X-Men Mission: Fin Fang Foom!!!
| X-Men: Fin Fang Foom | |
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| Dates run: | July 26-28, 2007 |
| Run By: | Dex |
| Read the logs: | Fing Fan Foom!!! |
~YOU HAVE COME WITH TRIBUTE ONCE MORE. IT PLEASES FOOM, AND EARNS YOU THE HONOUR OF BEING INGESTED FOR YOUR SERVICE~
Garrison's father shows up with a unique request for help, that puts the X-Men facing a real dragon.
Contents
Cast
Rogue, Wolverine, Cyclops, Sunfire, Blink, Cannonball, Nightcrawler, Skin, Phoenix, Legion, Juggernaut, Dominion, Jackpot, Janet Van Dyne, Beast Boy
Timing
Plot Summary
Christian Kane made his very first visit to the mansion to see his son. An immediately suspicious Garrison was correct in assuming that the motive for the visit wasn't fatherly concern. Christian revealed that a situation was brewing in the Pacific, and the X-Men might be able to help.
Over the previous four months, Chinese and British shipping had been going missing in the northern Pacific trade route. Despite the best efforts of several navies, no one had been able to determine why or what is preying on these ships. Desperate for answers, and to avoid the Chinese fleet from putting to water, the British government asked Kane to poke around and see if he could come up with any answers. China, meanwhile, was rapidly coming to the decision that Russia or Japan were involved.
Good super-agents never truly retire, and it didn't take long for Kane to determine some connections. All three of the British ships that disappeared either carried rare technological supplies to China, or in one case, antiques that were being repatriated back to the country over a hundred years after being stolen. Whoever the pirates were, they specifically wanted China to suffer.
The best place to look for anti-Chinese forces was Taiwan, and there, a name finally came up in connection to the disappearing ships: Zhang Tong. Still smarting from the destruction of his Triad invasion into the American west coast at the hands of a mixed group of X-Men and X-Force members, the self-styled Mandarin had retreated back to the Pacific to work on new plans.
Kane identified a British ship, the Bonaventure, which was carrying not only a fortune in Chinese artifacts from the British museum, but also a collection of aerospace technology for the Chinese Space program, as part of a new agreement between the British and Chinese governments. British intelligence learned that if something happened to that ship anywhere near Russian waters, it was very likely that China would officially push out their fleet into that area, demanding a constant presence to safeguard their shipping. The Russians, of course, would have to refuse, and the Pacific fleets of both powers would end up in a highly dangerous and tense proximity.
One team of X-Men boarded the Bonaventure in Japan, with the Blackbird flying cover in case of attack. The other team, led by Christian, went to Macau, to break into Tong's casino.
On the ship, the X-Men found themselves attacked by one of their most bizarre foes yet; a 50 foot long dragon calling himself 'Fin Fang Foom'. Looking like a classic Chinese dragon, save for the purple wrap around his waist, the dragon began to attack the ship and the X-Men. Even their powers proved barely enough against Foom, who fought them and the ship to a standstill.
In Macau, the team penetrated the Mandarin's Longtouhuan or "Dragon Head Ring" casino thanks to some deception by Jennie, Janet and Haller. Nightcrawler, Dominion, Sunfire and Christian made their way to the inner sanctum of the Manderin, and forced him to flee from his own hotel. Kane fired a shot that shattered a statue, later identified as a 'spirit fount' and disrupted Foom's ability to maintain his form.
As the ship beached, the X-Men rallied to attack a weakened Foom, eventually forcing him back into his component forms of 99 Chinese Triad members. The men were arrested by the Chinese Navy, as both teams of X-Men quietly slipped away with the official thanks of the British government and Sir Christian.
Related Links
External Links
Trivia and Meta
Trivia
This was the first mission for new trainees, Kyle, Jennie and Jan.
Meta
Plotrunner: Dex
This plot owed far too much to Warren Ellis' Nextwave series, specifically issues #1 and 2.
