Mutant Generation Force
Issue #51 – The Return – Part One
Xavier's School for Gifted Mutants
Large Conference Room
Dani took a deep breath and tried to keep her emotions and expressions in check. A lot of information had been given to them, thanks to those with special mental gifts. For a long time many X-Men and vanished into space as well as many mutants on Earth had vanished and abducted. Now nearly all of them were back and with a story that not only finished the secrets of Xavier but totally changed what they knew or thought they knew. So many connections and new family connections. When she had learned of the Secret Mutants and what Xavier had done with them and the siblings of the original mutants she had no idea how far from the tip of the iceberg that had been. Now all the secrets were out as well as any memories that had been erased or altered. Dani sighed as she glanced from Sam to Theresa and back.
Dani had known the risk when Sam and the others had gone out on their mission. As much as she hoped they would find and uncover the Secret Mutants, she had hoped that they would fail, at least with getting their memories back. She also knew that they had been through a lot, battling and escaping the Celestia and finally returning back to Earth. She had just hoped that when they had returned home, that Sam would be returning to her as well. With all the commotion of their return, Sam had tried to explain but Dani didn't have the time or was ready to talk about it. Their love had been new and he still loved her, but the love of his first and true love with Theresa had been found and remembered as well and he couldn't shake those feelings as well. Dani knew the pain Sam was in, especially figuring out which love was stronger and still holding true, but Dani was in pain as well.
Dani glanced at the room full of people and was glad all her staff was her, minus Lucinda. Who was in another part of the mansion hugging and loving all her children that had returned, except Sam, who was in this meeting. Dani also thought of the other added pain to Sam and his family. Finding out that they were his true blood family and that he was actually the brother of Cyclops and related to the Summers Clan as well. Fortunately or unfortunately depending on how you looked at it, Cyclopes and many others had remained behind in deep space. It seemed Apocalypse and a band of villains had kidnapped Mystique's babies, all fathered by different fathers, and soared off into deep space. **See Sensational X-Men**
Dani knew with all that was revealed that they had to stay behind but at least they had a guaranteed way back, but a part of Dani felt guilty that they were gone because she wasn't sure she was ready to give up control of the school, despite all that has recently occurred. She was worried because Frost was back and she had yet mentioned if she wanted control back or not. Then again she did have a lot going on with the death of her mother, her love Scott's marriage to another and discovering that the Cuckoos were her daughters, genetically created by Weapon Program. As she glanced from Frost and then over to Storm sitting next to Magneto she thought of the pregnant Storm and with a shudder she then thought of the other children of Magneto.
Lorna Dane was one of the ones that had stayed in space with Havok and the others and Jerrod, his son with Amelia was asleep in his quarters while Amelia attended this meeting. His eldest, Anya Odekirk the New Brotherhood leader known as Magnetrix was sitting in a maximum holding cell along with Wild Child who was on the feral side, that had come back that they had to lock up till they decided what to do with. Pietro Maximoff the Quicksilver, who had immediately left to take his daughter back to see her mother and his former wife, Crystal when he found out she was back with the Avengers. **See current issues of Avengers Inc. ** Then his twin, Wanda Maximoff the current leader of Salem-X, according to Magneto had headed back to her headquarters with her three sons, Dagger, Longshot, the sister of the late Cloak and the members of the Exiles. **See current issues of Salem-X** Magneto had planed on heading that way once things were settled here.
She couldn't wait till he left, but if Storm was vouching for him she would have to try and do the same. She was glad that Jean Grey was discovered alive though and was here. Dani had always like Jean and she might assist as a buffer between her and Frost and some of the other original X-Men that had come back. Dani knew she would have a lot on her mind as well, coming back from the dead to not only discover how Scott had moved on, twice and finding out what Xavier had done, her newly found sister Sway as well as the other relatives of hers. Cable and his daughter Tosha were here at the mansion now, along with Joey and Gailyn, but her daughter, Rachel had chosen not to remain with her.
Rachel, grieving the loss of her future son, Pete who had died, had decided it was best to separate herself from all of this and go back to her current team, X-Calibur. It seemed that the other's, though once X-Men had went back to their current team. Shadowcat and her future daughter Cat. Nightcrawler and his future kids, Nightmagik and Purple Fury. Sunfire, who had married Psylocke before being abducted and his brother Silver Samurai along with Drake Stuart, the future grandson of Psylocke and Iceman. **See Backup Stories of X-Calibur in current issues of Sensation X-Men** As she thought of Iceman, who had also remained behind in space, she thought of his family and the rest that had arrived on her doorstep.
Bobby had stayed behind with his sister Petra but the rest of his family was here. Their father William Drake was setup in his own room until Madeline could arrive. He was still grieving over the discovery of his sister who was then killed by the Celestia. It seemed his sister had two children, Mary who was with William now and Joel, who turns out to be Rusty Collins who is sitting next to Skids. As for the others who had arrived back here, Frost was in here but her daughters were back among her fellow students and bringing them up to speed while her siblings were in special rooms in the mansion. Even thought Frost vouched for them and said her brother was not evil and had been coerced, Dani felt better that Cordelia Frost and the former Brotherhood member known as One-Eighty, Christian Frost be contained till they had a chance to decide what to do.
Cable and Tosha were staying here till things were situated and then he would head after X-Force, maybe. It seemed he and even Warpath were not too sure about heading out to soon. Warpath had discovered that he had a son, by the questionable woman named Gloria Munoz or Risque. She was dead but her son, James, who was named after his father had taken his mom's codename. Not much is known about him yet but he was also being kept in a special holding room. He was in his teens but appeared older and hadn't said much yet, but he had shown a little emotion on finally learning who is father was. She wasn't sure how this would play out with the two or with X-Force or any of them here at the school.
Dani wasn't sure what to do about Norton McCoy. He and his brother Robert both had been taken along with his two sons, Beast and Darwin. Both Beast and Darwin had stayed behind, Robert had been killed and his wife having passed already that left Norton all alone. While in space he had been cured of his cancer as well as being stripped of his powers. After having a taste of being a hero and being cured of cancer he had a thirst to live, but had no where to go or a purpose. For now, Dani had let him roam the mansion and would see what they could do later. Norton wasn't the only ones just roaming the mansion.
It seemed that a newly formed group calling themselves X-Factor had helped in the rescue and returned here to the mansion with the others. The leader of this group was former X-Man, Jamie Madrox, the Multiple Man. He sat here in this room while the rest of the team roamed the halls. It was an interesting group that made a fuss about not being aloud to be in here. There was Shard, Bishop's sister who was back here in the present and was very much alive. A teenaged boy by the name of Spike, as well as a strange woman named Layla Miller who simply knows stuff. Dani got a weird death vibe from her. She would have pressed more but she seemed to be close to Jamie, but she would investigate more later is they stayed. The last member of their team was Guido, the Strong Guy but unfortunately he had also lost his powers.
As she looked at the others in the room she was glad to have back, Wolfsbane, Amara, Siryn (maybe not so much anymore), Illyana who was now going by Darkchild, Sunpyre, who was now going by Fira as well as the students, the Cuckoos, Guthries, Shield & Shove, Wolf Cub, X-23, Skywalker, Species and Ruth Aldine. There were only a few other additions that had arrived with the others. Erista, Wolverine's son by a woman from the Savage Land named Gahck (who X-23 was keeping an eye on for her dad) and Daken, another son of Wolverine's but was also a member of Sam's Secret Mutants. He really made Dani nervous but Sam, Siryn and especially Fira, were vouching for him. All these family tree additions were giving Dani a headache.
The last two arrivals were interesting as well. Nicely put up in her own room was apparently Storm's ninety something grandmother, Oro. It was a lot to get used to that Amara, who now looked more like Storm's family, and Storm were actually cousins. She felt for Amara as not only gaining a grandmother and cousin, but had finally met her true mother to only loose her to the Celestia. Storm wanted Oro to return to Africa, but the grandmother said that for now her time was to be spent with her two grand daughters. She would return once she was no longer needed.
The other last arrival bothered Dani the most. Her name was Alisa Tager. She was the daughter of Tessa Tager, the X-Man known as Sage. No one ever knew that sage had a daughter except for Xavier who helped keep her safe and hidden while Sage was out doing Xavier's work. This isn't what bothered Dani, what bothered her was that Alisa had been living in the mansion since almost the beginning. Because of her powers and Xavier's she was made literally invisible to everyone as if she never existed, till now. How many times has she been next to her or ran into her and didn't know it? The more she thought about it the more she resented Xavier and tried not to shiver.
"Okay, you've called us all in here, let's get to the point," Frost said as she glared at those around the room.
"Frost, you will need to show some respect to us in our School," Sam said as she came to the defense of Dani.
"Your school?" Frost said as she got to her feet.
"Yes, our school. You all took off and Scott left us in charge. After everything that has happened we feel that," Dani began to say as she too got to her feet.
"Oh, and how many were killed under your watch?" Frost asked back.
"Yeah, Frost how many were killed under your match?" Amara jumped up and glared at the former White Queen.
"Looks like someone just wants this school because she's suddenly the heir of Xavier," Magneto said with a chuckle but finding a bitter taste in his mouth for the first time when saying his old friend's name.
"That's enough!" Jean said as a force went out and forced everyone standing back into their chairs. "As far as the Xavier fortune goes, his son Lilandro has more of a right than you do," Jean finished thinking of her best friend, wishing he was here.
"Just because you're related to Charles, doesn't mean you automatically have the right to run the school," Sam said.
"Just as you being Scott's brother doesn't give you the right to resume control of his leadership role or you his former wife the right to dictate where the Xavier funds go," Frost spat back as she rested her eyes on Jean and smiled.
"But we were entrusted to run this school and we will continue to do so, even if and when Scott comes back. We are more fit to lead and guide these kids than you or even Xavier. If Lilandro were here, he would not only agree with me but he would continue to fund my school," Dani said, drawing on some emotions hidden somewhere from her brief time and talks with Lilandro that caused Frost, Jean and Sam to look at her oddly for a brief moment.
"Okay, this isn't getting us anywhere. Dani called us all here to discuss the plans and intentions of everyone here including those being held in cells. It seems that the discussion of the School's future and who should be leading it is being pushed to the forefront. As for the funds, it was clearly Xavier's intent, and you know this Frost when you all left for Space and backed by his current will, that the School is to be funded and taken care of, no matter who is leading it unless otherwise decided by Xavier himself or his heir, which is Lilandro not you. The fact that both we know to be alive, means you don't have a say in the funds," Bishop said as Frost bit her tongue knowing he was right.
"I agree with Bishop, and as one of the original students, I think we should all take a vote. Each of us here has either been an X-Man, a student, a staff member of or helped run the school or has some connection to this School and the dream it represents. Once we decide who should be running this school, we will all agree to back that decision up or you will leave," Jean said as she glared at Emma and then turned to Dani nodding for her to take the floor again.
"Okay, I nominate myself to keep running this school. If there are any other nominations, please make your voice heard and once we have all the nominations we will put the vote to the floor," Dani said with nervousness as Sam still sat allowing Frost to be the second to nominate herself.
Alaska
"Where are we?" A figure asked as the portal closed.
"We are in Alaska. This is where I was born. I have returned home," Hope Summers said as she looked around the area moving her silver weapon back and forth slowly before bringing it down and smiling.
"How can you call it home, Hope? You lived in this time all of a few hours before being taken on a journey into the future," a girl with blue crystal looking skin and long pink hair commented.
"Transonic, when we are on an official mission we use codenames. I may not have been here long, but there's still a connection of being home and that is why we dropped here," Hope said with a glare.
"Sorry, Mimicry," Transonic said with no true meaning behind it.
"So, do we even know where we're supposed to go?" A Hispanic boy with short dark hair asked as he stepped behind their leader, placing his hand on her shoulder.
"According to my Cable, our enemy was born in the United States on the other side of Canada from where we are now," Mimicry said as she moved away dropping the boy's hand from her.
"Man, I wish my powers allowed me to slow my aging as to live virtually forever," a girl with dark skin and long braided hair said as her right eye glowed blue and her left eye glowed orange.
"Okay, we don't have much time. We need to find our target and kill her in order to save our world. Let's go," Mimicry said as she and the other six members of her team quickly moved into the night.
The Secret Mutants
The Hunt for Weapon XX – Part Two
"Where am I?" Karma asked as she slowly gained consciousness.
"Why, my dear niece you are in Purgatory," General Coy said as he stepped into the room.
"Are you sure it's not hell?" Karma asked as she saw her Uncle.
"Still feisty as ever I see," General Coy said as he saw his niece wince in pain, "oh, sorry, that device around your neck nullifies your ability to use your powers."
"What did you do with the others? And why did you kill all those mutants?" Karma asked as she saw she was the only on in the room and she still had the image of Callisto and the Morlocks in her mind.
"For your information, I did not kill those mutants. They were all dead but three when we arrived. I lost many soldiers trying to capture Weapon XX, especially when it split. Alas, it got away except for one, which managed to jump past us and into our portal. We were just coming back to get the one hanging when we ran into you," General Coy said.
"If you're so innocent, then why did you kill my teammate?" Karma asked.
"I said, it was an accident, Face fired first out of fear it was Weapon XX returning for it's other half. I figured gassing you all and bringing you here would be easier then doing one of those battle first talk later scenarios and then risk Weapon XX returning on us," General Coy said.
"As for your friend, he is not dead. We have detected life signs and doing what we can to revive him," another man said waling into the room.
"Thank you, General Ulysses," General Coy said.
"What is going on here?" Karma demanded.
"Let me explain," General Coy said as he released his niece from her bonds but not her collar.
"This way," General Ulysses said as he led the two family members out of the room.
"Oh my God," Karma exclaimed as she entered a very large area.
"God has nothing to do with this place. Welcome to Project Purgatory," General Coy said with a smile.
Karma couldn't believe her eyes. There was rock, lava and fire everywhere. As she looked up she saw a shimmery dome that separated them from what looked like a sky made dirt with constant lightening that seemed laced with fire. Every once in a while she thought she saw strange winged things flying across the sky. She was almost positive they were in Limbo or something very close to it. Specially since there were several cages with strange demon looking creatures in them. Some were alive others looked dead or as if they had been operated upon.
"Are we in Limbo?" Karma finally asked.
"No, but a very small pocket dimension, almost a suburb of Limbo if you will," General Coy said.
"How did we get here and what are you doing here?" Karma asked growing very worried.
"Well, when General Ulysses and his branch of the US Government took possession of the babies they had started to give off some strange readings. I was asked to join the team and somehow the babies opened up a portal to this pocket dimension. We found when in here they were at their strongest and had a strange bond to this world.
"So we moved a team here and began what we call Project Purgatory. Not only did being here trigger the baby's powers but it increased their ageing. The aging stopped and returned to normal ageing once we started the experiments," General Coy said.
"Babies, are you referring to the Inferno Babies? What experiments?" Karma asked in shock.
"Yes, those are the same babies and seems the residue from that Inferno event is what granted them their own pocket dimension. Anyway, your government wanted to start up a Weapons Program again. So we started by using the Inferno Babies, infused with this demon energy and grafting of demons to create Weapon XX, but it seams someone beat us to that name," General Coy said.
"The Weapon Program was shut down," Karma muttered.
"Yes, and no one bothered to tell us. Pretty much left us for dead here. We finally got the portal back here to open once we finished with Weapons XX and were ready to come back. Of course we come back and find that time has moved by a little faster and the program is gone, they already had gotten to number twenty and we were marked as dead and lost. I made it back here before the government could arrest me and try and take procession of my children.
"By creating a portal in this tunnel we managed to keep a synch so time stayed parallel and we could go back and forth for supplies. We just came back through for another test run when we run smack into Weapon XX and the dead Morlocks," General Coy said.
"I can't believe this. So why bring us here?" Karma asked.
"It seems the split self of Predator XX not only killed some of my children but is wrecking havoc here. I figure we can use the fallen Morlocks to try and see if Project Purgatory will work on mutants not infused with the Inferno energy that the Inferno Babies had," General Ulysses said as they entered a room where eleven figures about her age stood in attack stance in front of cages holding her Secret Mutants while a man in a white lab coat stood on the other side staring at a creature made of molten rock.
"Yes, that is your fallen teammate. It seems he's all better in sorts and those there are who is left of the Inferno Babies or as I now call them now, the Inferno Brigade," General Coy said as Karma just stood there speechless.
Next: Issue #52 – The Return – Part Two & Secret Mutants: The Hunt for Weapon XX – Part Three
