"Onslaught, don't do this! We can work it out, you and me! Onslaught, NO!"
But it was too late. Onslaught, the psionic entity that was created by hate, by anger and fear had already striked.
He no longer was dependent on Charles, but he knew that in one way or another, he was still connected to the Professor's mind. How much he /hated/ it that Charles seemed to stop him. Attempted to stop him.
But Onslaught was a complex creature. Maybe even too complex for the telepath.
The amount of air that Erik breathed became gradually lesser by every minute. Onslaught had trapped the metal bender with a few metal bars, one tightened around his neck.
Onslaught's power was too great that anyone could do anything against it. He prevented Erik from moving, from letting him use his powers against him.
But Erik was a fool anyway. So was Charles.
The telepath tried to stop Onslaught but the entity didn't let him in his head. Not again. NEVER again. Even his weak attempts couldn't convince Onslaught to let go of Erik's neck. Hell, if he went on like that, Erik would be dead anytime soon.
The air became thinner for Erik....
"I'm begging you, Onslaught! We can-- We can start new! You don't /have/ to do this!" Charles' voice was already hoarse from all the yelling. He wanted to save his friend, of course.
"ʏᴏᴜ ᴛᴏᴏᴋ ᴇᴠᴇʀʏᴛʜɪɴɢ ғʀᴏᴍ ᴍᴇ, ᴄʜᴀʀʟᴇs. ʏᴏᴜ ᴛᴏᴏᴋ ᴍʏ ғʀᴇᴇᴅᴏᴍ, ᴀɴᴅ ɴᴏᴡ ʏᴏᴜ ʜᴀᴠᴇ ᴛᴏ ᴘᴀʏ." Onslaught's voice was loud, and hearable from the whole world. His red eyes were filled with fire, a fire that was created by hate and rage for his creator's.
He knew if he killed Erik, Charles would be a broken man. Then he'd be able to take over the telepath's mind and rule over the humans and be a leader to the mutants.
A noble goal he had picked up from his 'father'.
The bar tightened and tightened, and the red eyes of the entity focused on Erik.
"ʏᴏᴜ ᴅɪᴅɴ'ᴛ sᴘᴀʀᴇ ᴍᴇ, ᴄʜᴀʀʟᴇs. ʏᴏᴜ ʟᴏᴄᴋᴇᴅ ᴍᴇ ᴀᴡᴀʏ ʟɪᴋᴇ ᴀɴ ᴀɴɪᴍᴀʟ ʙᴇᴄᴀᴜsᴇ ʏᴏᴜ /ᴛʜᴏᴜɢʜᴛ/ ɪᴛ ᴡᴀs ᴛʜᴇ ʀɪɢʜᴛ ᴡᴀʏ." Onslaught scoffed. "ʙᴇᴄᴀᴜsᴇ ɪᴛ ᴡᴏʀᴋᴇᴅ sᴏ ᴡᴇʟʟ ʟᴀsᴛ ᴛɪᴍᴇ. ʏᴏᴜ ᴄᴀɴɴᴏᴛ sᴛᴏᴘ ᴍᴇ. ʟᴇᴛ ᴛʜɪs ʙᴇ ᴀ ʟᴇssᴏɴ ᴛᴏ ʏᴏᴜ."
One could hear just a cracking.
Because Onslaught broke Erik's neck finally. He had tortured the metal bender enough. It was time to show MERCY.
And Onslaught's mercy was...different.
The body of the Master of Magnetism just hung there. Lifelessly. He was dead.
And Charles screamed. Screamed in pain and sadness. The loss of his friend right in front of his eyes made him attack Onslaught with all of his power.
He managed to freeze Onslaught, and forced him to let go of Erik. The body was released from the bars and dropped to the ground.
Tears streamed down Charles' cheeks as he hurried over to Erik, dropping to his knees right before he could reach him. "ERIK!!" He cried out as he pulled the body against his chest, rocking him slowly. "I'm so sorry, Erik...This is all my fault. If I had told you about-- About /him/, if I just got rid of him-- You wouldn't be....You wouldn't--" Charles squeezed his eyes shut as he was forced to look away, the tears not seeming to stop running down his cheeks. "I'm so sorry, old friend." His voice toned down only to a whisper as he made Erik's eyes closed.
A moment in silence, except of the sobbing that came from the telepath before it was the threat's turn.
Charles carefully placed Erik back down before he turned his head to gaze towards the frozen creature.
"We could have worked it out, Onslaught....Your pain, your anger and fear was also MINE. If you only let me..."
And with that, he forced Onslaught to sleep. For a very long time.
Charles jolted upwards with a loud gasp, his breathing being heavy.
A nightmare. It was just a nightmare. An illusion created by Onslaught.
"ᴍʏ ᴘʀᴇsᴇɴᴛ ᴛᴏ ʏᴏᴜ."
The entity was back into the darkest corner of the Professor's mind. He loved to play mind tricks like that. Why? As some sort of revenge that he was locked up in Charles's mind for so long. Now he had at least the opportunity to get closer to his goal. To...make sure that Charles was going to become crazy, to become that weak so that he agreed to let Onslaught take over.
Which was necessary, in the entity's opinion. Charles needed to be gone. And Onslaught was going to do anything to achieve this.
This led to another sleepless night for the Professor...