The X-Men knelt around Xavier's body, hoping against hope that he would
come back to life. Several of them, especially Kitty, were crying openly.
"I'm holding you responsible for any more damage he causes!" Simons shouted as he watched Magneto's sphere take off.
"You murdering psychopath!" roared Scott. "I oughta blast you to pieces for what you've done!" He jumped up and swung at Simons, hitting him square in the jaw.
"Get up!" he shouted. "You want to mess with mutants? I'll show you just how much of a threat we really are!"
Jan started to run towards Scott to save her boss, but Logan grabbed her from behind and spun her around.
"Lady, next time you shoot me, you better make sure you finish the job!" he snarled, and unsheathed his claws.
Suddenly, a bolt of lightning flashed overhead. Everybody looked up to see Storm floating in the air.
"Enough!" she shouted, her voice carrying on the wind. "There will be no more killing and destruction here today! The Professor would not want you to be carrying on like this!"
"Storm, the Professor is dead because of what he did!" Scott protested.
"One murder cannot cancel out another," Storm replied, floating down to the ground. "This man's death will do nothing to bring Charles back to us,"
"What are we going to do without him?" asked Kitty.
"I don't know," said Storm. "For now, there does not seem to be much more we can do here. Electra is lost to us. It would seem best to go home,"
"Wait!" shouted Jean. "She's not dead! I'm picking her up. She's nearby, but she's very weak,"
"Where is she?"
"She's very close. Less than 10 meters away,"
A few meters away, a fallen light post began to flicker with energy. A few moments later, they saw Electra emerge and collapse to the ground.
"I need power!" she gasped. Her aura was incredibly faint. She was barely visible.
"Scott, Kurt, go back to the jet and remove the emergency generator. It has special shielding that should have protected it from the EM pulse. Bring it here immediately," Storm said. Scott and Kurt ran back to the plane and returned a few minutes later with the generator.
They set the generator down next to Electra. She reached out to it and took hold of one of the leads. The power began to flow into her body and her aura returned. A few moments later she stood up, her power levels recharged.
"Thank you. Where is Professor Xavier?" she asked
Scott and Kurt both looked away sadly. Then Electra saw Xavier's body.
"No!" she said softly. She walked over to where he was laying and knelt down next to him.
"Professor," she said softly, and reached out for his body.
"What are you doing?" asked Jean.
"Helping," Electra replied, and placed her hand on Xavier's chest.
There was a bright flash as Electra sent a surge of pure electricity into Xavier's body. Xavier's body jumped in response to Electra's human defibrillation.
Jean felt his wrist. "I'm getting a pulse!" she said ecstatically. "He's alive!"
The mutants celebrated wildly when Jean said this. A few moments later, Xavier coughed and sat up. Jean and Scott helped him back up into his wheelchair.
"Are you alright, Professor?" Electra asked.
"I will be, yes," he said faintly. "Thank you," Then he looked at Simons. "Do you still believe this girl is a threat to you?" he asked him.
Simons looked down sheepishly. "Professor, I, I'm sorry. I don't know what to say,"
"Then I think it would be best if you just said nothing about all of this," replied Xavier. He touched his fingers to his temples and a moment later the FBI agents were heading back to their car, their memories of what had just happened totally erased. They drove off, believing that the carnage around them had been caused by a faulty safety valve at the power plant
"Scott, take the generator back to the jet," said Xavier. "We have what we came for, it's time for us to leave," Then he turned to Electra.
"Our invitation is still open, if you're interested,"
"Yes, of course!" said Electra.
They walked back to the jet and waited while Scott got the generator back online. A few minutes later, the jet was back up and running and ready to take off.
"Ok, I've got the engines restarted and navigation is back on line. We're ready for departure," Scott said.
"Good, Scott. Take us aaaahh!" grunted Xavier as he was overcome by a mental vision.
"Professor!" shouted Jean. "What is it?"
Xavier looked up. "Mesmero! He's here!" he said. "He must be looking for the final key to release Apocalypse!"
"That's not the only problem we have!" called Kurt from the back of the plane. "The Brotherhood's gone!
X
Mesmero grinned as he pulled his car up in front of the city's museum. This museum was the resting place for the final artifact he would need to release his master from centuries of imprisonment. As he walked inside, he did not notice the large metal sphere looming overhead, or the group of four teenagers, one girl and three boys, standing just a few blocks away from him.
X
As Mesmero entered the museum, Magneto's sphere floated up to the building's roof and landed. It opened and Magneto and his mutants stepped out.
"Mesmero must be searching for the final key," said Magneto.
"He won't get past us!" Colossus said.
"Perhaps, but he has an advantage. He knows what he is looking for. We do not," Magneto warned. "We must keep our eyes open. We will spread out and search the building. And when we find Mesmero, do not hesitate to destroy him,"
With that, the mutants entered the building.
X
"Hey, did you see that?" asked Fred, pointing towards the museum.
"That's Magneto's sphere," said Lance. "Let's go!"
"Hang on!" said Wanda. "Did you recognize that other mutant who went it? That's Mesmero. He's very dangerous,"
"What's he do?" asked Toad. "Make you break out in bad tattoos?"
"No," said Wanda. "He can posses your mind. He makes Mindbender look like a cheap circus magician. If we go in there, we'll have to be very careful,"
"So what are we gonna do?" asked Fred.
"We'll split up once we get inside, so we'll have a better chance of finding who we're looking for," said Wanda. "And remember, our targets are Magneto and his mutants. If you see Mesmero, keep away from him at all costs,"
"Right," said Lance. "Watch out, Gambit, I'm comin' for ya!" Lance rubbed his hands together eagerly, and the mutants entered the building. Wanda and Toad took the stairs up a floor while Lance and Fred began searching the ground floor.
X
The X-Men were the last mutants to arrive at the museum. They floated overhead while Xavier quickly laid out the strategy.
"Mesmero is likely searching for this," said Xavier, pointing at a computer screen inside the plane. "This is the Staff of T'la Beth, an ancient Chinese artifact. I believe it is an amplifier for power. With a sufficient power source, Mesmero could destroy the dimensional barrier and bring Apocalypse into our world. Electra, this may be the reason Magneto transformed you. If he gets the staff, he could have used you to release Apocalypse and then try to control him,"
"So who are we trying to stop?" asked Scott. "Magneto or Mesmero,"
"And what about the Brotherhood?" asked Jean. "They don't know what they're getting into in there,"
"Our goal is to reach the staff before anybody else does, and if necessary, destroy it to prevent it from falling into the wrong hands," said Xavier. "Kurt, you will teleport me inside the vault where the Staff is being kept. I can resist Mesmero's mental powers long enough to defeat him,"
"What if Magneto gets there first?" asked Logan. "You don't wanna be in there all by yourself, especially after what you've been through. Remember Chuck, I've got the healing powers, you don't,"
"The rest of you will search the museum and intercept Magneto's forces before they can reach the vault. Scott, you, Jean, and Rogue will search the upper floors, Logan, you and Kitty will meet Kurt in the basement after he teleports me in and search the lower floors. Storm, you will monitor us from here,"
"What can I do to help?" Electra asked.
"It would be better if you stayed here," said Xavier. "Magneto may still wish to reclaim you. I don't want to give him that opportunity,"
"Alright, Professor. Good luck," she said.
"Thank you," replied Xavier. "You all understand that we must work quickly to stop Magneto and Mesmero. The Brotherhood will likely still help us, but keep in mind that they are focused on their own agenda for now. Let's move out,"
Kurt grabbed onto Xavier's wheelchair and vanished. The jet landed on the roof, and the X-Men ran out and dashed into the building.
X
Inside, Magneto and his mutants were searching the third floor of the museum. As he examined a vase, Mindbender walked up to him.
"Magneto, the X-Men are here," he said.
Magneto glared. "Always the persistent one, aren't you, Charles?" he said. "Spread out!" he ordered. "Let's give our friends a good reception,"
Gambit and Colossus nodded and then vanished into the museum's corridors.
"Stay with me," said Magneto. "I don't want Mesmero trying to take control of me if he should find us before we find him,"
Mindbender accompanied Magneto as they continued to search the third floor.
X
Meanwhile, Wanda and Toad were only a floor beneath Magneto. They were in the American wing of the museum. Currently, they were examining a large display on the Old West.
"Where is he?" Wanda asked impatiently
"Well, he's not over here, that's for sure," said Toad, prodding a mannequin of a cowboy.
"Hey, snookums," said Toad. "I was thinking, when we get back, maybe you and me could go out, ya know, on a date or something'"
"A date?" asked Wanda. "Is that all you can think about right now?"
"Hey, I'm a man with simple priorities," Toad said. "So what do ya say? Come on, let me show you how to really have a good time. I'll take you out to that restaurant you like,"
Wanda sighed. As much as she was trying to stay focused on finding Magneto, her fondness for Toad kept creeping back into her mind. She still couldn't figure out exactly what it was that made her attracted to him. He was like an old dirty blanket that she wanted to throw away but just couldn't bear to get rid of.
"Alright, fine," she said. "We'll go out when we get back. But I just might make your wallet sorry you ever realized you liked me," she said with a sly grin. "And there's one condition,"
"Anything, my sweet," Toad said.
"Take a bath. Even the flies are starting to complain!"
Toad shuddered at the thought of what she was asking to do, but it was worth it. "Alright, sweetums. For you, I'll spare no sacrifice!"
"Good. Now, let's keep looking," she said, and they went back to searching the floor.
A little ways down the row of the exhibits, a figure sat huddled among the other mannequins, watching the two mutants.
That's right, just a little bit closer, thought Gambit, as he slowly reached for the cards in his hand.
X
"I'm holding you responsible for any more damage he causes!" Simons shouted as he watched Magneto's sphere take off.
"You murdering psychopath!" roared Scott. "I oughta blast you to pieces for what you've done!" He jumped up and swung at Simons, hitting him square in the jaw.
"Get up!" he shouted. "You want to mess with mutants? I'll show you just how much of a threat we really are!"
Jan started to run towards Scott to save her boss, but Logan grabbed her from behind and spun her around.
"Lady, next time you shoot me, you better make sure you finish the job!" he snarled, and unsheathed his claws.
Suddenly, a bolt of lightning flashed overhead. Everybody looked up to see Storm floating in the air.
"Enough!" she shouted, her voice carrying on the wind. "There will be no more killing and destruction here today! The Professor would not want you to be carrying on like this!"
"Storm, the Professor is dead because of what he did!" Scott protested.
"One murder cannot cancel out another," Storm replied, floating down to the ground. "This man's death will do nothing to bring Charles back to us,"
"What are we going to do without him?" asked Kitty.
"I don't know," said Storm. "For now, there does not seem to be much more we can do here. Electra is lost to us. It would seem best to go home,"
"Wait!" shouted Jean. "She's not dead! I'm picking her up. She's nearby, but she's very weak,"
"Where is she?"
"She's very close. Less than 10 meters away,"
A few meters away, a fallen light post began to flicker with energy. A few moments later, they saw Electra emerge and collapse to the ground.
"I need power!" she gasped. Her aura was incredibly faint. She was barely visible.
"Scott, Kurt, go back to the jet and remove the emergency generator. It has special shielding that should have protected it from the EM pulse. Bring it here immediately," Storm said. Scott and Kurt ran back to the plane and returned a few minutes later with the generator.
They set the generator down next to Electra. She reached out to it and took hold of one of the leads. The power began to flow into her body and her aura returned. A few moments later she stood up, her power levels recharged.
"Thank you. Where is Professor Xavier?" she asked
Scott and Kurt both looked away sadly. Then Electra saw Xavier's body.
"No!" she said softly. She walked over to where he was laying and knelt down next to him.
"Professor," she said softly, and reached out for his body.
"What are you doing?" asked Jean.
"Helping," Electra replied, and placed her hand on Xavier's chest.
There was a bright flash as Electra sent a surge of pure electricity into Xavier's body. Xavier's body jumped in response to Electra's human defibrillation.
Jean felt his wrist. "I'm getting a pulse!" she said ecstatically. "He's alive!"
The mutants celebrated wildly when Jean said this. A few moments later, Xavier coughed and sat up. Jean and Scott helped him back up into his wheelchair.
"Are you alright, Professor?" Electra asked.
"I will be, yes," he said faintly. "Thank you," Then he looked at Simons. "Do you still believe this girl is a threat to you?" he asked him.
Simons looked down sheepishly. "Professor, I, I'm sorry. I don't know what to say,"
"Then I think it would be best if you just said nothing about all of this," replied Xavier. He touched his fingers to his temples and a moment later the FBI agents were heading back to their car, their memories of what had just happened totally erased. They drove off, believing that the carnage around them had been caused by a faulty safety valve at the power plant
"Scott, take the generator back to the jet," said Xavier. "We have what we came for, it's time for us to leave," Then he turned to Electra.
"Our invitation is still open, if you're interested,"
"Yes, of course!" said Electra.
They walked back to the jet and waited while Scott got the generator back online. A few minutes later, the jet was back up and running and ready to take off.
"Ok, I've got the engines restarted and navigation is back on line. We're ready for departure," Scott said.
"Good, Scott. Take us aaaahh!" grunted Xavier as he was overcome by a mental vision.
"Professor!" shouted Jean. "What is it?"
Xavier looked up. "Mesmero! He's here!" he said. "He must be looking for the final key to release Apocalypse!"
"That's not the only problem we have!" called Kurt from the back of the plane. "The Brotherhood's gone!
X
Mesmero grinned as he pulled his car up in front of the city's museum. This museum was the resting place for the final artifact he would need to release his master from centuries of imprisonment. As he walked inside, he did not notice the large metal sphere looming overhead, or the group of four teenagers, one girl and three boys, standing just a few blocks away from him.
X
As Mesmero entered the museum, Magneto's sphere floated up to the building's roof and landed. It opened and Magneto and his mutants stepped out.
"Mesmero must be searching for the final key," said Magneto.
"He won't get past us!" Colossus said.
"Perhaps, but he has an advantage. He knows what he is looking for. We do not," Magneto warned. "We must keep our eyes open. We will spread out and search the building. And when we find Mesmero, do not hesitate to destroy him,"
With that, the mutants entered the building.
X
"Hey, did you see that?" asked Fred, pointing towards the museum.
"That's Magneto's sphere," said Lance. "Let's go!"
"Hang on!" said Wanda. "Did you recognize that other mutant who went it? That's Mesmero. He's very dangerous,"
"What's he do?" asked Toad. "Make you break out in bad tattoos?"
"No," said Wanda. "He can posses your mind. He makes Mindbender look like a cheap circus magician. If we go in there, we'll have to be very careful,"
"So what are we gonna do?" asked Fred.
"We'll split up once we get inside, so we'll have a better chance of finding who we're looking for," said Wanda. "And remember, our targets are Magneto and his mutants. If you see Mesmero, keep away from him at all costs,"
"Right," said Lance. "Watch out, Gambit, I'm comin' for ya!" Lance rubbed his hands together eagerly, and the mutants entered the building. Wanda and Toad took the stairs up a floor while Lance and Fred began searching the ground floor.
X
The X-Men were the last mutants to arrive at the museum. They floated overhead while Xavier quickly laid out the strategy.
"Mesmero is likely searching for this," said Xavier, pointing at a computer screen inside the plane. "This is the Staff of T'la Beth, an ancient Chinese artifact. I believe it is an amplifier for power. With a sufficient power source, Mesmero could destroy the dimensional barrier and bring Apocalypse into our world. Electra, this may be the reason Magneto transformed you. If he gets the staff, he could have used you to release Apocalypse and then try to control him,"
"So who are we trying to stop?" asked Scott. "Magneto or Mesmero,"
"And what about the Brotherhood?" asked Jean. "They don't know what they're getting into in there,"
"Our goal is to reach the staff before anybody else does, and if necessary, destroy it to prevent it from falling into the wrong hands," said Xavier. "Kurt, you will teleport me inside the vault where the Staff is being kept. I can resist Mesmero's mental powers long enough to defeat him,"
"What if Magneto gets there first?" asked Logan. "You don't wanna be in there all by yourself, especially after what you've been through. Remember Chuck, I've got the healing powers, you don't,"
"The rest of you will search the museum and intercept Magneto's forces before they can reach the vault. Scott, you, Jean, and Rogue will search the upper floors, Logan, you and Kitty will meet Kurt in the basement after he teleports me in and search the lower floors. Storm, you will monitor us from here,"
"What can I do to help?" Electra asked.
"It would be better if you stayed here," said Xavier. "Magneto may still wish to reclaim you. I don't want to give him that opportunity,"
"Alright, Professor. Good luck," she said.
"Thank you," replied Xavier. "You all understand that we must work quickly to stop Magneto and Mesmero. The Brotherhood will likely still help us, but keep in mind that they are focused on their own agenda for now. Let's move out,"
Kurt grabbed onto Xavier's wheelchair and vanished. The jet landed on the roof, and the X-Men ran out and dashed into the building.
X
Inside, Magneto and his mutants were searching the third floor of the museum. As he examined a vase, Mindbender walked up to him.
"Magneto, the X-Men are here," he said.
Magneto glared. "Always the persistent one, aren't you, Charles?" he said. "Spread out!" he ordered. "Let's give our friends a good reception,"
Gambit and Colossus nodded and then vanished into the museum's corridors.
"Stay with me," said Magneto. "I don't want Mesmero trying to take control of me if he should find us before we find him,"
Mindbender accompanied Magneto as they continued to search the third floor.
X
Meanwhile, Wanda and Toad were only a floor beneath Magneto. They were in the American wing of the museum. Currently, they were examining a large display on the Old West.
"Where is he?" Wanda asked impatiently
"Well, he's not over here, that's for sure," said Toad, prodding a mannequin of a cowboy.
"Hey, snookums," said Toad. "I was thinking, when we get back, maybe you and me could go out, ya know, on a date or something'"
"A date?" asked Wanda. "Is that all you can think about right now?"
"Hey, I'm a man with simple priorities," Toad said. "So what do ya say? Come on, let me show you how to really have a good time. I'll take you out to that restaurant you like,"
Wanda sighed. As much as she was trying to stay focused on finding Magneto, her fondness for Toad kept creeping back into her mind. She still couldn't figure out exactly what it was that made her attracted to him. He was like an old dirty blanket that she wanted to throw away but just couldn't bear to get rid of.
"Alright, fine," she said. "We'll go out when we get back. But I just might make your wallet sorry you ever realized you liked me," she said with a sly grin. "And there's one condition,"
"Anything, my sweet," Toad said.
"Take a bath. Even the flies are starting to complain!"
Toad shuddered at the thought of what she was asking to do, but it was worth it. "Alright, sweetums. For you, I'll spare no sacrifice!"
"Good. Now, let's keep looking," she said, and they went back to searching the floor.
A little ways down the row of the exhibits, a figure sat huddled among the other mannequins, watching the two mutants.
That's right, just a little bit closer, thought Gambit, as he slowly reached for the cards in his hand.
X