X-Men is owned by Marvel. The plotline is heavily inspired by the events surrounding Days of Future Past but I will be taking a lot of creative liberties. The only character I've completely made up is the main protagonist. Please enjoy the story!

Prologue

New York City, 2049

"So quick question, just out of curiosity. How do you know for sure you're not about to murder my ass?" Joel asked. His tone was oddly lighthearted, joking even, but the way he was pacing the workshop and nervously running his hands down his unshaven face told a very different story.

Forge glanced up from his tablet. The older mutant was looking more worn out than ever and absolutely not in the mood for any of the other mutant's dramatics.

"I don't," he replied in a deadpan tone.

"Oh shit, I'm sooo gonna die," Joel said under his breath. "There's still so much I haven't done in my young life!"

"Relax," Forge added, his scarred face twisting into a strained grin. "You just have to do your thing. The device is programmed to take care of the rest. You might suffer from spacetime dissonance when you get there, but in theory it should be completely idiot proof."

"Great, perfect for me then," Joel muttered.

"Exactly," Forge replied and continued to make last minute adjustments to his latest invention, still untested and made up mostly of scavenged parts.

Joel was feeling on edge and completely useless, not unlike a caged rat in a science laboratory. He sighed and glanced down at the half-assed time-traveling machine that took up the majority of his forearm. He focused particularly on the date that was flashing on the screen.

July 17th, 2026.

If everything went perfectly according to plan, with absolutely no hiccups whatsoever, he'd be going back in time — back to right before everything went to shit.

Then, if he somehow managed to survive the jump, and if his brain wasn't turned into a lump of fried mush inside his skull, then he'd have the impossible task of fixing history before it had a chance to happen.

He was humanity's last remaining bit of hope…

God, they were so fucked.

"Hey. Do you think—?"

Joel's next question never completely left his lips.

Both men suddenly went completely quiet, listening to the sounds of grinding metal and breaking glass in the distance.

It didn't exactly take a highly sophisticated alarm system for Joel to know that multiple giant mutant-hunting robots were heading toward their location. He could feel the ground shake underneath his feet as they made a path through all of the abandoned cars that lined the streets.

The letters on one of the computer screens still began to flash red, just in case they hadn't gotten the memo. SENTINEL ALERT!, it read, over and over again. The alarm didn't make a sound; that would only make the sentinels find them faster.

"We have company," Forge said quietly.

BANG!

Joel gasped loudly, his golden eyes going wide with horror. Forge looked over his shoulder expectantly but there was nothing there.

"We don't have any coffee or snacks! What are we going to offer them?!" the young mutant blurted out.

Forge made a sound that could almost be described as a laugh.

"You're a dumbass," he said.

"You love me, deep down," Joel grinned impishly.

BANG!

BANG!

BANG!

Forge looked over his shoulder again. Multiple cracks were slowly spreading from a single point in the middle of the exterior wall. There wasn't much time left for idle chit chat and definitely none for goofy one-liners. "You're ready to teleport. Remember, you have to find Charles Xavier," he added urgently.

"I know," Joel replied, letting out a shaky breath. "Find Charles Xavier and save the world. Piece of cake. I should be home by dinner," he added with a crooked grin, as if he wasn't terrified shitless.

He wasn't kidding earlier. He knew there was a high likelihood that the time-jump was actually going to kill him. He also knew that Forge was only trying to make him feel better when he spoke of spacetime dissonance — whatever the fuck that was even supposed to mean.

But staying here would be certain death too… it'd be the death of everything…

BANG!

A significant amount of dust fell onto the floor where the sentinels were attempting to break into the workshop.

Forge grabbed Joel by the arm and held his gaze. "I'll hold them off for as long as I can," he told him.

Joel knew the other man well enough to know that was about as heartfelt of a goodbye as he was gonna get.

"I'll see you again," he replied.

Joel knew he would never see his friend again, at least not the specific version that was standing in front of him now, but he said the words anyway.

Forge simply nodded and took a few steps back.

BANG!

BANG!

CRACK!

Dust and debris went flying everywhere as an 18-foot sentinel finally managed to burst into the workshop. Its metal arm was outstretched and searching for its targets.

"JOEL! YOU HAVE TO GO!" Forge shouted.

He aimed his cybernetic hand at the sentinel's chest and blasted it with bright blue energy. It did nothing to slow the sentinel down but Forge wasn't giving up. He sent another blast, and then another one after that. "That one's for Wolverine, you hunk of junk!"

"Fuck, fuck, fuck," Joel hissed frantically.

Leaving Forge behind went against every fiber of his being, but he knew this was their best shot — hell, their last shot.

He had to go.

So with one last fretful look at what remained of the workshop — of his home these last few months — Joel tapped one of the buttons on the screen of his time-traveling device. He immediately felt a white hot energy run through his whole body.

The fluorescent lights above his head flickered, and then suddenly he was gone, vanishing in a puff of purple smoke.