A World of Bloodshed
Pink lightning soared through the desolate hillside until a circular portal of like color split through the fabric of reality. Six super-powered individuals were the contents spewed from the portal right on to an abundance of rocks.
"I so know I broke a nail," Morph said turning his hand into that of a well-kept woman's.
"And your head on top of that," Nocturne replied grabbing her head, which had hit a few rocks, in pain.
"You should be worried about Ghost Rider's head after how hard Mimic clocked him," Morph laughed turning his eyes into rotating black and white swirls as he pretended to fall to the ground knocked out cold.
Nocturne didn't respond to that comment because while she didn't verbally admit it the last mission had gotten to her. That world's Ghost Rider was Nightcrawler underneath and fighting him had bothered her more than she would admit. She knew it wasn't her father, but just seeing him made her think about the time she had nearly lost her father to darkness. It had been on a mission to the Savage Land and Brainchild had nearly made her father into a slave. That experience had frightened her to the core.
Seeing Nocturne's uncomfortable expression Thunderbird quickly jumped into the situation grabbing Morph around the neck and lifting him up into the air, "Sidney you oughta watch what you say my friend."
"Put him down John! How the hell was he suppose to know Talia would get all sensitive?" Sunfire asked ready to throw a fireball at the former Horsemen of War. She was only angry because the last mission had bothered her as well. Along with fighting Ghost Rider they had to fight a version of herself that had sold her soul to a demon for power. Seeing such a twisted version of herself made her wonder just what darkness lied in her heart.
"Everyone shut up! The Tallus just gave us our mission. This world isn't going to be pretty," Blink exclaimed carrying a javelin in each hand. The Tallus had given her plenty of reason to think that a threat could come at any moment. So she'd have to explain herself quickly.
"Oooo Blink's fire hot today!" Morph laughed turning his head into a giant lit match.
"Be serious Sidney! What's going on Clarice?" Mimic asked unsheathing his claws. He could see that Blink was carrying her javelins and her eyes were moving in too many directions for someone who was in a non-hostile situation.
"This world is controlled entirely by vampires. Humans are nothing more than blood banks and they're situated in camps throughout the globe. We're near Camp 447. It use to be New York City," Blink explained.
"You're kidding right?" Morph said taking a large, over-exaggerated gulp.
"Not one damn bit, now don't talk so loud. Vampires have enhanced senses. No telling what kind of defenses they have around the camps," Blink replied in a near whisper.
"What's the mission?" Thunderbird asked trying to suppress his own experiences with vampires. While he was a Horseman, Apocalypse had allied with a group of vampires. He led them into battle against the Thunderbolts and the team was decimated. The thought of him snapping Songbird's neck still plagued him during his sleep.
"We have to get to Camp 546 aka Tokyo and stop the resurrection of the Lord of Night. If we stop him from being resurrected a successful human rebellion is possible," Blink replied praying that she couldn't be heard.
"A rebellion eh? Such ideas can get you killed," a slithery voice said as she flew forth literally from the shadows.
"Fuck!" Mimic yelled sending off an optic blast and sending the woman careening into a nearby boulder. Her body split the rock in two and she rose from it completely unscathed. Dusting her purple body off she laughed maniacally.
"Marie Laveau," Sunfire groaned.
"Who?" Blink asked both worried and feeling very vulnerable. Apocalypse had eliminated all the mystics on her world if that was indeed what this woman was.
"She's a very powerful voodoo priestess. When I use to roll with Jubilee we encountered her in New Orleans. She's a nasty bitch," Sunfire explained.
The sounds of boots moving across the rocks came from behind the Exiles. At the head of the pack was Blade. To his right was Hannibal King and to his left was Jennifer Kale adorned with numerous body piercings.
"You don't just have to worry about Laveau," Blade smiled pulling out his titanium sword.
"Man I love me some Asian blood," Hannibal laughed flashing his teeth.
"Oh fuck you!" Sunfire exclaimed sending off a tiny ball of plasma that quickly grew in size until it engulfed all three vampires and burnt them to a crisp. Dusting her hands off Mariko smiled, "That wasn't so hard."
Two quick gunshots zoomed through the air and made the Exiles quickly scatter. Looking up Morph saw the blood dripping from Sunfire's still body. Jumping up to his feet he yelled out in agony, "You bastards!"
"Morph wait! Wait!" Blink called out to no avail. She could only watch as Sidney blindly charged into whatever had attacked and killed Mariko.
"Oh I bet you taste different!" Selene said delightfully as she glided quickly across the ground moving towards Morph.
"Too bad you won't find out!" Talia yelled as a powerful hex blast struck Selene in the face. The vampire's face literally melted off leaving a headless body to fall to the ground. The sight would have normally made Nocturne throw up if she wasn't so mad at Sunfire's death.
"Thanks for the save."
"You should have been more careful Sidney. You could be dead right now," Nocturne angrily stated.
"Its just…I should have blocked those bullets," Morph said hanging his head low and clenching both his fists.
"Be on alert! We still don't know who fired them shots!" Blink reminded as the team quickly regrouped.
"And I smell some more of them headed our way," Mimic said turning his body into steel to keep a vampire's bite from penetrating him. He should have done that from the start, but he had acted instinctively off the appearance of Marie Laveau. She was nowhere to be found now, but he knew she was out there. Out there and waiting to kill them.
"We need to find a map of some sort. The human camps are bound to have one somewhere. That's were we need to go," Blink said.
"Are you insane? That's like being a full of paper cuts and deciding to swim with sharks!"
"I agree with Morph. We have no idea what's in those camps," Thunderbird said.
"The quicker we get to Tokyo the better. I don't know about the rest of you, but I'm ready to get the hell out of here!" Blink scowled creating a portal a few feet in front of her; "We'll move as many yards as we can with only portals to prevent us from having to walk too much. We should be able to make it to the Camp quicker and safer that way."
"Sure boss lady. Whatever you say," Morph said chaining his form into a nearly naked man with a ball and chain around both his feet.
Foggy Nelson had been one of the Low Guard even since the age of 13. The vampires didn't want to supervise their human camps so they employed other humans to do it. The promise was that no member of the Low Guard would ever be bitten. It was as solid as any promise from a vampire could be. Nelson knew it made him hated amongst his fellow humans, but far better to be hated than dead.
Being one of the Low Guard was a relatively easy job considering the very small amount of uprisings. The only time the Low Guard was on full alert was five years ago when Camps 571 and 1820 committed mass suicide rather than become food for the vampires. If the idea had caught on, Earth probably would be devoid of intelligent life right now. Fortunately, that never happened.
So, it was really no surprise when Morph was able to take out Foggy with a well-placed hammer fist to the head. Standing over the unconscious body Sidney looked out in the horrors of the massive blood camp. Sewage might as well have been soil. No one slept inside of the shaggy boxed up homes. Most had large pieces of cardboards for beds.
"This is awful," Blink could barely manage to say as memories of the Slave Pits of her world took hold. Many had suffered there and she could feel the agony of living day to day here. Something seemed wrong to her though, "Some of these people look well-fed and healthy."
Mimic's face turned up in disgust, "Ain't it obvious? These poor souls are the vampires' next meal. Notice how all of them toss and turn. They probably have no idea which day might be their last."
"This has to end," Morph proclaimed no longer able to find a witty comment to make. All he felt was emptiness. In comparison to this world his own was relatively peaceful. Sure you had the occasional Kree of Zemo attack, but nothing like this. Nothing even close.
"It will end Morph," Blink promised as she turned to Nocturne and smiled, "What's the probability of a bunch of blinding fireworks tearing through the sky?"
Rubbing her hands together Nocturne mischievously grinned, "Oh I'd say the chances are pretty damn good!"
"Mimic and T-Bird once Talia hits the lights you two tear through them guards hard. Morph and myself will get into the camp and try to get some kind of information. Someone has to have a map or know something that can help. Talia once we go in follow right behind us," Blink ordered like this was the final strike against the High Lord all over again. She had already lost Sunfire and Mr. Creed had taught her casualties were never acceptable amongst teammates.
"Okay everybody hold on one second. Our plan will attract the vampires more than likely. Vampires like Selene and Laveau," Mimic warned realizing that he was more afraid of this reality than he thought.
"Too late," Selene hissed as she stepped out of the shadows. Behind her were Laveau, Blade, King, and Kale. All of them looked not only pissed, but also ready to have a feast. It was a scene straight out of a Wes Craven movie as the vampires slowly approached a back stepping group of Exiles who grew closer to a cliff's edge. The situation looked dire for the Exiles indeed.
"NOW!" Blink yelled as she created a portal in front of herself and threw two of her javelins in it. Another portal instantly appeared behind Marie Laveau's head where two javelins lodged themselves. The priestess's molecules were displaced greatly leaving her a pile of misshapen flesh. Pink smoke billowed off the inhuman mass.
"Wood should handle these suckers!" Morph exclaimed as he turned his arms into giant stakes. Stretching out his arms he stabbed both Selene and Jennifer Kale in their hearts.
"Wood? You gotta be joking," Kale laughed as she pulled herself off the stake and bit into Morph's wooden arm with inhuman speed. She began to drain his blood generously and in the process paralyzed him. Selene joined in on the drinking and soon Sidney Jones was a lifeless husk. The two women had found the meal quite tasty.
"You skanky bitches!" Nocturne yelled as she blasted Kale in the abdomen with a hex bolt and immediately took possession of Selene's body. Being a second-generation mutant had given her three abilities and the possession of another person for one lunar cycle was uniquely hers. Though Karma had poked fun at her for copying her powers now and then. That was before Sinister killed her.
Immediately taking advantage of Selene's magical abilities Nocturne froze all the vampires in place. She absorbed all their life essences into herself leaving them frozen skeletons. Looking to Blink she was nearly in tears from both the death of Morph and what she had just done.
"Poor Morph. How could he have known their weakness was diamond instead of wood?" Nocturne asked as she knelt to the ground and began to sob. That's when another gunshot was fired and it struck Talia in the shoulder. Selene's body went flying back.
A man dressed in cowboy attire stepped into view with his gun still smoking, "Two-Gun Kid knows his friends and Selene don't cry! Who the hell are you jackasses?"
Mimic could smell the intense alcohol a mile away, but he could barely smell the drinker himself. What had diminished his senses against the vampires so suddenly? Before he had been able to smell them like anything else. Now it was like they barely even existed.
"We're about to be a group of ass kickers in a second here," Thunderbird snarled. This was the man who had killed Sunfire and tried to kill Nocturne. He would not stand for any more death this day. His team had nearly been split in half and he had seen his share of teams falling around him. He was the last X-Forcer standing against the Horsemen of Death and Famine. That's why Cannonball and Snowbird didn't kill him and took him to become War. Surviving had carried a high price for Proudstar and he could only imagine the same would result her if the Exiles fell in battle.
Just as Two-Gun was about to shoot again a diamond spear ripped through his chest and turned the vampire into dust. The woman holding the spear was petit Brazilian woman with a GI haircut. Around her neck was a black choker with a red jewel in the center. Slamming her spear into the ground the woman scanned over the Exiles thoroughly before saying, "Come with me if you want to live!"
"You heard the lady," Blink said supporting a quickly healing Nocturne on her shoulder.
As they began to run a thought came to Mimic, "How come the Timebroker hasn't sent us new people yet?"
Somewhere"Hello Vange. I wasn't expecting you to drop by for a visit," Timebroker said with a scowl as the Fabio look alike moved towards him.
"Oh you think I don't like paying a visit to whatever you call this place? Come now Timebroker we go back way too far for that," Vange smiled devilishly.
Next Issue: Will the Exiles survive? And just who is Vange and how does he know the Timebroker?