The tension in the house is palpable. We've been crammed in here for months now, doing our best to keep up with our studies and do what training we can in the small space, but things are about to come to a head.

I've also decided that despite my best efforts, I don't like Warren Worthington very much. It isn't just the relationship with Jean, I'm mostly over that. No, it's his overall attitude. His snobby personality. Sometimes I just want to punch him in his smug nose.

Then there's Kristie. I still have feelings for Jean, but since Kristie joined the Institute we've been spending a lot of time together, and we actually have a lot in common. We both lost our families, we both spent time in foster homes, and we both struggle with controlling our powers. Besides that, she is really cute in that kind of way that makes it easy for me to talk to her. I'm not really sure what to make of the way I feel, but I know she's important to me.

Also, Hank has been spending more and more of his time on the Columbia campus, attending classes and hanging out with his college friends. I know he's still my best pal, but he's living a phase of his life that I can't be a part of. I finished my high school level courses in the spring, so I could join him, but college doesn't seem like a great fit for me. I've instead been throwing myself into the operations of the Xavier Institute, becoming the Professor's right hand in Hank's absence. I know Hank is just getting out of the house to get away from the tension, but a lot of times I miss him.

Bobby and I have started to become friends in the past few months, but he is still a couple of years younger than me, so there are things that he can't do and things he can't really relate to that I'm going through. In a lot of ways he's still just a kid and I'm becoming an adult.

So I find myself sitting with the Professor in his study as I so often am, going through news reports and some of the FBI files that we acquired from Agent Duncan. After what happened in Central Park around Christmas, Professor became much more selective in our outreach program. We had pursued several of the files that seemed lower risk, but nothing had paid off since Kristie. Some had just been impossible to track down while others...well, the Sentinels had beaten us to some of them.

I glance over at Cerebro sitting in the corner. We had moved it with us from the mansion, but something wasn't working correctly. Hank had done what he could with it, but until we moved back to the house it probably wasn't going to get finished. Which is too bad, because it might give us the edge we need in finding and helping other mutants.

"Do you have something to share, Scott?" Professor asks me out of the blue.

"No, not really. I feel like I've been through these files a hundred times, already."

"I mean do you have something you wish to discuss with me," he clarifies. "I know something is bothering you. Do you want to talk about it?"

I don't say anything for a moment. I just stare blankly at the file I have open on the desk. There are plenty of things I want to say, but I try to keep things to myself unless they are important. My personal feelings never seem important enough to share.

"Well, sir," I finally manage, "I honestly just can't help feeling like we aren't doing enough."

"How so, Scott?"

"It's like we're always a step behind. We've gone through these files and come up empty. News reports only tell us about what's already happened. Cerebro doesn't work and your range without it isn't wide enough to give us much to go on."

I try my best to measure what I'm about to say. I've been thinking about it for a long time now, I just haven't brought it up. I guess now is the time, since he asked.

"What would you suggest, then?" he presses me, his tone giving away nothing.

"Sir, I think we need to get proactive." I shift in my seat, closing the file. "We know that the Sentinel Program has all these files, maybe even more on top of them. I think we should do something about that."

"Scott, we've talked about this in the past. An open assault on the Sentinel headquarters would be an act of war. We have to show them a better way, not match their hostility with our own."

"Well, but see, sir, that's the thing. I don't think we need to attack the Sentinels. I think, maybe, we could do something covert. Sneak into their compound and steal the files. Or at least destroy them."

He stays silent for a few moments as he contemplates what I've said. I can see his wheels turning, trying to think of a response or maybe even considering the plan. Unfortunately I'm not the mind reader in the room right now.

"Who would you send on this mission?" he asks me finally.

"I think Hank, myself, and….and Jean, sir."

"Why Jean?"

"Her mental powers could help us navigate the complex and warn us when someone is nearby. Plus her telekinesis would come in handy if we did have to force our way through something. Or someone, I guess."

"Scott, your plan is not without merit, but it is too dangerous."

"With all do respect, Professor, what's the point of all the training if we aren't going to use it?" I say, a little bit of heat in my voice. I'm surprised at how forcefully I said that.

"Point well taken," he responds. "Let me consider it, won't you? I don't want to make such a decision without weighing all of the risks."

"Um, sure," I say. I'm more than a little shocked that he would even consider it.


A few days later there is a frantic knocking on the door of the brownstone. It's getting late into the evening and everyone was doing their own thing. I answer the door as the others enter the foyer, all curious as to what is going on.

The man standing on the steps of the brownstone is frightful in appearance. His skin is pasty and white, his eyes larger than they should be, and from what I can tell he doesn't have a stitch of hair on him. He is wearing a cheap purple suit that has seen better days, the ends frayed and tearing. He pushes his way through me and into the foyer as the others all back pedal to avoid him. He whirls around and looks at me.

"Please, you must help Caliban. Caliban is in trouble!" he says, grabbing at my shirt as the Professor rolls into the room. "They have found Caliban!"

"Who's Caliban?" I ask, trying to get his hands off of me.

"Caliban is me," he says. "The machines, they come for me! I could sense you here all together. Strength in numbers, I thought you could protect me!"

"Caliban, what machines?" the Professor asks. "Do you mean-"

Before he can finish the question the front door explodes into a hail of splinters and bullets. I instinctively dive away from the door, taking Caliban off his feet with me. I can hear the others screaming and going into a panic. The Professor crashes to the floor beside me.

"Mutant target, remain where you are," a voice says. It sounds like it's being piped through a speaker. "You are under arrest."

I pull myself to my feet and see three Sentinels standing in the street outside the brownstone. Fear grips me for a brief second, then there is a clicking sound that seems to be coming from one of them.

"Additional targets acquired. Mutant Kristie Nord and mutant Scott Summers identified," the middle machine says. I back up and feel Kristi grab on to my arm.

"Stay back," I tell her, grabbing the Professor by his shirt and helping him pull himself away from the Sentinels.

All three of them swing their gatling gun arms into position. There is a brief whirring sound, then an explosion of gunfire as all three unload into the brownstone. Everyone stumbles backwards, and as I hit the ground I fully expect bullets to be tearing through us. I hear glass shattering, wood splintering and stones toppling as the front of the brownstone is pulverised by the gatling guns, but nothing ever hits me. Or anyone else. Finally the gunfire stops and I look up.

Jean is standing in front of all of us, one hand outreached towards the Sentinels. Hundreds, maybe even thousands of bullets are just hanging in the air, held there by some invisible force. I've seen Jean use her telekinesis before, but this level of control is astonishing to me.

I watch as she flicks her wrist and draws the bullets into a single cluster, then fling them in unison into the middle robot. Bullets hitting against metal plating fills the air, clanging and pinging. I take the opportunity to get the drop on the right Sentinel, unleashing an optic blast that strikes it directly in the forehead and sends it toppling backwards. Jean then throws her second hand up and focuses her telekinesis into one massive push that flings the middle Sentinel into the building on the opposite side of the street.

The third manages to get off a more devastating shot, however. From its shoulder, a missile of some type launches towards us. Jean's focused on her target and I'm sure I can't get it with an optic blast. It strikes what's left of the entryway of the brownstone and erupts into a ball of fire, smoke and debris. Jean gets a protective field up just in the knick of time, but the concussive force still knocks all of us back. Jean bounces hard against the pillar and goes limp.

"Warren, get Jean and the Professor out the backdoor and to the escape tunnel," I shout, pulling myself to my feet again. Kristie is right beside me. "Kristie, Bobby, you're with me. We need to hold it off long enough for Warren and the others to get away."

Suddenly there is the sound of heavy feet clanging down the street. Three more Sentinels come into view as the one that fired the missile starts to clumsily make its way up the steps. I hit it with an optic blast to try and knock it over, but it steadies itself and fires a spray of bullets at us that forces us all to duck for cover.

The ground begins to shake and I look over at Kristie, her faced locked with grim determination. Rock spikes explode from the steps and impale the Sentinel through the torso and left leg. It is stuck there but still operational, trying to find a target to lock on to. I finish it off with a well placed blast to the neck that severs the head.

"Bobby, ice the street!" I shout as I see Warren kicking his way through the backdoor and out into the alley. He cries out as a spray of bullets rips through the alleyway towards him. More Sentinels in the back. Bobby finally lays a sheet of ice under the feet of the three approaching from the front, causing them to slip and slide enough to give us some space to move.

Warren backpedals away from the door.

"We're cut off," he says. "There's four more in the alley! Where do we go?"

"Caliban knows a place!" Caliban says. I had forgotten he was even here. "If we can get to the sewers, Caliban can show you!"

"Kristie, can you get us down into the sewers?" the Professor asks. "Focus your mind, child. Open the ground beneath us."

"I'm not sure if….." she says, hesitating. "I'll give it my best, Professor."

The ground immediately starts to shake. Bobby does his best to freeze the Sentinels in the street, locking their feet in place to the ice sheet he had laid down. They are immobile, but those guns on their arms are still dangerous. I try and hit them with a few optic blasts, but getting a clear shot on unstable ground proves to be hard. I hit the buildings behind them more than anything.

There is a loud crunching sound as the alley Sentinels begin ripping through the backdoor, boxing us in. The ceiling of the brownstone is shaking and cracking, now. Parts of the molding are falling. Finally, with a loud popping sound, the floor opens up into a deep hole. Unprepared, Caliban tumbles down into it, landing hard on the stones below. I can see the sewer beneath us, but it's still too far to jump. The hole is getting bigger, the walls start leaning in towards us. The back of the brownstone collapses suddenly, burying the one Sentinel that was almost through the door and slowing down the others that are out there. The street cracks and opens up, causing the three Sentinels there to fall into it in a pile of machinery.

Then it's as if the floor just drops out from under us and I feel myself falling for what feels like a long time. I hit something hard and go into a roll, landing in a puddle of what I can only hope is water. Rocks and debris fall all round me, as well as Bobby, who lands next to me in the puddle. Above us I see Warren gliding towards us with Jean and the Professor. He lands hard into the sewer tunnel, but it could have been much worse.

"Where's Kristie?" I ask, looking around for her. Then I look up and see her still above us, sliding down the hole on a sled of rock and stone. She waivers for a moment, then topples down. I manage to get under her and break her fall.

"You have to close the hole," I say as she lands on top of me. Without saying a word, she waves her hand and the gap begins to inch closed. A Sentinel appears at the top, looking down at us. A wave of ice and frigid air rushes up the chasm and hits the machine, frosting it and causing it to stagger just a little. It's shift in weight causes the rim to cave in, and suddenly the entire robot is crashing down towards us.

"JEAN!" I hear someone yell. The Sentinel seems to stop in mid air, parts snapping off of it at the sudden break in momentum. Finally, in one last ditch push, Kristie slams the hole closed, crushing the Sentinel and sealing their path to follow us.

I drag myself up and move to Caliban, grabbing him by his ragged suit jacket and pushing him against the stone wall of the tunnel.

"Who are you?" I demand, shaking him. "How did you find us?"

Caliban looks terrified at the sudden turn in violence against him. I feel the Professor in my mind, trying to calm me.

"Caliban was in trouble. Caliban can sense other mutants. Follow them. Find them. I had nowhere else to go. Nowhere to hide, then I felt all of you."

"So you thought you'd just try and get us all killed?" I shout back.

"Scott, please calm yourself," Professor says.

"Let him go," Kristie says, taking my arm in her hands. I look at her, look at the emotions in her eyes. Something about her calms me. I hesitate for a second, then release my hold on Caliban.

"You said you knew of a place in the sewers. Somewhere we could hide?" Professor continues, talking to Caliban now.

"Yes, there is a place. Caliban goes there sometimes. It is for those like us. Mutants."

"Take us there," Professor demands.


Everyone is a little roughed up, but luckily none of our injuries are worse than scrapes and bruises. Considering the tight spot we were in, I'd say we just experienced a real life miracle.

We move through the sewers for a while, heading in what seems like a generally southern direction, but with no view of the sky or our surroundings beyond the sewer walls, it's entirely possible I've gotten turned around. We could be anywhere under New York City at this point.

Finally we arrive in a particularly large tunnel. It's dry and seems to be in a state of disrepair. Most likely it's a decommissioned part of the sewers, a place where maintenance crews don't spend any time. We are greeted by a large, misshapen man. His face is twisted, his shoulders misaligned, and he doesn't have a single bit of air on his head. His features cause a great uneasiness in my stomach, and I can tell by the looks of the others that I'm not the only one. Warren in particular seems repulsed.

"Caliban, who are these outsiders?" the man says, blocking our path into the tunnel.

"They saved Caliban. Now they need to hide."

"Hrm," the man groans. "Callisto will not be happy, Caliban. Outsiders are not welcome here. You knew this."

"Please, Sunder. Caliban owes them his life."

"What is going on out here?" a woman's voice calls out. She appears from behind a ragged curtain. Her face is heavily scarred. She has a patch over one of her eyes. "Who is it that you've brought to my doorstep, you little wretch?"

"Ca-Ca-Callisto," Caliban stammers. "Please! They are mutants. Like us."

Callisto takes a few moments and sizes us up as I do the same to her. She's lean and I bet she can move as quick as lightning. Her tattered jeans look like they'd be better of in the trash, but she has a leather vest on that looks decent enough. I wonder what she's hiding under it. I immediately don't trust her.

"You may be mutants, but you aren't like us," she finally says. "Get them out of here, Sunder."

"Madam, if I may have a word," the Professor speaks up. Callisto whirls around on him and glares with her one eye.

"My name is Charles Xavier, and we are indeed mutants. We mean you and your people no harm. We simply need to rest and then we will be on our way."

"You call yourselves mutants, but look at you. So beautiful. So normal looking. Tell me, what price have you paid for your gifts, Charles Xavier?"

"I may seem like an average human being judging by my appearance, but I assure you that I have paid a heavy price for my gifts. All of us have."

Finally Callisto locks her eye on Warren and her entire demeanor seems to change.

"Ah, now this one," she says, stepping towards him. "You know our pain, don't you child. What it feels like to not blend in. To not be able to hide in plain sight like your so called friends here."

Warren pulls away from her.

"Lady, I may stick out like a sore thumb, but I can promise that I'm nothing like you," he says, almost sneering. His words strike hard, but I can tell he doesn't mean them completely. Warren, more than any of us, doesn't blend into a crowd. It's something that I know has always eaten at him in some way.

"I'll make a deal with you, Xavier," Callisto says, eyeing Warren. "You can have safe passage through our tunnels, but in exchange you give me this winged boy to have as my own."

"What?!" Warren shouts.

There is a commotion as all of us ready to blast our way through these sewer people and back to safety, but a voice rings out in our heads and stops us from making the first move.

"Callisto, you know that is unreasonable," Professor says. "But I will make a deal with you."

"Keep talking," she says, smiling.

"The combined powers of myself and my students here would be more than enough to not only remove you as an obstacle, but to also bring this tunnel down around your ears. I understand that you need to protect the people who reside here, but understand that I will protect my own charges, and they will protect each other and themselves."

"So you wish to threaten me, is that it, Xavier?" she shouts, ripping a knife from a pocket hidden in her vest. I knew it!

"No, Callisto, you misunderstand," Professor replies calmly. "I am offering you a chance to keep your people safe and to allow us passage through your tunnel. If you don't harm us, no harm will come to you."

"Callisto, Caliban has seen what they can do!" Caliban chimes in. "They can manipulate the stone of the tunnels. One can move anything with her mind. This one has deadly beams that shoot from his eyes," he continues, pointing to me as he says the last part. "They are very powerful."

Callisto contemplates the offer for a moment, then returns the knife to her vest.

"Very well, Xavier. Sunder will see you through our tunnels, but know this. If you ever show your face in my home again, I'll carve you from ear to ear."

"No, Callisto, you won't," Professor says.

"Sunder, get these outsiders out of my tunnel."


Sunder escorts us all the way through the large abandoned tunnel, then down a narrower duct that seems to run straight for miles. After a few minutes of heading down this duct we come to a crossing and the water flow picks up significantly. It isn't so much that we can't keep our footing, but whatever parts of us that had dried since falling into the sewers was now getting wet again.

"Go straight down here and eventually you'll get to the river," Sunder says, pointing on down the duct. "There's a grate over the end. I'm sure you can manage to remove it with all of your impressive powers."

With that he turns and goes back, leaving us alone to finish our journey. It is a long, miserable hike. We move in a straight line for nearly an hour, trudging through the water and brushing against the narrow, slimy walls. We take turns helping the Professor, keeping him as upright as we can. It's a hard trek, but we do finally reach a metal grate that looks out over the river. Without much effort, Jean uses her telekinesis to rip it free from the stonework. It crashes down into water below. We stand at the edge and measure the drop. It's a good twenty feet down to the water, which sits in a large tunnel that opens out into the Hudson a few dozen feet away from our current location.

One by one we drop, Kristie going first, me right behind her. Then Warren drops with the Professor, using his wings to fly him out to the open air. Bobby and Jean then take their turns, Jean using her telekinesis to help us along in the water once we are all together.

Finally, soggy and exhausted, we pull ourselves up onto the shore. We're pretty far north, but I volunteer to go up to the street to get our location. The sun is starting to come up, and I think back to when our adventure began in the late hours of last night. It's got to be close to eight in the morning now and none of us have slept.

I flag down a guy driving a VW bus and do my best to explain our situation without giving away too many important details. He reluctantly agrees to give us a ride north, but once the Professor is within range he subtly convinces the man to take us straight to the mansion. Professor's powers still aren't up to their full potential, but he's getting there.

It's nearing midday when the bus pulls up in front of the Institute. None of us have seen this place in months, but it looks like we never left. As the man pulls away the Professor reaches out and wipes his memories of the trip, ensuring that he can't tell anyone about the ride he gave us. Gabrielle Haller meets us at the door, the Professor's former nurse. I guess she's been keeping an eye on the place since we left. Hank is there, too. He returned as soon as he heard about what had happened. He'd only just beaten us there.

That night, after we have all had a chance to settle in and get some much needed rest, the Professor, Hank and I meet in the library just the three of us.

"Scott, Henry, I think we need a change in strategy," Professor says, starting the conversation.

"It is now deadly clear how much of a threat these Sentinels pose to the mutant population. I had hoped that their function was to protect and serve the people, but it is obvious to me now that they are being used to systematically exterminate our kind.

"Scott, you said you had some ideas about how to get into their headquarters. To remove or destroy whatever files they have there."

"Yes, sir. I've been working on a way to get in with minimal contact," I say, surprised at where this is going.

"Very well. I think it's time I hear this plan. But understand this. Our mission is not the files anymore," Professor says. "Our mission now is to disable these mechanical monsters entirely."

EPILOGUE

It is a warm and rainy day in Philadelphia as Erick looks on at the spectacle across the street from his location. Teenagers from the surrounding area gather here every week at the same time hoping for a chance to dance on this television show while the most popular bands of the day play their music. Even better, the broadcast is a live feed and one of the most popular hours of television currently airing. It's a perfect target.

As the doors close and the last of the lucky teenagers are given permission to enter, Erick begins to make his move. There are two sturdy bouncers at the door. Both are easily dispatched with a car flung through the air and smashing them into the wall of the studio. The teenagers and people still on the street scatter in every direction. Erick waves his hand, pushing the car clear of the door, then yanks the doors themselves open.

Once in the studio, Erick magnetically seals the building. No one will be getting in or out of this place until his objective has been achieved. The band on stage pauses at the sight of him. Erick grabs every bit of metal on the stage and batters the band with it, knocking them all about. He then turns his attention to the host of the show and rips the microphone from his hand.

Chaos erupts in the small studio. Everyone person at once tries to get out, finding the doors impossible to open. Erick turns the unmanned cameras to him, holds the microphone to his mouth, and begins.

"What you will see here today is but a glimpse of my power. However, this demonstration comes with a message. Humanity's time has come to an end. Your betters have arrived to replace you. This world now belongs to the mutants.

"I give you this one chance. Turn over power to us and the transition will be peaceful. I will allow humanity to go quietly into that good night. You have thirty days to meet this demand, or I promise you that war will come, and it will be a war that you cannot win.

"To my fellow mutants; consider this a call to arms. You have been hunted, feared, beaten and killed for nothing more than being born different. Better. This can not be allowed to stand. I offer you a world built for you and your brothers and sisters. The Brotherhood of Mutants. I offer you a chance to stand beside me as we take what is rightfully ours.

"As to what is about to happen, hear this, humans. Your Sentinels have hunted and killed our children in their beds. Executed them for the crime of being your superior. You have allowed your fear to justify atrocities. Consider today retribution. You have killed our children, now I will kill yours.

"I, Magneto, will bring justice to this world!"

With that, Erick reaches out for every piece of metal in the studio that he can find. His senses are stretched to their limit, but after only a moment he has everything he needs. The steel beams of the building. The satellite dish and broadcast equipment. The pipes and cables in the walls. With one mighty flex of his powers, he draws all of it towards him. The building shakes and moans at the stress, trying desperately to maintain it's integrity, but it is no match for his powers.

With one last pull, the building implodes. There is a sudden chorus of screams as the people in the building cryout, then are suddenly silenced. Erick holds the wreckage for a moment, gathering his focus. He then pushes outward with his magnetic powers, turning the imploded building into a shrapnel bomb that rips through the surrounding area, causing untold amounts of damage.

Satisfied with his work, Erick levitates himself out of the wreckage and hovers off.

Magneto is born.