Appearing in "Judgement War, Interlude: Guardian"
Featured Characters:
Supporting Characters:
Antagonists:
- Children of Heaven (First appearance)
- Michael (First appearance)
- Blowhard (Greg) (First appearance)
- Beth (First appearance)
- Voodoo (Donny) (First appearance)
- Slimeball (First appearance)
- Buzzsaw (First appearance)
- Mohawk (First appearance)
- Father Phillip (First appearance)
Other Characters:
- Cameron Hodge (Only in flashback)
- Chuck (Only in flashback)
- Karen (Michael's mother) (Only in flashback)
- Michael's father (Only in flashback)
- The Right (Vision or hallucination)
- Apocalypse (Vision or hallucination)
- Horsemen of Apocalypse (Vision or hallucination)
- War (Abraham Kieros) (Vision or hallucination)
- Famine (Autumn Rolfson) (Vision or hallucination)
- Pestilence (Vision or hallucination)
- X-Factor
- X-Men (Vision or hallucination)
- Iceman (Robert Drake) (Only in flashback)
- Beast (Henry McCoy) (Only in flashback)
- Candy Southern (Only in flashback)
- Warren Worthington, Jr. (Only in flashback)
- Professor X (Charles Xavier) (Vision or hallucination)
- Mr. Roth and unnamed children and teachers (Only in flashback)
- Drug dealers
Races and Species:
- Humans (Main story and flashback)
- Mutants (Main story and flashback)
- Cyborgs (Vision or hallucination)
- Robots
Locations:
- Earth
- Unnamed planet
- Chosen city
Items:
- Cyclops' Visor
- Ruby-Quartz Sunglasses (Only in flashback)
Vehicles:
Synopsis for "Judgement War, Interlude: Guardian"
Once more shackled in the prisons deep below the Chosen's city, Archangel's mind drifts back to another time back on Earth to a day in New York City....
A young boy named Michael had gotten off a bus and unsure where to go would have his attentions drawn to a blind homeless man asking for change. Michael would be a mutant with the ability to heal and would use his powers to make them an see again. When the crowd would realize what Michael had done, they would swarm him however he would be rescued by a group of teenagers who are part of a church group called the Children of Heaven. While these are rough and tumble street kids, Michael is easily taken under their arms and he is taken to their leader Father Phillip.
Meanwhile, high above the city, Archangel soars as his mind is lost in the memories of his past, about how he always grew up being mocked for being a "perfect" angel, and given grief over his love of flight. He would recall the manifestation of his mutant powers and his making friends with young Cameron Hodge, little realizing that the young boy would grow up into a man filled with hate and envy of Warren's status in society and his mutant nature.
While at the home for the Children of Heaven, Father Phillip reveals to Mike that he too is a mutant, a mind reader and looks into the boys mind. There he finds that Mike's parents shunned him for his ability to heal those who were injured and even after he used his powers to heal a car accident victim he was shunned and hated by his parents. He would eventually run away from home and travel to New York to try and start a new life. Father Phillip welcomes the boy into his home and is given a room with Greg. Archangel witnesses this from the roof tops but leaves. As Mike is left with Greg, Phillip enters another room where one of the girls in the home as been dragged back after another escape attempt. Father Phillip's friendly veneer drops and he beats the already heavily beaten girl before resuming his gentle demeanor and has Mike use his powers to heal her, not revealing why or how she was beaten. Mike instantly develops a crush on Beth and finds himself feeling right at home with the Children of Heaven.
Archangel meanwhile goes on the prowl outside the city and comes across a drug deal in progress. Pinning the adults whom he thinks are selling drugs to kids is shocked to find that it is in reality the children -- members of Father Phillip's group -- selling the drugs. They mouth off at the winged mutant when he realizes what is going on and the vastly different situation causes him to pause and wonder if the world has changed and what was considered evil is good and vice versa and flies off into the night sky. As Father Phillip preaches to his children, Archangel ponders how his life has went and how confused things have been, Jean's supposed death and resurrection his failed relationship with Candy Southern and her subsequent death at the hands of Cameron Hodge, before flying back into the city.
At the home for the Children of Heaven, Greg probes into Mike's interest in Beth and shows her something that Mike finds entirely shocking: a pornographic tape that features Beth. Mike is then called into another room where he finds that Beth has received another beating for yet another escape attempt. Father Phillip orders Mike to use his powers to reverse the healing he gave her earlier. Disgusted by the video that he had seen, and not realizing what is really going on, Mike is more than eager to comply causing Beth great pain. Just then Warren bursts through the window and uses his wing razors to pin the Father to the wall. Before he can do anything else he is shocked to find that all the Children of Heaven are secretly mutants and Father Phillip uses his telepathic powers to torture Warren with is memories.
Pulling himself free, Phillip is about to use one of Warren's own knives when Mike realizes that Phillip is really evil. Using his powers to heal Beth, Beth uses her own telepathic abilities to strike down Father Phillip and save Archangel's life. The police are soon called and Father Phillip are arrested. Archangel offers the mutant children a place with X-Factor, however they all decline deciding that they need to find their own ways in the city and thank Warren for his help in saving them from a life of slavery at the hands of Father Phillip. With a renewed sense of hope, Warren flies off into the night sky.
Notes
- Series begins publication twice a month.
- This is an interlude to the Judgement War event. The story is told as a flashback and from Archangel's standpoint while he is imprisoned during the event.