26 Chapter 26 - Facing Apocalypse

The next couple of days Logan worked on whipping the mutants into shape. Their abilities and teamwork improved as they trained until they felt as though they could handle anything together. Then they grew curious about Mikael's strength, a mistake that the group soon learned to dread as they faced him together for training only to end up beaten, battered and exhausted.

The three rescued mutants, Robert "Bobby" Drake, Jubilation "Jubilee" Lee and Armando Muñoz all learned quickly not to underestimate an enemy as Bobby ended up half frozen in a pool, Jubilee half buried in the dirt from her own explosives and Darwin was unable to adapt to the threat Mikael posed as his own power teleported him out of view every time Mikael focused his attention on him. Alex landed on the roof with Scott next to him and Kitty ended up stuck in a tree that Jean and Raven was sitting under while Hank and Logan spent most of the time getting slammed into each other.

"Well you lasted longer than you would have a couple of days before so uh… Congrats. If you were facing anyone else I'd say you would do pretty well." Mikael told them the following morning after they recovered as they shambled in to sit at the dining table.

"But we're still not strong enough to fight Apocalypse are we?" Jean asked as she sat down.

"Well actually you might stand a chance together. But did you forget? You only need to take care of whoever he picked as his horsemen, I'll take care of him." Mikael answered as he served breakfast before turning on the tv. The rest of the group trickled in as Mikael turned up the volume.

"Earlier this week Bolivar Trask, a long time supporter for the Anti-Mutant movement has caught the world off guard by switching sides. According to a recent interview he claims that he made a new discovery that opened his eyes. He claims that the mutants are not a recent emergence but rather they have been around longer than we know. Not only that but the once renowned scientist claims that mutants and other powered individuals are the only reason we have not been invaded by extraterrestrial civilizations. You heard that right ladies and gentlemen, Bolivar Trask claims mutants protect us from aliens. Not only that but he says aliens have been manipulating us into hating and fearing mutants."

The sound of clanking dishes filled the dining area as everyone in the room dropped their utensils in unison. Logan turned and noticed that Mikael had a wide grin on his face as he watched the news report.

"You did this, didn't you?" Logan asked.

"Maybe I did." Mikael said with a smile that quickly faded as another report came on the news.

"In other news a freak tornado has appeared over Cairo, Egypt today, nearly causing the crash of an airliner. The pilots managed to recover from and perform an emergency landing into the Mediterranean Sea. All flights to and from around the North-Eastern Africa region have now been delayed or cancelled until further notice."

"It's him. Gear up and get ready to go." Mikael said as he rose to his feet and left the room leaving the group to give each other a glance before scrambling out after him. The team rushed to dress themselves in a couple of black uniforms Hank designed for each of the the day before heading to the hangar. As the nerves and tension built up within each of them as they sat in the plane, the door to the hangar open and they watched as Mikael walked in followed by Xavier. Dark gray trousers and tunic covered his body under a midnight blue breastplate, a red sash wrapped around his waist before looping through a gold ring in the front and a black cloak draped over his shoulders and back. His dark gray and black boots echoed clearly as he stepped onto the plane with his helmet tucked beneath his arm.

"Hank, get us to Egypt." Mikael said as he turned to the group. "If anyone wants to back out, now is your chance."

The group looked at each other silently before turning back to him. Mikael nodded as he looked towards Xavier sitting outside the plane.

"I'm trusting you to bring them back safe. And please help Eric, there's still good in him, I know it." Xavier said as he slowly backed away.

"Don't worry, I will. And I'll drag that old friend of yours back by his feet if I have to." Mikael responded as the back ramp slowly closed shut. The plane slowly raised out of the hangar and everyone felt a jolt as the plane took off towards their destination. As the group braced themselves in their seats, Mikael walked calmly between them before sitting down next to Jean. Mikael spent the next hour and a half in silence as he closed his eyes and meditated. He felt the tension in the air as the group shuffled in their seats.

An hour and a half later the plane began to shake as Mikael opened his eyes as everyone began to grip their harnesses. He stood to his feet and walked over to the cockpit and looked out the window. Outside he saw the dark skies and the massive violent column of twisting air and sand as debris and ruined trees whipped through the air.

"I can't get any closer." Hank said as he struggled to keep the plane from being drawn in.

"It's fine, hold it steady." Mikael responded as he reached his hand forward, fingers outstretched. Hank watched with wide eyes as the violent winds began to slow, debris falling to the ground as Mikael slowly clenched his fingers into a fist.

In the center of the storm Apocalypse stood in the center of a decimated city surrounded by five other figures as he watched the dark skinned white hair woman floating in the air. Over the course of the last two hours the woman had created the storm around them, the wind whipping into a tornado that expanded to cover the entire city. He looked around at the destruction surrounding him as the pyramid in front of him trembled and shook apart. The ground began to bulge as the bricks of the pyramid gave way to a large rectangular structure that lifted into the air.

Apocalypse looked up at the floating structure and was about to speak when he noticed the winds beginning to slow and fade. His head snapped towards the woman in the air now struggling to maintain the storm.

"Useless." He growled as a black plane passed overhead narrowly avoiding the floating structure before landing on the other side of the clearing. The ramp opened as he saw a a group of people step out into the open. Eleven individuals dressed in black bodysuits walked out of the vehicle followed by another figure dressed in dark clothes and armor. Apocalype's eyes narrowed as the face of the last individual came into view and his morphed into a rage filled visage.

"You." Apocalypse growled as the group surrounding looked towards the dark figure that now stepped in front of the other group. His gauntleted hands clenched into fists as he stepped forward.

"Well hello there." Mikael said with a grin as he put slipped his helmet over his head. He pulled the hood of his cape over his head as he looked up at Apocalypse through his visor.

"So are you ready for another beating?" Mikael asked as he drew his lightsaber. Its silver blade ignited with a loud hiss that attracted everyone's gaze.

"The fool wears metal. Crush him Magneto." Apocalypse scoffed as he waved his hand. A man wearing a black cape and an elaborately designed red, black and silver outfit that looked almost metallic stepped forward and outstretched his hands towards Mikael. Seconds passed as nothing happened and he pushed his hand forward again as his eyes filled with disbelief.

"Yeah, about that. Doesn't work on me, sorry." Mikael said before he turned to whisper towards Logan. "You should be careful of the helmeted one over there. He plays with metal."

Mikael looked towards the rest of the group by Apocalypse's side. He recognized Magneto and Storm, he also picked out Psylocke thanks to her identical outfit and appearance as well as Angel with his large metallic wings. But what surprised him was that there were two more individuals present. One was a blonde haired young man in black and red clothes similar in design to the other men except he had two gauntlets that was on fire. The other was a taller older man with brown hair and black eyes with red irises dressed in much the same manner with the addition of a long coat.

'Gambit and Pyro by the looks of it. I guess I pissed him off pretty bad if he actually chose to look for more people.' Mikael thought to himself as he turned his vision back towards Apocalypse.

"I see you got yourself more help. Guess I scared you huh? Don't worry. I'd be scared of me too." Mikael said as in the blink of an eye he appeared in front of the large figure. The six mutants could only turn their head in shock from the sudden display of speed as Mikael threw both hands out to his sides and a burst of energy exploded from his position throwing them all into the air in separate directions. Apocalypse was thrown back almost a dozen feet before crashing into the rubble of the pyramid.

Jean and the rest of the group quickly followed his charge as they rushed forth towards each of Apocalypse's servants. Gambit, Psylocke and Storm recovered in the air as they each launched an attack towards Mikael as he started to walk towards Apocalypse's position. Mikael spun around sweeping his lightsaber redirecting their attacks back towards the group. Each of the horsemen were forced to dodge as violet bolts of energy impacted their former positions. As they turned to attack again, they were greeted with glowing cards right in front of them that soon exploded as a chain of lightning arced through the air. They were thrown once more through the air as they rolled along the ground. Before they could attempt another attack there were forced to defend themselves from the combined attacks from Mikael's team.

Apocalypse pushed off the rubble as he rose to his feet. He watched Mikael walk towards him, his silver blade carving into the ground next to him as blasts of energy and flying debris filled the air behind him and the dark skies were lit up by flashes of lightning.

"Useless. Every single one." Apocalypse growled as he watched his horsemen getting pushed back. "I give you all this power and you can't even get rid of a bunch of children."

"It's not their fault. Those 'children' have better teamwork. They even managed to survive against me for a time." Mikael said as he continued to close the distance. He flourished his saber as he brandished it vertically in front of his chest, the silver glow illuminating the side of his helmet.

"The question is… Can you do the same?"