Chapter 70

At Magneto's base...

Colossus sits in his room, on his bed, looking at an old picture of his family. It is one of the very few personal possessions Magneto allows him to have. Illyana is still a babe in it, held within his mother's arms. Next to her is his father while he stands on the other side. On his father's other side is Piotr's older brother, Mikhail.

Piotr sighs sadly at how much of his family he has lost. His parents died in a house fire. Mikhail was a cosmonaut and there was an accident on a mission that caused the spacecraft to explode. That left Piotr pretty much alone to raise Illyana and now she was...who knows where Magneto kept her but for as long as he did Colossus had no choice but to serve.

Piotr's sad contemplations of the situation of his life is interrupted by screaming coming through the metal walls.

"Fuck and I thought my mouth was talented!"

Piotr closes his eyes and tries to block it out. Why?

Because that's Live Wire's voice and right now she is no doubt 'entertaining' Gambit.

Piotr may choose not to interact much with his fellow Acolytes but that doesn't meant he doesn't notice what goes on and for the last few weeks Gambit and Live Wire have been 'attending' to each other's needs.

Piotr does not understand why Gambit does it. First he dates Haze...technically he is still suppose to be. That risks the wrath of Alicia's mother, Mystique who doesn't know about the relationship. Haze and the rest of the Brotherhood are currently away on a mission. Piotr wasn't told and didn't ask for details.

While Alicia is busy Gambit turned to Live Wire to keep him company. Piotr can only see this blowing up in Gambit's face yet Piotr knows Gambit relishes the risk he is taking on. Like Piotr said he doesn't understand Gambit.

Piotr puts the picture down and lies down on his bed. He pulls the pillow over his head in an attempt to snuff out the sounds coming from the next room.

Then suddenly there is a strange vibration. Piotr frowns. That's not the amorous couple from next door. This feels different. He lifts the pillow to be greeted by the sight of the metal ceiling flowing like liquid...and it's not just the ceiling. The walls too are flowing away in the same direction. It's like the whole base is remaking itself.

Too late Piotr realises what that means with regards to his next door neighbours. For the rest of his life he'll never be able to get the images of Live Wire and Gambit out of his head.

Earlier that evening...

Going in the direction Clark could hear the stone's tone the two aircraft carrying the X-Men had reached the Rockies where the mountain range straddles the US/Canadian border.

"We're close," Clark announces from the x-jet and is picked in the x-copter over the radio link. He had not put Magneto's armour back on. He was still in the New Mutant uniform.

The two aircraft are hugging the mountains and valleys as close as they dare and over a rise they spot a series of interlinked metal domes of varying sizes. Essentially there is one large dome and off that are smaller ones.

Logan snorts from his position in the pilot's chair. "Damn clever," he has to begrudgingly admit in his gruff tones. "Some of these valleys can be snowed in 3 quarters of the year," he recites from experience. This of course makes it less likely anyone would stumble upon Magneto's base.

Charles had suspected Magneto had a base somewhere on the North American continent. In fact he suspects Magneto has bases spread out over every continent. He looks to his mystical guest. "Stephen?"

Dr Strange has his eyes closed in concentration. "I'm cloaking both aircraft. However the closer we get the more likely it is the Countess Thoreaux will sense my magic at work," he has to caution.

"We should land at the far end of the valley and go the rest of the way on foot," Charles says and waits a moment to see if anyone objects to his suggestion. No-one does.

The two aircraft touch down. The Professor puts on the remote Cerebro helmet. Now that he is this much closer he might be able to penetrate Magneto's psychic shielding. He closes his eyes and concentrates and can sense many minds. It is still difficult because of the shielding to get an exact number but he believes that they are not as massively outnumbered as they feared. Perhaps Magneto has spread his followers out amongst his bases so they are not all in one place on the outside chance one of the bases is discovered. That would explain what he is sensing. Charles can also sense a few mutants outside the base on patrol he would guess. He passes all this on to Scott.

Scott takes a moment to absorb this. "It's basically how we thought it would be," he surmises. Perhaps even a little better than they thought if there aren't as many mutants here as they feared could be.

"We must get inside without detection. At that point it becomes moot," Hank summarises what they must do.

Scott looks to Logan. "Locate the patrols. You know what to do," he directs the feral mutant about immobilising them and Logan can do it better than anyone else.

Logan makes a small grunt of obedience. "Jinx, Stripes, Elf. You're with me," he barks out the small team he needs to do this. They need to create a gap for the rest to follow on behind.

With Logan leading the 4 mutants step out of the x-jet and with stealth and quickness move out into the thickly forested valley.

Two men walk through the trees on their designated patrol route. One is a black man with grey hair. His obvious mutation has left him with what appear to be metal claws for both his feet and his hands. In exchange he was able to channel electrical energy through the claws into shock blasts. Hence he had earned the name Shocker. Patrolling with Shocker is what looks like a humanoid snake. In return for this mutation his body had become as flexible as a snake's and could constrict around an opponent like certain snakes do, crushing the life out anyone caught in his grip. He had earned the name Slither.

BAMF!

The 2 mutant followers of Magneto jerk their heads skyward as, from a cloud of blue smoke, 4 mutants fall from the sky. Domino already has her pistols drawn and is firing stun blasts into Shocker. He falls down and Domino comes to land with one foot on top of him pressing him into the ground, her aim and concentration never wavering in case he isn't quite out.

Nightcrawler lands elegantly on the ground while Rogue manages to land feet first in a crouch.

Wolverine aims to jump onto Slither but his flexible body allows him to contort at an impossible angle and Wolverine hits the ground. Slither grabs him and literally warps his arms around Wolverine and starts to squeeze.

"You shall pay for thissss," Slither says with a snake-like hiss.

"Don't count on it, bub!" Wolverine says through gritted teeth as he struggles to get loose.

"Hey, Ugly! Some advice. Always watch your back!" Rogue says as she leaps onto Slither's back and her bare hands grabs the snake-like head.

Slither cries out in pain as Rogue drains him of his energy. Rogue too cries out as her body tries to cope with absorbing a mutant with such an obvious physical mutation. When it's over and Slither is passed out, Rogue stands there, breathing hard, her skin now replaced with green scales. She glances at her team with the slit-like pupils of a snake. Her tongue pokes out from between her teeth allowing everyone to see it is now forked.

"Whoa," Domino says having never seen the effect it has on Rogue on absorbing a mutant that different. "That's...going to take more than a little moisturiser to sort out that skin problem," she jokes before her cold catches up with her again. "ACHOO!"

Rogue glares at her sister with her hands on her hips in a stern posture. "Ah hate thisss," she says with that characteristic hiss.

Kurt has to choke back a laugh.

"It'sss not funny, Kurt," Rogue tells him off while swiping a hand to swat him with. With as much of this guy as she absorbed she'll be stuck like this for at least an hour.

"We can make jokes about this later," Logan takes charge. "What did ya get from his mind?" he asks Rogue, focussing on the important part.

Rogue takes a moment to sort through it. "There'sss another pair patrolling clossse by...and ah know tha sssafe way ta tha bassse," she reports.

"What powers do the other two have?" Domino asks, being the more business-like side of herself.

"One has sssuperstrength...only it takes a little concentration ta activate it. If we get him by sssurprise we ssshould beh able ta take him down easssy enough. Tha other has...sssome kind of enhanced vision abilitiesss...ah'm not sure how we can get clossse enough," she worries slightly because if she is seeing the memories correctly he could see them coming from a long way off.

"How long until they are suppose to check in?" Logan asks.

"We have half an hour...topsss."

Logan strokes his chin as he thinks.

"Got a plan hairy?" Domino asks.

"Yeah. Tie those two up somewhere where no-one can miss them."

"Ah. The old distraction ploy. Get them looking where we aren't," Domino figures.

"Yeah," Logan confirms. He looks at Rogue. "You know their patrol route?"

Rogue nods. "Yessss."

Kurt snorts out a giggle. He can't help himself. He's been struggling to hold it back the whole time Rogue was talking without realising she keeps hissing through her speech.

"Kurt!" Rogue huffs.

"Sorry. I'm sorry," he says between giggles.

Rogue find that hard to believe since he is still, you know, laughing at her. She can see Domino has an amused glint in her eye as well. Logan ends up being the only sympathetic one. Yeah that's a shock to Rogue too.

"Ya coping Stripes?" Logan asks, in reference to coping with whatever she absorbed from the snake guy.

"Yeah. Ah'm fine," she assures him she has it under control.

Logan and Domino tie up their two prisoners.

"Right then. You lead. Where's the other two going to be at?" Logan asks Rogue to give direction.

Rogue points. "Thisss way," she says with the hiss she can't stop making.

Kurt laughs some more.

"Give it a rest, elf," Logan says in his no nonsense 'That's enough' tone.

Rogue appreciates Logan did that.

Logan has their two guests hoisted on his shoulders and carries them with relative ease. Because of his slightly diminutive stature people neglect to consider that having adamantium bones allows him to be beyond normally strong. They head off in the direction Rogue leads them to set up and wait for the other patrol to show.

As for that other patrol they consist of a tall man with brown hair and a thick full beard. He had the ability to increase his body's density and therefore his strength...or he could be said to lift his density hence he earned the name Lifter. Accompanying him is a much shorter bald man with enlarged eyes. Those eyes possessed many abilities such as telescopic, microscopic and x-ray vision along with the ability to shoot faint yellow energy beams from his eyes. The fact his eyes were enlarged had earned him the name Peeper.

It is Peeper's telescopic vision that brings the patrol to a screeching halt as he sees far off in the distance their two fellow mutants, Shocker and Slither, strung up to a tree.

Before they can react to this...

BAMF!

Above them, out of the cloud of blue smoke, comes Domino, Rogue, Wolverine and Nightcrawler. Domino has Lifter stunned in seconds while Logan just crashes down onto the much smaller Peeper.

3 razor sharp metal claws stop mere millimetres from Peeper's enlarged eyes. "Don't even think about it, bub," Wolverine growls in his most fearsome and menacing tone.

Peeper is pretty certain he has just messed up his underwear. He looks up as a girl with green scaly skin bends down and touches her bare fingers to his forehead. Pain screams through him as Rogue absorbs him. She then walks over to Lifter and touches his forehead too. Considering what they're about to do having a few powers would be useful.

Rogue blinks a few times as her eyes adjust to having Peeper's powers and tries to stop her eyes seeing everything in x-ray. She wonders if Clark has this problem. She'll have to ask.

"Tie them up," Logan orders as he sends a strong thought back to the Professor for the others to catch up. Now came the really hard part.

The X-Men gather outside the largest one of the metal domes, the 3 weapons they created in hand, ready for the struggle ahead. There had been a few remarks about Rogue's still reptilian appearance. Clark had made a small joke and given her one of his goofy grins...which let Rogue tell you is really weird looking on Magneto's face.

Back to the mission at hand. Spider-Man had already made the mandatory Big Bad Wolf and 3 pigs joke about huffing and puffing and blowing the house in.

There was an entrance, a guarded entrance. However there were easier ways in than trying to jump the mutants guarding it and prematurely alerting everyone inside that they were here.

That would be why Clark has his hands placed on the metal surface. This was the overly ambitious part of the plan in many ways. Clark had to control the metal of the entire complex. Really it was impossible without the decades of experience Magneto had but they did have a cheat. The Professor who knew Magneto's powers to a far greater extent.

It would be why Jean is standing directly behind Clark her hands place on either side of his head to act as a conduit to amplify the Professor's telepathic waves. It was a little strange, Jean must confess to herself, to be able to hear Clark's thoughts for the 1st time when for so long all she has been able to do is sense his presence and not much else.

Currently Clark's thoughts were rather...it is difficult to describe. It's almost like there's 3 separate layers of them all trying to knit cohesively together and not quite managing. This would explain his odd behaviour but that is thought for a more appropriate time.

Jean closes her eyes and concentrates her power to allow the Professor to bridge over her into Clark and take control. The Professor was still back in the x-jet. This rough ground made using his wheelchair impossible.

"Just relax, Clark," the Professor telepathically says, trying to be as soothing as possible. "Let us work together to accomplish our goal."

Clark tries to quieten his very, these days, noisy mind. Together he and the Professor stretch out with Magneto's power, encompassing every molecule of the metal within a magnetic field and then they begin to make the metal rearrange itself as they planned.

Magneto and Lorna had simply been sitting down and having dinner together. It is one of the many things he has missed since Magda died. A simple family meal.

It's the vibration that Magneto first notices. Superman's body had incredible senses. Far more sensitive than he could have imagined. He was still trying to come to terms with them. Then he notices that Lorna is visibly shivering. "What is it, Lorna?"

Lorna gasps slightly. "It's a magnetic field. It...it feels like...you," he says with a deeply puzzled expression.

Magneto's eyes dart back and forth quickly as he thinks. There was only one possibility but no. It wasn't possible. They couldn't have found him.

As the walls and ceilings start to flow away Magneto quickly decides he might need to rethink that.

It takes several minutes until it is done at which point Clark collapses to his knees, gasping for breath and perspiration pouring off him. Rogue kneels down next to him as he tries to recover.

Jean stumbles back a few paces into Scott's waiting arms. "It's done," she tells her boyfriend, breathing hard herself.

Scott smiles conveying his pride in her. He looks to Clark. "Superman? You up for this?"

"I feel like I just ran a marathon," Clark complains as Rogue helps him to his feet. He is a little unsteady. "I'll manage but don't expect too much," he cautions.

Actually it is more or less how they thought it would be. They figured the effort would exhaust Clark. "Alright. Team 2, Superman's well-being is your responsibility," Scott dictates...and yes Bobby's name suggestion was considered and dismissed after about 2 seconds thought on the matter.

"Rogue, what are you seeing?" Scott asks, using the fact she got x-ray vision off the mutant she absorbed.

"They're coming," Rogue reports seeing the inhabitants rushing, following the direction the metal moved in. "Ah see Magneto...but ah can't see tha stone," she has to report and she is meaning not just on Magneto but anywhere.

"It's probably inside something made from lead then," Clark can deduce since it is just about the only thing he can't see through. "But I can still hear it. We just have to get there," he gives the positive.

"Ok," Cyclops says calmly. "We planned for this. Nightcrawler, Shadowcat you go on Team 2," he instructs since Kurt's teleporting and Kitty's phasing power will be required to get around. "Iceman..." Scott can't believe he is having Bobby on his team but Bobby's ice powers could possibly be useful in restraining Magneto, assuming they weaken Clark's body enough. "...Scarlet Witch, Spider-Man, Team 1 with the rest of the X-Men," Cyclops finishes. "You with us Dr Strange?" he inquires just to make certain.

"I am," Stephen replies, more than happy to assist in this. In fact what was about to transpire couldn't work without him. He too, had his part beyond confronting the Countess.

"X-Men. Move out!" Cyclops commands as they rush in through the entrance they have made. Rush into the giant labyrinth they created. They had designed it, to give them the advantage. Creating lots of unknown corners and blind angles through which to ambush Magneto and wear him down. This was not going to be an entirely swift affair...and that didn't include dealing with whatever other mutants they might face.

As they said. Perhaps an overly ambitious plan but they had to succeed.

They would succeed.

Magneto, Lorna, the Acolytes, including a hastily dressed Live Wire and Gambit, along with many more of Magneto's followers come to a stop at the entrance of the now maze that practically half his base, if not more, had been transformed into.

"What the...?" Lorna starts to say, unable to believe her eyes.

"Magneto!" an echoing voice comes from within the maze.

Magneto recognises it to be his own voice.

"I'm here for my body! Surrender now and this won't get unpleasant!"

"You dare attack me in my own base!" Magneto shouts back, his tone one of righteous fury as in how dare they!

"I'll take that as a no! Be it upon your own head!"

Magneto's eyes narrow as the whole atmosphere suddenly seems to change and a thick mist starts to flow out of the maze. What Magneto doesn't know is that this trick the X-Men learned from their fight with the Madeleine possessed Wanda who generated her own mist which completely fogged up Clark's senses. Dr Strange has created this mist to do the same.

In her quarters Isobel, who had been in deep meditation, shivers and wakes up as she senses magic...powerful magic. Someone is here. Someone who might be able to rival her mother. Isobel's eyes take in her surroundings and how the metal has looked like it has melted and flowed away.

Clark.

Damn that farmboy to Hell. Doesn't he know when to give up.

And who is it that Clark has brought with him. Isobel can only assume this new mystical presence came with him. This is the problem with being in a spiritual limbo for 4 centuries. You lose touch with the power players in the mystical world.

Isobel needs to think. She can either go aid Magneto...or try and get the stone and flee. Question is will her honour allow it. She did say she would honour her deal...except Magneto, technically, hadn't gotten back to her yet about whether he agreed to one. On the other hand she still needs Clark to reveal the location of the other 2 stones and if she doesn't defeat him here and now then it's over because the alternative is that he wins and gets back the 3rd stone.

What to do?

Hadn't the crystal ball referred to this as her last chance?

Isobel hasn't forgotten its words.

A morose feeling comes over Isobel. To be in this situation with so few options left to her. She doesn't like this feeling. It feels disturbingly like the situation when she faced the stake when she also had next to no options left to her.

There is really only one option left to her and that is sticking it out with Magneto...unfortunately. She mutters a spell under her breath and teleports to Magneto's location.

"Where have you been?" Magneto demands to know as his newest 'ally' appears in her purple mist.

"Mediating," is Isobel's simple reply as she takes a few steps forward and examines the situation in front of her.

"Can you do something about this?" Magneto asks her in general terms as in if there is anything she can do to help.

"No. There is someone here. A powerful practitioner of magic. If I am to defeat him I cannot waste energy assisting you. You will have to deal with the X-Men by yourself," Isobel tells him, assuming that if Clark is here so are his friends.

Magneto's face goes grimly determined. He had misjudged them...gravely so. "Acolytes. You will accompany myself and the Countess into the maze," he commands.

"What about me?" Lorna asks, almost desperate to help.

Magneto looks at her. Normally he would say no but without his own magnetic powers he will need hers even as undeveloped as they are. "Stay close to me at all times," he instructs her.

Lorna nods her acceptance of that, simply pleased her father is allowing her to help.

Magneto issues orders for the other non-Acolyte mutants to remain here and make sure no-one slips by.

That done they enter the maze and come to the first junction with the metal wall in front of them.

"Should I just open a hole up in the wall?" Lorna inquires since that seems, to her, like the better option than just wandering through the pathways.

"Yes," Magneto says, agreeing with what Lorna is presumably thinking.

Lorna concentrates and makes a gap in the wall in front of them. They step through and walk along the path in front of them. The aim is to reach the centre. Magneto's guess is that is where Superman and the X-Men will be. What he doesn't understand is why they have created this maze. He's missing the strategy and that concerns him. It doesn't help that he can't see more than a few feet ahead through this mist.

"Sabretooth," Magneto says simply.

Sabretooth sniffs the air. "I'm getting nothing. This fog is messin up my senses."

"It's mystical," Isobel reports. "That's the idea."

Sabretooth growls in annoyance. He is going to rip someone apart for this.

Magneto's concerns rise with this but he will not turn back. With the power now at his disposal with this body he does not need to. The X-Men have made a foolish misjudgement by coming here. He will make certain they understand that.

They reach a T-junction. Magneto is about to ask Lorna to open up the wall in front of them when two intense beams of energy strike Magneto from opposite directions. One an intense beam of red energy and one of green.

Magneto cries out as pain, even he has never imagined, courses through his body.

"Dad!" Lorna calls out in panic.

"Tin-grin. Over there," Frenzy shoves Colossus in the path of the red beam while she steps in front of the green one so that they can shield Magneto.

The attacks stop. The Acolytes make moves to chase after whoever it was and split up into two and run down the path in both directions.

Lorna and Isobel remain behind. Lorna is at her father's side as he leans against the wall for support, trying to recover from the attack.

"Are you alright?" Lorna asks with deep concern for her father.

"I shall be momentarily," Magneto replies, trying not to show how much pain he is in.

"What was that?" Lorna asks.

"I am not certain."

Isobel isn't certain what it was either but she can sense that Magneto...or the body he is currently inhabiting has been weakened. Clever little mutants.

The Acolytes return. "There was no sign," Colossus reports.

"They scarpered quick," Pyro gives his version.

Magneto shakes off the lingering effects. "Lorna, the wall if you please," he requests her to open it up.

"Sure," Lorna replies without question as she opens the wall up and they all walk through into a larger square shaped space.

Isobel shivers suddenly. Her eyes drop to the floor and find they are surrounded by a circle of archaic symbols. "It's a trap!" she cries, trying to warn them but it is already too late as the symbols glow and move. One each under every person where a portal opens and they vanish one by one into them, scattering them across the maze.

Isobel lands with a bump and mutters some French curses. She gets to her feet rubbing her butt. Suddenly she senses the magical presence very close by. She spins on the spot to be confronted by a man with dark hair and a beard. "You. You did this," she can assume.

"It's time to end this, Countess," the man states with determination. "Your time in this world has passed and your violation of this poor girl will end, now," he says with finality as if any other option is not one.

Isobel sneers. "Who the hell do you think you are that commands me?"

The man smiles slightly. "I am Dr Strange. Sorcerer Supreme!" he declares loudly and as he does so his long red and black coat begins to transform into a deep crimson, gold-edged, high-collared cloak clasped with the Eye of Agamotto. He also has on a blue shirt and black pants and golden gloves upon his hands.

Isobel's face darkens significantly. "So the Ancient One finally croaked did he," she says rudely about Dr Strange's predecessor and teacher. Yes she knew him.

"You would have been served better by taking up his offer to teach you when you had the chance instead of going down your dark path," Dr Strange, in a sense, lectures her.

"So I could what? Spend my life protecting this world? Why do that when I could rule it!" Isobel proclaims her reasons her refusing the, what she sees, as the pointless foolishness of the Ancient One's teachings.

Stephen shakes his head disapprovingly...and in many senses disappointedly. "You could have chosen to forsake your mother's legacy. Instead you chose to walk the path that will ultimately end in the same dark destination as her."

"You don't know anything about my mother!" Isobel snaps in a loss of temper and unleashes a powerful purple spell bolt at Earth's Sorcerer Supreme.

As quick as lightning Dr Strange raises his hand and invokes a counter-spell. "I summon the Shield of Seraphim!" A powerful pink energy barrier appears in front of him and is able to absorb the Countess' attack.

Isobel's eyes narrow. She raises her hands above her head and above them she forms little energy spheres of a malevolent red colour. "Lets us see how you deal with this!" she announces as she sends them at her opponent.

Dr Strange watches the spheres move in erratic fashion and waits until the last moment before moving to dodge their attacks while casting the counter-spell to cause each sphere to extinguish in turn. He turns back to face her. "Yield, Countess. I have no wish to harm you any more than strictly necessary," he asks of her before he has to use more extreme measures to subdue her and thus risk bringing harm to the innocent girl Isobel is possessing.

Isobel's reply is a single world. "Never!"

Stephen sighs. He was afraid she would say that. All he can try and do is attempt not to harm Ms Lang's body too much. Isobel launches another attack upon him and he counters as the dual intensifies.

Magneto blinks as he tries to ascertain where he is. Since every grey metal pathway looks like every other in this maze filled with fog that's hard to do. What does worry him is that Lorna has been transported away from him.

Magneto chooses a direction and blurs down it. He was beginning to get an understanding of Superman's powers although the eye-beams and freeze breath he hadn't figured out yet. Magneto zips along pathway after pathway until he comes across Beast holding some sort of weapon.

Beast doesn't hesitate and fires and a green beam slams into Magneto's chest, instantly knocking him down in immense pain.

"I apologise for this, Magnus," Beast says, feeling a tiny bit of remorse for having to inflict such pain with his kryptonite cannon.

A red beam soon strikes Magneto as Logan joins Beast using the red solar projector. "I don't," Logan says in contrast to Beast. Magneto can't feel enough pain as far as he is concerned.

Magneto had never considered what it was Superman felt when exposed to the effects of the meteor rock. He could never have imagined such pain. The boy must have remarkable strength to have endured it.

Magneto's own strength gives out and he collapses to the ground.

Beast and Logan cease fire.

"Ya think he's out?" Logan queries.

"We shall proceed with caution," Beast replies as he and Logan slowly move up to the prone figure, their weapons poised.

Logan hopes the others are alright. They'll be fighting the Acolytes by now...keeping them busy essentially until Clark and the other team retrieve the stone and return.

They step up to Magneto's seemingly prone form and Logan gives it a poke with his foot. "Where's the Webhead and Jinx?" he asks Beast since those two had the next most prominent part in subduing Magneto. Spider-Man had the sonic gun and Domino had the pistol with the tranquillisers.

"I fear they may have gotten lost," Beast says with concern about their plan may be misfiring a little. There had not be nearly enough time to memorise the maze's layout before they came here. In an ideal world they would have spent a few days practicing this but alas, as Hank knows all too well, it is far from an ideal world. They just have to deal with the situation as it presents itself.

"I wouldn't worry about them Henry," Magneto says as he suddenly moves, grabs the weapons and crushes them. He then sits up, grabs Wolverine and Beast and throws them hard, so hard they dent the metal walls when they hit them.

Magneto gets to his feet a little slowly. He is definitely feeling weaker but luckily he managed to deceive his two attackers into stopping before he was completely finished. "You will regret this," he swears.

"No. The only thing you shall regret is the day I was born...father," a venomously cold voice says from behind.

Magneto turns to be greeted by the sight of his enraged looking daughter. "Wanda," he says and for all his experience he can't stop the tinniest tremor of fear slipping into his tone. "I have no wish to fight you Wanda."

"Like I care what you wish," Wanda dismisses him angrily. "The only way you avoid anything is by surrendering...but I would prefer it if you wouldn't," she says with relish at the idea of hurting him.

"Wanda, listen to reason," Magneto begins to make the plea to his daughter.

"No," she says coldly and she raises her hands and aims them at him. Her hands take on the sign of the devil and scarlet red energy starts to pillow around them.

Magneto is rather caught by this new development in his daughter's powers. A bolt of red energy launches at him and collides into his chest almost whipping him to the ground. It flows around him and lifts him until he finds himself surrounded in a sphere of energy.

Wanda's expression is one of deep concentration as she forms, what she has come to call, her Hex Sphere. Within it her magic holds complete sway but she only has a few weeks of practice at it.

For Magneto curious sensations start to run through him. His skin feels like it is on fire yet his insides feel frozen. Energy laces up his spine making him cry out in pain.

Wanda closes her eyes and focusses all her energy on trying to knock her father out. It means she doesn't see it coming when someone collides heavily into her breaking her concentration and releasing her father.

Magneto drops to the ground, his mind barely comprehending what it is he just experienced. It almost felt like reality itself was warping around him at his daughter's behest.

Wanda, meanwhile, is struggling on the ground with whoever it was that collided into her. Since they are smaller than her Wanda finds she is able to pin them down to the ground, underneath her and Wanda glares into the face of a girl, a few years younger than herself, with green hair and eyes. "Stay out of this!" she yells.

"I can't! I won't let you hurt him!" the girl shouts back passionately, completely determined to protect Magneto.

"Yeah? And who are you to think you're going to stop me?" Wanda asks, snorting with fury. The reply she gets shocks her to her core.

"I'm your sister!"

Author's Note: And finally Wanda comes to face to face with her little sister for the first time. Wonder how that'll go? Slither, Lifter, Peepers and Shocker come from one of the many iterations of the Brotherhood of Mutants before Magneto fired them. Have you seen how many of those Magneto has gone through? Man talk about lack of job security. Thanks to everyone who wrote reviews. Next up; The fight goes on as Clark and his team search for the stone.