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Provide a full summary of the comic book.

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Artifacts & Apocrypha
My name is Sam Guthrie. When I’m in this uniform, people call me Cannonball. It’s been a while since this Kentucky boy set foot in Genosha. I was leading the New Mutants then. We’d come to this tiny island off the coast of East Africa to stop the genocidal plans of a madman. I never expected to return, but here I am, this time as part of X-Force. A lot has changed since my last visit. A month ago, the UN ceded control of Genosha to Magneto, one of the most powerful and dangerous mutants on the planet - now, access to the island is heavily restricted. Needless to say, we’re violating all sorts of international laws and edicts by being here….
‘Incoming! Take cover!’ Sam “Cannonball” Guthrie shouts as he blasts across a street in downtown Genosha, currently in warefare, with cars upturned and fires blazing. Accompanying Sam are several members of the mutant outlaw team X-Force - Domino, Danielle Moonstar, Tabitha “Meltdown” Smith and Jesse “Bedlam” Aaronson.
After opening a mysterious package postmarked Hammer Bay, there was no question I had to come to Genosha. I didn’t expect the rest of the team to accompany me here, but I should have expected they would. We watch out for each other. You couldn’t ask for more loyal friends.
‘Those bombs are getting closer, Sam. Think we’ve been spotted?’ Danielle asks her long-time teammate. Sam replies that after all the trouble they went through to get onto the island and into the city unnoticed, he sure hopes not. ‘The longer we can keep under the radar, the better our chances are of getting out of here intact. Crouching on the ground, Bedlam exclaims that he was crazy to let them talk him in to coming to the middle of a war zone. ‘What was I thinking?’
Jesse Aaronson a.k.a. Jesse Bedlam. X-Force’s newest and most reluctant member.
Tabitha looks out of the alcove they are hiding in and tells Bedlam not to worry, and that he will get used to the never-ending battle and constant conflict. ‘After a while, you’ll even start to look forward to it’ she adds, before announcing that one of Magneto’s vertical take-off and landing vessels is heading their way. ‘Want me to take care of it?’ she asks.
When I first met Tabitha Smith, she called herself Boom-Boom. Now she goes by Meltdown.
‘No, Tab! The last thing we want is to alert Magneto’s forces to our presence!’ Sam exclaims, grabbing Tabitha before she can ready her plasma time-bomb. At that moment, James Proudstar runs towards his teammates, telling Sam that they don’t have much of a choice. ‘I just scouted the next block. A half-dozen armed magistrates are around the corner with a tank!’ James declares.
I sent James Proudstar ahead of us to do reconnaissance. With his heightened senses, strength and speed, he’s the ideal person to take point. Before Magneto, the magistrates were the enforcers that kept Genosha’s genetically augmented slave class, the mutates, in chains. Now the mutates have revolted, and as Magneto has claimed all control of the island, the magistrates are under siege. With their resources limited and their numbers dwindling, the remaining magistrates have become even more desperate and dangerous….
‘Okay, team, we are now officially caught between a rock and a hard place’ Sam tells his teammates, announcing that they are going to have to take out the magistrates and Magneto’s air-guard before they start shooting and X-Force gets caught in the crossfire. ‘If it’s all the same to you, Sam, I’ll pass on this upcoming skirmish. I try to make it a policy to avoid people with guns’ Jesse mutters. ‘Sorry, Jesse. Ah need you to help me take out the hovercraft’ Sam replies, before grabbing the reluctant member of X-Force and blasting to into the air.
Jesse spent much of his childhood alone, being shuttled from foster home to foster home. After his mutant power kicked in, he was recruited by MUSE, the Mutant Underground Support Engine. But even as an underground operative, he worked alone. Now he’s getting a crash course in group interaction and responsibility. Everybody’s got to do their share.
‘Just relax, Jesse. As long as ah’ve got you, you’re protected by the same force field that protects me when I’m in motion -’ Sam begins, to which Jesse declares ‘I’m cool with that, Kentucky, but it’s the letting go part that worries me’ Jesse replies. Sam tells Jesse that he will do fine and asks him if he is ready. ‘Like I have a choice’ Bedlam replies, before Sam drops him onto the back of a mutate hovercraft. ‘Okay Jesse, stay calm. Don’t look down. Try not to think about falling from this height. All I need to do is make contact and this baby’s grounded’ Bedlam tells himself as he begins to unleash his power.
Jesse generates a bioelectric field that creates chaos with mechanical and electronic devices.
‘The controls are frozen, Gregori! Nothing’s responding!’ one of the mutates exclaims. ‘We have to abandon ship now!’ Gregori shouts. ‘Good job, Jesse!’ Sam exclaims as he swoops down and picks Bedlam up while the mutates crash. ‘Hey, next time don’t take so long. I was beginning to feel like Slim Pickens at the end of Dr Strangelove‘. Bedlam exclaims.
Nearby, the magistrates face a unique roadblock.
‘What is this? Some infernal mutate trap, no doubt. Fall back!’ one of the magistrates shouts as plasma time-bombs are thrown their way. ‘Too late. In this case, boys, it’s a mutant trap. Courtesy of the blonde, beautiful and bombastic Meltdown!’. Tabitha exclaims.
Tabitha changes names as often as she changes clothes, but one thing remains constant - her volatile energy spheres pack a mean wallop.
There is a massive KABLAM as the magistrates in a tank nearby open fire, sending Tabitha careening backwards. ‘Hey, watch it with that thing! If you’re not careful you could poke somebody’s eye out!’ Tabitha exclaims, before calling out to Danielle. ‘I’m on it!’ Dani replies, her appearance shifted to blue as quantum energy flows around her.
Like Tabitha, DanI Moonstar’s a mutant who’s endured a number of dramatic changes in her mutant physiology. Her psionic talents have recently taken a backseat to a newfound ability to channel quantum energy…which allows her to affect matter at a subatomic level. And in this case, it lets her liquefy the asphalt below the tank, leaving the vehicle mired in a swamp-like tar.
‘How is this possible?’ one of the magistrates exclaims, motioning to X-Force and exclaiming ‘Look there! More of Magneto’s mutant acolytes! Kill them!’. Suddenly, Proudstar lunges at them: ‘Sorry to disappoint you, gentlemen. We’re not part of Magneto’s entourage. But that doesn’t mean we feel any sympathy for you. You enslaved thousands, treated them like animals, then tried to wipe them out when they rebelled against you!’ James reminds them as he slams them to the ground. ‘If it were up to me, you’d be locked up for the rest of your lives’.
I can hear the whine of the battery feeding on the magistrates concussion cannon.
‘Genosha has had enough of you foreign mutant scum! Now tell your companions to stand down, before I take off your entire heads!’ one of the magistrates booms, his weapon aimed at James’ head. ‘Ya’ll heard the man!’ Sam tells his teammates. The magistrate declares that they are going to wait for the rest of his troops to arrive, and then use X-Force as bait to lure Magneto to his doom. ‘I think you overestimate our value to Magneto, pal’ Sam tells him. ‘You will address me as magistrate, cur!’ the soldier retorts. ‘Whatever you say…magistrate’. James mutters.
By keeping the Magistrate’s attention focused on him, James gives Domino time to move into position to take him down from behind. But before she can act….
The magistrate cries out in agony as searing “hot knives” tear through his body. ‘Don’t look so surprised. I told you I’d find you once you made it into the city’ declares Pete Wisdom as he approaches X-Force. He adds that his timing could not be better, before welcoming X-Force to Hammer Bay. ‘Oh, by the way, I’m Pete Wisdom. I’ll be your guide through all this chaos’.
Pete Wisdom is a former agent of the British Intelligence Agency Black Air, who joined the last Excalibur team. He’s also a mutant who generates hot plasma knives through his fingers, like the ones with which he wounded the magistrate.
Wearing a eye patch over his left eye, Wisdom tells the young mutants to “hold on” and points out that a couple of them are missing. ‘Where are Sunspot and Siryn?’ he asks. Cannonball tells Wisdom that his research must be out of date and informs him that Siryn lost her voice while Sunspot was deported. ‘Tough break. I was counting on their muscle. Not to mention, I’ve always been fond of red haired Irish girls’ Wisdom replies, before telling X-Force that since they knocked the hovercraft out of the sky, reinforcements will be here any minute in response. ‘We don’t want to tangle with the mutate bulldogs Magneto’s conscripted into his ground troops’ Pete tells the young mutants, asking them to follow him.
‘Before we go anywhere, Wisdom, let’s get one thing clear. We’re here because Kitty Pryde vouched for you - not because of the package you sent me. I don’t take kindly to being blackmailed!’ Wisdom tells Sam not to think of it as blackmail, but incentive. ‘I wouldn’t ask you to travel all this way without offering you something in return’ he tells him. Domino warns Wisdom that he had better be on the level, and reveals she called in a lot of favors to get them past the UN blockade. Tabitha tells Wisdom that there is one thing she doesn’t understand, and points out that half of his pals from Excalibur are with the X-Men now, so why didn’t he call them?
Wisdom frowns as he replies that he and Kitty aren’t on speaking terms since their relationship ended. ‘You’re the right group for the job. Trust me’ Wisdom declares as he leads X-Force through the city, bringing them to Hammertowne - what remains of the original port built when the European traders arrived in the 1600’s. ‘As you can see, historical preservation wasn’t a priority for the Genoshan parliament that ran the island before Magneto’ he points out, adding that they were so determined to leapfrog from the nineteenth century to the twenty-first that they destroyed much of the island’s history in the process.
Cannonball asks Wisdom what he is doing here. ‘Are you working with the mutant revolutionaries?’. ‘Not me, mate. Revolutionaries usually wind up dead, and I don’t fancy being a martyr for any cause’ Wisdom replies, adding that he is here to clean up after an old friend. ‘I’ll explain more later’ he assures them, adding that their walking tour has officially ended. ‘Welcome to the Whisper of Heaven’ he exclaims, motioning to a store. ‘A curio shop?’ Dani asks as everyone enters the small store. Domino remarks that it doesn’t look like this place has seen much business lately, to which Bedlam replies ‘No wonder for a souvenir stand, this join is severely lacking. Where are the t-shirts and postcards and snow globes?’
Tabitha sees some boxes on a counter and exclaims that they are amazing. ‘I’ve never seen wood like this before - and the carving is so intricate’ she adds as she touches one of them. ‘Hey! Careful, Smith. And whatever you do, don’t open -’ Wisdom begins, but as Tabitha opens the box, ‘Never mind’ Wisdom mutters, and Tabitha goes silent as a light from the box shines upon her. Tabitha stumbles backwards and holds her head. Domino steadies her and asks what happened, telling her that she zoned out on them all for a minute. ‘That was so weird. For a moment, I felt like it was living somebody else’s life’ Tabitha declares.
(Flashback shown in Meltdown’s mind)
‘It’s 1942. There are rumors that Germans are sending Axis troops to occupy Hammer Bay. I’m sending my son Johannes to the United States to my cousin Louisa’s. I know he’ll be safe there‘. A woman thinks to herself. ‘But I don’t want to go to America, Mum. I want to stay with you’ the boy cries. ‘Chine up, my little man. This won’t be forever. I’ll be on the next passenger ship, I promise’ his mother assures him. ‘Remember, no matter what happens, I love you’ the mother calls out to her young child, who climbs the boardwalk onto the ship. ‘It is the most difficult thing I’ve ever done - because I know the Germans will be here before the next boat. I may never see my baby again’.
(Present)
Tabitha wipes the tears from her eyes as she explains that it was like she was actually there on that pier all those years ago. ‘I could smell the ocean air, feel the dock sway beneath my feet…feel Johannes’s tears on his cheek…okay…I’m not gonna cry…’.
Tabitha’s never liked showing her emotions publicly.
‘I told you not to touch anything. These boxes have been psychically imprinted with other people’s memories. Open one, and that memory becomes yours - in Technicolor and surround sound’ Wisdom declares. ‘Talk about a memory box’ Proudstar remarks, holding one of them in his hand. ‘Is that possible?’ Bedlam asks. ‘Considering my first mutant power allowed me to create phantom’s of other people’s fear…I learned at an early age that thoughts can be made tangible in many ways’ Dani explains.
Sam declares that he is less interested in the mechanics of the boxes than the source of what is inside them. ‘Tell me about the one you sent me, Wisdom’ he declares. Wisdom replies that he could not be certain that his brief tenure in one of the x-teams would be enough to guarantee X-Force’s assistance. ‘I hoped you’d find this intriguing’ he adds. ‘That’s putting it mildly. Ah wasn’t prepared for what Ah experienced when Ah opened this puppy back in San Francisco’ Cannonball declares, holding up the box Wisdom sent to him.
(Shown in flashback images, narrated by Cannonball)
‘All of a sudden Ah was someone else. Ah was in caught in the middle of a storm in a Kentucky cornfield’ Sam reveals. He adds that the lightning was not falling from the sky - it was being generated by a ferocious battle between two giant figures in the distance. ‘Ah was more scared than Ah’d ever been, but Ah had a bunch of children to protect, so Ah had to muster up all the courage Ah had in me’ Sam tells everyone. He told the kids not to look back, but curiosity got the better of one boy, and when he turned around Sam saw his face clear as day - ‘It was me. No question about it. Ah was staring at the face of an eleven year old Samuel Jackson Guthrie…and then the memory ends’.
(Present)
Sam tells everyone that he does not remember anything like that ever happening to him, and yet, his gut tells him it really happened. ‘Whose memory is this?’ Sam asks Wisdom, who replies ‘As I told you in my letter, I’ll provide you with another piece of this puzzle after you help me out’. Sam frowns and points out that X-Force is here. ‘What do you want us to do?’ he asks. Wisdom pulls out a pack of cigarettes as he tells X-Force that after Excalibur disbanded, he reconnected with a few other disillusioned intelligence operatives from his days with Black Air. ‘Some of us wanted to make up for the less than sterling things we did in the service of our respective governments. You wouldn’t believe the ordnance that’s left over from the Cold War alone, and I’m not talking about nukes’.
‘Weapons exist that, if detonated, can liquefy the entire population of a city’ Wisdom reveals. He adds that trying to wrest this kind of armament out of anyone’s hands is not without risk. ‘I lost this eye trying to stop a reactionary KGB cell in Siberia from unleashing a viral bomb the Regan administration developed. Ah, but that’s a story for another day’ Wisdom declares. Putting the cigarette in his mouth, Wisdom announces his current dilemma: ‘Five years ago, the astro-monkeys in Black Air’s space division launched an experimental satellite, codenamed the Faraway - a vessel designed to test a sub-space shunt engine that would, if successful, be the first step in viable interstellar travel’.
Wisdom reveals that the satellite disappeared after entering the subspace rift it created and never came out the other side. He lights his cigarette and announces that six months ago the satellite inexplicably reappeared in Earth’s atmosphere, and crashed into Hammer Bay. ‘A Genoshan recovery team salvaged the Faraway three days before Magneto assumed power. It’s vitally important that you help me retrieve the satellite’s CPU before Magneto realizes what he possesses’ Wisdom declares. Suddenly, a hand emerges from the beads hanging in a doorway, ‘How many times must I ask you not to smoke in my shop, Peter?’ a voice in the next room asks as a woman takes the cigarette from Wisdom’s mouth.
When the woman who steps out from behind the bead curtain looks at me, I almost forget why I’m here. Her eyes are deep and knowing in a way I’ve only encountered in one other person…Jean Grey!
‘He swears to me he’s going to quit, but it is so hard for the British to give up their cigarettes’. The serene woman stands before X-Force as Wisdom introduces her as Delphi, a native Genoshan and that this is her shop. ‘She constructed the memory boxes’ Wisdom explains, adding that she helped him to navigate his way around the island. Delphi bids X-Force welcome and tells them that she looks forward to becoming better acquainted with all of them. ‘I only wish that your visit to our island was not under these circumstances. Many Genoshans abhor what Moreau did to our country, and dream of a sovereign and egalitarian Genosha’ Delphi announces.
Cannonball declares that as they are foreigners they are at a disadvantage. ‘Before we can help Wisdom, we need to do some reconnaissance’ he explains. Dani points out that she and James are best suited for that, and Sam agrees. ‘I want the two of you to -’ he begins, before Delphi announces that such efforts are not necessary, as she can provide them with the geographical knowledge of a native born Genoshan, as well as other skills and knowledge the rest of the team will require for the mission. ‘In payment, all I ask is that you share with me a memory of your own’ Delphi explains. ‘Hold on. I’m not giving up any of my memories so you can box it up and sell it to the next tourist that wanders in off the street!’ Tabitha exclaims. Delphi tells her not to worry, ‘You will not forget the memory you share with me, and more than you do when you share a confidence with a friend’ Delphi assures her as she puts a hand to Meltdown’s face.
Meanwhile, in Sao Paulo, Brazil, where Bobby “Sunspot” DaCosta has returned after being unceremoniously deported from the United States. He has set up residence at the luxurious Hotel Paraiso, which is, conveniently, one of the many holdings of DaCosta International, the company his late father founded. Bobby is wearing only his shorts as he lies beside a swimming pool, a scantily clad brunette hanging off him. The girl tells Bobby that Rodriguez and Cece are holding another party at their estate. ‘The last one went on for days. We must go’ she exclaims. ‘Great’ Bobby replies, not looking up from his magazine. ‘I’m going to need a new dress, then. There’s a black number at the boutique I absolutely have to have!’ the girl declares.
‘Yeah…great’ Bobby mutters while thinking to himself that when he was younger, this was the life he wanted - expensive hotels, beautiful women, unlimited credit. ‘Why does it feel so empty?’ he wonders, realizing that is because he no longer wants to be one of the idle rich. ‘My life had meaning as part of X-Force. With them, I had purpose and direction’ he tells himself as he thinks of Sam, Dani, Tabitha and the rest of his former teammates. ‘Now all I’m doing is sitting on my hands waiting for my lawyers to clear up my VISA status so I can return to the states’.
‘Roberto DaCosta, you haven’t heard a word I’ve said. You never listen to me!’ the girl complains. Sam raises his sunglasses and peers at her, ‘Look, Kiki, I just met you last night. You don’t know anything about me’ he tells her. ‘What’s to know? You were the curtest guy at the club last night; you look better in the daytime - and you were great in -’ Kiki exclaims, nibbling on Bobby’s ear, he interrupts her, ‘Um, sorry, Kik - something’s come up the requires my attention’ Bobby tells her, assuring her that he will call her later as he sees two bulky men in white suits standing in a nearby elevator, one of whom has grabbed a woman. ‘Let go of me!’ the woman shouts. ‘Shut up and get into the elevator the other declares, reaching inside his jacket.
‘Don’t you walk away from me! You’ll regret it!’ Kiki shouts as she throws a glass of drink at Bobby. ‘I already do’ Bobby mutters in reply. Moments later, ‘Hey, fold on, one more going up’ Bobby declares as he grabs the elevator door before it closes. ‘Elevator’s full, my friend’ one of the men replies. ‘No problem. I don’t take up much space; Bobby replies as the door opens. ‘I don’t think you heard me, boy. I said the elevator’s full’ one of the men declares, pointing a gun at Bobby’s face, while the other man holds onto the woman. ‘Doesn’t look that way to me. Maybe the lady’s like to step off and give you two a little more breathing room’ Bobby suggests.
‘This guy’s an idiot, Marcelus. He’s got a gun pointed to his head, and he’s acting like it don’t mean nothing!’ Bobby smiles as he declares that guns don’t bother him, and uses his power to melt the gun pointed at him. ‘Ha. It appears that we aren’t the only ones masquerading as human. Well then. There’s no need to continue this deception, now is there?’ one of the men declares, before both of them transform into demons. ‘About time, Marcelus. I really hate pretending to be one of these small eyed, pale hued, soft skinned apespawn!’ the other declares.
‘Uh-oh’ Bobby mumbles, before he is knocked backwards into a trolley of suitcases. ‘Hey!’ a bellboy exclaims. ‘Ungh. Didn’t see that coming’ Bobby mutters as he shifts to his solar form. ‘Human, you cannot protect the witch. She belongs to us!’ one of the demons declare as they run towards Sunspot. ‘Perhaps he is her familiar. I understand her kind often bonds with lesser animals’ the other suggests. ‘You know, guys, this week my girlfriend dumped me, I got deported, and none of my friends even made it to the airport to see me off. It’s been one really bad week, and I haven’t had any way to work through my anger and frustration. Until now. Take you best shot, boys’ Sunspot declares.
Suddenly, ‘Don’t waste your energy, Roberto’ the woman in the elevator exclaims as the two demons turn to stone. ‘I hate to do that so publicly. Now I’m afraid we’ll have to switch hotels. I’m sure the management frowns on petrifying gargoyles in the lobby’. Bobby looks at the woman and realizes who she is: ‘Selene!’ he exclaims. ‘I’m so pleased you haven’t forgotten me’ Selene exclaims. ‘I wouldn’t have stopped those two monsters if I’d known you were the woman they were manhandling’ Bobby declares. ‘Last time we crossed paths, you nearly caused a riot at the exploding colossal man festival’ Bobby points out, before asking Selene what she is doing this side of the equator. ‘Looking got you, Roberto. I want to make you an offer’ Selene announces.
Back in Genosha, Delphi is receiving Meltdown’s memory:
(Flashback, narrated by Meltdown)
‘I was back in New York…I was barely thirteen…I was in the garbage dump on an Avenue B that I was squatting in after I ran away from home - living on the streets wasn’t working out the way I’d planned. In fact, it really sucked’. Cowering on the filthy ground while a large tattooed man looms over her with a powerful knife, Tabitha looks scared. ‘Hey now, little girl. You gonna be nice to the Tiger, or the Tiger’s gonna cut you bad’ he declares. ‘Keep away from me…please…’ Tabitha replies, one hand raised above her. ‘I thought I was going to die, but suddenly something entirely different and unexpected happened. Energy began coursing through me…and my fear turned to rage’ she explains to everyone, while the plasma courses through her body, ‘Didn’t you hear me? I said, get away from me!’ she shouted at the thug.
(Present)
‘I showed him. I showed him I wasn’t afraid anymore’ Tabitha remarks. Delphi’s eyes flash blue and a blue energy moves from Tabitha’s mind to Delphi, before Delphi tells her that is all they need. ‘Um…that wasn’t the memory I wanted to give you. I don’t like to think about those days’ Tabitha declares. Putting the memory into a box, Delphi replies that she understands, and tells Tabitha to rest easy, promising her that it will find its way only to one who will learn from it. ‘As will the memory James gave me of his brother John, and Jesse’s recollection of the first time he rode a horse’ Delphi assures everyone, before asking who will go next: ‘Samuel or Domino?’
‘I’ve not intention of bartering any of my past with you. My life is not a commodity’ Domino declares. ‘As you wish, Domino, but allow me to offer you this thought’ Delphi replies: ‘Some of the secrets you guard so reverently will destroy you eventually if you don’t find a way to deal with them’. Domino punches Wisdom’s shoulder, asking him what kind of psycho babble con are he and his psychic hotline friend trying to pull. Wisdom replies that he is no fan of telepaths either, adding that he has more than enough inner demons he wants to keep buried as long as he can, but the Delphi’s offer is on the level. ‘What she gives in return is always what you need’ he declares. ‘And what did she give you, sport?’ Domino asks. ‘A good night’s sleep’ Wisdom reveals.
Delphi passes several boxes amongst X-Force: ‘To Danielle, I give the memory of a Nicaraguan medicine woman’s work during a time of great sickness, so that she will remember the need for a healer. I offer James a native Genoshan mapmaker’s intricate knowledge of the capital’s streets and sewers. Tabitha shall receive the codes to the Genosha genetics complex, codes given to me by a dying magistrate looking for absolution. To Jesse, who is not sure why he is here, I offer the memories of a martial arts student’s rigorous studies in the dojo’ Delphi announces. ‘So now I’m gonna be able to fight like Jet Li. Excellent!’ Bedlam declares.
‘As for you, Sam Guthrie, I have the memories of a soldier…’ Delphi declares, handing him a box. ‘If it’s all the same to you, ma’am, all Ah want is to know who that man is in the first memory box’ Sam declares. Wisdom tells Sam that he will have his answers soon enough, but first they have to break into the gencom.
An easy enough task, as long as no one knows we’re here.
Meanwhile, Jenny Ransome approach Pietro “Quicksilver” Maximoff as he stands on a rooftop and gazes out over Genosha. ‘It’s odd to find you standing still, Quicksilver. You’re usually in motion’ Jenny remarks. ‘I’d never realized how much you resemble your father’ she tells him. Pietro replies that his life has always been in Magneto’s shadow, even before he learned the truth of his lineage. ‘And now, once again, I’ve been drawn into another of my father’s grand schemes, no matter the odds against it succeeding’. Jenny asks Pietro if he questions Magneto’s ability to transform Genosha into a haven for mutants of all nationalities.
‘My father is undeniably powerful, but he has chosen to make an enemy of the world. I question whether it is possible to build utopia when one is at war’ Quicksilver replies. ‘Between the Genoshan mutates who are rallying under him and the mutant émigrés that have answered his call, Magneto’s building a unique power base. Soon, no one will dare oppose us’ Jenny declares. ‘That’s the difference between you and me, Jenny. You believe in my father’ Quicksilver exclaims, before declaring ‘Enough of this conversation. You didn’t seek me out to discuss Magneto’s agenda?’. Jenny hands Quicksilver a portable monitor and tells him that she thought he would want to see this security footage taken earlier today.
‘X-Force?’ Pietro gasps as he looks at the monitor. ‘With Pete Wisdom, a former British Intelligence Agent’ Jenny adds. Quicksilver asks her if she has informed Magneto that they are in the city, to which Jenny replies she hasn’t as Magneto has been out of the city all day. ‘Good. Then allow me to deal with X-Force’ Quicksilver exclaims, before speeding away. ‘I see. You weren’t giving me a choice. You are your father’s son’ Jenny remarks to herself.
The genetics complex covers as much land as the town I grew up in. It was here that Dr Moreau implemented the genetics bonding process that rewrote his subject’s DNA - thus creating a super powered slave class that the Genoshan aristocracy would hideously exploit. Now, Moreau’s laboratories are abandoned, and the complex has become a no man’s land where Magneto’s soldiers constantly skirmish with the remaining Magistrates. There’s some kind of poetic justice in that. I guess.
Right now, the Acolytes battle the magistrates outside the complex, while X-Force and Wisdom watch nearby. James declares that the magistrates do not stand a chance against the Acolytes, while a wide-eyed Bedlam covers his mouth and mumbles that people are getting cut in two out there. ‘Are we supposed to stand by and watch this slaughter?’ Sam asks. Wisdom replies that the magistrates have sworn to die in defense of a government that has already abandoned Genosha. ‘Intervene now and all you’ll do is announce your presence to Magneto. You’ve got to choose your battles’ he tells them. Sam admits that Wisdom is right, but points out that it doesn’t make him feel any better.
Sam turns to Domino and Bedlam, telling them that this is where they part company. ‘Once you reach your destination, wait for my signal’ he instructs. ‘We’re on it’ Domino tells him. ‘Pray we don’t need you’ Sam adds, before announcing that James will guide them into the complex, and orders Tabitha to stay out of combat as she knows the key codes. Sam tells Wisdom and Dani that they are defense and to stay close to James and Tabitha, while he takes the rear. ‘If we get separated for any reason, we’ll meet at the rendezvous point in an hour’ he adds. ‘That farm boy exterior is all show, isn’t it, Guthrie? You’re a military commander at heart’ Wisdom remarks. ‘If you say so. Ah’m just doing what needs to be done’ Sam declares. James remarks quietly that with Siryn gone, Sam is leader again. ‘He should never have left in the first place. He belongs with X-Force’ Tabitha declares.
Sometimes I wonder why I left X-Force. Maybe it was because Cable and Xavier seemed to think it was the right thing. Kind of like going to college. But college isn’t for everyone. And the X-Men wasn’t for me. No matter how much I respect them. X-Force is my team. These are the people I trust with my life. James tracks us into the underground service tunnels to avoid the fighting taking place above.
James declares that Delphi’s mapmaker’s memories were right. ‘I could find this place in the dark!’ he exclaims, announcing that they are in the access tunnel underneath the main buildings, which will lead them right to the cybernetics lab. There is a gush of wind, ‘Kind of drafty, eh?’ Wisdom remarks. ‘If you live in a wind tunnel’ Sam adds. ‘We should be that lucky, look!’ James declares, as Quicksilver suddenly comes to a halt. ‘Cable must be insane to send you children to Genosha. Do you know the danger you’re in?’ Pietro exclaims.
Wisdom tells Quicksilver that he needs to update his files. ‘Cables been out of the picture for a while’ he tells him, adding that everybody has to leave the nest sooner or later. ‘Oh, I forgot, you’re the one who moved back in with Dad, didn’t you?’ Wisdom jokes. Sam tells Pietro that they have no intention of interfering in Magneto’s affairs. ‘Give us another hour and we’ll be gone’ he assures him. ‘You may assume you know Magneto from your days as his students, but you don’t know him at all’ Quicksilver exclaims. ‘He will crush you if he believes you are standing in his way. Therefore, you are going to leave Genosha now. By force if necessary!’ Quicksilver exclaims.
Leaving’s not an option, but how do you get past the fastest man alive?
‘Maybe this will explain things, Pietro’ Sam declares, handing Quicksilver a box. ‘What? I don’t understand…’ Pietro begins as he opens the box.
I watch his eyes go blank, as the memory inside the box takes him to Kentucky. I have a fraction of a second to act. Hate to sucker punch Quicksilver like this. But I didn’t come here to make friends.
Sam slams Pietro into the wall, of the tunnel, rendering him unconscious. ‘That was cold and quick, Kentucky’ Wisdom declares. ‘Don’t think I’m proud of that. It was the only way, and it doesn’t buy us much time’ Sam explains, pointing out that Quicksilver’s accelerated metabolism will shake off that blow in minutes.
Soon, Sam, Dani, Tabby, James and Wisdom stand outside the entrance to one of the cybernetic labs. ‘This is so weird. I’ve got all these numbers and codes in my head - it’s like I punched them a thousand times’ Tabitha tells the others as she enters a code into the keypad on the door. ‘I told you Delphi had the goods’ Wisdom remarks as the door opens. ‘And exactly were are we? The memories I got didn’t give me too many other details’ Tabitha declares. Wisdom replies that they are in a cybernetics research lab. ‘Mutates weren’t the only Genoshan slave class experiment - just the most successful one’. He explains that what could not be done with genetic engineering, the Genoshans attempted to do with cybernetics.
‘They experimented with everything - prosthetics, exoskeletons, remote link drones, the works. Lucky for the rest of the world, human machine interface is a tricky one’ Wisdom declares. ‘Ever hear of the Deathlok Project? What a mess that was’ he remarks. ‘Wisdom? Are we going to be tested on this thing?’ Moonstar asks. Passing several cabinets, Wisdom replies that is trying to say that the appearance of the super powered community in the past decade has upped the ante. ‘Every industrial nation is working on creating or buying its own army of super-soldiers. Unfortunately if they succeed the next evolutionary step may be the last one’ Wisdom adds, before coming to the cabinet that he has been looking for. Opening it, there is a brain inside. ‘Hey, Archie, you old sod. You’ve looked better’.
Did he just refer to the CPU by name?
‘Don’t worry, old son, I’m getting you out of here’ Wisdom remarks, picking up the brain, only to realize that he seems to have activated something.
All around us gears begin to grind and motors ignite.
James asks Wisdom if he knew this would happen, to which Wisdom replies that the brain controlled an entire spaceship, and somehow it’s created a network between any nearby CPU. ‘You’re on a first name basis with the blasted thing. Can’t you turn if off?’ Sam asks. ‘That’s why I needed you guys. My days in Excalibur taught me one thing - when unexpected obstacles arise, it’s better to be working with a group’ Wisdom announces. ‘So much for stealth. We’re gonna make a lot of noise getting out of here’ Sam declares. ‘Hopefully, we can take care of this little problem and we’re in’ Wisdom tells him.
Wish I could believe that, but experience has taught me otherwise. No matter how bad things are, they can always get worse.
And across the darkening skies of Genosha, soars Magneto….


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Provide a full summary of the comic book.

[Assistant]
Magnetic Distraction
Getting out of this Genoshan cybernetics laboratory was going to be a lot harder than getting in. Pete Wisdom, an expatriate British spy and former member of Excalibur, had lured us to this tiny African nation - in order to help him retrieve a downed satellite’s black box CPU that had been salvaged by Genoshan scientists. None of us - Wisdom included - expected the computer would activate every piece of high tech military hardwire in the lab.
‘We’re surrounded’ Danielle Moonstar exclaims as she, Sam “Cannonball” Guthrie, Tabitha “Meltdown” Smith, James Proudstar and Pete Wisdom, carrying the brain of his friend, are backed up together and numerous cybernetic droids close in on them. ’Hey, Pete, if that space age brain is kindling the fire under these battle suit bruiser’s butts - maybe you should just…oh I don’t know…pull the plug?’ Meltdown mutters. ’I would if I could, love, but this miracle of modern technology contains a self-recharging battery - whose cells won’t be exhausted until the turn of the next century’ Wisdom replies, to which Cannonball announces that they are going to have to fight their way out of this mess. ’You know the drill’ Sam exclaims.
‘Oh man, do I love going up against a mechanical offense - there’s nothing quite as satisfying as blowing up a rampaging robot!’ Tabitha exclaims as she throws several plasma time-bombs at the robots.
If there’s one thing I can almost always count on from Tabitha Smith, its her unbridled enthusiasm in moments of crisis. Even without her plasma time bombs, she’d still be the first one to jump into the fray. She’s a scrapper at heart. On the other hand, James Proudstar no longer lets rage drive him on the battlefield - instead he fights with an inner calm and economy of movement.
‘This exoskeleton’s arm mounted laser cannon is just what I need - to stop the line of armor coming at me’ James exclaims as he rips the laser cannon from one robot and uses it to take down several others which make their way towards him.
I’d have more faith in Pete Wisdom if he hadn’t tried to extort our help by offering me details of a long forgotten part of my past. I’m giving him the benefit of the doubt because he was part of Excalibur for a short time, but his motives are still suspect in my book.
Pete jumps over one of the robots as he attacks it with his flame-knives, while telling X-Force that trying to maneuver all this without damaging the brain is throwing his aim off, and telling the young mutant heroes that he could use a little help. Danielle Moonstar steps forward, telling Wisdom not to worry, as she has his back, using her newfound quantum powers to fuse the robotic spider’s hears and circuitry. ’You’re royalty in my book, Dani Moonstar!’ Pete exclaims.
There’s always been a competitive aspect to my friendship with Dani Moonstar. Recently, she acquired the ability to alter people and things at a molecular level. That puts her in a power class way out of my league. My power is explosive. But limited.
‘Okay, everyone, we’ve got to a clear path to the exit, let’s move!’ Cannonball orders as he blasts through several of the droids. ‘Bravo, Guthrie. I knew I was right to bring you and X-Force in on this job!’ Wisdom exclaims as he, Dani, James and Tabitha follow Sam out of the lab. Wisdom, still clutching the brain, declares that with the right training and a little more edge, this team could be a real threat. ‘And you’re the one who could whip us into shape? No offense, but ah have a hard time seeing you working well in any group’ Cannonball replies, declaring that team work calls for trust. ‘You seem more at ease manipulating others than working side by side with them’ Sam tells Wisdom. The British mutant replies that he spent seven years on Her Majesty’s Secret Service. ‘Cynicism and suspicion are job requirements. Trust is not a luxury you can afford’.
While I continue to jaw with Wisdom, I’m completely ignorant of the fact that inside the cybernetics laboratory the robotic debris we left behind has not stopped responding to signals from the satellite CPU.
‘Explain to me how that computer brain was able to establish a link with every suit of battle armor inside’ Moonstar asks Wisdom as she runs alongside him. Wisdom looks at Dani with his one good eye and replies that the system was designed to operate and repair the satellite remotely if possible. Wisdom exclaims that his guess is that since the satellite’s lying at the bottom of Hammer Bay, Archie is reaching out for the nearest compatible hardware. ‘Archie? This thing has a name?’ Tabitha asks.
Flashback images, narrated by Wisdom:
‘As a matter of fact, yes. Archimedes Fogg was a brilliant young scientist working for MI-6 who developed a process to duplicate a person’s neural patterns into a computer. Unfortunately, Archie’s genius outweighed his common sense. He used himself as a test subject and was killed’. Wisdom explains that the neural duplication however was a success, and Archie’s mind and personality still lived inside this computerized brain, which was later installed into an experimental satellite that disappeared midway through its journey to the far reaches of the galaxy. ‘The satellite and Archie were presumed lost for two years, that is until we unexpectedly began receiving a homing beacon signal - which led me here to Genosha, days before Magneto assumed power’.
Present.
Wisdom tells X-Force that there are many individuals and organizations who would pay top dollar to learn the details of Archie’s absence, this has always been a personal mission for him, as Archie was his friend. ‘And if I can get him out of Genoshan waters to the ship I’ve had waiting here all week, he may have a chance at a new life’. Suddenly, ‘Hey, what’s that noise?’ Tabitha asks - her question answered when the cybernetic wreckage, combined into a large robotic juggernaut - bursts through the wall. ‘If this brain’s your friend, why doesn’t it recognize you?’ Sam asks. Wisdom explains that it is possible the circuitry was damaged during Archie’s interspatial detour, but he cannot say for sure. ‘Archie was the one who always explained the technical side of things to me’ Wisdom adds.
Dani tells everyone to stand back as the mass of cybernetics approaches them. ‘I think I can create a subatomic dissonance that will interfere with the signals the brain is broadcasting’ Dani announces as she readies her quantum power. ‘I vote we let me blow the giant robot back into tiny pieces. It’s less subtle but more satisfying’ Meltdown exclaims as she creates a plasma time bomb, when, suddenly, a voice overhead announces ‘That won’t be necessary’. ‘The robot’s being gutted right before our eyes!’ someone exclaims. ‘Aw, no. This is what I was afraid of…’ Cannonball exclaims as he looks up - and Magneto hovers above them all!
Raw magnetic energy coursing through him, the ruler of Genosha exclaims ‘I am profoundly disappointed in you, children. Did you truly think you could enter my country without my knowledge? You should know by now that I do not take being crossed lightly…’.
Oh yeah, boy, do I know that. I was trying my best to avoid a confrontation with Magneto. He’s one of the most powerful mutants on the planet. The United Nations was so frightened of his power - that they ceded control of this country to him in order to pacify and contain him. On a good day, the X-Men have fought Magneto to a draw. I’m not certain that X-Force has any chance against him -
- which is why I split up the team. No sense in sacrificing all the players at the start of the game. My only hope is that Jesse Bedlam, X-Force’s newest member, is up to the challenge. He hasn’t had any of the schooling or experience the rest of us have. I can’t be sure he won’t fold under pressure.
‘HA!’ Bedlam exclaims as he takes down several mutates, asking Domino ‘Did you see that? Those mutates didn’t know what hit them! Somebody call Hong Kong, I am the Master of Kung Fu!’ Jesse boasts. Domino claps her hands and smiles, ‘Not bad for somebody who had zero moves yesterday. But don’t let this little victory go to your head, Jesse. You may have received a quick fix of martial arts training - but to really master any fighting style takes discipline and commitment. Who knows, with some real training, you might not need me anymore’ Domino declares, referring to the fighting skills Jesse was gifted via psychic imprint.
Of course, that’s why I sent Domino with him to make sure Jesse completes the mission.
‘Not a chance, Domino. You believed in me when no one else did and I’m never going to forget it’ Bedlam exclaims, to which Domino tells Jesse not to go sentimental on her. ‘It’s just that my life has turned around one hundred and eight degrees since you agreed to help me find my brother. First, I hooked up with X-Force, then, I finally find my brother - who turned out to be a psychopath - but that’s not the point I’m trying to make - and now, thanks to the memory box Delphi gave me - I possess the memories of a street fighter’s intense training with a martial arts sensei in Madripoor!’
Domino and Bedlam make their way up a flight of stairs, with Jesse exclaiming that, to be honest, even though he remembers the block and kick this fighter made in that sensei’s dojo, he never imagined he could actually fight like that. ‘The connection between mind and body is more powerful than most people know’ Domino explains, telling Jesse that they can talk philosophy later, as right now, they need to get into position. Jesse looks nervous as he tells Domino to go on ahead, and that he will catch up in a second. ‘I’ve got a…um…rock or something in my boot’ he exclaims, while taking a vial of pills from his jacket and thinking to himself ‘Actually, I don’t want you to see me doing this…’.
Suddenly though, ‘HEY! What do you think you’re doing?’ Domino shouts as she hits Jesse in the back. ‘My meds!’ Jesse exclaims as he drops his pills. ‘These aren’t prescription. What are you on?’ Domino demands. ‘Nothing you have to worry about’ a sheepish Bedlam replies. ‘Don’t tell me not to worry. If you’re strung out in the field, you’re risking my life as well as your own!’ Domino snaps. Bedlam hangs his head, telling Domino that he will come clean as he reveals the drugs are electro-neural inhibitors. ‘You see, the bio-electric static I generate messes with my brain chemistry. If I don’t take these and I use my powers, I go insane. Not eccentrically charming insane, but dangerously unstable insane!’.
Back outside, Magneto continues to hover over X-Force and Wisdom.
Face to face with Magneto I understand why the United Nations handed him Genosha with their blessing. This troubled island nation was a small price to pay to avoid war with a man capable of generating an electro-magnetic pulse that would plunge every industrial nation into a technological chaos.
‘You have in your possession an experimental CPU developed by British Intelligence. You will surrender it to me now’ Magneto booms. ‘That’s not gonna happen, Magneto. You’ve got your island. You don’t need this!’ Wisdom snaps, clutching the brain. Magneto frowns as he furiously replies ‘I was not offering you a choice, Peter Wisdom!’. Magneto declares that under no circumstances will he allow anyone to strip Genosha of her resources. ‘And if you believe that your alliance with my former students will lessen the severity of any action I take against you, you are sadly mistaken’ Magneto warns Wisdom.
‘My tenure as Headmaster of Charles Xavier’s Academy for Gifted Youngsters has long since ended - and so has my responsibility to the young mutants that I mentored during that time. Too much is at stake here. I can afford neither kindness nor nostalgia’ Magneto exclaims. Moonstar and Cannonball, the only current members of X-Force who were members of the New Mutants when Magneto was in charge, step forward, ‘You don’t have to tell us, Sir. We’ve all changed since we were part of the New Mutants - but Ah don’t believe that just because we’re not longer your students that we have to be at odds!’ Sam declares. Dani assures Magneto that they are not his enemy as she informs him that they did not come here to undermine his efforts to make Genosha a better place. ‘Let us take the CPU and leave’ Dani asks.
‘This is not a debate, Danielle!’ Magneto exclaims, announcing that Genosha is an island under siege from within and with-out. ‘You cannot be neutral here. Your actions challenge my sovereignty, and that I cannot abide. If you will not give me the brain, I will take it by force.
Magneto yanks the brain out of Wisdom’s hand with the merest gesture. When he was our teacher, Magneto drilled us on the importance of persistence, of never giving up. He’s expecting us to challenge him.

Cannonball blasts up towards the brain, being drawn to Magneto. ‘Ah’m sorry, Sir, Ah know we didn’t have a hound’s chance in a hurricane, but we just can’t walk away!’ Sam exclaims, adding that it is the curse of youth. Sometimes they are just too darn impetuous for their own good. ‘Is that sarcasm, Samuel? Tsk. You were much better mannered when you were younger’ Magneto exclaims. ‘You force me to remind you that I am the Master of Magnetism. I can restrain you by the iron content in your body -’ he begins, as Cannonball grabs the brain.
Suddenly, it’s like the time I backed me Daddy’s ‘73 Mustang into the gravel pit - no matter how hard I accelerate, I’m doing nothing but spinning my wheels.
‘You have so much potential, Guthrie. It would be a shame if I have to cripple you to make my point’ Magneto declares as he holds Sam in a magnetic grasp. Suddenly, Magneto is knocked backwards by several plasma time-bombs which explode in front of him. ’Meltdown…I have killed for less than that!’ Magneto booms. ‘Just trying to get your attention, Maggie. Sometime’s Sam’s way too polite for his own good. Otherwise he’d tell you, we’re not leaving this island without Archie’s brain‘.
Tab’s playing the tough girl, just like I knew she would - and that distracts Magneto long enough for me to put the CPU back in motion.
‘JAMES! You know where to go. Get out of here!’ Sam calls out to Proudstar, throwing him the brain. ‘Got it!’ the handsome young hero exclaims, catching the brain, he makes his getaway.
Delphi gave James a Genoshan cartographer’s detailed knowledge of the island. In combination with phenomenal agility and speed, it gives him the best change of making it to our rendezvous point. Assuming he can evade Magneto.
‘Proudstar, there is not place you can run that I can’t reach you!’ Magneto calls out as he follows James.
With a rivet-popping explosion, Magneto rips steel girders from the frame of a bombed out building - and hurls them like missiles into James’ path. Now the fight turns ugly. Wisdom ups the ante by piercing Magneto’s shoulder with the hot knives that spark from his fingers.
‘ARRGHH!’ Magneto screams, turning to Wisdom, he lifts him off the ground, ‘I will make you hurt as you never have hurt before, you pretentious English braggart!’ Magneto tells Wisdom that whatever chance he might have had leaving this island unscathed is finished, before hurtling Wisdom against the side of a building at full-speed.
I can hear Wisdom’s bones crack from a hundred yards away.
‘Is this the way you intend to deal with all your opposition? With violence and the threat of death? How does that make you different from any other dictator?’ Moonstar asks Magneto defiantly. ‘Save your breath…he’s just another genocidal maniac…ah…must’ve broken half my ribs’ Wisdom mutters as he gets to his feet. ‘I’ve long abandoned any hope of peaceful coexistence with the rest of the world’ Magneto announces. ‘Power is the only currency that matters in this world. The world fears me, as should you. If you continue to oppose me, I will make certain that none of you leave this island’ Magneto warns X-Force, before asking ‘Now, where is Proudstar?’
At that moment, James runs swiftly through a dark sewer, thinking to himself that if Wisdom had not attacked Magneto, he wouldn’t have had time to disappear down the old sewer drain. James tells himself that he is not sure about having another person’s memories, but cannot deny that they have been helpful. ‘And when I see Genosha as the mapmaker did, I understand the tragedy that has befallen his native country. What could have been an island paradise has been ravaged and pockmarked by war’. James tells himself that the tunnel should lead out into the north side of Hammer Bay, where Wisdom said he hid an inflatable rubber boat under an old pier.
Suddenly, James senses something coming up behind him fast - very fast. ‘Hello, Pietro. I wondered what happened to you. I didn’t think it would take you this long to recover’ James exclaims as Pietro “Quicksilver” Maximoff appears before him. ‘It didn’t’ Quicksilver quickly replies, explaining that when he regained consciousness after Cannonball blindsided him he decided that he would wait and see what was so important to X-Force that they would have attacked him. ‘Since my father intercepted you leaving the laboratory with that strange cybernetic brain, I thought it best I continue to observe’ Quicksilver declares, before offering Proudstar one opportunity to tell him why he should not take the brain and return it to his father. ‘I suggest you be succinct. I have a notoriously short attention span’ Pietro adds. James holds a hand up, ‘Okay, I’ll try to be quick’ he exclaims.
Back outside, ‘My patience is at an end, children’ Magneto declares as he traps Sam, Dani, Tabitha and Wisdom in a flurry of scrap metal, swirling around them. ‘He’s got us penned in by flying debris. At those speeds the slightest scrap of metal will go through us like bullets!’ Sam exclaims. ‘I didn’t want to do this. Stand back…’ Dani tells her friends and Wisdom as she unleashes a massive beam of quantum energy at Magneto, knocking him backwards and putting an end to the flying scrap metal. ‘Impressive. You disrupted the magnetic field that keep my aloft. I was unaware of this new ability, Danielle’ Magneto exclaims as he gathers himself, glaring at his former pupil.
Sparkling, Moonstar explains that she is attuned to the quantum reality of the universe now, a panorama of interconnected particles and waves, and that she can affect those connecting, changing the physical nature of things, including the electromagnetic field. ‘This is not possible…’ Magneto gasps as Moonstar continues to hold him in place. ‘Did you know she could do that, mate?’ Wisdom asks. ‘No…Ah had no idea’ Sam replies. ‘Go, Dani!’ Meltdown exclaims.
Ever since Dani crossed paths with Arcadia Deville during our showdown with the Sword in Kentucky, Dani’s been tapped into some kind of universal power source - all of a sudden, that power started consuming her, and for a moment she was like a raindrop lost in the ocean.
‘What’s happening to me…? I can’t control my power any more…it’s sweeping over me…breaking me apart!’ Danielle tells herself, trying her best to stay together. ‘But it’s so hard…’. Suddenly, ‘I am loathe to take advantage of your obvious distress, Danielle - but the power you wield is far too dangerous for me to allow you another chance to attack me’ Magneto exclaims as he casually uses his power to smack Dani in the head with a piece of metal debris. Moonstar falls backwards and Cannonball blasts down to grab her so she doesn’t hit the ground below. ‘DANI!’ he shouts.
I hand Dani to Tabitha. She’s dazed, but otherwise intact. Magneto thinks he’s won.
‘Without Moonstar, you’ve lost the only hope you had of defeating me. It’s time you admit defeat, and take me to Proudstar!’ Magneto orders. ‘Ah s’pose you’re right. Not much we can do against you here…’ Sam replies.
He expects me to fold - but I intend to take the game to another table. I casually touch the “X” on my chest, hoping that Magneto doesn’t know about the transceiver in the medallion. The success of our mission rests on Domino and Jesse Bedlam now.
‘That’s the signal. Looks like the others ran into the big man. Time for you to go to work’ Domino exclaims, telling Jesse not to mess up. ‘I know you think I’m some kind of pill-popping junkie that you can’t trust anymore - but I swear I’ll do everything I can to prove you wrong!’ Jesse exclaims as he begins to unleash his power inside the power plant.
I sent Jesse and Domino to the power plant that provides all the electricity for the island. When plan A - direct contact - fails…there’s always plan B - sabotage.
With that, all of Genosha is plunged into pitch darkness. ‘The entire city is blacked out!’ Magneto exclaims, hovering over Sam, Danielle, Tabitha and Wisdom. ‘Actually, all over the island’ Sam announces, while Wisdom declares that they took out the grid controlling the relay terminals and substations too. ‘A temporary annoyance at best. My technicians will have power restored in no time’ Magneto boasts as he sets down near the others. ‘Ah’m sure they will, but Ah wonder how long it will take?’ Sam remarks. ‘You’d be surprised at the damage that can be done in a few minutes’ Wisdom declares.
‘Are you threatening me?’ Magneto asks, when suddenly, ‘Magneto, we’ve got a problem’ a voice exclaims over Magneto’s communicator. It’s Amelia Voght, one of Magneto’s senior and most loyal Acolytes. ‘Moments after the power went down, the magistrates crawled out of the woodwork and started advancing on the capital armory. Ordinarily, they couldn’t get those close, but half our security system crashed in the outage!’ Amelia exclaims, a battle raging behind her. ‘Until we get backups on line, we’re vulnerable!’ Amelia exclaims.
‘You knew this would happen’ Magneto exclaims. ‘Wisdom sent word to the Magistrates that there might be a blackout tonight’ Sam replies. ‘Then this was your intent all along’ Magneto declares. ‘No, Sir, Ah was hoping it wouldn’t come to this’ Sam tells him. ‘How dare you side with my enemies! I cannot believe you would ever choose those butchers over one of your own people!’ Magneto exclaims angrily, asking Sam if he has any idea the horrors the magistrates subjected the mutates to while they had power. Sam replies that he knows all about what the magistrates did, and he is guessing they are going to answer for their crimes, most likely to Magneto. ‘Now, it’s up to you to decide who’s the more immediate threat. The magistrates or us?’ Sam exclaims.
I see the anger in his eyes. If he directs that anger at us, we’re toast.
Magneto frowns, before taking to the air, ‘Leave Genosha now. Do not come back’ he warns X-Force. ‘That was brilliant. I’ve gotta hand it to you, Guthrie, there’s not too many people who can stand up to Magneto’ Wisdom exclaims. ‘You don’t know how scared Ah was inside’ Sam replies. Dani rubs her head and asks ‘What happened’, to which Meltdown tells her that she missed the best part.
Later, just outside of Genoshan territorial waters, Jesse and Domino are the last of the team to arrive on the fishing trawler, the Sea Turtle.
‘You and Jesse really came through for us, Dom. Good work’ Sam tells Domino as he helps her on board the ship. ‘What’s Quicksilver doing here?’ Domino asks as she sees the former Avenger. ‘He helped James off the island’ Sam explains, while Quicksilver announces that he is satisfied the CPU that X-Force…liberated…is no threat to the Genoshan government. ‘Therefore, I will take my leave’ he announces.
Before I can finish apologizing for clocking him in the research labs, Quicksilver’s gone.
Moonstar announces that Wisdom has everything hooked up down below, and the team makes their way below deck, to a lab, where a humanoid robot is hooked up to various wires. ‘You’re looking at the Grabemann / Mifune template, a variation on the Life Model Decoy that SHIELD developed years ago’ Wisdom announces. ‘After his body was fried, he began dictating the modifications that were to be made on this android when the time came that he would want a body again. All the information contained in Archie’s cybernetic brain is being downloaded into the template now’ Wisdom declares.
Meltdown asks him if he is sure this will work, to which Wisdom replies he is following Archie’s directions, and if it doesn’t, he doesn’t have another body to try a second time. ‘You could always keep the brain in your flat. it would be kind of like having a roommate without all the mess’ Bedlam suggests. ‘Let’s hope it doesn’t come to that’ Wisdom replies, telling Archie ‘It’s all up to you now, mate’ as he presses something on a control panel. A few moments later, the template springs to life. ‘Archie?’ Wisdom asks. But Archie just screams.
Something’s wrong.
‘Archie, it’s me, Wisdom…remember…Wisdom? What say you ease up on the grip. It’s like a vise…’ Wisdom exclaims as Archie grabs his arm. ‘That thing’s crushing Wisdom’s arm. We have to do something!’ Meltdown exclaims as she readies a plasma time-bomb, but Danielle tells her to wait, remarking that she doesn’t think that will be necessary, as the templates body language is changing, relaxing. ‘Petey?’ the template asks. ‘In the flesh, mate, which is more than I can say for you’ Wisdom tells Archie. ‘Good to see you. I wasn’t sure if I was ever going to make it out of the wormhole’ Archie remarks, adding that his defense programming went haywire. ‘You don’t have to tell me, you nearly wiped out your rescue team’ Wisdom exclaims as they hug.
‘You wouldn’t believe what I’ve experienced. I don’t even know where to begin…’ Archie remarks. ‘First things, first, you wouldn’t be here to tell the tale if I didn’t have some help’ Wisdom tells his friend. ‘You must be Excalibur’ Archie exclaims, turning to X-Force. ‘Yeah, right…and I’m Kitty Pryde’ Tabitha retorts, rolling her eyes. ‘Uh-uh, Arch…this is X-Force - a different American mutant team’ Wisdom explains. ‘I’ll have to update my information sources’ Archie tells himself, before exclaiming ‘Listen, Wisdom, there’s something I have to warn you about…’. ‘Don’t leave me in the dark, that sounds ominous’ Wisdom remarks. ‘Part of the data I brought back has been corrupted. Must’ve been the inter-dimensional shift during the return. It played havoc with my circuitry. Ah well, I’ll just have to take that into account for my next trip’.
‘Maybe you should spend some time on Earth’ Wisdom suggests. ‘But the interesting stuff is out there!’ Archie replies. ‘I hate to interrupt your reunion with your friend, Wisdom, but you still owe me something’ Cannonball reminds him. ‘I do. Here you go. Another piece of your past. I’m afraid it will give you some of the answers you want, but it may also create many more questions’ Wisdom exclaims, handing Sam a memory box. Sam opens the box and absorbs the memory…
Flashback images, seen in Cannonball’s mind, narrated by Cannonball:
I’ve done this before, but the sudden change of point of view still spins my head around. It’s like a roller coaster ride drop into another person’s body. I’m back in the same Kentucky cornfield I saw in the earlier memory. The man on the ground is very dead. So is the one I’m carrying.
‘This has been on heck of a night’ the man dragging the dead body remarks as he tosses the body into a shallow grave. ‘This is the last time I help you, Lucas. I never meant to put you and Sam in danger’ a voice replies.
I know that voice. It’s my father - which means I’ve been seeing all this from the perspective of my uncle Lucas.
‘What’s done is done, little brother, but you’ve gotten involved in some dangerous business. I think it’s best you get as far away from here as possible’.
Present:
The realization staggers me. I don’t know how to process any of this.
‘Are you all right, Sam? You look kinda of shaken’ Tabitha asks her ex boyfriend. ‘Shaken only begins to describe what I’m feeling right now. I think my father and uncle may be guilty of murder!’ Sam reveals….


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

[Assistant]
Family Secrets
Another day at Arkansas' Beaumont State Correctional Facility. Lucas Bartholomew Guthrie is serving time here for grand theft auto. He has learned the best way to survive incarceration is to avoid any kind of conflict - because inside these walls an argument can cost you your life. Outside in the courtyard, various prisoners are milling about. Lucas sits at a bench, and a rather large prisoner exclaims "I cannot believe you are talking about my woman like that, whiteboy!". With a cigarette between his fingers, Lucas replies "Hey, Ah"m not trying to start anything, Roland - Ah'm just calling it like Ah see it". He adds that Pam Grier is as fine as forty as she was at twenty, but that â��Jackie Brownâ�� was at least half an hour too long.
"Man, Ah swear, Hollywood has got no idea how to make a film out of an Elmore Leonard novel" Lucas remarks. "At least â��Jackie Brownâ�� was faithful to the book. You ever see â��Stickâ��?" Roland asks "With Burt Reynolds taking out all the bad guys with an uzi at the end? Ugh. Talk about not getting it" Lucas complains. Roland replies that, personally, he thinks â��Out of Sightâ�� caught the flavor of the source material perfectly. "Didn"t hurt to have Jennifer Lopez, either" Lucas smirks, unaware that something - or someone - has flown at high speed over the prison walls - into the yard - and then yanks him into the air. "No, it did not. That lady has it going on and on and on!" Roland mutters. It will be another thirty seconds before he realizes that Lucas Bartholomew Guthrie has vanished.
Lucas Guthrie is not the only member of the Guthrie clan to find himself on the wrong side of the law. His nephew, Samuel is also a wanted man, unjustly accused by federal authorities of being a terrorist. That is because Sam, also known as Cannonball, is a mutant, born with a genetic anomaly that gives him explosive and propulsive energy. "Time to talk - in private!" he tells his uncle as they fly high over the ground below. "Mother of mercy!" Lucas calls out. To certain factions of the government and law enforcement community, merely being a mutant is a criminal act. If Sam has violated the law in the past, he has done so only to protect those persecuted solely on the basis of their genetic makeup.
Today, however, in carrying out the escape of a convicted felon, Sam has broken the law for undeniably personal reasons. He needs answers to questions raised during his recent visit to the African island of Genosha. And Sam has no patience for the administrative red tape required to speak to his uncle in a prison visitors room. "This place should do" Sam remarks, coming to a stop in a nearby forest, he lowers himself to the ground, while dropping his uncle, who screams as he falls to the ground, from not a very high height. "Look, buddy, Ah don"t know what you want - but Ah'm sure you got the wrong guy. Ah'm sure it's an honest mistake, and Ah promise Ah won't hold it against you -" Lucas exclaims, before Sam tells him to relax, and calls him uncle Luke as he assures him that nobody wants to hurt him.
"Uncle Luke?" Lucas asks, confused. "Ah know it's been a while, but don't tell me you don't recognize me" Sam remarks. "Sam? Sam!" Lucas exclaims as he hugs his nephew. "Boy, look how you've grown. You are the spitting image of your daddy, Ah tell you that!" Lucas declares. Lucas exclaims that he has no idea how Sam can fly like that, "But since you busted me outta Beaumont, Ah ain't complaining!" he declares. Sam frowns and tells his uncle not to get too used to his freedom. "Ah brought you here so that we could talk about the two men you and my father buried in a Kentucky cornfield ten years ago!" Sam exclaims. Lucas frowns: "So you found out about that, huh? Well, Ah'll explain everything, but not here. Since Ah'm now officially a fugitive, Ah suggest we get out of this backwoods state as soon as possible. There's a little place in Texas Ah know" he remarks.
A short time later, "A strip joint?" Sam asks his uncle as they enter the establishment. "Ah believe the correct term these days is gentlemen's club" Lucas replies. "You've gotta be kidding" Sam, now dressed in casual clothing, declares. Making their way to a table, Lucas tells Sam that he has been a guest of the state for three long years, and considering Sam has made it clear his time as a free man is temporary, he wants to enjoy it while it lasts. "Fine. Whatever. Let's just find a table in back where we can talk" Sam tells him. Sitting down, Lucas lights a cigarette and picks up his beer, while Sam asks his first question: "When were you in Genosha?"
Lucas replies that it was four years ago, he was travelling with a friend who said they could make a little money smuggling some software out of that hellhole, then the fool got caught by customs, leaving him stranded without a passport or a return ticket. "So that's when you met Delphi" Sam remarks. "You know about Delphi? Well, that explains some things" Lucas declares, explaining that Delphi offered to get him out of Genosha in exchange for a secret from his past. "And that's how my memory of that day with your daddy ended up in one of her boxes" he explains. "Tell me you and my father didn't murder the men you buried" Sam asks.
"Men? Ha. That's a laugh. Sam, Ah don't know if you're gonna believe what Ah'm gonna tell you - but Ah swear on my mother's grandmother's grave, that it's the honest to God truth!".
Flashback, narrated by Lucas Bartholomew Guthrie
"Ten years ago, when Ah was barely older than you are now, a good ole boy named Randy Lee Watson hired me to be the driver on a warehouse heist he had planned. Now Ah'd never worked directly with Randy Lee before, but the pay was right and Ah was too poor to be choosy - see, Ah swore Ah'd never end up working in the coal mines like my father and brothers" Lucas begins. He tells Sam that the job was supposed to be simple - they were going to steal a truck already loaded with unmarked cigarettes from a Lexington garage. "Unfortunately, the garage guard returned from his break early" Lucas reveals. The guard began shooting at Randy and Lucas who were in the truck. "You didn't say we were going to be shot at!" Lucas exclaims, but Randy told him to just shut up and drive, while he shot back at the guard.
It was not until they were out of the city that Lucas realized Randy had been hit pretty badly. "We gotta get you to a hospital" Lucas told Randy. But Randy sat there, clutching his wound, "No! No hospitals. If anything happens to me, you make sure the cargo gets to my superior!his name's Finn!address is in my coat!". Lucas suspected that the bullet must have pierced something vital, because Randy died then and there. "Ah couldn't imagine being more shocked until Ah looked over and saw his body start to change!Ah don't know what Randy Lee was, but he sure wasn't human" Lucas tells Sam while remembering Randy's body change into a orange-colored creature with large teeth.
Lucas pulled over to the side of the road, clearly everything he had been told was a lie. He was also beginning to suspect that the truck was not carrying cigarettes. And when he entered the back of the truck, the only thing inside it was a giant crate addressed to a Professor Damian at Empire State University in New York. "Maybe Ah'd have been better running as far from that crate as Ah could, but my curiosity got the better of me" Lucas tells Sam. "Now Ah've always been partial to carnival sideshows, and road show attractions, but nothing Ah'd ever seen prepared me for what was inside that crate. It was enormous, and Ah'm sure this sounds crazy, but Ah got this feeling that it wasn't of this world" Lucas explains as he remembers opening the crate, and seeing the large red humanoid figure with markings over its body.
With the job completely out of hand, Lucas called the number in Randy Lee's coat. A man named Finn promised him he would get his money once he delivered the creature. And after burying Randy Lee's body in a gravel pit, knowing that he couldn't keep him in the truck, Lucas stopped by his house - but someone was already inside, waiting for him!.
Present:
Meanwhile, across the country, on a warehouse rooftop in the China Basin neighborhood of San Francisco - an explosive demonstration is underway courtesy of Tabitha â��Meltdownâ�� Smith, who has thrown several plasma time-bombs into the air. "Sure it looks easy, but when I first discovered I could create these plasma energy bombs, it took all of my concentration to generate just one of these bad boys" Tabitha tells Jesse â��Bedlamâ�� Aaronson, who stands nearby. Tabitha declares that after a few years of training and a lot of combat experience, she can now pump out as many of these as she needs. "Giving you more bang for your buck" she jokes, as the myriad time bombs explode above her.
Bedlam claps his hands and tells Meltdown "That was great, Tab. You are!pardon the expression!Da Bomb. I wish my abilities were that impressive". Meltdown grabs a towel and rubs the perspiration from her face as she reminds Bedlam that he shut down power across the entire island of Genosha. "That qualifies as impressive in my book" she tells him. "Yeah, well, you and the rest of the team seem to take this action-packed lifestyle for granted. It's still new to me" Jesse reminds Tabitha.
However, the two are unaware that they are being watched through a lens. "What about your time working for the mutant underground?" Tabitha asks. "That was nothing compared to taking on Magneto on his home turf" Bedlam replies. "You survived - plus you got those cool kung fu moves thanks to Delphi. You're on a roll" Tabitha smiles. "I don't know how you guys remain so notmal in the face of all this weirdness" Bedlam exclaims. "Normal? I don't know the meaning of the word" Tab replies, while the man with a triangle cufflink taking snapshots of Tabitha thinks to himself "So, our information was correct. The girl is a mutant. Good. Once she has been enlightened, she will serve the Understanding well"
Back in Texas, Lucas tells Sam that it seemed obvious to him that whoever was ransacking his apartment was there because of the thing in the truck. "Ah assumed Ah was in the middle of some sort of government / extra-terrestrial cover-up!and if Ah was gonna get out of it intact, Ah'd need someone watching my back". "That's when you went to my father" Sam declares.
Flashback continues, narrated by Lucas Bartholomew Guthrie:
Lucas arrived at Ty's place. They didn't always see eye to eye. "We were opposites in a lot of ways - but when it came down to it, we were blood. And Ah knew he couldn't turn me down" Lucas tells Sam. "Lucas. Do you have any idea what time it is?" Ty asked his brother. Lucas apologized for calling so late, before revealing to his brother that he is in a jam. "What a surprise. What is it this time?" Ty asked. The two men went outside, and Lucas told his brother everything that he knew, for sure. "Ah'm gonna get rid of this thing. All Ah need is for you to go with me and watch my back" Lucas told his frowning brother. "I wish I never promised Mama that I'd look after you, Luke. You are nothing but trouble" Ty replied.
"Then you'll do it?" Lucas asked. "Against my better judgment" As Lucas tells Sam, neither he nor Ty were aware that Sam was watching them from his bedroom window - and that he decided to sneak out of the house and go with them. "If your father had known you were hiding in the back of that truck, Ah guarantee you wouldn't have been able to sit down for a year".
Present:
"You two boys look awful serious over here. Maybe I can do something to lighten the mood" the scantily clad waitress remarks as she puts more drinks down on the table. "Another boilermaker. My nephew'll be picking up the tab. Seeing as how I don't carry much cash these days" Lucas exclaims as he looks at the woman. "And what about you, cutie? You want something stronger than that cola you've been nursing?" the barmaid asks. "No thank you, Ma'am" Sam replies as he hands the woman some money. "Let me know if you change your mind, sweetie. My name's Cheri" the woman exclaims. Lucas watches Cheri as she walks away. "Aw, I think she likes you, Sammy" he tells his nephew.
Sam tells Lucas to get back to his story. "And until Delphi gave me the box imprinted with your memory of these events, I didn't remember any of this. How is that possible?" Sam asks. Lucas tells Sam that he is going to have to wait for the answer to that. "Let me tell you what happened after your Dad agreed to come with me".
Flashback continues, Lucas Bartholomew Guthrie:
Sitting inside the truck, Ty and Lucas watch the address where the mysterious Mr Finn had asked them to meet him - a roadhouse off Interstate 283, a place called Big Susie's. "You got a gun, Luke?" Ty asked his brother. "No, I got rid of Randy Lee's when I dumped his body" Lucas replied. "Good. Guns make people do stupid things in tense situations, and we aren't gonna do anything stupid, right, Luke?" Ty asked his brother. Inside, they met Mr Finn and his partner - a tight lipped little guy called Weller. "We are saddened to hear of our associate Mr Watson's untimely passing. We hope you have kept this evening's events confidential" Finn told Lucas. "As long as Ah get paid, Ah'm like the kid in that song - deaf, dumb and blind" Lucas replied.
"Now Sam, I don't mean to cast blame on you for what happened next - because none of this would have gone down if Ah was an upstanding law-abiding citizen" Lucas tells his nephew, who, at that time years ago, left the truck, and climbed onto a dumpster, where he looked through a small window in the side of the building. "Still, your Daddy and me might have walked away without a fuss if your naturally curious nature hadn't gotten the best of you" Lucas tells his nephew. "As it turns out, Big Susie's was not exactly abandoned". It had been converted into some kind of medical laboratory where a bunch of creep doctors were experimenting on kids - runaways, mostly. The kind of boys and girls you see on the side of milk cartons. "And like Ah said, we would've remained blissfully ignorant of these goings on - if you hadn't been caught by one of the other suits".
Looking through the window, the young Sam saw children kept in a cage, while doctors experimented on children laid on out tables. All sorts of strange machinery in the room. "Hey!" he called out as suddenly he was pulled from the dumpster. Inside, Finn was about to hand Lucas his money: "Once again, I must emphasize how important it is to all of us that you speak to no one about any of this" he told him. "Buddy, Ah've already forgotten!" Lucas replied, about to receive the money, when suddenly, the other man entered the room, carrying Sam in his arms. "It appears these two gentlemen did not arrive alone" he declares. "Dad!" Sam called out as he struggled. "Sam? What on Earth are you doing here?" Ty asked, surprised.
"Dad, they've got a bunch of kids in cages back there, and there's a bunch of doctors doing stuff to 'em. Ah'm not making this up. Ah swear!" Sam exclaimed urgently. Ty looked shocked, while Finn declared that this is an unfortunate turn of events. "I'm afraid my associates and I can no longer allow you to leave" Finn declared, before asking the large man, Stone, to take care of the Guthries.
Present:
"And what happened then?" Sam asks his uncle. Several men have gathered nearby, and Lucas has his head cocked to one side: "Hold your horses, boy. Ah wanna watch this fine young lady finish her dance!Lord have mercy!I am in love" Lucas exclaims.
On a more spiritual note, back in San Francisco, every evening at twilight, a group of dedicated people assemble on a scenic bluff in San Francisco's Presidio to practice Tai Chi. Among them today is the mystic adept Jennifer Kale, and X-Force member Danielle Moonstar. Jennifer tells Danielle that she tries to come here as often as possible, explaining that Tai Chi helps her deal with the day-to-day stress in her life. "After all you've been through recently, I hope it might prove equally beneficial to you" Jennifer tells Dani, who replies that, personally, she would be happy to forget everything that has happened to her lately.
Jennifer smiles and remarks that Dani has become attuned to the field of quantum energy that binds and connects all matter in the universe. "The physical and perceptual changes you're experiencing are understandably intense" Jennifer assures her. "They're beyond intense, Jen. They're frustrating" Dani exclaims as she moves about with the Tai Chi. "In Genosha, I completely lost control of my power during my fight with Magneto - and the power almost consumed me. If I hadn't fought to keep myself together, I'd be nothing but subatomic particles floating in space right now" Danielle declares.
"You know there are many religions and philosophies about losing one's sense of self, and becoming part of a greater whole is the ultimate spiritual goal" Jennifer tells Dani, when, suddenly, a bear with large claws appears by a tree: "I can tell you all about losing control, Dani!" the bear exclaims. "Huh? It can't be!" Dani exclaims as she rushes over to the tree. Jennifer calls out to her, but by the time Danielle reaches the tree, the bear is gone. Jennifer asks Dani what is wrong, to which Dani replies "Do you believe in ghosts?"
Meanwhile, in Sao Paulo, Brazil, in a hotel suite belonging to Selene, a centuries old sorceress who owes her long life to dark magic. Selene lounges over a bed, while Bobby â��Sunspotâ�� DaCosta stands nearby. In previous eras, Selene has been called demon hunter, witch and empress. Today she is the Black Queen of the Hellfire Club's Inner Circle. Her reasons for coming to Brazil are as yet unknown, but she has enlisted the aid of the former X-Force member, recently deported from the States. Bobby, rightfully so, does not trust Selene.
"Okay, Selene, I saved you from those two demonic goons who tried to assault you the other day. That doesn't mean I have any interest in helping you further. You've caused nothing but grief for the X-Men and the New Mutants" Sunspot declares. The scantily clad Selene tells Sunspot that perhaps he will change his mind when he sees what she has in the other room. Sunspot opens the door, and sees a man hanging from the ceiling. "Good Lord. I know that man. His name's!um!Holiday!he's a SHIELD Agent. He was in charge of the team that cleaned up after the Reignfire mess in Las Vegas" Sunspot exclaims.
"Keep her away from me" Agent Holiday pleads. "Oh, despite his credentials, Agent Holiday's loyalties are not to SHIELD" Selene exclaims, suggesting to Agent Holiday that he tell Roberto who he really works for. "Do it for me" Selene tells him as she crouches down beside him. It is no a request, but a command. Involuntarily, the word rises from the back of his throat: "Damocles!".
Back in Texas. "Beer, women and rock 'n' roll all in one place. It don't get much better than this" Lucas smiles. "Ah know you're trying to milk as much time here as possible, but would you please get back to your story" Sam tells his uncle. "All right, all right. So like Ah was saying, things looked grim for the three Guthrie men!".
Flashback continues, narrated by Lucas Bartholomew Guthrie:
Standing in the laboratory, scientists examine the large red being, while one of the men in suits watches over the Guthries. "You are some twisted piece of work, Mister" Ty exclaims, while holding onto his son. "Mister Guthrie, you and your brother cannot possibly fathom the scope of the project we are undertaking. The creature you brought to us is a Celestial golem, a biological construct created by the Celestials, the alien race who jump-started sentient evolution on this planet" he explained. "Imprinted in his artificial brain are the processes by which meddling pantheon elevated humanity from its simian ancestry".
"These people are talking crazy, Lucas" Ty whispered to his brother. "After all Ah've seen today. Ah could believe almost anything" Ty replied, while little Sam asked "What are they doing with those kids?". Finn replied that they wish to improve upon the Celestials' handiwork: "Combining the best of our race and yours" Finn explained. "Are you saying you're not human?" Lucas asked him, to which Finn declared that humanity has deluded itself into believing that it is the only sentient species on this planet. "Our people built empires while yours were still crawling around in the mud - but sadly, we lack the genetic adaptability that has let your species thrive. The golem will enable us to rectify that error, and create a new species who will survive the coming age of catastrophe!"
There was not much Lucas could say in response to that. And he, Ty and Sam could only watch the Finn and his associates plugged the golem into some kind of generator and turned the power on. "This is bad, little brother" Ty whispered to Lucas, who replied that he knows and that he is sorry for getting Ty and Sam involved in this. Life, or some semblance of it, slowly returned to the golem, and everyone was transfixed. That was when Lucas figured he had to do something. "Looking back, Ah have to say it was one of the stupidest things Ah've ever done in my life" he tells Sam, but nevertheless, he figures he could wrestle the gun out of Stone's hand - but his plan did not exactly work out how he hoped, as the gun went off, and the bullet hit the generator. The resulting explosion knocked Lucas and Stone across the room.
The moment the generator was destroyed, Finn and Weller vanished - replaced by their true forms. "Ah have seen road kill prettier than those two" Lucas tells Sam. The transformed Finn declared that he had hoped to spare their redneck white-trash lives until they could run a DNA scan on the three Guthries. "But you've caused too much damage to let you live any longer" he exclaimed, ordering Weller to kill them. But at that moment, the golem broke free of its restraints - lucky for the Guthries, Weller and Finn were between them and the Golem, who attacked them, giving the Guthries time to escape. "C'mon, Ty! Grab Sam and let's get out of here!" Lucas exclaimed. "Wait! We can't leave those other kids!" Sam called out in his fathers arms. Ty agreed, and announced that they have to rescue the kids.
Ty handed Sam over to Lucas, and went back into the lab to free the kids. A genuinely heroic act, but one that cost them whatever chance they had of getting to the truck and getting to safety. And then, to make matters worse, the white Cadillac that Lucas had seen earlier in front of his house pulled up. Out of the car stepped an odd looking man, wearing the most obnoxious leather fringe outfit that Lucas had seen this side of Branson, Missouri. "Step aside, gentlemen. I'll handle this" the strange man boasted. "Mister, you gotta be outta freaking mind. That' thing'll rip you apart!" Ty exclaimed as he gathered Sam and the other children together. The large man thanked Ty for his concern, before telling him to take the children and get as far away as possible.
The strange man had some kind of high-tech harness the projected a force field around his body - making him an even match for the out of control golem, smacking the golem backwards. When the two clashed, it sounded like thunder. In the meantime, Lucas was trying to get as much distance between those two and the half dozen kids he found himself babysitting. "Don't look back! Run!" he told the kids. But of course Sam ignored his uncle, and looked back.
Soon, from the safety of the cornfield across the highway, they watched the fight conclude with an explosion that left Big Susie's in rubble. When it was all over, the strange man was the only one walking away out of the smoke and debris. "Ah guess we owe you our thanks, Mister" Ty said to the man. "Call me Sledge. And you're welcome. Couldn't let Indigo get his hands on a golem. A shame I had to destroy it" Sledge replied cryptically. Ty asked Sledge if he could explain what all this was about. "Who - what - were those people?" he added. Sledge looked at the bodies of Finn and Weller, since turned back to their human guises, lying in the rubble. Sledge declared that they are Deviants, members of a dying race that long ago moved underground to avoid human detection.
"They renounced their loyalty to the Deviant king to join an organization trying to establish a new global power" he explained. Ty remarked that his head is spinning, and asked what they do now. "Leave them. Their allegiance to this shadow cabinet means their remains can no longer be interred in the great hall" Sledge replied. Ty declared that it would not be right to leave them for the coyotes to pick at, and suggested somebody should bury them. "Oh no!don't tell me you're volunteering" Lucas muttered. "We both are, little brother" Ty replied.
Lucas tried to argue, but Ty explained that their only other option was calling the State Police, which would have involved explaining to them Lucas' part in the armed robbery, which is how they came to be burying bodies in the cornfield. With the bodies buried, Ty declared that they had to get the children to a hospital, as there is no telling what those monsters did to them. "Poor little guys. They didn't deserve any of this" he added, pointing out that no one is going to believe them when they explain what happened. "There is a way to make them forget" Sledge announced as he pulled a small glowing blue orb from his hat - and when the kids looked at it, their eyes went blank, and they fell to the ground, unconscious.
"When they awake, they will remember nothing of this" Sledge declared. "What about me, Dad. Do I have to forget, too?" Sam asked. "I think it's better this way, Sam. I'm sorry!" Ty told his son, before Sledge held the glowing blue orb in front of him.
Present:
Lucas tells Sam that it was a difficult decision for his father to make, but that he decided as if the onset of adolescence wasn't enough for an eleven year old to deal with, he would be better off ignorant of the fact that monsters walked among them. Lucas explains that Ty called a friend at the highway patrol who came and got the children. "The papers gave the troopers all the credit. Your Dad and I never talked about that night up until about a month before he died. It was Thanksgiving and we were sitting on your front porch and he said he was gonna tell you when you were older" Lucas reveals.
Sam pulls out some money and exclaims that he remembers it all now. "It's like waking up from a dream" he declares, before revealing that he has had a few run-ins with the Deviants himself. "Ah could tell some stories" he exclaims. "Ah'm sure you could" Lucas declares as they walk back through the bar. Lucas remarks that Sam was always such a well-behaved kid, especially after his Dad passed on. "It's nice to know you've got a reckless side as well. Ah cannot get over the fact that you broke me outta jail" Lucas declares. Sam admits that perhaps he should not have acted that impulsively. "I probably screwed up your parole" he remarks.
"Not to worry, Ah got a crackerjack lawyer. "Course, now that I'm on the outside, Ah don't have a great desire to return to a life of confinement" Lucas declares. Sam tells his uncle that if he doesn't go back then he will have the law looking for him for the rest of his life. "So I guess the question is - do you want to live the rest of your life as a free man or as a fugitive?". "Hmmm!that's a tough one" Lucas replies.
Three hours later, in Cell Block B, "All right, boys, lights out in five!" a guard calls out as he walks down the corridor. Lucas Guthrie is in his cell, lying across his bed, he is smoking and reading Crime and Punishment. "Aw. That's too bad, Garrison, I just reached the part where Raskolnikov murders the pawn-broker. Man, that Russian can write!" Lucas exclaims. The guard is surprised to see Lucas, and exclaims "What the - how? You were reported missing this afternoon. We figured you escaped!". "Ah have no idea why anyone would think such a thing. As you can see Ah am still a guest of this fine prison facility" Lucas replies.
Nearby, Cannonball approaches Domino and thanks her for the help. "I'd hate to ruin my uncle's chances of going straight. He shouldn't have to pay for my impatience" Sam exclaims. "Piece of cake. No one really expects anyone to break into prison" Domino replies, adding that she also replaced the surveillance tape that showed Lucas missing from his cell. "No one will ever be able to prove he spent the day in a Texas strip club with a wanted terrorist" Domino jokes, before telling Sam that lawbreaking must run in the family. "Yeah, Ah guess it does" Sam replies. Domino asks "What now? Got any more relatives you need busted out of the slammer?", but Sam announces that he thinks it is time he spoke to Sledge.
Meanwhile, deep in the heart of the Brazilian rainforest, Doctor Chandra and Doctor Joshua carry equipment from a plane. "Could we be any more removed from civilization, Doctor? And this heat - could it be any more unbearable?" Doctor Joshua complains. "For you, perhaps, Doctor. But I was raised in the Indian tropics" Doctor Chandra replies. Standing nearby is Odysseus Indigo, a large snake wound over his shoulders, he greets his staff, telling them that he is so glad they could make it, and that he hopes their journey was pleasant. "Pleasant?" Dr Joshua begins, but Dr Chandra tells him to be quiet.
Doctor Joshua places a square container on a table and opens the lid. Indigo asks him if he had any trouble with customs, but Dr Joshua replies that customs were paid well, and never even looked at the cargo. "And is the creature intact?" Indigo asks. Doctor Joshua holds up a capsule from the container, containing something inside the capsule. "Entirely" Dr Joshua smiles. "May I present what's left of Project Nineteen - otherwise known as! Reignfire!"!.