X-MEN 2099

 

First Appearance:

X-Men 2099 #1

Membership:

(Earth-928) Xi'an, Cerebra, Junkpile, Meanstreak, Krystalin, Metalhead, Serpentina, Skullfire, Bloodhawk, La Lunatica, Sham

(Earth-2099 additions) Horsepower, Cable, Cyclops 2099, Rogue, Phoenix 2099, Northstar 2099,  Deadpool 2099

(Allies) Victor Ten Eagles, Morphine Somers, Quiver, Book, Rosa, Nostromo, Mer-Max

 

BEFORE

• In the year 2099 (originally more than 100 years from the present), America had become a corporate autocracy. Roughly fifteen years prior, the Corporate Wars (or Pollution Wars) saw the armies of the MegaCorps rise up against the democratically elected government and overthrow it, allegedly in the name of stopping government-dictated pollution policies. Most major cities continued to exist as subsidiaries of the Corps, while rural areas were abandoned to their own independence as “Indie towns,” overlooked unless they produced something of value. Other interests also claimed territory, such as Las Vegas falling under the Greater Nevada Syndicate and officially being owned by the mob.

• Mutants of 2099 still honored the names of Xavier, Magneto, Del Ruiz and Zhao. After the cataclysmic end of the Heroic Age, an event known as the Great Exodus led to the mysterious disappearance of most of the world’s mutants. This was followed by the Genetic Accords and the Great Purge, which threatened mutant lives around the 2040s. This seems akin to the Days of Future Past timeline seen in other realities, with Nimrod patrols and mutant concentration camps. The Mutant Underground Support Engine was a network of operators trying to keep mutants alive and free. Del Ruiz’s X-Men apparently fought during this period, but nothing else is known about them. Zhao’s X-Men arose decades later, during the Corporate Wars, but also disappeared at the height of their infamy.
• Xi’an Chi Xan was a rebellious biker and leader of a band known as the Lawless. After in-fighting drove their group apart, Xi’an traveled to Saigon and was nearly killed by his various enemies. Experiencing a form of enlightenment, Xi’an became a man of peace and returned to America to lead his mutant people into the next century. He reunited with the incredulous Lawless enforcer named Junkpile, who only reluctantly supported Xi’an’s new venture.
• Xi’an’s first recruit was Shakti Haddad, a mutant-detecting bio-technical expert rebelling against her father’s corporate Bio-Shops. Thanks to Shakti, others soon followed – Henri Huang, a former Alchemax drone; Krystalin, from the Oakland Panthers who adopted Wakandan values; Eddie van Beethoven, of the Armaggedon Choir; and the street hustler, Serpentina.
• Xi’an planned for these mutants to be the core of his new X-Men. However, he also hosted revival gatherings at the Nuevo Sol Arcology, an abandoned work and living structure in the Nevada desert. These gatherings were open to all those who felt left behind by those in power: nomads, fringers, corporate dropouts, discards and DeGens.

CHRONOLOGY

Shakti found Timothy Fitzgerald in Kingman, Arizona, inviting him to the gatherings as the last of Xi’an’s intended X-Men. On the night Tim arrived at Nuevo Sol, Xi’an paid a visit to Noah Synge of the Greater Nevada Syndicate in Las Vegas. Standing up for the outcasts, Xi’an warned Synge against his human trafficking practices in the Red Market. Synge didn’t flinch against the mutant’s threats and the two men remained at odds as Xi’an left. Meanwhile, the X-Men named Meanstreak and Krystalin interceded on the execution of another mutant named Bloodhawk at the Synge Casino. ‘Hawk was a loner and an eco-terrorist, though, and he refused to accept Xi’an’s offer of brotherhood.

Back at Nuevo Sol, events accelerated as Xi’an prepared to address the gathering. Noah Synge had been murdered back in Vegas, subject to a form of molecular decay similar to Xi’an’s touch. His heirs Lytton and Desdemona Synge sent an assassin to take revenge on Xi’an, and Junkpile was paid off to cover for the security breach. By sheer chance, Fitzgerald spotted the glint of a sniper’s rifle on the balcony and bio-blasted the killer. He ruined the man’s aim, but Xi’an still took a shot in the chest. Meanstreak, Krystalin, Metalhead, Tina and Fitz gathered around Shakti to flee with Xi’an’s wounded body and escape the Synge security clampdown which followed. [X-Men 2099 #1]

In their van, the eXperience, the mutants used an escape tunnel but emerged against an Earthshaker tank. Fortunately, Bloodhawk was honorable enough to regret his rudeness earlier, and arrived to repay the favor shown to him by Xi’an’s people. His cache of grenades helped to scrap the tank, and Bloodhawk guided the eXperience to the Hoover Dam, where Shakti hoped to stabilize Xi’an. She directed the more experienced team members to return to Las Vegas and find evidence of Xi’an’s innocence while she, Tina and Fitz performed triage. Unfortunately, Meanstreak and Metalhead were captured by the syndicate’s Rat Pack enforcers, leaving Krystalin alone and on the run in the casino. Junkpile also visited the dam, smashing through any resistance as he recovered Xi’an’s comatose body for Lytton Synge. [X-Men 2099 #2]

Shakti, Tina and Timothy covertly infiltrated the casino looking for their friends, with Bloodhawk providing a distraction. They freed Meanstreak and Metalhead before going in search of the others. The Rat Pack attempted to block their path, but Shakti demonstrated how powerful Tim could be by psionically triggering an eruption of his energy that floored the enforcers. The X-Men located Xi’an, but Junkpile already beat them there after capturing the missing Krystalin. Serpentina impulsively jumped the traitor, but Junkpile smashed her head into the wall, killing Tina instantaneously. Tim nearly faced the same fate when he lunged at Junkpile in grief and was thrown out the skyscraper’s window. Bloodhawk saved Fitzgerald, but the desert guardian could not face Junkpile alone.

The X-Men prepared to rumble but, at that moment, Xi’an emerged from his coma. His powers had generated a healing cocoon, which not only saved his life, it produced a secondary mutation which gave him one hand that healed in addition to one that disintegrated. Xi’an’s calm precision allowed him to quickly take down his former brother, incapacitating Junkpile. Desdemona Synge had discovered her brother Lytton was really responsible for their father’s death, and she otherwise held no grudge against the mutants. She took control over the syndicate and let the X-Men walk rather than deal with any further hassle. The X-Men buried Serpentina in the desert, with Krystalin providing a crystal coffin for her fallen form. Tim had only just met Xi’an and the X-Men, but his bond to Tina led him to accept Xi’an’s dream was worth fighting for. [X-Men 2099 #3]

Unfortunately, cracks quickly began to show in the X-Men’s unity. Xi’an chose not to rebuild the Arcology and the gatherings, hoping to take the X-Men on the roads to learn more about the lost generation of mutants from the Great Purge. However, Meanstreak had only escaped corporate bondage to Alchemax thanks to his friend, Jordan Boone. When he learned Boone might be in trouble, he requested time off to go to New York. Xi’an refused to permit this, yet Henri left anyway. Xi’an rather coldly instructed Tim and Krystalin to bring him back.

At a truck stop, Krys and Tim caught up with Henri, just as they were attacked by La Lunatica, a hunter enslaved to Controller-13 of the Theatre of Pain. She had already captured the independent Bloodhawk and brought them all back to the Darkroom. Controller-13 intended to harvest their minds for painful memories, sensory experiences which the Theatre sold on the Red Market to the rich and ghoulish. With Luna’s mutant touch capable of naturally triggering psychological trauma, they probed Tim’s worst moment, when his powers first manifested and killed his girlfriend, Reiko. Fitzgerald proved more powerful than the Controller anticipated, overriding the dampening collar to drain the Darkroom’s equipment of energy and release it as a devastating tantrum. The others were freed from Controller-13’s collars, including La Lunatica. She destroyed his mind to get her revenge and told the X-Men to be satisfied with that, rather than seeking justice from her personally. Bloodhawk and a newly aggressive Tim wanted to tangle with Luna, but Henri insisted they push on to New York in Controller-13’s abandoned sky cruiser. [X-Men 2099 #4]

Boone’s work for Alchemax introduced him to the Valhalla project, a floating city in the visage of the Aesir and Asgardian gods actively worshipped by 2099 America. Bloodhawk had heard of the ecological blight Valhalla represented, and he insisted on coming along. Once they reached Boone’s apartment in Nueva York, the X-Men cross-referenced Boone’s notes with the Green Globe environment agency run by Paul-Philip Ravage. They met with Ravage and learned he was the vigilante Beast-Man stalking the streets of Manhattan, and also had concerns about Valhalla. Ravage and the X-Men converged on Valhalla along with Doom, Spider-Man and the Punisher.

It turned out Alchemax feared the rise of the new Heroic Age these figures represented, and so they created their own heroes with the Aesir 2099, versions of Thor, Heimdall, Loki, Hela and Baldur, who claimed to be gods but were really behavior-modified test subjects who were genetically-engineered and nanotech-enhanced to dazzle the public. Jordan Boone had become Loki 2099, secretly getting himself added to the program and modifying it to keep his own mind rather than play the part Alchemax intended for him. Valhalla was designed to fall atop New York as a dramatic failure for the heroes, but Doom and Ravage managed to adjust the null-grav engines to keep the city aloft. Meanstreak found that Loki had become unbalanced despite his precautions and fought against his old friend’s tricks and games while innocent lives were on the line. The X-Men got the civilians of Valhalla to safety in Emergency Descent Vehicles, while the final battles with the Aesir were fought above them. [Fall of the Hammer crossover]

Meanstreak and the others returned to a rather uncomfortable reunion with Xi’an. Pushing past their difficulties, Xi’an and Cerebra informed the others of pirate broadcasts they received of Mama Hurricane spreading truths about life in Corporate America. A woman named Hurricane once served as part of the Mutant Underground during the Great Purge fifty years ago, and so the X-Men sought her out for any details she could provide. In the abandoned town of Iron Horse, they ran into the Freakshow, a collection of DeGens on the run from the Bio-Shop laboratories that altered their genes for profit. During the fight which followed, Fitzgerald inadvertently knocked Metalhead back into the DeGen Contagion, whose touch carried a crippling genetic virus. Xi’an and the opposing leader Breakdown each had a destructive touch, which cancelled each other out before Mama made herself known.

The fighting ended at Mama Hurricane’s insistence and she welcomed the X-Men, despite Breakdown’s paranoia. Xi’an used his healing hand to provide what succor it could to Metalhead, but he would remain deformed by Contagion’s touch. Mama explained the Mutant Underground Search Engine was a network, ferrying mutants to the purported refuge of Avalon, but their compartmentalized knowledge meant she only knew her leg of the journey. The X-Men helped the Freakshow fight off a squad of Bio-Shop trackers, earning them some more trust. Mama Hurricane gave Xi’an a map of her old MUSE routes and rendezvous points where she met her Avalon contact, known only as the Driver. With his body heavily disfigured, Metalhead asked to remain with his new friend Rosa and the Freakshow while he recovered his strength. Xi’an and Mama agreed. [X-Men 2099 #6-8]

Meanwhile, Xi’an had sent Krystalin on ahead to investigate the sighting of a winged mutant by his old Lawless brother, Victor Ten Eagles. Krystalin and Ten Eagles uncovered the existence of a second X-Men team, based off of the originals from the Heroic Age, in the service of Zhao, the Master of Mindfire. Zhao had been leader of the X-Men during the Corporate Wars more than a decade ago. When the rest of the X-Men met up with Krystalin, though, they learned Zhao had gone mad after using psychoactive drugs to amplify his fading powers and was responsible for killing the last generation of X-Men in his paranoia. His current crop was hormonally unstable after his efforts to forcibly recreate the original X-Men, so he wanted Xi’an’s team brainwashed and under his domination for the future.

Zhao entered Xi’an’s mind in an attempt to impose his will on the new X-Men’s leader. However, Xi’an’s “path of enlightenment” had been fading for weeks, as he experienced visions of his Lawless past self encouraging him to reclaim his fire and ruthlessness. A battle on the psychic plane allowed Xi’an to literally come together, merging with his other personality and overpowering Zhao. The Master of Mindfire was reduced to a vegetable and Xi’an was no longer the peaceful man of the recent past. Xi’an’s new unstable personality left him too vicious and controlling to maintain the X-Men’s faith in him, and he walked out. Tim Fitzgerald had been experiencing his own instability since La Lunatica’s touch, and together the two of them rode off to find the Driver. [X-Men 2099 #8-10]

They crossed paths with La Lunatica and Junkpile along the way, and this unlikely grouping tracked down the Driver’s remote abode known as the Garage. Luna and Fitz began a whirlwind romance as she liked his new wild side, but Lunatica was also still on the run from the Theatre of Pain. The Theatre’s patron Brimstone Love caught up with them at the Garage, where they learned a myopic Driver had begun bit-mapping the minds and genetic codes of “rescued” mutants. The mutants died, but the Driver swore he would be able to mass resurrect them, once there was peace between man and mutant. The accuracy of his dream proved moot when the following conflict with Brimstone Love destroyed his Accelerator, wiping out over 200 mutant bio-recordings. Brimstone was amused by Xi’an, and recruited him into the Theatre, giving Luna a temporary reprieve. [X-Men 2099 #10-13]

Back at Zhao’s ranch, Cerebra and the other X-Men had been at loose ends without guidance. Shakti occupied herself putting Zhao’s X-Men into cryogenic storage until a cure could be found for their genetic degradation. After abandoning Junkpile, Tim and Lunatica returned to the ranch without Xi’an. Meanstreak was less than welcoming to their old torturer, but Fitzgerald tried to keep him on task. Tim had done some growing up, and he now intended to lead the X-Men in bringing down the Theatre of Pain’s abuse and manipulation of society’s outcasts. Unfortunately, the team was still too unstable – Krystalin soon left for home after hearing of her father’s death, and Meanstreak got caught up with Jordan Boone’s antics in Las Vegas, under Boone’s new identity of Halloween Jack. Only Cerebra remained with Fitzgerald and Lunatica to support this new vision for the X-Men. However, Xi’an soon returned to steal the bodies of Zhao and his X-Men for the Theatre. He bombed the ranch and proved the X-Men’s founder was now actively opposed to their interests. [X-Men 2099 #14-20]

Tim, Cerebra, and Lunatica tracked down Xi’an’s location at the Theatre of Pain’s “Slaughterhouse,” otherwise known as the Floodgate Bio-Resource Processing Center. They hid among the dregs being “processed” by the Theatre as meat for their entertainment. Meanstreak and Krystalin reunited and hooked up with Bloodhawk, acting as reinforcements for their infiltration. Xi’an had been indoctrinated into the Theatre as Controller X and exposed the X-Men’s covert entrance to Floodgate. Fighting broke out as the X-Men also ran into Sham and Quiver – two young mutants who regretted selling themselves to Floodgate and were trying to escape – and Junkpile, a newly official marshal for SHIELD, here to take down the Red Market for America’s new administration.

Controller X turned Master Zhao into a Mindfire Machine, performing a mass-harvesting of pain and suffering from the Slaughterhouse’s cattle to be transmitted to the Theatre’s clientele. However, the sadistic Xi’an actually planned to betray Brimstone Love, using the Mindfire to overpower the physically imposing director and claim the Theatre of Pain for himself. Timothy and Junkpile made an unlikely alliance, but the scrap metal Judas took significant damage and was left behind again. Sham and Quiver helped Meanstreak’s trio disrupt the Mindfire Machine’s broadcast, turning feedback on the ghoulish audience. Xi’an made his play against Brimstone Love, using the Mindfire Machine to scramble his thoughts. However, the machine overloaded and consumed Zhao’s body, allowing Brimstone time to teleport away.

A furious Xi’an lashed out at the X-Men for clinging to “the dream,” projecting his own failure onto them and calling it a standard which no one could live up to. La Lunatica attacked him with her psycho-traumatic touch, forcing Xi’an’s fractured mind to deal with his façade and self-deceptions. Xi’an crumbled under her touch, but his mind did revert to that of the man who founded the X-Men. In the aftermath, Junkpile’s back-up arrived in the form of Morphine Somers, mutant Minister of Humanity for the new President of the United States: Victor von Doom. By right of revolution, Doom had claimed the Presidency and was willing to provide for the X-Men as his allies. He built a mecca on the coast known as Halo City. It would serve as a home for all those freed from the Slaughterhouse, as well as the rest of the disenfranchised and lost wandering America looking for a home. Doom asked the X-Men to serve Halo City as its protectorate, guarding the new society from those who might do it harm. Tim Fitzgerald accepted on behalf of the X-Men, and they prepared to break new ground for the dream. [X-Men 2099 #21-25]

As Halo City was under construction, Cerebra, La Lunatica, and Timothy Fitzgerald traveled the southwest in search of an elusive mutant bio-signature Shakti detected. They were lured to the Oasis, a technologically-preserved bio-dome founded by Cerebra’s old lover, Ryu Kobolt. Home to mutants, DeGens and fringers, the Oasis was very similar to what the Arcology had been, and what Halo City hoped to be. Tim and Luna found Bloodhawk had also accepted the Oasis, but he was under the pheromonal influence of a woman named Pandora. The X-Men discovered Ryu Kobolt intended to raze the Earth with retrovirus-carrying missiles, living out the fallout in the Oasis with his people to reclaim the planet in several centuries’ time. Kobolt’s mutant associate Memphis turned against him, freeing Bloodhawk and helping the other X-Men escape. Memphis remained behind to detonate the viral warheads inside the sealed Oasis, containing the fallout amongst those who would have brought Hell to Earth to assure their own Heaven. [X-Men 2099: Oasis]

Tim continued to lead the X-Men when they assembled as the Halo City Protectorate with Cerebra, Meanstreak, Krystalin, La Lunatica and Sham alongside him. Bloodhawk chose to return to the wild, Quiver was too meek for regular conflict, and Xi’an felt he was no longer fit to be a member. Instead, he occupied a polyclinic in Halo City where he used his healing gifts to do penance for his actions. The X-Men were stuck with Morphine Somers as provisional governor of Halo City, even though the old Transverse City alum had a reputation as a con man and a carpetbagger. Doom’s administration fell during the construction of Halo City, with the former President believed dead and the X-Men without any support back in Washington. They could only keep their heads down and await the fallout when the new pro-corporate regime inevitably turned towards Halo City.

The first real threat came when Xi’an’s polyclinic was attacked to get the X-Men’s attention. A mutant cyborg named Graverobber craved revenge against the Red Market czar, Zail Haddad, Cerebra’s father. After tracking the butcher to Halo City, Graverobber intended to use the X-Men to enact his vengeance. His Undead mutants (Arcadian, Nicolai, Ember, and Catscratch) kept the X-Men busy while his latest recruit lured Tim Fitzgerald away. Graverobber had resurrected Serpentina as a zombie under his sway, and the shock of seeing her left Fitzgerald open to a lethal shot in the chest. Graverobber and the Undead took Timothy’s body away and brought him back to life, turning the leader of the X-Men into the latest of his zombie servants.

Once the X-Men learned the stakes, they were hard-pressed to defend Zail Haddad’s record or character. Only Graverobber’s active disregard for civilian life led them to side against him and hold Shakti’s father in protective custody. Morphine Somers wanted to make a deal with Graverobber for Zail’s life, but Cerebra wouldn’t allow her father to be bartered with. Morphine covertly abducted Zail anyway and prepared to make an exchange. Graverobber showed his reasoning for claiming Tim Fitzgerald when the Undead occupied the Spark, Halo City’s power plant. Only a zombie dominated by his will could shrug off the pain necessary for Fitzgerald to mainline an entire city’s electrical grid through his body, holding the city hostage. As the X-Men fought the Undead at the Spark, Morphine arrived with Zail Haddad in restraints. When Graverobber got close enough, Sommers set off a neuroshock charge that incapacitated both men. The Undead fell like puppets with their strings cut as Graverobber went down but, surprisingly, Tim Fitzgerald seemed to shrug off his death and Graverobber’s control, becoming a living and autonomous being once more. This time around the X-Men cremated Serpentina’s body, hoping her rest would be more peaceful. [X-Men 2099 #26-29]

Doom still lived, and he secretly met with Cerebra to explain his real reason for creating Halo City. A prognosticating computer model indicated a mutant of the younger generation would soon rise with messianic potential. Halo City was intended as a natural gathering point to increase his likelihood of finding this mutant. With Doom now occupied with his own matters, he turned the messiah quest over to Shakti. She left her active membership in the Protectorate to attend to this quest. Unfortunately, she would have company. With the Halo City elections over, Morphine Somers was forced out of office as provisional governor. He knew about Doom’s futurity model, though, and involved himself in the messiah quest for his own selfish reasons. [2099 A.D. Genesis, X-Men 2099 #30]

The X-Men’s roster continued to change as they oversaw Halo City’s defense. Bloodhawk and Metalhead returned to the team as Eddie arrived with Rosa and her new baby, a powerful mutant infant. Tim, Lunatica and Meanstreak went on a mission down to Mexico where they rescued a mutant analyst named Book, who foresaw the need to reach Halo City in his future calculations. However, Meanstreak was regularly accosted by Zoomers, high-speed phenomena that had plagued him since Halloween Jack’s Virtual Unreality experiments in Las Vegas. The effect finally transported him to another reality, leaving his fate unknown at the bottom of a cliff. Xi’an faced his past when a super-soldier Foolkiller started hunting the surviving members of the Lawless, and the X-Men helped him defend against this serial killer. [X-Men 2099 #31-33]

The arrival of a Phalanx moon-ship in the solar system altered Earth’s tides and melted the ice caps, leading to a worldwide average of a kilometer rise in sea level. Halo City flooded and the X-Men busied themselves building a flotilla armada for the population. Vulcann the Bloodsmith of the Shaper’s Guild also knew of the messiah quest and used his flesh-shaping to kidnap Rosa's child and age the baby Joaquim into a powerful teenaged Darkson under his sway. When he confronted the X-Men, Darkson attacked Fitzgerald’s body and forced it apart, deconstructing Tim at a molecular level and killing the X-Men’s leader a second time. Darkson and Vulcann seized authority over the flotilla, holding the X-Men hostage as the Dark Messiah claimed patronage over the mutant race. The X-Men freed themselves and disposed of the Bloodsmith, while Fitzgerald miraculously returned again. Tim had evolved into a being of pure energy, able to survive the death of his body and assume a quasi-tangible form. Reunited, the X-Men led their fleet of human and mutants to the Savage Land, the last known dry land on Earth. [X-Men 2099 #34-35]

At the Last Refuge, the survivors of civilization tried to rebuild society in the jungles of the Savage Land. X-Men members like Metalhead and Krystalin spent much of their time in the construction and building, but human/mutant relations remained strained, especially after other, non-mutant heroes such as Spider-Man, Strange and the Fantastic Four all departed. Bloodhawk and La Lunatica went off with a group of X-Peditioners, where they inadvertently uncovered more about the oncoming Phalanx invasion. Xi’an’s rage returned, and Morphine Somers tried to manipulate him into leading the mutants in an anti-human regime he could profit from. Victor Ten Eagles managed to unite the humans and mutants against the Phalanx threat, and curb Xi’an’s darker tendencies by example. All the while, Cerebra tried to hold things together at the Last Refuge. Reed Richards had left behind “Franklin,” a sentient robot database filled with knowledge to help the reconstruction, but Franklin was unstable. It lashed out at Shakti, costing her the use of her legs and her mutant powers. [2099: World of Tomorrow #1-8]

[Note: Characters like Skullfire, Sham and Quiver did not appear in World of Tomorrow, despite traveling to the Last Refuge in X-Men 2099 #35.]

IN-BETWEEN

• The 2099 timeline was originally coded as Earth-928. It came to a conclusion with the 2099: Manifest Destiny one-shot, carrying events more than one thousand years into the future. Xi’an oversaw Xavier City in the Savage Land while a returning Steve Rogers led a team of Earth’s Mightiest Heroes into space. Bloodhawk, Metalhead, La Lunatica, Krystalin and a returning Meanstreak appeared among them. In order to continue telling 2099 stories, Manifest Destiny was recoded as the divergent Earth-96943 years later.
• The first few returns to 2099 were divergent realities with little to do with the X-Men 2099 directly. The “Marvel Knights 2099” event on Earth-2992 was a future where the Mutant Registration Act was successful and actively enforced by Sentinels in 2099. A mutant named Chad Channing was an active hero, but none of the familiar X-Men appeared. Similarly, Blink’s Exiles chased Proteus to Earth-928 in Exiles (1st series) #75-76. This altered the timeline and created a divergent Earth-6375. This splinter branch’s Spider-Man 2099 left home to join the Exiles.
• An alternate 2099 reality was depicted in Timestorm 2009 – 2099. Although it was more similar to Earth-928 than the Marvel Knights 2099, this Earth-96099 was still very different. Following the fifty years of Dark Ages after the fall of the Heroic Age, the people of this 2099 admitted civilization fell so low, they didn’t even know if the date was right. The X-Men of this reality were led by a one-armed and aged Wolverine, based out of the Maryland wastelands and a dilapidated “Regional Mutant Containment Facility.” The team included Junkpile (a retrofitted Stark robot), along with Krystalin and a female Bloodhawk and Meanstreak. They met a younger Wolverine when he and Spider-Man traveled to 2099 from the present. Shakti Haddad also appeared as a supporting character in this event. It was never entirely clear why this 2099 was different than others, although the instigating event was this version of Alchemax trying to alter the past with a Chronosphere, which certainly seems relevant.
• While bouncing through time and space, Eva Bell found herself in 2099 during Uncanny X-Men (3rd series) Annual #1. This reality was marked by an older Illyana Rasputin as Sorceress Supreme and entertained a visibly younger version of X-Men 2099, more street gang than resistance cell. They included Xi’an, Skullfire, Metalhead, Sham, Meanstreak and Serpentina.

• On Battleworld, Secret Wars 2099 #1-5 chronicled a Domain set in the 2099 future. However, it featured the Avengers 2099 and Defenders 2099, with only a few familiar faces and an only vaguely familiar setting. No X-Men were depicted, but Junkpile was a sparring partner for Hercules.
• Beginning with Deadpool (5th series) #6, the title included a reoccurring feature of Deadpool 2099, starring Wade’s daughters and half-sisters – the mutant Ellie Camacho and the half-demon Warda – each with their own Deadpool costumes. Although it was set in 2099, the Deadpool 2099 feature was (for the most part) generically futuristic, with no references to familiar characters, MegaCorps, etc.

• In the Cross-Time Caper from X-Men: Blue #16-20, the Original Five X-Men went time-hopping after the present went into flux. They traveled to the future and met the X-Men 2099 fighting against AlchemaX. This roster included Skullfire, Cerebra, Meanstreak, Krystalin, Metalhead, La Lunatica and Bloodhawk in their classic designs. Eventually, they learned Xavier II and Raze’s future Brotherhood had gone back in time and taken the place of the O5, creating this alternate version of 2099. O5 Beast later pulled Generation X and the X-Men 2099 out of time to join them in fighting off the time-corrupting Brotherhood.
• In the timeline for X-Men ’92, Cyclops and Jean Grey found themselves in 2099 after being separated from their son Nathan in the Askani future. These X-Men 2099 included Skullfire, Metalhead, Krystalin, Meanstreak and Bloodhawk.
• Prior to Secret Wars, the classic Spider-Man of 2099 came back in time for an extended stay in the present. He experienced difficulties returning to the future because his actions in the past (and later those of other parties) put his time period in a state of flux. Miguel would visit his time at several points, finding it changed from what he remembered. To complicate things, Marvel Comics did not treat this as the Miguel of Earth-928, but of “Earth-616 in 2099” – in other words, he was from THE future of the main Marvel Universe, only it kept changing. In one iteration of this ever-changing future from Spider-Man 2099 (3rd series) #14-16, the Anti-Powers Act made it illegal to be a superhuman operating outside the law. Skullfire, Bloodhawk and La Lunatica supported the APA, while Cerebra fought with the resistance.
• After the above Miguel O’Hara went home, yet another reorganizing of the 2099 timeline happened in 2099 Alpha to 2099 Omega and Amazing Spider-Man (5th series) #33-36. Miguel O’Hara traveled back in time again, leading to a new timeline where Doom 2099 cast a spell over reality which prevented the new Heroic Age in 2099. The time-traveling Miguel lived eighty years from 2019 into 2099 where he met his new, younger self, who never became Spider-Man. Old Man Miguel exposed Young Miguel to his original memories, leading him to consciously become Spider-Man 2099 again. Doom’s spell was already weakening, and the return of Spider-Man 2099 ushered in a New Age of Heroes. From this emerged a new timeline, Earth-2099, which (so far) seemingly embodies the events of Earth-928 up through World of Tomorrow, but with elements of other 2099 futures like Secret Wars 2099 and Deadpool 2099 mixed in. The X-Men's story picked up where it left off, with mutants living in the Savage Land for an indeterminate period of time before the narrative continued.

CHRONOLOGY, con’t.

The mutant nation in the Savage Land suffered during the rise of the Cabal, black card holders who represented the new elite of society. The settlement burned, and many were lost in the chaos that followed. The X-Nation became a caravan of nomads, moving from place to place as they tried to find a new home. Veteran X-Men like Skullfire, Bloodhawk and Krystalin united behind the X-Nation’s captain, Cerebra, still crippled and powerless but nevertheless an inspiring figure. They found new allies like the time-traveling Cable, the long-lived Rogue and Horsepower, and legacy mutant heroes like new versions of Cyclops, Phoenix, Northstar and Deadpool. The fall of the Savage Land habitat left many among the missing: Meanstreak and the X-Peditioners, Eleanor Camacho, and the fate of Xi’an, La Lunatica, Metalhead, Sham, Quiver, Morphine Somers and others remains to be seen.

Northstar, the Omega-class navigator, sensed a new mutant land which could become their home. The Celestial Garden in Ontario formed around the fallen corpse of a Celestial making planetfall. Exotic materials grew from the font of life that was a Celestial’s body, and Northstar even sensed a mutant lifesign at its core. The X-Men plunged ahead of the caravan to plant their flag for the mutant nation. The garden was paradise, but the mutant wasn’t what they expected… merely the preserved remains of Nate Grey. Before the X-Men could analyze this, the Cabal Sentinels arrived to lay their own claim on the Celestial Garden. Cerebra was critically wounded during the fight, and Cable used his time-jump device to spirit her away in the hopes of saving her life. Cyclops 2099 recognized the need and briefly implanted his transmutagenic eye again, letting him turn the entire wave of Sentinels into water. The X-Men were joined by Spider-Man 2099 and Nostromo, who had a plan to wipe out all of the Cabal black carders and their leader, Norman Osborn. [Spider-Man 2099: Exodus #5]

Spider-Man owed Osborn ever since his Masters of Evil massacred the Avengers 2099. The X-Men fought against the Cabal’s shock troopers while Spider-Man fought to get Green Goblin’s black card. The card was necessary to access the Cabal’s closed data network, with the technopath Nostromo and the living data of Ghost Rider 2099 on hand to hack it. They burned away the Cabal’s accounts, leaving them with nothing. The arrival of Valkyrie and the New Avengers 2099 assembled from the ashes of the old turned the tide. Osborn and the Cabal were turned over to Planet Wakanda to face justice, and the Avengers honored the X-Men’s claim to the Celestial Garden. Nostromo helped assemble the mutant city of Oasis X using the bodies of fallen Sentinels as raw materials. The boons of the Garden were overseen by the X-Men and made freely available to the world. [Spider-Man 2099: Exodus Omega]

MEMBERSHIP

EARTH-928

XI’AN (Xi’an Chi Xan, Desert Ghost)

First Appearance: X-Men 2099 #1

All X-Men 2099 Appearances: X-Men 2099 #1-4, 6-10, 25-27, 29, 31-35, 2099: World of Tomorrow #1-4, 7-8

Other 2099 Timelines: Manifest Destiny, Tempus

Powers: One hand disintegrates matter by breaking down its molecular structure, the other hand heals people by absorbing their pain and injury; healing cocoon manifests as a reaction to extreme physical harm

Note: Xi’an rarely used the title Desert Ghost as a codename. It was more of a legend attributed to him from stories of his time with the Lawless.

- Following his breakdown as a member of the Theatre of Pain, Xi’an chose not to join the defenders of Halo City or wear their badge. His comrades acknowledged he wasn’t part of the Halo City Protectorate, per se, but still considered him an X-Man.

 

JUNKPILE

First Appearance: X-Men 2099 #1

All X-Men 2099 Appearances: X-Men 2099 #1-3

Other 2099 Timelines: Timestorm, Secret Wars 2099

Powers: Bio-mechanical body with immense size, strength, and durability, metallic telekinesis allows him to repair himself when injured, drawing upon nearby scrap materials and sculpting them into armor and components for his body

Note: In Timestorm, Junkpile was a member of the X-Men but not a mutant. He was described as repurposed StarkTech, an autonomous and self-replicating robot with its own Artificial Intelligence.

 

CEREBRA (Shakti Haddad)

First Appearance: X-Men 2099 #1

All X-Men 2099 Appearances: X-Men 2099 #1-4, 6-11, 14-19, 22-30, 35, 2099: World of Tomorrow #1-8, X-Men 2099 Special #1, X-Men 2099: Oasis, Spider-Man 2099: Exodus #5

Other 2099 Timelines: Timestorm, Cross-Time Caper, Civil War II

Powers: Biometric telepath able to read genetic codes, identifying the presence of mutants, their location, familiarity, and relative power level, and also manipulate nervous systems to stimulate pain or paralysis, induce a fugue-like shutdown, remotely pilot their physical actions or mentally-triggered mutant abilities, etc.

Note: In Timestorm, Cerebra possessed excess brain matter which hung down her back like braids of hair. She was psychometric, able to read the past and future of a person by touching them.

- Cable arrived at Krakoa with the dying Cerebra in Marauders (2nd series) #5. Shakti Haddad was psychically copied, preserved, and resurrected in the modern era, her legs and mutant powers restored.

MEANSTREAK (Henri Huang)

First Appearance: X-Men 2099 #1

All X-Men 2099 Appearances: X-Men 2099 #1-11, 14-16, 24-33, X-Men 2099 Special #1, Ravage 2099 #14-15, Doom 2099 #14

Other 2099 Timelines: Manifest Destiny, Timestorm, Tempus, Cross-Time Caper, X-Men ‘92

Powers: Hyper-accelerated metabolism provides superhuman subsonic speed, increased endurance, reaction time, recuperative powers, and perceptual acuity

Note: Meanstreak disappeared into another reality and was left seemingly dead at the bottom of a cliff in X-Men 2099 #34. His return was alluded to in Spider-Man 2099: Exodus #5.

 

KRYSTALIN (Ruth Kirsten Porter-Ogada)

First Appearance: X-Men 2099 #1

All X-Men 2099 Appearances: X-Men 2099 #1-11, 14-15, 24-35, Ravage 2099 #14-15, Doom 2099 #14, 2099: World of Tomorrow #1-3, 6-8, Spider-Man 2099: Exodus #5, Spider-Man 2099: Exodus Omega

Other 2099 Timelines: Manifest Destiny, Timestorm, Cross-Time Caper, X-Men ‘92

Powers: Crystomorph able to summon crystalline shapes out of atmospheric mineral content, casting projectile shards, weapons and armor, defensive barriers, and other more intricate shapes, can also sense and identify the mineral composition of nearby objects

Note: Called “Ruth Kirsten” on the Master Masterpiece 1993 trading cards, Krystalin was referred to as “Krys Porter” and the daughter of Minister Andre Ogada beginning with X-Men 2099 #17.

 

METALHEAD (Edward van Beethoven-Osako)

First Appearance: X-Men 2099 #1

All X-Men 2099 Appearances: X-Men 2099 #1-4,6-8, 32-35, 2099: World of Tomorrow #1-8

Other 2099 Timelines: Manifest Destiny, Tempus, Cross-Time Caper, X-Men ‘92, Multiple Man

Powers: Metallo-mimetic ability enables him to assume the physical properties of any metal he’s touching, typically developing superhuman strength and resistance to physical injury

Note: In the Cross-Time Caper, Metalhead was drawn with his original form in X-Men: Blue #16, but was edited into his mutated state for the following issue.

- During a series of alternate future travels in Multiple Man #4, a duplicate of Multiple Man wound up in a version of 2099 and encountered Metalhead and the Freakshow.

 

SERPENTINA (Kimberly Kristine Potters)

First Appearance: X-Men 2099 #1

All X-Men 2099 Appearances: X-Men 2099 #1-3

Other 2099 Timelines: Tempus

Powers: Elongation effect lets her stretch out her limbs and torso, then coil her flexible limbs around a target

Note: Serpentina was reanimated through the power of the Graverobber in X-Men 2099 #26-29, before being laid to final rest.

 

SKULLFIRE (Timothy Sean Michael Fitzgerald)

First Appearance: X-Men 2099 #1

All X-Men 2099 Appearances: X-Men 2099 #1-17, 19, 22-31, 34-35, Doom 2099 #14, X-Men 2099: Oasis, Spider-Man 2099: Exodus #5, Spider-Man 2099: Exodus Omega

Other 2099 Timelines: Tempus, Cross-Time Caper, Civil War II, X-Men ‘92

Powers: Organic power cell able to siphon energy from ambient or localized outside sources, draining them of power and converting it into bio-radiation blasts

Note: Tim Fitzgerald never adopted the codename Skullfire in the original 2099 universe, despite many secondary sources referring to him as such. In Spider-Man 2099: Exodus #5, it was acknowledged that he was calling himself Skullfire for the first time after they left the Savage Land.

- Another version of Skullfire appeared in the modern era for Heroes Reborn: Magneto and the Mutant Force #1. Like Bishop, Cable, Askani, and other mutants from the future, he presumably traveled back in time to the present in the Heroes Reborn 2021 timeline.

 

BLOODHAWK (Lemuel Krug)

First Appearance: X-Men 2099 #1

All X-Men 2099 Appearances: X-Men 2099 #1-6, 24-25, 32-35, Ravage 2099 #14-15, Doom 2099 #14, 2099: World of Tomorrow #1-8, X-Men 2099: Oasis, Spider-Man 2099: Exodus #5, Spider-Man 2099: Exodus Omega

Other 2099 Timelines: Manifest Destiny, Timestorm, Cross-Time Caper, Civil War II, X-Men '92, Savage Avengers 2099

Powers: Transmorph able to assume a slightly-enlarged reptilian form with superhuman strength, speed, agility, endurance, reflexes, senses, resistance to physical injury and radiation, razor-sharp finger talons, and wings from his back enabling flight

Note: The Bloodhawk of Timestorm 2009 – 2099 was a female character able to manipulate life energy – she could heal others or take their life away with a touch.

- A lost Deathlok arm in the present led to an Age of Ultron 2099 reality in Savage Avengers (2nd series) #10. Bloodhawk was among the captive superhumans who escaped Ultron’s cells thanks to the Savage Avengers.

 

LA LUNATICA

First Appearance: X-Men 2099 #3

All X-Men 2099 Appearances: X-Men 2099 #14, 16, 19, 22, 24-29, 31, 33-35, 2099: World of Tomorrow #1-8, X-Men 2099: Oasis

Other 2099 Timelines: Manifest Destiny, Cross-Time Caper, Civil War II, Savage Avengers 2099

Powers: Superhuman strength, speed, agility, endurance, reflexes, durability and recuperative powers, hyper-keen senses, psychic vampire able to trigger flashbacks to emotionally tormenting memories with her touch, feeding off of her victim’s negative emotions to temporarily increase her strength, stamina, and recuperation

Note: La Lunatica was also among the superhuman survivors of the Age of Ultron 2099 seen in Savage Avengers (2nd series) #10.

 

SHAM (Diamonda LaSalle)

First Appearance: X-Men 2099 #22

All X-Men 2099 Appearances: X-Men 2099 #26-29, 33-35

Other 2099 Timelines: Tempus

Powers: Illusionist able to manipulate audio-visual sensory input to conjure intangible creatures and objects or project overlapping false reality on the world around her

 

EARTH-2099

HORSEPOWER (Tulkas)

First Appearance: Spider-Man 2099: Exodus #5

All X-Men 2099 Appearances: Spider-Man 2099: Exodus #5

Powers: Adrenokinetic who produces a super-charged version of adrenaline, using exertion to increase his strength, speed, endurance, durability, lifespan, and recuperation while producing a pulsing flame from areas of his body

Note: A younger, modern version of Tulkas was introduced in Marauders (2nd series) #7, indicating how effective his adrenokinesis is at preserving his youth over time.

 

CYCLOPS

First Appearance: Spider-Man 2099: Exodus #5

All X-Men 2099 Appearances: Spider-Man 2099: Exodus #5, Spider-Man 2099: Exodus Omega

Powers: Transmutative vision alters the elemental and chemical structure of anything he looks at, radically changing any substance which falls under his gaze

Note: Due to his uncontrollable powers, Cyclops had his eyes removed. However, he keeps one remaining eye in a pouch, apparently preserved such that he can re-insert the eye at will and reactivate his powers, although it's incredibly painful to do so.

 

PHOENIX

First Appearance: Spider-Man 2099: Exodus #5

All X-Men 2099 Appearances: Spider-Man 2099: Exodus #5, Spider-Man 2099: Exodus Omega

Powers: Pyromantic regeneration enables her to heal injuries and regrow lost tissue by absorbing the heat energy from flames

 

NORTHSTAR

First Appearance: Spider-Man 2099: Exodus #5

All X-Men 2099 Appearances: Spider-Man 2099: Exodus #5, Spider-Man 2099: Exodus Omega

Powers: Omega-class navigator able to use psionic holograms and directional senses to find anything he imagines, pinpointing specific people and objects, even conceptual targets

Note: In Marauders (2nd series) #12, Cerebra found and protected Northstar's modern ancestor, Esera Seanoa, living in San Francisco.

 

CABLE (Nathan Christopher Charles Summers)

First Appearance: Uncanny X-Men (1st series) #201

All X-Men 2099 Appearances: Spider-Man 2099: Exodus #5

Powers: telepathy, telekinesis, techno-organic virus provides him with a bio-cybernetic arm, alternate visual modes, access to bodysliding and time travel, etc.

Note: In the increasingly complicated timeline of Nathan Summers, after Kid Cable left Krakoa and returned to his own era, a slightly older Young Adult Cable spent time in 2099 as a member of the Avengers. When the Cabal lay siege to the Avengers, Cable time-traveled away and returned years older to join the X-Men as well.

 

ROGUE (Anna Marie)

First Appearance: Spider-Man 2099: Exodus #5

All X-Men 2099 Appearances: Spider-Man 2099: Exodus #5, Spider-Man 2099: Exodus Omega

Powers: Psycho-genetic memory allows her to recall the powers, memories, and abilities of mutants she has encountered in the past

Note: It’s uncertain whether this version of Rogue is immortal, a time traveler, emerged from stasis, etc. She appears to be the genuine article.

 

DEADPOOL (Warda Wilson)

First Appearance: Deadpool (5th series) #6

All X-Men 2099 Appearances: Spider-Man 2099: Exodus #5, Spider-Man 2099: Exodus Omega

Other 2099 Timelines: Deadpool 2099, Civil War II

Powers: Enhanced strength, agility, endurance, reflexes, and hyper-regenerative powers