Waiting, Watching and Wondering – (Iron Man)

[Magneto- Erik Magnus Lehnsherr]

Waiting, Watching and Wondering


Magneto stood high atop the very head of the Statue of Liberty and looked out over the bay at the city of New York. This city was somehow special and even the master of magnetism knew it for most of the worlds greatest heroes called it home and based themselves out of it. Ostensibly most of the worlds greatest villains did and that was nothing compared to how many of the worlds greatest conflicts seemed to be played out here on a yearly… monthly… weekly and sometimes even daily basis. It made him wonder if this city of freedom as it was once considered was in fact cursed.

Slowly his eyes moved down to the massive metal table the once beautiful metal woman held in her hand in which the inscription in Roman numerals, "July 4, 1776" the day of the adoption of the Declaration of Independence. A day of freedom for the people of this nation… Freedom from oppression. And that was in fact what he fought against, the oppression of his people at the hands of Homo-Sapiens, and yet he wondered if his goals had changed so much if he had, as many claimed, given up and become another slave of humanity. He shook his head… no that was not it… he had merely changed the method in which he would fight… he would fight now not only in the name of Mutant kind but in the name of his best friend… his brother in spirit… Charles Xavier. For it had been Charles who finally convinced him that the world around them was changing and tolerance was beginning to spread. That equality, if nurtured, was around the corner. That men and mutants could work and live together in peace and build a brighter future for both species. The thought even now was still laughable to him in so many ways and yet he stood here now waiting for a man… a human… a homo-sapien who he had come to trust some and work with since he offered him the position as leader of the X-Men and Headmaster of his best friend’s school.

“You are late Stark…” He spoke to the wind and again looked out into the bay for any sign of the metal clad hero. Nothing… only some coast guard boats… “Wait a moment…” He looked further along the water in the direction the coast guard was heading and noticed in the distance that one of the many ferry’s which moved back and forth over the water was sinking, smoke billowing from a hole in the side.

A boat full of humans no doubt and beneath my time or interest… but… he thought to himself then hovered into the air using the very magnetic fields of the earth to hold him aloft effortlessly and moved with great speed through the air towards the boat.

He did not know what had happened here… the boat seemed to have been attacked, the hole in the side obviously made by an explosive impact and yet he had to wonder who would attack a slow moving ferry… it was such an unlikely target. Putting this aside in his mind though he reached a hand out and as if by magic, though truly enacted through the master of magnetisms own mutant power, the boat slowly but surely rose out of the water to hover in the air. His second order of business now that there was no chance of it sinking before the coast guard could arrive was to put the fire which seemed to slowly eat away at the sides, despite their metal composition. He looked to the fire and without a word or gesture a shield of pure magnetic energy surrounded the blazes and choked them out with lack of oxygen then faded away back into nothingness.

Lastly he looked down to the water to see several people floating for all they were worth, obviously having jumped from the ferry to vainly try and save their miserable lives while leaving the rest to burn or drown to death. These were pathetic too him but none the less he would help them. With a slight nod the six almost drowned people slowly rose from the water much like the ferry before them and came to a rest on its deck once more.

Some people would have called this ‘All In A Days Work for a Hero’ however Magneto called this a charitable act of kindness towards foolish homo-sapiens in the spirit of continued good relations and a slight diversion from the boredom of waiting for Tony Stark to make an appearance.

He smirked as the Coast Guard finally arrived knowing full well this boat would have gone down with all hands aboard had he not arrived before them. “You are late gentlemen… I will place this vessel on Liberty Island where you may look to the wounded on a more stable surface then the bay.” He chuckled darkly and then moved slowly through the air, motioning for the other boats to follow as he made his return to the statue and placed the ferry at its feet.

[Iron Man - Tony Stark]

I wonder what the hell Magneto wants to talk to me about? Tony thought, streaking across the Atlantic at a speed even he had never dreamed of when he built his first Iron Man suit. It figured right as he was about to leave to meet the mutant leader, an old 'friend' had decided to drop by. He still wasn't sure exactly which Crimson Dynamo it had been, he'd pounded the man and left him and his battered armor to the Wakandan authorities, then taken off towards New York at the best speed he could manage.

Which, currently, was just a little bit over thirty-two times the speed of sound. About 24,359 miles per hour. The scramjet unit he'd installed along the back of the suit screamed behind him, the noise considerable even through his armor's sound dampening equipment, and its blue-white flame stretched behind him for more than a mile. He was just a little over 90,000 feet above sea level, but that was nothing surprising - he'd shattered the Blackbird's record a long time ago, and he could have just broken atmosphere and gone into an orbital trajectory around to New York, but it was a bit too short of a trip for that to actually shave much time off it, and he was still stress-testing the scramjets. So far, though, they'd performed outstandingly.

Just another record I could claim that I never will. And the Air Force says scramjet technology is too expensive and not worth it. Then again, I suppose they have a point. I sunk several billion into the system, and I don't even have to pay me for doing the research on it. That being said, it's still worth it. I can be anywhere on the planet in a matter of a few hours - without a teleporter - and that's always useful.

Of course, he wasn't idle during the two hours he spent in the air - he used the time to link up with a whole network of military satellites, check activity of militaries wordwide, check datanets for possible crimes or plots in progress - he put up a few flags in places he knew Sage would check with her own technopathy, and finished the draft of the presentation he was going to give to her later - while at the same time putting the finishing touches on the Capekiller Mk II armor he was planning on pitching. And a few other little projects to intentionally put him into competition with Oscorp, of course, and each one of them on levels he knew perfectly well Norman's company couldn't touch. It turned out spite WAS a good catalyst for invention, at least for him.

Once he got within a hundred miles or so of the U.S., he flipped around and started his decel burn, dropping quickly below Mach 8, where the scramjets shut down and his turbines took over. He shot along the coastline at a leisurely Mach 7.4 for a little while, dropping altitude to the point where the curvature of the earth was no longer so visible, and put the brakes on harder when his HUD dropped a cursor over the Statue of Liberty. By the time he was close enough to New York for anyone to have heard the sonic boom, he was subsonic again, cruising on turbines and repulsors towards the statue.

While he did, he caught sight of Magneto pulling people - and a ship - out of the water, and frowned a little bit, running a scan on the vessel - which only made him frown more. Unknown explosive compound. Great. Probably another mutant that can generate some otherworldly destruction at a whim and had a temper tantrum on the boat. I've nothing against mutants in the slightest, but I wish they didn't all have to gain powers long before they know anything about how to control them.I bet even Mags wrecked some things on accident when he was a kid - funny as the image of him as a kid actually is.

He dropped altitude and swooped down over the statue just as Magneto set the ferry down, and cut the turbines, hovering on repulsor - so, apparently, just floating. "Charity work, Magneto?" he asked, his synthesized voice amplified slightly to cut through the distance, though despite the computerized and somewhat emotionless voice, a hint of irony crept through. He knew perfectly well how Magneto saw the world, even people like him who weren't strictly human anymore. He trusted the man to do the right thing - but he never expected him to like it.

"Sorry I'm late. Hit a snag in Wakanda. So what did you need to talk to me about?"

[Magneto- Erik Magnus Lehnsherr]

He looked down two the small ship and then up to Iron Man himself. “Seems we have both found things to distract us lately” He said suspiciously while watching the people slowly get off the now land locked ferry as the coast guard speed boats finally made a landing. “And convenient…”

He paused for a moment, very quiet as he scanned the harbor with his eyes and hovering higher into the sky to still see the smoke billowing from several places around the city, all bank robberies from the night before, a few of the fires having spread from the initial explosions.

“If you have jamming equipment on that tin pated tuxedo of yours please activate it now… I have this feeling we are being watched. Not all is as it should be.” His eyes finally fell upon Iron Man, a dark expression on his face indicating the feeling of foreboding which had come over him suddenly.

[Iron Man - Tony Stark]

"Either way, I'm glad to see it. And I'm more than certain those people over there were even gladder." he said, nodding in the direction of the people Magneto had pulled from the water, then he turned the faintly glowing eyes of his armor back to the master of magnetism, while he looked through his many other electronic eyes at the same things Magneto was looking at. Rash of bank robberies... it took him only a few milliseconds to check the news about it - and the records at the police database on them as well, and he frowned behind his faceplate. Odd that there wasn't a suspect... he was, due to his profession, prone to wondering if it was a superhuman affair... he flagged the incidents in the Avengers warning system. They'd have to keep a look out.

Magneto brought his attention back to where he was when he spoke again, though, and he laughed a little. "I'll have you know this armor is far more comfortable than most tuxedos. And sure, will give me an opportunity to try out a few things, anyway." The mental commands triggered in picoseconds -

<< MUNITIONS -> DRONES -> EW -> DEPLOYMENT -> SECURITY >>

He held one arm out, and part of his shoulder armor split open, releasing a small swarm of tiny spherical drones. Once fifty or so had been deployed, the armor snapped shut again and the little spheres floated out to surround the two in a dome more than large enough for the both of them. As they floated in place, energy sparked between them for a brief instant, and the air they encompassed took on a very slightly fuzzy appearance, and a slight orange tint, like a shield around the two of them.

"Full spectrum EW concealment, sound dampening, electronic white noise and signal suppression. Even the Helicarrier's gear can't penetrate the EW of those drones combined. What's on your mind, then?"

[Magneto- Erik Magnus Lehnsherr]

Magneto said nothing as the little robots seemed to surround them and cast a glow upon them, nor did he say anything for several minutes after even when Iron Man urged him to speak. He was still not certain this was enough but he also knew well that, like himself, Tony Stark was a genius and this little trick of his probably would do what he had asked for.

“The Ultimate Nullifier. It is still out their and it has been several months. It is a sheer miracle that it has not been found yet but it does need to be found… by us. I am sure that Captain America filled you in on the situation soon after you came out of your coma?” The master of magnetism asked while folding his arms over his chest. “I was asked to find any trace of its whereabouts in the minds of others. By chance… with the use of Cerebra… one of my students…” He paused and thought of Valoria and how it had almost killed her when she used it so foolishly and then just hours ago when her supposed future counterpart made an appearance in her world explaining what had happened. “…one of my students used the device and found out that my old partner Mystique has some knowledge of it. I intend to confront her soon and hopefully get what she knows out of her. But if I cannot get the whereabouts of the device I need someone to find it. I thought you would be our best bet. I am sure you have something in your bag of tricks that may help us no?” He smirked at his own comment towards his ally then continued on. “This is of the absolute utmost importance and it must remain quiet. I know that Norman Osborn has taken control of your business, he is not a man to be trusted so he must not know… can you do something without it passing by him?” Magneto did not know the truth behind his statement that Osborn could not be trusted, he did not know that the man who controlled Stark Enterprises and possessed both the title of Commissioner for Superhuman/Mutant affairs and a seat on the Superhuman council was in fact the Green Goblin, it was only the fact that he appeared to be another corrupt and foul hearted human and someone that could not be trusted by anyone.

“I will have Emma Frost use the machine soon and see if she, a more advanced psychic, can find anything more. Perhaps with both your efforts we will finally make some headway.” This statement was heart felt for he wished to find the device soon, the thought of something so powerful out their, something that could harm not only him but the entire mutant race… the entirety of existence itself truly made this powerful mutant fear, an emotion he rarely had to deal with and detested when he did. He only hoped that the repairs to Cerebra had been completed and Emma could use it soon.

[Iron Man - Tony Stark]

"The Ultimate Nullifier... I'm familiar with the device, as it turns out... the Avengers have had dealings with it in the past. If it's around again, I can certainly see why you wouldn't want this conversation to reach anyone's ears. As for Osborn..." He was half glad Magneto couldn't see his expression behind his armored faceplate...

"Stark Industries is far from my only resource, Erik." he said finally. "And if I did want to use its resources, I assure you I could do so without his knowledge. But I shouldn't have to. Since my... modification, I have access to far more surveillance systems than Stark Enterprises ever built." He left out the source - though somehow he doubted the former villain would have any problem with his tapping into government satellite systems to look for this device... especially since he knew very well how to cover his tracks.

"Even with my technological resources, however, I'd like to contact Reed Richards about it. He has the most practical experience with the device and the most research into its capabilities, something that might help me determine what sort of emissions signal its presence. If nothing else, he could help me narrow the search considerably. I can access Reed's files without his knowledge if I have to, but out of respect I would prefer to approach him about it - it would seem, however, that this is your party, so his involvement is your call."

"The other thing I want to know, though, is if you plan on keeping the rest of this in your own group. If I'm going to be involved, I'd prefer to keep the Avengers briefed, at least Captain America. Most of your team is still green, so I don't think it could hurt to have some experienced backup on hand."

[Magneto- Erik Magnus Lehnsherr]

“Richards…” He nodded and again looked at the dome around them knowing well that with the team of Richards and Stark together, almost anything scientific was possible. He also knew well that Richards did have the most extensive knowledge of the Nullifier of anyone on the planet however he did not want too many Sapiens involved at least not if he could help it.

“Captain America and your Avengers, those you trust, are acceptable. Mind you I would prefer if the details were kept scarce concerning Namor, Thor and Black Panther if they are part of the current team.” He paused looking directly into the glowing eyes of Iron Man’s helmet with all seriousness. “With their current closed country standing and problems with the UN, other countries and in some respects other species like Homo-Superior and Homo-Sapiens it would be best if they knew as little of the weapon as possible in case one were to obtain and wish to use it to their own lands advantage.”

He meant no insult by this even if Stark took offence to it. He understood that the honor and integrity of the Avengers was supposed to be impeccable and above reproach… at least that was the teams own propaganda but it was clear, at least to Magneto and many of the super-hero and villain community that over the years, especially recent ones, events had taken place to call that integrity in question… at least for some members.

“Reed I do not fully trust yet, he and I have had our altercations in the past as I have with you and many others. I am sure that he does not yet fully trust me either BUT I will agree that he be let in on this. We need all the information we can obtain and perhaps all the help we can in gaining possession of the weapon. Rumor is the Fantastic Four are currently inactive, the war having taken its toll on them all but if push comes to shove at least some may come to the fray.” He nodded to his own statement, finding it accurate and to the point. “But I want your word as well that The Avengers and the Fantastic Four, if they get involved, will not leave the X-Men out… full disclosure… and a joint operation in retrieving the device wherever it may be. You will not go off without us…” His expression became cold and completely serious about this as he once again looked into the glowing eyes he so remembered in battles of years passed.

[Iron Man - Tony Stark]

Tony stood and watched Magneto as he spoke, outlining his many caveats and addendums, but he stayed perfectly still - much easier to do in armor whose servos you could just deactivate - and would have kept his expression impassive if he had to. Again, the suit had its advantages beyond the obvious.

After a few moments, though, he held up one hand, and the faceplate detatched from the helmet with a click, and floated into his hand. His blue eyes looked openly on the mutant leader for a few moments, then he lowered the piece of his armor and nodded.

"Reasonable enough. The Avengers haven't been all they were meant to be in some cases, I'll admit that." Specifically, their priorities had shifted. Time was they were just a band of heroes who came together to crush enemies none of them could have handled on their own. These days... some of them had 'more important' duties. But he understood that. He'd put the SHRA ahead of the team at one point, and it had, for a time, shattered the Avengers. He'd felt, at the time, it was more important... and that his friends would support him. He'd been wrong, and he knew how badly it could have gone. Some things just went that way. But with Thor and Namor and the Panther... well they had people of their own to look after. He could hardly fault them, either, even if it meant he might not be able to trust them as he had in the past.

"And I'd have asked the same of you. If I'm involved, I want to be involved. Don't leave without the Avengers." He let the faceplate float back to his helmet and snap into place, and the glow of the eyes returned.

"Anything else you think we should clarify?"

[Magneto- Erik Magnus Lehnsherr]

“The Avengers shall be involved as much as the X-Men.” Mangeto nodded in agreement and then raised a hand for Iron Man to be patient for at least one more moment. “The last thing I need to speak about is that I will be leaving the Institute for a small sabbatical once this mission is complete. I shall put Emma Frost in charge until I return and when I do I will need you to back me up when I call for a meeting of the Super-Human council. I know there is not one scheduled for a while but I will have something important to bring before us all to consider. The rules say when one member wishes to call between scheduled meetings he needs someone to second. I ask that you be that person.” He was sincere with no sign of threat or malice in what he had to say and when he was done with his experiments on Asteroid M he would need to bring X before them all.

[Iron Man - Tony Stark]

"Then that's all I need to know."[/i][/font] he said, and started to command that the drones break down their EW shield, but magneto stopped him, and he turned back to the man for a moment, curious. When the mutant finally laid out his plan, Tony nodded, glad that it wasn't anything else potentially lethal.

"Sure. I'll support your motion. I wouldn't mind having another meeting either. I'll find a secure method to inform you when I find something out."[/i][/font] He nodded to Magneto then, and the shimmer in the air melted away. The little drones moved back in towards him, returning themselves to the slots that opened in his armor to admit them, and he floated off the ground on apparently no power as the repulsor flight system lifted him up.

"Think I'll see who's responsible for these bombings" he said audibly, a lightness to his tone - they'd seen worse... and he'd deal with this. There was a brief whine as the turbines in his boots spun up, and he shot off into the distance towards the city, already combing the networks for information.

[Magneto- Erik Magnus Lehnsherr]

"Good Luck to you then. I must return to the school, a headmasters job is never done. We have 67 new arrivals expected and we must find room for them." He nodded to the man of Iron and slowly rose up into the air under his own magnetic power. "I will await you to contact me about what we have just discussed." He looked around again and could feel something was just not right in the air, in the fields of energy all around them and it made him uneasy as they spoke.

Saying no more the Master of Magnetism rose higher and higher into the air and out of site as he headed towards the Xavier Mansion outside of New York city.