AN - Okay, just so everyone knows, I'm going to be upsetting the entire universe of X-Men by writing this, so it may end up being a very long story...

Anyone who's reading this who hasn't seen the movie HAS TO SEE IT! It 's the best EVAR! Also, I'm kinda spoinling the ending for you...

The mirrored room was lit by a cold blue light, making it seem almost as if it were a vast ocean, and he was trapped on all sides by endlessness, but there was only one thing that held his attention.

"May I ask you something?" Shaw asked as he stepped through the now closing door, his eyes unable to move from his mother's murderer. "Why are you on their side?"

Eric saw himself in his minds eye as a child, reaching out to the coin on the wooden desk, the one he now had in his pocket, as the man before him, the one who called himself Shaw, counted to three, his gun held pointed towards the woman behind him; his mother.

"Why fight for a doomed race who will hunt us down as soon as they realise their reign is coming to an end?"

He heard the shot.

Erik's body reacted before he could even think and his fist connected with the side of the strange helmet the monster before him was wearing, all his strength behind that one blow, but even as he turned back he knew something wasn't right. Shaw's features blurred as he moved his body back to face him, unfazed by the blow that should have sent him flying to the ground.

Unable to comprehend what had just happened, he just stared.

"I'm sorry for what happened in the camps." The man continued, no sorrow whatsoever showing in his eyes. They both knew what he was talking about. "I truly am." He lifted his finger up towards Erik's forehead, but he was too dazed to do anything.

Suddenly, it was as if he'd been hit with the same blow he had given the guy, and he flew back into one of the mirrored walls, the glass-like covering shattering as he fell, several pieces smashing into yet smaller shards when they hit the ground.

Erik! Whatever you're doing keep doing it, it's starting to work! Charles' voice exclaimed as it drifted through the crack, though it weak, as though it were through water.

He turned back to face the figure stepping towards him.

"But everything I did," he continued, oblivious to the silent conversation, "I did for you." Erik began to pull himself up from the ground, trying to move faster but it was too late. "To make you, embrace it." He touched his chin and once again he was flying, the wall he came in contact with now completely collapsing.

It's working. Charles said as his side bust with the fires of pain, the voice now strong. I'm starting to see him, but I can't yet touch his mind.

Realisation dawned on him. The helmet!

Once again regaining his standing position, he eyed the protected man.

"You've come a long way from bending gates." He smiled. "I'm so proud of you."

As the Nazi began to walk towards him, he felt the metal around him and pulled, pipes, iron bars, cables obeying his will, creating a cage for the beast within. But he blurred again, and dodged the bars that were supposed to hit. It didn't even bother him.

"And you're just starting to scratch the surface." He took another step forwards, forcing the metal away with no effort as Erik pushed with all his might, and yet still it didn't stop him. "Think of how much further we could go." There was one bar left between them now, and he put as much of his concentration behind it as he dared. "Together."

Erik let his control over the bar wane, forcing some towards his last hope, but it wasn't enough to hold the immensely strong man before him, and he became trapped, unable to move. He let himself look defeated, making himself look away, like he had done as a child. The bar was constricting his chest and it was getting harder to breath, but the time wasn't right.

Shaw came up to his ear. It was too close, but he made himself bare it. "I don't want to hurt you, Erik. I never did."

Ein…

"I want to help you." His cold hand rested on Erik's neck.

Zwei…

"This is our time. Our age." He could feel his eyes staring at him, but what got to him were his words. "We are the future of the human race." We are the future! It is our time! His words made sense! Why hadn't he listened before?

Suddenly he remembered the kids, the camps… his friend.

"You and me son." He cringed inwardly at his words. Son? How dare he call him that! He destroyed his life! He and every other man like him! Destroying his world and treating him like a lab rat, his family like cattle! What he was suggesting would be the next holocaust! He was going to turn the mutants into the next stage of Nazis! "This world could be ours."

He knew what he had to do.

"Everything you did made me stronger…" Erik said, knowing that Shaw would believe he was talking to him, but it was really for the only other person who could hear them. "…made me the man I am today." He needed Shaw to believe him. "Is it the truth?" he asked. "I've known it all along."

He looked at the grinning man. "You are my liberator."

Drei!

The cable he'd been slowly edging towards them struck, pulling the helmet from its wearer's head, who swiftly turned to snatch it back, but by then it was too late. "Now Charles!"

In mid reach Shaw froze, staring up at the object that had protected him from the telepath. Now that his hand was no longer pushing the beam into his chest, he let it drop and walked around the murderer, examining his precious head piece. When he had it in his hands, he felt the urge to put it on, but something kept him back; a feeling that he couldn't quite place.

Returning his attention to the frozen figure in front of him, his shook his head free of such thoughts. He imagined himself killing the man before him, the man of his dreams, his nightmares, how he would be helpless, like he himself and his mother had been all those years ago. He fingered the coin in his pocket.

Be the better man, Erik! Charles exclaimed. There has to be another way!

"But what else could we do?" he stepped back from the statue, grasping the helmet in one hand, his weapon in the other. "I can't hold him, and as soon as you let him go he's going to release that nuclear energy and who knows what would happen!"

The silence spoke a thousand words.

"He has to die."

I know. Came the reply after several moments of silence. Wait just a minute, I'll be right…

"…with you."

Turning around, he found that the doors had slid open, and Charles was now walking towards him, a hand held at his temple in concentration.

"Charles? What are you…" before he could say another word, the crack of a shot reverberated around the room, along with the soft, unmistakable thud of a body hitting the floor.

The smoking gun fell from the telepath's shaking hand, eyes staring blankly at something just behind him, a small cry escaping his lips. Turning, he saw the body of Shaw… of Schmidt, lying lifeless across the wreckage of their battle.

Erik could only stare. When he'd imagined this moment, ever since he was a boy, he'd always thought he'd be happy, relieved. Instead, all he was feeling in his gut was the flair of anger with the realisation that his moment had been stolen from him. He could never avenge his mother now.

"Why?" he felt his hands close into fists as he tried to control his rage, his teeth gritting together in his fury. "Why didn't you let me kill him? He was mine! I deserved it! I needed to…!"

"Erik!" When he turned back he found his gaze locked with Charles' ice blue eyes, their glare strong and cold. "Listen to yourself! You think this is all about you? You think this was all so you could get your revenge? So you could avenge your mother?" the young professor took a step forwards. "This was more than just about you. It was about the world! The future of billions of innocent lives! Did you even think about them? For one second?" He made to reply but Charles stopped him. "If you had killed him…!" He took a deep breath, calming himself and his voice. "If you had killed him, you would have been no better than what you had been before we met."

Erik remembered the mindless hunter he'd been for over half of his life, how all he had done was eat, sleep and kill, how he'd known that once his task was over, his life would be meaningless. When he had met Charles and his ideals, he had given him a reason to continue. He felt himself slowly release his rage and he let his eyes drop as the guilt crept into his stomach.

"You will learn to accept what I've done as a kindness my friend." He felt the smaller man's hand on his shoulder, its warmth giving him reassurance. "But for now we must focus on the present. I believe the others are beginning to return."

Nodding numbly, Erik let out a long breath, trying to still the chaos that was plaguing his thoughts. It was over. Schmidt was dead, and with him the war that had consumed him for the majority of his life. Maybe it was time for peace.

"We should probably bring him out with us." Charles said, glancing at the corpse lying beside them. "We'll have to give him a proper burial."

"A proper…?"

"We are not like him, Erik!" the young man squeezed his shoulder. "We will not step so low as to leaving the dead unburied, even if they would have done so themselves. We are the better men." The telepath gave him a small smile and moved over to what had once been their enemy. "Could you give me a hand here please?"

They had taken Shaw's body out on a sheet of metal, Erik moving it through the hallways and Charles making sure he didn't fall off when it hit one of the walls. As spacious as the submarine was, or rather had been, the crash when it had been dropped on the beach had compacted everything, wires hanging from the walls and the ceiling which they could have gotten caught up in had Erik not moved them out of the way.

Once they had finally exited the marine craft, the two groups of mutants, and one human, emerged from their separate sides of the beach, some looking more injured than others. When Azazel saw his leader's body he gave a barely audible growl, though he refrained from doing anything.

Had it not been for the wreckages strewn across the sand and the broken bones of the once tall and proud trees, the place could have looked quite beautiful. As it was, the fires from the burst engine were still burning, and the ships were waiting ominously in the distance.

Erik could feel something about them changing.

"The ships…" he said, putting Shaw on the ground as he stepped towards the water's edge. "They're aiming their weapons at us!" He heard Charles come up beside him, along with the shocked gasp he let slip through his lips.

Moments later, the blue sky became clouded by the missiles and rockets propelling themselves towards them.

Azazel, Angel and Riptide vanished in a puff of red smoke as the nuclear weapons came ever closer, disappearing to some unknown safe haven, leaving the others to their fates.

Lifting his hands, Erik reached out to the mass of metal approaching them, feeling their weight, their surfaces, their propulsion through the air. As soon as he felt his grasp over them take hold, they ceased to move, hovering in the air not a hundred yards away. He gasped, the pressure on his powers greater than he had thought it would be, but he held on, slowly turning them around.

"Erik?" came Charles' voice from somewhere beside him, but he ignored it, knowing what the younger man was thinking.

I won't hurt them. He thought, unable to concentrate on anything else. I just need to send the rockets away.

I understand. Came the reply.

Erik aimed the weapon towards the ocean somewhere between them and the humans just off shore, forcing them forwards with a slight push of his hand, disintegrating on impact with the water. With the threat gone, the exhausted man sunk to his knees, the full effects of what he'd done that day finally catching up with him.

It was as if all the strength from his body had left him, and he found himself unable to focus on anything, his vision doubling and a spinning sensation in his head, as though he'd gotten caught up in a rotor blade. It made him feel sick.

He put his hands on the ground to steady himself, taking deep breaths as he tried to blink the spots away.

"Erik, are you alright?"

Turning his head, he saw that Raven had knelt beside him and was rubbing his back, her yellow eyes frowning at him in their concerned way.

Taking another breath he pushed himself up. "Yeah… Just getting the whiplash."

Standing up he stumbled slightly but caught himself before the shape shifter had to help and turned to face the others. Banshee's suit was still smouldering from the fight he had had with Angel, and Havok's had been ruined, the disk on the front missing. Beast and Mystique seemed relatively unharmed, but he knew that appearances could be deceiving.

Charles was stood a few metres away, a slightly nervous Moira coming up behind him from the wreckage of the plane. She'd probably tried to stop them from firing them, but it was evident that her pleas had gone unhindered.

"So… what now?" asked Alex, turning to the two oldest men in the group.

The young professor stepped forwards. "Now we have to finish what we've started."

The kids frowned at him.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Sean asked, shifting his weight from one foot to the other.

Erik sighed and turned to face the body he'd left next to the submarine. "It means I've got to say goodbye to… an old friend."

AN - For those of you who noticed, yes I did change what Erik said to Shaw. I thought it would be better for him to think of himself as a man, not a monster by the end, which Charlse had tried to show him before...

Arg! That took forever! And the rest is going to take even longer! I swear this is going to turn into something like my Harry Potter fic! TO MANY CHAPTERS!

I hope you guys liked it, and like in my HP FF, I will be getting you guys involved again, but not just yet... Mwahaha!