Chapter One: Beginnings

"Mutation has defined life in this planet since its inception. It is because of this ability to adapt, to evolve, that we are here in this poorly lit room; discussing the fate of an entire new race, although the term 'race' is not accurate. Mutants are not a different race, though some may claim so. Mutants are still humans, mutants are still Homo sapiens. Humanity tends to separate itself in different groups, or races, but in truth, it's all the same. African, Chinese, Albino, Caucasian, Mutant, we are all still humans," said an ominous voice, echoing in the gigantic underground room. The room was illuminated from below, barely showing the faces of those gathered in it. Charles Xavier knew what their answer was going to be before they even opened their mouths.

"Pretty words, a nice little speech you got there, Professor, but it's just words, isn't it? Empty words that can dazzle the population. Words that, without a doubt, you will start spreading around the minute the 'mutant story' leaves the tabloids and establishes itself on the six o' clock news," said a red haired man who wore horn-rimmed glasses. "The point of this meeting is simple. Three words: Are mutants dangerous? And what can you do to stop these dangerous mutants?" Henry Peter Gyrich's questions echoed with strength around the room, and several of those gathered agreed with him silently.

The answer did not come from Professor Xavier, but from the white-haired man sitting next to him. The man moved his hand slightly and Gyrich's glasses suddenly sprang to life, twisting and stretching until they resembled a piece of cloth; and with a second flick of his index finger, the white-haired man wrapped the metal around Gyrich's mouth. "The question should be why we are talking to you instead of turning you all into human kebabs. What can you do to stop us?"

"You do not want me to answer that, Lensherr," said a man seemingly in his forties, taking a smoke from his cigar and lifting his feet on the table. A black leather eye-patch shone brightly over the man's left eye. "Release Gyrich, he might be a jerk, but he's our jerk."

Erik Magnus Lensherr looked into his friend's eyes, and when he saw Charles Xavier nodding slightly he released Gyrich and returned his glasses to normal, leaving them in the table.

"You have managed to gather a pretty big number of mutants in that school of yours in upstate New York. We need to know if any of those mutants are possible risks to national security. We need all the information available on them," said the man at the top of the table, taking another smoke from his cigar.

"There is absolutely no way I will share that information with you. I will protect my students regardless of the cost to myself," answered Xavier almost instantly.

"Students? What is it that you teach them there? To hold humans as hostages like Mr. Lensherr so kindly has shown us just now?" asked Gyrich who had not put his glasses back on.

"We teach our students to control their powers, and the concept of peaceful co-existence between humans and mutants. It is our dream that…"

"Charles," said a very familiar voice in his head as he spoke. Charles Xavier continued to speak, talking about his school and his dreams; and at the same time answered Erik's voice in his head.

"They're not going to fall for it, aren't they?" said Xavier.

"I told you it was a waste of time," grunted Erik while he frowned towards Gyrich.

"It is not a waste of time. If we had done nothing the government would have sent the entire army to bring down the school. We had to come clean to them; we have to stop working outside their knowledge," replied Charles while he continued to peacefully explain the advantages of teaching mutant children to learn to control their powers.

"Can't we just take over the planet and be done with it? It's got to be far easier than dealing with these humans," said Erik Lensherr in his head, trying not to smile and pretending he was listening to Xavier's speech.

"Trust me, it'd be a much bigger headache," answered Xavier. "I guess I'll have to do it… I abhor using my powers in this fashion, but I can see in their minds there is absolutely no other way."

Professor Charles Xavier concentrated as he spoke. The most powerful telepath on the planet released the power of his mind on those present; and as he spoke his words were etched in their minds, and their previous ideas of difference and prejudice became less clear, while tolerance and acceptance towards Mutantkind took front place. But when the last words came from Xavier's lips, even his long-time friend was surprised.

"Mr. Lensherr and I will take full responsibility for every single mutant that comes into our school, and we will accept any mutant that asks for our aid."

After a brief silence, Colonel Nicholas Fury's words were dry and clear. "We will allow your school to continue, for now; but one, just one of your so-called students hurts one hair on one human head and you're both gonna burn for it, you have my word on that."

"Our students are versed enough to know how to behave themselves around cattle, but there will be no hurting of human hairs if that is what it takes to remain open," said Erik Lensherr amused, under the reproving eye of his friend.

"What did you call me?" asked John Proudstar, his face inches away from a rather large fraternity jock who was laughing with his friends, all dressed in similar red and white football jackets.

"Freak-lover. We saw you and the green-haired freak making out in the line. Does she dye all her hair or just the visible one?" asked the jock, between laughs.

John Proudstar grabbed the jock's jacket and lifted him with incredible ease, his eyes filled with anger and the jock wriggled his feet in the air, unable to break free from the strong grip. He held him high until a gentle hand wrapped itself around his arm.

"John. Let him down. He's only a little human boy. Let him say his stupid intolerant remarks and let us go. We're gonna miss the trailers," said Lorna Lensherr, her long green hair flowing down her back.

"He insulted you," said John. He looked straight into the jock's eyes which clearly showed he was as afraid as his friends, who had taken a step backwards. "I want to turn him into a bat and use him to punish his friends for laughing."

"My knight in shining armor… let him go, he's not worth it," she said, almost whispering in his ear.

John Proudstar released his grip on the boy's jacket, and he fell to the floor hard. "Let's go, Freddie, Mort and your brother must've gotten our seats by now," Proudstar said, wrapping his large hand around his girlfriend's waist.

As they walked away, the jock shouted at them. "Yeah walk away! I know what you are! Freaks!"

But it was not John Proudstar who turned to watch him. Lorna Lensherr's green eyes flashed brightly for a second and the metal buttons on the jock's jeans flew away and his pants fell to the floor as he stood up, and soon all of his friends suffered the same fate. Although their pants were no longer in their place, all the jocks acted as one and began to run in the opposite direction, clearly scared.

Lorna and John laughed as they reached the entrance of the movie theater, when an ominous voice coming from behind forced the pair to stop.

"The rule of this little trip to the movies was very clear. No powers. Do I have to call Professor Voght and teleport your behinds back to school?" said a young woman with black hair, tightly wrapped in a bun behind her head.

"No Professor Sage, sir," said the young couple as one, trying hard not to laugh.

"Get inside," said the woman known only as Sage by her students, with a clear icy tone. She pushed the students' backs and entered the theater herself. Her eyes scanned the place; her computer-like mind told her everything there was to know about it, and the people within. Half the students of Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters were inside, and she could not help but feel worried. "Forge, I'm in. The movie is about to start. Everything clear on your end?" she said, whispering into her hand as slowly as she could.

"Yes, no sign of gigantic mutant-killing machines, or angry marines, or TV-show cops or anything of the sort," said a man's voice in their communications device.

Sage could not help but smile at Forge's remark. The lights dimmed and the movie began, and she crossed her arms leaning her back against the wall, her eyes alert, her mind taking into account everything that was happening in the theater.

Somehow she could not stop looking at a young girl, who sat with a couple of friends and kept sending furtive looks to the Rasputin boy. Sage concentrated, looking at the brown-haired girl, and soon she was surprised. Sage's mind was exactly like a computer's, she could store vast amount of information, process it, analyze it, but the most starling part of her mutation was the ability to identify other mutants. There was no question about it. The thirteen-year-old girl was a mutant, very much like her and all of Xavier's students.

Katherine Pryde could not believe her eyes. That boy was gorgeous. And he was smiling at her in the line. He was a bit old for her, he must've been at least nineteen, but he was gorgeous. She was instantly attracted to him, but it didn't matter how much she looked at him, he wasn't looking back. And why would he? She was just a little girl to him, and that girl he was sitting next to was very pretty. Her would-be-competitor had long brown-reddish hair, green eyes and a perfect body. Katherine could not help but look at her own breasts; they were so small she hated them. The gorgeous boy probably liked big breasts, like all boys did, she thought. She tried to look at the movie, but her eyes were entranced, she could not stop looking at him. What was she going to do?

"My head is about to split open," said Wanda Lensherr, gently caressing her temples with her fingers.

"Why? Are you having another little 'episode' like the other day in the school cafeteria?" asked Piotr Rasputin, hiding a smile.

"No smartass; someone is casting a spell… or something like it… very clear… and upon you of all people," said Wanda, closing her eyes, trying to concentrate.

"Casting a spell? You really take into account that whole "Scarlet Witch" thing, da?" said Piotr.

"Would you two shut up? I want to see the movie," said a boy sitting next to Piotr. His long black hair covered most of his face, although the long tip of his ears was slightly visible through it.

"Jean-Paul shhh… let me concentrate," replied Wanda in a tone of irritation that rivaled Jean-Paul's.

"Oh great, now you're shushing me," said Jean-Paul Beaubier, lifting his arms and throwing himself backwards in his seat.

"Shut up, all three of you… you act like children, we're never going to be able to go to a movie like this ever again if you keep this up," said a voice from the row behind them, another boy with long white hair and a piercing in his nose.

Jean-Paul straightened himself as he heard Pietro Lensherr's voice and turned his head backwards, his eyes fixed on Pietro's for less than a second and a smile etched in his lips.

"It's a girl… she's in love with you… well love is a little strong… I'd say infatuated… she can't stop thinking about you… and… her breasts?" said Wanda Lensherr.

"Who are you talking about?" said Piotr Rasputin, confused. "A girl is in love with me, thinking about me and you know it? Since when can you read minds?"

"I can't. But I'm sensitive to magic, all forms of it. Ever heard of the "evil eye"? When a person concentrates too much on someone they want, this person ends up with a headache as a result. It's a minor spell that most people don't even know they can do… but it's very real, and that's what's going to happen. Unless we break it before it does," she said matter-of-factly.

Wanda Lensherr turned around; her green eyes fixed on the thirteen-year-old girl for a second and then turned to Piotr, kissing his lips with passion.

"Bozhe Moi!" said Piotr Rasputin surprised, closing his fist as she separated herself from him. Without realizing it he activated his mutant power, and part of his hand began to transform itself into organic steel.

"Rasputin!" whispered Jean-Paul, covering Piotr's metal hand with both of his.

At the touch of Jean-Paul's hands, Piotr calmed down and he looked at Wanda, his eyes showing a great deal of anger. "Never do that again."

"Spoilsport. Her spell was giving me a headache, I had to stop it, and"— but Wanda Lensherr could not finish her sentence, for she disappeared in a sudden cloud of mist and Professor Sage sat in her now empty seat.

"Shut up, or you are all going back to the school like that before you can even say another word."

Piotr Rasputin and Jean Paul Beaubier nodded and continued watching the movie, their hands tightly wrapped around each other's.

"You'll thank me later… oh crap," said Wanda Lensherr, realizing where she was. She was in a large empty room, its walls covered in metal casing as were its floors and ceiling. She looked around; she was not alone in the empty room. She moved closer to a younger boy, who was covered entirely on ice and sat next to him. "What did you do?"

"I… couldn't control it… I couldn't stay as a human…" said the boy, on the brink of tears.

"Why not? Haven't you learned to control your power by now Bobby?" said Wanda, gently placing her arm around him as he began to change back into his human form.

"Oh yes, but it was so hot I just felt I needed a little bit of ice for a second or two. Lucky me, Professor Sage spotted me," he smiled, revealing his tears were not true.

"Nothing gets past that bitch," added Wanda rolling her eyes, and the pair of young mutants began to laugh.

Suddenly, there was another burst of mist inside the room, and another young mutant walked from it. Both Wanda Lensherr and Bobby Drake recognized Alison Blaire as she materialized.

"And what did you do?" said Wanda, clearly amused by the situation.

"I called Sage a frigid bitch after she told me to stop making out with my boyfriend. She didn't like it," said Alison, touching her long blonde hair. "I hate mist teleports… it completely ruins my hairdo. How do you keep it like that Wanda?"

"Magic," said the young mutant smiling.

"You are not here to discuss hairdos or the effects of my powers on them," said Professor's Voght's voice from the control cabin above them. "You are being reprehended for breaking the school rules on a field trip. So, if you can't behave yourselves then you will have to be taught what can happen to you if you do not follow the rules."

The lights turned off for a second, and Wanda and Bobby stood up looking around. The room began to change its size, its shape, its color; and soon they found themselves in the middle of an empty street, though they had not left the room. A gigantic robot appeared behind a building, lifting its massive hand towards them.

"Mutants. Surrender or be exterminated," said the hollow metallic voice of the gigantic robot.

"Great… Sentinels. Again. I'm so bored of this stupid program. I mean, who can believe the government has these gigantic things ready to start killing mutants? We do not live in a comic book…" said Wanda, rolling her eyes and preparing a hex between her hands.

"It's your paranoid father, Wanda dear… thank him for this program," added Alison Blaire lifting her arms towards the Sentinel and releasing a burst of laser which collided with the Sentinel's hand, without truly harming him.

"I shall speak with him about it when he returns home… I might not be his favorite daughter, but I bet he'll listen. I mean, I hope…" said Wanda, lowering her voice in those last words releasing her hex sphere which exploded in mid-air. The hex caused the Sentinel's hand to fall off, instantly rusting itself before their very eyes.

"Concentrate on the battle and stop the chatter!" said Professor Voght with anger in her voice.

"Kids today, they just need to banter. When we were doing these things, we never bantered," said a voice behind her in the control booth. Amelia Voght turned to see her fellow teacher, Professor Jason Wyngarde, who was lighting a cigarette.

She moved her hand dismissively; turning the cigarette into mist and making it disappear. "Don't smoke those foul things in my Danger Room," she said. "What do you want?"

"Xavier's back; he says we all have to go to a meeting the second the kids are back from the movies. Thought you should know," he said, his eyes directing themselves towards the children below.

"Charles is back? Already?" she asked surprised.

"Trouble in paradise? He didn't tell you?" Wyngarde said with a smile in his face.

"You know full well this control booth is psi-shielded to prevent students from changing the programmer's… why am I explaining myself to you of all people? Just stay in my place and look after the kids while I go talk to my husband," said Amelia Voght clearly flustered, walking towards the door.

"I'll be happy to do so," said Wyngarde with a smile in his face watching as the trio of punished kids toppled the Sentinel and stood on his chest giving each other hi-fives and compliments. He looked back, hearing the click of the door as Voght left the room and smiled broadly again. "Well kids, let's see if you can play at Uncle Jason's level," he whispered to himself as he stretched his knuckles.

"That was easy. I wonder if they'll start spanking us when they realize we beat these things all too easily…" said Alison Blaire crossing her arms and sitting on the Sentinel's nose.

"You'd like that wouldn't you?" said Bobby Drake with a smile standing on top of an ice slide next to the Sentinel.

"Robert Drake, you're only a child!" said Wanda Lensherr faking outrage at the lustful look in the teen's face.

"Both of you are only two years older than me and I've done stuff you can only dream of," he said proudly.

Wanda closed her eyes and moved one of her hands as she placed the other one in her forehead. "Wait a second… my magic detects… a big fat liar!"

"I am not lying!" said Bobby Drake, but his voice was suddenly stopped by the mechanic clunks all around them. As one the trio of young mutants looked around and they saw coming from behind the tall buildings a dozen Sentinels surrounding them.

"Surrender mutants, or be exterminated," said the ominous voice of the first Sentinel who lifted its gigantic hand towards them.

"We get it Professor Voght… it's… we…" but once more Wanda Lensherr could not finish her sentence as a blast of raw plasma energy erupted from the Sentinel's hand towards them.

"Charles?" asked Amelia Voght, entering the Headmasters' office. The room was rather large and even though it was one big room it seemed as if two smaller rooms coexisted within. Charles Xavier's desk was tidy and neat while Erik Lensherr's, in the opposite corner of the room, was rather unkempt and dirty. Perhaps it was due to the fact that he had barely stepped into the office since the school opened its doors. Amelia's question went unanswered; the room was empty. What was happening? Had Charles really returned? If so, why wasn't he in his office; where he kept to himself most of the day?

Jason Wyngarde laughed as he saw the young students running all over the Danger Room trying to escape the deadly Sentinels who chased them firing plasma blasts from their hands and eyes.

"You think it's funny, bullying small children?" said a voice behind him.

For a second Wyngarde felt a chill in his spine, but when he turned and saw the familiar visage of Erik Magnus Lensherr he calmed himself.

"Erik! Since when can you impersonate his voice so perfectly?" he said with a smile.

"Since I found out the children are more afraid of Charles than they are of me," answered one of the school's Headmasters. "I doubt he will approve of your use of the Danger Room's technology."

"It's not the Danger Room. It's my illusion power, there aren't any Sentinels there. I'm not going to harm the children just… scare them you know," shrugged Wyngarde rubbing the back of his head. "I have to laugh or else I'd have a big headache, those things aren't easy to maintain you know."

Erik peered through the seeing-glass and he frowned as he saw his youngest daughter, Wanda, running around like a scared rabbit alongside the other children. "These are the ones that broke the rules on the field trip, right?"

"Yes, why?" asked Jason Wyngarde divining the intentions of his friend and employer.

"Look! Below that arch! Hide there!" Wanda Lensherr shouted her hands directed towards a small alcove between two fallen buildings. As she did her hex power flew towards it, causing their soon-to-be hiding place to fall upon itself. "Oh… bad idea," she added.

Suddenly thunder broke above them and the trio of children could do nothing else but stop and look around. A magnificent figure fell from the skies with grace, gently levitating towards them.

"He is so cool," said Bobby Drake with his eyes fixed on the man's red helmet.

The man waved his hands and with ease the Sentinels were instantly crushed into nothingness, falling in large chunks of metal all around. And when Magneto turned to see the children before him his voice was more ominous than the previous burst of thunder.

"I am very disappointed," he said simply. And though his eyes were not fixed on any of them, Wanda knew he was talking about her.

Amelia Voght's mist form was far faster than her corporeal body; and she decided it was necessary to use it, even if Charles didn't approve. As she teleported herself to her bedroom, to the hangar, to the grounds, she could not help but remember some of the first words Charles Xavier spoke to her.

"Mutant powers are a gift, a blessing. But we must never use them for personal gain, even for something as trivial as lessening our travel time. Mutant powers should only be used for the improvement of all of mankind."

It was a point over which most students, and several members of the teaching staff, argued about with passion. Amelia kept looking for him, and it was not until she had materialized within sight of the school's front gate that she saw her husband. He was standing next to a cigar-smoking military man and was signing some papers, as a helicopter slowly landed behind them. Amelia could not see clearly. She was about to teleport herself there when a withered voice stopped her.

"It begins," said the woman simply.

Amelia turned to see the blind mutant seer known as Irene Adler, or Destiny as she preferred to be called, and wondered what she meant. She did not need to ask.

"The end of peace. The War is beginning," said Destiny removing her hood, directing her blind eyes towards Xavier.

Amelia could see as a couple of young mutants were taken down from the helicopter severely shackled and handed over to her husband like stray dogs. With a last look at Destiny, she teleported herself, ready to assist him.

"The time for secrecy is over. There will be nothing sacred anymore," said Destiny ominously, quite aware that even in her mist form Amelia was able to still hear her, and she put her hood back and began to walk towards the school.