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Previously: and Dark Beast's alliance was thwarted and Mikhail was able to retrieve Adel's Phalanx samples. But there is still the question of where Abyss is…

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Grogginess didn't begin to describe what Abyss was feeling. He couldn't see, hear or think straight. The last thing he remembered was watching Robot Boy with the always positive Marrow (note the dripping sarcasm). Then he was here strapped down on some medieval torture table. He wasn't sure what the thing was called, but he knew that it was used to stretch people out, and most definitely not in the chiropractor kind of way.

"Marrow? Guys? This stopped being funny about ten minutes ago," Abyss said as he tugged at the straps holding him down. Deep down he knew that none of his teammates had anything to do with his current predicament. Something much deeper was going on and Nils began to feel like whatever it was, he was going to have to face it all on his lonesome. It wasn't the preferred option, but it was what he was realistically looking at.

Hanging on the wall in front of the Genoshan was a large portrait of a raven-haired Roman woman wrapped in a passionate kiss with a Roman gladiator. Behind them were the slain bodies of people and animals of wrath, but she's just happy that he arrived to plant his kiss on her. There was something sinisterly alluring about the picture in its display of raw, uncontrolled lust. Abyss had never once experienced such a thing; unbridled passion like that wasn't something that Mutates were allowed to have; it was stripped from them just like every other emotion. Abyss had never really known anything close to romance as, after being freed from his bonding, it was a struggle for Abyss to feel anything past anger. That had been the first emotion he had latched on to and it was one beginning to bubble in his chest now.

Tugging again at his bonds, Abyss heard the clicking of heels from the stairway in the corner of the cellar. He struggled to lift his head up and see the source. The voice was heard before the face was seen. "I'm surprised you're awake. Most are quite drained after a feeding."

Finally managing to lift his head up, Abyss saw his sultry captor and took a nice long minute to say a string of cuss words in his head. She smiled at him and said, "Don't look so pale darling. I only want to have a little fun."

"I don't think your definition of kinky quite matches up with mine, Selene," Abyss said.

The External pressed a black finger against his lips and shushed him. "You might want to play nice, Abyss. After all, we got off to such a rocky start."

Yanking at his chains, Abyss glared down the sorceress. "Doesn't look like we're getting much better."

Abyss watched a wicked smile cross the woman's face and knew that he had only managed to make her mad. M smiled like that just when she was starting to plot ways to get even with you. It wasn't as if the Genoshan was unfairly getting picked on by Selene; he had sucked her into a dark dimension absent of light and sound. Living in such a world had to be a maddening existence and Selene had spent enough time in it to build up a healthy amount of resentment.

"Oh don't worry boy," Selene said with a tinge of annoyance. She folded her arms across her chest and looked at Abyss as if he were a bad child. "If I wanted to kill you I would have done it already. I'm not like Sebastian; I don't play with my prey."

"Well…I guess that's good news. Who's Sebastian?"

Selene threw back her luxurious hair and laughed. "Oh, child, you are quite amusing. That is the question you choose to ask out of the many more important ones you could have. Youth always manages to surprise me." Abyss' blank eyes demanded an answer nonetheless and Selene groaned in response. "He's an old friend I hate. Always standing in my way, thinking he's the law of the land and none can oppose him."

Nils grinned. "Sounds like you guys were a couple."

Selene was horrified. "Never! The thought of that man touching me makes my skin crawl."

A cold, awkward silence fell between the two. Selene stared at Abyss and he stared at the ceiling. It continued in stride until Abyss asked, "So why am I here if you aren't trying to tear me apart?"

The immortal shrugged. "Boredom, mostly. I haven't had much company as of late. Trying to strike it out on your own is a lonely expedition."

Abyss' tension nearly melted away. He imagined a woman with as much experience as Selene could probably talk for hours on end, but that was a far sight better than being stretched to oblivion. Or maybe she wanted company of another kind. That thought made Abyss' heart race despite himself and it was at that moment he noticed just how beautiful Selene was. He had never seen a woman whose clothes so perfectly fit her.

Like a teenage boy struggling to make his first move, Nils mumbled out, “So, what do you want to talk about?”

The immortal smiled. “That was easy. I figured you’d have to be broken.”

Abyss laughed. “I’m a Mutate. My whole life was about being broken.”

“Fair enough,” Selene said as she pulled up a seat to where Abyss was strapped in. “If I let you go do you promise not to be naughty?”

“I think it’s already been proven you have more than enough firepower to take me out if I do.”

Selene laughed and it seemed genuine. She waved a hand and Abyss’ straps vanished like smoke. “It would seem I was lucky; I didn’t pick a pretentious one.”

Abyss lifted himself up off the table and sat on it with his legs dangling back and forth. Selene seemed completely comfortable with the idea of him being free. She wasn’t the least bit concerned and Nils felt a bit embarrassed by that. He was supposed to be a fearsome member of X-Force and here an opponent wasn’t even scared by his presence. Still, he couldn’t help to notice how beautiful she was.

“So who’s the guy in the picture?” Abyss asked looking behind Selene at the painting of pure lust. He was kinda wishing he could be that guy right about now, but then again…Selene did sap the life out of people. Nils was now wondering if the guy was even still around.

Selene looked back at the picture and Abyss could have sworn he saw her eyes gloss over. “His name was Eliphas.”

Abyss was now curious and intended to see just how much this man played a part in her life. “So you’re just going to give me a name? Where was he from?”

Selene laughed. “You can’t tell?”

Nils shrugged. “As I said, I was a Mutate. They didn’t have time to teach us history.”

“Of course…humans and their pesky little devices. Well, I suppose I can tell you a bit about Eliphas then, since you have sufficiently made me feel pompous.”

Abyss gave a little smug smile at that and Selene started her story. “I met Eliphas when I first came to Rome. I found the city and culture so fascinating and beautiful. He was a Centurion and one of the best so naturally I was drawn to him. We began a love affair and eventually I revealed my true nature to him.”

“How did he respond?” Abyss asked. He felt like he was hearing about some great love affair of the ancient world. Selene spoke like the truest storyteller and he could only imagine the things she had seen and the experiences she had. It was enough to almost make him forget how deadly she really was.

“He was actually quite ecstatic about it. Eliphas was always an ambitious man and he believed that the gods had sent me to him so that he could become Emperor of Rome.”

Abyss frowned when he heard that. “Didn’t sound like he was too concerned with love at that point?”

“And if only I had been able to see that then,” Selene said, “but I let myself think that his ambitions were mine so I taught him magic. Made him like me, an immortal.”

Abyss looked back at the painting and he didn’t see the same thing anymore. There wasn’t lust…only manipulation. He could hardly believe it but he felt sorry for Selene. Nils had never experienced any sort of romantic love, but now he was beginning to wonder if he was better off for it.

“He actually became quite powerful and began to rival even me, but I wasn’t concerned. I thought he loved me, but he became more and more anxious. He wanted to strike at Rome but I cautioned him to let us bide our time.”

Abyss said something that caught even himself off guard, “You were starting to be afraid of him.”

Selene’s eyes flashed anger and then subsided. “No mortal has heard such an admission from me in a very long time…but yes, I was afraid.”

“Why didn’t you put him down? You were his teacher so—”

“Love can make even an immortal do foolish things, but you are right. There are things I held back from him and it was that which saved me and all of Rome. Eliphas, without my knowledge, was trying to summon a demonic army to blanket all of Rome.”

Abyss really had no concept of demons. He had heard Alex talk about them before with Dr. Reyes, but beyond that he had no real experience. So he couldn’t really visualize what it was that Selene was talking about and he wanted to. “What did the demons look like?”

“They were not of any specific variety, but they were all evil and all uncontrollable. So, before he could summon the army, I cast a spell to lock him away. I haven’t felt his presence since.”

Abyss wasn’t sure what to make of the story. “So you actually wanted to save Rome?”

“Despite what some may have you believe, world domination is not my goal. I only wish for it to benefit me in every way possible. Ruling the world is a task best left to foolish men. And part of me had a tremendous love for the Roman way of life. I could not see Eliphas snuff it out.”

Another crucial question struck Nils. “Then why keep the painting up?”

Selene stood up and appeared more serious than she had during their entire exchange. “Because when you get to be as old as I am you can forget things and Eliphas is not something I wanted to forget. My pupil is too dangerous. That is another reason why I have brought you here.”

“Huh? I don’t get it,” Abyss said.

“I haven’t felt Eliphas’ presence in over two thousand years, but I felt it a few weeks ago. It was why your leader was able to best me in my combat. The power of Eliphas’ presence jarred me to my core. Eliphas is free and your ilk needs to know about it.”

“So you want us to do your dirty work for you?” Abyss asked feeling a bit smeared. He was being regulated into being a messenger boy.

“No. Make no mistake, I will find Eliphas and lock him back where he belongs, but if I fail in this task there will need to be others to do what I could not. Especially since you and yours took what I intended to use as a weapon against him.”

Abyss’s face dropped. “The Phalanx samples…but why didn’t you…

“Would any of you have believed me?” Selene asked. “Do you even believe me now?”

Abyss, again not knowing why, reached out and grabbed Selene’s hand. “I believe you. There are certain things it’s hard for people to hide and being hurt is one of them. I don’t think you ever needed that painting. Eliphas is well in mind.”

Selene yanked her hand back and turned away from Abyss. “You know nothing about me, Nils! Why would I feel for one pathetic man? I have burned civilizations to the ground! I do not love.”

“Maybe not anymore,” Abyss said. “I’ll tell them about Eliphas and we’ll help you stop him.”

The External looked into the eyes of Abyss and saw something had not been directed her way in a very long time. In the world she lived in it was rare to see such a thing, but Abyss was looking at her with kindness. She almost laughed at how transparent the mutant was, but she couldn’t deny that it felt almost good to not be looked upon with suspicion.

“Do not trust everyone so easily, Nils. There are far too many who would take advantage of it.”

“Look, I’m no fool Selene. I know the things you’ve done and the people you’ve hurt. So some might call it karma for you to get hurt yourself, but I take no pleasure in other people’s pain. And if Eliphas is as dangerous as you make him sound then old rivalries will need to be put aside in order to stop him.”

“Then you trust me?”

Abyss nodded. “And don’t give me a reason not to.”

Selene laughed. “And to think I started this conversation with the upper hand.”

“Its all part of my James Bond charm. Wins the ladies over every time!”

“Trust me, I have met Sean Connery in his James Bond days. Movies are really nothing like life,” Selene said as she walked to Abyss and planted a kiss on his cheek.

If the Mutate could blush he would be fire red about now. “So, yeah…ummm…yeah…I’ll tell the guys about Eliphas.”

“Good. Go in peace, Abyss,” Selene said as the spot where she kissed him began to glow and he disappeared in a flash.

Looking back at the painting, the External collapsed to her knees, buried her face in her hands and began to sob. She had only told Abyss the parts that would not break her.

Damn you, Eliphas! I swear I shall put you back where you belong.

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Abyss appeared back in front of the TV from which he had vanished from in the first place. Sitting on the couch were Madrox and Pipeline who both jumped back in surprise when he appeared.

“Nils! Where the hell have you been?” Madrox asked as he jumped up from the couch.

Pipeline did as well, but not for the same reason. “Easy, Jamie. That might be Selene in there.”

Abyss gave Pipeline the finger. “Exactly why I hate Magistrates. Always paranoid as shit.”

Havok rushed into the room with M by his side. He said to Madrox and Pipeline, “Easy boys. He’s the real deal.”

M tapped her head. “My telepathy was tutored by Emma Frost, whose only one step away from perfection…she believes.”

“So what happened, Abyss? How did you get away from Selene?”

Abyss pulled his lips back and began to rock on his heels. “It’s a long story and we got ourselves a problem.”

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To Be Continued...

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