Friday afternoon found me suiting up in my X-Men uniform in my room. Laura sat next to me, legs crossed on my bed while Eddie paced around. Everyone else had been cool as cucumbers as the day had approached. Eddie had been the only one to show any nerves. He knew better than to say anything out loud during school about the unsanctioned mission we were set to go on, but he had been antsy all day.
"Is there a better plan?" Eddie asked. It felt like he had asked me that every day since we had decided on our course of action.
"Nope," I said, not looking up as I tightened the latches on my boots.
Eddie fitfully ran a hand through his red hair, "This is a bad idea."
"It's not a bad idea, there are just a lot of variables," I said, frowning at him, "Besides, you guys all had four days to come up with something better."
Eddie was the one who had been all for our little sojourn into the stars in the first place. He couldn't be getting cold feet now.
"We're not 'plan' people," Eddie defended, "You're the plan guy. That's why you're in charge."
"Buzzsaw's good at plans," I pointed out, giving the girl next to me a nudge.
"Laura's good at procedure, not plans," Eddie said with a roll of his eyes before apologizing, "Sorry. You're cool, but you're about as imaginative as a turkey sandwich."
"I... do not understand the metaphor," Laura admitted with a furrowed brow.
"Case in point."
"Well, tough titty. We're in it now," I said, trying to put this disagreement to rest, "Robbery etiquette says you cannot judge the robbery plan while the robbery is in session. You have to wait until it's over."
"But we are not robbing anything," Laura pointed out unhelpfully.
I rolled my eyes, "It's a figure of speech, and I know you know that," The little smile she gave in response was all the confirmation I needed.
We had to be all in at this point. When I walked out my door, shit would be on. Everyone else would immediately meet up with Mister Rasputin, and they would all wait for me to get back, at which time there would be no turning back.
After what I felt like was enough procrastination, I got up, Laura joining me as we were headed in the same direction, "I'll see you in a bit, Wingman," I assured Eddie.
"Just be careful, dude," Eddie said as we all stepped outside and parted ways.
Laura and I headed back to the room she shared with Ruth. The two of them needed to get changed, but before that, I needed Ruth's help with something. Outside, we found Megan waiting, standing with her back pressed against the wall by the door, just chilling in her casual clothes, her schoolbag still slung over her shoulder. She waved when she saw me coming, pulling back a bit when she saw Laura with me.
Before we got too close, Laura pulled up behind me, close enough for only me to know she was speaking, "I do not like the idea of leaving you alone with Megan."
"I'll be fine," I mumbled back, "We're not gonna fight anybody, Buzzsaw."
"That is not what I am worried about."
I knew that, and knew what her real problem with the arrangement was. I was being intentionally obtuse for the sake of getting shit done, "Have some faith in my loyalty, girl," I said before we got close enough to be heard, "Pix," I greeted Megan aloud.
"I will get Ruth," Laura quickly excused herself, sparing all of us. I had little doubt that with the awkwardness of the moment, Megan would have felt the need to make small talk in the hallway with her Eskimo sister in front of the guy they had in common.
"Team Paladin still not a fan, huh?" Megan said sheepishly.
At this point, I was sure it was just Laura, and not because of the breakup episode. Having me, her boyfriend, spend any amount of time alone with my ex probably wouldn't have sat well with her in any capacity. I would make it up to her later, but for the time being we had to ride it like this. We were on a pretty strict timetable.
Megan and I were only alone for all of ten seconds before Ruth came out, munching on a turkey sandwich. I had no idea where she got it from. Already knowing what I needed her to do, she reached out and touched my head, quickly found what she was looking for, then proceeded to dump it into Megan's brain.
"Whoa..." Megan nearly lost her balance from the sudden influx of information, needing the wall to steady herself, "That was pretty nuts. I think I have a headache... ow."
"I'd say you get used to it, but I'd be lying," I said before smiling over at my personal telepath, "Thank you, Ruthie. Go get ready. I'll see you in a bit."
She popped off to do just that, leaving me and Megan to head out, "Alright. I can see where we're going in my head. Piece of cake. Shall we go?"
I shrugged my shoulders, "You're the one with the spell handy, Pix. On your word."
"Wait."
Before Megan could hit the incantation that would send us halfway across the planet, Laura stepped back outside her room. Seeing fit to publicly claim her territory, she made it a point to grab me, pull me in, and kiss me – hard. For someone who tended to be so low-key, she could be super-dramatic.
Poor Megan had to pretend that she didn't see anything. Ruth, on the other hand, just leaned against the doorframe munching on her snack.
Laura broke away barely an inch, "Mine," she growled before giving me another short, forceful peck and staring at me intently.
I met her gaze with a challenging smirk, "I dare you to do that in front of more people next time," I said under my breath, "Actually, is that you telling me I can do that in front of more people?"
At that, Laura raised an eyebrow, "Go ahead. Try it in front of Logan. See how he reacts."
"Don't threaten me with a good time," I shot back before nudging her forehead with mine, "Now go get ready," Laura smoothly slipped back into her room, allowing Ruth to wave before she shut the door behind them, "...I am so sorry about that."
I felt the need to apologize. Here Megan was doing us a favor, and then she had to be a captive audience to Laura's power move. And I was so glad that I wore a cup underneath my gear, otherwise my tight-ass uniform would have revealed just how positively a certain part of my body reacted to said power move.
"It's fine!" Megan replied, a bit louder than she likely intended, "Ahem... anyway..." She gestured to the space next to her, prompting me to stand close, "Right then. Sihal novarum chinoth!"
Megan's teleportation spell is trippy as hell. You're surrounded in a blindingly bright pink field of energy, so you can't see much of anything until it's gone. It's not the most jarring way to be teleported I've ever experienced, but that's part of the problem.
When Riddick and Deadpool teleported me, I could at least feel I was being moved. The sudden change of perspective fucks your balance if you aren't ready for it. With Megan's, you blink because of the flash of light and suddenly you're somewhere else entirely. You don't even feel it. It comes off like an illusion for a moment until you start to notice the difference in your surroundings one after another.
I will say, the light her magic generates feels great to absorb. Being something of a light snob, given that I use light to power my body's processes, I feel like my opinion on the subject matters.
Either way, one spell later we had left the hallway of Xavier's female dorms for the middle of the ruined road of Hammer Bay, Genosha.
A soft gasp escaped Megan's lips as she was able to get a good look at the ruins surrounding us, "...This is Genosha?" she nearly whispered, "I saw it from your memories, but..."
"Yeah," I said, quick to understand the impression she had.
It was a lot different to hear about what had happened to the place, and another entirely to see it a year and a half later. It wasn't like there had been much video of the country's destruction. With the quarantine of the island, media crews weren't allowed in when it had been hot in the news cycle. People still weren't allowed in or out, and now the story was stone cold – nearly forgotten about entirely. I probably missed a trick by not getting video on my phone last time I was there. That mistake would not be repeated this time.
That, however, was not why we were there.
Remembering the way from where we started, I led Megan on an impromptu tour of the ruins, intent on heading to the home overlooking Hammer Bay that had played host to Hisako and I the last time Quire had dragged us there.
It was there I found Magneto staring out at what remained over what had once been his country. Not wanting to sneak up on one of the most powerful, dangerous mutants that had ever lived, I announced my presence long before we got close enough to surprise him while he was in thought, just in case he couldn't hear the ground crunch underneath my feet.
"Magneto!" I shouted as we approached.
Whatever the flying equivalent of tripping over one's own feet was, Megan did it when she heard the name and associated it with the silver-haired man at the cliffside. She caught herself before she could take a spill, but clearly was shaken. It was easy to understand why – approaching this man was a questionable decision at best.
Megan quickly landed and hid behind my back, "Magneto? Like, 'Brotherhood of Evil Mutants', international terrorist, Magneto?" She asked, "I thought he was dead?"
"At some point, you stop being so surprised when that happens," I said. My moment of diminishing returns was when I saw Mister Rasputin's little sister was alive and a demon in Limbo.
She didn't appreciate my smartass answer, "Okay, well, when do I stop being surprised that you're about to go and talk to him!?" She hissed under her breath, "Now I can see why you really didn't want to tell me what you were doing!"
Megan wasn't alone in her apprehension. This was the biggest issue any of Team Paladin had with my plan, that if everything went right, it would involve Magneto.
X-Men indoctrination dictated that Magneto was basically the biggest, baddest, most prolific evildoer they had ever had to deal with. The literal poster child for 'bad mutants', the man had done a lot of dirt over the years. Asking him for help, or trading favors with him was too alien a concept for a bunch of kids who grew up with the black-and-white idea of 'X-Men good, Brotherhood bad'.
"Solaris," Magneto greeted. It hadn't been long enough since we'd last met that he would forget me, "You've... returned? Of your own volition this time, I hope," He noticed Megan standing behind me, "Armor looks different than I remember."
"Did Magneto just make a joke?" Megan asked, keeping me between herself and the man in question none too subtly.
"Chill," I said to her before addressing Magneto, "This is Pixie. And no, I didn't get press-ganged into coming here this time," Quite the opposite actually, as I had to get Megan to go with me, "I need help."
Magneto nodded, "Charles is busy with reconstruction efforts, but I can point you in his direction," I shook my head, "No?"
I took a step forward and pointed at him, "I was kinda looking for your help."
"And what could you possibly need from an old villain like me?" Magneto asked skeptically.
I reached into my pocket and pulled out a small piece of metal that I tossed over to him. He didn't even need to lift a finger to catch it out of the air and bring it close enough to observe up close.
Megan tugged on my arm, "Bel-Bel, you just gave Magneto a weapon!" She whispered.
"Pix, Chill," I repeated to her. As if were weren't just outside of a ruined city with tons of torn up metal. If the man wanted to hurt us, he could chuck half of Hammer Bay at us with a flick of his wrist.
After a moment, Magneto floated the metal piece back over to me, "This seems alien."
"It is," I told him, "It's the same metal in a bullet that another planet fired at Earth a few months ago. Now it's just out there in space somewhere. Do you think you could find it?"
He seemed to mull the thought over for a moment, "It isn't impossible..." He eventually said, "I would need to be closer to have a better chance however. From here, even with my full power and concentration, trying to locate what you're looking for would be like searching for a needle in a haystack."
"If I told you I had access to a spaceship, would that improve those odds any?"
"Significantly," Magneto replied. Folding his arms behind his back, he levitated himself off the ground and slowly floated toward me. I felt Megan tense up behind me, "But what makes you think I would consider lending my assistance to the X-Men?"
I chuckled humorlessly, "This is not an X-Men thing. They don't even know what I'm doing. Hell, they don't even know I'm here."
"Um," Despite her fear of the man, Megan chimed in on my behalf, "He's telling the truth. I didn't even know what he wanted me to bring him here for until just now... Magneto, sir."
"If you knew, you wouldn't have done it."
"Yeah, probably!"
That seemed to pique Magneto's interest, "Okay? And why do you think I would help you then? What is this for, Solaris?"
I shook my head, "I don't really expect you to help. But I had to ask, because you're the best man for the job," I said, "My first mentor saved the planet by sealing herself in a metal bullet big enough to destroy the planet. Now she's stuck out in space. I couldn't do anything to help her when it happened. Maybe I still can't. But I won't know until I give it a go. If you say no, I'll turn my ass around and head back."
Being turned down would suck, but it wouldn't be unexpected. I would figure something else out, somehow. Magneto was plan A, and likely the best chance of getting anything done, but there had to be something else. If there was, I would think of it.
Magneto let my words settle, his expression giving away nothing. I simply stood and waited until he finally responded, "Alright. I'll help you."
"I don't expect you to do this for nothing, so-," I stopped in the middle of my sales pitch, as I had expected him to say no and had already moved on to how I could possibly persuade him. I wasn't prepared for him to agree so easily, "Wait... what?"
"I'll help you," He said again.
It was exactly what I wanted, but I still couldn't just take the win at face value, "...Why?"
"I am a man who knows regret," Magneto said, his expression sorrowful and reflective, "There are many things I have done that I would like to take back; things that I would erase entirely if I could. There are countless things that I would like to fix, or make up for. That is a struggle I can understand intimately. If my actions can spare you that much, I would lend you my assistance."
As magnanimous as that sounded, there had to be a catch. There was always a catch. I had expected a catch. I had planned to have to negotiate something. I didn't know what exactly I could give a militant mutant leader in return for his help, but I was willing to deal with that problem once I had gotten to it. If it wound up being a favor owed somewhere down the line, that would just be another problem for future me. We could tack a deal with the devil onto to the list that already included my patricidal would-be offspring and eventually blowing up and taking the planet with me.
That in mind, when Magneto extended his hand to me, I readily shook it.