The New Brotherhood

Issue #2 – Blood Ties - Part Two

Savage Land

"Are we sure this is a good idea?" One-Eighty asked as he looked at the Tyrannosaurus Rex they had just killed.

"I don't know. I think she's just looking for another outlet since she hasn't gotten Voght to spill the 411 on the acolytes. She can be a little high strung but she knows what she's doing," Pyra said as he looked over at their leader.

"Crazy is more like it. I know we have to do what we need to do to make Magneto pay but I question the need to kill sometimes. Or the fact she made you kill that woman back at the hospital," One-Eighty said with a whisper.

"She didn't make me do anything. That woman tried to kill you and I had to stop her. I won't sit back and let another person I love get killed in the name of Magneto. Not again, not ever," Pyra said as he lightly touched his partner's shoulder.

"Trust me, I hate Magneto as much as the next guy and would love to see him die for what he did to me and my sister, but I don't know if," One-Eighty began to say when a shadow fell on them.

"Okay ladies, Sauron's hideout is up a head. We need to take him and his fraction out fast and without mercy," Magnetrix said as she turned and looked straight ahead.

Magnetrix knew that she didn't need to hunt down every person or creature that had associated with Magneto or the Acolytes. Her fist phase was to eliminate those that worshiped him or choose to carry on in his name. That meant the Acolytes that were still active and in hiding. She had Amelia Voght, but at the moment she was unable to get that information out of her but Astra and Aumente were working on that. In the mean time she had decided phase two was important and decided to go forward with it.

Magnetrix with the help of her and Astra's database had reviewed Magneto's other creation, the Brotherhood. They may not worship the man, but they carry out his will under his name. No matter if it's Erik's own Brotherhood or another fraction, the name itself promotes Magneto and his ideals. She decided she had to review this potential threat and remove it immediately. So she pulled up the list and began to review it.

Magneto's first core team had been made up of Astra, who had quite shortly after and was now sided with her, his children, Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch who she had plans for and would deal with later. There was also Toad who had also been a team leader had gone into hiding with Exodus after the Horseman incident. (See Demon Storm issues of Sensational X-Men.) She would have to hunt down both at a later date since they had both been great worshipers of Magneto and lead teams in his name. The last member was Mastermind who was now dead along with his daughter, but his only surviving daughter was now serving her in her plan for revenge. There had been a few other members in his first incarnation.

There was Blob, who had vanished in space but rumored to have reappeared and Unus who had vanished when the Upstarts destroyed what was left of Genosha. Those two were low on her hit list for now and the least of her worries. The two other members had been Lorelei, who was now part of the Savage Land Mutates and would be dealt with soon and Vanisher who had already been dealt with and eliminated. Magneto had even tried a second line up that became known as Mutant Force and then the Resistance, but as a practice round for her newly formed team had also been eliminated. Even though these two Brotherhoods had ended she had to look at the reincarnations of the team and its leaders that carried on the Magneto ideal and legacy. That had to also be ended as part of phase two.

The leaders of the other versions were Mystique who had gone missing in space, Toad, Dark Beast who resurfaced in Canada and then vanishing in a battle with the Fantastic Four (See Alpha Squads & current issues of New Exiles for his fate.), Marvin Hoffman or X who he and his whole Brotherhood fraction had already been killed, Magneto impersonator Xorn who had been killed by Wolverine, Exodus and now Sauron. Sauron had been a member of various versions of the Brotherhood but was now with the Savage Land Mutates, a group of mutates created by Magneto to be his warriors. Rumor had it that Sauron was building them up and preparing them for an attack on the States as the next Brotherhood of Mutants.

That is why they were here in the Savage Land. Sauron and the Mutates were connected to Magneto and had to be taken out. Once this had been done she could focus on the other two remaining leaders left on Earth and evaluate the surviving members of the Brotherhood incarnations and eliminate the ones posed a threat to carrying on the Magneto and Brotherhood legacy. After that, then she could go into phase three, the elimination of Magneto's friends and family. The only thought left was if she does that before or after she figured out where the hell Magneto had vanished to. For now, it didn't matter. She had to worry about the mission on hand.

"I don't know about the rest of you, but I'll love putting down that flying reptile," Lady Mastermind smiled.

"This will be a small challenge. The Savage Land Mutates has never attacked in one large group. Word is Sauron has gathered all them together in one place and is planning an attack as the next Brotherhood. After dropping us off, Astra has setup a distraction to Keep Ka-Zar and his people busy and out of our way. We will need to go in hard and fast," Magnetrix said.

"You think it's fair, fourteen against the five of us?" Super Sabra said as she looked at her comrades.

"Yeah, unfair to them," Pyra smirked.

"I agree, but for a little advantage I would like to introduce you to the final member of our group. Meet the new Crimson Commando," Magnetrix said as a figure jumped from a tree and landed near them causing the ground to shake and indent from the landing.

"Wait, I heard the new Commando was a girl," Lady Mastermind said looking at the man in an all red suit and mask.

"You're correct but I've rectified that problem. Now shall we?" Commando asked as his sleeves shimmered from red to silver and arm blasters ejected out on each arm.

"I think I like him," Pyra said as One-Eighty punched him in the arm.

"Okay, head coms on and follow my lead," Magnetrix commanded as she led her team to the side of a hill with a large metal door covered in vines.

Magnetrix waved her arms as she called on her powers. Load pops could be heard as any cameras and weapons attached to the hill or surrounding area were ripped from their spots rendering their opponents blind and defenseless. Magnetrix then crossed her arms and then swung them back apart as the front door ripped off and flew in two different directions. With a quick command Pyra stepped forward and called on his powers. A sonic boom of white energy emitted from his body as the opening and interior of the base exploded in fire. Magnetrix then led her team inside as Super Sabra lifted her arms and used her super speed to create a whirl wind force to push the fire inwards and clear a path for them from behind.

Lady Mastermind used her powers to reach out and touch any mind and cast the illusion that her team looked like nothing other than smoke and fire moving down the corridor. Magnetrix continued to reach out with her powers to dismantle any cameras, weapons or technology that was in this place. After a few minutes they had made it to the center of a giant room inside the hill. Looking around it was completely empty and had been very easy for them to reach. Almost too easy and that made Magnetrix realize something very quickly.

"Darn it, it's a trap!" Magnetrix swore.

Lights flooded as they looked up to see Sauron on a ledge staring down at them. A pathway made of plastic was connected to the side of the room circling all the way around. On the pathway stood twelve figures spaced far enough apart so that they were completely surrounding them. Looking at each of them Magnetrix knew who exactly each one was. Staring down at them with evil intent was Brainchild, Amphibius, Barbarus, Equilibrius, Gaza, Piper, Lupo, Leash, Lupa, Worm, Vertigo and Whiteout. Magnetrix swore for her stupidity and overconfidence as she also saw dozens of weapons made of plastic pop out of the walls all around them. She then looked back at Sauron.

"You think I wouldn't be prepared for you and your pathetic Magneto and Brotherhood wanna bes?" Sauron cackled.

"How?" One-Eighty whispered to Magnetrix.

"You're not the only one with resources my dear," Sauron said as a woman stepped out next to him.

"Lorelei," Lady Mastermind spat at the former Brotherhood member.

"Yes, I see you remember me. You see, when rumors surfaced that another Magneto imposter had appeared and this time hunting down those connected to Magneto and the Brotherhood, Sauron sent me to investigate. When our agent Blindspot turned up missing and then later found burnt to death we had all we needed to know.

"So we planted the word that Sauron had gathered all of us together to form a new Brotherhood to attack and spread the word of Magneto to draw you here and as you can see, it worked," Lorelei laughed.

"Yes, and everyone here was so dedicated to the man of magnetism that they all agreed to gather for the first time in one united front to take you out first," Sauron cackled.

"You think us weak and unprepared?" Magnetrix asked as he whispered into her helmet com.

Commando's back and shoulders shimmered from red to silver as two large launchers appeared. Responding to his leader's command he fired off his weapons targeting and destroying every plastic weapon on the walls around them. Magnetrix smile turned to a frown when a strange pulse emitted from the weapons as they were each destroyed. Magnetrix suddenly felt odd as she looked around at her team and then back up to the Sauron.

"What have you done?" Magnetrix demanded.

"I am so smart. I knew you would take out the plastic guns so I rigged them with an invention I cooked up. When destroyed it emits a pulse that causes a mutant's powers to go dormant for one minute," Brainchild laughed.

"This is all we need to kill you all. Mutates, now!" Sauron commanded.

Vertigo and Equilibrius, each on opposite sides unleashed their powers upon the mutants below. As the sense of vertigo was being forced upon them Whiteout stepped foreword and unleashed her powers. In flashes of psionic light she began to render her enemies blind. As Magnetrix and her team were being caught in two blasts of vertigo and blindness the rest of the Savage Land Mutates leapt from their positions and attacked them head on, screaming for blood.

Brotherhood Origins: Pyra and One-Eighty

Sydney, Australia

Jack sat in the holding cell crying. He really hated where is life had taken him. How did he go from running around playing with his older brother in a happy and loving family to many years later sitting in a jail cell for killing a room full of kids? It didn't matter that they had killed his boyfriend first and that he had acted out in self defense. He hadn't even meant to burn them all alive. It just happened and now here he sat waiting for his sentencing. There was no one to call. His brother had died and his parents had been killed a few years ago. His boyfriend was now dead and he was all alone.

It seemed like everyone he ever cared about always left him. When he was younger his brother had always been there for him. He would even do magic tricks for him to cheer him up. Pretending to control fire and make it do things. It was really neat and Jack loved him for it. He always thought they'd be together until his brother left for Asia to work as a journalist and novelist. His brother promised to keep in touch but that was the last he ever saw of his brother.

He had overheard his parents talk about his brother getting mixed up in some criminal activity over in the States but Jack didn't want to believe it. So when he graduated from High School he had decided to skip University and travel to the States and visit his brother. His parents even argued with him about it and even convinced him to delay it a year and start college first. That was a mistake because a year later when his deal had been almost up they had received word that his brother had gotten sick and died from some strange illness.

For whatever reason, the body was never brought home and they had a private memorial. He resented his parents for that and just wanted to run away. How could his brother promise to always be there and then up and vanish and die on him. It wasn't fair and he couldn't take the emotion any more. Along with his brother's death, he was dealing with the fact he thought he might be gay. He was all but ready to jump from a bridge when he met Stefan. Stefan the man you convinced him not to jump and gave him a shoulder and eventually his love.

Stefan happened to go to the same College as him and they quickly grew close and inseparable. They dated a long time and were always there for each other. Stefan was even his rock when his parents had gone on a trip and their plane had gone down near the island of Genosha. I fit hadn't been for Stefan he didn't know what he would have done. All he had now was Stefan and they were soon planning on getting married and knew that they would be together forever. That was until a few hours ago, when Stefan had been taken from him leaving him alone at last.

Stefan had made comments about this group of frat boys that were always picking on him for being gay. One had even tried to get physical once but Stefan had gotten away. Jack had told Stefan to go to the authorities and the Headmaster, but Stefan wasn't ready to come out that way. He wasn't quite ready for his family to know. Jack let it go and promised not to say anything for now. Then Jack had received a dreadful call on his cell phone. It was Stefan and he was screaming in hysterics.

Jack had finally made it to the park where Stefan had called from to find his lover curled in a ball severely beaten and blood everywhere. Jack screamed as he went to his side. Stefan had been beaten so bad that his face wasn't even recognizable. Before the medics and police arrived all Stefan could tell him was that it was those boys. Jack had paced at the hospital with conflicting emotions when he was called to Stefan's side. Stefan shortly died in his arms due to his injuries. Because his parents didn't want the gay thing out and that the frat boys claimed that he had made a pass at them, nothing was being done. Jack finally snapped.

He raced over and stormed into the room where the frat boys and their friends were all sitting and making jokes about Stefan. Jack stormed in and began screaming. What happened next seemed like a blur. He remembers screaming and the kids all laughing at him and threatening to do to him what they did to his boyfriend. Then he remembers feeling a strange sensation and then staring in surprise as he saw the whole room full of kids screaming as they were being burned alive. He couldn't believe what was happening. Next thing he knew the police arrived and he was being placed in a jail cell.

Jack stared at the walls wondering what would happen next. He figured he would be executed and at this point he didn't care. He had nothing and no one to live for. He had tried to call on his powers but couldn't make it happen. At this point it didn't matter. His fate had been sealed and he had come to accept that in his time sitting in the cell. He was about to lay down when he felt a strange shacking from all around him. Suddenly the wall to the side of him ripped away and three figures stood there. One in purple and red, one in silver and black and the last in violet and black. Who where these ladies and what did they want with him?

"What is going on? Who are you? Where are the cops?" Jack asked in a panic.

"Don't worry, thanks to Lady Mastermind here everyone still thinks the jail is in one piece and you're sitting here all alone in your cell. My name is Magnetrix and this is Astra. We've come to ask you to join our group," Magnetrix said as they all stepped into the cell.

"Join you for what?" Jack asked in confusion.

"Why Jack Allerdyce, to help us kill the evil mutant and man named Magneto," Magnetrix said.

"Why would I do that?" Jack asked.

"Because you have great power. We know all about you and it seems there are a lot of accidental fires in your life and we are sure that you have the same power of fire as your brother St. John did," Astra said.

"My brother? What do you know about my brother?" Jack asked suddenly growing concerned.

"Yes, you see your brother had power of fire and Magneto and his band of Brotherhood took your brother down a path that leads him to become the evil villain known as Pyro. Because of that path, it led him to be exposed to the mutant killing Legacy Virus that soon took his life," Magnetrix said.

"Magneto killed my brother," Jack asked as anger started to build. He had heard and read things about this Magneto.

"Yes, and your parents. You see, it was his war in Genosha that caused a stray blast to hit the plane your parents were on causing it to crash and kill them," Astra said.

"You mean?" Jack asked as they all felt the room around them grow hot.

"That because of Magneto you are sitting here alone with all your loved ones dead. If you join us, not only will we teach you to use your powers but help you kill the man responsible for taking your family from you," Magnetrix said as Jack took her hand and Astra teleported them all away.

Massachusetts Asylum for the Mentally Insane

"Let me out of here. I'm not insane," a man's voice shouted from inside a padded room.

"Yes, we are well aware of your sanity," a nurse said as she and two other doctors come walking in to see a man who looked to be late twenties or early thirties.

The man sitting on the floor in a straight-jacket looks up at his visitors and stares. He sees three strange ladies in costumes standing in front of him as nurses, security and staff walk by behind them without even batting an eye. He noticed that the lady in front looks just like the evil mutant called Magneto, the man responsible for him being here in the first place. He took a breath and watched them close the door to the room.

"What do you three want and how did you get in here past security?" The man asked.

"It appears that he can see past your illusions," Magnetrix said to Lady Mastermind.

"I told you he had mental powers just like his sister. His must make him immune to psi-based powers," Astra added.

"What do you know of my sister and what do you want?" The man asked.

"We mean you no harm, unlike your father and the man called Magneto. We come to break you free and ask you to help us in our quest to kill Magneto," Magnetrix said.

"We know all about how your father put you in a mental institute at a young age. We also know that when you finally got out you were approached by Magneto to become one of his Acolytes. When you refused and threatened to go to your sister to warn her he set you up.

"He had Mystique look like your father and recommit you to this asylum. Mystique even made herself look like you and convinced your sister you wanted nothing more to do with her and to ever forget you existed. He made it very easy to put you away here and no one would ever remember you or find you," Astra said.

"I knew he played a part in putting me here but I never knew that he was responsible for Emma abandoning me. Here I thought all these years she no longer cared about me," Christian Frost said looking up at the three ladies.

"So how would you like to get out of this place and make Magneto pay?" Magnetrix asked.

"I would say you've sparked my interest and I'd like to hear more," Christian said as Magnetrix helped him to his feet.

"Glad to hear it," Magnetrix smiled as Astra waved her arms causing the four of them to vanish form the padded cell leaving it empty.

Next: Issue #3 – Blood Ties - Part Three