Heroes and Rivals Chapter 3: The Beginning of the End
Night has fallen on US; it was the only time in the day where it seemed to get quiet. There was no screams, no crying, just a black endless void full of pin pricks of light. Nate slept close to the fire; he was completely exhausted from the days work. After meeting up with Essex the trio led an attack against one of Holocaust's culling factories. After destroying it, they set up camp about five miles south of the burnt out factory. To Nate, seeing a culling factory never got easier, the vat upon vat full of genetic materials that were once humans still made him sick to his stomach. The human race was slowly dying out, but when sleep finally came it still lingered in his mind.
Forge watched the boy sleep. It was the only time he was allowed to have the dreams of a child. Dreams that Forge could never give him. He stood and threw another piece of dried wood onto the fire, the fire crackled and exploded upward into the night. Essex sat and stared at the stars, drinking coffee out of a tin cup. He looked over to see Forge walking back over and smiled. Forge shuddered at the smile it was like a hyena smiling after a kill. He settled down next to Essex.
"So what is your story?" Forge asked, keeping an eye out to the fire
"What do you mean", Essex asked, the firelight glinting off the red diamond making it appear to glow
"I mean how does one find itself out in the badlands, alone, with both no food or shelter?"
Essex sighed
"I escaped the pens about a week ago. I had been wondering ever since. What about you and the boy?"
Forge shook his head
"I found Nathan outside the ruins of New York, he just kind of stuck next to me ever since"
"Oh I see" Essex's smile seemed to grow across his lips.
Forge shuddered once again
"Well I think I am going to get some sleep. Good night Essex"
Forge laid down on the ground and before long was fast asleep
"Good night Forge" The fire slowly died to embers, the only light was coming from Essex's eyes-they were glowing a blood red.
The next day Essex brought Nate to a small field, about a mile from their encampment.
"I can sense your power Nathan, but I think there is more there. Tell me can you fly?"
Nate shook his head his brown hair flowed in the wind
"I never have tried"
"Try for me"
Nate shook his head again
"I don't think I should, Apocalypse might find out"
Essex smiled again
"For once don't worry about him, try it"
The wind blew around him, surrounding them. Dead leaves fell from the trees on the ground. Nate could feel the wind at his back as he began to channel his energy into his feet, feeling them lift slowly off the ground. Nate wanted to be like the wind, feel the endless freedom of the sky and the stars above. He began to glow slightly, dimly at first then slowly began to glow brighter and brighter. He started to shake slightly a bright yellowish-gold color surrounded his body. Essex took a step back, amazed to see the power the boy had. The wind began to howl as Nate began to rise higher off the ground. Nate clenched his teeth as the pain in his head grew a trickle of blood ran from his nose, splattering the ground below.
"There you go, make it yours. You control the power, the power does not control you."
Nate gritted his teeth harder as the power exploded from him. Nate took off like a shot from a gun, soaring through the skies. He laughed loudly as he did loop de loops diving towards the ground coming inches from the surface before righting himself and shooting back up.
"This is great, Essex!!!"
Nate soared through the sky, chasing after clouds. But something caught his eye. A squad of infinites was attacking a train full of human refugees. Their telepathic screams hurt Nate, the strain of flying and the screams were affecting his control. He had to help them. He gritted his teeth, anger flushing his face with a deep red color. A fireball rose in the air as the infinites destroyed the locomotive. Nate growled slightly as a infinite raised its blaster against a woman's skull. He laughed as he pulled the trigger, splattering the ground with her blood. She was still clutching her child to her chest. The infinite swung the gun down and prepared to fire again. Nate swooped down
"That's enough!!"
He caught the infinite off guard, tackle ling the monster to the ground. Nate charged his fist with some TK power, slugging the downed soldier. Nate pounded the helmet until it splintered revealing the true face of the soldier. The soldiers eyes were opened up wide, the helmet protected the soldier from all telepathic attacks...until now. Nate sent a telepathic probe into the soldier's mind. The soldier squirmed, attempting to free himself, but Nate held him down, punching him again breaking the soldier's nose, blood oozed from the busted appendage. In the soldier's mind, he was reliving his worst nightmare over and over. The refugees stood in shock as Nate took down infinite after infinite. Nate glanced back to see another infinite holding a young boy by the throat, slowly squeezing the air from his tiny body. Nate rushed over and kicked the soldier in the stomach, the soldier crumbled from the blow, releasing the boy, who crawled away in fear.
"You flatscan lover" the infinite wheezed out. Nate turned back to the soldier only to have a gun butt slammed into his face. Nate's jaw shook with the blow; he could already feel the bruise beginning to well up. Nate jumped to his feet and sent a spin kick to the side of the infinites head. He spun around as threw a fist at the infinites. The infinite caught Nate's hand and began to squeeze it, attempting to break it.
"You should never cross the high lord"
"Oh yeah?" Nate bent down gathering enough energy into his fist, standing back up and connecting to the infinites' jaw with a vicious uppercut, almost taking the infinites' head off. The infinite fell to its knees, blood oozed from its cracked helmet. Nate grabbed the infinite by its throat and began to rise up higher in the air. The infinite screamed as the ground fell away from his feet. Suddenly the link between Forge and Nate shattered. In Nate's minds eye he could see a smiling figure standing over Forge's broken body.
"NO FORGE!!!" Nate let go of the infinite and took off back to the campsite. The infinite fell and exploded when he hit the ground,
Nate flew at supersonic speed; with each moment he could feel Forge slip away.
Forge don't leave me
In time Nathan you will understand
You are special Nathan find Magneto he will...
The mental link that was once so strong between Nate and Forge flickered and dies out, leaving a black void where it once was. Tears streamed down Nate's face as he flew back to the campsite. When he landed, the first thing he saw was the bloodshed that had happened while he was away. Forge's mechanical pieces were thrown everywhere. Nate's stomach lurched as he looked up and saw Forge's mechanical arm still hanging in tree, its mechanical parts spilling outward on the ground. Nate fell to his knees, sobbing his tears left clean streaks down his dirty face.
"Ahh the tears of the innocent, how the fall to the ground nurturing the soil, creating new life"
Nate crouched down beside the lifeless body of Forge; he stood when he heard the voice. He turned to the voice, his eyes wide in shock as Essex stood before him. Essex's body began to mold, shift back into Sinister. Blood dripped from Sinister's hands. Nate gritted his teeth, anger controlled him now...
"You killed him you son of a bitch"
"I had to Nate, with him holding you back, you would have never reached your true potential"
Nate took a step toward him
"You murderer"
"See now you are free, and by my side we can overthrow the rule of Apocalypse and rule the world"
Sinister began to notice that Nate was beginning to glow...brightly. Sinister never saw Nate swing a fist full of TK energy at him. The blow was strong enough to take the head off of a normal person, but luckily for Sinister he wasn't a normal human anymore. Sinister smiled down at Nate.
"That was...amazing, amazing to see that you channeled that much power into one punch"
Blood slowly trickled from Sinister's mouth. He raised a finger to touch it
"No one has made me bleed, I am double impressed"
Nate's anger grew with every word Sinister said
"I'm not here to impress you"
Nate kicked out with his right foot, catching Sinister on the side of the head. The attack caught Sinister off guard he grabbed his head. He had never been hurt like this before, being immortal had that perk. What had he created in Nate?? Nate caught him off guard again with a viscous punch to the kidneys. Sinister doubled over to get where Nate wanted him, a quick spin kick to the head and Sinister was down on the ground.
"Yes, yes more. Show me your anger, your strength" Sinister said as he stood back up
Nate grew brighter and brighter, nothing could stop this guy. And what topped it all off, he kept asking for more. Nate roared with anger and charged at Sinister. He charged up what energy he could spare, blood spilled down from his nose, his head in constant pain. He rushed up to Sinister and hit him as hard as he could in the stomach. Sinister collapsed over Nate's arm.
"You" Nate breathed heavily "Are finished, I can sleep now without seeing your face"
Sinister gasped attempting to breathe, but nothing would happen. Nate removed his hand, Sinister collapsed onto the ground, his hands clutching his stomach.
"Sinister, I want you to remember this: Your "creation" stopped you"
Sinister slowly attempted to stand, holding his stomach. Sinister smiled weakly as he could still feel the blow, the ripping of armor, the tear of his flesh as Nate's hand entered his abdomen. Nate watched him closely as he rose off the ground slowly.
"Thanks for the flying lesson" Nate turned and flew off
Sinister watched Nate fly off, he pulled back his hands as blood flowed freely. He looked at it closely; it had been close to a millennia since he had seen it last
"Could it be...after all these year"
He collapsed onto the ground once again
"I have...been...defeated??"
The last life flickered out of Sinister's eyes, never again would they glow with their sadistic gleam.
Nate flew ate close to Mach 1. Where could he find Magneto? He searched out over the astral plane, singling out Magneto's thought pattern. He could now see what Magneto was seeing. And what Magneto was seeing was Apocalypse. And Magneto was getting his ass handed to him. Nate smiled, Magneto needed help and he owed it to Forge to help him. Nate flew off-back to where it all began for him.
Night has fallen on US; it was the only time in the day where it seemed to get quiet. There was no screams, no crying, just a black endless void full of pin pricks of light. Nate slept close to the fire; he was completely exhausted from the days work. After meeting up with Essex the trio led an attack against one of Holocaust's culling factories. After destroying it, they set up camp about five miles south of the burnt out factory. To Nate, seeing a culling factory never got easier, the vat upon vat full of genetic materials that were once humans still made him sick to his stomach. The human race was slowly dying out, but when sleep finally came it still lingered in his mind.
Forge watched the boy sleep. It was the only time he was allowed to have the dreams of a child. Dreams that Forge could never give him. He stood and threw another piece of dried wood onto the fire, the fire crackled and exploded upward into the night. Essex sat and stared at the stars, drinking coffee out of a tin cup. He looked over to see Forge walking back over and smiled. Forge shuddered at the smile it was like a hyena smiling after a kill. He settled down next to Essex.
"So what is your story?" Forge asked, keeping an eye out to the fire
"What do you mean", Essex asked, the firelight glinting off the red diamond making it appear to glow
"I mean how does one find itself out in the badlands, alone, with both no food or shelter?"
Essex sighed
"I escaped the pens about a week ago. I had been wondering ever since. What about you and the boy?"
Forge shook his head
"I found Nathan outside the ruins of New York, he just kind of stuck next to me ever since"
"Oh I see" Essex's smile seemed to grow across his lips.
Forge shuddered once again
"Well I think I am going to get some sleep. Good night Essex"
Forge laid down on the ground and before long was fast asleep
"Good night Forge" The fire slowly died to embers, the only light was coming from Essex's eyes-they were glowing a blood red.
The next day Essex brought Nate to a small field, about a mile from their encampment.
"I can sense your power Nathan, but I think there is more there. Tell me can you fly?"
Nate shook his head his brown hair flowed in the wind
"I never have tried"
"Try for me"
Nate shook his head again
"I don't think I should, Apocalypse might find out"
Essex smiled again
"For once don't worry about him, try it"
The wind blew around him, surrounding them. Dead leaves fell from the trees on the ground. Nate could feel the wind at his back as he began to channel his energy into his feet, feeling them lift slowly off the ground. Nate wanted to be like the wind, feel the endless freedom of the sky and the stars above. He began to glow slightly, dimly at first then slowly began to glow brighter and brighter. He started to shake slightly a bright yellowish-gold color surrounded his body. Essex took a step back, amazed to see the power the boy had. The wind began to howl as Nate began to rise higher off the ground. Nate clenched his teeth as the pain in his head grew a trickle of blood ran from his nose, splattering the ground below.
"There you go, make it yours. You control the power, the power does not control you."
Nate gritted his teeth harder as the power exploded from him. Nate took off like a shot from a gun, soaring through the skies. He laughed loudly as he did loop de loops diving towards the ground coming inches from the surface before righting himself and shooting back up.
"This is great, Essex!!!"
Nate soared through the sky, chasing after clouds. But something caught his eye. A squad of infinites was attacking a train full of human refugees. Their telepathic screams hurt Nate, the strain of flying and the screams were affecting his control. He had to help them. He gritted his teeth, anger flushing his face with a deep red color. A fireball rose in the air as the infinites destroyed the locomotive. Nate growled slightly as a infinite raised its blaster against a woman's skull. He laughed as he pulled the trigger, splattering the ground with her blood. She was still clutching her child to her chest. The infinite swung the gun down and prepared to fire again. Nate swooped down
"That's enough!!"
He caught the infinite off guard, tackle ling the monster to the ground. Nate charged his fist with some TK power, slugging the downed soldier. Nate pounded the helmet until it splintered revealing the true face of the soldier. The soldiers eyes were opened up wide, the helmet protected the soldier from all telepathic attacks...until now. Nate sent a telepathic probe into the soldier's mind. The soldier squirmed, attempting to free himself, but Nate held him down, punching him again breaking the soldier's nose, blood oozed from the busted appendage. In the soldier's mind, he was reliving his worst nightmare over and over. The refugees stood in shock as Nate took down infinite after infinite. Nate glanced back to see another infinite holding a young boy by the throat, slowly squeezing the air from his tiny body. Nate rushed over and kicked the soldier in the stomach, the soldier crumbled from the blow, releasing the boy, who crawled away in fear.
"You flatscan lover" the infinite wheezed out. Nate turned back to the soldier only to have a gun butt slammed into his face. Nate's jaw shook with the blow; he could already feel the bruise beginning to well up. Nate jumped to his feet and sent a spin kick to the side of the infinites head. He spun around as threw a fist at the infinites. The infinite caught Nate's hand and began to squeeze it, attempting to break it.
"You should never cross the high lord"
"Oh yeah?" Nate bent down gathering enough energy into his fist, standing back up and connecting to the infinites' jaw with a vicious uppercut, almost taking the infinites' head off. The infinite fell to its knees, blood oozed from its cracked helmet. Nate grabbed the infinite by its throat and began to rise up higher in the air. The infinite screamed as the ground fell away from his feet. Suddenly the link between Forge and Nate shattered. In Nate's minds eye he could see a smiling figure standing over Forge's broken body.
"NO FORGE!!!" Nate let go of the infinite and took off back to the campsite. The infinite fell and exploded when he hit the ground,
Nate flew at supersonic speed; with each moment he could feel Forge slip away.
Forge don't leave me
In time Nathan you will understand
You are special Nathan find Magneto he will...
The mental link that was once so strong between Nate and Forge flickered and dies out, leaving a black void where it once was. Tears streamed down Nate's face as he flew back to the campsite. When he landed, the first thing he saw was the bloodshed that had happened while he was away. Forge's mechanical pieces were thrown everywhere. Nate's stomach lurched as he looked up and saw Forge's mechanical arm still hanging in tree, its mechanical parts spilling outward on the ground. Nate fell to his knees, sobbing his tears left clean streaks down his dirty face.
"Ahh the tears of the innocent, how the fall to the ground nurturing the soil, creating new life"
Nate crouched down beside the lifeless body of Forge; he stood when he heard the voice. He turned to the voice, his eyes wide in shock as Essex stood before him. Essex's body began to mold, shift back into Sinister. Blood dripped from Sinister's hands. Nate gritted his teeth, anger controlled him now...
"You killed him you son of a bitch"
"I had to Nate, with him holding you back, you would have never reached your true potential"
Nate took a step toward him
"You murderer"
"See now you are free, and by my side we can overthrow the rule of Apocalypse and rule the world"
Sinister began to notice that Nate was beginning to glow...brightly. Sinister never saw Nate swing a fist full of TK energy at him. The blow was strong enough to take the head off of a normal person, but luckily for Sinister he wasn't a normal human anymore. Sinister smiled down at Nate.
"That was...amazing, amazing to see that you channeled that much power into one punch"
Blood slowly trickled from Sinister's mouth. He raised a finger to touch it
"No one has made me bleed, I am double impressed"
Nate's anger grew with every word Sinister said
"I'm not here to impress you"
Nate kicked out with his right foot, catching Sinister on the side of the head. The attack caught Sinister off guard he grabbed his head. He had never been hurt like this before, being immortal had that perk. What had he created in Nate?? Nate caught him off guard again with a viscous punch to the kidneys. Sinister doubled over to get where Nate wanted him, a quick spin kick to the head and Sinister was down on the ground.
"Yes, yes more. Show me your anger, your strength" Sinister said as he stood back up
Nate grew brighter and brighter, nothing could stop this guy. And what topped it all off, he kept asking for more. Nate roared with anger and charged at Sinister. He charged up what energy he could spare, blood spilled down from his nose, his head in constant pain. He rushed up to Sinister and hit him as hard as he could in the stomach. Sinister collapsed over Nate's arm.
"You" Nate breathed heavily "Are finished, I can sleep now without seeing your face"
Sinister gasped attempting to breathe, but nothing would happen. Nate removed his hand, Sinister collapsed onto the ground, his hands clutching his stomach.
"Sinister, I want you to remember this: Your "creation" stopped you"
Sinister slowly attempted to stand, holding his stomach. Sinister smiled weakly as he could still feel the blow, the ripping of armor, the tear of his flesh as Nate's hand entered his abdomen. Nate watched him closely as he rose off the ground slowly.
"Thanks for the flying lesson" Nate turned and flew off
Sinister watched Nate fly off, he pulled back his hands as blood flowed freely. He looked at it closely; it had been close to a millennia since he had seen it last
"Could it be...after all these year"
He collapsed onto the ground once again
"I have...been...defeated??"
The last life flickered out of Sinister's eyes, never again would they glow with their sadistic gleam.
Nate flew ate close to Mach 1. Where could he find Magneto? He searched out over the astral plane, singling out Magneto's thought pattern. He could now see what Magneto was seeing. And what Magneto was seeing was Apocalypse. And Magneto was getting his ass handed to him. Nate smiled, Magneto needed help and he owed it to Forge to help him. Nate flew off-back to where it all began for him.