Emma, Wolverine, Mystique, Cyclops and myself all stood frozen in place as the giant form of Apocalypse strode up to us. His massive form was brimming with muscles and energy cackled around his body. I knew we were seriously outnumbered. We braced ourselves for his vicious onslaught.

When he started talking, his deep booming voice filled the underground hanger we were in. "Charles Xavier, this is quite the surprise. I had heard you were dead."

I merely shrugged in response. My throat grew dry as he moved closer to me. "Come here you!" he said as he scooped me up in his huge arms. "It's so good to see you! When Cerebro started signaling that it was detecting your unique brain pattern, I feared that maybe the Dark Mistress was trying to clone you. That would be a disaster!"

As I looked up at the rather imposing form of Apocalypse, I asked, "So . . you're glad to see me?"
"Ha ha ha! Of course, my dear friend. I'm just so thrilled you're alive!"

"Could you put me down now please?" I asked. Is this the same man that tried to enslave the Earth, I wondered. After he had returned me to my chair, I asked another question. "Who is the Dark Mistress?"

"Why Kitty Pryde, of course. After she killed you . . or whatever it was she did to you, and took control of the X-Men, she declared herself the Head Mistress of the Xavier Institute. The name just sort of morphed over time to the Dark Mistress. It seems pretty fitting anyway."

At that Apocalypse looked around at the other gathered mutants and chuckled. Many joined in with polite laughter. Several of the faces were familiar. Cortez, Delgado, Exodus, Rem-Ram, Stinger and many more. Basically all evil cut-throat killers and yet all smiling warmly to see us. This mirror universe Picard sent us to is definitely an odd place that I hope to leave as quickly as possible.

"Say, A-poc, where's Colossus?" asked Wolverine with a hesitant voice.

"Oh, didn't you see him when you left the mansion?" responded Apocalypse. "Mistress Kitty had his metallic head mounted on a pick at the front gate."

I heard Wolverine start to sniffle behind me. Now no one loves Colossus more than I, but really. Ever since Wolverine started watching Oprah again, he's been slipping back into his girlie ways. That woman is poison.

"Now Charles," started Apocalypse. "We must catch up. I can't wait to hear about -"

Suddenly a loud blaring siren ripped through the still air of the underground hanger. "We're under attack!" someone screamed. "They must have followed us!" yelled Toad. Deafening explosions thundered all around us and the floor shook as if we were caught in an earthquake. Everyone started to run in the chaos of panic. Another huge explosion started the ceiling collapsing on top of us.

This doesn't look good at all.