INTERLUDE

Thor stood with his feet braced apart, his eyes reflecting the pain and anguish he felt at the devastation around him. Natasha, Tony and Banner have long been rushed away to receive medical attention, but not before exchanging harsh words with the man they called General Ross. He scowled, thinking back at the tense exchanges between the latter and his team.

"You have a lot to answer for, Stark. I explicitly instructed you to allow them to rescue the prisoners," he bellowed, his face red with frustration.

Tony, not yet succeeding in regaining his composure in the face of such loss, merely offered a non-apologetic shrug. "I didn't think the American public would appreciate the idea of a bunch of super-powered misfits let loose, " he answered, in a voice that poorly concealed a wealth of irreverence.

The general was rendered speechless and merely looked on as paramedics came to take them away.

Thor continued scowling as he now searched the crowd of men for the figure of the general. He sucked in his breath as his eyes instead locked on a face he never thought he would see again. For a minute, as his eyes adjusted to the smoke and ashes that surrounded the battleground, he thought he saw the grinning face of his brother, Loki. He blinked and made a move in the direction of the man but frowned as the man in question once again had the face of the general. He blinked a couple of times but the image remained the same. He frowned, shaking his head, and felt a sudden sense of unease.


Far away in the distance, on an island overlooking the prison, three figures too silently studied the wreckage before them. The tallest of them, a man with an unkempt appearance, let out a sound of anger and turned accusing eyes at the older one in a wheelchair. "You still believe we should stay back and not get involved?" he demanded.

The old man sighed loudly, his face a study in grief. "The time will come when we shall have to take a side too, Logan. But I wish to keep the unity of the mutants for that much longer. I fear that once the X Men gets involved, mutants everywhere will feel the need to expose themselves needlessly and cause more danger to our community."

Wolverine snorted and flashed an arm in the direction of the ruins before them. "Danger is already here, Professor! Those are our people they have in their custody right now!" he pointed out angrily. "We should have been helping those fugitives break them loose!"

The professor shook his head sadly. "I have read the mind of that one they called Ironman and knows the reason for his actions. Releasing Rogue and the others would have exposed us all, Logan."

The other member of the trio, a woman with a spiky head of silver hair, finally spoke out, her voice ringing with deep regret. "But such a loss. She was a powerful one too," she said, referring to the death of the Scarlet Witch.

The Professor fell silent, his eyes closing in concentration. Suddenly a beatific smile appeared on his wise face. "Ah, maybe not for long, Ororo."

Opening his eyes, he quickly made a move to leave the area. "Come, we need to make a stop at the city morgue and pick her up. She is even now feeling lost and severely disoriented."

The other two frowned and exchanged confused looks. "Who is this 'she'?" Wolverine questioned, gruffly.

Professor Xavier turned around and flashed them a happy smile. "The only surviving child of Magneto."