Chapter 1
Earth-2309, X-Mansion, Westchester, New York. The date is November 16th, 2026. The Master of Magnetism, Erik Lensherr, has been murdered by an unknown assailant. Mutants from all over the country have called a ceasefire and are meeting at the X-Mansion to discuss the murder.
The sun is shining, birds are singing, and all is calm at the famed X-Mansion estate in Westchester, New York. From the outside...
"Blasphemy!" yells Sebastian Shaw, throwing a book across the wood-paneled hall of the X-Mansion. "The Hellfire Club would never dream of murdering Magneto. That man did sacred things for our cause. He was a hero!"
"If it wasn’t you, then who was it, bub?" growls Wolverine from across the table, putting his legs up and lighting a cigar.
"Do not accuse my husband of lying, you animal!" shouts the White Queen, Emma Frost, coming to her husband's defense.
"Logan is right to be mistrusting of you and your organization, Frost," says Cyclops. "You’ve been trying to murder us for God knows how long." Wolverine nods to Cyclops, showing a rare sign of appreciation.
The four continue to argue, getting progressively louder until Storm, who had been silent until now, yells, "SILENCE!" as she simultaneously rises from her seat. The four immediately quiet down, clearly flustered by Storm’s sudden outburst. She speaks again, her voice commanding the room, slight flickers of lightning dancing around her fingers and eyes.
"I am aware that we were not all... entirely fond of Magneto. However, he did more for our cause than we will ever know, and we must take his death with the utmost seriousness. That means no pointless bickering. Understand?"
The group nods and murmurs scattered responses of agreement. Still visibly upset, Storm addresses the room again.
"Now, let us all do a small introduction, shall we? Let’s go around the table. I’ll begin. I am Storm, Mistress of the Elements and headmistress of Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters."
She receives scattered smiles from the group.
"Hiya, y’all. I’m Rogue.” Speaks a young women with brunette hair with a bright white peak, sitting next to Storm
A man with wild hair and red-on-black eyes sitting next to Rogue speaks with an intensely thick Cajun accent. "Bonjour, mes amis. Name’s Gambit.
This routine continues around the table until it circles back to Storm. She speaks, smiling now.
"Okay! So we have: Rogue, Gambit, Logan, Scott, Jean, Kitty, Colossus, Kurt, Psylocke, Archangel, Hank, Illyana, Raven, Bobby, Pyro, Jubilee, Forge, Emma, Sebastian, Fred, and Juggernaut." She pauses. "Is that everyone?" she asks, still smiling.
"Not quite," a deep, growling voice speaks from behind the group as a large, imposing figure enters the room. "Do I not get an invite?"
The group jumps to their feet.
"Apocalypse! How did you get in here? You... you died. We killed you—Erik and the Professor killed you back in the '80s in Egypt!" Storm yells, as Wolverine draws his claws, Gambit charges a card, and Cyclops activates his visor.
"Not strictly true," says Professor Charles Xavier, entering the room in his wheelchair. "When Erik, the First Class, and I killed Apocalypse in Egypt, his consciousness survived. Now, he is En Sabah Nur, and he is here as an ally."
A mixture of shock and outrage fills the room as the professor and Apocalypse are bombarded with questions and concerns.
"Charles, how could you do this? You know what that creature put us through, put you through!" shouts Jean Grey.
"Chér, why? Jus’ why? Dat man is pure evil!" yells Gambit.
Colossus joins in, "Сэр?! Как ты мог? Он существо обмана и лжи, и ему нельзя доверять!"
The room goes instantly silent, the group give each other confused looks and Colossus regains his composure before Charles speaks again.
"I am well aware that most, if not all of you, have no reason to trust En Sabah Nur, and I understand that. But trust me, we need all the help we can get if we want to find out who killed Erik."
The group falls silent again, each member contemplating the idea of working with one of the X-Men’s greatest enemies. Apocalypse speaks, his deep voice commanding the room.
"Your Professor is correct. Since my death in 1983, I have been alive in a realm known as Battleworld, fighting against other mutants and heroes in an endless cycle. However, your Professor took pity on me and saved me from that hell. For that, I will fight alongside him."
His speech forces each member to consider the possibility of an alliance with such a malevolent and dangerous being, each of them thinking the same thing. Eventually, the timid voice of Kitty Pryde breaks the silence.
"If the Professor trusts Apocalypse, I trust him."
Charles smiles at Kitty as Apocalypse summons a chair made of psychic energy, it glows a bright neon purple and crackles energy as Apocalypse puts his weight on it.
"Well then, proceed with your discussion," Apocalypse says with a disturbing smile as he glances at the photo of Magneto’s corpse in the center of the table.
Storm gives him a disapproving look before nodding to her husband, Forge, who displays the photo in a hologram above the table. Storm smiles briefly at Forge before turning the group’s attention to the horrifying image of Magneto’s mangled corpse. Kitty turns away and buries her face in Colossus's side, and he gently wraps his large, metallic arm around her.
"It’s okay, Kitty," Storm says softly.
After Kitty wipes away her tears and sits up straight, Storm continues, her voice somber.
"These images are disturbing and horrifying, but they must be addressed. If there is a human—or, even worse, a mutant—capable of killing Magneto, we must stop, or even destroy, them. And we must do so as a team. If someone is this powerful, we will all need to put aside our differences—and past murders—and join together to avenge Magneto. Are you in?"