PROLOGUE

Once upon a time there was a man named Charles Xavier.

Xavier was a great man, full of ideals that were matched only by the intellect he possessed and used. He was a leader, a fighter, a gatherer of men. He knew the easy path and did not take it for if something is worth having it is worth doing right and to do that means it has to be difficult, for such a thing must be earned. His job was not made easier because he had the gift of telepathy at unimaginable levels and was therefore what is commonly called a mutant.

And that was the core of his ideals - that just because he and many like him were different, it did not mean they should not be accepted in to the rank and file of a burgeoning humanity.

However Xavier was not a fool, and he knew that there were people like him who did not share the same morality to these ideals. He knew that there was indeed a man who would stop at nothing to gain what he wanted and he knew that he had to oppose him, otherwise the wedge between homo-sapiens and homo-sapiens superior would never be bridged. The prime threat was a man called Magnus, known later as Magneto.

Xavier knew that to do this he would need more resources and he created a school, to teach and train mutants so that they could use their powers to benefit the world, and not threaten it. To show people that with great power such as they had, they could still be as normal as the next man. However he also taught that with these powers came a responsibility to look after humanity from threats they could not hope to comprehend and these people became known as the X-Men.

The dream that one race could live together without prejudice and segregation was one shared by many, as was the opposing view that one race should subjugate the other before they subjugated them. Xavier's followers grew, as did Magneto's and soon the former friends were mortal enemies and the lines were drawn. They fought often, and sometime allied together against a common foe, but in the end their ideals prevented their unity.

I have often wondered what would happen if the two forces came together? Could they truly achieve what was supposed to be an impossible task? If Magnus and Xavier had worked together, sharing the same views as each other and seeing the inherent strengths and weaknesses in each side how different would the world have been?

The answer was something nobody could have predicted, for while everyone looked at the positive side of the union, nobody stopped to consider the negative, for Xavier was forced to become more militant in his approach, while Magneto was forced to become more totalitarian in his and the gap between them grew ever wider.

Magnus was a man filled with doubt and recrimination for lost family and family lost, with hatred against the ignorance of humanity at large and a desire for the fighting to end coupled with a passion to fight for his people. For a while Magnus saw the man he could have been and he knew he could not be that man now and it drove him to seclusion. If not for the actions of his fellow mutants he would not have returned to his former goals with one end - to rule, to control and thereby save the world.

Xavier was a man filled with regret over lost love, of the people who followed and died for his dream, taking each failure personally. He had lost his legs, the people he loved and he could see his dream slipping away, moment by moment due in part to a intolerant humanity and also due to the minority of mutants who used their powers for brutality, a brutality that even his X-Men could not stop for their resources were finite and he knew he could stop it all with his great power, but then he would be no better than those he opposed.

Each man was pushed to the edge and a wounded and hounded Magnus who was trying to save his people lashed out at the X-Man called Wolverine and used his magnetic powers to remove the metal called adamantium from Wolverine's skeleton, and almost killed him. Xavier had seen too many die because he had not acted and he lashed out with his power and took away Magnus's mind. 

However to take means to keep and Xavier took it all, the good and evil both and kept it within himself. This one act cost Xavier dearly and created the greatest threat to humanity he had ever known - himself. 

The darkness within each man meshed and outweighed the good. Xavier had long struggled with his powers for control lest his negative side escape and twice it had almost defeated him. Added to its power was the power of Magnus and it created a new entity called Onslaught. Onslaught took retribution on those who had hounded him, he tested his X-Men, the people of the planet and then revealed himself.

The devastation he wreaked on the planet was immense and it took the combined powers of the X-Men, the Avengers and the Fantastic Four to separate Xavier from the psionic creature he had created. Even then it took everything they had to stop Onslaught  and then at the cost of the non-mutant heroes for a year. They should have died but they were saved by the reality warping powers of Franklin Richards, and his actions not only saved the heroes but preserved the aspect of Onslaught as well.

I know because I watched him from another reality, lay in host of the man called David Bruce Banner, and when the heroes returned Onslaught was gone. I had thought him trapped in the other reality, somehow, lost forever. I was wrong, for he survived and used the knowledge of Xavier and Magnus to prepare for his return. Research done at Xavier School for Gifted Youngsters as well as details gathered from the many years of working with and for the various law enforcement agencies ensured he would know where to go, where Onslaught could gain a host body. 

The alien race known as the Gnobians had committed suicide many years ago, but Onslaught did not need a living specimen, just a body to host himself as his powers grew and he watched, waited as his strength grew and prepared. As he did so, he gathered an army of empathic warriors, who were gifted their powers from the properties of a local spring, a  theory put to Xavier years ago but never proven.

While he did this, he used the alien technology his host body knew of to try and pinpoint the possibilities of using the x-gene that gave mutants their abilities and the scientific skill of an age to gift powers to the powerless. The part of him that was Magneto ensured that he would be a ruthless and efficient leader. In this way he could build a world of Infinites, and the dreams of Xavier and Magnus would be fulfilled. However, Onslaught was not prepared for the resistance he has met and has been forced to play his hand too soon, and has been met by his greatest challenge yet - The Shadow King.

Onslaught is a being of destiny, and my role was once to herald the beings of destiny and ensure that the Path was sacred. I used the Champion of the Path to face the first herald of Onslaught, along with his comrades in arms for Onslaught used me at the time. Through his powers he had learnt of me and I could not openly resist. I had thought I had done enough once before to beat him, exposing him and his secrets. I thought I had secured the fate of the world and ensured that Onslaught was no more. The price would have been high, but it would have been worth it.

Now I may have created something even worse. My name is Gateway and I have failed.


Excalibur #9 - Last Rites - Death in Greece, Finale


Colonel George Washington Bridge ran through the corridors of the mountain complex, shooting anyone who got in his way. He wasn't in the mood to argue.

He'd been out of contact with his team for a while now and there was a gnawing in his gut as to what was happening. The Darkforce barrier was raging out of control, with gaps appearing and the barrier altering in size every moment. It didn't bode well for Darkstar, and in turn for Sabra who was with her. He hoped Tsunami was able to handle whatever was going on and help the two women.

Inside the complex was something else. He only had a few active operatives in there and even with the X-Force people they were outnumbered, which meant he got them and they got out before it all went to hell. Fury was confronting the Supreme Commando, as he had done once long ago. Bridge had to admire the all or nothing gambit his boss was taking and as he moved through the place he remembered similar times, long ago, when he worked with Cable on his Six Pack squad.

He just hoped it didn't all go as badly wrong now as it had done then. 

The commando's were surprised to see him as he moved through them, thanks to the psionic blockers designed by SHIELD and it gave him the edge he needed. Plus they weren't as focused as a fighting unit which meant that they didn't have anyone giving them orders from on high, so Bridge figured that Fury was doing what he could to help. Bridge knew the basic layout from his time here as Armory so he had a vague idea of where he was going.

If he had any doubts, they were dispelled by the sounds of gunfire and the fact his head was hurting. A sonic attack if he were any judge, which meant that Teresa Rourke of X-Force still had her powers. She didn't have the skill of her father Banshee, but he'd been doing it much longer than she had and he knew that she had potential.

"Hang on, people, the cavalry's comin'!"


"Aw, crap," said John Walker as he fired his gun one last time and he turned to Maverick. "I'm out."

"We knew it was coming, Agent," said Maverick. "We're low on shots as well. Jack, what about you?"

"The energy packs are almost exhausted, Lieutenant," replied Rock. "Siryn's keeping them back for now, but we're going to have to get up close soon enough."

"Kitty?" asked Maverick. She was nowhere near her best after only just surviving the explosion earlier, but she was in there with them to the end.

"Guess we're going to have to go for it, Mav," she said. "For what it's worth, it's been good knowing you."

"Likewise," said Maverick. "I just hope Logan's not too busy to come down here and enact some vengeance on our behalf." Kitty chuckled and looked at him, and he looked back. "Let's do thi..." There was a small explosion above them and a piece of glass hit his left cheek. "What the hell?"

"A light just exploded," said Kitty. Then there was another. "You noticed how warm it is in here?"

"I thought it was because we were working hard," said USAgent.

"Savitar," said Rock. "He's heating it up in here."

"The filaments overheat, the lights explode, we get our powers back," said Maverick. He'd wanted to shoot them earlier but they'd not had chance. "Jack, you and Terry... Jesus, I'm an idiot!"

"You confessing your sins?" asked USAgent.

"Not yet," said North. "TERRY!"

"Yes?" said Siryn breaking off her attack.

"Use your powers and break the lights in this place, I want my fucking powers back."

"Excuse me," said Agent. "Without lights, we're blind."

"With them, we're certainly dead," said Maverick, not mentioning the fact that his face mask had various visual modes to it, one of which was night-vision. "Besides we're all trained fighters. Working in near dark shouldn't be a problem. Especially with the tools we have." He referred to Kitty's skills as a ninja, Siryn's sonic powers acting as a radar, Agent's energy shield and he didn't doubt for a moment that Union Jack had a light source of some sort. That left Hauptmann, but he was out there battering as many people as he could find. "Do it, Terry." 

Siryn complied and unleashed her voice, screaming long and hard shattering everything glass in the immediate area and in a moment the lights went out and she surged outside, covered by Rock and ensured the lights out there were taken out as well. It was a good job they'd been weakened by the rising temperature otherwise

"Right," said Maverick, ensuring his mask was on and not been affected by Siryn's scream. He could see in the dark well enough, plus his fists were starting to glow with the stored kinetic energy just waiting to be released which also gave the area some light. "Ladies and gentlemen, light 'em up." USAgent activated his energy shield, Rock pulled an energy blade from his belt, Hauptmann cracked his knuckles and Shadowcat prepared herself for the fight, shifting to her intangible state. "DEATH OR GLORY!"

And the heroes raced to join the awaiting throng.



On the astral plane, two figures of immense psionic power faced off against each other.

"You were a fool to challenge me, Farouk."

"You were a fool to come back, Onslaught."

The Shadow King stared down his opponent, the mental symbiosis of Charles Xavier and Magento, that thanks to Xavier's powers, had gained a sentience of it's own. He had once heard a rumour that every telepath had a dark side, a force of negativity within them that allowed them t use their power and act in ways their waking selves would never contemplate. It was certainly true in the case of Xavier, for he had always had a dark side within him, waiting to be set free.

Farouk had seen it in their first conflict and that was why he had allowed Xavier to believe he was beaten. He had not been ready to confront that force. Now he was.

Onslaught, though, was not the being he had once been. His vast power had been unleashed when the heroes of the world had destroyed his physical form allowing him to become pure psionic energy. The heroes had then absorbed that energy and let the X-Men attack them.

The heroes had survived, as had Onslaught but he was not as powerful as he had been, otherwise the world would have known about him long before now. The Shadow King knew this problem, well, for he had been forced to rebuild as well, for he too had no host body to call his own and ensure that his power was housed and could not be stolen. Onslaught had worked hard to gain an army and his control over his people was great and it had allowed them to make incredible advances in Greece, but he had been forced to recall all his power for this fight.

As had the Shadow King.

The odds were even and it would be a battle of psionic skill that determined who won this, and Farouk smiled as they both manifested psionic armour around themselves. The armour of Onslaught was a version of his own, incorporating the basic design of Magneto's body armour.

"That's the problem with you, Charles. You never were very original in your visions."

"Don't call me Charles. Xavier is dead. Only Onslaught remains."

"Don't forget Magnus," said the Shadow King and the two psionic beings grappled with each other, wrestling across the astral plane, sending out shockwaves and tremors that could be felt by anyone and everyone with even the slightest psychic awareness and the psionic firmament shook.



Sabra felt blow after blow after blow after blow smashing down on her and at first she had tried to defend herself, to fight back, but there were too many of them and they were beating on her one after the other. She had tried to get up but her legs had refused to respond to her and she had fallen back on to the floor and given the mob an easy target.

It didn't help that her body was limp from the blow to the back of her head earlier, and her great strength seemed to have deserted her. She had other skills, but she couldn't get the concentration together to make use of it. She couldn't get it together and the boots hit her, fists smashed her, hands held her down touching her, feeling her, humiliating her and she couldn't fight back. She had fought many enemies over the years, and her powers had always helped her, but she had come to learn that it was not enough.

She felt small comfort in the fact they didn't want to take advantage of her weakened state like lesser, baser men might - they just wanted to hit her over and over again. She was bleeding and could taste the salt in her mouth. Her legs gave her stabbing pains and it hurt to breathe and she realised they had broken bones and the blows just kept on coming. She should have died before now from the attacks, but her powers had staved off death and were prolonging it.

They were going to keep beating her, kicking her until she eventually died.

The pain started to fade in the lower half of her body and she no longer felt the punches and kicks, though she could see them attacking through glazed eyes and she knew she was not far from death. She closed her eyes, pushed past the pain and started to mutter a small prayer to God, asking Him to forgive her for what she had done in her lifetime and took some comfort from knowing she would soon see Darkstar again.

A kick landed on her jaw, the boot shattering her lower face and as she slipped in to unconsciousness, she felt something soothing flow over her.



"LEAVE HER ALONE!" shouted Tsunami, who arrived on the scene of the savage beating, riding the crest of a wave and her anger erupted as the waters of the harbour lifted up in the form of a giant fist and swept in to the Commando's picking them up and dragging them back in to the waters, where Leyu ensured they would not surface.

She looked around for Darkstar and she was nowhere to be seen and it was as if she had simply disappeared and she dropped down to where Sabra was lying on the floor. Her body was broken and bruised, and she was breathing only lightly, and they had made one hell of a mess of her. It was not a pretty sight in any case, and while Leyu had not especially liked the woman, she was still someone on the team and in other circumstances this could have been her.

Her mind went back to the news she had received about her cousin, Mariko. Leyu had been at a private school in the mountains of Switzerland and had heard of the savage beating she had received at the hands of her husband, and the other battles she had been involved in against the Yakuza, the Hand and others. It had cost Mariko her life and Leyu had lost someone who had been like a sister to her. She'd blamed herself for not being there, that her powers could have made a difference, but her brother had pointed out that he had been there, Wolverine had been there, Gambit of the X-Men had been there, the Silver Samurai had been there and one more person would not have made a difference.

He had been right - what difference could she make? She was sent to Switzerland because she had never been needed and when she was needed she was too late.

"Not again," she said, looking at Sabra and wondering what the hell she could do. She was no medic and she knew that moving her was not something to be done lightly.

"I can help, Leyu," said a voice almost a whisper on the breeze and Tsunami turned to see who was there. Nobody. Was she hearing things?

"Leyu," said the voice again, stronger in tone and pitch with a faint trace of a Russian accent.

"Darkstar," said Leyu, standing and looking around, but she wasn't there. Something was not right here. "Where are you?"

"Right here," replied Darkstar and Leyu felt a hand on her shoulder, but there was nobody there.

"What happened to you?"

"I've become one with the darkforce," said Darkstar, a taint of fear in her voice at the potential of that comment. "I'm trying to control it, but it's a vast universe of power and I'm only able to give myself a partial physical presence just yet."

"We must help her," said Leyu, gesturing to the stricken Sabra.

"I know," said Darkstar, a strain entering in to her voice as a darkforce sphere surrounded Sabra and lifted her in to the sky. "I must... focus..." said Darkstar, "and get... her to safety..."

"What do I do?" asked Leyu, wanting to do something to avenge Sabra and maybe finally make a proper difference in the great scheme of things. "Give me something to do."

"Get our people out of here," said Darkstar. "I've lost... control of the barrier... and it will crush everything... within it very soon." Leyu's eyes went wide. This wasn't what she had expected to hear.

"I'm on it," said the young Asian woman and headed back where she had come from. They were running out of time.



Back inside the mountain complex, the Death's Head Commando's were clutching their heads in pain and were in complete disarray as the effects of the battle between Onslaught and the Shadow King struck them, as if they were being hit by hammers in the centre of their minds.

The assembled heroes took the opportunity with relish and struck hard and faced, striking wounding and killing where necessary to stop the enemy from overwhelming them. Maverick enjoyed cutting loose with his kinetic blasts, felling his enemies left and right, while the others were getting up close and personal with the Commando's. They were hardly fighting back and Maverick didn't know why and he didn't care.

Someone was looking after them and that was good enough for him.

Shadowcat struck hard and fast, maintaining her ethereal state long enough to avoid the enemy and stray fire, but becoming solid and ensuring that the training she had been given as an X-Man, as a student of Ogun and Logan, as well as by SHIELD was put to good use. She was amazing to watch in action and it was hard to believe she was as young as she was. Maverick had known veterans with less skill than this young woman and he could see why Wisdom had loved her so.

USAgent was different in style but no less effective. He was a fighter, a brawler who got the job done. He used the energy shield as a weapon, more a club than a projectile as Captain America would have done. There was a brutality to what he did that he seemed to enjoy and Maverick had to admit he was good at what he did, though a bit more discipline might help. Unlike the Union Jack.

He was acrobatic, graceful and swift. He floated like a bird and stung like a bee, and there was definite training there. He placed his punches, his jabs and only used the knife if he had to. Whoever had taught him, they'd taught him well and Maverick would like to meet the person behind the new Union Jack, because he suspected he'd have quite an ally there. 

Hauptmann was also a joy to watch. There was a man who was confident in not only himself but the people he worked with and it was something you learnt from birth. Maverick would never admit it to anyone else, but he did feel lonely in his exile from Germany, but he knew that he couldn't go back there. His crimes had been severe and he had been punished for them. He hadn't remembered them at first, but he knew now and it shamed him. Germany could have such a group of heroes if they let themselves. Himself, Hauptmann, Nightcrawler... He sighed and got on with his job, thinking it was easy to reminisce when all of a sudden this had become too easy.

Then he saw someone coming from the other side, shooting at the enemy as well.

"Who the hell?" he muttered and fired a shot in that direction, ensuring he'd miss whomever was over there, but lighting it up so he could see a face. "Bridge?"

"There's no damn lights here!" shouted the Colonel. "Good job these idiots have lost the plot, 'cause I can't see a thing!"

"Nice to see you getting your hands dirty at last, Bridge!" called USAgent. "No more hiding behind a suit of armour?"

"Screw you," said Bridge. "We're getting out of here!"

"What's happening?" asked Maverick.

"Damned if I know," said Bridge. "The darkforce barriers raging out of control, Fury's gone for the Supreme Commando and we're leaving!"

"Works for me," said USAgent.

"Hellios!" said Union Jack. "He's back that way!"

"I'll get him," said Bridge. "You guys just get the hell out. That's an order."

"Yes, sir," said North. "Let's move, people!"



The United Nations building was in an uproar, and the Security Council were meeting to discuss what was happening to the planet, as world events spiralled out of control.

The alien invasion of the North America was underway and there was a terrible transformation effect on the people there. Even the President of the USA had succumbed to it and the alien Mig-Na'cha had a foothold on the planet. The Avengers, Thunderbolts and other heroes were fighting them, but there was little they could do.

In Greece, the war with the Death's Head Commando's was slowly being won, according to the reports. The Commando's were being routed on the Greek mainland by the SHIELD troops who had worked diligently and effortlessly to keep the terrorist armies at bay. There had been significant casualties on both sides and the island of Kalymnos looked as if it were about to be destroyed as well.

Speaking of SHIELD reports, there were also indications that another invading force had appeared from another dimension in the middle of Times Square, one of the last places to be free of the Mig-Na'cha infection. The Secretary General watched from his private viewing booth above the Security Council, and chuckled, wondering how the people of this other dimension would react on meeting a city with aliens surrounding it. 

"What an interesting world this has become," he said, musing over the papers and reports on his desk.

Mutant terrorists were still running riot across the world, global violence was on the rise especially in terms of metahuman activity and there was fear, hatred and insecurity across the planet. Plus the Secretary General had his own reports that he was not inclined to share about the battle between the league of assassins called the Hand and a demon-inspired army over the fate of the Destroyer. 

However, he was unconcerned about that, as he was unconcerned about the battle between the Shadow King and Onslaught, or the machinations of En Sabah Nur. It was all working towards the greater goal and the rising was set to occur.

The Secretary General laughed at his private joke, and then reviewed the file on the man who would be the next Director of SHIELD. It was a good choice and one he knew he would be able to count on to do exactly what he wanted him to do. Let the crises burn themselves out as they would - in the end, this planet would be his and such matters would never occur again.



Tsunami found Savitar by the fallen from of Marcus Raven, who's ears were bleeding and psionic energy was coming from his eyes like a river, cascading around him.

"What's happening?" asked Tsunami.

"He cried out, clutching his head," said Neal as he looked at her. "It's as if there's something melting his brain or something..." He shook his head in disbelief. "I don't understand what's going on."

"War... in heaven..." muttered Raven.

"What did he say?" asked Tsunami.

"He keeps muttering it every now and then. It sounds like 'war in heaven' but I have no idea what that means."

"A battle between gods perhaps?" said Tsunami. "It's either that or he's delirious."

"What happened?" asked Neal, realising that she shouldn't be here. "You got sent to help the others?"

"Too late," said Leyu and explained what had happened and how they were all going to die if they didn't get out of there very soon. Neal looked up and he could see the darkforce barrier was touching the tops of the mountains.

"We have to get them out of there," said Neal and closed his eyes, thinking of what Jim Hammond had taught him over the last few months and he focused his powers in to one tight beam of energy and punched a hole through the mountain. Leyu followed his lead, by manifesting water to cool the molten rock and steam filled the air. Then Neal fell to his knees and gasped for air. That had taken a lot out of him and he wasn't used to using his powers like that.

"Go," he said, waving Tsunami on. "Point them the way out." She nodded and went to get them, a voice in her head telling her that they'd listen to her in the future once she'd saved their lives. Nobody would dismiss her opinions again.



The battle of psionic strength had elevated from a physical battle of avatars to a battle of psionic power and the application of it's use, something that could only be limited by the imagination and will of the beings who battled, and with the mighty reputations of the Shadow King and Onslaught, the clash of titans lived up to its name as the duel continued.

Psionic bolt after psionic bolt slammed in to Farouk as Onslaught unleashed a barrage of power, drawing on the resources of the astral plane, but the Shadow King, took the bolts and drew them in to himself, growing in energy and stature. 

"My powers have grown since last you saw them, Xavier," said Farouk and he threw the energy that he had gained back at Onslaught, hitting him square in the chest and burning through him. Onslaught cried out in anguish at being abused so and on the material plane the body of the Supreme Commando blackened and scorched, as Fury's had become bruised and battered from the barrage. Neither entities cared about their hosts and they could easily find another, for both of them had cheated death and proven that they did not need them to survive. 

"An admirable ploy," said Onslaught, drawing on his own vast reserves and matching the size and scope of the Shadow King, "but I have capabilities you cannot hope to match." 

"Do not delude yourself, Xavier." Onslaught's avatar darkened at that mention and Farouk felt a distinct shift in the creature's psionic aura. Something was not right.

"I have toyed with you long enough and you are now starting to annoy me." Onslaught's voice echoed around the Shadow King in a way it had not previously done, and Onslaught waved his hand and tore a gash through the astral plane, exposing it to the real world below. "I am a part of both realms, psionic and magnetic, a part of each firmament, separate and joined." Farouk felt himself being pulled, torn from the astral plane and forced to exist on both planes as once. 

"This is not possible," said the Shadow King, struggling against the power of Onslaught, fighting to remain in one place at once, for he did not have the power or experience of fighting on two realms as his opponent did and he would not stand a chance against him if the fight was taken to Onslaught's arena..

"Yet it is happening," laughed Onslaught, delighting in the advantage he had finally gained over the Shadow King. "You cannot hope to best me, for I am as far above you as you are above him." He gestured to Fury. 

"I will not permit this," said Farouk and anchored himself in the astral plane, holding firm as the twin forces of nature assaulted him. He looked Onslaught in the eye. "You will not do this."

"You cannot hope to prevent it," replied the entity and unleashed another psionic barrage against his enemy. "Behold my mighty hand!"


Niko Hrisalis awoke and looked up. It was dark, and the smell of burnt flesh and charred metal were in the air. There were also the sounds of battle outside and he tried to stand, before remembering he was in very bad shape. His head pounded and his arms and legs felt like lead but he focused himself and stood anyway, holding on to the medical bed he had been laid on for support.

He remembered being attacked, being experimented on and watching as some doctor siphoned off his blood and using it to create a serum of some kind. Then he'd passed out and the next thing he knew he was with a young woman in SHIELD dress and he'd gone to find his attackers.

It hadn't been the smartest thing to do, but the formula in his body had allowed him to push the limits and he'd gotten in to a fight and for a moment or two he had felt better. Until the desire to throw  up came over him and someone had blindsided him in his moment of weakness. Now he was here and he didn't know what the hell was happening.

His pulse was racing and his breathing was ragged, but there was nobody about. Had they left him? If they had why had they done so? He was Hellios, his powers were supreme. His strength was incredible, his body strong as steel, his speed incredible and he could fly, as well as fire energy blasts. But it was dependant on the serum in his system, he knew that. He had lost much of it, and he had used what little had been left. He needed another dose and the labs were far away from here.

"No," Niko whispered. "I am Hellios. I shall not be denied." He pushed past the pain and light flared from his eyes, the last remaining vestiges of solar energy within his cells. As long as there was blood in him to keep him alive he could use the powers. Yes, there would be a price to this, but he had to defend his country, his home. Light shone from his eyes, illuminating the area and he rose in to the air, hovering more than flying but it negated the need to walk. Pain shot through him as he moved forward, but he worked past it and even then it was slow going. 

"Hellios!" called a voice as he made it out of the room and Hellios looked in the area it had come from. 

"Bridge?" he said, in disbelief. Not the armoured version that accompanied the Excalibur unit, but the man himself. "You've more guts than I imagined."

"Stole my line, Hrisalis," said his commander. "We're evacuating before this whole place is destroyed."

"And you came back for me?" said Hellios. The animosity between the two of them was no secret.

"I don't leave my men behind," said Bridge. "Never have, never will, and like it or not, you're one of my people."

"Fine," said Hellios, looking at him. "That a grenade?"

"Yeah..."

"Throw it in that room and run," said Hellios, thinking that if there were even a possibility that the serum could be used by others then it had to be removed. His duty must be done.

"What about you?"

"You've read my file, Bridge. I'm invulnerable," said Hellios, wondering how much he could take. He could see Bridge's doubt in his eyes. "Trust me, this needs to be done."

"Fine," said GW. "You want the honours?" 

Hellios smiled as he took the sphere, pulled the pin and threw it in the bay. Both men turned and moved as quickly as they could and then the grenade exploded and both men were thrown forward by the blast. 

"Ow..." muttered Bridge as he picked himself up. His blocker was trashed, so if they ran across any Commandos who somehow managed to get themselves together they were screwed. "Hellios?" There was no answer, and Bridge looked about for him. He was lying on the floor, not moving. "Invulnerable, my ass." He picked the man up, threw over his shoulder and went back the way he'd come.



"This way!" called Tsunami as she met the evacuating members of X-Force and Excalibur. "There's a way out but we have to hurry!" The very mountain was shaking as the darkforce began to enclose the area it had once protected, crushing everything in it's path.

"What the hell is going on out there?" asked USAgent.

"Darkstar's lost control," said Tsunami. "The whole place is going to be destroyed."

"Just when things can't get any worse," said Shadowcat, with a cough.

"Later, Kitty," said Maverick, as he made sure the team followed the young Asian woman out of the complex. This mission was one they just as soon forget, but to do that they had to be alive. Everyone was soon out of there and the various teams collapsed to the floor in exhaustion.

"We made it," said Siryn, closing her eyes and resting.

"Gonna sleep now," said Kitty, and Maverick turned his attention to her immediately. 

"Jesus," he said, kneeling beside her. "She's got a fever and a half. I need help over here."

"North!" said Savitar, calling across. "Raven's in a bad way as well."

"Terry, see to Marcus," he said as Union Jack came across. "Know any first aid?"

"Essential thing to know as an inventor," replied Rock. "Best we can do is keep her alive until we get to the Helicarrier, though."

"She's got a strong will," said Maverick. "Besides, I don't fancy getting the shit kicked out of me by the X-Men if she dies." Terry came across.

"Marcus seems to be caught in the backlash of a psionic battle," she said. "Something bad's going on up there."

"Terrific," said Maverick. "He's going to live?"

"Yeah, but he's going to have on hell of a headache when it's over. David," she looked at him. "Someone's going to have to go in there and get him." 

"Who?" asked Rock.

"Fury," said Maverick. "We can't afford to let him die in there."

"I need help over here!" shouted a voice and they turned to see Bridge carrying Hellios. "He's not breathing."

"I'm on it," said USAgent, as he picked himself up and headed over.

"David..." said Terry.

"I know," he snapped. Their numbers were depleted. X-Force weren't in a condition to go, and neither was the majority of Excalibur. There was one person though. "Jack, what's her name?"

"Leyu?"

"Thanks," said North. "Leyu!"

"What?" she said, annoyed at the summoning from someone who'd she just saved.

"I need you to go in there and get Colonel Fury," said Maverick. "You're the only one in any kind of condition to get him out of there before the whole damn mountain comes crashing down." Tsunami still looked unsure about why she should do it.

"Think of how it'll look when you save the Director of SHIELD," said Rock. "We're nothing compared to him."

"I'm on my way," she said with a smile and headed back inside. Bridge stopped her as she travelled.

"Take this," he said, passing her a small object. "It's a tracking device, and should lead you right to him." Tsunami nodded and entered the complex.

"Some people need to know there's a spotlight waiting," said Union Jack, to Maverick who was impressed at how he'd handled her. "I think I've finally got her figured out."

"Glad someone has," called out Bridge, and Rock chuckled. Then he had an idea...



Onslaught smiled as he watched the Shadow King dance to the tune he was playing.

It was like having a puppet, he was so predictable, just as he had always been. Farouk's ambitions had always exceeded his grasp because in the end he did not have the sheer power to back his claims. Every encounter he had ever had with him had always ended in Farouk's abject failure and defeat. However this time, the Shadow King would not escape, he would not come back and his power would become Onslaught's. He would absorb the Shadow King in to himself and become the undisputed master of the psionic universe.

The Shadow King was manifesting in the real world, not as an astral projection but as a physical creation and the stress of it was killing him. In the state he was in he had to stop fighting it and surrender to Onslaught, where upon the Shadow King would become subject to the telekinetic and electromagnetic tempest that was swirling in anticipation of it's target.

A psionic bolt of power struck the Shadow King on the astral plane one last time and it broke his resistance and he formed on both realities, divided and his perceptions fractured.

"This game is over, Farouk," said Onslaught and unleashed his tempest on the physical Shadow King as well a sending a psionic eruption of energy upon the astral form. The Shadow King didn't have the capacity to scream as the twin assaults struck him simultaneously and there was a massive explosion across the astral plane that echoed in to reality and when it was all over the Shadow King was gone. "At last," said Onslaught and focused his power to gather the fragmented consciousness of Farouk and bring it in to himself.

Except there was something wrong.

"What is this madness?" said Onslaught. He couldn't find any trace of Farouk on any plane. Then chilling laughter echoed around him and where had once been the physical and astral forms of the Shadow King, a mass appeared in human form. A blue mass, with glowing neon eyes and a vicious mouth open as the laughter echoed about him.

"So this is the power that is Onslaught?" said the Shadow King. "I was expecting so much more from you."

"This cannot be, you do not have this kind of power," said Onslaught as he unleashed another barrage at the Shadow King, which Farouk waved away with a casual flick of the wrist.

"Not at the last encounter with Charles Xavier, not the encounter you perceived from the memories of me in the timeline where Apocalypse ruled - though I will remember that world, and I will have my revenge on the High Lord."

"I will kill you with my bare hands," said Onslaught, and charged at his enemy who simply vanished and rematerialised elsewhere.

"You will never lay a hand on me, Onslaught," said the Shadow King. "Your original manifestation awoke me from my slumber as I recovered from my last defeat, and I saw what you could do and I watched, and I learnt." A sword appeared in his hand. "See how I manifest items from the astral plane as actual matter."

"A simple trick," said Onslaught and did the same.

"Yes, but you were not a part of Xavier when he learnt I was capable of this. He's dead and you are little more than a shade of who he once was, where I am the Shadow King." The sword materialised in Onslaught's chest and there was a massive release of psionic energy sent a tidal wave across the astral plane, which the Shadow King reached out with the last of his strength and stopped before it burnt out the minds of every telepath in existence and as it was the Death's Head Commando's were nothing more than burnt out husks.

"Goodbye, Xavier," said the Shadow King, and turned to see Tsunami standing before him, having just arrived.

"What are you?" she asked.

"Something you should not have seen," whispered the Shadow King and reached to her mind, but his strength was failing him and he could not make her forget.

"You are the creature that did this," she said looking at him, feeling the tendrils of his mind brush against hers.

"You will die, little girl," said the Shadow King and reached to her, as if to crush her within his grasp but she manifested a torrent of water that washed him back. The Shadow King realised that the electro-magnetic energy that had been unleashed had taken out the lights and given the young girl her powers back.

"Not at your hand, demon," she spat, as the water came back and gathered the battered form of Nick Fury and they headed out to the others.

"The little things in life," cursed the Shadow King, as he watched her go. How much she had seen he did not know, and this could undo everything he had worked hard to achieve over the last months, however he was weak from the battle and needed to rest, so he retreated his physical to the astral plane and from there sealed the gap Onslaught had created. He would deal with whatever happened from this, when it happened.


"We wait," said Bridge as he looked up at the darkforce barrier. They were in a very tight space now and they were lucky that there was a gap in the barrier they could hold off in.

"They're not comin' back," said USAgent, as they worked on Hellios. He wasn't breathing still and his pulse had stopped. "We've lost Darkstar, Hellios, Fury and Tsunami. Let's get the hell out of here."

"We wait," said Maverick, grabbing Agent's shoulder.

"Wanna back off?" asked Agent turning to face him.

"Wanna try me," said Maverick, staring him down, then both men grasped their heads.

"Give it a rest, will ye?" snapped Siryn. "Bleedin' men..."

"Ain't that the truth..." muttered Kitty. Siryn shook her head and saw the mountain start to crumble.

"The entrance!" she cried as the rocks started to cover as the barrier bore further down on the mountain and she, Maverick and Savitar unleashed their powers to keep the rocks clear, her powers shattering the stone, Maverick smashing them and Savitar melting them.

"They're coming," said Marcus, who was feeling a little better. Union Jack had taken the blocker from Bridge and fixed it to give Raven some protection from the psionic battle. It had allowed him to keep his sanity, though not prevent the pain in his head. All that remained now though was a dull throb and he was monitoring the mountain to see if he could reach them.

"Go," said Bridge and Hauptmann hurried across using his strength to clear the rocks the others had missed. It was still a problem for them to get out though.

"Give me Fury," he said to Tsunami, who was able to carry him on the crest of a wave, but the cavern was filling with water that had nowhere to go, penned in by the darkforce that was crushing the mountain. She did so, raising the water so Hauptmann could get him and he pulled Fury free and then she started to get out herself.

"LOOK OUT!" came a cry and she looked up to see the darkforce barrier above her and she scrambled to move from it's path but the rocks she was on slipped and she fell back in to the mountain as a mound of rocks cascaded about the entrance. Hauptmann started to dig, and was joined by Bridge, Maverick, Union Jack and USAgent but all that remained was her hand, fallen limply as thin trickles of water dribbled from minute gaps.

"It was full of water," said Hauptmann, his eyes wide. "Could her powers..."

"I don't know," said Bridge, as he pressed the codes on his retrieval device, hoping the gaps in the barrier would allow the Helicarrier to transport them out of there. His prayers were answered as they all started to vanish, but his eyes never left the limp hand exposed from the rock all the while.

Some distance away, a small aborigine man, gave a small nod of respect to them, considered the events that had transpired here, and then he too vanished as the darkforce engulfed the place.



EPILOGUE


Once upon a time there was a man named Charles Xavier.

Xavier was a great man, full of ideals that were matched only by the intellect he possessed and used. He was a leader, a fighter, a gatherer of men. He knew the easy path and did not take it for if something is worth having it is worth doing right and to do that means it has to be difficult, for such a thing must be earned.

To do what had to be done he created a group called the X-Men, and they begat other groups in his lifetime. 

The New Mutants. 

X-Factor. 

Excalibur. 

X-Force. 

Generation X.

Each of these teams worked towards the vision of Xavier, that a world could live in peace with itself and that a dream worth having was worth fighting for. They fought, they suffered, they died and they sacrificed things that many would have refused to sacrifice - love, friendship, even family.

Then Xavier died and his dream altered to suit the mantles of those who inherited it. The X-Men became fragmented over policy. X-Force no longer had a role, Generation X became the teaching side of the dream and the other teams vanished in to obscurity, some to be relaunched with ideals as different to Xavier's dream as his was to Magneto's.

Yet they too have suffered. They have lost. They fight for what they believe in and perhaps the ideals of Xavier, though not a major focus of what they do, are in their with them. I hope so.

I have worked against the dream. I have fought for the dream. I have suffered for the dream. I have become disenchanted by the dream. I have returned to the dream. 

Charles Xavier was a great man, full of ideals that were matched only by the intellect he possessed and used. He was a leader, a fighter, a gatherer of men. He knew the easy path and did not take it for if something is worth having it is worth doing right and to do that means it has to be difficult, for such a thing must be earned. Now I must follow in his example, as the new Director of SHIELD.

I am a mystic, I am a mutant, I am the Maker.

My name is Forge.