Chapter Seventy-Two, Part One

"You want permission to use my space-worm as a base?" May tilted her head at Anakin's request and waved to the landscape of Mortis. "What's wrong with this place? Ultron has barely finished retrofitting a phantom drive large enough to shift that silicon behemoth through space and its interior isn't as rich in the Force as Mortis."

"There is a physical entryway to Mortis, a Celestial construct that sits within the tangled depths of the core," Anakin projected an image that zoomed in on an octahedral monolith, five kilometres long for every side. "I would like to install it within your beast and create a mobile temple for the Order of Krypton around it. We could travel the galaxy and seek out all newborn force sensitives, gather them together and train them in the ways of Krypton."

"It's not a bad plan," May nodded as she composed a series of instructions to Ultron, alongside the coordinates for the Mortis monolith. "The three of you can form a triumvirate, a council of three that can guide the Order on Krypton's behalf… as long as Merlyn is still intent on the advancement of his own magic?"

"I am indeed," Merlyn nodded his head, focused on the energy flows within the monastery. "This place has inspired me to take my spellwork in new directions, something that will require all my attention."

"Then it's decided," May sent her message and opened a portal behind her and levitated the unconscious Son into the air. "The Daughter and I will head to Krypton for now, send word if you're having troubles getting Silky to obey… oh?"

May halted her feet as a message from Goku was transmitted from the universal gate. The Viltrumites were willing to surrender, but only to her. She rolled her eyes at Thragg's demand, but turned to the Daughter with a smile.

"I have some business in another universe, if you're interested in coming along?" A flick of her hand tossed the Son back at Anakin's feet. "Ani can watch over your idiot brother, while I show you some of the furthest reaches of our Empire!"

– – – –

Cold, black stone carried on ahead, the same as the passage behind. Every twist and turn, every branched path, all of them were identical. Time had lost all meaning after the first thousand years within the shadowed maze, an eternity of silent halls and unbroken ebony slabs.

"There is no end to this place…" En Sabah Nur leaned his tired frame against the wall, gaze unfocused as a familiar pulse drained away the whisper of cosmic energy under his skin. "Death would be better than this, yet this cursed maze keeps me alive."

The final spark of hope snuffed out within his heart, extinguished by the knowledge that he would exist like this forever, lost in a labyrinth that had no end. The core of his being faltered, the cosmic power generated by his cells reduced to the barest dribble.

"Don't give up, little furnace," a cold voice whispered along Apocalypse's skin, sourced from the shadows around him. "A life is a life, even if you're forced into service."

"Who's there?" En Sabah Nur sprang to his feet, the spark of his power lit ablaze by the realisation that he was not alone. "Some servant of that false god, Superman? Here to torture me even further for his amusement?"

"More like a gentle handed farmer, interested in his unproductive cow," An ivory grin opened in the space before him, followed by a pair of moon-like eyes. "There is only one place for a milkless bovine that refuses the plough…"

The demonic visage licked its lips, hungry eyes fixed on En Sabah Nur's heart. A shadowed figure took shape around the smile, a well muscled humanoid with void-black skin. It loomed above Apocalypse, gigantic despite the limited space of the maze.

"Continue to generate that delicious cosmic energy, or I'm afraid for your body and soul," Laugher slipped from the demon's lips as his figure slowly faded back to nothingness. "Or a fate worse than death will find you, once I swallow you whole…"

– – – –

"That's better," Dan nodded as the cosmic energy flow returned to its previous levels. "Etrigan must have motivated Apocalypse enough to squeeze a bit more juice out of him."

Eventually, the ancient mutant would break. Once that happened, his power output would become truly irrelevant and he would become food for the ever hungry demon. Until then, Tony and the others could study the power, alongside Apocalypse's genetics.

"Time to take Venom and the others back into real space," Dan gave a final glance at the various prisoners that existed within their personal labyrinths. David Banner was the most recent addition, alongside many that once served Apocalypse. "Most of the weaker ones have fallen into madness, but the Horsemen are still sain."

A shake of his head turned his thoughts toward the task at hand, willpower focused as he opened a gateway large enough for Venom to pass through. He needed to resume his observations over the Hulk and determine the right time to introduce himself.

The symbiote-world exited the phantom zone, with Stark and the rest onboard the Kryptonian battlecruiser held in its tentacles. They could find their way home from anywhere in realspace, so his part in the plan was almost finished.

"Tony and the rest are already deep at work," Dan smiled as he wrapped the crystal research facility and the Lifebringer in a cocoon of phantom space, a modification of the labyrinth spell that increased the flow of time almost a thousand fold. "I wonder how long they'll sit in there?"

Galactus would have to cook for millions of years, but he doubted Tony and the other's had the stomachs to sit within the zone for such a long time. Etrigan would mind their progress and pull them out when they'd had enough.

"Now, where has Banner gone…" Dan stepped from the phantom zone and scanned the hospital without success. Bruce had checked out, despite his promise to Betty and the doctor. "Probably for the best, now I can stop vaporising his blood samples…"

Dan boiled away the most recent vials in the hospital lab, before he expanded his perceptions to include the entire city. Banner was back in his own lab, as expected. The soon to be hulk was in a heated argument with Betty, one that she ended by slamming the door on her way out of their office.

"He's not looking so good," Dan scanned Bruce's body as the man's skin took on a greenish tinge. The cells within him divided at a rapid rate, an expansion of orderly chaos that ripped the shirt off the good doctor's back. "It looks like I'll be meeting his better half, before I can introduce myself to Banner…"