Summary: AU: Everyone thought Apocalypse was defeated once and for all. Wrong. When Apocalypse begins a new reign of assault, it's up to 4 Gods and 4 Goddesses to save the world once and for all. Couples: Lancitty (Lance and Kitty), Romy (Rogue and Remy), Jonda (John and Wanda), Rohne (Roberto/Rahne), Loro (Logan and Ororo), X-ietro (X-23/Lexie and Pietro), and more. Read and Review! Please! It's my first fanfic!

Disclaimer:

Me: I do not own the rights to any of these characters, except Thomas Five, the two new Brotherhood members, and all 10 of the X-Sword Team, but of course I don't own anything about Mesmero, but then again, who would? Anyway, they are the personal property of Marvel Inc., which is sad, because I would so love to own the rights to these characters… then I would be rich, and would stop war and famine and poverty and bring peace to everyone and…

Lexie: Get on with it already! (sound of claws heard)

Wanda: Yeah, do get on with it before I hex you! (Wanda's hands begin to glow blue)

Me: All right, all right; jeez… anyway, I don't own X-Men, but if I did, then I could do so many things…

"…"- conversation

'…'- thoughts

(…)- extra facts/actions (some)

((…))- author's/my own thoughts

'blah…' -telepathy/what people say mentally

Note! – This story is alternate universe, so I decided to put in character descriptions to help get you into the personalities and spirit of the characters in my stories. I would definitely recommend reading the descriptions of the X-Sword Team and the two New Brotherhood members, as they are all mine.

Just please try and keep the complaints about them to a minimum! Oh, and if you have more information for me, e-mail me in your reviews! Please and thank you!

Also, I own the rights to Rex, Devon, Mark, Aaron, Leon, Ross, Tyne, Erica, Laura, Opal, Lynn, Brittany, and Thomas Five, as they are my own creations and are my own mutants. However, if I have somehow taken your original mutant and made it mine without my knowledge, then please inform me and I will give you credit.

Unification

Prologue

Auschwitz, Germany- 1944

The Holocaust. This gruesome event shaped the lives of many, many people, but especially the life of one Erik Lensherr. Erik was about 10 when he and his family were taken to Auschwitz, the worst of the concentration camps, in 1944; the reason being that Erik and his family were Jewish and therefore not part of Adolf Hitler's Third Reich and his "perfect race". Here, they were separated from each other.

As Erik watched his parents being pushed towards a part of the camp that would eventually take them to the labor camps, he tried to break free of the guards holding him. They were trying to herd him and other children to a part of the camp that would put them in a camp like the adults', only theirs was much easier than the one their parents were going.

"Momma! Pappa!" screamed Erik as he struggled to get free. As he watched his parents being taken behind a solid iron fence, he instinctively reached out to the metal with his thoughts. He had always felt a special connection with both metal and magnets.

As he watched in disbelief, the metal gate started to twist and groan. Erik concentrated harder, and the gate started to twist and move more and more in his direction. The soldiers started to panic and tried to drag Erik away like they'd been ordered to do. Erik thought to himself, 'No… I will not be taken away like this! I must help my mother and father!'

With these thoughts, Erik planted his feet as firmly as he could in the mud that the torrential downpour was causing. The soldiers tried to move him, but couldn't budge him. They kept pulling, and Erik could feel his muscles and his whole body begin to throb with the pain and stress being put on him.

'I won't give in…' he thought to himself as he concentrated on keeping himself from being moved and, at the same time, completely destroying the gate that separated him and his parents.

"I will never give up!" Erik screamed, and as he finished yelling, he felt the butt end of a soldier's gun hit his head, and the last thing he saw before losing consciousness was his parents struggling to get free and rush to him. That was the last time he ever saw his parents.

Bayville, New York- 1954

After the end of World War II, about 10 years before American soldiers were sent into Vietnam (1954), a 19-year-old teenager named Charles Xavier was going to school one day when he stopped suddenly, dropped his backpack on the pavement, and clutched his head as he felt a jolt of pain. He could hear voices of people swirling around in his head to such a degree that he couldn't tell which thoughts were his and which were those of the people around him. Charles somehow knew that he could speak to people telepathically and could place thoughts in their heads and control their minds and actions.

"What's happening to me?" asked Charles nervously as he stared at his hands in order to give his mind something to concentrate on, and in an attempt to rid himself of the thoughts in his head. After a few minutes, Charles breathed a sigh of relief as he once more heard only his own thoughts and no one else's.

'I'll… I'll worry about it later,' thought Charles as he gathered up his dropped backpack and continued on to school.

Later that week, Charles was in a class with a teacher who didn't like him at all. He had gradually been learning what was happening to him on his own, and realized to some extent what he could do, and this included the fact that he could control other peoples' thoughts.

Charles thought, 'I think I'll have a little fun…' Charles then put a thought into the teacher's head that told him he was having a heart attack. The teacher stopped talking about the First World War, dropped the chalk he was using to jot notes on the board, and clutched his chest like he was having a heart attack. He then dropped to the floor, writhing in pain as he was wracked with what he thought to be pain, and an ambulance was called.

It wasn't until later that Charles realized that because of what he had thought of as a harmless prank, his teacher had almost died, and from then on vowed to never use his powers on someone without their permission or unless it was an absolute and complete emergency.

Bayville, New York- 1963

When Charles was 28 (1 year before he left to fight in the Vietnam War), he met a man with a power that was somewhat similar to his own, in that it made him different.

"Greetings, Charles Xavier. I am Erik Lensherr, and I understand that you have a power that classifies you as a mutant. Well, I too have a power," said Erik as he greeted Charles with a bow. Erik then turned to some men, who were working with weights, and raising his arm, he concentrated and picked up a 50-pound weight, but none saw this feat but himself and Charles.

"Amazing!" exclaimed Charles as he watched Erik then put the weight down. "You can help me control the full extent of my power?" he asked as he stared at Erik, who had turned around to face the telepath once more.

"Certainly, as long as you help me with mine," replied Erik as he held out a hand and Charles took it. "We must stick together, Charles. Mutants must stick together," he continued as they hugged and shook hands in friendship.

Bayville, New York-1984

Over the years they worked together, Charles and Erik became best friends. They built a machine together that they called Cerebro, which was operated by Charles. It amplified Charles' already extensive psychic powers and let him search the minds of any being, human or mutant on Earth, and if he concentrated hard enough, kill them. It allowed them to find any mutants that either had mutant powers that were dormant, or had powers that had already been revealed. They sought out these people and brought them to the Institute for the Gifted, later to be called The Xavier Institute for the Gifted. Here, Charles and Erik taught the young mutants (some of whom died later and some who refused to leave, but were forced to leave anyway) how to harness their powers and how and when to use them responsibly. It was here that Charles and Erik had drastically different ideas.

Erik wanted to eliminate all humankind from the planet so that their kind, mutants, would have nothing to fear. This fit in with his "the strongest will survive, the weak will perish" theory that he had learned from studying the works of Charles Darwin through the years.

"Charles, we need to eliminate the humans," said Erik one day, when he was with Charles in the room that held Cerebro, and stood facing his good friend.

"Why must we?" asked Charles from his wheelchair. When Charles had served in Vietnam, he had walked over a land mine and his legs had been irreversibly paralyzed, so he was confined to a wheelchair for the rest of his life. In addition, the fact that the bomb's radiation had caused him to lose all of his hair didn't really help at all.

"What do you mean, why?" asked Erik, exasperation evident in his voice as he moved away from Charles to face Cerebro and then strode towards it.

"I mean, Erik, that we have to learn how to co-exist peacefully with humans. We must not become like those who murdered so many people in World War II, including your parents," replied Charles as he made his way over towards his friend, reaching out a hand to touch Erik's shoulder.

"Erik, I understand how you feel about getting revenge against the humans for what happened to you, your parents, your race; but the people who did that to you are gone, either dead, in jail, or we have no idea where they are. But revenge is not the answer, Erik," continued Charles as he closed his eyes as he felt Erik's emotions wash over him, and felt revenge, sympathy, anger, and sadness, but knew that these were only Erik's surface emotions; his real ones he kept hidden under strong mental barriers.

"Revenge is the answer, Charles!" exclaimed Erik as he took Charles' hand off his shoulder and turned to face Charles. "You do not understand a thing! And no, don't try to read my mind! Even if manage to get past my mental barriers, you still won't understand how I feel about my family and the human race. I'm sorry, Charles, but if you cannot see my way of thinking, and if you cannot see that I am right, then I am afraid that we will not be able to work together anymore. Our views on the strong vs. the weak, on the mutants and the humans, are just too different, among other things. I support the theory that one day Homo superior will rule over Homo sapiens, while you think that they are equals. I am afraid that we can no longer be comrades, Charles, but I do wish to still have a small hint of your acquaintance to argue politics with to remain."

"Of course, but are you sure, Erik?" asked Charles as he looked into Erik's eyes. "You are sure that we cannot work things out?"

"Quite sure, Charles," replied Erik as he began to put his tools away. "I will leave shortly, Charles. I wish you the best of luck with this school, and with the rest of your life, and I will telephone you come Christmas to talk for one night of times gone by."

With these words, Erik put out his hand so Charles could shake it. Charles took the proffered hand and shook it for the last time, symbolizing their friendship in the past and the unknown future. "I also wish you the best of luck in whatever path you decide to take."

Erik nodded in acceptance of what Charles had said, and walked out of the room, and out of the Institute that the two friends had built together, with his toolbox floating behind him.

As Charles watched his friend leave, he felt sad; sad that Erik Lensherr would become possessed by revenge for what had happened to his family, and for what he had become. Charles knew that Erik had become a person so consumed with vengeance that he had lost track of what he was supposed to do with his life.

'I will help you, Erik,' thought Charles as he turned around and wheeled himself towards Cerebro. 'I will help you, no matter how long it takes.'

Bayville, New York- 2014

Some thirty years later, in and around the year 2014, Charles Xavier is now leader of the X-Men. They are a group of mutants that use their powers to try to protect all of humanity from the Brotherhood of Mutants and the Acolytes, both of which are run by Erik Lensherr.

The X-Men are made up of all the students that live and learn to control their powers at the Institute and the instructors there. A hierarchy exists in both the X-Men and the Brotherhood. The hierarchy in the X-Men is thus: in charge is Charles Xavier; his seconds-in-command (generals) are Jean Grey-Summers (Phoenix), Scott Summers (Cyclops), Hank McCoy (Beast), Ororo Munroe (Storm), and Logan (Wolverine). After these five people, the command goes to the more experienced students like Kitty Pryde (Shadowcat), Bobby Drake (Iceman), Marie Darkholme (Rogue), Kurt Wagner (Nightcrawler), and others, and finally, the more inexperienced students take command if it comes to it.

The X-Men originally operated in secret, but now the whole world knows about them, and they have saved the world many, many times. Also, Forge (Dr. Forge), Elizabeth Braddock (Psylocke), Warren Worthington III (ArchAngel), and Sean Cassidy (Banshee) are X-Men, and though they don't live at the Institute like the others will, if needed, help their friends as often as they can, even if it involves battling.

The Xavier Institute for the Gifted encompasses about 100 acres, and includes a large mansion, with over 100 rooms for mutants living there and for mutants to come, 10 guestrooms, around 50 bathrooms, and 5 living rooms. The mansion also includes at least 10 medium-sized classrooms, five dens, two large libraries, two kitchens, and two elevators leading down to the training centers used for training the various mutants and help them hone their powers, and ten garages for the assortment of vehicles that the boarders there used.

A large forest surrounds half of the mansion and there is a cliff with a waterfall leading down to the ocean, connected to a beach. There is a path that leads down to the beach, along with an Olympic-size pool, many fields and courts for sports, and various pavilions spread throughout the campus, along with a stable full of horses near the edge of the forest. Underneath the mansion itself there are training centers and aircrafts of many kinds. The woods are full of animals and there are even a few mythical creatures, like dragons, brought to life by one of Forge's inventions and are now unable to be rid of. They are also used for defense. The younger students have befriended these animals and are able to control them to a certain degree.

The mansion has some of the most sophisticated defense mechanisms known to man, including a self-destruct program titled "Def-Con 4". This program can only be activated by a code typed into Cerebro, the head of all the defense mechanisms at the Institute. There is a voice-print and hand-print identification security system in the gate and the front entrance of the mansion itself, plus there are lasers and guns hidden under benches, the front fountain, etc. which are activated when an intruder is sensed by the infra-red technology installed throughout the grounds.

Erik "Magnus" Lensherr heads the Brotherhood of Mutants, as well as the Acolytes, but together they are more commonly known as the Brotherhood. He is known as Magneto, and is called "Magnus" by Charles.

The hierarchy in the Brotherhood is thus: in charge is Erik; his second-in-command is Lance Alvers (Avalanche), then next in line are Pietro Maximoff (Quicksilver) and Wanda Maximoff (Scarlet Witch). These two mutants are not only twins, but also Erik's children, and then following them is Raven Darkholme (Mystique). At the bottom of the ladder are Fred Freddy Dukes (Blob), Todd Tolensky (Toad), Leon Prince (Aussie), and Opal Key (Shot).

The Brotherhood don't care when, how, where, or why they operate and don't care who they hurt or what they do to achieve their objective, which is to either eliminate humanity or conquer the human race in order that mutants will rule the Earth. This goes along with the theory that Erik had adopted and changed to fit his own definition: "the strong will always triumph over the weak."

There are also five members of the Brotherhood who are members but don't live at the Boarding House of Bayville (the Brotherhood Headquarters) most of the time: St. John Allerdyce (Pyro), Victor Creed (Sabretooth), Pyotr/Piotr Peter Rasputin (Colossus), Remy LeBeau (Gambit), and Jason Wyngarde (Mastermind). These five mutants are referred to sometimes as the Acolytes, and in the rank of the hierarchy, a mix between the ranks of everyone below Lance's rank in the Brotherhood.

A few of the Brotherhood mutants are loners, and this includes Piotr, who's being blackmailed by Erik in order to fight with the Acolytes. Piotr's family (especially his sister)'s lives could be in danger if he doesn't do what Erik commands. Remy is a former thief and gambler (mostly a poker player) from the South who doesn't know where he exactly belongs, plus the fact that he is on the run from an arranged marriage back in New Orleans and is trying to escape the grip of the Guild of Thieves. Two more loners are Wanda, who doesn't know if she should or should not get revenge on her father; and Lance, who just doesn't know what to do with his life, and if he should try and quit the wars that have been going on for years.

The war between the Brotherhood and the X-Men has been going on since around the early 1990's, when Erik Lensherr revealed himself as Magneto and started to terrorize the town of Bayville, which is located in Westchester County, New York, not to mention the whole world. Charles Xavier organized the X-Men at this time in order to try to protect the town and its inhabitants from the destruction that the Brotherhood caused. The original X-Men included Ororo, Logan, Hank, Warren (ArchAngel), who quit to pursue as normal a life as he is able to with his blue skin and metal wings, and Sean, who has since quit the X-Men and is currently living in Ireland. Sean's codename is Banshee, as when he screams a supersonic shock wave is released and hurts everyone's ears in range except his own.

Eventually, more and more mutants were added to the team, some of them being promoted to become teachers, like Scott and Jean, as Warren and Sean quit, although they do help out when needed. Then, due to events that were televised, like the Sentinel project and the defeat of Apocalypse, the whole world now knows of the existence of mutants in the world, and especially in Bayville.

However, even though both the X-Men and the Brotherhood did team up to save the world ten years ago and live right in Bayville, the town is extremely prejudiced against mutants, and refuses to have any contact with them if they can avoid it. They refuse to help anyone that is a mutant, even if they look completely normal on the outside, or even if they (the mutants) are dying or are severely injured. There are even groups of people, like the Friends of Humanity, who terrorize the mutant population of Bayville, and even kill mutants, all to prove their point that mutants are dangerous and should be destroyed completely.

The students at the Brotherhood and the Institute are able to work and go around town because they have holo-projectors that give them different images and different names that they use in everyday situations. They (the projections) are used because the whole town knows the names of the real mutants and what they look like, so if they walk around town in their regular forms, they will be hunted like a deer is during hunting season. Even though Xavier's Institute tries to help the town, Bayville's citizens refuse to soften their views on how they regard mutants.

In the year 2011, laws were passed saying that mutants are no longer allowed to attend public school, so the mutants found and recruited by Xavier now attend class in the Institute itself, with some of the older students being the teachers. Mutants are no longer allowed to attend college, but they are able to earn their degrees in whatever field they want at the Institute, through Charles' influence.

So, the war continues, with no end in sight, and the two sides continue to battle. In a war that's good vs. evil… the X-Men vs. the Brotherhood… Charles vs. Erik… who will win? The real question everyone wants to know the answer to is: Who Will Win?

Note: This prologue is based heavily on the book X-Men by Kristine Kathryn Rusch and Dean Wesley Smith, with some additions and changes by me. (see next line for bibliography)

Rusch, Kristine Kathryn, and Dean Wesley Smith. X-Men. New York: Ballantine Books, 2000