compound
Well-Known Member
Ultimate X-Men: "Omega" arc, part 1: "Dying Of Boredom"
Colossus' older brother Mikhail (a baseline human, in Ultimate continuity) is arrested in a Moscow nightclub for dealing "Omega", a new party drug that induces a temporary genetic shift, granting users mutant powers, along with a euphoric rush, characterized by eyes that glow a deep 'Omega red'. Several deaths have allegedly been linked to Omega, among the capital's affluent elite club kids, but it now appears to be spreading into lower-class areas too.
Following Mikhail's arrest, the Russian government and local media networks begin to sensationalize the "Omega menace" -- a PR disaster in the making, for those who naturally possess the X-gene. A small number of natural mutants have already been illegally detained as suspected Omega users.
With both a personal and political stake in the matter, Professor Xavier tasks the 'senior' X-Men -- Cyclops, Phoenix, Colossus, and Storm -- to find the source of the Omega supply.
Colossus begins with an illegal visit to his brother's detention cell (aided by some psychic trickery on Jean's part). A dejected Mikhail tells him that he just wanted the same kind of exciting life that Peter was leading in America, reminding his brother of his own less-than-honorable stint in the Russian mafia. All Mikhail ever dreamed about was to visit the stars as a cosomonaut for the national space program -- unfortunately, he came of age in the post-Soviet era, when the space race (justifiably) took a backseat to restoring Russia's faltering economy. Using Omega was the closest way to simulate the journey to other worlds. Colossus presses him for contacts; Mikhail tells him to find a guy named Kristoff Nord -- an East German who serves as the middle-man between street-level dealers, and the Omega manufacturer. Nord operates from the Barracks, a disused Soviet-era army bunker, which has been transformed into a massive dance-party venue.
With that info, the X-Men discretely follow the enigmatic Nord, through a mix of on-the-ground snooping, and remote surveillance. Almost too easily, he leads them to the source of the Omega supply. From the outside, it appears to be a non-descript factory on the outskirts of the city, the kind of drab industrial workspace that characterized the Communist period.
But once inside, the group finds something else altogether -- a Bacchanalian pleasure complex, with rooms full of junkies in an Omega-induced reverie. Before they can explore the facility, Jean is rendered immobile by a barrage of drug-addled thoughts invading her mind.
As the team rush to help the weakened Jean, they are surrounded by a phalanx of amped-up security forces, led by Nord.
Colossus' older brother Mikhail (a baseline human, in Ultimate continuity) is arrested in a Moscow nightclub for dealing "Omega", a new party drug that induces a temporary genetic shift, granting users mutant powers, along with a euphoric rush, characterized by eyes that glow a deep 'Omega red'. Several deaths have allegedly been linked to Omega, among the capital's affluent elite club kids, but it now appears to be spreading into lower-class areas too.
Following Mikhail's arrest, the Russian government and local media networks begin to sensationalize the "Omega menace" -- a PR disaster in the making, for those who naturally possess the X-gene. A small number of natural mutants have already been illegally detained as suspected Omega users.
With both a personal and political stake in the matter, Professor Xavier tasks the 'senior' X-Men -- Cyclops, Phoenix, Colossus, and Storm -- to find the source of the Omega supply.
Colossus begins with an illegal visit to his brother's detention cell (aided by some psychic trickery on Jean's part). A dejected Mikhail tells him that he just wanted the same kind of exciting life that Peter was leading in America, reminding his brother of his own less-than-honorable stint in the Russian mafia. All Mikhail ever dreamed about was to visit the stars as a cosomonaut for the national space program -- unfortunately, he came of age in the post-Soviet era, when the space race (justifiably) took a backseat to restoring Russia's faltering economy. Using Omega was the closest way to simulate the journey to other worlds. Colossus presses him for contacts; Mikhail tells him to find a guy named Kristoff Nord -- an East German who serves as the middle-man between street-level dealers, and the Omega manufacturer. Nord operates from the Barracks, a disused Soviet-era army bunker, which has been transformed into a massive dance-party venue.
With that info, the X-Men discretely follow the enigmatic Nord, through a mix of on-the-ground snooping, and remote surveillance. Almost too easily, he leads them to the source of the Omega supply. From the outside, it appears to be a non-descript factory on the outskirts of the city, the kind of drab industrial workspace that characterized the Communist period.
But once inside, the group finds something else altogether -- a Bacchanalian pleasure complex, with rooms full of junkies in an Omega-induced reverie. Before they can explore the facility, Jean is rendered immobile by a barrage of drug-addled thoughts invading her mind.
As the team rush to help the weakened Jean, they are surrounded by a phalanx of amped-up security forces, led by Nord.
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