The scene -- Israel. More specifically, the port city of Haifa, where only a few moments before a battle was waged between the two men who will one day be known as Magneto and Legion.

In a last ditch attempt to prevent Legion from accomplishing his goal --the assassination of Magneto -- Robert Drake (the X-Man otherwise known as Iceman) froze Legion alive, using his newly developed control over his powers to do so.

Finally the danger has past. Or has it?

"This may not be over," Bishop, the grim X-Man from the future, reminds his teammates.

"Bishop's right," agrees Elisabeth Braddock, aka Psylocke. "As far as we can tell, the time disruption wasn't even affected."

She turns towards the ice statuette in the form of Legion, Charles Xavier by her side. "What Cable warned us about was so big -- so horrific -- there's no way of knowing if the future's been set straight or not."

"Th-This is all too much," Xavier, still in a state of shock, stammers. "Magnus is still alive...you've succeeded -- haven't you? Unless..." and then it hits him. "...Unless -- no!"

Psylocke, instantly realizing what Xavier fears, charges a psi-blade from her hand. "Get back -- everyone!" She readies her fist, preparing to plunge the psi-blade in to the icy body of Legion. "He's not defeated -- I feel his thoughts. Dear lord, they're about to --"

Unable to prepare themselves, David Haller's enormous telepathic energies tear through the X-Men and young Charles Xavier! And when the psionic dust settles, only one person is left standing.

Using his pyrokinetic abilities, Legion melts the ice from his body.

"'Explode!' That's what you were going to say, isn't it, Psylocke? Well, maybe not yet, but in a second I will...as soon as this monster is dead!" Legion maniacally states as he grabs hold of the still weakened Erik Lehnsherr.

"You dare -- condemn me -- for something -- I haven't yet done -- this is your morality?" Magneto asks, blood spilling out of his mouth. "This is your justice?"

"YES!!" Legion screams at the weakened man, holding him firmly in his grip. "See, I know what's inside of you! I know what you're going to become! You're going to betray my father and spoil his dream forever!"

"How can you be so certain, boy? Your presence here has changed everything," Magneto protests, at the mercy of this madman. "I may never become this monster you describe."

"Oh, I'd like to believe that, sure I really would -- but how can I trust you? Where I come from is a terrible place -- and the blame can be lain upon your doorstep," Legion says, slowly building up a fireball of energy in his right hand.

"My father spent so much time battling you -- trying to stop your madness -- that he couldn't help others -- he couldn't help me!" Legion cries, the fireball in his fist growing. "But I can change all that! If I kill you now, Magneto, things will have to be better in the future! After all, they can't get much worse, eh?"

Unnoticed, Charles Xavier slowly brings himself to his feet.

"And Charles Xavier will make the world right -- and he and mom and I will be together!" Legion rants.

"No -- David!" *haff* "Wait!" Charles gasps, but his words go unheard and unheeded. "This is wrong!" *haff* " -- can't concentrate -- enough -- to use -- my powers --"

"Goodbye, Erik Magnus Lehnsherr...I hope that in death you'll find the peace you've been missing in life..." Legion raises his fist, the energy surrounding it in full intensity. "Sayonara!"

"NO!!" Xavier screams, rushing forward, trying to move his closest friend out of harms way, trying to evade Legion's blow. He moves swiftly, almost as fast as Legion himself.

And then he stumbles.

In that instant, Legion plunges the blade of pure energy into Magnus's chest. Xavier has failed.

"No..." Xavier cries, crawling to the side of his friend. Magneto is not moving. Xavier can feel no pulse. He's dead.

"Do not cry for him, father," David says, standing over the empty body of Magneto. "Although it may seem like an injustice which I have wrought upon this life, rest safe in the knowledge that it was for a better cause --your cause. You can make this world better daddy. You can make it yours..."

And those are his final words. With the world that they came from destroyed, the X-Men and Legion vanish from the time stream, mere memories in the minds of all that have witnessed today's events.

All save one time-displaced man. His mind damaged by the energies which ripped Legion and the other X-Men away, Bishop remains the sole survivor of a world which is now lost, possibly forevermore.

Charles Xavier clutches the body of his friend. The man who may or may not have become known as Magneto. The man who may or may not have become the ruler over an island nation called Genosha. A man who will never find out what he was truly capable of. A man who will never love or laugh again. A man whose future was stolen away from him.

Xavier weeps for his friend, not truly understanding why these events took place. All he knows is he has lost a man that was closer to him than his own brother. And in his desperation, Xavier reaches out.

{Magnus, you cannot be dead. You must be alive! I will not let you go that easily!} Xavier pleads as he telepathically scans for any trace of the man he once knew. {Please Magnus. Please, come back...}

However he cannot sense anything and he pushes himself to his limits, desperate to bring some trace of Erik back. The astral plane had been weakened by the appearance of Legion and because of his injuries, his inexperience and the state of things, Xavier's abilities are not at their peak. Not realizing the danger he has placed himself in, he continues to push himself further, beyond his natural limits.

And then it starts.

Suddenly, unexpectedly, Xavier's mind is flooded with images. Images of a hard life, a life tainted by prejudice and hate. A life filled with loves and losses. The life of Magneto.

The images flood his mind, the memories altering and coalescing. He remembers the concentration camps where Erik was brought as a child. He remembers seeing his family -- Erik's family -- die at the hands of those who sought to rid their "kind" from the face of the Earth just because they were different.

But instead of seeing Erik, Xavier now sees himself, as his own memories are triggered. The death of his father seeps in to his mind, the memories of loss he had experienced as a boy come to the fore as Magneto's memories continue to linger. The pain and anguish he felt as his mother remarried, watching as she was beaten by the brute called Marko. Xavier's fledgling powers had reached out and took away her pain, drawing it in to his mind, locking it away deep within his heart. This memory and the memories pulled from Magneto stay in his mind at the same time, merging into one.

More images continue to seep in to Xavier's psyche, the young telepath unable to stop them. Unable to stop what he has started by denying his limitations. He sees a girl. Her name is Anya. She is trapped in a building on fire. She is screaming for her father's help, but he is held back. He/Erik is held back. He watches his daughter die, and he can do nothing to prevent it.

As before, Xavier's own memories come to the forefront, as though the barriers he had placed have almost began to break down. He remembers the loss of Cain. Cain, who had beaten and bullied him when they were younger, until Charles had gained the power to stop him. Cain, whose greed and ambition led him to desert the army, forcing Charles after him, to watch helplessly as the cave collapsed around them. Xavier was unable to reach his stepbrother physically, and his mental powers were of no use.

However where he was helpless, Erik was not. He witnesses the discovery of his -- Erik's-- long-dormant power. He lashes out at those men that prevented him from rescuing his daughter. His wife, Magda, looks at him with horror in her eyes. She flees him, never to be seen again.

So many hardships and there is one more memory of Xavier's that complements this one as he remembers reading, for the first time, the letter written to him by Moira, telling him that they could not be together, that she wanted someone normal.

Erik had lost Magda from the fear of who he was and he had lost Moira from the fear of what he was. The strongest and most painful memories co-exist with each other. Charles is Erik, Erik is Charles and for one moment Charles sees what Legion had been talking about, what Legion had feared to come. Xavier sees his dark potential and in his grief denies his powers, denies what they can do and mentally commands them to depart so that such an onslaught can never come to pass.

Then it ends.

Xavier gasps from breath, even though he doesn't need any. The shock of having two lives flashing before his eyes was too much for Xavier in his grief-stricken state and he knows that it will take years to process the information he has just received. He stumbles to his feet but then comes crashing down once more. He looks around. Bishop is gone. His memories of Erik are not as strong, fading as if they were a flavor of memory.

{Charles} a voice calls his name. No, not a voice...a thought? Why could he not detect it? Could he have really cast out his abilities?

{Charles, look at me} the voice...the thought, calls for him to turn around. He does so, still shaken at what has happened...what he had foolishly done to himself.

Before him stands a hulking being, seething with power. He...it...is unlike anything Xavier has ever seen before, not even when he battled the Shadow King. "Wh-What are you?" Xavier asks, trembling.

{You do not already know? Here, let me show you what I am.} And with that the being opens Charles's mind, and the truth is revealed.

"NO!!" Xavier cries in disbelief. "You cannot be. You...it isn't possible!"

{Oh I'm afraid that I am. Both you and the one they called Magneto have suffered greatly in your lives. Magneto's life was full of nothing but sorrow, and yours, well, you have your own demons as well Charles. A brother and father that both resent you. The deaths of your father and mother at such a young age, and now, your best friend. The loss of everyone, and everything, you have ever held dear. All of these factors have played a part in my creation within the prison of your mind. And then you cast me out.}

The being makes a gesture with its large talons, and Xavier begins to rise off the ground, helpless to stop.

{Yes Xavier, you are the one responsible for my creation, and you are the one responsible for what I must do. You see, while you dream of coexistence with humanity, Lehnsherr knew the truth of the matter. The only way to gain peace is through total dominance. Only from there can these...humans...be reasoned with.}

Xavier struggles, but still cannot break free from the being's hold.

{I see that you do not share in my opinions on the matter. A shame, but you are no longer necessary anyway. Your powers are now closed to you. They reside in me. While you would squander such talents, I will embrace them. I will use them for the good of all mutantkind.}

"NO! Release me. You can't be allowed to do this!" Xavier protests, still held firmly in the being's telekinetic grasp.

the being asks with a laugh. {You are nothing Xavier. Remember that.}

With those final words the being makes yet another gesture. This time Xavier feels his legs being crushed atom by atom and hears his bones cracking beneath his flesh. He tries to scream in pain but nothing comes out. And then he is released, dropped to the ground below as if he were nothing more than a child's doll, and though the pain is not as intense, it is still there, a dull ache in the back of his mind. Pushing past the pain he looks up in helpless defiance at the creature.

{I have only crippled you Xavier, so that you may remain alive to think about what you have created this day. What you are responsible for.}

"I...will...stop you!" vows Xavier, pushing past the pain.

{Not in this lifetime Charles. Your precious humanity will fall, and when that time comes, so too shall you fall with them.}

{For the AGE OF ONSLAUGHT has just begun!}