#Morlock Attack/ Escape Through Time

[filmjunky-99]

t h e t i m e m a c h i n e, 1960 🎬 dir. george pal 'Morlock Attack/ Escape Through Time'

[tidemoonchild]

New Verse

Verse '97:

Before '97 - first episode:

Maggie was born in the future and ended up in the past through her time travel powers, shortly after Charles' supposed death. Since her timeline was no longer save, she fled into the past, where she was found by the X-Men and taken to the X-Mansion. Initially, she suffered from memory loss due to a head injury she sustained during the time jump and could not remember anything.

With the help of the X-Men, she gradually managed to get her memories back and they found out that Hank was her father. They decided to keep Maggie with them and helped her learn how to control her abilities. Most of her time she spend at the school until one day a boy named Roberto was brought to school. When he disappeared, Maggie helped the others to find him until it got late and was sent back home again.

Second-third episode

When Magneto showed up and announced that he would lead the school and the X-Men from now on, Maggie was surprised and irritated because she only knew him as an enemy and criminal. Later she saw on the news how Magneto saved some people and heard how he also had saved the Morlocks before he sent them to Genosha. This made her even more suprised, but still suspicious. At night, she was woken up by the helicopter and watched from a window as Magneto was led away to face trial for his crimes.

On the day of his trial, Maggie was also at the school and watched the trial on television. When Jean went into labor, Maggie stayed behind while Logan rushed her to the hospital. Later she found out about all the events, the fight and the loss of Storm's abilities as well as the incident in the hospital. After Storm left due to the loss of her abilities, Maggie was very sad and disappointed. All of this triggered her to rethink and she began to understand Magneto more, and to a certain extent agreed with him. However, there wasn't much time to think about this, as the real Jean showed up shortly afterwards.

During Sinister and Madelyne Pryor's attack, Maggie was back in her room, when illusions from HADES manifested in her room and attacked her. Maggie managed to escape and met Morph and her father. Together with them, she joined the others and fought with them against the illusions. Exhausted from the fight, Maggie once again stayed behind while the other X-Men went to rescue Nathan.

Fourth-Fifth Episodes On Jubilee's 18th birthday, Maggie was at the table eating muffins with the others when Jubilee came and told she wanted to go to the arcade. Maggie herself was also enthusiastic about the idea, but Magneto ruined the moment. In Jubilee's room, Maggie and Roberto were listening to her complaining about Magneto when they discovered an unknown console in Jubilee's room. While Roberto and Jubilee were discussing about gaming, Maggie was called, so she left the room before she too could be sucked into the game.

Some time later, reporter Trish Tilby announced that she wanted to do an interview with the X-Men. However, Maggie wasn't particularly keen on it and prefered to go to Genosha with the others. She had heard a lot about it and wanted to see it for herself. After some discussions, she managed to convince both Magneto and her father to let her go. When they finally arrived, Maggie was more than just fascinated and excited by Genosha, until suddenly the attack occurred, which she barely survived.

Cont 1 (x)

[the-firebird69]

Space Marine Cosplay April 15 2014

It's nice of you to act like a little child and her friend here hasn't gotten to do anything fun like that it's taking over your job cuz you have him doing it and you think you're doing stuff like you're Paul Dodos he acts like you're mad at him and his people know it just going on and we sort of do too and you're just a loser who just wants to kidnap him and take him to what you call your people which might be true and everybody is figuring it out and you'll sit there and do this childish s*** and you puke all over the place lose all your stuff and say you're great and you may not even have the fleet and you can't verify it and you can't get there and they won't even talk to you I got to tell you something you're a f****** huge loser cuz you keep doing it cuz you think you can kidnap him now he's in Jeopardy for whatever reason it's the max took it or the clans or his people anyway which way you look at it you're a huge piece of s*** and if the maximum purpose they're dead meat I can't believe they would there's the dumbest thing I've ever heard they're having a problem with people like you acting like middlemen for the clan or his people and I got to tell you something you are a big piece of s*** too I've never seen someone do so many dumb things obviously you think you have it and you're a nutcase and we need to grab you and I'm sick of you you could be delivering him to evil or from evil we wouldn't even know it that would be the dumbest s*** I've ever seen they come out looking like Max I mean this is so freaking awful you might have a chance to escape and now you're excited and this is going to suck even if you do so many times you have no idea so people are exterminating you

Mac daddy

Yeah we're going through their number pretty good and we're hitting them constantly and they're going to be out and he says that they're down to a few percent and bja is attacking him and everybody can gang up on them and really the money thing is going to work. We had the pseudo empire do it and we had other people do it as well including the bozo and BG is thinking of cutting a check. So far three letters were written and they did write that investments are also there and looking at them and discussing and trying to figure out what to do and also it says in the letter if you're not him and your falsified your identity recharged with fraud and all this other stuff but it is him and if they bring up the court they would be in a lot of trouble and it's true too we know it's him and of course he says it's him that's not really the question that's not so there's other things too they're requiring a license and so forth and they're right here so he doesn't really care and they're leaving it is kind of odd for a letter to come out of nowhere and his requested stuff but doesn't know about the money and it's odd that they would send the money because we're not really forcing it and we don't think they'll send it if we forced it and he's right that they might cut a check and get a letter going and they're just using it to grab Trump stuff so smart thing to do is go to weak ones and take the letter and the check and grab their stuff I sort of get this and it's going on all over the place what do you recommends to Walter Lewis is to follow through with it or he becomes a ghost that really doesn't have to be there and he started acknowledge something people will be faking as him so he's pretty much aware of it now these people are cooked and that's the way it's going to go

Macs

What we know is the maximination too and the max are diminishing and what's coming up is pretty huge and foreigners are helping it happen and minority morlock and a son gets along with them and they've been doing a lot of ideas and he says hard not kicker 5150 it's one of those companies that did very well it was actually a Norwegian who started with himself and he wanted to include him to a degree and he knew about the max and he said to him if you got me two things oh my God and so he said put a tracer on him and he said if something happens when you go and they did and he is not in westborough and he thinks he knows where he is says thank you actually knows you come out he says oh but you're after me but that's on me yeah you will screwy now you're chasing Jason. So it's not out yet but he's going to be. But this is the whole thing it was his company and if this happens now you know why he gets released he doesn't have any people and he's going to be running around the trumps just going to stay there him and they're trying to take it over like they did last time and they took it from him and he figures it out and he says this I give you a spokesperson and sell them and he doesn't have any people and they said yeah and then they identified Julius and they said this we know who you are and stuff and where's the original and they get mad and then it was on so that happens too but it doesn't get them anything so he's saying to China that they were robbed by Trump and trumpsters and in a way it was also the doing of Randall text cob he really didn't cut them in on anything the prophets were made by he and later it was actually Donald Trump and his crew and the business got shut down because his son was fighting over it and that's why he kicked him out of Orange county choppers and he did not take over his chopper business but he ruined it and he did surreptitiously and Dan wants back in and put besides that it's a great idea so we're going to post it

Thor Freya

Olympus

The changes are intense and you can make a bolt up frame that stays together and works we actually have a lot of them in China and what you say is you could suggest the glue when we tried that and it works pretty good actually it holds so I'm going to go ahead and do this and not include the glue because of the bolts were good enough and without the frame you don't have to assemble it and it's cheaper and now we need it because prices are going up a little bit you're not going up as much as you see but these people are jerks but boy I can make it really cheap and I need to do it now

Chao phat

Olympus

[kurt-wagner-official]

Post #99: UXM issue 219 and UXM Annual issue 11

There's a time jump between the last issue and this one, where Alex went to New York to check on the X-Men. Everything was fine, so he went back home, but tonight he woke up screaming from a nightmare that he had gone back and been attacked by demonic versions of the team. He tells Lorna that he needs to go check on them again, and he needs to go alone. Little does he know, he's being manipulated by Malice, and is playing right into the Marauders' hands. Speaking of which, I though she was trapped in her necklace when Ororo ripped it off? I guess that didn't work as well as she thought. Anyway, nobody's home when he gets there, so naturally he breaks in and goes through Max's dayplanner and is shocked to see he's at the Hellfire Club. He goes there next, and immediately verbally attacks Max, who tells him he'll tell the team he stopped by. He decides Max must be up to something, so he calls Moira for help, but Callisto picks up and tells him to talk to Max. He asks if she knows where to reach Scott, and she shuts him down. He knows that Scott left Maddy, apparently, but not about X-Factor or Jean. I do think that says something about Scott; he trusts the original X-Men more than he does Alex, and even Warren he holds at arm's length. Alex also calls Lorna, but there's no answer, because she's under attack by Scalphunter, Arclight, and Sabretooth. They get an early advantage, but in an open New Mexico landscape with iron in the ground, they can't pin her down, and she escapes. Back in New York, Alex hides outside the Hellfire Club until Max leaves, and he tracks him into the Morlock tunnels, where the X-Men are discussing their war with the Marauders. Anna sneaks up behind him, not recognizing him in the dark, and there's a quick fight scene until Betsy scans him and realizes who it is. It turns out his dreams weren't just Malice, but his memories coming back and haunting him; when he visited the X-Men last week, Betsy changed his memories so he wouldn't have any info the Marauders could use. She tells Ororo she can't mindwipe him again, so she suggests they kill him, which Ororo shoots down, which is an unintentionally hilarious exchange. Ororo tells Alex the full story of what's happened recently, and he says that he wants to help. She defers the question to Max, who sets aside the anger from earlier and extends his hand to Alex, who takes it. Back in New Mexico, Lorna reverse ambushes the Marauders chasing her and traps them before revealing that she's actually Malice, now with a more permanent body and ready to lead the Marauders.

This annual opens with almost everyone in a much better mood than last issue, where they were all talking about faking their own deaths. Betsy's brother, Brian, and his girlfriend Meggan are visiting the mansion. Unfortunately, they arrive on the anniversary of the day Mariko stood Logan up, and he's getting as drunk as he can to try to forget it. But then a big alien demon guy named Horde shows up with a bunch of minions and a whole bunch of superpowers. He kidnaps everyone and teleports them to a mysterious citadel, where he tells them to break in and steal a magic crystal or he'll destroy the world. After a failed attack on him, they decide to play along for now. Before they go in, Logan and Ororo kiss, which normally would be a nice moment, but since he's currently drunk trying to forget his ex-fiance this seems a little unhealthy. Into the citadel they go. The first thing they see is two big statues of a Skrull and a Kree, and the next thing they see is a weird wall that Anna suddenly runs towards. She stares at in in a trance, and Betsy scans her and learns that her mind has been pulled inside a magic room where she's living out her heart's desire. It's a normal life, at a dance hanging out with a big family and lots of friends, and after a moment her body disappears. The X-Men press on, hoping to find a way to save her and wary of this place's strange psychic defenses. Logan heads off on his own to scout ahead. As they walk, Longshot sees his hand begin to fade away, and begins to wonder if his heart's desire is to disappear. It's the first interesting thing Claremont has done with Longshot, and a new direction for the character after his mini. His arc in that book was about self discovery, and eventually he learned who he was and found his purpose. But he completely failed in that purpose; his friends were all captured and Mojo banished him back to Earth. Now, with no way back to the old life that he had only recently found, he's latched onto the X-Men, but now he worries that deep down he's just going through the motions and doesn't have any real passion left. The heart's desire thing is playing out differently for Alex; all he really wants is to be seen as important beyond comparisons to Scott, and in his mind he unleashes all his power and collapses into himself to become a star, brighter and more powerful than anything Scott's ever done. In the real world, his body becomes a statue, just as Longshot fades away and, according to Betsy's scans, becomes one with the citadel. Because of the purity of soul his power gives him, he didn't have the same kind of selfish desire as the others, so rather than zap his mind into another dimension, the citadel just absorbed him. Ali, who has feelings for Longshot, runs off crying and has a series of visions. The first is the life her father wanted for her; becoming a Supreme Court Justice who put away Wilson Fisk. The second is the life she pursued, a world famous pop star. The third is a poor homeless woman, a version of her who didn't want to deal with the failure of either path so she never attempted either dream and still lost. Ali wonders which of these is her true desire as she vanishes from the real world. Brian and Meggan are the next to go, seeing a vision of themselves living a happy, normal life with a new baby. Betsy then reveals to Ororo that her desire has already come true- her skin falls off to reveal a robotic warrior ready to defend her friends and family. She tells Ororo that Horde is coming, and she'll buy her and Logan time by holding him off until they can figure out what to do with the crystal. Logan is facing his own temptation- Mariko appears before him and proposes again, and then asks him to join her while she goes and fights a horde of evil ninjas. It's finally a way to reconcile the two sides of Logan's heart, but he's able to resist the urge and shatter the illusion.

I have to start a new paragraph here, because apparently there's a paragraph limit on Tumblr now? That's dumb. I've definitely written longer paragraphs than this before. Now my formattings gonna be different and that's very upsetting. Anyway, this continues from the above, it's all the same annual. Ororo is having a similar vision, or a life with Yukio (in a totally platonic gal pal way of course) but is also able to resist because this was the greatest desire of the Ororo she was when she met Yukio, and even if she still wishes to return to that time, she has changed. It's an interesting twist, and more creative than another simple "Ororo has an iron will" story (not that there's anything wrong with those). She pulls out of the fantasy and finds herself facing the crystal with Logan at her side, but Horde has arrived. To protect her, Logan pushes Ororo back into the wall she popped out of, and this time the fantasy overtakes her. Logan is attacked by Horde, but a drop of his blood lands on the crystal, and combined with his healing factor the crystal rebuilds his body from that one drop as an all powerful cosmic being who instantly defeats Horde. He has a minor Dark Phoenix moment before destroying the crystal to remove the temptation, and the X-Men all wake up back at the mansion. In the final panel, the narrator reveals that the Kree and Skrull statues, along with a bunch of others, were of people who had given into the temptation of the crystal's power, and in return, their species was frozen in time, unable to evolve. But because of Logan, humans and mutants won't suffer that fate. That moral really doesn't make any sense, but it does work in the context of Logan, who's perpetually struggling to evolve internally. This annual was definitely a return to form. It was a good example of how Ororo's greatest strength is her greatest weakness; there are so many different sides to her, but when she forgets that and gives in to one part of herself- like the part that was happy with Yukio- it consumes her and denies her from living her most truthful and fulfilling life. Betsy's dream was also an interesting insight, since she's been grappling with whether she's a real X-Man and she now knows her heart's desire is to be a hero. The penciller for this annual was Alan Davis, who'll be Claremont's collaborator on Excalibur soon. Despite that, Brian and Meggan barely did anything in this story, which focused on all the characters who won't be joining that team. But it does feel like a preparation for that run based on its plot, which about a bad guy with a vague plan and a quest that puts them through vaguely magical personal trials while being a really fun and interesting adventure. That's most of what Excalibur is, and I'm glad these guys got to have one of those adventures before the main book gets even darker and edgier.

[fiercestpurpose]

I love seeing your input on JeanScott, so I have a question. Ignoring Hickman’s current run, if the comics picked up from everyone coming back together, do you think Jean and Scott would get back together? How? Why?

YES! GOD YES! I wanted them to sooooooo badly lol

Realistically, I think that post-Rosenberg, they should have taken some time before getting back together, and talked about things. See, Scott and Jean, even when they’re in love, aren’t the best at communicating (see: Silver Age X-Men, X-Factor when Scott just doesn’t tell Jean that he’s married, Scott’s reaction to Jean becoming Phoenix, etc.). What separates healthy long-term couple Scott/Jean from hopelessly in love but sort of doomed Scott/Jean is that they’ve learned that they need to communicate, and they do this both through their psychic rapport and by having actual, out-loud conversation.

And after Jean comes back to life and then Scott comes back to life, they have a lot to talk about, including but not limited to Scott cheating on Jean with Emma and Scott being possessed by the Phoenix Force and killing Charles.

So let’s say we have an Uncanny title as our flagship (Storm, Jubilee, Wolverine, Kwannon, Nightcrawler) and they’re working on solving the problems of mutants. All problems, all mutants. It sort of picks up where Rosenberg’s left off, this is a harsh world and harsh times, people are against mutants, hated and feared, etc.

And then we have the B-team, which is X-Factor - Scott, Jean, and Hank, and then we pick up some of the X-Force members, Bable, Rictor, and Sunspot. That’s a lot of good threads to pull on - Scott and Hank were at each other’s throats for a while there, Rictor’s back with X-Factor when he hasn’t really connected with them since he was a teenager, Berto really loved Cable and Bable is Cable but also killed him, and Bable is Scott and Jean’s unruly teenage son who they raised in the far future but then abandoned (again). And, of course, Scott and Jean still have to talk.

I imagine X-Factor as sort of a return to basics, the characters involved all using it as a way to learn/reconnect with why they’re part of the X-Men anyway. It’s a way for Scott (Mr. Mutant Revolutionary) to remember that he’s helping mutants, it’s a way for Roberto (Mr. AIM) to come back from the Avengers and just reconnect with the more personal parts of being a superhero, it’s a way for all of them to take a step back from the big noise and just help mutants. They work out of a basement under a mutant community center (probably in NYC). The jobs are things like tracking missing mutants, helping the Morlocks move house without getting attacked by the police, making contact with new mutants, stopping mutants from hurting other people but by addressing their concerns and not by handing them over to the legal authorities. It’s a very ground-level, anti-police, confronting-oppression-by-helping-the-individuals-affected-by-it approach (in contrast with the flagship, which is much more big picture). And I think a key part of that is having them not be in charge of their own missions – they’ve been disconnected from the broader mutant community for so long that they don’t really have the right to say “This is what this community needs.” So it’s also a way for them to let go of leadership responsibility – not that they aren’t all capable of it, but it’s important for them to have some time off, to let someone else guide them for a while.

I think this sort of mundane setting would be an excellent opportunity for Scott and Jean to get back into working as a team. It’s an escape from all the chaos of normal superheroics and a chance for them to do real, concrete good together. It would also give them plenty of downtime – say X-Factor is supposed to make contact with a runaway mutant, so Rictor and Bable go to handle that, and Scott and Jean man the office and have a chance to talk.

They have a lot to talk about, and I think you’d need to spread it out over several arcs. They can have one serious conversation every 4-5 issues. One arc involves a virus that is being used to make people commit crimes, and Jean and Scott disagree about whether the people who are possessed are in fact responsible for the crimes, and it turns out they’re really talking about the Phoenix and they should probably talk about their experiences with the Phoenix rather than projecting that onto a different scenario. At one point Bable goes way out of line and Scott and Jean have to acknowledge that they’re still his parents, and they really do need to step in and exert some influence over him. And they sort of reminisce about when life was simpler and they lived in a post-Apocalyptic future raising their son. I think you leave the conversation about Emma for last, and the important thing is to build up their relationship in a natural way over the course of the series. (In this ideal world, perfectly good series don’t get canceled or rebooted every year just because Marvel wants a temporary sales bump.)

So that’s the how. As for why… I just think they make sense together. I think that a couple that you can only break up by having one of them die is a couple that, when they’re alive, would want to be together. They didn’t just “grow apart,” the way some people claim, they were forced into extremely OOC behaviour because Morrison thought “powerful women don’t make good wives.” From an out-of-universe point of view, they deserve a chance to rebuild an interesting, compelling relationship that was ended for no good reason. From an in-universe point of view, they’re in love, they’re good for each other, and they deserve to be happy.

Thank you for the question, I love talking about Jean and Scott and an alternate universe where I get to run the X-office. :)

[timelxrd-victorious]

masterfulxrhythm replied to your post: (>∇<)

o_____________o The Master’s TARDIS has a name? What’s the. WHAT.

Okay, so, this is gonna get long and delve heavily into the EU. I’ll see if I can break it down a bit.

1. THE MASTER’S TARDIS

In the Faction Paradox Protocols audios series, Lolita is a Type 103 TARDIS that may or may not be tainted by the Ysgarroth. Type 103 TARDISes have a fully humanoid outer appearance/chameleon circuit. They’re so new that the first time Eight encounters a TARDIS of this type in the novel alien bodies, they don’t exist yet.

The Type 103s followed Compassion, the only Type 102 TARDIS in existence—namely because she’s a human/TARDIS hybrid, and the Time Lords from Gallifrey’s future in the Second War in Heaven wanted to abduct her for their TARDIS breeding program. So, in other words, Lolita is Compassion’s daughter (and Gallifreyan society and Time Lords in general are completely messed up, what else is new).

Lolita’s plan was to form her own House and plant her offspring throughout history (among other things). She also eventually became the War Queen on Gallifrey.

2. THE ELEVEN-DAY EMPIRE

Its introduction in interference probably says it best:

On 14 September, 1752, the country known as England—arguably the most important nation-state on Earth at that point in time—adopted the Gregorian calendar, the system of measuring time that had been championed by Pope Gregory nearly two centuries earlier. According to the Gregorian calendar, it was actually eleven days later than the people of England liked to think. Thus, in order to bring England in line with the rest of the world, eleven days had to be removed from the nation’s calendars. Quite simply, the population went to sleep as usual on the night of 2 September, and when they woke up the next morning they found it was 14 September.

And the missing eleven days were occupied solely by the elders of Faction Paradox.

Naturally, a cynic would have said that this was pure nonsense. A scientific mind would have pointed out that no time was really ‘lost’ in the change at all, that only people’s perceptions of time changed, not time itself. All of which would have been perfectly true, if It hadn’t been for one thing: the Faction’s agents specialised in temporal impossibilities. What would have been a metaphor to anybody else was solid reality to them. The fact remained that, even if the missing eleven days had only ever existed as a concept, any Time Lord who set the controls of his TARDIS for England in early September 1752 would have found himself lost in the darkness of the Eleven-Day Empire.

But of course no Time Lord would do anything so irresponsible. Only the Faction would have thought of it. Besides, it’s questionable whether any self-respecting TARDIS unit would accept those sorts of co-ordinates in the first place.

The Eleven-Day Empire was a version of England tailored to the Faction’s own needs, and there were no people there in the usual sense of the word ‘people’. Apart from the Faction’s own representatives, the only living things in the Empire were the ravens that had been let loose from the Tower of London, which were exempt from the usual rules of time for reasons that only the elders of the Faction really understood. London was the capital of the heartland, a cityscape where there were never any lights, and at the core of it all lay the Faction’s central seat of power. The Houses of Parliament themselves.

In ‘real time’, the Parliament buildings wouldn’t even be built until the nineteenth century, but their impact on Earth’s timeline was so great that their shadows stretched all the way into the realm of the Faction. The buildings would be the seat of government for centuries after their construction, and were destined to be many other things before their eventual collapse, from the home of a twenty-second-century arms dealer to a refuge for the veterans of the first Cyber wars. But between 3 September and 13 September, 1752, they were the sole property of the Mothers and Fathers of Faction Paradox.

The Mothers and Fathers sat only in the House of Commons. The House of Lords was reserved for other things, things the Faction’s agents couldn’t ever risk mentioning by name. But the House of Commons was home to the six hundred and thirty individuals who’d proved themselves most worthy of the Grandfather’s attentions, those who’d risen through the ranks of the family to become the matriarchs and patriarchs of their own Faction bloodlines. Many were human, or things that had started out as human. Their clothes were mostly black, or black and red, and at least half of them insisted on wearing their ceremonial masks during sessions of Parliament, so from the centre of the great hall you could see nearly four hundred skulls staring down at you from their designated positions. Skulls of Time Lords, skulls of great batlike things, skulls of creatures that were important only in the mythologies of the people who wore them. And when the Godmother of the House announced the news from Dust, and described the data the Faction had received from the ‘bugs’ on the Remote ship, there wasn’t a single individual in the building who stayed quiet. If the Parliament had been an entirely human one, the speaker would have called for order at that point, but in the Eleven-Day Empire the speaker’s chair was always left empty, awaiting the return of Grandfather Paradox himself.

TL; DR version: It’s the home base of Faction Paradox, created when the Faction bought the eleven “missing” days when England switched over to the Gregorian calendar in 1752. It’s a shadowy mis-match of London, and somehow there were things living there even before the Faction settled down (i.e. the Unkindnesses).

3. LOLITA EATING THE ELEVEN-DAY EMPIRE

During the Second War in Heaven, a group of Sontarans attacked the Eleven-Day Empire on her orders as a diversion for the Spirits (loa) protecting the Empire. Lord Ruthven from House Tracolix was also there, as a means to sign a deal that would have Faction Paradox recognized by the other Great Houses (Time Lords) as another House (previously, the Faction had been disowned by the other Time Lords after Grandfather Paradox—the former voodoo priest of the House of Lungbarrow—formed the House). This deal would also mean that the Faction would be able to keep their own traditions.

Godfather Morlock, soon after the deal had been signed (even though everyone in the Faction knew full well it was probably some sort of trap), had persuaded a young Cousin by the name of Justine to take on the shadow of Grandfather Paradox—who, in the eyes of the other Houses, was a criminal.

Under Faction law, the shadow is greater than the person who wears it. Essentially, in the eyes of the Houses, Justine was the Grandfather and could therefore be punished for his crimes. Morlock refused to hand Justine over to Lolita and helped her escape along with Cousin Eliza.

By refusing to hand over Grandfather!Justine, Lolita was well within her right to punish the Faction. Using one of the Faction’s rituals, she took the Spirits into herself (this also voided the protection the Spirits placed on the Empire). She then used that lack of protection to swallow the Eleven-Day Empire whole into her interior dimensions.

[tangleweave]

Rescue Me (RP)

@akasupergirl

“Help! Help! Someone help me!”

On the streets of Manhattan, it tended to be 6-to-5 and pick ‘em whether such a plea for assistance would actually be fulfilled. If there was a feature of the city to be counted upon, it was the indifference of the average New Yorker. But the odds were decidedly not in favor of the person issuing the cries, not least of which because he looked like some strange hybrid of man and frog… but also because five ornately armored bipedal figures were giving chase via various modes of transportation.

The diminutive target of the group’s ire was fleeing on foot in a general northerly direction. If he got perhaps another 70 blocks, he’d eventually make it to Stark Tower. He was, at the least, giving a good account of himself… his running speed easily matched that of an Olympic athlete, even dressed as he was in bulky, tattered clothing. It might have been more were his hands not bound behind him, and a flashing electronic collar not secured about his neck.

One would have been forgiven for thinking him a fugitive from justice, particularly in light of the five pursuers, whose armors looked strangely reminiscent of a variety of Iron Man configurations. The leading pursuer, in particular, was clad in armor of dark red and gold, festooned with silver spikes, and he was delivering terse instructions to his comrades. “Ramshot, Wysper, get ahead of him. Firearm, Screech, to the sides. I’ve got him from behind.”

“Sure you do.”

Anti-Venom landed atop the assailant’s shoulders before he had time to react, driving him fully into the concrete of the sidewalk. Passersby let out a plethora of colorful expressions and exclamations, none of which he had any time for. His left hand grew to gargantuan size and wrapped about the vigilante he’d just dropped, then slammed him against the nearest convenient brick wall – a narrow separator between a deli and a haberdashery.

“Sentry.” The ivory-skinned hulk snarled. “You and your Jury flunkies really ought to get a hobby besides pretending you have any authority to do what you do.”

“Screech! Get back—!”

“Ah-ah.” Anti-Venom’s other hand came up and delivered a hard slap to the side of Sentry’s head, completely disregarding the spikes there that tried to tear into the flesh of his palm, which simply liquefied and reformed. He pulled the dazed Jurist away from the wall and spun him around to face him. Anti-Venom’s grip kept Sentry’s arms pinned to his sides, and the red-orange glow of his eyes and mouth was reflected in the metal of his helmet. “You just wait right here. Some nice men in clean white coats will come get you directly.”

He thrust his arm out and smashed Sentry into the wall again, back-first, this time leaving him wrapped up in a tight cocoon of white bio-mass that was far stronger than any webbing his red-and-blue counterpart had ever demonstrated.

Anti-Venom launched himself into the air, vaulting in the direction of the distressed hostage the Jury had taken. He was already depressed by the possibilities. When last he’d encountered them, it had been as Venom, and their leader – Gavel – had been quite clear as to the reason for their formation: his escape from the Life Foundation’s Vault had led to the death of their family members. Tragedy and a thirst for vengeance had been their unifying theme, their singular call… but they’d failed to capture and hold him long enough to deliver the sentence they so dearly wanted to visit upon him.

That he was no longer Venom now probably wouldn’t matter much to them if they were still united in that purpose. Eddie Brock’s alter-ego wasn’t well-known (thankfully for his career) but the Jury knew of it. When he’d fled to San Francisco, he’d given them reason to think he was dead, and he’d done his level best to keep things quiet – until the Mister Negative incident, and his transformation into something very different. It was something of a minor miracle they hadn’t tried to come after him upon his return to New York and his attempt to resume some semblance of a normal life… though it wasn’t unreasonable to think Kara might be throwing him a little cover.

But who was the fleeing captive, and what did they want with him?

Two Jurists – Ramshot and Screech – were already between him and the captive. Judging by the smell trailing behind the green-skinned stranger, Anti-Venom figured he was probably a Morlock. It was a little too easy to forget about New York’s sewer-swelling mutant population, driven underground because their appearances were too grotesque for society to tolerate. Anti-Venom knew better than most what that sort of living was like… in two words, unduly harsh. This man certainly didn’t need people like these making it any harder.

Ramshot’s jet-boots were carrying him ever closer to their original target, while Screech had already turned to engage Anti-Venom. An earsplitting sonic scream erupted from speakers mounted on the Jurist’s helmet and armor, focused into narrow channels for maximum effect against a Klyntar symbiote.

Anti-Venom snarled through the wash of noise, raised an enlarged fist, and swept it into Screech with virtually no regard for his attack. The blasts would have shattered Venom, but against Anti-Venom, they were little more than a nuisance. His strike tossed Screech into a nearby lamppost, which snapped off entirely from the force of the impact.

Civilians were actively fleeing the area now, and with good cause. Amidst the warble of shrieking and the rumbling of fleeing feet, he could make out the Jury members re-orienting their efforts around him rather than their first target. In that moment, he knew he had only seconds to act. By attempting to help, he’d drawn their eye, and if he didn’t help their target get away within the next few moments, they’d both be under attack.

He threw himself down the street and hurtled into Ramshot, whose jet-powered boots were just about to carry him to the fleeing frog-man, despite the poor captive’s best (and impressive) efforts to run. Anti-Venom grabbed hold of Ramshot with both hands, his black fangs smiling wide for the Jurist.

“Hi.”

He swung his weight around to disrupt Ramshot’s center of gravity and threw out a spread of tentacles to catch about a traffic light. The Jurist’s flight was thrown horribly by the shifting dynamics and the grip Anti-Venom’s tendrils had on Ramshot’s ankle was such that when the jets pulled him taut, the sound of his foot disjointing was audible. The Jurist belted out a scream of pain and collapsed to the ground beneath Anti-Venom, who quickly jumped to his feet and leapt after the Morlock; he cast forth another tendril to catch about the frog-man’s waist and pull him up into the air.

The Morlock screamed – and after all, why wouldn’t he? – as Anti-Venom caught him in midair and swung hard and fast through the district. By peeling away three of the five Jurists, he had a wide swath of escape routes to the east… if only the Morlock would stop struggling.

“Calm down,” he snarled. “I’m here to help.”

The Morlock whimpered. “You’re… you’re not with them?”

Anti-Venom glared red at his passenger. “Do I look like I’m with them?” he returned. “Hang tight, I’m getting you out of here. What do they want with you?”

“They’re the Jury!” the Morlock cried, as if that offered explanation.

“I know who they are,” Anti-Venom snapped, careening hard around a corner. “Why are they after you?”

“They’ve been trying to round us up out of the sewers! They came into our territory claiming they had jurisdiction and were charging us with vagrancy! Got these collars on a bunch of us before we even knew what was happening! The others managed to help me get out but they’re still trapped – they need help! I thought if I got to the surface…!”

“That you’d find an X-Man or an Avenger and they’d help you out,” Anti-Venom finished. He rolled his eyes behind his living mask. “So sorry you’re stuck with me, then. Hold on…”

Spiked tentacles erupted from his back as he continued to swing fast and hard to elude their pursuit; the tendrils set about the task of tearing into the hand-sheaths and the collar. The Jury’s technology had clearly lost none of its potency – no more than they themselves had lost business dealings with anti-meta corporations, he mused. Even against the strength of his reversed symbiote the shackles were a considerable challenge to break, and it was in no way helpful when the Morlock bucked and squirmed in his hold while he sent tentacles to snap the collar without also snapping the poor victim’s neck.

A crimson energy blast sizzled past them both, causing the Morlock to shriek and Anti-Venom to momentarily glance back. Firearm had caught up with them – he was astride a hover bike and he was already releasing a flurry of variable ammunition at them. Missed shots were peppering buildings and windows.

“Not inside the city!” Anti-Venom roared in irritation. Goddamn it, they had the nerve to complain about vigilante property destruction but the moment they themselves did it…

He shot one more look to his passenger. “All right, listen, what’s your name?”

“A-Arthur,” the timid mutant stammered.

“Arthur, I’m gonna to need to drop you off, and then I need you to get below, fast as you can. I’ll deal with the Jury, if they’re up here they aren’t down there. Get to Stark Tower. Help is there.”

“S-Stark Tower?” The frog-man’s eyes bugged out even further than their natural disposition. “You mean where Supergirl lives?”

“Right. Where Supergirl lives.” He felt himself wincing – this guy was in the middle of a traumatic episode, he wouldn’t even absorb more than the first five words he spoke in any given sentence. He probably only vaguely understood what was about to happen. “Listen, Arthur, this is important. Are you listening?”

“Y-Yes!”

“Good. Listen close. Tell Supergirl, ‘Eddie’s in trouble.’ Say it back to me.”

“Uhh… um, Eddie’s in trouble!” The Morlock frowned. “Who’s Eddie?”

Yep, traumatic episode. He wasn’t putting it together and Anti-Venom wasn’t about to do the math for him. “Never mind that. Just tell her that. Understand? Eddie’s in trouble. Got it?”

“Got it! Eddie’s in trouble!”

“Good. Here we go. Three-two-one!”

The rapid countdown wasn’t quite enough time for the poor Morlock to prepare to be dumped off, and the frog-like mutant shrieked as Anti-Venom released him to tumble in a heap in a wide alleyway. But the white symbiote-clad vigilante had, at least, deposited Arthur next to a sewer entrance – whose manhole cover he immediately tore from its sconce. Arthur was, thankfully, quick on the draw and leapt headfirst into the hole, proof positive that either he knew where he was going or he was truly desperate to escape his captors.

Hopefully both, Anti-Venom thought, as Firearm and Wysper, riding a hover board, arrived on scene to engage him. He swung the manhole cover about on a loose tentacle like a deranged yo-yo and was able to smash into Firearm’s bike engine, forcing him to dismount before the vehicle crashed in a fiery blaze.

A sustained laser beam erupted from one of Firearm’s weapons – Anti-Venom held up the manhole cover to deflect the energy blast but the lid soon became orange-hot and too much for him to handle. He snarled and slammed it down atop the open manhole before any of the Jury could think to descend into it.

If Screech was adequately named, Wysper was even more so – there was some trick of her technology that made it possible to suppress sound within the immediate area. Anti-Venom was abruptly disoriented without his sense of audition, and he was pummeled by a pair of energy blasts that drove him to his knees.

He whipped a scythe-like tentacle towards his attackers, but it appeared Firearm and Wysper both had achieved their stride, and they dodged the attack with apparent ease. Firearm brought his rifle up again, and this time what emerged wasn’t red – it was ice blue, and to Anti-Venom’s skin it felt like frozen fire trying to insinuate into his veins. The arm that caught the beam blackened almost instantly, and the armor of the reversed symbiote fell away, revealing Eddie’s all-too-human arm at half the length beneath it.

Damn it, they’d figured him out fast. Way too fast. Fire and sound didn’t hurt him anymore, but cold and silence…?

He brought his other arm up, expanding the ivory skin outward to create as broad a shield as he could muster. It would last all of two seconds against a weapon like that, but maybe it was two seconds he could use to conjure some other solution…

What happened in the seconds that followed seemed little more than a haze of pain and fury for him. Sentry arrived, with Ramshot and Screech approaching only moments thereafter, and suddenly the alley didn’t seem so wide anymore. Anti-Venom was thrown about from one Jurist to the next, one awful, disabling strike after another, bits and pieces of him falling away with every blow. If they’d been cops, SWAT, even military, they wouldn’t have been able to penetrate the symbiote skin – but the Jury had developed their weaponry very carefully, and a precision freeze ray aimed at Anti-Venom’s leg froze him in a block of ice from ankle to thigh, joining solidly to the ground beneath him.

Ramshot drove a hydraulic punch into the side of Anti-Venom’s head, knocking the white symbiote flesh away from nearly half his face – the pained scowl that followed was with one eye of glowing red and one of blue.

Sentry stepped forward and grabbed Anti-Venom about the neck with one hand. The glowing eyepieces of the Jurist’s helmet seemed to narrow at the vigilante… but if he spoke, it was consumed by Wysper’s noise suppression.

Anti-Venom stared at his attacker in defiance. Go ahead, he thought. Let’s see you make a difference. I already made mine.

[multiverseforger]

Karl Lykos was the son of an explorer's guide. As a teenager, he accompanied his father to Tierra del Fuego as the elder Lykos guided a wealthy client named Mr. Anderssen and Anderssen's young daughter, Tanya. While defending Tanya from mutant pterodactyls, Karl was bitten by one of the creatures. During his recovery, he discovered that he could now drain the life-force of other organisms. He found himself repeatedly tempted to use his new power, feeling that he needed to drain life energy from other humans or animals to survive.[6]

When Karl's father died, Mr. Anderssen took Karl into his home in thanks for rescuing Tanya. As the years passed, Karl and Tanya fell in love, but Tanya's wealthy father would not allow her to date Karl because of his lack of wealth. In an effort to win Mr. Anderssen's support, Karl went to medical school and became a physician, geneticist, and hypnotherapist. He treated patients through hypnosis, but secretly robbed them of energy at the same time.[6]

First transformation into Sauron and life in the Savage LandEdit

Dr. Lykos became a colleague of Professor Charles Xavier, and first encountered the X-Men when they sought treatment for Havok. Absorbing Havok's mutant energy transformed him into a vampiric, pterodactyl-like monster with human intelligence and superhuman hypnotic powers. He named himself Sauron, after J.R.R. Tolkien's villain (also reminiscent of the word saurus, Latin for lizard),[6] and battled the X-Men, as a would-be conqueror.[7] When he realized that his transformation would threaten Tanya, he fled to Tierra del Fuego. Without energy to absorb, Sauron turned back into Karl. When Tanya tracked him down, Karl threw himself off a cliff to avoid harming her.[7]

Karl was presumed dead, but had survived unconscious on a ledge below. He journeyed to the Savage Land and survived in human form by only draining less developed animals. He befriended Ka-Zar and used his medical skills over many months to care for Ka-Zar's allies. But when several X-Men were stranded in the Savage Land, Lykos was overwhelmed with the desire to absorb the powerful life energy of mutants. He transformed into Sauron once again after absorbing Storm's energy.[8] He reverted to human form during a battle with the X-Men, and Ka-Zar explained that Lykos was an ally.[9]

Tanya learned that Karl had survived the leap from the cliff. She joined Angel and Peter Parker on a journey to find Karl in the Savage Land. They found Karl, however the Savage Land Mutates used a Genetic Transformer to mutate Angel, Spider-Man and Tanya into animal-like forms. The destruction of the machine forced Lykos to drain energy from the three in an attempt to restore their true forms. Although his gambit succeeded, he subsequently reverted to his Sauron form and joined the Mutates and Zaladane. The X-Men traveled to the Savage Land, and Sauron helped to capture them. However, the X-Men escaped and defeated Sauron and the Mutates. They brought Lykos back to the United States, and at the X-Mansion Professor X seemingly cured Lykos of his condition. Karl and Tanya decided to resume their relationship and a normal life.[10]

Second transformation into SauronEdit

Lykos was again transformed into Sauron when the Toad used a device of his own design to force Lykos to drain the life energy of Tanya, which killed her in the process. Sauron then joined the Toad's Brotherhood of Evil Mutants, despite the fact that he is not a mutant. Alongside them, he battled X-Force, and slew Cannonball. Sauron was apparently shot dead by Cable, and his body was thrown by Cable to the Morlocks.[11] Sauron was later revealed to have survived the gunshot wound, and battled X-Factor.[12] Sauron went on to menace the X-Men and other heroes on a number of occasions.[13]

Later, Sauron had the Savage Land Mutates kidnap Havok, hoping to use his energy to satiate his hunger. When his teammates Cyclops, Phoenix, and Polaris came to the rescue, Sauron had both Summers brothers placed in an energy-transferring machine, and the mix of energy mutated Sauron even further, making him larger and stronger than ever. Phoenix tried to engage Sauron on the Astral Plane, but it was Lykos' personality who prevailed, making a suicide leap into the abyss of his own mind, taking his hated alter ego with him. As a result, Sauron's mind appeared to be stuck in an animalistic state.[14]

Sauron became a prisoner of the Weapon X program jumpstarted by director Malcolm Colcord. Being held there against his will, Sauron started up a revolution with fellow agent Brent Jackson and dethroned Colcord as director, giving that position to Jackson. Sauron in return became a more powerful villain on the team, but vanished after Weapon X rival John Sublime launched an attack on Weapon X, and the group had to go underground.[volume & issue needed]

After being imprisoned in the Raft for refusing to participate in any more Weapon X assignments, Sauron escaped during a jailbreak concocted by the Skrulls. For a time the Avengers believed he and the Mutates were responsible for the breakout, and pursued him to the Savage Land.[15] Sauron and his allies there briefly held the new team of Avengers hostage, but the team freed itself thanks to Iron Man's voice-activated armor, and were about to interrogate him, when he was shot through the head by the second Black Widow. Sauron had absorbed Wolverine's regenerative healing factor and recovered from his injury, just in time to be soundly defeated by the New Avengers. He was taken back into custody, but not before returning the favor to Black Widow by burning her with his fiery breath. Sauron was placed in S.H.I.E.L.D. custody and Maria Hill planned to return him to Weapon X.[16]

Sauron allied with Ka-Zar, Shanna the She-Devil, Zabu, and the natives when the Skrulls were invading the Savage Land.[17] Sauron was among the villains analyzed by Quasimodo for Norman Osborn.[18] Sauron later had a fight with Wolverine.[19]

Amphibius later tells Sauron and the other Savage Land Mutates that Magneto's Asteroid M has risen from the sea, but they didn't want to go find him. Worm took control of Barbarus, Lupo, and Sauron and commandeered a ship to go find Magneto. When threatened by the Japanese military, Sauron attacked an armored car, causing an international incident. Cannonball, Sunspot and Warlock investigated and found the Savage Land Mutates on the deck of the ship. Cannonball managed to defeat Sauron while the other New Mutants defeated the Savage Land Mutates. Upon learning why the Savage Land Mutates were on the ship, Karma told Worm, Sauron, Barbarus and Lupo that they were in charge of Asteroid M and Magneto. Worm then orders the Savage Land Mutates to return to the Savage Land.[20]

Upon becoming the new leader of the Japanese underworld, Sabretooth held a party that Sauron attended with other enemies of Wolverine. Wolverine arrived and beat them up.[21]

Kade Kilgore of the seventh incarnation of the Hellfire Club recruited Sauron to become a staff member at the Hellfire Academy.[22]

Sauron later collaborates with Stegron in a plan to turn humanity into dinosaurs where they fought Spider-Man and the mutant students from the Jean Grey School for Higher Learning. The duo's plans are unraveled by their own infighting, purposely exacerbated by their mutual attraction to Shark-Girl, who caused their powers to neutralize each other.[23][24]

Lykos returns working in a military laboratory to enhance his powers, until one of his colleagues is contacted by the Scarlet Spider.[25] Now able to store mutant energy to trigger his transformations at will, Lykos turns into Sauron and attacks the vigilante, but although he wounds the man the Spider came to the base to collect, Sauron is defeated and webbed up to be taken away.[26]

[comic-watch]

The young X-Men-in-training must deal with a demon who is hell bent on killing one of their own.  And when he nearly succeeds and returns to finish off the job, the mutants are up to their necks in demonic magic.  How can they possibly escape unscathed?

“DEMON BEAR SAGA” NEW MUTANTS #18-20 Released:  October 1984 – November 1984 Authors:  Chris Claremont Artists:  Bill Sienkiewicz Colors:  Glynis Wein Letters:  Tom Orzechowski Publisher:  Marvel Comics

What You Need to Know:

Professor Xavier had gathered a handful of mutants to train:  Cannonball, Sunspot, Mirage, and Wolfsbane.  Two more would join the team shortly after:  Magma and the demon sorceress sister of Colossus, Magik.  During an encounter with their counterparts at the Massachusetts Academy, the Hellions, Magik and Mirage teleport into the future to find their teammates members of the Hellions.  This encounter has left Mirage with little faith in her friends.

When Mirage was younger, her parents disappeared, but before then she had heard stories of a demon bear.  This bear had supposedly killed her parents and she was always looking over her shoulder.

What You’ll Find Out: 

Mirage watches over three of her teammates, Cannonball, Sunspot, and Magma, training in the Danger Room.  As always, Cannonball is having difficulties controlling his powers.  Still, the mutants win against the robots as Mirage confides in Magik her concerns over trusting her team.  But it’s not just that…Professor X isn’t around and lately, Mirage has been having dreams about the Demon Bear, the one that killed her parents.

A little while later, Mirage fights a rather large bear.  She lodges an arrow in its throat, killing it.  The image fades as the Danger Room program ends.  She’s been at this for days and passes it off to Magik as just making sure she can defend against something her powers won’t affect.

That night, Magik puts on her war makeup and goes out into the cold with nothing but a bow and quiver of arrows.  He calls out for the Demon Bear, demanding that it reveal itself.  She’s been able to feel its presence for days now.  And show itself the bear does, towering over her.  Mirage uses her powers to find out what the bear fears only to discover it’s her!  She fires a single shot into the bear’s neck.  It should have killed it, but the bear seems unfazed.  The two fight, with Mirage barely escaping the heavy blows.  Finally, she shoots an arrow into the bear’s mouth.  The bear falls to the ground.  Mirage is exhilarated.  Finally, the bear is dead.

But as she approaches, the bear’s eyes open.

Through their psychic link, Wolfsbane wakes up.  She rouses the other mutants who rush out to find Mirage, bleeding in the snow.

Mirage is rushed into a local Emergency Room, the doctors and nurses frantically working to save her life.  Her fellow New Mutants watch on in a waiting room, helpless to do anything.  A police officer, Detective Corsi, questions them about what happened.  The mutants stick to their story about it being a bear mauling.  Sunspot, as always, is quick to anger, but his friends, along with a nurse (Sharon Friedlander) manage to calm him down.

Sunspot is anxious for the storm to calm down so they can begin hunting the bear themselves, but Sam points out it will most likely find them at the hospital.  This makes it pretty clear that Mirage’s Demon Bear was not a myth or a figment of her imagination, but was a real danger.  Sam gets out the team’s school uniforms, with Wolfsbane asking to wear Mirage’s belt.

At Cannonball’s command, Wolfsbane transforms to her half-wolf form so that she can mentally communicate with Mirage.  Mirage, though in pain and unconscious while doctors operate, struggles to explain to Wolfsbane how to beat the Demon Bear.  But the effort is straining her already severely wounded body and she begins to wake up on the operating table.  She is fading fast.

Some time later, Thomas has decided now is a good time to flirt with Sharon.  They don’t notice the shadow creeping up on them until it’s too late.  They both scream and Thomas fires his gun.  This wakes up the New Mutants (I’m not sure why it wouldn’t have everybody in the hospital running, but oh well).  They run to the sound and find nothing but a stain of blood on the floor.

Magik decides to place a magical ward around the operating room, hoping for it to protect Mirage from the Demon Bear.  Sunspot is with her and as soon as she is done, the Bear attacks!  Sunspot is knocked aside.  Magik faces the Bear with her Soulsword.  A swipe of the Bear slices her arm but instead of finding torn skin, Magik finds a shiny silver armor, much to her surprise.  Magik retaliates by driving her sword into the Bear’s head.  It screams in pain and vanished.

The rest of the New Mutants show up just in time for the power to go out.  The outside lines were cut.  The girls on the team head to the generator room.  They don’t find anything, but Magik can feel the Bear attacking her wards.  Above, Cannonball and Sunspot are battling in vain until the Bear teleports both of them to where the girls are.  The Bear strikes out at Magik again, causing more of the mysterious armor to appear on her back.  Finally, the Bear teleports again, taking all five of the mutants with it.

The mutants and the Bear appear in the daytime, in the middle of a desert.  The Bear is towering over them with both Thomas and Sharon held in some sort of stasis.  Through a bubble, the mutants can see the inside of the operating room.

Magik is ready to try some of her magic, but before she can, the Bear pierces Tom and Sharon with its claws.  In their place are demonic Native Americans.  Cannonball springs into action, but the Bear knocks him back.  The possessed civilians lash out now, distracting the New Mutants long enough for the Bear to once again attempt to break through Magik’s wards surrounding the operating room.

Tom and Sharon begin to overpower the mutants, tossing Sunspot into the shadowy part of the land where his power is immediately exhausted.  Wolfsbane and Magma rush to his aid, missing that the Demon Bear is looming overhead.  He thrusts his claws through Magma, turning her into a demon.

Magik draws her Soulsword, hurting the Bear and giving her time to tend to Magma.  She drives her Soulsword through her teammate’s chest.  Cannonball reacts instinctively, slamming into Magik, revealing more of her armor.  Magma then scolds Cannonball for acting so rashly.  Whatever Magik did, it saved her from the enchantment.

The mutants regroup, trying to figure out their next move.  Magik tells Wolfsbane to once again try and communicate with Mirage.  As she does so, Tom and Sharon once again attack.  This time, Magik drives her Soulsword through Tom’s chest.  The demonic nature dissipates, leaving a man who resembles Tom, but not quite him, unconscious on the ground.  Wolfsbane reveals that the key to defeating the Demon Bear is the New Mutants, working as a team.  Magik’s Soulsword was able to destroy the enchantment, maybe it could work on the Bear itself.

With Magma providing a distraction, Cannonball flies Magik into the air.  She cuts down with her Soulsword, from the head down to the ground.  The Bear vanishes into thin air, the darkness falling away, revealing a man and a woman.

And suddenly, the mutants are back in the hospital on the floor.  Sharon and Tom are there as well, unconscious, both no longer Caucasians, but are now red skinned.  The man and woman freed from the Demon Bear when it collapsed explain that there’s nothing to be done.  The Demon Bear fundamentally changed their bodies.  One of the surgeons comes out, asking what’s going on.  The man introduces himself and the woman as William and Peg Lonestar:  Mirage’s parents.

The doctor reveals that Mirage will live, but she will be paralyzed.  The New Mutants are shocked and horrified that their friend will never fully recovered, but a telepathic message from Professor Xavier explains otherwise.  He has arrived with the Morlock Healer who is able to mend Mirage’s body.  Mirage is finally greeted by her parents whom she thought dead.  The battle is over, the demon bear dead, and while Tom and Sharon may never be the same again, Xavier declares that the New Mutants did well and he couldn’t be more proud.

What Just Happened? 

When I think of vintage New Mutants, two particular eras come to mind.

There’s the Liefeld/Simonson era (and towards the end, it was just Liefeld) that led up to New Mutants #100.

And then there’s the Claremont/Sienkiewicz era.

I mean sure, there have been plenty of other artists to tackle the series.  Jackson Guice.  Bret Blevins.  Bob McLeod.

But none of them left me with the lasting impression that these two eras did.

Ironically, when I first read the Sienkiewicz books, I couldn’t stand it.  Coming from someone who first experienced the flashiness of Rob Liefeld, Sienkiewicz’s style was difficult to look at.  And so when I first read this book, I never cared for it.  I couldn’t appreciate it.  I’ve talked to others who still can’t.  Sienkiewicz is definitely an unusual style.

But for a story that is essentially a horror-themed book, Sienkiewicz fits perfectly.

Looking back, this book is the epitome of a classic.  So much of what we attributed to the New Mutants started here.  Remember Illyana’s silver armor?  Yup, this was the first appearance (her Eldritch armor).

Her Soulsword that is known for dispelling enchantments?  The first time her team sees it in action.

First appearance of some key characters too.  Tom Corsi and Sharon Friedlander would go on to be key supporting characters throughout most of the book and even small roles in later Uncanny X-Men issues.  Warlock has long been one of my favorite characters.  This story included the first appearance of all of them (although Warlock was more of Claremont’s typical planning of plotlines several issues in advance).

We also see a lot of Claremont’s tropes in here.  It’s very wordy, with either dialogue boxes or characters explaining everything in-universe.  We get a lot of little hints of longer stories to come (as mentioned earlier).  We, once again, get reminded how Sunspot isn’t invulnerable.  I mean how many times does Sunspot need to be reminded of this?  I think he knows by now.

But as with many of Claremont’s stories, these are very human characters.  They feel like real teenagers.  Cannonball has a crush.  Wolfsbane is distrustful of those different.  Sunspot scoffs at authority.  They are all real.  Which makes this so much more of an enjoyable read because you actually feel for them.  You actually care for them.

There were some iconic scenes as well:  Mirage lying bloody in the snow, Warlock’s daddy tearing apart a star, Magik’s sword plunging into Magma…  All so many images that have been burned into my brain over the years came from this story.

With everything that’s happened throughout the New Mutants, from the formation of the team to the death of Warlock, to the transformation of the New Mutants into X-Force, this arc still remains one of my favorites.  And it’s an essential to any New Mutants fan.

Claremont and Sienkiewicz definitely wrote a gem with this book.  So yes.  I do believe in magic.  This story is absolutely it.

Rating: 10/10.

Final Thoughts:  Take a trip back to the 80’s with about as perfect a story as you can find.  The characterization and storytelling from Claremont mixes wonderfully with the dark, brooding pencils and inks from Bill Sienkiewicz.

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#SundayClassics is taking you back to the mid-80's for one of the best #NewMutants stories by @SinKEVitch and @I_Will_Use_My (Claremont)! This was storytelling at its finest! #Iamawatcher The young X-Men-in-training must deal with a demon who is hell bent on killing one of their own. 

[the-firebird69]

We have a couple more announcements and as soon as a new ebike and he is getting it ready to test and he needs to get a couple things you really don't appreciate your method and I'm coming down there to straighten you out

-there's several other things happening you're going to court and others are being arrested and more are being detained and just brought the prison from this area we are taking territory but the max are taking lots of territory no and they're taking an equal amount and foreigners they were coming in to take over the area and to make sure that you do not continuously harm our son and he can see that the antifungal works and that you've been just torturing him and he told his dad to type and it worked and he felt bad so putting other stuff on it for years and it's the acid hurts what's trying to fix it and you'd have to do it 5 to 10 times a day and at night and he noticed it too so we're going after you for that

-where are we moving people ourselves and the process has been explained apparently you are evacuating as well we were up to about 35% evacuated last night and this morning 5% more left and thus there's only 60% of you left whereas 10% died in combat. And here you're at 50% of what you were last year and we see that about here because the percentage had dropped to about 50% of what it normally is 5 years ago. Now the numbers of you here are abysmal and it includes a pseudo empire no if you add them back in you're at 60%, so yeah that's not that many and they keep trying to flood in and now they can't the area in Florida is held by and more lock is at about 20% of Florida and 10% is by miscellaneous and minority morlock and 70% is by other and that 30% includes pseudo empire. It's going on today that they're finding out it makes a big difference.

-this other news and other stories but this is huge so we're going to publish

Thor Freya

Olympus

This other percentages so we'll go through it pretty quick in the Midwest there's only about five areas left the rest are at about 10% or 15% of what they were those areas are pretty big and do not include the cone shaped area was it two rivers or the two rivers and they are emptying those four big areas are in about 30% and in total population and including bunkers as is the 10% number for the other area cities which are emptying now. The South has about 80% more lock and the West 70%. If you add in pseudo empire it's 90% And 80% respectively and they are about to be attacked because of their buildup there are several other things happening and our daughter and son are under extreme duress she in space and he on the ground air and space and underground and water and his entire life we're doing the best we can we do need reinforcements and hours to sign on at this time was starting to push for people to do it because we need it we're going to have to insist on it soon the level at which you can help your families is from 20% to about 80% and you can also help them escape. And it's coming up pretty soon and their son has to look at that. The water dropped to around 111 in it's over 9 ft and that's pretty good we really needed it it was going to flood but they're pulling ships out and the rains are going to start again momentarily.

Thor Freya

[kurt-wagner-official]

Post #90: XF issue 11 and UXM issue 213

Picking up immediately after the Power Pack crossover, Hank and Bobby are ambushed by some Morlocks who think they're Marauders. Masque is one of them, joined by Berserker, an electrokinetic, Scaleface, who turns into a giant lizard, and Blow-Hard, my new favorite superhero, who blows on things really hard. The fight is interrupted when Scott, Jean, Artie, and the comatose Warren arrive and clear the air, inviting them to come with them. Just before this, Artie, attempting to convey the message Warren gave him for Jean, shows her a vision of Warren hugging her, which makes Scott get all stoic and angsty again. When they get back to HQ, Scott and Jean take Warren to a hospital, while Berserker and his gang, who don't trust X-Factor, sneak out. They run into some muggers, who tragically shoot Blow-Hard and get electrocuted in response. Scott and Jean see this on the news in the hospital waiting room and jump at the chance to go beat someone up instead of sitting around. There's a quick interlude at a veteran's hospital in Georgia, where Abe Kieros, a mutant in an iron lung with the power to make stuff blow up, is recruited by Apocalypse. Catching back up to Scott and Jean, they arrive on the scene just as the cops murder Scaleface and injure Masque, making Berserker go crazy. Scott tries to subdue him but accidentally knocks him into the water, where he electrocutes himself. To Scott, this is just more blood on his hands, but to Jean, they saved Masque's life, and that's worth something. They get back to the hospital, where the doctor tells them Warren will live, but they had to amputate his wings. In the teaser for next issue, Boom-Boom, the mutant girl from SWII, has been working as a thief for Vanisher, an old X-Men villain. She quits and threatens to call X-Factor on him. The best parts of this issue were the scenes of recovery from the Massacre, and I wish there had been more of that and less crazy Morlocks. But it was still good overall.

Betsy takes center stage in the finale to the X-Men side of the storyline. She's using Cerebro to project her psychic self through the mansion, checking on the wounded and on the rooms of the missing New Mutants. Speaking of which, she and Doug have a weird flirty thing going on, which is so very creepy. Luckily it never goes as far as Peter and Kitty. Betsy feels out of place, not fully accepted by the X-Men. Her scans of the mansion are cut short when she detects Sabretooth entering the ground and tries to scan his mind, but is knocked for a loop by how evil his brain is, I guess. In the tunnels, Logan tells Ororo that the lightning blast wiped out all traces of the New Mutants scent. It also destroyed every last bit of the Morlocks home. Ororo wonders if its her fault; lately, there have been a lot of storms around when she's in a fight, and she fears her powers are coming back in a way she can't control. There's an interlude in LA, where Malice continues to stalk Alison, this time taking possession of her body. Back at the mansion, Anna hasn't stopped patrolling the grounds, and she's exhausted- an easy target for Sabretooth, who takes her down. He makes his way inside and attacks Betsy, who runs to draw him away from the injured Morlocks. She fights back with every weapon she can get her hands on, determined to protect people, but she's no match for Sabretooth. Logan returns just in time, though, and starts fighting with Sabretooth. Max and Ororo plan to join in, but Betsy tells them that as long as Sabretooth is distracted with Logan, she can slip into his mind and get information. Ororo tells her to go for it, and she succeeds, although we don't get to see what all info she got. When Sabretooth realizes what happened, he jumps into the lake and escapes before the X-Men gang up on him. Ororo, Logan, and Anna, the only X-Men left, unanimously offer Betsy a place on the team, which she accepts.

This might be my favorite Marvel crossover ever. It's also, I think, the most complete loss the heroes have ever had in an event this big. At this point, mutants are Marvel's most successful franchise, and Claremont and Simonson could have just coasted on that. But instead, they chose to write a story that would take several of their most popular characters out of the books and set up a bunch of bold new plot threads. I think, more than any other evil team we've seen, the Marauders are the anti-X-Men. The way they synergize their fighting styles and have a bunch of different little interpersonal relationships is very reminiscent of what makes the X-Men so interesting, except they're also completely devoid of morals. They'll be a big part of the franchise for the next few years, and bring out sides of our heroes that we haven't seen before. And even beyond them, there were so many plots set up for all three books. I've been looking forward to getting to this story, and it did not disappoint.

[asktheadeptus]

Iron Hands - Morlocks

The Morlocks were the veteran Space Marine Battle-Brothers of the Iron Hands Legion who served as Primarch Ferrus Manus' personal Honour Guard. These elite Veterans of the Iron Hands' 1st Company were so-named for the fearsome visage they presented like the vengeful predators of the same name that howled across the frozen tundras of their Legion homeworld of Medusa. The Morlocks were all members of the Iron Hands' Clan Company Avernii. The Morlocks were the deadliest and most experienced warriors of the Xth Legion, and whatever force was arrayed against these black-coloured Terminators could not hope to survive their wrath. The Morlocks were the bloody tip of the spear that drove hard into the vitals of the XthLegion's foes.

History

As the personal honour guard of Ferrus Manus, the Morlocks often stood sentinel aboard the Primarch's flagship, the Battle Barge Fist of Iron, the mightiest of them protecting the gates of the Primarch's inner sanctum, the Iron Forge, located within the ship's Anvilarium, the large audience chamber where mighty deeds were planned and unbreakable bonds of brotherhood were forged. The Morlocks were led by Gabriel Santor, the Xth Legion's First Captain and Equerry to the Primarch. Santor hailed from the Avernii Clan on Medusa, as did all of the members of the Morlocks.

Shortly after the corruption of the Emperor's Children's Primarch Fulgrim, his IIIrd Legion was ordered by the Warmaster Horus to rendezvous with the Iron Hands' Primarch and attempt to sway Ferrus Manus, Fulgrim's closest friend amongst the Primarchs, towards the cause of the Traitors. The two Primarchs met aboard Ferrus Manus' flagship. Great bonds of friendship and brotherhood had long existed between them, and Fulgrim felt that he could convince Ferrus of the righteousness of Horus' cause. Fulgrim's hope proved disastrously wrong and the meeting of the two Primarchs in Ferrus' private inner sanctum in the Anvilarium did not go well. Ferrus was outraged that his brothers would dare to turn against their father the Emperor.

The meeting ended in violence as The Gorgon made his difference of opinion known to the Phoenician with his weapons. Ferrus was determined to stop Fulgrim's betrayal of the Imperium before it could even begin. Ferrus used his silvery necrodermis hands to attempt to destroy Fulgrim's sword Fireblade, but the resultant explosion knocked him out. Fulgrim intended to kill his brother with his own weapon, the warhammer Forgebreaker, but proved unable to kill his oldest friend despite the promptings of the Slaaneshi daemon that now throttled his soul. Instead he took the Gorgon's beloved warhammer, a reminder of the bond the two Primarchs had once shared. When Fulgrim emerged from Ferrus' inner sanctum, he gave a signal to his Phoenix Guard who instantly, and in perfect synchronicity, beheaded all ten of the Iron Hands Morlocks who served as Ferrus Manus' bodyguard with their Power Halberds. The Emperor's Children's First Captain Julius Kaesoron struck out against his Iron Hands counterpart, Gabriel Santor, and very nearly killing him with his Lightning Claws. Fulgrim successfully fled the Iron Hands' expeditionary fleet in his personal assault craft, the Firebird, when he ordered his flagship, the Battle Barge Pride of the Emperor and its Escorts, to open fire upon the ships of the 52nd Expeditionary Fleet. This surprise attack crippled them and provided a distraction while Fulgrim and the Emperor's Children fled into the Warp to rendezvous with the rest of their 28th Expedition in the Istvaan System.

Things eventually came to a head at the Drop Site Massacre of Istvaan V. Led by First Captain Gabriel Santor, ten full companies of Morlocks hungered to confront the Emperor’s Children and make them pay for the dishonourable murders done to their number in the Anvilarium of the Fist of Iron. The Morlock Terminators, led by The Gorgon, formed the centre of the Loyalists' assault as the Primarch of the Xth Legion sought out his fallen brother Fulgrim. Finally the forces of the Emperor’s Children and the Morlocks came together in a riot of bloodshed and death. The Morlocks' superior armour and experience gave them an advantage over the rank and file Astartes of the Emperor’s Children, but they were greatly outnumbered. While Ferrus Manus and Fulgrim clashed in a final confrontation, the Traitors' revealed their trap, as the second wave of the Loyalist assault, composed of the Alpha Legion, Iron Warriors, Night Lords and Word Bearers, revealed their true allegiance to Chaos. Fulgrim's own honour guard, the Phoenix Guard, answered with a terrible war cry and leapt to meet the Morlocks in a searing clash of blades. Electric fire leapt from the golden edges of the Power Halberds and the Lightning Claws of the warriors, and a storm of light and sound flared from each life and death struggle. Now surrounded on all sides by Traitors after the second wave had revealed their treachery, the Morlocks were circled by the Traitors and in the midst of cries of pain and roaring savage glee, the Morlocks of Ferrus Manus were slain to a man. It is unknown whether the Morlocks were reconstituted by the Iron Hands Chapter after the events of the Horus Heresy.

Notable Morlocks

Gabriel Santor - Gabriel Santor served as the Equerry to Primarch Ferrus Manus as well as the First Captain of the Iron Hands Legion's elite 1st Company and elite Honour Guard, known as the Morlocks, during the Great Crusade and the opening days of the Horus Heresy. When the Emperor's Children were corrupted by the Warmaster Horus of the Sons of Horus Legion, they attempted to sway their fellow cousins, the Iron Hands, to the Warmaster's cause. Gravely miscalculating Ferrus Manus' response to his offer, the Emperor's Children's Primarch Fulgrim callously attacked his brother, leaving him gravely wounded, as well as having ten of his elite praetorians cut down in a cowardly attack that  left Gabriel Santor near death. Enraged by this base betrayal, Ferrus Manus led his Honour Guard in the initial first wave assault during the tragic events of the Drop Site Massacre on Istvaan V. Overextended and cut-off by the Warmaster's treacherous trap, Gabriel Santor was confronted by the Chaos-corrupted Emperor's Children First Captain Julius Kaesoron and was slain by that vile servant of Slaanesh, just as his Primarch Ferrus Manus was slain by his former brother Fulgrim.

Vermanus Cybus - Vermanus Cybus was the senior surviving Morlock veteran of the Drop Site Massacreon Istvaan V. Gathering with the remnants of the Iron Hands Legion that had fought their way out of the killing grounds of the Urgall Depression on Istvaan V, he joined the ad hoc group of survivors of that battle aboard  the Iron Hands Strike Cruiser Sisypheum as it fled the Istvaan System. Cybus possessed multiple chimeric bio-modifications and had been viewed as nearly pathological in his reverence for the machine and his loathing for flesh. In truth, Cybus was a warrior not even his Battle-Brothers could be around for any length of time, for adherence to the doctrines of augmetic superiority had already spread through many of the Battle-Brothers of the Iron Hands Legion even before the death of Ferrus Manus and his warning against such beliefs to the Xth Legion. Before the betrayal at Istvaan, Cybus had fought beside the  warriors of the Emperor's Children Legion on numerous occasions. He had always respected the IIIrd legion's devotion to the attainment of perfection, finding much to admire in the Emperor's Children's martial ethos. Many years earlier, Cybus had argued long into the night with a young officer of the IIIrd Legion named Rylanor on the merits of organic strength against augmented power, mocking the Legionary’s faith in his flesh while extolling the virtue of iron. Cybus was an uncompromising man of little personal charisma, but he had a secutor's grasp of the methodology of combat.

Septus Thoic and Ignatius Numen - This duo of Morlocks veterans were some of the very first Iron Hands warriors to make planetfall on Istvaan V, having marched alongside the best and bravest of the Xth Legion. Gathering with the remnants of the Legion that had fought their way out of the killing ground of the Urgall Depression on Istvaan V, they joined the ad hoc group of survivors of that battle aboard  the Iron Hands Strike Cruiser Sisypheum as it fled the Istvaan System. The Iron Hands and their mortal serfs formed the bulk of the survivors to take refuge on that starship, but warriors of the Salamanders and a single Raven Guard Astartes were counted amongst their number as well. The months that followed saw the Sisypheumembark on a series of hit-and-run attacks on Traitor forces on the northern frontiers of the galaxy, wreaking harm like a lone predator against the hated Traitors of Horus. Like all those who had escaped the Drop Site Massacre, they had cut their warplate with the names of the fallen, and the black armour of these two Morlocks was inscribed with intricate scriptwork, each name inscribed over the cuts, tears and burns inflicted on Istvaan V. But these warriors had a name acid-etched on their shoulder guards that marked them out as special even in a brotherhood of remarkable warriors, that of Ferrus Manus, for they had seen their Primarch die at the treacherous hands of his brother Fulgrim. Like other veterans of the Xth Legion, they had refused to repaint or repair their armour until the Traitor who had murdered the Iron Hands' Primarch was dead. Thoic’s face was bisected by a curling series of scars inflicted by a laughing swordsman of the Emperor's Children, while Numen’s features had the plasticised sheen of synth-skin after a close-range plasma detonation had seared the ceramite of his battle helm to his skull. His flash-burned eyes had been replaced by simple targeting optics, but his hearing was almost entirely gone.

Frater Thamatica, "Ironwrought" - Frater Thamatica was an Iron Father of the Iron Hands Legion, a member of the Morlocks and a survivor of the killing fields of the Urgall Depression on the world of Istvaan V. It was Thamatica who helped establish contact with the disparate groups of Loyalist forces who had escaped the Drop Site Massacre, and  he helped develop a stratagem for their survival. With the Xth Legion too scattered to function in a traditional battlefield role, its surviving commanders found their own way to fight back. Thamatica escaped alongside the remnants of the Xth Legion and joined the ad hoc group of survivors of that battle aboard  the Iron Hands Strike Cruiser Sisypheum as it fled the Istvaan System. Following the Drop Site Massacre, Thamatica had become the longest-serving Iron Father left alive in the Xth Legion.

Vaakal Desaan - Vaakal Desaan served as a Morlock and the 9th Clan Company Captain during the Great Crusade and Horus Heresy eras. Desaan was known to be a staunch adherent to the Creed of Iron, which espoused that "Flesh is Weak." His ostensible elitism and lack of human empathy often spilled over into disdain for mortals, and sometimes worse. Desaan's grizzled face was a patchwork of scars from the numerous campaigns he had taken part in during the Great Crusade.

Erasmus Ruuman - Erasmus Ruuman served as a Morlock and the Captain of the 13th Clan Company Ironwrought during the Great Crusade. Ruuman was killed by xenos forces during the difficult Imperial Compliance action on the world of One-Five-Four-Four.

Source: http://warhammer40k.wikia.com

[dbarajas03-blog]

GAMBIT

Gambit is a very interesting X-Men character and its a shame he isn't as popular as say Wolverine or Storm. This ninja appearing character possesses psychic power to which he has used for the sides of good and bad. Once villain, starting life as a thief, then turning into a great hero helping the X-Men.

Powers and Abilities

Gambit is a mutant with the ability to convert the potential energy stored in an inanimate object into pure light kinetic energy, thus "charging" that item with highly explosive results. He prefers to charge smaller objects, such as his ever-present playing cards, as the time required to charge them is greatly reduced and they are much easier for him to throw. The only real limitation to this ability is the time required to charge the object: the larger it is the more time it takes to charge. Most charging takes place through direct skin contact. The power of his explosions is dependent on the mass of the object he is charging: for example, a charged playing card explodes with the force of a grenade. Gambit can also use his mutant abilities to accelerate an object's kinetic energy instead of converting its potential energy; for example, he can charge his Bo staff with enough kinetic energy and power to level a house.

Gambit's ability to tap into kinetic energy also grants him incredible superhuman physical attributes (strength, speed, reflexes and reactions, agility, flexibility, dexterity, coordination, balance, and endurance), as his body constantly generates bio-kinetic energy and so is perfectly constructed for constant motion. This gives him an added edge that he has used to his advantage by developing a unique acrobatic fighting style.

The charged potential energy always in his body grants him the ability to build up charges of static electricity, and shields his mind from detection and intrusion by even the strongest and most powerful telepaths such as Emma Frost, Jean Grey, and even Charles Xavier. The shield has the added effect of destabilizing touch-based abilities. Gambit also possesses an unusually strong and irresistible hypnotic charm that allows him to exert a subtle influence over sentient beings.

Bio

Abandoned at birth due to his burning red eyes, the child who would one day become Remy LeBeau was kidnapped from his hospital ward by members of the New Orleans Thieves' Guild who referred to the child as "le diable blanc" - the white devil. They believed he was the child that had been prophesied to unite the warring Guilds. Soon after, Remy was placed in the care of a gang of street thieves who raised the child and taught him the ways of thievery. However, he became excommunicated and banished from New Orleans to keep the peace between the thief guilds due to Remy killing the brother of spouse he was arranged to marry. Wandering the world, he used his skills as a master thief and used his mutant ability to charge objects with explosive energy. Then, he found Mr. Sinister who helped Gambit gain greater control of his power in exchange for Gambit’s service. He had to assemble a group of assassins known as the Marauders. Gambit however did not realize that Sinister would have massacre a whole underground community of mutants (the Morlocks), Gambit manages to save a young girl, Marrow. Afterwards, he meets Storm running from the Shadow King, becoming partners. Gambit eventually becomes part of the X-Men and falls in love with Rogue. During this time he helps the X-Men but as while as handling personal quests, for example the New Son (Gambit from an alternate reality who equally matched Gambit for a foe) and helping Rogue with the X-treme X-Men. 

During Apocalypse's most recent bid for power, Gambit joined Apocalypse's side as the horseman, Death. Gambit believed that Apocalypse would be able to save the mutants, but he would be able to stop Apocalypse should he betray them. As Death, Gambit attacked his lover Rogue and his former group X-Men. Cyclops arrived with The Avengers to stop Apocalypse and his Horsemen. Apocalypse finally lost, and seems dead for a while. Sunfire, Apocaypse's other Horseman rescued Death from battle and they escaped. Afterwards they returned to take Polaris, who had also become a Horseman of Apocalypse only to find Polaris had been injured in the last battle and was now in a coma. Death and Sunfire lost the battle and were forced to run from the X-Base. Afterwards they discussed what will happen to them without Apocalypse. During their conversation, Mr. Sinister found them and they joined his Marauders. As Death, Gambit regretted attacking Rogue. Sinister rescued him from his Death form, leaving Gambit feeling betrayed by the X-Men and indebted to Sinister. In the end, Gambit decided to stay with Sinister. The Marauders waited for the right time to attack the X-Men, with Gambit at the Marauders' side. During the battle, Mystique betrayed the X-Men and shot her step-daughter Rogue, Gambit's lover. They then took Rogue and ran. The Marauders had won the first battle. After that, Gambit and Sunfire attacked Cable. Cable lost and was thought to be killed by Gambit, but Cable was in fact not dead. The X-Men went to the Marauders for the baby where Wolverine injured Gambit, and learned the baby Messiah was actually with Cable. Upon learning the Marauders had no idea where the baby was, it was surmised Gambit assisted Cable in taking her. When Bishop attacked Cable, Gambit rescued the baby, but as he returned to Sinister, he discovered Mystique killed him. Gambit felt as if he was finally free, and when Mystique used the baby to try to heal Rogue, Gambit saved the baby again. Professor X and Cable came to take child, so Gambit gave the baby to them. Rogue was healed, and even though she wanted to kill Mystique, she didn't. Rogue's final request of Gambit was that he didn't follow her.

After Apocalypse used the Celestial Technology to transform Gambit into the Horseman Death, Gambit demonstrates the ability to convert inert materials into toxic substances (such as transforming breathable air into poisonous gases) and has the potential to ingest diseases and plagues. It is apparent that the Celestial Technology never left his system, as seen during a telepathic attack against him that temporarily brought out the Death persona, which eventually killed the attacker. He also showcased new abilities he had not used before in this form – such as his Death Charge, which fueled his projectiles with dark energies that have the effect of either disintegrating or entrapping beings within his cards.

Significance

Gambit being an ex-villian, reformed hero makes for a great superhero story. Given that, I do believe it would be great for Marvel to give Gambit his own spin-off feature or if not then, exploring his backstory in a X-Men film. The story of Gambit is incredibly rich and involves many people who have been introduced already on the big screen. Also, it would be incredible to see this powerful mutant who has the ability to use kinetic energy to charge objects go from bad to good and then being a character who is stuck between both sides. I say this due to Gambit not losing his Death persona, making him deadly. The character has a lot of potential and I do believe Marvel will work hard on giving Gambit more and deciding which path to follow: Good or Evil?

References:

https://www.marvel.com/characters/gambit

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gambit_(comics)#cite_note-92

[thecorteztwins]

MUTANT EMPIRE: CHAPTER 12

@captaindicks @hexiva @magnetician @magnetiismus @magnetiicpersonality @magnet-dad @muffiewrites  @ironbraze I FINALLY PICKED THIS BOOK BACK UP! Okay, for those of you just joining us, I have a trilogy of X-Men novels (“Mutant Empire”) which were written in 1996. One of the two main plots is that Magneto takes over the island of Manhattan, which he intends to turn into a sanctuary for mutants. Humans will be allowed to live there too, albeit as second-class citizens. That's why I tag all the Magneto players and fans that I know, because I think this will be interesting to them and I'm summarizing the Magneto-relevant stuff as I go. So if you're a new Magneto that I'm tagging, that's what this is about. If you're NOT interested in it, just let me know and I won't tag you in future stuff. If you are, check the “mutant empire” tag to catch up! It's definitely an interesting scenario thus far, namely in how Magneto isn't being a Generic Evil Dude about this (not that he usually is, but he was pretty bad in the 1990s) and thus far more trouble has come from how people are reacting to the takeover than the takeover itself. Before we begin on this chapter, I want to talk about some previous one. First, there was some neat bits with Charles that I wrote about HERE if you're interested even though it's not Magneto-relevant. And in Chapter 10, Xavier is sneaking off to discuss mutant things with a woman named Valerie Cooper, a lady in the CIA who knows the truth about him and the X-Men and is an ally to them. And he thinks how his being in a wheelchair means that no rumors will start flying about the pair of them because of this like it would if he were able-bodied. And when they get to the trailer, Val is embarrassed because she realizes it doesn't have a wheelchair-accessible entrance. I really liked these little details about the casual ableism of the world and thought you all might too.     And then there's the Marauders. For those that don’t know, the Marauders are a group of mutants in the comics who work for Mr. Sinister. They're introduced when, on his orders, they attempt to wipe out the Morlocks, a community of mutants who live in the sewers of New York because they cannot pass among humans. They successfully kill hundreds of them, including children, just because some Victorian eugenicist said so. Needless to say, I doubt Magneto thinks much of them. But here they are in Manhattan (except for Sabretooth, he was with them killing the Morlocks but he's doing other things now) and their plan is to find Magneto, pledge loyalty to him, and live like kings here just because they're mutants. Given they're mutants who happily slaughtered other mutants for no good reason, I doubt it will go well for them when they -do- find Magneto, and I look forward to the smackdown. Ok, so let's get going.

Magneto is in the Empire State Building. He thinks how mutant “recruits” are pouring in from around the country, and soon surely the first foreign immigrants will come and “he would welcome them with open arms.” Aw! “Their international citizenship would be an example for the rest of the world, an example of how to live in peace.” Awww! “But the humans would not have time to learn from it, since Magneto planned to rule the rest of the world before long.” Aww—DAMMIT MAGS!

He thinks about renaming the city, and settles on Haven. This is a totally sensible name, but it's gonna make me double-take every time I read it because I play another X-Men character who is named Haven herself. She was actually killed off in canon just the year before this was written. So I guess her name is free now. (-cries forever because I LOVED THAT WOMAN SO MUCH-) He's aware that the X-Men are in the city, but notices there are fewer than usual (the others are in space, which is the other plot of the novel, but he doesn't know that) He suspects a clever plot on Xavier's part, showing he considers him a clever opponent, and he plans to capture them and make an example of them. I'm not sure what this means. The usual implication when a bad guy says that is that they'll be killed, but with Magneto, I don't think that's necessarily it. But it's also not necessarily NOT it, especially in the 1990s. Scanner of the Acolytes informs Magneto that the X-Men have discovered his location and on the way here, save for Iceman who is believed killed. Magneto actually is pleased the X-Men are approaching, because soon “We will consolodate our gains, and move forward. And there won't be anybody to stop us.” Then he laughs. Dammit, Magneto, don't get all cliché villain on me NOW, you were doing so well! When the X-Men arrive at the Empire State Building, they start fighting through the Acolytes---but it's not just Acolytes there. Other mutants are there reading to fight, including teenage childrens. There's nothing in the book about Magneto and the Acolytes pressuring or even asking mutants to fight for their side, so my guess is that these people have showed up here because they WANT for Magneto to run the city. Which makes sense, from a mutant point of view. Especially if you're a mutant kid who probably got kicked out of their house or something. Honestly, I feel bad for them. I guess the X-Men do too, since unlike with the Acolytes, they try to avoid killing these poor mooks (they don't kill any of the Acolytes either but they also aren't trying to avoid it) Two characters called Hairbag and Slab show up among Magneto's supporters to fight the X-Men too, and now I kind of wonder if the Marauders actually will be welcome, because they used to work for Mr. Sinister too. Then again, I don't think they wiped out a community of their fellow mutants like the Marauders did. I really hope the writer (Christopher Golden) doesn't have Magneto allow the Marauders into his forces, I think he's been really good at his characterization thus far. Case in point, when Magneto does emerge, he doesn't kill the X-Men (though he says he's quite tempted with Wolverine) instead saying he wants them to “bear witness to my great triumph” perhaps out of “some small foolish hope” that they will join him. You know, I really like this---Xavier doesn't give up on Magneto coming around, and Magneto extends that not only back to Xavier, but back to Xavier's students as well. I guess you could call it egotistical that he thinks the X-Men would ever agree with him...but then you would have to say the same thing about Xavier thinking that about Magneto, wouldn't you? Also it's been shown in another book that he truly does want the X-Men on his side, and I'd say he definitely respects them more than he does his own followers, as Hex (an excellent Magneto player/expert) has noted. ...though it's also noted in the narration that the other reason he's letting them live once he has them all pinned is because “it was the next best thing to being able to rub his victory in Charles Xavier's face personally” OH MAGS But just as everything is going so well, Wolverine escapes, and the US Army shows up to tell Magneto to surrender, and they are armed with weapons that Magneto doesn't recognize, making me suspect they're probably non-metal. And then Magneto realizes that the soldiers only told the FOLLOWERS of Magneto to surrender or be killed. They didn't address Magneto himself. “It was all to obvious. He was to be slaughtered. Eliminated. They were taking no chances. […]  Too late to attack, Magneto braced to defend himself.” And then the chapter ends. DUN DUN DUUUUUNNNN!!!!

[thatfairyfangirl]

True Colors Chapter 29

Ever since the attack on the theater you had found yourself busier than ever before. Only a week had passed and you were still busy trying to find anything close to resembling clues of how they knew you would be there, how they rigged the explosion, and why they were targeting you. The members of the cast and crew who were unable to find new employment began working for you, your very own mutant task force to help keep your music career up and running while you stayed up for days trying to piece together this puzzle. It was finally Tony who convinced you and Bucky to take a night off and look at things with fresh eyes once you were rested.

“Have you two turned on the news at all today?” Ali asked as she let herself into your apartment. With a grumble you rolled over, amazed that she was actually awake and functional before noon on a saturday.  You raised a brow as you emerged from the bedroom, your fingers barely done pulling a t-shirt over your body as Dazzler helped herself to your remote, turning on the tv for you.

“What’s going on?” Bucky asked as he followed close behind you. Bucky tied his hair back as you found your brush to work out all the tangles in  your colored mane. Crowds in the streets were chanting and screaming angrily waving signs as the anchorwoman spoke over the voices that needed to be heard, announcing that congress will be revisiting the idea of the mutant registration act with the possibility of mutant internment for public safety.

“Mother fucker…” escaped your lips as you sunk into the couch, dumbfounded, trying to figure out why on earth they would revisit this now? “I...I thought we were making progress…” You muttered as Dazzler clicked the tv off, tossing the remote in anger. Bucky moved to sit by you, wrapping a supporting arm around your shoulder.

“No, they were making progress...progress in dealing with the mutant problem.” Ali’s words dripped with disdain as she leaned between the both of you. “Bunch of old blowhards that don’t care what happens to us. You know I heard a rumor that they’re taking the homeless  ones off the street and no one hears from them again? Going into the sewers... The Morlocks are flat fuck terrified right now.” She continued as she helped herself to some of your coffee...often you wondered if she even had food in her own apartment.

With a sigh you got up, retrieving your book of finished songs from the shelf… “Get the word out...Three days. Central Park.” You remarked with a distant tone as you flipped through the pages, pulling out every mutant rights piece you ever made that had yet to be released, the ones that were much more obvious than what went on your first album.

“What are you planning Doll?” Bucky asked with a curious grin, he could practically see the rainbow gears in your head spinning.

“If Hydra’s still kicking -” Ali spat out her coffee in surprise giving you that what the hell did I miss look. “I’ll explain later” You assured her as you held a hand up. “I’ll bet dollars to donuts they have people in congress still...they’re trying to flush us out...so that’s what they’ll get.”

His grin widened a bit as he pieced it together. “And the Avengers will be there to get whoever they are sending after you.”

“And then we’ll have someone to interrogate. Maybe even give us a lead.”

“Someone explain to me what the hell is going on.” Ali demanded

~ ~ ~ ~

The word spread like wildfire that Spectrum and Dazzler were hosting a mutant rights rally in the city. You knew it was a bold move, but two birds with one stone. You borrowed equipment from the theater, what was left to borrow anyway, and Tony lent a hand with rigging all of central park with a sound system. All of your friends were behind you...HYDRA thought they were flushing you out...but you would be ready for them. And sooner than you realized Central Park was filled with mutants of every size shape and color.

You stood on the makeshift stage as your followers shouted to the news cameras that mutant lives matter, and that they are not weapons. You belted out your newest anthem to mutant equality as Bucky stood off to the side wearing a black t-shirt with the word ‘Security’ printed in white...you just couldn’t help yourself...but an actual hidden security team filtered through the crowd, Sam’s redwing drone flying overhead to catch anyone who might be dumb enough to try to end you right there as the park turned into a sea of mutants.

“We are not weapons! We are people!” You announced to the world. As the night began to tug at the ends of the day you began to wonder if your plan was going to work...or if your security team had already caught the one after you...and then you heard the echoing sounds of the shots going off. Your mind raced in a blur as Bucky took quick action to shield you, firing his gun in the direction the bullet came from before collapsing to the ground, thick red blood gushing from his side. Just like that the mutants of New York were in a panic, scattering every which way like the roaches the rest of the world saw them as. The cast to your show, however, jumped onto the stage to protect you and your love from the chaos as the rest of the avengers tracked down your shooter. “Buck!” You cried out as you realized the man you love was on the ground bleeding and there was little you could do about it.

“I’ll be fine Doll.” He comforted weekly as one of your cast mates formed a force-field around the two of you.

“David, he needs help.” The man Bucky had until now known as Pharaoh jogged over to you both, kneeling down...He didn’t want to do this...he actually really hated using his power...but he knew with all that was going on around them he’d never make it to help in time.

“You are lucky I love you.” the actor muttered in a way that made it hard to tell if he was addressing you or Bucky before placing his hands over the gushing wound. Both Bucky and Pharaoh screamed out in pain as the bullet was pushed from the hole it tore in his flesh, you could see small drops of blood falling from the mutant’s nose and ears as his mind warped the physical world around him. And then it hit you...not all the cast was here.

“Where’s Mike?” Bucky asked as he surveyed the area, very much aware of how much you cared for your friend. He couldn't recall the last time he saw him...but he was sure he was there…

“He’s a high level empath, but no good in a fight like this. He’s probably somewhere in the crowd trying to get out.” Bucky’s fingers danced around the wound as your explained, letting his mind process that his body had been healed. Once you were sure Bucky was alright you moved to check on the healer who was looking a little woozy at best. “You guys get David out of here and get somewhere safe.” You instructed as you placed a hand on his shoulder.

“We got the shooter Spectrum...but you’re not going to like this.” Sam informed you through the comlinks. “He wouldn't let us take him alive. So we're pretty much back to square one.”

“Ok. Meet us back at the tower. Bucky is Going to need some medical attention once we get there. Going invisible, but we're on the way.” You responded.

“Wait what?” Bucky gave you a confused look as you wrapped his arm around your shoulder, explaining to him that David’s effect wouldn't be permanent but it should hold long enough to have saved his life. “No...you said Mike is an empath? Like he knows feelings and stuff?” The further he got from David the more he could feel the hole in his side tearing back open, but for now at least the pain was bearable.

“Yeah, and he can make you feel emotions he wants you to feel. That's why he and his boyfriend broke up, Skyler couldn't be sure if his feelings were real or not.”

“Is this a thing he has to activate like with you?” He felt silly for asking, but as forward minded as he wanted to be about this whole mutant thing, he really didn't know much about them outside of what he's seen from you and your friends.

“For the emotion projecting, yes. But he pretty much feels everyone's emotions all the time.” You both stopped as your mind clicked into what Bucky was thinking. You raced back to the day of the fight that nearly ended the two of you...why were either of you so mad about that in the first place? And if he knew it why did he antagonize it further? “Oh my God...no”

“Doll, they were complaining a lot that you had a body guard.” he added weekly before the pain became too much for him, letting out a blood curdling scream of agony as the flesh and muscle tore open where the bullet had been.

~~~~

By the time you were back at the tower you were both covered in Bucky's blood. But you were just grateful the effects of the healing lasted as long as it did. Steve helped him from the door to the med lab as your mind shut down, unwilling to process what had been staring you in the face for months. You knew there had to be an informant, someone close...you just never dreamed it was your oldest friend.