It's just another monotonous day at this Trask Industries facility. And then, someone starts a microwave fire.
It takes a while for the staff to put it out. Trask is just glad he didn't have to call the fire department. He could probably have the fire put out in no time, if he had a water-controlling mutant on his staff. Alas, Trask pays his company very well to have all employment candidates screened for the X factor (i.e. the mutant gene).
Alas, it actually turns out that that microwave was, in fact, a Trask invention. And as you might expect, Firestar's mutant powers were used to develop it. Trask, of course, refuses to disclose how he managed to get that much DNA from such a dangerous mutant. (Firestar's mutant power is microwave energy generation, in case you didn't know.)
Because of the fire, a lot of employees are sent home. As a matter of fact, MOST of the employees are sent home.
Bolivar Trask, of course, stays. He's still got a lot of work to do...fire or none. His maids tower over him, as they ask him if there's anything wrong.
Bolivar Trask, it seems, is a dwarf. And he bears much of the likeness of Peter Dinklage. Rumor has it that he's got an ancestor who was born on Nidavellir, one of the Nine Realms of Yggdrasil... Trask, of course, has failed to confirm or deny this.
In the breakroom with the microwave that had the accident, the fire's been put out...but some of the radiation still lingers. The microwave did use Firestar's mutant power, after all...
It seems that someone tried to microwave something that they foolishly covered with adamantium foil. Adamantium is good for many things; but a microwaveable metal, it will never be. Apparently, one of the Stryker boys tried to have lunch in here...
On a TV in a lounge, the news is on. Christine Everhart, a reporter with WHIH who bears the likeness of Leslie Bibb, reports the latest bad news. And for Trask, it's very bad.
"Mayberry, North Carolina," she begins to report, "is not a town in North Carolina that often makes the news. But a few years ago, as you might recall, one of their goat-herders made the news for accidentally breeding the world's first mutant goat. You heard me correctly; goats have mutants.
"Legend has it that this mutant goat, whose name is Bobby, is bred from a line of patrilineal stock that begins with a certain non-mutant goat, Jimmy, who, back in the 1960s, once ate a bunch of dynamite that miners were using to build one of Mayberry's very few underpasses. Then-Mayor Roy Stoner, who felt bad about the Jimmy Incident, ceased construction on the underpass as a result. However, in the 1970s, construction on the underpass resumed. Throughout the next twenty years, a few other underpasses cropped up here and there, both in and around Mayberry city limits.
"As a result of the Jimmy Incident, two town sheriffs managed to lead Jimmy out into the wild around Mayberry, where they left him tied to a post. Jimmy wasn't expected to survive. The town," Christine giggles, "thought that Jimmy would blow up, if he was slightly aroused. Fortunately for animal rights activists, Jimmy survived the dynamite in his system, and he was reunited with his owner, Cy Hudgins, in good time. Dr. Andrews, who was practicing in Mayberry at the time, tested Jimmy twice for dynamite content; the test came out negative. A few years later, Dr. Peterson tested Jimmy again, just to make sure. Again, the test was negative. Many in Mayberry didn't trust his opinion at the time, because of his unusual youth as a small town doctor.
"Meanwhile, in the present, Bobby might not have inherited any of the dynamite that was once in his ancestor's system...but he might as well have. His mutant power is almost the exact same as a certain Robert Hunter's...and VERY comparable to that of a certain Inhuman criminal named Tucker Shockley. Bobby can self-detonate, and re-constitute himself at will. All be advised; Bobby might look like a charming lovable goat; but he's armed with a mutant power, and must be considered extremely dangerous. As some of you might remember, Shockley murdered a Senator with his power; any destruction of Bobby's will be, and has already been, a lot like that. It's unknown if Bobby's power will get worse with time; if it does, there are committees in Congress whose lobbyists are pushing to have Bobby euthanized, if he's ever caught." Christine pauses, as she seems to get new news on her headset. "I've also been told that these committees have MUTANT lobbyists, as well as human ones, backing them.
"Anyway, if you see a goat, be wary. This is Bobby's description..."
From the microwave fumes in the break room, a goat is born. They converge like a cloud of smoke. From them, a mutant goat re-constitutes itself. Don't worry; Bobby didn't cause this explosion. But clearly, he has recently. And he's just now re-constituting himself from that explosion's remains.
For him, that's easy to do. While his explosions might leave remains, he IS his own explosions; from tree stumps to Nagasaki.
In a facility downstairs, Trask has rounded up quite a few mutant goats. To Trask, it seems that mutant goats are getting harder and harder to get his hands on...as their owners become more and more aware of what Trask Industries does with them, once they're collected.
Trask hears rumors that the Weapon X facility is actually trying to have some of these goats' skeletons fused with adamantium, so that they'll have horns made of metal. Trask almost shudders at the thought. He sure as hell hopes that such a goat wouldn't be as violent as Wolverine or Sabretooth...or X-23...
He comes downstairs to do some tests. He still has no clue that he's being followed.
He stands in a comfy little nest, as a pair of Sentinel androids lead a mutant goat test subject into the arena below. A thick pane of glass separates Trask from anything about that goat that could kill him, if this goes wrong...
The Sentinels leave the goat on a table, and take their leave. Now that they're alone, Trask grins, and manipulates a few controls on a panel that lies between him and the glass pane.
Below in the arena, a robotic arm, equipped with a needle, moves to inoculate the poor goat...with basic drugs that've got nothing to do with the main thing Trask's about to do to that goat. He's about to mutate the mutant...with a mutagen.
Just outside the door, Bobby strolls up to the door to the nest, from up the hall. From inside him, his "explosion timer" starts ticking. Via his supergoat agility, he manipulates the door open.
Trask isn't listening, as Bobby walks in, and stands next to him. Trask is a dwarf; to him, Bobby's a horse. Trask is so obsessed with what goes on down there, he doesn't even notice that his private nest has been raided.
In the arena, the needle is ready. It slowly approaches the poor mutant goat, about to inoculate the poor bastard...
Feeling victorious, Trask takes a harmonica out of his pocket, and blows a victory march. Big mistake; clearly, he doesn't know anything about Bobby's ancestor...
Bobby stands right behind him, and licks him on the back of the head. THAT gets Trask's attention.
"What," Trask shouts out, "in the name of Tyrion Lannister is going..." He acknowledges Bobby. "...on?! How...did you get out of your confinement unit?"
Trask looks into the goat's eyes. Little orange lights develop in their centers, as his inner timer still ticks...
"I'll have to deal with you later," Trask says. "But right now, I'm in the middle of an experiment, so if you don't mind... Wait... Where's your power-dampening collar?"
The lights in Bobby's eyes grow...and fill his eyes. Now, that ticking is louder than ever...
"O SHIT," Trask soon dies saying.
In an epic flash and boom, this Trask facility is leveled to the ground. The explosion creates a shockwave and a great ball of fire...as it de-creates a lot of other things.
Much later, as the dust clears, it becomes apparent that Bobby has deliberately spared the lives of his mutant goat kin...with force fields. It seems he's more developed in his mutant power than Bobby Hunter/Nitro, the human mutant whose powers are comparable to his.
As the explosion settles, the force fields vanish, releasing the goats. As indifferently as ever, the goats shuffle away from the explosion, and are free to move about the wild that lies just past the northern reaches of this late facility. Because they were in a cellar, the goats have to do a little climbing to do this. But of course, they're goats; their ancestors have scaled cliffs that make this challenge look lame. Plus, Trask always prided himself in his humanity; it makes sense that most of his creations would underwhelm most mutants.
A great part of Trask's life's work...including Trask himself...is now in ruins. And once again, he's got mutants to blame. Except this time, it's mutant goats...rather than the X-Men, which is what he's relatively used to.
Just south of here, the MRD has an armory. This is where they keep their dynamite. Seems unlikely they'd use this as an anti-mutant weapon. Clearly, the MRD had a sapper unit now...
Near an open box of dynamite, Bobby reconstitutes himself from his own fumes. He gladly takes a stick of dynamite from the box, and chows down on it, victorious.