Revelations

Inside the upstate New York underground Adirondack Mountain headquarters of the mutant anti-terrorist squad called X-Force, a battle has ended. The Brotherhood of Evil Mutants, in order to forge an alliance with the mutant outcasts known as the Morlocks, attacked X-Force. The initial skirmish left Sam Guthrie, Cannonball, dead. Now, somehow, he's alive again and it is the Morlock leader, Masque, and the Brotherhood member, Sauron, who lie dead before them.
Needless to say, the X-Force team are pretty satisfied with the outcome. Even if they are more than a little confused by it.
"Will someone, please, tell me what the heck's goin' on?!" Tabitha asks.
"Well, as usual, we won. And, as usual, I haven't got the slightest idea how we did it." Dom says.
"The ends justify the means, Domino. Let's wrap things up here. Dom, take Shatterstar and Tabitha with you--Join Siryn topside and find Sauron's allies Phantazia, Pyro and Blob are still on the loose. Warpath, you place Sauron and Masque's bodies in the morgue. Feral, take your sister Thornn to a holding cell." Cable told them.
"And me?" Sam asked.
"Come with me to the infirmary, Sam. We have a lot to talk about." Cable said, leading the way to the infirmary.
Minutes later, Cable has Sam under a medical scanner.
"Well, the scans all confirm the obvious. You're alive, all right." Cable says with a grin.
"Doesn't that fall under the parameters of 'No Kiddin'?" Sam asks.
"You'd think, huh? How's your chest feel?" Cable asks.
"Kinda tingly, I guess." Sam answers.
"I should hope so, considering Sauron impaled you with his wing talons and used your entrails for ornamentation. During our battle, Phantazia scrambled your kinetic Blast Field. You lost your invulnerability. It couldn't protect you when Sauron skewered you. You died, Sam. Flatline. No breathing, no heartbeat, no brainwave." Cable told him.
"So why're we havin' this conversation?" Sam asked.
"Because death is the beginning of life for you, Sam." Cable tells him.
"Come again?" Sam asks.
"You're immortal, Sam. A mutant gifted with eternal life. Or an External, as they've been known to call themselves." Cable explains, as best he can, to the young man.
"They? They who? An' what d' you mean, eternal life? You sayin' I can't die? That's crazy, Cable. Every man's got his time 'n place. That's the way the Lord intended it." Sam tells him.
"You can die. You're just a little harder to kill than most folks is all. And 'They' refers to a small sect of mutants, many of whom have been alive for centuries. Men and women who have influenced the direction and affairs of people on this planet since civilization began. Historically, the few people who know of them have called them High-Lords, though they seem to prefer Externals." Cable explained.
"This is crazy! How da y' know this?" Sam asks.
"Because, I've spent many years looking for you. You're the main reason I'm here, Sam. In this time. Why I found The New Mutants and transformed them into X-Force. For all intents and purposes, as far as the future of this planet is concerned, you and I could be earth's last hope!" Cable tells him.
"This is all a little too much. These others y' talked about, do y' know who any o' them are?" Sam asks.
"I haven't actually confronted any of them in years, though I have my suspicions about one of them. Someone you know...Gideon." Cable tells him.
"Really? Wait, if he's one of them...Then what about 'Berto?" Sam asks.
"I suspect he coerced Sunspot to leave us, thinking he was getting his next High-Lord. I let him take DaCosta because my information pointed towards you." Cable explained.
"Oh...Uhm...Geez...I got so many questions...Geez...I really can't die?" Sam asked.
They were interrupted by Tabitha running into the infirmary, "Guys, we kinda screwed up topside, Gang. We hooked up with Siryn, but we couldn't find Pyro, Blob or Phantazia." She told them.
"And the others?" Cable asked.
"Thornn's in a holding cell, makin' more of a pain of herself than her sister usually does. The other two slobs're wormfood in the morgue." Tabitha then turns to Sam and asks, "Hey...Sam...Uhm...You...Uh...Everythin' workin' okay?"
"As good as it always has. Why shouldn't it be?" Sam tells her, not knowing just how much she knows of the situation.
"Understandably, Sam is having some difficulty accepting that he died. Tabitha, where are your squad members?" Cable asks.
"Hangin' in the Comm-Room waitin' t' find out from you what you plan to do next, Mein Herr." Tabitha answers.
"Good. Tomorrow, we pay the Morlocks a little visit. We'll leave Masque and Sauron's bodies as a gentle reminder to their next leader about what will happen to them if they try to cross X-Force again!" Cable says, as he leaves the infirmary, on his way to inform the others of his plans.
Once the two are alone, Tabitha asks Sam, "So, how're you feeling?"
"Okay, I guess. I don't know. This is all a little weird." Sam replies.
"Tell me about it." Tabitha says.
"I don't remember much o' what happened. I remember flin' into Phantazia...My Blast Field goin' kinda wonky...I remember chasin' down Sauron...Then zip. I musta passed out pretty good." Sam tells her.
"Sam, I know it sounds ridiculous, and Lord knows I'd never be one to believe anything Cable says, but you died! I mean I touched you. You were dead!" She tells him.
"Boom-Boom, I can't believe that. I can't start believin' I'm immortal." Sam says.
"Hey, I don't blame you, but give me some credit. I know dead from alive. Remember, I held my Mom in my arms as she died. We're talkin' dead, as in doonails here, Mason-Dixon." Tabitha says.
"But if you're right, if Cable's tellin' the truth, what do we do next? I got so many questions, and no answers. Am I gonna age? Can I get sick? Can I get married an' have a family?" Sam asks.
"I don't know, Sam. I'm scared." Tabitha whispers.
"Me too. Y' know what's the scariest thing of all?" Sam asks.
"What?"
"What'm I gonna tell my Mom?" Sam asks, softly.

Meanwhile, in Canada, at Department H headquarters. Garrison Kane has just returned from a mission where he encountered The Mutant Liberation Front and Stryfe. During this mission, Kane saw Stryfe remove his helmet and saw what he believed to be Cable's face underneath.
Kane bursts into General Clarke's office and states, "Clarke, we have trouble. Contact Bridge at S.H.I.E.L.D. Tell him he was right about Cable. Right about everything. Tell him that we'll put the Weapon Prime Program at his disposal."
"I'm not certain we're ready to activate Prime. But I've found someone who needed some traveling money and is more than willing to work for us in bringing in Cable. He used to run with Cable's X-Force. Allow me to introduce you to Rictor." General Clarke nods towards a young man sitting in the corner of his office.
"Buenos' Dias, Senor Kane. I heard a lotta good things about you. It's gonna be a pleasure workin' with you. 'Specially if it means bringin' Cable down!" Rictor says with a smile.

At that moment, in Christino, on the island of Sardegna, Italy, overlooking the Mediterranean Sea, in a mansion belonging to Tolliver (Tyler) a very interesting conversation is taking place between Tolliver and his hired mercernary Deadpool.
"It's been over two months since her last report on Cable's activities, hasn't it?" Tolliver asks.
"Ten weeks, three days, fourteen hours, Mr. Tolliver." Deadpool replies.
"I believe the time has come to pay her a houscall. Just to remind the Pretty Lady how much it displeases me when my employees ignore their jobs." Tolliver tells him.
"Make a housecall an' make her house broken? You got it! I'll even give it to ya as a freebie. She owes me for that stab in the back bit she nailed me with. And little Domino's going to pay in blood!!" Deadpool says, as he teleports out.

Early the next morning, Cable, Cannonball, Boom-Boom, Warpath and Feral make their way through the sewers towards the Morlock Alley.
"This is completely disgusting!" Tabitha yells, as she sloshes through the muck.
"You sure we have t' go through with this, Cable?" Sam asks.
"Image is everything, Sam." Cable replies.
"And you think ours has been tarnished by The Brotherhood of Mutants and Morlock's joint attack on us?" Warpath asks.
"Sure he does, Jimmy, so I gotta ruin this outfit in these musky Morlock tunnels, just so Cable can spit out some testosterone!" Tabitha says.
As they enter the Alley, Cable lights a torch and scores of Morlocks gather around.
"MORLOCKS, HEAR ME--MASQUE IS DEAD! DO ANY OF YOU WANT TO JOIN YOUR FALLEN LEADER?! X-Force does not blame the general Morlock population for the actions of your leaders, but this serves as a final warning! Sauron--Dead! Masque--Dead! Thornn--Beaten and whipped!" Cable shouted, as Warpath threw the dead bodies of Masque and Sauron before the crowd and Feral pulled Thornn, bound in chains, where she could be seen.
"The one person you thought a casualty of war--Cannonball--Lives and breathes and walks among us! So tell us, Boys and Girls, what's the lesson we learned today?" Cable pauses a moment, then continues, "You're better served working with me, than dying against me! Remember it and live!" Cable slowly scans the gathered Morlocks, makes sure each one has understood his message, then turns and leads his squad out the way they had entered.
"Well, that was fun." Warpath says.
"Think they got the message?" Sam asks.
"I hope so. Couldn't've been more obvious if we'd walked in here with Masque's head on a pike." Cable replies.

Meanwhile, back at the team's headquarters, Deadpool has teleported in and taken out Siryn, who was on moniter duty and Shatterstar who was in the middle of a practice session. He now approached Domino from behind. He grabbed her by the hair of her head and slung her around and out of her chair to the floor.
"Who th..." She began.
"Don't tell me you forgot so soon, did you, Honey? Well let me remind you, it's your old Boyfriend, Deadpool!" He told her, as he slammed her face into the floor. "So, what should I call you? Vanessa or Domino?"
"Get out of here, Wade!" She replies, kicking him in the groin.
"C'mon, Darlin' is that any way t' say hello?" He replies.
"You're going to ruin everything, Wade!" She says, as she gets up from the floor and tries to run.
"No, Baby, you already did that! The second you started to care about Cable!" Deadpool told her, as he shot out a line and entangled her ankle, bringing her to a rather sudden stop.
Deadpool calmly walks up and takes ahold of her ankle and swings her around slamming her into the wall. He looks down at her and says, "So, talk to me, Girl..."
"What do you want me to say, Wade?" She asks, spitting out the blood from her busted lip.
"I want you to tell me you ain't fallin' for Cable! That this is still just a job for you!" He says.
"I can't tell you that." She says.
"Then I can't help but bust up that pretty little face of yours some more! Even if it is someone else's face!" He tells her, as he kicks her face. He then places his foot in the small of her back, pinning her to the floor and says, "You can dump on me if you want, but don't dump on Tolliver. That would be a very bad mistake. 'Cause you an I both know that when this gig is done, you're still Vanessa, an you're still Tolliver property. An' you know what happens when he loses what's rightfully his! Just consider this a friendly reminder. Don't make me come back t' tell you again...'Cause I won't be so nice next time." Deadpool says, as he teleports out.

Meanwhile, aboard the massive S.H.I.E.L.D. Helicarrier, Kane has just contacted G.W. Bridge. "You were right, Bridge. I didn't believe you about Cable, but after what I saw..." Kane tells him.
"What did you see, Kane?" Bridge asks.
"Enough to know that I can't ignore the past. I can't ignore what Cable did to me...to all of us!" Kane replies.
"What happened, Kid?" Bridge asks, softly.
"I ran into The Mutant Liberation Front on a routine smuggling operation. And I also ran into Cable." Kane tells him.
"I knew there was a connection between them!" Bridge says.
"More than just a connection, G.W. It looks like the MLF answers to Cable!" Kane says.
"He's running both the MLF and his X-Force group? Wouldn't they be at cross-purposes? Is one the cover for the other? What's Cable's game? What's he up to?" Bridge asks.
"Only one way to find out. We have to go after him, bring him in once and for all." Kane tells him.
"You're ready, then?" Bridge asks.
"You know it, G.W. Weapon Prime is ready to make it's move." Kane replies.

Meanwhile, in another of Tolliver's mansions, this one in Austria, Tolliver makes his way to the dungeon, far beneath the castle's floors. He is greeted by a mis-shapen dwarf.
"It has been a while since I visited our houseguest, Pico. How has she been?" Tolliver asks him.
"As always, Mr. Tolliver. Tempestuous and troublesome. Why do you think I have taken to arming myself when I visit her?" Pico replies, as he unlocks the cell.
"Ah, I understand. I apologize for any abuse she vicariously takes out on you, Pico. You really don't deserve it." Tolliver says.
"It is my job, Mr. Tolliver. I take the good with the bad." Pico says, as he steps aside, allowing Tolliver to enter the cell and approach the woman chained to the cell wall.
"You are a more patient man than I, by far, Pico. As for you, Dear Lady. I am disappointed. One would think that after over a year as my guest, you would have learned to accept my hospitality. Worry not, Dear Lady, it will all be over, soon. Indeed, shortly, no one will remember anything of the Six Pack or X-Force or Cable or you, my little....Domino!

When Cable, and the others, returned to headquarters, Siryn and Shatterstar told them what had happened. "Where's Dom now?" Cable asked.
"We patched her up and put her in a holding cell." Siryn told him.
"Get her. Take her to the briefing room. I'll meet you all there in five minutes." Cable told them.
Five minutes later, Cable entered the briefing room. Dom was in a chair in the center of the room, surrounded by the others.
"Why did you betray us, Domino?" Cable asked her.
"I...I didn't have a choice...Tolliver wanted revenge on you. He offered the cash...I needed the money...I hadn't seen you in months...You disappeared...I didn't know what you were up to...But after you ditched the Six Pack, left Kane and Hammer like you did, none of us owed you a blasted thing! What do you want out of me, Nate? Obviously, I've been having second thoughts, or else Deadpool wouldn't've bounced my face around like he did." She told him.
"How much was Tolliver paying you to betray me?" Cable asked her.
"Enough to pay for Hammers operations, Nate. Or do you forget what you did to him? Listen, I know how you must feel, but I'm a mercenary. Look up the definition of the word. Once I got to know all of you, I didn't want you to be hurt." She said.
"How d' you think we feel, Domino? I mean, you were as close to a girl-friend as I could get in a gin-joint like this, y' know?" Tabitha said.
"We all feel the sam way, Tabitha. The question remains, what do we do with her now?" Cable asked.
"On my world, traitors are executed before an audience of society's most questionable citizens." Shatterstar said.
"I guess in our case, that would be us. Unfortunately that's not how I prefer to play this hand, Shatterstar. For now, anyway. Bring her to the communications room." Cable ordered, as he left the room.
When they entered the communications room, Cable sent the others out and turned to Dom and said, "You're going to call Tolliver and tell him exactly what he wants to hear. Now." Cable told her.
Dom went to the console and put through the call on the special frequency that Tolliver had given her months ago. In a few moments Tolliver's voice came over the line.
"Yes?"
He asked.
"I recieved your...message. I'm ready to act now." She told him.
"Excellent. Proceed with plan Omega immediately." Tolliver told her.
"I understand. I'll set the charges as soon as I'm done with you. They'll be primed to blow during a planned workout session. By the end of today, they'll all be dead. That's what you wanted, wasn't it, Mr. Tolliver?" She asked.
"Indeed. Perform this function well, and I will forgive you your earlier transgressions." Tolliver said, as he terminated the connection.
"Good. We'll blow the base up and let Tolliver think we're dead. Then you lead us right to him." Cable said, as he took her arm and jerked her up. He led her back to the breifing room where the others were waiting.
"We're leaving." Cable told them bluntly.
"We have to move again?" Tabitha asked.
"The decision's been made, Tabitha. We've been compromised. We can't stay and we can't let anyone else obtain our hardware or hard-drives. I know how you all feel...Hurt...Angry...Violated...I feel the same way. But the best way to get over it is to get even! We're taking this fight to Tolliver, and nothing is going to stop us!" Cable told them. He was determined to end this private war. Once and for all.