XMG

Holding Cell B 19:20

Angel had briefly gone back to the locker room to take a shower and change. Then he went across the HQ to see an old friend. The holding cell was guarded by two large men. Goliath and Russell, twin mutants standing at over 8 feet tall. When you need to get something moved or something kept safe they’re your guys. Angel stepped up to them “I need to get inside, need to see Jed.”

The twins smiled at each other, “Sorry Angel, Dr. Bellows says nobody gets in this door but him.” The one on the right, Goliath replied. He could be told apart from his brother by his darker complexion and his fondness for unicorns.

Angel was losing his patience at record speed, “I don’t care what Dr. Bellows says. I just risked my life, to obtain the souls for Jed. He’s in there because of me, I deserve the right to see him. I could have died.”

The twins spoke instantly and at once, their voices strangely lacking in emotion “We must all be prepared to die for the cause.”

Angel opened his mouth and prepared to start yelling, but by chance Dr. Bellows appeared at that very moment. “Its okay boys, let him in. He deserves to see ‘The One.’” The twins stepped aside. Angel turned and nodded at Dr. Bellows. “Just don’t stay too long.” Dr. Bellows smiled a creepy little smile. He was a creepy little man. Well not exactly little, he was very tall, and very thin, but you catch my drift.

Angel walked into the room, the doors slid open and back together like something out of Star Trek. The room looked something like a doctor’s office, cold blue tile walls with matching cold blue tile floor. There was one cold blue tile bench, which was the only piece of furniture, and there was a toilet far off into the corner. But Jed couldn’t get to the toilet if he wanted to. Jed was in shackles, sitting on the cold blue tile bench, his blue head buried in his lap. “Jed…Jed I came to see you.” Angel said, keeping his distance from the body. Jed showed no response. Angel wondered if Jed was still in there at all. “Jed…Jed can you here me? Are you in there?”

Jed’s head rose from his lap and he turned to face Angel. “I’m here mate, I’m just so….lost, mate…so lost.” Angel just stared in sadness, he didn’t know what to say. “You broke up with Maia.”

Angel blinked, “Ho-how’d you know?”

“Part of me has telepathy now. Your mind is like a highway Angel…and I’m just riding along reading the billboards.” Jed looked up at Angel and smiled, a creepy little smile, not unlike Dr. Bellows. “Your heart has been ripped from your chest. Your world has been crushed hasn’t it Angel?”

Angel lowered his head, “Stop.” He said calmly, sadly

“STOP!? Why Angel because your in pain?! Because it hurts you to hear these things?! Well that’s nothing compared to how much you’ve hurt me, Angel! They’re killing me, Angel! They’re inside of me, destroying me!” Jed jumped to his feet, his pupils vanished and his eyes gained an eerie white glow, like 2 little stars in his head. Angel felt a strange force knocking him to the floor.

Angel’s eyes opened wide, “Jed please, this isn’t you—“

“Oh? And whose fault is that!? It certainly isn’t mine!” Jed’s suddenly closed his eyes and threw his head back, his face was twisted in pain. He opened his mouth to scream but no sound came out. His head then shot back down and his eyes started to glow further, energy coming from them, surrounding his face. He glared at Angel. “You will die, mate! Die in the name of The Dogs Of War!” His arm shot out in front of him and Angel was thrown off of the floor and pinned against the wall by some invisible force. He felt something inside of him, like a force moving threw his chest, pulling at his heart. “YOU SAY YOUR HEART HAS BEEN RIPPED FROM YOUR CHEST!?! THAT’S A NICE ANALOGY BUT I THINK ILL SHOW YOU HOW IT REALLY FEELS!!” Angel’s head slammed back against the wall and he started to bang his feet, frantically on the door. Jed was stalking towards him, his right arm still held out, he suddenly pound his fingers together, making a fist. Angel cried out, he felt his heart having the very life squeezed out of it, Jed was getting closer, nobody was coming in, this looked like the end.

Jed’s shackles surprised him, and he fell to his knees. Angel dropped back to the floor, Jed’s hold broken. Jed began to cry. Angel was breathing hard and grabbing his chest. Angel looked up at Jed. He was trembling.

“Angel…Angel I’m so lost…how will they find me? I’m so lost.”

Angel felt tears warming behind his eyes. How could he do this to his friend? He stood up and stepped towards Jed, who was now crumbled up into a ball. He reached down to touch his shoulder. Jed’s head rose back up, quickly, and Angel could see his face. He saw Jed’s eyes quickly grow red, and then back to their normal shade of brown. He saw Jed’s teeth grow sharp, and then back to their normal selves. The evil was trying to escape. Jed was suffering.

Angel ripped his hand from Jed’s shoulder, spun around and left the room, the doors opening for him. Dr. Bellows stood directly in front of the door, smiling that creepy smile. “Ah, Angel how do you find him?” Angel kept walking, bumping into the doctor and knocking him onto his ass. The documents he was carrying in his hand flew all over the place, but Angel never turned back, he just stormed away.

The twins helped the doctor to his feet. “Are you alright, Dr. Bellows?” Goliath asked.

“Do you want us to refer him to Afentiko?” Russell inquired.

“No. No I’m fine.” Dr. Bellows replied, dusting himself off. He stared off into Angel’s direction. “He’s in pain. He believes he murdered his friend.” That eerie smile grew back on his face. “He is correct.”

Afentiko’s Office 19:35

Afentiko stood in his plush office. He was wearing a black suit and a red tie. He stared out of a window, out at the Nexus Of Realties, stroking his beard. Right in the center of all of reality, the place where reality and time stood still. The sky was an awkward shade of purple, the stars flew by like jets. Thousands upon thousands of jets. It was beautiful.

Angel burst in, disrupting his thoughts. He looked angry. Angel grabbed Afentiko by the throat and slammed him against the wall. “Why did he have to be the vessel? Why him!? WHY!?!” He sounded erratic, disturbed. Security rushed into the room, and begun to tear Angel off of him.

“Leave him alone! Get your hands off of him!” Afentiko shouted at the security officers. The officers let go and stared at their boss, confused. “Get out. Now.” The security slowly turned and left. Angel was panting, staring at Afentiko, in his eyes a look of raw intensity. “He volunteered Angel. You know that. His pain will be over soon.”

“Wasn’t there another way?! I refuse to believe that in all of our infinite wisdom there was no other way to resurrect “The One” without causing Jed his life.”

“There was no other way.”

Angel collapsed onto his ass and hung his head, he felt helpless. His friend was in there suffering because of something he did and there was nothing he could do to stop it. Afentiko walked over to him and put his hand on his shoulder. “Jed is going to die. Because of me. Because of me, Jed is going to die.” Angel said these words like he hadn’t realized them before.

Afentiko remained calm as always, “Jed’s death will not be in vain. This boy may just become ‘The One’”

Angel’s eyes widened in realization and horror. He leapt back to his feet, his injured leg was killing him. “What do you mean may?!”

“We are not yet sure—“

“Wait so your saying…your saying this kid may not even be the one we were looking for!?!”

“Well there is another candidate f—“

Angel could hear no more. He grabbed his surrogate father by his shoulders and pinned him down, violently to his desk. “YOUR TELLING ME THAT JED IS GONNA DIE, AND THE ONE HES DYING FOR MAY NOT EVEN BE THE REAL ONE!?!?!”

“Yes…pretty much.”

Angel punched Afentiko right in the nose, and collapsed back onto the floor. “You…you make me sick.”

Afentiko reached into his pocket and pulled out a handkerchief. He proceeded to wipe the blood from his nose. “We had to do it, Angel. If there was even the slightest chance that he was “The One”…we had to do it.”

Angel was sitting in a ball on the floor, his head buried in his knees, his shoulder length blonde hair scattered over his face and pants. “I gave up everything. He gave up everything. We gave up everything, for The Cause…but we’ve got nothing back, nothing but heartbreak and death.”

Afentiko’s patience was wearing thin “What the hell are you talking about?”

They were interrupted by the nasal computer like voice of the intercom. “All admitted personnel report to the comm. station immediately for the separation process, repeat all admitted personnel report to the comm. station immediately for the separation process.”

Afentiko looked down at Angel, “That means us, son.”

Comm. Station 19:45

Jed was strapped down in a chair on the platform, surrounded by an arrangement of large black objects that looked like speakers. The front curved in where a very bright blue circle was located. He sort of looked like a musician playing on stage, only he didn’t have an instrument, and he was strapped to a chair. A crowd of about 20 people was sitting down in folding chairs, to watch the proceedings. The people were Upper Class Anointed members, and Jed’s closest friends. They filed in single file, like they were about to witness an execution. And in reality, that’s what it was. In a control room, above the speaker looking objects was Dr. Bellows. He sat calmly at the control panels, reading something.

Angel and Afentiko filed last into the room, both looked very angry and neither looked at each other or anybody else. Maia watched from her chair, as Angel begrudgingly sat down in the front row, and put his head in his hands. Afentiko took his place at the podium, which on the right bottom hand side of the platform. He spoke calmly and directly into the microphone.

“Ladies And Gentlemen, I’m glad you were able to join us here today for a moment that will go down in history. Agent Jed made an incredibly selfless sacrifice that will not soon be forgotten. His sacrifice must be a constant reminder to all of us that we must all, at any time, be ready to lay down our lives for the good of the cause. I’ve been alive since the twelfth day of time. I lived through the hundred years war, I’ve faced thousands of possible doomsday situations, and as a consequence of that I’ve seen many brave warriors lose their lives for the cause. I’ve seen some selfless acts ladies and gentlemen. But this is one that will forever stick out in mine, and I’m sure all of your minds. Jed was prepared to make the ultimate sacrifice, for the good of all of reality. He didn’t care what happened to him. He sacrificed his body, to carry the vessel. He sacrificed his life, so that others could live. That’s just the kind of guy he was. A true hero. A true friend. God speed Jed.”

With that Afentiko stepped off of the platform. Angel looked up at Jed, his eyes were closed and he was breathing heavily. He was in there somewhere, Jed was. But in a few seconds he wouldn’t be. Someone else would be. Not his friend. His friend would be gone. Dead. Because of him. Maybe for a lost cause. “FOOLS!” Jed’s eyes opened wide and he stared out at the audience. The voice he spoke with was not his, but Apocalypse’s. “You can not silence the first born! You cannot contain him! He has withstood every challenge mankind has placed in front of him, and he has lived to tell the tale! I will escape from my prison and The Dogs Of War and I will run wild all over your graves!”

Jed’s eyes widened and fear drained all of the color from his face. The sound of the instruments warming up buzzed in everyone’s heads. Jed’s heart skipped several beats. The platform was suddenly surrounded in a blue light. Jed’s entire body was vibrating like crazy. He felt like he was being ripped apart from the inside out. He screamed in pain, but his screams were drowned out by the instruments. Angel shut his eyes, so as not to let his tears escape. He opened them again, suddenly forcing himself to watch. The instruments began to sizzle and spark. Jed was convulsing in the chair, his skin was stretching to the left and the right, like it was being torn apart by magnets. He had never experienced a worse pain in his life. Sweat was pouring down from his pours, flowing over his eyelids, and blocking his vision.

Jed’s mouth opened wide, and an ominous black fog billowed out. It was pitch black, dark as dark could be. Except for two shining red lights. They were beautiful, as red and as bright as two polished rubies. Only nobody in the room thought they were beautiful. They knew. They knew that it was the eyes to Apocalypse’s soul. Those eyes had haunted, frightened, and murdered millions across their lifetime. The fog just buzzed around inside of the blue flied, in seconds it wouldn’t be alone.

Jed’s mouth opened once more, this time a red smoke rushed out, mixing with the blacks and the blues of the field. Like the fog, which had come before it, it also had two shining eyes. These were blue. Like the sea, Maia noted. You could get lost in them, and washed away.

Jed felt weak. He had regained control of his body, but in seconds it would no longer be his at all. Another being would live there. What would he do with it? Would he use it to save reality? Or would he use it to get wasted and watch reruns of Leave It To Beaver? Too many questions, the answers to Jed would never see in his lifetime, which was rapidly coming to an end. He caught one last sight of the crowd. His supposed family. Then the light around him grew so bright, he wouldn’t be able to see a single thing even if he wasn’t dying. He felt like he was being sucked out of his body, like a vacuum stealing his soul. The light was growing so bright. So beautiful. A beautiful blue. Then he let go, he was sucked away, and he knew only blackness.

The light died down. Where Jed sat only seconds ago, there was a boy of about 19 with light blue skin and a shaved head. He looked as if he was passed out, his head rested on the back of the chair, and his member dangled freely between his legs. The red and black fog and smoke still floated around him. But then the instruments warmed up again and the light flashed back up for a split second, temporarily blinding everyone in the room. When the light died down, they were gone. Leaving only the passed out boy. The field lowered, the boy was still passed out. Goliath and Russell ran out, tossed a blue blanket over him, and took him out. Goliath cradled him in his arms like he was something precious.

Angel stood in silence, tears in his eyes, looking up blankly at the platform where his late friend sat minutes ago. He jumped at the sound of the audience’s applause. A look of disgust wiped over his face and he buried his head in his arms again. He couldn’t believe how this day was going. He thought that going to hell would be the worst thing that happened to him today. Their applause seemed like laughter to him, like they were mocking him, and his entire life. Before Maia, Angel had always been like one of them, he would follow the cause blindly, letting it lead him anywhere it wanted him to be. He never felt right with it, but never felt the need to challenge it. What was the point? To challenge the cause would mean his expulsion from The Anointed. He would become just a regular being, living in a house, working a job, and talking to ordinary people. Ordinary people. There was nothing he wanted from them. Then she came along, and made him envy them. They were free. Free to feel whatever they wanted. They were free to love. She made him almost feel that way. She almost made him feel free. But he had given that up. It was the worst mistake of his life, because once again he felt trapped.

He felt a soft had brush through his blonde hair, he jumped and looked up. The tears impaired his vision, but he knew who it was still.

“Hi.” Maia said, “Are you okay?”

“Maia.” Angel looked away, “Yeah…no…no I’m not fine.”

Maia dropped down to her knees and pulled her arms around him. He didn’t return her affection. “Maia,” He said calmly, “Maia we cant.”

She let go, and sank back down onto her knees, hanging her head. “I know. Its just,” She began to sob, “Angel I miss you so much. It’s been, barely an hour and I don’t feel like I can go on anymore.”

At that moment he resolved to take it all back, tell her that he loved her, and that he was sorry, and that he could make it all better again. They could leave this place, and start again. He was going to do it. “M—“ he barely started.

“But...” she interrupted him with the one word he couldn’t bear to hear. “…but you were right…we couldn’t give up the cause…we can’t let others die, for us. It wouldn’t be right. You were right, Angel. Thank you for showing me.”

She embraced him again, once again he didn’t return her hug even though this time he wanted to. He wanted to take her in his arms and feel their love. But he could only stare blankly at that chair. This was the worst day of his life.

Holding Cell B 20:10

Far off, back in the holding quarters where the late Jed had attempted to kill Angel around an hour ago, the boy sat, staring blankly at the floor. He was so lost, so confused. 24 hours ago he was dead, in a tube being tortured. The bad man would take pleasure in causing him pain. He would burn him, stab him, rip and tear at his insides and outsides. And the others…he was filled with evil. Those 4 long years he wanted nothing better than the break open the glass, rip the bad man to shreds and then murder everything in his path until he found peace. He had been so lost for 4 years. Burning, and possessed with evil. Yet, he was warm, and he was full. Now he was just cold. Cold and alone.

He turned and growled at the man who entered through the door, Dr. Bellows. He was tall, thin, and his lips curved upwards in a creepy way. The boy wanted to rip his throat out. “Ah, XMG. I see you’ve awakened.” XMG grabbed his ears, and shook his head rapidly, he hadn’t heard actual voices in 4 years. All he had heard was the screaming. Dr. Bellows’s eyes widened, “Hey there, calm down, I’m not going to hurt you. Nobody is going to hurt you here.” XMG didn’t want to listen, he just wanted to go home. Wherever home was, he just wanted to go there and be at peace. He screamed as he shook his head and held onto his ears. Dr. Bellows snatched his hands away, and looked him in the face. XMG looked back, his eyes were brown and wild, almost inhuman. “Listen XMG! I know that you remember! You remember who you are! XMG, Member of the Resistance, Son of Apocalypse, Mad Pimp of the world, you remember all of it!”

XMG scrambled away from Dr. Bellows and slipped off of the bench. All of the things he was saying, he could remember them all. He was once a boy, an angry rebellious boy, with friends. Very few friends. Jaik took him in and gave him a home, Sabre gave him love, and Devo and CaptainAmeriCable gave him friendship. Then there was pain. He made mistakes. People got hurt, he got blamed. He left. He met new people. Most of them angered him. Clio, The older Sabre, The elf, they all angered him. But there was George, George and Mala…but something happened to her. Something bad. He couldn’t remember. Then he came back and everything had changed, everything was bad. Jaik was gone, new ones were there. He was alone again. Except for Sabre, she was always with him…until he left. And he never came back. He remembered, and that made him hurt again.

He was shivering, his back against the cold tile bench. “H-how long have I been gone?” he asked the strange man, the first words he had spoken in a long time. Speaking felt awkward.

“In your world, it has been 3 months. For you however, it’s been 4 years. You’ve aged.”

XMG looked at his hands. The man was right, they were bigger. He was bigger. This was all too much. “Am I…alive?”

“Yes.”

He lowered his head and took a while to thought for a second, “Why?”

“That I cannot say at this point and time.”

“I think…I think I have a right to know…you cant just…I mean…I me—AAHHHH!!!”

XMG screams in pain, his eyes widen and he falls backwards onto the floor. Dr. Bellows rushes over to him, shocked.

“What is it, XMG? What is wrong?”

XMG began to convulse, and flay his limbs around senselessly. “He’s back! The bad man! He’s coming! He’s coming to hurt me again!”

Dr. Bellows grabbed XMG by the shoulders and pinned him down. “Nobody is co—“ XMG cut him off with a loud growl and head butt. Dr. Bellows fell backwards, and slid across the floor, holding his head. XMG jumped to his feet, and frantically scratched at the walls looking to escape. “Stop!” Dr. Bellows coughed. He removed a syringe from his lab coat.

XMG’s head spun to face him dead in the eye. His eyes were full of a primal rage that Dr. Bellows had never seen before. “He’ll kill you all! I have to escape!”

Dr. Bellows leapt to his feet, “I can’t let you do that, XMG.” XMG growled again, louder and more powerful than the previous ones. An unseen force tossed Dr. Bellows against the wall and pinned him there. XMG leapt at him like a tiger at a hurt antelope, the final strike. One of XMG’s large blue hands wrapped around Dr. Bellow’s throat and his other hand tightened itself in a fist and struck Dr. Bellows’s face several times. Each time he hit it, he felt a good feeling wash through his body, a feeling he hand not felt in over 4 years. Happiness. Hurting Dr. Bellows made him feel happy. He smiled menacingly as the hollow smacking sound echoed off of the walls and blood flew from his face. Then he dropped him. Dr. Bellows fell to the ground, unconscious, his face was a mess. XMG stood over his body and stared at it. That wasn’t right. This wasn’t him. He didn’t take pleasure in hurting the innocent. He took pleasure in protecting it. Or…did he? Other memories came back to him. The kids in the home, members of The Resistance, countless others, hurt, dead, because of him. He didn’t have too much time to process this information before another taught pounded its way into his confused mind. The bad man was still coming. He had to escape.

He flipped Dr. Bellows onto his back, unbuckled his slacks and pulled them off of his legs. Then he ripped off his lab coat. His movements were growing more and more frantic as the bad man came closer and closer. He knocked himself off of his feet pulling the pants over his waist, and tossed on the lab coat. He quickly got to his feet and began looking for an escape from the awful cold room. He saw a door, and though he had forgotten how to use doors he knew that he could open things easier than others.

The door blew off of its hinges and flew out into the hallway. XMG jumped out of the room, and was confronted by two large men who looked exactly alike. He had no time for them.

“HEY!” one of them shouted at him. The two leapt from his sides, attempting to tackle him to the ground. XMG let out another growl and lashed his arms out in both directions. He never touched them but they both flew backwards and into a wall. He was still coming. XMG took off down the hall.

Goliath and Russell got up, rubbing their heads. “Dr. Bellows.” Russell groaned, “He could have hurt him.” They stood up in unison and jogged into the containment room. Dr. Bellows was sitting up in a white-collar shirt and blue boxer shorts. Blood was all over his face, and some was sprayed over the room.

“Dr. Bellows are you alright?” Goliath asked, kneeling down at his side.

“Yeah…yeah I’m fine. I know I don’t look it but I’m all right. The boy…he was afraid of something, a bad man.” He looked deep in thought, “He was so scared. You k—“ He looked up at Russell who was listening to Dr. Bellows speak with much interest. But that wasn’t what cut off his words. It was the figure standing behind Russell. A demonic figure with black scaly skin, emerald green eyes, and long green hair. It was Tsuris, and he was looking mighty pissed off. Dr. Bellows’s eyes widened and he was unable to speak. He knew that his life was over. The twins, as powerful as they are wouldn’t be able to stop him.

“What?” Russell asked, clueless.

Goliath looked up and his eyes widened as well. Unlike Dr. Bellows however he reacted. “NOO!” Goliath screamed as he jumped up and pushed his brother out of the way. The instant he did, he felt a sharp pain in his stomach and back. He slowly looked down and saw that Tsuris had thrust his sword into him. He had saved his brother’s life, and even though it had caused him his own, that was all that mattered. Goliath went limp, dead on the edge of the sword. With a sharp jolt, Tsuris removed the sword from Goliath, and Goliath’s body dropped lifelessly to the floor.

Russell’s eyes watered, “No…” That demon had killed his only brother. His mirror image. The person he had been with every single day of his long long life. He felt like he had been cut in two. Tsuris stood over Goliath’s body and walked over it like it was nothing. But it wasn’t nothing, it was his brother, and now that demon had to pay. “NO!” Russell pushed himself to his feet and came at Tsuris, he put all of his strength into one jab, which would have decapitated any normal man, and most abnormal ones. However it just knocked Tsuris back a few feet, startling him. As Russell stood there shocked, Tsuris quickly regained his composure, looked back up at Russell, growled, and then finally swung his sword up through him in one quick and fatal blow. Russell felt like he had been cut in two, and this time he had a damn good reason. The two pieces of Russell crumbled onto the floor, blood sprayed on Tsuris’s legs and Dr. Bellows’s face.

Then Tsuris walked up to Dr. Bellows. Unlike the others Dr. Bellows didn’t even look up at him. But like the others his death was quick. In an instant Dr. Bellows’s decapitated head flew across the room and hit a distant wall. His body stood still for all of 5 seconds, not yet realizing that its time was over, but then finally succumbed to death’s cold embrace and fell forward.

Tsuris stood for a second, looking about the bloodbath. He wasn’t here, but he was very recently. He had just missed him. He was close. Without a glance at his handiwork Tsuris turned and stalked out of the hole where the door had once been.

Comm. Station 20:15

Angel was still in the room where Jed had died, and XMG had been reborn. Maia had left long ago, but he was still here. He never knew that there was anything inside of him that could feel this bad. Maia was gone, Jed was gone, now he felt like he was gone too. Not really there, his body was there but his soul, his essence was somewhere else. Somewhere far far away. He didn’t know what to do anymore. Should he stay with The Anointed? Fight the good fight? It would pain him to see Maia every day and not be able to hold her, to love her. His heart wasn’t in it anymore. He had officially lost the faith.

“Angel.”

Angel turned around slowly. Afentiko was standing there, dressed in his ever-present black suit. He suddenly wanted nothing better than to drive The FrostBlade through his chest, and show him the pain that he felt. “I figured Id find you here.” Afentiko said, as smug and emotionless as ever.

“Spare me the small talk. What the hell do you want?”

“Calm down, Angel. You need to calm down.”

“YOU don’t tell me what I need!” Angel screamed, furious. “I’m done with it, sir! I’m done with it!”

Afentiko was startled, “Angel! You don’t mean that.”

“You don’t know what the hell I mean. You don’t even know me. Because of your “cause” I’ve lost everything. Did you know that? I lost my best friend, and I lost her.” He lowered his head and tightly closed his eyes, he could feel tears coming. He looked back up at Afentiko, who still showed no expression “She was everything. Everything to me. And now she’s gone. Lost in your “cause”…”

“Angel, please..”

“Stop. Just stop. There’s nothing you can say. There’s nothing you can say to make me believe again.” He turned to leave, he was going to do it. He was going to pack up his things and leave for good.

Red lights flashing, and alarms sounding stopped all that. Both Angel and Afentiko jumped and looked up at the intercom. It wasn’t often that the alarms went off. “Code red, section 8! Code red section 8! There is a major security breach in section 8!” The voice on the intercom shouted. Angel and Afentiko both turned and glared at each other. Something big was happening. All their rage, all of those ill feelings, and unsaid things, none of that mattered right now. Because whatever was happening it was bigger than all of that. They ran out of the room and into the hallway.

A Hallway 20:17

XMG was pounding down the hallway, the slapping of the bottom of his feet against the tile floor would have echoed throughout the halls of the Headquarters, if the alarm hadn’t been so defining. His feet were numb, he was scared out of his mind, and his side was beginning to hurt, but that didn’t matter. He needed to get out of this place, desperately. He came to a sliding stop as he passed a door in the hall. Something inside of there was calling to him, something familiar, and although he didn’t know what it was, or where he was for that matter, he knew that he needed to answer it. He stepped forward, preparing to open the door with his telekinesis, but to his surprise they opened on their own. What was inside however surprised him much more. There were people in lab coats shuffling about, quickly. Packing things up, grabbing guns to defend themselves, and removing their lab coats. But that wasn’t what caught his attention. What caught his attention was what was inside of the two large fish tank like glass cases which were on opposite sides of the room, against the walls. Inside one was a red cloud of smoke, which although he had never seen before, he recognized. It was his “evil twin” Jack Frost. In the other one was a thick black fog, it was the being he hated more than anything else in the world, it was his father Apocalypse. He had taken everything from him, his youthful sprit, his innocence, his surrogate family, and then finally his life. He remembered suddenly how he died. He had given his life to stop Apocalypse’s. He didn’t know what these people were doing with them, but he knew that they could not bring them back; he would die again and spend another eternity in hell before he would see Apocalypse alive again.

When XMG entered the room, all of the lab coat people turned and stared. Then again in unison they all aimed their guns at him. XMG let out another roar, which caused the tile floor to turn up in a path leading from him to the coats. Many of the coats were taken off of their feet, and the others scattered across the room to get out of harm’s way. Strangely however, none of them fired. XMG was about to charge head on into them when he noticed this fact, and stood still, staring at them in awe and confusion. He sensed no desire to hurt him in any of them.

One stepped forward, a thin and beautiful auburn haired woman, who the others knew as Maia. “XMG please, none of us want to hurt you.” She said calmly.

Her calm soothed XMG’s desire to hurt them, but did not halt his rage. “What are you doing with them!?!” He snarled.

She jumped slightly at the tone of his voice. She always expected “The One” to be more regal, but she couldn’t blame him. After all he did spend 4 years in a hell dimension. “We’re shipping them to where they belong.” She said, “The pits of hell.”

“You! You brought me back, didn’t you!?!” She was once again shocked at the fierceness in his voice. She expected that to calm him.

“No. It was not I. It was Angel.” His name felt like fire coming from her throat. “Angel brought you back.”

“Wh-no…NOOOO!!!” XMG howled in pain and collapsed to his knees. More of the tiles on the floor were thrown high into the air. The coats aimed their guns back at XMG. All except Maia, she ran to him. He was in fetal position, shivering.

“He’s here…oh god he’s here.”

Maia looked confused, “Who?”

The sounds of her co-workers screams were her answer. She spun around, and saw him. Tsuris’s sword slashed through the coats like a hot knife through something that’s very easy for a hot knife to slash through. Blood flew throughout the room in small rivers. The coat’s weapons did little to stop the beast’s massacre. Two large men charged at Tsuris from his left and right sides with spears. Tsuris caught both of their skulls in his large, scaly hands and tossed them into opposite sides of the room. They flew right into the glass cases, shattering them both.

The sound of the glass shattering was like a stab through XMG’s heart. “NO!” he quickly looked up from his fetal position on the floor and saw nothing but an abyss of black and red. Fog and smoke. He could hear the screaming inside the mixture and could see the bursts of light. They were damaging the machinery. He heard a large explosion, and a body came flying from the abyss. It was a man in a coat. He was in flames.

“Oh no…oh god no.” Maia cried softly, as she stood in front of XMG and watched in terror.

Then as quickly as it all started it stopped. The mixture rocketed through the walls and out of the room. Though the smoke and fog was gone, the destruction it had left behind was not. It was like a war zone. Dead bodies were scattered all over the room, some chopped up, some blown up, all dead. The machinery had exploded, causing a quickly spreading fire, and chunks of machinery to be thrown around the room like a child’s toys. In all of the chaos there was only one figure that was left standing: that of Tsuris.

Angel and Afentiko stopped dead in their respective tracks. The sight they were greeted with was that of pure carnage. Through the smoke they could make out a battle zone. Dead bodies scattered, pieces of machinery scattered, and a mighty fire raging. Something big was happening down there. They were standing in a section of the hallway that, through a thick glass, overlooked the laboratory that was now only occupied by XMG, Tsuris, and Angel’s beloved Maia. They didn’t know who was inside, all that they knew was that they had to get down there.

Tsuris stalked menacingly at Maia and XMG, who were both frightened out of their minds, but keeping their ground. Maia was still standing tall, facing the destruction, and XMG was still lying on the ground, facing it, with a blank stare across his face and tears streaming out of his eyes.

“The boy” Tsuris said, his voice was like a bass drum pounding at the nerves of both Maia and XMG.

“You’ll never have him.” Maia’s voice sounded anything but confident.

“I will.” Tsuris charged at her.

“Rise!” Maia screamed, her eyes began to grow a shade of emerald green not unlike Tsuris’s. Tsuris was knocked off of his feet by an unseen force. His head was knocked about like it was being pummeled, but to XMG there was nobody there. Maia and Tsuris could see them, the souls of the coats that Tsuris had recently killed. Maia had the power to keep them in the mortal plane and use them for her bidding. And now she had bid that they destroy the one who had done the same to them. Tsuris slashed his sword, cutting many of the clear blue figures in half. The half’s faded out of existence. Maia was glaring at Tsuris. Her eyes were still glowing that shade of green as she watched Tsuris destroy her minions. A stab through the throat took care of the final one, before Tsuris turned back to the duo.

“No more games.” He boomed.

Afentiko turned to run down the steps that lead to the hallway, which lead to the lab. Angel however was obsessed with trying to make out a figure in the smoke.

“Come on.” Afentiko snarled at his surrogate son.

“Wait…no…oh god no.” Angel had made out the figures. A brief patch of clarity had appeared allowing him to see clearly for a second, one of the slowest of his life. Inside he saw the back of the demon Tsuris. Lying on the floor, appearing to be dead was the supposed “One” XMG, but more important then all of them was what stood between them: Maia. “Oh no.” he repeated.

Tsuris glared at Maia, and Maia glared right back at him. “XMG! XMG get up! Run boy!” She demanded, never taking her eyes off of Tsuris. XMG did not budge. “Now XMG! Run for your life, no-OH! Ohhhhh” she moaned in pain and looked down to see that Tsuris had suddenly and but not unexpectedly drove his sword through her side. “Angel” she cried. “Oh god Angel.” Those were her last words before Tsuris drove his palm into her face, tossing her off of his sword and across the room.

“NOOOOOOOO!!!!” Angel screamed in agony, as he watched this scene unfold. The FrostBlade suddenly exploded with Angel’s energy, combing with the blade’s black energy. The window shattered, and the floor that they were standing on began to crumble. Angel’s hair started to change. It faded from its light blonde color and into blackness, almost like it had died. A part of him had. The demon had hurt Maia, maybe killed her. And now Angel knew only one thing: Tsuris died now.

Tsuris turned his head, slowly, just in time for him to see Angel’s fist connect with his face. Tsuris flew across the room, and landed next to Maia. Angel stalked towards him, his face a map of rage. Tsuris grabbed his weapon from the floor, and thrust it towards Angel, who dodged it and dove onto Tsuris, punching him rapidity in the face. The punches were so powerful that the sound of them echoed off the walls of the headquarters. Angel paused for a second and looked Tsuris in the eyes. He was in pain. Angel had him on the run. That is until Tsuris opened his mouth and let out a scream in the form of a fireball. It struck Angel in the chest, knocking him off of Tsuris and melting Angel’s shirt and some of the flesh underneath. Angel cried out, and beat his wings furiously to put out the flames. Tsuris growled and dived at Angel, propelling them both farther back into the room, almost into the still raging fire.

XMG slowly got to his feet and surveyed the situation. A strange black haired man with wings was battling the bad man in the burning half of the room. In the non-burning half, bodies and pieces of machinery were scattered around like a tornado had just come through. One body stuck out to him. It was that of the woman who had protected him. She had been brave, and had risked her life to make sure that he had been safe. She reminded him of someone else that he once knew and cared for years ago. A woman he would die for if need be, because he knew that she loved him and would do the same thing. He owed it to her to see that The Bad Man would never harm anybody ever again. It was who he was: XMG, member of The Resistance, protector of the innocent, punisher of evil. He turned to the ongoing battle. The bad man appeared to have the upper hand. Not for long. With a growl and one single powerful leap, XMG leaped across the room and into the raging battle.

Tsuris had Angel on the defense. He tossed his winged foe into a burning block of machinery. Angel’s back struck it and cracked as his wings caught fire. “This ends.” Tsuris growled. He began to stalk towards Angel who was on the ground, face down in pain. All of the sudden he felt a tap on his shoulder. Tsuris turned and saw his goal. The reason he was sent here: The boy. Tsuris raised his sword in the air to strike, as the boy brought back his fist. Amazingly the boy’s fist started to expand while it was being pulled back. Tsuris paused, the boy stared at his fist in confusion, this was something he didn’t remember being able to do. His fist had grown to the size of a large basketball, he shrugged and brought it forward, as quick as lightning, striking Tsuris in the face and knocking him against the wall and into the flames.

XMG stared down at his fist. “What the hell was that?” he questioned himself, searching deep in his mind for the answer. He didn’t have one. He could hear Tsuris growl from the fire, and suddenly the beast popped up, in flames but not in pain. Of course, a beast from hell would be able to stand fire. Tsuris raised his sword again and charged, screaming towards XMG. XMG held out his arm, and his eyes started to glow white. He could feel power from his body rushing to his arm. It began to swell with might, and then suddenly it changed shape. It grew longer, narrower, and his fingers mashed together to form an arrow. It was a harpoon. Tsuris ran right into it. He stopped dead in his tracks as the harpoon pierced his black heart. White energy crackled all around it, shocking him. Tsuris heard a cry of rage, not from the boy, but from Angel. Angel had risen to his feet and was once again glowing with black energy. He was flying quickly towards Tsuris, his blade raised behind his shoulders, his knees bent, his face twisted in anger. The blade was burning with black energy. Tsuris knew there was no escaping his fate now. Angel brought the sword down entering Tsuris’s body with a crunch through his shoulder and exiting just below his rib cage. XMG’s arm contrasted back into his normal shape as Angel landed between him and the defeating beast. Tsuris’s mouth opened in shock as his eyes grew to the size of baseballs. He let out an ear piercing scream, which wasn’t only his but the screams of all the souls the demon had tortured over his lifetime. His lifetime, which was now ending. His torso fell backwards, separating from the rest of him. His legs began to melt in a thick black puddle of mud. The screams continued, as Afentiko and other members of The Anointed ran into the room, holding their ears. Angel and XMG however stood calmly and watched the beast that had hurt them both so greatly melt away into darkness.

For XMG it was like watching the last 4 horrible years wash away. Everything made sense again, well no not really. Nothing still made sense, but watching his tormentor die almost cleared his mind of the darkness. He could think now, form thoughts. But even though his mind was no longer muddeled, his heart was still full of rage.

The Anointed members began to fight the fire with water and fire extinguishers. Angel dropped the FrostBlade and ran to Maia, collapsing against her body in tears. “Maia, oh god Maia” he wept in a fit of hysteria, “No…no no NO NO NO!!!” He could have stopped this. Afentiko stood behind him, but said nothing leaving himself unnoticed by his weeping adopted son. He should have been there, with her. They should have left together. A million thoughts of blame spun through his head wildly before he noticed something: A heartbeat. He gasped, and backed away running into Afentiko’s leg. He looked up at him, “She’s alive.” He looked back at her. “She’s alive.” He swooped her body up, “She’s alive! She needs help!”

Afentiko stood calmly, “She’s the one isn’t she?”

Angel scowled at him. What a stupid question to ask in a time like this, she was dying. “SHE NEEDS HELP DAMMIT!”

3 men in coats ran up to Angel, “Give her to us.” One said. Angel cradled her tighter, never wanting to let her go. “If you want her to live, give her to us!” Angel lowered his head, and kissed her softly on the forehead.

“Come back to me.” He whispered and gave her to the doctors. She had to come back, he resolved. He couldn’t live without her, and he knew this now. If she died he couldn’t bear to live anymore, it would be too much. He could never find happiness again, and he knew that now. He wished that she knew, that she knew how he felt and that he didn’t want to be apart anymore and that he loved her. She couldn’t die, she couldn’t.

“Angel.” Afentiko’s soft but deep voice disrupted his thoughts yet again.

“What?” he snarled, he was still furious with him and now wasn’t the time.

“Your needed…for a mission.”

Angel turned around and stared at him in disbelief, “You have no heart don’t you? You have absolutely no heart! How could yo—“

“They’ve escaped Angel. Apocalypse and Frost, they’ve gone into a reality.”

“…I don’t care anymore, Afentiko. You can take care of this yourself.”

“Your going.”

“I’m not. I’m staying here with Maia.”

Afentiko lost his patience, “Your going or you’ll be thrown out of the headquarters and wont be allowed back in. Ever. You’ll never see her again.” Angel glared at Afentiko. He couldn’t believe he said that. In all of the years he had known him, he had never been the most sensitive individual, but never had he done anything like this. Angel wanted to kill him. “You broke the rules, Angel. If it wasn’t for your power you would be gone already.”

“Ill kill you. I swear to god.” Angel’s eyes were watering

“Take your beast shot. You know you can’t win.”

Angel had been defeated and he knew it, now all he wanted was to get home quickly and leave with Maia forever. He sighed, “Where to?”

“Reality R-445-E-9. You’re to go immediately, and you’re to take him.” Afentiko pointed across the room to XMG, who was standing there by himself watching the fire die away.

“Wha—“

“No arguments Angel. None.”

“Clothes. We need clothes and weapons.”

“We’ll port them in after your arrival.”

Angel sighed. This was now by far the worst day of his life.

Fin

Next Issue: “Wild Ghost Chase”

BACK

Home