[VC]X-Men Gold And Blue #15

[Yannick Lamarre]

Here it is, XMGB15 right on schedule thanks to me, Cloud, Tom's happy
sidekick... Anyway, Tom isn't back yet so I'm filling this issue in.
Not as writer, of course, only as sender. GenX should be on time on
July 20th. See you all then.

All of these characters belong to Marvel and are borrowed without
permission with no profit made.

July 1998

Vision Comics presents:
"Wanting A Change"
Writer: Tom
Editor: Tom

"WE'RE BACK !!!!" shouted the girl known as Tabitha Smith. Stepping out
of
a portal she opened her mouth to scream something more. Her voice
stopped
dead in her throat. "Holly Shit." she mumbled. She looked back at the
disappearing portal and at the rest of X-Force standing behind her. They

must have seen the mansion too for they stopped and all stared in its
direction. More like in direction it used to be.

"Madre dios !" Bobby choked out.

"The, mansion it's gone." said Theresa landing on the ground.

"Talk about stating the obvious." Tabitha said. "But what.... and how ?
Oh
God Sam !" She began running for the ruins hoping to find something. The

rest of X-Force followed. Tab near to tears in her eyes mumbled, "This,
this is exactly what happened last time. When the freak Sinister blew us

up. If it's him again I swear I'm gonna..."

"Don't jump to conclusions Tabitha, we have no idea who exactly did
this,
and why." pointed out Theresa.

"Conclusions, slussions, help me look for the hatch."

Tabitha began searching through the ruins when she was suddenly
interrupted
by a striking sound. She had to cover her ears but
she knew what this was. She saw a flash of yellow light and Sam landed
in
front of her, with Cyclops following him behind, on
foot.

"Sam !" Tabitha shouted cheerfully. She swung her arms around him and
they
kissed, lasting for a while. The members of X-Force exchanged glances.
"Damn you Guthire, I thought ya were dead. Don't ever pull that trick on

me, got it ?"

"Yeah sure." Sam said smiling. He looked at the other members of
X-Force.
"Hey guys, how did the vacation in Brazil go ? And how did you manage to

get here so quickly ?"

"The vacation was great." said Bobby walking up to Sam and patting him
on
the back. "Wouldya believe we ran into Lila ? Now how about telling us
what
the hell happened here ?"

Sam's face darkened at the mention of Lila but as soon as Bobby changed
the
subject he smiled again. "It's kinda long story, basically Bastion and
Operation Zero Tolerance took the mansion over, and we took it back,
with
obvious results."

"And Prof. is in a coma..."

"Baldy ? How did he get here ?" Tab interrupted.

"We found out that he was being held by Bastion not the government. And
well Logan is still stuck to the medical bed, Hank says that the Zero
Tolerance monsters put andamitium back into him, somehow. And Angel has
left..., nothing good really."

"Sam.... what about our personal belongings ?" asked Roberto

"Gone." That one word meant the whole word to most of the members of the

team. They had entrusted for the mansion to keep their belongings safe,
to
keep whatever it was that they loved safe. And now it failed. Empty
stares
from their eyes expressed their feelings quite enough. "C'mon guys,
let's
go down." Sam said sighing. The members of X-Force followed him quietly
without any further comments.

Scott Summers watched them quietly as they disappeared in the hatch one
by
one. He had followed Sam to find out who had just appeared out of
nowhere
in front of their mansion but that wasn't the real reason that he came
here. He slowly headed for the boathouse looking up at the sky. ^Well at

least it stopped raining for a change.^ he thought as he gazed at the
morning sun raising above the horizon. ^Haven't seen Jean since
yesterday.
She's not responding to our psi link either. She just stormed out of the

room yesterday, angry. I mean what did I do ? She just started screaming

about how I don't care about her and I torture myself
with taking care of X-Men. How can she even say that ? I love her,
always
have. Isn't that enough ? And if I don't take care of the X-Men then who

will ? It's my responsibility as the leader to take care of them. And
then
she tells me about my responsibilities as a husband. I love her damn it,

what else does she want... Where is she anyway. She didn't come back for

the night.^ Scott opened the door to the boathouse. It was all tidy just

like it was the last time he was inside. No one was there since. ^Where
is
she. When she stormed out yesterday, she changed her clothes using her
telepathy. She hasn't done this since.... since she was Phoenix. I hope
she
doesn't get in any trouble.^

Underground

"So my friends I think it's time we began rebuilding the mansion."

"Not a moment too early Hank." Forge said.

"The question is, where do we start from." Cable said.

"From the obvious, Nathan the beginning." the cheerful McCoy answered.
"We
of course need some plans. I think I have some plans in my lab, left
from
the last time me and Forge rebuilt it. Of course we would need to change

them around a bit. Also another aspect is of course money. Warren is
gone."
said Hank frowning.

"Doesn't the Xavier Institute have any funds ?" asked Cable

"Yes it does, but since Charles in a coma, and officially dead the funds

would have to be transferred to someone else. Scott comes to mind.
Unfortunately this would be a long and withdrawn process. It could even
take up to three months. And we can't wait that long. So far the funds
from
the school are out."

"I think I can help Hank." Forge said. "When X-Factor broke off from
government's control, we all had government funds, accounts in fact.
Somehow those accounts weren't shut down. I still don't know why, the
government is such a mess, I suppose. Or maybe because they think we're
dead. Any way I have access to government's money."

"Wouldn't it be risky to use that account since you've gone underground
?"
asked Hank.

Forge smiled. "You haven't heard the best part yet, Hank. Shortly after
breaking away I introduced a small virus to the government's computers.
It
did many things, which aren't important now but one of them was that if
I
ever used the account nothing would show. The virus makes sure that any
withdraw goes unnoticed and is not possible to trace. So unless the
government knows the state of their money to every cent we are quite
safe
in using the money."

"Quite clever my friend, quite clever indeed." Hank said grinning. In
that
instant they were interrupted by Cannonball opening the door and peeking

in.

"Ah though Ah could find you here Cable. X-Force came back, they're in
the
lounge now."

"Hey Nate !" Tabitha shouted from behind Sam. Cable's face produced a
smile
while he got up.

"Hank, Forge you will have to excuse me, I've got to meet with my
students.
Can we continue this conversation later ?"

"In fact Nathan, we can't really do much more at this instant. I have to

start working on the plans but I don't think I'll have any time to do it

today..."

"And I need to go out to town to make myself a credit card, since I
don't
have one here." Forge announced. "And I've got something more to do in
the
afternoon, but that's a surprise..." Forge said smiling.

Hank, Cable and Sam exchanged glances. Forge had been talking about this

surprise for the whole day. What was it ? "Okay then we'll start working
on
the plans tomorrow. And Forge while you're in NY, have a look around for

some building materials, I doubt we're going to be hiring a building
company."

"You are right Nathan, X-Men make perfect builders." Hank pointed out
fighting to keep a straight face.

"I'll see you later." Cable said walking out of the room.

"So Forge, my friend looks like we will have to get going too. Tell me
what
is on your mind with that surprise ?"

"If I told you it wouldn't be a surprise, would it ? You'll find out
soon.
Is that curiosity I see in your eyes McCoy ?"

"Curiosity ? Oh no Forge, why did you think that ? Changing the subject
tell me when will you get that unfortunate arm of yours fixed ?"

"Oh, that I still didn't have time to do it."

"Come down to my lab tomorrow, and we'll do something about it, and no
buts."

"Okay Hank thanks. Well I guess I'll see you in the afternoon."

"Yes see you." said Hank hopping away. Forge turned around and began
walking away laughing to himself. Hank in turn, using his acrobatic
skills
hopped around the corridor heading for his lab. He bounced off the floor

and grabbed the ceiling pushing himself down immediately. His right leg
touched the wall on the right side while his hand swung him around the
corner. Not predicting for anyone to be there Hank swinged himself
around
the corner slamming face straight into Psylocke. They both fell to the
ground, Beast on top of Betsy. "My sincerest apologies Ms. Braddock. I
was
preoccupied with my humble thoughts, I didn't suspect bumping into a
human.
I guess I need to remember that I am not the only human being living on
this planet."

Betsy chuckled as Hank began standing up and getting off her. "Apology
accepted Henry."

"So how is our favorite ninja feeling today ?" Hank asked seemingly
getting
the dust out of his fur.

"I'm okay, I had a good night sleep and some good English breakfast."

Hank grinned at the mention of the breakfast. "I always thought that
English breakfasts were really rushed and unhealthy."

"Where did you hear that from Mr. McCoy ?" Betsy asked teasing him.

"Long time ago, it was from a certain fuzzy elf from Germany."

"Bah ! Germans are the ones which don't know anything about good
breakfast.
I mean they don't even drink tea. On another note,
don't you think it's a nice thing to have the sun out finally ?"

"Yes I do agree on the last statement, although I'm not quite sure about

the previous one." Hank said grinning. "Have you heard anything about
that
surprise our one armed friend Forge is preparing for us ?"

"No I'm afraid I haven't, Henry why ?"

"Oh nothing just wondering..." Hank stopped for few moments and took a
deep
breath. "Dare I ask what happened between you and Warren ?"

Betsy's face frowned and she remained silent for a moment as if deciding

what the say. "Noting really much too tell. He wanted to leave the team
I
wanted to stay. We got in a argument and broke up. He left the team.
Haven't heard from him since. Not that I want to. End of the story."

"I see, if you ever want to talk about it Elizabeth,"

"Don't worry Henry I am fine. It might have been hard but I got over it,

and I don't need to talk about it."

"Well if that's what you feel my dear Elizabeth then let it be it. I
guess
I'll see you in the afternoon for the big surprise from Forge."

"Good bye Henry. Said Elizabeth starting to walk. She went around the
corner and Hank started his journey towards his lab again.
"Henry ?" Betsy's head popped from behind the corner again.

"Yes ?"

"Thank you for asking." she said with a smile. Then she disappeared.
Hank
looked at the spot she just occupied for few moments, then shrugging his

shoulder he began walking away again.

Betsy's smile slowly faded away as she began walking again. She let out
sigh and stuck her hands into her pockets. She was feeling weird again.
Ever since that thing, whatever it was happen with the shadows, she just

felt... weird. She had mood swings, that came out of nowhere and
disappeared as soon. When she ate, she felt weird. As if the food was
disappearing into nothingness. She just ate and didn't feel it at all.
And
most of all whenever she was in the dark, or even in a shadow, she had
the
same feeling like she had yesterday. As if the darkness, the shadow
called
out to her, pulled her. And what was the most scary
part was that she was attracted to it, part of her yearned for more
experience like yesterday. And she noticed that this part of her
grew. What could this mean ? She had no idea, and maybe that was good.
But
Betsy wasn't the kind of person to sit and for the bad to happen. She
liked
to know what was coming and prepare for it. Not for a moment it came to
her
that maybe she couldn't prepare for it.

^At least I told Henry the truth.^ she thought. ^I've gotten over Warren

already. It's like I just don't care. I know I do, deep inside but I
don't
feel hurt. It's like, Warren left oh well. Just like that. Just as if I
had
no feelings.... not that I do, or so they say. Maybe it's got something
to
do with the way I'm feeling right now, maybe it's all connected. It's
almost like, like my personality is wiping away..."

Med. Lab

"And I'll be running through strawberry fields...." sang Hank as he
entered
his lab. He turned the light on using his foot and strolled
down to his chair. Settling in he turned on his computer. Out of the
corner
of his eye he saw Logan lying in the bed, his chest raising and falling
steadily. ^A week more and he should be walking.^ Hank thought.

"Hey furball." Logan said in a harsh voice.

"Good morning Logan how are we feeling today ? And just who are you
calling
furball, *Wolverine* ?" Hank said hopping over to Logan's bed.

"Just making a joke." Logan said grinning. How long have I been lying
here
?"

"One week and three days."

"Crap." Logan said trying to get up. He fell back into his bed and
breathed
deeply for few moments while Hank looked at him,
writing something down. "Okay then maybe I can't get up yet."

"Worry not Logan, my friend. According to my observations, and
calculating
the speed of your healing factor, then comparing it
with the data from your previous injuries which of course were hardly
countable since you seem to be loving getting in any fight that is
possible, and then you have to be treated by me, and of course I have to

record all data..."

"McCoy I don't have a whole day you know."

"Oh yes, apologies Logan I got carried away. Where was I ?"

"You were about to tell me how long I'll have to stay in this freakin
bed."

"Hmm I would say 168 hours since now."

"And that is ?" the short man was loosing his temper with the doctor.

"One week."

"One freakin week ? McCoy you seen Gumbo around ?"

"Yes, why ?"

"You gotta get me some smokes off him. There's no way I'll lay here for
a
week without a smoke."

"That my friend would be strongly unadvised. Your body has received
several
injuries in the last two weeks, like it probably never
has before and..."

"All right then, I'll ask him myself." said Logan looking away.

Hank smiled as he sat back down in front of his computer. He began
typing
something on the computer. A thought entered his mind and he turned his
chair around to face Wolverine. "Logan ?"

"Yeah ?"

"Do you have any recollection of what happened, and why with your body ?

The only thing Psylocke managed to get out of you was that someone put
andamitium back into you. But we don't know who, how and why."

"Sorry Hank. I have no idea either. I don' remember anythin'. All I know
is
that andamitium is back in me... I can feel it. I don' feel my claws
though. It's as if they were never there. And the holes are sealed.
Maybe
that means something. Maybe not."

"Oh I see." Hank said staring off into his own thoughts. Logan looked at

the wall thinking himself too. He did remember. Every single bit. And
most
of all, a bald man. With no hand. That was the boldest memory. It was
almost as if he had seen him before. How could he ?

Kitchen

"Rogue ?" Joseph said as he entered the "kitchen".

"Yeah sugah ?" she called out. He looked towards the sink and saw her
placing a apple pie into the oven. Stunned by the view his words stopped

dead in his throat. He couldn't get his eyes off it.

"Sugah if Ah eva catch ya starin' at my butt again Ah'm gonna snap your
neck." she said while straightening up.

"How.... how did you know ? I mean you didn't even look."

"Ah gotta seventh sense, sugah long story. What do ya want ?"

"I... I was just wondering, I guess it must be hard, for you and all."

"Hard ? What are you on about ?"

"I... I heard about you and Gambit."

"WHAT ?!"

"I heard that you and Gambit broke up."

"Yeah, so ?"

"Well I just thought you might need some company, a shoulder or
something
like that you know ?"

Rogue turned around and stared at him for few moments. He couldn't tell
what was going around her head and he certainly wasn't expecting what
came
next.

"You came here to give me your shoulder ?! Joe what do you think Ah am ?

The only reason you came here was to watch me while I was bending over
the
oven." she shouted.

"No... no I wasn't, I was going to..."

"No stupid excuses ! Ah don't need your shoulder. Ah don't need a man to

guide me. Ah was doing perfectly fine before any of you came along. Ah'm

tired of playing love games with you and Remy. Ah've had enough. Ah
don't
want to be with either you or Remy. Now get the hell outta here or gawd
help mah Ah'll tear ya to pieces."

Joseph was about to open his mouth and say something but Rogue didn't
let
him. "OUT !"

Seeing he didn't have much chances to live if he objected Joseph turned
around and walked out ^Must be having a bad day.^ he thought.
Unfortunately
for him he didn't know that he was wrong, Rogue was having a good day.
She
hasn't felt this good in years. It's almost like her old self came back.

But how could he know, he didn't remember her. He stuck his hands in his

pockets and strolled down the corridor. He felt really pointless now.
Direction less as well, it was almost as if... he didn't manage to
finish
that thought as a wave of pain his his brain. At first he thought it was
a
telepathic ambush but soon enough, before falling to the floor he knew
it
was yet another bit of his memory coming back. He grabbed his head in
pain
and bit his lips not to scream. It was happening again. He saw images.

*Laying down, somewhere, naked.* He was inside his own head now, looking
at
the images as if they were happening before his eyes. *I look up and see

her, standing above me. She's naked too just like me. But she's
different.
Her eyes spark with hate, and that smile, oh god how can it even be a
smile
? Then the rest comes. Rogue, Nick Furry and some blonde guy I don't
recognize. And a giant cat. A giant cat ? I must be going mad. They
rescue
me, I feel ashamed to be rescued. Me, the master of magnetism. Then that

bitch Zaladane, she attacks Rogue. The poor girl didn't even see it
coming.
Rage over helms me. I kill the Russian, then I set my sights on
Zaladane.
They try to stop me. But it's no use. I don't need to do this. I want to
do
this. I close my eyes as razor sharp pieces of metal cut her into
pieces.
I'm no Charles Xavier. I could never be. I was a fool trying like him
and
believing it could work. My own words. She falls dead onto the floor and
I
feel satisfaction.*

Then it ended. Joseph blinked and opened his eyes wide. He still
couldn't
believe it. Then he heard someone call his name.

"Bucket head are you all right ?"

Joseph looked up and saw Bobby standing over him. "Yeah, I'm fine.....
I...
I.... just.... tripped over."

"Yeah right." Bobby said turning his back on Joseph and walking away.
Joseph sat leaned on the wall and taking deep breaths and wiping away
sweat
from his face. ^I've had memory returns but never so powerfull.^ he
thought. ^What happened next ? The stupid thing ended when Zaladane fell
to
the floor. Who was Zaladane anyway ? So many questions. If the computers

were still running I could just find out, but now ? And it's not like I
can
just ask anyone.

Somewhere

The man known as Remy LeBeau stared at the bottle of beer in front of
him.
"Always comes t' dis." he mumbled to himself. "Anyone, Belle, Rogue it
all
ends, one way o' another. Maybe I should just stop now, before I hurt
more
people." "DAMN DIS ALL." he shouted throwing the beer across the room.
He
took few deep breaths fighting to control himself. "Call down you idiot.

You knew it was over. Now just get over it, like she did." he told
himself.
"I've done dis 'fore an' I c'n d' it now. Pretend I don' care. Be de
joker,
the free spirit. Be myself."

Outside, later.

Forge smiled as he opened the hatch and walked outside. The day was
nearing
to the end, the sun slowly beginning it's last hours on the sky. It was
a
long spring afternoon, first one this year to be seen with the sun out.
He
looked around to see most of the X-Men gathered for his surprise.
^Surprise... The whole team is so down I might as well show it to them,
to
lift their spirits up a bit.^ Storm was amongst them. She joined him as
he
walked out what used to be the house.

"Forge my friend, just what are you planning to show us ?"

"If I told you Ororo then it wouldn't be a surprise, would it ? And you
of
all should know what I'm going to do." he said. Storm gave him a puzzled

look and then her eyes sparkled, when she remembered. Forge mentioned
for
her not to spoil it, as he began walking towards the group standing on
the
lawn waiting for him. "Follow me." he simply said as he made his way
towards the boathouse. The X-Men walked behind him slowly curious about
the
surprise. Forge stopped by the boathouse and turned around looking
straight
into their faces. With a grin, that was hardly seen on his face he began

talking.

"Most of you where here when he came back from battling Shadow King, and

the mansion was destroyed, just like it is now. We came to rebuilding it

with great speed. At the same time Ororo asked me to reconstruct the
Blackbird, and I in fact built a new one, and I did what Ororo asked me.
I
hid the original." Forge stopped to see the reactions on their faces.
More
of them were shocked looking at him, as if realizing what he was going
to
do next.

"Robert, could I ask you a favor ?" Forge asked out of nowhere. Bobby
looked at him at the mention of his name.

"Yeah sure what do you want me to do ?"

"Freeze the lake."

"What ? Okay." Bobby's body was covered with ice in a blink of an eye,
and
he was building a ice platform in front of himself all ready. He moved
towards the lake and when he was directly above it, he began freezing
it.
Everyone looked at him, in silence. As soon as the water changed into
ice
Forge stepped onto it and mentioned for them to follow him. One by one
they
began walking on the ice looking around to see just what Forge was
talking
about. He led them silently over the lake.

Bobby finished his job and landed in front of them. "One Iceman special
done." he said with a big grin on his face. Few meters later, Forge
stopped.

"Here it is." he said.

Everyone gathered around him and looked down.

... IT'S THE ORIGINAL BLACKBIRD !

End

NEXT ISSUE:
"Shadow Men."

What could Senator Kelly want to announce on national television ?
Another
Operation Zero Tolerance ? Patriotic bashing of all mutants ? Maybe
finally
peace ? Or maybe something totally else ? And why does he want to meet
with
Cyclops ? How will Cyclops react to those news ? And not to mention he
finds out just why Jean is going nuts. How is he going to take that ?
Storm begins to wonder where to go with her life, now that her powers
are
gone. Plus more on just what Matuso is planning and
Psylocke meets some shadowy men. All here in 30 days ! (or longer if I
decide to extend my holiday in Europe)
--
Tom