Murder Ballads

• Writer - Warren Ellis
• Writer - Ian Ed Ginton
• Penciler - Enrique Breccia
• Inker - Enrique Breccia
• Lettering - Chris Eliopoulos
• Colorist - Avalon Studios
• Ass't Editor - Lysa Hawkins
• Editor - Jason Liebig
• Editor in Chief - Bob Harras

Summary

  Words of Wisdom: "…throw a spanner in the works and don't let anyone stop you."

  The magic bus is under attack, so Sam lets two helicopters chase him till they crash, while Jesse (who is suddenly Sam's twin!) scrambles the third's electrical systems. James pulls its door off, lets bullets bounce off his chest, and tries to make the pilot talk. But an invisible bullet kills the guy first: Tsung has arrived.

  Sam attacks, and his blast field mostly shields him, but Tsung is fast. He climbs up a building, kicks Sam out of the sky, then steps on his throat to kill him slowly. Jesse scrambles his brain to block his mutant power, and James throws a punch, but Tsung is a lethal martial artist as well as a mutant, and he throws James into Jesse.

  Tabitha sneaks up behind him, puts her hands over his eyes, and makes a plasma bomb. Tsung goes down, and Sam kisses Tabitha. But then Tsung is up, pinching Tabitha in the back of the neck to take her hostage. Domino finds a rifle, but it is a standoff.

  Romany appears and shoots Tsung, and her men finish the job. She tells the magic bus spies not to cross the line again, tells Sam he's naïve, and orders X-Force onto her helicopter. She says the parasite on Domino's back is what killed the dinosaurs. Domino, under its control, grabs Sam and Romany by their throats and sprouts toothed tentacles. Romany puts her down with a tranquilizer gun.

  X-Force sees the news, with the official story of the helicopter crashes. Domino's operation has been a success, but Romany can't really explain what the parasite is (some sort of sentient alien technology), or why Domino was chosen, or who she works for. She says her brother was an extremist with a history of psychosis, guilty over being a secret anti-mutant operative, a genetic traitor. She tells X-Force to go home and get a life.