POV: Baldur.
Throne Room, Royal Castle of Genosha.
During the Capture of the X-Men.
2012.
It was amusing to see the X-Men wandering through my city, marveling at our technology and way of life. Alice had already calculated their destination based on their trajectory, but their objective remained unclear to me, reminding me of the X-Men's original purpose.
I asked Alice if there was any mutant in the destination building they were heading toward. She informed me that there was a teenager with the power to harden his skin to the density of stone. Mutants are rare in Genosha, but they all live normal lives without oppression. When a mutant is revealed, they undergo registration and then training to control their powers and prevent unintentional harm. We've never had a serious accident caused by our mutants, so I couldn't understand why they would risk so much to save just one of them.
The amusement faded when Jean used her powers on an elder of my people to allow them entry into the building. All inhabitants were silently evacuated from the vicinity, and that elder was likely the last one remaining in the area.
Amora already had a plan to trap them. The magicians' strategy was well-executed. First, they attempted to use a sleeping mist, which failed. Then they attacked them in pairs, each with abilities opposite to theirs. Of course, Cyclops orchestrated a counterattack, swapping opponents with his friends and achieving victory. The only ones seriously injured were the two magicians who were thrown out of the building, but they were saved by Amora before hitting the ground.
This version of the X-Men had a different adolescence than depicted in the movies. They are well-trained and know how to work as a team. Unfortunately for them, Amora is their next opponent.
The first thing she did was send a mental shock magic to Blink, leaving her in a coma, preventing the remaining four from escaping. Then she sent their heavyweight to the dimension of mirrors, where I hoped the trap set there would be enough to take him out of the game. Logan had his weight altered, a complicated magic that only works on metals. Storm and Cyclops were relatively easy targets. Amora even used a spell where she used my powers to create a shield of light. I felt a little sorry for Storm because of the way Amora used her fear against her, but we cannot underestimate her. She is the second person who could bring chaos to this island with her powers.
After the targets were contained, they were transported to maximum security cells, where I will finally be able to understand the reason for this senseless invasion.
"Sir, I've found them!"
A hologram appears in front of my throne, showing satellite images of a black jet flying over the ocean.
"Good work, Alice. But why did it take so long to find such a large plane?"
"Their stealth technology rivals ours, my lord. To find them, I had to analyze every area of the ocean around us."
I recall that this plane is called the Blackbird, the preferred mode of transportation for the X-Men. From the coordinates, they are circling the island at a safe distance from storms and sensors.
"There are five life signs aboard, sir. Should I activate the air defenses?"
"No. I want to know what this is about first. Keep an eye on them, and if they change their flight pattern, let me know."
I rise from my throne, where I have access to all the country's systems, and head to where my prisoners are. For obvious reasons, I placed them in the most remote location from civilians: a small island near the storm wall, the perfect place for a maximum security prison.
When I land at the entrance of the prison, all the soldiers tasked with protecting this place kneel before me. The prison director greets me and leads me to where the prisoners are held. They have all been placed in the deepest part of the prison, in cells made of vibranium and adamantium. To top it off, there is a force field around the prison that can only be deactivated from the outside. The metal also prevents Xavier from probing this place with his mind.
Each of the X-men is in a separate cell, all in deep sleep, except for Logan, who is restrained to the floor with handcuffs that prevent him from using his powers, just like all the other mutants. I almost choose Logan for the interrogation, but I doubt he would want to say anything.
"Bring their leader to the interrogation room," I instruct a soldier who rushes to carry out my order.
The interrogation room is quite simple, with only a table and two chairs on either side. Two guards enter through the door and seat Scott Summers in front of me. He has had his clothes removed, leaving him only in white pants and a shirt, and his handcuffs prevent him from accessing his powers.
"Leave us," I command.
"Yes, sir!" "Yes, sir!"
The two guards leave, leaving us alone. Scott is quite intelligent, he already knows this is an interrogation but chooses to remain silent.
"I must first apologize for your injuries, my wife is not gentle with her enemies, Mr. Summers," I begin.
"My team?"
"Everyone is in perfect condition, just unconscious, except, of course, for Logan. His resilience is as impressive as I remember."
"You know Logan?" Scott seems intrigued.
"We fought a common enemy during World War II. I considered him a friend. Unfortunately, he lost his memory."
"What do you want?"
Clearly referring to what I wanted in exchange for their release.
"That's what I would like to know as well, Mr. Summers. What, in the name of Odin, does Xavier want in my country?"
"Your country!?"
"Allow me to introduce myself. I am Baldur Odinson, King of Genosha."
Scott recoils in his chair in shock. This means that Xavier told his students about my fight against his brother. It's no surprise that he knows about me, as videos of my battle with the Hulk are quite popular.
"From your reaction, I can tell you've discovered that it was I who killed Xavier's brother years ago."
"He already knew you were the king of this country since the Korean War, but he thought you were dead until he saw a video of your fight against that monster in Harlem."
"Let's get back to the main topic. Why did Xavier take such a risk?"
"What else could we do? Your government was killing everyone!"
(What?)
"Are you saying my government is killing mutants?"
"No need to pretend it's not true. We have a way to detect mutants all over the world, and in recent months, several mutants from Genosha have been dying at an abnormal rate. We've seen this before in countries that massacred their mutants. The professor was against a mission here even though it would mean the death of hundreds of mutants. Fortunately, he accepted the mission after we pressured him so much, but we took too long. There's only one mutant left in Genosha that we thought was hiding."
By the tone of his voice, I know he believes he's telling the truth. The way he says he can locate all mutants worldwide is clearly the work of Cerebro. So I have two options left.
One, he's telling the truth, and someone from my government is killing all mutants without my knowledge.
(An absurd idea, but I can't dismiss it.)
Two, Cerebro has been compromised, and this invasion is just a distraction for something bigger. Either way, staying here is a waste of time.
"I think we're in a chess match, one we don't know we're playing, Mr. Summers."
"What do you mean?"
"Genosha does have some mutants, but we're not killing them. They all have the same rights as any citizen of my people. In fact, we even help them control their powers."
"I don't need to hear your lies!"
(Logically, he doesn't believe me.)
"I don't need to lie to you, Mr. Summers. You and your team are under my power, so why would I need to lie about anything? Anyway, I have to go."
I get up, and as I'm about to leave the room, Scott turns to me, clearly afraid that I'm going to take action against his team.
"Where are you going!? What are you going to do with my team!?"
"Your team will remain imprisoned until I have some answers, Mr. Summers. And as for what I'm going to do, I've already said. I'm going to find out who set up this game."
I leave the prison and head as quickly as I can to the royal throne room, where I have full access to all of Genosha's systems.
"Has any mutant been killed or disappeared in the past few months, Alice?"
"No, sir."
(I need to make sure her data hasn't been altered either. That's the only way a large massacre could go unnoticed by her.)
"I want you to track down all mutants registered in our databases. I want proof of life through images. I can't risk false data. I also want you to research all members of the government and the military to see if they've taken any aggressive action or shown any discontent towards mutants."
"There are too many data and variables to calculate, sir. It will take a while."
"Stop all ongoing processes, this matter is top priority."
An hour later, Alice finally completed the task.
"The research was successfully conducted, sir."
"Show me."
"All registered mutants are alive, and there have been no incidents in the last five months."
Several photos of different people appeared in front of me, each one presumably a mutant. This proves that my government wasn't killing them, and also that the data Alice had before was correct.
"As for the politicians and military personnel, some of them have shown some fear and apprehension towards mutants, but none of them has taken any direct aggressive action. Vice-King Seig has also placed them under surveillance in case they attempt any action."
(So, let's go option number two: the Cerebro was compromised.)
The Cerebro is, in my opinion, the most powerful weapon on Earth. Imagine being able to change the way of thinking of all humans at once with just one thought. Xavier could do that, changing their way of thinking and controlling them would be child's play. He could simply kill all living beings on the planet. Of course, we're not counting those who have powers and means to counter Professor Xavier's mental powers. The only reason I haven't blown up that machine before is because it was built to be used for good, to find and save mutants in danger. But now it's in the hands of someone more cunning, and perhaps smarter than Xavier.
(There's no use thinking about it now. We need countermeasures.)
"Give the order to attack and destroy the Cerebro. Ask Amora to personally oversee the operation, I don't want any mistakes in this mission."
"I have already sent your request and mission details to the queen, my lord."
"Tell her to do it as discreetly as possible, I don't want to alert or harm the children at the school. Then find a way to contact that damned X-Men jet. I have to clear up this misunderstanding between us as quickly as possible, I won't dance to someone else's tune just because they planned it."
"TRUMMMMMMMMMMMMM!"
My next order was interrupted by an earthquake that shook the entire royal castle. The tremor subsided after a few seconds, but the castle was still trembling.
"Find the source of this earthquake!"
I shouted to Alice, already fearing a disaster across the entire island.
"The earthquake originates from the sun below ground, sir. The sun that powers our energy is unstable and about to explode. Should I activate the countermeasures?"
(One problem after another. Perhaps it's another distraction plan for me.)
If I activate the countermeasures, the danger will be averted, but I would have to build another sun from scratch. We have contingency plans for this, but we will have defenses twenty percent lower than normal during the time I am rebuilding the sun. With an enemy knocking at my door, I don't have the luxury of wasting time or lowering my defenses, so I can only stabilize the sun myself.
"No. I will handle it personally. Send an order to my generals, full alert. All troops on standby!"
After giving my order, I hurried as fast as I could to the underground of the castle where the sun is located.
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