The Last Son, Book Two: Reckonings

by The Writer with No Name

AU Season 2. Crossover with Superman. In his second year at the Institute, the young Man of Steel must deal with new friends, new foes, and growing public curiosity. Rated T for now. Author's Note inside.

28. Zero Hour, Part One

CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN: ZERO HOUR, PART ONE: OPENING MOVES

Gotham City, July 10, 2008

The blanket of night had fallen over Gotham City, and all of Gotham's good citizens had returned to their homes, fearfully shutting themselves in tightly, for they all knew: nighttime was when the monsters – the meth dealers, the gang-bangers, the murderers and rapists – came out to play.

But the monsters were scared, too.

In an empty street alley, two criminals ran for their lives, as sirens blared behind them...but that didn't worry them half as much as what they knew might swoop in on them at any minute...

"Aw, man, Jimmy, I am never listening to you again!" one crook wailed fearfully. "I told you that knocking over that store was a bad idea! Now the Bat's gonna get us!!"

"Shut it, Mike!" Jimmy snapped. "We'll be fine! All we gotta do is lay low for a while..." But he was cut off as a whirring cut the air, as a glint of metal lanced over their heads...seconds before a hanging ladder swung down, slamming Jimmy right in the face, sending him sprawling, to land hard...where a blur darted in from nowhere, snatching him up in an instant, leaving Mikey all alone.

Whimpering with fear, Mikey took out his knife, and dropped it on the ground. "I-I give up!!" he wailed. "I swear, I'll never do anything bad ever again!! JUST DON'T TAKE MY SOUL!!!"

At that, Mikey heard a soft rustling above him – like wings flapping – and he looked up. His eyes widened as the vengeful black shape swooped in on him, and then...

...oblivion.

On a rooftop above the alley, Superman touched down, depositing the unconscious crook on the ground just as Batman grappled to the roof with the other one. Batman fixed Superman with his usual semi-glare. "I could have handled that alone."

"I know." Superman replied. "I was just in the neighborhood."

At that, Batman just let out a tiny exhalation from his nose...which, coming from an individual as highly trained as him, spoke volumes...but, ultimately, boiled down to 'Fine.'

Superman nodded. "It's been quiet." he said. "There haven't been as many emergencies, lately. I'm not complaining, mind you, it's just that...it makes you uneasy."

That was true; for the past few weeks, things had been quiet, for him and the X-Men. The most worrisome issue in the Institute lately had been Ali preparing for her upcoming concert; it was two nights from tonight.

Batman was silent for a moment...and then nodded. "It's been like that in Gotham." he said. "It's been weeks since Joker, Penguin, or any of the other Arkham regulars tried anything. Not only that...there have been whispers on the streets; no details, just...saying that something's coming."

"Back home, when the weather was like that, my father boarded up the windows, locked up the barn, and moved us all down to the cellar before the tornado hit." Superman said. "Nine times out of ten, he was right."

Batman simply arched an eyebrow. "You'll have to tell me more about that."

Superman blinked. "I take it Robin is handling another case?"

Batman nodded.

Superman then chuckled. "'Don't take my soul'??" he repeated, mirroring Batman's quizzical expression.

Batman half-smiled. "That's a new one, I admit."

"Well, I'd better get going." Superman said. "It doesn't sound like anything else is happening, tonight, so I'll head home." He turned to go.

"Kent...be careful."

"You, too...Bruce?" Superman replied, turning around...to find that Batman was already gone, with the two out-cold crooks already cuffed, ready for the police. 'One of these days, I'm going to beat him to the punch.' Superman thought with a quiet laugh, before he took to the sky, heading home, leaving the unconscious thugs to the police.

Bayville

It was a quiet night in Bayville; the citizens were all tucked in, and the streets were empty...

...above ground, at least.

In the sewers below Bayville, Wolverine prowled through the muck, in uniform, his claws extended, on full alert. He sniffed the air...and snarled in disgust; the ever-present septic smells made it damn near impossible to get a fix on his quarry...

A feral roar shook the sewers as Sabretooth leapt out of the shadows at him, his punch cratering the ground...right where Wolverine had been, a few seconds ago. Wolverine rolled to the side, and came up to Sabretooth's left, claws ready.

"Long time, no see, Short Stuff!" Creed laughed. "I was just in the neighborhood, so I thought I'd say hi!"

Wolverine snarled; he knew he'd gotten a whiff of 'Tooth's delightful aroma on his bike-ride, earlier today. 'Damn, do I hate being right...' "Ain't you a peach."

Sabretooth roared again, before he darted at Wolverine, unleashing a swipe with his clawed hands...which Wolverine ducked under, before slashing 'Tooth's gut with his claws. Before he could press the attack, 'Tooth kneed him in the face, and then backhanded him, sending him flying, and knocking out one of his teeth...which quickly re-grew itself, just as quickly as Creed's wounds healed.

The two began circling each other, waiting for the perfect opportunity to strike. "So, Creed," Wolverine snarled, "what brings you to my neck of the woods?"

'Tooth grinned savagely. "I got sick of Lensherr and von Doom making me play by their rules!" he laughed. "I figured it was time to settle things with the runt, once and for all!" His grin grew. "You're just the warm-up, Short-Stuff!"

Sabretooth punctuated the sentence by rushing at Wolverine, ready to rip him to shreds, but Wolverine darted out of the way. "There's two things wrong with that plan, Creed." Wolverine snarled. "One, Flyboy could break you in half with his pinky finger without even breakin' a sweat."

With a feral roar, Wolverine then darted at Sabretooth, rolling low under his foe's swipe, and stabbing his claws right into Creed's gut.

"And Two, I'm not planning on going down so easy!!"

Wolverine was about to really let 'Tooth have it...when several sounds filled his ears, distracting him long enough for Creed to kick him away. Sabretooth listened, pausing as well, before he scowled. "Brought backup, did you, Short Stuff?"

"Ain't my style, Creed." Wolverine snapped. "'Sides, if it was, they'd be ambushing your sorry ass right about now..."

Suddenly, a small metal sphere arced through the air towards them, coming out of the shadows, landing in the muck between them. Wolverine and Sabretooth stared at the sphere, momentarily confused...before the sphere emitted a high-powered electric current, electrocuting the both of them.

As the sphere's surge dissipated, Wolverine felt himself start to fall, his vision getting fuzzy. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Creed drop, too...and then, he saw numerous black-clad figures closing in on them both...and just before he passed out, he heard one say, "Mission accomplished, sir; we have the test subjects."

And then...blackout.

LexCorp Divisional HQ, New York

It was midnight at the Headquarters of LexCorp's New York Division, and most of the staff had gone home, leaving only the night-shift staff hard at work...with one exception.

Lex was hard at work at his desk, rapidly typing on his computer, poring over the data files he'd been looking at for months; he knew that someone was trying to re-start the Sentinel Project, but he just couldn't find out who – the culprit was very good at covering their tracks. The electronic trail wove in and out through the network, making it enough to drive most minds to the loony bin...but Lex Luthor's mind wasn't 'most minds'.

Even so, Lex was coming to the end of his rope. 'Come on...where are you...' he thought, as he traced the latest link to the Project files, '...you can't hide forever...you're going to slip up, and when you do'

Just then, the moron on the other computer slipped up, leading Lex right back to his own network. 'Yes!' Lex thought with a smile...which quickly faded as he recognized it. 'S.H.I.E.L.D.?!!' Quickly, Lex tried every hacking trick he knew, to convince the S.H.I.E.L.D. system that he belonged there before it kicked him out. Within seconds, Lex breathed a sigh of relief, and resumed his trace.

This didn't make sense; why would S.H.I.E.L.D. be developing these...'Sentinels,' especially when General Fury himself had ordered the Project shut down? From what Lex knew of him, Nick Fury didn't seem to be someone who went back on his word...

Lex's eyes went wide, as he managed to get a look at who this guy had been dealing with. 'Holy...I'd better let Clark know about this...' At once, Lex saved his findings to his computer, and discreetly logged out of the system, making sure that the perp didn't even know he'd been watching him. Once he was out, Lex quickly pulled out his cell phone, and dialed Clark up.

"Hello?" came Clark's reply.

"Clark? It's Lex."

"Lex?? What are you doing up, this late?"

"I can't get into that, not over the phone." Lex replied. "I need to meet with you and the others, tomorrow; I've got something you all need to see."

"Well...sure!" Clark answered. "Just drop by, anytime! But...what's this all about??"

"Sorry, Boy Scout, but I can't get into that, either." Lex said. "I'll explain everything in person, I promise."

"Okay, Lex. See you then."

"Right. Bye." Lex finished, before he ended the call. Putting his phone away, Lex sighed to himself. 'Aw, Clark...what did you get yourself into, now..?'

Undisclosed location, July 11

As she walked through Magneto's current headquarters, Anita, in uniform, remembered her father's instructions.

She knew that her father and Magneto's plan would come to fruition very soon – although she hadn't been told of the exact timetable – and she had been instructed to observe Lensherr's personal recruits – his "Acolytes" – and determine whether or not their loyalties truly lay with the 'Master of Magnetism' or if they could be persuaded to...enlist elsewhere.

What she had found had been insightful, though, in retrospect, it was hardly surprising. Pietro, on observation, was fiercely loyal to his father – almost as loyal as Anita was to her Papa – despite his 'objections' to Lensherr's plans – born from jealousy of Kal-El, Anita thought with a smirk. It was highly unlikely that the speedster would break from the Acolytes to join her father's side, when Doom and Magneto would inevitably end their alliance.

As for the mutant St. John Allerdyce – "Pyro" – Anita had determined that the youth could easily be persuaded to enlist with them; the sole reason for John's joining of the Acolytes was that, essentially, he hadn't had anything better to do. Anita chuckled to herself; for a man as brilliant as her father, it would child's play to convince the pyro-kinetic mutant that there was greater glory to be had as a soldier of Doom than a lackey of Lensherr.

Harnessing the youth's borderline-insanity, however...that would be a different story. Still, Anita was confident that her and Kal-El's leadership, once he finally joined them, would bring him into line, she thought with a smile.

Likewise, Victor Creed, or "Sabretooth," who was currently absent, for reasons unknown, would also be easy to persuade. Creed was nothing but a common mercenary; it was only his greed that bound him to Lensherr...greed that her father could easily satiate better than Magneto.

As for her own teammates, the Brotherhood, they were also easy to persuade. Between her voice and her future husband, they would fall in line with no effort at all.

But with regards to the last Acolyte, Piotr "Colossus" Rasputin, Anita was still unsure; Piotr was always quiet, on the few occasions that Anita had seen him. He was always elsewhere, in the recesses of Magneto's hideouts. Anita knew next to nothing about him.

Which led her back to the reason for her little walk. Time was growing short.

As Anita rounded a corner, she smiled to herself, as she saw the Rasputin youth, leaning against a wall, next to a door leading into a darkened room. As Anita drew near, Piotr saw her, and stood up; well, at least he had more manners than the others. "There you are; I was looking for you." Anita said. "We should all be ready; Magneto will be announcing his plans, soon."

"I am sorry." Piotr said, his Russian accent still thick, but not as pronounced as it had been at first. "There was...something I needed to look after."

Anita lightly frowned. "That seems to be the case quite often." she replied. "It has to do with why you're here, doesn't it?"

Piotr looked stricken, and Anita knew she'd struck the nail on the head. If she could discern what it was that bound Colossus to the Acolytes, she could gain leverage.

"I...I cannot say." Piotr said.

Anita's eyes narrowed, as she readied her commanding voice. "I demand that you..!"

"P-Piotr?"

The tiny little Russian voice came from within the room, startling Anita, stopping her command, as a little girl, no older than 9 years old, with mid-length golden blond hair, tied in two pigtails, and bright blue eyes, clad in a hospital gown, walked into view...pulling a mobile intravenous unit with her, as it fed a clear fluid into the blood vessels in her wrist.

Piotr's eyes widened. "'Yana, what are you doing up?" he replied, in Russian.

The little girl – 'Yana' – started to sniffle. "I had a bad dream..." she whimpered.

Instantly, Piotr knelt down to her, and hugged her. "There, there, Little Snowflake; Big Brother's here." he whispered. "Just go back to bed; I promise, in a few minutes, I'll come read you a story, okay?"

"Okay." Yana whispered. Then her expression turned sad again. "Piotr, when can I take this thing out?" she sniffled, pointing to the I.V. "It hurts!"

"Oh, I know, Illyana, I know." Piotr said softly. "But that medicine keeps you from getting sick. You don't want to get sick again, do you?"

"No..."

"Well, there you have it." Piotr replied.

Illyana looked worried. "Piotr?" she whispered. "The...the thing I have...the 'new-moo-nia' thing...is it...bad?"

Piotr's smile became a bit strained. "It...can be." he admitted. "But that's only if nobody notices it; we caught it in time, 'Yana. Don't worry."

"Okay." Illyana replied. "I'll go back to sleep, now, Piotr."

Piotr smiled. "I'll come read to you soon." he promised.

"Okay." Illyana said, smiling. With that, she headed back inside, and hopped back into bed.

Anita felt a slight twinge of guilt fill her at that little discovery. "Was that..?"

"My sister, Illyana." Piotr answered. "She is very sick."

"What does she have?" Anita inquired.

Piotr looked a bit embarrassed. "Her...her lungs...they are..." he began, and then stopped. "I am sorry; my English, it is not so good..."

Anita nodded, before she replied in Russian. "Then use your own language."

Piotr looked a bit surprised at her statement, before he continued. "Illyana has some kind of lung defect; it was present since her birth, and has been growing steadily worse, until it was almost deadly." he said. "My family and I, we are farmers; we are poor, but we are happy. When I became...'different,' my parents saw it not as frightening, but as a miracle from God, because it made me stronger, and let me do more at the farm, when Father was getting older."

Piotr's expression became sad. "And then Illyana got sick." he continued. "The doctor said that it was pneumonia from the lung defect. He told us that the defect could be treated through gene therapy...but we would have to come to America...and that the treatment was so very expensive." He closed his eyes. "Mother just cried and cried..."

"And then Magneto came." Piotr finished. "He told my family that he would gladly pay for Illyana's treatment, and all he wanted was for me to help him do something to help all others like me. At the time, I was glad, and eager to help...but I soon learned that Magneto's plan was not as good as I had thought. Still, I cannot leave; Illyana still needs her treatment – if I stop, she will die."

"I...I see." Anita said softly.

Piotr nodded. "Now, if you will please excuse me; I must read to Illyana." he said, before he headed into the room. In the faint light of the I.V. unit, Anita could see him sit down next to Illyana's bed, before switching on a little light, and then take out a book. Her task complete, Anita turned, and headed back the way she had come.

As she walked, Anita folded her arms, deep in thought. When she'd been younger...she'd always wanted a little sister...or any siblings, for that matter. But Mark and Diane LeRoux would have had none of it...they hadn't even wanted her...

Six-year old Anita LeRoux, in her little green dress, with green ribbons braided in her hair, stood quietly outside her parents' room, peering through the crack in the half-open door, listening...

"What did we do, Mark?!" Diane screamed at her husband. "What the hell did we create?!"

"What are you asking me for, Diane?!" Mark shot back. "I'm just as surprised as you are!!"

"I told you this would happen." Diane hissed. "I told you I didn't want children, and I certainly don't want one that can...that can do what she did!!"

"Well, in case you didn't notice, it wasn't high on my list, either!!"

'W-What..?' Anita thought, her eyes starting to tear up. 'They...didn't want me..?'

Diane's eyes narrowed. "I expect you to take care of this, Mark!" she snapped. "I want her gone! I will not have that little brat order me around!!"

Anita's eyes filled with tears, before she ran back to her room, to pack up her few things, and run away...

...but her parents had caught her, Anita thought, returning to the moment; caught her and locked her away.

'Maybe it was better to be an only child.' Anita thought. Mark and Diane LeRoux should never have been allowed to become parents; no other child deserved to go through what she'd endured. Still, they had gotten what they'd deserved, Anita thought with a smile, and she had found a real father. But though she would never regret her new upbringing, Anita couldn't help but wonder what it would have been like to have started with a loving family...like Piotr's...

By then, Anita was passing by Magneto's quarters. "Siryn." Magneto called, and Anita turned, and stepped inside. "I want you to make sure that the Brotherhood is ready." Magneto instructed, donning his PSI-shielded helmet, already in uniform.

Anita arched an eyebrow. "May I ask why?"

"The day is today, Anita."

Anita gasped, whirling around. "F-Father!!" she exclaimed, lightly bowing. "If...had I known..!"

"...you would have been ready." Doom finished. "Though we expected things to come to fruition soon, the humans have progressed somewhat faster than anticipated; as such, we stepped up our own plans." Doom then turned to Magneto. "I trust that Genosha is progressing as planned?"

Magneto smiled. "Of course, Victor." he replied. "These past few months, I have been spreading the word among our people, and mutants have been flocking to their new home. Not only that, but your generous donations have made the dream of a mutant utopia possible." He chuckled. "All that is missing is a leader."

Doom nodded. "Not for long." he agreed. "With any luck, these events will also persuade your dear friend Xavier how flawed his reasoning is."

"We can only hope."

Doom then turned to Anita. "I look forward to observing your command over the Brotherhood, my dear."

Anita's eyes widened. "Father..?"

Magneto chuckled. "I thought that this would be something you left to your lackeys and Doom-bots, Victor."

"Though Doom leaves menial tasks to those better suited for them," Doom said flatly, "it is high time for Doom and his future son-in-law to have a little chat." He looked to Anita. "I trust you have no objections, Anita?" he added, lightly chuckling. "You would not begrudge your father a chance to 'get some exercise'?"

Anita smiled. "Of course not, Papa!"

"Good." Doom said. His voice regained its command. "Leave us now, daughter, and ready your teammates; we will begin very soon."

Anita nodded. "Yes, Father." she replied, before bowing, and heading out of the room, before teleporting herself away.

Before heading to rejoin her teammates, however, Anita quickly 'ported herself to her hotel room; she needed to make a quick stop here, first. As she took out a small, lead case, Anita smiled to herself as she opened it...allowing the toxic-green light to fill the room, before shutting it again.

Her father did not know that she had borrowed one of the unprocessed Kryptonite shards; today, she was planning on dealing with that little half-breed, once and for all. And once that was taken care of...well, a little Kryptonite would surely make Kal-El a little more receptive to her advances...provided that she got to him before her Papa did. It never hurt to be prepared.

Anita smiled again, as she 'ported away, to rally the troops. It looked to be a good day.

Xavier Institute

It was a fairly pleasant morning at the Institute, and Charles was in his office, taking care of some paperwork. As he completed one form, he paused, his brow furrowing worriedly. Logan had been gone since yesterday, and no-one had heard from him since. Charles shrugged to himself; Logan was just likely being Logan. He was probably fine...

'Help...help me...'

Charles frowned. There it was again. For the past few weeks, he'd been hearing that faint telepathic cry, at the very outer limits of his mental 'reach.' It was as if someone was calling for help, but was too weak for Charles to home in on them. It bothered him that he could not find them...

'Hello, Charles. I hope you don't mind us dropping by.'

Charles smiled to himself. 'Hello, Agatha. How are you?'

'Oh, I'm just fine, for a woman my age.'

'Where are you?' Charles asked...just as he noticed the warning light for the security system switch on...and then switch off.

'Wanda and I are just walking up the driveway.' Agatha replied. 'I am sorry about your security system; if I had known, I would have called ahead. Wanda just turned it off, herself; there shouldn't be much damage.'

'Don't worry.' Charles assured her. 'But, I must know: what brings you here?'

Agatha's mental tone turned grave. 'We have grave news, Charles; you and your students had to be informed.'

Charles nodded grimly. 'I see...please, come in, Agatha; I will alert my students. Meet us in the Meeting Room on the lower levels.' With that, he sent detailed directions to Agatha, and ended the telepathic conversation, and prepared to summon his students.

But he needn't have bothered; seconds after he had done so, the entire X-Men team, Krypto, and the New Mutants, as well as Storm and Beast hurried into his office, in uniform. "Professor, what's going on?" Cyclops asked. "We heard the security alarm..."

"It's alright, Scott." Charles assured him. "Yes, the alarm went off, but it was only Agatha and Wanda..."

"'Only Agatha and Wanda'?!" Shadowcat exclaimed.

"That chick nearly kicked our butts, last time!" Spyke added.

"I assure you, they mean no harm; they only wish to talk." Charles said calmly.

Jean looked worried. "I don't know..."

"Well, Wanda did only switch the security system off." Superman reasoned. "If she wanted to attack, she could have just demolished it."

"Maybe she vants to join up!" Nightcrawler added.

Avalanche chuckled. "Here's hoping, Fuzzy."

"Regardless, we will meet them in the Meeting Room; they have something important to tell us." Charles finished.

Suddenly, both Superman and Power Girl perked up. "You guys go on ahead." Superman said. "Last night, I got a call from Lex; he has some important info, as well. He said he'd be dropping by, around this time. I'll just go meet him, and we'll catch up." With that, he headed off, while the rest of them headed to the Meeting Room, in the Institute's lower levels.

Charles and the others emerged into the Meeting Room just as Wanda and Agatha stepped out of the other elevator. No-one moved or spoke for a moment...until Cyclops lightly smiled. "Hey." he greeted.

Charles smiled.

"Hey." Wanda replied, also faintly smiling. "Look...you guys aren't mad about...that warehouse incident, are you?"

The X-Men also smiled, the tension lessening. "Nah." Power Girl said. "We got over it."

Agatha chuckled. "Now, you see, child? What did I tell you?" she said. To Charles, she added, "My apprentice here was worried that your students might still be sore about what happened the last time they met, Charles."

Charles chuckled. "Well, I'm glad that we have that much cleared up."

Just then, the elevator door opened, as Superman and Lex walked in. "I hope I'm not interrupting anything." Lex said.

"Not at all." Charles said. "We were just about to find out why Agatha dropped by."

Agatha's expression turned grave. "I only wish I could have visited with better news." she said sadly. "Whatever it is that Erik Lensherr and Victor von Doom plan to do...they will do very soon."

"Um, okay..." Shadowcat said, blinking. "And...you know this...how??"

Agatha chuckled. "My dear girl, every witch worth her cauldron has at least some gift of future sight." she answered. "True, I shall never have the clarity that Destiny does, but I have enough, and I was in the area."

Rogue blinked. "Yer a witch??" she exclaimed.

"Five centuries practicing." Agatha said.

"So...you're certain about what's going to happen?" Beast inquired.

Agatha nodded grimly. "Quite certain." she replied. "If they haven't started their plan, they will."

"And that's why I came." Wanda said, her eyes narrowed. "You guys are probably going to stop Magneto, and I plan on being there when you take him down."

Now it was Lex's turn to look grim. "Well, I hate to be the one to toss gasoline on the fire," he said, as he took out a computer disc, "but I think I can back up that claim." Walking to the central table, he inserted the disc into the computer, before opening up the overhead projector-program. "These past few months, ever since I met all of you, I've been looking into something – it was part of a government contract that my company was handling when my father ran things." he explained. "When it got cut, shortly after Lionel died, I heard a few grumblings from some of the staff; apparently, some people weren't too happy about it."

"What does this have to do with us?" Jean asked.

Lex looked grim. "You guys aren't going to like this..." he warned...as he tapped a key on the computer.

Instantly, the projector brought up the schematics of a massive, humanoid robot; if it were ever built, it would stand over twenty feet tall, and armed to the joints with machine guns, grenade launchers, missile batteries, and what looked like a plasma-based laser cannon.

"The Sentinel Project," Lex continued, "initially developed by S.H.I.E.L.D. as an anti-mutant countermeasure. They came to Lionel to develop the weaponry that this mother would use, but half-way through, the Project was discontinued...and, frankly, I'm not too sad about it."

"Merciful Goddess..." Storm murmured.

Charles was speechless; the fact that such a thing had been conceived of...

"How could he?" Cyclops murmured. "How could General Fury even think of building that...thing?"

Multiple looked scared. "But...but they aren't gonna build that thing...r-right?"

"Sure hope not, little guy." Iceman said softly.

"Don't be so sure." Lex added. "That's why I came to talk to you guys; just last night, I traced someone working within S.H.I.E.L.D. I have reason to believe that whoever this was, he's trying to build a few of these suckers."

Everyone was silent at that. "It looks like we've found that clandestine operation that the General was worried about." Superman said.

"Yeah, but here's where it gets weird." Lex continued. "I traced this guy's transactions; he bought several hundred tons of steel and electronics from companies that I know for a fact are just dummy-corporations for Shaw International and Van Damme Industries."

"So Doom and Shaw are helping these mutant-haters??" Avalanche exclaimed.

"That doesn't make sense!" Jubilee added.

"Jubilee is correct; Doom is allied with Magneto – there is no logical reason for a mutant to support such a group." Android agreed.

"What the hell could they be up to..?" Rogue thought aloud.

"That, Rogue, is the million-dollar question." Lex said.

Wanda's eyes narrowed. "Well, why don't we find my 'Daddy Dearest' and ask him."

"We can't." Spyke said. "Mags has got that bucket on his head that keeps the Professor from finding him."

"Ain' dat de truth." Gambit muttered. "Looks like we gon' 'ave t' wait 'til Mags an' Doom 'cide t' make dey're move."

Lex looked thoughtful. "Maybe not..." he said. "Whenever Magneto uses his powers, he kicks up one hell of a magnetic field, right?"

"Right." Superman agreed.

Lex smiled, as he moved to the computer. "Trying to find any one mutant with Cerebro is like trying to find a needle in a haystack, right, Professor?" he said.

"Well...yes, at times." Charles admitted.

"Cerebro just sifts through the hay," Lex said, as he kept typing, "but what you need to look for...is the glint of the needle!"

Instantly, a green map of the planet came up on the projector. "I just brought up one of LexCorp's satellites; it's doing a planet-wide sweep of Earth...looking for electromagnetic anomalies..."

Superman smiled. "...and where there are anomalies, there's Magneto!"

"Give the man a cigar!" Lex joked. Then, he smiled. "Voila!"

The map showed a massive cluster of electromagnetic radiation...right over New York City.

"There's our needle." Cyclops said.

"Looks like he's in the old warehouse district." Superman said, looking at the map closely.

"What are we waiting for?" Wanda demanded, her eyes narrowing. "Let's get him."

Charles looked at Wanda worriedly, and reluctantly nodded. "Whatever Magneto's plan is, we must not let him succeed." he agreed. "Do whatever it takes." He looked to Storm and Beast. "Ororo, Hank, I want you both to accompany the X-Men."

"We will." Storm agreed.

"What about us?" Iceman asked.

"Yeah! We can help!" Sunspot added.

"Sorry, guys, but you'll have to stay here." Cyclops said.

Superman nodded. "We need all of you to stick around, in case Magneto tries anything here while we're busy."

The New Mutants seemed satisfied with that. "We won't let you guys down!" Jubilee exclaimed.

Lex chuckled. "Boy, I kinda hate to leave, after dropping a bomb on you guys like that..."

Superman laughed. "Lex, this bomb was going to drop, anyway; you just told us where."

Agatha nodded. "Sadly, I, too, must take my leave."

Wanda's expression saddened at that. "Agatha..?"

"Oh, don't worry, child; you'll see me again." Agatha assured her. "But this leg of your journey is one that you must take without me." She looked to the X-Men. "I wish you all luck." With that, she turned, and walked away...before she vanished into thin air.

"Well, I'd better leave, too." Lex added. "Good luck!" That said, he walked away, taking the elevator back up.

"Okay, guys," Cyclops said, "there's no time to lose! Let's go!" With that, the X-Men, along with Krypto and the Scarlet Witch headed out, to find Magneto and stop him.

As he watched them go, Charles smiled proudly after his students. He was deeply worried about him – Magneto was dangerous, even without the aid of Victor von Doom – but he knew that there were none better to handle his old friend.

'X-Men,' he thought, 'Godspeed...'

Undisclosed location

When Wolverine came to, he felt seriously groggy. 'Ugh...feels like 'Tooth's been tap-dancin' on my skull...'

Opening his eyes, Wolverine saw that he was in an elevator, heading down, and that his arms were bound by high-tech shackles at the wrists, and that he was surrounded by armed men...wearing F.O.H. armbands.

'Terrific.' he thought. 'Out of the fryin' pan and straight into the freakin' fire.'

Then, to his right, Wolverine spotted Sabretooth, in the exact same situation he was in. 'Tooth grinned savagely. "Took you long enough, Short-Stuff!"

"Shut up, mutie!!" one soldier yelled, slamming the butt of his rifle into Sabretooth's gut.

At that moment, the elevator came to a stop, opening onto the ground floor, where the soldiers dragged the both of them outside...where Wolverine's eyes widened in utter astonishment, as the looked upon the high-tech operation that these racists were running. "Holy mother of..." he gasped, "...this place looks like...S.H.I.E.L.D...."

"Very observant, mutant."

Wolverine turned towards the owner of that voice, as a fairly tall 30-something-year-old man, of average height, with short dark hair, and a trim moustache, clad in black pants and a black jacket, strode over. "And you're actually right." he continued. "This place is similar to S.H.I.E.L.D. After all, many of us used to work there..."

The man leaned in to glare at Wolverine. "...until we learned of the existence of mutant scum like you, that is." he finished.

"Oh, great. A fanatic." Wolverine muttered. "Okay, bub, I'll bite: what did mutants ever do to you?"

The man glared at him as if he'd said something ridiculous. "Your kind," he snarled, "are a threat! A menace! You poison our gene pool, and upset the natural balance of power!!"

Wolverine met him glare for glare. "We're not all the same." he countered. "Unlike 'Tooth here, some of us fight the good fight."

"Even if that were true," the man sneered, "the fact remains is that we – humanity, the rightful owners of this world – get caught in the crossfire! We have a right to ensure our survival!"

One of the soldiers spoke up. "Dr. Trask, sir! What should we do with them?"

"Bring them to the main holding area until we are ready." Trask answered. "The commander wishes to have a word with them." With that, Trask headed off, and the soldiers dragged Wolverine and Sabretooth along with them.

As Trask headed elsewhere, the soldiers dragged Wolverine and Sabretooth to a fairly small holding cell. Keeping them at gunpoint, the soldiers tapped buttons on their shackles, causing the shackles to separate...and then magnetically adhere to the walls. Their task done, the soldiers left them there. Gritting his teeth, Wolverine tried to pull free, but it was no use. The shackles were stuck tight, and he couldn't reach them with his claws to cut free.

Suddenly, a scent filled his nostrils; someone else was here. Sabretooth smelled it, too, as he looked around, his eyes narrowing. "Who's there?!" he roared.

A chuckle came from the shadows, as a man, in his thirties, with short, light brown hair, cold blue eyes, clad in a black business suit, and black leather gloves, stepped into view. "You don't recognize me?" he asked. "I'm not surprised."

Wolverine arched an eyebrow as he looked at the newcomer. There was something familiar about his face...and then he happened to glance to 'Tooth...and back again...

Wolverine's eyes widened. 'No freakin' way...'

Sabretooth looked at him closely, and took a deeper whiff...and then burst out laughing. "Well, whaddya know!" he guffawed cruelly. "If it ain't my own runty son!"

"SHUT UP!!!" the man exploded, backhanding Sabretooth. "Don't EVER say that again, you filthy mutie!!!"

Sabretooth just laughed. "So, Graydon, you finally worked up the guts to strike yer old man, eh?" he sneered. "Took you long enough!" He smiled ferally. "What say you drop these cuffs, so we can have a proper 'family reunion'?"

Graydon's face twisted. "You," he snarled, "are NO father of mine!! I purged your filthy gene from my system!" He took off his gloves, revealing the scarring on his hands. "I am pure, mutie!! And once I get rid of you and that blue bitch, my line will be cleansed!!"

'Blue?' Wolverine thought. "Hey, 'Tooth, is he talkin' about who I think he is?"

Sabretooth grumbled. "It was about thirty years ago or so; I was on a job, and Mystique was working on the opposite side. She got me drunk so I screwed up the job, and nine months later, out pops runty, here." he muttered. "Anyways, that bitch just dumps the kid with me and high-tails it out of there, so I had to put up with this little runt until I can pawn him off to some orphanage."

"Well, ain't you 'Father of the Year'." Wolverine replied. "But I can see it: he's got yer good looks...God help him."

"I said, shut UP!!!" Graydon roared, punching Wolverine in the stomach.

Wolverine lightly coughed. "Got yer charming personality, too..."

Snarling, Graydon pulled out a gun, and aimed it at Sabretooth's head. "I should just shoot you, now, mutie." he growled. Then, he smiled evilly, and lowered it. "But I have something better in mind. We're in need of test subjects for our little project; any volunteers?"

Sabretooth chuckled. "Figures." he sneered. "You don't got the balls to do it yourself; I'm startin' to wonder if you are my kid."

Graydon backhanded him again. "You're already dead by my hand, mutie scum!!" he spat. "Just like the rest of your filthy kind!!" With that, he turned, and left the cell.

Wolverine chuckled. "Oh yeah; a real chip off the old block-head."

"Aw, shaddap!"

Seconds later, several more soldiers stormed into the cell, and yanked them off the wall, re-connecting their shackles, before dragging them out, into a large test-area, surrounded by a metal fence. The soldiers tossed them into the test-zone, closing the door behind them, the fence sparking – electrified. Then, their shackles just popped off. At once, Wolverine popped out his claws. 'I don't like this...'

Suddenly, a large trap-door slid open in the middle of the test-zone, as a huge, mechanical monstrosity started to rise out of it. "Say hello to the instrument of your filthy kind's demise!" came Graydon's voice over a speaker. "Our mechanical defender of humanity...the Sentinel!"

"Holy..." Wolverine muttered.

"...shit." Sabretooth finished.

Wolverine glanced to his old enemy. "Truce?"

Sabretooth snarled...and nodded. "For now, Short-Stuff." With that, they could only ready themselves, as the monstrous robot – the Sentinel – rose to its full height, its glass eyes starting to glow a foreboding yellow...

Warehouse district, New York City

It was noon as Superman, Power Girl, and Krypto touched down in the abandoned warehouse district, as the X-Van came to a stop a few feet away. Superman's eyes narrowed, flashing electric blue. Lex had been right; this place was crawling with electromagnetic waves.

Magneto was here. No doubt about it.

Seconds later, Storm touched down, as the X-Men, as well as Wanda, emerged from their vehicle. "Did either of you spot anything?" Cyclops asked.

"No. Nothing." Superman replied.

"Ditto." Power Girl added.

"Neither did I." Storm said.

Wanda scowled. "That old cockroach has probably crawled under another rock." she muttered.

"No, he's still in the area; there's still too much EM radiation." Superman said.

"Well, if ol' Bucket 'ead wants t' play 'ide n' seek, dat's okay wit' Gambit." Gambit said.

"Everyone stay alert." Cyclops instructed. "Magneto and his goons could be anywhere..."

"No-one move." Superman instructed. His hearing had picked up something; something distinctly metallic...

Superman's eyes narrowed. "How long were you planning on standing there, Victor?"

A metallic chuckle filled the air, as Dr. Doom stepped out of the shadows to Superman's right. "Long enough."

"Holy..!!" Avalanche exclaimed.

"I see I need no introduction." Doom continued. He folded his arms. "The time has come, Kal-El, for us to have a little chat."

At that, Cyclops reached for his visor, ready for a fast shot, as Jean readied a TK-bubble. Spyke flexed his forearms, generating a coating of spikes. Gambit took out his deck, and started shuffling. Storm's eyes narrowed, as storm-clouds began to gather. Wanda's fists clenched, blue-black energy coalescing around her hands, while Power Girl's eyes started to glow gold. The entire team was ready to attack...

Superman raised his hand, motioning them to stay back. "It's okay, guys." he said. "I've got this covered."

Shadowcat looked worried. "But...but Kal..!"

"Don't worry about me." Superman said. "You have to find Magneto and stop him." He glared at Doom. "Doom's actually right about this one: a little face-to-face is long overdue."

Power Girl looked stricken, as Krypto softly whined. "Kal...tausha...are you sure about this?" Power Girl asked.

Superman smiled at her. "I'm sure, taushi. I'll be okay." he said. His expression turned firm. "Now, you guys get going!" With that, the others hurried off, further into the district, while Superman turned to face Doom...

As the X-Men headed further into the district, Nightcrawler looked nervous. "I don't know, guys; should ve really have left Kal back zhere? Vith Doctor Doom?"

"Hey, Big Blue can take care of himself, Fuzzy." Avalanche assured his teammate.

"Yeah!" Shadowcat agreed.

"Regardless, he was right; we need to find Magneto." Cyclops said.

Wanda nodded. "Amen to that."

By then, they had wandered into a larger area, between several warehouses, with an old clock-tower a few blocks away. "I'll try and spot Magneto from the sky." Storm suggested, as she summoned her winds, starting to float upwards into the air...

Power Girl's eyes widened, as her hearing picked something up. "Everyone, DOWN!!" she cried...just as a familiar sonic scream filled the air, rippling towards them with deadly force. Jean instantly raised a TK-barrier, which Power Girl reinforced with a hard-light wall, amplifying it with the energy she was absorbing and transmuting from the sonic attack, while their teammates huddled behind the barriers.

Soon, the scream died down. "Figures." Rogue muttered. "Where Steel and Psycho is, Her Royal Pain-in-the-Highness ain't far behind."

"Watch your mouth, wench." came a haughty voice, as Siryn, in uniform, stepped into view. She smiled archly. "But it was good of you to come; it saves us the trouble." With that, she snapped her fingers, and the rest of the Brotherhood – Blob, Toad, and Quicksilver – stepped out of the shadows. Seconds later, two of Magneto's acolytes – Pyro and Colossus – joined them.

"Terrific." Spyke said. "They brought friends."

Siryn smirked. "You have been thorns in our sides for the better part of the past year." she said. She glared at Power Girl. "Some more than others."

Power Girl glared back. "Back at you."

"Regardless, I'm afraid that the time has come to put you all out of our misery." Siryn finished. With that, she turned to her teammates. "Get them." she ordered. At that, the X-Men readied themselves, as the combined forces of the Brotherhood and the Acolytes came at them...

Once his friends had left, Superman turned to face Doom. "It was wise of you to agree, Kal-El." Doom said.

"Like I said, this is long overdue, Doom," Superman replied, his eyes narrowing, "but I wanted a face-to-face, not to play your games."

Doom's eyes narrowed. "My patience with you is already thin, boy. Do not strain it further with insolence."

Superman wasn't phased. "If you really want to talk, Doom, then get this toy of yours out of here and face me." he snapped. "Otherwise, I'm leaving."

Doom's fist clenched. "I warn you, boy..."

Superman turned to leave. "Goodbye, Victor." He started to walk away.

A metallic clapping filled the air, as the real Doom stepped into view, his invisibility spell dissipating with a gesture. "Well done." he said, as the false Doom – a Doom-bot – stood at attention in its master's presence. "Did you know I was there?"

"That spell doesn't hide your body-heat, Doom." Superman replied. "Besides, no matter how good a cloaking spell you use, a heartbeat echoing through metal is hard to miss."

"No doubt." Doom said. He gestured, and the Doom-bot ignited its boot-jets, flying off. "I had scattered a few of my Doom-bots around this area, on the assumption that you and your colleagues would arrive, so that they would intercept you."

Superman's eyes narrowed, as he and Doom started to circle each other. "Am I supposed to be flattered?"

Doom's eyes narrowed behind his mask. "As my minion stated, Kal-El, my patience is wearing thin." he said. "I had hoped that such measures might not be necessary; what happens now, you have brought on yourself."

"I could say the same to you." Superman countered.

Doom's fist clenched. "I have attempted to be patient." he said. "I have tried to be understanding. I have even bestowed upon you an honor that no other man on this planet is worthy of: the attentions of Latveria's Princess." His voice turned hard. "But I see now that the only way you're going to get any good sense...is if I knock it into you!!"

And he punctuated that sentence by firing a green-yellow bolt of mystic energy at Superman, blasting him clear across the street, sending him crashing into an old warehouse.

Doom shook his head as he walked across the street. "Oh, come now, Kal-El; surely you can fare better than that!" he chastised. "Why, I have barely even broken a..?" But he stopped as he stepped inside the warehouse...to find no-one there.

He suddenly heard a gust of wind behind him...and then felt a light tap on his shoulder. Doom turned...to find Superman behind him, his fist clenched and pulled back.

"My turn."

WHAM!!!

Superman's fist slammed into Doom's chest, sending him flying through the warehouse...as Superman darted ahead of him, to send him airborne with an uppercut. Doom smashed through the warehouse's roof, spiraling through the air, out of control...where Superman intercepted him again, slamming him with a double axe-handle strike, sending him plummeting towards the ground at breakneck speeds...

...and then Doom regained his balance, quickly sketching mystic signs in front of him with his hands...before he simply winked out of existence.

Superman remained in the air, scanning the horizon...until he spotted a spell-bolt coming at him out of the corner of his eye. He quickly dropped altitude, evading the bolt, and touching down on the warehouse roof where Doom had 'ported to, standing a few feet away from Doom. "Interesting trick." Superman said. "But I've seen magic before."

"No, Kal-El." Doom said, his fists clenching, gathering power to him. "You've seen the magic of my daughter – a student – before. Now...you face a master."

With that, he started to run to the side, firing bolts of mystic energy at him as he moved. But Superman was ready, this time; he moved in the same direction as Doom, dodging the bolts, and strafing the Latverian tyrant with precise eye-rays, aiming just ahead of Doom. As the beams lanced towards him, Doom quickly conjured protective barriers along his forearms, and used them to deflect the beams.

By then, they had closed on each other enough that long-range attacks were no longer needed. As Superman came at him, Doom's hand glowed yellow-green, his fingers extending into claws, as he slashed at his foe, but Superman ducked under the slice, and countered with an uppercut...which impacted against Doom's mystic barrier. Doom took advantage of the momentary reprieve, and grasped Superman's throat with his clawed hand, his free hand readying a spell. Quickly, Superman struck Doom's arm at the elbow, forcing it to bend, throwing him off-balance, before wrenching free, grasping Doom's arm and punching under it, right into Doom's shoulder-joint, with more than enough force to dislocate a human shoulder...but Doom's armor managed to absorb the blow.

Recovering, Doom swung at Superman with his free hand, but Superman caught it, stopping Doom's strike...where Doom unleashed a head-butt, knocking Superman back a few feet. Doom then raised his arm, taking aim at Superman, as numerous metallic spikes began to grow from his living-metal armor. He simply flexed his fingers, and fired the spikes. As the spikes flew at him, Superman moved at super-speed, dodging every single one, before darting at Doom, before the tyrant could recover, and unleashing a lightning-fast series of punches, one right after the other, his fists moving faster than a machine-gun, slamming against Doom's barrier, moving too fast for Doom to keep up with. His fists smashed against the barrier...then bent it a little...and then bent it more; slowly but surely, Doom's shield was buckling...

...and then it shattered, falling away from Doom like broken glass, before evaporating into nothingness.

Doom let out a shout of exertion, before he recovered his balance, slamming Superman with a knee-kick, at the exact same time that Superman decked him with a face-punch.

The two of them were sent flying in opposite directions: Superman was knocked back across the street, before doing a mid-air flip, to land feet-first on another rooftop, while Doom was knocked back even further, but still landing safely...with a fist-shaped dent in his face-plate, surrounded by hairline cracks in his armor, which was gradually mending, the cracks healing.

Doom's eyes narrowed, as his hands started to glow, gathering energy for another attack; Doom wasn't kidding around, anymore.

And neither was he.

Superman flew at Doom at top speeds, and slammed him with a Mach Two haymaker, his punch echoing like a thunderclap, sending Doom flying across several blocks...before Doom vanished again. Superman flew up, scanning the ground below for his foe...until he heard the sound of Doom's teleport...only a few meters away...

Doom was hovering in the air behind him, as Superman turned to face him. "Flight is not your advantage, boy." Doom said, his hands glowing brightly, as he raised one hand...and brought it down.

The sky instantly darkened, as a massive lightning-bolt lanced down from the clouds, striking Superman with its ethereal force, knocking him from the sky as thunder echoed from the spell. Superman fell towards the ground at crushing speeds...and then quickly recovered, flipping in mid-air to land feet-first.

Doom touched down a few feet away, facing him; the Latverian tyrant was slightly winded from the battle...just like Superman was. Superman quickly recovered, smiling darkly. "Sorry, Victor, but it's going to take more than a little shock to get me down."

"So I expected." Doom replied, chuckling mirthlessly. "Then I shall not waste any more time."

And with that, the two foes charged at each other...

As Blob came at them, Cyclops took aim, and fired an optic-blast, aiming high, knocking Blob off-balance, before he opened his visor more, unleashing a stronger blast, sending Blob packing. As Cyclops closed his visor, a torrent of flame came streaming at him from Pyro...which was blocked by Jean's TK-wall.

As the laughing Pyro continued his flaming assault, Storm gestured to the clouds, summoning a torrent of rain...which had no effect on Pyro's flames. "Sorry, sheila!" Pyro cackled. "Guess I'm too 'ot fer ya ta 'andle!"

Power Girl's eyes narrowed, as she took a deep breath, and just blew, unleashing a burst of gale-breath, extinguishing Pyro's fire and sending him flying a good twenty feet. "Pyro, you're just a bunch of hot air!" she laughed.

"Ali, look out!" Shadowcat cried, as she darted to her friend's side and touched her shoulder, phasing the both of them...and allowing the bolt of mystic lightning that Siryn had cast to pass by harmlessly.

Power Girl smiled. "Thanks, Kit." she replied, before turning to glare at Siryn. "Excuse me for a minute." With that, she darted at Siryn at super-speed, but the little brat managed to vanish into a puff of green haze.

With Power Girl distracted, Quicksilver darted towards the X-Men. "Not so tough without Super-Dork backin' you up, are you?" he sneered.

With a snap of her fingers, Scarlet Witch turned the ground to ice, causing Quicksilver to lose all traction, and go skidding across the ground, out of control, where Spyke clotheslined him with a bone-staff. "You guys can handle things here." Scarlet Witch said. Her eyes and voice hardened. "I'm going after 'Daddy Dearest'." With that, she headed further into the maze of warehouses.

Once Quicksilver was dispatched, Spyke quickly generated a bone-shield along his arm, deflecting Toad's slime-glob, before firing the spikes at him. Toad quickly hopped out of the way, touching down a few feet away...where he instantly sunk into a sinkhole, sinking down up to his neck.

Avalanche grinned. "Good luck hopping out of there!"

"Aw, come on, man!" Toad whined. "Cut an old pal some slack, will ya?"

Avalanche smiled slyly. "Sure." He focused his powers...

...and Toad felt the ground under his feet shake. "Oh, no..."

A pillar of stone shot up from under Toad, flinging him well over fifty feet into the air, sending him flying out of sight...

Wanda had walked into an alley between warehouses, looking for Magneto; he had to be nearby...

Suddenly, a familiar, somewhat-girlish scream cut the air, as Toad crashed into an open dumpster, just to Wanda's left. "Toad??"

A very dizzy Toad dragged himself out of the dumpster. "Hi, Snookums." he groaned.

Wanda's eyes narrowed. "Don't try to stop me." she warned.

At that, Toad momentarily tensed...and then relaxed. "Hey, who are we kiddin', Cuddlebumps?" he asked. "I couldn't fight you even if I tried!" His tone turned sad. "I don't wanna fight anyone...especially not you."

At that, Wanda calmed. "I...don't want to fight you either, Todd."

Todd chuckled. "To be honest, me an' Fred didn't really want to be in on yer old man's scheme, yo." he admitted. "But you try sayin' 'no' to Doom's kid!"

Wanda smiled. "I can imagine." she answered. Her expression turned dark. "Where's Magneto?"

"Sorry, Wanda; I really wish I knew." Todd said. "All we was told was to show up here and wait for the Institute kids and Supes. That's it."

Wanda nodded. "I believe you..." she began...and then she stopped, as she spotted the clock tower in the distance...and remembered the one happy memory that she had of her father: it was shortly after her father had taken them from the kind Maximoff family in Germany. He had taken them on a little trip to Switzerland, and they had gone on a gondola ride up the Alps...and he had confessed to them that he had always loved high places...

"I know where he is." Wanda said, as she turned to go...

"Wanda, wait!"

Wanda paused, turning back to Todd. "Don't...don't do anything you'll regret, okay?" he asked.

Wanda smiled darkly. "Oh, don't worry...I won't." she said, before she headed off.

As Colossus came at her, Jean fired numerous TK-pulses at the steel-skinned mutant, which simply bounced off of him harmlessly. Before he could get much further, Beast tackled into Colossus, but the metal mutant dug in his heels, and then threw Beast a good ten feet. Beast landed hard, but quickly did a hand-spring, and then leapt to a wall, and leapt off again, kicking Colossus and sending him sprawling. As Colossus got up, Jean took a deep breath, focusing enough to telekinetically grab Colossus and slam him into the wall. Before Colossus could recover, Shadowcat quickly dove into the wall, phasing through it, and then reached through, phasing him into the wall.

By then, Pyro had recovered, and started to take aim at Jean, but was knocked off-balance by a flying kick from Nightcrawler. "Why, you little blue wanker!!" Pyro yelled, and he fired a stream of flame at Nightcrawler, who simply teleported away. Before Pyro could get a fix on his foe, he was sent sprawling by a high-speed flying tackle from Krypto. "Bloody mutt!" Pyro exploded, blasting flames at the Kryptonian canine, but Krypto was too fast, and dodged every single blast.

Now Pyro was really steamed, as he aimed his lighters at Nightcrawler. "Say yer prayers, you little..!" but he stopped as he noticed that the fuel lines that fed his lighters were starting to glow. "What the 'ell..?"

Gambit chuckled from behind Pyro, removing his hand from Pyro's fuel-tank. "Y' might wan' t' get rid o' dat t'ing, mon ami." With that, Gambit darted away, as Nightcrawler 'ported off, and Krypto darted away.

"Oh, CRIKEY!!" Pyro cried, as he frantically pulled the fuel tank off of him, tossing it as far away as he could...seconds before it exploded in an impressive blast, sending him sprawling onto his rear. As he struggled to get up, he looked up...and saw Rogue, who simply touched him, knocking him out.

Power Girl had followed Siryn's trail into another wide-open area, apparently empty. Power Girl looked around, for any sign of her foe...

Her hearing suddenly picked something up, and she darted to the side at top speed, evading the mystic frost-blast. Power Girl's eyes flashed electric-blue, as her vision cycled through the X-Ray end of the spectrum...and then through infrared...

...revealing the red-and-orange outline of a person standing to her left.

Power Girl simply inhaled and blew; her gale-breath sent Siryn flying, to crash into the nearby wall with a shriek, slightly cratering it and making her visible, again. Siryn glared hatefully at her, rising to her feet. "It's high time we settled this, you little half-breed sow!!"

Power Girl chuckled. "Better to be a half-breed than to be 100 percent bitch."

Siryn let out a harpy-like shriek of pure rage, before firing a blast of enchanted flame at Power Girl, who raised a light-barrier, repelling it. "This battle is already won, half-breed!!" Siryn shrieked, punctuating her sentences with lightning-blasts, which Power Girl easily dodged. "By now, my father has likely already beaten some sense into Kal-El!! Kal-El will accept his rightful place...and me!! He has no place for the likes of you!!"

Power Girl just chuckled. "For someone who claims to be so bonkers about him, you don't know much about Kal." she retorted. "I guess your old man never bothered to teach you any common sense." With that, she flew at Siryn at top speeds, sending her flying with a tackle. Siryn managed to generate a barrier to blunt the attack, and quickly recovered. "From what I've heard, Kal rejected your spoiled little butt long before I showed up."

"SILENCE!!" Siryn yelled, firing a beam of mystic force at Power Girl, who evaded it.

Power Girl laughed. "Seriously, LeRoux, did you ever bother to ask why Kal can't stand you?" she said, before unleashing an eye-beam, which Siryn evaded by 'porting to the side. "Well, let me tell you a few things about him: Kal actually cares about people. He doesn't like bullies, or people who think they can just take or do what they want – like your old man does – at the expense of everyone else. Plus, he sticks by his friends, and he doesn't just boss everyone around because he's so much more powerful than they are...like you do." Her eyes narrowed. "Are you getting this, LeRoux?! Kal doesn't like you because you're nothing but a self-centered, narcissistic, uber-spoiled BRAT!!!"

Siryn was visibly shaking with rage. "You DARE to lecture me?!" she exploded, sending a wave of mystic flame at Power Girl, who raised her barrier, blocking it. "You know NOTHING of me!! How dare you insult the Princess of Latveria!!!"

"You're actually right, LeRoux; I don't know you." Power Girl said. "I don't know if you got screwed up by having Doom as a dad, or if you came that way; all I see is the end result." Her eyes narrowed. "And so does Kal."

"Kal-El will be mine!" Siryn hissed. "He has to! And nothing will change that, 'Dazzler'! You can't stop his destiny, you empty-headed floozy!!"

Power Girl's fist clenched. "LeRoux," she snapped, "we've ALL had ENOUGH of you, your old man, and that stupid prophecy!!" With that, she flew right at Siryn, who frantically fired spells at her, but Power Girl generated a shield around herself, repelling them until she was close enough to Siryn. Power Girl gathered her strength, and just punched through Siryn's spell-barrier, shattering it, before she followed up with another punch.

CRACK!!

Power Girl's punch connected squarely on Siryn's face, sending her flying, to crash into the wall. "Oh, and just so you know," she finished, "I go by Power Girl, now." As Siryn raised her head to glare at her, Power Girl smiled. "Hey, that's a good look for you!"

Siryn's eyes widened at that statement, as she conjured a reflective ice crystal in her hand, and looked into it...revealing the beautiful blue-black shiner than now encircled her right eye.

Her scream hit an octave usually reserved for calling dogs.

"You insolent little half-breed BITCH!!! I've had ENOUGH of you!!!" Siryn screamed, as she got to her feet, and reached behind her, pulling out a lead case. "This will teach you not to cross me!!" With that, she opened it...allowing the toxic-green light of the Kryptonite to fill the alley.

Power Girl blinked...and then smiled, calmly yawning.

"WHAT??" Siryn cried, utterly incredulous. "You...you should be writhing in agony, by now!!"

"Why? Because of that?" Power Girl replied. "My powers work differently from Kal's, LeRoux; I don't absorb energy like he does. That does make me less powerful...but it also means that Kryptonite doesn't hurt me! As far as I'm concerned, that's just a glorified night-light!"

Siryn started to back up, horror spreading across her face.

Power Girl frowned...and then smiled. "Well, since you were good enough to try to use my weakness...I think it's only fair that I use yours...provided that scream of yours didn't already get his attention."

Siryn's eyes widened. "W-W-What?!"

Power Girl's smile grew, as she cupped her hands to her mouth. "Krypto! Here, boy!"

Siryn went pale, as she dropped the Kryptonite. "You wouldn't..!"

Instantly, Krypto zipped over to Power Girl, panting happily...and then growling as he caught sight of Siryn. "Don't go overboard, okay, boy? Just scare her." Power Girl whispered, so only Krypto could hear; Krypto grunted in agreement. Power Girl's smile became sly, as she shouted out her command.

"SIC 'er!!"

At that, Krypto growled in feral fury, before pouncing at Siryn, fangs bared. Siryn screamed in utter terror, before she 'ported away, causing Krypto to miss, but the Superdog quickly recovered, and sniffed the air, before dating off, tracking Siryn's scent.

Power Girl lightly chuckled to herself; that ought to give Siryn a good scare. She turned towards the fallen Kryptonite; that stuff was way too dangerous to leave lying around...

Suddenly, a silver streak darted past her, snatching up the case. Quicksilver smirked as he slowed down, looking at the Kryptonite. "Well, well; looks like 'Boss-Lady' was good for something, after all!"

Power Girl's eyes narrowed. "Hand it over, Pietro!"

"Sorry, babe; I got plans for this stuff." Quicksilver sneered, darting out of Power Girl's reach. His smirk turned sinister. "Plans like stuffing it down Super-Loser's throat!!" With that, he darted off, at top speed.

Power Girl's eyes widened in horror. "KAL!!!" she cried, hoping that her tausha could hear her in time. "Watch out!!! Pietro has Kryptonite!!!"

After calling out, Power Girl felt fear grip her heart in its icy claws; she hoped her Clarkie was okay...

Undisclosed location

Wolverine was beyond exhausted, as he darted away from another round of machine-gun fire from the Sentinel's weapons, before leaping at its extended arm, running up, and slashing its torso with his claws, leaving deep gouges in its armor. 'Damn, still not cuttin' deep enough...'

As Wolverine landed, he spotted 'Tooth a few feet to his right, also winded. The Sentinel was covered with gouges, as well...but unlike them, it did not tire. "Christ, Short-Stuff, aren't those can-openers of yours good fer anything?!"

"You want to try swipin' that thing with yer bare hands?" Wolverine retorted. "That armor's too thick; I need to dig deeper to get at its guts."

Just then, the Sentinel's chest-plate opened, revealing a chest-mounted cannon. "Uh-oh." Sabretooth muttered, as the cannon started gathering energy. Quickly, the two of them darted away, as the plasma-laser cannon opened fire, and a large, red beam lanced from it, chasing the two of them with deadly accuracy, dissipating just as its edge touched Wolverine's arm, leaving a third-degree burn on his forearm, which began to slowly heal.

"Okay, that's it!" Wolverine roared. "'Tooth, I need you to get me on top of that thing's head; time for a little brain-surgery!"

"You nuts?! It'll kill ya long before ya get there!" Sabretooth yelled...and then he grinned savagely. "Let's do it!!"

With that, they both ran at the Sentinel, and then split up, running around it in opposite directions, confusing the machine. When they had reached its back-side, they paused, as Sabretooth grabbed Wolverine, spun him around, and tossed him up onto the machine's back. Wolverine dug in his claws, climbing up its back, while the Sentinel frantically swiped at him, trying to get him off; its arms couldn't reach him. Wolverine managed to climb up on top of its head, where he dug his claws in, and pulled back the layer of outer armor, revealing the delicate electronics inside. Wolverine grinned, and then went nuts, slashing wildly inside the Sentinel's head; hopefully, he'd hit something vital...

His gamble paid off; after a few seconds, the Sentinel suddenly locked up, as if it had just had a heart-attack, before it started to fall over. Wolverine quickly hopped off, landing safely, as the Sentinel fell flat on its face, utterly wrecked.

A chuckle came from their right, as the electric fence switched off, and Creed Junior stepped into the test-zone. "Not bad, muties." he admitted. "But that was just the prototype; our more advanced models should fare much better against your kind."

'Models?' Wolverine thought. "How many of these things have you got?"

Graydon smirked. "More than enough." he said. "And once we've let the mutant Cain Marko loose, the entire world will see how dangerous your kind are...and how necessary the Sentinels are..."

"Mr. Creed, sir!" one F.O.H. soldier exclaimed, running up to Graydon, saluting. "We've detected numerous mutant signatures near one of our test-sites!"

Graydon frowned...and then smiled. "That could work to our advantage." he said. "Mobilize the three second-generation Sentinels we had at that site; I think a field-test is in order."

"Excellent idea, sir!" the soldier said. "And what of our additional plan?"

"Send our squad to storm Xavier's 'Institute.'" Graydon ordered, causing Wolverine's eyes to go wide. "But I want Xavier alive."

"And if we encounter other mutants, sir?"

Graydon's eyes narrowed. "Kill them."

With a roar of feral rage, Wolverine rushed at Graydon, ready to tear him apart...until several tranquilizer darts slammed into his skin, dumping chemicals into his bloodstream, slowing him instantly. As Wolverine fell back, he saw Sabretooth get pumped full of sedatives, too...and then, just before he blacked out, he managed to send one thought to Charles, hoping that he would get it.

'Chuck...watch out...'

Up in the rafters of the warehouse, above the test-zone, a single blackbird – a raven – flew towards a window, out of sight, and squeezed through a small hole, flying out into the open sky, before touching down on an adjacent rooftop.

Mystique suppressed a sob as she reverted to her natural form. She had known of her son's hatred of mutants...but to see it...to see the fruits of her own misdeeds...

Mystique shook herself out of her self-pity; she had to warn Charles students, including Kurt and Rogue. The mutants near the test-lab...they had to be the X-Men.

She had lost one child to her evil; she wasn't about to lose any more.

Mystique changed back into her namesake, flying off, hoping she wasn't too late...

Warehouse district

As Doom sent a massive wave of ethereal fire at him, Superman inhaled and unleashed his frost-breath, forming a wall of ice between him and the flames, weakening the attack enough for him to fly through and deck Doom with a punch, sending the tyrant flying across the rooftops, but Doom 'ported away...emerging behind Superman, and sending him flying with a force-bolt. Superman recovered in mid-air, landing on another rooftop.

"This conflict is pointless." Doom said sternly. "We are irrevocably linked, Kal-El; surely, you can see that."

Superman's eyes narrowed. "I am nothing like you!!" he shouted, before flying at Doom at top speed, to nail him with a haymaker, but Doom vanished, reappearing on another warehouse.

"You are certain of that?" Doom countered. "Look at ourselves, boy; we have power and might that these fools will never fathom. I was destined to rule, as are you; my destiny was decided long ago – it is in my very blood." His tone turned hard. "Charles Xavier – along with the fools that found you – have corrupted your mind with their nonsense...to say nothing of whatever idealistic drivel you heard from that dolt Richards and his family. How tragic, to be unable to appreciate a boon from Doom...though I suppose I can understand, to a degree, the attraction you feel towards one of your own kind, but the time for such foolishness had ended."

Superman glared at Doom. "Watch it, buster..!!"

"I have only myself to blame; I should have investigated the Smallville meteor-landings more closely. One learns, I suppose." Doom continued. "But that does not change our fates, boy. My bloodline stems from dark and ancient times, back to Vlad Tepes Dracul; a man who, like myself, understood the necessity of cruelty. Yes, the order I imposed upon Latveria is harsh, I admit, but the anarchy and chaos that festered under its previous ruler was far worse. My people fear me – as Vlad's did him – but they fear nothing else: not starvation, not invasion...nothing. They could be far worse off."

Superman was silent.

"Do you understand now, Kal-El?" Doom finished. "Do you now see what we can accomplish together? Our power combined can rule over this entire planet; mutant and human! Lensherr's vision is too narrow – he thought only of his own race; he could never have truly understood your place here!" He pointed to Superman. "I know of your outpost in the far north, Kal-El; you still have whatever incredible technology your people developed before they passed! With the power you wield, and with the knowledge you hold, there will be nothing that we cannot accomplish! Together, we can rule, as father and son!"

Doom chuckled. "Do you now understand the necessity of this cruelty, child?" he asked. "My father taught me; in my lessons of my heritage, my destiny, my father needed to be cruel, to teach me...and because he loved me enough to do so, I am what I am today." He extended his hand towards Superman. "The necessity has passed, Kal-El; let me become as father to you...Son."

A single tear fell from Superman's eye. "I already have a father." he said softly. "He and his wife took me – an orphan from across the stars – in. He taught me what was right, and what mattered. He died to show me what I needed to do." His eyes narrowed. "He filled the place left by my birth-father, Jor-El, who gave up his life to send me here." His fists clenched. "You, Victor, aren't even one tenth of the father that either of them was."

Doom sighed. "Stubborn to the last." he said. "And cruelty becomes necessary again." He raised his hand, gathering a force-bolt...

Superman closed on Doom before his attack was even half-powered, slamming him with a haymaker, followed by a punch to the stomach, sending him flying. "Oh, and one more thing, Victor: a man makes his own destiny." Superman added. "You're no ruler, Doom; you're a monster...because you chose to be. You could have refused to be like your father. You could have come to Latveria simply to do good, rather than make a dictator of yourself. You could have helped Reed and his family – whose only crime, from what I've heard, was trying to be your friend." His eyes narrowed accusingly. "You could have chosen to rise above your family's legacy of tyranny and blood-thirst...but you didn't. Whatever fate you claim to have...you chose it."

As Doom readied another attack, Superman decked him again. "One last thing, Vic." Superman said, smiling wryly. "Being related to the real Count Dracula isn't something I'd be quick to brag about."

Doom landed hard, but did a hand-spring, landing on his feet, breathing heavily. Had Superman been watching closely, he might have noticed Doom's hand reached to his belt...where he kept a single concealed Kryptonite shard...

...but he was too busy listening to his taushi's call.

"KAL!!! Watch out!!! Pietro has Kryptonite!!!"

Quickly, Superman tapped his belt-buckle, activating his nano-suit just as he felt a mild wave of nausea sweep over him from Quicksilver's approach with the Kryptonite; instantly, his nano-suit spread over him, as Superman hoped that this worked...

Seconds later, Quicksilver darted onto the rooftop, running straight at him. "Say your prayers, Super-Dork!!" he sneered, as he came to a stop right in front of Superman, shoving the Kryptonite shard right in his face.

Superman held his breath...and then smiled, as he felt the nausea pass, his suit filtering out the Kryptonite radiation, letting the solar energy from the sun pass through.

Quicksilver smirked triumphantly...but his smirk faded as he saw that Superman was unaffected. He frantically waved the shard in front of Superman, his expression becoming more and more panicked. "Why isn't this WORKING?!!"

Superman chuckled. "Pietro, you didn't really expect to get me twice with the same trick, did you?" he quipped. "After our visit to Asteroid M, I put together this little anti-Kryptonite suit, just for these sorts of occasions!"

Doom's hand moved away from his belt, as he realized that he no longer held the advantage, not now.

Before Quicksilver could move, Superman grasped his wrist with iron fingers, and took the Kryptonite from him. Releasing the speedster, Superman wound up, and threw the Kryptonite into the sky, sending it flying out of orbit, into space, towards the sun, like he had done before.

Once the shard was gone, Superman tapped his belt, retracting his nano-suit, before fixing a stern glare at Quicksilver. "I'd run if I were you."

Pietro didn't need to be told twice; he bolted away, as fast as he possibly could.

Frowning, Superman turned back to Doom, who was back on his feet. "Well played." Doom chuckled. "Well, Kal-El, I must say, I have enjoyed the exercise, but I fear time is up."

"That's Superman to you, Doom." Superman corrected firmly. "And why leave? I'm just warming up!"

"Undoubtedly." Doom said, amused. "But I believe that you have more pressing concerns; if you would direct your attention to the clock tower..?"

Frowning, Superman turned towards the clock tower in the distance, his vision focusing in on it...as he saw Magneto, there...and Wanda..!

"And herein lies the flaw in your compassion." Doom commented, coldly chuckling. "Your concern for life is so great that you would not allow harm to come to even an enemy. Not the best of tactics, in my opinion." He folded his arms. "Here is your dilemma: you can either stop me from leaving, and allow Miss Maximoff to give her father what he deserves; or you can intercept her, and allow a deadly enemy to escape. For me, the choice would be obvious...but, as you said, you're not like me, are you?"

Superman's eyes narrowed. He hated to admit it, but Doom was right; he couldn't let Wanda do this. "This isn't over, Doom."

"Oh, no, dear boy," Doom chuckled, vanishing into green haze, "it has only just begun." With that he was gone.

Superman didn't have time to regret his choice; he took to the sky, flying towards the clock tower, hoping that he was in time to save a life...

As events unfolded in the old warehouse district, Magneto stood upon the ledge of the clock tower, watching. Everything was going according to plan...

"Hello, Father."

Magneto turned towards that voice, his eyes going wide as he saw Wanda there...just as she hit him with one of her hex-bolts, encasing him in a blue-black hex-field, his powers completely useless. "Wanda! Not now!!" Magneto cried.

Wanda's expression twisted in rage. "You locked me away!!!"

"I had no choice!" Magneto countered, trying to make his daughter see the logic, the sad necessity of his actions. "Your anger was out of control!"

"You haven't SEEN me angry!!" Wanda screamed, her fists clenching. "Until NOW!!!" At that, Magneto felt a sudden pain in his chest, starting to travel up to his skull; Wanda was creating a blood-clot, starting in his heart, and slowly moving upwards...

"Wanda, STOP!"

Magneto breathed a sigh of relief as Superman touched down next to Wanda. "Kal-El, stop her!!" he cried.

"Stay out of this, Boy Scout!!" Wanda screamed. "He has this coming!!"

Superman didn't move. "Alright, Wanda." he said softly. "If you really want to do this, I won't stop you."

Magneto went pale. "WHAT?!" he cried.

"I didn't come here to save you, Magneto." Superman said firmly. "For what you did to her, you may very well deserve what Wanda wants to do to you."

"I didn't have a choice!!" Magneto cried. "Wanda was completely out-of-control! Her powers were too dangerous! I had to isolate her until she was old enough to learn to control them!" Surely, Kal-El could understand..!

"She was a little girl, Magneto; your little girl." Superman accused. "She didn't need 'control'; what she needed was her father. For what you did to her, I wouldn't be surprised if there was a very special section of hell reserved for people like you." His expression became neutral. "But that isn't for me to judge; like I said, you're not who I came here to save."

Wanda blinked at that, and Magneto felt the pain lessen, the clots dissipating, though Wanda kept the hex-field up. "ME?" Wanda laughed. "You'd better get those super-peepers of yours checked, Boy Scout! Do I look like I need saving?!"

"Maybe not at first glance." Superman admitted. "But I can see that you're about to do something that you're going to regret for the rest of your life."

Wanda's eyes narrowed. "The only thing I'll regret is not killing this monster when I was a kid!!" she hissed, as Magneto felt the pain start to come back...

"Wanda, how do you think your father became a monster?" Superman asked. Magneto felt the pain vanish as Wanda paused. "Did you know that he was a prisoner at a prison camp in Nazi Germany?"

Wanda paused. "No." she admitted. "But that doesn't excuse..!"

"I know it doesn't," Superman agreed, "but think about it: when he got out, what do you think he did? He went after the Nazis who, in his mind, were the monsters who killed his friends and family, and maybe, to some degree, what he did was justified."

Superman turned to Magneto. "But it didn't end with them, did it?" he continued. "You just kept hating, and hating, until you forgot how to distinguish between the Nazi criminals and the innocent species that gave rise to them."

Magneto couldn't speak.

"Then that's just one more reason why I ought to do humanity a favor and kill him!!" Wanda yelled.

Superman shook his head. "No, Wanda." he said. "That's exactly why you shouldn't."

Wanda paused. "What?"

"Don't you see?" Superman asked. "Killing for revenge – justified or not – is a very, very slippery slope, one that your father fell down years ago; and if you fall down it, you may never climb up, again."

Wanda's eyes widened...and then narrowed. "No!!" she cried. "He deserves this!!"

"Maybe he does, Wanda; I'm not arguing that." Superman said. "For all we know, he does deserve to go straight to hell for his crimes, against you and so many others." His expression turned sad. "But you don't. I've seen true evil, Wanda, and I am telling you that you do not want to become it. There's no blood on your hands, Wanda; no stain on your soul." He pointed to Magneto. "But if you do this, I absolutely guarantee that, as much as you hate him now, one day, you'll hate yourself even more...because you'll be just like him."

Wanda froze, her expression shifting between angry and confusion. Suddenly, Magneto felt the pain return, worse than ever...

...and then completely vanish, as Wanda's hex-field dissipated, her blue eyes, so like her mother's filling with tears. "Why?!" She cried. "Why did he do it?! I loved him!!!"

"I know, Wanda," Superman soothed, "I know."

Wanda started to sob...and then broke down, burying her face in her hands. Superman walked over to her, and gently put his hands on her shoulders. Wanda automatically hugged him, burying her face in his chest as she wailed. "I'm sorry..." she whimpered.

"Ssshh..." Superman gently shushed her. "It's okay, Wanda...it's okay."

Wanda's tears began to slow. "I...I wish..." she sniffled, "...I wish I'd had a big brother like you..."

Superman gently smiled, and returned the hug. "You have one now."

Magneto could only watch as Superman comforted his daughter...feeling a dull ache in his heart, numbed after so many years of loss. Slowly, he got up to leave...there was nothing here for him...

"Hold it, Magneto." Superman said firmly, looking up. "You still have to answer for your crimes."

Magneto stopped; he knew he couldn't stand against Superman. "We both know that there is no prison that can hold me..."

"I beg to differ, Lensherr." Superman countered, gently moving away from Wanda. "There is one that you can't escape: your mind." He smiled wryly. "And the warden happens to be an old pal of yours."

With that, Superman instantly darted at Magneto, grabbing him by the collar and lifting him up, before grabbing his helmet and ripping it off, crumpling it into paper, and throwing it away.

Magneto blinked...and then his eyes widened in utter horror. "Kal-El...what have you done?!" he cried. He remained absolutely still, his voice dropping to a whisper. "Charles..?"

'HELLO, ERIK.'

"EEEEEEYYYAAAAAAARRRGGGHHH!!!!!" Magneto screamed, holding his hands to his head, as Xavier began to tear his mind apart. "GET OUT OF MY HEAD, YOU BLASTED CRIPPLE!!!" He looked to Superman. "YOU CAN'T LET HIM DO THIS TO ME!!!"

"You won't face vengeance, Lensherr," Superman said firmly, "but you will face justice."

"CHARLES!!!" Magneto screamed. "YOU CAN'T DO THIS!! I'LL DO ANYTHING!!"

'I AM SORRY, ERIK...BUT THE PATH YOU HAVE CHOSEN MUST END HERE.' Charles' powerful mental voice echoed across his psyche. 'I WILL NOT TAKE YOUR LIFE...BUT I WILL MAKE SURE THAT YOU NEVER HARM ANOTHER PERSON, AGAIN.'

Magneto screamed again, as he felt Charles continue to psychically lobotomize him. "NO!!! NO!!!"

'GOODBYE, ERIK...FORGIVE ME..?' Charles began...and then the telepathic attack suddenly ceased, as Charles' mind pulled away from him.

Magneto didn't dare move. "Charles..?" he called. "Charles?"

Superman looked confused. "What happened?"

"Charles is...gone..." Magneto replied. He didn't understand; this wasn't part of the plan...

Suddenly, a warehouse below began to rumble, crumbling into rubble. "W-What's going on?" Wanda exclaimed.

And then, an unmistakable mechanical shape began to rise out of the rubble...and then another...and another...

Xavier Institute

Charles had been in the middle of telepathically incapacitating Erik when he had gotten Wolverine's weak mental warning. 'What..?' he thought to himself...and then, he sensed the numerous soldiers, in armed helicopters, closing on the Institute. For some reason, he could only vaguely sense their thoughts – he was being blocked, somehow.

If he hadn't been warned..!

Charles tried to arm the security system...but it wouldn't respond. It couldn't have been from Wanda's hex; her hexes were only effective when she was near. Someone had hacked into the Institute and disabled it!

Charles quickly switched on his audio system; he might not have been able to save himself, but he could save his students. "Attention, New Mutants: head to the Danger Room; we are under attack. I will program the Danger Room to seal itself and disengage all combat programs until its sensors read that the attackers have left. Once it opens, you will evacuate the Institute and rendezvous with the others. That is a direct order. Xavier out."

Once the order was given, Charles took out his security key card and inserted it into his computer, bringing up the emergency protocols of the Danger Room. He quickly began programming the danger Room computer; once all the New Mutants were inside, it would automatically seal itself and monitor activity outside. Once it was all clear, it would open. After a minute, the program was set, and Charles started to enter his password...

Just then, his office windows were smashed open, and two armed men in black, with F.O.H. armbands jumped in, firing at him, burying several darts in his chest.

Charles suppressed a cry of pain as he felt the tranquilizers start to take hold...and with his last energy, he finished entering his password, and entered the command, before falling forward onto his desk.

As he began to pass out, Charles saw the monitor on the Danger Room; all the New Mutants were heading inside...and then they were in, and the doors sealed tight. Charles smiled...as his eyes began to close.

'My children...be safe...'

As Xavier passed out, the F.O.H. soldiers breathed a sigh of relief. "Boy, am I glad this mutie's out; even with these 'PSI-Blockers Doc Trask rigged, I don't want him anywhere near my brain!" one exclaimed.

The other soldier moved to the console. "Damn! There are more muties, here! And they've barricaded themselves in!" he muttered. "He encoded the lock; we'll never get in!"

The first looked at the screen...and then smiled. "Hold on; the mutie never got the chance to get rid of his key!" he declared. "The best way to scare out the rats..."

"...is to make the ship sink! Brilliant!" the second soldier said. Moving to the console, he tapped a few keys...bringing up the Institute's self-destruct option...and enabling it.

A twenty-minute timer popped up on the screen.

Laughing, the soldier pulled out the card, and snapped it in two. "Let's go!" he shouted, as he lifted Xavier onto his shoulder. "Once these mutie rats pop up, we'll just pop 'em with the choppers!" His comrade nodded, as he helped lift Xavier up, and carried him out of the Institute...as the timer kept ticking down...

Warehouse district, a few minutes earlier

As the X-Men regrouped, Cyclops smiled to himself, glad to see that none of his teammates were hurt. Turning, he saw the Brotherhood and the Acolytes slowly picking themselves up, with only Siryn and Quicksilver missing...and then a shrieking Siryn, with a fine shiner encircling her eye, 'ported in, with Krypto hot on her heels, followed by a chuckling Power Girl.

"Krypto, heel!" Cyclops called, and Krypto stopped, circling around Siryn to sit next to the X-Men, still growling. "Alright, Siryn, what are Doom and Magneto up to?"

Pyro laughed. "Wouldn't you wankers like ta know!"

Rogue's eyes narrowed. "Tell us or we'll sic Krypto on ya, again!"

Siryn's eyes widened.

Shadowcat chuckled as Krypto stood up, his growling growing fiercer. "Krypto looks pretty mad..!" she warned. "I sure wouldn't want to deal with him!"

Siryn looked absolutely terrified...but before she could speak, the ground started to tremble, as a warehouse in the distance began to crumble...

...and three monstrous metal shapes rose out of the rubble.

The X-Men all froze. "Holy mother of..." Avalanche murmured.

"You're kiddin' me..." Spyke murmured.

As they rose to their full height, the Sentinels' heads swivelled, scanning the horizon...until one looked towards them, its eyes glowing, as its mechanized voice boomed out.

"MUTANT DNA DETECTED."

As the Sentinels started to stomp towards them, Siryn smiled evilly. "Well, you wanted to know why we were here!" she laughed. "Have fun!" With that, she 'ported herself and her teammates away.

"Gott in Himmel..." Nightcrawler murmured, as he looked up at the mechanical monstrosities.

"X-Men, spread out!" Cyclops instructed. "We don't stand a chance in these enclosed spaces!" At that, the X-Men and Krypto darted out of the alleyways, to get into open space, as the Sentinels stomped closer and closer...

Atop the clock tower, Superman's eyes widened in horror as the three Sentinels stomped towards his friends. Wanda's expression mirrored his own. "W-What should we do?!" she cried.

Just then, Quicksilver zipped up the side of the tower, stopping next to Magneto. "Father, we have to get out of here!!" he cried.

At that, Wanda's eyes narrowed, blue-black energy forming around her hands...

"Wanda." Superman said. "What's more important, now? Revenge, or our friends?"

Wanda stopped, and calmed herself, her hex-bolts vanishing. "Let's go." she agreed.

"Wanda, wait!" Quicksilver cried. "Don't go!"

"Save it, Pietro." Wanda snapped.

Pietro's expression became remorseful, mirroring his father's. "But...but we can be a family, again..."

"My family is down there."Wanda said. "And they need me." She then turned to Superman. "Ready to go...bro?" she teased.

Superman smiled, and then knelt down. "Hop on...sis." he quipped back. Wanda hopped onto Superman's back, and Superman stood up, before he took to the sky, flying towards their friends, leaving behind a bewildered Magneto and a seething Quicksilver.

Had Superman stayed a second longer, he might have noticed a news van approaching the site of the battle.

As Superman touched down on the street, letting Wanda hop off, the X-Men had emerged from the alleys, as the Sentinels were lumbering into range. "Jeez, Big Blue!" Spyke quipped. "Took you long enough!"

Superman smiled. "Sorry we're late."

"Family matters." Scarlet Witch added.

By then, the Sentinels were in range. One Sentinel caught sight of Superman. "SUPERHUMAN ABILITIES DETECTED..." it began, "...MUTANT DNA...NOT FOUND...ILLOGICAL...ILLOGICAL..."

At that, all three Sentinels froze, their programming seized up by this apparent contradiction. Superman's eyes narrowed; the creeps working these things were no doubt trying to correct this program paradox, to get their killing machines back online...

Superman's eyes glowed red, as he fired his eye-rays; a deadly red beam lanced towards one Sentinel, striking it and turning its head into molten slag. The Sentinel went completely dead, toppling backwards, to crash onto the empty street with a thunderous CLANK!

The destruction of one of their brethren shook the other two out of their contradiction. "UNKNOWN CLASSIFIED, DESIGNATION: PRIMARY THREAT." one boomed. "TERMINATE WITH EXTREME PREJUDICE."

"I guess that's machine-speak for 'game on'!" Power Girl exclaimed.

The two Sentinels started to take aim, their arms shifting into machine-guns, but Storm summoned her winds as Superman unleashed his gale-breath; the combined hurricane-force air-blast knocked the two Sentinels off-balance, their stumbling worsened as Cyclops opened fire with his optic-blasts. Beast took advantage of the machines' distraction, and leapt onto one Sentinel's shin-strut, and climbed up onto its shoulder, hoping to rip open its armor and hot-wire its circuitry, but the metal monster swatted him away.

Power Girl quickly flew up and caught her teammate, as well as blocking one Sentinel's barrage of machine-gun fire with a light-shield. As the second Sentinel tried to take aim, Krypto leapt at one of its legs, snarling and tearing huge gouges of its armor, while Shadowcat phased through its other leg, shorting it out...until the monster boomed, "RE-ROUTING POWER." The Sentinel's leg started moving again, to step on her...

Quickly, Avalanche generated an earth-arch over Shadowcat, blocking the metal foot, while Krypto grabbed Shadowcat by her collar and zipped her out of harm's way. Avalanche then summoned a massive earth-spike, jutting up under the Sentinel's foot, sending it toppling to the ground.

As Power Girl kept up her shield, still under fire in mid-air, Scarlet Witch snapped her fingers, as the other Sentinel's gun became engulfed in a hex-field...before it jammed, as its bullets spontaneously expanded slightly, becoming stuck in the barrel. Superman then took to the air, inhaling and unleashing his frost-breath, coating the Sentinel in ice. Jean then gave it a hard telekinetic shove, knocking it back, where it tripped over its comrade, falling over it.

Slowly, Superman let out a relieved sigh...before he noticed the news team off to the side...broadcasting live.

They had been seen...

Suddenly, the half-frozen Sentinel sat up, as the ice cracked, revealing the Sentinel's open chest-panel. Slowly, it got up, gathering energy for its plasma-laser...aiming at his friends...

Superman darted forward, hovering between the others and the Sentinel, as the machine fired; Superman crossed his arms ahead of him and bore down as the laser struck him, slowly pushing him back, until he dug deep, refusing to budge.

After a few seconds, the laser subsided, revealing Superman, slightly sooty, but unharmed. By then, the other Sentinel had stood up, and opened fire with its machine-gun; dozens of twelve-inch high-caliber bullets slammed into Superman's chest and were instantly flattened to a dime's thickness, the impacts not even phasing him. Scarlet Witch gestured, and the Sentinel's arm suddenly rusted, crumbling to dust.

The first Sentinel started to aim its missile-launcher at him, but Superman unleashed his gale-breath, blowing it back before it could lock on, as Jean telekinetically slammed it and Cyclops fired his optic-blasts.

The Sentinel stumbled back, its launcher aiming wild...as it fired a full salvo of missiles, lancing across the sky, unguided...

...heading towards residential areas.

Superman's eyes widened in horror. "Go!!" Power Girl exclaimed.

"We'll hold them off!" Cyclops agreed. With the go-ahead given, Superman flew after the missiles at top speed.

At Mach Three, Superman easily darted ahead of the missiles, firing his eye-rays at them as they came at him; in seconds, he had felled one, two, three, five...until only one missile remained, which lanced past him. Superman gave chase, firing his eye-rays...and missed, its flight-path erratic, unpredictable. He fired again...and missed.

He could see where it would hit; it was heading for a crowded park, where numerous families were enjoying a nice summer's day outdoors...until they spotted the missile. Panic erupted, and the park-goers started to flee in terror...

Superman gritted his teeth, and fired again, grazing the missile's hull; it was too erratic, too wild to get a fix on it...

At the park, one little girl tripped and fell, as her parents and brother tried to double back for her, but couldn't get through the crowd...

By then, the missile was too close to the city to risk detonating it. There wasn't enough time to defuse it in mid-air, and he could see that its detonator was activated; it would blow before he could toss it away, and it was almost to the park...

Superman knew that he would be seen; that he would no longer be a myth. He knew that their secret was already exposed, and this would confirm it...

Superman's eyes narrowed in determination. There was no other option.

Superman doubled his speed, shooting ahead of the missile, racing towards the park...

The little girl burst into tears as her mother screamed in terror, trying to reach her, but the crowd kept pushing her back...the missile was meters away...

...and then a red-and-blue blur reached the little girl, shielding her with itself as the missile hit.

The missile exploded in a massive blast, devastating the park; fortunately, the park-goers had moved clear...save one.

The little girl's mother slowly approached the rubble, her eyes watering...and then she burst into tears. Her husband walked over to her, putting his arms around her, letting her cry, as their son simply held onto his mother's pant-leg...

Suddenly, the rubble began to move...as Superman lifted a large piece of rubble up, tossing it clear...before he gently lifted the little girl, unharmed, out of the crater, before stepping out himself.

"Mommy!" the little girl cried, running to her mother.

"My baby!!" the mother cried, scooping her into her arms. "Oh, sweetie...thank heavens you're okay!!"

Despite everything that had happened today, Superman had to smile at the happy scene. And then, he saw that the entire crowd – every single one of them – were looking at him.

The little girl's brother looked up at his father. "Dad?" he asked softly. "Is that...an angel?"

"No, son." the father answered. He looked to Superman...and slowly smiled. "That's Superman."

The rest of the crowd began to murmur. "Jesus...he's real..."

"I don't believe it..."

"He actually exists..."

The tearful mother, hugging her child, looked to Superman, smiling weakly. "Bless you, Superman..." she whispered. "God bless you..."

Superman smiled, and simply nodded.

"But...who are you?" the father asked. "Who are you really?"

"A friend." Superman replied.

Suddenly, a news van pulled up outside of the park, as the anchorwoman and news crew piled out, moving through the crowd, quickly setting up. "This is Leanne Mitchell on Channel Six, with breaking news on a missile attack in downtown New York," the anchorwoman began, "but even more amazing is the fact that, yes, America, there is a Superman! I am standing right here next to the Man of Steel himself!"

Superman quietly gulped. 'Oh, boy...'

Leanne turned to Superman, holding out her microphone. "Please, Superman, tell us! Who are you? Where are you from? Why are you here?"

Superman just blinked.

"Please, is there anything you'd like to say?" Leanne pressed.

Just then, Superman's hearing picked up gunfire across the city. "I'm sorry; I can't talk, now." he said. To the crowd, he added, "I have to go! My friends need me!" The crowd softly muttered words of agreement at that revelation, and Superman promptly took to the sky, despite Leanne's cries of protest.

Superman was about to fly back to the warehouse district...when he spotted a construction site, and got an idea. 'Well, it worked in training...' he thought, before he flew towards the site, stopping to hover next to a girder where several workers were having lunch. "Hi." he greeted, smiling pleasantly. The workers just stared, utterly incredulous. "Listen, would you guys happen to have an extra girder I could borrow?" he inquired.

"Uh...uh...s-sure." one worker stammered. "We...we've got a whole bunch of 'em; they're just below us."

"Thanks!" Superman replied, before he darted down, picked up a girder, and flew off, towards the warehouse district. As soon as his vision spotted a Sentinel, Superman aimed with his free hand, pulled the girder back, and with the accuracy and precision of an Olympic javelin-thrower, threw it at the Sentinel, before flying towards the battle at top speed.

The girder hit its mark, piercing the Sentinel's head right between the eyes, causing its charging plasma-blast to fire harmlessly into the sky, before falling back like so much scrap metal. Superman flew at the last metal monster faster than a fighter jet, firing his eye-rays, searing off its arms as he passed, his attack compounding Power Girl's beams and Cyclops' optic-blasts.

While the Sentinel was distracted, Rogue gave Spyke a tap, and they each formed a bone-spear, throwing them at the machine, piercing its eyes, blinding it...and giving Nightcrawler the time to 'port Gambit up to the Sentinel's head, where the crafty Cajun gave the spikes a good charge, before he and Nightcrawler high-fived each other, 'porting away.

The charged spikes exploded, destroying the Sentinel's head...but not before it choked out an ominous message as it went offline.

"IN-IN-INITIATE S-S-SELF DE-DE-DESTRUCT S-S-SEEEEQUUUU-SEQUENCE."

Superman's eyes widened...and then narrowed, as he flew at the Sentinel, spiraling like a corkscrew as he flew, before he connected, boring into its chest...to burst out the other side, carrying its power-core, before flying high up into the sky.

Superman flew up as fast as he could; without the rest of the body to regulate it, the core was overloading even faster. He broke through the clouds, going up to the edges of the atmosphere, and pulled his arm back to throw...

Too late.

BOOOOOOM!!!

The core exploded in a monumental blast, one that could easily have taken out several city blocks.

On the ground, the X-Men could only watch the sky for any sign of their friend, as the lifeless Sentinel toppled over...but they could see no speck of blue in the sky. "He's...he's okay, right?" Shadowcat asked.

"Power Girl?" Cyclops asked. "Do you see him?"

Power Girl squinted. "I'm not sure; there's too much debris..." she said. "But I know he's okay." Her voice softened. "He has to be..." With that, the X-Men could only keep watching for their friend...

Queens, New York

It was a pleasant summer day as Peter Parker, in his regular clothes, sat down to a nice lunch with his Aunt May. Things had been fairly quiet for Spider-Man, Peter noted with a smile. He could get used to this...

"Peter!" Aunt May called from the kitchen. "Mary-Jane is on the phone for you!"

"Coming!" Peter called back, getting up from the table and heading into the kitchen, taking the phone. "Hey, MJ." he greeted, as May headed into the living room.

"Peter?" MJ asked, her voice worried. "Are you okay?"

Peter blinked. "Why wouldn't I be?"

"Didn't you see the news?"

"What's on the news?"

"You'd better see for yourself." MJ said. "Just...just be careful, okay?"

"Um...okay." Peter replied. "I'll see you soon."

"Okay, Tiger. I love you."

"Love you, too, MJ. 'Bye." Peter then hung up, and stepped into the living room. "Hey, Aunt May, is anything on the..?"

But he stopped as he saw Aunt May watching the news...and then what was on the news.

The T.V. was showing a video of the X-Men and Superman fighting some kind of giant robot...and then a live picture of Superman, after saving a child at a downtown park.

'Aw, what did you guys get yourselves into?' Peter thought.

"My God..." May murmured.

"Aunt may, I've gotta go." Peter said, thinking quickly. "The Bugle's gonna need me after something like this."

May nodded. "Be careful."

Peter promptly darted upstairs, and grabbed his backpack, before darting back down, zipping outside...and heading into a nearby alley, donning his costume and stashing his street clothes, before swinging off.

'Murphy and his Law strikes again.' Spider-Man thought, as he swung off, to help his pals.

Bayville Mall, Bayville

After a successful shopping spree, Taryn, in her usual dress and sweater, sat down at the food court to sip her iced cappuccino, smiling at Paul as he sat down next to her, putting down the few bags he was toting. "Thanks for coming, Paul." she said. "I really appreciate this."

Paul smiled back. "No problem, Taryn." he replied.

"Hey, guys!" Amanda called, as she ran over.

"Hey, Amanda!" Taryn greeted. "What's up?"

"Oh, not much." Amanda replied. "I was just...getting a new dress that's all."

Taryn smiled as she recognized the slightly shy smile on her friend's face. "A dress to wear on a certain date? With a certain blue someone?"

Amanda blushed fiercely. "Taryn!!"

"Hey, I'm only kidding!" Taryn laughed.

Paul managed a chuckle...and then his expression turned grave. "What's going on over there?" he thought aloud, pointing to the crowd gathered outside an electronics store.

Curious, the three teens got up,walking over...and froze as they saw their friends from the Institute, in uniform, on T.V.

Taryn's eyes went wide, as she looked to Paul, and then to Amanda, who looked even more scared than she did as she saw Kurt fighting that robot.

None of them knew what was going to happen to their friends...nor did they know what they could do to help...

Metropolis

In his apartment near Metropolis University, Wally West, in his white t-shirt and blue boxers, smiled to himself. After weeks of planning and waiting, he was finally ready.

The Viewers' Choice Kung-Fu Movie Mega-Marathon was minutes away...and he was going to watch every minute of it.

Grinning, Wally sat down on his couch, switched on the rented ultra-wide-screen T.V., scooped up a few Smarties candies – fuel for his ultra-fast metabolism – and waited for the fun to start...

Suddenly, his phone rang. Wally looked over at the call-display; it was Vic. Wally picked up. "Hey, Vic, did you know that there's a Kung-Fu Movie Marathon on..?"

"No time for that, Wally. Didn't you see the news?"

Wally blinked. "Huh??"

"Smallville and his pals are in trouble!" Victor continued. "I've already heard from Arty, and he's on his way there! Ollie can't get there in time, and neither can I..!"

"...but I can." Wally finished, his eyes narrowing in determination. "Thanks for the heads-up, Vic. I'm on my way!"

"Thanks, man. Good luck!" Victor said, before hanging up.

Wally put the phone back, before gazing sadly at the T.V. Clark was one of his oldest friends, and they always had each other's back...

...even if it meant missing the Marathon.

Wally then darted into his room, and donned his uniform, before zipping outside, pausing to lock the door, and darting down the stairs, out the back door, and then racing towards Bayville at top speeds.

'Hang in there, Smallville,' Flash thought as he ran, '...backup's on the way...'

S.H.I.E.L.D. Helicarrier

Nick Fury had just been enjoying a nice shave when he'd been called to the bridge of the Helicarrier...and he did not enjoy being interrupted.

Especially when said interruption caused him to nick himself on the chin.

Fury promptly strode onto the bridge where Captain America and Thor were waiting, with the rest of the Avengers on their way back from other missions. "What's going on?" Fury demanded.

"Our apologies, General," one lieutenant said, "but we felt that you needed to see this." The lieutenant then brought up a live feed of Superman and Xavier's students...

...fighting a Sentinel.

"What the HELL?!!!!" Fury exploded. "What is a Sentinel doing in New York?!!!"

"We don't know, sir..."

"Dammit, I ordered that project terminated!" Fury thundered.

"We know, sir; someone must have hacked our database..."

"It must be that mole you're worried about, General." Cap observed.

Fury gritted his teeth. "I want traces on everyone who's accessed that file, now!!" he bellowed. "And I want the names of every agent that worked on that project! And I want it five minutes ago!!"

Someone had caught them with their pants down.

Turning back to the screen, Fury's expression turned grim. 'Dammit, kid...I told you to keep your head down...' "Captain," Fury said, "as soon as the rest of the Avengers get back, I want the entire team ready to go A.S.A.P."

"Understood, General." Cap said.

"With respect, General," Thor said, "I wish to take a momentary leave of absence..."

"Dammit, Thor, you can't walk out on us in a crisis like this!!" Fury yelled.

"The son of Odin never abandons his comrades." Thor said, his eyes narrowing. "I merely wish to contact an old friend of mine. I am certain that, given the circumstances, she will help."

Fury calmed. "I want you back here pronto."

"Understood, General." Thor said. With that, he grasped his hammer, and boomed away in a flash of lightning. As Cap headed off, to prepare for the eventual mission, Fury remained on the bridge...wondering how the hell this could have happened...

Earth orbit

High above the planet earth, Green Lantern was completing his patrol of the system; there was no sign of any Kree activity. His task complete, John started to head down to the planet, for a brief bout of R&R...

Suddenly, his arm-band started to pick up a transmission: a news bulletin. John quickly brought it up...and his eyes went wide.

Superman and the X-Men needed help.

Altering his course, Green Lantern headed down towards Earth, heading for the Xavier Institute, hoping that he was in time...

Swiss Alps, Switzerland

High above Switzerland, in the highest reaches of the Alps, Shayera – or Hawkgirl, as she often thought of herself – perched atop a mountain peak, her mace hanging by its strap over her shoulder.

She loved high places like this; her love of heights was undoubtedly due to her people's avian heritage, but it was there, all the same. These past few months, she had been traveling across Earth, stealthily helping its people. Places like this were a nice little break...

Suddenly, her communicator went off. Confused, Shayera checked it...and her eyes went wide at what she saw.

Spreading her wings, Hawkgirl took to the air, flying west, towards America, where her friends needed her help...

Kent Farm, Smallville, Kansas

After a day's work, Martha Kent, in her usual work clothes, stepped inside just as her kettle had finished boiling. Smiling to herself, Martha poured herself a cup of tea, before taking it and the daily newspaper into the living room, where she sat down and switched on the old T.V., to watch the news while she did the crossword puzzle...

Martha gasped in horror, dropping her newspaper as she saw what was on the news.

There, on T.V., was Clark – her baby boy – in uniform, with his friends...fighting a massive robotic monstrosity.

The entire world could see them, now...and after this, who knew what they would think of them?

Martha suppressed a sob; she knew her son would do what was right, no matter what...but she didn't want her boy to be hated simply for being born on another planet...

Martha tried to suppress her tears, trying to stay strong for her son's sake...but maternal worry won out.

'Oh, Clark...'

Louisiana, New Orleans

In her little house in Louisiana, Irene Adler sat in her rocking chair, listening to the news on her radio...not that she needed to.

She already knew what was happening...and what was going to happen.

A single tear fell from her sightless eye, as she recalled her own words...though knowing the future made it no less hard to bear.

"...monsters shall rise, in a world full of hate..."

Warehouse district

As the smoke from the explosion started to clear, Power Girl kept scanning the sky, looking for her Clarkie, worry starting to cloud her expression...and then she smiled as she spotted Superman, flying down towards them. As Superman touched down, Power Girl practically flew into his arms. "You jerk!" she exclaimed, laughing. "You had us all worried sick!"

Superman smiled, returning her hug, before absently tapping the side of his head. "I'm sorry I worried you." he replied. "That explosion knocked me into space, a bit; invulnerable or not, having something explode in your arms tends to be disorienting." He tapped his head again. "My ears are still ringing."

"Well, we've got bigger problems." Cyclops said grimly. "There was a news crew nearby when we fought those things."

"They saw us?!" Shadowcat cried.

"Aw, terrific!!" Rogue muttered.

Superman nodded grimly. "They saw me, too." he admitted.

"Well, that's it. We're screwed." Avalanche muttered.

Superman's expression saddened. "Sorry, guys..."

"Don't be." Jean assured him.

"You did the right thing, Kal." Storm agreed.

Power Girl nodded, and lightly kissed her tausha's cheek. "It was a lousy situation, baby. You couldn't do anything else."

Superman weakly smiled. "Thanks, taushi."

"Well, we'd better get back." Spyke said. "The Professor's probably gonna kill us for blowing our secret..."

"You have far graver problems than that, Evan."

Power Girl froze, as the X-Men looked around...and then looked to where Superman was staring...and saw a single blackbird – a raven – perched on a rooftop above. Then, the raven flew down...and morphed into a blue-skinned, red-haired, yellow-eyed, black-clad woman.

"Mystique!" Cyclops shouted.

"Mother?" Nightcrawler murmured.

Mystique's expression turned grave. "I'm afraid," she began, "that things are about to get much worse..."

Deep Space

In the dark of space, at the farthest reaches of Earth's solar system, space itself seemed to ripple as a small, pod-shaped craft dropped out of Trans-Warp, at the rim of the system, where not even Kryptonian sensors could reach, letting momentum carry it in, making minor course-corrections to take it to Earth...guided by the pure, logical, emotionless intelligence that the craft carried.

Aboard the ship, the Brainiac Emulator Unit Mark VI stirred from its self-diagnostic, with all systems in the green, as it reviewed its directives before it reached Earth.

Directive One: achieve landing on Class-One Planet designated Earth.

Directive Two: intercept coded transmission from offline Mark V unit.

Directive Three: assimilate Earth technology.

Directive Four: locate lifeform designated Kal-El.

The Mark VI's red eyes narrowed as it went over its last directive.

Primary Directive, designated Priority One: terminate lifeform designated Kal-El.

Its review complete, the Mark VI continued its journey towards Earth, ready to complete its creator's task...

Coming Soon…

With their presence exposed, their mentor MIA and their home attacked, our heroes are on the run.

Where could Professor Xavier be?

What foul scheme do the Friends of Humanity have in store for our heroes?

Can the Man of Steel and the X-Men thwart Doom and Magneto's insane plot?

Who will aid them in their hour of need?

Find out in Part Two of Zero Hour, "Deepening Darkness," coming to your computer soon…