Beneath the sands of Egypt, statues of the First Horsemen of Apocalypse have come to life. 'I'm not getting taken out by stone dolls of Apocalypse's kids!' Nathan Summers a.k.a. Cable exclaims as he is picked up by one of the Horsemen, and responds by firing his weapon at them. Forge is picked up by another and fires his weapon, too. 'Hate to tell you, Nate, but it's looking more likely by the – squeeze!' Forge calls out as the Horseman tightens their grip. 'Focus. Find their weak spot' Dani Moonstar a.k.a. Mirage tells her companions as she fires an arrow at her attacker, while a shocked Doug Ramsey a.k.a. Cypher responds 'They don't have one. I can read them, Dani. We're not meant to beat them – we're meant to -' Doug begins, before the First Horsemen each slam their captive mutant against a wall or against the bridge below them.
On Arakko, Warren Worthington III a.k.a. Archangel asks the uber-mutant Apocalypse 'Where are you going?' as the ancient mutant starts to walk away from him. Apocalypse glances back at his angel of death and informs him 'My decision approaches. Now my heir must accept their role'.
(in illusion)
Cable finds himself in a warzone, backed up against some rubble while explosions detonate around him. Shadowy figures can be seen in the distance, as Apocalypse's voice can be heard in Cable's head, telling him that he is a man outside of time, and that, ceaselessly, in every era, Cable has stood against him. 'You have lost allies, lovers and flesh of your blood in my name' Apocalypse reminds Cable, before remarking that when Krakoa returned to their time, he found himself opposed by those who had grown up without his guidance. Cable grits his teeth and shields himself from an explosion, before he gets up and begins to run as the explosions close in around him. 'They no longer accepted my principles. Much like the children you once mentored who had rejected both Xavier and Magneto' Apocalypse notes.
Cable comes to a halt as Apocalypse appears in front of him. 'If someone is to continue my great work – i will need an heir who does not hesitate to oppose me in turn!' Apocalypse exclaims as Cable opens fire, blasting Apocalypse at close range. 'Your aim is true and relentless, Cable' Apocalypse declares as his face, blasted apart, begins to re-form. 'That is why I selected you. Why did you accept?' Apocalypse asks as he appears to be holding something in his left arm, against his body. 'So I'll have every weapon in my arsenal to make sure my future never comes to pass, Apocalypse. If i have to become you to stop you? So be it' Cable explains. He pulls away the top of the blanket in his arms, revealing baby Nathan Christopher Summers. 'Your future and your past are a never-ending wheel that turns at my hand' Apocalypse remarks, before deciding that Cable is already as much a child of En Sabah Nur as his of Summers or Pryor or Grey. 'Your war never ends' Apocalypse warns Cable as he vanishes.
(in illusion)
Elsewhere, Forge is making his way through a building with a lot of glass as Apocalypse calls him the maker, the great ideasmith, and tells him that he can build ways forward which even Apocalypse himself cannot conceive. 'Geez!' Forge exclaims as Apocalypse suddenly emerges from some shadows in front of Forge, informing him that is why he came to him. 'Now come with me...and remember what it is that was taken from you' Apocalypse scowls as he looks out the window of the high rise. 'It's...it's more beautiful than I imagined!' Forge exclaims as he looks out the window and sees a sprawling city before him. 'Which is why they killed it' Apocalypse declares, reminding Forge that his living "city of tomorrow" was offered with open hands to an ungrateful humankind – a way to solve the housing and hunger crises humans perpetuate with their own greed. 'Rejected and forgotten in their haste to hate and blame mutants for all their ills'.
Forge rests his head against the glass and laments that it would have worked – it was sustainable and could have changed everything. 'You are an ideasmith in a world that suffers from a famine of new ideas' Apocalypse tells Forge as he turns and walks away, pointing out that men of ideas are far too often insulated from the impact of their grand imaginations. Apocalypse then tosses a gun to Forge, who catches it and asks 'What is this?' Apocalypse explains that it is the neutralizer gun – technology Forge developed to depower mutants – technology humans may never have discovered on their own. Forge looks nervously at the gun in his hands as Apocalypse walks back into the shadows he emerged from while telling Forge to ask himself of he deserved the world outside that window.
(in illusion)
Dani walks down a path within a forest as Apocalypse's voice resonates around her, telling her that she has never risen to her full potential. 'Don't recall asking your opinion' Dani calls back. 'Cheyenne. Mutant. Valkyrie. When your gift was stolen from you, you did not stumble' Apocalypse notes. 'Wasn't my powers that made me an X-Man. Proved that many times over' Dani declares as she looks out over a field, then comes to what appears to be the Xavier Institute, where Storm, Nightcrawler and Colossus are gathered outside, and Kitty Pryde attempts to get their attention by phasing through a nearby window. 'And yet you have always stood in the shadow of greatness' Apocalypse notes.
Dani walks through the X-Mansion, and passes where her original New Mutants teammates – Sunspot, Karma, Wolfsbane and Cannonball – are gathered in a living room. 'That's part of being the new kids. You have a legacy to live up to' Dani tells Apocalypse, suggesting that he can't relate, as no one came before him. 'No one who mattered' Apocalypse tells her as Dani passes the kitchen, where Generation X's Chamber, Monet, Jubilee and Skin are attempting to cook. 'But many came after you. And yet your forebears did not cede their positions of power' Apocalypse notes. Dani walks down a corridor where another generation of mutants – Anole, Glob Herman, Sprite and Transonic – are gathered and she tells Apocalypse that she doesn't think of fostering the next generation od mutants as a zero-sum game.
Dani enters and office where Apocalypse towers over the desk. 'I see greatness dormant in you, Mirage. Or are my eyes deceived by your namesake?' Apocalypse asks. Dani walks past Apocalypse and tells him that Selene fought her and her friends and got her ass kicked – and so did the other Externals. 'I accepted your invite to make sure no other power-hungry immortal exceeds their reach' Dani explains, as Apocalypse notes that a stagnant pond breeds pestilence. Dani takes the seat at the desk in the headmaster's office and looks up at Apocalypse and tells him that from where she is sitting, all she sees is possibility.
(in illusion)
'Is it good to be back on a verdant Krakoa, Douglas Ramsey?' Apocalypse asks as Cypher walks towards the Grove, where the Quiet Council would meet, with a manifestation of Krakoa looming over them. 'You could say that. You'd be underselling it pretty hard, but you could say that' Cypher replies. Apocalypse notes that Xavier and the others elected themselves to speak for the island – but that Douglas is the only one who spoke with it. 'And you are one of the only mutants who defied the wishes of the Quiet Council, so close to their trust that your betrayals went unnoticed' Apocalypse remarks. Cypher lies down next to Krakoa, and remarks that Apocalypse said it himself – the council spoke for Krakoa. 'But they didn't always listen. I did' Cypher claims. Apocalypse appears in his Krakoan attire and admits 'Yes. You did. I have not. For centuries, I have believed that my methods were the only way forward for mutantkind.
Suddenly, several Sentinels appear and loom down over Cypher, with one of the Sentinels raising its hand above Cypher. 'That I would test our mettle in fire and blood before our enemies could find us lacking' Cypher begins to cry as he looks up at the Sentinels looming over him. 'Please. Not again. Don't make me lose it all again' he pleads. The Sentinel opens fire, releasing a powerful blast from the palm of its hand, as Apocalypse remarks 'That I could become mutantkind's great monster in the darkness, driving the species forward through fear and might'. The blast doesn't kill Cypher, instead it strikes Krakoa, destroying everything around Cypher, who drops to his knees. 'Perhaps...I need an heir whose weapon is his word. Whose tongue knows diplomacy and delicate lies' Apocalypse decides.
'I was one of the first mutants to walk on Krakoa. For almost a year, I lived alone on the island, developing our way of life. We should never have had to give it up' Cypher exclaims angrily. 'You have lost much, Douglas Ramsey. And death can be a passage toward rebirth' Apocalypse states as he frowns, looking down at Cypher, who looks up and narrows his eyes.
(reality)
On Arakko, Laura Kinney a.k.a. Wolverine and Julio Richter a.k.a. Rictor have been released from the stasis tanks where they were transported to following their apparent deaths. Wolverine motions to the stasis tanks and asks Rictor who he thinks is going to pop out next. 'I don't know. Thought this was my destiny' Rictor utters, realizing that he cannot even face Apocalypse after this. 'You'll get over it' Wolverine tells him, before Rictor asks her why she is here, why she accepted. Wolverine informs Rictor that when Wolverine got wind of the invites, he asked a few of them that he trusts to accept if asked, to make sure no one awful won. 'Gut them if they did' she explains, popping her claws. 'Logan trusts people?' Rictor asks. 'It was a short list' Wolverine smiles, before two panels on the podium behind them light up, and Cable and Forge are transported into the chamber.
'Where are we?' Cable asks. 'Where's everyone else?' Forge enquires, looking around the chamber, where, aside from Wolverine and Rictor, he sees Emma Frost, Monet St. Croix and Archangel. 'Can't you tell from the dusty read? Arrako, Nathan' Emma informs Cable, before pointing out that if the two of them are here, that leaves Danielle and Douglas unaccounted for. 'The children are our future' Emma utters, while quietly telling herself that she wished it weren't so, in this case. Monet informs Forge that Lin Li and the Gorgon retreated out of here pretty fast, and while Exodus was cordial, he didn't want to wait around in "Great Satan's" palace, and left. 'And Sinister?' Forge asks, looking up at Archangel, who is sitting on a ledge above the others. 'Oh, he wanted to stay, but I caught him prodding at the unopened pods. A few razor feathers later and he remembered he had places to be' Archangel explains.
Emma reports that they also have Warren to thank for getting them out of the stasis tanks early, as it was Apocalypse's intention to keep them all on ice until the conclusion of this little tournament. Forge tells everyone that he is glad that no one actually bit the dust, before asking if the big guy happened to explain how they are getting home. 'He was courteous enough to leave a teleportation platform. That's how -' Monet begins, before the platform lights up, and Dani suddenly appears in the chamber. Dani looks concerned: 'Where's Doug?' she gasps, wide-eyed.
In Aswan, Egypt, Bei the Blood Moon and Warlock stand next to a coffin. Apocalypse stands at the other end of the coffin which glows with energy. Apocalypse announces that it is finished. 'Rise and meet your first disciples' Apocalypse declares, as grey-skinned hand reaches up out of the coffein. 'My heart swells with pride for you, beloved' Bei utters as she sees her husband rise from the coffin. 'Self/Soulfriend?' Warlock asks, grinning. Apocalypse steps forward: 'Behold my heir...' he begins, as Doug stands next to the coffin, he is now muscular, with a grey complexion, some gold markings omn his skin and across his face and head, which is now bald, resembling Apocalypse's. He is garbed in a gold robe, and smiles, as Apocalypse continues: '... behold, REVELATION!'
Revelation turns to Apocalypse and tells him that he will not shepherd as he has, with force and might. 'It would disappoint me greatly if you did' Apocalypse grins. They both walk towards a balcony, as Revelation announces that new mutant leaders will rise from the ashes of Krakoa, that he will listen to them, he will learn from them – and will do what he should have done to save their way of life before the fall. His eyes flash and he boasts 'I will reveal to them the error of their ways!'
