Disclaimer: I own nothing, if I did, well, I'd have money, which I don't have now. So there.

Something Wicked This Way Comes

The night had long since fallen across the city of Bayville, darkness spread over everything. The majority of the populous had retired for the evening hours ago, such was not the case for one man in a mansion just on the outskirts of town.

Professor Charles Xavier sat staring out his bedroom window, deep in thought. The dreams that had plagued him since the fall of Apocalypse 5 years ago had been keeping him awake yet again. This night, however, they were vastly different. Before they had been a replay of what he had seen in Apocalypse's mind that fateful day. Now, there were new elements being thrown in. Mutants were appearing in the visions that were not there before. One he recognized clearly, it would have been pretty hard not to, considering. The others he had never seen before, but if he were to encounter them now, he would have no trouble picking them out of a crowd. But it was not these new mutants that disturbed him the most, it was how they would radically change the lives of his students, his X-Men.

One would come with depictions of a horrific future, where mutants are hunted down like animals and put to death. Another would cause a rift between a couple, right at the time when the couple needed to stand united against an opposing threat. Another would cause a similar unrest among the X-Men's ranks, and still another would inadvertently cause pain for one X- Man in particular. The last however, would bring joy to an X-Man, if only for a brief time. It was this mutant that worried the Professor the most, for he would be the door, the gateway, for a great evil to come to earth.

Xavier heaved a great sigh, feeling decades older that he truly was. This was too great a burden to bear alone, but he could not subject his students to its weight too early. The time would come when they would all know what was to happen, though by then it might be too late.

"Charles?" Turing, he spies Ororo Munroe standing in the doorway. "Is everything alright? It is late, you should be resting."

"One could say the same for you Ororo. What are doing up?" Charles inquired.

Storm moved towards the window to stand next to her old friend. "I feel a shift in natures balance, like there is an unseen force altering it somehow. It is preventing me from relaxing enough to sleep." She turns to him. "What about you? What keeps you from rest this night?"

Charles thought for a moment before responding. "You are right about something being off-balance, Storm. There are difficult times ahead, I fear there is no way of preparing the team of what will come."

Storm took a moment to consider Charles' words. "Is this about the vision you had after..." She trailed off. It was still difficult to talk about what happened that day, for both of them. Being forced to attack their friends and teammates had been a violation that had taken the two of them a long time to get over. It was still painful to even discuss that day, even now. "You still see it, don't you?"

"Yes, but tonight there was more." He paused for a moment before continuing. "There is a threat that will come before we ever have to deal with what's going to happen with Jean."

Storm nodded at this. They had discussed the events that Apocalypse had let seep into their minds during their possession. The vision of Jean Grey consumed by fire had been the most disturbing of all. Though it was a relief that they still had time before they had to face it, and before they had to share it with the team.

"Will you share this new vision with the X-Men? Or will this be kept hidden from them like the last one?" She asked.

"That I have yet to decide, Ororo. There is no way to present this new information without sounding like a lunatic." A small smile graced the Professor's face, but faded quickly. "All I can do is keep an eye on our situation, and help where I can."

"There is no way to stop it, is there?" Ororo asked, a hint of worry in her voice.

"Que sera, sera. Whatever will be, will be. We can try to change the course of events, but then, that may be what was intended to happen anyway. One can never really tell when it comes to fate." Charles remarked before turning back to the window.

Sighing, Storm turned to go and attempt to sleep again. As she made her way to the door, she paused and with out turning left Charles one last thing to consider. "You've kept things from them before Charles, and it did not turn out very well. I think you should inform them of what's to come" With that she left, closing the door behind her.

Charles lifted his hands to massage the bridge of his nose, attempting to work the tension headache away. This was not going to end well. No matter what they did to try and divert the path on which they walk, it was never enough to completely stop the threats the plagued them along the way. But the X-Men had handled many problems in the years that had passed. Dealing with the mutant haters was something that he worried would never completely dissipate, but it had gotten better. The gathering of Anti-Mutant groups had been pronounced illegal in congress, but it didn't stop the terrorist attacks against the mutant community from occurring. The acts of violence were few and far between so as not to draw attention to any one person or group of people, but they did happen, and some numbers of mutants had been injured or even killed. The X-Men did their best to stop the violence, and were slowly gaining acceptance in the public's eye. It wasn't to level that they had hoped for, but it was defiantly a start.

Letting out a long breath, Charles Xavier decided it was time to rest his weary mind. There was much to prepare for, and he would need all the energy he could get to face it.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

AN: Okey dokey, it begins. I have lots of ideas for this story, and it's gonna go on for awhile, whether it wants to or not. So there! Ha! I'm going to be "evolutionizing" a few aspects of the comics, possibly a few events as well, so have that to look forward to. I'll try and update as soon as I have time.

~Leishy