President's Decision...

[Xavier Mansion, New York]

The atmosphere in Xavier Mansion didn't look very good. All the classes have been dismissed for the day. None of them were in a mood for classes today after all. The Professors were also like that, the atmosphere was really bleak.

"Professor, what are we going to do?" Ororo asked Charles in a worried voice.

"I simply don't know… I had never expected that someone would carry out an attack like this" Charles said looking heartbroken.

"Is Magneto behind the attack?" Scott asked with anger in his tone. Both Jean and Ororo wanted to beat up this bastard because this was the 4th time he had asked this since the morning.

"No… Scott, I have said this before, Magneto might have different ideas but he is not stupid… even he wouldn't act like this" Charles said while shaking his head in disappointment.

"Scott, I don't understand how you can be so stupid! It is clear that someone is trying to frame us" Jean spoke while looking at Scott like he was an insect. After Reo left, Scott has become more determined in his pursuit and that annoyed Jean to no end… sometimes she came this close to wringing his neck.

'No Jean… you can't murder someone because he is an asshole' Jean told herself once again, not to give in to her impulses. Ororo looked at her friend with pity in her eyes. In a corner of her mind, she was rather happy that the asshole left her alone. Having such an admirer is much worse than having no beauty.

"I am going to Cerebro… I want to know who was behind this attack. I hope that we can still mend the fences" Charles said in a hopeful tone. Jean and Ororo knew much better… there was no way that they could mend fences any longer.

Senator Kelly and his family were enough to get mutants prosecuted but now that President was also attacked and his wife was killed there was no way that they could mend the fences now but they still decided to believe in Charles after all he has always found a way.

[Oval Office, White Office]

The President wasn't happy, in fact, he was downright furious. His wife… he loved his wife and now his wife was killed in cold blood along with several of his guards… the death of his guards hurt him. After all, they had been his friends but none of their deaths had hurt the President as much as his wife's death did.

He cried the whole morning; a lot of his men saw that but nobody made fun of him. They felt sympathy for the man but other than that all of them were bubbling with righteous fury. So, when the President was finally able to gather his wits he immediately called a joint staff meeting.

The President finally walked in, everyone could see the righteous fury in his eyes and all of them agreed with it. Even the Director of SHIELD was present here, no one dared to skip this meeting, after all, this meeting was going to mold the future of humankind.

"Gentlemen, I assume that all of you have been briefed?" the President asked while taking his seat.

"Yes, sir!" All of them chorused in agreement.

"First of all, please tell me what kind of a threat the mutants are to our society?" the President asked in a calm tone. Even though he was enraged he wanted to do this while following the correct procedure… he didn't want anger to cloud his judgment.

"Sir, if I may?" Nick Fury raised up his hand. The President obviously knew about SHIELD and who their director was even though the others in the room didn't know much about him.

"Sir, I think they are a very big threat to human society. They are an unknown variable as you might have seen since they have various kinds of powers. The mutant that attacked you had the ability to teleport… if he could sneak into the White House then I wonder where he can't go with his ability" Fury said and the others in the room even though most of them didn't know him completely agreed with him.

William Stryker was also present in the room and he was really happy with the progress of the meeting. He knew that he had already won the game when he got the First Lady killed but for now he decided to wait and see. His main target was the Xavier Mansion but he also knew that he can't just blindly attack that place. His son was very helpful with the information but he needed more information before he could launch an attack on Xavier Mansion.

"There is also a mutant we have codenamed Fox because of her calling card. We currently have information that she can disguise herself. We have been after her for more than 5 months but we still haven't found a single clue what her name is and what she looks like. Every time we find her… she has a different face. She could also control people's minds. When she does that then you will do anything to make her happy. She can also wipe people's memories and modify them like she pleases" Fury said and everyone present in the room looked completely horrified. Nobody spoke anything for a few moments.

"How much of a threat is she?" the President asked in a sullen voice.

"If not for my department's intervention she would have definitely collapsed our country's economy… it was almost touch and go for a few weeks" Fury said in a cold tone.

"I also know about a mutant who can look around people's heads and know their every secret" Stryker decided to take this chance and speak up.

"You are saying that he could be watching this meeting at this moment?" Fury asked Stryker in a bewildered tone.

"Yes" Stryker said and the room turned completely silent. Nobody said anything, even the President remained silent. He placed a hand on his temple and rubbed it…

"So, all you agree that mutants are a threat to our society, right?" finally the President asked.

"Yes, sir" everyone in the room chorused. The President got up from his chair and walked towards his window and stared outside.

"So, what do you propose? I won't approve a complete massacre though" the President said in an authoritative tone. His tone left no room for any kind of argument.

"Sir, we should capture them and weaponize their powers for our use" Thaddeus Ross decided to speak up for the first time.

"But, do you think you can control them with all the different kinds of power they have?" an unknown General asked the question.

"Trask Industries can. They have been researching mutants since Bolivar Trask was assassinated by them. The only prison where a mutant could be imprisoned, Camp X-Ray, was also built by Trask Industries, they had developed collars for mutants that could be used to control mutants" Fury said. Everyone in the room looked contemplative for a few moments before agreeing unanimously.

They didn't care if they are going to control the mutants like cattle… they just wanted them under their control. But this also brought another problem… they needed to capture the mutants and some would definitely fight back.

"Then, we follow General Ross's and Director Fury's plan. We capture them, if they fight back then take them down but avoid bloodshed. I want to avoid useless bloodshed as long as possible" the President declared and none of them argued. After that, they decided to iron out the finer details before announcing their decision.

[POV Magneto]

I took his hand and decided to become his ally. I have no illusions that I was going to be his equal, but I am happy with this arrangement for now. With the incident of the murders of the Kelly family and the First Lady, the mutants are going to be oppressed and killed indiscriminately.

This person is strong much stronger than me… I clearly felt his power when he launched those spears in my direction even when I was trying to stop them. The power meant nothing in front of him and if he can help and create a better place for mutants then I would happily agree.

I have tried this my whole life but I have still failed to do it, and he is still young maybe I could use him. Even if I don't get the chance to use him I could still learn more from him about my power.

It's true that I never tried to understand the full capabilities of my power, I thought that this was my full power but this guy said that I could do more. Maybe I would be able to achieve his level. But first I will see what he does… all of my brethren are going to face a Dark Time.

Charles… my old friend, humans are finally going to show their true colors. What are you going to do? I just hope that you don't drag down the others along with you…