Never thought I'd say this, but I'm really starting to miss Puerto Rico..."
Huddled inside what usually served as a tailor shop under more pleasant circumstances, a thin, pale-skinned man with messy brown hair, his eyes covered by a pair of sunglasses that almost seemed too big for his gaunt face, a faded old leather jacked worn over a gaudy dress shirt with a clashing striped print and a pair of worn jeans and combat boots, crouched down further behind the counter at the back of the store, hoping to avoid being spotted by the jackboots outside. He wasn't alone, several other locals had taken refuge in the same building when the soldiers had struck earlier that day, but they hadn't exactly had time for introductions. Aside from him, there was an older white man with thinning grey hair and a large moustache, probably the owner of the shop unless the guy always walked around with measuring tape hanging around his neck, as well as a rather attractive, blonde girl and a dark-skinned boy who he guessed was her boyfriend, considering how she was clinging to him like a piece of driftwood at sea. In the corner, a heavyset older woman with tanned skin and black hair that had just begun to grey was sitting, muttering what sounded like Spanish prayers under her breath.
She'd be doing that 'til her teeth fell out, because he doubted anyone upstairs was listening.
Hunter Stockton Thompson, journalist extraordinaire (in-training) and currently regretting every life choice he'd made that led him to this fucking armpit of a country, patted at his jacket, feeling the comforting shape of the revolver underneath. Never leave home without it, though considering who they were hiding from in here, he'd probably be better off trying to defend himself with spitwads or spreading nasty rumors.
Pssh, mutants, they were fun to hang out with but they sure made it hard to properly arm yourself. Used to be you could trust that the guy you shot would die, or atleast fall down afterwards. No sense of tradition these days.
Well, atleast he might get a decent story out of this, if he lived through the next few hours, which wasn't looking likely.
"This can't be happening, this can't be happening..." the older man next to him began to mutter, his hands over his head like a child trying to hide from the boogeyman under his blanket. "It's just a dream, that's it! Just a bad dream!"
"I doubt it, old-timer, not unless there's something nasty in the water around here. And even if that was the problem, I've been drinking enough of that weird fruit gin you guys brew here to kill off any parasites that might be swimming around there. Pretty sure this is all too real. Besides, I would have thought you people would be used to having armed thugs in the streets by now!"
"Yes, soldiers! Not-not demons that can make the very Earth itself tremble just by their presence! Dear God, it was like they were making the whole city shake! What are those things?!"
The woman in the corner muttered something that sounded like "Mutantes!"
Hunter glanced over the counter, darting back down quickly when a soldier walked past the store window. "What, don't you get the papers out here in paradise? The creep in the cape is Magneto, he was causing one hell of a mess back in the states earlier this year, even attacked a military base! I tell ya, Uncle Sam did not like that one bit. And lucky me, apparently he decided to try and turn your country into Mutant Zion right at the same time I came down here."
The old man just went back to stammering, but the teenaged boy, still holding onto the girl, was the next to speak "Isn't this... I mean, someone has to help us, right?! The police, the army, SOMEONE!"
Hunter scoffed "Kid, I've only been here a few days, but unless you guys have a few nukes hiding in your back pockets, I doubt anyone here can mount any worthwhile resistance. I mean, right?"
The old man shook his head "No, no the police... they won't have a chance against something like this, and the army? What army? We have a militia, they might have mounted some sort of defence, but the attack, it came so quickly... There's no one coming, atleast not in time to save us."
Hunter sighed, pulling a worn notebook with faded leather cover from the inside of his jacket "Welp, I'll be honest, I wasn't quite expecting to be checking out this early on, but since it's not looking too good, I might as well jot down a few thoughts while we wait for these dicks to burst in here and kill us all..."
He'd only gotten a few words down on paper when the inside of the store lit up like 4th of July. The women screamed, crouching down and hiding their faces from the light, while the old man made a kind of choking noise, like he had wanted to scream too, but had just plum forgot how in the moment. Hunter, his eyes protected by his sunglasses, looked up over the counter, trying to see outside the window.
"Okay, everyone else saw that too, right? Because I ate some weird berries in the forest earlier today, and I thought it might have been them kicking in just now."
He didn't get an answer, before the door swung open, and a guy in a blue and yellow costume stepped through. It wasn't so much the costume that drew everyone's attention so much as the pair of goddamn WINGS he had growing out of his back. "Is everyone alright in here?"
Hunter stared blankly at the figure in the door, before he pulled his sunglasses up, squinting in the afternoon light, then putting the glasses back on. "Man, I knew I was drunk, but I must be DRUNK!"
.....
It's almost disappointing how easy it is to deal with the few of Magneto's mooks that didn't turn out to just be a lightshow.
After I set off my Light Grenade, most of the soldiers who were outside with the illusions either began to stumble around blindly, trying to get their vision back, or just passed out on the spot from the shock. Pretty sure none of them will have any permanent damage from the light blast, but I doubt I'll lose any sleep over it if they do.
Once the illusions were destroyed, Cap had rushed down to the street, sliding down a fire escape ladder from the roof, leaving the rest of us to follow best we could. One of the soldiers, clutching his face and yelling something in Spanish, was standing beneath the ladder, and Cap took the opportunity to kick him in the back of the head as he came down, knocking him senseless. Quickly unstrapping his shield from his back, Cap waved at us to advance.
"Let's go, quickly! While they're still stunned!"
Two soldiers come bursting out of one of the houses across the street, but didn't even have time to raise their guns before a blast from Cyclops sends them flying back in. Behind him, Jean uses her powers to toss one of the blinded soldiers into another, knocking both of them down. Looking up, Cyclops spots Angel flying ahead. "Angel, check on the civilians! Make sure none of them got hurt!"
"On it, Cyclops!"
"Janet, go with him" Cap says, nodding at her "In case more of the mercenaries are holed up with the citizens. Sunshine, with me!" Without pause, Cap takes off down the street, seamlessly knocking down another of the mercs who came stumbling out from a side alley. Above the rooftops, I can see the spires of the palace, which should be mostly unguarded by now if everything has gone according to plan.
...
"Wake up! Damnit, wake up! Scarlet Witch, I can't rouse him!" Toad babbled pitiably as he tried to stir some life back into the senseless Mastermind, the illusionist lying prone on the floor where Toad had dragged him, shaking him by the coat. Wanda grimaced at the sight of blood dripping from Mastermind's nose, she might despise the man, but this was still an unpleasant fate.
"Toad, stop it, that's not going to do anything except make it worse" Kneeling by Masterminds side, Wanda pressed her fingers against the side of his neck, frowning at the erratic pulse. "He's alive, but... I don't even know what caused this, it's like his system is going haywire for some reason. Whatever that flash was, it must've affected his mind somehow."
"The troops, Witch! The army is gone!" Toad shrieked as he pushed open one of the large windows, staring out at the now deserted city streets. "The illusions, they're all gone! Oh, Lord Magneto will be furious at us! We've failed him!"
"I think Lord Magneto might have bigger things to worry about, Toad" She said, standing up and walking over to the windows "Whoever or whatever it was that lured away Magneto and Quicksilver must've been trying to split up the Brotherhood so they could defeat us one by one. We need to warn them!"
"Yes! Yes, warn them! I'll radio them, tell Lord Magneto what's happening!" Toad scrambled over to the radio sitting by the throne, grabbing the device, and fumbled with the buttons "Hello?! HELLO?! COME IN! THIS IS TOAD! LORD MAGNETO, PLEASE ANSWER!" There was nothing but silent static on the other end. He tried again "HELLO?! PLEASE, THERE'S SOMETHING WRONG! WE NEED HELP!" Again, nothing. Toad shook the radio, as if that would somehow force a response.
Wanda walked over and snatched it out of his hand "Calm yourself Toad, panicking isn't going to help anything!"
He grimaced, giving her a frustrated look "That's easy for you to say, Witch! It's not you who Lord Magneto punishes for every setback! We have to wake Mastermind back up, before whoever did this comes after us next!"
Wanda was about to respond, when a sudden flash of light came bursting from the balcony, even as the doors flew open, blinding them for a moment. Next to her, Toad shrieked, stumbling as he tried to cover his eyes. And then she heard someone speak.
"Yeah, I'm going to have to ask that you NOT wake up Moustache Boy just yet, because we're on a bit of a schedule here, and while knocking him around for a while might be fun, we all have plans for the holidays. So, I don't suppose you two could just surrender?"
As her vision returned, Wanda could make out a figure standing in the doorway, though the light made it difficult to make out anything. Finally, her eyes adjusted, and a familiar figure wearing a flag mask and sunglasses came into view.
"You!"
Mr Sunshine nodded, giving a small flourish with one hand "Yep, me! And also, these guys!"
He stepped aside, revealing three others standing behind him. Two, a younger man and a teenaged girl, she recognized from Magneto's description of the X-Men, but it was the third man who caught her by surprise. Captain America stepped through the door into the throne room, shield raised.
"Ma'm, I strongly suggest you listen to my colleague and surrender, we're shutting this coup down one way or another, and I'd rather avoid any further fighting."