@diebessermanner
If mutants thought things bad before Alcatraz, well, they were worse now. That incident had not only turned public opinion that much more against them, it had gotten the attention of the whole damn world too. Lots of mutants in other countries blamed Magneto and his lot for that, or blamed the X-Men. But some blamed the humans. Like these four did.
They had held off making a nuisance of themselves to the humans in their home countries so that they’d still be able to travel easily, to come from Spain to America. And now that they were here, they were ready to make up for that. Here was where it was most needed, anyway, here was where it was worst, the hate crimes being committed, the laws being talked about–but here was where the resistance had been birthed as well.
By a man named Magneto.Finding him not been easy. Case in point, the human government had obviously unable to do it, what chance did four civilians have? But they had found the underground community of his supporters. They were a tight-lipped lot— the US government had of course thought to try to send worms into their midst to get this same info—but Anne Marie could mind-control the truth out of them. It didn’t make them any friends, but it was for the best; they’d surely forgive them when their leader, their savior, was returned.
And in this way, they had learned the horrible truth, of how he had been…been…to called it cured was an irony too perverse to speak, killed was closer. Anne Marie in particular had been devastated by the news—she looked to him as more than a leader, as a religious figure sent by the Lord himself to help mutantkind, so if he had been felled…it shattered a lot for her, and her hope for their people.
But Fabian had an idea. He always did. They just needed to find him.
And now they had.
The Morlock tracker known only as Caliban had said others had asked–or tried to force—him to find Magneto many times, and he couldn’t, he no longer had the mutant signal. But with Fabian boosting Caliban power…he had been able to pick it up, though he said it was faint, weak, crippled.
Good.
That gave Fabian another idea.
One he did not share with the others.
They approached in public; Fabian counted on Magneto having the sense not to want to make a scene and inadvertently reveal himself to the public once again, which would risk being captured. He might have ‘lost’ his powers but it didn’t erase his crimes. Not that these four intended any harm, but, well, a wanted man was unpredictable, he might not wait to hear them out as friends.
They were all absurdly tall. Anne Marie, the only woman, was the shortest at 6′1…and the giant Delgado who stood by default at 6′8 but could get even bigger. Muscular too, especially Delgado, except for Chrome who was built like a stick. It could be intimidating to have them just…walk up to you in a park where you were a nice old man just minding your own business.
And it could be disconcerting with how the woman (if he could tell she was a woman) was staring, boggling, looking at him like he was the Holy Ghost itself.
It was Fabian who spoke first, as usual in their bunch.
Alright, he thought, You get one chance. Don’t ruin it.
He spread his hands in a gesture of peace, and began,
“My Lord, we’ve been searching for you. Please, don’t be alarmed. We come as followers, not foes. Your people need–”
And then Anne Marie threw herself at Magneto’s feet. She was crying.
Oh, goddammit!
