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That same night the rest of the Custodes under Amara's command assaulted another hidden AIM base, an abbey known for its isolation from the outside world high up in the mountains of Greece. Psylocke had, at Harry's suggestion, gone through the minds of the nearest town to see how they had kept that isolation going. She found nothing untoward, but only that a few of the monks were ever seen at one time. The abbey sold some kind of honey to the locals, but that was all, and the abbey was so remote that it hardly needed to add to its security at all to keep people away.
Covered by various charms Psylocke went in first to disable the outer guards before the others would follow up. Since the abbey was on an outcropping of rock that stuck out form the rest of the mountain it resided on, it only had a single entrance. It also had a lot of anti-air cover, visibly sticking up from the crenellations of the seemingly ancient abbey, hence why Amara had decided to try and sneak in rather than use a brute force approach.
Then again, since Magma could have brought the entire outcropping down, there are various levels of brute force available to us, Psylocke thought ruefully as she scaled the outer gate of the large abbey. It was created like a drawbridge, the wooden bridge up at present separating the mountain from the rocky outcropping holding the abbey. And on the abbey's outer wall were six men walking an obvious patrol, for all that they wore brown habits at present.
With the spells and the darkness covering her Psylocke was easily able to gain the top of the wall. Hiding within the shadow of one of the corner towers, she sent out a message to Magma telepathically. "I'm in position, are you all ready to go?"
"Roger that, we're moving up now." A moment later Psylocke once again heard Magma's thoughts through the temporary bridge she had created between their minds. "We're across from the gate, start the party."
Psylocke did so, first reaching out with her telepathic powers to make certain there was no one nearby. She couldn't shut down a person's mind from a distance as more powerful telepaths did, but she could mask her presence in that manner, aiding the spells Harry had cast on her for that purpose. And her TK blades could. She snuck up on each guard in turn this way, knocking them out as the rest of her team came across the gulf and Reed's little device went to work, isolating the abbey from the rest of the world.
Then things began to go wrong. The earth in the center of the abbey's grounds, which looked from her vantage pint like a meditation garden or something, opened along a seam. Underneath it was revealed a wide stairwell leading down, and coming up were over two dozen of the giant bruisers Mystique and the others had run into in Britain at the first SAS base.
"Oh bloody hell!" Psylocke muttered then watched as the super-strong troopers raised equally large energy guns to their shoulders. Ghigau appeared next to her, her rifle rising, and one of the bruisers fell backwards sans a head, but the others all fired at the abbey's door and through it at the rest of the team. They got off a single volley, then Banshee was falling out of the sky coming out of his own cloaking spells to slam a sonic blast into their midst.
Whatever durability they had did not extend to a sound based assault, and many of them fell. The rest looked up as the door, and the remnants of the drawbridge, erupted back into their faces. Colossus and Husk charged in both in their metal forms, followed by Magma, who crouched down in her energy form, using her powers. The outcrop rumbled and smoke and screams abound from beyond the bruisers still trying to get out of the entranceway, and then the battle became general.
In the end this base's inhabitants held off the attackers long enough to erase most of their computers, but the computers and two prisoners were captured and turned over to the MI6. None of the attackers were even injured beyond a few scuffs on their armor, but it served as a good example of not assuming you had all the advantages. It turned out that the team's presence had been discovered via pressure plates on the small slice of ground directly outside the gate, which went off whenever a weight landed on them. A simple trap, but one none of them had anticipated, which was another lesson for Amara and Dani, both of whom Harry was slowly grooming to take larger leadership roles in the future.
On top of these assault however, Harry and William had decided to share their data with SHIELD via Harry's existing line of communication with Dum Dum Duggan. After all, which self-respecting secret service wouldn't want to join a game of 'whack the terrorist'?
OOOOOOO
Nick Fury was a professional paranoid. This was something anyone who knew the man would tell anyone who asked, so long as the person asking was even cleared to know about Nick Fury in the first place at any rate. As such it didn't surprise Dum-Dum, his oldest friend, that the man looked constipated right now.
For one thing, the information Duggan had just given him was proof, again, that the Custodes Mundi and Harry Potter in particular were doing SHIELD's job better than SHIELD was. This was a blow to Nick's professional pride even if he could salve his ego by saying that SHIELD didn't have any jurisdiction in the United Kingdom. And for another it was obvious that Nick was trying to figure out why the hell Potter had decided to pass this information on.
Lips twitching the Boston-born brawler leaned back in his chair, looking down at his watch as he very obviously counted the seconds, letting Nick get over his initial reaction before leaning forward, smacking one palm lightly on the table to get his friend's attention. "Soooo," he drawled, "What are we going to do with this information?"
Nick glared at him for a moment with his one eye then ran one hand over his bald pate. "I don't think we have any choice but to act on the information. If it's on the level, between the actions of various anti-terrorist groups in the world and SHIELD we can hammer AIM back to the stone age." He scowled angrily.
God damnit how did Potter get this information, who in the hells is this Sage woman his message to Duggan mentioned?! Where the fuck is he getting his resources? I hate the fact that Potter is both a loose cannon and so damned effective, but I could live with that if it wasn't for his destruction of Mars and the fact his visible power base is scary as hell, and I know that's just the tip of the iceberg.
"I wouldn't be so concerned if he wasn't so much an enigma." Nick said aloud. "Potter's got no handles that could be used to control him or predict his actions other than his backing equality and anything that had to deal with space defense, but even there, we know he's got space assets, so that just adds to the danger he represents."
"You always did tend to overthink things boss," Dum-Dum said with a laugh, moving around the table to clap a hand on his friend's shoulder, shaking him gently. "Seriously, Potter's a lot like Rogers if you think about it. The same kind of background going by what Steve's said, and the same kind of upright moral fiber. If there was anyone in this world I'd trust with the power to destroy a planet, it'd be Rogers. Because I'd know that he wouldn't use it."
Duggan looked down at his friend, smirking suddenly. "You know what you need, you need to go out and get dirty. Go out, do some fieldwork, then take a week off, thinking about nothing at all, drink your weight in Mimosa or something. Hell, go out and get laid! But leave your job behind for a few days Nick. You've been stuck with this same old jobs for decades now, and I can't remember the last time you had a vacation. That ain't healthy."
During this tiny diatribe Nick had started out glaring at his friend, almost ready to shake off his hand and snarl at him, but the concern Duggan had for him came through his words, and frankly the idea of time off did sound nice. So instead of becoming angry Nick merely laughed before pushing his friend's hand off his shoulder.
"Alright, I have to admit that sounds like a fine idea. So, we have twelve bases on this list, I'll lead the attacks into the Polynesians and Hawaii, and then remain there for a few days, see the sights, spend time on the beaches."
"Find a girl…" Duggan supplied then laughed as Nick stood up pushing him away.
"Get out of here you lump of gristle!" Nick bellowed then went on more seriously. "Put some names together, we'll want full companies assigned to each base, with overhead combat air patrol when we can get away with it. I'll go over the information Potter shared and decide which base to assign the helacarrier itself to, but don't be surprised if you get the shit assignment."
"The one in Uganda or the one in Siberia?" Duggan asked. "They're both shit assignments."
"We'll leave the Russians to deal with the base in Siberia. No way do I want to irritate the Russians any more than they are already these days. The one in Uganda was the one I was thinking about," Nick replied before waving Duggan to the door.
Duggan didn't see Fury leaning back in his chair, popping up another folder on his computer. He stared at it, then to the door where his friend had disappeared, then down to the project once more, before reaching forward and tapping a confirm message. Hopefully the Ultra Project would never be needed, but better to have the combat drones at the very least if they needed them than not to have them. The AI controlling personality though would be kept on hold for now.
And if Tony goes forward with that without my say so I will rip out his spine and make him eat it! Then again he's never been enthused on the AI issue, only the drones, so that isn't as much a worry as it could be.
Over the next few weeks SHIIELD, the Avengers and other anti-terrorist organizations went to work on the information Harry had passed on. SHIELD hit bases in Canada, coming in to aid the Canadian army, the Polynesians, Some countries scattered around Asia, and in Alaska and Hawaii. Russia dealt with the two bases within its borders, as did China with the five there, rolling over them with numbers the defenders superior firepower and technology could not deal with.
Within a few days thanks to their own assault on the generator complex AIM went from a major if somewhat unknown terrorist organization to a near non-entity, with only a few bases remaining in Africa. SHIELD discovered some information in a few of the bases they hit and something about a Magog which disturbed Fury somewhat, but other than that, the operations were bloody but major successes.
OOOOOOO
After that bit of excitement over two weeks passed without any major issue showing up. With the campaign against the TWATS stalled due to lack of targets, information, and firepower Hela spent this time fitting into the castle life. She surprisingly found that she enjoyed being around the kids, in particular Illyana, who was always attempting to catch her out with some kind of magical prank. Her people had a respect for the prankster and the clever thief, providing they were skilled and didn't get caught, as well leaving their own home alone of course for the most part, and so Hela was willing to hone the skills of Illyana's by providing a difficult target for her to match against. Melody sometimes bothered her with her insight, but after having the child's odd blood gifts (she refused to call them mutations) explained was a pleasant enough child.
She spent much of her time with Dani and Ororo in particular. The two of them often had their heads together, simply talking or working together. While not an experienced magic user, Hela did have innate power and centuries of actually using it to call upon. She didn't know the formal facts of magic, but Ororo did thanks to her education with Gaea and Harry, and it was a mutually beneficial discussion.
Moreover, they were very much alike in temperament, regal, cool to outsiders, but warm to those they knew, and loving toward children. Of them all, Ororo most effectively helped Hela acclimatize to life in Camelot and on Midgard. (nice!) In return, Hela helped Ororo organize the tower in the Savage Land and Harry's 'rulership' of it. She both saw and enjoyed the Savage Land's untamed beauty and that it was Harry's realm as much as Camelot or the castle's lands, but that it needed far more in the way of organization than Harry could devote to it, given all his other responsibilities. While Harry and the others had many theories of ruling and of how to guide an entire people much of it was just that, theories. Hela herself was a queen and aside from the training she'd had to groom herself for the role, plenty of kings and jarls had entered her halls that she was more than willing to pick the brains of, furthering her own knowledge by doing so.
Under Hela and Ororo's hands, the tower became like a true castle over those two weeks, a center for life for the entire land. The medical aid Harry's people offered under Una had made Harry popular, doing away with much of the tower's previous stigma of Magneto's conquest. With Hela's aid (and insistence) Harry and his people soon became respected, and Harry a true ruler of that land.
When it came to the goings on around Camelot however, she had much more trouble. She understood politics and economics, but had never been interested or schooled in them. Hela was queen of Niflheim, everything in it bowed to her will and she in turn looked after the realm and guarded it from outside influence. There was no need for discussion, no need for give and take as there had to be in an economy. On the political side of things while yes 'democracy' had its roots in the Greek work and she was familiar with it, the modern version seemed to make a mockery of the idea of every man having a say in their government: "A battle to see who is most popular via skald and song does not mean the best candidate for the task in question wins!"
The one attempt Emma made to correct that lack ended poorly. Hela was not a good student, and Emma a demanding teacher. Eventually rather than come to more blows they had called off those lessons and Ororo took them up to much better results all around. She taught Hela history instead of modern economics or anything else, giving Hela an effective frame of reference and working through the centuries to basically catch Hela up on the foundations and lead ups to many of the modern institutions and situations. Ororo's method also helped expand Hela's awareness of the rest of the world, having been too used to a strictly European focus. Overall this tied neatly into her ongoing acclimatization to life on Earth.
Yet despite that, she still wasn't certain where she stood in the scheme of Harry's faction, let alone their odd courtship, as she told Harry one evening as they walked along the edge of the lake together. It was now getting colder out, but neither of them noticed. Indeed, after so much time spent in the Savage Land, Hela enjoyed the bite of autumn in the air. She might be part fire giant from her father's side but she preferred the cooler climes by inclination.
Hela looked up into the sky, watching as the sun was sitting the colors amazing even to her. "I do not seem to have a set place here among your court Harry Potter. Emma, for all I dislike admitting it, is apparently a genius in economy and politics, young Jean is not only carrying your heirs but is the head of your, technology corps here on Earth, and an advisor in all others. And dear Ororo is your queen, going where she may do the most good, advising in everything and leading your factions on a societal level, in particular the realm of education."
She turned to look Harry in the eye. "So, where do I fit? I have my own realm to see to of course, and I am certain in my own power, but where do I fit in here?"
Harry chuckled, amused by how Hela spoke, like she was trying to put his faction into the terms she knew. "Hela, you can fit wherever you wish. The work you've already done in the Savage Land is proof of that. I'm uncertain why you would think otherwise."
"It is hard to put into words, and frankly I know myself well enough that I might be speaking from how much my life has been changed of late. Yet I think there is also a bit of truth behind my concerns even so. I, I am fond of you, not anywhere near as I was shown to be in that memory of the party after our victory against the Draugr yet our, let us say our restarted courtship has been a pleasant affair for what it is." Hela replied slowly, flushing slightly under her mask. One normally did not speak of their affections so openly but she hid behind the fact that she was in a different land as an excuse. "But I will not enter into a relationship without knowing that I come into it as an equal and with something to offer beyond my physical abilities."
"Can I make a wild guess and say it is the second thing there that bothers you?" Harry quipped, squeezing her hand where he was holding her arm linked in his, not commenting on the opening talking about Hela's 'physical abilities' gave him. When Hela nodded he went on, "In that case, I think you've already begun to find your place in our little family, and I would call it a family not a court. Courts come with courtiers, and I have no patience for those useless things."
"Oh, that is true," Hela crowed, chuckling, squeezing his arm with her own. "One of the best things of being queen of Niflheim is I've never had to deal with such parasites. Well, save in official capacity more often than not, although Garm still maintains they have a detrimental effect on his stomach. Cowards and oath breakers are his standard fair in souls sadly."
"Indeed, and think on this, yes Emma is a wizard…" He had to stop there as Hela laughed aloud at his word choice, regretting his own earlier moment of weakness even as he smiled at hearing her laught. Given what she had gone through and the time she spent brooding on what had been done to her Hela's good humor was always a good sign.
"As I was saying," he said loftily, as her chuckles slowed, "Emma is a genius when it comes to the economy, and she knows politics. But does that mean she knows how to rule? Or even how to lead? Certainly she can make business decisions, but Emma would be the first to tell you she doesn't like leading in combat, she's never sat in judgement, nor has Jean. Ororo has, but only among a few small tribes. You have."
He sighed, looking away over the forest and the lake for a moment. "At the moment, my faction is half business, half military, half social and half simply leading a small and highly motivated group of people. But it's going to keep growing. Heh, you know, Jean and I talked to you once and you gave me a crucial lesson about putting myself down."
He stopped, turning back to her, a small, yet warm smile on his face. "I know you don't like hearing about those memories from our perspective, but you said at the time that the title of king is given to the individual who creates the kingdom in the first place. The Savage Land is just the start. As my orbital industry grows, so too will the need for more structure, more support, more actual land. How many thousands of workers from around the world would like to move their families someplace else, someplace protected against space-borne threats once they know the threat is real? And even if mutant equality becomes the norm worldwide, having our own version of Israel would probably be a good idea, which has been in my mind for months."
"So my place would be labeled law keeper perhaps? Or perhaps overseer of justice? My task then would be to try to codify the laws of the land, or simply aid you in that direction and point out what you need to be doing." Hela mused, nodding her head with increasing approval for the idea. "Yes, I suppose I can do that, and gladly although that is normally Thor's purview among others, tis not such an extreme difference for me that I cannot do it and do it well. I am uncertain if that is enough, but it will do for now."
"Good, then that's enough serious talk for this evening." Harry pulled Hela back into motion once more and they moved toward the tiny wharf sticking out into the lake. There a small rowboat was waiting for them and Hela nodded her head graciously to Harry as he helped her step onto it.
He joined her quickly and the boat began to move under an unseen current out toward a somewhat large wooden float in the distance. Hela could see Jean, Ororo and Emma waiting for them, along with what looked like tiny bobbing magical lights and one of the tiny house elves dressed like a waiter. As they closed music, classical music the likes of which Emma and Ororo favored, began to reach her ears and she smiled tenderly over at Harry at the romantic gesture.
Even if most courtship wouldn't include three other women, Hela thought ruefully. Despite that however, Hela was startled to realize that, as Harry helped her up out of the rowboat, that she was having a lot of fun, whatever happened in the future. For the first time in a long time, despite never disliking her own hall or realm, Hela felt like she had a real home.
OOOOOOO
During this time the young clone of Magneto was at last woken up from his cryogenic sleep and a certain other issue also reared its head, but was nipped in the bud as quickly as possible, if not quite as diplomatically.
Harry was on hand for the boy's waking, standing beside Jean and Emma. Ororo wasn't there, having headed to Africa to give the speeches she had agreed to give and help organize the new hiring centers and the distribution of Magical Minds potions and medicines. There she would run into that other issue, but at the moment Harry didn't know that.
Emma nodded to Amelia Vought who had agreed to take the lead on this issue. Harry wasn't going to lie to the boy about his origins or his 'father' and Amelia had agreed to help him introduce the boy to his parentage as neutrally as possible. After all in the beginning Eric had done a lot of good for mutant kind. Jean and Emma were there of course to look into the boy's mind once he was awake. In cryo-sleep, his mind too was shut down of course.
They all watched as the boy's eyes slowly opened, showing grey-brown irises looking up to the ceiling than around. They were wide and almost panicking as the boy shivered, but Amelia and Jean on either side of him touched his hands. "Calm down young man," Jean replied soothingly. "You're among friends. Can you understand me?"
"Ye-, yes, I can. Wh-, where am I, who are you?" The boy asked, calming down. Jean had reinforced her words with a bit of a soothing feeling of friendliness into the boy's mind, which worked quickly. His panic disappeared, but his wariness remained even as he looked at the two women standing on either side of his bed, a simple but very comfortable bunk bed from Gryffindor, or the student's tower.
Harry moved forward, laying a hand on Jean's shoulder, smiling over it at the boy. "I'm Harry, this is Jean and over there is Emma. Don't mind her haughty look, she was born with it. On the other side of you is Amelia, a nurse."
He stopped as Emma growled behind him, causing the boy to smile as Jean reached up, touching Harry's hand with her own, showing the ring she wore there. This all helped to set the youth even more at ease, the last of the tension in his body disappearing and the few metal things in the room, which had been vibrating, settling back into place. Seeing this Harry asked, "Do you remember anything?"
"I, I remember some, some images, being taught by this weird device how to speak and other stuff I think, that's about it…" the boy began to get frustrated, and the metal items in the room once more began to vibrate.
"He's telling the truth Harry, the boy is almost an entirely blank slate. I can find memories of him being hypno-taught how to speak, do some basic math that kind of thing, but his mind was nearly shut down even during that. I have no idea if Lensherr was creating an heir or… or something more sinister." Emma said, her voice trailing off as the possibilities of having a young clone body with such an empty personality occurred to her.
"I don't think Eric was that… that evil love," Jean replied slowly, her own telepathy moving into and through the boy's mind in concert with Emma's and then alone. "I think it was rather an attempt to make certain he wasn't corrupted by outside influences than anything else. I also think that Eric might not have devoted as much time to him as he hoped he could, but might have in the future."
"Can you tell me your name at least, or would you like to choose one from a list?" Harry said, holding up his free hand trying to calm the boy while he also signaled to the two telepaths that he had hear them mentally.
With a gesture a giant book labelled 'the Big Book of Baby names' appeared in midair, catching it he winked at the youth then squeezed Jean's shoulder. "I bought this a few weeks back when I found out I was going to be a father but I figure we could use it for you too."
The young boy gaped at the suddenly appearing book then at Jean who was groaning and shaking her head and then to the now chuckling Emma, whose features had become somewhat warmer, then shook his head. "Um, I think I'd like to choose my own name thank you, but, but how did you do that, just making that book appear?"
"Magic young man, just magic. I am a wizard, just like you are what is currently being called a mutant. The name has negative connotations I feel, so I'm thinking of what to change it to, but we haven't figured it out just yet. Did you notice how when you got worried you made metal things shake like that?" The boy nodded, and Harry went on. "Well eventually once we get you some training you might be able to do a lot of things with metal and other things of that nature than you can even think of now."
"But, but where did I come from!?" The boy said, processing what he had heard but with a bit of panic now underneath, the sharpness of it being kept at bay with Jean's more empathic telepathy as Emma continued to look into the boy's mind. There didn't seem to be anything there but better safe than sorry.
Harry sighed. "I think this part you're going to be glad for the fact you're already laying down." With that, Harry, with Amelia's help, told the young man about his origins as much as they could. Harry and the others had talked about this, and he had decided that being upfront and not trying to hide anything from the boy would be a bad idea. It would have caused resentment at best, anger and fury at worst to hide anything about where the young man had come from.
The boy looked confused more than once during this description, but he seemed to understand the gist of it judging from his expression, which was open and very easy to read. Eventually Harry and Amelia fell silent, and the four adults watched the boy. He continued to flip through the book of baby names something which he had begun to do the moment Harry had let the book land on his chest before he and Amelia began to talk.
After a few minutes of this he looked up. "I'm, not, that is, this is really weird and I will have a lot of questions about this when I, when it settles into my mind. But, but thank you for telling me the truth." His lips quirked into a smile that actually had some wry humor in it despite his wan expression. "After all, that story's so weird I just can't see a point to you making it up. But I can't process it all at once, and I will have questions about my father, I mean this Eric person, I don't know if I want to call him my father."
His expression turned fierce. "Whatever else though, I am not him, I am my own person whatever he meant to happen! I don't know all about being a clone, but I am not him, and I will not think of myself like that!"
"Good," Harry said simply. "Because that's how we want to treat you, like a young man trying to find his way in the world. After all, why should you be any different than anyone else?" The young man nodded firmly as Emma and Jean smiled.
OOOOOOO
At the same time Harry and the others were waking up the young clone, Ororo was giving her third speech in as many days. Wakanda had indeed opened its doors to Magical Minds products, and then it had gone further, helping to get two other African nations, its neighbors on two of its nominal borders, to do the same. Distribution centers had opened up in all three, and work had begun on training centers as well. In return those nations had begun to make inroads on mutant equality under the law.
This wasn't to say those two countries at least didn't have issues. Tribal blood feuds, religious persecution, lack of modern education, sexual exploitation and mutilation, the list went on so despite the natural resources those countries had they were barely third world countries, especially in comparison to Wakanda. Ororo's speeches in those places had been designed to call their people's to task, to throw off the shackles of the past and to embrace both Magical Mind's products and stance of understanding and equality as the way forward.
Here in Wakanda it was somewhat easier. Wakanda had little of the blood feuds and few of the old tribal beliefs holding it back, though the lack of education outside of the cities was still an issue. There were two cities, one which served as the formal entrance overland to the rest of the mountain locked nation, and the second was built around the several vibranium mines. Those cities were as high tech and amazingly modern as any city in the world, perhaps more so since they were also new, built on the money from vibranium and the technology it was based on. The rest of the country however was as nearly undeveloped as the rest of Africa.
The distribution center of course was in the capital city, the one built around the only true overland road through the mountains. It was called T'chaanli, after the current king's great grandfather, the man who had purportedly found vibranium and begun to industrialize the country around it. Or perhaps the man's wife, stories were a little disjointed about that.
Ororo walked up to the podium in front of the men and women who would be working at this distribution center. She wore a conservative woman's suit, with a scarf made in South Africa or yellow and black. She walked proudly, her face set into regal lines as she looked out over the Wakandans. Standing behind the podium she stood for a moment, her eyes moving across the crowd of both the workers and the local reporters here to record the event, keeping a frown of concern off her face.
She didn't see T'challa here, nor had he made any appearance since her arrival earlier that day. She did see Psylocke and Coyote however. The two of them had been assigned to her just in case, despite Ororo's protests that she could handle herself. The two of them were hidden from normal sight by a series of spells that hid their presence entirely, and by Psylocke's own power, which redirected anyone's interest away from them if anyone could see through the magic somehow.
It is strange given his… interest in me that T'challa isn't here. Unless of course he really did realize that Harry and I were together and I was uninterested in looking elsewhere. But then why did he keep up his somewhat flirtatious attitude during our meeting? Pride and unwillingness to be seen backing down perhaps?
With an indrawn breath Ororo set that thought aside and began her two hours later Ororo finally retreated from the crowd of reporters and well-wishers, a group of security guards moving in and pushing them all back as she got into the complimentary limo that Wakanda had given her. Coyote was already within, his coyote helmet turned to Ororo as she entered, but still covered by his illusion spell.
Ororo sighed theatrically, leaning back and sticking out her feet, leaning down to pull off the heels that Emma had demanded she wear for these events. "I am going to have to find something horribly embarrassing or painful to do to that woman," She muttered, before reaching forward to the intervening wall separating the driver and her. "Please take me back to the airport now."
"Yes miss, though I was told to ask if you would be willing to stay the night here in the city. King T'challa has invited you to have dinner with him." The man replied, a large, no nonsense sort of individual with the well-built body of a soldier.
Fighting to keep her eyes from narrowing in suspicion Ororo shook her head. "No thank you, I am afraid I have a meeting early tomorrow morning, so I have to head back to England now."
"The king's decided he won't take no for an answer miss," said the man, and suddenly the partition in the wall closed violently, a metal slide coming up to cover it. Then gas appeared from out of the air conditioning nozzles.
Ororo scowled angrily before her fingers twitched, using a mix of a spell and her own powers to keep in some air even as she fell back seemingly overcome by the gas. Her hand twitched out, tapping into Coyote's thigh. He had raised his rifle, a gauss rifle as was his preference, about to shoot through the wall with a shot which would have torn the wall, the driver and the front of the car into pieces. But he stopped at her touch, leaning over, his mask over Ororo's mouth. "What should we do?" He radioed his voice loud in her ear from the small microphone in her ear hidden under a notice-me-not spell.
"Let's see where this is going. I have a feeling this is a personal issue rather than one against either the Custodes or Magical Minds, and I will need to deal with it regardless." She whispered before collapsing into senselessness.
With her eyes closed, Ororo didn't see where they were going of course, but it didn't take long. Indeed by her estimate it was only about fifteen minutes before she heard the car stop, the engine being turned off seconds later. Several boots of feet reached her ears from right outside the car's door, and Ororo, decided enough was enough. "Magia Erebea, 40%" she whispered, devoting some of her magical reserves to strengthening her body then she began to gather her mutant power.
A blast of air that took almost all of the air in the limo slammed into the door, smashing it open and away, taking one man in the gut and hurling him away. The others, large men who had been standing at some kind of parade rest along with T'challa dressed in a panther costume sans his mask, moved away quickly as she came out of the limo. The area they were in looked somewhat like a hidden bunker, or underground parking area, but it was the size of a football stadium, more than large enough so that Ororo didn't have to deal with her claustrophobia.
Ororo's eyes were already disappearing into the lightning bolts they became as she used her powers and she roared, the wind picking up all around them as the temperature dropped. "What is the meaning of this T'challa!? First you greet me as a friend, then welcome me and mine into your country only to attempt to kidnap me against my will? Did you honestly think I would forgive this!?"
The men around T'challa, all of whom for some reason wore outfits that looked more like that tribesman elsewhere in Africa wore all raised their weapons. Those weapons however seemed to be locally made blasters of some kind, clashing with their outfits horribly.
T'challa however was the most surprising. He had recovered from his surprise the fastest, and instead of backing away by the time Ororo was finished speaking he had leaped up into the rafters and the darkness above them.
Noticing this Ororo dodged away automatically, lashing out with a roundhouse kick to hit him when he landed behind where she had originally been standing. T'challa was able to react in midair quickly enough to get his arm between his body and Ororo's foot, but the power of the blow took him aback, and he had not been able to set himself on the ground either. He was smashed aside, hurled away from the confrontation grimacing in pain as the radius in his forearm broke under the impact.
By this point Coyote was out of the car, and Psylocke, who had been riding up top, were also in action. Psylocke closed quickly with the gunmen coming out of cloak, her TK daggers appearing from her forearms as she cut and sliced both weapons and men. A few tried to fight back, but Psylocke was faster than them and could telepathically read their moves before they made them.
For his part, Coyote had put away his gun, unwilling to kill any of these men since it was obvious they were so outmatched. Instead as Psylocke went to town on the men and Ororo used her powers over the wind to hurl them aside, he teleported the short distance to where T'challa had been hurled.
It came as no surprise to Wyatt, who had read the FF's log entries on the Black Panther that the man wasn't there. Staring up into the darkness of the rafters then around he nodded, seeing the man had already moved back over to try and attack not Ororo but Psylocke. "Psylocke, beware above!"
Surprised Psylocke hurled herself backwards into a roll, watching in astonishment as T'challa landed where she had just been standing. His hands flashed out grabbing her hand right behind her TK blade pulling her up and into a punch before she could break his grip. She saw stars despite her mask and magical defenses and was in no position to dodge the follow on strike.
Which never arrived. Instead T'challa released her jumping away as Ororo launched a lightning bolt from her hand forcing T'challa to back away. "My lady please, stop! I only wish to help you!" he shouted, looking almost distraught for a moment.
"You are the one who tried to kidnap me T'challa, if this is your idea of help you can keep it!" Ororo growled, moving forward through the wreckage of his men to pull Psylocke to her feet with one hand. Her other hand glowed red with a stun spell but T'challa closed before she could launch it and she backed away, only her Magia Erebea speed and strength letting her keep him at bay. He was good, well trained, far stronger than a normal man should be, his physical abilities reminding her somewhat of Nikolai or Steve Rogers, though perhaps somewhere in between, better than Nikolai, not as good as Steve Rogers was purported to be.
T'challa took both Ororo and Psylocke on in close for a few minutes, but then Psylocke dodged aside and Coyote appeared where she had been standing, porting in again as he had earlier. The Comanche athlete helped T'challa's attack to one side, with one hand while punching him in the chest with all the strength of his armored suit and his own body. T'challa gasped in surprise, but moved with the blow, lashing out with a kick that took one of Coyote's legs out from under him.
However this was enough for Ororo to once more summon up the concentration necessary to launch a point blank stunning spell. T'challa wavered before collapsing to one side, unconscious.
Psylocke ran one hand down the side of her head, wincing in pain at the bruise she could feel forming there under her mask. "What the bloody heck was all that about, and what is up with this arse!?"
"His name is the Black Panther," Coyote said sadly. "I have seen him before. He is a proud man, sometimes arrogant and very reluctant to ask for help, but he is an honorable man too, and a friend of the FF, or at least an acquaintance. He at first challenged the FF to a battle in order to see if we could help him against a monster called Klaw. We eventually won his respect and helped him, parting as friends."
He looked over at Ororo. "You understand why I did not say anything, he showed us his face in confidence. I could not share his secret with you or with Guardian, it was not my secret to share."
"Guardian and I have both known the FF know secrets about other people they cannot share with us Coyote, and we understand," Ororo speaking calmly now that the battle was over. "Indeed we have both said at times that it speaks well of all of you that you do not."
She shook her head wryly. "That doesn't mean it isn't irritating to run into issues like this, but we can hardly blame you for that."
At that moment a hidden panel in the far wall opened and even more men raced out, only to stop as Ororo hurled them all backwards with massive blasts of wind. Before they could recovered Ororo had closed her eyes, muttering the mantra for one of Gaea's spells. They found themselves frozen to the ground as their weapons and everything else in the area short circuited thanks to another spell.
With that done, Ororo gestured to Coyote. "Get some rope and tie all of these people up, including T'challa. He and I must have a… talk."
When T'challa awoke, he found himself tied to a chair sitting on a patio he recognized as one of his own palaces. His gloves were gone, as were his boots, both of which had retractable vibranium claws. His wounds had also been healed somehow.
Across from him Ororo sat down a small glass of water turning from looking over the view to stare at him. "Once they realized I didn't intend to slit all your throats or even to keep you as a prisoners your servants were most helpful in telling me what this was all about." She leaned forward her face set in a cold glare. "So, you thought I was being, as one man put it, 'ensorcelled' to have forgotten about you?"
T'challa nodded, seeing no point in trying to hide it or prevaricate about his goals now. "Yes, I did. You and I shared a connection when we met on my walkabout, a love. After returning to claim my throne I looked for you, only to discover that you had left behind your place as goddess to your tribesman and returned to America, where I lost your trail until you showed up to help those two young boys in Sudan. I spent some time researching this Harry Potter fellow, and you of course, then set up a meeting to see if you truly were the windrider of my memory."
"I was never your windrider," Ororo replied coldly. "I was then and am now my own woman."
T'challa nodded, acknowledging the point and she leaned back in her chair, sighing faintly. "T'challa, I understand that from your perspective what we might have shared when we were younger was special." To Ororo's mind it hadn't been, simply two young people talking, spending time together and exchanging a chaste kiss or two. They had been nice, but not exactly important, nor a real relationship to her mind.
Still, she supposed it could have seemed more important for a young man far away from home. "And I can even say that it might have seemed romantic, attempting to rebuild on that now. But what possessed you to go from that to assuming that I was under someone else's influence when I did not respond to your flirtations?"
"I, I thought, that is, I had thought that what we shared while younger was special to you too." T'challa stammered, realizing now that he had not only acted like a lovesick fool, but in a horrendous fashion. It caught him flatfooted being in the wrong like this, especially when it was so obvious in hindsight.
He chuckled wanly. "I should have known that you would have too strong a will to be brainwashed like that. I, I formally apologize both as king and as man for this affront on your person windrider."
Ororo continued to look at him for a few moments then nodded slowly. "I will accept your apology I suppose, but I will not forget either T'challa. There could have been some measure of friendship between us before this, but you have a lot of work ahead of you to make up for your actions here."
"And whatever romantic ideas you had toward me, I would ask you to forget them. I am very happily in a relationship, one that is both serious and long term." So saying she held up her hand upon which her Panja ring glimmered and chimed as she moved it.
"Harry and I are together, and that is the end of the matter." She had no wish to share with a near stranger the nature of the rest of their relationship, but also wanted to make certain T'challa knew that even setting aside his actions today she had no interest in him.
The king of Wakanda stared back at her, then at the magnificent Panja ring, before sighing. "I see. In that case, I will simply give you my best wishes. And hope that you can look beyond my blind moment of madness."
OOOOOOO
Harry also had a few social and business meetings during those two weeks. The agreements with the Hellfire Club had begun to bear fruit for all concerned, and Harry's ability to build construction droids had enlarged massively, as had his work on the various gear needed for the interior of the Ravenspire. Work on repairing the various Kree vessels had stopped despite groups still going over them looking at various design points, but that was a small price to pay for the progress on Mars and the gravitic trap device.
Harry had also met with the flag officers who he'd invited to his announcement about the Kree threat. They had begun to create an operational outline to deal with invaders from space, and began to also put together a training manual for spaceship crews. The first covered how Harry could contact them or vice versa, and the distribution of the weapons designed to be used in such an event. America's representatives had gone further, creating a special training program and even seconded a few units to it full time to train against alien threats like the Kree, the Mole men, and others.
On the economic and social side of things, The United Arab Emirates became the first predominantly Islamic nation to be allowed access to Magical Minds goods, and Harry had added several dozen men and women from that nation to Arc Technologies, since the Federal Supreme Council had been concerned about the long term ramifications of that technology. The nation was after all built on money gained through the oil industry. But they were far more interested in getting access to his other products then worried about Arc Technologies, and Sage had reported that there had already been some homegrown backing for equality there as well, and a push recently for equal rights to offset the so-called Sharia laws that made up a lot of the emirates' judicial systems. The nation had a spotty record on human rights, but they were getting better, and Harry had decided to encourage that, especially since their education system was also backing the push for equal rights between women and men.
In America, Charles had begun talks with a few of the presidential candidates. Given how many of them there were at present that didn't mean much, but Charles had started to make inroads on setting up a meeting between Harry and two of the candidates thought to have the best chances to win their primaries.
He'd had to defend Harry's selling policies but the war hawk, despite having thoughts about mutants that were not quite in keeping with his public statements, was in other respects the best candidate they could possibly find, with a major interest in space defense and a decent economic policy too.
At the same time, Emma had begun to put the screw on Ozcorp with a sort of gleeful abandon that was frightening to see. Several secrets Ozcorp had been keeping from the public and the government had come to light, and Norman was now facing a lot of trouble keeping the feds from forcing open all his company's books. Which, given the handful of secret projects and think tanks he was running, was a very bad thing for him.
One meeting however was far more interesting than any other in those two weeks:
Harry nodded his head formally to Dr. Doom as the armor-clad monarch came through his personal teleport device, stepping forth out onto the cavern's floor. Behind Doom came his mother and surprisingly Paris Lourdes. "Your majesty, ladies, welcome to Fortress Mars."
Looking around Doom nodded his head regally, before looking at Harry. "My mother and Paris you already know. Paris wanted to see examples of our space-based interests. Her people are already putting together a documentary on it and the previous Kree attacks for public consumption."
"An excellent idea Paris," Harry nodded, though inside he wasn't as happy about the woman having such access. Still, it was obvious Doom was seriously interested in her, and he noticed a few well-hidden technological devices on her person, which no doubt were defensive in nature. "If you like I can have Sage, my chief organizer and manager, contact you with video footage and other things of that nature. So long as you agree to let us see the product before airing it? We still have enemies on Earth that I have no desire to see know more about our doings than we must."
"Agreed, this will not be the first primarily military based documentary PNN has made. I would be willing to wait on releasing like that, or even sequestering the crews I have working on it at the moment, though for that you'd have to give me a very good reason." The blonde paused, looking around in confusion. "But I thought we were supposed to be in space?"
"We are, but this is the interior of Mars." Jean supplied, nodding her head to the older woman. "We can give you a tour of the surface if you want, but the teleportation center is the main hub of the fortress, the only way back to Earth for most everyone who works here, so we decided to bury it deep as possible."
"The discovery of several buried cave systems underneath Olympus Mons was a major help." Harry replied, turning away and gesturing the others to follow him.
As head of the project Carol took up the explanation when they met up with her in the command room, a large multi-tiered room that was the center of activity at present for over two dozen men and women, electricians and welders who were at work one various consoles and energy runs. Most of them stopped working for a moment to stare at Doom as he entered, before a barked command from Carol sent them back to work.
"We've managed to set up the command runs for the Gravitic trap device, and have even run it up to near to full power, though we haven't yet activated it. All the parts work, but it isn't the kind of thing we can really test out without figuring out what the consequences will be, both if it works and if it doesn't." Carol said, gesturing to the one console which was already in place and working, a green light blinking to one side under a screen showing the crater where the device had been installed onto a series of underground pylons, the power runs leading underground to the stunted remains of Olympus Mons nearby.
"We're currently working on reinforcing the base's interior, and mapping out where we want to install weapons not only around the base, but elsewhere on Mars. Remote controlled weapons for the most part, but eventually we'll be expanding them." Carol went on, moving over to a few dozen other temporary screens set up all along one wall. Each screen was centered on a different view, watching groups of robots or men and women working on various projects.