The New Exiles
Issue #9 – Santa-X
After a moment of whiteness, the world became clear. The new Exiles team found themselves standing in the middle of a snow covered park. Judging by the star filled sky and empty park, it had to be late evening. Blink looked around at her team as she shivered from the cold air. It was times like these that she wished she had a warmer costume. Her new team was as stable as she could hope for, especially after three missions.
Nocturne shook her large body to keep the snow from off of her fur. As much as she hated being trapped in the body of the giant Inhuman dog Lockjaw, she had become valuable with her new teleportation powers and returned hex bolts. She remained a good sport with only the occasional threat to bite. Blink was just glad that her old friend was still alive, no matter what form she may be in.
Blink looked over at Morph. He had finally come around after the last two missions. He went from being happy and annoying to depressed and quiet when he lost his abilities to shape shift. Having learned that still being invulnerable gave him a good edge on this team and that it wasn't the end of the world his humor had started to come back. He may not be able to shape shift but he could still annoy Nocturne the giant dog. He was almost himself again.
Blink vowed to find a way to help them somehow along with Dr, Gamma. She glanced at Banner as he whined about the cold. Leonard had not been on the team as long as the other two but he still became a good friend and ally during the Time Quake mission. So when he helped save all reality, it had cost him dearly too. He now was an over-muscled green hulk with the mind of a child. His greatly increased powers where hindered by his innocence, lack of courage and refusal for violence. So far, they had found a way to manage him thanks to the giant dog nocturne.
Blink laughed and then stopped as she glanced over at Phoenix. Jean Howlett had sacrificed her life during the Time Quake mission to help them, but had somehow removed herself before that universe vanished. Not sure what to do, the Timebroker had placed her on their team. Even though she's no longer as powerful as she once was and couldn't call forth the Phoenix Force, she had proved herself a strong and dependable member. Blink didn't know what bothered her more, that she might lose leadership of the team to her or that despite all Jean had done she couldn't force herself to trust the woman.
Standing next to Jean was the youngest member of the team, Power Pack. Alexis Power was full of spirit and energy. It annoyed Blink how positive and cheerful the girl always remained. Even during these missions she looks at the brighter side and remains chipper. She adds to the team, but with time her skills will get better. Blink had noticed that she had become close to Jean almost immediately, almost like mother and daughter. Blink didn't know why it bothered her. Was it from her lack of trust in Jean or her jealousy of seeing something similar to what she had with Sabretooth back in her reality?
Blink shook off her thoughts as she glanced next to her at Darklight. Ty Bowen was the son of his reality's version of Cloak and Dagger. Having lost both parents he had dedicated his life to cleaning up the streets. As much as his vigilante attitude and brute force scared her, she admired his ability to never cross the line and take a life. She had tried to get to get to know him better but Ty never opened up and refused to let anyone get close to him. He never removed his mask and he pretty much kept to himself. Despite all that, Blink felt as if she could trust the man with her life.
"What's the Tallus say?" Darklight asked getting right to business.
"It indicates that it's temporarily offline," Blink said slightly concerned.
"Offline? Why is it offline?" Phoenix asked.
"I don't know. I'm trying to see if I can get something," Blink said tapping the devise on her wrist.
"Gamma cold," Dr. Gamma said shivering as he tried to snuggle up against Nocturne's fur.
"Get off me. What ever we do we have to get out of the cold before we freeze," Nocturne barked.
"We could pass the time with a snowball fight?" Morph suggested as he aimed at the giant dog.
"Don't you dare!" Nocturne screamed. "Or I'll teleport you to Antarctica," Nocturne began to growl.
"A snowball fight would be fun, but it is a bit cold out her," Power Pack said smiling.
"Okay, I've got something. It says that systems are down while it continues to mask our presence. Once it establishes a permanent cloak from Santa-X it will relay our mission," Blink told the others.
"Who is Santa-X?" Nocturne asked.
"Must be the bad guy we are sent here to stop if it's trying to keep us hidden from him," Jean said.
"Are you sure? If the guy is called Santa-X he can't be bad," Alexis said.
"Actually, Santa-X is very evil. No child is safe when he comes," a woman with long blond hair said stepping out from behind a tree.
"Then we have to stop him," Darklight said.
"Wait, who are you and what can you tell us about this Santa-X?" Jean asked stepping in front of Blink.
"Sorry, my name is Alicia Storm. Maybe you should come with me. Midnight is approaching and we don't have much time," Alicia Storm said as she started across the park.
"Why, what happens at midnight?" Blink asked taking the lead again.
"It becomes X-Mas Eve and Santa comes," Alicia said as they all began to run to keep up with her.
Interlude"David, I'm proud with how far you've come," Sabretooth said.
"Thanks, Mr. Creed," David Richards said.
Victor was glad he had chosen to stay behind and leave the reality hopping team. Not only did staying behind to keep David from becoming evil help him find that bond he was missing from his adopted daughter Blink, but he was getting tired of the over violent ways Weapon X was becoming. As he smiled at the boy, he briefly wondered what had happened to his team after he killed Deadpool that only left Hulk, Storm, Spider and Vision.
"David?" Victor jumped back to reality when he sensed the boy was gone.
Victor began to panic when he suddenly found himself in a white room. This smelled completely of the Timebroker and it was making him angry. He had made it clear he was done with them when he stayed to help David. Victor was ready to do some serious damage.
"Okay, Timebroker. Where's David?" Victor growled.
"Victor, he's been dead a long time," a man in white said appearing before him.
"Liar!" Victor growled as he leapt at the man.
"You better calm yourself. I don't have much time for any rough housing," the man in white said appearing behind Victor as he slammed into the wall.
"You better talk fast," Victor said jumping to his feet.
"You see, David was killed. Spider killed him and everyone vanished believing he was alive and you stayed to help him. Because we could not leave you in that reality or put you back in your reality we put you in a cell where you continued to dream all that you have up till we woke you and put you in this room," the man in white said.
"You're lying!" Victor shouted even though he could feel the truth of it all.
"As you know, I'm not. Right now, we need your help," the Timebroker said.
"You have a lot of explaining to do," Victor said as he followed the man reluctantly out of the room.
"As you know, we send teams out to fix realities with promises of them getting to go home when enough realities have been fixed. You see that is a little white lie," the man in white said.
"What do you mean, a lie? You mean we truly never get to go home?" Victor asked with anger.
"Oh, we can send you home but it's not that easy. We tell you that to buy us time. We can't send you back home unless a window of time opens up that will allow us to place you back without causing a problem with yours or any other reality. That's why when one of you gets to go home it happens so fast. If we don't make that time then we never know when another chance will open," the man in white said.
"I'm confused. I think you have a lot of explaining to do," Victor said as they walked through a large white door.
"Yes, because of the nature of what has happened, I have been instructed to explain it all," the white man said as he let Victor clearly into the new room.
"You better start from the beginning," Victor said as he saw the large room filled with giant red crystals. Some had shapes in them while others had been clearly shattered and pieces of red crystals covered the white floor.
End InterludeThe Exiles had found themselves sitting in the living room of Susan and Reed Richards. In this reality they had never gained any super powers. They appeared to be normal and had one child, Franklin Richards. Also sitting in the room was Alicia and her husband and Susan's brother John Storm. They had just got married a few months ago and were living with the Richard's till they found a house of their own.
The Richards would not say anything more to them until they told them who they were. Blink introduced her team and explained what the Exiles do. The Richard's were very interested in their story and had mentioned that people with powers didn't exist on their world. Blink did notice that they were not shocked and seemed to accept their story very easily. She knew there was something more to this world.
"As you can see, we mean no harm. We are here to save or prevent something," Blink finished her tale.
"See, Sue. They are here to help us save Franklin from Santa-X," Alicia shouted.
"Alicia, quiet," Richard began to say.
"Reed, I think she is right. I trust what you have planned but I think we can use them," Susan said.
"We assure you, that if you tell us what is going on and who this Santa-X is we can help," Jean said avoiding Blink's glare.
"Please, Reed, tell us everything," Blink said.
"Okay, your right, Susie," Reed said and then he began his tale.
He told the Exiles that here on their Earth people were normal. No one had powers and everyone led normal lives. The world was pretty much a giant utopia, except for one thing. The price for freedom and peace was the bounty collected by Santa-X. Santa-X is an evil creature that appears once a year. No one knows what he is or where he comes from but he has been around for centuries.
This Santa-X appears on Earth with his list every X-Mas Eve at the stroke of midnight. He travels the globe with his Reinhounds collecting the children on his list. At the stroke of midnight he vanishes with his collection of children and doesn't return for another year while the people of the world celebrate X-Mas Day. Some that their children where spared while others celebrate another year of peace.
Folklore says that by giving Santa-X the children without fight pays they way for peace. It is said that if Santa is denied even one child that a portal to the Hellpole will open and Santa's Demon Elves and Snowmonsters will invade and destroy the Earth. So it has been declared World Law to sit back and allow Santa-X to take any child he wants.
"You think Franklin is on Santa-X's list?" Nocturne said as Franklin petted her.
"You see, one of the reasons we aren't taken back by you is that Franklin is unique, he is like you," Susan said.
"What do you mean?" Blink asked.
"That Franklin is a mutant. He can enter dreams and sometimes sees the future in them," Phoenix said looking at the boy.
"How did you know that?" John said stepping near his nephew.
"Jean, I warned you about reading minds without permission," Blink said and then tuned to the Richards. "Phoenix is a telepath. She can hear thoughts. So Franklin has powers?"
"Yes, the first ever on this planet. He started talking about the future and appearing in our dreams towards the beginning of this year. Then, a few months ago he appeared in my dreams and we both saw Santa-X coming for him," Reed said.
"And you plan on breaking law to save your son?" Morph asked as he egged Franklin on to pester a snarling Nocturne.
"Wouldn't you? I don't care what they say. I will not stand by and let my baby be taken," Susan said.
"How do you plan on fighting him?" Darklight asked.
"A bunch of us got together after the dream a few months ago and we have been working ever since. Please follow me," Reed said leading them down into a secret room in the basement.
Once they had reached the secret room they found themselves face to face with five other people. Reed informed the Exiles that they had been listening to their conversation the whole time and knew who they were. He then introduced the other five strangers to them.
"This is my best friend Ben Grimm. Victor Von Doom, Tony Stark and Hank Pym were college lab partners of mine. This is Jim Rhodes, Tony's husband and Janet Pym, Hank's wife. We have all worked together to create the means to stop Santa-X. Exiles, meet the Defenders," Reed said as he pressed a button on a control panel.
The wall in front of them slid away revealing ten impressive suits of armor and a small robot. Tony, Victor, Hank, and Reed took turns describing how they had built these suits of armor. Each armor was equipped with different powers and would be worn by each of them. They hadn't been tested but they were sure the Defenders would stop Santa-X and keep Franklin safe.
"If all ten of you are fighting in these suits who will be looking after your son?" Power Pack asked.
"The small robot is called HERBIE. He will protect my son. If Santa-X does get past all of us, HERBIE is programmed to defend our son against the monster," Reed said.
"Sue, what if HERBIE fails?" Blink asked Sue quietly.
"I have that covered. There are two things Richard doesn't know about. One, while HERBIE engages Santa-X he splits in two. The bottom half encases Franklin and jets away while the top half detonates. The explosion will be strong enough to level this whole neighborhood. The price of some innocents outweighs the fact my son will be safe and that monster will have been killed," Sue whispered back.
"What about the second?" Blink asked.
"That the escape pod will take Franklin to his biological father, a rich business man named Namor McKenzie," Sue said as she walked quickly over to retrieve her son before Nocturne got to rabid at his rough play.
Before Blink to say another word, the Tallus beeped. She looked down and read the information while Reed explained the suits of armor. His armor was called the Fantastic. It could extend it limbs. Sue's white armor was called the Invisible Girl. It had a cloaking devise that made her invisible and fire powerful force blasts. John's red armor, the Torch generated power fire blasts while his wife's armor; the Puppet Master could send a sock that would temporarily control her opponents movements.
Tony's Iron-Man and Jim's War Machine possesses great weaponry as well as Victor's Doom-Bot. Hank's Yellow Jacket armor and Janet's Wasp armor generated great speed and powerful stinger blasts. Ben Grimm orange armor gave him enhanced strength. As HERBIE ushered off Franklin the Defenders began to suit up. Blink quickly motioned to her team.
"Looks like the Tallus is up and I just got our mission," Blink said.
"What is it?" Morph asked.
"I think we need to step outside," Blink said as she told the Defenders that they would meet them out side.
"We'll be right there. It's 11:50 and Santa-X will be here soon," Sue said walking over to her armor.
Blink and her team got outside and she quickly told them what she had just learned. Their mission was to protect Santa-X and allow him to take Franklin at any cost.
"What? We can't let the little kid be stolen," Power Pack said.
"I agree, that can't be an option," Darklight spoke up.
"There is more to the story. What is it?" Jean asked.
"Santa-X has to take Franklin. If he doesn't, Franklin will grow up to become very powerful and evil and will result in the destruction of the Earth. Also, if Santa-X does die it will also lead to the destruction of this planet. It seems Santa-X is a mutant by the name of Charles Xavier.
"He uses a devise called Cerebra to help him find children that have developed powers or are about to develop them. He prepares all year tracking and locating these children. On X-Mas Eve he comes out of hiding and gathers these children. He then hooks them up to a devise and prepares for battle.
"On New Year's Eve a Portal opens giving an evil being named Cain a chance to come through. This juggernaut has the power to destroy the Earth. The devise sucks the children's life and power energy from them and blast Cain keeping him at bay till the portal closes New Year's Day. Any child still alive, Xavier drains their life and power force and feeds it into him making him young and strong and immortal. In sacrificing the children, he is saving the world. We have no choice. We have to bring down the Defenders," Blink said.
"I will not kill them, but I will do what I can to allow the child to be taken," Darklight said as he, like most the others, did not like the idea of allowing the event to occur, but they had no choice. It was the only way to save this world and allow them to move on.
"I have come for the child," Santa-X shouted as his sleigh and twelve Reinhounds appeared from the sky.
Quickly, ten armored beings known as the Defenders blasted into the air. He Exiles watched for a moment as they started to quickly take out Reinhounds. They had to move quickly before Santa-X failed.
"Nocturne, I want you to go in and teleport HERBIE miles away then bring the child out here. The rest of you, engage the Defenders till Nocturne returned with the child and we can deliver him to Santa-X," Blink said hating what they had to do next.
'What are you doing? I thought you were suppose to help us?" Invisible Girl screamed as Phoenix sensed her invisible form and sent her crashing into a house.
"Sorry, Defenders, but Santa-X must take your child or he will grow up to destroy the Earth," Blink said as she hit Thing causing him to vanish from sight.
"We have the power to stop all of you evil pawns," Torch shouted as he blasted Santa-X's sleigh knocking him to the ground.
Doom-Bot landed in front of Santa-X. He laughed when Charles realized the armor protected them from his mind powers. Doom-Bot fired a blast at the bald man clad in red. Just as the blast was near him, Power Pack landed in front of him and she absorbed the blast. She then ran up to Doom-Bot and called forth her powers.
"Time to fly," Alexis smiled as her fist hit Victor causing him to launch into the air and flying back several blocks away.
"Thank you," Charles said.
"Don't worry. We are the Exiles and we are here to make sure you get the child. We know what you must do to save this planet as do we," Alexis smiled as she brought Dr. Gamma near Charles.
"Me no fight," Dr. Gamma said.
"Banner, you know what happens if you protect Santa from the evil robots?" Alexis smiled.
"What?"
"He then delivers presents to boys and girls all around the world,"
"Present for me?"
"Yes even you," Alexis smiled as Banner swore to protect Santa and she took off into the air.
War Machine landed in front of Darklight and two racket launchers popped out. Darklight leapt quickly and landed behind Jim. He then placed his left hand on the armor. A sweeping darkness left his hand and surrounded the Defender. Jim began to scream.
"What are you doing to him?" Iron-Man screamed as he flew towards his lover.
In mid flight Tony stopped. Phoenix flew up to him and held him with her powers. Her eyes flared as the armor was ripped off his body and she let him hit the ground. Darklight released his powers and the darkness vanished. War Machined lay upon the ground as you could hear Jim whimpering inside. Darklight ran to Tony's side and placed his right hand on his chest. A white light flared around his body healing his broken bones.
"What are you doing?" Jean asked.
"We don't kill," Darklight said and then returned to battle.
Yellow Jacket and Wasp kept blasting Morph but he just kept getting up and healing. The man was invulnerable and just wouldn't die. Morph wished he could do more than serve as a distraction. It worked well, as Blink appeared behind then and then teleported them both away somewhere.
"I will stop you from taking my son," Reed said as he neared Dr. Gamma and Santa-X.
"Me not let you hurt Santa," Banner said as he started to throw cars.
Reed avoided the cars as he advanced. He shot out his arms as they extended and hit Dr. Gamma hard in the chest. Banner then sat down and began to cry. Charles panicked as he was lifted into the air by an invisible force. Sue was in stealth mode and had made it to Santa-X.
"You will die," Sue said squeezing harder and showing herself.
"Not today," Nocturne said as she and Franklin appeared and she sent a Hex Bolt at Sue knocking her away from Santa-X.
"Mom!" Shouted Franklin.
"Sorry kid," Jean said as she used her mind to lift the child and place him in Charles's arms.
"Thank you for your help, but I must be getting this one back," Charles said.
"Charles, open your mind to Phoenix here on where you need to go. She will send that to Nocturne here and she will teleport you there in an instant with the child," Blink said as the remaining members of the Defenders screamed.
In a flash Santa-X and Franklin were gone. Puppet Master, Torch and Doom-Bot advanced on them all as Reed helped his wife up. Before any of them could react, the Exiles felt the familiar hold as everything went white and they vanished from sight headed towards their next mission.
Next: Issue #10 – Justice