VCM After an hour-long conversation with Professor X, where Ethan shared everything about his parents, the professor finally nodded in understanding.
His expression turned serious as he placed a reassuring hand on Ethan's shoulder.
"Work hard. The professor supports you. You must become a powerful magician and master magic for the future of mutants."
Ethan let out a breath. Convincing Professor X hadn't been easy.
As soon as he stepped out of the office and returned to the classroom, his phone buzzed again—this time, an unknown number flashed on the screen.
"Hello? Who's this?" Ethan answered.
"It's me, Emma," came a cold, familiar voice.
Ethan's face was confused for a few seconds, "Ms. Emma?"
Emma Frost one of her eyebrow, 'Ms. Emma?'
"It's White Queen," she added,
Ethan's eyes widened in realization,
"Ah, sorry, thought you were someone, anyways,"
He smirked. "You're calling me now means you've made up your mind. You're ready to move."
"I've already assembled the necessary people, but we need to discuss the plan further. And there's something else that requires your attention." There was an odd edge to her voice.
"What is it?" Ethan asked, sensing the tension.
Instead of answering, White Queen hung up.
Frowning, Ethan pocketed his phone and made his way to the bar where they had met before.
When he arrived, the place felt even more deserted than usual.
A massive establishment like this should have been bustling, but only five or six people lingered in the dimly lit space.
He knew why.
White Queen and her allies were keeping their distance from the Brotherhood.
Magneto's presence made them too conspicuous.
Unlike Professor X, Magneto was a man of decisive action.
Once he made a choice, he followed through without hesitation.
That was why he had given Ethan complete freedom in this matter.
A sudden red flash illuminated the room, and in the next instant, a figure appeared in front of Ethan.
The Red Devil materialized, bowing his head slightly in respect.
"Didn't expect to see you joining this operation," Ethan remarked, raising an eyebrow.
The Red Devil chuckled. "If this were the old Magneto, even after you proved your strength, I would have still followed him. But things are different now."
His yellow eyes glinted with amusement as he studied Ethan.
"Magneto is still powerful, but he's lost something. Whether he admits it or not, age has caught up with him. His ambition, his edge—it's all starting to fade. And me? The ever-energetic Red Devil? I prefer working with younger minds."
Ethan narrowed his eyes slightly, understanding the implication. "So, last time... you did that on purpose."
Back then, Magneto had introduced him to the Brotherhood in a very public way.
The Brotherhood was full of strong-willed individuals who didn't follow orders blindly.
Ethan had been forced to assert himself, which explained why he had taken such a bold stance right from the start.
The Red Devil had been the first to challenge him.
With his Alpha-level mutant abilities and long-standing loyalty to Magneto, there was no one better suited to put Ethan to the test.
Thinking back, it all made sense now.
But the Red Devil only gave a knowing smile and said nothing.
Before Ethan could press further, White Queen appeared at the far end of the room.
She met his gaze briefly, then gestured for him to follow. Without a word, she turned and walked toward the corridor in the back.
"Remember who you brought to me?" she asked as they walked.
"You mean Stryker, his son Jason, and Deathstrike," Ethan replied, realization dawning.
As an X-Men member, these people had been a major problem for Professor X.
Rather than deal with them himself, the professor had left them in White Queen's hands.
She nodded. "Stryker is gone. His son is nothing more than a tool. That leaves Deathstrike. You should see for yourself."
At the end of the corridor, a door slid open.
Inside, a woman in a fitted suit sat at a table, watching TV with an eerie stillness.
Ethan immediately recognized the person on the screen—Tony Stark.
Ever since publicly declaring himself as Iron Man, Stark had made waves, frequently heading to the Middle East to dismantle terrorist networks.
Now, the U.S. government was putting pressure on him, demanding he surrender the technology behind the Iron Man suit, fueling a growing political storm.
"Do you know him?" White Queen asked the woman.
The woman barely reacted, her gaze blank as she was torn away from the screen.
Slowly, she turned her head toward Ethan.
The moment their eyes met, her body trembled, and an unmistakable look of fear filled her eyes.
Then, without hesitation, she dropped to her knees.
"Lady Deathstrike pays respects to the master."
The room fell silent.
Ethan stared, caught completely off guard. "What the hell is going on?"
He had known Deathstrike's history.
Stryker had used Jason's mind-altering abilities to control her, molding her into one of his personal enforcers.
Now that Jason's influence had faded, she should have been free.
So why was she kneeling?
He lowered his voice. "How much do you remember about your past?"
Deathstrike's hands clenched.
"My name is Oyama Yuriko... and then..." She squeezed her eyes shut as if trying to piece together fragmented memories.
When she opened them again, there was clarity—but also something else.
"Yuriko remembers that she has a master she must obey."
Ethan's expression darkened.
White Queen crossed her arms.
"Her mind was heavily damaged. When I found her, her brain was nearly reduced to mush. Even with her healing abilities, it took a long time to recover. That's likely a factor."
Ethan exhaled sharply, rubbing his temple. 'Shit, I was the one who turned her brain into mush.'
"And what about this master-shtick? Is this your doing?"
"Not intentionally," White Queen replied smoothly.
"But the fact remains—It was remnants from Stryker's brain programming. Even without chemical control, her brain was reshaped. The concept of a 'master' was burned into her psyche.
She was left lost, searching for someone to follow. And in that state, the person she feared the most became her new master."
"Me," Ethan muttered, pinching the bridge of his nose.
White Queen nodded.
"You terrified her. As someone with a healing factor, she's nearly unkillable. But you made her feel fear—real fear. And in the absence of anything else, her instincts latched onto that."
Ethan looked down at Yuriko, who remained kneeling, waiting for his command.
He sighed, realizing just how deeply broken she was.
"Great. Just great," he muttered.
"Now what the hell am I supposed to do with her?"
...
"Master, have some tea!" Yuriko poured tea with practiced ease, then carefully handed three cups to Ethan and the others.
"It seems that while the memories are gone, the skills remain intact." Ethan took a sip of tea while studying Yuriko Oyama.
If things were truly as they seemed, he could consider keeping her around.
After all, he was always busy, constantly running around.
Having someone to tidy up his space wouldn't be a bad idea.
With that in mind, Ethan scrutinized her more closely.
Other than her slightly vacant expression and tendency to daze off, there wasn't much unusual about her.
It wasn't surprising—anyone who had their memories wiped wouldn't exactly appear sharp.
Then his eyes landed on her torn suit.
"And this outfit..." he muttered, recalling her fight with Wolverine.
That old man Stryker had an odd preference for dressing his test subjects in business suits, but Ethan had no such tastes.
He'd have to find her something more fitting.
What kind of clothes should I get her?
And should I tell Katie about this?
"Boom!" The sharp sound of a fist against the table snapped Ethan out of his thoughts.
He turned to see the White Queen tapping her fingers impatiently, clearly waiting for his attention.
"I'll leave her situation to you," she said.
"Right now, we have bigger matters to handle. If we want to build the kind of mutant research institute you're envisioning, we still have some major obstacles to overcome."
"What's missing?" Ethan asked directly.
"A lot of things," the White Queen admitted. "But one thing is our top priority—we're short on money."
Ethan nearly choked on his tea. Yuriko, seated next to him, instinctively reached over and patted his back.
"You're kidding, right? I refuse to believe the Brotherhood is just a bunch of starving revolutionaries."
"The Brotherhood has resources, but the amount of money you need? That would bleed us dry. It's not a feasible option." The White Queen's tone was serious.
Ethan fell into silence.
A fully equipped research institute required an initial investment of at least a billion dollars.
Later expansions could demand tens of billions more.
Of course, Professor X and Magneto weren't exactly broke, but their focus wasn't on making money.
With their abilities, they had little need for conventional wealth.
Sure, he could ask them for funding, but that was out of the question.
Not only would they refuse, but he would also feel utterly humiliated for even asking.
Legally speaking, Ethan wasn't wealthy, but that was only on paper.
Making regular money was difficult, but flipping through the United States Federal Constitution, he could think of plenty of ways to generate large sums of cash.
And if the money never passed through his personal accounts? Even better.
Still, something about it irked him—it felt like making money for someone else.
As he brooded over a solution, the television caught his eye.
On the screen, Tony Stark was locked in a heated exchange with the military committee.
The committee was pushing the narrative that the Iron Man suit posed a security risk.
To support their argument, they had brought in Tony's so-called friend, Lieutenant Colonel Rhodey, as well as his business rival, arms dealer Justin Hammer.
After feigning admiration for Tony's invention, Hammer quickly pivoted to displaying footage of various countries attempting to develop their own Iron Man suits.
The images were blurry, but it was clear that some nations were making progress.
Hammer's message was clear: Iron Man technology was not as secure as Tony claimed.
Other countries were catching up, while the U.S. was falling behind.
For national security, Tony needed to hand over the suit's technology.
But Hammer had underestimated Tony.
With just a few taps on his phone, Tony hacked the broadcast, revealing the unedited footage.
The so-called breakthroughs?
Laughable.
Most of the prototypes couldn't even stand properly.
One clip even showed Hammer himself nearly getting blown up by his own botched experiment.
As Hammer scrambled to unplug the TV, Tony activated his signature taunt mode.
"I said no other country would be able to replicate the Iron Man suit within five to ten years. But if Hammer Industries is leading the charge? Make that twenty years."
Then, using Hammer's own fraudulent video against him, Tony turned his attention to the military committee, calling them out for misleading the public.
The committee was so flustered they had to end the hearing early.
It was a flawless victory for Tony Stark.
But Ethan wasn't focused on the billionaire genius.
His attention was on Justin Hammer, the man who had just been utterly humiliated.
A smirk formed on Ethan's lips. He turned to the White Queen.
"You were asking who we could approach for funding? I think we just found our big spender."
The White Queen frowned.
"I don't think anyone will be eager to invest in mutant research. And even if they were, that wouldn't be a good thing. Mutant research needs to stay in the hands of mutants. You understand that, don't you?"
"Relax, I know that." Ethan leaned back in his chair, his smirk widening.
"We don't need Hammer to invest in mutants—we just need to bait him with something irresistible. Once the money's in our hands, we control how it's used."
His gaze shifted to Yuriko.
"As for what to use as bait..." His voice took on a playful edge.
"Justin Hammer is desperate to develop a weapon that can compete with Iron Man's suits. He wants to carve out a space in the arms market that Stark Industries is slowly abandoning. So why don't we give him exactly what he wants?"
The White Queen narrowed her eyes. "What are you suggesting?"
"A mass-producible Wolverine."
She stiffened.
"You're joking. Even though we have Stryker's complete data, it still requires mutants with enhanced healing abilities. Mass production is impossible."
"Of course I know that." Ethan waved off her concerns.
"But Hammer doesn't. You really think Hammer Industries knows more about mutants than we do? We just need to sell him a dream. Show him a finished product, dangle the promise of mass production in front of him, and watch him take the bait."
The White Queen remained skeptical. "Even if this works in the short term, it won't hold up forever."
"Hammer Industries won't last that long," Ethan countered. "You know I have ties to S.H.I.E.L.D., right? Here's a little inside info—S.H.I.E.L.D. already has its eyes on Hammer Industries. It's only a matter of time before they collapse. And when that happens, I trust you'll know exactly how to take advantage of the situation."
He grinned.
Of course, that last part wasn't entirely true. S.H.I.E.L.D. wasn't targeting Hammer Industries—at least, not yet.
But that didn't matter.
When the time came, Hammer would be finished.
If Ethan wanted to make his move, he had to prepare, now.