APOCALYPSE NEXT


Chapter3
DEJA AND VOODOO ALL OVER AGAIN


Scorzaney tells a very interesting tale of underground bases and
pacts with aliens... of the U.S.S. Eldridge and the Philadelphia
Experiment... which then turns into a story of time travel and
dimensional skipping... of men with godlike power and internecine
warfare for the ultimate control of man and planet... but then it
all got cocked up... good.

"So in July 1943, Agent Wisdom, what we were trying to do with the
so called `Philadelphia Experiment' was an early attempt at
creating stealth technology. It worked... sort of... we were able
to render the Eldridge invisible for a short span of time but then
it vanished from Delaware Bay to reappear in Norfolk, Virginia
within fifteen minutes. A whole new field of study was opened to 
us after that; we had stumbled across space-time and were at a loss 
as to what had happened... Einstein, Tesla and many others... the
theoretical geniuses of our time went to work to solve this riddle!
And we did! Imagine, Agent Wisdom, we had the capability to go
anywhere and any time! The possibilities were limitless... but we
moved too slowly and lost momentum due to petty squabbles and at
the height of all our work here, a new war began, an interdimensional 
Pandora's box was opened and left unchecked. Shit! Saboteurs...
Reptilians... Spies... and then Roswell and the fucking aliens!
Goddamnfuck!" Scorzaney. 

Wot a freak! "You speak as if you were there all along, Scorzaney,
were you?" He ignores me. "Are you a time traveler?"

"Who isn't a time traveler these days, Agent Wisdom? Thanks to you
Mutants and Metahumans... the likes of Reed Richards and Victor
Doom... now any tights-wearing candyass and his Aunt May can go
traipsing through dimensions and time, pretty as you please!"
Scorzaney.

"The exclusivity we once had is gone, Agent Wisdom." Doubt.

"Ah, 'e speaks!... 'ad almost forgotten you were with us, Doubt."
'Is face does somethin' weird... a slight contortion... momentarily
unfocused.

"The clock is ticking against us, Agent Wisdom, I'm keeping myself
only to what's pertinent. For a short time we were as close to
locking down control of this world as we have ever been... Bad
decisions and stupid choices have forced us to take a different
approach. Information Technology and its exploitation has given us
an unprecedented entry into the hearts and minds of the world and
the world is practically begging us to come in... we are so close
to our goal." Doubt.

Doubt's dead... I know that now.

"Close. Yes, close but we may as well be back at square one. Your
last operation, Agent Wisdom, in Panama was a complete success but
for a very unexpected result... people got pissed." Scorzaney.

"Seems that the world just got sick of watching the big guys beat
up the little guys... El Salvador... Guatemala... Nicaragua...
Grenada... The Falklands... Africa... India... Europe... well, I
suppose we overextended ourselves and people started to catch on
and ask questions. Can you imagine? The American people questioning
authority! What sick shit is that, I ask you?" Scorzaney.

"Which leads us to why we need you, Agent Wisdom." Doubt.

"During a minor uprising of the Mutate population of Genosha, the
mutant outlaw Magneto took the opportunity to invade the small
island nation and rally the rebel Mutates just as they were near
surrender. The full details of his actions are still unknown but
after liberating the entire Mutate population... as he carried them
away, Magneto seized the iron ore of the Island bedrock and pulled
it into the sea. The crazy fucker sank Genosha! The entire human
population drowned and I lost an important base of operations! Then
the freak took his stolen mutates and set himself up a kingdom in
the Madripoor Highlands. Freak savages!" Scorzaney.

Shite! Now they get to it... they want me for a kill... "So, you
want me to kill Magneto?"

"No, Agent Wisdom, Magneto is dead... killed by the mutant
adventurer known as Wolverine. You see, Madripoor is Wolverine's
adopted home, and Magneto happened to land in the wrong
neighborhood. Wolverine killed Magneto and now he is the king of
the Mutates. Wolverine, Agent Wisdom -- we're sending you to kill
Wolverine!" Doubt.