the rise of the four horsemen

ronin had let his hatred for the king of kings get to him as he shouted at gambler blaming him for what was going on. the feral ghost was still bent down to the ground feeling the pain of the bullet that had ripped through his flesh. sure his healing factor was kicking in and the wound was starting to disappear but the pain never ceased to exist. ronin watched as his teammates quickly took action proving their military minds and taking cover and preparing for battle. without so much as a word his team quickly did everything he would have expected them to do. bullets began to fill the walls of the once marvelous mansion. dust and debris shot into the air almost forming a dark cloud within the meeting room. Even with all this going on ronin still had his ace in the whole. he knew in just a matter of seconds his liaison to the US government would be making his entrance.

ronin began to duck and weave attempting to dodge every bullet possible while he followed gambler up the stairs. as far as ronin knew this was all the villains fault and he would indeed end it. as the feral ghost reach the top of the stairs he watched as Jean burst through a door down the hallway. with anger and hatred in his eyes ronin followed in suit running down the hallway as fast as he could almost sliding past the door. there ronin stood his claws unsheathed his shirt covered in blood from his bullet wound the darkness behind him almost made him look like a silhouette. to the people inside the room ronin appeared to be the real life boogy man. the light from outside bounced through out the room only lighting up his his eyes and the shiny ness of his claws and the glistening of his hair. Ronin stood in the doorway ready to attack and murder the man who had put his team in so much danger and betrayed the only alliance the two teams would ever have.

then ronin saw it. the thing he knew about but could never imagine seeing. ronin knew of gamblers young daughter he had hoped that she would be the one to light up the darkness within the evil king of kings. ronin had thought that gambler was trying to make an escape but there he was like a father the first time he ever held his daughter. gambler stood there cradling his baby girl in his arms. ronin could see so many emotions in the king of kings face. emotion of hate and vengeance and emotions of sadness and fear.  ronin slowly walked in to the room watching gambler and his wife. Jean didnt so much as even give ronin a look all he cared about was his childs safety. ronin too knew this feeling as he had a daughter of his own. suddenly the glass shattered as a moltov cocktail was flung into the room. just as the glass exploded ronin dove towards gambler knocking him and his daughter out of the way taking the full force of the attack. in a blink of an eye ronin was covered in flames. his clothes and his skin began to melt away at the extent of the heat. even on fire ronin did his best to keep a level head there was just too much at stake. quickly he dove to the floor rolling around attempting to extinguish the flames.

then suddenly came the ace in the hole. Last arrow entered the room through means of only he could explain. ronin lay on the floor his body covered in 3rd degree burns as he fought to hold onto his consciousness.“Solider get up and prepare to transport, this is war no time to blame anyone just move your ass.” last arrow shouted at ronin knowing that even facing death the marine would not go down without a fight. slowly ronin began to push himself up his healing factor was working double time. ronin had worked beside last arrow as an original member of the ZS he knew that the guy could be trusted and instilled with the power of leadership if him nor risky was around. At this moment ronin was surely in no position to lead with all the anger built up inside him and all the pain he had just felt his animal instincts tore away at his heart begging to slaughter any man standing outside.  “Gambler prepare who you must but we are leaving. We have a safe house this is a battle we need not fight we have larger things to deal with.” Last arrow had stepped up to the plate issuing orders through out the room in an attempt to save what last bit of humanity the 2 teams shared.

as ronin finally stood to his feet he eyed the cajun as he spoke desperately “Whatever escape plan you have in mind Arrow, now is dee time!" suddenly last arrow took note of the child within Jeans arms. “The plan has changed Gambler and Babs will leave first with the child take the Las as well but protect the child this is no world for her to be in just now we will hold the line until im sure the child is fine and then come back for us Ronin move”. with that being said ronin used the little strength he had to blink he and the leBeua family to safety. Once at the safe house ronin quickly  began to blink back in forth from the LAS mansion to the safe house grabbing up each and every surviving memeber of the ZS and the LAS. the pain on his body was taking its toll. he was using to much energy for his healing factor to keep up. Ronin would now have to live his life with 3rd degree burns covering his body. on his last trip to the LAS and back to the safe house when ronin came out of the portal he fell ot the ground breathing heavily. the soldier had taken several hits and shots inbetween his blinks. bullet holes littered his body as his face smashed  into the ground leaving him unconscious.  Weather ronin would live or not all depended on his will to live and fight another day. No man could save him his wounds were taking their toll as the blood continued t opour onto the floor and his healing factor did its best to heal all mortal wounds.

It all happened so fast. Kurrent's words had no effect on Risky/War. Alpha Guard had doubted they would, but then Risky attacked Kurrent, hitting him again and again with her ax. The Guardian of Good didn't dare intervene, he couldn't risk hitting Kurrent instead of Risky so long as they were fighting. But then, all of a sudden, she let go of Kurrent and hovered in the air. Alpha Guard was about to attack, when a blast of red energy erupted from Risky. Alpha Guard created a force field about himself to protect him from the blast, but it was not an energy blast as Alpha Guard had thought, but a blast of emotional energy. Energy that easily passed through the force field.

When the blast hit Alpha Guard, he understood just what it was. Of course, Risky's War now. That blast is probably supposed to turn us against one another, have a Mobb Deep Civil War. But it won't work with me, I'm stronger then the blast, I have to be.

And so Alpha Guard began a battle not with his teammates, but with himself. The blast had started to take effect, so there were now two warring forces in Alpha Guard's mind. One wanted to destroy his fellow members, destroy everything. They don't understand my power, they don't understand how superior I am. Don't understand that they are ants and I am a giant. Mobb Deep thinks they have power, but they are nothing! They can not grasp the vastness of my abilities, that they have seen only the tip of the iceberg, the iceberg being by strength. Kurrent fancies himself leader, but I'll show him. I'll conquer them all, and then who will be the leader? Me!

The other part of Alpha Guard's mind fought to keep control, keep his sanity. No, no, I can't fight my teammates. We need to work together, not fight each other. I have to earn their respect, earn it by being a good member of this team, not conquering it. Kurrent is leader because he's earned the team's respect, mine included. I'm a hero, not a villain. But becoming a villain would only make me lose my team's respect, not gain it.

As the battle continued, the good part of Alpha Guard's mind began to be overpowered by the evil part. Eventually, the good side resorted to drastic measures. Alpha Guard (good) formed a shield to protect his mind, the good part, which prevented the evil side from taking total control. Alpha Guard then expanded the shield, forcing the evil side away and allowing the good side to take control more and more. Eventually, Alpha Guard's good side took full control once again, though only after the battle of his life.

Exhausted after the fight, Alpha Guard fell to the ground. All the explosive energy he had been gathering he had called on to form the mental shield, but it was just as well as Risky/War had gone on. Alpha Guard then thought of his teammates, and if they had overcome the mental spell or not. He was relieved to know that Ripcord, who had just arrived, had used his powers, probably his third eye, to protect himself against the mental spell. But then, he heard a message come in over the comm link that he had not heard before, and was now playing itself back. Alpha Guard, if you can hear me complete the mission, follow the trail of the guy who caused that sandstorm I think that is him. We'll handle this over here.

Alpha Guard looked around and saw Kurrent limping towards the pyramid, apparently wounded badly from Risky's attack. As Ripcord drew nearer, Alpha Guard radioed him, Rip, it's Alpha. I need you to use that third eye of yours to help the other's overcome Risky's attack, if they haven't already. I think Kurrent managed to do it, though I'm not sure about the others. Kurrent wants me to trail the guy who caused the sandstorm that just happened. Best of luck, I'm counting on you.

With his message delivered, Alpha Guard set off to try and find the man who caused the sandstorm, whoever he was. The trail was difficult to follow, but with a Sonar tracking device, the Guardian of Good managed to "keep the scent." And he had racing through his mind methods of attack should he come into conflict with the man, which was likely inevitable.

"Okay, you wanted it that way..." stated Risky as she moved towards Kurrent letting out an onslaught of attacks with her battle ax.   Prima saw Kurrent cross his arms in front of him.  The speed of Risky was unstobbable.  The attacks looked looked like distant blurs.   Kurrent’s electricity was helping him major.  Prima had a very miniscule control of electricity.  She learned a small move or two, but not being something she is well versed in it drained her energy to use it.  Focusing her energy she aimed a small line of electricity at Kurrent hoping to provide some type of help.  Of course, Risky was still cutting him.  Prima watched as each stroke of the ax delivered a painful stripe across Kurrent.  Blood poured from his wounds as he maintained his defensive stance.  Risky then delivered a mind blowing hit to Kurrent sending him through the glass.  He went flying backwards and landed with a hard thud to the sand covered ground.   

Risky then rose into the air.  Her aura was so dark.  She looked like death in its truest from.  The power emanating of her could be felt.   Her body seemed to explode.   Risky was power.  Her body let out a torrent of blinding red that descended upon Prima and her fellow teammates.   The blast hit Prima with so much force she fell backwards into the sand.  The red penetrated her body, but the feeling was different.  Prima expected a torrent of pain, a physical attack at her body.  Prima cried out as she felt the dark emotions pouring into her very soul.  This was more than just an attack it seemed to eat away at her very being.   Rage and Anger filled her body, yet Prima was still there.  She could feel her soul fighting the darkness that had crept into her.  She writhed on the sand as she continued to cry out. 

She barely registered the words of Risky as she left them.  Pushing herself off the ground Prima tried to stand up.  Her body still having its on war inside of her.  It was as if her mind, soul, and body had split into two.  One side of her wanted to find her team and help them to protect the weak and restore piece; while the other side had only rage and a want to kill and destroy everything in her path.    Veins on the side of her head popped up and her eyes turned a disarming shade of red.  Turning to look around her Prima locked eyes with Kurrent her leader.  She watched him limp towards her blood seeping into the sand from his open wounds.  She watched as his arm threw a punch,.   Putting up her right hand she deflected it easily.  Bringing up her left knee, she attempted to slam it into Kurrent’s wounded chest.  “STOP!,” Prima shouted at herself.  She was attacking her own leader, but she didn’t want to.    She watched as a jolt seemed to carry Kurrent away from her.  Then his hands went out at both sides.  Supertrooper and Ripcord stood on either side of him.  Prima ran towards them the good inside of her taking action, she threw her hands out in front of her projecting a shield that surrounded Kurrent, blocking his attacks at her teammates.  A jolt of pain suddenly traveled through her body as yet again the rage fought to control her.  Letting the shield go Prima took her katana off her back, and charged at Kurrent .  Mere inches away from his she dropped to the ground.

She couldn’t go on with this rage and hatred boiling inside of her.  She had to fight it.  Her team would fall if she was saving them one moment only to fight them the next.  Prima then dug her hands into the sand as she looked at the ground on all fours.  Focusing all her energy she changed into her fire form.  Her body trembled as she fought the rage and concentrated her energy on her task.  Prima then increased her body temperature.  The heat waves surrounding her as she went up in degrees.  The flames on her body reaching such a temperature that instead of fiery orange her flames turned blue reaching such a crazy temperature.  Closing her eyes she felt each molecule raise and rise as she fought the darkness in her soul.  Heat controlled light and if Prima could reach such a level of thermal intensity she could project light off of her.  It was a long shot but if she could attain this then maybe it would be enough to ward off the darkness that was eating away at her.  Standing up her eyes still closed Prima’s flames turned into an even darker shade of blue.  The rage inside of her was putting up one hell of a fight as she concentrated her energy to the battle.  Prima knew it was now or never.  Harnessing as much energy as she could she felt a beam of light flow out from her chest.  The light so powerful it brought her back down to her knees.  AS quickly as it came it left.  The fiery blue flames that had once engulfed her body now perished from her.     She had defeated the rage that was inside of her.  Pushing herself of the ground she tried to regain her footing.  Using all that energy had caused Prima to be a little weak.  Focusing her eyes she saw Kurrent walking towards the pyramid.  Luckily prima was made of tough stuff.  Despite being a little weakened she got up and ran towards Kurrent.  Jumping in front of him she put her hands up. 

Chaos rained fourth upon the country known as France, entire cities burned as the streets and buildings of France became engulfed in what could only be described as a apocalyptic flame as destruction reigned supreme. Some of the most famous monuments the world had ever seen stood burning as they crumbled becoming shadows of there former selves. In one swift move the dark son of Apocalypse had laid waste to an entire nation forcing them to bow before him and control them like mere sheep. Famine would let his next target wait just a little longer as he enjoyed what he had done. As of now the entire world would not know what had become of this peaceful country. Walking through the streets flames engulfed everything as it surrounded the rageful mob all of whom out of fear had become nothing more than mere animals, he had awakened the darkness with in them all. The streets riddled with broken glass as the mob seemed to be going to a place inparticular.

Acer began to move towards the place his slaves were moving to, then he felt it and it was a wonderful feeling as mass amounts of energy began to shift and change as he could feel his sister laying waste to the entire world, feeling it all as energies of all the people screamed out. Then he could feel death taking out millions as in one swift move all the horsemen began to conquer entire countries destroying entire nations. Acer making himself invisible again finally got to where the main fight was taking place as a large mob were fighting a group of assassins and soldiers, the mob were no match for the assassins in terms of skill and team work but there numbers were overwhelming. Acer leaned against one of the few buildings that was not surrounded in flames. Looking on he could see them inside fighting for there lives, heores and villians stood as one unit in one last stand against Apocalypse and his children as Famine looked not one of the people knew that he was near by.

The mob unloaded bulletes upon the compound as molotov cocktails were launched at the LAS building. Looking on he could feel the energy inside each and every person some were more angry, some kept there composure amongst the chaos while others took a more cocky approach to things. The hero known as One Shot came out in a sign of crazy emotions coming straight at the mob firing bullets at the crazed people throwing men into others. Acer kept his eyes on the people inside as one man caught his attention a familiar face and a energy that was much calmer than the others. A hero long since dead it seemed had made his return as Acer followed the movements of Last Arrow. He was the one who seemed to take charge and Acer even in this new state still had respect for the man a respect that would earn the hero a quick and painless death. Then a powerful energy came fourth upon the crowd as Acer looked on in admiration at the woman standing there ready to take on the entire force of rage “You might want to leave now. Or I can force you too, but I am sure either way some of you will die. Then the survivors can speak of how you died valiantly at the hands of Lilith. Or have you all not heard of me.” the woman spoke, things were getting fun as Acer looked as the woman ripped into flesh and broke bones as she cut down entire masses of people and Acer looked on enjoyed.

Then it happened the energy of a group of the people inside all of a sudden just dissapeared but Acer had there scent and even with being teleported there energy was still left behind and with that he could trace and follow it. Acer took flight watching as the fight below was becoming nothing more than meaningless death, he would love to stay and play with the woman that stood below him but he had other plans. Acer took off following the energy untill he arrived at an abandoned warehouse. Walking around untill he came to a open window he silently went inside. Standing in a corner in the room invisible to all he looked as the hero Ronin layed on the ground as the Lebeus stood with there child, along with others. Then in the room of silent Acer began to clap his hands together in the way that mimiced a beating heart, at first it was slow and calm as the sound echoed around the abandoned warehouse "The beating of the heart is slow and calm to some of you" speaking in a calm and sinister tone walking around still invisible, then his beat moved at a much faster pace "Yet some are in more fear as you fail to control your fear and so your beat is faster and more unpredictable" he continued clapping faster and faster untill he stopped revealing himself to all standing over Ronin's body. "No one move if your energy even raises in the slightest  or i sense any form of movement i will kill him right here and now, as for the villains here if any of you make a move the little one will suffer a slow and painful death, if you value your own lives and of the two of whom i just spoke of you will all give in and bow before me by doing this i will make sure your lives will be spared and you can live a happy life as my father's slaves if you deny me then you feel the full extent of my wrath" Acer stood awaiting there next move.

Trooper watched as the woman broke off and rushed at Kurrent. Confused by mixed emotions he tried to teleport over to Kurrent but he had made an utterly terrible mistake. Having put some much focus in his other power he lost his ability to teleport. He hovered in the air confused by why he had not move from tat very spot. Feeling as if he had lost control of his powers he freaked and stood still in the air. He then turned his head and watched as the woman closed in on Kurrent. Trooper's mind was failing, his cells started to shut down he could feel it. he tried to make and effort to reach Kurrent but he couldn't move his body. He wondered whether his body was going into to auto flight or was he going to die... 

Julia stood watching as the mysterious person made his way into the room. He seemed young, but it was obvious he was older than her. She arched her eyebrow as she watched him walk up to the two Lebeau’s, he spoke to them as a group as the window that was behind them shattered, the glass flew behind them and upon the table as all of them turned around to see. She stood her ground as she watched Ronin rush over to the window, looking outside. The look that was upon his face showed that something was VERY wrong, and that they were going to have to get out fast, shouts and chants were heard from outside, it was as if a mob of people were outside. As soon as Ronin turned around to speak a bullet shot through him, screams of pain were heard as the mighty Z Squad leader fell to the ground. Julia’s eyes widen in fear as bullets began to rain upon them.

“WHAT HAVE YOU DONE?” Ronin shouted out in anger directed at Gambler.

Julia quickly flipped over a smaller table that wasn’t too far from her and slid behind it. She watched as Gambler didn’t say a word, but instead took off running, with Ronin right behind him. Julia’s eyes shift around as she then watched as One Shot was already up and raining chaos upon the people who shot his bottle of beer. Julia sighed and shook her head as a man walked up to the area. She’s never seen him before but he started to give out orders to the Z Team that was still around. Julia arched her eyebrow, was he to be trusted? She didn’t know, right then another woman came into the room, Julia shot her head over and watched as she too took off into the mob, raining her own chaos upon the French.

Julia stood for a moment longer then the man spoke to Ronin once more. “The plan has changed Gambler and Babs will leave first with the child take the Las as well but protect the child this is no world for her to be in just now we will hold the line until im sure the child is fine and then come back for us Ronin move”. Julia knew what that meant, it was time to bring on the pain and as soon as Ronin gave her the nod she took off like a bullet once more, running over to some long thick candle holders.

“Mind if I borrow these?” She asked one of the dead assassins on the floor. She simply smiled as she nod her head. “Thank you!” She then took off once more, and up the stairs were she ran down the hall and then smashed through a window.

Julia came flying down upon the mob and held the candle holder above her head. Before she landed she smashed it into a head of a man, as soon as she landed she then crouched down and swung it down at a woman’s leg, causing her to fall upon her back. Julia then felt a bullet graze her shoulder as she then jumped up and did a back flip, a man came rushing behind her, missing her as her body soared above his, she then grabbed him by the shoulders and as she flipped herself up and over she threw him over as well, sending him crashing into others. Her ears perking up she heard as shots were fired at her. She took off once more, as she ran through the crowed, she swung her candle holder up and under a mans chin, sending him flying, she kept her speed as she slammed it into a mans stomach causing him to heave forward as she then jumped upon his back and launched herself off of him, smashing her foot upon the face of another man. She was moving so fast that it was hard for anyone to get a good shot at her, she was nothing but a blue blur.

Julia then slid across the bloody filed as her boots tried to grip upon the ground, she slid about a good ten feet until she saw One Shot and that other woman once more. She could hear them talking from a distance while she began her assault upon the mob once more.

“We can not all move them. When the Lebeau’s are safe I will stand in the midst of the crowd and set the house and everything in it on fire. When we get out of this, I’ll buy you a truckload of beer. Pass my message onto your comrades and the assassins that are left.”

“Got it!” Julia said with a smile as she gave a thumbs up, her body was covered in blood as suddenly a sharp pain was rushed into her left shoulder, Julia yelled out in pain as she knelt down, grabbing onto her shoulder. The young girl had tears ready to fall as she looked up, it was an older woman holding a pistol and now she was standing right above her with the gun in her hand and the end of the pistol pointed at Julia’s head. Julia’s blood boiled as she quickly shoved the gun out of the way and smashed the now bloody candle holder into the womans stomach,causing her to heave over in pain as blood trickled down. She then pulled it out as she took off running once more, until the sight of Ronin caught her eyes. She made her way towards him, worry in her eyes as she stopped.

“Ronin!” She looked at him from head to toe. “You look worse then your sparing with DC.” She tried to joke until she felt another wave of pain in her back. Julia stumbled forward as her warm blood began to trickle down her back. Right then the others came and Ronin teleported them to a safe house, one that Julia didn’t know about. Ronin fell to the ground as he made his last teleportation and Julia sat the ground, breathing heavily. Her chest rising up and down quickly as the pain continued to rush through her body. She then turned back to Ronin as tears started to stream down her face. “Ronin!” She said as she yelled out as the young girl shook the body of her leader, blood pouring out of his body and onto the cold cemented ground. She then looked up to the two Lebeau’s and shouted at them. “Help him, he’s helped you!”

Right then a clapping was heard from inside the building. Julia’s yellow eyes darted around as she tried to figure out where it was coming from. "The beating of the heart is slow and calm to some of you” The voice said calming, as the hand claps grew faster. "Yet some are in more fear as you fail to control your fear and so your beat is faster and more unpredictable” Julia could feel her heart beat to the rhythm of this persons hand clap, she was scared, she didn’t know what was going on and then suddenly he appeared over Ronin with Julia already kneeling down next to him. "No one move if your energy even raises in the slightest or I sense any form of movement I will kill him right here and now, as for the villains here if any of you make a move the little one will suffer a slow and painful death, if you value your own lives and of the two of whom I just spoke of you will all give in and bow before me by doing this I will make sure your lives will be spared and you can live a happy life as my father's slaves if you deny me then you feel the full extent of my wrath" The man said as he waited.

Julia stayed on the ground, glaring at the man, she was in no way about to give up, but… what the heck were they to do? She didn’t know, her eyes shifted around for a moment trying to look at everyone else’s reaction to the situation. She might be fast enough to move Ronin out of the way, after all she was already next to him… but then again… if this guy was one of the ‘horsemen’ Bruce talked about… he would be WAY faster than her. Julia didn’t know what to do… she was lost. All she did was look up at the man with intense eyes, her furry face was stained with blotches of blood as her eyes never moved from him.

Beijing was nothing but a memory, and now China was Death's playground.   After annihilating most of north eastern region, Morte began his journey south.  He traveled through several cities laying waste to their populations.  Using the abilities granted to him by the powerful Apocalypse he continued with his murderous rampage.  Cities were lying dormant with corpses strewn profusely throughout the land.   Much to the silent assassins surprise animals where shown to be impervious to the affects of the death consumed ability he acquired.   The millions of bodies which were covered in internal organs were now a buffet for the wildlife.   Vultures, dogs, cats, rodents, and just about anything else with an appetite was feasting on Chinese.


"Uncontested, I never dreamed it would be this easy, where are you saviors now?"  - Softly spoken by the harbinger of Death


China wasn’t the only country in store for complete devastation.  Hundreds of miles away the second nuclear warhead which was fired from the North Korean Missile Silo was now above Bangkok Thailand.  The projectile soared toward the heart of the immaculate city; civilians still unaware and unprepared went on about their day as if nothing had happened.  It almost seemed as if time stood still just long enough for you to catch one last glimpse of the city in all its glory before it was erased from humanity.  Suddenly the entire city lit up, the shock wave expanded; it was so massive it almost engulfed the entire country.  Fire spread, as yet another large smoke infested mushroom cloud was tearing into the atmosphere.  There was no escape from the aftermath, Bangkok being a small icity, was easily encompassed in radiation.  For the ones who didn't die in the blast, the death would be slow and painful. 


Morte continued his journey through China teleporting to each of the surrounding cities and systematically murdering the entire population to leave them as scraps for the animals to feed upon.  While walking through the city the Former Death Angels Assassin saw a government operated chemical plant.  He paused, looked around the city listening to the screams of pain while his radiance of death filled the city blocks eliminating all human life.  The dark ninja smiled and proceeded to the entrance gate, it was locked of course.   Morte then threw a reverse heel kick which landed on the locking panel of the steel gate instantly launching the steel structure off its hinges.  The workers who were hidden inside began to cough violently while convulsing.  Blood spewed from every open orpheus of their bodies before dropping dead at the feet of the Horsemen of Death.  Morte continued to make his way through the plant before reaching the actual chemical containment area.   While smiling, he hit a switch which emptied the large container of hazardous chemicals into an enormous storage container.  He continued hitting the buttons and pulling handles until the entire containment area was mixed with steaming chemicals which were having adverse reactions to being mixed with one another.   Alarms starting ringing loudly as the dark ninja began to leave the control deck.  He lit a match, and tossed into the thick mixture of hazardous liquids, it ignited immediately.  A highly poisonous cloud began to form over the plant; the wind carried the dangerous vapor westward.  The fire burned intensely and thick gasses where released into the atmosphere.  The thick fog was transported by the wind as it darkened the sky.


The massacre wasn't close to being over.  The harbinger of Death teleported out of the Chinese city after taking in a moment of the silence that death had caused.  Morte quickly teleported to the north of the Chinese border after his assault.  He chose to unleash his next cleansing of the weak in the city of Ulaanbaatar which is the capital of Mongolia.  Mongolia was a place which was held close to Morte's heart.  He trained there often, and had early childhood memories of the historic hidden temples that were located within the unforgiving mountain terrain of the Mongolian mountains.  He would take his time in this place to make sure it was ravaged with death's touch.


Ulaanbaatar was also a heavily populated city.  He began to utilize his fatally laced compressional abilities once again amongst the population.  The screams and agonizing pleas for mercy were becoming a familiar undertone for the arrival of Death.   By this time, many of the surrounding nations had caught wind of the threat that was surrounding them.  Morte was met with incredible heavy artillery and a heavily composed military force.  Tanks, cannons, mobile missile launch vehicles and hundreds of thousands of infantry men were the civilian’s defense.  It was like a composer looking off into his orchestra, the Practitioner of Precision welcomed the abundance of chaos.   The tanks immediately began to fire; there were hundreds of projectiles speeding toward Morte.  The dark entity instantly unsheathed his katana and started sprinting toward the organized army.  He dodged the bombardment of small arms fire as he closed in on the front line of infantry men which began to turn and run once they saw they were having no affect.  The Former Death Angels Assassin quickly teleported in front of the escaping battalion of soldiers to cut off their route of escape, he could see the fear in their eyes.  He ran through them making quick work of the large group of men.  Using his masterful array of martial arts and swordsman ship to dismember, decapitate, and brutalize the plentiful ground troops.  From an aerial view all you could see was clouds of dust and sparks of fire as a figure dressed in black strategically attacked every aspect of the military force.  Morte was teleporting in and out of different areas overwhelming the large force by attacking its smaller squads and taking out their numerous track vehicles.  Many tried to retreat, but the dark ninja caught them before they were clear of the battle field.  No one was to live.

While Mongolia was turning into a warzone, the missile silo in North Korea fired its last nuke.  Now that the eastern hemisphere was aware of the attacks all the radar systems and satellites from neighboring nations began to track the warhead as it rocketed toward its target.  The prayers must have been thick for the man upstairs as time seemed to stand still while billions of terrified civilians watched and listened attentively to see which one of their cities was next.  The nuclear projectile turned to the west as it flew over the devastation which used to be China and steered toward its unlucky destination.  The missile was aimed to destroy Bhopal India.  Morte knew they didn't have the counter measures to destroy the nuke before it reached them.  China was the only country with the resources in close enough range to neutralize the missile.  This was all strategic planning.  There was nothing to be done for those people who lived there.   Who could oppose death?

It had started with the disappearance of several key members from the Vines most notorious teams. Wal, Mobb Deep, Zero Squad, and the newly formed LaS, had all experienced the loss of a team member. But that was only the beginning. What happened next was quite simply, catastrophic. An ancient and powerful Egyptian immortal had awoken and with him a new breed of horror. With his thirst for world domination and keen intellect the god known as Apocalypse  genetically manipulated those he had abducted. Creating the four most powerful beings on Earth, the Horsemen. Death, Famine, Pestilence, and War.

After twisting their minds to the point of no return he set them loose upon the world. Countries where wiped off the face of the Earth. Cities where burned to the ground leaving nothing behind but smoldering ashes. The death toll reached well into the millions. Led by the heroic Kurrent, Mobb Deep attempted to storm Apocalypses desert stronghold, and had not been heard from since.

The LaS mansion had been brutally assaulted by panic stricken citizens causing the newly aligned ZS and LaS to flee. True to form Arrow, Kiara, and Moonshayed help hold back the advancing mob while Ronin worked feverishly to evacuate everyone. Playing the hero to perfection the Zero Squad leader made sure to get not only his team to safety, but the team of Babs and Gambler as well. But at a heavy price. Sustaining critical injuries, the Road Warrior collapsed in the center of the safehouse. His healing factor working over time just trying to keep his heart pumping.

Immediately Moonshayed slid down to the side of her fallen comrade while checking his vitals. Her facial expressions told of her concern.

“Help him, he’s helped you!” she yelled at the Cajun and his wife.

But there was nothing Gambler nor anyone else could do. Ronin, and Ronin alone would decide whether he lived or died. With any luck his will to live mixed with his mutant ability to heal would save his life, all he needed was time. However as the shocked group of heroes and villains sat around trying to make sense of what was happening,they where taken by surprise. A series of hand claps signaled the arrival of the opportunistic Horsemen, Famine.

"No one move if your energy even raises in the slightest  or i sense any form of movement i will kill him right here and now, as for the villains here if any of you make a move the little one will suffer a slow and painful death, if you value your own lives and of the two of whom i just spoke of you will all give in and bow before me by doing this i will make sure your lives will be spared and you can live a happy life as my father's slaves if you deny me then you feel the full extent of my wrath"

Gambler’s eyes sharpened as his lip curled up into a snarl. With his daughter still in his arms and Ronin laying at deaths door the Cajun knew what needed to be done. Handing the baby to Esther the King of Kings stepped forward………and kneeled

“We……surrender.”

Nova’s glowing eyes shifted back and forth around the crowed of people that now stood before her. All of the carried fear in their eyes and all of them were begging, pleading for her help. A smirk couldn’t help but curl upon her lips as her flames slowly died out and she placed her sword upon her right shoulder. They still haven’t figured out that she wasn’t the weak Feral Nova, they haven’t figured out that she was one of the main reasons that BILLIONS of people on this Earth have drowned to death, including people here in the united states, it use to hold 50 states, and now it was down two, Alaska and Hawaii didn’t last long when she melted the polar ice caps and the Pacific and Atlantic coast of the country weren’t looking too good as well. As she continued to hear the please and cries she began grow irritated with them she then pulled her sword away from her shoulder and held it down at her side in a firm grasp.

“Feral Nova, will you please help us?” The police offer asked. “We need help, we need to communicate with the other states.”

Nova then snarled at the man and swung her sword upward. Decapitating him in one single blow. People began to scream in horror and run in fear as they saw the man’s body squirt blood from what was left of his neck. Nova began to chuckle as she watched all of them run like mice from a cat.

“What? I thought you all wanted help!” she laughed out loud as she burst into flames and rose into the air. “Ask and you shall receive!” she yelled as she began to burn down the city. Showing no mercy and taking no prisoners. Men, women and children were heard crying as they began to burn, but oh no, not an instant burn, Nova made sure that they slowly burned to death. First their insides would start to heat up, as if they had a fever, then their skin would burn as if acid were on it. Suddenly their blood starts to boil to the point that they start throwing up liquefied organs and muscles. Slowly, then their muscles and bones would go, watching them melt from the inside out Nova X smiled as she watched the entire city burst into flames in only a matter of a few minutes. When she was done there, nothing was left, not even ashes. Nova began to laugh manically once more as she flew off to the next city, burning off crops and fields of grass in all directions, burning cities down to the ground and shooting out fire that would reach up to a hundred feet, incinerating anything in its path.

Not even hour passed as Nova already burned Kansas to the ground, nothing was left but clear grounds. Nova smiled as she then took off at the speed of light to the main Capital of the USA, Washington DC. In only a few minutes she reached the Captain were the man who ran the country was at, the President of the United States. Nova X burst into the area with no problem. Sure she could have turned everyone against each other, but what fun would that have been? Nova did what her father said, take no prisoners, show no mercy. She marched her way, blowing up anything and anyone in its path. Using her infrared eye sighting she was able to locate the president with ease, she then burst through the doors of the office were he sat, looking upon her in fear as he tried to back away as far as he could. Two agents then came in front of her with guns.

“Stop! Or We’ll shoot!” they said keeping their aim on Nova.

She only smiled as her eyes flickered with energy, the guns blew up in their hands, and into their face, sending a splash of blood upon her face and killing them instantly. Nova then walked up to the President and grabbed him by the neck, picking him up easily she slammed him upon the wall and started to tighten her grip, as she began to float up, holding him six feet from the ground. “Now… your going to be a good little President and tell me were the Nuclear bomb codes are, where the bombs are located at AND you are going to serve my father!” She hissed at him as she brought her face closer to his.

“N-no!” The man managed to get out.

“No?!” Nova laughed as she moved her head around and then gripped his neck tighter until it snapped. “Wrong choice.” She then watched as more people came in with their guns. Nova smiled as she thought to have more fun.

“Back away from the President!” One man yelled out.

Nova made a evil sly smile as she dropped the body, suddenly the President stood back up, dusting himself off and began to walk up towards the men then patted them on the shoulder. Nova then took a deep breath and slowly let it out.

“Men, I need you to bring me the codes for the nuclear missiles.” The President said. Nova’s powers to be able to control all forms of heat were extended. She was now able to control human beings even after dead AND use the warm air in their lungs to make them speak.

The men looked at each other with confusion as they simply lowered their guns and took off to get it. Nova walked up to the president and smiled as she patted him on the shoulder. “Nice my pet.” She said as she ran her fingers through his hair and then ran it down the side of his face. “I think… I will call you Bob.” She laughed evilly. When the men came back they handed the president the codes who handed them to Nova. With a smile upon her face she leaned over and kissed him upon his cheek, injecting heat into his head it exploded on sight. The other men yelled out in fear as they began to shoot at her, the bullets exploding before reaching her. She then made a smirk as she waved her hands across, causing the guns to once more blow up in their faces.

With a laugh she then burst through the roof of the building and flew high above it, she then sent down a massive wave of fire, a fire that cannot be put out by water or man-made chemicals. She floated there for a while as she watched the area burn to the ground, people yelling and running in fear, which was like music to her ears. An idea then formed in her mind, she began to yell in anger as her flames began to dance wildly around her. Then forty eight fire clones emerged from her body, each of them looking just like her, only not as strong as she was. They all floated around her in a line as if they were her soldiers and she was their commander. She then floated a little bit higher than them and began to yell.

“GO OUT AND RAIN YOUR FIRE UPON THIS LAND! EACH OF YOU TAKE A STATE AND BURN IT TO THE GROUND! SHOW NO MERCY! TAKE NO PRISONERS! SHOW THEM THE TRUE POWER OF OUR FATHER!” She yelled out as the clones roared out and then shot out and throughout the US. As they scattered Nova took off in another direction over to Arlington, Virginia where the Pentagon was at.

In a blazing white flash Nova crashed into the building, breaking down the wall in an instant. People started to run and panic all over the place.

“Terrorist!” One man yelled out as he ran past Nova. She didn’t even look back at him as she snapped her fingers, causing the man to drop dead in his tracks, sucking his body heat from him. She continued to walk as she then came up to an older woman who was looking at her in horror. Nova lowered her flames as she smiled sinisterly at her. “Where is the Nuclear panel?” She asked with her sinister smile still upon her face. “I-I wont tell you!” The woman yelled out. Nova sighed as she threw her out the window from the fourth story. “What is it with you people?” She said as she grabbed another person. “TELL ME WHERE THE CONTROL PANEL IS AT FOR YOUR NUCLEAR MISSLES OR I WILL BURN YOU UNTIL THERE IS NOTHING LEFT OF YOU!”

“O-Ok!” The man yelled out as he lead her the way, the control center, it was large and filled with screens and monitors.

“Thank you.” She said not looking back at him.

“S-so I can go?”

“You have three seconds.” She said with a smile. “One…” The man began to run. “Two…” He opened the door and began to run down the hall. “Three!” With a flicker of light from her eyes the man blew up right in the middle of the hall, his guts and blood splattered everywhere as Nova laughed and started to enter some coordinates. When she was done she looked over at a red button and lifted the tap. She looked down at the glowing red button, it was so… round… so… red and glowy. Nova sat there for a moment, hearing the people scream and pray out to their God for help. She knew that they were praying for nothing, no one could hear them, their prayers fell upon deft ears. It was time… for the fall of man. “Rain my fire upon the land, show no mercy, take no prisoners.” She repeated as she pressed the button. Just then four missiles left their sights, two from Delaware, two from Mississippi. All four made their way to Canada, neighbor to the state while two came from Arizona, shooting its way towards what was left of Mexico.

Nova laughed as she got up and walked out of the room, she began to destroy everything around her, raining her fire upon the land, showing no mercy and taking no prisoners.

San Diego, California the one place The Fastest Man Alive could go for a moments peace. Zoom had been off the radar for a while, mostly due to his evolving powers. He had little to no communications with his team members.  Zoom had spent the last two weeks in complete isolation, trying to hone his Time manipulation powers. In the golden speedster's last encounter with the scarlet racer known as The Flash. He accidentally rewinds the time steam a split second, and observed The Flash repeating the same attack. In the moment of shock and disorientation, The Flash had gotten the upper hand forcing Zoom to retreat.

Zoom retreated to his rundown RV just on the outskirts of San Diego county. This new ability could be most useful to him in battle, so it had to be master. With minimal sleep and food, Zoom tried to focus his mind and tap into the power again. Two weeks for the Fastest Man seems like to two years, having to sit still and focus. Looking at the second hand on the Mickey Mouse clock hanging on the wall, he could stop it or move it back 2.9 seconds. But after... the strain left him a little drained of energy, this was gonna be a trick that he would only be able to use a few times in a fight.  

"WHHAATTT THHHEE FFF#*&KKK!!!!!! ONLY THREE SECCCONDS...." Zoom shouts out as he throws his limited edition Batman glass at the wall, shattering it.

"OH SH!T" Zoom focus' his mind. The space and time aura around Zoom begins to ripple and wave. (kinda like when u throw a rock into a lake or puddle) The Limited Edition glass reforms itself and zips back off the floor, to the wall, and stops in mid air. Zoom smirks

"Hmph, THATTT GLASS COSST ME $40 Bucks on EBay." right then the The golden speedster's power faded and the glass started to return to motion, headed at the wall.

'DAMN" Zoom moves at the speed of thought in front of the wall catching the glass. Glancing over at his 42" HD Flat screen TV (that took up most of the back of the RVs wall)

On CNN, Crisis in the east....thousands in Asia found dead, armies being slaughtered by an unknown skilled warrior. North Korea has launches a Nuke....

"Whoa, looks like sh!t's really hitting the fan. Good luck heroes." Zoom walks over to flop down on his lazy boy. Random photos of the warrior is flash on the screen from cell phones and home cameras. A clear shot of the man is shown.

"Morte?!?! What the hell are u doing?" Zoom says as his eyes begin to glow red. Zoom wonders to himself , what the hell has been going on these last couple of weeks.

The fastest man alive grabs his com link...

"Gambler, Morte, Babs...ANYYYBODDY!!! Damn it, can't i ever just have some me time?!"  Zoom switches into costume, and heads out the door.

"Well, guess I'll have to ask Morte." Zoom spits and then turns to activate the alarm on the RVs.

Within seconds a yellow steam stretching from San Diego across the Pacific, into Asia.

Heads into Ulaanbaatar... Zoom stops, standing on top of a destroyed hummer with his arms crossed.

"Hey Morte, looks like you didn't actually finish that anger management class Gambler was talking about huh."

Everything seemed to happen at a phenominal speed, The kind of speed you can almost only read about. Apocalypse had risen from his grave and kidnapped one member from each team. The Mobb, The LaS, WAL and even the newly formed ZS suffered the same fate. He chose them, twisted their minds and made the Four Horsemen. Perhaps the most lethal of them was Acer, The horsemen of Famine who single handedly seiged control of France. A mob of angry frenchmen and women at his command stormed the gates of the LaS, Taking the skill of both Arrow and Ronin to hold them at bay. After a long gruesome fight, Ronin utilizing his ability to "Blink" people from place to place, was able to not only get his own team to safety but also save the lives of the assassins.

Blinking back and forth, took a toll on his body, his chest and legs littered with bullets, his arms and hands encrusted with hot lead. Finally blinking back to the warehouse once everyone was in place, His body strung out on the floor like a rag doll. His healing factor kicked into overdrive just to keep blood flowing.

All it took was a few hand gestures and Acer, The Horsemen of famine had arrived.......and he began to speak...

"No one move if your energy even raises in the slightest  or i sense any form of movement i will kill him right here and now, as for the villains here if any of you make a move the little one will suffer a slow and painful death, if you value your own lives and of the two of whom i just spoke of you will all give in and bow before me by doing this i will make sure your lives will be spared and you can live a happy life as my father's slaves if you deny me then you feel the full extent of my wrath"

A whole continent was burning. Cities had been razed. Millions had been slaughtered. Her Infinites had marched through the wounded bleeeding country and done their work. Crosses lined the streets, soldiers that tried to defend themselves, some of them being not older than 13 years or even younger. They were her testimony to the new age that had dawned. Their screams while they died rose to the sky and merged to a crescendo of pain and suffering.

WAR herself was in the old presidential building of Sierra Leone. It was one of the smallest countries of the black continent but one with an unbelievable story of violence and killing. Decades of war had ground that country down, there were even times when the militias roaming the country had killed or crippled or killed over half of the population.This times were over now. They had called for war and WAR had come. She had brought peace to the violence-cursed country of Sierra Leone once more. From this temple of cruelty, the place the militias had fought for, she would rule to set a signal for the upcoming age. The Age Of Apocalypse. And she would start with a big sign. One that made an impression. One that would make clear what her agenda was.

WAR had seen the actions of the other horsemen and thought them to be good examples. She would show the worl the apathy it had sunken in. How could things like the massacres in Sierra Leone go unnoticed by the world at large? No, even worse, noticed but not cared about? She would change all that.

She turned around from the window that showed her her burning empire. Flames leaked several feet into the sky fed from tar pits in the barren dead land and mass graves erected for the glory of Apocalypse. Each of those graves was filled with militia members and other killers that had plagued the country for so long. Rapists and other scum. So at least their miserable life served some purpose. Her blood red cape that she had taken on recently waved around her armour as she turned around and walked down the corridor. Her two personal guards, special specimen of the Inifinites that made up her amry, escorted her to her destination, the roof of the building.

Up there the air was filled with the stench of burning flesh and tar, a smell that reminded of hell itself. And hell this continent would be for every one that thought he could wreck terror and pain on another.One special of those creatures stood upon the roof in heavy chains curiously watched by TV cameras that send his image all over the world. His eyes gleamed with hate and disgust for the one who had slaughtered his comrades. He was a member of a militia that had the  bad luck to run into WAR herself. She had slaughtered  all of them but him. For him she had special plans. The red eyes of the cameras focussed on hima she saw his nemesis enter the circle of honour that was prepared for them. WAR showed him nothing more than a simple defying smile which enraged him only further. WAR felt this aggression and it strengthened her. Her bodyguards remained at the entry and took her axe and her cape. Proudly striding over to him WAR stopped shorrt infront of him, speaking more to the cameras than to her opponent:

"You are a killer of many. I saw your file. You did not only kill, you also tortured. You raped dozenns of women. but that's not nearly everything. You cut the breasts from three mothers that still had suckling babies. Once you even fed the innards of a three years old to his own father. Those are only some of your crimes. The whole list would need days. And you are only 17... Is there anything that you  can bring forth to defend you?"

The eyes of the young man just shot further glances of hate towards her.

"Well, I'll give you one more chance. Fight against me. If you  wiin, kill me too, rape me before this if you want. Feed my own entrails to me. I don't care. If you win this will be over. No one will be killed by my soldiers any more, all captives will be set free. I killed two third of the soldiers defending this continent and captured the other third. These are still minions. and they are all like you. Bestial killers in my eyes. You are the only one given a chance. When you loose I will go on. Do your best."

With a simple motion of her finger she released him from the chains and stood before him, looking him right in the eyes.

"What's up`? I'm only a woman. You killed hundreds like me. Can't do that? I'll make it easier for you."

That being said she turned her back on him. The man grit his teeth about the pure arrogance that this woman dared to show him. He was a warrior, a soldier, a brave man that  fought for his country with no regard for who it was that he killed. In his eyes. In WAR's he was just an animal. And he knew that. Anger rose up in him. Blood flowed from his mouth as he bit his lips. The trickle made its way down his face until it dropped from his chin to the ground. He knew he was the only chance. He had to do it. And took a decision. With a feral scream he stormed upon WAR to smash her head with his fists in one single mighty strike. And he seemed to succeed. His fists were only inches away from her skull but then...

WAR stepped aside one single step. The force of the attack still carried him forwars when WAR grabbed his head. A single tug was enough to bring his head back beyond everything that nature had planned. His neck broke, killing him instantly with a surprised expression on his face. But WAR did not stop  there. One more twist and the head was severed from the muscles and veins connecting it to the body bringing forth a huge gush of blood that sprayed upon her guards of honour. She turned the head around to her, kissing the dead on the mouth before she threw it to the barren wastelands that made up her new kingdom below. With the same smile onn her face that she had shown the man when she entered she turned around to the cameras that had filmed the whole fight.

"You have seen what I did to him and he was lucky. Anyonne that wants to stop me is invited to do so. If he CAN do it. Nations and heroes alike, hear my words: If this scum is really worth your attention stop me. STOP ME IF YOU DARE! If you do nothing I see that I work with your appreciation. Those are cold blooded killers and I will punish them accordingly. They will experience all the pain that they have brought upon others. Each hour I will kill one more. In one hour two will die. In two hours three will die. And so it will go on until none of them is left. I will not allow them to go on as they did. If you want to bring back the old circumstances to Africa...

I await you in Sierra Leone's capital!!!"

With her last words she destroyed the cameras sending only white snow to the billions of people all over the world clinging frightfully to their TVs

“Solider get up and prepare to transport, this is war no time to blame anyone just move your ass.”

He surrendered Arrows eyes blazed as his mind ran over all the tactical choice if they fought him he would kill the child no doubt about that, But Arrow had no power levels and his heart beat was easy enough to keep track of . But as he ran over the plans of attack someone would die each time he looked at the surrounding and a new idea popped in his head it was replaced with the fact that one of them would surely be killed in the madness and worst case it would be the only daughter of his old friend. Walking alongside the Cajun he put a hand on his shoulder and he to dropped to one knee and bowed his head to Acer. Whispering to Gambler Arrow smiled “look at you getting your knees all dirty”. He winked and looked at Acer.

“I am Last Arrow I give you my full surrender as do the Zeroes there is no need to harm the child in return I ask for my injured to be tended to.”

Arrow said no more and looked at the gravel on the warehouse floor. His hand leaving the Cajuns shoulder he placed it on the ground his anger growing at having to bow before another he had only done it once and that was to his brother that day he swore never again, The gravel in the palm of his hand began to draw blood, But he kept his heart rate steady so he would not endanger the members of Zeros or the little girl , So many thoughts of his own family ran in his head. He remember his son playing in the yard and him and Gambler enjoying a beer after placing Magneto behind bars once again. Joking about how the Cajun would be the last of the NAO to get Married and have a child. That much was almost true the Nao where running short nowa days many had been killed in the never ending battle that they always fought. Gambler was once again on the other side of the fence but he had a family and Arrow was happy for his old friend. For a moment he forgot where he was once again and remembered his own time as a father the joy of holding his new born daughter in his arms.

Then it hit him like a hammer from Thor himself  remembering the burning smell as if it was in the air in front of him, The orange flames taking over the house as Gambler and Paragon struggled to hold him back, He listed to his wife scream and his son cry for his father. He watched as the police stood at the side helpless against the magical blaze in front of them, How he wanted the earth to sallow him hole as his stomach tore dragging his heart down into the deepest depths of his body, No matter how he tried the tears still found away free as a single droplet bounced into the gravel below. Taking a breath he vowed on the blood in his hand that no matter what the child would be safe he would kill anyone that dared hurt her. Turning his head to Gambler his eyes bloodshot from the pain of his memories he looked at the side of the Cajuns face.

“I swear it” and then looking at babs and the child “As long as I live I swear it”.

He did not know what lay ahead of them now that they had surrendered but he knew what his heart was telling him.

They say that when a butterfly flaps its wings a small gust of air will be created, to small to be noticed by any form of life, to small to have any effect on the world but when that tiny puff of air travels around the world a cyclone of destruction is created, as something once so small becomes something so big. Acer was once nothing more than a small breeze, someone who no one showed the him the respect he deserved always being pushed back when others would take all the glory. Now standing there he was a force of nature, single handedly he had brought France to its knees and unleashed there animals upon the world, he had forced some of the greatest heroes and villains to retreat and now standing there he held all the cards, he was the dealer and in his game dealer always wins.

Tension and fear was all that filled the room as he had left the lives of two in the lives of many, one wrong move, a twitch of movement a raise in energy levels was all it would take before they were down by two. Standing over the downed heroes body Famine looked around silent filled the air, father held his baby in arms, the young hero kneeled at Ronin's side looking up at Famine, her eyes glared at him he could kill her there and then but having her alive and be his slave was so much more fun. Her face blotched in blood of others. She was young Famine could see it in her eyes sense it in her energy and this was confirmed whe her eyes shifted around the room looking to see any others movements perhaps she needed to be reasured by others.

Famine then switched his gaze upon just one man Gambler as he seemed angry at the even taking place, the cajun's eyes sharpened as his lip curled showing a snarl to the man who just a few moments ago had threatened his daughter with a slow painful death. Famine could only what made Gambler snarl at him, was it being faced with a power greater than himself was it having too work with heroes to take down a power more sinister and clever than the cajun could ever hope to be or was it the love for his daughter for his family that made him so angry. Then it happened the one moment many would have thought they would never seen as Gambler moved over to his wife and handed her the peaceful child. Then Gambler kneeled before Famine as he spoke the two words that sent shiver of pleasure up Famine's spine “We……surrender.” Smiling Famine looked down at the bowed cajun, once a small time hero had now become a force of nature and he had a king on his knees.

Now with the king of kings having surrendered it was down to the others to follow suit, would they follow the lead of a king and bow down or would pride kick in and force them to do something stupid and cost them there live. The sound of the cane hitting the floor was music to his ears as it signalled the next man to fall to his knees as Drifter like a good dog followed his king and dropped to the ground at Famine's feet. The man took a long deep breath before speaking out "I will stand by Gambler to the end, and if thats means standing by him in times of surrender, Then so be it". Famine should have known Drifter would be the first to fall once Gambler did and now two were down how would the other people react. A energy change made Famine turn his attentions upon a villain he had not seen before but he seemed to have something on his mind would this be the man to have pride take over and kill them all. 

The man spoke out in a challenging defiant tone, so this was the man who may have killed the downed hero and the baby held by her mother. Famine looked at the man and just smiled before his eyes shifted towards the child, his head bowed as his eyes became dark and sinister and then his skin became darker he was going to take the life of the child away and show the others he would show no mercy. As he was about to do this his attention turned to a legend came fourth walking by the cajun's side and placing his hand on Gamblers shoulder before dropping to his knees and bowing before Famine.

“I am Last Arrow I give you my full surrender as do the Zeroes there is no need to harm the child in return I ask for my injured to be tended to.”

The flames burned through the mansion. 400 Years of family tradition wasted in a single evening. Esther wandered to the balcony and looked down at the mob of people swarming below. It seemed as though in only a matter of moments the King and Queen of evil had been single handedly manipulated. The government turned against them by a force that manipulated the people. Her world was crashing down before her and she knew it, she felt it, and it pained her. Years of struggle and success seemed to flash before her, all of the work her ancestors had expounded seemed to vanish with the blink of an eye.

Why?

This was the only thought in her mind. With her sword at her at her side she could feel the pressure mounting deep within her throat. She couldn't tell if it was the heavy smoke in the air or the one hundred different emotions racing through her mind and body. Esther's spirit felt broken. This was the home she grew up in, the place she lived, her playground long before it became her castle and her hideaway. As the smoke grew darker it swirled and blended up into the air, the flames rose higher and the people below traversed through the moat and over the water bending and climbing over the high black gates. She wanted so badly to turn her head, to snap her fingers, to shake it off and wake up  from this nightmare. This was the end. The end of her family's long lasting legacy and tradition. The end of her and the end of her honor, her pride. She could feel her knees grow weak in anguish. She felt crippled and shaken, as they gave way and seeimingly in slow motion, she fell to the ground. Sword at her side, she gripped the bar's of the balcony's railings and held them tight until the whites of her knuckles could be seen. She opened her mouth to speak but nothing came out, just a soft whimper of aggression. She was lost. Her eyes swelled with tears, bloodshot and itchy as she finally allowed her head to sink to her chest.

The room was hollow with the emptiness of her thoughts. It was vacant, but not physically so. Esther did not know what was happening, her mind lost in a trance, and in a wonder undeniably a result of the shock. Jean stood with the child, cradling little Angelique in his arms, wrapping her close to him in a soft yellow blanket. So long as his baby girl was safe, the Cajun could focus.

It sounded like it came from miles away.

“Solider get up and prepare to transport, this is war no time to blame anyone just move your ass.”

“The plan has changed Gambler and Babs will leave first with the child take the Las as well but protect the child this is no world for her to be in just now we will hold the line until im sure the child is fine and then come back for us Ronin move”.

Esther lifted herself up after she heard her name coming from behind her. It was faint and distant and it seemed to awaken her thoughts for a moment. Yet her stare remained on the people below. Her people. Without realizing it, Esther had traveled through a portal thanks to Ronin and the Zero Squad who could have easily left the villains to die, but didn't. She watched as the leader of the band of hero's fell to the ground mentally and physically exhausted. She could see in his eyes that the energy from teleporting and the injuries he had sustained from the battle at Les Assassins mansion had taken a deep and heavy toll on him. He was looking death square in the eye.


“Help him, he’s helped you!” she yelled at the Cajun and his wife.

"No one move if your energy even raises in the slightest  or i sense any form of movement i will kill him right here and now, as for the villains here if any of you make a move the little one will suffer a slow and painful death, if you value your own lives and of the two of whom i just spoke of you will all give in and bow before me by doing this i will make sure your lives will be spared and you can live a happy life as my father's slaves if you deny me then you feel the full extent of my wrath"


Slaves. The thought stuck in her mind and she was speechless. She watched as her beloved husband grimaced in discontent, and handing little Angelique to Esther, his knees caved before Moonshayde . How? The King of Kings, the Master of Manipulation, the Fearless leader bowed to no one, not to God nevermind another man. This was the man that looked death in the eye squarely and laughed. Not only did he dance with the devil, but he fought him and won. No way would he get on his knees and bow to a mere nameless woman for mercy and for his life.

"We...Surrender" his voice rang out above a whisper. Esther's eyes narrowed on his face. He was pained. The King of Kings had given up and now, now she would be forced to do the same. In one evening, she had managed to lose almost all of which she held dear. There was something in his eye though, a gleam of hope perhaps. This was not of his character; it was not like Gambler to give up and bow down to another individual. Holding the child in her arms Esther unsheathed her sword with her right hand, pierced it into the warehouse floorboards, and fell to her right knee, bowing her head ever so slightly.

She did not say a word.

  One by one members of both teams kneeled down before the Horsemen Famine. In Gambler’s mind there was no other way. To some it may have appeared to be weakness, or that the Cajun no longer had what it took to lead. But none of that mattered at the moment. For the self proclaimed King of Kings had a plan. Sure they could have confronted Famine, and maybe even won. And then what, they would still be no closer to stopping Apocalypse and the Armageddon he had spread across the world.

Famine had the look of a conquering king plastered across his face as he began to open several energy platforms. Zero Squad helped lift the broken body of Ronin onto one of the platforms as the LaS followed closely behind. The energy flowing through the platforms also worked as dampener making sure that no one would be able to use their powers. Quickly the prisoners where shuttled off and before they knew it they found themselves floating over the vast deserts in Egypt, before arriving inside the ancient Pyramid of Apocalypse.

Normal humans had been turned into slaves. Loyal acolytes to the false god Apocalypse. Hero and Villain alike where taken away to a massive holding area deep inside the Pyramid. Hieroglyphs older then the dawn of time lined the walls as a rhythmic beat of air flowed through its chambers.BatgirlBabs held her daughter tight as the puzzled look on her face grew.

“What is that? Some sort of ventilation system?”

Gambler didn’t turn around to face his wife as he answered,

“No chere, its breathing”

Indeed the massive Pyramid seemed to have a life of its own. There was no denying it, Apocalypse was more powerful then anything on the planet. As the two teams where ushered inside their cell Gambler immediately took notice. There was no sign of Kurrent or Mobb Deep. Had they been dead  the entire world would  already be destroyed, and had they been captured no doubt they would be sharing the same cell. There was still hope. After the acolytes slammed the steal bar door shut and left, the Cajun turned to Last Arrow and nodded. They had been in several situations similar to this and everytime they had managed to escape. There hadn’t been a prison yet that could keep these two from escaping.

Arrow began to survey every inch of the cell. Every corner, every wall. His mind rapidly sifting through countless scenarios and tactical advantages. Meanwhile Gambler began to rotate his jaw, almost as if he had a cramp. Shortly after he produced a small silver like object clenched between his teeth. Without hesitation he reached through the bars and began working on the lock. The stage was being set for the final showdown. Now all the teams where in place and preparing for what could be their last stand. But one thing was for sure, the combined forces of Mobb Deep, Zero Squad, and the Les Assassins Silencieux wouldn’t go down without taking Apoc and his Horsemen with them.

It was already difficult to track the mysterious person who had created the sandstorm, so Alpha Guard got rather frustrated when he or she seemed to just disappear. The Guardian of Good couldn't even use the sonar device he had created to track the mysterious being, as the waves seemed to go right through the person, if they were still there. OK Alpha, back to the drawing board. There's no way for me to track him, but maybe I can figure out where he's headed. Yeah right, and how are you supposed to do that? This isn't some kinda detective movie, think. Well, if I can't track that guy, maybe I can find Acer. He's come into contact with my creations before, so he should have faint traces of Alpha Energy on him. All I have to do is locate those traces, and bingo! Who knows, that sandstorm guy and Acer could be the same person. Risky got new powers,  why not Acer?

After a short search, The Guardian of Good managed to locate Acer. The next second he was headed to France, cloaked in an invisibility shield. He didn't want Acer to know he was there until he was ready.

When Alpha Guard arrived, he found a sight he never expected he would see. Gambler, and much of his new team kneeling before Acer. Wow, Alpha guard whispered to himself. What did I miss? But the answer was obvious. Acer had been turned evil, and had defeated Gambler and his team, as well as, from what Alpha could see, the Zero Squad. As the Guardian of Good watched, Acer conjured up platforms of energy, which he then commanded the fallen super beings to step onto, saying that they would teleport them to his father and their new master, the true Apocalypse.

That got Alpha Guard's attention. If he was right, then the pyramid he had just been near was the base for Acer's "father." If they were heading there, and Acer's father was there, then his teammates were in incredible danger, in addition to the fact that some of his fellow members could have been corrupted by Risky's power and were now fighting against their former allies. The Guardian of Good reached towards his comm link to radio a message to his teammates, to warn them of the danger they were now likely in, but stopped himself. If he radioed a message, he would likely be heard by Acer, and if Acer knew he was there, he would probably attack Alpha. And Alpha Guard was sure the odds of winning a battle against Acer in his new form without backup were very slim. He couldn't take that chance. So after Acer had gone, and there was no one there to hear him, Alpha Guard radioed his teammates.

Alpha to Mobb, Alpha to Mobb. I'm pretty sure Acer is headed your way, and bringing, er, company. Problem is, now Acer's like Risky, so don't hesitate to take him out. And trust me, don't go into the pyramid alone, if you go in, go in packing plenty of power. Radio me if you need my help, but if I'm right, Risky and Acer have some siblings that I'm gonna try to take out. Stay low, don't act on impulse. I'm not sure what we're dealing with, but it's big. Real big. Alpha, over and out.

Alpha Guard regretted that he couldn't give his teammates more, but he had work to do. The Guardian of Good figured that Morte and Feral Nova had been corrupted too, well Feral Nova at least, and he had to stop them, not to mention the fact that Risky was still on the lose doing who knows what. Alpha Guard just had to figure out who was the biggest threat, then hunt them down. And at the same time, hope for lots of good luck.

It was all too much to take in. All the destruction that had been caused. All the deaths that had occurred.  The  Guardian of Good couldn't be everywhere at once, but he couldn't help blaming himself in part for what had happened. He couldn't have prevented much of the chaos, but hadn't.  Alpha Guard was doing what he could to help, forming air canopies over the submerged countries to make sure any citizens left could breathe, and trying to separate the warring groups in places that had been driven into utter insanity and chaos, and attempting to keep the fires across the U.S. under control as well as helping burnt victims recover.

But the scale of destruction was so massive, there was little Alpha Guard could do to stop it. If he was older and stronger, he probably could have managed the tasks. But the Guardian of Good had yet to reach that level of power, if he ever would at all. All he could do was try to help out where he could, and hope that the heroes, and who knows, maybe the villains, could stop whatever was creating the destruction, then focus on helping the world recover from it's effects.

The Guardian of Good was about to set off and try to stop either Nova, Morte, Acer, or Risky, when he felt something fly right by him at fantastic speed. Alpha Guard was thrown back a few feet by the winds, and braced himself for an attack, but saw it was only Supertrooper. Alpha remained on guard, not sure what he was expecting Trooper to say or do, but what he did say certainly wasn't it. Alpha, you don't know how hard it is for me to say this but... I need your help.

Judging by these words, Alpha Guard could guess that Supertrooper wasn't much of a team player, so he could understand how hard it was for him. Especially considering Risky's last attack on the heroes. Such an attack must have brought that need to do everything by himself to the surface, only making admitting to needing help even harder. So Alpha Guard decided to listen to what Supertrooper needed of him, and hope that he could fill the need.

Supertrooper's plan seemed simple enough, but it was still on a global scale. A task that neither hero could accomplish alone. But between the two of them, they had the powers and skills to fit the profile.

First, Supertrooper and Alpha Guard would move the Earth and Moon in the right alignment with each other and the sun to make it high tide. Then the two crusaders would shift the rotation of the Earth, sending huge amounts of water to the west, and all that water would put out the fires across the U.S., though Alpha Guard would first surround anything that would be harmed by so much water with an aura that would act as a force field, thus making sure the water wouldn't do more harm then good. As for any countries that would be put further underwater by the sudden flood, Supertrooper would raise them back up while Alpha Guard filled in the empty space this would create with matter created by his Alpha Energy.

Soon, all these tasks were accomplished, and most of the Earth was back in order. Of course, the job was not yet done. They still had to stop whoever had caused the disasters in the first place, but the Guardian of Good was in no condition to fight. A chore such as the one he had just performed put a lot of strain of Alpha Guard, and he needed time to recover. It would take hours, maybe a day or more, before he was back to full strength, but Alpha was well aware that he couldn't wait that long. He just had to use what strength he had left to its fullest, and trust in his teammates to have his back.
 

A plead for a fallen comrade was made, and so it was allowed. Like Sheep into a slaughterhouse, one by one, hero and villain alike were led astray into one of the many portals. One foot the another racing through his mind as he stepped foot into a prison cell of epic porportions. The walls lowered and raised slowly like a chest, the walls breathed in and out........Yes, The prison cell was alive, His shoulders rotated backward as he cracked his knuckles, his suit ruffled and his gloves wrinkled but this did'nt stop him. Reaching into his breast pocket, he drew a small cellphone.....

Furiously typing in key sequences like the hacker he truly was. Standing far back from his team-mates and the hero's he continued the keystrokes, barely lifting his head every second or so to see how the King of Kings was coming along with that lock. "Hold on, I'm trying to hack their security systems" but before he could finish the aforementioned sentence, The lights flickered and died, the bulbs shot by the excellence of Archery Last Arrow. Adding insult to injury, the cellphone's battery died out, as the screen went black, a few obscenities brushed past the magician's lips. Stuffing the phone back into his pocket, he began waving his hand to cut the smoke pertruding from Arrow's mouth.


"Bad for your lungs you know...." He chuckled in an attempt to lighten the mood.

Slowly, he took back to the end of the room, crossing his boots as he leaned against the wall.

Apocalypse Now: The Future

through amazing alien technology apocalypse stands at his massive computers watching four screens. the pale faced monster was able to watch the destruction through the eyes of his four horsemen. a smile rose over apocalypse's face as he watched one by one as every great nation fell at the feet of the four greatest living monsters man has ever witnessed. each horsemen did their job to the best of their powers taking down every major city in a matter of hours. acer now had full control over france and with his control he sent each member of the ZS and the LAS on the run and little did acer or any member of the LAS or the Z team know but their fates were written on the walls of the giant pyramid. En Sabah Nur had told only one horsemen of the child in which he lusted for for. this child would have the power to manipulate reality to his likings. As apocalypse watched Acer confront the Z team and the LAS he smiled. intentionally the pale faced monster had left a touch of humanity within acer knowing that the former hero would never be able to murder a innocent child. His plans were perfect as he watched the king of kings fall to the ground landing on his knee's surrendering. within moments each member of both team had givin in and surrendered to the horsemen.

Hours later Acer arrived at the alien pyramid locking up each and every member of the LAS and the Z team. now with the child just merely a hallway away apocalypse would be able to rule the world. Slowly the monster began to walk down the hallway a devilish smile across his face. the hallways were long and narrow but this held nothing to the monster apocalypse his happiness lay only a few feet away from him within the arms of a mother. quickly apocalypse turned the corners his boots could be heard throughout the hallway as he made his way to the cell. He knew the king of kings wouldnt truly surrender but he didnt know that the cajun would already be at work attempting to free his team members. Just a few feet away now apocalypse watched as the cell door flung open and the cajun made his exit turning around to face the monster known as apocalypse. the look on the cajun could only be explained as fear as the massive monster now stood infront of him. A devilsh smirk crossed apocalpyse's face as he raised his arm up and infront of him extending his arm outwards attempting to wrap his hands around the throat of the daring cajun. just before his fingers wrapped around the throat of the cajun the king of kings slowly began to fade away as if he was a ghost. like a light drawing dim the cajun vanished and apcalypses fingers grasped nothing but the air.


suddenly time began to warp as the surrounding began to change. something had happened in the past drastically changing the future making way for a new era. little did the young cajun florian know that the fate of apocalypse weather he had the child or not was to rule the world. with the young daughter of gambler out of the way apocalypse should never have risen. but with the worlds most powerful villain out of the way it left the chair wide open allowing apocalpyse to once again take his rise to power.

ALTERNATE REALITY

Egypt has now become the capital of the world as apocalypse and his four horsemen sit on their own thrones across the planet. Apocalypse sits on his thrown as king in cairo as feral nova rules the unted states and Acer over europe and morte of Asia and risky the princess over africa and the ruler of australia. concentration camps have sprouted up across the world taking in every human being making them slaves for building temples and mining and what not. mutants have continued to be hunted down in fear of an uprising and some dumbass wanting to play hero. very few apose apocalypse the real ruler of the world. every time traveler across the planet earth has been hunted down and forced to become either En Sabah Nur's own fortune teller or the dirt below his boots.