“Professor Logan, are you in there?” a concerned voice echoed from beyond his door, an unwelcome interruption to his sleep. Logan shifted, head pressed under his pillow as a half finished whisky bottle spilled from his grasp and onto the floor. “It’s been more than a week… when are you coming back to class?”
Logan groaned, hands pressed to his temples as he tried to pull his thoughts together. The more he remembered, the more he regretted waking up. He barely recalled his time under Apocalypse’s control, but enough remained that he dreaded facing his students.
He’d assisted in the capture of dozens of mutants, all converted to En Sabah Nur’s cause. Some of his former students had been among them, victims to his lack of will. So many humans had died because of his actions, even though Dan-EL revived all who fell in the attacks.
“We’ll be here when you’re ready,” Domino’s voice barely carried through the door, her footsteps on their way down the hall. “Just don’t stay alone with your thoughts for too long, go out and get some fresh air!”
A sigh escaped Logan’s lips. The girl was right, he needed to go outside and touch grass. Drink could only take him so far, and Charles had offered to help sort things out. More than psychic therapy, he needed to remind himself of his purpose.
He’d never had a solid goal in life, adrift between wars like a warrior without a cause. Once he’d met Dan-EL, the godlike Superman, he’d finally found a master that he wouldn’t outlive. The years he’d spent teaching had been fulfilling, but now he wanted something else. Change called out, and Logan was desperate to answer.
“I need to find Dan and see if I can begin a more intensive training,” Logan pulled open his floor to ceiling windows and leapt into the skies. His new body was still vaguely unfamiliar, even after all these years. “I need to learn how to fight like a Kryptonian, master these new powers that I barely use…”
The reconstruction of the cities of Earth unfolded before him, countless Stark industries robots that built faster than the human eye could follow. Logan shook his head at the modified Kryptonian technology. Even Dan-EL’s machines were lightyears ahead.
It would take less than a month for Earth to be returned to better than new, filled with utopic living spaces that anyone could afford. Dan-EL had advanced the distribution of certain technologies to the public, an effort to gain favour for the meta-human cause.
“Even though everyone was revived, people are rightly terrified of what mutants can do,” Logan arced upwards, aimed toward a position just outside the Earth’s orbit. Dan-EL floated there, cross legged with his eyes closed against the world. “I just hope tensions will ease over time…”
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“Anakin…” a ripple of light showered outward from Krypton’s sun, iridescent auroras that wrapped the living world in a comforting embrace. May’s eyelids flickered, a furrow between her brows. “Someone’s trying to force your hand…”
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Solar flame pulsed outward, a corona of blue that folded back under her skin. May’s eyes opened, her reflection visible in Merlyn’s concerned gaze. Her pupils were replaced by vertical slits, wrapped in a deep, burnished gold.
The deep brown of her hair had shifted closer to black, its length now well past her shoulders. Beyond these physical changes, her perceptions continued to evolve. The heartbeats of countless trillions throbbed in her mind. She knelt before every lifeform in the galaxy, ear pressed tight to their chests.
“We have to help Anakin,” May waved her hand before the Wizard could speak, a portal summoned between them. It flickered, barely stable as it reached beyond the normal bounds of the spell. “Hurry, someone is trying to block my magic…”
Merlyn nodded, eyes narrowed at the change in her appearance. He turned and leapt through the gate without a word, May just one step behind. Anakin and the others were in some kind of sub-dimension, a layer of space that permeated the galaxy and beyond. Her portal trembled as she passed its barrier, snapped shut just shy of her heels.
“Let’s see who’s messing with the servants of Krypton…”
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“I told you, I forge my own destiny,” Anakin frowned, his magic swept aside with a wave of the Father’s hand. “We’re looking for allies against Abeloth, and we have no interest in your gifts.”
“We shall see,” The old man’s smiling face turned to the mountain temple as he clapped his hands. The space around them shuddered, dragged toward the distant monastery. “Once you sit upon the throne, you shall be on the path, regardless of your words…”
“HAAAA!!!” Goku’s hands snapped forward from behind his back, a high speed kamehameha that thundered at the Father’s bemused smile. Anakin joined in the assault, eyes transformed into crimson beams.
Anissa blurred forward, a step behind Goku’s attack. Her own ki wrapped around her body, fists aimed at the old man’s skull. A sign escaped the Father’s lips, a hint of a frown in his eyes. Hand raised, he snapped his fingers and returned silence to the world.
The Saiyan’s blast hung frozen in the air, Anissa at its side. Goku’s Super Saiyan transformation had vanished, dispelled by an intangible wave of energy. Anakin’s vision cooled, suppressed against his will in an instant.
“Your attacks are meaningless, this dimension is under my control,” the Father shook his head and carried them forward with a sweep of his hand. The doors of the monastery loomed before them, large enough for a Kryptonian cruiser to slip inside. “Not even my children can challenge me here…”
“What about Abeloth?” May’s voice echoed from above the monolithic gateway, accompanied by the rumble of thunder. “I bet she could challenge you just fine?”
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“Come with me,” Dan waved his hand and the world blurred around them, replaced by an overbearing star. It loomed in the distance, filled with a power that seeped under Logan’s skin. “Hey, you two! Wake up!!!”
Dan’s voice echoed out over the galactic expanse, into the depths of the quasar’s light. Twin yawns emerged in response, the reluctant growls of sleeping animals. A sigh slipped past his lips as he curled two fingers and reeled in his wayward pets.
Both peered out of half-lidded eyes, too lazy to be bothered to move themselves. Dan raised his eyes to the heavens and accelerated their flight, hauled across the galaxy in seconds. Bear released another yawn and closed his eyes once more, while Stormy kept one eye open.
“Stormy and Bear are actually the strongest in the Order, besides me,” Dan tossed a sleepy cat into Logan’s arms and rolled Bear into his feet. “They’ve been bad little gremlins and left their home undefended, so you can take them to help with your training.”
Stormy had amassed an impressive runic knowledge, enough for him to communicate through magical means. He could teach Wolverine all he wanted to know about Kryptonian abilities, while Bear could act as a sparring partner.
Even as animals, their intelligence was far beyond human levels, the perfect trainers for Logan’s midlife crisis. He would likely never defeat the pair, but he could hone his skills against stronger opponents.
“Stay as close to the quasar as you can, I’ll be back in one month!” Dan gave the mutant a wave and vanished from the system, back into orbit around Earth. Since he was already up and about, he would pay a long needed visit to Namor. “It’s time for the Atlantean to answer for his betrayal…”