Template:Featured Articles/49-2021

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Moment of Awesome - Jean-Phillipe Colbert/Bevatron: Last man standing of an X-Men mission to stop the Brotherhood of Mutants destroying a government facility, Bevatron faces some hard truths from his old mentor.


The Frenchman could feel numbness in his fingertips, and black crept in at the edges of his vision. But just when it felt like unconsciousness would take him, the pull eased off. 'If I was permitted, you would be dead,' Senyaka had said. Jean-Phillipe wasn't sure if that was better, given his current state. Somehow, he kept his feet, even though it looked like a light breeze could knock him over. He refused to kneel. "I would not-" he panted. "-expect you to understand, Suvik." He chuckled raspily. "You love nothing but yourself and the pleasure you get from others' pain."

"Bevatron. You disappoint me. You used to accept a wide range of attitudes." Magneto said, hauling a shackled and blinded Cyclops behind him through his powers. "I failed you, ultimately. Finding you here. Defending... what they have asked you to defend. You're so much better than that."

This was almost note for note the sort of nightmare that still occasionally woke Jean-Phillipe at night. Scott at Erik's mercy, and him unable to effect any sort of impact on the situation. Senyaka standing to one side looking as though he had just achieved release was an unwelcomely disgusting addition, to be sure. "Erik." If the only thing he had was his words, so be it. "You did not fail me. You taught me many things about my power and myself. But not everything."

"No, not everything. If I had, you would be standing with me today. Not defending... this." Magneto waved at Senyaka. "Bring him forward. Let's show Bevatron what the X-Men had him defend."

Magneto waved his arms as Jean-Phillipe was shoved forward. Walls and floors shuddered only Erik's power and he began to violently peel them away, tossing them to one side as he tore deeper and deeper into the facility. Finally, he pulled back his hand, and through his powers, three massive twenty foot tall robots were pulled into the air in front of them. They were bulky and shutdown, but the lines and shape were unmistakable. Sentinels.

"This lab you fought so hard to protect is producing robots with one purpose: to identify, hunt and eliminate mutants. This US government facility is creating weapons of genocide that its own government claims publicly are illegal. This is what your leaders sent you to defend, Bevatron."

Jean-Phillipe shook his head. Not that he disbelieved that the American government could build these sorts of machines. But the other implications... "Erik, if you truly believe that Scott Summers would knowingly bring X-Men to defend a facility creating these...monstrosities...then you do not understand him the way I know you do." It was possible Coulson had known, but from his brief interactions with the man, and his willingness to work with Clint Barton and others from the mansion, he doubted that as well.

"Oh Bevatron. Your excuse is that your leader defended a genocidal program because they didn't know? Does that kill less mutants? How many do they sacrifice for their hubris." Magento shook his head. "I'd hoped you had an open mind, but I see Xavier's words have compromised you. I won't support the status quo. I will not go lightly into a genocide for our people. One last chance, Bevatron. Come home. Fight for your people."

"You travel with this," Jean-Phillipe twisted his head toward Senyaka, "filth and you ask me to come home?" If it was just himself, he might have decided differently. As it was, he was tempted, sliding along a knife's edge. "I will not countenance a genocide either, Erik. Do I have concerns with how the X-Men operate?" His voice was ragged, the exhaustion of having been drained pulling at him. "Absolutely. But I can no longer follow the path you tread. I no longer -just- fight for my people."

"I have a husband." His mouth twitched upward in a wry smile. "I would have sent an invitation, but you did not leave a forwarding address. "