Magneto, yes, he was still Magneto - rose from a pained stupor into relief at still being alive. Afterall, the last few shocks were jolts to his system he'd prefer to never experience again. But wait now, this felt familiar. A gripping, smoldering heat. One he had become quite accustomed to for months at a stretch. The scent of loamy earth was well-known to him as well. He was in so much pain that for a few moments all he could do was hang weakly by his wrists - my wrists? - and try to focus on staying awake.
Why was he so weak? Memories flooded into his mind, and he remembered in a flash. After traversing the Savage Land with a mysteriously healed Charles Xavier, they were kidnapped by Nathaniel Essex, Mr. Sinister. A maniacal and eugenics genius, his plans were labyrinthine and almost unfathomable. Magneto feared what that man would do in his endless pursuit of knowledge over the human and mutant genomes.
More recent memories came to Magneto; he was without the ability to utilize his powers. Sinister had blocked him and the X-Men from accessing them, though he and his henchmen still retained theirs. Further, there was a large laser pointed at him, clearly winding down from usage. It took little deduction or reasoning to know it was the source of his current weakness. It was a device that would harvest mutant energies, their powers, and transfer said energy to strengthen another. A disgusting tool, and Magneto was too weak to stop it.
"Take her next." Essex said, pointing to Rogue. Before she could say anything or her allies rally to her defense, his lackey mutant flooded their confinement chamber. It was a mutate who had a plasticity to their body, where Rogue, who had been against the bars of the cage, began to shy back. It was to no avail, the mutant man's power gripped her and kept her separate from the others on her team. This mutant of Sinister's had abilities that made Rogue temporarily a part of the mutant, allowing him to remove her from their prison without opening the door. Her startled cry broke through some of Magneto's fog; it gave him focus. He had to help her.
Barbarus had eagerly leapt at the chance of restraining Rogue to the wall while the other putty-like mutant kept her pinned. They lashed her to the wall right next to him, and he could hear her desperate breaths, her efforts to throw Barbarus off of her. Regrettably, they were fruitless. The larger, stronger man was able to fend off every attempt to dislodge him, and in fact, it seemed to encourage him.
"Pretty mutant," Barbarus rumbled as his hands took liberties, covetously caressing Rogue's right breast as he leaned in to peck a long line down her clothed neck, and a third tugged her hair back to allow him more access. "If you survive, Barbarus will see you tonight."
"In yer dreams!" Rogue tried to bellow, though it came more as a squeak, as the two mutants continued to hold her down while they secured her. Denied her strength, it was taking all her strength to try and fight them even as vainly successful as they were. It was evident to all that Sinister's group was enjoying this, they made the entire operation last longer than needed. Sinister allowed it, his arms folded, and though his face was composed, his stature was of a man pleased. The mutant known as Gambit tried to reach Rogue before she was taken from the cage, and was leading the chorus of predictable outrage. They also occupied the other cretins that surrounded the remaining X-Men. They were well arranged about the room. Say what you will about Sinister, he was no fool; even without their powers, the X-Men were not to be underestimated.
The X-Men were in general keeping the Nasty Boys preoccupied with their shenanigans. For Magneto, that was good. It allowed him to recover a little more strength from what they had already taken from him. But it was also agony, watching Rogue's molestation occur next to him, while he could do nothing.
"Feisty," the large mutant said as he released Rogue's hair. Her head bounced forward in her struggles, and he used it to his advantage to capture her lips. She fought, but she was too soundly disarmed while he was overly endowed with such. "Now we're cookin'," he said as he pulled back and laughed in triumph at the ruckus he caused.
She spat in his face in retaliation, and he gave her a sharp slap before walking away with a low, but audibly promised, "Later tonight."
Sinister reprimanded the mutate-mutant but his heart didn't seem in it. Charles Xavier used the moment to protest, to appeal to this supposed man of science, sense of logic and reason. Dizzied from the loss of strength, and the sound of so many voices bouncing around the rough-hewn walled cavern, Magnus lost half of the plea in the din.
"...don't you see, that this is science without humanity?" His old friend gasped as he desperately tried to use logic on this scientist gone mad.
Silence fell as Xavier's call for sanity was raised. Sinister paused, looking at the founder of the X-Men with a face as blank as chalk ready for the board.
"I thought you were a learned man, Charles. Oxford, man of letters, world-class telepath." he lectured, disappointment evident in his tone. "You've traipsed through the minds of many as easy as nipping 'round the corner. You've seen the highest of morals, and the lowest of reprehensible souls. And you appeal to my humanity?" There was a terrifying, horrific sound. It was the sound of the good doctor laughing in astonishment and joy. "You naive fool. I want this."
Essex's teeth were like rows of shark fins, slicing through the bloody waters of lips, tongue, and mouth in his corpse-pale face. His blooded ruby eyes glowed with the first light of passion since Magneto managed to regain his senses. Essex was practically raving, and in a flash of insight Magneto realized this is more than just Charles trying to foist his Lockean theories on the world. His old friend was doing more than trying to appeal to their adversary's better nature, it was also a ploy in stalling for time. It was the only weapon they had, and they would use it as much as they could. But why? Magneto scanned the room desperately; no, all were here. What could this possibly achieve?
"Science without humanity would bring about a golden age of perfection. Think of what we could learn, if we just shed our pathetic feelings, and unfettered our minds!" Essex practically raved. "Endless knowledge!" He gasped, as his hands raised to the skies above, as if to call down the witness of the gods he was trying to defy. "The secrets of the cell, the building block of all life. And the one who learns those secrets has true godhead. True power! Just think of it, you and your rabble of social justice crusaders. I am talking about immortality! The truest of power; over life and death! And it will be all mine." he said with a satisfied smirk as he commanded the laser to life once more.
The beam of energy struck Rogue, and though she struggled it was to no avail. The sound she made tore through the room and the hearts of her allies alike. Magnus writhed against his bonds, it was useless. He had no strength of his powers, merely that of a human man. After a long, horrible, and seemingly endless moment, the laser wound down and she fell against the wall, trembling like a storm-battered branch. There was a distinct scent of burnt cloth and singed skin in the air, both scents sickeningly reminiscent to him from half a lifetime prior. Sinister strode over to the sapped X-Man while Vertigo gloried in her new strength.
"My power…I feel I could move mountains!" she cried as her abilities washed over the captive X-Men from across the room. She laughed harder at their pain, as if she gained something from the torment she gave them.
The cries of agony from those from Charles' team were near undeniable. Rogue wasn't one of them, instead she hung limply from her wrists, panting weakly as she watched the sinister doctor move closer to her. Magneto's heart thudded; if nothing changed, he knew that they were going to die here. Memories from a life he knew, a life in strangely similar-but-different tinted colors to what he knew previously were tormenting him, clamoring for his attention. There was a sick harmony in denying him this pain by retreating into a former one. No! He would not. And then, there, again, another frisson; who was he? These memories, they were the ones he knew and at the same time did not. He shook his head to clear his mind and reality snapped back to here and now.
Sinister stood before a weakly panting Rogue and took her chin in one gauntleted hand.
"So beautiful, and yet such strength," he praised with a voice completely devoid of emotion once more as he regarded her. "And they say phrenology is a pseudoscience. I chose well, indeed." He stroked her cheek with a mockery of fondness that was more than just a little proprietary before he tilted her head a bit in study of her as an artisan does with their product. She seemed to be too weak to do more than shake her head in a vain attempt at struggling free.
Good heaven, if only there were still one among Charles' children who were free, who could act! Wasn't there anyone left who could protect their comrade? Alas, there was no cavalry, no shining white knight to storm in at the third act and save the day. But no; Jean Grey, Storm, Wolverine, Cyclops, Gambit, Beast, and Ka-Zar were all accounted for. There could be no rescue for the tired souls of those in this room, who were all weakened from battle. The team within seemed to be without hope; Morph was looking desperate, Vertigo hit him with a direct blast that seemed to catch Charles with the eddies.
The duo's cries seemed to enrage Logan further. His allies were trying - and succeeding only as the feral mutant was denied his healing powers - to hold him back as he was succumbing to his animalistic rage at seeing both Charles and his close friend tortured so. There was no way out of here.
Sinister seemed satisfied with her ability to withstand that first session, as her breathing slowly returned to normal. He tucked a long lock of hair behind Rogue's ear with no tenderness, merely the mockery of such a movement. It was like someone who studied human behavior without ever really understanding the reason one would attempt such actions before turning. "I think we can best our attempt and redouble our efforts. We will try it at twice the strength as before on this specimen."
Vertigo laughed as she repositioned herself, and Sinister's hands flew over his keyboard. A whirring, a series of clicks and the laser fired its weapon. Rogue cries filled the room a second time as her friends were distracted by her agony.
Magneto was becoming desperate. Something in the back of his mind tugged at his attention, and he refused to let it drag him further into his own mind. His memories couldn't help, only empower. And truly, he couldn't be lost in his own mind, not while they were all going to be tortured to death. He wouldn't allow it. Not again. Ever.
To his side, Rogue jerked wildly, her legs no longer holding her up as the merciless laser bore down on her. There was a distinct scent of burning as the laser's own device began to smoke from the energies it was outputting. It had not failed, not yet, and Magneto wasn't certain if it or Rogue would first. Despite her nigh invulnerability, she wouldn't be able to hold up forever. There would only be so much life she could give.
From within came that indomitable will; the undeniable strength of character that made him Magnus, Magneto, the Master of Magnetism and power incarnate. The avatar of his people, the focused totality of their rage at their injustice in an unkind and unfair world. He had felt his powers stir when Vertigo passed him on her way to assault the team of heroes; it must've had to do with the matching belts each of the Nasty Boys and Mister Sinister sported. He knew he could do something, if only his body would move. He would do it. He had to.
The latest bout of Sinister's mad tests ended, and all of her allies seemed to stare at her limp form. The Cajun man was calling out to her, barely audible over Logan's slavering, half-intelligible snarls. The mutate-mutant woman began to move closer to the X-Men in a repeat performance. It was a fortunate thing that the mutates, while vicious, were prone to following patterns. Vertigo was such; she had always believed she needed close proximity to affect many, requiring Sinister to admonish her. She seemingly ignored it, and continued her advance.
As Vertigo reveled in her triumph and moved closer to him in her approach towards the caged X-Men he acted as swiftly as he could. It would have to be now, or never. As she moved, and so did he.
Magneto swung his legs and gripped the woman in them tugging her towards him. Vertigo squealed inelegantly, but it was enough to give Magneto a chance as his powers, so weakened, still responded to him. Master of Magnetism meant the Master of Electromagnetism. In this, as he had so often in so many realities - yes, he remembered now, there was some part of him separate from this reality, he knew this, - but yes, in this reality he had practiced long and many hours to be as careful, swift, and effective. It had worked in practice, many times. It worked now.
The woman fought him, but he needed only a swift moment. He focused, and used the ability to shoot out an electromagnetic pulse with every ounce of strength he had remaining to him. He prayed…against this disembodied, untethered Magneto within him, along with his own shock at the action, he prayed that it was enough.
It was enough.
The X-Men were freed from their cell, and they sprang forward as if with one will. The Nasty Boys were engaged, while Morph immediately went to help their Professor. He was falling to the ground, and the metamorph shifted into their ally Piotr Rasputin, allowing him height, strength, and the ability to keep the Professor from sliding to the ground. The two of them bounded away, and allowed them a moment of safety.
Magnus melted all of their chains from their wrists. Though free, he immediately felt so very weak and barely able to stand on his own. He staggered forward as he knew that thought he had his essence taken from him once. Rogue had felt this agony twice. He couldn't tell if she was alive. She had fallen to the ground in a heap while around them, there was a complete cacophony of noise and light.
Rogue's eyes were almost completely closed, save for the barest of slivers. She was breathing but shallowly, and her skin was pallid. Even the skin around the wide burn mark that pierced the center of her uniform was pale. Or at least it was where it wasn't a reddened weal from the lasers' assault.
"Rogue," he said through the din of battle. "Rogue, come back to-to me." He almost said 'us'. He felt the difference between the two Magnetos that he felt within him starting to separate. What did that mean? What would happen next?
Rogue. He had to concentrate on here and now, and worry about what his strange, unbidden memories were trying to tell him later. "Do not let their barbarism take you." Magneto felt at a loss to find her aid as explosions and crashes abounded. The two sides fought, shouted to one another, and regrouped. The fighting grew fierce, and he threw a force field to avoid some of the debris that went flying from a broken computer device caught in the crossfire. He couldn't be certain how to address anything beyond Rogue's continued breathing, which suddenly seemed fainter.
The ground shook, recoiled from its own shiver and then seemed to shake itself as the next wave of bright light flashed even closer to them, then another. Storm's blasts, assuredly.
The ground rumbled wildly, pitching as powers were employed with desperate abandon. Both sides fought for their very lives, and the lives of their comrades, to varying success. And so, in the chaos, the two of them were ignored.
Something about the Magneto who should not be here stirred as he saw Rogue rouse ever so faintly. Hope fluttered in his bruised chest. "That's it. Come back to me." He could do nothing to help the others, who were fighting desperately, their cries mingling together. Lightning bolts flared, dazzling his eyes. As sight was washed away he was positive that as reality jerked and shifted once again that Rogue was still breathing, but he couldn't tell for certain.