Prologue 6:
Magneto entered the dark chamber cautiously, with Mystique by his side. The room was large and well kept, unlike the narrow, dingy hallways making up a majority of Striker's compound. Magneto deplored the condition of the weakening metallic walls, their cracks and rusted edges aged by the water and pressure of the dam. He would have never allowed such precious materials to become so worn and tired.
However, he could sense something else in the compound that was of much more interest than the dying steel surrounding him. Something very rare, very precious, and very powerful. That sense had drawn him to this very chamber and he held one hand in front of him, as if being led by some force out of his control.
The room was a convergence of many tunnels, lined by high glass shelves and a wall of light. On the wall, there were diagrams and x-rays, outlining the construction of a weapon...a mutant weapon.
In the center of the chamber was a large, water-filled tub. The equipment around it was dusty and old, and did not look like it had been used for a very long time. Only one of the handheld sprayers lay askew and its tip had been clogged by a solid, shining metal.
Magneto smiled serenely as he stared at the metal and walked toward the tub. An empty sink of sorts crowned it, and the inside was lined with solid adamantium.
So this was where it was done, he thought, Striker must have brought the Wolverine here...no wonder he left so quickly...
Holding his outstretched hand over the sink, Magneto focused his mind on the adamantium and drew it out. The supposedly indestructible metal folded and rose under his influence, melting upward into his hand. It hovered, forming a solid sphere about six inches in diameter. Magneto smiled, genuinely pleased at his discovery and admiring it the way a jeweler may admire a rare stone. He formed it, condensed it and grasped it out of the air. Its weight was comforting in his hand and he caressed it once more before placing it in his pocket.
Mystique watched Magneto with quiet awe and admiration. She had not known happiness since his capture from Liberty Island and now, watching him enjoy his freedom and power again, she felt a calming sense of pride. She smiled at him as he glanced over at her, and then she looked down into the tub, at the face that sparkled below the surface.
Magneto moved to next to Mystique and gazed down at the dead woman sadly. He recognized her then, as one of Striker's unwilling servants, forced to do his will by the horrid enzyme Striker had taken from his own son.
"Poor child," he said quietly, "Maybe there is still time..."
Mystique glanced slowly between him and the woman below and stepped back as Magneto again raised his hand. The dead woman began to rise from the water, hanging heavily in the air, weighted by the solid adamantium that had been pumped into her body not ten minutes earlier. Magneto looked at her with the care of a father and brushed back the wet hair from her face. Her eyes were open, lines of hardened adamantium running from them like tears, and more from her mouth, formed and solid as if a moment frozen in time.
Magneto wondered again, and frowned thoughtfully. She was like the Wolverine, that much was obvious, he could feel the delicately fused plates covering her bones and knew it was her x-rays and information displayed on the wall of light. However, he wondered if she also had the same mutation as the Wolverine, the ability to rapidly heal herself, even when she was close to death.
Magneto focused his mind again on the adamantium, using his will to draw the excess metal out of the woman's body with care so not to disturb the original plating from Striker's experiment. Her body seemed to expand, stretching her limbs to their limit, and after a moment, tiny beads of adamantium began to flow from her. Carefully, almost lovingly, Magneto gathered the metal to him, forming a sphere as he had before. The woman's body writhed and bled as the solid substance exited her like a mist from her eyes and her mouth, even from her pores.
The exodus of metal ebbed and, finally, stopped all together, leaving Magneto with a sphere similar to the first. Her attacker had not been frugal with the metal when they tried to kill her.
The woman's body hung limply now, still suspended by Magneto, but was significantly lighter without the extra adamantium. She was bleeding from her eyes and mouth and stomach, though it was not running, her heart not beating. Magneto did not move, waiting patiently to test his theory about the woman's mutation.
After a few minutes, one hand twitched as it hung at her side. Magneto smiled, almost wickedly, and moved the woman's body carefully to a lab table not far away. Both he and Mystique moved toward it, never taking their eyes from the stirring mutant.
The woman's body twitched again, as if struggling against nature to come back to life. Her hands began to clench and unclench with the sound of metallic cracking. The blood that stained her face was being slowly drawn back into her, and the wound in her abdomen was growing smaller. Magneto was pleased.
The body healed with a slow uncertainty, as if it did not trust the world around her to allow her to heal. After no additional attacks came, the wounds closed fully and left no scars.
The woman lay motionless, and Magneto could just make out her shallow, slow breaths. With one hand, he touched her neck at an artery to confirm the pulse and smiled up at Mystique, who nodded approvingly.
Suddenly, with terrifying speed, one of the woman's arms shot up and, from her outstretched fingers, blades of adamantium moved to claw Magneto's face. Mystique jumped back in surprise, but Magneto did not so much as flinch, even as the claws stopped cold less than two inches from his skin.
He looked down, and saw that the mutant's eyes were open wide and she struggled to move against his unseen hold on her. Her eyes were hazel, almost green, and filled with a mix of fear and undisguised hatred.
Magneto stroked her head comfortingly, and the pleased smile never left his face.
"Quiet now, my child," he said softly, though not warmly, "We are not your enemies."
The woman glared up at them, and slowly stopped her losing battle to move. Her eyes darted between the tall man and the blue woman with angry confusion, but she did not speak.
Magneto took her outstretched, clawed hand carefully, forcing the blades to retract so that he could hold it properly. The woman just watched him with silent suspicion.
"We are your Brothers," he continued, "We are mutants. And our enemies are elsewhere in this compound, Striker being only one among many. His small mind may have created you, but he could never truly understand you. He could never truly control you. Not without the aid of his mutant son. He used you, child, used you for far too long and, if you would like, you can help us destroy him...and those like him. Those who would use mutants like animals, who would try to control us."
The woman held Magneto's gaze as he spoke, her expression losing its fury as a new wonder rose in it. Mystique smiled behind Magneto, recognizing the look on the mutant's face. She would be an excellent addition to the Brotherhood.
The woman swallowed hard against her dry throat and mouthed one word.
"Speak, child," Magneto encouraged, "Speak and be heard."
"Wol...wolv..." she struggled and finally cried out, "Wolverine! Where is the Wolverine?!"
Magneto closed his eyes, sensing out Wolverine's own metallic skeleton.
"Why..." he said, with mock astonishment, "He is with Striker. They are outside, near his helicopter."
The woman's eyes flashed with fury.
"Enemies!" she coughed, fresh trickles of blood running down her torn throat, "Both! I'll kill them both!"
"Yes," Magneto replied, "Perhaps you will."
Just then, the dam around them groaned from the strain of the coming flood. Magneto regarded the old metal walls sadly.
"But not today," he said with clear disappointment.
The woman gritted her teeth and began to struggle again. Magneto once again stroked her dark, smooth hair.
"Enough, child," he chided, "Save the anger for another day. For your enemies are now our enemies, and your strength with become our strength. Come with us, and I will show you our future..."
The woman stared up at him again, considering his offer. The dam groaned again, and droplets of water began to fall around them. Neither Magneto nor Mystique seemed concerned.
The woman held Magneto's gaze, steady and unblinking.
"Show me," she said finally and felt her body released from Magneto's power. She sat up slowly and flexed her hands, with the same metallic cracking. Magneto smiled, darkly, and the woman smiled back, eyes flashing like steel.
They left the room quickly behind then, and within minutes, the weak walls were washed away, taking the past, and all its answers, with them.
