THE SEARCH FOR OZYMANDIAS

Part II: Encounters of the Immortal Kind

By Shawn Gauthier

Author’s Note: This story is continued from Cable #2.

Apocalypse’s patience has been stretched thin over the past few days.

First, he has awakened from his sleep to discover that his world has been changed. As a result, the identities of the mutants who will one day become the legendary Twelve have also changed. Not knowing who the Twelve will be has made it increasingly difficult to kill them, which Apocalypse intends to do.

To learn the new identities of the Twelve, Apocalypse called upon one of his former servants, Ozymandias. Ozymandias has the power to see things before they happen, thus he would have the knowledge of who the new Twelve are. Unfortunately, Apocalypse is locate his former servant. This can only mean that some powerful, unknown force is protecting Ozymandias from Apocalypse’s detection. Again, the massive mutant was met with disappointment.

Apocalypse then decided to call upon the aid of another of his former assistants, Caliban. Caliban is a mutant tracker, able to sniff out and track mutants by their aura. His powers, however, work on a much more primitive and instinctual level, thus Caliban will be able to track down and locate Ozymandias beneath the notice of whatever mysterious force is now protecting him. With this plan in mind, Apocalypse had set out to find his former Hound.

Here, Apocalypse himself made a critical error. He had assumed that Caliban was still a part of the mutant team called X-Force. He located X-Force, who were being held prisoner by the Damocles Foundation – a foundation that was conducting experiments on mixing Deviant and mutant genes. Their work was intriguing, though crude. They had managed, however, to alter the makeup of one of the X-Force members, Danielle Moonstar, so that her abilities were radically altered and more powerful. Even though Apocalypse learned that Caliban was no longer a part of the X-Force team, the trip was not a total waste. Striking a deal with Indigo, the leader of the Damocles Foundation, Apocalypse departed with the latest general in his army, Danielle Moonstar.

Bitter with yet another disappointment, Apocalypse used his vast resources to finally locate Caliban. He was living under the streets of New York City, in the sewers with a pathetic band of mutants who called themselves the Morlocks. It took all the self control that Apocalypse had not to eliminate the vile Morlocks then and there, but Apocalypse is nothing if he is not patient. He needed Caliban’s abilities to find Ozymandias, so his plans for the Morlocks would have to wait.

Apocalypse was also irate over the fact that his close range sensors informed him that Ozymandias, himself, had been with the Morlocks but was no longer there. He had just missed his primary target by a few short hours. Again he was faced with failure, something he was unaccustomed to.

As usual, Caliban proved predictable. At first, there was a small sense of defiance within his former servant, but that quickly disappeared, however, when he was in the close proximity of his former master. The weak always cower and give in to the strong – it is a universal constant that Apocalypse has based his life on. With a few well placed threats, he had Caliban performing like the lap dog he truly is.

In short order, he led Apocalypse to Ozymandias’s location, a small town called Haven. Again, Apocalypse’s short range sensors picked up a familiar mutant…

Cable is near!

The dreaded Askani’son, who has time and time again risen to challenge Apocalypse. In addition, it was prophesized that he would be the one to gather together those mutants who would one day become the Twelve. It only stands to reason that by eliminating the gatherer, Apocalypse could break the prophecy in one fell swoop.

As Apocalypse descends upon the town of Haven, a new plan begins to form in the dark corners of his mind…

Upon entering the town of Haven, Apocalypse immediately began living up to his name. He set ablaze every building that he passed, until half of the town was engulfed in an inferno. A few of the civilians in the city tried to defend their town with amazing state-of-the-art weapons, but their efforts, though, had no effect on one of the world’s oldest and most powerful mutants.

The whole time that Apocalypse was spreading his carnage, he was following his sensor readings which were leading him closer and closer to the Askani’son. It wasn’t long before he found his intended target in one of the town’s burning buildings. What was unusual, however, was why the Askani’son was wearing a firefighter’s uniform, and was pretending to be fighting one of the fires that Apocalypse himself had set.

Not able to resist the urge anymore Apocalypse, morphed his hand into a laser weapon and fired at the Askani’son. The laser beam pierced the side of its target, splattering blood all over the far wall. The Askani’son toppled over, clutching his side, and fell to the floor.

Apocalypse is now overwhelmed by a tremendous rush of satisfaction. It has made all the past trials and tribulations worth it. Being given the chance to finally put a permanent end to the annoying, but ever-persistent, Cable will mean a quick resolution to the problem he found himself facing when he first awakened. Watching Cable’s face twist and distort in pain has made Apocalypse’s long trek to Haven worthwhile.

Suddenly, Apocalypse’s insignificant visit to the Damocles Foundation and his run in with Indigo seem a small price to pay. In addition, his encounter also proves profitable by giving him his newest general for his ever-growing army.

As Cable struggles to his feet, still clutching his side, Apocalypse can see the Askani’son’s blood trickle between his fingers. Apocalypse raises his hand, which is still in the form of a weapon, with the intention of putting another hole through his enemy.

‘No… savor the moment!’ he tells himself moments before firing the fatal shot. He decides to instead use the weapon to bludgeon Cable, sending him flying into and through one of the room’s far walls. Upon contact, Apocalypse feels the satisfying ‘snap’ as most of Cable’s ribs on one side are caved in.

“That is for making me have to crawl through the sewers of man alongside those weak and pathetic Morlocks!”

Though his statement is in the form of a complaint, Apocalypse is truly enjoying himself. The giant blue mutant makes his way toward the demolished wall from which Cable exited the room. To his surprise, Cable is nowhere to be seen, but there are signs of his once being there. Blood is spattered across the floor and covers the rubble of the wall which Apocalypse had smashed him through. From the scene of the destruction is a smear of blood leading across the floor to one of the adjourning rooms doors.

“Let the hunt begin!”

Apocalypse quickly rushes across the room to follow the trail of blood, not wanting the building’s fires to capture his prey before he does. Through a door and down another hall, the hunter follows the trail, never letting his eyes deviate from the blood for fear the he might lose sight of it.

The trail of blood leads around a corner to where it does something extraordinary. Instead of leading further down the next hall, the blood instead lays across the ground at Apocalypse’s feet to spell the word ‘sucker’.

Apocalypse doesn’t have time to move out of the way before a badly-injured Cable crashes through the ceiling tiles. In his hands he brandishes a long metal pole with a sharp jagged end that he uses to stab into Apocalypse’s neck and shoulder.

Barely acknowledging the pain, Apocalypse throws Cable down the hall before removing the pole. His body immediately begins healing itself.

“The time for running is over! Prepare to die, Askani’son!”

Apocalypse is already closing the gap between them. He takes great pleasure in watching Cable limp away from him down the hall, at a much slower speed. Just when Apocalypse is on the verge of capturing his enemy, the Askani’son uses his last bit of energy to throw himself out of a nearby window. This act of sacrifice not only astounds Apocalypse, but it also infuriates him by robbing him of the kill. It isn’t until Apocalypse hears the rush of air entering the room that he understands Cable’s plan.

The air rushes into the room to feed the flames, causing them to flare. As a result, Apocalypse is badly singed, but once more his body’s healing abilities kick in, healing the damage almost as soon as it is inflicted.

After the flames die down, the only lasting injury to Apocalypse is his bruised ego. Enraged, he smashes through the outer wall in pursuit of Cable, and plummets to the ground. Before his feet touch down, he visually locates Cable fleeing through the parking lot of a gas station located across the street. Sick of chasing his prey, Apocalypse fires another shot that once again finds its target. This time, the shot burns a hole through Cable’s right thigh.

The Askani’son collapses to the ground and begins crawling on his belly away from his hunter. It is then that Apocalypse notices his destination which is only a hundred yards away. There is a large wall at the end of the street, and in the center of it is a gate. It is clear from those guarding the gate that it must be some type of military base located in the middle of the town. Apocalypse doubles his speed so that he can overtake his prey before Cable can reach the gate.

Again, to his surprise, Cable ceases his crawling to turn over on his back and face his attacker. Then, using his telekinetic powers, he begins firing cars, posts, mailboxes, and anything else on the street that he can find at Apocalypse, hoping desperately to slow the giant down. With but a thought, Apocalypse erects a force field to protect himself, and resumes his progress. Nothing can penetrate his shield.

Finally, using the last of his strength, the Askani’son sends a propane truck parked on the street at Apocalypse, only to watch it bounce harmlessly off Apocalypse’s force field. Feeling untouchable, Apocalypse continues on.

Apocalypse then notices a small reflective object as it flies over his shoulder well wide of him. Apocalypse recognizes the object as a lighter moments before the toppled propane truck explodes a few feet behind him. Though the explosion does not penetrate the field, its force blows Apocalypse off his feet. By the time he has regained his stance, Cable is almost at the gate.

The gate opens, and a swarm of men take up defensive positions outside of the wall, and they immediately begin firing at Apocalypse. None of their shots get through the force field. Two of the men then grab Cable and carry him back behind the wall. Apocalypse can do nothing since he is unable to drop his force field without subjecting himself to numerous hits from the men guarding the wall. Enraged at being robbed of his kill yet again, he rushes the wall.

Out of the gate, two of the government’s Hounds emerge and dash towards Apocalypse. Without even missing a step, Apocalypse drops two round objects to the ground at his feet and continues on towards the wall. The two objects begin to expand and build until they become two of Apocalypse’s own version of the Hounds. These Hounds then run past their master and attack their cousins. The creatures begin immediately to tear each other apart.

Apocalypse’s progress continues until he reaches the wall. Once there, his body’s exterior morphs again until his skin is emitting a poisonous gas. The soldiers outside the wall fall to the ground, convulsing and gasping for air. The wall proves to be equally ineffective as he smasheds a hole in it with one blow from a fist formed into the shape of a mallet.

The scene behind the wall is just as chaotic as it is in the front – soldiers are running in every direction; heavy weapons fire can be heard everywhere; and littering the ground are some soldiers who are already dead.

Apocalypse realizes that somebody else is attacking the military base. Could they be after Ozymandias? Or even the Askani’son?

These thoughts quickly slip out of his mind as his eyes focus on one man running toward him across the battlefield. The man is carrying an injured firefighter who Apocalypse immediately recognizes as the Askani’son. A single laser shot rips a hole through the chest of the carrier. Ignoring the battle around him, Apocalypse covers the distance between them until he is standing over Cable, who’s trying to escape from underneath his dead comrade.

“The hunt is over, Askani’son, and the prize of your life is mine!”

Grabbing Cable by the neck, Apocalypse lifts him until his feet leave the ground. He readies himself to deliver the killing blow, when something tears through his mid-section. Like before, when Cable had stabbed him, Apocalypse shows no sign of pain. However, the hole left in him this time is much larger. His body immediately goes to work repairing itself, but it’s obvious that it will take more time.

With the Askani’son still clutched in his hands, Apocalypse spins around to face his new attacker…

Boot-jets flare as a massive robot descends onto the battlefield. It lands, crushing several dead bodies under its massive feet, and turns its massive head towards Apocalypse and the Askani’son. Its grating robotic voice booms throughout the courtyard.

“MUTANTS BE WARNED! THE MASTER MOLD HAS RETURNED!”

NEXT, IN CABLE #3: The Search For Ozymandias concludes! The Master Mold returns, as Cable and Apocalypse close in on Ozymandias’ location! Who will find the mutant seer first? And what will it mean for the Twelve if the victor is Apocalypse?!

NEXT ISSUE: The Dark Riders ride again! Apocalypse has decreed to once more allow a team of hand-picked mutants to judge other mutants and test their worthiness, but who has the Highlord chosen?