In her long life, Mother Asakani had experienced several moments when time stood still. The few mutants she knew who possessed some form of time control confirmed that they too could feel the space-time continuum come to a stand-still in moments of great consequence, that somehow matter seemed to become stagnant and lose all ability for catalyst when it was most needed. This was one of those moments.

Apocalypse stood on the base of a mountain, overlooking a valley of tiny, swarming figures in the midst of battle. His metallic face wore a look of shock. One fist was clenched around a three-foot long plasma rifle, while the other grasped a piece of yellowed, tattered, partially burnt parchment. Cable ascended the hillside swiftly and trained his right arm upon his enemy. The robot glanced over his shoulder at him unconcernedly and held up the page so that Cable caught the glimpse of a sketch emblazoned in gold, as if the picture itself were made of light. It depicted a very familiar young man with long hair, whose right eye burst with solar energy.

"This has all been foretold, young mortal," said En Saba Nur.

Cable lowered the barrel of his arm slightly to look at the paper. "Is that a page of Destiny's Diaries?" he asked, though of course he knew the answer. Written word had been abolished a long time ago, and the Diaries were the only parchment in existence today.

Apocalypse read, "And the Children of the Dark Ages will sing praises into the night, but the Chosen One must return to his birthplace, to his birthright." He turned to face Cable. "Not many know that this is the very last page the mutant known as Destiny wrote in her famous diaries. Her poignant story ends with a king sailing off into the horizon and a victorious hero returning to his homeland. But her tale is short-sighted. This is not the end of our story." He threw the parchment to the ground. "What will become of your dear 'children' when you leave their world, and I return?"

Nathan Summers furrowed his brows but bit back the insults that rose in his mind. "You may be immortal, Apocalypse, but I am eternal. Mother Asakani will bring me back a thousand times, if she needs to, to put an end to any pathetic attempt you make at regaining reign over this land."

"Your sister is on her deathbed."

Mother Asakani winced at the realization that Apocalypse could feel her psychic presence, watching them from her encampment 5 miles away. Her attendant misunderstood the sound and offered her a glass of water, which she pushed away impatiently. Cable was speaking again.

"Enough of this childish talk, Apocalypse!" He trained his gun again, and the robot threw his head back in an enormous roar.

The battle below ceased almost instantly. Cyclops grabbed Jean Grey's arm and pointed at the mountain base. "He's facing Apocalypse alone! He said we'd fight him as twelve. Is he insane!"

Jean Grey hugged her husband's waist and said, "We fought the battle as 12. But this is another fight altogether. This is his fight." Stryfe lowered his arm, which was trained upon their backs, and stepped beside his biological father. He still hated the man, but at this moment, their skirmish was moot. He watched the two figures fire their weapons and he held his breath as both bodies shook the plasma away like dust and charged.

Mother Asakani couldn't watch the battle. She pulled away from the mountain, back into her small tent, and felt her temples throb from the effort. Her spirit was pulling away from her body, as water slips through a strainer, leaving only limp spaghetti behind. No! Not now. I need two more minutes! Clenching her teeth through the pain, she sped time forward, past the half-hour battle between Apocalypse and Cable, past the slow separation between the robot's forces and the Clan Asakani, past the moment went the Sentinels and the army of mutants below realized their master was losing the battle and ran into the distance, until she heard cries of praise thrown into the air.

Asakani was dancing in the valley, hugging and kissing each other, almost silly with exuberance. But the remaining 10 members of the 12 were clumped together in a solemn circle, watching the end of an arduous battle. Cable held Apocalypse in a telekinetic hold. The robot was immortal, but he tired, and he could no longer fight off his adversary's grip. He surrendered. As Cable approached, small skin cells upon his neck and face mutated into titanium chips. The use of TK was straining his immune system and the Techno Virus was taking over his body. But there was fight in him still. He forced Apocalypse's face to the ground with his foot and extended the gun of his armor against his temple.

"Let's save the dramatics, Cable," Apocalypse spat. "Your pistol is no more a threat to me than your foot. Release me, so that I can make my walk of defeat into the desert."

Reluctantly, Cable kicked the face away and lifted his telekinetic hold. Apocalypse got to his knees, then stood, and threw his nemesis a self-satisfied look. "I will return, you must know that," he stated. It wasn't a question.

Cable gave a short nod. "And I will always be here, waiting for you, when you do. Now get out of my sight."

Stryfe came forward and led Apocalypse away into the sunset. Cheers from the Asakani filled the air again, and they were so loud that none of her teammates heard Jean Grey say, "We need to get back to the camp. Now."

But the words had barely escaped her lips when she felt herself and her companions cupped in a telekinetic shield and thrown into the atmosphere above. They were traveling faster than light, past galaxies and stars, dematerialized fragments of dust and thought. And with a crash of surprise, found themselves upon the ground in an office of oak and leather. They were back at the X-Mansion in M.E.

Wolverine was the first to jump up. "What the hell was that?"

"Rachel," Jean said. "She's gone." She turned to look at Cable, but he had stomped out of the room without a word to any of them.

Rachel Summers soared through the timestream clumsily, dragging 11 mutants behind her with difficulty. When she saw the jade green mass of light that she knew to be Mainstream Earth, she threw her cargo aside and pressed on as fast as she could. She could feel herself faltering, failing with every minute. But she wouldn't stop. She'd go out with a bang. She circled around until she came back to M.E., into the green glow.

She saw the universe come into focus, and spotted the Milky Way. She sped past the planets without concern, taking no notice of Saturn, Mars, Earth, or Mercury as they brushed her force-stream in passing. She felt the heat of the sun pressing on her skin. The light was so bright that it pierced her blindness, and forced white into every black corner of her sight. The flames licked her body. Her hair and clothes evaporated instantaneously and her flesh seemed to melt like wax. She released any telekinesis she still retained and felt herself fall into a sea of lava.

The last thing she remembered was the light.