A+X #4

(1st Story)
While in the midst of fighting, Beast and Spider-Man are transported to a decaying city. Judging by the overgrown vegetation, Beast determines they were somehow sent to the far future. As Spider-Man’s spider-sense goes off and Beast detects a disturbing odor, they find themselves facing an army of zombies.

Before fleeing, they argue over what terminology is appropriate for such beings since Beast believes the term “undead” makes little sense. As they are about to be overrun by the endless horde, an army vaporizes the zombies. Wearing beast-like armor with paw print sigils, they express excitement over their find and the need to alert the queen that the legends are true.

The army takes Beast and Spider-Man to a gated community and refers to Beast as the “Origin Maker,” whom the Queen awaits to see. Beast and Spider-Man quickly realize that the entire community consists of beings that share Beast’s physical traits: blue fur and feline features. Beast is speechless as he stares up at a gold statue of himself while passersby cry out in excitement.

The Queen arrives and refers to Beast as “The McCoy.” Dressed scantily with long crowned white hair, the beautiful queen tells him that he may call her Talia and that they have much to discuss.

While Beast goes off with Talia, Spider-Man is taken away by two guards and thrown in a coliseum. Surrounded by onlookers, an announcer presents Spider-Man as the last of his kind: a man! The announcer recaps the world’s history of the time when man caged “Beast” out of fear until the day man fought amongst themselves, allowing Beast to break free and claim the world for himself. Now that “man” has returned, the crowd wishes to see if he still has the arrogance to think he can leash the beast and they release a huge, panther-type creature known as a “Goliacat” into the arena. Spider-Man tries to get out of the situation with his usual wit but the crowd relentlessly screams, “Kill!” as the Goliacat finishes off his latest victim and moves on to Spider-Man.

Meanwhile, Beast is pampered with new garments and fresh fruit. Talia tells Beast that it was she who sent for him across the barriers of time because he is the origin maker, the first of their kind. Talia claims to have “selected” Beast and begins to make sexual advances towards him, despite him telling her that he is taken.

While the Goliacat pummels Spider-Man, Beast pushes away Talia, who tells Beast to give in to his animal urges. Losing patience, Beast demands to know where Spider-Man is and Talia pulls back a curtain to reveal Spider-Man fighting for his life in what she calls a “great feeding.”

Beast asks Talia to stop this madness and informs her that Spider-Man is his friend. Talia tells him that Beast is friend to no man and that he led a revolution that wiped man from the earth and turned his victims into zombies to further punish them. Assuming that his mutation saved him and his offspring from a pandemic virus, Beast is horrified to learn the truth and rushes into the arena to help Spider-Man.

Using their knowledge of physics, Spider-Man and Beast defeat the Goliacat by swinging Beast around with web and pounding the Goliacat’s head with extreme brute force.

Talia is outraged that Beast would turn away all her offer of love and a kingdom to save the life of a man. With tears in his eyes, Beast informs her that, despite appearances, he is a man himself. Talia banishes him from their timeline and tells him to enjoy his leashes and cages and men!

Later, Spider-Man and Beast sit on a park bench and recount their adventure. Spider-Man questions if Talia could have been Beast’s great-great-great-great-granddaughter but more importantly, wonders what could make Beast snap and lead the destruction of their planet. Before Beast could answer, a small boy points at him and insults his appearance while his mother tells him to leave that “dog” alone, as he could have rabies…

(2nd Story)
Captain America breaks into a seemingly normal home in a quiet suburban town with a reluctant Quentin Quire following behind. Captain American explains that the entire town is a front and that below them is an A.I.M. weapons cache. He brought Quentin along to help out with any psychic defenses they may encounter.

Quentin flat out tells the Captain that he’s not interested in teaming up, insulting Captain America’s ironic “Aryan Ubermensch” look and his stupid helmet wings. But most importantly, Quentin loathes Captain America for his attempt to throw him in prison and says that he’ll flash fry his fascist egg of a brain instead of helping him on this mission.

Captain America tells him the only reason he’s giving Quentin a second chance is because Logan believes that Quentin actually cares. He tells Quentin that he’s welcome to try to break into his mind but when Quentin attempts, he is only confronted with a giant-sized version of Captain America’s shield.

Captain America begins to climb down a secret hatch in the home’s kitchen and tells Quentin to follow. Egged on by his own conscience, represented by himself dressed as Professor X and Magneto, Quentin slams the hatch on Captain America with his foot.

(flashback)
As Captain America progresses on with the mission, he thinks back to a talk he recently had with Wolverine in a bar. Worried that kids these days resent him, Wolverine tells Steve that while he connects with the students because they’re all mutants, all they see in Steve is a shield and a flag. In order for them to trust Captain America, Wolverine says he has to show them the man beneath the costume.

(present)
Captain America is detected while Quentin sits on the living room couch, browsing magazines. He is suddenly pulled into Captain America’s head. He mocks Captain America’s cry for attention until he sees dozens of floating M.O.G.O.D.’s (Microscopic Oddities Generated Only for Destruction) headed his way.

Quentin manifests a psychic machine gun and retro army helmet but is quickly overwhelmed by the tiny terrors. Captain America pulls him out to safety. Quentin is shocked to see Captain America as Steve Rogers in regular army attire before his transformation into a superhero. Steve orders Quentin to pull it together and conjure up another “tool of authoritarian might” before the creatures eat his mind. “Sir. Yes, sir,” Quentin says with a smile as the two defend Captain America’s mind, represented again by a giant version of his shield, from the army of M.O.G.O.D.s.

Once the enemy is defeated, Quentin realizes that the tale of Steve Rogers volunteering to be a government lab rat to gain muscles and fight in a war is true and calls Captain America an idiot. Captain America says that he may be right but when he saw the injustice going on when power was placed in the wrong hands, he had no choice. Speechless, Quentin seems to grow some slight respect for the Captain.

Content that Quentin joined the fight, Captain America tells him that he’s free to have a life of his own again. Quentin is outraged, knowing that his reputation is ruined if others find out that he helped Captain America. Captain America assures him that there’s always another option and drops him off at the Jean Grey School in handcuffs, under the guise that he’s still a prisoner there.