Child's Play
Cable and Dom returned to Camp Verde only to receive bad news. Cable was beginning to wonder if there were any other kind. Sam and Tabitha had been kidnapped from his home in Kentucky.
"Any details?" Cable asks.
"None, Sir. Sam's mum was too upset." Theresa tells him.
"Have everyone in the PAC-RAT and ready to ride in fifteen minutes." Cable orders.
An hour later, finds the team in Cumberland County, Kentucky on the Guthrie farm. Mrs. Guthrie pours coffee and informs them that Paige saw the abduction.
An hour later, just as the sun is going down, Mrs. Guthrie knocks on the PAC-RAT and asks Cable for a moment alone with him. Cable turns off the mini-cerebro unit and steps out to talk with her. She leads Cable all the way around to the front yard before she turns to speak.
In his penthouse apartment in Tokyo, Shinobi is enjoying a soothing bath along with a bottle of vintage champagne, when a glowing portal suddenly appears over the hot-tub and a very nervous, small man plops out and falls into the tub with him.
In the Berner Alpen Mountain Range of Switzerland, the rebuilt chalet home of Shinobi Shaw serves as an occasional refuge for the young multi-billionaire industrialist and as a permanent grave marker. For the house is built on the ashes of Shinobi's murdered father, Sebastian Shaw, who was murdered for points in the game which is played by the Upstarts, a 'Billionaire Boy's Club' of assassins, who have chosen the surviving members of The New Mutants and The Hellions as their next targets in the game called, 'Younghunt'.
The Gamesmaster, just as Cable surmised, knew their plan before it had fully formed in their own thoughts. He used his prisoners to attack the different teams. Moonstar, Karma and Empath took out 'Star, Ric, Nova and Kymaera. Against Warpath, Siryn, Rage and Speedball the Gamesmaster sent Siena Blaze who took them out with a single blast, along with a good portion of the mountain itself. Only Speedball's kinetic shield saved them from death.
"Paige?"
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"All right, Paige, just tell us exactly what happened." Cable tells the girl.
"It was amazin' Mr. Cable. The sky just sorta' exploded." Paige says.
"You couldn't be a more specific, could you?" Dom asks.
"I'm sorry, Miss Domino." Paige replies softly.
"Paige, Honey, I know it's a bit excitin' for you to admit that you're...special, just like Sam, but this isn't a game, Child, and these good folk want t' help us." Mrs. Guthrie tells her.
"I know, Momma, it's just...I dreamed about how it would be, you know, to be like Sam, but then ta' see the kind of life he lives, up close like, well, it's absolutely incredible. It started so normal, too. That's the most 'mazing thing. Sam an' Boomer were swimmin' in the pond. It took 'im days ta' convince her it was safe ta' go in there. She's kinda odd, that way, pretendin' she's a big city girl, or somethin' thinkin' she'd get bit by a tadpole, I'm sure. I was watchin' 'em spyin' on 'em I guess you could say. Waitin' ta' see if they'd start neckin' again, like they been doin' practically everyday since they got here." Paige says.
"Stop talking like that, Girl!" Mrs. Guthrie tells her.
"I'm sorry, Momma. Well, anyway, that's when it appeared." Paige tells them.
"It?" Cable asks.
"Some kinda' energy bolt, Mr. Cable. Like lightin' it cut across the whole sky. FAZZAM! Right towards them, almost like it was searchin' 'em out! The air started rumblin' that was Sam kickin' in that blast field of his, stretchin' it out so it protected Boomer, too, but it wasn't enough. I mean Sam...I thought he could do anythin'...his letters said he'd been in space an' to Asgard an' all, but he went down like one of ol' man Angers' cows when he slaughters 'em!
"Paige, this gift, it's gonna' take time, Child. To understand and time to learn how to use it right, just like it took Sam." Mrs. Guthrie tells her.
"But, Momma, I know I can do great things if I just start ta' learn how." Paige tells her.
Cable motions Dom to follow him outside, on the porch.
"What do you think, Nate?" Dom asks.
"I think I would have loved to have grown up here. I think I'm starting to wonder why I've let us keep our base in the middle of the Flonqing Desert when there's so much more these kids could have." Cable tells her.
"And getting back to the point?" Dom asks.
"As far as Boomer and Sam are concerned? I have absolutely no clue. Our scanning systems haven't been able to locate their mutagenic signatures, which means one of three things. They're being purposefully cloaked. They're off-planet. Or they're dead."
"Mr. Cable, first I want to thank ya'll for helping find my boy." She tells him.
"Not necessary. I've come to think of Sam as it he were my own. We'll find him. You have my word on it." Cable replies.
"I know that. Sam feels the same by you, 'cording to the way he spoke of you in his letters, but that's not what I wanted to talk to ya' about. I think that Paige is gonna' ask to go with ya'll. Ta' join up with your group. I wanna' ask ya' ta' turn her down, if she does." She tells him.
"Mrs. Guthrie, I respect what you're asking of me. I just don't know if I can do it." Cable replies.
"Paige is just a child, Mr. Cable. and you don't know her like I do." She says.
"She's as old as Sam was when he first left home, Ma'am. And she's old enough to make these kinds of decisions on her own." Cable tells her.
"I've already seen my eldest boy 'drafted' into this horrible 'war' that the mutants and humans're fightin'! I watched my husband die from Black Lung Disease, Mr. Cable, I'm tired of seein' my loved ones leave me. I just don't want t' lose Paige, too!" She says, beginning to cry.
"Mrs. Guthrie, I know what it's like to lose your loved ones. To lose them forever, so your heartache never ends. But if the girl decides she wants to leave, you know as well as I do, in the long run, there's nothing you or I can do to keep her here." Cable tells her.
"I know. Just like I also know my daughter well enough that if I do let her go, she's the kind to try and win this 'war' all on her own." She replies softly.
"Truth to tell, the cause could use a few more like that. If we..." Cable is interrupted by Dom, through their telepathic psi-link.
"Nate, get over to the PAC-RAT, now!" Dom says.
"Can't it wait a minute?" Cable asks.
"Nate, we need you, fast!" Dom replies.
Cable takes off, at a run, to reach the PAC-RAT, drawing his plasma pistol and thumbing off the safety as he goes.
"Dom, what's going on?" He asks, as he rounds the corner of the house and sees for himself. A man with green hair and suited up in a armored battle-suit of some kind.
"My name is Trevor Fitzroy, and I would just as soon handle this situation without having to kill you all. The mutants of this day seem to have a nasty habit of fracturing facial features that I'm rather partial to. I'm only here for two things: The Indian and the Mexican standing beside you. Let me have them and I shall be quite content to be on my way, as quickly tied with Siena for the lead in the Upstarts 'Younghunt' competition. as I was lagging behind, but a moment ago. What say you, Ol' Chap, to such a sporting proposition?" Fitzroy asks.
Cable catches the plasma rifle, Dom tosses him, in his free hand, thumbs it's safety off also, turns to Fitzroy, smiles and says,
"What do you think?"
"I only want Rictor and Warpath. Surely you could sacrifice the few to spare the lives of the many." Fitzroy replies.
"Why bother doing that, when we can just sacrifice you instead! X-Force--Make like can openers. Just leave enough of the green-haired spam inside the armor standing so it can answer some questions afterwards!" Cable orders.
Their coordinated attack is fluid in it's approach and ferocious in it's intensity. Siryn unleashes a sonic scream, Rictor his vibratory blasts, Domino and Cable release automatic strafing plasma charges and Shatterstar, well, as usual, the extradimensional warrior takes the direct approach.
One among them, Trevor Fitzroy's mutant slave named Bantam, who had remained hidden behind his master, due to both his size and his cowardice, finds himself running headlong into forty-eight inches of solid rock. Namely the legs of James Proudstar, Warpath. James picks up the tiny mutant, by the collar and lifts him to eye level.
"Oh my. This is probably going to hurt, quite a bit, isn't it?" Bantam asks.
"Only if you want it to, Danny DeVito." James tells him.
"Uhm...the name is Bantam, Sir." Bantam says.
"Mine's Jimmy. Okay, Bantamsir, why don't you tell me a little bit about the goofy green-haired guy in the armor. He's no relation to a friend of ours named Gideon, by any chance, is he?" James asks.
"Uhm...no, I'm certain any resemblance is purely coincidental." Bantam tells him.
"Sure. You know what a fashion trend that green hair is. Talk!" James orders.
"Master Fitzroy is a refugee from the future." Bantam says.
"Another one?" James says with a sigh.
"He's trapped in this time and determined to make the most of it." Bantam explains.
"By killing mutants? Good plan. And what do you do, besides sweat?" James asks.
"I am a chronal anchor, capable of identifying Master Fitzroy's timeportals which are spread throughout this temporal node." Bantam says.
"Of course you are. So, basically, you're a glorified doorman, right? HEY, CABLE--STOP WASTING AMMO AND GET OVER HERE!" James shouts over the den of battle.
"We're kind of busy here, James." Cable tells him, after working his way over to him, still blasting away at Fitzroy.
"I can end this stupid fight with one round of midget bowling." James says, lifting Bantam up for Cable's inspection.
"Who is that?" Cable asks.
"His name's Bantamsir. He's Fitzroy's teleportational bloodhound. We let him find one of jolly green niblets portals, open it up, toss this little dude through, knock Fitzroy through it and end of fight." James explains.
"How does Fitzroy open up these portals? Mechanical relays?" Cable asks.
"Uhm...actually, he must drain the life force from someone in order to power the portals up." Bantam whispers, fearing his answer will spark Cable's legendary temper.
"Yeah, that was my second guess. Okay, pretending I'm still following all of this, you can choose the portal he opens, right?" Cable asks.
"Uhm...yes." Bantam replies.
"So you can lead us back to wherever you were right before you came here. So we can backtrack his steps and start uncovering more of these Upstarts, right?" Cable asks.
"Uhm...right, but uhm...the life force energy the Master needs to drain...?" Bantam asks, fearing the answer.
"Oh, don't worry about that part of the plan, but maybe you should count on not having to call anyone 'master' for that much longer." Cable tells him, turning, once again, to the battle still raging.
"Nothing seems capable of piercing the force field this Dog's armor emits" 'Star shouts, disgusted that his sword cannot reach his foe.
"All energy transmits on one form of wavelength or another, Shatterstar. We just have to find out which one, and disrupt it. Siryn, Rictor keep modulating your power releases until you match the frequency Fitzroy's armor operates from and then we can split apart his force field, like a ripe watermelon!" Cable orders.
Both young mutants strain to maintain the difficult task of raising the level of energy they put out, while concentrating on tightening the wavelength more with each step they take. Inevitably the combination proves more than even twenty-first century technology can handle and Fitzroy's armor splits in two.
"Well played, but taking out my force field does not take me out of the fight." Fitzroy tells them.
With one mental command, Cable's techno-organic arm transforms itself. Taking on the appearance of normal flesh. Cable then walks around to where he can reach Fitzroy and grabs him with his left arm lifting him up over-head.
"No, but it does mean I get to do this! Show me what you've got, Fitzroy!" Cable says.
"Oh, it will be a pleasure. For you've made the mistake of engaging me in hand to hand combat. A grave mistake, when you take into account that my mutant ability to drain life forces requires me to touch your flesh!" Fitzroy shouts, grabbing hold of Cable's left arm.
"Actually I was kind of counting on that being the case." Cable says, smiling.
"Eh! AAAAHH!! What's happening...nooo..." Fitzroy begins to gasp for breath.
"My arm is made of living matter, but it's not human flesh. It's techno-organic fiber. Something which you time travelers from a measly one hundred years in the future wouldn't know about. And since you couldn't drain my life force through the T-O mesh. Your body resorted to draining the next closest energy source available to it. Your Own!" Cable explains, as Fitzroy emits a final death scream and a portal opens.
"The portal's powered up. Team, reload and pack any gear you may need. Mrs. Guthrie, Paige we're going to try and save Sam." Cable tells them, as Paige and her mother come out of the house.
"I want to go with you, Cable." Paige says.
"Paige, you have no idea what they're getting into, Child." Mrs. Guthrie tells her.
"Sam's my brother and I have ta' try an' help him, don't I?" Paige asks.
"No, you don't, Girl. You don't have enough experience with your mutant powers to be coming with us and we don't have the luxury of spending our time worrying about protecting you. If Sam is still alive, I promise you, we'll get him back and I promise you these 'Upstarts' won't be setting foot on your property and threatening your lives again!" Cable says, as he takes Bantam and tosses him through the portal first, "X-Force, Move Out!" Cable orders, as he steps through the portal, followed by Dom and the others.
"Paige, don't you dare follow them!" Mrs. Guthrie shouts, as Paige takes off towards the portal.
"Momma, I have to! I have ta' start usin' these stupid powers to do some good, part a' havin' power is ta' use it right, use it responsibly. That's what you always said ta' Sam, even though it meant he hadda' leave home. I'll be okay, Momma. An' I'll make sure Sam is too!" Paige says, as she transforms into a simple fly and buzzes through the portal, following X-Force.
"Paige? Dear Lord in Heaven, bring 'em back safe." Mrs. Guthrie prays, as the tears, once again, begin to fall.
"Oh dear, I do so hope you're wearing bathing trunks." Bantam tells him.
"Bantam! What is the meaning of this?!" Shinobi demands.
The glowing portal widens and Cable, followed closely by the rest of X-Force step through.
"Oh. Why is it that all you X-Groups seem bent on breaking into my home every time I'm in the bath?" Shinobi asks.
"Guess ye could say, Boyo, that we're always up for a little laugh." Theresa tells him.
"That was very funny. Ha. Very funny." Shinobi replies.
Theresa makes to grab Shinobi by the hair and pull him out of the hot-tub, but finds that her hand passes through him.
"What the bloody?!" Theresa asks startled.
"Do your homework, Girl. Your father most certainly would. I'm a mutant, as was my dearly departed daddy. My particular gift allows me to control my own molecular density and as hard as it might be for you thugs to understand, none of you can hit what you can't touch." Shinobi says, as he steps out of the hot-tub, dons a robe, reaches down and lifts Bantam out of the tub. "Bantam, please, you're leaving a ring around my tub. What happened to your master, Fitzroy?"
"I got his energy signature locked, Nate." Dom says.
"He's gone, Shaw. And you'll be joining him, if we don't get what we came for. The lovely Domino is now holding a wavelength scrambler. You don't need a PhD in advanced physics to figure this one out, do you, Boy?" Cable asks him.
"If I dematerialize, she presses a button and I go the way of eight-tracks and vinyl records, huh?" Shinobi replies.
"Exactly, now tell us are Sam Guthrie and Boomer still alive? And what other friends of ours have you guys gone after?" Rictor asks.
"First, I'm sorry to say, they still are. Second, we went after all of them. Pick your favorite useless mutant here. The Fenris Twins captured Magma, Siena Blaze nabbed Cannonball and Boomer, then the little witch got Empath, the mysterious Moonstar and Karma. All I got was a rock and Firestar." Shinobi tells them.
"Where are they being held?" Cable asks.
"I may act like an idiot, but do I look like one? Some assurances, Cable, please." Shinobi tells him.
Cable nods his head in reply.
"Oooh, a grim nod of the head. I'm spared his mighty wrath. They are being kept at the home I had rebuilt over my poor padre's ashes. They are in the care of a rather omnipotent being, whom you've, no doubt, heard of, the Gamesmaster." Shinobi tells him.
"Body-Slide: Open portal by Seven. Coordinates to come in transit:" Cable orders, as he picks up the still soaking wet Bantam and tosses him through first.
"Wait, why are you throwing me in there first?" Bantam yells.
"In case, Moron, I'm sending them into a trap, you spring it." *SIGH* "Well, I was getting kinda bored with this whole Upstarts thing anyway. Guess it's time to concentrate a bit more on my other endeavors. Of kings and queens, knights and pawns." Shinobi says, as Cable and the others follow Bantam through the teleportation portal.
"Oh my, I prefer the temporal portals, dear deceased Master Fitzroy used to open up over these of yours, Mr. Cable." Bantam yells, as he is dumped in the frigid snow.
"Close Body-Slide Access." Cable orders, "We're here, and since no one shot at our little decoy, Bantam, that means we're clear, as well."
"Cable!" A familiar voice shouts. Cable turns to find that they are not as alone at this mountain retreat as he had thought. Standing atop a nearby ridger is, Night Thrasher, Rage, Silhouette, Firestar, Nova, Kymaera (Formerly Namorita), Speedball and Justice. Together, known as The New Warriors.
"You? I guess we should've expected it." Cable says.
"For a change of pace, let's put ego aside and not turn this into a stupid brawl." Thrasher says with a grin.
"I take it you have some friends here, too? Well, since we all want the same thing, we can do a better job of accomplishing that if we work with you, not against you." Cable replies.
"Just when you thought you'd seen it all, two super hero teams actually decide they'll work together without fighting first." Speedball says.
"We chose the other method the last time we all met." 'Star reminds him.
"Yeah, and now look at us. We've matured. And here I thought we had a certain image to uphold." Speedball replies.
"Information we pried out of Shinobi Shaw leads us to believe that the Gamesmaster is keeping Cannonball and Boomer, along with several others, prisoners inside that house." Cable tells Thrasher.
"We got the same info from another one of the Upstarts, Graydon Creed." Thrasher replies.
"It would appear our opponents know when cowardice is the better part of stupidity." Silhouette adds.
"These Upstarts seem to turn on each other pretty quickly, as long as it saves their own skin. But this Gamesmaster seems to be a different kind of player, altogether." Cable tells them.
"He's a wild card we weren't ready for. We've been working on setting up the Upstarts for the last few weeks. Justice served as our plant and he even hand delivered Firestar to the Gamesmaster. Then we lost contact with them over six hours ago." Thrasher informs them.
"You've mapped the area, what was your plan going to be?" Cable asks.
"We have three access points into the house. We were going to spread out and force Gamesmaster to stretch his defensive focus." Thrasher tells him.
"Works for me." Cable says, thumbing off the safety of his plasma rifle. "If this Gamesmaster is the strongest telepath on earth, and I have a feeling I know a couple of people who might top him, then he knows what we're planning anyway, right? So we take the direct approach and we just huff and puff and blow the door down."
"Yep. That plan works for us, Cable." Kymaera says.
"Like MacArthur and Patton workin' together." Nova adds.
"Okay, Shatterstar and Ric with Nova and Namorita." Cable orders.
"Kymaera." She corrects him.
"Gesundheit, and you look cute in blue, by the way." Cable tells her. "James and Theresa with Super-Ball and the big guy."
"Speedball!" Speedball yells.
"And the 'Big Guy'." Rage adds.
"Dom, you're with me an' we're with Thrash an' Silhouette." Cable finishes.
"Move Out! And subtlety's out the window, Gang!" Thrasher adds.
"Oh, that's a change of pace." Dom puts in.
"What was that?" Thrasher asks, as the ground finally begins to stop shaking.
"I can't get any kind of readings on my scanners at all. What ever that pulse wave was that just hit the other side of the mountain, it was powerful enough to scramble most of my scanners systems." Cable tells them.
"So we lost the mechanical edge we thought we had. Deal with it." Dom says, "We all have other talents at our disposal and we have an ace up our sleeve, too. And it's looking like we might need it. Switch to infrared sites, Boys! They're coming from above the treeline! I'm targeting three bogeys: Firestar, Justice and Cannonball."
"I've targeted Boomer. She's on the ground. Okay, maybe I was wrong about how powerful a telepath this Gamesmaster is. If he can take control of Sam's mind, he must be pretty tough." Cable tells them.
"Less talk, more rock! Silhouette, come out, come out, wherever you are!" Dom shouts.
Silhouette melts out of the shadows, which she uses as an accessway to a different dimension. A taser built into her braces takes out Boomer and a trigger releases a series of smoke pellets, effectively clouding Gamesmaster's ability to see clearly through the eyes of his puppets. But it is an inky blackness that Cable and the others can see through just fine with their infrared sights. Thrasher takes out Firestar with gas pellets and Dom takes out Justice with a neurological scrambler.
Cannonball flies down and grabs Cable and makes for a huge tree, meaning to smash Cable to a pulp. Cable has no choice but to enter Sam's mind and break Gamesmaster's hold on him. It isn't easy. Finally, Cable breaks through to Sam and snaps the telepathic hold Gamesmaster had on the boy. They both fall into the snow, Sam unconscious and Cable nearly so, from his massive efforts. Dom rushes to his side, as an image of the Gamesmaster appears before them. It stands, at least two hundred feet in height and looks down upon them as if they were ants.
"The Younghunt is over. All that is left now is for me to determine what to do with the prizes." Gamesmaster says, and strikes them all down with a single, awesome telepathic blow.
The image disappears. Everything is silent. As quiet, Paige Guthrie thinks, as the day her daddy died. She shouldn't have followed Cable and the others through their teleportation portals. She isn't ready for this. What can she do, really, with her stupid, useless, mutant powers? Other than shed from one skin into another. What can she do, ultimately, against someone as powerful as this Gamesmaster? The answer, she knows, is that she can do nothing. And that means her brother is going to die.
"GAMESMASTER!"
It's not fair, Paige thinks, as she screams in anger and fear. She thought it was all so exciting. Being a mutant, flying all over the world, fighting the bad guys. But it's not. The life that Sam and all these people lead, it isn't a game at all.
"This isn't over yet! There's still one player left!" Paige screams, holding her brothers body.
"This is a bit of a pleasant surprise. I couldn't scan your thoughts while you were in a transformed state. Which is odd since I was able to after you first learned of your abilities in your Kentucky home. Maybe it is because of the electromagnetic interference from the excessive use of Siena Blaze's powers?" Gamesmaster asks.
"I don't know. All I know is that I can't let you just kill my brother." Paige tells him.
The Gamesmaster bends low and picks up the tiny form of Paige Guthrie and lifts her up to his eye level.
"But the game is over, Child. Samuel and his associates have lost. The rules say they have to die. A new game has to begin." He tells her.
"Why? Who makes these rules? An' why do you have to keep playin' these stupid games?" Paige asks.
"I make the rules, Young Lady. And I have to abide by them. I have to keep playing the game, because...because I have to, that's why." He tells her puzzled that she cannot grasp so simple a concept.
"Okay, okay listen, how 'bout if we play a game. You an' me." Paige asks.
"What would the stakes be?" He asks intrigued.
"You lose, then Sam an' everyone else lives." She tells him.
"And if I win?" He asks.
"You get me." Paige offers.
"What kind of entertainment could a girl like you provide me?" He asks.
"Uhm...not much, right now, I guess. But what about tomorrow or a year from now? Five years? Every day, all over this world, kids like me are discoverin' that they're mutants. Learnin' that we got these incredible an scary powers. An' all of us are askin' ourselves the same thing. What are we gonna do with them? Who's gonna help us learn how ta' use 'em? What kinda' people are we gonna end up bein'? Pretty cool, huh? Who's gonna find and guide the next generation of mutants? Can you do it? Before Xavier, or the Acolytes, or anyone else does? Now I'd call that one heckuva game, wouldn't you?" She asks.
"Paige...You Win!"
"Paige, you okay, Girl?" Sam calls out to her again.
"Sam?" She replies waking up as if from a dream.
"That was a mighty big risk you took there, Little Sister." Sam says, failing to hide his concern behind his scolding of her.
"Well, it worked didn't it?" Paige asks smiling.
"Yeah, it did. I'm proud of you, Paige. Your guts an' smarts an' 'cause of that, I won't be whuppin' your butt for not havin' told me about your mutant powers an' for sneakin' along on this mission when I'm sure mamma didn't want you comin'." Sam tells her.
"I know, I know, but look at it this way, if I hadn't've come along, you'd all be toast!" Paige replies.
"Well, Darlin' not to put a damper on your big moment, but maybe you should start lookin' at it this way. What price are you gonna haveta' pay later in the war for havin' won this one battle?" Sam asks.
"Babes! Everywhere! I think I'm going to burst!" Speedball says, as he enters the chalet. "Hellooo...why's everyone walkin' around with smelly bathroom faces? We did win, remember?"
"A hollow victory, Speedball, if it means we just handed over tomorrow's 'Children of the Atom' to a man as dangerous as the Gamesmaster." Cable tells them.
"That's a defeatist way of looking at it, Cable." Justice says.
"Maybe what you've really done is offer up a challenge. To Professor Xavier. To yourself. Even to us. To make sure that we're there to help people like Paige and make sure they aren't fooled by the wrong side before we get to them." Firestar adds.
"It's a valid point, Firestar." Cable replies, "To us this has always been a matter of survival for our species, but if it's going to be a game to people like Gamesmaster, then let's make sure it's a game we play to win!"
Our Journey Continues With
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