Disclaimer: This story, though maybe not in this chapter but in subsequent chapters, will have celebrities in it. I have no knowledge of their sexuality and this is not intended to imply their sexuality. This is all from my own mind.
Buffy, the Vampire Slayer, Angel and all related characters created by Joss Whedon. Copyright 20th Century Fox.
Batman, and all related characters created by Bob Kane. Copyright DC Comics and Warner Bros.
X-MEN, and all related characters created by Stan Lee. Copyright Marvel Comics and 20th Century Fox.
The Vampire Chronicles and all related characters created by Anne Rice. Copyright Anne O'Brien Rice.
Star Wars and all related concepts created by or based on the universe created by George Lucas. Copyright 20th Century Fox, LucasFilms Ltd. and Lucas Books/Ballantine Books.
I don't know for sure if I will use all the above elements, but just in case, I have myself covered.
I have received many emails from people who have enjoyed it and some from those who do not. I would enjoy hearing from you. Any emails you send, please tell me what chapter and story you are commenting on. Thanks.
authorjames2002@yahoo.com
I also have several online messenger services. If you want to chat with me in real time, email me and tell me the services you use and I will tell you my screen name.
Other stories in this universe written by other authors: "Tales of a Superhero Band" "Tales of the New Phoenix"
Chapter 5 Assignment Eternity
"I appreciate everyone's assistance in interpreting these texts. With your help, we are well on our way to waging this war properly."
"Once we know more about our enemies, we will be able to do more," Blake said.
"Very true. And I will reveal to you all the information we have on Apocalypse, tomorrow. It is very late and we all need our rest. We've been through a terrible ordeal and we need to recuperate."
"Very true," Garrett replied. "Rest is the best ally anyone can have in times like these. No one needs to be overwhelmed."
We stood up from the table and I sentenced everyone felt tired and weary. It wasn't surprising. After what happened, who could blame any of us? We were told that the third world war was at hand and three different enemies were coming: Terrorists, mutants and the undead. Talk about weight of the world being on shoulders. Everyone in that room had the weight of the world on their shoulders.
I found Lance outside talking with his friend Melvin and I walked up to him grasping his hand.
"How did things go?" Lance asked when Melvin finished.
"There are some uncertainties, but that comes with an interpretation. There is always room for error simply because no one knows everything. But we think we have some good leads to go on. It's a start."
"Let me introduce you to my friends I met when you were," Lance paused for a moment. "When you were in England."
I knew he was referring to when he believed me to be dead. It was difficult for him and I didn't blame him.
"Melvin, this is my partner, Eric."
I reached out my hand and took Melvin's.
"Nice to meet you," I said. "Sorry it is under such circumstances."
"We deal with anything that comes, I guess," Melvin said. "That's the life of being a superhero, unfortunately."
"I hear you are from a distant line of people with special power. I'd love to hear about you."
"Let's go to our room and we can sit around and chat," Lance suggested.
I noticed Blake over by the window, along with JC, Andrea, and Jessica. He seemed lost in thought.
"Hold on," I said, and I walked over to Blake.
"Hey," I said placing my hand on his shoulder.
"Hi," Blake replied.
"What are you two doing here?" I asked Andrea and JC.
"Well, I'm here because Devin and Blake think that the extra help is needed," Andrea offered. "Josh is here because he can't stand to be away from Blake for more than 30 seconds. I think it's like a fish without water. I was waiting for him to start flopping around the condo at any moment."
JC started giggling and Blake joined in.
"So, Blake, how are you holding up after what happened?"
"Better. It's just... I don't think they heard it," Blake motioned to everyone in the room. "the minds of all those people. Those children..." He got lost in thought, grabbing JC's hand for support. "Their minds screaming in terror for the very last moments of their lives. After I found that child, broken and... I can't help wonder what scream was hers. I don't understand, I heard it so clearly so far away, and they didn't."
"God Blake, I'm so sorry." JC pulled Blake into an awkward hug still sitting in their seats. "I should have been here with you."
"It's ok, you're here now." Blake's tears fell down his cheeks. "You're here now."
"Lance and I have invited his friends to come to our room and talk. Would you like to join us?"
Blake nodded numbly, "Yeah."
"I'm pretty tired Blake, I'm going to head for bed. I think you should go talk though. Eric can help," JC said.
"Me, too," Andy said, rising. "We are all in the same room, right? When you come in, if you wake me, I'll kill you slowly." She smiled to let me know she was kidding.
"I'll see you in a bit." Blake said, pulling JC into a hug, then a kiss.
We arrived at our room and everyone found a place comfortable. I climbed up on the bed and crossed my legs. Lance sat to my right but has his feet planted firmly on the floor. Dylan and Eddie sat at the table, Blake leaned up against the wall, Melvin sat on the counter, and Keong, Jess, and Selena sat on the couch.
"Tell me about yourselves," I began.
"What do you want to know?" Dylan asked. "Melvin and I are Kindred by birth. We predate the Slayers, and some say that it was the Kindred who created the first Slayer. I'm also a druid, just like Eddie, and Melvin's a faery witch."
"Like Selena, my girlfriend," Melvin added with a smile. The blonde girl grinned and waved.
"Jess is my girlfriend, a mutant, and a witch," Eddie said. "She hooked us up with the X-Men through her classmate Kitty. And Keong's our mutant martial artist."
"Wow!" I exclaimed fascinated by the information they had told me. Kindred were not something I was well-versed in. I wondered if the Watchers or the Talamasca had any information on the Kindred that I could look up.
"How is everyone doing since what happened?" I asked.
The next day, we arrived bright and early at the meeting. We were to receive information about Apocalypse and then get to work on trying to stop him. Sitting to my immediate left was Lance, followed by Dylan and his friends. Kitty sat next to them and then Logan, Joshua, Ororo, Scott, Blake and Jean. To my right sat Punisher and his team. Blade ended their group. Next to him sat Bishop, Bobby, Jubilee, and Dr. Henry McCoy
"I appreciate everyone's patience," Professor X said to the group. "It took us a week to get all the information we needed. I am confident that we have everything we need to continue investigating. I will reveal to you all that we know of Apocalypse. When Blade arrived here over the weekend, I admit we didn't have much about the mutant. But now, we've contacted just about everyone, including the group known as the Talamasca, in order to get the information we needed.
"Apocalypse was born nearly five thousand years ago in Egypt as a member of the Akkaba clan. Even as an infant, he inspired fear. Ugly and malformed, he was abandoned by the tribe to die in the harsh desert sun. The baby was found by a roving band of feared desert raiders known as the Sandstormers. Most of them, too, thought the infant should die. However, their ruthless leader, Baal, somehow recognized the potential power in the child. He named him En Sabah Nur, which means "The First One", and raised him as his own son.
"As En Sabah Nur grew, he surpassed the other tribesmen in intelligence and strength. Everyone in the tribe except for Baal hated and feared him for his inhuman looks and great abilities. Nur did not understand their fear, but hardened his heart against it. Moreover, he believed in the principle that Baal and the tribe lived by, that only the fittest, tested by hardship, would, and should, survive. On the day of his tribal rite of passage into manhood, the seventeen-year-old En Sabah Nur killed three armed warriors of the tribe using only his bare hands.
"At this time Egypt was ruled by Pharaoh Rama-Tut. On the day of En Sabah Nur's rite of passage, Baal explained to him that Rama-Tut was no god, as most believed, but a man, who had arrived in a strange vessel. Years ago the tribe had stumbled upon the time-traveler's crashed ship, taken the injured man back to their camp, and nursed the injured and temporarily blinded man back to health. One night he wandered away, taking with him objects the tribesmen had brought from his vessel. Weeks later, his sight restored, Rama-Tut returned, wielding weapons of devastating power and leading the Egyptian army. He massacred the tribe and enslaved the survivors. Although he tortured them, no one revealed the timeship's location.
"In actuality, Rama-Tut was a time traveler from the far future who would later become known as Kang the Conqueror. Kang knew that Apocalypse, one of the most powerful mutants who ever lived, and the one who was destined to rule the world, had been born in ancient Egypt. Hence, Rama-Tut had gone back in time to find Apocalypse as a child, raise him, and thereby become the master of the most powerful being on the planet.
"On the day of his rite of passage, Baal brought the young Nur to a sacred cave whose entrance became blocked by a cave-in, trapping them underground. After a week of wandering without food or water, they found the remnants of Rama-Tut's timeship within an underground Egyptian tomb. Baal told Nur that he believed him to be a conqueror whose coming was foretold in ancient prophecies, and that Nur was destined to overthrow Rama-Tut. Then Baal died from lack of nourishment, and Nur, whose mutant physiology kept him alive, vowed to take vengeance on Rama-Tut and claim his destiny. Four weeks later he finally made his way back to the surface.
"Nur became a slave, but eventually he had a vision of the Egyptian death god Seth, who urged him to become a conqueror. It was at this moment that Nur first manifested his superhuman powers. Eventually, the Pharaoh finally came face to face with En Sabah Nur. Rama-Tut offered to make him his heir if he would swear his loyalty, and then tried to kill him when Nur refused. Nur defeated Rama-Tut's warlord Ozymandias and Rama-Tut, who finally escaped back into the future, eventually to take on the identity of Kang.
"From then on Apocalypse plotted the conquest of the planet through bringing about wars and conflict, in which the strong would defeat and destroy the weak. Over the centuries he was worshipped by many civilizations under a variety of names. Mutants, he was certain, would one day rule the world, with him as their leader, and so he waited. Most of what Apocalypse did during these centuries is as yet unknown.
"At the time of the Crusades, Apocalypse arranged for the warrior Bennet du Paris to activate his latent mutant powers for the first time. Renaming him Exodus, Apocalypse made him his servant but later cast him into a deathlike trance when Exodus rebelled against him.
"According to information I gleaned from Magneto, an old friend may be working with him. He may very well be the man Cloak saw in Columbus with Apocalypse. That is an angle that I have a team set up to investigate.
"Dylan, I appreciate how you and your team have offered to help. I would like for you to go with Kitty to England and work alongside the team Excalibur. Working together you may be able to uncover more information as to why Juffrey is involved with Apocalypse.
"Ororo, Jean, Blake, and Rogue, I would like you to investigate Egypt. The rumors from the Watchers are that rumors are flying around of your vampire Dasro working with Apocalypse. You may uncover some information about Apocalypse and how he met up with Dasro. After all, the legends of the beginning of Dasro's species of vampire began with a king and queen of Egypt, Enkil and Akasha. Since Apocalypse came from Egypt as well, you may be able to uncover how the two met and why they would work together now.
"Scott, Jessica, Blade, Weatherby, and Eric, I would like for you to go to Orlando, Florida."
"You're sending us home?" I asked.
"No. There is a mutant by the name of Northstar that I want to join your group. He has some information about a mutual mutant that might link her with Apocalypse. She may help lead you to Ghost Rider. From there, you will go wherever the leads take you."
"Lance is coming with us," I said.
"Are you sure that it is safe enough for him? You don't want him getting hurt, do you?"
"I won't put him through what he went through when I went to England. Where I go, he goes."
"Very well," Professor X said. "Any questions?"
The room remained silent. Everyone knew what had to be done. This was all out war with several factions. The world was hanging in the balance, and we were the line of defense against that which went bump in the night.
I raised my hand.
"Eric?"
I stood up and looked at each person. I locked eyes with everyone and felt as if I saw into their souls. It was like my soul connected with each one on a very intimate level.
"The world hates us because we are different. Some of us are different in more than one way. We are going out from here to face that which goes bump in the night, to face that which the world doesn't want to accept. Vampires, mutants who want to take over the world, and other forces that not all of us could begin to imagine. It is going to be rough. This will be hard for all of us. We will probably be pushed beyond our limits. And for what? To protect the world, to protect people who could care less about whether we have the same rights as them? To defend a population who would rather we all died because of our differences so they could have everyone in the norm? It seems unfair. That's because it is unfair. The world is full of ignorant, selfish people. But I believe that this world will, one day, be better than what it is. They've come so far in a short amount of time. That is evidenced by how ethnic minorities and women are treated. They are being treated more and more equal. That is evidence the world can become better than what they are.
"Looking at each of you, looking through the window to your souls, I can see beautiful people, beautiful on the inside. You are a group I'm an honored to say I've known and worked with. You are a people who can accomplish. You are what heroes are made of. And I want to say thank you for knowing you and having the opportunity to work side-by-side with each of you."
I sat down and the room remained quiet for a moment.
"Thank you, Eric," Professor X said. "Are there any more comments or questions?" There was no response. "Very well. Let's get ready. The X-Jet will be leaving in few hours to take Kitty, Dylan and the rest of the Kindred to England. I suggest everyone else get packed and ready for their return."
Everyone stood and went their separate ways.
Johnny awoke strapped to a table. He looked around to see what he could. To his surprise, a blue woman with red hair and yellow eyes stood in a corner staring at him.
"It is about time you awoke. We were beginning to think you would never wake up."
"Who-who are you?"
"My name is Mystique."
"What am I doing here?"
"You are here because I needed a replacement," a deep voice sounded out.
Johnny turned to see a huge being come out from the shadows. His breath caught in the back of his throat and he gasped to catch it.
"Who are you?"
"The name is Apocalypse," the being said.
"You needed me to replace who for what?"
"A vampire, a rather nasty vampire that had connections to mystical abilities. He was slain, however. Then Mr. Sinister picked up your mystical abilities and we came for you.
"We need your mystical connections as one of my Four Horsemen. You will be Death. Mystique is Conquest. I have two others, a vampire who will be War, and another mutant who will be Famine."
"I won't let you do this," Johnny said trying to snap the chains binding him.
Apocalypse laughed a hideous laugh. "You honestly think you have a say so over what is to happen? You pathetic, deluded fool. You will have no will of your own after I'm finished with you."
"What about her? She seems pretty lucid."
"I choose of my own free will to be a Horseman."
"Your loyalties are questionable," Apocalypse shot back. "So you need to go through programming. Mr. Sinister will see to that."
A pale-faced man wearing blue entered the room. He walked over to the rack of chemicals and took several beakers from the shelves. Taking the chemicals to a table, Sinister mixed them in differing amounts and carried it over to a small stand by Johnny's table.
"You won't feel much," Sinister said as he took a syringe and filled it with the chemical mixture. The mutant took the needle and poked it in Ghost Rider's arm, injecting the fluid into Johnny's body. He returned the syringe to the stand and walked over to the monitor.
Johnny's body started shaking and his eyes rolled back into his head.
"What's happening to him?" Mystique asked.
"I guess there was more pain than I assumed. Oh, well. He'll survive. I think."
Apocalypse looked at Sinister with concern.
"Don't worry, Master. He will survive the process."
Johnny's body erupted in flame and Ghost Rider was in his place.
"The spirit within is trying to save him. However, this is exactly what I needed to happen. The spirit is weakened by inhabiting the body. The chemical reacting on the human will also work on the spirit, and Ghost Rider will be yours to control."
"Excellent," Apocalypse said. "Well done. Contact the others and inform them the fourth Horseman has been obtained."
"Yes, Master."
Sinister went over to the large computer to begin his transmission to the other two Horsemen.
To Be Continued...
The information about Apocalypse was obtained at www.marveldirectory.com. They have a comprehensive site with almost all the characters ever to appear in Marvel Comics.