Chapter 33- Pregame

  Over Antarctica- Inside the Bckbird

  Scott Summers (Cyclops)-

  Scott had awoken an hour ago, and was reviewing the members of the Brotherhood on his smartphone one st time. Storm had told whoever was currently piloting the jet to circle the coordinates that the Professor had given them, he thought whoever, as Crimson Witch, who had been flying before he got chewed out by Wolverine, was currently napping opposite him in the rear of the passenger compartment of the craft.

  'Basilisk is a heavy hitter, should have Colossus keep her in check if Thunderbird isn't already doing so. That makes me wonder what kind of harm Magneto would do to our Russian teammate.' Scott thought as he swiped the file to the next member of the Brotherhood.

  As his phone processed the command his brother Havoc, climbed over the row of seats in front of him and plopped down in the empty seat beside him. Once the file changed over to Quicksilver his brother spoke in a whisper to him.

  “Jean told me what happened st night, and I think you should go to Storm or the Professor.” His brother softly told him.

  “His speed will be an issue; perhaps between the two of us we can corner him with our bsts working together.” Cyclops muttered, instead of commenting on his brother’s observation.

  Havoc reached for his phone, but he was quick enough to keep it from him. “Bro this wasn’t the first time he rode you hard, you have to stand up for yourself.”

  Scott could hear the frustration clearly in his brother's voice, and yet he tried to keep his mind on mission, saying. "I suppose one of us could be swapped out with Spike, and those spines of his, or if we are really lucky have Sprite pin him down somewhere with her phasing. Whatever happens, we need to be mindful not to hurt him too much, even I have heard about what Magneto did to those soldiers in Sarkovia when they killed his wife.”

  His brother was fed up, and grabbed his arm, before he harshly said into his ear. "Dude do I have to spell it out to you, he is trying to take you, girl."

  "Jean isn't mine. She is a free woman, and may choose to end our retionship at any time. But Wolverine is also not wrong." Cyclops said sternly, while staring at his brother. Because of his powers, the world around him was awash in shades of red, but even so, he could see the confusion on Havoc's face when he asked. "Do you know what happened to the X-men's team leader before Storm?"

  His brother shook his head as he guessed. “I don’t know retired like Angel and Beast?”

  "No, he is dead." Cyclops' reveal made his brother pale a bit, even to his tainted eyesight. "He died on a mission much like this one. They went out on the seemingly simple recruiting mission, a woman had called the Professor, and told him that her twins seemed to have strange powers. Her son could grow cws, and her daughter could make shapes and objects out of blood."

  When Havoc pointed at the still-sleeping Crimson Witch, Cyclops nodded before continuing the story. "What the woman didn't tell the X-men was who the father was. Vd Tepes, the first vampire on Earth. So while everything seemed to be going ok, it was when the sun set that problems started, soon the word reached the various local vampire covens that the children of their sire were about to being taken away from them, well as Wolverine put it, they didn't take it sitting down.'

  “Agni served as the rear guard, figuring his powers would serve the team best, but thinking it was just a mission to recruit two scared mutant teens, they didn’t take the whole team. Both Wolverine and Storm stayed behind, and that choice cost them a friend’s life.’

  "So if he gets in my face and points out bluntly that I am not taking this seriously enough, I say to you, bring it. Because I don't want to make any of the mistakes that they did." Cyclops then messed with his phone, till he found the video that only the leaders of the teams got to see with the Professor in the Ready Room, he muted it before pying it and once it started, he handed his brother his phone, before saying to him. “Watch.”

  His brother frowned but did so, compining at first. “The video quality isn’t… are those vans?” He didn’t need to watch the video to know what parts his brother was seeing, his brother’s face told him when the young mutant burst out, from the small smile, and he knew when the kid got shot from the return of his frown. Knowing his brother's and his own pass, he wasn't shocked when Havoc paused it and asked. “Is he…?”

  "Still alive when we left the mansion, but his doctors aren't too optimistic about his chances." Cyclops admitted. He took back his phone, un-paused, and watched the st bit of the video, of the father stepping out and firing back at the st of the attackers. As he did he said. "The Professor and the others don't want to hear this, but like it or not we mutants are already at war, a cold war with battles in alleys and side streets, but a war nonetheless. And we need to stop treating this like it's a game, because it's not. These people, whoever they are have friends, and worse yet they have some kind of mutant tracker in their arsenal."

  “You all said as much in the briefing.” Havoc reminded him.

  Cyclops nodded before continuing. "The Brotherhood has an intact one; we hope that by giving it to the FBI, they can track the source of the tech… But my point is this, the X-men lost their st leader on a seemingly easy mission, and this one is anything but. Given our reputation and history with the Brotherhood of Mutants, so while it was nice to distract myself for a bit by flirting with my girlfriend. In the end Wolverine was right, as a leader I need to do better than the rest of you, because I never want to have to leave a cold dead friend behind because the mission didn't go as pnned."

  Then an alert came from the intercom. "Everyone up and strapped in, we are coming in for a nding," Morph told them. His brother quickly grabbed his buckle and connected the two parts together.

  The air pressure changed as the Bckbird tilted and came in for a nding. Cyclops turned and noticed that Crimson Witch had cheated, and used some of the blood in her utility belt to make straps to brace herself into the seat, as she stretched and woke up.

  When his brother tapped his elbow, he heard him say. "I just don't want you rolling over and getting taken advantage of brother. Not after you protected me in the orphanage."

  Cyclops looked his brother in the eye, before telling him. “I like her, I really do, but it’s better that we all get back alive… besides what was it you always said when you got dumped?”

  Havoc smiled, before repeating himself. "There is always more fish in the sea. And it wasn't my saying it was Dad's."

  “Clearly what he told you was different from what he told me.” He said to his brother before bracing himself for the crunch of the jet touching down. The Bckbird’s engines reached another level of whining before they began to power down.

  Once the noise was quieter, Cyclops started unbuckling himself of his belt. He was about to call out to his teammates and request their status, but before he could Havoc tapped his arm and asked him softly. “All your talk about war, do you ever think we’re on the wrong team, and should maybe join Magneto and them?”

  The older brother didn’t even hesitate in his answer. “Never. He pns for today, while the Professor builds for the future. A future we may not see, but our kids might, and that's always better than just today.”

  Citadel- Entry Hall- 6th day of the month of Niffle of the 6983 GR (Morning)

  Nath’aniel-

  “Now that all of us can hear again, we should talk tactics, especially for the younger members.” The mutant leader announced.

  “Before that, I have a question.” Nath’aniel stalled said pnning. The X-men had formed a line of their group and were marching towards the Citadel. The woman that Exodus identified as Storm was leading them, while their member with the tracking ability was behind her, causing the Brotherhood to conclude that the mage’s guess that they were here to try and recruit Nightcrawler had been wrong.

  When everyone was looking at Nath’aniel, he pointed at the woman leading the fourteen Mosul-bearing tribesmen and asked. “This neckce of hers, is that a usual part of her costume?”

  Magneto pulled his helmet from his head, so that she could see the image that the mage was pointing at more clearly. “Actually, I think that is new, and no I don’t recognize it.”

  The Captain added softly. "It looks familiar to me though.”

  "I can confirm that she did not have it when we fought her st," Exodus stated, and Psylocke nodded in agreement. Then the knight asked. "Why, what does a neckce matter?"

  “Because that neckce there, identifies her as a priestess of the Inheritors.” The mage expined as he turned around to face them. The others still seemed confused so he added. “While they are not technical allies by any treaty, we of the Magi have always treated the leaders of their tribe with respect, for the sacrifices their people made during the Great Rebellion.”

  “But she’s not from Wakanda.” The mutant leader argued.

  “No, but in the circles of high society, it was said that she was engaged to the Royal Prince.” Psylocke pointed out. “It is more than likely that she got the neckce from him.”

  “If she is married to their prince it would be rude of us to kill or harm her.” Curha signaled. Nath'aniel hadn't noticed that she had climbed up from the basement at some point, but clearly, she was up to date on what was happening around them. The mage could see that in her hand was a pair of dream-stones, making him think it was her intent to join them in the possible battle.

  "Are we sure that they are here to attack us?" Nightcrawler asked, at the same time the firewoman made her comment.

  "Well minus the Professor and Beast, they sent every member from both of their teams, so I don't think they are here to trick or treat," Basilisk said with a snarky tone.

  “But at the same time, if they really wanted to attack us, they gave up the element of surprise by circling us, instead of doing what the mercenaries did, and just doing a flyby before attacking.” Exodus pointed out to them.

  “So what we really need is someone to go out there and ask them why they are here." Captain America stated what no one really wanted to volunteer.

  “I will go.” Curha signaled, she then held up the dream stones in her hands.

  “I do think that is wise, Curha. While the Citadel's observational sensors are not as accurate as Mage Sight, even she can tell that at least four of these X-men are energy producers, they are not the simple brutes outside in the various tribes nor are they the thugs and murders of the Nazis. They are people who could not only hurt you, but kill you." Nath'aniel warned her.

  “Then I’ll go.” The super soldier said, startling most of his guests.

  “Steve?” Magneto compined, clearly not wanting to send his friend out there alone.

  "It makes the most tactical sense." Captain America started to stall the man, before giving his expnation. "If that's the Canadian, then it being me may put him on his back foot. Us talking will give you the time you need to get your people in position. And on the off chance that they sent everyone, only because they are that scared of you, and they actually just come here to talk, then it makes sense to send someone that they don't have a bad history with.'

  "It doesn't sit right with me sending the young fire dy out there, and clearly Nath'aniel here is a VIP so he's out too. And the rest of you either have a history or not enough experience to keep your emotions in check in a situation like this. You know that I am right."

  “Doesn’t mean I have to like it.” The mutant leader admitted.

  The captain smiled, before saying in a joking manner. “Nor do I, I really wish we could have had the time to paint this armor more to my old armor’s colors.”

  The mage tilted his head at that, and made a gesture to Psylocke, she spirit jumped to be beside him. Once she was close enough he asked her in a whisper. “Can you get a read of an image of his old armor’s design from his thoughts?”

  She looked him in the eye and smiled. As they stared into each other's eyes, hers slowly glowed with purple light as she both grabbed an image from the super soldier's mind, and projected it into the mage's mind.

  Nath’aniel clearly saw the mostly blue suit of padding and ptes held in pce by thick fabric. It had a white star in the middle of his chest, and his groin was painted in white and red stripes. His circur shield was made of the same metal as the one he was currently using, but used leather bands to keep it in pce rather than the metal bar in the cup dead center of the shield.

  The mage nodded at the image, as he had been experiencing the telepathic experience most of the Brotherhood had said their goodbyes to the super soldier before he headed out ahead of them. Magneto and Exodus were huddled near Nath'aniel discussing who to send toward whom if the fighting broke out.

  At the front doors, Nath'aniel called out to him, while writing a two-character gmour spell into the air. “Captain.”

  The super soldier paused and turned to look at the mage, as he flicked the rune towards him. When the ball of light hit the man in the chest, the shiny silver metal was bathed in a wash of color. The spell didn’t change his appearance, like when he cast it on the teens and himself, only now the metal of his armor looked painted and detailed.

  Nath'aniel had made a couple of changes to it though, the star was now in the middle of his half helm's forehead pte, smaller stars were on the outermost ptes on his shoulders, and a medium-sized 'A' was in the middle of his chest instead of the star.

  "It will only st for forty-eight hours, and please try and bring me my armor back in one piece." The mage told him instead of asking him to take care of himself. Despite only having briefly met the man, Nath'aniel had to admit that he liked this Tribesman.