The Terran Rangers/X-Men by Heather Ray (ebook e reader .txt) 📕

of the X-Men, and saw that he was standing beside a marble pedestal. Atop the pedestal was a stone bust of a bald man. Billy recognized the face, and he looked at Magneto questioningly.

"I know I told you about Charles Xavier before," said Magneto, touching the head. Billy nodded. "He saved my life twenty years ago. In doing so, he gave up his own. I learned not too long ago that this was never supposed to happen."

Billy raised his eyebrow at that statement. "What are you talking about, Erik? I thought you knew better than to believe in fate."

"Do I?" asked Erik. "What if I told you there is an infinity of alternate universes? But this universe was never meant to exist in the way it does now? It was ruined when a time-traveler went back in time, and changed the delicate flow of time by killing a major figure in the progression of human-mutant relations?"

"How did you learn of this?" asked Billy in surprise. Magneto smiled sadly.

"We encountered a mutant wanderer named Bishop," he explained, "Bishop claims he knows of another world, where Apocalypse doesn't reign over the populated Earth, and where humans and mutants aren't at war. He said that because Charles Xavier died, this world of promise was replaced by the horror we live in now. Its my fault, Will. If Charles hadn't tried to save me --"

"If there is one thing you taught me, Erik, its that you can't always place blame," said Billy. "You can't blame yourself for all the wrong done in the world. No man can take that kind of responsibility."

"Perhaps. But, you still blame me for the death of your wife, do you not? That is why you resigned from my X-Men, right?"

"No," said Billy quietly, "I never really blamed you specifically, Erik. I knew you couldn't have saved Trini, and you lost your daughter in that fight too. I blamed the whole world for that. It always seems like the innocent and pure must suffer the most. I've managed to finally forgive myself for not being there when Nemesis attacked. I took your advice to heart."

Magneto smiled at this. "I'm glad you've learned to live again, William. Why did you come?"

Billy then remembered why he came to New York in the first place. "Erik, two humans from another reality have arrived!"

"What?" asked Magneto in surprise. "Are you sure?"

"Absolutely," said Billy, "but while we were coming here, NightWolf was shot out of the sky. My friends are now fighting off a horde of vicious mutates!"

"Then, let's go," said Magneto, putting on his red helmet. "A handful of rebels can't survive Apocalypse's mutates for long. Whom did you bring?"

"Forge, the two travelers, and Nate Grey."

"Ah, the mysterious X-Man. Quickly, Shadow, we don't have much time."

With that, Magneto lifted his body off the ground. He flew through the halls, and out the front door. Shadow followed as quickly as he could on foot.
Chapter Twenty

On the battle field, the armies of mutates relentlessly continue towards the four rebel warriors. Kimberly and Zack continued to fire their energy weapons, while Nate Grey showered the enemy with telekinetic bolts of energy, and Forge mounted his bazooka for another powerful shot. What the four heroes didn't realize was that a group of five mutates teleported behind their backs. The mutates approached the unwary rebels cautiously. Fortunately, Nate's telepathic senses warned him of the danger.

"Guys!" he called. "Behind you!"

Forge spun around just in time to see the large lizard-like mutate leap at him like a lion pounces on a wounded antelope. Forge struggled against the superior strength of the monster, holding his bazooka against the mutate as a shield. Kimberly and Zack quickly came to help, leaving Nate alone to fend off the approaching army.

"I've got to keep them back!" he declared. "Maybe a TK shield will do the trick!"

The few yards of dead land surrounding the four heroes and the five attacking mutates was surrounded by a translucent bubble of blue light. Try as they might, the creatures outside couldn't break the barrier of telekinetic energy that the X-Man had erected. Nate struggled in agony as the hordes of monsters pounded on the force field in rage, leaving Forge, Kimberly, and Zack to deal with the intruding mutates.

"I'll get Forge!" said Zack, running towards Forge, who was still struggling against the mutate. "Cover me!"

"You got it!" said Kimberly, aiming her pistol at the remaining four mutates. They did not seem to fear Kimberly's weapon, and continued their approach. Kimberly opened fire, but these mutates were more durable than the armies outside, and managed to take the hits without sustaining much damage.

Zack pounded the mutate atop Forge with his energy rifle, causing it to turn its attention away from its original prey. It growled, and swatted Zack away like a gnat. It then leaped at Zack angrily, but Zack managed to strike it with a burst of energy from his rifle. Because of the close proximity, the energy fired was enough to kill the mutate. Forge rose to his feet, and turned around when he heard Kimberly shriek. He saw two mutates attacking her from two sides. He aimed his bazooka carefully, but he couldn't keep a good aim with Kimberly being so close to them.

"Zack," he said, "keep the other two mutates back. Kim! Move!"

Both teenagers obeyed, and Kimberly proceeded to confuse the two mutates by performing a series of hand-springs. She managed to get far enough away from them for Forge to open fire, obliterating the two mutates with a sphere of pulsing energy. Kimberly jogged over to Forge, who prepared to fire his weapon at the two mutates Zack was barely managing to hold back with the energy rays of his rifle. With another powerful shot, the two remaining mutates were reduced to dust, leaving the four heroes inside the telekinetic bubble.

"Guys," said Nate in a strained voice, "I...I can't keep this up much longer!"

"What do we do?" asked Zack, "We can't fight these things forever!"

Then, everyone heard a powerful explosion from outside the force field. The energy release temporarily blinded them, stopping them from seeing what was occurring outside the field. Once the dust settled from the explosion, there was an eerie silence. Then, everyone heard a knock on the TK bubble.

"Billy!" Kim cried. "Where did you go?"

Nate dropped his telekinetic shield, and Shadow approached them, smiling. He pointed up to the sky, where a lone figure with red and purple armor floated overhead. "I got reinforcements. Kim and Zack, this is Erik Lehnsherr, also known as Magneto, the leader of the X-Men. He destroyed the ship overhead, and the explosion was enough to wipe out the remaining mutates on the ground. That, and a little additional explosives of my own design--"

Before Billy could finish his sentence, the six heroes vanished from their position in streaks of light -- white, yellow, blue, brown, black and red.

Chapter Twenty-One

Within the towering fortress that served as the castle to the emperor of North America, Apocalypse sat inside his private chambers, contemplating the gemstone that sat across the chamber from him. It was about as large as a person, but it was missing a fragment. There was a rather large hole in it, and Apocalypse believed he has finally figured out what it was. He had called his most trusted Horseman to his side -- his son Holocaust. The large and powerful creature obeyed his father's call, and entered the chambers.

"You summoned me, Father?"

"Yes," said Apocalypse. "Do you recall when my forces found this crystal?"

"Of course, Father. It was years ago, when the state of California was destroyed. It was buried deep under the ground, right in the heart of a small city. Why do you ask?"

"Have you ever heard of the legend of the M'Kraan Crystal?"

"No, Father."

"Well, I have. I first heard it millenia ago, when I was still an ignorant Egyptian slave, not knowing the powers I possessed. It is said that when the crystal is united, the world will change."

"In what way?"

"It doesn't matter!" said Apocalypse, standing up. "My empire is thriving quite nicely. I am already all-powerful, and there are none who can stand up to me! I do not want my empire compromised by this gemstone."

"What shall I do, then?"

"Destroy it," said Apocalypse, sitting back down. "Immediately."

Holocaust nodded, and snapped his fingers. Two human slaves dressed in rags entered the room, bowed before both Holocaust and his father, and lifted the large gem. They slowly carried the crystal out of the chambers.

Chapter Twenty-Two

Magneto, Shadow, the X-Man, and Forge looked around in absolute puzzlement. They were inside a darkened chamber, with a series of advanced computer stations set up in a circle. Within that circle was a short gold and red robot with a golden head that looked most like two cymbals clasped together. What was even more peculiar was the large bodiless head, floating within a glass cylinder with a greenish tint.

What was perhaps the most startling thing was that their two young companions, Kimberly Hart and Zack Taylor, weren't surprised by their sudden teleport, nor their un-ordinary surroundings.

"GREETINGS,"

said the head, "I AM ZORDON OF ELTAR, AND THIS IS