Charles jolted awake in his hospital bed, gasping for air. In his dream, he'd witnessed Apocalypse seizing a child's body, siphoning their power. The vision carried a certainty he'd never felt before, a conviction that this was no mere nightmare but reality. His telepathic abilities, altered since probing the Space Gem, seemed sharper, different in a way he couldn't yet define.

Exhaling, Charles steadied himself, reaching out with his mind. He sensed Hank, still awake, tinkering with a fragment of the Cosmic Cube in the lab. Without hesitation, Charles contacted him. "Hank, can you come to my room? I need to discuss something urgent."

"On my way!" Hank replied, his voice crisp through the comms.

Charles's summons at this hour signaled something critical, so Hank ended his experiment and hurried to the medical ward.

Meanwhile, Mystique—Raven Darkhölme—escorted Kurt Wagner, known as Nightcrawler, while Alex Summers, codenamed Havok, brought his younger brother, Scott Summers, codenamed Cyclops. Both groups converged on the X-Mansion. As Sebastian completed the first phase of his Cosmic Cube research, Raven and Alex arrived with their companions. At Charles's invitation, Sebastian joined them in the war room, accepting a coffee from Raven with a nod of thanks.

"Charles, introduce me to your friends," Sebastian said, settling at the table.

Charles smiled warmly. "Sebastian, this is Raven, and this is Alex—old friends and fellow mutants. Raven, Alex, this is the Sebastian I've spoken of."

"Sebastian, a pleasure," Raven said, extending a hand.

"Likewise, Raven," Sebastian replied, shaking her hand with a faint smile.

Alex set down his coffee, curiosity sparking in his eyes. "Charles mentioned you're a magician from another universe. Is magic real? Like alchemy or a philosopher's stone?"

Sebastian raised an eyebrow. "What's your definition of magic?"

"Something like turning lead to gold," Alex said.

"Magic respects certain laws, but what you describe falls within its bounds," Sebastian answered.

With a casual flick of his wrist, he tapped his coffee cup. It morphed into stone, the liquid inside vanishing. Another gesture, and the stone gleamed gold under the room's lights. Alex's jaw dropped, but Sebastian pointed again, and the gold reverted to a cup, coffee steaming as if untouched.

The transformation was superficial, a basic shift in appearance rather than essence, but it left Alex wide-eyed.

"Sebastian," Charles interjected, his tone grave, "you owe me two favors, correct?"

"Indeed," Sebastian said. "Are you calling one in?"

Charles nodded. "Our investigations confirm the mutant you, Wanda, and Pietro encountered in Egypt—calling himself Apocalypse—is ancient, born millennia ago. Myths speak of him, but one truth stands out: he's immensely powerful. I've seen visions of him destroying the Earth, and I believe them. I'm asking you to join us to stop him, to prevent global catastrophe and save the mutant children he's deceived and abducted. We can't let him corrupt them."

Charles's words carried a heavy truth: the children's survival was uncertain, and their mission was a desperate bid to save what they could.

Apocalypse was formidable, but not invincible. With the X-Men's support, Sebastian felt confident they could prevail.

"I'm in," Sebastian said. "When do we move?"

"As soon as I locate Erik," Charles replied. "Then we strike."

Eric… Magneto?

Sebastian recalled Magneto's descent into extremism, a shadow cast over this era. After a pause, he turned to Charles. "I'll join you. I'm curious to meet the legendary Magneto. And with my magic, we won't need to trek across continents. A portal will suffice."

Charles had planned to go with only Raven, but Sebastian's offer was too practical to refuse. He nodded. "Very well, we'll go together. I've located Eric—he's in Europe."

Sebastian raised his wand, conjuring a shimmering portal with a precise wave. He stepped through, followed by Charles and Raven.

Before them loomed a gothic castle, its spires piercing the dusk. Sebastian sensed a discrepancy—this wasn't the setting he'd expected from his fragmented memories of this world.

Charles stared at the castle, his telepathy pinpointing Eric's presence but not his exact location. The realization struck him, and his expression tightened. "This is a Hellfire Club stronghold," he said quietly. "Eric's inside."

The implication hung heavy: Eric had aligned with the radical mutant organization.

"How?" Raven asked, her voice sharp with disbelief. "Eric went into hiding. Why would he join the Hellfire Club?"

A voice cut through the air. "Because humans murdered my wife and daughter. I no longer believe in peaceful coexistence."

Magneto descended, his iconic helmet glinting, his cape billowing. He landed before Charles, Sebastian, and Raven, his presence commanding and cold.

Charles met Eric's gaze, the helmet blocking his telepathy. Yet through Eric's eyes, he glimpsed raw anger and grief. "Eric…" Charles's voice faltered, heavy with sorrow.

"Don't pity me, Charles," Eric snapped. "I see the truth now. Humans and mutants can't coexist. Even if they try, it ends in tragedy. I'm done pretending that we're one family. Leave, Charles."

Silence stretched, thick with tension. Charles finally spoke, his tone measured but pleading. "Eric, we're facing an enemy—the one from Egypt. Apocalypse."

"So you want me to fight our own kind?" Eric's voice dripped with scorn.

"He'll destroy the planet, Eric. All of humanity—"

Eric's laugh was bitter. "And why should I care about humanity's fate? Leave, Charles, or you'll be my enemy."

Without another word, Eric turned and strode away. Charles opened his mouth, but no words came. He watched Eric's retreating figure, defeat settling in.

Sighing, Charles turned to Raven's puzzled expression and Sebastian's calm demeanor. "We'll return and face Apocalypse without him. Eric… I'll deal with him later. For now, we move on."

Sebastian said nothing, respecting Charles's resolve. He raised his wand, summoning another portal with a fluid motion. Together, he, Charles, and Raven stepped through, vanishing from the castle's shadow.

"Charles, isn't Eric joining us?" Raven asked, her voice tinged with concern as she glanced at the professor, who stood at the center of the X-Mansion's war room, his expression clouded by the recent confrontation with Magneto.

Shaking his head, Charles replied with a heavy sigh, "No, Raven, let's set aside that matter for now; we'll take a brief respite to regroup and then depart immediately, as the five of us—myself, you, Alex, Hank, and Sebastian—should suffice to confront the looming threat of Apocalypse."

"Make that seven!" Pietro's voice rang out, cutting through the room's tension, as he and Wanda strode in, their faces set with determination, their presence a testament to their resolve to join the battle despite the dangers awaiting them.

Charles, about to protest their involvement, paused as Wanda stepped forward, her eyes fierce with conviction, and declared, "Professor, Pietro and I have faced countless battles, from the streets of Sokovia to the sands of Egypt, and our abilities will undoubtedly make a significant impact; even if you refuse us, we'll track Apocalypse down ourselves, no matter the cost."

After a moment's hesitation, Charles exhaled, his reluctance giving way to acceptance, and he said, "Very well, you may join us, but you must remain vigilant and prioritize your safety, both of you, for this mission will test us all in ways we cannot yet foresee."

"Don't worry, Professor, we've got this!" Pietro replied with a confident grin, his quicksilver energy barely contained, while Wanda nodded, her focus unwavering.

Turning to Sebastian, Charles's expression softened with gratitude, and he said, "Sebastian, I cannot thank you enough for lending your extraordinary talents to our cause, especially in these dire circumstances."

Sebastian, with a calm nod, responded, "Count on me, Charles," and, with a deft pinch of his fingers, summoned his wand from thin air, its sleek form gleaming under the war room's lights; with a subtle, practiced wave, he conjured a radiant portal that pulsed with arcane energy, inviting the team to step through into the unknown.