Chapter 60

It never ends

At the Institute

The X-men left the Brotherhood at the boarding house and returned home.

After a long day's rest, and repairing the damages done to the mansion, Charles assembled everyone for a debrief.

"I expect a lot of you have questions" Charles figured, "I'll start things off by confirming that in a few days Alex will be joining us as our newest recruit"

Scott smirked, he's glad his brother decided to follow his footsteps.

"I think above everything we'd like to know your backstory and relationship with Magneto" Dean said.

Charles nodded, "As you know, my life's mission is to help mutantkind to leave amongst humans peacefully. And in order to achieve that I came up with the idea of the X-men, a group of mutants that could stop an imminent threat from rogue mutants with ill intentions"

"That basically sums up what we do" Evan admitted.

"Some of you are already aware of this, others might not have realized, but you aren't the first team of X-men I've formed" Charles said.

Scott and Jean already knew that, the others however never considered the possibility.

Charles then lifted off his lap an old photograph, torn and faded at the edges and he places it down on the desk.

It was the only thing he needed to show the assembled group around him for the moment. It's a group photo of several individuals dressed in some kind of blue and yellow costumes. Everyone gathered in around the desk and had a closer look.

"Who are they?" Jean asked, her brow drawn down deeply in puzzlement. She didn't recognize any of their faces.

"Most of them you haven't heard of, except for these two" Charles pointed at two people, a man and a woman standing next to each other.

Dean looked closely, the woman he'd never seen before but the man…"That's…Magneto?"

Charles nodded, "And the woman is Mystique"

"WHAT?!" Kurt and Rogue shouted in unison.

"Once upon a time they were my -allies and closest friends" Charles said with a hint of sadness in his voice.

"You've known him for a long time then" Kitty said speaking her thoughts.

"Yes, when I met him he was a troubled young man with a mission to hunt down a man named Sebastian Shaw" Charles said.

Dean recognized the name, "The founder of Shaw Industries?"

"The same man" Charles confirmed, "He played a pivotal role in causing Erik severe childhood trauma"

"What did he do?" Kurt asked.

Charles sighed, he disliked recalling Erik's tragic past, "Sebastian was the one who triggered Erik's mutation. He and his family were jews from Poland and were taken to a concentration camp. Sebastian murdered his parents and tortured him to study his mutation. Luckily he was freed, but the damage was done"

Dean finally understood. That's why Magneto despises humanity, he's was exposed it's worse kind, the Nazis.

"That is why Erik hates humans. That is why he will stop at nothing until he finds Sebastian and exacts his revenge" Charles said feeling sorry for his friend, being consumed with hate was a shame. The good he could have done.

Dean looked confused, "Wait something doesn't add up. I realize that being a mutant probably increases your lifespan, which explains why you and Magneto are still around, but Shaw must have been at least in his thirties if he was an officer at a concentration camp in WWII. And I've seen pictures of him in the 70's, he looked pretty young to me, and on top of that he's supposed to be dead. I heard he died like in the early 2000's?"

Charles smirked, "Very perceptive, and you're right. Mutants do have a longer lifespan, their abilities has a lasting effect on their physical bodies. However Shaw is also a mutant, he has the ability to absorb energy to empower him and restore his youth"

"So you think he faked his death so he could disappear?" Scott asked.

"There is no doubt in my mind" Charles said confidently, "That's what he did"

"So he was tracking this guy down, what else?" Rogue asked.

"I helped him hone his abilities and together, with the help of our friend Hank, we created Cerebro. After recruiting a few mutants, we formed the first team and tried to prevent the Cuban missile crisis" Charles said.

"You were involved in that?" Jean asked sounding surprised, that was mainly a human affair.

"We were forced to interfere. You see Sebastian Shaw was a part of a secret society of wealthy elites, called the Hellfire Club" Charles said.

"What's their deal?" Evan asked.

"They conspire to control world affairs, by masterminding events and planting agents in government and corporations, in order to gain political power and influence to establish a New World Order. Similar to some of the most widely known and elaborate conspiracy theories, they lurk in the shadows and pulling the strings and levers of power" Charles said.

"And because they hold the power anyone who does know about them keeps their mouth shut and the ones that don't laugh at the thought of their existence" Dean figured.

Charles nodded, "Precisely. We successfully stopped the crisis, but the soldiers fired upon us, seeing us as enemies. That was the last straw before he turned against humanity" he sighed in disappointment, "I tried so many times to get him to change his ways, to help him"

Jean could see that losing him was a big deal to the Professor, "You must have been really close"

Charles smirked slightly, "We were once, it only made our schism that much more serious" he glanced at his legs, "Things were never the same"

Dean spotted that look and put two and two together, "He's the one that paralyzed you"

Charles for a moment had a fearful look, "There was a moment, when his wife was murdered, that even my words couldn't calm his rage. He attempted to commit an act of violence that would have doomed all of mutant kind, hence I was forced to stop him. I succeeded, but at a price"

"And we come full circle" Evan said, as they caught up with the present.

"All I can say is that I regret not telling you about him, and that even though you were severely underprepared, you still succeeded. I'm proud of all of you" Charles said with a warm smile.

Kurt smirked, "We did kick ass"

"Yeah like we beat Magneto" Kitty said sounding excited.

Logan chuckled, "Whoa there, beat? You distracted him. If he actually wanted to kill you from the begging we'd all be dead"

That brought silence to the group.

"The fact is none of you have the raw power to take on Magneto at full power" Logan said with a serious face, "The only one who can take him is Chuck, and even then it's impossible to breach his mind with his helmet on"

"Helmet?" Scott asked.

"His helmet is made from a unique alloy that blocks telepathy" Charles said.

"Let's hope he doesn't come back any time soon" Dean said.

At Camp Half-Blood

Jon and Tim were practicing by the wooden logs.

Lily and Billy watched on the sidelines.

Tim leapt over Jon, struck him in the back with his wooden staff, and landed behind him.

Jon planted his feet and was unaffected by the strike. He turned around, slowly, and faced his opponent.

Jon swung his staff diagonally.

Tim backflipped avoiding the staff.

Jon's staff shattered one of the logs it struck.

Tim's eyes widened, "Shit"

Jon stepped forward trying to close the distance between them.

Tim acted quickly and thrusted his staff, hitting Jon's foot that was midair, making him lose his balance and sending him tumbling off.

Billy started laughing hysterically.

Jon, who landed on his face, looked up with an angry expression.

Tim sighed, "C'mon man" he was trying to get Jon to learn.

Billy laughed so hard he fell on his back with his legs kicking up in the air, "That was funnier than Shaq falling down!"

Lily punched his shoulder, "Stop being such an ass"

"Ow" Billy said rubbing his shoulder, "I can't help it"

At the Institute

Jean knocked on the door to the Professor's study.

"Come in Jean" Charles said.

Jean walked in without having any weird feelings towards hearing her name.

Charles smirked, finally someone who didn't find it weird.

"Professor, I didn't want to bring this up before in front of everyone. But do you remember when you put those mental blocks in my head to help control my power?" Jean asked.

Charles nodded, "Yes, your power was overwhelming you. It had to be done"

"I won't argue with that, however since we encountered Magneto I've been having flashbacks from before I came to the Institute. Was he the man that came to visit me?" Jean asked.

Charles looked grim, "It was, he brought out an uneasiness within you that made you lose control. So I placed a hypnotic suggestion in your mind to make you forget Magneto"

"I understand" Jean said, "At least now I'm in control"

"Considering there haven't been any outbursts, I would agree" Charles said with a smile.

"Thank you Professor" Jean got up.

"I'm just happy everything turned out alright" Charles said.

As Jean opened the door to leave she ran into Dean who was on his way in.

"Hey" Dean said with a friendly smile.

"Hey, can we talk later?" Jean asked.

Dean nodded, "Sure" he walked in and sat down.

"What brings you here young son of Zeus?" Charles asked.

Dean looked at him with an odd expression, "It sounds weird when you say it"

Charles nodded, "It did didn't it?"

Dean agreed, "Let's stick with my name"

"Right, how can I help you then?" Charles asked.

"It's just…that whole thing with Shaw… I can't wrap my head around it. How can people...how can an organization like that exist and no one has done anything about it?" Dean wanted to know.

"There are always people who wish to use power for their own ends...and the Hellfire Club has been around for centuries. It's insidious and has wormed it's way into every facet of the civilized world. Shaw is the Black King...they rank themselves after chess pieces...he is the Black King of the New York branch. There is an LA branch, a London branch, Paris, Berlin, Moscow, Beijing, Tokyo, Sydney, Rio...I could go on but I think you get the idea. That's why we could never win. You take down one branch there's at least 50 more. You try and expose them but they control most media. You can't defeat the Inner Circle. You can only hope to survive them"

"I don't believe that" Dean said with determination, "Something like that needs to be exposed"

Charles actually admired Dean's fire. "Perhaps I am cynical, perhaps our previous experience has tainted my view. Even if you are right Dean, that's not a battle that can be won in quick order. That's a long hard fight. A fight I wanted to protect you all from which is why I have never mentioned any of this. As long as you didn't know the Inner Circle existed they had no interest in you"

Dean raised an eyebrow, "Are you saying I'm gonna be on their radar now?"

"Not unless you start openly talking about them" Charles said.

"I guess this is a problem too big for me to solve right now" Dean figured.

Charles smirked, "I'm afraid so. Your way is the direct one, but theirs is anything but that. They're conniving, deceitful, you're not ready for such foes yet"

Dean smirked, "They better pray that day never comes"

At Camp Half-Blood

The day faded away bringing forth the night.

Everyone had cleared the training areas, all except for one.

Jon practiced by the staff and logs. He hated losing at that exercise, because it was almost like handling his axe without the axe head. Which meant he needed work.

So after a while of failing constantly he decided to train on his own, at night, when no one could see or bother him.

Jon stepped forward to another log, twirled the staff slowly, rotated 180 and swung the staff horizontally.

He then stepped backwards, pretending to avoid a hit, and swung high for a strike to the head.

"These night sessions of yours have brought much improvement" Chiron said admiring his form.

Jon was startled and almost fell off, "You surprised me"

"Always anticipate the unexpected. Good work Jon" Chiron said.

"This was my little secret" Jon said not wanting anyone to know.

"Now it's ours, here" Chiron tossed him a cloth.

"What's this for?" Jon asked not understanding.

"You're ready to progress to the next level, do it blindfolded" Chiron said with a smirk.

"You never quit do you?" Jon asked, he always pushed everyone to be better.

"Never, never, ever quit" Chiron said in a serious tone.

Jon sighed and put the blindfold on, "As long as this gets Billy to shut up"

"He who angers you conquers you" Chiron said.

Jon paused, "Anger can help you survive"

Chiron sighed, "Anger clouds the mind, it is an unconquerable enemy. You are unique among your friends, for you choose to face this enemy alone. Beware not to be consumed by it" he trotted away leaving him on his own.

Jon's eyes narrowed as he stared at the blindfold.

At the Institute

Forge kept himself busy by tinkering with the Danger Room, he tried to keep the room updated as much as possible.

That meaning updated to Forge's standards, he was always figuring out new ways to improve.

Eventually he would have to live here to keep the Danger Room updated. Which of course will happen eventually but not now, he's not ready to leave his parents just yet.

It had only been months since his rescue from the middleverse and he still was getting used to the outside world.

Dean walked up to him, "Hey! I heard my favorite inventor was here"

Forge stopped what he was doing, "Hey, I heard you were using the hell out of the gravity simulator"

"Absolutely, that thing is amazing" Dean commended him, "I had some ideas about some improvements"

Forge nodded with a distant look, "I see"

Dean noticed his odd look, "You ok?"

"I um…I don't know. You ever feel…out of place?" Forge asked awkwardly.

Dean couldn't help but let out a small laugh, "If you only knew how silly of a question that is"

Forge didn't understand what he meant.

Dean rolled his eyes, "Son of a god? Don't belong here nor on Olympus because I'm a half-blood? No one understands what it's like to be me?" He listed a few points.

Forge gave him a sheepish smile, "I see what you mean"

"So I'm gonna take a guess and assume that you've been having a hard time adjusting" Dean said.

"You're right on the money. I thought it would have been easier to adjust, but it's not. My parents are so old now, I can't be myself and use my power around them or they freak out. They're always looking to the past when all I wanna do is catch up to the present" Forge said.

Dean placed a reassuring hand on his shoulder, "Forge, you have a school full of people just like you right here. Just move in"

"I feel weird leaving them alone again" Forge said.

"Except this time you'll be a 15 minute drive away" Dean pointed out.

Forge nodded, "True"

"You're wasting your potential over there dude, at least here you walk around with robotic arms and no one will bat an eye" Dean said.

Forge sighed, "It was only a matter of time before I joined the X-men"

"Might as well start now that you'll have another newbie with you, Scott's brother is joining too" Dean said.

"Scott's got a brother?" Forge asked.

"Long story, he'll be here in a few days" Dean said.

"Then consider me already moved in" Forge said with a smile.

"That's great, we'll talk again when you come back" Dean said motioning to leave.

"Oh wait" Forge stopped him with a smile. He went over to his bag, "I fixed and improved my dimension breacher" he took something out.

"That's what you named it?" Dean said not approving of the name.

"You don't like it?" Forge asked.

"It sounds dorky, but whatever you made it" Dean said.

Forge showed him a small contraption. It looked like a gun, underneath where the magazine would be was a glowing attachment, most likely the energy source. There were buttons in the back where the hammer would be and there was a small rectangular screen that displayed some numbers. 439,6616,74

"Interesting, what're those numbers?" Dean asked.

"Those are like coordinates, that's where we are right now" Forge took the dimension breacher and typed in new coordinates.

439,6616,66

Forge then activated the dimension breacher and it fired black energy that opened a portal, "And this place I think you'll recognize" the portal showed the underworld where they went the last time, "It's completely safe"

Dean looked nervous, "Ok ok just close it"

Forge closed the portal without any trouble.

Dean relaxed, "Alright" he took the device and looked at the numbers, "You changed the last two numbers to get to the underworld, but what happens if you change the other ones?"

"Well one of these batteries has enough charge to open four portals to the underworld. I tried changing one of the higher numbers and nothing happened so it probably needs more power. As far as where it could lead to, most likely other dimensions, or if you believe in multiverse theory—"

"Alternate universes" Dean said finishing his sentence.

Dean suddenly felt dizzy and his head started ringing. He grunted as he massaged his right temple.

"Is something wrong?" Forge asked noticing the change in his body language.

Dean felt something in the core of his body, it was like he got heavier, sort of. It was hard to explain, "I don't know, I feel strange. I should go, it was nice seeing you" He hurried out of there.

Forge scratched his head, what was that about?

Dean knocked on Jean's door.

"Come in" She said.

Dean came in and closed the door behind him, "Hey, what'd you wanna talk about?"

"Mostly us, and a little bit of you. I feel like things have been weird between us lately" Jean admitted.

"Well, we've both been busy. What with school about to finish, my responsibilities, everything that's happened, I haven't had time to really address it" Dean said.

Jean nodded, "Sorry if I sounded needy, I've just been so frustrated lately because you're not around that much"

"I know, it's been tough. But things have calmed down a little" Dean said.

Jean stared into his eyes, "You seem a little different since Asteroid M. I think beating your brother has helped you fight your demons"

"Some of them" Dean added.

"At least now you won't need to train" Jean figured.

Dean frowned, "Jean, I might not go as hard as before but I can never stop training all together. It's too important to me and what I do"

Jean nodded in understanding, "I get it, it's a part of you" she looked at him in melancholy as she tenderly grasped his hands, "Just don't push me out of your life"

Dean placed his hands on her hips and pulled her close, "I'm not pushing you out, It's just hard trying to manage everything with so little time"

Jean frowned.

Dean sighed, "I'll try my best to see you more" he cupped her face, "Ok?"

Jean nodded, "Ok"

Dean leaned in and gave her a deep kiss.

Jean lifted his shirt and traced her hand over his chest.

Dean started kissing her neck and nibbling on her ear.

Jean let out a pleasurable moan.

Dean picked her up and brought her over to the bed.

Jean sat upright, grabbed his shirt, and practically ripped it off. She pulled him on top of her with her telekinesis and kissed him again.

Dean unzipped her pants and slid his hand under her panties.

Jean gasped and moaned in pleasure. She placed her hands on his back and clawed his back as she moaned out loud.

Hours later, Dean was in his bed sound asleep. However his peaceful rest wouldn't last.

A dream appeared before his mind's eye.

He was running through an alley, with a look of pure terror.

Dean looked a little different in the dream. He had frosted hair, he was thinner than usual, and he wore unusually tight leather clothing. He was also bloodied and bruised, looking like he just lost a fight.

He held a bronze sword as he ran down the alley.

Dean ran into a crossroad, right or left. He chose to run left all the way to the corner and put his back against the wall. He breathed heavily and beads of sweat dripped down his brow mixing with the blood that was oozing out of a gash on his forehead.

Suddenly he heard the sound of crackling lightning nearby and Dean froze.

"You know there's no point in hiding!" Someone shouted in amusement.

Dean started shaking in terror of his pursuer. He peaked his head out of the corner to look.

A dark figure surrounded by crackling red lightning stood at the crossroad, "It's only a matter time before I get what I want" he looked to the left.

Dean brought his head back and covered his mouth to lessen the sound of his breathing, 'Don't see me, don't see me, don't see me'

He heard footsteps walking away from him.

Dean peaked his head again and didn't see him anymore. He exhaled in relief.

A black armored hand punched through the wall right next to his head.

Dean leapt upwards in a panic.

The figure shattered the wall and laughed maniacally, "That's it, RUN!"

Dean landed on the roof of the building and ran for his life. He jumped from rooftop to rooftop as fast as he could.

He looked back to see if he was being pursued but didn't see anything.

Dean knocked into something and fell on his ass.

The figure stood in front of him. He had black armored greaves, gauntlets, chest-plate, and sharp pointed shoulder pads. His arms were bare, his pants were torn and shredded as if he'd been through hundreds of battles in the last few hours.

His face was hidden by his messy shoulder length hair. The only thing that could be seen was the red lightning flashing in his eyes.

Dean turned tail.

The figure grabbed his leg, swung him overhead, and smashed him through the roof.

Dean broke through a few floors before he crashed in the basement making a small crater. His body was completely trashed, to the point where he couldn't even move.

He deliriously looked upwards at the gaping holes. With his blurry vision he watched the figure defy gravity and slowly descend towards him.

Dean desperately tried to move but his body wouldn't obey him.

The figure landed softly on the ground. He stomped on Dean's chest and caved it in.

Dean cried out from the pain.

The figure leaned in closer, and as he did Dean saw that his face was a mirror of his own. He looked just like him except he had the look of a psychopath. His eyes had a murderous stare and his evil smirk would have given anyone chills.

"You've wasted your power long enough" The disfigured Dean said as he stood up straight again.

Then all of a sudden, a black slate slid out of his gauntlet and he held it in his hand. Then it started growing in his hand.

It morphed into a large, thick, long sword made of black steel. It must have been 7 feet long and 3 feet wide.

Dean lifted the blade and held it overhead as if it was as light as a feather, "It's time to put it to better use!" he swung his weapon downward while laughing maniacally.

Dean jolted out of his sleep in a cold sweat. He ran his fingers through his hair, pressing his palms hard against his skull, trying to make sense of what he saw in his dream.

Was it a dream? It felt far more real than that.

But then again those people weren't exactly him.

Dean sighed and laid back down, 'It's probably nothing' he went back to sleep.

If I knew then that it absolutely wasn't nothing, I might've been able to prevent a lot of death

Author's note: And I wonder how this'll turn out, we'll just have to wait and see. Hope you enjoy, read and review!