Marvel Iron Age: Magneto
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The Wastelands, Just outside of New York City, 2200
"This sucks!" Toad yelled as he waddled behind the rest of the group. Erik glanced back at him along with Whiplash. Both exchanged looks but said nothing. Or in Whiplash's case, grunted nothing. Erik had to admit that Toad was largely right. This in fact DID suck. It had been five days ago since the events in Badtown and Darwin had lead everyone to believe it had been some kind of Iron Soldier nuclear weapon that had devastated the city.... not Erik. Most of the normal, unimportant mutants had blissfully believed him and carried on with their journey. However some of the lieutenants weren't convinced. Erik pushed concerns out of his head and focused on the task at hand.
Get to New York.
"So how exactly are we getting into New York?" Erik asked. Havok was the closest to him so she was the one that answered the question.
"We have friends..." She said bluntly. "And an entrance route... and you if things turn hairy." She pointed directly at Erik possibly expecting a reaction. Erik didn't give her one. Years in the Ferrum labs had taught him many things. Hiding his emotions to avoid weakness was one of them. He knew what Havok was trying to do. He didn't like it.
"Don't fall behind..." He said as he marched past. Kicking sand up on the way. Several more minutes of continuous marching followed until the leader Darwin stopped dead in his tracks. The small army of mutants followed.
"Speech time..." Erik thought.
Sure enough Darwin turned around and stood proudly. His black and yellow costume glinting in the sun. In the background Erik noticed New York City. They'd almost arrived.
"My brothers! My sisters! The time has nearly come for our well deserved rest! We've nearly arrived in our temporary sanctuary! However there is more walking to come. From this point onward we head SOUTH!"
Erik frowned. New York was facing North. Apparently he wasn't the only one who noticed this. As one of the mutants raised their hand in question.
"Sir! Where are you taking us?" He asked.
Darwin smiled.
"To arrive in the land of comfort we must first wade through our enemy's filth! We go to the sewers!"
Erik frowned. This wasn't going to be pleasant...
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"What are you doing Erik?" Toad asked as the group took a break just outside the sewer tunnels. They were covered in sand in a poorly done job to conceal them. It didn't look like anyone was concerned about letting a few mutants escape into New York.
"I'm concentrating..." Erik said in a folded up leg position. He looked like he was meditating. "...I'm trying to fly..."
Toad smiled. "And how's that going for ya?" He asked.
Erik stood up looking annoyed. "Not well..." He said through gritted teeth. He kicked the sand in annoyance sending it all over Toad's Lab suit. "When are we moving?!" He yelled angrily at Darwin who was sat near the tunnel entrance.
"Soon Erik! Soon we will-"
"Okay! Thank you!" Erik said not bothering to listen to the end of his sentence. He sighed as he sat down to concentrate again. After a few seconds he heard foot steps in the sand behind him. "Toad!" He snapped. "Try and be quiet!"
"Toad?" A maniacal voice giggled. "Not a toad!"
Erik opened his eyes in surprise to see several figures looking down at him.
"We're GOBLINS!" The ringleader cackled. The rest of the group followed him. Erik was surprised. He hadn't expected this. He'd heard of the Goblins. They'd used to attack the Ferrum Labs. They never caused much damage however. They were more of an annoyance then an actual threat... until now "Tell me chum where do you think you're heading?" The Goblins had attracted some attention from the other mutants now. Whiplash was walking over to them now.
"Hmm..." He grunted. He stared into the Goblin's eyes and the Goblin stared back.
"What's wrong gramps? Krang got ya tongue?" Whiplash didn't reply. He just stared at the Goblins. Hands holding the whips. After a few seconds of this the Goblin began to grow uncomfortable. "Mug him!" He yelled angrily. The other Goblins grew gigantic smiles as they pulled large orange balls from their belts... not balls... pumpkins. Erik raised his hand to control the pumpkin detonator and willed it to detonate. Sure enough a loud explosion was heard as the pumpkin went off.
THRZZZZ!!!!
What Erik had suspected was an explosion... only it wasn't. Fireworks instead. The Goblins yelled in pain at their burned hands.
"Mutants!" The leader gasped as he started to back off. Darwin walked forward with a question in his eyes. "We'll be back freaks!" The leader yelled as he and his cronies skulked away into the distance.
"Not like them to get so close to New York..." Darwin muttered. He shrugged it off and smiled. "Come on folks! Let's get the last part of the journey over with!" Erik frowned but turned around towards the sewer entrance.
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"THIS STINKS!" Toad groaned as he raised his dripping wet foot.
Darwin chuckled. "Now you know why it's called the Wastelands!" Erik smiled. Havok laughed. Erik even thought he noticed the hint of a smile beneath Whiplash's mouth piece. It seemed like the journey was making them less nervous.
"Okay take a right here." Darwin said calmly. "Hopefully they haven't beefed up security since the last load..."
Toad looked confused. "Last load?" He asked.
"Last batch of mutants." Darwin explained. "You really think you're the first Lab we X-Men have liberated? To be fair this is the most successful drop we've had so far!"
Erik frowned. "Drop? Who are you transporting us too?!" He was beginning to get nervous. He wasn't liking where this could be going. Havok laughed out loud.
"If we were going to capture you and torture you why would we have freed you from Ferrum?" She asked. Erik relaxed slightly. That was a fair point. Besides mutants shouldn't betray each other. Not at this moment in time.
"Stop." Erik said as he listened to the silence. "Something's wrong." He could feel the metal of the tunnels around him. But there was something else... something ahead.
"Mutants detected!"A voice rang out from somewhere ahead. "Containment and destruction protocols activated!"The mutants looked panicked as a tidal wave of urine and other disgusting things raised out of the water. A large object appeared from the huge gap in the water. "Hydro Man Drones deployed!"The machine whirred.
"Hydro Man?" Erik said in confusion as a device on the machine's chest started to glow blue. He jumped out of the way just in time as a blast of energy shot directly at him. he reached out with his power and jerked the machine to the ground.
"Analysis Complete. Mutant Power Ratings: Omega. Activating defense protocols."The machine's limbs turned to water as it smashed into the side of the sewer tunnels causing cracks to appear. Erik started to panic as the rest of the mutants looked confused.
"Some X-Men..." He thought.
THWIP!
A web line snared the Hydro Man unit in the head and yanked it forwards smashing it's skull into the wall. With a quick thrust of his wrist Erik brought the sewer roof smashing on top of the machine. Three tall dark figures appeared behind the group of mutants as Erik stood up.
"Jeez! You guys took awhile to find!" A child like voice rang out. "Can we go now cause I REALLY don't want to spend more time in this sewer then I have too!"
Erik straightened right up as he raised his hand in self defense.
"Who are you?!" He yelled angrily.
The figure looked surprised. He was flanked by two other figures. One in a black panther like suit. The other in a white costume with a cape shaped like a moon.
"Spider-Man at your service!" The boy said as he held his hand out.
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