Disclaimer: The X-Men (including all prominent
characters and distinctive likenesses thereof) are the sole property and
trademark of Marvel Entertainment Group, Inc.
Blood Syndicate and Static (including all prominent
characters and likenesses thereof) are the sole property and trademarks of DC
Comics and Milestone Media Inc. No
profit or payment of any kind is being derived from this story. So basically… please don't sue me.
Introduction (I know it's a long one, but without it the story
would be way longer)
This
is a fictional crossover story based on the movie version of the X-men and the
Blood Syndicate, an independently created comic book published and distributed
by Milestone Media Inc. and DC Comics.
The
X-Men require no explaining, unless you've been living in a cave, on the dark
side of the Moon. But for the
uninitiated, Milestone was an independent comic book company that had a
distribution deal with DC Comics in the early 1990's. The founders and
creators, Derek T. Dingle, Dwayne Mc Duffie, and Denys Cowan, primarily wanted
to tell stories that starred mostly minority characters. They stated that in all the years that they
grew up collecting comic books, and later working for major comic book
companies, they never saw minority characters being treated as anything more
than ineffectual or stereotypical. They
also noted that until recently (circa 1990) minority characters, superheroes in
particular, were most likely to have lesser powers, no real powers, or hardly
any character development. Marvel's
introduction of Storm, an African-American woman, as a team leader of the
X-men, was nothing short of visionary.
Blood
Syndicate was one of Milestone Comics' 1st four releases. The series
only ran for 31 issues, in that Milestone folded the series in the
mid-nineties. But its impact, along
with all of Milestone books, has clearly been felt in the comic book industry
(check out the diversity in the new Marvel title: X-treme XMEN). Set in the fictional mid-American city of
Dakota (St. Louis, MO or Chicago, IL), Blood Syndicate was a super "team" of
induced mutants that banded together in the aftermath of an urban
disaster. That urban disaster resulted
from the use of an experimental radioactive tear-gas that was meant to "tag"
the perpetrator for easy capture.
Dakota's most notorious gangs converged for the "Big Bang", an all-out,
winner-take-all rumble in the city's worst district, Paris Island. This gang riot was met with a massive police
response, and provided the perfect opportunity for dropping the gas on the
gang-members. Needless to say, the gas
was unstable and killed nearly everyone involved – police and gang-members
alike (along with anyone else on the street). Those who survived were mutated
with miraculous powers (in fact, many Milestone characters – heroes and
villains alike – gained their powers at the "Big Bang").
Some
of the surviving gang members banded together to form a super-powered street
gang. This gang bore the name of Paris Island's two major factions: Paris
Bloods and The Force Syndicate. The
resulting Blood Syndicate were neither heroes nor villains, and were often at
odds with Dakota's other super-powered characters. The comic book was more about how these young people coped with
their new circumstances. This was no
"Comic-Code" approved book. Blood
Syndicate dealt heavily with the urban drug culture, racism, some sexual themes,
and even homophobia (one of the main characters was secretly "in the closet").
This story is set in the X-men's movie-verse. It occurs a few months after the movie,
Logan is still gone, and Magneto is still in his "plastic prison". In keeping with the "less is more" formula
of the X-men movie, I will only use five of the Blood Syndicate/Milestone
characters in my story. This makes it
easier to manage the character interactions and, as the movie proved, makes for
better character development.
In writing this story, I made some changes to the
"movie" Syndicate members (with sincere apologies to the creators):
1) Static
– He starred in his own comic book title and currently has an animated Kid's WB
cartoon show, "Static Shock". But in
this story he is a member of the Blood Syndicate. In the comic book, young Virgil Hawkins is caught up in the Big
Bang and, while not a gang member, still gets gassed and is mutated. Unlike the
comics though, Virgil joined the Syndicate after being recruited by Holocaust –
a drug dealer and former member of the Paris Bloods. Known Powers: Static
has the power to discharge and control
electricity and (to a lesser degree) magnetism. He can shape and manipulate
magnetic fields of static electricity that exist naturally or artificially.
2) Holocaust
– In the comic books, the drug dealing Holocaust eventually has a falling out
with the other Syndicate members and goes on to become a villain in other
titles. In the title Static, Holocaust does indeed try to recruit Virgil
Hawkins to join his super-powered drug gang. In this story, Holocaust is
recruiting for the Blood Syndicate, because his vision remains intact – that
only in banding together can they turn the tables on the people he sees as the
"ruling class". As he put it in a comic
book, "They see it as their birthright.
Well our powers mean F*** THEIR SO-CALLED BIRTHRIGHT!" Holocaust is
still a drug dealer in this story, but hasn't left the Blood Syndicate in this
story. Known Powers: Holocaust possesses
the mental ability to produce and control ambient heat energy, and expel bolts
of fire in varying degrees of intensity.
He is immune to his own powers, and can radiate a skin level ambient
heat that makes objects melt and disintegrate before reaching him (such as
bullets).
3) Wise-Son
– Just like in the comics, Wise-Son is the leader of the Blood Syndicate. He is still invulnerable, possesses some
super strength due to his muscle density, and is still deeply religious. The change comes in his religion. The original Wise-Son is a "Nation of Islam"
Muslim, and was member of a racist Paris Blood faction called "Nur Allah"
(Light of God). This is still true, but
in my story his interaction with so many new and different people since the Big
Bang has made Wise-Son begin to question and change the way he believes in the
Judeo-Christian God. This is the one
issue that Milestone creators didn't brush upon in the African-American
experience: namely, the influence and dominance of their cultural
Christianity. Known Powers:
Wise-Son is truly invulnerable. He does
not incur any kind of injury from physical, energy, or psychic attacks. His added muscle and bone density augment
his strength, and he does not need to eat, sleep, or breathe.
4) Commando
X – In Milestone books, Commando X is a racist villain that Static has to
dispatch in a two-part series dealing with interracial tensions and
relationships (namely Jews and African-Americans). This story-arc always left me wondering why a character like X
didn't join the Syndicate. From his ideological viewpoints, it is easy to
speculate that he could've been a member of the Nur Allah faction of the Paris
Bloods (like Wise-Son). This would also
explain his presence at the Big Bang, and how he got his Gambit-like
powers. Well, in this story, Commando X
survived the Bang, and joined the Blood Syndicate with his "homie" Wise. Known Powers: X can make objects explode by touch-charging
them… but he can set their detonation times like time-bombs (which made him a
perfect terrorist in Static's comic book).
5) Fade –
No real changes to this character. In
my story, Fade, just like in the Milestone comic book, is "in the closet" about
his homosexuality. Fade has lost his
one true (but unrequited) love when his best friend, Tech-9, died after Tech
won an all-out fight against Holocaust to retain control of the Blood
Syndicate. Unlike the comics, Holocaust
doesn't leave the Syndicate, since Wise-Son, a fellow Paris Bloods member,
becomes the new leader. Fade is
seemingly the voice of reason, and (with Tech-9's death) is the last major
surviving member of the Force Syndicate.
Known Powers: Fade has been spread out over ten seconds of time,
with the ability to temporarily "un-spread" himself to become solid. This condition allows him to pass through
objects, and renders him invulnerable to most physical and energy attacks. Fade also has a 6th-sense warning
of immediate impending danger, likely due to the fact that he's already 5
seconds into the future.
Well, there you have it. None of these characters' backgrounds will
be dealt with heavily, so this intro should definitely help out in telling one
character from another. This story is
the result of an idea that I've been kicking around for more than 6 years. Enjoy!
