They made their way up the statue, straight into the Torch.
"Logan!" Rogue called out immediately when she saw him. And then her eyes lit up with excitement they landed on Will. "White Knight?!"
Will quickly scanned the surroundings, but only found Magneto and Sabertooth. There was still no sign of Emma Frost and Psylocke.
But, no sooner had the X men entered the structure, various types of metallic objects assaulted them one after another.
Will entered [Mind Boost], agilely dodging and deflecting everything that came his way, but the rest of the X men were trapped after just a few maneuvers, once again completely helpless against Magneto.
A Giant man suddenly jumped at Will but he moved aside, casually hitting him with a dart. Sabertooth went down just like that.
Scott the idiot was still wearing a metal visor. Of course magneto ripped it off. He then fixed him with his head facing Jean, who was also bound.
Logan was trapped with his claws facing his neck, so that he can't pop them out. Storm, who was also bound, tried calling Lightning.
"Go ahead and do it. The entire structure is made out of metal," said Magneto. "Your friends will be the first one to suffer."
Having dealt with the X-men, Magneto stopped, regarding Will with a scrutinizing gaze.
"I have been waiting, White Knight."
"Well, I am honored."
"I have heard from Frost that you might be one of us."
Will shrugged. "That seems to be the case. But where is Frost anyway? I thought she was in on your plan?"
Will didn't deny being a mutant. Magneto is somewhat lighter in his actions when dealing with his own kind. Besides, Will needed to fish for information.
Magneto's eyes blazed with anger at that. "You will know where she is soon. Anyways, her actions no longer have anything to do with me."
"But tell me, White Knight, if you're one of us, then why are you trying to oppose me? I am doing everything for the good of the mutant-kind.
Will shrugged. "Because what you are doing is only making the situation worse for the Mutants. Showing off your dangerous power in public? Endangering innocents and law enforcement authorities? And your latest: Killing everyone at the UN Summit? Yeah, I think mutants are better off without you."
"I am not killing them!"
"Well, you might as well be. Because your machine seems to be faulty. It will only give them a slower, much more excruciating death."
"That's right! Senator Kelly is dead! The machine is flawed" Scott shouted. "Magneto! You need to stop!"
"The machine may be able to induce mutation but it completely destabilizes the structure of the human body!" Jean also tried to explain.
But Magneto just shook his head.
"I don't believe that. Scientifically, the machine is working accurately. Even if Senator Kelly died, it only means he was too weak to be a mutant."
Will sighed.
"You don't care at all, do you?" He asked. "Both outcomes are favourable to you."
"You are correct, White Knight," Magneto admitted. "I have been patient enough. It's them who have invited war, not me. The leaders of this world are utterly weak and incompetent.
"Tell me, why do you work for those people, White Knight? Despite everything you have done, you don't have any power to enforce justice and your legal status is still that of an outlaw."
"Join me, White Knight. These power-hungry politicians and Capitalists cannot stand the idea of sharing power with those who actually deserve it. Starting from tonight, let's purge each and every one of them. Either they become mutants, or they die. What do you say?"
"Knight! Don't listen to him! He's a madman!" Jean shouted.
"He's trying to win you over with sweet words, but there's no one he wouldn't sacrifice for his goals!" Storm also added.
Magneto glanced at them. "So, you want him to reject my kindness and fight me? A demi-god?"
The X men said nothing more after that. After all, they knew how powerful Magneto was. Now that Will no longer had the element of surprise, he really didn't stand a chance.
Will sighed.
"Well, you can be very persuasive," Will said, to which Magneto inclined his head. "Too bad, your plan is completely shoddy. Even if I let you succeed today, you'll only end up getting all mutants killed."
Even if Magneto somehow kills everyone at the UN Summit tonight, he still cannot gain any power. It would only result in a war which the Mutants would eventually lose.
Not to mention, Will was actually one of the so-called Capitalists Magneto was fighting against.
As for the White Knight identity, he could make it legal as well, but it is counterproductive for now. Vigilantes have a higher aura.
"So be it." Magneto just nodded, his expression hardening. "Then be purged with them."
He raised his hands, and his powers were unleashed. Metal railings, support beams, pipes, and even ladders, all changing into sharp weapons, being launched at Will at supersonic speeds.
"No!" The X-men could only watch powerlessly as Will was bombarded with this fatal attack.
The light from Will's glider intensified to an unprecedented degree.
[Mind Boost Intensity: Max]
Will's irises contracted, and suddenly he saw everything and in a blur, sacrificing clarity in order to see everything at once. The interface inside his helmet also provided him with the back view, leaving no blind spot.
His mind did the rest.
The glider set off with a burst and he rapidly wove through projectiles, deflecting the rest using his shield.
Magneto's eyes traced Will with curiosity.
"Interesting. Your whole armor seems to be made out of non-ferrous materials. You also have some kind of tech that is scrambling your electromagnetic signature, making it very difficult to influence your equipment directly. Is this suit, perhaps, made to deal with me specifically?"
Will's answer was a focused laser beam straight to his face, which Magneto blocked with iron materials, and his magnetic shields.
He really was prepared this time.
"While your toy is impressive, it cannot bridge the gap between against a superior existence."
Magneto created a tornado of metals. And if that wasn't enough, he pulled out even more.
Magneto created a storm of metal particles. He ripped out more and more metal from the walls and the ground, making it almost impossible for Will to avoid it all.
Will set his gauntlet on fibernet mode again and went wild with it, spreading adhesive nets everywhere.
At the same time, he tried to avoid the projectiles as much as he could, but those which he couldn't dodge impacted his shield or armor, creating some damage.
'When will I get Vibranium?!'
At this moment, one of the many thoughts running parallely in his mind was this.
But Vibranium is not something that you can just buy with money.
At least in this version of marvel. Wakanda has a very strict supervision on it, and it's not even available on the black market.
After getting hit for a few seconds, Will had spread out enough net throughout the place to slow down the bombardment temporarily.
! Overload
! Overload
! Overload
The impact Will had absorbed in this small window of time had been converted into physical energy, which was in-turn converted into Bioelectricity to power the armor.
And the metal barrage was so intense and the charging had reached the max level.
Laser mode.
Will's suit started to glow with dazzling green light as the power was slowly transferred to his launchers.
And then, he spun in a circle, laser beams from shooting from his launchers and Glider, cutting through the Metal, and even the walls.
Will then concentrated all of it on Magneto's face.
Magneto didn't see that coming. He pulled up the metal in front of him but it only managed to slow down the lasers' descent. Then the laser passed through his Magnetic shield, causing it to be refracted and weakened.
It finally hit him in the chest, launching him across the room, bumping into his own metals along the way.
[Aura ++++]
The X men, who had been moved away from the scene by Magneto, were completely stunned upon seeing this scene.
The White Knight was showing them how it was done.
"Knight! You did it!" Jean cheered.
But Will was still under hyperfocus. Because he knew it was far from over. Lasers had been weakened by Magneto's defenses and he was also wearing a metal armor, which managed to save his life.
He tried to follow Magneto to finish the job, but more metal covered the mutant's body, now even covering his face, only leaving enough space for his eyes to peer through.
The defensive forcefields around him had also been further fortified.
"That was an admirable effort. You almost had me again, had it not been for my extra precautions. And it was even a fair battle this time. Unfortunately, the games end here."
All the metals rose back from the ground and formed a cage around Will, which started to shrink rapidly.
The vibration blade popped out of his gauntlet as Will accelerated forward in order to break through, but he felt an invisible force pressing down on him, constricting his movements.
It was the forcefield created by Magneto.
'How I'm supposed to fight this?' thought Will, a sense of absurdity washing over him.
He had already given his all with that as far as fair head on combat is concerned.
"The fight ends here." Magneto declared, slowly closing his fist.
"Not yet."
Will activated two grenades. When they burst, the space seemed to warp as a loud noise was created. Instantly, the magnetic field holding him was destabilized for a brief moment.
Taking this opportunity, Will swung his sword and burst out of the cage.
"What?!" Magneto was completely blindsided by the new tech as he felt the magnetic field destabilize. Of course he couldn't understand. These were the Magnetic Flux Scrambler Will has designed after spending a lot of brain cells.
Magneto reads and controls flux lines with exquisite precision.
The Scrambler injects rapidly rotating, broadband magnetic fields so that his gradients go noisy, making it difficult for him to maintain control..
Throwing two grenades in opposite directions further increases the effect by creating interference shells, making the overlap zone extra messy.
Tony has also used something similar in comics.
Now free, Will headed straight for Magneto, throwing more Flux Scramblers. Into the destabilized field, he threw other types of grenades, by-passing Magneto's defenses.
At the same time, the third launcher on his Gauntlet and Glider were activated: Parametric Sonic Lance.
Sonic beams were launched at Magneto, disorienting him and causing him to clutch his head in discomfort.
Along with laser beams, sound was yet another force Magneto's was vulnerable to.
The flash grenades exploded, creating a burst of light that blinded him and then the explosive grenades exploded, rocking the whole place.
Finally, Will fired his lasers at full power in order to finish the job.
He slowly lowered his glider, his battery running a bit low after the crazy output.
But When the light from the grenade finally dimmed, he saw a cocoon of metal.
The metal slowly shifted, revealing Magneto, who was breathing heavily.
"Damn...."
Will sighed. The fucker still managed to get defend.
Will really couldn't be blamed at this point.
In the first place, he was just starting out on his path to power. A final boss like magneto was too much for him to handle with his current means.
But still, he had done whatever he could.
Unfortunately, the flux scramblers were not powerful enough to completely break through Magneto's defenses.
If he had more time to prepare, he might have come up with more effective options.
Magneto looked utterly pissed right now, and his condition was not good.
"You... might be the single most annoying enemy I have had. But your little tricks are utterly futile in front of someone who has ascended beyond human limits. Your farce ends here."
Magneto raised his hand, no doubt executing an even more powerful attack from his endless arsenal.
But, he suddenly staggered, falling to one knee, putting one hand on his head.
"What...? What is happening?"
Will grinned.
"Well, your powers might have reached the realm of the gods. But your body is still completely mortal. It's vulnerable to neurotoxins."
"Neurotoxins…? But how—?"
Magneto suddenly looked at the slightly translucent gas that had spread around him and realized.
"Those grenades... you were only trying to distract me."
Yep, some of the grenades Will had thrown had fast acting poison in them, designed to take down Magneto.
It's just that Magneto is just too damn cautious. If he had anticipated it, or if he wasn't kept busy with other attacks, he would have swept away all the air, filter out the toxins out.
Even at this moment, Will was on guard in case Magneto made one final effort.
But, the danger came from somewhere else.
"Watch out!"
Will suddenly felt a huge impact on his side, sending him sprawling right through the opening.
He ended up outside the Torch, still reeling from the impact. Hearing a rumbling sound, he looked up at the sky just as a bolt of lightning struck him.
Will tried putting up his shield but an invisible force pushed his shield down at the last moment, making the bolt hit squarely in the shoulder.
What in the—?
Will's suit was made out of completely non-ferrous materials so he wasn't hurt much. But because his suit was non conductive, it also couldn't escape the damage.
His Glider started to malfunction and he had to force it towards the viewing deck with one last boost. He managed to catch the edge and hoisted himself up with the Physical boost of the lightning strike and detached his feet from the Glider.
"Look out!" Jean's warning came just in time for Will to roll as adamantium claws pierced the place where he was lying moments before.
"What the fuck?! Do you guys have no mental resistance at all?" He shouted and Wolverine dived at him again, claws extended.
Will tried to take out his vibrating blade but found that it was stuck. He ducked to the side and hit Logan in the ribs with all of this physical boost.
Even though the Wolverine was sent to reel back, those adamantium bones only made Will's hands throb.
He had to dive to the side as the red laser whizzed past him. He started running in random patterns, Scott's optic blasts chasing him.
Logan also joined in, chasing after him like a hungry wolf. A tornado was created around Will, lifting up dust and debris which hit him and also obstructed his vision.
Another optic blast managed to hit him, this one containing even more power and Will cursed Scott with all of his heart.
Fortunately, Will's webs were still working.
He hit one at Jean who was trying to mess with his movement, covering her eyes. And then stuck another one on a nearby metal block and swung it on Cyclops, whose annoying blasts were bothering him too much.
"Just how?!"
Will knew what was happening: Emma Frost. He just couldn't understand how. Emma Frost did have telepathic abilities but they weren't supposed to be this strong.
She was able to control all X men at once so easily. In fact, they were fighting much better under her control.
"Frost! Where are you? Let's talk this out, alright?"
Will decided things were not going to work like this. Even if he managed to subdue everyone here, it still wouldn't be called a win.
"White Knight… you impress me more and more every second," said Storm. Her voice had taken on an entirely new tone as she rose into the air, body poised with effortless allure—one hand resting on her waist, hips tilted in a graceful, enticing curve.
It was obvious that the person speaking to him through Storm was Emma Frost.
"Magneto, the Brotherhood, and even the X men… nothing seems to be able to stop you. I'm so glad to have escaped in time..."
"Wait, so you're not here?" Asked Will. Telepathy has a certain range which cannot be crossed. Unless…
Jean was struggling visibly, the veins on her temple becoming visible. "Knight… you need to run. She… has the Cerebro."
Storm, or rather, Emma Frost smiled.
"That's right. Why would I be there? Don't tell me you thought I would support someone as stupid as Magneto!"
"So, Magneto was just a distraction. You were aiming for Cerebro all along."
"Bingo! You get a kiss as a reward," she said, blowing him a flying kiss.
"Everything went according to my plan. But I still have to thank you. Taking over Cerebro took much longer than I thought, so I suppose without your help, Magneto would have probably turned half the world leaders into organic matter by now. It would have severely affected my plans."
"Oh, and what are your plans?"
"They're not so much plans as a straightforward set of obvious steps. Planting mutant friendly thoughts in all world leaders, stealing tech and military resources, becoming the richest and most powerful individual in the world etc. I'll also expand Xavier's School, teach my students how to actually defend themselves, rather than these X men who can't even handle a puny Toad."
"In short, there's nothing deranged like Magneto. So, what do you say, Harry? Are you willing to be my Knight?"
This was the second time Will was asked this question.
"Just say yes. I can give you both Storm and Jean as a reward. In fact, you can get any woman you want. You'll also have endless power and wealth. We could rule the world together."
"Harry…" Jean, who still had some autonomy, tried to speak, looking at him with pleading eyes. "Don't… listen to her. Please…"
Will's answer was, of course, a giant NO. Just because Emma Frost is more rational than Magneto doesn't make her trustworthy. If Will followed her, when she has the Cerebro, he might be eaten alive.
He doesn't really hate the idea of working with someone like Emma, but not when she has the Cerebro.
Magneto had already been taken down. The reason the mission was still not complete was because Emma Frost with the power of Cerebro was also extremely dangerous and unstable.
"Make your decision fast. I am busy manipulating the minds of the World Leaders right now."
Will sighed. "You know, you had better chances of winning if you had been here just now. But you just had to choose this option."
"Does it matter? I still won, did I not? And I have Cerebro now."
"Wait, who said you've won?"
Cerebro going ballistic? Hadn't Will seen that coming a mile ago? There are plenty of cases of it happening in movies and comics.
The X men who had been still until started to struggle, as if regaining control.
Storm groaned, or was it Emma.
And then, the control was gone, just like that.
The X men were back, moving their hands and feet in bewilderment, suddenly being able to control them again.
"Knight! What happened?"
Will shrugged. "Maybe she also couldn't handle the machine's burden."
This was Will's countermeasure against Cerebro. When he first saw the mind enhancing machine, it was when Xavier had fallen unconscious. While everyone was checking on Xavier's condition, he had indeed been snooping around, as Scott had put it.
He was installing a neurotoxin grenade below the platform, ready to be detonated in case Cerebro's controller went ballistic.
That's why he had to confirm with Jean how she felt while controlling Cerebro, and whether she could feel the objects in her surroundings, mainly a certain toxic grenade right beneath her.
It's just that, he never thought he would have to use it so soon.
[Mission Completed]
And with that, the most difficult mission he had encountered till now had been completed.
....
A.N.:
3354 word chapter 🗿
You might have noticed that I have started focusing on quality rather than larger updates, which has affected the PowerStone rankings. So, If you are liking it so far please vote whenever you have those aura stones lying around.