/Flashback/

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Ryu couldn't take the waiting any longer all the sitting around and doing nothing was getting them nowhere. Making up his mind Ryu went to inform General Hammond that he was leaving.

"Enter." General Hammond called, when he heard someone knock on his office door. Looking up from his paper work he spotted Ryu standing in the doorway. "What can I do for, son?"

"Nothing actually, I'm just here to let you know that I'll be leaving." Ryu answered. "There's nothing more to be done from here."

"Can I ask where you're going?" Hammond had been suspecting that Ryu would leave he just didn't think it would be until after the whole Apocalypse thing had been dealt with.

"New York, sir. I need to talk to some old friends about any information they might have, that we don't"

"You're going to talk to your X-Men friends aren't you?"

"Yes sir." Ryu had no reason to hide his plans from the general. This effected him as much as anyone.

"In that case I'd like to send SG-1 and Jacob with you." Hammond held up a hand to stop Ryu from protesting. "Just as a security precaution to make sure they don't see or hear anything they're not supposed to while you're fighting Apocalypse."

Seeing where Hammond was coming from Ryu nodded his agreement and then left to inform the others about the plans. When they all agreed to go, Ryu wasn't all that surprised; they'd been just as bored of waiting around as he was.

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Arriving in Westchester the group headed straight to the X-mansion, not having time or the want to stop and sight see. Walking into the mansion Ryu was surprised to find the place looking almost deserted.

For the few years he'd lived there, no matter what, the place was always full of rowdy, rambunctious kids running around. About to call out to the professor telepathically, Ryu noticed Bobby Drake (AKA Iceman) come walking out of the kitchen.

"Hey Popsicle," Ryu called grabbing Bobby by the collar. "Where's everybody at?"

Caught by surprise Bobby just stared at Ryu for a minute, before he registered who was talking to him. "Ryu? What are…?" Bobby stopped short when he noticed the others, in their Airforce uniforms, standing behind Ryu.

Knowing what Bobby was thinking Ryu hurried to reassure the boy the others meant no harm. "Don't worry they're with me, they could care less about doing anything to you or the others. Now answer my question, where are the others?"

"Down in the Cerebro room." Bobby led the group over to the elevator that would take them down to the lower levels of the school.

"Cerebro room?" Sam questioned.

"Yeah it's where the professor keeps this device he created years ago called Cerebro. It helps amplify the professors telepathic abilities so he can find just about any mutant in the world." Ryu gave them the basic run down of what Cerebro was and did.

Entering the room Ryu spotted Logan (AKA Wolverine), Hank (AKA Beast), Scott (AKA Cyclops), Jean, Kitty (AKA Shadowcat), Kurt (AKA Nightcrawler), Rogue, along with other new recruits he didn't know gathered around a holographic image of the Sphinx in Egypt.

Thanks to his enhanced senses Logan was the first to notice the new people in the room. Turning around he found himself staring at Ryu, someone he thought he'd never see again, along with what he knew had to be military personnel. Going into defensive mode Logan let his admantium claws start to slide out of his knuckles.

"What the hell do you think you're doing here, kid?" Logan demanded. "And what's with the uniforms?"

"Check it Badger, they're on our side. I wouldn't have brought them if they couldn't be trusted and I trust them with my life. Well actually I trust Jacob with my life, but he trusts the others and that's good enough for me." Ryu answered. "But I'm not here to argue with you, I'm here because I need to talk to the professor about the whole Apocalypse situation."

"I'm afraid he's not here at the moment." Hank spoke up, before Logan and Ryu could get into a huge argument about what kind of people could be trusted. "As you can see he's in Egypt right know attempting to talk with Apocalypse." Hank indicated the holographic projection showing apocalypse floating above the Sphinx.

"HE WHAT! Do you want him getting squashed like Magneto?"

"We had no choice, he was very determined to try." Jean answered, she knew there was something Ryu was hiding from them, she didn't need her telepathy to tell her that.

"I can't believe this you guys just let him go. There are forces at work here you can't even begin to imagine--."

"Ryu!" Jack warned, before Ryu could say anything he wasn't supposed to.

Not saying anything Ryu turned to leave the room, but was stopped by what he saw on the hologram projection. Professor Xavier and Storm had started fighting it out with Apocalypse, but in the end the same thing that happened to Magneto happened to them.

Everyone in the room was shocked, nobody moved for quite some time. Finally getting over his shock Ryu stormed out of the room heading for the elevator. The others soon followed after him. By the time they caught up with him, he was already out side.

"Damnit kid, where the hell are you going?" Logan once again demanded an answer from Ryu.

"To finish this once and for all, and keep anyone else from getting hurt. The rest of you stay here"

"The hell you are. You're not going any where with out us." One of the female mutants stated and all the others agreed. Ryu was about to argue before he realized whom the voice belonged to.

"Peyton…" Ryu was surprised that she was even talking to him, after what he'd done to her.

/ It was a dark, cloudy and foggy night, neither the stars or the moon could be see, it was one of those depressing kind of nights. A perfect night to match his mood. As much as he hated it he knew it was time to leave the school, he'd been there for over six years, six years too long.

He never should have come in the first place, but there was something about these X-Men that called to him, more important there was something about her that had kept him from leaving, but no longer. As if reading his mind she came out of the fog to stand in front of him.

"You're leaving, why?" The woman asked, searching his eyes for something, she didn't know what.

"Because it's long past time I moved on." He answered turning his head away.

"You'll be back someday." She said as more of a statement than a question.

"Not if I can help it, I won't be." He started walking again.

"Can you honestly say you'll be happy out there when everything you need is here?" she tried one last ploy to try and get him to stay.

"I'm not happy now. You're wrong about there being everything I need here, there is nothing here for me. Nothing. Nothing to keep me here." He knew that was a lie, but it had to be said so that she would give up and just let him go.

Turning he again began to walk away, but not before he heard her whisper softly "I'm here. Isn' t that enough?" And that was true she was here, the one thing that could make him stay, but he couldn't think about that: the wondrous romance they'd had going for the last six years, because if he did then he really would stay and that would cause pain for everyone in the end. Pain he refused to be responsible for. Yes it was better he left now and let her hate him for it, then staying and having her hate him for the pain he would inevitably bring her. /

Feeling the tension in the group rise several notches SG-1 and Jacob could definitely tell that there was some history between Ryu and this Peyton girl.

"So what's their story?" Jacob, whispering, asked Hank. SG-1 leaned in closer to her his answer.

"For the six years that Ryu was living with us he and Peyton were dating. The two were quite the item, every one was convinced they would get married and start a family together, but then one day for reasons I don't know, he just up and left. Never said a word to any of us and even though Peyton claims she didn't speak with him before he left, I suspect she did and Ryu may have said some things that hurt her.

It took Peyton quite some time to get over his leaving and move on, but even though she's gone on with her life I know she is still very much in love with him and I can guarantee by the look in his eyes Ryu is still very much in love with her, even if he won't admit it." Hank answered, with a certain distant tone in his voice.

Before anyone could speak, they were interrupted by a helicopter with the word S.H.I.E.L.D on the side of it landing on the lawn and a man (Nick Fury), wearing an eye patch, jumped out headed straight for Logan.

"What do you want Fury? We're in the middle of something here." Logan growled at the man.

"I know that's why I'm here." Fury answered, quickly going on to tell the group that the sentinel program had be restarted and sentinels were being sent after Apocalypse. It was a good thing Nick Fury was a fast talker when need be, otherwise Logan would have killed him before he had the chance to explain that he wasn't any happier about the program being restarted than they were.

Returning to the Cerebro room the group watched as the battle between Apocalypse and the sentinels raged on. While Apocalypse battled with three sentinels, three others begin attacking the dome with a new weapon that should allow them to break through the energy barrier.

The group was once again shocked when Apocalypse called upon his new Horsemen, who turned out to be Xavier, Storm, Magneto, and Mystique under some kind of mind control. Apocalypse, after releasing them sent them to defend his pyramids. Xavier was sent to the energy dome in Egypt, Storm the one in China, Magneto the one in Mexico, and Mystique remained with Apocalypse.

Watching as the sentinels were destroyed, one after another, the group knew they had no choice but to travel to the energy domes and attempt to destroy them themselves. Dividing into four groups: one for each dome and one for the Sphinx the groups set out to recruit help from other mutants and then head to their assigned location.

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Back in Mexico, China, and Egypt the sentinels were able to destroy the energy barriers revealing a pyramid underneath each one. But before they could destroy the pyramids, the last of the sentinels were destroyed by Magneto, Storm, and Storm.

At the sphinx, Mystique stood guard out side while Apocalypse returned inside and began preparing for the next step in his plans.

In Egypt a helicopter landed letting out the mutants Boom-Boom, Multiple, Jean, Magma, X23, and Colossus. The helicopter that landed in China let out the mutants Berserker, Beast, Iceman and Spyke. In Mexico the mutants Shadowcat, Sunspot, Havok, Angel and the Scarlet Witch got off a third helicopter. And last Ryu, Wolverine, Cyclops, Nightcrawler, and Peyton landed at the Sphinx, ready to take on Apocalypse.

SG-1 and Jacob remained on the helicopter that had landed at the Sphinx. They all knew there was nothing they were really going to be able to do help, so had agreed to sit this one out for the time being.

All four groups prepared themselves for what they knew was going to be the biggest fight they'd ever fought. This time they knew they weren't just fighting for the safety and continued existence of mutants, but for the entire world.