Issue #12
"Hammer To Fall "
Heir War Conclusion
by David Wheatley
Shakti Haddad
Victor Ten Eagles
Morphine Somers
Metalhead
Meanstreak
Krystaline
La Lunatica
Skullfire
Bloodhawk
Junkpile
Dust
Garokk
Exodus
The Fantastic Four
Miguel O'Hara
ACT 1
History won't care at all
Make the bed, light the light
Lady Mercy won't be home tonight'
- Queen, Hammer to Fall (lyrics by Brian May)
The X-Men stood before Garokk, powers primed and ready. Almost the full team, the Sorcerer Supreme noted. Defeating Exodus hadn't been as easy as he'd thought but the X-Men where nowhere near his power class, but maybe combined. However it had been a long time since they had all been together like this.
"Your turn, is it?" he sneered. "I don't know how you broke through your conditioning, but Meanstreak is still mine. Come to me, Henri."
Meanstreak looked around at the others who seemingly held their breaths but did not move.
"No," he said. "It's over."
"What is this? You belong to me." As he spoke he pointed at Meanstreak, and reversed the gesture, directing his thumb at himself by the time he'd finished.
"No, he isn't," said Morphine, with a grin. "Xi'an healed him. It's a very powerful ability; maybe he'll use it on you after we're done. Fitzgerald?"
Tim unleashed a bolt of energy at Garokk, with a speed that surprised him, and he only just had time to raise some mystic shields, but the force of the energy threw him to the floor, at which point the X-Men scattered around the arena taking positions.
Garokk looked about with his mystical senses. Bloodhawk was in the air, Metalhead behind him to the left, Krystal behind him to the right. Morphine had made a discreet disappearance, and Xi'an had sided over with Junkpile. Fitzgerald was in front of him to the left, his green energy form glowing with the raw power it possessed. Meanstreak stood in front to the right. They were covering him well, but not well enough.
With Xi'an trying to convince Junkpile to help them and Morphine was missing so that left the five X-Men, and Garokk was reminded how similar they were to the original team, yet how they were so different. He was the Sorcerer Supreme, and though most of his Reavers had been defeated, he still had a few left.
The Magneto robot and the adamantium skeleton were just outside the city and he summoned them to him. He may have had real power now, but there was quite a number of X-Men and he knew if he missed one, they would have him.
"Bring it on," he said, readying a spell.
"Come on," said Luna as they ran through the jungles towards the city.
"I can't hurry," said Shakti. "I'm not feeling very good." Luna stopped and looked back at her and noticed that Shakti was breathing hard and sweating. She also noticed that she had put on weight since the last time they had seen each other, something she hadn't noticed earlier.
"You're pregnant?" said Luna, realisation dawning about what was wrong with her. Shakti bit her lip as she nodded and Luna smiled. "Wow. Who's the father? I'll bet its Xi'an. You two have always been close, he's really quite fit, and you were so depressed. I bet it cheered you up, how good was he, I mean... oh wow." The thoughts running through her head babbled out of her mouth, making Shakti turn slightly red and smile.
"No, Xi'an isn't the father," she said. "It's Franklin."
"You're either talking about the lab technician or the robot," said Luna, looking puzzled.
"The robot," said Shakti and explained that the robot had used a psionic means to make her pregnant and how in a few months she would give birth to a psionic entity. "But," she added, "Xi'an has offered to marry me, and be a father to the child. I said yes."
"I go away for a bit and everything changes," said Luna, sitting down next to her. She looked at Shakti and realised they were holding hands. "Sorry, if I was prying earlier, it's just..."
"I know," said Shakti and put her arms around her, and they gave each other a friendly hug. Then they released each other and Shakti looked at Luna with a sparkle in her eye and added, "And, yes he is."
"You mean?" asked Luna smiling in recognition of what she'd said.
"Just before he left the city to confront Exodus. He didn't know if he'd be coming back, so it seemed the right thing to do. Her voice seemed far away as she remembered the gentle caress of his touch, the tenderness of his lips and the feel of his body against hers.
"He'll be okay," said Luna. "They both will." Shakti nodded and stood up, now rested.
"I know. Let's go find them," she said and they began their journey once again.
"For God's sake you people must stop!" Reed Richards was trying to calm down the raging Atlantean people, who were fighting amongst themselves and trying to get to the Fantastic Four.
He was hoping that reason would ally their doubts and fears and inherent prejudices, but he knew that if that was going to happen it would be a miracle. His family were holding them at bay for now, but without Torch they were not at full strength.
Of all of the Fantastic Four, it was Storm who was taking Exodus' psionic manipulations the hardest and they had been forced to put him down other wise the problem would have escalated in to something far more darker than what they were now witnessing. Then Reed noticed something.
"Good Lord!" he said, for the Torch was missing. In Reed's fervour to calm the warring factions, he had not kept an eye on his team mate. Where is he wondered, Reed as he looked about for his brother in law before he did something they would not be able to fix. "Ben, Johnny's gone. I can't see him."
"Wotta' revoltin' development this is," muttered the Thing as he looked up. The firebug shouldn't be that hard to spot, he thought and wondered where he'd gone. He could see the concern on Sue's face as well, as she'd heard what Reed had said, as well as the strain on her face as she used her force fields trying to stop people from killing each other. Then Ben spotted him.
"Stretch!" he called but Reed had spotted him at around the same time. Torch was glowing brighter and brighter as he powered up and the remainder of the team knew what he was doing and what his intentions were.
He was powering up for a nova flame burst to turn the enemy to nothing more than ash, which in his mind was more than fair. These were the lowest of the low and he had thought mutants were bad. Perhaps they were related he mused, and he saw the team trying to get to him and he shook his head, knowing that they would never be able to get to him in time.
"Help us," implored Xi'an, to Junkpile as the X-Men turned it on around them, not giving Garokk a chance to weave too many spells. He was having an effect on them, but it wasn't slowing them down. They were co-ordinated, working as a team. It had been months since they'd fought together but somehow they were still achieving it.
"Sorry, meat," said Junkpile. "I got no beef with the man. Any enemy of Exodus is an ally of mine. My allies want to beat the tar outta each other, that's up to them. Long as they don't turn on me, then it isn't my problem."
"Times have changed since the Lawless," said Xi'an. "You have a chance to make a difference."
"Way I see it, I have," answered the mutant as he stood back, as Meanstreak caught a crystal staff from Krys and smacked Garokk as he avoided a swoop from Bloodhawk and an energy blast from Tim. "I took down Exodus, which is good enough for me. Besides the kids are doing fine by themselves."
"XI'AN!" came a cry from behind them, and they turned to see Morphine flung back.
"What the shock?" asked Xi'an as Morphine hit the floor.
"Apparently, I can't work my powers on adamantium," said Morphine. "I wondered where these two were."
"Magnus," said Xi'an as the robot and the animated skeleton approached.
"A robot," said Junkpile. "I can sense it."
"A robot that thinks its Magneto," said Morphine. "And has the power to back it up."
"Will you help us now?" asked Xi'an of Junkpile, readying himself for the fight.
"Long as I get to keep the claws from Mr Shiny," said Junkpile.
"Deal," said Xi'an, and whistled towards Eddie, who saw the reinforcements coming. "Eddie!" he called and Metalhead smiled. Of all of them, he was the only one who could properly deal with the adamantium skeleton, as he turned his skin to the same metal and ran towards the skeleton, knowing that adamantium couldn't cut adamantium.
As he ran, he felt himself caught in some kind of powerful grip and pushed to the floor. The Magneto robot clenched its fist and Eddie doubled up. Tim turned hearing his cry and fired a blast of energy at the robot, which waved his other hand and redirected the electrical power away towards Junkpile, manipulating via the electro magnetic forces it had been designed to command.
The blast hit Junkpile dead centre, throwing him to the floor and throwing him to the floor. It wasn't enough to damage him but it was enough to wound him without having a need to rebuild himself.
"Jammit," said Xi'an. The robot was the one enemy they were going to have problems with, for it could create the distractions Garokk needed to weave his spells.
"My sentiments exactly," said Morphine. "I was going to stop them before they got here, but my aging power on the adamantium was useless. It managed to get me before I laid hands on Magnus' little decoy."
"Didn't think you had it in you," said Xi'an, going to help Junkpile.
"I'm just full of surprises today," he replied, speaking softly to himself more than Xi'an. Garokk had made a fatal flaw when he was brainwashing him with the magics - he hadn't relied on the fact that Morphine was a master of deception. He'd had a long time to practise and he was one of Doom's people. The Zerifo, the gypsies, had shown him some rudimentary protection charms.
That couple with the desire to protect his city meant that he'd do what he had to, and he knew that they'd never defeat Exodus with just a few people. So he gave Exodus what he wanted - control. It meant he wasn't going to destroy Xavier City, which was all Morphine had desired as he knew Garokk could take him.
He'd banked on it. Then when the two of them were fighting, he watched as the X-Men made their bid for freedom from the mystic bonds that held them. Xi'an might have freed himself eventually, but by the time he did it would have been over. Decking Meanstreak on the way in, Morphine had used his powers on the bonds and aged them so they just fell apart.
Under normal circumstances the magic would have been infinite, but then again Garokk wasn't 100% the Sorcerer Supreme. He wasn't good enough, and Morphine had touched his mind. He knew that he wasn't all he said he was but he was close enough. The bands fell away easily and the team regrouped as Morphine told them all they needed to know which, of course, wasn't everything.
Which brought them to the here and now and the Magneto robot would easily take them. This close to the South Pole it was tapping the vast powers of the EM fields and now they were in trouble.
Magneto dispersed Tim's energy form, and then he just wasn't there. Krys was fighting off the adamantium skeleton with her crystals as a shield but it was hacking them away.
"This is not going according to plan," muttered Morphine, and was then felled by a bolt of eldritch energy.
"What a shame," said Garokk standing over him, and Morphine found himself unable to move, not able to even utter a sound. "You underestimated me, and overestimated the X-Men. I held Magneto in reserve just in case, you were not under control. You weren't fooling anyone, Somers, and now you die. Burnt alive by the flames of Faltine, which will keep you alive until your bones are nothing but kindling." The hand gesture he made created a crackling ball of fire above him. "Prepare to experience pain on levels you cannot imagine. Your friends cannot save you now."
Morphine could feel the heat from here, and if he could have closed his eyes he would have done. The fireball descended towards him and he was aware of Xi'an calling his name above the laughter of Garokk. Then it dispersed and Garokk stopped laughing.
"What!?" cried Garokk. It was a rudimentary spell for the even a novice.
"I have never claimed that Morphine Somers was a friend of mine," came a voice Morphine knew. "However he does have some qualities I would not like to see wasted, especially by one such as you."
"Who dares?" demanded Garokk, turning to see a cloaked figure standing before him. The stranger had dispersed the flames of Faltine, and for that he would pay.
"I am Doom," he answered, revealing his face. "And I do more than dare! I deny your right to be Sorcerer Supreme. That honour shall be mine!"
Doom summoned magics of his own, and Garokk prepared himself for combat. He had already proven himself heir to the legacy of Magneto, now he would prove himself as the heir to the title of Sorcerer Supreme.
Or die trying.
ACT 2
'And, pleased th' Almighty's orders to perform,
Rides in the whirl-wind, and directs the storm'
- Joseph Addison, The Campaign.
"Paris," he whispered and he used his own psionic abilities to reach out. The field in which Exodus had surrounded the world was still there. Exodus hadn't shut it down and the feelings of hatred and racial prejudice were still in effect.
"Ah shock," he said knowing he couldn't do anything to remove the field by himself. That had to be done by Exodus, and Exodus either wouldn't or couldn't. Dust sighed as he realised what he was going to have to do. He didn't like it, and he knew he would be setting them all up for a fall, but it was the only way to restore Xavier's dream.
He had to revive Exodus.
What was it he'd been told all those years ago, when he'd fought alongside Pete Wisdom in Madripoor?* Just before they had taken on the Dragon Lord.
*(In X-Force #13 - David)
"I know you don't want this life, Marc. I know that you wanted to keep a low profile, but life isn't like that. To save this place I need your help, and as much as you don't want to do it, you don't get a choice. I've people here who are real special to me, and without you they won't live and I don't know if I'll ever see them again. The question is, can you put everything aside, all yer fears, all yer doubts and all the bad feelings this and help me stop this before anyone else dies."
It wasn't as much the words Wisdom had spoken; it was the tone, the sincerity and the fear in his eyes. Not for himself but for others. Dust remembered that he hadn't liked Pete from the start, but he was a honourable man and he had reluctantly agreed with him. And he knew how that had turned out.
"This one's for you, Pete," he said. "You and every other member of the X-Men." He picked himself up and started running towards the city, pushing pushed through the frozen wastes until he felt the air get warmer and the snow became less and less and he used the fever dream that had been induced after his battle to give the strength of body and soul so he could get back to the Savage Land in a hurry.
Not so much a dream, but more a nightmlare that had seemed so very real, thanks to Exodus psionic attack. It was what he had known after his battle with Exodus, what he had taken for reality, what he had surrendered to and had only just escaped from.
He remembered when he had taken the name Dust, and now he felt that was apt, for that was all that was left. Left of his life, left his faith, left of the future. For years he had scoured the globe shouting to all who would listen that this was wrong, but nobody believed him. Nobody at all. He breathed in the cool night air and listened to the still of the night.
In the quiet he could think, let the past flow in to him and remember the future he'd known, or rather the present, as if it were all a fading dream. He was a known fugitive across the world, though here within the depths of Latveria, he was relatively safe and though safe was always a matter of perspective, he had no choice.
The problem with the quiet, he mused as he ran an old hand through his long silver hair, was it always reminded him of how alone he was. He removed his hat and covered his chest as a sign of grief at what he had lost.
No friends anymore, no family that would touch him, no allies anymore and more enemies than he could count. The loss of Xavier City and the death of the X-Men was something he'd always hoped to undo, but so far he had found no way but like Don Quixote tilting at windmills, he kept on searching. He had no choice.
A cold wind blew across him as he looked up at the pale moon, hazy in the atmosphere that now covered the planet, and he pulled the overcoat he wore tight Against the wind the overcoat, the remains of a metallic shirt and battered trousers were little comfort, but they were better than nothing. However it was not the moon he loved but the stars surrounding it.
Every time he saw the stars, they reminded him of whom he really was, who he really had been. He gripped his staff tight as he the emptiness he felt in the quiet reminded him that even the stars had abandoned him. All these years, it had been a long time to be alone, but he adapted. There had been no other way.
"WHY?" he shouted in a fit of despairing sorrow, as he realised this was the day it had all started. That in another life this was where it had all ended. 'Why' echoed across the empty village. There wasn't anybody to answer him even now, and a tear slowly rolled down his cheek, eventually hitting the floor and making a small hollow in the dirt at his feet.
"Silly old fool," he chided himself as he reached out. Since his battle with Exodus his regular powers had been reduced - without his staff to channel the energies at least - but he had also developed some other interesting quirks. His senses were also keener and he'd found he could focus energies through his staff, though generally about once every 24 hours or so, for the energy was not the usual type he was able to wield and as such he needed to recharge.
Everything has balance, he reminded himself and now that the scales had tipped back in to position there was change coming. Again. He sighed as he sensed the cusp of another new era and he used the staff to support himself as he moved off. He didn't need it, but it made him further look the part of an old man, often deceptive to predators, who came out if you stayed in one place for too long. It wasn't fear of them; just he didn't want to announce himself to the prying eyes of the world. They ignored his words, but not his presence.
He wondered what it was like across the rest of the world, controlled from the Savage Land with the Exodus hand guiding the fate of man. Not even Miguel O'Hara had been able to stand against him. It was not the first time he wondered what the life he'd once had was like now, or what it would have been like had he not failed. Neither would not be the last, but he'd moved on. He had no choice.
Just a very old mutant, and no longer anyone of great importance, he had finally realised what he truly was, something he learnt long ago but momentarily forgotten when life had been better than it was now. He was a survivor. Stripped of everything he'd once held dear, the only thing he had left was himself, and that it seemed was enough. He looked up and saw the moon slowly start to be covered by thick black clouds. At least it wasn't going to be another cold night and as the moonlight faded to black in the distance he could see lights.
"Well, my friend," he said to himself, "looks like pickings are heading away, wouldn't you. Charles?"
"Yes, Marcus," he answered himself, putting on a faint accent. "That said, be careful. We're not as young as we used to be."
"I know, my friend, I know," using his normal voice. He pulled his hat down, covering his eyes. It was a precaution he generally took only in the day, for his eyes betrayed the man behind them. However if he was right and there was something coming, then it was only wise.
The hunt had been a good one; he thought as he ate the food he'd claimed as his own. A scavenging pack of some kind of animals - these days he wasn't fussy as to what they were, what they did or what they wanted. He was a survivor in a world gone mad but not so mad as to be wholly different. The clouds had poured down rain and cleaned an area so he could see landmarks of a forgotten time.
Now he knew where he was, it was worse. This had been a village on the outskirts on the edge of Doomstadt, Latveria's capital city. He'd visited once and now it was a desolate place.
The rain had stopped and allowed him to make fire. As he ate the meat, he sighed. How far had he fallen to come to this? He had a pouch full of valuables he could trade if he needed to, but he found it easier to kill, to eat, and to live, to prove he was alive. If he was alive then this could be fixed, if he were dead, then it didn't matter anymore. However it mattered to him, but at times he felt as if he were in a coma and just needed to wake up.
As he chewed the flesh down to the bone, tearing at the scraps, he wondered what happened to the revulsion he'd felt the first time he'd done this, in starving desperation.
He looked across to the creature's severed head; its eyes open watching as his killer devoured his body. "Not like you needed it," he muttered. The fire had cooked it well, better than he had for the first few years. As he polished off the meal he looked up. Dawn was coming on the horizon and he knew that such people as his breakfast had friends somewhere. He pulled the coat around him and lifted his hat from the ground, brushing the dirt off it against his coat, banging it to shake loose the mud.
He needed to find shelter before the Acolytes or someone else came out looking to play. He lifted himself up off the ground using the staff to support him and began to move off. The head's eyes seemed to follow him, as they always did - accusing him of betraying the faith, of betraying himself. He grunted and booted the head with his bear feet, the face crumpling as he did so. The dented and abused head rolled away with the momentum of the kick and began to drop down a slight incline towards a pit, which was only becoming visible as day began to break.
The first rays of the sun shone in his eyes, and he lifted his free had to cover his eyes. The pit was interesting for the rain had revealed it's true nature. It looked like a bolthole - a bolthole with the hatch secured.
"Intriguing," said Charles, or rather himself doing Charles.
"Yes," he answered. "Isn't it?"
"Think it's deserted?"
"Locked from the outside? Possible. Maybe a suicide save. Maybe what these people were looking for."
"Or fleeing from."
"Possibly." He looked about and wondered what to do. The lock would be child's play to open, even with his diminished abilities; all he needed was somewhere secure to try it from.
There was an old saloon not too far away and he went towards it, climbing the stairway to the top floor. He kicked open a door to find several dead mutants on the bed, shot in the back whilst making love. The walls were daubed with racist comments. Bastard's he thought, though the way the couple were slumped, they'd not suffered. "Some of us are luckier than others," he said as he looked towards the pit in one direction and towards the town outskirts in the other. Either way he'd see anyone coming. His eyes narrowed, the staff glowed with energy as he touched the astral plane for power, and a faint red glow coming from his eye - something that happened now the astral plane was different.
Like an old friend long missed, he felt the powers flare to life, the power coursing through his body, the old feelings coming back in a surge. The urge to wave his arms with dramatics sprang to his mind and he stood, his arms spread open wide, the staff held high. The metal lock snapped back quietly and opened the hatch. All the dramatics for such little gain.
"Silly old fool," he muttered and watched, hearing a thud as the head dropped down the hole. He could hear the faint whine of an alarm in the distance, either from under the hatch or outside of town. He was about to have company.
"You must be bored," said Charles.
"You have no idea," he said, and crouched down behind the window, his eyes looking over the edge underneath the brim of his hat.
"I don't like it when you do this."
"Then hush." He looked out there and spoke to the invisible people who may or may not have been listening. "Okay. Begin the beguine."
"Marcus!" came a voice and he looked out. There was a man coming towards him, and Dust rubbed his eyes, wondering if he were seeing things. "Charles, is that who I think it is?"
"I thought you said he was dead."
"I thought he was." Dust rubbed his chin, his rough hands feeling the bristly stubble. "It could be a trap."
"I am not an illusion," said the man coming forwards. His face bore no mask, making Dust wonder if it were truly the man he knew before him. "This is the illusion."
"Who are you?" he asked, hoping for the answer he was thinking, dreading what he'd do if it were not.
"I am Doom," he said. "I heard your cry, piercing the ether and thus I came. This life is not for you."
"I don't understand," said Dust. "What is going on?"
"Exodus has hurt you," said Doom, suddenly behind him, and Dust turned, his staff falling to the floor with a clatter. "He defeated you in psionic combat."
"Tell me something I don't know," said Dust irritated at this figure from his past, which had suddenly arrived, which had done nothing to help the world.
"This is a healing stage. Exodus is subconsciously keeping you subdued, inert. Not even he knows he is doing it. He thinks you are dying. If you let him keep you this way, this future will come to pass."
"How do you know this?" asked Dust, as Doom placed a hand on his shoulder.
"There is a battle coming, a battle that is for me and me alone to fight. The X-Men cannot defeat Exodus, but they need you to free them, for they also cannot defeat Garokk."
"Garokk?" Dust knew the name from the old legends.
"He is the Sorcerer Supreme, and he cannot defeat Exodus and the X-Men combined."
"What must I do?" he asked.
"You must awake. The two kings have joined the fray and this game is drawing to a close." He put a finger on Dust's forehead and a mystical spark flicked from the finger in to Dust's head, immersing itself in his mind. The world around Dust began to fade turning to dust clouds billowing around him leaving a blank, open space inhabited by only himself and the image of Doom.
"Why?" he asked. The debt he'd owed Doom in the past was now repaid. However now he owed him afresh.
"Because it suits my needs. Farewell, Marcus." The image faded away and Dust was alone. There was a renewed sense of hope, in the dream of Charles Xavier, and the other purpose of the X-Men - to defend the humanity and the world from renegade mutants. It was time to remind the rest of the world as well.
A reckoning was at hand and he knew as he approached Xavier City that there was much to be done. The people were rioting, looting and destruction were taking place all over as humans attacked mutants who attacked genefreaks who attacked degens who attacked humans. Dust's powers had regained their strength from the battle, his body had rested and recharged and he saw the arena before him.
"Shock me," he said as he entered. Doom and Garokk were throwing spells at each other, locked in mortal combat while an animated adamantium skeleton and someone who looked like Magnus were taking the X-Men. Dust reached out and sensed that the Magneto figure wasn't alive - it was an artificial being.
Krystal was down; hurt badly by the adamantium skeleton that was taking on Xi'an. Magneto was tackling Eddie who was trying to walk towards him. Metalhead had shifted to a form that was not as susceptible to the magnetic forces, and Dust suspected it was the same metal as that alien spaceship Rosa and Metalhead had found some months back. Bloodhawk was running interference for Eddie, giving the robot two targets and it was having difficulty in defeating them both, yet that was not its task. That was to keep the X-Men busy while Garokk dealt with Doom.
So far Dust was unnoticed and he knelt down by Exodus and placed a hand on his head.
"Time to wake up, Paris," he said and plunged his astral self in to what was left of Exodus' shattered mind.
ACT 3
'For we who grew up tall and proud
In the shadow of the Mushroom Cloud
Convinced our voices can't be heard
We just wanna scream it louder and louder'
- Queen, Hammer to Fall (lyrics by Brian May)
Meanstreak was tending to Krys and he only just moved out of the way of his falling ally.
"This is no good," said Henri, thinking that they had been winning and started to think. Xi'an was holding off the adamantium skeleton, his hands gripping its wrists and keeping those deadly claws away from his body, while the hand the broke down molecular structures was at work. Xi'an was strong, thought Henri as he watched their founder fend the thing off.
However the skeleton wasn't the problem, it was the robot. Checking that Bloodhawk would be as okay as he could be he sped away towards Xi'an calling his name as he ran. Xi'an's eyes moved in the direction, though his concentration was still on the skeleton and saw him coming and he smiled as he saw an idea forming. Meanstreak as moving fast and Xi'an knew that basic scientific principles were still in play, knowing that the faster Henri went that his mass increased in relation to the speed.
It wasn't exactly light speed but he was faster than the speed of sound and Xi'an twisted the skeleton so it was in Henri's path. Henri noted what was being done and shoulder charged the skeleton, knocking it to the floor, dislodging the tenuous connections made by the bonding process that held it together. The skeleton fell to the floor with a crash and shattered in to several large pieces.
"Good work," said Xi'an and Henri smiled, knowing now that his mind was free of Garokk's influence he could operate to his full capacity, but then he winced as he realised that his arm hurt.
"I think I've broken something," he said and Xi'an nodded and placed his healing touch on the arm, taking the injury in to himself and making Henri as good as new.
"Welcome back, my friend," said Xi'an and Henri took his hand and shook it. Then they felt a presence and Xi'an suspected that it could only be one person. "Tim?"
"Ohhhh," said Tim as he reformed. "That hurt. Xi'an, that robot's tearing us apart. "What can we do?"
"I don't know," said Xi'an. They couldn't get close enough in time to do any damage.
"If I were in my old form I could drain the power form its batteries," muttered Tim, looking across as the robot walked toward the two fallen X-Men, keeping Eddie at bay as he did so.
"Why don't you?" asked Henri. "I mean where do you get your power from now?"
"I don't know," said Tim. "We never got a chance to examine it after we fled Halo City."
"I know," said a voice and Tim smiled.
"Hey, sweet thing," he said as Luna and Shakti entered the arena. Tim willed himself more mass and she gave him a lover's embrace, at the same time as Xi'an gave Shakti a kiss, all reunited at last.
"You tap in to the EM fields of the Earth," said Luna, knowing what she'd read in Sinister's files.
"Oh yeah," said Tim, seeing the possibilities as he looked at the robot, knowing that the way the thing had dispersed him earlier had only happened through his own ignorance at his capabilities.
"In that case," said Xi'an. "He's all yours. Keep him away from the others while I tend to them."
"Exodus?" asked Shakti.
"Garokk took him down," said Henri as Tim went to have a chat with the robot. "He's over there," and he glanced at the fallen psion and noticed that Dust was lying next to him, very still, but a red circle above his head. "With Dust? What the hell's he doing?"
"Ain't gonna be pretty," said Dust as he began to gather the fragments of Exodus' mind. He saw what Garokk had done to him, shown him paradise and then cast him in to hell. Exodus' mind had shattered at the transition and only one key thought remained - mutants would rule.
As the pieces began to fit back together, like shards of a mirror being put back to a whole piece of glass, Dust began to feel the power of Apocalypse. Exodus mind had been so warped over time by the intrinsic alteration by En Sabah Nur's machinery that the man Exodus had once been was gone. But maybe not forever, because Magnus had reached him once before.
"Fool!" cried Apocalypse, an astral image forming behind Dust, as he tried to break through the conditioning that had been put on the mind of Bennet du Paris. "You do not have the power to undo what I have wrought!"
"Then why aren't you still around?" muttered Dust, keeping the astral image at bay. Apocalypse's powers included the ability to control every molecule of his body and whatever his host body was. His only psionic talents were those that allowed him to transfer his essence to another, and nothing that could threaten Dust, other than to break his concentration.
"Who says I am not? Perhaps the beings that I created held my essence when I was defeated, housing it to prepare for my eventual return."
"Because you're not here," said Dust. "Otherwise Exodus would have escaped, Sinister would never have formed the Guild and you'd have done so much more. Now go back to the hell that spawned you."
"My influence reaches farther than you assume, X-Man." Dust stiffened at the term being applied to him. "You feel you are unworthy of the name?" said Apocalypse picking up on it. "You are. Even Xavier was stronger have you, and he was judged weak. You cannot get rid of me, now or ever."
"You're the last of Exodus' mental defences," said Dust turning to face the Highlord. "Let's see what he has to say about it." He put the last piece of the mosaic that was the mind of Exodus back in place and a burst of dark energy rippled out across the astral plane, as he awoke and swifter than either Dust or Apocalypse could see, he grabbed En Sabah Nur by the throat.
"You have used me for the last time, my master," sneered Exodus and tore a hole in the astral plane and looked down towards Hell. "Rejoin the rest of your soul," he whispered, his face as close to Apocalypse as the horizon to the ground. Then he cast the shade down towards the fiery pits below and sealed the whole, the taint of Apocalypse removed from his being.
"Welcome back, Bennet," said Dust.
"Bennet is dead," said Exodus. "Only Exodus remains, and now I am free to live my life the way I see fit." Then he laughed and Dust wondered if he hadn't made a very large mistake.
Garokk felt the awakening of Exodus as Dust pushed past his sorceries and restored him. He felt the fall of the adamantium skeleton and the destruction of the Magneto robot by Skullfire. Things had gone very wrong very quickly, but now his concentration and magic could be focused on one man and one man alone - Victor Von Doom.
"You cannot defeat me, I am the Sorcerer Supreme."
"I heard something similar from the lips of Magus when the Phalanx came. He didn't live to say it again."
The magic flared across the arena as the two wizards locked themselves once more in their duel.
The X-Men gathered around uncertain of what to do?
"Should we help?" asked Tim. "Does Doom even need our help?"
"Best thing we can do," said Morphine, "is to leave it alone and see what happens. If Doom wins, it doesn't matter. Garokk wins, we take him out in his weakened state."
"Where have you been?" asked Xi'an with suspicion. Morphine had surreptitiously vanished while they were fighting the skeleton and robot.
"Cutting a deal with the devil," said Morphine with a smile, as he sucked on the cigarette.
"What do you mean?" asked Shakti. "Luna told us of the deal you cut with Sinister."
"Figures she wouldn't stay away. As soon as Fitzgerald came back on the scene, she'll have come back like a dog on heat." There was a feral cry as Luna rushed towards him, but Morphine held up a hand. "Unless you want to get really old, really quickly, I wouldn't bother with that thought. Sweet thing."
"Yo," said Tim and Morphine turned, to be met with a fist of energy connecting with his jaw. "Wanna try it on someone who doesn't have a body?" Morphine wiped a streak of blood from his lip, and jerked as the static electricity from Tim's touch reacted within him.
"ENOUGH!" said Xi'an who was still visibly drained from healing the others. "We do not have time to be fighting amongst ourselves. We'll deal with Morphine later, right now we have to wait."
"No," boomed the voice of Exodus. "Now you have to die."
"Oh, not you again," said Tim. "I thought Garokk put you down."
"He did, but thanks to your compatriot, I am fully restored and I make my own decisions now. I will rule this planet, not for Magnus, not for Apocalypse, but because it is my right."
"Nice work," said Morphine as Dust got to his feet and rejoined the team.
"It ain't over yet," said Dust, looking at the assembled team. Eddie, Krys, Henri, Tim, Luna, Bloodhawk, Junkpile, Xi'an, Shakti, Morphine. The X-Men were a full team once more. "There's ten of us, and one of him. He's powerful, but we're a team. We're the X-Men, an' I for one ain't gonna let this scum tear down Xavier's dream." The team gave their agreement by getting ready to fight.
Exodus chuckled at the speech Dust had given, and at the stance these children had taken.
"Bring it on, 'X-Men'."
ACT 4
'War, he sung, is toil and trouble;
Honour but an empty bubble.
Never ending, still beginning,
Fighting still, and still destroying,
If the world be worth thy winning,
Think, oh think, it worth enjoying'
- John Dryden, Alexander's Feast
He was about to go nova and then they would all be dead, if not through the heat, then from the water that would cascade down on them when the protective casing that shielded Atlantis was melted down.
"Johnny, stop," Sue implored him. "This is wrong."
"These scum attacked us, these pieces of filth killed innocents, butchered children, nuns, anyone they could find, and we expect to live in peace with them?"
"It was a mistake, lad" said Reed knowing that soon it would be too late and even now the Atlanteans were visibly drooping under a heat they had never experienced living under water most of their lives.
"Was the murder of Jews and gypsies by Hitler a mistake? Was Magneto right all those years killing thousands in his quest for racial supremacy? When it comes to it, they're all the same and someone should have put them all down years ago."
"Stretch, he's babbling," said Ben. "We're running out of time."
"Sue, can you encase him in a bubble?" asked Reed. She shook her head.
"It'd kill him when he released the fire and I don't know if the shield would take the strain in any case."
"I could smash the walls, let in the sea and it should cool his temper," said Ben "Thing is it might drown him."
"Sue, could you surround him quick enough to stop it?"
"I don't know."
"Do it," said Reed, aware if they were going to act then the time was now. Ben charged in to Reed, whose elastic form flung him as if Reed were a catapult. The Thing hit the walls and they shook, cracking under the strain, and the water began to come down.
The unequal pressure did the rest as the water flooded the area, and Sue protected Reed, Ben and herself. The water hit Torch who cried out in horror and dismay as his fires went out and the steam that was produced blinded them all, and Sue guessed when the time to throw a shield around her brother was, and prayed to God she was right.
When everything cleared and the waters were balanced, they looked at Torch, who was lying still. No water surrounded him and at first glance he was spent. Then they noticed he wasn't moving.
"But?" asked Sue, in dismay.
"Reed," said Ben softly, and Mr Fantastic looked at Torch and saw what Ben did. There was a gaping wound in his back, and on the floor was a blade broken by the emergence of the force field.
"Oh, lad," he said softly, as Johnny looked up at him.
"Told you they were scum," he said, Exodus' hold on him to the last. Then he died, and Reed put his arms around Sue, knowing that they couldn't touch because of the force fields that were in place and that the Atlantean's couldn't harm them due to the same.
"Ben," he said.
"We surrender!" said Ben, holding his hands up. One person had died already and there would be no more, and they were not in the mood to fight. The Atlantean's accepted and led them somewhere safe, the only sound that of Sue's muffled sobs.
Victor Ten Eagles was working at keeping the peace within the city, with little to no success.
In the end he had returned to the medical bays to keep an eye on Rosa, who was still there after her assault by Brimstone Love.* Watching over their mother were Joaquim and Maddie.
* (In X-Men 2099 #6 - David)
"Is she still sleeping?" asked Maddie of Victor, who nodded and placed a hand on her head.
"Yes," he said. "She's still sleeping." Physically she was fine and was well on the way to recovery, but her mind had just shut down at what had been done to her.
"Why?" asked Maddie and Victor tried to explain. "Is it because of the bad people outside?"
"It might be," said Victor. "We just don't know."
"Momma?" said Joaquim and touched her with his hand, his powers trying to heal her mind but they didn't seem to have an effect. He only had the mind of a child and so couldn't really control the powers he had. The fact he had fixed Eddie was more fluke that conscious act.
"It's no good, son," he said and he turned away from her, herding the children out. If the fighting got to the infirmary, there would be nothing he could do to protect them. Then he heard something and he turned around.
"Help me," said Rosa and then faded again. Victor looked at Joaquim.
"What did you do?" he asked.
Exodus was surprised.
These children were good at what they did. Tim loosed a burst of power right at him, striking him with the force of Cyclops optic blast and Storm's lightning attack combined. His telekinetic shields had only been enough, and he thought this was something Tim had never displayed when he had fed off him.
The power was fuelled by the desire for revenge and the fact that Dust was psionically hitting him as well, meaning that he couldn't use his full range of psionic defences, for this time he didn't have the collective wills of any captives to back him up.
However he was still more than enough. Xi'an, Luna and Morphine were close range hitters and all he had to do was stay out of the way of their touch. Metalhead had a good reach and Exodus had learnt enough about men of metal when Colossus had been an Acolyte, over a century ago. The same went for Junkpile.
Meanstreak and Krystal had renewed their old partnership, he getting in close whilst she distracted him with crystal shards.
Shakti was nothing more than a distraction he could not use, or manipulate thanks to the child within her. It was time to get serious, and he grabbed hold of Metalhead's fists and turned them on Junkpile. The sudden move caught Junkpile of guard, and he fell back in to the path of Meanstreak, who had to move to avoid being crushed. Shakti helped Henri up as he skidded to the floor in front of her.
Exodus smiled, but was met with another blast by Fitzgerald, who was rapidly becoming a source of irritation. He met the blast with his own psionic eye blasts and the energies exploded as they made contact.
"You don't have what it takes to stop me, children of the atom," he said, and then found himself unable to move as Krystal began to encase him in a crystal casing.
A challenge, he thought as he levitated himself in to the air. Knowing that when he dropped the casing would shatter.
Exodus, feeling the crystals slowly creeping up his legs pushing his cape in to his trousers weighing him down, suddenly realised he had made an error. He gritted his teeth, pushing out the irritation and the pain a having his body frozen in one position. The crystals moved up his chest, and the flexibility of his lungs became restricted making it hard for him to breathe, and as the crystal covered his mouth he felt the urge to scream.
Not out of fear at what was happening but of the memory it invoked when Magnus had cast him out of Genosha*. Dust seized on this and pressed the psionic attack, heightening the fears and forcing the memory of before to the front of Exodus' mind. Exodus gave out a psionic cry, for he could not make a sound with his mouth covered and he dropped out of the sky, and the casing around him shattered.
* (As revealed in X-Men 2099 #10 - David)
However he was still shaken from the ordeal and lashed out psionically at Dust, forcing the aged mutant back with the fury of his assault, even though in doing so he caught the automatic psionic defence of Dust's mind.
It was because of that he didn't see or sense Luna coming at him until it was too late and she connected and her touch began to leach the emotional pain from within him. He wrestled with her, fighting the draining of his essence and the ravaging of his mind. To fight her off, he had no choice other than to drop the bubble of hatred that surrounded the planet.
It was a significant drain on his resources, and he found the strength to swat her away, the sweat pouring from his face.
"A worthy effort," he said, panting for breath. "But I have wrestled with Eternals* and you, madam, are not in their league."
* (In Uncanny X-Men #307 - David)
"True," boomed the voice of Doom as he hurtled Garokk to the floor, the winner of their battle decided, though Doom was spent by the war. Exodus looked at the man who had distracted him from the X-Men and realised too late that was what it was as Xi'an and Morphine tackled him at the same time, both of them using their touch as one.
"No," cried Exodus as he felt Xi'an's hand begin to melt away the flesh as Morphine's touch began to age him. The powers granted by the Celestial technology slowed the process and he cast them off in a psychic burst.
"You're done, Exodus," said Xi'an as he propped himself up on his elbows.
"Not yet," said Exodus. "I swear before I die, you will all perish." His eyes began to glow with a powerful force that would tear Xavier city from the Savage Land and cast it in to the cold reaches of space, thereby killing them all. It wasn't beyond his powers but it was all he could do.
"Exodus," called Shakti. He looked at her, to see her holding a plasma weapon. "This is for Clarion." She fired and Exodus caught the blast square in the chest, unable to shift the focus of his psionic grip in time. It burnt a hole clean through him and he fell to the floor dead.
"Thanks, Henri," she said to Meanstreak whom she had asked to get the weapon when she had helped him up. It was the same gun she had used to kill herself, but now she realised she had a better use for it.
"It's over," said Xi'an as they looked across the arena at each other. Xavier City would need a lot of rebuilding, as would the relationships across the world.
"Not quite," said Morphine and quickly chanted a few words.
"No!" called Doom, knowing a spell of summoning when he heard one and Mephisto appeared in the arena.
"Somers," he said. "Is my prize ready?"
"All yours," said Morphine. "And mine?"
"It is done," said Mephisto. "An unusual request, but granted." He stooped over Exodus and motioned to Garokk, who began to float towards him.
"What have you done?" demanded Xi'an.
"Gave him Exodus and Garokk for eternal sunlight in the Savage Land. It was getting close to the darkness and we have a lot of work to do. I couldn't really give my own soul, could I?"
"Beware of making deals with the devil," said Doom, impassively.
"Ah, Victor," said Mephisto. "So nice to see you again? How is your mother?" Doom clenched his fist in rage at the reference but knew he didn't have the power to do anything to Mephisto.
"There will be a reckoning, demon," he said.
"Yada, yada, yada," said Mephisto as he created a portal to Hell and kicked in Exodus' body. "One," he said and he looked at Garokk who's eyes went wide with horror. "Remember the hell you showed Exodus?" he grinned, with evil in his eyes. "Well, guess where you're going?" He gestured and Garokk began to slowly move towards the gaping hole in reality that lay before him.
"No," cried Garokk and cast a spell to prevent him from being taken, however without the necessary power behind it the spell altered the portal he was being dragged toward.
"Fool!" cried Mephisto as he stepped in to stop the portal weaving out of control, as it began to grow larger and began to suck in the city. He and Doom looked at each other knowing that if the two worlds met they would both be destroyed. Garokk was he first to be sucked in, and Doom and Mephisto did what they could to close the portal while the X-Men began to flee, as Xavier City began to get dragged in piece by piece, the X-Men just staying ahead of the portal.
Then there was a massive explosion of magic and special distortions, and the portal was closed. Mephisto was gone and Doom remained, his body quivering at the feat he had just performed.
Xi'an ran back and placed a healing touch on him, to restore him.
"I am sorry," said Doom, before he lapsed in to unconsciousness.
"What for?" asked Xi'an but Doom was drained. "Jammit," he said and looked to see consternation on the face of Shakti. She was obviously distressed, he thought but why? He looked about to see what had gone wrong and he gasped. Tim, Luna, Eddie, Dust, Krys and Henri had vanished. They had to have been sucked in to the portal.
"No," he said in shock as the realisation dawned on him. "Shock, no!"
The X-Men were gone.
In X-Men 2099 #13: What has happened to the X-Men? Where are they? And what will befall Xavier City without them? The game's not over yet.
