Written by Brent Lambert

Abyss

There was one person that didn’t die during the war and it was Abyss’ responsibility to watch over him. A single prison had been constructed for one prisoner in the ruins of Mexico City. It was built three miles under the surface and designed with the best technology that Stark could devise to counteract its single prisoner. Abyss had been named warden of this prison and he was given a guard staff of two thousand strong. The leaders of the world were determined to never see this prisoner make it to the surface. Abyss would have preferred to just kill him, but no one could agree on who and how.

That problem was one easily contemplated for the native Genoshan. Sinister’s death should have been no harder to execute than the nukes he detonated across the globe. The warden could look out into his prison’s recreation area and find a reason for every person to want Essex dead. There were his deputy wardens, Sunfire and Darkstar. Both had lost friends and family in the destruction of Tokyo and Moscow. Abyss remembered the rage Shiro had displayed during Sinister’s capture.

“Sir, there is someone here to see you?” Terri Baltimore, one of the few female guards, said.

“Anyone I should worry about?” Abyss asked.

“It’s Omega and Beta Weapon.”

Abyss stood up from his chair. “Must be important if Cable sent them.”

It only took him a few minutes to get to the landing pad where the SHIELD agents were waiting for him. The Weapon Program had been created by Cable during the war with Sinister. Abyss was about to greet two products of the program. They were Cable’s shock troops and had the attitude that came along with such a role.

“Took you long enough warden,” Beta Weapon said. He was tall, gorgeous, and arrogant. That made him the kind of person you hated on sight.

“I’ll take as long as I need to. You must forget exactly who it is that I’m watching,” Abyss said.

Beta Weapon masked his anger. “Cable has us on a time schedule. He wants you back at the Helicarrier ASAP.”

Abyss folded his arms across his chest. “Any particular reason why that would be?”

“He’s reassembling The Patrol Force,” Beta Weapon said.

If Abyss had blood it would have went cold. The Patrol Force had been the most devastating to Sinister and the most instrumental in his defeat. Cable had broken the team up and told them he would only bring it back for the most serious of emergencies. In Abyss’ mind that meant a Sinister-level threat.

“Then let’s go. I know how damn impatient Cable can be,” Abyss said as he boarded the large SHIELD helicopter with the two super-soldiers.

As the plane began to lift off, Abyss thought about how long it had been since he saw any of his old friends. He hated Cable for splitting them up, but getting to watch over Sinister had been a worthy consolation. The days were long, but he’d gladly spend his entire life to make sure that he never saw the light of day.

“Do you have any idea why Cable is bringing us back together?” Abyss asked as he looked out onto the rows and rows of electrical fences surrounding the prison that had been erected in the event that his prisoner ever escaped.

The United Nations had declared what was once Mexico City completely and totally untouchable. All the land in a three mile radius was littered with missile turrets to prevent any rescue attempts that remnants of Sinister’s forces might try and attempt. The citizens of Mexico had been greatly opposed to the prison being built in their once greatest city and America was opposed to the prison being so close to them. Radicals had tried to destabilize the prison system to force the United Nations to pick a different location. The tensions had finally begun to calm down now that Sinister had been successfully held for almost four years.

“You worried about leaving it?” Omega Weapon asked.

“No. I have faith in my deputies. They can handle the prison as well as me. What I’m worried about is what we don’t have locked up,” Abyss said.

Beta Weapon shrugged nonchalantly to Abyss’ annoyance. “We have no idea why he’s pulling you guys back together. It’s been hush hush around the Helicarrier. All we know is that something is coming from space.”

“An invasion force? I can’t imagine us being able to handle that,” Abyss said.

Nils tried to run a list through his head of all the potential candidates for such an attack. The Skrull had been nearly decimated by The Contraxians and The Kree were still reeling from their civil war. Xavier and Lilandra ruled the Shi’ar so they posed no threat to Earth. That left the Axi-Tun and The Kratos, but neither had ever expressed any direct interest in Earth. Of course there was always the possibility that this was a new race entirely gunning for the planet. Either way he had doubts that the Earth would be able to handle a full scale invasion even if The Patrol Force was reassembled.

“I’m wondering if Cable had advance notice of this,” Beta Weapon said as they began to cross into the Gulf of Mexico. “The Weapon Program has taken on two new divisions in the last six months. We haven’t added one in almost two years.”

“It’s too early to assume we’re looking at some kind of attack force. It could be something else entirely,” Omega Weapon said.

Abyss agreed. “You’re right. It is too early to judge, but it would have to be something major for Cable to call us together. He was adamant in splitting us up.”

“Why? I never quite understood that decision,” Beta Weapon said as the helicopter roared behind him.

“Partly because the UN demanded it and Cable said it was a good symbol that the war was over for us to break apart. Never quite bought it, but Cable had done everything he could to keep a gene war from erupting after Sinister’s defeat. We didn’t want to deter his efforts,” Abyss said.

He remembered the uproar that had flared across the world after Sinister’s capture. The human population had only tolerated their super human citizens so they could drive back Sinister. After his defeat the people of the world wanted nothing else to do with anyone who had special gifts. Asian countries had taken the most drastic steps first and were beginning to round up their mutant citizens into death camps. Most were killed within days of arrival.

Cable did his best to quell the backlash against his kind. He worked diligently with Everett Ross, President Stane, and other politicians to keep the peace and to convince the world that super humans were still needed. It was part of a truth that Nils long knew, but only whispered to himself on dark days. They were all dependent on Sinister’s being alive. If he died then there would be no need to keep super humans around to keep him in check and then everything would begin to fall apart.

But the way things looked now that might happen without Sinister’s involvement.

Moonstar

Danielle walked down the aisle alongside Holocaust, sole leader of the X-Men. After the dissolution of the Patrol Force, Danielle had been made the official UN and SHIELD liaison to the super human teams not sanctioned by the governments of the world. She had been chosen because her membership in the X-Men, Force Works, and The Enforcers had made her a neutral figure in the struggles that emerged after Sinister was defeated. The government didn’t trust super humans and super humans didn’t trust them. The world had ended one war only to be teetering on the edge of another. Luckily, Cable had acted quickly to preserve the peace and succeeded.

“Our numbers have been dwindling some. Enrollment into the school this year is down by twenty percent,” Holocaust said. He was an imposing figure to many, but to Danielle he was an old friend and a warm soul. Considering his parentage it was a wonder that ever happened.

“Do you think it’s because of the school that Ororo opened in California?”

Holocaust gave a big shrug. “I would think so, but there’s no telling. Little local mutant schools have been opening across the nation so that may contribute to it, but I’m sure Ororo has done her best to recruit. She was so angry with me after the war. It hurts to think she hates me now.”

By the spirit, if not so sad it might be comical to see such a fearsome man sad, Danielle thought to herself as they kept walking down the halls underneath the Xavier Mansion. No students were down here and it was where the operations of the X-Men were conducted. Holocaust did his best to keep the affairs of the X-Men away from the students so that they could have as normal lives as possible. It was already hard enough to think of yourself as a normal teenager when you could bend metal.

“Amahl’s death wasn’t your fault,” Danielle said as they made it to the entrance of the Danger Room. She could hear the blasts of Sentinels and Lady Mastermind giving commands from within it. Regan had been avoiding her on her visits for whatever reason, but Danielle intended to find out why today.

“Let’s be truthful please,” Holocaust said. If he had eyes she knew that they would be full of pain. “I abandoned Amahl. I gave the order to leave him behind.”

Danielle could empathize because she had once left a friend and teammate in the hands of the enemy. Back when she was leading Force Works she had to leave Husk in the hands of Fu Manchu. Luckily, they had been able to rescue Husk without too much harm being done. Still, the experience had marked Danielle and she could imagine Holocaust’s frustration.

“I keep thinking that maybe I could have done something differently. That I didn’t have to leave him behind,” Holocaust said.

“The war with Sinister was not a pretty one. We both know that. It does no good blaming yourself for what had to be done during that time,” Danielle said.

“My wife hates me. I’m responsible for the death of the closest man she ever had to a father. I can’t find anyone else to blame but myself.”

Danielle knew that Ororo had it rough growing up and that it was Shadow King who had saved her from a life of thievery, but it was Holocaust who she loved. How could she not understand he was doing what he had to do? Now he was suffering for making the right choice. Life did indeed find ways to be cruel.

“She’ll be back Holocaust. You’re just going to have to give her some time,” Danielle said.

<Time is unfortunately something we’re short on at the moment>

Danielle and Holocaust watched the astral image of Cable appear in front of them. He was grabbed in his black SHIELD uniform and he had a patch over his right eye. Moonstar had worked under Fury before Cable and she made it a point to tease Cable about how much he now resembled the man. Cable had lost his eye during a fight with Caliban in the war.

Holocaust stood straighter. “Cable. To what do we owe the pleasure?”

<I need you two to come to the SHIELD Helicarrier immediately. I am reassembling The Patrol Force>

“What! What’s going on sir?” Danielle asked knowing that if her old team was being put together then it meant something terrible had happened.

<Apocalypse is making his way to Earth>

Holocaust was dumbfounded by the revelation. “Oh no.”

Danielle felt a hate rise up in her heart that she hadn’t felt in a long time. It was shortly after the war against Sinister was over that Apocalypse woke up from hibernation and tried to make a grab at power. He created new Horsemen and among them was Danielle’s ex-husband, Mikhail Rasputin. The power of Apocalypse had twisted the man she once loved into a monstrous image of his former self. When he was driven back into space, Danielle thought she would be able to bury all the feelings that ordeal had inflicted on her.

“How many of the other teams have been informed sir?” Danielle asked knowing that there would soon be widespread panic in the superhuman community. The only reason that Apocalypse had been beaten back swifter than his servant was because a mysterious stranger had assisted them in the fight. That stranger had vanished after the conflict and had not been seen since. Hoping for him to show up was slim so that meant they were soon to be enthralled in another war.

<Stark and Rhodes know. The Iron Sentinels have been activated. I have yet to get into contact with Bobcat>

And Danielle knew precisely why. “Is he with The Clan?”

<Yes, my surveillance shows that they have been making movements in Peru as of late. We believe they’re tracking down the last remnants of The Children>

“Maybe I should contact him sir,” Danielle suggested.

The astral image of Cable shook its head. <No. I have to do this. He’ll feel slighted otherwise>

Just then the Danger Room doors slid open and Cable’s image faded away. Lady Mastermind led the pack as she wiped her face with a towel. Behind her was an even sweatier Maggott and M. Regan was not pleased to see Danielle waiting for her, but she didn’t have time to say anything about.

“Get the team prepped Regan. I’m going to the SHIELD Helicarrier with Moonstar. It seems my father is making a return trip to this planet.”

Bobcat

“We have regulars and I’ve spotted at least three Children,” Sage whispered to her team leader as they lay against the floor of a roof. They were two buildings away from the shanty that three of their targets were, but Sage was able to see them clearly. Her red glasses served as binoculars, medical scanners, and a variety of other functions which made her The Clan’s brain trust.

Bobcat was not happy with the news. “Only three? That weasel told us that there would at least be five here.”

[[Be happy for small favors boss.]] Aloysha Kravinoff said over Bobcat’s earpiece. He was situated on another building with Plazm and La Nuit.

[[When did three Children ever become a frickin favor?]] Wildchild asked. He was in the last pairing with Bombshell. They were positioned on another building to the north of Bobcat.

[[We could always call SHIELD to take these guys out.]] La Nuit said in the hopes of ticking Bobcat off. It was about the only reasonable pastime he could find in the jungles of Peru.

Bobcat had broken away from SHIELD after the dissolution of The Patrol Force. He disagreed vehemently with the decision and was unable to allow himself to be part of the farce he believed the organized super human community was becoming. The governments of the world had turned on them and Bobcat was unwilling to continue working with them. Just mentioning the organization was enough to get his blood boiling.

He knew that La Nuit was only doing it to get that reaction though so he didn’t respond. Leaning in to Sage he whispered, “The cars or the RPG carriers?”

<Neither if we can help it.>

Bobcat heard the familiar voice and flipped onto his back. “Cable! Why are you here?”

<I need your help and I know the only way I’ll get it is by being straight to the point. The Patrol Force is being reassembled. Apocalypse is coming home.>

To Be Continued…