The Last Son, Book Four: Destinies

by The Writer with No Name

AU S4. Xover with Superman and Justice League. In the wake of General Zod's treachery, Superman, the Justice League, and the X-Men find the world threatened by evils far worse than any they have ever encountered before. As prophecy begins to unfold, can the young Man of Steel and his fellow heroes defend the Earth against the horrors that loom to threaten it?

10. Upon The Misty Moors

CHAPTER NINE: UPON THE MISTY MOORS

Undisclosed location, October 18, 2009

"Awaken, dearest one…"

The voice tugged at his thoughts from beyond the black, but he did not want to heed it. He was so tired…

"The world has need of you…"

The voice came again, still soft but now more insistent. Why would it not let him sleep? Had he not given enough..?

"My love, you must wake now!"

At that shout, the old man, short and stooped, his long hair and beard bleached with age, stirred from his sleep, his ancient robes flapping at his sudden jolt. 'Oh, heavens forgive me for such sloth!' he berated himself, as he picked himself up from his simple cot – his old bones creaking in protest – and hurried – as much as he could at his age – out of his chamber.

As it always was in this day and age, the walk from his modest dwelling through the ancient city – with its once-gleaming spires now dulled from aeons beneath the ground – to the central tower was long and taxing. A simple spell would have helped get him there faster, but that would take precious energy that he may not have had to waste. 'I suppose a spot of exercise would do me good,' the old man mused, as he hobbled into the spire after what felt like a marathon hike. Walking to the large glyph in the middle of the bottom floor, surrounded by dusty, flickering consoles, he stood in the middle of the glyph, and focused hard. His magic heeded his commands, energizing the teleporter pad and taking him up, to the top level.

Once he was in the command center, the old man waved his hand, powering the city's ancient consoles, energizing the few remaining sensors that still worked. The handful of functional view-screens instantly lit up, displaying data-feeds that depicted events across the globe: riots, disasters, mutants assembling…and one name at the epicenter of the impending calamity. "No…" the old man whispered, his grey-blue eyes misting with tears of horror. "It cannot be so…"

"It is so, my love."

From the glowing pool in the center of the chamber, a female silhouette rose from the water, taking the shape of a lovely young woman. "The seals have failed, beloved. The First One has risen to menace this world again."

The old man could not argue with her. "Gods be merciful, but he has," he agreed, sagging to his knees. "And I can do naught."

The woman smiled gently. "Nay, my love. There is much you can do yet."

"What can I do?" the old man cried. "It took all of us to confine him at our full strength! Now only I remain, and I am old and rotted through! I can do nothing!"

Gliding to his side, the woman cupped his face with her hands. "You are never alone, dearest one. Your brother remains."

The old man snorted bitterly. "In sleep, perhaps," he said. "In all the ages, I have heard nothing of either him or his next chosen one, if he even has chosen again, after the disaster of his first."

"And what of your chosen?" the woman persisted. "The youth you once found above? He was worthy of your gifts, and still is today."

The old man paused, as the image of a young man, in a uniform depicting the British flag, appeared on-screen. "Perhaps," he admitted. "But he alone cannot stand against Nur…"

"He is not alone, my love. Others stand with him." At the woman's words, images of other costumed souls appeared on-screen. "Hope still lives." She smiled. "They but need your wisdom, to know what they face, and what resources are at their disposal."

The old man perked up a bit at those words. He managed a smile. "Just as I oft need your wisdom, my lady love," he said. "I must get word to them, but how?"

"They are heroes as much as you are, beloved," the woman said. "They go where they are needed. You need ask yourself only where the need is greatest today."

Concentrating, the old man sifted through the incoming data, and found what he was looking for. "Here," he murmured. "In all likelihood, a crisis will break here, today! When they come, I must be there!"

The woman smiled. "Then go, my love," she cooed. "As always, I shall wait for you." With that, she returned to her miniature lake, while the old wizard moved back to the teleporter, this time taking it to one of the outposts at the city's edge, where it was much closer to the surface…though not by much.

Teleporting through bedrock and fire always exhausted him.

As he emerged onto the moors above, shrouded in mists as always, the old enchanter fell to his knees, gasping to catch his breath. Once he'd steadied himself – and made sure no-one had seen him – he began to walk towards town, where he could find a quick meal to regain his strength for the task of teleporting to the capital.

He did not have much time to waste.

XXXXXXXX

Xavier Institute, Westchester, New York

'Okay, Summers. You're just going with the Professor on a conference with Dr. MacTaggert…and to visit with your long-lost older brother. No biggie.'

In his room, Cyclops had just donned his uniform, and was looking into the mirror, hoping to talk himself down from his looming panic. 'Yeah, you just keep telling yourself that, Summers.'

'Self-doubt doesn't suit you, Mr. Summers.'

Cyclops heard Jean's voice in his mind just as Phoenix opened the door and walked in, a smile on her face. "Didn't we talk about this?" she teased. "The only one in this relationship allowed to have entire conversations in their head is me."

Through their link, Cyclops could hear the Phoenix's response to Jean. 'Not that she ever wins.'

'Oh, hush,' Jean shushed her counterpart, before she looped her arms around her boyfriend's neck. "Now what's bothering you?"

Cyclops sighed. "What do I say to him?" he asked quietly. "He's been tortured horribly for likely his entire life. Even if he has some memory of seeing Dad when he got torn out of his mother, he couldn't possibly know he has any brothers. What exactly can I say? "Hi, I'm Scott, and this is Alex. We're your half-brothers from when our Dad married another woman after yours died when you got torn out of her." He's only just talking now, and that'd probably clam him up again!"

With a sigh and a wry smile, Phoenix met her boyfriend's eyes. "Well, obviously you wouldn't go that far," she chided. "This is only your first meeting, Scott. All you'll be doing is making small-talk, which is about all that Gabriel is capable of. You'll just be saying things like "Hi, I'm Scott. What's your name?" Explaining who you really are and how you're related can come later."

Cyclops thought it over…and realized how much sense his girlfriend was making. "Oh," he said. "I guess I was getting a bit ahead of myself, wasn't I?"

Jean's smile grew. "Considering the situation, I think we can understand why," she said. "You're just eager to repair a tie that's been broken. We all feel the same."

Cyclops looked a bit grim. "Today's Clark's first day back, isn't it?" he asked. "Has there been any word?"

"No, and we weren't expecting any yet," Phoenix soothed. "First he's meeting with the League in the Watchtower, and then he's coming here. We should be back just in time to see him."

Cyclops nodded. "What exactly will the Professor and Dr. MacTaggert be talking about?"

Now it was Phoenix's turn to look anxious. "I'm not sure, but if I had to venture a guess, I'd say it's about the Apocalypse problem."

That made a chill run down Cyclops' spine. "He's been quiet for the past few weeks, hasn't he?" he asked. "He must have something up his sleeve."

"And that's likely why the Professor and Moira are meeting," Phoenix said. "Those two are the No. 1 and 2 experts on mutants; if anyone can figure out how to get ahead of Apocalypse, they can."

Cyclops finally allowed himself to smile. "Then I guess we shouldn't hold them up." Smiling back, Phoenix opened the door, allowing them both to head out.

As they headed down the hallway, the two of them met up with others of their delegation: Siryn, Havok, Polaris, Black Canary, Scarlet Witch, and Toad. Spotting Cyclops, Havok greeted his brother. "Hey, Scott. We're finally gonna meet Gabe, huh?"

"Looks like it," Scott agreed. "We should take things slow when we see him, though." He glanced to Jean with a grin. "I have it on good authority that we shouldn't overload him."

Havok's smile dimmed. "Oh, yeah. That's probably a good call."

With a supportive smile, Polaris piped up. "I'm sure your brother will be happy to see you both, even if he doesn't know who you guys really are right away," she said. "It might be a good idea to build up to telling him you're his brothers."

Scarlet Witch chuckled. "Right, because suddenly finding out you have siblings is a heck of a bomb to have dropped on you."

With a dry snort, Black Canary glanced to Siryn. "Yeah, that's one way to put it."

Siryn sighed, before she glanced to Cyclops. "And there's no word on why Dr. MacTaggert requested our presence?"

Cyclops shook his head. "Nothing but our best guesses."

"Well, let's hope this meeting doesn't run too long," Scarlet Witch said. "I was hoping to stop by the British National Museum before we go. There's a new exhibit of supposedly Arthurian artefacts on display."

Toad blinked. "Huh?" he asked. "No offence, Sweetums, but I always thought King Arthur was just made up."

"A lot of his legend is," Wanda admitted. "But recent evidence is suggesting that there was a man that the legend was based upon. Some of these more recent artefacts could shed light on who he was."

"Oh. Cool."

It was then that Cyclops caught a glimpse of the time. "We need to get moving. The Professor, Logan, and Madelyn are probably waiting for us." Nobody argued that point, as they all headed for the elevator down to the vehicle bay.

By the time they reached the Blackbird, Madelyn, Wolverine, and the Professor were waiting for them. As he spotted them, Wolverine smirked. "Glad you could make it."

"Logan," the Professor admonished, before he looked to his students. "I trust everyone is ready?"

Cyclops raised his hand. "We were just wondering something, Professor: what exactly does Dr. MacTaggert need to talk with you about?"

"Well, I'm sure many of you have already guessed it: we plan to discuss the threat of Apocalypse. Moira is preparing a briefing for the Queen, and asked for my assistance."

Phoenix couldn't help but gape. "The Queen?"

Madelyn nodded. "Considering the recent unrest, Her Majesty is growing concerned."

Toad scratched his head. "What unrest?"

"After Chuck's brat went turncoat, there's been a growing anti-human group in London, the past few weeks," Wolverine said. "They were small at first, but when Creed went down, they got noisy."

Black Canary groaned. "Great. We went from one extreme to the other."

Charles nodded. "And that is why Moira has requested our assistance. Excalibur has been able to curtail them initially, but their numbers are growing at an alarming rate. We must determine how to head them off, as well as assess their connection to Apocalypse, if any."

Cyclops looked grim. "In that case, we'd better get moving." No-one needed to say anything else, as they quickly boarded the Blackbird. Once they were all strapped in, Wolverine powered the engines, and guided the jet out of the hangar, where it took off at top speeds, heading east towards the British Isles.

XXXXXXXX

Watchtower, Earth orbit

'I can do this.'

After his last training-session the day prior, Superman had been both looking forward to and dreading his first day back with the League. 'I'm ready to come back,' he reminded himself as he flew up into Earth orbit, heading for the Watchtower. 'I can do this.' Within minutes, he was at the main airlock. 'J'onn?'

The Martian Manhunter was quick to answer his mental call. 'Come right in, Clark. It is very good to have you back,' J'onn answered, as the airlock slid open. Superman promptly flew in, and allowed the airlock to seal behind him. Once it was re-pressurized, the inner doors opened, allowing him to head into the Watchtower…and a feeling of peace washed over him.

'It's good to be back in the saddle.'

As he strode into the main meeting room, Superman found the rest of the League already gathered. Flash was the first to spot him. "Dude, you're BACK!"

Superman couldn't help but laugh as his friend sped to hug him, almost knocking him over in the process. "Okay, Wally! It's great to see you all, too!"

Green Arrow was calmer, but he still rose to hug him. "It hasn't been the same without you, Smallville," he said. "And the new suit looks good on you."

From her seat, Power Girl giggled as she met his gaze. "Told you."

Superman took a second to glance over his new uniform. Much like his old uniform, his bodysuit was blue, but a shade closer to royal blue – minus the red shorts – and made of a nano-fabric stronger than Kevlar. His boots were unchanged, but he now had red gloves, each with a yellow triangle on the back – one of his own functional additions to Alison's designs. His belt was mostly the same – the only difference being that the belt-computer now had more functions to control – but the crest of the House of El on his chest was surrounded with more red, which partially spread to his shoulders, while leaving the new collar of his suit blue, only edged in red at the top. "It'll take some getting used to, but I think I can grow to like it."

Aquaman chuckled. "I still can't believe you let your girlfriend design your new uniform," he quipped. "That's just barely better than your mom doing it."

Power Girl stuck out her tongue at him. "I'm telling her you said that, Curry!"

Batman's expression was as blank as always. "If you're through, perhaps we could get to the business at hand?"

Superman nodded, as he took his seat. "What's the current situation?"

It was J'onn who answered him. "Overall, things are relatively calm. Organized major crime is down across the globe, for the moment; major players and organizations – such as Fisk – have had lulls in their activities, which could be attributed to our efforts, or to them planning for larger events."

That was a bit of a relief. "Any sign of Apokoliptian activity?"

Hawkgirl shook her head. "Not a trace."

Supergirl piped up. "With some of the information supplied by Scott Free and Barda, Sentrius has developed a means of jamming Boom-Tube technology; it was relatively easy to apply to her Wave-Jammer," she added. "She's reasonably sure it can keep Darkseid's forces from booming in…"

Superman anticipated his cousin's next thought. "…but there's no way to know for sure until he tries," he finished. "Well, that's the best we can do on that front, for now."

Spider-Man spoke next. "So why exactly did this psycho come after you?" he asked. "Aly said it had something to do with an old legend from your planet; some kind of equation?"

Superman sighed. "From what I gathered, Darkseid is after the Anti-Life Equation, which he believed was what we called the Computation of Rao," he explained. "Power Girl may have touched on this before, but our people believe that Rao – the Creator according to ancient Kryptonian philosophy – forged the entire universe in a crucible that he crafted with pure will; the explosion of the Big Bang was thought to be the igniting strike of his mallet. Once the universe was forged, Rao cast the Crucible of Creation – the vessel that housed and shaped the Big Bang – into the expanse of the universe…along with the blueprint he used."

Wonder Woman nodded in understanding. "The Computation you speak of."

"Yes," Superman confirmed. "The Computation is said to be the mathematical model Rao used to craft matter. If a mortal were ever to obtain and decode it, he could control matter at the sub-subatomic level; they could move planets with a thought, or control a person's mind without them even realizing they were being controlled. A person wielding the Computation could possess limitless power, as the legend says."

The Flash gulped. "Damn. He could turn the planet Uranus into…"

"Don't say it, Wally!" Power Girl scolded.

"What? I thought we could use a joke."

Diana frowned. "The thought of a soul as malevolent as this Darkseid gaining such power is not to be taken lightly."

Aquaman looked grave. "And he thinks you know where it is?"

Superman nodded. "There were legends told and retold about the location of the Crucible in Krypton's most ancient texts," he said. "Much of those texts have been corrupted with age, but the Fortress contains a digitized copy of what was left when Krypton was destroyed."

"Then you keep that information to yourself, Clark," Batman said firmly. "Power Girl, Supergirl, this goes for you both as well: tell no-one about those legends, not even us. The fewer that know, the less of a security risk we have."

Supergirl's expression was firm. "Understood."

Power Girl was quick to agree. "Consider our lips zipped."

"Good."

Green Lantern folded his arms. "Well, that's the situation with the planet Apokolips. Think we should discuss the other one?"

Batman was already ahead of him, as he brought up a holographic map, depicting a series of yellow dots, along with one green dot in Egypt, and a red one in South America. "This is what I've been able to put together from the partial download I got from Sinister's safehouse," he said. "His encryption was extensive, so it took the Batcomputer a while to crack it. Each yellow dot represents a facility of similar type to the ones we've seen before."

Superman flinched as he looked over the map. 'Damn. There are so many of them…' "And this isn't a complete list, is it?"

"Most likely not."

Superman's expression turned firm. "What plans do we have to neutralize them?"

"With Barda's help, we've managed to at least get a foothold on Darkseid's encryption algorithms," Supergirl said. "Since then, Sentrius has been working on a program we can upload from our communicators; she should have a prototype ready within days. Once we upload it, this program will synch the facility with Sentrius, giving her complete control."

Wonder Woman's eyes narrowed. "At which point she will destroy it, I trust?"

"That would be a mistake," Batman said. "Since she can pre-empt Nur's commands, leaving the facility in her control poses no threat; if we leave each facility intact, we can use them to detect Nur, and shut it down before he can arm it and escape."

Superman started to smile. "We can trap him in his own strongholds," he said. "Brilliant."

Batman frowned. "Perhaps, but we have another problem," he said. "One we have Xavier's son to thank for." He tapped a key on the table.

Instantly, the image of the map shifted to a video-feed, depicting an angry-looking young man in a white t-shirt and blue overcoat, with his head shaved and his face painted blue. "Mutants of the world, your liberators are here!" he shouted. "We are the Army of Apocalypse, sworn to tear down the corrupt institutions and racist regimes set up by Homo sapiens, and build the mutant nation decreed by our saviour, the Pharaoh En Sabah Nur! No longer will we tolerate the hate-mongering of those like the Friends of Humanity! No longer will we depend on the incompetent Mutant Liberation Front, the ineffectual Justice League, or the kowtowing X-Men! WE stand for all mutants! WE will protect the innocent mutants of the world from their human oppressors! To our mutant brothers: rally behind us! To the soon-to-be extinct Homo sapiens: FEAR us! And to those mutants who would back the racist institutions of the human..!"

Batman switched the video off. "It gets worse from there."

Superman could only grimace. "Is it as bad as I think it is?"

Green Lantern nodded. "Based on our most recent intel, there are about 1000 members spread out over a handful of cells across the globe, though we haven't been able to pin down any headquarters," he said. "They've rallied at several occasions over the past few weeks, one of which we intervened in. So far, they've just spouted a lot of rhetoric that could've come from Xavier Jr.'s mouth, but all it takes is one incident…"

"Alert: emergency transmission detected."

Sentrius' voice interrupted them. "Put it through," Superman instructed.

The video-feed clearly depicted downtown London, with a shouting crowd in the distance behind the panicked anchorwoman. "…as you can clearly see, the so-called Army of Apocalypse has rallied en masse in downtown London, and they appear to be marching towards Parliament! We don't know what they intend to do, but…oh God, they see us! They're coming this way! RUN!" The anchorwoman ran off-screen, before the signal cut out.

Flash groaned. "You just had to jinx it, didn't you Lantern?"

Superman was on his feet. "Sentrius, zero in on that location!" he ordered. "Aquaman, Lantern, Arrow, Hawkgirl: you four are with me..!"

"Whoa, Clark!" Green Arrow said. "Kinda jumping into the deep end, aren't you?"

Superman blinked in confusion. "What?"

"Would it not be more prudent to participate in a simpler mission, your first day back?" J'onn inquired.

Superman smiled wryly. "Guys, unless there's a bunch of Omegas in that mob, I don't think I'll be in mortal peril."

Power Girl looked stricken. "Maybe not physically, but these guys are nasty, Clark. You would not believe some of what they say!" she exclaimed. "We don't think that that's what you need after…"

"I think I'll be okay, Aly."

Batman got right to the point. "Then you trust yourself not to freeze?"

Wonder Woman bristled. "Batman, that's hardly fair!"

"I disagree, Diana." Batman met Superman's gaze. "Say that you're okay as much as you like, but you still have PTSD. If you are going to freeze, this first mission has the greatest chance of it happening."

'Trust Bruce to be blunt,' Superman thought. "I'm not an idiot, Batman. Yes, I know I'm not – and may never be – completely over what happened to me, but I can't spend the rest of my life hiding from it. There may never be an ideal mission for me to come back to, so there's no point holding myself back." He stared back at Batman. "I'm not going to freeze."

Batman was still for a moment, before he nodded. "See that you don't."

"Okay." Superman glanced to Aquaman, Green Lantern, Hawkgirl, and Green Arrow. "I assume you're all fine working with a head-case?"

The joke brought a smile to Oliver's face. "Hey, in this business, who'd notice?"

Superman grinned. "True enough!" With that, the five of them headed for the vehicle-bay.

It was time to get to work.

XXXXXXXX

Camelot Base, Muir Island, UK

"Brian! Brian, where are you?"

He was 5 again, with his parents and sister out on a family picnic in the countryside. Laughing quietly, Brian remained still, hidden in the old hollow tree on the hill as his mother wandered past him. Just like always, he'd fooled her…

As his mother wandered away, a thick mist came up out of nowhere, blanketing the entire hillside. Unable to stop his shivering from the chill that was settling in his bones, Brian crawled out of the tree. "Mum! I'm over here!" Silence answered him. "Mum?" he called again, as the chill of fear started to take hold. "M-Mummy?"

"HEEEEEEELLLLLP!"

The sound of a terrified scream nearly made Brian jump out of his trousers. Whipping his head around, he tried to spot his mother, to see if they could help whoever it was…

"HEEEEEEELLLLLP!"

With no trace of his mother, Brian knew it was up to him. Racing towards the sound of that cry, he ran up a nearby hill, stumbling over a few rocks as he did, before he could get a good look at the source of the scream…and was almost scared to death by what he saw.

A little girl was running along the side of a large lake, with a giant monster – some titanic, multi-limbed horror – stomping after her. Frantic, Brian looked around for his father, or his mother, or even his sister…but there was no-one else.

It was up to him.

As the little girl screamed again, Brian knew what he had to do, even though he had no idea how he was going to do it. Fighting against every instinct in him to either run away or wet himself, Brian ran straight for the little girl, planning to run for the lake and hope the monster couldn't swim. Spotting him, the monster turned its head and roared with enough force to ripple the lake. Brian almost fell over from his knees wanting to turn to jelly, but he managed to keep going. The monster's foot was almost up to stomp on the little girl when Brian reached her, grabbing for her hands to pull her clear…

…but his hands only found empty air, causing him to stumble and fall into the path of the monster's foot-stomp, with no trace of the girl in sight. Sniffling, Brian braced himself for the stomp, but it never came; the monster was just standing there, not even roaring anymore. Brian started to back away, but froze as the monster began to shrink, until there was just an old man standing there, in a strange-looking robe. The old man smiled gently. "Well done, Brian Braddock."

Confused, Brian got to his feet. "How did you know my name?"

The old man chuckled. "Oh, I know more than just your name, child. I have been watching you for quite some time," he whispered. "I thought you could be the one, but I had to test you…and you passed."

Brian gulped. "The little girl and the monster..?"

"…were merely artifice, child: tricks of the light," the old man said. "I cannot explain why or how – not yet – but your country – and all the world with it – will have need of young men like you in the future."

Brian was doubly confused. "Why?"

The old man looked sad. "A great darkness is coming," he murmured. "Be it from one evil, or two, or even three, the green earth's peril looms heavily in the years to come." He looked to Brian. "If you so choose, Brian Braddock, I shall bequeath to you the power needed to become champion of this Isle. What say you?"

Utterly confused, Brian could only gape at the old man. He didn't know what to say; he was just a kid, and his parents were looking for him. Even now, he could hear his mother calling for him: "Brian…Brian…"

"…Brian!"

Yanked out of sleep by the voice from his room's PA, Brian sat bolt upright, his eyes wide and alert. "Who? What?" he said, before he calmed. "Who's there?"

Moira's voice came from the PA. "If ye've had enough of a nap, Captain Braddock, we could use ye in the Briefing Room," she chided. "Charlie an' some of his students 'ave arrived."

Brian grimaced with embarrassment. "Of course, Dr. MacTaggert. My apologies. I will be there shortly."

"Good," Moira said. "Oh, an' tell Meggan to movin', too. I'd prefer if all o' Excalibur were on-deck fer this."

As Moira signed off, Brian heard a sleepy groan next to him. "Bri?" Meggan murmured, still in her sleepwear, her golden tresses beautifully mussed. "What's going on?"

Brian was already moving, suiting up as he spoke. "Professor Xavier has arrived, love. Dr. MacTaggert needs us in the briefing room."

With another moan, Meggan buried her face in his pillow. "Can't she ask Sean and Betsy to go..?"

"It's all hands on deck, Meggan. We all have to."

Pouting, Meggan sat up. "Fine." As she reached for her leotard, her expression turned worried. "Did you sleep well?"

Brian had just slid his cowl over his eyes. "I believe so, love. Why do you ask?"

"You were tossing and turning," Meggan answered, as she chewed her lip…while a handful of sorrowful black streaks began to lace through her hair. "You can tell me if you were having nightmares, Brian."

Stricken, Brian moved to sit next to her, taking her hands in his. "I wasn't having a nightmare, Meggan; at least, I don't think I was."

Meggan frowned, as tiny blotches of red appeared on her hands. "So you were dreaming."

'Oh, dear. Tread carefully, Braddock,' Brian thought with a gulp. "Yes, love, I did have a dream. I didn't tell you because it was…well, it was bloody odd."

Meggan's looming irritation died away, along with her sadness. She even started to smile. "Like your dream of dancing trash cans?"

Brian could only scowl as Meggan giggled. "No, Meggan," he grumbled. "And for the last time, that was brought on by Sean's chili-burgers!" 'Last bloody time I trust that sod in the kitchen…'

Meggan was still smiling. "Then what was it?"

Brian sighed. "Oh, I don't know," he admitted. "I saw myself when I was 5 years old on a picnic with Mum, Dad, and Betsy. I was playing hide-and-seek with Mum, but all of a sudden this mist came up. I lost sight of Mum, and then I saw this little girl getting chased by a monster; when I went to try and help, the girl disappeared and the monster became an old man who said he was testing me. That's when I wake up."

Meggan moved closer to him. "Brian, it was only a dream."

"It felt so real, Meggan. I can remember that day – it actually happened, except for the monster and the girl," Brian said. "It was around the time that I decided – as a child – that I wanted to go into the service and started working towards that."

Meggan's smile softened. "You're worried because you'd decided what you wanted to do at such a young age?"

"Yes, Meggan. It's one thing to decide on a career – any career – in teen years, but at age five? Out of the blue?" Brian shook his head. "And now this dream comes out of nowhere. It just has me frazzled."

Meggan leaned her head on his shoulder. "You'll figure it out, Bri," she said. "And even though it goes without saying, you chose the right career. I know your Mum and Dad are so proud of you, and so is your sister, even though she hides it!"

Brian had to smile at her declaration. "Thank you, love."

Meggan beamed as she zipped up her leotard. "It's what I do!" she chirped. "Now, shall we get going?"

Brian nodded. "Indeed we shall." With that, the two of them got up and headed out.

As they walked into the corridor, they found Banshee already there, heading towards the briefing room. Spotting them, Sean grinned and arched an eyebrow. "Another late night, lovebirds?"

Meggan stuck her tongue out at him. "Sod off, Cassidy."

Sean chuckled. "Okay, okay, Megs. Don't get all red and cross on me," he relented. "I was just curious if you knew who came with Xavier."

"Haven't the foggiest, Sean," Brian answered. "I suppose we'll find out when we get there."

Sean looked a bit nervous. "I was afraid of that."

Now it was Meggan's turn to chuckle. "Afraid you might see your sisters?"

"Hell no," Sean said, before he scratched his head. "I'm not "afraid"; just…what the bloody hell do I say to them?"

Brian couldn't help but feel for him. "That is a puzzle, Sean."

Sean grinned nervously. "Mind askin' Betsy if she knows who's here..?"

And with that, Brian's sympathy dimmed. "No, Sean. I will not ask Elizabeth to spy on Dr. MacTaggert or our guests. You will find out when we greet them, just as we will."

Sean scowled. "Bloody killjoy."

By then, they had reached the briefing room, where they met Betsy waiting outside for them, and greeted them with a smile that turned sly as she looked at Banshee. "Ready, Sean?"

Sean's scowl grew. "You already know who's here, don't you Bets?"

Betsy shrugged. "I might."

Meggan giggled. "Are you going to tell us?"

"Not likely." With that, she keyed in her access code, and opened the door, revealing Moira, Charles, Madelyn, Wolverine, Cyclops, Phoenix, Polaris, Havok, Toad, Scarlet Witch, and both Siryn and Black Canary waiting for them.

Sean grimaced. "Oh, feck."

Moira's smile was wry as she greeted her charges. "Thank you all for coming," she said. "Charlie and I were just discussing our presentation to Her Majesty, and we were hoping you could assist his students in the meantime. I understand that the Summers boys, naturally, wish to converse with their brother."

Brian nodded. "Of course," he said. "Gabriel has been making progress since you were last here. He has demonstrated a working memory, and is speaking in moderately complex sentences; as such, he is up to visitors, but I would advise against telling him exactly who you are, for now."

Cyclops nodded. "We figured that was the case," he said. "We'll keep it short, for the time being."

Havok looked worried. "You said his working memory was up and running, but what about his long-term memory? Does he remember anything about…what happened before?"

Betsy shook her head. "Not a thing," she said. "He claims to recall nothing of the invasion or of his time before that. My telepathic scans – very carefully administered, mind you – confirm that. As far as I can tell, his psyche is a blank slate."

Wolverine grunted. "Damn. I know what that's like."

"Perhaps, James," Madelyn said, "but in Gabriel's case, it may be a blessing in disguise."

Siryn nodded. "I dare say Gabriel has little that he would want to remember."

Noting Cyclops and Havok's grim expressions, Scarlet Witch spoke up. "After Scott and Alex talk with their brother, would anyone mind giving Todd and I a lift to the museum?" she asked. "There was an exhibit I wanted to see."

Moira smiled gently. "I doubt that'll be a problem," she said. "We'll leave ye to it, then. Off you pop." With that, the Excalibur team lead their guests deeper into Camelot Base, leaving the instructors to their discussion.

As they walked, an increasingly uncomfortable silence settled over the group of them…which seemed to emanate from Sean and his half-sisters, Brian noted with a wry smile. Betsy was one step ahead. "Miss Lance? Miss LeRoux? Is there anything new with you?"

Black Canary frowned. "Nothing I'd care to talk about."

Siryn's response was the same. "It has been…difficult."

"I see." Betsy glanced to Sean. "How about you, Cassidy? Anything you'd care to share with your sisters?"

Sean's glare could have put his shriek to shame. "Brian, your sister's a bloody pain."

Brian chuckled. "You expect me to argue?"

Siryn rolled her eyes. "I can only assume, Miss Braddock, that this is an utterly unsubtle to get your teammate, Dinah and I to discuss the fact that our mothers used the same sperm-donor in our respective conceptions."

Meggan blinked. "Wow, that's a cold way of putting it."

"But an accurate one."

Betsy shrugged. "Unsubtle? Maybe," she conceded. "But at least you're talking."

Sean glared at her. "The hell we are, Bets."

"Amen to that," Black Canary agreed. "What's to talk about? I never knew the bastard that knocked up my mother, and I doubt you did either, Cassidy. The only one that did know him was LeRoux, and she said he was a complete and utter bastard."

"That, sister dear, is putting it mildly," Siryn agreed. "Not that Mrs. LeRoux was much better." She glanced to Banshee. "Tell me, Cassidy: at some point in the past prior to your birth, did your mother work for LeRoux Industries' UK Branch?"

Sean thought about it. "Uh…yeah, that sounds right."

"Then there is your answer. I am willing to wager that, about nine months prior to your birth, owner and CEO Mark LeRoux visited the UK Branch's headquarters," Siryn said. "I skimmed over his travel history, some time ago. Apparently, he made numerous trips to the company's major branches several times a year. I wonder if we have more half-siblings across the globe."

Sean could only grimace. "I see," he said quietly. "Well, I suppose it's better to know." He glared over his shoulder. "Thanks, Bets."

By then, they had come to a side-door in the corridor, next to a large window that looked into a living quarters…where Gabriel sat on a couch, reading a book. At the sight of their brother, both Cyclops and Havok gulped. Cyclops spoke first. "Can he see us?"

Brian shook his head no. "It's one-way glass," he said. "He thinks it's just a mirror."

Havoc was rooted to the spot. "So we just…go in and say hi?"

Betsy nodded. "Whenever you're ready."

Cyclops looked as apprehensive as his brother did, but Phoenix's hand on his calmed his nerves. "You can do this, Scott."

Cyclops took a deep breath. "Okay," he said, as he stepped towards the door. "Come on, Alex: let's go say hi to our big brother."

Through the glass, the others could see the two younger Summers boys walk into the room, as well as Gabriel's reaction. His head looked up from his book with a jerk, and as he saw the two new faces, panic wrote across his features. Whimpering, he backed up, as the book fell from his hand. Polaris flinched. "Is that normal for him?"

"Only for people he doesn't know," Meggan said. "It took him a while not to pull away from even Moira when she was treating him, and she's the gentlest therapist there is!"

Cyclops had already caught on. "No, no, it's okay," he said quietly, as soothingly as he could. "We're not here to hurt you. I promise, we won't even come near you – not until you say it's okay."

That got Gabriel to stop trembling, as most of his fear gave way to curiosity. "Who…are you?"

Cyclops' smile was thin – Brian could tell it was taking a good deal of his self-control not to tell Gabriel everything. "My name is Scott," he said. "This is Alex. He's…my brother."

Cyclops had likely expected a reaction to that statement, but he never got one; Gabriel just looked perplexed. "Why are you here?"

Havok thought fast. "We…we're friends of Dr. MacTaggert, the lady who found you," he said. "We just wanted to see how you were doing."

Gabriel shrugged as he picked up his book. "I'm okay," he said softly. "The nice lady – Dr. MacTaggert, I guess – is good to me. She says I can do stuff, but I've forgotten how."

Cyclops nodded. "What kind of stuff?"

"I dunno." Gabriel started to look suspicious. "Why are you asking me all this?"

Cyclops and Havok both hesitated at that. "Well," Cyclops began, "we just…wanted to be friends."

Gabriel blinked. "Oh," he said. "Okay."

Havok started to smile. "Great!" he said. "So, what do you usually..?"

Cyclops put his hand on Havok's shoulder. "Actually, Alex, we should probably check in with Professor Xavier and Dr. MacTaggert," he said. "Gabriel, do you mind if we check back with you in a little while?"

Gabriel had already picked up his book and sat down. "Okay."

Cyclops smiled gently. "Good," he said. "We'll see you soon." With that, he led Havok out of the chamber.

"What the hell, Scott?" Havok demanded, as soon as they were out of earshot. "We were finally talking with him..!"

"…and on the verge of overloading him, Alex," Cyclops countered. "We need to let him process that much, for now."

Havok still looked rebellious. "But…"

As if she'd anticipated Cyclops' next statement – which she likely had – Phoenix placed a hand on the youngest Summers brother's shoulder. "You're already reconnecting with Gabriel, Alex," she said. "These kinds of things take time."

Havok finally relented. "Okay."

"Resolving family matters, I trust?"

At their mentor's voice, Brian turned towards Moira as she, Logan, Madelyn, and Professor Xavier came up to them. "Gradually, Dr. MacTaggert," he said.

"'Tis to be expected," Moira answered, before she glanced to Charles. "Speaking o' which, Charlie, I know ye dinnae want to hear this, but o'er the past week, I've been in contact with Gabrielle."

Logan groaned. "Uh, boy."

Charles kept his cool. "Is that so," he said flatly. "And what did she want?"

"Merely to talk with ye."

Charles sighed. "I'm afraid that would not be a good idea, Moira," he replied. "I already know why she wants to talk to me."

Madelyn chuckled. "I thought you preferred not to pry, Charles."

"I do not need my telepathy to know what Gabrielle wants, Madelyn. All Gabrielle is looking for is someone to pin all the blame on for David's betrayal. Forgive me if I have no desire to be her scapegoat."

Moira looked sad. "Charlie, ye can't say that fer sure…"

"You know her as well as I do, Moira. She'd already poisoned David against me for his entire life. The only other option is to blame herself, and she won't do that."

Betsy quickly changed the subject. "Dr. MacTaggert, is there anything we can do to help with your presentation?"

Moira shook her head. "Not at this point, Betsy. Later on, we might ask for specific anecdotes from missions, but most of those are on record. The most we would need from you…"

As their mentor spoke, Brian tried hard to focus on her words, but something else was creeping into his thoughts: vivid images edged with emotion too potent to ignore. As hard as he tried to stay in the moment, his mind was being pulled away…

He was in the museum by the new exhibit, an ancient mosaic, feeling an ache in his chest mixed with a sense of urgency.

Next he was out on the moors, still feeling panic, but now the ache was a steady pain.

Then he was in a vast, ruined city, feeling a deep sense of guilt and sadness that almost blocked out the tiredness in his lungs, before a large door rimmed in light started to open…

"WANDA!"

Toad's cry shook Brian out of his trance, in time to see Toad dive to catch Scarlet Witch before she fell. "Sweetums, are you okay? What's wrong?"

Wanda was glassy-eyed for several seconds, before she jerked back with a gasp. "The museum!" she cried. "We have to get to the museum!"

Polaris looked confused. "Huh?"

"I saw it!" Scarlet Witch insisted. "I saw the new exhibit in my head! Someone is there, waiting for us! We have to go now!"

Cyclops arched an eyebrow. "Jean? Did you get anything?"

Confused, Phoenix shook her head. "Not a thing, Scott."

Sean looked to Betsy. "Bets?"

Betsy shrugged. "I didn't get anything either," she said. "Wanda, are you sure?"

"I'm dead sure, Braddock!" Scarlet Witch shouted. "First I saw the museum, then I saw this big, hilly field covered in mist…"

It was too big a coincidence for Brian to ignore. "…and then you saw an ancient city, and a large glowing door."

Wanda froze. "How did you know?"

"I saw it, too."

Meggan flinched. "Brian…"

"It only just happened, Meggan. I have no more idea what it means than anyone else does."

Cyclops' jaw clenched. "Well whatever it is, it merits investigating."

Brian nodded. "Dr. MacTaggert, can you spare us for the next few hours?"

Moira looked grim. "If whatever or whoever did this can affect you and Scarlet Witch, then I bloody well can!"

Charles was in full agreement. "Logan, Madelyn, would the two of you accompany them to the museum?" he asked. "Something tells me that whatever could affect both Captain Braddock and Wanda is no laughing matter."

Logan's grin bordered on feral. "No worries, Chuck," he said, flexing and retracting his claws. "Whatever's messin' with 'em won't be laughin' either."

"Granted," Madelyn said. "But I hope we can handle this without excessive property damage? We are guests, after all."

Moira chuckled. "That would be much appreciated."

"We're in agreement, then?" Brian asked. "Very well. Shall we be off?"

Sean snorted. "Famous last words, Braddock," he warned. "Famous last words…"

XXXXXXXX

Bayville High, Bayville, New York

"Uh, Kitty? Can we talk for a second?"

Kitty was just fishing out her lunch from her locker when a nervous-looking Amanda approached her. "Sure, Amanda. What's up?" she inquired with a smile. "Need a second opinion on your choice of outfit for your and Kurt's date tonight?"

Amanada chewed the side of her lip. "No, not exactly."

Her classmate's worried tone sent up a red flag. "Oh. This is about Kurt?" Kitty reasoned. "Is everything okay?"

Amanda quickly nodded. "Yeah, everything's fine; we're fine," she answered. "It's just…Kurt and I have been together for a while."

Kitty wasn't sure how to follow. "Yeah..?"

Amanda was blushing. "And…at our age, after being together for so long…it's natural to want to go further, right?"

""Go further"? What are you..?" Kitty began, until she realized what Amanda meant. "Oh!" she exclaimed. "Are you…have you and Kurt..?"

Amanda went redder. "No," she said. "Not yet, anyway."

Kitty frowned. "Is he pressuring you?"

Amanda looked horrified. "No! God, no!" she exclaimed. "Kurt's been nothing but a gentleman! He hasn't even brought it up!" Her blush came back full-force. "I've just…been wondering if I should."

Now Kitty was dumbfounded. "You're kidding."

Amanda looked stricken. "I'm serious, Kitty! Kurt and I love each other, but I know his faith is such a huge deal to him!" she exclaimed. "I've been trying to figure out how we can even talk about it!"

Kitty's mind was still reeling. "Wow. Talk about ironic; usually it's the other way around."

Amanda's smile was bashful. "Maybe," she admitted. "I just needed some advice."

"And you're asking me?"

Amanda shrugged. "Well, I was going to ask either Jean or Aly, but since they're on missions…"

With a dry snort, Kitty put her hands on her hips. "Gee, thanks."

"Kitty! You know what I mean!" Amanda said. "They're the only girl students at the Institute that have experience in this matter!" She scrunched her nose. "The only other person I could ask is Madelyn, and…"

"I get it! I get it! No details!"

By then, they had started heading for the cafeteria, and were halfway there when they encountered Tinya, Mark, and an anxious-looking Cassie. Spotting Kitty, Tinya smiled. "Hey, Kit," she greeted, as her smile became a bit strained. "Cassie was just telling us about a little problem of hers."

'Oh, why not?' Kitty thought to herself. "Sure. What's the problem?"

Cassie sighed. "You're friends with that guy Rudy, right?" she asked. "Can you get him to lay off?"

Kitty was automatically worried. "Why? Has he been harassing you?"

Now Cassie looked a bit guilty. "Not exactly," she admitted. "He's just been talking to me all the time, and saying what a big hero he's going to be once he joins the League. At first it wasn't a big deal, but now…"

"…now it has become bothersome," Mark reasoned.

Cassie sighed. "Basically."

Kitty put her hand to her forehead. "Don't worry, Cassie; we'll talk to him."

"Thanks." Cassie managed a smile. "So what's new with you guys?"

Amanda flushed. "Nothing."

Mark blinked. "Your heart-rate has elevated from basal readings, Amanda. Are you attempting to deceive us?"

Tinya poked her boyfriend with her elbow. "It could be something embarrassing, Mark."

"Oh. My apologies."

Cassie quickly changed the subject. "I heard on the radio that there's been rioting in London," she said. "Apparently this "Army of Apocalypse" faced down the Justice League, including Superman, not even an hour ago."

Kitty flinched. 'His first day back, and Clark has to deal with those psychos?' "Yeah," was all she could say.

Cassie looked grave. "Superman's been MIA for the past little while," she added. "Is he okay?"

Kitty forced a smile as best she could. "We hope so, Cassie. We hope so."

XXXXXXXX

London, United Kingdom, a few minutes earlier

"Down with the League!"

"Traitor!"

"Evolution will not be stopped!"

As the assembled Army of Apocalypse – several hundred strong, all in blue trenchcoats, blue-painted faces and hair, brandishing clubs, knives, and Molotov cocktails ready to light – Superman folded his arms and held his peace as he stood between them and the news crew. A few feet back to his right, Green Arrow was perched on an overhead ledge, a cluster of net-arrows nocked in his bow, the bowstring taut as he held it. To Superman's left, Hawkgirl had already extended her mace, the Nth Metal crackling as Shayera flexed her wings for a quick takeoff. Glancing over his shoulder, Superman tried not to let his worry creep into his voice. "Everything okay back there, guys?"

Behind them, Green Lantern and Aquaman were seeing to the news crew. The anchorwoman and one of the cameramen had only minor bruises and more than mild panic, but the other cameraman's leg was pinned under a flipped van, which Lantern and Aquaman were both holding steady, to keep him stable. "We're managing," Green Lantern said, "but we'll be better once that ambulance gets here."

In tears, the anchorwoman – the girlfriend of the pinned cameraman – inched closer to hold her beau's hand in between choked screams. "J-Just hang on, baby!" she pleaded. "We'll get you out of there soon!"

A sudden motion drew Superman's attention back to the shouting mob, in time to see its spokesman – the bald mutant youth from the video-clip – move out in front, his hands briefly glowing with heat before they went cold. "Get out of the way, Kryptonian pig!" he sneered. "We have every right to protest here!"

Superman's mind was already evaluating the spokesman. 'That was real heat coming from his hands, and his temperature is higher than the others – he must have some kind of infrared projection ability, so he'd be more susceptible to cold, if it comes to that.' "No-one's saying you don't," he replied calmly, his arms folded. "You don't, however, have the right to endanger those people any further." He arched an eyebrow. "And call me crazy, but when I last checked, you didn't need weapons to protest."

The youth didn't let up. "Those humans are spies; pawns of the corrupt human regime! They're as guilty as the rest of them!"

As the rest of the mob shouted and cursed, Hawkgirl gripped her mace tighter. "See what we meant?"

"Unfortunately, yes," Superman agreed. He looked back to the mob. "Protest peacefully all you want, but you're not touching a hair on their heads."

The youth laughed. "And who'll stop us? You?" he spat. "You turned tail and ran, for the past three weeks! Where were you, you coward?"

Superman's strained good humour vanished. "Somewhere that would turn your hair white, boy," he replied, before he chuckled dryly. "So to speak."

The spokesman's arrogance briefly faded to fright, as he took a few steps back. Superman thought he was going to turn and run, but his fear vanished as quickly as it came…or maybe something – or someone – forced it out. "The Army of Apocalypse will not yield to you costumed buffoons!" he shouted. "Neither you nor the idiot Xavier's children can stop us!"

The insult to the Professor all but confirmed Superman's suspicions. His eyes swept the mob back and forth, trying to spot the mind behind them. "Why does Apocalypse even need an army?" he challenged. "And why are you hiding behind one, Haller?" He discreetly glanced to Green Arrow.

Oliver understood immediately, and began roving his own eyes over the mob. "If the Haller kid is here, he's either far, far in the back, or he's just within TP-range," he whispered.

Superman frowned as he heard that. His eyes kept sweeping the mob for some telltale sign that David – or Lucas, more likely – was there, but he stopped as he heard the approaching sirens of an ambulance. "Lantern, access the emergency frequency; have EMS come in through the building behind us!"

The mob's leader had heard it, too. "Comrades! The time for talking is over!" The mob's voices exploded at that, as they let fly with handfuls of rotten fruit.

At Superman's signal, Hawkgirl and Green Arrow stood by, while Superman discreetly deflected the flying produce with minute puffs of gale-breath. Once the last tomato had fallen to the wayside, Superman briefly relaxed…until he saw the lit Molotov cocktail come arcing towards the pinned cameraman. Moving fast, he took aim and unleashed a puff of frozen breath, freezing the cocktail solid – including the flame – and killing its momentum, sending it crashing to the ground in front of his feet, where it shattered.

The mob's leader took that as his opportunity. With a crazed look in his eye, the youth ran at Superman to grab his throat, his hands heating up as he did so. "Now you can burn along with corrupt humanity, Kryptonian pig!"

The heat of the air was sweltering, and laced with the smell of smoke and burning flesh, carrying the howls of the agonized hunger dogs and quarry workers…

The actual heat of the punk's touch barely caused any pain, but the proximity to his face, coupled with his sense of smell, made Superman briefly flash back to Apokolips. 'It's not real. I'm not there,' he told himself, as he grabbed the punk's wrists and squeezed just enough to break his grip. At the sound of creaking bone, the youth yelped and stumbled back, while a cross Superman stepped forward. "That's enough out of you," he growled, as he reached out and flicked the punk in the chest.

The impact of his finger sent the mob-leader flying back, toppling over a dozen of his cohorts before he came to a stop. Coughing, the punk sat up, and pointed at them. "The corrupt Justice League shows its true colors!" he accused. "They stand against the mutant people! GET THEM!"

Superman could have smacked himself. 'Well, I walked into that one.' "Lantern, bottleneck these guys!" he instructed. "We have to hold them off as long as possible! Everyone else, keep an eye out for Haller! He has to be the one pulling their strings!"

Generating another ring-construct, Green Lantern formed an emerald wall just a few feet ahead of Superman, which blocked off all but about two dozen of the charging rioters. One of the rioters was about to toss another cocktail, but Green Arrow let his bowstring fly; the cluster of net-arrows easily snared the would-be firebomber and two of his cohorts, pinning them to the ground.

With the remaining rioters closing fast, Superman took a deep breath, aimed down, and exhaled, breathing frost over the street directly ahead of him. The roads iced over in seconds, faster than the fanatics at the front could respond to; yelping with alarm, the three in the lead slipped and fell flat on their faces, taking two more with them. Stepping over their fallen brethren, three more rioters closed on Superman. Turning his skin to what looked like rock, the first one swung at Superman, who stepped into his strike, blocking as he did, to grab his wrist and twist, forcing the rocky youth into a takedown. Once he'd subdued the first one, Superman quickly rolled to the side, evading the energy stream that the second rioter had shot from her hands. As he came back up, the third rioter, brandishing a metal pipe for a club, swung at him, prompting Superman to flex his right hand just so, and parry with a back-fist strike.

FWWAAAP!

The miniature plasma-blade generator he'd built into his gloves worked beautifully; in mere nanoseconds, a thin, spearhead-shaped blade had extended from the back of his glove's hand, in time to cleave the rioter's weapon in two. Startled, the punk didn't have time to react as Superman grabbed his collar and tossed him into the second rioter, at which point he froze them to the wall with another puff of frost-breath.

Noting her teammate's upgrades and tactics, Hawkgirl gave an approving nod. "Not bad!" she remarked, as she twisted her mace's handle, blunting its spikes, before she ducked under the swing of a rioter, and countered by slamming him in the chest, knocking him away. As two more came at her, Hawkgirl spun on her heel, slamming them with the muscled bulk of her wings, sending them flying back. "Lantern! What's the word on those paramedics?"

With a wince, Green Lantern strained to hold the barrier blocking the rest of the mob, before he glanced to his right. "They're here!" he reported. "They just need some breathing room! Hawkgirl, Arrow, keep 'em covered!"

Spotting another five rioters closing on the paramedics' location, Green Arrow let loose a pair of smokescreen arrows; the arrows hit the road just ahead of the rioters, shrouding them in a cloud of irritating haze. With the fanatics disoriented and coughing, Hawkgirl quickly took to the air, and dive-bombed them, kicking one into two others, knocking them out. One tried to swing at her, but Hawkgirl blocked his strike with the shaft of her mace, and grabbed his arm to twist him into a submission hold, followed by a fast chop to his temple to knock him out. As the smokescreen started to dissipate, the fifth rioter saw that he was alone, and quickly dropped to his knees, his hands going to his head.

With their way clear, the paramedics made a beeline for the pinned cameraman. Two of them quickly began checking their patient, while the third inserted a miniature hand-jack under the van to stabilize it. "We've got him, Aquaman; you can move clear."

His hands free, Aquaman was able to fire his grapple-hand at the light-post in the middle of the fracas; the hook snagged the metal of the pole, allowing him to pull himself into the brawl and slam one Molotov-wielding rioter with a haymaker, and then catch his projectile and snuff out the flaming rag. Spotting three more rioters closing on Aquaman, Green Arrow laid down three flash-bang arrows, stunning them easily. He was about to snare them with a net-arrow, when he spotted the real prize. "Superman! I have a fix on Haller! He's at the back of the mob on your three!"

Turning in the direction Arrow had indicated, Superman quickly activated his thermal vision, his eyes going electric blue as he scanned for anomalous heat-sources – like pyrokinetic abilities – before he hit pay-dirt: two bright orange silhouettes, accompanied by six more normal ones, fleeing through an alley. Taking to the air, Superman flew over the fleeing David – in the form of Lucas – and landed just in front of him and his lackeys, cutting off their escape. "Leaving your own party so soon, Haller? That's a bit rude."

The sight of him momentarily surprised Lucas, which caused his telepathic grip on his followers to waver. One of the cooler six looked confused. "Huh? What's going on?"

The other pyrokinetic – the spokesman from earlier – glared at the other six. "Stand fast, brothers! Do not let this cowardly alien spook you!"

Superman folded his arms. "I'm only asking once, Haller," he warned. "What's Nur's game-plan here? I know he didn't just send you here to cause trouble just for the sake of causing trouble…"

…and then he was suddenly in a museum corridor, surrounded by ancient artefacts. Seconds later, he was on a misty plain, by a gnarled old tree, and then he was in the middle of a vast, advanced-looking city, coated with dust, in front of an old man…

With a gasp, Superman shook himself out of whatever that had been. 'What the hell..?'

Lucas didn't miss his distraction. "We need to bloody move!" he shouted. "We can't afford to lose this guy, now that he's drawn out! We'll cover you!" With that, he started to generate a massive fireball, and took aim. Next to him, the spokesman started to form his own heat-blast, aiming at a spot just to the right of Lucas' target. A quick glance made Superman's blood chill: Lucas was aiming at a power-line next to an apartment building, while his comrade had targeted a nearby fuel tanker.

Either one could decimate the apartment, and he couldn't stop both at once, unless…

His eyes narrowed, Superman briefly tapped his uniform's crest before he darted ahead of Lucas' shot, pointing at the tanker as he did. "Remote Shield!" At his order, his crest briefly flashed, and generated a globe of golden energy – solar energy – that flowed along his arm, to fly in front of the other shot, morphing into a diamond-shaped shield that blocked the heat-surge easily. Steadying himself, Superman unleashed a wide burst of freezing-breath, quelling Lucas' fires before they hit. As Lucas' flame hit the icy cloud, both were consumed in a burst of steam that engulfed the street…and when Superman reactivated his thermal vision, Lucas and his cronies were gone.

Superman groaned. "Damn," he muttered, before he tapped his communicator. "Guys, what's the situation?"

"Mostly contained, Superman. They're all running for it; we're just grabbing up the stragglers," Green Lantern answered. "It's as if they all just lost their nerve, all at the same time."

Superman nodded. "That fits with what I saw here; I'd say that's proof positive that Haller is controlling most of them, save the diehard believers," he answered. "But I think we have another problem. This riot may have been a distraction; Haller's target is someone in the museum! I overheard him mention they were after someone!"

"Why the hell would this guy be in the museum?"

Superman closed his eyes. "I'm not sure of that myself," he admitted. "That part I saw in some kind of…I don't know what it was."

Green Lantern paused. "Look, Kal…"

"I'm not hallucinating, Lantern. I can't explain it, but I know what I saw was real," Superman insisted. "I heard Haller mention that he was here after someone, just before I saw it; it can't be a coincidence! Their target has to be in the museum!"

Green Lantern was silent for a few seconds. "You're sure about this?"

"Dead sure, Lantern. Whoever's there has a target painted on his back; we need to find him before Haller does!"

There was a few more seconds of silence before he got his response. "Okay, Kal. If you're sure, we're with you."

Superman smiled. "Then let's move!" he declared. With that, he took to the sky, flying towards the Museum.

XXXXXXXX

British Museum of Natural History, a few minutes earlier

"Uh…Sweetums? You're sure about this, right?"

As the handful of X-Men, as well as Excalibur, quietly walked through the Museum halls, Scarlet Witch nodded to her boyfriend's inquiry. "I'm positive, Todd. There's someone here."

Cyclops' hand was tensed, ready to tap his visor. "Phoenix? Psylocke? Can either of you sense anything?"

Phoenix had been focusing the entire time, only to shake her head. "Nothing, Cyclops. We're talking a total psychic blackout. Either this guy has crazy good mental shields, or no-one's here."

Captain Britain arched an eyebrow. "Betsy?"

Psylocke looked equally lost. "Nothing here either, Brian."

Still tense, Wolverine sniffed the air, only to scowl. "Damn. All I'm gettin' is dust."

Siryn's hand was glowing as she scanned the area with her mystic senses. "There is definitely a magical presence here," she noted, "but it's old; I can't tell if it's from these artefacts, or from someone else."

Black Canary snorted. "Well, that's helpful."

Siryn looked annoyed at that remark, but Cyclops stepped in before it escalated. "This isn't helping, Canary," he said. "Captain, when you saw the museum, what exactly did you see?"

Captain Britain thought hard. "I saw the new exhibit," he recalled. "Yes! It was an exhibit describing an old mosaic!"

"Then that's where we'll start," Cyclops said. "We need to split up and find that exhibit; once someone spots it, we call out for the others! Let's move!" Nodding in agreement, the entire team split up and began their search.

Despite the urgency of the situation, Scarlet Witch couldn't help but look over some of the artefacts on display, some of which dated back thousands – or even tens of thousands – of years ago. "If these could talk, what would they say, I wonder?"

Toad was glancing at a few displays a few feet down. "Beats me," he said. "The guys who found 'em sure aren't sayin' much. Nobody has any info on who made 'em, if these displays are anything to go b – huh?" Toad paused. "Hey, Wanda?" he asked. "This mosaic thing, it's basically just a big wall painting made outta tiles, right?"

Scarlet Witch nodded. "It's not necessarily on a wall, Todd, but the rest is right."

Toad pointed to an exhibit just a few feet ahead of him. "Like that one?"

Pausing to follow her boyfriend's pointing finger, Scarlet Witch gasped as she saw a section of wall framed inside glass, composed of countless coloured tiles depicting an ancient city, with a series of esoteric glyphs at the base. "Yes! Todd, that's it!" she exclaimed. "Everyone, over here!" At once, she and Toad ran for the exhibit...where they heard it.

As they stopped in front of the mosaic, the sound of a feeble cough drew their attention to the left, where an old man, draped in a tattered overcoat, was sitting on a bench. Toad looked concerned. "Hey mister, you okay?"

Struggling to his feet, the old man hacked again. "I have had better days, Theodore."

"Well, dang, you should go see a – wait a minute!" Toad leapt back. "H-How'd you know my name?"

The old man chuckled. "Oh, I know a great deal more than that, Theodore Randall Tolansky," he said. "And of you, Wanda Erszebet Lensherr…my pardon, Maximoff. I am glad that you answered my call in time."

Scarlet Witch felt herself go pale. "Who are you?"

The old man hacked again. "I have been called many things," he said, "but my name – my true name – is Myrdden." He paused to catch his breath. "But that is neither here nor there. We must flee here; we have precious little time..!"

"Oh, bugger me! I don't believe it!"

Turning to look behind them, Scarlet Witch tensed as she saw Lucas there, laughing his butt off. "Here I thought Nur's "old enemy" would be some kinda bloody badass, but all I see is some dried-up old fart! This'll be easier than I thought!"

Wanda readied her hex-bolts, while Toad moved to her right to back her up. "You sure about that, Haller?" she hissed.

Lucas formed twin fireballs in response. "Damn right I'm sure, luv," he sneered, as he let the fireballs fly…

…only to have them slam into a telekinetic wall.

Lucas' expression turned sour as he saw the rest of the X-Men and Excalibur assemble. "Shoulda known," he muttered. "You snotty sods never go anywhere without backup, do you?"

Dropping her TK barrier, Phoenix kept her mental walls up as she readied a psychic blast. "You've got nowhere to go, Haller."

Siryn had a spell-bolt ready. "Tell us what Nur is planning, and we may be merciful."

Lucas laughed. "Now that's funny," he mocked, "considering I was about to tell you prats that!"

Sniffing the air again, Wolverine growled and popped out his claws. "We got company!"

The moment he said that, about two dozen figures – all clad in the blue overcoats of the Army of Apocalypse – started to pour into the museum. Psylocke grimaced. "Bloody hell, that wanker must have blocked their thoughts to let them sneak up on us!" she cursed.

Lucas shrugged. "Normally, I'd be happy to have me boys tear you lot apart – if only to see the look on the old man's face – but right now, I'm in a bit of a hurry," he said. "So I'll make you a deal: hand over the old man, and you can walk."

Cyclops glared at him. "Forget it, Haller!"

Lucas grinned. "Was hoping you'd say that, Summers," he sneered. "Get 'em, boys!"

With eerie synchronicity, the Army of Apocalypse charged them, forcing Phoenix to raise a TK-wall to hold them back, giving Cyclops time to plan as the others regrouped. "Jean, Psylocke, how many of these guys can you shut down telepathically?"

Since Phoenix was busy, Psylocke did a quick mental sweep, and scowled. "Not bloody many! Haller's got some sort of link to all of them! It keeps them under control while keeping us out!"

Captain Britain nodded. "Then he is the linchpin," he observed. "Fell him, and the rest won't be far behind."

Cyclops thought fast. "Captain, you, Psylocke and I will take Haller. Siryn, Canary, Banshee, we'll need you three to make an opening for us. Everyone else, keep these tools back, and definitely keep this guy safe! Let's move!"

Banshee grinned. "Works for me!" he chortled. "Sis and sis, whenever you're both ready?"

Black Canary groaned. "I'm never getting used to that," she muttered, as she and Siryn formed up beside him, aiming at Lucas as they took a deep breath, just as Phoenix lowered part of her shield.

The resulting sonic explosion – from three perfectly overlapping screams – blasted half of their attackers clear across the room, giving Cyclops, Captain Britain, and Psylocke the opening they needed to charge Lucas. Recovering quickly, three of the remaining half moved to intercept the Captain…which infuriated Meggan. With a feral roar, the young metamorph assumed her monstrous state, grabbing one of the trio and using him like a baseball bat to knock the other two away, before tossing him to the side and resuming her normal form.

With the dozen blasted by the sonic wave starting to recover, Toad moved as fast as he could, hopping in and out of their formations to paste them with his slime, giving Havok and Scarlet Witch time to line up their shots. Firing in tandem, the two managed to fell a half-dozen targets that Toad had painted for them, until several started drawing weapons – two pulled knives, and one drew a pistol – prompting Polaris to project a magnetic field that yanked their weapons from their hands, mashing them into one useless lump of metal.

Their way cleared, Cyclops laid down several covering blasts from his visor, forcing Lucas to duck, while Psylocke began to telepathically jam him. Wincing from the growing pressure in his head, Lucas changed tactics, and relinquished the reins as he morphed into David. As Psylocke lost her grip on his mind, David quickly countered with his own psychic assault, forcing her to defend herself and her teammates. Their minds free from harassment, Cyclops and Captain Britain were able to easily close on David. "Are you proud of yourself, Haller?" Cyclops accused. "Was it worth siding with that monster? Just because you couldn't deal with the Professor's one mistake? Was it WORTH it?"

With a smirk, David shifted back to Lucas. "Hell yes it was!" he crowed, as he unleashed twin streams of flame at them. Darting to opposite sides, Cyclops laid down more cover-fire, giving the Captain time to close and slam Lucas with an uppercut. Lucas went flying back, but managed to land on his feet, morphing into Ian as he landed. Racing at Brian, the diminutive morph zipped between his legs to close on Psylocke, and send her flying with a TK-surge, before resuming the form of David…at which point Cyclops and the Captain felt agony race through their heads.

Claws bared, Wolverine let loose a double-slash strike, slicing one thug in the thigh and clipping a second on the shoulder as they raced at the old man, their charge repelled. "You good, Mads?"

As she telekinetically launched three thugs out through a nearby window, Madelyn beamed. "Never better!" she replied. "And I believe that puts me in the lead, by the way."

Wolverine snorted. "Keep dreamin', Red," he muttered, as he blocked one goon's knife strike – his claws slicing apart the knife on impact – and followed with a hard push-kick that knocked him into two more. Annoyed, Wolverine glared at the old man. "Okay, Pops, time to spill: what the hell did you do to get Nur so pissed?"

Myrdden coughed. "'Tis an old injury that my comrades and I once dealt him," he said. "But I wager he fears I could deal him a new one."

Wolverine laughed. "Right. I'll believe that when I see it."

Glancing at Cyclops and Captain Britain almost on their knees, Myrdden scowled. "Then so you shall," he vowed. "Ithra'…" he began…before he erupted in a fit of coughing, forcing him to clear his throat. "Oh, blast these aged lungs…ITHRA'NOK!"

The invocation of that single word sent a wave of silver energy through the room, snaring every single member of the Army of Apocalypse and freezing them in motion. Madelyn's eyes went wide. "What on Earth..?"

David was similarly astounded. His focus gone, he looked around. "How..?"

His eyes narrowed with sheer fury, Myrdden steeled himself. "You have caused enough mischief for one day, foul brat!" he thundered, as he simply gestured to David…who was instantly thrown back against the wall, and held there with crushing force. Myrdden gestured up, and David was slammed against the ceiling. Myrdden then pointed to a nearby window, and David was thrown through it, out of the Museum. Taking a few deep breaths, Myrdden looked to the still-frozen Army of Apocalypse. "And as for you wretched lot…BE OFF WITH YOU!" With that, he clapped his hands…and the entire frozen mob, one by one, winked away in flashes of white light.

As Myrdden erupted in a coughing fit, the X-Men and Excalibur could only gape. "Dear God…" Captain Britain murmured.

"Holy CRAP," Scarlet Witch added.

Blinking, Wolverine retracted his claws. "Okay. Starting to see why Nur's on edge about this guy."

Still coughing, Myrdden eased himself onto a nearby bench. "En Sabah Nur," he said bitterly to himself. "Oh, dear brother, how I wonder if we were right in how we dealt with him."

Still massaging his temples to ease the residual ache in his head, Cyclops took a few steps towards Myrdden. "You've actually fought Apocalypse before?"

Myrdden nodded. "'Twas a most pyrrhic victory, in retrospect."

Toad was dumbfounded. "Hold up. If you fought Apoc…and Apoc was around back in the days of the pyramids…that makes you…how old?"

Myrdden was about to answer, but the echo of a sonic boom in the distance made his eyes go wide. "I cannot tarry here," he said softly, as he stood up. "The star-child will have questions that I annot answer yet – not with Nur's ears so near! I must go!"

Phoenix moved to stop him. "Sir, wait! We still need to know…"

Myrdden interrupted her. "All will be explained soon, Jean Grey," he said, as he put his hands to her head. "You need only find me." At his touch, Phoenix suddenly stiffened…

They were upon a misty plain, in front of a gnarled old tree. There were swirling letters of glowing light carved into the bark, as the tree itself began to glow…and then they were in an ancient city, coated with dust, with Myrdden waiting for them…

As one, the entire team gasped as the vision abruptly ended…with Myrdden nowhere to be seen. "Holy…what the hell was that?" Wolverine shouted.

Scarlet Witch was still dizzy from the vision. "I don't know," she murmured, "but I think Myrdden just gave us his home address."

Captain Britain sputtered. "What did you say?"

"I said he showed us where to go."

Brian shook his head. "But what name did you say?"

Toad scratched his head. "She said Myrdden, man. That's what the old guy said he was called. What's the big deal?"

Before Captain Britain could answer, a familiar red-blue streak raced into the Museum, coming to a stop in front of them. "Is everyone okay?" Superman asked, as Hawkgirl, Green Lantern, Aquaman and Green Arrow – the latter two lifted by Green Lantern's ring-field – followed him shortly after.

Cyclops nodded. "We're good, Superman," he said…before he realized that this was the first time they'd seen their friend in far too long. "Better now that you're back with us."

Superman's smile was regretful. "Yeah, this wasn't how I planned for me to see you guys again: a couple minutes too late."

Siryn chuckled. "We are capable of managing things ourselves, Kal."

Perplexed, Aquaman scratched his head as he looked around. "Haller was here already? We only just dealt with him across town!"

Green Lantern scowled. "Punk must've had a Boom-Tube," he groused. "At least tell me we have whoever he was after."

Madelyn shook her head. "No, Corpsman, but we know where he most likely is: he left us a vision of some kind of an ancient city and a gnarled tree in the mists…after dispensing with Haller and his goons. Whoever this man is, he is a powerful mage of some kind."

Brian nodded. "Yes, and that only lends credence to who I suspect he is!" he added. "Apparently, Scarlet Witch and Toad heard him call himself Myrdden!"

Superman did a double-take. "You're kidding."

"Okay, is somebody gonna let us in on the big deal?" Toad exclaimed. "Seriously! We're in the dark!"

"Todd," Superman said softly, "according to Arthurian legend…Myrdden was supposed to be the birth name of Merlin."

Now everyone looked incredulous. "You have got to be joking," Black Canary said.

Havok's hands went to his head. "Holy…you mean…that was..?"

"Bloody hell," Banshee muttered. "If that was him, he's bloody well-preserved."

Psylocke nodded. "Yeah, and he hasn't lost his touch."

"We can discuss this later," Superman said, as he strode to the exit. "Right now, we need to find this Myrdden, and fast; if Apocalypse is after him, then obviously he knows something that can…"

He passed by the mural that Wanda had seen earlier…and froze in his tracks. "What…how..?"

Phoenix blinked. "Uh, Kal? I don't think this is a good time for art appreciation."

Superman looked haunted as he gestured to the mural. "Jean…those are Kryptonese characters on that mural."

At that, the others moved closer to get a better look. Now that Wanda thought about it, the esoteric glyphs on the mural did kinda look like the text that popped up on the Argo's HUD, the few times she'd seen it. "What does it say?"

"Yeah, and how the hell did it get there?" Wolverine asked. "Didn't think you guys came here until 500 years ago."

"Neither did I, other than the occasional Contactor survey," Superman murmured. "It's an older dialect, but I'm pretty sure it says: "To all sons and daughters of Krypton to come: under no circumstances allow this planet to be taken by…" and then it stops."

Meggan blinked. "Taken by who?"

Green Lantern looked grave. "Three guesses."

Toad scratched his head. "So Merlin is real, and we've had ancient Kryptonian astronauts in the past," he said. "Dang, this day is getting weird."

"No kidding," Aquaman agreed. "Obviously we need to find this guy, and fast. What was the next clue?"

"A gnarled tree, out on the moors," Captain Britain said. "That was the next part of the vision."

"Then that's where we need to go," Superman replied. "Let's move, guys!" No-one argued, as the entire team headed out of the Museum…

…with no idea what they would find.

XXXXXXXX

Kent Farm, Smallville, Kansas

'What am I doing here?'

As he and Rokk touched down on the outskirts of the Kent farm – where Scott Free and Barda now resided, along with one other – Lar suppressed a gulp. 'I'm just helping Rokk assess two refugees from Apokolips,' he told himself. 'It'll help ensure a detailed and accurate report to the Confederacy, and if Kara – Supergirl – is willing to assist, that's just fine.'

Despite how reasonable that sounded, it didn't explain why his palms were so sweaty. 'Cool it, Gand. You weren't this nervous when you told the old man you were leaving Daxam and that he could take his traditions and stuff them up his…'

"Well, Lar, we're here."

Rokk's voice drew Lar's mind back to the present moment. "You're sure you want to tag along?" his colleague asked. "This should be a simple interview; it shouldn't need two of us."

Lar nodded. "I'm sure, Rokk," he replied. "What's that Earth saying? "Two heads are better than one"?"

Rokk shrugged. "Okay, if you say so," he conceded, as he strode through the farm gate. "They should be just around here."

After a few minutes of walking, Rokk and Lar found Scott and Barda in the main yard. At the moment, Barda was in the middle of a series of push-ups, her Fury armour exchanged for a red tank-top and blue track pants. Scott, who was looking out at the Kansas horizon, had donned a white t-shirt and blue jeans. As the two Constables approached, Scott glanced in their direction. "Good afternoon, Constables. What can we do for you?"

"We're compiling a report to send to the Confederacy on the incident with Apokolips," Rokk said. "We were hoping to speak with the two of you."

At those words, Scott gulped, while Barda stopped, and stood up, a frown on her face. "Must you?" she asked.

"It's okay, Barda," Scott said. "I can talk about it."

Barda fixed him with a stricken gaze. "You shouldn't have to, Scott," she replied. "Living through all that was enough; you don't need to re-live it..!"

"If it helps stop Darkseid's cruelty, then yes I do," Scott insisted, as he turned back to Rokk and Lar. "This report, will it help stop Darkseid?"

Lar nodded. "Anything that you tell us about Darkseid's operations will help inform and develop the Confederacy's strategy to counter him," he said. "The more we know how he operates, the better."

Scott sighed. "Okay," he agreed. "I assume that you've already heard that his ultimate goal is the Anti-Life Equation, right?" Rokk and Lar nodded. "Well, in the meantime, his goal is to remake the universe – as much of it as he can get his hands on – in his own image, which essentially means like Apokolips." He took a deep breath. "When Darkseid conquers a world, his infantry forces – the Parademons – will swarm the defending force. They're basically shock-troops, utterly expendable to him; they've been taken from either Apokolips' own population or from any other world he's visited, subjected to horrifically painful augmentation, and force-fed Godfrey's propaganda until they are willing to die for Darkseid. With the Parademons engaging the defenders, Darkseid's capital ships will escort the three Pyraformer Engines into position. These are basically massive drills that bore into a planet, right down to the core, to form three massive magma-geysers that will allow his industrial complex to access every mineral resource the planet has…which pumps countless amounts of carbon and caustic vapours into the atmosphere." He scrunched his eyes. "And the planet basically becomes another clone of Apokolips."

Rokk looked grim. "And from what you've heard, has any world that has come under attack been able to repel Darkseid's invasion?"

Scott shook his head. "None in my lifetime. Godfrey always made sure to cram word of every victory into our ears," he whispered. "I hate to admit it, but I don't know of any way to stop him. He's like Galactus: once he's at your world's door, there's just no way to…to…"

When Scott couldn't go on, Barda moved to his side, scowling at Rokk and Lar. "Are the two of you satisfied?"

Lar flinched. "Ma'am, we realize that this is difficult…"

""Difficult"?" Barda hissed. "Unless you've actually been there, you have no clue what Apokolips is like, regardless of whether you were a victim or a collaborator!" Her expression turned haunted. "I honestly don't know what's worse: the things they do to you, or the things they make you do…"

"Is everything alright?"

The voice of Martha Kent drew Lar's gaze to the side, where he spotted Commander El's adopted mother…along with Supergirl. Swallowing to wet his throat, Lar nodded. "Of course, ma'am. Constable Krinn and I were just following up with Scott and Barda."

At Barda's glower, Rokk quickly looked to Martha. "We're pretty much done here, Mrs. Kent. We were just about to leave."

"Oh," Martha remarked. "Well, Kara was just helping me throw a bit of lunch together; you'd be welcome to join us."

Lar was about to reply, when he noticed Supergirl's expression, which had been growing more anguished by the minute. He was about to ask what was wrong, when she turned and darted away. Martha was surprised. "Was it something I said?"

Lar felt something in his chest twist at Kara's pained expression. "I'll go get her," he said, before he turned and raced after her.

Not for the first time, he was immensely grateful that the yellow sun gave him similar abilities to Superman. He'd have never been able to keep pace with Kara, otherwise.

He caught up with her on a ridge overlooking one of the fields near the farm's border fence. Kara had stopped running, and was crouching on the ridge, her arms wrapped around herself, her eyes wide. "Captain?" Lar asked, walking towards her slowly. "Kara?"

Kara's eyes scrunched shut. "I'm…I'm sorry," she said, as she stood up and turned away from him. "That was unprofessional of me. I…I shouldn't have just run off like…"

"Kara." Lar's voice was firm but gentle as he moved to her side, his hand on her shoulder. "What is it?"

Kara sniffled. "I…I just couldn't listen to any more. It's…it's just so much…" she whimpered. "First I find out that my world and my people were assassinated, then my cousin gets taken, and then I find out that the one who took him orchestrated the whole thing, and could come back and do the same to Earth at any..!"

"He won't, Kara," Lar promised. "We – all of us – won't let that happen."

Her eyes teary, Kara turned towards him…and then hugged him, her voice was whisper-soft. "You promise?"

Fighting the burning in his cheeks, Lar returned the embrace. "I promise," he said…as he hoped to all the cosmos he was right.

XXXXXXXX

London

'Ugh…bugger, Dave, whatever that old coot did messed me up. Take over for a tick, will you?'

As Lucas' mental voice faded into the background of his thoughts, David found himself on a London street, with a handful of his men, who were just as bruised as he was. "Is everyone okay?" he asked.

A chorus of groans answered him. "Dammit, Legion, you never said this guy was a ringer!"

"He damn well could've killed us!"

"I never signed up for this!"

Just a few feet away, the guy Lucas had tapped to be the mouthpiece for this op – who was almost as much of a fanatic as Exodus – bristled. "Cowards, all of you!" he exploded. "Didn't we all swear to follow Apocalypse? Our Pharaoh commanded us to find this interloper! We shall obey him!"

"Well spoken, young one."

Nur's voice made all of David's men freeze on the spot as Apocalypse walked into view, followed by Exodus. Glancing to David, Exodus sneered. "Retreat upon first contact, Haller?" he mocked. "I suppose I should have expected nothing else."

David scowled. "We were bloody thrown out, Ex. Whoever that old man is, he's a bloody powerhouse! If I hadn't called for a retreat when I did, the League would've been on us!"

"You think that an excuse, whelp? With the League at its weakest, you should have..!"

Apocalypse raised his hand. "Be still, my General. Pharaoh speaks." He looked to David's men. "Even in my age, never would so many have flocked to my banner in so short a time," he began, before he frowned. "But quantity alone is insufficient, as today so clearly proves."

Noting the dismayed expressions on his troops' faces – especially the fanatic – Apocalypse chuckled. "Fret not, my soldiers. Today, you are but raw recruits, not yet trained. With time, this will change."

That statement made the gathered mutants pause. "You…would still have us, my Pharaoh?" the spokesman asked. "Even though we failed our mission?"

"Your mission, child, was merely to draw out my old foe, not defeat him," Apocalypse said. "This is a foe that, in my time, even Pharaoh found worthy. A handful of untrained recruits could not have hoped to claim victory. Your true task was to force him into revealing himself…which he has done." Apocalypse smiled cruelly. "And now that he is revealed, I can track him wherever he flees. Even now, Pharaoh senses the coward running for his life beyond this city. That is where we now go."

Exodus was elated. "We await your command, o Pharaoh!"

David could feel Lucas roll his eyes in the back of his mind. 'Bloody hell, Ex's gettin' to be more of a brown-noser, every day.'

If Apocalypse noticed David's inner monologue, he never showed it. "We will advance to the countryside of this pathetic nation, and let the Kryptonian brat and his fellow fools do our work for us," he said. "Once my foe is exposed, we will move in and crush him." He looked to his army. "So let it be written, and let it be done."

David didn't need to say anything; his men answered for him. "WE OBEY!"

Apocalypse smirked. "War. Activate the device."

"Happily, o Master!" Exodus declared, as he drew the teleport device, and switched it on, causing all of them to be swallowed up in a booming flash of light, taking them away.

XXXXXXXX

British countryside, a few minutes earlier

"Cripes, what's with all this fog? Supes, can you see anything?"

Superman had already been sweeping the immediate area with both his X-ray and thermal vision when Toad spoke up. "Not a thing, Todd," he answered. "Whatever this fog is, my guess it's being kicked up by either magic or tech advanced enough to block my eyes…and since this is Merlin, I'd wager on the former."

With a wary frown, Hawkgirl looked around, her hand on her mace. "I don't like this," she muttered. "If Merlin – if that is who this is – wants to see us, why conjure a fog bank?"

Green Lantern looked just as ready to raise his ring. "My guess? It's a last-ditch attempt to keep Nur and Haller off his trail," he said. "So we're looking for a tree? Then what?"

Captain Britain looked regretful. "Apologies, Corpsman. The vision depicted a tree, and then an ancient city, but nothing between those."

"Swell."

Cyclops looked around. "Wolverine?"

Wolverine sniffed the air. "No dice, One-Eye. All I'm getting is dirt and mold. The old coot covered his tracks better than anybody I've ever seen."

Banshee grumbled. "So all we have to go on is some old tree in the middle of the feckin' moors. Brilliant."

After trying – unsuccessfully – to see beyond five feet ahead of them, Havok glanced to Superman. "New uniform, dude?"

Superman shrugged. "Well, since my old one got torn up while I was…elsewhere, I figured I needed a change."

Phoenix smiled gently. "It looks good, Kal," she supplied. "It's more like a uniform."

"Well, you can thank Aly for the aesthetics of it. I just added in a few functional parts."

Siryn arched an eyebrow. "Such as..?"

"The gloves are packing twin Plasma Sabers in the backs, and the chest is built with a Remote Shield Generator to project a limited force-field ahead of me," Superman said, "both of which are powered by either my solar metabolism, or a limited on-board power-supply in the belt should my reserves drop too low."

Psylocke blinked. "You use yourself as a bloody battery?"

"It's worked so far."

Wolverine snorted. "Blades in your gloves, Flyboy? You musclin' in on my gimmick?"

Madelyn laughed. "Well, you know what they say, Logan: imitation is the sincerest form of flattery."

Black Canary rolled her eyes. "If you're finished, does anyone have any good ideas how to find this tree?"

They had just walked up a hill as she said that…which caused Captain Britain to freeze. "I know this place."

Meggan looked at her boyfriend with anxious eyes. "Bri?"

"My dream, this morning. This was the place I dreamed of! I'm sure of it!" the Captain exclaimed. "I saw a monster chasing a little girl, right around here…and I ran down to help from that direction," he pointed east, "before which I was hiding in an old hollow tree! That has to be it!"

Green Arrow shrugged. "It sounds nuts, but it beats anything we've got so far."

Superman nodded. "Lead the way, Captain."

Captain Britain was already in motion, dashing east towards another hill. "Aha!" he declared. "Found it!" Once the others caught up, they found him next to a gnarled, hollowed-out old tree – the tree from the vision.

Aquaman scratched his head. "Okay. We found it," he said. "Now what?"

Siryn's eyes were closed as she swept a glowing hand over the area. "This tree has definitely been enchanted," she reported. "Old magic, too; I've never seen the like of it." She opened her eyes. "I can't say for sure, but it appears to be a teleportation spell."

Polaris blinked as she stepped towards the tree. "So how do we activate it?"

As Polaris – the last one to approach the tree – came to a stop, a large, glowing runic circle flared into life under their feet, and engulfed them all in light. When the flash faded, Superman looked around. "I think we just did."

No longer were they upon the misty moors, but within a massive, underground cavern…with an expansive, ancient city spread before them. Black Canary's mouth dropped open. "Whoa."

Cyclops looked worried. "Where are we?" he asked aloud. "Superman? Can you see how deep underground we are?"

Superman's eyes flared electric-blue as he looked around. "We're deep."

"Yeah, but how deep?"

Superman closed his eyes. "Magma-deep, Scott. Whatever this place is, it's surrounded by an energy-field over a cobalt shell to protect it from the earth's mantle…which has the added effect of jamming comms with Sentrius. She won't be able to use the Point-to-Point Generator to 'port us out in an emergency."

Banshee paled. "Bugger. You mean we're bloody stuck here?"

"For the time being."

Black Canary's expression was sour. "Merlin had better have one hell of a good explanation for this."

Aquaman looked haunted. "I think he might," he whispered. "Guys…doesn't this place remind you of anything?"

At his words, the others took a closer look at the city's architecture. Green Lantern paled. "Jesus…"

Superman mirrored his expression. "Arthur, this is…it's almost exactly like…"

"…Atlantis," Aquaman finished. "Some of the finer details are different, and this city looks like it might be a bit bigger, but there's no mistaking it: this city was built by the same people that built Atlantis."

"Huh," Wolverine said. "That sounds like a pretty damn good explanation."

As he happened to look into the city, Green Arrow froze. "Uh, guys?" he asked. "I'm gonna go out on a limb and assume that's Merlin."

Turning towards what Arrow was looking at, Superman spotted an old man in an ancient-looking robe, as did everyone else. "Yes! That's him!" Meggan exclaimed, as she ran towards him. "Merlin! Merlin, wait..!"

Merlin did not answer. He only vanished as Meggan reached him, to reappear further down the city's highway. Tapping a fraction of his speed, Superman moved to intercept him, but even that wasn't fast enough to stop Merlin from teleporting further down the highway, heading towards the central spire. "Call me crazy," Superman hazarded, "but I think he wants us to go there."

"Then that's where we need to go," Cyclops agreed. "Let's get moving, everyone." With that, they started walking towards the spire.

After about ten minutes of walking, they reached the city's central spire. As they approached the main door, it started to glow, revealing a complex runic pattern etched into the metal, before the door faded away, letting them in. Hawkgirl blinked. "Okay…I'm assuming we're on the right track."

Green Lantern looked around, sweeping the room with a ring-beam to scan it. "I'm not getting any bio-signatures," he reported, "but there's some kind of energy-signature coming from that platform."

Phoenix looked in the direction he was scanning. "That looks like the symbol that brought us here," she mused. "Do you think Merlin wants us to use it?"

Superman took a deep breath. "Only one way to find out, guys." With that, he walked forward and stepped onto the platform. Following suit, the others followed him…and when everyone was on it, the platform started glowing, revealing another arcane symbol that engulfed them in light, before depositing them in another room: the top of the tower. All around them were windows looking out at the city skyline – still impressive, even in the darkness of its rock shell – with light-based screens, showing data-feeds of events across the planet. "He's been watching us," Superman observed. "But why..?"

"I fear you already know the answer to that, man of Krypton."

Turning around, the entire group found Merlin behind them, sitting at the side of a pool of water, trying to catch his breath. Merlin managed a tired smile. "Welcome, brave youths," he whispered, "to what was once Westrolis, a city of the Atlan Empire."

Aquaman paled. "Atlan..?" he repeated. "Then…Atlantis..?"

Merlin nodded. "Our capital, before the flood."

Green Arrow gulped. "So…you really are Merlin? The guy who gave King Arthur Excalibur?"

Merlin chuckled. "Archer, I have not been called by that name for ages," he said. "The spirit of what you said is correct, though the details be a bit muddled."

Captain Britain looked grave. "It was you who gave me that dream," he said. "Now and when I was a child! Why? Why did you bring us here? Why does Apocalypse want you dead?"

Merlin arched an eyebrow. "Why do you think your dream as a child was a dream, Brian Braddock?" he asked. "As for the rest, I shall now explain." He looked to the water. "My Lady?"

At those words, the water shifted, morphing into a humanoid form – a humanoid female form. "You called me, my love?"

Black Canary stepped back. "W-What the hell?" she exclaimed. "Who or what is that?"

Merlin smiled gently. "Are you truly so surprised, child?" he asked. "You know me, but you do not recognize her?"

Superman understood instantly. "The Lady of the Lake…"

The Lady nodded. "To mine friends, I be Nimue," she replied. "Now, gather near my pool, brave ones, and all shall become clear."

As Superman and the others moved to the edge of Nimue's pool, the surface of the water shifted, showing the Earth in rotation…which suddenly paused, and began to run in reverse, showing the Earth as it was, millennia ago, with dozens of cities like Atlantis floating upon the oceans, shining in the sunlight. "So many years ago, the Atlan Empire was a shining jewel," Nimue said wistfully. "Our people, the Atlani, had mastered the arts of magic, and with it, we built a civilization the likes of which none had yet seen, at the time. For many centuries, we prospered…but it was not to last forever."

The image shifted to the desert – Egypt, or what would one day be called Egypt – where one man stood amidst sinister-looking ruins…which looked far too similar to Apokoliptian technology. "A ruler of a distant land unearthed a terrible ancient power, and with it, subjugated his people in a fortnight," Nimue said sadly. "Had we intervened then, perhaps what came next would not have been."

The image shifted again, showing the ruler and a blue-skinned warrior doing battle, while their armies clashed. "Enraged by this ruler's conquests, another warrior, more terrible than the ruler ever was, came from the desert like a terrible storm-wave, washing away the ruler's army. In his decisive attack, this warrior slew the ruler, but not before stealing the secrets of his power." The image now showed the warrior holding the ruler by the throat, as misty energy poured from the ruler's head into the warrior's – telepathy. "Remaking the kingdom in his own image, this warrior set out to conquer the entire world. One by one, nations fell under his heel…until only Atlan remained."

The image began to shift rapidly, showing a series of battles between soldiers clad in blue and violet robes – similar to Merlin's – armed with staves, against deformed abominations bearing laser-weapons. "The war between Atlan and the empire of the warrior – who named himself End of All Things – raged for nearly a century," Nimue said. "It seemed never to end; our magic was able to repel his attacks, but the warrior was able to transmute his citizenry into untold horrors with superhuman capabilities."

Superman gulped. 'Just like on Apokolips.'

Merlin nodded. "It was only by chance that we gained the upper hand," he added. "Through a well-placed spy in Nur's court, we learned that only Nur himself could operate the technology he used to maintain his power and his army. Were he to fall, the rest would be lost like an asp with its head cut…and so we mounted a campaign to strike at the heart of Nur's empire. We teleported a team of assassins – myself, my brother, and Nimue among them – into his capital, to dispatch Nur and end the war."

Phoenix gasped. "The legend that Magneto told us about," she realized. "You two were among the mages that sealed him away!"

Wolverine scowled. "Sounded like a good plan," he said. "So how come he's still kicking? What went wrong?"

Merlin was lost in memory. "We took the monster by surprise, but even so, he was formidable. It took all our might, but we were able to subdue him," he whispered. "We were about to strike the final blow…until we realized his true plan. Utilizing his technology, Nur intended to blanket the entire planet with a mutagenic wave, converting the entire population in one swoop."

Nimue picked up where Merlin left off. "We discovered that there were a number of facilities scattered across the globe like the one Nur used in his homeland. He had found a way to activate them all at once," she said. "We had no other choice. With all our power, we unleashed a tempest that covered the whole world, drowning every one of Nur's facilities, stopping them from activating."

Psylocke's eyes went wide. "The great flood…"

Merlin looked haunted. "And while we did so, Nur regained enough strength to strike, wounding Nimue critically," he murmured. "With our powers strained, we could do little else but seal the monster within his technology. It had the desired effect: his weapons lost power, and his armies scattered to the winds." Pained, he looked to Nimue. "But there was a terrible cost."

Nimue nodded. "The tempest we unleashed drowned all of Atlan, burying it first beneath the sea, and then most of it beneath the earth," she finished. "We had barely enough time to reach Westrolis before it was swallowed up, where Myrdden managed to transfer my life force into the water as my body withered, while the rest of our company dispersed to the rest of Atlan, to save as many as they could." Grief filled her face. "Most of our friends perished saving a handful of our people, and the rest are now lost to time."

Banshee coughed. "Uh…not to sound cold, ma'am, but if that's true…how the hell are you two..?"

Merlin chuckled. "Among other things, Sean Cassidy, our arts gave our people incredibly long life," he answered. "I can only assume that your next question is why are we still here." He sighed. "Make no mistake, friends: for what I have done – and failed to do – I have no desire to survive any longer than necessary." He steeled himself. "I still draw breath in order to watch over Nur's prison, and batter him back in, if need be!" He drooped. "But now – when there is all but nothing left of me – I find I cannot even do that."

Nimue took his hand. "You did more than any other would, my love," she cooed. "And as for why I linger…I could not leave you to face the ages alone."

Green Lantern folded his arms. "That still doesn't answer why you brought us here."

Shaken out of his funk, Merlin perked up. "As I stood sentry, I also looked upon the world as it changed through the ages," he said. "In this day and age, I have seen souls capable of standing against Nur. I believe that, with my aid, you – all of you – can slay him, once and for all!" He gestured to the city. "And so, I brought you here to bequeath you all that I have."

Siryn looked interested. "Oh?" she asked. "And what would that entail?"

Merlin was about to answer, but he suddenly looked panicked. "He is here."

Scarlet Witch blinked. "Huh?"

Phoenix and Psylocke both winced. "Uh-oh! Guys, I'm getting a massive psychic presence on the west side of the city!" Phoenix exclaimed. "And there's only one person on the planet that gives off waves like this!"

Merlin scrunched his eyes. "I knew he would find me once I emerged, but I did not imagine so soon," he said. "Heroes, I beseech you: you must hold the fiend and his ilk back long enough for me to give you what you will need to defeat him!"

Cyclops nodded. "Consider him stopped, Merlin. Jean, think you can either block him enough to conceal our activities?"

"Unless he starts scanning deeper, I'm pretty sure I can mask our thoughts," Phoenix reported, "but from the quick scan I took, he brought friends…including Exodus and David."

"Then we'll need to intercept them," Cyclops said. "Polaris, Havok, Siryn, you three will accompany Phoenix and I just ahead of Nur's forces. We'll hold them back as long as we can."

Merlin shut his eyes in concentration. "In my time here, I have readied a number of the city's defences to slow an invader's path. I will show you how to use them." At the telepathic infusion, Phoenix gasped, and then nodded in understanding.

"You're going to need air support," Superman added. "Lantern, Hawkgirl, we'll need you two to cover them from the air." He looked to Captain Britain. "Captain, can you spare anyone?"

The Captain paused to consider that. "Banshee, you will assist the intercept team," he said. "I gather the remainder of us will muster wherever Merlin's horde is hidden, as a last line of defence?"

Merlin was getting up to head down. "It is not far from here," he wheezed. "Nothing more than a quick walk, but we must hurry! We haven't much time! Follow me!" With that, he shuffled to the teleporter as fast as he could, prompting the others to follow.

XXXXXXXX

The deathly silence of the buried city was shattered by a thunderous boom as Apocalypse, Exodus, Legion, and over two dozen more of the Army of Apocalypse emerged from the flash of light onto the dust-covered streets. Taking his first step onto the territory of his old enemy, Apocalypse looked around with a scowl. "He leaves no defences?" he asked aloud. "I find this odd."

Exodus was haughty. "Your foe cowers in fear, my Pharaoh! He knows no defence can stand!"

"Be still, my Horseman. This foe is a canny one; I wager this open path hides more than one trap. Be on guard, all of you!" His scowl growing, Apocalypse took a few more steps, making sure to stay aware. Myrdden had been here for ages, and likely had taken that time to prepare…

As his followers matched his steps, one strayed too close to a statue on a street corner…which suddenly shifted to turn its now-glowing eyes on them, and strafed them with a barrage of beams from its gaze. The new recruits panicked, but Exodus raised a TK-wall, repelling the shots. "Master, you spoke true! The city is laden with traps!"

With a telekinetic surge, Apocalypse smashed the statue, as he swept the area with his telepathy…and then spotted an approaching emerald light. "More than that, War!" he shouted. "To me, my soldiers! Repulse these – ARRGGH!"

He was cut off by a blast of crimson light, coming from the rooftop Cyclops had used as a sniper position. "Polaris, Havok, move!" he ordered. At once, from the opposing side-alleys they'd hidden in, Polaris and Havok darted into the road. Havok moved ahead, strafing the bewildered mob with his hand-blasts and giving Polaris the time she needed to reach the secret panel in the nearby building wall. At her touch, the panel pulsed green light into the road under Apocalypse and his forces, causing the road tiles to crack and fly apart, shooting into the air and carrying six of his number with them. Reaching out with her magnetism, Polaris turned the metallic tiles into whirling discuses, sending them flying at the remainder of their foes. With psychotic fury, Exodus pulsed his TK, shattering the incoming tiles, which also sent the handful of his men in the air flying.

By then, Green Lantern and Hawkgirl were overhead. As Lantern laid down covering fire, Hawkgirl pulled in her wings, streaking straight at the mob in a near-suicidal dive, only to pull up at the last second, causing them to flinch…and miss her hand tapping a panel on the head of a large statue on the corner. Instantly, the statue glowed, and stood up, morphing into a winged suit of armour, with cannons instead of arms, and streams of levitating force from its wings. As the armour flew into the air, a grinning Green Lantern hopped inside, letting his ring's energy flow through it, before he opened up with his cannons. With her teammate forcing the mob to scatter, it was easy for Hawkgirl to land and pick her targets.

Watching the Thanagarian warrior slam one of his comrades with her mace, and then deck two more with a sweep of her wings, the fanatic spokesman shouted to the rest of his fellows. "This is our chance, brothers and sisters! If we fell one of the corrupt League, we will redeem ourselves! GET HER!"

As his fellows surged forward, the spokesman pointed at Hawkgirl, his hands glowing as he unleashed his infrared wave. Hawkgirl hadn't seen him, but Banshee had. "Noisy lot, aren't you?" he snapped, before he grinned slyly. "Fortunately, so am I!" Taking a deep breath, he unleashed a sonic scream that both scattered the air ahead of him, disrupting the wave, and blew the spokesman and his fellows back over twenty feet.

While his Pharaoh's foot-soldiers engaged the enemy on the ground, Exodus looked to the rooftops. "Famine! To me!" he barked. "Let us dispense with Xavier's chosen!" With that, he propelled himself skyward with his TK.

Legion scowled. "Don't you fucking order me, Ex!" he spat, before he shifted into Ian's form, and followed with his own telekinetic pulse.

As Exodus started to touch down, Cyclops darted right, his hand on his visor. "Jean, now!" At once, Phoenix rose out of the alley behind him, unleashing a directed TK-surge at the ground ahead of Cyclops…which tripped the hidden panel. At once, the rooftop morphed into what looked like a colossal cannon, with a focusing lens at its base. Running to the cannon, Cyclops put his face to the lens and opened his visor; the resulting amplified optic blast roared out of the barrel and slammed into Exodus, shattering his TK-barrier and leaving him open to Phoenix's follow-up telepathic attack.

While the besieged Exodus staggered, dazed by Phoenix' mental assault, Legion shifted back into Lucas' form to unleash twin pillars of flame at Phoenix. His eyes narrowed, Cyclops yanked off his visor and unleashed a fully-powered optic surge into the cannon, blasting Legion off the rooftop, clear across the city. "That's for knifing the Professor in the back, you little snot!"

As his so-called Army fell before him, Apocalypse watched with increasing disdain, his arms folded. "You all disappoint me," he rumbled. "Perhaps the next pool of recruits will not be so unfit to serve me!" He looked to the skyline. "Where are you, cowardly enchanter?" he bellowed. "You cannot hide forever, nor can you slow my vengeance with these children!" With pure will, he telekinetically yanked Green Lantern's armoured suit from the air, forcing the Corpsman to bail out before he threw it into the cannon, demolishing both and forcing Cyclops and Phoenix to pull back. Frantic, Polaris sent waves of magnetized tiles at him, while Havok unleashed a barrage of hand-blasts, but Apocalypse shrugged them all off with his TK. "War! Fetch Famine! I shall dispense with the enchanter MYSELF!"

Before any of his foes could stop him, Apocalypse launched himself skyward, levitating himself across the city, tracking his most ancient foe, his fury growing with every moment as memory took hold of him.

He remembered the golden days of his empire, when he realized that more facilities like the one the old Pharaoh commanded were scattered across the world.

He remembered Myrdden Emrys and his band of assassins, sneaking into his kingdom – his own house – to assault him.

He remembered the usurpers foiling his plan, and then locking him away…though not before he'd struck down the coward's lover, he recalled with a smile. Still, it was nowhere near enough. The assassin still lived…

…though not for much longer.

XXXXXXXX

A few minutes earlier

"Whoa…"

As Merlin led them into a huge, cavernous chamber, complete with miniature fountains at regular intervals and filled to the brim with what looked like enormous bookcases, Superman had to agree with Scarlet Witch's murmur. "What is this place?"

Coughing, Merlin walked to a nearby podium, which instantly became a glowing console at his touch. "This, man of Krypton, is the last remaining Library of Atlan," he said. "Once, there were many such repositories, but when Atlan fell, the others were lost."

Her eyes misty, Siryn choked back a sob, her hands to her mouth. "Never in my wildest dreams…"

Green Arrow whistled. "So what's here?"

Merlin chuckled as he tapped a few glowing symbols on the console. "The cumulative knowledge of the Atlan Empire, including our medical discoveries, historical records, literary works…and a complete collection of every type of spellcraft, incantation, and enchantment our people ever devised," he said. "In the hands of a skilled caster, such knowledge would be lethal to Nur."

Captain Britain's eyes were wide as he looked around. "My God…we must save everything we can!"

Aquaman nodded. "I think that's a given," he agreed. "But how? We may have a bunch of heavy-lifters, but this is a bit much..!"

Next to Merlin, Nimue manifested herself in the fountain. "You think us fools, prince of the seas?" she chided. "The medium may differ, but our knowledge is as networked as any you use today. As such, it can be transferred easily."

Meggan blinked. "You mean you guys have some kind of…magical Internet?"

Merlin's eyes were narrowed in concentration. "That is a good enough term, my dear," he said. "The point is, with a modicum of modification, I am certain that our constructs can communicate with your systems enough to safely transfer the Library to you!"

Black Canary frowned. "In case you haven't noticed, we're under over 2000 tons of bedrock and molten magma, in a magic-shielded cobalt bubble, Merlin. I don't think we can get good cell-reception here."

Merlin kept typing. "Once the Library is ready to send, grandchild of Black Canary, I will lower the barrier that encircles the city. It will give you all the opportunity to upload the Library to the polar outpost and evacuate safely."

Dinah went ghost-white. "WHAT did you say?"

"I have watched the course of human history, child. Most lives pass without any incident, but a handful stand out, such as yours…and your grandmother's."

Siryn arched an eyebrow. "Anything you'd care to tell us, sister dear?"

"We haven't time for idle chatter!" Merlin exclaimed. "Man of Krypton, your communicator; I will need it to start the upload!"

With a nod, Superman drew his belt-computer and activated it, before he walked to the console. At Merlin's direction, he plugged it into the light-construct, which instantly brought up a file into the computer. Superman skimmed it, and found that it was an installation program that would allow the computer to translate and store the Library before downloading it. At his tap, the installation started, followed by the download. One-by-one, the light-formed books began to fly off the shelves towards the console, morphing into streams of light that flowed into it. Superman's eyebrows shot up as he realized the size of the download. "Okay…this might take a little while."

Satisfied, Merlin stood up. "Then we had best not waste time," he said, as he started walking, prompting the others to follow. Leading them into a smaller chamber, he snapped his fingers, which instantly lit up the room, revealing two tables and a stone pedestal. Upon the tables, respectively, were an ancient-looking book, its cover crafted of blue metal and inlaid with runes, and a pair of red-metal gauntlets, each with an onyx gem set into the back.

And in the pedestal was a sword, with a blade of silvery metal that seemed to shine green, and a hilt composed of pure jade.

Captain Britain was struck silent for the longest time. "Is…is that..?"

Wolverine snorted. "No freakin' way."

Merlin gave a faint smile. "Yes, James Logan, this is Excalibur, my old sword," he said, gently touching its hilt. "It gave Nur many a scar, during our clash. In my later years, I bequeathed it to another – young Artorius."

"King Arthur," Superman said.

Merlin thought for a moment. "He later became a king, yes," he recalled, "but then, he was my chosen champion. Late in the war against Nur, when our forces waned, we of Atlan often selected champions from those non-Atlani that joined our campaign; with our magic, we granted these warriors abilities far beyond their kin. I recruited him to combat a fell sorcerer, and became advisor to the fellowship he drew to him."

"The Round Table," Madelyn realized.

Merlin now looked grieved. "Eventually, Arthur and his knights slew this villain…but not before his apprentice – his daughter – escaped," he said. "Years later, this child – grown to a most wicked woman – returned, and exacted her vengeance in a most horrible way. She went on to wage war against Arthur, with both her dark arts learned from her father…and Arthur's own child for her catspaw."

"Holy crap," Green Arrow said. "Morgan le Fay..?"

Merlin nodded. "When Arthur passed, I used all that I had to seal her and that wretched brat away," he said. "But if Nur is free, then the seal holding them has likely failed as well."

"Terrific. Not only have we got Apocalypse to worry about, we've also got a medieval witch and her psycho brat to deal with. Swell," Wolverine grumbled.

Captain Britain stepped forward. "You sent me those dreams," he said. "You met me when I was a child. Why?"

Nimue giggled. "Is it not obvious, Brian Braddock?" she asked. "Merlin has chosen you as he did Artorius."

Captain Britain paled. "What?"

Merlin nodded. "When I tested you that day, I knew I could trust you as I had Arthur," he said. "You were too young to understand exactly what I was asking, so I gifted you that day, in the hope that you would one day arrive here." He looked grave. "And now you can make the choice, Brian Braddock." He gestured to Excalibur. "Will you take up this sword, and wield it in defence of these Isles and the world around them?"

Brian was too shocked to answer.

Walking to the book, Siryn was transfixed. "What is this?"

"My old spell-tome," Merlin said. "Though the Library holds our sum mystical knowledge, that tome is a collection of my most powerful spells. It has served me well through the war and after." He smiled. "Should you desire, it is yours."

Carefully, Siryn opened the book and skimmed the first page. "I…I recognize this language!" she exclaimed. "This is the language most of the tomes I studied were written in!"

"Then I trust you will be able to make use of it."

Reverently, Siryn picked up the book, cradling it in her arms. "I will cherish and guard it with my life."

By then, Scarlet Witch had moved to the gauntlets, regarding them with curious eyes. "And these?"

Merlin's expression turned grave. "Those I took from Morgan during our last clash," he said. "I know not how she came by them, nor by whom, but they amplified her sorcerous abilities many times." He smiled faintly. "It would put my heart at ease to know that they are put to honourable use."

Toad whistled. "They look just your size too, Sweetums."

As Wanda took the gauntlets to try them on, a saddened Nimue looked to Aquaman. "You are injured, prince of the seas."

Aquaman looked to his hook hand. "What, this?" he asked. "Oh, I've gotten used to it. It even comes in handy at times…no pun intended."

Nimue simply stretched out her hand, and a stream of glittering water flowed from her fingertips towards him. "Be healed, heir of Atlantis," she invoked. "Let what was taken be now replaced!" Swiftly, the water flowed around his hook-hand, working into the crack between his flesh and the metal to push the hook off…and then morph into a perfectly formed hand made of water.

Everyone was dumbstruck, but none more so than Aquaman as he stared at his new hand. Gingerly, he flexed it, and touched it – it moved and felt exactly like his old one. "W-Wha…how..?"

Nimue giggled. "Atlan's healing arts extend much beyond yours, good prince."

Merlin was stern. "Yes, but not without cost," he scolded. "What did you expend, my love?"

"Nothing I could not do without, beloved."

Aquaman was on the verge of tears. "Th-Thank you…"

With an exasperated sigh, Merlin turned from Nimue towards Superman. "You yet have questions, man of Krypton?"

His words stirred Superman's memory. "Yes!" he said. "In the museum, on the mosaic, there were Kryptonese characters! They were in an Atlani artefact! How did they get there, Merlin? Did Atlan have any contact with my people, ages ago?"

Merlin looked thoughtful, searching his memory. "Forgive me, young one, but I do not know. That mosaic precedes even my time. If Atlan had any relations with Krypton, it would have been known only by our historians." He paused. "But perhaps there is a way to find out." With a gesture, he summoned a small, white marble casket. Catching it as it floated to him, he opened it…and took out a single, translucent, cylindrical crystal.

Superman did a double-take. "Where did you get that?"

"It has been in Atlan's care since time immemorial," Merlin confessed. "For the longest time, I had no clue to its origin or purpose, until I glimpsed your polar stronghold." He held the crystal out to Superman. "It is yours, child of Krypton. I only hope that it will prove useful."

Slowly, Superman took the crystal, only to frown as his touch prompted no reaction – not even a boot-up of the interface. He was about to ask Merlin more, but Cyclops' voice through his communicator – still downloading the Library – interrupted him. "Cyclops calling Superman! You've got incoming!" he shouted. "We managed to stop Apocalypse's main advance, but Nur himself is en route! We're going to try and keep Exodus and Haller pinned, but you'll need to deal with Nur!"

Superman grimaced. "We'll have to figure this out later; right now, our priority is keeping that upload going!" he declared. "Merlin, what defences does the Library have?"

Merlin steadied himself. "None save myself."

"Any chance you can pull off crap like you did at the Museum?" Wolverine asked.

"I will if I must," Merlin said. "And I must."

Suddenly, the sound of the Library doors being smashed down interrupted them. "MYRDDEN EMRYS!" came Apocalypse's roar in the distance. "FACE ME, COWARDLY ENCHANTER!"

Merlin scrunched his eyes. "I believe that is my cue," he said. "Man of Krypton, if you would accompany me?"

Superman nodded. "Guys, do whatever you have to, but keep that upload running," he said. "Arrow, get up high and watch the skyline from outside. Wolverine, you and Madelyn will be on point-defence outside the Library in case anything gets past us. The rest of you will hold the upload console until it's done." He took a deep breath. "As for me, I'll have to watch my power-use; without the sun, I'm on reserves."

Merlin chuckled wryly. "Worry not, child; that will be addressed," he said. With that, he shuffled towards the entrance, prompting Superman to follow.

Apocalypse was waiting for them in the entrance hall when they arrived. He scowled as his gaze met Superman's, but as he looked to Merlin, his eyes went wide. "What? Do…do my eyes deceive me?" A cruel smile crossed his face. "YOU'RE..?" He threw his head back. "AH HA HA HA HA HA HA HA! By Set's Spit, I would have never believed it! My old foe, reduced to a shriveled ruin, while I remain as strong as I ever was!"

Merlin braced himself, his expression stern. "Do not flatter yourself, Nur," he wheezed. "What I have lost in vitality, I have more than gained in wisdom."

"Then have the wisdom to yield, assassin. You do not have surprise to aid you, this time." Hate filled his face. "Surrender, and your death MAY be swift."

"My death will come soon enough, tyrant," Merlin said. "I can go to it gladly, knowing that I prepared this generation's heroes for you!"

"Then you waste your time!" Apocalypse spat. "The Kryptonian is as helpless as any mortal without the sun, and you are a withered wreck!"

Merlin chuckled. "As unimaginative as you ever were," he snapped. "That has always been – and shall ever be – your ultimate undoing, Nur!" He raised his hands towards the bubble of rock that encircled the city. "SOL'REM'NOR!"

At that invocation, the rock around the city lit up, brighter than the sun, energizing Superman as if it were the real thing. Starting to grin, Superman looked around. "Handy trick!"

Merlin's knees were wobbly. "One tries."

Apocalypse looked murderous. "You choose the way of pain?" he growled. "SO BE IT!" With a roar of fury, he summoned his TK, tearing two of the – mercifully empty – bookcases from the floor and hurtling them towards Merlin. Quickly powering his Remote Shield, Superman raised a protective wall to blunt Apocalypse's attack, before racing at him at superspeed, knocking Apocalypse across the skyline. Summoning enough power to levitate, Merlin took to the air alongside Superman, quietly chanting under his breath, interspersed with coughing.

Apocalypse recovered fast, and levitated into the air to meet them, gesturing to the city below. Instantly, two spires tore themselves out of their foundations and shot towards Superman and Merlin like colossal spears. Whispering an incantation, Merlin gestured…and the spires – along with everything else – instantly slowed, leaving himself and Superman just outside the normal flow of time. Taking instant advantage of the opening, Superman fired a colossal eye-ray, flash-melting one of the towers into a puddle of slag, before he darted to catch the other tower. Merlin followed his cue perfectly, and gestured to the molten metal; guided by his magic, the slag shot back towards Apocalypse, and engulfed him completely, just as Superman hurled the other tower at him, which smashed it into rubble and sent it and the red-hot globe hurtling back down to the ground.

As the flow of time resumed, Superman caught his breath in seconds…but Merlin had a much tougher time, the sheer force of his coughs almost making him fall, prompting Superman to catch him by the arm. His eyes went wide as he saw Merlin pull his hand from his mouth with a spray of red on his palm. "Merlin, we need to get you to a doctor..!"

"There is little that today's medicine can do for me, child," Merlin gasped. "It is Time that slays me, now."

"Dammit, Merlin, fighting Apocalypse is killing you..!"

"If I can slow this tyrant enough to give you all a chance, then it is a worthy sacrifice!" Merlin exclaimed…before he sighed. "Though I fear it will take more than what we have done to do so."

To prove his point, Apocalypse burst free from the bubble of slag with his TK, rising back into the air with only minor burns. "YOU WILL NOT STAY ME, ASSASSIN!"

Superman let out a sigh of his own. "I guess not."

While Superman and Merlin engaged Apocalypse, Green Arrow moved to a vantage-point – one of the mid-level buildings adjacent to the Library – as fast as he could…in time to see Exodus and a bruised Lucas heading towards the Library. "Guys, we have incoming!" he shouted into his communicator. "Exodus and Haller are heading straight for the Library! I'll lay down cover-fire; Wolverine, Madelyn, take point!"

At the main entrance, Wolverine snarled as he popped out his claws. "Red? Give me a boost."

Madelyn grinned. "Gladly!" Using her TK, she lifted Wolverine off the ground and hurled him like a missile towards their advancing foes.

As he saw Wolverine hurtling towards him, Exodus bristled with fury, and readied a counter. "Miserable wretch! You dare stand against Master Apoc – ARRRGGHH!" His tirade was cut off by a barrage of arrows that burst into clouds of irritating haze that obscured his vision…which allowed the snarling Wolverine to tackle into him claws-first, and then roll into a throw that flung Exodus clear across the street.

Lucas smirked. "Y'know, I'm almost grateful ya stuck Ex before he got started on one of his rants!" he remarked, before he unleashed a torrent of flame that engulfed Wolverine and left him dazed and charred. "Almost," he finished. "Any last words?"

Wolverine coughed out smoke as his healing factor began to mend him. "Yeah," he wheezed. "Hope Apoc gives good dental insurance."

Lucas blinked. "Why the hell would I need..?"

CRACK!

As the fist-sized telekinetic bolt slammed Lucas in the face, Wolverine smirked. "How's that for a reason?" he quipped. "Nice shot, Mads."

Closing on Lucas, Madelyn shrugged. "My TK may not be much on its own compared to these kids, Jean especially," she said, "but add in a little S.H.I.E.L.D. combat-training…"

Lucas was cussing like a sailor as he held his bleeding nose, stopping only to spit out a tooth. "You bloody BITCH!" he howled. "You're fucking DEAD MEAT!" With that, he let loose another flame-blast, prompting Madelyn to block it with a TK-wall and then shift the barrier upwards, creating an opening for her to fire off a one-two-three flurry of telekinetic fists, pummeling Lucas in the chest, the chin, and then squarely between his legs…the last of which crumpled him to the ground, holding himself.

Now healed, Wolverine winced. "Damn. He's gonna feel that tomorrow."

With Lucas distracting Wolverine and Madelyn, Exodus was able to get back on his feet, his own healing factor bringing him back to full strength in record time. He was about to assist his comrade, until he realized that their foes were intentionally trying to keep them away from the Library. 'Master! This is a delaying action! These wretches have some scheme in play!' he telepathically signalled, before he charged towards the Library.

Apocalypse barely listened to Exodus' warning as he bore straight at Merlin, grabbing him by the throat. "MILLENNIA, enchanter! I spent MILLENNIA buried in that tomb!" he roared. "In half-fevered dreams, I saw my empire collapse from both infighting and the decay of time! I saw my BIRTHRIGHT seized by unruly, unworthy dogs unfit to breathe, let alone rule!" He raised his fist to strike. "And all because of your MEDDLING!"

He was just about to strike when Superman grabbed his wrist and twisted, breaking his grip and flinging him away. "Merlin, fall back!" he urged. "You're in no condition to continue! I'll deal with Nur!"

Apocalypse recovered easily, laughing as he righted himself. "And what will you do, whelp? Flee and hide?" he chortled. "That is all you have done in the face of my army's ascent! Go on and run, boy, as everything and everyone in this world bows to me, including your League, the Xavier fool's precious children, and even your little blonde..!"

Apocalypse's words – echoing of what he'd endured at Darkseid's hands – made Superman's eyes blaze red with fury. "WRONG choice of words, Nur!" he thundered, as he surged seventy percent of his maximum power to his arms and legs, and flew at him.

To the naked eye, it would have seemed that Superman disappeared and reappeared in front of Apocalypse. The mutant warlord was between laughs when Superman's fist nearly imploded his jaw, the force of the impact creating a shockwave that ripped apart the tops of the towers nearby and sending Apocalypse hurtling across the skyline. Darting ahead of his target, Superman slammed him again in the chest, before racing ahead again, to deck him with a downward punch that sent him careening to the street. The sudden shift in momentum would have shattered a normal spine, but only left Apocalypse semi-conscious as Superman streaked down to grab him and push him against a nearby spire as he fell, gouging a deep track in the stone before Superman let go, letting him tumble to a stop. Landing hard enough to shake the ground, Superman stormed towards the dazed warlord, eyes glowing red with heat, ready to put that animal down…

"S-Superman?"

That tiny voice drew Superman out of his fury and prompted him to turn his head…where the battered members of Apocalypse's Army, free of Haller's influence, had gathered, with Green Lantern, Hawkgirl, Cyclops, Phoenix, Havok, Polaris, and Banshee standing guard. The one that had spoken – a young girl of barely 15, likely swept along by an older sibling – was looking at him with fearful eyes.

The same eyes that his friends and teammates had.

The red light faded from Superman's eyes as he looked at his hands, horror dawning on him. He'd just been about to…

Snarling, Apocalypse struggled to his feet, gesturing towards a nearby tower. "As always, whelp, your compassion betrays you!" he spat, as he telekinetically buckled the supports in the tower's foundation, sending it toppling towards his former Army.

Without thinking, Superman darted to catch the building, stopping it before it crashed, wincing with exertion. "You'd murder your own followers?"

Fully recovered, Apocalypse laughed. "Already they have failed me twice; they are unfit to LIVE, let alone serve me!" he sneered. "As for you, I shall dispense with you after I have slain the assassin!"

As Apocalypse flew off, Superman started to heft the building back into place, welding its struts with his eye-rays. "Go after him!" he urged Lantern and Hawkgirl. "I'll handle this! Go!" Not needing any further urging, Green Lantern and Hawkgirl took off after Apocalypse, while Superman pushed the building back into alignment, and used his eye-rays to weld it in place, before following.

With Exodus closing fast and Apocalypse looming in the distance, Siryn leafed through her new tome as fast as she could. 'Okay, if I'm reading this old text right, this should work!' Summoning her energy, she pointed at Exodus. "THERIUM OL'RAEKOS!"

Her invocation sent mystic force coursing from her hand down to the book and back to her hand again, where it morphed into a roaring wall of etheric lightning that Thor himself would have been proud of. The magic storm-surge filled the city street as it flew from Siryn's fingertip to blast into Exodus, slamming him into a wall several blocks away…and leaving Siryn an exhausted heap, gasping for breath. As she and Black Canary moved to her side, Meggan couldn't help but gape. "That was brilliant!"

Siryn struggled to her feet. "Good…now please don't ask me to do it again."

Dinah snorted. "Too much for you, Little Miss Magic?"

Siryn rolled her eyes. "Do forgive me for being unused to Merlin-caliber spells, sister dear."

With Exodus stunned, a tired Merlin was able to land. "The upload…" he panted. "Is it ready?"

Making a few quick hops, Toad moved to check. "Uh…okay, I'm no expert on Supes' language, but the circle-thingy on the screen is almost full, so I'm assuming it's almost done!"

Psylocke looked around the Library. "Considering that there are very few books left, I would agree!" she exclaimed…before she winced, putting her hand to her head. "Oh, bollocks…"

Looking towards the skyline, Merlin grimaced as he saw Apocalypse approaching fast. Raising his hand, he tried to ready a spell, but a fit of coughing overtook him, sending him crumpling to the floor. A few feet away, Nimue rose out of a nearby fountain. "Prince of the seas, you must hold Nur back!" she urged.

Aquaman paled. "News flash, Lady: I'm not exactly geared towards taking guys like Nur head-on!"

"The hand I gave you is more than just a simple prosthesis, o Prince!" Nimue chided. "A lost power sleeps in your family's bloodline; that hand is a focus for it! Command the seas, and they shall obey! I will aid you here, but you must act!"

By then, Apocalypse was mere meters away. '"Command the seas"?' Aquaman repeated in his head. 'Okay…' With his new hand, he pointed at Apocalypse, willing the water nearby to do something about him…

The water composing Nimue glowed, as her fountain and all the others in the Library simply erupted, forming a single stream that plowed into Apocalypse with the force of a tsunami, blasting him across several city blocks. Aquaman grinned. "Hell yeah!" he crowed. "That's what I'm talking..!" He stopped as he saw Nimue's condition – she was barely holding herself together. "Nimue, what happened? Did you…did I..?"

"My life was already fading, o Prince," Nimue whispered. "If giving a fraction of it buys you all more time, so be it."

Recovering from Siryn's spell, Exodus stood back up, and readied a killing telepathic surge…until one of Toad's slime-loogies splatted across his face. "Di, Wanda, now!" At Toad's signal, Black Canary let loose a sonic scream, while Scarlet Witch let fly a pair of massive hex-bolts, courtesy of her new gauntlets; the scream held Exodus in place long enough for the hexes to impact him, causing his stalled telepathic attack to backfire, leaving him briefly senseless as Canary's screech blew him away.

Aquaman's tidal attack didn't keep Apocalypse down for long. His fury only doubled, Apocalypse got back up, unhurt, and darted at Merlin. Captain Britain and Meggan both moved to stop him, but Apocalypse knocked them both away with a TK-surge, before he grabbed Merlin by the throat. "And now, assassin usurper," he growled, "Pharaoh shall have his VENGEANCE!"

Getting back on his feet, Captain Britain was about to charge Apocalypse – to at least try to save Merlin – until he saw where he'd been tossed: right next to Excalibur's pedestal. He couldn't help but gulp as he recalled what Merlin had asked of him – what doing so would mean – but there was no choice. Putting his hesitation aside, and hoping that he would have the same luck as Arthur, he grasped the blade's hilt and pulled.

As if the stone were made of butter, Excalibur came free in his hands, its blade glowing all the brighter. "Meggan! Toss me!" Captain Britain ordered. With a nod, Meggan assumed her monstrous form, grabbed her boyfriend, and threw him at Apocalypse. Out of the corner of his eye, Apocalypse saw Captain Britain – and Excalibur with him. A brief look of panic crossed his face, as he tried to raise a barrier…but he wasn't quite fast enough.

SCHWAAAAP!

The sound of steel slicing flesh filled the air as Brian came to a stop. Howling with pain, Apocalypse dropped Merlin, and stumbled away. "AAAAARRRRRRGGGGHHH!" he roared, his hand covering the fine gash under his right eye that now streamed with red. "You DARE strike at Pharaoh?"

Brian brandished his new blade menacingly. "Touch Merlin again, and I'll do a lot more than that!"

By then, the others had started to regroup. Black Canary was the first to notice. "Hey…he's not healing up!"

Sure enough, Apocalypse's wound still bled, with not a hint of healing. Merlin chuckled. "I forged Excalibur specifically to counter Nur's healing ability," he said. "As far as any wound from that blade is concerned, En Sabah Nur is as mortal as any of us here!"

Toad's eyes went wide as he caught on. "So it can do him in."

The fact that Apocalypse was slowly backing away, his hand still on his wound, and his eyes wide, all but proved that statement true. As he recovered, Exodus could only stare at Apocalypse, his expression lost. "M-Master?"

Before Apocalypse could answer his Horseman, a powerful tremor shook the Library, along with the rest of the city. Meggan was knocked flat on her butt, returning to normal as she did. "W-What the hell was that?"

Merlin was on his knees, his breathing shallow. "My power fails," he whispered, "and the barrier around the city with it." As he spoke, Captain Britain saw a red glow out of the corner of his eye, and turned…to see a stream of magma break through the rocky bubble around the city, with over a dozen glowing spots in the rock around it.

Apocalypse was the first to react. "War! We are to withdraw!" he boomed. "Retrieve Famine and fall back to our main stronghold!"

Exodus nodded obediently. "And our soldiers, my Pharaoh?"

Apocalypse sneered. "They failed me, this day; let them burn with the usurper and these brats!" As Apocalypse reached for his belt, Captain Britain raced towards him, Excalibur at the ready…only for the tip of the blade to slice the air where Apocalypse had just been, as the mutant warlord Boomed away, followed by Exodus.

Seconds after Apocalypse escaped, Green Lantern and Hawkgirl arrived. "Where is he?" Lantern asked. "Where'd that bastard…oh, don't tell me he bugged out."

"Okay. We won't tell you," Toad said.

Hawkgirl groaned. "Terrific."

Seconds after she said that, a sonic boom echoed, as Superman touched down. "Situation?"

"Apocalypse and Exodus have fled," Madelyn reported, but paused as the last light-book flew into the console, as Superman's communicator started beeping. "But the upload seems to be ready."

Merlin inched towards Nimue's pool. "You can signal your battlestation ally, man of Krypton. She will hear you," he whispered.

Superman quickly took his communicator. "Superman calling Watchtower: we have a priority data-burst coming your way! You're going to need to send it to the Fortress via your station-self's systems; it's a whopper!" he exclaimed. "After that, we'll need a wormhole back to our last known location; we have multiple prisoners in need of transport!"

"Acknowledged, Commander. Commencing upload now; emergency teleport waiting on your command."

Quickly ending the transmission, Superman turned to the others. "Lantern, we'll need you to round up Nur's former followers and get 'em back here!" he instructed. "Siryn, we need you to pick up Scott, Jean, and the others! We don't have much time!" As Lantern and Siryn headed to their tasks, Superman walked towards the fallen Merlin. "Hang on, Merlin; we're getting you out of here..!"

"No!" Merlin cried, distraught. "Leave me! Save yourselves, but let me perish here!"

Moving closer, Captain Britain looked aghast. "Sir, are you mad? We cannot abandon you here!"

Barely cohesive, Nimue moved to hold Merlin's hand. "We are already dead, heroes of this new age," she whispered. "There is naught you can do for us now."

Merlin smiled sadly. "My Lady and I have lived long, Brian. Some might say too long," he said. "I have done all that I can do. I only ask for peace, now." His expression turned pleading. "Please…let me stay with my Lady."

By then, Green Lantern and Siryn had returned – Lantern with a ring-bubble full of Apocalypse's former followers, while Siryn emerged from an emerald cloud with the rest of their team. "We're good to go, Superman!" Green Lantern reported. "The shell around this city is getting damn thin! We need to de-ass this place fast!"

Anguished, Superman turned back to Merlin…and nodded. "Thank you," he said. "Thank you for what you did, both ages ago and today." He started to turn away…

…only to stop as Merlin grabbed his sleeve. "Wait!" Merlin gasped. "I…I spoke falsely before. Nimue and I are not the last of the Atlani; my brother still lives! I know he still lives somewhere upon this world! You must find him!"

Superman's eyes went wide. "How?"

Merlin's eyes were getting heavy. "His name…you must remember his name…" he murmured. "His name is…his name is…Sh…a….z…a…"

Merlin's voice trailed off, as his eyes closed for the last time, and he sagged back into Nimue's waiting arms. The impact of him collapsed her watery construct, sending them both falling deep into her pool. Horrified, Superman tried to catch Merlin's arm before he fell, but the ceiling of the Library suddenly gave way to a stream of magma. Quickly, Superman raced towards the others. "Sentrius, 'port us out NOW!" Seconds later – and with the magma at their heels – a swirling vortex appeared above them, which swept them all up in a teleporter beam, taking them away.

When the teleporter beam faded, Superman found himself and the others back upon the moors, the fog starting to lift. "Is everyone okay?"

Cyclops looked around quickly. "I think so."

Banshee nodded. "Yeah, we're good…but bugger, that was a hell of a thing."

Captain Britain looked at Excalibur with a mixture of awe and regret – awe that the blade was his, and regret that they hadn't been able to save its maker. "Indeed it was."

Superman took out his communicator. "Sentrius, did you catch that download?"

"Affirmative, Commander. The data-burst – 150 exabytes, in Earth measurements – was received and uploaded to the Fortress' computer for decryption and analysis."

Superman breathed a sigh of relief that Merlin's sacrifice hadn't been in vain. "Understood, Sentrius. Thank you and out."

Green Arrow chuckled dryly. "Hell of a first day back, huh?"

Superman sighed. "You can say that again."

XXXXXXXX

Undisclosed location

"I shall not tell you again, Than'al! MEND this accursed injury!"

As he sat upon the stone table that acted as an operating table in his vizier's workshop, Apocalypse glowered at Sinister while he finished whatever concoction he had crafted. "I am doing so, my Pharaoh," he said, trying to placate him. "This should stimulate your healing ability long enough to counteract whatever witchcraft Emrys imbued that blade with. We both know how difficult those injuries are to mend."

Scowling at the memory of the last time he'd faced Excalibur, Apocalypse took the offered flask and downed the bitter healing draught in one gulp. "Taking your salves after the fact does no good in battle, my vizier. Have you no progress still in negating its edge?"

Sinister shook his head. "It is a lost art, my Pharaoh. The only way to say for sure how to counteract it is to look upon the blade for myself. If I could somehow obtain it…"

Apocalypse knew where that thought was going. "You forget yourself, Than'al."

Sinister gasped. "Master, I would not dare wield Excalibur against you! I would only study how Myrdden crafted it so as to develop an adequate defence!"

His cut finally healing over – though not without a scar – Apocalypse strode away. "What concerns me now is what the assassin gave them, my vizier. Have we no way of infiltrating the Kryptonian's strongholds?"

Sinister paused to think. "I would not advise trying to access the battlestation at this point, master," he said. "As for the polar stronghold…I do have an idea or two, but they have not reached maturity yet."

"Correct that soon, Than'al. I will not have that enchanter strike at me from the grave through the whelp and his cohorts!" Apocalypse thundered. "Now leave me."

Sinister looked confused. "Master, I…"

"LEAVE!" Apocalypse roared. With a quick bow, Sinister did so, leaving Apocalypse with his thoughts…which gave him no peace.

Myrdden Emrys was dead, buried and burned beneath the earth. His sealing had been avenged…but that did not quell the tempest in his head; the one that had swelled since he had awoken and remembered the assassin and his fellows.

Even thinking on it now rankled him. He remembered all too clearly being set upon in the night; being struck down, and forced to try and set his plan in motion; and being stopped, and locked away in his tomb like a common dog. The sheer indignity of it infuriated him…but that was not all.

Seeing Myrdden again – facing him in combat – had not been like any other battle.

For certain, the enchanter had been a worthy enough foe in open battle, but that had not exhilarated him as it had done in the past against Myrdden's elder – and more powerful – sibling, along with his champions. 'Teth-Adam and his brother were worthier foes than Myrdden, yet they did not rouse such discord in me.' He was…he had been…

…afraid.

With a scowl, Apocalypse dismissed that thought. 'Ridiculous! I am Pharaoh! I am like unto the gods themselves! A mere assassin cannot fright me, nor can whatever the whelp learned from him!'

But even as he told himself that, it did not quell the tempest in his thoughts.

XXXXXXXX

Camelot Base

"Well, Charlie, should be an interestin' report that I'll be 'andin' to Her Majesty."

After Excalibur, the X-Men, and the five members of the Justice League – including Superman – had returned to Camelot Base, Charles and Moira promptly debriefed them, and were heading back from the briefing room. "That it should, Moira," Charles agreed. "Between the Library database, the mysterious nano-crystal, the fact that our charges encountered Merlin, and the fact that Brian is the new wielder of the sword Excalibur, I would half-expect the Queen to either toss us both in an asylum or laugh herself silly."

Moira chuckled. "'Tis the age we live in," she said. "An' ye still had questions about Scott an' Alex's request?"

Charles nodded. "I realize it is a big step, Moira, but in the near future, I would like to try Gabriel visiting the Institute for brief periods," he said. "If it becomes too much for Gabriel, we can stop it there, but I think it is worth at least one try."

"An' so do I," Moira agreed. "We can hash that out after we get that report done, Charlie, but before we do…"

"I said, I DON'T want to talk about it!"

Black Canary's shout from an adjacent room came just as Dinah stormed out, ignoring Cyclops' calls. "Dinah, hold on! Anita was just curious about what Merlin was talking about!"

As Black Canary strode away, Charles and Moira headed into the room she had just left, where the others had gathered. "Is everything alright?" Charles asked.

"Yeah, we're mostly good, Charles," Wolverine said. "Loudmouth just got all touchy when Princess asked her what Merlin meant 'bout her grandma."

Siryn crossed her arms with a frown. "It was a fair question."

Madelyn quickly changed the subject. "Superman, have you made any progress on that strange crystal Merlin gave you?"

"As a matter of fact, yes," Superman said. "I've at least figured out why my touch didn't boot it up: there are huge gaps in its OS."

Banshee scratched his head. "Eh?"

"Its operating system, Sean," Psylocke chided. "It's how a computer knows how to do things."

Superman nodded. "A more detailed diagnostic told the tale: the gaps in the OS are reference-linked, which means that this nano-driver has been specifically programmed to check itself with a separate set of instructions stored elsewhere."

Hawkgirl started to catch on. "You mean there's another crystal like it somewhere on Earth?"

"At least."

Polaris looked puzzled. "But…why would your people leave something like that here?"

"And what did that message in the mosaic mean?" Scarlet Witch added. "Don't let who ever take Earth? And why?"

Superman sighed. "I don't know," he admitted. "Nothing in the Fortress' historical databanks ever mentioned any Kryptonian setting foot on Earth before Kon-Lir, and if Merlin knew nothing, then the answers are either in the Library download, or in the nano-driver and its siblings."

Captain Britain nodded, before he glanced to the sword he'd haphazardly sheathed with his belt – the best he could do until he found a proper sheath…if one existed that could handle Excalibur's edge. "I confess, I feel a touch guilty keeping Excalibur here," he admitted. "This is the only known weapon capable of slaying that monster, and the lot of you are in far greater contact with him than we are."

Superman shook his head. "Merlin chose you to wield Excalibur, Captain," he said. "Right now, we have a tentative plan to neutralize Apocalypse's war machine; even if we take him out now, Sinister or Ozymandias could step in."

"Ah. Of course."

At that moment, Superman's communicator started to beep, prompting him to check it…and flinch. "If you'll all excuse me, I need to take this."

As Superman walked out, Moira and Charles took that as a good time to depart. Charles was lost in thought as Moira wheeled him towards her office…and then past it. "Moira?" Charles asked. "Don't we have a report to write?"

"Aye, Charlie," Moira agreed, looking a bit guilty. "But first things first." With that, she turned a corner, wheeling him into a lobby…

…where Gabrielle was waiting.

Charles was momentarily dumbfounded at the sight of her, before he scowled at Moira. "I thought I made myself perfectly clear, Moira."

"A few days ago, I'd've agreed with ye, Charles," Moira said. "But just yesterday, she called me up. I think ye'd best hear her out."

Charles clenched his armrest as he glared at his ex-wife. "About what, Moira? About how it's my fault that the son she kept from me is doing this? How it's my fault that she spent the past eighteen years poisoning him against me?" he spat. "Because I've heard it all before, and am not interested..!"

"I'm sorry, Charles."

Those words – the words he'd never imagined that she'd say – froze Charles mid-lecture. "What?"

Gabrielle was trying to suppress tears. "I'm…I'm sorry," she whimpered. "You're right, Charles; what David is doing is my fault. I…I saw reports on the news – how that monster immediately started recruiting the day David went to him, and I knew! I knew that was his idea, and all I could think was "Oh my God, I did that to him!" I practically threw David at that monster!"

Charles didn't know what to say, so Moira spoke up. "I think ye be goin' a bit far there, Gabrielle," she said. "Fer better or worse, 'twas David's decision."

"But I've been bad-mouthing his father for years! Of course he was going to make the choice that hurt Charles most!" Gabrielle cried. "I swear, Charles, I didn't consciously do it, but I was just so angry!" Her expression turned forlorn. "Do you have any idea of…how much you were to lose, Charles? When you left, that last time, I was so broken! I didn't know what to think; I kept wondering if there was something I could've done, or done better, or been better, and it just drove me crazy! I even thought at one point that you two were having an affair!"

Both Charles and Moira chuckled guiltily. "Me and this dobber?" Moira asked. "We'd have driven each other mad!"

Charles nodded. "Moira and I have never been anything more than friends, Gabrielle," he said. "Our cause always came first."

Gabrielle looked a bit better, but not much. "Then when David came, I was completely overwhelmed!" she finished. "When I had to raise him alone, all that resentment boiled up and into every moment, and…it just got out!"

As his former wife buried her face in her hands and cried, Charles felt his own anger melt away. "I think," he began gently, "that rehashing old hurts isn't going to help either of us, Gabrielle. For better or for worse, what happened has happened. We can only move forward."

With a sniffle, Gabrielle tried to dry her eyes. "I know, I know," she murmured. "That's why I came here." She took a deep breath. "Even though David has done awful things, Charles, he's still our boy; I want him back with me and away from that monster!" Her expression turned pained. "But…I'm not naïve enough to think that it's a guarantee that you can do that, and I don't want my son to poison some other child against his or her parents." Her voice trembled. "I know this goes against every part of me as a parent, but…if you can't save our son…then stop him, Charles. Stop him before he hurts anyone else. Please."

Charles felt his own eyes start to sting. "I will do what I can, Gabrielle; all that I can," he promised. "He will have to answer for his crimes, but if it is possible, we will bring David back."

Gabrielle smiled tearfully. "Thank you," she murmured. "And…I know you're busy, but until then, I need someone to talk to, from time to time, and I can't keep pestering Moira…"

Charles knew it was the least he could do. "Of course."

Moira grinned. "Yer welcome, Charlie."

Charles could only fix her with an exasperated glare. "Oh, get stuffed, Moira," he muttered.

The only response he got was her laughter.

XXXXXXXX

Kent Farm

"Clark, I think you'd better get down here and talk to Kara. From what Ma told me, she's pretty upset."

When he'd gotten Alison's message, Clark had excused himself as quickly and politely as he could, and taken to the sky, making a beeline for Smallville. Once he was over the farm, he cut speed and dropped altitude, touching down in front of the farmhouse where Power Girl and Ma were waiting. "Is everything okay?" he asked. "What happened?"

Martha sighed. "Your Space Police friends were talking with Barda and Scott to get details on…that place," she said, "and Kara overheard."

Now Superman understood. "Oh."

Martha took that opportunity to look her son over. "Your new uniform?" she asked, raising an eyebrow. "What was wrong with the old one?"

"You mean besides the fact that it got shredded to pieces?"

"Well, I suppose there's that," Martha said.

Power Girl smiled sheepishly. "I might've taken over the aesthetics part, Ma," she admitted. "But I had to! His underwear was on the outside!"

"Ah." Martha nodded sagely. "I was hoping someone would fix that."

Clark groaned. "I'm never living that down, am I?" he asked. "Where's Kara?"

"She's out by the barn," Martha said. "She was talking to that nice Constable – Lar, I think – before he had to head back."

"Got it, Ma. Thanks," Superman said, before he headed towards the barn, followed by Power Girl.

As they walked, Superman turned pensive. "Is Kara very upset?"

""Freaked" would be a better term," Power Girl said. "Remember, Clarkie: you had a few years to deal with Krypton being gone, but Kara has barely had one year. Add in the fact that her baby cousin is technically older, the fact that we now know Krypton was assassinated, and the fact that the guy that ordered it also had her only living relative kidnapped and is Krypton's most ancient enemy, and it's amazing she hasn't had a nervous breakdown!" She chewed her lip. "And she's not the only one."

Superman looked to his girlfriend. "The three of us haven't had a chance to sit down and talk, have we?"

"No, but that's okay!" Power Girl said quickly. "You got the worst of it, baby. You don't have to feel bad about…"

"Yes I do, taushi. I was so busy dealing with my own issues that I didn't see that you and Kara were hurting, too," Superman said. "It's time we fixed that."

By then, they had reached the barn, where Kara, in plain jeans and a light rose t-shirt, was sitting in the hayloft window. As she spotted him, Kara smiled sadly and waved. "Hey," she murmured. "I like your new uniform."

"Thanks." Clark managed a light grin. "I handled the functional parts; the aesthetics were all Aly."

Kara chuckled. "Figures," she whispered. "Mom was always giving Dad grief about having dust on his clothes from digs, and Aunt Lara made a career out of scolding Uncle Jor about his robes' conditions after he finished in his lab." Her smile collapsed. "Rao, I miss them so much."

Slowly, Clark floated up to sit down next to his cousin, while Alison moved to her other side. "I heard you got a bit upset."

Kara sniffled. "I don't understand it, Kal," she murmured. "How can…how can you – or everyone – just go on like nothing happened? As if you weren't taken to…to that place, or the Dheronians didn't murder our people, or..?"

"You think that's what's going on?" Clark asked gently. "Kara, I'm still aching about what happened on Apokolips! Just today, I had two flashbacks to it that almost caught me! Not only that, I'm plenty burned up about how Darkseid had our people killed!"

Kara's eyes were teary. "I don't know how to get past it, Kal!" she cried. "I…I don't know what to do!"

Quickly, Clark enfolded her in a hug. "Neither do I," he confessed. "I just know two things, Kara. One, we have to take it all just one day at a time."

Kara sniffled again. "And Two?"

"We lean on each other, and our friends," Clark finished. "I'll admit, I'm more used to being the leanee as opposed to the leaner, so I'll probably be a bit bad at it." He chuckled. "So I hope you, Aly, Ma, and everyone will bear with me." His expression turned serious. "We'll get through this, Kara. Whether it's Darkseid, Apocalypse, the Dheronians, or whatever else is out there, we'll stick together and see justice done. That's a promise."

Like she used to with her uncle as a child, Kara nuzzled her nose into her cousin's shoulder. "Okay."

Clark smiled. "Okay," he agreed. As Alison inched closer to hug them both, Clark felt his breath catch, letting everything that had happened to them – everything – just wash over him.

He may not have been 100 percent, but he was getting there; as he'd said, they just had to take it one day at a time.

XXXXXXXX

The Foxfire Shelter, New York City

After night had fallen, the children of the Foxfire Youth Shelter had quickly gotten ready for bed; once midnight hit, the shelter's charges were all in their bunks, sleeping peacefully…

…save one.

…Solomon…

In his bed, one 15-year-old boy flinched, as he turned, muttering in his sleep. "S-Solomon…"

…Hercules…

The boy turned again. "H-Hercules…" He winced. "Why..?"

…Atlas…

"A-Atlas…" the boy repeated. "Who are..?"

…Zeus…

The boy couldn't stop himself. "Z-Zeus..?"

…Achilles…

Again, the whisper came. "Ach…Achilles?"

…Mercury…

"M…Mer…MERCURY!"

That last shout made the boy bolt upright in bed, his short black hair soaked in cold sweat, his blue eyes wide as he cried out…which also woke up some of the others. "Aw, Billy, not again…"

"Cripes, Batson, keep it down, will ya?"

Their griping drew the attention of the shelter's namesake. In her too-big t-shirt and jean-shorts, a sleepy Mackenzie Fox walked into the dorm. "What's going on?"

His expression regretful, Billy Batson looked up at her. "Sorry, Mackenzie; I had the dream again."

Mackenzie's smile was pure sympathy as she sat down next to him. "Do you want to talk about it?"

"What's to talk about? It doesn't make any sense!" Billy exclaimed. "All it is is some whispery voice and a buncha names!" He sighed. "Why is this happening to me, Mackenzie?"

Mackenzie tried not to look worried. "I don't know, Billy," she admitted, "but between me, Victor, Bee, Luke, and Jessie, we'll figure it out, okay?"

Billy sighed. "Okay."

Mackenzie smiled again. "Good," she whispered, as she leaned in to peck his forehead. "Try to get some sleep, okay?"

Billy nodded, while trying not to blush from his surrogate big sister's kiss. "Sure, sure," he relented, as he pulled the blankets back over him. "'Night, 'Kenzie."

"'Night, Billy." With that, Mackenzie got up and walked out, closing the door behind her. Closing his eyes, Billy felt himself drift off…but not before a single word – purely nonsensical, and meaningless – drifted past his lips.

"Sha…zam…"

XXXXXXXX

Author's Note: A word of advice: if you're trying to write in the middle of Basic Training, don't expect a lot of progress. Thankfully, now that it's done, I can get back to a proper schedule.

Coming Soon:

The Man of Tomorrow may be back on the job, but that doesn't mean everyone is happy about it.

With a rising tide of anti-Superman sentiment, a new hero tries to eke out a name for himself…although this golden boy's motives are a bit less than noble.

But when something starts bugging another new hero, it's up to the Justice League to keep him safe from some old foes.

Can our heroes triumph against these suicidal odds?

And is a new threat lurking amongst their ranks?

Find out, when our heroes learn that "All That Glitters" is not gold, on your computer soon…