Games and War Part 2

Colossus stood against the combined might of Caliban, Warpath, Thing, and Thunderbird. They all charged at him full force. Peter allowed his metal to spread over his body like a blue metal wave smashing against the beach. Caliban was the first to try and attack with his razor sharp claws. Colossus punched the Morlock in the face and sent him crashing through a large pillar.

Warpath shouldered Colossus in the back and Peter fell forward. Instead of falling face first into the ground he planted his hands and did a flip. His feet hit Warpath in the jaw and sent him flying into the roof where he stayed stuck.

Thing hit Colossus upside the head and sent the Russian into a bunch of crate boxes. Colossus found himself covered in splinters of wood after the punch. Rising up from the blow Peter threw one of the unharmed boxes at Thing. The Fantastic Four member crushed the box by smashing both his hands together. Ben Grimm then charged at Colossus again.

Taking the charge head on Rasputin expected to be flung a good distance, but when Thing ran into him all you heard was a loud clanking sound. Colossus hadn't even been budged and Thing was on the ground out cold. All that remained now was Thunderbird.

Deciding to take the initiative in this fight Colossus leaped into the air. He found himself traveling a lot higher up than he wanted to, but the result was the same. His hard body smashed into Thunderbird like a rocket hitting a restaurant. Dust was everywhere.

Then the simulation ended.

"How'd I do Sunfire?" Colossus asked as he returned to his human form within a few short moments.

"It was unbelievable. What ever Sinister said Gaunt did to us it seems to be taking effect. No way you should have been able to stand up to Thing like that. You fought like everything was easy," Sunfire said his voice full of shock and dismay from the observatory part of the simulation room. It was from there that all simulations could be monitored and controlled.

"You are right Shiro. That was too easy. It's like our powers have been increased tenfold," Colossus said feeling this new power surging through him. It was like his blood was infused with this new strength. What exactly had Gaunt done to them?

"Yes it does. I can feel the heat building up in me sometimes. Do you feel as if this power will overwhelm you?" Shiro asked sure without a doubt in his mind that his newfound power would never overwhelm him.

Colossus shook his head and with a smile said, "We might as well see what the limits of this newfound strength are. Run a new simulation for me. I feel ready for another challenge."

"Which simulation do you want to do now?" Sunfire asked with a hint of boredom in his tone.

Colossus put his hand to his chin and thought about it for a bit. When his through process had been completed he replied," I want to do the Prime Sentinel one. Make sure its on danger level 10 and make sure they are lots and lots of Sentinels. Don't hold back on me. I want to work up a sweat."

"Be careful what you ask for," Shiro said as he reached out with a red-gloved hand and turned the notch for the danger level to 10.

Algeria

Sinister paced back and forth in front of his throne. In front and below him was the Savage Land Mutates who served him, Fabian Cortez, Ricki Tan, and Judas Traveller, Sinister's newest apprentice. He had to gather all his thoughts before he addressed his soldiers. He didn't want to give away too much information while at the same time keeping them informed.

Sinister stops walking and laughs, "Never did I think it would come to this."

"What are you talking about sir?" Ricki Tan asked bravely hoping that the wrath of his master would not come down upon him.

"Cairo, Buenos Aires, and Damascus were attacked by an interdimensional army lead by Ramses Xavier. I've known of his coming for some time and so I've promptly been building up forces in secret from everyone," Sinister explained.

"How large is this army?" Cortez asked concerned at what they might be facing.

Sinister smile a little at Cortez's question, "It could number in the billions possibly trillions. What we saw a few days ago was only the tiny tip of a very large iceberg. I have absolutely no way of producing that many mutants in so small a time. We must beat them with finesse and not power."

"The heroes of Earth should be of some help to us. Tell them of how great this threat is and I'm sure they'll come," Judas Traveller said.

"Oh indeed. I know they'll come to our aid, but there are only two groups I think that'll be able to work well alongside my forces. The Exiles and Avengers. Only reason I include the Avengers is because Exodus has a relationship with one of their key members. We'll need their help if we hope to win," Sinister said finally stopping his pacing and sitting down in his black throne. He let out a sigh of exhaustion. This Ramses would test his skills and his forces to their limit. Essex could feel it. No matter because for all Ramses may have and may be he is far from the grandeur of Sinister.

"No offense to you Sinister, but what makes you think the Avengers and Exiles will ever work alongside us?" Cortez asked.

Sinister's eyes flashed with a red glow, "I'll handle the Exiles. You Cortez will go with F13 and convince the Avengers. I'm sure you'll be able to pull some strings considering you have some history with the group."

Cortez gulped, "But I don't think…."

"I don't care what you think! Just do as I ask! I already have enough on my shoulders without some sniveling worm questioning me. Now go!" Sinister yelled pointing at the door.

Fabian bowed and walked away from Sinister, his pride having been hurt. After the door was closed behind him Essex rose up from his throne and said to Judas Traveller, "Come we have to work to get to concerning you my apprentice."

Judas Traveller followed closely behind Sinister as the two mutants left the main room of this Algerian base.

"Today I'm going to make you powerful like you've always wanted to be my apprentice," Sinister said as he descended down a flight of steps with Judas Traveller behind him. Essex walked over to a group of controls arranged in a semi-circle. The geneticist walked up a tiny step and turned on his equipment. Sinister pressed a large blue button on the corner of the control panel. There was a loud wheezing sound and smoke began to funnel out of one part of the lab. More and more smoke arose from that particular area and soon there was a tiny cylindrical glass chamber.

Judas Traveller walked up to the glass chamber and stroke it with his hand, "Is this what I'm suppose to enter?"

With a nod Essex said, "Yes it is. Enter now and you shall come out as my strongest warrior. Prepare yourself."

The man stripped himself naked and stepped into the chamber. The door to the chamber closed tightly. The molecules of that door altered so that the door no longer existed. Thick white gas filled the chamber and knocked Judas Traveller out cold. Quickly a green gelatinous liquid filled the entirety of the chamber.

Essex began to turn nodes and pull switches as lights flickered on and off on the control board. Pressing a button to activate Rapture, his version of Cerebro. Sinister put on a headphone set and said, "Rapture prepare for grafting process with test subject Judas Traveller."

"What mutant power do you wish to graft?"

"Graft the abilities of the mutant Changeling to test subject Judas Traveller."

"Any additional graft requests?"

"Yes after the Changeling graft add these additional grafts in this order. A Polaris graft, Havok graft, Forge graft, Archer graft, Vanisher graft, Callisto graft, Marrow graft, Masque graft, Leech graft, Sebastian Shaw graft, Sunspot graft, and finally a Wolfsbane graft. Inform subject Judas Traveller upon completion that any deformities he may have from the multiple grafts can be annihilated by him changing his shape with the omnimorph's Changeling's powers."

"Will do sir."

"Thank you Rapture," Sinister said he took off his headphone set and walked out of the lab. Now it was time for him to contact Exodus. The Exiles needed to get in on this coming war.

Exiles Base

"So can you just like freeze time to a standstill?" Toxicwaste asked as he placed five armies on the country of Ukraine. Alex was trying to build up for the eventual attack he knew he was going to get from Gaia in Scandinavia.

Downtime placed two armies in Venezuela and two more in Siam. After doing this she answered Alex's question, "Yeah I can freeze time till it's not going anymore and when I start it back up again it seems like I've popped up out of nowhere. So some might mistake it for teleportation. Especially fools who are about to get whupped like you!"

"Bring it little girl!" Alex said with a grin hardly visible through his toxic waste covered body. He could push back the waste, but it took concentration and he didn't feel like concentrating 24/7.

"Don't even know why you two are getting happy. I'm the junk in this game anyway," Phaser boasted as he placed three armies in North Africa. That made 58 armies in North Africa compared to the 49 armies Gaia had in Brazil. An epic struggle was on the way he could feel it.

"Nothing but hot air," Gaia said as she placed four armies in Brazil and pulled a card. No one had pulled a card that they could fight someone with the past five turns, but Gaia had a worthwhile card in her hand. With a smile she flashed it at Tony. The card had North Africa on it.

"Man I could be playing Risk at the moment," Legolas groaned as he stood alongside Impervious in front of bunch of large metal balls placed on the floor.

"What is this Risk you're talking about?" Adnan asked confused at what Legolas was talking about. He was still getting use to American culture and this base itself. It was a wonder compared to the wasteland he came from.

"I'll teach you one day Ingram," Derrick said as he clenched his fists together. Exodus and Mutant Forger had walked through the door.

"Glad to see you two made it," Exodus said with a smile.

"Why are we the only ones here? Are we the most powerful or something?" Legolas asked playfully though he secretly hoped that was the reason for his summon.

"The four of us are the only long-lived or potentially long-lived mutants in the Exiles. Mutant Forger's and my longevity was induced by means that were other than natural. You two on the other hand are bonafide Externals. You're immortal mutants like Apocalypse, Cannonball, Candra and her ilk. You're something special," Exodus said.

Derrick stepped forward, "Okay that's cool and all Exodus, but it still doesn't explain why we're here."

Mutant Forger pointed to the metal balls on the floor and said, "We've you decided to give you two a private training session. Each one of those metal balls on the floor is about the size of a basketball. Once the training starts the balls will come at you from random directions at high velocities. Your job is to dodge the metal balls and not destroy any of them. Understood?"

"What if we get hit?" Legolas asked bewildered at the task placed before him. He could be off enjoying a pleasant game of Risk, but now he had to dodge a bunch of metal balls. Then he realized what he was thinking. Who cares about Risk? This type of stuff was what he lived for.

"You both are immortal. It'll only hurt a little bit if you get hit," Mutant Forger said coolly as he walked out of the room with Exodus.

"I have a feeling this isn't going to be pleasant," Adnan moaned as the balls rose up from the ground.

"Probably not, but at least it'll be fun!" Legolas shouted as the metal spheres began to launch themselves at the two Exiles students.

I am not afraid Lord though I know there is much too fear. You delivered from the clutches of evil and gave me to people whom care. I thank you for that and I only hope you use as your instrument in the trying times that are come. I know many around here find prayer to be in vain, but I cannot. Prayer gave me deliverance though you did it in a way I would have never guessed. If people took the time to look they could find miracles all around every day. In these Exiles and other mutants that fight for the right to live I see a miracle. And I thank you for making me a part of them. Amen

Trevor Chase rose from his bed and did the Sign of the Cross. He was about to pick up his new Bible that Star Prophet had bought him when Ever walked into the room. Trevor liked Ever a lot. The man had treated him kindly ever since he had arrived at the Exiles Base. The young boy was grateful for that.

"Hey Trevor I'm going to Phoenix with Hope, Lifeguard, and Slipstream for a little R&R. You wanna come along?"

Trevor grabbed his Bible and asked, "You don't mind if I take this along do you?"

Ever laughed, "Of course not! Why would I mind?"

"Oh I don't know. I guess not everybody in the world is religious," Trevor said somberly.

The Morlock bent down and put his hand on the young boy's shoulder, "I won't lie to you and I say I'm the most religious person in the world. But I do respect other people's beliefs and their right to practice them. Now let's get going."

As Trevor walked out of his room in front of Ever he turned around and asked, "Not to be mean sir, but don't get people get afraid of how you look?"

Ever's face contorted a bit, "Yes they get very scared at times, but I just use my telepathy to make me look human." As Ever said this he tapped the side of his head gently a couple of times.

"Oh…" Trevor said hoping he hadn't hurt Ever's feelings. That was the last thing he wanted to do.

"You think we have too many students?" Exodus asked as he walked down a corridor with Mutant Forger beside him.

Mutant Forger stopped walking, "Why do you ask that? Are you having doubts about some of the students?"

With a weak smile Exodus said, "I am not worried about the children. Frankly I am distressed about my ability to teach them properly. I truly do not know if I am capable of handling the task."

"I've never heard such nonsense. The students trust you and look up to you Exodus. You're the Xavier figure to almost all of these kids. They wouldn't have anyone else for a leader. I know I wouldn't. Why all the doubts? Is it because of the way the battle with Onset went down?" Mutant Forger asked.

Just then a telepathic signal hit Exodus like a hammer. He grabbed his head and kneeled over. Mutant Forger immediately rushed to his side, "What's wrong Exodus? Is someone attacking you?"

Bennet straightened his body up quickly. The pain had only been quite temporary. The signal had just come unexpectedly and caught Exodus off guard. Perhaps though the sender had meant for the signal to pack a little bit of pain.

"What happened Bennet?"

"I have to go Forger. Someone has summoned me. No need for details. It's urgent," Exodus exclaimed as he teleported away leaving behind a confused Mutant Forger. He was going to talk to Star Prophet and see if she could find out what was wrong with Exodus. The sinking feeling of it being something that would put Exodus in harm badgered Mutant Forger's mind as he ran to Star Prophet's room.

Bennet walked onto the green grass carefully using his telepathy to try and feel out any hostile minds. He had to make sure no one was lurking in some corner trying to attack. Especially when he was meeting someone as despicable as Sinister.

"What do you want Essex?" Exodus asked as the wind blew fiercely making Bennet's cape billow wildly in the wind. The man's glowing red eyes made direct eye contact with Sinister. Du Paris wanted to rip that damn scientist limb from limb for what he did to Colossus and Sunfire.

Sinister grinned at Exodus's angered expression, "I want the returning of a favor. Remember when I helped the Neo/Mutant child Gaia…"

The throat of Exodus went dry. He knew this day was going to come eventually. Today he was going to have to repay Sinister for his assistance in helping Gaia. Whatever the task he knew it would be a hard one…at least on the soul. The games Sinister played always wrecked the soul.

"Ask what you will of me and make it quick," the former Horsemen of War grunted. At this Sinister pulled out a large yellow vial from behind his back.

"I offer you two choices Exodus. See there is an interdimensional invasion of a very large scale about to take place. You can either make me force you to help me OR you can help me willingly and receive a gift for it," Sinister said shaking the yellow vial in front of his face.

Exodus didn't know what to make of Sinister. What was his game here? What did he mean by gift? And what interdimensional army did he speak of? Exodus had heard about major mutant attacks in Buenos Aires, Damascus and Cairo. Could all those attacks be connected?

"You offer me too little information Sinister. What gift do you speak of?" Exodus asked pretending to be half-interested.

"This vial I have in my hand will save the lives of Colossus and Sunfire. See you saved them too early. When you came barreling into my base did you ever stop to think why it was so easy? I let you save the two early because I knew it would make you need my help eventually," Sinister proclaimed with a smile so wicked it could be burned at the stake.

Fiery anger was beginning to build up in Exodus, "What do you mean? Explain yourself Essex!"

"Of course Bennet. See whatever Gaunt did to Sunfire and Colossus it was making their powers grow rapidly out of control. I was studying the two of them to try and repeat the process, but in a more control mannered. Before I had the chance to slow down the rapid growth of Shiro's and Peter's powers you showed up. That's when I decided to let you take them and then you would have to come to me for the serum at a later date," Sinister explained.

"You cretin!" Exodus yelled. Sinister had played him for a fool. He had taken advantage of his brashness and now was backing him into a corner. Bennet was going to have to take the serum to save Sunfire and Colossus. And du Paris would still owe Sinister a debt on top of that. Essex had played his hand well.

"I think I'll like it better when you start calling me ally," Sinister said as he walked in front of Exodus and extended out the hand with the yellow vial in it. Bennet gritted his teeth and snatched the vial out of Essex's hand quickly.

"At least we're making some progress. I'll be back in contact with you again shortly. In the meantime prepare the troops," Sinister said as a terrasect portal formed behind him and he stepped through it backwards.

Exodus looked down at his hand and the yellow vial that was now in it. This vial would save the lives of Peter and Shiro, but Bennet had to wonder at what cost? Sinister always had plans within plans and no one could ever figure out what he had coming at you next.

"We got Cortez and some guy calling himself F13 on lock down over here. They claim to have connections with you guys and you'd be able to verify their story," Crystal said across the screen not looking too pleased. She didn't like unexpected visitors popping up on Avengers Mansion. Especially if one of them was Cortez. She had to admit though only a short while ago she would have felt exactly the same way about Exodus. Why was she with him? It made her look like a bad mother to some and it almost seemed implausible. There was a kindness and gentleness in him though that was genuine. Crystal hadn't seen anything that genuine for quite some time. That's why she was with Exodus, because he was the man she never had the chance to be with.

"I'm pretty sure whatever they're telling you is…"

"The truth," Exodus said as he teleported behind Mutant Forger and cut him off.

"Exodus! Where did you go? I was about to go to Star Prophet's room to try and find you when I heard the communication signal go off."

"What do you mean Exodus? How can Cortez of all people be telling the truth?" Crystal asked confused as to what the heck was going at Exiles HQ.

Exodus sighed as he hid the yellow vial from sight, "I hate to believe it myself Crystal, but he is telling the truth. The interdimensional invasion and us needing your help was all true. So you think you up to it?"

Crystal laughed, "They never got to the needing our help part. Wanda took them out before then, but we can help. The only Avengers around though are Wanda, Callisto, Gilgamesh, and myself. The rest are off handling other business."

"We could use every ounce of help Crystal. This invasion has to be halted before it gets too big and blows up in everyone's faces. These guys are just testing the waters now. We don't want a full-fledged war," Exodus explained. Crystal nodded in agreement.

"We'll be at Exiles HQ ASAP. Over and out," Crystal said as the screen faded away.

Essex watched as Judas Traveller approached him. Sinister was proud of his apprentice. He had looked to be well enough so he had survived the grafting process. Essex had never done that many grafts at one time before and he wasn't entirely sure that Traveller was going to make it. Obviously he should have had more faith in Judas.

"I feel power brimming from every corner of my being," Judas Traveller said as green magnetic energy flowed out of one of his palms. Sinister had given him what he had promised. He had given Judas Traveller power. Such a power that few would be able to stand against him.

"It's good you feel powerful Judas. You will soon use that power and we shall see just how powerful you are."

"How soon will I be able to test my power?" Judas asked eagerly.

"Sooner than you think," Sinister said.

"And what of the servants I was promised? Will I have them soon?"

"So many questions Traveller. You're lucky I can always provide an answer. Once this is all over with I tell you that Legolas and Impervious will be under your thrall."