Chapter Thirty Four:
Scott had quickly assembled his teams; he had decided since the rogue mutants were scattering like roaches, he needed to spread his team out a little. Fury had offered to fill in the gaps he was losing by spreading them out with his own people. Although he didn't like it much, he decided it might be the best method they could use to control the situation. He had separated Logan, Storm, and Rogue as captains due to them having the most experience in leading teams. He then decided to send Amara with Rogue and Kurt with Ororo as back up while he led the rest of the X-men on a mission to detain the main culprit himself…Magneto.
"Are you sure you are up to this, Scott?" Storm asked over the commlink.
"Of course, this is what we train for…"
"You know what I mean. Today is 'that' day… Can you keep it together?" Scott grimaced at her tone. He never liked to talk about how he was feeling. If he could just avoid the subject altogether, he would… Gladly.
"Ororo, this isn't the time to have this discussion. I am fine." He wasn't fine. How could he be? It had been ten years since he lost every family member he'd ever had. If that wasn't bad enough his truest friend had been ignoring him... Albeit safe to say with good reason. It still hurt. Next week he would make up with her and maybe things would go back to the way they had always been. Right now, he couldn't help wanting to be that little boy who lost everything... But he couldn't let himself be that person, people were relying on him. Scott wouldn't let them down... He couldn't.
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Magneto was flying through the air at a moderate pace waiting for SHIELD to catch up. He knew most of these rats would be after him, so in order to allow some of his brothers to escape further, he wouldn't mind becoming live bait.
With him was a promising telepath named Emma Frost, many had attempted to get her to name her alter ego something like; 'killer frost' or some other thinly veiled attempt at being clever.
No, she already had a name. It was Emma Grace Frost and she wasn't changing that for anyone. Well, maybe something with the word 'Queen' in it, but should didn't like anything else. She was born from a family that had come to America on the Mayflower; she was proud of her name… not so much her overbearing father but you cannot choose the assholes that happen to be in your family either.
Her brother Christian was the one member of the family who didn't want to have anything to do with the family business. Yet when her father Winston Frost learned Christian was gay, he threatened to disown him if he didn't dump his boyfriend, Dante Ortega, and move back home. Christian defied his father and left the family, only remaining in contact with Emma.
Then their father retaliated by using his power and influence to have Christian's boyfriend framed and deported out of the country. Leaving Christian broken he had become deeply depressed and turned to substance abuse.
Then the thing that changed her life forever happened… Christian overdosed and died. Emma became frustrated with her family leaving her life behind in the process and coming to the 'Brotherhood' for an escape.
Her first impression of the Brotherhood and the X-Men was that... 'They acted like children!'
One would move while the other would make a counter-move, but there was no real strategy. These were the two 'would-be saviors of mutant-kind'?
Magneto only knew how to use brute force and intimidation. While Xavier seemed to only want to nullify Magneto while passively waiting for 'Humanity's Goodwill'. Of the two, Xavier lied to himself and his students. Magneto had an army. Armies needed to be met with other armies. For Xavier to deny to the world and himself that his students were anything other than his militant force was just delusional.
Though Magneto wasn't any better. His delusion was in thinking that raw, mutant power was sufficient to win a war against Homosapiens. He might win... but if he did, it would be over a dead husk of a world. So neither of the two 'would-be saviors' were really capable of the feats they proclaimed to fight for.
Emma Frost was many things: She was a mutant, a realist, and a pragmatist amongst many other things. While mutant powers were useful, she valued intelligence more. She had seen examples where powerful individuals were brought down by adversaries who were less powerful, simply because they were more thoughtful or creative.
Make no mistake, mutants had to gain power if they were to survive, let alone thrive. Emma did believe that mutants were a next step in the evolution of mankind... but fools like Magneto never truly understood that evolution was neither a process that had a final result (Unless it failed) nor did it always make someone 'superior'. Evolution merely favored those life forms which could adapt. In truth, evolution often went in many directions not all of them what people would deem improvements.
Pragmatism had no use for a war that would destroy civilization but nor could mutants wait on the handouts of humanity. But what Magneto never understood was that 'power' has many forms. Why destroy society if one knew how to use its rules to get ahead?
She wasn't going to lie, the Brotherhood's ideals were not perfect... But given the chance and a nudge in the right direction, they could be a useful tool, while Magneto also felt she could also be a useful tool too.
Erik was blind to her ambitious plans involving his army, but he never wanted to stifle ambition. But if she wasn't useful he didn't mind leaving her in the hands of his enemies.
Their speed came to a stop at the approach of several familiar figures... The X-Men. Particularly Scott and a few far less important (according to Magneto) others. Magneto had a card up his sleeve he had been saving for a day like today. Taking out a photo of a twenty-year-old youth from his pocket, Erik let the desert wind sweep it closer to the feet of the crimson eyes youth.
Not noticing at first his vision was focused on the man in red and a blond in white.
Suddenly the floating Magneto speaks, "Today our fighting stops! Take off your blinders, brothers, and sisters. The real enemy is out there." his blue eyes scan his surroundings seeing SHIELD capture several fleeing mutants.
"Their guns are moving in the water. Their metal, targeting us. United in their fear of the unknown. The Neanderthals are scared, capturing and killing our fellow brothers and sisters!" The pain in his voice shook several people as his firm resolve and conviction seemed to move their hearts.
"Cut the crap, your talk is cheap. We will not listen, you are no hero to us!" Scott said sternly.
"Yes, you are right... I am no hero. Merely a man who has seen, done and endured what can never be forgotten or forgiven." Magneto replied sounding more sincere than Scott had ever heard him. "Today marks the day you lost the closest ones to you..." His eyes focused on Scott.
"I give you back a piece of what you once lost on those rocky cliff sides all those years ago." As his words finish the photo that had been laying in the sand unmoving is then lifted up by the winds and drifts into Scott's hands.