February 17th, 2021 - 9:50 AM
Outside the Mutant Underground HQ -
It was hard to gauge Magneto's expression due to his helmet. It casted shadow on the majority of his face. Toad and the well dressed gentleman seemed to have gone into some sort of quiet argument, as Toad leaned on him for balance and the gentleman tried to shake his fellow mutant off of him. Pyro was casually juggling fireballs and the last male member of the Brotherhood looked bored. Mystique had shifted back into her natural blue form.
"It's been five minutes. We should get started," she said.
"Yes. Avalanche, if you wouldn't mind," Magneto said, before looking back at the Brotherhood. The man wearing the steel armor knelt down to the ground. He splayed out his fingers and touched the earth covering the Mutant Underground. Suddenly, like a shockwave, a massive earthquake erupted. The Mutant Underground wasn't in horrible condition, but the seismic event was enough to bury anyone inside alive if they didn't evacuate soon. The trembling would knock Glimpse down to the ground completely, forcing her onto her stomach rather than her hands and knees.
Magneto didn't need to invade the Mutant Underground to find Polaris. He was going to force them to bring her to him.
Second Floor of the Mutant Underground HQ -
"I know that!" Havok snapped defensively, although if he were being honest, he hadn't really given it much thought. He had just been focused on keeping Polaris unconscious and safe, he hadn't considered whether or not his strategy could prove to be just as harmful. She seemed fine though. He discretely put a hand on her wrist to check her pulse, finding that it felt about normal. He wasn't a doctor, so he wasn't sure, but he was fairly certain. "She has a pulse, see? She's fine!" he complained, glaring daggers at Echo.
He didn't like Echo's line of reasoning at all. "One, I'm not pussywhipped. You wish that you'd have as much pussy as I do," he bragged. "Two, we don't negotiate with terrorists! If we give Polaris over to Magneto, he's going to make her into his puppet. He's a world class asshole and she'll be better off without him. And lastly, the plan is to kick Magneto's ass. He's getting old, he lost to the rookie X-Men team Xavier put together last year and they were basically untrained kids. We've got me, and I guess the rest of you aren't awful at combat."
The ceiling then collapsed like a cave in. Havok was quick on the draw, sending off a blast of energy at the largest chunk. Polaris was completely unscathed, but poor Echo ended up taking a large chunk of debris to the head. The entire building was shaking profusely, like the worst earthquake in history had descended on them. "Avalanche. Fuck."
Casper Theriot
Location: Mutant Underground: Dining Room -> Entranceway
Skills: Mediumship
He looked around the room quickly for weapons they could use to fight with. He found three wooden serving spoons and he grabbed them. "Are you old enough to use one of these?" he asked. Andy had left the room, so he tossed one of the wooden spoons over to Zarina, before realizing that he had Ben. He didn't need a spoon to protect himself. He then tossed the other two at her, given her the option of having a spare and dual wielding. "The trick is to whack them in the balls. People hate being hit in the balls, but it's effective. Remember that for prom, okay?"
Suddenly, everything around them was shaking. The ceiling was slowly falling apart, bits of tile and whatnot plunging down towards them. The metallic objects in the room had fallen back down to the ground, so clearly Magneto must have shut off the magnetism for the moment. "Am I tripping or is this an earthquake?" Casper asked.
"It's real, you idiot!" Ben snapped. Casper was on his last nerve.
"Fuck," he groaned. Casper grabbed Zarina by the arm and went off at a run with her. Once he left the dining room, he bumped into Andy and he grabbed onto her with his other hand. "Come on, up we go, trust me it's better to fight Magneto than to be buried alive."
Veil
Location: Outside Jack's Office Building
Skills: N/A
"I'm going to give you one last chance to tell us everything that happened last night," Veil decided, looking steadily at Jack. "I don't give second chances lightly, so I recommend talking." A few people from inside the building had pulled their curtains back, gawking down at the scene occurring outside. They must have seen Max's rip in the fabric of reality that had taken him and Sunshine away - that or the shimmering purple force of Veil's force field. They didn't have much time until the cops were called or worse, Purifiers would show up on the scene.
Veil was gambling that they'd be able to resolve this soon and fast. Otherwise, things could go south quickly.
Sunshine didn't know how to swim. She had lived in the city almost her entire life, aside from the one brief time she and her found family had lived in a summer camp during the winter season. She gasped for air, sucking in copious amounts of seawater into her lungs. She instinctively started trying to cough it out, to rid herself of the nauseating taste of saltwater. She flailed her limbs, kicking in a desperate attempt to get back above the water. She hardly registered Max grabbing her securely and pulling her out, as he floated them up into the air, dangling precariously over the ocean surface.
She was coughing profusely, water coming out of her mouth rapidly until her lungs were clear again. "There's something wrong with you, you just tried to drown me!" Sunshine snapped. She was clinging to Max for dear life however, knowing that her odds were horrible if he let her drop back into the ocean. The sun was blaring down on them and Sunshine scraped her teeth along her tongue, trying to get rid of the ocean taste.
About 300 meters away was an island. It was lush with vegetation, but what immediately stood out was what looked like an elaborate palace complex. Several statues, easily the size of the Statue of Liberty, depicted cryptid-looking monsters. Most of them had tentacles, reminiscent perhaps of the kraken. The entire island radiated evil and mystery, as if some ancient evil had transpired here. The veil between life and death was thinner as well.