A Guiding Hand For The Future

Sleep? Sleep is for losers, my friends. And I am no loser. I think... I have a life. Shut up. Anyway here's another chapter.

The room settled in an uncomfortable silence. Knowing someone out there is making an army of genocidal super-bots tends to kill the vibe.

I spoke up first, breaking the silence.

"So, what are we going to do about it. We're not just gonna sit there and let it happen, so what's the plan?"

Tony smirked, clearly pleased by me taking the initiative.

"Well, unfortunately, the Avengers are sort of spread out right now. Banner's working on some research in South Korea, Cap's with Vision and Hawkeye in Russia investigating some leads on a local terrorist cell. Wanda is currently a stay-at-home mom, so I doubt she's going to be coming along. We don't have enough time to gather the team before Magneto gets those bots up and running. So, we'll be working with what we've got here."

I looked him in the eyes, unimpressed.

"And what we've got here is two spider-people, a bald principal in a wheelchair, no offense, a dude in a leather jacket with the best sideburns I've ever seen, a dude with laser eyes, a teen girl with anger issues, claws and seeming immortality, pretty cool by the way, an international super spy and Iron-man. Oh also you two, which, nice to meet you, I'm Huntsman."

I finished my tangent by looking over at the two new girls I had seen earlier.

They both looked at me in surprise at being called out, before introducing themselves.

"Nice to meet you too, i guess. I'm Riri. Also known as Ironheart."

"Ohh, Iron-man part 2. Impressive" I joked, earning a glare from Riri and a smack to the back of the head from Gwen.

"Ow. Sorry, like I said, humour as a coping mechanism." I rubbed the back of my head as I turned to look at the second girl, who was observing my interaction with Riri curiously.

The girl had pink skin and green hair, and looked somewhat like a cyborg. She reminded me of someone, but I'm not sure who.

"Greetings. It is nice to meet you too, Huntsman. My name is Vivian Vision. You may call me Viv."

Ah. Vision. That's who it was. Wait, I thought he was an android so how… you know what? On second thought, I don't want to know.

"Alright, so that's the introductions out of the way. So, what's the plan here." I said, turning to Tony once again.

"The plan is to get over to Iceland and stop them from finishing those bots. We need to burn any traces of those things. It's not a power we can let anyone hold." He said, taking a seat at the table.

"Okay…but what are we going to do with Magneto?" Gwen said, causing everyone to look at her.

Charles spoke up first.

"We shall subdue him and his brotherhood, and deal with him according to the law."

"Sorry, what? I thought you already arrested him multiple times. He got out every time and just continued his genocidal plans. Spiderwoman and I would've been killed if Tony and Bruce didn't show up." I said, causing Charles to grimace.

"I understand that it may seem like a fruitless endeavor, but what else can we do?" He said, trying to argue his case.

"Give me his info file and I can give you 20 things we can do, all of which will end his genocide crusade permanently." I said, my voice coming out harsh and bitter.

"Are you suggesting we kill him? The law is not something we can take into our own hands-"

"He is trying to make genocidal superbots. He's unleashed a 10 foot immortal dome-head that tore through downtown New York and almost killed me and Spiderwoman."

I stood up from my chair, getting angrier by the moment as I spoke.

"How many times are you going to let him get off easy after trying to murder billions!? Or are you saying his life is worth more than theirs!?"

"That is not what I'm suggesting at all, so please calm down. I'm simply saying, if we kill every villain we think goes too far, how are we any different from them? Killing without consequences is a dark spiral that can end in tragedy."

"And letting him live is a darker spiral that will end in tragedy. But I'll tell you what, Charles."

I looked over at Tony for approval to speak my mind, only to see him looking at me with pride. This is exactly what he wanted, wasn't it. I was wondering why he wasn't taking a more proactive stance. He was trying to bait me into acting like a leader. Fuck.

I sighed. I've dug my own grave. Well, wouldn't be the first time, and definitely won't be the last.

"You'll get 1 minute to talk some sense into him. Get him to give up the whole crusade. But if you fail, we finish this. Permanently."

I walked away from the table, feeling everyone's gaze on my back. I walked out of the door and heard it close behind me.

I inhaled and exhaled deeply. I've been through enough battles to know that mercy isn't always something you can afford. What if Magneto gets out again after we stop him? Even if we delete the data, who knows how many copies he's hidden away. Once he gets out again, whose to stop him from building them without us knowing. I won't let that happen.

I heard the door open behind me, as someone walked up and put her hand on my shoulder. I turned to see Gwen giving me a look of confidence. Right next to her were Riri and Viv.

"We're here with you. I don't know about the other two, but I'll be with you every step of the way." She said, her voice soothing me in ways she could never imagine.

I smiled, and looked to the other two.

Riri shrugged her shoulders. "I mean, you made a pretty compelling argument. And as far as I can tell, you're the leader of this team, so… I'll follow your lead for now."

"Team? Ah. You're the recruits from Tony's side. Well, glad to have you onboard. It's just us 4 for now, though." I looked towards Viv, who smiled in return.

I then turned and began to walk down the hall, with the 3 of them following me. We entered the elevator and went down to our team's floor. As we walked out of the elevator, they all began to look around, taking the place in.

I walked towards the lab, specifically, the suit fabricator. I had an idea for how I was going to deal with Magneto.

As I got to work preparing for the mission, the conversation continued on in the Briefing room.

*General POV*

Charles sat there, thinking back on what had just transpired. He didn't expect Elijah to be so upfront about something as serious as killing. Perhaps he had underestimated the boy.

Tony spoke up, drawing the attention of all the mutants in the room.

"Believe it or not, we're the old generation now, Charles. Well, you're much older, but you get the point. It's their world to save, and their decision to make on how they save it. All we can do is help them when they fuck up." He said, standing up and walking around the table.

"Tony, he's speaking of killing!"

"A subject neither you nor I are unfamiliar with. Don't play dumb with me, Charles. We've all had to make that decision at one point or another. It comes with the job. The life of one or the life of many. He's your friend, Charles, I understand that. But how many more people are you going to let die while you try to bring him back to the light. I don't blame you for not wanting his death. But it stopped being your decision the moment those kids got caught up in it. It's their future on the line, not ours. We have no right to stand in their way, so step aside."

Tony finished his speech by walking towards the door and putting on his signature sunglasses.

"Try to bring him back, Charles. But know that if you fail, we won't."

End of Chapter 28~

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Oh yeah baby, I'm on a fuckin roll. I'm enjoying writing this arc a lot, so I hope y'all are enjoying reading it. Peace ✌️