With two moles in the X-Men, it would have been a miracle if the rescue succeeded.
Fortunately, Raven and Lorna still felt for their former comrades. Though they betrayed the mission, they "leaked" enough to let the X-Men escape.
However, the failure caused morale among the X-Men to fracture, and Charles was so guilt-ridden he suffered from insomnia for days.
When Nick Fury learned that of the many agents sent, only Carol returned alive...
He couldn't hold back. He spent a solid half-hour in his office screaming every curse in his vocabulary.
He couldn't rely on someone as overly kind as Charles. He shouldn't have been so naive.
So many elite agents had been sacrificed as cannon fodder to cover the retreat.
"I'm an idiot if I ever trust Charles again!"
Nick Fury tried to calm down. The failed rescue had alerted the enemy; the Brotherhood would be even more vigilant now.
Endure for a moment for calm seas?
The more he thought about it, the angrier he got!
"Even if I call the rest of the Avengers, we can't break through the Brotherhood's ironclad defense. Mutants are in a different league... FUXX...!"
Cursing as he left his office, Nick Fury could only summon the Avengers to brainstorm a way to save their people.
Half an hour later.
Tony Stark, with his hair a mess, and Dr. Banner had interrupted their research to attend the emergency briefing.
Natasha, Clint, Coulson, Hill, Colonel Rhodes, and Carol were all present.
As everyone took their seats, Tony Stark said impatiently: "My time is valuable. What are we here for?"
With a dark expression, Nick Fury recounted the details of Thor and Steve's imprisonment by the Brotherhood.
Hearing that the Captain and the muscular meathead were caught, Tony Stark's face turned serious.
"Magneto's ability is a hard counter to my gold-titanium armor. I won't have a chance against him until I finish my non-magnetic nano-suit."
"I probably can't help right now."
Clint looked dejected. "A lot of my high-tech arrowheads are metal. Magneto counters me just as hard."
Natasha remained calm; she was well-accustomed to facing enemies far stronger than herself.
Carol also looked grave. She wasn't confident in handling the Brotherhood either.
It wasn't just that Magneto was strong; his subordinates were no joke.
During the failed rescue, Carol had been swarmed by Magneto's followers.
Though the enemies couldn't take her down quickly, given time, those mutants would surely find a way to counter her.
With that in mind, Carol shook her head toward Nick Fury. "I'm not confident. Can you get that mysterious sorcerer to help?"
Nick Fury fell into thought. Those female witches had visited him before. Though the circumstances were a bit messy, they were at least acquainted.
"I'll find a way to contact the witches. Maybe they can help."
Colonel Rhodes asked, confused: "Witches? Them?"
Attilan Lunar City.
Beneath the eternally unchanging stars, a massive number of Inhumans had gathered around the perimeter of the palace, ready to storm inside and kill the intruders who had brought chaos to their home.
Black Bolt, the leader of the Inhumans, had been humiliated, crippled, and driven out.
Every time he thought of his wife and daughter being toyed with by that terrifying sorcerer, a fire of rage consumed him.
But the memory of his easy defeat was still fresh; he didn't dare to act openly.
So, he tried to manipulate the other Inhumans into causing trouble for the sorcerer.
Essentially, Black Bolt's attitude was: 'If I'm suffering, you're going to suffer too.'
Harvey, however, paid no mind to the threats outside the palace.
He was currently in the steaming, dreamlike mists of the bath, playing "hide and seek" with Medusa and Crystal.
The two women took turns diving beneath the water, using their mouths to make his cock blossom like a lotus.
Harvey was immersed in a state of euphoric, heavenly pleasure.
In the adjacent chamber, the studious Hermione was discussing new spells with Cho Chang, working hard to increase her power.
Wanda, feeling isolated, also wanted to progress.
She steeled her heart and led Mariko and Yukio to put on their skimpy bikinis, heading off to find Harvey to "beg for a magic lesson."
Meanwhile.
The Inhumans on the perimeter were finally ready. They shouted in unison to kill the intruders, rushing into the palace from four directions.
But the moment they crossed a certain boundary, passing the gates or the walls, they stopped in a bizarrely uniform motion.
It was as if they had suddenly remembered something vital. They all turned around and hurried out of the palace.
the effect of the Muggle-Repelling Charm was not pronounced on Inhumans.
Even though this was the upgraded Version 2.0, the Inhumans only realized they might have been enchanted after they were hundreds of meters away.
"Is this... a psychic suggestion?"
"Does the intruder have mind-control abilities as well?"
"What about a long-range attack?"
"Are you insane?! Without his exact location, do you want to level the entire palace?"
"Then what do we do?"
"Go get Prince Maximus. He's a telepath too..."
...
Ten minutes later.
Prince Maximus, Black Bolt's brother, refused to lead a crusade against the intruders.
Though Maximus had attempted many coups and dreamed of the throne...
The mysterious sorcerer had easily frozen everyone with magic. His power was not something Maximus dared to provoke.
If a coup failed, Black Bolt wouldn't kill him because of blood ties.
But if he pissed off the sorcerer, Maximus feared for his life.
Thus, denied the Prince's support, the Inhumans went back to the recovering Black Bolt for aid.
When Black Bolt heard his people couldn't even get past the front gates without being driven out...
He turned green with rage at their stupidity.
"Can you idiots not send people with psychic resistance in first to scout?! Baka!"
"Oh! Why didn't I think of that? The King truly is wise." The emboldened Inhumans regrouped and charged toward the palace again.
But this time, before they could even reach the gates, a dull explosion echoed from the semi-transparent star-dome.
The Inhumans all looked up.
A crude, grey starfighter was hovering over Attilan.
Clearly, this unknown craft had just used its laser cannons to say hello to everyone.
"More intruders? Damn it! Does everyone think they can just step on the Royal Family now?"
"Send half the men to deal with that fighter. Be quick about it! Do not let our reputation fall!"
"Yes, sir!"
The Inhumans divided themselves orderly into two groups.
One group continued the assault on the palace, while the other piloted more advanced interceptors, rushing out of Attilan to swarm the mysterious enemy.