Disclaimers on chapter 1

-*#*-

"Now this is the only way to fly!" Bobby commented as he leaned back in his chair as the SR78 Blackbird tore through the sky towards the location of the Isle of Genosha where the Professor was currently located after not been seen for over a year.

"You should consider yourself lucky that this prototype was made and stored in my family's private hanger, Ghiacciolo" Joshua commented from the pilot seat. "Otherwise, we may have had problemas trying to get to where we are going"

Kurt managed to beat down the grin that was trying to emerge on his face as observed Bobby trying to figure out what he had just been called. Returning to the matter at hand, the elf tried to figure out if what they were doing, sneaking into enemy territory, was the right thing.

Although Magneto seemed to be trying to change his ways since his old friend's disappearance, Kurt could not shake the feeling that there was an ulterior motive to this. And even if he was up to something sinister, surely it would be safer to try the polite way rather than go in guns blazing and demand that he return the Professor to them.

"What's with the gargoyle look?" Kitty asked as she swung her seat round so that she was facing Kurt.

"Just wondering if we are doing the right thing" Kurt replied sighing heavily.

"What do you mean?" Kitty then asked. Her curiosity aroused by her boyfriend's answer.

"I mean; how do we know Magneto won't just invite us in and take us to the Professor without a fight instead of what we are doing now?" Kurt elaborated keeping his voice low so that Logan would not hear him. "For all we know, he might have been looking after him then returning him to us once recovered"

Had Kitty's hair not been tied back, her eyebrows would have disappeared in her fringe at the blue elf's answer. She was not surprised by it though. Kurt always tried to leave fighting as a last resort, and when he did fight it was literally blink and you miss it. She did not know why he was like that but suspected it to be because he did not want to act like the monster he looked like; to those who did not know him at least.

A fun fact about her, Kurt and Bobby was that whenever somebody actually called Kurt a demon, Bobby would be the first to try and make them take it back with the others holding him back. It would then be the boys holding back Kitty when the person added words like heartless and cruel with the second verse; harder than it was considering her power. Never once had Kurt tried to hurt those that assaulted him, both verbally and physically, which was something Kitty admired about him; and, if she was honest to herself, jealous of.

For all we know, he could be waiting for us to do that then pounce when we let our guard down" Kitty pointed out.

"Maybe mein liebe" Kurt agreed half heartedly. "But that does not make this feeling of dread in my gut go away any quicker"

"Ten minutes, X-men! Get ready to move!" Logan called from the navigator's seat as the Blackbird made its final approach.

-*#*-

The Isle of Genosha was pretty much a cluster of buildings on what was once a desolate island many miles from the nearest coast. Using his power of manipulation over metals, Magneto sculptured practically the whole island city out of metals he had summoned from around the world in less than a week. It was fortunate that he had worked with Charles Xavier to create the original school otherwise he might not have been able to start construction in the first place.

Upon the roof of the tallest of the metal structures, obviously the creator's own dwellings, the sound of an aircraft landing and shutting down its engines could be heard. But where was the jet that made those sounds?

Suddenly appearing in mid air and dropping onto the roof then sinking effortlessly through it, Shadowcat quickly scanned her surroundings before radioing the all clear up to the rest of the team aboard the stealth shrouded blackbird. Within minutes the rest of the team was appearing before her in groups as Nightcrawler teleported them inside.

"Impressive decor, or lack thereof" Tigerhawk commented as he gazed at the barren hallway they were in.

"Activate your comms and split up" Wolverine ordered them. "Radio in the moment you locate Charles"

With that, the X-men set off down different corridors and hallways using their own unique methods of searching for the Professor. Tigerhawk sprang nimbly from door to door quickly peeking inside before closing it and moving on to the next; Shadowcat ran through both rooms and corridors whilst making sure no one saw her; Iceman seemed to just wander the hallways aimlessly but kept his guard up all the same; Frost used her telepathy to search corridors within seconds but kept finding no further clue to where the Professor might be; Cyclops disregarded all orders and just blasted every door he saw off its hinges, glancing inside before shooting off the next one.

As for Nightcrawler, he was using a more methodical approach. He knew that Magneto and Xavier were still friends despite being enemies so it would only be fitting to find his mentor in a more warm looking room. Upon detecting a faint fragrance, Nightcrawler followed his nose to one door in particular. Opening the door a crack to see into the room, he quickly teleported inside only to discover that, despite the more decorated walls and bed, he was in the wrong room.

"At least this room's more colourful than the rest of his abode" He chuckled to himself as he made to leave only to find someone blocking his way. "Oh nein"

~#~

Keeping his guard up as he wandered through the metallic hallways, Wolverine prowled about like a predator searching for its unsuspecting prey. Reaching a pair of metal double doors, Wolverine barely had time to register that his body was no longer under his control before finding himself flying through said doors then sinking into the floor to the room below where a familiar face garbed in red and purple was apparently waiting for him.

"Hello, Wolverine" He said casually before pining the X-man to the wall with a flick of his wrist. "Coming to fight me, knowing I can manipulate any metal, is rather foolish; especially if your skeleton is made of metal"

The wall to Magneto's right suddenly exploded before Cyclops, Iceman and Tigerhawk walked through the still smoking hole. Yet despite being outnumbered, Magneto was unperturbed as if he was used to this tactic.

"Ah, the rest of your cavalry" He noted just as casually making a wall of metal appear in front of him as Cyclops tried to optics blast him.

With just a simple thought, the wall of metal sped towards Cyclops. Despite avoiding the wall a first time, Cyclops was unaware of it coming round for another pass and pin him to the far wall. Another band of metal wrapped round his free arm before he could reach the release trigger on his visor for another shot.

Tigerhawk was the next to tackle the metal master. Using his speed, the Native American feinted a blow to Magneto's chest before striking from behind then the right then the left. Each blow made solid contact with a separate plate of metal Magneto barely managed to put in between him and his opponent. Shaking his hands to try and alleviate the pain, Tigerhawk suddenly found himself wrapped in a sheet of metal before being attached to the wall beside Cyclops.

Smirking at his three captives, Magneto failed to notice Iceman until the mutant not only froze his back but also cleaved his helmet in two. Starting to feel irritated, Magneto disrupted the teen's ice slide by spiking it in several places, causing Iceman to fall to the floor where he was wrapped and stuck to the wall with his fellow X-men.

It was then that Shadowcat emerged from the ceiling with Beast and Frost the latter immediately attempting to subdue Magneto with telepathy now that his helmet, which somehow blocked telepaths and allowed him to hide from Cerebro, had been removed. Despite the mental assault, Magneto still managed to find the strength to send Wolverine into both Frost and Beast and pinning all three to the wall missing Shadowcat only because of her power.

Clearly knowing the fact that she could be practically untouchable, Shadowcat attempted to take on Magneto herself only to stop when a plate of metal floated harmlessly up from the floor.

"You might want to hold on to that" Magneto advised before making the floor around Shadowcat crumble away forcing the girl to grab hold of the floating plate before she fell god knows how many feet to the ground below.

Seven X-men taken down in as half as many minutes, it was clearly obvious why Magneto was considered the X-men's arch-nemesis. Before Magneto could begin coaxing possibly an apology out of Wolverine, reddish clouds suddenly existed where his captives once were. Turning round, Magneto saw his former captives now standing behind a frowning Nightcrawler.

"I was beginning to wonder if you were going to show up" Magneto commented as he faced the elf. "And how, pray tell, are you going to come at me?"

"By trying the easy way seeing as someone" Nightcrawler glared over his shoulder at Wolverine. "Decided to just do it the hard way. Cerebro discovered the Professor's location on your island. If he is here, may we see him?"

No sooner had the words left the elf's lips did a metal spear form and rise up so that it was resting just under his chin. Yet Nightcrawler stood his ground despite starting to sweat at what may happen to him if he was wrong which seemed to be coming more probable by the second.

"You lot come invading my own island, attack me then you have the nerve to ask what you could have said over a simple transmission and expect me to just say 'yes'?" Magneto asked casually yet cold at the same time.

"Well, it does sound foolish now that you mention it" Nightcrawler agreed actually managing to grin despite the seriousness and even chuckled slightly. "But we have been off duty for a year and become somewhat rusty during the time"

"Quite" Magneto noted but not removing the spear from underneath Nightcrawler's chin.

Shadowcat was about to dash forward and phase Nightcrawler before the elf found himself becoming a fuzzy lollipop, but someone beat him to it. Suddenly appearing through a side door, a girl with shoulder length brown hair and clad from head to high heeled toe in red made a beeline for Nightcrawler and wrapped her arms round one of his as she looked pleadingly at Magneto.

"He speaks the truth, father" she said to him. "They only came here to find the Professor. They never meant any harm"

"I see you have met my daughter, Wanda" Magneto said sounding slightly surprised at the sudden turn of events.

"Ja, we kind of bumped into one another" Nightcrawler replied neglecting to mention that he had inadvertently entered the girl's room mistaking it for where the Professor might have been held captive. "She was kind enough to point me in the direction of your throne room. Lucky for me, Ja?""

"Indeed" Magneto agreed as he finally removed the spear from underneath Nightcrawler's chin drawing a sigh of relief from him. "I am glad to see that at least one of Charles' children thinks more like him. Had you just asked, or even better use the front door, I would have been happy to oblige"

Swiftly walking away, Magneto guided them towards the room where he was keeping the Professor. Throughout the entire trip, Kitty glared at the girl Magneto called Wanda's back as she was still clinging to her Kurt's arm.

"He appeared on the shore of my island one week ago" Magneto explained as he opened a pair of double doors allowing the X-men to see the Professor apparently slumbering peacefully in bed with a drip attached to one arm. "He has not woken yet since coming here"

Quickly reaching his side, Emma placed one hand on the comatose Professor's forehead only withdraw it when discovering she could sense no brain activity at all.

"Would you be so kind as to allow us to bring him home with us?" Kurt asked Magneto quietly. "We'll inform you the moment we discover a change in his condition, if you wish"

"I suppose it would be for the best" Magneto conceded feeling contempt at what Kurt had provided in return. "But the offer to stay here will always be open to you and your team"

"Why not stay here?" Wanda pressed as she tightened her grip on Kurt's arm not noticing the elf's face show a brief flash of panic before schooling it. "You'll be able to walk about more freely without fearing people running away from you for a start"

"I'm sorry!" Kitty suddenly butted in phasing between the two and causing Wanda to let go of Kurt out of shock and surprise. "But I'm afraid Kurt has so much to do back at the mansion; telling off Logan for his brash actions, locating fellow X-men. Try again in your next life!"

Before Wanda could get another word in, Kitty had taken Kurt by the hand and was guiding out of the room.

"The unguis are out" Joshua muttered to Bobby.

"And I didn't bring any popcorn" Bobby muttered back.

~#~

"So, what now?" Bobby asked sounding lost.

The team had returned to the mansion and were currently surrounding the capsule the Professor's body was now housed in.

"To be honest, I thought everything would turn out better once we had found the Professor" Kurt admitted unsure as to what to do next himself.

"We can still search for former X-men and help those who once lived here" Joshua offered from where he was sitting Indian style on the floor. "Wouldn't that be what the Professor would have wanted?"

Before anyone could answer the Native American's question, what could only be described as someone whispering echoes through the hallowed room they were in. Asides Emma and Joshua, to the rest of the X-men the voice could clearly be recognised as Charles Xavier's. Yet if he was lying before them practically brain dead, then how was he speaking to them?

The next second, a mental image of the Professor's face was seen above the capsule where the man's body was resting in.

"Charles, is that really you?" Logan asked not believing what he was seeing.

'Yes, Logan' Xavier replied his voice sounding like it was echoing in a vast empty space.

"What happened? Who did this to you?"

'I wish I knew' The Professor replied sadly. 'I remember nothing'

Most of the X-men felt their hopes fade. If the Professor could not remember, then how could they possibly bring him back?

"Charles, there was an unknown explosion at the institute" Hank explained to his astral friend and colleague. "You went missing, and Jean still is"

Despite hearing this, Xavier pressed on as if only appearing to tell them of something.

'My X-men, time is of the essence. I come to you with an urgent message' he said.

"Scusi, Professore" Joshua politely interrupted. "I do not wish to be rude but, you make it sound as if you are talking to us from..."

'The future' The Professor finished for him. 'The coma you see me in now will last for twenty years. I have only just awoken and the world I have seen is a nightmare'

The next second, the X-men gasped as the Professor showed them what it was like twenty years from now. The sky was burned a blood red from the many fires that littered the broken ground; buildings were falling apart; not a single person could be seen on the ruined city streets; towering metal robots that were searching for something or someone. In short, the future looked like a war zone.

"Sacre bleu" Joshua muttered in disbelief.

"How did this happen?" Kurt asked weakly vaguely noting Kitty was clutching his arm as she trembled at the sight before her.

'Because of the X-men' Xavier told them sadly. 'In the aftermath of defeat, you walked away allowing the world to become like this. Only together, as a team, do you have any chance of changing the future'

Xavier suddenly looked round as if something was happening wherever, or rather whenever, he was. 'I must go now, but I shall try to contact you again'

With that the image of Xavier faded away leaving the X-men alone in the room with only the sounds of the life support machines permeating the silence.

"Guess that clinches it, huh?" Bobby asked the team in general.

"Yeah" Logan replied slowly before shaking out of his stupor and gazing at the rest of them and noticing Kurt was staring at the ground. "What's eating you, Kurt?"

"I was the one who decided to disband the team" Kurt whispered weakly suddenly collapsing to his knees. "I'm the one who's resp-"

"Don't you dare finish that sentence!" Kitty interrupted loudly forcing the elf to look at her. "You didn't know at the time and you had no other choice"

"Yeah c'mon, Kurt, it was actually whoever who made the explosion that's responsible for what's supposed to happen" Bobby put in. "Think about it, if it weren't for you, we could all be stuck in chrome dome's dungeon"

Kurt knew what they were saying was true but it still did not remove the doubt that had wormed its way back into his heart and began eating away at his confidence.

"The world needs the X-men, Kurt" Logan said as he stood in front of the elf and offered his hand. "And the X-men need you"

Kurt looked around at the team. It was obvious that they would not be here right now if it was not for him, even before the mission to Genosha. Fighting off the doubt that was knowing away at him, Kurt clasped hold of Logan's hand and allowed himself to be pulled up by the older man.

"Looks like the X-men are back for good" He declared causing grins and smiles to appear all round.

-*#*-

To Be Continued

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ghiacciolo = icicle

Unguis = claws

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The reason I'm doing this is because I've got too many fics to update at once & I don't want to rush any of them. There will be a sequel continuing the story eventually but until then-

Review if possible

Peace out & apologies!