cherry valley forever
Monterey Bay Aquarium
occasionally subtle
祝日 / Permanent Vacation
trying on a metaphor
PR's Tumblrdome
roma★
YOU ARE THE REASON
todays bird
Keni
ellievsbear
noise dept.
Alisa U Zemlji Chuda
dirt enthusiast
Product Placement
PUT YOUR BEARD IN MY MOUTH
Stranger Things
Game of Thrones Daily
will byers stan first human second
2025 on Tumblr: Trends That Defined the Year
seen from Japan
seen from United States
seen from Türkiye
seen from United States
seen from Germany
seen from United States
seen from United States
seen from United Kingdom
seen from United States
seen from United States
seen from Germany
seen from United Kingdom
seen from Belarus
seen from United States
seen from Italy
seen from Argentina
seen from United States
seen from Brazil
seen from Brazil
seen from United States
@eisen-hardt
Hello! This is a roleplay blog for 616 Magneto, more or less, and timeline-wise will probably be post-Krakoan Age Magneto. (I like Arakko, though, so might do a bit with that). I'm chill with interacting across a broad spectrum of roleplay blogs, though I ask that oc relatives and partners be screened by me first. Thanks!
Call me A (they/them), 18+. I just think the X-Men are pretty neat.
Haven’t been to a gala since Krakoa.
"You're welcome to come to this one, Mr. Summers."
Wonderful. I’ll find a suit that hasn’t been caught in an ambush.
Far be it from me to leave the peaceable mutants for the talking. Perhaps I shall find something in tasteful burgundy.
I’m glad I’ll be in good company.
Indeed. Here is to hoping this goes better than the last gala I attended.
Haven’t been to a gala since Krakoa.
"You're welcome to come to this one, Mr. Summers."
Wonderful. I’ll find a suit that hasn’t been caught in an ambush.
Far be it from me to leave the peaceable mutants for the talking. Perhaps I shall find something in tasteful burgundy.
Jayden finds herself on the rooftops again tonight.
It's better than being alone in the hideout, she's decided. It's too quiet there.
Ironic. Her mother was able to live and raise her alone for years, and Jayden can barely go a week without approaching one of those idiots at the mansion. Be it to rile them up or in the Cajun's case- go looking for baddies for some light fun.
"...What's a scrappy fish to do?" She ponders, moving from her crouching position to sitting down completely on the rooftops ledge.
"If I hit anyone else with a bat tonight someone's gonna start noticing a damn pattern..."
The blood on his gauntlets lifts off with a small gesture as Magneto considers the body on the ground in front of him, his calling for the town done. A death well-made, but not quite enough pain to whet his appetites.
It is never quite enough to pay. He flies from the collapsing building, mind already dwelling on the information he had learned. More people to kill, more blood to spill. Always more. Cameras automatically turn away from him, and humans rarely look up.
He hangs in the air for a moment, caught in the Earth's magnetic field, and breathes. Stretches his metal-sense throughout the city, eyes open but unseeing. Tugs himself smoothly along the lines of that field, anchoring the faint biomagnetic field of his body to the rest of the world.
And then he spies a figure sitting on one of the roofs. The silhouette is one he had met not too long ago, and a quick dip down from the skyline confirms it.
"Scylla." Magneto stands in the air roughly eye-level, his cloak dramatically carried by the wind of the streets underneath.
The response from Scylla is almost automatic, her fins flaring up akin to some animal raising its hackles. She's on her feet in seconds with her wooden bat tight in her grip.
Then, her more rational thoughts catch up with her body.
When she realizes who it is, her jaw tightens. Nonetheless, she forces herself to appear calm: purposely slacking her shoulders and snapping her fins flat.
Her yellow eyes, bright against the colder hues of the night, are still narrowed into small slits. Nothing she can do about that.
"Magneto."
It's the same general tone of indifference she held when they last met. The same air of caution as well.
Useless as it is, Scylla's already considering her chances if she takes the ledge down for a quick escape. It was a personal comfort, she figured.
Because if things went sour, no speed and squeezing through small gaps in buildings would help her here.
"I didn't take this part of town would be worth rummaging about in for you."
He tells himself that it does not sting lightly when he sees himself reflected in others' eyes as a person who hurts. Tells himself it is not a little gratifying to see that he could cause fear. Is one to be feared. In lieu of safety, Magneto decides that will do.
At the flat statement of his name he inclines his head, an acknowledgment of his identity. Quite possibly more his name than anything else he had claimed in the past. Magneto makes no other move, trying at least to not project as much menace as last time.
Conviction drives him. On occasion, he slows down to notice. And right now, the young mutant looks almost... hunted. Aside from a few brief moments in time when everyone felt safe, Magneto does not recall that expression ever leaving many of the mutants he had known throughout his long, long life.
"I have been worth very little, indeed," he says, heaviness seeped within the levity. "Every part is worth something."
That response didn't give Jayden the read on him that she wanted. It made sense. She could begrudgingly admit that. Neither of them seemed really in the business of telling the other what they were up to.
But oh, she loathed how impossible he was to read. It kept her on edge.
She'd likely have to be blunt, she realized. Not too much: She wasn't trying to piss him off.
"...Ah. Did you have any particular reason to come up here, then?" Well, it was 'up' to Jayden. She didn't consider that the older mutant had descended from much higher over the city. Not that she could envision being up there.
"I'm minding my business," She added. "No making trouble in this part of town tonight."
Because I can't risk it.
She tried to shift her body language again: slacking her grip on her bat and keeping it to one hand. Truthfully, it was frustrating; she much preferred being able to send someone running with the right look.
That usually only worked when humans peered in from the darkness.
But Magneto was effectively the 'bigger fish' here. That wouldn't work- none of her usual go-tos would.
Playing uneasy acquaintance would have to suffice.
Magneto looks to the distance, then beckons with a single finger at something only he can see. Far away, a bending support beam that had been out of sight for decades snaps- and, not thirty seconds later, a small quiver in the roofing tiles. The sound comes later, mostly buried under the noise of evening traffic. A building hitting the ground.
"Not in particular for this roof, no." He considers- and immediately discards- mentioning that maybe he just feels a bit lonely sometimes. "It is a little late not to make trouble, though police forces should be directed... elsewhere in town."
His own situation is a unique privilege, he knows. With enough power to take down close anything that can be thrown at him. A place where he will not quite be judged for what he is. He can live with the Sapiens for close as long as he wants without them being able to successfully kill him.
But there are some things that, however long he has raged, he cannot quite fix.
"You will be safe." The words don't quite turn to ashes in his mouth, but he remembers all of the people he had tried- and failed- to protect with that very same promise. "For tonight, at least."
"For tonight." She agreed.
The large fins that were in place of her ears twitched, detecting the crumbling sound through everything else. Along with the faint vibrations in sent through the city with every thud, thud, THUD! of debris.
The screaming also, when that started up.
Years in the ocean did that, becoming so sensitive to even the smallest of frequencies had often meant life or death. Though she supposed the same could be said on the surface as well.
Jayden was someone who didn't have the privilege of blending in. From the bright eyes, to the gills on her sides and scales that patched her body. She had no hiding that she was a mutant at all.
"... distracted or not, I'm better off packing up while their heads are turned." She sighed, bringing up a hand to rub at her face. The scrappy runaway had visible bags under her eyes.
Managing without any of the people she'd called friends was... tiring.
Being alone was tiring. But much like the one in front of her, she wouldn't admit it.
"Get out of this city and make base somewhere else before stories of a 'shark lady' hit newspapers." That was the frustrating thing about going after bigots, wasn't it?
No matter where she went, she was always made out to be some shark kid, swamp monster, lake beast. The siren with glowing eyes that haunted the night.
It was better to capitalize on being a sea monster when you wanted to be left alone, at least.
Regardless, it was always better to leave before they could figure anything else out about her. Damn humanity and their pattern recognition.
"So... Thanks for the distraction, I suppose... for whatever reason you made one."
She rested her bat across her shoulders, and the relative silence (minus the background of the city) was cut through with a quiet swish! As water gathered behind her to form a finned tail for balance.
She assumed that meant they were done, glancing over at the next ledge she could hop up to and looking back at the older mutant.
"...Anything else before I take off, then?"
Magneto remembers how to fight. He also remembers how to be very, very still while someone is making a decision. Just because he wants to help doesn't mean his is welcome. Mulls it over, briefly, the memory of hurt dripping down into everything he sees.
"I can supply travel out of town," he says, as an offering. He could; it is trivial to fly another, with his powers. "You would not owe me anything for it, but I understand any hesitance, regardless."
It is rare that he gets to offer help to anyone, and rarer still that it does not come back in horrible nightmares of violence and death. But once in a while, he still tries. A little bit of idealism in the soul, either a holdover from almost a century ago or things seeping through from those he knows.
Max considers the tail, quietly, as the younger mutant moves to leave. It's incredible. He loves seeing rarer mutations, things visible that almost make it feel like the population is healing. That they're there, taking up space. That there's still hope.
"You don't have to keep moving. You could stay with what is left of the Brotherhood- I cannot promise safety, but we will not make you fight. We are strong. And it would be safer than moving on your own."
And there was almost no hesitation in going to deny his help, like she was ready to deny it no matter what it was. She didn't need it, she didn't want to need it- or take it.
But then he just had to add to add his last offer, and Jayden visibly faltered. Her resolve dissipating like paper to a flame, her hardened expression dropped.
Of everything she showed, the prospect of not being alone was clearly a weak point. An almost painful one at that.
She wanted to say no, force out the response and leave before she could change her mind. But she couldn't. She just couldn't. If she tried to, then nothing would come out.
Because these weeks without the ones she tried to take care of had been driving her mad. She didn't know where Crude was, he was gone for months at a time.
She'd sent Hazel to the mansion and stopped talking to her, same went for that bird girl she found- but for different reason. She'd needed treatment that Jayden couldn't give.
She didn't know where some of the others were, they just came and went and she didn't question it. But she had been alone, and she didn't want to admit how much it was tearing her up.
And it didn't help that he was right. Strength in numbers and all that. On top of the fact that moving would be a bitch when it got colder anyway.
Fuck.
"...I should probably stick with a group." She crossed her arms, trying to salvage at least some of the guard she'd maintained just minutes before. "...It's gonna get colder eventually, so." "I don't really care if I have to fight or not, I have no reservations for myself about hurting someone if that's what you're worried about." It was true: Those had gone a long, long time ago. If not in her late childhood, then while she was so fiercely protecting what was hers in the cities.
Jayden wasn't ignorant, she knew what the Brotherhood was. What they'd pulled.
She had no reason to care, anyway. Humans went for her family first, after all.
So sure. It was so, so much better than being alone anyway.
Max was not surprised by the acceptance. More people were joining up every year, just like more and more seem to be filtering into that supposed school of Charles Xavier's. At the same time, it was not exactly what he expected. Felt almost like when the great mutant civilizations fell again too many had nowhere else to go.
"A group is exactly what we are, Scylla. All we will be, at the end of the day. You should not have to freeze, or starve, or survive in the shade of humans who want nothing less than the destruction of all they hold foreign."
That was strangely sincere for a turn of phrase so kind. Magneto pressed upon it lightly, but he was acting (as far as he knew) on his own will.
He considered the mention of violence. The helpless charm of someone utilizing insufficient weapons to their maximum. The strength to survive often went past any normal metric of what someone should be able to do. "Do not mind it, then. It is simply that at times I wish I could keep every mutant safe. A fool's errand, of course. But to force another mutant to fight with their life on the line- that is unforgivable."
Unless there was a proper excuse, of course. The future of all mutants, like he'd said many a time. Maybe it was how young the children seemed every time, how young everyone around him seemed to be getting while all he could do was die.
"Do you need to fetch anything to leave?"
She thought on that question for a minute. She knew that some of the other lurkers of the city streets would be back. So she reckoned she best leave what she had stocked up back at home for them.
... But.
"Yeah." She nodded. "A few things I need to grab."
Sentimental things, though she wouldn't admit that out loud. She turned, hopping down from the ledge to make her way back across the rooftops. This city was so, so easy to navigate. She knew every crack and crevice by heart at this point: Making it easy for quick runs or hiding away.
Given that she was abandoning her hideaway, she didn't care whether or not he followed. So long as he didn't comment on the state of the decrepit building she'd boarded up to use.
"Home sweet home... Best it can be, anyway."
Jayden shrugged, moving to grab a few things from the chaotic mess of mis-matched furniture and scattered papers. Namely photos, some had been hung on the walls with string; others placed on a corkboard that had several jokes or plans written on it.
The place wasn't ideal, but it was clear that a lot had been put in to make it a home- and not just to Jayden. As evidenced by not only the photos, but other scattered items. Books, sports gear, board games, so on.
But she didn't talk about any of it. Just pulled together what of the bunch she called her own.
"...Some of my friends might still come by." She glanced back. "So I'll leave a lot of this to them."
They would need it more than she did now, she was sure.
Magneto floated after her, because though he had a lot of practice with his magnetic powers he was old now. Despite the frequent exercise and recent resurrection, he'd often found his breath a little harder to catch than years ago.
Before he entered the place Scylla had called home, the metal within called to him. It felt... old, haphazard, a little disorganized compared to the other homes he'd felt. In response to his probing some of it shifted almost without a nudge, the odd flake of rust floating off to leave polished metal in their places.
He looked over the house when he arrived, considering it. The place looked... disused, now that a portion of the things had been removed. A moment was spent hovering slightly beside the corkboard, eyes flickering over the various pictures and notes.
It was unconscionable that some mutants had to live that way. "If your friends are mutants, I can check back or send someone to wait for them. See if they want to be picked up," Max offered, an oddly sad expression crossing his face.
The house was nice. Nicer than he'd expected- it was good, to not be alone. And yet he'd hoped for- wanted- more. He'd always wanted more, for himself and every mutant he could put under his care.
So many mutant sanctuaries. They should have been able to make a home by now.
...
"...Gonna be a maybe on that one." Jayden answered after a minute, making her way over to where some of the strung photos were to take them down.
One was of a man around Jayden's age. Clearly taken when the two were occupied, as Jayden was focused on wrapping his arm in the photo.
His skin was almost deathly pale, in contrast to the braided jet-black hair that went down his back. What looked almost like ram horns curled from his forehead to behind sharp ears.
"Crude is always on the move no matter what. He never says where he's going or where he's been. I stitch him up sometimes, and I don't ask."
Truthfully Jayden had her suspicions, but she wouldn't say them aloud. Crude appeared, disappeared, never brought danger back with him, and got her coffee sometimes.
"So I don't know if he'll take it."
Then there was another of a purple-haired individual with oddly bright green eyes.
"Myrtle took off on their own to find magic users so they can learn and improve their own mutation. They could physically view what around us had magical charge all the time, so I can see how they got curious after a while."
Then last two, sitting together and seemingly playing some game. One had four bright orange wings, sporting goggles on her head.
The other looked relatively normal, all things considered. Just a small, freckled girl with an oversized scarf and scuffed up glasses.
"I sent Alison and Hazel to the mansion. I don't like it for myself, but some bastard knocked Alison out of the sky, and her wounds were beyond anything I could treat. I would swallow my pride before I let her go out like that.
And I just figured it was best to get Hazel in somewhere, at least. Kid's barely fifteen and could already make calculations most university staff would struggle with. Not very emotionally educated, though. She didn't need to be out here."
And that seemed to be everyone, everyone who had come, stayed, and left. Just as Jayden wanted them to. Everyone but herself, who was still here- and for what reason? She didn't know. Was she waiting for another soul to come along this whole time? Someone else who was just as lost as the others were to start with?
Maybe.
But it seems everyone but her had figured out their place.
That was a good thing. They needed to do that. That was why she let them stay here to begin with.
Whatever. It was better to not linger on it.
"At worst, Crude may drop by. I'll leave a note--" Jayden paused for a second, scanning the quite frankly ridiculous notes left on said corkboard from everyone else. From reminders to playful insults to full-on debates.
"... Ignore everything else on that corkboard. We weren't all around the place at the same time, so we just... wrote random things up there. I'll grab my jacket, and we can head off."
Magneto committed the frozen faces on the corkboard to memory. Names and stories with them, each one a possible weapon to be used for or against. Perhaps if all went well, he would never have to know any of the individuals. Maybe he would see them, in time. They were all so young. "You chose well, sending the children off to the Mansion."
It stung to admit, but Charles was, naive and manipulative as he was, a better teacher of children. His mansion better than his series of safehouses, the teachers better than the line of war criminals who knew few things better than the art of terror and damage. There was no safe for mutants but at times safer had to be good enough.
The half-deserted house still felt too much like a home. Like he shouldn't have been allowed to witness the brief equilibrium of life. Five, then three, then maybe nebulously two. Living with others out of— necessity. Familiarity, instead of cause. Doing the best they could from day to day.
A minute's time and Max could make his own castle out of the ground but he still never learned to furnish one. Could copy Emma in her luxurious tastes and deck out a room in his favorite magenta, but they always looked like set pieces. Too empty, too full.
He was an old man, and sentimental. The flaw had been allowed to kill him before, the way principles had sacrificed many.
Iron stripped itself from half a kilogram of topsoil underneath the building, a trickle of rising dust gathering in a ball-pointed pin upon his palm. Displacement and transformation, the sort of delicate work that had long been as simple as breathing. A perfect sphere upon a point sharp enough to dig from flesh to bone.
There could have been a pen filled with metallic ink, a sheet of soft metal thin enough to leave marks. But some things were better found than made.
"Here," He offered it held in two fingers, the tip pointed to the side. And though he did not (could, but still would not) ignore the rest of the messages Magneto asked no questions.
*A bucket with a small orange cat is left nearby.*
What is this?
Jayden finds herself on the rooftops again tonight.
It's better than being alone in the hideout, she's decided. It's too quiet there.
Ironic. Her mother was able to live and raise her alone for years, and Jayden can barely go a week without approaching one of those idiots at the mansion. Be it to rile them up or in the Cajun's case- go looking for baddies for some light fun.
"...What's a scrappy fish to do?" She ponders, moving from her crouching position to sitting down completely on the rooftops ledge.
"If I hit anyone else with a bat tonight someone's gonna start noticing a damn pattern..."
The blood on his gauntlets lifts off with a small gesture as Magneto considers the body on the ground in front of him, his calling for the town done. A death well-made, but not quite enough pain to whet his appetites.
It is never quite enough to pay. He flies from the collapsing building, mind already dwelling on the information he had learned. More people to kill, more blood to spill. Always more. Cameras automatically turn away from him, and humans rarely look up.
He hangs in the air for a moment, caught in the Earth's magnetic field, and breathes. Stretches his metal-sense throughout the city, eyes open but unseeing. Tugs himself smoothly along the lines of that field, anchoring the faint biomagnetic field of his body to the rest of the world.
And then he spies a figure sitting on one of the roofs. The silhouette is one he had met not too long ago, and a quick dip down from the skyline confirms it.
"Scylla." Magneto stands in the air roughly eye-level, his cloak dramatically carried by the wind of the streets underneath.
The response from Scylla is almost automatic, her fins flaring up akin to some animal raising its hackles. She's on her feet in seconds with her wooden bat tight in her grip.
Then, her more rational thoughts catch up with her body.
When she realizes who it is, her jaw tightens. Nonetheless, she forces herself to appear calm: purposely slacking her shoulders and snapping her fins flat.
Her yellow eyes, bright against the colder hues of the night, are still narrowed into small slits. Nothing she can do about that.
"Magneto."
It's the same general tone of indifference she held when they last met. The same air of caution as well.
Useless as it is, Scylla's already considering her chances if she takes the ledge down for a quick escape. It was a personal comfort, she figured.
Because if things went sour, no speed and squeezing through small gaps in buildings would help her here.
"I didn't take this part of town would be worth rummaging about in for you."
He tells himself that it does not sting lightly when he sees himself reflected in others' eyes as a person who hurts. Tells himself it is not a little gratifying to see that he could cause fear. Is one to be feared. In lieu of safety, Magneto decides that will do.
At the flat statement of his name he inclines his head, an acknowledgment of his identity. Quite possibly more his name than anything else he had claimed in the past. Magneto makes no other move, trying at least to not project as much menace as last time.
Conviction drives him. On occasion, he slows down to notice. And right now, the young mutant looks almost... hunted. Aside from a few brief moments in time when everyone felt safe, Magneto does not recall that expression ever leaving many of the mutants he had known throughout his long, long life.
"I have been worth very little, indeed," he says, heaviness seeped within the levity. "Every part is worth something."
That response didn't give Jayden the read on him that she wanted. It made sense. She could begrudgingly admit that. Neither of them seemed really in the business of telling the other what they were up to.
But oh, she loathed how impossible he was to read. It kept her on edge.
She'd likely have to be blunt, she realized. Not too much: She wasn't trying to piss him off.
"...Ah. Did you have any particular reason to come up here, then?" Well, it was 'up' to Jayden. She didn't consider that the older mutant had descended from much higher over the city. Not that she could envision being up there.
"I'm minding my business," She added. "No making trouble in this part of town tonight."
Because I can't risk it.
She tried to shift her body language again: slacking her grip on her bat and keeping it to one hand. Truthfully, it was frustrating; she much preferred being able to send someone running with the right look.
That usually only worked when humans peered in from the darkness.
But Magneto was effectively the 'bigger fish' here. That wouldn't work- none of her usual go-tos would.
Playing uneasy acquaintance would have to suffice.
Magneto looks to the distance, then beckons with a single finger at something only he can see. Far away, a bending support beam that had been out of sight for decades snaps- and, not thirty seconds later, a small quiver in the roofing tiles. The sound comes later, mostly buried under the noise of evening traffic. A building hitting the ground.
"Not in particular for this roof, no." He considers- and immediately discards- mentioning that maybe he just feels a bit lonely sometimes. "It is a little late not to make trouble, though police forces should be directed... elsewhere in town."
His own situation is a unique privilege, he knows. With enough power to take down close anything that can be thrown at him. A place where he will not quite be judged for what he is. He can live with the Sapiens for close as long as he wants without them being able to successfully kill him.
But there are some things that, however long he has raged, he cannot quite fix.
"You will be safe." The words don't quite turn to ashes in his mouth, but he remembers all of the people he had tried- and failed- to protect with that very same promise. "For tonight, at least."
"For tonight." She agreed.
The large fins that were in place of her ears twitched, detecting the crumbling sound through everything else. Along with the faint vibrations in sent through the city with every thud, thud, THUD! of debris.
The screaming also, when that started up.
Years in the ocean did that, becoming so sensitive to even the smallest of frequencies had often meant life or death. Though she supposed the same could be said on the surface as well.
Jayden was someone who didn't have the privilege of blending in. From the bright eyes, to the gills on her sides and scales that patched her body. She had no hiding that she was a mutant at all.
"... distracted or not, I'm better off packing up while their heads are turned." She sighed, bringing up a hand to rub at her face. The scrappy runaway had visible bags under her eyes.
Managing without any of the people she'd called friends was... tiring.
Being alone was tiring. But much like the one in front of her, she wouldn't admit it.
"Get out of this city and make base somewhere else before stories of a 'shark lady' hit newspapers." That was the frustrating thing about going after bigots, wasn't it?
No matter where she went, she was always made out to be some shark kid, swamp monster, lake beast. The siren with glowing eyes that haunted the night.
It was better to capitalize on being a sea monster when you wanted to be left alone, at least.
Regardless, it was always better to leave before they could figure anything else out about her. Damn humanity and their pattern recognition.
"So... Thanks for the distraction, I suppose... for whatever reason you made one."
She rested her bat across her shoulders, and the relative silence (minus the background of the city) was cut through with a quiet swish! As water gathered behind her to form a finned tail for balance.
She assumed that meant they were done, glancing over at the next ledge she could hop up to and looking back at the older mutant.
"...Anything else before I take off, then?"
Magneto remembers how to fight. He also remembers how to be very, very still while someone is making a decision. Just because he wants to help doesn't mean his is welcome. Mulls it over, briefly, the memory of hurt dripping down into everything he sees.
"I can supply travel out of town," he says, as an offering. He could; it is trivial to fly another, with his powers. "You would not owe me anything for it, but I understand any hesitance, regardless."
It is rare that he gets to offer help to anyone, and rarer still that it does not come back in horrible nightmares of violence and death. But once in a while, he still tries. A little bit of idealism in the soul, either a holdover from almost a century ago or things seeping through from those he knows.
Max considers the tail, quietly, as the younger mutant moves to leave. It's incredible. He loves seeing rarer mutations, things visible that almost make it feel like the population is healing. That they're there, taking up space. That there's still hope.
"You don't have to keep moving. You could stay with what is left of the Brotherhood- I cannot promise safety, but we will not make you fight. We are strong. And it would be safer than moving on your own."
And there was almost no hesitation in going to deny his help, like she was ready to deny it no matter what it was. She didn't need it, she didn't want to need it- or take it.
But then he just had to add to add his last offer, and Jayden visibly faltered. Her resolve dissipating like paper to a flame, her hardened expression dropped.
Of everything she showed, the prospect of not being alone was clearly a weak point. An almost painful one at that.
She wanted to say no, force out the response and leave before she could change her mind. But she couldn't. She just couldn't. If she tried to, then nothing would come out.
Because these weeks without the ones she tried to take care of had been driving her mad. She didn't know where Crude was, he was gone for months at a time.
She'd sent Hazel to the mansion and stopped talking to her, same went for that bird girl she found- but for different reason. She'd needed treatment that Jayden couldn't give.
She didn't know where some of the others were, they just came and went and she didn't question it. But she had been alone, and she didn't want to admit how much it was tearing her up.
And it didn't help that he was right. Strength in numbers and all that. On top of the fact that moving would be a bitch when it got colder anyway.
Fuck.
"...I should probably stick with a group." She crossed her arms, trying to salvage at least some of the guard she'd maintained just minutes before. "...It's gonna get colder eventually, so." "I don't really care if I have to fight or not, I have no reservations for myself about hurting someone if that's what you're worried about." It was true: Those had gone a long, long time ago. If not in her late childhood, then while she was so fiercely protecting what was hers in the cities.
Jayden wasn't ignorant, she knew what the Brotherhood was. What they'd pulled.
She had no reason to care, anyway. Humans went for her family first, after all.
So sure. It was so, so much better than being alone anyway.
Max was not surprised by the acceptance. More people were joining up every year, just like more and more seem to be filtering into that supposed school of Charles Xavier's. At the same time, it was not exactly what he expected. Felt almost like when the great mutant civilizations fell again too many had nowhere else to go.
"A group is exactly what we are, Scylla. All we will be, at the end of the day. You should not have to freeze, or starve, or survive in the shade of humans who want nothing less than the destruction of all they hold foreign."
That was strangely sincere for a turn of phrase so kind. Magneto pressed upon it lightly, but he was acting (as far as he knew) on his own will.
He considered the mention of violence. The helpless charm of someone utilizing insufficient weapons to their maximum. The strength to survive often went past any normal metric of what someone should be able to do. "Do not mind it, then. It is simply that at times I wish I could keep every mutant safe. A fool's errand, of course. But to force another mutant to fight with their life on the line- that is unforgivable."
Unless there was a proper excuse, of course. The future of all mutants, like he'd said many a time. Maybe it was how young the children seemed every time, how young everyone around him seemed to be getting while all he could do was die.
"Do you need to fetch anything to leave?"
She thought on that question for a minute. She knew that some of the other lurkers of the city streets would be back. So she reckoned she best leave what she had stocked up back at home for them.
... But.
"Yeah." She nodded. "A few things I need to grab."
Sentimental things, though she wouldn't admit that out loud. She turned, hopping down from the ledge to make her way back across the rooftops. This city was so, so easy to navigate. She knew every crack and crevice by heart at this point: Making it easy for quick runs or hiding away.
Given that she was abandoning her hideaway, she didn't care whether or not he followed. So long as he didn't comment on the state of the decrepit building she'd boarded up to use.
"Home sweet home... Best it can be, anyway."
Jayden shrugged, moving to grab a few things from the chaotic mess of mis-matched furniture and scattered papers. Namely photos, some had been hung on the walls with string; others placed on a corkboard that had several jokes or plans written on it.
The place wasn't ideal, but it was clear that a lot had been put in to make it a home- and not just to Jayden. As evidenced by not only the photos, but other scattered items. Books, sports gear, board games, so on.
But she didn't talk about any of it. Just pulled together what of the bunch she called her own.
"...Some of my friends might still come by." She glanced back. "So I'll leave a lot of this to them."
They would need it more than she did now, she was sure.
Magneto floated after her, because though he had a lot of practice with his magnetic powers he was old now. Despite the frequent exercise and recent resurrection, he'd often found his breath a little harder to catch than years ago.
Before he entered the place Scylla had called home, the metal within called to him. It felt... old, haphazard, a little disorganized compared to the other homes he'd felt. In response to his probing some of it shifted almost without a nudge, the odd flake of rust floating off to leave polished metal in their places.
He looked over the house when he arrived, considering it. The place looked... disused, now that a portion of the things had been removed. A moment was spent hovering slightly beside the corkboard, eyes flickering over the various pictures and notes.
It was unconscionable that some mutants had to live that way. "If your friends are mutants, I can check back or send someone to wait for them. See if they want to be picked up," Max offered, an oddly sad expression crossing his face.
The house was nice. Nicer than he'd expected- it was good, to not be alone. And yet he'd hoped for- wanted- more. He'd always wanted more, for himself and every mutant he could put under his care.
So many mutant sanctuaries. They should have been able to make a home by now.
The X-Mansion has a weird monster called the rat king wandering around...was the brotherhood involved in this?
I do not concern myself with pest problems.
tell me how you would murder a deadpool
i will rate your suggestions on a scale of 1 to 10. your goal is to keep him dead and/or otherwise removed from human contact for the longest period of time
well hypothetically I could drop someone on top of that spike on the empire state building, and you'd struggle to get off of it by yourself ???
i like this in theory (especially that you’re specifying that it’s me and not another variant) but someone would remove me from it within 24 hours. the city of new york would be displeased to have a deadpool corpse desecrating one of its most photographed landmarks. they’d either send choppers or they’d send a spider-person.
the spider-person would be very unhappy with you.
3/10 i’m on the streets again the next day
Sigh Ok some other building
another spined building it will take much longer for anyone to notice and even longer for anyone to do anything about it. i do think eventually a spider-person would still spot me pretty quickly and come and grab me but in the absence of wall-crawling do-gooders i’m reliant on the benevolence of bureaucracy. 5/10
i would convince your wolverine that you broke up with him and don't wanna see him ever again and that you hate him AND that you've gone back to Vanessa.
my wolverine would just drink and sob about it if he thought i didn't love him but honestly it would have me suicidal again if he left me and didn't say why.
making me suicidal through interpersonal manipulation is probably a 6/10 murder method because i don't think i'd manage to do anything permanent before things got straightened out.
but if wolverine did come after me and try to kill me we'd resolve the miscommunication so fast. like he'd be slashing me open and i'd be like yes daddy~ and he'd start whining about how i can't call him that anymore if i'm leaving him. hate sex is a 0/10 murder method but a 15/10 good time
Throw into the sun.
not to be a realist in a comic book universe but it's physically impossible to yeet things into the sun. too many issues with orbit. i don't believe you could pull it off.
plus i think if my molecules got burned down on the surface of the sun, there's a real chance that deadpool energy gets beamed into the entire solar system via photons and new deadpools start spawning everywhere the light touches.
yes, i did say that in the same post as i argued it's physically impossible to yeet things into the sun.
0/10
I could. It would take quite a bit of time and effort, but if I dipped you in molten metal beforehand it would be simple enough to do.
i guess you can try, magnet boi. believe in yourself hard enough and you can achieve anything.
I remember now why I try never to interact with you.
tell me how you would murder a deadpool
i will rate your suggestions on a scale of 1 to 10. your goal is to keep him dead and/or otherwise removed from human contact for the longest period of time
well hypothetically I could drop someone on top of that spike on the empire state building, and you'd struggle to get off of it by yourself ???
i like this in theory (especially that you’re specifying that it’s me and not another variant) but someone would remove me from it within 24 hours. the city of new york would be displeased to have a deadpool corpse desecrating one of its most photographed landmarks. they’d either send choppers or they’d send a spider-person.
the spider-person would be very unhappy with you.
3/10 i’m on the streets again the next day
Sigh Ok some other building
another spined building it will take much longer for anyone to notice and even longer for anyone to do anything about it. i do think eventually a spider-person would still spot me pretty quickly and come and grab me but in the absence of wall-crawling do-gooders i’m reliant on the benevolence of bureaucracy. 5/10
i would convince your wolverine that you broke up with him and don't wanna see him ever again and that you hate him AND that you've gone back to Vanessa.
my wolverine would just drink and sob about it if he thought i didn't love him but honestly it would have me suicidal again if he left me and didn't say why.
making me suicidal through interpersonal manipulation is probably a 6/10 murder method because i don't think i'd manage to do anything permanent before things got straightened out.
but if wolverine did come after me and try to kill me we'd resolve the miscommunication so fast. like he'd be slashing me open and i'd be like yes daddy~ and he'd start whining about how i can't call him that anymore if i'm leaving him. hate sex is a 0/10 murder method but a 15/10 good time
Throw into the sun.
not to be a realist in a comic book universe but it's physically impossible to yeet things into the sun. too many issues with orbit. i don't believe you could pull it off.
plus i think if my molecules got burned down on the surface of the sun, there's a real chance that deadpool energy gets beamed into the entire solar system via photons and new deadpools start spawning everywhere the light touches.
yes, i did say that in the same post as i argued it's physically impossible to yeet things into the sun.
0/10
I could. It would take quite a bit of time and effort, but if I dipped you in molten metal beforehand it would be simple enough to do.
NO MY BACKUP WHAT THE FUCK
BACKUP BACKUP
*backup backup pulls up*
*keeps his visor off* *big blasts*
What is this?
I was told I was going to be jumped today and I’ve been on edge ever since. *Scott puts his visor back on*
Incredible. Any idea who has the vendetta against you specifically?
I would assume a lot of people but no one in particular I can think of.
Hm.
Indeed, who would want to kill a mutant. The telegraphed warning is strange, however.
I assume the FOH would want to kill one of the most notable mutant representatives.
Calling out their attacks is almost laughable, however. If all anti-mutant hate groups were this competent, you may even get somewhere.
Yeah no kidding.. I assume it was someone trying to look cool and not realizing I’m team leader for a reason.
It is difficult to look cooler than the average mutant.
*slight chuckle* No comment.
Anyway they already fled. Couldn’t handle the force that could level a mountain.
Well, if it took that fast I will shelve the standard see-how-humanity-hates speech and we can just assume I said something along the lines.
I have your speech practically memorized that this point so yes that does seem a bit counterproductive.
Hey, I change my speech depending on many key factors such as who has shown up, current enemies, and recent mutant mass murders.
NO MY BACKUP WHAT THE FUCK
BACKUP BACKUP
*backup backup pulls up*
*keeps his visor off* *big blasts*
What is this?
I was told I was going to be jumped today and I’ve been on edge ever since. *Scott puts his visor back on*
Incredible. Any idea who has the vendetta against you specifically?
I would assume a lot of people but no one in particular I can think of.
Hm.
Indeed, who would want to kill a mutant. The telegraphed warning is strange, however.
I assume the FOH would want to kill one of the most notable mutant representatives.
Calling out their attacks is almost laughable, however. If all anti-mutant hate groups were this competent, you may even get somewhere.
Yeah no kidding.. I assume it was someone trying to look cool and not realizing I’m team leader for a reason.
It is difficult to look cooler than the average mutant.
*slight chuckle* No comment.
Anyway they already fled. Couldn’t handle the force that could level a mountain.
Well, if it took that fast I will shelve the standard see-how-humanity-hates speech and we can just assume I said something along the lines.
Question. Is it just like ferromagnetism, or like…all types even if it’s weak as hell
Magnetism. Straight-up.
Oh that’s just great.
Hm?
I feel like if I discuss anymore I will be in danger from so many fronts. Even tho I have mad respect for ya
If I wanted to kill you, you would be dead. I try not to be a threat to mutants who neither threaten my being or that of other mutants.
Yeah I get that I get that
Just in my own lane…
I understand. The perception of me as a terrorist threat is not an easy one to overlook, especially for people who may hail from different universes where my views appear... less nuanced.
Oh no it’s not that. If it was that I would be a hypocrite. Just the metal thing
Alright. I will not press, though I will be mildly irritated if you have another type of metal bones.
NO MY BACKUP WHAT THE FUCK
BACKUP BACKUP
*backup backup pulls up*
*keeps his visor off* *big blasts*
What is this?
I was told I was going to be jumped today and I’ve been on edge ever since. *Scott puts his visor back on*
Incredible. Any idea who has the vendetta against you specifically?
I would assume a lot of people but no one in particular I can think of.
Hm.
Indeed, who would want to kill a mutant. The telegraphed warning is strange, however.
I assume the FOH would want to kill one of the most notable mutant representatives.
Calling out their attacks is almost laughable, however. If all anti-mutant hate groups were this competent, you may even get somewhere.
Yeah no kidding.. I assume it was someone trying to look cool and not realizing I’m team leader for a reason.
It is difficult to look cooler than the average mutant.
tell me how you would murder a deadpool
i will rate your suggestions on a scale of 1 to 10. your goal is to keep him dead and/or otherwise removed from human contact for the longest period of time
well hypothetically I could drop someone on top of that spike on the empire state building, and you'd struggle to get off of it by yourself ???
i like this in theory (especially that you’re specifying that it’s me and not another variant) but someone would remove me from it within 24 hours. the city of new york would be displeased to have a deadpool corpse desecrating one of its most photographed landmarks. they’d either send choppers or they’d send a spider-person.
the spider-person would be very unhappy with you.
3/10 i’m on the streets again the next day
Sigh Ok some other building
another spined building it will take much longer for anyone to notice and even longer for anyone to do anything about it. i do think eventually a spider-person would still spot me pretty quickly and come and grab me but in the absence of wall-crawling do-gooders i’m reliant on the benevolence of bureaucracy. 5/10
i would convince your wolverine that you broke up with him and don't wanna see him ever again and that you hate him AND that you've gone back to Vanessa.
my wolverine would just drink and sob about it if he thought i didn't love him but honestly it would have me suicidal again if he left me and didn't say why.
making me suicidal through interpersonal manipulation is probably a 6/10 murder method because i don't think i'd manage to do anything permanent before things got straightened out.
but if wolverine did come after me and try to kill me we'd resolve the miscommunication so fast. like he'd be slashing me open and i'd be like yes daddy~ and he'd start whining about how i can't call him that anymore if i'm leaving him. hate sex is a 0/10 murder method but a 15/10 good time
Throw into the sun.
NO MY BACKUP WHAT THE FUCK
BACKUP BACKUP
*backup backup pulls up*
*keeps his visor off* *big blasts*
What is this?
I was told I was going to be jumped today and I’ve been on edge ever since. *Scott puts his visor back on*
Incredible. Any idea who has the vendetta against you specifically?
I would assume a lot of people but no one in particular I can think of.
Hm.
Indeed, who would want to kill a mutant. The telegraphed warning is strange, however.
I assume the FOH would want to kill one of the most notable mutant representatives.
Calling out their attacks is almost laughable, however. If all anti-mutant hate groups were this competent, you may even get somewhere.
Question. Is it just like ferromagnetism, or like…all types even if it’s weak as hell
Magnetism. Straight-up.
Oh that’s just great.
Hm?
I feel like if I discuss anymore I will be in danger from so many fronts. Even tho I have mad respect for ya
If I wanted to kill you, you would be dead. I try not to be a threat to mutants who neither threaten my being or that of other mutants.
Yeah I get that I get that
Just in my own lane…
I understand. The perception of me as a terrorist threat is not an easy one to overlook, especially for people who may hail from different universes where my views appear... less nuanced.
NO MY BACKUP WHAT THE FUCK
BACKUP BACKUP
*backup backup pulls up*
*keeps his visor off* *big blasts*
What is this?
I was told I was going to be jumped today and I’ve been on edge ever since. *Scott puts his visor back on*
Incredible. Any idea who has the vendetta against you specifically?
I would assume a lot of people but no one in particular I can think of.
Hm.
Indeed, who would want to kill a mutant. The telegraphed warning is strange, however.
