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    X-Terminators

    Team » X-Terminators appears in 85 issues.

    Initially the mutant alter-ego of X-Factor, the X-Terminators were really the original X-men who sought to rescue and protect young mutants. The name was dropped after X-Factor was exposed, but later adopted by the young mutants they had saved.

    Short summary describing this team.

    X-Terminators last edited by Belmonte3 on 04/30/23 03:20AM View full history

    Overview

    The name X-Terminators has been used by two groups of mutants. Although both teams were connected, their purposes were different. The first team consisted of the original X-Men: Angel, Beast, Cyclops and Iceman with the (then) recently resurrected Jean Grey. They later included Caliban into their ranks. They used the name X-Terminators some time after they had established X-Factor as a team of mutant hunters. To them, the X-Terminators was the public name for their mutant counterparts to X-Factor. The name X-Terminators was not actually used until a short time before X-Factor's mutant identities were revealed to the public. However, the name has come to represent the other half of their lives; the side of X-Factor that saved young mutants from zealous & dangerous humans.

    The second team of X-Terminators was closely linked to the original X-Factor. It consisted of Artie, Boom-Boom, Leech, Rictor, Rusty, Skids and Wiz Kid. This is the group that the name X-Terminators has come to represent. Like the adults, they had many adventures before they officially took on the name X-Terminators. Just like their adult counterparts, the name was officially used for a short amount of time before they dropped it in favour of another (although they merged with another young mutant team). Yet the name X-Terminators can be applied to the group of young mutants long before they officially adopted it, to represent their adventures prior to the events of Inferno.

    Cable recently reformed the team, recruiting Khora, Wiz Kid and X-Force old teammates Boom Boom, Cannonball and Lila Cheney.

    First Team

    Origin

    For many years Angel, Beast and Iceman had sought to continue saving lives in different teams like the Avengers, Champions and Defenders. However, many of those groups had disbanded, and the heroes were left looking for work among regular human society. Mysteriously, the Avengers had discovered a cocoon at the bottom of Jamaica Bay, and with the help of the Fantastic Four they opened the cocoon to find Jean Grey in stasis. Once they had unravelled the mystery of what had happened to Jean, Mr Fantastic placed a call to an old friend. Jean was soon re-united with her friends, and eventually Angel called Cyclops to break the news to him. Cyclops had married Madelyne Pryor and was living in Alaska with her and their baby son Christopher. Upon hearing the news of Jean's apparent resurrection he abandoned his wife & child to return to New York.

    Jean Grey was shocked and appalled by the world she had woken up in. Magneto, their greatest enemy was headmaster of their old school, the government was introducing a Mutant Registration Act, anti-mutant hysteria was greater than ever, and Professor Xavier's dream of co-existence appeared to be shattered. Inspired by her passion, the others decided to form a new team. Financed by Angel's billions and spear-headed by his old college friend Cameron Hodge, X-Factor would be a group of humans hunting mutants. The public could call the helpline, enabling them to find mutants who needed help with their emerging new abilities.

    Original X-Terminators
    Original X-Terminators

    However, they would change out of their X-Factor jumpsuits and into the uniforms which were reminiscent of their X-Men uniforms. As a team of mutants they would fight for justice to spread the message that not all mutants were evil.

    As X-Factor they saved a young pyrokinetic mutant who was being hunted by the US Navy. As a mutant team, they rescued Beast from Dr Carl Maddicks. As both X-Factor and the mutant team they fought the Alliance of Evil, a new mutant team who were working for Apocalypse. They would also battle Freedom Force who were trying to arrest Rusty in Central Park.

    It wasn't until X-Factor's headquarters came under attack from the toxic mutants Glow Worm & Bulk that the mutant persona of X-Factor first gained their team name. They came up with the idea to split the team into two: one lot of mutants would 'aid' the suicidal Morlock outcasts; and one group to appear as X-Factor defending their headquarters. Beast led the charge 'against' X-Factor with the battle cry 'X-Terminate X-Factor!'. This was picked up & twisted by the popular television news reporter Trish Tilby who dubbed them the X-Terminators.

    Saving Mutants

    Any mutants who were 'captured' by X-Factor or rescued by the X-Terminators were then trained how to use their powers. They had already taken in Rusty Collins and Artie Maddicks, and soon gained Boom-Boom as well. Jean was often short-tempered with Rusty during his training sessions, determined to push him harder to control his fire powers. Beast often despaired at Boom-Boom's lack of self-restraint, which would be just as important as her control over her time-bombs, and she ran away again a little later.

    After the Mutant Massacre in the tunnels underneath Manhattan, X-Factor took in many of the surviving Morlocks. Leech & Caliban formed a tight friendship with Artie, who was also visably disfigured by his mutation. Skids decided to stay with X-Factor while the other Morlocks returned to their tunnels. The X-Terminators travelled to San Francisco to defeat a threat against the city by a mutant known as Rictor. They included Caliban in the team, and with his mutant-tracking powers they found Rictor. Realising that the young Mexican mutant was being held hostage and tortured into using his powers they freed him, but were then chased out of the city by the police force.

    Second Team

    Young Adventurers

    Artie, Leech, Rusty & Skids began to have their own adventures away from their adult mentors. Rusty had discovered the location of Emma Porter, the young prostitute who had had accidentally scarred for life when his pyrokinetics first manifested. The kids found her in the hospital, where she had found religion. She was repentant for her previous life, and for trying to force herself onto Rusty when he was still in the Navy. Rusty made a deal with the embittered Morlock known as Masque to restore Emma's looks. With Artie's mental powers projecting directions for them all to follow, and Boom-Boom's time-bombs obliterating any obstructions, the kids found it easy to sneak in and out of the hospital with their new friend. Down in the tunnels Masque kept his side of the bargain and restored Emma's beauty. As the others left, Rusty turned back in order to keep his side of the bargain: to be Masque's willing victim.

    Skids Defeating Masque
    Skids Defeating Masque

    Skids ran back after him when she realised what was happening. Masque had covered both Rusty's mouth and noise, letting him suffocate without any way to breath. So Skids jumped on him and restracted her forcefield enough to choke Masque into submission. The others soon caught up with Rusty & Skids, and Emma rejected Rusty's bargain with Masque. Upon her insistence, Rusty's face was restored, while Masque made her even more hideous than before. She decided to remain in the Morlock's tunnels to try and bring them the light of God, as she had found it after her own disfiguration.

    Not long afterwards, Iceman had received an incredible power boost after an adventure in Asgard, and during a fight with the first three of Apocalypse's Horsemen he was forced to cover the whole of Central Park in a dome of ice. Rusty and Rictor came to blows over how it was a bad move for mutants, causing Rusty to sneak away at night into the park. Slowly he began to melt the snow, but without help from his friends he was knocked unconscious by falling ice. Skids, Rictor and Artie were forced to take the underground and began to rip up the X-Factor posters until they were scared off by a travelling policeman. Although a gang of local thugs tried to beat Rusty up, the others turned up just in time to save Rusty. Working together the kids found a way to melt all the park. Rictor would shake the snow off the trees, Rusty would melt the ice, and Skids would protect them both by with her force field. They left enough ice to spell out a message to the rest of the world: By Their Deeds You Shall Known Them. Mutants Were Here.

    However, Angel's wings had been skewered during Harpoon's attack, and X-Factor begun to suffer for it. Cameron Hodge arranged for Angel's wings to be amputated, which caused him to go insane. Angel attempted to kill himself by crashing a private jet, and the rest of the team were publicly revealed as the X-Terminators soon after Warren's funeral.

    By Their Deeds, You Shall Know Them
    By Their Deeds, You Shall Know Them

    In a co-ordinated attack after the reading of the will, the young mutants were kidnapped by smile-faced soldiers of the Right. Caliban had been receiving self-defence lessons from Iceman, but was powerless against the drugged darts they shot into him. However, Boom-Boom returned just in time to sneak onboard the Right's plane and follow them in secret.

    Arriving in Arlington, Boom-Boom hitch-hiked her way to the Arlington Interactive Museum of Science and disappeared into the crowds of school children. However, by using the various interactive machines on display that doubled as mutant detectors, the Right were tipped off to her presence. As the guards pursued her, Boom-Boom hid and crawled around inside the air vents until she found Rictor. She freed him from the torturous machine he was hooked up to, but as they ran from the Right they were left hanging from a bridge. Cameron Hodge, the director of the Right, looked down and taunted Rictor. Although Rictor was ready to let go and die from the fall instead of facing Hodge again, Boom-Boom convinced him not to kill her and pull them both up. The young mutants were restrained and with their powers dampened they could only wait for help to arrive. Beast knocked out the power generator when the X-Terminators attacked the secret facility behind the Science Museum. The subsequent black out freed the young mutants, but they were still powerless because of the dampening helmets locks on their heads. Ambushing some of the guards, Rictor stole their guns and together he & Rusty protected the group until the others saved them.

    Fall of Apocalypse

    Immediately afterwards, the adults were mysteriously teleported away. They battled Apocalypse's Horsemen, freed Archangel from his brainwashing, and continued to use their powers to save the stranded citizens of New York. They worked ceaselessly and saved many lives all through the night. The police agreed not to arrest them for the damage incurred during the fight against the Horsemen, and X-Factor became heroes. There was no longer any need to use the name X-Terminators, as the public had grown to appreciate them for being mutants.

    When the kids finally returned to New York they found their old home had been destroyed by their new home; Apocalypse's sentient intergalactic space ship, known as Ship. However, Ship's over-riding programming meant that it would attack it's new masters. While X-Factor battled the Ship on the outside, the kids followed Artie's astral projected arrows to Ship's brain. There they found various cabled and wires, locking Ship's brain to Apocalypse's will. With a well placed time-bomb, Boom-Boom was able to blast off the restraints and free Ship's consciousness. After that, Ship was free to tell X-Factor where a secret bomb was located and how to safely dispose of it.

    Christmas Caper
    Christmas Caper

    The young wards of X-Factor continued to have their own adventures, and became minor celebrities in their own right. As none of them had families to go to, they begun to receive hundred of Christmas presents donated from the kind citizens of New York City. Ever the 'material girl', Boom-Boom begun to open presents fist, while Artie & Leech began to play with their new toys. However, with Rictor, Rusty & Skids acting as the group's conscious they all decided to give the presents to those who had suffered more than they had: the kids without any home, and stuck in hospital for the holidays. They loaded the presents onto a platform, and used Skids' frictionless forcefield to push them along. On the street the encountered a small gang of thugs who wanted to steal the presents, but were soon saved by Marvel Girl and Iceman. Marvel Girl was furious, but Iceman giggled as the kids explained what they were doing. So with X-Factor's help, the young mutants brought a happier Christmas to all the little kids in the hospital.

    The New X-Terminators

    Officially An X-Team

    Soon after Christmas, X-Factor broke the bad news to the kids: they were being sent to boarding school! X-Factor had taught them how to control their powers, but Marvel Girl and the others felt that it was time for them to integrate with the rest of society. Artie & Leech were sent to St Simon's, a school for kids with special needs and learning disabilities. Meanwhile, Boom-Boom, Rictor and Skids were being enrolled at Phillips Academy, a mile down the road from St Simon's. It was one of the most prestigious schools in the country, where Archangel had grown up. The only one of the team who didn't go back to school was Rusty, he agreed to hand himself over to the authorities and stand trial for disfiguring Emma Porter and running away from the Navy.

    On their first day Artie & Leech met Takashi Matsuya, better known as Taki who describe himself as a Wiz Kid. He was a brash and arrogant young dyslaexic Japanese boy in a wheel chair, and although he wanted Artie to be his assistant, he felt funny and could not work around Leech. This caused some bitter sentiments between the three young mutants at first, but Taki was determined to rescue his new friends when they were mysteriously kidnapped by demons. With his new-found mutant ability to transform any non-organic matter into machinery, Wiz Kid transformed his wheelchair into a flying car and flew to Phillips Academy to find Skids. Boom-Boom and Rictor tagged along for the ride, so Wiz Kid adapted his new flying vehicle to be time-bomb fuelled courtesy of Boom-Boom's powers. Flying to the naval base, they convinced Rusty that they needed his help to save their friends.

    The kids stopped off to pick up some clothes. Wiz Kid hacked into bank accounts to cover their various acts of theft and Boom-Boom's destructive time-bombs. She dressed the team in new clothes, and they decided to call themselves the X-Terminators.

    Inferno

    Flying to New York, the older kids received an astral projection from Artie notifying them of his location. Artie & leech were being held captive by N'Astirh, a powerful demon from Limbo. N'Astirh had demanded powerful mutant babies, and insisted that Artie & Leech were too old for his plans. They were kept alive, as prizes to the demons who delivered the most amount of mutant babies. He was angered at every interruption as he wanted time to check his spells. Crotus became obsessed with pleasing his 'mawthter' in order to eat Artie & Leech, and secretly observed the X-Terminators. He overheard Wiz Kid saying that he needed his machines to check his spelling, and misinterpreted the meaning.

    Although strange things were happening in Manhattan, so far Wiz Kid had been the only member of the team to seen the demons and the others were starting to tease him about it. However, they were sorry and useless after Crotus kidnapped Wiz Kid in broad daylight. Despite N'Astirh's initial anger with Crotus for wasting his time, he began to see Wiz Kid's potential. Wix Kid agreed to make a machine capable of translating complex spells in a shorter amount of time on the condition that the demons did not eat his friends. So while Artie & Leech took care of the babies who were being delivered to N'Astirh, Wiz Kid created the magical machine. However, N'Astirh grew tired of Wiz Kid's increasing demands, and resorted to magically controlling him into obedience.

    The machine was ready by the time the older X-Terminators arrived, and N'Astirh set his plan into action; to create a portal large enough to bring Limbo to New York City. The mutant babies were placed at all 13 points of the inverted pentagram in the sky, and Wiz Kid's machine made the spells even stronger. Demons began to flood the city, and other kids fell from the sky too. The New Mutants had been in Limbo fighting Sym, and upon their sudden return to the Earth they began to help the X-Terminators save the baby mutants held prisoner in the sky.

    Two Teams Together
    Two Teams Together

    Sym also arrived on Earth, and in a battle with N'Astirh he infected his opponent with the transmode virus. By becoming a creature of living circuitry N'Astirh was able to interface with Wiz Kid's machine and create faster and more powerful magic spells. However, Wiz Kid held onto his magical computer while N'Astirh was interfacing with it. Determined to undo all the trouble he caused, he began to use his mutant powers to transform the computer. The feedback from the machine caused a huge explosion.

    N'Astirh was defeated, the portal closed, and Wiz Kid slowly regained consciousness. The combined forced on the New Mutants and X-Terminators were left holding the babies.

    End of the X-Terminators

    New Mutants

    The X-Terminators invited their new friends to visit their home, however Ship refused entrance to the alien New Mutant Gosamyr. Part of her alien biology meant that all men were uncontrollably attracted to her, and therefore she could not help but cause trouble. Ship recognised the danger, and activated his defences. Gosamyr accepted the truth about her physiology and left for outer space in a specially made spaceship for one created by Ship. The young mutant friends met once more when they discovered a mysterious shell horn. Boom-Boom's impetuous curiosity got the better of her, and she blew the horn. Unfortunately the horn acted as a summon, and a large multi-tentacled creature from the deep began to attack them. Ship was being dragged under water by the ancient monster when the New Mutants and Namor arrived. By combining their forces, and ultimately throwing explosives own the monster's throat, they were able to free Ship once more. When X-Factor returned they offered a home to the then-homeless New Mutants. The two young teams then decided to merge into one; the X-Terminators officially became part of the New Mutants, and the name X-Terminators has not been used since.

    Other Appearances

    Four of the characters that comprised the junior members of the second team, Whiz Kid, Boom Boom, Rusty and Skids, appear in the "X-Men" episode "No Mutant is an Island". Here they are orphans living at Cyclops' old orphanage where they were seemingly being adopted and given care by Zebidiah Kilgrave (The Purple Man).However he was secretly brainwashing them and using as weapons in a plot to further his political agenda

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