Well, here goes... A big man is pointing a gun at Shatterstar, who is cradling his lover Gomi's corpse. Siryn and Meltdown
have just gotten close enough to see what's going on and they're shocked.

Got it? Good. Roll 'em!

"Gomi... Gomi told you...?"

The mutant named Ben Russell, or maybe Shatterstar, cradled the body of his lover in his arms and looked up through
tear-filled eyes at a large black man with short dredlocks.

The man, called Boots, grinned.

"Trash* there got a full scholarship to BU, mano... but you think that included books? Or rent? Or food?" He laughed. "Trash
needed money, an' I did him a favor. I own him." He chuckled, and gestured with his gun. "Well, I used to. You can have
'im now. Ain't no good no more."

The hammer cocked. Ben Russell made peace with his gods.

But he was not fated to die this day.

Serendipity is a word meaning, in short, "being in the right place at the right time." It is also a name.

A name for a tall, attractive Goth. A Goth who had visions. The person who, in many ways, was responsible for bringing
X-Force back together. A woman who knew what she had to do, for she had seen it.

A headlong rush, a kick to the druglord's hand. A flying gun, no shot.

This is where it got dangerous.

Siryn had had enough. Her father in a coma. Herself named his caretaker. Her friend Tabitha, drunk as hell. And now... now
Gomi was dead.

And the man who killed him was standing with a shocked look on his face, staring at the girl who had just kicked his gun
from his hand.

Easy target.

Terry inhaled, then let her breath out in a scream... and when the Banshee's daughter screams, it is a thing of beauty, and
destruction.

The aforementioned Tabitha wasn't much happier. Gomi had had a crush on her, once. He was sweet, in a geeky way. And
now he was dead.

Meltdown, as some called her, ignored the tumultuous flood of emotions that threatened to sweep her away. She would let
only one emotion show.

Rage.

That man - whoever he was - was dead.

She called upon her mutant power and threw a time bomb. A big time bomb.

With a short fuse.

The man who was the target of this fury was named Boots. He was a druglord, and a prosperous one. He was cruel, and
devious, and not a nice man at all. He also had a bodyguard, a brick wall of a man called Whisper.

Whisper knew his job. As soon as he saw the kick, he stepped out of the restroom, right behind his boss, and pulled
something from his long trenchcoat. That something was a Chinese knockoff of the famous Russian assault rifle, the AK-47.

Whisper kept the rifle in top condition. He knew how to care for it, and he knew how to use it. The reason he was such a
good bodyguard was because he'd done time in the Army before getting a dishonorable discharge for "drug-related
activities."

Not that any of this was on his mind. What was on his mind was the concept of "suppressive fire." He raised the rifle, took
quick aim roughly above head level, and flipped the selector switch to fully automatic, what soldiers called "full rock n' roll".

Boots, as well, knew his bodyguard's capabilities and proclivities. He threw himself to the ground, in the general direction of
his "nine"*. He didn't know what the fuck was going on, but he was gonna put a stop to it /real quick/.

[* Nine-millimeter pistol -street-slang-Shawn]

Sonic screams, time bombs, flying bullets, diving druglords. Put 'em all together, and you get chaos.

Boots' dive threw him clear of Meltdown's time bomb, but not Siryn's sonic scream. The shriek left a ringing in his head and
wetness - blood - streaming from his ears. He did, however, regain his gun.

Siryn fared little better - being airborne, she was directly in the path on Whisper's fire. She dove away, but not before
catching a bullet in her thigh and falling to the ground. Hard.

Meltdown, on the other hand, was unhurt by the bullets, and unfazed. She was too pissed off to care about some big guy
with a machine gun.

Especially since Whisper had been hit dead center by her time bomb. He had been literally blown to pieces.

Serendipity had vanished, nowhere to be seen.

And Shatterstar....

Swords weren't allowed in Axis, or indeed most places in Boston. But Ben Russell learned somewhere - maybe on
Mojoworld, maybe not - no never go unarmed.

He had a knife in his boot. Now he had a knife in his hand.

A small hum issued from the blade. Not that it could be heard over the explosions, gunfire, sonic scream, and the wail of
feedback from damaged speakers that still struggled to pump out the latest Chemical Brothers single.

Shatterstar smiled. The dying time was here.

Terry hurt. The pain was awful, and the blood ran from her in spurts - an artery hit, then.

Suddenly the wound was being bandaged. Bandaged by the Goth girl, the one who had told her to come to Axis in the first
place. She had escaped harm, somehow.

The girl, Serendipity, smiled. "You'll be fine, Terry. It's just that your part is done, for now."

"How'd you know..." Dizzy from blood loss, Terry slipped from consciousness, into the sweet embrace of Morpheus.

Tabitha growled. She'd missed. She never missed.

More time bombs. Pure, animal rage.

When she adopted the name Meltdown, Tabitha had sworn she was never going to hold back again. She was just gonna cut
loose.

She certainly did that.

Boots straightened, amazed at the sudden silence. Whisper was dead. That little mutie bitch killed Whisper.

Boots had /never/ lost a fight. He wasn't gonna start now. With a roar he raised his nine and squeezed a shot off at
Meltdown.

The bullet hit a time bomb.

The result was little more than a loud BANG! and a flash of light, but it was enough to stun the druglord.

Long enough for Shatterstar - more used to his former teammate's powers - to slide the energy-charged knife into the back
of Boots' neck, severing the spinal column.

The druglord died instantly.

The three former teammates had all bugged out after Boots' death. They holed up in Siryn's hotel - none of them, especially
'Star, wanted to go back to Gomi's apartment.

The police were clueless. The papers were still full of stories about "gang-related violence" at Axis, with the cops theorizing
that one gang had had access to some kind of advanced weaponry, perhaps purchased from AIM*.

[*Advanced Idea Mechanics, a quasi-scientific terrorist group -Shawn-the-walking-Arsenal]

They were still in shock, mostly. Terry's leg wasn't as bad as they'd feared. The medicinal training Shatterstar remembered
from Mojoworld, as well as the training he'd gotten from Cable, helped patch her up.

And none of them had a clue as to what to do now.

They shared stories, telling each other what they'd been doing since the Phalanx attack. They shared stories and jokes, and
tried to avoid talking about Gomi.

He'd been a friend.

Serendipity sighed to herself. Was this right, what she was going to do? Should she just let the three mutants find their own
fate?

She shook her head. She couldn't do that. She knew what the future held, and even if she couldn't tell them... she had to try.

Siryn nodded understandingly at Meltdown. "I know what it's like t'grow up without a father, Tab... but at least I had me
uncle Tom. I canna imaging what it must've been like, living on th'streets like that."

Meltdown shrugged. "Wasn't easy, but I managed. I met a lot of guys like that Boots... there're a lot of them out there. It's
hard, but... well, in a lot of ways it was easier than when Cable decided to make us his own private little army." She sighed,
then. "Jimmy's* hanging with the New Warriors... 'Berto's** gone back to running his family's business after the Phalanx
attacked***... and who knows where Ric, Dani, or Sam**** are?"

[*James Proudstar, aka Warpath, joined the Warriors in recent issues of that wonderfully-written title -Shawn, aka
Roster-Lad]
[**Roberto DaCosta, aka Sunspot. -the-Shawn-of-a-thousand-faces]
[***The Phalanx attacked just about all of mutantkind in X-Men #68-72 -too-many-asterisks-Shawn]
[****Richter, Moonstar, and Cannonball, all former X-Force members -having-trouble-coming-up-with-witty-titles-Shawn]

The get-together was interrupted by a knock at the door.

Meltdown answered the knock - Terry's leg was still weak, and Shatterstar was still an emotional wreck.

When Serendipity stepped in, Tabitha made no move to stop her. She just didn't feel like she should.

The young Goth looked at the trio, then sighed. "First answer. My name is Serendipity. Second answer. No, I didn't know
Gomi would die. Third answer. I'm a mutant, which is why I know so much."

Gaping faces regarded her. She sighed.

"Look, I'll keep it short. Cable needs your help."

Shatterstar, uncharacteristically, was the first to speak up. "How do you know?"

Serendipity sighed. "I just... do. I have visions."

Siryn sighed. "I can't do anything for Cable right now. I'm on a bum leg, and... I have to take care of my father's... estates."

Shatterstar stood. "I am in need of a mission. Let us go."

Meltdown sighed as well, and rubbed the back of her neck. "Fuck it."

'Star nodded. "indeed. But first, we have to pick up Bill."

Meltdown blinked. "Bill?"

Serendipity nodded. It had been a hell of a fire... but X-Force had arisen once more.

Siryn was happier than she'd been in a long time. Her leg was fine - there was a scar, but little more - and she was in the
hospital.

Not for her leg. For her father.

Sean Cassidy, the Banshee, smiled up at her from his bed. Swathed in bandages and tubing, gaunt and pale, he was still full
of life.

Now Terry didn't have any more responsibilities... but who knew where Tab and 'Star were.

No, she was done with X-Force. It was time for something new.

If only she knew what that something was...

Two women, one man, and a cybernetic lobster surveyed the plains. To think that Cable was somewhere in Nebraska. It
was funny, really.

But they had a mission, finally, and they were gonna see it through.

X-Force rode again.

The large, hulking mutant called Caliban strode through the sewers of New York City.

The Morlocks had lived here, once.

But now... now no one did.

And he could hear the call....

His master wanted him back...

A will stronger than any iron, a man who had been counted dead many times.

A cold, implacable virus.

Two combatants, one body.

Cable did not have much longer.

THE END.... OR THE BEGINNING?

Folks, it's been fun... I /really really really/ want letters. Let MV1 know you want to see an X-Force ongoing! Please? *grin*

Actually, as of this writing, I've been approved for said series... and it's gonna be a blast.

This has been a labor of love for me... trying to work with the changes wrought in X-Force over the years, especially those in
MV1, has been a challenge. This ain't the New Mutants no more. What emerges is, in my opinion, a logical "next step" -
Shatterstar and Meltdown have been the two characters who would, I feel, be most affected by the changes in their history,
who have been torn down and built back up the most. Serendipity is my own creation, and a concept I've had in mind for a
good long time - and you'll see more of her as time goes on, too.

I tried to draw on past history for a lot of this story - especially Siryn and Meltdown's time in the Fallen Angels. It's a
little-known but important part of their past.

And... well...

Ah, the hell with it! Just keep reading, and send me letters!

-Shawn-