Disclaimer - I don't own Marvel/Disney IP. I am just a humble keyboard warrior. Also, the Chaos Gacha was made by Bronz here. I am just dipping my toe in the water, so to speak.
Somewhere in Maine
–Mike–
So, there they were, standing in front of the two most prominent factions of mutantkind, with their leaders seemingly conversing amicably and their underlings just about ready to slit each other's throats. Well, he supposed that slitting Wolverine's throat could be construed as a minor attack instead of an attempt to kill.
And all he could feel when looking at them bickering with each other while fully knowing that they would not fight without the go-ahead from their respective leader was disappointment.
Utter and profound disappointment. If these two were the leading factions fighting for mutant rights, then no wonder they were losing big time. Sure, both of them fought for their goal, in a sense, but both took their respective viewpoints to the extreme ends. Couldn't they realise that the only viable solution to their problem was coming together?
Shaking his head, he realised that even trying to convince them of this would just be barking up the wrong tree. He most certainly was not the first who would have tried to explain to them the deficiencies in their respective approaches.
Full pacifism and full aggression were both wrong. There was a reason the carrot and stick method worked for so many different situations. These two need to get their heads out of their asses, or events like the House of M might just become a reality here.
Well, I might have stepped into this ticking time bomb if I was a mutant, but since I am not, he thought to himself, shrugging as he planned to just listen to their speeches and after maybe hitching a ride to the nearest urban centre, ditch them as–
His thoughts halted abruptly as a small breeze hit his face, a small metallic arrow stopped just inches away from his face, held in Alcina's hand, her hand having come from behind him as she saved his life, once again.
You know what, he was getting really tired of having to rely on Alcina just to save his life. Seeing that he did not get a ticket, it probably was just Magneto testing them and not an actual attempt on his life, but still, it was annoying and frustrating.
Alcina let go of the arrow as the metal shaped itself mid air, turning into a jelly of sorts as it joined the mass that Magneto used to come here. It was still floating up in the air as Magneto and his goons looked at them, or more accurately, at Alcina.
"Impressive," Magneto remarked, with a frustrated looking Charles following him as the respective leaders now stood in front of him. He noted Magneto lifting Charles with him when they effortlessly floated to land in front of him, "Not many can boast of such reflexes and, more importantly, the durability to come out unscathed."
For impressing Magneto with your strength, Silver Bronze Ticket X1
He instantly rolled it, realising that the feat came from his familiar instead of him, hence the ticket downgrade. Must be another one of the upgrades he got from the second version of the Chaos Gacha that was just shoved down his throat without any option of rejection, kind of like the Windows updates back in Uni.
[Sensor]
|Uncommon Trait|
You have always had a knack for sensing and locating energy/mana/chakra, etc. Your ability to sense and locate energy, as well as your Thinker abilities, are enhanced.
It felt as if a switch that was never meant to be turned was flipped on, exposing his brain to an entirely new type of sensory information. His vision blurred as he focused on the new trait, something that was impossible to ignore as his brain was being bombarded with information that made no sense at first.
He could sense Alcina standing in front of him, her energy rolling off of her in droves as she was presumably agitated. Beyond her, he could feel what he thought to be Charles. More accurately, he felt a veritable volcano of energy concentrated around his head.
So, that was psionic energy then, the base for any mind related abilities. Then, there were the others. Magneto also had a pool of energy similar to Charles yet less in intensity. Storm was yet another blaze of energy, but hers was spread all around her body, and the only reason he could tell it was hers was because the energy tasted like rain & wind somehow.
The others were honestly specks when compared to these three, and all three of them were just about the same level as Alcina. Only her proximity to him had his senses focusing on her. It helped as well, to focus on her so he could drown out the other dozen types of energy just present in the air all around them.
He suppressed the shock of Alcina's energy reserves, as he tried to rationalise the finding. It honestly kind of made sense if he thought of the giant, monstrous form she could assume at will and could control, provided she had enough food in her at the time. Going hungry weakens her control over herself, creating a feral monster.
Taking in deep breaths, he made sure to only focus on Alcina and her energy signature, helping reduce the ache in his head as he opened his eyes to find himself looking at the grass on the ground. Feeling much better now that he had this ability under some modicum of control, he looked up to find all of them looking at him with varying expressions. Charles and Co were either looking at him with concern or indifference.
Magneto was indifferent, but his cohorts were downright contemptuous in the glares thrown his way.
After his sight was returned or rather, he had enough mental bandwidth to finally focus properly, he heard the tail end of what Magneto was saying to Alcina.
"---You can bring your partner with you if you wish."
Pyro snorted after the statement, as if it was funny to him. It was not funny to him, and what was most certainly not funny was the counter that popped in his vision a moment later, showcasing the time he had before he had to roll for a mandatory curse.
He had 4 hours and 45 minutes left. Apparently, it had a 15 minute alert interval, which was certainly helpful. It would have been even morehelpful had the system not updateditself and saddled him with a mandatory curse over his head.
Shaking his head, he replied, "Yeah, no. We are not coming with you." Standing up, he made sure to maintain eye contact with Magneto while rejecting his offer. He had not heard the entirety of it, but he could guess the gist of it, and they were not going to go with someone who was already branded a terrorist by most countries on the planet.
He was on thin ice as it is. He didn't want to lose even that small chance of cooperation with the SHIELD and the Avengers, simply because he chose to align with someone who did not understand the concept of restraint and the importance & advantages that come from good PR.
Pyro stepped forward, his hand once again going up in flames, "Yeah, he wasn't talking to you, boytoy."
It should have infuriated him, but it didn't. As it was, Alcina could cut him in half within seconds if need be, with only Magneto and Charles here capable of stopping her in time. However, he was not here to kill people. No, sir, despite what the Gacha might want him to do, he was of the opinion that enough Chaos could be raised without killing people, either directly or indirectly.
So, with that in mind, he decided to put on a little show here.
He began pacing in front of them, waiting for Pyro to open his mouth because he ignored the man, only to steamroll over his comments as if he was beneath his station. Instead, he looked straight at Magneto, "Does she still work for you? Raven Darkholme?"
Magneto looked at him with a little interest now. Still definitely more interested in Alcina but probably saw the dynamics and realised that the person he was ignoring had some worth after all. His casual name dropping of her real name, a secret only a select few people know, also might have had a hand in it.
He could see the others confused about it, but Magneto's reply made them understand.
"Mystique is an old friend and an important ally to mutantkind." He could see Charles looking at him intently and he realised that the old man was debating using his mind control to find out information about him now that he revealed his knowledge of not just Mystique's existence but also her real name.
Before either of them could do something drastic like attacking him, he spoke once more, "So, you're in contact with her then. Good. I would advise either one of you to get into contact with her and make sure she remains safe. I have some additional information about her if you're interested."
"If your goal is threaten her, then–"
"Threaten her? Why would I do that? Look, let me just say my piece, and you'll understand." Hopefully, Bolivar Trask had not advanced enough in his sentinel research. If his knowledge was right, Mystique and her shapeshifting cells were a key piece that led to the advanced power mimicking Sentinels being formed. Trask needed not just her DNA, but skin cells, and more specific samples to perfectly integrate her power into the mutant killing machines.
Magneto did not look convinced, but Charles interrupted and Magneto agreed, which just proved his theory of them being in cahoots with each and their regular fights being just a sham meant to either train their soldiers or to fool any unsuspecting third party.
Soon, they were inside the Blackbird or the X-Jet, if the naming convention was consistent across the board, with him and Alcina seated on some rather comfortable seats. Very high comfort and convenience were built into what was supposedly a fighter jet.
"Bolivar Trask." He began before they could do anything else. After seeing their confused looks, he continued, "Trask industries? Vertically challenged? Hate boner for mutants?"
Charles spoke as Magneto's face had tightened at the mutant hater tag, "I am aware of Trask Industries, but they are just a tertiary military contractor. What is their relationship with Mystique?"
So, he told them. What little he could remember anyway. Not everything but the important bits. How Trask was looking for Mystique and how her powers could be used against mutants since her DNA was uniquely malleable, capable of reshaping DNA until powers that were genetically locked down were suddenly accessible.
Trask Industries. Senator Kelly and more being supporters of a mutant killing weapon, with the only thing stopping them being the public opinion.
A pointed glance at Magneto had the man glaring at him, but his points being valid seemed to stop the MASTER OF MAGNETISM from shredding him to bits.
"I see. So you are a seer then." Magneto said with a look of realisation on his face, as if that explained everything. That statement made Charles nod as well, the two being on the same frequency as they took his warnings as warnings from the future, which they really were, so he just played into it.
Playing along, he seriously nodded, "Not exactly. I know of a future, not the future."
"A possibility, then. Still, it is far too dangerous for us to ignore." Charles said, deep in thought, probably trying to think of ways to prevent that particular future and protect his dear friend in that pacifist way of his. Maybe the wild version of Charles, where he cut offhis negative emotions using his own powers on himself was this one, then?
Otherwise, how could someone cling to pacifism even to the point of self detriment, let alone to the others who looked up to him for guidance.
Magneto, on the other hand, stood up and said with no effort to hide his hatred and bloodlust, "I will see to it that that future does not come to pass, no matter what." yeah, those last words were definitely the death knell for Trask. If only someone could stop Magneto from pursuing that radical line of thinking that might push the can down a few years down the line, but would only serve to stoke the flame, dooming them all when the issue came roaring back with vengeance.
After all, history was witness, you can't keep oppressing people, without a filter of sorts, to keep the population unaware that they were being oppressed. If they knew they were being exploited, well, the human species was particularly well known to come up with new and creative ways to kill itself. Killing Trask, atleast publicly, was not going to be the answer here.
"Eric, No!" Charles exclaimed, rolling forward in Magneto's path, as if that was going to stop Magneto in any way if he wished to just leave. Magneto, however, stopped to listen, "Listen to me. I have contacts in the government. I can find out what the truth really is, and we can work together to dissuade them–"
He openly snorted at that. Dissuade. Lol.
Charles paused in his tirade but then went on as if he never heard his contemptuous snort. He would have said more, but he was busy freaking out internally with the tickets he had gotten.
For warning the Mutant leadership about a potential dystopian future, Gold Ticket X1
For potentially preventing multiple Extinction level Events, Diamond Ticket X1
Ignoring the conversation between them, he immediately rolled both the tickets, not learning a thing from the earlier Sensor fiasco, where he was abruptly bombarded with information that his brain had no way of processing.
Man, the risk of potential conflict with Magneto was so worth it, he thought to himself as the Rolls revealed themselves.
[Stone Skin]
|Common Ability|
Allows you to cover your skin in a stone like texture that enhances your durability and increases your mass.
[Spirit Gathering]
|Mythical Ability|
You are able to channel the energy of anyone willing to share their energy with you, regardless of distance and use it as your own.
His breathing quickened immediately as he barely contained the urge to immediately swap out Venom for Spirit Gathering, the mere description enough to raise his excitement levels never seen before. His first thought was to use the ability on Alcina since she had such vast reserves of energy, according to the trait he received earlier.
The Sensory trait allowed him to sense energy, and this ability allowed him to use any energy as if his own regardless of distance. Damn, if it did not have a people limit, he could someday picture himself using Goku's Spirit Bomb!
A Mythical Ability!
Taking a deep breath, he swapped out Venom for Stone Skin instead, smothering the urge to do something flashy right now. It would be the height of stupidity to risk something like that in front of a trigger happy fellow like Magneto. Stone Skin settled in his ability slot, and with it, came a rudimentary understanding of the ability.
It was–well, it was a common ability so it would be wrong to expect it to elevate him to the level of the Thing or someone on that level, but it was decently durable. The increased mass and durability came at a cost, though. His agility and dexterity were both vastly reduced, as was his sense of touch through skin as the stone covered it tightly. On the flip side, it made him mostly immune to smaller firearms. No idea about the big ones, though.
Getting out of his own head, he saw Magneto heading off, with Charles looking at his exiting rival with a bitter and resigned look on his face. Magneto flew off as soon as he reached the end of the ramp, and he held in his amusement as Magneto all but manhandled the two people he brought with him using the metal mass they used to travel at high speeds, their yelps proving their surprise at being suddenly airborne.
Within seconds, the black dot had disappeared from their vision as Wolverine and Storm both came running into the Jet using the ramp. Wolverine's claws receded slowly with that oh so satisfying SNIKT! sound as they looked at Charles for guidance.
Then came the warning again, for the impending curse, with only four and a half hours left. He shuddered to think what the system could do if he blew past the timeline. Would it just choose it for him? Would it turn the one curse into two? Would it just kill him? He had no idea and that suspense was not good for his heart. The excitement from getting a Mythical Ability slightly dimming, he prompted Charles to speak.
"So?" This time, he was not feigning the confidence he was feeling. He was in the big leagues now. A Mythical Ability. He just needed to find someone with awesome energy or energy based powers and become invincible. He already had one in Alcina, but he was wary of taking that vampiric energy. Just then, Scott Summers' ability flashed through his mind, and that kind of sealed his decision.
"Eric…has agreed to hold off on any action until concrete proof can be found. He will also keep Mystique safe. The risk of not doing so is too high. As for you, I implore you to come with us. Abilities of your calibre always draw danger, and no matter how strong your lady friend is, she will not be able to protect you from everyone all the time. I strongly recommend–"
"Okay." He shrugged and cut Charles off, his decision already made based on getting some sweet sweet energy based powers.
"Oh-okay," Charles said, exchanging hesitant glances with Storm as he sat down in one of the chairs attached to the walls and began fastening the many seatbelts in place. He gestured to Alcina to do the same. He could practically feel their suspicion regarding this abrupt change in decision, but he was far too lost in his fantasies of being a walking energy nuke to care.
Within minutes, they were all strapped in and airborne, headed to the so called Mutant Safe Haven.
Hopefully, they reached it before the countdown for the Curse selector ran out. He would hate to be cursed mid air. That would be the most terrible variant of the Mile High Club.