Chapter 138

The echo of Doom's declaration still hung in the air, the sheer audacity of it rippling through the assembly like a shockwave, leaving a stunned, uneasy silence in its wake. Whispers broke out among the delegates, panicked glances flickering between heads of state, some already calculating the ramifications, others merely struggling to process the sudden shift in the balance of power.

Then, a deep, smooth voice cut through the murmur of uncertain voices.

"Indeed," Magneto said, his tone rich with amusement, the faintest hint of a smile touching his lips as he stepped forward, his crimson cloak trailing behind him like a banner of blood and defiance. "It seems today is a day of declarations. If the so-called leaders of this world wish to redraw the map of power, then allow me to make my position clear as well."

Every eye in the chamber turned toward him, some with outright fear, others with a grim sense of inevitability, as if they had known, deep down, that this moment was coming.

"For too long," Magneto continued, his deep-set eyes blazing with a fierce, unyielding light, "my people have been hunted, feared, and oppressed, forced to hide in the shadows, to cower before the fearful masses. That ends now. No longer shall mutants bow to the whims of lesser men, no longer shall we beg for scraps of respect from those who fear our gifts."

He spread his arms wide, the metal in the room trembling subtly, reacting to the force of his will, the light fixtures flickering as the magnetic fields twisted and warped around him.

"I demand recognition," he said, his voice sharp and cutting, each word striking the room like a hammer blow. "Recognition of mutantkind as a distinct and equal people, with rights and dignity, free from persecution and fear. We shall no longer tolerate being treated as lesser beings, as weapons, as tools for your wars."

He allowed his words to hang in the air for a moment, his gaze sweeping over the gathered leaders, many of whom now sat frozen in a mixture of terror and disbelief.

"From this day forth," he continued, his tone dropping to a cold, menacing whisper, "know this – if you seek to oppress my people, if you dare to strike at us from the shadows, we shall meet your defiance with fire and steel. Mutants will not be slaves, nor will we be hunted like animals."

He straightened, the air around him humming with barely contained energy, the very metal of the building vibrating in response to his presence.

"We shall have our place in this world," he declared, his voice ringing with absolute certainty, "and those who would deny us that right shall find no mercy at our gates."

Silence. Utter, choking silence.

For a moment, the entire assembly seemed to hold its breath, the sheer audacity of his words freezing them in place, their minds struggling to grasp the full implications of his declaration.

Doom's eyes narrowed slightly, a flicker of something like amusement crossing his face as he studied the self-proclaimed champion of mutantkind.

I felt Mordred shift beside me; it seemed she wasn't happy that everyone seemed to ignore me now in favor of the two others.

Yet, while Doom had been a surprise, it wasn't beyond what I could allow. Right now, keeping these people here busy is my goal.

They might be weak, so weak I could end them all with a wave of my hand, but they still possessed the ability to make things hard for the people of Albion. But giving them something else to deal with, bought me time.

In the end, Doom was mortal, he didn't matter much, when faced with gods, Celestials, alien civilisations and purple titans, what harm could one man do?

Either the Fantastic Four would deal with any problems he might cause, or if something changed, I might just have to send one of my knights to deal with him, in case he proved a problem down the line.

Or maybe just have Magneto do it. Doom should make his armor at one point, and that should make him an easy kill for the master of magnetism.

Even my own knights weren't immune to his power; after all, their armor was real. Only someone like me and Mordred, whose armor is far more magical in nature could resist that.

Not that he could kill my knights, but he could force them to fight without armor, he would likely still die in a moment, but at least he could slow them down for a bit, which is more than most threats in this world.

He suffered from something most human superheroes and villains did. Low endurance, he was strong, but he couldn't take a hit.

Doom was the same; no matter how great his future tech-based weapons might be, he himself would always be easy to kill.

I would have The Vailed Hand keep an eye on him.

In fact, I needed them to keep an eye on many things. This world was clearly far more complex than it appeared. Even I didn't know about all the forces out there.

Still, having Magneto create a future mutant nation wouldn't be a bad idea. Mutants were powerful, or at least they had great potential. While they were weak before true gods and my own knights, they weren't bad on the wider scale.

Nothing wrong with lacking a bit of high-level strength when they had numbers on their side, sure for now there were few of them, but that wouldn't remain the case.

Just a few with Magneto's power could elevate humanity to another level. Anything that could benefit my people was welcome, anything that could benefit Earth itself was welcome.

One of my biggest reasons for supporting the Mutants was the fact that the current humanity had grown stagnant. They still held potential, just look at Stark, but even he didn't dare share his technology because he knew what it would be used for.

A strong enemy could unite people, and mutants were fairly united; that unity meant progress. Even the mutants had some impressive tech, because they were willing to work together, and push together.

And what could unite the rest of the world? Benefits, they united against me, just because their benefits were threatened, because their system was threatened. But what if they won?

Who would benefit from that?

The people of Albion?

No, they would just suffer. They would get thrown back into the uncaring systems of the past. Their pay would get cut. Their bills would increase. Their work would increase. Prices on everything would rise… and for what?

Democracy?

A seat back at the UN? The EU?

Would that feed them? Give them happiness?

No, it would do nothing for them, they would only lose what I gave them.

And who else would benefit then? The rest of the world? How? Would they get cheaper food? Goods? More time off work?

No, they too would get nothing.

A small handful of elites would take all the benefits; those who lacked nothing already would gladly send millions to suffer for the smallest of personal benefits. It was disgusting.

Clearly, a sense of crisis was needed to ensure that real noble people rose to meet the occasion.

Honestly, I would rather give Earth over to Loki than leave it in the hands of foolish mortals; at least he would unite them all, even if only in rebellion against him.

To face the future threats, humanity needed to move forward and fast.

I straightened, letting my gaze linger on the nervous, fearful faces before me, feeling the faint, tingling rush of power as I asserted my dominance one final time.

"Enough of this," I said, my voice cutting through the whispers like a blade, the faint echo of my words lingering in the air long after I had spoken. "I have wasted enough time here. I will leave you to your debates, to your petty schemes and hollow words. I have a kingdom to rule, people to lead to a better future, and I will not be shackled by the fears of lesser men."

I turned, my armored cloak swirling behind me as I stepped down from the podium, Mordred falling into step beside me, her eyes still burning with barely restrained aggression.

"Magneto, the stage is all yours." I gave the man a small nod as I passed him. I knew he had his own plans, he was using me as much as I was using him. And for this, he didn't need me anymore, nor did I need him.

His own actions here would serve me well, and these people could use some alone time with him, they deserve it after all the things they had done to mutants, not personally, but through action or inaction.

Behind me, Magneto quickly got to work, the last thing I saw was another mutant appearing by what seemed to be teleportation.

-----

Fury leaned back in his chair as Arthuria and Mordred left, their silhouettes disappearing past the doorway. Just being in the same room as those two had put a massive pressure on him, one that lifted, but left him with countless problems.

He let out a slow, measured breath, his single eye narrowing as he scanned the room, taking in the scattered, shell-shocked expressions of the world leaders around him. A few were already whispering frantically to their aides, hands shaking as they scribbled hastily on their digital tablets or whispered into hidden earpieces. Others simply stared at the doors, their faces pale, their eyes wide with the kind of numbed shock usually reserved for survivors of disasters.

In a way, that's exactly what they were – survivors.

Because that's what this had been. A disaster. A complete and utter breakdown of control, of order, of the carefully balanced power structures that had held the world together for decades.

Fury was not a man who took kindly to being blindsided.

He turned his gaze to Magneto, who now stood at the center of the hall, his crimson cloak still billowing slightly from the faint currents of his own magnetic field, his eyes blazing with that peculiar blend of righteous fury and cold, calculated intent that Fury had come to associate with the so-called "Master of Magnetism."

Magneto had made his play, declared his intentions, thrown down the gauntlet in front of the entire world. He had claimed a place for his people, a place for mutants, in the brutal, Darwinian future that Arthuria Pendragon seemed hell-bent on bringing about.

And Doom…

Fury's eye flicked to the sharply dressed figure of Victor von Doom, who had returned to his seat, his expression as unreadable as ever, his dark eyes fixed on Magneto with a mixture of curiosity and thinly veiled contempt.

Doom had made his own declaration, severed Latveria from the grasp of the United Nations; this was exactly what the UN feared might happen, and now he proved them right. Which meant they would focus on him and Latveria.

He knew something about Doom, not much, but he was smart, maybe even on the same level as Stark, or maybe a bit lower.

As much as Fury hated to admit it, the fact that Stark both made that tiny reactor and his prototype suit in that cave… it really did deserve respect.

Even the best and brightest of SHIELD couldn't do it with all the support he could throw at them, and that manchild did it while hostage, with a gun to the back of his head.

But, clearly, Latveria was a rising power, and Doom had to be confident if he dared pull something like this, because Fury knew that he would soon be asked to deal with the situation, they would want to make an example of him.

He would refuse; he had other things to deal with. Like Wakanda, he knew what Vibranium was, how valuable it was… and if Arthuria was to be believed, Wakanda hid plenty of secrets. And he didn't like it one bit.