Disclaimer: I do not own Avengers or the X-Men in any shape or form. They all belong to Marvel.
"Let me get this straight, Grey. My father has a flying fortress hovering above all our heads without a single one of the thousands of mutants that live on this island so much as catching a glimpse of it. It has a cloaking device so advances that none of our instruments at the citadel can detect it. He is arming it with stolen nuclear missiles as we speak getting ready for Armageddon." Pietro eyed the resident red haired psychic from his seat on the Blackbird.
"Yes," Jean said. She sounded exasperated and she didn't care to conceal that fact. After probing Senyaka's mind Jean learned Magneto had a new mobile base of operations that he just recently gotten operational. It was a flying fortress as Quicksilver had so elegantly put it that was the size of a small country. The master of magnetism had been secretly raiding his old lab in Genosha to make the finishing touches to his fortress without anyone being the wiser. He was hiding in plain sight. After this revelation they rushed back to the Blackbird and Quinjet.
"It's just like I told you, Quicksilver. Magneto has been working on this fortress for months. He's been hiding it here on Genosha so he can use his labs." Jean had bigger concerns on whether or not Quicksilver believed her story. It was up to her to telepathically search for any mind on this fortress just to find it. Senyaka didn't have all the answers. No doubt it was percussion in case a telepath probed him. "I don't know how he did it, because Senyaka doesn't know how he did it."
"Alright," Pietro said plainly. She looked dumbstruck at his nonchalant response. He shrugged not seeing the big deal. "If you say he did it he probably did it. It's not like my father hasn't kept secrets from us before."
"If you believed me why did you seem doubtful?" Jean remarked.
"I just wanted make sure." He flashed his best sheepish smile. It didn't save him from Grey's death glare. Pissing off a psychic who could make him think he was an eight-year old boy wasn't the brightest idea.
"Let her concentrate," Scott said. He piloted the Blackbird. "If Magneto is shielding his base from telepaths Jean will need all her attention focused on her psychic probe." The white haired speedster scoffed at his words, despite them being reasonable.
"I get it, Summers. There no need to start with the lectures." Pietro leaned back in his seat. The chairs were very comfortable. They even reclined. He supposed these were the perks of being funded by an extremely wealthy benefactor. "I will give you X-Men credit for this at least, you have the best toys." It was like he was sitting on a cloud. He could get used to this. "How is it going over there, Beast?"
Off to the side Hank was at his makeshift work station fiddling with one of his devices. Pietro's words failed to register with the blue mutant. He was engrossed with his work so completely that he was in his own world. For Magneto to have a fortress that could escape the Blackbird's radar meant that they needed something more powerful, a boost or another sensor if they wanted any hope of locating it. Creating something like that from scratch could take weeks. If he had Forge with him it would probably take him a day or two. Unfortunately he had neither Forge with him nor time on his side. Senyaka's attack meant that Magneto knew they were on Genosha. He could easily leave before the day was over, before Hank could even finish a new tracking system. That is where Vision came in. Vision possessed a wide range of sensors that would eliminate more 80 percent of his work. All Hank needed to do was build something to boost them and they could find this flying fortress without a breaking a sweat.
"Alright if I tinker with this for a bit than I should increase the power by at least 20 percent and….Ah there we go. Excellent! The power increased by 25 percent. That should definitely allow for a wider scan of frequencies of the electromagnetic spectrum. Now to adjust this so I can account for sound waves."
"He can't hear me at all can he?" Pietro asked not really expecting to get an answer.
"When Hank works on a project he might as well be a million miles away," Scott replied.
"How far along is Dr. McCoy?" Captain America asked over the radio. The Avengers and Scarlet Witch took the Quinjet. Since Iron Man had recently upgraded the stealth mode on the Quinjet it was decided to have it remain hidden to keep an ace up their sleeve. The Blackbird would act as the decoy and draw attention away from it or so they hoped.
"He says he still has a little more work to put on it, Captain," Cyclops answered the Avengers' leader.
It wasn't the answer Steve wanted to hear. He didn't like flying around blind. He trusted Tony's work, but he still didn't want to test just how well the new stealth mode performed under the threat of being blown out of the sky by a sky fortress. "Keep us posted, Cyclops."
Vision had done his part by connecting to the Quinjet. He linked his sensors with its. Once Beast completed his gadget it would link to Vision to give his sensors enough of boost to find this invisible flying base.
"When Beast finishes his gadget it will be able to wirelessly link with you?" Clint looked to his synthetic friend.
"That is correct. When Dr. McCoy is finished I will be able to find the frequency it is running on to link with it."
While Hawkeye accepted Vision's words Scarlet Witch had her misgivings about the plan. How safe could it be for him to link up with a slapped together gadget? She knew Beast was a genius, but he was working with spare parts the X-Men had in their jet. "Are you certain that being linked to both Beast's device and this jet's systems will not harm you?" He had taken the full brunt of Senyaka's attack. Unlike everyone else no one had looked at Vision. They took his word when asked if he was injured. It could be possible that he sustained damage that even he was unaware of.
"I am positive. My systems were designed to interface with the most powerful of systems. The Quinjet and Dr. McCoy's scanner are well within my ability to manage." Scarlet Witch was still apprehensive from what he could tell. She was concerned about him, even though they had just met. He was honored she would extend her kindness to him. It was rare for people to see him as more than a mindless machine outside of his teammates and even they thought the same thing before they had gotten to know him. "Thank you for your concerns, Scarlet Witch. I can assure you that I will be fine" He tried to summon his most reassuring tone and smiled. Oddly enough it had a bit of an effect. The mutant ruler's face lightened up. Unlike her brother she didn't regard him as just replaceable machine.
Jean wasn't picking up on anything remotely close to Magneto or his followers. All she was getting was stray thoughts from her teammates and other random people on the island. She threw her arms up in defeat. "It's no use I can't find anything! No matter how much I expand my search I can't hear any of their thoughts!" Just as her frustrations rose she felt a soft, but firm squeeze on her hand. She didn't need to look or read minds to know who it was. He was always there when she needed him.
"Hey don't beat yourself up. Remember the professor couldn't find Magneto with Cerebro. It was a long shot to think Magneto didn't shield his whole base from telepathic probes."
She knew he was right, but it didn't make her feel better. She still felt like she let the team down. "Everything is up to Hank and Vision. I didn't want to put all pressure on them, because I blew it."
"You didn't blow it. You can't do everything on your own. That's why we're a team. We help each other whenever we can." He flashed a small smile at her. "You'll get your chance to help out when we get there." When he saw that bashful smile appear on her lips he knew she was out of her funk. There was his Jean.
"You always know what to say to make me feel better." Her voice was low enough for only him to hear. She felt him tighten his grip on her hand. Warmth spread through her chest.
The moment passed as soon as they heard Beast exclaim, "Success!" Three heads shot around. He had been so quiet before that the sudden outburst alarmed them. Beast however picked up their alarmed faces and looked embarrassed. "Sorry. I let my enthusiasm get away from me. I have finished it." He proudly showed off his recently completed project. It wouldn't win any beauty contests, but the important thing was that it worked. All he needed to do was start it up. To his joy it was up and running.
"Captain America, Hank's done. Vision just has to link up to it," Cyclops radioed over.
"Copy that Blackbird," Captain America radioed back. "Vision, you're up."
It only took seconds for Vision to find the frequency. He noticed the changes to his sensors immediately. The range was far more expanding than before. Countless colors came to life before his eyes, each one of them representing a different energy signature or wave length. He could detect a pin in the near limitless sky if he needed to. Combined with the Quinjet's system his range was all encompassing. It wasn't long before his newly upgraded sensors picked up an unusual signature.
"I have found something."
"I see it too," Clint said. The archer sat on the monitor and acted as navigator. "It looks big…" he trailed off. He couldn't believe his eyes. Damn. He knew today was going to a bad day. "When I said big I think I was underselling it."
That never sounded good. In all the battles Steve had fought he learned that whenever a weapon or force had exceeded expectations that he was walking into a hell itself. Common sense told to remain silent, but he knew that walking in blind was more foolish. He needed something to go on. "How much did you undersell it?"
The question was answered, but not by Hawkeye. The Quinjet and Blackbird passed through an unknown field, following the coordinates that Vision had acquired. The instruments wailed so loud that it nearly caused ear drums to erupt. The pain their ears felt was forgotten instantly. Before all their eyes was a massive fortress constructed entirely of metal. Captain America could barely believe his eyes. He never thought he would ever see a ship so enormous in his life time. No, it wasn't a ship. Calling it a ship would indeed be underselling it. The metal fortress blanketed the sky and covered both ships in its equally massive shadow.
Clint replied, "I mean it makes the Helicarrier look small." The archer had seen his fair share of strange and unusual. Hell he fought old Nazis, mutated monsters, gods, aliens, and planet eating monsters, but what he was looking at now still stole his breath away. The Avengers, X-Men, and Magneto's own children were all equally frozen in a state of combined terror and astonishment. Today was going to be a very, very bad day. Why did he get out of bed that morning?
"How could Magneto make something like this without the rest of the world knowing?" Scott wondered aloud. Clearly their old enemy had been keeping himself busy since their last battle with him.
"Fascinating," Hank whispered to himself, in childlike astonishment. They were witnessing the largest man made air craft in human history with their very own eyes. As Hawkeye said it had far surpassed the former largest air craft, Shield's Helicarrier. Truly this was one of the most pivotal moments in humankind. The question was would it be remembered for extraordinary promise that human ingenuity possessed or for future atrocities it could commit. "An aircraft of this magnitude would take years to construct even with an army of engineers, at least under normal circumstances. I suspect Magneto's power over magnetism allowed him to reduce that time considerably."
Pietro snorted. "I'll say. I never thought the old man could pull something like this off. He has a battle fortress, ready to take on the world. He armed it to the teeth with a few nukes to boot. He could take over the world if he wanted to."
"How do we take something that big down?" Jean voiced the question no one thought to ask. They were all impressed by Magneto's new toy, but the fact of the matter was they were going to have to bring it down. They couldn't trust their old enemy to keep his hands on that monstrous fortress. To her distress none of her teammates or allies had an answer for her.
Suddenly a violent quake rocked the Blackbird and it occupants. "Keep it straight, Summers!" Pietro complained. He saw Cyclops struggled with the controls. The speedster knew that his rival wasn't behind the Blackbird's quaking.
"It's not me!" the X leader shouted. No matter how much he pulled on the wheel it wouldn't budge. "I've lost total control!" The Blackbird was pulled toward the fortress. "Looks like you're about to get a family reunion sooner than you thought, Quicksilver."
"I'm just so giddy about it," Pietro quipped.
They watched as the Blackbird was drawn to the enemy fortress. Captain America expected for the Quinjet to follow suit, but to his relief control remained with him. Tony's upgrade on the stealth mode had indeed shielded them from radar. Magneto didn't know they were there, which meant the element of surprise was on their side still. He wasn't about to let this opportunity pass them by. "Cyclops, do you read me?"
"I read you, Captain. Communication is still up and running." At least that was working Cyclops thought.
"Magneto hasn't detected us just yet. We're going to follow you and see where he takes you."
"Then when we are dragged in you'll come in right behind us," Cyclops finished the captain's thoughts. "We'll let them take us to Magneto and you'll follow us and we can all strike together."
"Exactly," Steve said. His counterpart on the X team had a strategic mind. "If you just give us a frequency for your communicators we'll be able to track you from there."
"There is no need. Jean will open a psychic link that should do the trick. This way they can't find any radio frequency were using." Steve still wasn't a fan of the psychic links, but Cyclops reasoning made sense. They all agreed to it. Of course that left Vision as the odd one out. That problem solved itself when Scarlet Witch volunteered to keep him in the loop.
The X-leader stopped fighting the controls and allowed the invisible force to pull their ship. The Avengers followed after them. It was tricky to leave enough distance between them that they weren't slipped up by anything unexpected, but still be close enough that they weren't left behind. The doors to the docking bay opened up. The Blackbird's speed or the speed of the magnetic force pulling them increased. Steve's fear of falling behind almost became reality. Fortunately enough his reflexes were fast enough to increase the Quinjet's speed enough to keep up.
"As soon as we get in there we are on radio silence," Steve declared. "Jean will open a link for us and we'll go from there."
Wanda turned to Vision. "Don't worry. I will make sure to keep you informed as I promised."
Vision had no fears that Scarlet Witch would keep her promise. She had proven herself trustworthy. "I have no concerns," he revealed to the mutant ruler. Apparently his response brought out another smile from her. It was unusual yet welcome. He noted that she had a fine smile.
Clint noticed the interaction between his synthetic friend and the former X-Men villain. It was a bit odd. Unlike her brother she didn't treat Vision like some machine. If he didn't know any better he would sworn there was affection in her gaze. That was absurd, wasn't it? Some things were just too weird to think about.
Both jets entered the docking bay without problems. In addition to the Quinjet's stealth mode it had the best cloaking function that Stark Industries could buy. They wouldn't just be invisible to radar, but also the naked eye. That was proven when they landed behind the Blackbird the group awaiting them hadn't even so much as spared a glance in their direction. Now all the Avengers had to do was wait and hope.
The X-Men and Quicksilver left the jet without delay. With a welcoming party expecting them they couldn't afford to show any resistance unless they wished for the Blackbird to sustain any damage and possibly hinder their escape later. Upon their departure they were greeted by a party of five. Some faces were familiar, others were unknown.
Pyro was expected. He had been one of Magneto's followers ever since the master of magnetism had taken over Genosha. There was a reptilian mutant with dark green skin, razor sharp teeth, and claws to go with the appearance. Next to the lizard mutant was a mountain of man who towered over everyone present. He was bald, but had muscles that were the size of a head. He wore a sleeves black uniform with gold colored shoulder pads. Running down the middle of his chest was red V shape. He wore red gloves. He wasn't very attractive, but he was not ugly either. His mean demeanor gave him to impression of a thug. The last two the X-Men were very familiar with.
It was unexpected to see Wolverine's archenemy, Sabertooth among the group, but compared to the last of the five it was dull. Cyclops couldn't believe his eyes. Jean and Beast were horrified. The final member of Magneto's latest group wasn't some enemy they had fight before or even an unknown mutant that he had found. Staring at them was a dear friend and trusted ally. "Colossus!" exclaimed Jean.
"What are you doing here?" Scott blurted out. He still couldn't believe his eyes. He didn't want to believe his eyes. "Are you with them? Did you actually join up with Magneto?" Colossus didn't acknowledge him. He refused to meet Scott's gaze. That was when he knew it wasn't a mistake or misunderstanding. Colossus really had joined with Magneto. Anger rushed over the normally stoic X-Man. Colossus had betrayed them. Piotr had forsaken them and chose to ally himself with one of their most powerful and hated enemies. He sided with the man who had turned Sentinels on both mutant and human kind, the man who almost strong armed him into joining the Brotherhood by threatening their friends, the man who nearly killed them all on several separate occasions. "How can you work for Magneto!?" he cried.
"We aren't here to answer your questions, X-Man," the lizard mutant said. "Now where are the others?"
"The other X-Men aren't here," Cyclops answered briskly. The X leader was still hot from Colossus' betrayal. "They are out on other missions. It is just the four of us."
The lizard mutant scowled. "That's not what I meant and you know it," he snapped.
"I don't know what you're talking about," Cyclops insisted.
"Don't play dumb. We know the Avengers were with you. Why aren't they here now?"
There was no use denying the Avengers were with them. Senyaka had obviously shared that much information with them. It looked like they would have to be more creative. "We split up on the island to search for you," he lied. "We weren't sure where you were. Splitting up to search for you was the best option. The plan was when one of us found any sign of your whereabouts we would contact each other and go in together." All things considering he was proud at his story. It wasn't farfetched at all and he had a pretty good poker face according to Gambit.
The lizard mutant continued to scowl at him. He didn't trust Scott's story, but he couldn't find any fault with it. He turned his attention away from Scott and put it on Jean. He wasn't worried. Jean could be convincing when she needed to be. "I'm supposed to believe you didn't contact them when we pulled you in here?" he snarled at her.
"Believe what you want believe," Jean stated boldly, not showing an ounce of fear. "I already contacted them before we got here. The more time you waste questioning us the more time you give them to find us." She had tripped him up. Their scaly friend hadn't considered that she would say she contacted them. Now the realization that the Avengers could be on their way would hit him. The longer he stayed there trying to find holes in their story the more time he gave to their supposed backup to find them. He wouldn't question Hank or Pietro now. That was good news. Hank wasn't always the best at improvising. With a keen nose like Sabertooth there they couldn't afford to have a change in scent tipping their enemies off.
"You hear that lizard lips?" Quicksilver spoke with same elegant wit and arrogance that he was known for. "Wanda and the Avengers are already on their way. It makes no difference if you keep playing 20 questions with us or not. They're going to get here and stop my dear old father form his latest Saturday morning scheme."
For once Scott was grateful for Quicksilver's smartass mouth. He succeeded at convincing their captor that they were being truthful and angered him by ridiculing Magneto. "Delgado, Sabertooth, Colossus, Pyro, restrain them. We're taking them to the master."
Sabertooth slapped metallic cuffs onto Jean's hands. He purposely dug his claws into her forearms, causing her physical discomfort. Hearing his girlfriend wince flared Scott up, but the giant of a man, who he thought was Delgado, made sure to restrain him before he could even think to do anything rash. Pyro had Beast and Colossus was tasked with cuffing Quicksilver.
"Seriously," the son of Magneto snorted. "You are aware my mutant power allows me to move faster than the speed of sound? I can pick the key to these things and be out of them in the time it takes you to blink," he boasted with his trade mark smirk.
The lizard mutant flashed a cocky smirk of his own. "We are well aware of your speed, Quicksilver. That's why these cuffs have explosive placed in them." The smirk fell instantly from Quicksilver. He was glad to see the arrogance evaporate from the younger man. "They were armed as soon as you were cuffed. Just using the key won't disarm them. It is voice activated. If the deactivation code isn't spoken in ten seconds they explode automatically. Not even you're fast enough to out run an explosion point blank."
Pietro took offense at his speed being dismissed so easily, but the truth was he wasn't sure if he could outrun the explosion point blank. He wasn't eager to try it. He held his tongue back in an uncharacteristic move.
Satisfied at Quicksilver's silence the lizard mutant activated his communicator. "Mellencamp to Cortez," he spoke into the communicator.
"This is Cortez. What is it, Mellencamp? Do you need back up?"
"Negative. We have the X-Men and Quicksilver, but the Avengers and Scarlet Witch aren't with them. According to them they split up to search for us, but the telepath contacted them when we pulled them in. I'm not entirely sure if they are being truthful, but to play it safe we may want to relocate the base."
"Understood," Cortez said. "Bring them to the master. By the time you get here we will have left Genosha air space and avoid the Avengers. The master will get the truth out of our prisoners."
"We are on our way," the lizard mutant, identified as Mellencamp said. The followers of Magneto marched with their prisoners out. The hangers were empty for everyone except for the cloaked Avengers. Several minutes passed before the corky quartet emerged from the Quinjet.
"So far so good," Clint remarked. "This plan might actually work after all, old man."
Captain America chose to ignore Hawkeye's remark and focus on the mission at hand. "Jean's psychic link is up and running. I'll take lead. Hawkeye you watch our rear. Scarlet Witch you make sure to stick close to Vision and guide him. Remember to move covertly. Let's move out people." They got into their positions seamlessly and moved out as one. He was impressed about how easily Scarlet Witch blended in with them. This was going to work. One way or another they were going to make this work. He wasn't going to let another war happen, not this time.
"Where is the runt?" Sabertooth finally asked. "I expected him to be here." Working for Magneto wasn't his idea of a good time. He could barely stand the preachy and self-righteous old bastard. The reason he agreed to be one of Magneto's Acolytes was because it put him in direct opposition of Wolverine. He couldn't miss an opportunity to kill his old enemy.
"Sorry, looks like you're out of luck," Jean answered. "Logan's out on another mission."
"Typical. Oh well, I guess I'll make due with you." Sabertooth ran his clawed fingers across her throat. "He's got a soft spot for you. I could rip out that pretty little throat of yours and send it to him." He loved that idea. It had proven effective of tormenting Wolverine before. He would never forget the runt's face when he saw Silver Fox's broken and lifeless body. The anguish Wolverine felt brought great joy to Sabertooth. If red could elicit even half of that he would call this trip worth it.
She could hear every twist thought and sense all the perverse delights they gave Sabertooth. It made Jean sick to her stomach. He was every bit as monstrous as his appearance. Unlike Logan he relinquished any shred of his humanity long ago. He wanted frighten her, but she refused to give him the satisfaction.
"Come on red. Let's hear you scream." She didn't respond. Red was tough. That was fine with him. It just made breaking her more fun. "I can make you scream. The things I could do would make that pretty little head of yours spin. It might not be all bad. Hell, you might even enjoy it."
Sabertooth's actions failed to get a rise out of Jean, but they did enrage Cyclops. He wanted to kill Sabertooth. He understood why Wolverine hated him with such passion. There was nothing decent within him. He had no boundaries or limits. To see that creature's hands around Jean's neck, not knowing if they would squeeze the life out of her or not sickened and frightened him at the same time. "Hands off her, Creed!"
"Ooh scary," mocked Sabertooth. "Look at slim puffing his chest out trying to protect his woman. You're such the big hero. Oh please. You are so pathetic it's not even funny. I'll gut you after I get down with your woman that way you get the pleasure of seeing all the wonderful things I plan on doing with her."
Visibly shaking with fury Scott tried to lash out, but was held back by his captor. Sabertooth laughed at his struggle to break free. He would give him something to laugh about. As soon as the big guy let his guard down he would blast Sabertooth all the way to the moon. Who would be laughing then?
Just to annoy the X leader he ran a hand through red's hair only to have it stopped. Sabertooth looked up he saw an unamused Colossus. "That's enough." His voice was steady, but the words were full of explosive rage not unlike Cyclops'. "You will not lay one finger on any of them."
"You better move your hand junior or I'll rip it off." Sabertooth glared back at the younger man. Colossus met it head on with a death glare of his own. He refused to be intimidated. It both amused and angered Sabertooth. He bore his claws, while metal spread across Colossus' skin. Before the two mutants could come to blows Mellencamp intervened.
"Both of you stand down. Master Magneto does not tolerate fighting amongst his Acolytes."
"I don't give a shit," Sabertooth snarled. "If junior here wants a fight I'll give him a fight. I doubt Magneto will care if I kill an X-Men."
"Former X-Men," Mellencamp corrected. "Colossus is one of us now."
"He could have fooled me. Look at how he protects them. The kid is still one of Xavier's lapdogs," Sabertooth sneered.
"I don't like unnecessary cruelty," Piotr announced. "What you were doing was uncalled for. You are monster, Sabertooth. I may have to tolerate you, but I will never indulge or allow you to satisfy your sick desires." Piotr expected to see him bear his teeth or even to pounce on him. He didn't expect was to see the animalistic mutant to laugh.
"You are hilarious junior. You are really something else. For making me laugh you get to live." He patted Colossus on the shoulder and walked away, leaving the Russian mutant confused. He succeeded in getting the beast to stop harassing Jean. His old friend was more than capable of taking care of herself it still bothered him to see Sabertooth paw at her. Jean deserved better than that. Delgado passed by him with Cyclops in toe. He shared a look with look with his former leader. Cyclops offered his thanks with a smile.
The rest of the trip went without incident. Beast was fascinated at the size of the vessel and all advanced technology that Magneto had horded over the years. It was an impressive sight. If the owner wasn't a mutant supremacist who wanted to see the human race crushed the fortress would be an inspiring sight. They were taken to what they assumed was the bridge of the vessel. It was by far the most impressive sight they had seen yet. It was a sight right out of science fiction space ships. Everything was cold and sterile with metallic appearance. The control panels looked futuristic.
In the center of it all was Magneto along with another one of his flunkies. The master of magnetism had his back toward them. Once they approached he turned to face them. There was no distain or even anger present on his face. Magneto almost looked jolly. The other man was a different story. He didn't conceal his contempt for them at all. The way he looked at them they were diseased dogs. "Welcome," Magneto said happily.
"Never thought I would see the day my father would welcome me," Quicksilver expressed disbelief.
Magneto heard his son, but he only smiled. "While we may not always see eye to eye it is good to see you again, Pietro. I only wish our reunion could have been under more pleasant circumstances."
Pietro rolled his eyes. His father was so full of it. He always tried to present himself as benevolent figure when he was anything, but that. He saw his father's true colors when he unleashed Sentinels on their people. "You have funny way of showing it, father. You have your latest Brotherhood goons slap cuff that will explode if I make a wrong move."
"I assure you it is only a necessary measure," Magneto urged. "I cannot have you running amok now can I?"
"Oh no, you can't have that. It is perfectly alright for you to have this thing in Genosha air space though, but I forgot how hypocrisy is your bread and butter." That wiped the smile off his father's face and put one on his.
"Insolent brat!" hollered Cortez. "Make no mistake, just because you are the master's son does not give you the right to speak to him with such disrespect."
Pietro chuckled. His father's new yes man was an even bigger tool than Summers. "Where do you find these guys?" he asked Magneto, ignoring the man. The son of Magneto was backhanded by the man. The blow was strong enough to push his face. It stung something fierce. He made a note that the new guy had anger issues.
Fuming Cortez scowled at the defiant fool. "You will learn respect boy or I shall teach it to you." He raised his hand again he found he could not move it. When he looked for the cause he found a piece of metal had fashioned itself on his hand and kept him in place. The jolly expression had been broken. Simmering rage replace it on the master of magnetism's face. Recgonizing that expression Cortez swallowed his tongue. "F-forgiving me, Great Magneto. I do not know my place."
"No, you do not." Magneto's tone was low, but radiated with restraint rage. "You will not strike my son again."
"Yes, master. Please forgive me." Cortez got on his knees and begged. The metal restraint was lifted it and his master's expression became jolly once more. He despised that he was reduced to groveling on his knees. It was unbecoming of him. Part of him resented Magneto for doing that to him.
Magneto returned his attention to his wayward son. "Do forgive Cortez. He can become a bit overzealous in our cause."
"You mean the cause that had you steal nuclear missiles," Scott spoke up.
Their old enemy was still in good nature and grinned at the response. "Straight forward as always I see. I did admire that quality in you Cyclops." He did curse how Charles found Cyclops before he did. He would have made such a fine lieutenant for the cause. "I believe that is why you are here and why you brought your new friends. It is a shame to see that Charles is still at the beck and call of government that would just as soon as turn on him as soon as it is convenient."
"You're one to talk," Jean snapped. "Professor Xavier showed you a future where the war you wanted brought humanity to the brink of extinction and you tried to force it anyway. You betrayed your own people! You still haven't learned your lesson."
Scott said, "Your actions against the American government might spark a war with Genosha! That's what you want isn't it? You want a war to start with Genosha than use this new battle fortress of yours to launch a full scale attack on America and bring in your new era of mutant supremacy."
"You're wrong!" Colossus blurted out. All eyes were on him. "We aren't trying to start a war."
"You can't possibly believe that?" Scott asked in disbelief. "Colossus, you know how Magneto is. You've seen how far he'll go to start a war between humans and mutants."
"This is different," Piotr claimed. "This isn't about war. This about finally giving mutants peace they rightful deserve."
Scott couldn't believe that Colossus of all people would buy into Magneto's pitch.
"It does look suspicious," Hank stated. "Nuclear missiles and this battle fortress do appear as if you are preparing for war."
"Colossus is right. This is not about starting a war," Magneto insisted. "This battle fortress as you have called it Beast is anything, but that. This is the future of all mutant kind. It will deliver all of us freedom from the human race in a way that will appeal to both humans and mutants. This will be our colony, away from the human race. X-Men and Pietro I welcome you to Asteroid M."
The Acolytes line up for this story is sort of mix of various different ones from different forms of media, both comics and cartoons. I know it seems weird to have Sabertooth a part of the line up without having Wolverine in the story, but I thought it would fit for the story. I tried to stay true the spirit of Sabertooth's character though.
