Chapter 3
The Brotherhood Part I
"Okay, you got our attention…" Pietro looked high in the sky to see the man wearing red and purple armor with a purple cape descend down towards them. He had a very odd looking helmet on as well. "So, who are you? And how can you do…whatever it is you just did?"
"I am called Magneto, the Master of Magnetism," The older man replied, "and like the two of you, I am a mutant."
"Mutant?" Pietro repeated in disbelief. "What are you talking about?"
"As I suspected, you two haven't the faintest clue about your abilities and your own biology." Magneto replied. "Perhaps the term Mutant is to ugly of a word to describe what we are…I prefer to consider us Homo-Superiors. You two are among a growing group of people in this world who have special gifts that mere humans do not share, nor do they understand."
"Pietro maybe…" Wanda replied, looking around her at the debris and flames caused by her strange outbreak. "But I hardly consider whatever I just did here a gift."
"My dear," Magneto spoke as he put his hand on Wanda's shoulder. "Never consider power anything BUT a gift. Your abilities may involve more training to control them, as mine once did. What are your names?"
"I'm Pietro and this is my sister Wanda."
"How very Homo-Saipan." Magneto's tone had a sense of disdain in it. "Very well then, Pietro and Wanda. I am putting together a small group of people like us…We live in a world that does not understand those of us with special abilities. Born from that misunderstanding comes fear, and as you just saw with this small minded angry mob, out of fear comes hatred and violence. We are stronger together. I am in need for such skills as you two possess. If you come with me, I promise you will be safe, and you will also be well trained to control and use your abilities far better then you are right now."
"I don't know…" Pietro spoke, cautious of this mysterious man with extraordinary magnetic power, "We've been doing pretty good on our own for the past few years…"
"No, Pietro…" Wanda replied softly and with a hint of fear in her voice. "I think…I think we need to go with Magneto. We owe him a debt of gratitude for saving our lives. Also, I'm changing…I can feel this…energy…in me, and I need to know how to better control it before I do something far worse then I have done today."
"I promise you will not be disappointed." Magneto said with a power hungry smile. "Your destinies are far greater than simply running around in this world run by ants. With me, you can achieve much greater things."
"Alright then, Magneto." Pietro replied, still uncertain about this decision, "We'll go with you."
"Very well then!" Magneto spoke as began to levitate once more. "From this point on, you will no longer be known as Pietro and Wanda, but Quicksilver and the Scarlet Witch."
Pietro and Wanda, now also known as Quicksilver and the Scarlet Witch left Europe that day with Magneto in his magnetic purple ball that took them to New York City, in North America. Upon reaching this new land, which the teenagers only knew from books and movies, Magneto led them to an abandoned warehouse to meet the rest of his team, known as the Brotherhood. The warehouse looked vacant and unused on the outside. Once the three entered the building, it was clear to the twins based on the large amount of technology that this was a very active and in use base of operations for Magneto's team.
Apart from Magneto, there were three other members of the Brotherhood that Quicksilver and the Scarlet Witch met that day. Each of them were just as unusual as the master of magnetism. Their mutant names were Mystique, Sabertooth, and Toad.
Toad was a short and gross looking man with green hair, green eyes, and very slimy skin. According to Magneto his powers were basically that of a toad. He could jump very high, stick to walls, secrete a toxic goo out of his mouth, and had a very long tongue. None of that grossed Wanda out more than his attitude. From the moment the twins entered the warehouse and met Magneto's, the Toad would constantly hop about her flirting in ways that would make even the dead cringe.
The one they called Sabertooth was a wild and primal animal of a man. He was very large and muscular, with long unkempt light brown hair. His fingernails were sharp, long and unkempt It appeared like the monster of a man had more so claws then hands. Most of the time Sabertooth would wander the warehouse snarling and growling at just about everything. It did not take the twins long to learn that this man had a very strong lust for blood and violence. His mutant powers were not just in his abnormal appearance and strength, but he also had a supernatural regenerative ability. Once, when Pietro asked Magneto why they kept Sabertooth around if he was always such a grump, the Brotherhood leader responded by simply saying: "Because Sabertooth is very hard to kill."
The last mutant in Magneto's team, Mystique, was considered the second in command. She had a very sleek and slender form, with blue skin, short red hair, and cold yellow eyes that seemed to glare at everything she gazed upon. Mystique's mutant power was the ability to shapeshift. The woman also was incredibly cunning and crafty. Her brilliant mind earned her the respect of everyone else on her team, even though she appeared to only respect Magneto.
When they first arrived in the Brotherhood Warehouse, Quicksilver and the Scarlet Witch did not lead with the best first impression in their initial encounter with the other mutants. Upon entering the building, the three mutants came to meet their leader and the two visitors. Quicksilver was the first to speak, though his quick words were not the wisest.
"Ugh!" Quicksilver was repulsed by the appearance of Toad, Sabertooth, and Mystique. "What are these things?"
"These things!?" Sabertooth growled, "Why you've got some nerve, you skinny little…"
"These things are your new brothers." Magneto replied calmly, interrupting Sabertooth's rage. "Welcome to the Brotherhood."
"I'd love to welcome you, personally, and on a more intimate way." Toad hopped near Wanda, and onto a box where he could shove his face close to her. The 17 year old girl felt as if she was going to barf, as Toad's skin slime dripped onto the crate.
Disgusted by the vile creature, Wanda turned her face away from the nasty sight and waved her hand with the hopes of getting Toad's smell away from her nose. As the Scarlet Witch waved her hand, it was once again surrounded by a red aura and Toad was thrown towards Mystique. Mystique, bored of the new members already, had turned her back to return to what she was doing. She cursed as Toad fell onto her.
"Toad!" Mystique yelled as she kicked the little man off of her.
"They started it!" Toad spoke swiftly, as he greatly feared Mystique's wrath.
"Don't worry Mystique." Sabertooth snarled, "Cause I'm going to finish it!"
As the large man rushed towards the Scarlet Witch with murderous intent, Quicksilver sped in front of Wanda, trying to push her out of the way. The beast collided with Pietro, and grabbed him by the shirt collar and with one hand, threw him into a bunch of wooden empty crates in the side of the room.
Wanda screamed, horrified as she watched her brother get thrown away. Not being able to control her abilities, the crates were enclosed in a red aura, lifted into the air, and hurled at Sabertooth. The mutant bully fell to the ground as he was pelted by massive crates.
Suddenly there was a low reverberating sound as several metal bars formed a wall in between Wanda and Sabertooth, who growled viciously.
"All of you, STOP!" Magneto yelled , silencing the room. He looked at the Scarlet Witch, "and YOU need to calm down!"
Two small metal pipes flew around to where Wanda stood, and bent around the woman's arms, causing her the inability to move. Mystique walked over to Magneto and spoke, now more impressed with his newest recruits.
"So the white haired one is very fast, but what is the story with the crazy girl?" Mystique asked, fascinated with the sight.
"I don't know yet." Magneto spoke as he pondered this question, "But one thing is for sure…That girl is one powerful mutant. With power like that, no foe of ours will have the means necessary to stand in our way."
"If the broad can control it, that is." Mystique spoke sarcastically as she looked at the trapped Wanda.
"Yes, well, I believe our young Scarlet Witch will need some guidance in how to control her abilities, but we can definitely aid her with that." Magneto's face was now filled with an ambitious smile.
For the next several months the Brotherhood helped Wanda control and be able to freely use her mutant powers, which they now referred to as hexes. The next day after Quicksilver and the Scarlet Witch settled in their new home, the Brotherhood Warehouse, Magneto took Wanda to a mutant in a different city that had the power of identifying the ability of any mutant whose hand she touched. This older lady, named Whisper was fascinated with the Scarlet Witch.
"Her powers intrigue me." Whisper spoke as her eyes glimmered with blue light. "At first glance, it appears your Scarlet Witch can alter probability. If there is even the smallest chance of something happening, she can make it happen. But…I am not so sure that her power can be identified as easily as most mutants. I truly have not seen such an enigma since I was able to gleam into the host of the Phoenix Force many years ago. Very intriguing indeed."
Through his training, Magneto helped the Scarlet Witch see that controlling her hexes depended on controlling her emotions. As Wanda further understood the depths of more negative emotions such as fear, anger, and despair, she was able to hex things to do whatever she wanted, when she wanted them to.
Magneto also gave Pietro and Wanda new clothing. He explained to them that in order for the twins to be respected they had to look in a way that acquired respect, either by honor or fear. Quicksilver now wore a one piece outfit that was designed for him to have no resistance when he ran. It was a cyan blue with a white lightning in the middle. Wanda's outfit involved red leather boots, red leather gloves, and a red leather chest-plate like upperbody piece. She also was given a red cape and a red headpiece that looked somewhat like a crown. Magneto told her as he crowned her, "Remember, my Scarlet Witch, you are now the queen of your own destiny. Do not be pushed into submission by the lesser breed."
Finally the day came when Magneto gathered his Brotherhood into a dimly lit room of the warehouse with a large circular table. Each mutant found a seat at the table, which begin to light up as a hologram of New York City appeared in front of them.
"My fellow homo superiors," Magneto spoke as he gazed upon the hologram of New York City. "Our time has come. The moment when we take that which lesser beings have kept from us has begun. I have assembled the perfect team. Strength (he pointed to Sabertooth), Speed, (to Quicksilver), Intelligence, (Mystique)….under my leadership you will be the harbingers to the new world. A world that is safe for our kind. A world where we are not feared, but respected. A world where we do not live in fear, but we can live as rulers."
"That sounds like a great world!" Toad interrupted with excitement. "Bu err boss… What am I bringing this table, or new world, or whatever…"
"You bring us comic relief and the most unnecessary times…" Magneto spoke, annoyed at Toad's presence and comment.
"He could have said worse…" Toad muttered to himself. "But at least they gave me a chair at the table this time!"
"Now listen carefully," Magneto continued, "And let me reveal to you my master plan that will bring us into this new world."
Author's Note: Hello Readers, I hope you have enjoyed the story so far. I wanted to let you know that the mutant briefly mentioned in this story, the Whisper is an original character. I don't intend on using her much more in the story, as she was just a creative way to add depth to the Scarlet Witch, but in case you were thinking "I haven't heard of that Marvel character before!" it's because she doesn't exist. I'd love to hear your thoughts on my novel so far, so if you're comfortable with it, please drop me a review! Thanks and have a great day.