The Blackbird roared through the ash-laced clouds over Cairo, its stealth coating flickering against electromagnetic interference radiating from the ground below.
Below them, Cairo was gone—swallowed whole by a new world.
Celestial-infused obelisks jutted up from the Earth like the bones of a dead god.
They pulsed with golden light, each hum vibrating through the air like a warning.
Roads once filled with life were cracked, twisted, reformed into symmetrical patterns of Apocalypse's design—an ancient kingdom remade in his image. Mutant glyphs scorched into stone. Skyships hovering. Pyramids reborn.
And worse... marching along the streets were Hydra Centurions—sleek black armor, red visors glowing like blood-lanterns. The Hydra insignia had merged with Apocalypse's symbol, an unholy alliance forged in fire.
Beside him, Magneto stood silent, arms crossed. Storm's fingers flexed on her lap, lightning already crawling beneath her skin. The uneasy alliance between the Brotherhood and the X-Men filled the cabin with a static tension of its own.
'Great. Nothing screams "stable team chemistry" like lifelong enemies sharing airspace.'
Cyclops spoke first, his voice tight through the comms. "We drop in, split teams, stick to the plan. Wolverine, Jean, and I will infiltrate the northeast sector—those heat signatures show high levels of movement. Could be a lab. Could be prisoners."
Jean's voice crackled in next. "If it's another enhancement chamber, we shut it down."
She said coldly. "I've seen what Apocalypse does to people who can't fight back."
The Blackbird cloaked and descended like a ghost.
---
Northeast Sector – Cairo Ruins
The facility looked like a temple from the outside—massive stone pillars laced with Celestial alloys, guarded by two Hydra Sentinels. Inside, however, it was a chamber of synthetic nightmares. Stark's drones—tiny Iron Legion scouts—buzzed ahead and fed visuals back to his HUD. What they revealed made even him pause.
Rows of teenagers—some no older than fourteen—were strapped to vertical slabs. Needles stabbed into their veins. Mutation accelerators pulsed with ominous blue light. Machines buzzed with dark alchemy. A kid screamed, veins lighting up as his body twisted mid-enhancement.
Jean Grey froze at the threshold. Her eyes flared with Phoenix fire.
"I'm stopping this," she said, her voice trembling.
Cyclops stepped in front of her. "Jean—"
But it was too late.
A psychic wave exploded from her, slamming into the guards like a tidal force. The Hydra Centurions guarding the chamber were flung across the walls, armor cracking. One of them hit a panel—and a red alarm flashed.
"Aw, hell," Logan growled, claws sliding free with that metallic shink. "Here we go."
Dozens of boots thundered down the halls.
---
A Hydra Soldier burst through the side wall—a cybernetically enhanced mutant, standing nearly ten feet tall, fists crackling with kinetic energy.
Wolverine didn't wait.
He launched forward like a missile, claws spinning in a savage arc. The two collided mid-air—metal against metal. Sparks exploded. The Juggernaut grabbed Logan mid-swipe and slammed him through a console, but Logan came up laughing, blood dripping from his lip.
"You hit like a vegan!"
Cyclops fired twin optic blasts, carving trenches in the wall as he knocked down incoming troopers. Jean shielded the kids, throwing up a telekinetic barrier as Hydra weapons blasted against it. She gritted her teeth, eyes glowing brighter.
---
Back inside the lab, Jean lifted the last kid from the slab. He was barely conscious, arm half-transformed into obsidian crystal. She touched his forehead gently. "You're safe now."
But down the corridor, more troops were coming—Apocalypse's enhanced enforcers this time. Hulking, twisted hybrids of man and machine.
Tony's voice snapped through their comms.
"Evac route two blocks south. Look for the alley with the collapsed satellite dish. Legion's en route. You've got ninety seconds before they close in."
Wolverine carried two kids under his arms like sacks of potatoes. "If anyone stops me, they're gettin' diced."
The team burst into the open, rain slicing down through the heat-choked sky. A Legion drone landed, unfolding into a protective escape pod. Kids were loaded inside. Cyclops fired in all directions, covering them.
Jean turned back once.
Inside the lab, the Hydra Soldier was rising again. And behind him… another shadow.
Baron Strucker stepped into the smoke, his cybernetic eye flashing red.
He smiled.
"Run, mutants. The Age of Apocalypse has only just begun."
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