"Sinister!" Apocalypse contacted him rather rudely in the middle of an experiment.

"This is not a good time," Sinister said crossly, swearing.

"Do not presume to tell me what a good time is.... They're here," Apocalypse said.

"And what am I supposed to do about it? I thought your people were on it," Sinister said.

"They just took down Exodus."

"Exodus?" Sinister stopped. "One of your stronger members...they took him down? In what? Five minutes?"

"Less. We were right. The Reality Travelers are unlike the other mutants. Somehow they got past his defenses."

"In other words, you need my part of this plan," Sinister said, with way too much satisfaction. "Well, lucky for you, I thought ahead. My people are ready."

"They had better be. If they interrupt us too early, it will set us back, and I do not like to be delayed."

"After thousands of years, what's another few weeks?" Sinister said. "But I agree...but they'll never get through our defenses. We have had this in hand from the beginning.... Ah, but there is something you may want to know...."

* * *

Warren and Shine had a lot of effort to get to the podium with the struggle she was having.

And no Morph was there to help Shine.

Fortunately, she thought to do the same thing herself, and after a few bad minutes, she was calmer.

Warren almost lost his hold in that time, and felt dizzy from this landscape.

But Shine did something to help him again so that he felt more balanced.

"Right, now you're sharing my vision," she said. "It won't last forever, but...can you get us to the spot?"

"It's still changing..." Warren said. "I feel less disoriented now.... It's like finding your balance on a bike would feel...but it kept going from being above us to below us.... How...?"

"Land on the one above," Shine said. "It's more out of reach of the others, and then we only have to fall. The general location seems the same. Once we touch it, it should become the only thing we see...I hope."

"You'd better be right.... This make no sense." Warren flew upward.

But now that he'd chosen a direction, the floating podium seemed to get closer, and though it disappeared a few more times, he suddenly saw it right in front of them.

Like a strange, almost oblong pyramid.

"I guess Apocalypse never really got over his Egypt phase," Shine said.

"If that's a joke, I don't get it," Warren said.

"You are no fun," Shine said.

"What about this is fun?" Warren asked.

Finally, he landed on the platform part of it.

Looking down...and it was difficult for Shine's agoraphobia...they saw a huge crowd of people had gathered.

"I guess there really is an address happening today," she said. "I hope they don't mind having a different opener."

"I don't see a mic..." Warren said.

Shine crept carefully to the edge. "I think it's built into the wall.... Maybe it echoes off all the pyramids..."

Up here...they saw a bunch of them.

"But which...which dimension are you going to talk to?" Warren said.

"Maybe both?" Shine said. "I'm not sure."

She gripped the railing. "Oh...I wish we'd stood on the lower one instead."

"Are you...afraid of heights?" Warren said.

"Yes," Shine said.

"Wow...this idea was even stupider than I thought," he said.

"Hey, Angel," Shine said, "why don't you live up to your name and watch my back? I have to start this, or it'll be too late to be useful."

She pulled out her sword.

Warren sighed and flew up to look around.

No sign of anyone yet, actually.

* * *

"She's on my dais!!!" Apocalypse thundered.

Sinister was watching a screen monitor. "Oh, yes...I think she's going to give an address."

"I see no such thing from where I am."

"Ah, the undulation has you in the other world right now." Sinister consulted a monitor. "Fascinating...I can see it, but you can't.... Ah, no matter, it'll alter soon enough. I'll have someone go pick her up."

"I will handle this," Apocalypse said. "Stop those intruders instead. If you want something done right, you have to do it yourself."

"If you say so," Sinister said flatly. "Looks like Archangel is out there.... He went off the grid. I wouldn't trust him. So sad when you can't rely on people."

He got no answer...as was typical of Apocalypse.

Irritated, Sinister went back to checking his monitors while doing his experiments. Then he yelled at someone to bring him something.

* * *

Shine wasn't sure how to begin, so she just tapped what she thought was the mic.

She was right, and loud clanging sounds bounced off the walls.

The crowd below went silent.

They were expecting Apocalypse, clearly...and weren't sure what to make of an ordinary looking woman with a sword, just standing up there.

"Hey, who are you?" someone who was sitting higher up yelled.

"Where's the High Lord Apocalypse?" someone else cried.

A chorus of voices.

Shine prayed that she'd be able to pull this off.

Taking her sword up, she flashed it so brightly it looked like lighting.

Everyone shut up again.

Then into the mic, she spoke: "If I'm up here, don't you think you'd better be showing me some more respect? Only the highest people would use this platform."

Dead silence.

Well...now she had an audience.

Shine looked up at the sky.

"Well...anything?" she asked.

No answer outright.

Then an idea came into her head...a mad one, but...

"Before I begin my address, I'd like to read something to you," she said. "It's from an ancient manuscript, dating back thousands of years, even before the reign of Apocalypse began."

She had their attention now. Anything to do with that was bound to interest these people.

Dust, who had stolen into the crowd to hear this, wondered what on earth she was doing.

Shine pulled out her bible and opened it.... Good thing she brought her travel-sized one.

She opened to Isaiah 60 and read loud and clear:

"'Arise, shine;
For your light has come!
And the glory of the Lord is risen upon you.
 For behold, the darkness shall cover the earth,
And deep darkness the people;
But the Lord will arise over you,
And His glory will be seen upon you.
The Gentiles shall come to your light,
And kings to the brightness of your rising.

 "'Lift up your eyes all around, and see:
They all gather together, they come to you;
Your sons shall come from afar,
And your daughters shall be nursed at your side.
Then you shall see and become radiant,
And your heart shall swell with joy...

"'...For in My wrath I struck you,
But in My favor I have had mercy on you...

 "'Also the sons of those who afflicted you
Shall come bowing to you,
And all those who despised you shall fall prostrate at the soles of your feet;
And they shall call you The City of the Lord,
Zion of the Holy One of Israel.

"'Whereas you have been forsaken and hated,
So that no one went through you,
I will make you an eternal excellence,
A joy of many generations...
You shall know that I, the Lord, am your Savior
And your Redeemer, the Mighty One of Jacob.

"'...I will make your officers peace, and your magistrates righteousness.
 Violence shall no longer be heard in your land,
Neither wasting nor destruction within your borders;
But you shall call your walls Salvation,
And your gates Praise.

 "'Your sun shall no longer go down,
Nor shall your moon withdraw itself;
For the Lord will be your everlasting light,
And the days of your mourning shall be ended.
Also your people shall all be righteous;
They shall inherit the land forever,
The branch of My planting,
The work of My hands,
That I may be glorified.
A little one shall become a thousand,
And a small one a strong nation.
I, the Lord, will hasten it in its time.'"

* * *

In the Arena, the war games had been put on hold for Apocalypse's address, and they had screens projecting it.

The Prisoners were made to watch also from their holding areas.

Jubilee and Kitty almost had a heart attack when they saw who was speaking and what she was saying.

"That's from Isaiah..." Kitty said.

"Holy crap!" Jubilee said. "She's..."

"She's lost her mind!" Kitty said. "What is she doing out here?"

"Shut up!" some of the other prisoners hissed at them. "You want to get us in trouble? Listen."

"I don't know who that is," one of the guards was saying to another one. "A new official, maybe? If she's speaking for Apocalypse, she must be Highly Exalted."

"Eh, they don't tell us everything. Maybe it's a new program they're starting," the other said.

* * *

The crowd cheered after Shine was finished...because they thought they were supposed to.

Shine wasn't fooled by it.

She leaned toward the mic again.

"This may be a bit unorthodox," she said, "that is...different. But...what I just read to you was a prophecy from thousands of years ago--about...my people. And people like me. Appropriately, my name is actually Shine, so...you can see where I get that."

She thought she saw a few people get awed expressions, taking that to mean she was mentioned by name in said prophecy.

Well, they sure were an attentive audience.... Her Sunday school class could learn a thing or two...

Except that they probably would be shot if they didn't pay attention.

She swallowed her nerves at that idea.

Warren, flying around to make sure no one was coming, spotted Maverick in one of the crevices of a building. He was watching this somberly.

Of course, he must understand that Shine was not working for Apocalypse...

But he didn't do anything to signal this.

Warren frowned. Could this idea work after all?

Where were the guards?

In fact, they were having a hard time finding Shine. She was in the other dimensional plane right now, and while they should have been able to stand in both at once, like everyone else could...something about her adjusting to it seem to have made it harder to reach for them.

In a sense, once she stood on it, she owned it for the time being, as a DJ, and they'd have to break into her territory to get to her.

Of course, that might not last long. Shine was tired already, but for now, she was entirely untouchable.

Explaining that to Apocalypse on the other hand...

He might be down a few minions by the end of this.

"So, I'm Shine," Shine continued speaking, gaining a bit more confidence now. "And I'm...well, you could say I'm a new arrival, but you probably knew that."

She better speak with more force, she thought. These people were savages.

Straightening, she put a bit more authority into her tone. "I'm here to tell you about The Lord."

They all assumed she meant Apocalypse, and no one spoke.

Shine swallowed and went on. "All of you are well aware of how things work around here. I bet some of what I just read summed it up pretty well. Violence rules the day, doesn't it? Deep darkness covers the earth and the people in it. Perhaps I can't ask you to give me a show of hands, but...I'm sure if I spoke to each of you individually, you could tell me of a darkness in your lives...whether it was the loss of a friend...a child...or part of yourself. All in devotion to this kingdom."

She was getting bewildered looks now, but some people were leaning in.

"And I want you to know that the Lord is well aware of your suffering and the hardships," Shine said.

Warren, flying overhead, distinctly heard someone say, "I never thought Lord Apocalypse would take time to notice that."

Uh oh.

Flying closer to Shine, he hissed, "You're doing this wrong! You're encouraging them to think well of him."

"Do not address me while I'm still talking," Shine said to him sharply, jerking her head at the crowd. "I know what I'm doing."

"Do you?" Warren said.

"Get out there and patrol." Shine waved at him.

A few people laughed to see someone scolded like that.

Warren went back to flying, frowning at her.

Of course what he'd just done was crazy. It could have blown their cover, if he'd had half a mind to realize it. But he was only just recovering any power of critical thinking at all--also he was never that bright to begin with in that area. [lol]

Shine resumed talking. "Forgive the interruption.... As I was saying, I'm speaking to you on the Lord's behalf. And He wants you all to know this: That there is coming a time where the rest of that prophecy will come true. There will be no more darkness, no more violence, no more suffering. Salvation and Peace will come. And families will not be divided anymore, and your children will not be stolen from you to serve the reigning lords of this world."

She had people's intrigue now. They were leaning forward.

Some people, who maybe had lost children who they'd actually known, were crying.

Maverick, who could relate to that, was scowling at her.

"The Glory of the Lord will rise upon us," Shine said. "But...in order for this day to come, there is something we need to talk about."

She drew a deep breath. Time to lower the boom.

"I've spent some time in your...well, eccentric city," she said.

If by eccentric you meant harsh, cruel, and insane.

But no matter--no one in the crowd knew what that word meant anyway.

"I've seen the gutters, the streets...the starving people in the other cities around here, here also. The filth and the grime...And, just yesterday, many of my own kids were sent to the Arena."

She waited.

A few people looked somber.

"Yes...some of you know what that's like," she said. "Maybe you place bets on it. But it's not winning for everyone, is it? I also have dear friends who have been arrested. And you may be thinking, how could someone like me have experienced this? But...I think we all know--we don't control the fate of people in this world.... That honor goes to Apocalypse and Sinister."

She didn't use their titles, but the crowd was too absorbed in what she was saying to notice that.

"What many of you may not know," Shine dared to go on, "is that, in fact, not so long ago, less than 30 years for some, this was not the case. Some of you are old enough to remember it probably.... The world used to be run by what you call Weaklings."

A lot of boos and curses met that.

"I suppose it was pretty awful for mutants," Shine conceded. "Back then, I knew many of them.... They had hard lives. It wasn't fair. I got my share of threats on my life over it. Some of you remember that. Apocalypse put and end to that, didn't he?"

Cheers.

"Interestingly," Shine went on, "what many people don't realize is that, back then, there was a place known as Genosha that enslaved mutants...and it worked almost exactly like the Factories here do. Regardless of ranking, however, they just enslaved everyone."

More booing.

"Yes, awful, right?" Shine said. "It seems so wrong that weak humans could have enslaved much stronger mutants than them. But back then, Mutants were the minority, only a fraction of the population...so what Apocalypse did was he slaughtered most of the humans, and the ones who are left are used to breed more mutants...or else to work for them."

Some people cheered, some looked at her like they couldn't understand where she was going with this.

Dust swallowed nervously.

"Apocalypse also overthrew the human governments," Shine went on, "regardless of what it did to the economy. People are starving now, because the economy collapsed without humans running it. A small price to pay for mutant freedom, but one that's cost many lives."

Silence.

"The point is that change never comes without a cost," Shine said. "Long ago, there was a civilization that carefully assessed the cost, and they had this to say, that 'mankind is more disposed to suffer while evils are sufferable' than to take action against those evils. I think that is true. As long as we can bear it, we tend to just take whatever life throws at us. But the same forefathers thought, some evils are not sufferable. And they thought that those evils were the loss of these three things, among others: Life, Freedom, and Happiness."

She'd lost a lot of people, judging by their looks, but she went on anyway.

"Life, because all of us who are born have a right to live. Freedom, because all of us who have willpower ought to be able to choose the course of our lives, and Happiness, because a life that is lived with only suffering can't really be considered living. The Forefathers believed that these rights were given by God, and could not be taken away by any man or government."

Warren worried that she'd been foolish to go this long...but he still saw no guards.

"Now if you'll notice, those principles are very similar to what I read to you in the prophecy," Shine went on. "The prophecy that came from God Himself. So I think that shows clearly enough God wants us to have life and happiness...and, most of all, Righteousness. Which just means things being the way they should be, inside our souls as well as outside in how we treat other people. I'm willing to bet none of you have ever heard this before."

A few mutters of agreement at that.

"It's long been forgotten," Shine said. "Which is why the Lord has sent me here today to remind you of it. And to offer you a chance: Many years ago, when Apocalypse first set up this kingdom, he used a method of doing so that altered the very reality of time itself. Some of you may have heard that this is possible. I'm here to tell you, in fact, that it is."

* * *

"What is she doing?" Jubilee hissed. "She's giving everything away."

"It's Shine," Kitty said. "I have no idea."

"Do you actually know her?" one of the other prisoners said, in awe. "Who is she?"

"She's..." Kitty faltered.

"She's like a queen," Jubilee suddenly threw it out there, "from a far away kingdom."

Yeah...that sounded about right. Morph called her that anyway, right?

"Whoa..." the other prisoners said.

"I want to go to her kingdom," said one. "It sounds nicer than this city."

* * *

https://youtu.be/B5Gvdgs_R1c

The crowd began to gasp.

"Yes," Shine said. "And, in fact, I come from that time myself. There, most of you do not yet exist.... I came all the way here with one purpose in mind: To prevent the world from being destroyed by something called a Merging. Some of you may have already felt the signs of it.... You remember things that didn't happen to you? You may be acting differently than you have before. You may have noticed all the Telepaths and Teleporters have disappeared from your midst."

More gasps.

"All of it is connected," Shine said. "It's like I'm reading your mind, isn't it? But I'm not a telepath.... I'm something that is called a World Walker. I travel through Worlds, and I fix problems. The Lord has brought me here to fix this problem, if I can possibly do so. Which is why I'm addressing you all now. We judged that we have, at most, days and at worst, perhaps hours, before this plan is completed. When it is, many people will die, and the rest of you will all be changed in some way. Some way that will be horribly painful and lasting. Those who aren't will feel alone in this world. More so than you do now, I imagine. The suffering that you feel now will be multiplied 100 fold."

People gasped again, and some fell to their knees.

"Save us!" they cried. "High One!"

"No need for that." Shine waved her hand. "I am not the answer...just its humble vessel. Now, here we come to the part that will be the hardest for all of you, and I will ask you to each ask yourselves deeply, if you can do it: Your Lord Apocalypse and Sinister, are in fact, the ones who caused this momentous rift in the timeline."

Shocked looks. Some people yelled, "Treason!"

Shine hit the podium so hard it hurt their ears, and they shut up again.

"They have messed with something they didn't fully understand," she said. "I know there's a rumor going around that they know everything, but they don't. If they did, they'd have known I was going to be here...but as it is, they only knew I was coming. Not the rest. Whether we say they mean well or not, their actions have set in motion unbelievable destruction, and, if they are allowed to continue it, they'll destroy everything here. And now it comes to the point: There is great darkness in this world. That's undeniable...and a world is only as good as its leaders. I've lived in a dark world my entire life...but even that was nothing to this. I've hardly ever seen such evil and depravity...but one place where I did...was also called Apokalips. Far away from here, different people, different planet...in the end, it was destroyed from within, and its enemies have taken over. Only a few people escaped...the ones who were willing to look at their world and see it was dying. And it was time to jump ship."

She leveled the crowd with a look. "Let me be candid with all of you. If you do this, your lives here are going to end. You'll exist, but the circumstances around it will change. And you will not remember this place at all. I imagine for some of you that sounds tempting, but for others, it sounds like a break from everything you know. And it's not easy to do that. Many times the Lord has called people to leave everything familiar to them and set out in a strange, new land, and they were afraid to do it...but when they didn't, they were destroyed. Fear has no place in Victory, people...

"But if you do not move forward...you will be destroyed anyway, and not even to a potential better life, but to endless misery. So I'm offering you a chance. The choice between life and death, blessing and cursing.... Aid me in setting this to rights, and you may have life and blessings and perhaps goodness such as you've never even imagined...or you can resist me, and death is what you will get. Death or worse. This is not a threat...this is a fact. I've seen it before, and I have never been wrong about this."

Those words were chilling even to Warren, who had forgotten to patrol because he'd become so absorbed in what she was saying.

Suddenly Shine felt a twinge...and she knew that they'd begun to break through her hold on the land. No time now.

"I have no time," she said. "The rulers of this world are going to come and try to stop this because they blindly assume that what I am trying to do is going to hurt them, but, in reality, I am trying to save the world. All of you must decide if you will help or you will watch it burn.... If you feel in your souls that you will help, then you must restrain the rulers of this land, now! While the hour is ready. Restrain them, stop them from completing this. Apocalypse and Sinister must not be allowed to finish what they are doing, or we're all dead. Me as well as you. I swear that anyone who helps us now will receive mercy from us if we win this fight, and anyone who doesn't help us can expect to get what they deserve out of it. But if you fear Apocalypse more than me, I understand that..."

She saw guards now were running through the war, shoving people out of the way.

"But consider this, Apocalypse can only destroy the body. My Lord, the God of Creation, the One who made all the world that you see before you and does not just control it; the One who takes care of all of us, even the birds of the air and the bugs in the sewers; the One who created Time and didn't just abuse it can destroy the body and the soul. Apocalypse is small by comparison, and, as I believe...you all think that power is what counts. By the end of today we'll know who's more powerful, but do you want to wait to be on the losing side? Think about it!"

At that stage, some soldiers burst out of the door behind her and and tried to grab her.

Shine, knowing it would be dire if she was taken down immediately by them, was ready.

She spun around, and, using her sword, she cut through both their stun weapons in one swoop, then she ducked and used her sword to hook one's foot and tossed him over the edge.

No fear of that killing him--he was too enhanced for that.

The onlookers gasped watching this.

Shine slammed the other soldier with the flat of her sword, and he fell off the other side.

More came after them.

Warren shot them down with his feathers, then swooped in to catch Shine and fly away.

Riders took to the air on their mechanical animals and flew after them.

Suddenly one was slammed into a wall by energy.

They looked.

Maverick had moved them.

He slowly nodded at them. Then he jumped up onto the flying horse and knocked the rider off. He flew after some of the others, using his power to swat at them with energy and mass manipulation.

The crowd began to scatter.

More soldiers came out of the Temple.

Warren flew, dodging their attacks.

"I'm going to risk a portal," Shine said. "We have to get away, now! Get ready."

But before she could do this, one of the Tears opened in front of them, and Apocalypse himself stepped out.

Some of his people bowed.

Apocalypse looked up at them, and reached up a hand to blast them.

Warren dodged frantically, but the shot clipped one of his wings, and he hurtled to the ground.

He took most of the impact, and Shine was thrown free from him and tumbled painfully over the stone.

Apocalypse stepped closer to her.

"You dare!!?" he said. "You dare to mock Apocalypse!? To impugn his name! To tell a pack of lies to his people!"

Shine spit hair out of her mouth and got to her feet, wobbly.

"I never lie," she said, eyes gleaming gold. "But you do. You told them you were a god." 🔥

That remark was not a wise one to make if she was trying not to piss him off.

Apocalypse roared and shot at her.

Shine--somehow deflected it with her sword. Warren couldn't understand how she did it.

And the people who were watching gasped.

Apocalypse didn't like it. "What is this? That toy?"

Shine laughed, yes laughed.

"Oh..." She straightened. "This is not a toy. By contrast you are a toy, in fact.... I mean, you look like an action figure on sale at Walmart...but, regardless of that...I'm here, Apocalypse. You challenged God...and God has sent you an answer. Now, if you don't like it, that's your own fault. But that is the trouble when you call on things that you do not understand. The devil will show up, but the real thing will also."

Apocalypse didn't seem to understand this. "What babble is this?"

"It means--" Shine pointed her sword at him. "--that you're dead. And all of your empire with you. Now...you have one chance to surrender, and maybe you won't be cut in pieces by the end of this.... I'll give you one minute to decide....and if not...then we do this the hard way."

[Awesome fan art by Julianna Gardner.]

She smiled oddly. "Or the fun way. Depends on how you look at it. To God be the glory after all, and this didn't end well for Pharaoh.... You know that story, right? You like Egypt?"

"Fool!" Apocalypse said. "I am the god that was foretold all those years ago."

"Well, that's funny," Shine said, "because I work for that God, and He's never mentioned you."

Silence.

Even the fighters in the air paused, like they couldn't believe she'd just said that.

Apocalypse stared at Shine in pure disbelief...then anger. "You dare--"

"Oh, shut up," Shine cut him off. "Don't you ever get tired of this? You know what? Enough!"

She slashed her sword, and a portal opened beneath Apocalypse.

To his surprise, he shot down into it.

Shine turned to Warren, her face already looking paler from that effort. "I'm going to stall him. It won't be for long. He'll call in backup, but I can try to buy you a few more minutes, if you can warn the others that the time is up. Find them! I'll find the rest of you if I can."

"Are you mad?" Warren said.

"I might be," Shine said. "But not as mad as I will be, Warren. It's do or die! No more time for stalling, go!"

She jumped into the portal after Apocalypse. And it snapped shut.

[Da-a-a-ng....

That was fire!]