Germantown, Pennsylvania, October 1777 – the height of the so-called American Revolution. The British Army is forced to defend themselves against a band of dirty, undisciplined American rebels. The mongrels fall like so much kindling. It is clear this uprising won't last long. Shots are fired from both sides. Smoke billows out across the field, a large mansion towering over the battle. But, out of the tangle of bleeding and dying men, Wade “Deadpool” Wilson emerges, armed with several swords and a large machine gun he exclaims '...comes a deadly and fearsome-looking mercenary, clad like a rebel – but wearing a mask! And holding a strange-looking musket!' He shouts 'EEEYAAAAHH!' as he charges across the field, to the surprise of the soldiers, who stare in confusion. 'Who would be so foolish as to rush a row of armed soldiers single-handedly?' Deadpool asks, as the soldiers fire upon him. 'The elite guard unleash the full fury of the Crown upon this brazen interloper! Somehow, the strange rebel is able to dodge hundreds of musket balls!' Deadpool excaims as he dodges the balls. 'And cannonballs!' he boasts as he is blasted into the air by an explosion of cannonballs.
'Oh, this rebel must have such big... sorry, I know that's low-hanging fruit even for me' Deadpool exclaims as he kicks a wooden door down, knocking a soldier aside, while another cries out in shock. Narrating his actions as he goes about, Deadpool fires the machine guns, decimating the Elite British Guard. 'As well as many fine heirlooms!' he adds as the room is torn apart. Soldiers are blasted away, while Deadpool remarks that he hates shooting people in red uniforms, that it is so hard to keep track of who he has shot and who he hasn't yet shot. 'Can, like, some of you wounded guys draw “x”s on the eyes of the dead guys?' he asks as more soldiers are battered with bullets.
Deadpool puts his large machine gun over his shoulder, smoke billowing from the barrel and boasts 'And finally, the fearsome mercenary with the ever-so-loquacious mouth -' as he turns to an older imperial officer with a small gun pointed to his own head, backed up against a wall, looking very scared. 'Not so fast, Guv'nah' Deadpool declares, knocking the older man's weapon away from his head. Deadpool shoves one of his guns into the man's mouth and flips though a small notebook, wanting to make sure that he gets this right, because not everybody is supposed to die. 'Uh, what's your name again?' he asks. Obscured by the gun nozzle down his mouth, the man utters his name, to which Deadpool narrows his eyes and remarks 'Oh, cool, I can kill you' He adds that this totally isn't about the term paper that he once had to write. 'Okay, maybe a little', holding the gun ready.
More than two centuries later, Cable a.k.a. Nathan Dayspring Summers is having visions again. In his loft apartment, he sits naked surrounded by candles. He mediates, often, having recently arrived in this strange and tumultuous time period in Earth's history, and sometimes visions follow. But unlike other visions he has experienced this one manifested suddenly, violently. The Timestream is on the verge of collapse and unless he finds the point of divergence, everything he has ever fought for will be at risk. His head recoils backwards, energy flares from his left eye. Cable does not look happy. He can feel the fabric of time tugging at his blood – and immediately, he knows who he must visit.
Cable bodyslides to the secluded laboratory of Dr Francis Talbot, a man who has made billions from the American military-industrial complex. Talbot is paranoid and brilliant and rich enough to indulge both of those character traits. Two armored guards stand in area where Cable materializes, and the mutant warrior quickly takes the first one out, while grabbing the other by his throat, the second guard pleads 'Wait, no no no, I recognize you, you don't have to -' as Cable grabs the man's hand and presses it against an access panel. The computer voice indicates that the print has been confirmed and access is granted. Cable rushes down a corridor. Talbot is obsessed with time travle, and that his labs will be instrumental in creating the time machine Cable will use centuries from now. So Cable keeps a wary eye on Talbot, if anything were to happen to the man – or if any of his experiments were to go awry.... Cable steps into the large room where Talbot sits in a chair behind a desk, his back turned to the door. Cable approaches Talbot who calls out 'I knew you'd show' and tells him that he didnt have to hit those guards, as they would have let him pass. 'What have you done, Talbot?' Cable frowns. 'Something.. .impulsive' Talbot replies, bringing his hand to his face.
Talbot gets up and goes over to a photograph of his grandson which sits in a frame on a table nearby and asks Cable if he ever told him that his grandson volunteered for Desert Storm. 'Brave, handsome, impulsive... just like his grandfather' Talbot remarks, revealing that last month a Republican Guard ripped his grandson's face off.
Immediately, Cable knows what Talbot has done. 'Dammit, we've discussed this, Talbot. If you mess with the Timestream...' he begins, but Talbot interrupts, claiming that he knows, but explains that he had the tools to save his grandson's life. 'How could I not use them? How could I ever look at my daughter, knowing I could have spared her the ultimate grief?' Talbot asks Cable.
'Who did you send back?' Cable enquires, frowning still. An image on the computer depicts Deadpool, on the date 14 May 1987, trudging through a swamp, and Talbot replies 'A man I shouldn't have'. Talbot admits that it was a man he shouldn't have, and Cable stands with his arms folded, as Talbot explains that Deadpool strapped the prototype to his back, knocked him down and proceeded to reprogram the time coordinates. He adds that if the numbers are correct, then “Wade Wilson” - if that is even his real name – travelled back more than two centuries. Cable knows he can slide back to intercept this mercenary, but he also knows that going alone is bad strategy – especially if this “Wilson” is part of a larger plot, and his allies. 'That's it – I'm history!' Deadpool can be heard saying on thje monitor, while Cable turns to Talbot and asks him if he has any more prototypes.
Soon, Cable moves through the Timestream with four mutants who will form the core of his paramilitary team known as X-Force. But today they are merely the toughest, most resourceful mutants Cable can gather at a moment's notice – Warpath a.k.a. James Proudstar, able to snap you in half. Boom-Boom a.k.a. Tabitha Smith, blows stuff up. Domino, makes her own odds. Cannonball a.k.a. Sam Guthrie, flies like a jet. Cable warned them all of the risks of waging war in the past. Not only must they repair the damage of the past... and survive... but their memories of the very battle itself must be purged, lest it disrupt the Timestream itsel. None of the team flinched.
Back in 1777, Deadpool has positioned himself in one of the upstairs rooms in the mansion, the older officer his prisoner, tied to a chair with a sack over his head, Deadpool aims his machine gun out the window and exlcaims 'Ah, quit yer flinching, me old mucker'. He tells the officer that he is not after him, but his British Army buddies and that they should be here soon. He flips through his small booklet again, 'Least I think so. All of thse razzin' frazzin' names and dates to keep straight! Kill this one, don't kill that one... it's like I'm back in sixth grade again' he complains, when suddenly, he hears a loud noise – THWONGGG. Deadpool narrows his eyes 'Finally! My tripwire's a trippin'!' Deadpool declares. He reminds himself not to fire until he sees the whites of their eyes. But as Cable comes into view, he asks 'Wait... who the heck are you? And why is your eye all, like, glowy and stuff? Or is that mascara?'
Cable stares up at the large mansion, and is overcome with deja vu. This mercenary is strangely familiar to him, but Cable pushes those thoughts out of his mind and focuses on the mission at hand. Talbot warned Cable that Wilson was chatty, so Cable plans on distracting him with chatter of his own – while his team moves into strike positions. Boom-Boom frowns as she stands around a corner, time-bombs ready. Domino and Warapth are hidden in the shadows, ready, while Cannonball adjusts his goggles nearby. 'You're Wade Wilson, right? I'm Nathan. Pleased to meet you. Mr Talbot asked me to -' Cable shouts, before he is struck by a blast of energy and knocked backwards. 'Take him out! Now!' Warpath exclaims as he and Domino burst into the mansion. 'Ah'm on him!' Cannonball shouts as he blasts forward. Though their leader is hit, the team knows what to do – take out the shooter and rescue any hostages. Deadpool fires his weapon and shouts 'Hey, that's a future historical site you're destroying! The state of Pennsylvania is going to be P.O.'d!'
'They're especially not going to be happy about the -' Deadpool begins before falling through the floorboards that he shot out from under himself, dodging Cannonball who blasts towards him. Deadpool is far more resourceful than any of them realized, and as he lands on the second floor he opens fire on Domino and Warpath, before Boom-Boom appears and starts throwing the plasma time-bombs towards Deadpool. 'Okay, now here's where I use my uncanny knowledge of the future to kick some major boo-tay. Swing batta batta batta batta – SWING!' Deadpool exclaims as he bats the plasma blasts away with the end of one of his guns – and they are knocked towards Domino and Warpath, where they explode. Deadpool opens fire at Boom-Boom and asks her if they don't have baseball where she comes from. 'That was called relieving the pitcher' he jokes, as Boom-Boom falls to the floor. Deadpool drops down through the floor of this level of the mansion, 'And this is called knocking on the back door while mama's in the kitchen...wait – wrong sport' Deadpool mutters, while his small notebook suddenly falls from his person.
We've got him trapped in the basement' Warpath calls out to Cable, who rushes towards his team. 'Hit him now with everything you've got! Before he jumps!' Cable orders. He and Domino start firing their weapons down the hole, while Boom-Boom tosss some time-bombs down. However, Deadpool is floating through the Timestream already, 'Anyhoo – despite those heavily armed, heavily pouched people – I got most of the names on the list. On to the next...oh crapballs! I dropped my copybook!' Deadpool realizes. Cable and his team have dropped down into the basement, 'He jumped already, dammit. He could be anywhere now' Cable points out, while Domino picks up the notebook. 'Check out what he left behind' she tells the others. Cable takes the book, while Boom-Boom asks 'what's that? His guide on how to really annoy people?' Cable frowns and instructs Boom-Boom and Cannonball to stay here and contain the damage, while he sends Domino and Warpath the coordinates – he knows where Wilson is going next.
July 1863, Gettysburg, PA, Cable, Domino and Warpath emerge fro mthe Timestream, as Domino asks 'What's he doing? Going on a reenactment kick?' 'We'll ask him after we kill -' Warpath suggests, when suddenly, sitting amongst a group of soldiers, Deadpool makes his presence known, 'Hey, Yankee scum. This one's for Bo and Luke Duke! Fire at will, boys! But, uh, try not to get too much blood on my copybook' Deadpool calls out as the army aim their weapons at the surrounded mutants!
