A/N: Hey everyone! I've been wanting to create an X-Men story since the 2nd one came out, but I was lazy and never started one. After watching X3, I got my lazy butt into gear, ha ha.

Yeah, as you should know, I don't own anything.

He wasted no time to go into hiding as soon as the battle at Alcatraz was lost, and he lost his powers. It was an act of such cowardice, hiding from the humans, and even other mutants like the X-Men, but he had no choice. He was powerless to defend himself, with his power over metal lost forever. A cold fear gripped his stomach. There would be many people hunting for him, and he had no way of defending himself. The great Magneto was a broken man.

Careful not to withdraw too much money from one of his many foreign bank accounts, he secured enough money to take a series of buses to the east coast. Flying or taking a train was out of the question, too much security, and they were bound to recognize him. They probably had his picture everywhere for god's sake. He wore a flat cap low, just in case. Without his metal helmet and cape, he could be someone's beloved grandfather, he mused. He was as helpless as a doddering old fool anyway.

Settling in upper Pennsylvania, he found a dingy apartment for cheap. Everything in it was plastic. It was another act of cowardice, he knew, but he couldn't stand the sight of metal. Plastic lamps, plastic utensils, everything. He even bought cheap food that didn't require too much preparation, like using a metal skillet. Having to use metal things, or just seeing metal, made him lament the power that he'd lost. The part of him he'd lost.

In a few months he could upgrade his living quarters, but he had to keep low for now, in case the government was still trying to catch him. No, he was certain they still were, with all the trouble he'd caused in recent years. He was probably going to spend the rest of his life living in fear of being caught, and if caught, he'd spend the rest of his life in prison. Either way, he would be alone for the rest of his life. He had become a coward without the use of his powers, and he was sickened by it. All it had taken was the touch of a needle, four to be exact, to rob him of his birthright. It had taken away his identity. Nevertheless, he assimilated into the society of humans that he hated the most.

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After the battle at Alcatraz, Raven Darkholme, formerly Mystique of The Brotherhood of Mutants, scoured every newspaper, every news network, for information on Erik. She had to know what happened. To her joy, the mutant boy whose powers had provided the cure was missing, which meant no more of the cure could be created, stealing the powers of other mutants like it had done to her. The only other thing she knew was that there was a huge number of deaths, but they couldn't even begin to count how many died because they couldn't find all the bodies. She wondered what mutant was able to do that, but she suspected it probably had something to do with the X-Men, who had in fact intervened like they had done in all of Erik's other attempts at mutant liberation.

After weeks of scouring newspapers, she had not found out anything about Erik, whether he was alive or dead. She decided to visit the X-Men, because they probably had the whole story. She had to find out what happened to Erik.

Getting there was the easy part. She hopped a flight to New York, where Xavier's school was located, and managed to get a taxi to drop her off right in front of the gates. On the plane she realized that this whole trip could be for nothing, that they might tell her Erik was dead after all, or they might refuse to tell her anything, turning her away without a second thought. But she had to try anyway.

The mutant Rogue greeted her at the entrance, but gave her odd looks when she had asked to see the Professor. Could it be that she knew who she was? She was certain that Rogue had never seen her in her human form, let alone the rest of the X-Men for that matter. She doubted they even knew her slave name, Raven. She shrugged and followed the young mutant inside. Instead of taking her straight to the professor, she made her sit in an office and told her to wait one second. In a few minutes, the woman known as Storm entered, followed by a blue man. She recognized him from some of the newspapers. He was Hank McCoy, Secretary of Mutant Affairs in the White House. She wondered what on earth he was doing at a place like this, but was barely interested, for she only saw his name in passing on her many tries to look for Erik in the news.

"Miss Raven, why are you looking for the Professor?" Mystique looked down at her feet, feigning timidity.

"I need him to help me find Magneto," she said. What was this? Storm and Hank both looked down, saddened. Hank suddenly spoke, quietly.

"Professor Xavier is dead."

About to reply, she stopped when the mutant Wolverine walked in. He sniffed, and, like an animal, growled when he recognized her. "What are you doing here Mystique?"

The room suddenly became very tense, and she felt like the room got colder once they found out who she was. Or rather, who she had been before the cure. "I'm sorry Mystique, but we can't tell you where he is," Storm spat.

"Why not!" This was outrageous. "I'm not looking for him for The Brotherhood, I'm not with them anymore."

"Then why are you looking for him," asked Wolverine.

She paused, looking at each of their faces in her rage. "To kill him. I don't care if I have to use one of those ridiculous plastic knives, but I will kill him." She stood up, putting her hands on her hips, daring them to object.

"That won't be necessary, my dear," Hank said. "Magneto was hit by the Cure at the battle of Alcatraz."

It took a full four seconds for his words to sink in. "What!" Her mouth dropped open. The great Magneto, human! How could this be? So maybe killing him wouldn't be as difficult as she had first anticipated. Her last thought was of disgust. She had given up her powers, her life, for this man, and he had thrown her out like trash. And he still lost his powers anyway. "Thanks for the lack of information, I'll be leaving now, so you don't have to hold your breath." She strode out, not even looking back.

Sitting outside, she felt much less confident than she'd been inside. He could be anywhere in the United States by now, so where could she start?

"Hey Mystique, can I talk to you?" Turning around, she saw Wolverine had come out looking for her.

"What do you want?" She saw he looked uncomfortable, he kept scratching his nose with one finger, and shifting his weight from one foot to the other.

"Why do you want to kill Magneto so badly?" There, he hit the mark.

"Because I got hit with the cure trying to protect him, and he threw me out like yesterday's garbage," she snapped. "I gave up my life, my mutation for him, and he just walked away." It really hurt coming out and saying it to another person, but she knew it had to come out sometime. She felt Wolverine put his hand on her shoulder.

"Magneto is living in Erie, in upper Pennsylvania. We've been keeping tabs on him." She had a start! "Oh, and he goes to play chess when it's sunny outside," he said, scratching his nose again.

"Thank you," she said gratefully.

"I would've liked to kill him myself." She laughed.

"Sorry but I get him first, I know you'll understand." This brought a smile out of him. With a wave, she got up and walked away.

Traveling to Erie had cost her the rest of the money she had. A few stolen wallets later, she had enough to pay a month's rent on a small dingy apartment, which was located to right next to a park, which had plenty of chessboards. There, she prepared to stalk it every day looking for Erik. There was only one other park in the area, and she planned to visit that park after she made her rounds at the one next to her temporary home. She had also managed to procure a job as a cashier at a local drugstore. It didn't pay much, but it was enough for now. Now, all she had to do next was find him.

The next two weeks, however, were nonstop rain, meaning that only the most faithful of joggers went to the park. After a handful of overcast days that followed, there was finally a sunny, bright day. It was a perfect day for the hunt.

After an hour of looking through that park, she gave up and went to the other one on the other side of town. No luck there either. She developed a routine doing this. In the morning she would stalk the park closest to her apartment for a good hour, then she took a bus to the other side of town, where she would wait to see if she noticed anyone peculiar playing chess. After that, she took another bus back where she double checked the park again, then got something to eat and went to her job. This continued for about a week. Then one day, however, her routine abruptly changed.

"Hello Mystique."

A/N: Well, what did you think? I know, I know, I'm evil and whatnot for ending it here. I'll update soon if you guys want me to continue this.