<div class="floatleft">(http://images.wikia.com/marveldatabase/images/3/3f/En_Sabah_Nur_(Earth-58163).jpg)</div><br/><hr/><hr/><br/><span class="bbc_font" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="bbc_size" style="font-size: 14pt;"><strong>  Name:</strong>       En Sabah Nur<br/>  <strong>Title:</strong>          Apocalypse<br/>  <strong>Affiliation:</strong>  The Vision<br/>  <strong>Location:</strong>   Giza Plateau, Cairo<br/>  <strong>Tags:</strong>         War, Famine, Pestilence, Death, Wade<br/><br/></span></span><hr/><hr/><br/><br/><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="bbc_font" style="font-family: georgia;"><span class="bbc_size" style="font-size: 10pt;">     <em>"Eventually a day will come when the Earth will call for your gift. Do not stray from that calling my son; for you were born of purpose beyond our understanding. I will keep you in my prayers, forever."</em><br/><br/>     Sunlight struggled to penetrate the thick overcast of unnatural clouds, casting an eerie lack of brightness on the normally golden landscape. A deep inhalation brought the arid scent of dried mud and scattered sand to his nostrils. It was the smell of barren desert to many - but to En Sabah... it was home. <br/><br/>     He had been born here so many long ages ago. He had been a boy back then - he could barely remember across the ages all the finer details; but some did remain. His head was tilted forward, his bright white eyes cast upon the ground as he reflected on those ancient days. Sabah had been raised amidst the unforgiving dunes of this very place; and every awakening had always returned here to rejuvenate himself - both mentally and physically. Ancient technology was buried here, deep beneath the belly of Egypt's greatest cities. It was a power that outshone even the greatest superhumans over the history of the Earth and it's people. It was said to have been given from the gods... though that was a very "human" way to approach the idea. <br/><br/>     Apocalypse was no <em>human</em>.<br/><br/>     His glowing white eyes and stark grey skin made that outwardly apparent immediately - but inside he was different as well. His mind worked in ways that few others could ever hope to understand. Although he was of this world... he was born beyond the limited scope that most people understood. His manifest body pushed a scientist's understanding of modern-day physics beyond their limits. His mind had been shaped fitting for his task - and few others could comprehend his vision without a significant "shove" in the proper direction.<br/><br/>     He clenched his fists as he remembered his oldest of memories with his "father". His eyes narrowed and he spat at the recollection. The one who Apocalypse so long ago thought had truly believed in him, had been nothing but a fraud. An easily enchanted human who believed he'd witnessed the birth of a god. A god much like all the other "gods" these humans worshiped.</span></span><br/><br/><div class="floatright">(http://media.comicvine.com/uploads/6/67064/2023330-en_sabah_nur_super.jpg)</div><span class="bbc_font" style="font-family: georgia;"><span class="bbc_size" style="font-size: 10pt;">     But Apocalypse was no god either.<br/><br/>     Those pitiful beings could not comprehend what he was - they fell away from him in fear, awe, disgust. He was terrifyingly mysterious and powerful - and for that, he had been labeled a god. Throughout the centuries he had awakened and come to fulfill his destiny... only to find the people of the earth feeble, fearful, and far from ready for his gift. So he would return to slumber after vanquishing the weakest and most-unworthy. <br/><br/>     This time it was different. He could feel a tingle under his skin, as if the sands of the earth were speaking to him - the dusty wind of the desert was whispering to his body... This time they were ready. The earth was ready, and the worthy would shed their weak skin and be born anew - ready to enter their new existences. The unworthy... well... they would perish and fall away like chaff - unfit for harvest.<br/><br/>     En Sabah rose his head slowly, his eyes taking in the pyramids that stuck out form the landscape like mountains. There was a swarm of beings hustling and bustling all around them. On them, under them; everywhere. An authentic smile curled one side of his mouth as he spoke: <strong>"I have no "gift" to give this world, father. I only have a destiny that may be taken by it..."</strong><br/><br/>     <strong>"For Apocalypse is <em>Fate</em>, and his time has come."</strong><br/><br/>     No ears caught his words; spoken unto the empty proximity around him. Spoken back through time perhaps - to those long ages ago. Or perhaps spoken to himself - audibly recognizing the truth, <em>his</em> truth. He turned around in place, away from those future beacons of power and to the city of Cairo that engulfed the ancient plateau. The city was not in good shape, but it was in far better shape than most other major cities in the world. Perhaps it was Sabah's nearly-abandoned sentimentality; but then... maybe he was just saving it for last. What a sweet taste it would be to abolish those old memories and this city along with it - after his task was complete.<br/><br/>    His mind reached out across the city and beyond it. It stretched beyond the edges of Egypt and the seas that bordered her north and east. It stretched all the way to Moscow, New York, even Los Angeles and Tokyo. <em>"My Riders, Death, Pestilence, War, and Famine. Do not fall short in these tasks - or I will cull the weaknesses from your bodies slowly and painfully; and I will hold them in my hands and crush them."</em> He sent out a jarring telepathic wave of pain to reinforce his promise (it was no threat). It would rock them nearly off their feet. Following that first "greeting" he gave each of them separate instructions, which they could hear as if he were standing right beside them - talking in an ominous and deeply powerful voice:<br/><br/>     <em>"<strong>War</strong>, tear what shreds are left of New York to pieces. I want every superhuman uncovered. Topple the ruins; and when you're done with that stomp them for good measure. The mutants there are of a particularly unsavory type - they will never understand The Vision. They must be killed. I am certain I have chosen the right </em>...man <em>for the job."</em><br/><br/>     <em>"<strong>Famine</strong>, my ageless beauty, bring every human you can find to Judgement. Unearth the whole of Europe if you must. Bring every superhuman you can to Trial and test their might. Do <strong>not</strong> show mercy, and destroy any who would ask for it."</em> His eyes narrowed, and she could feel the focus flowing off of him as he bored his next demand into her mind. <em>"Find me the man who killed Sebastian Shaw, I will see to his trial</em> <strong>personally</strong>."<br/><br/>     <em>"<strong>Pestilence</strong>... Pestilence, my fine creation, bring the world to its knees my dear. Maintain the chaos, maintain the cloud. Drown every pitiful and unworthy being in a see of ashes and poison. May only the strong survive."</em><br/><br/>     <em>"<strong>Death</strong>, you know your task. Seek out the last remaining leaders who would seek to oppose their destiny. Do not let their foolishness go unpunished. Do not grant them the gift of parlay or the blessing of slavery. Kill them. Kill them all. I know you will find them - they may run... but they can never hide from you. Put my gifts to good use my deadly lotus."</em><br/><br/>     <em><strong>Deadpool</strong>, report back to me on your search, immediately. I grow impatient with your games.</em> <br/><br/>     And with that his mind pulled back, slinging back from such a distance like a taught rope. Apocalypse staggered backwards under the weight of his thoughts returning. He shook his head slowly to clear his mind before noticing one of his servants standing before him - recently turned from his meaningless pursuits and errant ways just yesterday. "Master, the lower tunnels have been uncovered - but we still have much ahead of us." His white skin seemed to reflect the shrouded glow bouncing off the sand at their feet.<br/><br/>     Apocalypse's grey face turned up in a smile once again as he replied, <strong>"Do not toy with me Sinister. Show me the tunnels."</strong> And with that the two began walking off towards the base of the largest pyramid. Apocalypse's skin shifted with every step he took forward as they strode along - each massive muscle rippled with organic strength, but his veins pulsed with a glowing energy as if he were a machine with visible circuitry.</span></span></div>