Disclaimer: I don't own HP or Marvel.
AN-1: It took a longer than normal time, but I am starting college in a few days, and thus, I am too busy with the search for places to live and enjoying the Resident Evil 8 DLC that came on 28—oh, and watching FRIENDS on Netflix.
AN-2: I have a P*T*R*N, where you can read the NEXT THREE CHAPTERS right now, use the link on my profile!
AN-3: A very big thanks to LordLexx for the edits, as well as an extra one for being such an awesome beta!
AN-4: A shoutout to my Celestial Level Patrons Gerald, Known ART, Russel M, Potterfan, Roy Wood, Suhayb Hussain, Michael Witkowski, Alex, Juan Hernandez, Joshua and Chris Vance and, Aiden Jones, Pardeep, Alex, Dapo Alibi, Gekkod, I am Lrd Dems, Lord Benzy, Russell M, Brayden Sheen.
A shoutout to my Presence level patron as well, the awesome Arman Darklich, Florian Muller, Harjit Singh, Mrmeme101 and Russell Taylor. You guys all rock!
"Why are we not being allowed to take that caped asshole down?" Tony asked for the dozenth time as he paced the length of the large room, the hologram behind him showing almost a hundred live angles of the fight happening in New York. "Remind me again Captain?"
"Because Ross is heading this operation," Natasha sighed from her seat at the bar. "and you know the moment we come near him or his little band of psychopaths, those guns will be pointed at us faster than you can say 'Hey'. This is an army operation, Tony, you can't interrupt those unless you want them and the government to gun you down."
"Those are some bad guns," Barton said next, enlarging the projection JARVIS had provided them, "and the motherfucker those are being pointed at is even badder."
"Sorry I am late," Dr. Banner said as he walked into the room, his shirt a little burnt from whatever experience he had been conducting. "So, what is the situation?"
"Half an hour ago Magneto flew into New York and destroyed three buildings publicly owned by the Friends of Humanity, a group of fanatics that believe every mutant should be killed," he answered, feeling a wave of familiar anger rise within him as a similar ideology in a different time came back to him. "On the fourth building, he gave the reason for his attack on the supposed NGO, which had kidnapped three little children and kept them as prisoners while torturing them."
"I presume the children were mutants?" Banner asked as he walked closer to the hologram, putting on his spectacles to better view the live footage, before he stopped at the one showing the army. "I recognize that unit's insignia…so that is why Fury has kept us here. Ross is one the leading the attempted capture of Magneto."
"You believe he won't succeed?" Tony asked, pointing at the hologram, "He has got guns, rockets, heat-seeking missiles, and fucking railguns here Doc. There is no way Magneto can tank all of that and not drop dead. Ross is not going to stop until he gets what he wants, even if he has to burn half of New York to get it."
"Do you know who the most dangerous man on Earth is, Tony?" Bruce raised an eyebrow, "and it is not me."
"He is more dangerous than the big green rage monster you turn into?" He scoffed, pointing at the man slamming a helicopter into a tank. "Please pull another one Banner, Magneto is sure powerful with his magnetism and all that, but you can simply grab him and beat him to a pulp with a single finger."
"Hulk may look like a nightmare compared to him, but Magneto is far worse than my alter ego ever could be." Came back the somber response as Banner sat down upon the couch, "Hulk is…a primal, ape-like being with a lot of strength at his disposal. But Magneto? He can think, and his mutation is something so versatile and powerful that Ross has desperately tried to bring him down over the years. I have blood on my hands, Tony, I hate that fact, but I do…However, the Hulk always tries to get away from humans due to that little bit of humanity in him. But Magneto is a different kind of monster. He always finishes the fight before he leaves, and if that means the death of a thousand soldiers, then you better believe those thousand soldiers will die.
"He has control over Electromagnetism," Bruce continued, removing his spectacles and rubbing his eyes, "Which means he can just create force fields like those shields you are trying to develop, and imagine what he can do if he creates one inside the Hulk. No amount of strength will save me if I fight Magneto and this idea enters his head."
"That is all well and good, but what do we do now?" Barton interrupted, pointing his knife at the city outside. "Now that we know Magneto is not going to stop until every single soldier in Ross' unit is dead, why are we still here instead of stopping that bastard? We stopped a god and an alien invasion for fuck's sake!"
"To be honest, that was more Thor and Ravager," Steve said, "and given what I understand of Magneto's powers, we can't do anything to him as we are right now. Stark, Clint and I are dependent upon metal, and Natasha can only defeat Magneto if she gets into close quarters with him—which is still a slim possibility…and after what I have learned of Ross, I don't believe Bruce should even go near the fight."
"So we just sit here and do nothing while innocents are getting killed out there in the crossfire?" Stark blinked at him, "Honestly, Captain, I thought you were going to be the last to think that."
"I never said that," he snapped, making everyone in the room jump as the normally calm and smiling man raised his voice. "But we cannot go there without a plan of action. Getting emotional in a fight is surely useful, but it can also get you or your friends killed. That is why we need a plan of action first."
"You are the one with the experience Captain," Natasha remarked, looking at him briefly before she turned towards the projections, "It is your call."
After a few moments of silence, Steve got up and walked over to the hologram showing Magneto's life-sized figure, "Patch me through to Spiderman and the Fantastic Four. We need all hands on the deck for this one."
"What the hell is going on?" Jean screamed, clutching his neck tightly as they flew through the night, "Why can't I contact the Professor?"
"Do I look like a telepath to you?" Harry snarked back, pumping his wings and creating powerful tailwinds to boost his speed, "Either your powers are still not back to their full capacity and the distance between us is too great, or something else is preventing you from making contact with him."
"Maybe it is the distance, I have never been so far from the Mansion," she said as he slowed to a stop in the air, floating just off the Chrysler building. "But what were all those explosions? I can't see anything from here."
"That was Magneto trashing the butt of General Ross' entire force," a very recognizable voice came from below them, and both of them looked down to see Spiderman sitting upon the edge of the roof. "I uh-fuck!"
"You're injured," Harry observed, flying down until they were level with the web-slinger, and Jean gasped as she saw the rebar sticking out of his thigh, along with glass shards buried in practically every inch of his left leg. "Here, let me heal you."
Jean floated off to the edge without a word, her eyes wide and unblinking as her mind tried to process how the fuck was Spiderman even alive? Said hero, on the other hand, groaned as Harry pushed him a little back to make space for himself, and kneeled down beside the web-slinger.
"Who are you guys? And how the hell are you gonna heal me?" He groaned out as Harry touched the spot from where the rebar had entered his thigh, "You a magician or something? Given th-ugh! You arrived on literal wings with that redhead in your arms, can't di-akh!—discount that."
"You took a serious beating to your lungs too," he said, and a ghostly white light began to wisp off his hand as he passed it over every injury he could see. "Stay still. Your muscles and bone density are quite different from what I am used to working with. Maybe the magic won't be as effective, so let's not take any chances."
"Oh fuck I am getting healed by Ravager!" Spiderman screamed as he almost jumped off the roof the next second, but the hand on his shoulder pushed him down before he could injure himself even more. "Fuck me sideways!"
"No thanks, I'd rather have sex with my date there," he responded drily as he frowned and clenched his fingers. Spiderman groaned painfully the next second as every piece of glass embedded in his body began to come out. Thankfully, his suit had mitigated most of the pressure when the shards had started to dig in, and even the deepest ones were only about an inch into his body. "But how did you recognize me…by that silly name?"
"You are corre-fuck be careful man!" He hissed as the longest piece came out of his calf, "Ugh Christ! Where was I? Ah yes, you are correct, redheads are Hot with a capital H. And trust me, there is not a sight better in this world than waking up with a redhead in your arms…or a blond either, for that matter."
"You are babbling," Harry observed amusedly as he began to heal the bleeding gashes and gouges, and simultaneously summoned Jean's outfit from the Mansion. "A common side effect of the charm I used, but still, thanks for the information."
"Excuse me," Jean interrupted. Sweetly. "Can you guys stop talking about redheads as if we are just great sex and cuddle instruments?"
"Not my fault Ms. Marvel," Spiderman groaned out while coughing slightly, "You should see my girlfriend when she wears anything skin-tight. And while I am trying not to see you in the fear of Mr.I-can-punch-the-Hulk here, you have no shortage of supermodel looks either."
"I didn't punch that monster," he snorted, patting Spiderman's newly healed thigh and grabbing the rebar. "It was just a bit of magic."
"Uh huh, and I am- oh WHAT THE FUCK?!" Spiderman cried out as suddenly, four individuals appeared right above them. "Why are you guys late? Fury told me you were coming to support me minutes ag-dammit be careful, that is bloody rebar for Christ's sake!"
"Yes yes, I can bloody well see that," Harry said as he gripped the rebar, and pulled it out in a single movement. Ignoring the blood drops that landed on his face and the gags that came out of Jean's and the newly arrived woman, he started to heal Spiderman's thigh. Thankfully, the rebar had not actually passed through the bone, so it was a simple matter to knit back the muscles and flesh. "There, that should do it. However, I would recommend not putting too much weight on that leg tonight. Now le-"
"Wait, aren't you gonna help with the situation downstairs?" One of the two men dressed in blue suits asked as he pointed at the streets below. "After what I have seen of you, we could definitely use your help Ravager. None of us hold a powerset that can take on Magneto and confidently win, and currently, I don't have the time to create something. Not when civilians are dying in this pointless fight every second."
"Magneto is the one attacking the city?" Jean gasped, and realizing the absence of it, Harry conjured her mask over her face, along with distorting its memories in everyone's minds, "Then where are th-my teammates?!"
"I wasn't able to contact Charles at all," the man, who he now recognized as Reed Richards, said. "But we don't have the time to go there and check what happened to your team, Ms. Marvel, and Charles is more than capable of dealing with anything that might attack him and his students. Right now, we need to somehow take Magneto down, or talk him into leaving the city."
"But why did he attack the city? He is not a fool, for all his dogma, he won't attack like this unless provoked. He must have known that after this anti-mutant thoughts will increase even more," Jean frowned as she looked at the deserted roads below. "Did someone…kill a mutant here?"
"No," Reed sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. "But we don't have the time to tell you everything. Let's get to Magneto, and I will tell you everything on the way."
"Mr. President, call off this operation before Ross and Magneto both destroy the entire city," Fury almost shouted into the terminal as he watched yet another chopper explode. "While we have evacuated most of the civilians, hundreds have already died due to stray attacks done by the army itself! And that is not to say the billions worth of infrastructural damage New York is going to suffer because of Ross' obsession. Magneto is not someone you can mow down with conventional weapons, sir!"
"I can't do that Commander," the President said, turning away from the camera and looking over at the live feed of the city in question. "For far too long Magneto has acted with impunity, and Ross is under strict orders to bring him down. Alive. After that man's stunt in the middle-east and his brazen murder spree today, I can't let him go free. Goodbye Commander."
The call cut off the next moment, and Fury was left staring at his own reflection in the blue-tinted mirror. "Status report," he said quietly, doing every calming exercise he knew to keep the string of curses from escaping his throat.
"Spiderman was injured when he tried to save a car from some falling debris," Coulson said, bringing over a glass of water to him, "and we haven't been able to contact Charles Xavier or anyone else through an active device in his mansion. Mr. Richards and his family are on their way to the site to help in evacuation and somehow stop the conflict, while the Avengers are busy with the same."
"And Ross' unit?"
"More than five hundred dead."
"How does this man even get his numbers up so quickly," he growled, turning around to look at Coulson. "What about our ground units?"
"Five dead, Sir," came the response as Coulson projected the men's faces over his tablet. "One due to a stray bullet reflected by Magneto, and four others while evacuating civilians."
"Goddammit," he muttered. "Every weapon in the US military has metal in it in one form or another, and we don't have the time for Stark and Richards to tinker. I am almost tempted to air-drop Banner right on the top of Magneto's head right now."
"Sir, I think you should see this," Coulson suddenly whispered as he turned the screen towards him, and Fury raised an eyebrow at what he saw. A winged man, and a redheaded woman flying toward Magneto. Both wore different outfits, the woman clad in a yellow and red bodysuit…while her partner was wearing a very familiar armor.
"Fuck!" He cursed, tapping the side of his earpiece. "Captain, Ravager is headed towards Magneto. Do not engage him at any costs, and stay away from the area if it comes down to both of them fighting."
'So, a bunch of bigots masquerading as religious activists tortured a bunch of children, and this man wiped out four of their bases thoroughly?'
'Yes,' Jean thought back as they both flew towards where she could feel Magneto's presence. 'When he was done giving an ultimatum to the Friends of Humanity, General Ross showed up with the army and started to attack him.'
'Then I don't understand what the problem is?' He said as both of them avoided a falling, flaming helicopter, "He did nothing wrong with killing the humans who did such a thing. And even now, it is the fault of the army for engaging such a powerful individual in the middle of New York.'
'I agree that he isn't wrong today..' she replied haltingly, 'But the public, the army, and the whole world will not see it like that. He already did a lot of damage to pro-mutant sentiments by his actions in middle-east. You know how many runs we've had to do to that part of the globe since then, and almost every time we have arrived late. The wider public will not blame the army for this. Not after the fallen soldiers are wrapped in the flag and paraded around as a symbol of a normal human's bravery and power in front of power-hungry, hellish creatures like us.'
'I have seen this all before,' he snorted, coming to a stop as Magneto finally came into view, 'But I'd say my version was a lot better looking than Magneto's. 'Fires, thunderbolts, and the fallen soldiers getting reanimated to fight alongside me…It was beautiful.'
'Considering that your species numbered in millions compared to our bare thousands, and each of you was capable of fighting, I have no problem imagining that,' she responded drily, stopping a helicopter from crashing into a building before gently setting it down. 'But not every mutant has a mutation suited to combat Harry, and neither do we have the numbers for an all-out war against the whole of humanity.'
"What would Charles think? His star pupil ruminating about the possibility of war when he keeps teaching about coexistence," Harry said, obscuring his face for everyone save for Jean. "Though given that you agreed to go out with me, I shouldn't be as surprised anymore."
"He is not a fool, Harry," she rolled her eyes as they both once again started to move towards Magneto. "Last year, he was the one who brought the oldest of us to his office and showed us every dark facet of being a mutant, and hundreds of scenarios regarding what would happen if a war broke out. He is not aiming for coexistence because he hates violence or because he loves them. It is because he knows that even if we won, the price would be too great to have paid."
"Ms. Marvel, Ravager," a modulated voice greeted them as a battered and sparking Iron Man came flying from below them. "So nice to see a new power couple, but if you could lend a hand in this mess? Magneto has already sent me flying two blocks away through a building, and I am not keen on repeating the experience."
"Well, if nothing else, I would get to hear the legendary Erik Lehnsherr for the first time." Harry snorted and retracted his wings, flying under his own power towards the man wreaking havoc on Ross' unit. "I wonder if my brand of telepathy will work on him?"
"You have telepathy?" Stark exclaimed before his faceplate slid open and he looked at Jean, "Seriously, how many telepaths do you have in that mansion besides yourself, Ms. Marvel?"
"None of your business." She scoffed, creating a shield in front of them just in time to catch a couple of reflected rockets. "And my name is not Ms. Marvel…it is Phoenix."