Deadpool vs. X-Force #4

Issue Date: 
November 2014
Story Title: 
Time to Die – part 4
Staff: 

Duane Swizercynski (writer), Pepe Larraz (artisit), Nolan Woodard (colorist), Virtual Calligraphy's Joe Sabino (letterer), Shane Davis & Morry Hollowell (cover artists), Xander Jarowey (assistant editor), Jordan D White (editor), Mike Marts (X-Men group editor), Axel Alonso (editor in chief), Joe Quesada (chief creative officer), Dan Buckley (publisher), Alan Fine (executive producer)

 

Brief Description: 

Deadpool is protecting Adolf Hitler in the past, including killing any other time travellers who appear with the intention of killing Hitler. Cable arrives in 1777 to assist Cannonball and rescue the injured Boom-Boom. In an attempt to fix the timeline, Cable gives Cannonball some instructions, which the hero carries out, before the trio time-slide to 1863, to find the futuristic army has been defeated, and Domino and Warpath are both safe. Thinking they can teleport back to their own time, they are surprised to find 1991 guarded by Nazi-Sentinels. Talbot, now the richest man in the world, confronts Cable and his team. In 1944, Deadpool receives a message from Talbot, but to protect Hitler, he puts his mask over his head, and time travels to 1991, where he confronts the heroes in an attempt to kill them. A battle ensues, with the heroes taking on the Nazi-Sentinels, while Cable confronts Deadpool, but is taken out – Deadpool prepares to finish Cable off, by firing a blast from his Time Gun Machine, but Cable uses his telekinesis to deflect the attack, and instead, sends the energy at Talbot, killing him, and erasing him from all of time. With the timeline restored, Adolf Hitler finds himself returned to 1923, but is confused by the Deadpool mask he finds in his pocket. In the true 1991, Cable enters the library, with the strangest feeling of deja vu, before he is confronted by Deadpool, who tells Cable that actually they have already met, and to run – because they are trapped in New Mutants #98!

Full Summary: 

'Are you looking for a recap? Hey, here's a wild suggestion...go back and reread the first three issues!' Deadpool exclaims as he holds a very large gun in the year 1944. 'Okay, okay, fine...long story short: I was hired to warp American history. This glowy-eyed dude named “Cable” and a bunch of moody teenagers are trying to stop me' Deadpool announces. He adds that an important part of his warping is keeping Adolf Hitler alibe and well into the 1960s. He declares that he is not into all this “Nazi crappola” and claims that he is just playing along for the money. 'Problem is, time travel's been invented. Go ahead. Ask somebody the one thing they'd do if they had a time machine and it's... hang on a sec'. Deadpool remarks, interrupting himself as he sees the glow of a time-travel signature. 'Here comes another one, Aidey' he calls out to Hitler, who is eating a sandwich nearby. A handsome time traveler armed with a gun and some fancy googles appears, 'Oh! Em! Gee! It worked! I'm totally here! In the same room as Adolf Hitler!' he declares. 'Psst. Yo. Dorkus Malorkus' Deadpool calls out. The time traveler looks puzzled, 'You're not Adolf Hitler! Who are -' he begins to enquire, before Deadpool fires the large weapon he is holding which vaporizes the time traveller.

'How many is that? Can I go outside now?' Hitler demands, shaking his fists. 'Shut your pie-hole, Bristle-Up' Deadpool replies, before holding up his weapon, which is called a Time Gun Machine, with the tagline “Kills Them Forever”. Deadpool remarks that death is not enough, and to keep ol' Aidey here safe and sound, he has to use this special gun that not only kills the time-hopper, but travels back through his timeline until it finds the first moment of his potential existence and snuffs it out. Brief images of the time traveler's life flash by – being held by his parents shortly after his birth, riding a bike, playing football, kissing a girl, saluting as a soldier. Deadpool holds his Time Machine Gun over his shoulder and announces that now it is just a matter of waiting for that pouch-obsessed time traveler who looks like he is having a perpetual senior moment. 'Huh. Wonder when he could be?' Deadpool asks.

Cable is in 1977, his clothing in tatters, he holds his large gun and calls out to Boom-Boom and Cannonball, asking them to report in, while soldiers fire their guns in the distance. 'I let you down, Cable... I'm sorry' Tabitha “Boom-Boom” Smith replies from a nearby room, where she is slumped on the floor, clutching a wound. Cable moves towards her and tells her that he needs her to hold on, adding that they are almost through the worst of it. 'This is going to hurt' he admits, as he pulls from one of his pouches emergency cauterizing foam. However he did not bring any anaesthetic. Suddenly, Cannonball a.k.a. Sam Guthrie blasts nearby, 'Cable? Damn glad to hear your voice! Ah'm about to pass out from exhaustion' he informs Cable as he blasts past two soldiers who fire at him at close range. Cable contacts Cannonball and tells him that he needs him to draw up their fire as high as possible. 'They need to focus on you, not me' he explains as he helps Boom-Boom to walk alongside him. 'You can't kill them! They're patriots!' Cannonball exclaims as he blasts higher. 'I'm not going to kill anyone' Cable responds, adding that he is just giving history a little nudge. 'Ready, Tabitha? On my mark. Three... two... one...' Cable tells Boom-Boom, while the soldiers start firing their guns towards the ever-higher Cannonball.

Suddenly, the soldiers find their guns won't shoot anymore thanks to Cable's telekinesis. 'Just how are a bunch of jammed muskets and a broken cannon going to set things right?' Boom-Boom asks as she tosses a large plasma burst towards a nearby cannon, causing it to explode. Cannonball blasts down towards his teammates as Cable explains that they didn't need to defeat the Colonial troops, just give the British back the tactical edge Wade Wilson stole from them. 'In other words, history will sort itself out?' Boom-Boom asks. 'Right. And now we need to do the same thing at Gettysburg' Cannonball reports, as the trio time-slide away.

Cable, Cannonball and Boom-Boom re-appear in 1863, 'I don't believe it' Cable exclaims. 'What is it?' booom-Boom asks. 'No, look' Cable tells her. 'Heck, I don't believe you've brought us to another war zone' Cannonball remarks. The trio stand on the edge of a cliff, 'Just like you said. History sorted itself out' Cable remarks as they stare down at the fallen soldiers, robots and tanks. 'Yeah, we've had an interesting couple of hours. One minute we're fighting mechanized robots and ducking laser blasts -' Domino calls out as she and James “Warpath” Proudstar appear behind their teammates. 'And the next, it's just blue versus gray, and bullets, and screaming, and dying -' Warpath adds. Domino explains that they tried to stay out of the way until the three of them showed up. 'I take it this means we won?' she asks. 'If you want to call it that. Let's go home' Cable replies. But Boom-Boom declares that this doesn't make sense. 'We were there in 1777. we changed the past!' she points out. Cable tells her not to worry, and that their appearance will be considered folklore, mere ghost stoires. 'Lots of crazy things happen in the fog of war...' he adds, as they time-slide once more.

But as the heroes re-materialize in 1991, they find skyscrapers towering over them – along with large Sentinels with Nazi insignia towering over them, too. 'Okay, so maybe we did screw up the timeline a little...' Domino points out. 'What kind of Sentinels are these?' Warpath asks. 'Whatever happens, we go down fighting!' Cannonball exclaims. 'Or maybe, oh, I don't know, we time-slide right back out of this insanity?' Domino suggests. Cable grits his teeth 'No. We stand down' he informs his team. 'WHAT?' someone gasps. But Cable understands that the technology they are facing is far more advanced than his team realizes. They wouldn't survive an encounter with these Sentinels. 'Cable! What a pleasant surprise!' a voice exclaims. Cable looks up to see a man on a hover-pod, floating near a Nazi-Sentinel which has its hand at the ready, bursting with energy to release upon the mutants. 'Of course, I had a feeling you and your team might arrive at this exact place and moment. I entlisted these Panzer-Sentinels to welcome you' he remarks. 'Talbot!' Cable shouts angrily. 'So that's what this wild snipe hunt through time is all about, Talbot? To make you the richest man in the world?' Cable asks. 'You were hired by an alternate version of me. I honestly don't know what I was thinking. Anyway, my head of Mutant Services will be here any moment to discuss your severance...' Talbot responds.

1944, Adolf Hitler is playing a game of solitaire, while Deadpool is on the phone. 'They're where? And when? Great. And I've been wasting my time with Chuckles here' Deadpool remarks. 'Sorry, Aidey. Be right back' he calls out ot Hitler, who looks up urgently and kicks the card table over: 'Wait! What if another time-scoundrel appears to snuff out my life essence?' he asks. 'Huh. Good point' Deadpool agrees, before removing his mask and placing it over Hitler's face. 'Here. Just talk about Bea Arthur and Chimichangas a lot. Back in a flash' Deadpool remarks.

In 1991, a mask-less Deadpool, clad in a Nazi-armor appears, carrying his Time Machine Gun. 'Hey! Cable! It's been forever, man!' he exclaims. 'Wilson – you son of a b-' Cable begins. 'Whoa, whoa, whoa. Watch the rating, dude! This is the 90s!' Deadpool calls out. Talbot introduces Deadpool as his head of Mutant Affairs. 'But after these guys, all the mutants will be dead...?' Deadpool asks. 'Oh, I meant Head of Mercenary Affairs' Talbot corrects himself. Deadpool asks if the dental plan stays the same. 'You don't know what you've done, Wilson! It's not too late to set things right!' Cable calls out. Deadpool grins and raises the Time Machine Gun, 'So true! Which is why I'm going to kill you and your parents so that you never existed!' Deadpool declares, before asking 'By the way, Glowy Eye – who are your Mom and Pop? Because they're in for a rude surprise...' he remarks.

Cable scans his surroundings for a clean way out – but there are none. His team knows what's expected of them. Cable doesn't even have to ask, and they stand ready for action. 'Not liking these odds, Nathan' Domino remarks as she holds her small gun. 'Then change them' Cable replies before he and the heroes leap into action. Cannonball blasts upwards, straight into the leg of one of the Panzer-Sentinels, causing it to topple forward. Domino starts firing her gun, while Boom-Boom tosses her explosive time-bombs at another Sentinel, and Warpath leaps towards its face, while Cable rushes towards Deadpool, 'WILSON!' he roars, gun at the ready. 'You're going down!' Cable exclaims as he rushes past a woman in a Nazi outfit. 'Not on a first date I'm not!' Deadpool replies as he prepares to open fire. 'Erase him!' Talbot declare as he moves out of the way on his hover-pad. 'Say hi to your Momma for me!' Deadpool laughs as he opens fire, but misses the mutant hero, instead striking a man and woman nearby.

In 1967, a young man and woman hold hands. 'We should run off to the Haight-Ashbury! Join the hippies!' the man suggests. 'Man, I don't think our translator is even trying at this p-' the woman starts to reply, before they are erased from the timeline.

Back in 1991, Cannonball dodges a Sentinel's blast, while Warpath has landed on one of the Sentinel's heads. 'I'll tear you apart bolt by b-' he begins, before he is knocked off the Sentinel's head. 'Stand still while I erase your existence! Cable calls out. 'Talbot, can you make him stand still while I erase his existence, please?' he asks. 'Panzer-Sentinel Six! Stun the target!' Talbot instructs the Sentinel, and Cable is then flung into the side of a bus. Cable falls to the ground, and Deadpool stands on the broken bus, while Talbot hovers above him. Deadpool aims the Time Machine Gun, 'Look, I'm not one for long goodbye speeches...well, okay, I am. But in this case -' Deadpool begins. 'Just erase him already!' Talbot exclaims. 'Nice un-knowing you, Cable' Deadpool calls out, but as he opens fire, Deadpool is shocked to see Cable turn around, and using his telekinesis, easly deflects the shot to Talbot. 'Oh, no! My lega-' Talbot calls out before he is killed. And photos in the future, in the estate of Francis Talbot, family history wing, are suddenly erased.

Deadpool hangs his head and covers his face. 'Crap. So if he's erased, then I was never hired, and then this never – man, I'm gllad I won't remember any of this. How embarassing' Deadpool mutters, and as a portal opens around him, he starts to get sucked through it, while calling out 'Don't forget meeeee Naaaathaaaan...'. A portal opens around Cable and his team, he tells them to hold steady, as time is being re-written and none of them will remember any of it.

Hitler suddenly re-appears at the Burger Braukeller in 1923. 'Huh?' he asks, confused. He shakes his head and remarks that he just had the strangest dream. 'Well, I'd better pay for this beer' he decides, before pulling Deadpool's mask out of his pocket. 'What the...?' he wonders.

The future, or is that the present? It is 2:51 PM in the library. Cable stands before a bookcase, when suddenly, he remarks that he is having the strangest feeling of deja vu. He falls backwards when there is an explosion, and standing over him is Deadpool. 'You're Nathan, right?' Deadpool asks. He introduces himself and tells him that the weird thing is they have already met. 'I now this because I just read the first 20 pages of this comic!' Deadpool adds. 'What the hell are you talking about?' Cable asks. 'Run, Nathan, run! We're trapped in New Mutants #98! Jeeze! Where are my feet?' Deadpool asks.

 

Characters Involved: 

Boom-Boom, Cable, Cannonball, Domino, Warpath

Deadpool

 

In 1777

Soldiers

 

In 1863

Soldiers

 

In time altered 1991

Talbot

Civilians

Panzer-Sentinels

 

In 1944

Adolf Hitler

 

Time Traveler

 

In montage

Time Traveler at various stages

Time Traveler's parents and girlfriend

 

In 1967

Man and Woman

Story Notes: 

This mini-series takes place before New Mutants (1st series) #98.

The final page of this issue is a direct re-print of the first time Cable and Deadpool met, pages 17-18 from New Mutants (1st series) #98, at least in terms of the art (as it is different to the art in the rest of this mini series), however there dialogue has been changed, although the speech bubbles remain in the same positions.

Deadpool's joke on the last page about his feet refers to the artist Rob Liefeld, who would often draw his characters' lower limbs placed behind objects or simply without feet.

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