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CHURCH OF THE RISEN SON, PART 1 (OF 5)
NB: A continuity chart can be found at the end of this issue so that no one is lost
Exodus and his group of Acolytes continued their trek through the hot desert sand of Nevada. In a part of the desert far from Las Vegas, the group of mutants was in search of their new home. *
The group of seven halted for a moment as one member stopped dead in his tracks. Each member of the group turned to look at Underhand.
"What seems to be the problem Underhand?" asked Amelia Voight annoyed at being forced to stop. Although she bowed down before her master Exodus, there was no one else in this group that she would give the least amount of respect to until they proved themselves to her.
This newest incarnation of the Acolytes had Exodus leading the team of mutants with Voight functioning as somewhat of a field leader. The rest of the team were unknowns. All of them only recently having been recruited and not having any notable experience. They had not helped their cause in the battle against Colossus and Paladin. The two had fought six Acolytes to a standstill and only the appearance of Exodus had assured the victory. Even then, Exodus decided it was wisest to let the two go free.
The new members were mostly young mutants who seemed lost in the world and Exodus had reached out and given them a cause. First there was Salvo, the young girl who had the ability to throw psychic darts. Next, there was SharpAir. The man possessed the power of flight in addition to having arms that were actually razor sharp blades. And Tyger was a man-tiger with all the agility and strength of the majestic cat. Then there was the man-mountain Pike. A behemoth, who possessed great strength and tough skin, Amelia did not like him much. He had only seemed interested in joining the Acolytes at the promise of power. However, since joining he had said little to nothing. Finally there was Underhand, the mutant who was possibly the most powerful of the new recruits. He could form a force-field around himself at will and could fling it outwards as a projectile weapon that functioned much in the same way as an energy beam. The youngster's downside was his attitude which was once again on display.
"We've been walking for hours, I'm starting to wonder if there really is a new base of operations out in this hell hole. And if there is, does Exodus know where it is? If he did, why didn't we just take the ship? Or have you teleport us there?" retorted Underhand.
All of the Acolytes' eyes widened in shock at such a direct challenge on their leader.
Exodus however seemed unfazed. "A craft flying through the desert would attract unwanted radar attention Underhand, and Ms. Voight's teleportation abilities are limited when she transports such a large group and cannot be used."
Underhand looked almost surprised that he had gotten the explanation he had asked for. Perhaps what surprised him more was that Exodus had given it in such a calm fashion and he had not warned him of his behavior. If that was the case, Underhand would not be surprised for long.
Exodus' eyes began to glow a brilliant yellow as did his hands and he rose into the air creating a very impressive yellow aura. Power seemed to crackle around him, and one of the scariest scowls crossed his face. Between clenched teeth, Exodus spoke again, "Now, if you have further questions you will pose them with the respect required of you. UNDERSTOOD!?"
Underhand looked up at his master. The once cocky figure looked pathetic, his limbs trembling. "Y - yes master," he managed to sputter out.
"Good." Exodus returned to his position at the front of the group, and continued to walk. The others followed him. Underhand fell to the ground, panting and sweating. He quickly picked himself up though and hurriedly made up the space between himself and his teammates.
Finally Exodus stopped his walk in front of a bluff. "Our new home."
The same thought raced through the minds of all of the Acolytes, but all were too afraid to voice it. The group turned to Underhand, but he merely bit his lower lip.
Exodus laughed. He did not need any psionic abilities to know what this group was thinking. Suddenly a part of the bluff rumbled and moved to the side exposing a hangar bay.
The team made their way to the hangar bay either by being carried by SharpAir, teleporting with Amelia Voight or being telekinetically "lifted" by Exodus.
Before each member could get comfortable and check their new accommodations Exodus called a meeting. The room where it was to be held was not the homely meeting room that was present in places such as Avengers Mansion, but rather a cold metallic room with viewscreens and consoles spread across it. There was a long rectangular metal table in the center of the room, with seven seats positioned along it. The one at the far end of the table was turned in the opposite direction. Also, seats were spread across the room at various consoles.
Instead of inviting his Acolytes to sit, Exodus turned to face them with arms spread out. "The usual state of the art technology you are all familiar with. However, I will make this brief. We must find those that have tricked us. Those in question are Count Nefaria and his disciples."
Of course, nothing registered on the faces of his team, since most of them probably did not know whom he was talking about. However, Exodus noticed a distinctly shocked look on Salvo's face as she looked beyond him, seemingly at something behind him.
"It seems you've found us," came a voice from behind him.
Bennett du Paris turned and a shocked look crossed his face as well as he stared into the eyes of Count Nefaria himself!
Nefaria was seated at the far end of the table in the chair that was now facing the Acolytes. All around him the chairs that were turned towards consoles also turned to face the Acolytes, as one by one, each of his Disciples revealed themselves.
"Impossible! How could we have not noticed!" cried Exodus in utter disbelief.
"Thanks to an old trick of mine. I just altered your perceptions slightly so you wouldn't notice any of us," chimed in Mentallo, one of the followers Nefaria had brought along with him.
Exodus seethed with anger at having been played for a fool, the power that he had shown Underhand earlier surfaced. However, it did not seem to intimidate any of the Disciples who seemed to sit motionless and somewhat disconnected. "Acolytes, bring me their heads."
The Acolytes, led by Voight jumped into action. As did the Disciples. The form of Nomad, obviously their field leader, was barking their commands out. The two teams of super-beings paired off. Nomad and Tyger were the first duo. The super-soldier serum made Nomad a match for the speed and strength of the man-tiger. Next, Underhand faced off against the new Dr. Spectrum. Pike drew the former Gatherer known as Grimm. The two heavy-hitters were suitably matched. Salvo and her psychic darts would have to go up against Speed Demon. SharpAir would face a foe who also wielded blades in the form of the six-armed beauty known as Spiral. That left Amelia Voight with a match-up against Mentallo.
In the first match-up, Nomad begins by trying to circle his opponent looking for openings. Tyger however had the instincts of an animal and did what he did best attacked, lunging at Nomad, claws at the ready. Nomad was far more experienced than his foe and far more skilled in combat as well. Although he did not have time to evade the lunge, he put a boot out in time that connected with the man-tiger's chest, halting his attack for a moment.
Tyger however having augmented strength, shook off the blow quickly and retaliated by swiping at the human. Nomad reacted quickly and ducked under, following up the act with a leg sweep. Tyger hit the ground with a thud but once again gathered himself up very quickly hitting Nomad in the chest with both feet - paws?
Nomad fell to the ground and the man-tiger pressed his advantage.
Meanwhile, all hell had broken loose with each group going at their own battles. The two most powerful adversaries in the room besides Exodus and Nefaria were the subject of one of the more short-lived battles. Underhand projected blast after blast of his forcefield at Dr. Spectrum. Dr. Spectrum was encased in a yellow prism and was too busy staving off the attacks to mount much of an offensive.
"Heh - nice defenses you've got there, but they won't last forever. Plus, there's no way you're going to get past my forcefield," Underhand gloated.
Dr. Spectrum didn't honor him with a response, instead he let his actions do the talking for him, encasing Underhand in a prism similar to the one he was in now. This one was green.
"Hmm… interesting little trick," pondered Underhand.
He gathered up all the energy he could for one massive blast at the green prism. Dr. Spectrum had counted on this behavior. The blast bounced off the prism and hit Underhand full in the chest. Instead of bouncing off his forcefield, the blast was absorbed! Underhand spilled into unconsciousness immediately.
The two bruisers were locked in a wrestling hold, neither side gaining an advantage. Pike and Grimm both released the hold and squared off. Grimm took the first shot, sending a roundhouse to Pike's chest. The Acolyte flew across the room and crashed through the wall, landing in a pile of rubble. Before another reality's Ben Grimm could congratulate himself on a job well done, Pike came flying out of the rubble in a devastating tackle that took both monsters to the other side of the room. Once their tumble had ended, Pike was on top. He took the occasion to bash the lizard-man's head into the floor as much as he could. Each blow shook the ground violently. Grimm became angry though and with a mighty heave, sent the Acolyte flying from him.
Both got to their feet and started their deadly dance once more.
In yet another battle, Speed Demon was taking part in a standstill of a somewhat different nature. Salvo was firing off psychic darts by the hundreds, but Speed Demon was evading them all with incredible ease, racing around the room effortlessly. However, the Disciple could not find an opening to strike the young woman. The darts were coming from everywhere and the flow was continuous.
Speed Demon slowed down a moment (which was not apparent to the naked eye) to take stock of the situation and made a very quick decision. The Disciple ran around the Acolyte, and around and around.
"Not too smart," thought Salvo.
She sent a hundred psychic darts flying in one blast in every direction. Speed Demon had created a Whirlwind, but the darts were psychic, the air would not influence them.
In truth, Speed Demon had not expected them to. The Whirlwind just created enough confusion and a distraction. While Salvo shot out all her darts at the Whirlwind encircling her, Speed Demon had crawled up to her, staying as close to the ground as possible. When he was near enough he grabbed her ankle.
Salvo looked down surprised, losing her concentration the darts stopped firing for a split second, that was all that Speed Demon needed as a super-speed uppercut connected with Salvo's jaw. The young woman crumbled in the Disciple's arms.
"I hate having to hit ladies," sighed Speed Demon, half mockingly.
The battle of the blades was being fought at the same time. SharpAir may have been born with blades, yet somehow it seemed Spiral was more adept at using them. One would have thought that SharpAir could fly would be to his advantage, but that advantage was cancelled out by Spiral's ability to teleport.
SharpAir came in for another pass at his adversary. That's when Spiral started to sway her arms. 'What the hell is she doing?' thought SharpAir to himself.
When he was within striking distance he took a slash, but Spiral was no longer there. "What the…?"
Suddenly, SharpAir felt a weight on his back, and the hilt of a sword cracking him in the back of the head, he hit the ground hard, while Spiral merely somersaulted safely next to him.
"He was cute too…" she muttered.
Then there was the battle between Amelia Voight and Mentallo. This would have seemed like the most favorable battle for the Acolytes, yet Amelia could not seem to grasp the advantage. Every time she tried to strike at Mentallo he dodged the attack, she would turn to mist and appear behind him, but he would have already moved.
She knew what he was doing. He was reading her mind, he knew exactly what she would do before she did it. It was very much bothering her, there was nothing she could do. She could only hope that Mentallo would get tired soon and she could land a hit.
Nomad was still fighting off Tyger. Although he was more experienced, Tyger's strength and agility made him an incredible foe. Nomad looked for a way to tilt the scale in his favor. He looked around the room for the battles still being fought. Pike and Grimm were still pounding at each other to no avail, there was also Voight and Mentallo. And then there was Nefaria and Exodus who had not yet begun to fight, they were content to watch for the time being.
All the other battles had ended favorably for the Disciples.
Suddenly Nomad saw his opening, as Tyger leaped at him once more, he used the cat's own momentum against him in a judo toss. Tyger was about to land on his feet when he was suddenly crashed into by Pike who had been sent flying.
Pike checked to see what had cushioned his fall and found an unconscious Tyger. When he returned his attention to his fight, he was met with a fist full in the face, which was lights out.
The only remaining battle of Voight and Mentallo would soon be coming to an end. Mentallo was tiring and Amelia finally got a blow in which staggered Mentallo. In the brief time she had been in solid form to deliver the punch though, Dr. Spectrum encased her in one of his prisms.
"Well done Spectrum."
"Thank you Prophet."
Exodus looked around in disgust. "Nefaria, you shall pay for this. I will destroy you all!" screamed the mutant insanely.
His head snapped back as he gathered the power for a huge blast that would level the landscape. Before he could release it he was slammed from behind, the blow rendered Exodus unconscious and the aura that surrounded him dissipated.
Standing over his prone form was the Acolyte Pike, who could barely still stand.
"Well, what have we here?" enquired Nefaria.
Pike crumbled to one knee. "I - I want to join you."
Nefaria shot a look at Mentallo who had already scanned the man-mountain. Mentallo simply nodded once.
"You shall come back to the Temple with us and we will see if you are ready to devote to our cause."
Nefaria turned to the rest of the Disciples, "Come, let us go my Disciples. The proper authorities have been contacted to take these evil-doers away. Today is a good day, first we manage to defeat those who which to interfere with our plans to save humanity, and we gain a potential Disciple."
To Be Continued!!!
Since this is the series that will lead up to the eventual relaunch of AVENGERS at MV1, here's the order in which the events of this story go:
TIMELINE
Squadron Supreme #1-4
Vault #2
Avengers #422
Marvel Team-Up #176
Avengers #424
Marvel Team-Up #177
Avengers #425
Marvel Team-Up #178
Super-Villain Team-Up #23
Super-Villain Team-Up #24
Champions #21
Super-Villain Team-Up #25
Avengers #427
Champions #22
Super-Villain Team-Up #26
Champions #23
Champions #24
Super-Villain Team-Up #27
Champions #25
Champions #26
Avengers #433 - Coming Soon!
Reach me, Adam, at: adamds@videotron.ca