Issue Two: X-Factor Investigates

There was a knock on the door. Syrin answered it and smiled at the visitor that darkened X-Factor Investigations doorstep.

"Hank McCoy!" she screamed.

"My ears . . ." he grunted, rubbing them.

"Ach, I'm sorry, Hank," she said, hugging him. "Come in, come in, what's bring ye here to Detroit?"

"You guys, actually. Where's your boss?"

"Right this way," Terry said, leading Hank through the front office and into the rear one. Jamie Maddrox was in rear office, talking with Guido when Hank and Terry came in. Jamie was on his feet almost instantly.

"Henry McCoy, what's going on?"

"I was about to ask you the same thing. I understand that you guys were investigating the recent disappearance of a woman. A young Miss Julie Gardner?"

Jamie glanced at Terry and Guido. "And how did you find that out?"

"You asked SHIELD for information."

"I did?"

"It must have been that really overly-anxious and eager-to-please dupe," Guido answered. "I think he's out stocking the fridge. He's an extreme couponist."

"Ah," Hank replied. "Well, in any event, SHIELD asked me to help you out."

"Why's that? Other than the fact that he's been teleported, all of our trails have gone cold."

"Because, as of this morning, some 344 other people have gone missing in similar fashions." Hank let that news sink in before continuing. "SHIELD and SWORD have detected an energy signature that may be a match for the teleportation system that's been abducting these people."

"Where did they find it?"

Hank grinned. "The Savage Land."

Jamie looked down at his calendar. "It's a good thing Mrs. Gardner's husband is loaded." He looked up at Terry. "You want to go get the guys? We're going to the Savage Land. Hank, I assume, since you're here to help - "

"I have a SHIELD vehicle ready for us."

"Is it a flying car?"

"Unfortunately not, Guido."

"Julio?"

"Yeah 'Star?"

"I didn't know you got your powers back."

"What are you talking about?"

"Well, the earth moved last night."

Julio sighed and smacked his boyfriend on the chest. "'Star, listen to me, you're watching too much TV. Seriously. Those jokes don't really work in the real world."

"You do know where I come from, right? Mojoverse is all about TV."

Julio sat up and shook his head clear of sleep. "Whatever."

"BOYS! YEH BEST GET YER CLOTHES ON AND HEAD ON DOWN HERE!" Terry screamed from two stories down.

"What now?" asked Julio.

"WE BE GOIN' TO THE SAVAGE LAND!"

Shatterstar smiled. "Sounds fun."

"The Savage Land is a mess."

Beast looked over at Jamie, who had made the statement. Jamie ruffled his hair and watched as the cloud cover was broken and the SHIELD careened over the vast jungle.

"What do yeh mean?" asked Syrin.

"I mean, it's a mess. Creatures from the Triassic, Jurassic, and Cretaceous periods co-exist is an affront to nature itself. Living together? In this small environment? It's obscene."

Beast nodded in understanding. "Seeing how it was created to contain the wonders of the pre-mammal world, it certainly has gone off-kilter, hasn't it? I can't imagine how day-to-day life is here."

"So where are we putting down? Away from T-Rex's right? And Raptors?"

"We'll be meeting at the United Tribes village and we'll seek out Ka-Zar."

"Raptors aren't really the pop culture 'Raptors' anyways, Guido. At least not the kind from 'Jurassic Park.' They were shown without feathers and much larger than they really are. I mean, they're still scary as hell, just not like in the movies." Jamie looked around at all the eyes staring at him. "Sorry. One of my dupes was a paleontologist."

"If it makes you feel any better, Jamie, there are a number of reports of these dinosaurs cross-breeding and abnormally evolving into new species," Beast said. "So yes, the Savage Land is a mess."

The vessel landed in a field next to the village. Children went screaming to and from the landing spot, either excited or scared by the large metal monster that came from the sky. Nereel, leader of the United Tribes, ran to greet them as the gangway opened.

"You people are not welcome here!"

At the dark haired woman's command, a dozen spears arrived at the necks of X-Factor and friend. Jamie tugged at his own collar. "Uh, can't we talk about this?"

"Yes, we can." The voice came from Ka-Zar. He marched to Nereel. "The X-Men are friends, Nereel."

"X-Factor, actually," Julio corrected.

The blonde lord of the Savage Land perked an eyebrow. "X-Factor? Uh, well, Beast is here! He's a friend!"

"I do not trust the outsiders, Ka-Zar, not anymore!" Nereel yelled. "Not even those that bare the X! If you want to partner with them, be my guest. But they are not welcome in this village."

The villagers lowered their spears and Ka-Zar walked over to greet X-Factor properly.

Beast's gaze followed Nereel. A young man with dark hair rushed over to her to say something, but she silenced him. Hank couldn't help but notice the young man looked familiar . . .

"I assume you've come to investigate the bizarre lights?" asked Ka-Zar.

"Lights? Coming from where?"

"The Citadel. Zaladane's old Citadel, that is. What remains of it," Ka-Zar answered.

"We're actually here because nearly three hundred and fifty people have been teleported somewhere. A similar teleportation energy signature was detected here, in the Savage Land," Beast replied.

"We think they're being brought here," Syrin followed.

"I think the Citadel would be a good place to start . . ."

Ka-Zar nodded. "Do you mind if I accompany you?"

"Of course not," Beast agreed. Jamie rolled his eyes a little.

"Maybe you can keep the Raptors away," Guido said, looking around.

The Citadel had certainly seen better days. Aside from having its roof blown off and most of its advanced technology either raided or destroyed, the weather and the jungle had worn on it. Huge vines covered walls; moss was growing in damp sections of the floor. There were also some disturbing noises – like the small claws of a dinosaur scurrying nearby.

"Creepy," Guido commented.

"There's nothing here," Julio said, kicking a nearby stone.

"There's something here," Ka-Zar noted, leaning down to the floor. "Look here. The moss is all worn down in this section."

Jamie bent down next to Ka-Zar. "These aren't human tracks. But they're not animal either . . ."

"Mutates," Ka-Zar concluded. "Everyone on their guard."

"Yeah, what he said," Jamie sighed.

They followed the trail to a door in the next chamber. Beyond this door was a stairwell. Syrin let out a small yelp that worked like echo-location. The stairwell was empty. So X-Factor, Ka-Zar, and Beast walked down the stairwell, going deeper and deeper beneath the surface.

They arrived at a huge locked metal door.

"Can anyone call Storm? She could probably lock-pick this," Beast said with a smile.

"I can do it," Shatterstar stated, stepping over to the door and retrieving a small knife. He proceeded to pry a panel off and went about messing with the locking mechanism. After a moment, a green light clicked on above the door.

Guido shoved the door open . . . and they were revealed a large, empty chamber.

Empty, save for Brainchild and the Mutates standing in the middle of it.

"Well, well, well . . . look who's here!" Brainchild laughed. "Attack!"

The Mutates – being Amphibius, Barbarus, Gaza, Lupo, Vertigo, and Lupa – jumped into action. Jamie immediately went about pounding his hand against the wall, creating a dozen other Jamie Maddrox's, each one ready for a fight.

Beast leapt onto Lupo and smashed him into the ground. The great blue furred cat turned to Jamie, the real one, and pointed to a door at the other end of the chamber.

"Methinks we should try and get through that."

"I agree," Jamie said, avoiding being jumped on by Amphibius.

Beast looked at Ka-Zar and pointed to the door. As the rest of X-Factor engaged the Mutates, Ka-Zar kicked the last guardian of the door – Brainchild – in the chest. Brainchild hit the wall and was knocked unconscious.

Beast and Jamie rushed to the door and proceeded to enter it.

"This guy reminds me of Forearm," Shatterstar said, avoiding two left hooks from Barbarus.

"Who is four arm?" asked Barbarus, trying to grasp the wily warrior.

"A guy who is about to have two arms more than you," Shatterstar said, his sword lopping off Barbarus' two right arms.

"Hardcore, 'Star," Guido commented, smashing his fist into Gaza.

"Says the man who just punched out a blind guy," Julio said, dodging the claws of Lupa.

Beast and Jamie stopped in their tracks. The door automatically shut and locked behind them. Huge shelves filled the chamber, each one full of clear plastic totes. Each tote contained books, CDs, hard drives, films, photos, paintings and other goods of the sort.

"What is this?"

"Hank, over here," Jamie said, pointing to a table in the middle of the mess.

The pair walked over to the table, where an open tote was sitting. Beast and Jamie examined the contents.

"The first printing of 'Lord of the Rings?'" questioned Jamie.

"Stars and garters, look at this!" Beast exclaimed, pulling out sheets of papers. "Tolkien's first draft and original story notes!"

Jamie shook his head. "Who would want something like this? And why is it here?"

"Those would be mine!" came a shout from above.

"Oh yeah. Sauron."

The part-dinosaur, part-man landed squarely in front of Beast and Jamie.

"Put those away!" Sauron snarled. "He wants to see you. Otherwise, I'd teach you a lesson for disturbing such amazing work!"

"Is this concept art from the movie?" asked Jamie, looking below the story notes.

"Who is 'he?'" asked Beast.

"Follow me," Sauron relented.

"Into a trap?"

A figure appeared at the end of the chamber. The High Evolutionary. "It is no trap, Doctor McCoy. Come with me."

Beast and Jamie glanced at each other, then followed the armored scientist into corridor that took them deeper below the surface.

"You have come this far, I suppose it is best to give you answers."

The door at the end of the corridor opened and Beast gasped at what he saw. In what appeared to be an endless chamber, suspended in the air, were at least a thousand man-sized tubes. Three hundred and forty-five of which contained the missing people, in what Beast assumed was suspended animation.

"You took them . . . why?"

"Because mankind is going extinct, Doctor," the High Evolutionary explained.

Beast nodded. "Yes, I saw the news, but I've known about it for years. We still have four or five generations before Mutants dominate the Earth. I was actually thinking about approaching you regarding a solution . . ."

"And I have one, Doctor. The human race is going to survive, through these people!" He waved his arm at the filled tubes. "I have assembled those whose genetic line will least likely produce Mutant children. With a little genetic engineering and by removing them from the planet, I can preserve the legacy of humanity."

"You're taking them to another planet?"

The High Evolutionary nodded. "A new world for the human race. I have even brought duplicates of mankinds greatest achievements to remind them of the legacy of their forbearers."

"A sort of Savage Land of humans," Jamie stated, tapping his chin.

"It is important to preserve humanity."

"Why the rush?" Beast asked. "We have close to 150 years before humanity dries up – and that's if we can't find a stop to it."

"That is where you are wrong, Doctor McCoy. Humankind will not last this generation, assuming it even lasts the year."

"The hell does that mean?"

"Mankind has launched an attack on Homo Superior that could mean their end. This can not be. The Phoenix has returned to cleanse the Earth of Homo Sapiens."

Beast's eyes widened. "Jean?"

"Yes, I suppose it is your Jean Grey-Summers who will herald this end."

Beast rubbed the back of his neck. "God . . ."

"Okay, well, that's all well and good, but you gotta get these back to their families. Pronto."

The High Evolutionary shook his head. "I will do no such thing. Humanity deserves to go on."

"We will stop you, Wyndham," Beast said. "X-Factor is just the beginning. I can call in the X-Men, the Avengers, and SHIELD. Can you withstand all of them?"

Jamie stomped his foot against the floor, creating ten dupes. "Like he said, we're just the beginning."

"Yeah, bozo," said one dupe.

"Go back to England, Professor!" yelled another.

"You Furry-Lover!" shouted another dupe.

The High Evolutionary studied Jamie and his dupes, then looked over at Beast. "You are correct, Doctor McCoy. My New Men exterminated by Doom, I have only the Mutates working for me. Even my own power would be not enough for your allies."

"So you'll send them back?"

"A compromise."

"Oh?"

"I have their genetic samples. I wish to clone them, then."

Beast looked down at the floor in thought. "I'm . . . I'm not sure . . ."

"Let me put it this way, then. I can take what I have now and leave the Earth before your friends can get here. It would take more work, but I can find ways to diversify the genetic palette they present to me. Or . . ."

"Do it. Clone them." Beast shook his head. It was not the best solution, but it was a soluation that worked best now. "Just . . . one more condition. No memories. I don't want them to wake up and want to see their families. Understood?"

"Understood."

The High Evolutionary worked the controls on his teleporter. Each one of the capsules filled with light as the humans within were beamed home. As soon as the teleporter reported them all returned, Beast leapt onto it and gutted the machine.

"You do not trust me?" questioned the High Evolutionary.

"Not one bit," Beast replied.

"Too bad. We could have made a good team, Doctor."

Beast shook his head. "Maybe."

"X-Factor has bested the Mutates. I recommend you head back to your home before they wake up," High Evolutionary reported.

Jamie and Beast walked through the corridor. "Did I just inspire him to make clones?" asked Jamie.

"I suppose you did," Beast replied. He sighed. "I need to talk to Scott. He needs to know that his wife is coming back home."

"Words no husband likes to hear."