Apocalypse brought Tolas to an unknown dense forest and enhanced Tolas's abilities.
Tolas was still in shock. Apocalypse had demonstrated more than one power in front of him. As far as he knew, mutants usually only had one ability. Even those with two powers were rare, let alone three or more—he'd never heard of such a thing.
Now, Tolas felt like a flame was burning inside him, ready to ignite his entire being. He was the Flame Man—afraid of guns, water, and electricity—but never fire. And yet, he felt like he was about to spontaneously combust, consumed by fear.
But soon, the burning sensation faded, replaced by a gentle warmth spreading through his body. He could feel it—his power had grown stronger.
"This is…" Tolas held out his hand. A flame hovered and burned in midair. He could tell that his control over fire had improved and the temperature had risen. To compare it, a bullet would melt before even reaching his body.
"This is…"
"This is my gift to you, child."
"You did this!?" Tolas was stunned. The ability to strengthen others' powers? That was rare. If some big organizations found out, they'd kill him and haul the body off for research.
"Now, are you willing to follow me?" Apocalypse asked.
…
…
"As long as there's money, I'm in." Tolas shrugged. He was a rogue, committing all sorts of crimes relying on his abilities. He had once sought sanctuary from the Sanctuary, but before even reaching it, he was nearly captured. If not for a stroke of luck, he'd still be locked up in one of their mutant prisons.
Tolas always worked alone—not because he preferred it, but because he hadn't found the right allies. But now, Apocalypse had shown strength he couldn't resist. More importantly, he wasn't one of those self-righteous "justice warriors" from Sanctuary. Working with him meant a future worth chasing.
"Now tell me—what is this modern society you speak of?"
"Uh… well… how do I explain this?" Tolas scratched his head in frustration. He didn't have much education—if he did, he wouldn't have nearly been caught so many times. Still, he did his best to explain what "modern society" meant.
"So… I've really been asleep for that long?" Apocalypse sighed.
"Who… exactly are you?" Tolas hesitated but asked. After all, this guy was his future boss—he needed at least a bit of background.
"Me? I am your god. All your powers come from yourselves, but I am the source—I am your god!" Apocalypse declared fervently.
Tolas felt like his brain was short-circuiting. A god? He knew of one—the one from Sanctuary, and he seemed to be a true god. That recent "Anti-Buddha Campaign" had shaken the powers that be, and no one dared say a word against it.
And now this guy was claiming their powers came from him? That's… hard to explain. Tolas had heard from the grapevine that mutant abilities came from genetic mutations—a sign of human evolution—but he never cared about the details. As long as he had money, everything else was minor.
"A god, huh… I know one, supposedly a real one, lived forever or something. But you…" Though he didn't say it outright, his skeptical expression made his thoughts clear.
"A god? Hmph! Before me, all are ants!" Apocalypse snorted coldly.
"Heh…" Tolas gave a helpless smile. Whatever—he's the boss. What he says goes.
"Come, child, let us find the remaining three knights. Once my four horsemen return, the world will tremble beneath my feet!"
"Boss, you mean… we're recruiting teammates?" Tolas asked.
"Exactly."
"Then I know a place where we might find the kind of people you're looking for." Tolas said. As a long-time loner in the underground scene, he knew all sorts of shady organizations.
One of them was an underground mutant fighting ring, where all the fighters were mutants, risking their lives to entertain crowds and empty their wallets.
Though fallen on hard times, the mutants there still had strength—otherwise, they wouldn't be crowd-pleasers.
"Give me your hand," Apocalypse nodded, reaching out.
Tolas was a little confused but placed his hand on Apocalypse's.
The moment they touched, Apocalypse raised his head, eyes glowing white: "Wretched slaves! How dare you treat the children of god this way? Unforgivable!"
Without caring about Tolas's confusion, Apocalypse grabbed his hand—and they vanished from sight.
…
At the same time, the two reappeared in the center of an underground fighting arena. The noisy crowd fell instantly silent.
"Who are you?! Don't you know this place belongs to Boss Andriel?" the sleazy floor manager demanded. Behind him stood a bunch of thugs with guns, surrounding Apocalypse and Tolas. Even the two mutants fighting in the ring stopped, warily watching. Though enslaved, this place was still their livelihood. Their powers weren't invincible, so to protect themselves, they stood on the arena's side.
But Apocalypse's eyes turned white again, and everyone in the area except for the two mutant fighters sank into the ground like plants being swallowed by the earth.
The two fighters were terrified and quickly raised their hands in surrender.
"I surrender! I was forced into this!"
"I just want to live."
"Don't be afraid, my children. These slaves are not worthy to enslave you. Follow me, and I will lead you to stand atop the world—to rule these mortals!"
Seeing Apocalypse's passionate speech, the two mutants were dumbfounded. They thought he was either insane—or a late-stage edgelord.
Even Tolas covered his face in embarrassment. His boss was strong, yes, but his personality… was hard to bear.
Though hesitant, one of the mutants gathered the courage to ask, "Can you help us survive?"
"Of course, Waynes, Ator."
"You know our names?" Waynes and Ator asked in shock.
"Naturally, my children," Apocalypse nodded kindly.
This was one of his many abilities. Earlier, he hadn't fully awakened due to his rage at being hunted by the Spear Bureau and wasn't thinking straight. But now that he'd regained his composure and understood "modern society," he remembered. He didn't even know how many powers he had—it was too many.
This one was telepathy. Not particularly strong—it only worked at close range, letting him glimpse some of the target's memories. For Apocalypse, it was a mediocre ability—not worth much but still useful.
Waynes and Ator looked at each other, then turned back to Apocalypse.
"If you can help us live, then we'll follow you," Ator said.
"Not only will you live, you will have everything you desire."
As soon as he finished, Waynes and Ator felt something enter their bodies—painful at first, like being torn apart, but soon replaced by comfort. Their powers had grown stronger.
"This is…"
"This is my gift to you, children. As my knights, you must not be weak." Apocalypse smiled wickedly.
Waynes stretched out his hands—his entire body glowed with a metallic sheen and grew more than twice as large. Previously, he could only enlarge certain body parts and couldn't cover them with metal. Now, he was nearly as powerful as the future Colossus—and more refined, since he didn't have to stay in his metal form.
Ator's figure blurred where he stood. In truth, he had run away and back multiple times. His power, super speed, had once only allowed him to move at ten times normal human speed. Now, he felt he could break the sound barrier.
"Do you know of anyone else who would be a good fit? I still need one more knight," Apocalypse asked, interrupting their celebration.
"If you're looking for subordinates, Andriel has a lot of mutants."
"Yeah, all captured by shady methods."
"Very well. Let's go then…"
Soon, the underground kingpin Andriel and all his men were wiped out by an unknown force—none of his trusted followers survived.
Apocalypse, having found his four knights, departed. As for why only four remained, and the fate of the others—that's a sad story. But the four who followed Apocalypse now had a hint of fear in their eyes when they looked at him.
"Now, let's visit this so-called Sanctuary. To dare claim divinity before me—they must be punished!" Apocalypse declared.
"Wait, you're saying you're going to mess with Sanctuary?" the last recruited mutant asked nervously.
"Of course, my child. There can be only one god in this world—me!"
"I'm out! I'm not suicidal!" he shouted. And he wasn't alone—the other three started feeling the same.
They didn't know how powerful Apocalypse truly was, nor the full strength of Sanctuary. But from what they'd seen, going up against Sanctuary with just five people was definitely suicide.
"Hmm?" Apocalypse's eyes flared. The mutant who tried to leave screamed in agony as his flesh melted, leaving only bones.
"Pathetic! Cowardly! Not worthy of being a knight!" Apocalypse roared, sweeping his murderous gaze over the other three.
"I didn't say anything."
"Boss, I'm with you all the way."
"I'm not quitting."
"Good. Then let us find the last knight."
Apocalypse nodded and led the remaining three away—unaware that all three were already calculating how to escape from him without dying.