Post punched a black man in the face breaking the man's nose and fracturing his cheekbone and jawbone in numerous places. The blow from Post had sent the man skidding along the ground for a good five feet before he come to a stop. An energy pod from Post went flying at the man's Afro and landed in there. Post let the pod sit in the man's hair for a few seconds before he ignited it. The blast destroyed the man's head like an inferno would devour a marshmallow.

"Die!" an Asian woman yelled as she wrapped her gray and blue around Post's neck. Her hair was like a hundred snakes under her mental control. Post could slowly feel the life being drained from him as the hairs tightened themselves around his neck.

The tendrils were literally draining Post's life energy. Reaching out with both of his hands the former Horsemen of War tore the many strands of hair away from his neck. Turning around Post delivered another punch. This time he killed with that punch.

"You're as powerful as we'd knew you'd be," a man said with a deeply ingrained Russian accent. He was wearing a red turtleneck and black leather pants. The man looked to be about 45 with balding brown hair. His face and brown eyes showed a powerful sternness. Thought Post had dealt with far sterner men in his day.

"Who's been keeping tabs on me?" Post asked angrily. He didn't like being watched and something told him whoever was watching him this time wasn't looking for his services.

A voice came from behind Post. "The dawn is watching you my dear Post. Our master demands that you be destroyed immediately. You're too much of a potential problem."

Post turned around ad saw a young Latino girl. She was probably only 17 at most. In the middle of her forehead was a purple diamond. She was also dressed in a red turtleneck and black pants.

"O Know good and well who your master is! I hardly thought of myself as being worthy of notice from someone as powerful as the Shadow King." Post mocked. This wasn't his first time fighting against The Dawn. During the Apocalypse, Post had fought with Pyro and Joseph amongst others against the Dawn.

"The Shadow King is a tablecloth that will cover the planet and he doesn't need any unnecessary bumps underneath," the Dawn girl said as the diamond on her forehead vanished.

Post found himself no longer able to move. The girl had immobilized him entirely. Obviously a good tactician put together these mutants to attack him. Post couldn't help, but to think that X-Man had something to do with the strategizing. The two of them had served under Apocalypse together. It would only make perfect sense.

Before Post knew it the Russian man tagged him right in the jaw. Post went flying backwards still unable to feel his body. He skidded along the ground some of his pods breaking off his body as he did so. The skin on the back of Post's head ripped away allowing blood to flow freely. Fortunately Post's enhancements while a Horsemen kept wounds like those from being too fatal.

As Post's body came to a stop the Latino Dawn member walked over the seemingly unconscious mutant and smiled. She had captured her prey. "Finish him off Vernon and lets go home victorious! The master will be pleased."

"Tain't nuthin over till I say it's over!" Post yelled as he reached out with his large hand and wrapped it around the girl's face. He squeezed her face until he knew she was dead. Tossing her body aside Post then turned his attention to the Russian man. He was the last of the Dawn members left. A smile crept on Post's face.

Cracking his knuckles Post moved towards the Dawn member. You' tagged me pretty good back there! But you guys to cocky a little too son. Have to admit though you almost had me."

"Still will have you yet Post," the Russian man exclaimed as he took off his shirt. What Post saw underneath caught him entirely off guard. In the center of the man's chest was wolf's head. The former Horsemen had seen many sights in his time, but this was most definitely something to talk about.

"You're just full of surprises aren't you?" Post asked with a smirk on his face.

Suddenly golden talons shot out the mutant's fingertips. The Russian man grinned and charged full speed at post. When he was within reach the man slashed at Post's chest drawing blood. Te wounds made Post wince. The Dawn member's talons had cut so deep that they nearly hit bone in some places. Post knew he would heal though so he was hardly worried.

"Your powers definitely have some tang to them," Post said as he grabbed the back of the man's head and flung him away. As he was flying backwards Post charged forward and punched him in the face. Vernon's head snapped back and his neck did as well. The last Dawn member fell to the ground dead as a doornail.

"Bravo Post! Your fighting skill is amazing! The Shadow King will have quite the time trying to kill you. I can tell. You just ripped through four Dawn members!"

Turning around Post found himself staring at a flying tapeworm or at least what looked like a flying tapeworm. It was in fact a machine crated by Sledge. The machine spoke again," What's wrong Post? Cat got your tongue?"

"Hardly. Just who the hell are you?"

"I go by the name Sledge. As you just found out you're on Shadow King's hit list. You're powerful alone, but in a group you could be much stronger."

Post laughed. "What are you proposing…Sledge?"

"Join up with me and some others to put a major dent in Shadow King's forces."

"I'll come with you, but only because I'm bored," Post replied. The truth was after having a tiny taste of battle he wanted more. A lot more. Just maybe this Sledge fellow could provide him with that.

Vietnam

Karma ran through the streets for dear life. Following close behind her were two mutants who had attacked her while she was on her way to her apartment. She had tried to unleash her power on the two mutants, but it was useless. They had very powerful psionic blocks that kept Karma's powers from working in the slightest against them. She had no idea what to do against these guys.

"You can't run forever girl! Give it up before we have to hurt you," a man called out from behind Karma. She had nearly popped her pants when she first encountered this man. He was at least seven feet and he was built like a tornado proof house. Nothing was going to knock him down.

Xi'an didn't respond to the man's taunt. She didn't want to give them any way to track her down. Besides when she had tried to take over their minds all she saw was one thing. And that was darkness. It was a familiar darkness though. She remembered this darkness well from the time when the Shadow King had taken possession of her body.

"Come up Karma. You can't hide from me. I see in infrared vision. Wherever you are in this darkness I will find you," a woman's voice called out as she stepped over lying trashcan. Karma could tell this because she a loud cling of metal. That let her know that her hunters were moving ever closer to her. Karma kept running down that street regardless. She could feel her legs tiring, but she had to keep going. Just had to. Suddenly she ran into the arms of a large man. Looking up she saw the face of Post. She nearly screamed, but Post covered her mouth and muffled it.

"Sssh! I'm getting you out of here," Post said as he tapped a red ring he was wearing. Suddenly both mutants vanished leaving only smoke behind.

Paris

Gamemaster took a sip of his drink and turned to face the man who had come to pay him a visit. The man called himself Sledge. Supposedly he was trying to gather mutants to fight Shadow King. "What makes you think I might want to even come along on this little crusade...Sledge?"

"You're an omnipath Gamemaster. Think about it. Do you honestly think someone like Shadow King will leave you all alone?" Sledge asked floating around in his hover chair. This was the first time he had gone traveling in quite some time. Paris was a beautiful city though he had to keep a low profile while in it. He had plenty of enemies and being outside of his base made him vulnerable.

"Let Shadow King come. I'll teach him a thing or two about telepathy!" Gamemaster yelled enraged. Though in truth he knew what Sledge said held a great degree of truth to it. Deep down Gamemaster knew that he was in danger. A piece of dirt like Shadow King was persistent and he didn't like those who could possibly threaten his power. Disabling the powerful mutant in even a small manner would be pleasing to Gamemaster. Paige had said he needed to influence mutants and no longer seek to kill them. Maybe it was time for him to act on that.

"I feel at a disadvantage here. I know of no way to convince you to help with my cause," Sledge sighed exasperated.

Gamemaster laughed, "I disagree with one thing you said. Are you this cause is yours and not someone else's? Remember your mind is an open book to me. Don't lie. I know you work for…him."

"Fine I do, but even if I was to disassociate myself from him would you want to help me more or less?" Sledge asked frankly. He could tell by the look on Gamemaster's face that he was getting through. Gamemaster was thinking about what Sledge had to say and that was what the mutant "pat rack" had intended.

After a minute of silence Gamemaster finally responded to Sledge's question, "Less."

Turning his eyes towards a window Gamemaster stared at the Eiffel Tower. "I'll help you Sledge. But certain alliances can be disastrous. Even the ones that may seem to have the most benefit."

"I'm glad to have you aboard for this little get together," Sledge said with a big smile. Things were going according to plan. And a little test was being performed halfway across the world that would solidify Sledge's plans even more.

Brazil

"Hit them hard!" Ricki Tan yelled as he jumped up into the air. He was about to hit a mutant who looked much like a tiger head on, but he used his ability to control his density and went through the mutant like it was just air he had passed through.

When Ricki was a short length away from the confused mutant he increased his density to that of a diamond and came crashing down on the tiger man. The two mutants went crashing down into the metal floor with a hard thud. Except only Ricki came out of the crash still alive.

Amethyst and Nawon were on the second floor of the complex, but they had managed to see the crash through the large Plexiglas floor that was in the center of the floor. Amethyst was using her minor telekinesis to keep the doors on the floor locked. By doing so she prevented any more mutants from entering the fray. At least for a little while. Using the power of Shadowcat that had been grafted to her Amethyst was keeping herself unharmed.

Nawon was handling the offensive part of the battle with his ability to control electricity. He used this ability fiercely and ruthlessly. He supercharged the electricity coursing throughout many of the mutant's nervous systems and in doing so fried their bodies. Keeping an electrical field around his body Nawon kept telepaths from entering his mind. Nawon refused to make mistakes in this fight. If the Tans did well in this they would finally be seen as something more than experiments in Sinister's eyes.

Suddenly Nawon fell to the ground and found himself unable to get up. Over him was Amethyst. She waved a finger at him much like a mother would when scolding her toddler. "Give up this pointless battle mutant. You cannot defeat Shadow King."

In all his planning Nawon had forgot one thing. While he had protected himself from telepathy he had forgot to protect Amethyst as well. Knowing he had to fight back or die Nawon unleashed a powerful sonic blast from his mouth. The close proximity of Amethyst sent her falling to the ground. Before whatever telepath was controlling Amethyst had a chance to get their bearings Nawon unleashed electricity from every pore of his body. Its target was Amethyst. On impact the electricity burned Amethyst's body beyond recognition. While she was intangible she still wasn't invulnerable. He had killed his fellow Tan, but their wasn't the slightest bit of regret in Nawon. He had to survive and he would do it through any means necessary. Even if it meant killing one of his own.

On the third floor of the facility Axel, Tawana, and Igiro Tan weren't forced to have to watch Nawon kill Amethyst since there was no glass floor. Still they had their hands full nonetheless. Axel was battering mutants in all directions with his superior strength. He hadn't met a mutant in this facility of Shadow King's yet that could stand up to him.

Tawana was providing Axel with back up by using her telepathy so that everyone would see Axel in different places at different times. That way the Dawn couldn't concentrate any effort on Axel. Igiro completed the strategy by protecting Tawana from any attacks. With his ability to control his mass and the strength of Lydia del Ruiz grafted to him he was plenty able to handle himself and watch out for his fellow Tan.

"Keep it up! We got them beat!" Axel yelled excitedly as he broke the ribs of a few more Dawn members. He picked one Dawn mutant by the neck and flung him into an Asian woman. The sickening crack the two made on impact made a sinister smile cross all of the Tan's face. They had thought when they were assigned this mission it was suicide, but they seemed to be doing pretty damn good.

"Let's not get happy too quick boys. No telling what might be coming at us next," Tawana said as she continued to reach out into the minds of the Dawn members and throw off their game. Something had Tawana worried though. She had figured using her telepathy would be a lot harder considering that Shadow King had placed massive psionic blocks in their heads. Something was definitely wrong here.

"What are you worried for Tawana? These guys are folding like tents after a Fourth of July celebration," Igiro exclaimed as he punched a mutant with an abnormally large head. The man went flying into a group of his friends behind him. His head exploded on impact and spread powerful acid on all of them. Their agonized screams nearly threw off Tawana's concentration.

Unknown to any of the Tans at that moment a lone woman had come up the stairs leading to the third floor and entered into the battle. She was about 5'7 and had short purple hair. Her lips would remind anyone of Angelina Jolie in a heartbeat. Slowly she made her way to where Tawana was being guarded by Igiro Tan. Too many of her allies had been slaughtered by these three mutants. She wasn't going to let it happen anymore.

"Gene traitors! I'm about to give you a biology lesson you'll never forget," the 20 something woman yelled as she stretched out her black-gloved hand.

"Who the hell-ARGHH!!" Axel yelled as he fell to the ground. Tawana and Igiro followed behind him. They all hit the ground with a powerful thud. Nawon saw the ceiling shake from the second floor and his gut told him something was terribly wrong.

"What are you doing to us?" Tawana managed to get out. She was too much in pain to use her telepathy. She was too much in pain to do much of anything.

"I'm making your stomachs churn out acid faster than they ever have before and you're going to like what I do next," the woman laughed as she reserved as three mutants blood flow. Their screams echoed throughout the entire floor. The other Dawn members watched on in glee as their attackers were being tortured.

One man who had red horns protruding from his head yelled out, "Finish this quickly! The other Dawn members are in need of our aid."

"You all won't be going anywhere. I gotta get some lovin from you all first," a voice called out from behind the crowd of Dawn mutants.

Turning around all of the mutants saw Mintaka Tan ready for battle. He was one against a hundred, but he actually felt his odds were pretty good. He was better off than the rest of his fellow Tans because Sinister had experimented on him to a greater extent. In the veins of Mintaka flowed the blood of a cobra, hawk, hyena, panther, Maverick, Multiple Man, and even Sinister himself. Mintaka was well equipped to handle these Dawn mutants.

The woman who was torturing Axel, Tawana, and Igiro immediately turned her attention to Mintaka. She ended the lives of Axel, Tawana, and Igiro by ceasing the function of their hearts and brains. No longer having time to deal with them the woman named Amanda looked upon Mintaka with hatred. He had invaded her home and she would make him pay.

"Let's take care of this bozo!" Amanda commanded as she leapt ahead of her peers and came running at Mintaka. She was going to kill him swiftly and perhaps move up into the ranks of Shadow King's forces faster. The woman of Mexican descent hoped to one day stand beside Wolverine and X-Man at Shadow King's side.

Before she or anyone else knew it Mintaka Tan had become ten Mintaka Tans and then three dozen. Pretty soon the floor became a no holds barred battle between the copies of Mintaka and the Dawn mutants. The Mintakas ripped limbs from their bodies with their hawk's beak that was now their mouth and with their hyena claws they ripped open stomachs. They whipped around their cobra tails, which made up their lower body, to take the Dawn mutants off their feet. Many of them lost their balance so fast and quickly that they went unconscious once they hit the floor from impacting with it so hard.

All of the Mintakas could smell fear rising in the air with their panther senses and they loved every minute of it. This is what they enjoyed more than anything. They enjoyed the thrill of battle. Maybe Sinister had also instilled that in the mind of Mintaka Tan. Either way he was enjoying this and he didn't want it to stop.

"This is useless," Amanda yelled as she stopped another one of the Mintaka's brains from functioning. "Every time we take down one we have to fight ten more!"

"And not to mention that we can barely hurt them psychically since they heal like the thing off of Terminator 2," a skinny black man said adding to Amanda's hopelessness. He wished he could remember the name of the thing he was trying to compare the Mintakas to. Terminator had been one of his favorite movies while growing, but with the situation he was in now he could barely remember his birthday.

Just then the Mintakas all received a telepathic call from Sinister. "The mission is over. Get out of there now! I've already lost four of you. I refuse to lose anymore. Judas Traveller is waiting for you outside of this base. Ricki and Nawon are already en route there now. Leave as soon as you can. That's an order."

Morocco

Sinister sat back and laughed louder and harder than he had in a while. Things were going exactly as he wanted them to. The mostly useless Tans had broken down a good deal of Shadow King's forces in that Brazilian facility. And now all Sledge had to do was execute his part of the plan and Essex would have his newest enforcers very soon.