Feral Saga Chapter 18 - Magneto's Finale (Part 2)

by Nyssa

A Marvel X-Men Fanfiction starring Wolverine and Jean Grey

Author‘s Note:

So many things are coming together in this issue and I hope all of you find it satisfying. Speaking of satisfaction, this will be one of the few chapters with no explicit sex. It’s also one of the shorter chapters (probably as a direct result of not having explicit sex). The next issue is already written and just needs a few tweaks, so it will be out soon. Thanks for still giving this weird story a chance. Once again, I‘d like to thank my proofreaders. Gabi (Xtrim), in particular, has been a huge help, but I have been blessed with several more (anonymous) reviewers and I thank them as well.

August 20, 2020 - I made some minor edits to the story and am posting them all at once.

Here‘s a wiki you can use if you‘re really lost: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/X-Men

© Nyssa 2020

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Victory belongs to the player who makes the next-to-last mistake.

• James Patterson, Cat & Mouse

 

“Charles, just get back to Cerebro with Mystique and be ready,” instructed Logan.

“Logan, what will you do?” asked Charles.

“The unexpected,” she said.

“You don’t actually have a plan, do you?” asked Beast.

“I’m workin’ on it,” she said as she left the Admiral’s office. “And Chuck, Hank’s gonna need a ride. I’m takin’ the jet.”

>>X<<

“Sir, are you quite sure all these precautions are necessary?” asked IC as the two of them entered the abandoned warehouse.

“My dear boy, right now every action we take must have several contingency plans,” said Magneto. “If Charles is able to detect my presence now that I don’t have my helmet, he can incapacitate me and everything falls apart. It is the one contingency I can’t effectively plan for… Well, that and losing you.”

“Just seems so extreme,” replied IC as they entered the large, echoing middle of the building. Three bright shafts of sunlight streaming through broken slats boarding up some of the upper windows were the only illumination. The edges of the huge room were cloaked in shadow and a fine dust that had settled over every surface seemed to muffle even the echoes.

Magneto, striding with his usual confidence, suddenly paused and raised his left hand just before a crossbow bolt seemed to appear in his right shoulder. He looked down in astonishment at the invading metal. “How… it’s…” He moved his left hand and tried to use his powers to force the bolt from his shoulder, but it didn’t even quiver.

IC crashed into him driving him to the ground.

Magneto saw that another bolt was embedded in the floor just beyond where he had been standing. He looked up into the upper reaches of the huge room. “Move,” he yelled, pushing IC from their spot on the floor toward the edges of the room. Two throwing stars whistled through the air toward them, along the path of their desperate scrambling. IC was struck by one on his leg, but Magneto surged forward even harder, the pain from his shoulder lancing down his arm with each movement.

“Do not hesitate or we’re dead,” yelled Magneto. The panic, pain, and adrenaline had his heart racing and his breathing ragged. The fact that he could be attacked by metal had him stunned. Just as they reached the shadows and Magneto could no longer see well enough to be certain he wasn’t about to blunder into something, he snatched at any nearby metal and formed it into a mass between their position and where he felt the shots had come from.

IC was shaking and ready to bolt. Magneto had to warp the makeshift shield to keep him from running off and likely being picked off.

Two more throwing stars struck the curve of the shielding that Magneto had used to keep IC in place. He could just barely feel them whistling toward them, as he had with the initial crossbow shot. He felt these were curving shots, intended to confuse and panic. The crossbow bolts were the real threat.

“How can this be?” wondered Magneto frantically. “The bolt in my shoulder, the stars, are clearly metal! How is it I cannot affect them?” He reached out with his powers in the direction the bolts seemed to be coming from, but there was too much metal and nothing like a crossbow that he could sense. He had to terminate this assailant, and soon.

A new pair of stars whistled through the air. They were seemingly coming from everywhere. One star entered the area where Magneto and IC were cowering from each side. IC was hit in the shoulder and cried out.

Magneto knew it was only a matter of time before IC tried to run again and he could not afford to lose him. He desperately yanked at any metal near where he thought the stars may have come from. The echoing sounds of clanging and crashing throughout the building was the result. Magneto then waited as the echoes died down, hoping for a groan or the sound of a falling body.

He sensed the crossbow bolt just as it slashed the top of his thigh, opening a deep wound. He grasped the edges in pain. IC started blubbering in fear.

Magneto began to rip every piece of metal he could sense into sharp edges, but his concentration was compromised. Shards of steel and iron flew haphazardly about the warehouse.

Logan dodged and hid as silently as she could. A cluster of jagged pieces of steel flew at her unexpectedly, too large to completely avoid. The razor-sharp edges shredded a patch of her uniform over her left ribs and left an array of lacerations in the skin. She bit down on the pain to keep from making a sound.

“If he finds the crossbow and my targeting system, then this is all over,” she thought. There was very little metal in it and it was well hidden behind the Adamantium of the crossbow chassis and some steel girders. “I hope it’s hidden well enough. Of course, if he finds me, I’m even more screwed.” She sent two more hira-shuriken into the area behind Magneto’s metal barricade. He jumped as they hit the floor and once again IC nearly scrambled away. “Damn it, move!” She needed to keep him off-balance and get him to make a mistake.

The iron rebar reinforcing the cement floor suddenly exploded out as Logan ran to her next attack position. Twisting in midair, she tried to avoid the spike-like protrusion, but one speared her left calf muscle. The pain exploded up her leg, but she was able to grab two of the flailing pieces of iron and somersault over to a smooth patch. She pressed her back to the wall to catch her breath and wait for the wound to stitch back up. But her respite was not to be. More metal flew through the area and she had to dodge a several hundred-pound girder that crashed through the wall she was standing in front of. She needed to find a way to end this. She settled on the desperate plan that she had hoped she would not need.

Magneto saw a sheet of highly reflective metal in a corner. He lifted it up into the beams of sunlight and caused it to slowly rotate, bathing the warehouse in light. He stopped the flight of his metal shards and the thrashing and smashing of the metal objects hurtling into every corner above him and waited. After a few seconds, there was only the sound of IC’s blubbering. He waited until he was certain there was no hint that someone had survived. Cautiously, and under the cover of a metal shield, he stood on his good leg and peered out into the shadows not revealed by his spinning mirrored metal.

He heard the whistling of two more stars before he sensed them. Diving back under cover, he was just in time to catch IC by his heel as he tried to run off. “Wait! You will not survive out there! And I am not done fighting yet.”

Magneto reached out with his powers, seeking any metal that seemed out of place.

Yes, there it was!

“I recognize that wonderful metal in your skeleton,” he called out.

Logan appeared in midair as she was yanked from her hiding place several stories up from the floor where Magneto and IC stood. She was lifted into the beams of sunlight until she was revealed, snarling, and yet frozen in place, the sunlight flashing off her extended claws and making the sweat covering her exposed skin seem to sparkle. Magneto held his left hand up as if gripping her. “You know, I don’t believe much is left of your original skeleton from the looks of you. My, my, aren’t you a delightful creature?” he said as he lowered her towards him.

“You might want to hold it right there bub,” said Logan.

“Such a wonderful contralto you have acquired. And why should I stop?” Despite the question, he did stop Logan from descending any further.

“Because I’m holding a deadman switch. Don’t bother trying to affect it, there’s nothing in it you can control. Pretty nifty new metal, ain’t it? Move me another 10 feet and the building goes up. Or, you could force me to let go… I’d probably survive, but you wouldn’t.”

“Yes… How ironic that I should be betrayed by metal,” he said. At that moment a beep sounded from a small metal box on Magneto’s chest and a light on it began to flash. He looked at it with alarm. “Charles and that infernal machine…” he muttered.

“Sir, there’s no time…” whispered IC as he motioned with his head towards the way they had come in.

To IC, Magneto said, “Her hearing is quite good. No need to whisper.”

Then, to Logan, he said, “Very well, I acknowledge your Check. But while it is not Checkmate, this game of yours boors me. I assume Mystique is already in your hands. Good day.” And he turned to leave.

“The jet you came in on is well within the blast range and you know you have to be close to me in order to immobilize me.”

“So the Wolverine is the one setting traps now?”

“I go by Feral these days,” she said.

“Do you now? I’m certain Sabretooth would agree that’s a very appropriate appellation. I never did understand his babbling and raving about you, but I must say, you do live up to your billing. Very well,” he said. “You seem intent on having a conversation. What is it you wish to say?”

“We know your plan and have already countered your pretend counter-virus.”

Magneto looked to IC, who shrugged. “Could be,” said IC.

The interval between the beeping and flashing of the box on Magneto’s chest was getting shorter and there was a lot of blood seeping from the crossbow bolt in his shoulder. He was also having trouble standing on the leg that had been slashed by the crossbow bolt. Despite the worried look he shared with IC, Magneto confidently responded, “Do you expect me to explain everything to you now? Fill in some blank in your knowledge? Or simply surrender? What exactly is your plan?”

“Jean,” thought Logan desperately, “how’s it going? I could use an assist. He’s not wearing his helmet; can Charles put him down?”

“He can read you Lolo,” responded Jean. “Lolo, I think Charles is on the verge of collapse. All of this… I don’t think he’s slept in days.”

“Logan,” responded Charles as if he didn’t really have time to talk, “if I don’t unscramble whatever defense he has, I could kill him.”

“Chuck, this is no time to worry about old friendships.” Even in her mind, it sounded like she was snarling.

“I’m not. I admit I don’t want to kill Erik, but it’s more about what we don’t know about his plans. If he dies here, then we will have no idea what contingency plan might go into effect.”

“I think I’d rather take my chances… and I don’t think he knows you could kill him or he wouldn’t be here. He thinks that little box he’s wearing, just like the crew that attacked the school, is all the protection he needs. Although he does seem pretty worried about you, so keep it up if you’re not gonna just kill him.” Logan then responded to Magneto, “OK then just tell me why you sic’ed Neuron Nut on me.”

“My dear, as much as I am enjoying this transformation of yours, I didn’t sic Neural Net on you. Sabretooth, now he was my responsibility, and I am quite ashamed of his performance. His atrocious behavior cut me to the quick.”

“Oh, I plan to see to that personally,” said Logan with an evil smile.

“But if you already know my plans, why ask?”

“Look, I know it was Sinister, but I’m sure it’s no coincidence that it was during your plans, so I’m betting you coordinated. What does he want from me?”

“I would assume your purebred progeny. And further, I would conjecture that he will move heaven and earth to acquire them.”

Logan was stunned by this admission.

“Sorry,” said Magneto, “but this stand-off is at an end. And since you were going to blow up this building anyway, allow me to take care of its destruction for you…”

Suddenly huge pieces of metal flew towards Logan. One of them wrapped around her hand that was holding the deadman switch, immobilizing it so that she couldn’t let go. A tube formed around the line running from her hand. The rest warped into a rough ball around her as a mound grew from the floor to hold it in place. As Magneto turned and began to walk back the way he had come, more metal girders, scraps, desks, and sheeting flew into place forming a huge barricade that followed Magneto and IC as they moved back to their jet. Magneto was clearly favoring his right leg and shoulder and appeared weak.

“Jean, I have an idea. Can you get it from my mind and relay it to Hank?”

Seeing Magneto struggle, and even with his own leg causing him to limp, IC moved to support his leader, but then suddenly fell against him with an anguished cry. Magneto turned to IC and saw the crossbow bolt sticking out of IC’s back. “IC, no! I need you.” Magneto held IC for a moment, but then looked back with rage at Logan, who smirked from between her crossed claws through a small gap in the ball of metal just before it closed.

“Tell Hank he missed, but based on the way Magneto reacted, it might have been the better target,” thought Logan.

“He’s still going on and on about the remote targeting system you set up,” said Jean. “What are you going to do?”

“As soon as he’s far enough away from me, I’m gonna carve my way to him. How much longer before Rogue gets here?”

“Five minutes,” said Jean.

“Might be all over by then.”

“Sir,” said IC weakly, “there’s no time left. If Xavier breaks through and puts you down… We have to get you to Coma.”

Magneto took a moment but nodded. He pulled over a stainless steel table that had seen better days and placed IC on it, levitating it next to him as he made his way back to the jet. They were met there by a young, dark-haired girl of maybe eighteen or nineteen years old.

“I heard such noises and… you are hurt!” She spoke with a faint Greek accent.

“Coma,” said IC from the table, sounding exhausted. “You have to put him under. And put a new scrambler on him before you wake him up.”

“Just a moment,” said Magneto as he seemed to scan the surrounding area. “Where did you hide it?” he muttered to himself. “Ah yes, clever girl hiding a stone among stones.”

Across the street, a crunching noise could be heard from inside one of the multi-level parking garages.

“I’m ready,” pronounced Magneto. “Come IC, we’ll both need to be in the med unit for this. I doubt Coma can carry either of us.”

“No,” said IC. “You need to leave me behind.” He was pale and wheezing heavily.

“Dear boy, I will do no such thing. We must get you to safety and medical attention. I need you,” said Magneto.

A howling and the sound of rending metal came from inside the building. Magneto seemed to wince. “The metal of her skeleton is not like iron or steel, so I don’t know how much longer I can hold that hand closed nor her immobilized. There’s no time for theatrics.” The beeping and the flashing of his scrambler were nearly constant.

“Sir, there’s only one med unit on board,” said IC, shaking his head. “I’m sorry... missed that contingency…”

“Shh, dear boy. Then you shall have the unit. I can make it. This isn’t a mortal wound.”

IC shook his head again, he seemed to gather as much energy as he could. “No sir. Coma needs to put you down to hide you from Xavier, and when she does you will need the med unit. Without it, you will die. And we need you. All the mutant children of the world need you. Children like me, and Fidélité, and Einfluss. Those who are hated and hunted… it needs to stop. You can make them stop.”

Magneto sighed and nodded “I will find a way IC. Your countryman said, ‘It is a far, far better thing that I do, than I have ever done; it is a far, far better rest that I go to, than I have ever known.’ and I pray I can make that true for you because I have no contingency plan for losing you.” Magneto’s voice was thick with emotion and exhaustion. “Thank you for your faith and your loyalty.”

“Coma,” said IC solemnly. “you need to put me under.”

“No IC,” she said, shaking her head so that her dark, curly tresses swung against her back. “You cannot last long in your condition, and if I am not here to bring you out of the coma you will never awake.”

“I’m not going to wake anyway. And if I’m awake when the X-Men get here, it will put everything at risk. But maybe I can be a distraction. If they think they can get something from me, but they can’t…” This last was said with flecks of blood on his lips.

“Very well,” said Coma. Tears filled her eyes as her hand glowed, and she touched his forehead. He slumped as if something vital had left his body. With tears now falling from her eyes, she turned to Magneto. “Come, sir. Let’s get you out of here.”

With a ferocious cry, Logan’s katana blade sliced through the last of the metal forming the ball around her. Using the claw of her hand still encased in metal, she grabbed the sharp edges and threw the metal scrap to the side. Moving clumsily as she fought against Magneto’s control, she suddenly felt him release her. Only the metal wrapped around her hand remained. She pulled one of her daggers and wedged it into the spot where the metal met her wrist as she ran down the corridor. With a thick flow of blood, she cut the metal from her hand and flung the fake deadman switch to the side. As she emerged at top speed from the building, she just caught sight of the jet as it cloaked.

“Logan, he’s gone,” said Charles.

“Yeah, I see that. Are you tracking him?” she asked.

“No, I mean that he has completely disappeared from my senses. I do not sense his mind at all and Cerebro does not register his powers,” said Charles solemnly. “I do not believe he survived.”

“I’m not buyin’ it,” thought Logan back to Charles.

“Hank,” she said into her comm unit. “Can you track his jet? There can’t be too many jets that low over Washington; it’s not allowed.”

“Yes, you are correct,” said Hank. “However, I do not have access to any tracking. I was patched into the X-jet, but something dire seems to have happened to the X-jet. It is not functioning.”

“Can Ah help?” asked Rogue as she settled to the ground. “Looks like Ah missed the party after all.”

Logan sighed and shook her head. “No, Rogue. There’s no telling which way he went. But I might need a lift, I think my ride might have been totaled.”

Charles, sounding utterly exhausted but determined, said, “Logan, if he did survive, he may be able to inject a new virus to reclaim his control over the nuclear arsenals. I fear this encounter may have been our last chance to stop him and the next time the computer virus he will unleash will not be so easy to counter.”

Logan looked down at the motionless body of IC. “Somehow, I don’t think so Chuck. I think he left his computer expert behind, but I don’t think this guy’s gonna be doing any more hacking. Whatever Magneto’s next move is, I don’t think it’s going viral.”

>>X<<

That night saw a celebration at Charles Xavier’s School for Gifted Youngsters. Jean had just joined Kitty, who was busy wolfing down a rather large piece of cake. Jean, however, just had a glass of white wine.

“Hi Kitty! I think I see everyone here except Bobby. Have you seen him?”

“No,” said Kitty while finishing her chewing. “I hardly see him at all lately. He just stays in his room all the time. The other day I did see him come out, but then Lolo and Scott walked by and Lolo waved to him and said hello and suddenly he was rushing back into his room. I have no idea what he does in there all day and even Lolo couldn’t get him to say ‘Hi’ or anything, which is weird, because I always want to talk to her. I mean, that thing with the fake deadman switch? How did she know she could bluff Magneto like that? What if Magneto just ripped her apart? Can he do that?”

Jean laughed a little as Kitty paused for a moment. “Is there coffee in that cake? But seriously, she just needed something that would make him pause until she could get some backup.”

“Well, why weren’t we all there to ambush him?”

Jean shook her head. “Lolo was worried that Magneto might have someone watching the mansion. If we all suddenly flew off, it’d probably have been reported to Magneto and we’d have lost the chance. The hope was that we could at least get Rogue down there in time to help out.”

“Well then why not just send Rogue ahead of time?”

“Lolo felt like Magneto would be watching for Rogue and Storm more than anyone else. So she held them back. It almost worked. Or maybe it did, we don’t even know if he’s alive.”

“I think he’s too mean, or too crazy to die,” said Kitty.

Kitty looked over into the Professor’s study and saw Logan speaking with the Professor. Logan’s head was down and she didn’t look happy. “Jean, do you know why Lolo looks so sad? She’s in with the Professor.”

Jean turned to look and said, “It’s probably because Charles is telling her that she still needs to go into hiding. Sinister will definitely come for the baby and Hank says she needs to avoid serious injury like she usually gets when she’s in a battle. He says she shouldn’t risk having her healing factor have to decide between her pregnancy and healing her in a fight. But I don’t think she’s happy about it.”

“Has she talked to Don yet?”

“No, she still has to find him. She says he’s probably having a grand old time with some swimsuit model in Rio. She says they’re everywhere. But I don’t think that man would dare give up on Lolo. And who says ‘grand old time’ anyway?”

“Poor Lolo. Hey, I’m still gonna get to go with you to see her all the time, right?”

“Of course Kitty,” said Jean, putting her hand on Kitty’s shoulder. “We’re all going to get Lolo through this pregnancy. And the baby’s going to need a favorite Auntie.”

“When Dr. McCoy told me who turned out to be the father, I was totally buggin’,” she said, staring at Jean with wild eyes. “I mean, that’s crazy!”

 

HAS LOGAN ACCIDENTALLY FOUND THE KEY WEAKNESS IN MAGNETO’S PLANS - THE CRITICAL ROLE OF IC? AND WHAT OF MR. SINISTER AND HIS PLANS FOR THE BABY? HOW CAN LOGAN AND THE X-MEN KEEP THE CHILD OUT OF HIS EVIL CLUTCHES? FIND OUT IN OUR NEXT ISSUE OF THE FERAL SAGA!

 

According to Merriam-Webster, cheese is a food consisting of the coagulated, compressed, and usually ripened curd of milk separated from the whey. Of course, the question I get asked most about my brand of cheese isn’t about whey, it’s about ‘why’.

End Note:

Kudos are always welcome, but I really do want to know what you think of the story, so please comment. It doesn't have to be positive but if you have a correction, a PM would be more appropriate than a comment, so we don't bore everyone else with trivialities. If you are upset that this story contained violence, graphic sex, non-consensual actions, or mind control even after all my warnings and flags then I can't help you. If you want to demonstrate your superior knowledge of all things X-Men, please save it and just make lots of smug faces as you read my egregious errors. I'm here to have some fun and I hope I have provided you with some as well. ‘Nuff said. Until next time - Excelsior!