A city:
Several iterations of X-Men teams are battling the alien Brood.
Suddenly a voice calls Forge’s name and Forge, sitting on a sofa with a bag of chips, freezes the holographic simulation, as that is all it is. He asks the robot called Maahe what is the matter and is informed, he wanted to be alerted when the components were complete. Forge is surprised. That was supposed to take a full day. Maahe informs him he has been in this space running simulations for 36,7891 hours.
Forge orders his computer system Ne’eva to end the simulation. Maahe informs him McCoy project phase I is currently primed. He thought he’d changed that name, Forge mutters as they leave the room. He did not, the robot informs him, as they enter a living space. Maahe continues, the project is titled after Henry Mccoy aka Beast whose work inspired this course of inquiry. The robot displays a holographic image of a younger – still human-looking Hank McCoy announcing he just wants to be normal, it comes down to that. Nature gave him this mutated body, but it also gave him his mind. Should he not use that mind to effect the change he wants? He needs? Science is about understanding and taming nature. It’s about taming the beast.
They have walked outside. Forge steps into a triangle on the ground with a device at each cornerpoint. Forge orders Maahe to kill the holo, as he makes his last adjustments. McCoy tried to walk away from his mutation and stumbled into a power-up, but he doesn’t stumble. He sits down in the center of the triangle, a small opened globe in front of him. Forge continues that his mutation is reactive, passive. He sees mechanical solutions to practical problems and builds them.
He gives Maahe the order to start. The machines direct ambient radiation at Forge, to facilitate a mutagenic shift toward omega. The process starts and he has visions of Harthouse, Florida, the Well of All Things, the Forest of Torment and Sorachi-Shi. He realizes there are fractures everywhere.
The process ends and he sinks down exhausted, muttering it worked. Take that, McCoy! He decides, the Analog first, then Tessa. Nothing works without Tessa!
Sometime later, a mental clinic in Zurich, Lake Geneva:
Using a fake identity as Dr. Silvercloud, Forge visits the clinic for one special patient. Dr St. Genis informs him that mademoiselle L’Echec had no identification or travel papers when she arrived, and had clearly been through some terrible trauma. They did search her on the web and-- Forge bluntly assumes her money transfers all went through. Dr St Genis wonders what he will be able to do, as she takes him to the patient’s room. They have been here before, he tells her and asks her to close the door.
In the room he sees Tessa aka Sage on the couch, holding onto a pillow while reciting the poem “The Hollow Men” by T.S. Elliot. switching from plain English to Esperanto to Hexademical. Then she quotes from Lewis Carroll’s “Through the Looking-Glass”: “If you want to get somewhere else, you must run at least twice as fast.”
Forge greets her and translates her alias L’echec – failure. He gets it. A week ago, he was where she is now. Everything’s broken, their friends scattered, running, end of the world again. She thinks, it’s her fault. It is not. No one saw it coming, no one could have. People like them don’t fold shop. They don’t hide. They fight. He forgot that. Then he remembered, and he made this. He shows her a small globe. Fascinated Sage begins to analyze it, realizing it is a simulacrum of the world. And it is breaking! There are fractures. Only if they let it, Forge replies.
Ten days later, aboard his jet and approaching Sorachi-Shi, Japan:
Both are now dressed in black and red uniforms. Sage criticizes them not talking to the Japanese authorities. They exit the jet, floating down in stealth mode. Their boots are laced with Pseudonium, artificial Vibranium that redirects kinetic energy to their suit, allowing them to fly in this case.
Sage uses her goggles to get telemetry from military satellites of Sorachi-Shi, then notices something weird as they land. Define “weird,” Forge asks her. She replies, the ST imaging is a snowstorm. City’s dark. No heat plumes. No comm traffic. Population is supposed to be 30,000. Where is everybody?
A telepathic voice suggests they could use a psi-assist, and Betsy Braddock aka Captain Britain and Rachel Summers aka Askani, also dressed in black and red suits, join them. Forge orders them to activate their ghost fields. And it’s comm only for field ops. No psychic chatter.
Flashback, four days ago:
Braddock estate, Essex:
She doesn’t understand. It’s just X-Force again, yes? Rachel Summers, sipping some tea, asks. Call it what she likes, Sage shrugs. She’s calling it X-Force because it is X-Force, Rachel doubles down. And the operations are to be what exactly? her lover Betsy Braddock demands. Clandestine? Violent? And all directed by Forge’s delightful new toy? she sniffs.
He explains the Analog doesn’t direct. It targets crisis points, fractures. They seal the cracks before they break. And if he were to fail at this? Betsy asks. If they fail, he stresses. The end of the world.
She decides it is better for Rachel and her to take some time for themselves. She is sure this undertaking has merit, but he says they can’t even tell old friends…
Rachel hugs her from behind and shouts, they are in. X-Force, assemble! Fair enough, Betsy gives in, but no Deadpool this time.
Present:
Rachel and Betsy fly and drag the other two with them telekinetically toward the city center. Rachel asks Sage to inform Forge that, if he didn’t insist on wearing that psi-blocker headband, they wouldn’t need comms. She and Betsy bicker, then she senses a concentration of psionic energy ahead. A hundred people. More? What does the magic eightball say? Is it Sentinels? Orchis? Forge corrects her; it doesn’t work like this.
Betsy swears when she looks down. They see empty and broken police cars, a strange blue fluid covers the ground and cars in puddles. No people. Tessa tries to process everything she perceives as they land. Forge orders the others to take the flanks and Rachel air support. Rachel warns that she still cannot lock on any people.
Sage figures out there was some kind of battle. Apparently, the defense forces were caught off-guard. She warns Betsy not to touch the unknown blue fluid. She observes something killed the main grid… emergency power is sporadic. She figures out people retreated somewhere.
Rachel shouts a warning. A moment later, Sage and Forge are hit by lightning. Betsy gets ready to fight their attacker but Rachel puts a stop to this and holds their attacker with telekinesis. It turns out to be the young X-Man Noriko Ashida aka Surge. Sage lists her powers: electrical absorption and redirected hyper-speed. Surge recognize them and hugs Forge in relief. Thank God somebody came! she exclaims. She thought they were dead! Rachel points out there are some people from the same hideout. A middle-aged man cautiously asks if it is safe. Nori tells the man Mr. Watanabe it is not safe.
Nori explains that, after Krakoa, she came back home. She was visiting her cousins when these things erupted out of the FRG building. Some kind of living sludge that attacks anything – and when it touches you… When she heard them outside, she thought the creatures had found them and tried to protect her people.
Some blue sludge raises itself from a car and suddenly grabs Mr. Watanabe from behind.
Betsy slashes one of the tentacles with her psychic sword but more tentacles begin to move toward them.
Forge orders Sage to hand him the gun. She retorts that they will be overwhelmed in seventy seconds, even Rachel! He tells her not to worry, it’s covered. He upgraded his cyborg limbs. He transforms his bionic right hand into a blade, with which he slashes the attacking biomass, while calling someone named Tank over comms, ordering him to bring Wade.
Annoyed, Betsy asks Rachel if he just said “Wade”? Rachel grins. A moment later, a large, armored man - Tank - jumps down toward the biomass. On his back is Deadpool, shooting at the mass, muttering about the inevitable movie tie-in and shouting a greeting to Betsy and Rachel. As he slashes the creature with his sword, he asks if they have tied the knot yet. Have they ever heard of throuples? Polyamory’s the new…
Fortunately, that moment, the biomass attacks him and he is forced to shut up.
Flashback:
A couple of days earlier in Madripoor:
Forge, Sage and Tank are recruiting Deadpool who asks why Forge didn’t come to him first. You can’t have X-Force without the ‘pool. Apex murderer. Can’t be killed. He’s a lock!
Forge replies that Deadpool isn’t on the team. He’s just being hired for the mission and, secondly, he’s incapable of keeping a secret. Unless money is involved, Sage adds. What about that time with her and him on that beach in Barbados? Deadpool retorts. He never said… Sage interrupts, that’s a lie!
Forge offers him three million Kuwaiti dinars. Deadpool has to admit that’s a nice offer for one mission.
Present:
Having fought himself free from the mass, Deadpool makes disgusted noises and attacks the biomass.
Solution component locked! Forge announces, using his power. Rachel finds her TK shields are about to falter and asks Betsy for a boost. Fighting off the creature with her psychic weapons, Betsy argues this is what she was afraid of when the joining the team. Rachel reminds her of the situation and Betsy boosts her power. Rachel can now use her telekinesis to shove the creatures further away from all of them and keep them away with a telekinetic wall.
Sage announces that the creatures display no attack pattern. They are just in their way. The creatures are migrating east like lemmings. Deadpool asks, is she high? These things were on them like an STD! Forge orders the telepaths to get the people away from the city center, and they do.
The creatures gather into a giant form shadowing the skyscraper and Forge mutters: fracture node locked. Betsy suddenly breaks down and Rachel explains that thing is doing something telepathically. Projecting waves of hunger! Angrily, she hits it with a telekinetic blast, creating a hole in its belly, which almost immediately closes again, and the heroes realize this is not good.
Sage finds that Fujikawa Group is a subsidiary of EHC – Essex Holding Corps. Their old friend Mr. Sinister. Fujikawa has been splicing mutant genes with alien biomes to produce hybrid organic weapons. This one obviously broke containment. A chemical composite fungoid consuming any animal matter to rapidly add to its mass. Unchecked, this thing will go on consuming until… this is definitely the Analog’s worldkiller!
Forge orders Rachel to take Betsy to the rally point and for Nori to do the same with Sage. While the others are evacuated, he then orders Tank to execute Maneuver L. The creature’s mouth!
Tank throws the protesting Deadpool into the creature’s mouth.
Fracture corrected, Forge announces with a look at the Analog and orders the team to go.
Tank carries him away, while Deadpool still protests what the hell is going on. He is a poison pill, Forge replies. Take a bow, he is saving the world. Deadpool shouts and screams as the creature tries to digest him. Forge explains Deadpool’s cancer is the ticket. He is like a buffet of empty calories. Deadpool shouts the thing is eating him! Forge replies that his cancer will regenerate him, the thing will keep on eating him till it starves. Should take about three days, then he can collect his fee.
They reach the jet. Forge orders Nori aboard She is with them now. Looking at the Analog, he announces the next stop is Wakanda, the Forest of Torment.
Back on the jet, Sage argues with Forge, asking if that was the plan – leaving Wade in – in that! Forge shrugs; he will be fine and richer. Fracture sealed. And Nori? Sage demands. Are they just drafting people now? Forge replies evasively that Surge is needed. The Analog wants her. They are not a press gang! Sage snaps.
Forge replies that he solves problems. He identifies, he assesses, he builds a solution… a machine. The whole world is in trouble now. X-Force is his machine.
They are unaware that they are spied on. Sitting at a screen a watching person remarks: “And you, querido, are mine.”
