[A/N]: Super long Chapters, let me know what you guys think
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Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters
The morning had started peacefully enough at Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters with sunlight streaming through tall windows while birds sang in the gardens and students laughed in distant classrooms, creating the kind of peace Charles Xavier had built his life around protecting.
Logan stood in Charles Xavier's office with arms crossed, watching as Xavier and Trinary finalized the last details of their part in the HYDRA strike plan.
Trinary, a young Indian woman with dark hair pulled back in a practical ponytail, sat at a specialized computer terminal that Hank had personally designed for her, and her fingers hovered over the keyboard not quite touching it as she didn't need to, her technopathy letting her interface directly with any electronic system in her eyesight through thought alone.
"All their communications are being routed through proxy servers I've established," Trinary said, her accent carrying traces of Mumbai. Her eyes had that distant look of someone perceiving digital space. "Zola's consciousness won't detect anything unusual. As far as he knows, SHIELD's systems are operating normally. Nothing to indicate the raid is happening."
Xavier nodded with his hands steepled in front of him. "Excellent work. Director Fury's teams will have the advantage they need. How long can you maintain the deception?"
"Hours, if necessary. My connection to the global network is stable, and I've created enough false data trails that even if Zola suspects something, he'll waste time chasing ghosts." Trinary's expression carried quiet pride. She'd been specifically brought from India for this operation, one of Xavier's former students whose unique abilities made her irreplaceable for this kind of work, and she wanted to prove herself worthy of the trust he'd put in her.
Logan shifted as his enhanced hearing picked up something outside where the gates were opening, but he hadn't heard any vehicle approach, which meant...
The doors to the mansion burst open with dramatic force.
Magneto floated through with his cape billowing despite the lack of wind, the Master of Magnetism himself announcing his presence with all the subtlety of a freight train, and his expression carried righteous indignation as he descended into the hallway with boots touching down in deliberate slowness.
"Charles!" Magneto's voice boomed through the corridor. "I've been hearing about a plan to scrub HYDRA, those Nazi scum, from the face of the earth? And I find out from Mystique rather than you, my friend?"
Logan's claws itched to come out as he didn't appreciate intrusions in the school where his students were supposed to be safe and peaceful, and his growl was low and dangerous. "Erik. You got some nerve bustin' in here like you own the place."
Trinary, who had only heard stories about Magneto, the terrorist, the revolutionary, the mutant messiah, felt her heart racing, and seeing him in person was different with the sheer presence, the power radiating from him, the way metal objects throughout the hallway trembled slightly in response to his emotional state.
She composed herself as Xavier's hand settled reassuringly on her shoulder.
Xavier sighed, the sound carrying years of dealing with his theatrical entrances. "Eric, old friend, did you really need to frighten young Trinary here? As for the raid, it was a SHIELD exclusive plan. Only a few X-Men were briefed. I'm surprised Mystique got wind of it at all. Where did she even hear about this?"
He gestured for Magneto to come further into the office, away from the students who were starting to peek out of classrooms. "And as for your anger, I'm not sure Director Fury would appreciate an uninvited guest in his carefully planned operation. This has been months in the making. One wrong move could compromise everything or worse, get the few loyal SHIELD agents killed."
Magneto floated higher with his eyes flashing blue as metallic objects throughout the hallway began to shake, picture frames rattling against walls while steel reinforcement bars in the concrete groaned and even the metal in Logan's skeleton resonated uncomfortably.
"Charles, you're telling me someone is hunting Nazis and you want me to stay out of it?" Magneto's voice rose. "Do you even hear yourself? These are the people who murdered my mother! Who turned my childhood into a nightmare! Who experimented on my people like we were animals! Who tattooed numbers on our arms and sorted us like cattle! And you expect me to just sit quietly while others handle it?"
The argument escalated as Logan tried to maintain peace, but the two old friends were locked in their familiar dance with Charles advocating for careful planning and coordination while Erik demanded immediate, overwhelming action.
Back and forth, round and round, the same argument they'd been having for forty years.
Finally Logan, frustrated and tired of their bickering, mindlessly blurted out, "Ever so eager to hunt Nazis? Just go crush that damn sub."
The words hung in the air.
Logan's eyes widened as he realized what he'd just said, his hand shooting up to cover his mouth, but the damage was done.
Xavier's expression shifted from exasperation to genuine anger. "Logan, I didn't expect you, of all my students, to be so loose-mouthed. You know better, and you've been in this game longer than most."
But before Xavier could continue his reprimand, Magneto's attention snapped to Logan like a predator sensing prey. "What is he talking about? What submarine?"
Xavier closed his eyes, pinching the bridge of his nose as the headache building behind his temples promised to be spectacular, and he could read Logan's immediate regret in his surface thoughts, but the secret was out now.
"You remember last time you were here?" Xavier said carefully, resignation in his voice. "When Jay visited and told us about both Sinister and Sublime?"
Magneto nodded slowly, his anger momentarily replaced by curiosity.
"Just before the invasion, we received intelligence from Jay. All of Sinister's plans and laboratories. All seven of them across the world." Xavier stood, moving to a wall panel that slid aside to reveal a tactical display. "That's why only three X-Men were present during the invasion. The rest were conducting coordinated strikes against Sinister's facilities."
The display showed locations across the globe.
"We eliminated all his clones and contingencies, or so we thought." Xavier continued. "But we weren't entirely successful. Sinister's psychic imprint remained. It turns out he was part of a group, working with Sublime, Whitehall from HYDRA, and some Madame Gao from the Hand."
Magneto's expression darkened with each word as his hands clenched.
"Thanks to Trinary's efforts, we finally located them. They're holed up in a submarine somewhere in the Arctic Ocean, regrouping and planning. We were going to strike when HYDRA was in chaos, when they were distracted and vulnerable."
Magneto's face went through several expressions with disbelief, then anger and finally betrayal, and his voice dropped dangerously. "You hunted Sinister? The man who's been experimenting on our kind since before we were born? You found the bacteria Sublime that's been our kind's worst enemy? And you were planning to leave me out of it? Again?"
The metal throughout the mansion screamed as windows cracked from the magnetic pressure while students in distant classrooms felt the disturbance.
Xavier stood his ground with his own frustration finally breaking through. "And what about you and your Genosha plan? Don't think I don't know about your Mutant Kingdom scheme! When were you going to inform me of that? Or were you just going to present it as fait accompli and expect my blessing?"
Another round of bickering started as Logan and Trinary exchanged glances, and this was going nowhere fast.
Logan finally threw his hands up. "We don't got time for this. The raid's startin' soon. Chuck, just tell him where the damn sub is so we can all move on."
Trinary nodded quickly with her nervousness about being caught between two legendary mutants overriding her usual respect for her former teacher.
Xavier saw the logic in their exhaustion as this argument could continue for hours, and they had more pressing concerns.
"Fine." Xavier's voice carried the weight of giving in against his better judgment. "You'll be informed of the submarine's location. But remember, Eric, don't just crush the sub. We need them alive. We need their plans, their victims need justice, and we need to understand the full scope of their operations."
Magneto nodded, but Xavier caught the gleam in his eye, the look that said Erik would do exactly what he thought was necessary, regardless of what was asked.
"Very well, old friend. My Brotherhood will lead the charge. Then your X-Men can follow and handle the cleanup." The satisfaction in Magneto's voice was evident.
Xavier nodded reluctantly as a feeling of unease settled in his chest, and something about this felt wrong as he'd learned to trust his instincts over the decades, and right now every instinct was telling caution.
But the decision was made.
The moment Director Fury's voice came through the comms with "All teams, you are go. Execute. Execute. Execute," everything started moving.
Trinary, monitoring the raid's progress through her technopathic connection, gave Xavier the signal, and he immediately sent a telepathic message to Magneto.
'Eric, old friend, it's time. Remember, be cautious. We don't know what they might have in their arsenal.'
Magneto's mental response carried amusement. 'You worry too much, Charles. They are prey already trapped in their metal cage, waiting for me to send them to their demise with a single motion.'
Xavier sighed, sending one more message. 'Again, Eric, don't go all out. We need them alive. And please, teleport directly into the submarine, not onto it.'
Magneto stood in his mansion, home to the Brotherhood of Mutants, as Astra appeared beside him in a flash of light, her teleportation powers bringing her from wherever she'd been waiting.
"It's time," Magneto said simply.
The Brotherhood assembled quickly as years of working together meant they needed no long speeches or preparations.
Magneto himself, Master of Magnetism with his helmet polished to a mirror shine.
Mystique with her blue skin and red hair marking her as distinctly non-human, her shape-shifting abilities making her one of the most dangerous infiltrators alive.
Blob with his massive frame filling the doorway, nearly invulnerable and immovable when he chose to be.
Pyro, flicking his lighter open and closed with the flame dancing between his fingers.
Avalanche, cracking his knuckles and ready to shake the world itself.
Toad, bouncing on the balls of his feet with his tongue flicking out unconsciously.
Boom-Boom, playing with small energy spheres between her hands.
Exodus with his expression serene and fanatical, one of Magneto's most devoted followers.
And Astra herself, ready to transport them all.
Magneto looked at his assembled team, and this lineup could take down a small nation if properly motivated, but for a submarine full of human supremacists it seemed like overkill.
But then they were going after Sinister, a man who'd tortured and experimented on mutants for over a century, who'd created horrors that still gave even Magneto nightmares, Whitehall who represented everything the Nazis had stood for, and Sublime, the sentient bacteria that had plagued mutant-kind since before recorded history.
No, this wasn't overkill. This was justice.
"Astra, you have the coordinates?"
She nodded with her eyes glowing as she accessed the mental image Xavier had provided.
"Then take us there. And remember, all of you. We're here to end this threat permanently. Show no mercy to those who've shown none to our kind. These people experiment on children, they torture, they kill. They believe we're animals. Let's show them what animals can do when cornered."
The Brotherhood members nodded with their expressions hardening.
Astra's power flared as reality folded around them, and they vanished.
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