POV: Baldur.
Prison Island, Genosha.
2012.
We waited for a short while at the prison entrance, which had already had the bodies and wounded removed. At the entrance, several soldiers appeared in golden armor, wielding long spears. They were escorting three people: two women and one man, all handcuffed.
"Release them."
As they stood before us, I ordered the soldiers to free them from their handcuffs, then the soldiers turned and left us alone.
"I'm glad you managed to free us peacefully, Professor," said the black woman with long white hair.
(Storm.)
"Unfortunately, that blonde isn't here. Otherwise, the two of us would have a lot to talk about."
(I'm glad to see that Logan hasn't changed even after having his memory erased.)
"Even if it were you, I wouldn't allow such an act against my wife, Logan."
"Do I know you?"
All of Xavier's X-Men seemed surprised by this revelation.
"We fought together against a secret organization in World War II. Back then, you went by the name Logan, but your true name was James Howlett. If you hadn't lost your memory, this little conflict between us probably wouldn't have happened."
Logan seemed somewhat pleased to discover his true name and to have gained a good lead on uncovering his past. He hadn't revealed his real name to me before, but it's not like he could remember that.
"And who the hell are you anyway?" Logan asked, back to his usual self.
"My name is Baldur. I'm the king of the country you invaded."
Their reactions were as expected.
"I didn't recognize you without the armor," Storm joked, referring to our fight, which had been recorded while I wasn't wearing a shirt.
"Professor, Jean and Cyclops have been taken!"
Blink, the youngest among us, couldn't stop panicking about her friends who had been taken from the prison.
"We already know, Clarice. Before we go after them, I'd like to know if any of you recognized the attackers."
Everyone denied having seen the attackers. The cells were well fortified, preventing even Logan from catching a whiff from outside. But they had heard the commotion and the sounds of Cyclops fighting. Jean was still asleep, so she was the easiest target for the attackers.
"Sorry to interrupt, sir."
Alice's voice echoed around us, leaving everyone searching for where it came from.
"I just lost the signal from the trackers placed on the two mutants."
"Were they found?"
"Very unlikely, sir. My calculations indicate that they reached their destination, which is heavily guarded, causing us to lose the signal."
"That also means we don't have much time to stop whatever they're planning to do with my students," Xavier said.
"I agree. So let's go. I assume your blue demon has a way to teleport us to your jet?"
We all gathered around Nightcrawler as he activated a device he was wearing around his body, and with a puff of blue smoke, we were in the cockpit of a jet.
(Teleportation is so convenient.)
"Welcome back, my friends. I'm glad you're well, and you've even brought a visitor."
Fera, Doctor Hank McCoy, is certainly one of the most intelligent X-Men, despite his mutation making him resemble a blue animal.
"Doctor Hank McCoy. It's an honor to meet you. I've been reading your research for a long time, until you stopped sending it."
"I'm glad to know my research was appreciated, but as you can see by my appearance, I'm not looking to attract much attention currently. And you would be?"
He says after we shake hands.
"He's the leader of the country we invaded."
Storm speaks behind me.
"I'm Baldur, King of Genosha."
"From what I see, you've had unforeseen problems, since our likely enemy is here with us amicably, and two of ours are missing," he says, clearly surprised.
"We'll get you up to speed on everything on the way, Hank. Now we need to hurry."
The X-Men went to the lower part of the jet for their combat gear, while the three of us stayed at the front of the jet where Fera and Xavier took control, flying toward the coordinates given by me. Coordinates that would lead us to Palmer Peninsula in Antarctica, one of the most remote places in the world, and from the information I have. The location was inhabited only by a few tribes living isolated from the world.
During the journey, Xavier told Hank everything that had happened, who didn't imagine that the Cerebro he helped design had its defenses breached, leading them to this situation now.
"Once you eliminate the impossible, whatever remains, no matter how improbable, must be the truth."
Hank quoted Sherlock Holmes when I told him my line of reasoning. His quotes really made me nostalgic, I remembered the old X-Men cartoon, where the character Hank gave several quotes throughout the story. This version of the X-Men is a bit older than the current movies, and they are younger than the animated version, I can only think of them as a mix of both. Anyway, the problems only increase, Jean exists in this world, so it means that the Phoenix entity does too, but it's not like I haven't already thought about that.
"We have arrived."
Xavier interrupts my thoughts, I look out the window in front of me, seeing nothing but fog covering the entire area where we received the last signal from the trackers.
"The only path we can follow is down. But what awaits us may be our end."
"I agree, Xavier. Any solutions, Majesty?"
"You don't need to address me so formally, Doctor McCoy. You're not from Genosha. I need a minute to think."
They respect and leave me to think in silence, the place seems familiar to me even though I don't remember why, so I start connecting the dots of what I know, finally after a few minutes, I remember the secret location of the Earth, which may be where we were.
Palmer Peninsula in Antarctica is familiar to me, because here is one of the most secret places on planet Earth, the entrance to the Savage Land, a place where time has not passed, as it has dinosaurs and tropical vegetation.
The worst of all is not its existence, but that it proves the existence of something that made me afraid. Justified fear, because this place was created by the Beyonders, an almost omnipotent alien race from a dimension outside the Marvel Multiverse, beings so powerful that they were responsible for killing the Infinity, Lord Chaos, Master Order, the Intermediary, and lastly the Living Tribunal across the entire Multiverse. Luckily, they have a weakness that I remember perfectly, and I doubt I've caught the attention of one of them.
"Go through the fog."
I say to them after calming down.
"But..."
"Don't worry, Xavier. If something happens to the plane, I'll prevent the worst."
"It's not like we have the choice to turn back and leave our students behind."
Hank agrees with me.
Xavier pressed a button on the jet panel and spoke to the X-Men behind us.
"Everyone buckle up and prepare for turbulence."
After that, he said nothing more and flew toward the fog below us, the jet trembling with great turbulence, making Xavier struggle to keep control of the jet. This fog was not natural, it was denser than just water vapor. We continued our descent into the fog, descending at high speed, we were descending so much that Xavier thought we were almost touching the ground. When Xavier was about to give up and turn back up, we passed through the fog revealing an unimaginable scene for them.
The sight in front of us was of endless forests bathed in tropical weather. Imagine being in Antarctica, and suddenly coming across land bathed in sun and rich in flora, the extent of the Savage Land was greater than our eyes could see, with gigantic mountains all around us.
"Magnificent," exclaimed Doctor McCoy.
"We need a safe place to land," said the Professor.
We looked around, and the Professor guided the jet toward a large lake in the middle of the forest.
"Beep beep beep"
The alert lights on the jet's panel start flashing.
"What does this mean?" I ask them.
"Missiles have just been fired at us! Hold on!"
Under Xavier's command, the jet performs several aerial maneuvers in an attempt to evade the missiles, but to no avail. He even tries using flares and other defense systems of the jet, but nothing succeeds in stopping the two missiles aimed at us.
"BRACE FOR IMPACT!" Xavier shouts.
"BOOM!" "BOOM!"
The two missiles hit the wings of the jet perfectly, leaving us no chance of a safe landing, leaving us with nothing to do but watch the jet plummeting at high speed towards the forest.
I release my seatbelt and rise from my seat. Xavier and Beast are so focused on trying to somehow resolve the problem that they don't even notice me. I walk to one of the jet's emergency exits and kick it open, then fly out into the air.
"What are you going to do?" Xavier asks me, noticing my subtle way of opening the door. He has to shout due to the rushing air.
Without waiting for a response, I jump out and fly towards the front of the jet. Placing both my hands in front of it, I release energy in an attempt to slow down the plane, but all I manage to do is dent the fuselage, nearly destroying the cockpit.
(Superman makes it look so easy.)
Changing tactics, I go under the plane and lift it. The idea proves successful as we begin to slow down. A few seconds later, we're almost on solid ground, where I release the jet, which destroys several trees around us. I fly to the side entrance of the jet, waiting for everyone to exit.
The door opens and a ladder extends. The X-Men start descending, all of them seeming to be uninjured, just a little dazed. The most dramatic of them is Gambit, who falls and starts kissing the ground.
"Quit being such a drama queen, Gambit," Logan shouts.
"I'm just glad to be alive, mon ami," he responds.
The women laugh at their antics. The professor is the last to exit the jet with Beast.
"Is it possible to repair, Hank?" he asks him about fixing the only way out of this place.
"The damage is too severe, Charles."
"So, are we stuck here?" Storm asks.
"Not necessarily. I can use the instruments inside the plane to improvise an antenna to contact the mansion, then we can ask for help. But I'll need assistance."
The professor thinks for a moment and gives the order.
"Clarice, you stay to help Hank. As for the others, let's try to find Jean and Scott."
Everyone agrees, and we split up, with me of course in the group that ventures into the dense forest in this forgotten prehistoric world.
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