Web Hosting by Netfirms | Free Domain Names by Netfirms

CHURCH OF THE RISEN SON, PART 2 (OF 5)

"Let the Fun Begin"

Pike sat motionless in the large dark room. He had to admit, the Church of the Risen Son was much more homely than any of the "homes" he had gone through with the Acolytes. As a matter of fact, for the first time in a long time he felt safe somewhere. He wasn't sure just how comfortable he was with any of the Disciples, but he felt he could trust the Son and the Prophet.*

(* The Son being Nefaria and the Prophet being Mentallo -ADS)

They provided him with a sense of security that Exodus had never been able to. Even when first he saw Nefaria, sitting in that chair, staring down at Exodus as though he were insignificant, Pike had known that that man was someone special.

At first, he had to obey the order to fight. After all, Exodus was his master. It was the simple instinct of protecting oneself against the enemy. Soon, Pike realized though, that Nefaria was no more the enemy than every single other living being on the planet. The Acolytes villainized everyone and made themselves out to be the supreme beings on the planet. In truth, Pike had never shared their goals of having a world where mutants reigned supreme.

Pike had accepted Exodus' offer to become an Acolyte because he was looking for a way out. A boy, his gargantuan size had separated him from other children. Pike had turned to being a bully and had had several run-ins with the law, all before the age of sixteen. His parents had long ago given up on him and he felt isolated, afraid of the world despite his physical strength. The only thing he knew was to instill fear, to make himself feel powerful. And so, when Exodus offered him the chance to achieve power on a global scale, he accepted readily.

He had spent the better part of a year with the Acolytes and in all that time had never really gotten to know any of his teammates. In truth, they scared him, it was the first time that he had been surrounded by people that he could not pick on easily. He spent most of his time being quiet and reserved, speaking only when he was spoken to, but all the while keeping up the tough façade.

All that time had given him enormous time to think and the more he thought, the more he realized the Acolytes were not the team for him. He did not want to live in a world where super-powered mutants were the rulers. Looking back at his life, it was his super-powers that had ruined his life and probably those of others.

Pike no longer wanted to be an Acolyte, he wanted a way out. However, he saw no way he could leave the group without being killed for his treachery. So, when they fought the Disciples, Pike finally realized it was his chance. He was not sure exactly of who Nefaria was, or what his goals were, but he did know he was opposed to Exodus, and that was enough for him.

In the end it turned out that Pike and Nefaria shared the same vision. Both believed the world would be better without super-powered beings.

Outside the room in which Pike was sitting were Count Nefaria and Mentallo in deep discussion.

"Well, what do you think?" asked Nefaria not removing his gaze from the viewscreen that showed Pike in an empty room.

Mentallo gazed at the same screen. "It was a brilliant idea to have me scan each of the Acolytes in search of possible recruits. This Pike is at least as strong Grimm. He was in a state of confusion and was unhappy with his situation with the Acolytes. His psyche was weak, he was looking for someone to latch onto. All I had to do was nudge him towards us. He came almost completely voluntarily. He'll make an ideal Disciple."

A smile crossed Count Nefaria's face. "Excellent. I think it's time we give him the good news."

Mentallo nodded and strolled to the door to Pike's room, which he opened and let Count Nefaria walk through before following himself.

At the sight of his masters, Pike dropped down to one knee.

"Rise young one," said Nefaria.

As Pike rose to his feet, Mentallo took over the speech. "Pike, the Son has decided that you are true in your wishes to follow him. As of now, you are officially a Disciple of the Church of the Risen Son. You will begin training with your fellow Disciples immediately. Just follow me."

Mentallo exited the room once more, this time with Pike at his heels. Nefaria watched the two go and the smile on his face was broadened. His plans were proceeding perfectly.

Mentallo, with Pike still at his heels, came to a part of the Church (which was really more of a huge underground complex) where there was one wall that was adorned with a 6-inch thick window of Plexiglas that covered most of the wall. On the remaining parts of the wall were several consoles and a microphone. On the other side of the glass was a huge training room with tentacles whipping around, missiles firing, blades flying, spikes hanging, pits of fire burning and cannons blasting. In the room could be seen four of the disciples: Spiral, Grimm, Dr. Spectrum and Speed Demon.

At the console, Nomad was standing barking out orders and reprimands into the microphone that was being broadcast into the training room by speakers.

Mentallo cleared his throat. Nomad turned mildly surprised to see the two standing in the doorway. He turned back to the console for a moment long enough to stop the training sequence and instruct the Disciples to take a short break.

"My apologies, O Prophet, I wasn't expecting you," Nomad excused himself.

"That's quite alright Nomad. I came to introduce you to our newest follower. This is Pike."

Nomad gave the abnormally large man the once over and turned back to Mentallo his expression unchanged.

"I'll leave you both to your work. I myself have a sermon to give," said Mentallo as he turned away from the duo.

The two men bowed at the Prophet.

Nomad turned back to look at Pike. "I'm Nomad. I'll be your field leader for any and all missions that we'll be on together. As far as training goes, I'm in charge. Now, follow me and I'll introduce you to the rest of the team."

Pike followed Nomad, but was somewhat perplexed by his cold demeanor. Nothing like the Son or the Prophet.

The two entered the training room. Four heads turned to look at them.

"Pike from left to right you have: Speed Demon, Dr. Spectrum, Spiral and Grimm. Grimm will most likely be your sparring partner."

A look crossed the lizard-man's face that Pike couldn't quite comprehend but guessed to be annoyance. The rest of the Disciples seemed more or less indifferent towards their newest member. Just another new face to get used to?

"Now, let's get back to work! Grimm, show Pike where the two of you are you going to be training, and get started."

Ben Grimm shot a surprised look at Nomad. "You're kidding me right? I just went through hell. This kid's fresh as a peach! He's gonna clobber me!"

"Exactly. You need the practice. You won't always be fighting opponents weaker than you. Now go."

The lizard-man sighed and stood up. "C'mon kid, let's show you around."

Pike rubbed his sore neck. It seemed like an eternity since that first day when he had been able to beat Grimm while sparring. Since, the rigors of Nomad's training and Grimm's experience had taken their toll on the youngster.

Pike watched as the large lizard came and sat down beside him, a bottle of water in his hand.

Grimm noticed the youngster rubbing his neck and chuckled. "Don't worry, you'll get used to it," he said as he patted Pike on the back, causing him to wince.

"Thanks… I think," replied Pike. It was rather odd, in all his time with the Acolytes, Pike had never spoken to any of his teammates amicably. Here, in a few short days at the Church, he already felt like he could talk to three people. Nefaria, Mentallo and now Ben Grimm too."

"Let me ask you something Ben," Grimm had told Pike to call him Ben, "How'd you get involved with the Church and the Son?"

Grimm put down his bottle of water and rubbed the scales on the back of his head. "First of all, let me just make it clear to you, I don't believe for one second this BS about Nefaria being chosen by God."

Pike nodded, he too had been rather skeptical about that particular aspect of Nefaria's person.

"What I do know is," Ben continued, "I've seen first-hand what can happen when super-powered beings are running around on a planet. No good can come of it. If I can save this world from that fate, then I'll do anything it takes. And I think Nefaria's the one that can help me do it."

Pike just nodded once more. He too didn't like the idea of super-humans, but it seemed far less significant than whatever it was that his lizard friend was speaking of. "So, how'd you hook up with the S… err… Nefaria?"

Grimm sighed. "Y'see kid, I'm not exactly from here."

"You're not from Earth?"

"Well, ya I am, just not this earth."

"Huh?"

"Explaining to you the intricacies of the multiverse could take a while so let's just say I'm from another planet. On my planet, there were super-heroes just like here, and I was one of them, I was an Avenger. One day, one of my teammates, who wasn't quite mentally stable, lost it completely and destroyed the planet.* I was the only survivor."

(* That would be Grimm's earth's Sersi -ADS)

Grimm's voice had gotten progressively lower until his final sentence was little more than a whisper and Pike had to strain to hear him.

"I joined up with a group that called themselves the Gatherers. When we got here we ran into some trouble and I got stranded. I was lost. That's when Spiral found me and brought me back to Nefaria."

A glazed look crossed the lizard's eyes during that last sentence. Pike had never seen him do that when he spoke of Nefaria before. Was it perhaps Spiral that had that effect?

"Nefaria's plan to strip all the super-jerks of their powers, sounded really good to me. And that's about it. Anything else you wanna know?"

Pike shifted uncomfortably, he got the feeling he should try to lighten the mood. "Ya, how come you don't hiss when you talk?"

"Ah shaddap!" Grimm got up and started to walk away and then he muttered, "I had to work on that."

All of the Disciples stood in Nefaria's chamber. He had summoned them here for an apparent mission.

The little chatter that was being carried out in the room came to an abrupt halt when Nefaria cleared his throat.

"I've summoned you all here for a very simple mission. It is nothing more than a fact-finding mission. You will be split up into two groups. Nomad, Grimm and Speed Demon in one group, and Dr. Spectrum and Pike in the other. Spiral will be going on a solo covert mission and Mentallo must stay behind to handle Church matters." *

(* To see what Spiral and Mentallo are really up to, check out Champions #21 -ADS)

Grimm spoke up, "Nefaria, I'm sure Nomad and Speed Demon can handle whatever it is you've assigned them. I think perhaps that I should back up Spiral."

"No. I believe Spiral is better off on her own."

Grimm said nothing more.

"You've all received your missions. You are to complete them with a minimum amount of… obviousness. If any 'difficulties' should arise, you are either to avoid them or make short work of them. Understood?"

The Disciples nodded as one.

"Good, go off to do your holy work!"

All the Disciples exited the room with the exception of Mentallo.

"Nefaria, I must admit I'm somewhat curious as to why you sent them on these missions. We have all the information we need already thanks to Spiral."

"I'm quite aware of that Mentallo. These missions are nothing more than an excuse for the members of the team to get to know each other better. For them to work well together, they have to know each other. Consider it a drill."

"Genius."

Pike was somewhat disappointed at not being put in the same group as Ben, and even more disappointed that he was alone with Dr. Spectrum. The member of the group that he was the least comfortable with. Even Spiral, who considered herself superior to everyone, would have been better. They had been in the mini-jet for a half-hour now and he had yet to speak a word.

Pike decided it was time to try and break the silence, "So, why do you think Nefaria wants a file from a government office building?"

"I don't know."

"Aren't you curious?"

"No. I do what I'm told to do and that's that."

"So you never wonder why Nefaria does any of the stuff he does?"

"No."

Pike decided that trying to carry on a conversation with his seat would probably be more beneficial and so he just stayed quiet for the rest of the trip.

The mission went off without a hitch. They pounded a few guards, got the file they were looking for and were gone.

His first successful mission. Pike hoped Nefaria would be proud.

To Be Continued!!!

Reach me, Adam, at: adamds@videotron.ca