Chapter XXI – The Massacre

"It's time to make a new world"

The day of the tragedy

Erik led Charles deep into the woods to leave him there just as one hides their greatest treasure, an ace up their sleeve or a weapon from an opponent who might use it against them. Charles was all of those things. His power in Pine's hands could bring doom to them all while Charles would become powerless the moment the power left his body. He was also the most precious thing in Erik's life and he preferred to keep him out of battle not only for the safety of the mutants but his husband himself.

"I understand that my power cannot get into Pine's hands and that without it I would only be bothering you instead of helping," Charles said sadly. Erik knew it was all true, and yet he wanted very much to deny it. "I know it's for the best, but I just wish I could go with you."

An energy field grew around them to keep anyone outside from entering the patch of clearing that Charles was occupying. Wanda hovered above them, moving her fingers around and bringing out a red mist. This was the same spot Erik and Lorna had been training in for the past few weeks. Now Charles was here to wait out the battle.

Erik crouched down beside his husband and ran his hand over his cheek. Charles took his hand in his own and kissed its knuckles. The blue of his eyes resembled a sky that was going to be obscured by clouds at any moment.

"I would love to have you by my side, Charles, for the first time really. I prefer to make sure you're safe, though. This will be over soon. We'll be back together before you even think about missing me."

They kissed deeply but quickly as there was no time for tender partings. After all, they were not parting forever, only for a few hours at most, as Erik hoped. He struggled to let go of Charles' hand and grabbed Wanda's instead. His daughter slipped the hood over her head and guided him through the energy field. They walked among the trees, their cloaks flying behind them like disobedient shadows.

When they emerged into the glades by the lake, the view was impressive. Erik had never seen so many mutants in one place before. He passed those he had come to Genosha with and those who had arrived from the school. He passed those who were Lorna's friends and those he did not know at all. Some he greeted with a nod. Everyone focused their eyes on him as he walked proudly upright, filled with confidence in himself and his people, holding his daughter's hand.

Finally, they reached the first row. Lorna stood there with Marcos beside her. She looked beautiful in her new outfit. She had several knives tucked behind her belt, her pretty green hair blowing in the wind. She stared hard ahead. Peter was nearby, also in his new outfit. The sun was reflected in the gold accessories and the glass of his goggles.

Erik felt Wanda let go of his hand as she stopped next to her brother. He looked at each of his children in turn, taken aback by the sudden pride and anxiety. They were beautiful, dangerous, powerful. As he glanced at them, he admired their strength and their will to fight, but at the same time he could not shake the fear that he was leading them to death.

"I know I haven't been a perfect father. I have disappointed each and every one of you in one way or another," he said in a voice that was calm but not devoid of emotion, knowing that this might be his last chance to tell them how important they were to him. "I've spent the last three months trying to make amends and I'm aware that it's too short a time. But for me, three months has been enough to see that without my influence, all three of you have grown into wonderful, amazing, strong people. I am proud of you, each and every one of you. I love you, my children."

They looked at him the way he had always wanted them to, and that told him more than any words could.

"That was one hell of a speech," the voice spoke behind him, the voice he had only heard once before but hated with all his heart. Erik turned slowly to face Jonathan Pine. "Very touchy. And to think it's all because of me. If it wasn't for me, you would have never found out you had kids in the first place. A little thank you would be appreciated."

The mutants behind him held their breaths, as surprised as he was. How had Pine appeared unnoticed by anyone? Wanda had cast special spells to alert her if anyone tried to get into Genosha. And indeed, after a moment the air around them whirred and helicopters appeared in the sky approaching to land not far away.

"You have the nerve to come to my country without an invitation." Erik waved his hand absentmindedly and every helicopter started shaking in the air as the pilots lost control of them. "One unnecessary guest is enough to deal with, don't you think?"

Erik would have loved to kill him here and now, in a heartbeat, but part of him wanted to play with that. This man had tortured his son. He had almost killed his daughter. He had murdered God knows how many mutants. He deserved a long, slow death in agony.

"Forgive me, Magneto, but I insist on company nonetheless."

Pine reached out and took control of the helicopters. Erik exerted himself, trying to smash them to pieces, but the power coming out against him was too strong. Pine was using a power that Erik could not identify, but there was something else. Erik turned to glance at Lorna, who stood with her eyes fixed on her hands. Apparently she was trying to make out the green mist but failed. Erik cursed in his mind and looked the other way, at Peter, who met his father's gaze and shook his head. They had been robbed of their power. So fast.

A short moment of Erik's confusion was enough for Pine to land the helicopters with ease. Erik watched as people with metal-free weapons came out of them. They may have protected themselves against his ability, but he was still a powerful mutant and they were just weak humans. He could tear them apart in a heartbeat.

"Is that all you got?" he teased.

The opponent did not even pay attention to him. Pine stood with his arms outstretched, head tilted and a blissful smile on his lips. It took Erik a moment to realize what he was doing. He was absorbing power. He was enjoying it. Erik looked around at his people and saw the confusion on all their faces. Only Wanda stood unmoved. She exchanged quick glances with her father and then soared straight at Jonathan.

Wanda glowed red. Red was everywhere, in her hair, in her eyes, in her hands as she deftly moved her fingers and sent a ball of energy towards Pine. The man smiled even wider and held out his hands. His power was a thousand colors, glittering and sparkling, darkening and brightening. Erik had never seen anything so strange. Wanda and Pine's powers met halfway, and then there was an explosion that swept Erik off his feet.

It buzzed in his ears. He rose to his feet, glancing around. He saw Wanda and Pine as they stood opposite each other and measured each other with their gazes.

"You are the real challenge, Wanda. Unlike your disappointing father. I took over some of your power, and you're still so powerful. I am impressed, although I must admit that even you are nothing compared to my strength. Did you really think that your flimsy spells would hide your greatest weapon from me?" He turned his head to look at Erik. "Did you think so?"

Erik did not even have time to experience real fear. Everything happened at once. Bullets flew towards them. Peter fell to his knees, screaming in pain. Wanda was thrown backwards until she fell into the lake. Pine disappeared and reappeared seconds later with only Charles by his side.

Someone stopped the bullets with their power, some mutant that Erik barely knew. And then it dawned on him. All the mutants still had their powers. Everyone except his family. He saw sparks on Olivia's skin, saw Beast growl menacingly, saw Storm's eyes begin to glow.

"Please, no," Charles said, tears streaming down his face.

Erik did not initially understand what his husband meant. And then he saw it. Every mutant straightened up. Every mutant had an absent stare. Every mutant turned against his family. Every mutant attacked.

Now it all made sense. Pine was never going to kill them alone, single-handedly. He was going to turn them against each other. He was going to let them do the job.

Wanda emerged from the water, struggling for air. She felt as if someone had stuck their hand inside her and taken out some of her less important organs. It was as if she still had her powers and was missing them at the same time. She had not yet learned to distinguish between those that came from her mother and those that came through the Mind Stone. Where did the witch end and the mutant begin?

She moved her hands to bring herself into the air when someone appeared above her and pressed her down with their weight. The water attacked her from all sides. She jerked as someone's fingers clamped down on her throat. She could not die like this. She was too powerful just to be drowned.

Remembering the training with Lorna, she pulled a knife from her boot and stabbed her opponent in the chest. The water around them suddenly turned red, and the grip eased. Finally, the opponent became still. Wanda lunged for air, the tears on her face merging with the water. Next to her drifted the slain man. Wanda turned him face up and nearly screamed when she saw the gills on his body. It was a mutant. She had killed one of her own.

The pain returned. Peter screamed for a long moment, feeling as if Pine had flipped a button that had been off since he had gotten home. When the pain finally passed, he rolled over onto his back in relief. He closed his eyes, and when he opened them, he met Ororo's. For a moment, he was just glad to see an old friend. And then she stepped on his right arm, just above the elbow.

Peter screamed in pain, grabbing Ororo's leg and pulling her down. What the hell had gotten into her? Peter jumped away from her, and then the girl gathered the lightning bolts in her hands and he was sure she wanted to hit him with these. His whole life flew before his eyes. Stripped of his powers, he could only watch as his former friend attempted to kill him. He closed his eyes.

A light flashed behind his closed eyelids. He heard a rasp that caused him to shudder. His right hand pulsed with terrible pain. Peter opened his eyes uncertainly and saw Olivia leaning over the unconscious Ororo. Her white hair floated in the wind. Her skin glittered with sparks.

They looked at each other for a long moment. Peter wanted to say thank you, but the words did not come through his throat. Finally, he just nodded, and Olivia smiled slightly. More mutants were heading their way, his former classmates, his friends. Olivia slid out in front of him and raised her arms, ready to fight. Peter did not know where to focus his thoughts on. Was it on the fact that Olivia had sided with him and even saved his life, and now she was going to defend him? Or the fact that the mutants stood against them and this whole battle could really end with the entire species being wiped out?

Lorna squeezed Marcos' hand, immensely grateful that he was not controlled by Charles' power in Pine's hands and she did not have to fight him. She would not be able to. But now, despite being on the same side, they were both powerless. Lorna took out her knives, one in each hand, and threw herself into the battle, praying in her spirit that her family would survive.

Erik fended off the attacks of more and more mutants, trying not to do them too much harm. He threw most of them so hard that they would lose consciousness and not pose a threat, if only for a moment. He tried not to take his eyes off his children, but they were doing quite well for mutants without powers. The training had brought the expected results. Erik must remember to point this out to Peter if they survive the day.

He tried to make his way to Charles, who was sitting helplessly in his wheelchair. Pine stood beside him, watching the fight without blinking. He seemed pleased with himself. Erik felt like ripping his face off his body. Just for the fun of it. He would have gotten there faster, but the mutants kept attacking, one stronger than the other. It did not help that the humans were firing at them, and only few mutants were bulletproof.

Beast appeared out of nowhere and knocked him off his feet. Erik groaned as he hit the ground and Beast's claws dug into his sides.

"Hey, Hank." Erik gasped. "We're still friends, aren't we? I don't want to hurt you."

Before he had a chance to hurt him, however, Beast was suddenly pushed away, and Erik took a deep breath, croaking in the process. He could feel the pain in the places where the claws had torn through the suit. When Wanda appeared over him and extended a hand, he accepted the help gratefully and stood up, annoyed even more than at the very beginning of the battle. He had to fight against his own people. This was the worst possible situation, and the only way out was to kill the man who had control over his friends.

Erik and Wanda moved toward Pine. They were the only ones who could defeat him. Only they and Olivia possessed enough power to oppose him. Erik wondered how long they had been fighting. Pine could only make mutants powerless for an hour. Maybe it would not be long before the fights were evened out.

"What's your problem?" he asked when they reached the place where Pine and Charles were standing. "What kind of monster are you if you really want to wipe out your entire species?"

"Ambitious one. Remember how I told you about my parents? It's true they were mutants, but they were weak. Useless. It was from them that I first stole powers. I was fourteen when I felt the seed of the strength I could have if all the powers of the world were mine." He smiled almost dreamily. "I killed them a few years later and got rid of the restraining ballast for good."

Charles flinched, looking at Pine with something so close to hatred that Erik felt proud for a second and then immediately rebuked himself for such thoughts.

"So much power in the hands of so many fools," Pine continued, looking around the glade. "It's nothing personal, Erik. I chose your family because you are the most powerful and because I wanted to have some fun. Plain killing can be boring sometimes."

Erik had to concentrate, but he finally succeeded. He could sense the natural iron flowing in his opponent's blood. The thing he wanted to do took great effort, but he knew he could do it. He was strong enough to kill Pine from the inside. He just needed the man not to distract him...

"Mutants without their powers are so useless, aren't they, Professor? Look at all the chaos your power is causing. Look at the death it's bringing. It's beautiful when it's no longer yours."

A scream reached them. Erik's attention was distracted when Wanda, standing next to him, suddenly mingled with the combatants. Erik turned around and realized why. His family was surrounded, with no chance of winning. Olivia was electrocuting her opponents, but apparently she was barely staying on her feet. Blood was running down her nose. Lorna was leaning over the unconscious Marcos. Erik hoped he was only unconscious. Peter was holding his injured arm. Wanda covered them all up and attacked, but even though she was still the most powerful, despite her abilities taken away, she could not defeat over a hundred mutants.

Erik looked at several dead bodies. Each of the fallen had been killed by bullets. The men weren't firing anymore, they were just standing a full distance away, Pine's brainless puppets that had done some damage though. Erik looked at his husband, towards whom several mutants were heading. His former students and friends. Erik looked at Wanda, who was not using her full power because she did not want to kill them all. Maybe that was the only way out.

"You know what you have to do, Magneto. You can't kill me," Pine said almost in a friendly voice. "Actually, you might succeed, but by the time our fight is over, your children will be long dead. You have no choice."

"No." Charles shook his head. "Erik, no."

Erik, no. How many times had he heard those two words together? How many times had he listened and it had brought no good? He raised his hands. The world fell silent for a moment, as if every sound had been swallowed. As if everything and everyone was holding their breath, waiting for his step. The mutants stopped. Erik knew Pine was doing this on purpose. He was making it easier for him, and yet it was not easier at all.

He looked at his children. Wanda was half lying on the grass, her face covered with dirt and blood that did not belong to her. She was not fighting anymore. The resignation in her eyes hurt him. Peter stood nearby, holding his hand to the injured arm. The fear reflected on his face was to torment him in his dreams. Lorna was sitting on the ground with Marcos' head in her lap. She was the calmest of his children. She looked at him differently than she ever had before.

"Dad", she said and that one word meant everything.

He had waited so long for this. He had waited so long for her to accept him as her father. He had waited so long for her to love him. For her to call him her dad. And now she had done it not to please him, but to let him know that she was on his side. That she would condemn his actions. That she would not forgive him, because there was nothing to forgive. With her support, Erik felt he could do it.

"Don't do it, Erik." Charles voice broke the silence, reminded him that there would always be one person capable of stopping him. "I know you think there's no other way but there always is."

Erik wanted to scream. This time it wasn't a fight between humans and mutants. It was about culling their species, something Erik would never do if he had the choice. This was about protecting his family.

"Not this time." He heard his own cold voice, so distant and alien. "You and I, we've tried to leave in peace, we've tried to behave and look where it has brought us! Why can't you understand that I'm doing it for us, Charles?" He looked around at his children. "For all of us."

"If you do this," Charles whispered, tears streaming down his face, "you will erase everything we've built together. Nothing will be the same anymore."

It was the truth. A long time ago, Erik had moved to Genosha with a group of mutants that at one point had grown to enormous size. He had also brought Charles here two years ago, wanting him to become part of their family.

For two years they had lived in peace. They had not fought, they had not suffered. They had been nothing but happy. If Erik did this, Genosha would become empty. If he did it, his family would be limited to his husband and children. There would be only them and the young mutants they had managed to hide in the world left. He would help the humans exterminate them. He would kill a part of himself.

He looked at Charles and saw no appraisal in his eyes but fear. For the first time, this was not about good and evil, about humans and mutants. Charles was terrified because he knew that Erik was turning his back on his values, that he was becoming someone else entirely. Erik was also terrified as he hesitated for a moment. And then he thought of his children, of Wanda, Peter, and Lorna, and decided that he would destroy the world for them.

"I know and I'm sorry."

He wanted to say more but was not able to. So instead he did the one thing that always worked well for him. The one thing he was a master at. The only thing he could do at the moment. He made death his servant.

Someone shouted as the ground shook beneath them. Erik rose into the air, and the world rose with him. The lake poured from its banks. The house he had built himself collapsed into itself. The trees fell down, one by one. The world was dying, encouraged by the movement of his hands. Mutants were dying. His friends. His family. He cried as he killed them, one by one, as if they were not his equals, just worms to be trampled. Humans were also dying with their pathetic weapons. Death carried through the place that had once been a beautiful glade, where Dawn had played, where Peter had run, where barely three months ago there had been a picnic organized for all the mutants living in Genosha. Now most of them were dead.

Their world had shrunk to a patch of green where his children were, unharmed. Erik also let Olivia live, but only because of Peter. Marcos survived as well as he was a member of the family. Erik tried to make Pine be swallowed up along with the other mutants, but the man stood his ground. When Erik landed in front of him, Pine burst into insane laughter.

"You really did all the work for me. Admittedly, I still have to kill you, but that will be pure-"

He broke off, and blood flowed from his mouth. Erik watched in surprise as Pine fell to his knees and then to the ground, dumbfounded, lifeless. A knife protruded from his throat. Above him stood Peter, who had come running in from nowhere, apparently having regained his power. His gaze was absent.

"Son," Erik whispered, taking a step towards him.

"Seemingly so powerful, yet he didn't see me coming." Peter said more to himself than to anyone else, kicking Pine's lifeless body with his shoe. "What a pile of shit."

Erik breathed a sigh of relief, stopping in place, but was immediately hit by the pain so severe that he squirmed. If he waited a few minutes, his children would regain their powers. Charles would get his powers back and he would try to free the mutants from Pine's influence. If he waited a few minutes, maybe the others would still be alive.

Peter lifted his gaze to glance at his father, and then looked around at their very limited company. Time seemed to slow down for a moment as Erik watched Peter stop his eyes on someone. His face went pale. Peter was scared to death by what he saw. Erik would have preferred to die, but instead he followed his son's gaze.

It was then that the greatest tragedy of his life occurred.

The next chapter will be published tomorrow so not to keep in you waiting any longer. Prepare some tissues and please don't hate me too much.