Subject: Onslaught: Redemption Chapter Four by Swp. Date: Mon, 21 Oct 96 07:04:41 +0000 From: Swpwarrior@aol.com Onslaught: Redemption Chapter Four (Events in this Chapter take place immediately prior to, and during Cable #33 and Uncanny X-Men #334. All events in all Pre-Onslaught issues of X-Factor (#124), X-Force (#56), X-Man (#18), Excalibur(#99), Generation X(#18), and X-Men (#53) including Jean's confrontation with Onslaught on the Astral Plane, Cable's confrontation with Post, Juggernaut's arrival at the mansion and all other scenes unless excluded previously or below are now fully incorporated into continuity. The Reader should incorporate the following continuity adjustment; (1) Magneto never travels to the United States as depicted in X-Men #53.) 1. Narrative: 20 hours from now. The same place... a different time. {There is darkness, brightening to light. A man is running for his life. {His feet can be heard splashing against the sewer water beneath {his feet. It is Gambit, his uniform is in tatters, he is cut, bruised and {bloodied all over his body. He clings to his bola staff as though it {were his life. There is terror in his eyes, as he runs through the tunnels {beneath the mansion. Sounds can be heard behind him. Sounds of {war, laser blasts, explosions, and screams. Loudest of all, is the {howling AAOOOGAH!!!} {Suddenly, he is caught from behind, slashed at by something barely {perceptible, by an animal. Gambit cries out in pain, falling to his knee, {clutching his back with his free hand.} Gambit: AAHHH!! {The creature that struck at him, moves slowly from the shadows. {Prowling like an animal, then into the open. It is Logan. He is crouched {low, his body covered in blood. Other people's blood. His claws are {covered in blood. He has used them tonight. He looks animalistic. Not {de-volved, only feral, like a killer. He moves closer to Gambit.} Wolverine: Did ya think you were gonna get away, chump? No one's gettin' away, tonight. {Gambit, still on his knee holding his back, breathing hard, rises up to {his feet.} Gambit: Let's do it den. {Logan leaps at Gambit, screaming RAAAAAGH!!!! } {Over a series of panels, the two fight. Gambit tumbles away, spinning {around and hammering Logan with his bola staff from behind. Logan falls {to the ground, but Gambit doesn't give him time to recover as he hits him {with his bola staff again in the stomach knocking the wind out of him. {Logan flails wildly with his claws and catches Gambit on his ribs. Gambit {falls back, both men are staggered, but Logan has his healing factor and {recovers faster. He leaps at Gambit, going in for the kill, when a {lightning bolt strikes Logan out of the air, he then crashes into the sewer {water, still smoking. All the while, the sounds of the battle are coming {closer and closer} {Storm is shown, staggered against a wall, her own uniform torn and in {tatters, bruises everywhere. Her face covered in ash. Her hand is still {smoking from the lightning bolt she summoned. She is completely {exhausted, having difficulty even speaking. The sounds of the battle {are almost on top of the reader.} Storm: Remy... are... you... allright? Why... did... you leave... us? {Gambit staggers to his feet. Before he can answer, Storm stumbles {forward, and collapses in Gambit's arms. The battle is here.} Storm: The... others... are coming... hurry, Remy.... {Off-panel voices can be heard, screams, amid the fighting, getting {closer and closer.} Voices: Storm! We can't hold them off! They're here! Run, Storm! Voices: No one escapes! No one survives the night! The Onslaught has been unleashed! Tonight, everyone dies! {Suddenly a fire ball runs through the tunnel -- KABOOM!!! -- a {massive explosion. The voices of her teammates cry out off-panel.} Voices: Sto-orm!!! AIIIIIIEEEE!!! {Gambit is restraining Storm, pulling her back, not letting her rejoin {her teammates, she is screaming, trying to pull away from Gambit, {reaching out to her fallen teammates. Even Gambit's face can be {seen to expressing stunned terror at what is happening to the X-Men } Storm: Bobby!!! Scott!!! Noooooooo!!!! {Gambit is pulling Storm down the tunnel now, she is still resisting,} Gambit: Now Stormy!! We haveta' leave, now!! We don't have time!! Storm: We can't leave them! {The fire ball is getting closer, fire is all around them, wind, debris, {and psionic energy.} Voice: My agenda will be fullfilled! The dream and all the dreamers will be dead! The world is mine! Gambit: They're already dead!!!! We 'ave t'leave now!!! Storm, if we die here, the dream dies wit' us, we all die!!! {Just as the fireball is about to consume them, Storm summons on {her last reserves of strength, she closes her eyes, holding back tears, {and thunder bolts of amazing size rip through the ceiling of the tunnel. {Storm takes Gambit by the hand and flies out of the tunnel into the {pouring rain and thunder and lightning of the night, the fireball follows {them consuming and ravagaing everything in its wake. The massive {explosion trails all the way to the mansion which is blown literally to {heaven.} {Storm is carrying Gambit through the torential storm, water running {off their faces. Storm is staring straight ahead. Gambit is closing his {eyes.} Gambit: W-we... made it, Stormy... We made it. {There is pure hatred in Storm's face and eyes. The reader can only {imagine what they experienced down there. She doesn't look at Gambit, {only straight ahead.} Storm: You left us. You left us to die. Yes, you and I are alive, but It was my choice to die with my friends. You took that from me. For this I will never forgive you... Never. Narrative: The present. {The panel switches, we are back to our time, our world. Gambit sits {on the edge of his bed smoking a cigarette, bowing his head down. {He gets up and stands in sweat pants at his opened widow sill, staring {out at the falling rain, lightning is striking. He is holding his {clenched fist to his face as if to hold back his terror.} Gambit's thoughts: I can't do dis... I can't. I don' got de strengt' ... God, help me... Give me de strengt' , please. {Gambit climbs out the window onto the roof, through the rain, into the {night.} {Gambit stands atop the roof, holding his arms to Heaven, as the rain {pours down on him, lightning striking all around him. The panel moves {from the top and we are looking down at Gambit, his hands raised, the {rain pouring down on him, cleansing him of the night.} 2. Narrative: Colorado. The mountain aerie home of Warren Worthington III. {The panel opens from the sky, at night, looking down from above into {Warren's home. There is a pillar of smoke rising from the home from {a blown out section on the corner -- not the chimney.} {Inside the home looks as though a tornado had just run through it. {Furniture destroyed, pictures broken, glass everywhere. Psylocke {lays unconscious, her body bruised and cut up, her clothes in tatters {in the middle of what was a glass coffee table, broken glass all around {her, painted on the wall graffiti style are the letters ON. The letters {seem to be writing themselves while the action occurs off-panel. A {voice is heard off panel.} Voice: Did you think you were my equal, Warren? {Suddenly, a very loud SNAP! , and a cry out in pain -- agony -- {ARGHH! -- are heard off panel, while two new letters are added {to the wall which now reads ONSL. A voice is heard off-panel.} Voice: Did you think yourself better than me? {Then one of Archangel's wings are sent flying against a wall, {landing next to Psylocke. The wall now reads ONSLA. Again {a voice is heard off-panel.} Voice: Do you think that you have suffered Warren? That you have sacrificed for your cause? You knew nothing of suffering or sacrifice... Until I showed them to you. {Then Archangel, beaten profusely, and missing a wing, is also {thrown against a wall, landing unconscious a few feet from {Psylocke. The message on the wall is now almost complete, {ONSLAUG.} {The panel pans to the side, and a massive, cast in shadows figure, {but clearly Onslaught is seen being consumed by dark color fog.} Onslaught: I trust Warren, you have learned your lesson for today. You will never... ever... speak to me that way again. [1] {The fog and the figure disappear, pan back to the unconscious {Warren and Betsy lying in the middle of the wreckage. The word {is now complete, ONSLAUGHT.} 3. Narrative: Almagordo. This morning. {We are inside the husk of the long-abandoned Almagordo Nuclear {Research Facility in New Mexico. The entire complex is in shambles {and looks as through no one has worked here in 30 years. The effects {of the X-Men's battle with Hazard here are still apparent, as there is a {gaping hole in the roof, where birds have flown in. It is just after {dawn, the sun is starting to fill the facility with a single sunbeam {landing almost at the exact spot where once there was a tear in the {fabric of reality. Crouched near this spot, with one hand sifting through {the wreckage as one would touching the water on a lake, is Maverick {in his full armor and mask. His other hand is holding a gun.} {Suddenly, a slight noise is heard from movement. The birds fly {across the lab complex. Maverick turns around with his gun {pointed steadily and shouts.} Maverick: Don't move! {Out of nowhere, a man appears moving slowly toward Maverick {from the shadows. He is a 30ish black man in a western style {suit and cowboy hat and sunglasses.} Wraith: If there's one thing you know, David... it's that you can't keep me from moving. Narrative: David North, A.K.A. Maverick a life-long mercenary gifted with the mutant ability to absorb kinetic impact. John Wraith, his former teammate with the mutant ability to teleport himself without sound or effect unnoticed like a phantom... They are two of the four surviving members of an elite hand-picked secret mutant cadre known only as The Team. They have been inactive for close to 25 years... They have returned here... to change that. [2] {Maverick puts the safety on his gun back and pulls it back, while {standing up.} Maverick: Wraith? John Wraith? Wraith: In the flesh. Maverick: Then... You felt it too? Wraith: It was like waking up from a dream... All the memory implants and blocks... gone, just like that. My true memory restored. {Maverick turns and looks up past the exposed rafters.} Maverick: We were here, John... This is where it started. Do you think its happened to Creed and Logan, as well? Wraith: I know it has. Maverick: The things they did to us... The pain, it's indescribable. I'm not sure we weren't better off not knowing what happened here. Wraith: I'm glad we know. Don't you see? {Maverick looks back to Wraith.} Wraith: The Team is being reunited. We're being put back together.... I can feel it. Whoever did this has something in mind for us. Weapon X has one final mission.... Maverick: Revenge. 4. Narrative: The Xavier Institute. In an isolated room beneath the mansion, a secret transmission is being received from a most unexpected source. {Domino looks at a small screen, we only see her looking at it, {not whom she is speaking to.} Domino: Why are you contacting me?! Do you know the jeopardy you are placing me in by contacting me here?! There's nothing left to be said between us! Voice on the screen: I will say this only once... Take X-Force and leave the mansion tonight. Get as far away from New York as you can. It doesn't matter where. Just leave tonight. Domino: What do you mean?! Are we in danger?! Does this have anything to do with what happened to Blaquesmith?! {Whoever was on the screen hangs up, and the screen goes blank.} Domino: Wait! {Domino stares blankly at the screen for a moment, then calls out {over the intercom.} Domino: X-Force... get into gear and prepare to leave in five minutes. We're going down to Florida to get Jimmy, right now. Meltdown's voice over the intercom: Why all of us? He didn't seem to be having too much trouble when he called? Domino: Don't question me! I want everyone topside in five minutes! No discussion! {Domino stands away from the screen, and is overcome with sadness. {She whispers quietly to herself.} Domino: Oh, Nathan.... {On the other end of the screen, seated, staring at the blank screen, {seen from behind by his faded reflection is Mr. Sinister. [3] } 5. Narrative: Caldecott County, Mississippi. Rogue has come home. {This scene occurs through a series of parallel panels. The left {panel shows the movements of Rogue through the house now, {in the present. The dull brown panel on the right is a flashback {of a few years. The movements match and reflect each other, {both stories told concurrently.} Narrative: For years Rogue has tried to forget her home... and her past. Her childhood locked away someplace, leaving her safe at night. Safe from the terror. For years, Rogue has tried to runaway from her past... To forget it. Having learned recently, that she has always had control of her mutant power to absorb the life and memories of others with the barest human contact... That she has subconsciously kept her power activated to keep her safe from the greatest threat of all... of being touched -- Rogue has returned home... to remember. {It is night time. Rogue stands before the house in the present. It {is an old two-story country home set in a rural area far from prying {eyes. The house is run down, and hasn't been lived in for years. {Window glass is shattered, shutters hang by a thread from their {frame. And the front door slams open and shut with the wind. } Rogue's Narrative: Ah'm Home. {Rogue walks up the broken steps on to the porch, a dilapidated {swing is held up by only one chain. She opens the front door.} {In flashback, we see the back of Rogue's father storm furiously {through the front door of the house when it was still in living {condition.} Rogue's Father: Rouge! Where is ya?! You can't hide from me! You know what you done to that boy, Cody! Now you're gonna get it! {Rogue shivers as she walks up the broken steps up the stairway, the {wallpaper is coming off the wall, plaster chips dot the staircase, which {creaks under her feet.} {In flashback, Rogue's Father makes his way up the newer, clean steps, {as he walks, he is taking off his belt and tying it as a strap.} Rogue's Father: I'm coming up to get you, Rogue! You betta be ready for what you got comin to you! I told you girl, you's trash! Now you messin around with that boy! You ain' gonna drag your mother an' me down with ya! You gonna learn one way or another! {Rogue's father slaps his hand with his strap to test it.} Rogue's Father: Ah'm gonna teach you girl! You're mine! {In the present, Rogue rounds the banister at the top of the stairs, there {is darkness, she can barely see her hand in front of her. She nears a {closed door, then tries to open it, it is wedged shut.} {In flashback, Rogue's Father, still seen only from behind, tries to open {the door, but it is locked. He begins pounding violently on the door, {screaming for her to let him in.} Rogue's Father: You can't hide from me, girl! You're mine! You're always gonna be mine! Open this door, Rogue... NOW!!!! You gonna learn! You don't touch no boys! EVER! You belong to me! LET ME IN! {A child's voice is heard in terror, screaming to be left alone, unseen {from the other side of the door.} Rogue: No Daddy! Please don't hurt me, anymore! Leave me alone! {In the present Rogue is still struggling to open the door.} {In the flashback, Rogue's father continues to beat down the door, {while unseen Rogue screams hysterically to be left alone.} Rogue's Father: Ah'm neva gonna leave you alone! You're mine! MINE!!!! Let me in, so help me god, or this time you won't walk again! LET ME IN!!! Rogue: NOOOO!!!!! I'll be good, Daddy, I promise!! Please, God, GO AWAY!!! {In the present and the past, the door breaks down. In the present {the room is empty, only left behind objects and memories of the {little girl whose room this was once.} {In the past, Rogue's Father breaks through the door. The same {shot shows a terrified 12 year old girl in her nightgown huddled, {terrified and hysterical in a corner of her room, clutching a small {teddy bear.} Rogue: No Daddy! NO! DON'T TOUCH ME!!!! Rogue's Father: Don't you know little Rogue? Ain't no one ever gonna touch you, but me. {The shot goes exterior of the room. In the present Rogue is {heard saying.} Rogue: Oh, no. {In the past, a flash of light is seen from outside.} {In both past and present, Rogue runs down the stairs.} Rogue: No. No. No. No. {In both past and present, Rogue bursts through the front door crying {hysterically, into the night, into the woods, never once looking back.} Rogue: NOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!! {Now the flashback panels end. We focus on Rogue in the present, {as she falls to the ground, fighting a wave of nausea trying to control {her breathing.Then a voice is heard.} Voice: There now, that wasn't very pleasant was it? {Rogue's head shoots up, she is confronted by the psionic head {projection of Onslaught.} Rogue: You! You hid this from me! You knew all along! Onslaught: Of course I did. From the moment I first met you. [4] Rogue: You lied to me! You could have helped me! Onslaught: I never lied to you. It was your denial. It was a truth you weren't ready to hear. It's a rather ugly truth after all isn't it? Rogue: Bastard! Onslaught: There's nothing to be ashamed of child. You and I share this bond. We were both violated by people we trusted. We have both suffered. You will be spared. You will live to see the new world in the morning. My world. Rogue: No! We'll stop you! Onslaught: You're already too late. You'll never reach the mansion in time. Your friends are doomed. {Rogue gets up and immediately takes flight as fast as she can {toward the mansion.} Rogue: No! {The panel stays near the house, lowering down to it from the {disappearing Rogue. It follows the path back into Rogue's old {house, up the stairs, into Rogue's old room.} Narrative: They are heroes. They are gifted with super powers that set them apart from -- some say above -- humanity. They only fear others like them, only those powerful enough to harm them. They are above the fears that you and I feel. That is not the truth for some. For some, their greatest fear's are realized in moments of weakness and vulnerability. In moments of tenderness and intimacy. It is then that the nightmares come. The nightmares of the past. {The panel focuses on the wall above Rogue's old bed, one word, {written graphitti style above it.} Narrative: And the nightmares come to life. {The panel reads only one word; ONSLAUGHT.} 6. Narrative: Madison Square Garden, New York City. A celebration for America's newest Presidential front-runner. {Inside Madison Square Garden, a huge political rally is taking place. {Signs are being waived, confetti thrown, and row after row of 20,000 {people cheer wildly. It is clear that it is a presidential party {convention, but not which party. Television cameras and reporters are {everywhere. In the eyes of each attendee is unabashed love for their {candidate. Brought to a fever pitch by a rousing introduction, the crowd {bursts hysterically into cheer when Graydon Creed emerges from {off-stage. He walks confidently toward the podium, smiling, and waving {toward the crowd.} {Standing in the front-row, with an expression of total hatred, {contrasted against the cheers, Karma stands staring at Creed.} {Creed takes the podium, an American flag behind him, a hush {comes over the crowd.} Graydon Creed: Thank you, thank you... Well we certainly did show them didn't we! {Again the crowd roars its approval. As Creed speaks, the panels will {pan across the crowd like a camera, each member of the audience {will be of a different race or ethnicity, men and women both. All {standing side-by-side, all have the same expression on their faces; {adoration.} Graydon Creed: These are indeed dark days... Dark days, when the face of humanity is in danger of changing... of being cast aside and turned into something twisted and perverted. The President answers this by closing his eyes to the needs of ordinary American's and by protecting the very race... the very menace that threatens to destroy our great country and all it stands for. But tonight... tonight America has said no to that! Tonight the people of America have spoken out and done something about it! Tonight I stand before you as your party's nomination to be the next President of the United States of America! {Again the crowd roars, all but one. Karma finally releases her mutant {power almost without movement or strain. Creed's smile drops instantly {from his face, he begins to sweat, and terror can be seen in his eyes. {He tries to struggle, but cannot even blink on his own. His movements, {down to his voice box, are now controled by Karma.} Narrative: These people see Graydon Creed as a hero... A descent, honorable man, unafraid to stand up against a scourge that has taken over this country. They do not know it is all a lie. Tonight someone... will show them... all of them. Her name is Karma... and she is a mutant. Her power enables her to take over physical control of another's body. Her will becomes their own. Tonight, her will becomes Graydon Creed's. Tonight, her will, is the will of Onslaught. Graydon Creed: Sadly... (nggg)... Sadly I will be unable to accept your nomination. {The crowd gasps.} Graydon Creed: For to do so... (ngghh)... to do so... would be to continue with a lie. The lie that all of you... (ngghh)... all of us have bought into. The lie of hatred. The lie of fear. Mutants are all around us... they are everywhere. As is their place. Our time on this planet is over... The time for Presidents is over... (ngghh)...Now is the time for Gods! And the most powerful god of them all... (ngghh)... is coming to judge us.... (ngghh)... Prepare yourself.... (ngghh)... For tonight, the Onslaught begins! {There is pandemonium in the crowd, panic, boos, hisses, then {suddenly Creed reaches into the podium and pulls out a revolver {and points it at his head.} {There are screams from the crowd, panic and terror, American flags {that were moments ago being waved, are now seen on the ground {being trampled by fleeing feet.} {Karma begins to speak into Creed's mind.} Karma's voice: You'll have to forgive me Creed if I sound a little fuzzy. I'm still learning to control my psionic gift. I just wanted to tell you something before you die. You were right. You and your kind will be pushed aside in the coming millennium. Your kind will be made obsolete, and set apart. But you were wrong about one thing. Our time in the shadows is over. From this point forward, we will prey on your kind in the open. And we will leave the shadows... to you. {Creed's expression is now unbridled terror as he is forced to cock {his pistol.} Graydon Creed: No, please... don't. Karma s voice: Good-bye, Creed. {Amid the crowd's riot, Karma turns around and steadily, calmly {walks toward an exit. In the back-round, a single shot is fired off {panel -- BLAM! -- and Creed's body can be heard falling to the {ground -- THUD! --.} {Closing panel shows the flag that Creed was standing in front of, {now covered in blood, with the echo running through the minds of {the crowd.} Narrative: Prepare yourself... For tonight, the Onslaught begins! 7. Narrative: Sage, Nebraska... Beneath the State Home for Foundlings. {The scene is a series of panels, Sinister is in constant movement as {he makes his way from his secret lab beneath the orphanage, up {through the complex, through the actual old decrepit orphanage, out {the front door, while giving the following narrative. [5] } {Sinister looks around his lab, at his gene samples and clone banks, {then turns.} {Panel opens on Sinister standing, pressing a button on a control panel, {then turning and walking away.} Sinister's Narrative: Good-bye. I have never had the chance to say good-bye before.... {Sinister moves through the complex.} Sinister's Narrative: My losses have been sudden... unexpected... Perhaps that is why they have all been so hard to... let go of. {Sinister moves through a secret door, out into the hallway of the {long-abandoned orphanage. Cob-webs and dust are everywhere, {sheets on the furniture. It is clear that no children have lived here {for many years.} {Sinister is seen passing from the side, the panel stays focused {on an old black and white group photo, the frame is broken, the {glass is cracked. A young ten year old Scott Summers is clearly {recognizable in the photo.} Sinister's Narrative: My son was taken from me by nothing more than a cold... How quickly it turned to pneumonia. How quickly, his laughter faded to endless silence. {The panel focuses on Scott, his expression is blank, empty and alone.} Sinister's Narrative: My wife... denied me her love in her final moments... My unborn child... unknown to me, taken from me. So quickly was I left alone... I was too late to say good-bye to any of them. {Sinister leaves the orphanage and enters the pitch black, cold night.} Sinister's Narrative: Tonight I say good-bye for the first time... To the man I was... To all I was. All save this.... {Sinister is seen front-center walking, striding confidently toward the {reading, the orphanage behind him in the background.} Sinister's Narrative: I was chosen for a reason. For what will always stay inside me... what will always be a part of me. I will always be... Sinister. {Suddenly, the orphanage is engulfed in a massive explosion -- {KABOOM!!!! -- the panel is all fire with Sinister still striding to the {reader, the fire as his back-drop. There is that same overwhelming evil {and confidence in his eyes from the Prologue.} Sinister's Narrative: You have left your mark... You have warned us all... Warned all the world of your coming. Now see mine. I know who you are. I know your name. And tonight you will know mine... Tonight you will know fear... For tonight, Onslaught... Sinister is coming... For you! End Chapter Four To Be Continued... All right people! The stage is set! Graydon Creed has just been assassinated! Jean Grey and the Juggernaut stand at the foot of the Z'Nox Chamber! Cable is lying unconscious on the dock of Baltimore Harbor! Sinister has made his final preparations! And the X-Men are totally unaware of the threat that awaits them in their own mansion -- or are they?! >From this point forward, it's all new material! Forget everything you've read the last two months! It's all forgotten and thrown away! Now prepare yourself... for Onslaught Done Right!!!!! [1] Warren had an arguement with a certain bald-headed elitist in Uncanny X-Men #331, where he challenged his ethics and intentions. [2] Maverick was introduced as part of Wolverine's sceret agent Team and the Weapon X project in X-Men #5. John Wraith in Wolverine #61. [3] A connection between Sinister and Domino was insinuated in Cable #28. [4] That same bald-headed elitist took Rogue aside and did a private psi-scan before admitting a known villain into the X-Men with virtually no questions asked in Uncanny X-Men #171. [5] Sinister's orphange (where Cyclops spent most of his childhood) was shown in flashback stories in Classic X-Men #41 and #42 and was shown in its' present day condition in X-Men #34.