After hearing the full story, Magneto could understand and even sympathize with her. He too had faced the horror of watching his parents killed before him. In some ways, he acknowledged, Hotaru's experience was even worse than what he say in the Nazi death camps. The Nazi's were and terrorized him, but at least they had been outsiders. Hotaru had watched her own father turn and betray her, apparently making a pact with these... 'Things' from another realm.
Magneto was no stranger to other dimensional beings. He'd even killed one before. Namely when he was in charge of Mystique's child Kurt. Experimenting on the boy had resulted in his mutant power surfacing. Curiosity had led to Magneto stimulating events that forced the infant to maintain the portal for an extended period of time. IT wasn't long thereafter that 'something' came through where the portal was. Something that even Magneto had been forced to kill quickly. From the description Ranma gave, and his own observation on the three beings he killed, these entities were no better than that one had been. Even worse, since it seemed they could possess human hosts.
Magneto frowned, a minion of his had checked out the address Ranma had given for the lab. As he expected however, there was nothing there. Obviously this Tomoe had gone underground. That would make him difficult to find. Of greater concern was the fact that the body of the mother hadn't been found either. Magneto shuddered as he pondered what use such creatures would have for a dead body.
It didn't take a genius to figure out what one of Tomoe's future steps would be. Eventually he would come after Ranma and Hotaru again. Ranma would have to be punished for humiliating Tomoe earlier, provided the boy wasn't exaggerating his role in the events. After all men or demons like that didn't take to losing face easily (In both figurative and literal sense of the word!). Hotaru was apparently important to them as well, clearly indicative by the way that those monsters had wanted her alive.
Magneto looked over the report in front him, a very basic break down of the DNA of the two children. He could see how they might prove interesting. Hotaru was obviously a mutant herself. The ability to heal others was no small gift, even if doing it tired her out. Magneto frowned bit, there was something else about her. A dormant energy in her blood, but without knowing more he didn't dare try to awaken it. Magneto would bet his entire base of operations, that this dormant energy was what those demons had been after.
Ranma on the other hand was a complete surprise. When he first saw how his blood etched lines in the pavement and his quick healing wounds, Magneto had assumed he was a mutant. A further test of his DNA proved this assumption false. Ranma had no indication of the x-factor in his genes anywhere. What he did have was a completely inhuman set of DNA grafted onto his own human form. He was obviously an escaped bio-weapon of some sort. Although judging by the splicing technique of the unknown DNA strand, the project was probably woefully under budget. The boy had some sort of bond with the girl to, more genetic than mental.
Magneto sat and considered these facts. He obviously couldn't ignore the situation. These 'things' Tomoe had contacted would be a threat to both human and mutant kind. Magneto believed in a world where mutants ruled the pathetic humans, not the genocide that these things represented. No he would have to fight them, and the best way to do that was to keep tabs on Ranma and Hotaru.
The way he saw it, Magneto had three choices :< P> The first option was to keep the children here, where he could keep an eye on them. On the plus side it would give him the most control over the two. On the minus side he would have little flexibility when Professor Tomoe chose to strike against his daughter. A more important fact was philosophy.
Ranma he was sure would be very in tune to his philosophy of Mutant supremacy and ruthlessness to his enemies. It was the girl Hotaru that was the problem. From Ranma's descriptions and his own brief talk with her, she was a kind hearted child. More in tune with Xavier’s ideals than Magneto's own. And where Hotaru went, Ranma would dutifully follow. His own genetics demanded it of him.
Magneto supposed he might be able to mold Hotaru to his side. In her current state she would be easy to manipulate. Yet for some reason he was loathe to destroy the innocence he saw in her. Magneto smirked to himself. Xavier would say I was trying to prevent Hotaru's innocence from suffering the same darkness mine did. I must be getting soft in my old age.
The second option would be to give the children to Mystique. That would give him more freedom to maneuver and investigate. He could also work in the shadows to surprise the professor. The downside was that Mystique wasn't exactly a trustworthy ally herself. Magneto doubted she would realize the full extent of the threat Hotaru and Ranma's opponents pose to mutants and humans alike. Also Magneto wasn't sure the two would fit in well with Mystique's slowly forming Brotherhood. It was doubtful that they would make the two feel welcome, and there would be little done to prepare them for their future enemies. In fact there was probably a distinct possibility that they would switch sides to Xavier's. Such a move would distract and weaken both teams, an event Magneto had no doubt would be capitalized on by Hotaru's father.
Magneto's thoughts drifted towards the third option; Leave the children in Xavier's care, which would have them joining his newly formed x-men. As much as he hated to admit there were some very good reasons for this move :
1. Xavier's telepathy would be the ideal way to help Hotaru cope with the trauma she had experienced.
2. Both Hotaru and Ranma would receive top notch training, enabling them to defend themselves more successfully.
3. Magneto himself could watch and act from the shadows. His earlier handling of the Daimons ensured that Tomoe had no idea who he was. This would gain him the element of surprise in the battle, and Magneto could pick and choose the battlefield to his liking.
4. Xavier’s own team the X-men was slowly taking shape, and it appeared it would be quite the formidable group. More then adequate to hold off Tomoe's minions and unlike Mystique's brotherhood, they were more concerned with the team as whole than self interest.
The main disadvantage would be that in the end, placing the children with Xavier would ultimately put them at odds with himself.
Magneto sat and pondered what he should do... He sighed as he decided...
Think anybody ever told Setsuna that her Time key was highly metallic?
(Well S.H.E.I.L.D. would be the best bet to find Ranma)
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(Posted Sun, 18 May 2003 06:24)
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