X-Force (7th series) #3

Phnom Penh, Cambodia:
A huge, bald, golden man strides though the city. None of the armed forces can stop him.

Aboard X-Force’s jet, Sage orders Forge to tell her again, using more precise words. He repeats that he built the Analog to mirror the lines of dimensional, magical and electromagnetic forces around the world. Normally, the lines form a stable net. Lately, not so much. Something is causing some of the lines to break. His “fracture nodes,” she interjects. It can be a person, an event, both. If a fracture grows past a certain point, the effect becomes irreversible. Apocalyptic.

Phnom Penh:
The golden man sits down.

Aboard X-Force’s jet Sage stares at the Analog. Trillions of data streams folding in and out of stacked dimensions. It pings her mutation. His too, Forge admits. He recommends she never look at a Cosmic Cube.

They look at the other members of X-Force. Nori is sleeping, Rachel and Betsy are meditating together. Sage asks if the fractures are random. Escalating? He has no idea. He sees a problem, he builds a machine to fix it. He built the Analog. It points them to a fire. They go out and extinguish it. If not, the wildfire would be the last one ever.

So, whack-a-mole to stop the Apocalypse? she asks drolly. He reminds her, all mutations have limits, even the omegas. This is why he drafted this specific team. His mutation said they are the only fix. Sage reminds him that Nori wasn’t an original member.

That moment, Nori looks out of the window and alerts them to the damage in the city below. How are they fixing it? Rachel and Betsy sense all the pain and fear below. Forge announces there are no sat comms. Everything is massively scrambled. He is shocked to find, according to the Analog, the fracture is still a hundred miles north.

Surge shouts to the pilot, Tank, if the jet can hover. He does so and descends the jet to drop height. Surge races ahead, shouting they need to get down there.

Sage thinks to herself that she was one of Xavier’s first recruits and, when he found her, she was living very rough. She had no illusions about the world, but those kids of his… Xavier tells them the world is black and white, then he lets them find out themselves it consists of shades of grey, and it damages them… and some fall.

Nori wants to get down but Forge stops her. That is not the mission! She protests that people are dying down there. He replies that they need to handle the fracture. Maybe later they can come back. Maybe? she shouts. Was he on Mykines when Orchis came for them? She was!

Rachel tries to calm her but Nori isn’t having it. She saw what Orchis did to them and what they did to Orchis after and, she is telling them, never again! She jumps out of the jet.

Sage fears that is going to be a problem. Forge assures her she will be fine. He upgraded Surge’s gauntlets. Smaller, more efficient. She can access more power now and have finer control. Sage corrects that she is not talking about Nori but Nuklo. And what under heaven is a Nuklo? Betsy interjects.

Sage shows them a hologram of Nuklo, a tall, bald man. Robert Frank Jr., the mutant son of the WW II heroes Whizzer and Miss America. Powerset: accelerated growth, esoteric energy generation, apex order strength and durability. Though an adult, his mental development was roughly that of a toddler. He fought the Avengers to a standstill twice, then got captured and sent to Project Pegasus for treatment and study. He popped up years later as an operative of something called the Penance Council, seemingly an adult in mind and body.

Betsy suggests that he is the fracture but Forge corrects her: The fracture is still ahead of them but the Analog considers Nuklo as connected to it. The catalyst, Sage suggests. Rachel considers this is splitting hairs. They need to stop him, right? Forge agrees.

Shortly, the giant Nuklo looks up as the jet flies over him and Tank jumps on him, while apologizing. Nuklo falls shouting his own name repeatedly. Tank takes a fighting staff and attacks, hitting nerve points. Eventually, though, one of Nuklo’s blows connects and sends Tank flying.

Betsy orders Rachel to catch Tank telekinetically while she attacks Nuklo with her psychic blade. Rachel criticizes her bossiness. Not the time, Betsy chides, her while striking another blow. While telekinetically getting Tank to safety, Rachel replies sarcastically that she will schedule it for a time when the world is not coming down around their ears.

Nuklo strikes the ground and shockwaves make Betsy lose her balance. However, suddenly Nuklo freezes. Betsy looks up and sees why. Rachel has psi-locked him. Betsy tries to reach her, but Rachel’s mind is on the astral plane. Betsy chides her lover for her carelessness but then follows.

Inside Nuklo’s mindscape, she sees Rachel defending herself against attacks from the Avengers, as well as Miss America and the Whizzer. Betsy asks what she is playing at. Does it look like she’s playing? Rachel demands. It looks like she is fighting Avengers from several years ago, Betsy points out and muses that Nuklo’s mind is using them as psychic antibodies. She remarks that Rachel is a top tier psionic. That she is having trouble here only proves… “Enough!” Rachel shouts while barely fending off the anger with her TK.

Betsy continues that she didn’t want to join the team but, as they have, why not talk to Forge and Sage? Surely between them they can come up with something to help… Enough! Rachel shouts and beats the antibodies that disappear. Feel better? Betsy asks. Rachel replies yes and Betsy suggests they crack on.

They find a representation of the old Avengers Mansion, which feels like Nuklo’s core to them.

Reality:
The X-jet lands nearby the frozen Nuklo and the telepaths. Sage analyzes and mentions that Project Pegasus’ files show Nuklo’s energy is extradimensional, not atomic. She thinks they can disrupt it enough to stop him, then they can get on with closing the fracture before it is too late.

Astral plane:
As they enter the mansion. Rachel complains she joined because she couldn’t bear sitting on the shelf anymore. She isn’t one of Betsy’s porcelain dolls. No way is she letting Forge poke around in her head. Definitely not while he is wearing the psi-blocker headband. Betsy points out that Sage trusts Forge and she is not blocked. Rachel agrees. Tessa is why she said yes. What about Tank? His mind is just static. Is he even organic?

They walk down a hallway. Betsy asks if she thinks Tank is a robot or LMD. Rachel replies, Forge can build anything – why not a person? They walk toward an open door. They need to have a real talk with him after the fracture stuff. Suddenly, they see Nuklo as an infant.

Reality:
Sage and Forge agree on using electricity for the disruption

Nuklo’s mindscape:
Inside, the two psis are horrified to see Nuklo’s core is a child! Rachel also notices that this was done to him. Somebody regressed his mind! She notices some weird letters, then Nuklo screams.

In reality, Forge and Sage see the two telepaths being in pain and call Surge, who is currently helping people. She hesitates but Forge points out she can help more people by closing the fractures.

She is angry but begins running to them. Forge lectures her that they are not here for the show but the win, and they do that by keeping the world spinning another day.

Nori races toward Nuklo. She hits him with her electricity and makes him pause. Forge orders her to hit him again. They’ve got to put him down! Nori and Forge blast him both, though Nori demands what he means by “putting him down.”

However, in his growing rage, Nuklo slams both away and Tank now finds he is the only one left standing to face the raging monster.