AN: It's crazy to think this story is about to reach its end.
I sat next to Charles as he stared out of the plane deep in thought, he wasn't the only one. I found myself attacking my nails with vicious energy. I couldn't remember the last I bit my nails like this, then again I haven't been under this much stress in awhile for me to fallback into my old habits. With the fate of the world hanging in the balance I'm surprised my nails aren't down to nubs.
"You alright?" Logan asked from across the row.
"Getting there," Charles sighed.
"You're in pain again, aren't you?" I asked him, Charles nodded and I grabbed his hand and held it in mine. I channeled a sensation to his brain to think that his lower back and legs were pain free. "Better?" I asked again.
"Yes, thank you," Charles mumbled, and I gave him a nod.
"It's nothing," I smiled at him.
Logan sighed, "Whatever happens today, I need you to promise me something," he began. "You looked into my mind and you've seen a lot of bad, but you've seen the good too,"
I raised my eyebrows slightly, Charles had seen the future?
"The X-Men. Promise me you'll find us. Use your power, bring us together. Guide us. Lead us," Logan continued, I gave Charles' hand a squeeze to reassure him. This is a lot of pressure to place on one man. "Storm. Scott. Jean. Remember those names. There are so many of us. We will need you, Professor,"
Charles looked like he wanted to smile, but he just raised his eyebrows, "I'll do my best," Charles promised.
Logan nodded and leaned back, "Your best is enough. Trust me," Logan said with a smile.
I squeezed Charles' hand and he looked over at me, "And this time," I began, looking at Logan. "I'll be there to help him along the way," I said, with a gentle smile as I turned to Charles.
~~~x~~~
The four of us made our way to the event, I was pushing Charles in his wheelchair, something I hadn't done in a long time, but I was happy to help him. The line in front of us began to shorten as people passed through the metal detector, showing their invitations. When it was our turn I pushed Charles through the metal detector which beeped at the wheelchair.
I rolled my eyes at it, before looking ahead me to the field in front of the White House, watching as hundreds of Americans talked excitedly to one another about what the government had in store for the future. Along with news cameras from around the world aimed at the stage filled with army officials and a huge cloth covering something giant.
I cringed at how impressive the government had made it seem.
"Can I see your invitations, please?" The man asked, breaking my concentration.
Charles smiled at him, "Yes, you may," Charles answered, placing his hands to his temple, as if he was massaging a headache. "These three are with me," He stated, motioning to Hank, Logan, and I.
"Go ahead,"
"Thank you," I grinned, placing my hand softly on his shoulder and proceeded to wheel Charles in. I leaned down to Charles' ear as I continued pushing him to get to our seats. "You are just loving your powers, aren't you?" I murmured, a smile growing on my lips.
Charles grinned at me and shrugged, "A blessing and a curse, Claudia, dear," he replied, as I pulled myself up back to my full height.
I turned around to see Hank walked closely behind us, but I realized Logan wasn't with us, he was just staring at the metal detector.
"Logan," I called, Logan looked at me and turned back around to the detector with a frown before following after me.
Due to Charles being wheelchair bound we were able to get a good position, once we were settled Charles' raised his fingers to his temple again this time to search the crowd for Raven. Hank and Logan surveyed the crowd also looking around for Raven, although, I realized that it was pointless with Raven's mutation.
"Haven't found her yet but she has to be here," Charles informed us.
"The President of the United States!" A voice announced through the speakers all around the field.
I lowered my sunglasses and watched as President Nixon walked onto the stage, his body guards following closely behind him. Everyone clapped euphorically and with pride, whistling at the President. I scoffed and looked around as the crowd continued cheering for him as he made his way up to the podium.
"They are so naive..." I murmured.
Nixon held his hands up to silence the crowd, "My fellow Americans," he began grandly. "Today we face the gravest threat in our history, mutants," I grit my teeth, I was rightly pissed off by the statement, but I knew that there was some truth to it. "We have prepared for this threat. In the immortal words of Robert Oppenheimer, 'Behold. The world will never be the same again," he finished, with a wave of the hand.
The curtain behind him dropped, revealing a monster of a machine. The sentinel robots. They were mainly purple and silver, with their mechanical heads bowed and eyes void of light. I glanced over at Logan to see his body tensed, staring at the machines with a spark of fear. Focusing my eyes back on the stage, all of the military servicemen raised their arms up to their foreheads in salute. Suddenly, the military band started to play the hymn of the country as the President looked behind him, pointing at eight giant monstrous robots.
"Raven!" Charles shouted suddenly, and the three of us looked down in surprise. "I have her," he said grabbing my arm.
"Where?" Hank asked, looking around.
"There," Charles said, pointing to the general direction of the stage. "You see? Secret Serviceman. Left of the stage," Logan and Hank nodded as he pointed at the man.
"Got it," Logan confirmed.
"Go," I ordered. "I'll stay here," I informed, and Logan nodded again and they leave rushing to where Raven is.
I watched as the two men ran off towards a man in a suit, I then saw a guard stop them from continuing further, and I cursed under my breath.
"Stall her, Charles," I whispered, and he nodded and seemed to be talking quietly. I knew he was communicating with Raven.
All of a sudden, I heard a strange whirring and clicking sound and I lifted my head up to see the monstrous machines activating. I put my hands on Charles' shoulders as my eyes widened. I quickly looked onto the stage at Trask as he turned to look at his right hand, Stryker. I narrowed my eyes, focusing on the emotions flowing from the two men. Trask had a frown on his face as I felt fear, panic, and confusion rise within me and Stryker mimicked the same feelings.
"Oh no," I whispered, watching as the sentinels' eyes light up in an orange-yellow glow and their heads lift.
The robot's engines began to power up and they started floating above the crowd. The crowd gaped in awe before clapping and cheering with patriotic pride. But I knew something was wrong for Trask and now the President to be in a subtle flurry of confusion. Suddenly, the Sentinels began firing at police cars and the cheers turned into screaming as gunfire filled the air.
Charles looked to the sky angrily, "Erik!" Charles yelled out in frustration, as bullets rained down on police cars.
"We have to get out of here!" I shouted, ducking and started to push Charles away as fast as I could.
Which was quite a difficult task with people bumping into me or almost running into us as the sentinels turned their gunfire at the crowd. Out of nowhere, the sky unreasonably became darker and I slowed in my tracks to look up and saw an unbelievable sight.
I slid my sunglasses off, "Holy..." I trailed off, staring with wide eyes at a baseball stadium that flew overhead. I then noticed a caped figure with a helmet levitating with the stadium.
Erik.
"Claudia! Watch out!" Charles yelled, sunglasses in hand.
I snapped out of my trance and saw that the stadium was now falling from the sky at an incredible speed. Pieces of concrete debris fell from the sky directly towards where we were.
"Charles!" Logan screamed, from a distance.
I turned to look at Logan to see that he is pointing at a piece which is falling off the stadium. My eyes widen again and I attempted to move his wheelchair, but failed to do so because a wheel became stuck in the ground.
"Jump!" I shouted, and Charles forced himself to fall out of his wheelchair.
I used my telekinetic powers so the large debris fell around Charles, leaving him with no harm. Seeing that Charles was mostly safe I dropped my hand to my side only for a stray rock to hit his forehead, creating a bloody gash.
"Charles!" I yelled.
Before I could reach him, I looked up to see debris about to fall on top of me, lifting my hands up above myself the purple aura of my telekinetic abilities held the debris in place before moving it away from myself. I concentrated on safely moving the debris in the air when suddenly a large bar of steel came flying in my direction about to hit me. I screamed and narrowly dodged it only for me to be hit with another piece of concrete.
"Claudia!" I heard Hank yell.
I let out a yelp of pain, feeling tears prick my eyes as I reached out my hand to raise the large piece of concrete off my leg. I pursed my lips in concentration and let out a grunt in pain before I completely lifted the slab from my leg. My leg was shaking in pain, and my pants felt wet as a warm, sticky substance heavily stained the fabric with the color red.
Nausea washed over me as the corner of my eyes seemed to darken. I blinked my eyes repeatedly in an attempt to stay conscious and looked at my surroundings. The fallen baseball stadium, encircling the White House and most of the property around it. Electrical lines had fallen all over, chairs and debris covering nearly the entirety of the ground. In the center of the carnage stood Erik, who was now controlling the robots and using them as guards.
Faintly, I could hear Charles also groaning in pain a few feet away, and I vaguely saw Hank and Logan hiding behind fallen rocks.
A sharp gasp escaped from my lips as I held my leg in my hands as a surge of pain shot through my appendage. I watched as the blood from my wound trickled down onto the dust covered grass, forming a small pool of red. Inhaling sharply, I lifted my head to meet Erik's scowling face which slightly softened when he saw me. Within a split second Erik's face hardened once more as the sound of Hank's loud growl echoed in the air. Erik turned away from me and to one of the sentinels, and it levitated forward, raising its gun towards Hank and Logan before firing. They went in two different directions. Hank on top of the Sentinel and Logan running towards Erik.
Biting down hard on my lip, I dragged my leg behind me and pulled myself closer to the action to help the two of them in some shape or form. The sound of metal shrieking and the sound of something being torn apart, causes me to stop in my tracks. A loud yell made me jump and I turned to see Erik plunging metal poles into Logan's body, it was difficult to listen to his screams of agony.
Erik lifted him up into the air and stared at Logan with no remorse or pity for what he was doing before throwing Logan over the stadium and to god knows where.
Erik turned back to the White House and waved his hand around and all of a sudden, a loud crash came from the house and a large metal room floated out into the open: the Presidential safe room. He placed it down on the lawn in front of him, moving his hand across and the whole front section peeled off with a metallic creak to reveal himself to them. All of the men's guns, aimed at him, were tugged out of their hands and now pointed towards them instead.
I knew it was now or never.
Summoning the remaining strength that I had, a violet aura enveloped my hand before I threw it forward and a bolt of energy at Erik who had his back toward me. The bolt inched closer and closer to Erik's shoulder when out of nowhere a piece of metal moved in front of Erik which shielded him from the bolt. The metal shield fell to the ground and Erik turned on his heel to face me.
"Erik, stop this!" I shouted as he looked at me.
His expression softened again, "Claudia, I don't want to hurt you," Erik stated.
"You already have," I retorted, referring to my leg as I dragged myself closer to a rock to lean on.
"Just leave and don't get in my way!" he shouted.
"I can't do that Erik, you know I can't," I said, shaking my head and suddenly poles began to wrap around my wrists, neck and hands, effectively trapping me in place. "You'll doom us all because of your hatred!" I shouted, thrashing in my restraints.
Erik turned around to face the safe room again, turning his palms the live news cameras that had been rolling since the speech began to turn as well. He going to say a speech of his own, I almost laughed. Erik was always one for dramatic flair.
"You built these weapons to destroy us," I hear my former friend begin, pointing to the Sentinels. "Why? Because you are afraid of our gifts. Because we are different. Humanity has always feared that which is different. I had to agree with that statement. Difference was the reason for all the wars unfortunately. "Well, I am here to tell you, to tell the world: you are right to fear us," Erik stated, in a powerful and booming voice.
"We are the future. We are the ones who will inherit this earth, and anyone who stands in our way will suffer the same fate as these men," he motioned to the President and his advisors, "You see before you. Today was meant to be a display of your power. Instead I give you a glimpse of the devastation my race can unleash upon yours. Let this be a warning to the world. And to my mutant brothers and sisters out there," Erik's tone became more sincere but still aggressive, "I say this, no more hiding, no more suffering. You have lived in the shadows in shame and fear for too long. Come out, join me. Fight together in the brotherhood of our kind. A new tomorrow, that starts today,"
As he finished, there was a loud commotion from the metal safe room. The sound of gasps filled the silence as the President walked out.
"Mr. President! Sir!"
The Secret Servicemen grabbed him to bring him back into the safe room, but he pulled out of their grasp.
"Stand down!" Nixon commanded, standing up and walking over to Erik as if he had any power in this situation at all. He faced Erik and then pointed a finger towards Erik. "You want to make a statement? Kill me? Fine! But spare everyone else!" he ordered.
"What the hell is happening right now..." I whispered to myself.
"He's not real," Charles stated.
I jumped a bit and realized we were speaking telepathically.
"What do you mean 'not real'?" I asked.
"That's not the real president," Charles clarified. "Where's Hank?" he asked.
I looked out of my peripherals and saw the sentinel back off of where Hank was trapped in a car. God, I hope he isn't hurt too badly.
"Over there," I answered. "Are you doing okay?" I questioned.
"Been better," he said.
I nodded in agreement, even though Charles couldn't see.
"Very heroic, Mr. President," Erik said dryly. "But you have no intention of sparing any of us. The future of our species begins now," He pointed a floating gun at the man. Suddenly, the sentinel who had been chasing Hank now ran towards Erik. He tore it apart easily, and it became just more debris littering the stadium.
"Wait..." I said to myself. "If that's not the real president then..."
I craned my neck as best as I could to see into the safe room and that's when my eyes had laid upon the real President sitting beside Trask. My eyes widened when I realized it was Raven protecting the crowd. Bawling my fist up, I used a good amount of my strength and sent an aura blast at Erik with a spread of my fingers. He turned around and deflected it with more metal debris.
Raven had taken this chance and pulled a gun out, shooting Erik, but just grazing the side of his neck while transforming into her blue-skinned natural at the same time. There were audible gasps in the safe room as Raven dropped the plastic gun at her side. Erik dropped to the grass and covered his neck, before smirking up at Raven.
"You used to be a better shot," he commented smugly.
"Trust me, I still am," Raven assured coldly, before running up to him and kicking him in the head, then using the butt of the gun to slam against his head, knocking him unconscious.
The metal poles that held me in place dropped to the ground and I let out a breath of relief. My relief was short lived though as Raven turned back towards the safe room, aiming her gun at Trask.
"No no no no," I muttered.
All of this would be for nothing if she still killed Trask.
I willed myself to stay strong and dragged myself back over to Charles as best as I could. He was mumbling something with his finger on his temple, meaning he was communicating. I looked back to see Raven with her gun still raised but looking confused.
"Claudia!" Hank called. He ran over, blood and dirt all over his face. His glasses were gone, and his clothing was ripped and stained. He had a big smile and hugged me tightly.
"Hank! You're alive!" I exclaimed, hugging him back.
Charles continued speaking to Raven, staring off into the air, "All you've done so far is save the lives of these men. You can show them a better path," he explained, as Hank and I exchanged looks.
"Shut her down, Charles," Hank encouraged, as I held onto him for support because of my leg.
"I've been trying to control you ever since the day we met and look what that's got us. Everything that happens now is in your hands. I have faith in you, Raven,"
"Come on, Raven," Hank murmured.
The blue-skinned redhead looked down at the ground and reluctantly dropped her gun to ground. The three of us let out a breath of relief.
"He's all yours, Charles," Raven called loudly.
She pulled the helmet off Erik as she walked away and Charles quickly put his hand on his forehead, and Erik woke up. The man magnetically pulled the bars off of Charles' body. Hank helped him up, as I used the debris to keep myself steady.
"If you let them have me, I'm as good as dead. You know that," Erik pointed out, once his mind was in his own control again.
"I know," Charles said with no emotion in his voice.
Erik then turned to me and looked into my eyes, "Goodbye, Claudia, I am sorry for what I have done to you and the pain I've caused,"
I let out a scoff, "You have a really bad habit of saying that a lot," I reminded, shaking my head. "Goodbye Erik," I said finally.
He turned to his best friend and nodded at his head, "Goodbye old friend," he said.
"Goodbye, Erik," Charles responded.
Erik opened his hands and lifted himself up, floating away into the cloudy sky. Raven turned to me and gave me a silent goodbye before doing the same to Charles and Hank while she walked away and out of the stadium.
"You sure you should let them go?" Hank asked, as wrapped my arm around his shoulder.
Charles drew in a deep breath, "Yes, I have hope for them. There's going to be a time, Hank, when we are all together," Charles explained, looking at me with a small smile.
"What about Logan...?" Hank asked.
"Well," I began, causing the two men to look at me. "I think he's going to be fine," I stated, nodding my head. "He does have the best friends he could hope for, in the future after all," I added, with a small smile on my face.
AN: Hoped you enjoyed the chapter!