SAVAGE LAND

Part IV: Old Habits

By Dino Pollard

Avalon

The X-Men, alongside Ka-Zar and Zabu, stand facing a small gathering of Acolytes. At the head of the group is Havok — Cyclops’ younger brother. Also among them are Javitz, Unuscione, Senyaka, Vindaloo, Meltdown, Voght, and Delgado.

“You’re not going anywhere,” says Havok.

“Don’t do this, Alex,” says Cyclops.

“You’re not leaving me much of a choice, Scotty,” says Havok. “You’re trying to destroy everything Magneto has built here. And for what? To side with the flatscans who betrayed you?”

“It’s about more than that, kid,” says Wolverine. “Jean, Kitty — go with jungle boy and find those humans.”

The Phoenix raptor manifests around Jean. The wings expand to enclude Shadowcat, Ka-Zar, and Zabu. The four of them streak off. Voght vanishes in a puff of smoke as well.

“Ten gets you twenty she’s gonna bring back-up,” says Thunderbird.

“Then we finish this quickly,” says Wolverine. “Divide an’ conquer, team.”

“I call dibs on Meltdown,” says Dazzler. “I still owe her for Liberty Island.”

Havok launches the opening salvo by unleashing a massive plasma blast. The X-Men scatter, save for Cyclops who stands and absorbs the brunt of the impact. When the dust clears, he’s standing there, his clothing damaged, but otherwise unharmed.

“How…?” asks Havok. “Last time it took you out.”

“That was then, this is now,” replies Cyclops. He charges forward and tackles Havok to the ground. “Turns out siblings are genetically immune to each other’s powers. Only reason your powers hurt me last time was because of the Sentinels.”

“Not bad, Scotty, but you’ll need to do better,” says Havok. He knees Cyclops in the groin and drives his elbow into his brother’s face. He pulls Cyclops up by his collar and delivers a right hook that knocks Cyclops to the ground. Havok jumps towards him, but Cyclops kicks his legs up, striking Havok in the chest. Cyclops quickly jumps back up to his feet.

“By the way, did I mention Logan’s been teaching me some pointers?” asks Cyclops.

Deep beneath Avalon, Shadowcat, Phoenix, and Ka-Zar drop down into the central core of the generators from the ceiling. All of them link arms, having passed through thanks to Shadowcat’s phasing abilities.

“We have to move fast,” says Phoenix. “I sensed Voght teleport away from the battle once we left. It won’t be long before Magneto shows up, and I want to free as many people as possible before that happens.”

“Why’s Magneto that big of a deal anyway?” asks Shadowcat. “I mean, didn’t you guys take him out once before?”

“At best, we slowed him down,” replies Phoenix. “It was the Professor who really took him out. And then we found out most of that was window-dressing courtesy of the Shadow King.”

“Yeah, but that was also before you started calling yourself Phoenix, right?” asks Shadowcat.

“My powers are growing, I know that,” replies Phoenix. “But I’m afraid to use them to an extreme degree, which is what I would need to do if Magneto shows up.”

“Why?” asks Shadowcat.

“The more I push myself, the more I sense something… a darkness of some kind,” replies Phoenix.

“Could we possibly worry about that later?” asks Ka-Zar.

“Right, sorry,” says Phoenix. “Kitty, you think your computer skills can handle this?”

“Only one way to find out,” says Shadowcat as she moves towards the large Cray computer.

“You sucker punched me last time,” says Dazzler. “Don’t think it’s gonna happen twice.”

“Ooooh, I’m shaking,” says Meltdown. “Whaddaya gonna do, Britney, lip sync me to death?”

“Okay… now that was just uncalled for…” says Dazzler. She soaks up the sounds of battle, utilizing the sound to fuel her ability to generate light. She begins forming orbs of colorful light in her hands.

“I…”

She hurls one of them at Meltdown, striking Meltdown’s right shoulder.

“Never…”

She hurls another at Meltdown’s left shoulder.

“LIPSYNC!!”

She hurls two orbs at once, knocking Meltdown back. Meltdown recovers and shakes her head, just in time to see that Dazzler is upon her again. Before Meltdown can retaliate, Dazzler drives her foot against Meltdown’s forehead.

“Bitch,” mutters Dazzler.

“Lord Magneto!”

Amelia Voght’s words announced her presence as she teleported inside Magneto’s inner sanctum. Magneto stood there, his helmet sitting on a desk, and quickly turned to look at her with scorn.

“Lord Magneto, a team of Acolytes have located the X-Men,” she says. “But Phoenix and Shadowcat left with Ka-Zar.”

“Why have you disrupted my counsel, Amelia?” asks Magneto.

“…my Lord?” asks Voght. “There’s no one else in here but us.”

“Don’t listen to her, Erik.”

Magneto turns to see the form of a young woman standing behind him.

“I’m here for you and you alone,” she says.

“I have to apologize for my overzealous follower, Magda,” says Magneto.

“Magda?” asks Voght. “Who are you speaking to?”

“Leave us be, Voght,” says Magneto. “I will deal with the X-Men.”

“…as you wish,” says Voght before teleporting out.

“You know what you must do, Erik,” says Magda.

“I do,” replies Magneto. “I promise Magda, we will have our vengeance on the humans.”

In a flash of light and smoke, coupled with the sulfuric scent of brimstone, Nightcrawler teleports an instant before Delgado can strike him. Nightcrawler rematerializes behind Delgado and wraps his arms around the Acolyte’s shoulders, trapping him in a full-nelson. Nightcrawler takes a deep breath before performing a series of teleportations while keeping Delgado in tow.

When they rematerialize and halt, Delgado falls unconscious. Nightcrawler stumbles, trying to regain his footing, exhaustion overtaking his body. He places his hands on his stomach and bends forward, vomitting. Performing that many teleportations in such a short period while carrying someone as large as Delgado is a trying experience for him — and an even worse one for his passengers.

Nearby, Senyaka’s energy whip flies through the air. Colossus lifts his arm to block and the whip wraps around it. Piotr Rasputin grits his teeth in pain, but pulls back on the whip, pulling Senyaka with it. As Senyaka flies through the air, Colossus’ fist provides the sudden backstop that knocks the Acolyte’s teeth loose.

“I think I’m starting to figure this out,” says Shadowcat. “Some of it’s difficult to get through thanks to Milan’s powers, but it’s not impossible.”

“How much longer do you think it’ll take?” asks Phoenix.

“I’m not sure…” replies Shadowcat. “First step is shutting down the power…”

Kitty Pryde’s hands are a blur as her fingers dance across the keyboard, entering programs and encryption codes to hack into the sophisticated system set up by Milan. Phoenix rests her arms on the back of the chair and stares intently at the screen. Ka-Zar simply watches the pods containing his friends and co-workers from the observation window, watching for any sign of movement or life.

“How are we doing on company?” asks Shadowcat.

“I’m not sure,” replies Phoenix.

“You’re not scanning the area?” asks Shadowcat.

“I’m conserving my energy,” replies Phoenix. “Magneto will be coming here, we know that much for certain. So I need to be ready to break through his defenses.”

Utilizing his superhuman speed, Thunderbird easily sidesteps many of Vindaloo’s fire attacks. He glances over to the side and watches as Beast uses his own peak-human speed and agility to avoid the massive fists of the one-eyed Javitz. Thunderbird charges forward, dodging the flame blasts, getting close enough to uppercut Vindaloo.

Vindaloo falls flat on his tailbone. He sits up and rubs his lip, looking down at his hand and seeing blood. He extends his hands. Vindaloo’s pores produce a flammable gel that when exposed to the air ignites, which he can direct as liquid napalm. Thunderbird charges away, attempting to avoid the napalm.

“Need some help over there?” asks Beast.

“Couldn’t hurt,” replies Thunderbird.

Beast nods and leaps over Javitz, slamming his feet down on Javitz’s head. Javitz turns, gritting his teeth, and charges towards Beast. Beast grabs the collar of Javtiz’s costume and using Javitz’s own momentum against him, kicks him right into the path of Vindaloo’s napalm blast.

“Javitz!” he exclaims. He feels a finger tapping him on his shoulder and hears a man clearing his throat.

“Hi,” says Thunderbird. He drives his fist against Vindaloo’s face, shattering the Acolyte’s jaw.

“I’ve got it!” exclaims Shadowcat. “Here we go… I’m shutting down all power save for this control center.”

“If we shut down the generators, how can we still operate the computer?” asks Ka-Zar.

“There’s reserve power stored in battery units,” replies Shadowcat. “I’m switching to those right now. Next step is disconnecting your people from the system.”

Ka-Zar looks through the observation glass to see the pods beginning to slide open, yet he sees no movement from the people inside.

“What’s happening?” he asks. “Why aren’t they moving?”

“Relax, these guys have been incredibly doped up to keep them immobile,” replies Shadowcat. “Give it some time for the drugs to wear off.”

“What’s she doing?” asks Ka-Zar. He motions with his thumb to Phoenix, who hovers upside-down in the lotus position, her eyes closed and her hands clasped together with a small aura of flames surrounding her body.

“Meditating, I guess,” replies Shadowcat. “I dunno, but I assume she knows what she’s doing.”

The sound of metal scraping against metal echoes in the small control room. Shadowcat and Ka-Zar instantly jump to their feet to see the walls tear open. Magneto hovers inside the small enclosure, his arms folded and his cape billowing around him with a magnetic field surrounding his body.

“Ms. Pryde, this is your one and only chance to save yourself,” says Magneto. “If you value your life, reactivate the system.”

The Phoenix awakens.

While Wolverine slashes at Unuscione’s psionic exoskeleton to try and pierce it, Cyclops and Havok trade blow after blow with each other.

“You just don’t get it, do you?” asks Cyclops. He sits on Havok’s chest and grabs his brother by the ears. “Magneto is lying to you!”

He slams Havok’s head against the ground repeatedly.

“If we’re homo superior, then we have to set an example!” exclaims Cyclops. “Enslaving people, bringing war… that’s their way! We have to be better than that! We’re supposed to be evolved, we’re supposed to be superior! So let’s prove it by finding better solutions!”

He lifts Havok’s head and slams it down again.

“I don’t know what it’ll take to get you to see that,” says Cyclops. “Hopefully this will knock some sense into you!”

“N-no… you’re wrong,” says Havok. “If we don’t strike first, they’ll strike at us! We have to stop them before they can harm us any more than they already have!”

“Oh shut up!” exclaims Cyclops. He pulls Havok up and knees him in the stomach. Havok keels over and Cyclops drives his elbow into his brother’s back. Cyclops pulls him upright and punches him across the face. Havok falls down to the ground and doesn’t make an effort to stand back up.

“I’m sorry, Alex,” says Cyclops. He turns his attention to Wolverine and reaches up to his visor. Turning the dial, he unleashes an optic blast that slams against Unuscione’s exoskeleton. The distraction he provides gives Wolverine an opportunity to gain the upper hand. Unuscione’s concentration wavers for a moment, long enough for Wolverine’s claws to pierce her abdomen. With Unuscione immobilized, Wolverine turns to Cyclops.

“You alright?” he asks.

Cyclops looks down at his brother.

“No,” he replies. “But that’s not important right now.”

“Good soldier,” says Wolverine. “Let’s go see what Jeannie and Kitty are up to.”

Magneto suddenly finds himself standing in complete and total darkness. He looks down and sees his uniform has been replaced with a white suit. He glances furiously around.

“What is this?!” he exclaims. “Where are you?!”

A bright light pierces his eyes, burning his retina. Jean Grey hovers towards him, surrounded by the Phoenix avatar. Her eyes glow brightly.

“You,” he says. “How did you break through my defenses?”

“Don’t insult me, Erik. I was powerful enough to kill the Shadow King. Did you really think those defenses could keep me out forever?”

“DON’T CALL ME THAT!” he exclaims. “MY NAME IS MAGNETO!”

“No, no it’s not. It’s Erik Lehnsherr.”

“No…” he replies. “Lehnsherr is dead.”

The wings of the Phoenix expand, blinding Magneto with their light. When he can see again, he discovers that the landscape has changed. The darkness is gone, replaced with a suburban neighborhood. All the houses look almost identical to each other. Erik’s eyes go wide in shock when he realizes where he is.

“No…” he mutters. “Don’t do this…”

But he receives no response from the Phoenix. Instead, he watches as night falls over the suburban town. A mob gathers in front of the home. They set up a large wooden X on the front lawn and light it on fire.

“MUTANTS ARE NOT WELCOME HERE!” exclaims the leader. He holds a bottle of alcohol in his hand with cloth sticking out of it. He lights the cloth and throws the bottle through one of the windows. The other members of the mob retaliate through similar means as well, the house quickly becoming engulfed with flames.

“The twins. They died in the fire, didn’t they?”

Magneto watches as Erik Lehnsherr pulls up to the house in a car, with Charles Xavier in the passenger seat. They quickly get out of the car and rush to the house. Erik pushes past the mob, trying to charge into the home.

“Erik stop!” exclaims Charles, grabbing his friend’s arm. “I’m scanning… I can’t find any trace of them… I’m sorry, my friend…”

“No!” exclaims Erik, tears forming in his eyes. “No, they’re not dead!”

“Erik…” says Charles.

Erik turns to the mob and their leader.

“You did this!” he exclaims. “You killed my children!”

“Mutant children,” replies the leader. “No great loss.”

“ANIMAL!” exclaims Erik. He halts the flow of iron in the man’s bloodstream, and then reverses it.

“STOP!”

The psychic voice belongs to Charles Xavier as he overtakes the minds of the remaining mob. They quickly disperse, leaving Charles and Erik alone together.

“That was when Magneto was born, wasn’t it?”

“Please don’t…” mutters Magneto. “Don’t make me see this…”

“You killed Graydon Creed and distanced yourself from Xavier. The death of your children was one thing, but losing your wife… losing Magda… that drove you insane. You refused to believe she was dead, you thought she was still with you.”

“She is!” exclaims Magneto. “You don’t understand… together, the two of us… we had to avenge our children! We did what any parents would do!”

“But it didn’t stop with the Friends of Humanity, did it? You became Magneto, you built Avalon. You attacked labs which were suspected of testing on mutants. Anti-mutant groups were springing up and you eliminated them. All that hate inside of you, your fractured mind… it weakened your defenses and made you fair game for the Shadow King.”

“Jean… please I’m begging you…”

Magneto falls to his knees, burying his face in his hands. The Phoenix was nowhere to be seen, her voice ringing inside of Magneto’s head, coming from everywhere and nowhere at the same time.

“What happened to your family was a horrible tragedy, Erik. But you can’t hold all of humanity accountable for the actions of the few.”

“They’re all the same…” mutters Magneto. “All they know is genocide and enslavement!”

“Then how are you any different?”

Magneto finds himself at a loss for words.

“It’s over. It’s time to prove that we’re better. I’m sorry to say that you won’t be part of this new world, Erik.”

The flames seem to separate themselves from the house, forming into the avatar of the Phoenix with Jean Grey in the center of it. She hovers towards Magneto, and lands on the ground beside him. She kneels down next to him and wraps her arms around him, embracing him.

“The flames of the Phoenix burn away what doesn’t work, what is out of place.”

“So what happens now?” he asks.

“Just relax…”

The flames around Jean’s body expand to engulf Magneto as well, and yet he feels no pain.

“Accept the judgement of the Phoenix.”

Nick Fury takes a drag on his cigar and surveys the area. He sighs and scratches the back of his neck.

“Colonel?”

Fury turns and finds a young woman with long blonde hair dressed in a SHIELD uniform standing by.

“What is it, Carter?” he asks.

“Most of the Acolytes left the island, but we were able to round up some of them,” replies Sharon Carter. “Do we have any clue as to what happened here?”

“None,” replies Fury. “We just got a tip from a secured frequency. An’ this Kevin Plunder guy sure as shit ain’t talkin’. Claims he doesn’t remember anything.”

{{ Fury? }}

Fury activates his radio and speaks into it.

“What’ve y’ got for me, Dugan?”

{{ You won’t believe this, Nick. }}

“What?” asks Fury.

{{ It’s Magneto. He’s down here. }}

Fury and Carter both look at each other with confusion. Fury speaks into the radio again.

“…say that again?”

{{ We found Magneto. }}

“Dugan, I’m in no mood for jokes,” says Fury. “You’re not pulling a fast one on me, are you?”

{{ I’m not shitting you, Nick — I swear on my mother’s grave, we’ve got Magneto in custody. And it doesn’t look like he’s gonna be giving us any trouble. }}

“What do you mean?” asks Fury.

{{ Well… it seems like he’s a few beers short of a six-pack. He’s just laying here, eyes open… but they’re completely blank. The lights are on but nobody’s home. }}

“I’ll be right there, Fury out,” he says. He turns and looks out over Avalon. With the terraforming technology deactivated, the Antarctic climate has begun to take over once more. Sharon Carter steps up beside him.

“Something wrong, sir?” she asks.

“I don’t really know,” replies Fury. “I just want to know what the hell is going on.”

Two young children are playing in front of a suburban house. One is a boy with short, silver hair. The other is a girl with dark red hair pulled into pigtails. He sees a woman with long, black hair leaning against the doorway, arms folded as she watches her children play with a smile on her face. A car pulls up to the curb and a man with short, silver hair and a white suit steps out. He walks towards the house.

The children run up to him and throw their arms around him, crying out “Daddy!” as they do so. Their father kneels down on the ground and embraces his children.

“Wanda! Pietro!” he exclaims. He releases them and lifts Wanda up with one arm. He clutches Pietro’s hand and walks towards the front door. The young woman smiles and they kiss. She looks at him with a concerned expression.

“Erik?” she asks. “Are you okay?”

“I’m just fine, Magda,” replies Erik with a large smile. He looks to each of his children, and then back at his wife. “Everything’s perfect.”

NEXT ISSUE: Mutant Massacre begins.