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 fictional crossover is based on the movie version of the X-men and the Blood Syndicate, an independent comic book published by Milestone Media Inc. and distributed through 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 uniformed, 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 (but not exclusively) minority characters.
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. 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 than a traditional superhero book. This was no "Comic-Code" approved book. Blood Syndicate dealt heavily with the urban drug culture, racism, some sexual themes, and homophobia.
This story occurs a few months after the X-Men movie, Logan is still gone, and Magneto is still in his "plastic prison". Though Blood Syndicate had many members, this story will only feature five of them very prominently. For the purpose of this story, two additions were made to the Syndicate roster (with sincere apologies to the creators):
1) Static – He starred in his own Milestone comic book and currently has an animated Kid's WB cartoon show, "Static Shock". 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 didn't decline the offer to join the Syndicate, and is now an active member. 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 books. 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". Holocaust is still a drug dealer, 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 has some rather extreme religious and political views. Wise-Son is a "Nation of Islam" Muslim, and was member of a racist Paris Blood faction called "Nur Allah" (Light of God). 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). 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 powers. In this story, Commando X survived the Bang and joined the Blood Syndicate with his "homie" Wise. Known Powers: Commando 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).
5) Fade – In this story, Fade, just like in the Milestone comic book, is "in the closet" about his homosexuality. In the comics, Fade 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, resulting in the leadership passing on to Wise-Son (whom no one can defeat). Fade is seemingly the voice of reason and tolerance in the Blood 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!