Avenging Justice 3:

To Infinity and Anti-Life

Part XXI

Earth, New York, West Chester, Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters

Kitty Pryde was enjoying some time off. There was no schoolwork, no training, and most of all she had the whole afternoon to spend with Piotr. She was very fond of him and had even tried to welcome his sister, when the X-Men brought her home. The results were not what she expected, though that didn't change her view of Piotr one bit.

She went to her closet to pick out an outfit, she wanted to appear beautiful and alluring. She didn't want a repeat of where Piotr called her a cute kid. That had burned, and something she definitely didn't want to be seen as. It was bad enough her hair was still curly, and she didn't like how plain she looked. Kitty desperately wanted to be seen as an adult, as many teens do. However, unlike most teens, as a mutant the probability of having to grow up fast was exponentially greater.

Throwing that thought away, she pulled out an outfit and held it up to her face. Suddenly she stopped, her eyes went blank and the clothing fell away. A wave washed over and then Kitty began to blink her eyes again. As they focused, the look went from innocent, crushing on the Russian transfer, to focused, driven and on a mission.

Kitty looked at her current state. Leggings, sneakers, oversized sweatshirt dress, sufficient for what she needed. Going further into her closet, she found her uniform, packed it into a backpack. She had to find the Professor, had to get him to get the word out. Something big was coming, something that spelled doom for everyone and everything.

Without wasting anytime, Kitty Pryde left her room and began phasing through walls, a destination in mind. She had to get to their underground base. Outside the rumbling sounds of a landing Blackbird let her know she had arrived just in time. Bouncing through another wall, she found the secret elevator.

She almost forgot to phase in to hit the button, but remembered after her first attempt had her finger going through it. The doors opened and she entered quickly, hitting the button to take her down. Below was where the X-Men trained, where they strategized, and where they mended themselves. It was also here where Professor X used Cerebro to find other Mutants, and to aid in their missions.

Moments seemed to passed like hours, as the elevator made its way down. When she had first stepped into it, the rapidity had caused her to feel like she was falling. Now, it was as if it wasn't going fast enough for her liking. Thoughts of phasing at the right time to jump through the door passed. She had to play it smart, be patient, and just hold tight. Her mission was too important to waste by being reckless.

"I think that went well, Scott," Professor Xavier was moving his mobile chair across the hanger.

Scott tried to match his mentor's optimism, "He's unknown factor. The fact he didn't try to destroy us is great, but I get the feeling he sees us more as gnats than human beings."

"That, Scott, is a matter of perspective," Professor X explained. "While he kept his mind focused, stray bits did make their way out. Did you not see the way he watched you and Jean together? Subconsciously, he flashed back to a dark haired woman. More surprising, was how much she looked like the woman he had dine with us."

Scott took this in stride, "She would be an in, or a fulcrum point."

"Don't even think about it," Jean Grey gently slapped his arm. "I've seen the people he fights, and I think we lost enough when Doomsday came knocking."

"You make a good point, Jean," Professor X nodded. "Besides we came to get his help in providing a safe haven for Mutants, and expanding our work into his country. The fact that we would be working covertly isn't new to us, but at least now the head of state will be aware of us. That will increase the possibility of further assistance down the road, if we can build up some goodwill."

Scott Summers shook his head, "He's still a psychopath, Professor. He'd probably get along better with Magneto than us."

"Don't forget, Scott, Erik and I only diverted because of methods, not our wants," Professor X stated. "I think Humanity and Mutants can coexist. He thinks we can not, and thus we need our own world. There may come a time when we can both work together again, to make a better world. Till then, we must stop him and his followers from making things worse."

Scott nodded, "Yes, Professor."

It was right about then that a very mission driven Kitty Pryde nearly bowled them over coming out of the elevator. She dodged, and didn't even have to phase. Instead she came around and put herself in front of the returning X-Men.

Already Scott was moving forward to see what was wrong, but she could see he wasn't looking at her like she was used to. Of course not, this Cyclops hadn't gotten used to her as a hardened warrior. This one still saw her as a kid. That stung a little, but she was going to have to deal with several expressions like that, as she had a whopper of a tale to tell.

"Professor, you need to listen to me," Kitty said. "We don't have much time, something big is about to happen. If we don't stop it, everything goes. Not just Mutants, not just Humanity, everything on Earth and beyond!"

Charles Xavier put a hand up to his head, while also reaching out to Kitty, "Calm down, Kitty. What is wrong?"

Scott came up to her, trying to move her like one would a moody teen. To his surprise, she redirected him and came back up in fighting stance. The look on her face wasn't the carefree young girl that he was used to. No, this looked more like a battle hardened solder ready for a fight. Without thinking, he hand went to the optical visor. This wouldn't be the first time an ally has gone crazy, albeit temporarily.

Charles' voice reached into his mind, "No, Scott." Then into Kitty's mind, "Now, what is going on, Kitty?"

"You really need to see it," she replied back and released her mental defenses. "This is my future!"

Instantly, Charles Xavier found himself mesmerized as time sped up to such a degree that was implausible. Things that should take years to age, did so in seconds. The room around him quickly became dilapidated and above the sky broke through where the hanger once stood. Their vehicles and ground quickly became overgrown and lost, with only the Blackbird remaining. It, though was changed, having many new additions added and even its iconic shape slightly morphing.

Quickly his vision was thrust up into the air, then into space. There he could see a large asteroid floating in a stable earth orbit. Inside was his long time friend Erik, looking far older and haunted then he ever had. Overhead vast vehicles blasted away at flying alien demon things.

That however wasn't the most disturbing thing. Looking at the continent of Africa, her recognized what looked like the Omega letter from the Greek alphabet. The continent was barren, with its resources drained, leaving only dead earth. The globe spun faster and the same could be said for all the continents. Even Antarctica was barren, the ice long having been melted off.

Next he was sent below again, to the barren wastes of where the western United States had been. Most of California was gone, and the states further inland showed the scars of many battles. What caught his eye was the fast moving Blackbird, following a Green Lantern and a Nova Corps vehicle. He followed them, even as more information began to leak into his mind.

"You must understand, it was a fluke," Kitty's voice came through. "We were battling an interdimensional being when the attack came. The whole Earth was decimated, just as worlds across the universe. We were lucky, as whatever caused it didn't affect us when we returned.

Over the next few months we pieced together that a New God and a Titan duked it out for the universe. One looking to impress Death by sending half the population as a present to her. The other looking for the Anti-Life Equation, which basically stole free will from everyone.

The worlds affected, just began to die. Soon the Titan turned on the New God, something about his gauntlet made him immune to the Equation. They began to fight, and that is where the resistance began to battle as well. Survivors from across the universe, some like us, came to fight."

Charles looked in horror, "How much hope is there to rebuild after their defeat? This looks like the end."

Kitty's voice went somber, "This is the end. One of the leader's, Old Man Bat, he had us go look for the Life Equation. Said it was the only way to undo what had been done. However, for me he had a different mission. With your help, he prepped me for this one thing, to bring you a message."

Charles smiled, "Time travel, but what about the idea of fracturing the timeline?"

"He explained that there are only two ways of getting around that," Kitty explained. "One was to use the Speed Force, which wasn't immediately available. The Flash in this time is gone. The other was to creatively use my phasing ability to phase out of time, and rephase to this exact time. It took me several times, but he always insisted I was always the only way to success."

The vision changed again, and he recognized a heavy mecha suit, opening to a very pained masked man. He would have recognized him by the cowl alone, but the frailty and infirmity of the figure almost stopped him from making the connection. What had happened to Gotham's Batman?

"Listen, you must tell your people this," the older Batman said. "You must find Hope. You will know the symbol when you see it. When it comes at our darkest hour, you will know you succeeded. Second, the League and the Avengers must work as one. To do that, Wonder Woman is going to need help. As well, you must keep the schism that divides Iron Man and Captain America from happening. Lastly, tell Dr. Strange there is a better way, always will be."

Then the vision fell away, and Charles Xavier felt himself back in his body. Oddly, he still felt a little out of it at the same time. It was a side effect of using his power, but one he hadn't experienced in years. Normally it was like entering and exiting a door, but this was more like waking up from a midafternoon nap, then trying to get your bearings.

"Professor, are you okay?" Scott asked, looking very worried.

Charles nodded, "Yes, give me a moment. Young Ms. Pryde here had much to show me."

"What is going on?" Jean asked.

Professor X turned to her, "A bigger threat than just to Mutant kind. Something big is coming, and we need to warn the Justice League and the Avengers."

"I'll give them a call right now," Scott turned towards the communications room.

Professor X followed, "It would be best if I explained to both groups. Jean, prepare the students. You and Kitty, bring in all our X-Men. This is going to be an all hands on deck event."

Kitty and Jean ran off to do this, while Scott began to connect up through the frequencies provided by both groups. Meanwhile Charles' mind began to wander back to what he had seen. The Omega symbol, the large space ships, who or what were these threats? Who was the Green Lantern that had been leading his people, and where were the other heroes? Had Dr. Richards and Tony Stark been affected by this Anti-Life Equation, or were they stopped by the alien with the gauntlet? So many questions, and not enough answers.