Shattered Perceptions
Chapter Three
by Tim Francovich
"I was there when you first discovered your mutant ability!"
Shatterstar's mind flew back, remembering... Yes, Spiral had been there. Her face was one of the first he could remember recognizing. It certainly was not a pretty face, but there had been times during his early years that it had appeared almost kind. More often than not, however, the perceived kindness was quickly erased by a fit of malicious anger.
One other face stood out from his "childhood." It was not one he had seen frequently, but it was one that he never forgot. It was huge, hideous and bloated, a dirty yellowish color with lighter colored splotches here and there, sweaty and slimy.
It was that face he saw now as Spiral's teleport dissipated. It was the face of Mojo V.
"Shatterstar!" the blob exclaimed gleefully, throwing his arms wide. "Where HAVE you been, dear boy? The arena crowds have been wondering about you! Why, the letter-writing campaign alone has been overwhelming!"
"Sorry, Mojo, but I'm staying on hiatus!" Star shot back, charging forward.
"What? And miss your season premiere?" Mojo waved his hands in mock horror. "You wouldn't believe the trouble I went through to get your co-star! And now you want to cancel! What is it you want? A new costume? A new personality? Work with me, here!"
As he babbled, Mojo gestured to a pack of guards. Shatterstar fought valiently, but after dispatching five of the fang troops, the remaining six were able to overpower him. The last thing he saw was Spiral moving behind Mojo as the spineless one laughed uproariously.
"Take him to the pens and prepare him!" Mojo V cried. "This ought to get higher ratings than the last X-Men rerun," he muttered to himself as Shatterstar was dragged away.
******
"Blast it, Xavier!" Cable shouted, slamming his right fist against the terminal. "There has to be a way!"
The face of Charles Xavier, founder of the X-Men, frowned sympathetically from the monitor Cable was addressing. "I am truly sorry, Nathan, but other than Spiral herself and other servants of Mojo, the only person I have known who was capable of traveling to the Mojoverse was Lila Cheney."
"And she could be absolutely anywhere!" Boomer exclaimed from behind Cable.
"I will contact X-Factor," Xavier offered. "Perhaps Guido Carosella has heard from Lila recently. It is a long shot, but it is all I can offer."
"Thank you, Professor," Cable answered, running a hand through his hair. "This is all my fault. I told Shatterstar months ago that we would return with him to his world and overthrow Mojo V. But I never got around to it. To be honest, I put it out of my mind and forgot about it sort of intentionally."
"Nathan, when have you had an opportunity to travel to Mojoworld?" Charles asked. "X-Force's history has been... tumultuous, to say the least. And have you ever had access to an interdimensional transporter?"
"You're... right, of course, Professor," Cable agreed reluctantly. "But I still have to take some responsibility. I never even talked to Star about his homeworld after that first day or two." Cable hesitated. "Call me if you hear anything. I have some other contacts I can try."
Xavier nodded and the screen went blank.Cable took a deep breath and turned to face the rest of the team. They met his gaze and waited. "Well, until we can find a teleporter, it doesn't look like we'll be speeding to the rescue," he stated. "For now, Sam & Shatterstar are on their own. They're two very resourceful and dangerous young men. We shouldn't give up on them by any stretch of the imagination. They may just find their own way out of this mess."
The silence that met his words told Cable far more than any answer his students could have given.