Erik Magnus Lehnsherr aka Magneto (magnus_rises) wrote in xemplify, @ 2008-07-31 01:49:00 |
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Current location: | Xavier Campus |
Entry tags: | § brotherhood, § xaviers, › pre-time change, ⊗ magneto, ⊗ professor x |
Terror Walks the Campus
WHO: Magneto, Professor X
WHAT: Magneto arrives unexpectedly at Xavier's school. They proceed to have a little chat.
NOTES This is a narrative but is open for reactions to Magneto's arrival if people want.
It was no ordinary early morning at Xavier's campus. Inside in special staff sections an alert was going off, security cameras switching to the view from the front door. A series of defensive systems powered up, displaying ready status. In Professor Xavier's office a monitor switched to the security broadcast of the front gate. The computers automatically highlighted the face of the visitor, locking it in glaring red and displaying a prominent readout:
VISITOR IDENTIFIED: Erik Magnus Lehnsherr aka Magneto CODE RED ALERT
Professor X watched the display in surprise for a long second, quickly taking in the view. The facial recognition was right, it was Magneto certainly, emerging from a black sedan and setting his hat upon his head. There was no sign of other Brotherhood members, no sign of the helmet, no sign of attack.
You are quite a surprise, the Professor projected to Magneto mentally, his face still wary. He saw the man in the video feed glance up at the school door, then turn back to shutting the door.
You can imagine I don't place much trust in the phone system, Magneto answered mildly before turning and walking toward the door. Charles saw the security system escalating, and hovered his fingers over the keys.
Paying a social visit, I trust, the Professor asked mildly in return, but still hovering over the security console. In the video feed some children strolled by on the front lawn, glancing at the terrorist but paying him no heed.
Charles, you can see I have come alone, and unprotected. My mind is unprotected, and we both know what you could do to it. Magneto obviously considered this answer enough as he mounted the front steps and waited on the porch.
Charles deactivated the security slider which was ready to lock down the mansion and attempt to subdue the attacker. Erik was right, he had come without his helmet and was vulnerable mentally, as well as to the combined attack of the X-Men and students. The situation was not absent of danger, Magneto was capable of much even facing the entire X-Men, and there was no guarantee this was not a subterfuge. Charles could have plumbed his mind and discovered the truth, but of course he did not. Erik had placed his trust in him, and he would do the same.
Charles quickly wheeled his chair out of his office, determined to reach the door before any hysteria set in. He could tell when news of Magneto's presence had begun to spread as he met students either running toward or away from the door. The professor attempted calming them down as he went, but eventually succumbed to a campus-wide mental broadcast. Please calm down everyone. I am in control of the situation, and I will greet our visitor. That of course would rouse more curiosity in others, but there was nothing to be done.
Charles opened the front door to reveal Magneto standing there in a well-tailored suit of the old continental style he favored. Erik nodded to Charles as he wheeled back out of the way, and Erik stepped into the mansion, removing his hat. Groups of students peered at the scene from hallways and stairs, bringing a wry smile to Magneto's face.
Charles ignored them instead gesturing forward to Magneto. "Let's retire to my office, I'm afraid you have the students worried." Charles had decided not to ban Erik from the campus, but he wasn't about to bury the past and how the man had threatened the professor's students. Magneto simply nodded, smiling and kept pace with Charles, walking quietly, his blue eyes scanning the face of every mutant they passed.
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Magneto sat in the leather armchair Charles offered, and they quickly moved through the cordial ritual of food and drink. Charles sat in his chair opposite a small table with a single flower. Finally a silence filled the room.
"I assume you weren't let out for good behavior," Charles began, raising one eyebrow. He of course had been notified of Magneto's escape, but the two had not seen each other since.
"You know it was only a matter of time before I was free," Magneto answered, sipping at his espresso. "They can't make a jail that can hold us, Charles. They're not strong enough. To stop us they would have to kill us, and they're not strong enough for that either. Their minds or their weapons. We can walk through walls, change shape, possess minds, alter matter. They could have killed me while they had me. You could have, if you didn't want me walking free. But you didn't."
"You know that's not a solution I would consider, Erik," Charles answered with a frown. "I have no wish to kill you, but that doesn't mean I will endorse, or allow, what you did. Remember it was mutants who stopped you, Erik. Not everyone believes in your cause."
Magneto shook his head sadly. "And that is the only way we can be defeated, if we defeat ourselves. You can see they stand no chance against us otherwise, Charles. If you would stop aiding them, stop hesitating and stand with us they would be forced to capitulate."
Now it was Charles's turn to shake his head. "At what price, Erik? You were willing to sacrifice one of my students for your cause. You were willing to sacrifice dozens of world leaders. How many sacrifices until they 'capitulate'? And then what will you demand of them? They have rights just as we do, Erik. We can't expect them to safeguard ours while we threaten theirs."
Magneto leaned forward and set the espresso on the table, his eyes still on his old friend. "You see the students who come here for shelter, Charles. You know of the many who don't make it. What of their sacrifice? How long will you allow the humans to sacrifice us while you talk appeasement?"
"There is a difference between appeasement and assimilation, Erik. My students don't want to rule the earth, they simply want to have normal lives. Yes, there's work to be done. But you are making the work harder. Your brutality pushes them further away. They shouldn't have to kill you to be safe, Erik. You are making them into the monsters you fear."
Magneto leaned back in the chair and spread his hands. "Well, that is why I am here, Charles. I regained my freedom, but I'm not keen to lose it again. I want you to prove to me your conviction, prove to me that there is a political solution, a peaceful solution of coexistence. Show me that the humans share your desires."
Charles raised an eyebrow, watching Erik with interest. "I've been trying to show you for decades, Erik. What proof is it that you want?"
Magneto waved his hand nonchalantly. "I know you have connections with the government. You are the mutant they like to hear. Have them pass the laws, an executive order giving equal rights under the law to mutants. Then I can rest easy. I have no wish to fight longer than I have to."
The two sat in silence for a long moment as Charles studied his friend. "You know I don't have the ability to make anything happen. Politics takes time and will."
"That is your challenge. Give them the will to make it happen. Our people are not going to wait forever, Charles, and more of them will join my cause the longer the humans hesitate. If they cannot show this very simple step of acknowledging our kind, then how can we trust them?"
Charles considered again silently. Erik had him, and he knew it. Charles had to believe that humans and mutants could find a way to coexist. And he was right, this was not asking much at all. But Charles knew it would be politically difficult. Erik must know it too. But what other choice did he have? Erik would keep fighting, and no one could stop him for long. Not without doing what Charles did not want to do.
"I'll try. For an old friend. An old friend who is painting all of us into a corner. I'm sad to say you're becoming a threat to us all, Erik. I can't trust you around my students, they've become tools to you. If this is what can get you to stop, I'll try it." Charles's face looked drawn as he turned away from Erik, wheeling toward the window.
Magneto stood, glancing around the office, before stepping behind Charles and gazing out the same window at the courtyard. "You've created a safe haven here, Charles. But it won't be safe forever. You have students here who could rattle the world. The humans, they won't stand for it in the end."
Charles sighed. "With mutants like you as their reason for fear, Erik."
"You still have Jean here?" Magneto inquired mildly, turning to look down at Charles.
"Yes," Charles answered shortly. "She's our physician here." He turned up to Erik meeting his stare.
"They can't imagine what it's like, Charles, what is evolving before their eyes. Mutants such as her, I'm sure you have others here. When she learns to control her powers she could not be compared with a human."
"Jean *has* learned to control her powers, Erik," Charles replied shortly.
Erik snorted. "If Jean had control of her powers, the whole world would know it, Charles. What you mean is, *you* have control over her powers." Charles said nothing, simply stared. "This is how it is for you, how you play the middle man. You know that you cannot appease the humans without holding the mutants down. You know it in your heart, for all your talk about freedom. You talk about freedom, but you produce it by weighing them down, so that the humans won't have to envy them as they fly." Magneto's smile was cold and bitter.
"How I choose to deal with my students is my business, Erik. You chose a different calling. There's a difference between making someone into a weapon and making them into a person."
"And between making them into a human or letting them be a mutant," Magneto interjected.
"That's enough, Erik," Charles said sharply. "I've agreed to your proposal. I continue to hope that you will eventually choose to win your way through reason, instead of force. But as it stands now, I'm not inclined to take your advice on how to care for my students, or friends."
Charles wheeled suddenly away from the window and toward the door of the office. "I will show you to the door, Erik. I hope that the next time we talk we will have common cause to celebrate."
Magneto turned and followed after Charles, walking beside him down the hallways again, past the staring students. When he finally climbed back into his car and drove himself away, Charles found himself staring after him, and not the only one. To the onlookers it had been a strange and perhaps unsettling morning. For him it was the beginning of a great challenge. Erik knew the task was nigh impossible, but Charles knew the danger if he failed. In the end either Magneto would hurt more people, many more, or Charles would find a way to deal with him, permanently. Charles had to hope this would work, for both of their sakes.