hears a loud ringing in his ears. His eyes widen with the pain and the flinching recoil of his arm causes the chair to move violently backwards. "There, all done!" Henry says with a smile as he quickly turns around and walks toward a large computer panel. "You said on three!" Nate shouts while holding and rubbing his arm. "Oh my stars and garters, did I say that? What would Edna McCoy think of her eldest and most brilliant son now?" Beast gleefully says as he makes his way toward some strange laboratory equipment. "McCoy?" Nate thinks, "Now that's a name that sounds familiar for some reason. I remember it for some reason, but I can't think of why I would." Nate settles back into the comfortable chair and watches as Henry glides back and forth from computer to computer, diligently working like a mad scientist. His eyes grow heavy and he realizes that he's only had a few hours of sleep in the past two days. He starts to wonder to himself, "This has been really weird. I wake up and get taken in by some guy I could barely understand, then Madelyne shows up looking remarkably like my mother whom I've only met once, and then that big thing jumped from her head and someone named Sugarman wants me dead, so I go off with some dark grey, hairy guy to figure out...yawn...and now, on top of it all, I still can't psi-scan Henry to...yawn...figure...out..." - - - BEEP, BEEP, BEEP. Blaquesmith comes running into his control room. "There he is! I've got a bead on you now. Give me some time and the right equipment and I can crack any signature scrambler" he says as his fingers tap the controls on his complex computers. He chews on his finger, leans back into his chair and studies the map on the screen above him wondering aloud "Hhhmm...either my Cable Want-to-be is with Jimmy Hoffa underneath Giants Stadium or he's in the Morlock tunnels right now. Very interesting! Whoops, looks like he's moving again, and fast too. So, let's just wait it out and see where he goes." - - - "Nate, my boy, you must be up and at them now." Henry says quietly. "The early worm finds the bird, so to speak." Nate feels Henry poking him in the shoulder and opens his eyes. He realizes that he'd just been asleep for a long time and glances around but is stunned to find that his surroundings have changed and that a loud hum is constantly in his ears. "Where are we?" Nate asks softly while rubbing his tired eyes. "Roughly 3000 miles up and 100 miles away from Paris where our friend Madelyne is being held unknowingly against her will. I'll be dropping you off on the quiet outskirts of town." Henry says while perched almost directly above Nate on the arm of the chair. "Huh? You're not going with me?" Nate replies. "No, I'm afraid that if they saw me coming, they would be much more defensive. It would be better if you were to go alone. You will be interested to know that after further examination of your genetic structure, I've composed a temporary cure for your power losses that is a bit more customized to you than the one that I gave you yesterday. You need to take one of these every 3 hours or more frequently as you use your powers." Henry says while pulling a small bag of pink pills from behind him. Nate grabs the bag and looks at it briefly before shoving it into his pocket. "You'll also notice that I've repaired your leather outfit and included a pocket within the lapel which I would recommend houses the pills." Henry says as he jumps from the chair. "Finding my dear Madelyne should be relatively simple. I trust that a telepath of your stature can tune in to her biorhythmic thought patterns?" Nate thinks for a moment, not knowing how to answer the question. He remarks, "Of course I can" knowing full well that it is a tactic he hasn't used very much lately. "Good. When you find Madelyne, simply bring her back to the point where I dropped you off and I shall pick you both up from there." "No sweat." Nate says with uncertain brevity. "Yes, my dear Nate, you must find the bird of prey. And when you have, I will have knocked a vital piece off of the chessboard. But I mustn't sacrifice the my little knight though, I'll need him to take out the Bishop. What fine genetic blending you are Nate. Truly a work of art Sinister has created. A pity that he incorporated a genetic fail-safe into your DNA. Remarkably, it is very close in structure to the damned Legacy Virus. If the two are connected as I suspect, I can control the world as I dangle the cure above everyone's heads." - - - Genosha: a small island in the Indian Ocean just north of Madagascar. Here stands a very disturbed creature called The Sugarman, and he is very angry. He watches a monitor that shows the British Royal Navy boarding a damaged yacht. He frowns and growls as he watches doctors zip closed the bodybag around Rex. He pounds a fist on the console and screams "if you want somethin done right...ya gotta do it yerself!!" His tongue lashes wildly around him and his mutate servants cringe with fear as he storms off. - - - "Tell me Madelyne, why were you associating with that horrible young man? The one who dresses in rags" Selene asks from her decedent throne. Across the dim lit chamber, Madelyne Pryor reclines on a huge and comfortable sofa. "You mean Nate? He's a nice young man and he's as lost as I am right about now." Madelyne replies uneasily. "Oh come now, surely you can do better than that." Selene says while picking at a plate of caviar and crackers. "Tell me about myself, Selene? I know that you have some answers." Madelyne says as she sits upright. "All in good time my dear," says a deep voice from the shadows, "you will learn the answers very soon, and then we shall be happy together." Madelyne squints as she tries to make out the dark figure standing across the room in the shadows. She is obviously uneasy about being here, but she knows that these are the only people who can provide her with some answers about her life. She was drawn to them, and especially Selene by a force that she could not deny. A feeling so primal and instinctive, that even if she wanted to resist, she could not. She sees the dark figure raise his hand and wave it casually in the air, and suddenly, Maddie falls asleep. The dark figure speaks in a mysterious voice "She asks far too many questions, it is time that we started our work with her." Selene sits forward and stares into her mystical scrying glass. She smiles as she licks her fingers and wipes her hands together. Grinning, she says "Well, well Madelyne. It looks as though your handsome young consort has come calling again." Selene reaches over and presses a button on the table. She leans over and says "Maree-Janette?" A short pause is followed by a voice saying "Oui madame?" "We have a young visitor prowling the grounds. Would you be a dear and greet him, sil vous plait?" "Oui madame" the voice says again. The dark figure moves out of the shadows. His dark red complexion barely contrasts enough to distinguish any features, save 2 small horns atop his head. He says "Honestly Selene, sending your maid to clean things up?" "Why yes, my dear BELASCO, that's what I pay her for," Selene says with a sly grin, "Since I pay her far more than the Yakuza ever did, she enjoys her work here." - - - Nate walks confidently down the Paris street staring only at a building that sits a few blocks away. It is not a remarkable building and looks similar to a medium income apartment complex which hides the extravagant interior. He stares at it intently, not even noticing the people he bumps shoulders with as he walks down the alleyways. He can feel Maddie's thoughts and her presence. He feels the fright and confusion that she feels, but knows not to probe too deeply. He can also feel the presence of two very powerful and very evil people inside. "She's in there all right, just like Henry said she was. Her and two people who give me a chill. They give off such an eerie feeling. I don't want to alert them to my presence. Time to see how Henry's little pills work and put up a psychic shield." As Nate does this, a few miles away, a small explosion occurs that causes Henry jumps out of his seat and exclaim "Great guns! He's more powerful that I had thought. He put up a telepathic shield and the resonance exploded my psychic inhibitor which kept Nate from reading my thoughts. Looks like I had better fix it, post haste." Nate feels the rush of power as he extends his telepathic barrier. He revels in the power and tries to get himself ready for anything. "OK Maddie, when I find out who's holding you hostage I'm gonna....OOF!!" *POW* "Nothing like a solid kick in the mouth to interrupt a sentence" Nate says aloud as he looks to the right to see a stunning female figure in full ninja garb, "all right lady, you just pissed me...OOF!" Nate couldn't have seen the vendors cart flying through the air and hit him in the back. The blow knocks him off of his feet, sending him to the street rolling with fall. He quickly gets to his feet and catches a knee in the jaw from the ninja. His head goes rolling backward and the ninja quickly gives him a side kick under the jaw, sending Nate hurtling to the ground. Nate looks up at the figure standing in a ready fight stance. He wipes some blood from the corners of his mouth and smiles. "Pretty good lady. You've definitely got the element of surprise." The ninja draws her mask to reveal a beautiful blonde face and long, flowing hair. In a very demure voice, she says "Bon jour. I am called Siege." "Nice to meet you Siege, now get out of my way!" Nate screams as he unleashes as powerful, unfocused telekinetic blast. The blast leaves a spherical hole where buildings and the street once were and crackling yellow energy dancing around the street and walls. The damage is incredible and looks as though a small bomb just exploded. Nate stands alone, with telekinetic energy crackling and circling him. He brushes his hands together and starts to walk again towards the building, until he hears movement in the air and turns around to see a large chunk of the street hit him square in the face sending him flying. As he hits the ground, more rocks seem to pick themselves off the street and fly at him. He erects an telekinetic force shield to guard himself. A few moments pass and the rocks bounce off of Nate's TK shield as though hitting an invisible wall. Nate looks around the street and then up in the air and sees the blonde ninja perched on a fire escape. "Still alive, eh? You're pretty good with TK. Problem is, I'm better." Nate says as he explodes into the air and flies toward Siege. "Oui monsieur." Siege says as she jumps down to the street, passing him in the air on her way down. Nate, now looking downwards at her, never would have expected the fire escape to break loose of it's bolts and come crashing on top of him, with some telekinetic help, of course. But that is exactly what happens and catches him completely off guard. Nate falls to the ground under the crushing weight of the steel framed fire escape and quickly lets loose a TK blast sending the steel girders flying through the air. He jumps to his feet again and is welcomed by several fast punches to the face, and kicks to the ribs and groin. Never has Nate met such an unrelenting foe. While she punches and kicks at him, objects sail through the air and assail him from all sides, not allowing him a moment of concentration. Nate reacts the only way he can, he lashes out. He unleashes as blast of telekinetic energy so powerful that it levels the two buildings on either side of him. Onlookers scramble and divert their eyes from the blinding flash. The sound is like a fire suddenly flaming out of control. The buildings give way and collapse towards each other into the alleyway where the fight is taking place. The collapse sends dust and smoke into the air that can be seen for miles. Broken water mains and gas lines spew their contents into the air. People scream and run every direction trying to escape the massive destruction that Nate has carelessly brought upon them. Selene, Belasco and a very influenced Madelyne stand on the balcony of their building watching the sight. Madelyne, in a catatonic and controlled state might see what is happening and may even comprehend it, but does not react. The three stand silently staring into the smoke. Through the smoke and dust cloud, Nate walks tenaciously toward his goal. "That fight took a lot out of me...a hell of a lot out of me. I gotta take another one of these pills that Henry gave me." Nate says to himself. As he reaches into his lapel pocket, he looks ahead. Through the swirling dust and smoke, he sees the gleam of Madelyne's fire red hair. "MADDIE!" he shouts as he starts to run towards the trio in the distance. His guard is down. Nate is distracted and sees only his friend in the distance. Siege appears from a connecting alleyway, and with the precise movements of a skilled martial artist, performs a wheel kick to Nate's head sending him flying unconsciously to the ground. Siege stands ready over Nate's body and realizes that he is finally defeated. She turns to face her employer and bows. Selene starts to clap wildly, and shouts "Bravo Maree-Janette" as she turns to face Belasco and with a sly smile and a wink says "You see Belasco, my maid can clean clocks as well as furniture." ________________________________________________________________ To Be Continued... Next issue - "The Golden Apple" - Nate continues his quest for Maddie and has an explosive meeting with a stranger, in part 1 of a 5 part series, "The Focus".