Meet the Horsemen of Apocalypse

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1st September 2005, Valley of Kings

(Charles Xavier POV)

Charles Xavier was often accused of being an idealist. He never denies it that his dream is very optimistic in a flawed world but Charles prefers to call it ambitious. The idea of a united world, mutants and humans cooperating peacefully was worth every sacrifice he ever did, and was definitely worth his efforts. It was a dream to strive for, something that had helped him inspire all those around him into joining him. He had lost the use of his legs, forever bound to a wheelchair, for his dream. He opposed Eric's own ambitions of mutants ruling over humanity, striving for a peaceful solution instead of a violent one.

Eric, or Magneto as he calls himself now, was forever marked by his miserable childhood, by Auschwitz, by humanity's cruelty during the second world. The truth was, in Charles' professional opinion, that the man had never really left the concentration camps and still has the mentality of killing or being killed. He still lived in fear that his people would end up in a similar situation.

In a way, Charles admired Eric. He admired his ability in doing what needed to be done for his people. The master of magnetism was ruthless in a way that he never was and would probably never be. It was something he was both thankful and disappointed about.

However, seeing his friend's expressionless face, fully under the control of Apocalypse, truly broke his heart. Eric and Charles still had an odd friendship and their rivalry was primarily ideological. They would never seriously harm each other, going so far as to save each other a few times. Seeing him helpless in the hand of a lunatic was just wrong.

Eric was always fearful of mental attacks. It was one of the reasons he wore his infamous helmet in the first place. He could never trust his own judgement if he had a slight inclination of the possibility that his actions not being his own. Charles was pretty sure he even slept with the helmet on.

However, that helmet ended up being futile. Apocalypse ended up simply knocking him out and removed his helmet. He then implanted commands in Magneto's head so serve him. He then even put the helmet back on, as to avoid any other telepath from undoing his work, destroying Charles' chances of escape significantly.

From what he figured out about Apocalypse's powers, he was able to take over the body of other mutants and added their abilities to his own. Every ability the monster displayed was at the cost of the life of another mutant, probably thousands of years ago.

Charles was still surprised by this revelation. To think that mutants existed this far back in history. What other mythological figure was actually a mutant, who were treated like gods. But that wasn't the time to analyze the anthropological implications of the mutant before him.

He looked around his fellow 'Horsemen' of Apocalypse. He was the only one left resisting Apocalypse. Magneto was the first to fall under his control. Their captor then ordered Magneto to offer a powerful mutant for his cause. A few hours later, he returned back with an Australian young man who revealed himself to be St. John Allardyce, or Pyro as he called himself, a mutant who can control fire. The fire element didn't even need to be mind controlled but freely offered his services to Apocalypse in exchange for a power boost and the promise of burning stuff. Great, he had a pyromaniac in his new 'team'.

Their final member of the Horsemen was the infamous Angel. A mutant with white feathered wings who once acted as a vigilante in New York city, before deeming the world not ready to find out about Mutants like him. Apocalypse had disappeared for a minute, where Charles attempted his first escape attempt by mind controlling Pyro. A plan that failed spectacularly when he was caught by Magneto. Something that the first mutant prevented from happening again by giving all the other horsemen helmets similar to Magneto, protecting them from any psychic attack.

Apocalypse then returned with a mind controlled Angel and promptly enhanced his powers, turning his previously feathered wings into metaled ones. The metal itself was weird somehow, a little similar to the metal in Logan's claws, but not exactly the same. If he was wings made of Adamantium, then the Angel became much more deadly.

And wasn't it surprising when Charles figured out that Apocalypse could enhance the powers of other mutants. Eric became a literal one man army, capable of lifting cities from the ground, Pyro was able to generate fire not just manipulate it. He could literally burst into flames at a moments notice. And Angel's flight speed and reflexes got a boost, reminding Charles of the tales of Captain America, except with unbreakable sharp metal wings. Charles estimated that should his powers be enhanced, he would possess the same abilities as he does when he uses Cerebro, only without the large room and all the machinery.

Charles' thoughts were interrupted with another mental attack from Apocalypse. The father of mutants appeared to have started to pay attention to him again. Charles cursed his distraction and waited for the father of mutants to arrive. He wasn't disappointed, Apocalypse then slowly stepped towards him, "My child, why do you keep resisting?"

Charles sneered at him, "You try to take control of my mind and wonder why I refuse to let you in?"

"It's because you do not understand the importance of our goals. The world is full of conflicts, dictated by men who are ants before our might. I once wanted to conquer the world for my own greed, but now it is out of necessity. If we do nothing, we will end up sharing the same fate as the mages. They were wiped out centuries ago because of their compliance. Soon, the mortals will discover us and if we are not prepared, death will come for every one of our brethren."

"No," Charles protested, "Humans are capable for so much evil, so many atrocities but also so much good, kindness, bravery, and so much more. We only need to teach them not to fear us. To teach them by example."

"You are a fool child. I didn't come here to debate with you. Your naivety will be your undoing. The history of mankind is proofing you wrong. You would doom our people with your ideals. I realize now that there is no convincing you. I will simply have to force you."

Before Charles could process Apocalypse's words, he felt a veritable battering ram, that made his previous psychic attacks feel like a light tap on his mental shields. Still his mental protections held and Apocalypse sighed, "Disappointing…"

Charles sighed in relief, from his previous conversation with the former Pharaoh, he found out that Apocalypse had taken over the body of a mutant called Mesmero, who was able to mind control people. Mesmero was part of the cult that worshipped Apocalypse and awaited his arrival. From Apocalypse's tale, the telepath had awoken him from his prison and offered his body for Apocalypse to take over.

This was why Charles disliked fanatics, especially super powered ones. Charles was only thankful that Mesmero's powers were far weaker than his, should Apocalypse been any stronger, Charles would have been defeated long ago.

"What are you planning really? Do you want to take over my body and take control over the world?"

Apocalypse actually chuckled at that, "My child, I do not sacrifice needlessly the lives of my brethren. I do not take over bodies unnecessarily. As for my plans, it's better for me to show you."

He called the other three Horsemen to him and they came obediently to their master. Apocalypse opened his spherical portal, swallowing them. Seconds later, Charles felt the sun scalding his bald head. When he opened his eyes, all he could see was sand. They were situated in some sort of valley, with some sort of giant doors made of stone, making was inside the mountain itself. Charles had no doubt that this structure was thousands of years old.

"You now reside in the valley of kings, where to tombs of pharaohs are located. But what many people don't know is that, hidden inside, is the location of the temple of the serpent goddess Wadjet. I have once attempted to enter this place but failed due to the temple's guardian. But now, that guardian is long dead and the temple is defenseless. Inside it, is the rumored treasures of Wadjet, and extremely powerful artifacts. One of which is the legendary Ankh of Wadjet, an artifact granting its wielder the ability to alter reality itself. With me amplifying its power, I will make it as if mutants had always ruled over the mortals. And that's where you come in, my child. You, Charles Xavier, shall be my weapon. You will find traitors before they even think about doing anything. You shall be my enforcer, my executioner."

At Charles' pale expression, Apocalypse laughed, "You doubt my powers, child. Let me give you a demonstration."

With that said, Apocalypse just raised his hands and the sand obeyed his will. The mountain itself started to decompose, and shape itself into some sort of metal pyramid. The sand from all around joined it, continuing the giant pyramid, that encompasses the entire temple.

"The ancient mages of Egypt were able to devise a way of harnessing the power of the sun itself to power protections. With a pyramid this size, I will harness the power necessary to destroy the protections of temple within." Slowly, the pyramid started to fully build itself. He was single handedly creating an eight wonder of the world and the ancient mutant didn't look like he was breaking a sweat.

Charles was gaping at the scene in front of him. He could now understand why people once worshipped him as a God. This power was beyond human comprehension.

However, the father of mutants was distracted which meant that Charles could somehow send a message to his fellow X-men. He sent in a giant telepathic pulse that would be able to cover half the globe. It was only geared towards the only telepath that he could trust fully, his student Jean.

{Jean, I don't have much time. You need to stop him! Stop Apocalypse! I don't know how long I could keep fighting him. He already has Eric. He's so strong! So powerful! You're our only hope, Jean. I'm sorry!}

He then sent in the pictures and name of their location. He could only hope that the message would reach her.

The message also had a secondary objective should it reach Jean. Charles hated doing this but it contained a small telepathic adjustment in the bindings he made her. He used the backdoor he created in her mental shields to bypass any instinctive shielding to make sure she gets the message but also loosened her bindings somewhat.

Charles knew that the only chance for them to win against this foe was using Jean's full power. He still shivered when he felt a shard of it when the bindings loosened somehow. He could not trust anyone with that kind of power and promptly tightened the bindings further.

He only hoped that what he was doing wasn't causing more harm that good. He had created the backdoor into Jean's mind as a precaution; if she got out of control and abused her powers then he would be able to mentally restrain her.

The psychic pulse was complicated and very powerful. It hadn't escaped Apocalypse's notice. He could not understand what its content was, as he wasn't used to the intricacies of telepathy and there was nothing the so called God could do about it; the message is already sent.

Apocalypse turned back to look at him, "That was a mistake, Charles"

Nothing could have prepared him for the power of the follow up psychic attack from Apocalypse. He screamed in pain trying to resist the onslaught. He had done what he could. He only hoped that his message reached Jean. The future of the world rested in her hand.