Avengers: Vengeance

The Horrific Truth

"This can't be real," Kyle murmured as he slowly rose to his feet and stared at the large room, his horror not fading in the least bit. If anything, bearing witness to what he was seeing only amplified it further. All along the walls of the massive cavern, Kyle could see several bodies laying still as vines wrapped around them. He stared at the vines on the figure closest to him- a black woman with majestic white hair- and could see that each vine had suckers along them. From the way the vines pulsed and throbbed, Kyle knew that whatever was attached to the vines was feeding off of the helpless people. Adrenaline flooded his system as his eyes slowly took in not only the people lining the walls, but also those who were bound to the ceiling. Each of them wore a mask of serene unconsciousness but Kyle imagined all of them to be trapped in an endless nightmare.

"I had hoped you would never witness this, my son," Magneto lamented from nearby.

Kyle's gaze shot away from the sleepers to find Magneto standing in the entry way behind him. He walked further into the room, his expression one of sorrow. "What...what is this?" Kyle demanded, flinging his arms at the disgusting display around them. "What's happening to them?"

Magneto's expression didn't change. He began to slowly pace back and forth as he always did when he was lecturing. "They are making the ultimate sacrifice," Magneto softly explained. "It is because of them that we are able to live here on this island. This...paradise."

Kyle narrowed his eyes. "That is not an answer!" he shouted.

"Calm yourself, son," Magneto pleaded.

Kyle shook his head and began to laugh. "Oh, okay. Just ignore the fucking incapacitated people that are apparently being...what? Drained? Eaten?"

Magneto lifted a hand to signal for silence. "This place where we live- the only inhabitable region on this entire planet- is alive, son. Krakoa is not merely an island; it's a living, sentient being."

Kyle shook his head. "I don't believe any of this."

"I wouldn't lie to you, son."

Kyle lifted an eyebrow. "Oh?"

"The only lies I would ever tell you are intended to keep you safe."

"Why are they being fed on? Tell me!"

Magneto's mouth formed a thin line and his eyes found a figure just beyond Kyle. Kyle looked over his shoulder at a bald man wrapped in vines. He looked back at Magneto and read deepening sadness in his eyes. "We feed the island so it will continue to permit us living here," he explained.

Kyle put a hand over his mouth and shook his head. "You're telling me that you're feeding your own people to this...thing?"

Magneto clasped his hands in front of his chest as he was about to beg. "Kyle, if you only understood why I do this..."

"Why do you do what? Feed your own people to a goddamn island? The people up there worship you! What do you think they'd say if they knew about this?"

"They won't find out," Magneto softly said, his eyes now boring into Kyle.

"I'll tell everyone I can," Kyle promised. "I won't sit by and let them continue to treat you like some kind of savior. No savior would ever do this"

"I sacrifice a few for the benefit of many!"

"No, you sacrifice people for your own benefit."

Magneto shut his eyes and shook his head slowly. "If you only knew the whole story. You would understand."

"I don't think I would," Kyle disagreed. "But I'd appreciate the whole truth."

"I can't tell you that. And you can't tell anyone about what you've seen."

Kyle balled his hands into fists. "Are you going to stop me?"

Magneto's eyes watered and he slowly nodded his head. "Yes. And you know I can."

Kyle lifted his hands and unleashed a large burst of telekinetic force. The air snapped as the big blast shot out of his hands. Magneto shook his head and lifted a finger, a bubble of magnetic force surrounding him. The blast struck his shield and forced him back a few inches.

"I don't wish to fight you, son," Magneto said.

"Too bad!" Kyle shouted before unleashing an endless stream of power. 

Magneto kept his shield up and watched Kyle as he kept on throwing blast upon blast at him. Finally, he nodded his head. Kyle had just noticed the gesture when something wrapped around his ankle and tugged. He fell forward and hit the ground, then felt himself being roughly dragged backward. He spun onto his back and watched as Toad crouched on the floor several feet ahead, his tongue wrapped around Kyle's ankle as he retracted it and reeled him in. Kyle took aim and shot a telekinetic bolt at the mutant. He cried out in pain as he was roughly launched backward, his tongue loosening and returning to his mouth. His agile body struck one of the sleepers- a young redhead- before he hit the ground.

Kyle stood up and turned to resume his attack on Magneto when a hand suddenly grabbed his arm. Before he could look at the person who was detaining him, he felt every last ounce of strength fading from his body. He reached for the hand and tried to pry it off.

"Don't try it, sugah," Rogue said.

"Wha...what? What's happening to me?" Kyle sighed as he began to lose his balance.

"Easy there," Rogue said in a soothing voice. "Right about now, you're probably feelin' drunker than Cooter Brown. Just give in to it."

Kyle pitched forward and Rogue caught him in her arms, then lowered him to the ground. He began to rapidly drift off, no matter how hard he fought. As he lay there, helpless and paralyzed by Rogue's power, Magneto walked forward. Kyle couldn't move his body and his eyelids were so heavy. The urge to sleep was so powerful but he held on as hard as he could.

"What are you going to do with him now?" Toad asked

Magneto looked down at Kyle's prone body. "No one else can know about this."

"Boss?" Toad asked.

Magneto sighed regretfully, then turned and walked out of the room. As he exited he didn't spare a look back. "Give him to the island," he commanded.

Horror encapsulated Kyle's fatigued mind as Rogue hefted him up and carried him over to the wall. She set him on the ground between a blond man with wings and a statuesque woman with pale blond hair. At once, several vines began to wrap around him and he knew in his fleeting consciousness that all was done.