******************DISCLAIMER***************
The X-Writers is a Fan Fiction group intent on furthering
the plotlines and stories of the X-Men. The X-Men and all
characters and likenesses are copyright by Marvel Comics 
Group and used without permission for hobby and not-for
profit uses. No harm intended. Please don't sue me.
*********************************************

                      X-Writers Presents
          X-Man #12  "From the Fires of Death"
                     The Focus - Part II
                        by Andy Banks


"Sinister!! Master?" she yells as she fumbles her commlink 
around. Frantically she twists knobs and instruments within her 
car. They look like normal radio controls, but the facade hides a 
sophisticated telecommunications device capable of reaching 
across the globe. She waits patiently for a response, chewing 
her lower lip with anticipation. 

After a few minutes a small screen lowers from the dashboard 
of her car. It flickers for a moment and a man's face slowly 
fades in. His white complexion and dark red eyes are enough to 
make the boldest cringe.

"Yes Threnody?" he says, "I hope for your sake that this is 
important enough to call me away from my busy schedule?"

"It is Master. I came across another mutant today. I think he 
has the Legacy Virus. I think... I don't know. It didn't feel like 
the Legacy Virus though... but it did!" she says with a tone of 
panic.

"Fascinating" Sinister says while rubbing his chin.

"So anyway, his pain, it was overwhelming... almost super-
human. You know how my empathy powers work? Well this 
time I couldn't contain them. It was almost like before you 
taught me how to control them. I couldn't help it Master, I 
tried, but I've never come across anything like this before in my 
life. It really hurt and I just couldn't hold the power back," 
Threnody says as her voice starts to hint regret.

"Tell me Threnody," Sinister says with his eyes closed, "what 
do you mean by 'like the Legacy Virus, but not'?"

"Well, you know how when someone has type two of the 
Legacy Virus, their power goes nuts because of the introns 
junking up the X-Factor? Well, it was almost like that. I could 
feel the pain on a cellular level... but it wasn't the same. I mean, 
it was the same feeling, but it was different this time." Threnody 
says. Her eyebrows raise and face shows a meek, almost 
apologetic expression, and she utters "You know?"  

"I see," he says, "I shall be arriving there immediately. If we are 
facing a new strain of the Legacy Virus then the world is truly 
doomed and all my work will have been for naught. I must 
ponder now, but I shall meet you later."

"Okay Sinister," Threnody says as she switches the console off. 
She leans back in her seat, closes her eyes and gives a heaving 
sigh.

                        -  -  -

Enter a young man known to most only as Nate. This young 
mutant has been given a gift which only few dream of, and 
power that fewer still could fathom. He has only been in this 
reality for a short period, but it seems like an eternity. Since he 
arrived in this reality a few weeks ago, he has been attacked by 
almost every mutant and human he has encountered. Each fight 
and confrontation has been a matter of life and death.

"Life and death. That's the truth. I'm fighting for my life, and 
when I'm not doing that, I'm fighting against MYSELF for my 
life," Nate thinks as he walks briskly in the chilly morning air, "I 
hope Henry figures out what's going on with my body and why 
I keep burning out. Speaking of which... I had best pop another 
of these little pills he gave me. I can't afford to be surprised 
again like I was with that... what was her name? Well... what-
ever."

He walks along the sidewalk for a bit, waiting for his power to 
return to an acceptable level. He plans on taking his search to 
the air once he has regained his strength. He takes a seat on a 
sidewalk bench and puts his hands in his pockets. Hunching 
over, he tries to warm himself by curling up within his jacket, 
bringing it up around his neck.

Nate thinks, "Things are not making sense here. It's just not 
sitting right. One minute I'm fighting Apocalypse and his most 
powerful Horseman, Holocaust. The next minute I'm in a big 
pile of snow somewhere in Eurasia.... but it's called Switzerland 
and no one here has even hear the name Mikhail. I'm obviously 
not in the world I came from, but how did I get here? Every-
thing is so similar, but yet completely different. No one lives in 
fear of their lives, they actually waste their time enjoying the 
simple things in life. It's so stupid... yet, so enviable. Perhaps I 
should find a nice remote place somewhere where I can just 
relax."

He takes his hands out of his pockets, sits at the edge of the 
bench, and looks around momentarily. Half amazed and half 
paranoid, he smiles while he enjoys the peacefulness of the early 
morning. He stands and starts to walk again, realising that it is 
still too dark to see very much at this witching hour.

                          - - -

"Hhhhhhhhhuuuuuuuuuaaaaaaaaaa" Maddie yawns aloud. 
"Don't you ever go to sleep?" She asks in a tired voice.

"Sleep is a waste of a precious commodity. Time must be 
exploited to its fullest." Belasco replies

"I know, I was being cynical. Geesh, don't they have sarcasm in 
hell?" Maddie says precociously, "Its just that we've been doing 
this all night and I'm starting to get really tired. I don't under-
stand what's supposed to happen."

Belasco sits majestically in Selene's throne. He leans forward 
and says in a calm voice, "Concentrate. Let your mind wander 
to places it has never seen. There are areas of your mind that 
you have yet to explore. They are there and they are in plain 
sight, but they are places that are easily overlooked. Imagine 
that your mind is a maze. There are places in the maze that you 
never go because they may look as though they are dead ends 
or dangerous traps. You need to explore every abyss and gorge 
that you find. In these dark pits, you will find what you seek. 
You will find yourself, a part of yourself that you do not know 
exists, and you will find a part of yourself that should be. Let 
your mind relax. You hold no danger from yourself."

Madelyne sits in silence for a moment, speechless from the dark 
wisdom Belasco has imparted to her. In that instant, she realises 
that he is very serious about power and her potential. 

"Try and get some rest now Madelyne. Tomorrow we will try 
again and very soon you will be liberated. You will understand 
who you are and what you are meant to be, and your enemies 
will tremble." Belasco declares. He rises from his seat and 
strides to the door.

"Belasco" Maddie calls. He turns around and faces her. "I... I 
understand... thank you."

"Don't worry my dear, I'm sure you will not disappoint me." 
Belasco says as he leaves her.

Maddie retires to her room plopping down on her bed in 
exhaustion. She slips her shoes off and crawls underneath her 
covers. Finally, she is afforded a moment to think to herself.

"Tomorrow I will finally know who I am. I know what he 
meant about the dark parts of my mind. There are things there 
that I don't even want to think about. Such as that thing that 
attacked Nate and myself back in that Swiss cabin. What was 
that? Was it from the 'dark part' of my mind? Should I even fear 
it? Was it a part of me or a memory of a horrible creature? 
Well... I WILL find out tomorrow. I want to know my place in 
this world. I want to know who I am."

She rolls over, pulls her blankets up to her neck and closes her 
eyes.

                          - - -

"Cool. I'm definitely close now," Nate says as he starts to 
recognise his surroundings a bit more. 

"One side," yells a voice from behind Nate.

Nate turns quickly and sees a young man with flowing blonde 
hair running straight at him with amazing speed. Quickly Nate 
erects a telekinetic shield in front of him. Surely he doesn't 
know this strange new attacker who is charging at him. He 
wonders who this young man with bird-like features and animal 
grace is. Nate's fist charges and crackles with telekinetic energy 
that dances around his hand and left eye. He prepares to defend 
himself and is ready to bring the fight to his opponent.

Nate looks up instead. A considerably loud noise has grabbed 
his attention more than the young Shi'ar running at towards 
him. What was an almost unnoticeable hum has turned into a 
loud roar. A huge craft hovering just above the streets comes 
flying up behind the Shi'ar at an amazing rate. Nate gasps and 
stares at the ship.

Nate has seen the ship before. It's flowing lines and sharply 
pointed wings are familiar to him. Every detail mimics ships 
that he saw in his own reality. Ships that were used to attack 
Human strongholds or lead the attack of a culling. In his 
timeline, they were called Murdercraft and were known for 
their amazing agility. They could fly several inches above the 
ground, or hundreds of miles in the air. The ships themselves 
could pull 180 degree turns in 30 feet of space. They were as 
impressive as they were dangerous. A skilled pilot behind the 
yoke of a Murdercraft could easily score 200 humans in a 
matter of minutes. The ships were instruments of death.

Nate hasn't even noticed that the Shi'ar man is almost upon him. 
He is busy disbelieving that a Murdercraft exist in this reality 
also. The young Shi'ar grabs Nate and dives to the ground. The 
loud ship goes whizzing by, just inches over their heads. 

Nate mumbles "An MC... my god."

"Actually, my name is Adam." the young blonde says to Nate. 

"Huh? Oh... hey... where's that MC going?" Nate stutters.

"If you mean that airship that was chasing me... it will probably 
be back in a matter of seconds. I suggest that you find shelter 
right away. This is a dangerous situation." Adam says as he 
pulls Nate to his feet. "Run now, while you can."

Adam runs down the street and ducks into an alley, looking for 
a makeshift weapon. The hum of the ship gets slightly louder. 
Nate isn't the only one to notice the disturbance. In flocks, the 
Parisians open their windows to look out and see the 
commotion outside. 

The craft approaches fast and Nate stands with his jaw open. 
He'd seen the craft before, but never from such a close view. As 
it whizzes by him again, he notices an orange tressed man in 
polka dots piloting the ship. Nate can almost hear the man 
laughing maniacally from within.

Nate knows that this ship MUST be stopped soon or the 
destruction it could cause would be considerable. His body 
starts to crackle with telekinetic energy and soon his running 
stride turns to airborne flight. As he chases on the Murdercraft, 
he notices the rear mounted gun turn towards him and rise to 
life. Nate quickly adjusts his flight plan, moving side to side and 
up and down. He starts to dodge the plasma bolts flying in his 
face. He keeps his concentration focused on the ship in front of 
him, but is momentarily distracted by the figure of the young 
Shi'ar jumping from the top of a small building and landing on 
the roof of the ship. The plasma bolts cease as though the pilot 
were occupied with the uninvited guest on the roof. Nate is 
awed by this young man's courage as he swings a large lead 
pipe back and forth at the fuselage of the ship. Nate continues 
to chase them through the streets. 

"If that MC keeps concentrating on that dude, it's gonna fly 
right into that... holy..." Nate mutters to himself.

Nate was right, the pilot is so absorbed by the young man 
pounding away at the cockpit that he doesn't notice that he is 
heading straight for the Eiffel Tower. Nate's reaction is 
instinctive, and his action is swift. He quickly accelerates 
towards the ship in front of him, grabbing the young Shi'ar off 
the top of the ship and making a quick turn to avoid the leg of 
the monument. 

The pilot's reactions however, are not as swift. He turns the 
craft quickly to the right, but clips a wing on the steel frame of 
the tower. The Murdercraft goes whizzing in a roll for a few 
hundred feet until it crashes down in the middle of a normally 
busy street. Luckily, it is still early in the morning. If this took 
place a few hours later, the crowded streets would have meant 
many casualties.

Nate and Adam watch the crash and fly towards the wreckage. 
Nate lets go of Adam's shirt by which he was carrying him. 
Nate is almost stunned at his grace as Adam hits the ground 
without missing a step, in a cat-like fashion. Nate lands and 
they both run over to the now destroyed Murdercraft. Adam 
climbs on top of the plane and looks inside the cockpit. He 
reaches into it and pulls out the head of the person who was 
chasing him. Because it is still dark, Nate first thinks that it is 
an 
actual human head, but as he gets closer, the fire light prove 
that is it nothing but the head of an android. Sparks shoot from 
the mechanical spinal column hanging down from the head.

"I knew it. He is too much of a coward to face me in combat 
personally." Adam says as he slams the robotic head at the 
plane wreck.

"Who is that... er, who was that?" Nate asks.

"Arcade. One of his many robotic constructs actually. Arcade is 
a ruthless assassin, and it looks as though I am one of his 
targets again." Adam says staring at the plane. The two stare at 
the plane in silence for a moment. 

"I'm sorry. I think I owe you some thanks for grabbing me from 
the ship before it crashed. You have quite an amazing talent." 
Adam says as he extends his hand.

"No problem," Nate replies as he shakes Adam hand. They look 
each other in the eye and stand there for a moment with their 
hands clasped. Each one feels in the other, a kindred. Each lost 
and rejected by their past, each searching for their place in this 
world. 

"You seem almost familiar to me," Adam says as he releases 
their handshake, "I know that I've never met you before, but 
you have a very familiar... aura about you."

"I feel kinda the same way. It's almost as though we are related 
or something, but that can't be possible since I'm sort of an 
orphan." Nate replies.

"I, too, am somewhat of an orphan myself. Orphaned of my 
homeworld, my parents, and my heritage." Adam says as he 
looks to the sky.

"Well... listen, it's been fun but I have to get going." Nate says 
as he starts to walk away.

"Farewell..."

"Nate Grey." 

"Farewell Nate Grey. You have my gratitude," Adam says as he 
watches Nate walk back the way he came, "Till we meet again."

                 -  -  - 

"Madelyne. Wake up Madelyne." Selene says quietly as she 
shakes her by the shoulders.

"Geez. No rest for the weary." Madelyne says as she rubs her 
eyes and sits up. It hasn't been more than 3 hours since she fell 
asleep and already she is being called upon again. 

"Get dressed. There is much to be done." Selene says as she 
walks from Madelyne's room. Selene turns a few corridors and 
enters her throne chamber. She runs her hand over the crown of 
her chair and looks around for a moment. Thoughts race 
through her head, mostly about the power that she wields from 
this room, and the power yet to be wielded. 

"Is she coming?" queries a voice from the shadows.

"Yes Belasco, now stop lurking in the shadows. It's rude." 
Selene replies.

"Good. We have made much progress with her. Today I'm sure, 
she will assume the power of the Goblin Queen. Then we shall 
own Limbo, and with Limbo under our control, soon Earth will 
bow to our feet." Belasco says.

"What if the Phoenix Force finds her? Surely we will not be 
able to control her if it does." Selene asks as she assumes her 
seat on her throne.

"If she manifests the Phoenix Force again, then we will have all 
the more power at our disposal. One cannot wield that power 
immediately though, it will take her some time to adjust to it. 
We will be here for it if she does. Ours will be a bond that 
mother and child must forge with soon after birth. We will start 
the bond with Madelyne as soon as the Phoenix Force is upon 
her, if it indeed does happen. If we are there in the early 
moments, her will and her thoughts will echo ours. She will 
have no choice but to follow our lead because we have led her 
to such great power." Belasco replies. He wanders towards a 
window and grabs his hands behind his back. "I think 
Madelyne's friend has come calling again."

"Has he? Good. Maree-Janette had such fun the last time they 
met. She'll be pleased to know he's returned." Selene says. She 
presses a button on the arm of her chair and says "Maree-
Janette? Your handsome friend has returned. Could you please 
dispose of him again?"

"Oui Madame," says a high pitched voice from the intercom.

"OK, I'm here." Madelyne says as she enters the room. Belasco 
and Selene both turn and greet her with a smile.

"I'm ready. I know what it is that I have to do," Maddie says 
confidently.

"Good. Then today, you will know who you are and everything 
will be revealed to you. Your past, your present, and your 
future." Selene says as she closes the door to her chambers.

"Now close your eyes. Relax. Look into your mind. You will 
find there are places which feel cold and drafty, place which 
you are afraid to go. Explore them. Let their cold emptiness 
embrace you. Feel the power rush from them into you." 
Belasco says softly.

By this time, Selene is already sitting on the edge of her seat. 
She wears anticipation along with her dark smile.

"Yes. I can feel the power now. It is here... with me. It beckons 
for me to embrace it. Yes power, return to me." Maddie says 
with a grin. 

                 -  -  -

A small aircraft sits in a field overlooked. It's cloaking 
mechanism keeping it out of sight of prying eyes. Inside, the 
owner is patiently waiting for things only he is expecting.

"Finally. You are taking far too long Nate. I expected you to 
find Maddie by now." Henry says to himself. "It only goes to 
show, if you send a child to do a man's work, it takes far 
longer."

An alarm signals on an instrument panel next to Henry. He 
responds with lightning quickness to it's klaxon.

"NO! This shouldn't be happening. It wasn't supposed to 
happen." Henry says as he slaps his forehead. "Impossible. I can 
no longer afford to remain the hidden strategist. I have to take 
an active role in this drama now. This was not a contingency I 
hadn't envisioned."

Henry McCoy leaps from his chair and grabs a few instruments. 
Within moments, he is on his way towards the house where 
Madelyne is having a great revelation.

                    -  -  -

As Nate approaches Selene's house, he passes by the 
destruction that he caused in his fight with Siege earlier last 
night. He surveys the damage for a moment, and takes a pill 
from his collar pocket. As he swallows it, he starts to walk 
quickly towards the compound.

But something stops Nate dead in his tracks. The dusky 
morning is suddenly lit up like the afternoon sky. Psionic flames 
rise from the house where Selene lives, and lap at the sky. 
Psionic flames bigger and brighter than any Nate has ever seen 
before. The flames branch out and then condense into the image 
of a bird. A phoenix actually, the mythical bird risen from the 
ashes of the dead. 

Nate's heart skips a beat and speechless, he stares at the psionic 
bird and its intense light. He can only mutter one thing before 
running straight at the house.

"MADDIE!!!!"

**************************************************
Next issue: Nate vs. Siege, Nate vs. Sinister, Nate vs. Phoenix, 
            Nate vs. Selene & Belasco, and a bunch more action in 
X-Man #13 - "Caught in The Webs - Part 3 of The Focus" 
--
*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