"Prime Minister? Our ambassadors in New York are waiting for your decision."

The British Prime Minister looked up and nodded to his assistant in the doorway. The man left, closing the door behind him, and the Prime Minister sighed. Seated in his luxurious office in 10 Downing Street, he was faced with one of the most difficult choices he'd had to make in his political career. He'd held extensive discussions with his own party members, and with the leaders of the Opposition and Alternative parties. There had been voices and arguments on both sides, and the final decision rested with him.

Nuclear weapons. Every country in the UN except America was voting for their immediate and permanent disarmament. It only took two nations' votes to block the proposal. Britain's decision could well change the future of the world. The Prime Minister had his own views on the matter, but it wasn't as simple as just voting the way he wanted. He had to consider the political and diplomatic ramifications as well. He could vote with the US, and keep nuclear weapons. America had been Britain's strongest and closest ally for a century, so there was plenty of reason to agree with them. And despite the risks surrounding nuclear weapons, they did provide that extra level of discouragement to any potential attackers.

On the other hand, nuclear war was the last thing anybody wanted. And voting with America meant voting against the rest of Europe. Relations between the United States and the European Union were desperate enough already. Only shrewd diplomatic work from the British had prevented World War III from beginning five years ago (the Prime Minister wondered how long that would remain a secret from the general public). If the world were a machine, then Britain would be the small yet vital cog that sat between the larger cogs of America and Europe, and kept the whole process stable. For years the PM had been working to avoid making any kind of choice that would upset the balance. Now that decision had arrived. He had to side with one or the other. Even abstaining would still be seen by the White House as betrayal.

Voting either way could lead to war between the two sides. It could well lead to the annihilation of Britain. If we vote against America, they might grow angry and withdraw from the UN completely, ignoring the nuclear disarmament treaty, declaring war on anyone they wanted to. In that case, God help us. We would be the obvious target.

If we vote against Europe, we put our own safety at equally great risk. America would be on our side, but they're 3000 miles away, and France and Germany are just across the sea. Diplomatic relations could collapse entirely, and we would be right in the path of an almighty backlash from the entire continent.

I can't believe it's come to this. International mistrust and tolerance are at an all-time low. The entire northern hemisphere is a gigantic tinderbox. All it takes is a tiny spark to ignite world war. And whatever I decide, the fuse will be lit anyway.

The Prime Minister was not a religious man, but never had he more wished for some kind of divine inspiration to help him make this decision. Appearing ever confident and decisive in front of the press and public, he was now a completely different picture. Shoulders slumped, hair unkempt, glasses pushed to the top of his head to allow him to rub his tired eyes, he concentrated furiously, fighting against the stress and fatigue that fogged his mind and dulled his thoughts. I have to clear my mind. I have to think clearly and logically. There has to be a solution to this problem. We can't simply be facing annihilation whatever I decide.

For a moment he had the strangest feeling of being somewhere else, but the next moment it had passed. The Prime Minister blinked as he opened his eyes and looked up.

"What was that?" he muttered to himself, putting his glasses back in place.

The feeling had been inexplicable. He'd never known anything like it before. It hadn't been a bad sensation. In fact, he actually felt better. His mind was strangely clear, and he felt as if he could think straight for the first time in months. He smiled. The decision that had been troubling him, was troubling him no longer. He saw the solution now. It was so obvious. Why hadn't he realised it before? There was only one option to take. He didn't know what had just happened to him, but it had certainly helped him make the impossible choice.

He lifted the telephone.

"Gaia! Hey, Chloe! You still haven't told us what the hell is going on!"

Chloe had run straight from the hangar towards the communications room, with Pyro and Logan hurrying to keep up with her. Looking back over her shoulder, she called to them, "You remember the Professor built that little device that detects telepathic energy?"

"No," said Logan.

"It uses the same technology as Cerebro. He used it as a way of detecting other telepaths, or to measure his own telepathic output when he was testing Cerebro."

"Yeah, and?"

"Well, it's going crazy. There's a massive amount of telepathic energy spreading across Britain, and starting to extend into Northern Europe."

"Britain…that's where your husband took the Cerebro components – you think it's him?"

"I suppose it must be…but I don't understand what he's trying to do. If he's trying to look for Magneto with his telepathy, why not just do it here?"

"Maybe he thinks Magneto is there. Maybe it's easier to find someone when they're closer at hand."

"It shouldn't make a difference," she said. "He has enough telepathic power to cover the whole planet, so it doesn't matter where he starts from."

They had reached the communications room now, and the three of them gathered around the telepathic detector.

"It's reading off the scale," Logan said. "OK, Chloe, what's going on? What's your husband trying to do?"

"I don't know. Whatever it is…he didn't tell me he was going to do it."

"What do you think?"

"I don't know…maybe Magneto's done something else, or is about to do something…and Neil's gone to try and stop it…it must be something of desperate importance if he didn't even tell me he was going to do it…"

Pyro headed for the one of the computer terminals, "I'll go online and see if I can find out anything. Maybe something happened recently in London that drew him there. Maybe there's something there that he's interested in. Think, you guys. What's in London?"

"Well, there's the Royal family, though I can't see why Neil would be interested in them," said Chloe. "The Armed Forces all have their headquarters in London. Then there's the Houses of Parliament…he could be trying to talk with the government."

"Via telepathy?"

She shrugged, "Other than that, nothing in London springs immediately to mind. I don't really know it that well."

"You don't know London? Aren't you British?" said Logan in surprise.

"I prefer to think of myself as Scottish. And Britain isn't as small as some of you Americans seem to think. I've never been to London so I know nothing about it. The only city I really know is Edinburgh, where I grew up."

"Whatever. So can we assume he's either gone to talk to the army or the government?"

"Yes, but what about? What was so important that he had to drop everything and go, without telling me about it, and taking the Cerebro parts with him?"

She turned to Pyro, "John, try and find out if the government – my government – has said or done anything recently that might have worried Neil in some way. I haven't really been paying any attention to the news from home for a while, so if anything has happened, I'll have missed it."

"OK. Give me a minute."

Logan said to Chloe, "Are you thinking what I'm thinking? That your government has enacted some law involving mutants, and that's gotten Oculus worked up?"

"Yes, I was thinking on those lines," she agreed. "Britain already has a Mutant Registration Act, put into place when I was in my teens. It's a lot harder for our kind to live there than it is here. Fortunately, Britain has a much smaller population, and hence there are less mutants to suffer from the Act."

"So what do you think they've done now? The government, I mean. Made it illegal to be a mutant? Allowed us to be shot on sight?"

"I dread to think. When too many corrupt politicians get together, it's never good news for anyone."

Pyro nodded, "The humans can't be trusted to run this world for the benefit of anyone but themselves. There should be a mutant ruling class, paving the way forward for our species."

Logan snorted, "I don't think it matters who's in charge. Any kind of leader will only care about himself instead of the people he's supposed to be looking after."

"Does that include Xavier?"

"What do you mean?"

"I mean: why did he do all the stuff he did? What was in it for him?"

Neither of the two X-Men replied. Pyro had led the conversation this way, that was clear.

"He had a dream for the future," said Chloe eventually. "A dream that, sadly, he never lived to see come true. He believed in what he was doing, John. Not even you can deny that."

"Can't I? I never understood why he did it. I never understood why any of you went along with him. Any fool can see that mutants and humans are never going to like each other. Obviously we all want that to happen, but only he was delusional enough to think that it actually might."

Logan argued, "If you believe something's worth fighting for, then you have to go for it, no matter how crazy it might seem. The Professor did everything he could for what he thought was right, and he helped a lot of us to make something of our lives. Including you, I might add. It's just a pity you spat in his face and went to the dark side after what he did for you."

Pyro shook his head, "Xavier was a fool, chasing an impossible fantasy. Magneto was the one who could see the truth. He knew humans will never accept us. He realised that and accepted it, and did everything he could to protect mutants from harm."

"You're talking as if Magneto was dead," said Chloe. "Are you forgetting he's trying to kill us right now?"

The fire mutant sighed, "I don't know, I just don't understand it. Why he's doing this, why any of this is happening. It isn't him. It doesn't make any sense to say that, since we all know it is him, but he's not the same man. Something happened to him."

"What?"

"I don't know. My daughter had this idea…I can't even remember what it was now, I was only half-listening to her…no, wait. I remember. She said that before Xavier died, he went into Magneto's mind and changed him, and made him into the man we're fighting right now. She said Xavier corrupted him."

"Oh, come on," said Logan scornfully. "Your kid's got an overactive imagination is all."

"Yes, I thought it was crazy too, but I've been going over it in my mind, and the more I do so, the more it makes sense. Think about it. Xavier's dying and he realises he isn't going to see his dream work out. Perhaps he realises he's been chasing a fool's errand all along, and has wasted his entire life on nothing. Then he sees that his arch-enemy was right all along, and that Magneto simply had his finger on the pulse and was trying to make the best of a bad situation. So in his anger, with his last remaining power, Xavier lashes out and fries Magneto's brain, warping his mind and changing him completely."

"Bullshit," Logan scoffed. "Your kid really is crazy if she thinks that."

Chloe stepped between them before Pyro could leap to his feet in fury and throw a punch.

"My daughter is not crazy," he hissed through gritted teeth. "If you knew half of what she's been through, you self-righteous bastard…"

"Oh, yeah?" Logan retorted. "Kept captive and experimented on by human researchers? Been there, done that, bought the T-shirt."

"You think you're something special because of that? What happened to my daughter was worse, far worse…"

"I'd say having you for a father is about the worst thing that could happen to a kid her age, yes."

"Stop it!" Chloe demanded. "The situation is bad enough without the two of you trying to prove who's the hard man! Let's get our minds back where they were before, all right? Good. Now, John, did you find out anything about the parliament?"

His anger still simmering, Pyro said, "No. There's nothing. Your government's in the middle of discussing some trade agreement with the French, nothing more important than that. There's nothing that would have made Oculus rush over there the way he did."

"There must be something…" she said. "Wait a minute……I've got it! I know what it is."

"Do tell."

"The voting in the UN Security Council. The nuclear disarmament treaty. Britain's still voting with America and blocking the treaty. The next round of voting takes place any day now."

"Of course," said Logan. "Oculus was talking about that a few days ago, wasn't he? He was saying that all nukes should be destroyed."

Pyro agreed, "As I recall, he was quite outspoken on the matter. He couldn't believe that anyone, least of all his own country, was voting in favour of nuclear weapons."

"Right. So he's taken matters into his own hands."

"The telepathy…"

"Oh, shit," Logan breathed. "You realise what this means, don't you? He's using his mind control to get the British to vote in favour of the nuclear disarmament treaty!"

"That's it," Pyro nodded. "That's why he's taken the Cerebro components all the way to London! He can read people's minds from anywhere in the world, but to actually control them – that's a different matter. He needs to be close to the targets."

"How do you know that?"

"Magneto told me. He helped build Cerebro, remember?"

Chloe finally interrupted, "No, no, this can't be right! Neil wouldn't do that! He wouldn't control people's minds like that! He wouldn't destroy their free will!"

"Wouldn't he?" Pyro said darkly. "That's another thing my daughter told me. Your husband was giving one of his lectures on Ethics, and that's what he was talking about. How evil only exists in the world because people have free will."

"He thinks he's defeating evil by taking away free will?" said Logan. "Oh hell, he really has cracked. I always guessed he was a bit screwy – after what his father did to him – I always wondered if he'd crack and do something like this…"

Pyro frowned, "What are you talking about? What about his father?"

But Chloe blocked any response:

"Now wait a minute!" she yelled furiously. "You have no right to go about accusing my husband this way! There is no way he would do this without telling me! And he would never do anything like that without a good reason! There must be something else going on here; something he found out that we don't know about yet! There must be an explanation for what's happening!"

"There is, we've just outlined it," Logan said. "Look, it all fits. You see it, don't you? He's gotten so obsessed with his fear of nuclear weapons that he's gonna do anything to get rid of them. He's convinced himself that it's all right to take away free will if it helps to destroy what he thinks is evil."

"He's right, Chloe," Pyro said. "Hey, you think I'm going to agree with this asshole just for fun? Look, I know it's hard to take, that Oculus didn't tell you about it first, but – "

"No, I'm not listening!" she snapped. "You're jumping to conclusions and making this up because you want to believe bad things about him! I'm going to call him and he'll explain everything!"

"I thought you said you couldn't get through to him…"

She was already storming across the room to the communications equipment. She entered her husband's frequency, and waited for a response. This time she was finally able to make contact. He answered almost immediately:

"Yes?"

"Neil? It's Chloe. Where are you? What are you doing?"

"The tone of your voice suggests you already know what I'm doing."

"You're in London, aren't you? You said you were going to meet the UN, but they're here in New York instead! Why did you lie to me?"

"I'm sorry, Chloe. I've had to do a lot of things I didn't want to. I don't have any other choice."

"What are you talking about? Any other choice about what?"

"Nuclear weapons will destroy us, Chloe. They'll destroy all life on Earth unless we get rid of them. The nuclear disarmament treaty is our only hope of protecting ourselves and our children. We can't allow politicians to block it through their short-sightedness and self-interest."

"Neil, what are you doing? Are you using your mind control?"

"I'm sorry. I don't want to do it this way. But there is no other way."

"No!" she cried. "Are you serious? You can't do that! You can't take away people's freedom to do what they think is right!"

"Chloe, the Horsemen came within an inch of destroying the planet with nuclear weaponry. It was only by a bizarre twist of fate that Annie and Gary were able to stop them. The humans who are voting against this treaty don't realise how close they came to annihilation. They don't know how it happened."

"Neil, you can't do this!"

"I have to. Voting on the treaty ends today. This is the only way to ensure nuclear disarmament goes ahead. This is for the good of the entire human race, Chloe. It's what the Professor would have done."

"You don't know that! You can't justify it by just saying that! Neil, tell me exactly what you're doing. Are you taking over people's minds and forcing them to vote the way you want?"

"I can't allow them to make the wrong decision. It could kill us all."

"But how do you know you're making the right decision? The treaty won't mean anything if people haven't voted for it from their own hearts!"

"Chloe, once again, I'm sorry I had to deceive you. This is the only way to prevent a calamitous disaster. Once it's all over, you'll understand."

"No! Neil – "

But he had already cut off the communication. For several moments Chloe just stared at the microphone still in her hand, as if she couldn't believe what had just been said. Eventually one of the men broke the silence, "Well? What'd he say?"

"I – I don't believe it…" she whispered. "He's – you were right. He's…doing what you said he was. He's taking over minds to influence the vote on nuclear disarmament. I – I just can't believe that he would – "

"Damn it!" Logan growled. "Why now? Of all the times to do something crazy like this, why pick now? Doesn't he realise we've got more important things to worry about? Has he forgotten Magneto is trying to mind control us, or worse?"

Chloe put her head in her hands and groaned, "I don't know what to do. I don't know what to think. I can't believe he's doing this. I can't believe any of this is happening."

"I can," Logan muttered.

"I knew the treatment made the others insane, but I never thought it could have affected Neil in any way…"

"I must be missing something," said Pyro, sounding slightly confused. "What are you talking about? What was that about Oculus' father?"

"Oh," Chloe said distractedly. "Has no-one ever told you? It's where Neil got his powers from."

"What, you mean he inherited them genetically? From his father?"

"No. It's, um, it's a long story."

"Summarise it for me."

"Well, Neil's father was a geneticist. He used to do some research work with the Professor. His name was Davor Rosiçky, and he was experimenting with a method of implanting mutant powers into ordinary human beings."

Pyro glanced over at Logan, "Same thing as happened to you, right?"

"Not exactly," Chloe said. "Logan was already a full-grown man when he was…worked on…by Stryker. You see, Davor's implant treatment was at an experimental stage where it could only be tested on new-born babies. I think it was easier to implant the mutations while the body was at a very early stage of growth. Obviously it's impossible to get hold of a baby for research purposes, but Davor was becoming so completely obsessed by his work that he was prepared to go to any lengths. His wife became pregnant, and died in childbirth with Neil."

"I get the picture," said Pyro. "He experimented on Neil, who became Oculus. That's where he got his powers from. Are you saying he was born human? He wasn't born one of us?"

"That's correct. Now fortunately the Professor knew what was going on, or at least some of it. He got Neil away from Davor and sent him to live with his maternal grandparents, with the intention of contacting him again when he was old enough to understand."

"Davor didn't come looking for him?"

"Not right away. His experiment on Neil was a success, a much bigger one than he might have expected. He concentrated on perfecting the technique. Within a few years it was ready for the next stage: testing on slightly older children. He abducted four kids, between three and five years old, and performed the experiments again. This time things didn't go quite as well as planned. The kids were implanted with the mutations, but their minds were changed too: warped and distorted, sending them irreversibly insane. Again, the Professor found out about it, and set the kids free."

"Experimentation on children…" Pyro shivered. "Davor wasn't a very nice man, I take it?"

"I don't know what he was like originally, but when his work overtook and consumed him, he was changed for the worse. It was an obsession, a cancer almost, eating away at him and corrupting him from inside."

"So what'd he do next?"

"He spent the next ten or so years improving the experimental technique further. Eventually he was able to develop it to such a level that it was safe to use on himself. At about the same time, the British government introduced the Mutant Registration Act. We suspect Davor was more than slightly involved in forcing that through. He was determined to find his previous subjects, now they were in their teens and ready to serve him. With the Act in place, he got hold of the four kids he'd experimented on, and they came to him willingly. He got another surprise when he found Neil. I think the Professor managed to deceive him into thinking Neil was dead."

"Go on," said the increasingly intrigued Brotherhood leader.

"He wanted to get hold of Neil right away. I don't know if he wanted to try and recruit him, or he simply wanted to eliminate him as a threat. Perhaps he'd made Neil more powerful than he really intended to, and didn't want him out there as a rival. Anyway, Neil and I were at the same school together, along with Chris and, um…Jacqueline. The four of us were rounded up under the new powers of the Mutant Registration Act, and taken straight to Davor. We managed to escape, and set about tracking him down. We had no idea who he was or what he wanted. We almost got killed when he sent two of his four subjects after us."

"I remember," said Logan. "Xavier sent Cyclops and Storm to get you out of that one."

"Right. That was probably Davor's biggest mistake. By trying to kill us, he only attracted the Professor's attention, and thus brought Neil and the Professor together. That was probably the one thing Davor was trying to avoid. We were brought here to the school, where the Professor finally told us what was going on."

"And as I recall, you split from here pretty quick."

"Yes, Neil and Chris wanted to go after Davor and his subjects, and settle things with them. Jacqueline and I decided our best option was to go with them. We didn't know who to trust, so we fled from the mansion and headed straight for Davor's lab. After a struggle we managed to kill him and the four kids."

Pyro looked at Wolverine, "And you think that Oculus went crazy as well? The same as the other kids Davor worked on?"

That was exactly what Logan thought, but he couldn't very well say that in front of Oculus' wife.

"I guess that could be possible," he said.

"Right, so what are we going to do about him?" said Pyro. "I mean, I couldn't care less about the fact that he's screwing around with humans' minds. But if he's influencing decisions that could very well change the future of the world, and if he's – well, if he might be mentally unstable – we should at the very least be looking at him closely."

"But how can we?" Chloe argued. "We've got Magneto to worry about! He's a far bigger threat! And Neil isn't insane like Mindstorm and the rest! Maybe he's just…well, maybe he's been brooding too much on the danger of nuclear weapons. Maybe he's afraid that what the Horsemen tried to do might happen a second time…maybe there's more of an imminent threat than we realise."

"You're not saying you agree with him?" Logan glared at her. "Chloe, I know he's your husband, but he's clearly gone completely around the bend!"

Chloe looked away and said nothing. Pyro raised his eyebrows, "Look, you guys can do whatever you want, but I'm going to try and get in contact with my daughter or one of the rest of my students. I want to know what Magneto's doing right now."

"He's been planning this for years," Magneto spoke clearly and concisely. "I've been waiting for him to make a move, ever since Charles died. I'm only surprised it's taken him so long."

"Wait a minute," Scott interrupted. "What are you talking about? Who are you talking about?"

"I'm talking about the biggest mistake Charles ever made. He always had too much faith in the goodness of others. He naively assumed that if he showed compassion and understanding to a person, they would reciprocate."

"Hey!" said Felicity angrily. "When you're finished insulting the Professor, will you tell us what this is all about? Why did you have us captured? Why did you have us rigged up to those sadistic traps? Why are you here? What are you doing?"

"You, my girl, are in no position to demand anything of me," Magneto said icily. "Suffice it to say that I have brought us together so that we may face our common enemy."

Scott shook his head, "Not good enough. Why should we trust you? You haven't even told us who this enemy is."

The older man sighed deeply, "I despair. Is there not one brain among you? Is there not one who has not been blind all these years? He was Charles' biggest gamble, and as I said earlier, his biggest mistake. Does this ring any bells? A child with so much power, so much potential, that not even myself, not even Charles, would be able to match him?"

The X-Men exchanged glances.

"You're talking about Oculus," said Scott.

Magneto pretended to sigh with relief, and said mockingly, "At last. I was hoping I wouldn't have to spell it out in nice big letters."

"I don't know what you're talking about. He's one of us. You're right, the Professor took a chance, but it paid off. Neil followed Xavier's teachings and joined us."

"Did he. I wonder, where is he now?"

"How should I know? You've had us locked up in here! Magneto, there had better be some explanation for this, unless you've just gone crazy!"

"I do not have to justify my actions to you or to anybody! I think you will find that, at this moment, I am the one who is – what is the phrase – calling the shots."

From somewhere on his person, Magneto produced a small cube of some metallic substance. With a casual flick of his hand, the cube dissolved and separated into hundreds, thousands of tiny metal specks. He smiled. The X-Men did not. The metal particles looked small and harmless enough, but they knew that Magneto could use them to rip through a person's body as easily as a knife going through butter.

Scott moved protectively in front of his friends, "All right, you've made your point. Our lives are in your hands. But you wouldn't have saved our lives just now if you were only going to kill us five minutes later. What do you want from us?"

"To help defeat our enemy, before he rises to a position of unconquerable strength. First, I suggest you contact your school and learn his whereabouts."

"What makes you think he's doing any of what you say? I've never seen him doing anything suspicious."

"Of course you haven't. Make the call."

"All right. Fine. I'll call them. Once we've ascertained that Neil isn't doing anything untoward, maybe you'd care to explain what you've been doing to us."

The other man nodded once, silently. Scott sighed and reached for his communicator, entering the school's frequency. Almost immediately, he was greeted by a panicking voice asking, "Neil? Is that you?"

"Chloe? It's Scott."

"Scott? Where are you? Are you OK? I don't believe what's happening; Neil's – "

"Chloe – Chloe, slow down. Calm down. Tell me what's going on."

"I can't believe it. I can't believe what's happening. Neil's – he's gone to London. It looks like he's trying to psychically dominate the British government! He's trying to influence the vote on nuclear disarmament!"

Then she snapped, "Shut up, Logan! He is not out of his mind!"

"Is Logan with you?" said Scott. "How did he escape?"

Logan had obviously taken the communicator at the other end, as Scott heard his voice next, reluctantly admitting, "Um, Pyro's kids got me out. Cyclops, where the hell are you?"

"We're with Magneto."

"You're what! Listen, he's the one behind all of this! He's trying to use his mind control to take us over! He's got some new plan and it's something to do with this metal called constantium!"

Magneto overheard, and gave a soft chuckle, "Ask them about Oculus."

"We need to know what Neil is trying to do."

Logan said, "Chloe told you. He's in London and he's trying to take over people's minds. We think it's something to do with the vote on nukes. You guys wanna get back here?"

"Yeah. We're coming."

Scott hung up and turned to face Magneto, "All right, Magneto, I still don't know what your part is in all this. I still want to know why you've been holding us here, but that can wait. If we can find Neil and talk to him before he does anything stupid, we can get this straightened out. And then maybe you'll answer some of our questions."

"Indeed. We have no time to lose."

The metal shreds began to move together, and concentrated into the cube once more. The X-Men breathed easy. Magneto had already turned and was leading the way to the exit. They hurried after him. Storm had been shot in the log and was struggling to walk. Kurt was supporting her. Iceman was dizzy through loss of blood but was not seriously wounded. Rogue had a hand on his shoulder just in case.

"What is this place?" Scott asked, but Magneto either didn't hear or simply chose to ignore him.

Eventually they stopped in front of a large, heavily sealed metal door, which Magneto swept open with a simple flick of his hand. Inside lay an impressive array of vehicles for all conditions: jeeps, tanks, hovercraft, helicopters, and three black jets that looked strangely familiar. Magneto was heading towards them.

"I thought I'd take care of them for you," came his sarcastic voice.

The group boarded one of the jets, and Scott went forward to take the controls.

"We must head for London immediately," said Magneto.

Scott turned to face him, and shook his head, "Not yet. We have wounded. We have to take them back to the school first."

"We cannot afford to waste time."

"Perhaps, but I'm not willing to take any risks. They need medical attention. Besides, we can pick up Logan and Chloe while we're there."

"Ah yes, the inestimable Wolverine. Truly an indispensable ally."

"I'm glad you think so. Oh, and I forgot – your old pupil is with them too."

A scowl instantly appeared on Magneto's face, and he hissed, "Pyro. I have no time for him."

The others in the back had strapped themselves in, and Scott hit the controls to take off. They were on their way back to the school. Shock and Shapeshifter had moved forward into the cockpit, and Felicity said, "OK, Magneto, it'll take a couple hours for us to get there. How about you explain yourself?"

"In what way?"

"For starters, what's with trapping us and putting us in your sadistic little prison cells? What was that supposed to accomplish? For someone who's claiming not to be our enemy, you're sure acting like one."

Magneto sighed, "It's hard to explain. I fear I am playing this game on a level far above your comprehension."

Shock glared at him, "Try me."

"Very well. I believe Charles might have put it like this: sometimes the mind needs to discover things for itself."

"What does that mean?"

"It means I could not simply tell you the truth. I could not simply tell you what Oculus was planning to do. Why would you believe me? If he knew that suspicions were aroused, he would become even more dangerous. I did what I had to do, to make you see the truth, without him realising."

"I don't see how your actions support that claim."

"Of course you don't. As I said, I'm doing things on a level you can't fathom. My actions regarding you may have seemed irrational and hostile, but psychologically they achieved my objective. You are receptive to the truth."

"OK, explain why you've pretended to be dead for so long. Explain why you don't look a day over sixty, when you should be touching ninety."

"In answer to your first question: when Charles died, I knew Oculus would begin to move. I knew my only hope was to feign death and remain hidden until the right moment. To answer the second point is more difficult. I will explain all, in time. For now we must concentrate on stopping him."

"But how did you know? How did you know he was going to do this, when we were living with him every day and we couldn't see it?"

"Years ago – you may not remember, you were but a child – he and I shared telepathic communion…"

"I remember."

"It lasted a matter of minutes, but it was enough for me to gain an insight into his character. I saw the instability. I saw the conflicting desires: wanting peace but wanting to achieve it through the wrong means, through utilising personal power to control others. I have no doubt Charles saw the same things, and believed he could teach the boy to work for the good of humanity. It would appear he underestimated the depth of the instability."

Fliss sighed, "I can't believe it. I can't believe he would do this. He's been my friend for years. I've always trusted him to do what's right. But still…I have to admit you're right. What you said about wanting peace but trying too hard to force it on people…I think that's the problem he's always had. Logan and Chloe said he's gone to London to try and influence some political struggle."

"Exactly. I've known for years this was going to happen. Even that tiny glimpse into his mind told me all I needed to know. I can't explain it to you because you don't have any understanding of telepathy. But if you know a person well enough, you can predict how they will react in a certain circumstance. Telepathy works more or less the same way. Or at least the analogy will do for someone of your limited understanding."

"Why didn't you tell anyone? Why didn't you tell the Professor?"

"Because I knew exactly how he would react as well. He wouldn't see the boy as a danger. He would simply see him as a young mind to instruct and educate. He hoped for the best and did not plan sufficiently for the worst."

Unhappily, Shock frowned, "I guess…"

In the back, the injured Storm and Iceman were being made comfortable by Nightcrawler, while Rogue watched on. Shapeshifter was busy at the communications panel. A frown crossed his face and he looked round at Scott, "I'm getting weird reports from London. Britain voted in favour of the nuclear disarmament treaty. The Prime Minister has announced that the British military forces are to be disarmed and disbanded."

"What?" said Shock in surprise.

"It's Oculus," said Magneto, adding dryly. "He thinks he's saving the world."

"What do you mean?"

"I have no doubt his intentions will start off pure. I am certain he will convince himself that he is doing the right thing. He will believe that humanity is best served by what he is doing. He sees war and military might as a simple evil that must be removed. He is using his psychic powers to force the Prime Minister into doing this."

"But the Prime Minister alone doesn't have the power to do anything…" Shapeshifter protested.

"Then Oculus will control the minds of everybody he needs to. Everything in Britain is controlled from London. He can command the entire nation with the minds of just a few people."

"But why? And why now?"

"We can only guess at the reason for his timing. His motive is simple. He believes he is defeating evil. He believes that by getting rid of nuclear weapons and disbanding the army, he will be removing evil. This is the start of the chain reaction."

"What chain reaction?"

"Once he has started, he won't stop. He'll try to root out evil wherever he sees it, and will control the minds of anybody he needs to achieve his goals. Before long he will lose sight of his original definition of evil, and will simply see it in anyone who tries to oppose him."

Scott frowned, "You think he's turned into some kind of religious extremist?"

"Indeed. When it is twisted and corrupted, religion can be a terrifying and destructive force. I should know that better than anyone."

The journey north was short but tense. Each of them was locked deep in his or her own thoughts. The initial surprise at finding Magneto alive was now wearing off, and they were starting to consider things more logically. Could he be trusted? Was he lying? Was this a deception? No. They had confirmed his claims…the news reports, plus what Logan had said…but it seemed so incredible, too incredible. How could a man they had known for years been harbouring such dreams and plans? How could Oculus have kept this a secret for so long? How long had he been maintaining a deception? How could none of them had seen it? How could a person project an exterior that was so at odds with their inner self?

Shock suddenly stopped as a thought occurred to her: Wait a minute…why did Annie never know about this? Annie can read minds. Even if Neil was lying to us, Annie would know about it from her telepathy. Ah. Wait. Who was it that taught her how to use her telepathy? But I just can't believe Neil is doing any of this! He's been my friend for years and we've loved each other almost like a brother and sister. How could he have been lying to me? How could he have been lying to Chloe? Magneto must be the one who's lying! This has to be a trick he's playing; it has to be! But we know it isn't. The evidence proves he's telling the truth.

Oh, I feel so bad for Chloe. I wonder how she's coping. How can she be handling this? The man she's loved for half her life, with whom she created the children who saved the world from the Apocalypse…how can she possibly come to terms with what Neil is trying to do now? What would I do in her place? I don't know…I don't even want to think about it…

When they touched down at the school, there was already a reception party waiting for them. Chloe, Logan and Pyro were moving towards the landing ramp as the others emerged.

"Are you guys OK?" Chloe asked urgently. "We were so worried about you!"

Fliss hurried down towards her, and the two women embraced.

"I'm so sorry about Neil…" Fliss sighed. "I know it can't be easy for you, but try and hang in there, OK?"

"I don't know what to think," Chloe groaned. "I'm still in shock from finding out what's happening."

"Just hang in there," her friend whispered, kissing her softly on the cheek.

Chris appeared beside them, "Chloe – where's Marina?"

"Yeah," said Fliss. "And where's Annie and Gary?"

"I don't know," Chloe repeated, shaking her head in confusion. "Marina's with the rest of the teenagers."

"Where are they?"

Before Chloe could respond, they were already being ushered back on board by Scott.

"Come on, we haven't a moment to lose," he said. "We have to get to London and find Neil. I'm sure it's just a misunderstanding and we can talk things over with him. We have to get there as soon as we can, before he does something regrettable."

They hurried on board, where the rest were already gathered. Kurt had taken Storm inside the school and was tending her injuries in the infirmary. Iceman was still dizzy from loss of blood, but was determined to keep going. The jet took off, and they were headed for London. Fliss guided the dazed Chloe to a seat, and strapped her in. Chris was busy at the controls, but the rest were watching intrigued as Pyro and Magneto finally came to face after four years. Far from seeming pleased to see his former mentor, Pyro was approaching Magneto with anger lining his features. While the metal master was studiously ignoring his old pupil, it was obvious that the younger man was determined to confront him.

"Magneto," he said frostily. "We have to talk."

"Really? I don't think we do. I don't think there is anything you have to say which I would care to listen to."

"And you can stop with the 'I'm-your-superior' crap. Stop it right now. You have a number of things to explain."

Magneto glared at him as if Pyro were some petulant child, "I do not have to explain myself to you or to anybody. I have made my own path since long before you were born, and I have never once had to justify myself, even to my equals. It would be laughable to consider you my equal. You should consider yourself privileged that I even acknowledge your presence."

Pyro lost his cool.

"What did you do to my daughter?" he yelled. "Five years ago you told me I was being sent to rescue her! You didn't tell me that you were the one who had her taken and imprisoned to start with! You didn't tell me that she was being physically and sexually abused! You lied to me, you bastard! Why did you do it to her? Why did you do that to an innocent child? Do you have any idea how much she suffers because of it?"

Magneto ignored him, turning to face the other way.

"Don't think you can just ignore me!" Pyro snapped. "Her own mother is part of your little group! She gave Gemini to you, and you used her as a research specimen! We know all about your conspiracy and your eleven friends! I can't believe you're actually associating with humans! What are you planning to do anyway, take over the world?"

There was no response. Pyro's hand strayed towards his lighter, but Rogue put her hand on his arm, stopping him from doing anything he might have soon regretted.

"Magneto, I think you should explain," said Scott. "If you want us to trust you, then you shouldn't have anything to hide. Telling us we wouldn't understand isn't good enough. After everything you've done to us recently, I think we deserve some kind of explanation."

"No doubt there is much you would like to know. Unfortunately, I do not exist simply to satisfy your curiosity. Suffice it to say that the development of constantium will ensure mutant survival for centuries to come."

"Constantium? Is that what this is all about? What's so special about it?"

A wry chuckle, "If only you knew how vacuous a statement you have just made. Constantium is the single greatest development our world has seen in over a century."

"What, because it's indestructible?" said Logan. "You want to use it as a weapon, don't you? Come on, why don't you just come out and say it?"

"Fortunately my mind is not so crude and feeble as yours. I do not merely seek to end life. My only desire is to protect myself and other mutants – even those as worthless as you, Wolverine – from those who would harm us."

"You mean…you plan to use it as some kind of shield?" said Fliss.

"Yes. Constantium is lighter and easier to utilise than adamantium. And it is indestructible – at least in a contemporary sense. It will be hundreds of years before the humans develop weapons powerful enough to threaten it."

"So what are you saying?" said Scott sarcastically. "That we all go about in suits of armour made out of this stuff?"

"That would certainly be an improvement on your current attire, but no, it's not what I had in mind. My plan is this: the establishment of a haven, somewhere in the world, where mutants can live in peace and security. An independent, self-sufficient community, protected from outside attack both by our innate gifts and by the unbreachable might of constantium. While the humans slaughter each other over their petty differences and mindless hatred, thus guaranteeing their own extinction, we can exist safely away from their destructive tendencies. When they have wiped themselves from the face of the Earth, we can take our rightful place as the number one species on the planet."

"That's bullshit," Pyro snapped, before any of the others had a chance to respond. "If you're so keen on protecting mutants, why did you send those guys to attack the school? Don't try to lie, because we know you were the one responsible for that! And you still haven't answered my question about Gemini!"

"An attack on the school?" Scott frowned. "What are you talking about?"

"He sent some mercs to the school to kill us off! You guys were all away; so it was just me and Chloe and the kids! And Oculus."

At this point Chloe looked up, "That's right! Neil was the one who stopped that attack and saved our lives! You're all so busy bad-mouthing him that you forgot to take that into account! He saved all of our lives!"

Magneto shrugged off the accusation, "Of course Oculus was the one to stop the attack. He was the one the attack was aimed at. The rest of you were just in the wrong place at the wrong time."

"Bullshit!" Pyro retorted. "They were trying to kill us! Don't try to tell me otherwise!"

"I think it more likely they were acting in self defence. Their instructions were to kill one man and one man only. I knew it was a gamble to take. I considered it unlikely they would be able to kill Oculus, even with the advantage of surprise. Still, human lives mean little to me. It was, as you might say, worth a shot."

"You were that sure?" said Rogue in surprise. "About Neil, I mean. You were that sure he was corrupted?"

"Of course. I only wish I had done something sooner. It might have saved us undue complications."

"Complications?"

"Yes. If Oculus manages to influence the vote on nuclear disarmament, he might upset the very delicate balance of trans-Atlantic diplomacy. A war between the US and the combined powers of Europe could erupt at any day."

"But why would you care? They'd only be humans getting killed," Logan mocked him.

"But mutants would be caught in the crossfire. Had I acted sooner, and already established a safe haven for our kind, we would not need to fear the imminent outbreak of global war."

"Are we really in such great danger?" asked Fliss nervously.

"Of course we are. Our only hope is to find Oculus and stop him interfering with the vote. That will stave off the coming war, for some time at least. I suspect the war is inevitable no matter what we do, but with a little extra time we would be able to move to a place of safety and watch the humans annihilate each other."

"Why didn't you tell us any of this before?" Scott demanded. "Why pretend to be dead?"

"Because, as I have already stated, it was necessary to wait until Oculus made some kind of move. Only with him out of the way could I hope to convince you of the truth. Otherwise he would simply have used his psychic powers to dissuade you. But we need fear that no longer."

"What do you mean?"

"Constantium is not only indestructible, it also utterly nullifies the power and effects of telepathy. It will keep us safe from him. The helmet I once used to block out Charles was an early example of my efforts in this field."

"So what do you want with us?" Iceman demanded. "I don't think you've explained why you had us locked up in those cells the way you did. What was the point in that?"

"Twofold. First, to keep you safe. Safe from Oculus. I knew he was planning to move soon, but I didn't know exactly what he was going to do. It was conceivable that he might have killed you all and set himself up as leader of your cause. For your own safety, I hid you away from him. The second reason was purely psychological. Before I could reveal myself and explain my position, your minds needed to be suitably…persuaded. Seeing me alive after four years would have been too much of a surprise. You might not have believed it was me. This was a subtler way of letting you know of my involvement."

"And the adamantium discs the terrorists were carrying," said Rogue suddenly. "Same deal?"

"Yes. I make no apology for the method of your imprisonment. It was necessary, and, if I may be permitted, somewhat amusing."

"We're all laughing," Logan snapped. "But I don't trust you. This stinks. You can dress it up in any way you want, but this whole thing stinks. Maybe Oculus has gone crazy, maybe war is going to erupt – but none of that means we have to trust you."

"I wouldn't expect you to. All I ask you to believe is that constantium can do what I say it can, and that it will protect us from our enemies."

"Nope, still don't trust you. There's more to this than you're letting on, isn't there? For one thing, you've been using your telepathic powers to try and control my mind, haven't you?"

Magneto raised his eyebrows, "No, I haven't."

"Oh, I'm sure you haven't forgotten. Cast your mind back just a little."

"I think I would remember. I would need quite a lot of cajoling to even consider entering that mass of unthinking muscle that you presumptuously call a brain."

"Nice to see you haven't lost your sense of humour, anyway," Logan said with heavy sarcasm.

"I wasn't aware of making a joke…"

Elena Cartëasis showed no signs of recognising her youngest daughter. She looked somewhat surprised at the appearance of a fourteen year old girl inside her laboratory, but other than that there was no reaction. Gemini waited, waited for her mother to give some kind of recognition, but there was none. She wasn't sure what she had been anticipating. She might have expected her mother to show fear, anger, disgust, hate, or even indifference. But she hadn't for one minute thought that the woman wouldn't even recognise her.

I can't believe it! She destroyed my entire life and she doesn't even remember me! She ruined my childhood and nearly took away my adolescence and she doesn't even know who I am!

Gemini felt tears brimming in her eyes, but she was determined not to show any pain. She wasn't going to cry. She wasn't going to let the monster see how upset she was. She had to be strong. Dad would want her to be strong. She remembered Dad…her first Dad, her real father, whose death had left little Alexandra to the not so tender mercies of her mutant-hating mother. I miss you, Dad. I love Pyro and he's a wonderful father and he gives me everything I need…but he'll never replace you and nobody can…

Elena had finished wondering what the girl was doing here. Her initial surprise began to wear off and her logical mind tried to construct a theory to explain the teenager's appearance. Perhaps she was the child of somebody who worked here, and had sneaked away to explore. That was feasible. Perhaps she herself worked here, and was just incredibly young-looking. That was implausible. Perhaps she wasn't supposed to be here at all, and had somehow gotten in through the security forces. That was impossible. Perhaps she was one of Mr Lehnsherr's girls. Yes. That was likely. Which meant she had to be here with a message from him.

"Do you have a message for me?" she asked.

"Huh?" the girl cried. "What the hell are you talking about? Don't you know who I am?"

Elena blinked, "No. Should I?"

"What the hell do you mean? You gave birth to me! You gave me away to Van Gaarde so he and his friend could rape me! I'm gonna kill you!"

"Gemini, no!" Cassandra urged, hurrying forward to grab her friend's arm.

But Gemini's rage was too much for the foreseer to contain. She broke free, her duplicate materialising into existence beside her, and the two twins ran straight towards the researcher.

It had taken Elena a moment or two to grasp what had just happened. Where one girl had stood, now there were two. As her logical mind made the only possible conclusion – that this girl was a mutant – she became aware of something else. A memory had sparked somewhere inside her. She had seen this happen before, a girl who could duplicate…but she couldn't remember where. She backed away from the frenzied onslaught, fending off wild blows from the twins' fists.

"Gemini! Stop it!" Cassandra yelled. "She'll have information we need! You can't kill her!"

Running forward, Cassie put herself in front of Gemini, forcing the two twins to stop before hurting their friend.

"Get out of the way, Cassie!" they screamed in unison. "I'm gonna kill her!"

"You can't kill her. We need her to tell us where Magneto is and what he's doing! After that we can deal with her."

Her momentum checked, Gemini's overwhelming anger burnt itself up. She breathed in deeply, forced herself not to cry, and drew her twin back into herself. Cassandra turned to the wary-looking Elena, "Where's Magneto?"

"Magneto? Are you talking about Mr Lehnsherr?"

"Where is he? What is it he's trying to do?"

"What's he trying to do? He's my research partner. Well, senior partner, more like my boss really. Together we developed constantium. It's his brainchild. Now, will someone tell me what's going on here?"

The genuine confusion in the woman's voice made Gemini frown.

"You really don't know who I am, do you?" asked the duplicator.

"No. I'm sorry, have we met before?"

"I'm your daughter. You abandoned me!"

This time it was Elena who frowned, "I'm sorry, I don't know what you're talking about. I don't have any children. I've never even been married."

"Yes you have. You were married to my dad. You had me, and my older sisters, Melody and Symphony."

"Sorry…I think you must have me mistaken with somebody else."

"Huh? No, I'm not mistaken! You hated me because I was a mutant! You gave me over to Van Gaarde to use as a lab rat! Was that Magneto's idea? How long have you been working with him?"

"How long? I, uh, seventeen years."

Seventeen years? Gemini thought incredulously, that means everything Magneto ever taught me or Dad was a lie! He was planning this whole thing all along! Why did he do that? Why did he lie to us?

"When did he set up this little cabal you're running?" Cassie asked. "The millionaires and the politicians and lawyers and such? How long's that been going on for?"

"I don't know…a couple of years…look, who are you? What are you doing here?"

"We'll be the ones asking the questions," Gemini snapped. "If you want to remain alive."

"What is he offering them?" Cassandra demanded. "Huh? What is Magneto offering these billionaires to make them join him? What are they getting out of it?"

Elena hesitated, "I…can't tell you that. Mr Lehnsherr swore me to secrecy."

"Never mind that. Tell us," Gemini insisted.

"I can't! I'll lose out on my twelfth! I mean – "

The teenagers looked at each other. From the woman's tone of voice, clearly she hadn't meant to let that slip.

"What do you mean, your 'twelfth'? What is that?" one of them asked.

"I can't say any more! Look, will you just go? I've got a lot of work to do, and if you haven't got a message for me, you've got no reason to be here!"

"Is it really him?" said Gemini. "Is it really Magneto? I just can't believe that he's – are you sure it's really him?"

"Of course," said Elena. "At one point we demanded proof of his identity, and he was happy to submit to a DNA test. We got a sample of his blood from the Justice Department, and compared it with a sample he gave us. He is Erik Magnus Lehnsherr."

"No!" the girl shrieked. "It can't be! He can't have lied to me all these years! It can't be him!"

But her mother's response had not surprised her. She'd known all along it really was Magneto. But as long as there had been even a scrap of doubt, she'd clung to it with desperate hope. She'd wanted it to be some kind of deception, somebody else dressing up as Magneto and pretending to use his power for whatever reason. She hadn't wanted her Dad's hero to turn out to be a charlatan.

"When did you first meet him?" Cassandra asked out of curiosity.

"About seventeen years ago. When we started working together. I'd just finished my PhD in bio-metallurgy. He approached me and offered me a job working on his constantium project."

"He's a mutant – do you know that?"

"Mr Lehnsherr? Oh, I don't think so. He's a researcher."

"No, he isn't!" Gemini insisted. "He's a mutant! He was leader of our group called the Brotherhood! He fought to protect mutant life from being threatened by humans!"

"What – really?"

"Yes! Why…has he told you something different?"

"I'm not sure. I'm not sure we're even talking about the same man…"

"Anything new?"

Marina jumped a little in surprise as she heard his voice. She'd been so immersed in her work that she'd forgotten Dominic was there. Tapping a few keys, she frowned at what she saw on the computer screen in front of her.

"Um – maybe," she said uncertainly. "Wh – where have I heard the name William Stryker?"

The boy thought for a moment, "He was someone the Professor used to know. Before we were born. I think he worked for the military, in weapons research. I think he was part of the project that gave Logan his metal skeleton and his claws. He was killed at the same time as Dr Grey."

"Who?"

"You know, Cyclops'…friend."

Marina blinked, "Oh."

"Why did you ask about Stryker?"

"There's – there's something about him here. It looks as if – as if M – M – Magneto was working with him."

"What? That can't be right!"

She flinched slightly, "Well, that's what it says."

"Let me see."

He stepped forward to read over her shoulder.

"See?" she said. "Mag – Magneto and Stryker worked together to create adamantium. They experimented o – on Logan to test out the metal. But – but it proved to be too difficult to process, so after Stryker died, M – Magneto started trying to develop constantium."

Dominic shook his head, "This doesn't make any sense. We've had dealings with Stryker before. Cyclops keeps archives of all our past missions, and I read about Stryker in one of them. In fact, if I remember correctly, Magneto actually joined together with us, to fight against Stryker. Stryker was threatening mutant life, manipulating the Professor in some way."

"If – if you're right…then, yeah, this doesn't make sense. If Stryker died seventeen years ago – just before Annie was born – then M – Magneto must have been working with him ever since. But how could that be true?"

"I don't know…listen, Marina, can I leave you here for a bit? I want to go and look for Scott and the rest. We need to discuss this with them. They know more about Stryker than we do. Before we go any further, I want their input on this. If you want me to stay and…and watch over you, then I'll stay, but – "

"I – I can look after myself, Dominic," she said a little reprovingly.

"OK…well, keep looking for information. I'll be back."

"OK. See ya."

Ignoring his masculine instincts telling him to stay and protect a vulnerable female, Dominic hurried to the exit. Marina had found a map on the computers earlier, and he was pretty certain he knew where the X-Men were being held. He hoped he could get there without getting into too much trouble, and before anything might happen to them. Security in the base still seemed to be low, and he managed to reach the set of elevators he was heading for without meeting another living soul. Looking around to make doubly sure, he stepped into one of the lifts when it opened. It was possible there were security cameras watching him, but Marina had done her best to disable most of the security systems. Hopefully there would be no trouble in that regard.

When the lift got to the bottom floor, he cautiously glanced outside to make sure the coast was clear. It seemed so. The cells where the X-Men were being held should be just up here on the left. Dominic turned the corner, and instantly his heart sank. Then he felt a sense of relief as he realised the dead bodies lying on the floor did not belong to his friends. But who were they? How had they been killed? He moved over to take a closer look at the corpses. Strange. They looked like security guards. That meant they must work here. If they were dead, that must mean his friends had escaped! They'd got out! But where were they? Were they still on the base? How long ago had this happened?

He knelt down beside one of the dead guards to try and find some clues about what had happened. The guy's body was still warm – so it couldn't have been all that long ago he'd been killed. Three bullet holes in his spine were testament to how the unfortunate man had met his end. The next man along had been hit twice in the back of the head, as had two or three others Dominic could see. This corridor must have been where his friends had been held. The rooms on either side certainly looked like holding cells.

Wait a minute…this didn't add up. If his friends had escaped, then they must have been the ones who'd killed these guards. Self defence, obviously, but the men had been shot…the X-Men wouldn't have been using guns. Would they? No, of course not. They didn't need them. Someone else must have killed these men. Who would have done that? Nobody immediately came to mind. Maybe in their panic they had fired blindly and killed each other. Could Nightcrawler have teleported in amongst them and they'd fired instinctively, hitting only themselves? It sounded possible.

No…the shots were too precise for that. If that had happened, there would be random bullet holes in the walls and the ceiling almost everywhere. There were none. Not a single shot had gone astray. This was strange…very strange. The men's weapons were still lying by their dead bodies, and Dominic picked up one of the rifles. He checked the ammunition. The magazine was still full. So were those on the next three guns he inspected. This was even more odd. These weapons had never been fired. The men had been shot from behind. There had to be someone else, someone who helped the X-Men escape. Could it have been one of the other teenagers? Vertigo maybe? No. Pyro's students would never use weapons. That was one of their strictest rules. It seemed daft to Dominic. If you were going to kill someone, what did it matter how you did it? Ideally you should never be looking to kill anybody at all.

Maybe the X-Men were still here. If so, he could try and communicate with them. Their comm. devices would likely have been stolen when they were captured, but the emergency back-up ones should still be safely hidden inside their uniforms. Maybe if he could get in touch with them, they could shed some light on what had happened here. He took his comm. from his belt, "Guys, this is Helios. Anybody reading me?"

"I – I read you," came Aqua's voice. "What's up?"

"I was trying to see if I could contact our friends. Nobody seems to be responding."

"Any idea where they might be?"

"I'm not sure. I think I've found the cells where they being held. But it looks as if they've broken free, and pretty recently too. Maybe they've already left."

"Any sign of Mag – Mag – "

"No. He must be here somewhere, because he tried to use his mind powers on Cassie. I wonder if he knows we're here. How about you? Find anything new?"

"Yeah. I – I found out the name of one of Magneto's other associates, another guy who died about the same time as Stryker."

"Oh yeah. Who?"

But before she could respond, something else grabbed Dominic's attention. Out of the corner of his eye he saw movement, and quickly turned to see who was approaching. Maybe it was one of the other X-Men. A moment too late, he realised it was not. The man, perhaps a survivor of the security force, stared at him for a moment, then attacked. His hand moved in a blur as he grabbed a combat knife from a sheath on his hip, and sent it spinning through the air towards the young X-Man.

Helios screamed as the knife embedded itself into the arm he'd flung up to protect himself. The shock and the sudden pain knocked him off balance, and he fell on to his back, his other hand reaching weakly for the knife, overwhelmed by the excruciating pain.

Major Philippe Devant, the man known as Nine, moved cautiously towards the struggling mutant. Born almost literally on the border between France and Belgium, his family had emigrated to the US when he was four years old. He had joined the army at an early age, and his exceptional bravery, physical prowess, decision making and weapons expertise had seen him swiftly recommended for the special forces. At the age of twenty-seven he was already commanding his own elite unit in the more secretive reaches of the US Army. Although heavily decorated and idolised by his men, he soon grew disillusioned with the government's somewhat cavalier attitude towards preserving the lives of their soldiers. Drawn by the lure of money, he had resigned from the army and turned mercenary. Contracts had not been slow to come for the man known as the world's greatest soldier. One day he'd been contacted by a man named Erik Lehnsherr, and the rest was history. He maintained his own mercenary force, made up of two teams, and they were kept busy eliminating targets named by Lehnsherr. Devant had never failed to rub out a target once in his career.

But then, he had never come up against mutants before. His primary force, Team Alpha, had been completely destroyed by the ill-fated attack on the mutants' school. Devant had barely escaped with his life. He still couldn't quite piece together what had happened. Lehnsherr had said something about a telepath…were there mutants with enough psychic power that they could actually rip apart others' minds? That would certainly explain what had happened.

Now he stood over the dead bodies of his secondary force. Team Bravo had been sent to round up the escaped mutants in the detention area. Clearly, they had not survived. Where were they now? And where was Lehnsherr? Devant's instinct told him something was wrong. Someone was not playing by the rules Devant had been aware of. Maybe this boy could give him some answers.

"Where are the rest of the mutants?" he demanded, wrenching the teenager to his feet.

Dominic struggled to get free, fighting against the pain, but the soldier only tightened his grip and repeated his demand, "Where are they?"

"How the fuck should I know?" spat the Londoner.

Forcing himself to remain conscious, he pulled off his glove and thrust the palm of his hand into the man's face, ready to permanently blind him with solar energy. Shit. He'd forgotten. He'd already used up all of his stored solar power in the tunnel on the way in here. OK. Fine. His only other hope was to get at one of the flash bombs secreted in his uniform. Damn it. They were on the wrong side of his body. He could only reach them with his injured arm. He tried…no, the arm wasn't working. Then he remembered he was still holding the communicator in his other hand.

"Marina!" he yelled into it. "I need help!"

Devant snatched it out of his hand and flung it aside. Dominic could only hope he'd managed to get through to her. The irony didn't escape him. He'd seen himself as being a protective figure for her, and now he was in need of her protection…

Devant thought fast. If the boy had called for help, that meant there were other mutants still in the base. And it was likely they'd be on their way here. If Team Bravo were dead, that meant he was the only security personnel left alive in the base. Unless Lehnsherr was around somewhere with his freaky metallic powers…but he could have been anywhere. Time to finish off this kid and get ready for whatever might come next. Devant smacked his fist into the back of the boy's neck, hitting the nerves in the spine, and knocking him unconscious. Dominic slumped to the floor unmoving. Best to keep him alive…for now. I might need him for bargaining. Depends how things go…

The man turned as he heard the sound of footsteps approaching. The first of the mutant's friends had arrived. A figure appeared at the end of the corridor, and Devant assumed a fighting stance. Then he frowned slightly. He looked down at the unconscious mutant on the ground, then at the one who was now opening the palm of his right hand. It was the last thing the mercenary ever did.

Marina ran quickly towards the elevator. She'd heard the desperation in Dominic's voice, and she knew he had to be in serious trouble. Perhaps he'd been attacked. Maybe some humans had gotten hold of him before he could find the rest of the X-Men. Whatever, she knew she had to get to him now. If one of her friends was in danger of getting hurt, she had to do everything she could to help them. She had already failed to save her family from death. She was determined she would never allow any of her friends to suffer while she did nothing to aid them.

"D – Dominic?" she spoke into her comm. "Are you still there?"

No response. Was he too hurt to answer? Was he – could he be dead? No, I can't even think that. I can't even imagine that it might be true…

As soon as the elevator reached the bottom floor, she ran out, looking around for Dominic. Spotting the first of the dead men at the fork up ahead, Marina hurried over to investigate. Was it Dominic? No, it wasn't. She didn't recognise the corpse. It had to be one of the guards at the labs. There were more bodies, and she checked them. They were all dead. They were all guards. She moved around the corner to explore there.

"Dominic!" the girl exclaimed as she saw his unmoving form.

Dropping to her knees beside her friend, she feared the worst. He wasn't moving. Was he breathing? She couldn't be sure. She shook him, hoping he would wake.

"D – Dominic?"

He didn't move, but she could feel his chest rising and falling. He was alive. Her initial fears calmed, Marina looked around for some sign of what might have happened to him. He had called for help, so somebody or something must have made him do that. Nobody else in the corridor was moving. There were various other bodies; they all appeared to be wearing the same security uniform, except one. He was slightly different. All of the men were dead. They had to be; they were lying in pools of blood and none of them seemed to be breathing. Marina decided to investigate what had happened to them in a moment or two. Right now she was more concerned about her friend. She shook him again but he still didn't respond.

The sound of running footsteps grabbed her attention. There had to be more guards coming. Marina shook Dominic once more but he wouldn't wake. She stood, ready to defend the two of them from attack. Tensing her muscles, she wondered how far she was from a source of water. She knew the labs extended out on to and under the ocean. She wasn't sure if there was any access to the sea from where she was just now. She pushed out with her senses…no, she couldn't feel the presence of any water near enough to be of any defensive value. Nervously she awaited the oncoming footsteps.

Gemini and Cassandra came hurrying round the corner, and Marina breathed easily.

"Is Helios OK?" said Gemini breathlessly.

"I – I'm not sure. He's breathing, but he won't wake."

"What happened? We still had the communicator switched on; we heard him calling for help! I guess you got here first. What was the matter?"

"I don't know that either," Marina admitted. "Listen, um, these guards are dead. We have to find out what happened to them. Dominic was – was trying to find our friends."

Gemini shrugged, "Maybe they tried to escape, and killed the guards."

Cassie knelt down beside Dominic, and gently put her hand on his forehead.

"Helios?" she whispered. "Are you awake? Can you hear me?"

He stirred, and his eyelids twitched, "Cassie? Is that you?"

She smiled down at him, "Hey. Are you OK?"

"Uh, I think I'm all here. Where is he? Did you get him?"

"Who?"

"Some security guard. He ambushed me and knifed me in the arm. I managed to call for help but then he knocked me out. Did you kill him?"

"I don't know what you're talking about," said Cassie, sounding confused.

Gemini took charge of the situation, "All right. Cassie, stay with Helios, make sure he's not hurt. Aqua, keep your eyes open for anyone coming. I'm going to try and make some sense out of what happened here."

Cassandra helped Dominic into a sitting position, and looked at him, "You said you got hurt?"

"Yeah. I took a knife in the arm. It's – "

He looked down at the arm where he'd been stabbed. He looked again. The wound was gone.

"I don't see a stab wound," she told him. "Look, Helios…Dominic…I don't really know how to say this, but I haven't thanked you for saving my life earlier."

"I did?"

"Yeah, you did. When you stopped me jumping out of the helicopter, remember. Magneto messed with my mind and made me go crazy. There was no way I could have stopped myself. I'd be dead now if you hadn't reacted the way you did."

"I thought you'd just lost your balance or something."

"You said you wanted the chance to get to know me better."

"Um, yeah. But if you don't want to, then that's OK. Unless you've changed your mind…"

"I'm…not sure. Earlier I said definitely no, but…maybe I have changed my mind. I'm not saying it's changed to 'yes'. It's changed to 'maybe'."

"OK…"

"But you mustn't expect me to make up my mind right away. I've been hurt before by guys who said they loved me…I have to be absolutely sure it's what I want before I make a decision."

"Yeah. That's fair enough," then he frowned. "I don't understand. I know I got stabbed. I can't find the wound anywhere. Can you check my back? I might have got confused with the pain."

Moving around behind him, she gently ran her hands over his back, feeling the tight black uniform underneath her fingers. She couldn't find any injuries…except for one large gash in his shoulder pad. Tenderly and very carefully she prised apart the torn section of uniform to look at the wound underneath. There wasn't one. She touched the healthy skin underneath, "Does that hurt?"

"No. Find anything?"

"Well, there's a tear in your uniform that looks like a knife did it. But your shoulder is perfectly all right underneath."

"That doesn't make sense. I know the guard knifed me. I don't understand – what happened to him?"

"He was killed," came Gemini's voice.

They looked over at her. The duplicator and the aquanoid were crouched over one of the dead guards. It was the one Marina had noticed as wearing a different outfit from the rest of the humans. Cassandra and Dominic moved closer.

"That's the one who attacked me," Dominic said.

Gemini nodded, "It's the guy who led the attack on the school."

"You're sure?"

"Definitely. Aqua? This the guy you saw?"

Marina nodded, "He was – he was talking to Magneto at the Admiral's house. His name is D – Devant."

"He's dead? What happened to him?" asked Cassandra.

"Throat cut," Gemini said. "Hard to say what did it. An animal? A blade? Helios, did you see what happened?"

"No. I'd been knocked out. Marina, how long did it take you to get down here? After getting my call?"

"Uh, I dunno. No m – more than a couple of minutes."

"So who killed him?" said Cassie. "Are any of the X-Men still here?"

Dominic shook his head, "I don't think so. They must have escaped. I tried to call them, but nobody answered. So how did you guys get on? Find anything?"

Gemini looked away, "We, uh, we found my mother."

"I thought you said she was dead," said Marina.

"I thought she was too. But she must have been living in secret, and working with Magneto. I don't get it, though. It's obvious the two of them decided to use me as a lab rat in their sick little experiments. But she claims it never happened. I don't think she's lying, either. I think she genuinely doesn't remember it. She didn't know who I was at all."

"Maybe she lost her memory," said Dominic.

"But she said she'd been working with him for seventeen years. That's, like, longer than I've been alive. If she can remember that far back, she should be able to remember me."

"Maybe he wiped her memory, or – or something," Marina ventured.

"Yeah…yeah! That could be it. Maybe he screwed with her mind, like, with his telepathy, and made her forget about me. Maybe she was beginning to ask questions about the daughter she gave away all those years ago."

"Where is she now?"

"Don't know. We were in one of her research labs with her, when we got Helios' call. Cassie insisted we go to help him."

Cassandra shrugged, "To be honest, I don't think there's too much more we could have learned from your mom. Magneto is the one we need to find. There's something strange going on, stranger than anything we previously thought. A lot of things don't make any sense. We have to find him to get our answers."

Marina spoke shyly, "Any sign, um, any sign of Annie or Gary?"

"No. Have you heard from Vertigo?"

"We haven't," said Dominic, then sighed. "I wish I knew what was going on here. I honestly thought that guy was going to kill me. Yet when I came to, he was dead and my wound had been healed."

Marina looked up, "Maybe it was Gary. Or Annie. They can heal."

"So where are they now?"

"I dunno."

"Maybe they're trying to track down Magneto as well," suggested Gemini.

"Could be," Dominic agreed. "D'you find anything else on the computers, Marina?"

"Yeah. I was – I was telling you about it just before, um, just before you got attacked."

"Well?" he prompted.

"Uh, Magneto had another friend who – who died about the same time as Colonel Stryker. I wouldn't have given him much notice, e – except for his name."

"Which is?" Gemini asked.

So Marina told them. And they were even more puzzled and bewildered than they had been before.