Chapter 82 - Baldur and the X-men Part 8
Island of Mr. Sinister, Savage Land.
2012.
Nathaniel Essex was certainly a formidable enemy, not because of his power, but because of his superior intellect. His presence here didn't surprise me much, I already had a list of possible individuals who could orchestrate a plan as complex as this.
The kidnapping of those specific mutants gave me certainty that he was behind it all. Essex was a mad atheist who focused his entire life and paranoia on the theory of evolution. He was right, of course, but to reach that certainty, his humanity was removed by Apocalypse, becoming the being now in front of me, known as Mr. Sinister.
"Allow me to offer all my hospitality to you gentlemen and ladies in my humble abode. I am your humble host, Mr. Sinister."
Sinister had a cold and polite voice. He wore an all-black suit, with long black hair and skin so white it could make people think he was a ghost. What stood out the most was the red jewel in the center of his forehead, matching the color of his eyes.
"Save us from your theatrics, and tell me where Jean is. If you've laid a finger on her, I guarantee that when I'm done with you, they'll be picking up your remains for weeks for the burial."
Logan was the first to speak, with his beautiful words as always.
"Oh, yes. I assure you I haven't even touched a hair of your friends."
Sinister replied, smiling. This relieved the X-Men's concerns a bit, until the next words came.
"But they'll probably die in the next few minutes."
"HAAAAAAAA!"
Logan jumps over us and rushes towards Mr. Sinister with his claws ready to kill.
"Wait, Logan!" Xavier shouts, trying to stop him too late.
Logan's claws simply pierced through Sinister's chest, who didn't shed a drop of blood or even seem to feel pain. Logan tried to retract his arms, but he couldn't move. Mr. Sinister, with a wicked smile, pointed his hand at Logan's chest and fired an energy blast, sending him back to his starting point now with a huge hole in his torso.
I don't remember much about his powers. What I can recall is that he has strong psychic abilities and can control all the molecules of his body, giving him a range of other abilities, such as a high healing factor. He can also transform his body into a semi-liquid form or something as hard as diamond. These powers were acquired from centuries of incorporating the genetic material of certain mutants into his body.
"Attack!" Gambit shouted as Logan's body fell to the ground.
"NO!" I shouted in response.
Before it turned into complete chaos, I created a sphere of light around the X-Men so they wouldn't blindly attack.
"Why are you stopping us? Jean and Scott don't have much time!" Storm said.
"Don't be foolish. Why would he reveal the death of your comrades like this? Clearly, he wants to throw us off balance."
"Then are they okay?" Xavier now asked.
"No. They'll probably die. But not in the next few minutes as he said. If they were to die in the next few minutes, there would be no reason for the one responsible for all this to be here in front of us. He's here to prevent his experiment from being interrupted."
"Bravo. Truly worthy of being a king. Such reasoning in just a few seconds is truly impressive," Sinister praised me.
He loves to experiment on mutants, trying to find a way to create the genetically perfect being. For some reason, he believed that Jean's DNA combined with Cyclops' would create the perfect mutant. In one of the realities, he succeeded in creating a clone that became the second most powerful mutant in history.
"I don't care! We have to get into that place now."
Logan, who had his body completely healed, stood up and was about to break through my barrier of light, so I removed it.
"Yes. I recommend you save your friends as quickly as possible, but do so without losing your reason."
(No one wants a new mutant almost above Omega level under Sinister's control.)
"X-Men, Attack!"
When Xavier gave the order, everyone except him and me moved. When they were close to the enemy, a wall of fire emerged from the door behind Sinister, forming a barrier of flames separating the two sides.
"It's been a while, old friend!"
An old and powerful voice was heard, causing Xavier's face to freeze. A man wearing red armor with a helmet covering his face stood beside Sinister.
"Magneto!" exclaimed Xavier.
(And things just got more complicated.)
If Sinister wasn't a threat because of his strength, Magneto is a whole different matter, he's an omega-level mutant.
"Why? Why help someone like him?"
"Even though it pains me to do business with beings like him, I received an offer I couldn't refuse," said Magneto, looking at me.
"Let me guess. You want to kidnap me to somehow get your hands on Genosha's technology to create a safe haven for mutants?"
Even with his face almost completely covered by the helmet, I could still see his astonishment at how easily I uncovered his plans.
"Yes, you are correct. With Genosha's technology, I could dominate any country and create a place of our own for all mutants."
"Even if it means kidnapping the king who gave the order that saved your life and many Jews?"
During World War II, Magneto was imprisoned in a concentration camp that was destroyed by Genosha, all those saved received medical aid and supplies, whereas all those who were in the Nazi army were killed.
"My gratitude to the people of Genosha is unending. I will do whatever is necessary to ensure the safety of my people, even if it means losing my soul," said Magneto, almost mechanically.
(There's something strange about him!)
"Yes, indeed. If I were kidnapped, the ransom would surely be paid. But do you really think you can accomplish that?"
"I am well aware of the difficulty of the task. But the risk is commensurate with the rewards. Pyro, divide them!"
Another man, now wearing red, emerges from the door and with his hands fires two waves of fire that come to life, attacking and separating the X-Men, isolating them away from me and Xavier. Other individuals, whom I judge to be the mutant brotherhood, appear and attack the X-Men, forcing them to distance themselves even further from us. I didn't pay much attention to them since they are irrelevant compared to the two men in front of me.
"Divide and conquer," I say.
"Magneto, please. You don't want to do this."
"It's already done, Charles."
Magneto points his hand at us, and several metal pipes emerge from the ground and speed towards us. Just as I was about to destroy them, a green glow appears and disappears quickly, revealing Amora now in front of us. She creates a magical shield in front of us, protecting us.
"Sorry for the delay, darling, but as always, it's your fault. Do you know how difficult it was to find this place?" My wife says, looking at me.
After spending centuries together, I perfectly understand her illogical behavior in moments like this, the best thing to do is apologize, even if not at fault at all.
"So, the queen also honors us with her presence," Sinister interrupts.
"Was he the one who caused all this confusion?" Amora asks me.
"Yes. But let's find out if he acted alone. Could you take care of Magneto while we have a conversation?"
"Of course."
"I don't relish fighting a woman, however, I will show no mercy in my actions to achieve my goals. Both the king and queen can be used for that purpose."
Amora doesn't respond to Magneto, instead, she slams her staff on the ground, releasing a wave of green energy that causes both Magneto and Amora to vanish from the area.
"Good. Now that everyone is occupied and we're finally alone, could Mr. Sinister answer some of my questions?"
"Of course. Feel free to ask whatever you'd like," he responds with a smile.
"He's only doing this to buy time, Lord Baldur. I need to save my students as soon as possible," Xavier interjects.
Xavier, even in his wheelchair, could indeed save his students, but I doubt that Sinister hasn't prepared a surprise for me since he's still standing there smiling happily in front of me. He's not like my old proud and foolish enemies who think they're more powerful than everyone else, he's a scientist, meticulously planning all his schemes as much as possible.
"We have time, Xavier. Just trust me," I say, trying to reassure him.
Reluctantly, Xavier agrees and remains silent, presumably using his powers to assist his students.
"Well, for my first question, I'm aware that you somehow managed to tamper with the cerebro, but to what extent?"
"Yes, it was a major factor in the execution of my plan. Unfortunately, that machine proved more difficult than expected, so I couldn't use it to achieve my goals outright. Instead, I used it as a tool, I tampered with the results displayed in Genosha, making it appear that mutants were disappearing, a relatively easy task since I only needed to change a single value in the programming. I also made it do so randomly to enhance the perception that mutants were being hunted," he says, proud of his plan.
"But why Genosha? You seem to have various pieces of information about me, so why risk having such a powerful enemy after you?"
"It was indeed a great risk, but I didn't have another choice. The X-Men are truly formidable, and my two targets are genuinely powerful as well. Alone, I wouldn't stand much chance of achieving my plan, so I turned to someone I was sure could subdue my targets. Afterward, it would be a simple matter to retrieve them. Of course, this route has its advantages."
"And what would those be?"
"As you surmised, I gathered information about you for quite some time, even witnessing your battle against the powerful En Sabah Nur. You were undoubtedly perfect research material, but too powerful for me alone to subdue, so I took no action against you. However, in the current events, I decided to take a risk."
(So the mystery of what happened to Apocalypse's body has been revealed, he was stolen by him.)
"So, is that why the Brotherhood is here? To keep the X-Men busy while you work to ensure that I am subdued so you can study me?"
"Correct."
"One more question, this time not about me, but about Xavier. For those two students?"
"I've studied thousands of mutant DNA samples, and of all of them, only those two have a chance of becoming the perfect evolved being."
"But why kidnap them? You could simply remove their DNA to obtain a clone."
(I knew why he took the two, but I don't know why he needs them alive.)
"I'm not looking for a simple clone of the two, I want a perfect fusion of their DNA, which requires more than just a simple sample," Sinister calmly explains.
"And finally, the last question. How did you manage to disrupt my sun?"
"Now, that was a truly difficult feat. Genosha is indeed well-protected, but your intelligence organization's agents enter and leave it frequently. I just needed to kidnap one of them and change my body to be a perfect copy of theirs. Then I simply entered the city, and it was easy to insert a small virus to destabilize the machine to get your attention. Afterward, I retrieved my prize."
With all the information now on the table, Xavier was the most shocked by the extent of the enemy's planning.
"So, is it time? You have me as an enemy, as well as the most powerful telepath on Earth. How do you plan to deal with this?"
"Of course, I foresaw this outcome and took precautions against you, Xavier. On the other hand, I don't need to do anything, as he has so many enemies willing to dispose of him for me."
As his words finish, the entire sky above us turns black, and from the dark clouds, a giant figure appears. A floating head made of gas with sharp teeth like a shark and red eyes that focus solely on Xavier.
If Xavier was surprised by Magneto's appearance before, he's now in a panic.
"Shadow King!"
Xavier screams, his voice trembling with fear.
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