Coulson walked through the dense forest in Central Park, his dress shoes crunching through layers of fallen leaves. Autumn had arrived, the canopy overhead was a patchwork of yellow and brown, and every breeze sent more leaves spiraling down.
Crunch. Crunch. Crunch.
The sound of his footsteps was oddly satisfying in the quiet woods. He spotted Mario sitting on his usual couch near the pond, fishing rod in hand, completely focused on the bobber floating in the water.
He settled onto the couch beside him. "This is what you call being busy?"
Mario didn't respond immediately. His eyes tracked a ripple racing across the water's surface, heading straight for his float. The moment the bobber dipped, he yanked upward.
Splash!
A decent-sized fish broke the surface, thrashing on the line before Mario guided it into his inventory.
"You're a bit slow this time."
Coulson chuckled. "I was in Europe when you called. I had to catch the next flight back. So what's this surprise you mentioned?"
Mario reeled in his line and turned to face him. It had been a while since they'd last talked face-to-face, and Coulson looked older than he remembered. More wrinkles around the eyes, deeper creases in his forehead. His hairline had definitely retreated a few more millimeters.
The job was aging him fast.
"My company's developed something interesting. A serum that extends lifespan. According to our theoretical data, it has zero side effects. S.H.I.E.L.D. interested?"
Coulson's professional mask slipped for just a moment, shock flickering across his face. S.H.I.E.L.D. wasn't exactly unfamiliar with life extension technology, Fury himself had undergone treatments. But those procedures were expensive, dangerous, and required regular maintenance injections. The success rate was abysmal.
"Are you serious?"
Mario nodded, and smiled. Coulson, being an old friend and expert at reading people, immediately understood what that smile meant.
"Alright," he said with a sigh. "What do you need from me this time?"
He couldn't help but think: This guy never offers a carrot without having a stick ready.
Mario held up his hands. "Nothing major. I just need some clinical trial volunteers. Preferably people who are volunteering willingly. And to ensure the serum's effectiveness and safety profile, I'd like the sample size to be substantial."
Coulson stared at him. "You haven't even started human trials, and you're already trying to sell this to me?"
But he knew Mario well enough to understand that the man wouldn't make claims he couldn't back up. If Mario said the serum worked, it probably did. And for certain people, people in positions of power who wanted to hold onto that power for decades longer, this would be worth more than all the money in the world.
After a moment of consideration, he continued, "I can make a request to the director. We've got plenty of Hydra fanatics still in custody from the purge. You can have them."
He met Mario's eyes directly. "But I hope they don't show up again."
He might work for an organization that valued due process, but he was still a field agent at heart. Some Hydra extremists disappearing? That wasn't something that would keep him up at night.
Mario grinned and clapped Coulson on the shoulder. "No problem. Hand them over and you'll never have to worry about them again. I guarantee it."
He stood and stretched, putting away his fishing rod. "Send them to the suburban facility. I'll have people ready to receive them."
---
Using a waystone, Mario traveled to the X-Men dimension.
He materialized in a quiet corridor and immediately pulled out a vacuum-sealed syringe, flipping it absently between his fingers.
"It's been a while since I visited. Xavier should have recruited more students by now. Perfect time to restock the genetic samples."
He walked into the main building of Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters. The atmosphere had changed dramatically since his last visit. The place felt alive now, students in the common areas, sounds of conversation and laughter echoing through the halls.
This was what a school should feel like.
"Hey! Stop right there. Who are you?"
Two men in black suits called out from behind him. He turned. Both had the bearing of federal agents.
Mario pointed at himself. "You talking to me?"
"Of course we're talking to you!"
The agents approached. One of them extended his hand.
"Let's see your ID."
The other agent spoke, "What's your mutation, anyway? Can you turn into a normal human?"
He'd read about this era in history books, 1962 America, where the civil rights movement was just beginning and casual racism was as common as breathing. But experiencing it firsthand was different.
No wonder Magneto gathered so many followers. This is what they deal with every single day.
Without saying a word, his hand shot out and grabbed the nearest agent by the throat. His other leg lashed out in a kick that sent the second agent flying into the wall.
The agent in his grip clawed desperately at Mario's hand, his face turning purple as he struggled for air. Mario's expression was completely blank.
Within seconds, the man passed out from oxygen deprivation. Mario released him, letting the body crumple to the floor, then wiped his hand on his pants.
He pulled out his phone and scrolled through his contacts, finding a number he hadn't called in months. It rang twice before a stern male voice answered.
"This is Hendry. Who's calling?"
"Colonel Hendry. It's me, Mario."
There was a brief pause, then the sound of a chair scraping as Hendry apparently stood up. Mario heard footsteps, then the distinctive click of a door being locked.
"Mr. Argento? I've been waiting to hear from you."
Mario had left Hendry alive after the Shaw incident for exactly this reason. The man was ambitious, pragmatic, and now deeply in Mario's debt, thanks to the substantial financial support that had fueled his rapid promotion to Major General.
"I'm at the mutant school in New York right now. Something's come up that I'd like to discuss in person. Also, I had a small disagreement with some FBI agents. I'd appreciate it if you could smooth things over."
"I'll handle the FBI immediately. And I'll be there within the hour."
Hendry didn't ask for details about the "disagreement" with federal agents. As long as Mario hadn't slaughtered an entire FBI field office, the general could make the problem disappear. The military brass backing him would see to that.
After hanging up, he turned to his aide. "Prepare my plane. We're going to New York."
A gleam of hunger flickered in his eyes. He hadn't forgotten Mario's promise, the promise of power beyond what mere rank could provide.
---
"Hello, Angel. I haven't seen you in a while. Your whole vibe's different, I almost didn't recognize you."
Mario walked toward Salvador, who sat on a park bench with a book in her lap. They hadn't spoken since that night at the strip club, and he'd been curious about how she'd adapted to life at the school.
Salvador looked up from her book and smiled.
"Where have you been lately? I asked the Professor, but he said he didn't know either."
Mario sat down beside her. Salvador didn't seem to mind.
"Me? I've been busy saving the galaxy."
Salvador rolled her eyes, clearly not believing a word. "If you don't want to tell me, that's fine. Are you back because something happened?"
Mario could sense that she had changed, though he couldn't quite pinpoint how.
"I came back to see if Xavier recruited any new students. I need to collect some genetic samples."
Salvador's lips quirked in a knowing smile. "You're not here to see people. You're here to draw blood."
She gestured toward the grounds. "Quite a few have shown up. I didn't realize there were so many of us until I came here. Other mutants, I mean."
Mario found himself wondering, not for the first time, who had planted the idea that mutants were a separate species from baseline humans. Biologically, they were just humans with activated X-genes. But everyone talked about "their kind" as if they were fundamentally different creatures.
Must be something in the dimensional rules of this reality.
He decided to change the subject. "How are you settling in? Life treating you okay here?"
Salvador hesitated before answering. Finally, she looked toward the second-floor windows where dark-suited figures stood watching the grounds.
"I like being around other mutants. Being with people who understand what it's like. But the way those agents look at us... it makes my skin crawl. I feel like an animal in a zoo. Honestly? I'd rather have drunk men staring at me while I strip. At least that was honest."
Mario fell silent. The problem wasn't the people, it was this entire world, this entire dimension where prejudice ran so deep it poisoned everything.
He pulled out a cigarette and offered her one. "Thanks."
She took it smoothly, and Mario lit both cigarettes. They inhaled simultaneously.
"Angel," Mario said after a moment. "How would you like to be a hero?"
"A hero?"
"Yeah. Not here, though. I could take you to a completely different reality. Somewhere you could grow at your own pace, learn what it means to help people."
Salvador blew a perfect smoke ring and watched it dissipate. After a long moment, she shook her head.
"If I could really go somewhere no one knew me and start fresh, I'd rather just go back to the strip club."
Mario laughed. He respected her choice, even if he was disappointed.
"You must really love your job."
He pulled out a thick wad of cash and held it between them. "So, you interested in some overtime later?"
Salvador looked into his eyes and saw no lust there. She took the money and tucked it directly into her cleavage.
"Of course. The Professor's coming now. Find me after you finish your business."
She closed her book, stood, and walked away, giving Mario and Xavier privacy for whatever conversation was about to happen.
Xavier rolled toward him in his wheelchair, looking uncomfortable. Beside him walked Erik, though Raven was nowhere to be seen.
"Mario," Xavier said. "Can you explain why two unconscious FBI agents are currently lying in my hallway?"
Mario's friendly expression vanished. His eyes locked onto Xavier, who looked himself over nervously. "What? Is something wrong?"
Mario took a long drag on his cigarette, then blew the smoke directly into Xavier's face.
"Cough... I'll need to post a 'No Smoking' sign... cough cough..."
The smoke caught Xavier completely off guard, sending him into a coughing fit.
"I blow a little smoke at you and you want to put up signs."
Mario stood, pointing openly at the agents visible in the second-floor windows.
"Those FBI guys are one step away from shitting on your head, and you're worried about my cigarette smoke? Don't tell me you can't read their minds. Don't tell me you don't know what they're thinking about you and your students. I'm a baseline human, and they started verbally attacking me the moment they saw me. Your students are getting ten times worse. Every single day."
Xavier opened his mouth to explain, but Mario cut him off with a gesture.
"I don't know what you're trying to accomplish here. But if you really want peaceful coexistence with humans, then disband this school. Send everyone home to their own countries. But if you want to win a place where mutants can survive and thrive, then you need to grow a spine. Otherwise, pack it up and go home."
Xavier's face flushed red at Mario's assessment. His entire philosophy centered on acceptance and integration, always yielding and compromising.
"Mario, I—"
"Stop. Please, just stop. Even Erik's doing better than you right now."
Mario patted Xavier on the shoulder, then shot Erik a look that clearly said: I'm counting on you to fix this.
Erik's expression was complicated as he met Mario's eyes.
Mario pulled out a vacuum-sealed blood collection kit and handed it to Xavier. Though he didn't say anything more, Xavier understood perfectly why Mario had come.
With a heavy sigh, he accepted the medical equipment.
---
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