Chapter Twenty:
Moments like this were the only times Xavier truly wished he had the power to stand. Magneto was next to him, his arms folded over his chest and a triumphant smile on his face. He was looking down at Xavier, simply because of the Professor's seated position in the wheelchair, but the illusion of Magneto towering over his former colleague was something Erik Lensherr had always used to his advantage.
"This does not need to be a battle, Erik," Xavier said calmly and Magneto shook his head with disappointment.
"Still trying to be the great negotiator, Charles?" he chided, "Even when enemies to mutant kind have lost all discretion...attacking our people without regard for the public learning of their actions."
Xavier was about to speak, and then tilted his head in silent concentration. There were others approaching the hanger...many others, and not all mutants...
Magneto looked pleased, "You can hear them coming now...you understand that this battle is no longer a choice. We were not drawn here by accident, at least, not all of us..."
"Yet, you did begin this, Erik," Xavier said, watching the smile slip from his old friend's face, "Had you not sought the children of Charlene McGee in such a manner, the maker of the Sentinel would not have sent it to collect them...and you..."
Sid, standing a few feet behind the Professor, frowned and looked between him and Magneto.
"What does he mean?" Sid asked, but helmet-clad mutant leader ignored him.
"In time," Magneto replied slowly, glaring at Xavier with waning patience, "It would have been sent without provocation..."
"Provo...?" Sid began, and then shouted, "You said you came to our house after the Sentinel began to attack!"
Magneto turned his gaze to the young man and smiled sadly. To Sid, the look said, Now, Mr. Malloy, this is really not the time for that discussion. The adults are speaking.
Suddenly, from one dark hallway, a pair of ragged looking men ran toward them in terror. They were dressed in strange, white uniforms, and if Sid were to guess their ages by their faces alone, he would have thought they were children.
The pair paused, looking to the right and left in perfect time, and finally spotted the small cluster of mutants with surprise. They almost fled away from the new strangers, when the first twin, Max, spotted Xavier's wheelchair. He grabbed his brother, Jack, and pointed. Without words exchanged, Jack understood what Max meant.
They had heard the voice of Xavier when he called to those within the compound, images of a gentleman in a silver chair had appeared in both of their minds. Now, with strange relief, they ran towards him.
"It's you..." Max said, breathing heavily.
"You're him..." Jack added, also gasping.
Xavier only frowned at them for a moment in confusion. They must have been nearly thirty, but they had the mannerisms of someone half that age. Max took a few more quick breaths and then grinned broadly.
"We heard you!" he said with delight.
"You said you knew the way out!" Jack added after his brother with equal excitement.
A roar rumbled through the room, and the twins stared backward in horror as Sabertooth pounded into the hanger. They turned their desperate eyes to Xavier.
"Please, help us!" Max said quickly.
"We were only playing!" Jack added.
Xavier reached out and calmed them with his mind. The pair visibly relaxed, but their eyes were still filled with fear. Xavier peered over their shoulders, and spotted Sabertooth walking toward Magneto. Whenever he glanced at the pair, his anger was obvious, but he would not act again without Magneto's order.
"I won't let them harm you," Xavier said in a low, encouraging voice, "Tell me who you are..."
"We're mutants," Max said simply, and Jack nodded in agreement.
"Alright," Xavier said, "But who are you?"
The pair exchanged confused looks, as if they did not fully understand his question. They were mutants, and that was all. That was all they had ever been told.
Magneto watched Xavier question the two mutants with growing impatience. The soldiers were approaching, and they had no time for interrogations. Magneto drew Sabertooth and Mystique aside for private counsel.
"What happened?" he asked the large mutant, and Sabertooth glared at the pair again before replying.
"Those two..." he began with a growl, "Attacked us after we found the X-Men. They move things with their minds. But they don't seem very good at it..."
Magneto followed Sabertooth's gaze toward the two young/old men and pondered on their significance.
"Did they say to whom they answered?" he asked and Sabertooth shook his head.
"They didn't give me a chance to ask before they tried to dice me up," the large mutant replied with fury.
As Magneto pondered silently, two more mutants burst from the hall, each of whom the Brotherhood knew quite well. Wolverine and Cyclops, noticing the strange calm in the hanger, walked quickly toward Xavier, keeping wary eyes on Magneto and his followers.
"Scott," Xavier asked quickly, "The others are not with you?"
Cyclops shook his head, "We were separated..."
Xavier nodded, "Yes, I know...I've spoken to Kurt. I hoped he and Gambit would find you and follow to the exit."
"I can't speak for the Cajun," Wolverine said cynically, "But Nightcrawler should be able to lead them back here..."
Xavier nodded, and then paused a moment before adding, "Pyro and Toad are with them...as well as Mr. Malloy's sister..."
"Why don't you peek in and check on 'em?" Wolverine asked, but there was no amusement in his voice. Xavier nodded gravely and closed his eyes, trying to reach out to Kurt again, when the sounds of many heavy footsteps filled the hanger.
All the mutants turned and saw dozens of soldiers, dressed in black, rush out around them. As they spread into position, Magneto could not repress a dark smile. Mystique and Sabertooth stood ready to his left and right. He glanced over at Xavier once, and even though the Professor could not read the other man's mind, he read the words in Magneto's expression clearly.
I told you, Charles...warned you. I hope your children are ready for this war...
Trailing at the end of the line of troops, two other mutants, also dressed in white, began to move toward the center of the hanger. One wore dark glasses and carried a white cane in front of him. Even though he had been blind his entire life, his own special 'sight' allowed him to walk forward and avoid most objects without the aid of the cane. If asked he would have said his name was Andrew...and he was a mutant...
To his left, the blind mutant was grasping the arm of the other just above the elbow. The second mutant walked in a slow pace, his feet barely lifting from the ground as he moved. His eyes were half-lidded, and the expression on his pale face was lifeless. It was difficult to tell if he was leading the blind mutant or if the blind mutant was leading him.
In Xavier's mind, the pale mutant drew the memory of Jason Stryker's wasted form from Alkalai Lake. But, he knew Jason was dead, he had heard him die right after Kurt had teleported with him out of the Dark Cerebro.
This mutant's name was Cody Weinberg, and out of the six from Lot 23 Project, he was the most dangerous.
The soldiers formed a half circle, staying a good distance away from the cluster of mutants, and leveled their weapons, not at the intruders, but at the one they knew as Weinberg. This did not escape the attention of Xavier, who tried to reach the pale mutant's mind unsuccessfully.
The Professor exhaled with frustration, and instead, focused his mind in another direction and took control of all those around him in the hanger. The soldiers, the Brotherhood, the X-Men and any others. The entire room fell into an eerie silence. The only ones who remained free of his influence were Magneto, the pale mutant...and the dark figure walking last out of the hall.
For a moment, Charles and Erik stared in shock as the man called out. It was a voice they each knew very well, and one that frequented their more recent nightmares.
"Charles Xavier..." Stryker began in a welcoming tone, which quickly became vicious, "And Erik Lensherr."
The 'dead' general stepped into the dim light from the open hanger doors. His teeth gleamed like fangs as he grinned. On his head, he wore one of the mechanical caps he had created to ward off the Professor's powerful mind. During Xavier's exchange with the stranger, Stryker had weathered the pain to keep the device on his head, even when the blood began to flow from his ears and nose. A few red stains lingered on his cheeks and chin.
"So...good...to see you both again..."
***
Outside in the jet of the X-Men, Rogue was dabbing Mary's brow with a damp cloth. Her thoughts strayed from her unconscious friend, to Logan and the others, to Bobby back at the mansion, even to Gambit and what might have happened to him...
Despite her worry, she was alert to everything going on around them. The whine of the jet's engines, the howl of the wind outside, her own steady breathing.
Which is why Rogue nearly jumped out of her chair when Mary gripped her hand tightly, and opened her eyes.