Chapter 9: Magneto's Offer

Sabere's white knuckles nearly glowed in the starless black around them. All lights were off inside the jet, and Storm had enveloped them all in a windblown patch of clouds that sped them on their way to Cairo. The trip had been silent – the seven X-Men were probably lost in their thoughts, or planning, or possibly dreaming, wishing they were someplace else. Sabere tried to brace herself for the lights, which she knew would light up the horizon any moment –

There you are. The voice was not hers, but as soon as she thought she heard it – or thought it – it was gone, leaving her to wonder who had just been in her mind, or what she was imagining.

"There they are," came an echo. Scott and Storm brought the jet lower, and the blue light from the distant pyramids flooded the jet. Sabere clenched her jaw. He's not even there. He won't come out. He doesn't need you anyway, he knows about all the X-Men already, I've revived him, he doesn't need me, he'll leave me alone –

The jet touched down and her thoughts were broken. Scott pursed his lips as he stood slowly. "Right. The idea is to avoid conflict. It may be just the two of them, but their powers are substantially stronger, and if Apocalypse decides to come out…" He let the threat hang. "Let's go see who wants to talk."

The three pyramids loomed like an alien city before them. Despite the almost blinding intensity of the light, Sabere could make out the individual lines of stone in the buildings, and from what she could see they did appear to be brand new. She could see the outline of the Sphinx behind the pyramids – it had been left alone.

"Storm, knock on the door or something." Storm's eyes glowed white and thunder rumbled over their heads. One fork of lightning stabbed the ground right in front of the pyramid, followed by an even louder explosion of thunder.

Instantly – although Sabere had no idea where he came from – Pyro was outside, fire flaring in his hands, illuminating his maniacal face. He wore a bloodred trench coat over street clothes, and black gloves that must have had fuel lines in the fingers, because his trusty Zippo was gone. "I wondered when you'd come by," he grinned. "We figured you would have come to try to stop us by now."

"John?" Rogue asked hesitantly.

"Not home," Pyro grinned. "Apocalypse has finished what Magneto started for me – I've embraced my destiny, and I'm now completely Pyro. Speaking of, Magneto should be out shortly – he's probably telling Apocalypse to just crush you all like bugs right now."

The older X-Men glanced at each other, all thinking the same thing – John was no longer sane. Scott's fingers twitched a little, and Sabere found the hilt to one of her knives. Just as she had wrapped her fist around it, it jerked out of her hand and whipped around to face her.

"No conflict, he said," drawled a cultured voice, and Magneto stepped magnificently forward, hand outstretched. "So put that away – " the knife returned obediently to its sheath – "and let's chat."

The X-Men didn't move. No one was prepared to back down, but Scott spoke anyway. "You certainly signed up fast."

"You cast such a negative light on our salvation," Magneto smiled. "Do you know what he's going to do? He's going to help us. He'll protect our future."

"He hasn't helped me," Sabere snapped, stepping forward. "He's not going to help any of us! He needs to be stopped, not assisted!"

"Really? I was under the impression you were all going to be killed." Magneto chuckled as the Sabere froze. "He knows your every thought, every vision, my dear, and let me tell you, you've been an immense help."

Sabere whipped out her knife, but again Magneto seized it, and this time pressed the blade up against her throat. She took a step back, but the knife followed her, forcing her to stand on tiptoe so she wouldn't slit her own throat –

"Yes, you've been so helpful that once Apocalypse achieves his goal, he's going to spare you. Oh, he knows why you are all here, and he knows you do not approve of his…tactics, but even Apocalypse is willing to forgive. He has plans for you – and uses for you and your powers in his new kingdom."

She ignored the monologue. "Hey, Kurt – I seem to recall you said he wouldn't be able to control these knives."

Magneto smirked. "Another benefit of embracing Apocalypse's promise before one is forced to. I am not sure how I got here – I believe he showed me bait, and I followed, and brought him three useful servants – his first Horsemen – but he made us even more useful." The blade suddenly pressed deeper, and Sabere felt a warm trickle of blood flow down the front of her neck. "Our powers are magnificently increased. If you stay, if you help him, you will not only be spared, but you will see powers and possibilities you had never even imagined. Apocalypse will help our people."

"By slaughtering millions of innocents and enslaving the rest?" Scott interrupted angrily. "He's not going to spare anyone, not even mutants. He's out to take over the world, and you and your friends are just his pawns. Even you wouldn't – "

"He won't enslave those who are loyal to him – and the wise will choose the right side."

Sabere finally let loose and shoved the blade away with her own telekinesis, sheathing it and launching herself backwards into the air. A barrage of lightning stuck the sand just in front of where she had been, forming a wall of white light between the two Horsemen and the X-Men.

"Let's make this quick and get the hell out of here!" Scott shouted.

The two Horsemen, however, had no intention of making it quick. Storm's lightning vanished, leaving the tang of ozone behind, but Magneto seemed to grow stronger – and suddenly Sabere's knives were both gone, yanked from their sheaths and slashing at her face and chest. She lunged backwards, throwing everything she had into teke shields, but the charge from Storm's lightning was just giving Magneto more to work with – he had indeed been made far more powerful – she couldn't even think about helping her friends, when ordinarily the odds would have been laughingly in their favor – now they were doomed –

STOP.

The unearthly voice that had "spoken" on the jet now resonated across the sands. Everyone froze, and Sabere stared fearfully into the glowing pyramid. Magneto seemed to listen for a moment, the looked back up. Jean gasped – his eyes were rolled back in his head, and glowing blue. Sabere took an involuntary step back in fear as the voice spoke from Magneto's mouth. "Leave. There will be no more conflict now. If you stay you will be destroyed."

Storm shook her head and hissed, "No, Scott, we're here, we can finish this."

But Scott raised his chin and stared back at Magneto – or whoever was inside him. "We're leaving," he said softly.