Genetic X #1
                           "A New World"
                                by
                     Reuben Macapinlac *Supereub*
                             June 1997



PART ONE

The dark piers of San Francisco remain empty, no movement in play or figure
in sight.   The thick fog surrounds the air, but in a few moments, a
stranger can be seen.  His boat beginning to arrive in the loading dock.

(Can't let them get me! )  Young Victor Creed repeats in his head.  He
climbs off his small boat and onto the wooden pier.  His white lab coat
drenched and stained with filth.  He begins to run, determined to not even
slow down his sprint for a second.

Victor Creed was always a passive and shy person, never in his mind
dreaming of betraying a person or even hurt one at that matter.  That is,
until several days ago, when he was blackmailed by a trooper to print out
the layouts of the recent 'Project Sabretooth': A cruel experimentation on
enhancing the physical genetics of an individual, strengthing their five
senses to the extreme as well as giving them the strength and agility equal
to superhuman levels.    If he didn't give any of the information, he would
publcize the secrets of Creed, such as purposely failing each experiment
processed on each specimen, preventing such a savage processed to be gone
through any human or mutant alike.

As the scared scientist huffed and puffed passed the docks and through the
package warehouses located near the bay, he could hear the calls of the
cajun, demanding he stop his efforts to escape.

He turns, running through the dark alley, still no one to be seen
throughout this area other than himself.  It was rare to find someone in
the loading bay and warehouses after the shifts were done.  (Got to get to
a crowded place!  They might not be able to find me there.)

The distant drone of their overhead hovercrafts can be heard from a
distance.  Victor glances back at the corner of his eye.  His heart raced
as he saw the advanced vehicles floating in mid-air, all four of them
heading towards him at a faster speed than he was running.   He stopped,
realizing that any other effort to get away would be ineffective.  He began
to tremble, getting down on one knee and rummaged the ground for any item
he can grab.  Immediately, after finding a empty beer bottle, he got up.
Slowly, he moved his arm back and hurled it forward, releasing the bottle.
A frown forms on his face as he watches the bottle reach its peak halfway,
slowly falling back to the earth...followed by a loud shattering sound.

"Y' know y' can't stop us, Victor." the Cajun said, lowering his hovercraft
to the ground.  The remaining three remain at the same elevation they were
before.

"P...p...please, Remy," he stammered.  "I didn't mean it, you k...k...know
how I am."

"Too late for dat mon ami," the red-haired soldier landed his mobile on the
ground, stepping off it and towards him.  "We gotta take y' back t' Essex."

"Please Remy!  He'll kill me!  You can't!"

Remy paused, staring eye to eye with Victor.  He hesitated, watching this
man...a man he knew ever since he was a young child of thirteen, now
begging for his mercy.  The silence was interrupted by the comment from
another one of the soldiers.  A burly and giant for a man, clean shaven
head with a mean and rugged face.  Red scar tatoos appeared across his
cheekbones.  "Shaddap you whimperin' pussy!" he shouted.  "I ain't got time
for this crap!"

In an instant, the large soldier removed his gun from his belt sheathe and
held it with one hand, pointing the muzzle directly at Creed.  "I'll do the
job right ere', Essex ain't have to deal with this sissy!"

"NO!" Remy protested.  "We'll have no blood on our hands.  Essex said t'
bring him back t' de lab."

"I suggest we bein' headin' back now, lad." The third soldier added.

Remy nodded, not turning his eyes off Victor.  "Right, head back and tell
him that Remy bring Victor in a few minutes."

"Aye sir."

Slowly, Remy slips out a small compact round object.  Immediately, he drops
it and watches as the item rolls in front of Victor's feet.  In a moment,
the small circular ball emits large surges of energy, electricuting his
victim.

"AAAGGGHHH!!!" Victor screams in agony, dropping to the ground and lying
prone on the floor.  Remy steps toward the unconscience body, shaking his
head.  Kneeling down on one knee, he curdles the body in his arms, walking
him back to the hover craft.

"I'm sorry, Victor." Remy whispered.

***

Monet St. Croix lies in her cell, alone, and afraid.  It's been almost a
year since she was first abducted by the Marauders and taken to the
experimentation labs.  Everyday since her arrival, she has been thinking of
her family, her twin sisters missing, both parents dead from a fire, and
her brother nowhere to be seen after he broke out of prison 3 years ago.

The footsteps outside become louder, Monet lifts her head, eyes half open.
The trooper stops in front of her cell door, and the panel slowly slides
open.  "Get up!" he commands.

She nodded, slowly lifting herself up from her bed and stretching her arms.
"Yes sir."

The soldier grab her wrist, tightening his grip and giving her a wicked
look.  "Come on and hurry!  I'm puttin' ya in charge of sector watch."

Monet's eyes widened, if it wasn't for her neck collar which neutralized
her various superhuman powers, she would knock that soldier across the
floor.  "Y...y...yes sir."

The soldier escorted the lady mutant to a huge room.  A giant computer base
the size of one side of the wall.  A huge computerized map of the main lab
displayed on the huge monitor.  She studied it tactfully, trying to make as
many mental notes as she can.  The trooper came to a halt, grabbing a rifle
from the rack and bumping it against her chest.  "Take it!  This is a gun,
loaded and ready.  All ya gotta do is aim and pull the freakin' trigger, ya
got all that?"

She bobbed her head.  "Yes sir." she took the rifle from his hands.

"Another soldier should be hear in a few minutes, he'll be takin' ya to the
mutant experimentation chambers.  You try to do anything stupid, and we'll
activate your collar.  Unless you wanna be fried by 10000 pure energy
volts, I suggest ya just stay here and guard the recruits." he said,
pointing at two weak and frail mutants lying on a steel bed.

"Yes sir." she repeated.

As the guard left the room, she glared at him. Then sat on the steel
counter, gazing at the large database map laid out on the screen.  She
noticed certain sectors labeled as "damaged" or "not in service", probably
from the recent strikes against the lab from the rebellion, Mutant
Underground.  Mutant Underground consisted of a group of mutants against
the acts and empire of the mighty Nathienal Essex.  All she knew right now
was that they were the good guys.

Suddenly, her eyes widened as she noticed the patterns of their attacks.
Not only did they hit this lab, but the various others as well, all with
energy plants within them.  She realized what they were trying to do, a
grin forming on her face.  (They're trying to damage the electrical power
of the lab, and are probably going to attack once they are virtually out of
energy!  But when?)

"Hey you!  C'mere!" a voice called.  She broke out of her thought, standing
up and gripping the rifle.

"Yes sir."

***

Victor slowly opened his eyes, a sour taste in his mouth.  His body ached
all over, but the fear he was experiencing overpowered his own pain.  Still
a bit sand-blind, he squinted at the shadowy figure appearing a few meters
away from him.

"W..W..What?"

"Welcome back Victor." an eerie greeted.

Creed gulped nervously, struggling from his thick steel bonds.  The metal
chains were probably about 3 feet deep, pure adamantium, a virtually
invulnerable metal alloy.  "Sir, I didn't mean to betray y..y..you.  I had
no choice!"
"Au contraire, everyone has a choice," Essex replied, still blurry from
Victor's eyes.  "I know it sounds rather informal, but I've grown a liking
to you, although you are mere trash that I can dispose of at any time.
That's why I'm not going to kill you."

"You aren't, sir?"

Essex laughed.  "I wouldn't slay off such a long time worker, how long has
it been?  Four years now?  You've been an invaluable part of my staff, it
wouldn't be fair."

"Right sir," Victor nodded his head, sighing in relief.

"But I am not going to let you go with no consequence, you know my brand of
law," Essex formed an evil grin on his face, folding his arms.  "Now, I'm
going to finish what you have started in Project Sabretooth."

Victor trembled.  "Sir, you're not saying...but that experiment is almost
barbaric!  It can cause much trauma to it's experimented!"

Essex rests his chin on the ball of his index and thumb fingers.  "Yes, but
as I said...you are an invaluable part of my staff.  Consider this a noble
mission, done for me, by you.   You might have cause me eleven years of
dedicated work down the drain.  It's only fair."

Two giant cybernetic droids enter the room, marching towards the imprisoned
man and releases his bond by typing in a key sequence on a panel on the
wall.  The locks open, and the skinny, delicate man drops to the ground.
They lift him by his arms, and take him a way.

"PLEASE STOP SIR!!!  I BEG YOU!!!" he screams.

Essex shakes his head in disgust.  (Whimpering fool, begging is a cowards 
game.)

***

PART TWO

Monet looks at the ceiling of her cell, thinking over many thoughts running
through her mind.  (If what I assume is correct, the energy level of this
lab is decreasing by the minute, and will be as low as it can go before it
will totally shut off.  I bet the Mutant Underground is planning to set up
a strong attack about that time, which  in my calculations is about dusk
tomorrow.)

She was always a genius, an IQ of 230 at age 11.  Her mutant powers simply
enhanced her already brilliant mind, probably matching those of a genius.
Her photographic memory, a mutant manifested power, also aided her studies.
Who knew that her genius IQ would come to use in an against the odds
escape.

(If I could find out about their plan, why hasn't Essex caught on?  As much
as I hate to admit it, he does have an intelligence far surpassing my own,
unless...he already has a plan?)


***

Twenty One Hours Later...

Robert Drake, soldier of Mutant Underground, slowly crept up to a rock,
vigilant of his surrounds.  The sky was orange, the sun sinking into the
horizon.  Beginning their attack, Robert is sent to lead the first group of
soldiers, trying to devise a sneak attack.

Carefully, he noticed a sentry, spotted about sixty feet away.  "Come in
Miles, you there?" he mumbles into his communicator.

"Yes sir."

"Report your current location, Miles."

There was a brief silence, Robert vigilantly kept his eye on the sentry.
"I see the guard, he's in my sights.  Should I shoot him down, sir?"

"No," Bobby replied, still staring at the soldier.  "You stay where you're
posted until further instructions from Forge, understand?"
"Yes sir, Miles out."


***

A sector inside the lab...

"Fuck!  What in the hell is going on?!" one of the soldiers cursed,
slamming a fist against the steel cold counter.   A second soldier glances
at the monitor, his skin pale after realizing what was wrong.

"Am I seeing things, or is our energy level running at 2 percent of our
usual electrical flow?" he inquired.

"Inform Essex now!  I can't believe I didn't see this sooner.  The last
thing we need now is an attack." he gulped.


***

The lights went out.  Monet suddenly got up, a smile on her face.  She
grabbed her rifle, finishing her shift of watching after a few mutants
before they would be experimented on.  (Yes!  It worked! I can proceed with
my own plan!)

Immediately, she pointed her gun at the chains of the captive mutants,
aimed carefully, and pulled the trigger.

BLAM!

The chain snapped, the mutant captive appeared to be a brawny black man,
his eyes staring directly into hers.  He watched his palms, then faced her
again, a bewildered look on his face.  "Wha?" he uttered.

She sighed in relief.  (It's not adamantium!  Thank god! )  "Come on!  The
power is out, they cannot activate my collar yet, so are you coming or
not?"

The stranger nodded, he stood up from the ground.  "Does it look like I
want to refuse?" he said, helping up the other prisoners.

Monet pointed her gun at the others bonds, and fired.  Releasing a total of
three other mutants.  One was quite...handsome, in Monet's point of view.
He looked like he was in good condition compared to the other two.  Another
was a blond girl, who seemed normal, if it wasn't for her nausea getting in
the way of her full concentration.  The third was the black teen she
released first.

The lights were dim, periodically "blacking" out, leaving the corridors
pitch black.  She took them across a side corridor, which she found was not
well guarded as the rest, since this tunnel was hard to find. She managed
to locate a secret door leading to this tunnel after scanning and
memorizing the database map.

(This is rather strange, why haven't they noticed out escape? ) Monet
thought, running across the hall, swinging the gun back and forth,
practically hugging it.

***

BLAM!  BLAM!

"Ya fuckin' parasites!  You rebels are nuthin' but a piece of shttin'
trash!" one of the soldiers screamed, firing his gun at a pack of Mutant
Underground troops, taking refuge behind a pile of rubble.

Robert Drake finished loading his gun, hiding beside another fellow
soldier.  Both of them panicked, but Bobby managed to stop his trembling
and load his weapon.  Bobby peered out, aiming the gun at a couple of
grunts and pulled the trigger.

BLAM!  BLAM!

"ARRGH!" an Essex grunt exclaimed, falling to the floor.  A pool of blood
forming beneath him.   Robert drew back, leaning back against the rock,
taking a breath.  The soldier next to him peered out as well, firing his
gun without much control.  (Why do I volunteer to do these kind of jobs?)
Bobby thought for a brief second.

Remy LeBeau hovered over the battle site, gun in hand and a pack full of
ammo strapped to his belt.  "Crusher, don' make too much direct contact
wit' dem, y' goin' t' get yourself killed, homme!" he said through his
communicator.

Crusher, shooting rapidly with two guns, one in each hand, nudged his head
a little, speaking into his shoulder communicator.  "Shaddap Cajun!  I'm
all right, these wimps couldn't hurt a fly with their pea-shooters!"

Remy shook his head.  He knew how stubborn his fellow Marauder, Crusher
Creel could be when it came to following orders he didn't obey by.  He took
out a double barreled plasma gun, cocked it, and shot it at the opposing
soldiers below.

FFFRRZZAACCCHH!!!

A large beam of energy hurls toward the ground.  A large explosion follows.

BOOM!

(Oh geez, half of the Marauders are here! )  Robert grabbed his rifle,
pointing it at the hovercraft and pulled the trigger.

BLAM!!

(Damn!) Remy noticed Bobby shooting with his rifle.  Quickly, he escaped
the scene, leaving to a much safer ground.  The overhead sky was turning to
a sort of dark blue, the headlights of the hovercraft began to be more
effective in this all out battle.  Unfortunately, it was also much harder
to target or notice the enemy.

***

The four captives continued their escape.  At this point, several soldiers
were beginning to fire at them from behind.  Monet managed to hold them off
with her rifle, but she and the others knew that the gun couldn't keep them
safe forever.

They came up to a two way junction, they stopped.  "Which way do we go?"
the other male mutant queried.

Monet pointed to the left passage.  "This way."

"I don't think so." a voice said, sounding like it came up the passage.
Monet immediately lifted the gun, raising it to her chest.  "Who's that?!"
In front of them appeared three soldiers, two with guns and one with some
sort of blue energy surrounding both first, obviously a mutant.  Monet
stepped back, still holding the rifle.  They might be able to handle the
two humans, but without her powers and the neck collar still in effect, it
would be nearly impossible to kill the brainwashed mutant.

"I suggest you come with us." one of the soldiers said, armed with two
guns, one in each hand.  The dim lights of the corridors made the soldiers
a bit hard to see clearly.

<Go to hell, you bloody bastard!> one of the captives leaped at him,
tackling him to the ground.  Monet quickly pointed her gun at the second
soldier, pulling the trigger.  The second soldier gripped his side, battle
attire stained with blood, and slowly fell back.

The mutant fired a beam at the angered captive, sending him back against
the wall.  The stranger was thrown back and slammed against a wall, slowly
dropping to the floor.  Monet ran over to him.

The first captive Monet freed performed a reverse punch, breaking his
adversary's nose.  Next, he sent a side foot kick against the attacker's
body, causing him to fall down on one knee, gripping his stomach.

(He's good.)  Monet thought to herself as she watched this man in action.
He fought aggrevisely, but knew what he was doing.  Probably the most
effective member in her party so far.  She leveled the gun and pointed it
at the mutant, pulling the trigger.

CLICK!

Her eyes widened, she pulled the trigger again.

CLICK!

"Uh-oh," she mumbled, her eyes set on her fellow ally.  Monet stepped back,
the other girl captive just stood and watched the fight, as if she were
extremely frightened of taking any action.  Suddenly, a small light
appeared next to them, a figure appearing in front of them.

SSSSSSSZZZZZHHHHH!!!!

"Need a hand?" the stranger said, aiming a gun at the fallen mutant.  He
appeared to be in some sort of battle attire, with the initials M.U.
printed on the shoulder of his uniform.  He shot his gun at the mutant,
killing it.  Immediately, he typed in a key sequence on an iron wristband
he was wearing and in a moment...

SSSSSSZZZZZZHHHHH!!!!

They were gone.

***

NEXT ON GENETIC X:
Monet is freed by the Mutant Underground!  So while she and the other
captvies are brought back to their main base, Essex reveals his secret plan
and sends out a squadron to capture the escapees.

Supereub *Reuben M.*
supereub@lava.net