LASH
Real Name: James Wheaton
Identity/Class: Human mutant
Occupation: Student
Group Membership: Xavier Institute student body
Affiliations: Valerie Cooper, Henry Peter Gyrich (he sided with the US government against the Chlorites, although Gyrich still saw him as an enemy, the lesser of two evils), "Crush" Russell, Sentinels, unidentified pyrokinetic;
at least formerly and indirectly, the Diascar race (esp. Poratine & Taforne), Imperial Guard (Astra, Blackthorn, Flashfire, Magique, Manta, Nightside, N'rill'iree, Smasher/Vril Rokk), Todd Watkins
Enemies: Chlorites, Sentinels;
at least formerly Beanpole (Mike Galbraith), Diascar race, Flasher (Kristin Koenig), Harry Mills, Seden Karm (aka "John Chang"), Papillon (Sarah Allaire), Visionary (Meena Banerjee), Todd Watkins, Charles Xavier, X-Men (most notably Beast/Hank McCoy, Cyclops/Scott Summers, Jean Grey, Nightcrawler/Kurt Wagner, Kitty Pryde, Rogue/Anna Marie, Wolverine/James Howlett/Logan)
Known Relatives: None
Aliases: None
Base of Operations: Last seen at the Xavier Institute, West Chester, New York
First Appearance: X-Men: Watchers on the Walls (May, 2006)
Powers/Abilities: Lash could generate energy tendrils that could ensnare and/or burn others.
Ultimately, he was a coward.
Height: Unrevealed
Weight: Unrevealed
Eyes: Unrevealed
Hair: Unrevealed
History:
(X-Men:
Watchers on the Walls:
Chapter 19: Extracurricular (fb) - BTS) - Known as Lash, James Wheaton
was one of the older mutant students at the Xavier Institute.
He grew tired of all of the lectures on ethics and co-existence.
(X-Men: Watchers on the Walls: Chapter 19: Extracurricular (fb) - BTS) - James arranged to sit next to the attractive Sarah Allaire, aka Papillon.
(X-Men: Watchers on the Walls: Chapter 19: Extracurricular) - After Meena had frightening visions of Sentinels attacking the Xavier Institute, Wheaton mocked her with "Just Blabberjee having another psychotic episode...They should've left her in the loony bin." Sarah told him not to say this, but while others expressed fears of the Sentinels, Wheaton argued that the Sentinels were protecting them from the Chlorites. Mike "Beanpole" Galbriath suggested he ask the innocent mutants arrested how they felt about this, but Wheaton countered that it was only the idiots opposing the Sentinels who got arrested. He continued on that Xavier's housing "John Chang" (who had been revealed to be a Chlorite infiltrator) there would be what might lead the Sentinels to attack them. Wheaton further suggested that they should call the government to inform them of the hidden Chlorite in hopes of ensuring the government would spare them from Sentinel assault, but Kris Koenig countered that they would close the school and would not have anyone to teach them how to use their powers; Wheaton degradingly teased her that no one wanted her to control her powers (her limited control of her invisibility power had caused her to previously make her clothes invisible).
When Wheaton prepared to call the government, Harry Mills used a rubber band to launch a paper clip to distract Wheaton and then argued whimsically about the cost of long distance phone calls. Wheaton angrily ensnared Harry with electric tendrils, and while Harry was initially protected from the electrical shock by his thick hair, the hair soon began to burn, causing him pain.
(X-Men: Watchers on the Walls: Chapter 19: Extracurricular (fb) - BTS) - Beanpole took Wheaton' phone while he was focuses on Harry and the others.
(X-Men: Watchers on the Walls: Chapter 19: Extracurricular) - Meena broke some of these tendrils with a heavy book, and Kristin helped Harry pull free from the others. When Wheaton threatened them further, Harry pulled Meena and Kris with him behind Todd Watkins' durable form, but Sarah broke up the conflict by reminding James that he had been planning his phone call. Realizing his phone was missing, he asked for Sarah's, but she played along with Harry's warning of high calling rates at that time of day. When Wheaton prepared to find another phone, Sarah intercepted him, spread her shimmery wings, and explained that if the school were shut down, she would have to go back to France; and that she would rather stay here, with people she'd grown to care for...
Ultimately, Wheaton agreed to hold off on the call if she would join him for dinner and try to convince him of her points. He suggested she wear something backless (which he knew she had to, because of her wings).
However, after he had left, Harry noted that Wheaton would likely try to call again, and Meena argued that they needed to get "John" off of grounds and into another hiding place. Harry, Sarah, Kristin, and Mike agreed to help (Sarah in some part only to prevent Wheaton from pressuring her into doing things she didn't want to do). Overhearing the students, Rogue agreed to help them.
(X-Men: Watchers on the Walls: Chapter 19: Extracurricular - BTS) - This plan frightened Todd sufficiently that he instead contacted the government and revealed the existence of "John" as a Chlorite hidden on Xavier Institute grounds. Henry Gyrich informed Poratine, leading her to coordinate a Diascar-Sentinel-Imperial Guard assault on the Xavier Institute, which Gyrich hoped would eliminate Xavier's organization for good.
(X-Men: Watchers on the Walls: Chapter 21: Extermination (fb) - BTS) - Frustrated with the Sentinels' repeated questions about reclassifying specific beings as threats, Gyrich told them to reassess all status assignments as the situation warrants, unwittingly neutralizing much of the controls the Diascar had programmed into the Sentinels.
(X-Men: Watchers on the Walls: Chapter 21: Extermination) - As many students joined the fight against the Sentinels, others, including Lash, lined up alongside the Sentinels. Calling the others traitors to humanity, Lash fired energy tendrils at Beanpole.
Lash attacked Jean Grey, accusing her of thinking herself so much better than the others and of sheltering a dangerous creature; Jean shielded herself telekinetically while trying not to hurt Lash, though she left herself open to Sentinel attack, from which Cyclops saved her. Kristin then summoned Jean, turning her invisible for a few minutes to make her less of a target to their attackers (although they acknowledged the Sentinels might sense them via infra-red); nonetheless, this was effective against Lash.
Meanwhile, Sentinels began firing indiscriminately on all mutants, whom they had reclassified across the board as threats regardless of their actions. Despite instructions from Smasher of the Imperial Guard, the Sentinels designated all mutants as hostile. This led the students who had allied with the Sentinels to begin fighting the robots as well, although Lash, a cowardly bully, fled, leaving his friends in a lurch. An unidentified pyrokinetic fell down while crying out to Lash for help, and when a Sentinel tried to slay the boy, Flashfire blasted the Sentinel while Smasher grabbed the boy and flew him to safety. As a result, the Sentinels designated the Imperial Guardsmen as hostile, and they warned Val Cooper and Gyrich that anyone who stood against them would also be considered hostile. This led Val to order her troops to attack the Sentinels, who were eventually incapacitated.
(X-Men: Watchers on the Walls: Chapter 22: Deus ex Meena) - After Poratine revealed John and Meena's capture, Papillon, Beanpole, Kristin, and Harry, at least, stepped forward and announced they had also helped John and should be arrested, too. Beast then explained how Meena could locate
(X-Men:
Watchers on the Walls:
Chapter 23: Exeunt Omnes (fb) - BTS) - As planned, Meena located Earth-62342, part of a reality where Chlorites were
the dominant lifeform in the Milky Way galaxy.
Rogue absorbed Meena and Nightcrawler's powers and transported to
Earth-62342 while being scanned by the Shi'ar stargate generator. A
portal to that world was then opened.
(X-Men: Watchers on the Walls: Chapter 23: Exeunt Omnes (fb) - BTS) - Meena, Harry, Kristin, Mike, and Sarah were the toast of the Xavier Institute for their roles in saving the day from the Sentinels and their courage in daring to look for a peaceful solution.
(X-Men: Watchers on the Walls: Chapter 23: Exeunt Omnes - BTS) - Seden Karm (the real name of "John Chang," Dr. McCoy, and the Diascar confirmed Earth-62342 as the world they had sought, and Seden adopted the mission to locate the rest of the Chlorites in the galaxy and convince them relocate to Earth-62342.
Comments: Created by Christopher L. Bennett.
I would imagine that Lash and those who stood alongside the Sentinels against the rest of the Xavier Institute were thought of less highly. Whether Lash and the others learned from it, or whether this drove them further away from the other students is unrevaled.
The status of Lash and the rest of the mutants introduced in this series post M-Day is unrevealed.
No images of James exist. There is not a single picture in the whole story.
Each of the chapters in Watchers on the Walls had an "X" or "Ex" title. An exordium is an introduction; ex silentio means not only "from silence," but also "for lack of contrary evidence"; exigency means "emergency"; ex cathedra means "by virtue of office or authority"; an exclosure is an area fenced off to prevent intrusion; exequies are funeral rites; exitus acta probat means "the outcome justifies the deed"; an excursus is a digression or sidebar; and exeunt omnes is a stage direction that means "they all exit."
"Deus ex Meena" is obviously a play on "Deus ex Machina," originally
used to describe mechanical devices used to simulate godly powers in
Greek tragedies and later used to mean simply a plot device whereby a
seemingly unsolvable problem is suddenly abruptly resolved by the
intervention of some event, character, etc.
Great story. You can buy it on Amazon, etc. for a few dollars. I would love to see it adapted to the comics and get some visuals on all of the cool characters introduced in this book.
Profile by Snood.
CLARIFICATIONS:
Lash should be distinguished from:
A mutant student at the Xavier Institute, Crush was fearful of the Chlorite infiltration of Earth and opposed harboring from student "John Chang," revealed as one such infiltrator.
Crush was a massive-fisted bruiser, although the exactly nature and extent of his abilities (beyond presumptive super-strength and apparently oversized hands) is unrevealed.
(X-Men: Watchers on the Walls: Chapter 21: Extermination) - As many students joined the fight against the Sentinels, others, lined up alongside the Sentinels and even fought against their fellow students and the X-Men.
As Jean Grey's invisibility (granted her by Kristin Koenig to protect her against attacks by Lash and his allies) wore off, she was pounced on by "Crush" Russell. Caught off-guard, she only partially deflected him and took a glancing blow that knocked her to the ground. However, a second later, Russell was incapacitated by an electron discharge blast from a Sentinel as the robots began firing indiscriminately on all mutants.
Despite instructions from Smasher of the Imperial Guard, the Sentinels designated all mutants as hostile. This led the students who had allied with the Sentinels to begin fighting the robots as well. When a Sentinel tried to slay a fallen mutant, Flashfire blasted the Sentinel while Smasher grabbed the boy and flew him to safety. As a result, the Sentinels designated the Imperial Guardsmen as hostile, and they warned Val Cooper and Gyrich that anyone who stood against them would also be considered hostile. This led Val to order her troops to attack the Sentinels, who were eventually incapacitated.
--X-Men: Watchers on the Walls
A mutant student at the Xavier Institute, the unidentified pyrokinetic was fearful of the Chlorite infiltration of Earth and opposed harboring from student "John Chang," revealed as one such infiltrator.
(X-Men: Watchers on the Walls: Chapter 21: Extermination) - As many students joined the fight against the Sentinels, others lined up alongside the Sentinels and even fought against their fellow students and the X-Men.
Eventually, however, Sentinels began firing indiscriminately on all mutants. Despite instructions from Smasher of the Imperial Guard, the Sentinels designated all mutants as hostile. This led the students who had allied with the Sentinels to begin fighting the robots as well, although Lash, a cowardly bully, fled, leaving his friends in a lurch. An unidentified pyrokinetic fell down while crying out to Lash for help, and when a Sentinel tried to slay the boy, Flashfire blasted the Sentinel while Smasher grabbed the boy and flew him to safety.
As a result, the Sentinels designated the Imperial Guardsmen as hostile, and they warned Val Cooper and Gyrich that anyone who stood against them would also be considered hostile. This led Val to order her troops to attack the Sentinels, who were eventually incapacitated.
--X-Men: Watchers on the Walls
images: (without ads)
None
Appearances:
X-Men: Watchers on the Walls (May, 2006) - Christopher L. Bennett (writer)
Last updated: 08/24/17
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