Here's the disclaimer part. All the X-men characters are Marvel's, sue me and I'll be forced to sell my beloved used-tissue collection which would break my heart! David, Alex and Danny are mine, if you want to use them then go right ahead. Please, please, please review! Cheers

Part Seven

"David?" Cyclops thought aloud, raising his hand to his head as he picked something up from the ear-piece. He tried to reply but when all that came back was the same, indistinct noise he gave up and turned his attention back to the battle.

All seemed to be going in their favour for the moment. Wolverine and Rogue had double-teamed against the giant mutant, Delgado, while Frenzy was still recovering from her close encounter with a brick wall.  Chrome was down thanks to Shadowcat and Gambit had neutralised the mutant, Scanner.

He walked over to where Wolverine was holding down the leader, Fabian Cortez and began to interrogate him. "Alright, Acolyte, what the hell was this all about? Why attack a city full of innocent people?"

"They are nothing of the sort!" He retorted angrily, "The Genoshans enslaved our brothers and sisters for years until the truth was uncovered and now these 'innocents' must be punished for their actions."

Wolverine growled deeply and pushed Cortez harder against the wall he was pinned by. "And what gives yer the right ta decide on the right course o' punishment?"

Cortez regarded the X-men levelly, "We are mutants," He began matter-of-factly, "We are the next step in evolution, this world should be ruled by our laws and our own kind. They have called us a 'natural abhorrence', a mistake in God's great plan but the real truth is that these flatscans are the fodder. Remnants of an old, inferior, version of our species, destined to die a gradual death as our kind swell in number."

"These are living beings Cortez! How dare you condemn them in that way."

"I condemn them in the same way that they have condemned our kind ever since we appeared on this God-forsaken planet." He retorted angrily. "But, under the guidance of our Lord and Saviour, we are preparing for the day that will see the ascension of homo superior and the destruction of anyone who opposes us."

Wolverine looked questioningly at Cyclops, "Lord and Saviour? What is this? Some sort o' religious nut convention?" 

"Who the hell is your Lord Cortez?" Cyclops demanded, almost fearing the answer.

"He is a far greater man that any of us. It is his vision of the world that will free our brothers and sisters from the bonds of slavery and into a new era."

Finally losing his tenuous grip on his patience, Cyclops grabbed the Acolyte by his collar and shouted, "Alright, Acolyte, I'm going to ask this one more time and then let Wolverine have a chat with you." The diminutive X-man gave him an evil grin, slowly unleashing his claws in front of his face. "Who is your Leader?"

At that moment Wolverine detected another scent that made his blood run cold, he turned his head towards the sky and saw a familiar individual descend towards them. "Uh Cyke, I think I can answer that one for yer."

"ENOUGH!" Came a cry from the figure. Cyclops glanced over his shoulder, only to be confronted with one of the most powerful mutants alive.

"Magneto?!" He said, aghast, but decided not to continue as Wolverine, quickly advancing towards the mutant, was casually picked up by his adamantium and thrown five blocks down the street.

"I will not have my disciples treated in such a manner." He stated calmly as he simultaneously created a magnetic-bubble around Cyclops (preventing him from using his optic beams) while ripping up the street around the last three X-men and making them scatter before they were swallowed up by the ground.

Rogue rose from the ground and flew towards her aggressor, "Don't do this Magneto" She called out, lunging, full-speed at him, "Ya'll only be giving the governments reason to treat mutants in any way they want and they won't stop until they've taken you down."

"And how, dear Rogue, do you think they will do that?" The master of Magnetism replied as he casually swatted her away with a gesture, "When even the most powerful of your team cannot hope to defeat me, when one of the most primal forces of the Earth is mine to control absolutely." He walked towards the leader of the X-men, regarding Cyclops and the rest of his fallen team-mates with something close to both contempt and respect.  "The so-called rulers of this world" He continued more quietly, "Will learn to bow down to the rightful inheritors of this planet or be crushed like ants under the boot of their former slaves."

Concentrating, Magneto gathered up his unconscious Acolytes and began to lift off the ground in a giant magnetic bubble. "Perhaps Charles, in his infinite wisdom, refused to believe that the day in which mutants would rise up and take what is theirs would be as inevitable as the sun setting in the evening." He called out to the, gradually recovering, X-men. "Perhaps you believe that too, but" He said scooping up the startled mutants into another bubble, "Lets see how much."

"Here's another thought," Came a shout from below, "Lets not!" And with that, streaks of pure energy hammered into the bubble containing Magneto. Staggered by the sheer force of the attack, he lost his concentration and allowed the two bubbles to fade into nothingness. The two groups of mutants landed, hard, on the floor but Magneto was the first to rise.

"WHO DARES!" He thundered, anger and surprise evident in both words and expression. He scanned the area but could see no-one. "Who holds his life in such contempt that he would dare to attack me?"

"Bloody 'ell, look who got out of the bed the wrong side this morning." The stranger replied as he, again, attacked the Acolytes, forcing them away from the others.

Barely able to maintain a shield from the brute strength and unusual make-up of the energy being thrown at him, Magneto's stubborn pride was the only thing keeping  him on his feet. "Show yourself, you coward!"

Stepping out of the shadows, Pulse continued his assault and steadily advanced towards the retreating  Acolytes. "Well, since you asked so politely…" He said grinning, becoming increasingly confident in his abilities.

With one glimpse of the figure in front of him, flashes of memories he never knew he possessed broke to the surface of Erik Lenshnner's mind. Memories of a time past, before he took the name Magneto, glimpse's so tragically brief but so maddeningly real that he would never doubt the validity of them. Images of a laboratory that he could not identify and himself as a younger man, standing beside someone else, someone he knew he recognised but could not make the connection. There was a purpose to this lab, he could feel the importance of the work he was doing there but what was it? What could have been buried  in his subconscious so completely and for so long that none of the telepaths he has fought and worked with over the years could have seen it before? All he knew for sure was that this figure before him, this being of pure energy, was the one who had broken the bonds holding him back from his past, and there was something else…

Staggering under the mental and physical assault, Magneto could only just manage to stutter out, "I-I know you?" Before he fell limply to the ground., exhausted.

Pulse stopped in his tracks, "What? What did you say?", he asked as he walked up to the fallen man. Magneto could only shrug his shoulders.

"I do not know." He said, as frustrated as the man standing before him.

"How could you not know?" David shouted angrily, grabbing by his collar and slamming him up against a wall. "Tell me, how do you know me?"

Suddenly there was an explosion to his right and he was thrown off of his feet.

"Pulse!" Cyclops shouted as he fought off Chrome "Lets go!"

David realised that he had forgotten all about the other Acolytes and had left the other X-men to deal with them while he had concentrated on Magneto. The renegade mutants had managed to take the upper hand and they were being forced to retreat.

"No!" He retorted angrily, turning to face them, "We can't go, I've got to find out what he meant!"

"Even if I had the answers you seek, I would not share them with you," Pulse heard from behind him. He turned around to be confronted with the standing Magneto. "Well, at least not yet anyway." Before gesturing with his hand and hurling David across the street, crashing into the other X-men, and into the opposite building.

Still in his force-field form, Pulse was the only one still able to get up, determined to get the information out of the mutant leader. The two locked eyes, and, with the uncertainty in his foes face, David knew that Magneto had no more idea who he was, or why he recognised him, than David himself did.

Magneto grinned sinisterly, "There will be time for this later child."

"Why put off till tomorrow, what you can do today?" Pulse replied, but he knew that he had no chance of defeating Magneto and the Acolytes on his own. Before he could do anything however, Magneto twisted the girders in the nearest structure, sending it hurtling down upon his unconscious team-mates.

"NO!" David shouted frantically, he turned and ran as fast as he could towards the others as the building continued to fall. Without thinking he began to morph his body, creating a shield over the stricken mutants, but this was unknown territory for him. Having already used his powers for far longer then ever before, he could feel himself weakening and the impact of the rubble getting harder and harder to ignore.

"Acolytes!" Magneto called out, regarding the others with a cold stare. "We are finished here!" He then created a magnetic bubble around each of the squad before flying into the air and away.

Afterwards, there was only silence.