Chapter 14

Matthew Risman was used to taking orders without question. He'd taken orders from his employers as a hitman. He'd taken orders from Reverend Stryker as a Purifier, and now, ever since the accursed mutants had murdered his beloved leader, Matthew was taking his orders directly from God. He was the leader of the Purifiers now, and it was up to him to lead them in their holy crusade against the mutant abominations, just like Stryker had done.

But for once in his life, Risman was beginning to waver. He wasn't a natural leader, not like Stryker had been. The Reverend always knew what to say, always knew what to do to inspire his followers to follow God's chosen path for them. The man was divinely inspired, he just seemed to know what should be done next, and when the Day of Judgement finally came just as Stryker had said and nearly all the mutants lost their powers, all of Risman's faith was rewarded.

But it didn't last.

The Reverend had died during the attack on Xaviers school, killed by one of the demons, and Risman had taken his place, promising to continue his work. But the Purifiers had lost men and needed to rebuild, and there just seemed to be one setback after another, always something to keep them from finishing the job and stomping out the mutants forever. And then, in just one morning, it was all undone. The mutants returned, like they'd never been dealt that disastrous blow that cost the Reverend his life, they even crawled out of their graves just to further drive home the unnatural state of their existance!

And despite all reason, it was the work of one man.

No, not a man. A demon. The Devil himself, come to Earth at last to lead his hordes and wipe the world clean of God's humanity. And Matthew was afraid, because strong his faith might be, but he wasn't the Reverend, he would have been able to stand up to even this beast with no hesitation. But Matthew needed more than just the Purifiers at his back.

That's why he had accepted the invitation. That's why he was sitting at this metal table, in a disused bunker in the middle of nowhere. In the hopes of gaining allies to fight back against the mutant anti-christ that was threatening all of creation. He looked around the table, observing the meager collection of allegedly like-minded, which didn't fill him with much confidence.

Opposite him sat the oldest man Risman had ever seen in his life, his ancient face almost hidden by thick glasses and a white, bushy beard. Next to him sat a bizarre figure dressed in what appeared to be some sort of armor of a type Risman had never seen before, a rather bulky design with a helmet that for some inexplicable reason had been designed to look like a smiley face. Risman was no stranger to armor, the Purifiers had to cover themselves to be able to stand against the mutants and their unholy powers, but this armor just looked outdated.

The fourth man seated at the table, however, was the one who caught Rismans eye the most. He was younger than the rest, though Risman had no idea how old the man in the armor was, and dressed in an impeccable business suit and a pair of stylish glasses. However, it was his face that really drew attention. The man had a horrific scar across his face, like he had been mauled by a mad animal, and his eyes... Risman had seen that look many times in his old life. That was the look of a killer.

"Gentlemen" a smooth voice drew Risman out of his thoughts as a fifth man stepped out of the darkness of the room. A man with neatly cropped dark hair, dressed in a buttoned labcoat and carrying a metal cooler under one arm walked up to the table and placed the container in front of them. "I'm so glad you all decided to accept my invitation. You can probably guess why I've gathered you all here."

"Well, this is one of our old facilities so I just assumed it was a Weapon X reunion" the scarred man said, his voice dripping with sarcasm "though I don't remember ever working with the smiling robot or churchboy over there."

"Mr Colcord, please, sarcasm is unbecoming of you" the man said before turning to the table at large "for those of you who aren't already aquinted, this is Malcolm Colcord and Dr Abraham Cornelius, formerly of the illustrious Weapon X program" he indicated towards the scarred man and the old scientist "the armored man is a representative of the anti-mutant militia The Right who would prefer to remain nameless, and finally..." he nodded to Risman "this is Matthew Risman, leader of The Purifiers." Before anyone could ask any questions, he kept going "As you all know, the mutant problem which we've all dedicated ourselves to eradicating seemed for a brief moment like it was almost solved, only for victory to be snatched out of our grasp at the finish line. Whereas before there were roughly 200 mutants remaining, and no new ones being born, their numbers have had such a massive resurgence that even pre-M Day records are no longer precise. This disastrous turn of events is the work of one individual..." he reached into his coat and withdrew a dossier which he threw on the table in front of them, marked "Ginnungagap".

"This is all the information my...sources have managed to gather on the mutant Ginnungagap AKA Magic Man, real name unknown. He has been designated an Omega-Level threat for the sole reason that there is no higher classification to give him, and the danger he poses to the entire planet cannot be understated. I have gathered you here because subterfuge will be required, both against this man, and the renewed mutant population."

"While I'll happily sign up, I'm not sure what you want from us" the armored man said "The X-Men damn near wiped us out years ago, not to mention what they did with our leader Cameron Hodge. There's barely a third of us left!"

The man smiled "That's the idea, the mutants belive The Right is done for, you'll be a threat they won't see coming. With my resources, you can rebuild and work in secret until the time to strike is near. Mr Risman, can I count on the support of your organization as well?"

Risman blinked, not expecting to be adressed "...if it will assist us in our holy mission to destroy this false messiah and finally cleanse the world and make Reverent Strykers dream come true, me and my brothers will follow you anywhere."

"Pretty words" Colcord said, flipping through the dossier "but I don't see what you can do against this freak if he's really as powerful as everyone else says. You can arm the tin men and the jesus freaks all you want, that won't do a bit of difference if he can just turn them inside out with a stern look. What's your REAL plan?"

"Ah, Mr Colcord, that's the question isn't it? Tell me, what does a god fear?"

Risman half-rose from his seat "He is NOT a god! He's an abomination! He's the Devil himself!"

"Calm yourself, Mr Risman, it's a figure of speech. Again, what does a god fear?"

The table fell silent. The man slipped the metal cooler open, and withdrew a strange black rock that Risman, upon further inspection, noticed seemed to be made of a mishmash of electronics, including a small light that blinked weakly, despite it's broken state.

"Other gods, of course. Once upon a time, once upon a world, a god made a weapon to kill other gods. And it did that job extremely well. This is a piece of that weapon. This... is The Fury."

Dr Cornelius leaned closer, correcting his glasses "Fascinating, I've never seen this type of technology before. Considering the damage, it shouldn't be able to function on any level, but there almost seems to be...life left in it!"

"Exactly what I wanted you to hear, Dr Cornelius! I will entrust this magnificent machine to you and your colleagues to mold into our very own god-killer! In the meantime, we will continue our work in secret, rebuilding our forces until we are ready to finally rid ourselves of the mutant menace once and for all!"

"Hold on a second!" Colcord stood up "People don't just hand out technology like this out of the goodness of their hearts. Why are you so interested in helping us? For what matter, who the hell ARE you?!"

The man grinned, a too-wide smile that reminded Risman of a shark "Oh, let's just say we both have our reasons to want the mutants gone for good and leave it at that. As for who I am, you may call me...Sublime."