[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>
Provide a full summary of the comic book.

[Assistant]
Afterlife
Somewhere in Arkansas, in the wreckage of a twisted Doctor’s laboratory, James Proudstar a.k.a. Warpath lies unmoving. His heart no longer beats. His lungs no longer draw breath. Death has come far too early for this young man, whose life was fraught with pain and loss. But such is the price of being born different. Like his friends in the group known as X-Force, James was a mutant - a human gifted with extraordinary abilities. And, like his friends, he was sworn to protect a world that feared him for his genetic differences. In the end, it seems, the world got the better of him.
Lying motionless, James is surrounded by the various broken instruments and machines from the lab, destroyed by the sonic scream of Theresa “Siryn” Rourke, who is currently doing chest compressions on his bloody chest, to try and re-start his heart. ‘Oh, Jimmy, don’t go dying on me. It’s not yuir time d’ye hear me? It’s not yuir time!’ Siryn whispers. Theresa was only an infant when her mother died in a Belfast bombing. The pain and grief of that loss was something she never truly recovered from, so she built a wall around herself to keep the world at a safe emotional distance. Still, despite her best efforts to keep him out, James Proudstar broke through that wall.
‘C’mon, James. Ye’re an Apache. Ye’re a warrior. Fight for yuir life!’ Siryn exclaims. ‘Don’t let that bloody Doctor beat ye!’ she tells him, holding on to one of his hands. Across the laboratory, Dr Edwin Martynec has reverted from his transmutated form and lies unconscious, hie bones broken and his insides bleeding. At his side the Zero series android at his command lies inoperative, its gears and circuitry shattered. Both man and machine fell victim to Siryn’s devastating scream. ‘Blast it, Jimmy. I’m not getting a pulse - and ye aren’t breathing at all!’ Siryn exclaims, tears pouring down her face. Theresa tells James that he is going to have to work with her. ‘Now breathe!’ she exclaims as he re-commences mouth-to-mouth resuscitation. Siryn continues her efforts at cardiopulmonary resuscitation - refusing to acknowledge the simple and sad truth…that James Proudstar is dead.
Many believe death is merely a transition between states of existence. As the final spark of life faded from his body, James Proudstar’s spirit was ripped from the earthly plane, dragged through the cosmic ether that separates the living from the dead - and forced into this harsh and unforgiving land of brimstone and sulfur, where he now finds himself, wearing only his yellow X-Force pants and carrying a large stick. ‘Wh - where am I?’ James asks as he walks over a red-colored stream. ‘If I’m dead, this is definitely not the place I’d hoped to find myself’.
Warpath tells himself that the last thing he remembers is wrestling with Martynec in his lab, trying to prevent him from using he and Siryn as guinea pigs in one of his sadistic experiments. ‘In the middle of the fight, he stuck me with a hypodermic…and I went into cardiac arrest’. James tells himself that was stupid, as Martynec was one of the men responsible for the massacre of his family and friends, ‘And I let him kill me, too. Some avenger I turned out to be’. James mutters, before deciding that he doesn’t feel dead, simply lost.
Suddenly, a voice shouts ‘James…’. It echoes through the cavern that James has entered with a familiar warmth. It is a voice he never thought he would hear again. Looking up, James sees her face - just as he remembered. Beautiful. Loving. Maternal. ‘Mother…?’ James asks. ‘I’m here, James. We’re all here…your friends…your family…’ James’ mother exclaims as she and others approach him. ‘We’ve all been waiting for you!’ she smiles as she and James embrace. But her touch is not warm and comforting as James expected, but cold and disquieting. ‘Something’s wrong!’ James exclaims, pulling away from his mother, he discovers that she is in fact a demon, with tentacles reaching out for him.
‘What’s wrong, Jimmy baby? Why are you pulling away from me? Don’t you want to give your dear, sweet mother a kiss?’. ‘You’re not my mother! And those - things - aren’t my family!’ James exclaims, motioning to the demons approaching him. ‘Don’t take that tone with me, young man!’ James’ “mother” exclaims, while the demons surround him, trying to touch him. ‘Get away from me!’ Warpath shouts, while the demon claiming to be his mother declares that it has been ages since they had such a fresh young thing with which to state their hunger. ‘Yum…innocent…blood…tasty…’ one of the demons exclaims.
‘Stay back!’ Warpath booms, waving his stick around, before one of the demons tells its brothers and sisters that they must savor this one, for a hearty soul like Warpath can last millennia if devoured slowly. ‘We are legion, foolish child. Surrender!’ one of them exclaims, while another suggests they let him fight, as it likes its meat flavored with resistance. Suddenly, a voice commands the demons to get away from Warpath. ‘He belongs to me!’. The demons part like a sea, creating a pathway between them, leading towards Warpath, who then sees the stranger: ‘YOU? I don’t believe it!’ James shouts.
‘Your senses do not deceive you, Proudstar - it is Stryfe you see before you! Stryfe the Chaos-Bringer! Stryfe the Demon lord!’ booms the foul being as he rides a strange two-headed demon which proceeds to eat some of the other demons. Stryfe was raised from infancy to be the heir to the despot Apocalypse - his purpose in life was to bring pain and suffering to the world - especially to the group of young mutants known as X-Force. Before his death, he released the means to that end - the Legacy Virus - a fatal disease bio-engineered to strike at mutants.
‘This must be Hell if you’re here, Stryfe!’ Warpath exclaims, announcing that Martynec told him Stryfe ordered the Camp Verde massacre. ‘How many people’s lives did you destroy when you were alive?’ James asks. ‘Not enough, Proudstar!’ Stryfe retorts, explaining that is why he brought him here. ‘It’s simple, really. Your soul buys my freedom from this accursed place. You are the sacrifice that guarantees my resurrection. Soon, Stryfe will live again!’
Meanwhile, on Earth, specifically, Missouri, Bobby “Sunspot” DaCosta, Tabitha “Meltdown” Smith and Danielle Moonstar are in a bar, along with their companion Richie Alegria, while a band is playing some rather un-liked music. ‘I don’t know how much more of this I can take, Tabitha!’ Sunspot remarks, leaning against the bar. ‘One more song about lying and cheating and drinking and I’m gonna go ballistic!’. Tabitha replies that It is not her favourite music either, and that when she was growing up her father used to keep the country station on twenty-four hours a day. ‘Is it any wonder I left home?’ she jokes.
‘Hey, excuse me for living, but I happen to like country’ Richie exclaims, revealing that he even went to New York to catch Garth’s concert in Central Park. ‘Richie, you are scaring me’ Meltdown remarks, while Sunspot turns to Dani, who strides towards them, and asks her if she had any luck trying to reach Theresa and James. Moonstar replies that she paged them all night, but they have not called back. ’I think they’re in trouble’ Dani tells her teammates.  ‘You said they had a “thing”, right? Maybe they just gave into their animal urges’ Richie suggests, while Danielle declares that they should not have let them go to Nebraska alone.
‘After all we’ve been through as X-Force? Please. They’ll be fine’ Sunspot replies as he checks out a young woman standing nearby. ‘And speaking of animal urges…there’s something about a girl in cut-offs and cowboy boots…mmm mmm mmm…’. Meltdown hits Sunspot with her elbow and tells hi that he is such a dog. ‘Bow wow’ Bobby replies, smiling. Danielle clutches her head and strides to the door, announcing that she is going to go outside and that she has had a headache all evening. ‘Guess we might as well call it a night, folks’ Richie suggests.
Outside the bar, the sky suddenly opens up in a panoramic display of color and light. ‘Oh, no…Brunnhilde!’ Moonstar gasps as the long-serving Defender and one of Asgard’s most powerful warriors appears. Astride her winged horse, Brunnhilde is also known as Valkyrie, one of the Valkyror - the warrior-women chosen by the Norse all-father Odin to ferry the bravest warriors fallen in battle to Valhalla. For a time, Dani Moonstar became a Valkyrie, and though she no longer shares their otherworldly abilities, her bond with them remains. ‘Once again, I bear bad tidings, sister Moonstar!’ Valkyrie exclaims, informing Dani that her companion, Warpath, has died in combat with an evil changeling and his noble soul has been diverted from its well-deserved reward by infernal machination.
Valkyrie reveals that Warpath’s spirit is trapped in a demon’s inferno and there is little time to right the injustice. ‘Did I just hear right? Did Pippi Longstocking just say that James is dead?’ Meltdown asks, calling Valkyrie “Pippi Longstocking” due to the long braids she now sports. ‘That woman’s riding a flying horse. How -?’ Richie whispers, to which Sunspot tells him he will explain later, while Valkyrie remarks that the treaties governing the worlds of the after life prevent the Valkyror from acting directly. ‘However, you are not bound by these edicts, and can deliver your friend from a torment unimaginable’ Valkyrie tells Moonstar.
Dani tells her teammates that Valkyrie is asking them to follow her to Hell, and explains that it may be the only chance James has. ‘And it may only amount to a chance to say “good-bye” she adds. Bobby tells her not to say that, and exclaims that James can’t die. ‘Stuff like that can’t happen to us! We’ll go and we’ll bring James back’. Meltdown tells Richie that they have to leave him behind on this one. ‘This is one place you don’t want to tag along!’
Back in the Underworld, Warpath holds his staff out towards Stryfe, who stands some feet in front of him. ‘You’re responsible for the death of hundred of my people at Camp Verde. They were innocent. They were no threat to your “project”!’ James exclaims. Stryfe replies that, in his lifetime, he killed thousands, and asks what the simple eradication of one Apache reservation mattered. ‘They were innocent people! They were my family!’ Warpath shouts back. ‘You should thank me, boy. If I hadn’t ordered that massacre, you’d be nothing!’ Stryfe boasts.
‘I gave you real anger, I gave you real hate. I gave you purpose!’ Stryfe exclaims, inches away from Warpath, who smacks Stryfe with his staff, knocking the villains’ mask off. ‘You know nothing about who I am!’ James shouts. Stryfe grins, his face sickly and evil, while exclaims that James is wasting what little energy he has left. ‘Even a soul needs sustenance, and you will find this world barren. This is Hell, boy, and you are one of the damned!’ Stryfe exclaims. Suddenly, a wave of white-hot energy sears the air, and Warpath screams as it smacks into him while Stryfe boasts that nothing curtails his telepathic power here. ‘With this might, I will force you to beg for an end to your misery!’
A weary Warpath tells Stryfe that he is going to have to do better than that, and uses the staff to propel him towards Stryfe, shouting that he will fight Stryfe with every last ounce of strength and resolve that he has. ‘You’re not going to use me to get out of here!’ Warpath boasts, only for Stryfe to tell him that he lost the fight the moment he arrived. ‘You can’t imagine what it cost me to bring you here! Your soul will take my place for eternity!’. Stryfe smacks Warpath backwards before James can strike him, ‘Your suffering has only begun!’ Stryfe booms, while Warpath realizes that he has been knocked back towards a river of lava. James tells himself to twist just right, otherwise he will end up charbroiled Pompeii style. ‘Made it!’ he shouts with a grunt as he twists his body so that he lands on a small piece of island in the middle of the river.
Stryfe hovers over James, telling him that there is nowhere to run, and warns him that he is through toying around with him. ‘Once I break your spirit, I shall be able to leave this infernal place forever!’ Stryfe boasts, while James tells himself that the psi-blast Stryfe hit him with took more out of him than he cares to admit, but knows he cannot give up now, but realizes he doesn’t know how much fight he has left in him. Stryfe lands on the small island, standing over Warpath, he shouts ‘You call yourself Warpath? What do you know about war?’ as he grabs his face, and punches him hard.
‘I’ve levelled cities. I’ve firebombed forests. I’ve annihilated anything that ever got in my way. I’ve left rivers of carnage in my wake’. James falls backwards, his face blood-covered, while Stryfe stands over him, boasting that when he returns to the living world, in Warpath’s body, he will teach the world the true meaning of war. ‘Neither human nor mutant will be safe from the campaign of blood I will wage…and I will start by killing your teammates with you own hands!’
Back in Missouri, Richie sits on the bonnet of his car, gazing up to the sky, he thinks to himself ‘This is insane! First I meet a bunch of kids with super powers who agree to be my bodyguards…then they go off with some Viking angel on a harryhausen horse, and I’m stuck here with nothing to do but wait’. Richie wonders how long it takes to descend into the abyss and rescue a lost soul anyway, before deciding that this isn’t a bad idea for his first big-budget studio feature. “Hellstorm: This Summer, the Devil’s got Uninvited Guests…” Richie tells himself that with the right cast and promotion and merchandising, it could make a fortune.
Suddenly, a voice exclaims ‘Talking to yourself, Richie? That’s a nervous habit’. Richie spins around and shouts ‘What are you doing here? And how did you find me?’. A short man looks up at Richie and explains that they traced his cell-phone calls. ‘Digital technology makes it so much easier to keep tabs on a guy than in the old days’. Richie tells Jonas Blackshear that they had an agreement, and reminds him that he still has another week to pay back the money he borrowed for his film. ‘What can I say, Richie? What with the current fluctuations in the market, things have changed. Now you don’t’.
Blackshear’s thugs grab Richie by the collar: ‘Hey, there’s no need to get rough! I’ll get the money!’ Richie exclaims. ‘Not so tough without your mutie friends, eh, Richie?’ one of the thugs asks, to which the other warns him they are going to have to break some bones. ‘Nothing that won’t heal in a couple of months. But you get the idea’. Suddenly, the two thugs scream as they are engulfed by a mysterious flame. Blackshear runs away in the other direction, while Richie turns to the direction the flame originated from and gasps ‘Bobby…is that you…? Oh…geez…why did you…you didn’t have to…’ Richie exclaims, to which the mysterious being standing before Richie exclaims ‘You’re welcome, Richie. And don’t call me Bobby. Ever’.
Meanwhile, in Arkansas, Theresa “Siryn” Rourke Cassidy kneels beside the body of the unmoving Warpath. ‘C’mon, Jimmy. You’ve been out almost four minutes…I’m running outta time to get yer heart pumping again. After all we’ve been through together, I didn’t think I’d like to lose ye like this’ Siryn exclaims, before she begins to remember various moments she and James have shared over the years:
(Flashback illustrations, narrated by Siryn)
Siryn admits that when they first met - Warpath was fighting the Juggernaut - and she had him pegged as another musclebound hunk with a bad attitude. Attempting to give Warpath mouth-to-mouth once more, Siryn tells James that she was wrong, as underneath the anger was a deep, caring soul who watched out for his friends - even when they weren’t watching out for them selves. Theresa recalls how drinking made her ugly and hateful, but James still stood by her side. ‘Nobody ever done that for me. Everyone in my life’d always run when things got rocky’ Siryn exclaims. ‘But not you’ she whispers, listening for breathing.
Siryn remarks that she knows James wanted to be more than friends, but she did not want to risk spoiling their friendship. ‘My track record when it comes to romance has never been very good’. Siryn begins to continue chest compressions, admitting that when James started seeing Risque she didn’t like it. ‘Maybe I was jealous. She was taking away my best friend. Of course she was also setting you up, but that’s not me point’ Siryn remarks. Siryn clutches her head as she remarks that James is the person she is closest to in the world. ‘I cannae imagine what me life would be like if ye weren’t here’ she whispers.
‘Are you listening, James? I’m not ready to let ye go…’ Siryn exclaims, which causes Warpath, down in the underworld, to gasp ‘Theresa?’ while Stryfe lifts him up by his neck, telling him that he is beyond the help of his friends. ‘You’re alone’ Stryfe tells him, when, suddenly, a demonic voice exclaims ‘I’m disappointed in you, Stryfe’. Stryfe is confused, and turns to see a demon dressed in a suit, standing in a burst of brimstone. ‘I expected more from the self-proclaimed “Chaos-Bringer”. Instead, while you’ve been so enthralled with the sound of your own voice…the boy’s re-established a link…fragile though it may be…with the living!’.
Some claim that Blackheart is the son of the first angel to be cast out of Heaven for plotting against God. Others argue that he is a dark creature from another dimension who has adopted a devilish demeanour to prey upon the weakness and fears or mortal men. One thing is certain, he is malevolence and corruption personified…and in this inferno, his power is absolute. Blackheart tells Stryfe to move quickly as his window of opportunity is closing fast. ‘The terms of our arrangement are in effect for a limited time only’ Blackheart exclaims. Stryfe shouts that Blackheart promised him freedom if he delivered Proudstar to him with his spirit crushed and defeated. ‘And that time is at hand!’ Stryfe booms as he prepares to crush Warpath - only to be bombarded with plasma time-bombs! ‘What in the -?’ Stryfe exclaims.
Through Valkyrie could not herself venture into Blackheart’s infernal plane, she opened an interdimensional portal through which the three X-Force members could cross the hellish border. ‘Is that who I think it is, Sunspot?’ Meltdown asks as she sees Stryfe. ‘Cable’s evil clone. The monster responsible for the Legacy Virus. Do you think he had something to do with James’s death?’ Bobby replies, to which Moonstar declares that they will figure that out later, as right now they need to get James away from Stryfe, then they can figure out if there is any way to return him to life. ‘This is the one time I wish I were still a Valkyrie!’ Dani adds. Bobby tells Dani that she will figure it out. ‘I have faith’ he tells her.
‘I don’t know how you children found your friend, but his fate is already sealed!’ Stryfe booms, before Sunspot flies down and picks Warpath up, rescuing him from Stryfe, Bobby mutters that he didn’t think a disembodied soul would weigh so much. ‘But that probably has to do with the physical laws of this particular underworld’ Bobby realizes, to which Stryfe booms that Warpath’s soul will remain here, in his stead. ‘Not if we can help it!’ Meltdown exclaims as she throws more plasma time-bombs at Stryfe. Tab tells herself to make Stryfe think that this is no big deal and that she is not totally freaked out being smack dab in the middle of Hades.
Stryfe sees Moonstar approaching him and announces that he recognizes her. ‘You’d never have infiltrated the Mutant Liberation Front when I was alive!’ he tells her, boasting that he would have crucified her as an example to all who would cross him. ‘Seems to me that’s a big “what if” considering that Cable buried you!’ ‘You dare mentioning that name to me?’ Stryfe booms, while Danielle tells herself that she will do anything to keep Stryfe distracted and away from James. As she fires psionic arrows at Stryfe, she wishes they were having some effect on him. ‘Guess it’s time I tried something I haven’t done since I was in the New Mutants - reach into his mind and pull out his greatest fear!’ Dani tells herself.
But as she does so, Dani discovers that Stryfe’s mental defences are too strong, and he turns his telepathic power on her. ‘You’re not on my level, little Moonstar!’ Stryfe booms as he smacks Dani in the face, causing her to fall the ground. ‘And if you’re curious about my worst fear…it’s spending eternity here in this pit’ Stryfe tells her.
Nearby, Sunspot places Warpath on the ground while telling Meltdown that Dani is down and James is barely conscious. ‘Great. And add to this your update. Stryfe isn’t our only worry. I hope tall dark and spiked over there isn’t the biblical bad guy he looks like -’ Meltdown begins, motioning to Blackheart, who introduces himself, and informs Sunspot and Meltdown that they are trespassers in his realm. ‘So you’re mad that we gatecrashed your private inferno. Tough. We wouldn’t be here if you and / or Stryfe hadn’t hijacked out friend’s soul!’ Meltdown retorts defiantly. Sunspot tells Blackheart that he knows James Proudstar doesn’t belong here, and that he has to be violating some kind of afterlife accord by keeping him here.
‘You humans are insufferable. Not only do you invade my dimension - but you have the audacity to tell me how to conduct my affairs!’ Blackheart exclaims, suggesting that a taste of Hellfire till put them in their place. ‘You think yourself heroes? Hah! All your sins and hypocrisies are an open book to me. Hell is knowing the truth about yourself - truths the young so often avoid!’ Blackheart remarks as Meltdown and Sunspot find themselves experiencing new scenarios: ‘Tabitha Smith. Even your closest friends are unaware of the things you did when living on the street. But the whores and the junkies and the dealers and the lunatics know the truth…that you belong to them’ Blackheart exclaims. ‘No!’ Meltdown screams as she is pulled at every direction by the aforementioned street people. Moving on to Sunspot, Blackheart asks him how long can he keep his true self hidden from his friends. ‘Once you abandon this pretense of compassion and caring, and give in to the lust and greed in your heart - you have the makings of a fine demon!’ Finding himself naked on the ground, his body slightly twisted, Sunspot asks ‘What have you done to me?’.
Blackheart replies that he has shown them the truth about themselves, but Sunspot reaches out for Tabitha, shouting ‘This is not the truth! Tabitha, don’t listen to him! He’s the master of lies and deception!’. They reach each other, and are returned to their true selves. Sunspot holds Meltdown, who tells him that he if knew the things she has done he might not be so sure. ‘Whatever you did in the past isn’t as important as who you are now…’. ‘Oh, Bobby…’ Meltdown whispers. ‘How I despise the mortal capability for love and compassion’ Blackheart mutters.
Stryfe appears, holding Dani up by her long black hair, he exclaims ‘Behold, Lord Blackheart, I offer you the Cheyenne as an added bonus to our agreement. Perhaps you can use her to bargain with Hela when the Gods of the Underworlds convene’ Stryfe booms. ‘Put her down, you psychopath!’ a voice exclaims, and Stryfe turns to see Warpath crawling towards him. ‘Don’t you know when you’ve been beaten?’ Stryfe asks. ‘I won’t let you hurt my friends!’ James exclaims while Stryfe drops Dani to the ground, then sits over her body, remarking ‘If only I could have fostered this esprit de corps in my cadre. Maybe the X-Men and X-Force would be nothing but a memory. But we can’t live in the past, now can we, James. We have to live in the now. And now is the time you join your family in oblivion’ Stryfe sniggers.
Stryfe gets to his feet and tells James to think about it. ‘Soon your youth and strength will be in the service of my experience and mental acuity’ Stryfe remarks, bombarding him with energy. Perhaps it is the presence of his friends that has reignited Warpath’s spirit. Perhaps he is moved by the feeling that Theresa is by his side, as well. Or perhaps it is the simple realization that he has a life to lead…a world to explore…that gives him the strength to withstand an assault that should cripple him once and for all. ‘NEVER!’ Warpath shouts as he begins punching Stryfe in the face. ‘No, you can’t be doing this!’ Stryfe exclaims. ‘You took my family’s lives - but you could not steal their spirits!’ James exclaims, telling Stryfe that he will not take his spirit. ‘This is your Hell, Stryfe - rot in it forever!’ James exclaims as he holds Stryfe high over his head, and throws him at Blackheart’s feet.
‘Well, that didn’t work out as you planned, now did it?’ Blackheart remarks to Stryfe. With Stryfe’s defeat, the arcane and dire forces that held James prisoner in this world vanish - and a tunnel of pure and blinding light opens behind him - offering his soul passage back to the living. ‘I’m leaving, Blackheart. And my friends are coming with me. Unless you have any objections’ Warpath announces as he leads his teammates out. ‘Please don’t have any objections’ Meltdown exclaims, while Sunspot remarks that James is a spirit, so he doesn’t think they are supposed to follow him. Moonstar tells everyone that it will be all right, as James’s spirit will act as their guide back to Earth. ‘You’re the expert’ Sunspot replies.
At Blackheart’s feet, Stryfe tells him to do something. ‘You can’t just let them leave!’. But Blackheart replies that he can. ‘My world. My rules. Blackheart remarks that in case Stryfe hadn’t realized it, this game was never about X-Force. ‘It was about you. I gave you hope when you had resigned yourself to an eternity of despair…and now that hope has been dashed, your suffering will be all the more meaningful. Oh, how I love my work’ Blackheart grins, while Stryfe screams as he sinks into a river of lava, and demons reach out for him.
Back in Arkansas, ‘Seven minutes…please, God…bring him back!’ Siryn exclaims as she continues chest compressions on Warpath’s blood-covered chest. Suddenly, Warpath moans. ‘Terry…?’ he whispers. ‘James, you’re alive!’ Siryn exclaims. ‘Yeah, but I’ve felt better’ James utters, while Siryn smiles and helps James off the floor. ‘At least you’re feeling something’ Siryn tells him, while James asks ‘I was dead…wasn’t I?’. ‘For close to seven minutes’ Siryn replies, adding that those minutes felt like an eternity. ‘I was afraid I’d lost you forever’ Siryn tells James, touching his head and smiling. ‘I was…well…it’s a long story…but I thought I could hear your voice’ Warpath reveals.
‘It was like a lifeline. Without that and Bobby and Dani and Tabitha…’ James begins, to which Siryn tells him that he is not making sense. ‘Not that you have to, right now’. Suddenly, there is a blinding light, ‘Oh, give us a little credit. We did run defense in Hell’ Meltdown exclaims as she, Dani and Sunspot appear. ‘That light -!’ Siryn gasps, while Sunspot exclaims ‘Wow! That was some wild ride!’. Moonstar explains that moving between life and death is a profound experience under any circumstances, while Meltdown asks if next time someone dies can they at least try to end up in the better part of the after life. ‘So, where did we end up?’ Tabby asks.
Siryn explains that they are in the laboratory of the man Stryfe had kill James’s people. ‘He’s the broken bag of bones by the Zero droid’ Siryn adds, while James and Bobby shake hands, and James tells his friends that he owes them more than he could ever repay. ‘It was nothing, amigo…but the next pizza’s on you!’ Bobby replies, while Tabitha asks James if he found what he was looking for. Picking up some blood-covered files off the floor, James replies that he finally knows who was responsible for the deaths of his loved ones. ‘We know Stryfe’s paying for the atrocities he committed. And with the documents Theresa and I found, we can make sure that everyone else concerned with the massacre pays as well’ James declares, adding that his family can finally rest in peace. ‘Amen to that’ Siryn remarks as she, Dani, Sunspot and Meltdown gather around Warpath.


[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>
Provide a full summary of the comic book.

[Assistant]
Convergence
In a desolate section of the West Texas Basin. The ground rumbles as a man-made storm roars across its cracked earth. The word has been passed through underground channels. A gathering will take place in Burning River Canyon. A celebration that will not be classified, quantified or commercialized. A millennial rave that will attract only those intrepid enough to brave a hostile and unforgiving climate. A convocation that will bring together the fringes of late twentieth century culture in raucous celebration. A festival that will unite a motley collection of freaks and geeks, deadheads and gear heads, techno-pagans and tattooed prodigies - and, oh yes, five individuals whose unique DNA has given them super-human abilities…the members of the mutant strike force called…X-Force!
The massive convoy of vehicles comes to an abrupt halt at the Burning River Canyon, and the mass of unique individuals begins to go about setting up for the festival. X-Force’s convertible stops, and Tabitha “Meltdown” Smith stands on the car, looking around, she exclaims ‘This is even better than I imagined. We are going to have such a good time!’ James “Warpath” Proudstar remarks that he has never seen anything like this before. Theresa “Siryn” Rourke looks sceptical, and mutters that spending a weekend in the desert with a bunch of lunatics is not her idea of a good time. Roberto “Sunspot” DaCosta tells Siryn to chill out. ‘Don’t you think we deserve to cut loose and have a little fun?’ he asks, while Danielle Moonstar, affectionately called Dani, tells her friends that she is getting a really weird vibe.
Walking amongst the mass of gathered people, Warpath asks ‘Weird vibe, Dani? I can’t imagine why. We’re only surrounded by enough crazy people to fill a small town!’ Sunspot declares that is the fun of it, everyone here is free to express themselves however they choose. ‘No one’s constrained by society’s convention’. Siryn remarks that they usually have to hide the fact that they are mutants, but here, she doubts anyone would care. ‘Some of these people are pierced in places that I dinnae want to think about!’ Theresa adds as she looks around at the strange grouping of people.
Meltdown smiles and points at a large structure up ahead: ‘Look, everybody, there it is! The exploding Colossal Man himself!’ Meltdown explains that, every year, a team of artists and craftsmen build the colossus out of wood and metal and neon, and that once he is raised, it signals the festival’s official start, and then at the end of the third night, the colossus is blown to smithereens in a pyrotechnic extravaganza that lights up the desert. ‘At least that’s what I read in Gumbo 3000’ Tabby adds. Typical. Boys always will make any excuse to blow something up’ Siryn mutters, to which Meltdown exclaims ‘Says who? Girls like explosions just as much as boys. I should know!’
Warpath declares that after his experience with Martynec and Stryfe, he has had his fill of death and destruction - even the symbolic kind, before telling his friends that he is going back to the car to set up the tents before it gets dark. Siryn tells James that she will help him, as all the psychotic revelry is giving her a headache. ‘Guess that makes the three of us. Too bad Richie’s not here’ Tabitha remarks as she puts her arms around Bobby and Dani, and refers to their new friend. Moonstar informs her friends that when she called him to let them know where they ended up after leaving Missouri, Richie said that he didn’t need their protection anymore and then hung up on her.
Sunspot tells the girls to forget about Richie Alegria, ‘He was only using us because he needed to keep those mob guys off his back’ Bobby adds, when, suddenly, a voice exclaims ‘Bobby? Tabitha? Dani? Who let you guys out of school without a pass?’ The trio turn to the direction of the voice: ‘It can’t be…’ Bobby whispers. ‘Well, what do you know?’ Meltdown remarks. ‘What happened to you?’ Dani asks as their fellow former New Mutant, Xi’an “Shan” Coy Manh a.k.a. Karma - appearing as she never has before! With short pink hair and wearing a tight purple tank top and low-cut jeans, Xi’an exclaims ‘Okay, so I cut and dyed my hair. Don’t look so alarmed!’ before asking if that is any way to greet their former teammate. ‘It hasn’t been that long since our little New Mutants reunion’ Karma adds.
After leaving Vietnam as a child, Xi’an Coy Manh came to the United States, where she became one of the original New Mutants. Family matters compelled her to leave the New Mutants before the group disbanded and became X-Force. Moonstar and Sunspot embrace their fellow founding New Mutant, while Dani tells Xi’an that she is so much braver than she. ‘I’d be too frightened to do anything that radical to my hair’. Karma replies that she needed change, and reveals that she found a doctor who thinks he can undo the damage Spiral inflicted upon her brother and sister. ‘While they’re undergoing treatment, he convinced me to try to reclaim my own life’ Karma explains.
Bobby asks Shan how she ended up here, to which Shan motions to two girls standing nearby. ‘My girlfriends Simone and Jessikah are documentary filmmakers. They dragged me along with them’ she explains, motioning to the two girls who are in an embrace. ‘Hi’ one of them exclaims. ‘I’m getting all this on video for my graduate project’ the other remarks. Karma asks Bobby what is up with him, ‘I thought your scene was more uptown’ she remarks. ‘Not anymore, Shan. Somebody’s frozen me out of my inheritance. I’m sooo broke!’ Bobby replies, suggesting they don’t talk about that. ‘I’m here to party!’ he exclaims. ‘I second that motion!’ Meltdown declares, leaping into the air.
Nearby, a group calling themselves the Sisters of the New Earth are conducting a cleansing ritual using soil and stone. ‘Oh, Gaia, Earth Mother, we ask your blessing for this gathering - and offer ourselves in humble supplication to your nurturing being’ one girl sitting in a rock formation exclaims, while others are gathered around the outside of the formation. Suddenly, a woman clad in black and wearing a long flowing cape appears beside the circle. ‘A circle of protection? How quaint’ she remarks. The blonde woman in the middle of the circle explains that the canyon is a place of great power, and with the assembly of all these beautiful, wild, artistic souls, there is a great deal of chaotic spiritual energy that needs to be grounded.
The young woman smiles and holding up a stone, asks the newcomer if she would like to place a stone and channel some positive energy into the circle. ‘What’s happening?’ the young woman wonders as the stone suddenly floats up out of her hand, and more stones begin floating up out of the circle. ‘A parlor trick to someone who has lived as long as I have’ the strange woman declares. ‘Who are you?’ the young woman in the circle asks. ‘A true witch, girl. One who has watched the rise and fall of empires. You see you and your “coven” are right about one thing. This canyon will soon be the focal point for a powerful eldritch energy - from which none of your new age pseudo-magic can protect you!’….
At the festival campsite, Warpath and Siryn are almost finished with the tent, as Theresa tells James that she hates this place. ‘It’s as if the whole world’s gone stark raving insane!’ she exclaims. ‘Uh-huh’ James replies as he bangs in another tent peg. As some people dance past, Siryn exclaims that she knows everybody thinks she is being uptight, ‘But is it too much to ask for a little restraint? Siryn realizes that the people who dance past them are naked, and exclaims ‘Oh me God! Did you see that?’ she asks. ‘Uh-huh’ James replies. ‘Jimmy, those people weren’t wearing a stitch of clothing!’ Siryn exclaims. ‘Uh-huh’ James replies as he continues to put the tent pegs in.
‘Oh, you’re not even listening, y’big lug!’ Theresa exclaims, standing up. ‘Did you say something?’ James asks, looking up from the tent pegs. ‘You’re a million miles away’ Siryn remarks. Warpath gets to his feet and apologizes to Siryn, remarking that he keeps thinking about Martynec and Stryfe. Warpath reminds Siryn that for the past few years, all he really wanted was to find out who killed his family. ‘And now that I know, I don’t feel the way I imagined I would. I don’t feel happy or vindicated’ he explains, turning away. Siryn hangs her head as James reveals that he feels empty.
Siryn gets to her feet and puts a hand on James’s shoulder, reminding him that he has been through a lot in the past week. ‘Ye nearly died’ she adds. ‘I did die!’ James tells Theresa, adding that if it wasn’t for her administering CPR, he would not be alive right now. ‘Stryfe, the monster who had ordered the massacre of my reservation, commandeered my soul the moment I flat lined’ James recalls. His mind flashes back to the recent events, and James declares that if DanI’s Valkyrie sister hadn’t brought the rest of X-Force to the infernal dimension where Stryfe was holding him captive, Stryfe would have used him as a ticket out of Hell.
(Flashback, takes place between X-Force (1st series) #74 and #75)
‘You did the right thing by calling me, James. Now get out of here. Leave the clean up to me’ the White Queen tells Warpath as they stand over the body of Edwin Martynec.
(Present)
James declares that he should be happy that Stryfe is going to spend the rest of eternity in the torment that he deserves, and should be satisfied that Emma Frost promised to make sure that Edwin Martynec and the rest of the murderers who took part in the Camp Verde massacre will pay for their crimes. James tells Theresa that he called himself Warpath because he was angry at the world for taking everyone he loved away from him. ‘I don’t want to be that person anymore. I don’t want to define myself by rage’. ‘Then the question is, who do ye wanna be?’ Siryn asks. ‘I wish I knew’ James replies.
Siryn tells James that they have been friends for a couple of years now, and remarks that she knows him better than most people. ‘Believe me when I say, there’s always more to ye than a vengeance-driven warrior’. Theresa tells James that he will figure things out, but not to make himself crazy in the meantime. ‘I think you have more faith in me than I do, Terry’ James replies, before taking his leave, announcing that he is going to take a walk. ‘Are you gonna be okay, Jimmy?’ ‘I’m working on it’ James calls back. Siryn leans on the bonnet of the car, puts her arms behind her head and thinks to herself that she wishes she could help James, but knows he has some things to deal with on his own.
Theresa hopes that James knows she will always be there for him, and admits to herself that almost losing James made her realize how much he means to her. Suddenly, someone touches the car and exclaims ‘Whoooee! A fifty-nine Eldorado! Now, while ah’m sure it lacks the hi-tech conveniences of the PACRAT, ah bet it’s still one sweet ride…’. Siryn spins around and smiles: ‘I’d know that drawl anywhere!’ she exclaims, ‘What’re ye doing here, boyo?’ she asks. ‘Don’t tell me the prodigal’s finally returned?’. The new arrival replies that he doesn’t know, but that it is plain to see nothing ever works out the way we expected!’
Elsewhere, a man is wearing jeans a jacket with the collar pulled up. ‘You appear troubled, my friend’ a woman remarks as he passes where she is sitting on a pile of pillows. ‘Come, sit. I’ll read your fortune. My name’s Clarissa’ the woman offers. ‘Nathan’ the mysterious man replies, before telling the woman ‘No thank you’ as he did not come here to have his fortune read. ‘Aren’t you even the least bit curious about the future, Nathan?’ Clarissa asks. ‘I’ve seen the future, Clarissa. That’s why I’m here. It is time I check up on tomorrow’s best hope’ Nathan remarks, walking away. ‘Huh?’ Clarissa mumbles, confused.
Nearby, Dani, Bobby, Tabby and Shan are making their way through a massive crowd. Shan remarks that she is the last person to accuse anyone of being too serious, before asking Dani what the matter is. ’Aren’t you having a good time?’.  Moonstar replies that she doesn’t know. ‘There’s something in the air - like the calm before the storm’ she remarks, adding that she cannot shake the feeling that someone is watching her. ‘You’re paranoid, Dani. Nobody’s paying attention to us’ Sunspot declares. ‘Yeah, by comparison to everyone else in this freaky crowd, we’re practically young Republicans’ Meltdown jokes.
Suddenly, Tabby sees a human gyroscope and exclaims that it looks like a blast, dragging Sunspot towards it. ‘Um, Tab, this may not be the best idea right now -’ Bobby begins to reply, but Meltdown tells him not to be a ‘fraidy cat. ‘Get that cute Brazilian butt of your in line!’ Karma quietly asks Moonstar what the deal is with Bobby and Tabitha: ‘When did they become a couple?’ Dani asks Shan why she says that, to which Shan replies ‘Look at them. They haven’t been more than an arm’s length away from each other all day’. Inside the human gyroscope, Sunspot shouts ‘TABITHAAAA…’ as he tries not to vomit, spinning around and around in the contraption. ‘Oh, give me a break, Bobby. You’ve been spun around worse than this in the Danger Room!’ Meltdown replies.
‘Si. But I never wolfed down a tofu burrito before a Danger Room session, either!’ Bobby exclaims, while Moonstar explains to Karma that they have been travelling in pretty close quarters over the last few weeks. ‘If something’s going on between those two, it’d be hard to keep it a secret. Not to mention the fact that she and Sam are technically still together’ Moonstar adds, to which Karma suggests that since Sam joined the X-Men that relationship has been on hold. ‘Trust me, long distance relationships never last’.
Karma and Moonstar walk towards a tent, and Shan asks Dani if she ever had a thing for Sam. ‘You two were constantly competing - always trying to one-up the other’ Shan reminds Dani, adding that that kind of tension can lead to things. ‘On television, yes. In my life, no. Sam’s cute, but not my type’ Dani replies, before asking Shan ‘What about you?’. ‘Oh, definitely not my type’ Xi’an replies, before Dani points out Karma’s friends in the tent, and announces that she is going to get a drink. ‘What’s a “smart” drink?’ Moonstar wonders as she sees a sign.
‘What’s up, ladies?’ Karma asks her friends as she walks over to them. Simone replies that she and Jess are going to the robot demolition derby. ‘Gotta capture all that metal-crunching mayhem on tape’ Jessikah replies. Karma tells her friends that she will hook up with them later, explaining that she and Dani have a lot of catching up to do. Moonstar hands Shan one of the “smart drinks” and asks Shan quietly if her friends know she is a mutant. Xi’an replies that Simone knows and Jessikah suspects, adding that she will probably tell her soon.
‘And tell me, mademoiselle, are you officially part of X-Force now?’ Karma asks. Dani rolls her eyes and replies ‘There’s that question again. I’ll let you know when I figure it out’. The two old friends exit the tent and Dani remarks that it seems like forever since she has been able to “dish” with a girlfriend. Karma tells Dani that when she gets back to New York she should call her, as she is sharing a loft in the Village. As Danielle and Xi’an make their way back into the crowd of people, they do not see the mysterious woman in black nearby, who exclaims ‘Ah, Dani Moonstar…fate has brought you here to me, little girl’.
Elsewhere, Bobby and Tabitha are part of a large crowd who has gathered around two performers, one of whom announces that, for their next death-defying stunt, they will juggle the flaming torches, while reciting poignant selections from Suzanne Somers’ classic poetry collection “Touch Me”. ‘If this crowd likes two guys juggling giant match sticks, they’d love the show I could give them!’ Meltdown winks, to which Bobby grabs her by the arm and exclaims ‘You can’t be serious, Tab. You can’t use your powers in public! That’s crazy!’. ‘When did you turn into Theresa, Bobby?’ Tabitha asks. ‘Aren’t you tired of hiding who you are, day out and day in? I am’ Meltdown exclaims, adding that this is one big, wacky freak show. ‘This is the perfect place to go public!’
Suddenly, Meltdown shouts ‘Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, dogs and cats - tonight, for one night only, witness the amazing pyrotechnic wizardry of Tabitha!’ People turn and watch as Meltdown’s body generates plasma time-bombs - charged spheres of bio-electricity that explode on her command. ‘And now, for my big finale!’ Meltdown exclaims as she creates a massive explosion overhead. ‘If you enjoyed my performance, wait until you see what my partner can do!’ Everyone turns to Sunspot, who looks horror-stricken as Meltdown exclaims ‘Ladies and gentlemen, I give you the fabulous Roberto!’ ‘The fabulous Roberto?’ Bobby mumbles.
‘I’m going to get you for this, girl. Maybe not today. Maybe not tomorrow. But one day’ Sunspot snarls at Meltdown, arms folded across his chest, while Tabby covers his laugh and points at him, while the crowd of people wait in anticipation. ‘C’mon, dude, show us what you’ve got!’ someone calls out. ‘Put up or shut up, amigo!’ someone else yells. ‘This isn’t going to be one of those Jim Rose circus acts, is it?’ another person calls out. ‘All right, you asked for it!’ Sunspot declares, asking for everyone’s attention, he declares that deep in the heart of the Amazon he met an Indian shaman who knew the secret language of fire. ‘And before he died, he taught me how to master the living flame’ Sunspot remarks.
When Roberto was fifteen, his body became a solar battery, charged with the heat from the sun. ‘Behold!’ Bobby exclaims as blue flame suddenly bursts form his hands. ‘We can’t compete with that, Mery’ one of the jugglers exclaims, while the other asks Sunspot how he did that. ‘You’re with Industrial Light and Magic, right?’. Meltdown and Sunspot revel in the applause, while Tabitha replies ‘If we told you, we’d have to kill you’, and Bobby declares that they cannot reveal their tricks of the trade. ‘What a charge. Maybe we’re in the wrong business’ Sunspot remarks as he and Meltdown make their way through the crowds of people. Meltdown tells Sunspot not to let the applause go to his head, ‘Even though we were fabulous together!’
Nearby two people dressed up in costumes fit in well amongst the myriad of partygoers. However, they are paying particular attention to Bobby and Tabitha: ‘Look at them using their mutant powers openly’ one of them remarks. ‘They believe they’re safe in this crowd. They don’t realize I can get to them any time I chose’ the male remarks, narrowing his eyes. ‘Do you want to wipe Sunspot out now?’ the female asks. ‘In time, my space warping angel. I want DaCosta to suffer as I have’ the male replies. ‘I want to watch his entire life collapse around him’. He boasts that he has already taken his fortune from him, and next, he will pick off every one of his friends. ‘Then, and only then, will Roberto DaCosta and I have our day of reckoning!’. The man addresses his female companion as Locus and tells her that they have spent enough time here. ‘Let us depart’ he exclaims, to which Locus - the powerful mutant formerly of the Mutant Liberation Front - suddenly rips open Space-Time. ‘You got it, honey. One trans-spatial portal coming up. And I I haven’t told you…I’m so happy to have you back!’ Locus exclaims as they vanish.
Elsewhere amongst the festivities, Warpath sits amongst a group of people banging against various drums. Dani approaches James and asks him if she is bothering him. ‘No. I heard you coming about twenty yards away’ James replies, adding that most people’s footsteps are loud, but hers are like a whisper. ‘Guess that’s one of the benefits of your heightened senses. No one can sneak up on you’ Danielle replies. James asks where everyone else is, to which Moonstar replies Theresa is at the campsite still and Karma is with her filmmaking pals, while Bobby and Tab are probably somewhere getting into trouble. Still in his trance-like state, James tells Danielle that he is sorry if he seems distant, and assures her it is not personal.
Moonstar tells James that the two of them don’t know each other very well, but that if he wants to talk about what happened when he died, then she is here for him. ‘I know a little bit about the afterlife’ Dani adds. ‘I was a Valkyrie, remember. Chooser of the slain. Angel of Valhalla. All that jazz’. James reveals that it is living that worries him. ‘Every day my memories of my family seem to fade a little bit more. What if one day I can’t remember the sound of my father’s laugh or the smell of my mother’s flat bread?’. Danielle remarks that, a long time ago she learned she could create illusions drawn from other people’s psyches, and explains that she has always used it offensively, turning her opponents’ deepest fears against them. ‘But I can also use my gift to find and project the memories you think you’ve lost’ Dani explains, ‘If you’re okay with that’ she adds.
Warpath drops his trance-like state and turns to Dani, telling her that he is, and asks her to go ahead. ‘Everything you’ve ever experienced lies deep within your mind. Only time obscures the details’ Dani remarks, telling James to close his eyes and think of something positive from his childhood. James replies that he had a cat named Coyote. ‘I loved that mischievous old tom’ James remarks. Though she hasn’t the telepathic power of Charles Xavier or the control of Jean Grey, Dani’s empathic sensitivity allows her to navigate through the complex layers of her team-mate’s thoughts and emotions: ‘Open your eyes, James’ Dani exclaims.
(Inside Warpath’s mind)
‘This is incredible, Dani!’ James exclaims, as he finds his cat, Coyote, in his lap. He stands up and Coyote hangs around his feet, while James stands before a homestead, and a voice exclaims ‘You’re home, son!’. James sees his mother, father and grandfather on the porch, and remarks to himself that he was worried this would feel as hollow as Stryfe’s demon servants’ deception, but this actually feels real. Suddenly a voice exclaims ‘Did you really think you could forget us, runt?’. James spins around and gasps ‘John?’. Indeed, standing before him is his older brother, John “Thunderbird” Proudstar. ‘We’re your family, little brother. We’re bonded by blood and sprit’.
John remarks that in his life he let rage blind him to the things that were important - friendship and family. ’Don’t make the same mistake I did. Don’t live your life as if you were at war’ he tells James. ’”Warpath”. What kind of a name is that for such a compassionate soul?’ James’s mother asks. ’Though life if often difficult, remember that we walk with you every day, James. Flesh is ephemeral. Your spirit is eternal’ she adds. ‘Right on, Mom’ John agrees. James and his mother clasp hands as he tells her that he misses her so much. ‘I wish you were still alive’ he adds.
James’s mother tells him that they will be together again, but until that time, he must follow his heart. ‘I - I love you all’ James calls out to his family. ’We know, runt…we know…’ John replies as Warpath’s family fades from view.
(Reality)
‘They were there, as real as I could hope to remember’ James tells Moonstar, before thanking her, remarking that he has been so obsessed by the way his family died that he forgot the way they lived was so much more important. Suddenly, James notices the ground starting to shake, and asks Dani if this is one of her illusions. ‘No! This is all too real!’ Danielle replies as she is knocked over, asking James if he remembers the uneasy feeling she had earlier. ‘Now it’s a full-on alarm!’ ‘We’d better -’ James begins, before the sand suddenly rises in the form a large hand out of the ground and smacks him square in the face, knocking him out.
Moonstar realizes that she has seen this kind of elemental magic at work before, and knows there is only one woman capable of bending the earth to her will. ‘Selene!’ Moonstar exclaims as indeed, the mysterious woman who had been lurking around reveals herself. ‘It’s been a long time since our paths crossed, Dani Moonstar’ the Black Queen exclaims, adding ‘I’m flattered you remember me’. Moonstar declares that she remembers how Selene tried to turn her friends Wolfsbane and Magma into slaves, and warns Selene that if she thinks she can play her like that, then she is mistaken.
With a thought, Dani Moonstar creates a bow of pure psionic energy - however, before she can create an arrow of the same potent ethereal, Selene’s geomantic magic engulfs her in a liquid earth - ‘What the -?’ Dani gasps as the sand rises around her, quickly hardening into an unbreakable shell of marbleized rock.
Less than a mile away, Dani’s plight goes unnoticed by her friends Sunspot and Meltdown, who are caught up in the rhythmic undertow of sound created by four synchronized (and bottom heavy) car stereos. ‘I haven’t let go like this since Carnivale in Sao Paolo’ Bobby remarks, to which Meltdown replies ‘Shake it, don’t break it, Bobby!’. The music pushes them together, awakening an attraction and stripping them of inhibition. ‘Tabitha!’ Sunspot exclaims. ‘Bobby…’ Meltdown replies. A desire is ignited - and they move closer still, pressing their lips together…’EEEEWWWW!’ someone in the crowd exclaims, before Bobby and Tabitha pull away from each other. ’Wow…what did we just do?’ Bobby asks. ’Um…I’m not sure but - we don’t we try it again?’ Tabitha replies. ’I’ll second that motion’ Bobby remarks as they begin to kiss once more.
While hearts beat faster in one corner of the festival, Moonstar’s heart grows cold with fear elsewhere. She is trapped in a formfitting prison of earth and stone, she can barely move her mouth to speak:  ‘Selene, why are you doing this?’ Dani manages to ask. ‘Can’t you feel it, girl? The nine realms are moving into alignment!’ Selene replies. The Black Queen explains that, for one glorious moment each millennium, the mystical energies of this dimension conjoin with eight others, and the person who can harness those other-dimensional currents will gain power that has not been seen in a thousand years. Holding out a box, Selene declares that to channel such power requires the talisman contained in the box, a runestaff carved from a root of Yggdrasil, the world tree that connects each of the nine realms.
Selene declares that obtaining the box took centuries, and opening it requires more work still. ’You see, Eitri the Dwarf forged this puzzle box in such a way that it cannot be opened - unless touched by the blood of an Asgardian!’. Moonstar sarcastically replies that she doesn’t think Thor is going to voluntarily contribute to Selene’s blood bank, to which Selene puts her fingers to Dani’s frozen face, remarking that she hardly needs the Thunder God when Moonstar is available. ‘You were consecrated as a sister of the Valkyror. Your blood will serve as well as any born to the Golden Realm’. ‘No…’ Danielle whispers, but it’s too late as Selene grins when she sticks the tip of a dagger into Dani’s head, drawing blood.
This single drop of Danielle Moonstar’s blood causes the box’s latches to spring open. ‘At last…the runestaff is mine!’ Selene exclaims as the runestaff appears. ‘Already, the staff draws the initial surge of energy as the nine realms move into alignment!’ Selene exclaims excitedly, energy crackling all around her. Selene declares that once the convergence is complete, a torrent of mystical energy will charge this wand with world-destroying power. Moonstar thinks to herself that she cannot let this happen, and tells herself to flex hard enough so that she might be able to get her hand free - and her plan works, as her hand breaks free of the frozen sand. Moonstar tells herself that she must wake up James with a bolt of psionic energy. ‘Sorry I have to do it this way, James…but without a bow to focus my thoughts, I’m aiming blind’ Dani thinks to herself as she unleashes the blast on James, which charges through his body, waking him up.
Selene hovers in the air with the runestaff overhead, purple energy flowing around, she declares that when the moment of convergence occurs, the runestaff will drink in the unleashed energies and she will have power that will make her unto a god! Warpath reminds himself that his last encounter with Selene left him dazed and confused from her sorcery, as his strength is useless against her magic. James tells himself that Selene may not be immune to a telepathic attack, and uses his strength to free Dani from the frozen sand she is encased in, before Selene notices.
‘Nice move, James. Now that my hands are free, I can make this shot count!’ Moonstar exclaims as she unleashes a psionic arrow at Selene, her aim is true, and the bolt of psionic energy causes Selene to lose her grip on the ancient talisman. ‘The runestaff - NO!’ Selene screams, before Warpath catches it. But just as James touches it, the once-in-a-millennium convergence of mystical forces begins. Like a lightning rod, the World-Tree wood of the staff draws the other-dimensional energy into it. For all James Proudstar’s impressive strength, the arcane energies are too much for one human to bear. And though he tries valiantly to keep his grip on the staff, the vortex of primal forces rips the staff from his grasp.
The staff flies through the supernatural turbulence - only to lodge in the “heart” of the scrap metal colossus that watches over this desert gathering. As the mystic storm reaches a thundering crescendo, the neon and metal construct begins to shudder, and spark a life of its own….
While unfathomable forces rumble in the distance, two teens are still reeling from their own unexpected convergence. ‘I was way out of line, Tab. I shouldn’t have kissed you. I mean…we’re friends…’ Sunspot exclaims, but Meltdown tells him not to apologize, telling him that they didn’t do anything to be sorry about. Bobby asks Tabby what they do now - ‘Do we forget about it? Pretend it never happened? Start dating?’. Meltdown tells him to slow down, and asks why they need to decide anything right now. ‘Lets take things slowly’ she suggests, before seeing a body piercing tent and suggests they get pierced. ‘If that doesn’t take our minds off this, I don’t know what will’ Meltdown adds.
‘Of course, this will hurt. But only for a moment. Trust me’ the piercing “technician” exclaims as he puts some gloves on, while Tabitha lies on the chair, clutching Bobby with one hand, she suddenly screams. ‘I haven’t started’ the “technician” remarks as he stands over her with his instruments ready to pierce her bellybutton. Meltdown replies that she knows, and she was kidding. ‘Then could you stop crushing my hand?’ Bobby asks, when, suddenly, a voice exclaims ‘Geez, Tabitha! What in tarnation d’you think you’re doing t’yourself, girl?’. Tabitha and Bobby look to the entrance of the tent: ‘Oh, no!’ Meltdown gasps. ‘Not you!’ Sunspot exclaims.
‘Well, this isn’t the reaction I expected’ Samuel “Cannonball” Guthrie exclaims, smiling as he greets his former teammates. ‘From the look on your faces, you’d think I was Doctor Doom or something!’ Sam jokes. Meltdown lets go of Sunspot’s hand and sits up in the chair, exclaiming ‘Look, Bobby, it’s Sam. Sam Guthrie. Your best friend. My boyfriend!’. The “technician” leans back, exclaiming ‘Hey, missy! Do you want your navel to be pierced or not?’. ‘Oh, that Sam’ Bobby mutters, while Meltdown gets out of the chair, ‘Maybe later’ she tells the piercing “technician”. ‘Guilt-shame-embarrassment-disgrace-remorse-self loathing-dishonor’ are some of the thoughts that race through Bobby’s mind, while Sam asks them how they are doing. ‘Um…good’ Tabitha replies anxiously. ‘Yeah…bueno’ Sunspot mumbles, neither of them making eye-contact with Sam. Sam tells them that he got their postcard from Memphis and figured he would surprise them all.
Arms open wide, Sam tells his friends that they wouldn’t believe how tense things are at the School these days. ‘Scott and Jean have temporarily moved to Alaska. Gambit left under a black cloud. And don’t get my started about Maggott and Marrow!’. Glancing outside the tent, Sam remarks that he knows this is an alternative culture kind of event, while Tabitha whispers ‘I’m not gonna tell him. You tell him’ to Bobby who quietly exclaims that he isn’t saying anything. ‘But is that big ol’ metal fella supposed to be ripping free of its mooring? Uh, guys?’ Sam exclaims, finishing his sentence.
With the runestaff lodged squarely inside its metal skeleton, the energy of the convergence somehow ignites in the inanimate colossal man the sparks of life - and a primal need to be free, as it breaks from its stage, and strides forward through the crowd. ‘Somebody grab the ropes!’ one of the partygoers exclaims. ‘Like that’s gonna help!’ someone mutters, as the crowd begins scattering in every direction. One of the civilians boasts that he can bring that bad boy down with his trusty twelve gauge in his pick-up. ‘I just hope I brought enough ammo’ he adds. ‘There’s no place like home. There’s no place like home…’ someone else begins whispering. ‘Boy, did I pick the wrong day to quit psychedelics’ someone else declares.
Sam looks up at the colossal man and remarks that he may be getting cynical in his old age, but this sure looks like trouble. ‘Thank Heaven for the interruption’ Meltdown thinks to herself, adding that she would rather face a rampaging creature on the loose than deal with Sam right now. ‘I mean, I did invite him to meet us here, but I didn’t expect him to actually show up…and I certainly didn’t expect to end up lip-locked with Bobby’ Meltdown adds. Sam tells Bobby that he is going to fly up and try to get a better fix on the situation. ‘You with me?’ he asks. ‘Um…si…of course, amigo’ Bobby replies, while one of the partygoers exclaims ‘Hey, everybody! The Human Torch is here! Thank God you heroes returned! We missed you, Johnny Storm’, clearly he is mistaken.
Nearby, the mysterious man - Nathan - who had been lurking around the festival suddenly removes his cloak - he is Nathan Summers a.k.a. Cable. Gazing up at the colossal man, Nathan tells himself that his telepathic readings of the creature do not reveal any real consciousness. Cable knows that the fact that it is not sentient doesn’t make it any less dangerous, and tells himself that he has to decide whether to trust X-Force to handle this crisis on their own, or show himself and let them know that he has been surreptitiously keeping tabs on them since the took off on the road.
At the end of the final round of the demolition derby, only one machine of destruction is left functional - then again, that machine gets crushed as the colossal man steps onto it. ‘The colossal man’s moving? How can that be possible?’ Karma asks as she watches the proceedings unfold before her. ‘This is so rocking, Simone. This footage is gonna win us the Oscar’ Jessikah tells her girlfriend. One of the people in the crowd alerts everyone to the fact that the colossal man is making its way towards them. ‘It’s crushing everything in its path!’ someone else remarks. ‘It’s alive! It’s alive!’ someone shouts, before a shrill ‘RUN!’ is heard.
Shan sees the crowd panicking and tells herself that if she doesn’t calm the people down, someone is going to get hurt. And so, the now-pink-haired former New Mutant, with great effort, extends a telepathic blanket over the stampeding festival-goers. Taking control of the crowd’s minds, Karma moves them like chess pieces away from the colossal man’s path of destruction. Indeed, the see of hypnotized people walk away from the colossal man’s direction.
Meanwhile, ‘Foolish girl, you’ve ruined everything!’ Selene shouts as she smacks Moonstar in the face. The Black Queen strikes Danielle again, while exclaiming that she waited centuries for this day, knowing that with the runestaff in her possession, power unknowable would be hers. ’Now that mystical force has been squandered animating some overgrown tinker toy!’. Moonstar is knocked to the ground, trying to ignore the pain caused by Selene’s magically-augmented assault, she begins to focus all the psionic power left in her for one desperate counterattack.
‘Tell me, Selene, what is it that keeps a woman who’s lived as long as you awake at night?’ the weary Moonstar asks, before realizing what that is - and creates an illusion of Selene’s greatest fear - a withered, old version of herself. ‘No, it can’t be! Get away from me!’ Selene exclaims as a look of horror falls over her. ‘Time has been good to you, Selene. How many hundreds have died to indulge your vanity - to maintain your youth? Ah, but fighting the ravages of age doesn’t come as easily as it did a century ago’. The older version of Selene grabs the true Selene, telling her that sooner or later her magic will be as tired and aged as her body.
‘Don’t fear, sweetheart, you won’t be alone. I’ll be there with you - each time you stare into the mirror!’ the aged Selene illusion exclaims. ‘Never! Do you hear me? NEVER!’ Selene screams back. Magic relies on the confidence and concentration of its wielder - Dani’s illusion has broken both in Selene. ‘Get out of my head, Moonstar!’ Selene shouts, clutching her face as she exclaims that Moonstar has won this match. ‘But know this - you’ve cost me dearly, and I will not forget’ Selene warns Danielle, adding that, in the meantime, all the bloodshed that occurs this night is on Moonstar’s hands.
Elsewhere, Sam makes his way through the crowd, telling himself that Karma did her best to keep the crowd under wraps, but she could not reach everyone. He reminds himself that he wanted to keep a low profile here, but it appears that he is going to have tot take care of that rampaging behemoth. ‘Or, perhaps not!’ Sam adds, as he sees Warpath, tangled in some ropes, dragged behind the colossal man. ‘This crazy thing’s unbelievably strong. I’m barely slowing it down’ James thinks to himself, wishing that he could get a decent foothold, before he is suddenly flung into the air.
Flying behind the colossal man is Siryn, who tells James to hang on while she stops the colossal man. She then modulates her voice to a destructive pitch, its sound is drowned out by the thunder of the animated colossus. The colossal man then swats Theresa away, without malice, but its actions motivated by a need to be free of these flesh and blood creatures that swarm around at its feet. Cannonball and Sunspot are in the air, and Sam tells Bobby to get Siryn to safety while he is going to go after the creature. ‘You sound as if you’re still in charge of X-Force, Sam’ Bobby remarks as he catches the shaken Siryn. ‘No offense, buddy. I wasn’t trying to be pushy. Old habits die hard’ Sam replies.
Cannonball remarks that there must be some kind of electronic operating system running the colossal man, and decides he may be able to disable a few connections or cut some hydraulic cable as he then blasts through the colossal man’s middle. ‘Cannonball?’ Warpath exclaims, still hanging by a rope to the colossal man. ‘Don’t know what Sam’s doing here, but his best didn’t even faze this creature!’ James declares, climbing up the side of the colossal man, James remarks that magic is holding it together. ‘And if I can just get to the source…I can pull the plug’.
James sees the runestaff in the heart of the colossal man, and reaches for it while the colossal man tries to shake Warpath off, ‘It knows what I want to do’ James realizes, while telling himself to hold on long enough to ripe the runestaff out. Warpath cries out in pain as he grabs the runestaff, ‘It’s like holding onto a live wire!’ he exclaims, before pulling the runestaff from the colossal man, and announcing that it is slowing down - but James realizes that from the way the colossal man is staggering, it is going to fall at any moment.
Meltdown sees this also, and tells James to get clear. ‘I’m going to finish that thing once and for all!’ Tabby boasts as she creates a large plasma time-bomb. James swings off the colossal man, shouting that they cannot let it fall into the crowd. Meltdown replies that she has that under control, before pointing out that she has never made her time-bombs this big, except a walking erector set calls for unusual solutions. ‘Say goodnight, Gracie’ she jokes as the huge time-bomb slams into the colossal man - and the construction goes up in a burst of flame, with Cannonball, Sunspot and Siryn hovering around the inferno.
X-Force, Cannonball and Karma gather together, while Dani asks if everyone is safe and sound. James replies that he thinks they are all fine, while Siryn explains that she and Sunspot vaporized the exploding debris before it hit the ground. ‘So now that the crisis has passed, can someone explain what in Heaven’s name happened?’ Theresa adds. Moonstar reveals that she and James tried to prevent Selene from using an ancient runestaff to capture the energy from an interdimensional convergence. ‘Unfortunately, the runestaff instead brought the colossal man to life’ Warpath adds. ‘Ach, me head’s spinning. This is all too much for this Irish lass’ Siryn mutters, while Karma smiles as she remarks that the other-dimensional forces weren’t the only things converging today. ‘Look at all of us, together again’. ‘Just call us the Ex-New Mutant Force’ Sunspot jokes. ‘Let’s not, and say we did’ Meltdown replies, while Cannonball declares that this has been some night.
James holds the runestaff and asks ‘What do we do with this?’, to which Moonstar opens a box for him to put it in and announces that she will contact Brunnehilde and give it to the Valkyries for safekeeping. ‘It shouldn’t cause any more trouble for another thousand years or so. I hope’. Cannonball puts his arms around Sunspot and Meltdown and exclaims ‘Man, the three of us, fighting side by side. Just like old times. What a rush!’. Sam adds that it makes him wonder why he left the team. ‘Uh-oh’ Meltdown mutters.
Later, as quickly as this transitory community convened, it disassembles, leaving little trace that it ever existed at all. ‘Hey, it’s the man from the future! Some festival, huh, Nathan?’ exclaims the fortune teller who spoke to Cable earlier. ‘It was interesting, yes’ Nathan replies as the woman is in a car, leaving along with the rest of the festival goers. ‘Things got kinda hairy there for a while. Good thing we had some guardian angels watching over us’ the woman adds. Cable agrees, adding that the “guardian angels” acquitted themselves admirably. ‘See you next year!’ the woman exclaims as she is driven away.
Nathan stands and watches as the sun sets in the background and the convoy of vehicles fades into the distance. His name is Cable, and once upon a time he took a group of mutant teenagers and made them soldiers. Recently, his charges, no longer children, left his command to pursue their own destinies. He came to this place to make certain that they could survive on their own. Now he knows that he trained his X-Force well. He can leave them to their own road. ‘G’journey, X-Force’ he whispers.


[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]
Bittersweet Reunions
This was X-Force - in the beginning - Cannonball! Boomer! Warpath! Siryn! Sunspot! Shatterstar! Feral! Seven very different young mutants united to counter the rising tide of racial oppression - by any means necessary. However, without the leadership and dedication of Sam Guthrie - Cannonball - X-Force might never have coalesced into a unit that believes not only in their cause, but also in each other. His commitment kept the team together through its stormy beginnings. Ironically, he was among the first to break away from the team….
Now though, Sam has returned, visiting the team he helped found, only to discover a very different X-Force. One that is seeking to define themselves, not only as super-powered soldiers, but as real people with real lives. Right at this moment, X-Force are at a bowling alley, and Sam is up next to bowl. ‘We’re tied, Sam. Be a shame if you folded in the final round’ Danielle Moonstar remarks while tying up a shoelace. ‘Don’t even try to psyche me out, Dani. I’m in the zone’ Sam replies as he concentrates on his aim. Resting her head on one of her hands, Theresa “Siryn” Rourke whispers to James “Warpath” Proudstar that this is boring, and asks if he has another quarter.
‘Sorry, Terry, I’m cutting you off’ James tells his dear friend, adding that he liked that Chumbawumba song until she started playing it every ten minutes. Bobby “Sunspot” DaCosta and Tabitha “Meltdown” Smith round out the current X-Force roster, and they are busy staring at each other. ‘You’re going down, Moonstar!’ Cannonball exclaims as he throws the ball down the alley - missing the two outer pins. ‘Oops’ Sam mumbles. ‘Gee. A seven-ten split. Too bad, Sam. I expected better from a real, live member of the X-Men’ Dani remarks, before asking him if they are treating him right in the major league.
Sam replies that he thought being one of the X-Men was going to be a lot different, and explains that ever since their showdown with Bastion, things have been uncomfortable around the Mansion. Sam explains that Gambit left after they found out his part in the mutant massacre, while Cyclops and Phoenix have taken a leave of absence in Alaska. ‘And don’t get me started about the new X-Men - Cecilia Reyes, Maggott and Marrow’. Sam adds that his biggest problem is that he has fallen into old patterns - that he keeps acting like the same fresh-off-the-farm kid he was when he joined the New Mutants. ‘Of course, it’s hard not to feel intimidated around Wolverine’ Sam jokes.
Standing away from Sam, Bobby remarks to Tabitha that they should tell Sam. ‘I’ve been feeling awful since the Colossal Man festival’ he adds. ‘I’d rather tell the Blob I ate the last piece of cake in the refrigerator’ Meltdown replies, pointing out that Sam is only here for a little while, and what he doesn’t know won’t hurt him. Sam throws the bowling ball down the alley once more - but only manages to hit one of the remaining pins down. ‘Like you had a chance, Kentucky’ Dani remarks, smiling. ‘Think you can do better?’ Sam asks. ‘Watch me!’ Dani exclaims.
Warpath asks Sam and Dani if they were always at each other’s throats like this. ‘Ever since we were co-leaders of the New Mutants’ Sam replies, before remarking that he never thought Dani would hook up with X-Force. ‘Your pal Cable didn’t invite me’ Dani smirks, before reminding Sam that she was kind of a wreck after Hela transformed her into her monstrous servant. ‘But it would’ve been nice to have been asked’. Moonstar throws the bowling ball down the alley - and gets a strike. ‘Cable’s mistake, Dani’ Sam smiles.
‘Why does everybody go misty-eyed when talking about the New Mutants?’ a forlorn Siryn asks. ‘If not for the New Mutants, I’d still be living on the streets…instead of living large in the sanitized-for-your-protection of America’s finest discount motels’ Meltdown mutters. Sunspot declares that what they need to do now is figure out what they are going to do as X-Force. ‘We can’t be on the road forever. Sooner or later we’re going to run out of money’ he tells everyone. ‘You could always come back to the Xavier Institute’ Cannonball suggests, sipping a drink, eyes downcast.
‘Forget that, Sam. That would be like moving back in with our parents’ Meltdown exclaims, before announcing that she realizes what is wrong with bowling: ‘There’s no excitement. The pins go down. They get back up. There’s no element of danger. Until now’. With that, Tabby sends a bowling ball sized plasma time bomb down the bowling alley, which detonates when it hits into the pins. ‘See what I mean’ Meltdown asks, while various other ten-pin bowlers all stare at her in awe. ‘Are you out of yuir bloody mind?’ Siryn asks angrily, marching over to Meltdown and grabbing her arm. ‘Ye can’t go using yuir powers in public like that!’ Theresa adds, reminding everyone that they cannot afford to draw the attention of the authorities - ‘Especially in Texas, fer Heaven’s sake!’
‘Sorry, Theresa. It was just a joke. Ha ha’ Meltdown replies, smiling, while everyone else just looks awkward. Tabitha tells everyone not to worry, ‘They’ll just think the machine malfunctioned’ she offers, while Moonstar suggests that they get out of here. ‘All these cowboys are giving us the eye. Guess this concludes this evening’s entertainment’ Sunspot adds.
Meanwhile, elsewhere, an oil tanker has dropped anchor somewhere in the Gulf of Mexico some twelve hours ago. It is registered to a Saudi Arabian corporation. Its cargo had been unloaded two days earlier in Cuba. Today, inside the expansive and empty hold, blood has been spilled and bones broken in a tournament of martial arts and mayhem. Right now in the hold, the former X-Force member known as Domino is battling with a mercenary named Snakeskin, while they are being watched on various monitors, by someone who explains to another man that the gentleman with the chains - Snakeskin - is a Malaysian mercenary whose unfortunate epidermal condition is the reason his professional name is Snakeskin. ‘He comes highly recommended by the Vancouver Tongs. His opponent has the disadvantage of having fought seven other opponents today. Such an extreme workout has to have taken a toll on her…though a few cuts and bruises have never slowed Domino down in the past’.
‘Blasted camera. Always moving in my peripheral vision. I hate playing to an audience’ Domino thinks to herself as the camera continues to hover around her. Still observing the battle, the first man asks the man sitting in a chair if he has any problem with the fact that Domino is a mutant. ‘I am how you say - an equal opportunity employer’ the second man replies, adding that he was pleased to learn that Domino was available and that her resume is tres formidable he adds in French. The first man, standing in the shadows, adds that, fortunately for everyone, Domino has apparently gone freelance after ending her affiliation with the self-righteous mutant soldier Cable. ‘She’s better off on her own’ he adds.
Snakeskin suddenly wraps one of his chains around Domino’s wrist. ‘Not fast enough. Snakeskin’s chains give him a longer reach’ Domino tells herself, while Snakeskin tugs on the chain, pulling Domino towards him. ‘Come to me, baby! I want to look into your eyes and watch as you lose consciousness’ he tells her. Yanked towards Snakeskin, Domino tells herself not to resist, to just go with him - then kicks him in the head. ‘You want me, you can have me!’ she exclaims, while Snakeskin suddenly finds himself tied up in his chains, which Domino quickly wraps around him, turning his weapon against him. ‘Problem with guys like you, Snakeskin, is you’re all talk and no action. You’re such a tease’.
Desperately, Snakeskin uses his powerful legs to propel Domino back into the hull, slamming her against a wall. Domino goes wide-eyed and thinks that she cracked a rib. ‘That’s the second one today’ she adds, but a little pain is not going to make her let go of Snakeskin, and she continues to hold his chain around his neck until he passes out from lack of oxygen. Moments later, Snakeskin collapses at Domino’s feet. Domino wipes her mouth, ‘Eight down. Time to send in the medics’ she exclaims, adding that she could really go for a cigarette right now. ‘Too bad I gave it up. Nothing like a smoke after a fight’ she remarks. ‘You know I don’t approve of smoking’ a voice announces.
‘Oh, right, I forgot, it’ll kill you’ Domino mutters as she leans against a wall, while four medics enter with a stretcher to take Snakeskin away on. ‘As if taking on a handful of the top hand-to-hand fighters in the world won’t’ Domino adds, while the voice over the intercom asks if she is tired. ‘Nah. Not me. In fact, after I mop up the next muscle-bound goon you send at me, I’m gonna go dancing’ Domino replies, while thinking to herself that she is tired, and that this is a lot harder than it was when her mutant powers heightened her reaction time. ‘But this is what I wanted - a chance to prove to myself that I still had my edge’ she adds, as her mind wanders backwards….
(Flashback, narrated by Domino, takes place prior to X-Force (1st series) #76)
That’s why Domino stopped by a place she hadn’t been in years - the Hellhouse, in Chicago, where Patch, the owner and bartender, had a freelance gig lined up for her. ‘Good t’see you back in action, Dom. I’d wish you luck, but you’re the last person who needs it’ Patch said to Domino. Little did Patch know though, as ever since some kind of neural inhibitor was implanted at the base of Domino’s skull, her reaction time has been halved. Domino knows that the smart thing to do would be to disappear, retire somewhere tropical, but she needs to know that she is still in the game.
‘Hey, Dom, now that you and Cable are splitsville, whaddya say you and me team up?’ Deadpool asks as he approached Domino at the bar. ‘All dressed up and no one to kill tonight, huh, Wade?’ Domino replied. ‘No matter what you may have heard from a certain Irish redhead…I am absolutely not a psychopath’ Deadpool exclaimed, referring to Siryn. He added that his psychiatrist assures him that he is only borderline psychopathic. ‘Then again, maybe I am crazy. I’m paying that shrink $125 an hour’.
After losing Deadpool, Domino learned her assignment was to get next to Etienne Rousseau, a reclusive European crime lord, who was weeding out candidates for his personal bodyguard, in a cage-match style competition held aboard a ship in the Gulf of Mexico. It was only after she had taken down half the fighters that Domino realized who was running the match for Rousseau….
(Present)
‘Well, have I passed the audition, Arcade?’ Domino asks, staring at the camera. ‘It warms my heart to know you haven’t forgotten me, Domino, my darling’ the man in the shadows replies. ‘And no. The game’s not over yet. You have one more contestant to face. I’m sure you’ll recognize him’ Arcade declares, grinning.
‘Domino’ a voice from above exclaims. Domino looks up outside the hull and sees her fellow former X-Force teammate, Shatterstar! ‘You’re a sick, twisted man, Arcade!’ Domino exclaims to the camera. ‘So true, my dear. But what I lack in compassion, I make up in showmanship’ Arcade replies, before telling her that her break is over and this match has officially begun. ‘Have fun, kids!’ Arcade exclaims while Shatterstar leaps down towards Domino, sword in hand he tells her that he doesn’t want to fight her, but has no choice. ‘I promise to end this quickly’ he assures her. ‘One more thing, in case either of you has any reservation about taking on a former teammate, consider this - if either one of you tries to pull your punches or throw the fight, I’ll kill your mutual friend, Rictor!’ Arcade announces gleefully.
Meanwhile, somewhere in Mexico, Julio Esteban Richter - better known simply as “Rictor” - is not happy. He sits slumped over in a room with strange devices planted throughout it. He tells himself that it is bad enough Arcade is holding him hostage, surrounded by enough nitro-glycerine that he cannot use his seismic powers, but the sadistic clown wants him to watch his best friend and Domino beat each other to a pulp.
(Shown with flashback images)
Rictor tells himself that what bothers him the most is that Arcade knew exactly how to get to them - planting word that his cousin Ramon was picking up a shipment of guns at a nightclub in Oaxaca, Rictor and Shatterstar went to intercept - and were taken down by sleeping gas. ‘Should’ve known it was a trap’ Rictor tells himself, recalling how he asked Arcade why he was doing this. ‘Did my cousin Ramon pay you -’ Rictor asked Arcade, to which Arcade told him now to be silly, as his family squabbles mean nothing to him. ‘It’s your spaced-out friend Shatterstar I want’ he revealed.
(Present)
Rictor gets to his feet, ‘I can’t stand feeling this helpless. I have to something - anything -’ he thinks to himself as he holds a small monitor in his hand, where Arcade suddenly appears, telling Rictor to have patience and he will walk out of here unless he doesn’t something stupid. ‘Enjoy the show’ Arcade smirks. ‘Aaargh….’ a frustrated Rictor mutters, standing in the middle of the room he is held captive.
Back in Texas, X-Force and Cannonball walk towards their car, with Siryn declaring that it is one thing for Meltdown and Sunspot to show off their powers at that freak festival, as everything was out of the ordinary there. ‘But now we’re in middle America. Where people are scared of what that don’t understand!’ Siryn exclaims, telling Tabitha that if she starts blowing up things for kicks, then she is going to bring the law down on them, or worse. ‘Not to mention someone could be hurt’ she adds. ‘I said I’m sorry, okay? I don’t need a lecture’ Tabitha exclaims, before telling Siryn that she should learn to relax once in a while. ‘Why can’t we have a little fun with our powers once in a while?’ Meltdown adds.
Cannonball puts his arm around Meltdown and tells her that he knows it was wrong, but has to admit that watching those pins fly everywhere made him laugh. ‘Boy, is it good to see you, Tab’ Sam remarks, while Bobby watches them closely. ‘I never thought we’d be apart this long’ Sam adds, before telling his friends that he should rejoin X-Force. ‘What d’ya think?’ he asks. ‘Rejoin X-Force? Um…that’d be…great. Right, Bobby?’ Meltdown replies, looking nervously at Sunspot, who replies ‘Yeah…great’. Siryn tells Sam that they would love to have him with them. ‘Yeah, who needs the X-Men?’ Warpath adds. Everyone gets into the car except for Sunspot and Meltdown, who stand back a bit as Bobby tells Tabitha that they need to tell Sam. ‘He’s our friend’ he reminds her. ‘Tell him what? It’s not like we’re going steady. We just got hot and bothered and kissed. That’s all!’ Tabitha exclaims, telling Bobby that it doesn’t go any further, and Sam never needs to know it happened.
Back aboard the freighter, two former allies circle each other cautiously, neither wishing to initiate the inevitable. ‘Know that I take no pleasure in this, Domino. Arcade has forced my hand’ Shatterstar tells Domino, who tells him not to sweat it. ‘Arcade loves pitting friend against friend. It’s one of his favorite. Do what you have to do. I won’t take it personally’ Domino replies, and as she lunges towards Shatterstar with Snakeskin’s chain, she tells him that neither should he. Shatterstar leaps into the air, causing Arcade to exclaim over the monitor ‘About time, kiddies! I was beginning to think you were going to dance around each other all night!’ Arcade exclaims, before declaring that first blood goes to Shatterstar. ‘You’re getting old, Dom!’
Blood drips from a cut on Domino’s arm, while Domino tells herself that her timing is off, and has to pull herself together and ignore the dull buzz in her brain. Domino thinks that with this thing in her head, she cannot fight recklessly, and has to make every move count. She knows that Shatterstar has the speed and power advantage, but she has fought alongside him, and knows his moves inside and out. Domino reminds herself that Shatterstar is an enigma - his past full of mystery and contradiction. ‘Is he truly a genetically engineered gladiator from another world…or an elaborate fantasy created by a young boy during a coma that lasted most of his childhood…or something else entirely?’
Domino decides that whatever the truth of Shatterstar’s origin, the fact remains he is dangerous opponent - one who, like Snakeskins, relies too much on his weapons. Domino decides to make Shatterstar think she is hesitating, and give him an opening he cannot resist. Shatterstar suddenly lunges towards Domino, who dodges just in time, causing Shatterstar to stab a barrel with his sword, enabling Domino to smack her elbow down onto Shatterstar’s arm. ’Should’ve seen that coming!’ Shatterstar complains, while Domino pulls the sword from the barrel. Domino tells her former teammates that she didn’t want to shatter his forearm, but that she knew he would never part with one of his swords voluntarily.
Taking the sword, Domino remarks it is weird and feels like it carries some sort of electric charge, as if it is fighting against her. Shatterstar informs Domino that the blades are charged with a bio-electric current to make them unwieldy to anyone but himself. ’Then I’ll make this fast!’ Domino exclaims as she lunges towards Shatterstar, who quickly spins around and effortlessly blocks her attack with his second sword. Domino tells herself that it is clear she cannot compete with Shatterstar’s sword fighting ability, so it is time to change tactics.
Domino grabs a hook hanging from above and uses it to swing over Shatterstar’s head. ‘There’s no honor in flight’ Shatterstar calls out, to which Domino replies that she wouldn’t dream of running away from a cute guy like Shatterstar, and swings back around, kicking one of the drums onto him. She is pleased that the drums are full, as that gives them weight to keep Shatterstar occupied as he tries to push the drum off him - distracting him from Domino who swings back around and kicks him in the face. Shatterstar is knocked backwards, unconscious, and Domino stands over him. ‘Okay, so I proved I an still take care of myself in a real fight…too bad I had to beat up a friend to find out’ she thinks to herself, before telling Shatterstar that she is sorry.
‘Oh, don’t apologize, Domino - you won, and that’s what really matters. Savor your victory!’ Arcade exclaims as he stands beside Etienne Rousseau, who congratulates Domino and tells her that she fought magnificently against all opponents. Arcade introduces Etienne Rousseau, and explains that he was once one of Interpol’s most wanted. ‘What about Rictor?’ Domino asks as she suddenly cuts Arcade’s head off - revealing him to be a robot! ‘Mon dieu!’ Rousseau exclaims as he catches the robot’s head. The robot Arcade continues to speak and tells Domino not to have a cow, revealing that his men released Rictor ten minutes ago, and he is unharmed, but humiliated.
Rousseau throws the head away, telling Arcade that his services are no longer required, before extending his hand to Domino, remarking that it is a pleasure to meet her at last. ‘I believe this is the beginning of a profitable relationship for both of us’ but Domino grabs his hand and pulls it behind his back, telling him that as much as she hates to turn down a paying gig, she has got to pass. Rousseau asks her what she is doing, to which Domino reveals that she is taking him in, explaining to him that the UN Security Council wants to talk to him about some deals he made with Hydra, and they hired her to bring him into protective custody.
Half a world away from the oil tanker, the real Arcade is still watching the events on the tanker, as Domino asks Shatterstar how his arm is. Shatterstar replies that it will heal, and tells Domino that next they fight he hopes it is as allies. ‘Ugh! This is so sick-making. She breaks his forearm like a twig and he writes it off!’ Arcade complains, asking whatever happened to blood feuds. ‘Doesn’t anybody hold a grudge anymore?’ he asks, when suddenly, a voice behind him boasts ‘In my arena, the loser would be dead!’. Arcade replies ‘You didn’t hire me to bag and toe your boy. That costs extra’ he remarks as Mojo steps into the light.
The hideous alien declares that he merely wanted to see how Shatterstar has fared since they last met. ‘I’m afraid your world has made him soft’ he remarks, before declaring that if Shatterstar is to fulfil his contract he will need a completely new image. ‘Way I hear it, you’re not the only one with a claim on the boy’ Arcade remarks, to which Mojo replies that no matter what the omni-pathetic Gamesmaster wishes to believe Shatterstar is still the copyrighted property of Mojoworld Interdimensional Entertainment Incorporated - ‘Which means he belongs body and soul to me!’
Back in Texas, Cannonball, Moonstar and Warpath are about to leave the Rio Grande Motel for a food run. ‘You guys want anything?’ someone calls back to Sunspot and Meltdown who are standing in the doorway. ‘I’m fine’ Sunspot replies, but Meltdown declares that she is dying for some frozen yogurt, before they close the door to their motel room. Sunspot remarks that he didn’t think they would ever leave, before asking Tabitha if she thinks Theresa can hear them. ‘Nah, once she starts singing in the shower, she’s tuned out to the rest of the world’ Meltdown replies.
Suddenly, the grab each others hand, and Bobby remarks that he knows they said they were not going to take this any further, but that he cannot stop thinking about her. ‘I know. Me, too’ Tabby replies. They turn and look at each other, faces close together, Bobby asks what they are going to do about Sam. ‘He thinks you two are still together’ he reminds Tab, who tells Bobby that she will talk to Sam later, before they embrace and kiss - just as the door opens and Sam enters, ‘Hey, guys, boy do I feel stupid. I left my wallet on the - Bobby? Tabitha? Wh-What’s going on…?’ Sam exclaims, eyes-wide.
‘Um…it’s not what you think’ Meltdown mumbles as she looks away from both guys. ‘Oh, man. I knew this was gonna happen!’ Sunspot mutters, slapping his hand against his forehead. ‘How could you DO this to me? Ya’ll are my two best friends - and now I come to find out you’ve been fooling around behind my back!’ Cannonball exclaims, before asking how long has this been going on. Sunspot puts his hands on his head as he replies ‘Since the festival…but it’s not like we planned for this to happen’. ‘Oh, that makes me feel so much better’ Sam replies sarcastically, frowning at Bobby and Tabby as he tells them that it is so nice to know their friendship meant that much.
Meltdown tells Cannonball that he cannot blame Sunspot, to which Sam begins to leave the motel room, replying that she needn’t worry, as he blames her plenty, before asking her why she even asked him to come out here. ‘Since you joined the X-Men, we’ve been in different places’ Meltdown declares, telling Sam that she wanted to know where they stood. ‘Y’don’t gotta be a rocket scientist to figure that one, Tabitha Smith. WE’RE THROUGH!’ Cannonball exclaims as he blasts out of the motel and into the air.
Meltdown sighs and mutters ‘Well that went well’, before asking Bobby what they do now. ‘I guess I go after him’ Sunspot replies, before taking flight. Bobby manages to intercept Sam, flying in front of him, he asks Sam not to go off mad, and suggests he comes back and talk. ‘I got nothing to say to you, Roberto DaCosta!’ Cannonball replies, ‘Except if you don’t get out of my way, I’m gonna break you in two!’ Sam adds angrily before continuing on past Bobby. ‘Whoa - Sam, wait!’ Bobby calls out, realizing that if he didn’t move backwards, Sam would have mowed over him. ‘And I thought I was the one with the explosive temper!’ Bobby tells himself. ‘Yeah, like he doesn’t have every reason to be mad’ Bobby admits.
‘What have I done?’ Bobby whispers as he hovers in the air, watching Sam blast away. Moments later, Bobby drops to the ground and tells Tabitha that Sam is gone, and probably half way to New York by now. ‘Do you feel as low as I do?’ Tabitha asks, arms folded, while Warpath and Moonstar get out of the car and walk towards her, while Siryn, dressed in a robe and with a towel around her hair, walks out of the motel. ‘What just happened? Why’d Sam take off like that?’ James asks. ‘We thought he was staying with us’ Danielle points out, while Bobby replies that it doesn’t look like that is going to happen now. ‘Then ye mean Sam’s not coming back to X-Force?’ Siryn asks.
‘Uh-huh. Bobby and I made sure of that’ a nervous Meltdown remarks. ‘I just firebombed my best friend. I need to find a nice hard wall to bang my head against’ Sunspot mumbles as the two of them look away from each other.