The New Marauders (3 of 3)

Six mutants against Sinister. It might seem like quite the advantage for the six mutants if one did not know the history of Sinister, but for one who did these six mutants were very much outmatched. Essex had survived against the wrath of many mutants including the likes of Apocalypse and Xavier. He was a formidable foe and nowadays he was much more formidable due to his numerous henchmen. The scientist wasn't playing games anymore and that made him all the more deadly.

"So how exactly are we going to get to where Blink is at?" Proudstar asked as he walked up beside Polaris. The six mutants were all outside the Exiles base and sand blew in their face from the desert environment.

"I have telepathic trackers on all of my students. For the past few days I haven't been able to pick up on Derrick and Adnan, but only a short time ago I could again. Wherever Legolas and Impervious are at we'll find Blink," Exodus said.

"Makes sense to me, but why didn't you go in to rescue your guys sooner. You got plenty of mutants for a rescue mission."

Bennet glared at Alex and hesitated before answering, "They are children Summers and I will not place them in harm's way."

"They gotta get their feet wet eventually Exodus. Especially if you expect them to be any kind of fighters," Proudstar remarked.

"Enough chatter everyone! We're supposed to rescue our friends here. We don't have time to sit here and discuss Exodus's teaching philosophies," Sunfire said as his body flamed up. The display made Colossus and Proudstar back away from him slightly.

The former Horseman and would be leader of this group of mutants sighed, "You are right in this Shiro. Everyone prepare yourselves. We are about to depart from here. We have business to attend to. Show no mercy!"

With this all of mutants in Exodus's proximity where enveloped in a brilliant pink light and they were off to the place where their friends were waiting for them. Though none of the mutants in Exodus's company were expecting to be greeted with open arms.

Morocco

Sinister sat back in his chair and placed his head on his hand. He leaned to the right a little bit and with his free hand waved for his newest mutant pack to come to him. They were the Marauders and they would excel where the others in his entourage had failed.

The first of the Marauders to step forward was the leader and Sinister's apprentice, Judas Traveller. Legolas and Impervious, Judas's protégés, came up closely behind him. It was quite the sweet irony that Essex now had two of Exodus's students under his command. He knew though that would elicit trouble from the Exiles eventually, but Sinister was confident his Marauders would beat whatever foe decided to come their way. And in case of defeat the scientist had an alternate plan in place. He was prepared for every event with the Marauders.

A member of Sinister's old Marauders presented herself next. Her name was Vertigo and she was once again in the employ of the man she had been trapped in the web of for so long. One of Sinister's older interests was the next to come forward. Essex had never thought he would see this pink-skinned woman in his ranks, but here she was. Blink was a part of the Marauders and what an important part she was.

Cortez, a mutant Sinister had much disdain and interest in all at once, came forward next to one of Sinister's newer acquisitions. He was beside the conqueror, Jadianna Logan. Sunfire had delivered her to Essex and now through some mental training she was part of the Marauders.

Finally, Babylon, the newest addition to the Marauders came forth. He was the easiest to break out of the four mutants that came to the Marauders involuntarily. That made Sinister wonder about the boy's strength, but Judas said he was powerful enough. So that was enough for Sinister. At least for now it was. There was great potential in the boy's powers though. The ability to have absolute control over light was a formidable force to be messed with.

Sinister leaned forward in his black chair with both his hands gripped to the arms of the chair. Before he began to speak he grinned and then said, "I'm proud of all you my Marauders. Very soon you shall have your first test. In time the Exiles will be here to reclaim two of you. We can't allow that to happen."

All the Marauders lined up in a row in front of Sinister. They all now wore uniforms that showed they were part of the Marauders. Judas Traveller had on a red trench coat along with a red body suit. A large black M was on the chest of his body suit and the back of Judas Traveller's trench coat. Cortez was wearing a black bodysuit that went from his neck down. On the top of his hands were red M's and on his black headset there was a red stripe running down the center. Along the side of his outfit were red stripes going from his armpits to his ankles.

Legolas had his blonde hair pulled back. He had a white t-shirt on with black pants and white gloves that went up to his wrists. Derrick had black boots that were knee high and on the back of his boots were white M's. Impervious stood beside his former teammate in the Exiles and present teammate in the Marauders. He was about 6'7 so he was almost a good two feet taller than Legolas. Impervious was a lean fellow and his face was very sleek and thing. The color of his skin was a pale white since he didn't see much sunlight in his homeland of Tajikistan. He had on a long sleeve green shirt with a black jacket on over it. Along with that he had on a pair of loose fitting black pants and a black belt to match. On the buckle of the belt was a green M.

Vertigo was wearing a sleeveless silver shirt and boots of the same color to match. She also had on skintight black pants and a pair of sunglasses. Jadianna stood to the left of Vertigo and to the right of Legolas. She had her hair cut short up to her ears and she wore a pair of golden hoop earrings. A gray sleeveless shirt and blue skintight pants accented Jadianna's voluptuous body. She wore a pair of high heel gray ankle boots and gray gloves that left her fingers exposed.

Blink had on a green sleeveless midriff and black hip hugger pants. She wore a green belt that had a black M on its buckle. She also had green gloves that exposed her fingers. She had her pink hair flowing freely and she held two pink darts in her right hand.

Babylon was at the end of the line of assembled Marauders. He had a mat of shaggy brown hair, green eyes, and a large curved nose. His lips were a dull pink and far too thin. The skin of Charles Shire was a healthy color from all of his days on the streets. He wore a beige color bodysuit and a black M was on the chest of his uniform.

"We present ourselves to you Sinister," Judas Traveller said bowing in front of Essex. All of the Marauders followed behind him.

"You all might as well get up and greet your company," Havok said as he walked up behind the Marauders.

Sinister sat back in his seat. Looking at his Marauders with a cold stare he said, "Kill them all except for Polaris and Exodus. I want them for some…fun later."

"Bring it!" Proudstar yelled as he pumped himself up for battle. It was time to rumble.

Exodus unsheathed his sword and clashed into battle against Judas Traveller. Bennet lifted his red sword composed of psionic energy high into the air and bought it crashing down on Judas's shoulder. As soon as it hit Judas's shoulder its effect was nullified because Traveller changed his body into pure energy. Exodus was so surprised that he never had a chance to defend himself against a pure energy blast from Judas. The leader of the Exiles went flying through the air and hit a wall with a powerful thud. He slid down to the floor, but he wasn't unconscious. He was just hurt.

"Have to go about this in a different way," Bennet grunted to himself as he tried to catch his wind.

"You really ought to just give up now Exodus. You cannot beat me," Judas Traveller said as he walked to where Bennet was crumpled up.

"Think again Judas," Polaris said as she sneaked up behind Traveller and sent a magnetic pulse through his brain. Traveller let out an agonizing cry as he fell to the ground. Blood trickled slowly out of his nose and ears once he hit the ground.

Lorna helped Exodus to his feet and said, "That guy was a prick anyway."

"Better than a dumb bitch!" Blink exclaimed as her feet collided with Polaris's face and sent her flying away from Exodus. Bennet was about to help Dane when a large brute attacked him. Fortunately for him he had a telekinetic shield around his body and the blow barely hurt him.

Looking back Exodus found himself face to face with a large glob of hard light in the shape of a very large man. The hard light structure smiled eerily and said, "You picked the wrong group of mutants to fight with."

From behind the statue there stood the mutant Babylon, the mutant master of light.

Blink punched Polaris in the face and sent the woman reeling back. Then she delivered a high kick to Lorna's jaw. The former member of X-Factor went flying back and fell on the ground. Blood flowed freely from her mouth.

"Come on Polaris! You can give me a better fight than that. Or do you just need other mutants around to make you look good," Blink snickered as she kicked her opponent in the side.

"Screw you little girl," Polaris mocked as she reversed the blood flow of Blink. Clarice cried out in pain. Lorna slowly made her way up from the ground because she was still dizzy from Blink's glancing kick.

Ferguson wasn't going to let Lorna get the best of her. She simply refused. Fighting through the pain of what Lorna did to her she reached for one of her darts, charged it, and flung it square in the middle of Polaris's chest. Bolts of pink energy flew across Polaris's body. Lorna cried out in pain and fell to the ground. Once the pink energy dissipated pink smoke billowed off Dane's body.

Falling to her knees Blink said in between wheezes, "Little girl my ass."

The creature made of light punched Exodus in the face and sent him crashing into the floor. Bennet quickly reacted and swept the light creature to the ground. It hit the ground and sent light globules, which resembled Jell-O in zero gravity, flying everywhere. The globules turned into butterflies and came flying all around Exodus at speeds reaching 200 mph. The wings of the butterflies cut into the flesh of Exodus.

Reaching out with his telekinesis Exodus grabbed all of the light butterflies and smashed them together. He could feel the light combating against his telekinetic grip. It was Babylon. Bennet would end this battle and now. Using his telepathy he penetrated the mind of Babylon and knocked him out cold. The light dissipated in a flash. Blood flowed freely from all the wounds Exodus had suffered from the light creatures of Babylon.

"Well, it looks like I've caught you in a bad situation," Cortez said as he pointed a gun at the back of Exodus' head. Bennet smiled at the pathetic threat of Fabian.

"So you say my old friend," Du Paris said as he used Legion's power, which was now his own, to ignite anything on fire. Cortez's hair instantaneously blew up in flames. The Genoshan yelled out as he tried to pat his hair. Exodus used his telekinesis to knock Cortez back across the room.

"Annoying…"

Exodus didn't even get to finish his sentence as he hit the floor. Over him stood Clarice Ferguson. She had hit him in a pressure point and knocked him out with ease.

"Prick," Blink spat as looked onward to see how the rest of her fellow Marauders was doing.

Havok, Colossus, Sunfire, and Proudstar had been backed into a corner. They were up against Blink, Jadianna, Legolas, Impervious, and Vertigo. Shiro had erected a fire shield around all of his teammates. So far it was protecting them from Blink's darts, Jadianna's lighting bolts, and Vertigo's paralyzing energy waves.

"How long can you give us cover?" Proudstar asked.

"For however long you need. I don't get tired," Sunfire stated matter-of-factly.

"Well, we just can't stay behind this shield forever," Havok exclaimed.

"Obviously. I think I have a plan though," Colossus said.

"I'm all ears Petey," Havok replied.

"Shiro concentrate your heat on the floor around the Marauders. They should be distracted once the metal under them turns to liquid. Make sure not to burn any of them though," Peter whispered in Shiro's ear.

"I'll do what you ask," Sunfire said.

"Come out you big strong men! Don't tell me you're scared of three ladies and two teenage boys," Vertigo teased.

"Hardly," Shiro mocked as the ground underneath the Marauders began to melt away. Blink flipped backwards away from the melting metal. Vertigo dodged to the side. Legolas grabbed Impervious and dodged along with Vertigo. Jadianna took to the air as far as she could.

As the Marauders spread apart Shiro dropped his shield and the mutant men attacked. Havok blasted Blink square in her chest just as she finished her back flip. The blast knocked Clarice unconscious. Proudstar leaped into the air and kicked the dodging Vertigo in the head. The woman went sprawling across the floor and went down for the count. Colossus tackled his two former students. He grabbed Legolas with one fist wrapped around the boy's head and another fist wrapped around Impervious' head. He collided his two fists together hard as he could muster. The two boys fell out cold.

Shiro took the air to tackle Jadianna Logan, the alternate reality daughter of Logan and Storm. The woman surrounded her body with lightning. Sunfire used his powers to heat up the cells of Jadianna's body. In effect he was giving the woman a delirious fever. Jadianna began to fly around Sunfire in a dizzying pace. She was hoping to confuse Sunfire, but quickly her fast pace turned in a mid-air wobble. Wiping her forehead Jadianna fell out of the air and was caught in the arms of Colossus.

Sinister clapped and rose up from his chair, "You proved yourselves quite the potent bunch. My Marauders need to be worked on a bit I see. Nonetheless the simple fact is the battle did yield positive results. My warriors took down Exodus and Polaris. A feat to say the least. Don't you think?"

"Let Blink, Legolas, and Impervious go," Colossus said forcefully.

"Or what?" Sinister asked with a sneer.

"I'll burn you to a crisp," Sunfire said with hate in his fiery eyes. He wanted nothing more to destroy Essex where he stood. The only problem was only Essex could break the conditioning that kept Blink, Legolas, and Impervious bound to his will.

"You never change do you Shiro?" Sinister asked with a smile.

"He has plenty of reason not to," a voice said from behind Sinister.

"Glad to see you're up and around Exodus."

"Drop it Sinister. Give me the means to free Blink and my students. NOW!"

Sinister laughed hard, "You dare make demands of me Bennet? I'll give you the means, but you'll owe me another favor. And don't think you can force the information from me. I can handle all of you. I took down X-Force solo before. I can do the same for you. And besides all I have to do is snap my fingers and my F-Series mutants will be out here. So don't think you have the advantage here."

Exodus not wanting another battle said, "I agree to your terms. Now give me what I desire."

The centuries old geneticist threw three tiny chips at Exodus. Bennet caught all three of them with some help from his telekinesis. Sinister looked at Exodus and laughed, "You better back stop coming here for favors Du Paris. Pretty soon I'll just about own you."

"How do these chips works?" Exodus asked ignoring Sinister's comment.

"Place them on the back of the mutant's neck and they'll be freed. Now leave my premises. I've got work to do."

"You don't have to ask me twice," Havok said as he put Polaris over his shoulder. Proudstar picked up Blink. Exodus moved towards the mutants and with a bright pink light all of the invaders were gone.

Looking at the spot where the mutants had been for a moment Sinister smiled and then walked away his metallic boots clanking along the floor of his base with every step. He would have Exodus some day and with every conflict Bennet only grew ever closer to his web. Now though it was time to work on the replacements for the now gone Marauders members.

"The work of a genius never ceases," Sinister mused as he walked off his Moroccan base's laboratory.

Nine Days Later (Exiles Base)

Blink, Havok, Proudstar, and Polaris were all in Exodus's main office. Exodus himself had called them here personally.

"Let me get right to the point people. I want you all on the Exiles. You're good at what you do. And as you well know my team is undermanned as of late. We can provide accommodations and I assure that the students will be truly enthusiastic at your staying here. They have grown quite fond of some of you," Exodus said looking at Blink.

"Let's cut through all the nice bull here Exodus. We know you want us to stay. I think we've all known that for a little bit here. Question is why. And don't talk to me like one of your students," Havok said.

Exodus leaned back in his chair and sighed before he spoke, "Look you've all been affiliated with at least some of the members of the other major mutant groups. And you all have leadership qualities and you all possess a good deal of power. I know the day might come when I come into conflict with another mutant group and the information you all could provide would be valuable."

"And why would you come into conflict with another mutant group?" Blink asked. It was weird for her talking to Exodus in a civil conversation. The last time she encountered him he was a Horsemen of War and she was one of his main targets. Now he wanted her to join up with him. She knew she couldn't blame Exodus for the way he was during the reign of Apocalypse, but still the memories were very much there.

"The philosophy I run on might not concede with other groups out there. I believe that mutants should be taught in how to train their powers, but I'm not exactly pushing the whole human/mutant peace angle. I believe mutants should look out for themselves first and worry about being friendly with humans later. I'm not like Magneto who advocates war against humans, but I don't believe we should be overly friendly either," Exodus explained.

"That's what I've been thinking for years," Havok laughed.

"I don't know if I can go along with that Exodus. I practically lived in a world where there were mutants who were like that at first, but then got pushed over the edge. What's to say the same won't happen to you?" Blink asked.

"That's not going to happen. Not as long as I'm around," Peter said as he walked into the office.

"Look we can sit all day talking about this, but I'd prefer to make it simple. If you don't want to stay here rise up out of your seat and I will kindly take you wherever you want to go," Exodus said.

None of them even thought about getting up out of their seats. Havok was staying just to get some kicks out of this. Polaris stayed not only for Havok, but also because he liked the idea of helping other mutants master their powers. After helping Joseph with his powers a bit she realized she wanted to help other mutants in the same way. Proudstar stayed because he strongly believed in Exodus's philosophy and in a way Bennet reminded the young Apache of his former leader, Cable. Blink's reason for staying was probably the only one out of the bunch that wasn't so self-serving. She stayed to watch over Exodus and to make sure he never did go over the edge. And she would make sure his students knew there was another…better dream than Exodus's out there if they just looked hard enough.

China

A terrasect portal opened and out of it stepped Sinister and following behind him were the Marauders. They walked a few feet behind Sinister. Ever since their defeat at the hands of the Exiles their leader had been testy.

"I don't believe I've ever been to your China base Sinister," Cortez commented as he looked upward and saw a roof that was probably 67 feet away. This base was full of cell generation chambers were Sinister formulated his clones and new creations. There were dozens of computer mainframes that did a number of tasks for Essex. And in the very center of the room was a Rapture, Sinister's version of Cerebro, uplink. Only Sinister was capable of using Rapture. It was specifically designed to work only with Sinister's DNA and password.

"That's because you haven't been to this base Cortez. I have at least one base in every country on the planet. I keep my secrets well hidden. Now come I want you all to meet your new teammates," Sinister said as he turned to walk down a corridor. At the end of this hallway was a large black door with a red diamond in the center of it.

Before they reached the black door Sinister said, "Corridor door open."

The door slid open with a hiss. Waiting on the other side of the door were the newest Marauders. One was tall, had pink skin, a buzz cut, and a dark pink tattoo over his right eye. He was wearing a white sleeveless t-shirt, white pants, and heavy white steel toe boots. He also had on white gloves that kept his fingers and knuckles exposed.

Next to him was a woman with long black hair, pointy ears, and a fair complexion. Her eyes were blue like the ocean and the same went for all of her clothes. She had on a sleeveless t-shirt, shorts that were about five inches above her knee, ankle boots, and gloves that went all the way up to her elbow.

"These two are Glance and Arwen. The newest members of the Marauders. If they look familiar it's because they are. They are two of your former teammates with some major genetic modifications from yours truly. Their mutant powers are the same of course, but their physical appearance is just slightly different. Glance is based off the DNA of Blink and Arwen comes from the DNA of Legolas. I might have made someone to replace Impervious if I gave a damn about him, but that doesn't matter. All that matter is that you have new teammates."

"Welcome to the Marauders," Judas Traveller said extending out a hand.

Glance took his hand and shook it strongly then with a husky voice he said, "Thanks for the welcome. Now maybe you can guys can start winning since I'm around."

"I see he built them with plenty of personality," Vertigo whispered to Cortez.

"He's almost as annoying as the real Blink," Cortez replied.