#9
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A SAGE ADRIFT
#9
The Previous Day, The X-mansion
Standing atop a long platform that extended from one corner of the circular room made up of entirely unidentifiable materials, two people could be seen looking at the screen projecting a minitiarised view of a state in front of them. More specifically, the state of New York.
One of the two people was bound to a wheelchair and was wearing a helmet made up of the same materials as the room with multiple wires sticking out of the helmet. Every moment or so, there were minute twitches in the neck of the person wearing the advanced helmet that was meant to significantly amplify the psionic powers of a mutant. This particular mutant was one Charles Xavier more commonly known as Professor X in the supernatural community, arguably the most powerful and skilled psionic manipulator on the planet. There were others who either exceeded him in control, like Emma Frost or in Raw Power but none that could match both his finesse and strength when it came to the matters of the mind.
The one occupying or rather guarding him was none other than the infamous Wolverine, James Howlett. The mutant with a rather tragic past that has long been suppressed by his mind as a coping mechanism. Armed with an exoskeleton made up of a nearly unbreakable material, Adamantium, and a rapid healing factor, Wolverine's combat ability is above almost every mutant bar a few of them in the school and even beyond.
Currently, both of them were in the Cerebro Chamber because Charles had received some concerning news about the Friends of Humanity finding a new mutant and them making plans to capture or exterminate the mutant. It had been a few minutes since Charles had connected himself to the extremely complicated apparatus but apparently, he was unable to specifically search for the mental signature of the particular mutant in the address he was able to get from his source.
He was unable to find a mutant signature but he was pretty sure that he had sensed a very powerful mind in the same vicinity before the mind noticed his scanning attempts and shielded itself from his powers completely. He had to admit that the act caught him off guard as his powers were very rarely detected, let alone countered this perfectly.
Sighing, he gave the mental command for the helmet to detach from his head and then removed it using his hands.
"Any luck?" Wolverine asked him as Xavier deposited the helmet back on its platform where it then receded back to the floor, safe from any unauthorised person trying to gain access.
His wheelchair turning around on its own, he shook his head and replied, "Nothing concrete but I have a hunch that going to that farm directly should grant us better results."
Wolverine nodded as he followed behind Xavier "Should we take anybody else or just us will be enough because the last time it was just the two of us, Scott's eye beams nearly tossed me three blocks away."
Xavier chuckled, acknowledging Logan's attempt at lightening the situation because the situation was not as simple as it seemed. The address was of a couple that, while retired, still maintained a bulk of the influence they wielded when they were active in their respective fields.
Dorothy Davis, in particular, was someone who had made a great first impression on him when he had first met her to take one of the mutants she had been sheltering, into the school that had just begun then. Dorothy had been meticulous in her work and inspected every nook and cranny of his school before she had consented to allow the child in her protection to leave and had even insisted on regular monthly meetings. He would not have given her that much freedom had it not been for the presence of genuine concern and care for the mutant child that Dorothy personally had rescued from the underground of New York. In fact, Dorothy, in her love for the child, had gone on a ruthless dismantling campaign that eventually culminated in the sacking of a sitting Senator. He was pretty sure that had it not been for his interference, Dorothy would not have been able to operate freely, even in the animal sector, where she continued to raise hell for the corporations of that sector until her eventual retirement a few years ago.
Her husband, Richard, on the other hand, was someone who shared tables with the richest people on the planet and while their personal net worth was more than adequate for a childless couple such as theirs, their main strength lay in the strong connections they had fostered over the course of their respective duties.
It was on the same couple's retirement farm that the Friends of Humanity had set their targets on. He would have tried to use his powers to stop the raid altogether but in all his altercations with that group, it had been made abundantly clear to him that his powers would not work across the breadth of their organisation. So, the best he could do was try and warn the Davis couple or try to convince them to relocate temporarily, for their own safety.
After all, Dorothy Davis was one of the few people he knew who could still be called good and would not flinch at fighting the most powerful of people for any injustice she felt.
It would also soothe his worries if he found the source of the rather powerful mind he had felt before it had closed itself off. In the best case scenario, they found the person and inducted him into their cause.
He had to be quick about it though because he was sure that Eric would be on the move as well and the thought of such a powerful person joining Eric and aiding him in his more violent quests scared him much more than he cared to admit.
Suspecting that a clash with Eric might be imminent, he instructed Logan, "Why don't you call Storm and Beast? We might meet Eric there so better be prepared."
"Roger that," Logan nodded and left towards the staff quarters, leaving him to go to the Hangar.
He just hoped that the Friends of Humanity wouldn't end up provoking that powerful person lest they slaughter every one of the attackers, putting mutants in an even worse position in terms of PR.
An hour later, Davis Farm, Westchester County
A near-invisible outline of a jet could be seen landing in the backyard of the house that the Davis Couple lived in. At the same time, Magneto could be seen floating on top of a piece of metal all by himself.
As if they had coordinated everything, Xavier exited the ramp of the X-Jet and looked straight at Eric. Both of them shared a moment before both of them began going to the source of the energy both of their respective sensors had sensed.
In the meanwhile, Xavier used his powers to communicate his words, "Storm and Beast, I have taken control of all the humans on the farm and instructed them to gather out of the farm. One of them can drive a bus that this farm has for some reason. Make sure that all of them are off the farm before we reach young Naruto, it would seem. Logan and I will stall until every civilian is safe and then Storm, you can come back to act as backup."
All of the people on his team nodded subtly and two of them broke formation to go towards the barn where the bus was parked.
"So, Charles, we meet again. How long has it been this time?" The smooth charming voice of Eric could be heard as he slowly floated to stand right in front of Xavier with a smile on his face that belied the coldness in his eyes.
Logan made to move but his body refused to budge due to Magneto (Eric) controlling the metal on his exoskeleton. Even so, Logan refused to surrender as he struggled violently, inevitably tearing apart his muscles only for them to heal back again.
Xavier sighed, "Stop, Eric." At the same time, he used his powers to put Logan to sleep.
"Must we do this every time?"
"It is not my fault that neither you nor Logan learned from our past encounters. Anyway, old friend, I assume that you are here for Mr.Uzumaki here?"
Xavier nodded, "Yes and I would have to insist that you allow us to go first."
Surprisingly, Eric nodded and waved his hand towards the building in front of them, signalling Xavier to go ahead. Xavier looked suspicious at the sudden bout of generosity but he would take all the advantage he could so he woke up Logan and together, they entered Mr.Uzumaki's room. The occupant of the room was completely unaware that they were inside his living/bedroom because of a subtle illusion woven into the surroundings instead of an individual mind since as it turned out, Mr.Uzumaki's mind was much better protected for him to just enter his mind and cast an illusion there.
Magneto, on the other hand, had floated right above the building, waiting for a signal of some sort to enter the foray.
…
..
.
When Naruto sensed the intruders and called them out, everybody present, including Magneto, was surprised because it was very hard to do so when one had little to no experience with their powers and their own minds. The fact that Naruto was able to do so without any external help was impressive on its own.
Then there was the fact that when Magneto tore apart the blonde's roof, there had been some sort of change in the body language of Naruto and everybody in the vicinity had felt it.
The threat of Death.
The unassuming-looking young man standing in front of them, even for a split second, had made them feel the threat of death, something that was said to be impossible since Logan could literally not be killed. He would know since he had already tried and Magneto had more enemies than he knew so all of them were very resilient in their own ways.
The same feeling went away once Charles Xavier informed him that the farm was now devoid of civilians. The young blonde in front of them relaxed and appeared nonchalant as he spoke but everybody present had experienced war in some form or other and all of their instincts were warning them about the guy in front of them.
Once the introductions had been done with, Charles and Eric both asked the clearly powerful man in front of them about his intentions.
Frustratingly, Naruto seemed to be quite aware of both of them and their modus operandi and thus, rejected both of them even though he seemed neutral to both the parties present. Eventually, Naruto grew impatient over the delay about all the people of the farm returning so he dismissed the leaders of the mutant race that were in front of him.
Magneto's face twitched at the blatant dismissal but he was not there to fight so without saying a word, he took his leave.
Charles and the others began to leave as well once Charles got Storm's message about the people arriving but before he left, he decided to warn Naruto about the Friends of Humanity.
"Mr.Uzumaki, I have come across some disturbing information. An organisation known as the Friends of Humanity has set its sights on this farm and might attack at any moment. If you need any help, please don't hesitate to call us." Saying so, Logan handed over a card to Naruto before all of them left through the X-Jet.
…
..
In an unknown location, in front of a surveillance room.
Keith could be seen pacing in front of a series of screens showing the same angle from multiple angles.
It was the scene of Naruto conversing with the leaders of the Mutant race, Charles Xavier and Eric Lehnsherr, Professor X, and Magneto.
He was completely red-faced as his entire body shook from the thought of facing those mutant freaks. He had thought that the mutant Henry had found was some small fry that they could capture and give up to the HQ for experimentation or extermination, he did not care.
But now?
Now was not the time to keep this to himself.
So, gathering his courage, he dialed a number even though all his instincts warned him against contacting this person.
*Ring* *Ring*
"This better be important," A hoarse male voice could be heard speaking from the other side.
"I assure you, it is very important. We found a mutie but we just found that Charles Xavier and Magneto visited him but both of them left empty-handed."
"...."
After saying his piece, his nervousness kept growing as the other line remained silent, save for the almost silent sound of breathing.
Just as he was about to repeat himself, he heard a reply, "Prepare for my arrival. I will be there in 24 hours."
Saying so, the line went dead.
His hands trembled as he dialed Henry to tell him to fuck off from that farm because if what he suspected was about to come true, he was sure that none of the people on the farm, mutie or not, were about to come out of tomorrow's encounter alive.
Word Count - 2264
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