[hr][CENTER][sup][h1][center][img]https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FvO6PotXsAEgBG1?format=jpg&name=medium[/img][/center][b][center][color=black] T H E   X - M E N[/color]
[color=gold]T H E   X - M E N[/color][/center]
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[color=silver][sup][i]"Protecting a world that hates and fears us since 2014."[/i][/sup][/color][hr][/center][indent][sub][COLOR=gold][B]Location:[/B][/COLOR] ROXXON Corporation Facility - Staten Island[/sub][sup][right][COLOR=gold][b]Flashback:[/b][/COLOR] M-Day - FIVE YEARS AGO[/right][/sup][/indent][hr]

[color=ed1c24]"My fellow mutants. We stand here together at a crossroads. We have come to this place today, My Acolytes and I, to take a stand. Against the oppression of our kind. Against the cruelty and the violence. Against God's imperfect creature known as Homo sapiens."[/color]

Magneto raises a hand, motioning to the power station at his flank. Its monolithic smoke stack poisons the air around it with a thick, unwavering smog like a cancer. The mutant is joined by his [i]Acolytes[/i], his most dedicated followers, committed as he is to a world free of human persecution. Alex Summers, an ex pupil of Xavier's, now [i]Havok[/i], his most prized lieutenant. Thomas Moreau, the geokinetic mutant known as [i]Zealot[/i]. The towering [i]Mammomax[/i]; the loyal [i]Exodus[/i]; the ellusive [i]Senyaka[/i]. Brothers all.

[color=ed1c24]"The nuclear testing facility that looms behind us is a testament to the inhumanity of humanity. But it is also a symbol of their weakness. With all their time as custodians of their planet, this is the final limit of their capability. The extent of their abilities. The death rattle of their dying light. What they cannot achieve on their own they seek to take from [i]us[/i]. They cannot hope to match our power so they steal it for themselves."[/color]

Erik meets the eyes of each X-Man that Charles has sent to oppose him. [i]Cyclops[/i]. [i]Marvel Girl[/i]. [i]Beast[/i]. [i]Sunfire[/i]. [i]Banshee[/i]. His own daughter, [i]Polaris[/i], stands against him. He needs them to see what he sees. He needs them to understand.

[color=ed1c24]"My friends, inside this facility is a man. No, more importantly, a mutant. Perhaps only slightly older than my own daughter Lorna, who has graciously chosen to stand against us today."[/color]

He motions to Polaris as he speaks, standing across from him and his followers with the rest of the X-Men, She can barely hide her shame for the man her father has revealed himself to be.

[color=ed1c24]"This, you see, is not a nuclear reactor,"[/color] he begins, magnanimous: [color=ed1c24]"This is a prison."

"A prison, designed by the ROXXON Corporation and approved by our esteemed elected representatives to contain and exploit its only living resident: Kuan-Yin Xorn. 

"Does that name sound familiar to you? It should. After all, his brother Shen Xorn was one of your original "X-Men", [i]wasn't he Charles?[/i]"[/color] He smiles, looking up at the familiar silhouette of the X-men's jet black jet. 

[color=ed1c24]"Yes, I know you're here, in that Blackbird of yours,"[/color] he continues, [color=ed1c24]"hovering in the skies like an insect because you know that you're too weak to face me!"[/color] He snarls, losing composure for only a second.

[color=ed1c24]"How [i]does[/i] his brother feel about this, I wonder? Did you order him to stay at your school, lest he join me as well?"[/color]

He places a proud hand on Havok's shoulder. Xavier's students were not beyond hope. There would always be a place by his side for mutants of vision, even those who laboured still under a false prophet.

[color=00aeef]"It doesn't have to be this way, Erik."[/color] Charles urges, telepathically using Zealot as a mouthpiece.

[color=ed1c24]"Your words no longer matter, Charles. Your [i]dream[/i] no longer matters. It is dead. Bury it."[/color]

Magneto turns to face the facility before looking back at his assembled enemies. 

[color=ed1c24]"The story of Kuan-Yin Xorn applies to us all. He was born with extraordinary powers, to a world that fears his gifts. Perhaps he knows this truth more than most. For Xorn was born with a star in his head. That is the beauty of our race. A living star, among men. His light could burn brighter than any of ours, yet here he dwells. His light extinguished. In Xorn I see a man with dreams. With aspirations. A brother. And what do these neanderthals see? With their characteristic enlightenment and with their grace? A battery. A resource. To power their cars. Their homes."[/color] 

He pays extra attention to the news copters now circling above. 

[color=ed1c24][i]"Their televisions."[/i][/color]

[color=ed1c24]"They saw a way to exploit our power for their own gain, and seized it without hesitation. They take what they want without a thought for the lives they destroy in the process. But hear us when we say we will stand for it no longer. We are not their slaves, their tools, their batteries. We are a proud and powerful people, and we will not be silenced."[/color]

[color=ed1c24]"Their world is over. It's been over for sometime but they have been too consumed with the minutiae of their own death throws to see it. Their time has come and gone. It is time for our people to rise above this dying species and take our place in the light. It is time for [i]Genosha[/i]."[/color]

[color=ed1c24]"Genosha is a thought experiment no longer. It is not a fairy tale. It's certainly not a place, not yet. It is a promise. A social contract made with the mutant people, by the mutant people, for the mutant people. For a Brotherhood of OUR kind. For a world free from persecution. For too long, we have languished in the dark, afraid to show our light for fear of blinding those who choose not to see. But it is our light. Our future. And humanity no longer has a place in it."[/color]

He casts a hand to one of the helicopters above.

[color=ed1c24]"We owe nothing to these lesser creatures, these [i]humans [/i]who would see us enslaved and oppressed. We have the power to create a world of our own, a world where mutants are free to live and thrive without fear of persecution. Humanity has presided over their world and reaped the benefits, milking this Earth for all she could give. We asked only for a small piece of it. Now we take it all. Atop the ashes of this monument to humanity's failure we will build the Just City." 

"Our mutant nation." 

"We will make Genosha here on Earth."[/color]