Chapter 77: Judgement Day V

Chapter 77: Ch 76: Judgement Day V

[Genosha]

Hundreds of miles away from the burning, chaotic skies of Washington D.C., sat the isolated island sanctuary of Genosha.

The base wasn’t exactly a prosperous, glittering utopia. It was a bit rough around the edges, but it had all the basic living amenities.

Currently, it served as a home to about 350 mutants from all over the world. It provided a safe haven to dozens of families, hundreds of rogue individuals, and runaway children who had nowhere else to go.

Erik Lehnsherr – aka Magneto – had built a quiet, safe haven for them. But make no mistake – if the need ever arose, just like it had many times before, every single one of them was ready to bleed and fight for him.

They were his own private army.

Inside his private study, Erik Lehnsherr sat in a plain wooden chair, his hands folded under his chest as he watched the massive television screen mounted on the wall.

He was watching the Jester’s broadcast.

Magneto had been deeply intrigued by this masked terrorist ever since the infamous train incident. The day Veritas exposed and brutally executed Patrick Sein – a monster who had done unspeakable things to children before filtering out and trafficking the mutant children to Senator Stern – Erik had felt a rare spark of respect.

Harming mutant children was the ultimate, unforgivable sin. Furthermore, the raw, unfiltered words the madman had spoken to Spider-Woman that day had resonated profoundly with Erik’s own ideology. The absolute conviction in every word.

It was… refreshing.

The Jester was no friend to mutantkind. That much was clear. But he was not a simple psychopath or a madman. His true purpose was unclear… but there was one thing clear about what he was doing.

Through his words, actions… and his fear… he was slowly reshaping the world.

He understood his obsession with truth as well.

After all…

‘When you build a world on lies and expect everyone to play along. Eventually, someone comes along who refuses to be silent.’

“Are you watching, Charles?” he murmured to the empty room, a thin smile playing on his lips. “I do hope you take a lesson from him.”

The door opened with a soft click. Psylocke entered, her arms crossed. She took a quick glance around the room, as if expecting a ghost, before her gaze landed on him.

“Do you usually talk to yourself?” she asked, one perfectly sculpted eyebrow raised.

Magneto sighed, the weight of the world momentarily on his shoulders. “It’s the only way to guarantee intelligent conversation. What is it you’ve come for?”

“I’m leaving the team.” Her voice was flat, but her eyes were fixed on the television screen. “I’m joining him.”

Magneto blinked. For a brief, rare moment, the Master of Magnetism was caught completely off guard.

“You’re… what?”

“I’m joining Veritas,” she repeated.

Magneto leaned back, a cynical smirk replacing his surprise. “And what makes you think he will accept you? He’s going to kill off every sinner, you know. And your hands, my dear, are not exactly clean.”

He gestured dismissively. “What makes you think you aren’t first on the list for ‘purging’?”

“Isn’t it obvious?” Psylocke tilted her head, her brow furrowed in genuine confusion.

“He’s going to purge mimics. Cowards who hide behind a lie while committing atrocities in the dark. I kill and fight because I have the fundamental right to live on this planet.”

Her voice hardened. “It is not a sin to claim our birthright. And I certainly don’t pretend to be what I am not. Neither do you. That’s why you’re sitting here, relaxed, enjoying the chaos he’s unfurled.”

Magneto nodded slowly, a glint of respect in his eyes. Her decision was not a flight of fancy, it was well-reasoned. “You truly admire him, then.”

“I understand him,” Betsy corrected. She paused, a small, genuine smile touching her lips. “But yes, I admire him too.”

“I see.” Erik turned his attention back to the screen, the broadcast showing Veritas landing on another helicarrier like a dark meteor. “And you’re leaving right now, I presume?”

She nodded, already pulling a pair of earbuds from her pocket. “Yeah. I’ll try to get to him before he leaves D.C., or wait for his next appearance if I miss the chance. See you, old man.” She gave a little wave and turned to leave.

Erik watched her go, a question nagging at him. He didn’t know how she planned to get from Genosha to Washington before the Jester was gone. There were no teleporters on the island, and the distance was thousands of miles.

Magneto just shook his head. The youth. Always so dramatic. He didn’t care enough to ask.

[—————–]

[World Security Council Chamber – The Triskelion]

The World Security Council chamber was supposed to be the most impenetrable, heavily guarded room in S.H.I.E.L.D.’s entire headquarters.

Right now, it looked like a war zone.

The sterile white floor was stained and littered with shell casings. A dozen Hydra operatives and a handful of loyal S.H.I.E.L.D. agents lay dead. Even Councilman Yen hadn’t been spared the crossfire. The firefight had been short and brutal, but Fury’s people had won.

Alexander Pierce grunted as Mystique, now in her real naked form, cinched a pair of magnetic cuffs tightly behind his back.

“Easy now, mutant. I’m still the Chairman,” Pierce grunted, though his eyes remained cold and calculating.

“Shut up,” Mystique growled, stepping back.

Fury grabbed Pierce by the arm, half-dragging him toward the main console, where the screens were still dominated by the Jester’s live broadcast. The situation was dire, but Fury trusted his teams. He had to.

“Mystique, get me Hill,” he ordered. “I need a status report from all teams, now.”

She nodded, tapping her earpiece.

Fury turned to the console, splitting the screen to bring up the retinal scan interface.

“Our enemies are your enemies, Nick,” Pierce rasped, his eyes fixed on Veritas casually throwing two Hydra operatives off the Helicarrier and cracking a joke.

“Look at him. He got his hands on those carriers, and you’re just as doomed as the rest of us. You’re a spy. A liar. He’ll purge you, too.” Pierce leaned in, his voice a venomous whisper.

“I can bring order to the lives of seven billion people by sacrificing twenty million. It’s the next step, Nick, if you only have the courage to take it!”

“You and him,” Fury said, gesturing to the screen with his chin, “You both sound the same to me. The difference is, my people are going to stop both of you. Because I have the courage not to.”

SHIELD COMPUTER: Retinal scanner active.

Pierce let out a dry chuckle. “You don’t seriously think we wiped your clearance from the system?”

“I know you erased my password. Probably deleted my retinal scan,” Fury said, reaching for his eyepatch. “But if you want to stay ahead of me, Mr. Secretary…” He removed the patch, revealing his scarred, milky-white eye. “…you need to keep both eyes open.”

He leaned into the scanner, pressing his dead eye against the glass.

SHIELD COMPUTER: Alpha Level confirmed. Encryption code accepted. Safeguards removed.

The data dump began. Every secret S.H.I.E.L.D. and Hydra had ever kept was now flooding onto the internet.

It was as Romanoff had said: S.H.I.E.L.D. had to burn to the ground before it could be reborn as something worthy of its name.

“Fury,” Mystique interrupted, her yellow eyes wide with sudden alarm. “Hill’s not responding. Her comms are completely dead. I think she’s out.”

Motherfucker.

Fury clenched his jaw. If Hill was out of commission, there was no one sitting in the control room to coordinate the teams. No one to inform Cap, spider-woman, and the X-Men about the Jester’s current status and insane plan.

Worse, Veritas had already seized complete control of Helicarrier IN-01, casually making it vanish into thin air. He had explicitly stated he needed two Helicarriers for his “purge.” That meant he was about to rip the last remaining ship right out of both Hydra’s and Cap’s hands.

Fury’s expression soured into a deep, dangerous scowl. “Then get on the open line with Rogers,” he ordered Mystique.

“Tell him the Jester’s endgame. Tell him the situation has fundamentally changed. The only way to salvage this is to defeat Veritas right there on the deck. Do not let him escape, no matter what.”

Because if the Jester managed to warp away, then even with that single Helicarrier, hundreds of thousands of people were going to die before the sun went down.

Fury stared at the broadcast. Veritas had just crashed onto the deck like a meteor. As good as Rogers, Spider-woman, and the X-Men were… this looked bad.

If only Thor was here. Son of a bitch hadn’t been seen on Earth in a month. (Thor had been visiting Earth regularly for the past 7 months – after that Jane Foster and Elven aliens fiasco in London.)

There was only one play left. A call he never wanted to make. Fury took a deep breath and pulled a phone from his long coat.

“Mr. President,” he said into the phone. “It’s Fury.”