In an undetectable island located a few miles from the coast of the eastern seaboard, there is a laboratory of some sorts.

Mortimer Toynbee, a slender looking thug whose agile leaping ability and superhuman strength have earned him the name ‘Toad’, lazily reads the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit issue. His long tongue shoots out—swiiish—and turns the page of the magazine.

Across the room, Sabretooth, with a hairy-head like a lion, is silently watching TV as he sharpens his retractable nails. It was not unlike the nails of a lion. His nails were 1-2 inches long, sharp-pointed, and oozing with bloodlust. It has clearly been through many battles.

They are a bestial and sinister bunch.

In the corner, there is a human blob. The Blob is busy devouring a bucket of cereal, precariously balanced on his huge belly. No further words to be said. He was as huge as 5 men combined, and still have room to spare.

In another corner, there is a woman’s figure silently attending to her nails. Her skin’s colored in peculiar blue. She blows a breath on her nail and moved on to the next one. The woman has a very seductive body. Paired with her blue-skin, it creates a very mystical feeling. Her whole eyes are yellow in color

In the middle of the room, there stood a machine of some sorts.

A fantastic spire which occupies a hallowed space in this lab. It is meticulously designed, and, with its intricate circuitry, wires, and power boards, it resembles, most closely, a combination of a microwave oven and a fantastic light source—only far sore dark and foreboding.

Magneto silently walked inside the lab.

The four looked at him in unison.

Magneto looked back at them and urged them to follow him.

“Let’s go. We got work to do.” (Magneto)

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A Helicopter streaks across the sky.

Senator Kelly sleeps fitfully in the largest seat.

*A bump of turbulence*

He suddenly woke up and looked outside the window, seeing the ocean. Senator Kelly looked outside the window again and sees nothing but water. They are flying low. He looked at his secretary who’s still sleeping. He woke him up.

“Where the hell are we?” (Senator Kelly)

The secretary looked outside the window and looked at Senator Kelly, puzzled. He stood up and went to the door of the cabin in the helicopter.

“Pilot?” (The secretary)

No answer.

“Pilot, what is this? Pilot?” (The secretary)

The secretary continued asking, still not getting any answer.

Senator Kelly looked outside the window again and saw the helicopter is closing in on an island—where, is anyone's guess. What is known is that the place is no pleasure resort. It is, in fact, some sort of refurbished island fortress, complete with turrets, built right into the side of the cliffs.

There is a clearing in the middle of a ring of trees at the base of a rocky rise. The helicopter touched down. The pilot, wrapped from head to toe in a flight suit and helmet, gets out and opened the side door, exposing Senator Kelly and his secretary to the intense wind of the rotors. They covered their eyes, cowering.

Three figures came out of a hole in the mountain. One seems extremely larger than the other two.

The secretary and Senator Kelly stepped out respectively.

As the figures got closer, Senator Kelly can make out the figure of Magneto, Blob, and Sabretooth.

“Dear God... Dear... God.” (Senator Kelly)

The Pilot removes his helmet to reveal Toad, smiling.

‘What the hell is this?’ Senator Kelly is utterly confused.

As Magneto nears, the secretary stepped forward to greet him, putting his arms around Magneto's neck and kissing him deeply. Then Magneto looks deep and lovingly into the secretary’s eyes.

“It's always your type that has something to hide.” (Magneto)

And with that, the male secretary morphs into a beautiful woman who has blue-colored skin. She was widely known as Mystique. Her mutant power requires no further explanation; she can imitate anyone in this world.

Senator Kelly, of course, is shocked. Mystique shows a little hip, raising the waistline of her outfit mockingly.

“You... wha... who are you... Where is my secretary..?” (Senator Kelly)

“He's been dead for some time, Senator. Care to know how long? Or would you rather not think about it.” (Magneto)

Magneto said, making Senator Kelly’s skin crawl.

“You bastards… Who are you?” The Senator spoke in fear.

“Who we are is not nearly as important as what we are.” (Magneto)

Toad and Blob grabbed the Senator and his attempt to run back for the Helicopter ended up in vain.

“What do you want?” The Senator gave up struggling against the two superhumans.

“What we want is not nearly as important as whom we want. Ooo, I love this. I could write a book of these.” (Magneto)

Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

“People like you are the reason people like me exist.” Senator Kelly was afraid of the mutants in front of him.

Hearing that, Mystique walked up to him.

“And people like you are the reason I was afraid to go to school.” (Mystique)

With that, she smacked Senator Kelly on the back of his head, just enough to make him faint.

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Senator Kelly woke up. He looked around himself and found out that he was in a laboratory of some sorts. He was tied in a metal chair.

In front of him was a machine. It is a tall spire. On top of it was a round platform. The platform has two pedestals lined up with a little distance to each other. It looks like a person should stand in between the pedestals to make it work. The platform also has two arcs; One full-arc that has its ends from left to right and one half-arc that is positioned in the back. The two arcs intersect in the middle of the platform, where the person should stand in between the two pedestals.

Senator Kelly looked for an exit but discovered that all of them were blocked by Mystique, Sabretooth, Toad, and Blob. He had no way to go.

He heard crisps footsteps behind him, at which Magneto appeared slightly after.

“You will be the first, Senator. Please do appreciate the honor.” (Magneto)

He whispered towards Senator Kelly. No further words need to be said.

Magneto levitated up to the platform. He stood in between the pedestal and grabbed it.

Then, the full arc started to spin around the platform. It looks like it was protecting the inside of it as it slowly sped up. The end of the half-arc lit up. It produced a milky white light. The light started to expand, enclosing the platform like a barrier very slowly.

Magneto, inside the machine, looks like he’s in pain. He gritted his teeth as he endures it until the end.

Then, the barrier enclosed. There was an explosion of light as the barrier expanded at a rate very different from how it enclosed at first. It expanded very fast, instantly engulfing the figure of Senator Kelly in the room. The Senator closed his eyes and gritted his teeth. The last thing he saw before fainting was the figure of the weakened Magneto up in the platform.

Magneto pulled his hands away from the two pedestals and he lost support, his legs gave up from exhaustion. He was only supporting himself up by holding on to his knees.

The machine slowly deactivated, the white light was gone. The full-arc stopped spinning.

Inside the room, the figure of Senator Kelly glowing in a shade of pink was very noticeable from the eyes. His skin gave off a slimy appearance.

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Senator Kelly woke up with a start, his suit is rumpled and dirty, showing signs that time has passed.

He looked around only to discover that he is in a cell with no door, simply bars that jut out of the stone floor and ceiling. A television outside the cell is on to keep him occupied. News coverage of the Ellis Island Summit is what’s on the screen.

Only a sink, a toilet, and a stainless steel mirror are here as comforts. Not even a bed.

Magneto is in the cell with him.

Just beyond the bars, he sees Sabretooth playing chess at a small table. Senator Kelly cannot believe the sight of the latter, having never seen such an extreme mutation. The pieces on the chess board are metal, and some invisible force moves the pieces playing against Sabretooth.

Certainly, the cause is Magneto. It is as though they did not notice Senator Kelly waking up. Until he grabs his belly and curled up, groaning in pain. Magneto looked at his watch.

“And how are we feeling, Senator? Advanced, I hope.” (Magneto)

“What did you do to me..? OH GOD.” The Senator winced in pain as Magneto looks at him.

“Are you a ‘God-fearing man’, Senator?” Magneto asked, and Senator Kelly’s expression told him that he is indeed afraid of something right now.

“I have always loved that term. As if there was something to fear.” (Magneto)

Senator Kelly clutched his stomach harder, visibly in pain.

“Interesting fellow, this ‘God’. The power to drift a continent a few inches... drop whole canyons a foot or two. Impressive, wouldn't you say?”

Magneto continued his preaching.

“But do you think that God himself is ever going to actually step in and do something really, really scary? He's not, Senator. You know why?” Magneto asked a rhetorical question. Senator Kelly could not do anything else but glare.

“Man, however, seem to have the ability to make leaps and bounds in his apparent absence. Punching holes in the ozone, melting the ice caps, and in all other ways making the Earth a better place... But for whom? For you, Senator? Not likely. At least... not until now.” (Magneto)

Senator Kelly jolts from a new pain just coming in.

“But what if you could change— adapt to your new environment.” (Magneto)

“J-just, what are you...” (Senator Kelly)

“What if you could breathe pure carbon monoxide, Senator? The kind your fellow man is pumping straight into the atmosphere as we speak? Fly above the water that might one day cover the face of the Earth, or swim faster than any fish in the sea. What if your bones could heal—quickly—immediately? What if you could walk through walls?” (Magneto)

The Senator shuddered.

“If you could move things with your mind? If you could read minds? Would you consider yourself a freak of nature, Senator? Or would you just consider yourself prepared... for the future?” (Magneto)

Senator Kelly winces from some terrible agony.

“Don't fear God, Senator. And certainly—most certainly...don't fear me. I'm here to help you. You...the man who represents everything I hate about the Homo Sapiens. Because I'm going to turn you—and leaders like you—into us, mutants. Believe it or not, you are a leader, Senator Kelly. You set an example. For others. And if more of you were like more of, well, ‘us’... the world would be on the way to becoming a much, much better place.” (Magneto)

He paused, smiled at the wincing Senator and continued.

“Welcome to the future, brother.” (Magneto)

Senator Kelly screamed in pain. Then, Magneto went out of the cell by bending the bars with his mind and returning it to a perfect shape afterward. He left with Sabretooth.

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Senator Kelly is hunched over his toilet, heaving. On the television is an interview with Prof. Xavier that we have seen before. The same words about the fellowship of man, etc.

The Senator slumps to the floor, catching a glimpse of himself in the stainless steel base of the sink in the corner. His skin seems to be turning white; translucent, even. Veins are visible all over his face and he has thinned considerably. A lock of hair is in his face and when he goes to brush it aside, it simply falls out in his hand, leaving a patch of skin on the front of his scalp matching perfectly the skin on his face.

And he screamed. He seems to be excreting some sort of clear fluid and his breathing is starting to take on a gurgle that is all too unpleasant. He is in obvious pain.

He walked towards the only window in his cell, obstructed by metal bars that cannot even fit a head. He observed the outside; seeing a cliff just beyond the windows. The waves continued to roll, hitting against the reefs.

Senator Kelly pressed his face against the metal bars. It is only then that he heard a slimy sound and his head squeezes between the bars like a soft-shelled egg. He gasps in pain, choking on the clear mucous. After adjusting to the shock of what has happened, Senator Kelly gets an idea. He turned his shoulder towards the bars and began to push. His feet slid in the floor and his fingers stretched and cracked inside, then his ribs began to pop out one by one, with the brittleness of undercooked spaghetti. It is agonizing, but Senator Kelly finally managed to pull his horribly-altering body through the bars.

Just then, Sabretooth came in and saw him escaping. He immediately bent the metal bars and entered the cell. Sabretooth rushed over the window bars to grab Senator Kelly’s leg. The Senator screamed, and he started to wiggle out of Sabretooth’s grasps.

Sabretooth hardened his grip but failed due to the slime-like fluid that is oozing out of the Senator’s body. The Senator fell in the ocean.

His “body" hits the water surface and produced a water pillar. Then, his “body” was taken away by the waves. His “body” looked like toothpaste, drifting in the ocean.

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Sabretooth went to Magneto’s room. He reported about what happened to the Senator.

“He's dead. Squashed like a paste.” (Sabretooth)

Magneto was disappointed for a moment, but quickly got over it and he smiled.

“It changes nothing. We'll simply make our debut without him. It was magnificent, was it not? His transformation.” (Magneto)

Magneto pulled something from a drawer, and then tossed it in the table for Sabretooth to see.

“That’s why, we’ll need this child. She is the key to our plans. Set out. Find her.” (Magneto)

Sabretooth picked up the picture. He saw a teenage girl. Auburn hair with an angelic face. The most noticeable thing about her, however, was her eyes. It shone a bright color of green.

It was the picture of…. Rogue.