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#8
DEC 14 |
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This was it.
The Final Horsemen had been gathered and now over thirty well-trained, lethal people from four separate teams had been brought together to fight them. They had a variety of skills, talents, powers and experience. Many of them would make the average person piss their pants and run to a corner.
And the odds still looked bad for them.
Truly, the Final Horsemen were just a different animal. They were created as a desperate effort and their creator very seldom had any reason to feel desperate.
Wolverine and Archangel both stared down the thing they once were against the backdrop of blistering cold winds. Apocalypse’s Horseman of Death was a mantle worn by few and the two of them were in that unfortunate company. It wasn’t a distinction either man wanted. Serving Apocalypse was not something anyone did willingly.
The tall, lanky man in front of Wolverine, Archangel and their allies was not just a Horseman. He was one of the Final Horsemen, an elite cadre of Apocalypse’s generals. They were only to be brought forth when all other plans of Apocalypse had failed. And with Apocalypse a mere memory, these monsters were brought forth from their tombs. Their mere presence trembled the world.
“Chuck gave you all my plan, so let’s stick to it,” Logan said as Death moved closer to them.
The slim mutant dressed like an ancient Persian royal gave his would-be killer a vicious smile. Not even Hannibal Lecter could have pulled off one better. In both of his hands were gleaming scimitars, the metal blades incredibly thin. Across his back a metal bo staff was strapped down. Elegance defined his body structure and garments.
“Lopez, you’re up kid,” Logan said.
Washout should have felt pretty confident in himself given all the water at his disposal, but he was scared shitless. He was about to face down someone who had been nominated to be the living embodiment of Death. But however inadequate John felt, he couldn’t lock up. Too many were depending on him. So with fear to fuel him, Washout froze Death’s blood solid. John knew he had been successful by the many expanded and protruding veins along the Horseman’s face and hands.
John waited to see if Death moved. “It’s done.”
Wolverine thought the boy was about to piss himself. He didn’t blame him, but there wasn’t time to address it. Motioning to Omega that he was next, Wolverine hoped the punk actually listened. Omega had as much telepathic power as Chuck and telekinetic strength to match Jean. That kind of power was dangerous in someone as smug and rebellious as Quentin Quire. Archangel must have had similar thoughts. “Your plan should have been to leave this kid on an island. He’s unstable. It won’t be before he’s on the on the opposite side of us.”
Omega looked back, smiled knowingly and snapped his fingers. Unseen telekinetic power shattered Death’s frozen blood. The Horseman convulsed his way to the icy ground. A he fell, Omega fulfilled his next task. Death’s skeleton suffers a hundred breaks, incapacitating the mutant even further. The snaps were even more audible than normal, a touch of style from Quentin. “That’s how you handle a bloke. Do we really even need anyone else?”
A blue glow came over Death’s body and the Horseman rose to his feet. Logan and Warren both possessed enhanced vision and were able to see through the light. The protruded veins were vanishing and the broken bones healing.
Logan knew these Horsemen weren’t going to be easily dispatched. Washout and Omega’s attacks were meant to force Death to reveal something of his capacity to take injury. This energy, whatever it was, had completely healed Death. “Stick to the plan! We figured this would happen.”
“A strong beginning. Perhaps you will have just as powerful an ending.” Death lifted up a hand and red waves of energy rippled out over the mutants. The waves had no effect that could be visibly seen. Death’s power could fool someone that way. You were attacked from within and the attack was brutally swift.
Being the most in tune with his body, Wolverine felt every biological system on fire. So many diseases were attacking his body at once that his healing factor was barely holding. Blood was coming out of every single orifice that he had. Those without his gift were sitting on the verge of death and would probably be there in moments. But Logan had anticipated this and had a solution for it, he just hoped it worked. “Illyana! NOW!”
Magik stabbed her Soulsword into the stained snow and struggled to hold herself up. Her arm was trembling heavily and Logan could smell things on her beginning to decay. Somehow she managed to hold out her arm. With a barely audible voice, she hoarsely said, “Vilaro naximey siduna.”
Ethereal green dragons came out of her arms and moved through all the mutants. The dragons then all disappeared into Death’s chest. As each dragon vanished, the diseased mutants were healed of their ailments. Logan got more than he hoped for, when he saw that their ailments had been transferred into Death.
The Horsemen shook and convulsed violently as the diseases he had unleashed were ravaging his body. Not taking any chances on that finishing the mutant, Logan gave a hoarse, harsh command to his assembled team. “Take him down! Right now!” At his word, a collage of energies, fire, ice and metal feathers came flying past him and hit Death head on. The delirious and overtaxed mutant was lifted off his feet and sent crashing into the ice.
Wasting no time, the mutants continued their brutal assault. Washout caused hundreds of ice spikes, both large and small, to erupt from the ground underneath Death. The mutant howled as he was pierced all across his body. Omega followed up that attack by dropping a telekinetic field in the shape of an anvil on top of the Horseman with everything he could muster. To all their utter shock, Death rose up from the icy ground. He was bloody, broken and full of disease but still miraculously standing.
“You all…” Death involuntarily spat out blood. “…will die.”
“Is this guy serious?” Moonstar asked, training one of her psychic arrows on the Horseman.
Before she loosed the arrow, Death vanished in a flash of white light. Omega folded his arms across his chest. “Well, that was fucking annoying!”
The Sahara
Wisdom could kick Wolverine’s ass for leaving him in charge of the fight against War. The minotaur-esque mutant carried an axe that could cleave him in half. He suspected War’s arms were more than capable of doing the same, albeit a lot messier.
At least Wolverine provided him with mutants that could take damage, and three of them happened to be his own people. “Husk, Warpath and Sunspot move in!”
Husk ripped off her skin and became a living statue of Adamantium. She wrapped her legs around War’s neck and started pounding relentlessly on his head. Warpath stabbed the beast in the stomach with his Vibranium knives while Sunspot focused solar blasts on War’s back.
Scarlet Witch stood next to Wisdom and laughed. The unhelpful noise carried nothing but arrogance. “Do you really think that’s going to work?”
Rumors had passed Wisdom’s way of how much Scarlet Witch had changed, but like most rumors he assumed it to be exaggerated. She couldn’t possibly be the woman the intelligence reports made her out to be. But Wisdom knew how much a loss could change a person.
“You want to take charge, Wanda? Please be my guest.” Wisdom gestured to the ongoing fight.
“I don’t have the time to be bothered with it. Proceed with your plan.”
War grabbed Warpath by the wrists and headbutted him with Husk still struggling atop him. The two mutants collided heads and Warpath flailed back into the Sahara sands. Then War pulled out Warpath’s knives and tossed them to the ground. He reached up, grabbed Husk by her hair and flung her on top of Warpath. She landed on top of him like a small automotive.
Absorbing the intense Sahara sun, Sunspot redirected that power at the Horsemen with fury in his eyes. Roberto considered James a friend and Paige was his best friend’s little sister. He’d be damned before he let one of Apocalypse’s freaks toss them around. So he unleashed his power in a way he rarely did. His goal amounted to nothing less than leaving War a pile of ash.
The Horsemen soon found himself attacked from two other directions as Thunderbird and Wisdom unleashed their energies. War cried out in furious agony as the triumvirate of energies began to tear though his fur, flesh and then muscle. The yelling provided sufficient terror on its own without the added flailing of War. Wisdom couldn’t let them stop. “Keep pouring it on!”
Scarlet Witch watched the fight, aloof and above it all, with Strong Guy close to her. Guido considered it his personal duty to protect the royalty of Genosha, whether that meant Polaris, Pietro or his family. Personally, he would have preferred to have been sent with Polaris, but that wasn’t Logan’s plan (damn the man) and so he was stuck guarding Wanda. Of all the Genoshan royals, she was the one he didn’t want to be around. She was cold, arrogant and cutthroat. Nothing like the woman so many others said she was. He wished he had known her before she lost her child.
“This display is pathetic. They’re only annoying the beast.” Scarlet Witch waved a glowing hand through the air. The moment she did, the energy output of Sunspot, Wisdom and Thunderbird multiplied exponentially, smothering War. Guido saw the surprised reactions on the three mutants and looked back to see Wanda smiling smugly.
War buckled under the attacks, the energy of a proverbial star being put right over him. The pain was beyond incredible, but he was a Horseman, one of the Final Horsemen. He would not let these mutants be the end of him. By his hand, they would feel the cold thirst of war. They would turn on each other and experience the true fury of warfare. He held out his burnt, sinewy hand and his buried axe returned to him.
He flung his axe out of the onslaught of power, right at Peter Wisdom. The X.S.E. leader barely dodged the flying weapon and had to cease his attack to do so. Wanda Maximoff, not possessed of Wisdom’s trained reaction time, wasn’t going to be able to do the same. True to his word, Guido protected the Scarlet Witch by pushing her out of the weapon’s way. But even his movement wasn’t fast enough as the weapon nicked her across the ribs before slamming into Strong Guy’s shoulder. Guido went sliding across the sand, the axe buried into his flesh.
Wisdom ran to Wanda and lifted her up off the sand. “Are you all right, Wanda?”
Her eyes were glowing a cool gray. She put a hand up against Wisdom’s chest. “Get away from me!” A blast of crimson power sent Wisdom flying up and over, away from Wanda.
He hit the ground with a hard thud and was knocked unconscious. Thunderbird stopped his attack on the nearly dead War and went over to the Scarlet Witch. “Viceroy! What the hell are you doing? You’re shooting at the wrong man.”
“One against six. I think I can handle those odds.” Scarlet Witch’s body flared with crimson light, forcing Thunderbird back and lighting up the sky for a mile. Wanda began to rise in the air, the earth quaking beneath her. All her eyes were focused on her, even as War’s blackened body began to heal itself.
Husk helped Warpath to his feet while Sunspot did the same for Thunderbird. Husk clutched James’ arm. “What the hell is she doing?” In answer to her question, giant snakes made of rock burst out from the ground all around them. The snakes had ruby eyes and hissed at the four mutants. Warpath broke away from Husk’s grasp and ran for the unconscious Wisdom. He scooped his leader up before one of the rock snakes came crashing down on him.
“This is so what we don’t need right now,” Husk said.
“Well, get ready. It’s about to get a whole lot worse,” Strong Guy said as he charged into the group of mutants like a bowling ball colliding with pens. Thunderbird saw the same gray glow in his eyes that Viceroy Maximoff had. There had to be a connection.
Thunderbird rolled away from Strong Guy as Guido started trading blows with Warpath despite his bloody wound. Neal looked to Husk and Roberto. “I think War has done something to them. They both have a crazy look.”
Husk nodded. “Gotta be some kind of mind control.”
“Then we keep up the fight and hope it wears off,” Sunspot said, rising into the air and blasting one of the rock snakes in the face. He just hoped that they were able to make it that long.
The Amazon
“The Amazon,” Emma said, running a hand through sweaty, ruined hair. “That bastard sent me to the Amazon!”
“Your vain tantrum is useless given the circumstances,” Psylocke said, holding a psychic katana in one hand and projecting a dagger from another. She cut and stabbed furiously through the swarm of yume beetles surrounding them. Each successful blow cut off Pestilence’s psychic connection to one of the bugs, but for every one of the insects she cut down, Pestilence created ten more.
“I pay five thousand dollars a session to my stylist. That is damn well not useless,” Emma said. Mentally, she could feel each vicious insect franticly following Pestilence’s orders. Emma wouldn’t be able to sever every link, but she could cut off a number of them. Using her power like large pair of scissors, she cut through a number of the links and hundreds of yume beetles fell out of the sky like dead weight
Pestilence turned an angry eye to Emma. The intense, raw anger flashed evident in her mind. Emma’s action had not gone unnoticed. The Horsemen dressed as a geisha practically ripped mouth open, unleashing a horde of yume beetles. Emma felt their one command and it was to rip her to pieces. They were hurtling at her too fast of her to sever the link. All she could do was throw up her arms and wait for the inevitable.
But the inevitable never came. She heard the snaps, clicks and buzzes but she never felt a single bite.
Storm unleashed lightning across the swarm that was covering Emma. Her power channeled through and burst each one of the yume beetles, eventually revealing an unharmed Emma covered in the muck of the genetically enhanced bugs. Emma stood up, covered in the vomit green muck and looked at Storm with disdain. “Oh, I know you’re enjoying this.”
“Nothing a strong wind can’t fix,” Storm said, outstretching a hand to send a small torrent over the woman and washing away the gunk of the yume beetles. Ororo immediately put her hand to her mouth in shock.
“What?” Emma asked. “Oh for Heaven’s sake, does my hair look that bad darling?”
Askari rolled out of the way of one of Pestilence’s razor-sharp war fans. His roll put him at the side of Emma Frost. He looked her up and down as he got to his feet. “Perhaps it would have been helpful if you told us about your other powers earlier.”
Emma narrowed her eyes. “Are you insane? What other powers?” She noticed the examination of both Storm and Askari, so she looked down at her hand and saw that it was completely made of white diamond. Her only reaction was to scream.
Chicago
Island X
Phoenix sensed it all over him. The taint of Apocalypse clung to Stryfe. She felt a wave of anger wash over her. Apocalypse stood responsible for causing harm to so many she cared about. Warren and Logan, both men she loved in her own way, suffered under his manipulations. Cable, her son, grew up in a proverbial hell because of the mutant. Cyclops, a man she loved with all her heart, was irrevocably altered by bonding with Apocalypse’s callous spirit. If there existed any creature deserving of death, it was Apocalypse.
All that rage came out of hr in a deep, guttural scream. She broke the telekinetic grip that Stryfe had on her and Cable. Her anger also propelled every Brotherhood member attacking her team into the nearest wall. None of that mattered to Jean. Her only focus was Stryfe and the essence of Apocalypse hanging around him.
“Me and you,” telekinetic energy flared around her, “we’re finishing this. Now!”
Jean launched forward and punched Stryfe, sending him through the air like a bullet. He crashed through a wall, shaking the entire building in his wake. Not wasting a moment, Jean propelled through the air and flew right through the crumbling hole Stryfe’s body had created. Floating over a still stunned Stryfe, Jean pushed down on him with enough telekinetic force to send him crashing through the flood like a meteor. Like a bird of prey, Jean flew down at Stryfe and struck him like a comet.
The two crashed through floor after floor of the Island X complex. Broken steel, concrete and glass were left in their wake. Jean didn’t care about any of it. She was not going to let this monster come back into her life. He had no right. “Do you hear me, Apocalypse? Do you?! I won’t let you come back.”
A bloodied Stryfe smiled through Phoenix’s assault. He grabbed her by the wrists and brought his head to hers in a fierce headbutt. As her head snapped back, he flung her to the side. She rolled along a linoleum floor, cracking and uprooting it the entire way, until she slammed into Island X’s server towers. Wives sparked and metal was bent as the towers dogpiled on Phoenix.
Stryfe floated a few inches off the floor, his own telekinetic power keeping him afloat. “Don’t you see the beauty of it, Jean? I’m becoming something new. I’m ascending the weaknesses of both Stryfe and Apocalypse.”
The server towers started to rattle and shake before they violently exploded outward. A cut and bruised Phoenix was at the center of the explosion. “You don’t know a damn thing about beauty.”
“There is beauty to be found even in your perceived darkness. Think of the fire of the Phoenix cleansing a world. Can you honestly say that’s not beautiful?”
“Wrong example.” Jean lifted up every one of the server towers and flung it at Stryfe with sonic speed.
The Congo
Omega Sentinel was a woman who sometimes felt her humanity slipping away from her and with good reason. The life of an Indian police officer, especially a woman officer, was by its very nature a high risk venture. But that venture seemed small and pathetic when matched up against her new life. She had become a living weapon and found herself in the company of the X-Men, mutant warriors. So far while in their company, she had suffered no grievous injury and didn’t intend to stop that streak now, but a Horseman of Apocalypse did. Famine and his companions were making short work of the X-Men until Logan devised a plan. The insult of division wasn't something that Famine planned on taking lying down.
“Tell me one good reason why I should spare you the beating you rightly deserve,” Proto-Goblin said as he licked his fingers. Images of ripping Famine to shreds and feasting on him were in the back of his mind. Since joining X-Factor and going through his psychic therapy, Van Adder had tried on working to suppress his urges. But in the case of Famine, he was willing to make an exception.
"I don't need your damn mercy," Famine said twirling his drum sticks in the air.
“I was going to actually agree with Proto-Goblin's path of reason,” Sage cracked her knuckles, “but the odds just don't seem to make that a feasible option.”
Famine laughed in a way that would easily frighten children. He pointed his drum sticks at Sage and said, “Threats are pointless. Fight me or don’t!”
Songbird rose into the air and surrounded her body with solid, pink sound energy. “You don’t have to ask twice.”
Songbird zoomed towards Famine and began to circle him at speeds twice that of sound. Not only was she creating an air-sucking vortex, but also she was blasting the Horseman again and again. Suddenly, a gnarled hand gripped Melissa's throat through her vortex and slammed her into the jungle dirt. With a voice resonant as an organ and black as death, Famine said, “Today, this battle is not yours.”
Speedball immediately focused and formed a kinetic field around himself, his intent was on releasing Famine’ grip on Songbird. He launched himself through the air and slammed into the Horseman, sending Famine propelling through the trees, but the man’s fingers didn’t even budge from Songbird’s neck. So she was dragged through the jungle right along with Famine. Omega Sentinel saw Robert’s failure and moving at incredible speed through the air, Karima followed the path created by the two bodies.
“I am impressed. That almost actually hurt,” Famine said, his black eyes looking up at Omega Sentinel from the crater his body had created. His drum still hung from his body and his drum sticks were clenched tightly in his other hand. His long, wispy white hair littered with dirt gave him the appearance of a corpse.
Songbird screamed and her solid sound energy erupted from her body, immediately allowing her to break away from the man. She flew up and away from him by Omega Sentinel’s side, a tender hand feeling around her throat. The Horseman’s touch had felt like burning ice.
“Are you all right?” Omega Sentinel asked.
“Just peachy,” Songbird said hoarsely. “So can we just kill this guy already?”
“A feat easier said than done.” Omega Sentinel scanned the Horseman on a genetic level and saw the many enhancements that the mutant had been gifted with by Apocalypse’s manipulation. “This mutant is indeed powerful.”
“Yea, well, doesn’t mean I’m not trying.”
Melissa fired a steady stream of sonic energy into the Horseman’s chest as he began to approach them. The attack didn’t seem to be doing much of anything to the smiling, genocidal maniac. Songbird knew that she wasn’t having any effect, but she was too proud to call for help. She recognized that this was a big battle and wanted to prove herself in it. This guy was powerful, but he had to have a weakness. She’d just have to work to find it. Logan didn’t put them up against this Horseman without a good reason.
Omega Sentinel flew around Famine’s back and let loose a salvo of small missiles. With extreme reflexes, Famine dodged the attack and Songbird’s follow up one. Omega Sentinel noted her attempted attack as an utter failure and only caused Songbird more annoyance. Famine turned his head in Omega Sentinel’s direction and said, “Your attempts at harming me will forever prove unsuccessful.”
Famine moved to start tapping his drum, but he was given a hard punch in the face by a rock in the shape of a fist courtesy of Petra. Then he was tackled from behind by Omega Sentinel and flung upwards. Before he had a chance to recover, Songbird zipped above his head and launched a full-blown salvo of sonic energy. The three-prong attack threw Famine hard into the forest trees.
The Horseman smiled wickedly. “You make a good team. I want to see just how far the limits of your teamwork can be pushed.”
Speedball gulped. “I get the feeling all we did was piss him off.”
Proto-Goblin moved next to Speedball and sarcastically commented, “Let’s make him happy then.”
“Judging by his body chemistry it would seem he’s already happy,” Sage replied, completely missing the joke and only enhancing the Horseman’s threat.
Frowning, Songbird looked up at Famine hanging casually in the trees and said, “Seems he’s waiting for us to come to him.”
Proto-Goblin licked his lips ravenously. “I’ll take care of that.”
“No you won’t,” Songbird snapped. “We stick together if we’re to have a chance against him.”
Proto-Goblin didn’t like getting his legs cut out from under him, but he knew as long as he was with X-Factor he’d have to get use to it. Songbird happened to take her second-in-command status of X-Factor to the head. Van Adder figured he could deaden that a bit. “Let’s be honest, we haven’t put a dent on this guy.”
Songbird put a hand to her chin and said, “We just haven’t been brutal enough yet. This guy is obviously confident in his abilities. I suggest we use that to our advantage. Logan put us together for a reason.”
Famine kept a morbid gaze on the X-Men, prompting Melissa to say, “We need to knock that smug little smile right off his face.”
“Agreed,” Petra said. “We hit him hard, fast and keep it going long enough until he goes down or we can get some help to take him down.”
“Just don’t put me out front,” Speedball half-smiled.
Songbird rolled her eyes. “Of course not. We wouldn’t want to mess up that pretty face.”
“It is loved by millions after all,” Speedball replied with a bushel of sarcasm.
“Can we just get to it already? That smile is starting to creep me out,” Petra said.
The mutants charged the waiting Famine.
Muir Island
Havok watched the conflicts his friends and family were involved in across the world on a series of 3-D holographic interfaces laid out on a large table in front of him. His every instinct was screaming at him to assemble his team and go to help the X-Men, but he couldn’t. This wasn’t his fight. X-Force had their own battles to contend with. And if he helped them this one time, then all of their work would be for absolutely nothing.
“So you’re just going to watch him happen?” Cecelia said from the door of the room. “They’re our friends too, you know? The least you could have done is asked us how we felt about it.”
“I don’t imagine opinion would differ too much on how you all feel about watching your friends fight against people that could very well kill them,” Havok said, taking a swig of the vodka he had brought into the room with him.
“You still should have respected us enough to ask,” Cecelia said, taking a seat next to him. “That’s your problem. We’re working with you, Alex. Not for you. There’s a difference.”
“You think I enjoy sitting back and not helping them?” Havok asked, his eyes locked on the battle in the Amazon where Emma Frost seemed to have manifested some new ability. “Despite what you think, Dr. Reyes, I’m not some heartless bastard.”
“Never said you where,” Dr. Reyes stood up and put a hand on Havok’s shoulder. “But you’re a man with secrets and you’re comfortable in the shadows. More comfortable than you’re willing to admit.”
The doctor left Havok to continue watching the battles the X-Men were fighting across the globe.
Chicago
Island X
“I cannot believe your arrogance,” Mystique said as she gracefully dodged a blast from Jubilee meant to strike her in the chest. She let loose a blast from her own energy rifle that struck Jubilee head on. “To truly believe you could match me.”
Jubilee was flung backwards through the air and sent rolling across the floor, but quickly regained her composure. She wasn’t the same little girl that had first joined the X-Men and needed everyone’s protection. Times had changed and she possessed a level of discipline and training that her personality most times didn’t betray. Jubilee intended to put Mystique in her place quite firmly.
A stream of rainbow colored energy came from Jubilee’s hands and struck the floor at Mystique’s feet. Debris flew up from the linoleum floor, causing Mystique to raise her arm to cover her eyes. This was the break through her defenses that Jubilee had been looking for since the start of their conflict. Failing was not an option for her. The Brotherhood had come into her home and they were going to leave so broken that no one else would think to do it again.
She charged at Mystique and let loose another round of her signature attacks that knocked the rifle from Mystique’s hand and struck the woman in the gut. Mystique was knocked back and Jubilee moved to plant her foot right in the woman’s face. The chance never came.
Mystique grabbed Jubilee’s incoming ankle and slung the young woman right over her. Quickly getting to her feet, Raven morphed her hands into large knives as Jubilee crashed hard into the floor. Clinking her transformed hands together, Mystique said, “Little girl I’ve been at this longer than your parents have been alive.”
Hemingway walked over to the moaning Jubilee and lifted her in the air with one hand. “This little pipsqueak bothering you?”
Mystique scowled but did not admonish Hemingway too harshly. “I can handle this on my own. I need no assistance to take out filth like her.”
Hemingway knew just how to humor her. “I know that. boss, but we need your help with the rest of these X-Punks. The quicker you can move on the quicker we can win.”
If there was any satisfaction from Mystique, she refused to show it. “So be it.”
“Okay then, let’s toss this girl out the nearest window,” Hemingway said with a bit too much excitement, even for Mystique.
A well-placed blast to the back of the head caused Hemingway to stumble and let go of Jubilee. The attack had come from Dazzler and, though she had attacked the Morlock, her attention was focused purely on Mystique.
“I thought you fancied yourself to some kind of mutant protector. Only a pathetic person would attack a child,” Dazzler shouted to a red in the face Mystique.
Fighting back her anger, Mystique gave a mock laugh. “Collateral damage, sweetie. Collateral damage.”
Dazzler scowled resentfully at Mystique and angrily charged towards her. She screamed just to give herself some added power and sent a literal wall of energy flying at Mystique. The wall was a completely unexpected maneuver and being unprepared, it slammed into Mystique. Her body was sent tumbling across the floor like a rag doll. But when Dazzler’s wall of light dissipated, Mystique was nowhere to be found.
Dazzler moved to Jubilee’s side and shook the young woman. “Jubes! Are you ok?”
Jubilee sat up and gripped her head. “Nothing a bottle of Ciroc and some aspirin won’t fix.”
With a telekinetic field surrounding her, Phoenix crashed into Stryfe. “You will not hurt me or my friends ever again!”
“Why can’t I, when you make it so easy?” Stryfe asked as his telekinetic bubble pushed against Phoenix’s and a beam shot forth from his chest. Phoenix’s telekinetic field shattered from the attack and she was sent plummeting through to another floor of the complex. She had never known Stryfe to have the will to pull off such an attack. He truly was being altered by the essence of Apocalypse.
Jean steadied her falling body and shouted, “Never!”
Responding to the cry, Stryfe shot off at tremendous speed and swung his arms like a hammer at Jean and sent her tumbling. Stryfe’s attack rattled her. Her body was rocked like a sledgehammer had hit her, even through her telekinetic field.
Noticing how long they had been alone, Stryfe said, “It seems that is just you and me. I wonder what results that may yield.”
“One in which I leave you a corpse!” Phoenix shouted. From her fingertips, pink energy erupted and formed the hands of her telekinetic field into massive claws that raked across Stryfe. His field yawned under the attack and Stryfe pulled back.
“Soulless monster! My mother never fights alone!” Cable said, diving through the air and stabbing Stryfe through the top of the shoulder with his Psimatar.
“There would have been a time when such an attack would have crippled me greatly. I can assure you that is no longer the case.” Stryfe said, pulling the weapon out of his shoulder and tossing it to the ground in front of Cable and Phoenix. “You are weak and I am strong. Understand this and accept your defeat.”
Cable smiled. “I’ve defeated you as both Stryfe and Apocalypse. I’ll beat you just the same even with you together.”
Stryfe’s eyes flashed red and his face went pale gray. “Shall we begin this brief exercise?”
Jean lifted up her arms as if she was about to cast a spell and sent a wave of telekinetic energy out that struck Stryfe like an eighteen wheeler. The mutant’s heels dug into the ground, digging two small ditches as he was pushed back. She released the same wall of telekinetic power again and again. “The arrogance of you two together is astonishing.”
Apocalypse had been a god before and was only being sculpted into better perfection by blending with Stryfe. Phoenix would be made to pay for her insolence.
Before either mutant had a chance to react, Stryfe moved at inhuman speed and wrapped his hand around Phoenix’s throat. She was surprised at how tight the man’s grip actually was. With her arms still raised in the air, Phoenix shot Stryfe in the face with a steady stream of pink telekinetic energy. It would have ripped Stryfe’s head off if not for his own telekinetic power blocking it.
Stryfe tapped the side of his head and said, “A brave attempt, but the mind is my realm.”
Cable and Phoenix simultaneously used their telepathy at that moment, attacking the newly emerging mind that was a blend of two people they both hated very much.
The Amazon
Askari threw an energy spear and rolled out of Pestilence’s way. Pestilence blocked the attack with her war fan, but dodging that attack allowed Psylocke to sneak up behind her and drive a psionic katana into the woman’s back. Pestilence’s body convulsed as Psylocke’s psychic energy tore through her and brought her to one knee.
Pestilence pushed off her knee and swung her war fans at an approaching Blink. Clarice flipped backwards and threw two javelins charged with spatial energy at the Horseman. Pestilence blocked both of the javelins with her war fans, but the energy in them altered the war fans into a mess of metal and plastic that Pestilence had to thrown to the floor. She looked at Blink and said, “You are quite the powerful mutant. A true testament to the strength of our race.”
Sneaking up behind Apocalypse’s servant, Askari slung an energy spear across her neck and pulled back tightly. Pestilence gagged under the strength of the African. Leaning forward, he whispered in her ear, “All that praise and you didn’t think to pass any my way?”
“Perhaps I didn’t think you were worthy of any,” Pestilence said as she reached back, grabbed Askari by the back of his shirt and flung him over her.
He slid to a stop at the feet of Storm and asked, “Do you have some way to finish this quickly?”
Storm turned his head down to the African ever so slightly and helped him to his feet. “Believe me my friend, I have been thinking.”
Emma, next to her, shrugged. “Maybe whatever I’ve now become can help us.”
“We shall see,” Storm said as with one outstretched finger, she shot out arcs of lightning the way of Pestilence. The Horseman opened up her mouth and the yume beetles that came out of it absorbed most of the damage. But one arc did hit Pestilence and lifted her into the air, flinging her back into a clutter of trees.
Slipstream immediately took advantage of the attack and opened up a portal underneath the stunned Pestilence. The blue tube sucked Pestilence in with a terrified scream and it slammed shut behind her. Davis wiped a thick layer of sweat off of his forehead, knowing that the rain forest’s humidity would bring it right back in a matter of moments.
Emma, still cast in diamond, moved to Slipstream’s side. “Quick thinking. Where did you send her?”
“Don’t know. Don’t care.”
The Congo
Famine broke free of the tree tendrils that Songbird and Omega Sentinel had launched him in and wrapped his hands tightly around his drum sticks before slamming them against his Confederate drum. The gathered mutants all fell to their knees feeling like their bodies were under attack. Even Omega Sentinel pulled back, feeling her organic components under attack from rogue cells. She put her hands to her head and said, “It’s a bioauditory effect. He’s poisoning our bodies.”
Fighting the malevolent cancer attacking his body, Proto-Goblin leaped like a jaguar into the trees and began to pummel Famine across the head and chest with blows. He then started to tear at the Horseman with his claws. He was relentless because he would see the pest crushed underneath the weight of his fist. Proto-Goblin was blinded with rage.
In an instant, the Horseman had vanished from underneath Proto-Goblin and he was merely tearing through vines and trees. Sage reached out with her limited telepathy and calmed the man’s rage. “He’s gone Proto-Goblin. He’s gone.”
“I have a frequency to get rid of the cancerous cells his power created,” Omega Sentinel said, standing to her feet and issuing a subsonic frequency which counteracted Famine’s.
“But why now?” Petra asked. “He had us on the ropes.”
“Who knows?” Songbird asked, hoping that she didn’t encounter any of these Final Horseman again. “We need to check with the others. See if they’re experiencing anything similar.”
The Sahara
An enraged Strong Guy in the grip of War’s induced rage had Warpath in his arms and he had successfully bloodied the man, absorbing every one of Warpath’s blows to increase his own strength. Guido knew the potential danger in that but he didn’t care. All he wanted to do was fight and keep fighting. He tossed Warpath to the ground and was about to move on a distracted Husk when he was shot clear through the side of his eye and right behind the bridge of his nose by a psionic arrow. He screamed out in agony and immediately dropped to the ground.
His head ringing, he turned to see his attacker with his one good eye and was surprised to find Moonstar holding her psychic bow with another arrow poised for attack. Wolverine was behind her with the rest of the mutants that had recently defeated Death. Dani pulled her arrow back. “I would strongly suggest staying down.”
“Help the others,” Wolverine ordered. “Omega, Polaris and Washout deal with Scarlet Witch. The rest of us go for War.”
“Betcha didn’t see that one coming,” Washout said to Polaris. It was meant to be an ironic comment as he suspected that they would be the ones dealing with Viceroy Maximoff the minute they found out she went off the handle. It would spare an international incident if it was her own people fighting her.
“Just shut up,” Polaris said, erecting a magnetic field around herself and flying towards her sister. She stopped a few feet in front of raging Wanda. “Whatever you’re doing, you need to stop.”
Shooting a finger at Lorna, Wanda pulled it back and, in classic Clint Barton fashion, blew. “Bullseye.”
A bolt of crimson lightning tore through the sky and struck Lorna’s magnetic field. The leader of X-Factor believed herself to be protected, but the lighting came right through the field and enveloped her. She screamed as her hair, flesh and nerves were set on fire. The world blackened around her and she fell out of the sky like a brick. Omega caught her in a telekinetic net and lowered her to the ground.
“I have fought gods! What made you ever think any of you could match me?” Scarlet Witch asked, addressing Omega and Washout.
“Oh, screw this cunt,” Omega said, telekinetic energy flaring out of his hands and hitting Scarlet Witch head on. The energy took on the form of snakes and wrapped themselves around Genosha’s Viceroy. He wasted no time on mercy, instantly having the snakes squeeze the air out of Wanda and cracking a few ribs along the way. There wasn’t any time to play nice.
Wanda fell out of the sky and was caught in a net by Omega much like he had made for her sister. Washout patted the Briton on the back. “Good work.”
“No compliments needed. I already know I do good work.”
“Oh, by the way,” Washout added, “Magnus Pietro is going to kick your ass when he finds out.”
“Screw him. He’s too busy rattling the High Evolutionary’s cage to worry about the real problems out here,” Omega said, turning his attention to the others battling War.
War punched Logan and his jaw locked from the intensity of the attack. He felt like the Horseman had rattled his entire skeleton. War didn’t even look like hitting an Adamantium skull head on had hurt him. Apocalypse had done a real number when he created these Horsemen. Logan was starting to wonder why the maniac hadn’t just used these guys from the very start.
Archangel laughed as he saw Logan nursing his jaw. “Looks like he has your number Logan.” Warren flew overhead and launched a dozen metal flechettes the way of War. The metal projectiles stuck in War’s face and neck, causing the Minotaur-esque mutant to roar with all the rage of an angry bull. Warren kept up the attack, launching more and more of his metal feathers at the mutant. He intended to put at least one of these bastards down.
A bright golden light exploded in front of War and sent all of the mutants reeling back. They had to cover their eyes against the intense light, but when it cleared they all felt the stakes immediately heightened. Standing in front of War was Sekhmet, who had her back to them as if they didn’t even matter. She was much smaller than War, but experience had taught many of them that Sekhmet could probably mop the floor with the man.
“Stop this battle and surrender yourself to my power,” Sekhmet said with a tone that was almost maternal.
“I know not who you are woman, but stand aside,” War said as he picked out Archangel’s metal feathers from his face.
“I am the paramour of Apocalypse and thus have power over you.”
War snorted. “Apocalypse has never spoken of a lover. You sully his name with your lies!”
Lifting his battle axe high in the air, War brought it down on Sekhmet, but the woman merely caught the weapon between her hands. She smiled tenderly at the Horseman. “Decimus Furius, there is much you must learn.”
There was another explosion of golden light, but this time neither Sekhmet or War were left behind.
Chicago
Island X
Stryfe buckled under the combined telepathic power of Phoenix and Cable, but he was still managing to resist. There would have been a time when he would have been hard pressed to do that. But now he was managing it and his powers weren’t being pushed to their max. Having Apocalypse’s essence within him was truly invigorating, but it was more than just that. He was becoming something new entirely. Stryfe was able to recognize his separate histories as Apocalypse and Stryfe, but they were being elevated to a new level.
And in that moment when they were truly made one, the new entity realized one thing. “I am above this!”
He sent out a wave of telekinetic power that knocked Cable and Phoenix back. “The two of you have been granted a reprieve today. This battle is not one worth my attention. Keep your island and know that I will one day come for it again.”
Still feeling some smidgeon of loyalty for the Brotherhood, Stryfe teleported them all away before teleporting himself away as well. Phoenix dropped to her knees when he was gone. “He’s back, Nathan. Damn it to hell, he’s back.”
Cable didn’t want to say what he was really thinking. Apocalypse was more than just back. He had combined with Stryfe. Like two diseases taking on the worst parts of each other, something new had sprung up in the place of Stryfe and Apocalypse. Just when Cable was starting to believe he was without purpose, something new had risen up to give him one. As much as he loathed the new entity born from his two worst enemies, Cable couldn’t help but to feel invigorated.
“I’m going to stop him, Jean. I swear it.”
Epilogue 1 (The Xavier Mansion)
“I manifested a new power, Charles. As an adult,” Emma said, having returned back to her flesh and blood form. Charles Xavier was behind her, wanting to reach out and touch the woman he loved. But Emma had been iffy about any kind of contact the last few days. She wasn’t sure what would trigger her diamond form again.
“Hank has examined your DNA and it seems you contracted the Secondary Mutation Virus,” Charles explained. He had to admit that this virus troubled him a great deal. On the one hand, mutants being free of the debilitating aspects of their powers was a blessing to the community. On the other hand, that meant a lot of mutants with much more power and that could be a very real problem.
“So you mean to tell me that my X-Factor gene was flawed?” Emma asked, almost appalled at the idea.
“Not so much flawed as incomplete. You apparently were a mutant with multiple mutations and you only ever manifested one of them. The Secondary Mutation Virus caused that other mutation to make itself known.”
Emma remained silent. This new power took her to an uncomfortable place...a place that involved vindictive siblings, an abusive father and a dark mentor. “Do you mind leaving me alone for a moment darling?”
“Of course,” Xavier said, hovering out of the bedroom.
Epilogue 2 (Alaska)
A knock came at the cabin door and Cyclops put down the book he was reading this week, The Art of War. It was a favorite he had studied over and over again. Even though he was now far removed from the world of the X-Men, he was still a tactician at heart. Judged by the many games of Risk he had played with himself since retreating to Alaska.
He had no idea who could possibly be knocking, but the only suspect could be his grandfather. The man wasn’t due back for another week though so that peaked a bit of curiosity in Cyclops. He kept a hand near his ruby quartz glasses as he opened the door. Standing there was someone that he would have put at the bottom of the list of people he expected to come knocking on his door.
“Hi, Dad,” Cable said. “We need to talk.”
Cyclops folded his arms across his chest and stepped out of the doorway. “Come in.”
Cable walked in, a bit taken aback at how small of a place his father was now living in. “Do you really want to stay out here, Dad?”
“Look, don’t come here trying to drag me back in. I want a regular life, Nathan. I know that’s something you’ve never really had and the concept might be beyond you, but–”
“Apocalypse is back.”
Cyclops felt like the wind had come out of his chest. “Come again?”
“Apocalypse is back and I want your help in stopping him.”
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The End...
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