Chojin Patriarch
Veteran Lurker
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(Delayed somewhat by a storm-induced blackout down my way...)
What a juxtaposition between plotlines. OL getting embroiled in messy diplomatic stuff... While Lantern here is trying to navigate the minefield of super-heroic romance. And honestly, I don't know which I prefer more. Lantern's probably causing more butterflies than anyone could predict, though... I shudder to imagine what Cable is thinking.
Ah, Lantern and Magneto? There's an interesting combination of characters. Though I expect Magnus' tolerance of non-mutant supers isn't much higher than his tolerance of regular humans. Which is amusing, given the times he's appeared in other heroes' shows...Earth 534834
8th February 1992
10:28 GMT -6
"Now, okay,-"
There's a whum sound as the steel girder flies past me-
The fun of dealing with someone who has an almost instinctive control of their power, and a very large radius of effect."-I can see-"
-and a screech as it twists and doubles back, attempting to envelop me. I drop down beneath it, creating a bat construct and knocking it for six.
...Rail Guns. It's your own fault, Lantern."-that you're not pleased-"
Shots of rebar come flying at me next, and I briefly consider that maybe I shouldn't have mentioned railguns last time we met. He just seemed so put out that Professor Xavier hadn't turned up that I thought it might… Jolly him up a little.
Ha! I bet he made that change after said previous encounter with Lantern."-to see me, but-."
From behind is full face helmet which now includes a gas mask, Erik Lehnsherr glares at me.
Okay, have you ever actually read a history book more modern than, say, 1960, Maggie?"I will do to you what your forebears once did to the Neanderthals."
…
And he's pulled some crazy applications of that out of his ass before. So it's not unbelievable.That-. Agh! Okay, he distracted me enough that he managed a glancing hit. Guess he hasn't quite got the hang of aiming with his new technique yet.
"Look, I'm sure you're a smashing bloke, but unless your mutation covers a lot more than magnetism that just isn't possible."
Hell, Doctor Doom has a goddamn Time Machine. If he wasn't so focused on stroking his ego and messing with Richards!!, just imagine how he could contribute to historical studies."The extermination of man will not be a swift endeavour, but it will come. History is on our side."
Hang on, I'm in the nineties. Even with all the advanced technology that didn't exist in my nineties, do they not-?
Which is quite a bit younger-looking than his canonical age of... 65-ish? 75 or so? Mutants age damn well."The modern European man is descended from the interbreeding of Neanderthalis and Sapiens. We've both got Neanderthalis genes in us." I smile. "And… While you're a… Perfectly presentable man… For you age… I'm seeing-"
I shoot upwards in the air to evade a large sheet of scrap metal that zooms past me.
That it is. Let's not speak about the romantic teasing between Magneto and Rogue in the comics..."-someone? Ah, Anne-Marie? Rogue? With the green and yellow bodysui-?"
"I remember."
I nod, grinning. "Pretty memorable, isn't it?"
Honestly, that seems like a fun way to conquer humanity. Fuck super-powered punch fights. Just swan around all smoking hot in that skin-tight spandex and watch the men and women drool...He stops attacking, moving his projectiles into an orbit around both me and him. "If a handful of genes are all that remains of their people, then there is little difference between this and utter extermination. If you marry Rogue, then in all likelihood your children will be mutants."
"Could well be. Honestly, I like the idea of my children having superpowers. Sure, some things -like Anne-Marie's power- can create… Problems, but I'm sure that we can work through it. Pax?"
Wouldn't that be a butterfly? Xavier and Magneto working together again."What does Charles want with me?"
"An open, honest and peaceful exchange of views, leading to an agreement concerning the utility and legitimacy of violence in the civil rights struggle and the opening of an ongoing channel of communication."
Not unless he's added a search mode for 'exotic emotional energy signatures' to Cerebro's sensors."And he sent you?"
"No, I'm here for completely different reasons. He doesn't-. I mean, he could be tracking us on Cerebro or something, but I didn't tell him."
Honestly, if you got into more trouble than you could handle, it's not all that hard to leave. Not much can pin a Lantern down when they want to go somewhere...Except that Cerebro is designed to find x-gene mutants and Mr. Lensherr's helmet protects him against that sort of thing. Which.. means that he doesn't know where we are. That wasn't clever of me.
"Then why are you here?"
And as noted before, it wouldn't be the first time he's ruled Genosha, or made a safe homeland for mutant-kind. Though all those occurrences never seem to end well. Either he fouls it up by being all Super-Villainy about it, or someone else ends up doing it."Did you see the adverts for Genosha?" I think he nods. The helmet makes it a little hard to tell. "Long story short, it was a trap to lure in people with super powers there for them to enslave." Several pieces of metal crumple. "Not sure if it would have worked, because I don't think other countries would tolerate them doing that to their citizens, but the X-Men dealt with it anyway. So there are a lot of mutants who don't really have anywhere else to go on the island, and… I was just wondering if you wanted to take a look at the place? See if you can make separate but equal work? There's a bit of a leadership vacuum at the moment."
Old politics... But that's mostly because the European powers and America stuck their beak into the Middle East again. And we all know how well that always goes..."A homeland for mutants. I had considered the idea before."
"Ah… More a place of refuge for people with the x-gene in places where they're being oppressed. I mean… I know that having a homeland for Jews hasn't exactly encouraged peace and good will since World War Two, but-."
Now see, there's an issue with that. Mostly 'writers can't get politics right...' But in this universe, there's bound to be all manner of antagonising factors..."Given that Senator Kelly intends to place all mutants in America in internment camps should he win the next presidential election, we may need it sooner than later."
"You.. do realise that even if he gets elected, he wouldn't have the authority to do that, right? It would be completely unconstitutional. Whether people with the x-gene are treated like other people with super powers or as a new species of human, there's no legal grounds-."
Hey, they only did that once... Didn't they? ...Oh, right."You will find that means very little when people are afraid."
I smile. "Good show! As a British person, I thoroughly look forward to seeing Americans take up arms against a tyrannous government that isn't mine."
To be fair, it probably was a hell of a time... A young nation still trying to find its footing, while swinging its big stick trying to establish an international reputation... Of course someone's gonna take exception that that."You would fight your own kind?"
"Sometimes, in the face of evil, you have to plead the second. The United States has a constitution that guarantees its citizens certain consideration. If that's ignored, then there's no reason for the citizens to take any notice of any of the laws empowering the people who violate it. And this time I'm not letting the Canadians have all the fun."
Free speech, after all. You can say what you like, but that doesn't stop someone else from having their say in response. Though if they do it violently, well..."Then why not deal with him before the election?"
"Because at the moment all he's done is be a mouthy git, and that's not worth killing someone over. Even if he tries to pass those laws, I'm not going to condemn the whole system unless it actually gets approved."
Lucky Magneto had calmed down. If his ring had blinked off like that during the initial exchange of greetings..."And when it does?"
"They can take Anne-Marie to an interment camp over my cold dead body. Ah, before we drown in negativity, I… Did have something else I wanted to talk to you about."
Sadly, the super-hero community of the Marvel universe isn't as interconnected as the DC universe is."What is it?"
"It's… It's a bit awkward. I… None of my friends are married. In fact, the only person I've exchanged more than a few sentences with who even.. was-."
...Technically, four. But the one you're not counting is probably something of a sore spot for Maggie, even today..."Are you-? Coming to me for marital advice?"
"You have three children. Presumably, you did something right."
Not that that's stopped the comics flip-flopping on that fact for decades...The floating pieces of metal stop.
"Three-. What are you talking about? I only have one child, and I sired her for the purpose of creating a strong mutant. My relationship with her mother was purely transactional."
...Let's hope he doesn't come on too strong when he goes looking for them. Especially Wanda, if she's working with Tony Stark right now...What? Does he not-?
Oh, sugar. I guess… That hasn't happened yet. As far as I know, neither Pietro nor Wander Maximoff were ever members of the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants, so-. Oh, he didn't know.
Ah, if only he'd coined his catchphrase here. Say it with me: 'Power Rings are awesome.'
Ah, so Wanda hasn't joined Force Works yet. (And what is with that name? Seriously, 90's...)"The ring can scan genes. I don't even need a blood sample. Ah. I didn't-. I've no idea what Magda Lensherr's genes look like, but there are two mutants in Europe who have half your DNA. Sorry, I didn't realise that you didn't know."
He considers that for several moments.
A bit older than they were in the comics when Magneto met them, if I remember right... It wasn't really declared outright, after all...
Heh. Bit of a mood, learning you have kids you didn't know about out there..."That would-." Pieces of metal start dropping out of the air as distraction takes hold. "If-."
He turns away, waving his right arm.
To be fair, you won't know if he'll stay bought until the wedding..."Leave me. I must consider what you have said."
Well. Cheaper than Mr. Creed, at least.
What a juxtaposition between plotlines. OL getting embroiled in messy diplomatic stuff... While Lantern here is trying to navigate the minefield of super-heroic romance. And honestly, I don't know which I prefer more. Lantern's probably causing more butterflies than anyone could predict, though... I shudder to imagine what Cable is thinking.
From behind his full face helmet...
Perfectly presentable man… For your age… I'm seeing-"