Back to Gatefold
Issue #2 by Brad Horton
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Previously:
Nine months ago, Adam Essex awoke after his father succumbed to his injuries from a temporarily-resurrected Apocalypse and was posthumously tasked with wiping out every last descendant of En Sabah Nur - namely, the Clan Akkaba. In the present, after months of regularly picking off his targets, Adam killed Herbert Windsor, a low-level member of the Clan. Sabretooth and Threnody, former associates of his father, were also present and revealed to have joined Adam’s mission for their own personal reasons. Meanwhile, Frederick Slade, de-facto leader of the Clan, discovered that the version of Holocaust native to our reality was a boy named William Rolfson, son of Apocalypse and the former Horseman of Famine. In Greece, Adam’s next target became too much to handle as he revealed himself to be the large, dragon-like warrior, Enyalius, the axe-wielding First Horseman of Apocalypse....
Nine months ago, Adam Essex awoke after his father succumbed to his injuries from a temporarily-resurrected Apocalypse and was posthumously tasked with wiping out every last descendant of En Sabah Nur - namely, the Clan Akkaba. In the present, after months of regularly picking off his targets, Adam killed Herbert Windsor, a low-level member of the Clan. Sabretooth and Threnody, former associates of his father, were also present and revealed to have joined Adam’s mission for their own personal reasons. Meanwhile, Frederick Slade, de-facto leader of the Clan, discovered that the version of Holocaust native to our reality was a boy named William Rolfson, son of Apocalypse and the former Horseman of Famine. In Greece, Adam’s next target became too much to handle as he revealed himself to be the large, dragon-like warrior, Enyalius, the axe-wielding First Horseman of Apocalypse....
"THE MISSION"
Kos, Greece.
South Aegean.
{{…This should be fun. Standby,}} Adam said into his two-way radio earpiece. On the other end was Sabretooth, former X-Man, former enemy of the X-Men, current mentor to Adam Essex.
The wind picked up as a familiar scent reached Sabretooth’s nostrils. “Wait!” His pupils dilated, and it wasn’t from the vodka. “Aw fawk, now I remember this place. That asshole must have put some kind of whammy on me that made me forget.”
“What?” Threnody wondered as if asking a child. “Which asshole whammied who?”
“Adam!” he shouted as he pressed up against his earpiece. “Get out of there! Repeat! Abort!”
{{—-}}
“Uh…”
“Will you tell me what the shit is going on?!” Threnody demanded.
“The Battle of Kos, during Dubbya Dubbya Two—I was here,” Sabretooth said. “So was someone else. They conveniently left that part out of history on account of the Nazis eventually losing the war…the mark we’re chasin’ ain’t the kind of fight we want, Apocalypse’s third-nephew—whateverdafuck—er not!”
“Can you please make more damn sense!?” Threnody shouted. “You said you passed this island on a boat once, not that you were in World War II.”
“Let’s just say we you don’t wake a sleeping dragon,” Sabretooth muttered. He looked off into the distance. For a split second, he considered just bailing, leaving Adam to reap what he sowed. Maybe the old Victor Creed would have done so, but not now.
“Synchronize the tesseract coordinates by that mosque, we need to make a quick exit,” Sabretooth ordered. “We’re not leaving without him.”
“Just one question, were you fighting with or against the Allies?” Threnody asked as they ran to the ledge of the rooftop. Sabretooth leapt off the roof and landed on the street below with ease as he raced towards Adam.
Threnody stared blankly as the potential necroplasmic energy began to taunt her cravings, “Damn it, girl…what have you gotten yourself into now?”
She thought Greece would bring back some happier memories, when Threnody and her ex-boyfriend, Nate Grey vacationed in Crete. Although they fought Holocaust during that time, everything leading up to it was…special.
Melody shook her head to snap herself out of it, “Nope, not digging that up right now…he’s got his own floating island and he’s calling himself Cable now…that road is blocked off. The zombie child was a little too much…”
She grabbed her customized smartphone and called up an application designed for firing up Sinister’s old tesseract technology. Using GPS, she centered the teleportation around the mosque as Sabretooth instructed her. After she clicked accept button, she leapt off the side of the ruin slowed her fall with a short burst of pink necroplasmic energy.
“Don’t worry, boys, I’ll clean up your mess as usual!” Threnody shouted sardonically as she sprinted into battle, a few blocks behind Sabretooth.
# # # # #
A large battle axe formed out of the reptile man’s hand. His soulless eyes glowed with a dark amber, “Perhaps no one told you? I am Enyalius—the First Horseman of Apocalypse. Now…you die.”
“Definitely not on the test, Victor…,” Adam grumbled to himself through gritted teeth.
The large muscular creature swung the equally-large axe at Adam's head, but he nimbly leapt out of the way. Adam made a visual estimate that Enyalius was about as big as the Hulk at the peak of anger. His intuitive DNA mapping confirmed that he had Apocalypse's blood, but it was different than normal. There was a parallel DNA pattern somehow mixed and intertwined.
The axe, however, was a mere distraction as Enyalius immediately pulled a broadsword from a hidden sheathe with his opposite arm, slicing Adam in the abdomen and then turning and round housing him in the jaw, sending him flying at the force of 200 meters per second into another wall.
Black blood oozed from his wounds as the effects of the mysterious ailment began to take their toll on Adam. If Enyalius was the first Horseman...was he Pestilence? War? Or all four combined, like some kind of failed experiment?
"Your mind is difficult to lock down, your brain should be pouring from your nostrils as we speak, yet you survive," Enyalius spoke with utter disdain.
“Telepathy won’t work around me…so you may as well fight me…,” Adam muttered as his broken ribs and other injuries began to annoy him.
"The venom in your very marrow should end you soon enough."
Adam panted as he struggled to breathe, making a mental note of the full scale of the First Horseman's abilities. Increased strength in his reptilian form, telepathic blasts, venom-soaked skin that was hard as stone, pyrokinesis. Perhaps he had no limits and was merely toying with him?
The large saurian monster walked up to Adam, the ground shaking with every clomping step, and pressed the edge of his axe beneath Adam's chin. The metal burned, sizzling as it touched his skin, but the paralysis from the venom which seemed to coat Enyalius's skin had already set in.
Adam's mind raced as he tried to come up with a solution, but he had none. Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed a crowd had begun to gather amongst quiet gasps and some shrieks.
He was going to die out in the open for the world to see. The Clan Akkaba would continue to reign. Sinister’s legacy would end in the salty Aegean air.
Enyalius noticed the crowd also. His amber eyes seemed to flare in some kind of hypnotic frequency. The crowd dispersed, but also seemed oblivious to the battle ever taking place. A ‘whammy’ if there ever was one.
Wait. The virus inside of me—hidden in his venom. I can read its DNA. It’s programed to attack my blood. It’s working faster than my cells can regenerate. I just need to get it out of me.
Adam grumbled as he concentrated on his cells, focusing further and further—increasing the acidity of his blood.
The charred blood bubbled and boiled out of the sides of his mouth, burning his skin as it dripped onto the axe, causing it to crack. A streak of light from within the seemingly normal-looking axe glistened in the sunlight. Adam noticed the ancient circuitry within it—characteristic of Celestial technology.
Enyalius roared as he threw his axe into the ocean. As it tumbled in midair, end over end, it seemed to ring…louder and louder. When it hit the water, it flared before a deep sonic distortion expanded outward through the air to the ocean floor…causing a rift to form. Sulfur began to leak into the clear water.
To Enyalius’s amazement, Adam began to stand up, albeit unstably. Pockets of large bumps formed over his skin as Adam caused his own blood to boil—forcing the infected blood out of his body.
“Until next time, then,” Adam uttered with a half-attempt at a salute.
Enyalius’s eyes grew wide as he saw a woman bathed in pink light, hovering in midair. The death energy reeked from both he and Adam. It was all Threnody needed to pack the biggest punch she ever had to deliver.
She clenched her fists and simply let the welled-up energy release itself—like a dam breaking. The blast knocked the Horseman back, ricocheting off the stone path and flipped through the air.
A deep, thunderous shriek preceded two dragon-like wings ripping through his back as the First Horseman made a hasty course-correction—setting his new target on Threnody in a violent dive bombing motion.
She fell to her knees from the exertion of her powers. Her cybernetic implants attached to her temples and cheekbones began to short out. Threnody covered her face in her hands, and said bluntly, “You’re…dying.”
One of the bumps that formed on his forehead seemed to pop, exposing vaporized boiled blood, “I should theoretically…be fine…for another sixty seconds,” Adam said as he knelt down next to his father’s former messenger, shielding her.
Before Enyalius could deliver a destructive blow to his attackers, a swift clawed hand sliced downward across his scaled face—coupled with his velocity and momentum—caused him to face-plant into the ground.
A small rumbling could be felt…but it became progressively stronger until an explosion of ash shot up into the sky from a thought-dormant crater within the island. The ash plume immediately blotted out the sun. The Celestial axe appeared to cause more damage.
Sabretooth winced as he gripped his wrist, holding his bloodied…and fingerless hand. The tendons shot pain all through his right arm. After a beat, he finally let out two distinct roars of agony, “MOTHER! FUCKER!”
“Oh my God!? Your hand! Your fingers!” Threnody yelped in a panic, despite the death energies charging her body. “Should we get them on ice or something—?”
“Evac!” Sabretooth growled.
“But the people!” Threnody shouted.
“…can’t…,” Adam mumbled, “…save them…I’m sorry…”
“You’re drunk on endorphins, idiot!” Threnody shouted.
Enyalius got to his feet, only to see that his attackers were enveloped in a white light as their teleportation signature fired up. He caught sight of the tall blonde man.
“Creed…,” Enyalius uttered through gritted daggers. “Even a mental suggestion will not keep you away from MY ISLAND— YOU DEPRAVED DEMON!?!”
With his good hand, Sabretooth smiled and waved his middle finger, “This is for you pal.”
In a flash, the trio was gone. Enyalius whipped his body around as he looked up in horror at the ash plume that filled the sky.
“No…”
With his massive wings, a leap into the air was all it took for him to scale the volcano. He saw a small sphere of light, only visible to the ultraviolet spectrum—and dove into it.
When he opened his eyes, his reptilian skin began to crack and become transparent. He tore the outer shell off, revealing his human-sized body. A lush vineyard surrounded a small, quaint home. The sky was a warm blue without a cloud in the sky. The ocean was a deep blue.
A small girl with intricate braided blonde hair wearing a plain white dress ran out to greet Enyalius, “Papa!”
Apocalypse had placed his homestead into a Celestial Temporal Sphere thousands of years ago. His wife and children were unstuck in time…forever forced to life within a literal bubble. Enyalius did not lie when he said his family was the island. It was all he had left.
He hugged his daughter and smiled as he picked her up, his shaved head reflecting the golden sunshine, “My little Elea.”
“Who made you turn into The Dragon again, Papa?” Elea wondered, observing the lifeless husk of reptilian skin.
Enyalius smiled, “A group of no-gooders as usual.”
“The tribe with the red arm bands again?” Elea inquired.
“No, not the Nazis,” Enyalius laughed.
His wife, Adonia stood in the entryway to the home, exchanging a knowing glance with her husband. She had the same blonde locks their daughter did.
“En Sabah Nur?” Adonia asked as their two sons, Orius and Theron ran to her side, hugging her legs.
“No, that would be conquerer is dead,” Enyalius said. He shook his head, “The modern world is full of men and women that are trying to destroy everything I hold dear. Outside our boundaries, the volcano is erupting ash into the air our neighbors and visitors breathe.”
“What will you do?” Adonia asked.
“I cannot wait any longer, I must venture out into the world and hunt these wretches down like the vermin they are,” Enyalius declared. “I was created for destruction against my will all those years ago, but I fought back…”
Enyalius looked down at his children and then met eyes with his wife, “…I will make sure we will be able to live in peace again.”
# # # # #
New York City
Twelve Hours Later.
{{Reports are still coming in from Kos of ash plumes as high as 25 miles into the stratosphere. All flights coming into Greece as well as all of Eastern Europe have been diverted or grounded entirely. Some say the shockwaves could be felt as far away as Egypt and beyond.}}
William Rolfson watched the television with wonder. He himself felt like a volcano that might one day explode, at least a month ago, he began generating bio-nuclear microwave energy through his body. He looked over at his mother, Autumn, a frail and gaunt looking woman. Her clothes were tattered. She had to struggle to make ends meet. Even the former Horseman of Famine had to pay the bills, it seemed.
Autumn sat at the kitchen dining table, with a pink-haired man sitting at the opposite end wearing a perfectly-tailored navy suit. He crossed his hands and casually rested them under his chin.
“So how did you find us?” Autumn asked.
Frederick Slade smiled, “It was not as hard as you'd think, despite your best efforts to hide William from us, his father, and quite frankly, his birthright. Did you really think you could keep him from the Clan Akkaba for years? From his nieces and nephews—myself, included? The one direct descendant to Apocalypse, and you keep him in some ghastly apartment?”
Autumn rolled her eyes, “Well, your lord and master was out doing the hard work while you and your Clan ate caviar and hosted dinner parties for the Queen, don’t lecture me. I was a Horseman, recruited by Apocalypse when I was barely a teenager. You? You’re a spoiled trust fund twat hiding in the shadows!”
Frederick unfolded his hands. His face remained unfazed as his emerald eyes seemed to ignite with an internal combustion. Needless to say, some mutants did not have the best poker faces when hiding their anger.
He nonetheless retained his composure out of respect for Autumn’s service under Apocalypse. He calmly inhaled the stale air through his nose and exhaled, holding up his hands, “There is no need for unpleasantries. I apologize for sounding harsh, I simply want William to fulfill his destiny, to preserve the legacy of Apocalypse. Neither you nor William deserve a life like this. I want you both to return to the fold.”
Autumn turned her head, catching a glimpse of her son watching television while simultaneously scrolling through his iPhone and playing a game on his iPad. She sighed, “No, I’m sorry. I should be grateful for an opportunity like this. Being a single parent to the son of Apocalypse should not be this difficult.”
Frederick smiled, “No apologies are necessary, m’lady Famine.”
Autumn fought to not roll her eyes. Her former title was not something she was used to hearing. She feigned a smile and nodded.
“I was scared,” Autumn said, upset with herself that she admitted weakness. “You know how your uncle was. He would have tortured him if he knew about William. Or, worse…” She sighed, “Today’s kids aren’t built for that kind of stuff, I’m afraid.”
Frederick chuckled knowingly, “I know all too well. My youngest daughter is around William’s age, perhaps a little older.”
He leaned in closer and lent a generous hand, “Come live with the Clan. I promise you William will be Fittest in less than five years. He can replace Apocalypse. You and I will rebuild the Clan Akkaba to its former glory not seen since the time of pharaohs. No longer diluting it with humans or lesser-powered mutants or mutates. A pure, direct royal line. And you will be its Matriarch!”
Autumn crossed her stick-like arms, purposefully hiding her gaze from Frederick, “Very well…”
# # # # #
Central Omaha, Nebraska.
Exact Location Unknown.
From his father’s former main laboratory, Adam stood in front of a large projection-screen with a visual on the DNA stands with Enyalius’s virus. A centrifuge spun multiple viles of blood. He was hooked up to various tubes as blood and plasma was still being reintroduced into his system. His injuries were healed, but the infected blood still in his system was keeping his healing less than optimal. Normally, he would range in-between Wolverine and Deadpool in terms of healing time.
Sabretooth sat in a strangely green techno-organic chair, with his wounded hand submerged in a strange green gelatinous substance. He kept dozing off, leaned up against his left hand while his elbow rested on his thigh. He sighed, “Can I take my hand out now?”
“Not yet,” Adam said without taking his eyes off the screen.
“I have to take a massive dump,” he grumbled.
“I don’t care. You’re right-handed and you need fingers. Unless you want to wait about a week for them to grow back on their own. Cybernetics aren't necessarily my first language,” Adam groaned. “The chair you’re sitting in will absorb your waste products, actually.”
Sabretooth’s face contorted in disgust. He placed his elbow on his thigh and returned to his original position, “I’ll hold it.”
“Please stop talking while I’m working,” Adam warned. He hadn’t blinked in six hours. He stretched his intuitive DNA-reading senses to their limit.
Sabretooth scoffed and shook his head. Threnody walked up beside him and raised her eyebrows. Both of them were slightly amused by how closely Adam’s obsessive nature rivaled that of his father’s.
Sabretooth nodded in Threnody’s direction, only speaking loudly enough for her to hear, “Good work out there, blasting Enyalius like that.”
Threnody crossed her arms, “Leaving those people out there didn’t feel that good.”
“We ain’t superheroes,” Sabretooth said matter-of-factly. “Our mission is seek and destroy only.”
“Maybe Adam’s mission…,” Threnody suggested. “Still. We caused that eruption. I caused it. That was the intel from Herbert Windsor’s psionic echo.”
Sabretooth shrugged, “Life’s not fair. Sometimes we gotta do things that ain’t no good. People get caught in the wake. It’s the law of the universe. No use mulling over it, kid.”
“I can’t help but mull over it when I hear the dying screams of everyone getting burned alive from volcanic ash,” Threnody darted back.
“Getting a little loud…,” Adam stated coldly.
Sabretooth lowered his voice again, “Look. I used to be caught up in the bloodlust for decades until the X-Men snapped me out of it. I can’t bring back those folks I killed. I’m not ashamed of who I am or who I was. I was a murderin’ sum’bitch. Still am. I just care about the consequences a little more.”
“You care?” Threnody asked with an arched eyebrow.
Sabretooth confessed with a shrug, “All that really changed was my state of mind. It wasn’t just a switch that gets shut off.”
“HA!”
Sabretooth and Threnody stopped their debate dead in its tracks.
Adam turned and faced his partners in crime, “Enyalius was merely infused with Apocalypse’s blood. He must have been some kind of proto-Horseman.”
“Bastard’s probably the reason Apocalypse divided them into four elements, if anything,” Sabretooth suggested.
“Well, that was a waste of a trip,” Threnody sighed. “Now we’ve got this ancient unstoppable Horseman on our tail and all we’ve got to show for it is a volcanic disaster, not to mention a lot of unwanted attention. Do you know how many Instagram and Twitter accounts I had to search for to make sure no one got any accidental shots of us as they took pictures of the ash plume?”
Adam smiled earnestly, “And I’m eternally grateful.”
“She’s right, though,” Sabretooth said. “This mission is lowest of the down-low profile. Enyalius hypnotized anyone that might have caught glimpse of us, but that was sloppy. We can’t attract unwanted heat like that. Excalibur, Avengers, Force Works…or the mother of them all—the fawkin’ X-Men, for example?”
Adam glared at his mentor, “The mission does not change. We could not have foreseen this technicality, but I will be more careful in the future—”
“The X-Men will obliterate you, sweep your ashes under the rug, and then look motherfuckin’ Joe Q. Public America in the eye and swear that mutants and humans can live together in peace,” Sabretooth warned. “Without breaking a sweat.”
Threnody couldn't help but nod silently.
“I haven’t done anything to the X-Men,” Adam laughed. “They would be hypocrites to even lay a finger on me just because of who my father was.”
“…you fawkin’ look just like him!” Sabretooth bellowed.
“My voice is different, I’m taller, my abilities are totally different,” Adam sighed. “Genetically speaking, I’m the furthest thing from my father. He wasn't even a…”
Adam paused with a remarkable grin.
“What?” Threnody and Sabretooth asked in unison.
“…a mutant.”
Sabretooth immediately stood up and pointed his barely-regrown finger at Adam, “No fucking way! You’re not going to do what I suspect yer gonna do—”
He suddenly stopped and sat back down, dunking his hand back into the oozy substance, “Yer not gonna—”
# # # # #
Xavier Institute of Higher Learning
1620 Greymalkin Lane
Salem Center, New York
Forty-Eight Hours Later.
“—join the Xavier Institute? I have my transcripts and FAFSA filled out properly,” Adam spoke with a Midwest accent into the intercom at the front gate. He was in his normal form. His pale white skin, diamond marking, opaque red eyes—all were clearly visible. He made sure to face the surveillance camera fully.
He wore typical clothing meant for a college student. Jeans, V-neck under a plaid fleece long-sleeved shirt. He even gelled his hair into a faux-hawk.
Adam silently counted down from thirty. His throat suddenly became dry.
He deliberately turned back to the intercom, “I’m Adam Simmons…I emailed you about two days ago, but did not hear a response?”
A red light suddenly illuminated the front entrance to the gate. An automated voice echoed throughout the Xavier estate.
[[Security Alert! All students advised to rendezvous in Danger Room!]]
Wow, Adam thought, same alert level as Sentinels. Are they teaching Prejudice 101 right now?
# # # # #
Back in Omaha, Sabretooth and Threnody monitored Adam’s debacle of a mission. They both sat at a command console under a large screen with geo-location and various stats, weather patterns, psionic activity, and the like.
Anything less would have been silly.
“Y’know, funny story,” Sabretooth said, leaning in towards Threnody, in an attempt to break the awkward silence. “Um, Wolverine’s my dad. Use’ta think he was my son.”
Threnody tapped a button on her bluetooth earpiece, muting her voice. “I know you said it was funny, but I’m waiting for the punchline.”
“Nah. That’s…that’s the story. The irony of the thing,” Sabretooth waved his hand in the air, as if to look for the exact words, “I guess that part’s funny.”
“Weapon X brain farts or Enyalius brain farts, I’m not sure which is worse to fucking deal with,” Threnody sighed. “I’m done, dude…just…okay?”
A beat.
“Cos…I suppose everyone thought we were brothers or sumthin’,” Sabretooth rambled. “I dunno.”
Threnody arched an eyebrow, “You should have asked the X-Men to rehabilitate you with some conversation skills.” She un-muted herself after clearing her throat, “Try to control your heart rate, Adam. They’re coming.”
“…I mean, he’s so short, and I’m like…Viking-sized…no sense at all, but whatever.”
“Ughhhhhhh,” Threnody groaned. “You make me want to stab my eardrums!!!”
# # # # #
Xavier’s.
“Alright, Adam,” a skunk-haired woman said as she hovered twenty feet in the air with her arms crossed. “Hands where we can see ‘em, kneel on the ground, no mind tricks or psionic activity of any kind. Understand, sugah?”
Adam feigned shock, “Is…is this because of my…how I look? I’m not one of those dangerous mutants, I swear!”
Adam’s DNA reading ability had trouble with Rogue. It was almost as if her x-gene was constantly in flux. He also saw traces of Apocalypse’s genetic tampering—remnants of the Famine Horseman within her. Cosmetically, she was free of his influence, but the molecular level did not lie.
Rogue mentally shifted through her catalog of powers, settling on Jean Grey’s, which conveniently allowed her to stay afloat and attempt to read Adam’s mind. She winced as she felt the psionic feedback from Adam’s psionic dead zone. It was as if his mind were like static.
“Ah’ve been in your position before, so if you’re tryin’ to block me from accessin’ your mind, it’s a little ill-advised,” Rouge warned.
“I’m not trying to block you…if I am, I’m doing it involuntarily,” Adam said—he wasn’t exactly lying. His psionic dead zone did not have an off-switch.
Rogue had a little experience in involuntary mutant abilities. For years, she absorbed the life-force, memories, and superhuman abilities of all she touched through skin-to-skin contact. After realizing the source of her defense mechanism, she was able to control it—and access those abilities she’s absorbed over the years at will.
Rogue inhaled slowly and exhaled, descending onto the ground calmly, “It’s alright. You do look…like someone we know. Do you have a father?”
Adam shook his head, “My mom, raised me. It was just us for years, and then…boom, my skin loses its pigment, my eyes turn red, this…diamond grows through my forehead…come to think of it, it was right after taking my SATs…it must have been stressful, I guess…”
“Your mom was Jillian Simmons, right?” Rogue asked.
Adam nodded somberly, “She…doesn’t know I’m here. I doubt she would care. Some parents just can’t deal with…this.” He looked away, forcibly causing his eyes to tear up. “I didn’t have anywhere else to go. I just wanted to get my degree and live my life…but I guess fate had better plans.”
“You had a perfect score on your SATs, so I guess all that stressin’ paid off,” Rogue empathized. “Runnin’ away ain’t always easy.” She held out her hand, “Ah just wanna try one more thing.”
Adam stared at the bare skin of Rogue’s hand. He was not sure how her absorption power would work on him.
“It won’t hurt, I just want to confirm mah suspicions,” Rogue said. “With your permission, Ah’m just gonna access your memories a little more directly.”
Adam anticipated they would send a powerhouse like Rogue out first—which he planned on using to his advantage, given her past and how she was persecuted unfairly by the X-Men at the time. It was almost working until now.
He bit his lower lip in anticipation, but eventually nodded and shrugged, “Sure. As long as it doesn’t hurt.”
“M’Kay, sugah…,” Rogue said as she slowly reached to touch Adam’s left temple with her right hand. “Just stay calm.”
Adam closed his eyes tightly as Rogue lightly touched his temple. Rogue’s eyes immediately became opaque and red, mimicking Adam’s. Her mouth was agape in shock, “No…n-nothing! There’s nothing!”
Adam’s eyes darted open in shock. He gritted his teeth as he struggled to free himself, “Ms. Rogue..?”
He had no choice. It was like an alternating current, she was stuck to him in some kind of unending psionic loop. He grabbed her forearm, but she wouldn’t budge. At least she wasn’t draining his life-force. Shape-shifting an extra limb from his chest, Adam judo flipped her, sending her into the brick fence that surrounded the property.
Rogue was dazed, her eyes were still red, but she didn’t look like she was all there.
A concerned Adam immediately rushed up to her, “Oh no! Miss Rogue! I’m so sorry!”
“Big mistake, bub!” a gruff voice growled.
Before Adam could meet the infamous Wolverine face to face, three blades of adamantium were forcibly jabbed into his abdomen. Nothing compared to the pain of Enyalius’s venomous skin, but Adam shut down his pain receptors in his abdomen and feigned how one might dry-heave after being one of the lucky winners of Wolverine’s claws. Adam knew he would heal, but perhaps Adam Simmons did not.
Wolverine unsheathed his claws cleanly out of the wound and pushed Adam over, who immediately curled into the fetal position while trying to hold his intestines in. The man with overgrown mutton chops arched an eyebrow, “Quit yer belly-achin’ and get up, Sinister. Let’s drop this act.” As the words left his mouth, however, he noticed the acidic blood sizzling as it hit the air.
Adam tried to act surprised when his wounds healed themselves. He stood up slowly, “Do you stab all of your applicants? I mean, how’d you know I’d heal…?”
“I said drop the act, bub,” Wolverine growled. “You ain’t even got a scent! Is that some new Phalanx tech you mixed in with the St. Croix twins DNA? Or is this some new project? You infiltrated the Byron Agency, the US Government, now you try and join our team!?!”
“I honestly don’t understand what you’re talking about, sir…,” Adam said as he held up his hands, reacting the way one would when dealing with a wild dog. “I’m just trying to apply for school…I can’t exactly get a Harvard degree looking like this.”
[[Security alert ended. Classes will resume in five minutes. Thank you for your cooperation.]]
“Alright, Logan,” a man made completely of ice said as an oversized sheet of ice formed out of thin air, landing in front of Adam. “Clearly, this kid isn’t Sinister. Were you even listening to Rogue’s conversation? Jeannie had us all patched in telepathically.”
A loud thud hit the ground behind the two, startling Adam. Up stood a muscular, yet blue fur-covered simian. He adjusted his spectacles and gently placed his rather large hand on Adam’s shoulder, “It’s alright, son. Apologies. Our man, Logan, is a little on edge lately. Your test scores are absolutely phenomenal.”
A redheaded woman in her late-twenties telekinetically descended after being airborne for a short burst. She landed beside Rogue. She turned and looked at Adam, “I am Mrs. Su—ahem—Ms. Grey, Headmistress of the Xavier Institute.”
Phoenix turned back to Rogue and telepathically guided her back to consciousness. Adam shortened the radius of his psionic dead zone to allow Phoenix to complete her task without any hiccups. Rogue’s eyes blinked, returning to their normal color. She got to her feet, dusting off her uniform, “Ugh, that was mah fault. Sorry, Adam.”
Adam smiled, “Well, I guess that’s okay. Who’s Sinister?”
Logan stood in back of everyone, rubbing his throbbing knuckles.
# # # # #
Science Wing.
Xavier Institute.
“Nathanial Essex,” Beast explained. “Called himself Mister Sinister or just…Sinister.” A high-definition screen lit up with a digital depiction of the man described. He wore some kind of armor, deep blue with a red belt and a similarly red diamond symbol on his chest along with a high-collar black and red cape that resembled a plant.
Beast continued his presentation, “Enhanced strength, self-healing capabilities, high metamorphic degree, telepathy, telekinesis, and teleportation. All abilities granted to him through technology or genetic augmentation.”
“You think he’s my father?” Adam asked, noting the physical similarities.
“Was,” Alex Summers, XSE liaison to the X-Men, said sharply. “Sorry to say he’s dead.”
“Oh,” Adam said with a somber nod.
Beast exchanged a silent glance with Havok, as if to tell him to back down. There was no reason to take out his aggression out on Sinister’s son, especially since he was a student, not an X-Man.
Beast continued monitoring the blood sample, “It’s possible, or he could have mapped his own DNA onto your biological father. We’ll never know. Your blood sample is…unique. Had to get a special device to tone down its acidity.”
Adam frowned, “Sorry. That centrifuge looked expensive. I guess I never really figured out the full extent of my abilities.”
Beast smiled assuredly, “Don’t worry. You’ve come to the right place to discover just that.” He looked up at the screen, where a DNA map faded into view. A solitary molecule on the DNA chain had a red overlay of color for display purposes.
“Well…there it is. Your x-gene is on the 26th chromosome. Normally, our mutant-tracking program, Cerebro, confirms this for us, but your mind seems to be naturally shielded from any kind of mental detection. Almost a complete psionic dampening field.”
“Like a…psionic dead zone?” Adam suggested.
Beast grinned with a little bob to his head, “Precisely.”
“I can tell who’s a mutant and who’s not, too,” Adam said. He exchanged a glance with Havok, “Especially the powerful ones.”
Beast arched an eyebrow, “Hmm. That could be useful.”
Havok grimaced, “Your father manipulated and abused mutants—usually against their will. All for his own gain or to complete some twisted experiment!”
Adam fought to hold back a smirk. He knew full well of what his father did, especially to the Summers family…and Sinister did it without knowing they were distantly related to Apocalypse. But Adam knew that Havok was one of his targets. He could smell it within the DNA from Havok’s microscopic skin cells that floated around him. He could end it right there and teleport out without so much as a fuss.
It seemed the Summers family was exempt—they were simply too dangerous to take on individually. Nate Grey and Scott Summers were still out there, not to mention repercussions from Phoenix—the former Mrs. Summers.
“I’m sorry for whatever he did,” Adam said regretfully. “I know that might not mean much from me—I’ve never even met him, I don’t know what kind of a man he was. All I know is that I wasn’t raised to be…” He teared up, “My mom essentially abandoned me—I don’t have any family left.”
Havok breathed calmly and put on a sympathetic smile, “My dad is a space pirate, so maybe I get what you're saying on some level. But…there is a family for you, here. I haven’t been an X-Man as long as some of the others here, but I do remember that part.”
He gently slapped Adam on the back, “I’m sorry, kid. I’m not even technically one of the teachers here. I shouldn’t be the one to judge anyone trying to pass the admissions exam.”
“Admissions?”
Beast smiled, “Just a Danger Room exercise. Very basic.”
Adam smirked, “Now you’re just hazing me!”
“Sort of,” Beast admitted, “but part of me wants to see the extent of your powers. I am a scientist after all.”
In the doorway of the science wing, Logan stood leaned up against the doorframe. He lowered his eyes, giving a silent nod to Havok and Beast. Whatever act Adam put on, it was genuine.
Adam wiped his tears and smiled.
# # # # #
Next Issue: With the X-Men thrown off his scent, Adam must now balance his mission while acting as a student at Xavier’s. Meanwhile, William Rolfson inches closer to his destiny with the Clan Akkaba.
South Aegean.
{{…This should be fun. Standby,}} Adam said into his two-way radio earpiece. On the other end was Sabretooth, former X-Man, former enemy of the X-Men, current mentor to Adam Essex.
The wind picked up as a familiar scent reached Sabretooth’s nostrils. “Wait!” His pupils dilated, and it wasn’t from the vodka. “Aw fawk, now I remember this place. That asshole must have put some kind of whammy on me that made me forget.”
“What?” Threnody wondered as if asking a child. “Which asshole whammied who?”
“Adam!” he shouted as he pressed up against his earpiece. “Get out of there! Repeat! Abort!”
{{—-}}
“Uh…”
“Will you tell me what the shit is going on?!” Threnody demanded.
“The Battle of Kos, during Dubbya Dubbya Two—I was here,” Sabretooth said. “So was someone else. They conveniently left that part out of history on account of the Nazis eventually losing the war…the mark we’re chasin’ ain’t the kind of fight we want, Apocalypse’s third-nephew—whateverdafuck—er not!”
“Can you please make more damn sense!?” Threnody shouted. “You said you passed this island on a boat once, not that you were in World War II.”
“Let’s just say we you don’t wake a sleeping dragon,” Sabretooth muttered. He looked off into the distance. For a split second, he considered just bailing, leaving Adam to reap what he sowed. Maybe the old Victor Creed would have done so, but not now.
“Synchronize the tesseract coordinates by that mosque, we need to make a quick exit,” Sabretooth ordered. “We’re not leaving without him.”
“Just one question, were you fighting with or against the Allies?” Threnody asked as they ran to the ledge of the rooftop. Sabretooth leapt off the roof and landed on the street below with ease as he raced towards Adam.
Threnody stared blankly as the potential necroplasmic energy began to taunt her cravings, “Damn it, girl…what have you gotten yourself into now?”
She thought Greece would bring back some happier memories, when Threnody and her ex-boyfriend, Nate Grey vacationed in Crete. Although they fought Holocaust during that time, everything leading up to it was…special.
Melody shook her head to snap herself out of it, “Nope, not digging that up right now…he’s got his own floating island and he’s calling himself Cable now…that road is blocked off. The zombie child was a little too much…”
She grabbed her customized smartphone and called up an application designed for firing up Sinister’s old tesseract technology. Using GPS, she centered the teleportation around the mosque as Sabretooth instructed her. After she clicked accept button, she leapt off the side of the ruin slowed her fall with a short burst of pink necroplasmic energy.
“Don’t worry, boys, I’ll clean up your mess as usual!” Threnody shouted sardonically as she sprinted into battle, a few blocks behind Sabretooth.
# # # # #
A large battle axe formed out of the reptile man’s hand. His soulless eyes glowed with a dark amber, “Perhaps no one told you? I am Enyalius—the First Horseman of Apocalypse. Now…you die.”
“Definitely not on the test, Victor…,” Adam grumbled to himself through gritted teeth.
The large muscular creature swung the equally-large axe at Adam's head, but he nimbly leapt out of the way. Adam made a visual estimate that Enyalius was about as big as the Hulk at the peak of anger. His intuitive DNA mapping confirmed that he had Apocalypse's blood, but it was different than normal. There was a parallel DNA pattern somehow mixed and intertwined.
The axe, however, was a mere distraction as Enyalius immediately pulled a broadsword from a hidden sheathe with his opposite arm, slicing Adam in the abdomen and then turning and round housing him in the jaw, sending him flying at the force of 200 meters per second into another wall.
Black blood oozed from his wounds as the effects of the mysterious ailment began to take their toll on Adam. If Enyalius was the first Horseman...was he Pestilence? War? Or all four combined, like some kind of failed experiment?
"Your mind is difficult to lock down, your brain should be pouring from your nostrils as we speak, yet you survive," Enyalius spoke with utter disdain.
“Telepathy won’t work around me…so you may as well fight me…,” Adam muttered as his broken ribs and other injuries began to annoy him.
"The venom in your very marrow should end you soon enough."
Adam panted as he struggled to breathe, making a mental note of the full scale of the First Horseman's abilities. Increased strength in his reptilian form, telepathic blasts, venom-soaked skin that was hard as stone, pyrokinesis. Perhaps he had no limits and was merely toying with him?
The large saurian monster walked up to Adam, the ground shaking with every clomping step, and pressed the edge of his axe beneath Adam's chin. The metal burned, sizzling as it touched his skin, but the paralysis from the venom which seemed to coat Enyalius's skin had already set in.
Adam's mind raced as he tried to come up with a solution, but he had none. Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed a crowd had begun to gather amongst quiet gasps and some shrieks.
He was going to die out in the open for the world to see. The Clan Akkaba would continue to reign. Sinister’s legacy would end in the salty Aegean air.
Enyalius noticed the crowd also. His amber eyes seemed to flare in some kind of hypnotic frequency. The crowd dispersed, but also seemed oblivious to the battle ever taking place. A ‘whammy’ if there ever was one.
Wait. The virus inside of me—hidden in his venom. I can read its DNA. It’s programed to attack my blood. It’s working faster than my cells can regenerate. I just need to get it out of me.
Adam grumbled as he concentrated on his cells, focusing further and further—increasing the acidity of his blood.
The charred blood bubbled and boiled out of the sides of his mouth, burning his skin as it dripped onto the axe, causing it to crack. A streak of light from within the seemingly normal-looking axe glistened in the sunlight. Adam noticed the ancient circuitry within it—characteristic of Celestial technology.
Enyalius roared as he threw his axe into the ocean. As it tumbled in midair, end over end, it seemed to ring…louder and louder. When it hit the water, it flared before a deep sonic distortion expanded outward through the air to the ocean floor…causing a rift to form. Sulfur began to leak into the clear water.
To Enyalius’s amazement, Adam began to stand up, albeit unstably. Pockets of large bumps formed over his skin as Adam caused his own blood to boil—forcing the infected blood out of his body.
“Until next time, then,” Adam uttered with a half-attempt at a salute.
Enyalius’s eyes grew wide as he saw a woman bathed in pink light, hovering in midair. The death energy reeked from both he and Adam. It was all Threnody needed to pack the biggest punch she ever had to deliver.
She clenched her fists and simply let the welled-up energy release itself—like a dam breaking. The blast knocked the Horseman back, ricocheting off the stone path and flipped through the air.
A deep, thunderous shriek preceded two dragon-like wings ripping through his back as the First Horseman made a hasty course-correction—setting his new target on Threnody in a violent dive bombing motion.
She fell to her knees from the exertion of her powers. Her cybernetic implants attached to her temples and cheekbones began to short out. Threnody covered her face in her hands, and said bluntly, “You’re…dying.”
One of the bumps that formed on his forehead seemed to pop, exposing vaporized boiled blood, “I should theoretically…be fine…for another sixty seconds,” Adam said as he knelt down next to his father’s former messenger, shielding her.
Before Enyalius could deliver a destructive blow to his attackers, a swift clawed hand sliced downward across his scaled face—coupled with his velocity and momentum—caused him to face-plant into the ground.
A small rumbling could be felt…but it became progressively stronger until an explosion of ash shot up into the sky from a thought-dormant crater within the island. The ash plume immediately blotted out the sun. The Celestial axe appeared to cause more damage.
Sabretooth winced as he gripped his wrist, holding his bloodied…and fingerless hand. The tendons shot pain all through his right arm. After a beat, he finally let out two distinct roars of agony, “MOTHER! FUCKER!”
“Oh my God!? Your hand! Your fingers!” Threnody yelped in a panic, despite the death energies charging her body. “Should we get them on ice or something—?”
“Evac!” Sabretooth growled.
“But the people!” Threnody shouted.
“…can’t…,” Adam mumbled, “…save them…I’m sorry…”
“You’re drunk on endorphins, idiot!” Threnody shouted.
Enyalius got to his feet, only to see that his attackers were enveloped in a white light as their teleportation signature fired up. He caught sight of the tall blonde man.
“Creed…,” Enyalius uttered through gritted daggers. “Even a mental suggestion will not keep you away from MY ISLAND— YOU DEPRAVED DEMON!?!”
With his good hand, Sabretooth smiled and waved his middle finger, “This is for you pal.”
In a flash, the trio was gone. Enyalius whipped his body around as he looked up in horror at the ash plume that filled the sky.
“No…”
With his massive wings, a leap into the air was all it took for him to scale the volcano. He saw a small sphere of light, only visible to the ultraviolet spectrum—and dove into it.
When he opened his eyes, his reptilian skin began to crack and become transparent. He tore the outer shell off, revealing his human-sized body. A lush vineyard surrounded a small, quaint home. The sky was a warm blue without a cloud in the sky. The ocean was a deep blue.
A small girl with intricate braided blonde hair wearing a plain white dress ran out to greet Enyalius, “Papa!”
Apocalypse had placed his homestead into a Celestial Temporal Sphere thousands of years ago. His wife and children were unstuck in time…forever forced to life within a literal bubble. Enyalius did not lie when he said his family was the island. It was all he had left.
He hugged his daughter and smiled as he picked her up, his shaved head reflecting the golden sunshine, “My little Elea.”
“Who made you turn into The Dragon again, Papa?” Elea wondered, observing the lifeless husk of reptilian skin.
Enyalius smiled, “A group of no-gooders as usual.”
“The tribe with the red arm bands again?” Elea inquired.
“No, not the Nazis,” Enyalius laughed.
His wife, Adonia stood in the entryway to the home, exchanging a knowing glance with her husband. She had the same blonde locks their daughter did.
“En Sabah Nur?” Adonia asked as their two sons, Orius and Theron ran to her side, hugging her legs.
“No, that would be conquerer is dead,” Enyalius said. He shook his head, “The modern world is full of men and women that are trying to destroy everything I hold dear. Outside our boundaries, the volcano is erupting ash into the air our neighbors and visitors breathe.”
“What will you do?” Adonia asked.
“I cannot wait any longer, I must venture out into the world and hunt these wretches down like the vermin they are,” Enyalius declared. “I was created for destruction against my will all those years ago, but I fought back…”
Enyalius looked down at his children and then met eyes with his wife, “…I will make sure we will be able to live in peace again.”
# # # # #
New York City
Twelve Hours Later.
{{Reports are still coming in from Kos of ash plumes as high as 25 miles into the stratosphere. All flights coming into Greece as well as all of Eastern Europe have been diverted or grounded entirely. Some say the shockwaves could be felt as far away as Egypt and beyond.}}
William Rolfson watched the television with wonder. He himself felt like a volcano that might one day explode, at least a month ago, he began generating bio-nuclear microwave energy through his body. He looked over at his mother, Autumn, a frail and gaunt looking woman. Her clothes were tattered. She had to struggle to make ends meet. Even the former Horseman of Famine had to pay the bills, it seemed.
Autumn sat at the kitchen dining table, with a pink-haired man sitting at the opposite end wearing a perfectly-tailored navy suit. He crossed his hands and casually rested them under his chin.
“So how did you find us?” Autumn asked.
Frederick Slade smiled, “It was not as hard as you'd think, despite your best efforts to hide William from us, his father, and quite frankly, his birthright. Did you really think you could keep him from the Clan Akkaba for years? From his nieces and nephews—myself, included? The one direct descendant to Apocalypse, and you keep him in some ghastly apartment?”
Autumn rolled her eyes, “Well, your lord and master was out doing the hard work while you and your Clan ate caviar and hosted dinner parties for the Queen, don’t lecture me. I was a Horseman, recruited by Apocalypse when I was barely a teenager. You? You’re a spoiled trust fund twat hiding in the shadows!”
Frederick unfolded his hands. His face remained unfazed as his emerald eyes seemed to ignite with an internal combustion. Needless to say, some mutants did not have the best poker faces when hiding their anger.
He nonetheless retained his composure out of respect for Autumn’s service under Apocalypse. He calmly inhaled the stale air through his nose and exhaled, holding up his hands, “There is no need for unpleasantries. I apologize for sounding harsh, I simply want William to fulfill his destiny, to preserve the legacy of Apocalypse. Neither you nor William deserve a life like this. I want you both to return to the fold.”
Autumn turned her head, catching a glimpse of her son watching television while simultaneously scrolling through his iPhone and playing a game on his iPad. She sighed, “No, I’m sorry. I should be grateful for an opportunity like this. Being a single parent to the son of Apocalypse should not be this difficult.”
Frederick smiled, “No apologies are necessary, m’lady Famine.”
Autumn fought to not roll her eyes. Her former title was not something she was used to hearing. She feigned a smile and nodded.
“I was scared,” Autumn said, upset with herself that she admitted weakness. “You know how your uncle was. He would have tortured him if he knew about William. Or, worse…” She sighed, “Today’s kids aren’t built for that kind of stuff, I’m afraid.”
Frederick chuckled knowingly, “I know all too well. My youngest daughter is around William’s age, perhaps a little older.”
He leaned in closer and lent a generous hand, “Come live with the Clan. I promise you William will be Fittest in less than five years. He can replace Apocalypse. You and I will rebuild the Clan Akkaba to its former glory not seen since the time of pharaohs. No longer diluting it with humans or lesser-powered mutants or mutates. A pure, direct royal line. And you will be its Matriarch!”
Autumn crossed her stick-like arms, purposefully hiding her gaze from Frederick, “Very well…”
# # # # #
Central Omaha, Nebraska.
Exact Location Unknown.
From his father’s former main laboratory, Adam stood in front of a large projection-screen with a visual on the DNA stands with Enyalius’s virus. A centrifuge spun multiple viles of blood. He was hooked up to various tubes as blood and plasma was still being reintroduced into his system. His injuries were healed, but the infected blood still in his system was keeping his healing less than optimal. Normally, he would range in-between Wolverine and Deadpool in terms of healing time.
Sabretooth sat in a strangely green techno-organic chair, with his wounded hand submerged in a strange green gelatinous substance. He kept dozing off, leaned up against his left hand while his elbow rested on his thigh. He sighed, “Can I take my hand out now?”
“Not yet,” Adam said without taking his eyes off the screen.
“I have to take a massive dump,” he grumbled.
“I don’t care. You’re right-handed and you need fingers. Unless you want to wait about a week for them to grow back on their own. Cybernetics aren't necessarily my first language,” Adam groaned. “The chair you’re sitting in will absorb your waste products, actually.”
Sabretooth’s face contorted in disgust. He placed his elbow on his thigh and returned to his original position, “I’ll hold it.”
“Please stop talking while I’m working,” Adam warned. He hadn’t blinked in six hours. He stretched his intuitive DNA-reading senses to their limit.
Sabretooth scoffed and shook his head. Threnody walked up beside him and raised her eyebrows. Both of them were slightly amused by how closely Adam’s obsessive nature rivaled that of his father’s.
Sabretooth nodded in Threnody’s direction, only speaking loudly enough for her to hear, “Good work out there, blasting Enyalius like that.”
Threnody crossed her arms, “Leaving those people out there didn’t feel that good.”
“We ain’t superheroes,” Sabretooth said matter-of-factly. “Our mission is seek and destroy only.”
“Maybe Adam’s mission…,” Threnody suggested. “Still. We caused that eruption. I caused it. That was the intel from Herbert Windsor’s psionic echo.”
Sabretooth shrugged, “Life’s not fair. Sometimes we gotta do things that ain’t no good. People get caught in the wake. It’s the law of the universe. No use mulling over it, kid.”
“I can’t help but mull over it when I hear the dying screams of everyone getting burned alive from volcanic ash,” Threnody darted back.
“Getting a little loud…,” Adam stated coldly.
Sabretooth lowered his voice again, “Look. I used to be caught up in the bloodlust for decades until the X-Men snapped me out of it. I can’t bring back those folks I killed. I’m not ashamed of who I am or who I was. I was a murderin’ sum’bitch. Still am. I just care about the consequences a little more.”
“You care?” Threnody asked with an arched eyebrow.
Sabretooth confessed with a shrug, “All that really changed was my state of mind. It wasn’t just a switch that gets shut off.”
“HA!”
Sabretooth and Threnody stopped their debate dead in its tracks.
Adam turned and faced his partners in crime, “Enyalius was merely infused with Apocalypse’s blood. He must have been some kind of proto-Horseman.”
“Bastard’s probably the reason Apocalypse divided them into four elements, if anything,” Sabretooth suggested.
“Well, that was a waste of a trip,” Threnody sighed. “Now we’ve got this ancient unstoppable Horseman on our tail and all we’ve got to show for it is a volcanic disaster, not to mention a lot of unwanted attention. Do you know how many Instagram and Twitter accounts I had to search for to make sure no one got any accidental shots of us as they took pictures of the ash plume?”
Adam smiled earnestly, “And I’m eternally grateful.”
“She’s right, though,” Sabretooth said. “This mission is lowest of the down-low profile. Enyalius hypnotized anyone that might have caught glimpse of us, but that was sloppy. We can’t attract unwanted heat like that. Excalibur, Avengers, Force Works…or the mother of them all—the fawkin’ X-Men, for example?”
Adam glared at his mentor, “The mission does not change. We could not have foreseen this technicality, but I will be more careful in the future—”
“The X-Men will obliterate you, sweep your ashes under the rug, and then look motherfuckin’ Joe Q. Public America in the eye and swear that mutants and humans can live together in peace,” Sabretooth warned. “Without breaking a sweat.”
Threnody couldn't help but nod silently.
“I haven’t done anything to the X-Men,” Adam laughed. “They would be hypocrites to even lay a finger on me just because of who my father was.”
“…you fawkin’ look just like him!” Sabretooth bellowed.
“My voice is different, I’m taller, my abilities are totally different,” Adam sighed. “Genetically speaking, I’m the furthest thing from my father. He wasn't even a…”
Adam paused with a remarkable grin.
“What?” Threnody and Sabretooth asked in unison.
“…a mutant.”
Sabretooth immediately stood up and pointed his barely-regrown finger at Adam, “No fucking way! You’re not going to do what I suspect yer gonna do—”
He suddenly stopped and sat back down, dunking his hand back into the oozy substance, “Yer not gonna—”
# # # # #
Xavier Institute of Higher Learning
1620 Greymalkin Lane
Salem Center, New York
Forty-Eight Hours Later.
“—join the Xavier Institute? I have my transcripts and FAFSA filled out properly,” Adam spoke with a Midwest accent into the intercom at the front gate. He was in his normal form. His pale white skin, diamond marking, opaque red eyes—all were clearly visible. He made sure to face the surveillance camera fully.
He wore typical clothing meant for a college student. Jeans, V-neck under a plaid fleece long-sleeved shirt. He even gelled his hair into a faux-hawk.
Adam silently counted down from thirty. His throat suddenly became dry.
He deliberately turned back to the intercom, “I’m Adam Simmons…I emailed you about two days ago, but did not hear a response?”
A red light suddenly illuminated the front entrance to the gate. An automated voice echoed throughout the Xavier estate.
[[Security Alert! All students advised to rendezvous in Danger Room!]]
Wow, Adam thought, same alert level as Sentinels. Are they teaching Prejudice 101 right now?
# # # # #
Back in Omaha, Sabretooth and Threnody monitored Adam’s debacle of a mission. They both sat at a command console under a large screen with geo-location and various stats, weather patterns, psionic activity, and the like.
Anything less would have been silly.
“Y’know, funny story,” Sabretooth said, leaning in towards Threnody, in an attempt to break the awkward silence. “Um, Wolverine’s my dad. Use’ta think he was my son.”
Threnody tapped a button on her bluetooth earpiece, muting her voice. “I know you said it was funny, but I’m waiting for the punchline.”
“Nah. That’s…that’s the story. The irony of the thing,” Sabretooth waved his hand in the air, as if to look for the exact words, “I guess that part’s funny.”
“Weapon X brain farts or Enyalius brain farts, I’m not sure which is worse to fucking deal with,” Threnody sighed. “I’m done, dude…just…okay?”
A beat.
“Cos…I suppose everyone thought we were brothers or sumthin’,” Sabretooth rambled. “I dunno.”
Threnody arched an eyebrow, “You should have asked the X-Men to rehabilitate you with some conversation skills.” She un-muted herself after clearing her throat, “Try to control your heart rate, Adam. They’re coming.”
“…I mean, he’s so short, and I’m like…Viking-sized…no sense at all, but whatever.”
“Ughhhhhhh,” Threnody groaned. “You make me want to stab my eardrums!!!”
# # # # #
Xavier’s.
“Alright, Adam,” a skunk-haired woman said as she hovered twenty feet in the air with her arms crossed. “Hands where we can see ‘em, kneel on the ground, no mind tricks or psionic activity of any kind. Understand, sugah?”
Adam feigned shock, “Is…is this because of my…how I look? I’m not one of those dangerous mutants, I swear!”
Adam’s DNA reading ability had trouble with Rogue. It was almost as if her x-gene was constantly in flux. He also saw traces of Apocalypse’s genetic tampering—remnants of the Famine Horseman within her. Cosmetically, she was free of his influence, but the molecular level did not lie.
Rogue mentally shifted through her catalog of powers, settling on Jean Grey’s, which conveniently allowed her to stay afloat and attempt to read Adam’s mind. She winced as she felt the psionic feedback from Adam’s psionic dead zone. It was as if his mind were like static.
“Ah’ve been in your position before, so if you’re tryin’ to block me from accessin’ your mind, it’s a little ill-advised,” Rouge warned.
“I’m not trying to block you…if I am, I’m doing it involuntarily,” Adam said—he wasn’t exactly lying. His psionic dead zone did not have an off-switch.
Rogue had a little experience in involuntary mutant abilities. For years, she absorbed the life-force, memories, and superhuman abilities of all she touched through skin-to-skin contact. After realizing the source of her defense mechanism, she was able to control it—and access those abilities she’s absorbed over the years at will.
Rogue inhaled slowly and exhaled, descending onto the ground calmly, “It’s alright. You do look…like someone we know. Do you have a father?”
Adam shook his head, “My mom, raised me. It was just us for years, and then…boom, my skin loses its pigment, my eyes turn red, this…diamond grows through my forehead…come to think of it, it was right after taking my SATs…it must have been stressful, I guess…”
“Your mom was Jillian Simmons, right?” Rogue asked.
Adam nodded somberly, “She…doesn’t know I’m here. I doubt she would care. Some parents just can’t deal with…this.” He looked away, forcibly causing his eyes to tear up. “I didn’t have anywhere else to go. I just wanted to get my degree and live my life…but I guess fate had better plans.”
“You had a perfect score on your SATs, so I guess all that stressin’ paid off,” Rogue empathized. “Runnin’ away ain’t always easy.” She held out her hand, “Ah just wanna try one more thing.”
Adam stared at the bare skin of Rogue’s hand. He was not sure how her absorption power would work on him.
“It won’t hurt, I just want to confirm mah suspicions,” Rogue said. “With your permission, Ah’m just gonna access your memories a little more directly.”
Adam anticipated they would send a powerhouse like Rogue out first—which he planned on using to his advantage, given her past and how she was persecuted unfairly by the X-Men at the time. It was almost working until now.
He bit his lower lip in anticipation, but eventually nodded and shrugged, “Sure. As long as it doesn’t hurt.”
“M’Kay, sugah…,” Rogue said as she slowly reached to touch Adam’s left temple with her right hand. “Just stay calm.”
Adam closed his eyes tightly as Rogue lightly touched his temple. Rogue’s eyes immediately became opaque and red, mimicking Adam’s. Her mouth was agape in shock, “No…n-nothing! There’s nothing!”
Adam’s eyes darted open in shock. He gritted his teeth as he struggled to free himself, “Ms. Rogue..?”
He had no choice. It was like an alternating current, she was stuck to him in some kind of unending psionic loop. He grabbed her forearm, but she wouldn’t budge. At least she wasn’t draining his life-force. Shape-shifting an extra limb from his chest, Adam judo flipped her, sending her into the brick fence that surrounded the property.
Rogue was dazed, her eyes were still red, but she didn’t look like she was all there.
A concerned Adam immediately rushed up to her, “Oh no! Miss Rogue! I’m so sorry!”
“Big mistake, bub!” a gruff voice growled.
Before Adam could meet the infamous Wolverine face to face, three blades of adamantium were forcibly jabbed into his abdomen. Nothing compared to the pain of Enyalius’s venomous skin, but Adam shut down his pain receptors in his abdomen and feigned how one might dry-heave after being one of the lucky winners of Wolverine’s claws. Adam knew he would heal, but perhaps Adam Simmons did not.
Wolverine unsheathed his claws cleanly out of the wound and pushed Adam over, who immediately curled into the fetal position while trying to hold his intestines in. The man with overgrown mutton chops arched an eyebrow, “Quit yer belly-achin’ and get up, Sinister. Let’s drop this act.” As the words left his mouth, however, he noticed the acidic blood sizzling as it hit the air.
Adam tried to act surprised when his wounds healed themselves. He stood up slowly, “Do you stab all of your applicants? I mean, how’d you know I’d heal…?”
“I said drop the act, bub,” Wolverine growled. “You ain’t even got a scent! Is that some new Phalanx tech you mixed in with the St. Croix twins DNA? Or is this some new project? You infiltrated the Byron Agency, the US Government, now you try and join our team!?!”
“I honestly don’t understand what you’re talking about, sir…,” Adam said as he held up his hands, reacting the way one would when dealing with a wild dog. “I’m just trying to apply for school…I can’t exactly get a Harvard degree looking like this.”
[[Security alert ended. Classes will resume in five minutes. Thank you for your cooperation.]]
“Alright, Logan,” a man made completely of ice said as an oversized sheet of ice formed out of thin air, landing in front of Adam. “Clearly, this kid isn’t Sinister. Were you even listening to Rogue’s conversation? Jeannie had us all patched in telepathically.”
A loud thud hit the ground behind the two, startling Adam. Up stood a muscular, yet blue fur-covered simian. He adjusted his spectacles and gently placed his rather large hand on Adam’s shoulder, “It’s alright, son. Apologies. Our man, Logan, is a little on edge lately. Your test scores are absolutely phenomenal.”
A redheaded woman in her late-twenties telekinetically descended after being airborne for a short burst. She landed beside Rogue. She turned and looked at Adam, “I am Mrs. Su—ahem—Ms. Grey, Headmistress of the Xavier Institute.”
Phoenix turned back to Rogue and telepathically guided her back to consciousness. Adam shortened the radius of his psionic dead zone to allow Phoenix to complete her task without any hiccups. Rogue’s eyes blinked, returning to their normal color. She got to her feet, dusting off her uniform, “Ugh, that was mah fault. Sorry, Adam.”
Adam smiled, “Well, I guess that’s okay. Who’s Sinister?”
Logan stood in back of everyone, rubbing his throbbing knuckles.
# # # # #
Science Wing.
Xavier Institute.
“Nathanial Essex,” Beast explained. “Called himself Mister Sinister or just…Sinister.” A high-definition screen lit up with a digital depiction of the man described. He wore some kind of armor, deep blue with a red belt and a similarly red diamond symbol on his chest along with a high-collar black and red cape that resembled a plant.
Beast continued his presentation, “Enhanced strength, self-healing capabilities, high metamorphic degree, telepathy, telekinesis, and teleportation. All abilities granted to him through technology or genetic augmentation.”
“You think he’s my father?” Adam asked, noting the physical similarities.
“Was,” Alex Summers, XSE liaison to the X-Men, said sharply. “Sorry to say he’s dead.”
“Oh,” Adam said with a somber nod.
Beast exchanged a silent glance with Havok, as if to tell him to back down. There was no reason to take out his aggression out on Sinister’s son, especially since he was a student, not an X-Man.
Beast continued monitoring the blood sample, “It’s possible, or he could have mapped his own DNA onto your biological father. We’ll never know. Your blood sample is…unique. Had to get a special device to tone down its acidity.”
Adam frowned, “Sorry. That centrifuge looked expensive. I guess I never really figured out the full extent of my abilities.”
Beast smiled assuredly, “Don’t worry. You’ve come to the right place to discover just that.” He looked up at the screen, where a DNA map faded into view. A solitary molecule on the DNA chain had a red overlay of color for display purposes.
“Well…there it is. Your x-gene is on the 26th chromosome. Normally, our mutant-tracking program, Cerebro, confirms this for us, but your mind seems to be naturally shielded from any kind of mental detection. Almost a complete psionic dampening field.”
“Like a…psionic dead zone?” Adam suggested.
Beast grinned with a little bob to his head, “Precisely.”
“I can tell who’s a mutant and who’s not, too,” Adam said. He exchanged a glance with Havok, “Especially the powerful ones.”
Beast arched an eyebrow, “Hmm. That could be useful.”
Havok grimaced, “Your father manipulated and abused mutants—usually against their will. All for his own gain or to complete some twisted experiment!”
Adam fought to hold back a smirk. He knew full well of what his father did, especially to the Summers family…and Sinister did it without knowing they were distantly related to Apocalypse. But Adam knew that Havok was one of his targets. He could smell it within the DNA from Havok’s microscopic skin cells that floated around him. He could end it right there and teleport out without so much as a fuss.
It seemed the Summers family was exempt—they were simply too dangerous to take on individually. Nate Grey and Scott Summers were still out there, not to mention repercussions from Phoenix—the former Mrs. Summers.
“I’m sorry for whatever he did,” Adam said regretfully. “I know that might not mean much from me—I’ve never even met him, I don’t know what kind of a man he was. All I know is that I wasn’t raised to be…” He teared up, “My mom essentially abandoned me—I don’t have any family left.”
Havok breathed calmly and put on a sympathetic smile, “My dad is a space pirate, so maybe I get what you're saying on some level. But…there is a family for you, here. I haven’t been an X-Man as long as some of the others here, but I do remember that part.”
He gently slapped Adam on the back, “I’m sorry, kid. I’m not even technically one of the teachers here. I shouldn’t be the one to judge anyone trying to pass the admissions exam.”
“Admissions?”
Beast smiled, “Just a Danger Room exercise. Very basic.”
Adam smirked, “Now you’re just hazing me!”
“Sort of,” Beast admitted, “but part of me wants to see the extent of your powers. I am a scientist after all.”
In the doorway of the science wing, Logan stood leaned up against the doorframe. He lowered his eyes, giving a silent nod to Havok and Beast. Whatever act Adam put on, it was genuine.
Adam wiped his tears and smiled.
# # # # #
Next Issue: With the X-Men thrown off his scent, Adam must now balance his mission while acting as a student at Xavier’s. Meanwhile, William Rolfson inches closer to his destiny with the Clan Akkaba.