In the central square of Apocalypse Royal City.
Two figures blazing with torrents of violent energy crossed and weaved through each other, trading rapid blows in relentless combat.
Wielding an alloy staff, Gambit once again smashed Bucky into a stone wall as if batting a baseball, while the cards circling his body shot after him in pursuit.
Laura pressed her lips tightly together. Watching Bucky fall further and further behind, she knew there were no other allies left to help them.
And within the ruined central hall, Steve Rogers could finally hold on no longer.
Clang!
The shield slipped from his hand and fell to the ground. Apocalypse crooked a finger, drawing it through the air into his grasp, then held it before his eyes and examined it closely.
Layer upon layer of sand and stone surged around Steve Rogers, binding him fast. He kept swinging his fists, shattering the rocks that had solidified around and locked down his hands and feet, but the earth and stone gathering from throughout the hall eventually swallowed Steve's entire body.
Dozens of cubic meters of immensely dense stone formed a massive pillar that completely sealed off his movements. Only his eyes remained exposed, and he no longer had even the slightest room to struggle.
Apocalypse glanced at the shield-bearing warrior who had fought him for so long. His blue-gray face shifted uncertainly as he said in a hoarse, low voice:
"My knights truly are disappointing."
He looked at Rasputin, "War," bound in dark greenish-black chains, then at the gray-white giant lying amid the ruins on the other side of the hall—Caliban, the "Pestilence" Knight. He actually gave a self-mocking smile before continuing:
"With weapons like these, and a warrior like you... if mortal insects truly were all like you, Rogers, I would learn