He didn't understand how things could have gone so wrong so fast.
Speeding through the deserted streets of the capital, Quicksilver cursed himself for not seeing the obvious trap, for not dealing with the X-Men quicker, for not pointing out his suspicions to Magneto- No! No, this was no time to begin doubting Lord Magneto. They'd both been fooled, hadn't they? They'd both gone out to investigate, and left the rest of the Brotherhood unguarded. Lord Magneto was a great man, but even great men can make mistakes. They could still salvage this.
They had to.
He'd abandoned the useles radio by the side of the road, the worthless device recieving nothing but static when he tried to reach the palace. His mind raced, wondering what could have gone so wrong in the minutes they'd been away. Mastermind's illusions were gone, the streets completely deserted, aside from a few of the real mercenaries lying unconscious and beaten on the ground. He'd paused for a few seconds to try and raise one of them, but the man had been dead to the world, a massive bruise blooming across his face where he'd been struck by some sort of large, flat object. He didn't bother wasting time with any of the others, tossing the man aside and resuming his track toward the palace, and Wanda...
Wanda. What could have happened to her? She'd never have stood by and let this happen, she'd been the one left to guard Mastermind. Well, her and Toad, but the miserable, misshapen man barely counted as a mutant, much less as a soldier. But Wanda, her powers alone should have been enough, so why hadn't they been? If the Avengers had done something to her... well, they wouldn't need to worry about Lord Magneto, because they'd all be dead long before he made it back to the city.
If he hadn't been so focused on his worries, he might have heard the flutter of wings overhead before it was too late.
Something suddenly slammed into him from behind, knocking Pietro off his feet, and sending him bouncing into the sidewalk. Stunned, he shook his head, trying to clear the blur from his vision. Above him, a vaguely human shape came into view, with the surprise addition of a large pair of feathered wings. The blue and yellow costume was as familiar as it was unwelcome.
"Another X-Man. Of course, you miserable brats have been nothing but a pain since I got here!"
"Excuse me, rude!" A feminine voice came from out of nowhere "I'll have you know Angel here is a perfect gentleman!"
Quicksilver blinked, trying to find the source of the voice, and his eyes finally caught on to a tiny dot buzzing around the Angel. Suddenly, it began to grow, revealing a woman with short, brown hair and a pair of insect-like wings on her back. He recognized her, remembering the photos he'd seen of the Avengers in the newspapers.
"Wasp. Magneto was right, you X-Men really are traitors to mutantkind! Look at yourself, debasing yourselves with this... human tramp to fight your own kind!" Pietro spat in disgust, bolting back to his feet in a blur of speed. "You're lucky I have somewhere to be or I'd- ARRGH!!" He clutched his face, his cheek suddenly throbbing with pain. Looking back, he saw the Wasp pointing her open hand at him, her palm crackling with energy.
"Okay, I wasn't crazy about you before, what with the whole mutant fascist schtick, but that tramp remark? You just went and made the fight personal, Speedy."
...
Wanda desperatly wished Pietro was there.
It had always been just the two of them. While their adoptive family had cared for them well enough, they'd never really fit in amongst the Romani, they'd never been able to shed their identities as outsiders, foundlings. It had always been just the two of them, especially during their darkest days when the villagers had turned on them, forcing them into a life as wanderers and exiles in their own country. A life spent as drifters and then that fateful accident that had nearly cost them their lives...
Something had changed in Pietro that day, perhaps it was one hardship too many, but it had twisted him, making him bitter and angry, far more than he had already been. When Magneto came for them, he'd been granted an all-too willing acolyte in her brother, someone who wanted to hurt the world back for all it had done to them. And Wanda had followed, because he was her brother, and he was all she had left in the world.
She wished for him to be with her again, the way it used to be, before. She felt trapped, by her own choices, and by her brothers obsession with a dream she had doubts about from the start, and having to choose sides in a war she didn't want to be a part of at all. The metal inside the palace walls groaned under the sudden stress of the magnetic fields bearing down on them. Magneto was coming, and his fury was a terror to behold.
Captain America stepped in front of the three metahumans who had followed him into the palace, his shield at the ready. Even with her isolated upbringing, it was a familiar sight, one she remembered from old propaganda posters and film reels, the same man she knew had fought against the Nazi jackboot that had once plagued Europe. And now, she was his enemy.
What did that say about her? About any of them?
Then, the windows shattered as the metal frames holding them warped into scrap, and a caped figure landed on the balcony. And there was no more time for doubt.
...
You know, ever since I came to this world, I've seen some... I suppose "scary shit" would be the best description. Shapeshifting aliens. Angry Hulks. A literal fucking fear demon pumping fear magic into my brain. And I still honestly never thought that I'd see anything more horrifying than the aftermath of the Masters of Evil attack in Dallas.
But Magneto at his angriest? Truly furious? It makes everything else I've seen so far look like a goddamn stroll through the park.
The air seems to shimmer around him somehow, everything metallic in the building responding to the magnetic fields warping around him in his rage, his eyes seem to glow in the shadows of his helmet. I notice that even Cap has to keep a firm hold on his shield, his hand tightening his grasp on the straps. And this is just what Magneto is doing UNCONSCIOUSLY, the fight hasn't even started yet.
Hah, man, this isn't going to be pleasant.
Magneto strides through the balcony door, his cape billowing behind him, his hands clenching as he draws on his powers. "You... Do you have any idea what you've done..?" Despite the anger in his expression, his voice is strangely flat and calm. Which almost certainly means he's even angrier than it appears. "Do you think you've won? Is that it? That by removing this one pawn, you have stopped me? You have won NOTHING!"
Cap steps forward, shield raised despite it's uselessness against this particular enemy "Your coup is over, Magneto. Without your false army, there's no way for you to impose your will on these people, no matter how powerful you are. You're not going to win this either."
"Ah, Captain America..." For a moment, Magneto's voice actually seems to soften a bit, but it's over just as quickly "How... unfortunate that you'd be the one to try and oppose me. I would have hoped, with all you witnessed when you helped liberate the camps in Europe, that you if anyone would appreciate what I'm trying to do here!"
Really? He's seriously going to try this? "This ought to be good..."
Hearing my voice, Magneto glares towards me "And YOU! Mr. Sunshine, the GOOD mutant..." He says with a tone like he'd just had to scrape something gross from the bottom of a trash can "The good, submissive mutant who knows his place, who kowtows to his opressor, the unthreatening collaborator" he spits out "To have Xaviers brats oppose me was... frustrating, but they are children, not knowing any better than the platitudes Charles has fed them, but YOU! You, a grown man, who refused a place at my side, who spat on my generous offer, you are the lowest of the low! And you will pay for your transgressions against our kind like the traitor that you are!"
"Okay, first of all, ouch, and second, seriously? Do you even hear yourself talk or does that stupid helmet just block off everything except whatever crazy shit you hear in your head? I didn't turn you down for a prom date, you lunatic, I just didn't agree with your fucking genocide agenda!"
"You miserable-"
"ENOUGH!!" Cap yells out, and even Magneto seems to be stunned at the fury in his voice "How dare you? HOW DARE YOU?! You actually think that what you have done here, the sheer monstrousness of what you were trying to do, is anything, ANYTHING like what I fought for during the war?! My god man, the sheer delusion, no, the sheer ARROGANCE..." Steve takes a deep breath, and when he resumes speaking, his voice is back to it's usual stoic tone "Magneto, I don't know much about you, I don't know where you came from, or why you embarked on this... madness of yours. And I don't care either. Because whatever it is you tell yourself to let yourself sleep at night, let me just tell you right now that you are lying to yourself. You're not the future of humanity, any more than anyone else is. You're just another petty, would-be dictator who thinks dressing up his sadism and bloodthirst with pretty words makes him into a great man instead of a rabid monster!"
The entire room falls silent at his words. Magneto's face switches between red and pale in a way I don't think I've ever seen before, like he can't make up his mind wether to be furious or shocked. But then...
"You know, it's too bad you never got a chance to meet Zemo, I think you'd have more in common with him than you'd expect..."
There's a noise I've never heard before, what I only realize is the sound of stone being torn apart when the entire front wall of the palace explodes outwards, sending a rain of stone and glass onto the streets below as the metal parts inside the walls suddenly tear their way out, the entire building beginning to shake as it's foundations groan and shudder, the roof cracking as pieces of stone and plaster falls down on us. Next to me, I hear Jean scream as Cyclops drapes his arm over her, trying to protect her with his body, but it's barely even audible over the enraged howl coming from Magneto. Every metal object in the room comes flying towards him, forming a ring of debris around him as they're caught in his magnetic field. Cap's arm jerks suddenly, as even his shield is drawn by the force, tearing loose from it's leather straps and joins the other metals around Magneto.
"YOU DARE CALL ME A MONSTER, CAPTAIN?! ALLOW ME TO INDULGE YOU!! YOU WILL SHARE THE FATE OF ALL WHO MAKE AN ENEMY OF MAGNETO, THE MASTER OF MAGNETISM!!"
The shield freezes in place, hovering in the air for a moment. Then, with a push of magnetic force, it's sent flying again, right back towards it's owners head.468