Erik relished the peace and quiet, but he was uneasy because he was certain Wanda and Pietro were up to no good. He wondered what he was thinking, bringing in the teenagers. They didn't even care to learn anything. The sound of silence was the sound of suspicion as far as Erik was concerned.
He tried relaxing in his favorite chair. It was his preferred way to end the day. He had just gotten relaxed when he felt the chair shake beneath him, as if it was trying to come out from under him. He took a deep breath and braced for what he knew was about to come. Nothing happened, but he refused to let down his guard. He continued to read his newspaper. He had just finished a paragraph when his chair slipped out from under him, causing him to fall on the floor.
As he struggled to pick himself up from the floor he looked over to see Azazel standing next to him, a scowl marking the deep red skin on his face. He had no idea Azazel was even in the same room as him. He hadn't even heard him approach. Then he realized that Azazel was only visible from the shoulders on up.
This couldn't be good.
"Really, Azazel?"
"It's those little bastards you brought here, Magneto."
Erik stormed out of the room. Could no one keep a couple of juvenile delinquents under control?
He heard the sound of laughing and braced himself for another scene of mayhem or destruction. You never knew with those two.
He was horrified when he went into the sitting room and found Emma Frost and Riptide face-to-face in the center of the room, bound by ropes. They looked extremely unhappy. Wanda was smiling deviously and Pietro was running quickly around Emma and Riptide, tying them up. Mystique was in the doorway, covered in a black, sticky-looking substance.
Erik lost his temper. "Mystique! Is this what you call training?"
She scowled, "What do you want me to do, Erik? The others keep taunting them!"
"You said it was OK for us to get revenge, Magneto," Wanda countered mischievously.
"Yeah," Pietro laughed. "You said it'd be appreciated. And didn't you say on our way here we'd go after other mutants?"
Erik stormed over to them. "Not the mutants in our Brotherhood!" he scolded.
"Then tell that red-faced weirdo to stay out of my room!" Wanda argued. "He keeps thinking he can just jump in whenever he wants and scare me! If you don't believe me, go look in my room. You'll find his legs there!"
Erik sighed. The girl had a point there. It was unacceptable for a grown mutant such as Azazel to go into a teenage girl's room for any reason. "Can you please let him teleport the rest of himself out?"
Pietro looked at Erik, incredulous, "Why should she? He jumps in on us all the time! And this glittery chick here needs to stop messing with me!"
Erik looked at Emma and glared. Emma was a telepath, and worse- when her diamond skin formed, she could block anyone's telepathy. He wondered how much was going on that he couldn't hear.
"If you don't want my brother and me to use our powers against your Brotherhood," Wanda countered defiantly, "then tell them not to use their powers against us! Riptide made it rain on us for the last time in training!"
Erik walked toward Emma and Riptide and looked back toward the twins. The two were still tied together. Erik debated on the advantages of letting them go. He frowned. "The children are right. How can we fight against humans or the X-Men if we keep fighting amongst ourselves?"
"You tell them, Magneto!" Wanda said, giggling. It was never a good sign when she giggled. Erik realized he smelled smoke. He looked over and saw curls of smoke coming from the ropes that bound Emma and Riptide and realized the rope was burning.
"Erik, tell that scarlet-haired witch to stop this!" Emma said furiously.
Erik chuckled, "I thought you were psychic!"
"She's not listening to me."
"Scarlet Witch... I like that as a nickname..." Erik said pensively. He walked over to Pietro, "And ...you, young man, your nickname should be Quicksilver. You're fast, and with that silver hair of yours..."
Pietro beamed with pride, "I like that!"
"Erik, this isn't the time for nicknames," Emma exclaimed as the rope smoldered.
"Quicksilver," Erik scolded. "Untie them? I can assure you that they will leave you alone if you two stop playing pranks."
Wanda, enjoying the sound of her new epithet of Scarlet Witch, looked sheepishly at Erik as Azazel appeared intact. He examined his body to make sure it was all there and that the bratty teenager had not left any part of him behind. He left nothing to chance with those two.
"Are you all together now?" Erik teased. "Nothing important left behind?"
Azazel scowled but nodded.
Quicksilver slowly untied Emma and Riptide. They were clearly angry, but relieved at being able to move freely.
Mystique had watched the scene unfold with annoyance until she realized someone was missing. "Has anyone seen Angel?"
Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver looked at one another which caused Erik and Mystique roll their eyes. Erik looked over at Scarlet Witch and Pietro to find them giggling. It boded ill.
"Where is Angel?" Erik demanded.
Scarlet Witch tried to appear innocent. Erik knew she was anything but. The girl batted her eyes and smiled, "Oh, she's just ...hanging out in the hallway!"
Erik huffed, "Wanda, what did you do?"
Quicksilver looked at his feet and smiled sheepishly, "Angel had a situation... similar... to Mystique with the tar!"
Erik looked at them in horror.
"You'll find her in the hallway, just... hanging out," Scarlet Witch replied, feigning shame. "She seemed pretty ticked off when we left her there."
Erik looked at Mystique and they both rolled their eyes and walked down the hallway to find Angel. They could hear Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch laughing. Emma, Azazel and Riptide were foolish enough to try walking toward them to confront them. Angel, after all, was one of them. These two scamps were outsiders and they didn't trust them and their pranks. All it took was for Scarlet Witch to shake her head and smile.
"Let's...not," Emma cautioned, backing away. She had had enough hijinks for one afternoon. She walked toward Magneto and Mystique to find out what had happened to Angel.
"This is just wonderful," Erik bellowed when he finally located Angel. She was dangling from the ceiling, suspended in a rope-and-tar spider web strung across the hallway. He could see Angel was clearly uncomfortable, contorted in the web with her limbs twisted and her wings and hair covered in tar. He wondered how she would even manage to clean herself off. He was certain she had done something to deserve this, but enough was enough. The twins had to learn how to manage their anger. If the Brotherhood was against each other, what could he hope to do against humanity? "Will you two let her down?!"
"Sure," Wanda winked.
There was a snapping sound and Angel crashed from the ceiling onto the floor. She was a tangle of ropes, tar, and pure fury. Erik felt no sympathy for her. "You want to prevent a repeat of this?" he demanded. "Then leave the twins alone. You're all supposed to train them!"
Riptide balled his hands into fists. Erik gave him a warning glance, "If you use your powers on them, use them in the interests of training. You want these two on your side. You want them loyal to you. This continues, we'll never make any headway against our enemies. Charles Xavier is recruiting new mutants. I am sure he does not have these issues." He looked at Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch, "And the two of you need to learn some respect. Maybe some... one-on-one training with me will help you do that. Or I can let the others continue to torment you? Can you all agree to work together?"
"Yes, Sir," Scarlet Witch replied, humbled. She wasn't sure what one-on-one training with Magneto would mean, but she was certain she wouldn't like it. Even Quicksilver replied deferentially. He learned quickly that while the man may be a fairy, he could easily kill with a flick of his wrist and drive nails from the wall into anyone's skull without a second thought. He had no regard for life, especially human life. Quicksilver figured Magneto wouldn't even think twice about killing him if needed. You couldn't take chances with angering this man. This was a man Quicksilver wanted to respect, even if he did act a little light in his loafers.
Erik noticed he had the two difficult teenagers where he wanted them. It was time for training to begin.