X-FORCE #11
The Pirate Crew Pt. 4Previously: Havok and gang engaged three members of Ahab's crew in battle and managed to survive the experience. But now they're looking to take on the man himself and Havok has no intention of letting him walk away from the fight alive.
The Madrox dupes were in shock at what Havok had just done. He killed one of them. It may have been out of mercy because the guy did have a harpoon in his guts, but Alex did the deed so coldly. The old Alex they knew back in their X-Factor days would have thought twice before committing such an act. Now he just did it like it was taking out the laundry. The worst part of it was that no one else seemed to be bothered by the fact Havok just murdered a dupe. All of them were focused on Ahab.
Standing straight up and down, Ahab had his harpoon by his side. The tip of it was covered in the blood of the slain dupe. He stared down the members of X-Force with such intensity it was almost enough to make them look away. "You won't find me easy prey mutants!"
M was trying a telepathic intrusion, but it was to no effect. Ahab was defended well on the telepathic front. He's guarded. I can't get in there.
Part of Havok was glad that Monet's telepathy had been ineffective because he desired a physical confrontation. Ahab was a worthless waste of space that had made it his life to hunt down and terrorize mutants. More people had died today by the hand of Ahab and Havok couldn't help but to think it was his fault. It was more than Alex could tolerate.
Pipeline could see the stress on Alex's face. While in the Genoshan army, Havok had always been a man of responsibility. He accepted the consequences of his actions at all times, but Cormic wasn't sure if Havok was taking on too much responsibility. The deaths of today was not the fault of X-Force, but maybe if they had been a little faster in getting what they needed from their locations, lives could have been saved.
Ahab stood still waiting for someone to make a move. Pipeline was starting to feel like he was in an American western movie. The air was still and stale, the sun hung high over them and trash blew up and down the street. A Pepsi can blew over Pipeline's foot and he said, "He's mighty confident."
Havok knew that Ahab had every reason to be. Ahab had hunted down and killed many powerful mutants in his time. It would be crazy to underestimate the man and in this instance it could be fatal. Alex looked back to Pipeline and silently mouthed the words, "Jumble him up."
Pipeline nodded and looked in the direction of Ahab. For just an instance, Ahab's body was broken down like computer bits and then it quickly reformed. The middle-aged man stumbled and suddenly appeared out of his element. Pipeline's unique form of teleportation could have that effect sometimes.
"Now!" Havok yelled as M flew past him in a great hurry.
Marrow walked behind Alex with a visible limp. Havok heard the distinct sucking sound her skin makes when removing bone daggers and asked, "I hope you don't think you're getting in there."
"Why not?" Marrow asked practically growling.
"Because you're hurt. You move in if he takes the rest of us down and not until then," Havok said as he pointed to Pipeline and then in the direction of Ahab.
The Genoshan lifted up his laser rifle and fired it at Ahab. He fired off a single red stream of energy that propelled through the air. M was slightly ahead of the beam, but it quickly passed her up. She watched it speed right towards Ahab and he lifted his harpoon to deflect the blast. The blast roasted over the point of Ahab's harpoon and it was then that M saw her opportunity. She dove to Ahab's side and drove an elbow into his face.
M's super strength propelled Ahab into one of the alley's brick walls. His body bounced off the gun-scarred wall and hit the ground with a plunk. Before he could get to his, black tendrils were wrapping across Ahab's body in rapid fashion. They wrapped tightly around him and lifted him into the air in a contorted position.
"I could just snap you in two," Abyss said as his body broke apart into more tendrils to wrap around the mutant hunter. "But I don't think that would be as much fun!"
Havok yelled up the alley, "Nils! Finish it!"
Ahab grunted underneath Abyss's pressure, but refused to be broken by it. Electricity erupted from Ahab's purple and red body armor. The white hot power ripped across Abyss's tendrils and shocked him into letting go of Ahab. Falling to the ground, Ahab landed on his feet and avoided what might have been a devastating punch from M.
Kicking out his leg, Ahab swung it back and took M's feet out from under her. She landed flat on her back and Ahab's knee was in her throat.
A circular stream of cosmic energy roared through the alley and struck Ahab head on. The mutant hunter was propelled through the air and directly into a rusty trash dumpster. Corroded metal gave way to Ahab's body and he was smothered by trash ranging from bloody rags to rough tissue that tried to pass for toilet paper. As he tried to rise to his feet, another stream of circle cosmic rings smashed into Ahab's torso and flung him through the rusty dumpster.
Havok walked closer to Ahab with both of his fists emanating energy. He saw M getting to her feet and Abyss coughing from Ahab's electrical attack. The sight of his soldier struggling to regain his strength infuriated Havok and he blasted Ahab again, sending him through a brittle plaster wall and into an abandoned warehouse. "You're not walking away from this Ahab!"
Alex reared his hand back to deliver another blast when he was knocked to the ground by Shatterstar. As the warrior lay atop his leader, a large blue electrical arc surged through the air and struck Pipeline in the back. He dropped his laser rifle and was flung through the air. M caught the smoking Pipeline in her arms. Grimly, Shatterstar said, "We have company."
Three hovercyles flew over the men and both immediately jumped to their feet. Havok groaned and dusted his shirt off. "How many of these clowns does he have with him?"
"They're going for Ahab," Blind Faith said as he walked over to the two of them with Marrow clinging to his side. She was more hurt than she was willing to admit.
Havok bit his bottom lip tightly and looked at the limp Pipeline in M's arms. "We pull back. I'm not going to risk the lives of my people."
Shatterstar then made a simple request. "Let me stay. I can track them."
Havok looked down at the alley at the hole he had created and watched as Ahab's Hounds were helping him to his feet. Two remained on their hovercyles waiting for an attack. Alex flung his arms back and said, "Madrox, get the injured and take them back to Muir Island. The rest of you, back away now."
His orders were followed without question and Havok unleashed a massive burst of cosmic energy that not only came from his arms, but from the entire front half of his body. The blast heated the air around it to a crisp and rammed into the building Ahab was trying to make his escape from. What was already a faulty building buckled under Havok's blast and began to collapse.
As Havok ran back down the alley he thought, Try to get out of that!
Thunderous destruction followed him as he ran and met his remaining soldiers back out in the street. M looked intensely annoyed while Shatterstar appeared ready to make a move at any moment. Blind Faith folded his arm across his chest and asked, "So now what's the plan comrade?"
"I didn't come all this way to leave without finding The Genegineer. We're going for him," Havok said. He was trying to fight back the anger he felt about his injured people and focus on the task at hand. The best way to keep their injuries from being in vain would be by achieving the objective.
Besides, the folks he had left were more than enough to get the job done. M had proven herself to be of tremendous worth and Shatterstar was a warrior of the highest caliber. Blind Faith was his right hand man and would make capturing The Genegineer that much easier.
"What about Ahab and his boys?" M asked. They had hurt Cormic and she was going to pound their faces in until they apologized. If they still had any teeth left by then.
"Ahab and his goons are taken care of for the time being. We didn't come here for them and quite frankly we had absolutely no idea that we would encounter them," Havok said.
M was indignant. "Again, we are ignoring the bigger threat. First, we choose to ignore Dark Beast and now we want to just let Ahab go."
Blind Faith wished he could shake some sense into the woman. "He just toppled a building on them. I would think that is slightly more than just letting someone go."
"We need answers from them!" M shouted.
"That is already being taken care of," Blind Faith said. "Madrox was given an order to take one of the defeated Hounds back to Muir Island. We'll get our answers there."
Havok tried to hide his surprise. "So that means Genegineer needs to be our main goal. It is what we came here for and it is what we're going to do."
"And I can lead the way," Blind Faith said.
M looked back at the pile of rubble and balled her fists up. "Let's find this little weasel so we can go back to that dreary island. I'll break the pirate's back another day."
Alex sympathized with Monet's anger because if anyone had hurt Polaris or Madylene he would have lost it. Unfortunately, X-Force and what they did wasn't a place for such sentiments. They were operating in a world where people got hurt like other people breathed. Tears and anger had to be left for the trip home.
=X=
Savante sat alone in the dark bunker and waited for the call. His single most important supplier of goods and services was not a man that Adel could ignore. Sure, the supplier demanded a lot, but much was provided in return. Since the incident in Russia, his supplier had been nervous because mutants were involved. Mutants that were (or probably still are) X-Men. When the supers got involved it made everyone nervous.
Taking a long drag from his cigar, Savante tried not to think of how upset his supplier was. The man had a cold temper that was slow in freezing its recipients. He wished he had brought down a bottle of champagne to compliment the verbal beat down he was about to receive. Maybe he would be able to dull it.
Finally, the phone rang and Savante slowly lifted it to his ear. "Sir?"
The voice was cruelly calm. "You have a leak."
Sweat began to bead at Adel's forehead and he tugged at his collar for air. "I'm looking into it now sir."
"I suggest you come across some answers shortly before your clientele evaporates."
"Was Ahab not successful?" Adel asked. He had a feeling that he knew the answer, but he didn't get paid to make assumptions like that.
"Only in distracting them, but The Genegineer will still escape with his life. I have sent one of my associates to extract him."
Savante breathed a sigh of relief. At least the man was alive. "That's good news at least."
"I would have preferred to let Ahab complete the mission, but we adjust as we need to."
Savante felt that cold chill coming through the phone. "Is there any way I can help?"
"Find your leak."
A dial tone met Savante's muted response.
=X=
The Genegineer ignored the young girl's screams he heard behind him as he vigorously typed away at his computer consoles in the hopes of transferring all of his studies to his next base of operations. The screaming was soon overcome by a large slurping noise and turning back to its source, the gaunt Genegineer said, "Marius must you really feed so loudly?"
"Only when the meal is as delicious as this," Emplate said as he lifted his hand from the young girl's chest and dropped her to the floor.
The Genegineer had little problem letting Emplate feed on his failed experiments simply because Marius was so interesting to observe. The vampiric mouths that were in the center of his spindly hands were a wonder for The Genegineer to see in action. Then watching Emplate take on that mutant's powers was simply magnificent. Tolerating the man's arrogance was made easy by the wonder of his physical nature.
"Consider her a freebie. The next one is a charge," The Genegineer said as he continued to type at the computer.
"Of course," Emplate said as he looked around the mostly empty laboratory. The only subjects left were those that The Genegineer had deemed failures. Their mutual ally had already removed the others. "I think we should leave. Company may be atop our heads any minute. I feel my sister and her friends coming."
Pushing his thick glasses back onto his face, the nearly bald Arab man said, "I refuse to leave any scrap of my work behind. Devil at my door or not!"
"You may not mind risking your life, but I very much value mines," Emplate said as he pulled a gun out of the inside of his black jacket. It was a sleek silver pistol and the weapon was quickly pointed at the back of The Genegineer's head. "I was sent here to make sure your escape was insured. I will not fail."
Tightening up at the threat, the geneticist said, "So be it. Perhaps my dealings with you and the others need to be rethought."
"Oh be reasonable my friend. You're in too deep to turn back now," Emplate said. The Genegineer swore he could have felt a smile coming from underneath the large purple respirator Marius had covering the lower half of his gray face.
=X=
Havok's cosmic rings ripped open the door to The Genegineer's lab and M flew in immediately behind the destruction. With her enhanced senses, she quickly gauged the room for any immediate threat. "I don't detect anything threatening."
Alex stepped over the wreckage that had been the entrance and looked around in complete darkness. Monet had night vision, but he wasn't equipped with such a blessing. "Is anyone even in here?"
"I do sense six minds, but no hostile intentions coming from them. They're just scared," M said.
"Well then let's find them," Havok said biting back the boiling disappointment in his mind. "Shatterstar find some way to cut the lights on back in here. M, keep us in a telepathic loop. We need to split up to try and find these people. Stay on the lookout for potential booby traps."
What Havok really wanted to do was scream at the top of his lungs. They had lost Genegineer because they were too distracted with Ahab and his crew. What were the chances he would have to deal with a threat like Ahab while he was trying to track down The Genegineer? That thought clung to him for a moment and then began to nag at him. What were the chances…?
"I found it!" Shatterstar shouted from afar as the lights in the facility flickered to life.
Alex shouted back. "Found what?"
Could you boys please quiet it down! He found your precious neogenics technology.
At least we've had one success out of this Alex thought in the psi-web.
I found out six minds M said. They're kids
Havok gripped his fists together and tried not to let outrage mix in with his disappointment. Do what you can to help them. We'll be there shortly
With the lights now on, Havok could see that the building had been completely stripped. It was as if it had never been occupied at all. Alex knew it now. There was no way a facility could have been cleaned that fast by one person. Someone had tipped Genegineer off to them coming and helped him make a clean getaway. It probably had something to do with Ahab attacking them.
"Something bothering you Alex?" Blind Faith asked before the two mutants broke away from each other.
"I think we've been duped," Havok said. "And I intend to get to the bottom of it."
=X=
"This could have all been avoided if you simply had put your focus into Dark Beast like I said," Emma Frost said through the satellite feed. She was sitting seductively in her chair with her legs crossed while her arms were folded across her chest. Simmering smug and cool anger was mixed in with her platinum blonde hair and seductive features.
"You make this sound as if it was a failure. I think we might be on the verge of uncovering something big."
Emma was not convinced. "You're making assumptions Alex. Has the captive even been interrogated yet?"
"We're working on that. He's a Hound so not only do we have to work through Ahab's mental conditioning we also have to be careful of mental traps he might have set up," Havok replied. He didn't like being put on the spot and he hated even less having to report to Emma. Even though he had his team, Emma was always going to be in the picture.
"I'm assuming that you have Monet working on that," Emma said.
Havok narrowed his eyes. "She's our only telepath."
"And a favorite pupil of mine," Emma reminded harshly. "Do not put her in harm's way unnecessarily."
"I wouldn't ask her to do anything I wasn't willing to."
"So now are you prepared to listen to reason and find Dark Beast?" Emma asked feeling as if Havok's failure in Africa would be enough to prod him to her thinking.
Havok smiled. He enjoyed crushing Emma. "No, I intend to stick on Adel's behind. There seven kids at that facility I owe it to."
Emma's eyebrow perked up. "Why are only six reporting to the Institute then?"
"The seventh was a corpse," Havok said as he held up a picture for Emma to see. It was of a young African girl with circular teeth marks across her collar bone. "And she had very familiar markings on her."
Emma groaned. "Not this bastard. How does he fit into it?"
Havok shrugged. "Not sure yet, but Monet is none too happy about it."
"I can imagine. Her and Marius' relationship has never been pleasant. Fine Alex, you can continue your pursuit of Adel. But I expect progress and I expect it soon."
"What's your definition of progress?" Havok asked both out of a need to have the last snippy comment and genuine curiosity.
Frost was blunt in a way that worked against her natural beauty. "Kill Ahab, send Adel to prison for a very long time, capture Emplate, and deliver Dark Beast to my bedroom door. Anything else?"
"Does Logan agree with all of this?"
"Of course he does. Make it happen darling," Emma said as the screen faded to black.
Havok grinned from ear to ear. He knew he was going to get his way.
=X=
Emplate would soon need more marrow and he knew that the man seated next to him could provide it. "I will need to feed when we land."
Shrugging, the gaunt Arab man said, "Of course. I have just the right morsel waiting for you."
Looking out of the private jet's window, Marius asked, "Why Myanmar? The place is a proverbial cess pool."
The Genegineer smiled with sick pleasure. "All the easier for me to conduct my work."
"Speaking of your work, I apologize for making you leave some of your technology behind."
Marius didn't normally apologize to anyone, but that smile of Genegineer's made him uncomfortable. It said a great deal about the scientist's depravity. "I doubt that my sister's team will be able to put any of it to use."
"Once Pandora's Box is opened it's not at all an easy task to close it again," The Genegineer replied.
Emplate could only wonder what the man meant.
Next Issue: We're on our twelfth issue folks! Plots abound as we zoom in to focus some on Dr. Reyes. Just what secret is she keeping from Havok?
