Todd and Wanda were not the only mutants enjoying a night out that evening.
Kurt, Kitty, and Rogue had gone out to the movies, and Kurt had convinced
Amanda to sneak out from her parents' house and join them. Currently, Kurt
and Amanda were snuggling in one of the theatres in Bayville's new 40-
screen mega-cinema while Kitty and Rogue kept a running commentary of their
every move and kiss and occasionally chucked popcorn at the two lovebirds.
Meanwhile, back in the mansion, Xavier was explaining his restorative procedure to Electra. Scott, Jean, and Storm were also in the lab while Logan was in the garage, giving his bike a tune-up.
"Again, I cannot guarantee that this procedure will completely restore you to your prior state," Xavier said. "Magneto's original procedure activated your dormant X-genes. There is no way to reverse that,"
"Does that mean I'll still have these powers?" Electra asked.
"Yes," Xavier replied. "Although we won't know how much of your powers you have retained until after we are finished. But we can help you control them after the procedure is over, no matter how much or how little of your powers remain,"
Electra nodded and walked into the chamber. As it closed up, Scott could not help notice the nervous look on Xavier's face.
After the chamber closed, Scott approached Xavier. "Professor, are you sure this is going to work?" he asked.
Xavier sighed. "No, I'm not," he said. "There are so many variables, so many things that could go wrong. One mistake, and Electra could die,"
"Are you sure we should let her go through with this?" Jean asked him. "She could still live a perfectly healthy life as she is,"
"I know, Jean, but it is her decision, and she has accepted the risks. She is trusting us not to let her down," Xavier said. "Now, we must begin,"
He wheeled over to the control panel and activated the intercom inside Electra's chamber. "Electra, we are going to begin now. The first part of the procedure will drain away your energy until there is just a small fraction left. Then, we will re-sequence the DNA that has been electrically embedded inside of you to rebuild your body. Once this part begins, we cannot safely stop until it is complete,"
"I'm ready, Professor," Electra replied from inside the chamber.
"Initiating power drain," said Xavier as he activated the machines.
Inside the chamber, Electra flinched as arcs of energy began leaping through the chamber, coursing through her body. She felt her energy begin to drain away and saw that her aura was glowing dim. She braced herself and waited as the procedure continued.
X
Magneto's sphere landed in a secluded corner of the Institute's grounds. It opened and Pietro dashed out. After a few moments of searching, he found what he was looking for: a large generator, well concealed behind a large cluster of bushes. He cackled and threw the switch on the generator, disabling it, then dashed back to the sphere. The sphere lifted off again and headed for the main entrance of the Institute.
X
In the den, the younger mutants were watching TV when the lights began to flicker and the TV reception turned into static. All of a sudden, the whole room went dark, and then turned a dim red as the emergency lights came on.
"Hey, what happened?" asked Roberto.
"Ray, stop messing around already! This is the good part!" complained Amara.
"Hey, it wasn't me!" Ray said. "Maybe a fuse blew or something,"
Suddenly the front doors crashed open as Magneto, Pietro, and Sabertooth walked in. In the dim light, they looked almost like ghosts.
"Is that Magneto?" Amara asked Bobby. Xavier had briefed all of them about their rival, but except for Bobby, none of them had seen him in person.
"Yeah, that's him," Bobby said.
"Hope we aren't interrupting anything," said Pietro smugly.
The mutants stood up, and Bobby stepped out in front of them. "What do you want?" he asked suspiciously.
"I've come to collect somebody that is mine," said Magneto. "Stand aside, and none of you will be harmed,"
"Bobby, what are we gonna do?" asked Rahne anxiously.
"I'll tell you what we're gonna do," Bobby said to her and then turned back to Magneto.
"We know why you're here," he said angrily. "And if you think you're gonna walk into our house and take Electra without a fight, you're dead wrong!"
"As you wish," said Magneto, and clenched his fist. With a loud hum, every metal object in the room flew into the air and began to hurl themselves at the mutants as Sabertooth and Pietro rushed in to attack.
Ray began using his powers to shoot down the flying objects, but he did not see one chair fly up from behind him and strike him in the back of the head, knocking him out. As Rahne ran up to check on him, she found herself swept off her feet by a lamp that had tipped over and rolled into her legs. The lamp cord began to wrap around her body, leaving her completely hogtied.
Meanwhile, Bobby had his hands full with Sabertooth. He dodged the mutant's blows and tried to freeze him, but Sabertooth smashed through the ice wall and kept coming. Bobby created an ice slide and slid on it across the room. Sabertooth snarled as his quarry landed safely on the other side of the den. "You can't run forever, runt!" he yelled and took off after Bobby again.
X
In the garage, Logan revved the engine on his bike as he worked on it. Over the din, he could not hear the battle raging inside the Institute. He also had a portable floodlight switched on so he could see inside the bike's machinery, and had not noticed when the power went out. He hummed as he continued to work, oblivious to things inside.
X
Meanwhile, down in the lab, security alarms began to blare. Xavier turned on the security camera and saw the battle going on upstairs.
"Magneto!" he shouted. "Scott, Jean, get upstairs now!"
Scott and Jean did not ask what was going on but immediately dashed out of the room. Once they got to the elevator, they found that it was not functioning due to the power loss.
"He must have cut the power somehow," said Jean.
"Then we'll have to take the stairs," said Scott, and they ran towards the staircase.
X
Back in the den, Amara shot a ball of magma at Magneto. At the last second, Magneto raised a force field, and the magma ball exploded, showering the den in flaming debris. Bobby used his powers to put out the fires, and then pulled Amara out of the way as Sabertooth picked up the couch and hurled it at her.
Sam and Roberto had been trying to slow down Pietro, but the speedy mutant had dodged every attack that they had thrown at him. "Man, you're makin' this too easy!" he gloated. "I could outrun you two in my sleep!" Roberto lunged at him again, having to resort to hand to hand combat since his powers were useless without sunlight. Pietro zipped out of the way before the mutant could strike him. "Nope, still too slow!"
"You're startin' to tick me off!" Sam growled. "Bobby, gimme a hand!"
Across the room, Bobby obliged and fired an ice beam at Pietro's feet. Pietro jumped over it easily, but underestimated the effects of Bobby's powers. The floor under his feet was now completely covered in ice, making it impossible for Pietro to get any traction. Every time he tried to run, he slipped and fell.
"Now you're mine!" Sam shouted and rocketed through the air. Pietro staggered to his feet just in time to see Sam flying towards him. Pietro could do nothing but scream as the mutant missile struck him head on.
Sam grabbed onto Pietro as he hit him and flew out the front door. Once he was over the fountain, he let Pietro go. Pietro screamed as he fell and landed in the middle of the fountain, sending waves of water flying across the lawn.. As he landed, he felt something very hard strike him in the back, and then felt massive pain in his chest as the breath was driven out of his lungs. He lifted his head above the water in the fountain and saw that one of the small angel statues was now sticking out of his stomach. His eyes went wide as he saw his own blood covering the tiny angel's wings. He tried to scream, but his voice only came out as a faint whisper as his blood began to froth around his lips.
Back inside, Magneto had seen Pietro fall and land in the fountain. He and Sabertooth dashed outside to help his son
X
"Where'd Magneto go?" asked Sam as he zoomed back into the room.
"We chased him off!" Amara said triumphantly.
"Not yet we haven't" said Bobby. "C'mon, we need some backup," With that, he dashed out to the garage to get Logan.
X
Out in the garage, Logan looked up from his bike as he saw the door open and Bobby, Amara, and Sam rushed in. "What do you want?" he asked.
"We're under attack!" Amara said frantically.
"Kid, I don't have time for games tonight," said Logan gruffly.
"No, Magneto's here!" said Bobby.
"What?" asked Logan, dropping his wrench on the floor with a loud clang. "Why didn't any of the alarms go off?"
"They cut the power before they attacked. The whole mansion's on emergency power right now," Bobby explained.
Just then, one of the walls of the garage slid back and Scott and Jean ran out from the staircase.
"Logan, Magneto's here!" said Scott.
"That's what they just told me," Logan replied. "How are things going downstairs?"
"We've still got power, for now," Jean said. "But Magneto must be trying to get Electra again,"
"Alright," Logan said to Bobby and the other younger mutants. "You wait here. We'll take care of this,"
"Hey, wait a minute, we were kickin' his butt a minute ago!" said Sam.
"I said stay here!" Logan said, and he, Scott and Jean ran out of the garage.
"What are we, worthless or something?" asked Amara after they had left.
"Yeah, always treating us like we're kids all the time," Sam grumbled. "Now they're gonna go have all the fun while we're stuck here with Logan's stupid bike,"
"Hey, enough!" said Bobby. "I don't care what Logan said. This is our home too, and we need to defend it. Who's with me?"
"Yeah!" shouted Amara and Sam simultaneously, and the three mutants ran out after Logan and the others.
X
Outside, Magneto gasped in horror as he saw Pietro lying in the fountain, the bloody angel statue sticking through his chest.
"Pietro! No!" Magneto shouted as he kneeled down next to his son.
Pietro looked up at his father weakly and coughed, sending drops of blood flying out of his mouth. "Father!" he gasped. "Please, it hurts!" He reached out and grabbed hold of Magneto's cloak, desperately trying to cling to life.
"Father, I'm. I'm sorry," Pietro croaked as he saw the world beginning to go dark. "I. I tried to be a good mut. mut.ahhh," His last breath rushed out of his body as the last thing he saw was the tears starting to run down Magneto's face. Pietro's eyes rolled back in his head and he sunk beneath the water, dead.
X
Magneto took off his helmet and wiped a tear out of his eye.
"Pietro," he whispered, placing a hand on the boy's chest. He lifted Pietro's head out of the foutain and held the boy in his arms. His face was a twisted mask of sadness and rage as he pressed Pietro's head to his chest. When he looked up, his eyes were red with tears and a fierce look was on his face.
"My son, I swear to you, they will not go unpunished for what they have done to you! You shall be avenged, even if I have to kill every mutant in that house to do it!"
He kissed Pietro gently on the cheek and then let his body gently fall back beneath the fountain's waters. He placed his helmet back on his head and turned to Sabertooth. "Follow me," he growled, and his eyes glowed bright yellow. "If anybody stands in our way, kill them!" The two mutants stood up and walked back towards the Institute.
X
Meanwhile, back in the mansion, Xavier was explaining his restorative procedure to Electra. Scott, Jean, and Storm were also in the lab while Logan was in the garage, giving his bike a tune-up.
"Again, I cannot guarantee that this procedure will completely restore you to your prior state," Xavier said. "Magneto's original procedure activated your dormant X-genes. There is no way to reverse that,"
"Does that mean I'll still have these powers?" Electra asked.
"Yes," Xavier replied. "Although we won't know how much of your powers you have retained until after we are finished. But we can help you control them after the procedure is over, no matter how much or how little of your powers remain,"
Electra nodded and walked into the chamber. As it closed up, Scott could not help notice the nervous look on Xavier's face.
After the chamber closed, Scott approached Xavier. "Professor, are you sure this is going to work?" he asked.
Xavier sighed. "No, I'm not," he said. "There are so many variables, so many things that could go wrong. One mistake, and Electra could die,"
"Are you sure we should let her go through with this?" Jean asked him. "She could still live a perfectly healthy life as she is,"
"I know, Jean, but it is her decision, and she has accepted the risks. She is trusting us not to let her down," Xavier said. "Now, we must begin,"
He wheeled over to the control panel and activated the intercom inside Electra's chamber. "Electra, we are going to begin now. The first part of the procedure will drain away your energy until there is just a small fraction left. Then, we will re-sequence the DNA that has been electrically embedded inside of you to rebuild your body. Once this part begins, we cannot safely stop until it is complete,"
"I'm ready, Professor," Electra replied from inside the chamber.
"Initiating power drain," said Xavier as he activated the machines.
Inside the chamber, Electra flinched as arcs of energy began leaping through the chamber, coursing through her body. She felt her energy begin to drain away and saw that her aura was glowing dim. She braced herself and waited as the procedure continued.
X
Magneto's sphere landed in a secluded corner of the Institute's grounds. It opened and Pietro dashed out. After a few moments of searching, he found what he was looking for: a large generator, well concealed behind a large cluster of bushes. He cackled and threw the switch on the generator, disabling it, then dashed back to the sphere. The sphere lifted off again and headed for the main entrance of the Institute.
X
In the den, the younger mutants were watching TV when the lights began to flicker and the TV reception turned into static. All of a sudden, the whole room went dark, and then turned a dim red as the emergency lights came on.
"Hey, what happened?" asked Roberto.
"Ray, stop messing around already! This is the good part!" complained Amara.
"Hey, it wasn't me!" Ray said. "Maybe a fuse blew or something,"
Suddenly the front doors crashed open as Magneto, Pietro, and Sabertooth walked in. In the dim light, they looked almost like ghosts.
"Is that Magneto?" Amara asked Bobby. Xavier had briefed all of them about their rival, but except for Bobby, none of them had seen him in person.
"Yeah, that's him," Bobby said.
"Hope we aren't interrupting anything," said Pietro smugly.
The mutants stood up, and Bobby stepped out in front of them. "What do you want?" he asked suspiciously.
"I've come to collect somebody that is mine," said Magneto. "Stand aside, and none of you will be harmed,"
"Bobby, what are we gonna do?" asked Rahne anxiously.
"I'll tell you what we're gonna do," Bobby said to her and then turned back to Magneto.
"We know why you're here," he said angrily. "And if you think you're gonna walk into our house and take Electra without a fight, you're dead wrong!"
"As you wish," said Magneto, and clenched his fist. With a loud hum, every metal object in the room flew into the air and began to hurl themselves at the mutants as Sabertooth and Pietro rushed in to attack.
Ray began using his powers to shoot down the flying objects, but he did not see one chair fly up from behind him and strike him in the back of the head, knocking him out. As Rahne ran up to check on him, she found herself swept off her feet by a lamp that had tipped over and rolled into her legs. The lamp cord began to wrap around her body, leaving her completely hogtied.
Meanwhile, Bobby had his hands full with Sabertooth. He dodged the mutant's blows and tried to freeze him, but Sabertooth smashed through the ice wall and kept coming. Bobby created an ice slide and slid on it across the room. Sabertooth snarled as his quarry landed safely on the other side of the den. "You can't run forever, runt!" he yelled and took off after Bobby again.
X
In the garage, Logan revved the engine on his bike as he worked on it. Over the din, he could not hear the battle raging inside the Institute. He also had a portable floodlight switched on so he could see inside the bike's machinery, and had not noticed when the power went out. He hummed as he continued to work, oblivious to things inside.
X
Meanwhile, down in the lab, security alarms began to blare. Xavier turned on the security camera and saw the battle going on upstairs.
"Magneto!" he shouted. "Scott, Jean, get upstairs now!"
Scott and Jean did not ask what was going on but immediately dashed out of the room. Once they got to the elevator, they found that it was not functioning due to the power loss.
"He must have cut the power somehow," said Jean.
"Then we'll have to take the stairs," said Scott, and they ran towards the staircase.
X
Back in the den, Amara shot a ball of magma at Magneto. At the last second, Magneto raised a force field, and the magma ball exploded, showering the den in flaming debris. Bobby used his powers to put out the fires, and then pulled Amara out of the way as Sabertooth picked up the couch and hurled it at her.
Sam and Roberto had been trying to slow down Pietro, but the speedy mutant had dodged every attack that they had thrown at him. "Man, you're makin' this too easy!" he gloated. "I could outrun you two in my sleep!" Roberto lunged at him again, having to resort to hand to hand combat since his powers were useless without sunlight. Pietro zipped out of the way before the mutant could strike him. "Nope, still too slow!"
"You're startin' to tick me off!" Sam growled. "Bobby, gimme a hand!"
Across the room, Bobby obliged and fired an ice beam at Pietro's feet. Pietro jumped over it easily, but underestimated the effects of Bobby's powers. The floor under his feet was now completely covered in ice, making it impossible for Pietro to get any traction. Every time he tried to run, he slipped and fell.
"Now you're mine!" Sam shouted and rocketed through the air. Pietro staggered to his feet just in time to see Sam flying towards him. Pietro could do nothing but scream as the mutant missile struck him head on.
Sam grabbed onto Pietro as he hit him and flew out the front door. Once he was over the fountain, he let Pietro go. Pietro screamed as he fell and landed in the middle of the fountain, sending waves of water flying across the lawn.. As he landed, he felt something very hard strike him in the back, and then felt massive pain in his chest as the breath was driven out of his lungs. He lifted his head above the water in the fountain and saw that one of the small angel statues was now sticking out of his stomach. His eyes went wide as he saw his own blood covering the tiny angel's wings. He tried to scream, but his voice only came out as a faint whisper as his blood began to froth around his lips.
Back inside, Magneto had seen Pietro fall and land in the fountain. He and Sabertooth dashed outside to help his son
X
"Where'd Magneto go?" asked Sam as he zoomed back into the room.
"We chased him off!" Amara said triumphantly.
"Not yet we haven't" said Bobby. "C'mon, we need some backup," With that, he dashed out to the garage to get Logan.
X
Out in the garage, Logan looked up from his bike as he saw the door open and Bobby, Amara, and Sam rushed in. "What do you want?" he asked.
"We're under attack!" Amara said frantically.
"Kid, I don't have time for games tonight," said Logan gruffly.
"No, Magneto's here!" said Bobby.
"What?" asked Logan, dropping his wrench on the floor with a loud clang. "Why didn't any of the alarms go off?"
"They cut the power before they attacked. The whole mansion's on emergency power right now," Bobby explained.
Just then, one of the walls of the garage slid back and Scott and Jean ran out from the staircase.
"Logan, Magneto's here!" said Scott.
"That's what they just told me," Logan replied. "How are things going downstairs?"
"We've still got power, for now," Jean said. "But Magneto must be trying to get Electra again,"
"Alright," Logan said to Bobby and the other younger mutants. "You wait here. We'll take care of this,"
"Hey, wait a minute, we were kickin' his butt a minute ago!" said Sam.
"I said stay here!" Logan said, and he, Scott and Jean ran out of the garage.
"What are we, worthless or something?" asked Amara after they had left.
"Yeah, always treating us like we're kids all the time," Sam grumbled. "Now they're gonna go have all the fun while we're stuck here with Logan's stupid bike,"
"Hey, enough!" said Bobby. "I don't care what Logan said. This is our home too, and we need to defend it. Who's with me?"
"Yeah!" shouted Amara and Sam simultaneously, and the three mutants ran out after Logan and the others.
X
Outside, Magneto gasped in horror as he saw Pietro lying in the fountain, the bloody angel statue sticking through his chest.
"Pietro! No!" Magneto shouted as he kneeled down next to his son.
Pietro looked up at his father weakly and coughed, sending drops of blood flying out of his mouth. "Father!" he gasped. "Please, it hurts!" He reached out and grabbed hold of Magneto's cloak, desperately trying to cling to life.
"Father, I'm. I'm sorry," Pietro croaked as he saw the world beginning to go dark. "I. I tried to be a good mut. mut.ahhh," His last breath rushed out of his body as the last thing he saw was the tears starting to run down Magneto's face. Pietro's eyes rolled back in his head and he sunk beneath the water, dead.
X
Magneto took off his helmet and wiped a tear out of his eye.
"Pietro," he whispered, placing a hand on the boy's chest. He lifted Pietro's head out of the foutain and held the boy in his arms. His face was a twisted mask of sadness and rage as he pressed Pietro's head to his chest. When he looked up, his eyes were red with tears and a fierce look was on his face.
"My son, I swear to you, they will not go unpunished for what they have done to you! You shall be avenged, even if I have to kill every mutant in that house to do it!"
He kissed Pietro gently on the cheek and then let his body gently fall back beneath the fountain's waters. He placed his helmet back on his head and turned to Sabertooth. "Follow me," he growled, and his eyes glowed bright yellow. "If anybody stands in our way, kill them!" The two mutants stood up and walked back towards the Institute.
X