BAYVILLE MAIN STREET - 20 Days before the assault on Apocalypse and the Sentinels.
...
The Porsche idled at the curb, its widebody and aero making it look like a spaceship was parked among the dusty sedans of Bayville. The exhaust gave off a final, rhythmic TICK… TICK… TICK… as the engine cooled, hissing like a predator settling into a nap after a rather large lunch.
And Max had truly let the car eat on the way here, so to say. He had blown through several red light cameras earlier, but due to the ability, [Blank], the only thing the camera would reveal would be blurry numbers on a blurry plate on a blurry car bumper.
On the sidewalk, a couple of skaters stopped their boards to gape at the car. To them, it was a priceless racecar... after all, this model of Porsche was relatively new still in this era. To Max, it was just the most fun way to get from Point A to Point B—especially if Point A is a mansion full of moody mutants and Point B is a nerd's paradise with untapped loot.
He loved driving the car, even though he could fly if he wanted to!
Max stepped out, the sun catching the face of his 'Image Inducer' watch. To this world, he was currently a stylish, outrageously handsome man wearing a tracksuit. Underneath? A different story. But for now, the watch held the line. This façade would be lowered today, however—Max had decided to be as honest with Magneto and co. as he had been with the Professor.
Honest-ish.
He scanned the storefronts. The smell of toasted sourdough from the deli drifted past, competing with the chalky scent of protein powder from the gym next door. Max's eyes behind his circular sunglasses locked onto the neon sign flickering in the window of 'Soundview Comics'.
A smirk tugged at his lips. He had six reasons to be happy today:
The Drive: Even with the power of flight, nothing beats the raw, mechanical growl of a flat-six engine.
The Loot: His fingers twitched. Between the precognitive hum of [Destiny] and the subtle senses of [Electromagnetism], the shop's inventory was like an open book. He already knew which five booster packs on the rack were weighted differently with holographic foil, ink, etc.
The Future Buddies: He didn't need to turn around to feel them. Two mutants—familiar from the comics in his past life, powerful, and currently trying (and failing) to be subtle—had been tailing him since the Institute. He could practically feel their curiosity (In Sabretooth's case, hostility) buzzing in the air.
The Fog: Back at the Mansion, things should have been exploding. A guest like Max doesn't just "leave." Yet, thanks to [I'm Out], one of the 'drop-in' perks he had chosen at the start of this Marvel Jump, the mental alarm bells would be muffled. He could almost picture Xavier and Jean in the study, brows furrowed, knowing there's... something off but unable to put a finger on it.
The Endgame: This Marvel Jump was a game, and he was a player with cheat codes. He had already seen the big boss fall—first Apocalypse, then the Sentinels. Once Magneto helped him clear the board, the world would be his playground for the next decade, within reason, of course!
The Masks: Max had glanced at his reflection in the shop window. Handsome. Normal. Completely fake. It was a riot to him knowing that even his "tails" have no idea who—or what—is actually walking into that comic store. But there was another mask that would be covering him up soon too: the helmet and the suit, which he had only tried on once. He would be using it a LOT in the upcoming months. There was an off chance he might have practiced transforming with the two metal spheres, like he was an actual Power Ranger or Kamen Rider—something like that.
It looked damn good on him.
Max pushed the door to the little comic shop open.
Ding...Ding.
He immediately felt a strange feeling of déjà vu. The layout and décor of Soundview Comics was nearly identical to 'Action Now! Comics' from back on his old Earth, down to the tiny bell in the doorway.
'I wonder if this is just a coincidence?' Max thought while scanning around the room, feeling homesick for approximately two seconds.
Aside from the comic titles and card games themselves being different, this place truly did resemble Action Now! Comics. Max suddenly wondered if some of this 'cartoon-brought-to-life' he was currently living in was built based on his perception of reality—or maybe memories somehow?
'Well, whatever, the tiny details don't really matter anyway.' He thought. 'Let's just get the annoying stuff dealt with so I can go and play around... Wait, did I just call assassinating one of the most powerful mutants ever, 'annoying'?'
The bell above the door chimed twice again, but Max didn't look up from the rack of trading cards. He let his senses drift, feeling the metallic ink in the packs with his power. He already knew who had just entered the store anyway, not just because he had seen it in his minds eye.
Most of the packs Max felt were standard, but his fingers twitched as five packs near the back hummed with a specific high-frequency vibration in his senses when he agitated the cards slightly—feeling their weight differences.
Holographic cards!
Top-tier pulls.
Behind him, the air grew thick with the scent of expensive wool, "Those five card packs," a refined, gravelly voice remarked quietly, "they sit a fraction of a milligram heavier than the others. Your precision is... uncannily familiar."
Max motioned for a clerk to come over, pointed out the packs he wanted, paid for them, thanked the clerk, and finally turned to face Erik Lehnsherr, the Magneto, who stood there alone.
Now that Max had finally acknowledged him, Erik started filling the small shop with a quiet, magnetic pressure that only Max could feel.
Max responded with the exact same amount of energy—his magnetic force pushing back against Erik's with the same amount of force. When two magnetic fields of equal strength meet from opposite directions, they create what's called a null zone.
"Nice to finally meet you in person, Max Eisenhardt." Max said, flashing a gorgeous grin. He pocketed the cards and extended a hand to the suddenly surprised-looking master of metal, who returned the handshake.
Max turned his head to give the still-lingering shop employee a look that said, "We're done here." causing the clerk to take the hint and shuffle back off to the corner he was in beforehand. Back at Action Now! Comics, Max had made it a habit to not eavesdrop on his customers and didn't mind giving this nosy guy a little stink eye.
He then lowered the volume of his raspy voice a little and said, "The magnetism stuff helps me find the good foils. I can even sense the alternate art cards! Did I mention that it's really cool to meet you yet Max, or do you prefer Erik? Maybe Magnus? Ah, not just Magneto all the time, right?"
'Ah, chill out Max, you're starting to fan-boy here!'
Max took a deep breath and maintained his exterior cool. It was tough indeed trying to restrain his excitement—Magneto was one of his favorite comic book characters!
Erik's eyes sharpened, but he wasn't upset. "You used my birth name... A name buried under decades of ash."
"It's a good name, my dude. I go by it too actually—I'm also Max, Maximillian Nakamura—but you probably already knew that, huh?" Max said, fiddling with the card packs in the pocket of his tracksuit pants with one hand as he let go of the handshake.
'Strong grip...' Magneto thought to himself.
"I know why you're here. You talked to Mystique, who talked to Irene. She saw a flicker of me talking to old Chucky about Apocalypse, didn't she? I wanted her to see that and tell you. Come on, let's go outside. Your pet is scratching my paint."
Erik opened his mouth, then closed it several times before shaking his head in surprise at his magnetic counterpart—unsure of how to respond. This mysterious mutant, Max, whom Charles had mostly been hiding, had taken the words right out of his mouth, getting straight to the point. On top of that, he suggested talking somewhere more private—exactly what Erik had been trying to achieve.
He liked Max already!
...
Outside the shop, Max stepped onto the sidewalk and stopped dead. Victor Creed, aka Sabretooth, was leaning his massive, 275-pound frame against the fender of Max's Porsche, picking dirt out from under his claws with a serrated tooth.
"Get off the car, Sabretooth," Max said, his voice dropping an octave.
Victor spat on the hood of the Porsche and let out a low, guttural growl, baring his fangs a little while sneering, "Make me, kid."
Max didn't wait for even a moment; he had already watched this play out ten seconds ago while walking out of the shop.
With 5x peak human speed, he was a blur. Before Victor could even shift his weight, Max closed the distance, and his hand shot out, seizing the big mutant by his tactical vest and throat.
With a surge of raw, superhuman strength, Max yanked the towering mutant off the Porsche as if he weighed nothing. Max slammed Victor back against the brick wall of the comic shop, pinning him six inches off the sidewalk.
The bricks groaned under the impact. Max had held back just enough to avoid sending Victor crashing through them.
"I said," Max whispered, his eyes glowing with a faint purple hue from his foresight cooling off, "Get. Off. The. Car."
Victor struggled, his claws scraping and swiping at Max's forearms, but Max's grip was like an industrial vice, throwing Victor to the ground before he could land a hit—not even needing the help of his [Luck/Probability Manipulation] for this fight at all.
Even Erik looked momentarily stunned by the casual display of physical dominance over one of the world's most dangerous trackers. Max clapped his hands as if knocking dust off them.
Victor sat on the ground, snarling but staying down after receiving a look from Erik.
Luckily, there weren't many people on the sidewalk—just the skaters from earlier, too busy pulling off tricks down the road to notice the tussle.
Max patted the fender of the 993, checking for scratches. "There's a diner four doors down," Max said, turning back to Erik, who had finally stopped shaking his head and sighing. "Let's talk about how we're going to stop several extinction level events involving Mutant and Human Kind, sound good?"
"Indeed... Lead the way, Mr. Nakamura. Victor, get up."
***Authors Note: There are new chapter's out for The Legendary Mechanic fanfic - The Beyonder Esper, by Cool-Guy-Author: Poils.***