Wavering Future

Chapter 6

Another ten years had gone by, another ten years of running to survive, and another ten years of suffering for both mutants and humans alike. Jay was resting after another one of his attacks, which seemed to be getting worse and more frequent, while Angeni guarded the entrance to their small shelter. They didn't know what time of day it was anymore; the air was too polluted with smoke and smog so it was always dark. As he stared up at the ceiling knowing that at any moment they could be attacked again, that any minute could be his last, he realized how hopeless their flight from death was. Then he heard quiet voice, he sat up a bit too quickly and winced before turning towards the entrance in confusion. Who could Angeni be talking to? Had she come across a survivor?

            He cautiously stood up, holding an arm against the side of some rubble, and walked towards the voices. "Who's there?"

            There was a pause in the voices before Angeni answered. "Professor Xavier and Magneto!"

            "They're alive?" He asked in disbelief as he rushed out to see for himself. "How?"

            Xavier smiled grimly at him. "Not very easily. We lost so many of our kind."

            "Yes, they were loyal mutants... a shame." Magneto replied in a tired voice.

            "They said they came to take us somewhere safe, back with the other survivors." Angeni informed him.

            Jay looked at the two older mutants. "For what? A mass death in our 'last stand' against the Sentinels?"

            "No." Xavier replied. "We think we can stop all of this from ever happening. But to do it, we'll need all the survivors."

            "Okay. We'll go!" Angeni spoke up quickly. "Better than staying here."

            "What- Fine..." Jay agreed before turning back to Xavier. "So, who did survive?"

            "You shall see... but I guarantee you'll both be happy to see some of them." Magneto smirked a bit and turned towards the entrance.

            Jay looked at Angeni, receiving an encouraging nod, before following them outside into the dark land. Right in front of them was a giant jet, which surprised him, and from the look on Angeni's face, her as well, considering most things like that would have been destroyed by now. Magneto paid no attention to their pause though Xavier did give them a mental warning about Sentinels that could possibly be nearby. It wouldn't be very good if they were to be caught right before they could escape and get to a place that could help save all humanity after all.

            "Where did you find this?" Angeni asked as they took off smoothly from the ground.

            "We've always had it, it was merely hidden under the school." Professor X responded.

            "Yeah, nearly got us all killed trying to go back for it." Magneto grumbled as he used his mutation to fly the jet.

            "Erik, you're exaggerating." He turned back to the other two. "Yes, it was hard to get into and back out of the school, but we did it with minimal casualties."

            "And you still haven't been seen with it by Sentinels, that's lucky." Jay told him as he examined the world outside the window nervously. "We've had one too many run-ins with them if you ask me."

            "Always the pessimist, now aren't you Jay?" Angeni flicked her tail from side to side as she looked at him. "It wasn't all bad... not compared to some."

            "At least they could fight." Jay muttered under his breath, managing to catch a look of sympathy from Xavier, not that he wanted any. After a few seconds he spoke up so they could hear him. "How long until we get there? I really don't like the thought I could be blown out of the sky at any second."

            "A few hours." Xavier said. "We have to travel over the ocean to get to China where we will meet the others in a monastery."

            "How did you find us?"

            Jay jumped slightly as Storm's voice came from the pilot seat in front; he hadn't even known she was there. "We have a built in Cerebro, we used it to find the others as well."

            "Do you really think the plan will work? You know, the whole save the world thing?" Angeni questioned. "I mean, if the strongest of mutants have been killed... who says we can change this? Hold off any Sentinels of any amount of time?"

            "We must believe it will work. This is our last hope, if our plan fails nothing we do will stop our extinction." Magneto told them somberly. "This mean we must do everything in our power to hold them off until the people going back manage to change the past."

            "How will we know if the past is corrected?"

            "This will all disappear." Xavier motioned to the world around them with his hands. "And those of us who aren't telepathic or don't go back in time won't even remember this ever happened."