A/N: This was the beginning of one of my fics that I didn't like, but I did like this part so I made it a oneshot.
Disclaimer: I don't own anything.
Savage
Eleven Years Ago-Salem, New York
"This school of yours is coming together quite nicely, Charles," Erik Lehnsherr commented telepathically to Charles Xavier, who was walking unaided through the courtyard of the Xavier School for Gifted Youngsters with him. They paused for a moment to watch a group of teenage boys playing basketball.
"Thank you, my friend," Xavier said. "Your approval means a lot to me."
"Hey, Mr. Lehnsherr," one of the boys, Ricky Gibson, called, waving enthusiastically to the older man. Erik had saved Ricky's life a few months back, and the boy had since come to idolize him.
"Good afternoon, Ricky," Erik said to him before turning his attention back to Charles. "Your students seem to be doing well."
"As well as can be expected I suppose," Xavier told him, looking remorsefully toward the boy with a visor that looked like something out of Star Trek over his eyes. He feared that the boy would never gain control of his optic blasts. "Some are progressing better than others."
They continued walking through the courtyard in a comfortable silence. Jean Grey, sitting a picnic table chatting with Ororo Munroe, waved to them as they passed, and Ororo gave them a small smile and a curt nod.
"I am sure you are already aware of this, but this is not a simply social visit," Erik told Charles, breaking the silence as neared the driveway of the school. Erik's car came into view, and the attractive young woman, Raven Darkholm, leaning against it caught Charles' eye and gave him a seductive smile. She was twirling one of her short, blond curls around her finger as she watched the two men conversing, and in the back of his mind, Xavier wondered if she really Erik's assistant, as he said she was, or something else entirely. He decided not to pry.
"I wish to talk to you about taking this little mutant haven of yours to the next step," he continued.
"Go on," Xavier prompted, interested to see what was on his mind without having to read it.
"I have recently come across a deserted island in the South Pacific thousands of miles from the nearest coast of the United States. I believe that, together, we can turn it into a paradise, a utopia even, for all mutant kind."
Xavier was intrigued by the idea, but he knew that his old friend's dreams were sometimes far from attainable. This seemed like one of those dreams. Still, he was interested to see what Erik's plans were.
Three Weeks Later-Somewhere in the South Pacific
Xavier surveyed the island as he stepped out of Erik's helicopter. Surrounded on all sides by crystal clear water and covered by lush tropical forests, it was as close to paradise as one could find on earth. Had he been a religious man, he would have thought it to be the Garden of Eden. Even the fact that Erik had begun construction did little to diminish the land's beauty.
"Welcome, my friend, to the Savage Land," Erik said to Xavier. The three children standing a few yards away waved to Charles. He recognized them as Erik's twins, Wanda and Pietro, and eldest daughter, Lorna. "Shall we begin the tour?"
Raven was at Erik's side, and Xavier's star pupils, Jean and Ricky, were closely following him as they started up the path to what was to be the world's first exclusively mutant city. Magneto explained the purpose and importance of each building that was being constructed as they passed it and introduced them to some of the mutants that were assisting in the construction, including a hulking man name Cain Marko and a young woman with a mind like a computer named Tessa.
"The Savage Land is seven hundred miles from Australia and seven thousand from the nearest coast of the United States, and it is slightly larger than the island of Manhattan," Erik explained as they walked through the town square. They stopped in front of a massive, glass dome, the only completed building within sight, and Erik gestured toward it proudly. "This building will serve as the parliament for a whole new species. Within ten years time, every government in the world will be taking orders from this building, from this insignificant little island. Within twenty, the entire human race will be speaking the mutant language we have developed."
"Voluntarily, of course," Charles interrupted.
"Oh, of course, Charles. Absolutely."
One Year Later-The Savage Land
Outside the walls of the city, genetically engineered dinosaurs chased genetically engineered savages through the jungle. They were all there to appease Erik's desire to live in a science fiction paperback. Xavier thought that Erik was trying to play God and didn't like it, but he said nothing.
When Erik had insisted that everyone start calling him Magneto and adopt new names of their own to honor their gifts, he considered it to be a good idea, thinking that it was meant to give mutants pride in their abilities. He never realized that the new names were Magneto's way of washing away the last remains of their human origins
Soon after that, Magneto began to speak of "cleaning up the rest of the world," and, though he knew perfectly well what that meant, Xavier still did nothing. It wasn't until Magneto had donned the helmet made specifically for keeping him out of his head for the first time that Xavier had taken action.
He gathered all of his students together along with a few others who disapproved of Magneto's plans, and they began to plan to leave the Savage Land. Their exodus would have gone smoothly had it not been for Ricky, now calling himself Detonator. He had always been loyal to Magneto, and Xavier wasn't surprised when he turned on them.
The night that they left the city and made their way to the beach to get picked up by an associate of Xavier's, Detonator went to Magneto.
"If they haven't got the stomach to take what's theirs by right, then we're better off without them," Magneto responded to Detonator's news.
"You're just letting Xavier get away with this?" Detonator exclaimed in disbelief.
"No, of course not. I'm happy to be rid of him, but he also needs a permanent reminder of what happens when you fight the course of evolution. Let's just say I'm leaving Charles the option of coming back here to apologize."
Running through the jungle with his students, Xavier was so focused on getting to the beach that he didn't notice the steel spear that was racing toward him until it sank into his back. He survived, but the injury shattered his fifth and sixth vertebrae, leaving him confined to a wheel chair for the rest of his days.
Two Months Later-Washington DC
Detonator stood inside of the Pentagon, surrounded by soldiers with big guns aimed at him. There was a smile on his face.
"Hands in the air, punk," one of the soldiers yelled. "This is a restricted area."
"You got a weapon you wanna tell us about?" another soldier asked.
"Hell, no," Detonator assured him. "What use would a gun or a knife be against the might of the United States Army?" He pulled his sun glasses down his nose slightly to reveal his glowing, red eyes. "I am the weapon, stupid."
He used his powers to explode, essentially nuking everything around him and killing well over a hundred people. He got away unscathed.
The next attack happened three days later. Cain, better know as Juggernaut, barreled through the Senate and took out a few Senators. There were two more attacks in as many days.
The American government was still trying to conceal the existence of mutants and simply said that the attacks were the work of anti-American terrorists. When they managed to locate the Savage Land, Bolivar Trask was commissioned to build a small army of the mutant hunting robots, Sentinels, he had been developing. The Sentinels were completed within six months.
Magneto was in New York City with his children and Raven, who had begun going by the name Mystique, when the Sentinels were unleashed on the Savage Land. Had he been there, he would have been able to tear their metal bodies apart before they could do much damage, but without him there, they managed to nearly level the city and kill almost everyone. Only Tessa, Juggernaut, and two or three others made it off the island alive.
Present Day-The Savage Land
Magneto stood before the ruins of the city with Mystique and Pyro at his side. There wasn't much left except for the dinosaurs and savages which seemed to have thrived in his absence, but there was still a smile on his face.
"Welcome home."