X-Force (1st series) #120

Issue Date: 
November 2001
Story Title: 
X-Force : Snikt !
Staff: 

Peter Milligan (writer), Mike Allred (artist), Laura Allred (colorist), Mike Allred & Blambot (letters), John Miesegaes (assistant editor), Axel Alonso (editor), Joe Queseda (editor in chief), Bill Jemas (president)

Brief Description: 

Doop asks his old friend Wolverine a favour and gives him a video tape. During a press conference the Coach reports that the Orphan is under great stress, since he is the team’s leader. It’s part of a great plan to get rid of Guy. Edie accepted Coach’s offer and teleports into Orphan’s home, and fills his russian roulette revolver with five extra bullets whuile Guy is not looking. Later she has a change of hearts and wants to save him, but Coach exchanged the madication in her inhaler, which leaves her paralyzed. Unexpectedly the Orphan arrives to help her, he did not play his daily game as his senses told him that the gun was heavier than usual. Coach is protected by Smoke and Succubus, who defeat the Orphan and he now intends to kill both Edie and Guy, as Wolverine arrives. Together he and the Orphan can deal with the Coach’s guards, while the Coach and U-Go Girl struggle over the gun. It goes loose and the Coach is killed. Logan gives Guy Doop’s tape and it shows that Coach and Zeitgeist had planned the Boys R Us massacre, they wanted most of the team to die and get new faces in. Orphan keeps the tape’s content secret from Edie as she was in love with Zeitgeist, but he had no problems with planning her death.

Full Summary: 

Wolverine agrees to appear in Doop’s video about the New X-Force’s first year. Apparently they are old friends, and Logan wonders why Doop is with the team, as he thinks that the Coach is not very truzstworthy. Doop keeps his reasons to himseld, and asks Wolverine a favour, while handing him a video tape. Reluctantly Logan agrees to what Doop has asked of him.
X-Force is holding another press conference, actually it’s only a part of X-Force. Phat, Vivisector and the Anarchist sit next to the Coach who answers the questions of the press. He states that despite any rumours X-Force is still a team and not disbanded, he explains Guy’s absence with the pressure of being leader, and claims that Paco Perez’s whereabouts are confidential (though he has no idea himself). Meanwhile Edie sits at the beach behind the X-Force building, thinking about Coach’s offer. She has killed before and possibly it won’t be any different if she kills the Orphan.
Later the Coach meets with Spike Freeman, the team’s financer and owner. Freeman is quite angry and smashed a statue of the Orphan. He thought he made himself pretty clear; he wants the team at war, one half pitted against the other, and his company already works on a similar video game to make some profit out of it. The Coach explains that the Orphan is currently the most popular member, and if the team battled each other and he would loos, the public clearly would resent the New X-Force. Yet the Coach found another way to get rid of the Orphan, he has video evidence of Guy’s daily ritual of playing russian roulette. Spike is surprised to hear that he does that every day at sunset, and the Coach continues that he already planted the idea that the Orphgan is under stress, so it won’t be unexpected when he finally kills himself.
At home, the Orphan is shocked to see the interview with his parents on TV, they claim that he tried to kill them. U-Go Girl teleports in, asking how he is doing, and Guy tells her that he was brought up in an orphanage, and about three years ago had learned that his paremts were not dead, but had tried to kill him as a child. That day he started his daily game of russian roulette. He then asks what Edie wants and she starts to kiss him. The Orphan is quite surprised and his senses tell him that something is different with Edie. She tells him that this must be her new medication that allows her to teleport without trouble. She then asks him for a glass of water, and also has many extzrawishes (four ice cubes, three slices of lemon, brown sugar and aniseed, and while Guy is busy in the kitchen she fills guy’s revolver with five extra bullets. After he returns, she quickly departs, excusing herself with having forgotten an appointment at the clinic.
Later Edie and Tike are at a bar, and she has a few drinks too many. Of course they are observed by many reporters, and Edie lashes out at them, being annoyed by the questzion if she is addicted again. The reporter then yells at U-Go Girl, that without the press sticking their cameras in X-Force’s faces they would be nothing, besides a lousy bunch of freaks, and she remains quiet.
Near sunset she meets with the Coach, both expecting that Guy will soon do his daily ritual. The Coach gives her some advice for the time after Guy’s death. She will have to fake a nervous breakdown after loosing both Zeigeist and the Orphan in such a short time and after some time reemerge and make a speech of owing it to her former leaders to keep X-Force together. Then all will cheer for her and quickly forget about the Orphan. Edie says that she will remember and has a change of hearts, she wants to teleport to the Ortphan’s home and warn him, but her new inhaler is gone. She knows that the Coach has it and demands that he gives it back, since without it she can’t teleport. He hands it to her, but it’s only a similar one, filled with a gas that leaves Edie paralyzed. He laughs at her, to develop a conscience makes people makes her weak. He then starts to take off her clothes saying that though she will be aware of what he’s doing, she can’t prevent it. Suddenly the Orphan stands behind him, with the gun in his hand. He kicks the Coach into a wall, busting a few of his ribs, and then states that he had troubles with X-Force as there was no bad guy definition. How could he know that he was any better than the people they fought, but seeing the Coach, he now knows that he is. Coach calls his loyal guards Smoke and Succubus and quikly Guy is defeated. Smoke holds Guy into place, while the Coach tortures him a little with a knife, but then grabs the gun. He now is forced to kill both the Orphan and U-Go Girl, and he will make it look like suicide and a drug overdose.
Time for Wolverine to arrive on the scene. Another fight starts, wnd while the Orphan and Logan are busy with Smoke and Succubus, Edie and Coach struggle over the gun. Orphan wants to know why Logan helps them, and he tells them that he is here on personal request of a “guardian angel“ though refuses to give away who it is. Finally Wolverine kicks Smoke off the building, and the gun is fiured two times. One bullet kills Succubus. Orphan turns around and sees Edie and the Coach lying in a pool of blood. He assumes the worst, but it’s not Edie but the Coach who lies dead. Edie tires and does not see Logan handing Guy the video tape.
The Orphan later watches it and it shows Coach and Zeitgeist talking about X-Force. They had planned the whole team to die in the Boys R Us incident (#116), and despite them having slept a few times together, Axel showed no concern over Edie being slated to die too. Apparently something went wrong, as Axel was killed insted her. U-Go Girl comes into the room, asking what Guy was watching, but he plays it down as rubbish and throws the tape into a trash can. Edie asks why Guy is not dead, as he must have played the russian roulette like every day, but he felt that the gun was heavier, exactly five bullets heavier than usual, therefore he did not pull the trigger. Orphan says that he will never again play that game, as life with X-Force is enough for him. They enter a limousine to be transported away, wondering who their gurdian angel was. From above Doop watches and smiles.

Characters Involved: 

Anarchist, Coach, Doop, Orphan, Phat, U-Go Girl, Vivisector (all X-Force)

Smoke, Succubus (loyal to the Coach)

Wolverine (X-Men)

Spike Freeman, X-Force’s owner

An unnamed TV reporter (the same like in earlier issues)
On TV or on video tape:

Greg and Mrs Smith, Orphan’s parents

Coach, Zeitgeist

Story Notes: 
Issue Information: 
Written By: