Apocalypse

Surprisingly, things went relatively smoothly. Doom was able to take Latveria in less than a day. The only issue there was the Fantastic Four attempting to stop him. It took some quick thinking and negotiating on my part to keep them away from Doom.

Taking Apocalypses armor was also relatively easy. Turns out he was a practitioner of the mystic arts and possessed quite the collection of magical Tomes and artifacts. I was more than happy to take them off his hands. The biggest problem was his ward scheme being some of the toughest I have ever seen. It was as well defended as the Sanctums.

The difference was their capabilities. Whereas the Sanctums were focused on defense, Apocalypses were focused on sheer destruction. You trip a single ward and your sould would be ripped from your body and used to further fuel the ward scheme. You activate another and your body would immediately vaporize. Nudge another and your mind will shatter before locking you within the broken mess that is left. Each ward was more vicious than the last and each one was immensely difficult to take down.

That said, it was so worth it.

He had Gold, He had silver, He had Tech, He had Mystical artifacts that would make the Ancient One green with envy, and it was all mine now.

But what I came for originally was probably the best piece of his armory…

The Apocalypse armor.

The tech its made of is light years ahead of anything we have now despite the fact that its over a millennia old. This could easily change the outcome of The Infinity War before it even happens.

So, stuffing everything into my bag of storage, and I mean everything, I head back to Genosha to sort everything out and reverse engineer most of this stuff.

I should invite Stark over. If he can incorporate the Celestial Tech into his suits… It would be a major game changer.

Walking around my lab in Genosha, I quickly get to studying what I stole from Apocalypses tomb. From the mystical artifacts to the tech and armor.

What really kept my attention was the sheer amount of mystical artifacts he possessed. I knew he was a warlord and everything, but this is insane. I'm assuming some of these are trophies, but did were they all? Did he actively seek out some of these for the power boost? Or were they just trinkets that he thought looked neat?

That would be an interesting thought. En Sabah Nur, the Apocalypse, walking into an ancient gift shop.

'Oh, I want that one!' as he points at… lets see… An Asguardian berserkers battle staff

Shaking my head to clear my rampant thoughts, I get back to work.

So first off, we have an Asguardian battle staff for the berserkers. These things can apparently take your rage and amplify it by the thousands, thus making the wielder far stronger, faster, and infused with a bloodlust that would never be satiated. The weilders were basically the grunts of the army, but they were still incredibly powerful. The fact that Apocalypse has one of their staffs is quite impressive.

Note to self, don't let Banner handle… ever.

Carefully moving the staff with a thick cloth to avoid its effects, I move on to the next item.

Is this a vampire skull?

Ok… into the 'Burn with fire' pile.

No way am I letting a vampire come back to life within Genosha's borders. I don't care how dead it looks. I want to make sure it stays that way.

After that, I fell into a rhythm. Talismans and weapons, tech and tomes, it all got sorted and if needed, disposed of. The sheer amount of stuff he had was insane. He had talismans from what looked like Ancient Wakanda, a katana from Feudal Japan, weapons and artifacts from nearly every powerful empire in history. It seems that this version of Apocalypse took after his comics version.

That could be problematic if he takes after his comic versions more cockroach like traits.

After several hours of sorting, I finally got through his immense collection.

The sheer amount of artifacts he had was astounding. Half of it was so cursed that it would have to be disposed of near immediately, but the other half was salvageable. If I can figure out how half of this stuff works, I'd be happy.

But there would be time for that later. For now, its time to figure out how the Armor works and if its safe, give the designs to Stark.

Should be fun.

/

I was on the bridge. The bridge where Harry died. Where Norman and I fought.

"Alex..." I hear from behind me.

Turning, I see Harry. He was alive again… but, How?

"Harry..." I breath. "How is this...-" But before I can finish, I look down and see the spear impaling him, his side and chest slowly turning to ash.

"If only you had given me the serum… I may still be alive." He whispers as his body falls apart. The spear falling to the ground with a metallic clank.

"No…" I mutter. "Not again..."

"Did ya miss me?" a voice rings out. Like nails running down a chalkboards before I feel an intense pain in my side. The spear at my feet having appeared in my side.

Falling to my knees, I look up to see Norman standing over me, ready to kill me with a big grin on his face.

"Good Bye… Hero."

/

Jerking upright from my desk, I fall from my chair and land on the cold hard ground of my lab.

"What the hell?!" I gasp as I recover from the shock.

A dream… Okay… just a dream.

Slowly getting up from the floor, I sigh. Just a dream.

Rubbing the sleep from my eyes, I shake my head and head over to the coffee pot in the corner of the room. I need something to wake up…

"This dream has happened before… Shortly after Harry died. I try not to sleep because of them. I rarely actually need sleep anymore, but that doesn't stop me from dozing off from time to time.

Heading back to my desk after getting me a cup of coffee, I ignore the handprints burned onto my desk from when I was sleeping and return to work studying the armor.

I can't fall asleep… I can't watch him die again…

Not again…