Darkness Before Dawn

Posted on Fri Jul 2nd, 2021 @ 7:19pm by Charles Xavier

375 words; about a 2 minute read

Mission: Episode 1: X-Odus
Location: War Room | X-Mansion
Timeline: July 1, 1993

Professor Xavier had sat upon a crucial piece of information which he had not shared with his first and most senior student, Cyclops. Logs from the last flight of the Blackbird before everything went to hell had been wiped. No records remained, no matter how aggressive Charles had attempted to retrieve the wiped information.

But lack of data did not equal a lack of evidence. While the War Room computer sifted through the flight computer day in and day out, Charles remained haunted by the very first day after he had taken an unconscious Cyclops into the auto-doc medical bay in the subbasement. It was a crucial detail that he had not noticed until the following day.

His watch had stopped.

By the time he noticed, the watch was mostly degaussed. Nevertheless its internal mechanisms had been arrested by a magnetic field. That detail alone did not implicate his old friend and longtime rival Erik. As it turned out, there were other mutants with magnetic powers. Lorna. Sonya. But could either of them have magnetized the Blackbird to the extent of disrupting mechanical devices well after the fact?

It certainly fit Magneto's bill.

They had not been on speaking terms for some time, not since the last clash between the Brotherhood and the X-Men which saw the original team disbanded when many of them were taken into custody. Erik had gone to ground after that and not even Charles knew where he was. But he knew how to find him.

But should he open Pandora's Box, could he close it again? What would happen if he resumed contact with a known terrorist? He could invite trouble that would never leave.

Charles felt his mind go to his missing students. Jean. Hank. Bobby. Warren. Alex. Lorna. If Erik had any knowledge of their whereabouts or what had happened, Charles needed to know it too.

It was decided then. In the end, Charles had no choice. Having accessed Cerebro, the X-Men's founder searched out known accomplices of Magneto and former members of the Brotherhood, for Magneto's mind was shielded from him by his helmet. A message was implanted into their minds to deliver to Erik without delay.

Professor X needs to speak with you immediately.

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