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Provide a full summary of the comic book.

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Homefront
Sam Guthrie was only fifteen when he said good-bye to Cumberland, Kentucky, the town in which he was born and raised. Since that day, he has travelled to places he never knew existed, and led a life of adventure he never imagined for himself. And yet, no matter where his journeys have taken him, he has always kept this place in his heart, for this is his home. Then why is it that tonight, as he stands at the house in which he grew up, he is filled with dread? The handsome young mutant also known as Cannonball enters the house. It is quiet, everyone is in bed but his mother, Lucinda. Sam thinks that his mother looks more tired than the last time he saw her.
’Sorry I’m late, mama. Ah woulda been here sooner, but my train was delayed in Chicago’ Sam announces, adding that she didn’t have to wait up for him. Lucinda puts her book down and tells Sam that even with he and his sister Paige out on their own she still has five kids that keep her busy all day. ‘The midnight hour’s the only time I have to unwind with a book in peace’ she exclaims. As Sam and Lucinda hug, Lucinda adds that she was not going to let her oldest sneak into the house without giving him a hug. Sam tells his mother that it is good to be home, before Lucinda informs him that the kids were so excited when they heard he was coming to visit. ‘We all missed you’ she adds.
‘Same here’ Sam tells his mother, adding that there isn’t a day that goes by where he doesn’t wonder how they are all doing. They make their way to the kitchen as Lucinda remarks that Sam must be famished after his long trip from New York, and tells him that she can heat up some of the stew they had earlier tonight. Sam tells his mother that if he wants something later he can get it himself, but Lucinda tells him not to be silly, as it is no bother. ‘And you could use some more meat on your bones’ she tells him, remarking that he is just like his father - as skinny as a rail. ‘Aw man’ Sam mutters, ‘Oh, don’t you roll your eyes at me, young man’ Lucinda tells him, instinctively knowing what he is doing. ‘Your mother still knows what’s best for you’ Lucinda adds while he readies the stew, before asking Sam how life in New York is going.
Images of his teammates - Wolverine, Storm, Marrow, Maggott and Cecilia Reyes - flash through Cannonball’s mind as he tells his mother that life in New York is mostly confusing. ‘Ah thought being one of the X-Men was what Ah wanted, but Ah’m no so sure anymore’ he reveals, adding that for a while he told himself it was because the new members - Maggott, Marrow and Dr Reyes - didn’t seem like real X-Men material. He admits that he realizes now it is him that doesn’t fit. ‘Ah feel like Ah’m just going through the motions being there’ he reveals, adding that he needs something more, but the problem is, he hasn’t figured out what that something might be.
Lucinda brings a bowl of stew over to the table for her eldest son and asks if this would have anything to do with the fact that he and Tabitha broke up. ‘Yeah, well…Ah don’t know what happened…Ah just can’t believe she and Bobby could do that to me…’ Sam replies. ‘Her loss’ Lucinda tells Sam, before assuring her son that he will find someone else. ‘I promise. Probably when you’re not even looking’ she adds. Sam hangs his head as he declares that he is definitely not looking right now, while thinking to himself that he cannot begin to explain what is going on between he and Marrow. ‘How on earth can I possibly be attracted to that psychopath?’ he wonders, before asking his mother if they can change the subject. ‘Ah didn’t come all this way to talk about my problems’ he exclaims, before telling his mother that he is worried about her, as Zak sent him a letter telling him things weren’t right at home.
‘And then when I called, you told me you didn’t want to talk about it over the phone’ Sam reminds his mother, asking her now that he is here if she will please tell him what is going on. Lucinda reveals that she has been having a lot of trouble holding on to things lately. ‘At first I thought it might be arthritis setting in - but the doctor diagnosed it is something called Infectious Polyradiculoneuritis, or Guillain-Barre Syndrome’ Lucinda reveals. She explains that it means she is suffering from a disease that shuts down the nervous system and eventually makes it near impossible to move. Lucinda tells Sam that it is not fatal, but that she is going to be hospitalized for treatments while the disease runs its course.
‘Mah God!’ a wide-eyed Sam exclaims, asking his mother why she didn’t tell him sooner and declares that he will move back in straight away so he can take care of the kids. ‘You always were the responsible one, Sam’ Lucinda tells her son, before telling him that she doesn’t want him giving up his life for her. Lucinda reveals that cousin Bonnie has agreed to let them move in with her while she receives treatment at the rehabilitation center in Lexington, and that after she is back on her feet, she is going to try and find work there. ‘Shouldn’t you be thinking about getting better before you think about moving?’ Sam asks his mother. ‘I mean, you can’t just up and leave Cumberland. Our roots are here!’ he exclaims.
Lucinda tells her son that she is trying to think of this as a blessing in disguise, as the move to Lexington will be good for everybody. She tells Sam that the schools are better and the job market is good. ‘There’s even a music conservatory that Josh applied to’ she reveals, telling Sam that they both know there is not much opportunity around here since the mines closed. Sam hangs his head as his mother gets up and he tells her that she wishes there was something he could do to help her. Lucinda suggests they talk about this in the morning, before bidding her son goodnight.
Later that night, Sam sits on a sofa in a darkened room, wearing just his jeans he asks himself who he is trying to kid, as he cannot sleep, he is too wound up. He keeps thinking about his mother in the hospital, and then remembers his father on his deathbed, dying of black lung when he was just thirty-six years old. ‘And just like then, I’m helpless to stop it’ Sam thinks to himself, before putting an unbuttoned shirt on, he thinks that his stomach is all tied up in knots, and that he should get out of here for some fresh air.
Moments later, the young man born with the rare x-factor gene that classifies him a mutant propels through the air like a rocket, with a burst of propulsive energy. Sam reminds himself of being younger and dreaming of being discovered by a baseball scout and being asked to pitch for the Yankees, but then his father died and he had to go work in the mines. ‘Ah thought Ah’d never leave Cumberland’ he tells himself, before deciding that now that he has been around the world and even to space, he realizes how much this place means to him.
Blasting through the night air, Sam wonders if that is why he felt so strange with the X-Men, for even though he lived at the Mansion while he was a New Mutant, but after coming back to the X-Men following his time with X-Force, he has been feeling like a guest in someone else’s house. ‘Maybe this is one way the good Lord’s telling me to get my priorities in order’ Sam wonders, before noticing something below in the mine area.
He blasts down for a closer look, and sees a girl, glowing, running through the mine area. ‘Of course, considering all I’ve seen since Professor X asked me to join the New Mutants, that’s nothing’ Sam decides, before thinking that wound these parts, he thought it was only the Guthries who held the monopoly on strange phenomena. Sam comes to a stop and lands, while seeing the girl running into the old Pierce-Consolidated Coal Mines. He tells himself that he hasn’t been to these mines in five years since he went to work after his father died, and remembers that the mines were closed not long after he left to join the New Mutants.
Sam tells herself that the glowing girl is running like the Devil is on her trail. ‘It can’t be that spooked her, can it?’ he wonders, before following her into the mine, for he knows that the mine shafts are an accident waiting to happen. Soon, Sam sees the glowing girl up ahead, and calls out to her: ‘Hey, come back! I don’t want to hurt you!’ he exclaims, before telling her that these tunnels are not safe. ‘I was caught in a cave-in once and I was lucky I got out alive!’ he tells her. But as Sam rounds a corner, he cannot see the girl. ‘Huh? Where’d she go? Ah hope she didn’t fall down a -’ Sam begins, before a large fists punches him in the face. A large green-skinned being stands over Sam’s fallen body, ‘You have a choice, hunter - surrender, or die!’ he shouts. The glowing girl stands behind him and addresses him as Ulysses as she exclaims ‘Make him hurt!’ A weary Sam manages to tell his attacker that he thinks he has been mistaken for someone else.
Meanwhile, on Sixteenth Street in the heart of San Francisco’s multicultural Mission District. Civilians queue up to get into the Velocity nightclub, where inside, a woman with short pink hair approaches Jesse Aaronson and asks ‘Hey, don’t I know you?’. Jesse replies that he just moved to the city, to which the pink-haired woman tells him that nobody is a native in this city. ‘Everybody comes to San Francisco trying to get away from something’ she adds before revealing that the minute she turned eighteen, she said good-bye to the confused parental units and got the heck out of Ohio. She introduces herself as Kat, short for Katrina, she explains, before asking ‘You got a name, fresh meat?’
Jesse smiles as he introduces himself, before Kat asks him what his story is. ‘You a musician, struggling artist or computer geek?’. ‘None of the -’ Jesse begins, before spitting his drink back into the glass when he notices two men wearing suits enter the club. ‘Ooh, nice spit-take. Was it something I said?’ Kat asks. ‘No. Remember what you said about getting away from something? Well, two of my reasons just showed up’ Jesse announces. ‘Are you certain Bedlam’s here?’ the handsome man in the suit asks his dark-skinned companion. ‘Jesse has a very unique energy signature. He’s definitely nearby’ the second man responds.
Jesse makes his way through the crowds of people, ‘I can’t believe these guys found me. I’ve gotta get out of here’ he tells himself, when suddenly the handsome man in the suit sees Jesse, ‘There he is!’ he exclaims, pushing a civilian to one side. ‘Hey! What’s your problem, dude?’ the civilian calls out. Jesse makes his way down to the back of the nightclub, passing a girl who says to someone else ‘…after the way that jerk treated me, he was lucky I used a water soluble glue’. Jesse looks around, hoping to see an exit, but there is none. He tells himself that he is going to have to create diversion, while a man on the phone remarks to the person that he is talking to that they have to get down here, while another girl claims that she used to date the bass player.
Jesse sees the fuse box and decides that it is exactly what the doctor ordered, before putting his hand to it and using his mutant ability, he generates a bio-electric field that plays havoc with the club’s electrical wiring - and instantly, the nightclub goes dark. ‘What’s with the lights?’ someone calls out. ‘Move that hand or lose it!’ someone warns someone else. The handsome man tells his colleague that this is Bedlam’s doing, while his colleague responds that they taught him well. ‘Does this mean it’s closing time?’ someone else asks. ‘I’m freaking out, man!’ another exclaims.
Jesse meanwhile has managed to start crawling through a window at the rear of the club, which leads into an alleyway. ‘In the darkness, nobody saw me slip into the ladies room’ he thinks to himself, deciding that with Wyndham and Parsons on his trail he is going to have to get out of the city for a while. ‘Too bad, I was really beginning to like it here’ he tells himself, when suddenly, ‘I figured you’d try something like this, Aaronson!’ someone calls out as they grab Jesse, who is only half-through the window. Jesse is pulled out of the window by a woman who tells him to give her one good reason why she shouldn’t kick his sorry butt all the way back to Montana. ‘Don’t you think I have better things to do than chase a stupid teenager halfway across the country?’ the woman asks.
‘Would it help if I said I’m sorry, Nicole?’ Jesse asks. ‘Don’t “Nicole” me. Your recklessness could have cost lives’ Nicole snaps back, before telling Jesse that he never thinks about anyone except himself. ‘That’s harsh’ Jesse replies, before his male trackers approach him. ‘But extremely deserved, Jesse. After all we‘ve done. I expected better from you’ the dark-skinned man remarks. The handsome man tells Jesse to understand that he is going to be held responsible for any damage his actions have caused. ‘You’ve had your fun, now it’s time to go home’ he tells him.
‘I’m not going back!’ Jesse exclaims, declaring that he doesn’t want to be part of the team anymore, that all he wants to do is lead his own life. Nicole slams Jesse up against a wall and calls him a selfish, ungrateful child. ‘If I had my way, I’d give you to the Void and let him do something about that attitude of yours!’. Suddenly, a voice exclaims ‘Excuse me, ma’am, but Jesse Aaronson’s a friend - and we don’t take kindly t’our friends being threatened!’. Standing before Jesse and the three in suits are X-Force! Theresa “Siryn” Rourke, Domino, James Proudstar, Dani Moonstar, Bobby “Sunspot” DaCosta and Tabitha “Meltdown” Smith. Six young mutants brought together to take on a world that fears unusual abilities.
Dani readies a psionic arrow while remarking ‘These guys are coming on like feds’, while Meltdown declares that, actually, Jesse is more of an acquaintance but that Siryn’s statement still holds. Siryn remarks that none of the three in suits have flashed a badge, so she doubts they have any authority. ‘Take me advice. Walk away’ she tells them. ‘I’ve got all the authority I need!’ Nicole declares, grabbing a pistol, but the handsome man tells her to take it easy, as this is exactly the situation they are hoping to avoid. ‘You misunderstand us. We don’t want to hurt Jesse’ the other man claims.
‘Pardon me, if pulling a gun doesn’t exactly make me believe ye’ Siryn replies matter-of-factly, while Jesse goes over to X-Force and tells them that he really appreciates them backing him up like this. ‘And, Theresa, you have got that icy don’t-mess-with-me, I’m-in-charge voice down!’ he tells her, before announcing that Doctor Parsons is right. They’re not the bad guys. Domino approaches the handsome man, remarking that she didn’t recognise him at first, but that his is Lucas Wyndham, the astronaut. ‘You were part of the Athena shuttle mission with Peter Corbeau’ she adds. ‘And you’re the mysterious Domino’ Wyndham responds.
‘You know who I am?’ Domino asks, surprised. ‘I wouldn’t expect a former astronaut to be familiar with my career…when did NASA become interested in mutants?’ she asks. Wyndham replies that he doesn’t work for any government agency, and that neither do his colleagues. Dr Parsons or Ms Lomenzo. ‘Have you ever heard of MUSE?’ he asks, explaining that they are an organization dedicated to extracting mutants in crisis and relocating them to a more secure environment.
Moonstar declares that she has never heard of any such thing, while Meltdown asks her teammates if they think he is “jerking their chain”. Jesse tells his companions that Wyndham is on the level, and explains that he wouldn’t be here today if MUSE hadn’t rescued him. ‘It’s kind of like the underground railroad was before slavery was abolished’ he explains. Domino announces that she knew Xavier had discussed the creation of an underground, but that she was not aware it existed. Wyndham tells everyone that he will be happy to explain as much as he can, but not in public. He suggests they find someplace more private to speak. ‘Your warehouse, for example’.
Back in Kentucky, ‘What are you waiting for, Ulysses? Finish him off!’ the girl exclaims. ‘You know he’d kill you if he had the chance!’ she tells her companion. Ulysses addresses the girl as Arcadia and tells her that the bloodlust he hears in her voice concerns him. ‘Taking a life is not something I do lightly. Pray that you never have another’s blood on your hands’ he tells Arcadia, before looking at Cannonball and announcing that he does not recognize him. ‘He’s not on of the sword. Can I have made a mistake?’ Ulysses wonders. ‘You bet you have, mister!’ Cannonball exclaims as he focuses past the pain, and using his comet-like acceleration, propels Ulysses through a series of support beams in the mine.
The beams crumble, and rubble collapses onto Ulysses. Sam declares that for their information he does not appreciate being sucker-punched, adding that he is mad at himself for walking into an unknown situation like a rank amateur. Sam turns to Arcadia and declares that now the big bruiser is out of the way, he wants to know what is going on. ’Why’d you set me up?’ he asks her. ’If you harmed Ulysses, farm boy, I’m gonna make you wish you’d never been born!’ Arcadia snaps, ignoring Cannonball’s question as she warns him that he doesn’t know the ways she can make him hurt.
But suddenly, Ulysses emerges from the rubble, ’Arcadia, NO! Whatever you do, don’t use your power!’ he exclaims, assuring her that he will take care of the boy. Ulysses tells Sam that he is sorry to have to do this to him, but that he is a distraction they cannot afford right now, and slams into Cannonball too fast, Sam doesn’t have time to power up, before he is knocked clear across the mine. ’Is he dead?’ Arcadia asks as Sam lies motionless some feet away. ’No. Just unconscious’ Ulysses replies, before telling Arcadia that they need to find a more secure location, and quickly. He tells her that he hoped to lure the hunter into these caves, but they caught the mutant boy instead, which means that unfortunately the real threat is still nearby. ’I wish you’d let me take care of things, Uly. You never let me use my power’ Arcadia complains, boasting that she can take care of herself. ’Not today, girl’ Ulysses tells her.
Back in San Francisco, this time in the China Basin district, where X-Force currently call home, inside a warehouse leased to Sunspot cheap by his father’s company. X-Force, Jesse, Wyndham, Dr Parsons and Lomenzo are gathered in the living area, where Wyndham explains that MUSE is an acronym for the Mutant Underground Support Engine. He reveals that they are a network of concerned individuals trying to protect mutants from the rising anti-mutant sentiment in this country. Wyndham tells X-Force that they know his background, and informs them that Dr Parsons is a noted neurologist, while Ms Lomenzo is a former naval officer. ’Think of us as a search and rescue team for endangered mutants’ Nicole suggests, adding that they monitor mutant activity throughout North America.
Siryn remarks that Jesse found X-Force by using MUSE’s database, while Tabitha tells them that their files must be pretty thorough, as even her father doesn’t know she is in San Francisco yet. Wyndham explains that they draw their information from every news source available - newswires, internet postings, medical journals and tabloids, and that they also have friends in government agencies who risk a great deal by providing them with classified documents. Nicole reveals that Jesse was not only one of their rescues, but that he was also being groomed as a field agent, but without authorization he used his particular ability to access their sub rosa link to the SHIELD computer system.
Dr Parsons remarks that if they hadn’t learned of his entry in time to cover his tracks, their entire organisation might have been shut down. He adds that they tried to find him in New York, but by that time he was already on his way here. ‘I knew this guy couldn’t be trusted’ Sunspot exclaims, while Jesse declares that he was going to tell them the truth - sooner or later. ‘I think you like knowing more about us than we do about you’ Dani tells him, frowning. ‘You want to know the truth? Well, I’ll try not to bore you. My life by Jesse Aaronson, Nineteen. The short version:
Flashback Illustrations, narrated by Bedlam II:
Jesse reveals that when he was five his parents were killed in an accident, but he and his seven year old brother, Christopher, survived. His parents did not have any living relatives, so he and his brother were thrown into foster homes, but not together. For reasons Jesse has never been able to figure out, the people from social services separated he and Chris. Jesse admits that he was not exactly the poster child for emotional stability, as he had lost everyone he ever loved. After a parade of therapists, the now thirteen year old Jesse was committed to a psychiatric institution for observation, where his mutant powers kicked into gear, destroying every electronic monitoring device he was hooked up to.
Jesse’s less than saintly doctor saw his condition as his lottery ticket, subjecting him to every kind of test for the book he intended to write. Luckily, Jesse was liberated from his life as a lab rat, courtesy of Lucas Wyndham. Lucas then brought Jesse to Dr Parson’s ranch in Montana, a place where he felt like he was actually wanted, and where the power blackouts and equipment malfunctions he caused would not call undue attention to him.
Present:
James tells Jesse it sounds like he was lucky Wyndham found him, to which Tabitha asks him if everything was so peachy in Montana then why did he leave. ‘His brother. That’s the big hole in his life’ Domino remarks. ‘Exactly’ Jesse confirms. Jesse tells everyone that he knows Christopher is out there somewhere, but that he could not find him by himself, which is when he used the Underground’s database to find someone who could do the impossible - Domino. He adds that through Domino’s file he learned about X-Force. Wyndham assures X-Force that only a handful of people in the Underground have access to that information, while Siryn remarks that she had no idea their lives were so well documented, as they have gone to great lengths to keep their existence quiet.
‘Except for your public battle with the Externals in New York two summers ago, or your part in the strange goings-on at the Exploding Man Festival in Texas’ Dr Parsons reminds the heroes, adding that he doesn’t need to remind them of their recent escapades in Las Vegas. Wyndham tells X-Force that they may not be known by the general public, but that they have been flagged by every law enforcement agency in the country. ‘You need to keep a lower profile’ he tells them, while Nicole suggests that losing the bright costumes might help. ‘Thanks for the advice, but I think we know how to keep under the radar if necessary’ Domino declares, adding that Jesse helped her track down Ekatarina Gryaznova, so she is now going to help him find his brother.
‘Don’t waste your time, Domino. Jesse’s brother doesn’t exist’ Dr Parsons announces. ‘LIAR!’ Jesse exclaims, grabbing Dr Parsons by the collar. Sunspot remarks that he is confused, while Meltdown asks why Jesse would say he has a brother if he doesn’t. ‘Somebody struck a nerve’ Siryn remarks, while Domino suggests that they had better pull Jesse away from Dr Parsons. Wyndham remarks that it is all right, as Jesse would never harm Derek. ‘He’s practically Jesse’s second father’. Jesse puts his head against Dr Parson’s shoulder while Dr Parson tells him that he knows he is not saying this to hurt him. ‘You’re wrong. My brother’s out there. He’s out there’ Jesse replies.
Dr Parsons tells X-Force that when Jesse first came to them, he told them about the brother he lost, so naturally they tried to find Christopher Aaronson, but there was no evidence he ever existed - no birth certificate, no medial records, no adoption papers - absolutely nothing. Wyndham explains that they think Jesse invented an imaginary brother when everyone he loved had been taken from him.
Nicole asks if they are done with the psychodrama and points out that they came here to make sure Jesse didn’t compromise the Underground. ‘Now that we did, we can get back to business’ she exclaims, putting a hand on Jesse and telling him that it is time to come home. ‘I told you. I’m not going back!’ Jesse exclaims, brushing Nicole off, he exclaims that his brother is not a figment of his imagination, but that someone has gone to great lengths to keep them apart. ‘I’m going to find him, no matter what you think!’ he declares.
Back in Kentucky, Arcadia and Ulysses leave the mine shaft, with Ulysses telling Arcadia that they need to head South, as they need to leave this continent completely. Arcadia replies that she is tired of running, to which Ulysses asks her if she would rather the sword returned her to the keep. ‘But I have powers that can stop them once and for all!’ Arcadia exclaims. Neither Ulysses nor Arcadia notice a red-armored figure approaching them from above, while Ulysses asks Arcadia if she doesn’t remember what happened the last time she tried to stop them. ‘Not to mention that the moment that you use your powers, you become a beacon for our pursuers’ Ulysses adds, when suddenly the new arrival smacks him in the back with a large pole like weapon, ‘Too late, traitor. You know you couldn’t escape Argos the Hunter!’ he booms.
Ulysses screams, while Argos puts him in a headlock using the pole, asking ‘What happened to you, my old friend? What made you think you could ever betray the sword?’, before announcing that he will kill him quickly for old times’ sake. Suddenly, Cannonball arrives on scene, ‘Ah know this isn’t my fight…but nobody’s killing anybody when I’m around!’ he exclaims as he blasts into Argos. Sam tells himself that he could be making a mistake, as Argos could be one of the good guys, ‘But I’ve learned that the good guys don’t usually threaten to kill their opponents’ he tells himself.
Argos smacks Cannonball with his weapon, and Sam Is knocked backwards. ‘I gelt that even through the force field that surrounds me while I’m powered up’ Sam tells himself, while Argos asks Ulysses if he requires children to protect him now. ‘How the mighty have fallen’ he remarks, before telling Cannonball that he can die with Ulysses if he so wishes. Cannonball blasts towards Argos, and smashes through his weapon, cutting it in two as he exclaims ‘Ah’d rather not - and I think you won’t be half the threat with that glow-in-the-dark pig-sticker’ Sam adds. ‘NO!’ Argos shouts when the weapon snaps. Energy spreads around Argos, who exclaims that the staff’s containment unit has been shattered, and without it, the energy it channels cannot be controlled. He then screams as the energy engulfs him.
Cannonball drops down beside Ulysses and asks him where he thinks he is going. ‘Ah just saved your life. I figure the least you owe me is an explanation!’ Sam declares. Ulysses introduces himself and explains Arcadia is his charge. ‘You’re a man of few words’ Sam tells him, while Ulysses helps Arcadia up, asking her if she is hurt. Arcadia replies that she isn’t and apologizes for freezing when Argos attacked. Sam asks if they would mind telling him why Argos wanted to kill them, to which Ulysses explains that Arcadia possess a gift that Argos’ master wants to control, and that they have been dodging hunters for months now.
‘Why are we even talking to this hick?’ Arcadia asks. Sam tells her that he will ignore that comment, before remarking that if they need some help, he knows some people - but Ulysses interrupts, suggesting that Sam should leave now and forget they ever saw them. ‘Argos is only one of the sword. Others will follow…and if they believe you’re assisting us in any way, your life will be in grave danger’ Ulysses explains. ‘You don’t know my friends’ Sam replies, to which Arcadia declares that she hates to interrupt the farm report, but that the rest of the hunters have arrived. All three look up and see a jet overhead, shinning a spotlight on them. Ulysses tells Cannonball that it looks like he is in this whether he likes it or not. ‘So what do we do now?’ Sam asks. ‘RUN!’ Arcadia replies….


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

[Assistant]
…by the Sword
In Manhattan, strangely-clothed people who can do fantastic things have become almost commonplace. However, this is not Manhattan. This is Cumberland, Kentucky, where four mysterious beings have just transported down to the farming community, the childhood home of Sam “Cannonball” Guthrie, formerly of the X-Men and X-Force. Sam is used to strange - it comes with the job - he just didn’t expect to find it in his hometown. ‘Blast it! Argos’s comrades have rescued him from the coal mine!’ Ulysses Dragonblood exclaims as he looks out through a gap in some wooden slats which cover up a window of an abandoned house, where he, Arcadia and Cannonball are hiding.
Sam asks Ulysses who the strange people are, to which Ulysses points out that he has already met Argos, and the others are Stranglehold, Zona and Pyre, who are called the Sword, and are after Arcadia. Ulysses warns Cannonball that they will kill anything that stands between them and their quarry. Ulysses tells Cannonball that so long as they don’t perceive him as a threat, he can leave here alive. ‘So go ahead and leave. We don’t need you anyway’ the aggressive Arcadia snaps. But Cannonball tells Arcadia that it seems a little late for that, as he is involved whether he likes it or not.
His mind wanders back to how he recently returned to Kentucky, and all he wanted to do was spend some time with his mother, now suffering from a debilitating neurological disease - only to get mistakenly ambushed in an abandoned coal mine by Ulysses. But never one to turn his back on people, Sam helped Ulysses and Arcadia flee to this abandoned house where they now take shelter.
‘Well, well, farm boy - who’s this happy bunch?’ Arcadia asks as she finds a photograph of Sam and X-Force in his wallet. ‘They’re mah friends if you must know. But judging by your knack for stealing wallets, Ah’m betting you don’t have a lot of friends!’ Cannonball exclaims as he snatches his wallet back. ‘Relax, will ya? It’s just a force of habit’ Arcadia replies casually, adding that she has been on her own for a while now. Suddenly, the abandoned house rumbles, ‘The Sword!’ Ulysses shouts, while Arcadia exclaims that she would feel a lot better if they had some backup. ‘What about your friends, farm boy? Are they like you? You know - different?’ Arcadia asks.
Meanwhile, in San Francisco, outside the warehouse owned by DaCosta International, home of X-Force, a group of mutants fighting for peaceful coexistence with the humans who fear and hate them. ‘You think it’s smart leaving Jesse with those kids?’ Nicole Lomenzo asks her MUSE colleagues as they get in their car to leave. Dr Derek Parsons reminds Nicole that she read their file, and that X-Force are hardly kids. Lucas Wyndham adds that Jesse is legally an adult and they cannot baby-sit him forever.
Inside the warehouse, the man MUSE were discussing Jesse “Bedlam” Aaronson sits on some steps and asks ‘What? What’s with the looks? I just asked if I could crash here for a while. I’ve been living out of hotels and motels for months’. X-Force stare back at him. They are not his friends. ‘I think I speak for all of us when I say - no way! We don’t know you from Adam!’ Tabitha “Meltdown” Smith shouts, while Danielle Moonstar, James Proudstar, Theresa “Siryn” Rourke and Bobby “Sunspot” DaCosta stand behind her. Their teammate Domino tells her allies that she knows Aaronson lacks social graces, but points out he is smart. ‘He found you and me’ she reminds them.
Domino reminds X-Force that she promised to help Aaronson find his mysterious missing brother, and that he is not here permanently. She adds that if his presence causes too much trouble, she will throw him out herself. ‘Dom, you don’t -’ James begins when suddenly he, Theresa, Dani, Tabitha and Bobby are engulfed by a mysterious red light - before the five of them vanish. ‘They’re gone! Does that sort of thing happen here often?’ Bedlam asks. ‘You obviously haven’t spent much time around other mutants, have you?’ Domino replies.
Moments later, the five young mutants appear under a starlit sky as the red energy dissolves around them. ‘Where are we?’ James calls out. ‘I’d say “We aren’t in Kansas anymore” - but this actually looks like Kansas!’ Sunspot jokes, while Siryn points out that they are in costume, no less. The Sword team stands before X-Force as one of the warriors declares that it seems Ulysses is running scared, calling in reinforcements. ‘Argos, see if you can give me a correct reading on these five without screwing up!’ one of them shouts. Argos announces that the new arrivals are super-powered humans of the Homo Superior genus. ‘In other words, mutants’ he exclaims.
‘Don’t you just hate being discussed like we’re not even here?’ Meltdown asks her friends, all unaware that Cannonball has moved out of the abandoned house and has seen them. ‘That’s X-Force out there. But how?’ he wonders, while a weary Arcadia remarks that they needed help, and reminds Cannonball that he said his friends were mutants like him. She looks as if she is going to fall over, before Ulysses grabs her: ‘Stupid girl!’ he shouts, reminding her that she was not to use her powers. ‘You know the danger involved!’ he tells her. ‘Yeah, yeah, yeah’ Arcadia mumbles, while Ulysses tells Cannonball that his companions do not know what they are up against. ‘Get them to safety. I’ll deal with the Sword’ he declares, to which Cannonball replies that his companions can handle themselves. ‘They haven’t fought the Sword’ Ulysses declares.
Back outside, the warrior called Pyre causes the ground around X-Force to shatter, and the young heroes are knocked aside, while he declares ‘Let’s see if you kids are any better at this sort of thing than you’re friend!’. ‘Our friend? What’s he talking about?’ Siryn asks, when, as if on cue, Cannonball uses his mutant power to rocket through the sky - and when he does that, few things can stand in his way - Pyre clearly isn’t one of those things, as the warrior is knocked to one side mid-air. ‘Guy’s get clear!’ Cannonball calls out, still wearing his jeans and unbuttoned shirt as he enters the battle. Theresa asks Sam how they got here, while Tabitha remarks that she isn’t surprised to see Sam here. ‘What’s going on?’ Dani calls out.
Sam drops to the ground, remarking that he will explain now, before pointing at the other three members of the Sword as he tells his friends that they are the bad guys. ‘Hit them!’ he exclaims. ‘They’re after the girl who brought you here’ he adds. The female member of the Sword, Zona, tells Argos and Stranglehold that she will take care of the mutants while the two of them go after Ulysses and the girl. Zona turns invisible and sneaks up behind Cannonball, but Proudstar sees her thanks to his enhanced senses. ‘Sam! One of them is invisible! Look - out!’ James calls out as he rushes over, but Zona moves quickly out of the way, and instead James shoves Sam by mistake. ‘Jimmy? What -?’ Cannonball asks, while Zona exclaims that this fight might prove interesting after all.
Zona kicks James in the head, while remarking that this is exceptional, for even though he cannot actually see her, his other senses are heightened beyond those of most humans. ‘Chalk it up to a healthy lifestyle, lady’ James retorts as he blocks Zona’s kick. ‘Oh. Well, we’ll just have to put a stop to that, now won’t we?’ Zona replies as she blasts James with some sort of energy blast. James screams, and Dani calls out to him, while attempting to ready a psionic arrow - but to her surprise, she cannot create one. Ordinarily, Danielle can focus her mental energy into a psychic arrow and strike from a distance. At least, that is how it is supposed to work. For weeks now she has noticed slight fluctuations in her powers, but has kept that information to herself. She is unaware that a battle between the Shadow King and the X-Men damaged the psionic plane, weakening the abilities of every telepath and psi-sensitive on the planet.
There is no hiding that now though, and Dani screams in agony, before falling over. ‘Powers…failed me. Psionic backlash nearly finished me’ she utters, while Stranglehold approaches her, remarking that this is too easy. ‘You want “hard”? Here - I’m expert level!’ Meltdown exclaims as she jumps between Dani and Stranglehold, before throwing some plasma time bombs at the warrior, who stands his ground and declares that he is waiting for this to actually hurt. Stranglehold sighs, ‘Never mind’ he mutters, before swatting Tabitha away as he remarks that it is the other girl they are after.
‘Got ya!’ Cannonball calls out as he flies to Meltdown’s rescue, catching her before she can hit the ground. ‘I owe you on, Sam’ Tabitha tells him, before they land nearby. ‘You don’t owe me anything’ Cannonball tells her. ‘You’re still mad’ Tabitha realizes, but Sam assures her that he is over it. ‘You’re a lousy liar, Sam’ Meltdown tells him, adding that she didn’t mean to betray what they had by getting together with Bobby, that it just happened. ‘You can’t plan that kinda stuff, you know?’. ‘Tab, I -’ Sam begins, before both he and Tabitha cry out in pain as Pyre blasts them with energy, though Pyre knows they are lucky as Cannonball’s force field was up, otherwise they would both be ashes by now. Pyre decides that they may have to take Cannonball back with them, as he is sure the Foundation techs would like to get him in the laboratory.
Unlike Cannonball though, Siryn does not have a protective force field around her when she flies - unfortunate, as Argos throws his staff at her, and it smacks her in the back. Siryn has to rely solely on the sonic powers that are a variation of those of her father, the former X-Man known as Banshee. Unfortunately, they are not enough, and Siryn plummets to the ground. ‘SIRYN!’ shouts Sunspot as he sees his friend falling, so he immediately powers up, able to transform energy into strength and concussive force, he has been charging all day.
‘We didn’t ask to be involved in this fight, but if it’s a fight you want, sister, I’ll be happy to kick your ugly tails -’ Sunspot begins, but Zona quickly renders him unconscious. ‘Spare me, boy’ she mutters, before standing over his motionless body and telling her teammates that they have wasted enough time with these children. ‘Our prey awaits us in that house’ she declares, reminding her companions that they need Arcadia alive, but the traitor Ulysses’ head belongs to her.
Meanwhile, back in San Francisco, Bedlam asks Domino what they are going to do and how they are going to find X-Force. But Domino tells him to cool it, as you don’t survive in the spy game for as long as she has without knowing people who know people. Domino makes a call on a phone: ‘This is Mrs Peel. I need the location of a good Indian restaurant’ she tells the person on the other end. ‘Now, we wait’ she tells Bedlam after hanging up. ‘For dinner? I’m impressed by the concern you show for your friends. They could be in danger!’ Bedlam exclaims. ‘Of course they’re in danger. You’ll come to learn that X-Force is rarely not in danger’ Domino tells him, adding that unless he has a better way of finding them than the satellite service she subscribes to, then they will have to wait. ‘Unless, of course you’re psychic’ Domino mocks.
Back in Kentucky, Zona enters the abandoned house: ‘Oh, Ulysses, how the mighty have fallen. Look at you - I remember when you welcomed battle. Now you cower like a frightened child’ she exclaims, when suddenly, Ulysses grabs her neck, ‘It’s called lying in wait, my dear. Don’t forget everything you know, I taught you’ he tells her. ‘Go ahead. Kill me. You were part of the Sword once. You know others will follow. You’re old, Ulysses. You’ll die soon’ Zona exclaims. ‘Perhaps sooner than you think!’ Pyre declares as he enters the house and blasts Ulysses with energy, releasing Zona from his grasp. ‘Old man, you should’ve killed me when you had the chance!’ Zona exclaims.
Outside the house, Stranglehold and Argos stand watch over the unmoving bodies of Dani, Theresa, James and Bobby, unaware that Sam and Tabitha are hiding behind a nearby tractor. ‘Can you see them?’ Meltdown asks. ‘Yeah’ Cannonball replies, adding that he thinks he has got a plan. ‘Well? You want a drum roll?’ Meltdown asks him, expecting him to tell her the plan. Sam tells Tabitha to notice the grass that Stranglehold and Argos are standing on, explaining that it is green and lush, which means they are standing on the septic tank. ’And I need to know that because…?’ Tabitha asks. Sam tells her to listen, and explains that he wants her to send a couple of time bombs at their feet. ’Okay, okay’ Tabitha mutters, and moments later, Stranglehold and Argos are surprised by the plasma attack, but cannot do anything about it, as the ground gives way and they fall into the septic tank.
Inside, Pyre puts a neutralizer on Arcadia, telling her that it will not hurt a bit, but it will not allow her to use her powers. Zona stands guard over Ulysses, who tells her that she is making a mistake. ’Indigo cares nothing about our people!’ he exclaims. ’Don’t lecture me on loyalty, traitor. You betrayed your own blood!’ Zona tells him. Suddenly, Pyre cries out in pain as Cannonball attacks him with Argos’ staff, which he retrieved. Sam exclaims that he didn’t start this fight, but he is willing to finish it. ‘Your move, sister!’ he tells Zona, who orders him to drop the lance. ‘Or I will use it to impale -’ she begins, before a mighty explosion behind her knocks her across the abandoned house.
Sam turns to Meltdown and thanks her, before seeing Ulysses’ injured arm and telling him that they have to get him to a doctor. Ulysses explains that his arm will repair itself. ‘How do you think I’ve lived this long?’ he asks, before Arcadia gets to her feet and rips the neutralizer off her head. ‘Enough with the talking. We’ve got to get out of here!’ she exclaims. ‘Listen, sister, Sam almost got himself killed for you - all we did - so maybe you should consider a little attitude adjustment?’ Meltdown exclaims, while the rest of X-Force arrive on scene. ‘I’d settle for an explanation’ Danielle declares, while Sunspot remarks that they didn’t exactly get a scorecard for this fight, and Siryn, held up by James, asks ‘Who are these goons?’
‘You want an explanation?’ the aggressive Arcadia retorts, standing over the unmoving Pyre and Zona, she explains that they are scum and deserve to be lawn fertilizer. ‘Arcadia, no! You - you must not!’ Ulysses exclaims, but Arcadia stamps her feet, telling Ulysses to “save it” as the Sword is never going to leave them alone if they just keep running. ‘We have to show them that if they keep after us, they’re going to get hurt!’ Arcadia shouts, before her powers crystallize Zona and Pyre. Arcadia raises Argos’ staff above her head, and declares that once all four of them have crystallized, she can break them into a million pieces.
‘Not just hang on. We’re not going to just stand here and watch you kill these people’ Moonstar exclaims as she puts a hand on Arcadia’s arm. ‘Did you hear me ask for your permission?’ Arcadia snaps, before warning Moonstar to get away from her. Suddenly in a spectacular display, Dani’s skin turns a twilight blue color, and she begins to glow. A confused Dani gasps, while X-Force and Cannonball stare at her in awe. ‘Mah God! What have you done?’ Cannonball calls out. As hostile as ever, Arcadia replies that she doesn’t know, as it doesn’t always work the same. ‘Wanna see what I can do to you?’ she asks, but before she can act, Ulysses touches her head and tells her ‘That’s enough,. Arcadia’, and Arcadia falls into his arms. ‘Remember, you left me no choice but to sedate you’ Ulysses tells her, while James and Theresa approach Dani, asking her if she is okay. While her appearance returns to normal, Dani replies that she doesn’t know, and asks ‘What just happened?
Ulysses motions to Zona and Pyre, who have also returned to normal, and explains that they have all reverted back, while adding that Arcadia possesses the ability to transmute reality, but unfortunately it is an ability she cannot always shut off. Ulysses explains that until Arcadia is more skilled, any use of her power could result in a potentially disastrous chain reaction. Cannonball remarks that he understands it now. ‘You’re not protecting her from the world. - you’re protecting the world from her’.
Later gathered outside, Zona, Argos, Stranglehold and Pyre are transported back onto their ship, and Ulysses tells X-Force that by using the Sword’s own ship to evade their pursuers should buy them some much needed time. ‘But first - say it’ Ulysses exclaims, elbowing Arcadia. The ungrateful young woman sighs and quietly mumbles ‘Thank you. I guess’, before Ulysses walks towards the transport beam, until Cannonball exclaims ‘Hold up a sec. You still haven’t told us what this is about’. Ulysses replies that mankind is not the only race of sentient beings that has evolved on this planet, and that other beings called Eternals and Deviants have always been present throughout mankind’s history.
Ulysses reveals that recently a power struggle has developed between factions of Deviants whop wish to use Arcadia as a weapon against their enemies and mankind. Meltdown asks if Arcadia is a Deviant also, to which Ulysses cryptically replies that Arcadia is something much, much more, before he and Arcadia are transported up to the ship. ‘Farewell. I hope our paths do not cross again’ Ulysses exclaims, while Arcadia just frowns.
Sam turns to Moonstar, who tells him not to look so worried, as she feels much netter now. Sam points out that there is no telling what Arcadia did to her. ’What a brat’ Meltdown remarks, while James declares that he hopes Arcadia didn’t do any permanent damage to Dani, while Theresa tells Sam that she is curious as to why Arcadia brought them here and not the X-Men. Sam replies that he was thinking about who he wanted covering his back, and it was them, X-Force. He tells his friends that it was an honor to be a member of the X-Men, but that he was never completely at home with them. He tells his friends that the truth is, they are the group he would rather have beside him when the going gets rough.
‘Maybe it’s time Ah came back’ Sam remarks. ‘Not that we don’t want you back, Sam, but a lot’s changed since you left’ Bobby tells him. ‘Think we can put the past behind us?’ Tabitha asks. Sam tells them that he is not saying all is forgiven, but that he is willing to try. He tells his friends that he should be getting back home, as his mother is going to be worried when she finds out he has been gone all night. The six friends walk towards the Guthrie family home, and Siryn points out that Mrs Guthrie is going to be surprised to see all of them, while Sunspot remarks ‘Hey, just so long as she’s got breakfast on the table!’. ‘Bobby!’ Meltdown exclaims. ‘What? We’re practically family! Sam just said so!’ Sunspot points out. Cannonball just sighs and remarks that it is practically like he never left.
Meanwhile, in New Mexico, a man with rocky gray skin lets a small brown mouse run across his large hands, while a woman in a lab coat stands before him, informing him that ever effort was made to obtain Arcadia, but it appears X-Force became involved again. The mysterious man lets the mouse fall into the waiting mouth of a lizard on his desk, and addressing the woman as Doctor Chandra, tells her that this is not good news. A large emblem of a sword covering a globe stand on the wall behind him, as Odysseus Indigo declares that he thinks it is high time they either recruit those kids - or eliminate them completely!


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

[Assistant]
Possession
Inside a cold, dank dungeon, somewhere in Latveria. Sally “Skids” Blevins, formerly of the New Mutants, currently a college student, has no idea how long she has been held here. The last thing she remembers was being teleported from Las Vegas to a snow-covered mountain during a battle with the space-warping mutant terrorist known only as Locus, who currently lies on the cold stone floor, in a near catatonic state. A rat scurries past, and human bones lay scattered around the creepy dungeon. One thing Sally does know, is that she has no desire to meet the captor who has already reduced the once dangerous Locus into a frightened, scared child.
‘Blast! This door must weigh a ton. I’m never gonna get outta here alone!’ Sally exclaims. ‘No…more…please…no…more…’ Locus babbles, a strange marking on her forehead. Sally spins around and declares that she knows Locus doesn’t want to sped the rest of her life rotting in this godforsaken place any more than she does. ‘You gotta get it together, girl! You’re the only hope we have of getting out of here!’ Sally exclaims. But Locus replies that she can’t. ‘She won’t let me. She has plans for both of us…’ Locus reveals, cryptically.
Sally grabs Locus and tells her to snap out of it. ‘I can’t open a trans-spatial doorway the way you can. If I could, we’d be far away from this hellhole!’ Skids exclaims. But Locus exclaims ‘You don’t know what it’s like when she reaches into your mind…there’s nothing you can keep from her…’. Skids tells Locus to get angry, to do whatever she has to do. ‘I can’t…’ Locus mutters. ‘TRY!’ Sally shouts. Locus casts a hand upwards to create a portal - but an instant later, she pulls her hand down, ‘It’s no use. She’s drained the life from me…’ Locus mutters.
Suddenly, a voice exclaims ‘Tsk tsk…young ladies…surely you’re not trying to leave my mountain retreat so soon…’. A woman enters the dungeon, hovering off the ground, white hair flowing behind her, clothed in a red and blue flowing dress. Two large panther-like cats at her side, she declares that compared to the six tedious centuries she has been imprisoned here, the two of them have hardly been here at all. The woman assures Skids and Locus that they will all be leaving the accursed mountain in due time, as their unexpected arrival has given her the means to finally escape Latveria. ‘It has been ages since Pandemonia moved freely among mortals…’.
Skids picks up a large bone lying on the floor, ‘Listen, grandma, there’s no way we’re gonna be part of whatever sick and twisted games you have in mind. So why don’t you leash your kitties and let us exit the way we came’ Skids warns Pandemonia, who remarks that clearly the youth of today have no respect for their elders. ‘But then you mortals have always been an upstart breed’ she adds, before placing a finger to Skids’ forehead, etching her sigil upon the former New Mutant, and remarks that all will change. ‘Your stubborn independence will crumble’. Skids goes wide-eyed, while Pandemonia asks her to tell her about the others like her. ‘I have any army to assemble’ Pandemonia exclaims.
Half a world away, in San Francisco, inside the home of X-Force, Tabitha “Meltdown” Smith is sitting on her bedroom floor, rummaging through her past as she goes through several boxes. Tabitha thinks to herself that it is lucky she left a few boxes of stuff with her father before she moved into the X-Men Mansion, otherwise she would have lost it all - music, clothes, scrapbooks - when Zero Tolerance cleared out the Mansion. ‘Bastion’s mutant-hating fascists would have to take everything’ she tells herself as she goes through a photo album. ‘Man, I haven’t looked at this photo album in ages’ Meltdown tells herself, before noticing a photograph fall to the floor.
Picking the photo up, Tabitha sees that it is of Skids, Rusty and herself. ‘Back in the day. Look at how young we were’ she thinks to herself. ‘Now Rusty’s dead and Skids’s been missing in action since the Reignfire blowout’. Meltdown picks up the phone and begins dialling, telling herself that they did all they could to find Skids, but that there resources are limited these days, especially without a machine like Cerebro. ‘Even though Locus could have zapped Sally anywhere, I still feel guilty we kinda put the search on the back burner’ Meltdown tells herself.
‘I was wondering if you’d heard anything from Sally…she hasn’t called or anything…no? Well, I just want to check in. You’ll call if she shows up?’ Meltdown remarks, before hearing some crashing noises coming from elsewhere in the warehouse. ‘Look, I gotta go. Something weird’s going on downstairs‘.
Running down the stairs, Tabitha calls out ‘Hey guys, what was that racket?’, but as she sees Bobby “Sunspot” DaCosta, James Proudstar and Theresa “Siryn” Rourke slumped over the couches and floor, she asks ‘Um…guys? What’s with the silent treatment?’, before remarking ‘Okay, I get it. You’re gas lighting me. This is somebody’s lame idea of a practical joke’. Tabitha asks if this is because she got them thrown out of Zombie Class Reunion last week at the Coronet. But when no one answers, Tabitha exclaims that perhaps she should have kept her mouth shut, but that she couldn’t believe that stupid girl was gonna stay in the house with the slasher.
Tabitha goes over to her boyfriend, Bobby and asks if this was his idea. ‘Very funny. May I suggest you keep your day job?’ Tabitha tells him, but she gets no response, and notices his eyes are glazed over white. ‘Uh-oh. This isn’t an act’ Tabitha realizes, while Bobby manages to whisper her name, ever so quietly. Suddenly, ‘Skids? Is it really you? Where’d you come from?’ Meltdown calls out as Sally materializes beside her, now clad in a flowing dress. Skids points at her friend and tells her that she is sorry, ‘She made Locus bring us here…she knows everything about me and you…she’s inside my head…she’s controlling me…’.
Meltdown is distracted by her lost friend’s unexpected reappearance, missing the static charge that builds behind her as a spatial gateway opens. Meltdown asks Sally to slow down, ‘Who did this?’ she asks her, only to be ambushed by Locus for a second time in as many months. ‘Surrender to Pandemonia!’ Locus calls out, knocking Tabitha out. Pandemonia, with her panthers at her side, enters X-Force’s base through Locus’ portal, and she tells the space-rending mutant that she has done well. ‘For the first time in centuries, I walk the Earth free’. Pandemonia announces that this new world excites her, that it is positively teeming with millions upon millions of new souls to claim for her own.
Using her powers, she levitates Tabitha, Theresa, Bobby and James off the ground, remarking that she had forgotten the lovely variations of human flesh and spirit. Pandemonia declares that these children are far more powerful than the frail and diseased humans that sustained her in times past. Teeming with power, she grins as she remarks that her long exile left her weak, but now they shall make their mistress stronger than she has ever been!
Meanwhile, south of San Francisco, on the Californian Coast is the eclectic and eccentric college town and surge mecca of Santa Cruz, whose beach and boardwalk have today attracted Samuel “Cannonball” Guthrie and Danielle Moonstar, who run past other beach-goers, treading in the sand and surf, Cannonball tells his long-time friend and fellow former New Mutant that he doesn’t know, as this is all so unreal. ‘I never imagined I’d end up in California!’ he exclaims. ‘Don’t give me that “Ah’m just a poor boy from Kentucky” rap, Sam. You’re no country bumpkin’ Dani replies, telling Sam that he has done more and travelled farther as a teenager than most people do in a lifetime.
Sam admits that Dani is right, and remarks that he is still unsure whether he belongs with X-Force anymore than he does with the X-Men. He adds that this is not the team he helped found, and that things are different now. ‘Tabitha and Bobby…’ he comments, but Dani tells Cannonball that if he was that hot for Tabitha he would never have left in the first place. ‘You can’t dwell in the past’ she tells him. The dup run up a set of stairs as Sam suggests they talk about the present, and asks Dani if her psionic abilities have returned yet. ‘Barely’ Dani replies as she follows Sam, adding that she talked briefly to Jean Grey, who told her the X-Men’s battle with the Shadow King severely damaged the Psionic Plane, and now every telepath and telekinetic on the planet is operating at diminished capacity.
Sam and Dani stop and rest against a railing where they do some stretches, while Cannonball asks Dani about any complications from her encounter with Arcadia. Dani replies that whatever Arcadia did to her in the farmhouse, was temporary, as she is fine. ‘Next subject’ Dani tells Sam, who knows that she is avoiding the issue and tells her so. ‘Yes I am. Don’t you think it’s time we got back to the city?’ Dani replies.
Shortly, they arrive back at where X-Force’s car is parked, and see Jesse “Bedlam” Aaronson leaning against it. Sam whispers to Dani that between the two of them, he is not sure it is wise letting a complete stranger into the group. Dani replies that Domino has vouched for him, before calling out to Jesse, asking him if he has found out anything about his missing brother. Aaronson replies that he hasn’t, as the hacker who promised he could tap into the Federal Witness Relocation Program database turned out to be some ex-hippie burnout. ‘I should have known he’d be useless. The best hackers are all under twenty’ Jesse mutters, before asking Sam and Dani if they are ready to go, or if they intend to run another marathon.
‘If you’d been In the situations we have, you’d know you can’t rely solely on your mutant power’ Sam tells Jesse, adding that you need to be in top condition to survive the kind of dangers they have faced. ‘I don’t know, Kentucky. Seems to me you’ve got your priorities mixed up. If my mother were sick like yours…I’d be helping her instead of playing iron man on the beach’ Jesse replies. Sam shoves Aaronson up against the car, ‘Are you intentionally trying to tick me off?’ Sam asks. ‘Listen, pal. You barely know me, so don’t tell me how to deal with my family’ Sam warns Jesse, who claims that he didn’t mean anything by it. ‘It’s not worth it. Thanks for ruining my day’ Sam mutters as he walks away from Jesse. ‘Nice going, Jesse. If you keep going at this rate, you’ll alienate everyone in X-Force by the weekend’ Dani scolds him.
Later, Sam, Dani and Jesse stand outside X-Force’s warehouse, ‘I said I’m sorry, Sam’ Jesse exclaims, but Sam tells him that he doesn’t want his apology. ‘We have to work on your social skills’ Dani suggests to Jesse, before the three young mutants step into the warehouse - only to be overwhelmed by a cold wind and a sudden rush of gnawing dread - as the warehouse has been given a medieval make-over - pillars with demons line the walls, while candles light the halls. ‘Are you sure this is our place? Looks like somebody redecorated in early Temple of Doom while we were out’ Jesse remarks.
Sam ignores Jesse’s comment, and asks Dani if she is getting the same bad feeling he is, to which Dani replies that she is, and that this place reeks of magic. ‘Magic? As in supernatural magic? You’re kidding, right?’ Jesse exclaims. Sam replies that he was a non-believer once, too, until a good friend of theirs gone bad dragged he, Dani and the rest of the New Mutants into Limbo. Dani adds that there are forces at work in the world that defy rational explanation, but that doesn’t make them any less dangerous. ‘And if you want proof of that, look in front of us!’ she exclaims.
Indeed, Pandemonia sits on a throne, with Skids and Locus at her sides, and the two panthers at her feet, while Siryn, Sunspot, Warpath and Meltdown stand on the ground, all dressed in similarly appropriate costuming to match the new décor, and all with the sigils on their foreheads. ’Greetings, children, I am Pandemonia, Queen of Chaos!’ the sorceress proclaims. ‘Your companions have already surrendered their bodies and souls to me. Join them!’
‘The witch has put our friends under her spell!’ Dani exclaims. Sam admits to Dani that he has never felt very comfortable dealing with this kind of threat, and wishes Illyana was still alive as she would know what to do. Jesse exclaims that he would like to help, but his powers only affect machinery and electronics. ‘So I was thinking, maybe I’d go grab a burrito and catch up with you guys later’ he exclaims, while Pandemonia flies towards them, telling them that they cannot escape her, and that they are destined to serve as her subjects and sustenance. Pandemonia wraps her eldritch energies around Moonstar, ‘You are powerless to resi -’ she begins, before screaming as she receives a backlash of energy.
‘Your soul is protected by the mark of Asgard? How can that be?’ Pandemonia asks. Dani reveals that she used to be a Valkyrie, which she has always considered a mixed blessing, but that right now she is pretty lucky to have been part of that sisterhood. Pandemonia reveals that an eons-old accord between the House of Chaos and the Lord of Valhalla exists which prevents her from feasting on Moonstar’s soul, her mortal shell is still vulnerable to an earthly assault. ‘Subdue her for me!’ she orders those under her control.
‘Bow before our mistress!’ Meltdown exclaims as she throws her plasma time-bombs at her free-minded teammates. ‘Serve her!’ Siryn shouts. ‘On your knees!’ Sunspot declares. Sam, Danielle and Jesse dodge their teammates’ attack, while Aaronson asks how they are supposed to deal with their teammates. Sam tells him that they cannot hurt them, but points out that they are not pulling any punches under Pandemonia’s control. Dani suggests that they retreat and regroup, and Sam agrees, telling Dani and Jesse to fasten their seatbelts and hold on, as he grabs them, ‘You’ve got a one-way ticket on the Cannonball Express!’ he exclaims as he blasts through the warehouse wall to safety outside.
Soon, after determining their possessed teammates have not followed them, Sam, Danielle and Jesse enter an occult bookstore. ‘What are we looking for - “Demonology for Dummies”?’ Jesse asks. Sam admits that it is a long shot, but that since they don’t have Doctor Strange’s home phone, they need to start somewhere. He adds that none of them are prepared to take on a supernaturally powered menace, so they need to find backup. A woman with pale skin and long black hair stands behind the counter, and introduces herself as Kruella, before asking if she can be of assistance, while behind her, a rather plain looking woman is watching an episode of Bewitched.
Sam tells Kruella that what he has to say may sound weird, but that their friends have been possessed by a witch or possibly a demon, and they need to get in touch with someone with serious mystical muscle to free them. The plain woman interrupts, announcing that she is a High Priest of the Mephistolean Church and therefore she can perform a full exorcism and purification ritual for two hundred dollars a possession. ‘Yeah, right. This “Dungeons and Dragons” geek’s a real wizard like I’m Bill Clinton’ Aaronson mutters, while Kruella declares that the true power of magic is often dismissed by those too close-minded to believe. ‘You want to talk about magic? I’ll show you some real magic’ Jesse exclaims as he uses his powers to destroy the television. ‘Mommy!’ the plain woman cries out.
Soon, ‘That was productive’ Cannonball mutters as he, Dani and Jesse leave the occult store. ‘Yeah, but it sure felt good’ Jesse mutters, when suddenly, an elderly man in a suit calls out to them, introducing himself as Benchley, he reveals that he is a dabbler in the mystic arts. ‘Allow me to make a small suggestion concerning your current paranormal dilemma…’ he declares.
Soon, the address the strange man gives to the three mutants leads them to an old Victorian mansion in San Francisco’s Russian Hill District. ‘Hello…is anybody home?’ one of the three calls out, when a voice replies ‘Come on upstairs’. Sam leads the others up the staircase, while Jesse exclaims that this is crazy. ‘Your long time friends are in the thrall of the wicked witch, and we’re running all over the city on the say-so of some eccentric old man we just met’. Moonstar tells him that sometimes you have to take a leap of faith, while Sam tells Aaronson that if he has a better idea he is willing to hear it. ‘No? Ah didn’t think so’ Sam declares, warning Jesse not to blow up any more appliances, as they are guests here.
‘Well, this looks more promising’ Dani declares as they enter a room, to find a blonde woman, about their age, levitating in the center of the room, with a book hovering beside her. She introduces herself as Jennifer Kale, and remarks that they must be Dani, Sam and Jesse. Born into a family In which every generation is touched (or cursed) by the supernatural, Jennifer’s unpolished mystical aptitude brought her to the attention of the near-immortal Atlantean sorcerer, Dakihm, who took her as his apprentice and trained her in the forgotten mystic arts of that lost continent. ‘You know our names? Do you read minds?’ Cannonball asks.
Jennifer drops to the floor, replying that she doesn’t, but Benchley does, and he helps her out every now and again, kind of like an eccentric old uncle, who, depending on how much wine he’s had, will tell you that he is either a fallen angel or a repentant demon. ‘Catching up on the latest Clive Barker?’ Aaronson asks, motioning to the book that hovers above them. Jennifer replies that she has been doing some preliminary research on their problem. ‘Our world is a pivotal part of the Nexus of Realities’ she reveals. ‘You wouldn’t believe how many other dimensional demons, sprites and wraiths make their way into our reality’.
Jennifer asks X-Force to describe the creature they faced, to which Sam explains it was human in shape, female, white haired with a gold mask and a middle European accent. Dani adds that Pandemonia said something about needing “Servants and sustenance”, while Bedlam reminds them of the mark she has put on every one’s forehead. ‘Kind of like a tipped pyramid with wings next to a scalloped half circle’ he explains. Jennifer tells Jesse that he has a nice eye for detail, which helps narrow her search. ‘Let’s consult my handy demonic concordance’ she declares, and her book immediately flies down to her hands. ‘Whoa!’ Sam exclaims, moving back out of the books way.
Jennifer finds an entry in her book on Pandemonia, and explains to X-Force that Pandemonia is the succubus daughter of a lesser Chaos Lord who terrorized central Europe in the middle ages, and that she feasted on the life forces of her servants and transformed villages into her own version of Hell. Jennifer reveals that Pandemonia’s reign of terror finally ended when a gypsy sorcerer imprisoned her on Mount Sorcista in Latveria. ‘That sounds like her, but how’d she get off the mountain?’ Jesse asks, to which Dani explains that Locus’s portals must have provided the means for her to leave her mountain prison.
‘The important question, Miss Kale, is - can you help us stop her?’ Sam declares. ‘Absolutely’ Jennifer replies, adding that Pandemonia is probably weak after centuries of isolation, but that she won’t be vulnerable for long, not when she has the life energies of the rest of X-Force to feed her powers.
Which is exactly what Pandemonia is doing right now, ‘Mmm…my long exile without sustenance had rendered me wraithlike - but no longer. Soon I shall be as powerful as I ever was!’ the sorceress boasts as she feats on the energies of Proudstar and Meltdown. Suddenly, Pandemonia’s panthers growl. ‘What is it, my pets? What do you sense?’ Pandemonia asks, when suddenly, ‘Okay, witch! Give us back our friends!’ Cannonball shouts as he blasts into the warehouse, with Dani, Jennifer and Jesse running behind him. The three members of X-Force now dressed in their costumes.
Dani tells Jesse to hang back with Jennifer, as they don’t want to tip their hands just yet. Bedlam replies that is fine with him, and he doesn’t care what kind of spell Jennifer cast over them, he just doesn’t want to end up as some Latverian demon’s zombie pet. Pandemonia smiles, ‘So, the remainder of the unusually gifted children return. Good. You’ve saved me the trouble tracking you down!’ she declares, before ordering Siryn and Sunspot to show their friends the error of their rebellious ways. ‘You…will…burn…for…your…insolence…’ Sunspot utters, while Siryn unleashes her sonic scream as she tells them to get down on their knees and beg for mercy.
Bedlam is knocked over by Siryn’s sonic scream, and he tells himself that he never imagined how powerful. Proudstar moves towards Dani, and tells her to give it up, but Dani tells James that he doesn’t want to do this, as they are friends. Moonstar realizes that talking is doing no good, as James is too far gone to reason with him. She wishes that her psionic powers were working at full capacity, then she could break the mental hold the witch has on her friends. Her psionic powers manifest, but all she can manage to maintain is a psionic dagger, which she suddenly shoves into James’ chest, telling him that she is sorry to do this, but that she needs to shock him back to his senses.
Danielle grabs James by the ascot he is wearing around his neck, and tells him that she cannot do this alone, that he has to fight. ‘I’m…sorry…you… don’t…know…how…strong…she…is…’ James replies. Pandemonia sees this, and declares that Moonstar is becoming a nuisance. ‘And although I cannot feed on your life essence, I’ll certainly be more than happy to destroy it!’ the sorceress declares, as she casts energy towards Dani, who suddenly glows. Dani doesn’t know what is happening to her, and fears that this is not Pandemonia’s doing, as she feels strange and light-headed, like in Kentucky.
Cannonball blasts past Sunspot, and knocks his best friend over, relieved that Bobby’s reflexes are not nearly as fast as usual under Pandemonia’s control. Sam tells himself that there is a part of him that has been wanting to do that to Bobby since he found out that Tabitha and Bobby had become involved. But the reality of fighting an old friend, even one that has done him wrong, is a lot different. ‘Hope I figure Bobby’s descent right. Jennifer said she needed a distraction’ Sam tells himself, just as Bobby lands near Pandemonia. ‘Fool! You nearly struck me!’ the witch exclaims.
‘That’s my cue!’ Jennifer declares, as she begins a spell: ‘By earth and sea, moon and stars…let all that is not of this world stand revealed…’ Just then, ‘What have you done to me!’ Pandemonia cries out as she is transformed into her true demonic form - as are her cats. ‘You’ve destroyed my glamour with your Atlantean spells, little sorceress - but your antediluvian bindings cannot contain one whose family engineered that continent’s destruction!’
‘Ugh…what happened…wait…Pandemonia…she was inside my head…’ Sally exclaims, now free from the sorceress’ control - as are the rest of X-Force. ‘Inside all our heads, Sally, but not we’re back in control’ Theresa exclaims, adding that Pandemonia must be hurting more than she is acknowledging. ‘That still doesn’t mean we can stop her’ Tabitha remarks, while Aaronson declares that right now their best hope is not looking too good, as Pandemonia pours energy towards Jennifer, ‘Insolent little girl, I have feasted on the corpses of a thousand sorcerers better than you - you are not strong enough to withstand the power of pure, unbridled chaos!’
‘I don’t know who the blonde is, but if she’s ticked off that demon, she needs our help!’ Skids exclaims as she tries to extend her force field around Jennifer, ‘But I’m not sure it can withstand a mystical assault!’ Sally adds, while Siryn urges her to keep trying. Jennifer exclaims that she doesn’t know how much longer she can hold out, as she can’t finish the incantation while having to defend herself. Suddenly, Moonstar, still glowing, tells Jennifer to hold on. ‘That monster’s gonna have to get through me to get to you!’ she exclaims as she blasts Pandemonia, overcome by the strange new energies that course through her body, she acts instinctively knowing that she can release the energy in a concentrated blast.
Pandemonia screams, while James asks ‘Is that Dani? What is she doing? Where did she get that kind of power?’. ‘Who cares as long as she’s making that demon hurt’ Locus declares, while Siryn remarks that it must be related to what Arcadia’s reality warping powers did to her back in Kentucky. Jennifer remarks that she did not know Moonstar could channel that kind of ethereal energy, but that she has bought her the time she needed, adding that the Latverian gypsy was able to bind Pandemonia, but now able to banish her to her own dimension. ‘I’m not making his mistake’ Jennifer declares as she opens a portal. ‘Buh-bye!’ she tells Pandemonia, who is sucked into the portal. ‘Nooo! I’m being drawn back to the Chaos Plane!’ the sorceress screams, before managing to reach out of the portal, ‘Don’t think you can keep me there forever, humans - not when I take the opener with me!’ she snarls, reaching out for Locus.
‘NO!’ Locus shouts as she tries to lurch away from Pandemonia, only for Cannonball to swoop down and pick her up. ‘No way you’re getting another chance at coming back here!’ Sam declares, though Pandemonia’s final words are ‘I’ll be back. I’ll be…’ before the portal closes around her. Locus looks at Cannonball, slyly, telling him that he can put her down. ‘I know I’m hard to resist, but I am way out of your league’ she tells him. ‘It wasn’t your winning personality that made me save you, Locus. You’re just the lesser of two evils’ Sam replies.
Locus turns to Skids and tells her not to think that she owes her anything for the rescue. ‘You people are pathetic, wasting your mutant abilities fighting for peaceful coexistence’. ‘Instead of behaving like a homicidal lunatic’ Sally snaps back, but James tells her to save her breath, as Locus will never listen to reason. ‘Not from you girl scouts. I suggest you stay out of my way, or I’ll finish what Reignfire started’ Locus warns X-Force as she exits through a portal.
Tabitha calls out to Sally, asking her if she is okay. ‘We were so worried…’ she begins, but Sally replies that not she is not trapped on some mountain in Latveria, she is fine. ‘We tried our best to find you, but…’ Tabitha begins, before Sally tells her not to worry about it. ‘I think the person we should be concerned about - is Dani Moonstar!’ everyone looks to Moonstar, who is still glowing, and looking very puzzled.
Meanwhile, in Los Angeles, the remaining X-Force member, Domino, calls out to Dr Leonard inside a medical center. ‘I’m glad you could make it. Um…I’m not sure how to address you’ Dr Leonard replies. ‘Domino’s fine’ comes the reply, before Domino remarks that Rebecca Schuyler said that he had some information about the Aguilar Institute. Dr Leonard replies that within the medical community, the Aguilar Institute maintains a very low profile, and with good reason. He explains to Domino that they have been involved in some extremely questionable biotech weaponry development, including human experimentation.
Dr Leonard takes Domino to a window, and motions inside, to where Selena Ciscernos, an eight year old, is sleeping. Dr Leonard explains that she was in an automobile accident, and both her parents were killed. He tells Domino that they went to great efforts to keep representatives from the Aguilar Institute claiming custody over her. Domino asks why they are interested in a little girl. ‘Watch’ Dr Leonard tells Domino, when suddenly, Selena’s hand transforms from a little girls hand - into that of a strange creature! ‘My God!’ Domino exclaims, while Dr Leonard reveals that Selena is just one of a larger test group in a town called “Almost Reno”, in New Mexico, and Domino’s eyes go wide….