I think that after this I will submit my later work (4 stories) and give the outline of the X_Traitor plot that would have been if the series had continued (or at least the version worked about between Andrew Wheeler and myself).

The UN battalion had surrounded Tony Stark before he even knew they were there. They melted out of the surrounding foliage; British and American special forces. The best of the breed. Even if he had been in top shape he wouldn't have considered resisting. As it was he doubted he could put up enough resistance to discourage a rabid gopher.

"Don't move or we'll drop you!" a tough looking NCO shouted at him. He felt hands seize him and the cool edge of a knife move to his throat. "I'm... I'm an Avenger." Stark wheezed. "Check it out!" the NCO barked.

"I recognise the armour pieces," a British officer interjected. "He's legit. I'll bet on it."

"ID checks out," the NCO reported.

"Okay. Get a medic up here. Liz, you stay with him and make sure he gets prepped for evac! The rest of you, let's get going. We aren't being paid by the hour and we have a mutie to nail." The British Major waved his soldiers on. In moments only Stark, a medic and the lady officer remained.

"Damn overprotective brothers!" the officer fumed.

"WHAT!" Scott yelled. "They went where? Looking for WHO!"

"As I was explaining before I was so rudely interrupted, the esteemed Professor went with Logan and Jean to the Savage Land to investigate Magneto's disappearance. They have been missing for a couple of days now..." Beast continued.

"And nobody thought that anything was WRONG with THAT! What is up with you people?" Scott was getting a little hysterical. "I can't even re-establish my psionic rapport with Jean! What has happened?"

"Calm yourself, Scott. We have been extremely busy with a number of problems and we assumed the Professor was just extending his trip a bit. Here, use Cerebro, that should enable you to make contact with Jean now that the astral turbulence has apparently settled down...wonder what was causing that..."

"Do not stray from the issue, McCoy. Those are dear friends of mine, missing beyond any reasonable explanation."

"One second, Storm, the analysis of that wave of psionic turbulence has just come in...Oh my stars and Garters!"

"What is it now? It has been nothing but a series of crises since we arrived! What can you possibly report that would be worth interrupting this for!"

"Apparently, Storm... apparently two major league psis have died in the Savage Land in the last 15 minutes. They were what we were recording... One of them matches the mental signature of Magneto. The other... the other..."

"Bright Goddess, NO!"

"The other was Jean." A tear rolled down the Beasts furred cheek. "Somebody better tell Scott that Cerebro isn't going to do him any good..."

Grim silence and horrified disbelief cloaked the room. Quicksilver looked down at his boots. If he had told the others about Stark's call maybe something could have been done. He knew it was hopeless but still, something inside of him ached for his mistake.

"Time to target?" Vashkin asked.

"Ten minutes off, sir," the exec replied.

"Sir!" the electronics intelligence officer barked.

"What is it?"

"I have a confirmation that our 2nd Battalion, the one that was aboard Freedom, is still active and mobile! And they have taken control of the target area." Cheers echoed across the bridge. Xavier sighed with relief. He wasn't going to have to go through with it after all!

"Nonsense. We have a weak reading suggesting Magneto might still be alive. Continue with the plan! We must leave nothing to chance!"

"But sir, those are our boys down there!"

"Can you guarantee they haven't been compromised?"

"Be reasonable, Vashkin!" Xavier said. "I can use my mental powers to ascertain the status of the UN troops..."

"No. I can't afford to take the chance that you might be wrong. The stakes are way too high as it is! We continue with the original plan unless better evidence is presented!"

Rogue was awakened by a UN medic removing the spear that had been driven into her. She screamed with pain, first from the removal of the shaft and then from the antiseptic they sprayed the wound with. She looked and up and saw the blurry faces of UN soldiers.

"Don't try to move, Rogue. You've had a hell of a time and are in no condition to try anything silly, like walking."

"Y'all know mah name?"

"The briefing we were given suggested that you were here assisting the indigenous population against Magneto."

"It ain't Magneto that's causin' this fuss. It's a psionic sleazebag by the name a' the Shadow King..."

The officer and the medic exchanged glances. "Calm down girl. You have had a nasty time of it and confusion is only to be expected. Listen, I'll go see if I can get a chocolate bar from one of the troops and some coffee as well. In the meantime why don't you get some rest. You'll be going home soon."

"Ah ain't no girl an' ah know what ah'm talkin' about." Rogue struggled briefly as a sedative was introduced into her system. "Listen, y'all have ta listen ta me..." Slowly she faded into a warm, dark sleep.

The mood was grim as the X-Men assembled in preparation for a rescue mission to the Savage Land. The room was full of dark anger and resentment. Scott was silent, as if nothing had happened. Storm was talking quickly as she tried to finish preparations. Beast was back to monitoring Luna and Quicksilver had gone with him. Warren stood his ground like an avenging angel, wings spread out. Psylocke had departed to fetch Bishop.

"So, according to Dr. Cooper, the UN task force was sent in along this path here," she indicated a point on the map, "to attack this fortress, here. Satellite pictures confirm a multi- megaton explosion there which vaporised the entire mountain. The UN ground forces are all dead if they went in to their primary drop-zones and we must presume the Avengers are too."

"Is that where Jean was killed?" asked Warren.

"No, she was killed over here. Hank thinks that he has found the Professor's mental signature cloaked by telepathic dampeners. We are going there and heaven help whomever has him captive. The transmission from the British authorities confirms that Excalibur is already enroute in one of the captured UN ships. Lila, are you ready?"

"Any time yah want, Stormy."

"Don't call me that."

Bishop rushed in with Psylocke just behind him. "I came as soon as I heard!".

"Just in time, Big Guy!" Lila said with a smile. In a flash, the X-Men vanished and re-appeared in the Savage Land.

David R. Henry was a respected Senator from the state of North Dakota. He had worked for the FBI and CIA before getting into politics and retained strong support from both of these organisations. In fact, if it wasn't for a scrupulous sense of ethics, Senator Henry could have gone far. He smiled a demon's smile in the mirror. That would no longer be a problem.

He walked down the luxurious hallway, admiring the opulence of his chosen home. The Hellfire Club had remained true to the principles on which he had founded it so long ago. His mind reached out and searched, gently as to not startle his prey. The inner circle had all fallen, all but three. Two of these he closed in on now. He reached the appropriate door and smiled. This was going to be fun. Poor little Shinobi Shaw. Poor little Candra. Nothing had ever prepared them for HIM!

The Shadow King had come home

Wolverine appeared out of the shadows. His eyes were wild and his claws bloody. The crowd of mutates tearing at the armoured man melted away before him as he walked forward. Not even the boldest of them wanted to face him. He strode up to Magneto and looked him in the eyes; his animal senses registering the sickness and pain. He shoved Magneto aside and approached the prone body of Jean Grey-Summers. He bent down and looked at her; senses probing. Then he let out a bone- chilling cry of grief.

Natasha stepped into the clearing and looked at the crowd of mutates and the man whom they had been chasing. "It's the end of the line, Magneto."

"Are you mad woman? We are allies!"

"You? Allied with humans? I don't think so. The Shadow King has been defeated or his slaves wouldn't be acting in this confused manner. That means there is no reason not to take you in."

"You can try it... and take the consequences."

Natasha fired and a plastic round burrowed into Magneto. "That has a quarter ounce of plastique in it. Do you want me to set it off?"

Wolverine continued to cradle Jean's body in his arms, tears streaming down his cheeks.

Gaza stepped forward from the crowd of mutates. "He is ours woman. Stand aside."

"Like hell." Gaza swung his club in a low arc aimed at the Black Widow's midsection. She dodged sideways and fired a Widow's sting that took most of his head off. The mutates charged her. She fired desperately as she was overwhelmed by the horde of savages.

With a flash of light the X-Men were among them. Vashkin blinked as the motley crew appeared on his bridge and desperately hit the panic button to summon help. He relaxed when he recognised the seven individuals as the X-Men: Storm, Cyclops, Bishop, Archangel, Cannonball, Psylocke and Lila Cheney (although the status of the last was somewhat suspect). What an incredible stroke of fortune; all his plans had just been greatly advanced.

"Professor!" Storm cried, "We were quite worried about you! What has happened here? Why didn't you contact us..."

"My children..." Xavier choked with emotion. "My dear children, I have tidings that are dire beyond words. Jean is... I mean I felt her..."

"She's dead isn't she!" Cyclops cried. "I had hoped this was a ruse of some kind... That there was some sort of mistake..."

"I felt her die. But I have news even more dire. My oldest foe, the Shadow King, has taken control of Magneto's mindless body and is using it to fight a war against us. He is doing horrible things, unmentionable things, all in the name of his mad dream of hatred. He must be stopped."

"Why don't you tell them the whole story, Xavier," Danielle Moonstar interjected.

"Shut her up!" Vashkin barked. "Forgive us, the girl was captured and reprogrammed by the Shadow King. You can trust nothing she says; she will say anything to advance the cause of her master." He watched as security guards dragged the poor young woman from the room.

"I should try to scan her but the psionic dampeners here make this impossible," Psylocke observed.

"The dampeners are here for our own protection. Without them he could penetrate here into the very heart of our defences," Vashkin explained.

"Dear children, I must ask you to go forth in the hardest mission I have ever asked of you. You must defeat the Shadow King at any cost!"

"Don't worry Professor, that bastard killed Jean. I will make sure he doesn't walk away from this one!" Cyclops swore.

"Magneto is not necessarily our enemy. It is his body that the Shadow King inhabits; perhaps we should consider some less lethal option. We don't kill our own, not unless there is no other choice."

"You don't understand, Storm, we must stop him..."

"If I can do it without killing him?"

"Then more power to you, my child," Xavier said in a conciliatory tone of voice. "I just don't think it is possible."

"We are X-Men, we specialise in the impossible," Storm replied.

"Storm's right. We can't kill our own unless there ain't no other choice; and, much as ah hate ta admit it, Maggie is one of ours. He was mah teacher for a while an' ah figure we can handle him... by other means."

"He has Rogue under his control as well," Xavier cautioned.

"All the more reason to show mercy. Lila, bring us down there and let's settle this once and for all."

"I will stay behind and shield you from the Shadow King," Xavier volunteered.

"Okay, Stormy, let's get this show on the road!" Lila quipped.

"Don't call me that!" The X-Men vanished in a flash as Lila brought them down to the ruins of Sauron's Citadel.

"Remember our agreement, Xavier," Vashkin warned. "That slut Ororo could jeopardise everything with her righteous set of morals!."

"Don't call her that, Vashkin! And don't worry about her conduct, I have the problem well in hand."

The marines rounded the hill and looked down on chaos as Natasha Romanov desperately struggled against a handful of mutates. Guns roared as the Marines fired on the mutates.

"Hands in the air, Lady!" Natasha heard.

"I'm an Avenger..." Natasha heard a rifle roar as she was hit in the shoulder by a spinning piece of metal. She jolted backwards and fell.

"Who's the runt?" another soldier inquired as Wolverine rose from Jean's body, bloodlust coursing through his veins. He charged the Soldiers who had gunned down Natasha, claws flashing as he tore into them. Panic spread as gunshots failed to drop him and soldiers watched their comrades being eviscerated. Finally, a combination of bullets and rifle butts dragged Wolverine to the ground.

"Christ, he took Joe's entire Platoon with him," one marine swore.

"Quiet," the only surviving NCO barked. The man was a long time SAS veteran and he remembered the feral berserker. "We're damn lucky we only lost a dozen or so to him."

A man in bloody and battered armour crawled into view. The assembled soldiers swore and swung weapons to bear on him. Magneto looked at the shredded corpse of Wolverine and felt his power return as anger flowed through him. Too many had died. Seconds later, the surviving soldiers joined their comrades in death.

Rogue rose swiftly into the air. The sedative was designed for a human physiology and she was no longer entirely human. She scanned the scarred ruins and saw soldiers crawling through the rubble like ants. In the distance she saw a flurry of action and heard the echo of screams. She headed towards the disturbance fearing the worst for her companions; the truth was almost as bad. Magneto stood there glowering, surrounded by the torn corpses of a company of soldiers. She recognised Jean's prone form and noticed it wasn't moving. Then she saw Wolverine.

"Jean! Logan!" Rogue cried as she headed down to the ground.

"They are both dead, Rogue," Magneto announced, his voice dry and crackling with anger. "But they have both been avenged and that is something to take satisfaction in."

"Satisfaction? At more people being dead? Ah think ya've finally flipped Magnus. These are people ya killed here, not simple objects of revenge."

"The humans will learn what it is to dare the wrath of Magneto. Too long have I walked a gentler path and while I tried to return to my old ways I didn't have my heart in it. I somehow believed that it was possible to win victories that didn't require slaughter. To enable co-existence without strife. To find allies to call my... my friends. NO MORE!!! I will break them, human or mutant, all who would destroy my people! I have been soft and look at the result! Once again, those I loved have been destroyed and I have been unable to..." Magneto's rant was cut off as an optic blast slammed into him from behind. He screamed and fell and the air was filled with the smell of scorched flesh.

Rogue looked at the X-Men, standing there almost as if they had come out of nowhere. "There was no call to do that to him! Sure he was upset but ah could have convinced him to see reason. What were you all thinking?"

Aboard the Helecarrier the psionic dampeners were lowered and Xavier's mind struck forth like a striking snake and seized control of Storm. She resisted with all the passion and fury in her but Xavier was too strong and she was caught completely by surprise.

"We're thinking it is time for you to die, Sugar!" Storm said as Xavier released all of her inner demons and drove her into a near berserk fury. Rogue screamed as she was wreathed in a wreath of lightening.

"Storm, what are ya doing?" Cannonball cried.

"She is doing what she must do, just as I am doing what I must do!" Scott replied as he fired another optic blast at Magneto's prone form.

"Scott, what is wrong with you? This is murder!" Warren cried at him. Neural laced wing feathers shot at Cyclops but he was too agile and managed to dodge them.

"Have you all gone mad?" Bishop bellowed.

"No, they are doing what they have always done... only now I am no longer blind to it. I let myself think that you were better than me... more moral somehow... and so I held back... NO LONGER!" Magneto turned and Cannonball screamed. Psylocke unleashed her psionic powers against Magneto and was drawn into the maelstrom of his thoughts. His pain and anger tore at her psyche like knives until it gave out and collapsed in wet, hissing shreds. She howled like the damned and fell.

-- cont in part 2 --