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Chapter 29 of
A Simple Favor:
On August 17th, around 5:00 am CST , the sun had yet to rise, and it was the only reason Rogue had been able to get as close as she had to the entrance to the cave in Tibet; squatting behind a large rock. Her feet were killing her, but she didn't have any time to dwell on that as she dared to peer out from the top of it and promptly lowered herself back down. She was only visible for a second, maybe two. Pulling up that image in her mind, she saw Gambit and Pyro guarding the entrance and further inside, at the cave lit by firelight and torches, she saw Mesmero, standing with a man- she saw purple and red and white hair-
Rogue blinked as she-
'White hair? But Max has-' she thought before she jumped, feeling a hand on her shoulder.
She gasped, as she saw a magnetic shield form around her, and- She spun around to see Max standing in front of her.
"Max?" she exclaimed as she threw her arms around his neck, pulled him to her. "You're okay!" she exclaimed, tears threatening to freeze against her cheeks, trying to hold them back as Max hugged her.
"I'm fine," he said, squeezing her tight. "Who told you-"
"Irene called the institute," she answered before he could finish. "And since I sent ya ta find Mesmero-"
"I tried to find him, but he left the carnival nearly a month ago with an Asian woman," Max relayed as Magneto chuckled smugly in her mind. She put aside Magneto's reaction to stare up at Max, as he held her in his arms.
"I'm- When Irene told me Vincent had ya, I just- I ran here as quick as I could," she said as Max cupped her cheek with his hand. "I'm just glad you're okay," she said earnestly.
"Anna-Marie," he sighed, before he closed the distance between their lips and kissed her deeply.
'Pleasant as you may find this, my girl, our timing is crucial here,' Magneto commented and she felt prompted to pull back from the kiss.
"Max, there's someone in that cave using magnetism," she told him. She watched him pull back, his gaze set toward the cave.
"I can feel him," he confirmed. "They put him in my uniform," he remarked. "You'll need magnetism," he said, holding out his hand.
'Not yet,' Magneto said firmly.
"Why?" she asked him.
"To help me?" Max answered, with a raised eyebrow.
"Not you, sugar," she said, shaking her head. "Magneto, why can't I-"
'Anna-Marie, it has truly been a pleasure residing in your mind these past several weeks. But after everything is said and done this day, dear girl, I'm going to owe Irene Adler one hell of a favor,' he answered smugly.
On August 17th, around 5:00 am CST, Max held Anna-Marie in his arms, flying towards the entrance to the cave, invisible. Anna-Marie was shivering in his arms, due to the cold but he couldn't keep a shield up, not if they wanted to see anything.
'Is this plan even feasible?' Max asked himself as he reviewed the battlefield with his physical and mutant gift-enhanced senses.
Just outside the cave, Pyro and Gambit were standing watch, further inside Colossus and Mastermind stood between Mesmero and the entrance, the second wave of his compelled protection. Standing next to Mesmero was an Asian woman, with her arms crossed over chest, her foot tapping against the ground.
'Is that really Astra's plan?' he asked skeptically. 'She always was impatient,' he thought before he glanced at what he could only describe as an older version of himself; he looked as if he was in his late-forties, as Max had before he'd reused the rebirth machine. The clone was donning his red and purple uniform, minus the helmet, which would have prevented Mesmero from controlling him. Max could feel the magnetic energy radiating around the man, as he was pulling away at the psychic resistance metal that caged Apocalypse's telepathic abilities within the sarcophagus.
'He didn't get Sabertooth, thankfully,' Max thought to himself, which was what allowed them to get this close without being detected.
Speaking at this time was more than ill-advised, and Rogue seemed to comprehend that as easily as he did. Well trained, and a fast learner, his dear Anna-Marie. In silence they merely observed.
Max felt a hand on his face and turned his gaze to Rogue's. She nodded at him and gestured for him to take them back, out of earshot. He swiftly did so, flying them to the other side of the mountain, where they could speak freely and he could afford to utilize a shield to keep out most of the chill in the air.
"Thanks," she said, her arms still looped around his neck and she seemed to have no intention of letting go anytime soon. Her teeth were chattering, even though he had kept the temperature from feeling its proper subzero status. Even with her combat boots, he understood why she didn't want to stand in the snow anymore than she had too.
"Are you certain, you don't want a dose of my powers?" Max asked. She could warm herself with them, not that he minded holding her.
"I loved to, but I can't yet," she said. "Not until we get your 'uncle' inta his new body," she said with a sly smile.
"Rogue, are you certain this is the right course of action?" he asked.
"Look, I know ya ain't thrilled by the idea of having another you running around. But Irene already set all of this inta motion.' She paused and her grin widened ''Sides, won't it be nice to get Prof off our backs?" she asked him. Max glanced around from her for a moment.
"I'll admit it's practically serendipitous," he admitted begrudgingly, his hands tightening around her waist.
"Yeah, it kinda is," she said, and though he wasn't looking at her expression, he could hear the smile in her voice.
"Proving Charles wrong would be gratifying," he said next. "However, I wouldn't be Magneto anymore," he confessed,rather surprising himself with the admission.
"No, I ain't saying that. Just give him a minute, okay?" she asked, clearly talking to his counterpart in her mind.
"It's alright," he said, as he looked down at her. She let out a sigh as she stared up at him with those bright green eyes of hers. "Tell me," he ordered.
"Your uncle says ya already lost that title when ya de-aged yourself, that the small army y'all assembled ain't gonna take orders from a teenager and that an Imagine Inducer ain't gonna cut it either," she said.
Though her tone and expression was sympathetic, Max could hear those words in his own mind with a harsher inflection and having his own insecurities vocalized was… humbling.
He had to admit, he didn't know how exactly he was going to keep being Magneto. His course of actions over the summer, the hand-written notes for this Acolytes, felt like a band-aid. His counterpart and Irene Adler were presenting them with an actual solution with this cloned body at their disposal.
He felt almost dizzy at the prospect of this freedom. 'Along with complete anonymity,' he realized. 'And all the time in the world to enjoy my youth,' he thought before he leaned in, a smile on his own face as their lips met. She moaned ever slightly against his lips but pulled back swiftly; glancing down at her, he could see she'd done that reluctantly.
"He's also saying that we don't gotta a lot time ta debate this if we don't want Apocalypse getting free," she added, shrugging up at him.
"Fine," he groaned, unable to argue with that logic. "Let's rescue my uncle's body," he said, going along with the naming convention Rogue and his counterpart had dictated. It seemed he'd have to get used to it rather quickly. She smiled as she pulled one hand back from his neck to grasp the top of the hoodie's zipper.
"You're going to freeze," he castigated as he watched her struggle with the zipper, she was pressed up against him. He wiggled his fingers and he forced the zipper to go down, until the hoodie was open and he realized she was only wearing one of her new tank tops underneath it; the purple one. He hissed as he glanced down at her ample breasts, with their pert, cold nipples straining the fabric. His pants were tightening by the second. He shook his head at himself and forced himself to meet her eyes.
"I know, so I gotta be quick, Max, help me with this, wouldja?" she asked as she held out her arm. He realized what she was requesting, and manipulated the magnetic fibers off of her limbs until the red hoodie was simply hanging over her head, still offering its mental protection until she could do what they'd agreed to. "Okay, I'm ready," she said. He nodded before lowering the shield, and rendering them invisible, before he flew them back toward the cave.
On August 17th, in the early morning, CST, Rogue felt as Max lowered them to the ground. Her combat boots were now standing in the snow and she was conscious how much her feet hurt again. But she had no choice but to cast that thought from her mind as she quietly turned until she was facing the cave's entrance. Max's hand was still on her shoulder, ensuring she stayed invisible.
'Are ya sure I don't need telepathy for us ta do this for ya?' she asked.
'Astral projection should work just as well,' Magneto replied confidently. 'Whenever you're ready,' he stated.
It felt like time stood still as Rogue took a long deep breath, embracing Quicksilver's powers, knowing she'd need every second of perception his speed would allow. She spun forward, rushing into the cave; past Pyro and Gambit at the entrance; past Mesmero, Mastermind and Colossus; until she jumped up onto Magneto's back, pulling the hoodie up and over, covering both of their heads as she clung to his back with her legs and an arm around his neck, their skin making contact.
The clone's efforts to dismantle the metal around the sarcophagus ceased immediately, when Mesmero's control was cut off, and Rogue felt raw power flowing into her; magnetism. But nothing else, no mind, no memories.
'Perfection,' Magneto said smugly as heard Mesmero yell;
"Protect me!"
Rogue felt magnetism flowing through her as she acted with a speed that Quicksilver's powers allowed, forming a shield around them to guard from any attacks. She couldn't take the hoodie off of their heads, so she took in the room with her magnetic senses. Mastermind and Colossus were on the ground, unconscious from what she could tell. Max was inside the cave, fighting against Pyro and Gambit, blocking attacks and driving them into a corner with Mesmero and Astra behind them.
"It's time for Plan B, Mesmero," a female voice dictated and before Rogue could react, she felt a sudden absence as Mesmero, Astra, Pyro and Gambit all vanished from the corner.
'Right, Magneto said she was a teleporter,' she thought as she felt safe enough to let go of Magneto's neck and allowed herself to stand on the ground. Popping her head out from under the hoodie, she saw that the room matched her perception; with Max now kneeling next to Mastermind, checking on the older man's vital signs.
'Magneto?' she asked in her mind, as she reached up and pulled the hoodie off of the clone's head and quickly slipped her arms back in before zippering the garment up. Nothing, no response. Which should mean- "Magneto?" she asked out loud and she watched as the blue eyes opened and glanced down at her with a slight smirk on his face. 'Course it worked,' she thought, unable to keep herself from matching his expression.
On August 17th, around 05:30 am, CST, Magneto looked down at his purple clad hands, as he formed them into fists. The sheer power coursing through his new body was staggering. It felt similar to Rogue's first time using his abilities in the hotel on Christmas Eve last year.
As he had shared his knowledge with her, she had in turn given him the tools and experiences to control magnetism at its true level of potency. Did that make him the Master of Magnetism once more? Or perhaps, he and Rogue were equal in their skill? He did not know and it mattered little. The day was far from over, and the work was only half done.
His gaze turned back to the young woman who had opened his eyes to so many possibilities. His debt to her ran deep and she hadn't even asked for anything before freeing him from her mind, though it would have been within her power to do so.
"Thank you, Rogue," he said earnestly, this time out loud, testing his new body. His voice sounded just as it should, matching the one in his mind.
"You're welcome, Magneto," she drawled in that smooth as molasses voice, making the distinction clear. Max was quick to his feet and he came to stand beside her, looping his arm over her shoulders. Magneto couldn't help but smirk at his younger self, the message was lacking in all subtly but he couldn't blame the boy for staking his claim. They were both Max Eisenhardt, after all.
Magneto huffed as he called on the trace amounts of metal in the air around them; he formed a ball, then he transformed the metal on a cellular level until it turned a bright red and finally he reshaped the metal into his helmet. He sighed in relief as he adorned his head with his chosen version of psychic protection. The boy could keep his cap, and the girl her garment.
He preferred the classic.
"So, shall we?" Magneto asked, turning back to the teenagers.
"Go deal with Mesmero?" Rogue asked. Magneto hadn't told her the plan beyond getting him in his body. It was a reasonable conclusion to draw, but incorrect.
"Eventually, yes," he said, taking a step toward the couple as he pulled his hands behind his back, underneath his cape. "But as Mastermind and Colossus require medical attention, I thought we'd go ask Charles to assemble his X-Men first," he illuminated. Magneto watched as the couple shared a confused glance with one another.
"We don't need the X-Men. We can handle this ourselves" Max declared. The boy's voice sounded so young and his accent was somewhere between American and British; understandably given how they'd learned English so long ago. But how his counterpart must hate it; Magneto knew he would.
He wouldn't expect the boy to put up a facade of the German accent any longer. He'd deal with the details and Charles' lingering suspicions. The couple wouldn't have to do anything else other than exist to sell the new narrative, he'd see to that himself.
"My dear boy, with three wielders of Magnetism, there's very little we couldn't accomplish together," he instructed. "Even with Mastermind and Colossus as dead weight at the moment. Of course, we could apprehend Mesmero without assistance," he said dismissively. "However, Rogue," he said, turning to look at her. "Don't you think it's time Charles saw us both in the same room?" he smirked.
Rogue's reaction was immediate, turning her head into Max's shoulder, laughing loudly.
"The look… on his face… is gonna… be… priceless," she gasped between her laughing, one hand over Max's shoulder and the other on his chest. The boy had his arms wrapped around her waist, hugging her to him.
"Get it out of your system now, my dear. You'll need to keep a straight face in front of Charles," he advised, still comfortable with the role he played in her mind for weeks. That had to come to an end and he knew it, with one caveat. "And when you're ready, you'll need to create another copy of my mind to store within yours," he said.
"Why?" Max asked again, his eyes narrowing in anger and oddly some magnetic energy coursing unbidden from the emotional response? Magneto felt his eyebrow arching.
So, he was stronger than Max, simply by having more emotional control than a teenager. That was strangely gratifying; the copy overshadowing the original. Not that Magneto could blame Max for being against the idea itself. Who wanted a third wheel offering commentary after every kiss?
"Not your concern, boy," Magneto said firmly; testing Max to see how easy it was to get a rise out of him. The younger man's hand formed into a fist, like he wanted to fight his physically older self. 'Let him try,' he thought amused, utterly unthreatened.
"Wouldja both settle down?" Rogue asked, pulling her head off of Max's shoulder, running her hand up to his cheek. As she leaned in to kiss him, Magneto turned around, granting the couple their first moment of semi-privacy. "It's important that I have a copy of him in my head," she explained. "He's still adding to the construct," she added.
"You made a new maze?" he asked, and now he heard the stark gratitude in the boy's voice.
'Good,' he thought, turning back around to look at them. "Indeed, I did, but the work isn't done and Charles knows there's a copy of me in Rogue's mind. We must be consistent," he said, having to explain. "My new counterpart will spend the majority of his time, in the back of Rogue's mind, adding to the work. As my first counterpart had," he explained. "Agreed?" he asked, looking to Rogue; this was her decision.
"Yes," she smiled. Magneto took a step closer to her, pulling off his right glove with his left, before offering his hand to her. She reached forward, not leaving Max's embrace, and touched the tip of her finger to his. Magneto felt the spark of her powers and she pulled back fairly quickly after the copy had been made. Magneto watched as Rogue's eyes widened and he wondered if she'd absorbed the details of the plan he intended for them to act out in front of Charles. "Thanks," she said again.
He nodded at her, before turning away from the couple and looking toward the cave's exit.
He needed to return here, in the next day or so and complete a more thorough sealing of this room. Filling in the cave with an abundance of metal should make it inaccessible, even with teleportation in their adversary's arsenal. But he knew returning to Charles was the correct first move.
"Shall we?" he asked again, not bothering to glance back at the two, knowing this time they were going to agree.