Cable & Deadpool #23

Issue Date: 
February 2006
Story Title: 
“Fighting Myself” Bosom Buddies part 4
Staff: 

Fabian Nicieza (writer), Patrick Zircher and Dave Ross (pencilers) Udon’s M3TH (Inkers), Gotham (Colourist), V.C.’s Cory Petit (Letterer), Rob Schwager (colourist cover) Barber & Macchio (Consulting Editors), Nicole Wiley (editor), Joe Quesada (Editor in Chief), Dan Buckley (Publisher)

Cable created by Rob Liefeld and Louise Simonson

Deadpool created by Rob Liefeld and Fabian Nicieza

Brief Description: 

Cable and Deadpool’s enemy, Black Box, has finally been unmasked and turns out to be Gareb Bashur, the mutant formerly known as Commcast. His previous death at Deadpool’s hands was a clone. Bashur set up the Black Box identity as a new way of protection and needed the Dominus Objective to sort all the data that his mutant powers provided him with. Deadpool fights Black Box’s army of Rive and Makeshift clones. Since Black Box uses special frequencies to destabilize Cable’s techno-organic body parts, Cable uses his own link to the Dominus Objective to mentally transport Black Box and himself into the Infonet. There, Bashur tells Cable about his past and that he was planning to take over the world to save it from itself. Cable points out that Bashur’s plan wouldn’t work because, by then, Cable would already have saved the world. Cable ends the fight by using his own access to the Infonet to project his memories into Bashur’s mind, showing that Cable is the most likely to prevent the future Bashur is fearing. As a result, Bashur joins Cable. Meanwhile, Deadpool receives help against the clones in the form of The Cat and the B.A.D. Girls. The Cat destroys the cloning tubes, preventing more clones from being made, so the Rives and Makeshifts surrender. Bashur and Cable return from the Infonet and Bashur tells the mercenaries that they all work for Cable. Though the situation is resolved, Deadpool still doesn’t know who hired him. A few days later, Black Box has become a citizen of Providence, while Cable tells his friends about his new ability to tap into the Infonet. It turns out that Cable also hired Deadpool, though Deadpool doesn’t know. Cable calls Deadpool to offer him another job.

Full Summary: 

Cable identifies the unmasked Black Box as Gareb Bashur, the mutant “wavelength signal filter” known as Commcast. Deadpool wonders if he didn’t kill Commcast (whom he identifies as “the guy with the colander on his head”).

Bashur explains that Deadpool killed a clone. He never would expose himself to danger (or wear a colander on his head), but somehow a problem with his clonevats prevented him from making more clones of himself. It didn’t stop him from making more Rive and Makeshift clones though, as the army of Rive and Makeshift clones surrounding them proves. Without a clone, Commcast needed some other form of protection and created the identity of Black Box. Deadpool asks if he can kill him now just to shut him up.

Cable tells Deadpool to take care of the clones, while he goes after Bashur. Deadpool jokes that he doesn’t need Cable’s permission to get the women, while Bashur concludes that Cable wants him alive. Deadpool slaughters the clones, musing how much this is like a video game, even though it's rather unsettling. One of the Makeshifts is shocked that he can kill them so easily, telling him that they are all alive. Whatever Deadpool thought was unsettling about it before, now she has opened her mouth he has no problems with killing them all.

Deadpool asks Cable why Black Box needed the Dominus Objective if his own mutant powers already allow him to access all that information. Cable explains that the Dominus Objective orders and filters the information, while Bashur’s powers just overwhelms him with all information at once. Bashur admits that this is the reason and puts on the Black Box helmet. He uses his powers to find an A.I.M. report on how certain frequencies can destabilize Cable’s techno-organic bodyparts and immediately uses them against Cable.

Deadpool is surprised; he didn’t think that Cable’s T.O. virus could overwhelm him like that anymore. Cable is surprised as well, not so much by the T.O. virus as by being linked to the Dominus Objective and to Bashur’s powers through it. He mentally transports himself and Bashur back to the Infonet.

Black Box is overwhelmed for a moment, telling Cable that he never dared to submerge fully in the streams of date. Cable replies that he knew that Bashur had little control as a child over his power and was constantly fighting not to be overwhelmed by all the information in the world, only to try to get back in as an adult. Black Box wonders how Cable knows. Cable tells him that they were allies and he used to have telepathy. Bashur asked if Cable pried into his thoughts, but Cable replies that it took nearly all his power to block out all the anguish Bashur constantly broadcasted.

Bashur tries to convince Cable that he never changed his true goals, he still wants now what he wanted back then. Cable knows and that’s the reason Bashur is still alive. When Cable asks why Bashur never came to him for help, Bashur explains that had all this power and didn’t want to be a bit player anymore. Cable tells him that godhood isn’t all that great, but Bashur replies that he never saw a Commcast comic on the Datanet. Cable points out that there was a Commcast Action Figure, which isn’t bad, considering the dumb name. Bashur is annoyed and tells him that he had the name “Commcast” before the cable company. Cable takes it back, admitting that Cable is a dumb name as well.

Bashur tells Cable how when he was 13 his powers manifested and, by the time he was 15, he had gone nearly insane from all the broadcasts and electronic signals moving through his head (The Infonet changes behind Bashur, showing articles and stories about broadcasts and signals). His parents sent him to the middle of nowhere, hoping that solitude would silence the voices in his head. The solitude did help, but it never was completely quiet and when India entered the economic mainstream, the noise became worse again (The Infonet shows maps of India, articles about it and Hindu).

By the time he was 23, his condition was so bad that he considered suicide, but then salvation arrived (a picture of Charles Xavier appears behind Bashur). Xavier taught Gareb to filter out most of the information and hoped that he and Bashur would work together till he found out what Bashur’s true goals were. Gareb wonders how people like Xavier and Magneto, Cable and himself can see the same things so differently. (Pictures of and stories about the X-men appear on the Infonet)

Cable tells Bashur that they both know that Xavier would be opposed to Bashur’s ‘master plan.’ Bashur prefers the term “life’s ambition.” Bashur explains that his plan was to take control over all information to save the world from its own madness. Cable points out the flaw in his plan; by the time he would have actually manage to pull it off, Cable would have already done it.

Outside, Deadpool is still fighting the Rives and Makeshifts but offers them something else involving them, him and massage oil. Rive tells him that they all hate him so much; it probably is in their genes. Deadpool cracks a joke about not minding being in her genes when a familiar darkness overwhelms the clones. Deadpool exclaims: “Serpenty goodness. Salvation, thy name is D-cup” to welcome the B.A.D. girls and the Cat to the fight. Diamondback thinks that saving Deadpool is the worst part of this assignment, but the Cat is certain that their employer insists.

Deadpool recaps who the B.A.D. girls and the Cat are, “for people who didn’t read the recap page.” Deadpool wants to know why they are all there. Diamondback answers: “The Cat said that the man who paid him to accept the assignment from Black Box was in need of our help.” Deadpool is grateful but then is surprised that the Cat gets paid to accept assignments someone else is already paying him for. Diamondback looks at the frozen bodies of Cable and Black Box and wonders what is up with them. Deadpool replies that Cable has gone ‘brainsurfing.’ He thinks that Cable does it to get out of fights.

Inside the Infonet, Cable and Bashur are fighting. Bashur uses data to manifest armor and tells Cable that he can’t let Cable stop him. Cable may have read people’s minds, but through the Infonet Bashur has read their actions. Cable counterattacks while pointing out that all the actions Bashur has seen are history to him and he uses the Dominus Objective to project his own memories into Bashur’s head.

The Cat tells the others that they have to turn off the cloning devices to end this fight. Asp suggests they just kill them all, but Diamondback doesn’t think it’s feasible: “I’m wearing 3-inch heels and I’m already hip-deep in entrails.” Cat tells Deadpool to cover him and Deadpool thinks it’s very cool that he may cover the legendary Cat and can’t wait to tell Weasel. Then he remembers that Weasel lied to him and they are no longer friends. He then makes a plan to become friends again with Weasel just to tell him and then break up again. Then he realizes that ‘break up’ can be taken in another way and tells the B.A.D. girls, Rives and Makeshifts to come over so he can prove his manliness to them. The Cat is glad to have a bit of silence away from Deadpool.

A few moments later, Cat has found the cloning tubes and destroys them all with his bare hands.

Commcast is overwhelmed by Cable’s memories: all future roads point to a single outcome: a large war that ends with all life being choked from the planet. From the ashes life rises anew, but only one man held out hope. He kneels before Cable and extends his hand to him. Cable thinks that Bashur is now convinced why they should work together.

Asp asks how many clones are left. Black Mamba counts 9, but Diamondback takes out a Makeshift to make it 8. The Cat appears and tells the other clones to surrender, because no more replacements will be made. The remaining clones don’t think long and drop their weapons.

Black Box and Cable return to their bodies. Black Box tells the mercenaries that they don’t need to restrain his Executive Elite. They all work for Cable now. The Cat tells Cable that this was a lot of money for a lot of duplication of effort. Diamondback is amazed to hear that Cable hired them. The Cat tells them that Cable also hired him to ensure that the Black Box received the Dominus Objective. Deadpool still wonders who hired him then.

A couple of days later, Johann, Irene and Prester John tell Cable that they are worried about this new development. Cable tells them that he worked with Gareb Bashur to harness the Dominus Objective. Bashur thinks that is exactly what Cable’s “underlings” are worried about. Irene takes offence at the underlings-term. Cable tells her to forgive Bashur for his caste system of thinking.

Cable explains that, ever since he lost his telepathy, he has felt like he has been missing something. Not the knowledge, just a feeling of shared humanity and that mechanically tapping into Infonet has restored some of that feeling. He assures them that he won’t go Machiavellian on them, but can’t stop himself from pointing out to Johann that his wife never paid for that parking ticket ten years ago. Irene sarcastically tells him that that was very funny. Cable jokes that the use of having power is to flaunt it over your friends.

Speaking of friends, Irene thinks Cable should tell Deadpool. She thinks it was a nice gesture to hire him, but he deserves to know. Cable replies that Deadpool needs to be his own man. He calls Deadpool.

In his apartment, Deadpool picks up and wonders if this is about the restraining order against Mischa Barton. Cable, without giving his name, tells him that he is the man who hired him to steal the Dominus Objective and, although Deadpool failed, he has another job for him. Irene throws up her hands in despair.

Characters Involved: 

Cable/Nathan Dayspring

Deadpool/Wade Wilson

Black Box / Garabed “Gareb”Bashur, formerly known as Commcast

Many clones of Rive and Makeshift (The Executive Elite)

Diamondback/Rachel Leighton, Black Manta/Tanya Sealy and Asp/Cleo Nefertiti (the B.A.D. Girls)

The Cat

Irene Merryweather

Johann Kriek

Prester John

Story Notes: 

Deadpool killed Commcast in the Deadpool (1st series) #3, The Circle Chase.

A bit of fourth-wall breaking from Cable and Black Box this time: they talk about Cable’s comic and the Commcast action figure. Deadpool himself breaks the fourth wall a bit later when he recaps who the B.A.D. Girls and the Cat are, for people “who didn’t read the recap page.”

As Bashur said Commcast is also a large cable company.

When Bashur “sees” the light, the Infonet symbolizes all the roads going to a single future as some sort of vortex towards a single point. The word (or name) “Apocalypse” is written large next to the point. A sign of things to come?

Mischa Barton is an actress, who was recently elected the most attractive celebrity instead of Deadpool’s beloved Bea Arthur. One wonders what the reason behind the restraining order is.

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