Location: Island M - Magneto's Workshop
Timeline: One Week After Magnetic Resonance
Erik Lehnsherr worked in silence, shaping metal with nothing but his will and his power. The workshop glowed with floating fragments of steel and iron, each piece precisely controlled, each movement deliberate.
Metagross floated beside him, watching with its brilliant eyes.
Erik had been... skeptical when the creature first appeared. Another being from beyond, another variable in a world that already had too many. But Metagross had proven itself quickly. It was brilliant. It understood physics, engineering, strategy. It understood power.
Most importantly, it understood purpose.
"The alloy composition is incorrect," Erik said, examining a sample. "It needs to be harder, more resilient, capable of withstanding extreme stress."
Metagross moved closer, one of its massive legs pointing at the molecular display Erik had floating in the air. Its eyes flashed, and suddenly Erik felt something in his mind—not words, but understanding. A suggestion. A different arrangement of atoms. A more efficient lattice structure.
"Yes," Erik breathed. "Yes, that would work. The magnetic properties would be enhanced by—"
He began reshaping the metal, following Metagross's suggestion. The alloy came together perfectly, stronger and lighter than what he'd been attempting.
"Remarkable," Erik said. "Your species must have incredible computational abilities to visualize molecular structures with such precision."
Metagross's eyes glowed with something that might have been pride.
Later - The Training Ground
Raven watched from the edge of the field as Erik and Metagross practiced in the open space.
It was like watching a dance. Erik would create complex magnetic fields, and Metagross would analyze them, predict them, counter them. The Pokemon was a supercomputer given form, calculating trajectories and forces in real-time.
But it was more than just calculation. There was artistry to how they moved together. Erik's fluid control complemented by Metagross's mathematical precision.
Mystique had seen Erik train with many mutants over the years, but this was different. Metagross wasn't just following orders—it was collaborating. Suggesting. Improving.
In the field, Metagross used Psychic to lift a boulder, then analyzed the most efficient way to break it apart. Erik watched, learned, then replicated the technique with his magnetism on a metal sphere.
"They're pushing each other," Mystique murmured to herself. "Erik's finally found something that can keep up with his mind."
She wondered if that was a good thing. Erik with more precision, more calculated power, more ways to see patterns and exploit them. The Brotherhood was already formidable. With Metagross as Erik's partner, they would become something else entirely.
Evening - The Conversation
Erik found Metagross on the roof of the compound, floating motionless, its eyes turned toward the stars.
"Homesick?" Erik asked.
Metagross didn't respond immediately. Then, slowly, it lowered itself to the roof and gestured for Erik to sit.
Erik did, something he wouldn't have done for anyone else. But Metagross had earned his respect.
Metagross's eyes flashed, and Erik felt a subtle psychic presence—not words or images, but pure understanding. Emotions. Concepts. A sense of another world, of vast intelligence, of a species that solved problems through pure calculation and logic.
And under it all, a sense of purpose. A drive to understand, to calculate, to make sense of the universe through mathematics and logic.
Erik understood that drive. He'd spent his life trying to impose order on chaos, trying to create a world that made sense, that followed rules, that protected those who couldn't protect themselves.
"We're similar," Erik said softly. "Both trying to find patterns in disorder. Both trying to create something better from the broken pieces."
Metagross's eyes glowed in agreement.
"I've been alone in my thinking for so long," Erik continued. "Charles has his telepathy, his connection to others. But I've always been isolated in my magnetism. Unique. Singular."
Metagross turned its brilliant eyes toward Magneto, its psychic presence radiating.
Erik felt something in his chest tighten. Companionship. Understanding. Partnership with a being that actually comprehended the complexity of what he could do.
"No," he said quietly. "Not alone anymore."
They sat together under the stars, two minds finding harmony in the mathematics of the universe.