Sorry for not updating, Christmas and revision have taken their toll, and thanksd to everyone who's been paitently waiting for an update, and been giving such goos revies, thanks guyhs (and gals), it means a lot

Disclaimer: I don't own the X-Men, or X-men:Evolution, wish I did, but I don't, nand I have to live with it

Chapter Seven: The EX-1

No one moved, whether mutant, human or machine, everything inside the room remained motionless, each unwilling to make the first move, knowing what was at stake if it was the wrong one. Rachel froze and the piece of wood fell to the floor with a dull thud, memories of the attack on the mansion, the deaths of her parents and the mutants she'd come to see as family playing in her head, oblivious to Magneto slowly standing up to face the Sentinels

'The Sentinels are metal, this should only take a moment and show the humans how hopeless it is to try and suppress mutants' he thought, calmly brushing plaster dust and splinters from his cloak and helmet

Finally the Sentinel spoke again

'Mutants, cease and desist and prepare to be taken into O.N.E custody', Magneto laughed

"You humans think giant machines will stop me? Metal machines nonetheless" he asked, a smile on his face as he clenched his fist, thoroughly enjoying the sight of the intended tool of mutant oppression being torn apart by one of those it was meant to oppress…

…Except that it didn't tear apart, it fired another energy blast, forcing Magneto to jump back out of the way as the beam dug a three-foot deep trench in the solid concrete floor, they weren't messing around anymore, this time they meant business

"But…But how? My mutant power allows me to control all metals no matter what kind" he spluttered

'The EX-1 series of Sentinel is made of plastics, not a single metal or alloy is present, the powers of Alpha level target Erik Lensharr are rendered harmless' the Sentinels cold, machine voice rang out

"It seems humans aren't as un-adaptive as you thought are they old friend?" the Professor asked, almost mockingly, Magneto rose into the air as he bellowed his reply

"You think that will stop the master of magnetism? This entire building shall become my weapon!" at his words water pipes and power cables were ripped up form the floor and snaked through the air towards the Sentinels, like the tendrils of a giant squid, they coiled around the arm of the Sentinel and dragged it forwards as the dust cloud finally cleared and the new Sentinel was revealed in all its glory

Like its predecessors it was red and black in colour but its appearance otherwise was radically different. It sported a huge cannon barrel on the back of its right arm, on the other one was a large claw, like it had been lifted from a giants claw game at a carnival, it's head resembled a knights helmet and the machine was hunched over, with metal spikes running all the way down its back

Magneto waved a hand and water sprayed the Sentinel, soaking it, then lifted a cable up and brought it down to land on top of the Sentinels head. It was bathed in crackling arcs of white lightning and it emitted a shrill scream

"Something is very wrong" the Professor muttered

"What do you mean Professor?" Jean asked

"For an instant I sensed something within that Sentinel, a consciousness, it was almost…human" he told her as Magneto moved in, eager to make a show of defeating the ONE's greatest creation. So great was his arrogance and his sureness of victory that he failed to notice another shape appear in the hole in the Capitol's wall, or see it train it's arm cannon on him

The cannon emitted a high-pitched whine as it powered up and Magneto finally span around to see it discharge. Acting on reflex he immediately pulled the cable and pipes together to form a barrier but the beam forced it's way through them

Magneto closed his eyes, awaiting his end, the brightness of the beam shining even through his closed eyelids and he could feel its heat as it got closer and closer with every second. Then he felt it stop, as if it had ran into a wall, opening his eyes he saw the beam striking harmlessly against a psychic shield and glancing down he saw Jean Grey with her hands pressed to her head, struggling to keep up the barrier that was saving the life of one of her most dangerous enemies. Waving his hand the cables and pipes snaked towards the new Sentinel, wrapping around it and tightening, the his strength plastics and ceramics making groans and creaks as the metal cables crushed them like a python choking a rabbit

"Are you waiting for an invitation? Get down here now!" Cyclops yelled, Magneto quickly responded, flying down to land in front of the eldest Summers brother

"You have my thanks" he said, Rachel laughed

"You think we're doing this out of the goodness of our hearts?" she replied, "All we're doing is stopping you, same as the ONE, the difference is, we aren't going to kill you"

"Who is this girl Charles? I must say, I thought you would teach your students better manners"

"It is…complicated Erik, to say the least" the Professor said amid a loud crash as the ensnared Sentinel finally collapsed, now little more than a heap of brightly coloured plastic, the other one aimed it's cannon at the X-men, the raised it

'Mutant threat contained, diverting to secondary target' it declared, lumbering away, leaving the X-men, Rachel and Magneto behind

"Charles, surely you understand that…" Magneto started before Jean cut him off

"Save it Magneto, we need to help the others wit the Brotherhood, we'll deal with you later" she snapped

"The Brotherhood are here?" Magneto asked

"Well duh, you brought them" Rachel snapped, keeping a close eye on him

"You think I would bring such liabilities on such an important mission? I made it very clear when Mystique offered their services that I wanted nothing more to do with them" he replied

'Logan, are all the Brotherhood out there with you?' The Professor asked ihm telepathically

'Looks like it. No, wait, Mystique's gone' the former Weapon X replied 'Isn't she fighting you guys in the Capitol?'

"Rachel, did Franklin say specifically who it was who set off the mutant extermination?" he asked, she shook her head "What mutant extermination?" Magneto demanded, Rachel ignored him

"No, but since Magneto was there I just assumed…" she trailed off and groaned "We're looking for the wrong mutant"

" In here sirs, we can hide here until the Sentinels take care of those mutant scum" an ONE Commander said to a group of Senators as she hustled them into a small conference room

"Thank you Miss Cooper, I'll put in a good word for you for this" one of the Senators said as 'Miss Cooper' locked the doors

"Oh, don't thank me, it's me who should be thanking you, you've made this so easy" she said, pulling her 9mm from its holster and training it on the Senators

"Now Senators, ready to make history?" she asked, reverting to her true, blue skinned form, a tiny earpiece in her left ear

A figure sat in a chair, listening intently to Mystiques progress and clapped at her words

"Oh, how I love irony"

In the next chapter – Magneto joins forces with the X-Men, Kurt's life hangs in the balance and the mastermind behind the ONE is revealed

To be continued, all reviews are greatley appreciated and feedback is encouraged

Also, there's an opening for a minor villain in the next fic in the series, if anyone has a comic book favourite they want to make an appearence, send me a PM or mention it in your review and the best one will get added in