Payback
Outside of the underground bunker that houses the para-military mutant strikeforce code-named X-Force, G.W. Bridge sets explosives on the hatch to the teams hanger-bay. With him is Weapon Prime.
"Keep things tight. As soon as I blow this hatch, we bring Cable and his puppies down." G.W. tells the others.
Inside the hanger-bay, Cable has the team loading supplies and equiptment. They are preparing to abandon this headquarters.
Outside G.W. motions the others back and says, "Timers set, get ready..."
BAARRROOOOMM
It is a battle that has been months in the making. Almost all the members of the Weapon Prime unit are individuals with reason to want Cable brought to justice. Bridge, Grizzly and Kane; Former members of Cable's mercenary outfit The Six Pack. Tigerstryke and Yeti; Current members of Canada's covert superhuman branch, Department H. Rictor; A young mutant who is willing to fight his former friends in order to bring their mentor down.
"Weapon Prime--Take 'em down!" Bridge shouts as his team enters the hanger, on the attack.
"X-Force--Attack positions! Sam--Divvy the proceeds--Like powers on like--I've got some things to take care of." Cable orders, as he leaves the hanger.
Siryn takes to the air to take on Tigerstryke, the only Weapon Prime member that can fly. Warpath moves to intercept Grizzly. Shatterstar takes Kane while Sam takes out Rictor.
Cable enters the armory on the run. He boots up the computer and sets up a special frequency that he has never shared with X-Force.
"Professor?" Cable asks.
"On line, Nathan." Professor answers.
"I can't let Bridge and his S.H.I.E.L.D. cronies have access to any of the materials in this base." Cable tells Professor, as he arms himself.
"It will take but a moment to reprogram out teleportation units to handle inorganic matter." Professor tells him.
"Can you handle all of it at once?" Cable asks.
"I handled getting it here, did I not?" Professor answers.
"Okay, then get it all out. Except for the weaponry currently being used by any X-Force squad members. Then take the explosive charges we primed earlier to fool Tolliver into thinking his plan had worked and reset them to a voice-activated command." Cable ordered.
"Processing. Your voice, I imagine, correct?" Professor asks.
"Right. Hardware Slide--Now." With Cable's order, all the weapons and the computer itself is teleported out. "Good start. Finish it off, Prof." Cable orders, as he takes off at a run.
"Where are you going, Nathan?" Professor asks.
"It's time that I put an end to this fight." Cable tells him.
Back in the hanger, X-Force has gained the upper hand. Everything comes to a stop, however, as all the teams vehicles and equiptment are suddenly transported away.
"Yo, panic attack. Where're our funkified dishwashers goin'?" Tabitha asks.
"And Cable is still missing." Warpath adds.
"Your leader's abandoned you! Take it from someone who learned it the hard way, you should have never trusted Cable!" Bridge yells to them, as he raises his gun to fire.
POOM
Cable's plasma blast hits the ground in front of Bridge, knocking him back off his feet.
"Stupid call, G.W. 'Cause when have you ever known me to back down from a fight I know I can win!" Cable asks.
In reply, G.W. tries to raise his gun to fire, but as quick as thought itself, Cable blasts a hole through Bridge's right shoulder, causing him to drop his weapon.
"You don't need a crystal ball to predict the obvious, G.W. You and your little band are history! I still respect you, however. You had a job to do. We have a job to do. We do ours better than you did yours. Simple as that." Cable tells him, as he kicks the gun out of his reach.
"This fight's over, Crew. The next one's about to begin." Cable tells his team.
"But Bridge and Kane are injured..." Dom says.
"I already patched a call in to the S.H.I.E.L.D. Medivac. They'll live. Let's make sure we can say the same thing about you, Dom. It's time to take it to Tolliver." Cable says.
"We are gettin' good, now, aren't we? Either that, or they were a group o' posers." Siryn says.
"Don't sell yourself short, Theresa. All of you handled yourselves very well. Enjoy the victory. You know Bridge isn't enjoying the loss. Isn't that right, G.W.? Knowing you, you've had this unit in training weeks, right?" Cable asks.
THRROOUUMM
The explosion shakes the whole moutain and half the ceiling falls between Cable and the rest of his team.
PRIMARY DETONATION: T-MINUS 30 SECONDS
"X-Force--I'm cut off from you--Clear out--Fast!" Cable shouts, as he scoops up Domino and heads down an escape tunnel.
"What happened? How could the charges have detonated without my voice command? How?" Cable asks himself as he runs towards the escape hatch.
THRURKOOOMMM
An hour later, in Saradegna, Sicily, Tolliver listens to a news report on CNN.
"...No conclusive explanation for the massive explosion which rocked the Adirondack Moutain Region of upstate New York an hour ago. Measuring 3.5 on the Richter Scale, the explosion is thought to have been caused by an underground natural gas leak. Authorities are scouring the area for any casualties, though there are no reports of anyone injured or dead at this time.."
"At this time. But very soon, bodies will be found, won't they, Deadpool? The trigger override we had Vannessa prepare worked rather well, didn't it?" Tolliver asks, as Deadpool pours his master and himself a glass of champagne. Tolliver raised his glass and said,
"A toast then, Deadpool--To Success--To The Death Of Cable!!"
Meanwhile, at a waterfall three miles away from the site of the explosion, debris from X-Force's former headquarters has begun to flow down river. Just before going over the edge of the falls, Cable makes it to the river's edge and pulls himself and Dom up onto dry land.
"Wake up." Cable says, as he gently shakes Dom. He telepathically checks her out, without letting her know he is concerned.
"Humm...What happened?" Dom asks.
"You betrayed us." Cable says, as he takes a communicator from his belt and activates it.
"Professor--Bodyslide by two."
A second later, the pair appear on Greymalkin, Cable's orbiting space station.
"Welcome back to Greymalkin, Nathan. I am sorry circumstances have not worked more in your favor." Professor greets them.
"Scan for the others." Cable orders.
"They are alive. Within a hundred meter diameter of the former headquarters." Professor tells him.
"Can you 'port them up here now?" Cable asks.
"Unwise. Electromagnetic activity in the surrounding area prohibits such an action." Professor answers.
"Then they're on their own for now. I have to get to Tolliver before he gets away." Cable says, as he enters the armory and selects two plasma pistols and a plasma rifle as well as several concussion, thermite, explosive and incendiary grenades.
"But the kids need your help." Dom says.
"They can take care of themselves. I can help them later. What do you care anyway? If it weren't for you selling us out to Tolliver, none of this would have happened." Cable tells her.
"Nate, I'm sorry...I had no choice." Dom says, reaching out to take his hand.
"Tell it to someone who cares." Cable says, jerking away from her. "This entire game--You, Tolliver--It's a distraction I don't need, and it's over as of today." Cable adds, as he leads her towards on of his aircraft.
An hour later, they land in Sardegna, Italy and Dom leads him to an ancient tunnel that runs underneath Tolliver's castle.
"You're sure this is the one?" Cable asks.
"He usually stays in his castle in Austria, but lately he's been doing more business with his Sicilian associates. This way.." Dom says, as she leads him through the tunnels.
"These tunnels are ancient." Cable remarks.
"It's to our advantage. Because of the decay in these tunnels, Tolliver decided it wasn't cost-effective to put in a security system down here. Alright...This grating should lead to the basement." She says, shining her light on an old rusted grating.
"Stand back." Cable says, as he levels his rifle and blasts the whole wall in.
"Very subtle." Dom says.
"The subtlety was in getting here. Now that we're in, I want Tolliver to know I'm closing in for the kill." Cable said, as they rounded a corner in the hall.
"Oh, he knows, Mr. Cable. and he's more than ready to face you." Pico says, as he brandishes an energy whip.
POOM
"A midget with an electrical whip. Right." Cable says, as he steps over Pico's dead body and levels his plasma rifle at the huge door before them and blasts it off it's hinges.
Dom enters first and suddenly backs back out saying, "Oh Lord, I didn't know."
"What?" Cable asks.
"Nate, I didn't know, I swear to you, I didn't know." She pleads, holding Cable's arm. Cable shrugs her off, enters the room and feels his blood run cold at the sight which greets him there. Domino, chained to the wall, her clothes now little more than tattered rags, her body covered by welts and bruises.
"DOMINO?!" Cable shouts, running to her.
Domino raises her head and tears of relief pour from her eyes as she recognizes him. She manages a half-smile, through the tears, and says, "Cable...It's about time."
"Dom, is that really you? Then who's--?" Cable begins, turning towards the woman who has fooled him, even through the psi-link, for these many months.
She, too, is now crying. "I didn't know, Cable. They told me she was dead. If I'd known the real Domino was--URK--" She suddenly collapses to the floor, blood pouring from the stab wound in her back. Standing over her is Deadpool and behind him...Tolliver.
"Tell 'em time and time again...Keep yer mouth shut...But women, you know? They just don't listen. You listen, though, don't'cha, Nate? Then hear this...It's time to die!" Deadpool says, riasing his gun.
"Who was she?" Cable asks.
"You've been hangin' out with my babe, Vanessa for months, while the real Domino's been a guest of Mr. Tolliver." Deadpool tells him.
"At last, after all this time, after all the games, you are finally here and you are mine. Deadpool, Kill the Forever Cancer, Now!" Tolliver screams.
Before Deadpool can react, Cable fires, hitting Deadpool's gun arm. Deadpool kicks the rifle out of Cable's hand and draws his sword.
"We've danced this dance one too many times, Deadpool." Cable says, as he draws the ion blade from his boot and activates it.
"You had your chance to kill me, Nate. You didn't take it. Sorry, but that's all you're gonna get with me." Deadpool says, thinking he has the advantage with a sword against a knife. He's unaware that Cable's ion blade will cut through anything this side of adamantium.
"That's where you're wrong, Deadpool. Any man who's been here and there and back again like I have gets as many chances to win as he wants." Cable tells him.
Deadpool makes his move, but with his first swing he suddenly finds his sword missing a blade as it meets Cable's ion knife. Cable smiles and tosses his blade aside.
"No blades, no guns. Let's play this out Mano A Mano, or maybe it'd be better put Mano A Cabeza! My fist on your face till the fat lady sings!" Cable says and begins to pound Deadpool's head into the stone floor.
Seeing his mercenary defeated, Tolliver beats a hasty retreat.
Cable turns back towards Dom and begins to free her from her chains.
"Dom...Is it really you?" He asks her.
"N-Nathan...Get me...Out of these chains.." Dom says.
"One second, Babe." Cable says, as he applies his strength to the chains.
"Nate--Behind You!" Dom yells
Deadpool's healing factor had done it's job and he now had Cable's ion knife. Cable ducked under his swipe, which went through one of Dom's chains. Before Cable could turn around to face his attack, Deadpool kicked his head into the stone wall. Tasting his own blood, Cable goes into a fury and hits Deadpool with his full strength, knocking him twenty feet into the far wall. Before he can move in to finish him off, however, Deadpool suddenly has a hole blasted in his chest.
"What?" Cable asks turning to see Dom, now free, holding his still hot plasma rifle. Nathan goes to her and takes her in his arms.
"I'd like nothing more, right now, than for us to go do something private, something relaxing, something only the two of us could do together." Cable tells her softly.
"How about we go find Tolliver and blow his face off?" Dom whispers in his ear.
"Oh yeah, that's my Domino, all right." Cable says, as they turn and head after Tolliver.
On the roof of the castle, Tolliver locks the door behind him and goes to the waiting chopper.
"Take off." He orders the pilot.
Suddenly the door is knocked off it's hinges and Cable and Dom take off after the rising chopper.
"No way, Tolliver! It's not going to be that easy!" Cable says, as he and Dom each leap and grab one of the landing skids of the chopper. As they rise higher and higher, Dom smiles at Nathan and yells,
"I see you still know how to show a girl a good time, Nate."
"Just wait. I'll show you some real fireworks in a second." Cable replies, as he telepathically scans the choppers occupants to see what kind of opposition they face.
Inside the chopper, Tolliver orders his guards to shoot them off.
"Dom, they're armed. I want you to drop off, now, while we're over the water."
"In your dreams! I have as much of a right to nail Tolliver as you do!" Dom replies.
"But not to kill yourself! We're climbing too high already. This chopper is never going to land again. I know it and you know it. If you don't jump, now, you'll never survive the fall. I can telekinetically shield myself. I'll be fine." Cable tells her, not knowing if he is lying or not.
Dom stares him hard in the eye and a tear rolls out of her own, as she thinks of losing him again. "Damn you, Nate. Don't you die on me."
"Find my X-Force team. Help them through this. Tell them, I'll be back!" Cable tells her.
With a final nod, she lets go and drops to the water below.
The guards in the chopper slide open the door and take aim at him, but before they can fire, Cable telekinetically forces them to turn their guns on each other and fire. Cable then pulls himself up and into the door of the chopper. He takes a thermite grenade, pulls the pin and tosses it to the far side of the chopper.
"No, it can't happen this way." Tolliver screams.
"Consider my debt to you paid off, Tolliver. In Full!!" Cable yells, as he jumps from the chopper.
KRAKATHWOUMM
Still in freefall, Cable takes out his communicator, activates it and says,
"Professor--Bodyslide By One!"
Dom pulls herself ashore and collapses into the sand.
"Find X-Force...Help them...You'll be back...Okay, Nate...I have no idea what you're talking about...But I'll do it." She says, as she lays on the now calm beach.
Back in the castle, Deadpool's healing factor has, once again, saved him.
"Man-O-Man...Petey the dog tagged me but good! But not good enough! Where'd everybody go? Hey, Vanessa's gone, just a trail of blood...Hmmm...You got away. Cool. No prob, Babe. There's always tomorrow..." Deadpool says, as he activates his teleporter and fades away.
"Welcome to Greymalkin, Nathan." Professor greets him, as he reappears onboard the space station. "Are you satisfied with the days events?"
"It's all fallen apart, Professor." Cable replies.
"Why are you so despondent, Nathan? The children are safe. The real Domino is free. Tolliver will no longer be a problem." Professor tells him.
"Because it hasn't worked out the way I thought it would. I haven't made any difference whatsoever. But that's all going to change. It's time for me to stop being the prey...And for the Hunt to begin!"
Our Journey Continues With
Blood and Metal
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