[1 week ago] [Temporary NY base]
The room was illuminated only by the glow of overlapping holographic projections. A dozen feeds ran simultaneously across the large screen on the wall, each tracking enhanced individuals throughout the country. Tony stood alone, arms crossed, his eyes fixed on a single file.
Rogue.
Her location pinged from the Xavier School every few hours. Tony knew everything about her thanks to his past life's memories. Rogue's power was OP, but dangerous. And if he isn't wrong, she'll come for the cure, and Magneto won't let that chance go to waste. He'll try to get her on the way.
Magneto wouldn't risk himself to power the mutation pulse. He'd make Rogue absorb his power and then use her to power up the machine.
Tony turned to the terminal and activated a secondary surveillance net and placed enough clocked drones around her to protect her from all harm.
[Present time] [Bus to NY]
Rogue sat by the window, her gloved hands resting in her lap, her backpack tucked at her feet. Her reflection drifted across the glass, soft and uncertain, just like her thoughts. She had told no one where she was going. It wasn't betrayal, she told herself. It was survival. She needed this.
She had memorized every step: arrive tonight, check into a hotel, show up at the S.H.I.E.L.D. base first thing in the morning, take the cure, and walk away with her life finally unlocked.
The idea was intoxicating.
Rogue had spent years isolated by her own skin. She watched the world from the edges, unable to reach out for fear of taking too much. No hugs, no accidental touches, no kisses, no fun... just distance and regret.
But now, everything might change.
The cure meant more than a medical fix. It meant finally living. She could be normal—whatever that meant. Go on dates without fear. Hold someone's hand without gloves. Splash around in a crowded waterpark without watching people flinch away in fear.
She smiled faintly at the thought, pressing her forehead against the cool glass. Her breath fogged the window a little, blurring the skyline ahead. For the first time in a long time, she wasn't afraid. She was hopeful.
The lights of the outer boroughs flickered below as the bus rolled on, half an hour out from the city center. Rogue adjusted in her seat and pulled her jacket tighter around her.
She didn't know she was being watched.
High above the clouds, just outside human sight, a cluster of cloaked drones followed her movement in perfect silence, feeding her exact location back to Tony Stark.
Suddenly, the bus jolted violently, tires screeching as the vehicle came to a sudden, grinding stop. Rogue lurched forward in her seat, catching herself just before her head hit the seat in front of her. Around her, passengers screamed and shouted, chaos erupting in an instant. A child began to cry as smoke and dust spilled into the cabin.
The front of the bus was gone. It had been pulled away—ripped open like the lid of a tin can.
Through the smoke and mangled metal, a figure hovered just above the wreckage. His cape billowed gently in the cold night wind, his helmet gleaming with soft reflections of the street lights. His expression was as calm as it was unreadable.
Magneto.
Rogue's stomach twisted as she locked eyes with him. He didn't say anything at first. His presence was enough. The metal debris from the front of the bus hovered behind him, suspended mid-air, warped and twisted in perfect balance as if held by invisible strings.
Passengers scrambled toward the rear exit, some stumbling over seats, others helping each other up. Magneto paid them no mind. His gaze remained fixed on her.
"Anna Marie," he said, his voice smooth, carrying easily over the rising panic.
She froze. No one had called her that in years.
"You don't need to run anymore," he continued, lowering himself slowly toward the torn-open bus. "You don't have to hide. You were born with something extraordinary. And they've made you hate it."
Rogue stood slowly. Her knees felt stiff and heavy. Her heart was pounding, and part of her wanted to bolt, to vanish into the smoke and disappear into the night. But something in his voice held her there.
"I'm not here to fight," he said, stepping inside what remained of the bus. "I'm here to offer you the truth. The cure isn't salvation, it's erasure. They want to fix what isn't broken. You are powerful, Rogue. And you're afraid of that power because they taught you to be."
She took a step back, keeping a hand on the seat in front of her. "I didn't ask for this. I never wanted to hurt anyone."
"You've never harmed one of our kind," he said calmly. "You have limitless potential, Anna. If you take the cure, you will never find out what you could become."
Rogue shook her head. "And if I don't? What then? I keep living like a prisoner in my own skin?"
Magneto raised a hand slightly. Not to threaten, but to motion toward the open air behind him. "Come with me. I can help you understand your ability, not suppress it. You're not broken, Anna. You're incomplete."
She hesitated. The smoke in the air made her eyes sting. Behind her, she could hear distant sirens, far off but approaching.
Magneto took another step closer. "You're afraid now, but imagine never having to be afraid again. I can show you how."
Before Rogue could answer, the sharp buzz of energy filled the air. A shimmer cut through the clouds above as three cloaked drones uncloaked in midair, hovering silently. Red targeting lasers flickered briefly across Magneto's chest.
'Drones?' He extended his hand and reached out with his power, searching for metal, for circuits, for any trace of something he could bend or crush. There was no magnetic signature. Those drones weren't made of metal.
He turned toward the wreckage, lifting the torn metal from the front of the bus into the air. Crushed panels, pipes, steel beams—all of it spiraled upward around him like shards of a weaponized cyclone. He launched the mass of twisted debris toward the drones.
The drones reacted instantly. Shields activated, protecting them. The incoming metal struck and scattered with violent force, clanging and shattering against the barriers. The drones didn't suffer any damage. Their targeting systems remained locked on Magneto, and within seconds, they fired.
Bolts of plasma shot through the smoke, heading straight for him. Magneto raised his hands and created a magnetic shield. The shield hummed with energy as the plasma bursts hit it, causing ripples of energy with each impact. He gritted his teeth and kept the shield steady.
A sudden roar of fire erupted from the side of the street. Pyro stepped out from the shadows. He swung his arms forward and threw large waves of flame at the drones. The heat hit immediately, creating waves in the air.
But the drones responded faster.
They fired cryo charges directly into the incoming flame, neutralizing it mid-air before it could reach their positions. The next charge hit Pyro squarely in the chest, knocking him off his feet and sending him skidding across the pavement in a smoking trail. "FUCKKK!" His screams echoed briefly before he passed out in a crumpled heap.
A pink portal opened and Sabretooth leapt into the air with a feral growl, claws extended, ready to tear into one of the hovering machines. The nearest drone responded immediately, spinning mid-air and opening fire. A barrage of plasma rounds struck Sabretooth mid-leap, tearing through his side and shoulder. He dropped to the ground in a heap, snarling, his regeneration barely keeping up with the damage.
Inside the ruined bus, Rogue took a shaky breath and looked toward the back exit. The chaos outside was her only chance. While Magneto was occupied, while the drones were distracted, she could make a break for it. She grabbed her backpack and moved quickly down the rear exit. [Quick note][1]
But as she pushed the emergency door open, she stopped cold.
Azazel stood just beyond the steps, dressed in black with crimson skin glowing faintly under the streetlights. His yellow eyes locked onto hers. Beside him, Toad crouched low, tongue flicking and body coiled.
"Going somewhere?" Azazel asked, his voice low and amused.
Rogue took a step back, but Azazel didn't follow. He simply raised his hand in a casual wave and a slight nod, as if inviting her to try to run. Behind him, Toad leaned forward, grinning.
"Just come with us," Toad said. "Don't make this hard for us and for you."
Behind them...
Magneto focused intently, raising both arms. With a strong pull, he lifted the entire remains of the bus from the ground. Screws came loose, beams broke, and glass shattered as the frame creaked and rose into the air like a giant skeleton. He twisted his hands, causing the wreckage to break apart, and turned them into sharp shards. He aimed hundreds of sharp fragments directly at the hovering drones.
The shards shot forward in a deadly barrage, but before they hit their targets, a blinding streak of light streaked across the sky. It crashed into the battlefield, scattering energy and metal in a shockwave that deflected Magneto's projectiles and sent dust and debris flying, temporarily blinding everyone nearby.
As the dust settled, the remaining street light fell on the figure standing in the crater, steam rising from the ground beneath his boots.
Iron Man.
The Model 51 suit was ready for its first field test.
"That's enough," Tony said through the suit's speaker.
Azazel tensed. Toad stopped moving entirely, the grin on his face twitching into something closer to wariness. Magneto, still floating above the ground, slowly lowered himself to the cracked pavement, his cape billowing behind him. Shards of metal hovered protectively around him in orbit, waiting for a command.
'It's just like those two girls... My power won't reach him!' Magneto cursed in his head.
Tony's face plate retracted with a hiss, revealing his face. He looked angry.
"I'm gonna beat the shit out of you," His helmet retracted back as he shot a repulsor blast at Magneto.
...
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[1] Just to be clear, there were a few civilians in the bus at that time and they all ran away from the back exit, the moment Magneto arrived. As for how far they went, no idea. In Marvel, we don't count civilian casualties.😬😬 Just kidding.