THE END OF THE WORLD

Part II: Master of Magnetism

By Kyle Trainer

Prologue

The Xavier Institute.

The battle has ended.

The X-Men were attacked by the Acolytes in their own home, and during the battle, learned that Exodus has been using telepathy to keep them under his specific control.

Also during the encounter, Xavier had used telepathy to turn Exodus’ power off, helping the X-Men to defeat the Acolytes.

But somehow, the X-Men had been defeated.

The body of Magneto, Master of Magnetism, was laying in the underground tunnels where the Acolytes had led the X-Men. And when Xavier had put the Acolytes down, Magneto had somehow woken up, and defeated the X-Men.

But we’ll get back to that…

Someone has just arrived at the Xavier Institute, entering the grounds for the first time in quite a while. They see the smoke rising into the air, and drop down into the large hole in front of the Institute itself.

This person has their own special abilities, and they recognize who had been here, and where they went. Angrily, the person turns and sets off, knowing where they must go…

Elsewhere…

His name is Magneto, the Master of Magnetism.

He is a legend, and his name will last for years beyond. He has done amazing acts, defeated some of the most powerful people that have existed, and has shocking power. He controls magnetism itself, and through this, has sought to make the world better for mutants everywhere.

At least for most mutants…

As he slides on his helmet, completing the uniform, he takes a moment to wipe the white hair off his shoulders. It has gotten longer; this not being a surprise to anyone. His body has aged, and his muscles are not what they once were. But he has been slowly working the magnetic energy through his system, and his body is nearly at a peak it has not been for a while.

He is not surprised at what has gone on. The world is a very strange place. While he really doesn’t know what has happened since his absence, he knows that the Acolytes, a group of mutants dedicated to his service, were taken over by Exodus, who he once thought could be his trusted leader of the Acolytes. But this happens. People are ruled by their emotions.

Magneto knows the Acolytes he has already freed from his grasp, thanks to his magnetic power, are working on freeing the others. Except two: Exodus and Fabian Cortez.

He will deal with this matter right now…

Walking down the tunnels of his base, he takes a moment to glance at himself. The armor is right where he left it, not like the suit the Acolytes cobbled together for him on the remains of his space station. The red gleaming metal and purple outline his frame, and he feels muscles becoming stronger and stronger as he devotes a small amount of energy to working on them.

And as he enters the room, he sees the Acolytes that have been freed. Vought, Sven Kleinstock, and Unuscione stand around a small piece of metal jutting from the ground. It is rather like a post, and with his back to the post is Fabian Cortez. The man who Magneto has personally isolated from the others until now.

“Hello, Fabian.”

His deep voice, tinged with his European upbringing, carries throughout this room and into the others.

“M-M-Magnus.” Fabian manages to crease his lips enough into a smile, despite the wear and tear that Exodus’ rule has caused on him. His face is worn, his spirit mostly gone.

“I am Magneto, Cortez. You know very well the power I command, and the loyalty with which these Acolytes serve.”

Except Exodus, as it would seem…

“And yet you dared betray me! You even tricked me, and carried on this with the Acolytes until I returned! For this, you should pay dearly! There are ways you know I could carry this out, but I am no longer the man I was, Cortez. You are no longer an Acolyte, Fabian Cortez.”

Magneto turned to leave. He didn’t mention that he doubted Cortez would leave this place for a while.

“Unuscione, you and Sven come with me.” Magneto paused. The only Acolyte still on the ground was Harlen, Sven’s brother. “Where are Cargill and Scanner?”

“I am here,” Scanner stepped out of a side door, “Cargill went to the chamber.”

“Indeed?” Magneto wondered what to do about this. He decided that letting her have a moment there would not hurt. “Unuscione, you come with me. Scanner, help Vought work on Fabian’s restraints. Sven, you can wake your brother.”

He left with Unuscione, not knowing which twin was older, but neither retracting nor regretting the comment that Sven had seemed so changed by.

Elsewhere again…

Someone has just arrived in Germany, where they must stop to change flights before continuing on their quest. After a speedy disembarking, they board another plane, continuing on their route…

Magneto strode into the chamber, as it was called, and paused with Unuscione in the entrance. The two watched as Cargill continued circling a single part of the room. She reached back, as though she would have struck it, but Magneto tugged slightly on her hand with energy.

She saw him and quickly bowed deeply, apologizing.

“You are forgiven,” Magneto walked over to the other side of the room, “After all, they have done you enough harm, I am told.”

Cargill and Unuscione stood back, allowing Magneto a full view of the side of the room. There were nine telephone-booth-sized metallic ‘pods’, as Scanner called them. Each of them was made of an adamantium/titanium alloy, and strong enough that it could hold down the Thing of the Fantastic Four.

And inside each of these sat the X-Men; Xavier, Rogue, Gambit, Iceman, Maggott, Sabra, Storm, Marrow, and Joseph.

Magneto circled the pods, or booths, as he called them. They were arranged in a semicircle around Xavier, in a curving corner of the room. And they had an energy induced field which kept them too tired to do anything. Magneto kept that field on, so as to keep them from using their powers. If they got out of the booths, they would lose all the tiredness. Magneto didn’t like the idea of using them, but he knew the X-Men needed to be held for now.

Cargill was about to strike Gambit’s booth, because the two of them had a history together. Magneto himself avoided going near Joseph’s booth, at the other end, for his own reasons.

“It is time, Cargill.”

She walked over to a control button. “Wake them, but not all at once. Give them a few more moments between each, whatever you think should be done.”

While she carried out his orders, Magneto took a deep breath. This was it.

The first to wake up was, surprisingly enough, Iceman. He had been a member of the original team which had confronted Magneto all those years ago… times had been different then.

“I… who…” Iceman blinked his eyes, coming to slowly. His brown hair dangled in front of him as his vision focused and recognized the figure before him. “Dear lord…. we weren’t dreaming!”

“I am afraid not, Robert.” Magneto swept his cape out of the way, the energy glowing around his hands. “I am no mere dream.”

“But… this is impossible!” Iceman tried to comprehend what was going on. “Maybe you’re just a body being controlled by Exodus!”

“Would Exodus know of our first meeting? Of you blocking the fuel I threw at the X-Men?” Magneto saw that Iceman knew he wouldn’t, but before the younger man could open his eyes, Magneto spoke again, “And do you really think he could have removed that information from me?”

Iceman stopped talking for a moment. Magneto turned, finding the next person awake was Maggott. This was something he had been looking forward to, when he looked over the X-Men’s ranks and saw none other then the young man he had tried to help years ago.

“Magneto?! Is it really you?” Maggott’s voice seemed a bit strained, as though he was weakened. “Where are Eany and Meany?”

“Your slugs are sitting in a container over there.” Magneto motioned to a small part of the room that could not be seen from where he was. “I have come to free you, Japheth. To take you into my group as I was going to before.”

“But… I’m an X-Man now…” Maggott seemed the weakest of all the X-Men, at least mentally. This surprised Magneto, considering how the man had been before.

“These people betray their own, Japheth. I offer you something better. A chance to really do something. I told you about this before, will you join me now?”

Before he could answer, Xavier and Storm began bobbing their heads.

“I… I don’t know.” Maggott was unsure of which way to go, Magneto could see. But he wanted to convince him, to show him the life he could have.

“Erik…”

The voice interrupted them, stopping Magneto in his tracks and causing Maggott to look to the side. The deep, confident voice of Charles Xavier, founder of the X-Men. And the man who had been Magneto’s enemy for years, since they had differing views on how mutants and humans should interact. The two had a lot of history between them.

“Welcome back, Shiny.” Maggott dipped his head, and Magneto turned away from him. The boy needed some time.

“Hello, Charles.”

This was really the one thing he had been unsure of. The last time the two had met, Magneto’s entire existence had been altered. But this man had caused it. With the energy still building up around him, Magneto walked over to Xavier, and stared down into his eyes. They both stared for a good long minute.

“Welcome back, Erik.” Xavier’s voice shone with some kind of new confidence. It was strange, despite the obvious shakiness behind it, since Xavier wasn’t even aware of his being responsible for Magneto’s return.

“My name is Magneto!” He stood taller, but Xavier’s gaze still met his. “There is no Erik Lensherr!”

“However you wish to make it sound.” Xavier still gazed into his eyes. Around him, the other X-Men were slowly stirring. Magneto wondered if he was using his telepathy on the X-Men, despite his slothfulness, and overcoming the field. “You have been gone a long time.”

“Indeed I have.” Magneto couldn’t help it, so he let go the words he had been holding in since the beginning of the return, “You attacked me, Charles, in such a way I never attacked you. On Avalon, you just barged into my mind. Worse than that, you incapacitated me in a way that betrayed everything you have ever said. You viciously removed my abilities to function, and the retribution I owe you will be paid. But you didn’t just betray me, you teach your students to respect their powers, Charles, and to use them morally. But look what did you do to me!”

The last words, spoken as a direct phrase and not a question, echoed around the base.

“You may be wondering how I returned?” Xavier still sat silent, as Magneto knelt next to him. He felt regal right now, despite the anger, and inside him, on some level, he felt pity for Xavier. The man’s thoughts had obviously mimicked what had been said, but it hurt to have them directly spelled out. Magneto kept the feeling away, because he knew Xavier deserved it. “I shall tell you!”

He stepped back, and took a deep breath, “You absorbed my mind, Charles. As such, instead of simply cutting off access to my body, I was brought inside of you. Inside your mind. And with your telepathy, which on every level pushed me down, I was kept still here. So my body was kept where it was, as it remained the way it had been left. And my mind was kept down by your powers.”

He stopped, and glanced at Joseph, who was beginning to stir, then continued, “What my Acolytes have told me of that festering being is that he arrived at the same time I began to feel again. I do not know what it was, but your mental barriers were falling. I sensed something else there, something I did not recognize, but I could not see it because I had no telepathy. So, I began working through your mind. Mental energy in a telepathic mind can be very mobile.”

“Then, somehow, after something blanketed your mind, I felt again. I felt whole, but I was still inside your mind. Whatever it was that had been there before was gone, and I learned something odd. You were no longer holding up any of your mental barriers. But to escape meant I would somehow have to locate my body, and my mental energy could get no where until contact was established between the skins. But I knew where I was, and I planned.”

He took a deep breath. A tear had welled up in his eyes, but he dispersed the atoms. “And then, I came across something. You could still use your telepathic power, you just had no access to it. Using this, my mental energy could be sent off in bits to other places. Enough to cause motor functions to happen. It was during this time that the Acolytes searched for my body, and found close enough replicates so that I could work in a physical body, if not somewhat hampered.”

“Riding the mental waves that connect every person, so to speak, I took over these other forms. I performed a number of acts, some of which I will not discuss in front of these people.”

He glanced around the rows, his stare landing on one member of the X-Men in particular. “But I managed to make the man who gave me this identity, and foolishly let that information become known, pay. And I finally found my body, but, at this time, I lost all contact with my bodies. Your telepathy had returned. It had been a long time, and I was wearing short the energy I had. So I knew the only possible way for me to get out of your mind was to have you release me. Which wouldn’t happen, at least, not willingly.”

He took a deep breath again, preparing for the last part of his speech, “I had Exodus bring the Acolytes to the mansion, and they made their home in that chamber you saw. I visited you in your dreams, Charles, and acted as though I was repentant. I tried to get you to release me with pity, but you didn’t seem to know how. And, it was at this point that the Acolytes saw the return of Joseph as a sign to attack. They did so, and finally, you broke past a telepathic barrier that had been holding you back – placed there by yourself to keep you from going into power levels you feared, for some reason, unconsciously or consciously – to defeat Exodus. And he used his last power to send me into my body.”

He stopped, and lowered his head. The light glinted off his helmet, and the X-Men sat silent. Gambit looked shocked, Xavier’s face had never been darker, and the other X-Men merely listened. All but Marrow…

A minute passed, then a few, as everyone took in the tale.

“You call that an excuse?” Marrow’s voice echoed throughout the chamber, as Magneto lifted his head up. The rage in his eyes did not stop her, “You, like the rest of these upworlders, just abandoned the Morlocks. And you think you’re so great? You help the nice Acolytes, who do your every bidding, or the X-Men, who bark at your every command. It makes me sick! I don’t know what kind of life you’ve led, but I’m willing to bet nothing has been like it has been for me! So shut your damn mouth before you make yourself sound even more stupid! You’re not special, you’re nothing great! Deal with it!”

“WHAT?” His voice, rising to unheard of levels as it was amplified with the power around him, cascaded into the X-Men’s ears. He barely contained himself as he walked over to Marrow’s self, hands clenched tightly.

“I know what the Morlocks had to endure! I know what you had to endure! But I endured something worse than that! An entire group of people – an entire religion – were nearly wiped out due to ONE person’s bigotries. I had to watch as everyone I’d ever met were separated, herded into chambers, and gassed… or worse. My daughter never made it outside the vicinity of the camps. All due to ONE man’s anger and hatred. One man… and a number of easily manipulated men and women.”

“That’s an excuse?” Marrow’s eyes blazed with fires none of the X-Men seemed to recognize. “So you’ve had it hard? Then why are you holding us captive? You’re repeating the past!”

Magneto completely stopped. He stared at this young girl, with bones out of her face, who seemed to squirm quite a bit. He felt the power at his hands.

“The X-Men did something to me, young girl. After I have paid them back, I will turn my attention to helping an entire people. But revenge is something that I do not approve of… this is justice!”

“Justice?! You’re a self-interested excuse for a man, and I should tell you, that doesn’t make for a good leader! You have no idea what people need!”

“That is not true!” Magneto’s voice simmered, as did the magnetic energies. “You have just crossed a line. One which the X-Men never did…”

He said no more, raising his hand. The power glowed around each digit.

“You know why you want to help them. I know it, and everyone knows it. You failed before, and now you’re trying to make up for it!” Marrow gritted her teeth.

“ENOUGH!” Magneto held his hand back, preparing to strike. “You have said more than you should have!”

“Riiiiight. I’m not the one who goes into speeches every minute.” Marrow then reared her head back, lips arched, and gritted her teeth hard.

A single tooth flew out, one that she had ground out of place. It slammed into Magneto’s face, and from the side, one would only see it enter into the helmet. He fell backwards, gripping his face, and toppled to the ground.

A plane has just landed in Eastern Russia, bearing a determined figure on a deadly quest. The person senses something, picking up the trail again, and continues…

As Marrow smiled, Cargill came out of nowhere. Her fists struck quickly, and Marrow leaned back on the small pod, the smile remaining. A gape seemed to amplify the small victory.

“MAGNETO!” Xavier strained against the small pod. “You don’t want to injure them! I am the one who attacked you! I deserve it!”

Magneto stood, his body seeming to shake. All the strength he had been building up inside him, with the muscles and his energy, seemed gone. But he brought it back a moment later. The man who had been Erik, no matter what he called himself, disappeared once more.

“This is true, Xavier,” He threw his cape to the side, “but these X-Men are your charge. That girl learned from you. And they are all going to pay for what you’ve done!”

Magneto walked over to the wall, raised his hands. The energy was still his.

“Now, X-Men, I shall learn what I missed, and how long it has truly been.”

Cargill, Unuscione, Sven, and Harlen strode from the shadows. They knew what was to be done.

The methods were not Magneto’s favorites, but he had no other choice. The X-Men had seen most of what had gone on. So they began discovering what had happened, and they found it shocking.

Cortez had taken over Genosha…

Reed Richards disappeared…

Generation X was formed…

Legion went into the past and attacked Magneto, causing reality to falter…

Psylocke had been transformed by the Crimson Dawn…

But the worst was what happened to Xavier. After absorbing Magneto’s mind, he underwent a transformation and became Onslaught. He attacked New York, and caused the untimely ends of the Avengers and Fantastic Four. He then lost the ability to use his powers, and was taken into federal custody…to space, returning to face a trial. This story he knew…

He heard about Operation Zero Tolerance, and what Bastion did to the world…

He saw the X-Men face their computer come to life, Cerebro…

He saw the X-Men divide into two teams, just recently, and saw the troubles it had caused…

He let the Acolytes stop. He stopped using his magnetic energy to cause their minds to weaken, stopping them from using their methods on the X-Men.

He just sat there and stared…

Onslaught had apparently been what allowed Magneto to escape. That kept Xavier’s judgment altered, so he did not notice what was going on. The original breaches were Onslaught coming to the surfaces. He was amazed, since everything else made sense.

He waited for a bit, as the X-Men recovered. They looked at him, waiting to see what he would do. Then, he waited more…

Finally, he decided upon a course of action. He did not know how much time had elapsed. But here, in this part of his new base, he stared at the X-Men as the Acolytes gathered at his beck and call. He knew what had to be done.

“X-Men! You have attacked and betrayed! You have attacked and betrayed yourself! This is something I knew would come, but now, I know what must be done. You all have to face your history…”

Then, just as suddenly, something overcame his words. The speech stopped, and he turned, as did everyone else, at the sound of a cracking door. The thick metal tumbled inwards as the harsh Siberian winds tore into the base. The snow build-up outside could be seen as a figure stepped into the doorway.

And with a single sound, every X-Man’s hope was fulfilled, as were their fears…

With a single sound…

*SCHLUKT*

Six sharp, bone claws popped free. The hands that bore them tensed, the muscles clenched, as the figure gritted his teeth and spat out a cigar. The man just stood there. His hair whipping in the wind, his yellow costume touched by the frozen ice.

Wolverine stood in the doorway, staring at Magneto.

“Hey, bub… I’m back.”

NEXT ISSUE: It had to happen! The rematch of the century – Wolverine vs. Magneto! Also, Joseph’s origin revealed!