3000 BC, the First Dynasty of Egypt.
This was an era that modern archaeology had yet to uncover. In this age, a great Pharaoh known as Rama-Tut unified Upper and Lower Egypt and launched a grand expedition of immense scale. No one knew where that expedition was headed, nor what enemies it would face.
However, somewhat unexpectedly, and known to all involved, the Pharaoh's most powerful slave, En Sabah Nur, did not set out to conquer terrifying foes. Instead, he remained in the capital to watch over a group of special prisoners.
"That guy just keeps us here. He doesn't bother us, but if we try to break out, he catches us and drags us back."
The White Queen watched the grey-skinned mutant in the distance. He seemed to be a unique existence; she had attempted to enter the minds of other Egyptians in this era, only to discover that aside from this young man named En Sabah Nur and the Pharaoh himself, no one else in this time period possessed superpowers. In other words, in this age, he might be the only mutant.
He might even be the very first mutant.
But he was also an overwhelmingly powerful mutant. When the White Queen tried to control him with telepathy, he retaliated with even stronger telepathic force, nearly seizing control of her mind directly. When Magik attempted to flee, he could teleport in instantly to grab her by the throat, preventing her from jumping through time and space.
He was stronger than Colossus, capable of unleashing more raw power than Cyclops, and could ignore Iceman's frost. To put it simply—he could single-handedly crush this entire group of mutants. Yet beyond that, he did nothing. He didn't even restrict their freedom, allowing them to wander around Egypt as they pleased.
"Do you think he can be persuaded, Emma?"
Cyclops looked at the man with uncertainty. From his abilities, there was no doubt that En Sabah Nur was the "Apocalypse" who, in the Days of Future Past timeline of Earth-811, had helped the future Professor and the others fight against Nimrod. The future Apocalypse might have been an enemy, but from what they knew now, Apocalypse would eventually become a Pharaoh of ancient Egypt, ruling for nearly a thousand years and establishing a mutant dynasty.
But clearly, the current Apocalypse was not yet that grand being.
"So, the problem lies with that damn Rama-Tut. If Apocalypse is this strong and still can't stand against Rama-Tut, then just how powerful is Rama-Tut..."
Before they could finish their sentence, a light appeared around them. A handsome man wearing a somewhat familiar red spandex suit appeared before them with a smile, immediately moving to give Cyclops a huge hug. "My best friend who never appeared in my movies! I've finally found you!"
What in the world was this nonsense!
Cyclops shoved the man away, unable to help but ask, "Sorry, sir, but... who are you?"
"Wait, you don't recognize me? We've had such intimate contact before!"
What kind of talk was that!
The White Queen gave Cyclops a rather unfriendly look. "Scott, I didn't know..."
"I promise I'm not interested in men, Emma." Cyclops looked helplessly at the observing Apocalypse in the distance. "Sorry, sir, but I really don't know you."
"It's me! Wade Wilson! The sexiest man in Canada!" The man claiming to be Wade wore a look of utter disbelief. "Your best, bestest friend! A man with a self-healing factor and Adamantium weapons! Not an Australian guy pretending to be a Canadian."
"Deadpool?" Cyclops was truly stunned. "But I thought... I thought your face was supposed to look like a... potato that fell into a blender, rolled out, sprouted for a few days, and then had the sprouts dug out. No offense."
"Oh, no offense taken..." Deadpool suddenly had an epiphany, then looked at Cyclops and the others in disbelief. "Wait, you guys still think I'm the me from the past?"
"What do you mean? Is the ugly Deadpool of the past dead?"
"No, no, no. Oh my god, they were right. That son of a bitch Kang can't modify other times. The Cosmic Cube can only modify history, not the reality of the past."
Realizing this, Deadpool immediately told Cyclops and the others about the Kang Dynasty. After hearing the story, Cyclops and his companions looked at one another. They finally understood why Kang had trapped them here: because Kang could not modify them here. Conversely, they could travel back to the most critical point in time—the moment just before Kang modified reality—to fight him.
That was why Apocalypse had been tasked with guarding them.
"But if that's the case, why didn't Kang just kill us?"
Facing Cyclops' question, even the White Queen didn't know why. However, Apocalypse leaped down at that moment. Though he was a slave and appeared somewhat malnourished, he was tall and imposing. Having overheard the entire discussion from afar, he approached the group and told them that this was an impossible mission.
"I do not know why the Pharaoh does not wish to kill you, but I know that your resistance is meaningless. The Pharaoh's strength lies not only in the fact that he possesses technology far beyond this era, but because he possesses the power to control time. Under his power, no one can act freely. You will be stagnated; you will be sealed forever."
"Unfortunately, we know that. We've clashed with Kang and been frozen in time by him before."
After Cyclops spoke, he looked at Magik. "But we have a way to deal with it, don't we, Illyana?"
"I haven't been studying magic for very long... I can only guarantee that one person can move within stagnant time."
Apocalypse was stunned for a moment, then questioned Illyana, whom he hadn't paid much attention to before. "You can do that?"
"Magic can do it. I'm... somewhat of an amateur sorceress. So yes, Kamar-Taj has spells for moving freely during a time-stop. I thought it was a bit strange when Strange made me learn this, but now it seems that goatee-wearer knew about this all along."
"Why didn't you say so earlier!"
Apocalypse was genuinely shocked, but Cyclops answered for Illyana. "I'm sorry, but it's because we had no idea Rama-Tut was Kang the Conqueror. If you had been willing to communicate with us and tell us about the Pharaoh sooner, perhaps we could have solved this problem earlier."
"...If you can truly do it, the Pharaoh is vulnerable."
Apocalypse spoke through gritted teeth, "I will crush him."