A thirty-foot Apocalypse lands onto the ground with a crash.

"Freedom!" Apocalypse cries out. "At long last, prophecies are fulfilled, and the natural order of the accursed Celestials is forever destroyed." He looks down at the group of mutants and one metahuman gawking up at him. "Allow me to show my gratitude," he tells us ironically.

"Look out!" Cyclops yells. We scatter as Apocalypse lets out an energy blast, and I catch sight of Leatherhead picking up Mikey and of Don picking up Splinter, carrying them towards safety. I hardly have enough time to worry about Raphael before I feel a stab of heat hit me in the shoulder. Well, so much for returning Cyclops' clothes unwrinkled.

"Kitty," I hear Cyclops call. "Phase out and get the students to safety. And bring the rest of the fighters out here! We're going to need all of the help we can get!" Kitty doesn't need to be told twice.

"For once," Apocalypse tells him, sending another energy blast that Cyclops barely manages to avoid while carrying Emma, "it would appear that you almost comprehend the futility of fighting against the great Apocalypse. Bring me the rest of your supposed 'heroes,' and line them up like sheep to the slaughter. This has been a long time coming, X-Men."

"Well, I ain't an X-Man," Raphael cries out. He had apparently circled around Apocalypse, and was using his sai to climb up the mutant's cybernetic body. "So, you're this so-called Apocalypse creep, huh? Other than lookin' like the Statue 'a Liberty's playmate, you don't look so tough to me."

"Whoa," Iceman remarks. "The little green dude's got a mouth on him. He never dealt with the end of the world before, huh?"

"He learns from the best," Wolverine smirks before running towards Apocalypse as well.

Wolverine doesn't have the time to change his course before Apocalypse easily grabs Raphael off of him and throws him towards the clawed mutant. With an enraged cry, Raphael crashes against Wolverine, pinning him down with his shell.

"Impudent mortal," Apocalypse tells him. "Do you not know who I am? I am Apocalypse, and my will shall rule supreme. Only the strongest shall be spared from the ill effects of my regime. There is no freedom from me. There is only freedom through me."

Picking himself up, Raphael snarls up at Apocalypse. "Gimme a minute, and I'm gonna show ya what's goin' through ya!" Despite Donatello calling for him to draw back, Raphael runs for Apocalypse again. I cry out when I see Apocalypse's arm morph into something that looks like a cable with a spike attached to it… and it's headed straight for Raphael.

"So much for the Wolverine acolyte," Cyclops mutters. I resist the urge to turn around and deck him, knowing full well that Raphael was likely to surprise him soon enough. Who knew he'd surprise the rest of us, too?

Just before the impact, Raphael vaults over the spike, landing on the malleable body of the whip. As though he were running on solid ground, he manages to keep his balance and continues on his path towards Apocalypse even as the metamorph changes his arm back to normal. When he's high enough, Raphael jumps with both sai in hand, slamming them down on Apocalypse's massive throat.

Apocalypse lets out a grunt and falters backwards. Cyclops takes this opportunity to hit him with an optic blast, and Iceman does the same with his powers. Wolverine gets up and charges at him again, and Leatherhead decides to join in the fray. My spider-sense is still off the wall and my shoulder's still burning from the hit it took, or else I would be doing something other than just standing around like a dumbstruck spectator.

Leatherhead and Wolverine are swept aside as Apocalypse transforms one of his arms into a mammoth shield, also using it to block Cyclops and Iceman's attacks. Because of the angle at which I'm standing, I can see around the shield, and watch as Apocalypse plucks Raphael off of him, holding the angry turtle by the shell. "Your temper is amusing," he remarks, "and your skill rather extraordinary."

Still wildly swinging his sai, Raphael sarcastically responds, "Yeah, I can't figure out why your stupid little demons picked me out to be War. Must be what they call one of 'em weird enigmas or somethin', huh?"

"Indeed," Apocalypse answers. "Though you are mistaken. They were not 'my' demons, but simply frail followers who hoped to strengthen themselves by being chosen as my Horsemen. Only I choose those worthy enough to act as one of my harbingers, and I would much rather have you as Death."

All of us are astounded when Apocalypse takes to the air... Raphael still in hand. That snaps me out of it. "Oh no, you don't!" I yell at him, shooting out a web towards him. It manages to attach itself to Apocalypse's leg and ends up dragging me along. Let it, I think, feeling my feet leave the ground. If Raphael turns into a genetically modified, tried-and-true Death, then this really is the end of the world.

I let out a surprise cry when I feel someone wrap their arms around my legs. It isn't meant to bring me down, but it seems like I've picked up a hitchhiker. Back-up is always a good idea, but I'm not willing to admit to that when I see who it is. "Mikey?! Get off of me! This is dangerous!"

"Really?" Mike asks. "And here I thought this was the line to the Ferris wheel."

"Mikey!" Donatello calls, trying to chase after us. We're already about thirty feet in the air, and ascending fast. "Mikey, what are you doing? Come down from there!"

"Hey," Mikey calls down to his brother. "I've been evil for this entire episode. Time for me to play the hero in this story, okay?"

I groan as I reach down to pull him up so he can get a better grasp on my web. "I swear, when we find out that we're really in a comic book, the editor's gonna kill us for breaking the fourth wall."

"Aw, Spidey," he smiles up at me. "You mean you wanna be my sidekick?" I mention something about not even having my uniform on, and he asks, "You wanna borrow my bandanna? It's long enough for you to wrap around your face a few times, if you really wanted to."

"I'll pass," I mutter, climbing up the web. "I'd much rather reveal my secret identity than look like a- whoa, watch it!" I grab Mikey and pull him behind me as Apocalypse shoots some more beams at us, clearly not happy with picking up a couple of stragglers.

Michelangelo squeals as he tries to climb over me. I hiss as he presses against my injured shoulder. "Mikey, quit it! Just hold still, or else the web's gonna-" Snap, did you say?

Mike clutches at me and screams again, but I let out another two webs, aggravating my shoulder even more when they hit their mark and pull taut. "Insignificant pests," Apocalypse breathes. He reaches down and pulls the webbing off of his torso. It's a good thing I've been web-slinging since I was fifteen; otherwise, I'd be getting a really bad case of vertigo right about now.

He tries to drop us, but I'm webbing as fast as I can and stick to him yet again. "Sorry, Apocalypse," I tell him. "You want my buddy up there, then you're gonna have to take me along for the ride. Consider it something of a package deal."

"Yeah," Michelangelo pipes up. I can tell from his shaky voice that he's not liking the acrobatics. Hm, and I thought he was a ninja. "You tangle with one of the turtles, you tangle with all of us. Uh, well… at least one more of us… plus a spider… yeah. Shutting up now."

"Thank you," I tell him.

"A spider, eh?" Apocalypse pulls on the web again, and Mikey and I both cry out when he lifts us up to dangle us in front of his face. "So, this is the true face of the famous Spider-Man."

"Thanks a lot," I tell Mikey, really annoyed this time.

"Sorry, buddy," Michelangelo apologizes.

"How unfortunate," Apocalypse states. I'm beginning to feel like one of those blood samples that I was studying under a microscope for all those hours. "You are much smaller than I had imagined. But then, perhaps that will suit my purposes all the better."

I ask what purposes, but Raphael's voice carries over mine. "Let him go, bucket head! He's just a human, and you ain't got no use for one of 'em in whatever stupid possession plans you're schemin'. If ya know what's good for ya, you'll put 'em both down before I gotta turn into Death a little earlier than you'd like!"

"Silence!" Apocalypse bellows out at him. I see him clench his fist around Raphael, which probably isn't doing a lot for those fractures he had suffered just a couple of hours ago. "Sinister and his associates may have favored mutants, but I make no distinction. Human or mutant matters little, so long as the strength and obedience is there." He returns his red eyes to me, and I suddenly get the feeling that this wasn't one of my better ideas. "Whatever strength you have, I can amplify it. And whatever obedience you lack, I can amend it. You may prove to be a valuable Horseman. I do not suppose you would accept the honor willingly?"

"Ha! Fat chance, fathead!" Michelangelo hollers. I elbow him in the rubs. Maybe this was one of my better ideas. Or, at least, the one that's starting to form in my head might just prove to be… doable.

"What do I get in return?" I ask Apocalypse. I can feel Michelangelo's stunned eyes on me, not believing that I'd even consider the offer. "You can go ahead and turn me into a Horseman just like you've done to countless others, but most of them have turned their back on you or betrayed you, even with the brainwashing. So if I can make a promise of obedience, what would you be willing to give in return?"

Apocalypse regards me with his large eyes, trying to figure me out. No doubt he knows that I'm only bluffing about ever wanting to work under his employ, but he also knows I've got a point. Warren Worthington as Death is only one example of one of his Horsemen shaking off the behavior modification and joining up with the X-Men. And since he knows we good guys have a decent store of a thing called "honor," I might be less likely to break a promise once I've been honor-bound.

"What precisely is the price of your loyalty?" Apocalypse asks noncommittally.

Michelangelo grips me tighter, as though telling me not to go through with this. "One of the turtles is dying," I say to Apocalypse. "I know the stomatitis to be curable, but it's the septicemia I'm worried about. You have enough power and brains to figure out a super-aggressive antibiotic cure. All I ask is that I be given a medication that will ensure his survival. After that, you can go ahead and turn me into whatever Horseman you want."

"Leo's dying?" Mike whispers. "But I thought you said-"

"Him too," I throw in. "Me and Michelangelo, along with Raphael, in exchange for a cure."

"What?" Mike explodes. "You're nuts, Pete! Man, what'd I miss while-"

I throw him an unusually fierce glance over my shoulder. "Do you want Leo to get better, or would you rather have his death hang over your head? At least this way, we'll make an ally out of a potentially dangerous enemy. Or had it not occurred to you that our options are a little on the limited side?"

He seems stunned by my outburst, and I'm forced to show no reaction. Apocalypse doesn't know me, so he doesn't know my temperament at all. Maybe I can hope for him to think that this is just the way I normally act… and it'll send warning flares to the turtles. Judging by the harsh profanities about betrayal that Raphael's throwing down at me, I don't think he's quite catching on.

"At long last," Apocalypse remarks, "an alleged 'hero' with a shred of common sense. Your offer is intriguing, and I will in turn bestow upon you the mark of Pestilence." I tell him that he'll only get my blind loyalty if he makes the cure, first. "But of course," is his answer. "A business transaction in the simplest sense. If only the rest of the world understood such basic terms."

I'd feel a whole lot better if it weren't for the distinct impression that he's playing me just as well as I'm playing him… if not better.