Marvel-11: World Inside Out

I remember once being perplexed as to why one of the strongest mutants in the Marvel universe didn't seem to bother enhancing himself to the fullest. If you're called the Master of Magnetism, then why neglect the obvious ways to get one of the coolest inventions in this world? An invention that could easily be controlled with your powers!

If you can, among other things, control metals in the electromagnetic sense of the word, why don't you carry something made of adamantium with you?!

Even Professor X created Cerebro for himself, which made him even stronger. Why did you only think of a protective helmet? A defense-focused strategy is not that great.

I remember an epic series from one of the X-Men cartoons where Magneto tried, ha, not even to directly confront Apocalypse, but simply to smash the protective field surrounding the pyramid where the ancient mutant was recovering. Erik sent tons of metal, wreckage, whole cars, government tanks, and even satellites crashing down, but it was all in vain.

He just couldn't break through the defense set by En Sabah Nur, no matter how much effort he put in. Sure, he did some damage, because after a while Apocalypse got tired of it and personally dealt with the annoying fly, but the fact that he failed is painfully disappointing.

Maybe if he had the most absurd club made from adamantium, things could have turned out differently!

Well, I know Magneto wears thin metallic armor, which doesn't impede movement but still provides decent protection. The key word here is "decent." Why couldn't he just go to Wakanda and swipe some vibranium from the proud, technologically advanced natives?!

Maybe someone somewhere has explained these moments on the countless pages of comics, but I haven't come across it. All those magical Thor hammers and such—I understand there's a big question whether Magneto could lift it, but with adamantium and vibranium, there shouldn't be any problems!

What's the problem, damn it?!

Anyway, that's roughly the question, though less expressively, that I asked the female version of this colorful villain here. She heard me out, didn't give an immediate answer, but apparently, I managed to make the advantages of wielding weapons and armor made of such metals pretty clear, since today she brought it up again. And that can't be bad.

Don't think I'm rooting for the villainess. Far from it. Honestly, I just can't bring myself to call Lencher that. Her methods of defending her position are quite questionable, but we are all children of our upbringing. If a girl grows up in a concentration camp, it's no surprise she's a little angry at the Nazis and the world in general. In any case, I just have a long tongue and an acute sense of logic. I hope that because of a few of my words, Magneto doesn't take over the world and become a sole dictator, hehe.

"So, you've found the place where adamantium is stored?" I asked the woman.

She gently shook her head.

"It's hard to say. Adamantium is a top-level government secret, getting close to it is extremely difficult. Mystique managed to gather some information last week, and I've been cross-checking it through my channels."

"Alright, so what have you found out?"

She definitely found something, otherwise, this conversation wouldn't have happened.

"Through joint efforts, we've pinpointed several secret bases where adamantium-related research is conducted."

"Its production is an extremely energy-intensive and costly process, which is the only reason there's so little adamantium weaponry in the world," Mystique chimed in. "It's much easier to store a nearly ready alloy in a liquid state, heated to the right temperature. But even then, the amount is minuscule. I don't think any of these bases have much of a stockpile."

"True," Magneto nodded. "I think only one place might give us luck. But the problem is, we can't afford to attack blindly. If word gets out that information about even one base is compromised, you'll be amazed at how quickly the government can act when the heat is on."

"You're saying they could evacuate the personnel and equipment from the other bases somewhere else?" I asked, somewhat skeptically.

"At least that's what their security protocols say," Ericka shrugged. "The only solution I see at the moment is a simultaneous strike on all the bases."

"That makes sense, but only if you know their exact number."

Ericka looked away, hesitating to answer. So, she wasn't sure.

"It would be good if we had time to wait and gather more information. You know, in some ways, I haven't really gotten over my teenage years and haven't been able to get rid of my idealism. I'd like not only to get powerful weapons but also to know how to make them."

"You want to know the secret of alloy production?" I clicked my tongue in admiration.

Now that's business savvy. Why settle for less when you could get everything?! Again, I can't approve of some of the terror methods Magneto uses, but I can't deny her ambition. If you're going to do something, do it big!

"Very much," the woman admitted honestly. "But the problem is, I'm afraid we might not have enough time."

"What do you mean?" Raven asked.

"Only that during the preparation phase, we acted too recklessly, and I'm afraid our interest might be discovered by those who shouldn't know. I'd rather not be late or, even worse, fall into a trap."

It's one of those situations where you both want it and have to be careful. You can never have too much adamantium, and if Ericka learned the secret of its production, I'm sure she'd figure out how to get all the necessary reagents and ensure all conditions.

Ha, maybe in that case, something would trickle down to her minions, meaning to me, too! Though that's unlikely. Considering that this Jewish girl isn't in a rush to make those fashionable helmets that protect from telepathy for the members of the Sisterhood, I doubt we'd get even a gram of adamantium to share!

"What's the plan?" I asked, cursing myself for talking too much.

"That's why I invited you—to discuss our actions. I know of three possible bases. I'll take on one of them myself. The other two are yours. You'll form and lead two teams."

Whoa! Is she really showing trust in me? Hmm, this seems suspiciously quick for a rookie like me. She wears a helmet that protects from telepathy in her own home—where's this trust coming from, from someone she's known for only two months? Though, on the other hand, I understand her motives. Hmm, fine.

We spent several hours forming the teams and devising strategies based on the information Mystique and Magneto managed to gather. From what I understood, Ericka decided to take the largest and most promising base, Mystique got something in between, and I ended up with a small base with little potential to find anything valuable.

"This is a fairly recently created facility, and I doubt they would hide adamantium there," Lencher honestly admitted, but then sweetened the pill. "But according to some intel, there's some weapon being created there using this alloy. It's not working yet, but! There might be a telepath locked there."

Oh! Now this is starting to look promising! When I joined the Sisterhood, one of the main conditions was that they would find me a suitable telepath. Why do I need one?

It's simple, really. That's how I planned to solve my problem with the voices in my head. Unfortunately, Blind Spot couldn't help me with this on a permanent basis. She wiped memories of the episodes and even of Masquerade himself, but she couldn't remove him.

As a result, he never left, and over time, his presence started bothering me again. She dealt with the symptoms but not the root cause. I needed someone else, someone with full telepathy, not a poor imitation of it.