Fontanelle walked into the base with six young adults by her side. They were the former “New X-Men” and now the first students of the Exiles. Mikhail was going to be the first to welcome the students into the Exiles program.

“Welcome young ones! I’m Mikhail and I would like to be the first to say you all look to be fine students indeed. So what’s the lowdown on all these young men and women?” Mikhail asked Fontanelle full of excitement.

“I think I’ll let them handle their own introductions,” Fontanelle said motioning the students with her hand to do so.

The first to step up was the young man Brian. He pushed up his red glasses and ringed his hands together before finally speaking.

“Well, most of us already have a codename so you won’t have to worry about that issue. Heh. Anyways I’m Brian and my codename’s Author. Anything I write comes true albeit with some limitations.”

Next up was a young man with a clean cut and a clean suit to match. His baby blue eyes accented his white suit perfectly and his smooth walk beamed charisma.

“My name is Michael Brazzot III and my codename is Quasi. I prefer Mike in most situations though. My mutant ability is probably the strongest on the entire team. I can create black and white holes with great skill I might add,” he said fixing up his tie.

“You’ll have to forgive Mike. He can be a bit cocky at times. Oh why am I lying? He’s cocky all the time. Anyway the name is Amy and I’m pretty much suffering from ‘Rogue Syndrome’. Every time I look at someone a part of the evil in their souls I guess goes into me and alters my appearance making me a more efficient killing machine so to speak. Oh by the way the codename’s Leer.”

Mikhail could clearly see the girl’s mutation by her diamond-coated skin and the claws extending from his fingers. Amy walked over and pulled a young woman with flowing blonde hair who was covered with a blue cloak.

“This here is Denise and she’s our resident Ms. Cleo except she’s for real. Her name is Orakle and that’s spelled with a K. I’m only introducing her because she can’t talk,” Leer smiled as Denise waved furiously at Mikhail. He couldn’t help but smile.

The last two students walked towards Mikhail in a hurried fashion. They both had stern looks on their faces.

“Look let’s make this quick. My name’s Pocket and my lady friend is Vogue. I can create pocket dimensions and she has photographic memory and reflexes along with the ability to create nanotech probes that do her bidding. Let’s make another thing quick. Neither one of us wants to be her and we only came out of the spirit of teamwork,” the young Hispanic man said rudely. Mikhail nodded his head in understanding.

“Fair enough though I’m sure once you get to know us all your opinion will change quickly.”

“So now that all of that is out of the way maybe now I can give…” Fontanelle said abruptly as a vision flooded her mind.

She saw a young purple-haired girl being chased by a mysterious tattooed man down a horrid looking alley. The face of the girl slowly becomes clearer and Fontanelle realized it’s the face of a recruit she hadn’t intended to get for weeks. It’s the face of Gaia and fear is plastered on her face.

“Fontanelle? Are you okay in there my little snowflower?” Mikhail asked tapping Gloria slightly on her shoulder when she suddenly snapped out of her vision.

“I’m fine Mikhail, but I have to head to Nevada quickly. Someone there is in danger. I won’t be able to head over to Greece with the other Exiles,” Fontanelle said rushed as she walked towards Exodus’s teleportation system. Everyone in the room was both shocked and confused all at once.

Himuntep

Three powerful and important people walked down the halls of the castle of Neo rulers. One was New Son, ruler of the deadly Neo, and another was Domina, one of the most deadly Neo warriors. The last was Fusion and he was a bio-engineered creature from the very far future.

“Since you are so far from the future I’m interested in what happens to the grand race of the Neo. I’m positive that our race grows to be a great one,” New Son boasted. Fusion looked gravely at New Son.

“Unfortunately New Son that’s not the case. Dark Beast secretly destroys your race a few years after the fall of the Dark One. Only a few survive including you and Domina. For nearly two millennia afterward your race burrows deep underground and slowly rebuilds. 10 years after the Great Rediscovery the Neo show themselves again and you, New Son, are the first one to greet us. Though you have rebuilt greatly in those 2,000+ years your race is still a struggling one,” Fusion explained emotionless. New Son’s face was twisted in a show of immense disturbance.

“Well, my friend I’m sure you and a few other time travelers from your timeline make all the difference of how my race’s destiny plays out,” New Son smiled as he pulled a wine glass up to his lips and took a sip.

“So when do we get started in taking out Gaunt?” Domina asked frustrated with this idle chatter between her master and this strange man from the future.

“I alone will deal with the destruction of Gaunt and you Neo will take care of whatever allies he has along with him,” Fusion responded quickly. Domina’s mouth opened up wide and her fists balled up tight quickly afterwards. New Son quickly threw his hand up stopping Domina in her
tracks.

“What makes you think you’re so effective in fighting the Gaunt?” New Son asked annoyed at the time traveler’s arrogance.

Fusion walked up to New Son until their faces nearly touched and said, “Two things. He only possesses the powers of every mutant in this time. I control the powers of every superhuman in this time and his powers are only at ¼ their normal strength against me.”

“I have two things to say to you as well my guest. First get out of my face! Secondly if you ever get that close to my presence again I will ignite every molecule in your body and I won’t hesitate to destroy you.”

Greece

Sunfire bent over towards Longshot’s ear and whispered, “Let me get this straight. This teenager is Colossus’s son? How can that be?”

Longshot let out a slight sigh figuring he was probably going to have to explain a good deal of the old days to most of the people on this team. He bent back over towards Sunfire and replied, “Yes that’s his son and the woman was his mistress Nereel. It’s a long story that involves the Savage Land, but as far as the kid suddenly being a teenager that’s beyond me. He was only around 3 when Colossus left him and that was not all that long ago though it seems like an eternity.”

"So he’s a deadbeat father then. I would never have expected such a trait from such a noble man as Colossus," Ever interrupted telepathically.

“I must agree with Ever. Peter always seemed to hold such nobility about him and for him to leave a child and mother behind is well quite frankly highly dishonorable.”

Longshot’s face began to flush a tiny bit red as he chimed in his next bit of commentary, “It was a difficult situation and raising a kid in the environment of the X-Men isn’t exactly a good thing. Look at poor Cyclops. His kid got sent two thousand years in the future. Peter felt it was best to let the child grow up with his mother and I for one stand by him. I would never want my children to live in the horror that is Mojoworld.”

"Why did you leave there Longshot? Weren’t you and Dazzler fighting to free that place? I’m sure the Exiles could certainly survive without you. A whole dimension needs you."

Longshot held his head low and his two hands together. Slowly he spoke, “That world is better off without me. For every attack my resistance force and me would cause Mojo would murder seven million innocent people and he made sure they were always younger. I could no longer bear that kind of burden so I disbanded my group and headed for this world in failure. To be honest I never expected to join the Exiles, but that Deus guy got the best of me all right.” Ever sat down beside Longshot and wrapped his arm around his shoulder.

"I never knew Longshot. Why didn’t you tell us? We would have understand
because any one of us would have done the same in your place."

“That’s it! I didn’t want to be like everyone else. I wanted to keep fighting, but something was holding me back. It honestly wasn’t those seven million people because Mojo killed more than that on an average low ratings period anyway. I just don’t know anymore. Why did I leave?”

“Because you have a sense of common decency Longshot. You are a true warrior to put the people above all else. And from what I know about Mojo eventually his empire will crumble from the inside. Patience my friend,” Sunfire said.

“This coming from the guy who nearly incinerated me in a training exercise because of his temper,” Longshot laughed. Sunfire patted him on his back firmly with a grin on his face.

Meanwhile across the room Colossus was talking to his son Peter and his wife Nereel. He could scarcely believe what he was seeing before his eyes. His son was a teenager and his wife looked Americanized with long flowing black hair and a good bit of make-up. He had never seen her looking more beautiful.

“I don’t understand. How did you get this way son?” Colossus asked dumbfounded.

“I’m not sure if you’ve heard of this creature or not, but a man named Nebulon came to the Savage Land after his defeat by the hero called Captain America. He was trying to recuperate and build back up his power base. He accessed an ancient Savage Land weapon and with it he accelerated the growth of a few hundred Savage Land children and activated their latent mutant powers. Nebulon tried to turn us into his personal army, but we rebelled. After the battle only a few of us survived, but we did make Nebulon retreat into space. The few of us that did survive were only going to die of cellular degeneration from the device the villain used on us. I was the only survivor and just as I was about to fade away a man came and saved me.
He took Mom and me in and he gave us a home. He was the one who sent us here to warn you that the Neo are on their way to kill all of you,” Peter Jr. explained.

“Who helped you?” Colossus asked wanting to thank the man who both saved his son and his soul because Peter knew he would never be able to bear the guilt if something happened to his son and he wasn’t around to help.

“We shall tell you in time,” Nereel smiled putting her hand on Peter’s shoulder. Just as Colossus was about to return that smile there was a loud hail of bullets and all the people in the room hit the floor except for Colossus who turned into his organic steel form and his son who turned into his organic diamond form.

As the hail of fire ceased three heavily tattooed men launched through a shattered window. One of them had hands that were shaped like guns, but slowly changed into hands. He looked up and smiled throwing back his long blue hair and said, “Time is something you don’t have Nereel!”

Jaeger leaped into the air and kicked Colossus in the stomach sending him into a nearby wall. His son, Solidity, threw a punch only for Jaeger to duck and land a sweep sending his opponent to the floor. Domino jumped into the air and did a flip sending his knees into Jaeger’s back. The Neo went flying into the floor with a hard thud. Jaeger quickly turned over and
threw a knife in Domino’s shoulder. The woman yelled out in pain and staggered back as the red blood trickled down her shoulder.

Sunfire and the rest of the Exiles rose from their crouched positions. Shiro flew straight towards the biggest of the Neo whose suit was covered in metal spikes. His face was twisted in anger as Sunfire unleashed a small blast of heat to throw the brute back. Anteus simply absorbed the heat and grew in size and strength. Sunfire in rash anger lashed out with a much
larger blast causing Anteus to reel temporarily, but only temporarily as the man simply grew in power once more.

“Monster you are strong, but none can withstand the power of Sunfire!”

“You spikes are pathetic,” Anteus taunted as he launched himself into the air with all his force. Just as he was about to reach Sunfire he fell to the ground crying out and holding his ears. Out from behind Anteus came the telepath known as Ever. Yellow sweats beaded down his forehead as he was concentrating to subdue the Neo while at the same time attain information on who and what he was.

“Your mind is strong spike, but no one can defeat the unified might of the Neo!” Jaeger exclaimed as he hit Ever with the bunt of his crossbow in the head. The Morlock fell to the ground with a hard thud. Jaeger leaped into the air to charge towards Longshot who was occupied with dodging the liquid-metal bullets of Salvo. Jaeger remembered well how much careful breeding went into making Salvo. It took just the right mixture of shapeshifters and metal manipulators to achieve Salvo. It wasn’t like Salvo was a much needed solider amongst the Neo. In fact it was just a bet between him and his wife Domina when they were in charge of the Breeding Pens. Only a few dozen Neo every year applied for the job of Pen Keeper because the job was so tedious, but it did bring prestige amongst the nobler Neo. It just wasn’t in the Neo nature to sit around. His people always had to be moving constantly and rapidly at that.

Longshot was learning this lesson well as he dodged the hundreds of bullets being hurled at him by Salvo. A mixture of his agility and luck kept him from being turned into a bloody sack of flesh. He could see out of the corner of his eye that Jaeger was moving in overhead at a fast pace. Longshot knew he wouldn’t be able to hold off both Neo, but he didn’t have to because as Jaeger began his descent towards Longshot Sunfire blasted him into a computer console with a plasma blast.

Sunfire smiled at his quick victory and asked sarcastically, “They call me weak? Yeah right!”

Unknown to him Anteus sulked up behind him and with a quick swipe of his large right hand he sent Sunfire through the building’s skylight. Just then he felt a bunch of tiny balls hit him in his back. Anteus turned around to see Nereel crouched with her hair pulled back.

“Woman what will your tiny balls do?”

Nereel’s smile told it all as Anteus looked back to see that the tiny brown balls were stuck to his back like a magnet when they suddenly exploded unleashing hydrochloric acid all over Anteus’s back. As the Neo was sprawling in pain Colossus and his son attacked. Peter jumped high hitting Anteus’s upper body while Solidity tackled low sending the Neo crashing throw the nearest wall.

Nereel helped her son off the ground and said; “I guess our little family unit works good together.”

Meanwhile across the room Dominic Troy stood over the unmoving body of Jaeger a gun pointed at the Neo’s head. Sweat ran down like stampeding horses from Dominic’s hands as he slowly began to pull back the trigger. Jaeger’s eyes flew open throwing Dominic off-guard giving the Neo the opportunity to throw a dagger from his belt in between Troy’s eyes killing
him instantly.

Slowly Jaeger rose from the ground cried out to Salvo and a hurt but still standing Anteus and said, “The hunt is complete! Let us be gone from this place! We shall finish these spikes another day”

Anteus crawled out of the hole that Colossus and Solidity created for him while Salvo followed him. Jaeger made a quick retreat out of the shattered window he came through. The Exiles and their two allies were not at all sad to see them go.

Domino moved across the room barely noticing the retreat of the Neo because the only reliable source of information on her past was now dead and the only people she could turn to either hated her or where disgustingly vile and manipulative. So she did the natural thing for someone in her situation and began to search Troy for anything that could be valuable to her search for her past. Meticulously with her good arm she pulled back the folds and crevasses of the suit looking for something of even the minutest significance. Finally she found a shining red disk in Dominic’s left jacket pocket. Domino held the disk her thoughts focused on it intensely and then she put it in her back pocket.

Nevada

Today was her 19th birthday and she couldn’t be believe just how much of blast both literally and figuratively it had been. Gaia’s day started off pretty good with her getting her purple hair trimmed from her lower back to her upper neck. She hadn’t felt the air on the back of her neck in years so the exhilaration was strangely exciting after the haircut. Then her day turned from good to bad when she got into her apartment to find it trashed by some weird tattooed man who kept calling her a half-breed. Gaia’s been running ever since.

She was now heading towards the late night 7-11 hoping with all her heart that it was still open because if not she was dead. Just as she made it past the alley where the hobo always asked for liquor a woman wearing a purple outfit came around the corner and grabbed her. She looked in her 40s, but she still had a spark of youth about her.

“Child wait here. The being that chases you is obviously serious so I shall handle him,” Fontanelle said. She knew her psychic abilities wouldn’t be much good because she knew that all she could do was enter dream and talk telepathically. Gloria would have to rely on the physical training Exodus had given her. She knew she would end up using it, but she just never
thought this soon.

Fontanelle jumped from around the corner and leaped into the air her feet aimed towards the black tattooed man. He only smiled and Gloria knew she was going to feel like an aluminum can in a vice. Suddenly the concrete under Fontanelle shaped itself into a giant fist and rose up out of the ground to meet her. The dream reader went flying into the alley right next to the hobo unconscious.

“None defeat me,” Barbican boasted as he lifted a rusted penny off the ground and used his powers to alter it into a cooper axe. Gaia watched in horror as he moved closer and closer to this woman who tried to save her.

“Back off!!” Gaia screamed unleashing a brilliant flash of pink and purple light from her forehead hitting the Neo dead on. His body began to melt, evaporate, and solidify all over again putting Barbican in enough pain and agony to knock him out cold.

Slowly Gloria rose up from her spot next to the hobo and with a cough she said, “Girl you are unbelievable. Your power is amazing! Hurry we must leave before your friend decides to wake up!”

China

Deus looked overhead at the Gaunt’s X-Genes training furiously to prepare for the coming battle with the world at large. Beside him Gaunt watched with an undecipherable grin plastered on his face. Deus needed a moment to do what he had to do and he needed to distract the Gaunt so he asked, “Who exactly are these X-Genes?”

“They are five humans I enhanced by making them mutants. That was one of the abilities my creators gave me. To activate people’s latent mutant genes.”

“That’s all fine, but that’s not what I asked. Who are the X-Genes?”

“The young Asian one is Stalone. He has the ability to shoot liquid oxygen from his mouth. The woman next to Stalone is Cruise and she has the ability to control hydrogen atoms. The two to the back of Cruise are Harnett and Prinze, my personal favorite, who both control the elements of fire and earth respectively. The last one is Gellar who has the ability to create knives that explode on impact with great force.”

“Where did you find these people?”

“They were all social outcasts or misfits. Stalone was living in an abusive foster home. Cruise was in a battered women’s shelter in Chicago and Harnett was a homeless bum who just loss his wife to cancer. Prinze was in a mental institution and Gellar I found in a prison. She was there for a crime she didn’t commit so you can imagine that she was soothing with perfect rage easy for me to mold as I saw fit.”

NEXT ISSUE: Sinister and the Externals meet while Gaunt tries to tempt a relative newcomer to this reality into his ranks. Deus begins his trail of betrayal and Cecilia returns home to a sinister threat.