Chapter 30

"Do you really think that letting them go was the smart thing to do?"

"No, but it's not like we had much of a choice." Scott said with a sigh as he looked at the son of Hulk. "We don't actually have the needed power to deal with the aftermath of killing the leader of the Avengers. Beating them and sending them back to their homes like naughty children is one thing, but we would have to deal with far more if we actually killed them." God knew that he would have blasted Osborn's head off if it wasn't for those consequences. The lives of his people were far more important than that momentary satisfaction.

"Pretty words Summers, but that's not the whole reason isn't it?" A voice came from behind and Scott was once more faced with the reality of a stone skinned Namor looking very weird. "The real reason you didn't kill them is different."

"You'll have to forgive young Summers, Namor." And then the most unlikely one to help him levitated down beside him. "He has spent a concerning amount of time under the tutelage of my friend Charles before his recent independence from him, some half truths when it comes to his decisions are expected." Magneto said with a smile that made his fingers twitch towards his visor as he remembered how many times he had been faced with that smile while the man before him was an enemy. "On an unrelated note, I must say that I love what you have done with the place Scott. It's nice to see my old home become a safe haven for the mutant-kind once more."

"Don't give him a chance to change the subject." The king of Atlantis said with a scowl before turning back to him. "Your real reason for letting them go is different, something other than strategic values, and I want you to say it."

"…I think we both already know why."

"Yes we do, but I want you to say it." Namor declared with a glare and after a moment, Scott relented with a sigh.

"It's because I'm the leader of the X-Men, the one group of mutants that always fought for the coexistence between humanity and mutant-kind. If I were to order the death of someone as influential as Osborn, then it's ver. The ammunition that will give to anti mutant groups around the globe will mean that the dream of Charles Xavier, the dream that we have been fighting for years, is over." Scott said and a wave of shame washed over him. The admittance of that he was risking the lives of his charges for a dream… it almost made him keep over with nausea.

Yet the worst part was that he knew that he didn't regret his choice. That, no matter the danger, he still believed that the dream of Charles Xavier was worth fighting for.

"Good." And then he looked at Namor with shock as the king of Atlantis nodded at him with respect in his tone. "Make no mistake Summers, you are the current leader of the mutant-kind; a king in all but name. You can not afford to sugarcoat things, especially to yourself. When you make a decision, do it with certainty and pride of your position." The Atlantean mutant declared, right before his skin returned to its original tanned color. "Huh, was starting to wonder how long that was gonna last."

"A lot longer if you had better control." Kala said with a smile as he crossed his arms over his chest. "You had a pretty damn good output but bad efficiency, you wasted around ten percent of any amount of the Old Power you tried to use." He said before turning back Scott.

"I will not pass judgement on your goals, you are the leader here and mercy is the privilege of the strong." Kala said before scowling. "But do be aware that if that overgrown slime had actually managed to hurt my brother, we wouldn't be having this conversation." He said and the unspoken promise to do so if such a thing happened in the future was pretty clear.

"And I will not begrudge you for it." Scott said with a nod, even if he was making plans on how to deal with Kala if he actually went off to the deep end.

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Scott was a good leader. I might not agree with his decision but the fact that he knew that it wasn't a choice that everyone would agree was good, especially since most people from my former life just saw him as an arrogant asshole. Seeing him and the actual conflict he was obviously having was something of an eye opener.

Still didn't really agree with his decision to spare Osborn though, that was gonna come back to bite someone in the ass later on; not sure which hero group would get bitten first though.

In the end I decided to leave the glorious leader of the X-Men with Namor and Magneto, who had been sending rather curious looks in my direction, and went to my brother.

"Your timely assistance against my brother was truly spectacular, friend Skaar!" Who was sitting beside Hercules in his smaller form.

That was rather surprising, especially when one considered my brother's distaste for his 'puny' form. I couldn't help but wonder how exactly he ended up close enough with Hercules that he didn't mind being small around him?

Answers that I wouldn't be getting since an arm wrapped itself around my shoulder before I could reach my brother and the son of Zeus.

"I heard how you wrecked Osborn's shit." Heavily accented voice reached my ears and my gaze found a certain blonde girl with a very cocky smirk. "Makes me sad that I missed it with the whole rescue operation."

"What do you want Illyana?"

"Heh, that's cold alien boy. Not even a hello to one of your dear friends?"

"Hello, Illyana. What do you want?" I asked once more with a roll of my eyes and the Russian mutant smirked at me.

"I'm pretty sure our glorious leader told you that we were gonna contact a teacher for you. It's about time you met him."

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