Erik Magnus Lehnsherr (master_magnus) wrote in oh_marvelous, @ 2012-06-06 17:46:00 |
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Waiting for catastrophes, imagine when they scare me-
Characters: Magneto, Justin, Bobbi
Setting: Hammer's lab in Queens then Genosha
Content: Violence?
Summary: Despite his personal feelings towards humans, Magneto needs some fresh minds to tackle this whole zombie virus problem. So he's kidnapping them.
An apartment. Magnus had never dreamed he’d find himself living in an apartment, even if it was one of the better ones Genosha had to offer. It was Raven’s, actually, and he’d taken up residence there since they’d returned to Genosha with her monstrous son to find his own home in ruins. He had been here for over a week, going out daily to the laboratories to see the progress of the cure he’d set the best and brightest on the island to making since their return. This was a task that consumed him now and, if he shirked in his duties to sulk, he need only get a look from Raven to ensure he’d be back on track. Petty grumblings and moping about anything were, apparently, forbidden in the presence of a woman whose son’s life was at stake and so Magnus had given up on that rather early on.
Of course he’d been enraged in the beginning, but anger could only burn on for so long without fuel- in this case, an explanation. Finding one had been momentously difficult because there had been no witnesses (he’d sent his staff away months before to reduce his chances of contamination in the event that the virus did spread over the island) and his guards were mysteriously absent. By the time he’d tracked most of them down- the others having gone into hiding or fled- and pieced together the story he could hardly be bothered to care. Yes, it was a loss, all his possessions gone, but this certainly wasn’t the first time he’d started from nothing. His foray out to find Mystique’s children had showed him there was rather no point in worrying about possessions when there might not be a world later to put them in. Hence, his sudden interest in a cure he previously hadn't given half a thought to. He'd expected to wait this out and then- well, clearly he hadn't given that enough thought.
Admittedly, he’d been rather clueless to the true extent of the state of affairs in the world, despite his son’s warnings. The condition of Kurt Wagner put things into perspective. Under normal circumstances he would have struck swiftly in revenge for the manor but these were not normal circumstances and his daughter was simply throwing a tantrum. Stupid girl. If she’d wanted to really show her hand she could have at least had the gumption to kill someone. Weak willed and cowardly as ever, she couldn’t even manage that. As for Pietro, well, he’d only been a bonus and Magnus hadn’t even known what he intended to do with him beyond goad the Avengers because they had Raven and clearly he’d succeeded in that goal. If they’d been mistaken to doubt what he would do to secure Mystique then he’d made the same grievous error to doubt what they, and particularly Wanda, would do to regain Pietro. After his decimation of their home he couldn’t deny the quid pro quo or karma or whatever one cared to call it, at work here. He had to simply write it off for now, it would be a waste of valuable time to do otherwise- perhaps later, if there was a later, he might seek out retribution. For now there were more dire matters to attend to and far more at stake than his pride and a pile of broken bricks.
The cells beneath his former home were, thankfully, untouched. That had rather been the point, though, when he’d had them created; to keep those inside from interfering with the world far above and vice versa. Nice to see at least some craftsmanship stood up against the whims of hysterical idiocy. It was here that they placed Kurt, in spite of Raven’s protests. and Magnus assured her that it was the safest place for her son. Not only would it protect the people of Genosha from him (“Honestly, dear, imagine the havoc a teleporting zombie could wreak. We wouldn’t even get the chance to save him before he’d turned us all”) but protect him from the Genoshans. All of his stringent measures of security had been, Magnus promised, for their safety so he hardly cared to face their ire if they found out he was keeping one of the infected on the island.
Though the cells were unharmed the same could not be said for the Brotherhood guards who had been in charge of them when Quicksilver escaped. The zombified mutant in the cells and Pietro’s words about the fate of mutant kind proved that Magnus needed every man he could get and thus, most disappointingly, he was forced to spare their lives and their punishments were hardly severe by his usual standards. Half of them could still walk afterwards. A pity, but what could he do? If mutants were dropping like flies the world over then the ones here were a commodity, particularly the ones loyal to him.
Once a new temporary home had been secured and he’d sorted out what needed sorting with the guards and the loss of the manor, he’d buckled down to find the cure the world was apparently so desperately in need of, sure that his people could succeed where human scientists the world over were failing. A week in and Magnus was already on the verge of admitting he was wrong. They had their powers, which were unimaginable tools, but not the proper equipment or knowledge to utilize them for this purpose. Genosha had its scientists, but not enough, and those were lacking in the necessary understanding of this particular virus and how it worked. What they needed was information and Magnus finally came to the conclusion that they would, unfortunately, have to outsource. He didn’t want to bring in humans but desperate times called for desperate measures and he could always kill them when he was finished.
Kidnapping anyone would be laughably easy, the question was- who? The Avengers would wear him down trying to get any of them and Stark- the only one who could really offer any insight- would, he expected, be the most likely to muck things up on purpose. S.H.I.E.L.D. offered any number of potential victims but they, too, had some warped sense of duty that might keep them from doing their best. He would run into the same problem with the Fantastic Four or X-men or any other great minds working for the supposed good of humanity. What he needed was someone without moral qualm, more concerned with their own well being than with what was “right” or “noble” (rather relative terms in the first place). What Magnus needed was a sell out. He had just the man in mind.