Chapter Text
Earth-2312, X-Mansion, Westchester, New York
"Blasphemy!" Yelled Sebastian Shaw, Black King of the Hellfire Corporation, as he threw a book across the wood panelled meeting room of the X-Mansion. "The Hellfire Corp would never dream of murdering Magneto, that man did sacred things for Mutantkind, he was a hero!" Veins bulged from Shaw's forehead as he spat at the other Mutants around the table, who had all assembled to discuss the murder of Magneto.
Wolverine caught the book with his claws and lit a cigar, "Well if it ain't you, then who was it, Bub? Yer little club was runnin' the criminal underworld until Kitty stepped in and reformed it. New York, Madripoor, London, ya had yer sticky fingers in almost ev'ry pie in the bakery." He smirked and put his feet up on the ornate wooden round table, specks of dried mud falling onto it.
"Do not accuse my husband of lying, you animal!" The White Queen, Emma Frost said, coming to her husband's defence and sweeping Wolverine's boots off the table. Between Frost and Shaw, Kitty Pryde, former X-Man and current Lord Imperial of the Hellfire Corp, stood up and pulled the pair down into their seats with a disapproving expression, hoping to keep the peace between the factions.
Across the table, sitting next to Wolverine and Phoenix, Cyclops folded his arms and glared at the Hellfire pair through his red visor. "Logan's right to be suspicious of you two, Frost. You've been trying to take over for years." He glanced at Kitty, and his face softened slightly. "Although...with the X-Men's own Shadowcat running things, I do have a shred of belief in you two." Kitty smiled softly at him, pleased that her former leader believes in her.
At the centre of the table, between Emma Frost and Mystique, sat Storm: Headmistress of Xavier Academy and Mutant Ambassador to the UN. She rose from her chair regally, bright white hair bouncing on her shoulders. As she stood, the chatter around the room came to a halt and she cleared her throat, "Greetings, distinguished guests of the Mutant world." She started, as every eye in the room drifted to her. "As I am sure you are all aware..." she seemed to choose her words carefully, "Magneto, the Governor of Genosha, has been murdered." An uneasy feeling fell upon the room as she continued, "Our jobs now," Storm glanced at the X-Men, Hellfire Corp, and Brotherhood members around the table briefly, "is to ascertain Magneto's killer, and decide how to move forward. Until this horrific event, the past few years have been the most peaceful time that Mutantkind has ever experienced. I am aware that we were not all...the best of friends with Magneto." The X-Men grimaced and shifted uncomfortably in their seats on their side of the table. "But," Storm continued, "we can all absolutely agree that Erik Magnus Lehnsherr was arguably the most influential Mutant in history, and his legacy must show this. Raven, you were the closest with Magneto, you two worked together for years, what do we know?" Storm turned to the blue-skinned Mutant beside her, who rose to address the room as Storm sat down.
Mystique's yellow eyes scanned the room suspiciously. Sitting next to her, Destiny reached and held Raven's hand, settling her wife's nerves. Mystique pressed a button on the table, and the terrifyingly grotesque image of Magneto's corpse appeared on a slowly spinning hologram. The room collectively grimaced at the sight as the image reached them. Looking down at the console on the table, Mystique pressed another button that enhanced on Magneto's head, showing in x-ray with 3 bullet holes going straight through it. "You can see here, here, and here," she pointed to the entry wounds as she spoke, "where the assailant shot Erik."
Wolverine snorted in his seat and grinned darkly, "Shot? Tell me this, Misty, how'n the hell does a guy who controls metal get shot? What, they get 'im while he was sleepin'?" He asked her crudely, blowing a puff of cigar smoke into the air.
Mystique's hands began to shake with rage at Wolverine's disrespect of her deceased best friend and mentor, but was once again calmed down by Destiny's fingers intertwining with hers and stroking her hand. Raven sighed deeply and looked at Logan, "No, Logan. Magneto's body was found in his study on Genosha, sitting at his desk. As for your...comment, our scientists tested the bullets and they're made of a compound unlike anything we, and anyone on the planet, have ever seen."
Sitting with his fellow X-Men, Beast perked up, "The Genoshan scientists have shared the bullets with me, and I concur-scientifically, they shouldn't exist." He adjusted his glasses, "I've shared our notes with Doctors Richards, Pym, Banner and Morbius, and they all think the same. However," The whole group all seemed to lean in to hear what he had to say, "we did find something interesting about the bullets. Seemingly due to...whatever on Earth it is that they are made of, not a single trace of DNA could be found on them. No blood, brain tissue, not even the smallest of smallest of cells that wasn't already there. If they had not been...extracted from Magneto, it would be as if they had never even been used." A stunned silence filled the room as Beast finished.
"O...kay," Cyclops broke the silence, "that's weird, but we can still work with this. I motion for us, X-Men, Brotherhood, and Hellfire Corp, to split into smaller groups and travel to allies to investigate." The roundtable all turned to look at Cyclops, who was now standing, intrigued to hear what he had to say. "For example," he rubbed his neatly trimmed brown beard, "My brother, Alex, is running X-Factor Investigations, we could send a group there to see if they've heard anything."
Kitty Pryde spoke up, "We have a few people in Madripoor, we could go there and coordinate with them. The Madripoorean underworld hears everything, so i have faith, Scott." She gave Cyclops a small smile that was quickly returned.
"Good, so that's two teams done, where else do we think could be worth checking out?" Cyclops asked, looking around the room for suggestions. After a few seconds of silent thinking, Destiny raised a blue gloved hand.
"One must think that the location of the homicide could provide information." She purred, "The Genosha Security Officers questioned the nearby locals shortly after the discovery of the cadaver, however it is always worth looking at things twice, don't you agree?" Cyclops studied her for a second before answering.
"That's not a bad idea." He said, nodding to Destiny, who sensed it using her powers and nodded back. "So that settles it, we will split into three groups composed of members from the X-Men, Hellfire Corporation, and Brotherhood of Mutants. One group will travel to X-Factor Investigations, down in New York City, another will go to the city of Madripoor and find out what they can from the locals, and the final group will return back to Genosha and interview Mutants living there. Everyone on board with that?" Cyclops was secretly quite proud of the plan, and looked around the room at the group, who all nodded in agreement. "Okay, there are 18 of us so it'll be 6 per team. Each team'll have a leader, just in case. I'll lead team one, Kitty, you can lead the group in Madripoor, and Raven, you can lead the team on Genosha. That work?" Mystique and Shadowcat looked at each other briefly before nodding confidently to Scott.
30 minutes later, after much deliberation, the roundtable finally decided on the rosters for each group. All standing in their arrangements, Cyclops addressed the room again. "Okay people, listen up!" All eyes were once again on him, "Just so that we are all clear where everyone's going, Group One, going to X-Factor Investigations consists of myself, Emma, Mastermind, Beast, Pyro, and Kurt. Group Two, going to Madripoor, is Kitty as group leader, Wolverine, Fred, Rogue, Gambit, and Toad. Finally, Group Three, going to Genosha, is Mystique, Destiny, Storm, Jean, Juggernaut, and Shaw." All 17 members of the panel looked at him with confident expressions. "Let's get out there, find out what we can, and solve Magneto's murder. Group One, we have a car waiting for us on the driveway. Group Two, Emma has graciously lent you a private jet and the Madripoorean flight staff know that you're coming on official X-Men business, they won't ask any questions provided you keep to the law. As for Group Three, the X-Jet is waiting in the hangar, Storm and Jean can show you the way. You all have your assignments, and these communicators designed by Beast," Cyclops placed the device in his ear, "good luck out there."
After saying their goodbyes to their friends, the groups all exited the meeting room and walked through the mansion, much to the shock and awe of the students going to and from their classes. As they walked, the groups went their separate ways: Group Three, guided by Phoenix, walked through the mansion and down into the hangar, while Groups One and Two walked out onto the gravel driveway to their respective vehicles.