X-Men: The Gifted Ones

7. MAGNETO HEADQUARTERS, LOCATION UNKNOWN

Erik relished the peace and quiet, but he was uneasy because he was certain Wanda and Pietro were up to no good. He wondered what he was thinking, bringing in the teenagers. They didn't even care to learn anything. The sound of silence was the sound of suspicion as far as Erik was concerned.

He tried relaxing in his favorite chair. It was his preferred way to end the day. He had just gotten relaxed when he felt the chair shake beneath him, as if it was trying to come out from under him. He took a deep breath and braced for what he knew was about to come. Nothing happened, but he refused to let down his guard. He continued to read his newspaper. He had just finished a paragraph when his chair slipped out from under him, causing him to fall on the floor.

As he struggled to pick himself up from the floor he looked over to see Azazel standing next to him, a scowl marking the deep red skin on his face. He had no idea Azazel was even in the same room as him. He hadn't even heard him approach. Then he realized that Azazel was only visible from the shoulders on up.

This couldn't be good.

"Really, Azazel?"

"It's those little bastards you brought here, Magneto."

Erik stormed out of the room. Could no one keep a couple of juvenile delinquents under control?

He heard the sound of laughing and braced himself for another scene of mayhem or destruction. You never knew with those two.

He was horrified when he went into the sitting room and found Emma Frost and Riptide face-to-face in the center of the room, bound by ropes. They looked extremely unhappy. Wanda was smiling deviously and Pietro was running quickly around Emma and Riptide, tying them up. Mystique was in the doorway, covered in a black, sticky-looking substance.

Erik lost his temper. "Mystique! Is this what you call training?"

She scowled, "What do you want me to do, Erik? The others keep taunting them!"

"You said it was OK for us to get revenge, Magneto," Wanda countered mischievously.

"Yeah," Pietro laughed. "You said it'd be appreciated. And didn't you say on our way here we'd go after other mutants?"

Erik stormed over to them. "Not the mutants in our Brotherhood!" he scolded.

"Then tell that red-faced weirdo to stay out of my room!" Wanda argued. "He keeps thinking he can just jump in whenever he wants and scare me! If you don't believe me, go look in my room. You'll find his legs there!"

Erik sighed. The girl had a point there. It was unacceptable for a grown mutant such as Azazel to go into a teenage girl's room for any reason. "Can you please let him teleport the rest of himself out?"

Pietro looked at Erik, incredulous, "Why should she? He jumps in on us all the time! And this glittery chick here needs to stop messing with me!"

Erik looked at Emma and glared. Emma was a telepath, and worse- when her diamond skin formed, she could block anyone's telepathy. He wondered how much was going on that he couldn't hear.

"If you don't want my brother and me to use our powers against your Brotherhood," Wanda countered defiantly, "then tell them not to use their powers against us! Riptide made it rain on us for the last time in training!"

Erik walked toward Emma and Riptide and looked back toward the twins. The two were still tied together. Erik debated on the advantages of letting them go. He frowned. "The children are right. How can we fight against humans or the X-Men if we keep fighting amongst ourselves?"