Title: The Master and the Mistress
Author: Viral
Disclaimer: All characters belong to whoever holds the copyright.
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The X-Men looked ahead in a mood that could not be mistaken: annoyance. How many times would they have to defeat Magneto until he got the point? How many times would they be taken from their daily activities to save mankind, again? Cyclops put the jet in a temporary autopilot command before he stood up to address the team of mutants. Storm remained in her seat as she kept her eye on everything as co-pilot.
"When we get out there I want the team to split up," Cyclops explained in his serious, preppy tone. "Jean, Beast, Jubilee, and Iceman will come with me on a frontal assault against Magneto. Storm will take Gambit, Rogue, and Wolverine with her to handle Toad and Sabretooth. Storm's team will also be required to get the civilians away from any harm."
"Whatever bub," Wolverine growled. "Creed is mine," a sound of adamantium claws tearing through skin and leather was heard as Wolverine angrily snarled and grimaced.
"We wouldn't have it any other way, buddy," Iceman chuckled as he put his foot on the chair in front of him and relaxed for the rest of the flight.
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"Be alert," Storm warned as her team of X-Men entered a dark warehouse. She stopped in her tracks as she felt a sudden shift in the air. Her blue eyes scanned the dark room. She held up her arm, ordering her team to stop moving forward and was met with a growl by Wolverine, confirming her suspicions that their enemies were inside.
"Wolverine," a voice whispered in the shadows before a heinous cackle was heard. Shadows began to move quickly, going from one side of the room to the other in a quick frenzy. Tensions grew high above the X-Men as their bodies made a circle, faces outward as each eye vigorously scanned the room. Then, with a sudden and thunderous growl, Sabretooth made the first attack, jumping down from a high perch and dragging his claws across Rogue's torso, ripping her attire and drawing blood from her stomach.
A growl, usually heard by a black panther, rolled out of Wolverine's voice box as he jumped after Sabretooth with extended claws and the two ensued in a catfight under the darkness of the warehouse.
"Chere!" Gambit yelled as he noticed Rogue on her knees. He fell on his knees as well, taking hair out of her face as he studied her, "You okay?"
"Ah'm fine, Cajun," she said, with a bit of attitude. "Ah'll be alright. Ah can't believe he got me like that."
"Gambit, Rogue, stay alert!" Storm commanded as she took flight in the darkness. Soon enough a roll of thunder notified Storm's readiness to join the battle. Her body lit up with lightning, channeling itself through and around her body as it lit the entire space. "There you are," she whispered as she spotted Toad.
He leapt from behind a large pile of boxes, using his super strong legs to kick Gambit in the back as he crouched next to Rogue. The Cajun was sent flying and so was Rogue as an unexpected foot kicked her as well. Storm shook her head as the lightning that surrounded her body disappeared. She continued to float, listening to battle cries.
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Cyclops' team slowly crept around the dock on the New York Harbor. "This is quite odd," Beast said, looking at his electronic equipment. "It seems as if we have lost communication to the other X-Men yet we don't see any sign of Magneto."
"Ah!" Jean screamed, an ear-piercing soprano, as her body was raised in the air tossed into the water.
"I have her!" Beast noted, the closest to the water's edge as he made an acrobatic leap into the water to rescue Jean. At least that would give Cyclops the opportunity to lead the others in a fight against Magneto.
"X-Men," Magneto said as he floated above them with a smile on his face. His deep voice spoke with cynic and humor as he continued, "How many times must we go through this?"
"As many times as it takes!" Cyclops yelled as he released a powerful optic blast through his visors. The blast met Magneto's force field and caused a laugh to come from Magneto's belly. Jubilee and Iceman joined in the assault, forcing energy at him, aimlessly. At least it seemed like the right thing to do. At this point, Beast and Jean joined the rest of the team back on the dock, water dripping from Jean's hair and clothing and Beast's fur.
"I only need a little time," Magneto smiled as he wrapped Cyclops' team in a magnetic field and sent them flying into an unused iron barge that was floating on the current a few miles away. "Now for more pressing matters to be handled," he smiled as he turned away and floated towards the abandoned warehouse.
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Storm, who had been hovering and listening to the battle cries and angry words, was suddenly pulled by a rift of Magnetic energy through a large, open window and into a brightly lit room. "Magneto!"
"Now, Ororo, I told you about calling me that in private," he smiled as he removed his helmet. His white hair stopped at his shoulders and seemed unnatural next to his youthful face and young, muscular build.
"Well, truth be told, Magneto, we already know Erik is not your real name," Storm began, blue eyes fixated on his face. "If you are not willing to tell me your real name, then I shall call you Magneto."
"You are stubborn, aren't you?" he smiled, taking her hand in his as they joined in an embrace. She rested her head on his chest and allowed her hands to relax there as well, as he wrapped his muscular arms around her and held her tight. "That's a sweet aroma."
"Why must we keep meeting like this?" Storm asked, part of her mind in another place: a fantasy where she and Magneto were resting in each other's arms without worry. "Surely you can find a way other than knocking my friends around."
"It's easier this way," he said, running his fingers through her silvery hair. He changed the subject while she began to draw circles on his chest with her finger. "You know, we're perfect together, Ororo."
"What made you come to that conclusion?" she asked, stopping her finger as she looked up at his face.
"I'm the Master of Magnetism, you are the Mistress of the Elements – in honesty, we are both one with the primal forces of the Earth. And if we are both one with the Earth, it will only be a matter of time before we become one," he said, placing a hand under her chin. Both of their eyes closed as they drew nigh to each other. A slight fluster of wind lifted Storm three inches off of the floor as she met lip-to-lip with Magneto, becoming enraptured in a forsaken kiss.
As if this were all the two had come to do, they parted and looked at each other before turning away. "Make it look good," Magneto smiled before he floated out of the room. A whirlwind ripped the room into shreds as it took Magneto's body and threw him out of the warehouse complex and into the harbor outside.
Cyclops' team, who had just gotten back to shore from the barge, watched as Magneto's body made a splash in the murky water. "Storm's work, no doubt," Jubilee complained, getting ready to go on another one of her tantrums. "I wish I could control the weather. No I get fireworks."
Before Jubilee could continue with her complaints, a roll of thunder and the sudden release of lightning from the sky silenced her. A forked lightning bolt traveled from the heavens and into the warehouse through a skylight, frying the Toad and sending him through one of the brick walls and at Cyclops' feet. In another flawless attack, a whirlwind delivered Sabretooth through one of the walls and a silent attack ensued as Storm removed the air from his lungs, long enough to suffocate him into unconsciousness.
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"I just don't understand what Magneto's motives have been these past few months," Scott complained to the Professor in his Study. "It's like, he gets us out there to fight, throws us aside, and then gets dumped somewhere by Storm... EVERYTIME!"
"Perhaps he's trying to get something from Ororo," the Professor said, folding his hands and looking at Scott with soul-piercing eyes.
"It ain't like you to be eavesdroppin', darlin," Logan said as he turned a corner and looked at Ororo. She had been standing outside of Xavier's Study listening to the conversation.
"Perhaps I have picked up a new habit," she said, trying to nonchalantly and inconspicuously dismiss Logan.
"Just like you picked up Magneto's scent," Logan growled. "I can smell the guy all over you, Ro. What's goin' on?"
"It is quite common for battling opponents to be found with each other's scent," Ororo said, crossing her arms as she began to walk away from Xavier's study. "You have smelled like Sabretooth plenty of times when you have come home from a long night out. Should I suspect something?" she asked, smiling at Logan.
Logan growled, "You wunna taste some adamantium, don't you?"
"There are easier ways to say you are worried about me, Logan," Ororo smiled as she began to walk up the main staircase. "But I like the way you express yourself. Thank you for your concern, my friend."
"Yeah, whatever lady," Logan said to himself, knowing she said the truth, but still denying it. "I need a smoke."
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My thoughts,
I have come to transcribe yet another private moment I have shared with Erik. It seems as if the two of us are growing more and more comfortable with each other. Unlike most things, this feeling of contentions makes me quite anxious. I am not worried about any scrutiny we may face when our secret is revealed (because secrets were made to be told), but I am concerned that I actually have feelings for Erik.
He said something very astute today, making an algebraic equation that included us being one with the Earth. One times one will always be one. So what is the variable? Perhaps our feelings for each other. Is it possible that the variable will change in the future and the answer will no longer be one? If that happens, then is the sacrifice of wanting to be with him worth all of this?
The X-Men have been on countless missions to fight him. He has coerced the Brotherhood into joining him in his battles just so he can get closed to me. I am inclined to look at the frequency of his actions lately. When this first started his attacks were weeks apart; now they seem to be coming at the spur of each moment. I can tell Erik desires to see me for much longer than we do and on a much more formal occasion, and I believe I have the same burning desire as he
Ororo looked up from her journal with a frown on her face as Bobby entered her room, the attic. "Hey ThunderStorm, what's kickin?" he asked, jumping on her bed. "What's boppin?" She turned to look at him, standing from her chair as her eyes turned completely white. "Hey, Storm, Ororo, baby, don't get mad!" he said with fear as he jumped out of her bed and held his hands out as a peace offering.
Ororo turned back to the desk and wrote a few more words, deciding not to finish her sentence: I shall be back to write more later. With that she slammed close her composition book, gave another angry look to Bobby and flew out of one of her huge, open windows to place the journal back in its hidden place among her plants.
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Author's Notes: Yeah, this is another Storm-centric story. I got this idea from the Storm group on Yahoo! – a story where Magneto and Storm are the couple in mind. I also got the "what if Storm was a villain?' idea from the group and decided to combine two in one. So as the story progresses, both storylines and ideas will be fully incorporated. Hopefully it will be a fun story.