X-Factor #11

"The Chimera Effect" Pt. 3

Rabat, Morocco

The Ambassadors District

Medea walked down the crowded street with Moses Magnum and Chukwu behind her. The Moroccan bazaar was alive with people trading and buying goods. It reminded Chukwu of the market that he had worked in before Medea came into his life so suddenly. She had let him know that he was an Heir to the ancient mutant known as Apocalypse ad because of that he was afforded tremendous power.

According to the woman all Heirs were mutants with a variety of abilities that went combined together made them among some of the most powerful mutants on the planet. That was such a staggering proposition for Duvalier that he was still having a hard time wrapping his head around it. He was going to be groomed to take up the legacy of a man who had stuck fear throughout the world for centuries. Part of him was excited at the prospect of being a global power. It was a far cry from his days in the market.

Moses looked at the people hustling and bustling through bazaar like they were ants worthy to be crushed for his amusement. "Am I to assume that we are here to find the next apparent Heir?"

Medea smirked. "The next two actually."

"Who are they?" Chukwu asked.

The three stopped across the street from Spain's Embassy and Medea set her hands on her hips. "Janus and Zephyr are waiting for us in there. I think it time we and retrieve our fellow Heirs."

Moses Magnum sneered. "You really do get excited by all of this don't you?"

"Of course I do. We are the inheritors of Apocalypse's legacy and as we gather together we come closer to our destiny."

Magnum wasn't that sure it was a destiny he wanted. Apocalypse had abandoned him and now wanted him to be a spearhead of his legacy. It didn't sit right with him, but he kept telling himself to see this out. There stood a chance that he could become a ruse power if everything Medea was saying was true.

Medea's white hair turned black as she looked up into the windows of the Embassy. As Moses had learned, every time Medea's hair changed colors she changed her set of abilities. He hadn't learned exactly just what the woman was capable of and that made him nervous, especially if he never intended to challenge her.

Closing her eyes and holding her head down, Medea said "They're on the fourth floor."

"Telepathy?" Chukwu asked. He didn't want o seem pushy, especially since he was just getting to know these people, but it seemed wise to know what they were capable of, especially since Medea knew all of his abilities.

Moses took advantage of the question. "I think it's time we know exactly what your powers are Semone since you know so much about ours."

Medea knew that she wasn't going to be able to keep up the mystery forever. When it was just her and Moses she didn't mind keeping him in the dark because his intentions were less than innocent, but she wanted the other Heirs to trust her. "I have nine abilities. When I switch between my three hair colors I take on a different set of them. Three for white, red, and black."

Using her telepathy, she reached I the minds of Moses and Chukwu to give them the rest of the details about her powers. Chukwu felt a bit uncomfortable with her in this mind, but he had a feeling it was something he was going to have to get use to. "That's certainly an odd combination of abilities."

"No more so than you or Moses or any of the other Heirs. Apocalypse designed us that way on purpose. The less predictable our powers, the harder we become to fight. So shall we go ahead and retrieve our fellow Heirs?"

Chukwu nodded. "Let's."

Moses smiled as the two walked in front of him. He had the answer to one mystery and he would use the naivety of the other Heirs to put him in a position to usurp control of the entire group. Then he would put these powerful mutants to use on his own private agenda.

=X=

Shi'ar Space

The Acolytes had been feverishly searching the planet for weeks. Exodus was determined to find the source of the massive power that he had detected o the planet's surface from space and now their search had taken them to a northwestern portion o the planet that was mostly full of gigantic mesas and rolling hills. One top of one of the largest mesas they had found a very strange structure.

It looked like a bunch of blue grain silos packed tightly together with a black door slapped in front of it. Exodus had telekinetically lifted his Acolytes aerially to see what he was seeing. "I want to get in there. Scanner try to see if you can access the entrance."

She nodded and converted into her electro-transitional state. While in this form, she was intangible and able to move at light speed. For what Exodus was requesting, she would only need the first of these abilities. Quickly floating across the mesa, Scanner whisked into the entrance and had every Acolyte on edge for a few moments as they awaited what results she might bring.

"We should go in there," Unuscione said, but a firm grip on her shoulder from Exodus kept her from taking a single step forward.

"No. She's fine. Just wait."

Exodus was proven correct as the black doors horizontally split open and Scanner was standing there in one piece. She nodded to her leader who had telepathically been her eyes the entire time. Since coming to this world, Exodus had acquired knowledge of the Shi'ar language and was Scanner's eyes as she deactivated the building's security system.

"Come in guys. The place isn't going to bite."

Vindaloo was the first to move forward. "Anything to get out of this awful cold."

Barnacle stepped into the dimly lit hallway that was too narrow for his comfort and asked, "Any idea what this place is?"

Exodus was the last to float in like a graceful angel of wrath. "It is a weapons facility and the source of the energy I felt all those weeks ago. I believe that our Lord Magneto may be here.

Cortez smiled. "Success at long last."

"Do not be so quick to rush to that conclusion," Exodus said. "We still will need to explore, but even if Magneto is not here something of worth must be."

=X=

X-Corporation Building

Polaris had gathered the members of X-Factor into the conference room that was reserved primarily for their operations. It had been altered from being a normal conference room by having state of the art plasma screen TVs added all across the wall flashing news from various parts of the globe. The usual conference room table had been outfitted with genetic scanners on every chair that only allowed members of X-Factor and the Genoshan Cabinet to sit in them. And that's only if they got by the retinal scanner outside on the door. Tiny, almost microscopic laser guns were hidden I the walls as a defense system in the vent anyone tried to barge in. The weapons had been designed by sage and were in use at every government building across the island. President Maximoff wanted to make sure X-Factor was able to have a space where they could operate discreetly.

"All this technology and we still can't get bloody proper air conditioning," Omega said from his seat. He was garbed in a black leather jacket, vest and boots. Fingerless black gloves were on his hands to help complete the outfit.

His comment earned him an eye roll from Songbird, who was seated at the top of the rectangular table next to Polaris. Omega had an amazing ability to be a prick, but he was a powerful one and that solidified his place not only on this team but in this country. "I think you'd manage to be hot in the Arctic considering the fact you're wearing a whole cow."

Washout, sitting across from Omega, held up his index finger and a spike of ice rose up from it. He smiled at the telepath, but only received an annoyed stare in return. Undeterred by Omega's lack of amusement, Washout said, "If you want man I know a pretty quick way to help you cool off. And if you're wearing real leather the water shouldn't' bother you too much."

"This leather is real and it's imported!" Omega shot back. Melissa and John were just a few seconds away from having dreams tonight about naked trolls and wart covered Smurfs. He grinned at the thought, but quickly ceased the expression when he saw Polaris glaring at him. Quentin wasn't sure how she did it but the Defense Minister always seemed to have him dead on the money. That's probably what made her a good leader. It was a quality Omega never really saw himself as having because he didn't give a pittance about the feelings of anyone else, especially not enough to learn how to read them. Why waste that kind of time when he was a telepath?

Polaris gathered everyone's attention to her and started the debriefing. "Yesterday, Omega and I went to visit our captive Weapon X agents in the hopes of gleaming some bit of information from them. As most of you know, telepathic probing is useless because their Director filled their minds with psychic bobby traps. Omega is doing his best to disassemble those traps but its not easy work and its going to take time."

Time was something that she knew they didn't have a whole lot of. Pietro wanted some kind of answers and soon or he was going to give the two up to the X.S.E. in exchange for a visit with Nova herself. Lorna thought the idea of that was incredibly stupid because if the pawns weren't talking then the king certainly wasn't going to. Still, Pietro was Pietro and once he was sold on an idea it was hard to turn him away from it. "Omega did manage to come across something that was interesting. He dismantled one of these proverbial traps and a location leaked through. Mumbai."

"As in India?" Strong Guy asked.

"That's what I'm hoping at least. Some of you will be going there to survey the area looking for anything that might even remotely be connected to Weapon X. Just because ewe beat back one attack from these clowns doesn't mean we'll withstand the next one. We have no idea of their full capabilities and I don't like trying to create a defense around guesswork. We need solid answers."

Sage was busy typing away on her laptop, but had heard the entire briefing. Because of her mutant abilities she was able to multitask on a level like none other. She had been designing new weaponry to be implemented into Genosha's defense network, exchanging e-mails to American corporations about weapons contracts, and typing up a to-do for the upcoming House elections for the Cabinet all the while she was listening to Polaris. Her memory was precise and her attention to details so crisp to the point that she was able to remember the rate of Lorna's heartbeat when she said Weapon X.

Not even looking up from her laptop, she asked, "And who is to be assigned to the mission?"

"Songbird is going to be at lead with Omega, Slipstream, and Washout out for support. I want the rest of us to be present for The President's speech tomorrow. He's going to be in front of a lot of people and I want to make sure that he's protected."

Though he had been a bodyguard for a time, Strong Guy didn't much feel like being one tomorrow. He wanted to go to India to get a shot at the guys who came at him and hurt a lot of his friends. "President sure is doing a lot of yapping lately."

"We're in a transition period Guido. He needs to make sure the people understand exactly what's going on," Polaris said as she stood up from her chair. If there aren't any more question then I'll allow all of you to get a bit of free time."

She waited a moment and when no one said anything, she nodded. "Good. Enjoy the rest of the day and be ready for you assignments tomorrow."

=X=

Presidential Office

Quicksilver hated seeing his wife with a cast on her arm. It was a stinging reminder of the Weapon X attack that they had suffered. Even more so than this lost eye because he loved Crystal with all of his heart and the fact he hadn't been able to protect her infuriated him. He had to be careful how he hugged her when she walked into his office. "Glad to see that you got a bit of a break from the U.N."

"Teleporters make little trips back home all the easier," Crystal smiled as she sat in her husband's lap. "So I heard Amelia announced some parts of the Constitution."

"Yes and they're already trying to compare me to my father," quicksilver groaned. "I knew that was going to happen. Making my office a monarch was just begging for that comparison."

Crystal looked into his eyes sympathetically. "You did it for your daughter. She deserves to have something that she can lead when she gets older. And her being royalty here will keeper from being drawn too much into the web of royal intrigue in Attilan."

"At least we can hope. Part of me thinks we may have only set her up to be ensnared by them even more."

Biting her bottom lip, Crystal frowned. "I think we can get the United Nations to censure The High Evolutionary."

"No more than that?"

"France, China and Russia will not sign off on any sort of military action. France doesn't want war that close to them and the obvious reason follow for the other two. What did the Compact say?"

"They've decided to wait and see what the U.N. does and then proceed from there. But military action hasn't been taken off of the table."

"Well that's good news at least. The High Evolutionary has crossed a line and needs to be contained."

"Maybe, but I don't think an attack is necessary just yet. I am still technically a Knight of Wundagore she would have to grant me an audience if I asked for it. Out of respect for my position if nothing else."

Crystal hopped off of her husband. "And then what? You try to talk him into coming out of his cave and let the world know what he's hiding? It's not going to be that easy Pietro. He's going to have to be forced to be open and transparent."

"We are still a young country and the Compact is still young as well. I don't' want to so quickly throw us into a conflict."

Bending down, Crystal put a gentle hand to the side of her husband's face. "Pietro, the only way Genosha is going to be respected and the Compact solidified is once we win an international conflict. War bill bring Genosha peace and your daughter safety."

NEXT ISSUE: Pandemic gets the answer to his request while Exodus discovers what he has truly found on the Shi'ar planet.

Medea

Moses Magnum

Exodus

Scanner

Unuscione

Vindaloo

Barnacle

Fabian Cortez

Polaris

Omega

Sage

Strong Guy

Washout

Songbird

Quicksilver

Crystal