"Stop or I'll crush him!" shouted Muller Bayern.
Ororo floated down on air currents in front of the mercenary and his hostage. Muller's bio external armour gleamed. He held the slim man comfortably in his hands. He breathed heavily because of the chase through Bingaram Island.
Ororo stared at the determined mercenary. She knew he meant the words.
Still, thought Ororo.
Then she was sharply raising her left hand and firing a lightening bolt into the terrified hostage. However it did not kill him. The man merely became limp and passed out.
Bemused, Muller looked at the wilted hostage and he released his hold slightly. It gave Ororo the opening to fire a stronger lightening bolt than the one before into Muller's exposed chest. The impact forced Muller through the wall he stood in front of while the hostage slipped out his grasps.
The mercenary landed awkwardly, yet he scrambled onto his feet and ran towards the coastline. He wondered what happened to his twin brother who he had last seen being chased by T'Challa. A sudden bang came from the left of him. Instinctively he knew it was his brother and T'Challa fighting.
"I have to help him," said Muller.
However a gust lifted him off his feet and he was carried some distance. Eventually he began falling. He splashed into a grey sandy substance. Instantly he realized that his body was sinking.
"No, no, no." Muller was yelling into the night air, and he was thrashing about as though he was drowning.
Ororo had placed in him the quicksand. She hovered over Muller with her arms crossed. He looked up at her desperately.
"Depower yourself and tell me who you work for," commanded Ororo.
Subsequently Muller mentally deactivated the bio armour.
"I don't know who it is," he shouted as the quick sand reached his neck.
"A name," demanded Ororo.
"Exon! That's all I know. I swear." The quick sand covered his mouth. Soon only the black short hair remained above the surface.
Still hovering, Ororo slipped her right first finger into the quicksand. The substance churned and then it spat out Muller.
Ororo took the syringe from her belt. She caught Muller with air currents; afterwards she shocked him with volts of electricity from her fingertips. He became more manageable. Hence she stuck the syringe into his neck while both of them were still airborne. The nanites from the syringe flooded Muller's bloodstream and they subdued the bio chemicals that gave him his extraordinary ability.
Ororo elevated further until she spotted T'Challa and the next brother. T'Challa had stabbed through the man's bio armour with the sword. Subsequently the glowing armour disappeared. Then the man lay on the root of a palm tree while T'Challa interrogated him.
She turned her focus to the hotel the brothers were staying at. Shuri was there. Then Ororo concentrated on the energy emitted by the invisible jet that hovered over the hotel, since Umba was inside of it.
Satisfied, Ororo headed for T'Challa.
T'Challa placed the second Bayern to sleep when he struck two nerves on the man's body.
Ororo gracefully landed next to T'Challa while she dropped Muller unceremoniously near to his brother.
"He said a woman name Exon also works for their mystery contractor. That she may know who he is. She's operating out of the Gobi desert in Mongolia," said T'Challa while he pulled back the Black Panther mask.
"This one also mentioned Exon," said Ororo as went up close him.
Then T'Challa kissed her full-blooded on the lips. She responded likewise. Eventually and reluctantly their lips separated. T'Challa stared into the blue pools of her eyes. They reminded him of tropical getaways to spend quality time together.
"What do you say? After all this is over that you and I come back and check out the nearby islands," said T'Challa.
"Don't forget that our next vacation will have to be off planet." She hooked her right arm into his left and she planted her chin on his firm shoulder. A smile came on her face as a sensation surged through her body- she wanted him, but it was neither the time nor place for it. She could sense that he wanted her also.
"All right." He kissed her on the neck.
Subsequently Ororo looked down on the prisoners. "We'll drop them off home then head for the Gobi."
"Okay. But I wonder if Shuri found anything else?" T'Challa detached the kimoyo from his belt and he dialed his sister. She answered and the conversation was brief. Then he hung up.
"She found fake passports, billfolds of different currencies including Mongolian, and cell phones. But all the numbers and messages were erased from the phones."
"The secret service might dig up something from the ghost memory on the phones," said Ororo. "I'll take these two to the plane while you get Shuri."
Then the couple kissed. Afterwards Ororo floated up into sky with the prisoners, and then she headed for the jet.
Meanwhile T'Challa used the sword's time space computers to teleport onto the balcony of the room Muller was staying in. He found Shuri rummaging through the man's belongings.
She wore the white vibranium weave body armour. The sonic wave cannon slung over her right shoulder. Shuri sensed her brother's presence thus she turned to him.
"We got some information," said T'Challa.
"So who are we going after?" She dropped the travelling bag.
" Someone else who also did work for the contractor. In Mongolia."
"Okay." She sounded driven.
"But we'll drop off the Bayerns home first. We'll need the cell phones."
One minute later, the two teleported into the jet. Umba was still at the controls where he monitored the Indian coastguard, and he jammed any signals from the island. Ororo was placing manacles on the Bayerns. They were on the left corner of the jet's main area.
Then Ororo turned towards Shuri. "Could you pilot the jet to Wakanda. T'Challa and I have to speak privately in the back."
"No problem," said Shuri. She pulled back her mask and it revealed her medium hair cut, chestnut eyes, and long face.
Then the angular young woman sat in the pilot of seat next to Umba. Meanwhile Ororo and T'Challa went to the middle of the jet. Ororo closed the door.
"What do you want to speak about?" inquired T'Challa.
Ororo smiled slyly. "This."
Then she slipped her arms around his neck and brought his head down to hers. Afterwards they began kissing. She found it was necessary in order to keep the romantic spark alive in their relationship, despite the hectic lifestyle. T'Challa responded by holding her around the waist and bringing her closer to him.
Concurrently Shuri wondered what she could discuss with Umba. They had traveled to Hong Kong then to India and finally Bingaram Island without a word between each other.
She looked over at the blind stocky fifteen-year-old. A vertical red light continuously ran across his computerized visor's lens.
"Do you miss the world outside of Wakanda?" she finally asked.
Umba turned to the direction the voice came. "Sometimes. But I find Wakanda to be better in some ways."
Shuri searched through her knowledge of the teenager for something else to talk about. She knew he was a former child soldier and his father was a warlord.
"What about your mother? T'Challa told me that she died. But do you have any memory of her?" inquired Shuri.
"No. I don't even know what caused her death."
"What are your plans when you get older?"
"I would like to tour the rest of Africa. Help former child soldiers like myself and other kids that got caught up in the wars."
It sounded like a means of redemption to Shuri, because from what she understood Umba and his father were involved in most of those wars for the wrong reasons.
"Can I ask you a question," inquired Umba.
"Go ahead."
"Do you have a problem with T'Challa teaching me the Black Panther combat techniques?"
She thought about it for a moment. "Not really. T'Challa believes you are worthy of it."
Umba had a relieved expression then he turned away from her. He liked Shuri now.
Ten minutes later, T'Challa and Ororo returned to main area. The couple sat in the passenger seats while they held the other's hand. Shuri glanced at them; afterwards, she resumed flying the jet back to Wakanda.
The jet landed on top the secret service building. Several officers were on site to handle the Bayerns. The head of the secret service approached T'Challa and Ororo.
"I have a development," he said. "There is a new virus. It was discovered six hours ago in Carolo. The authorities there say they have it contained. But there are reports it may be spreading outside of the country."
Immediately T'Challa and Ororo contacted Wakanda's Foreign Affairs Division. They wanted a message sent to the Carolo's Prime Minister requesting a meeting to discuss Wakanda's assistance in dealing with the virus.
Meanwhile Shuri handed over the items taken from the Bayerns to the secret service personnel.
Afterwards the four warriors returned to the jet and they headed for the Gobi desert.
En Sabah Nur aka Apocalypse studied the media reports from the television satellite feeds. The reports featured stories on Carolo's mysterious virus. He smiled.
"It has begun," he said.
Then mentally he ordered the satellite feeds to shut down. The top tier of Nakia Exon's laboratory became quiet. He approached the banister and then peered down at the lower levels.
Nakia was there as usual working silently. Two android helpers were at her side. Her beauty reminded him of an Egyptian princess he once knew and loved, but inevitably she rejected him because his mutant features. That was the moment he turned his back on humanity.
Nakia sensed he was watching her; hence she looked up at him. It was a stare totally devoid of emotion. Her face was round, the hair in a ponytail and the eyes black. She was in her late forties.
Abruptly Nakia looked away and resumed her work of recreating his original body.
But he kept gazing at her. He was reading her mind. All her focus was on mastering the genetic map and bio chemical mechanics that were before her. It was her gift to read the genetic material of others. While other geneticists took years to work out and understand the mysteries she did it in mere minutes or a few hours based on the complexity of the matter.
Tired of observing the doctor, Apocalypse walked over to the war table. His heavy steps were like a giant's. He looked like one too; Apocalypse stood at fifteen feet tall. He weighed a ton due to the blue techno armour that held his essence and consciousness.
It was the lack of a proper body that made him seek out Exon. The body he was born with had burned out over the millenniums because of his immense powers. Hence he used half of his concentration to hold his current form; but his great plan required him at full power thus he needed a body of flesh and bone.
The plan itself was an incarnation of others he had perpetrated from ancient Egypt to pre Columbus South America. Hence the name had given himself-Apocalypse. The impetuous for committing such despicable acts was his fixation on the concept of survival of the fittest.
It was beaten into him as a child in the nomad tribe that he had traveled with between Egypt and present day Jordan. By the time he became a teenager he was one of the best warriors in the tribe.
He surveyed the war table. There were coded estimations of the regions that would be most affected by the pandemic. Those devastated locations would be bases for his reign.
Apocalypse realized that four intruders were outside of the laboratory. He mentally locked onto the external surveillance system, which allowed him to observe the intruders. He recognized one immediately.
"Storm," he said and a thin smile came on his face as he remembered easily defeating her. They had met on several occasions in his confrontations with the X men.
Then he noticed T'Challa.
"Finally I meet a legendary Wakandan," Apocalypse said.
As the Pharaoh of Egypt his spies had informed him of the isolated nation rumored to be unconquerable. But he never had the opportunity to put that boast to the test.
"Now I do," he said. He estimated that Wakanda's isolation would likely make them the last strongholds of human resistance to his reign. Therefore he would have to crush them.
Shuri was a stranger to him, but when he viewed Umba's face, he saw a few physical traits that resembled Exon's. Physical traits that were passed from mother to child.
"Her son," said Apocalypse intrigued.
He secretly knew about Exon's brief relationship with Shetani the Warlord and that she gave their baby to him because she didn't want to raise the child.
He left the table and walked briskly to the banister. Then he flew off of top tier and descended. He landed loudly on the lower level.
A disturbed Exon raised her head and glared at him.
"We have unwanted guests," said Apocalypse before she could utter a word.
"Who?" she said as her red eyes gleamed more intensely.
"The mutant Storm and the Black Panther." His voice boomed and his enunciation was like a Shakespearean stage actor. "How soon before you are finished?"
She glanced at the fifteen foot tall and cylinder shaped chamber that housed the original body.
"A few minutes afterwards you can transfer your essence and consciousness into the body," she replied.
"Then deal with these people while I wait." He didn't warn her about Umba likewise the virus, because she had to find out for herself.
Exon switched her focus to the first android. "Display surveillance."
The robot emitted a hologram from its eyes that showed the intruders. Promptly Exon left her workstation. She armed herself with a high powered rifle and then she called the head of Mongolian national security with a wireless phone. The person answered sleepily.
"Good morning. I have a problem. There are trespassers on my property. I want someone down here immediately, because that is what I'm paying you for." She marched towards the front of the laboratory. The multiple doors closed behind her.
Who are these people? Exon asked herself. She didn't take kindly to threats to her operation; she had built it from scratch.
She was born in West Africa to doctors. Her gift was discovered early on and she specialized in genetics. However her colleagues at prominent Western universities were openly jealous of her achievements, and then laws existed that debarred the experiments she wanted. Hence she started working for the underworld where large sums were paid for the genetic manipulation services she provided. Moreover she was free to experiment. Eventually secret service agencies for different nations gave her work that they didn't want their governments to know about.
Soon Exon reached the front blast door and she opened it. T'Challa, Ororo, Shuri, and Umba were standing a few feet away in the cold Mongolian night.
Exon's eyes reddened as she scanned the trespassers' on a molecular level. She paused when she reached Umba, because he had Shetani's genes as well as hers.
"You there with the visor," said Exon. "What's your name?"
For a second, Umba was unsure whether to either answer or not. Thus he settled for his codename.
"Deadeye," he replied.
"Where is Shetani?" asked Exon.
Umba was puzzled. "Dead," he replied.
T'Challa interjected. "Your Nakia Exon?"
She stared at him bluntly. "Yes. And you're trespassing."
"We're looking for someone you worked for. He's the one who sent the Bayerns to you," said Ororo.
Exon noted the woman's long white hair; blue eyes, lean build, and X gene. "I have nothing to say to you. For your sakes I suggest you remove yourselves."
T'Challa hyper hearing picked up on the approaching military jeeps. He heard as the vehicles bumped on the rocky desert terrain. The front lights cut through the darkness. Eventually the twelve jeeps settled a short distance from the group. The soldiers aimed their weapons at the strangers. There was a chorus of safety catches being switched off and weapons cocking.
"As you can see," said Exon. "I have a permit from the government to work here. Therefore any interference will mean your immediate arrest."
Then she activated the closure of the blast door. All the while she kept her eye on Umba, her son. Eventually the door slid across fully. Then she held her forehead in disbelief.
"God it's him," she muttered.
Afterwards she journeyed back to the central lab. She remembered Shetani; the way he had charmed her and the feeling that she might had loved him as he did her. But her ambitions were too great at that time and she believed that he slowed her down. Even more so that the child would do the same thing. Therefore she separated herself from them.
Exon walked into the lab and she saw the techno armour husk on the floor. Meanwhile the chamber hummed. Then its door opened.
Apocalypse strode out the chamber victoriously. The hair was black and shoulder length. His eyes were bright blues. The skin was grayish. He mentally summoned the techno armour. It rose, disassembled, the parts floated around him and then they reassembled.
He concentrated for less than a second, then his right hand transformed into a laser cannon. He aimed it towards his scalp and fired it. Moments afterwards he had shaved off all the hair from the skull. Afterwards the laser cannon reverted into the normal hand.
Exon was impressed with her work; hence she stopped thinking about her son. But Apocalypse was interested in her reaction.
"Did you see your son?" he asked.
Exon snapped out of giving herself self-praise. "How are you aware of that?"
"There's so much that I know about you."
Then he searched her mind with telepathy. He encountered the fresh memories from her scan of Umba. Moreover Exon's examination revealed Umba's eyes had a peculiar and deadly ability, but he was not born with it.
Apocalypse became aware of a sandstorm outside the laboratory. Subsequently the inner doors were ripped to shreds by energy blasts.
"Storm and the others are inside," he said.
T'Challa followed Exon's scent to the central lab. Meanwhile Ororo tore down the doors with the lightening bolts from her hands like a goddess. Shuri and Umba ran behind the couple.
Subsequently the group came upon Apocalypse and Exon.
"Him," said an astonished Ororo and she fired at one of her most fearsome enemies.
T'Challa drew his sword and he sprinted towards Apocalypse. The towering mutant converted his right arm into a shield, which blocked the lightening attack. Meanwhile his left hand became elongated and it shot into T'Challa.
However the Black Panther leapt out the hand's path; he landed and rolled twice until he stopped. He rose slowly with his focus on the great mutant as he devised several means of attack.
Concurrently Exon ordered her androids to attack. Then she activated the self-destruction of her computer files.
Twin submachine guns formed out of the shoulders of the androids, which stood side by side.
The robots targeted Shuri; however, the agile woman somersaulted three times to her right; eventually she escaped their line of fire. Then she brought the sonic wave cannon into her hands. The robots took a moment to realign their attack. A moment was all Shuri required.
She selected the mid range level option on the slender cannon. Then she fired at the first android. The sound wave shattered the machine into pieces. Shuri swiftly switched to the second android and fired. Instantly the target scattered into the air.
Meanwhile Exon's rifle sights were on Umba. Apocalypse saw her and he sensed her intentions.
"No," he yelled and teleported Umba, Exon and himself out of the laboratory.
A strong wind blew on the Quin Xan Mountain cliff and then Apocalypse and the humans appeared. He quickly snatched the rifle from Exon. Umba stayed planted in his ground, but he was not afraid-just prepared for an attack.
"What are you doing?" demanded Exon.
"I require the boy's abilities," replied Apocalypse. He pointed to a parked jeep. "Is that not you emergency get away vehicle? Use it."
Exon turned her eyes from him and she watched her son. "What's your real name?"
"Umba. What's it you?"
"Nothing," she muttered lowly. Then Exon ran towards the jeep and got into it. Subsequently she started the ignition. But she peered back at Umba.
Apocalypse sensed the war within her. She wanted to reveal the truth to Umba, yet she wanted no connection with him. Eventually Exon turned away and she drove off.
"I asked you a question?" shouted Umba.
But Exon ignored it as she drove further and left a dust tail in her wake.
"She was your mother," said Apocalypse. He peered at Umba.
Here we have the offspring of two very vicious people. Surly that trait has been passed onto him and I will exploit it, he thought.
"My mother is dead," said Umba vehemently.
For a moment, Apocalypse remembered he was also abandoned. The nomads had found him crying on the desert.
"Believe what you will, but she's very much alive. Now you'll open your mind to me."
Suddenly Umba sensed Apocalypse telepathy.
The psi shields will stop him, thought Umba gratefully.
"Son. I have battled head to head with Celestials. Surly something as trifle as psi shields cannot hinder me," said Apocalypse.
Then his telepathy pierced Umba's mind. Consequently he gained control of the teenager. In time too, because Apocalypse was sensing Umba's family approaching.
They glided on the horizon due to air currents controlled by Ororo. She was flanked by T'Challa and Shuri.
Thus Apocalypse had Umba face the direction his loved ones were coming from.
"Once they are in range. Destroy them," Apocalypse commanded while he folded his arms confidently.
T'Challa spotted Umba and Apocalypse with his hyper vision. Ororo and Shuri were unable to, because of the vast distance.
"That's odd," said T'Challa, "Umba is just standing there."
"He might be comprised," said Shuri.
T'Challa glanced over Ororo's right shoulder at his sister. Her hands were by her sides while her legs were close together. She watched back at him.
"She maybe right," said Ororo even though it hurt her to say those words. Her legs were close to together while the arms were extended forward.
"Then we'll take him out," said T'Challa sadly. He returned to Umba and Apocalypse. He judged Umba's distance and relayed it to Ororo like sniper's spotter.
Subsequently Ororo concentrated, and her eyes produced a white gleam.
The wind picked up on the cliff. Gradually Apocalypse unfolded his arms.
"What is Storm doing?" he asked.
Before he knew it, a lightening bolt streaked across the sky and it touched Umba with pinpoint accuracy. He dropped immediately. Yet Apocalypse sensed he was alive and knocked out. Moreover Umba had no burns on his body.
Apocalypse grinned. "She is still decisive. A shame that her mind can fight me off, so I have no need for her."
Soon after, he elevated from the cliff; he flew forward. However his body began expanding. In a matter of seconds, Apocalypse stood as tall as Quin Xan Mountain. He extended his mighty arms forward with opened palms. They were aimed at his attackers.
"You enter into your own destruction," he said in the booming voice that went out for a mile.
Then he fired an all-consuming energy blast from both hands.
The great energy blast was as wide as the eye can see. Thus T'Challa reacted quickly; he shouted to the sword. Nano seconds later, the group teleported just as the energy wave washed over their location.
They reappeared in the air behind Apocalypse. T'Challa already had a tactic planned for the Goliath.
"Honey, Shuri and I will impair him. Then you'll drop him," he said.
"Got it," said Ororo.
Apocalypse sharply turned his head clockwise and he spotted the three.
"Like insects," he said. Subsequently his entire body turned around.
Ororo started the plan. She fired raking plasma energy blasts from her opened palms towards Apocalypse's face. As a result, he blocked the assault with his colossal hands.
"Futile attempts," he chided.
In that brief instant, T'Challa and Shuri had teleported onto the tip of Apocalypse's head. The Black Panther struck his claws into the giant's forehead, and then he quickly slid down the slope. The glove's claws decreasing his rate of descent. He halted by the right eye; then he stabbed the sword into the blue iris. Without hesitation, he leapt to the left eye and inflicted the same wound.
Meanwhile Shuri had fearlessly slid down to the right ear and she mimicked T'Challa's use his claws with her laser knife. Subsequently she turned the sonic cannon to maximum. Then she fired into the ear.
Apocalypse yelled in both pain and anger. He reared back his head. Still T'Challa and Shuri held on firmly.
T'Challa teleported to the tip once more. He quickly headed for Shuri. He found her and they teleported back to Ororo.
Apocalypse held his face as he was blinded. That provided an opportunity for Ororo, which she took.
She extended her hands and ignited all the hydrogen particles around Apocalypse. There was a brief pause and then a flash. T'Challa and Shuri covered their eyes.
The hydrogen explosion rocked Apocalypse. He fell backwards as though the hand of god struck him.
"I'll get Umba," said Shuri.
Therefore Ororo glided her down on the air currents. Then T'Challa and Ororo went after Apocalypse in the valley, because they knew he would heal soon.
Apocalypse rapidly shrunk back to his original size. All the while his right inner healed. But eyes were taking longer than he was accustomed too.
What is the reason for this? He wondered.
Despite his blindness, the mighty mutant managed to stand on the desert ground. T'Challa saw him as he did that.
"I have him in my sights," said T'Challa while Ororo and him rode the winds downwards.
"Then do it now," said Ororo.
Therefore the Black Panther told his sword the co-ordinates. Thereafter he disappeared from Ororo's side. He traveled through folded time and space. Then he reappeared directly above Apocalypse. The sword's computers had allocated for the gravitational pull; as a result, T'Challa was not hampered by it.
He extended his left arm with an opened palm; the hand rested on Apocalypse's left shoulder blade while the rest of T'Challa's body stayed vertical and perfectly straight like a gymnast.
Then with the utmost precision T'Challa guided his sword over Apocalypse's head towards the chest, and then he plunged the dark force energy blade into the evil being's heart.
"Aaaah!" Apocalypse knew his body about to die. He could sense that the sword pierced his very essence. Nonetheless he concentrated vigorously. Soon his consciousness and essence slipped out the armour.
T'Challa skillfully somersaulted off the body. Simultaneously the soulless body fell face forward. It sounded like if a marble statue had fallen onto the red earth. Then T'Challa quickly decapitated it.
A strong gust blew around T'Challa. He believed it was Ororo, but it was Apocalypse's doing. Dust shrouded T'Challa's vision; then it died down. In the aftermath, Apocalypse's armour was gone and the corpse remained.
With his strength diminishing, Apocalypse teleported to his hibernation chamber in Peru. He estimated that a considerable number of years might pass before he healed completely. Nevertheless his virus would have worked its damage.
However in the Gobi desert, T'Challa and Ororo viewed the carcass.
"Do you think he's done away with?"
"You never know with Apocalypse," replied Ororo. "But do you think he was responsible for kidnapping Ramonda?"
"I'm not sure. We'll see what we can gather from Exon's base." His kimoyo rang; Shuri's face appeared on the screen.
"What's happening?" she inquired.
"Looks like he's dead. How's Umba?"
"Still unconscious, but he's physically okay."
"We'll head back to Exon's base and check it out."
Another call was coming through, so Ororo took it on her kimoyo. She read the message from Wakanda's secret service.
"The base was blown up. Five minutes ago," said Ororo disappointed. "And Exon has disappeared for now."
"By the way, did either of you notice Umba's resemblance to her?" asked Shuri.
"Kind of," replied Ororo.
"Probably coincidental," answered T'Challa.
Subsequently the group returned to Wakanda with the corpse.
The secret service made a breakthrough when they recovered the Bayerns' cell phones deleted memories. A code was discovered. And T'Challa recognized it.
"It was used by the forerunner of SHIELD," he said in the situation room. "That should rule out Apocalypse for now, since we're dealing with espionage in this circumstance."
"Nick Fury might know something," stated Ororo and she turned to head of the secret service. "Where is Fury now?"
The man quickly made a call to a department. Moments later he provided the location. Thus T'Challa and Ororo teleported there. They had planned to return and deal with the strange virus that was gradually creeping around the world.