Before you read this please go back and read the final part of the last chapter.

LAST STAND

POINT OF VIEW – SCOTT SUMMERS

Almost all of the brotherhood was sent back to a safe location with Nightcrawler’s help. There was only Magneto, Mystique and Juggernaut left.

“Nightcrawler! Time to transport Mystique.” He radioed his fellow X-Men, who appeared just in time.

“Three more I see.” He said with exhaustion. He couldn’t blame him really. Kurt had been transporting people all day, he was completely depleted right now.

“Yes...be careful with this one. She’s really smart, so she’ll definitely try to pull something, so be careful.”

“Will do, boss.” He held Mystique by the cuffs and teleported her to the makeshift prison that they built.

It was going to be messy; this entire thing was going to be a giant shit show when the government sent their agents. Stryker had been giving them issues all year long. They had to involve themselves into government affairs again as if they hadn't had enough turbulence. Still, he was glad that the entire thing had been wrapped up and no one was harmed any more.

“This is not going to end the way you think it is going to!” He heard Magneto threaten them with his head down looking at the ground.

“Yeah whatever buddy, sit your normal non-superpowered ass down quietly.” He heard Wolverine say. For the first time in a long time, he actually agreed with the mutt.

He was getting tired of all this talk from Magneto. They whooped his ass in seconds, he should just shut up and preserve whatever dignity he had left.

“I can’t believe I’m going back to that shitty fucking prison again.” Juggernaut complained for the tenth time.

“Well Marko, if it’s any consolation you’re probably going to normal prison this time around. Since you don’t have your powers anymore!” Bobby joked, all of them had a good laugh at the giant man’s expense.

“If it weren’t for-”

“Oh, shut the fuck you giant purple dildo!” Wolverine laughed and was clearly having the time of his life. This time even he joined in on the laughter. He had to give it to him so the dog could be funny when he wanted.

“You should probably kill me now, when you have the chance!” Magneto chimed in again. His head hung low, and the useless helmet covered his face.

Everyone decided to ignore him, they knew that he posed no risk to them any longer. It was the rambling of a man who lost.

He felt the gentle touch of his lover.

“Jean...what’s up?”

“Nothing, I’m just glad that the mission is over. Glad that we’re all alive....The professor had me scared with all the doom and gloom.”

He took her hand and rubbed it gently.

“I wouldn’t let anything happen to you, you know that right.”

“I know, Scotty. I’m thankful.”

They kept looking into each other's eyes lovingly. He couldn’t wait for the candlelight dinner. Paris was going to be a wonderful time.

“Geez, get a room you two.” Bobby said tongue in cheek. Wolverine huffed and puffed but could do nothing about it.

Nightcrawler or Kurt Wagner, teleported to where they were.

“Okay two more to go! Which one’s first, Magneto or the giant one?”

“Um...why don’t you take Magneto first...since he’s smaller.”

“Yup will do!” Kurt said happily, glad that his work was coming to an end.

“Come on Magneto...let’s go now!” Kurt lifted Magneto up by his wrists.

‘Finally, it’s all over-’ Just when he relaxed, Magneto broke away from Kurt’s hold.

“Give it a rest guy. You don’t have powers any more, stop being a prick about it and just admit that you lost.” Wolverine retracts his claws.

“That’s right Mr. Magnus...just admit......just adm...ad...” Jean couldn’t finish her sentence, she began holding her head, she was in pain.

‘What the hell is happening?’ He thought with rising levels of anxiety, his protective instinct kicked in and he went near her quickly.

“Jean, you, okay? Babe answer me-”

He didn’t see it but he heard Wolverine’s shout rabidly and charge at Magneto. He tried to hold Jean but she pushed him away. Things had devolved into madness!

He radioed the professor for help,

“Professor, something's happening, we need your help.”

[Scott, what’s happening...tell me...hap........run.....SCOTT.....RUN........AWA-]

The radio signal cut out. Jean was still on the ground holding her head in pain. Everything was just fine a few moments ago, they had won! They had rescued the kid and defeated the brotherhood easily-

“Scott, I need your help here.” Bobby yelled from the back. Just as he turned, something hit his head. A huge cinder block. It would have killed him if it weren’t for the timely intervention on Jean’s part.

“Scotty get....away..” She fell to the ground holding her head.

“Jean No! You bastard-” Before he could turn around to confront Magneto, Bobby’s body came flying towards him.

THWACK

Bobby’s body hit his chest area and definitely broke one of his ribs. He spat out blood.

‘What the hell!’

Magneto was levitating above ground again. His powers were somehow restored!

“How?” was all he could say.

How in the hell did he get his powers back? The professor sealed it away or did he make a mistake?

Jean was trying her best to take control of the situation, but she just couldn’t overpower Magneto anymore.

He checked Bobby’s pulse first and thankfully he was still alive. He wouldn’t let anyone die on his watch.

He adjusted the intensity settings to the highest possible configuration. The Visor would make his beam significantly stronger than naturally possible. A setting he never thought he would need until today.

He aimed his sights at Magneto’s head, a clean head shot would end all of this.

His fingers twitched, he was about to kill a person. He had never taken a life now he had no choice. Just as doubt was winning, he saw his Jean screaming in pain and that was all he needed to do what was necessary.

He took a small breath to compose himself and then....

Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

ZAKKKKKKKKKTTTTTT

He fired the purest form of his Optic Blast right into Magneto’s direction. His eyes felt like they melted in their sockets as the seconds grew longer. The blast should have destroyed Magneto. It should have won them the fight. But it didn’t! He easily swatted the beam to the other side. Magneto wasn’t even slightly bothered by it.

He heard Magneto laugh while he said,

“That’s a nice beam you got there........shame if something were to happen to your eyes.”

“What-”

Before he could say anything, he felt his visor shatter into a thousand pieces. Some of the shards got stuck in his eyes. It hurt more than he could describe. The pain was amplified by the fact that his eyes were still generating Optic Blast, some of the beam was slowly leaking into his sockets.

He let out a painful howl.

“SCOTT NO!!!!!” He heard Jean scream.

He couldn’t die this way, at least not before he could save her. So, he endured the pain and didn’t let it break him. He calmed himself before the beam could pop his skull inside out.

‘That’s right! Calm down, you're the leader...you can’t lose composure!’

He got up from the ground, determined to save Jean.

“Kurt I don’t know if you can hear me! But I’ll make a distraction...save jean.” He whispered into the open radio channel. This was the last thing he could do as team leader.

It was the last thing he could do for her.

“Don’t try it buddy.” He heard Magneto say,

“Remember Strategy 6, Formation B. I’ll see you on the other side guys!” He shouted to all of his teammates.

“It won’t work kiddo...just sit down and take the L.” There was something very different about Magneto, he sounded very different for some reason. He sounded more playful.

‘Now wasn’t the time to think about such silly things.’ He chided himself for losing focus.

“Jean.....goodbye.”

“SCOTT what are you doing?”

If only he had his eyes, he could have seen her one more time. Maybe even tell a cool one liner before killing himself.

“Listen to her Scotty...you have glass shards in your eyes, don’t try anything stupid.” Magneto mocked him again.

He blindly ran towards where Magneto’s voice was. His experience being blind for most of his childhood helped him navigate the ground.

“Here he comes.”

‘SCOTTY NO-”

“Oh please don’t be so dramatic honey.” Magneto said.

He pulled out all the shards stuck in his eyes. Blood sprayed out from his wounds and his vision returned just for a brief moment. He was tempted to look at his girl one more time but he had to stay focused on the objective. Killing Magneto and saving Jean.

His beams fired indiscriminately but in small gaps he could see again.

Wolverine was suspended in the air. So that meant it was just him and Nightcrawler in the battlefield since Storm was watching the rest of the prisoners.

“Kurt do it now!” he radioed it in.

His vision was becoming bleaker by the second. It was now or never.

He turned his sight to where Magneto was floating and used his hands to stretch out his eyelids. It hurt more than before; small shards dug deeper into his eyes.

“How many times do I have to do this buddy.” he redirected the Kinetic energy back to him, knocking him backwards. It didn’t hurt because the beam was significantly weaker than his previous one.

His irises were completely burned out. More importantly his body was completely destroyed and his fighting spirit shattered. All he wanted to do was roll over and die. He did as much as he could and the only thing he could hope for now, was that his distraction proved useful.

[I...saved....Jean...Captain....rest easy.] Kurt radioed in.

He let out a huge sigh of relief. It was over, Jean was safe. The professor would know what to do, he has to!

“Was that really worth it?” He heard the evil mutant come closer to where he was.

“Distracted you enough to save my girl, so yeah....it was worth it.” He smiled weakly.

He felt his body levitate, soon he was floating like how Wolverine was. He felt someone’s breath on his face, probably Magneto.

“Why are you so confident? Why do you think that I just can’t just go to where your precious Jean is?”

‘What...you’re Magneto...you can’t telep....”

He couldn’t finish the sentence as a feeling of dread entered his heart.

‘What if he’s...not Magneto...’

“Who...are you?”

“You’re smarter than you look but I gotta go.” Magneto or whatever was in his body answered with glee.

“Unfortunately for you and the readers reading this, you guys won’t know until you read till the end of this arc!”

“Readers?” He fell to the ground.

He braced for the killing blow, it never came.

After a minute he realised that Magneto had long left. He was alone left to his own torturous thoughts as the wind eased the pain in his eyes.

_______________________________________________________________________

POINT OF VIEW – KURT WAGNER

They made it. Barely. They escaped to the deep desert, far removed from where they were. The captain’s self-sacrifice proved true as he saved both Ms. Grey, the unconscious Mr. Drake. He had to leave behind Mr. Logan though.

“Kurt...where is Scott? Please tell me you saved him...we can’t leave him to die. That monster will hurt him even more than he has already. Please. Teleport me back, I’ll keep Magneto busy until you grab him. KURT please listen to me.” Jean pleaded with him.

“I’m sorry Ms. Grey but the captain tasked me with your safety. I can’t go back on my promise. He would-”

SLAP

He felt his left cheek sting. It was not the last slap Ms. Grey sent his way. He let her hit as many times as possible, as long as she didn’t go back there and get herself killed. As long as that didn’t happen, he would take as many slaps as humanly possible.

He wouldn’t be able to look Scott in the eye in heaven if she were to die.

Ms. Grey collapsed into his shoulders and started wailing. She was inconsolable at the realization that she had lost her lover.

He held onto her tightly and reassured her.

‘Oh lord why do you test us so much? Why do you inflict so much pain on us?’ He prayed for answers quietly.

All he wanted was to send them both back to the professor but he had to catch his breath before he travelled long distances again. He was worn out from the constant teleporting.

“Don’t worry Ms. Jean I’m sure Mr. Summers will be alright. He’s a tough one, I’m sure he’ll survive.” He didn’t believe those words but he said them anyway. Like Father Wagner once said, sometimes lies are necessary for us, they help us carry on living. The lord was merciful to forgive such things knowing humanity and its flaws.

“Funny how you never question why your lord even made you that way? Were you always so devoutly blind?” The cold voice of a murderer spoke up.

“What, How?” He yelled out.

How in the hell was he here? It was impossible, Magneto didn’t have a teleporter. How can he be here?

“I’ll answer you how-” before Magneto could finish though, Jean used her telekinesis to throw a giant boulder the size of a truck at Magneto.

He waved it away like it was a toy.

“That was rude.”

“YOU...I’ll kill YOU!” She released her murderous instinct.

“Really, I’d like to see you try.” He said with a smug grin.

She closed her eyes and focused putting all of her psionic energy into a small sphere between her hands. He wasn’t a psionic user but he knew that sphere was not good news. It even had electrical current coming out of it. He tried to grab her, to teleport her to somewhere safe before she could do anything reckless.

“Jean-”

He couldn’t move an inch for some reason. Magneto glanced at him for half a second and then looked at Jean.

‘What how? I’m not made of metal like Mr. Logan. How can he stop my movement?’

In a few seconds the sphere of energy went from bluish white to blood red.

“You killed my Scott! I won’t forgive you! Take this and go to hellll!” She let out a strained feral scream as she heaved it at the floating man.

The ball of energy flew towards Magneto at blinding speed. He still had that self aggrandising smile on his face. Just before the sphere made contact he swore he could hear Magneto voice gently say,

“UNO Reverse card.”

The ball disappeared out of thin air.

Jean was at a loss for words and frankly speaking so was he. Despite seeing Magneto’s previous feats it was still unbelievable how he was able to disperse such huge energy with relative ease.

“I gave you that little migraine because I feared your potential but looks like you’re just full of hot air like the rest of them.”

All Ms. Grey could mouth back was, “..what....how is that....possible?”

“Oh, what I did was very doable...even Thanos with the infinity stones could easily do that.”

“Thanos?. What...” She still couldn’t process what was happening. She slumped to the ground defeatedly.

“Since you were so kind to give me such a present, let me return one back to you!” Magneto said with a cruel smile.

‘No...I know Magneto! This is not Magneto...this is something else!’ He thought as sweat started forming in his forehead.

“DING! DING! DING! You guessed it, Kurt! Now for your special prize.” Magneto or the devil that was in Magneto’s skin said.

It brought its hands together, like it was hugging an invisible fire.

“Oh it’ll be visible in a few seconds.”

The thing responded with an evil grin and like it said, a black ball started forming around the space between its hands. It was like a more menacing replication of Jean’s creation. Instead of having white current flowing through it, it had black tendril like sparks.

“I call it my evil Kamehameha! You like it?”

The thing was twice as big as Jean’s, it was a monstrosity.

There was a part of him that feared that earth wouldn’t be able to take that hit.

“DING! DING! DING! You guessed right! So if you don’t teleport it outside the earth’s orbit then the world goes kaput!”

“You’re not Magneto....you can’t be....he doesn’t want to destroy the world! Why are you doing this?” He couldn’t help but ask.

“Hmm...let me see...I can either monologue like a B grade villain or just throw this mean looking energy ball at you. Guess what I’m going to do?”

He didn’t have to guess as the monster threw the dark ball of energy directly at Jean. She tried using her powers to slow the ball’s velocity, but she couldn’t put a dent. It was much slower than her attack but what it lacked in speed it made up in size. The thing was huge, like a giant ridiculous mountain which was getting bigger by the second.

It headed their way increasingly fast.

“Thank you, Holy father for giving me the gift of life!” He said one final prayer and charged towards the ball.

“KURT! NOOOOOO!!!!” He heard Ms. Grey scream.

‘That was polite. To worry about a monster like me.’

He embraced the dark sun and imagined the deep cold space. Before he knew it, he was in darkness.

There were billions of stars witnessing his sacrifice.

‘Not a bad way to go!’ He thought with a small smile.

His thoughts returned to the vulnerable Ms. Grey. He hoped that someone would save her and prayed that the Almighty would be merciful to her.

He prayed one more time.