#373
The X Remix Part Three

"Cry Havok!"
By Chip Caroon

Wolverine hasn't had a good day in two weeks. It doesn't look like today is going to be any different.

As Gambit threw the card to the ground, time slowed down for Wolverine. What should he do? He knew his healing factor would prevent him from getting too much damage, but what about the imposter? Besides, if he jumped off now, the Skrull underneath him would get away. Unless . . .

Two seconds before the card hit the ground, Wolverine retracted his claws and jumped off of his imposter.

One and a half seconds before the card hit the ground, the imposter began to get up and run.

One second before the card hit the ground, Wolverine rolled out of the blast zone, and kept rolling until the card hit the ground, right on the pinnacle of energy.

BOOM!

The blast shook the mansion, and caused the Skrull to stumble as he ran away. Wolverine stood up and began running after him, shouting to Gambit, "LeBeau! Thro' a card!"

Gambit heard and quickly reached into his coat pocket to pull out another card. Within a second, the card was glowing pink. When Gambit lined the card up with the imposter, he threw it.

The card landed in front of the Skrull and blew up. The small explosion made the Skrull fall down. In an instant, Wolverine was on top of him again.

"I will kill you!" the Skrull shouted.

"Gut ya!" Wolverine shouted back, claws flying.

Meanwhile, Storm and Shadowcat came rushing into Wolverine's bedroom.

"By the Goddess!" Storm exclaimed. "What happened?"

"Wolverine's imposter showed up," Colossus explained.

"An' then, Wolvie knocked 'im ou'side," Gambit continued. "De Skrull was building up energy, which I di'n't know when I threw de card."

"And that's what caused the explosion," Storm surmised. "Does Logan need any help?"

The four X-Men looked down below and saw Wolverine coming back around, with the Skrull slung over his shoulder.

"I would say no, mon ami!" Gambit said with a laugh.


Nathan Summers, the mutant known as Cable, was trying to send a telepathic distress signal to the X-Mansion in upper New York state. After several tries, he turned back to Scott.

"I'm sorry," he said. "I can't reach. It's just too far away, and I'm too weak."

"Nothing got through?" Scott asked.

"Maybe a little bit," Cable replied. "I don't know for sure."


Something was bothering Charles Xavier. He felt as if someone was trying to contact him. The call was very weak. He closed his eyes and tried to concentrate on the telepathic call.

His mind began to wander, literally. The call was coming from a northern place. Washington State? No. Could it be Canada? Yes, it was probably Canada. Who was it? He recognized the faint brain pattern. Scott? No. He couldn't send a telepathic call by himself. Jean? No. The brainwave was similar, but different. Only one more likely possibility. There were only two people in the world whose DNA was a combination of Scott and Jean's: Nathan Summers and Nate Grey. Xavier ruled out Nate Grey because he didn't want anything to do with the X-Men.

{X-Men} Xavier thought. {Cable is trying to contact us. He's stranded somewhere in Canada. Nightcrawler and Shadowcat, take the Blackbird and find them. I will guide you as you get nearer.}

Then, after calling the X-Men, he attempted to contact Cable himself. Having the most powerful mind on the planet made this easy.

{Cable?}


Meanwhile, in Canada, Scott had begun looking for his belongings on the plane. Cable was still standing in the middle of nowhere trying to contact Xavier. Finally, he heard the call.

{Cable?}

{Xavier?}

{Yes, Cable, it's me? Where exactly are you?}

{I don't know. The plane crashed.}

{Plane-? Is Scott with you?}

{He just went back to the plane to get his stuff.}

{Hold on, okay. I've sent Nightcrawler and Shadowcat in the Blackbird to find you. We'll get you here. But first, open your mind. Let me see what you see.}

Cable opened his eyes and looked around. Through the mind link, Xavier could see everything that Cable saw.

{Do you know anything about your location?} Xavier asked.

{Well, the plane took off from Alaska. It was about an hour later that it crashed.}

{Cable, keep your mind open. I need to get to the War Room.}

Xavier broke direct contact, but part of his psyche was still with Cable.

Just then, Scott came back with his and Jean's suitcases. "Did you get through?" he asked.

"Xavier has sent Nightcrawler and Shadowcat in the Blackbird," Cable replied. "He has broken direct contact."

"Why?"

"He needed to go to the War Room."


Xavier sat up in the bed and threw away the sheets. His hoverchair was beside his bed. He manuevered himself into the chair, and moved himself into the War Room.

He sat in front of a control panel that showed a map of the Earth. He surmised that the plane took off from Anchorage. He marked that on the screen. The computer asked for the length of the trip. Xavier entered one hour. Instantly, the screen showed a possible area for the crash.

{Kitty,} he thought. {They're in the Yukon. 135 degrees West.}

{What's the latitude?} came the reply back.

{Unknown.}

Xavier broke contact with the X-Men in the Blackbird and contacted Cable again.

{Cable, you're somewhere in the Yukon. Do you know where the plane was heading?}

Cable was silent for a moment. Xavier guessed that Scott had returned and was telling him.

{The plane was heading for Vancouver, where we would've changed planes and come non-stop to New York.}

Xavier entered the projected path into the computer. Within minutes, the screen showed the most likely target.

{I found you. I'm going to break contact. Kurt and Kitty should be there soon.}

Xavier then called Shadowcat. {Kitty, are you flying?}

{No. Kurt is.}

{Give him these coordinates: 135 West, 60 North.}

{Got it.}


Down in the basement of the mansion, the Skrull was being held in a holographic cell in the Danger Room. He was still unconscious. Colossus and Rogue were keeping watch over him from the control booth. Gambit, Storm, and Marrow were behind them, listening to Logan tell what had happened to him since he was hijacked from the Skrull ship.*

*(X-Men #90)

"So, after we came back an' saw Joseph sacrifice himself to stop Magneto, we were put into suspended animation, right?" Logan asked.

"That's correct," Storm replied.

"Well, nex' thin' I know, I'm wakin' up in an alley in New York City in th' year 1943. I hear some kid get shot, and then I get noticed by some guy called The Shadow," Logan continued.

"So then, the imposter was the one to send you back in time," Storm surmised.

"Maybe. I dunno. Could be a lot o' thin's. Anyway, I go back with The Shadow t' his apartment, and he leaves me there for the day, while he goes t' find stuff out."

"Find ou' 'bout what?" Gambit asked.

"Th' guy that got shot. Anyways, that was when I dyed my uniform to black and blue, 'cause I knew we'd be working at night. When The Shadow comes back, we go to a warehouse where everythin' was going on. Comes to find out that the man in charge of the drug operation we were investigatin' was none other than Mr. Sinister!'

"Sinister!" Storm exclaimed. "Is was the Mr. Sinister of that time period?"

"Yeah. Anyway, after a major battle, Sinister gets away, but we shut down his little drug ring fer good."

"Sinister in charge of drugs?" Gambit asked. "Dat don' soun' like him."

"Yer right, cajun," Logan responded. "As soon as I saw him, I knew that th' drug operation was a cover. Y'see, the night before, he was given a vial and some disks by Joey, th' kid who got shot. I'm pretty sure that the stuff was genetic."

"Ya say he had disks?" Gambit asked. "Did dey look like dog tags?"

"Yeah."

"Den we don' have t' worry. All of that inf'rmation was destroyed by Bishop and me monthes ago.*"

*(X-Men #52)

All of the X-Men were silent when Gambit mentioned Bishop. It might have been because he had been gone so long, and they had forgotten about him.

"Who's Bishop?" Marrow asked.

"Bishop was a teammate o' ours from the future. He disappeared . . . when was it?" Logan said, turning to Gambit.

"Let's see." Gambit looked up, trying to determine the time. "It was bef'r' my 'trial'*. It was bef'r' we even got back fr'm deep space. I t'ink it was . . . ah, yes! I remember! He got separated fr'm us when we crashlanded on Eart' after we saved de Shi'ar!**"

*(Uncanny X-Men #350)

**(Uncanny X-Men #345-347)

"Have we even tried to find him?" Storm asked.


Meanwhile, half a world away, in Genosha, the missing Bishop had just found out that Magneto was now in charge of the small African country.* Bishop turned and tried to get back in his spacecraft.

*(Ever since X-Men #87)

Before he could walk two steps, he was surrounded by a bunch of soldiers with their weapons aimed at him.

"Don't move!" one of them said. "State your name and your business."

"I am Bishop, and I crashed here trying to get back to the X-Men in Westchester."

"The X-Men, eh? The boss'll want to here this!"

"I don't think so," Bishop said. Then, he began running to the ship. All of the soldiers fired at him. Of course, he went down to the ground, but he wasn't stunned. He was now glowing with energy.

One of the men ran up. "What the--?! This dude's glowing!"

Suddenly, in one colossal burst, Bishop let out all of the energy stored in him, revealing his mutant power of absorbing energy and rechanneling it to the soldiers.

A minute later, Bishop stood up, now surrounded by a group of unconscious soldiers sprawled on the ground.

"Much better," he said, walking back to the craft. He looked in. It would only take him a few minutes to hotwire the craft and hopefully have it able to return him to the X-Men.


A few hours later, the Blackbird approached the crash site. Shadowcat looked down.

"There's the plane, Kurt," she said. "I'm guessing that Scott and Nathan aren't too far away?"

"That would be my guess," Kurt replied. "Why don't you phase down and find them, while I circle around. Take one of the radios and call me when you all are ready."

"Problem with your plan," Kitty said. "I can't take a radio. My phasing wreaks havoc on electronics."

"Oh, right." Nightcrawler thought for a moment. "You can fly this thing, right?"

"Of course. Not for long, though."

"Long enough for me to teleport down and get them?"

"Sure."

"Good. You take the controls. I'll teleport down."

It took a minute for Kitty to replace Kurt as pilot. Kurt walked to the back, and teleported. He reappeared down on the ground, beside Cable and Scott.

"Cable? Cyclops?" he asked.

"Nightcrawler!" Cable exclaimed.

"Quickly, get your belongings. I'll teleport you to the Blackbird."

Scott grabbed two of the suitcases, and handed the other to Cable. Nightcrawler grabbed both of them by the waist and teleported. When they were on the Blackbird, Kurt was slightly weak.

"Nightcrawler, get your furry butt up here!" Kitty shouted.

"Vas?" Kurt asked, looking dazed.

Cable looked at Scott. "He's too weak. You'll have to fly."

Scott was reluctant. "I've been out in the cold for a while. . . "

"I'll be co-pilot."

"Well, there's really no choice. Let's go."


Later that night, the X-Men's day was about to get worse. For the second time that day, they felt an explosion in there back yard. Colossus, Wolverine, Storm, and Gambit ran to check it out.

This time, they found a giant crater. Inside the crater was a man. Wolverine sniffed. He leaned over to Storm.

"Somethin' 'bout this guy's scent. I know it," Wolverine asked.

"Do you know who's?" Storm asked.

"Not yet. It's one I haven't smelling in a while. It smells a little like . . . " He sniffed again. "Cyclops?" he wondered out loud.

The man in the crater saw the X-Men approaching. He recognized them. "Wolverine?" he asked.

"It's Havok!" Wolverine exclaimed. "But I thought you were dead!*"

*(X-Factor #149)

"Every one else, too, I guess," Havok replied. "Really, I've been trapped in another universe.* Where's Scott?"

*(see the Mutant X series)

"Cyclops is en route from Canada," Storm replied. "It's a long story."


After he had come in, had a shower, and changed clothes, Alex Summers, better known as Havok was sitting in the den with Wolverine and Gambit, reminiscing and going over current events. It was almost mignight when they heard the Blackbird returning.

"That must be ol' one-eye himself," Wolverine said.

The trio walked to the hangar where they saw the returning X-Men. When Cyclops got off and saw his brother, he ran up and hugged him.

"Alex! Where have you been?" he cried.

"In a parallel universe," Alex replied.

"That's not even funny."

"Good. It's the truth. Where's Jean?"

"Uh, she was taken from the plane."

"By what, Cyke?" Logan asked.

"Seems like it was the work of the Phoenix. That's also what caused the crash." He paused for a moment and then said, "What's been going on here?"

"Ya had to ask," Logan replied. "C'mon. We need to get comfortable before we start this story."


The next morning, after everyone was caught up, the X-Men were in the Danger Room, training in uniform. Havok found an extra set of unstable molecules that he used to make the black uniform with white circles that he wore before his "death.*" The Skrull was still being held in a small section in the corner.

*(X-Factor #125-149)

The X-Men were just working up a sweat when the proximity alarm went off.

"Someone's trying to break in!" Wolverine shouted.

"Computer, end program!" Cyclops shouted. "Logan, Ororo, Alex! With me! We'll meet them at the door. Everyone else, stay behind us!"

They reached the front door just as it was blown off its hinges. Standing in front of it was Forge and Maggott, with Polaris and Val Cooper behind them.

"X-Men, prepare to be taken down by the newly reformed X-FACTOR!" Forge shouted.

Then, Polaris saw Alex. "Alex?" she said, a tear coming down her cheek.

"Lorna?" Alex whispered.

"X-Factor?" Cyclops shouted.

Forge spoke into his wrist radio. "Uh, we have some complications here . . . "


Continued in X-Men #93 - X-Factor vs. the X-Men! Havok and Polaris back together! A fight between two X-Men causes another to leave! Plus, what in the world is going on with Xavier? All this in part four of The X Remix!