Limbo-Town – formerly New York City. Five years from now:
The city chillingly empty, a green mist wafts between the buildings and down the empty streets. Well, not quite empty, as Deadpool and the Mercs for Money – Domino, Ren Kimura, Hit-Monkey, Gorilla Man and Machine Man – make their way down on of the streets. Domino announces that there is no sign of them and suggests that maybe they lost them. 'Sure, Dom, sure. Because it's real easy to lose track of a group of mercenaries wandering around demon-town with an 800-pound gorilla in tow' Deadpool mutters. '775 pounds, thank you very much' Gorilla Man declares. Machine Man reports that his scans are coming up blank, strangely so, but that he thinks they are in the clear. The group makes their way down an alleyway, as Deadpool tells the others that he is just suggesting that every time he thinks they're alone now “(Shondells, not Tiff)” he adds, that they get ambushed, and Hit-Monkey ends up with more bionic monkey pieces. 'All courtesy of -' Deadpool begins, when suddenly the Inhumans Karnak, Triton, Inferno, Lockjaw and Sheath materialize at the other end of the alley.
Karnak tells Deadpool that there is no need for violence between them, and suggests he act sensibly, surrender and give them the information they require – and they can put this unpleasantness behind them.
'What did I tell ya? We got cocky... complacent... comfortable... and now we gotta outfit Hit-Monkey for another robotic poop-flinger!' Deadpool exclaims. 'Chee!' Hit-Monkey screeches. Ren turns to Machine Man and tells him that it is times like these that she really feels like she chose the wrong side of the fight. 'Yes. You would have been part of a fanatical kill-squad hunting us down. But you would have had a giant, teleporting dog' Machine Man responds.
Sheath frowns and asks Karnak what they are waiting for, as they know how this is going to end. 'Let's get on with it' she tells him. Karnak tells Sheath that they will give them a chance to take a sensible course of action, but he doesn't finish his sentence as Domino raises a gun and readies it to fire, telling Karnak that his stabby little friend is right on the money. 'We're gonna fight'.
Inferno, Triton and Sheath stand behind Karnak as the red dot from Domino's weapon shines on Karnak's head. 'So... you have already made up your minds' Karnak tells Domino, who smiles and replies that she just doesn't like being told what to do. 'Just remember – it was you who chose this fight... you who struck against us!' Karnak calls out as he leaps towards Deadpool, leg ready to strike a kick. Triton, Sheath and Inferno move towards Domino and the others, who open fire on the Inhumans. 'Weren't you a good guy once, Karnaky? At least, you used to be a kind of cool-vibe monk-dude. Now you've guzzled down the zealot juice. You've lost your chill' Deadpool mocks as he attempts to strike Karnak with his sword.
Sheath slams one of her daggers against Domino's gun and declares that they only need one of them alive – the rest of them are expendable. 'Seems to me, that's how most Inhumans have always thought of mutants...so what else is new?' Domino replies. Inferno fires a blast of flame towards Ren, who deflects it with her powers. Inferno asks her how she can stand against them, as she is an Inhuman. 'You're a traitor' Inferno shouts. Ren tells Inferno that she would have needed to believe in the Inhumans' cause in order to betray them. She adds that she never bought into the whole idea of a sacred cloud. 'When I became an Inhuman, there was nothing holy about it. It was just a scary accident!' she adds, before telling Inferno that he can talk to her about her politics when he bothers to learn her name.
Machine Man faces off against Triton and tells him that it is time to run along home, as his bio-mechanical systems are among the most advanced this world will ever know – and he is certain he has a fish scaler in here somewhere. Suddenly, Gorilla Man and hit-Monkey look upwards: 'Eyes to the sky, Mercs! We've got – bogies at 12 o'clock!' Gorilla Man declares as several winged demons swoop down towards the battling factions. 'World's sure hone to hell, hasn't it?' Deadpool tells Karnak, who leaps into action, taking down two of the demons with swift punches. Deadpool remarks that, luckily for them, Magik must have given her demonic pals specific marching instructions before she kicked the bucket – because the demons sure don't like Inhumans. 'Nice, Wade! Real nice! Do I have to remind you that I'm an Inhuman?' Ren asks as she uses her powers to defend herself against the demons. 'That means they're trying to eat me, too!' she calls out. 'Don't worry, kid. We've got you' Gorilla Man assures Ren as he opens fire with his machine gun.
Karnak and Deadpool turn back to face each other, and Karnak tells Deadpool that he has been anticipating this confrontation, although he did not deal the wound that festers within Deadpool, he realizes that Deadpool blames him just the same. 'Are you trying to size me up? Trying to figure out my weakness?' Deadpool asks Karnak, offering to help him out with a few pointers. 'For instance, don't both looking at my groin area. No weaknesses there' Deadpool declares.
Sheath and Domino fight back to back against the demons. 'Mutants... you've poisoned the world with these things!' Sheath complains. Dom tells Sheath to keep talking, and that for the moment, she is helping her against these beasties, as she blasts one of them with her guns, before pointing out that she doesn't think the Inhumans have any room to talk about poisoning the world! Triton stabs his trident through one of the demons and declares that these demons are perfect examples of the blasphemy that has been perpetrated against them. Machine Man saws a demon's head off with a buzz-saw like extension to his arm and states that he has deleted most belief systems from his memory, as he found them superfluous, and therefore, he doesn't recognize blasphemy.
Karnak tosses Deadpool into the air and tells him that he is too broken, too shattered, for any one flaw to surface among the rest. The two teams regroup together and stand and face the other team, with Deadool remarking that Karnak's weakness, on the other hand, is about to be made very apparent. 'At least, I would consider it a weakness to have a katana jammed up my -' Deadpool begins, when suddenly, Lockjaw returns, and appears between the Inhumans and the Mercs. Lockjaw looks up to the air as more demons loom overhead. Deadpool, Domino and Ren look up and see the demons too. Domino tells the others that the demons are attracted to the sound of the fight. 'I really don't want to be on the street when they get here' Ren remarks. 'Another time. Another time...and sooner than you think' Karnak tells the Mercs, to which Deadpool turns to the other Mercs and asks them 'Did a dog with a tuning fork on his head just teach us all some sort of valuable lesson? I hope not. I hate it when that happens'.
Soon, Deadpool and the Mercs trudge through the sewers beneath the city, with Ren telling the others that they need to keep moving and get out of the city – and not just because she is tired of the demons or fancy sewer living, but that it is only a time before the Tribe tracks them down. Gorilla Man tells the others that Ren has a point, and adds that he knows Wade is nostalgic for the place. 'Eh, it was more interesting when there were monsters all over the place. And I don't mean the demonic kind' Deadpool replies. 'We always knew we wouldn't be safe here foor -' Gorilla Man starts to say, but Domino shushes him. 'Did you hear that?' she asks. 'Sheesah, Nina' Gorilla Man mutters, explaining that he was just speculating and didn't mean to ignite her paranoia. Domino ignores Gorilla Man and asks Machine Man if he can give her a sweep. Machine Man's eyes glow red and he announces that he is not detecting anyone, but that there is something strange, some sort of interference, he thinks he needs to run a diagnostic.
'You do that' Domino tells him, looking down to the ground, she sees some bloody footprints. 'I don't care what your scanners say. I think maybe... we've got... visitors!' Domino declares as someone wearing a raggedy Deadpool costume appears, with several blades sticking out of his body, he clutches his side. His name is Massacre, and he utters something in Spanish – including the name Negasonic Teenage Warhead. 'I've got you. We'll get you some -' Machine Man begins as Massacre falls into Machine Man's arms. 'He's... I am picking up no pulse... no respiratory function' Machine Man announces, as a blood-covered data stick suddenly drops from Massacre's body. Domino picks it up and realizes that it is set to specific coordinates. Machine Man looks down at Massacre's body and remarks that he didn't know him that well, but that he didn't deserve to go out like that. 'Who did this to him? And why?' Ren asks. Looking at the data stick, Domino tells the others that Massacre sacrificed everything to get this to them. 'You don't really think -' she begins, as Deadpool interrupts her: 'He found her? I'm betting we'll find out where she is once we open those files'.
Domino turns to the others and tells them that Massacre always said Negasonic was still out there somewhere, but she didn't know that any of them believed him, and even now, she is not sure if she does – but he has pinpointed the way for them, and they need to find her before the Inhumans do.
'It is as you predicted' the Inhuman called Grid announces as he stands alongside Lash. Behind them are Sheath, Inferno and Karnak and Nocculus, Jack Chain and Mother Bones. Grid informs the others that he has hijacked the robot's visual and auditory systems, and that they have located her – the Mercs have found the heretic. 'She is not dead after all' Lash remarks. 'Perhaps not. But we'll rectify that soon enough' Grid boasts.
Shortly, the Mercs are in a jet that speeds through the air, and Domino tells them that she wants them to understand that they may not find anything, they are simply following the ramblings of a guy who was, at best, unstable, and this might be a wild goose chase. Gorilla Man and Ren pilot the jet, while Deadpool and Machine Man stand next to Domino. Machine Man points out that if so, then this “wild goose” murdered Massacre. 'This was not how the world was supposed to be' Deadpool remarks, gazing out the window. 'And what would you prefer? All the mutants dead?' Domino asks. 'Oh, I'm sorry. Was I thinking out loud again? Or were you busy not minding your own business?' Deadpool snaps. Domino frowns at him and tells him to answer the question – would he rather see all the mutants in the world dead? Deadpool hangs his head, and replies that he would settle for one mutant – alive.
Present:
The Schaefer Theatre, where inside, Deadpool stands before Domino, Massacre, Gorilla Man, Hit-Monkey and Machine Man and asks them 'What's it gonna be?' to which Gorilla Man announces that this isn't their fight. 'We're mercenaries... and it doesn't sound like there's any money to be made here'. Domino tells him thaty this isn't about money, that sometimes you strap on your guns for cash, and sometimes, you do it because it is what's right. 'Yup. I know. Just wanted to hear you say it' Gorilla Man tells her. Deadpool tells everyone that it is pretty clear to him which team they are playing for. 'We've got two mutants among us...and one person – me – with a vested interest in mutant survival'. Deadpool reminds everyone that the Terrigen Cloud is toxic, and that it is going to kill every mutant on the planet in a matter of weeks. He adds that the X-Men – about two bazillion of them – are taking a shot at the cloud, and the Inhumans won't like that.
Negasonic Teenage Warhead appears and adds 'No more Terrigen Cloud, no new Inhumans. Sounds like a lose / lose scenario to me'. But Machine Man points out that destroying the cloud does not necessarily doom the Inhumans, as they have time to figure out an alternative – the mutants do not. Massacre offers his thoughts in Spanish to which Deadpool announces 'Either way...we're going to war against the good guys today'. He supposes that is old hat for him. 'You might want to take a little time to wrap your noodles around that concept' he suggests. Domino tells Negasonic that she knows this sucks, but it is what it is, and no matter how this plays out, there is bound to be blood on the streets. At this, Negasonic frowns.
Negasonic walks down a corridor and enters her quarters. She sits on the edge of her bed and flances out the window behind her. Then her eyes start to glow.
Five years from now:
The Mercs have arrived at a temple. They leave their jet and approach the temple which is in a dense jungle. Domino tells her teammates that this is the place, where Massacre found Negasonic Teenage Warhead – if he wasn't delusional, if she is not dead, and if she hasn't moved on already. Domino adds that she isn't placing bets one way or another. They walk up the steps to the temple, and Ren asks Machine Man if he is still feeling out of sorts. 'There's a ghost...in the machine' Machine Man replies. The group walk in silence the rest of the way into the temple, until suddenly, a voice calls out 'Uh... hey, Deadpool... long time no see'. It's Negasonic Teenage Warhead. She is wearing a purple cloak, and behind her are Polaris! Nightcrawler! Goldballs! Rachel Grey! Xorn!
Negasonic announces that she guesses she needed some time to clear her head. 'Yeah. I can relate' Deadpool replies, narrowing his eyes. Polaris hovers in the air above Negasonic, and moves to the front of the group, asking Domino what they are doing here and what it is they want. 'We're just here to check in on a friend' Domino replies. Rachel reports that they are worried about Negasonic, that they thought she was dead, but now that they know she is alive, they are afraid. Polaris declares that the Inhumans are still hunting for her, and now they have targeted Domino and her little band. 'They thought you knew where Negasonic was hiding' Polaris adds. Hands on hips, Domino replies 'Technically, we're here...so we kinda did know where to find her'. Deadpool reminds the others that even after the cloud, after the world became safe for mutants and Inhumans, both sides kept on fighting, so many people paid the price.
'Don't try to put this on us, Deadpool. This happened under your watch. And mutantkind is thankful for it' Polaris declares. 'Own it' Negasonic tells him. Deadpool quotes her, and tells Negasonic that is why he is here. Xorn points out that if Deadpool and the others had been tracked, then they are exposed. He instructs Deadpool to say what he needs to say, and then they can be done with this – be done with it all. Deadpool grabs Negasonic by her arms, and she asks him why he is here. 'You already know, I'd imagine' Deadpool replies. 'You know what I'm going to ask. And I know it sounds nuts...' Deadpool begins, and Negasonic goes wide-eyed as Deadpool informs her that he needs her to bring the Terrigen Cloud back!
