Marvel Team-Up (vol. 3) #17
League of Losers Part Three
The Present[1]
Chronok has come to the future and eliminated eliminated virtually every superhero on Earth. However, a handful of surviving heroes had managed to escape into the sewers. His soldiers report that they have only found the remains of one of the heroes, and that there is no trace of the others. They also discovered a high concentration of chronal particals. Wondering how this is, Chronok realizes that they managed to steal his Chronometer, but isn’t too upset as he sees no reason to return to his own time when he’s won her. He wishes these heroes, whom he calls the Legion of Losers, the best of luck in the timestream.
The Future
A being who looks like the Thing is doing some heavy lifting in his lab when the Mutant returns home with a bunch of strangers. The Mutant tells him that these are time travellers from the past. At first, the “Thing” doesn’t but this story but when he starts to recognize them he realizes Mutant is telling the truth, even going so far by calling the youth by his real name, Chad Channing. Confused, Speedball asks the man if he is Ben Grimm. However, this turns out to be a robotic exoskeleton that is being piloted by Reed Richards, who lives on in this distant future as a disembodied brain. As his brain module is being transferred to his regular robotic body, everyone is unimpressed when Gravity tries to make a bad joke about how much trouble they would be if they had only preserved Reed Richard’s foot. Reed then assess these young heroes and identifies most of them, telling Gravity that he single handedly defeated Apocalypse and saved the world. Gravity is surprised to hear this and asks if it’s realy ture. That’s when Reed points out that it was a joke and that even he has a sense of humor. This gives everyone a good laugh at Gravity’s expense. Getting down to brass tacks, Reed asks the young heroes why they have come to the future.
Reverting back to human form, Chris Powell tells Reed about how a time traveller named Chronok came to their era and wiped out nearly every superhero, and they are the last ones left.[2] They managed to steal Chronok’s Chronometer and decided to come to the future and try to stop him from going back in time and killing everyone. When they ask about Chronok in this era, Reed Richards says there aren’t many super-villains in this era because of the Sentinel program. When asked what happened, Reed explains that a few years back the Mutant Registration Act was brought back into force. The X-Men fought against it and were wiped out. Eventually the Sentinels wiped out nearly every other hero, and now most are either dead or in hiding.[3] Mutant continues by explaning that the Sentinel program was the reason why he had to get them off the street right away. This disappoints Chris, who was hoping for an easy way to find Chronok in this era. However, Reed Richards offers to look at the Chronometer, saying that there are only three time machines in existence that he knows about and he might be able to narrow down their search. Looking at the device, Reed recognizes it as his own invention and figures that Chronok must steal it from him one month from now. When Sleepwalker suggests destroying the device, Reed points out that it would be an ill advised plan as this may just make Chronok steal a time machine that is harder for them to get access to. They then begin trying to figure out how Chronok learned of the Chronometer’s existence. Reed points out that, prior to the current situation, the Fantastic Four always had a good relationship with the government and theorizes that Chronok could have found out about it that way, but has no way of narrowing down who he might be specifically. Chris suggests that they just bide their time and wait for Chronok to come and steal the time machine and stop him then.
Later, Chris happens to find Dagger crying by herself and asks if she is okay. She tells him that she’s fine and just needed some time alone to mourn the losses of her partner Cloak and Araña, who died while they made their escape from Chronok in the past. Chris assures her that they’ll undo everything that has been done and everything will be all right. A week later, the time displaced Legion of Losers are starting to settle into this new era. While out for lunch with Chad, he reminds them not to get too comfortable showing them the arm tattoo the government forced him to wear just for being a mutant. During this time Gravity and X-23 begin to bond and they also meet Keshia, Chad’s girlfriend.[4] They have to cut the meal short when Chad gets an alert warning him of danger. They soon join the rest of the Legion of Losers to stop Fin Fang Foom, who is attacking the city.
Later that night, Terror decides to check on Sleepwalker who is being treated for injuries after their battle with Fin Fang Foom. Sleepwalker admits that this life is all new to him as he has never spent this much time separated from his human host Rick Sheridan. He always had the mindscape to return to so he never had to worry about being injured, having to eat, sleep, or bathe before now. Terror feels that he fits in even less. When Sleepwalker points out that it’s because he attached Araña’s arm. Terror reminds Sleepwalker that he lost his own escaping Chronok and that she didn’t need hers anymore, pointing out that the arm also allowed him to utilized Araña’s carapice in battle. However, it is beginning to putrify like the rest of his body. As the days go on, the group is still ancitipating Chronok’s attack. To pass the time they help save Daredevil 2099 from a group of Sentinels. By this piint, Araña’s arm has completely rotted, while Gravity and X-23’s infatuation has become a full blown romance. 22 Days Later, Mutant asks Reed Richards if they had died when Chronok stole the device, but Reed points out that their fate and the timeline changed when their allies arrived in this era. Christ Powell, however has been spending this time training, turning this group of refugees into a well-oiled machine. Seeing Chris giving orders, Reed comments that Powel has proven he is a born leader.
However, the training system has comes to a quick end when Chronok and his army come breaking into the lab to steal the Chronometer. Once inside, Chronok orders his minions to leave nobody alive.
Recurring Characters
League of Losers (Darkhawk, Speedball, Gravity, X-23, Dagger, Sleepwalker, Terror, Inc.) Mutant 2099, Reed Richards, Daredevil 2099, Chronok, Fin Fang Foom, Sentinels
Continuity Notes
By “the Present” I mean the alternate reality in which this story takes place. Per Marvel Legacy: The 1990s Handbook #1, it has been designated as Reality-6215 which is chronologically a few years ahead of Earth-616. Futhermore, the future that Chornok comes from is Earth-6025 and the 2099 that the Losers visit is Earth-2992.
Chris remarks that when he changes into Darkhawk (and vice versa) either he or the Darkhawk armor is stored on a space station. This has been the status quo for Darkhawk since he first got his powers in Darkhawk #1.
The past events that Reed Richards were first depicted in Punisher 2099 (vol. 2) #1.
Chad and Kesha’s relationship is mention here and how they spent some time apart when Chad first became a superhero. This was all detailed in Mutant 2099 #1.
