Disclaimer: Well, I'm back once again and I'd like to wish everybody a Happy New Year with my very first X-Men story (not counting the Evolution one shot) As usual, I don't own the rights to X-Men. What did you expect? Well, here we go again!

Prologue

Egypt; 3000 BC---

The darkened sky was littered by countless stars, some streaking through toward an unknowable destination. The stars served another purpose as well, as they lit the way for the small band of nomad traveling across the landscape. Led by the warrior Baal, these Sandstormers traversed for miles, enduring the swirling winds and the scorching sands. Then Baal heard a far different sound within the wind: the sound of crying, very faint but very near. Baal followed the sound for miles at a time until he and his brethren discovered the unlikely source. Wrapped snuggly in a series of cloth was a crying infant, apparently having been abandoned for some stretch of time. Baal picked the infant up from the sand and his brethren gathered around him. The infant locked eyes with Baal as he gently pulled the cloth from its face. The other nomads cringed at the sight of the infant, seeing that its skin was a pale gray and a series of markings traced it. But Baal stared curiously at the unusual infant and, as if he possessed clairvoyance, raised the infant into the air. The other nomads reluctantly bowed to their leader and so too, did they bow to the infant. Perhaps it was fate… nay, destiny that the Sandstormers happened across the unusual child. Or perhaps, it was the beginning of the end.

Throughout the following years, Baal raised the infant as his own and bestowed upon it the name En Sabah Nur. The First One. The infant child grew to become a powerful and feared warrior. He was feared even by his own brethren, not just for his prowess in battle, but also for his bizarre appearance. Although he'd grown withdrawn and ostracized as a result, En Sabah Nur proved his worth in combat, ever at the side of his adoptive father. Baal taught Nur every known aspect of the Sandstormers, including the one notion by which the tribe lived: Survival of the fittest. The weak must die to make room for the strong. One fateful day, the Sandstormers were all but annihilated by the army of General Ozymandias, Only Baal and Nur survived as they took refuge within a mysterious tomb, but Baal had been mortally wounded and died. His lasts words to Nur were…

"It is, has always been, your destiny to rule the world, as the ancient prophecies foretold."

Enraged at the loss of the only father he'd ever known, Nur unleashed the full force of a latent power within him, slaughtering Ozymandias and him army. Nur then journeyed alone for years after, eventually reaching the great pyramids of Giza. It was there that he confronted the Pharaoh Rama-Tut. The Pharaoh, like Baal before him, saw the untapped potential in the young Nur and took him under his wing. However, Nur had ulterior motives. Once he mastered the bizarre powers that surged within him, Nur would betray and murder Rama-Tut. He would then take control of the Pharaoh's empire and soon after, discover an advanced technology hidden beneath the sands. Nur would take this technology and, inspired by his enemies' depictions of his ruthlessness in battle, would come to call himself…Apocalypse.

X-MEN
APOCALYPSE RISING

Chapter I
Just Another Day

Egypt: Present Day

Miguel Farris was considered a gravedigger by the residents of a nearby village. Obviously, they didn't take kindly to gravediggers. Miguel didn't see himself as such. He was an archeologist. His occupation made it necessary for him to enter the tombs of Egypt, so the villagers' collective dislike of him didn't bother him. Miguel couldn't say the same about his partner. He was strange, to say the least. No, strange didn't begin to describe Nathaniel Essex. Sinister sounded about right and that was something Miguel felt no desire to question. He instead journeyed deeper into the tomb which he and Nathaniel were exploring. Miguel shined a flashlight on the wall and carefully brushed the dust away. The glyphs he found were very different from what he was used to seeing. And they seemed to be… glowing?

"What have you found, Farris?" Nathaniel Essex asked with a menacing tone in his voice.

Despite being slightly startled, Miguel answered, "Take a look at these glyphs. They look nothing like the glyphs we found at the ruins in Cairo. They're very unique, for lack of a better term."

"Somehow, I doubt "unique" is the optimum word," Nathaniel said, his tone having not changed. "Let's see if we can go a little deeper."

The duo did go deeper into the tomb, perhaps deeper than anyone in recorded history had ever gone. It soon became pitch black as Nathaniel and Miguel continued on and on. Their flashlights barely penetrated into the darkness, but it was quite obvious they reached solid ground. It was just a question of far below the surface they'd gone. Miguel shined his light around wherever he and Nathaniel were standing, and he was startled by the sight of statue of a Pharaoh. Much like the glyphs before, this statue didn't look anything like any that Miguel had seen in his career. Nathaniel seemed to find a torch of some sort and he lit the area. The tomb itself was massive. Many more identical statues lined the walls, which were littered with millions of glyphs. Miguel's sight rested on something else.

"This appears some sort of door, possibly leading further into an antechamber." Miguel said as he examined the intricately designed door.

Nathaniel approached the door and ran his hand across it. "Can it be opened?"

Miguel further examined the door. "There doesn't appear to be any key holes of any sort. Whatever type of treasure lies behind this door, nobody's getting to it."

"Oh, I believe I can find a means of opening this door," The last cryptic comment from Nathaniel left Miguel in confusion. A moment later, Miguel was dead on the floor, literally stabbed in the back, to which Nathaniel coldly said, "Thank you for your assistance."

Nathaniel slowly backed away from the massive door as Miguel's blood appeared to flow down a series of grooves in the floor. These grooves lead to the door and the blood seeped underneath. A smile crept onto Nathaniel face. His teeth appeared jagged, as if Nathaniel had spent a stretch of time filing them. A seemingly minor tremor started and steadily increased in intensity. Nathaniel Essex stood back as the massive door began to slowly open. Debris fell from the ceiling of the tomb and then the tremor ended as quickly as it started. Nathaniel looked on passed the opened door and found, not to any surprise on his part, saw another door.

Nathaniel dropped down to a knee and said, "By the blood of an innocent, the first door has been opened. I await your instructions on the next door," Nathaniel was silent for a long moment, but he could a massive shiver down his spine. "I understand. The next key will be located with all haste, and the world will again bow before the glory of Apocalypse."

Westchester, New York

"Immortality: the notion of ever lasting life," Dr. Henry McCoy, AKA Beast, kept the newest students of the Xavier Institute focused on him. "But is that the one true meaning of the word, or just one of many?"

Jubilee, a long time student of the school, put her hand up with a pencil in it. "Immortality can have multiple meanings in the English dictionary."

"Such as?" Hank asked.

"Such as, um," Jubilee stammered for a moment. "Achieving everlasting fame, or living forever in the hearts of a person's loved one."

Hank nodded his furry blue head in approval. "That's a very good answer, Jubilee. Good job." Then he took notice of Ororo Monroe, AKA Storm, leaning in the doorway. "Well, I believe that should bring an end to our session. We'll continue at a later date."

The students all gathered their books and started out the door, making certain not to bump into Ororo. Jubilee was actually nudged slightly by another female student but paid it no mind. Ororo smirked at the kids and then turned toward Hank.

"Looks like you're settling in nicely as a teacher, Hank." she exclaimed.

"Well, I figured that with things the way they've been lately, without Charles or Scott and Jean," Hank said. "My place was here at the school. What can I do for you, Ororo?"

"I was wondering if you had any idea where I could find Logan." Ororo said.

Hank thought about the request for a moment and then said, "The last I've seen Logan, he was on his way to the Danger Room this morning. To the best of my knowledge, he's still there."

Logan, AKA Wolverine, rushed through the seemingly endless rubble of war torn Moscow. It was a mere Danger Room simulation, and Logan would've preferred that actually city. Lagan stopped short of an alleyway and sniffed out his target. He was here. Logan could smell him even though it was supposed to be a holographic image. In the shadows some distance behind him, an elongated metal tentacle crept silently toward Logan. Logan cocked an eyebrow and knew full well his target was behind him. The metallic tentacle suddenly whipped right at Logan, but Logan dodged out of the way just in time. Logan landed on his feet and turned toward his attacker, extending his adamantium claws along the way. The attacker emerged from the shadows. He appeared to be Russian with blonde hair and glowing red eyes, standing about nearly seven feet and wore red and sliver armor. According to the computer, he was called Omega Red.

"Come and get me, asshole!" Logan snarled.

Being only a holographic image, Omega Red couldn't answer and swiftly attacked Logan. Logan charged at his foe head on, claws extended and a feral expression on his face. Omega Red extended two metal tentacles and whipped wildly at Logan, and Logan ducked beneath them and slashed Omega Red across the chest. The claws barely left their mark, so Logan attacked the vulnerable spot: the face. Omega Red lashed at Logan as relentlessly as Logan clawed at Omega Red. Logan slashed Omega Red in the leg, bringing the massive Russian to one knee and then tackling him to the ground. In a relentless show of ferociousness, Logan clawed, scratched and slashed at Omega Red until Omega Red caught Logan with one of his tentacles. Omega Red stood up from the ground and whipped Logan back and forth between rubble, even slamming him into the ground on occasion.

Logan was still coherent thanks to his healing factor, defiantly shouting, "That all you got bub?"

Omega Red didn't answer, or wouldn't answer, being only a hologram anyway. Regardless, he viciously continued slamming Logan into every available surface. Logan finally planted his feet to the ground and in a massive show of strength, took Red's own tentacle and whipped Red through a wall. Omega Red was down. Logan stalked his foe and violently pulled both tentacles from his arms. Even as Omega Red tried to kick him away, Logan went berserk and slashed madly at his face. Having lost himself in his rage, Logan quickly turned and tried to impale the new intruder he'd just sensed. It turned to be Kitty Pryde, who was overly thankful of her phasing powers.

"Um, was I interrupting something?" she asked as if having Logan's claws phasing threw her stomach was a routine thing.

Logan felt like a fool and shouted, "Freeze program," The Danger Room session came to a stop, as did the Omega Red hologram. Logan then retracted his claws and told Kitty, "I could've skewered you, half-pint. What do you want?"

"Well for one thing, you could stop calling me "half-pint," Kitty snidely remarked, which earned her an annoyed look from Logan. Kitty continued, "That, and Storm needs to talk to you."

Logan shook his head in more annoyance. "Can't it wait? I'm in the middle of something."

"So I noticed," Kitty said. "But Storm said it was pretty important and it can't wait."

Logan cursed under his breath and then said, "Alright, alright. Save Danger Room session, Omega Red."

A computerized voice responded, "Acknowledged; session saved."

Logan turned to Kitty. "This better be good, half-pint." Leave it to Logan to get in the last word, and much to Kitty's annoyance.

The elevator came to a sudden stop, something Logan tended to find very annoying at best. Maybe more so than having Kitty interrupt his sessions from time to time. Logan stepped out of the elevator and standing before Logan was Ororo, her arms crossed and her lips pouting. Logan must've done something to annoy the silver haired weather witch. Maybe that nick name he'd given her. Oh hell, he gave all the X-Men nicknames they didn't like. He called Kitty half-hint, he called Bobby Drake ice cube, called Hank McCoy fur ball and even called Jubilee sparky. Apparently, the nick name of weather witch irked Ororo to the point of wanting to electrocute Logan. He'd most likely survive. Most likely.

Logan shrugged his broad shoulders and simply asked, "What?"

"We need to talk." Ororo said a flat tone.

"Hey, if this is about the front yard fountain, I said I was sorry." Logan said. He did get scalded by Ororo for destroying the fountain last month.

"Not that," Ororo corrected. "We need to talk about Rogue. She's been unusually distant lately, and more than you are from time to time."

Logan had to agree with Ororo on that one. Rogue had been getting increasingly distant from the rest of team, ever since she took the cure. The fact that Bobby broke up with her didn't help matters. It was just as unusual when Rogue had elected to remain at the school at all. Logan would've thought that Rogue would've returned to Mississippi, but she stayed in the school.

"Let me guess," Logan said. "You want me to talk to her."

"It probably wouldn't hurt." Ororo quipped.

"Oh, for Christ's sake," Logan started marching down the halls of the institute with Ororo following. "And what the hell am I supposed to say? Why don't you talk to Rogue?"

"Because she's closer to you than anyone else here, Logan," Ororo pointed out. "I know it sounds strange, but Rogue sees you as…"

Logan turned sharply and faced Ororo. "As what? A father figure? Storm, I can't even remember my own father, or if I ever had a family to begin with."

"Well, now's a good time to start one," Ororo said and then walked past Logan. She turned, walking backwards and said, "Things are hard enough without the professor to help us through."

Again, Logan was forced into agreeing Ororo. It's been tough keeping the institute afloat since the loss of Professor Xavier. Some of the students actually left the school, including Colossus who elected to return to Russia to support his own family. On the other hand, Warren Worthington III, better known as Angel, helped to provide the funds to keep the school open. That was one problem solved, but now Logan had to deal with Rogue. He would've been better off if Magneto ripped out his entire adamantium skeleton, had the latter still had his powers.

C'mon, Logan, it's Rogue for God's sake, he thought to himself. You've talked to the kid plenty of times. What's one more time?

Honestly, Logan didn't know if he was trying to convince himself or not. He'd convinced himself that he was in love with Jean, and look how that turned out. Logan kept telling himself that he did the right thing in saving Jean. He kept telling himself that Jean was resting in peace along with Scott and Xavier. That didn't make it right, what Logan was forced to do. That was then, this was now. Logan decided to risk it and see about talking to Rogue. God willing, she'll take the time to listen. Now, it was just a question of what in the hell Logan was going to say.

An intruder kept the school in full view with a set on high tech binoculars, keeping hidden in the bushes so as not to draw attention. The lower half of his face was covered, though his long brown hair ran down to just above his shoulders. He was also careful not to tap into his mutant powers. No sense destroying a perfect good set of binoculars, and even less burning his face. There was also no sense in trespassing on the school grounds in broad daylight either. He'd wait until the moon has risen into the sky to make his move. The intruder lowered the binoculars upon hearing the faint hum of a motor approaching from the distance. He ducked out of sight but still gain a look at the white limousine passing by his hiding spot. Too bad for the intruder that the passenger already knew of his presence.

Author's note: That should clinch the official first chapter. Let me know what you guys think.