The Only Resolution is War Pt. 2

Doom floated outside of Six Castle waiting for some representative of either the X-Men of the Six to present themselves to him. Did he really scare these so-called elite heroes that much? It almost made him laugh out loud and that was something that he hadn't done in a very long time. Maybe these heroes weren't the kind of allies Apocalypse needed in this coming war. Doom was sure that they would be able to handle themselves without the help of the heroes, but of course his master was always a man to have his deck loaded.

Suddenly just as he was about to go into the Six Castle unannounced he felt a sharp pain in his back and he felt himself falling quickly towards the ground. His attacker had been Blink who managed to survive his blazing heats by surrounding herself with spatial energy. Before he fell into the ground Doom caught his self, but soon found the sais of Elektra heading towards his face. He had to flare up his power to melt the sais because they had been made of some heat resistant alloy.

"I did not come to make war…today," Sunfire smiled knowing that no could see since he was face was totally engulfed by plasma matter.

"Then why else would a Horsemen be here?" Elektra asked in a fighting stance. Sunfire admired Elektra's foolish bravery. She was willing to fight a living sun with her bare hands. Maybe there was hope for these heroes yet.

"I've come to warn you of the High Evolutionary's coming. He plans to bring war to this planet and Apocalypse wishes to extend an offer of temporary alliance to the X-Men and Six."

"Adam Warlock has already warned us of this threat so you can tell your boss that we'll work with him…for now," Elektra said sharply putting great emphasis on her last few words.

Doom simply bowed and flew off into the air at a tremendous speed leaving behind him a brilliant orange blaze. Blink stared in awe at this demonstration because she knew if he had wanted to he could have beaten both Elektra and herself without a second thought.

"So it seems fortune was on our side today child," Elektra said finally relaxing.

"I'm not too sure Elektra. I just got this eerie feeling that things have just started to go wrong for us and I can't shake the feeling for all my strength of will," Blink said clearly disturbed. Elektra couldn't help but to wonder just how much of what Blink was saying was true.

"Well it seems I got here too late," Forge said as he stepped out a portal created by Locus who was by his side.

"What are you two doing here!" Blink exclaimed surprised.

"When Dr. Sublime contacted me about the situation going on here I went to go get X-Force," Forge explained.

"It seems you're a few members short then my friend."

"Actually Elektra they should be on their way now," Forge smiled as he looked the direction of the arriving X-Force.

"Sorry about being late Forge, but we kinda got held up. So where's this Horseman at?" U-Go Girl asked looking around trying to find their intended target.

"He's gone. He wasn't here for a fight unbelievably."

"You've got to be kidding me Elektra? What else would a Horsemen be doing here?" Cypher asked as he walked to greet his old instructor.

"Nice to see you too Doug and you as well Takken."

"Oh yeah Elektra I'd like to introduce you to the new guy on our team, Payne," Cypher said motioning him towards Elektra. The man was about in his mid-30s and he held an ice-cold stare on his face. This was going to be Elektra's kind of man.

"I'm kinda disappointed that we didn't get a chance to fight one of these infamous Horsemen. So why was he here then exactly…Elektra isn't it?" Payne inquired. Elektra smiled to herself. He was a man straight to the point.

"Doom as he calls himself was here to warn us that the High Evolutionary is preparing an assault against the Earth…"

"You don't even have to finish the rest! So who else does Apocalypse want on his side I wonder?" Forge posed to the mutants before him.

"Who knows? Most likely the big guns like the Avengers, FF and Defenders," Payne suggested. He didn't seem to focus on the discussion at hand, but yet he seemed to be staring off into space as if he was preparing himself for the coming war. Elektra could definitely relate.

Six Castle

Elektra, Blink, Forge and X-Force sat around a large oak wood table watching the face of Adam Warlock on a television above their heads. He held an expression of fulfillment upon his golden face. The green emerald embedded in his forehead shimmered brightly.

"So I'm guessing they believed you Adam?" Elektra asked already knowing the answer.

"Yes Elektra they believed me and Lust only helped all the more to prove my

case to them."

"So we've got the support and now how does the strategizing begin?" Payne asked gruffly. Just then a graceful young woman opened the door to the large room the mutants were in. Her hair was long flowing ebony that shined in the light of the room and her skin was a wonderful shade of the lightest brown. Her body was lean and she didn't mean showing it at all. Her shorts were almost like underwear and her light blue-midriff probably would much better fit on an eight year old. The necklace and headband she wore were all a symbol of her heritage.

"Nice to see you have finally come off your leave of absence," Elektra as she stood up to greet Moonstar.

"It seems much has happened since I left and my grandfather passed on. I guess I'll just have to hook up with Cerebro and learn for myself. I will be on my way to do this now. I just wanted to let everyone know of my presence here," Moonstar explained as she walked back out of the room again.

"Like she's some queen or something just barging in her like that," Blink muttered under her breath. Cypher smiled at her sensing the jealously or maybe it was resentment for Dani not being there during the battle with the Brotherhood.

"Umm if we can get back to business please. As I was saying Apocalypse wants us all to meet him in Egypt so we can begin preparing. I'll be going to check out what this demon attack is about in Las Vegas while I await the arrival of my Infinity Watch. Over and out."

The image of Adam Warlock quickly went black. The mutants all got out of their seats and headed for the Six's hangar bay because they were heading straight for Egypt.

New York

She sat down by the white bed tears flowing from her red eyes. Her heart ached for many reasons. Most of them all having to do with the people she loved and the people she kept losing. A long time ago when she first became what she is today she thought that she had lost all emotion.

"Today is the anniversary Peter. I know that she would have wanted to be here with me, but she's gone now. The Wolverines took her away from her us as they did so many others. Kurt would have liked to say good-bye to you one last time I think, but in his heart I believe he did. He was a true hero you know. He gave his life to save young Scotty. Peter you're one of the few I've got left now! Please wake up!" Bloodstorm wept as he put her head on her comatose friend's large arm. He did not response and he never would. Ororo knew that, but she could always hope. Hope is what kept her alive in these trying times.

"Ahh ain't that sweet! Good ol Storm is bloody crying! I never thought I would see the day," a man chuckled from within the shadows. Ororo tensed up instantly both knowing and fearing that voice which came from the shadows. Another was with him as well.

"Spike you should be so lucky to see me cry instead of angry. Angelus always the quiet one I see," Bloodstorm murmured quietly preparing herself mentally for battle.

The two vampires stepped out of the shadows with which they blended so well with. Spike had on his famous crooked smile and Angelus maintained his cold stare, which he had carried for centuries. These two were more or less her mentors when her mind was out of whack trying to fight the hunger of the vampire.

"General Spike to you missy. I've been bumped up quite a bit as of late as has Angelus."

"Well, if you're so high up what do you want with me?" Bloodstorm asked. She knew Spike and Angelus well enough. They would never work for someone unless the person either had some kind of grip on them or the person was truly worthy of their respect. She had never seen the latter happen before.

"The master demands that you be bought to him immediately. Preferably alive of course Ororo so there is no need to fear. Though vampires are known to take a lot of damage," Angelus stated matter-of-factly as if the thought of ripping people to shreds no longer bothered him anymore.

"You've got to catch me first!" Bloodstorm exclaimed as she turned into mist and flew out of the open window.

"Damn it! Mephisto is going to be pissed! I told you we should have just charged her instead of trying to play these psychological games with her! She knows us both too well for that," Angelus complained.

"Ah sod off you! We'll get Bloodstorm soon enough. It should be obvious where she is going to go."

"Six Castle here we come," Angelus and in a flash two mist clouds flew out the window in pursuit of Bloodstorm.

Las Vegas

Adam Warlock flew into the city of Las Vegas to see dozens of police cops surrounding the hospital. He couldn't afford to be seen by them since the doppelganger incident that happened a few years back. To avoid the cops Warlock took off at top speed to get to the top of the hospital building. He landed with as soft a landing as possible.

The Soul Gem sensed evil in this place and Adam was worried by it, but it wasn't going to stop him from investigating the contents of the building. Looking around for a way into the building Adam finally found a way in the form of an air-conditioning vent. The stairway was mysteriously broken into rubble. Obviously someone was trying to stop anyone from entering the building.

The way down the vent was difficult especially since Adam knew he could just blast his way through, but he had to be quiet so as not to attract unwanted attention. He finally managed to get out of the vent and landed in a hospital room with a thud.

The scenery around him was absolutely revolting and vile. What was once a 80 year old woman was smeared across the world. What must have been her son that was visiting her was lying on the floor cut into four pieces with his eyes being smashed into a pulp and being used to spell evil next to his head.

Adam used his Soul Gem to see what had caused this damage and well enough it was demons. But who had sent them was the main question because if it was someone of human nature the demons could easily be sent back, but if it was a demon lord like Hellstorm the task would be much harder.

"My my my if it isn't the wielder of the Soul Gem, Adam Warlock."

Adam turned around slow trying to keep his anger suppressed because of whom he knew he was going to see.

"Lord Drezan how nice of you to be here. So how goes blood-sucking?" Adam insulted.

"So I see the wounds of our last encounter is still raw. No matter though because I'm about to open up some fresh wounds," Drezan grinned as four demons came to his side.

"Numbers mean nothing Drezan. I will tear your demons apart and then you!" Adam Warlock cried out. He would have revenge for Strk and Elisa.

"Whoever said I was going to fight you."

Adam for the slightest moment was confused by this comment, but then realization dawned upon him as his whole body went cold and numb. His vision became to blur and then went black, but he could still hear.

"The cold embrace of Blacklove should be enough to subdue you for the time being."

"Let us leave this place General Drezan. The demons will be sufficient enough to handle the Hell mouth spell on their own. I believe father shall be pleased at the capture of Warlock," the daughter of Mephisto exclaimed.

"Yes he will indeed my Queen," Drezan bowed and in an instant they were gone to the realm of Mephisto.

Above the Earth's orbit

"Is the Ming'Cha fleet prepared?" High Evolutionary asked Gamemaster as he stared out into the blackness of space towards Earth.

"Yes they are ready to execute our plan."

"Excellent Gamemaster. Prepare yourself to go to Washington D.C. and to ignite our war."

"What about our part?" Black Locus asked as he came through the sliding door behind Gamemaster. High Evolutionary didn't like Black Locus's questioning attitude, but he was a good fighter nonetheless.

"You and your Brotherhood will be heading to Egypt ten minutes after the arrival of Gamemaster in Washington D.C. Any other questions?" High Evolutionary asked annoyed.

Six Castle

Moonstar sat down in the chair absorbing all the information Cerebro could give her at one time. She wanted to be help out the Six in the best way she possibly could and she wanted to earn the trust of Blink most of all because it was extremely important to her that all of her teammates trusted her in every endeavor that was undertaken.

All the while Dr. Sublime was watching Moonstar making sure she didn't stress herself out. He knew good and well the effects of being plugged into Cerebro for too long. It was like a drug and once you got hooked there was no way you could get off of it. This tragedy first happened to Bart Barton, an early assistant of Magneto.

Dr. Sublime Momentum has awaken Cerebro echoed throughout the building.

Dr. Sublime quickly moved down the halls knowing that a waking Momentum might still be out of whack. As he passed by the door he heard a doorbell ring. He pulled out his gun just in case and quickly opened the door.

"Dr. Sublime hide me," Bloodstorm tried to cry out, but she fell into his arms exhausted. The weight and suddenness of the fall caused Dr. Sublime to hit the floor. He composed himself and lifted the woman on his shoulders. It seemed he was going to possibly have another patient on his hands.

Unknown to him a gray mist slipped under the castle doors. Bloodstorm's assailants had arrived. Slowly to avoid being noticed they formed into their vampiric forms.

"Hand over the woman you bloke!" Spike yelled as he threw his cigarette at the back of Dr. Sublime's head. The good doctor turned around to see two angry vampires staring him down. He didn't even hesitate in his next action.

"Cerebro activate all defenses on intruders Spike and Angelus!"

Egypt

The heroes of the Earth were all standing in one of the largest halls they had ever seen. Apocalypse had built this hall over two hundred years ago with the help of Exodus and Ozymandias. He never thought it would be used to gather the very people, who opposed his vision and dream, but a greater threat was on the horizon and he would be equal to the challenge.

He stepped up the stairs to the balcony where he would address the superpowers and true rulers of the Earth. The balcony was elegantly decorated with medieval designs and Celtic workings. Exodus's personal handiwork was involved in all of it. The railings of the balcony were each a statue of an Egyptian god. None of those gods were able to withstand the power of Apocalypse. He would topple them just as he had toppled Asgard.

"Greetings all my fellow beings of great power. We have all gathered here today to make sure that the madman known as High Evolutionary does not topple our planet and our way of life. We have all gathered here today to safeguard all life on this planet. Though we may not have always been on the same side we have come here today to make sure that there will still be times were we disagree. If High Evolutionary has his way none of us will be around for much longer. But there is another reason why the High Evolutionary must be stopped! He doesn't just seek planetary domination, but the domination of the entire universe. If we can stop him now his ambitions will fall cruelly short. Let us join together in combat and conquer our now common foe!" Apocalypse bellowed loudly concluding his speech. He most certainly had the attention of his fellow mutants and super-humans alike.

Amongst the crowd everyone had his or her own opinion about Apocalypse; especially Enchantress of the Defenders. She had let the man manipulate her once and it came at the cost of her home and her former lover, Thor. She hated Apocalypse and after this battle with the High Evolutionary she would kill the man with the first chance she got.

The first one to speak out in the crowd was Payne. He had always been bold and this time was no different.

"That's a nice speech and all Apocalypse, but when are we actually going to start getting proactive about this thing. All we seem to be doing right now is waiting for High Evolutionary to make his next move! We can't wait forever or we'll lose this thing for sure!"

Before En Sabah Nur could respond a blazing light flew over the crowd and stopped feet away from Apocalypse. It was Sunfire the Horsemen of Doom.

"My lord there is a large fleet of unidentified vessels heading straight this way," Doom reported. Apocalypse smirked slightly and looked at Payne. The man of action would have his wish granted soon enough.

Washington D.C.

Gamemaster was pleased with himself. He had never used his power to knock out an entire city. It was strange and at the same time pleasurable. He got a eerie sensation from it. His single act would place him in the history books for centuries to come. The man who brought down Washington D.C. in exactly one instant. If High Evolutionary's ambitions were fulfilled he would have a large role in the coming empire so either way his place in the world had been assured. He would be remembered and that's all Gamemaster ever wanted.

Chandilar

"Empress I do believe it is our responsibility and it is only honorable that we help Earth against the High Evolutionary and his Ming'Cha allies."

"My Empress I have to disagree with the Silver Surfer. All Earth has ever been is a thorn in our wings. Even your son agrees with me!"

"My Son is what Shakari saying true?" Deathbird asked of her son Black Light who was sitting in a throne not as decorated, but just as elegant as hers.

"Yes mother it is true. In the name of all that is I think we should not just ignore the situation on Earth, but become allies with the High Evolutionary!" Black Light declared.

The brash statement of Black Light shocked Silver Surfer. He had never known the Prince to be such a…fool. He surely must know that Earth had helped the Shiar Imperium in many incidents. Shakari truly must have manipulated the Prince. Maybe Princess White Sun could be reasoned with.

"I believe I've made a compromise on this situation. We will help Earth, but only after it seems Earth is about to lose. The Earthlings will suffer great losses diminishing them being a future threat, but they will not fall under the Evolutionary's rule. This is my judgment," Deathbird said as she stood up and did the expected motion for an Empress making a final decision on a matter.

Silver Surfer and Shakari both rose from their bowing positions and stormed out of the throne room each of them equally angry. Neither one had expected the Empress to come to a decision so quickly. It must have been because of Black Light's outburst. Shakari's plan had backfired.

"You are making a terrible mistake here Shakari. You must put aside your own prejudices and ambitions and realize that Earth will be a valuable ally in the future when the time comes."

"Who's to say they won't become a great enemy Norrin? You must put aside your own inhibitions and prejudices and realize that Earth could be easily tilted and made into an enemy. Remember how the Skrull conspired against us and sent the FF to attack some of our outposts."

"A misunderstanding at worst Shakari. The bases they attacked weren't even vital to the Empire!"

"Are we going to wait for them to attack a vital base!" Shakari questioned obviously irritated at Surfer's seemingly overwhelming amount of compassion for these humans.

"All the super humans on Earth wouldn't be enough to topple the grand Shiar Empire. We are much too powerful and an ally full of super powered beings can only be useful."

"You are so sure Norrin. Why do you have such faith in these humans?"

"Because they saved my life Regent," Silver Surfer said turning away from Shakari and walking down the hall. The Regent of Saurid was in shock. Never had Norrin ever once called him Regent. Maybe being an undercover agent for High Evolutionary was a bad idea after all, but he was in too deep now to pull himself out.

Six Castle

Cerebro's defensive guns launched energy projectiles repeatedly at Angelus and Spike only to miss every time. The two vampires were fast, but not fast enough to get themselves out of the guns' range of fire. The castle specifically had it's defenses set up so that it would be hard for almost anyone to get out of the defensive guns fire entirely.

"When I get done ripping these guns to shreds you're next doc!" Spike yelled bouncing away from another projectile. Spike was beginning to grow angry and the only solution to the gunfire was to a weapon he had planned on saving till later. He quickly reached into his pocket and pulled out a tiny grenade. He threw it at a cluster of the guns and they all blew up in a fiery blaze. The rest of the guns were child's play for Angelus and Spike.

"Doc I'd like to be the first to welcome you into the vampire family," Spike exclaimed as he leaped into the air his body flying towards Dr. Sublime. Just as he was about to fall on Sublime with his bared teeth he was blast through the mansion doors by a powerful blast.

"Back off and get the hell out of my house," Momentum said weakly still pulling the IVs out of himself.

"More lambs to the slaughter," Angelus grinned.

"Don't even think about it if you are wise," Moonstar said arrogantly with good reason. Surrounding her were ten glowing blue wolves.

"A shaman! Damn it! We'll be back for you Bloodstorm," Angelus said angrily and full of intent. He took a slight step back and turned into mist flying right out of the door.

"Someone please tell me what the hell is going on!" Momentum asked regaining his strength back.

"I will gladly once you help me get Bloodstorm to the infirmary to check her vitals," Dr. Sublime said as he lifted Ororo up from the ground. She quickly pulled herself away from his grip.

"I'm able to stand on my two feet fine enough Sublime! What we need to worry about is Angelus and Spike coming back for round two!" Storm said nervously excited. Angelus and Spike chasing her down had made her adrenaline run in a way she hadn't felt in a long time. She hated to admit it but the two vampires scared the hell out of her.

"Bloodstorm calm yourself! You are amongst friends and the vampires will not get back in here without having us to deal with. It seems that one of your friends was afraid of my magic so we shall use that to our advantage."

"Moonstar? What are you doing here? I see much has changed since I was last here," Storm said confused. Her body began to wave slightly and with a slight gust of air she passed out exhausted. She hadn't drunk an ounce of blood in weeks and it was starting to affect her badly.

"Momentum bring her to the infirmary! I'll prepare the equipment as best as I can for a vampire's physiology though it shall require some time I believe," Dr. John Sublime muttered to himself as he ran down the hallway towards the infirmary.

"Go quickly Sam! I will guard the castle for now though I don't believe another threat will present itself again." Moonstar said hurriedly as she headed out of the castle doors waiting to face whatever might come. Momentum greatly admired her courage. It was a quality that he especially noticed in the try-outs.

As Moonstar stepped outside onto the castle ground she felt a swift breeze fly by her. It made her skin shiver violently and her teeth ever so slightly chatter. It shouldn't have been this cold at this time of year and Dani knew it. Something was definitely wrong and she was almost positive on who it was.

"Adversary come on out and face me! Stop hiding behind your magic you false god!" Moonstar taunted. Suddenly in front of her appeared a muscular Native American man with eyes and hair as black as coal.

"Surrender? Never!" the Adversary bellowed as he uppercut Moonstar sending her into the air straight toward the Six Castle's largest tower.

The young woman managed to stop herself by creating a mystical giant eagle to intercept her. She flew down with all the fury of the eagle towards Adversary. She launched psionic after psionic arrow at the god only for them to miss each time.

"Is this the best you have to challenge me with?" Adversary cackled with an almost deafening voice. Moonstar returned this taunt with a simple smile. Where each of her arrows had landed was now gigantic grizzly bears.

The grizzlies pounced on a shocked Adversary. The man fought the beasts aggressively but to no avail. The spell of Walking Thunder's grizzlies was too much for him to handle. He was surprised the young whelp even knew it. She was truly awesome in her magical abilities.

"How does it feel to be on the receiving end of punch Adversary?"

"Actually…QUITE GOOD!" Adversary shouted, as he broke free of the grizzlies. He was exhausted though. He had depleted much of his energy vanquishing those magical beasts. This battle was not going to be his this day, but before he could leave Moonstar asked him a simple question.

"Why?"

"Because High Evolutionary is the future Dani and you would do well to learn it. In time no one will be able to stand up to him. Not even the one you call Apocalypse. Soon you shall understand and by then it will be too late for you. Goodbye Dani. OH and before I go remember that I will kill you soon enough," Adversary smirked and with a flash of blazing red light he was gone.

Moonstar was both baffled and fearful. Throughout all the time she has known Adversary he has never allied himself with anyone that he considered to be higher than him and the fact that he now did was a sign of how truly terrible High Evolutionary was. The future as of now did not hold much promise.

"Seems you have the fort held down pretty good Dani," a familiar voice said from down below. Moonstar looked down and her face immediately lit up with a smile from ear to ear.

"Caliban!" Moonstar exclaimed as she rode her eagle to the ground and jumped off making it disappear in a cloud of ruby smoke.

"Sublime called up Xavier Asylum saying that you were being attacked and needed help, but it seems the Xavier Enforcers weren't needed here this day," Caliban said as he gave his long-time friend a hug.

"Trust me my friend you will be needed soon enough. The world is in great peril. I fear for it and for us."

"If there's one thing Toad has never known too much of it's fear," Mortimer said as he snatched flies out of the sky. Dani cringed slightly at the sight. Caliban merely shook his head.

"Not in front of company!" Maggott yelled as he grabbed Toad's tongue in mid-air and held it tightly.

"You three are just as troublesome as ever," Moonstar laughed. Seeing Caliban had bought back many memories of the good old days in the Champions. They had grown close during that time and had almost become lovers if it wasn't for the manipulations of Ozymandias.

"Guys get in here quick! The High Evolutionary's on TV!" Momentum yelled loudly and slightly hoarsely from the castle doors. When he said this chills went through Moonstar's bones. She had seen indirectly what kind of power this man wielded.

High Evolutionary's Space Ship

High Evolutionary motioned for Frogman to come to him. The weak and pathetic servant came running to his master. He had been lowly his entire life and the only time he even felt some small snivel of worth was when he was around his master.

"Is the global hologram ready for me Frogman?"

"Yes my lord. Your image will appear in all the major cities of earth and we'll be bypassing your image onto all the major television networks."

"Excellent. Start the hologram!" High Evolutionary yelled anxious to get started. Frogman leaped in fear to the controls and began to punch buttons furiously. Lights began to flash rapidly in front of the Evolutionary and finally they stopped signaling the machine being on.

"Hello people of the Earth. As you may or may not know I am the High Evolutionary. My reign on Earth begins here today. Like it or not I am your supreme master. We can either make this easy or hard for everyone. Surrender to me now and avoid bloodshed or die under my heel. It's all rather simple. Now you may go back to your mundane lives if you would like to try," High Evolutionary laughed wickedly as the machine slowing went off.

Across the globe people screamed in terror in fear of their new lord's coming and he reveled in it.

"Frog-man come to me now! Tell Gamemaster to free Britannica and have her report here immediately. She is going to destroy Six Castle for me," High Evolutionary commanded coolly. Frogman left the chamber with haste so as not to displease his master.

High Evolutionary sat down in his chair letting out a sigh of relief. Everything was going according to plan now. All that was left to do now was to stack up the deck in his favor against the heroes. As he smugly grinned on the inside High Evolutionary felt a chill pass over his shoulder. He used a minor bit of his massive psionic abilities to sense who or what was hiding from him.

"You can come out now Saul. Why is it that you hide from me?"

"My master I have questions that need to be answered before I can continue in this affair," Saul said so weakly that it almost angered High Evolutionary to have such a weak servant in his ranks.

"Then ask your questions and be done with it!"

"Yes my lord. My first question is why is Britannica so important to you? I know she is attractive but I don't believe sex drives your actions."

"You'd be surprised. Britannica is to become my queen, but the main reason I want her is not for her telepathy, but for her secondary mutation, which is to create portals to other realities and slightly control what's within them. This power will be essential the expansion of my everlasting empire. Next question."

"Yes of course. Why give the humans the chance to surrender?" Saul asked nervously as he played with his long white beard that nearly touched the floor though he hovered about a good three inches over it. Fear was something that plagued him throughout his entire life. Saul has known fear from Ghenis Khan, Attila the Hun, Apocalypse, Candra and now High Evolutionary.

"If the humans surrender I will have 6 billion untouched experiment subjects just waiting for me. If the humans surrender my army will be 6 billion stronger. Do you understand now Saul?"

"Yes my lord. But then why not just keep the superhumans around for experiments as well. I would think they would be prime experimental material."

"They would, but unfortunately they are far too defiant and they pose far too dangerous a threat. Now no more questions for today my old friend because I have mission for you. Have you ever heard of the X-Warriors?" High Evolutionary asked quickly trying to change the subject to keep Saul from stepping over his bounds.

"You mean the group that assassinated the mutant Secretary of State, Jaime Madrox?" Saul asked wondering what High Evolutionary could have in mind since the X-Warriors were all killed on national television.

"The one and the same my friend though I know you are curious as to what I could want with them since you believe them dead."

"Believe?" Saul asked slightly confused as to what his master meant.

"Yes see they are far from dead. The ones executed on TV were simply robotic constructs made by the government. The real ones are stuck on a base in New Mexico. I want you to release them for me Saul and make them a part of our esteemed army. If they resist tell them I have the Aegis trophy. Now leave," High Evolutionary commanded with a wave of his hand. Saul bowed slightly and left his master's room floating rapidly.

As Saul left Britannica came in. High Evolutionary rose rapidly to great her, but he couldn't let her suspect who he truly was because then everything he worked so hard to built would fall apart. Betsy bowed deeply as her master stood up, but he quickly motioned her to stand. He would not see his beloved act in such a manner.

"Do you know why I have called you here lovely one?" High Evolutionary whispered as he moved in closer to Britannica moving his finger across her cheek.

"Because you want me to destroy Six Castle my lord," Britannica said in an almost hushed tone. Her face looked down towards the ground afraid to stare at the face of her master.

"Do not be afraid of me beautiful one. I care for you and I shall protect though your power is already great. Fear me not because I have long waited for the day to hold you in…my esteemed ranks," High Evolutionary said almost giving himself away.

"I'm honored my lord. Now I shall accomplish what you ask of me with all the more intensity and speed," and with that Britannica walks out of the room into the empty metal halls of the giant spaceship.

Egypt

Blink barely dodged a blast from a Ming'Cha soldier, but her fellow ally Doom wasn't as fortunate. He took a direct hit from a Ming'Cha blaster, but only absorbed it in his body composed almost entirely of plasma matter. What Blink saw next astonished her and chilled her.

"Die," Sunfire said coldly ironically as he simply shot a tiny blast and incinerated the Ming'Cha into oblivion. He looked down at the shocked Blink and smiled as he took off into the air towards a Ming'Cha battleship. Clarice knew what he was going to do next.

"I hate bugs," Sunfire stated matter-of-factly as he blasted the cruiser into oblivion as easily as he had just destroyed the one Ming'Cha before Blink. The Horsemen of Apocalypse were truly an awesome thing to watch in action.

Meanwhile across the battlefield War was blowing off the heads of Ming'Cha with lighting bolts left and right laughing the whole time as he did it. Cosmicus helped increase the potency of Thor's lighting by lacing it with his cosmic energy.

"I thank thee Defender though I nay expected to have the help of you in my endeavor," Thor said a bit of the old him still shining through despite all this time having been a Horseman. He quickly grabbed Cosmicus's hand and shook it strongly. A show of courtesy was rare amongst the Horsemen, but Thor's mind fought in every way he could every single day and even if he could get in one handshake it was enough for the trapped god.

"No need to thank me though it is quite unexpected for you to be doing so. Now let's just get back to kicking ass!" Cosmicus yelled as he charged headlong into battle amongst a swarm of Ming'Cha surrounding the Hulk. He pushed his way through the swarm of Ming'Cha slashing through them with his double-sided sword. Cosmicus could hear the guts of the Ming'Cha weeze and gurgle as he tore through them. The sound was very distinct and when he heard something entirely different from behind that didn't come from his weapon he just had to look behind him. There stood Elektra with green ooze on her two sais.

"I just saved your tail so I suggest you watch your back from now on if we are going to win this first skirmish!" Elektra exclaimed as she leaped into battle with another Ming'Cha. Cosmicus marveled at her poise in battle despite her having no superhuman powers of her own. He couldn't help but listen to her whenever she spoke. Of course Cosmicus had more experience with the Ming'Cha than Elektra, but that was beside the point. Her voice just echoed confidence.

"Come on Cosmicus stop sitting there like a bump on the log! We've got a battle to win!" Enchantress yelled triumphantly as she flew above the heads of the Ming'Cha.

"We've got a chance. We've definitely got a chance," Cosmicus smiled as he began to tear through the Ming'Cha once more. Overhead he could see faintly the shapes of Firelord and Drax. The Infinity Watch had arrived.

Next Issue: 13 weeks after this issue what shape has the war taken. Are the heroes winning or losing? Who survived the battle of Egpyt? Stay tuned.

Author's Notes: I tried to make this issue 9,000 words but I just couldn't do it. Sorry to all those peeps who I promised a big issue. 6,000 words is big enough though wouldn't you think? Anyway I hope this issue didn't disappoint.