X-Men

“When the Pharaohs Rise…” Part Two

By Brent Lambert & Tony Thornley

The Mansion War Room

Charles Xavier listened worriedly to G.W. Bridge with Emma and Storm standing behind him. The Eastern Hemisphere S.H.I.E.L.D. Director had never had terribly great relations with the X-Men, but that tension had recently relaxed some with Cable installed into a more powerful position within the organization. The two had a history and a respect for each other only men of combat could. Charles didn’t have to read the man’s mind to know that he would rather be talking with Cable than him.

“Holocaust is ripping apart a large refugee camp in the Sudan, going on and on about survival of the fittest,” Bridge’s holographic image said as a map appeared behind him with a glaring red dot showing where the attack was happening. “I’ve already sent in a team to tackle the problem, but I figured the support couldn’t hurt.”

“How touching,” Emma smirked disingenuously. “You need our help.”

Charles was well aware that Emma and Bridge had recently met in regards to her brother and that Emma took offense to some of the accusations that the Director made. Admittedly, Charles wasn’t personally fond of them either, but Bridge was simply acting in the best interests of the people he represented and the Frost family was not without its blemishes. Before anything could erupt, Charles said, “I’ll assemble a team and send them in immediately. You have our full support, Director Bridge.”

Bridge locked eyes with Emma for a moment and the dislike the two had for each other was like a current that stretched across the globe. G.W. didn’t trust Emma as far as he could throw her and Emma found Bride to be a militaristic bureaucrat getting too close to interfering with her personal affairs. She knew that he was going to be someone she was going to have problems out of for a while to come, especially with X-Force out there working in many of the same arenas that S.H.I.E.L.D. was, so their paths were bound to cross. Bridge cut off his eye lock with Emma and gave Xavier a pleasant nod. “See you on the field.”

His holographic image faded away and Charles sighed. “I do not think he could have been colder if he had Bobby coaching him.”

Emma moved behind her significant other and began to massage his shoulders gently. “Bridge has never been a cheerleader for the X-Men. I doubt that will be changing anytime soon darling, but at least he can admit he needs us.”

Ororo watched the display of affection between the two with distaste. No matter how much Emma tried to atone for her past actions, all Storm could see was the woman who had taken pleasure in telepathically torturing her and stole her body like it was something to be bought off at an auction. How Xavier saw past it spoke to his great character, she supposed. “Bridge might be more amiable if our representation wasn’t so spotty.”

Cutting her eyes at the Kenyan woman, Emma bit back an insult that would have been too easy to shout. The X-Men were full of former opponents and criminals, but Storm seemed to show no quarter with her. Emma could admit that she would have a hard time smoothing things over with someone who took possession of her body, but stranger things had happened in their world. It was time to move on and be adults about the situation.

Sensing the tension, Charles said, “Emma, assemble the team and I shall provide them with a synopsis of what’s occurred.”

At that moment, Wolverine barged in with Maverick at his side. “It’s worse than what you know, Chuck.”

“Eavesdropping?” Emma asked with a sly smile. This was exactly why she had chosen Logan to work with in forming X-Force. The two of them had more in common than he was willing to admit, especially when it came to how they viewed information.

Tapping one of his ears, Wolverine said, “Can’t help it. Bridge might as well have been screaming at the top of his lungs.”

Noting Logan’s visitor, Xavier leaned back in his wheelchair and prepared for more bad news. It was unfortunate that visitors to the X-Men nine times out of ten brought bad tidings with them. Beast had once asked him if that was why he had isolated the X-Men for so long, yet Xavier sometimes thought he hadn’t isolated them enough. “I suggest you explain, my friend.”

Emma walked past Logan and Maverick, sending a telepathic message to Charles. I’m going to assemble the team. Feel me in on the details when I get back.

Of course, Emma. I can only hope that there won’t be much to fill you in about.

Jabbing a thumb at his old Team X partner, Wolverine said, “My buddy Mav here tells me that Holocaust is working with a new lady on the scene.”

Maverick took that as his cue to talk. “Her name is Sekhmet.”

Ororo folded her arms and prepared for bad news while Xavier said, “Tell me everything.”

Sudan

Holocaust viciously yanked up the twelve-year-old that fearfully sprinted away from him. Only his index finger and thumb were needed to hoist the young African boy up off the ground, and with only the slightest bit of pressure, he crushed the boy’s neck and tossed him aside like garbage. There was no remorse from Holocaust in the act. If the boy had been one of the strong he would have found a way to survive. That was his father’s philosophy and it was now his. He had found a way to survive despite what Magneto had done to him and it was a far harsher fate than a simple neck snapping. These weaklings polluted the strong with their pathetic presence. He would cleanse the Earth of every last one of them and he now did it with renewed vigor because of Sekhmet’s presence. She gave him hope that his father’s philosophy could be established on this world as it was established on Holocaust’s native one.

The mother of the boy that Holocaust had just done away with ran up to the mutant with dirty tears streaming down her face and holding a chunk of rock above her head. She flung it with all her strength and grief, but the projectile bounced harmlessly off the destroyer’s armor. Seeing her attack had had no effect, she was filled with despair. How would this creature be stopped? Why had he come to this place of innocents? Frustration bubbled over in her and she screamed, “Monster!”

Momentarily turning to look at the woman, Holocaust swatted her away like a nuisance. Her broken body flew through the air and slammed hard into the side of a burning U.N. medical jeep. The mother’s face was still stained with tears as it slid to the over-farmed dirt beneath her. Terrified refugees paid no attention to her frozen sorrow as they attempted to escape the deadly bio-nuclear blasts of Holocaust. Anyone caught in the wake of one of his blasts was burnt away like a shadow of Hiroshima.

Before he could reach out and grab an elderly man hobbling away on rotting crutches, five large titanium shells slammed into his crystalline armor, knocking him clear back a few hundred feet. The son of Apocalypse’s body crunched into a jeep and the vehicle collapsed around him like an empty soda can. Flexing his arms outward, Holocaust ripped the vehicle in half and was back on his feet. Angry at the attack, he searched the crowd of screaming refugees to see where it came from. Quickly, he spotted a group of S.H.I.E.L.D. agents and at their forefront was a debonair blonde with a smug smirk on his face that immediately infuriated Holocaust even more.

The blonde man that Holocaust was staring down with such fury was Brent Jackson, one of Director Bridge’s top field agents. He knew that Holocaust was gunning for him now, but the operative wasn’t the least bit shaken by it. In fact, he was glad for it because it took the mutant’s attention off of slaughtering the refugees. Jackson was positive that he could handle himself against the mutant better than any of them could. They were scared for their lives and Holocaust had no regard for any of them, and Jackson intended to return the favor as he hoisted his weapon back on his shoulder. It looked like an RPG but had five barrels that launched titanium bullets at near mach speed. The fact that Holocaust wasn’t in pieces spoke to the mutant’s power.

“I take a bit of personal offense to the fact you’re not just a smudge at this point,” Jackson said as he prepared to fire off another round of shells at the charging mutant. Among his many talents, Brent Jackson was a genius when it came to the invention of weapons and he had created the weapon he was using against Holocaust now. It was his hope that another round of titanium bullets would at least put some sort of dent in the mutant’s armor. In the back of his head, he wondered what kind of weaponry he could construct if he only had a chance to analyze Holocaust’s armor. Turning back to the seven S.H.I.E.L.D. agents with him, he said, “If he doesn’t go down from this then I want all laser fire concentrated on his head. One crack is all I need.”

The field agents charged their laser rifles as Jackson launched another salvo at Holocaust. Moving too fast for any of them to see, the shells slammed into the son of Apocalypse and created enough concussive force to knock everyone within a hundred yard radius off of their feet. Quickly getting back up, Jackson was preparing to reload his weapon. His agents and himself had been equipped with sound absorption ear pieces so the sonic boom didn’t affect them like it had everyone else. “Wait till the dust clears and fire your lasers! I don’t’ want to wait around and see if my gizmo did the trick.”

As the dust cleared, they were able to see the dirt tracks that Holocaust’s body created as he was flung backwards into a host of hospital tents that Jackson prayed were completely empty. The mutant was nowhere in sight and he could only assume that he was buried under the nylon and tent poles. Whatever hope Brent had that he had harmed the enemy was eliminated as Holocaust burst forth seemingly unharmed. Throwing a set of binoculars up to his eyes, Jackson examined Holocaust for any weak points that his two attacks might have caused. Scanning the armor with military precision he noticed the crack in Holocaust’s right shoulder, but that wasn’t the best spot for a focused assault though. “Target his head as planned. My attacks have weakened his armor so let’s hope the lasers can do the rest.”

Setting down his titanium bullet launcher, Jackson picked up his own laser rifle and lead the charge against Holocaust. The mutant was running at them like a bull but none of the agents flinched. They were S.H.I.E.L.D. and it was their job to protect these people. Taking aim with their weapons, eight red beams sizzled the air and struck Holocaust in the face. He still charged at them like a mad bull and ran through them like they were bowling pins. Jackson avoided colliding with his body, but some of his agents were not so lucky. Two were either unconscious or dead and a third had a clearly broken leg. Undeterred, Jackson said, “Keep up the fire!”

The lasers continued to pour on top of Holocaust, blurring his vision. Even the agent with the broken leg was able to fight through his pain and attack the son of Apocalypse. Roaring in anger, Holocaust began to fire off shots of bio-nuclear energy in every direction. One agent was completely incinerated in a blast while another’s arm was burnt away. The agent with the broken leg tried to back away from a blast directed his way, but his injury seemed like it was going to mean his death.

“Gotcha!” Jackson said as he slung his rifle across his chest, ran forward and scooped the injured agent up in his arms before Holocaust’s attack made contact.

Three S.H.I.E.L.D. agents, including Jackson himself, were left up against Holocaust. Jackson gave a hand signal for his two agents to stop firing at Holocaust. The minute that they did, Brent sprang through the air and wrapped his arms around Holocaust’s neck. Reaching into his belt, he drove a metal mine charge into Holocaust’s weakened helmet. Kicking himself off of Holocaust’s back, he rolled to the ground and ran the other direction from the mutant. A loud explosion ripped across the refugee camp.

Turning back to see his handiwork, Jackson saw his stunt had proven effective. Holocaust’s helmet was completely shattered and bio-nuclear smoke poured out from the new hole. Viciously turning on the S.H.I.E.L.D. agent, the son of Apocalypse said, “You have indeed proven yourself worthy, human.”

Agent Jackson gave that cocky smirk he was so well known for. “Aren’t you a big sweetie! But I kind of have a boyfriend already.”

“You insult me!” Holocaust said as he raised his arm to strike down Jackson with a bio-nuclear blast.

He never got the chance as a bolt of lightning roared down from the sky and struck right through the hole that Jackson’s explosive had created. Holocaust’s inner form was flooded with electricity and his transparent armor shined like a light bulb. As the brute fell to one knee, it gave Jackson and his remaining agents the chance to scoop up their injured comrades. Tapping the radio communicator in his ear, Jackson said, “I think the X-Men are here, Director Bridge.”

“Good. Get your men out of there. We’ll let them take that clown from here.”

“Copy that, sir,” Jackson said a she scooped an agent over his shoulder and ran towards the extraction point. He looked back to give a salute to the X-Men that he saw approaching the weakened Holocaust.

Wolverine returned the salute and said to Maverick, “Do we know him?”

David shrugged. “Not sure, but he looks familiar.”

“Save the stroll down memory lane for later, fellas. We’re going to have to put in some work to make that man stay down,” Domino said as they watched Holocaust get back to his feet.

Wolverine unsheathed his claws and growled. “Bring it on, bub.”

Emma stood by Logan’s side with two energy pistols holstered to her hip. Instead o f her usual Mansion attire, Frost was wearing a white bodysuit with a zipper down the middle to reveal all necessary cleavage. Domino was still baffled at the height of the woman’s heels and how she thought going into combat situation with them was practical. Pulling out both of her pistols, Emma said, “His mind is shielded. Give me a minute and I’ll be able to break through.”

I wouldn’t count on that!

The X-Men looked around them for the source of the feminine voice that had boomed through all of their heads. Storm saw the four silhouettes that were hanging in the sky from afar and said, “Look up!”

Maverick was able to see through the multi-faceted sensors in his armor’s eye sockets that the four figures were approaching them at near mach speed. “I don’t think you’ll have to! Everyone get back!”

The group of mutants all back pedaled as the four figures slammed into the ground only a few feet in front of Holocaust. All of the X-Men were knocked to the ground from the shockwave, except for Warren and Storm who took to the air. Wasting no time in trying to identify the individuals, Storm sent down dozens of lightning bolts simultaneously on them. The electric blasts cut through the dirt and dust, each striking their intended targets.

Maverick was able to see that Storm’s blasts had no effect as the dust cleared the X-Men saw exactly who they were facing. He hissed the name of the woman leading the group. “Sekhmet!”

She was a beautiful woman who looked like she had walked right out a history book. The pure, white garments of the Egyptian pharaohs flowed across her body and her brown skin glistened without blemish in the sunlight. Her eyes were hauntingly beautiful and seemed to contain a hidden fury that not even a legion of scorned women could hope to match. Turning those eyes back to Holocaust, she said, “You have done well. Be renewed.”

A metal scarab crawled out from under the shoulder of Sekhmet’s white robe and flew onto Holocaust’s chest. The mechanical insect melted away and melded into the son of Apocalypse’s armor and the X-Men watched with horror as all the damage Brent Jackson had done was completely reversed and Holocaust’s armor was repaired without effort. Cracking his neck, Holocaust said, “Fortune seems to be on our side. She is amongst them.”

Emma quickly established a psi-web amongst all of the X-Men. Just what are we dealing with here?

A lady powerful enough to get knocked up by Apocalypse, Logan said.

Not to seem pessimistic here, but I don’t think we have enough firepower to take these guys on alone, Maverick said. He had seen just how powerful Sekhmet was up close and personal an had barely lived to tell about it. Logic seemed to lend itself to her servants being just as or nearly as powerful as her.

Don’t worry about that, love. My dear Charles is making a call, Emma said.

In the meantime, we go in hard. Keep on the press! Storm said as she rose above even Warren and blackened the skies.

Khufu landed in front of Domino and knocked her to the side with his golden staff. It was deceptively heavy and nearly knocked the former mercenary unconscious. She rolled out of the way before the miniature pyramid at the top of the staff caved in her skull. Kicking out her leg, Domino tried to hit the man in the back of his ankle to take his feet out from under him. It was like hitting a steel wall and the man did not budge. Cursing under her breath, Domino rolled out of the way of his staff again and pointed a gun at Khufu’s face. She fired off a couple of laser rounds into the mutant’s face and dazed him for a moment.

Standing to her feet, Domino picked up the staff and was surprised at how heavy it was. Grunting, she swung the weapon back and slammed it into Khufu’s face. The alien went limp.

Domino dropped the staff away from him and wiped the sweat off of her forehead. “Figured his own weapon might put a beating on him.”

Holocaust looked at the servant of Sekhmet he was unfamiliar with. “When did you arrive?’

“While you were slaughtering the weak,” the man said. He was bald and had rich, dark brown skin and enough muscles to look like he could hold his own in this fight. The irises of his eyes were a royal purple and the pupils were a soft gold. He wore a black tunic and matching loincloth with sandals that might have been worn by the ancient Greeks. In one hand he had a white short sword that carried a picture of a crocodile down the center. “Are you the son of her lover, Apocalypse?”

“Yes. I am Holocaust.”

The mutant nodded. “I am Nikare, Pharaoh of Sekhmet. Shall we dispense with these infidels?”

Holocaust glared at the approaching Maverick and Wolverine. “I see no reason why not.”

Rising his gun arm at the mutants, Holocaust fired off a bio-nuclear blast that raged across the refugee camp and struck Maverick head on. David rolled back expertly from the blow as he absorbed all the energy from it. His eyes were glowing with power as he thrust his arms forward. “Right back at ya!”

Maverick’s blast gave Holocaust a dose of humility as he was struck with the same blast he usually delivered. The armored mutant was knocked away from Nikare, just as Wolverine pounced on him. Logan drove his claws into Nikare’s shoulder as the two of them rolled around the dirt. Eventually finding himself on top of Sekhmet’s servant, Logan smiled. “Might want to try a little harder.”

Nikare grunted as he drove one knee into Logan’s lower abdomen. The X-Man was launched clear into the sky and he watched Nikare’s wounds heal almost instantly along with the fabric of his clothing. As Logan fell through the air, he straightened his body so he would strike like a bullet. As he flew over Nikare’s body, thrust his claws into the mutant’s shoulders at the last moment and flung him over his body just as Logan performed a graceful landing. Nikare flew through the air and skidded to the feet of Domino, who commenced to unloading a full clip in his face.

She was about to pull out another gun when her arm as twisted around her back and a hand clutched around her throat. Feeling the hot breath of Khufu on the back of her neck, Domino struggled to break free but her best efforts were proving for naught. Khufu pulled her in closer and said, “We were warned you were considered amongst the strong. I applaud your effort.”

“Let her go!” Blink yelled from behind Khufu. With a single act of concentration she teleported Khufu away from Domino and high into the sky above even the battling Storm and Sekhmet.

Domino rubbed her arm and said, “Guess he didn’t know I was lucky.”

Blink ran up to her and knocked her to the ground just as a blast from Holocaust flew overhead. The lavender skinned mutant smiled at the shocked Domino. “Guess he didn’t know either.”

Sekhmet shrugged away yet another roaring blast of lightning from Storm. Continuing to circle around the Kenyan, the ancient alien said, “My love’s record spoke of you X-Men. He called you the misguided strong. Those who were powerful that insisted on protecting the weak.”

Storm threw her arms up and summoned down a wall of hail that battered a laughing Sekhmet. As the alien threw back her head in laughter, Storm expertly aimed a bolt of lightning right down her throat. Sekhmet screeched and backed away from Ororo, more annoyed than actually harmed. “You are persistent, child.”

“I will always battle darkness the likes of you!”

Sekhmet stared intensely at her and Storm felt the familiar tug of a telepath trying to enter her mind, but it went no further. Looking below her, she saw the small figure of Emma and figured that was who was protecting her. The idea of that woman defending her still rung wrong to Ororo, but too much blood had been shed to let personal vendettas get in the way of getting the job done.

Not knowing how long Emma was going to be able to hold out, Storm decided to help tip the scales in her favor. As powerful as Sekhmet was, Storm felt the same electrical currents coursing through her body as they did through everyone else’s on the battlefield. Commanding electricity in all its forms, Storm mentally reached out and sent an overflow of electrical signals through Sekhmet’s body.

The signal surge made the ancient alien’s body flail around wildly and her defense against Emma was completely shattered. Storm kept up the signal surge as Emma mentally battered Sekhmet. Growing confident, Storm moved in closer to the woman to increase the potency of her attacks, never paying attention to Sekhmet’s chest cavity opening.

Before she realized what was happening, Storm was staring at tiny white star in Sekhmet’s chest that sent a burst of energy up at her. Ororo moved as fast she could and dodged mod of the blast, but was nicked by it on the shoulder. It was enough to burn flesh and send her on a tailspin through the air.

A green streak passed underneath and she quickly found herself in the arms of a friend. Polaris looked down at her and said, “Glad to see you’re back on your feet.”

Grabbing her shoulder, Storm fought off a pained expression. “Charles must have–”

“Unlike Pietro, the Professor knows how to throw aside his pride when the situation is important enough,” Polaris said as she flew them to the ground next to a sweating Emma.

“Are you alright?” Storm asked.

Emma nodded. “Sekhmet is hardly the most powerful telepath I’ve faced and your little stunt allowed me to do some damage.”

“Then shut her down already,” Polaris said as she watched Sekhmet start to move towards them.

“Her telepathic offense is mediocre, but her defense is of a much higher pedigree,” Emma said as she looked up. “You might want to shield us, Lorna dear.”

Lorna cut her eyes at the Brit as she erected a green dome of magnetic energy around them. “I don’t need you to tell me that, dear.”

Sekhmet slammed into the shield and the strain nearly knocked Polaris to her feet. She stood firm though and said, “Whew! What did you do to tick this one off?”

Emma laughed. “Darling, she’s Apocalypse’s girlfriend.”

Lorna suddenly looked like she had just been zapped with a bit of electricity. “All the explanation I need.”

Warren flew down hard and swung his blue energy pulse sword over Serapis’ head and missed the mark entirely. Banking back around for another strike at the Pharaoh, Warren intended to drive the sword through Serapis’ chest. The weapon had been designed for him by Forge and was supposed to pack enough juice to knock out a gorilla with a just a scratch. He hoped a direct blow would be enough to take Sekhmet’s servant out of the fight.

Serapis waited for the blow to come with a stony face that held no fear. Warren didn’t care how tough he looked because he was confident in the weapons hat Forge had outfitted him with, and whoever this guy was, he was stupid enough to walk around with his shirt off. There was enough exposed flesh for Warren to make his attack count. He flew in at seventy miles per hour and attempted to stab Serapis in the chest, but the Pharaoh dodged that blow with a carefully timed roll to the ground.

Warren halted his flight and turned around, his wings still flapping. “You keep running…not much of a warrior.”

Serapis’ expression didn’t change. “A true warrior knows when to deliver a blow and when to avoid one.

Warren smiled. “And a true strategist knows how to utilize a distraction.

Realizing he had been fooled, Serapis turned around but it was too late. The fist of Strong Guy collided with his face and sent the Pharaoh flying backwards, right under the feet of Warren. Wasting no time, Warren flew straight down and drove his pulse sword into Serapis’ chest. A cry went up from the Pharaoh before his body went limp.

“Right in the nick of time,” Warren said as he flew to Strong Guy’s side and landed beside him.

Shaking his hand, Guido said, “That was like punching the Thing.”

“At least we got him out of the way,” Warren said as he looked to Blink, Sage and Domino battling Holocaust. “Now we can help them.”

“Wouldn’t say that quite yet,” Strong Guy pointed at the newly arisen Serapis. The servant of Sekhmet reached out and touched the scimitar tattoo on his back. The tattoo began to glow and soon in his hands was a material weapon. “In fact, it looks like he’s just getting started.”

“Feel like punching the Thing a few more times?” Warren asked as he took to the air.

Strong Guy stopped shaking his hand and formed it back into a fist. “If you feel like stabbing him a few more times.”

Maverick and Logan watched the bullets that Domino had put into Nikare’s face pop out one by one. Logan grunted. “He would have a healing factor.”

“Not like its nothing we’re not use to seeing,” Maverick said as he reloaded two of his larger pistols. Both could put a grapefruit-sized hole in a normal man’s chest from a mile away. He wouldn’t mind smaller holes in this guy, but he doubted he’d get it. “But it would be nice to make some progress.”

Wolverine agreed. “We put one down and they hop right back up. We’re not making any headway.”

“Maybe I can help.”

The two men turned around and saw Proto-Goblin. Neither was familiar with the guy but they had heard reports that he was particularly brutal and being kept on a very short leash by Genosha. Logan nodded: brutal was what they needed. “How many of you are there?”

“Just four. President spared who he could,” Proto-Goblin said as he reared himself into an attack stance. “Here he comes.”

Nikare charged at the three but flipped high into the air before making contact with any of them. While he was hanging in mid-air, long blades ripped out from each of his forearms and by the time he touched the ground he was twice as large as when he went up. “You infidels will be cleansed!”

“Did he really just call us infidels?” Proto-Goblin asked, more comically shocked than actually offended.

“Yea,” Maverick shrugged. “He’s probably a bit old school.”

Wolverine took on a stance much like Proto-Goblin. “Ancient Egyptian old school.”

Proto-Goblin licked his lips. “Guess we oughta show him how the new school handles things.”

“Don’t mind if I do,” Maverick said as he started to unload laser blasts from his two pistols at Nikare.

The Pharaoh was able to dodge the first few blasts, but inevitably Maverick met his mark. He stuck Nikare in the knee on one leg and on the ankle in another, sending him falling face first into the dirt. Wolverine and Proto-Goblin were on top of him in seconds, clawing and cutting into him like a pack of starved wolves being thrown a piece of bloody steak. Maverick honestly would have preferred not to watch but he needed his aim to be true if Nikare got up from the dual assault.

Wolverine dug one set of claws into the back of Nikare’s head and yanked back, pulling out what he thought to be brain matter. With that blow, the two pulled away from the Pharaoh and all three watched with horror as Nikare’s wounds quickly patched themselves together and disappeared.

“Any other suggestions?” Proto-Goblin asked. He had never seen anyone get up from an assault like that and it made him nervous.

Maverick reached behind him and pulled out a short gun with a very large barrel. “Just one.”

He pointed at the gun at Nikare’s head and fired. A circular mine flew through the air and slammed into the Pharaoh’s head, where the adhesive on the small mine bonded itself with Nikare’s flesh. Maverick quickly started to run away, knowing Logan and Proto-Goblin would follow suit. They were only a few seconds into their run when the mine exploded. Blood, bone and shrapnel were sent sky high.

The three looked back at the bloodied, mangled body. Proto-Goblin slumped his shoulders forward. “I hope that put him down.”

“Doubt it, but at least it’ll give us some time to help the others,” Maverick said.

Sekhmet’s fist pounding finally broke Polaris’ magnetic field and the strain knocked Lorna flat on her butt. She was seeing stars and was in too much pain to be of anymore help to Emma and Storm. Emma tried to increase the intensity of her psychic attack, but Sekhmet knocked her aside with a casual back hand. She went tumbling through the dirt like a piece of ragweed.

Storm immediately shot out a bolt of lightning that struck Sekhmet square in the chest. As Ororo expected, the blast did no harm to the woman but she had to try something. Lorna and Emma needed her protection. Again, Storm latched on to the electrical signals in Sekhmet’s nerves and caused her to jerk wildly.

Sekhmet gritted her teeth as she lost control of her body, but not her mind. Sending a command through her semi-sentient clothing, a metal scarab crawled out from the folds of it. The metallic bug quickly flew through the air and landed on Ororo’s chest. Storm’s electrical attack ceased as she tried to bat the bug off of her.

A purple energy cocoon formed around Storm as she tried to remove the device. The energy quickly formed into bronze and Ororo was trapped in a sarcophagus of Sekhmet’s making. A tiny design was on the center of the traditional funeral receptacle that showed Sekhmet standing over the Earth with a scythe in one hand and a sword in the other. Sekhmet smiled as she heard Storm scream again and again from within the entrapment that her metal scarab had created.

“Let me free! Release me! Release me now!” Storm screamed from within the sarcophagus as she writhed and twisted.

Sekhmet walked to the sarcophagus and placed a hand on it. “You are most interesting, Windrider. I shall indeed enjoy your company.”

With that, Sekhmet and the sarcophagus disappeared.

Sage leaped into the air and dodged the fist of Holocaust as it pulverized into the dirt. She fired quick cement bullets at him that made impact on his head. The bullets burst open and spilled almost instantly drying cement across the top fourth of Holocaust’s body. Holocaust was completely disoriented and began to fire wildly.

Blink pushed Sage out of the way of one of his bio-nuclear blasts. “Neat bullets.”

“One of my many personal designs. Holocaust is too powerful for us to take on directly; we have to keep him blind.”

Domino aimed two of her energy pistols at the son of Apocalypse. “Keeping him blind isn’t going put him down. We need to destroy that armor.”

Sage shouted at the pale mercenary. “Don’t”

Domino didn’t listen as she fired her weapons at Holocaust, breaking through Sage’s cement and striking against Holocaust’s armor. With a crack in Sage’s attack now apparent, Holocaust was able to rip off the rest of the concrete with one strong hand. Sage came up beside Domino. “Your attack was ineffective.”

“And all yours did was make him flail around like he was trying to hit a piñata,” Domino snapped.

Holocaust heard the voice of his new master in his head. Finish this Holocaust and bring her to me.

A metallic scarab appeared in the palm of Holocaust’s hand. Without a second’s hesitation, he flung the machine through the air and struck Blink on her shoulder. The impact of the throw tossed her on her back and she was quickly surrounded by the same purple energy that Storm had been. Domino tried to run to Blink’s aid but as soon as she ran up against the energy cocoon she was flung back like a magnet meeting its same polarity.

Through her red sunglasses; Sage was able to analyze the data. “It’s converting to solid matter. There’s a teleportation signal in the mix. Trying to decrypt it.”

Before Sage could do it, Blink vanished in the same manner as Storm. Domino’s head was still spinning as she got to her feet. “Holocaust is gone!”

“Along with all the others,” Wolverine said as he walked over to Domino and helped give her some balance. “They took Blink.”

Strong Guy had Lorna and Emma hanging on to his shoulders. “Storm too.”

Wolverine clinched his fists and growled. “I’ll be damned!”

“We’re going to find her, Logan,” Polaris said with complete confidence. “My team isn’t leaving until this is settled.”

Warren flew overhead and landed in the midst of them. “Then I suggest we regroup and figure out our next move.”

Sekhmet stood in the middle of the Sahara with the two sarcophagi high above her head. Her Pharaohs and Holocaust were all lined up behind her. She looked up at the two entrapped women with maternal love. “The X-Men have proven to be strong, but they were our playthings this day.”

“Then with all due respect, my Master, why are we going to put two of them through the Ascension if they could not defeat us?” Serapis asked.

“Because despite their being unable to defeat us, they were able to harm us, and that speaks volumes about them, especially these two. They shall go through the Ascension and then we shall burn more of the weak from this Earth.”

The protests of a terrified Storm and Blink could not be heard over the sands of the desert.

To Be Continued...

Next: In X-Men #12: Sekhmet and her Pharaohs strike another densely populated, highly vulnerable place in the world. Will the X-Men and their allies have what it takes to put a stop to them? And what has become of Storm and Blink?

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