Chapter 12 Resolution

Disclaimer: It all belongs to Marvel, except Krull, which belongs to Columbia-Tristar

Apocalypse had apparently taken up residence in Mexico. That was all that was known. He protected any information from getting out by means of a glowing blue and black spherical shield. Two weeks since his release, and as of yet he had tried nothing.

Graydon Creed was enjoying his new-found friends in the F.O.H. They had the attitudes that humans needed if they were going to stop the mutant takeover. And two new members were being initiated with him this very day!

"What's your name?" he whispered.

"It's Parker. Peter Parker." Parker hoped to God that they wouldn't see his mini-camera. Moreover, he hoped that they wouldn't find out his two secrets. First, that he was Spider-Man. If they hated mutants, he doubted that they had a soft spot for normal humans who received superpowers after they were born. Second, he hoped that they wouldn't discover that he was a free-lance photographer, who had decided to try to do this "the old-fashioned way."

Another new recruit was waiting as well. Parker noticed the man and thought that he recognized him. The man was in disguise, but...

Jameson? thought Parker. But he can't be... he's a civil-rights fighter. Oh, hell... No wonder he was in disguise, realized Peter. He was doing the same thing Peter was! If it hadn't been for his Spider-Sense, Peter might have fooled, but he knew who it was! Jameson noticed Parker, and his jaw dropped a little.

My star photographer is a bigot? Okay, he's not really a star, he's too secretive, but he gets the best pictures, even if no one knows about it. My best photographer is a bigot? Okay, he is free-lance, so he's not exactly mine, but... he's a bigot? Parker is a bigot?

Peter was now standing right next to J. Jonah Jameson. Realizing the thoughts Jameson must be having, Peter decided to try to give him the message that they were on the same side.

"So what's your name?" he asked.

"Charles Overton," replied Jameson.

"So I see that we had the same thought. We decided to go about this the same way. We both saw a problem, and decided to do what was necessary to expose it. To expose the menace and to bugle it out to society." He unobtrusively winked his right eye.

Jameson gulped a second. Then he realized something. Parker wasn't discussing the "mutant menace." He was doing the same thing that Jameson was doing - trying to expose these pathetic losers. Jameson smiled a little. "Stick with me kid, and we'll expose the entire menace to the whole world!"

The X-Men, Acolytes, and the Brotherhood had for now labeled themselves "The Alliance" whenever referring to each other collectively. Talia was now the equivalent of three years old, and was becoming a cute and inquisitive youngster. Mystique was healing. Life was good, although everything was haunted by the specter of Apocalypse.

Kurt was getting to know his mother, and she was making an effort to be kind to him and his daughter. Wanda was getting along all right with Magneto, and Xavier was suppressing her memories for just a little longer, until he had the control device perfected that would nullify her powers when she was told of the bad news.

Rogue was still trying to get over seeing two of copies of herself destroyed, and the idea of her being used by Apocalypse.

Gambit was introducing the newest member of the Acolytes, Slab, who would tell them everything he knew about Mr. Sinister's plans, and hopefully would provide a valuable source of information on how to stop him.

Meanwhile, Ms. Dexter and Lyssa Summers were watching as Apocalypse hooked Ruckus, Ramrod, Gorgeous George, and Hairbag up to the Eye. Each was in a large tube that had wires running out of its top into the Eye.

"The Eye should power the transformation," he explained. "If I charge it with my own energy."

"The Eye worked well enough at getting Ruckus out of jail," commented Sinister. "And everyone thinks it was aliens!"

The apparatuses whirred and whistled as they powered up.

"Shipment in today. From the Brazilian base."

"Ah, the prototypes based on information stolen from Tony Stark's labs!" cackled Sinister. The shipment came in, and after the packaging was removed, four sleek metallic horses came into view.

Twenty-eight hours later, Ruckus, Ramrod, Gorgeous, and Hairbag walked out of their tubes. But they were different now. Ruckus was eight feet tall, with red lines extending from his eyes to his chin. His eyes were black and his hair metallic. Ramrod's entire face was cloaked in a sort of darkness, and he too stood much taller. His hands were now claws, and his eyes glowed orange. Gorgeous's features had changes. He no longer had a nose, and the top of his head was bald. He still had hair on the sides, though. His hands too were like claws, and his mouth and eyes glowed red. He seemed to breath fire. Hairbag now looked less like a thug and more like a soldier. His quills were metal, and he fired one up into the ceiling where it exploded. His eyes glowed green. His canine teeth were six-inch fangs.

"It is time to test them," said Apocalypse.

The eye quickly transported Sinister, Apocalypse, and the four remaining Nasty Boys and their horses to an uninhabited rainforest in Brazil. Uninhabited by any except for a few native villages that would not be missed by the outside world for a matter of weeks. The Nasty Boys rode on their horses, which were capable of levitation and which reminded Sinister of fire mares.

"Ruckus. Destroy the rainforest in front of you."

Ruckus screamed. Trees flew out of the ground. An earthquake started. The ground opened underneath Ruckus, and if they had not been sitting on their horses all four Nasty Boys would have fallen in. When he was done, three acres of trees had been wrenched out of the soil.

"You are War. Now Ramrod, clear me another few acres. Will them to disappear."

Ramrod looked in a direction 90 degrees to the right of Ruckus. He thought for a few seconds, and then began to concentrate. The forest suddenly crumbled into dust. Not only the wood disappeared though. All vegetation suddenly turned into slime. Two and a half acres had been cleared.

"You can destroy any vegetation now by pulling apart its cellulose. Your power is over herbs as well as wood. You can destroy all of the crops in the world. You are Famine. Hairbag, there is a village in that direction." He pointed to the left. The Nasty Boys ran through the air on their horses. Apocalypse used telekinesis to move himself and Sinister through the air after them.

"Poison them."

Hairbag exhaled, and a cloud of poison gas descended on the entire village. Within seconds, every animal or person in the village was dead.

"You are Pestilence. Gorgeous, the next village is over that way."

When they got there, Apocalypse told Gorgeous, "Wipe the village out of existence."

Gorgeous George concentrated for a second, and his arms were slicked with a black substance. Then orange flame enveloped his body. He extended his hands down to the village and coated it all within seconds with a black material that turned orange as it went up in flames. In all of five seconds, the village was gone. Gorgeous drew his hands back to himself, where they regained their purple color. There was a black charred spot covering about four acres where the village had been.

"And you, George, are Death."

Sinister laughed heartily. "And you are MINE! You are no longer the Nasty Boys! You are the Four Horsemen! And you shall help me to recover the child, and to destroy those who will not except my vision!"

"You are mad," stated Apocalypse. "The Horsemen are not to be controlled like that. They are to spread chaos, for such is the way that we improve ourselves. Control is counterproductive."

Sinister laughed again. "Perhaps I should activate the virus, and you can see chaos in action?"

"No. I hear and obey." Apocalypse considered how he was going to defeat Sinister. He was stumped for now, but his time would come.

"Soon we shall attack," screamed Sinister, for once letting his joy get the better of his normally cool demeanor. "And then we can build my dream!"

FINIS