CHAPTER 107 - THE DAY OF THE ACCORDS II

You can find +15 chapters ahead on my patreøn

Patreøn.com/QuackVader

########################

Even after 10 minutes had passed since Doom left, the four people relaxing in the lounge still didn't understand the abrupt visit from the fully armored Latverian monarch.

"Are we going to have any problems with him?" Steve asked in concern. "An international incident that might blow up is the last thing anyone wants at the moment, especially one involving us."

Even if they knew that they were not signing the Accords, they wanted to avoid avoidable accidents that will have the public start doubting them and reject them like how they practically turned Sokovia into a 'No heroes allowed' zone. 

The three of them looked at Vision who was tapping his chin and looking at the ceiling. 

"We don't have to worry about Doom for now, probably never. I doubt he sees us as an enemy just because we rejected him this one time."

The reason for his assessment was that the Doom of now was in his early thirties and is rather young when compared to most of his powerful versions, not that he wasn't already classified as a threat as he was. 

Vision was cautious of Doom, not afraid of him. This is a guy who can crack Celestial technology if he is motivated to. He blurred the line between magic and science in a way Kang never could. 

"Caution is definitely advised when it comes to him, but we don't have to watch out for Doom. I have a feeling he'd let us know if he wants to come for us." Vision reasoned. 

"Wait, if that's the real Victor von Doom, what is taking his place in the hearing?" Bruce questioned no one in particular but Vision replied. 

"It's a robot." He stated. "Even the one that was here some minutes ago might have been a robot. I doubt he'd come to a foreign/possible hostile territory without first probing it."

Natasha caught the implications of Vision's first sentence and pointed it out. "You couldn't tell if that was really him?"

"Not specifically. The suit repels external signals of any kind acting on it that I couldn't even hear a heartbeat. He would have immediately been alerted if I had tried pushing it."

He said and snuggled deeper into the impossibly soft cushion and gave the rest of his attention to the series he was watching. 

°°°°°°°°

[The X-Mansion] 

Unlike other days in the mansion that consisted of hyper kids and teenagers running around at every given time, today was very different because apart from a few specific people, everybody else locked themselves inside their room. 

Charles sat on his wheelchair in front of the mansion with his teachers and a few students behind him. 

Hank, Ororo, Logan, Colossus, Scott, Jean, Lance and Bobby stood in their combat gears with taut expression as they regarded the incoming group. 

Approaching them was someone they all knew to varying levels with a few people behind him. 

Magneto, in his gear along with Sunspot, Blob, Pyro, Sabretooth and Avalanche, stood in front of Charles and his people. 

"Quite the welcome line you brought out for us, old friend." Magneto smirked as he saw the reception. 

"I had to show my hospitality since it's been forever since you last visited. I sincerely hope you don't find it lacking, old friend." Charles calmly replied with a soft smile of his own as both old men looked at the other. 

Taking the initiative, Magneto stretched his hand towards Charles who looked at it for a few seconds before finally taking it for a shake. 

"It's good to see you in good health, Charles." Charles could tell he was being sincere and cracked a joke to puncture the tension bubble around them. 

"What can I say? The daily exercise helps a lot in freeing these old bones. You should try it sometime. It's very therapeutic."

"Hahaha, good. I'll take you up on that some other time. How about we continue our talk inside?"

Unlike normally, Charles didn't control his wheelchair to move as Magneto was already behind him and pushing him forward. 

They didn't use Charles' office for their meeting and just settled in the living room where the two groups were once again seated across from each other. 

"I was taken by surprise when you called, Erik. I can't say how many times I hoped I would receive a call over the decades." Charles spoke. 

"You of all people should know that I was constrained by the times and the circumstances that surrounded me throughout the years prevented me giving you a call." Was Magneto's reply. 

Only the experienced ones of the group understood what was happening and the nature of the conversation both men were having. 

After exchanging a few veiled pleasantries, Charles took a good look at his old friend's entourage and inquired. "I know that the call wasn't just for an overdue social visit. So tell me Erik, what truly brought you here?"

"Before you judge me or have your people cast stones, can you tell me why you thought my approach was not something worth supporting?" Magneto asked slowly. 

Charles held his hands up to stop any of his people from saying anything. 

"The simplest would be that you didn't care about the consequences of your actions and you saw humans as nothing more than weed; a disturbance in the clean garden you cultivated."

"I see." Magneto nodded. "To me, I think my approach veered off when I started discriminating among mutants. The very mutants I wanted to protect."

"Agreed."

"Raven reached out to me recently and proposed something to be: a cooperation. And that's why I came here. It's the start of a new revolution, Charles. This is the chance for a perfect do over for us."

"I'm afraid I still don't follow, Erik." Charles expressed his confusion. 

"Despite being a telepath, you are still slow on the uptake, Charles."

"Raven has a growing influence and a steady source of income. I have the needed deterrence and much needed manpower. You on the other hand have the voice and public presence."

"Erik.."

"What I am asking is this: an alliance towards the same goal. While the human government debates about Accords and removing the last protection of anonymity mutants have by implementing the Registration Act, this is the best time if there ever was to leave the stagnant cesspool we've guarded for decades."

Charles kept his breath even as he looked curiously at Erik. 'What changed him?' was the only thing he could think of. 

"Thankfully I cleared my schedule for the day. Let's have a discussion, Erik."

°°°°°°°

[SHIELD HQ]

"Sir, it's an emergency." An agent rushed inside an office where four people were standing and looking at numerous active monitors. 

"What is it?" Maria Hill addressed the agent. 

"The satellite just picked up a group entering the mutant school and upon running deep scans on all of them, the results came out as Magneto and five other known members of the Brotherhood."

That piece of information was what got the attention of the rest of the people in the room. 

"Has he left yet, and how long did their meeting take place?" Nick Fury asked calmly as he fumbled with a rubix cube in his hands. 

"No one has left the school since Magneto's arrival and it's been a little over 10 minutes now." The agent crisply relayed. 

"Mm, dismissed." Nick Fury waved him off and dropped the completed rubix to the side. "Add Magneto and Charles to the files." He calmly ordered after giving a few cursory glances at the video. 

"Sir, Charles too?" Maria Hill asked. As far as they all knew, Charles was a pacifist and he rarely resorted to fights. 

"Did I stutter?" 

"No."

"For Magneto and Charles to meet for this long with a fight breaking out is something that hasn't happened in like 20 years." He explained and turned to Phil Coulson who kept an ear open. "The Avengers?"

"No notable movements… which is a bug error. We can't get real-time info on the Avengers. The only thing we picked up is an animated Pokémon battle." Phil said with frustration but Nick Fury was not in the least bit surprised. 

"Probably Vision's work. Leave the Avengers on blank, watch all the other priorities and potentials."

"Sir, I know why these individuals are under surveillance, but for extended periods? Why?" Maria Hill asked. 

Fury sat on a chair at the corner of the room and started arranging the scattered rubix. "I no longer have my eyes and ears inside the Avengers and while I trust them to a certain degree, that trust is extremely subjective. And I have a hunch, mostly with the few recent individuals they recruited…"

"And that is?"

"They are becoming a centralized power, and that is something that should not be allowed to happen in any way. The Avengers were given their anonymity quite easily because of how volatile the group was and we can see the predicted result of that anonymity with Sokovia."

"Now think: how do you supervise an organization of independent superhumans when they are spread throughout the country, or even worse, the world?"