66 CHAPTER 66 - REACTIONS II

Edward Buckman was beside himself as he saw how effectively he had manipulated the public opinion towards the mutants. It had been a constant worry on his side as he saw people no longer caring of the danger that the mutants represented and all that was needed was a little coaxing from his friend Shaw and he effortlessly got them back on the right thinking path as they were once again reminded of the ticking time bomb that walked in their midst on a daily basis.

He would have been overwhelmingly ecstatic about the whole thing if not for one little peice of information he got during the whole squabble between his brain dead experiments and the Avengers.

Weapon H and X-23 had been acquired by the Avengers.

He was appalled when he found that out and soon realized that it was the Avengers that destroyed Ross' military base in Nevada and sabotaged their joint coalition by killing all the top officials and the scientists spearheading the experiments. Not only that, they also completely destroyed one of his Facility that was sponsored to restart Stryker's past research of mass producing unkillable soldiers.

And then there was Norman Osborn's death. Given how the first two incidents were caused by the Avengers, he held little doubt that they too were responsible for Osborn's death.

If he had only lost two specimens of two important experimental research, he wouldn't have been that bothered by the loss but in this event, he not only lost his prized possessions but also every speck of data pertaining to those research and experiments.

The loss was too monumental.

The 3-step loss of his investments forced the actualization of his Project: Armageddon to be pushed back indefinitely.

'Damned fucking Avengers.'

He was not worried about his involvement in those experiments being found out because he was sure not to leave any paper or digital trail of his participation but what he was worried about was how the Avengers would react if he made some of his friends in the senate pressed for the custody of the two of them.

Doing something like that would definitely alert them that someone involved in those inhumane experiments was finding a way to get them back.

"At this point, I don't fucking care any more. The Avengers are already on their last legs and would soon be put on a leash like those kids from the Baxter Building."

He could just wait it out but there was a chance that they could go hiding just as Bruce Banner had done for almost a decade and his experiments would be lost to the wind, or someone might get their hands on them first before he did. A disadvantage of working in the shadows was that there were always some restrictions with every action you take.

"Won't it be better if I just take them now than face the possibility of losing them when the Avengers go under? But then again, it's the Avengers." He pondered out loud as he watched the bright city nightlife from his office.

Minutes. That was all it took the Avengers to put an end to the chaos of the rampaging mutants and that was without the inclusion of Tony Stark, Thor and the Hulk.

They weren't a ragtag bunch like those wannabe vigilantes that were playing at being heroes. Each of them were an asset that any sane military power coveted and together they formed a very powerful organization that made the American government exceedingly cautious.

For Buckman, due to the pressing importance of his Project: Armageddon, he couldn't afford to be passive when he could not predict what kind of actions the Avengers will take if pressured too much from the government.

He was a businessman and so he knew how to identify stubborn people and those who will fiercely fight back if they are cornered, and the Avengers were such people, at least the members he's met.

"Should I tell Shaw?" He shook his head at that thought because even if he trusted Shaw to a certain limited degree, he couldn't let him in on his every move, after all they were business and seeking profits was their whole modus operandi.

Coming to a decision, he looked at the huge building in the middle of New York with words 'STARK' emblazoned on it and held his drink towards it while motioning a toast.

"To a greater humanity."

°°°°°°

[Raven Darkholme POV]

Mystique simmered in rage as she watched the recap of the news that was recently circulating everywhere.

For the first time in recent years, Magneto had reached out to her to ask her if she knew anything about what happened and she answered truthfully to her knowledge – she had not the slightest idea of what the hell had happened.

The reason for her anger was not because of the predictable foolish decision that will inevitably be made by the country's leaders but because of the effect such decisions will have on other innocent mutants.

She wasn't afraid to go against the full might of the world to secure her right to live in this sickening world. The only thing that held her back was because she did not have the means.

She was not like Eric, Charles or even Emma.

The power she held could amount to nothing in front of these people. The only thing that had kept her alive all through the years she's been alive was her intellect and her ability to shapeshift.

If only she had a little bit of the power like her two friends, she was sure she would have done more than any of them had done.

Seeing how interview after interview only gave those hateful people a neutral ground to express their hatred for her kind, she in a rare moment of regret wished she was born with a more powerful ability.

The only reason she left Charles for Eric was because the latter had the power and the drive to bring about the change he wanted and while he did deliver on it, the result of his actions warped him so much that she found it hard to be near him at times, so she left.

She knew that with the recent events happening, Eric would no longer sit aside and move in the shadows. The world would soon see the re-emergence of the world-class threat known as Magneto, and she knew that for a fact.

She took in a deep breath and switched off the TV and reclined into her couch. She picked up her phone and opened her messages and tapped on the contact listed as 'Vision'.

"Vision huh? What a fucking irony."

[Tomorrow, after school hours]

She didn't know how to feel about the text and what it meant for her going forward. For the first time in a long while, she decided to put herself out there and try to stir the new change as much as her abilities allowed her to.

She was Mystique. The ever-changing enigma.

She represented the tenacity of living beings adapting to the changes of time.

She left Vision's text and scrolled a bit down and came across the contact of a person that meant a lot to her. She hesitated on whether to give her a call but she couldn't risk it.

She knew of Magneto's paranoia and figured that the metal head had probably sent one or two of his lackeys to keep an eye on her and report her movements. Also Vision had tampered with her phone when he saved his contacts inside.

She just couldn't risk it.

"All it'll take is a little while." She softly muttered and shifted into a more comfortable position on the couch as she closed her eyes and let sleep take her to the illusory world of dreams.

°°°°°°

[Baxter Building]

The members of the Fantastic Four each wore a pensive look as they saw news reports of mutant settlements being exposed and set on fire.

"This ain't right." Ben said with gritted teeth as they watched a mutant father with slitted reptilian eyes use his body as a shield to protect a not more than six years old child with a tail and noticeable scales on different parts of his body. "None of you can tell me this is right."

Despite being the one with the rock-hard exterior, he was one of the kindest people on the team and even among those they knew outside.

"As sad and inhumane it is, there's very little we can do." Reed said with an apologetic expression.

Hearing Reed's words, Ben scoffed in irritation. "Yeah? And whose fault is that?"

"Come on guys, we shouldn't do this now." Johnny immediately tried to placate Ben so as not to let the matter escalate and create more discord among them. He looked at Ben and tried to reason with him as softly as possible. "Unfortunately bro, Reed is right this time. There's nothing we can do."

Their position in this whole mess was a little awkward which only worsened it for them as their movements were constrained.

"We might not be able to do anything but what I do know is I'm not signing any shit if those bastards are going to let something like this happen." Ben said as he stood up and walked away with heavy steps.

The living room they were in fell into an awkward silence as none of them knew what to say after Ben's outburst.

"You've been awfully quiet, Sue. What's eating at your mind?" Johnny turned to his sister who had uncharacteristically remained quiet throughout the whole thing.

Shaken from her thoughts, Sue waves her hands as if it was nothing of importance causing Johnny to shrug and lay off it.

Sue, in the confines of her mind, was plagued by a question that was flowing through a lot of people's heads after the recent carnival of madness.

'What am I supposed to do?'

.

.

.

°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°

You can find +10 chapters ahead in my patreøn

Patreøn.com/QuackVader