Chapter 5: Apocalypse, Now?

"Good, you're up. Maybe you can talk some sense into Xavier."

Sabere rubbed her eyes and glared at Logan. "You're lucky I'm awake at all. Why does Xavier need to be talked to?" Sabere staggered into the kitchen where Logan was sitting alone. Her sleep had been plagued with the worst nightmares imaginable. Gone were the flashbacks to Andy's death, although now she would have gladly returned to those dreams. All through the night, visions of the red and blue lights and swarmed her mind, and the watchful tiger feeling tormented her nonstop. What was worse was that the lights had changed shape – the red lights sometimes collected themselves into eyes, furious red eyes that followed her sleeping mind. Sabere grabbed for a cup of coffee, desperate for anything to bring her back to reality.

Logan finished off his coffee in one gulp and jerked his head in the general direction of Xavier's office. "He's been locked up with Dr. Hank McCoy since dawn, and no one's been in to see what the hell they're doing. Barely got to meet the guy."

"Yeah, who is he?" Sabere slumped into a chair, massaging her temples.

"Apparently he's one of Xavier's many mutant contacts outside the school."

"He's a mutant?"

Logan raised an eyebrow. "Apparently you haven't even seen him yet, because the answer to that is pretty damn obvious. His code name is Beast, and he's kinda gorilla-shaped, only covered with blue fur – "

"Well, blue's not an unusual color around here – "

" – and he's brilliant. Quotes Shakespeare whenever he can, genius chemist and mathematician. He says it's natural, nothing to do with mutation, but I ain't so sure."

"So…" Sabere stifled a yawn. "So why is he here?"

"And there's the rub." Logan stood up to pace the kitchen. "Only Xavier knows, and he hasn't come out to tell us." He hesitated, then looked back at her. "So, what happened last night? All I got out of the other blue guy was that you collapsed after there were some weird lights – "

"I don't want to talk about it," she said, more abruptly than she intended. Logan nodded and turned away. Sabere couldn't bring herself to apologize.

They sat quietly at the table, sipping coffee and trying to avoid each other's glances. The minutes ticked by.

/X-Men, you can finally get your answers. Come to my office immediately./­­

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Xavier's "office" was, at the moment, more akin to military headquarters than a regular office. The professional desk and furniture were all still present, but massive televisions had rotated out of the walls from under paneling and paintings. Several computer consoles had risen out of the floor, complete with wide keyboards, hundreds of switches and buttons, and three-dimensional displays. In front of one sat Xavier, who sat frowning at a large three-dimensional globe marked with several red dots. Someone who could only be Beast stood next to him, pointing up at Egypt, where clusters of dots made the country glow angrily. Sabere looked quickly away and focused on the dark wood of Xavier's desk, but couldn't resist studying the visiting mutant. He was probably over six feet tall standing, but his body structure was similar to that of an ape, so he hunched over with long arms touching the floor. He was entirely covered in shaggy, dark blue fur – why is it all oddly-colored mutants are that shade of blue? – but he was wearing a professional suit. The effect would have been comical if his blue eyes didn't contain amazing intelligence and curiosity. Like Kurt, there was obviously more to this man than met the eye.

A quiet bamf announced Kurt's arrival, and Sabere turned happily to meet him, relieved to see he had left the image inducer off today. "How are you doing?" he asked quietly, standing near her.

She reached up and pushed some of his long dark hair back behind his ear. "Not sure yet," she replied softly, relieve by the presence of someone she knew would support her. "I think we're in for some bad news."

Xavier turned his wheelchair around to face the gathered X-Men. "I'm not going to sugarcoat this – we are in trouble. Last night's events in the city seem to only be the beginning of something massive." He indicated Beast, who grinned and waved. "For those who haven't yet had the pleasure of meeting Hank McCoy, or Beast, here he is; I only wish you could have met him under better circumstances. Hank is here with his theory – "

"It's not a theory, Charles, it's happening," Hank interrupted, rolling his eyes.

" – Hank is here to help explain the reemergence of Apocalypse."

If they were expecting gasps of horror, they were disappointed. Sabere was only vaguely relieved by the fact that for once, she was not the only one who didn't know what was going on. Apparently none of the X-Men had ever heard of Apocalypse.

Hank pressed a button on one of the consoles, and the hologram globe world map zoomed in on northern Egypt, while the neighboring monitor displayed images of Egyptian paintings and hieroglyphs, all depicting frightening rays of light emanating from pyramids, cowering people, and a huge central figure that had been almost entirely chiseled off of all the paintings.

"History lesson for the day: Egypt, about five thousand years ago. Enter a horribly deformed baby found by nomads in the desert. Their leader, Baal, apparently recognizes the potential of this baby and names him En Sabah Nuhr, which means 'the first one.' "

"Oh," Storm murmured. "The first mutant?"

Beast nodded. "The first, and unquestionably the most powerful. His training and difficult nomadic lifestyle put him in the mindset of 'survival of the fittest,' only taken to the most extreme level."

"Great," Logan groaned. "Sounds like he's right up Magneto's alley."

Beast gave him an evil eye, apparently not appreciating the interruptions, then continued. "When Apocalypse was still a teenager, he overthrew the pharaoh and set out to take over the world. He did pretty well, and for a couple centuries he dominated most of the ancient world, Egypt, Europe, the Middle East, even most of China. But after about three hundred years – " He shrugged. "He just disappeared. Some of these paintings suggest that he was assassinated, but that seems highly unlikely. Other depict his suicide, several grisly methods, actually, but that also seems unlikely. It's commonly believed by those who have studied him that he overreached himself, both in mutant powers and geographic influence. Some records suggest that when he tried to activate some possible latent powers within himself, his experiment backfired and he put himself out of action."

"But somehow he had enough consciousness remaining to wait for the right mutant to restore himself." Xavier looked directly at Sabere. "Do you remember what I said about your healing gift when you first came here?"

"You said it was the first time it had been manifested in this form," she answered quietly, realization slowly dawning over her.

Xavier nodded. "The timing was just right. A mutant with the external healing capability entered the world, and Apocalypse had enough strength to harness that power for himself and essentially bring himself back to life."

Sabere shook her head, refusing to believe that she was the cause of this. "There are thousands of mutants in the world – one of them has to have the same power. Why couldn't he pick one of them?"

"He probably chose you because your gifts manifested in a mostly mature form. Because your powers surfaced later than ordinary mutants, you already had the level of strength and maturity needed for him to use your powers for himself."

She shook her head and sank down into one of the leather chairs, horrified at the sickeningly perfect timing of it all. Andy's accident brought about her mutation, and a few years later an ancient mutant had the perfect source to revive himself. She couldn't believe it.

"That's why you were so exhausted – basically, you brought a man back from the dead."

She chuckled humorlessly, shaking her head still and feeling her eyes fill with tears.

"That doesn't make it your fault," Beast added quickly. "Apocalypse controlled your mind and stole your powers. It has nothing to do with you."

"The bastard," Logan said quietly. "So a super-evil, super-powerful mutant who was supposed to be dead thousands of years ago used Sabere's healing powers to wake himself up, and is now out to take over the world?"

"He can't be that powerful," Storm argued. "With so many more mutants in the world now, and with the world population so much larger, plus all the industrialization – he can't possibly conquer it all – can he?"

Jean shook her head slowly, staring unfocused at the floor. "I felt something wrong last night…like…an eruption. There are always earthquakes, you know, and built-up pressure before an eruption…and that's what it felt like. He has actually been waiting for quite some time…and then his opportunity came…and now he's fully revived."

"Even if he's this powerful, and as strong as you say, can one man alone do something like this?" Storm insisted.

"Not alone – he'll have his four Horsemen with him," Beast added.

Kurt snorted. "Clever man."

"Hmm?"

"In the book of Revelations, the Four Horsemen were responsible for destroying the world during the Apocalypse. They were called War, Famine, Pestilence, and Death."

"Oh, yes, very clever – sick bastard," Logan grumbled.

Hank nodded. "Indeed, Apocalypse's original horsemen had those names, but they were all killed – "

"Apocalypse was, too – "

" – by Apocalypse himself," Beast finished. "Apparently they displeased him. We can assume now that he'll need replacements, but they could come from anywhere. He may find some local mutants to serve him, or he may kidnap other, more powerful mutants from around the globe."

"Would he come here?" Storm asked.

"It's doubtful. He knows we'd fight him. Why waste his time when there are more agreeable – or weaker – mutants he could use?"

"Like Magneto." Scott looked up suddenly. "Apocalypse wants to have mutants rule the world, doesn't he? He's the answer to Magneto's prayers. Hell, he's probably already signed up!"

"Even if he hasn't joined ranks with Apocalypse, there is little chance we could dissuade him," Xavier interrupted grimly. "With capable mutants like John and Mystique at his side, Magneto has potent forces that Apocalypse can't afford to pass up."

They sat in silence. Sabere found herself entranced by the angry red lights in Egypt.

"So what do we do?" Scott asked finally.

"We have to attack him now, while he's gathering himself," Storm insisted. "If we wait too long, he'll gather allies and gain more strength until we won't be able to fight him off."

But Xavier was shaking his head before she finished her sentence. "I think that's the last option we have. Apocalypse, in the pyramids, is centralized – he is in the place of his birth, his own territory, and he doesn't have to worry about other lands and conquests. If we were to attack now, he would have nothing to worry about besides deflecting his attack. If we wait for him to spread himself out, he will have more people to control and more chances for him to slip up enough for us to defeat him."

"But how many will die before that day?" Kurt asked. "If we wait for him to dominate, how many will be enslaved of killed under his rule before he 'slips,' as you hope he will?"

"I agree with Xavier," Beast broke in. "We have to wait for his first move. Better for us to see how he operates, than for him to observe our techniques and give him an even bigger advantage over us."

"What about SHIELD? Would they help us out?" Sabere suggested.

"After the Bishop incident, I wouldn't count on it," Scott said grimly.

"Even if they're willing and able to give us some aid, we need to be prepared to take him on ourselves," Beast said. "If we wait, he may think we're not strong enough to take him on, and perhaps be off his guard when we attack."

Xavier nodded thoughtfully. "Then we're agreed. We will observe him and his movements, and wait."

The X-Men nodded, some obviously less comfortable with the decision than others. The lights in Egypt continued to flare angrily, and Sabere dropped her eyes back to the floor. Telling them what was on her mind – that there was probably no way to defeat Apocalypse – would not help anything.