Sanctuary of the First Mutant
The doors of the ancient vault sealed behind them with a deep, resonant thud.
No turning back.
The chamber they stepped into was unlike anything any of them had ever seen—part temple, part laboratory, part war room built by someone who understood every form of power the world had ever known.
Elle's breath caught as the walls shifted in faint ripples of light. "This place… it feels alive."
"It is," Apocalypse said, his voice rolling like distant thunder. "Forged long before Sinister dreamed of splicing genes. A sanctuary for what your world was always destined to face."
Stryke scanned the architecture—sleek metallic ribs fused with stone older than civilization. "No Reaper tech. All original. Predictive design."
"Correct," Apocalypse said. "I prepared this place long before your father-forger thought to mimic evolution."
Surge snorted. "Sinister is NOT my father."
Apocalypse didn't bother to turn. "Then you misunderstand what you are."
---
The Archives
He led them down a descending corridor lined with tall crystalline cylinders filled with swirling sequences of blue code—genetic echoes preserved in stasis.
Bul's eyes widened. "This is… everybody's DNA?"
"Not everybody," Apocalypse corrected. "Only the exceptional. The worthy. The ones who once carried the burden you must now claim."
Vex approached one cylinder, her glasses reflecting curling strands of chromatic light. "These patterns… they're self-stabilizing and adaptive. You've preserved entire mutant lineages."
Apocalypse nodded once. "I have drones that collect remnants of power—cells, blood, arcane residue—before the Reapers can erase them. I have been preparing for ages."
Alloy rested a metal hand on a cylinder, feeling a deep vibrational hum. His voice was low, restrained. "Why?"
"So that the strong might rise again when extinction comes."
The statement was neither boast nor threat.
Just truth.
Shade circled the chamber, fingers trailing along strange glyphs. "These aren't just DNA storage tubes… the tech is Celestial-adjacent. You built this with help."
Apocalypse gave the faintest smile. "I accepted knowledge where it was offered. Power is not a sin. Ignorance is."
Stryke crossed his arms. "If you've had all this prepared… why us? Why now?"
Apocalypse turned, his gaze landing directly on Elle.
Because of her powers, because of her presence, because she would feel the weight of the question most.
---
The Lesson of Extinction
The chamber darkened.
A spherical projection ignited in the center—Earth, once blue, now wrapped in a choking red lattice.
Reaper constructs swarmed across continents. Cities burned. Oceans churned with mechanical storms.
Elle felt her stomach tighten. "How many survivors?"
"Far fewer than you hope," Apocalypse answered.
Bul tensed. "And the Reapers… they did all this?"
"Yes. Because of one discovery."
Apocalypse raised a hand.
The projection zoomed in on Reapers dissecting a mutant body.
Their forms destabilized.
Collapsed.
Failed.
"Mutants cannot be assimilated. You are the corruption in their perfection. The anomaly they cannot integrate."
Vex's eyes widened. "So they kill mutants on sight."
"Precisely."
Surge growled. "Then let them try."
"You misunderstand," Apocalypse said. "They are not afraid of you. They are afraid of what you may become."
---
The Training Chambers
Apocalypse motioned forward. "Come."
They entered a circular chamber with seven smaller rooms surrounding it—training halls calibrated to different power types.
Vex gasped softly. "This is… individualized."
"All evolution requires pressure," Apocalypse said.
Elle – Elemental Chamber
She entered a room filled with shifting temperature fields and controlled pressure zones. Wind spiraled around her in precise bands.
She lifted a hand. One vortex obeyed.
Another resisted.
She centered herself—calm, focused—and the vortex bent.
Apocalypse observed. "Storm's grace lives in you. But Sunfire's rage tempers it. Do not let them clash. Let them merge."
---
Stryke – Tactical Chamber
He entered a room of floating holographic drones.
Targets flickered in and out—some hostile, some civilian, some decoys.
He fired: optic blasts, kinetic strikes, gambit-charged projectiles.
Every shot hit.
Apocalypse nodded. "Your precision rivals Cyclops. But his flaw was order. Do not let strategy eclipse instinct."
---
Surge – Kinetic Chamber
The room crackled the moment Surge entered.
Lines on the floor ignited—kinetic lanes designed to amplify speed.
He stepped.
BOOM.
Explosions burst under his feet as he sprinted.
BOOM-BOOM-BOOM.
He laughed like a wild thing, sparks flaring at his heels.
Apocalypse watched with mild displeasure. "Quicksilver was fast. You are destructive. If you cannot control your detonations, you will kill your own team."
Surge smirked. "Guess I'll just run smart."
---
Bul – Titan Chamber
Bul pushed against a gravity field increasing by increments.
The weight of a mountain bore down on him.
He gritted his teeth and pushed harder.
Apocalypse folded his arms. "The Skrulls once tried to build a soldier like you. They failed. Perhaps Sinister succeeded."
Bul forced a grin. "Damn right he did."
---
Alloy – Magnetic Chamber
The room was filled with floating slabs of ancient metal.
Alloy reached out.
They came to him like iron to a magnet.
His wings hummed.
Energy crackled.
But then—
A pulse.
A tremor in his arm.
Metal rippled over his skin unpredictably.
Elle noticed. "Alloy—are you okay?"
He steadied his breath. "I… will be."
Apocalypse's stare sharpened. "Your instability is growing. You require catalyst DNA more than any of them."
---
Shade – Stealth Chamber
Shade stepped into a room that flickered between light and shadow.
She phased through a solid wall.
Teleported to a distant corner.
Merged into the darkness.
She moved like a ghost.
Apocalypse watched with something close to approval. "Forge's brilliance meets Shadowcat's grace. You will become the unseen knife if you embrace both."
---
Vex – Hex Chamber
Hers was the strangest.
An arcane circle glowed beneath her feet—ancient, shifting, undecipherable.
She raised a hand.
The sigils pulsed.
Resonated.
And then… dimmed.
Apocalypse frowned. "Your magic is incomplete. Something waits for you. Someone."
Vex swallowed. "What do you mean?"
"You will understand when the moment comes."
---
The Dining Hall (A Moment of Humanity)
Later, the team gathered in a quiet chamber with long stone tables.
Apocalypse did not join them.
Surge shoveled down nutrient packs. "Seriously, this place has everything except flavor."
Shade smiled faintly. "He isn't running a hotel."
Stryke looked at Elle. "Thoughts?"
Elle leaned back, thinking. "The Reapers aren't just winning. They've already won in most places."
Bul grunted. "Not if we hit 'em harder."
Vex adjusted her glasses. "Strength is not enough. We need information. Strategy. A plan."
Alloy's voice rumbled. "And stability."
Surge elbowed him lightly. "You're stable enough. Mostly."
Alloy's eyes flickered metallic.
He didn't respond.
Elle placed a hand on Vex's arm. "You okay? You seemed… distracted in your chamber."
Vex hesitated.
"I felt something. A presence. Faint. It was like—"
Her sentence cut off when the room lights flickered.
All seven Ximera Cores hummed.
And then…
Only one remained active.
Vex's.
---
The First Quest Trigger
Vex froze as her Hex Node ignited in shimmering violet code.
A holographic helix spiraled upward from her chest, filling the room with flickering shapes—runic, arcane, unstable.
Shade's calm broke for the first time.
"Vex…?"
Elle moved to her side. "Talk to us. What's happening?"
Vex didn't answer.
Because her system spoke first.
[XIMERA CORE — HEX NODE EVENT]
Resonance Spike Detected.
Magical anomaly approaching terminal collapse.
Scanning…
Signature Identified:
Rasputin… Illyana.
Status: CRITICAL — Life-sign FADING.
Catalyst DNA Required.
Directive: GO.
The hologram shattered into sparks.
Silence swallowed the room.
Surge blinked. "…Rasputin? As in—"
"Magik," Stryke finished.
Alloy clenched his metal fists. "If she's alive, we go."
Vex stood slowly, her face pale but determined.
Her voice trembled not with fear—but urgency.
"I know exactly where she is."
Elle nodded once. "Then we move at dawn."
Vex shook her head.
"No.
We move now."