"Danny, wake up!" Scott shouted. The one-eyed X-Men burst into Danny's room, disturbing the spirit from his slumber.

"What, what is it?" Danny replied groggily, his body awake but his mind still asleep.

"No time to explain; get on the Blackbird!" Cyclops instructed before running out of the room.

Danny turned ghost and flew after Scott, reaching the Blackbird and taking off.

"Someone mind to explain what's going on?" Danny asked the others while strapping into his seat.

"Professor Xavier picked up some strong energy readings." Beast explained. "Says that they're off the charts."

"That's why the professor urged us to be as cautious as possible." Scott said. "Whatever this thing is, it could be hostile."

"Where's it located?" Danny asked.

"Illinois." Scott answered.

Danny blinked. Illinois, why there? Could it be possible that the energy readings are from a ghost? Danny was skeptical about this. After all, what ghost would have an energy reading that high?

Danny tried to get more information. "Where in Illinois?"

"Amity Park." Jean replied.

Danny felt nervous. They were going back to his old town. Now it was obvious that whatever they were looking for was a ghost. The question is, which ghost? Danny thought that it could be Pariah Dark. Did he somehow get out of the Sarcophagus of Forever Sleep?

"That's strange; the energy signature is getting closer." Storm pointed out on the radar.

"So it's moving toward us?" Wolverine asked. "I'm itching for a fight."

"It's five miles away from us." Storm reported. "It's heading toward us in a head-on collision." They all looked out to see it, but there was nothing.

"Well, where is it?" Rogue demanded.

Storm paled as she examined the radar. "It's right on top of us."

Danny phased his head through the plane's ceiling to see what it was. He was greeted with only the wind.

"I don't see anything." Danny said returning to his seat.

"Where could it be?" Beast wondered.

"Maybe it's right behind you." A dark voice said.

Danny's blood turned ice cold when he heard that familiar voice. It couldn't be possible. He should be locked up with Clockwork. Against his better judgment, Danny looked behind him, and there looming over him was Dan Phantom, his alternate evil self, with eyes darkening with a sadistic glee. Danny looked over at his teammates, only to see that they were dead. All of them were rotting corpses with maggots feasting on them.

"Your time is up, Danny." Dan said. "It's been up for ten years." He then lunged at his younger self.

Danny woke with his heart pounding in his chest. He had been dreaming again. The same dream he kept experiencing for weeks. He had been having this nightmare since he joined the X-Men.

The ghostly X-Man got out of bed and walked over to the window, trying to shake off the feeling of dread that was still lingering from his dream. He looked out into the blue sky and took a deep breath, trying to focus on the peaceful, bright sun.

It had been almost ten years since that day, but Dan still kept haunting him. Danny thought that the nightmares would fade over time, and they did, but now they seemed to be back in full force. Why was that? Danny let himself get lost in his thoughts to try and find the answer.

'It could be that I'm back to being a hero and my mind is just trying to adjust to it.' He thought. 'I'll eventually get used to it, and these nightmares will soon be gone.'

After taking a shower, he got ready for today and went down to have breakfast. There, he found Rogue in front of the stove.

"Morning sugar." Rogue greeted with a warm smile. "How'd you sleep last night?"

"Could be better." Danny said. "What are you making anyway?"

"My personal waffles." Rogue smiled brilliantly. "You got to try them. Trust me, spooky, these things will taste so good, they'll knock your socks off." Despite the nightmare, Danny couldn't help but grin as the smell of waffles filled the room.

When the waffles were done, Danny and Rogue sat down to eat. The waffles were light, fluffy, and perfectly sweet. Rogue truly was a good cook.

"So what do you think?" Rogue asked, fishing for compliments. However, Danny was lost in his own thoughts.

"Danny?" Rogue tapped his shoulder. "Are you okay?"

Danny snapped out of it. "Huh, what?"

"You alright?" Rogue asked softly. "You seem a little jittery."

"I just had a nightmare, that's all." Danny explained.

Rogue raised an eyebrow. "Must be some nightmare to scare a ghost."

Danny laughed. "Yeah, it was."

"You can talk about it if you want." Rogue offered.

"It's kind of personal." Danny admitted.

"I understand." Rogue said.

It's been a couple of weeks since he's been here, but Danny is starting to like living here. It felt nice to be in a place where every part of you was accepted. Hanging with these guys felt natural. He got to spend a lot of time with his teammates, and he's grown to like them, and they seemed to feel the same way about him.

"So what's it like being a ghost?" Rogue tried to start a conversation.

Danny didn't know where to start. "Honestly, it feels the same as being human. Although, I miss the sound of my beating heart."

Rogue scrutinized him. "Your heart doesn't beat?"

"Ever since the accident, it stopped." Danny explained.

"By the way, what kind of accident were you in?" Rogue questioned.

"My parents were building a ghost portal, but it didn't work. So one day, my friends and I were examining it when one of them dared me to go in. I did, and it turned on with me inside it."

Rogue grimaced. "That sounds really painful."

"It was." Danny said. "To this day, it's still the most painful thing I've ever experienced, well physically that is." Danny decided to change the conversation. "So what are your plans for today?"

"I got a mission with Jean and Gambit." Rogue replied. "So I won't be around for a bit."

"Aww, how am I supposed to entertain myself without you around?" Danny joked.

Rogue smirked. "I'm sure you'll find a way, spooky."

After Rogue had left for her mission, Danny had been watching TV when he was approached by Wolverine, who told him the professor wanted to see him.

"You wanted to see me, professor?" Danny arrived in the meeting room that was occupied by Xavier and Jubilee.

Xavier turned on one of the monitors. "It's a tape of tonight's news about the detention center attack." It showed a man decked out in red armor with a purple cape. On his head was some kind of helmet that looked like something from Spartan times. He was floating above several tanks that were preparing to open fire on him.

Danny had a flashback to when he first saw a glimpse of his future self in Clockwork's lair. Only instead of using a ghostly wail, the man released some kind of wave from his hand. One of the tanks ended up compacting itself. Another tank kept firing on Magneto, but he was protected by some kind of shield that he emitted that was made of some blue energy. Magneto fired his attack at that tank. The screws came loose, and the tank was pulled apart bit by bit, leaving nothing but the shooter and the seat he was sitting in. Two choppers came down, only for Magneto to fire at one, blowing it up.

"Hey! Hot graphics!" Jubilee commented.

Danny studied the man and his magnetic powers. "Who is he?"

"He was once a friend." Xavier said regretfully.

"Was?" Jubilee asked.

"What happened?" Danny inquired.

Xavier sighed, not exactly enthusiastic about having to tell this story. "We met after a war. I worked in a hospital, secretly using my mental powers to heal the survivors. A dedicated young aide named Magnus assisted me. Together, we helped patients rediscover the joy of life. We became friends, but for some, a war is never over. Remnants of the small army that had so brutally occupied his small country returned, attempting to retake it. We saved what patients we could, revealing for the first time to each other, to anyone, our long-hidden mutant powers. But Magnus wasn't through. He'd lost his family when those people overran his country. Consumed by rage, he tried to destroy them. I stopped him, but I'd never seen such a change in a man."

"You'd be surprised what grief and loss can do to a person." Danny said matter-of-factly.

Xavier nodded, stopping himself from asking about the haunted look in Danny's eyes as he continued his story. "I tried to help him deal with his pain." Xavier briefly paused as if he were hearing his old friend again. "Heaven help us if he was right." He pulled himself out of his musings. "Possessing the power of magnetism, he began calling himself Magneto. He and his growing legion of followers attacked power plants, factories, government buildings, determined to disrupt human society, paving the way for mutant takeover."

"You either die a hero or live long enough to see yourself become the villain." Danny stated.

"Yes, that's a way of phrasing it." Xavier said. "But now, after all these years, it seems he's begun again.

"But the X-Men are here now, Professor." Jubilee reminded him.

Danny agreed saying, "He can't fight all of us."

Just then, Scott ran in. "Danny, we need you! It's an emergency!" Danny followed Scott with a feeling of deja vu. The two got onto the Blackbird along with Wolverine, who was already there.

"So what's going on?" Danny asked, hoping that it wasn't what he thought it was.

"We've got a mutant attacking downtown." Scott said.

"Oh, thank God." Danny said in relief, glad to not have to deal with Dan again.

Wolverine and Cyclops gave him a confused look.

"Thank God? He's attacking people." Cyclops scolded, wondering what was wrong with their teammate.

Danny realized his mistake. "I meant thank God that it isn't something worse." Laughing nervously.

Wolverine rolled his eyes. "If you say so."

The Blackbird landed, with the trio stepping out. A couple feet away from them was the same hairy man that Danny remembered seeing on the news. He was wreaking havoc, throwing police cars left and right, while innocents were fleeing in fear.

"Sabretooth!" Wolverine roared, causing Danny and Cyclops to look at him.

"You know that lunatic?" Cyclops questioned.

"I'm gonna shred you all to pieces." Sabretooth said as armed men started to aim their guns at him.

"Come on, they're gonna kill him!" Cyclops urged.

"Good." Wolverine said satisfied.

"What?" Danny asked in shock. He knew that Wolverine was a little rough around the edges, but willing to let someone die? He thought that was too cruel, even for him.

Wolverine didn't answer; he just stood there with his arms crossed.

"Fine." Cyclops said, blasting the guards and knocking them unconscious. Danny then fired his ghost ray at Sabretooth, knocking him out.

"Let's get him on the plane." Cyclops ordered, making Wolverine unleash his claws. It reminded Danny of Wulf and his sharp blades.

"No way am I riding the plane with him." Wolverine complained.

"It's either that or walk home." Danny replied, making Wolverine growl in agitation.

"Where are you?" Xavier said through his telepathy: He was currently using Cerebro in an effort to track down Magneto's whereabouts.

"Professor?" Jubilee called, walking in with Storm. Xavier did not respond; it was as if he was in some kind of trance.

"Professor Xavier? Charles? Are you alright?" Storm asked with concern in her voice, putting her hand on Xavier's shoulder. Xavier opened his eyes and saw that his students were giving him worried looks.

"I'm fine, Storm, really." Charles said, failing to mask his consternation.

"You're looking for that Magneto guy." Jubilee stated. "You've been here all night."

"Who is this Magneto, Professor?" Storm inquired.

Before Xavier could explain, the alarm went off with Cyclops' voice over the PA system.

"Emergency!" Scott announced. "Prepare infirmary to receive critically injured mutant!"

Cyclops and Danny were now in the control room with the others as they watched Sabretooth over a monitor. He was unconscious and attached to an IV.

"We're pretty lucky that we managed to get him here before he could hurt anyone." Scott said.

"Is he gonna be okay, Professor?" Jubilee regarded Sabretooth's condition with sympathy.

"He seems to have stabilized." Xavier informed her.

"I'm glad." Jubilee said, before voicing something that was on her mind. "Something about him reminds me of Wolverine."

Danny shrugged. "Could be disgruntled relatives."

"His name's Sabretooth." Cyclops told Jubilee.

"Wolverine knows him and hates him." Danny added.

"Did he give a reason?" Xavier asked.

"Does he ever?" Cyclops snarked.

Jubilee gestured to the monitor. "There he is. Why don't you ask him."

The adults saw Wolverine entering Sabretooth's room. Cyclops and Xavier both looked troubled.

"Something tells me he's not there to bring him any flowers." Danny said.

"Here we are." Wolverine said with quiet excitement as he extended his claws. Standing right next to his archenemy, he raised his hand and slashed.

The cords attached to Sabretooth were cut.

Wolverine stared daggers at Sabretooth and leaned in closer to him. "If it wasn't for Xavier-"

"Wolverine!" Cyclops shouted. Logan turned to see Danny, Cyclops, Jubilee, and Xavier in the doorway.

"Back off." Scott ordered. "Slow and easy."

"I'm taking this maggot out of here," Wolverine vowed, "one way or the other."

Jubilee was frightened by Wolverine's hostility. "Maybe we should move him somewhere else?" She suggested.

"Wolverine. Personal vendettas have no place here." Xavier scolded.

"You know we must help a mutant if he's in trouble." Scott reminded him.

"It's not personal." Wolverine replied. "He's a threat."

"He was near death." Xavier deadpanned.

"Not near enough." Wolverine responded.

"Wolverine." Xavier said in a warning voice as the feral mutant started to push Sabretooth's bed out the room.

"Get out of my way." Wolverine demanded as the others blocked his way.

"Guess someone shouldn't have put wheels on that bed." Danny said.

Xavier gave Wolverine one final warning. "If you take Sabretooth from this infirmary, don't bother coming back."

"But you don't know him." Wolverine told him. "He can't stay here."

"That is the way some of us felt about you when you first came." Storm said as she walked into the room. "This man's rages seem much like your own."

Wolverine refused to listen. "Get out of my way."

Things would've gotten worse if the alarm hadn't gone off.

"Sector thirty-seven! Missile base alert!" A computer voice said.

"Magneto." Xavier gasped in realization.

"How can you be sure?" Danny asked.

"I know him." Xavier said simply. "Hurry! All else must wait."

Danny, Storm, and Cyclops booked it into gear as they left, with Jubilee trying to follow.

"Hey! Wait up!" She said.

"No Jubilee, not yet." Xavier said. "Magneto is much too dangerous."

"But, Professor Xavier." Jubilee protested but was ignored.

"Besides, Sabretooth needs our help." Xavier said. Wolverine gave one last look of contempt at the unconscious mutant before throwing his bed to the side.

He turned to leave, but gave Xavier one last question.

"How come we're supposed to trash your old enemy, but we got to go easy on mine?"

Xavier frowned but didn't say anything.

Magneto floated through the air like a god as he traversed the military base. Seeing three tanks aiming at him, he used his magnetic powers to twist the cannons and make them fire at each other.

"You dare oppose me?" Magneto bellowed. "Your most powerful weapons shall destroy you, and mutants will hide in fear no more." Magneto continued on his path towards launch control.

"Stop that thing!" One guard cried. "He's heading for Launch Control!"

Once in range of the building, Magneto used his powers to control all the computers and have them carry out his personal orders. "Mutant liberation begins." Magneto said.

The people in Launch Control were working when they heard the computer say, "Initiation of launch sequence acknowledged."

"Hey, what the-" One technician said before the computer said, "Launch at T minus three minutes."

"These things have armed themselves!" A lieutenant shouted. "Computer override!" He commanded. "Abort launch procedure!"

One technician got under the computer and started to fix the problem.

"How much longer?" The lieutenant asked in regards to the time the missiles would launch.

"A few seconds." The technician replied hastily.

The lieutenant looked at one of the radars and gasped in shock. "It can't be! Those missiles are targeted at us!"

While this was going on, the four X-Men landed and were making their way to Magneto. Danny was prepared for whatever this Magneto had.

"That's got it." The technician said, pulling out the circuit board.

"Launch at T minus two minutes, thirty seconds." The computer said.

"It didn't work!" The technician yelled in disbelief. "Something's maintaining the circuits!"

With no other choice, the lieutenant gave his orders. "Everybody out! Move it!" While the people in Launch Control were moving out, the Lieutenant activated the PA system.

"This is a code red emergency! Abandon base!" The lieutenant decreed. "Repeat! Code red emergency! Abandon base!"

The guards who were currently firing at Magneto dropped their guns and started escaping.

The X-Men were still searching but couldn't find any trace of Magneto.

"I see no one." Storm said.

"You think, with how dramatic this guy is, he'd be easy to spot." Danny commented.

Wolverine started sniffing. "He was here. I can still smell him."

"O what a brave new world that has such people in it." They heard a voice say. Looking upwards, the group spotted Magneto looking down on them like a god looking down on his mortal subjects.

"I'm glad you decided to join me in the liberation of mankind." Magneto said. "Today begins a new world for all of us. A world where we needn't hide in corners and crawl in fear." Magneto levitated down toward the X-Men.

"I don't know what corner you crawled out of, bub," Wolverine said, "but we don't find nuclear missiles all that liberating."

"Come quietly or be taken." Cyclops said.

"You don't want the blood of innocents on your hands." Danny said with an ice-cold look.

"Innocent?" Magneto said dubiously. "You call all the people who have persecuted helpless mutants innocent? Charles has blinded you from the truth, my boy."

"This is your last warning!" Danny heatedly shouted. "I'm not going to let you kill anyone!"

Magneto had disappointment in his eyes. "I had hoped that Xavier would have realized that his childish quest for peaceful coexistence with humans is hopeless."

"What, and you think genocide is the answer?" Danny asked sarcastically.

"Better that we die on our feet than live on our knees." Magneto remarked. He then trapped the four of them in some kind of magnetic bubble, which kept them immobilized.

"I can't move." Storm said in discomfort as they were lifted up.

"Tell Xavier I am stronger now." Magneto told them. "As I healed from our last encounter, I had time to prepare. Tell him those who oppose me are traitors to mutantkind. I will show him no mercy." He let them fall to the ground. "If Charles Xavier dreams of peace between human and mutant, his vision will soon become a nightmare." Magneto prophesied as he left them.

Inside the tower, the timer was currently at thirty seconds, while in the silo, the missile blinked as it stood ready.

"Wolverine, Storm, Danny, are you alright?" Cyclops questioned.

"Had better days." Danny couldn't help but reply cynically.

"Like new." Wolverine said.

"Nothing is broken." Storm informed him. The silo hatch in front of them opened.

"The silos!" Cyclops panicked.

"They are starting to launch!" Storm said anxiously.

"Not if I can help it." Wolverine proclaimed, running straight to the tower. Cyclops blasted the wall, creating an opening for Wolverine to get through. The time was counting down from ten seconds. Wolverine started to destroy all the computers, stations, and all the equipment he could get his hands on in a frantic manner.

"Where's the blasted switch?" Wolverine screeched.

"Cyclops!" Storm pointed to another silo hatch that opened up.

Xavier was connected to Cerebro when he let out a cry of anguish. "No!"

"Professor!" Jubilee came over to his side. "What is it?"

"I was wrong!" Xavier answered in a broken voice. "I should have stopped him when I had the chance!"

It was too late, the timer went off. With a rumble, three warheads took off, preparing to bring doom to the inhabitants of their destination.

Cyclops was about to fire at them when Storm stopped him.

"No, Cyclops, using your optic blast would detonate the warheads.

"Better here than over a city." Cyclops argued.

"Anyone got any ideas?" Danny said.

"Yes, I know what I must do." Storm said. She took off in the air and chased the missiles.

"Storm! Wait!" Don't do it!" Cyclops protested.

"Is Storm doing what I think she's doing?" Wolverine enquired.

"She's going to blow up those missiles by herself!" Cyclops expounded.

"She's not going to do it by herself." Danny took off after her.

"Danny! Wait!" Cyclops yelled after him.

Danny managed to catch up to Storm.

"Storm!" Danny caught her attention.

"You can't talk me out of this, Danny; there is no other way." Storm said resolutely.

"There's always another way. We can short circuit them." Danny suggested. "You use your lighting to fry their computers, and I'll freeze them."

Storm thought about it. "That could work."

Danny used his cryokinesis to freeze two of the missiles, causing their control systems to shut down. Storm used her lightning to overload the control system of the third missile.

With them all deactivated, they fell harmlessly into the ocean.

The two heroes smiled in relief that they had prevented a disaster from happening. They flew back to where Wolverine and Cyclops were.

"Mission accomplished, fearless leader." Danny teased.

Cyclops let out a genuine smile. "Okay, let's go home."

The Blackbird lifted off and flew home as Magneto watched.

"You've trained your X-Men well, Xavier." Magneto complimented. "They defied me and delayed my war. You and your mutants protect the humans who seek to destroy us. Why? Why have you turned against your own kind?" Magneto was at a lost of words. Why would someone turn on their own kind?

While on the plane, Danny reflected on his encounter with Magneto. A man willing to kill millions in order to accomplish his goals. The last person that Danny met who was willing to go that far was Dan, and just like Dan, Danny will stop him from hurting anyone else.

'Wherever you are, Magneto,' Danny thought, 'I will find you and stop you from hurting any more innocents.'