Chapter Ten

Once we were back in the jet, Crusader quickly prepared for take-off and I asked her, "So where exactly are we going?"

"According to Storm the Horsemen are heading for an army bunker on the coast. She gave me the co-ordinates."

"What are they trying to do?"

"They're looking for a massively destructive payload for their missile, remember? This is one of the bunkers where the US military stores its nuclear and chemical weapons – all the things the public aren't supposed to know about. The Horsemen must be planning to steal one of them, or at least part of one of them."

"Won't it be guarded pretty heavily?"

Annie said, "We've both fought the Horsemen before, Gary. We both know human weapons aren't going to hurt them. The only thing that can stop them is other mutants, in this case ourselves."

I sighed, "And we still don't know what powers all of them have. I know Famine is a power-stealer like Rogue. I know Pestilence can jump, climb walls and spit acid – like Toad in some ways. And I know War is just a gigantic killing machine, but I don't know anything about Death. I've only seen him use his power once, and only from a distance."

"I haven't seen him use it," she admitted. "When we fought them at the mansion, he stayed at the back and let the others do the fighting. He must have some way of protecting himself, though. He took a full-power optic ray from Cyclops without even flinching. It was almost as if – "

"Almost as if what?"

"I dunno – as if there was nothing there to kill. As if Death – well – isn't even alive."

"What? A robot?"

"Something like that. It would explain why I can't read his mind. But it doesn't make any sense. He doesn't act or look like a robot. And besides, modern technology is still years away from that kind of automation in robots. Even advanced research isn't there yet."

"So…what is he?" I asked.

"I don't know. What I'd really like is to get a look at Van Gaarde's research notes. That could tell us a lot."

"Mystique already did that."

"And?"

"And…now that I think about it, she did find out something weird about Death. There was some kind of accident in the lab, and two of the Horsemen were killed. Death was one; I think Famine was the other. But that doesn't make any sense because we've both seen them perfectly alive and well since then."

Annie frowned, "Those are the two whose minds I can't read, or even sense at all. There must be a connection."

"Someone suggested they'd be cloned," I added. "That seemed the only sensible explanation."

My sister shook her head, "If they'd been cloned recently, they'd only be babies. Cloning isn't simply replicating a person's body. It means growing a new person out of somebody's DNA."

"So they weren't cloned?"

"No. How did they die?"

"I think Mystique mentioned a radiation leak."

"Radiation leak…" she said thoughtfully. "You said you saw Death using his power once. What happened?"

I tried to remember, "I don't know for sure. I watched him grabbing a soldier around the throat and – well, killing him. Somehow. I don't know how he did it. The human's body sort of…decayed. I can't really explain it any better than that. I assume it was his power, whatever that is. I can't make any sense out of it. Can you?"

"Not really. I have the beginnings of an idea in my mind somewhere, but I can't really pin it down. There has to be a connection between these things: the radiation leak; his power; and the fact I can't sense him."

"But what is it?"

"I don't know. Maybe we'll have a better idea when we confront them. Hang on, we're nearly there."

Ahead I could see the blue of the Atlantic Ocean. Somewhere down below had to be the military compound the Horsemen were aiming for, the one we were seeking to protect. Annie was busy programming Storm's co-ordinates into the jet's navigation computer, and changed course slightly to aim for them. As the jet descended and the ground below came up to meet us, Annie looked at me, "I can sense some of the other X-Men. They must be there already. And Pyro is there too. The rest should get here soon."

"So the Horsemen haven't arrived yet?"

"I can't tell. I can't really sense their minds, remember. Hang on, we're coming into land."

I strapped myself into the co-pilot's chair as the jet began to dip, heading for the ground. We were coming down a little faster than I might have liked, but speed was of the essence. Annie flicked a switch to activate the cloaking field; that would hopefully keep us hidden from sight or radar. I reflexively gripped my chair a little tighter as the aircraft performed a very fast vertical landing on a flat piece of ground. In the distance I saw the fence surrounding the military compound, and further off I could see the sparkling blue of the Atlantic Ocean.

"Let's go," said Annie.

I followed her outside and we hurried across the open ground to the edge of the compound. The ten-foot high chain link fence blocked our way. I made as if to tear it apart, but Annie's hand on my arm stopped me.

"Don't touch it; it's electrified," she said. "And something's wrong."

"What?"

"Our friends are around the other side – I can sense their minds – but something isn't right."

"Are they all right?"

"I don't know. They're alive, obviously, or I wouldn't be able to feel their presence. I think they're unconscious."

"The Horsemen?"

"They must be here. Come on!"

She grabbed my hand and levitated the two of us into the air and over the electrified fence. This time I was slightly more prepared for the sensation of floating on air, and I felt a little more comfortable with the experience. Annie put us down gently on the other side, and we began hurrying towards the main building that dominated the compound. According to her telepathy, Pyro and however many X-Men were here, were on the other side. I found myself instinctively moving to run slightly ahead of Annie, to protect her from any danger that might suddenly appear. If I had stopped to think about it, I might have wondered at the sudden change in my attitude towards my sister. Less than a week ago we had been mortal enemies and had come within inches of killing each other in our duel of fate. Now we were together, fighting on the same side, ready to risk our lives to protect each other – as a brother and sister should be. Individually we were powerful enough, but together we were an even greater dual force, Annie's mind powers perfectly complementing my physical abilities. I knew that Annie was powerful enough to protect herself from any potential danger, but I still felt as if I had a duty to defend her. Maybe it was one of those in-built instincts that drove men to protect those who were smaller and physically weaker than themselves.

Our worst fears were confirmed when we finally rounded the side of the building: a number of figures in black were lying motionless on the ground. Annie hurried over to the nearest one, and knelt beside the unmoving body. As I got closer, I saw it was Storm.

"Is she OK?" I asked.

"I don't know," said Annie, a frown crossing her face. "She's alive – but she's not in good shape. Check the others."

I moved over to the next figure. Lying on his side, his cigarette lighter still clutched in his hand, Pyro was not moving. His skin looked pale and his breathing was weak and shallow. I reached towards his neck to find his pulse, hoping it would not be too weak. Before my hand could touch his skin, I felt something, almost as if an invisible fist had just closed on my palm.

"Don't touch him!" Annie warned, and I turned to face her.

Her hand was out and it was her telekinetic power that was keeping me from touching Pyro.

"He's irradiated. All of them are," she said.

"He's what?"

"They're suffering radiation poisoning. They must have come into contact with some radioactive substance. You can't touch them."

I glanced at the other figures on the ground nearby. Cyclops and Wolverine were easily recognisable, and I guessed the other two figures were Iceman and Rogue.

"Will they be OK?" I asked.

Annie hesitated, "I don't know, Gary, I really don't know."

"Can't you heal them?"

"Ordinarily I would say yes. My healing power can theoretically cure anything," she said, then pointed to Wolverine. "But if Logan can't heal himself of this, there's no guarantee I can either. I might make things worse if I try."

"What are you going to do?"

"I have to move them somewhere safe. I'm going to get them back to the jet. You go inside the base and look for the Horsemen. They must still be here, otherwise we'd have seen them leave. They'll be trying to find a payload for their warhead. You have to stop them, whatever it takes. They cannot be allowed to hold the world to ransom with the threat of a weapon of mass destruction. I'll join you as soon I can."

A thought occurred to me, "This irradiation of their bodies – that was Death, wasn't it? That's his mutation?"

"Yes, it must be. It must have some connection with the radiation leak at the laboratory. It must have granted him some sort of radioactive power."

"But I saw him irradiating a human and it died instantly. Why hasn't it done the same to - uh, our friends?"

"I don't know. Maybe Death felt he didn't have enough time to use his full power. Maybe mutants are more resistant to it. We can think about it in more depth later. Go. We can't waste any more time. Be careful. And don't get yourself killed. I love you, brother."

"I…I love you too – sister."

There were a thousand and one other things I wanted to say to Annie, but there was no time. I turned away from her and hurried towards the entrance of the bunker. Immediately I was greeted by at least four or five doors, all leading in different directions. I had no idea which way the Horsemen might have gone, until I noticed that one of the doors had been torn from its hinges and bent in half. That looked like the work of the mammoth War. I wasted no time in running through the doorway, hoping they had left a similar trail to mark the rest of their path. I couldn't afford to be running aimlessly around the base looking for them. I only hoped they weren't already on their way out by another route.

Another mutilated door at the end of the next corridor kept me on their path. I wondered for a moment whether I might run into any humans. This was a human facility, after all, and we hadn't seen any of them yet. Perhaps the X-Men had warned them of the Horsemen's intentions, and they had evacuated. Up ahead I saw further evidence of our enemies' progress. A door that appeared to be electronically sealed had clearly proved too strong, and a hole had instead been bulldozed through the wall beside it. I approached cautiously, uncertain exactly how far ahead of me my foes might be. Peering cautiously through the gap, I saw nothing, and stepped through. Immediately I was greeted by a sound I recognised all too well: the hissing of the insectoid Pestilence. I tensed myself, ready to dodge his attack – but nothing happened. Turning to my left, I could see Pestilence ahead, standing in his usual half-crouched posture, but facing away from me and clearly unaware of my presence. I decided it would be best to keep things that way. I could probably have defeated him in battle, but I didn't have time for it right now. I had bigger fish to fry. Maybe it was time to give this stealth lark a try. I activated my camouflage and, keeping as quiet as I could, I tried to sneak past him.

I heard War's huge lumbering footsteps before I caught my first sight of him. He squeezed awkwardly through the low doorway ahead of me, to face Pestilence.

"We – go – soon," the giant said, stumbling over his words as if speech was largely unknown to him.

Pestilence's face twisted into a sneer, and he replied in his strange cackling voice, "There's no hurry. Nobody can stop us. Even those other mutants can't stand in our way."

War blinked, as if struggling to understand the words, then he simply repeated, "We – go – soon."

"Oh, never mind. I forgot you can't understand words of more than one syllable."

"Huh?" grunted the giant.

I had taken advantage of their conversation to try and sneak past. As I neared the doorway, Pestilence's head jerked up and his cackling voice resumed, "I thought I heard something."

"Huh?"

"Oh, shut up."

I was past them now, and hurrying the way I had just seen War approach from. This led me down another corridor, which ended at a fork. I went left, but eventually found myself in a kitchen of some sort. I doubted this was where I would find what the Horsemen were here for. I was beginning to panic. War had said they were leaving soon, so they must have found what they were seeking. My only hope was to intercept them before they left. Could I take them alone? My confidence was eroding. If we were right about Death, if he did have some power to irradiate others – it would certainly explain what I had seen him do to that soldier – then it was clearly not safe for me to touch any part of his body. That didn't leave me many options. I could use my flamethrower attack, but would that be enough to kill Death, bearing in mind I had Famine, War and Pestilence to contend with at the same time? I didn't know. If only Annie were here. I hadn't argued with her intentions; I knew that saving the lives of her friends – our friends – was the most important thing, but I was beginning to wish more and more that I had my sister by my side.

Retracing my steps and taking the right hand fork this time, I hurried along as quickly and quietly as I could. I tried to stop the worries engulfing my heart. Things were already bad, but they could progressively worse? What if I couldn't stop the Horsemen getting away with their weapon? What if Annie couldn't heal the others? I tried to convince myself that I wouldn't care if the senior X-Men died, but I couldn't quite get it to sit easily in my mind. Since finding out Marina was alive, my feelings towards them had changed. As Gemini had said, perhaps they weren't the monsters we had though they were.

Movement up ahead caught my attention, and I immediately cast my anxieties out of my mind. I had a job to do. As I looked up, I saw the other two Horsemen of the Apocalypse walking towards me. I was still camouflaged, and they were obviously unaware of me. Death, still shrouded in his black cowl, glided across the tiled floor like a shadow in the darkness. Famine, the pale thin skeleton, walked beside him, his bony limbs jutting at cruel, pointed angles. He carried a large metal crate that looked far too heavy for his skeletal figure. On the side of the crate I could read the words: RADIOACTIVE MATERIAL - Handle with EXTREME caution; along with the standard hazard symbols for radiation. That had to be what they had come for. If it was radioactive then it had to be a nuclear device, since a chemical or biological agent would have been labelled differently. Were the Horsemen planning to construct a nuclear missile? Cyclops had spoken of their weapon being powerful enough to devastate the whole world if it were ever used. If that was true - and there was no reason for him to lie - then it was inconceivable that they should be allowed to escape with this device. I had to stop them. They were already on their way out. I had found them just in time.

As they approached me I tensed my muscles and inhaled a deep breath, ready to do whatever I could, hurriedly going over what little I knew about the Horsemen, trying to work out what my best strategy might be. They were separated just now - Pestilence and War were elsewhere - that would work to my advantage, but I couldn't rely on it lasting for any more than a few seconds. Could I kill Famine or Death in that time? I had to try. For a moment I wondered what on Earth I was doing, planning to kill other mutants, but in this case that reasoning did not apply. It didn't matter what they were, human or mutant. They were enemies who represented a threat to the innocent and defenceless of this world, and thus it was our duty - my duty - to stop them.

I went for Famine first, drawing back my fist and punching him solidly in the chest, flinging him away from me back down the corridor. The ghostly shape that was Death whirled in an instant, his piercing blue eyes narrowing as he looked in vain for an attacker. The crate had been thrown from Famine's grip, and now lay on its side against the wall. The skeletoid arose, quicker than I had been expecting, and he too looked in all directions to see where the attack had come from. Death figured it out first.

"Do not forget there is an invisible mutant…" he hissed. "He opposed us once before…and he will die with the rest. For the Apocalypse is nearly upon us…"

"It is nearly upon us," Famine wheezed in agreement.

"There is the instrument of their doom…take it…" said Death, pointing to the crate.

Famine moved towards it, but I was already there, and I twisted to kick him away, sending him flying. With some satisfaction I heard the crunch as his bony form impacted against the wall. I knew it would be some time before he got back on his feet. That left me at least a few seconds to try and formulate some plan for fighting Death.

And yet, impossibly, Famine was rising to his feet. It was like watching a skeleton rising from a grave. He showed no signs of injury and moved as easily as if it had never happened. It was almost as if I had never hit him. I clenched my fists. All right, so his body was stronger than it looked. That didn't mean he could stand up to me for long. I homed in on him once more, my invisible form moving unseen in front of Death's eyes. This time I slammed my fist into Famine's jaw, a punch so powerful that his head should have been severed from his neck. It wasn't. His head flew back, then he regained his balance again, backing away and standing against the wall to reduce the number of angles I might attack from. I couldn't believe it. I couldn't understand it at all. This was not happening. I had just delivered a blow that should have caused him a fatal injury at the very least. Even adamantium-fisted Mole couldn't have hit him any harder than that. I had thought Famine was clearly stronger than I had originally given him credit for, but nobody was that strong. It was impossible.

I didn't have any time to ponder the matter, as Death was now moving over towards the crate. I was caught in two minds. I knew I couldn't touch him for fear of irradiation, but at the same time I knew I couldn't let him have what was inside the crate either. I exhaled a jet of flame, singing the air inside the closed space of the corridor and engulfing Death's head and shoulders in a ball of fire. This time I knew I had succeeded. Nobody except Pyro could have survived that. But to my disbelief I was proved wrong again. As the smoke cleared I saw that while Death's black cloak was singed and burnt, there was not even a mark on his body.

"What the hell are you?!" I couldn't stop myself exclaiming.

Both of them homed in on the sound immediately, their heads snapping round to face the direction from which I had spoken. Death had raised a chalk-white hand from the folds of his cloak and was walking towards me. I backed away hurriedly. I had seen what his radiation attack had done to that human – I wasn't about to let the same thing happen to myself. Out of the corner of my eye I could see Famine also approaching me. I knew I didn't want to let him touch me either, but if I took him by surprise I should be OK. Still invisible, I seized the skeletoid and hurled him through the air towards the deadly ghost-like figure. Not waiting to see what happened, I ran towards the nuclear crate and grabbed it, hurrying away as fast as I could. I didn't have to kill them, and it was proving strangely difficult. All I had to do was keep this crate away from them. I kicked open the door at the end of the corridor and hurried through.

Right into Pestilence. My camouflage had dropped sometime during the tension of my escape, and the insectoid could see me all too clearly. He drew his neck back to spit acid, but I kicked him aside and used the crate to shield myself from his claws. A gigantic fist closed around my neck as I tried to activate my camouflage once more. War grunted angrily as he lifted me off the ground, and slammed my body into the wall. The crate was jarred from my grasp and hit the floor. Pestilence spat a wad of corrosive acid in my direction but only managed to hit War. The giant roared and swung his free hand at the demonic insectoid. I breathed flame directly in War's face, but I already knew flame didn't hurt him. He had however shut his eyes on instinct, and I took advantage of his distraction to put both of my hands around his hugely thick and muscled neck, squeezing as hard as I could. War's hand was still around my throat, holding me aloft, and he began to squeeze too. Now it was just a question of strength.

Not quite. Pestilence's claws slashed at my arm, forcing me to release my grip on the giant's throat. War grunted his satisfaction and increased the pressure on my windpipe. I felt my anger rising and I knew I was about to go berserk. This might be my very last chance.

A crack sounded unexpectedly from my right, and War stumbled as a bolt of lightning hit him in the side. In surprise both of us turned. Shock stood at the other end of the corridor, both of her hands raised. I could see some other figures behind her but I didn't have time to recognise them. I punched War in the face and twisted free of his grasp, landing on the floor, choking for air. Shock launched another lightning bolt, hitting the giant once more. He howled in pain and fell on his side, his massive hands clutching at his burned skin. Pestilence hissed angrily and jumped to adhere himself to the ceiling. Running along above my head, he leapt down from the ceiling with all his claws extended towards Shock's throat. She raised her hands to fire another lightning bolt but I knew she was too late.

Cassandra grabbed Shock and pulled her to safety just as the insectoid sprang. Helios had one hand out, shining light into Pestilence's eyes, and the demonic figure was forced to look away to avoid being blinded. Shapeshifter was on him in an instant, spinning to kick the small insect body to the floor. Behind them I could see Aqua, looking on nervously. With a grunt War was back on his feet, either ignoring or having recovered from his pain. He lumbered over towards them, his gigantic footsteps almost shaking the ground as he went. He threw one massive fist towards Shapeshifter, but the liquefier was already rolling to one side to avoid it.

Then War made a mistake. He swung his other fist towards Aqua. That was the final catalyst that was required to send me into my berserk state. Aqua was quick and nimble enough to dodge out of the clumsy mammoth's way, and with a scream of rage I ploughed into the giant from behind. With my enhanced strength he had no hope of standing up to me, and with a single punch I sent him flying into the wall. For a moment he struggled to rise, then his gigantic form slumped to the floor unconscious.

"Gary!" somebody exclaimed.

I had no time to respond. I looked back round. Pestilence was getting back on his feet. Famine and Death had also arrived, and both of them had spotted the crate lying where War had forced it from the grip.

"The crate!" I yelled. "It's a nuclear device! That's why they're here! We can't let them have it!"

Shock fired an electric bolt at Death as the ghost moved towards the crate, but it seemed to have no effect whatsoever. Shapeshifter was already striding forward to contend with him, but I pulled him back, "Don't go anywhere near him! He'll irradiate you! He did it to Pyro and the others!"

"We have to do something!" he snapped angrily.

Death was stooping to retrieve the crate when I heard a small voice whispering from behind me.

"The pipes…" Aqua said softly.

I looked overhead to see a series of pipes connected to the ceiling, running along the length of the corridor. I had no time to wonder what had grabbed her attention. Death had one hand on the crate and Famine was already turning to head back the way they'd just come. There had to be another exit that way. I was already hurrying forwards, forgetting my previous reluctance, determined to stop the Horsemen at all costs. Aqua screamed, "Gary, get down!"

Without thinking I dropped to the ground, accustomed as I was to hearing life-saving warnings from a female voice. I twisted to see what threat might be coming up from behind me. Aqua had both her hands outstretched, and the others had also hit the floor around her. She concentrated for a moment, then with a gasp of effort she released her power. From the pipes overhead burst gallons of water, shooting out almost horizontally towards the Horsemen. Death was hit full force by the aquatic onslaught and thrown headlong. As the water continued to stream out, the corridor began to flood, carrying the Horsemen away with it. Pestilence struggled furiously against the overpowering tidal force, but he had no chance. He too was swept away with Famine and Death, hurtling along in whatever direction the water might carry them. War had just risen to his feet, and he too fought to remain on his feet, but even his mighty strength was no match for Aqua's flood. With a last roar he was carried away with the rest.

Aqua lowered her arms and slumped to the floor, exhausted. Shock and Shapeshifter knelt by her side and supported her, and I hurried forwards to grab the crate. It had remained untouched by the water, and I gratefully lifted it into my arms.

"I'll take it," came a voice.

"Annie!" I exclaimed. "How are the others?"

"I think they're going to be all right," she said. "I healed them as best I could, but it will take time for them to recover. Logan should do so quicker than the others, but it will still be several hours."

"What about the Horsemen?"

"They're leaving. I think they realise they've lost this round. They will certainly try again, and we'll have to be ready to stop them a second time – hopefully permanently."

She took the crate from me, and I turned my attention to the rest. Helios was tending to Cassandra's arm where she had sustained a slight injury, and Marina was still flanked by her foster parents. I walked over to her, but Shapeshifter looked up, saw me coming, and signalled to Shock. Quickly but gently she took Marina by the arm and hurried her away, back to the exit. Shapeshifter stood, his arms folded, blocking my way, staring at me as if issuing a challenge.

"I thought I told you to stay away from her," he said icily.

I ignored him, and turned to look for Cassandra. She was watching Helios as he headed for the exit, but a smile crossed her face when she saw me approaching.

"Hey," she said. "Your sister said Pyro's gonna be OK."

"Yeah."

"She healed me too. The X-Men were right; I do have the Plague. Or I did, at least. It's the most wonderful feeling inside of me. Since she healed me – my feelings for her have changed so much. It's like she's my sister too. I don't hate her any more. I can't – not after what she did for me."

"I know how you feel. Once the Horsemen are dead, I'll – "

"You'll what?"

"I – I guess I'll have to talk to my sister and apologise for what happened between us. And to the rest of them as well. She's not the only one I've hurt."

Cassandra smiled, "I'm just concentrating on the Horsemen just now. We have to kill them and make the world a safer place for our children."

"Our children?"

"Yes. The children we're going to have when we get married, remember? The promise we made?"

I didn't respond. I didn't know what to say. I sensed Cassandra had led the conversation this way deliberately to try and force an answer from me on the Marina issue, but I didn't have an answer yet. I hastily looked for a distraction. Annie was walking past, carrying the crate, and I asked my sister, "So what do we do now?"

"We wait. Unless Dad has recovered sufficiently we won't know where the Horsemen are based, and we won't be able to do anything until they've made their next move."

"What about Recyclo?"

"I don't know. How is Mystique going to contact us?"

"I've no idea. I imagine she'll find a way."

Cassandra put in, "I think the X-Men sent that teleporter mutant to hunt for Recyclo."

"That would be Nightcrawler," said Annie.

The three of us were heading for the exit together. At that moment Annie turned to me with a slight frown on her face, "Gary, there's something else bothering you – what is it?"

She must have been reading my thoughts, for there was a slight uneasy feeling at the back of my mind. I couldn't quite put my finger on it.

"It was something Death said," I told her. "I can't remember exactly what it was, and I didn't have any time to think about it when he said it, but – something feels wrong. The guesses we've made; the assumptions we're banking on; something doesn't feel right…"

"What do you mean?" said Cassandra.

"I don't know. He said something about the Apocalypse being near. I remember him saying something similar when we met them at the mansion that time. I didn't know what he was talking about – I guess I still don't. He said something else too – I can't remember what…no, wait – I remember now."

"What was it?"

"He was talking to Famine while the two of them were looking for me. Death said I would 'die with the rest'."

"What does that mean? What are they going to do to you?"

Annie must have worked it out a second before I did, as her golden eyes suddenly widened with horror, "Oh, no."

"What?" said Cassandra, who was obviously still a step further back.

"Gary, you were right," said Annie. "We have been making wrong assumptions. In fact we've been making mistakes that could have proved fatal – and perhaps still could."

"Would someone please tell me what's going on?" my fiancée demanded.

Annie looked at her, "We assumed from the minute go that the Horsemen were building this missile because they intended to use it to blackmail the world into giving them whatever they wanted. The truth is even worse than that. They think they really are the Horsemen of the Apocalypse. They have no intention of holding the world to ransom. They're going to launch that missile and kill every single living thing on the planet. That is their Apocalypse."