Chapter 50: Grand Finale Part One: Shifts of Time

Logan dropped down from the sewer grate in the alleyway, he swore that he could have heard something, and sensed something familiar. Not only was the something that he sensed familiar but it was unfriendly. At least that's what the thought that was going through his head was when he edged through the sewers, with the most violent intents in mind. He cracked his knuckles before moving forward and gritted his teeth with a growl.

He recognized this individual almost immediately and his recognition did not improve his mood. Eyes widened, teeth snarled, before Logan let out a growling. "You."

"Yes, me," Sabretooth stated when he cracked his knuckles, staring down his hated enemy through gritted teeth. "Surprised to see me, runt."

"Not really, I was wondering when you'd crawl underneath your rock," Logan responded whilst he eyed the individual he last saw on Asteroid M. A part of him hoped that Sabretooth perished, but he knew better. There was many times where he thought that Sabretooth was dead, but he survived the battle. It was one thing that was true for as long as they knew each other.

"Time to end this," Sabretooth growled as he rushed forward but Logan dodged the attack, before he kicked Sabretooth in the back.

"Getting a bit slow, aren't you, Creed?" Logan asked before he tripped up Sabretooth and slammed him into the wall.

Suddenly, a bright light popped up and blinded Logan, causing him to hunch forward, before going down onto the ground. He dropped to one knee, feeling the ringing course through his ears to the point where his eardrums came close to shattering.

"Keep your hands up where I can see them, mutie."

Logan felt himself shocked from behind, he never felt anything like this and he faded to black.

The next thing he knew, he was on the ground in a government lab, never a good sign.

"Good, you're awake."

Logan peered up to see a man with dark hair and a mustache, dressed in a SHIELD uniform, staring down at him. "Who the hell are you, bub?"

The man paused before he stared down Logan, not saying anything for a moment and then he cracked his knuckles, staring down at the feral mutant. There was a long pause before the question was answered. "My name is Bolivar Trask, I've been hired to commission a project to take down you mutants before you become a threat to humanity."

Logan's eyes closed when he felt a ringing sensation in the back of his head, and felt weaker than ever before. No matter how much he tried to struggle, he could not get up. So, there was one question that he needed to ask and the mutant stared down Trask with furious intentions, his claws popping out threateningly. "Does Fury know about this?"

Trask snorted before he focused on Logan. "Fury, he shut the project down, because he's gone soft. But I and a small group of SHIELD agents have started it back up. If Fury doesn't want to take the necessary steps to take down mutants than I will. Behold the salvation of mutant kind, the Sentinel."

Logan pushed his head up, trying to figure out what to do against this creation of Trask, but he was out of it. There was a giant black robotic with glowing eyes that stepped in.

"It evolves to take down the mutants in one fell swoop," Trask commented as he cracked his knuckles, before staring down at Logan. "So do you think you're hard enough to take it down?"

Logan did not respond with anything other than a growl, when he looked up at the robotic enemy that stalked him. He was the best in the world at what he did and what he was going to do was take down this thing down. His knees shook a little bit but he stayed the course, pushing himself forward. Claws popped and claws rammed into the knee cap, denting it.

"Allow him to go wild, because he will allow our creations to adapt," Trask stated to the man who stood in the shadows and nodded.

"Mutant kind won't know what hit them," a crisp voice stated from the shadows.

"And your funding for this project is invaluable, Mr. Osborn," Trask concluded; he saw the individual in the shadows offer a curt nod before Logan dove at the enemy

"This Wolverine is a great test subject but the one known as Arcane would have been better," Osborn responded when he stepped forward, his face scarred and his eyes bloodshot, not to mention most of his hair was gone. He could no longer show himself in public because of what Arcane, Spider-Man, and Doctor Octopus did to him. It was all their fault and they would all pay in due time, along with the X-Men. "But unfortunately, we could not track him down with sufficient time."

He blamed Arcane for what happened to him above all others. Osborn cracked his knuckles, before tapping his hands on the ground and drumming his fingers carefully when he kept monitoring the one known as Wolverine when the Sentinel learned from his movements.

Panicked footsteps increased when a pink haired girl rushed down an alleyway, running as fast as her feet could carry her. This day started as a nice day for her, in fact a fun day, but it turned rather wrong. The pink haired girl moved forward further and further, away from the three goons with green jackets with the letters "FOH" on them. Her breath went in and out as she closed her eyes.

"Get back here you filthy little mutie!"

She did not even know what they were talking about and the fifteen year old picked up the pace, butterflies flapping in her stomach, when she moved forward. The girl found the back of the alleyway and closed her eyes. The wings on her back flipped and dust surrounded her.

"Please don't, I didn't do anything to hurt anyone," she begged, her hands twitching a little bit and quite frankly she was scared out of her mind.

"The thing is, you steal the air from humans, so you're doing plenty of harm," one of the members of the Friends of Humanity stated when he slammed the pipe on the side of his palm. "Now come quiet girl and we might go easy on you, maybe."

The girl trembled, biting down on her lip, this had been the scariest situation she had ever been in her young life. There was nothing that periled this situation. She was on a holiday with her friends and now this happened. Friends that backed off in fear from her when they saw what this girl what she could do, it was funny how fickle friendship could be in the case of the unknown.

"Time to smash this little pixie."

"Sorry boys, I'm going to have to put a veto on that plan."

Arcane dropped down, surrounded by shadows, his face obscured.

"It's him!" one of the goons responded before he swung the pipe at Arcane but he dodged the attack at super speed, before levitating the pipe from his hand.

"So you like to smack young girls in the face, do you?" Arcane asked, before he levitated the pipe over his head and smacked them in the face with the swinging pipe. There was a loud crack and a louder smash, when the pipe propelled into the back of the head of the Friends of Humanity goons, cracking their skulls.

"Get him!"

"You know, I did give you a chance to run," Arcane responded in a bored voice when he dodged their attacks, they were nothing. "Because let's face it it's not like any of you have a chance."

The Friends of Humanity goons got knocked down and he levitated a fence into the air, before wrapping it around them. They screamed in agony when their bones crushed and they dropped to the ground.

"For the record, bigotry should not be tolerated," Arcane responded firmly as he turned around to the girl in the alleyway. "Are you alright? Do you need any help?"

"Who are you?" the girl asked, hints of a Welsh accent popping in her voice.

"A friend," Arcane responded with a smile across his face. "But are you okay?"

The girl kept her eyes on him for a minute, transfixed. "F-fine thanks, you….I don't know what their problem was."

"Their problem was that they can't handle anyone being different," Harry responded as he threw his head back with a slight sigh. "At least you didn't get your head bashed in."

"Thanks to you," the girl responded with a bright smile when she watched Harry, before a slight blush appeared on her cheeks as she saw his face. "My name's Megan….Megan Gywnn and you are…."

"A friend," Harry repeated as he reached forward and extended his hand. With a tentative grab, she allowed him to help her up. "I'd tell you more but I'm trying to keep this entire secret identity thing under wraps."

"Okay, but….thanks really, I mean that," Megan responded as she watched him carefully, before a bright smile popped over her face. "What you did out there, it was amazing, you're a true hero. You should….do that more often, step out of the shadows."

Harry considered it, believe him, he considered it but he was not completely sure about taking that final plunge. Still he wondered if Arcane might be able do some more good.

Or maybe he could still stand in the shadows as Arcane, prowling in the nights and avenging those who harmed mutants, and had a more public identity in the light. Although what that would be, Harry had no idea. Still he gave that some thought.

He moved forward, before Harry flipped the box over in his hand and eyed it carefully.

There was an "S" carved on the box, within a shield and Harry paused, that never happened before.

"The day is arriving," the box whispered in a cryptic tone as Harry held it in his hand. "Soon your grander purpose will be fulfilled."

"Okay, kind of creepy," Harry responded and Megan eyed him curiously.

"What's kind of creepy?" she asked him, a smile crossing her face.

Harry realized how insane he might look if he talked to a box and it did not talk back to him. It was weirdness personified; especially when he was the only one that heard the box. The young wizard carefully turned over the box in his hand, trying to figure out what made it tick but so far nothing. It opened once in the dream world and never again.

"It's nothing, just had a long day, let's make sure there aren't any more of those guys around," Harry responded and Megan nodded, that was understandable, but she waited, tapping her foot on the ground when she did.

The coast was clear and Harry made sure she was back to a safe place, before he had to head out for the next part of his day.

The hidden nation of Nova-Roma was one that special permission was needed to visit, although Amara was able to get that permission for her and her boyfriend to visit, along with a few of their friends. Kitty and Gwen were the two that tagged along with the trip. The quartet walked forward, with Gwen turning around to Amara.

"So is there anything that we should know about this place, so we don't offend anyone?" Gwen asked Amara in a serious tone of voice.

Amara racked her brain. "For the most part our people are rather understanding."

"Even about the collective thing," Kitty answered as she smiled, she always conveniently forgot to bring it up to her parents when talking about Harry, imagine that.

"Especially about the collective thing, my father has a few women other than my mother," Amara answered, that was why she was so intrigued about Harry and how open minded he was about these things. Then again given the culture he came from, there were a lot of odd things around them that seemed perfectly normal. Although Harry mentioned that ninety five percent of the people where he came from seemed to be on the lower end of the intelligence pool.

"So in other words, he would be pretty hypocritical if he lectured you about what you're doing," Gwen answered and Amara nodded with a smile crossing her face. "Pretty much yeah."

The quartet walked forward, waiting for the other shoe to drop, and for something to happen. The group continued to move forward, waiting for something to happen and sure enough, something did.

All of the villages saw Harry walking down the street with his girls, and they eyed him, muttering, before they dropped to their knees and bowed before him.

"Great one, you have returned," one of the woman stated, her nose literally pressed to the ground as she bowed.

"It's such an honor," another woman responded and several of the men muttered.

Amara looked sheepish and Harry slowly turned towards her, completely dumbstruck by what happened. His eyes narrowed a little bit, arms crossed around his chest, and he saw their words of praise and dare he say it worship him.

"He has fallen from the heavens and gifted us with great tidings," a man said, and Kitty and Gwen offered an expression of surprise and both shrugged, even though both girls were trying to hide the snickering that they were doing at the wide eyed look Harry gave. The young wizard spun around and eyed both of the girls before he offered one word curtly and firmly to Amara.

"Explain."

Amara flushed before she turned around and cleared her throat.

"This way, great one," Amara stated as barely hid both her amusement along with her embarrassment.

"C'mon Amara, not you too," Harry stated but he had to admit it, a small part of him, a very small part of him, felt oddly satisfied with being worshipped by an entire nation.

Gwen smiled, she could not resist speaking now. "Oh suck it up and take it like a man, great one."

"Yeah, great one, what's the worst that could happen, great one?" Kitty asked but Harry gave her a glare which caused the brunette mutant to back off. The fun was over.

Amara opened up the doors of a temple and walked forward. The dust was siphoned away from Harry's magic and he stepped forward, to look up at the statue, inclining his head upwards to see it. There it stood, large and proud, making a heroic pose that Harry doubted that he would ever do in his life.

"He has come from the heavens to bless us and the entire world, one day he shall return and lead us to a glorious new age, where he will shape the world and become a true man of tomorrow," Gwen read before she turned around to face Harry and get his reaction.

"Good thing Selene didn't catch wind of you being here," Amara murmured under her breath.

"Selene," Harry responded, his eyebrow raising.

"Long story, tell you some other time," Amara responded but Kitty eyed the statue, seeing the weird shield on the shirt uniform.

"I wonder what the "S" stands for?"

"Sex god?" Gwen asked with an off handed shrug.

"Apparently he will also be long lived, living for years and years beyond the average human or even….Harry, did you know about this?" Kitty asked as she rooted on the spot, her mouth open.

"Now, Kitty, that's a myth," Harry responded as she eyed the statue, and looked at Harry. "But I did tell you my type is long lived."

"The stop aging at twenty five or so long lived, you didn't mention anything about that," Kitty responded, it was something that was hard to swallow when you realized that your boyfriend was going to stop aging and remain forever young when you were going to grow old.

Then again there was sometimes where Kitty wondered if she would even live to see her twentieth birthday, given the hectic nature of the X-Men. There was always a risk that despite being her very best, there was going to a chance that her very best was not going to be good enough.

So in reality, the growing old thing when Harry didn't might not be a problem. She was going to make the most of every moment that she had.

"So an entire race of people worship me," Harry responded, trying to keep his voice calm and neutral, even if this kind of felt weird.

Gwen could not resist chiming in with her two cents. "Well look at this way Harry, this could either be good or bad."

"How so?" Amara asked curiously and Gwen smiled.

"Well Harry is either worshipped and he brings them to the promised land," Gwen responded before she added as an afterthought. "Or there is some kind of ancient prophecy where Harry must be sacrificed to appease some evil entity."

Amara looked scandalized, her eyes widened at the thought. "Gwen, my people would never do that!"

"Yeah and that's a really charming thought," Kitty answered in a dry tone of voice but she would be lying if she did not entertain the thought a little bit herself and became a bit worried at it. Harry looked up, before the exited the temple.

The same "S" symbol that appeared on the box appeared on the statue, the same symbol that appeared on the bracelet of that mysterious blonde, there were too many things that were lining up and happening. Harry, Amara, Kitty, and Rogue stepped forward, before moving forward to the royal temple.

"My parents are through that door," Amara responded when she bit down on her lip, hoping that her parents did not make fools out of themselves in front of Harry. For two reasons, one they would be making fools out of themselves to a god reincarnated in human flesh. Along with the fact that they would embarrass her in front of her boyfriend, which would be even worse.

Harry moved forward to pay his respects to Amara's parents, but said parents sank to their knees before the wizard.

'Well I should have seen this coming,' Harry thought to himself in a dry manner, before he looked up at them, waiting for them to speak.

The king and queen of Nova-Roma got to their feet and eyed Harry respectively.

"We hope we do not offend you by rising prematurely, great one," the queen stated when she eyed him. If she was not happily married, she would be envious of her daughter for netting him. Even she had to share him with others.

"No, no offense at all," Harry responded when he eyed them. "I saw the temple…."

"We hope it was up to your satisfaction," the king responded as he eyed Harry before he clapped a hand to his mouth, which caused Amara to get a small amount of embarrassment from the way her father was conducting himself. "I do hope that I have not offended you for speaking out of turn."

"Just don't do it again," Gwen answered as she eyed the royals with a smile crossing her face.

"The legend of the statue was not clear, I was hoping that you could fill me in a bit more on it, so I can correct any potential inaccuracies of course," Harry responded, with a smile matching Gwen's face. "Myself and my royal oracle here would like to make sure everything is on the level."

Gwen smiled; apparently she had been promoted from girlfriend to royal oracle. Hopefully the perks remained unchanged.

The queen pretty much tripped over her words to speak this next bit to Harry. "Of course, great one it would be an honor, a thousand years ago, upon the founding of our civilization, there was a prophet that arrived here and helped found this island nation of Nova-Roma."

The queen took a moment to collect her thoughts before she continued.

"This traveler came from extremely far away and also set up shop with his main lover, the one known as Selene," the queen answered before she looked nervous at speaking her name. "Selene has moved on to other pursuits but her influence was felt and the traveler's departure caused her to become twisted into what she is today."

Harry knew that he would find out more about it.

"We heard about the circumstances of your arrival and it fit the parameters of the prophecy," the queen added as she watched the group. "There is another that will be arriving here, for you two are the last of your kind."

The scroll was handed over to Harry and he saw her on the scroll, the same blonde that visited him during his adventure in the dark dimension. There was also the Phoenix depicted on the scroll. The queen's hand was covering a third figure, a cat that was standing in a shadow that was also determined to be great importance by the one that drew the scroll, so it was unseen by the group.

Kitty frowned, wondering where she fit into everything. She guessed she would have to ride this one out although the recent news that Harry would not age past a certain point that was a bitter pill to swallow. The fact that she felt so teenager compared to what Harry was doing and the greater purpose that he had, that made her determined to figure out a way to step up her game, even if it killed her.

She needed an entirely new image beyond Shadowcat of the X-Men, beyond the teenage girl known as Kitty Pryde, to get her abilities to that next level. The pieces formed in her head.

"She's beautiful," Gwen whispered when she saw the blonde. "Like an angel."

Harry smiled, that she was, but naturally all his girls were, so why would this one be any different?

"Of course, most of this is guess work, we could be wrong but we are confident on one thing," the king added, speaking up for the first time in a while. "You were sent here for a reason and the fact our daughter has met our star god, where there is only one thing that we must do."

The king pulled out an envelope and handed it to Harry. He raised a hand. "I could not ask you to sign this now, but I will ask you to give it the full consideration and weigh open the options in our mind. Given all that you have done for this nation, my daughter is my greatest treasure and she adores you, so this is an agreement where there is no one that loses."

"Father, I can't believe you….." Amara started but a stern glare from both her parents caused her to fall back into line.

"What is it?" Kitty asked as she looked at her fellow collective mate, Amara looked agitated that her father would embarrass her in front of her boyfriend and her sister collective members.

"Look it over and I'm open to negotiations, there are several other females on this island that would be willing to serve you as well," the king responded as Harry read it. "Talk it over with the other members of your collective."

Harry mulled over the documents he had been given, he would have to arrange a meeting with Jen and look these over, to know exactly what he was getting himself into, before he even thought about signing them.

That would have to wait until later, as they spent the rest of the day on the island, although having people drop to their knees and worship him was a bit tiring after a while.

The work of a young wizard was never over, at least that's Harry thought when he arrived for his meeting with the mysterious white queen. She was not the type of woman that he thought was to be kept waiting, at least that's the assumption he had. The Boy-Who-Lived walked forward, and had backup cloaked, but he hoped that he would never need it. The wizard stood up straight before he stepped forward.

The woman in question was dressed in a white jacket, a white blouse, and pants that fit her like a second layer of skin. Her blue eyes burned brightly towards him, before her hair hung over her face and she watched him.

"Mr. Potter, I presume," she stated in a calm and crisp voice, her expression never wavering from that point. She kept a close watch on him, waiting to see what happened next, how he would react.

"You presumed correctly," Harry responded, not keeping his gaze off of her for even a moment. "And you would be…."

"Frost, Miss Emma Frost," the woman responded when she sat down. She was about twenty three, twenty four years of age, and had the type of beauty that was hard to miss. Yet, Harry knew that dealing with someone like that would mean that there was a game at foot. "You've caught the attention of a few people, Harry."

"That's part of my charm," Harry responded when he watched the woman, who folded her arms together.

"Quite," Emma answered when she watched Harry, before she responded with one statement. "I feel that your talents are being wasted with an outfit like Xavier and his X-Men and you are not being properly compensated as such."

Harry said nothing but rather he took the coffee and the biscuits that had been provided and performed a few simple charms to make sure that everything was on the level. Not that he wanted to distrust anyone but Harry knew better by now to blindly trust anyone. A smile crossed his face when he watched the woman before her who carefully watched him for a response.

Being the gentleman Harry was, he did not want to keep a lady hanging and he watched the blonde before him.

"Well I'm keeping all of my options open," Harry responded when he watched her before a knowing smile crossed his face. "And one might say your talents are wasted by being the arm candy of someone like Shaw."

Emma raised an eyebrow but said nothing.

"I trust that's the nature of your relationship, a beard of sorts to make him look impressive, by having a beautiful young woman much younger than him," Harry responded when Emma said nothing, but offered a stoic nod.

The truth was Emma could count on one hand the number of times that she had sexual relations with another man and still have fingers left over. Shaw was not going to be one of those men, for one he was unimpressive from what she heard and also deluded towards his true sexual orientation.

Her telepathy skills made men think that she was having sex with them but in reality she sat in a corner, doing a crossword puzzle or reading a book, until they passed out, likely breaking their pelvis in the process. Then she took any incriminating information of them and sent it to the Hellfire Club.

"So, it's almost like you're trying to recruit me," Emma answered when she fired back, watching him carefully.

"What are you trying to imply, Miss Frost?" Harry asked, offering an innocent smile that she was not fooled by, not even for a second. The young wizard folded his arms and now it was her turn in the mental game of chess they played.

"I'm not trying to imply anything," Emma answered in a careful voice when the blonde closed her eyes and watched her would be prey, even if she slowly got the impression that she was the one being hunted.

The mental chess game continued and Harry knew that he had to be back in a little bit for his going away party and speech. He wondered if there was going to be any last minute attempts to convince him to stay, but all Harry had to do was wait and see.

They would meet again, potentially in a more intimate setting than a public café.

The Master of Magnetism shifted his weight when he turned around, Sabretooth gave the report back to him, whilst the rest of his Acolytes shifted in the background, waiting for their orders.

The time was today; soon they would have to be revealed to the world one way or another. Magneto knew that this time was coming sooner rather than later, it was a matter of trying to figure out when exactly it would occur. He stepped forward and watched the Acolytes. Their shadowed figures looked up at him and they nodded.

"So what is our play, boss man?" one of the shadowed figures stated in a Cajun accent, as he shuffled playing cards in his hand, eyes glowing when he waited for the next move.

The Master of Magnetism was only too happy to elaborate what that next move would be to one of his men. "Our next move, Gambit, is to ensure that we are forced to band together. Because if we do not band together on this day, we will all hang separately. I have seen it happen before; the humans will never accept us. They are building death machines against us and it will not be long before they shift us all into camps."

He would not allow that to happen, not again, not after the last time, the battle would be is, he could feel it. His wrists turned around, feeling pained and stiffened but the Master of Magnetism addressed his men.

"Tonight comes the time where we must all stand together and force the X-Men to stand beside us, we are all brothers and sisters," Magneto added as he stared at them all, unblinking. "For if what's to come is going to come, then we must be one. Arcane has been sent here for a purpose, I have seen the prophecies, and read the signs. There is a reason why I went to recruit him. It is the worst kept secret that he would break away from Xavier eventually."

"And what makes you think he'll join us, mate," a red haired man with an Australian accent stated when his fire flickered in his hands.

"He'll join us, because he is the one," Magneto responded cryptically as he turned his head to the side and pondered the predicament that went over in his head.

Now the time came, but what would happen afterwards? Magneto knew that today would separate those who could stand up and do what was necessary from those who would drop to their knees and cower in a fetal ball when they could not handle the battle. The Master of Magnetism planned for every contingency and every moment that would come after.

Make no mistake about it, he had every concern that today's events would turn around for the worst but he could not worry about now. All Magneto worried about was succeeding for today's moment and winning the day.

It was at the palm of his hand and he turned, his Acolytes watched him, smiles crossing their faces.

"It is time."

Portals opening at random locations was the rule rather than the exception as of late and the individual that exited the portal presently was not about to change that. He dropped to the ground, landing hard on the ground. A thunderous thud could be heard, when the figure stepped forward, face cloaked in light. It had been a long time, but he tracked the one who escaped before he could kill her to this time period.

His future would be in peril if this girl succeeded in changing the timeline. The moment that the star child was killed and he erased their memories of him, that was the moment that his victory was assured. The footsteps got louder and more prominent when he edged himself forward, ready to pounce and ready to win the day, no matter what it might bring to him.

His eyes glowed, illuminated in a sickening red light, but his fingers scraping together, that told the story, it was even more violent. This man was more machine than man but shutting down his emotional processes allowed for a great deal of efficiency. And the organs he harvested from mutants gave him powers beyond all. The eyes of one that shot optic blasts from his eyes plus the control the machine that allowed him more clarity.

The spine of one that could phase through walls, that pleased him as well.

The bones of one who could heal, yes he had the bones of Wolverine grafted into this form as well.

Sinister tried to create him to ensure that he was the ultimate weapon but he decided that he evolved beyond Sinister's purpose.

The skin of one who could absorb powers through contact, oh yes, that was another part of him and a part that he embraced one hundred percent of the way, grabbing his hands together and he kept walking forward.

There was one more element from him, the heart of a true hero, he ripped that one out when he killed the star child and burned the rest of his body. He had super strength, flight, and the ability to perform the magical arts as well from the blood and the heart of this powerful individual.

Then there was the brain of Charles Xavier and his amazing psychic gifts. He wished to get the powers of Jean Grey and the Phoenix Force as well but fate robbed him of that desire. It was as well, for there would come a time where he had his moment.

His eyes glowed and he shifted into any form he wished. Now he shifted into one of the SHIELD agents moving around on the ground, inconspicuous. A subliminal hint from Xavier's brain would make them not question it too much.

He was Bastion and he would have the world in the past to make sure the future extended beyond what it was. There was nothing and on one that could stand in his way. He beat the X-Men in his own time and now he would beat them in this time, when the team was barely trained and able to stand on their own.

He relished killing Summers once again, that child had delusions of grandeur and assumed that he had the potential for leadership. Yet, the machine moved forward, the sum of his parts greater than the entire team together. He had all of their powers combined for he was Bastion and he would rule them.

The plan worked like a charm and he began to track the only one who might be able to stop them. Today was the day that the meteor shower was supposed to happen and if he accessed his birthright, then the star child and the other, along with the Phoenix would combine their powers to destroy his future.

The SHIELD satellites were always a constant hub of information that was flowing through the air, always running at optimal performance. There was a slight beeping noise that was unsettling even at the best of times, but many times at the worst of times. Nick Fury stood his eye on the map of the world. So far everything was quiet but that was known to turn around in a heartbeat. He threw his head back and placed a hand on his hips.

A large spike of power blacked out most of the Hellicarrier.

"What in the name of Sam Hill is going on?" Fury growled when he spun around and then there was a creepy voice that echoed throughout the ears of the SHIELD agents.

"Hello children, my name is Bastion and I am now in control of all of the operations on your Hellicarrier," the voice of Bastion responded when it echoed intensely.

Fury never liked to admit that anyone was in control but him and a foul expression spread over his face. The Director of SHIELD was not going to get counted out, not that easily at least. He spun around and began barking orders at the men around him.

"Don't just stand there, make sure you get the power back on," Fury responded as he jerked his head from the screen wildly, one eye on the other agents of SHIELD and they scrambled as quickly as their feet could handle them.

"Fury, it's been a long time since I've killed you," Bastion responded in a taunting voice. "Humans and mutants, they're all the same problems, and while they have many parts that work well, ruthless efficiency is something that can only be done with a machine. All problems must be calculated, and logically processed. That is something you pitiful humans and mutants cannot do with your emotions. You are too prone to flights of fancy."

Fury tried to kick back up power on so he could track where this individual came from.

"No, no, Nicolas, I have only begun to have my fun," Bastion responded with a chuckle that was very emotional. "You see, I've come here to tie up a few loose ends. There is a young girl known as Rachel who slipped through the time stream. Her actions have compromised my future, the future where ruthless efficiently rules the Earth and mutants and humans are mastered by the machines and not the other way around.

Hawkeye turned up, his eyes widened, and he groaned. "I always knew computers would take over the world."

Black Widow rolled her eyes, how her colleague could joke about something so serious at a time like this, she would never know. She did not want to find out.

Bastion's chuckles continued to grow louder. "I wouldn't worry too much about me or what the Sentinels will end up doing once I have taken control of them. Your main concern should be evacuating thousands of people from a city like New York when the meteors start hitting."

"Meteors?" Fury asked with an eyebrow raised, wondering what Bastion was talking about.

The SHIELD power reserves kicked back on and just in time as well. There was a blipping motion that could be heard and Fury turned around, his teeth gritted. The Director of SHIELD wondered what problem he had to deal with now but suspected that he would find out all too soon. Fury spun around, clutching his head.

"There are large meteors, on approach to hit New York," one of the SHIELD officers stated, shaking, trying to figure out if he could be blamed for this or not, his eyes closing shut. "ETA, two hours, fifty seven minutes."

Fury had only one statement to this. "Evacuate the citizens of New York, time is the essence."

Black Widow knew that there was one person who might be able to shed some light on this, and she slipped off to get in touch of him.

Two hours fifty five minutes twelve seconds, two hours fifty five minutes eleven seconds, two hours fifty five minutes ten seconds, two hours fifty five minutes nine seconds.