[User]
<image><image><image><image><image><image><image><image><image><image><image><image><image><image><image><image><image><image><image><image><image><image><image><image><image><image><image><image><image><image><image><image><image><image>
Provide a full summary of the comic book.

[Assistant]
Liberation through Subjugation
Holding a dead and bloodied guard in his hands, Wildside announces that human flesh and bone just isn’t what it used to be. The new Mutant Liberation Front is on a mission and they have breached the home grounds of Henry Peter Gyrich, notorious anti-mutant National Security Advisor. On-hand are Forearm, Tempo, Reaper and Wildside, all recently liberated from prison.
Tempo exclaims that Wildside makes her sick - there was no reason to kill the guard. Reaper counters that it was better him than them, and knowing Wildside, if they didn’t feed him a Rent-a-Cop every once in a while he’d turn on the four of them. Forearm interjects that he agrees with Tempo, but it does at least look like the only opposition they’re going to face is human guards - and maybe that’s why their other two “high-and-mighty” new teammates decided not to participate. Above them, a sinister figure perches in the trees, unnoticed.
Meanwhile, inside Gyrich’s compound, a video screen depicts the scrambled, shadowy outlines of the MLF members currently outside. A security guard explains to Gyrich that the figures can’t be made out clearly - something, or someone, is scrambling the security system’s frequencies. Gyrich wants to know why they’re being affected at all - none of the mutants that escaped from the Whitman prison are electro-magnetic wavelength disruptors. When it becomes clear nothing can be done to correct the surveillance systems, Gyrich suggests they look on the positive side of things - the encounter will allow them to observe the prototype in action. He tells the guard to contact Hardaway and tell him to move in… for the kill.
Back outside, Forearm is explaining that he’s rather surprised that Gyrich doesn’t have better security; a pig like him must have enough enemies. Just then, the lurking figure from the trees grows a pair of claws and proceeds to slash Forearm across the back. Reaper wants to know what hit Forearm but the attacker, oozing like liquid metal onto the ground, announces that he did. His name is Hardaway and he’s the first of many who are going to do to mutantkind what mutants have done to his kind. He explains he’s the prototype of a new life of biosentries, whose business is the death of all mutants. With this, Hardaway forms a scythe with his arm and swings at Reaper.
Tempo tells Wildside to distort Hardaway’s senses, while Tempo’s own temporal flux slows him down. Hardaway says No - both of their powers are psionic in nature; they don’t actually distort time or reality, merely his perception of both, and to avoid that he’s switching to his cybernetic systems. As his computer systems take over, he stretches his arm out and grips Tempo in an enormous fist, causing her to announce that it is disgusting and that she wants someone to get Hardaway off of her.
Just then, Hardaway’s head is bathed in an explosion of fiery energy. Wildside wants to know who’s responsible and Reaper announces that it looks like the cavalry’s arrived. Locus, descending from the sky alongside Moonstar and her steed, says that it looks to her like the four of them could use the help. Moonstar explains to Reaper that her neural arrow prevented Tempo from getting crushed - does he have a problem with that?
Gosh no, replies Reaper caustically, not at all - by all means, Moonstar and Locus should come right in and save the day. Hardaway, crouched on the ground in agony, begins mumbling, asking what the mutie witch did. She showed him, made him feel, the pain all over again, the pain of losing his wife and son to mutant scum like all of them. Locus replies that, yup, Moonstar’s arrows really can do a number on ya, that’s for sure… but she’s a phase-shifter, so what she can do to someone is a heckuva lot worse. As a high-pitched squeal fills the air, Locus explains that she can shunt you where you’ve been before… or where she’s been before…
And as Hardaway’s torso hits the ground, she adds that her powers don’t mean she has to shift all of someone to a new location, do they? Wildside, extremely impressed at her vicious brutality, facetiously asks Locus if she’ll marry him. Tempo, on the other hand, only mutters that she hates this and she hates all of them. Forearm, nudging her with his elbow, asks if she really means that. Tempo clarifies that she hates almost all of them, and still hates all of this.
Locus tells Tempo to go home to mommy and daddy and watch MTV and work at a Pizza Hut, then - and ignore the fact that mutants are being slaughtered each and every day by people like Hardaway. The rest of them, she says, whilst teleporting Hardaway’s legs back to the current scene, have a job to do - no matter how dirty it is.
Moonstar explains that Locus could have shifted into the house anytime she wanted to; she was there earlier posing as a UPS delivery person bringing a package to Gyrich. Tempo is shocked and wants to know why the four of them were sent to break-in first. Moonstar replies that the boss wanted to see how the four worked out… and, obviously, they have a ways to go. A high-pitched squeal fills the air again and Gyrich appears. Look what she found and phased, announces Locus, one government bureaucrat mutie-hatin’ piece of filth… every pro-Gee-Cee terrorist group should have one to beat up on, huh?
Gyrich is shocked to see Hardaway and exclaims that makes three people they’ve killed. Wildside tells Gyrich it’s Sesame Street time and that one biosentinel and one “rent-a-corpse” only makes two. Locus explains to Wildside that Gyrich’s actually right… he had a guy inside with him, and what’s a girl to do? Amidst this, Forearm reaches into Hardaway’s exposed chest cavity and pulls out a grotesque, dripping heart full of metal wires and tubes. He tells Gyrich to not get holier-than-thou with them, and asks what Gyrich did to Hardaway -- if not turn him into an emotionless killing machine?  Gyrich’s response is, defiantly, that he doesn’t have to answer to a mutant.
But, clarifies Moonstar, he does have to answer for many things. For crimes against mutants, the MLF will hold Gyrich as a prisoner of war… and he will remain their prisoner until mutantkind is freed from the tyranny of human oppressors. As a now-familiar squeal fills the air, Locus tells the gang to get ready - they’re going home.
The meeting room of the Commission on Super Human Activities, Washington, D.C., the following morning:
Nick Fury and Charles Xavier are communicating with Valerie Cooper and Forge via video-screens. Fury explains that he thinks underestimating the new MLF would be a big mistake. When Valerie Cooper asks him why he says that, Fury further explains that this MLF has a much more clinical approach than when Stryfe led them, that’s why. Forge wants to know how so, and Fury even further elaborates that the MLF has been systematically getting the materials they need - equipment, personnel, armament - like they have an overall plan.
This, in turn, is playing out on another video screen - inside X-Force’s headquarters. Cannonball announces that he’s prepped the IPAC, just in case, and Cable tells him that’s good - he never thought that when he patched into the CSHA security systems they’d pick up a gem like this. Meanwhile, Valerie Cooper states that, if the new MLF is that well organized, they have to “nip them in the bud” fast. She then addresses Xavier expectantly, but his only response is that, since the X-Men just returned from Genosha, he is reluctant to send them back out again. Xavier then points out that this kind of situation is precisely why X-Factor was developed… isn’t it?
Cable then tells Cannonball to start scanning for the on-file genetic signatures of MLF members that X-Force has encountered before. Cannonball is confused; he thought they just said they’re going to send in X-Factor. Cable tells him to just wait and see... as Forge speaks up and explains to Xavier that they can’t use X-Factor. With all the media attention the incident is getting, he explains, X-Factor can’t rescue Gyrich without appearing to condone his actions and policies. Xavier mutters about the wonders of politics, then asks who’s supposed to go in and do the dirty work when no one else wants to?
Screen off, lights on, orders Cable. Then, cocking his energy rifle, he answers Xavier’s question: take one guess! As usual, right? asks Cannonball, before continuing: so Val Cooper, Professor Xavier, Forge and Nick Fury get to just jaw on an’ on while X-Force fights their battle for them? It doesn’t seem quite fair to him anymore. Cable points out that no one ever said it would be fair - just necessary. Shatterstar adds that, if he’s not mistaken, there’s an expression on this world - is it not the right time to “get their hands dirty?”
Meanwhile, on an island inside the Bermuda Triangle, Tempo sails through the air, contemplating what an animal Wildside is; he enjoyed beating Gyrich. She wonders why she doesn’t just fly away, why she’s so afraid of leaving, when Moonstar catches up to her on her black steed. Moonstar notes that Tempo doesn’t spend much time with the team and Tempo shoots back that she doesn’t particularly like Moonstar - or what she represents.
Moonstar coolly asks: then why stay with them? Tempo mutters that it’s funny she should ask. She says it may be fear, or insecurity, or conflicted convictions… or all of the above… of none of the above. She asks Moonstar why she does it. Moonstar replies that she fell screaming from the skies, an angel cast out of a heaven she didn’t belong in; she has held life in her hands, and stared death in the face. She got tired of never knowing which was the better alternative, until Reignfire showed her the way - that an angel of death for humans could be an angel of life for mutants.
Elsewhere on the island, Gyrich, trapped within a narrow cell, calls out to Reignfire, rhetorically asking if he’s the leader: the one who led the assault on Whitman Prison. Reignfire replies that he is Reignfire, and that he wishes to apologize for the beating Gyrich received during Wildside’s rather exuberant interrogation. He assures Gyrich that it is not his preferred method of operation. Gyrich caustically asks what is his preferred operation - cutting down innocent security guards from a mile up in the sky? Kidnapping? Stealing? Murder?
Reignfire replies that those are merely means to an end - the method by which the MLF will accomplish their goal is one which he believes Gyrich would actually admire. Gyrich notes that he doubts that very much. Reignfire continues, unfazed, explaining that the MLF will use a public official guilty of crimes against mutants to foment anger and dissatisfaction within the human race, and then use that disaffection and isolationism to create an army dedicated to his cause. That army will then rally and stake claim to one place, one country, that they can call their own; only after they are safe within the boundaries of the very laws that humans have created will they seek to overthrow humanity’s oppressive rule on the rest of the world.
Gyrich retorts that humanity isn’t the oppressor - it’s the oppressed. Super-humans, whether by accident of birth or fate, have cowed humanity into submission and Gyrich is simply serving his country - not to destroy mutantkind, but to protect humankind. Reignfire, walking away, replies that Gyrich’s work on Project: Wideawake and with Martin Strong at the Foundation Center are attempts to rob mutants of their very genetic heritage – and, if that fact is true, as they both know it to be, then is that not to be defined as genocide?
Back outside, night has fallen, and Locus patrols alone on a moonlit beach. From the bushes near her, a hiss can be heard, before being quickly silenced. Quiet, says Cable, clamping a hand over Feral’s mouth. Locus continues past, not noticing the intruders, and Cable informs Unit Two that his unit is in position. Elsewhere, Unit Two - consisting of Warpath, Shatterstar and Siryn, reply that she copies and that they are just about ready. Siryn asks Cannonball if his unit is ready. Cannonball replies that Unit Three is in position and ready whenever the others are.
Cannonball then adds that they should all be careful - he recognizes the place from Xavier’s files; Magneto used to use the island as a hangout. Whoop-dee-doo, replies Rictor, adding that he’s much more upset that he’s worked his way down to Unit Three - he keeps getting demoted. Sunspot shoots back that it is their misfortune to be so encumbered by his failings… woe is them. He then asks Cannonball if they should begin.
Cable explains that it’s just like they discussed - he and Feral will be on a five-minute delay, and they are to keep the comm-links on during the entire operation. If they learn that Gyrich is dead or too difficult to extract, they are to bug out immediately. They can subdue as many members of the MLF as possible, but they are not to hang back after the clear signal is given. Cannonball, blasting off, announces to Unit Two that he’s moving in - now!
Cannonball thinks to himself that it’s time to try a little trick he’s been working on with his kinetic blast field - letting it build up more and more in front of his flight path, then erupting it outwards as he hits the wall. As the doors of the island stronghold explode open upon his impact, he mutters that it worked like a charm. In his wake rush Rictor, Sunspot and Boomer. Rictor notes that when you ask Cannonball to kick up some noise, he sure can deliver, can’t he? Sunspot replies that Cannonball always seems so well-behaved most of the time… but he must simply be another headbanger in disguise. Boomer adds that, oh yeah, that’s Cannonball, alright - what a party animal. Boomer then stops and announces she’s got movement - up in the walkway, at six o’clock.
She suggests they just cut loose with their powers and sort out the damage later, an instruction to which the other two readily acquiesce. Rictor says he’d like to see the “MLF-feeb” who can stand up to a combo of Boomer’s plasma-bursts, his vibe-quakes and Sunspot’s solar blasts. Cannonball, rejoining them as they obliterate the walkway above them, suggests that they turn down the volume and see what-
Suddenly, an energy arrow comes whistling out from the cloud of dust and rubble they’ve kicked up, prompting Sunspot to leap aside and scream Incoming! Cannonball, however, fails to react fast enough and suffers a direct blow to his forehead, screaming in agony before collapsing. Sunspot grabs hold of Cannonball to prevent him from falling while Cannonball mumbles that his family’s dead, all of them, but he’s still alive - he’s alone…
Rictor asks what Cannonball is babbling about and Boomer notes he’s talking about his family - but why? Rictor then asks what hit Cannonball - to which the answer is readily supplied, as Moonstar appears from the wreckage, another energy-arrow strung on her bow. She explains that she hit him; she showed him what was afraid of the most - living forever while his family and friends all died. She notes that fear hits you like an ice pick to the base of the skull. Then she asks if anyone else cares to give it a shot - Sunspot, perhaps? Or did his lightweight brain already endure life’s greatest fears when Magnum P.I. was cancelled? Sunspot, in total shock, can only call out Moonstar’s name - Dani - and ask if it’s her?
Back outside, Siryn demolishes a wall with her sonic scream, while Warpath and Shatterstar prepare to move in to the complex and provide a second distraction.  Warpath agonizingly quips that Forearm is a foregone conclusion, and that they can for-get about him. He then punches Forearm in the face… for sure. Forearm replies that Warpath remembers what Cable said the first time they met - he just keeps getting stronger! Smashing Forearm upside the chin, Warpath replies that may be so - but it still isn’t enough to take him out!
Siryn explains that Warpath can take care of himself and tells Shatterstar to move in and draw the MLF out from whatever nook and cranny they’re hiding in. Just as Shatterstar confirms this instruction, Wildside and Reaper leap from above, ambushing the two X-Forcers. Grabbing Siryn, Wildside asks whatever gave them the idea that the MLF needed to hide from either of them? Shatterstar can only reply with disbelief at the fact that Reaper might be foolish enough to face him in combat again.
You betcha, ponytail, quips Reaper, arcing his scythe as Shatterstar barely ducks in time. Hurtfully calling Reaper “whiteface,” Shatterstar asks, having already lost a hand to his superiority with a blade, which limb would Reaper prefer to lose this time? Shatterstar grows impatient and suggests he just give him a matching set, proceeding to slice Reaper’s other hand off. His sword to the defeated Reaper’s throat, Shatterstar explains that Reaper is undone - and that his orders were to subdue as many members of the MLF as he could. One less opponent at the end of the day, explains Shatterstar, is one less opponent who may kill him tomorrow.
Before he can deliver the killing blow, however, Wildside calls out to Shatterstar in a singsong tone and, grasping an unconscious Siryn by the throat, asks that Shatterstar put his nasty little pig-sticker down… because if he doesn’t, the canary gets her throat ripped out. Shatterstar is very upset.
Within the prison catacombs of the complex, Cable and Feral sneak deeper. Cable asks Feral if she’s got anything yet and notes that they’re running out of time. Feral replies that she smells starch and a stiff upper lift - yup, a bureaucrat is dead ahead. Arriving at his cell, Cable calls out Gyrich’s name. Gyrich replies, surprised, with Cable’s. Cable asks Gyrich if he was expecting someone who cared; Gyrich replies that he was actually expecting S.H.I.E.L.D. or the Avengers or possibly even X-Factor. Apologizing sarcastically, Cable explains they’re all too squeaky-clean for a dirty mess like this one. He then spreads some “thermite gel” on the lock of Gyrich’s cell and melts it off, while explaining that sometimes you need a band of “terrorists” to stop a band of terrorists. Suddenly, Feral hisses with great agitation - Cable asks what it is, and she replies that they’ve got big trouble.
Energy crackles through the air, causing both Cable and Feral to scream in pain before slumping to the ground, smoldering. Reignfire steps forward, announcing that it is a pity to see a mutant soldier of like mind kowtowing to the needs of a human butcher like Gyrich. He explains that his MLF and Cable’s band of renegades have so much in common and asks if they can’t surely find some common ground from which to proceed in their quest for mutant freedom? He notes that Cable understands that, for mutants to achieve what they strive toward, there is a need, indeed a preference, for sacrifice and bloodshed. Reignfire states that the question he poses to Cable, then, is whether he will join Reignfire in his war, or - in betraying his own kind and choosing not to - will Cable die with any shred of honor whatsoever?


[User]
<image><image><image><image><image><image><image><image><image><image><image><image><image><image><image><image><image><image><image><image><image><image><image><image><image><image><image><image><image><image><image><image><image><image><image><image><image><image><image><image><image><image><image><image><image><image><image><image><image><image><image>
Provide a full summary of the comic book.

[Assistant]
Extreme Measures
A girl named Michelle Balters runs through an alleyway, being chased by an unknown predator. Three blades cut her chase off, and she is met by her hunter: X-Treme. X-Treme pleads with her to come back with him, and she tries to convince him to break his bonds and join her as a free person. Michelle, also known as Neurotap, blasts him with her “neuro-taps,” but he is too quick. He slices her with his throwing knives, but just slightly enough to bleed a little. That’s all it takes for X-Treme to use his power on her. Neurotap gives up, however, and begs him not to “flash” her. Suddenly, X-Treme is attacked from behind by X-Force.
Cable suggests that they end this fight with a minimal amount of bloodshed. Instead, that’s right up X-Treme’s alley, so he quickly jumps to attack, dodging all of X-Force’s efforts to stop him. In the process, X-Treme barely nicks each of the team, which allows him to use his power. X-Treme’s power depends on oxygenated blood, which, once exposed, he can then flash-fry the electrolytes therein. He fries X-Force and warns Cable to think twice before messing with him again. He then tells Neurotap that Strong wants her back and he always gets what he wants.
With X-Treme gone, Neurotap helps X-Force to their feet. Cable asks who he was and Neurotap explains that he was given the name Adam X, but she called him X-Treme. Shattershar is impressed with Adam’s mutant ability. Cable suggests that they all get out of civilian territory and calls on Professor to bodyslide them all to the IPAC – the Inter-personnel Assault Carrier. However, Adam has locked onto them and is in pursuit. In the IPAC, Warpath has detected Adam following them and locks onto him as well. Cable hopes that, maybe next time, Adam will be more willing to talk about the man known as Martin Henry Strong and his torture chambers, providing that Cannonball’s unit does their part of the mission.
Inside the Foundations, a scientific research facility outside of Denver, Colorado, Dr. Emilio Licciardo is getting his new interns, the undercover Cannonball and Siryn, started early for the day. They have been there for three weeks and Siryn notices that the doctor hasn’t allowed them inside one of the labs. Dr. Licciardo explains that the lab is under a level five security clearance and, besides, there’s nothing in there that is interesting anyway. Cannonball and Siryn glance at one another.
Later that night, the two mutants sneak into the lab with a keycard that Siryn obtained from a lab tech who had a crush on her. They enter the lab and discover numerous holding tanks filled with mutant subjects, among them is the person they’ve been looking for - their teammate, Feral, who screams “An’ it’s about time, too!”
At dawn, Adam stands on his transporter, watching the sunrise. He thinks about the many questions in his past and wonders if he is simply searching for things he can never have. He is afraid of the answers he might find, yet he plays the game anyway. He pretends that his goal is to find out about his past and his family, but he continually refuses to ask the questions or hear the answers.
His thoughts are interrupted by Rictor’s seismic powers, which shake him off his transport. Along with Shatterstar and Warpath, the three members of X-Force are here to get Adam to surrender. Shatterstar goads Adam, saying he would prefer to fight him, but he has experienced that this world offers few warriors and more cowards. Adam replies that Shatterstar should be happy then, because he is not even from this world. Adam dives in a trench to lay down an ambush, and Shatterstar remarks on Adam’s agility. The two other-worldly warriors fight hand-to-hand, until they come to a stalemate. They are separated by Rictor’s quake and Warpath picks the two of them up and knocks their heads together.
Adam wishes they could just fight to the death and, when Rictor questions his motives, Adam says they wouldn’t understand. Adam explains that he’s not sure who he is, and that the only reason he tracks mutants is because Strong promised to tell him about his past. If Adam doesn’t find out where he’s from, then he can’t stop himself from becoming the man responsible for killing every mutant on the planet.
Back at the IPAC, Cable expects the group sent to retrieve Adam at any minute. Neurotap thinks Cable is underestimating Adam. She says that, in order to get at Adam, you must get him at his heart. Neurotap then explains her past:
(Flashback)Neurotap was once a normal thirteen-year-old living outside of Chicago with her family. She began to get awful headaches more and more frequently. She then learned she was a mutant with the power to route energy pulses through anyone’s optic nerve and nervous system, which she says didn’t make her family happy, so she ran away. Once in Denver, she read an ad about research help for young people with special gifts and abilities. That place was Strong Industries. She went and lived there with other mutants, getting room, board and payment for being test subjects. There, she met Adam, and they became intimately close. She explains that Adam was a bloodhound for Strong to find runaways like herself.
(Now)In the present, Cable asks her why anyone would run away from such a cushy set-up. Neurotap explains that while there were good people there with good intentions, Martin Henry Strong had other plans to eliminate the mutant gene. Boomer quips that plans like that have been tried before, but Neurotap says Strong’s operation is being funded by the government’s Project: Wideawake. Rictor’s unit returns with Adam, and Cable debriefs them, telling them that he knows that Strong is a mutant and a traitor to their kind.
The next morning at the Foundations, Cannonball and Siryn are getting ready for another day, discussing that they thought Feral would kill them when they told her they couldn’t release her yet, although she knew that coming into the mission. Cannonball says that they can’t screw up now, but is overheard by Strong, who enters the room with his humongous and muscular frame. Siryn uses her sonic scream on Strong, but it has no effect on him. Cannonball flies at him, but Strong grabs his tie and swings him around like a doll, flinging him into Siryn. Strong picks Cannonball up and Cannonball attempts to use his blast field on Strong, but Strong stands unhurt, with the exception of his clothes being destroyed. Strong throws Cannonball again, and this time Cannonball isn’t getting up. He tells Dr. Licciardo to call security and take them away, putting them with Feral.
Dr. Licciardo replies that Feral almost killed her guards, even after being tranquilized. Strong goes to talk with her to find out who these intruders are. Feral won’t talk, and Strong goads her with telling her information about herself. He wants to help her and mutants like her. He explains that he has a son and daughter around Feral’s age and that their mother took them from him because he was a mutant. Feral asks why his wife didn’t know that he was a mutant before they got married, maybe it was because she discovered he had two heartbeats. She scratches Strong across the chest and he whacks her good.
Outside of the Foundations, X-Force, Adam and Neurotap are ready to fulfill their mission. Warpath wants to storm in, but Cable wants to work from the inside-out. Adam can’t believe he’s about to betray Strong, the man who might have the answers he seeks, but Rictor reminds him that X-Force might be the only hope he really has left. Adam hides their comm.-link and extends his forearm blades, cutting Rictor and Boomer and flash-frying them, so he can bring them in as “prisoners.” As he walks to the gate with Rictor and Boomer over his shoulders, the guards shine a light on him, asking him to identify himself. Adam reports that he has brought more mutants for the zoo. The guard asks him what happened to his scoutcraft. Adam says the two prisoners destroyed it and he had to walk back with them, all the way from Phoenix.
Inside, Strong greets Adam and asks about Neurotap. Adam says she got away in Phoenix with the help of X-Force, although he nabbed two of them. Strong recognizes the name “X-Force” from his sources, who he heard were involved in incidents at the World Trade Center and at a space station with S.H.I.E.L.D. Adam says he’ll need a few days to recover before he goes out to hunt more mutants. Strong questions if Adam is actually so greedy to hunt his own kind and wonders if he respects him more or less. Adam pulls out his commlink and wonders what Strong will think of him now.
Rictor and Boomer awaken and blast Strong. Cable and the rest get the signal that they are inside, and the team bodyslides to their location. Adam fries a slew of guards as Strong and Dr. Licciardo run away. Licciardo tries to understand Strong by telling him that they are here to help mutantkind, but Strong disagrees. Cable notices them leaving through the security access corridor, but doesn’t reach them in time. He tries to override the lockout, but another security door closes. Cable tries to destroy the panel and the room they’re in, but Neurotap stops him because much of the equipment in the lab is life-support for some of the trapped mutants.
Sunspot suggests that the only way to save mutants is to destroy this place, but Cable reminds him that his days of “burning the village in order to save it” are over, and he tries to blast through the blockade. Adam flips his way over to the panel and punches in the code and the doors are opened. He says that sometimes it pays to be part of the system, but Shatterstar reminds him that it never pays to betray your people.
The team walks down the corridor and is ambushed by Strong. Cable questions Strong’s tactics, but Strong backs up his actions with force, hitting Cable with one of the hardest punches Cable’s ever felt. X-Force uses their combined powers on Strong and Strong admits that that was the hardest he’s ever been hit. Adam and Shatterstar attack and Strong expresses his disappointment in Adam’s betrayal, especially after the promises he made to Adam concerning the knowledge of his past. He helped Adam just like he helped Neurotap.
The team realizes they’ve been set up all along. Through her tears, Neurotap explains that Strong promised to help her family if she helped to flush out X-Force. She hates being a mutant and Strong promised her that he would cure her forever. She blasts them all with her neuro-taps, all except Adam, who tells her she can’t help herself at the expense of others. He slashes her with a blade and flash-fries her. Adam blames Strong for all of this and tells Cable to take him down. Cable pulls a knife, but Strong says that he’s impervious to even Adamantium. But Cable’s knife is an ionic molecular blade from the future and he thrusts it into Strong’s chest. Adam finishes him off by frying his blood.
When he does, Strong explodes, revealing his true self: a half-form of a man with fins for hands and feet. His power wasn’t strength, but incredible genius, which he used to make his artificial body. Strong asks them if any of them, besides possibly Adam or Feral, ever had to deal with the pain of being a mutant with such physical deformity. Cable says we all make ourselves what we can to help us get by and we shouldn’t make those decisions for others.
Cannonball, Siryn, and Feral enter the room with Dr. Licciardo who released them. Cannonball thinks the place needs to be shut down, but Cable thinks that maybe Licciardo can do some good. They can’t shut the place down because there will always be those people who will not accept themselves as mutants and they may choose to end their mutantcy. But Cannonball says that at least those who are there against their will need to be set free.
As they leave, they wonder what to do with Neurotap. Licciardo says she chose to stay because her power, when it first manifested, put her family into comas for two years. Strong was paying their medical bills and thus, she gave her allegiance. The team leaves Licciardo to deal with her and Strong and he reminds himself that he really is trying to do some good.
Outside, Cable invites Adam to join X-Force, but Adam declines. He needs to find out more about himself before he can be a part of a team. Shatterstar salutes Adam X - the X-Treme and X-Force leaves. Adam watches them depart and he feels a piece of paper caught on his foot. He reads the paper, which is an ad for the Foundations. He throws the paper in the air and pins it to a tree with one of his blades and walks away.


[User]
<image><image><image><image><image><image><image><image><image><image><image><image><image><image><image><image><image><image><image><image><image><image><image><image><image><image><image><image><image><image><image><image><image><image>
Provide a full summary of the comic book.

[Assistant]
The Axe Falls
X-Force’s attempt to rescue Henry Peter-Gyrich with a covert strike upon the new Mutant Liberation Front’s compound has met with disaster, and Reignfire now stands triumphantly over Cable’s prone body. Reignfire points out that Cable has fallen before him and his overwhelming onslaught that is symbolically made from the righteous anger of every mutant born on the planet. By choosing to fight against the MLF, he announces, Cable and X-Force have chosen to die.
And, of all people, muses Reignfire, he can’t believe it’s Cable trying to stop him - Cable, who has seen both the past and the future. With great effort, Cable asks Reignfire who he is, to which Reignfire replies he is the future, the coming storm, the harbinger of mutant liberation… even if it must be squeezed from the clutches of humanity one drop of blood at a time. Noting that Reignfire’s tirades are giving him a headache, Cable grabs Reignfire’s cloak and pulls him in for a headbutt. While Reignfire reels, Cable dives for his energy rifle, wondering how many times idiots like Reignfire will make the same mistakes. Blasting Reignfire through the wall and off a balcony, Cable mentions Stryfe, Magneto, and Apocalypse as all being incorrect in the notion that the subjugation of humans means liberation for mutants.
Reignfire’s tumble ends with him landing directly in front of Feral and Gyrich, who are trying to make their way out of the complex. Feral tells Gyrich to look out for himself, because she’s not going to put her neck on the line for a mutant-hater like him. Gyrich points out that she came there to rescue him, so, like it or not, she already has put her neck on the line. Reignfire, recovering, assures Gyrich that Feral will also regret having done so. Feral notes that she regrets it already and Reignfire is quick to offer her a chance to stand with the MLF -- to use this opportunity to send a message to the oppressive human cows -- to flay Gyrich alive right now!
Cable, leaping down to continue the fight, asks Reignfire to help him out here: he’s trying to teach these children the difference between right and wrong, and all along he’s stressed that there’s a time for flay, and a time for work, and right now X-Force has a job to do! He then clocks Reignfire a powerful blow across the jaw.
Meanwhile, as Gyrich and Feral continue their escape attempt, Gyrich asks Feral if she has any idea where she’s going. Reignfire’s entrance turned them around, and he’s certain that they should be going… Feral interrupts him with the command to Shut Up, then lectures him, noting that the very thing he hates her for -- being a mutant -- is exactly what tells her where she’s going. She can smell where she’s been and she can hear everything around her, so Gyrich should shut up and let the “mutie” do the work.
Gyrich wants to know why she’s helping him if she thinks he hates her so much, to which Feral retorts that, if it were up to her, she’d let the MLF tear him apart. Then, asks Gyrich, how can she and X-Force claim to be any different than the MLF? Beginning to crack, Feral screams that maybe they aren’t different… and isn’t that what suits and ties like Gyrich are always saying anyway? If X-Force rescuing him doesn’t change his mind, maybe they shouldn’t bother, and she should just kill him right now!
Elsewhere in the citadel, Shatterstar is still trapped in a stalemate with Wildside, who holds Siryn hostage, claws at her throat. Shatterstar notes that Wildside thinks he has him in a very difficult position. Wildside replies that it’s only as difficult as Shatterstar would like it to be. If Shatterstar puts his blade down and lets Reaper escape, Wildside might stop mind-warping Siryn and let her go. It’s a simple choice, notes Wildside… unless Shatterstar doesn’t trust him… because then he’d be putting himself and Siryn in a bit of a mess. So, asks Wildside, as he and Shatterstar stare each other down, what’s it going to be? Shatterstar grimly lowers his blade and forcibly inserts it into the ground mere inches from Reaper’s head. Wildside quickly instructs Shatterstar to back off, which he does.
Wildside then announces that he’s kind of disappointed; he thought Shatterstar would have shown more chutzpah than that. As a strange humming fills the air, Wildside grabs Shatterstar’s sword and gloats - he has his blade, he has his girl, and it looks like (except for Reaper missing another hand) the MLF has just about everything! … And, uhm, he continues, is Shatterstar humming?
There’s no time for a reply, as the blade Wildside is holding suddenly lets out a burst of explosive energy, blowing Reaper apart and sending fragments of his bones cascading through the air. Wildside, in abject shock, can only stammer, asking what just happened. Shatterstar leaps through the air and announces that he just used a mutant power that he rarely displays: the power to resonate a vibratory shockwave through the metallurgic properties of his blade! He notes that he doesn’t often use it, for he prefers to rely solely on his own skills, but he was happy to endure the exhaustive state it leaves him in just to see the look on Wildside’s face as he killed his own troopmate!
Smacking Wildside aside with a heroic blow, Shatterstar reclaims his sword and asks for the chance to show Wildside why he prefers to employ cold steel over subterfuge. Wildside encourages him to give it a go, it should be fun -- but their fun is interrupted by Forearm’s massive body exploding through the wall next to them! From the massive hole created by Forearm’s entrance steps, Warpath is curious if he interrupted anything. He announces that he was playing around with Forearm for a while and whoops, hit the boy too hard… and then look at the mess he made!
Wondering if “little Wildside” got hurt too, Warpath solemnly notes that he is such a klutz before announcing to Shatterstar and Siryn that X-Force has exceeded their mission specs and that it’s time to head back to the ship. Finally, he asks them what’s up. Siryn, with a look of displeased perturbance upon her face, explains that Shatterstar surrendered himself to save her… then risked both of their lives by springing a booby trap.
And, elsewhere still, Cannonball is still reeling from Moonstar’s psychic arrow. Sunspot incredulously asks if it’s Dani … Danielle Moonstar… who has done this. Moonstar caustically notes that wouldn’t Sunspot like to know? Having arrived upon the scene, Locus asks Moonstar if she should “shunt” the three X-Forcers opposing them to Poughkeepsie. Moonstar notes that Locus is suggesting a fate worse than death, adding that she’s so cruel. Boomer interrupts this by demanding that Moonstar take off her mask and show the X-Force members who she is. Boomer then adds that, if Moonstar is Dani, she was once Mirage, one of them, a New Mutant, one of the good guys for Pete’s sake! It doesn’t make any sense! Moonstar retorts that little does in this life and proceeds to strike Boomer to the ground with a psychic arrow, decommissioning her with flashbacks of her abusive father.
At this point, Sunspot has had enough, announcing that that does it: he doesn’t care who Moonstar is, she’s not going to hurt another one of his friends! Moonstar leaps clear of the solar blast he fires, as Locus notes that his blasts pack quite a wallop. It’s a shame, continues Locus, that she has to ice a bod like his… but everybody has to make compromises, right? So she’s going to let herself keep his gorgeous bod by only teleporting the top half of Sunspot away!
Sunspot grabs Locus’ arm and announces that, wherever he goes, she’s going there as well! Moonstar, swinging upside-down from a chandelier, tells Locus not to hurt him… she’ll take him out with a mind-shaft! As Moonstar fires, Sunspot jerks Locus into the path of the arrow and, as she is struck, the familiar high-pitch squeal of her teleportation begins, engulfing everyone in the room!
Outside, Feral tugs Gyrich along, both of them racing along the coast toward X-Force’s ship. Feral tells him that they’re seeing the IPAC in the distance, which Gyrich correctly deduces is X-Force’s interpersonnel carrier. Feral notes that Gyrich would like to get his hands on it, wouldn’t he? She then tells him to stop licking his chops, or she’ll have to blindfold him or bust his head or something. This is interrupted by a massive burst of energy appearing behind them -- Locus’ signature teleportation burst. Feral, irate, shouts that it’s great… she has to worry about them on her tail and Gyrich in her face! Shoving Gyrich toward the IPAC, she tells him to move!
Gyrich’s only response is to ask her why she’s even worried about him, calling Feral by her proper name, Maria. He thought he was the enemy? Feral, eyes narrowing, notes that Gyrich just wants to push all her buttons, push her over the edge so he can prove his point that all mutants are killers and maniacs. Gyrich replies that he needn’t prove anything as far as Feral is concerned. After the incident at the World Trade Center, he learned all about Feral and her fellow X-Force “soldiers.” He knows all about her, he continues, calling her by her full name of Maria Callasantos.
Feral quietly asks him what he knows. Gyrich explains that he knows what happened to Feral’s little brother and sister. He knows why her older sister, Lucia, let her run away. He knows why her mother will never see her again. He knows that being a mutant has nothing to do with Feral being a cold-blooded killer as well… but being a mutant just makes the fact she is one all the more dangerous. Snapping, Feral lunges for Gyrich with murderous rage etched into her expression, informing him he’s going to see just how dangerous she can be…
Yet, Feral suddenly finds herself tumbling sluggishly through the air, as Gyrich is yanked to safety. Tempo stands over him, announcing that by slowing down Feral’s perception of time, she gave herself the chance to save Gyrich. She adds that Gyrich shouldn’t bother thanking her… as if his kind ever would. Gyrich is perplexed by Tempo’s actions because she’s a member of the MLF. Tempo replies that it shows how close-minded Gyrich is, then adds that she doesn’t want him killed, just stopped. Feral demands the chance to do Tempo’s job for her, leaping at her and calling her a coward. Tempo, struggling to hold her back, says that if Feral believes stopping Gyrich and killing Gyrich are the same thing, she’s proven his point for him.
Above the trio’s heads, Moonstar is blasted through the air by one of Sunspot’s bursts. Tempo announces that the fighting is getting out of hand, that they have to find a way to stop it… the question is, what method will they employ to do so? Gyrich pipes up again, asking Feral what her choice will be… is killing him or saving him the best way for the violence to end?
Elsewhere, Cable is thrown into the jungle surrounding the citadel by an enormous blast of Reignfire’s energy power. Hitting the ground below, Cable continues to flee, as Reignfire announces that he won’t escape alive. Cable simply cannot run from the road he’s chosen to take, screams Reignfire; Cable has set a course for himself and the children he took under his wing. Reignfire continues, all the while pressing his attack, that Cable once said he would fight the dirty fight and make the hard choices that the other mutants were unwilling to make. Well, explains Reignfire, he is now here, offering Cable the chance to join the MLF in walking that road together, and he is incredulous at Cable’s refusal.
Dodging through the burning jungle, set aflame by Reignfire’s blasts, Cable shouts back that there’s a difference between walking a road and rolling a tank over it. Cable explains that he’s trying to teach X-Force to use their powers to fight for what’s right, not to think that just because they have their powers they have the right to fight. He then throws in the jab that this is a concept that would-be demagogues like Reignfire never seem to be able to figure out! Reignfire quickly retorts that, in that case, Cable’s own weakness will doom him to repeat the sins of his past… then calls him Nathan Dayspring!
Shocked, Cable asks Reignfire how he knows his name, but any reply he may have received is cut short by Siryn’s sudden entrance. She knocks Reignfire to the ground with a full-force sonic scream and asks Cable if he’s all right. He replies that he’s fine, but he wishes Siryn had waited about ten seconds before doing what she did. She asks if Cable would like her to bring Reignfire back, to which he replies “No, thank you” and then requests instead that she clear out the surrounding underbrush so that they might locate the others. As Siryn’s scream blows away the burnt trees and foliage, a scene of full-out battle between the MLF and the rest of X-Force is revealed.
Meanwhile, Gyrich notes that it’s all coming together and it’s all coming apart, while Tempo warns Feral to stay back, standing between her and Gyrich. Feral asks why Tempo is protecting him, and Tempo replies that maybe because, clichéd as it sounds, two wrongs don’t make a right. Reignfire, rising from the water where he landed, calls Tempo a traitorous witch and asks her about the billion wrongs spread throughout countless centuries before striking her down with a rain of his fire. Extending his hand to Feral, Reignfire asks: what if the killing of one man could help prevent the deaths of thousands, even millions, over the coming decades? What if killing Gyrich right now could save the future for all mutants?
What if it could, questions Gyrich rhetorically… what if it couldn’t? As Reignfire directs Feral’s attention to the battle raging nearby, he tells her that she knows in her heart the path she wishes to take. She has looked at her teammates and found them lacking. They don’t understand her. They don’t accept her. He tells her to be a part of something better, something harder, something stronger… to join the MLF, kill Gyrich on the spot, and let the road she takes be bathed in blood. Feral, at the breaking point, screams her affirmation and lunges for Gyrich. This time she’s stopped by shots in the back, courtesy of Cable.
Cable curses Reignfire for twisting Feral around, while Siryn asks if Cable killed her. He replies in the negative, noting that his gun was set on a low-level plasma charge! Flying into the air with Feral’s prone form in one hand and a stunned Gyrich in the other, Reignfire tells Cable to listen to himself. He continues that it’s better for Cable to curse himself for denying Feral the right to be what she was meant to be, and for denying himself the right to fight this war the way Cable knows it should be fought. Cable replies that he’s fought that war with himself already, and he won’t fight it again. Not wanting to kill Reignfire doesn’t mean that he’s not going to stop him. Cable then opens fire, but Reignfire deflects Cable’s assault with his cape and commands Locus and Moonstar to come to his side.
Moonstar notes that it looks like the MLF is clearing out, while Locus announces that they should just nuke the whole stupid island and be done with X-Force for good. Moonstar apologizes for hitting Locus with a psyche-arrow, to which Locus ominously replies that she’ll get Moonstar eventually… she shouldn’t worry. For now, Locus continues, she just wants Moonstar to get Siryn off their backs. Moonstar efficiently does as requested, knocking Siryn to the ground below.
Reignfire orders Locus to locate Forearm, Reaper and Wildside, because they’re teleporting out. Moonstar asks about Tempo and Gyrich… to which Reignfire replies that Tempo is a traitor, and no longer one of the MLF. Gyrich, he continues, whilst releasing him and sending, him plummeting toward the sea below, is target practice. Moonstar and Locus both open fire upon Gyrich, as he tumbles downward.
Sunspot, desperate, says that, after everything they’ve been through, he cannot and will not allow Moonstar to kill someone in cold blood. Focusing his powers, he manages for the first time to take flight. Rushing to intercept the energy projectiles, he tells Gyrich to cover his eyes, since things might get rather explosive. He plans to intercept Locus’ beam and pray that his powers can disperse her attack. The combination of Sunspot’s solar blast and Locus’ energy beam causes a strange feedback to occur that Locus can’t control, and the entire MLF, along with Sunspot, is caught up in a massive and warped version of Locus’ signature teleportation burst.
Gyrich plummets to the waves near the beach, as Warpath notes that the MLF is all gone. Siryn asks if the rest of the team heard Sunspot, and everyone else caught in the feedback, screaming. Rictor adds that it sounded like they were being torn apart. Cable further adds that Locus said she could teleport anywhere she had been or anywhere her target had been, and this means that, if they survived, considering the places Sunspot has been, the vanished group could literally be anywhere. As Gyrich is recovered from the surf, Cable tells him that this had better been worth losing two members of his unit for.
Gyrich responds that, if anything, he is now even more convinced than ever that Cable and his kind pose a threat to humanity. Cable’s only reply is to deal Gyrich a cripplingly powerful blow across his jaw, knocking him to the ground. Staring off into the sunset with the rest of his team, Cable can only mutter that this wasn’t worth it at all.


[User]
<image><image><image><image><image><image><image><image><image><image><image><image><image><image><image><image><image><image><image><image><image><image><image><image><image><image><image><image><image><image><image><image><image><image><image>
Provide a full summary of the comic book.

[Assistant]
Toy Soldiers
Various recordings of Shatterstar, from points in his distant past to recent events in the present, play out across a massive installation of monitor screens. Surrounded by complicated technology, a shadowy figure sits and muses that Shatterstar is a cute one: with red hair and freckles and a sword! He’s a regular Opie the Hun!
The figure observes that Shatterstar will be a fun one to play with, all right. Sighing, he corrects himself - he guesses Shatterstar will be fun to play with, but he’ll be so predictable. As the monitors all become components of one large image, the view shifts to Shatterstar climbing out of a car with Rictor in the driver’s seat. The figure asks one Ms. Locke for a position, to which she replies that the targets are in Phoenix, on the corner of McDowell and Delano.
Phoenix! exclaims the figure, blowing a raspberry with his tongue and then elaborating that he hates to perspire… and whose idea was it to take their show on the road? Ms. Locke readily explains that it was his idea, to which the figure offers that they should think of how thrilling it is to see the sights. Citing a trip to the Petrified Forest National Park, Ms. Locke offers a caustic “thanks.” The figure warns Ms. Locke that no one likes a weisenheimer before returning his attention to the monitor screens and requesting the addition of audio feed.
As Shatterstar walks away from the vehicle, the fragment sure you’ll be okay? becomes audible from Rictor. Shatterstar explains that he will be fine, and that he has been negligent in properly assimilating himself to Earth culture: a day spent among “Rictor’s” people will be beneficial. Rictor explains that he’ll be done picking up supplies around six o’clock, and then asks if Shatterstar remembers what time that is. He does: big hand pointing up, little hand pointing down. Rictor offers affirmation but is stymied when Shatterstar asks what to do if the clock has a digital readout. Noting that he liked him better when he didn’t have a sense of humor, Rictor begs Shatterstar to be careful and then drives away.
Back inside the hi-tech viewing area, the rambling figure is revealed to be Arcade, who notes that this situation will be simply ducky! His delightful little Shatterstar will provide him with hours of entertainment… and lordy knows, he deserves some, too! He continues, noting that he’s been out of circulation among the super-tights set for so long that he was starting to worry that maybe  they’d all forgotten that another name for “murder” is “Arcade!” Gesturing to Ms. Locke, he asks her to be a dear and get the day’s other lucky participant into make-up and wardrobe… and, since he’s paying her scads of money just for being so darned cute, he’d also like her to contact their clients and tell them they have both of their rockets on the launch pad: all systems are GO!
Back outside, an out-of-place garbage truck sits in the background, while Shatterstar is stopped by a married couple and their children. The son asks if Shatterstar is a rock star or something, to which Shatterstar replies that he once was a star… but not any more. Watching this on his viewscreens, Arcade melodramatically clutches his chest and asks where a little violin is when he needs one. Then, having amused himself enough, he presses a red button and announces to Retrieval Unit Hazel that it’s time to pick up the trash…
Meanwhile, at the X-Force Camp Verde hideout, Cannonball taps a button and requests that the Professor prep the IPAC for dust-off. The Professor immediately responds that the Interpersonnel Assault Carrier is being prepared for transport… Samuel. Cannonball thanks the computer system, to which Professor replies de nada, prompting Cannonball to ask him if he and Rictor have been playing video games again. Professor concedes that they have, from time to time, and Cannonball asks if wonders will never cease. He then asks if the Professor might also contact Boomer and tell her that she “darn sure” better be ready.
Elsewhere within the base, Boomer stands with overstuffed luggage packed all about her person, as the Professor tersely responds that, yes, Tabitha, he is quite certain that Sam said “darn sure.” Boomer notes that Cannonball must be really steamed then, if he’s cussing up a blue streak like that… she may even have to wash his mouth out with soap. As Cannonball arrives in her room, she drops her largest bag in preparation for him to carry it for her. While trying to hoist it onto his shoulder, Cannonball inquires as to just how much she packed. Boomer defensively asks how she was supposed to know what to wear in Kentucky: you might as well be bringing her to Asgard, except there she’d actually know what to pack.
Cannonball reassures her that it’s just his mama and family… it isn’t that big a deal. If Boomer is just herself, his family will love her. Except maybe she should tuck her shirt in. And not crack her gum so much. And maybe she shouldn’t wear her sunglasses inside like she always does… Boomer mockingly repeats “just my mama and family” and then requests that he shoot her now and put her out of her misery.
As they stroll to the IPAC, Boomer reminds Cannonball that they don’t have to go… they can stay and keep looking for Sunspot. Cannonball replies that if Sunspot can be found, he will be… but nothing they’ve tried over the last three weeks has worked, and Boomer was the one who told Cannonball that he needed to get away, anyhow. They encounter Cable waiting near the prepped IPAC, who informs them that the ship is ready. Cannonball asks Cable if he wants to fly them there, to which Cable responds that he can’t: he has too much to do at Camp Verde. He then offers to give Cannonball a hand with Boomer’s bag, prompting Cannonball to reply with thanks… and that with Boomer’s packing, you need bionic strength just to lift it.
Cable asks if Cannonball is sure that this vacation is the smartest thing to do right now, and in reply Cannonball recollects the various adventures that X-Force has suffered through since the last time he had any sort of break. He ends with his summary of Sunspot’s disappearance while fighting the reformed MLF, and reaffirms that X-Force has found no traces of Sunspot since he was teleported away. Listening to Cannonball’s tale of woe, Cable agrees that he does need a vacation.
Boomer interrupts and notes, perturbed, that the vacation is only for a couple of weeks… and they should get real, how long do they think she could survive in Kentucky anyway? Cable quips to Cannonball that it’s not too late to ask Boomer to stay behind, but Cannonball is certain that his mother will get a kick out of her. As he boards the IPAC, Cable notes that Cannonball has gone through a lot, referencing Illyana’s death and the loss of Sunspot once more before insisting that they won’t stop looking for him. Cannonball replies that finding Sunspot is akin to a needle in a haystack, and he knows that… by being teleported away with Locus and the rest of the MLF, Sunspot could be anywhere from other dimensions to outer space. He knows in his gut that Sunspot is still alive, he adds, and tells Cable that if he does find anything, he shouldn’t hesitate to call. As the IPAC doors slide shut, Cannonball calls out one last time that he’ll see Cable in a few weeks. Amid the roaring whoosh of the IPAC’s takeoff, Cable tells Cannonball to have a safe trip.
With the IPAC gone, Cable looks around and… sees no one, oddly. Campe Verde has begun to feel empty and desolate. Rictor and Shatterstar are in town, looking for supplies. Sunspot is missing; Feral defected to the MLF. Cannonball and Boomer are on vacation while Warpath and Siryn are off in one of the underground bunkers. Cable muses that there isn’t much of a “rebel fighting force” to choose from anymore. As he passes a long-ruined structure, he considers asking her to join them… after all, she helped them against the MLF… but at the same time, she seems too unsure of where her commitments lie.
He is referencing Tempo, who sits upon a crumbling brick wall, as Cable inquires of her whether she has made a decision yet. Tempo isn’t sure what decisions he’s talking about, and asks if he means whether she’s going to stay at Camp Verde or not. He offers that she could try taking her costume off for a change… he’s sure Siryn and Boomer wouldn’t mind if she borrowed some of their--
Tempo cuts him off to caustically ask if they would have a slumber party next, before complaining that she doesn’t have a life any more… and noting that neither does any of X-Force. Before flying off, she asks him whether X-Force ever ask themselves just why they choose to live this way. Cable mutters that he does… every day.
Elsewhere on the reservation - inside communications bunker “57” - Siryn sits hunched in a chair, while watching a looping video feed of X-Force’s recent battle with the MLF, coincidentally asking herself the very question Tempo just posed. She throws an emptied beer bottle to the floor, noting that it makes three down… and three to go. With a hollow chnk klnk chnk klnk… it bounces its way into Warpath’s foot, as he approaches and asks her just what good it does to watch recordings of the fight with the MLF.
Carrying on, he tells her that, no matter how drunk she gets, the outcome won’t change… they lost Sunspot, and there’s nothing any of them could have done to prevent it. Siryn tries to explain, through slurred and stumbling speech, that she flew up first, and maybe if she had managed to avoid being tagged by Moonstar, she could have maybe… maybe…
Maybe what? asks Warpath, noting that she was unconscious when the disaster happened and that she tried her best: there’s nothing more to ask of herself. He asks her why she puts so much pressure on herself, why she punishes herself. Siryn asks him why he cares.
Smacking the bottle out of her hand, Warpath shouts that it’s because he likes her… a lot! Staring blankly at the floor as tears begin to form, Siryn tells him that his sentiment is all nice and fine… but it’s a dumb thing to be doing. Warpath asks her why that is, and she responds that it’s because you can’t like someone who hates themselves as much as she hates herself! Releasing an agonized sonic scream, Siryn busts the monitor screens inside the bunker and sends Warpath reeling into the wall. She then storms out, while Warpath is left only to rub his head in pain and mutter that she didn’t have to shout…
As Siryn steps outside, Cable is waiting at the entrance of the bunker to ask her if that was a sonic scream he just heard. He’s curious if everything is all right, and Siryn curtly responds that she’s fine. As she brusquely continues past him, Cable asks her if he should call Rictor on the car phone! and tell him to add a few monitor screens to the shopping list. Siryn curtly responds that he should. As Warpath emerges in her wake, Cable tells him that the advice he gave him in regards to confronting Siryn about her drinking, and telling her how he feels about her--
Warpath interrupts him to note that it was bad advice. Cable corrects him: it was just tough advice, for a tough problem. Proceeding later into another bunker, Cable mutters that it feels like it’s all falling apart… but he can’t let it. Not when he’s so close to getting his life back on track again. He asks the Professor to bring up Comm-Link Alpha One, and the Professor immediately informs Cable that the signal is going through. Cable thanks him, to which the Professor smartly asks what else a neo-sentient silicon-cycled multi-giga-hertz mega-parallel processing entity is for, before anticlimactically adding that the call is on-line.
Cable greets his call with a simple, “Hi,” to which she replies that he’s making a bad habit of this. He says he knows… but he needs her, addressing the woman known as Domino, who stands before him on the video screen. She replies that she understands, and that after everything he’s just went through, she can’t say no… then adds that she is in L.A., and will arrive at the base in a few hours.
Elsewhere, far from Camp Verde and within pitch darkness, a voice asks over an intercom if he is awake. As dim light begins to fill the darkness, another voice responds that he is not yet, chief. More light begins to filter in as the intercom commands someone to “prod him a bit” … and not to call him chief! Suddenly, Shatterstar’s eyes shoot fully open, and the darkness is replaced by a hi-tech firearm pointed directly in his face. Shatterstar quickly smacks the gun away from the purple-suited thug, knocks him to the floor, and catches the gun before it can hit the ground, whilst asking Arcade if he would prefer if he simply called him a hearse.
Arcade inquires over the loudspeaker that Shatterstar’s a comedian, is he? …and since when did he develop a sense of humor? Shatterstar replies that it is ever since he has been able to find so much on this world that amuses him… starting, quite obviously, with Arcade. Arcade, taken aback, asks for confirmation that he amuses Shatterstar… that Shatterstar stares death in the eye and laughs? Shatterstar glibly retorts that, no, he smirks, before pointedly asking where he is, who Arcade is, and what Arcade wants with him.
Noting that Shatterstar sure is a terse change of pace from the spandex types that he’s used to, Arcade dutifully explains that he is, well, Arcade: one of the world’s foremost and funderful assassins! Shatterstar is in his brand-spanking-new traveling edition of Murderworld (coming soon to a city near you), and he’s there because Arcade has been hired to make him jump through hoops… Arcade’s hoops! Shatterstar asks why he should do this, and Arcade notes that Shatterstar was born and bred to entertain the masses… and, around there, he is the masses! Shatterstar merely notes that the compensation he is used to receiving for his performance includes survival assurances, and he inquires as to whether Arcade offers any such assurances.
As a nearby wall slides away to reveal the family Shatterstar met earlier, Arcade jovially notes naaah… because Shatterstar isn’t really fighting for his own survival. That’d be too easy! No, he’s fighting for the lives of this nice little family that Arcade picked up along with him. Focusing upon the frowning little boy, Shatterstar notes that they are of no use to him. Arcade calmly replies that he thinks Shatterstar is lying… you know, the tough, indifferent attitude that’s supposed to make him doubt his master plan. As another wall slides away to reveal red-and-purple-clad soldiers, Arcade continues that it won’t work, bucko, because this adorable family is certainly of interest to these gentlemen: a fine group of guys who’ve come a long, long way from home for a chance to play with Shatterstar!
Raising his weapon, the lead soldier greets Shatterstar, calling him the dog-kisser of the Cadre Alliance. Shatterstar is bewildered by the presence of soldiers from Mojo’s Imperial Protectorate, and can only surmise that they have been transported from his own homeworld to battle him. The soldier with the raised weapon corrects Shatterstar, explaining that the way to victory in their impending contest is not through Shatterstar’s death…
Shatterstar quickly realizes the soldier is aiming at the daughter of the family, and races to outrun the shot as the soldier fires. Shatterstar screams at the girl to cover her eyes, but his instructions are met only by her asking why. Ever practical, Shatterstar accepts her disobedience, but asks her to at least roll with the fall as he kicks to the floor the column she is restrained upon, knocking her out of the way of the blast. Noting that she didn’t follow his instructions that time either, Shatterstar is left to muse aloud whether all children on this planet are so inefficient in the ways of survival. He then requests that she please stop crying, and give him a moment to pry her manacles apart. She replies that she’s only crying because she’s scared, so Shatterstar requests that she cease being scared.
As Shatterstar frees the girl, another soldier derisively notes that he’s coddling a “Terran simp,” and can’t believe that of all the dogs the Protectorate once fought, Shatterstar was once considered the pick of the litter. Firing a series of razor-sharp blades at Shatterstar and the girl, the soldier forces Shatterstar to shield the girl with his body. Asked by the son of the family whether he is okay, Shatterstar replies that he has been better, and then commands the girl to take one of the flechettes that are embedded in his arm and use it to pry her brother loose. The girl confirms her understanding with “gross,” then asks Shatterstar where he’s going.
Removing the remaining blades that are lodged in his flesh, Shatterstar announces that he feels they’ve all played around quite enough… so, he commands the soldiers, pull up the curtain-- because it’s show time! As Shatterstar dashes between the legs of one of the soldiers, the soldier asks whether Shatterstar still continues to flit about to and fro during battle like he did as a pup. Shatterstar replies that he does whatever works… and the crowds always found his style unique anyway; it made him a star. He drives this point home by popping up behind the soldier before he can react and viciously slashing him across the back of the neck with the borrowed blades. Noting that the soldier will be kept busy trying to reattach his neck to his shoulders, Shatterstar announces that he hopes the soldier won’t mind if he borrows his blaster to assist him in defeating the soldier’s teammates.
From a distance, one of the other soldiers points out that their game parameters involve only the successful termination of the human targets… so defeating them will not grant Shatterstar victory if the targets are still gainfully acquired. Dashing forward and opening fire upon the two soldiers, Shatterstar wonders aloud at how little his world has progressed since his absence from it. There is more to the battle, Shatterstar explains he has learned, than merely coming out victorious. What you fight for and how you fight are just as important. The soldier merely retorts that Shatterstar is clearly more of an idealistic fool than ever, whilst his remaining comrade tells him to mark his spot. Disappearing into the smoke curling about the battlefield, Shatterstar reappears on a catwalk above the soldiers while they try to figure out where their target has gone. Realizing the answer too late, Shatterstar descends, rounds firing repeatedly, and announces that the show is over… Mojo-kissing airwave riders!
While his comrade explodes, Shatterstar reminds the last soldier that he is the only one remaining… and if the soldier surrenders, he will allow him to live. The soldier merely replies that he does not think Shatterstar is in any position to be making demands, for, he notes while clutching the two children to him, he now has the humans. Shatterstar is left to wearily note that he grows very tired of being placed in these morally compromising situations, adding that for the benefit of the soldier’s continued capacity to breathe, he should release the innocents. The mother calls out to Shatterstar, begging him to not let harm come to her children. The soldier retorts to the “human cow” that Shatterstar wouldn’t risk it... he’s lost the foojkies to capture and enrapture an audience as he once did.
Shatterstar concedes that perhaps the soldier is correct. It appears his life has changed, since he no longer has the desire or the requirement of simply fighting for the entertainment of mindless masses. The soldier, bewildered, asks him what he does fight for. Shatterstar replies, squeezing the trigger of his pilfered weapon, that he fights for a cause he can believe in! …And once he discovers just what that is, he will tell him.
This proves to be slightly misleading, since he immediately follows this statement by blowing the soldier’s face off, effectively putting an end to ever being able to tell the soldier what he fights for. However, the children are still saved, and Arcade, watching all this transpire on his viewscreen, notes to “Mr. Star” that this was very dramatic! Narrating the predictable actions that Arcade predicted would occur, he tells Shatterstar to now free mommy and daddy… very good! Meanwhile, the father sternly tells Shatterstar that it was an awfully big risk he took with his children. Shatterstar curtly replies that, had he lowered his weapon, both children would be dead.
Arcade interrupts over the loudspeaker, asking the two of them to cut it out and leave well enough alone before he puts them through it all over again. He adds that the Brady Bunch is free to go, prompting Shatterstar to inquire what will become of him: he has succeeded in Arcade’s twisted game, so what is to prevent him from leaving as well?
Well, replies Arcade, the way he looks at it… two things! As he says this, a hole in the floor opens near Shatterstar and a facsimile of his classic brown-and-white uniform rises up. Bewildered, Shatterstar asks Arcade why he is offering him a version of the outfit he wore when he first came to Earth. Arcade tells him to just put it on, he’ll see. Turning to the family, Shatterstar commands all of them to go and announces he will stay. The family, acting rather disturbingly calm, cheerfully thanks Shatterstar for his assistance and asks if he’s sure he’ll be okay. The father announces he’s going to call the police, but Shatterstar explains that by the time the constabulary is informed, Arcade will be long gone. He tells them to fear not; he will be fine: after all, this is what he was born and bred to do.
Arcade notes that Shatterstar is exactly correct, which is why he wants him to face the next round of fun in a costume more benefiting of his origins! Shatterstar announces that the clothes he wears matter little to him at this point. Arcade responds that Shatterstar will understand why these clothes are more appropriate when he shows him reason numero uno as to why he’ll want to stay and play a little while longer. Shatterstar, growing impatient, announces that he is waiting. Arcade says he’d like to show Shatterstar the one who hired him to have Shatterstar assassinated, and brings up a holographic display of Major Domo, the master programmer responsible for running the oppressive rule of Mojo V on Shatterstar’s homeworld. Arcade explains that Major Domo is afraid that Shatterstar may come back and threaten his position of power. Shatterstar confirms that Domo has valid reason to be afraid, but he senses that there’s more to this…
Arcade, grinning ear-to-ear, announces that there is. That someone else hired him to test out another of Shatterstar’s peers, so Arcade, being the economically-minded guy that he is, figured he’d kill two birds with one stone. In fact, from what he understands, Shatterstar even knows the young man! A man who is fighting for the same things Shatterstar is… a cause to believe in, the truth about himself, a place in this world… and unfortunately, he’s going to have to fight Shatterstar in order to get any of those things… fight him to the death!
As familiar blades rain down around him, Shatterstar can only mutter “No…” as Adam-X, the X-Treme, offers his greetings and leaps down to do battle…


[User]
<image><image><image><image><image><image><image><image><image><image><image><image><image><image><image><image><image><image><image><image><image><image><image><image><image><image><image><image><image><image><image><image><image><image><image>
Provide a full summary of the comic book.

[Assistant]
Something Worth Fighting For
Two figures violently clash. One, wielding swords and clad in a billowy white uniform, collides with the other and slashes him across the mouth. This is all either of these two young men have ever wanted. The one who wields the blades is called Shatterstar: a mutant gladiator from another dimension, born and bred for the entertainment of the masses. The other is known only as “Adam X,” the X-Treme. He knows nothing of his past beyond the fact he was raised on another planet yet knew in his heart that Earth was his home in almost every sense.
Now, given no choice in the matter, they fight each other in a brutal and bloody encounter. Both fight as prisoners of the assassin-for-hire known as Arcade, and both have been promised personal survival only through the death of their opponent. It’s not what either of them wants. When they first met weeks ago, they both sensed a kindred spirit within the other… and perhaps because of these similarities, they continue to ferociously attack each other while simultaneously attempting to apologize for their actions.
As Shatterstar backflips into the air to put distance between his opponent and himself, Adam-X requests that Shatterstar not force him to chase him down before he kills him. As Shatterstar lands, Adam-X continues, explaining that it would be best for the both of them if he simply allowed the ridiculous situation to mercifully end. Shatterstar replies that he has little desire himself to fight Adam-X, but must also ask just what makes Adam-X think that their contest will end with him as the victor?
Dashing forward and landing a blow, Adam-X notes his reason: just the fact he’s faster, stronger and better than Shatterstar! Conceding that Adam-X’s attack was well-met, Shatterstar adds that it was not sufficient to force a Cadre Alliance warrior into submission. Kicking Shatterstar across the face, Adam-X makes it clear that he is not a soldier. He has fought against soldiers and armies his entire life, and he does not fight… he has never fought… because he wants to, but rather because he has to. Recovering, Shatterstar states that he empathizes with Adam-X’s emotional turmoil, but notes that Adam-X is not exactly talking to someone who is terribly excited to be in this situation either. Conceding that he knows this, Adam-X then adds - narrating his simultaneous action - that he’s not raking metal spikes across Shatterstar’s face because he enjoys it; he’s doing it because he has no choice in the matter.
Announcing that blood has been drawn, Adam-X informs Shatterstar that this means he is defeated. Muttering “burn,” Adam-X activates his mutant powers and ignites all the electrolytes in Shatterstar’s bloodstream. As Shatterstar collapses in a smoldering heap, Adam-X turns to the cameras and announces to Arcade that it’s over… and that he will not kill Shatterstar, if that’s what Arcade is expecting. He has soiled his hands enough for this lifeline… Arcade can stain his own conscience.
Watching from his control room, Arcade notes that his mysterious young friend is very noble… and protestations aside, he was just as efficient and deadly as he was advertised to be. Adam-X asks who hired Arcade to manipulate him in such a cowardly manner, but Arcade merely replies that that would be telling… he never divulges his client’s name unless it’s to his own advantage. Oh, adds Arcade (as Shatterstar silently rises up behind Adam-X), speaking of cowardly, he’d watch out if he were you…
Turning around too late, Adam-X can barely manage an “eh--?” before Shatterstar lands a brutal kick across his jaw. Explaining that he is well aware of how the dog Arcade manipulates his quarry, and that neither of them wants to fight, Shatterstar must still admit that (ask any of his troopmates) even in mock combat he has far too much stubborn pride to be defeated that easily! Looming over a stunned Adam-X, Shatterstar begs him to stay his hand and think… there must be a better way to extricate themselves from the situation, without the need for either of them to die. Frustrated, Adam-X curses and notes how very dense Shatterstar is: if he allows himself to be defeated, or if he fails Arcade’s demands, it’s not his life… or Shatterstar’s, for that matter… that he’s worried about.
With a vibrant flash, a holographic projection of Arcade appears on the scene and applauds how disgustingly noble Adam is. Shatterstar inquires as to whether Arcade is forcing Adam-X into combat in the same manner he forced Shatterstar earlier… threatening the lives of innocents if Adam-X doesn’t participate in the blood sport. Arcade enthusiastically supports Shatterstar’s hypothesis, but requests he change “innocents” to the singular. He finds that it provides a greater incentive for misguided men of honor such as them to fight… and Shatterstar shall understand why, in this particular case, there are some things in life worth fighting for!
A cage descends from the ceiling, containing a gaudily-dressed young brunette with two giant ponytails. Prominently visible upon her bright yellow leotard is the same symbol that lies emblazoned upon Shatterstar’s outfit. Stunned, Shatterstar mutters that it cannot be! Adam-X asks Shatterstar if he now sees why he had no choice… Arcade threatened to kill the girl unless he fought Shatterstar to the death.
Shatterstar shouts out the name “Windsong,” and asks how!? Confused, Adam-X enquires as to whether Shatterstar knows the girl. Shatterstar replies that he should hope so… she is his wife.
Elsewhere, at the Camp Verde reservation, the current makeshift base of X-Force, Cable crouches upon a rock outcropping and watches a Jeep approach from two miles way…one advantage to having a cybernetic eye. He is torn between what he thought his mission in life would be and what he’s learned he must do in order to accomplish it.  He has realized that after having been away from the young soldiers of X-Force for so long, his return hasn’t gone as smoothly as he had hoped. Just as he has finally found his direction… he’s watching X-Force lose theirs.
Tempo flies down, interrupting Cable’s musings. Without turning, he states that she’s leaving… isn’t she? Tempo offers affirmation. She can’t live this life anymore; she wants to go back to college, get a job and have two point five kids… is that too much to ask? Cable tells her that it’s not, of course… and, of course, it is. Tempo changes the subject: she knows what she did was wrong, that she’s made her share of mistakes… but she just wants to thank Cable for not turning her over to the authorities. Cable tells her that she’s young. She can change. As Tempo takes to the air, he offers her a wish of good luck… and that if things don’t work out for her, she knows where to find them.
Cable had hoped she would stay, if only to balance the scales a bit in comparison to the losses that the battle with the new Mutant Liberation Front had brought X-Force. As Tempo disappears, the Jeep finishes its arrival, and Cable feels greatly reassured at the sight of its driver. He has a feeling that things will start falling back into place. Of course, this is partially because whenever Domino is around, things have a habit of doing that…
Cable tells her that he’s glad she could come. Domino’s response is to try to get something straight… Cable wants her to hang out with him-- there-- in these barracks? He merely replies that she never was one for silk lace and soft carpeting. She retorts that she’s starting to regret that… what does he expect out of her? He replies that he only expects her to be herself: the kids need that; they need her. Domino caustically replies that she gets it… and isn’t it rich? Be herself… even though the only Domino that the X-Force youth have ever known was the scheming Vanessa Carlysle impersonating her!
Cable brightly replies that he has impersonated a heartless soldier, and Stryfe has impersonated him, and… around there, they’re all used to that kind of thing. Domino can only note that she should have her head examined for this. Watching this transpire from a bluff near the X-Force communications bunker “57,” Warpath can see Cable’s awkwardness and imagine his hesitant words. He understands how Cable feels about Domino, just like Cable knew how Warpath felt about Siryn. If someone like Cable can confront his feelings, ponders Warpath, why can’t he?
Descending into the communications bunker, Warpath asks Siryn if she needs a hand. Siryn is on her knees, equipped with broom and dustpan, attempting to clean up the mess she made hours ago with her sonic scream. She apologizes to Warpath for what she did before… she didn’t mean to use her scream at him like that, but what he said… it scared her. Warpath replies that he told her he cared about her because he does, but he wants to help her because she needs it… not because of what he might get out of it. She’s his friend, he explains, and he wants to see her happy… and when she’s not, it just… tears him up inside.
Siryn replies that Warpath is a good man. He tells her he isn’t, not yet, but he’s trying to be. Leaning against him, Siryn says that she thinks she needs to go home for a few days; she needs to feel connected to a place again, and straighten up her head a bit. She then asks Warpath how he feels about taking a holiday: does he want to come with her? Ecstatic, Warpath can only ask, stumblingly, “with you?!” Home? Does Siryn mean… home home?
Speaking of Siryn’s home… far elsewhere, in County Mayo, Ireland, where Cassidy Keep lies, two silhouetted figures climb toward it in the moonlight. At the sound of knocking on the door, it’s answered by a small, balding man in suit and bowtie who ponders who could be calling at this hour… before realizing that, oh lord, it’s him?!
With a flash of plasma, the man is sent flying away from the door to lie in a sizzling heap. As the attack occurs, a greeting rings out, telling Michael that it’s so very good to see him again… but, the voice adds, it wishes that the man were as to glad to see it. Revealing himself in the moonlight, the assailant proves to be Black Tom Cassidy, backed up by the Juggernaut. Chiding the smoldering corpse, Black Tom notes that taking up residence in a home that should be his is a very tacky thing for the family lawyer to do. But the master is back, continues the attacker… Black Tom has come home.
Meanwhile, inside the control room of Murderworld, Arcade gesticulates with excitement over this phenomenal turn of events: Major Domo didn’t tell him about the girl’s relationship with Shatterstar! Back within the actual complex, Adam-X is still bewildered by Shatterstar’s revelation. Shatterstar warns him that on his homeworld, the connotation is quite different than on Earth. Windsong was predetermined to be his genetic bond-mate. When the time for reproduction came, their genetic material would have been combined to perpetuate the arena game warrior-stock. How romantic, mutters Adam-X, prompting Shatterstar to explain that romance was never the intent: improving the games was. He fails to see where emotions were needed. Never mind, mutters Adam-X, continuing that they still have the problem that in order for Shatterstar’s “wife” to survive, he has to kill him!
Nonsense, explains Shatterstar, flinging his sword through the air. Horrified, Adam-X asks him what he’s doing; Shatterstar replies that he is merely exposing Arcade’s ruse… the girl is not real. His sword slices through the facsimile and fragments it like broken glass. In the control room, Arcade muses that Shatterstar guessed it wasn’t real, did he? Arcade continues that he rather liked that crystalline-based laser holoimage that Major Domo provided him. He’s upset that he shattered it. … Then again, he mumbles, he shouldn’t be surprised, his name is Shatterstar, after all…
Inside the complex, Adam-X ponders in furious exasperation what he wouldn’t give to shut Arcade up. Shatterstar states that he will abide by the madness no longer -- if Arcade is holding Windsong prisoner somewhere in Murderworld, her release is the top priority. Bewildered, Adam-X states that Shatterstar doesn’t get it, does he? If they make a move, she’s as good as dead. No, retorts Shatterstar, Adam-X doesn’t “get it.” She is, he elaborates, a Cadre Alliance warrior. Freedom is everything to her, as it is to him… more vital, indeed, than life itself. Adam-X asks him if he’s sure, then answers himself: of course he’s sure. Stating that “here goes,” Adam-X flings blades into all the nearby cameras, eliciting a shower of sparks after each high-pitched flight.
Within the control room, Arcade stares at monitor after monitor displaying nothing but static. Noting that he’s not happy, he asks Ms. Locke what’s going on down in the complex. Ms. Locke offers that if she had to hazard a guess, sir, she’d say that they’re coming to slice and dice him into very little pieces. Frantic, Arcade orders her to call the clients: they’ve lost the control parameters! If those fruit-loops are willing to call his bluff about killing the girl, then they have nothing to hang over their heads!
Ms. Locke tells Arcade to calm down. They know that they doesn’t actually have physical access to Windsong, but Shatterstar and Adam-X don’t. Pepping up again, Arcade says that he likes it; he likes it! Asking Ms. Locke what she’s going to do, she replies that she’ll let him known as soon as she figures it out…
Inside the complex, Adam-X and Shatterstar rapidly press forward through corridors coated with confusing and mislabeled signs indicating directions to and away from the control room. Shatterstar asks Adam-X if he has even the slightest idea where they are going. Adam-X responds that he has not a clue, but he figures that eventually they’ll round one of those corners and run headlong into a squadron of guards… right?
Instead they come upon a massive set of steel doors with “IT’S NOT HERE!” written on them in bright orange paint. Adam-X mutters that he guesses not while Shatterstar notes that much of Arcade’s madness is reminiscent of the more extravagant games on his homeworld. They were devised in ways to test the combatants’ mettle in a psychological as well as a physical manner. So, adds Adam-X, since the signs are telling them that up is down and left is right… what does Shatterstar suggest?
Based on the duplicitous nature of games on his homeworld, replies Shatterstar, he suggests (infantile as it may sound) that they do the exact opposite of what the signs tell them to do! Adam-X only mutters that he was afraid Shatterstar was going to say that… As they attempt to open the two giant doors, Adam-X points out that there’s no access for the doorway. Wedging his blades between them, Shatterstar states that they will make their own… they’ve got it, it’s… opening:
With a svish the doors slide apart to reveal a brick wall. Taped to is it a handwritten note that reads “Ha ha! Ho ho! XXX OOO.” Adam-X grimly muses that if Arcade is watching, he’s getting a pretty good laugh about now. Shatterstar feebly replies that he only said that’s how they would do things on his world… The two are interrupted by the sounds of guns being cocked, and turn to see an enormous squadron of guards waiting behind them. Adam-X mumbles that he really hates that sound.
Back inside the control room, Arcade pounds the keys of his monitor station, asking where the two are and what’s going on with them. Flustered, he asks if SOMEbody will please get him a video feed so he can see what’s happening in his own complex. A nearby soldier tells Arcade to try it now, to which he replies that, if this doesn’t work, his little minimum-wage lackey, he will…
Arcade trails off with a “whoa momma,” as the video display returns to life, showing Adam-X and Shatterstar cutting a brutal swath through the horde of guards. Adam-X shouts “burn” and ignites his powers, prompting Shatterstar to complain that he has no byword to shout in battle. Adam-X suggests “bleed,” to which Shatterstar offers his approval. Pinning one of the lackeys to the wall, Shatterstar demands that the solider tell him where Windsong is being kept, or he will cut out his tongue! Adam-X mutters that that would do the trick…
Inside the control room, a hysterical Arcade notes that he is outta there, so long, sayonara, arrivederci, hasta luego... He orders his staff to call Mr. Milbury and tell him that he’ll be returning his cash deposit to his numbered account in Zurich. He orders his staff to contact Major Domo and tell him he can take his “I assure you Arcade, Shatterstar will not place his wife in jeopardy” and stick it up his--
Stick what up where? asks Adam-X as he and Shatterstar burst into the control room. Shatterstar, seemingly thoroughly unimpressed, says that he takes it this is Arcade. Adam-X confirms this supposition while Shatterstar orders them to turn Windsong over to him now or, he assures them, a horrible death is the nicest thing he could do for them. Ms. Locke taps a key at a nearby computer station and tells Shatterstar that since he asked so nicely… his wish is their command!
Windsong suddenly appears, calling Shatterstar her love and exclaiming how long she has missed him. She reinforces that her captors are going to kill her, and begs Shatterstar to slay the one called X-Treme so that the two of them can go free! Please love, she begs him, we can be together again! Ms. Locke raises a small remote and tells Shatterstar that the detonator is primed to trigger explosives built into Windsong’s manacles: if he makes one move to hurt any of the Murderworld staff, Windsong is dead!
Yeah! adds Arcade, what she said! Looking at his watchless wrist, he adds that he’s on a tight schedule here… kill or be killed! Turning to Adam-X, Shatterstar states that he cannot risk Windsong’s life any longer, and he does not wish to take Adam-X’s. Confused, Adam-X asks Shatterstar what he’s going to do. The only option left to him, replies Shatterstar, who proceeds to plunge his own sword into his chest in a spew of blood.
As Shatterstar collapses to the floor, Ms. Locke can only stand stunned and mutter that Shatterstar is crazy… absolutely insane! Adam-X shouts Shatterstar’s name and rushes over to his fallen friend, while Arcade stands nearby gleefully and shouts Hardee har har! Arcade continues that the joke’s on Shatterstar! His beloved wife was never there to begin with… Ms. Locke simply reprogrammed the hologram systems in order to trick the two of them!
Grabbing Shatterstar’s sword from his chest, Adam-X turns to Arcade and announces he’s going to die for this. As Arcade hops about the control room, Adam-X in comical chase with enormous sword, he tells Adam-X to wait… no… he’s not going to die for this… wait… Holding up a slip of paper, Arcade explains that upon it is the name of the man who hired him to kill Adam-X! Beginning to ingest the paper, Arcade continues: And unless he lets them walk out of there, he’ll never know who it is! And if he finds out who it is, then Adam-X founds out who he is! Swallowing, and unaware that Shatterstar is rising behind him, Arcade asks if he’s drooling. He then tells Adam-X that now that he has succeeded in eliminating one of his targets, their fight is over for now, and he shall simply save him for another day. Shatterstar announces that he doesn’t think so, stabbing Arcade through the chest.
Instead of blood, a shower of sparks explodes out, causing Shatterstar to glumly realize he has just killed a robot, not the real Arcade. Adam-X tells him not to be surprised: people like Arcade rarely have the courage to stand up to battle like a man. And speaking of standing… how is it that Shatterstar still is? Later, says Shatterstar, thrusting his sword toward Ms. Locke’s face and warning her that today both her employer and his clients made a very big mistake. He orders her to tell them both that they will not forget this…
An hour later, Arcade’s traveling Murderworld has been destroyed, and the police and local media are left to perplexedly wonder who was responsible for all the damage. In a back alley, Shatterstar asks Adam-X if it was their obligation to explain what happened to the local constabulary. Adam-X replies he can’t afford to fill out paperwork and have his pictures in the papers… and knowing some of the things that X-Force have been involved in, he hazards to guess that Shatterstar can’t, either. Shatterstar concedes that Adam-X is correct, and then asks him what he plans to do now. Adam-X replies that he is going to find out who the name on the piece of paper is… Milbury.
He then asks Shatterstar how he knew… not just about surviving his self-gutting, but about Windsong being a fake? Shatterstar replies that as far as the suicide ruse, he knows what his body’s restorative abilities are capable of, and he missed all his vital organs by quite a ways. As for Arcade’s desperate ploy regarding Windsong, it was rather easy to see it for the lie it was… considering that he has never had the opportunity to meet his wife. Nice marriage, quips Adam-X, before saying goodbye and disappearing quietly into the streets.
Just then, Rictor pulls up, telling Shatterstar that his timing was perfect. He asks how his day was, to which Shatterstar replies that it was “uneventful.” Oh, replies Rictor, disappointed… lots to talk about, huh? Gonna be a long ride home, he takes it? Actually, replies Shatterstar, it was rather… interesting… if he may tell him about it. And also tell him about… his wife.