One moment, everything was normal.

That was then. This is now.

It all began with a light tremor. For those living in California, it wasn't that bad.

Then, the tremors became worse. Small mountains began to jut forth from the earth, creating a barrier. This phenomenon continued, expanding across the globe. Following that, everyone felt a sudden jerk, not due to the tremors though, but as if they were standing on a moving object that suddenly stopped.

It was then that one by one, certain people began to vanish in a flash of pink light. The phenomenon seemed to happen all over the world.

In Manhattan, a mugger's victim vanished.

In London, a prison was emptied of all the prisoners.

Reports were coming in from all over the world. And from the former citadel of Magneto in Antarctica, one man controlled it all.

His name is Deus. A mutant with powerful psionic abilities with one simple goal--he just wants to make the world a better place. To do that, he enlisted the help of the team of mutants called X-Men Omega.

Using the technology he discovered within Magneto's citadel, combined with some alien technology given to him by the now-deceased Astra, he was able to reassemble the body of Charles Lehnsherr, the son of Magneto and Rogue from an alternate reality, now calling himself Joseph.

His plan is to split the Earth into a heaven and a hell. Joseph's magnetic powers would stop the Earth on its axis, Crystal's earth powers would create an impassible barrier, Psylocke's telepathic powers would weed out who Deus believed to be pure or impure, and Blink's teleportation powers would place them in their correct spot. And at the center of it all, orchestrating it, would be Deus, amplifying their abilities.

So far, he has succeeded. His eyes drifted down to the rest of the X-Men--Bishop, Rogue, Quicksilver, Sabretooth, and Archangel, forced to watch it all. He then looked over at Psylocke, her face contorted from pain. Her psychic powers were being taxed to the limit, he knew that. Which he thought explained why the mark of the Crimson Dawn over her eye was lit up like a neon sign...

That's it, grin you arrogant prick... Psylocke thought to herself. Give me the time I need. Sodding bastard may have me centered on fulfilling his desires, but the Crimson Dawn is another story...

She concentrated hard, her mind locked in a rapport with Deus. He was so centered on his own task, that he didn't expect the Crimson Dawn to fight back. In the manifestation of a sword-wielding samurai, the Crimson Dawn stood at a barrier in Deus' mind, awaiting a single opening.

"CRYSTAL!!" Quicksilver exclaimed, trying to run into the contraption. Instead, he found that he was still frozen in place. "Blast!! Bishop, shouldn't you be absorbing the energy or something?!"

"For some reason--I can't!" Bishop replied. "I can feel the energy entering my body, but I can't channel it..."

"Now I wish I killed that guy when I had th' chance..." Sabretooth muttered.

As Deus warped the X-Men to his will, the Crimson Dawn found the opening it needed.

In an instant, Deus stopped.

"Wh--what's going on?!" he asked. "C-cold... so cold..."

"Exactly what I needed..." Psylocke muttered, the cold snap that overcame Deus gave her the chance she needed to reassert control over her powers. "Let's see how you like being on the receiving end of a psychic assault!!"

Her psychic defenses went up, and the shadows seemed to warp around her, as she assaulted Deus' mind. She ripped apart his defenses one by one, determined to put an end to him.

"Ah can move!!" Rogue exclaimed. "An' ah'm gonna get them outta that thing!!"

She dove straight for the power circuit.

"Rogue wait!!" Archangel shouted, but it was too late.

Rogue was already in the air, flying into it. However, the energy around it formed a barrier she couldn't break through.

"That energy is like a barrier," Archangel stated. "We have to break through it first."

Quicksilver grabbed Francis by the collar and slammed him against the wall.

"How do we disable it?!" he demanded.

"I--I--" Francis stuttered.

"HOW?!" Quicksilver demanded. "Answer me or so help me..."

"Enough," Bishop ordered. "We--"

"Shove it!" Quicksilver replied. "This sniveling worm knows more than he lets on!"

"I said that's enough..." Bishop repeated. "Don't make me repeat myself, Maximoff."

"Then what do you propose, oh, fearless leader?" Quicksilver asked.

"The barrier is made of energy," Bishop replied. "I'll be able to get through it, and I'll replace Deus in the power circuit."

"But... you can't!" Francis exclaimed. "You'll overload the machine, causing the equivalent of a Hiroshima!!"

"Do it, Bishop," Psylocke said through a newly-formed telepathic link. "I have a plan."

"Rogue, I need you to get me in there," Bishop said.

"No problem, sugah," Rogue replied, picking up the X-Men's leader. She flew up to the power circuit, parallel from Deus.

"Now!" Bishop ordered. Rogue's only reply was using all her strength to throw Bishop.

His body absorbed the energy shield, creating an opening for him. He slammed right into Deus, replacing the villain in the power circuit.

The energy began to enter him, his body absorbing it. Then, he began to channel it back through the circuit, overloading the restraints holding his teammates, and diminishing the energy shield.

"Everyone hurry!" Psylocke stated.

Quicksilver darted into the circuit, grabbing Crystal as Sabretooth took Blink and Archangel freed Psylocke. Rogue went after Joseph, pulling her "son" out of the circuit.

"No..." Deus muttered, getting to his feet from behind Bishop. "YOU WON'T RUIN MY DREAM!!"

He gripped Bishop's shoulders, but was forced back from the energy. The X-Man's body was glowing brightly with energy, and he released it back into the circuit, causing a chain reaction.

The overload was building, and Bishop was prepared to leave the circuit when Deus initiated a psionic attack.

"YOU ARE DEAD!!" Deus exclaimed.

"No..." Bishop replied, the energy firing from his eyes. "You are!"

Explosions began to rock the citadel, and Bishop found himself hurled away from the power circuit as it did so.

"Go limp," Archangel stated, as Bishop fell into his arms. He lowered himself to the ground, where the rest of the team was waiting.

"Bad news, people," Rogue stated. "Joseph's down f'r the count. But, that won't stop us..."

She removed her glove and touched Joseph's face, absorbing his magnetic powers.

"Everyone get in close!" she ordered, erecting a magnetic sphere around them.

"This place is about t' collapse!!" Sabretooth ordered. "Now would be th' time t' get outta here!!"

Crystal's hands began to glow with energy as the ground beneath them dipped down.

Then, the explosions came.

The flash of light that occurred from the explosion could be seen in the Savage Land, causing the denizens to wonder what had happened.

At the remains of the citadel though, there was nothing but snow and rubble. Then, the ground seemed to open up, as the X-Men rose, encased in a magnetic bubble.

Rogue lowered them to the ground, and dropped the shield.

Psylocke looked at the remains of the citadel and did a quick mindscan.

"Nothing," she stated. "I don't sense Deus or his assistant anywhere."

"I guess that's it, then," Blink stated. "Should I teleport us home now?"

Bishop said nothing, just stood as the snowflakes fell on his bare skin.

"Bishop...?"

"Bishop, is something wrong?" Psylocke asked.

"I'm... cold..."