[X-Writers] X-Factor #124

[LEONE ATCHISON]

**********

Whilst X-Writers is usually very good at tying up loose ends, occassionally we
leave one or two of our own lying around. The biggest one to date is X-Factor,
a series which was cancelled without a final chapter. Now things are hotting up
in the XW universe, and with new titles on their way, bringing closure to this
old title has become imperative.

So, without further ado, here is a revised version of X-Writers X-Factor #124,
to be followed shortly with a brand new X-Factor #125. Thanks for your patience,
and enjoy the show.

Andrew Wheeler - Editor, X-Writers.

**********

This is a piece of X-Writers fan fiction, using characters owned by Marvel
Comics. We do not have their permission, nor do we have money, so don't sue.

**********

X-Factor #124
'Imagery and Fallacies'
By Vorpal Bunny
Revised and edited by Andrew Wheeler

**********

Fall's Edge, X-Factor Compound, 10:00. Monday.

"Forge?"

Val Cooper wandered throughout the halls of the X-Factor compound.
She wasn't really keen on being in here at all. It wasn't always like
this. She used to enjoy her work, she had fun, but now, it was a chore.
X-Factor was more efficient now than it was before, partly due to
Forge's management skills, but something was different. Maybe it was the
new headquarters. This new compound resembled a bunker more than an
office complex. It was too big and too dark for someone who's idea of a
relaxing time was sitting down in a well-lit cubicle.

Now, she was on a quest for Forge, the deputy leader of X-Factor,
inventor of fantastic devices, and general recluse. Although she cared for
Forge, Val and Forge disagreed constantly on how to run the team. Forge
also wasn't very interested in filling out forms or signing requisition
sheets. Val hated to admit it, but she liked sitting at a desk and
filing papers. Going out into the field with a cannon strapped to her
shoulder was not her idea of a safe or sane life. Having arguments with a
man who regularly fights alien menaces was difficult, to say the least.

Right now, Val desperately needed Forge to sign the repair
authorization forms for Damage Control. Although she was technically his
supervisor, Damage Control's forms specifically called for both hers and
Forge's signature before they would begin repairs on the southern wall.
Val wasn't even sure why she was bothering with it, it wasn't like she
was the one who fired an energy blast into the support structure in
anger.

Shard had gotten upset over something her brother, Bishop, had
told her, and responded by destroying a chunk of the wall. Val wan't sure
how liable a hologram was, though, or whether or not Shard could even pay
money. That was another thing that she wanted to talk to Forge about.

"Forge? Has anyone seen Forge?" shouted Val, as she turned a
corner into a crowded science lab.

"No, ma'am," said a technician. Like the others at the lab, he
was a thin, white coat-wearing man who had probably never seen the sun.
Val could never keep them separated. They all looked, talked, and dressed
the same. She always forgot to run a background check on them, to see
if they were in fact, related. If they weren't, they all had to be mutants.

"How the heck are we supposed to get anything done if we can't
even find one another?" cried out Val. Her face started to turn red.

"Is there a problem Ms. Cooper?" asked a voice from nowhere.
A thin body suddenly popped out of the thin air behind Val Cooper.

"Ahhhh!!" screamed Val, as she shuffled backwards into a table.

"Oh, sorry," said Wild Child, with an amused look.

"Don't...do that!"

"Yes ma'am." said Wild Child, with a slight grin on his face. Val waited
a second while her heartbeat returned to normal. She couldn't understand
why a Canadian was on an American task force. At least Rahne had had an
excuse, she'd had a green card. As far as Val knew, Kyle didn't even have a
passport, and yet he was hired. At least he wasn't a convicted criminal
like some of the other members. Well, she amended, at least he wasn't
*RECENTLY* convicted.

"And this is supposed to be a good thing?" mumbled Val.

"Pardon?" asked Wild Child.

"Never mind, I'm glad I ran into you, Kyle. Have you seen Forge?"
asked Val.

"A couple hours ago. He took one of the jeeps and headed off. I'm
not sure where," mumbled Kyle, as he quickly sauntered down the hallway.

"Great..." moaned Val, as she miserably shuffled down yet another
vast corridor. She really needed a good cup of coffee now. Unfortunately,
this was a government complex. Good cup of coffees were nowhere to be found.

******

X-Factor Compound, Training Room. 11:45. Monday.

<FZAAAAAAK!>

Another stream of energy singed past Mystique. This one narrowly
missed her head by less than an inch.

"Give it up, Mystique. You don't have a chance," said Shard.

The blue-skinned Mystique dodged behind another wall as Shard
unleashed two more bolts of energy from her hands. Mystique blamed all of
this on Val. Val Cooper thought that it might be a good idea for Mystique
and Shard to get to know each other, both in person and in combat. Mystique
was hardly the epitome of warmth, and Shard...Shard was a hologram, a
concept which Mystique found unnerving. It didn't help that Shard was also
dead...oh, about a 100 years from now.

What was even more irritating was that Mystique knew that Val
wouldn't want her to employ lethal force, despite the fact that neither
of them were sure if it was possible to kill a hologram. Obviously, Shard
realized this dilemma, and had been toying with Mystique for the past ten
minutes.

"Oh come on. If you give up now, I promise I won't hurt you,"
said Shard, with the cocky grin she always had. She lazily floated through
the room.

That was the final straw. With a sudden burst of speed, Mystique
hurtled away from the wall. She switched her pistol to a wide-spread,
high-burst energy beam. It would deplete her pistol's charge and render
it useless, but Mystique was intelligent enough to know that if this
didn't work, she didn't have a chance anyway.

"ZAMZAMZAMZAMZAMZAMZAM!!!!"

In the blink of an eye, Shard duplicated. There were suddenly
dozens of Shards, all flying throughout the room. The blast hit none
of them. The Shards then closed around in a circle, hands glowing and a
sadistic grin on their faces.

<WHOOSH!>

The door to the training room was suddenly pushed open, and
Wild Child ran in.

"Hey, Shard!" cried out Wild Child.

"Wha..." said the Shards, surprised by Wild Child's unexpected
appearance.

The momentary distraction was enough for Mystique to jump from her
position and run towards the cover of the door.

"Kyle, you ruined my shots!" said the Shards. They rapidly merged
into one again.

"Hey, sorry. But it's almost noon, and I thought you might want
to go out for lunch...or..something," said Wild Child, with a sheepish
look upon his face.

"Sigh...sorry for yelling at you like that, hon. You're right,
it'd be nice to get away from here. Looks like you get a break, Mystique,"
said Shard. She had an arrogant tone to her voice, and teasingly winked
at the shape-shifter.

Mystique merely glowered as the pair walked off. After she was
sure that they were gone, she angrily threw the useless pistol at the wall.

<KTUNK!>

It bounced off, doing nothing to assuage her anger.

*******

X-Factor Compound, Outer Perimeter, 0:01. Tuesday.

The X-Factor compound is nearly impenetrable. Placed in the
heart of a mountain range in West Virginia, its location is remote enough to
discourage most intruders. There is a 12-foot high concrete wall arund
the perimeter, which is topped by an electrical fence at the top.

If an intruder gets past this though, he'll have to walk through
fields of motion detectors, heat sensors and pressure pads. Following
this is a grassy plain, which looks simple enough, but actually
contains an array of infrared beams. If any of them are triggered,
dozens of tasers instantly launch into the intruders. None of the traps,
of course are lethal. There are regulations against using deadly force
on civilians. But all of them comply perfectly with government
regulations, and that's perhaps the most frightening thing of all.

If, by some miracle, an intruder gets inside, well, let's just
say that it's very, very painful and the countermeasures involve several
devices which have been declared heretical by most organized religions.
On the bright side, these devices also conform with every federal safety
and health standard. Of course, it's not certain which government of
which century we're talking about.

This is why it would be a complete surprise if anyone got past
these security devices, like someone just did tonight.

*******

X-Factor Compound, Computer Room, 0:30. Tuesday.

The intruder quietly and quickly snuck into the central computer
center of the compound. He or she knew where it was located, and did not
hesitate even once. The intruder efficiently evaded all of the security
devices leading to the doorway, as if he or she knew the entire layout of
the compound.

In the absence of light it was hard to make out the figure. For one
moment, it seemed to be a heavy-set man. A second later, it appeared as
a svelte woman. The intruder had one goal and one goal only. There was a
tremendous danger in being found in this compound, especially with all of
the super-powered residents. However, the intruder wasn't too worried,
everything had been planned.

The only light in the room was on the computer terminal.

[DOWNLOADING FILE: SHARD]

**********

Gollam Research Corp. 15:21. Tuesday.

A thin, short-haired man walked into the laboratory. Gollam was
a leader in artificial intelligence software. They were all also fanatical
watchers of Knight Rider. The closest they came to real AI was a coffee
machine that could make either a dreadful coffee, or brown sludge, depending
on how appreciated it felt.

The man took a quick glance until he found the programmer he was
looking for. It was a monumental task, to say the least. Everyone at the
lab dressed the same, looked the same, and talked the same. The visitor
was almost certain that they must all be long-lost brothers.

"Afternoon, Mr. Ritchie," said the programmer, pointing towards
an empty chair in front of him.

"Hi, John. Did you fish working on that job?" asked Ritchie. He
sat down in the reclining chair that John had pointed to.

"Yes, sir, Mr. Ritchie, but I have to tell you, I don't know
why you bothered bringing it to me," replied John, picking up a disk
that was inside his shirt pocket.

"What do you mean?" asked Ritchie, with a puzzled tone.

"This program, it's some type of operating system for a hologram
projector, right?" asked John, as he inserted the disk into his desktop
computer. He punched a few buttons and called up the program.

"Yes, why?"

"Well, I mean, it doesn't do anything," said John, with a
nasally tone to his voice.

"What are you talking about?" said Ritchie, his voice rising
slightly in panic.

"It's a pretty rudimentary version of HoloArt 2.0. You can buy
that at most stores for about $200. Why would a company like yours be
interested in it?"

"You're telling me that the program on the disk..it doesn't do
anything?"

"Not really. It's a pretty elementary code. From what I gather,
all it does it call up a single image, turn it 3-D, and just lets it
stand there. It's no different than those stickers you see at toy stores."

"The code....there's nothing special about it at all? There's no
AI involved in it at all?"

"No. Heck, my nephew could whip up something like this in a
couple of hours," said John.

"...."

"Shane, are you all right? Would you like some coffee?"

**********

X-Factor Compound, Val Cooper's Office, 20:07. Wednesday.

If you could say anything about Val Cooper, the one thing
that everyone could agree upon is that she's predictable (The other
thing they would say is that she had a 6-inch rod stuck up her...well,
you know). They would all say that Val lives and sleeps inside her
office. Val Cooper is the type who would bed snuggling a classified
file. Val Cooper is a woman whose idea of adding excitement into her
life consists of using different-colored paper clips. All of these
things are right, of course, but most of these folks tend to be
clueless twits who have never actually talked to Val Cooper.

Although this night, Val WAS in her office at Eight O'Clock, and
she WAS looking through some classified files instead of having a social
life.

"Val," said a deep voice.

What was once a shadow suddenly formed into the shape of a
blue-skinned woman.

"Wh....Raven? How did you..oh...never mind," said Val Cooper.

"Val, there's a problem," said Mystique.

"What is it?"

"I'm not entirely sure, but there's something dangerously wrong
with X-Factor, and it involves Forge," said Mystique, her tone getting
more frantic. It wasn't like Mystique to ever show nervousness. Even her
accent, which she was so careful to conceal, started to show.

"What *about* Forge?"

"I think he's got his own agenda. I don't know what he's up to, but
he's been playing us all for fools. He's using us all, using X-Factor for
some agenda that I'm only beginning to figure out," said Mystique.

"You think Forge is a traitor? Forge? But.."

"Val, you know I only joined X-Factor because of you. We both
know that your goverment couldn't offer me anything I wanted. I joined
because you needed someone you trust, someone you knew could find out what
was really going on," said Mystique, as she slowly paced around the room.

"Well, yes...I mean...I wanted someone who would distract the
management and the team...so we could uncover any secrets..." replied
Val, but she was now speaking in more hesitant tones.

"Well, you were right. Funds for X-Factor are definitely being
siphoned off. There have also been a series of shielded and unauthorized
transmissions from the compound. You're right about everything. But
Val, Forge is behind it."

"I...tell me more."

"I've been looking through his personal files. I searched through
his room during one of his disapperances. There are invoices and orders
to Stane International for some heavy munitions and armored tanks. I checked
X-Factor's budget...there's no order at all for any type of heavy artillery.
I also traced his phone calls for the last month like you recommended.
He's been making a number of calls to a company called Janus Industries.."

"And...?"

"Janus Industries is a front for AIM. I know, I've...used their
services before,"

"My....God...."

"I broke in here the other night. In case the computer system
detected an unauthorized user, I wanted to make sure that Forge thought it
was someone from the outside, not someone from the inside. I don't think
I was spotted, though," said Mystique. She then slowly turned her face
towards Val, "I took the time to make a copy of Shard, a copy of the
program."

"What? You had no right....." Val looked confused, perplexed.
Mystique had rarely seen her like this.

"Val, I had 'Shard' analyzed. The program doesn't DO anything.
It's only supposed to generate a static image. Not some flying mutant
with energy blasts. Forge has been lying to us all along."

"I never suspected that Forge could be a traitor though...maybe
Wild Child...but.."

"I know, but that's what he wanted us to think. I looked over the
personnel records and communiques from Forge for the past several months.
You wouldn't believe how much of this insanity he's responsible for. That
also explains this plan to recruit Spoor, I mean really, was someone expecting
X-Factor to be...a...a suicide squad? A group where 'villains' come
together and work for the government? It sounds laughable if you think
about it," said Mystique, her voice rising in pitch.

"I don't...I don't know what to say. We've got to stop him,
that's for sure. He's become a menace. What do you think we should do?"

"We should find out why he's doing this. Why he's betrayed you. What
his agenda is!" said Mystique.

"I can't understand why he'd do this...." muttered Val, her eyes
growing frantic.

"Neither can I, but there has to be a reason. Can you think of
anything at all?" inquired Mystique, but there was a calmer tone to her
voice now. Her manner had subtly changed.

"I don't know. He's been different the past few months, that's for
sure. More closed, sometimes...maybe even acting out of character. It's
like he's not himself....like someone's pretending to be him."

"You know what Val"

"What?"

"I think you're right."

<KTOOM!><KTOOM><KTOOM!>

In a blur, Mystique's pistol was in her hands. Three bolts of energy
had lanced across the air and into Val Cooper's chest. All of them hit solidly,
spurting blood throughout the room. Surprisingly, none of the blood
splattered on Mystique.

"Why...." moaned Val Cooper.

The shape of Val Cooper began to disappear and melt, reforming
itself into another shape, a familiar one. The form of the body-thief,
Mountjoy. The wounds and blood were still there, but Mountjoy had a
familiar grin on his face. The same grin that Mystique remembered so
well on "Shard."

"Con...congrat..congratulations Mystique....it...seems....
you've...tricked...a trickster," gasped Mountjoy.

"Now the only question is what I'm going to do with you in the
two minutes or so of life you have left," said Mystique, with a calmness
to her voice that wasn't there before.

"I...gasp...can't.....wheeze...believe....this..."

"Don't look so surprised. You should have known this was coming.
Both Val and I suspected that there was something wrong with Forge.
Like Shard. How could Forge come up with a hologram with super-powers?
One that could travel for miles without being connected to a generator?
And one that fell in love with Wild Child? Then there were the ludicrous
events, like the threat of Spoor joining X-Factor. Oh please, we're not
idiots," said Mystique.

"....Obviously...."

"You somehow took over Forge, and came up with the roster change to
catch us off guard. I must say, I'm a bit impressed at how you were able
to work through intermediaries, making your shock seem sincere. Then,
you used your 'Shard' to charm Wild Child, since you figured that without
Forge, he'd be the only one among us who might be able to detect you."

"It...can't...end....like...this..." wheezed Mountjoy, his
limbs flailing through the air.

"It will. You lose," said Mystique, raising her pistol again, this
time, at Mountjoy's head.

"I.....don't think so, Mystique," said Mountjoy, with a gleam
in his eyes. Strength suddenly returned to his voice, and his demeanor
completely changed.

"What.."

"You can't trick a trickster, Mystique."

Mountjoy's "body" disappeared. The chair he was sitting on had been
destroyed, as if it was hit by energy beams. Mystique quickly turned around,
but not fast enough. A hand came out of nowhere and grabbed her by the
throat, slowly lifting her into the air.

"Tell me, Mystique, for a man who was able to 'create' a walking,
talking, fighting hologram, how hard do you think it was to fool you into
seeing me on that chair? I co-opted Forge. He and I are one. I have his
knack for seeing patterns, you know. I've been expecting you for hours,"

Mystique struggled valiantly, but she found that it was harder to
move. Her arms and legs felt like they were in molasses.

"You tried to kill me. Let's see if you're as good at coming back
from the dead," taunted Mountjoy.

He slowly crushed his hands around Mystique's throat, snapping her
windpipe with ease.

"Ahhhhhhh!!!" cried Mystique, gasping for air. She kicked and
punched Mountjoy as hard as she could, but none of her blows affected
him.

"You tried Mystique, but you're just not good enough.....
Good-bye," said Mountjoy, with a whimsical tone in his voice.

He watched with sadistic joy as Mystique flailed helplessly,
gasping for air that wouldn't come into her lungs. Finally, after what
seemed like an eternity, Mystique's arms and legs stopped moving. The
ghastly choking noses stopped, and her head fell towards the floor.

He checked her pulse and breathing until he was certain that she
was dead. Then, just to make sure, he slit her throat with a quick slice
from a knife he drew from his coat pocket. He turned around and slowly
headed towards the window. His eyes flashed like two bright suns. He
casually opened the window to Val Cooper's office, and jumped out,
accomplishing an impossible leap of over 50 feet to the ground.

He quickly rebounded and scampered off, playfully jumping over
the security devices. His speed was inhuman. Anyone looking would
have seen nothing more than a blur.

At the final perimeter wall, he leaped up into the air, flipped
over, and landed precisely on the other side of the wall. He shuffled away
from the compound and looked backwards once.

"Perfect," muttered Mountjoy.

He took a quick glimpse until he spotted a camera trained upon him.
He looked at it and smiled. His grin was inhuman. He appeared to be in
sheer ecstasy.

"Good-bye kids," quipped Mountjoy. He raised his hand, which had
a small device with a large red button on it. He pressed the button and
rapidly ran away.

<KRAKATHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!!!!!>

The explosion began from Val Cooper's office. It was followed a by
a series of even larger explosion all over the compound. Within a matter of
minutes, the entire X-Factor compound was destroyed, levelled completely
to the ground.

**********

X-Factor Compound, The Basement Command Center, 04:17, Thursday.

"That was a risky gamble you pulled."

"I...know. It still hurts. But I was able to use my shape shifting
power to trick Mountjoy into thinking he killed me. I've never used my
powers before to re-shape my organs like that though. I don't think I'll
be able to shape shift for a while. It took all I had to get out of your
office before the bombs went off," said Mystique. She was still bloodied
and bruised from the attack, but she was alive.

She sat down in the chair again, trying to focus past the pain
she was still in. Fortunately for her, the basement command center was
well-stocked in medical gear.

"I... know. I'm sorry, Raven. I shouldn't have let you go in like
that. I... I just didn't know we were up against Mountjoy.. My God...those
people in there... It's all... it's all my..."

"Stop it Val, it wasn't your fault. Neither of us suspected anyone
like Mountjoy. It's as much my fault as it was yours. We're just lucky
that the compound was pretty much vacated by that time,"

"I..."

Val Cooper sat silently for a minute, then, her countenace
changed immediately. Her face hardened once more, and she became the
strong-willed woman that Mystique knew intimately.

"I tried contacting Wild Child. No go. Wherever Mountjoy
went, he must have taken Kyle with him. No one's seen him at all since
he and 'Shard' went out for lunch the other day," said Val.

"That's no surprise. He was completely smitten over that
monstrosity," growled Mystique.

"Apparently, Department Kappa sent out Threnody Smile, which as you
know, is another government-funded group. They spotted Forge...Mountjoy
via their satellite tracking system an hour ago, and have been
trailing..."

<BEEP!><BEEP!>

A terminal flashed into action, and new data scrolled across the
screen.

"Oh no..." said Val. The strength suddenly seemd to drain out of
her.

"What happened?" asked Mystique.

"Threnody Smile... they engaged Mountjoy without approval. They
found him about 30 miles from the compound. Apparently, he was just standing
there, waiting..."

"And?"

"They're dead. They're all dead. I don't know who Mountjoy absorbed
besides Forge, but he slaughtered Threnody Smile. Apparently... ugh... he
eviscerated James Prodigy, fleansed Jack Delphi, blew up Jessica Prime
from the inside, and... and... ripped apart John Demon limb by limb... He
was expecting them... The rescue crew found their... body parts... strewn
all over..." said Val, her face white with shock.

"I'm sorry Val, I know how much you were counting on them. So what do
we do?"

"We fall on our backup plan. We both knew that someone in X-Factor had
been compromised. I have to admit, I wasn't expecting the entire team,
though. With Threnody Smile out of the action. We'll have to activate our
rescue plan faster than we anticipated. Wild Child, Shard and Forge are
all gone. We don't know what he wants, but with Forge's genius on his
side, Mountjoy's almost unstoppable," said Val.

"You have all of the agents ready?" asked Mystique. As much as
she admired Val, even Mystique had to admit that she was amazed by Val
Cooper's speed and efficiency. In their own ways, Val and Mystique were
easily the most dangerous women on earth.

"Yes. This time, I hand-picked all of them. I didn't want to take
the risk that another government management team would screw it up. Take
a look," said Val, pointing towards a large terminal. Several faces
flashed upon the screen. Mystique studied the screen intently.

"John Walker AKA Jack Daniels, AKA the USAgent. Last reported
killed in the Savage Lands. Fortunately, SHIELD had enough sense to
report him as being dead. He requested it, actually," said Val, "His 'Jack
Daniels identity had been compromised, and he didn't want to risk any
further retaliations on his family. I've used his services before. He's a
bit of loose cannon, but his loyalty is unquestionable. He also has
extensive military training. The others, you might know already," said Val.

"Garrison Kane, formerly known as Weapon X. I must admit that I'm
not too familiar with him, but Gyrich of all people wanted me to try him
out. He comes highly recommended from SHIELD, and I'm not in a position to
turn down help.

"Lorna Dane, Polaris. I've kept her in reserve just in case things
did blow up... sorry, no pun intended.

"Guido Carosella, Strong Guy. He's recovering from injuries in
California, but according to the doctors, he'll be ready for battle
immediately.

"And...

"Avalanche..."

Val looked at Mystique intently. If there was any fear, pain, or any
emotion at all going through Mystique's mind, then she was hiding them
superbly. Val wasn't sure how Mystique would handle the inclusion of
Avalanche. If Mystique had one chink in her facade, it was the legacy
of Freedom Force. There may have been a better alternative, but Avalanche
was still working for the government, and was the easiest agent to contact.
There simply was no time to be gentle.

"Impressive," said Mystique. She had a slightly contemptuous tone
to her voice. It was difficult for Val to tell if it was genuine or not.

"...Oh, and there's one more person," said Val, in an off-handed
way. A side door opened, and a tall man casually lounged in. He had a
wide grin on his face.

"Mystique, say hello to Jamie Madrox, the Multiple Man. He used to
be dead."

"Hi," said Jamie.

*************
To Be Concluded...
*************