X-men: World of Gray

Chapter 44

Only one more chapter after this! It makes me a little sad.

Chapter 44…

It was astounding how easy problems could be resolved with just a little bit of pain. Azazel did as Erik instructed; he didn't really have much choice. The only other mutant that might have been strong enough to defeat Erik was Emma, and the White Queen had other problems at the moment.

Within minutes of Charles and his mutants departing, Erik found himself back at the island base. He dropped Azazel just outside the main door as he did the last time he stood there, and then entered. Inside, Cerebro laid in shambles. Gray panels were scattered across the stone floor—busted pieces of the control board were in ruins.

Of course, that wasn't the worst of it.

The place reeked a putrid stench only a dead body produced. Riptide's corpse lay just below the steps leading to the machine, a read-out page from Cerebro crumpled on the floor just a few feet away. Underneath him, the blood had swelled, still drying on the marble. On the dead man's head was what Erik had journeyed there to retrieve.

Extending his hand, Erik felt the maroon helmet within his power. It heard his call and within seconds, it reached his awaiting fingers. Crimson coated its front where Riptide's head had practically been submerged in his own blood. Erik didn't concern himself with such details.

With both his hands, he lowered the helmet to his head. It fit like a crown.

xxxxxxxxxxxx

By mid-morning, the weather warmed the tropics to a peaceful eighty degrees—the same it had been the last day Erik was standing on the Cassandra with his fellow mutants. And, just like before, the tension between them had destroyed any comfort the sun might have provided.

Except now, Erik knew what he needed to do.

Standing on the yacht'sforedeck, he released the metal from Emma and Angel's faces. Beside each other on one of the lounge chairs, the women gasped as if they had just had their heads lifted from a bucket of water. Emma's hair was matted to her head, her eyes dazed. Angel looked like she was hung over. As the women finally surveyed the surroundings, a sense of dread overshadowed their features.

To Erik's right, Mystique stood tall and silent like a bodyguard. At their feet, Azazel remained wrapped in metal from toes to neck. Beside him, another figure rested, slumped over and decomposing. Riptide.

With his powers, Erik rocketed Azazel across the foredeck's floor. The teleporter groaned as he stopped by Emma's feet.

"Now," Erik said. "We have much to discuss, my brothers and sisters. I suggest you listen well."

Emma sized him up, clearly determining—even with his helmet blocking her telepathy—if she stood a chance of defeating him. Angel did the same, but as the seconds ticked, common sense seemed to overpower the rebellion within them. A diamond body and fire balls were no real threat.

Nonetheless, Erik's quarrel wasn't really with the two women. Despite their impatience, neither one were a part of Riptide's plan at the base. They were simply following Azazel to avenge an injustice towards Riptide, as misguided as it was.

Erik planned to clarify that. So as he stepped forward, his gaze targeted the true threat in their circle. A foot away from Azazel, he knelt down.

"I know what you're thinking," he said. "Or, better put, what you're hoping. That by some miracle, the metal will loosen like at the hospital, and you'll teleport away. You'll be able to start this over again, and take me down." A smile curved on his lips. "You'd enjoy killing me, wouldn't you, Azazel?"

The other man tensed.

Erik lifted his point finger like a teacher emphasizing something important to a pupil. "Your anger is misguided, my friend. I warned you what would happen if you turned against me. I warned Riptide what would happen if he ventured to that base, and I did exactly as I promised. You have no one to blame for your current circumstances except yourself."

The fury inside the other man's eyes blazed like that alone could kill Erik. But deep within them, a vestige of defeat was looming. Azazel understood what Erik was saying, even if he didn't wish to hear it.

"Make no mistake," Erik continued, "you deserve to die for what you have done. You allowed Riptide to brutally attack one of your own kind—pretending that the telepath was an enemy to justify these actions. It's treason, my friend.

"However," Erik went on, "dead, you can do nothing to help our cause. And you're capable of being so much more than a corpse. The question isn't whether or not you wish to kill me, Azazel—the question is, will you stand with us despite that desire?"

"Please," Mystique said from beside Erik. "No more, Azazel. We don't have to do this."

Erik opened his hand. Around Azazel, the metal stirred. Erik stood back up, towering over the other man as Azazel slowly regained his freedom.

"Now," Erik said as the teleporter slid the metal off his arms. "We can start this again, exactly where we left off. But I will offer you one last promise—if the two of us engage in this ridiculous conflict…this time, it will only be between the two of us. And only one will survive it."

Azazel wiggled his legs out of the final bits of metal. He eyed Erik, clearly debating whether or not his proclamation was true. As Erik stood tall, his face unflinching, Azazel finally seemed to realize that Erik would not exaggerate such things.

"Are you with me?" Erik asked, and extended his arm, palm open.

Azazel glanced at Erik's hand, and then with a resigned shadow on his face, he lifted his own. He closed his fingers around Erik's, and with that, Erik helped him stand.

"I would like nothing more than to kill you," Azazel said as he got his feet under him.

"And I, you," Erik replied. "But the question is—do we intend to?"

Azazel tossed a glance to Mystique, and then shook his head. "No."

"That's all that matters, isn't it?"

With those words, Erik retracted his arm. He gave the teleporter a once-over, noting his damaged garbs. Traces of blood stained the suit where the metal had cut just a little too close.

Nonetheless, Erik wasn't finished. He beckoned to Riptide's corpse. Wrapped in Cerebro's wires, the body dragged across the foredeck towards the other mutants, leaving a trail of blood in its wake. As it stopped, Erik surveyed the others. Then, with his power, he levitated Riptide into the air just inches from them. The body dangled in the air like a wrinkled suit, Riptide's head drooped to one side.

"I want it known," Erik declared to all of them, "this is not Shaw's brotherhood. It is mine. We are here to bring hope to our fellow mutants—to protect them—to bond all of us together when the humans decide it is time to exterminate our kind. And that time will come. There will be war, my brothers and sisters, and we must stand together. But we will not make enemies of our fellow mutants. Never again."

He lifted Riptide's body high above them, the blood across his suit glinting in the sun. "Riptide has paid the price for this betrayal and it is a price he well-deserved. There is only one thing we will ask of any mutant who doesn't wish to join our cause…"

Flicking his hand, Erik tossed Riptide's body away. It soared from the Cassandra, and hit the Pacific with a melodramatic splash.

"…that they stay out of our way," Erik finished.

On those words, the other mutants stood in front of him. Similar to the moment on the Cuban beach, Erik awaited their decision. Beside him, Mystique took his right hand in her left. Her fingers closed around his. Then, Angel stepped forward; she stood by Erik's left. With slight reluctance, Emma followed.

Alone, Azazel swayed his tail back and forth. Erik already knew the teleporter's decision, but it was still pleasing to see as the rebellion in the other man's eyes disappeared like a soldier waving a white flag. Azazel didn't step in line with the others, but as he nodded, Erik knew that was enough.

Magneto and his Brotherhood of Mutants were reborn.

End of Chapter