Chapter 53

The Fastest Man Alive

Chapter 53

The Spark Ignited

 

Peggy Carter

Agent 13

Greenland

Frost International Icebase

Peggy was startled awake as the sound of hissing reached her ears. Lights flared to life around her, and her instincts automatically put her into motion. Her hand shot forward, but the resounding clang from the metal door that held her in added more to her feeling of wanting to escape. Sounds and voices rang out around her, but Peggy couldn’t focus.

Everything had such a rich tenner to it that she couldn’t separate the sounds around her. Her sight had become so enhanced that she was able to make out shadows moving on the other side of a screen meant to obscure her vision. Swiftly turning around, Peggy noticed the man standing five feet from her wearing doctor’s scrubs; she tensed as she planned to launch into an attack and escape from here, wherever here was.

Before she could lunge and take the doctor as her hostage, something sprang forth between them, stopping Peggy where she stood.

“Ma’am, you have to calm down.” The person in the lab coat spoke, and Peggy could hear it so clearly, she almost reflexively covered her ears. “What was the last thing you remembered Miss Carter?”

Taking a deep breath, Peggy decided it was best to center herself as she took a moment to sit on the edge of the chamber and close her eyes. All it took was a little bit of focus before all of her memories came back to the forefront of her mind. The smell of leather, a shy kiss before he left for the last time.

His skin on her skin, the pain of labor, the gut-wrenching pain when the doctor said that the child didn’t make it. The years that passed and not being able to find him crashing down on her with each passing. The hope and adulation when Nicolas had come to her with his crafty little plan.

Peggy had taken the lifeline that he had presented to her and did not look back. As more and more of her memories came back, she noticed how she could recall even the minute detail that she had missed the first time around. More and more memories slammed into her mind with crystal clarity up until she had volunteered to enter the chamber for a rejuvenation treatment.

Her eyes snapped open as she looked down at her hands and body; what she found was renewed flesh. Her hand roamed and searched her body only to find smooth and supple skin, even the stretch marks of her failed pregnancy were no longer there. Peggy wanted to rejoice, cry, and rage all in once, but she couldn’t. She had made a deal with that devil woman Emma Frost, so Peggy had to keep her wits about her and not lose her cool.

As her storm of emotions subsided, Peggy noticed that the screen separating the room had risen before her niece, Sharon, walked in. Shoving her emotional turmoil aside, Peggy stood straight while making sure that her hospital gown stayed closed. Behind her niece, that devil of a woman walked into her room also. Pulling back her glare, Peggy turned towards the doctor.

“Is he awake yet?”

“I am sorry, ma’am, but I do not know who you are asking about since we currently have two others under emergency care at the moment.” Her doctor answered before he was interrupted.

“That is classified, but I guess I can take it from here.” Emma Frost answered with such a smug smile that Peggy wanted to wipe that look right off her face.

“Why is Steve in emergency care?” Peggy asked locking onto that bit of information

“You can’t just flip a switch and wake someone up out of cryostasis.” Emma returned with a shrug. “I would ask if you would like to see him now, but I believe the good doctor isn’t finished with you yet.”

Peggy looked over at the doctor and noticed that he didn’t shy away from her piercing glare.

“Aunt Peggy.”

Looking to her left, Peggy noticed her niece’s worried look, which was the only thing that calmed her ire. She had felt there was no need for the doctor to look her over since she had felt great. No, she felt better than great, Peggy felt amazing, better than she has ever felt in years even.

Giving both her niece and the devil woman a nod, she settled down on the medical bed for her examination.

Peggy made a mental promise to herself as she waited for the doctor to begin her examination. She was going to see Steve even if it was the last thing she did.

= /\ =

Steven Rogers

Captain America

Greenland

Frost International Icebase

Steve couldn’t remember the last time he felt so at peace, so relaxed. His mind hummed along before everything snapped back into focus, the war, the ship, Bucky, Peggy! The hand that found his own caused Steves eyes to snap open, body coiled, and ready to strike.

“Ohh, Steve, you’re awake.”

Steve knew that voice, and the face that looked down on him sparked all kinds of feelings within him. The curve of her face, the faint smell of jasmine that lingered about her, Steve couldn’t take his eyes from the love of his life. Lightly squeezing her hand, he returned the smile she gave him, but before he could say anything, they were interrupted.

“Ahem, hem.”

Steve noticed the curvature of Peggy’s brows but smiled as he brought his other hand to pat on top of both of theirs. Steve looked over to the side, and a few particulars instantly jumped out to him. The doctor wasn’t holding a clipboard he couldn’t recognize, it looked to be made of clear glass with words scrolling across the top, there were even images floating for him to see.

From the side of his peripheral vision, Steve noticed that even his monitoring equipment was something he couldn’t recognize. One ear was listening to the doctor while the other was listening to his surroundings, yet he couldn’t place any of the weird items in the room. He didn’t show it on his face, but panic was starting to set in as he noticed the clipboard’s date in reverse. The date was August 11, 2011; that couldn’t be, Steve thought as he sat upon his hospital bed.

No, that couldn’t be right.

Before he could say or do anything other than sitting up straight, the doctor said something that dropped ice-cold dread into his stomach’s pit.

“All in all, Captain, you are in perfect health for someone frozen in ice for nearly one hundred years.” Doctor Sandavol said with a jovial tone.

“Hold up a minute there doc, how long was I out for?” Steve asked with some urgency to his voice. “And if what you say is true, then what about the war?”

“Steve,” Peggy spoke, her voice soft as she held both his hands in her own. “There is something that you need to know.”

Steven Rogers knew that something was wrong, but he could not keep himself from looking into Peggy’s soulful blue eyes.

“Peggy, just give it to me straight,” Steve spoke, steeling himself with a resolve that he didn’t quite feel at the moment. Steve watched as Peggy also steeled herself before pulling out a small device from her pocket and then spoke up.

“You’re about seventy years too late for our dance.”

The device Peggy gave him was small and could fit within one of his hands. It reminded him of that radio Howard had made for him and his Howling Commandos. Steven didn’t know what to think, but there was one thing that he knew, and that was the fact Peggy would never lie to him. Inside though, Steve wanted to rage; he wanted to yell and say that it was unfair. That he had to sleep his life away, trapped until someone could find and rescue him from his predicament, but he couldn’t. He was still alive, and Peggy was at his side, seventy years, and she was still so beautiful…

Wait…. Seventy years…

Steve looked down at the hand he held, then looked back up at the lady that claimed to be his Peggy.

“Seventy years,” Steve spoke in calm even tones as he looked her over. “Yet, you are still the same as if it was only yesterday.”

Steve noticed her smile falter for a little before her hand squeezed his own once more. But before she could say anything, Steve interrupted.

“Why?”

The silence that stretched between them said more than enough, and Steve was starting to think that it might be time to act. He could bide his time, but before he could come up with a quick plan, Peggy spoke, and what she had to say made Steve’s world spin.

“Steve…. I …. They found you, and there was nothing I could do.” Peggy half whispered half spoke.

“Wow, you can cut the tension with a knife in here.”

“I’m sorry, ma’am, but this is a private conversation,” Steve spoke in clipped tones.

“Yeah, no can do beefcake. You see, we, emphasis on the, we, we’re the ones who saved you from spending any more time as a capsicle, and I need you up off your brooding ass. There are people for you to meet and promises to keep.”

“Widow, this is not the time.” Peggy hissed in stoic tones.

“Don’t care, Fury is here, and you took the deal to get a few more years with your magic man,” Natasha replied with a shrug of her shoulder. Peggy glared at Natasha, but she was already giving the doctor more attention than either of them.

“Ma’am, Miss Widow, can we have a moment, please?” Steve asked a little lost since he had heard something about them being the ones to save him out of the ice. Then there was something about a deal Peggy had made so that she could be with him. Steve waited for this Widow person to look at him before taking the doctor with her and leaving.

The door closed with a click before Steve gave it a moment, once that moment was gone. Steve turned to look at Peggy with an expecting look on his features.

Peggy looked at Steve, and he could feel and see the conflict and hurt behind her eyes. “You were gone for seventy years, Steve, seventy years.”

There was nothing much left to be said, so Steve shuffled closer and gave Peggy a hug. They shared the moment before he heard her whisper into his chest.

“They returned me back to my peak with a version of the super-soldier formula.”

“What was the price?” Steve asked, before looking down, noticing how great Peggy fit within his embrace.

“A debt to be paid later, no questions asked.”

“Then I guess we shall share that burden together then, so who is this Fury?” Steve asked, looking at the door leading out of his room. Instead of sharing any more words, Peggy pulled Steve down and kissed her man.

= /\ =

Fury was relaxing in a seat, enjoying his morning meal while Coulson and Clint were seated to his right. Since he had taken up the mantle of Director for SHIELD, Fury didn’t get much time to just enjoy his meals, but that was starting to change as he was allowed more time within the secured safehouses of his nephew. Hell, it had taken him some wrangling to even gain the access he had from his sister, but that was alright with him.

She hadn’t changed in all these years, always so tightfisted with the good connections.

Today was another fine day where Fury had gotten lucky. Not only had they been able to restore Peggy to her peak, but they had brought Captain America back, while also rescuing Bucky Barnes. And in the process of doing all of this, they had hamstrung HYDRA. The operation had happened without leaving HYDRA a way to retaliate on this front.

He had wanted to smile when he received that information over the augmented reality HUD of his eye patch, but he was the boss and also on the helicarrier. Something as simple as a smile would have taken the edge off of his agents, and he liked them sweating. Ignoring Coulson’s giggling like a schoolgirl over some new use of his magic gloves, Fury had just brought his cup of coffee to his lips when the door to his private balcony opened up. At the door was his waiter and behind him was the man Fury was waiting for. A nod from him gave his waiter the go ahead to allow in Captain Rogers and both agent Carters.

Fury noticed that Clint did a glance to the reflective surface of his watch to find out who the newcomer was, while Coulson made him want to revoke his level nine clearance. Fury watched as Coulson jumped out of his seat as if someone had set him on fire once he caught a good look at Captain Rogers.

Fury swore he might have heard a squeal, but that couldn’t have been his agent. Sighing to himself, Fury placed down his eating utensils before checking himself and standing up proper. A sly glance around made sure that no one had eyes on him, Fury did one quick flap of his badass trench coat.

The way it flowed around him and settling with style had Fury smirking on the inside as he approached Rogers and his swooning agent. As he walked up, Fury was sure he saw Coulson put his trading cards away. Clearing his throat and throwing up a mysterious and intimidating air, Fury presented his hand for a firm shake.

“When your file came across my desk, I told them that I wouldn’t believe it unless I laid my eye on you.” Fury spoke with a little mirth before doing his signature one eyebrow raise. “Glad to have you back, Captain.”

“Good to be back, sir. Just want to settle in and see the new world” Rogers spoke firmly, but Fury could see the hidden hurt in the man’s eyes. Well, let’s see if I can’t live that up, maybe even get a little extra out of this, Fury thought.

“Well, I think I can make it even better for you.” Fury answered before turning around and directing Rogers and Peggy towards a seat. They sat down and spoke for about half an hour before Fury received the two messages he had been waiting for while he stalled for time. One was that Natasha was bringing up a certain guest, and the other was that a certainly trained assassin was finished with his reconstruction.

Clint had come in from the balcony a while back and had Rogers share stories about his howling commandos. Fury ignored them before half turning his attention towards the door as it slid open. Through the door walked Emma Frost and Natasha Blake with a black gentleman walking behind them and speaking.

“Look, all I do is hold a support group. I don’t know if I am the guy for this job.”

“Of course you are Sam, I even got a glowing recommendation, so let me introduce you.” Natasha said as she came to a stop.

Perfect ambush distance from everyone, Fury idly noted.

“Well, let me introduce you to your first ward, Steven Rogers,” Emma stated a little matter of factly. “You might also know him as Captain America, or capsicle if you like. Steve, meet Samuel Wilson, ex-military and down to earth guy who holds a support group for other veterans.”

“Ohh, it’s an honor meeting you, sir,” Sam spoke as she shook Steve’s hands. He did turn to Emma, though, not phased one bit by her or the redhead’s charms. “Who is the other?”

“He just got out of an operation to replace his left arm.” Fury said as he gave Natasha a quick glance before he faced Rogers. “I thought you might want to settle in before we broke the news to you.”

“And what news is that?” Steve asked a little apprehensively.

“Ohh, just that we were able to recover Barnes also, but he needed our doctors to put him back together again. Since he was in pretty rough condition when we found him.” Fury spoke eyeing the man before him. Fury noted that even though Rogers had a gobsmacked look on his features as his composure cracked slightly. Rogers’ frame was still tightly coiled ready to react at the drop of a dime, but Fury could see that his baited hook had worked.

“I want to see him.”

“That can be arranged.” Fury said.

Clint shivered in dread from the smile his boss carried on his face.

= /\ =

One month later

Ororo Blake nee Munroe

STORM

Odinson

Pandora

Logan’s Training Field

Ororo looked down at the training match taking place as Peter flipped Odinson over his shoulder once more. Before he could make it to the ground, a blast of lightning came out of his body, but it wasn’t enough to keep him afloat as Piotr’s shoulder checked him from the side. Ororo made a mental note on that little move Odinson used. It would seem that he still hadn’t gotten the use of his lightning to fly, so that could be discussed later.

The flash off to the side drew her attention, and what she found made her chuckle a little bit. Tony was on the outside of the ring with a towel around his neck. He was sporting the whole dad vibes, he even had a camera in his hands. At the side stood Happy Hogan, and he was holding a water bottle while they were both cheering Peter onward. The poor kid’s face was beet red, but he was still putting his best foot forward during the sparring match.

“Yeah! You show that surfer dude what’s what, Pete.” Tony yelled from the side of the ring. “Get him in a headlock, Pete, a headlock.”

Ororo was starting to wonder if she would have to send the man outside of her training grounds.

“Mommy, why is he acting that way?” Phoebe asked as she looked over the balcony they were sitting on.

“Because he is in daddy mode, sweetheart,” Ororo spoke as she helped the girls through their own katas. Maya, Celeste, and her sisters all looked confused as they changed forms once more. “Remember that time you were playing the piano, Celeste.”

“Yeah, daddy was all over the place with his video camera,” Celeste answered back after a moment.

“That’s called daddy mode girls,” Ororo spoke as she walked around them, correcting their forms every now and then. “They tend to get like that when they overdose on cuteness or too much pride in their children.”

“Yeah, sock him one, Pete!”

Those up top turned and watched Tony cheer some more, before going back to their kata forms.

“Use that move Happy taught you, use it. Yes! Take that Point Break.” Tony’s bombastic voice came from down in the sparring ring.

Sighing to herself, Ororo stood back up and received the towel held out for her.

“Alright, girls, that’s all for today, Alfred, run along with your sisters and get yourself cleaned up before lunch,” Ororo commanded while clapping her hands together. As the kids got up and left, she jumped over the balconies rails and floated down next to the sparring ring.

SHA-BOOM!

“HAHAHA, come at me, little spider.” Odinson’s voice boomed across the training field out of the sparring ring as Peter went flying after receiving a massive blow. “NOW, METAL MAN! COME!”

Ororo wanted to say something, but she honestly could not since Odinson was lightly levitating over the ground. Quickly turning around, he was able to parry a tackle from Piotr before launching himself into an attack. Ignoring the ring, Ororo made her way to the side of Tony, who was trying to get Happy to massage Peter’s shoulders.

Standing at the side and wrapping herself in a silencing charm, Ororo listened in.

“You got this, Pete; Point Break is weak on the left, so I want you to hammer him hard when he comes at you with the right.” Tony said before squirting some water over Peter’s head. Ororo noticed how Peter’s face had taken on a beet red color, pulling out her own omnitool. Ororo made sure that the AI collective had made a copy of the sparring match and Tony being far over the top. She was certain that Ben would take a kick out of watching it later.

Taking a step away and back towards the sparring arena, Ororo noticed Jane was off to the side with a dazed look on her features. Jane was beside Darcey, who was on one of the new Vega-phones produced on the island. Without saying a word, she moved to an intercepting course between Odinson and Piotr.

A fist blazing with lightning came barreling down on Ororo from her right while one made of organic metal came from the left. With swift motions, Ororo caught them both behind the wrist before twisting on her axis. This was a smoothly performed power transfer and rotating, tossing them both outside the ring.

“Alright, boys, that’s enough,” Ororo said as she levitated calmly above the sparring ring. “Piotr hit the shower, Odinson, I believe you have a visitor.”

“Thank you for allowing me time with Lady Jane, your majesty,” Odinson spoke in his usual boisterous tones with a half bow.

Letting him go his way, Ororo took flight towards the courtyard where lunch was being served. Odinson had made great strides in the month of him living here on the island, she noted to herself. She had noted that once the hammer was no longer in his sight, he no longer had tunnel vision for it as Jane filled the void. There were moments of lapses here and there, but Ororo was making a point to break him of such dependency.

Lightly humming to herself, Ororo cleaned up before flying over to the courtyard as Peter came walking in with Laura glaring at Tony. Her omnitool beeped, and the message she received had Ororo send a reply to her lover undercover inside the portal station. For some reason, Raven had found Gambit on the security feeds hanging around the station, and she was going to pull recon. At first, Ororo had considered why she was being told since she wasn’t in charge of Raven. But Ororo understood that Raven was covering herself since she was the only other Queen currently available on the island with everyone else busy with their own thing at the moment.

Ororo lightly landed beside the lunch area and looked around her for kids, but they were already eating at their own table with Piotr’s little sister Illyanna. Before she could make her way to the lunch counter, a booming voice came from the distance as a few people came into the courtyard.

“Friend Steve, Friend Bucky welcome and join me as we enjoy today’s nourishment.” Came the booming voice of Odinson. Ororo looked over and saw Logan walk into the lunch area with Steve and Bucky Barnes in tow right behind him. Samuel Wilson was flying in over their heads on a new jet pack designed by the island’s science team.

Emma had shunted them all to the island once Barnes had woken up, saying something about them not being able to adjust to the rest of the world. Ororo knew that Emma was trying to field some sort of loyalty to Pandora and her people, but Ororo didn’t really care since she knew that Fury was also trying to do the same thing.

Benjamin’s mother had given him access to the island after laying down some strict rules for him to follow. Since then, other than a cafe downtown, Ororo had noticed Fury had Coulson and Clint hover around some of the schools in hopes of doing some recruiting. Since those in Star fleet and the Avengers programs were of age, Ororo had decided to ignore them since they were also held to the island’s secret enforced by the smart bands.

Instead of sitting with her children, Ororo turned and took a seat beside Logan. At the table sat Sam Wilson, Steven Rogers, Odinson, Jane Foster, Darcey, her intern, and one Bucky Barnes. A small holo-screen popped out of the table before everyone. On the little screen was a menu for today’s lunch on the front of the selection screen.

Idly, Ororo noted the look of fascination on Steve and Buckys face as they looked over the menu. It was nice to see that they were still enjoying all the advancements made even though they have been here a month.

“So, how are you enjoying our nation so far?” Ororo asked Steve from her side of the table as she finished selecting her meal. Steve looked up a little stunned with wide eyes before giving her a smile as he finished his meal selection. Ororo watched as Steve took a moment to put his thoughts together before answering.

“Ohh, it’s amazing, ma’am,” Steve spoke slowly and kept steady eye contact. “I wasn’t aware of how the world had changed, but I am grateful for this opportunity to catch my breath. I did take one of the bikes out and took your advice to go out and just travel across America, but I do prefer it here.”

“Yeah, I heard about that mother that propositioned you right in front of her husband,” Logan spoke gruffly. “You should have seen how red he turned O’.”

“Ohh, looking to add another already?” Ororo asked, laughing at his stumped expression.

“I call dibs on being next if you can keep that scary agent lady from killing me,” Darcy said, looking up from her phone.

Everyone burst out laughing at the table as Steve chuckled in good humor.

“Worry not my friend, when I was younger, plenty of maidens would throw themselves at me.” Odinson proclaimed boisterously, but he paused after the look Jane Foster had given him.

“So, neither you nor Bucky, are having any issues adjusting?” Ororo asked as a waiter brought her food out and placed it on the table before her. This time her attention was on the silent Bucky Barnes. Ororo had noticed how he had taken to looking at his freshly grown left arm, flexing it slowly. Of course, he would need time to adjust at having a flesh and blood arm again.

“No issues, just training, gotta get in fighting shape,” Barnes spoke, when he said that, this caused Ororo to give him a speculative look before she nodded and changed the subject. Everyone’s meal had arrived as they all engaged in small talk as they ate for another hour.

Ororo had double-checked her smart band and found that Raven hadn’t sent her any more messages. She felt a foreboding feeling as things usually went all to hell when Raven said she had a lead on something. Ororo paid it no mind, but a quick check found Raven alive and healthy. Yet, Ororo couldn’t shake that feeling of an impending battle.

= /\ =

Later that day…

Emma Frost

Pandora

The day had progressed amazingly well for Emma as she reviewed some of her holdings Sage had made notations on. With the death of Shaw, Emma was noticing her profit margins were going up slowly but set a steady pace. She had tasked Sage to suss out why and what she found had Emma wanting to shoot that bastard’s corpse once more.

In his role as the Black King, he was skimming profits on multiple fronts. Instead of complaining about that, she was currently relaxing on the beach, performing her motherly duties as the kids built themselves a sandcastle. The only thing that would make this better would be if Benjamin came out of his self imposed training and ravished her under the sun.

Sighing to herself and pushing those thoughts away, Emma examined her hand as the tips transitioned from flesh to bio-organic diamonds and then back again. From what the doctors could tell, her powers had evolved due to her interaction with her hubby. He was potent on many fronts, and her cells had evolved once more from the excessive amounts of energy he produced. Well, it also helps that she didn’t mind swallowing either.

Flexing her fingers, Emma watched as the bio armor traveled up her arm. Idly she noted that her fingernails didn’t carry over the pearl white she had them painted. The other thing she noted was the cooling sensation of her hand under the sunlight.

A peal of laughter brought her gaze up to see her kids playing. What Emma witness was Maya fly around with another one of the kids on the beach. The guards were doing their duty and followed them closely, but they had enough sense to also stay out of the way. Her girls were at the edges of the wave on a bodyboard, while Alfred was still building his sandcastle, but Emma noted he was using some type of tech to help him.

Emma would have snorted at one time if someone had said that she would make a great mother. But Raven and Natasha said she could do it and she would have to if she wanted to prove better than her own parents. No one had to know about that, though. Humming to herself, Emma went back to idly playing with her new set of powers. She also noted the irritation approaching her.

Instead of looking in his direction, Emma sent a mental message to her guards to block his path. She had no time or patience for him disturbing her relaxing time. Her spartans closed guard around her and tried to direct him onto another path. Unfortunately, Namor was far too stubborn, and after half an hour of him attempting to get by her guards, Emma had finally had enough.

Sigh…

“Let him through,” Emma spoke as she got up from lounging on her beach chair. Ashley handed her a shawl that Emma wrapped around her shoulders to keep Namors eyes off her. Emma gave her thanks before taking a step to the side. Emma had noticed how Namor was still in his god awful swimming briefs. Around both of his forearms were golden bracers and a golden necklace around his neck. Namor had nothing on his feet, but she did idly note the wings along the side of his ankles.

Turning around, Emma stood with her back to a palm tree as she glared at the man before her.

“What is it that you need?” Emma asked, bringing forth her business persona. Emma almost threw up in her mouth as she noted Namor flexed his pecs with a hand on his hip as he looked her over.

“I have found you desirable and have come to take you as my queen,” Namor spoke, looking her over. Emma looked at him, trying to understand if this was some joke or not. A raised eyebrow was all he got before a firm answer.

“No.”

“You do not understand, I have come to enjoy your magnificent company,” Namor spoke as he tried and failed to take a step closer. Even if they were not close enough to hear, Emma’s guards were close enough to have all defenses up. Especially when it was someone noted on the black servers to have a thing on stealing women.

“So, you are asking me to leave Benjamin?” Emma asked as she looked at Namor. He stood at the palm tree’s edges with a cocky swagger that infuriated her to no end.

“Ooh, of course, for him, you are not, but one of many,” Namor said, a sly smile pasted on his face. “With me, you would be not many but one queen amongst my people and rule at my side.”

“And then what? Stay inside for the rest of my life being unable to go out because of the pressure from the ocean’s forces?” Emma asked back in a slow drawl. She then stared him down, sizing him up, but Namor could tell the look on her features found him wanting. “Spout what you will, but you can’t even give me and my girls half of what Benjamin has provided.”

Namor scoffed. “I rule half of this planet; I can give you anything you could ever want.”

“Yes, and what have you done over your hundred years of rule, Namor?” Emma asked with some heat in her voice. “From my recollection, not a damn thing and that’s why you’re worthless in my eyes. Benjamin might not have been around as long as you, but he has done and brought real change. And before long, I will be a queen amongst the stars with planets bowing down to worship at my feet. So tell me this Namor? Why would I leave a winning situation to join a lost cause?”

Namor stuttered and got angry but didn’t get anything out before Emma opened her mouth once more.

“I would suggest you leave before you lose your kingdom and head. Benjamin isn’t so forgiving of those attempting to break up a happy home.” Emma then walked away back towards her lounge chair. Hopefully, he would get the hint and leave before something happened and he loses his worthless little life.

Fury spread across Namors face as he heard the condescending tone within her words. Unfortunately, he didn’t get a chance to retort as the island’s wards ejected him out of its bounds and back into the ocean. Growling at his failure, Namor brought up his com device and sent his part of the plan.

He would have her, this Namor swore.

= /\ =

Pietro watched from the distance as Gambit flirted with the girl at the portal station. He didn’t like the plan, but it was one that he could do without being caught. Unlike that fool inside, Pietro thought as he watched them walk off to the side. The plan was simple, plant the bomb, destroy the control station, and his father would be able to come in and conquer everything. After double checking his pockets, Pietro was sure he still had the explosives Namor provided them.

Ignoring that odd feeling he was getting, Pietro focused on the door as it opened. Out of the portal control room walked Gambit with that operator in tow. Pietro noticed they had gone into the ladies’ room but he paid that no mind. Before the door could get halfway to lock, he sped inside. Now that he was on the other side of the door to portal control, Pietro had no clue where to start.

His job was to lower the teleportation defenses before blowing the place up, but he never took the classes for portal operations. Cursing to himself, Pietro sped around the room hitting buttons and switches before finally giving up. The screens were flashing red so he just took out the odd explosives and started it’s firing procedures.

The circle on the front of the explosive started to flash red as it slowly cycled down to zero. Pietro’s eyes widened before dashing to the door. Running into the door, he bounced off before realizing that he still had the explosive device in hand. Pietro jumped back to his feet, peeled off the back covering before slamming it under the portal council.

Swoosh!

Panicking, Pietro looked behind him; eyes widened at the sight of the guards at the ready with rifles up. The other thing that drew his attention was the constant pinging as the bomb got closer and closer to detonation. He was the one to do this because he was fast enough to escape the blast radius.

Instead of fighting the armed guards who he knew were far stronger than himself, Pietro slapped the bomb onto the control panel. He then turned around and ran, jumped, and slipped through the middle of the guards as he made to run for outside of the portal operations center.

Pietro ran and ran, never looking back. He knew where he had to be, and that was not here. Before his mind could catch up with his feet, Pietro was at the Atlantean embassy. This was where he would be safe; this was where his father would be able to find him; this was where that Blake guy wouldn’t be able to reach him.

= /\ =

Musing to herself, Raven had gone along with Gambit as she played her disguise to see what he had planned. This wasn’t the first time he had made a visit to portal control and slyly tried to get information from those on duty.

Raven had wondered what Anna had seen in this guy, but she was sad to say that it wasn’t much. If only the profile inside the black server was wrong. Her daughter wouldn’t have to go through any of the heartbreak coming to her soon. She flirted and made her cheeks blush as he ushered her into the ladies’ room.

Off to the side, Raven had noticed Pietro trying to play like nothing was happening. Raven knew that they were up to something but wasn’t able to tell what it was. Lucky Natasha had agreed with her on giving them some rope and allowing them to hang themselves with it.

So here she was about to see what they were up to after listening to a few corny pick-up lines from Gambit. He posted her up against the sink and came in for a kiss. Unfortunately, she noticed the syringe in his hands and got him before he got her. Raven’s leg went boneless before wrapping around his arm and breaking it.

“Ahhhh!” Gambit screamed. Instead of listening to anything else, Raven signaled her guards to come and collect him. Changing back to her normal form, Raven pulled out a pair of inhibitor cuffs. She then placed them around his wrist, not caring about them being broken at all.

BOOM!

Raven’s head snapped up and made eye contact with her guards. Two turned around and dashed out and she was right on their heels heading for the portal control room. Raven noticed that a pair of guards were already inside the room. The center console didn’t look damaged, but there was some smoke coming out from underneath.

“My queen, please stay back.”

One of her guards walked forward to inspect the damage, but Raven already had her own omnitool up. Above her wrist floated a holo-image of the room, in the image was the video feed for this very same room. From what she could see, it looked like Pietro was trying to figure out how to lower the teleportation defenses.

There is only one person who knew about that and he was only told because he didn’t want us to teleport inside his city whenever we wanted. Raven zoomed in the video in on the bomb that Pietro had in his hands. It was easy to tell that the explosive wasn’t made by any technology available. From the odd shape it could only come from one other place.

Rotating the image, Raven needed more information so that she didn’t wrongly accuse the wrong person. What she found made her blood boil, the explosive was shaped like a conch shell. Raven had noticed how the redlight followed the spiraling of the shell.

“My queen.” Spartan Luis called as he got up from inspecting the portal controls. “The damage is minor, but there does seem to be some shock damage.”

“How is it not destroyed?” Raven asked with her eyebrows going up at hearing how minor the damage was.

“The outer shell is made of a new alloy with eight percent vibranium mixed in.” Spartan Luis answered as he placed an order for some new components. “They also didn’t take into account the fact that our King wanted all important stations to have kinetic dampers installed. He said something about not dealing with exploding council syndrome.”

“And more examples of his paranoia working to prevent issues,” Raven muttered to herself. “Alright, let’s bring in some guards under the radar and go ahead and drop the teleportation shield.”

“My queen, might I ask why?” Spartan Luis asked with his hand hovering over his own omnitool.

“Easy, they went through all of this trouble to bring a fight to us and I don’t plan on keeping them waiting,” Raven said with a predatory look on her features. “They think they can sneak in and invade, well we know how they are going to get it. It’s time to set a trap, I know that we have half a million troops always at the ready. Let’s see what they can do against a foe like us.”

Spartan Luis gave his Queen a salute and nod before bringing up his omnitool.

“General Faora, we have a situation.”

= /\ =

King Magneto

Asteroid M

Magneto stood on his asteroid, looking down on the Earth through the window of his personal quarters. His apostles were at the ready and so were his brotherhood of mutants. The only thing he was waiting on was his son and that spy of Sinister’s. He knew what he wanted to accomplish and what he had to do today. Before this day was out, he would be crowned King of the mutant race.

Eric’s attention was drawn from gazing down on Earth as the computer at his desk started to ping. Turning him back towards the view down on Earth, Eric walked over to this desk and smiled at what he saw. On the screen was the confirmation that his son had set the bomb like he was told. The other notation was that Namor was on the move, and the last one was that the two new allies were here.

Sending his confirmation, Eric pressed a button and opened up a secret hatch for his combat gear. Inside next to his armor and cape were his helmet, but also a few weapons he had prepared for his situation. On the side of each of his gauntlets were six metallic balls. These were weapons

designed to enlarge or shrink at his mental command. He was beyond such barbaric weapons, such as pistols and the like. Here, he thought, were elegant weapons suitable for one such as himself.

On the side of his boots were the same metallic weaponry and there was a set of twelve built into the harness. His harness was connected to his cape then went around his shoulder. His door opened and Eric stepped through with his helmet tucked under his arm. Walking down the halls of his asteroid throne away from Earth, he could feel the electricity in the air. Today was the day and nothing was going to stop him from his conquest.

Exodus was another Omega level mutant and he would be able to bring him Blake’s head. Let’s just hope his other allies are able to deliver the same way he did. Walking into the large room, Eric was first greeted with the sight of his acolytes. Exodus, the leader, stood tall and proud as an Omega level telepath and telekinetic. The second in command after Exodus was Fabian Cortex, an alpha level mutant, but he came with power augmentation. He wasn’t the brightest of the bunch, but Exodus had him well under control.

The team’s muscle was Issac Javitz coming in with super strength and durability, he was a mountain of a man, but Eric didn’t care for his over-compensation of his other fallacies. The ace of his team, Exodus, stood beside Suvik Senyaka formally working for Selene as a bio leech. The more biological essence he was able to drain, the stronger he would become during a battle of attrition. The last but not least of his brotherhood of evil mutants was Amelia Voght, his teleporter. She was capable of turning her body into mist and teleporting large groups from one location to another. All she would need is an image and idea of where to go, her powers sorted out the rest.

Looking to the other side, Eric was able to see who Sinister had brought from his Murders. The last Eric had heard, these clones were all that was left of the man’s holdings. This was after Blake had gone on a tear through his organization and island.

The Marauders consisted of Malice, a recon type capable of possession of others and using their powers in combination with her own. Riptide, also known as Janos Quested, was floating around the back of the group looking agitated. In front of him stood the leader of the group, Scalphunter. He was a most distasteful man Eric thought to himself as he made small pleasantries known and shook the man’s hand.

It was all for the greater good, Eric told himself.

Scalphunter was a known mercenary that had the distasteful proclivities. Just looking at the man, Eric wanted to kill him, but he could do that later once he was King. Beside Scalphunter stood a delectable beauty by the name of Chimera. Eric couldn’t help but take in her magnificent curves and the legs she had on display.

Eric had noted how Nathaniel wasn’t here and the information Scalphunter had provided, irritated more than it should have on his big day. Giving a nod of confirmation to Scalphunter, Eric made sure no one noticed as he applied a little bit of magnetic force to a switch. This would activate a protocol once they left enclosing Nathaniel’s labs to keep him from double crossing them.

Standing not too far from his own acolytes was the Wakandan contingent led by the prince himself. Eric almost laughed when he heard about the story of a lost love being stolen. Yet, he did not because this was another force helping him on his path to kingship of his kind.

Walking over to their sides, Eric shook his hands with the young prince before making small talk and pleasantries with his royal contingent. There was another ping on his communicator and Eric noticed that it was Namor letting him know that his army was on the march.

Walking up to the archway, Eric looked down on all those standing here with him. All elite soldiers in their own right, all here to assist in bringing his goals to fruition. Looking down on all those before him, Eric felt that some words were in order.

“Today, we fight as one. Today we move to correct an injustice that the world has been made unaware of. Today we topple a tyrant and replace him with a benevolent leader. Today we march to ensure that our brothers and sisters stop living with a lie told to them by a man with an agenda. Today is the day of liberation!” Eric finished rising into the air as the mutants around him cheered his name. Pulling his helmet onto his head, Magneto signaled for the teleportation. Mist wrapped around everyone and Magneto felt the world shift as everything went weightless for a moment.

Gravity returned and his eyes shined as he saw it, Pandora, the gem that soon becomes his throne. From what he could tell, they were in that teleportation station his son spoke of. His communicator pinged and his other allies updated him on the Destroyer attacking the shield facility.

Turning to his troops, Magneto took to the sky.

“Let the liberation commence!”