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Provide a full summary of the comic book.

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Common Ground
Chandilar, the throne world of the Shi’ar Imperium. Its imperial city is a symbol of security and prosperity for the most powerful race in the known universe. The Shi’ar culture is based upon the worship of Sharra and Ky’thri, who once were gods at war, and now are gods in marriage. This religion is the basis for their power. The Shi’ar do not merely conquer other planets - they marry and absorb them, merging cultures instead of destroying them, turning conquered people into allies. The Imperium grows, and as it does, so do the headaches that come with controlling it.
In her aerie, high above a city still alive with activity despite the lateness of the hour, Lilandra Neramani sleeps. Or, at the very least, she tries. Sleep does not come easy for the Majestrix-Sh’iar. Lilandra has found that power and conscience are a burdensome combination. Lying on a very large round bed, Lilandra stirs, ‘Who is…?’ she calls out, when she senses someone in her chamber. She is almost glad of the disturbance - almost.
Looking up, Lilandra sees the alien called Jahf. ‘How dare you?’ Lilandra calls out. ‘Hologram you may be, but this is the imperial bedchamber! And your attention should be on your duties as guardian of the M’Kraan Crystal. Jahf apologizes to Lilandra, and tells her that it is those duties which prompt this disruption. ‘I cannot leave my post, but there is a crisis you must be made aware of’ Jahf reports. Jahf reminds the Majestrix that her primary duty is to prevent any intruder from entering the sacred crystal when the M’Kraan gateway opens, which happens once in a million years. Jahf points out that between such times, however, it still falls to her to guard and protect the crystal from harm. ‘I’m not sure how I could have missed it before, but this evening, I noticed…wait, I will show you’.
A hologram of the M’Kraan Crystal appears, and Lilandra, now out of bed, notices a beam of energy attached to the crystal, and asks Jahf what it is. ‘That, Majestrix, is why I disturbed you’ Jahf replies, revealing that, somehow, the infinite power of the crystal is being siphoned off, drained into deep space. Jahf tells Lilandra that the siphoning will likely not harm the crystal, but she thought Lilandra would want to know of this immediately. The purple-skinned alien with white hair remarks that the crystal is a symbol of faith, of the union between Sharra and Ky’thri. ‘This blasphemy must be stopped’ Jahf declares. Lilandra asks the guardian if she has been able to trace the origins of the siphoning. ‘Indeed’ Jahf replies, announcing that she will call up a hologram of the source planet. ‘Mother’s wing!’ Lilandra gasps as she sees the hologram.
Lilandra then falls silent, as this is far from the first time Lilandra has had trouble with the planet Earth and its people. Despite the fact that some of its heroes have been her allies in the past, Earth has proven itself quite a nuisance. Not for the first time, Lilandra wonders if it wouldn’t be simpler to just add Earth to the Imperium. But Lilandra could never do that. Her heart belongs to an earther, a terran named Charles Xavier, founder of the X-Men. Lilandra loves Charles deeply, though it pains her endlessly, and is one of the reasons for their current estrangement - ever and always, the Imperium must come first. Lilandra thanks Jahf and remarks that she serves her Majestrix faithfully. She instructs Jahf to return to her post now. Lilandra remarks that her duties keep her here on Chandilar, so she will instruct Commander Kai’tra and High Priest Dar’bikk to gather a force and investigate this phenomenon. ‘And Sharra and Ky’thri, I pray they come back empty-handed. Jahf tells Lilandra that she rests easy knowing the blasphemers will be punished, adding that with Kai’tra and Dar’bikk pursuing them, there will be nowhere on Earth for them to hide.
‘Where?’ the handsome hero and mutant refugee called Nate Grey wonders as he hovers high over New York City. Nate knows that somewhere out there is the cruellest, most twisted individual he has ever come across - the Dark Beast, known as McCoy. They both come from another version of this world, another reality where hope had been extinguished, where hatred had given way to devastation - to apocalypse. Whatever twist of fate saved them, put both of them here, Nate is grateful for the second chance. Already in this new world, Nate has gone up against McCoy several times. For a while now, Nate has been bowing to track the Dark Beast down once and for all, and put him somewhere, where his perverse experiments would never harm anyone again. Which brings Nate back to that question - where? But Nate isn’t worried, as it is only a matter of time before he locks onto the Dark Beast’s location. At the moment, Nate is the most powerful telepath, the most powerful telekinetic, and maybe the most powerful mutant on the face of the Earth.
Nate figures now that he has set his mind to it, there is nowhere on Earth the Dark Beast can hide. But he is wrong - there is one place. An alternate, hidden lab, one that Nate is unaware of from his previous encounter, buried deep beneath the oldest of New York’s subway tunnels. There, the Dark Beast has found a way to shield his location from all psi-scans. But, just because this lab cannot be psionically penetrated, doest not mean it is impenetrable, as the deadly being known as Holocaust appears, and drops down through the tunnels into the laboratory, where the Dark Beast is busy working. ‘Nemesis!’ the Dark Beast exclaims when he detects his visitor. ‘You’re late’ Dark Beast remarks.
Soon, the Dark Beast has placed Holocaust into some equipment, and tells him to relax. He adds that he is not sure if this will hurt or not, but that it is necessary. ‘McCoy, why do insist on calling me by my birth name?’ Holocaust asks. McCoy tells him that it not just a name, but his destiny, to be humanity’s nemesis. McCoy instructs him to be still, and remarks that with luck, this will be the last core sample they will need. McCoy taps away at a computer console and explains that then they might find out why Holocaust’s armor cannot access some of the features he built into it. ‘When I created this exo-skeleton, I certainly never expected anyone to come along with the power to tamper with it’ McCoy remarks, adding that he hopes they never run into Onslaught again. ‘What the -?’ he calls out, when suddenly, there is an explosion in the laboratory, as the outer wall is busted open.
‘Stand where you are, terrans! I am Commander Kai’tra of the Shi’ar!’ the commander announces. She wears green armor and sports a mohawk hairstyle. She is flanked by several Shi’ar warriors in red armor. They all carry large weapons. Kai’tra informs the Dark Beast and Holocaust that they are both wanted for questioning on charges of sacrilege, by authority of Majestrix Lilandra, she then orders them to surrender. ‘Surrender? Your words mean nothing to me, alien! And though I am weakened by my “friend’s” experiments, I will never surrender!’ He breaks out of the contraption the Dark Beast had him in and declares ‘Despite McCoy’s argument to the contrary, my name is Holocaust, woman! Let me show you why!’ he exclaims as he fires a blast of energy at the Shi’ar.
The Dark Beast also engages the warriors in battle, ‘Out of the way, alien fool! You violate my home, destroy my lab…and I don’t have any weaponry nearly as advanced as yours. So thanks for the loan!’ he exclaims as he steals one of their weapons. ‘We are prepared for you, McCoy! You should have surrendered!’ Kai’tra declares as she blasts McCoy from behind, striking him down. ‘Alien cow! McCoy is not my friend, but he is my ally! You have signed your death warrant by attacking us today!’ Holocaust warns the Shi’ar, holding one of them by their necks. Holocaust, born Nemesis, fights on. Powered by rage, he has been weakened by the Dark Beast’s tests and treatments. Ironic then, that in trying to perfect, and even to magnify his power, he has left himself vulnerable, as the other Shi’ar warriors fire their weapons at him. ‘You were offered a chance to surrender, terran. Remember that, as you scream in agony!’ one of the Shi’ar calls out. ‘Oh, I’ll remember. I’ll -’ Holocaust begins, before he screams, as the blast penetrates his armor. ‘But how?’ Holocaust wonders, before boasting that he will destroy them all. He then fires the final blast in the battle - upwards, shattering a portion of the ceiling, raining rubble down on top of the Dark Beast’s laboratory, burning through everything in its path…
…and erupting into the sky above Manhattan! ‘Whoa!’ Nate calls out when he sees the blast in the sky nearby. ‘Now there’s something you don’t see everyday’ Nate tells himself as he flies in the direction of the blast. He supposes that his hunt for McCoy will have to wait a while. And, as the city around him is reacting to the explosion, Nate is just focused on getting to the scene of the disaster. He doesn’t sense the sudden arrival of Shi’ar soldiers below, even though he is the focus of their thoughts. ‘There! Our sensors placed us quite close to our target! Now, quickly, before he can get away…’ one of them calls out, and two of the warriors fire their weapons upwards, striking the surprised Nate, who cries out in pain, and falls to the ground below. Nate is surrounded by the Shi’ar warriors, and tells them that he has no idea why anyone would want to dress up in Arnold’s “freeze-armor”, and he doesn’t care. ‘But there are a couple of things I want to get straight. First…getting shot at really ticks me off!’ Nate exclaims as he engages the Shi’ar in combat, he grabs one of them and warns the warrior that he has about three seconds to tell him why he shouldn’t trash them all.
‘I’ll be more than happy to answer that question, boy. You are badly outnumbered’ one of the older warriors remarks as he aims his weapon at Nate, while Kai’tra stands nearby. ‘You might want to brush up on your math’ Nate replies as he telekinetically throws several of the warriors away from himself. Now before some rubberneckers get trampled…I suggested you all take off. And next time you want to talk to me…try starting with “hello”!’ Nate exclaims as he throws more of the warriors to one side, then hovers over the remaining ones, taking them out telekinetically, also. ‘Hello’ Commander Kai’tra declares as she moves towards Nate who has positioned himself on top of an abandoned bus. She tells Nate that she thought he would have been more cooperative, given their information and his connection to the X-Men. ‘But, then, how could I expect reasonable behavior from one whose very presence is heresy against the crystal and the Shi’ar Imperium!’ she exclaims.
‘Reasonable behav…? I have no idea what you’re talking about, and no more “connection” to the X-Men than you do, I suspect! But if you to throw down with me, I’m standing right here!’ Nate calls back. ‘No connection to the X-Men? Excellent. Then we need not be concerned about them coming after you!’ Kai’tra declares as she fires her weapon at Nate. A bullet, like a hockey puck, is fired at Nate, who takes note of it, and asks ‘Did you miss the fact that I’m telekinetic?’ But, the Shi’ar miss nothing, and as Nate attempts to use his telekinetic power to destroy the projectile, he realizes his mistake, and cries out in pain, clutching his head, for this is a Shi’ar psi-bomb, and when Nate lashes out with his mind, its component parts explode and latch on to his psi-signal, chasing them back to their source. It is really very messy. Nate then collapses to the ground. Kai’tra stands over him, and tells Nate that she hoped it wouldn’t be necessary to hurt him. ‘You made it an easy decision’ she adds, before instructing one of the soldiers to get him back to the ship and to not worry about being gentle.
Invisible to Earth’s comparatively primitive technology, the Shi’ar royal cruiser, Wingspan, orbit’s the Earth. It is a massive vessel, its crew and troops numbering more than 1000. And all to secure the three beings captive behind closed doors. Several guards stand in front of the doors, and inside the room, the heretics are restrained in differing harnesses, lined up next to each other. ‘I’m trying, McCoy, but whenever I attempt to use my power, it’s as though these restraints drain it from me, bleeding me dry’ Holocaust announces, before suggesting that McCoy do something, as he is the scientist. ‘Believe me, I am also trying’ McCoy replies, announcing that he recognizes these aliens, the Shi’ar, from the X-Men records. ‘And thanks to Xavier’s pups, I’ve used their technology before’ McCoy adds, explaining that the Shi’ar are light years ahead of Earth technology, and yet, there is something else here, it is as though the Shi’ar new what to expect of them. McCoy points out that these harnesses are clearly customized for each of them. ‘And on the other hand, even I haven’t been able to test the full parameters of Grey’s abilities yet’ McCoy remarks. ‘Perhaps when he comes around…’ McCoy begins, as Nate opens his eyes.
Images shown from Nate’s memories:
Nate Grey is healing, thanks to the Shi’ar med-techs who strapped him into his restraints. But he suffered severe trauma, and it is anybody’s guess when he will finally come around. For the moment, his unconscious mind is trawling through another trauma, a whole world of it - and the singular triumph that brought that world to an end. In that horrible other reality, called the Age of Apocalypse, the entire universe was threatened by the energy within the M’kraan Crystal, and all because a single shard had been chipped from the supposedly indestructible gem. Not so indestructible after all, but strong enough for Nate to use as a weapon against Holocaust. He drove the shard though the monster’s armor at the very moment when his entire reality collapsed around him. Yet somehow, that act, those energies coming together as one, had saved him…had preserved him, kept him intact as reality warped around him.
Nate fad fallen to the soil of a new Earth, a world where humans still ruled and where the X-Men fought to keep to keep the horrors he had known his whole life from ever occurring. Despite his untreatable paranoia, this less than perfect new world might have been paradise for Nate, if it weren’t for the fact that he wasn’t alone. The same energies that had brought him to this reality had brought others as well. Holocaust, the son of Apocalypse, the twisted devil doctor known as McCoy the Dark Beast, and one other, as well - the sadistic, malformed creature known as the Sugar Man.
Reality:
‘Wake up, Grey!’ a voice calls out. ‘Come on boy! Wake!’ the voice cries. ‘Wanna make sure yer all awake!’ It is the Sugar Man, and he walks into the room, flanked by several Shi’ar guards, as he declares that he wants to make sure everyone knows the Sugar Man took down three of the most powerful mutants in the world. ‘After that whole Genosha deal feel apart, I got no respect. But nobody’s gonna mess with me after this!’ he boasts. ‘How dare you? You loathsome little troll. I’ll rip your heart out for this!’ Holocaust warns the Sugar Man, while the Dark Beast, calling him Nemesis again, tells him to calm down, for his own sake, explaining that their restraints draw on their own power to hold them. ‘The more you fight, the stronger you make your bonds’. Nate realizes this too, glowing with energy as he tries to break free, the restraints just become more difficult for him to fight against. ‘Oh, so it’s back to Nemesis, now, eh? Well, don’t think you can scare Sugar Man’ the horrid creature exclaims.
The Sugar Man continues, reminding everyone that they ignored him long enough and laughed at him. ‘But who’s laughing now, eh? I’m gonna show you who the real heir to Apocalypse is!’ Holocaust calls the Sugar Man a snivelling worm and points out that his father wouldn’t have noticed the Sugar Man if he didn’t have to scrape him off his boots. ‘You were never anything but a third-rate lackey, and you’ll -’ he is then interrupted by the Dark Beast, who suggests to the Sugar Man that he take leave of them now, as tempers are running high. ‘And I believe we all have some thinking to do’. The Sugar Man turns to leave the room, announcing that he is going, but not because he is afraid of any of them. He laughs and declares that the Age of the Sugar Man has begun. Nate turns to his fellow captives and tells them that he has no idea how Sugar Man ended up with these aliens, or what his agenda could be for them to capture the three of them like they are old pals or something. ‘But I’ve gotta say, seeing that sleazy moron diss you two is worth the hassle. Completely’.
‘Ah, listen to him, Nemesis. The pup has a personality now. You’d think he was a “real boy” instead of just a weapon built in our old friend Sinister’s lab’ McCoy remarks, adding that Nate talks as if he has a life beyond his destiny, the reason he was created - to destroy Nemesis’s father - to kill Apocalypse. Nate replies that Sinister was nothing compared to McCoy, that his destiny is even simpler: ‘To be the master of lies. To twist souls to mirror your own perversity. If only I could have fulfilled my destiny as well as you fulfilled your own’. Holocaust just frowns at Nate, when suddenly, another Shi’ar enters the room, surrounded by many guards. ‘Here me, infidels!’ he booms. ‘Oh, great. Something tells me this isn’t the cavalry’ Nate mutters, as the Shi’ar introduces himself as High Priest Dar’bikk of the Shi’ar Imperium, servant to the Majestrix Lilandra of the House of Neramani, and, above all, servant to Sharra and K’ythri, the Gods in Marriage, the two who are one, the union from which sprang the entire universe.
The aged Shi’ar tells the captives that they three are a twofold abomination, and were it his choice alone, they would all be dead now. ‘But the Majestrix is merciful. She has decreed that if your heresy can be erased, you may yet live’. He claims that they are aware of their origins, thanks to the assistance provided to them by their fellow heretic, the Sugar Man. ‘You are not even of this reality - abominations in the eyes of the gods and the universe. For that reason alone, you should be destroyed’ Dar’bikk announces, before telling the  three that is not why the Shi’ar came for them, rather, it is because each of them holds within them a small, shimmering of energy from the M’kraan Crystal. He tells them that the M’kraan Crystal is one of the most powerful objects in the universe, but more importantly, it is sacred to the Imperium. Dar’bikk explains that their faith believes that it was the gift presented to Ky’thri upon his wedding to Sharra, as a symbol of their union. ‘By your very presence, you defile our faith’.
Dar’bikk continues: ‘Armadas which controls dozens of systems, spilling over from one galaxy to the next…the most powerful military force in the universe…an empire weeps at your sacrilege’. He adds that the small taste of the essence of the crystal is in each of them, but that the greatest sacrilege is on the part of he who had been called Holocaust, and is now apparently known as Nemesis. ‘Within that one is a small shard, a fragment of a M’kraan Crystal from another reality’, Dar’bikk points out and reveals that its presence on this plane of existence is the greatest of insults to their faith. ‘Thus, before we attempt to drain you others of the M’kraan energies that shimmer within you… we will tear the abhorrent crystal shard from the monster’s heart’. Dar’bikk declares that if these things cannot be accomplished, they will be left with no choice - to preserve their faith, they will all be executed as heretics. ‘You have got to be kidding me…’ Nate utters.
‘Hello? Hello? Okay, I guess you’re not kidding’ Nate mutters as the Shi’ar vanish and the door slams behind them. Holocaust, the Dark Beast and Nate all frown at each other, and Nate remarks that he won’t mind dying so much, as it seems like he has been preparing most of his life for it. ‘Cowardly whelp! If I’d known Sinister had built you to -’ Holocaust begins, before Nate interrupts: ‘you’d have done what, Nemesis? I was built to destroy your “father”. Don’t think I can’t kick your -’ Nate begins, before McCoy tells them to shut up. ‘Both of you! And listen to me…if you have any interest in getting our of here, I have plan’. Nemesis and Nate narrow their eyes as McCoy announces that, unfortunately, it will involve them working together.
Nate knows that his “allies” are both focused on McCoy’s plan, so he decides to psi-scan the “psycho-twins” as he calls them. ‘Holocaust…or Nemesis…now that McCoy’s manipulating him…is pure lunatic rage. He really didn’t know about me and Sinister’. Nate discovers that the Dark Beast’s mind is locked up tight, but he knows what he is doing, playing Nate and Nemesis against one another. ‘I just wish I knew what he hopes to gain long term by it’. Nate thinks that he can’t worry about that now though, as first they have got to get out of here. ‘And here comes our ticket’ he decides as the doors slide open, and the Sugar Man, along with some Shi’ar, enter. ‘Well, well, well. So you meet the High Priest? Sweet guy, isn’t he? He was surprised when thy drained the crystal essence from me. Very dangerous, really. And now they owe me one, for helping to track you three’ the Sugar Man reveals.
The Sugar Man grins and asks Nemesis if he is ready, adding that this should be fine. Suddenly, the Sugar Man looks shocked as Nate speaks telepathically into his head, informing him that McCoy asked him to psi-link the two of them so the aliens can’t hear him. ‘Indeed I did, Nathan. And thank you. I want to apologize, Sugar Man. I was wrong. Nemesis was wrong’ the Dark Beast says to the Sugar Man via Nate’s telepathy. McCoy claims that none of them every truly appreciated the Sugar Man’s cunning or his power, but he has them now, indeed. ‘But think what we three Horsemen of Apocalypse could do working together! The world would be ours: one massive blaze of chaos, such as Apocalypse never dreamed!’ McCoy declares. ‘With a dark triumverate of rulers to lord over a doomed planet, to crush it underfoot, it would be sweet, wouldn’t it?’ McCoy asks.
‘Sweet, ooh yes’ the Sugar Man grins, while Nemesis is being transferred to a large contraption so that the crystal shard can be extracted from his body. ‘Sweet as sugar!’ the Sugar Man exclaims as he opens fire at the Shi’ar. ‘No! What are you doing? You will free the heretic!’ one of them calls out. ‘I’ve got news for you, alien scum. The heretic is free!’ Nemesis booms as he stands up, free from the restraints. He boasts that he is free to destroy every living soul on this vessel. ‘It may be as Nemesis that my father created me, and to honor him, I’ll embrace that name once more…but you Shi’ar will know me as Holocaust for the few short minutes left of your lives’. Nemesis then turns his attention to the still restrained Nate. ‘But first, a little business to attend to…’ he announces. ‘Wait! ’the Sugar Man exclaims, stepping between Holocaust and Nate, with the now free McCoy. ‘You dare might, troll, I ought to…’ Holocaust begins, before McCoy tells him that is enough, as they are allies now.
‘Allies, yes. But didn’t help you just to die now. We’re gonna need Grey to get out of here. Trust me’ the Sugar Man tells the others. ‘Trust you, Sugar Man? Don’t trust any of you! And maybe these things could hold your powers, Sugar, but even I don’t know the limit of my powers!’ Nate exclaims as he bursts free of his restraints in a burst of psionic fury. ‘Very impressive, Grey. I look forward to the day I can finally get around to killing you without interruption!’ Holocaust exclaims. ‘You…wish…’ Nate utters as he steadies himself. However, a loud alarm has started to sound. ‘Grey, you idiot! Your escape must have the entire ship on alert!’ McCoy snarls. ‘No! You think? Guess I should’ve just waited for you boys to decide whether or not to execute me, huh?’ Nate replies, as the doors slide open and a platoon of Shi’ar warriors enter. ‘Halt, prisoners! You Cannot escape!’ one of them calls out.
McCoy and Nemesis start to engage the warriors in combat, and McCoy tells Nate that if he would like to get out of here, he would suggest less sarcasm. ‘You could lend a hand at any time…’ he adds. Nate replies that he has their backs covered, as he can keep an eye on them from where he is over here. ‘Ignore him, McCoy. We don’t need the coward’s help!’ Nemesis declares. He blasts a hole in the wall of the laboratory where they have been held, and the four make their way out after easily taking down the warriors. ‘Not at the moment, but as I told you, we will. We’ll need to work together if you all want to get off this ship!’ the Sugar Man calls out as he follows the others. ‘Great! My life depends on three lying, murderous, raving psychotics’ Nate mutters.
The four survivors of a reality that never was fight their way to the central core of the Wingspan, defending their flank as the core’s magnetic vacuum draws them in. Nate would have been more than happy to submit to whatever the Shi’ar Had in mind if he knew for certain that it would keep Nemesis and the Dark Beast from ever returning to Earth. But without that guarantee, Nate can’t risk it. ‘Keep them back, Nemesis! I’ve got McCoy. You grab Sugar Man and let’s move! If Sugar Man’s right, the core should draw us much closer to our escape route!’ Nate calls out, while holding the Dark Beast in a telekinetic field, he and Holocaust blast their way forward. Holocaust grabs the Sugar Man but shouts back ‘Don’t presume to instruct me, boy! And don’t think I’ve forgotten what you were born to be!’ This causes Nate to reply ‘No more than I’ve forgotten what Apocalypse had in mind for you!’ and remarks that it is too bad Holocaust turned out to be such a disappointment for Apocalypse.
If getting them all out alive is the only way to make sure he is still around to stop them from fulfilling the horrifying vision of the future he’d seen in McCoy’s mind…well, it doesn’t leave Nate with much choice. They arrive at the duct system, just like the Sugar Man said, so McCoy asks how it is the Sugar Man has come to know so much about the Shi’ar and this vessel in such a short time. Sugar Man explains that once he was on board, it was simple to gain access to schematics and history. ‘The Shi’ar are a proud race. Knowledge is power, McCoy, as I’m sure you know’ the Sugar Man replies, adding that he knows things about McCoy that hr might not want Nemesis to find out. McCoy lunges forward and throws the Sugar Man up against a wall, ‘Imbecile! You’re fortunate that Nemesis and Grey are ahead of us! I don’t care what you think you know, but I’ll tell you what I know’ McCoy declares. ‘You helped the Shi’ar track us down, even helped design weapons they could use to capture us - you didn’t think I’d miss your hand in that, did you?’ he asks.
McCoy releases the Sugar Man and reminds him that he has tortured and killed for curiosity alone. ‘You’d best keep your mouth shut, and help us get out of here. Otherwise, I’m certain there are some amusing experiments you could help me with’ McCoy threatens the Sugar Man, who replies ‘I…see your point’. They join up with Nate and Nemesis and the Sugar Man announces ‘Ah…here we are’, as he tells Nate that this is where he comes in. He explains that the door operates on the same principle as his restraints - any force thrown against it is absorbed and used in its defense. Sugar Man reveals that Grey can use his psi-talents to reach inside and force the guards to open up. Nate frowns. He is no saint, but he is not completely comfortable with the idea of hijacking people’s minds, even if they’re aliens - but he knows that it is the only way. Then, even as the door begins to open, a blast of energy is fired at the odd foursome. ‘Grey, behind you!’ the Sugar Man calls out. ‘This way! Execute the heretics!’ one of the approaching Shi’ar warriors calls out.
The door ahead starts to open, and McCoy points this out to Nemesis, who replies ‘Yes. We won’t be needing them anymore’ as he fires a blast towards Nate and the Sugar Man. ‘What are you…you backstabbing son of a…if I hadn’t erected that psi-shield in time, we’d have been toast!’ Nate tells the Sugar Man, his psi-shield extended around him, too. Nate supposes that the truce is over, and tells the Sugar Man to watch his back while he takes care of the traitors. Nate fires a blast of energy at Nemesis and McCoy, but as he turns around, he sees the Sugar Man running away from him. ‘Why, little troll’ Nate mutters, before seeing that the door is closing. McCoy and Nemesis run, and Nemesis warns Nate that they will meet again, and that hr will take his time when he kills him. ‘Y’know, your bragging is getting so tired. Let’s just do it now. Come on, Nemesis, you can’t run from your destiny, right?’ Nate calls out as the door closes.
Nate makes his way into the next chamber, ‘Let’s go at it! You and me, right here, right…whoa! Okay, now this is a really big ship. I gotta get me one of these’ Nate exclaims as he sees the hangar bay that he and his non-allies have entered. The Sugar Man has led them all to the Wingspan’s launch bay. As he sees it for the first time, Nate suddenly realizes the extent of the Shi’ar Imperium’s power. McCoy and Nemesis are battling dozens of Shi’ar guards as they attempt to get to a vessel near the hangar bay exit. Nate joins the fray, and tells Nemesis to hang out there for a second, as when he is done with these belligerent morons, it is time for that date with destiny Nemesis has been so uppity about. Warriors surround Nate, while Nemesis blasts his way through his opponents, telling Grey that if he is the greatest obstacle in this world, his path will be remade in his father’s image, even sooner than he had hoped.
More Shi’ar warriors rush into the hangar bay, ‘Quickly! These weapons worked on the heretics before. Now, we shall…’ Commander Kai’tra calls out, but Holocaust blasts the new arrivals, ‘Fools! You expect me to just stand here, knowing what your weapons can do?’ he asks, he tells them that without the element of surprise, they don’t have a prayer. Kai’tra tells her group to fall back and regroup. She declares that she will not allow a Shi’ar elite detachment to be defeated by a trio of sacrilegious terrans. ‘They will not escape’ one of the warriors assures the commander.
Holocaust looms over Nate, ‘At last, Grey, destiny is here. Sinister may have made you to destroy my father, but he couldn’t have known about me’ Holocaust remarks. ‘Yeah, well, either that, or he didn’t consider you much of a threat’ Nate replies. ‘That is the last insult I will bear, boy!’ Holocaust declares, before firing a close-range blast of energy towards Nate. ‘Is that the best you can do? Didn’t even dent my psi-shield!’ Nate calls back as he remains safe inside his psi-shield. Coward, why don’t you strike back?’ Holocaust asks. Why indeed? The answer is simple. Nate is too busy thinking to do more than defend himself. Thinking and remembering. The exo-skeleton that contains the radioactive energy that makes up Nemesis’s body is impenetrable… almost. After all, Nate has already penetrated that armor once.
‘Y’know, Nemesis, I hate to cut this short. I mean, it being a date with destiny and all, but it occurs to me, you know, that you’re just not in your father’s league. Even if it is just to get you off my back…you’re going down!’ Nate replies, remembering that the weapon he used to pierce Nemesis’s shell before it still around. Nemesis then screams, ‘ARGH! NOOO! The crystal! What have you done?’ he shouts, as Nate telekinetically pulls the alternate reality M’kraan Crystal shard from Nemesis’s body. ‘Done? I kicked your butt without even lifting a hand’ Nate replies, adding that he has given the Shi’ar just what they want - they got their crystal back. The crystal is held up telekinetically by Nate who exclaims ‘This thing’s been the cause of all this trouble? Just because it doesn’t belong here, any more than we do?’ He then reaches out with his power, finds the tiny flaw within the crystal shard, and rips it apart with his mind. The explosion becomes a whirlwind of energy which reaches out to the three survivors of another reality, and leeches all the M’kraan energy from their bodies. ‘Well, I’m not going anywhere, but if the Shi’ar think this thing’s an abomination…I’m more than happy to get rid of it for them’.
‘Can I go home now?’ Nate calls out to the Shi’ar, but Nemesis moves towards him, ‘You’re not going anywhere, Grey, not until -’, he is interrupted by Commander Kai’tra whose soldiers fire at Nemesis, and she declares that once and for all,  the infidels will not be allowed to escape. ‘Woman, you have pushed too far! Escape is no longer the plan. You will all be destr…wait!’ Nemesis utters, ‘What…what is happening?’ he asks as his form starts to change within the armor. The Dark Beast smacks away some of the Shi’ar who try to apprehend him, and remarks that this fight is rapidly becoming tiresome, so he thinks it is time to make their exit. ‘But what’s become of Nemesis, now?’ he asks. Nate replies that he hurt him, and adds ‘After all you’ve done to me, it’s about time I hurt you too, don’t you think?’ ‘Grey!’ McCoy exclaims. But before Nate can harm McCoy, a blast of energy is fired at him. McCoy turns to the Shi’ar and remarks that he never thought he would be this pleased to see his enemies’ reinforcements.
McCoy turns around and sees Holocaust, his glowing armor gone, now he appears as a blond-haired, blue-eyed young man in a black spandex costume. ‘Time to go, my friend’ McCoy calls out. ‘What’s happening to me?’ Holocaust asks. ‘You created my armor, explain this…this body! How will we get out of here if I cannot…’ he begins, before suddenly, he transforms again, back into his recognizable form. ‘Shut up and fight!’ McCoy exclaims, explaining to Holocaust that, simply put, his armor is lo longer hindered by the shard’s conflicting energies. McCoy picks up one of the Shi’ar guns and tells Holocaust that as he created his armor, he can help him to use it properly. ‘But not if we don’t get off this ship!’ he points out.
Nemesis fires some energies at the Shi’ar and tells McCoy that he doest not understand - ‘You knew of this…knew that I could change my shape…and never told me? Even when you first built it for me!’ he declares. The Dark Beast fires the Shi’ar weapon and replies ‘There’s a lot about your armor that you don’t know. When I constructed it, we were rivals’. He explains that the shard interfered with many of its functions. ‘What do you think those experiments in my lab were for? Besides, we may have been adversaries before, but we’re allies now’. ‘Are we?’ Nemesis snarls. McCoy points out that they both know what the other is capable of, and suggests they do not squander it here. ‘Do you want to be a minor league player like Sugar Man, willing to lick the boots of any master…or do you want to be an empire-builder, like your father?’ McCoy asks. ‘We’ll follow  your lead. For now’ Holocaust replies. ‘Then follow me now. We’ve got to get out of here!’ McCoy declares.
As they approach a teleport stage, McCoy remarks that Grey is keeping the remaining Shi’ar soldiers busy, so he will be covering their escape without even realizing it. McCoy states that between his time with the X-Men and their captivity here, he has learned enough about Shi’ar technology that he should be able to activate this teleport stage. ‘Yes. Excellent’ he remarks after examining the controls. He instructs Nemesis to stay within the boundaries of the platform. ‘Come on, McCoy. You didn’t really think I’d leave here…without making sure Grey was dead, once and for all?’ Holocaust asks as he fires a blast of energy at the viewing portal in the hangar bay, causing it to shatter open. ‘Well done, Nemesis. With that viewing portal shattered, the vacuum of space won’t merely kill Grey. A breach of that size may well destroy the entire vessel. A lesson for the Shi’ar that Earth is under new management’ McCoy declares, as the teleport stage activates and the two vanish.
There is silence, but for the wind, sucking at Nate. Before the viewport is shattered, Nate was ready to collapse from exhaustion, the use of his powers has drained him. After trashing his restraints, battling the Shi’ar, the Dark Beast and Nemesis…he was about to fall down if he couldn’t lie down. He could happily have slept for a month. But now, in the hurricane of black silence pulling at him, he is prepared to close his eyes for the final sleep. He tries to take a breath, and finds instead that the silence, the void, reaches down into his lungs and tears the last oxygen from them. In a moment, Nate Grey is going to die. Shi’ar warriors and spacecraft are sucked out into open space, while Nate tries again to scream, to deny the death that has come for him. He doesn’t have the air. Instead, he reaches within himself and gathers the last spark of his consciousness together - and lashes out. With superhuman effort, Nate holds his telekinetic shield in place over the massive breach in the viewport, sealing the Wingspan’s launch bay from the void of space.
Disorientated, Nate sucks greedily at the new oxygen rapidly pumped into the bay by the ship’s emergency systems. As the emergency blast doors begin to close over the viewport, Nate can barely hold his head up, and blood starts to flow from his nostrils. And when the door has finally closed, Nate simply falls to the floor. Only by instinct does he use his telekinesis to slow his descent at the last moment. He looks up, as the Shi’ar warriors surround him and point their guns at him. ‘You’ve…uhnn…you’ve gotta be kidding me!’ Nate exclaims. High Priest Dar’bikk rushes forward and instructs Commander Kai’tra to lower her weapons, for all of them to do so. ‘In the name of the Gods in Marriage, Sharra and Ky’thri, all must kneel in homage to the Majestrix-Shi’ar, Lilandra of the House of Neramani!’ the High Priest declares as Lilandra appears in the hangar bay.
Lilandra thanks Dar’bikk and explains that her presence is merely a hologram, and adds that she would not ask even the lowest life form to kneel for a moving picture. The hologram of Lilandra turns to Nate and states that she has been appraised of the events of the past hours. ‘Despite that you came to us as a captive, you have used your abilities to save the lives of the remaining crew of this ship. For that, you have the thanks of the Imperium and its Majestrix’. Lilandra announces that Nate and those others who should not exist, yet do, are no longer considered heretics, now that he has destroyed the false crystal shards, and the M’kraan Crystal is no longer being leeched of its power. Lilandra tells Nate that he has saved lives here today, but the others who are abominations in the eyes of the universe did nothing but kill. Lilandra adds that they must be punished, although the Shi’ar most powerful scanners cannot locate them.
Nate tells Lilandra not to worry, as he is sure it won’t be long before he runs into Dark Beast and Nemesis again - and next time, they won’t get away. ‘Well done Nate Grey, and well said. You are free to go’ Lilandra reports. ‘Is that it?’ Nate asks. ‘What happened to “oh, sorry we abducted you and tried to perform potentially deadly experimentation on your body, not to mention leaving you with a really massive freaking headache”!’ Nate exclaims. Lilandra remains silent. ‘Hey, just asking’ Nate mutters before standing on the teleport stage. The High Priest declares ‘Though you were not born into this reality, this universe, boy, I will pray that you find your place in it’. Commander Kai’tra tells Nate that he is a fine warrior, and adds that, perhaps, one day, they will meet again. ‘Yeah, I’m so looking forward to that’ Nate replies, as he then vanishes from the Shi’ar vessel.
‘Wait! What about me?’ the Sugar Man calls out as he appears behind the High Priest. ‘What about you, worm? Where’ve you been hiding all this time?’ Kai’tra asks. Sugar Man points out that he kept his part of the bargain, and tells the commander that he doesn’t belong on her home planet. ‘You most certainly don’t. Put him back where you found him!’ Kai’tra instructs another Shi’ar. ‘No! Wait! Anything but that!’ Sugar Man pleads.
Several days later, at South Street Seaport, a favorite spot for tourists on the southern tip of Manhattan Island. A place of life, and vivid color, of laughter and profound humanity - just what the doctor ordered. Nate walks through the busy crowds of people, he has so much to think about. He has psi-scanned the whole city, and there is no sign of McCoy. He recalls that Onslaught made Nemesis invisible to psionic, but wonders why he can’t find the Dark Beast. He decides this is weird, and doesn’t know why it is so important to him. He looks out over at the Statue of Liberty and realizes that this sure isn’t’ destiny. ‘Sinister may have engineered my birth, but that doesn’t make me his weapon’. He wonders if it is being friends with Peter Parker that has got him so revved up. ‘What’s he always say? With great power must come great responsibility’.
Nate looks out over the water, ‘Sounds kind of silly…doesn’t mean it isn’t true’. And it doesn’t help that Nate can’t stop thinking about what the Shi’ar called them. ‘Are we “abominations”?’ he wonders. The Shi’ar and that whole experience has got him thinking what else is out there, beyond the stars. Nate looks up at the starry sky, and decides that, for now, he still has a lot to learn about this world. ‘What’d that High Priest say? He’d pray I’d find my place in the world’ Nate remembers, deciding that was nice of him, actually, as he can use all the help he can get. Nate thinks he is starting to work it out, though, he really does. But before he will ever really feel at home here, he has to make sure that this world won’t ever become like his own. Nate turns to walk away, unaware that he is being watched by a blond-haired, blue-eyed man in a trench coat - Holocaust!
Nate remembers that when he first came into this reality, he brought some of his world’s greatest horrors with him - they are the real abominations - Nemesis with all the power Apocalypse bred into him - and the Dark Beast, manipulating Nemesis every step of the way. Nate knows that together, they still might be able to destroy this world. But, on the other hand, maybe destiny has something to do with it after all. Nate wonders if he could have survived the destruction of his own reality just so there would be someone with the power and knowledge to save this one from the same horrors? ‘Man, I don’t know. Probably just need some sleep. Destiny. What a concept’.


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Provide a full summary of the comic book.

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Messiah Complex, part one: The Ride
A blonde woman, her face obscured by a helmet, gets onto the back of a motorcycle with a long-haired man. She knows it is a bad idea, as Gregg has been drinking for one thing - he has been drinking as long as she has known, him, as long as she has been playing bass with his band. Gregg has been drinking as long as he has been drumming, or so she is told.
‘Helmet’s all yours, babe. Never wear it myself, anyway… plays havoc with the hair and all, y’know!’ Gregg declares as he motorcycle makes a lot of noise as he tears down the street. He is still a raging drummer, and a New York State law requires bars in Manhattan to shut down for the night by four AM. Other cars honk their horns at him as Gregg darts in and out of their way.
Nearby, a man in a trench coat and a wide-brimmed hat gets out of a cab. ‘Thanks, bud! Tip like this is gonna make for a lot merrier Christmas around the Brannigan tree, believe me!’ the cab driver calls out. He adds that between the grandkids, the second set of twins - but the passenger interrupts him. ‘Yes, yes’ he mutters, then with a strange voice, orders the cab driver to leave - now.
The driver speeds off, while Gregg is nearby on the motorcycle, and tells his female companion that they will hit the after-hours joint up on St Marks, when suddenly, the cab driver speeds up alongside him, causing Gregg to lose control - and the cab driver swerves into a lamp post, while Gregg and the blonde woman fall off the motorcycle. ‘Hang on, J-’ Gregg calls out, while the motorcycle crashes into a store window.
A crowd of onlookers starts to gather around, ‘Call for an ambulance!’ someone calls. ‘Already on the way’ someone replies. ‘Too late’ another declares. ‘No seat-belt’ someone points out. ‘Cabbie’s dead’ another announces, as the cab driver lies through the taxi wind-shield. ‘And the biker’ someone else reports. ‘Oh, God - dead. But the girl with him, her injuries are so severe!’ another announces as the woman lies on the ground, covered in blood. People move in closer as ambulance sirens can be heard approaching.
Dawn, at Washington Square Park, a strange, strange place. At the best of times, it serves as a downtown oasis for all New Yorkers of all types and all ages seeking more of the same. A crowd has gathered, they are excited, for Nate Grey was once more rumor than reality here. An urban legend in the making, more often spoken of than sighted, word quickly spread of this young man with a voice… a powerful, penetrating voice, and much to say. ‘Is it…?’ someone asks, eager to see Nate. ‘It’s him!’ another shouts. ‘Where’d he come from?’ someone asks. ‘Check it out, check it out -’ another declares, before they start chanting his name over and over. ‘A new look!’ several people call out when they see Nate in jeans and a tight black t-shirt.
Nate Grey a.k.a. X-Man smiles and waves at everyone. In the wake of his recent return to the streets of the city, however, heralded by his very public defeat of the psionic psychopath known as Jack Knife, the oasis is now nothing less than a mecca, for those seeking something only found here.
‘High five man!’ someone shouts, and Nate “high-fives” him. ‘What’s with the new duds, dude?’ another person asks. Telepathically, Nate speaks to everyone, ‘What are you talking about? I just changed my shirt, like every -’ he begins, before someone asks him how it feels to be a hero. ‘Hurts, tell you the truth. Jack got in a few good shots -’ Nate replies, before someone asks him if he is going to join the Avengers now. ‘I wish’ Nate mutters, as he is riding high at the moment. As a telepath, arguably the strongest mutant mind of his kind already, he can’t help but respond to the crowd’s response to him - what they ask, he tries to answer, as the chants keep coming. ‘Any advice for us, pal?’ someone asks. ‘Depends what you need to -’ Nate begins to reply, while someone asks where their nephew is. ‘Who’s your nephew?’ Nate asks.
As a telekinetic, wielding limitless unseen energies with his thoughts, he commands the power to telekinetically clear his own path, as gently as possible, with as much force as necessary, he pushes people away from him, and hovers above them.
‘Kiss my baby!’ a woman calls out. ‘Kiss me, kiss me, kiss me!’ someone else shouts As a relative newcomer to this planet, to this Earth that somehow still survives the mutant-human bigotry that destroyed his own, the boy has a lot to learn. Nate points towards something. ‘What’s he pointing at over -’ someone calls out. ‘My purse!’ a woman shouts as a man snatches it from her - the man that Nate is pointing at. ‘My cash!’ an elderly man exclaims, as another man steals his cash. ‘Pick pockets!’ someone shouts, as the crowd surrounds the two thieves. ‘Uh-oh’ one of the thieves utters.
Nate fears he may never understand, for instance, the importance of mere money to this humanity - the value placed on their currency of trade here, their thing paper of promise, over and above the lives it seems to lead. The crowd begins beating on the thieves. ‘Stop!’ Nate orders as he hovers in front of a water fountain. ‘Hang on - hang on everyone -’ someone exclaims. The two thieves make a run for it. ‘After ‘em!’ someone suggests, but Nate tells the crowd not to bother, as he has already called their mother and told her what her boys have been up to. ‘Their troubles haven’t even started yet, in this case. Trust me’ he assures everyone. ‘“Called”?’ someone asks. ‘Mind to mind, like this’ Nate explains telepathically. A man asks Nate if he can tell what he is thinking now. Nate points out that he just said it out loud. ‘How about now?’ the man thinks to himself.
Nate ignores the question and declares ‘Okay, this is getting a little -’, before a woman asks him to fly. ‘Isn’t there something more important we could -’ Nate begins. ‘My arthritis, it’s crippling…’ someone calls out. ‘… you a mutie, Nate?’ someone asks. ‘Or maybe you got your powers from some kind of radioactive lightning bug-bite or something?’ another inquires, before someone asks Nate where he is from. ‘That’s an easy one. I come from another place - another world, really - where…’ he begins, before someone shouts ‘AN ALIEN! They’ve come!’ ‘Just like us. Only better!’ others call out. ‘Knew it!’ some of the crowd boast. ‘No, no, no… listen to me! Listen up, please!’ Nate calls out.
Nate tells them all that he needs to try and explain - to help them understand, maybe help them all understand, why he is here, and why he alone of all those fighting the good fight, walks among them now. ‘The world of my birth wasn’t so much another physical reality, see, as it was… home. A place where I could be with one who was like a father to me, only more. So much, much more’ he tells everyone. He adds that it was also a place that suffered for the ambitions of one, evil, an evil like no other.
Before he can explain further, his companion Marita pushes through the crowd, ‘NATE!’ she screams. ‘Finally, amigo! I checked your loft first, but…it’s Jam - Nate, there’s been an accident…she was taken -’ Marita begins, but Nate knows his new friend’s thoughts before she can voice them, and Nate Grey acts without a second thought, as he and Marita suddenly vanish.
Outside the park a purple car is parked nearby and am an in the back seat thinks to himself, in Serbo-Croatian, ‘Teleportation. Or just the appearance of it’ while asking himself who he is to judge either way. ‘I care only that this strange boy should prove able to do what I hope - what even I myself have never been able to accomplish - now that his true test begins’.
Only a few short weeks ago, Marita, Jam and Bux found Nate at his worst. From the very brink of death, they nursed him back to health without any questions. Now, at Empire State Hospital, in a darkened room, that is what he appreciated the most, probably, freedom from the burden of answers, just connections without expectations. Nate sits on the edge of Jam’s hospital bed, while Marita stands nearby and Bux sits in a chair, chanting quietly to herself, searching for rays of hope in the light of her crystals and incense. She finds it often - but not always. Marita is never quiet for long - until now. ‘Barely got to know you yet, girl’ Nate tells Jam as he reaches out and touches her, hospital equipment beeping continuously in the background.
‘Just seen pieces of you so far, I guess, through your music - the songs you were belting out at the Limelight the other night - that pounding baseline you were pumping out. But now... it feels like we’ve all lost something here’ Nate remarks. Marita announces that Jam has lost an arm - her left arm from the elbow down, and that the doctor can’t tell when, or if, she will come out of this coma, or even if Jam can hear them right now. ‘She’ll never play bass again, that much they can say for sure’ Marita adds. Bux continues to chant, while Marita tells her that all the “chakra self-actualization” in the world won’t change that. Nate agrees, but doesn’t tell Bux, and thinks that bio-organic reconstruction is major and beyond even his abilities. Even if he had the medical skills and experience, it would require a surgeon’s working knowledge of human anatomy, but he doesn’t even have the actual arm itself, so there is nothing left to reattach.
Nate wonders if there is something he could have done to prevent this nightmare - could he have been there for Jam before it was too late somehow, someway - if he wasn’t off hanging in the park, indulging in a little head-trip of his own? He asks himself if in responding to the needs of strangers was just his way of avoiding his responsibility to those around him now - if all this newfound guilt he is feeling has anything to do with that broader sense of responsibility his buddy, Peter Parker, keeps talking about. ‘I’ll do what I can now, what I do best’ Nate tells himself. He dives straight into Jam’s sleeping mind to rouse her with a telepathic nudge - but realizes that her mind isn’t asleep, it is simply “off”.
Suddenly, the door to Jam’s room slams open, ‘Jasmine Archer. Motorcycle accident, trauma to the left arm and head…’ a nurse announces. A doctor in a wheelchair thanks the nurse and points out that, as it happens, he was the attending physician on duty in emergency when Ms Archer was admitted. The doctor announces that everyone else will have to leave until afternoon visiting hours begin, but that if they would care to wait out in the hall until after he examines his patient, he will be happy to answer any questions they might have. The doctor puts a hand on Nate’s shoulder as Nate replies ‘Thatwon’t be necessary, Doctor - Arlington, is it? We’re not about to…’ he begins telepathically, but Marita ushers Nate out of the room, stating that they are not about to do anything that is not in Jam’s best interest right now, and adds that this will give the three of them a chance to chat privately. “Jasmine Archer? Jasmine?” Bux remarks, surprised.
The nurse checks Jam’s stats and announces that her blood pressure is stabilizing and there is no change in her EEG. She adds that they are showing a spike in electrolyte activity a short while back, to which the doctor states that is a reaction to his prescription and fully expected. The doctor warns the nurse not to get her hopes up yet and remarks ‘Interesting company she keeps, though, wouldn’t you say?’ ‘If you say so, Dr Arlington. I tried not to notice’ the nurse replies matter-of-factly. ‘Well, if you don’t mind me saying so… you might want to stop by the lab before heading home, Laura - have them run a few tests on your own blood-oxygen levels - just something about your pallor, I think, something…’ Arlington suggests to the nurse, before he notices something under Jam’s sheet, where her arm would be. Arlington lifts the sheet up, and gets a very big shock when he sees that Jam’s arm is back.
Dusk, the rare purple Rolls-Royce is home, about to be housed in its even rarer private garage at one very unique estate on Long Island. Its owner is in for the night as well, even though he would not call it home. In an office, or library, a man stands beside the fireplace, flames flickering in the darkened room. ‘Everything. Everything I ever thought I could want is here at my fingertips, mine for the asking’ he thinks to himself. ‘Literally. Everything I ever thought I could want’. He tells himself that so much has changed, though since he first came to this country as a spy for the Soviet Bloc, he has changed so much, learned so much, seen his own power put to far greater use than he would have dared imagine himself, certainly. ‘And my beloved Yugoslavia runs red with its own blood. Civil war tears at the lush and generous land, threatening elegant Dionysian ruins that survived nature’s worst for centuries’.
He continues, ‘Pitting cousin against cousin, turning farmers and fathers into grave-diggers - making mourners of mothers…’ he looks at a photograph in a frame above the fire place and picks it up. A woman and a young girl are smiling in the photo, ‘Melanie, beautiful Melanie… and sweet Kara - the dangers I exposed them both to when I crawled back out of the grave in some kind of delusional state after…’ he thinks to himself. Suddenly, the nurse from the hospital enters, ‘Zachariah’ she calls out to him, before apologizing, adding that she thinks he wanted him to stop by. Zachariah addresses her as Nurse Lanning and tells her that she is a more than welcome interruption. He adds that he can hardly wait to hear all about her first day at the hospital.
He opens a bottle of wine, ‘But first… a toast’ he tells her. Nurse Lanning looks to the ground, ‘But… I can’t drink. Ever’ she tells him, explaining that she has been in Alcoholics Anonymous for six years now, “one day at a time” and all. ‘But it’s working for me so far - and I really don’t want one slip to…’ she explains. ‘An exception, Laura… I fear I must… insist’ Zachariah tells her, his eyes glowing purple in the shadows of the room as he hands her a glass of wine. ‘To reunions!’ the mysterious man calls out as he and Laura clink their wine glasses together. A downcast Laura appears to have a purplish hue to her skin as she sips the wine, ‘A full, supple, vintage - subtle, yet powerful in its way - wouldn’t you agree my dear?’ Zachariah asks.
Back at Empire State Hospital, Dr Arlington sits in his wheelchair, and thinks that he can see the headlines now: “Dr Marcus Arlington III, miracle witness or faith healer?” and decides ‘No thank you… I’m nowhere near ready for that kind of career crash-and-burn just yet!’, adding that he is not quite sure what to do yet, or who to tell about - he doesn’t even know what to call it yet. Arlington tells himself that he best just finish his rounds and use the time to pull his thoughts together, try and figure out how it is physically feasible for the Archer girl to have regenerated her arm like that, how she could just grow it back out of thin air. He wheels himself down to the next ward, a gunshot victim, Matthew T Barker, who took a bullet in the upper chest just a few hours ago, apparently defending his wife and daughter from a street mugger.
Arlington knows that surgery was touch and go and the prognosis isn’t exactly positive. Arlington checks the patient’s bandages, ‘Impossible as it all seems, I just can’t deny what I saw back there with my own eyes’ he tells himself, deciding that he has to explore the possibility, at least, that Jasmine Archer’s latest condition is the result of some mutation. He realizes that he also has to consider the possibility of influence of those friends of hers, particularly that intense Grey kid who is such a big hit downtown. Suddenly, Arlington retracts his hand, ‘OW!’ he calls out, feeling some kind of heat from the bandages. He goes wide-eyed in shock as he sees the patient’s chest is healed - the wound is gone.
Down the hall, past the elevators, third door to the left, right outside the room of Jam, Nate hovers in the night air, he can’t sleep. He decides that Peter and his old lady have probably been down and out for hours already, so that door is closed to him for the night. Nate decides that Mary Jane is all right, for a wife, but he is not about to push Petey’s luck for a midnight chat - not at four AM. He supposes that the hospital “visiting hours” are long over, but ie doesn’t matter, as a psi-scan of Jam’s room reveals no more of what he found earlier. Nate wishes that he understood enough about the physiology of the brain to know where to being looking for a mind that just isn’t there now, and supposes that he really should, considering the nature of his powers and all - but he doesn’t, not yet.
Suddenly, the monitor in Jam’s room starts beeping frantically, while Nate decides that there is something else he needs to do in the meantime - something that has already waited too long - someplace that needs checking uptown in the Bronx.
Minutes later, Nate flies away from a cemetery, specifically the grave of Judith Jacobs and tells himself that there is nothing here now, that this cemetery, St Raymond’s, is where he picked up Madelyne Pryor’s trail when she showed up out of nowhere a few months back, throwing around all his powers and then some, looking for him with a vengeance. This is also where he lost Threnody’s trail - at her mother’s grave. Hovering high above the city, Nate realizes that he only made that connection recently, when he was talking to Jam and the girls at the club the other night. ‘And Jam’s condition now, how quickly the situation changed for her - how quickly everything changed - just makes me want to act all that much more, all that much faster’ Nate realizes. He tells himself that he has to find Threnody once and for all, see for sure if there is really nothing let between them.
Nate drops down to Washington Square Park, deciding that the best place to start is here, for Threnody could have appeared here anytime in the last few weeks while he has been out of circulation. ‘For all I know, she might even be looking for me’ he realizes. Nate hopes that his little “fan club” has gone home for the night though, not that he didn’t enjoy the attention this morning, probably even more than he should admit, but that he is looking to talk to the regulars now, the vendors and park-rats that are here all the time, and the last thing he needs is for twenty-five or thirty autograph-hounds running after him. Suddenly, out of the bushes, ‘Hang on, Grey - wait up!’ a voice calls out. Nate turns around and sees the boy called Roust. ‘This is a pleasant surprise, short stuff’ Nate tells his young friend.
Nate admits that he figured he had seen the last of Roust when he put Jack Knife down for the count, pretty much eliminating the threat to Roust and his favorite tunnels, even if he had to flash-fry a man’s brain to do it. ‘See, that’s the thing, see…before he ever came upground in the first place, Jack killed so many of the Forgotten - not just my brother ya know - and I was thinking, Natey, after I heard about yer miracle at the hospital and all…’ Roust begins. ‘Miracle? What are you talking about Roust? Where’d you hear such a ridiculous -’ Nate begins to ask, before realizing that it must have been Marita and Bux. As a telepath, young Nate senses the answer long before he hears it from Roust, and he “feels” what lies just around the corner well before he faces it - and he is still not prepared. Not by a long shot.
Camera lights flash as people chant his name, smile and wave at him. Marita, Jam, Bux and Dr Arlington stand at the center of the crowd, smiling. ‘Advice on a car’ someone asks. ‘Small loan, just to start’ another calls out. ‘Ex-girlfriend’s old boyfriend’ someone else shouts, are among the many questions and comments thrown his way. A reporter introduces herself and asks Mr Grey if he has any wise words for their home audience. ‘Um…’ a wide-eyed Nate responds, before asking ‘Is that thing on?’
At the same time, The mysterious Zachariah sits on the bed in his room, while Nurse Laura can be seen in the shower. ‘Perfect’ Zachariah thinks to himself as he watches Nate on the television. ‘By this time tomorrow I will know if the boy’s very real charm - his unconscious…involvement in the emotions around him - is also “media friendly”. If so, if it proves not to rely on some kind of physical proximity - limited by pheromone-range for instance, like my own powers of persuasion, I’ll be able to use this Nate Grey in a way that Doom himself never even thought to use me’. Zachariah adds that without resorting to the boost of that tin-soldier’s “psycho-prism”, his sphere of influence will once again include the entire world - Melanie, Kara, his country, he will finally have everything he could ever want. The man steps into the light, his skin is purple. For the first time in a long time, this man, Zachariah Killgrave, this Purple Man, smiles a purple smile….


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Messiah Complex, part two: Media Blitz
The noise is impossible to describe. Thousands upon thousands of individual voices, rising and falling in unison, echoing back from the towering dome of Madison Square Garden - unthinkably, inconceivably loud. Then louder. And the smell, the inescapable potpourri of sweat and skin and… mustard… is worse.
‘Man these women can move!’ Nate Grey a.k.a. X-Man exclaims as he sits towards the front of the spectator seats at ground level, watching the game. He isn’t so thrilled about the mobs, however, so many people crammed so close and tight, like the slave pens of Apocalypse where he was raised, where he had to fight and struggle for every breath of air.
Suddenly, the crowd goes wild and moves like a wave. Nate joins in and leaps up, grinning. His blonde companion tells him to take it down a notch, pointing out that it is just “the wave”, and that it is a football tradition, anyway. ‘How can you resist, Jam? The home team needs all the help they can get tonight, way I hear it!’ Nate replies. A man sitting next to him asks if it is because of last week’s injuries, and what kind of yutz thinks that is going to slow them down. ‘Actually, I’m pretty sure it was - you. This guy wants to know what kind of yutz you are!’ Nate remarks, pointing at another man, then getting his attention and pointing to the first man. ‘I wasn’t talking to you!’ the first man shouts, raising his fist at the second man, who exclaims ‘I wasn’t talking to anybody!’, while Nate just smiles and moves away from them.
Young Nate Grey is a relative stranger to this world, but he is not without his resources, for telepathy and telekinesis, to name only two of his unmatched mutant abilities, and a spreading circle of friends. ‘Seriously competitive, this women’s basketball league!’ Nate remarks, before thanking Jam for inviting him. ‘It was Bux’s idea, believe it or not. But considering what you did, Nate… what she and Marita are saying you did for me’ Jam replies. Nate asks Jam how the arm feels now. Jam looks at her arm and replies that it feels exactly the same, and adds that, as she keeps trying to tell him, she remembers the beginning of the accident, the bike skidding out of control to avoid some speeding cab or something, but everything else is a blank until she came out of the coma a few days ago with nothing more than a headache.
‘And an organic reconstruction that even I shouldn’t have been able to pull off’ Nate thinks to himself. ‘Not without surgical skills I didn’t know I had… and definitely not without being consciously aware of it at the time’.
Jam tells Nate that she doesn’t remember losing her arm, or his miracle healing at the hospital. ‘Feels like nothing’s changed’ she remarks. ‘Fine by me’ Nate thinks to himself, although the whole thing has already made him the focus of a lot more attention than he is used to.
Suddenly, he hears gunshots from somewhere in the seats above. Nate and Jam turn around, and see a man in strange armor holding a weapon, while a bomb is strapped to his body. ‘CAMERAS, PLEASE - I’m ready for my close-up!’ he shouts, his weapon smoking from the gun shots.
The terrorist announces that, for the sake of posterity, at least, he should make the customary introductions. ‘History shall know me as a Destabilizer, one of many among you… and the rest of you, I’m afraid, are nothing more than martyrs to our cause!’ he threatens. They are a just and righteous force-of-arms aiming for the complete destruction of all symbols of world separatism - spreading the message that nationalism is an outmoded concept that promotes disunity among the larger family of man. ‘In the name of peace, long and lasting - and with the aid of bombs like this wired to his body, they intend to take full advantage of this evening’s much hyped well-covered media event to make that point loud and clear.
The timer on the bomb is down to four minutes and fifty seconds. The spectators begin to run in panic, and Nate tells himself that it isn’t a bad idea, but he and Jam move towards the terrorist, for Nate, knowing the very real horrors of war, the horrors of his own childhood on a world at war, he can’t help but sympathize with the Destablizer’s intent - for an Earth without borders or artificial division isn’t a bad idea at all, really - it is just the execution he finds fault with. Nate decides that there are too many innocent people here - way too many, the largest number of minds he has ever been exposed to in one place, far as he can tell, the most he has ever tried to work through at one time. It always takes a moment longer to telepathically pinpoint a stranger, especially without some kind of psi-signature to look onto, when suddenly, Nate finds him.
Seeing into the terrorist’s mind, Nate can see the other terrorists in his thoughts, more zealots, all equally read to trigger their own bombs at any sign of trouble. There are six more, scattered throughout the crowds. But even this one doesn’t know exactly where. Nate decides that it will take too many precious seconds to find them all, to drop them one by one like this. He knocks the first Destablizer back with a psychic bolt, and realizes he best thing bigger, so energies whirl up and around him as he creates an electro-magnetic psi-pulse to temporarily short out any and all mechanical systems within range, which means lights out and bombs away.
The stadium is plunged into darkness, but the emergency generators come on, and lighting starts to strobe on and off. ‘But the game’s as good as over’ Nate tells himself as he is confronted by the terrorists. Nate recalls how Forge spent so many hours, so many days and weeks teaching him how to create that electro-magnetic pulse, how to telekinetically cull the necessary energies from the planet’s magnetic field, focusing them through the charged current of his own brain. Nate does it again, knocking the terrorists out and destroying their bombs. He wishes that Forge was here today, to see how much he learned. ‘Just wish he were here, today. Alive. Everything would be so much easier’ Nate tells himself, smiling. The young hero then telekinetically lifts the terrorists up and “slam dunks” them into the basketball hope, while thinking that if Forge was here, he wouldn’t keep making so many mistakes.
Suddenly, the crowd starts chanting out Nate’s name. He turns and looks at them, before hovering above them. A reporter turns to his camera, ‘You saw it here first, folks - WNYW. Live from the Garden - our own Manhattan Marvel - Nate Grey, single-handedly putting away a cadre of deadly political terrorists!’ the reporter declares. He continues, asking ‘Who is this new overnight super-sensation? Exactly what is the incredible power that he wields? And is he single, or spoken for? Stay tuned for out prime-time special…“Nate Grey, thy name is Mystery”!’
At that moment, in the busy office of the Daily Bugle newspaper: ‘Get real. This isn’t some cheap tabloid talk-show… it’s a newspaper, Jonah, a major metropolitan newspaper. With a reputation and a responsibility’ Robbie Robertson tells Jonah Jameson as they look at the front page of the next issue of their paper, a photo of the handsome Nate Grey and the headline “Local Hero”. ‘A reputation that I built, Robertson… and a civic responsibility not to support vigilante justice by anyone! Not while I’m still publisher! Now change the headline, Robbie!’ Jameson orders. Arms folded, Robbie points out that the kid saved lives, tens of thousands of lives, and deputized or not, that makes him a hero. ‘More importantly, it made him a hero to half of New York, all the athletes and fans… the media and the media-hounds, who were right there in the thick of it… not to mention their families and friends, just now realizing how lucky they are to be welcoming their loved ones home again tonight’ Robbie explains.
Daily Bugle employees go about their busy work while Robbie and Jonah continue to argue, and Peter Parker stands with them, looking at the photo. Robbie tells Jonah that so long as he is editor-in-chief, the Bugle will continue to honor its obligation to reflect the opinions of this city, of all its people, not just its single loudest minority. ‘THEN YOU’RE FIRED!’ Jonah booms. ‘Again?’ Robbie mutters.
‘Life as you know it, Nate… is sooo over’ Peter thinks to himself, while wondering why Nate didn’t listen to him, as he warned Nate to keep a low profile to avoid the public as much as possible. He tried to make him understand how easy it is to get swept up in all the wrong things, how quickly it can spin out of control. Peter recalls even sharing his own life-changing experience with the spotlight, an experience that cost him his Uncle Ben, until it finally forged a boy named Peter Parker into the one and only Spider-Man. ‘Guess I was wasting my breath on Nate, though… maybe we all have to learn from our own mistakes’ Peter tells himself.
Meantime, at Nate’s Soho loft, Dr Marcus Arlington the Third sits in his wheelchair in one corner of the loft, while Marita looks into the refrigerator, as the boy Roust stands near her. Eating lots of food, he tells Marita that he and the “Greyster” go way back, almost to last month, which is why he is here now, before asking Marita what is with “Wheels” back in the corner. ‘Ain’t he the hospital quack who was treating Jam, the one what couldn’t do squat for her ‘til -’ ‘Cheese food?’ Marita wonders. ‘Who actually buys cheese food instead of cheese?’ Roust asks ‘Does the phrase “beggars can’t be choosers” mean anything to ya, lady?’ Marita points out that she is a guest, an invited guest. ‘You and Doc Arlington are the lovesick peritos that followed Nate home, sniffing around for scraps’ she remarks, while supposing that the press can’t be far behind now, either.
Suddenly, the air moves like eaves, as Nate, holding Jam, materializes and explains ‘Unless I’ve taken to disguising my comings and goings with some simple molecular rearrangement’. Jam asks if someone is throwing a party and forgot to invite them. ‘Not with Grey’s music selection, no way’ Marita replies . Nate tells her to talk to the owner, when, or if, he comes back from Europe, but that she might not want to mention what he has done with the place. ‘In fact, you might not want to mention me at all’ he adds quietly.
Marita asks Nate who won the game, while Dr Arlington strokes the leaves of a withered plant. Jam tells Marita that she is not going to believe this one, while Nate goes into the kitchen and Roust follows him. ‘Looking fresh Nate, m’man! B-ball must really agree with ya or something, I swear -’ he begins. Nate announces that he is starved. ‘You and me both, buddy’ Roust remarks.
Nate opens the refrigerator and looks annoyed when he sees how empty it is. ‘I was thinking, again, see… about my brother, ya know, and all those other people that Jack Knife killed because of you - because of his vendetta against you, I mean - and I was wondering, ya know, hoping really…’ Roust’s voice trails off. ‘Where’s my cheese food?’ Nate asks, before snatching the sandwich from Roust’s hands. Hestarts to eat it, while asking Roust how many times he has to tell him - he can’t raise the dead. Marita, Jam and Arlington all turn and look at Nate, as Roust asks ’Can’t, hero…? Or won’t’.
‘Can’t’ Nate thinks to himself. He looks at Jam and Marita while reminding himself that Madelyne Pryor, wherever she is, is the exception that proves the rule. The way he figures it, Maddy’s personal piece of the Phoenix Force, supposedly a living ember from the very heart of creation, makes her an exception to every rule. ‘I have to believe that, or…’ Nate’s thoughts trail off, before telling Roust that he is sorry, sorrier than he knows, but that he only helps people to help themselves - that is just the way it works.
‘Until the cops showed up to haul off the Destabilizers and we finally slipped out’ Jam tells Marita. ‘Solid!’ Marita declares, while Nate remarks that it is probably all over the news by now, which they could watch, if they could find the remote control, which he is sure he left right here. Nate sits down on a couch, while Roust tells Nate that he is sure he could find it for him. ‘But first, see, I was thinking, maybe ya could just try -’ he begins, while Nate telepathically remarks “Mute”, before deciding that he will do it the old fashioned way - telekinetically, and turns the television on, as a reporter’s voice can be heard saying ‘The scene at Madison Square Garden, earlier this evening, where a bold new superstar defeated an armed gunmen…’, before Nate changes the channel, where his image is shown, asking ‘Is that thing on?’ and Nate recognizes this scene from Washington Square Park the other night, his first press ambush. ‘Remember?’ he asks everyone, before asking if he really sounds like that, while Roust, still on “mute” waves his arms about.
Marita and Jam ignore Nate, as Jam asks where Bux is. ‘Chica’s hyper, J. You know how she gets’ Marita replies, explaining that she bolted five minutes after dropping the tickets off, and they haven’t heard from her since. ‘Can’t even imagine what she’ll pop up with next’ Marita adds.
Nate looks at the television, and declares that it looks more like the camera puts on twenty pounds. ‘And that shirt doesn’t help any either. I mean, could I wear anything tighter?’ he asks, while the reporter on the recording asks Nate if he has any comment on the alleged miracle at Empire State Hospital following his mysterious visit. ‘Only that I’m happy for her, you know… real happy’ Nate replied on the recording.
‘So modest!’ ‘So cute!’ ‘Attaboy!’ people in the crowd called out, while Nate asks the girls what they think about his hair, whether it works on screen, but he quickly shuts up when two people appear on screen with brown hair and a white streak at the front. ‘Want him! Want him bad!’ the woman says, while the man declares that Nate is the bomb. A woman is shown on screen, crying, she announces that Grey helped her to find the strength, somehow, somewhere inside herself, to survive a mother’s worst nightmare, and that she will always be in his debt for that, but that Nate couldn’t save her son from cancer. ‘No’ Nate gasps, and causes the television to explode. ‘I couldn’t he tells himself, getting up and walking away. ‘I didn’t… I didn’t know how…’ Nate utters, while Arlington grabs him by the arm, ‘And neither do I, son. But maybe, together, we could learn’ he suggests. ‘Doctor Arlington?’ Nate asks, surprised.
‘Marcus, please. Call me Marcus’ Arlington tells Nate, explaining that he has held his tongue long enough, trying to put this all into some kind of scientific perspective for himself. ‘Your gift is power, Nate. A healing power, if you want it to be’ he states, motioning at the plant, which now appears healthy. ‘When we first met - when I put my hand on your shoulder, most likely, even as you were apparently picking my name out of my thoughts - some sort of conduit must have opened between us, siphoning some of that power into me’ Arlington suggests. ‘At the same time, exposing me to your medical know-how, while I was still touching Jam’s arm. Explains a lot’ Nate remarks. ‘Your smarts, my skills, her will…’ his voice trails off, while Arlington points out that they effected a combined “Cure”, that none of them had the ability to accomplish alone. Nate frowns and thinks to himself that even if his psionics, the same raging psionics that are killing him, slowly but surely, had to take on a life of their own to do it - again.
‘I’m not a mutant, though, I’m not regenerating the power. So I have no way to know how long it will last’ Dr Arlington explains. He adds that his gift is more about nursing and nourishing, in any case, that it will take work, studied discipline and practice. ‘Time to understand how to best utilize your raw energies, instead of wasting them on -’ Arlington begins, before Nate shouts ‘Another one? Another condescending doctor-type who wants to tell me what to do, and how and when to do it - to rein me in before I might do something that you people don’t understand or control!’ Nate is annoyed, and turns away, while Dr Arlington asks ‘What makes you think you have a choice about this, Nate?’ and whether he doesn’t recognize a responsibility to use his power as wisely as possible, to spread his light as widely. ‘I’ve got things to learn, Arlington, I admit that now. But I one of the lessons I have learned is that I always have a choice… to do what I can’.
Nate strides towards the large round window, and Marita tells him that she is all his. ‘My turn to hit the streets with the hottest hombre to roll through the big, bad apple since - OYE!’ she shouts when Nate walks past her, ignoring her. Nate tells Marita that he is not her toy, and adds that he is not anyone’s toy soldier. ‘This is no longer a ride, boys and girls… it’s a calling!’ Nate announces as he materializes outside the loft, and, hovering over the street, is astonished by what he sees below. The noise is impossible. Thousands upon thousands of individual voices suddenly rising as one, thundering up through the concrete canyons of Soho. Unthinkably, inconceivably lout. Then louder and louder. They chant his name from the streets and the rooftops. ‘ALRIIIGHT! Now I’m pumped!’ Nate exclaims.
Nate tells himself that it is almost impossible not to feel juiced in the face of this kind of reception, here on his own doorstep. He wonders how they found out where he lives though, and realizes that it was Bux, and he sees her right down there at the head of the parade, as usual. ‘NATE!’ Bux screams, her fist pumped in the air as she leads the chant.
Meantime, at Once Police Plaza, reporters and their camera crews have gathered outside. ‘Any more of those lunatics out there’ one reporter asks. ‘No comment’ an officer replies. ‘Expect anymore incidents?’ another asks. ‘No comment’ comes the reply. ‘Few words about the hero who saved the day’ one reporter remarks. ‘No comment’ the officer responds. Another reporter speaks into the camera and states that it is a three-ring legal circus here, as the self-proclaimed Destabilizers, the political terrorists thwarted and captured by Manhattan’s own man of mystery, Nate Grey, less than an hour ago, are being brought in under FBI custody to face formal charges.
Inside the lobby, FBI agents march the hand-cuffed terrorists along, while photographers take photos. ‘Decision on whether or not to prosecute in the federal courts’ a reporter asks, but gets no comment. ‘Identities of any of the individual suspects’ another asks, but once again, is told ‘No comment’. ‘Spontaneous parade of citizens heading this way as we speak’ someone else announces. ‘No comment’ an officer replies. ‘Possibility of Grey for some kind of public office’ another suggests. ‘No comment’ the officer declares, while one reporter announces ‘Although defense attorneys from some of the most prestigious law firms in the city began gathering here within moments of the developing hostage situation…’ another reports that ‘…District Attorney Tower has repeatedly reiterated his intention to follow procedure to the letter on this one!’
‘Unfortunately this is as far as we can follow’ a reporter announces, while the flash from a camera gets right in the face of one of the Destabilizers, stunning the terrorist, and causing his comrade to catch him when he falls backwards. ‘Hang in their kid. Our fearless leader swore we’d never have to spend a single night in hail. Don’t forget…not a single night’ the blond terrorist assures his comrade. One reporter announces that reliable sources tell them that the Destabilizers will first be photographed and fingerprinted, and then led through state-of-the-art metal detectors to pick up any overlooked weapons or contraband. As that process occurs, one of the officers involved in the scanning alerts his sergeant to one of the Destabilizers who has a live-wire under his skin. It starts reacting to their x-ray emissions, and an instant later, there is a massive explosion.
‘Holy…’ one reporter utters. ‘Move it move it move it!’ an officer shouts. ‘There are people in there, people!’ someone calls out as people rush towards the explosion.
And, not far uptown, ‘No…’ Nate thinks to himself as he watches a reporter of people rushing to the explosion, as a reporter states ‘…still frantically trying to put together the pieces of this tragedy, even as they treat the victims’. The reporter adds that initial reports from within suggest that the suicide squad was somehow rigged to detonate upon exposure to the police metal-detector itself, implying a well-thought out scheme, and broader agenda, possibly even just a first strike. ‘No, no, no, no, NO’ Nate tells himself, recalling how he read all of the Destabilizers’ minds, all of them, before turning them over to the cops - and there was no knowledge of anything like this. A crowd begins to gather around the storefront where Nate is watching the television screens. ‘Impossible’ someone calls out. ‘What’s going on?’ ‘See for yourself’.
The reporter announces that officials have already put out an all-points-bulletin on the young man known as Nate Grey. ‘I don’t understand’ Nate thinks to himself, while wondering where Bux is, as he has to find her, find someone to talk to. The reporter continues, ‘The so-called “hero” who delivered these Trojan-Horse terrorists into the hands of our unsuspecting authorities’. ‘Wow… Nate did that?’ someone in the crowd utters.
‘Works for me’ a voice calls out from within a purple-colored stretch limo. Two men sit in the back of the limo, and their clink their wine classes together. ‘I wish I could say the same’ the mind-controlling Purple Man remarks, adding ‘I funded this latest promotional stunt for your “global village”, Flag-Smasher. I paid for the stolen bombs that threatened Madison Square Garden….because they served my purpose as well as yours. This was not part of our bargain’. Flag-Smasher is hidden in the shadows of the purple-interiors of the purple limo, while the Purple Man declares ‘I had no idea about your little sub-dermal fail-safes’. ‘Neither did my men. That’s why the boy never saw it coming’ Flag-Smasher explains.
‘In my field, Killgrave, explosives have proven a most powerful way to punctuate one’s point. And all my people are sworn to die for the cause, if necessary’ Flag-Smasher explains. ‘How fortunate, Smasher. For you’ the Purple Man replies, angrily crushing his wine-glass, his eyes flash, and his voice changes as he orders Flag-Smasher to open his door and get out of the car. And because he says so, simply because this strange purple man with his penetrating purple eyes and his velvet-thick voice says so…it is so. ‘I expect you will make quite a martyr’ The car door opens and Flag-Smasher steps out - over the edge of a cliff, where he slams into some rocks below, before falling into the water at the bottom of the cliff.
The panel separating the driver from the rear of the limo opens. A woman with red-hair is driving the limousine - it is Bux! The Purple Man calls out to her, and Bux asks ‘Where to next, boss?’ while the Purple Man looks at an old photograph of his estranged wife and daughter - Melanie and Kara - and tells Bux that it is time to go to the finish line - before it is too late for all of them….


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Messiah Complex – part three: Falling Star
Nate’s dream:
Nate Grey has been here before. Many times, truth be told, over and over again. An adoring crowd carries him on their shoulders, chanting his name. Screens in Manhattan show his image. This is the New York City of his dreams.
In reality, Nate has faced off with a monster or two of his own making in these streets. He helped a friend here as well, healing her because she needed him. Most recently he defended thousands of strangers against the unspeakable acts of terrorist violence. Because he could. And they worshipped him for it, all of them.
He tries to thank them but the chanting turn to questioning: “what about me?” Things changed when he made a mistake. Overlooked one deadly dangerous detail about the terrorists he delivered to the authorities. Bombs hidden beneath their skins, hidden even from the fanatical zealots themselves, and all hell broke loose.
Nate tries to get the aggressive crowd away, to flee. But more and more stumble on him dragging him down.
Reality:
Screaming, Nate wakes up. Immediately, he chides himself. He should know better than to scream in his sleep. Forge taught him that much at least. He looks around. He’s been sleeping under newspapers somewhere on the streets.
He realizes that the explosion at the police station was only days ago. By the time he got there, everything was already chaos… confusion.
He begins to scrounge for food in a dumpster. He didn’t know who to help first, then the accusations started flying. He just didn’t know what to do… again. But he does know how to survive. Hardly an effort in this city with its waste. Perfectly good food thrown away.
He is surprised and gets ready to fight, but it’s only a waiter who suggests he take these morning leftovers, which are fresher. When he gets a look at Nate’s face, he panics and shouts “it’s the terrorist!” Nate stops him with a brain freeze, but it is too late; a crowd has heard them. They begin to recognize him when, a moment later, he vanishes. A woman shouts that she saw him run into an alley and the crowd follows. The woman left alone reveals herself as Nate.
He hides himself by bending light telekinetically and wonders what to do. He heads towards his loft but, outside, a crowd has gathered chanting: “Hey, Grey! Time to pay!”
Nate telepathically checks up ahead first and finds that, of his new companions, Jam is there. Hardly even a scar left to show on the arm she lost in last week’s motor cycle accident, the arm he regenerated together with the Doctor Arlington character. She is playing bass guitar. Her friend, Marita, is watching the news, hoping for some word about Nate.
The runaway boy Roust is pacing, announcing that Arlington has been gone since the explosion. Gone from his job. Quit the hospital the day after the explosion and nobody has seen him since. He mutters that he hasn’t gotten much satisfaction from Grey himself, not about bringing back his brother. And Arlington just wanted to figure out what to do with the power he glitched from Grey somehow that lets him revive the dead.
Marita interjects: Who cares about that? The glow worm-on-wheels was way too much of a preacher type for her liking and don’t get her started on Grey, she’s worried about Bux! Where has she been since yesterday? She’s been acting weirder than usual.
Nate figures he can find Bux. He tries to track her psi signature to the abandoned tenement on 5th where the girls crashed for months. There Bux sits meditating. He’s coming, she announces to and is thanked by someone, who tells her that her expanded awareness, combined with his own ability to bring out the best in those around him, has served him well.
Nate jumps in, shouting that he used her to get at Nate. What kind of monster is he? Zebediah Kilgrave, the Purple Man, he is told. A man he cannot touch; a mutant he will not remember as soon as he is out of sight. And he will be out of sight, as soon as he declares it to be so.
Kilgrave continues he’s had his eyes on Nate since the moment he first made his public appearance in Washington Square Garden. He had such great plans for his rise to power. And they were well on their way to achieving them. Together.
Nate realizes that his friends, his fans, the acceptance… all of that was manipulated. Angrily, he lashes out. Kilgrave replies he just did what he could to help. Bux groans.
And the police station? Nate asks. All those prisoners and reporters who died? A mistake, Kilgrave shrugs. Human error. It was not meant to happen. That is the problem with what they do, using people and all. Sue him!
Nate unleashes power at him again but cannot get a grip on him, mind or body. Instead, his psionics backfire. He realizes that Kilgrave caused the accident that cost Jam her arm. Kilgrave reminds him he replaced that arm with a nudge in the right direction. That moment, the arm disappears and Jam screams. Nate is nothing less than a force of nature. And this maelstrom is a well of that same power. Uncontrolled. Misdirected. But the storm can be harnessed. His energies put to uses he cannot imagine. There are things in the world that can be made right together, broken things that need fixing.
Bux shouts Nate’s name. Kilgrave orders Nate to stop fighting. He cannot touch him, he is all over him. How? Nate asks. Kilgrave doesn’t have the mind to control him. Nowhere near the will or psi-skills necessary to penetrate his mental defenses. Kilgrave agrees. His is a physical talent. Powerful mutant pheromones that catalyze hormonal responses and chemical compliance of others. Long before any involvement on the part of their brains. He can control whomever he chooses. The real question is what is Nate?
He uses his power to insist that Nate uses his own telepath to project his thoughts into Kilgrave’s mind. So he sees Nate’s past. His birth as Sinister’s test object. His youth in the slave pens, his life with Forge’s rebel troupe and his final battle against Holocaust. Death of reality… rebirth. Here alone. Again!
Nate shouts as he breaks contact. Why has he been using him? Kilgrave replies he used him no more than Grey used the city. He is an empathic engine, a living battery of power beyond his control, driven by and in return driving the emotions of those around him. Listen to him, Kilgrave replies. He may have refined his abilities but he cannot control his gifts. He has never been able to turn off his pheromones any more than Nate can suppress his own natural charms. What he says is fact because he says it. Does that make it wrong for him to ask what is right? He shows Nate a photo of a woman and girl. His family, Nate realizes. Some fantasy of getting his wife and daughter back? Maybe some grander delusion of uniting the entire country, the entire world by love. Nate’s force of will…
That’s what this has been about? Love, Kilgrave replies, no more, no less. A man’s love for his family, for his people, is reason enough for any…
Nate grabs him and accuses him of lying. Even to himself. He doesn’t know the first thing about love. It’s about lust ! Lust for power. Nothing more, nothing less!
Nate regains his control with a telekinetic body shield to screen out the pheromones. His body is only defenseless until his mind decides otherwise. He orders the Purple Man to undo it all. What? Kilgrave asks. The dead are dead. And influencing people outside his immediate proximity is something he cannot do. That’s why he needs Grey. And he could never do it on such a broad scale without the momentum they’ve lost. They have both lost here. The damage done is done.
Nate realizes he failed Jam. Her new arm was nothing more than a psionic projection. She is now armless again, being comforted by her friends. As soon as he realized that her accident was all part of Kilgrave’s plan, that he’d just used Jam for his medical “miracle,” Nate’s faith failed and damned them all.
Standing atop a bride, he figures it was sheer luck that no one was killed that morning during the fight. It shocked him to see how many lives they endangered. He lost his concentration for a single moment and the Purple Man was gone. Along with all the witnesses’ memories of him. But he remembers. And New York will never forget Nate now. A failure to be feared. A monster in their midst. He considers taking the next logical step.
“Don’t, Grey!” a familiar voice orders him. “Don’t even think about it!”