Chapter 6 – Practitioner of the Mystic Arts

The next morning, I woke up relatively earlier than Hank and Laura, so I decided to take it easy for once. I dared not to interrupt Laura, and Hank seemed to be out of it. Since I spend countless hours studying and expanding my arsenal, I couldn't really tell the difference.

After a quick shave, and I really do mean quick, I was able to go about my day a lot sooner. Some of those tedious tasks are simpler now, proving to be more effective than regular means as well. I made some cereal and sat in one of the comfy silver armchairs, turning on the TV to eat my breakfast rather than just eating in pure silence. Hank was to my left, still in deep sleep. Just by the facial expression, it was obvious how tired he truly was. Deciding to lower the volume to not disturb him, I began flicking through the channels to find something decent to watch.

Having the bowl hover right under my mouth, I had no trouble using the remote or relaxing for that matter.

After skipping dozens of channels, my finger stopped pressing the button when it switched to the NEWS channel. Out of curiosity, I wanted to see what was happening inside the crazy city that never sleeps. It was still barely nine AM, so there still wasn't anything worthwhile. That is until the anchor mentioned the follow up of yesterday's police raid, the scene switching to show a wide shot of a street late in the night.

I jerked in my seat slightly, recognizing the location. It was the same street where the underground lab was. The scene switched to countless police officers escorting the scientists and guards towards the two vans, numerous others doing other work, such as escorting the victims towards medical assistance and keeping the reporters at bay. The anchor said they managed to get a statement out of the police captain.

The scene switched quickly, one moment showing the captain, which was an Asian woman with black hair that went down to her chin, then turning to her giving her statement. I turned up the volume just a bit to hear more clearly.

"[We're still yet to properly identify the culprits, and how they were able to set up a station underground.]" Yuri stated, not batting an eye before resuming. "[A few days ago, we apprehended a total of twenty-five gang members, along with their leader. We have reason to believe these two groups are connected in some way. The weapons we obtained from these groups seem to match, so there's little doubt these groups have a deeper root. Until we get more information, everything else is just speculation.]"

The police captain merely walked away, not bothering with the swarm of reporters taking pictures and asking questions.

Yuri Watanabe, huh?

Truth be told, I didn't know much about Yuri until I decided to look her up after playing Marvel's Spider-Man game. I knew the basics and her status, so it was good knowing the police have a capable leader. My only concern was whether or not she would end up becoming Wraith. I certainly hope that won't be the case in this reality, she really is better off where she is now than with the supervillain façade.

Seems like I'll have to pay a visit and get into contact with the captain.

After the NEWS had concluded, Laura walked in, seemingly wide awake. It was difficult, but I did my best to restrain myself from chuckling at seeing her with the clothes I gave her as pajamas. It was a hassle to even convince her to even change her clothes, but after finding out they've been in that lab for a little over two weeks, it was enough for me to make her change her mind. Other than that, including the conversations before and during dinner, she was very quiet and timid. She would avoid eye contact like it was the plague.

It was sad, truly. Having no childhood and raised to be an assassin. To be even driven to the point of asking yourself do you even have a soul. Yeah, she definitely didn't have it easy.

"Morning, sleepyhead," I said to her as I put my bowl in the sink, watching her slowly look over the cabinets. "Sleep well?"

"It was acceptable…"

Laura responded without even taking her eyes off the cabinets, unsure which to open,

"Hungry?" I asked, taking out the cereal from one of the cabinets. "I can make you some breakfast if you-"

Laura snatched the box out of my hand. "I can do it myself."

"You know, it's not a bother-"

"I said, I can do it myself."

Laura snapped at me, her head turning at me. If looks alone were enough to kill, I'd most likely be already dead on my own kitchen floor. Seeing that I had nothing else to say, Laura turned away to make her own breakfast.

"Just trying to be a good host…"

That went poorly. Note to self, try again, preferably a better and more natural approach.

Deciding to just go back to my seat, I was glad to see Hank slowly waking up.

"Oh, good morning," Hank greeted me while he rubbed his eyes, his expression quickly changing. "Wait… what time is it?"

"Firstly, good morning," I returned the gesture with a smile as I sat back down. "Secondly, It's a little over nine."

"Huh, I thought I would sleep through the whole week." Hank said jokingly as he sat straight up.

"I wouldn't blame you if you did. You really should be resting," I said softly before a thought popped up, "Say, how are you feeling? I mean, compared to yesterday, do you still feel anything?"

"Quite well, I might add," Hank smiled as he hit his chest with his fist. "I can't say for certain until I get to my lab, but judging by the way that I'm feeling, your spell worked wonders."

"Really?" I asked with curiosity. "Truth be told, I never used that on myself or on anyone else, so I didn't have much practice. But thought learning some of these might be useful at one point."

"They most certainly did," Hank agreed. "It took out most of it from the more important parts of the body, I should know, I remember the areas it would hurt the most, and by how fast the side effects wore off when all of the serum is drained. Usually, that kind of procedure would take hours to drain every last drop, you just did it in mere minutes. It's an achievement of medicine in my eyes."

Frankly, I was flattered by his praise. Having an effectful and useful spell to remove any liquid when in danger. Just need to expand that healing gig as well. If you have magical abilities and are not bothered with learning healing magic, I see you as an idiot. It's going to be more difficult for severe injuries, but I'll figure that out until then.

"That's good to hear, and thank you, Hank," I told the blue-furred mutant sincerely. "Any feedback is welcomed, whatever way to improve is enough for me."

"Say, I know it would be rude of me to ask this early one, but I was curious, what are the limitations to this, healing magic?"

I waited a moment before answering, trying to recall all the information I had on healing magic. "Well, that's a tricky to answer. It's all based how well you know the field to properly use this type. In theory, almost every injury can be repaired."

It was true. While base magic does include countless medical solutions for any scenario, some more effective than others. Albeit the procedure for removing the liquid seemed like nothing because it was the first higher skilled spell I learned back at Kamar-Taj. This is the field I'm particularly excited to tackle on, since I can make some impressive stuff later on.

"Fascinating," Hank rubbed his chin. "But I'm guessing not everyone is capable of accessing this knowledge, let alone be proficient enough in it to be a skillful user. But is it possible to convert certain aspects into regular medicine?

"At the current moment, not so much. Only because I don't have the right tools to expand my little project. I do plan on doing further research in the future. Usually, I'm actually forbidden from using magic, especially healing magic in public and such, would cause too big of a ruckus. But there are loopholes to work around on. Might take some time before I make such a discovery."

"If you ever need a hand, I'd be honored to help," Hank said excitingly. "Uncovering different methods of improving modern-day medicine? That's something I'd love to be a part of.

I pondered at his offer. Having some help with research with medicine and finding new ways to implement them is definitely needed. Hank would be a fine addition to that department, and did already have a few people in mind to ask. "You know what, let's table this discussion for another time. If we start now, I doubt we'll be able to stop."

With that done, we proceeded to talk about a variety of things while Laura made Hank some breakfast as well. He mostly led the topics, going into more detail about his position within the X-Mansion, while also talking more about other members and what they do. After a while, Laura brought a bowl for herself and Hank, so I decided to watch the TV while they ate in peace. After they finished, I wanted to get to business.

"So, now we should talk about getting you two home."

"How is that going to work, exactly?" Laura asked questioningly, Hank raising an eyebrow with interest.

"Very simple," I formed a see-through map that had a nice view of New York, also the whole area around it. I already had a general idea where the place is, but I had to make it seem like I even know the place. "Point on the map, as I feel you should know this. Any detail would help, open the field, any pathway and anything you suggest that will be of help in finding it easier."

"While you do that, I just need to do something real quick."

I went to my bedroom, since I wasn't in my usual attire, and for getting my little protection against the Professor. It was a beads necklace, a singular line, but had more than enough beads for tons of enchantments. While digging through the pile of books, I stumbled upon these things. Sorcerers frequently use these beads and have it set for protective spells. Since I will encounter a telepath, we can't have him go lurking through my mind, now can we?

On the drawer, the necklace hovered above a stone that leaked blue energy, all of it going into the rune of the bead. It took all night, but it's complete. Simple and well hidden, it might just become my most useful tool. After this, I'll definitely have to dig through and add more of them.

Placing the necklace around my neck, then my mask. With two claps, my regular clothes changed to my robes, along with everything else I'll need. I then went back to the living room. "Did you find it?"

"You're wearing your mask, too?" Laura asked, raising an eyebrow.

"What can I say, I like it," I said with a hint of enthusiasm.

Hank nodded. "It's right here," then pointing his finger on the map.

I asked for any other details before we began. After about a minute, I created the portal in the spacious hallway, an open field of grass alongside a pavement waiting on the other side. Gesturing them to go first, I was the last one to go through. Looking around, I was glad to see the very luxurious mansion further down the road.

"See? Told you it was simple." I said turning to Laura, my mask hiding my wide smile.

Laura merely huffed, turning her head to the side, prompting Hank to let out a chuckle. Walking towards the mansion, it didn't take us long till we got to the front door. For a split second, I caught a flash of white through one of the windows next to the door. Just as we walked up the short flight of stairs, Hank went to turn the door knob, only for the door to be opened wide from the other side. Ororo Munroe, or Storm, stood there, her face switching between shock and happiness as she looked at the two of them.

"Hank… Laura…" Ororo uttered as her sights switched between the two, before throwing herself at them, embracing them both in a tight hug. "Thank goodness, you two are safe. We were worried sick."

Hank was the only one to return the hug, while Laura just stood there awkwardly. "Were okay now, Ororo. Sorry for the scare.

"I'm just glad that you two are back." Ororo said happily as she released them. Her focus then turned towards me, but didn't outright say anything. "Come, let's step inside first."

"Ororo!" A loud and gruff voice called out. Just as we stepped in, a tall man with hair all over his face, wearing a black leather jacket and dark blue jeans came into view from the left. Right from the start, I realized that it was Logan. "What's got you in such a… fuss…?"

Logan trailed his words as he saw Laura and Hank, his focus centered on his daughter. The two rushed toward one another, entering a tight embrace, not a single word uttered. It may not be the appropriate moment, but I couldn't shift my focus from Logan, or how I see it, Hugh Jackman. At this point, I had zero idea how this reality worked, at all.

It wasn't until now that I realized how many students surrounded us. They were only whispers, but a good portion was talking about Laura and Hank returning, while the other half was centered on me. Even though I might be forced to remove my mask soon, I was glad I decided to put it on beforehand. I'm not overly fond of being the center of attention. If it weren't for the mask, I'd most likely look anywhere to avoid this much eye contact.

From the sea of children, a tall and muscular figure came into view, quite hard to miss actually. On his sides, a girl with bright red hair wearing a green sweater while also sporting blue jeans and a man with a black visor that had a thin red line across it, wearing a light blue dress shirt and black pants were walking alongside him, by their appearance alone it was safe to assume they were my age. There also appeared to be a space in-between them, but only a bald head was visible.

Once the crowd made enough space for them to pass through, I got a clean view of Charles Xavier, Jean Grey, Scott Summers and what I assumed to be Colossus heading our way.

"Hank, Laura, you're back," Charles Xavier spoke in a soft tone as he rolled up next to them.

"Yes, Charles, we're back," Hank said, flashing a smile to his old friend.

Xavier gave a smile of his own, knowing his friend and student are safe. "I'm sure we all can rest easy knowing this ordeal is behind us. But please, tell me, what happened to you two? We looked everywhere, but I still couldn't reach either of you, even with Cerebro."

"Heh, it's a long story, really. I'd rather not go into much detail, especially right now," Hank tried shifting the subject. "As to how we got back here, you can thank him."

Hank pointed with his thumb behind him, Charles' eyes went off to the side, landing on me, the same going for Jean, Logan and almost everyone else. Figuring my time for being silent is over, I took a quick breath to go back into my normal and "charming" attitude. "Hello there." I said with a slight wave of my hand.

The Professor made his wheelchair turn to the side and move towards me with a neutral face. "My apologies, but we don't seem to have met."

"Oh, but of course," I said as my hands went to my mask, slowly removing it from my head. All the while removing it, I had a smile on my face before it even came off, holding the mask with my left hand. "Ethan Chester, Practitioner of the Mystic Arts, at your service. It's a pleasure to meet you in person, Professor Xavier."

I said while extending my hand at him. In the corner of my eye, I could see both Laura and Hank rolling their eyes. At the moment, I could feel some sort of strange tingling sensation that was spreading across my head, slowly becoming more noticeable from all areas, but the feeling never became bothersome. My focus back on the Professor, I noticed the faintest change in his facial expression. His eyes widened, but only slightly and stayed frozen way longer than normal, he seemed to be holding his breath as well. "Is something wrong, Professor?"

That pulled him out of his trance, blinking several times and forming a smile. "No, no. everything's alright. It's a pleasure to meet you," The man said as he accepted my hand. He then rotated to face his students.

"Everyone! Classes are dismissed!" The Professor announced. "Please, return to your rooms for the time being. We will be with you all shortly."

Cheers erupted from the field of students, half dedicated to the fellow members that returned, and the other for getting out of class earlier. I simply stood there with a smile as the students went back to their own activities. Slowly, the hall became less and less crowded.

"One moment, please," Charles turned around to Hank, as well focused on Laura. "Should we escort you to the medical wing for a checkup?"

"Might as well," Hank agreed. "Get that over with sooner rather than later."

Charles nodded, then turning to the rest of his students. "Jean, Piotr and Scott, please keep our guest company until we return, if you don't mind?"

"Of course, Professor." Jean agreed happily, with Piotr agreeing as well. Meanwhile, Scott stood still, not saying a word.

Xavier nodded, turning to me. "We shouldn't take long."

I raised my hand. "I'm in no rush."

Charles, Ororo, Logan, Laura, and Hank proceeded to go towards the medical bay. As they were walking away, I took a quick look under my robes at my bead, seeing the rune blinking on and off with a blue color. A quick smirk formed on my face before turning back to normal. The look on Charles' face says it all. The enchantment worked perfectly, especially with his expression, which might have given him a heart attack in the process.

My attention turned to the insides of the large mansion, doing a full spin to admire the interior of the mansion.

"This place… sure is amazing."

Aside from it being aesthetically pleasing, you can feel liveliness in the air, the mansion's full of it. It was either that from being inside the X-Mansion for real or my sensory skills were getting better.

"That's one way of describing it."

Turning back to the remaining members, Scott was the one who walked up to me. Just by the way he was walking, the man could be mistaken as soldier that was on duty, in form, and with near-perfect coordination.

"Scott Summers," He said calmly. "Thank you for rescuing my teammates."

Even the way he introduces himself was awful. He could have put in at least an ounce of feeling into it.

Me being me, I decided to ignore his poor attempt of introduction, I accepted his hand with a smile. "Think nothing of it."

"But if you'll excuse me, I'll have to go ask Hank and Laura for myself."

Just like that, Scott walked passed me, going to the medical bay as well.

"That was just rude…"

Is this really one of those versions of Scott where he's a prick? It wasn't what he said, it was how he said it was my problem. Guess basic manners is one of the things that never mushed well with the guy.

"Ignore him," Jean said as she and Piotr stepped closer. "He isn't usually like this. Once you get to know him, he's actually quite nice."

"Don't stress about it," The towering man tapped my shoulder a few times. While to him it seemed like a friendly gesture, to me it felt like he was hammering down a nail, even in his normal form. He then took my hand and shook it with both his own hands. "Thank you, my good man. We've spent many days searching for them, but we had little luck."

"T-Think nothing of it," I said while trying to avoid the slight pain from his grip, rubbing it a bit when he released it. "Couldn't just leave two mutants to sit in captivity and be experimented on."

"Ah, so that was it," Piotr said in a surprised tone. "Still, your kindness is greatly appreciated. But now is not the time to dwell on the past. Allow me to introduce myself, my name is Piotr "Peter" Nikolaievitch Rasputin, but please, simply call me Piotr. I must ask, you don't seem to have any physical changes, what sort of mutation did you have?"

"Mutation? Oh, no, I'm not a mutant."

"You're not?" Jean asked in surprise, her eyes wide while stepping closer.

"Nope," I put more emphasis on the pop. "You see, I'm more mangled with the… supernatural side of things.

"Supernatural?" Jean questioned. She scanned me from head to toe, her focus going to the book on my waist along with my attire. Once we made eye contact again, I raised my eyebrow with a smirk, seeing if she could make a correct guess. "By that, you mean… magic, right?"

"Bingo," I said cheerfully, turning to Piotr. "She catches on quick."

"Magiya?" The tall man asked in confusion. "That's one set of skills you don't hear every day."

"What can I say, it's fun," I shrugged my shoulders with a sheepish smile. "Besides, you don't see a school dedicated to mutants, but yet, here I am. You learn something new every day."

"Fair point. Now then, enough business talk, as the first non-mutant, allow me to welcome you to Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters! Home to all mutant kind." Piotr exclaimed loudly with his arms wide open. "Please, follow me. We will show around."

The Russian giant began walking, Jean and I right behind him. I listened to every word as he spoke, learning new bits of trivia of the X-Mansion every step of the way.

"I appreciate the tour and everything, but he's getting a little too into it, don't you think?" I whispered as I leaned closer to Jean, not wanting to interrupt him.

Jean barely contained a laugh, using her hand to cover his mouth. "He tends to that. We let him do his thing, he seems to enjoy it though. Every time there's a new student joining the school, he's the first one to volunteer for the tour."

"Ah, that makes sense," I told the redhead while looking back at Piotr. "For a second there, I thought he prepared a script by the way he's talking."

That earned me another laugh from Jean. "You wouldn't be too far off if I'm completely honest," There was a slight pause between us, the only sound of Piotr going on about the school's foundation. "Sorry, I just can't wrap my head around it, magic? Really?"

It may have been just a whisper, but I could hear the excitement in her voice.

I raised an eyebrow. "What? You've got a school filled with extraordinary people with all kinds of unique powers and abilities, and you're interested in magic?"

Jean merely pouted. "Well excuse me for getting excited when I heard magic. It's not just that either, I'm used to meeting new people, but it's not every day you met a non-mutant at this school. You'd be the first "normal" person I've met since I don't even know how long anymore. Sorry if I find it interesting."

"Fair enough I suppose," I drew my hand out, creating a small bird made out of azure fire, this particular fire in this state itself wasn't harmful. The bird swiftly flew towards Jean, catching the girl off guard as the bird landed on her hands. The small azure creature let out a low, but cute squall as it changed its color to red before exploding, leaving only a trail of red dust before disappearing all together.

"There's your magic trick," I said quietly then trying to catch up to whatever Piotr is talking about, something about them as a team going to Peru? "Didn't have much time on the spot to think of something better."

Jean's face was in one of surprise, before letting a wide smile. "Alright, that, was pretty cool."

"Heh, glad you liked it."

Just then Piotr turned around suddenly.

"After that, we made our way back home," The giant said with a cheeky smile, before changing to a confused one as he caught me just as I finished with Jean. "Did you pay attention to anything I said?"

I looked over to Jean, only to see her averting her eyes with a cheeky smile of her own. Looking back at Piotr, I tried to remember something out of his story. "About how you all as a team titled the X-Men, successfully completed a mission in the… Cloud Forest, something about chasing rouge mutants causing havoc and safely returning home?"

"Very good," Piotr resumed walking. "Now then-" He continued talking about another mission they had.

"By the way, I never got your name?"

The redhead smiled as she held out her hand. "Jean Grey."

I shook her hand as we walked with a smile. "It's nice to meet you, Jean."

----------------------------------------

After about another thirty minutes after non-stop chatter from Piotr, even though Jean and I chatted about various things all the while, he was called to take care of something in another part of the mansion, leaving me and Jean on our own. We ended up going towards the kitchen.

I let out a sigh of relief. "That man can talk."

"Don't worry, you'll get used to it. He grows on you very fast," Jean pointed towards the fridge. "Want anything?"

"Surprise me." I simply said, leaning onto the counter to admire a very, very large and state of the art kitchen. My, what a beautiful sight. I can just imagine the number of things I could create with something like this.

My train of thought was broken when I heard footsteps approaching. Looking to my left, I spotted Logan entering the kitchen, with his eyes focused on me. Since we already made eye contact, it was late to break it off. I shifted my body to properly face the man.

"Logan! Just in time," Jean called out from the fridge. "You want anything?"

"One from my stash." Was his response with a quick look to Jean before turning back to me. It wasn't until he got way closer than he needed to before stopping. Jean came back with our drinks, a can of coke and beer bottle flew into mine and Logan's hand.

"Logan, this is Ethan," Jean began introducing me as she motioned her hand at me, before turning to me. "This is Logan, he's Laura's father."

Still, another word to be said by neither of us, so I was a little worried about whether or not to start. Right then, Logan extended his hand out to me, I took a moment before accepting it, receiving a firm grip

"Thank you for rescuing my daughter."

Logan said slowly, but the sincerity in his tone was genuine. Okay, crisis averted, we're good.

"You're welcome...?" I said, more sounding like a question than anything. "As I said to everyone, don't think much of it. Just doing my job."

"Where'd you find them?"

Logan proceeded to form the middle claw, easily taking off the cap of the beer bottle, taking a long sip from it.

"...In an underground lab in the middle of New York."

Just as I said that it occurred to me how familiar of an answer that is to him.

"Aha." Logan nodded, looking off into the side, his expression barely changing.

I decided to add some good news to the story. "In case you're wondering, they're rotting in jail with a severe headache."

He looked back at me, a sliver of a smile spreading across his lips. "To that, I can drink too."

I looked over to Jean, getting a small smile as conformation.

Professor Xavier then entered the kitchen not a few seconds after, a smile came across his face as he spotted us.

"There you are," Charles spoke to all of us, but his eyes were centered on me. "My apologies for just disappearing all of a sudden. Wanted to make sure they were in good health, so I could rest at ease from these last few weeks."

"I'm just glad knowing my little trick was of help."

"Ah, yes, Hank did mention how easily the sedative was removed from his system, quite the interesting story. But please, let's step into my office first. I'd say we have much to discuss."

We stepped into the Professor's office, Charles going behind his desk, Logan leaning on the wall off to the side, with me and Jean sitting on the couch.

Our conversation started off with Charles asking questions regarding Hank and Laura. Again, I gave the entire rundown everything I know, trying to recall as many details as per his request. I told him about who orchestrated it all, and the bald man wasn't too happy with the newfound information. We discussed a little more until Charles decided to switch things up

"Well, with that out of the way, we can move on to more enjoyable topics," Charles leaned on the desk with his hands atop of one another, a smile forming. "Please, tell us a little about yourself, Ethan. I for one am intrigued, particularly your title.

"Hmm, where to start," I stayed silent for a moment. "Think of me as a watcher of sorts. My role is to make sure any supernatural incidents are handled and properly covered up so the regular folk don't start any wild theories or to know the existence of such a concept."

"I would be right to presume you aren't the only one who, in your words, practice magic, no?" Charles asked. "There must be some sort of place where this, field is studied and practiced, no?”

I had no intention of going into more detail, but I'll leave him to think. "All depends, honestly. I tend to operate in more various fields, not just magical threats. Someone like me wouldn't usually do what I did to not risk exposure, although I tend to bend that rule a lot. Truth be told, there's a lot going in the world at the moment, most of it kept out of the public eye. But I assume you're familiar with that?"

"It's a very difficult process for humans to understand us, a delicate subject to bring up. My life's work is centered on this Institute, to give a home to the ones who are cast out. I know keeping our existence a secret won't last, that is why I'm trying to take proper steps to ease the situation, to better present ourselves. The last thing we want is for them to see us as a threat. That's why I opted to keep as a secret all this time until the proper time presents itself," Charles explained with a tender tone. "But I'm curious, Hank told me you have already had a firm grasp on Mutant kind. Is this… common knowledge where you come from?"

"All I can say, Professor, you'll have a difficult time trying to hide anything alarming from Sorcerers," I said calmly, feeling the need to state that here and now. "But no threat, we're a peaceful bunch. Just don't try causing unnecessary trouble and you're good. Sadly, I have a feeling that sooner or later all these little problems will just reach a limit before it all explodes."

"There's much of that going around I suppose, we can only fight and protect to live another day." Charles drove away from his desk. "Still, it's good to know this world has people willing to help. You have my deepest gratitude for saving members of our family."

"Again, think nothing of it," I said simply. "I'm just doing my thing."

After out little talk, Xavier told us to resume to our tour, as he had to discuss something with Ororo before handling the students.

The Professor also allowed for Logan and Jean to take me down to the sub-basements, and we know where that leads us. I knew that he probably couldn't have any peace at the moment, the fact his mind reading ability was ineffective to a newcomer inside his very own home. Still, he was still forced to show hospitality, as I did return his missing teammates. While on a second thought that might actually make him more suspicious of me. Nevertheless, I had to make sure my mind was safe, so I'll have to be more careful around him in the future if I notice any weird behavior.

Going down the elevator, we walked through the white hallway towards the Danger Room, while Logan went off to another room. As the slide doors opened, revealing a long hallway with slick dark blue walls, with white LED panels on the ceiling, giving it a futuristic and high-tech appearance. Entering the control center of the Danger Room, it was quite spacious at first glance. The room reached its end with glass windows as walls, a long row of machines underneath various screens that had a view of the environment below it but in different POV's.

Near the control panel, Laura could be seen off to the side, wearing a new set of clothes with her arms crossed, watching the feed intently.

"Laura!" Jean said a little louder than what could be considered normal volume, going into a slight run to close the distance between herself and Laura.

Before Laura could even respond, Jean bombarded the poor girl with question after question, but Laura tried answering nonetheless. I just remained quiet the whole time, knowing that this was the first time in weeks that they've seen each other, so I felt it was best to exclude myself from talking this time. Although, even though Jean would give Laura little breathing room, she would still throw a glance at me when she thought I wasn't looking.

When they were finished, Jean and I watched alongside her in silence. On the feed, Nightcrawler, Shadowcat, and Rogue were fighting against two fairly large robots with canons for arms. The area around them was one of a heavily damaged city street with tall buildings. They already seem to have destroyed a few of them, only having to face two more to finish the course. Rogue hurled large rocks and leftover remains of the nearby wall at the closest robot, damaging its head and one of its canons, causing the robot to fire aimlessly with its other weapon. Kurt teleported back and forth to save Rogue before the canon was aimed at her, going behind some building for cover. Kurt then teleported Kitty to one of the over-sized feet, using her powers to have it phase down to the ground, immobilizing it.

Next on the list for the teleporter was to destroy the other cannon, using his tail to pierce through it, causing it to act faulty. Seizing the opportunity, Rogue ran at top speed, one punch was all that's needed to fully destroy the knee of the leg that was in the ground. That caused the robot to spring upwards, crashing onto the last bot behind him, making it fall to the ground. Just as it was about to get up, Kurt teleported Rogue on the robot's head, smashing it into pieces.

With that, the simulation was over.

Once the training session was over, all of them entered the room. Kitty was complaining about something, but only Rogue was listening, or more like forced to. Their uniforms were all mostly black with different small changes on each of them.

"Hey, Laura, Jean," Kurt greeted the two girls with a wave, then looking at me questionably. "…and someone we don't know."

To save me the energy, Jean took it upon herself to fill in on the ones who I haven't still met yet, quickly going through the introductions, also mentioning the fact that I wasn't like them, which I hopped wouldn't make the interactions awkward. .

"Ah! So you're one the Professor mentioned!" Kurt said excitedly as he quickly jumped to me with his hand out. "A friend of Hank and Laura's is a friend of mine."

I returned the gesture with a smile. "Thanks, a pleasure to meet you as well."

"Sorry that we didn't come up when they first arrived," Kurt said apologetically. "We saw them exiting the elevator while on our way for training. When we find out both of them were alright, we just went to blow off some steam, peacefully this time."

"No worries," Jean dismissed it with a wave. "Just giving the finishing touches on the tour."

"Oh, and I have to say, this training system is outstanding," I commented as I couldn't just contain myself. This was the actual Danger Room, the training course of high-revolutionary design that can create any scenario, it was indeed impressive. "I looked so real. From my perspective, I couldn't really tell the difference at first glance."

"Thanks! But trust me, that was nothing," Kurt said. "That's not even half what this machine can do. You can set any scenario up, to pretty much anything depending on the kind of training you want to do. I like to do more "dangerous" and "fast-paced" ones, but every time I suggest them, they shut me down before we even got a chance to start… I don't know why, though."

"That's because you always overdo it and wind up in the hospital wing..." Rogue was quick to shut him down.

"Now, hold on," I said softly while raising my hand slightly at her. "At first, this thing right here sparked my interest, but now, he has my full divided attention. Can you show me more?"

"Sure," Kurt quickly walked to one of the seats, sitting cross-legged, furiously typing away at the keyboard. "What did you have in mind?"

"You said dangerous and fast-paced? I'd expect it to live up to its titles." I replied with a grin.

"Now we're talking!" Kurt went back to searching through the countless options on the screen.

Laura whispered to Jean, asking if they should really let them do one of Kurt's ridiculous courses. The redhead's only reply is that they'll intervene if Kurt truly does pick an awful one. Knowing him, that would be a high possibility.

The sound of the sliding door opening and closing, revealing Scott approaching them with a tablet in hand. Looking at the new entry, I could see he was about to say something, but stopped when he spotted me. I shook my head slightly and went back to the screen, not wanting to even bother with his, how should I put this, "displeasure" with me being here, so I went back to talking with Kurt.

"Listen up," Scott stepped forwarding in a commanding tone. "We'll try out a new strategy I've been planning." Scott proceeded to explain his plan, but Kurt and I weren't paying too much attention to him. After about a minute, he finished the rundown for his training for the day, which was met with silence.

"Can I try?"

I asked Kurt in the moment of silence, neither I nor him acknowledged Scott all. The sound of a low growl could be heard.

"Sure!" Kurt said excitedly. "It has a ton of different courses to choose from. You can even pick individual ones to your liking. Look, this one brings up-"

"Hold on," Scott's arm cut through between me and Kurt. His gaze turned from Kurt to me. "Not happening."

"What? Why not?"

"This isn't some public gym, in case you haven't noticed," Scott stated. "This is a highly advanced training course, not some toy you can play with."

"It looks like an oversized and advanced playground to me, so what's the difference?" I said jokingly. "Come on, man, do me a solid and let me try it out."

Without even making the slightest expression from his bottom half of the face, he only uttered. "No."

"What a guy!" The immediate thought formed in my head when looking at his emotionless face. Just like before, his tone is ticking me off.

Raising my eyebrows slightly, then forming a slight smile. "A vote, then. We put it to a vote, the fairest way of them all."

"You're overstepping your welcome, pal."

"Look, we're all civil here, everyone should have a say in the matter," I said calmly, before pointing at the control panel with my thumb. "Besides, I seriously doubt this entire place belongs to you, so can you knock off the act like you own it. Anyway, let's hear what everyone else has to say."

"Eh, ah' don't really care." Rogue lazily raised up one of her hands.

"I wanna see what the new guy can do!"

"Same here!"

Kitty and Kurt both raised their hands excitedly, much to Scott's displeasure. Turning over to

Jean also raised her hand slightly, also wanting to see how well a newcomer would fare in the Danger Room, on a relatively normal setting, of course. Laura seemed to be pondering whether or not to raise her hand as well, a slight nudge by Jean was enough to make her join in, but looked in a different direction to make it seem like she didn't care.

Seeing that literally each and every teammate of his inside the room agreed to this, Scott was at a loss. He could only grit his teeth slightly when his mouth twitched, refraining from making this a heated argument.

"Then it's settled!" I clasped my hands lightly in excitement, returning my attention to Kurt. "Now, my friend, show me what this puppy can do."

Having a similar level of excitement, Kurt motioned to lean closer to the control panel. "First off, we need to select an environment for the course to take place in. Here, all the ones that are availa-"

Kurt's explanation was cut off when a loud, loud alarm went off.

"Ehh… what's that?" I asked Jean.

"Someone's attacking us." Jean answered as she broke off into a run, other members going as well, with me following right after them. Running into the control room, we met up with Ororo, Hank, Logan and Piotr. More members entered the room moments later. Hank, who was already typing away at the computer, put up a few windows that displayed security cameras of the outskirts of the property where the iron fence was destroyed. At first, a giant clad in dark red armor all around his body expect on his arms and legs walked through, a man wearing a red helmet with purple outlines.

Magneto, and his Brotherhood. The team consisted of him, the Maximoff twins? Toad, Blob, Sabretooth, Mastermind, Pyro, Avalanche, Unus and Juggernaut.

"That doesn't look good." I said upon watching the screens.

"Listen up, everyone," Scott called out to his fellow teammates as he adjusted his visor. "We have to act fast before they get too close to the mansion. The Professor is already on his way up, so we have to move quickly. It's most likely going to get messy up there."

Scott gave a rundown of the potential strategies they might want to use while the other members were getting ready. Once done, all of the members rushed through the exit, leaving only Jean, Scott and myself. I grabbed my mask and went to follow them.

Just as I was about to pass him, Scott did a double-take. "Where do you think you're going?"

I stopped to look at the man, he cannot be serious. "You're kidding, right? Eight people break through your gate and heading your way. You expect me to do nothing?"

"That's exactly what I'm expecting," Scott demanded, stepping closer towards me. "This is our problem, and since you're not a mutant, it means you have no involvement in this. Just stay here and don't make much of a mess while we're gone."

"Do you have your head that far up your ass?" I retorted. "This is the first time I'm actually hearing someone not wanting an extra hand."

"That's an order. I'd suggest you follow it."

"You aren't the boss of me, and I don't listen to nonsense."

By this point, we were up in each other's faces. There it is again, that tone. I was willingly offering help so the mansion doesn't end up blowing up, since whenever Magneto and his posse show up, nothing good ever comes out of it. Just as our argument was going to start up again, Jean got in the middle of us, pushing me and Scott away from each other.

"Scott, you go up to everyone else," Jean turned to Scott, speaking calmly. "I'll catch up."

The visor wearing mutant remained still but started to walk back with his focus on me, quickly turning to Jean before rushing out.

Jean looked back at me with a regretful look, I already knew what was coming. "Come on, you can't be serious? You're not letting me go too?"

"Listen, I know you want to help, and I appreciate that, I really do. But just as Scott said, this is between us and them. We have a history of sorts, a pretty complicated one at that. We should be the ones who stop him after all. Besides," Jean took a quick glance at the screen, a worried expression formed before turning back to her confident smile. "We took them on before, and I don't need to tell you who came up on top. Don't worry about us."

The look I gave her in itself could spell that she was lying. It was the look, I could tell. This encounter seemed to be different than any of their previous ones, meaning it's not going to be pretty in a few minutes. Jean took one step forward, uttering quietly. "Just in case any of them break into the mansion, promise me you'll protect the students."

Truth be told, I was surprised that she asked me this, and realizing I stayed silent, I was kind of forced to agree. "Um… yeah, sure. You can count on me."

Before leaving, Jean gave me a grateful smile, then went along to group up with the others.

Was I really going to just sit here and watch everything through the cameras? Of course not! Revealing my hand this early only presents more problems for me, but nothing wrong observing from the side just in case anything happens.

Sitting cross-legged on the iron floor, I entered my Astral Form and went up to the surface, wanting to get a close-up view. Right in the wide and open field. Magneto and his Brotherhood were taking it one step at a time, seemingly in no rush at all.

Magneto's Brotherhood consisted of himself, Toad, Pyro, Mastermind, Juggernaut, Blob with the Scarlett Witch and Quicksilver to round it off. I was surprised to see the Maximoff twins were here, which begs some questions that may come up in the future when speaking about canon, but that will be an interesting thought process when I come to it. So far, let's spin the indisputable fact that canon is thrown out the window with this.

Aside from the twins, who wore a more normal set of clothes, everyone else had a resemblance to their various comic outfits with a modernized and appealing look to them. Magneto, who wore black spandex mixed in with some red accents, his helmet having a similar color scheme and purple cloak, had various armor pieces around his body for an extra layer of protection, flew several feet off the ground with his chest out and arms wide, radiating with pride.

I crossed my legs and leaned back slightly to get in a good position. Just in time as the fully lined up X-Men got within range of the Brotherhood.

----------------------------------------

While Charles may have appeared calm on the outside, the same couldn't be said within his mind.

Going faster than any of his teammates, he easily took the lead, just like Erik did with his own group who emerged from the woods. Charles wasn't sure how well their talk will go, but he has to at least try. No matter how their views may differ, entering another nonsensical fight is the last thing he wants.

"Charles, how good it is to see you again." Erik called out to his old friend, a mix of sarcasm and sincerity.

"I would say the same thing to you, Erik, but we both know you didn't come here for a friendly visit." Charles said in a neutral tone, stopping when the two could easily talk to one another.

"Don't be so quick to judge, but knowing you, you'll only see this as a one-sided attack."

"Oh, pardon me, the proper term you would use would be "recruitment", if I'm not mistaken?"

"Your students, just like other members of your team are just wasting their time, the real change happens with me."

"Seems like you managed to find new followers for your cause, haven't you?" Charles said while eying the new additions to Erik's group.

"Not to worry, I was just about to give you a proper introduction," Erik flew back to the brown-haired girl and silver-haired boy, placing an arm around them both. "Charles, meet my daughter and son, Wanda and Pietro!"

Upon hearing their names, Pietro flashed a cocky smile with his arms crossed, while Wanda looked off to the side, not particularly glad about the sudden spotlight brought upon her.

Charles, on the other hand, was at a loss for words. "If this is your attempt at having a sense of humor, it isn't working."

"What makes you think I'm lying?"

"Erik, I've known you for a good portion of my life, and had many, many encounters, surely I would have picked up on the fact of you having offspring." Charles said in a more aggressive tone.

"True, I did only find out about them recently, but nevertheless, we have a lot of catching up to do," Erik said smugly while lifting himself into the air. "Our first outing is just this, me showing them the true way of life!"

Charles merely scoffed. "Don't make me say the same thing for the umpteenth time, Erik. What you're doing here means nothing, the end goal you have in mind will change nothing, only add more fuel to the fire."

"Oh, that's where you're wrong, my dear friend," Erik responded this time around in a calmer tone than the other times this topic comes up. "For decades, we stayed silent, forced into hiding. Clinging to the shadows as a resort to even stay alive. Until now. You know it too, Charles. You pay attention. The world as a whole doesn't know what to believe anymore. First, we have Stark throwing himself a parade, then a creature with enough power to decimate an entire neighborhood with ease. This is our time to make our presence known to the world. After everything that's happened, after everything we've endured, I refuse to stand a single day longer in silence!"

"We both know the way you plan to present yourself to the world, by doing so you'll only make them feel frightened. This takes time, Erik, you know that." Charles tried reasoning with him.

"I've told you, I'm done waiting."

Erik proceeded to call out other members of the X-Men, Jean in particular. Honestly, she was getting irritated each time the man singled her out. Seems like he started noticing that her powers were improving, making herself stand out for his revolution. No matter how many times he tries to persuade her, the answer will never change. Sure, it might take another fight and everything she's got to make sure herself and her teammates make it out with minor injuries at least.

Nevertheless, she doesn't plan on going easy on them if they try anything stupid.

John Allerdyce on the other hand, was losing his patience. Just like many times before, the same discussion was ending in the exact same way, and it was irritating him to no end. His only saving grace is that soon enough, he'll be able to let out some steam. Besides, their goal was inside the school, not here. To spice up the already dull formula, a change was in order.

The pyromaniac made his move the moment his leader was wrapping up his little speech, running past him to throw his left arm out, creating a small spark of fire. That single spark was enough to form multiple large fire projectiles, with Charles being their closest target.

Charles was surprised and shocked by the attack. He did sense what his intentions were beforehand, but he didn't have that kind of mobility to evade the attack. It wasn't until Kurt suddenly appeared behind him, grabbing a hold of his wheelchair and teleporting the two out before the flames hit him, with Jean creating a wide force field to act as a shield.

"Thank you, Kurt." Charles thanked his student, turning to look at him with the rest of the team.

"You should really stop going all by yourself only to be open for an attack, Professor…" The dark blue fur-colored mutant expressed with an exhausted sigh.

"Alright, I've had enough." Logan said with a growl, crossing his arms in an X to release his blades. Charles and Scott tried preventing Logan from rushing head-first, but there was no stopping him. Just as he blasted off into a sprint, Laura drew her own claws, easily catching up to her father.

Pyro was going to make another attack but was quickly slapped across the face when Erik swopped down to his position, muttering something under his breath. The one time he decides to discuss his goal peacefully, the pyromaniac has to mess it up. Even to go on his own, he's yet to realize who was in charge. Only a sign to tighten the leash so this doesn't happen again. Turning back to the Wolverine and his… daughter. With two swipes of his hand, he sent the Wolverine hurtling off to the side, about to hit Laura as well. The black-haired girl effortlessly sidestepped the hit, knowing there's not much that she could do for him. As a result, Logan crashed near the trees, taking out chunks of the green field until they came to a stop.

Laura kept moving forward, closing the gap between herself and her targets. Wanda shot out long red energy beams to try and stop the assassin.

She wasn't sure what kind of projectile was heading her way, but it made no difference as she was quicker, none of the projectiles landing. However, what she didn't take into account was for one of the beams she dodged to pull her leg from behind, holding her upside down briefly before being tossed far away.

Seeing how carelessly his teammates were tossed like ragdolls, Scott couldn't just do nothing. Ignoring Jean and everyone else, Scott ran a bit, firing numerous and strong ruby-red optic beams at the Master of Magnetism. Instead of blocking them himself, he let his daughter have the honor. With a flick of her wrists, Wanda formed a dark-reddish aura around her arms, sending out red bolts leaving out a faint trail. As they met, Wanda's bolts easily canceled out Scott's optic beams, quickly turning grey before evaporating. Scott went off to the side, trying to get in a few sneak attacks at least. Wanda, a little was taken aback from how quickly the new beams were coming, managed to match them in the last second.

Wanda drew her hands closer to her chest, then throwing them out widely, releasing a red wave of energy towards Scott. The leader tried dodging the attack, but when the wave hit the ground around him, it threw him off balance, the wave knocking Scott away when it hit him. Jean used her powers to catch him, lowering him near the Professor.

Seeing as the time for talk was over, Sabretooth, Blob and Toad charged, with Pyro right behind them. The Juggernaut took two steps, before Erik raised his hand, signaling him and Wanda to stay behind. He then commanded Avalanche to shake things up a little. Within seconds, due to Avalanche's influence, the flat grass field was quickly destroyed, first causing a large rift before distorting the area as a whole, large rocks erupting from the ground in the process. Scott was back on his feet, increasing the intensity of his beams, then fired away at Avalanche, who was too occupied to dodge his attack.

If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.

Logan, taking the opportunity while Magneto was distracted, tried going for a sneak attack. Erik was the one to spot him coming from the side, but it was Juggernaut who stopped him from advancing further. Swinging his abnormally large hand, Logan had to stop in his tracks to duck. Just as he was about to stand, his body froze, making him take the Juggernauts backhand, sending him crashing towards a nearby tree.

Unable to stand, Logan had to bare a kick to his ribs that sent him deeper into the forest. Magneto kept his eyes set on the wild beast, allowing Marco to have his thrill. What he didn't expect was an optic beam to hit his right shoulder. Cyclops and Storm were firing away as they moved closer, aiming at Magneto but some almost hit the other members.

Storm was flying over the battlefield, forming clouds in the clear blue sky. Hard rain began, with lightning bolts that were focused on the Brotherhood. Unus created a psionic field around her, which caused Storm to be stuck in place, unable to move. That resulted in taking a wide blast of red energy to the chest, causing her to come crashing down, Jean catching her before she hit the ground.

Beast was going up against Sabretooth, with Nightcrawler teleporting Colossus on top of him to catch him off guard. Unus pushed Blob forward, crashing into Colossus and Sabretooth with only Beast sidestepping him. Laura regrouped with the team, her eyes set on Sabretooth. Slashing away, it didn't affect the wild-beast in the slightest, but was enough to distract him. The rest of the X-Men could focus on other matters, such as the second towering giant they had deal with. Nightcrawler, alongside Rogue, teleported behind Blob, absorbing some of his power and making him take a knee, allowing Colossus to hit in his right temple. With another earthquake, the team was divided into smaller groups.

Back on her feet, Storm made sure to stop Pyro, aiming to extinguish the fire. Jean's priority was keeping Magneto, his daughter and Unus in line. While they had experience with almost all of them, and being slippery as they were, it was only a matter of time before they overpower them.

The most trouble that they faced was Magneto's children, one being unreasonably fast and the other a powerhouse. Pietro easily took them by surprise while long-range projectiles caused further problems. With an already created psionic field, Unus sent Laura, Scott, Rogue and Colossus flying back, but not before Scott shot a beam at him, knocking him back as it hit his stomach. The others regrouped back with Charles, Jean protecting them as they made their way back.

"Marco," Erik turned his head slightly to the towering giant, who just tossed Wolverine away like it was nothing. "Put an end to this dispute, if you so please."

"On it." The Juggernaut spoke with a smirk. With his very first step, the ground started to shake, knocking off several members of the Brotherhood in the process. Each step felt like its own earthquake. The X-Men members began preparing their counter strike to fend off against the approaching menace. It was never easy to figure out the correct way of stopping him, but they had to try their best. Jean, Colossus, Ororo Scott and Hank were the first ones on the ready, planning to throw him in a different direction, while other members caught Jean's mental warning, getting back up and getting into their own positions. Logan and Laura grouped up, ready to spring back into action on a moment's notice.

Within a few seconds, the Juggernaut will be within their range.

What nobody expected was a ring with golden sparks began forming in Juggernaut's way, drastically increasing in size, cold air coming through the other side. Increasing just enough for the tall giant to pass through, then began falling towards the snow. All that was heard was a loud boom when the man hit the ground, with the ring-closing completely.

While the members of the Brotherhood were stunned at the sudden disappearance of their comrade. Their moment was short-lived however, when long pink crystals fell from the sky, exploding the moment they touched the ground. All of them were tossed to the side, all expect Blob who just fell on his side.

Another ring appeared a few meters off the ground, a figure with a mask, wearing some sort of set of robes fell, easily landing on the ground, straightening himself and crossing his arms. Only one group knew about this new arrival.

----------------------------------------

"Sorry. Thought I might level the playing field."

I wasn't quite sure how they planned to deal with that walking mountain, but it would be beneficial for everyone if he was out of the picture sooner rather than later. Guess it's better to reveal myself to the Brotherhood than letting them struggle with Juggernaut. I had more than enough time to figure out what would work best against them, all except Magneto, that's the only one I'm not a hundred percent sure of so I have one shot to neutralize him.

Luckily, I observed the mutants long enough to analyze them, giving enough time to pick my spells and plan in what order to go.

Meanwhile, across the field.

Now, who could this be?

Erik on the other hand was intrigued by how quickly The Unstoppable Juggernaut was removed from the brawl, and even forced back everyone else. How greedy of his old friend, he wouldn't even give them a proper introduction, going as far to not include him on his little team. While he was pleased a fresh new mutant was present, it also sparked curiosity as well.

Let's do a test.

"Pyro, by all means."

Pyro, now having the permission, spread his arms wide, releasing another wave of fire from his built-in flamethrower. When the size itself was massive, he manipulated the flame to grow in size, increasing about four times in comparison. While the size was remarkable, so was the speed.

Raising my hands, my fingers danced as they completed the required moves, sending out singular transpired blue ripples from each hand, quickly spreading. When they both met, the flames began turning into glass shards, the effect going off quickly all around. The glass shards simply floated above me, moving at a very slow speed. Fire, compared to all other elements, was relatively easy to remove and turn into something else, so long as the field was placed in time. I was pushed back while maintaining my position. As the last bit of the flame was transformed, I flipped my hand around to make all the shards rotate to the sharper end, sending all of them back where they originally came from.

All of the Brotherhood members ran back, only Magneto and his children stood in place. Wanda was the one to act, waving her hands to form the red aura and spread it all around them, cocooning themselves from the attack.

Magneto paced slowly in the air, observing this new arrival with interest. "Seems like you've found yourselves a new member as well, Charles." The Master of Magnetism said loudly enough for almost everyone to hear.

"I told you to stay back," Scott said furiously as he and most of the team came up behind me.

"And yet, somehow, my plan seemed more preferable than letting that giant rip someone in half," I said sarcastically while eyeing Scott with my head slightly turned. "Seemed the logical thing to do."

"Erik Lehnsherr, what a pleasant surprise."

Magneto raised an eyebrow. "So, you know who I am?"

"And a lot more about what you do, can't say I'm much of a fan," I told him, wanting to say a whole lot of other things but decided not to.

"Then it's a shame we meet on such circumstances. I'm sure they've already filled your head with stories about me. I'd like for you to know that they tend to over exaggerate certain aspects. But tell me, friend, I trust you know many things about me, while I still don't even know your name."

"That's not of importance," I stated just loudly enough for him to hear. "Not to you, anyway."

Magneto grumbled. "No need to be rude, after all. We're all the same here, it be best if we were all properly acquainted."

"Just so you know, your little attempt at persuading me for your cause won't work, I'm not a mutant. So you might as well drop this."

Right after hearing this, Magneto's mood instantly changing. "What?" he growled, slowly clenching his fist before releasing it slightly. "Then answer me this, what is your business being here?"

"Just passing by. But now since I have the chance, I'm here to dispose of a nuisance, that being you."

"See, Charles?!" Magneto roared with burning rage. "Another perfect example of how humanity interferes. They can't help themselves, now someone who knows of our existence wants us dead!"

All the while Magneto expressed his rage, his hand didn't stay still for a single moment.

"Oh, for Christ's sake, then allow me to be more specific!" I interrupted his little speech of nonsense. "I don't have a problem with mutants as a whole, I have a problem with you. You're out of line, pal, a dangerous one at that. You seem to not understand the consequences of your actions, and believe me, do they attract attention. It's not only me you should worry about, but you'll also have your share of enemies soon enough. With sheer luck, I get to be the first of many."

"You're playing a dangerous game, child," sneered Magneto, his fingers slowly moving back and forth. "It would be wise that you don't test my patience. This is your final warning, step aside now, and don't interfere."

"I ain't scared of a man whose only goal is to tower over humanity, and I surely don't have the tolerance to watch said man leave a trail of chaos behind him. History has already shown us what happens to people like you, the only thing in your future that's for certain is your downfall."

"Very well, have it your way then."

Magneto said grimly, a grin spreading across his lips as he hastily balled his fist.

Noticing a faint sound of something flying at high speed, something that wasn't there a moment ago, Hank spotted a metal spear in the corner of his eye.

"Look out!"

Before his target could even turn, a metal spear pierced through his spine, going all the way until it went out of his chest. There wasn't much time for anyone to even act before more thin and lengthy spears embedded themselves all around his body. In a span of a few short seconds, Erik easily disposed of the real nuisance.

All of the X-Men members were beyond shocked, especially Charles. He knew Erik wouldn't take too kindly if he knew a non-mutant interfered with his plans, but not like… this! With this, the Professor knew that his friend no longer had any concern when someone, especially non-mutants, was in his way. Charles gripped the arm of his chair tightly, gritting his teeth in anger.

"If only the boy stayed silent."

Logan and Laura, who watched from the sidelines, we're wide-eyed

With a wave of his hand, Magneto lifted up Logan off his feet, hovering slightly over Laura. Slamming his hand down, Logan fell right atop of his daughter instantly, pinning them both down onto the grass. Laura tried slipping away, but it was no use, and that only made her more enraged, how easily he was able to stop them.

Back with the team, not a word was said between any of them, not fully comprehending the sight before them. The only one to even step forward was Jean, but couldn't do more than one step at a time at first, before rushing towards him. Her eyes were wide as dinner plates, not sure where to look at all, wherever she looked it only made her more nauseous. They were everywhere. Almost every single important area of the body was damaged, and the blood was gushing by the number of wounds. Jean didn't want to, she really didn't want to face the truth, but it was impossible for anyone to withstand this much damage.

Without realizing it, she was on her knees next to him, her voice trembling. "E-Ethan…?"

All that she got as a response was a slight twitch of the head with a gargle, more blood dripping from underneath his mask. It only made it more painful for her to see.

His body got pulled forward, barely responsive on his own accord. Snapping her head towards the Brotherhood, Magneto held his hand out.

"No…!"

Quickly rising to her feet, Jean threw her hand out, using her powers to stop him from being dragged away. It may be too late, but Jean won't let him defile his body any longer. Usually, her concentration wouldn't be this off, but with her hand shaking heavily and mind in a state of disbelief, she was losing focus rather quickly. Before she could put more effort to bring him back, one of the metal beams was pulled out of his back towards her rapidly, forcing her to break her focus entirely to stop the weapon from wedging itself into her skull.

Because of this, Jean didn't have another chance to bring him back, as his body was now too far out of reach.

"As I said, Charles, I'm done waiting for change. So I'll be the one who will make a real change," Magneto turned his attention to the dead corpse floating in front of him. "A shame, really, but it had to be done. The first of many, but all for the greater good. This is a prime example of how humans react when they feel threatened by our kind. They always have to interject themselves into our affairs. Killing me in cold blood wouldn't simply stop how humans would view mutants. That was his first mistake, opposing me.

"I'll be the catalyst for us mutants!" Magneto roared. "From this day forward, no one will stand in our way! The quicker they learn, the more mercy I will show. It's as simple as that, my dear friend. To teach them a lesson, a proper demonstration is needed. Humans will never change, it's in their nature to feel frightened of those who are different, and that gives birth to hatred. I've witnessed it first-hand, and I will not rest until I know that won't ever happen again. Change starts today, with me leading it and trust me, I'll show humanity the full wrath and extent of the superior race!"

Magneto announced proudly, widely spreading his arms with a smile on his face, nobody answering back at him.

"You know what your problem is?"

Interrupted at the end of his speech, Magneto lost all focus on his current thoughts to find the source of the voice that was relatively close to him. Magneto was shocked when the head of the boy he just killed rose up slowly at him. The Brotherhood, who looked at his direction, were all shocked to see the human was still alive. As for the X-Men, they weren't sure what was happening on their end, only for Charles who read the minds of the others, his eyes widening upon reading their thoughts.

"You've got a massive ego, and that's going to be your downfall."

Before Magneto had a chance to do anything, a swarm of black ravens morphed out from his bleeding body, all of them aiming for Magneto. One managed to fly across his face, leaving three deep slash marks on his face that were revealing, making him cry out in pain. They were too fast and were coming from every possible direction. Magneto tried flying away, but wherever he would go, the birds followed.

He pulled several spears out of the body and formed additional protection to cover his exposed, yet damaged face, while also shaping them into thin sharp blades, spinning them at an intense speed then making them rotate all around his own body. While the armor protected his chest, other parts of his body received deep cuts, the metal not attaching in time to increase his defenses. Wherever he went to fly away, the birds prevented him from going far, pushing him back by some kind of force, leaving him only to keep as much distance whatever opening was available while mowing them apart.

Wanda and Pietro tried assisting their father, with the other members trying to help as well, but only more birds were born from the human's body. Due to them being too elusive, it was difficult to destroy them.

The X-Men weren't particularly sure what was going on but could see the body of their new acquaintance slowly disintegrating away as more birds morphed out of his body.

"What's happening...?" Scott said, confused, taking a step further to get a better angle.

"I can't say for certain, but all of them seem to be going into panic mode." Charles spoke while reading all of their minds to get their point of view.

"That means that isn't the real Ethan, right?" Kurt asked as he looked around them before looking back down at the Brotherhood.

"But where is he then?" Jean said worryingly.

"Right here, of course."

I chirped as jumped slightly behind them, shocking them all at my sudden appearance. Damn, I got them good, hah.

"Jesus! My dude," Kurt whipped the sweat of his forehead, before giving me a look of disbelief. "Never, never do that again..."

"What? What's a magic trick with a little suspense?" I said easily while scrolling through the pages and summoning the Green-Jaded Hook. I felt satisfied with the execution, and that I have about a twenty more second window before it all goes to waste, better wrap this up.

"But how did you know of his attack? There was little time for any of us to even react." Charles asked.

"The moment I cast my first spell, of course," I replied as I coated the hook with a dark blue aura, which prompted a few additional blades to come out from the side as the color changed to a cobalt blue. "For the finale…"

I spun around, setting my sights on Magneto, who was still trapped within the flock of ravens. Winding up, I threw the hook in his direction, rapidly increasing speed as it traveled. When close, the birds made an opening to let the hook reach its target. It wrapped around his torso in a matter of moments. Opening my right hand, a green flame appeared before it coated my entire hand. I slammed the chain, all the way until it reached the ground. The rest of the chain started falling down like it weighed a few tons. Once it reached Magneto, it slammed him into the ground.

Just like that, he can forget about flying away. Only by my own means well he will be able to even be lifted off the ground.

Tossing the chain to the side, I won't have to worry about it being broken or taken away. It would only respond to me and would take a great deal of power to break it, and I don't plan to give Wanda the chance to do so.

I turned to the X-Men members behind me. "Okay, now we can continue."

Scott walked up, giving me a sharp glare before turning to the other members. "Alright, people, let's move!"

Everyone was riled up to start the second round, their expressions showing nothing but determination. Not a second later, we all broke into a run, Jean on my right with Nightcrawler on my left.

Avalanche made another earthquake, distorting the ruined field even further. The whole team went on their separate ways, eying individual opponents for a more preferable match up. My first goal was to go around the whole damaged/broken terrain, opting to have a clear view rather than behind a rock that only blocks my vision. I had my sights set on the more powerful mutants to take out, but needed to keep my distance as well.

Jean and I were going off to the left, as cracks on the ground quickly managed to create distance between everyone. Jean easily tossed the incoming rocks off to the side, making our way to the parts of the field that weren't damaged, yet.

A long silhouette emerged, the source coming upwards. Both of us looked up, finding Laura kneeling on top of a rock a few meters away, a face with murderous intentions with her claws out.

"Laura?" Jean asked softly while looking at her friend and teammate, only to receive a fierce growl from the black-haired girl before lunging at us. Using her telekinesis, Jean merely sent Laura flying back to not harm her. Using her claws, Laura caught onto the rock she was just on, kicking herself off to make another assault.

This time, Jean used her powers to throw numerous rocks to block her off. Laura easily jumped from rock to rock, managing to dodge anything that came her way. While Jean was already distracting her, I conjured a simple chain spell that will keep her in place. Jean seemed to catch on with my idea, with me placing the chain behind the rock before Jean threw it at Laura. Just as her claws met the stone, my little trick quickly trailed to her arm, while also tightly sticking onto the rock. It quickly wrapped itself around her body, not allowing her to dodge this time. Jean used her powers to shoot her away, for the time being, giving us a moment to think about what to do next.

Jean looked to the other side of the battlefield, finding Logan facing off against Scott and Piotr. "They're under the influence by one of the enemy mutants."

"You know how to bring them to normal?" I asked her while staying focused in case Laura tried to sneak up on us.

"I did it before, but two at once is more difficult. Plus having them be distracted is a nice bonus if possible. Right now, I doubt we'll get enough time to deal with both of them

"Can you take care of Logan? I'll handle Laura."

"I can keep him still while the Professor does the rest. As for Laura, are you sure? She can be a little… too fierce to take on alone." Jean argued.

"Think I'll survive," I said reassuringly while looking for the mutant responsible. "I'll take care of that one so he doesn't do it again."

Jean stood still before giving me a confident smile. "Alright, take care of yourself out there."

"Likewise."

With that, Jean was off, using her powers to levitate herself towards her teammates.

Turning my attention to the Mastermind, who was left behind, unable to do much on his own as Quicksilver was somewhere else. Perfect. I clasped my hands together, creating a small bird with four wings, each part of its body entirely made silver energy rings. The bird quickly flew across the battlefield, locking onto Mastermind. When the man noticed something was heading towards him, he tried running away. Once it was close, the rings on its body separated to form multiple chains, first tying up his legs before locking his entire body of any movement.

That will keep him out of the fight for good.

I was done just in time to lock onto Laura again, going around the large pieces of rock for a stealthier approach. Without thinking twice, I retreated into the debris, a spell ring in one hand with my other going back forth to summon dark brown vines from every rock possible, latching onto her arms and legs. Just as new vines would grab her, she would effortlessly cut off the old ones. I had to look back repeatedly while moving so I wouldn't fall.

Her agility and speed were incredible, and nothing to underestimate. With each jump, she would evade several vines, making it so we were only a few meters apart. When the vines got a hold of her left upper arm, she ran up until she was twisted to her left, using the opportunity to lead with a kick, a singular Adamantium claw quickly coming out of her boot that aimed for my sides. The spell ring was large enough to meet the sharp tip at the very edge but still close for comfort. If it wasn't for the vines that slowed her down, I'd probably be sliced in half from this position.

I could have done whatever I wanted to get her off my tail, but that wasn't the goal. I needed to cleanse her mind, and I had one option that works fast. Releasing my shield, I placed my hand behind my back and began channeling my needed spell. I had to be quicker now since I had no protection, nonetheless, my vines managed to keep her away long enough. What I was making was a Cleansing Orb, its outer shell being made out of what resembled glass with white strings flowing inside to enter the mind of your desired target for repairs.

"Come on, Laura! I know you find me annoying but you don't have to cut me into pieces now!" I tried calling out to her to try to keep myself calm while not trying to end up like a kebab. The orb was ready to go, but I'll have to get a clean and effective shot to make sure it properly clears her head.

"Don't be mad at me for this, Laura."

I waited for her to lung at me again, that's when I would strike. With her arms wide, she lunged forward, right into my trap. With my fingers, I controlled a few vines to grab her legs in order to pull her back. On the ground, she went to cut off the vines holding her legs, before more of them grabbed a hold of her arms, additional vines tying themselves around each other to keep Laura in place. Right now, she was on her knees with her head lowered.

She raised her head just in time for me to slam the orb right in her forehead, glass shards dispersing everywhere before disappearing, and the white strings slowly entering her head. The black-haired woman kneeled back down, releasing multiple whimpers as she closed her eyes shut. I made the vines disappear, with me grabbing her before she hit the ground. Seeing two rays of red in the corner of my eye, I pushed us towards the rock, letting her lean on it before she regained her senses. That same beam wasn't too far from hitting us. The beam came from Scott who tried landing a shot on Toad, who jumped on top of him, messing with his visor, while the other came from Wanda assisting her team. Toad jumped just as Blob slapped Scott with his overly sized hand, sending him flying back.

Avalanche, alongside Pyro were keeping Jean and Colossus from having an easier time helping Logan. Neither the Professor in a safe enough range to clean his mind.

In the center of the distorted field, which had some even ground, held everyone else. Rogue was dodging blows from Blob, while landing some of her own hits, and was coming out on top. Some members of the two teams were out of sight for now, but changes quickly happen in the battlefield.

Pyro made it very difficult for the X-Men to advance further, keeping them at bay with two giants made out of flame. Jean was able to keep the flames in place, the only problem being that Pyro used his flamethrower to increase the overall size tremendously. Throwing her hand out and clenching her fist, she crushed the compartments on his arms, nullifying his ability to create more fire.

With another wave, she knocked Pyro off his feet, breaking his concentration on manipulating the fire, leaving Jean with enough time to extinguish it.

Looking back down, Laura finally seemed to be coming to. Slowly opening her eyes, she blinked several times while looking around herself. When her eyes widened a little when they landed on me. "E-Ethan?" Laura asked with a hint of confusion.

"Hey there, sleepyhead," I greeted Laura. "Sorry if I hit you too hard in the head, would have used a different method but this one was the quickest."

Laura still seemed taken aback with me in front of her "What happened back there? I'm positive I saw that Magneto killed you."

"You missed the twist, a shame really, it was a good one too," I shook my head playfully, turning back the situation at hand. "But enough chit-chat, you should go help them, think they might need your help."

Laura looked in the direction I was facing, eyes widening when her father came into view. "He's under the same influence as you were. Jean and the Professor will get him back to normal. You should go and help them."

"What will you do?"

"I have my own plan on how to put an end to this fight. Eliminating their hard hitters is a must. Don't worry, i'll pull my own weight."

It took her a moment to fully digest everything. But not long after, her eyes narrowed, with her claws popping out as well, ready to take action.

"Oh, and before you go," I said hastily while pulling her back down. On the palm of my hand, a silver rune appeared, letting out a faint glow. I grabbed Laura's hand and squeezed it firmly two times, transferring the Rune over to her. When done, she looked at the mark with confusion. "It's a Rune that will create a force field around anyone or anything it touches. From my observation, Magneto can toss Logan and Colossus around since he has control over that kind of metal. It has two charges, one for each of them, with about a twenty-minute window before it expires. Make sure you use it on them, a single touch should do it."

With the newfound information, Laura nodded as she clenched her fist, jumping to her feet and set her sights on her father and teammate.

Having done that, I made my way out, using the same route where I had my little dance with Laura. While making preparations for my next spell, I was hit from my right side, throwing me off my balance and tumbling to the ground. It came so fast, leaving little reaction time. I did notice a faint trail coming towards me, but by then it was already too late. Rolling on to my chest, I saw the silver-haired speedster, standing over me with a smug expression on his face.

"You have to be quicker than that."

The mutant taunted before vanishing, leaving a faint bluish trail that quickly went away. Just as I got up on my knee, I received a kick to my stomach, knocking the wind out of me while throwing me back. I didn't even land on the ground before I was hit again, propelling me in another direction. This continued on for a bit, kicking me around like a soccer ball. Due to my slight enhanced durability, I was able to take the repeated hits until it started piling up,

Having little breathing room, I was limited to what I could do, but it was enough to buy me some time. I cast a Sound Bomb from my hand. I wasn't worried about him reacting to it, as to him it was practically invisible, and when it's ready it will explode automatically. For me, there wasn't any difference since my mask was enchanted to protect me from such an attack.

As for Quicksilver, not so much.

This sent the speedster hurdling to the ground, clutching his ears shut while still moving on the ground like a wild animal. He went out of sight to recover, still unable to take his hands off his ears.

"That's it, I've lost my patience." I muttered under my breath while on my chest, taking out my dagger. Covering it with a lime green aura that appeared in my other hand. The blade was lit with green energy, and for the final piece, I made a small ice crystal, before it was sucked into the blade, flashing blue and white lines into the green blade. When it was ready, I plunged the dagger into the ground.

Looking around, I spotted Quicksilver leaning onto a tree with his eye-brow raised while cleaning his ears. With a shrug, the speedster zoomed off, nothing but a faint trail that followed him. When he got into range, his speed drastically decreased as he started slipping on the grass, like the surface was made out of ice. Furthermore, thick vines grew from the ground, following him like wild snakes. As they grabbed a hold of his legs, it wasn't long before he fell entirely, the vines sprayed across his body, tying him up like a neatly wrapped present.

I got up and walked to Quicksilver, who was about eight meters away. When the dagger was placed, about thirty meters of the area was equivalent to walking on ice, without the area changing at all. The vines were also part of the marked area, whatever walks in its path will track it down and immobilize it, with it working to predict its targets movements.

That was step one, as for step two…

I slightly sped up to wind-up, kicking the silver-haired youth right in the jaw. The vines hardly let him budge, and without any help, he should be there for a while.

"That's for being a prick."

My moment of payback was short-lived as I saw a red energy wave vastly heading towards me. Throwing my hands in the air, my thumbs simultaneously moving down to project dozens of thin blue lines before me. I was pushed back slightly when her attack met my shield, but I refused to let up. The blue lines absorbed the red blast, leaving behind purple particles as they mixed.

As they slowly disappeared, the figure of one very angry Chaos Magic-user came into view, slowly walking with balled fists that were covered in red vapor.

"You so much as touch my brother again, I'll promise you'll regret it." Wanda Maximoff threatened, her voice dripping with anger.

"In my defense, he started it."

"Then I'll be the one to end it."

"Fair enough. Now, shall we dance?" I bowed slightly, quite eager to see how well I fair against another magic-user.

The girl merely scoffed at my remark, not fond of how my mannerisms were on the lighter side. Wanda slowly walked off to the side, her eyes fixated on me all the while, so I decided to follow along. It was like a Western Shootout, with each second becoming more and more suspenseful. She was nervous, I can tell that much, but she still carried herself with confidence.

Seems I'll be the one who does the first move.

Crossing my arms to form an "X", two green crystals forming in my hands. I threw the crystals at her, their size expanding while traveling with parts of the crystals broke off, a whole swarm of them now heading her way.

Acting quickly, Wanda formed a shield around her. Upon impact, miniature explosions came when the crystals shattered. The smaller crystals weren't a problem, but the larger ones were more difficult to fend off. When all of them exploded, she amplified her shield, now resembling a massive red wave of energy with three spheres of lighter shades of the same color floating inside.

When it was ready, she unleashed her barrage. Just from the looks of it, Wanda put in some extra juice, burning the grass as her projectile traveled. Now knowing I was able to grab her own energy and use it as my own, even if it would be a small portion, I can use it against her.

Behind my arms, two see-through containers appeared. Shooting my hands out, the containers flew into the air to meet her projectile. They started to suck in the energy, but not all of it though. While they did reduce the size and intensity, I wasn't safe yet. I quickly started walking backwards to evade the cracks on the ground that were forming from her wave.

My left sleeve was burnt as a result, up until my elbow, but all of the energy was absorbed.

With a slight move of my pinky finger, my book opened on my desired page. Now having an abundance of her energy to use, I was able to create a few creatures with relative ease than in normal circumstances. The wild energy that was stored was used to make my new companions, the energy itself transforming on its own.

The first creature was a Land Shark. Its head was bullet-shaped, thin eyes on the far side of its head. It was roughly three meters long and a meter tall. A long maw with two sets of teeth were visible. It also sported two sets of legs, the ones on the front more bulky and had sharper claws. The whole top part of the shark seemed to be reinforced with an additional shield for protection

The second creature was a wolf, its body looked like it was made out of thousands of little ruby crystals, Wanda's glowing energy flowing inside its body, giving it an illuminated appearance.

The last one was a hawk, the edge of its wings, and claws glowing a darker shade of red. I had a blob of the energy in my hand that I simply tossed to the ground behind me.

With my little performance set up, it was time for a counter-attack.

The land shark jumped slightly off the ground, before diving into the soil, its large body leaving outlines where it traveled, but its speed was amazing. The Wolf was the second to follow, with the Bird starting off last.

Wanda's face was in shock when she witnessed that her own power was used to make these... creatures! Her eyes shot to the ground, quickly spotted the trail of soil raised from the shark-like creature. Squeezing her hand, the area she aimed for, red trails touched the ground, beginning to crush from the inside. It destroyed chucks of the ground with no effort but was still unable to hit her target.

Spotting the creature's arm due to one of the holes in the ground, she was able to pull it out, since she was able to sense and control her own energy she could see, she was able to defend herself. Fully pulling out the creature was more difficult than she imagined, but once she had a firm grip the shark was plucked out of the ground, a mere two meters apart. Even though she was able to contain it, the shark would make an attempt to jump forwards, its maw barely out of reach from Wanda's position. She tried crushing the monstrosity, only parts of the armor cracking for now.

Realizing that two other threats were coming, she looked around, seeing the wolf speeding across towards her, she would have to retract one hand to hold it off, while potentially losing her hold on the shark. As a solution, she ripped the shark's abnormally large arm off, throwing it in the wolf's direction, piercing through its chest and immobilizing it.

What Wanda failed to notice was the bird swooping in from above.

"Gahh!"

Wanda shut her eyes, hissing as the bird scratched her upper right arm, leaving three slash marks. Ignoring the pain, Wanda's eyes shot wide open, radiating a dark-red glow, her anger drastically rising. Closing her fist, she put enough force necessary to crush the shark. The creature roared as its body was being crushed from within, the monster's head and lower body were pulled from the inside, crippling the creature, but still moved its arm and whatever was left of its tail. Raising both her hands into the air, she sent the wolf and shark hurdling at the hawk. It was able to avoid them both, leaving the bird caught in-between. Right then, the two energy creatures exploded, incinerating the bird before it got a chance to escape.

After she eliminated all of them, with the smoke gradually fading away, Wanda's rage was only increasing.

Huh, I'll be darned.

Using both her hands, she channeled her power for a short duration, before blasting off a singular red beam.

I retorted with throwing my left arm out, shooting out a similar beam but the only difference was that it was orange. It was a mix between my own and her energy I took.

As the two beams connected, it was a battle who would overpower the other. Due to her raw power, I was slowly losing. The intensity alone was tearing whatever was left of the ground, and I'm sure I can see Wanda struggling as well.

Okay. Time to end this. While she had raw power, I know how to bend this to make me come out on top.

Charging another beam in my other arm, this time the color being blue. Shooting it alongside the orange beam, the two beams mixed together. Smaller blue streams went off to the side, evading Wanda's beam and traveling alongside it, striking Wanda in the chest, making her lose her concentration on her own beam, allowing my blast to pierce through hers. Realizing that there wasn't much time to add enough power to stop the opposing beam, Wanda decided to put a stop to it, right now. Turning both her hands over, causing the middle-point of their beams to explode. It made us both back off, while also forcing us to stop from continuing our bout.

As our respective beams went away, our bout was met with silence. On my side, I firmly stayed in place, barely getting warmed up. Wanda however, was panting heavily, using her powers to this extent was taking a toll on her body. During our moment of rest, I was able to deduct this iteration of Wanda's abilities. She had the power, loads of it, way more than an advanced sorcerer would have. Her one and fatal flaw was that she had little control. Yes, she can use her powers in quick succession and a strong enough blow might do it, but when she herself doesn't know her potential and where to start improving, she'd be only doing herself harm if that doesn't change.

"Impressive," I complimented the brown-haired girl, impressed she was still willing to fight. "I didn't know you could make me go this far just to keep up."

"I didn't know you could be this annoying." Wanda huffed angrily.

"But you know what you lack? Control. You have an amazing gift, one that comes very rarely. It would be a shame to waste it."

Wanda scoffed. "What would you know?"

"A lot, actually. With our little dance alone, I can pinpoint quite a number of things. I can give you a list if you like," I remarked wittily, adding more fuel to the fire. "Believe me when I say this, you've yet to scratch the surface of your abilities, your true potential.

"Seriously? Do you really expect me to believe any of that bullshit? What you did today only proves Father was right."

"He's using you, all of you for your powers, its plain as day," I told her loudly. "He views you all as his pawns, his soldiers to do his bidding. When one's gone another replacement is easy to find in his eyes. The only thing you're guaranteed with him is that your life will be wasted following a man who can bring nothing but death.

"I'm done talking to you," Wanda said coldly. "I'd suggest you stop wasting my time."

I could only shake my head. "I really do hope you realize sooner rather than later how corrupt his view is, and that it's not too late to make a change for yourself."

Then, a long piece of metal landed in the ground not too far away from me. Got other people to stop.

"Sorry! Would love to stick around longer, but maybe next time!" I waved slightly before mentioning one little detail. "Also, this might hurt a bit."

Wanda was confused at my remark until she heard something surfacing on the ground below her. Just as she looked down to find a mole that was made out of her powers, but its form was a lot smoother than the previous one. Latching on to her foot, an intense shock surged through her body, a loud shriek escaped her lips. With a few seconds passing, Wanda fell to the ground.

"Better to take the quicker and less extreme route than drag this out further." My eyes shifted toward the on-going battle.

It seems like this time around, they were winning. With all the trouble Wanda and Pietro caused, since this was their first encounter, they weren't sure what strategy worked. As of now, Sabretooth was duking it out with Logan and Laura, who received dozens of cuts with their combined effort. Rogue was still having to deal with Blob, as Kitty's efforts seemed to be helping. Kurt still was having trouble with Unus, but was able to hold his own.

A great deal of members on both sides seemed to be down for the count.

As for Jean, she was facing off against the "Master" himself. Even before, she was taking him from the start. While she was able to block his metal projectiles with her mind, or using rocks as a shield, the sheer number of attacks was slowly overpowering her. Looking over the half-empty container of Wanda's energy, I formed the shape of a bird, different from the first one. The creature flew out of my reach, fast, with Magneto catching sight of it, moving some of his shields to squash it. Evading most of them, the creature was finally sliced in half a few meters away from him but knocked back from the explosion the two halves caused.

I teleported right next to Jean, giving her a hand so she could stand up. By now, Magneto was already back up on his feet, getting ready for a counter-attack.

"Tag team?" Jean asked, her eyes narrowing at Magneto.

"Tag team." I agreed to her offer, taking a battle stance.

Magneto easily took apart the metal, making more weapons to aid him. When done, a flick of his hand was all that's needed to send them flying at his desired targets, us. Quickly tapping the side of my forearm, a pink hexagonal barrier instantly appearing around us, blocking the first of his attacks. The barrier was tough, making every metal spear bounce off when hitting it. Jean would be able to grab ahold of the metal, but only momentarily as Magneto wasn't giving any free chances, but the rocks around were enough.

Jean tried to keep him in place, but it was futile, it only made him angrier. With a roar, the metal that was around him was sent flying at us. Compared to moments before, the attacks were beginning to leave cracks in the barrier. Need to do the same to him.

"You can grab a hold of energy and use it as your own, right?" I asked her.

"Somewhat," replied Jean with a grunt. "What'd you had in mind?"

While still focusing on the barrier, I used my hand to form a pulsating green energy sphere, something that will last and quickly replenish itself. "Will that work?"

Hovering her hand over the sphere, Jean was easily able to take some of the energy, form various shapes at will. A smirk appeared on Jean's face. "Sure will."

Using that energy, Jean used her mind to send it flying at Magneto, evading his shields and skidding backwards as it hit his stomach. Giving a quick approving nod, Jean was already making numerous more projectiles to use. The sphere will give her as much firepower as she wanted. Now having another set of attacks, Magneto's defenses were less effective.

The armor he wore was slowly torn apart, forcing him to constantly make repairs to not reveal his exposed skin.

Seeing as now Magneto had to hold off from attacking, I had a shot as well.

Being close to the lake, I pulled some of the water towards me, growing it to an about half a meter in size as it traveled across the field. When close to Magneto, it diverged into three separate streams, each focusing a different part of his body. With our combined effort, we had him right where we wanted him. While his armor was more durable, it still wasn't able to fix itself before more projectiles would hit him. Coordinating our attacks, be both struck him at the same time, dodging most of his shields. It knocked the wind out of him, another blast to the helmet knocking down.

Seeing as he was on the ground, I commanded all the streams to strike him from above, trapping him in a large bubble. He tried getting out of it, but it kept pushing him back to the center, some of the metal falling to the ground as his hold on them was vanishing.

Jean and I moved cautiously towards him, in case something happens.

Hearing a loud scream, I had to turn to the source, finding a rampaging wave of red energy heading towards us. I put extra focus to that side of the shield, grabbing Jean by the arm to get on the ground. Sadly, the wave obliterated the shield before we got away, sending us tumbling to the ground. Once we stopped moving. I was first on my feet, quickly forming a shield around us. Due to how powerful Wanda's attacks were, it didn't last long. When Jean was able to a second layer of protection, I formed two silver cubes and pushed them off to the side. These will attract the metal flying at us, just enough for them to miss us.

Jean and I suffered a mixture of attacks, varying form cuts caused from the flying metal that barely didn't pierce our body, and the energy attacks that broke our shield before a stronger from could be made. I made numerous advances with my water bending to stop them, but with a limited supply at the moment, I couldn't do much, only able to make some defenses and slow them briefly. I tried several other spells when I got the chance, but they weren't as useful.

Magneto and Wanda pushed us back even further, bringing us closer to the lake. Our only form of protection being a ring of water with enhanced durability with another layer curiosity of Jean.

"Got any ideas?!" Jean asked loudly.

I looked behind me, I examined the area I had to work with.

"Yeah, one," I uttered slowly, still focusing on keeping the shield up. "But you'll have to cover me for a bit so I can set up!"

"Whatever it is, it better be quick!"

Jean was quick to take over in the shielding department, my sphere disappearing while her force field took over. I didn't have much time, so to take them both out, I'll have to give it my all. Clasping my hands together and closing my eyes, I tried forcing everything out of my head, leaving one simple thought in; controlling as much water as I could. With all the extra energy I saved, I could increase the amount I can control. There's no holding back for this one, so I better make it count.

Ah! I could feel a stinging sensation that started off from my head and spread across my body, meaning it's working. Thirty seconds. If I do it in thirty seconds, I'll be fine.

With most of the water from the lake under my influence, I made a towering wave that would be enough to take them out, all of them. The wave stood at about eight meters tall, while the length seemed endless while it was ever spreading. I stood in the middle of it all, a stream of water hoisting me up. Now, I could somewhat match Wanda in raw strengh, while also not having to worry about Magneto as Jean still had my back as they tried desperately to come out on top. Swinging my arm, I formed a separate pillar of water that surged forward at high speed. My control of its shape was flimsy, making it appear more wild and terrifying.

Wanda had enough time to make themselves a shield, while also trying to stop the water entirely. Just as she was able to stop it, smaller streams diverged in from the pillar, hitting Magneto and Wanda not long after. It knocked them off their feet, as the intensity of the water was amplified.

Losing precious time, and the strain on my head becoming irritating, I swung my arms out swiftly to send more and more waves at them. While on the ground, Wanda still tried to properly shield them from any possible projectiles, with Magneto creating a large enough sphere for the two.

Sadly, defense was a luxury they weren't able to obtain.

They were tossed around, not given a moment to rest because another towering wave was about to hit them. The next several seconds were nothing but blow after blow, coming at a speed and in a direction they weren't able to prepare for in time. With the number of hits I landed, I was surprised they were still able to stand.

When the chance presented itself, Magneto pulled the half-formed sphere towards him and Wanda, fully developing the sphere around them. Now that they're inside, I have my chance to get them all out of here.

Pulling my hand out, I winced as I felt the side effects becoming more apparent, the strain becoming unbearable. The strain I can live with, but the pain in the back of my head was an indication that I was reaching my limit.

Just a little more.

I sent more waves towards all of the Brotherhood. Mastermind and Quicksilver were the easiest to snatch, trapping them inside the wave. Not long after, almost everyone else was trapped as well, the only difficult ones being Sabretooth and Blob, but not even them could escape the amount of liquid that surrounded them.

The X-Men, who were fighting the remaining members, stepped back when they spotted the waves approaching.

When all of them were rounded up, I pulled my hand back to command the wave to shift its trajectory, having it go in the opposite direction, which is when I made the chain disappear. I shorten the wave in length and height, making the wave resemble a big square made of water. They were within my hold, like a neatly wrapped up present. Now to give them a one way ticket out of here, for good.

Since the wave was coming straight at me, I took the few important seconds I had left to create a portal, making it large enough for a good portion of the box to fit. It was right underneath me, growing wider with each millisecond passing. When they were close, I could faintly see their reactions.

"Enjoy the wild!"

I shouted at the Brotherhood just as they passed through the portal, dropping them off on an island far of the African coast, closing it the moment they did. Immediately after that, I mentally cut the connection from using my reserved energy, making so that any liquid that was still under my control plummet to the ground. As a result, I was falling towards the ground as well. One singular stream went upwards to catch me, then lowering me down.

I turned towards Jean, who was looking at me wide-eyed.

"See? That wasn't so hard was it?" I jokingly said.

Without even moving, I felt like my whole body was growing heavier each second that passed. Speaking of which, why can't I stop my body from leaning forward? Before I knew it, I fell face-first onto the wet grass, losing the last bit of strength I had left.

The last thing I could comprehend before blacking out was that my mask had been taken off, accompanied by some yelling I couldn't make out. Before I completely passed out, one thought was present in my mind, already getting a feeling of disappointment.

"Okay… maybe my calculations were a little off."

----------------------------------------

All of a sudden, my eyes shot wide open.

The first thing I noticed was the bright lights above me, which were irritating, to say the least, along with a machine going "beep" every second.

What happened to me? The last thing I remember was… throwing all of the Brotherhood through a portal on the other side of the world before passing out, where was I now? I seemed to be lying on some sort of bed, my eyes scanned the area, with me head turning slightly. A white ceiling with black lines running across them, light panels in every third row. Slowly turning my head to the side, I spotted Jean and Laura beside Hank, it seemed like he was explaining something to them. Okay, at least that question answered.

Did I really use every last drop I saved for me to pass out? My body feels… relatively fine, nothing seemed to be hurting. I trailed my hands across my chest, I could feel several wires were attached. Traveling along my pale chest, I stopped every time I would come across a cut, or when an area would hurt.

I tried lifting myself up slowly, unable to stay still for a second longer. Oh, that was it, and here it comes, the headache, along with pain across whatever part of my body I moved. The slightest movement was enough for me to feel like a shock ran across my entire body. With the newfound discomfort, I only moved slowly to properly sit, a long groan coming out in the process.

This seems to catch Jean's attention. "Ethan!" The redhead screamed, running towards the table I lied on.

When she got close to me, for the life of me, I couldn't find the strength to say anything, resorting to only nod with each question she asked. What was wrong with me?

"Thank goodness, you're awake," Hank came towards us with a tablet, Laura following right behind him. "You were unconscious for a few hours, we were worried there for a moment that something more severe happened."

As the two came closer, I still found myself with my mouth firmly shut. Again, what was wrong with me? All I could do is turn forward to look at anything else in the lab.

"Come on, Ethan, say something." Jean pressured on.

Deciding to give in to her request, I tried opening my mouth to say something, then immediately closing it. Okay, what the hell was-oh, oh no. Not that, not now.

"Talk to us, Ethan. If you're hurting anywhere, just tell us." Hank reassured me.

Him, Laura and Jean stared at me in complete silence, with me only blinking and turning my focus to each of them every few seconds. Not good, I don't know how long I can hold it in, if I can that is. My eyes scanned the room, trying to find some sort of solution. There it is. I looked down at the wires on my chest.

Off. Now.

I scrambled to take them all off, catching them all by surprise, even more so when I jumped off the table and ran towards the nearby sink. Luckily, it was empty when I got a closer view of it. When I got there, I couldn't hold it any longer, I vomited like I was at death's door. I came to a stop for a brief moment, regaining some strength into my arms. As I said, it was a brief moment before I lost it all and my head was back in the sink.

"There goes yesterday's dinner…"

I could hear Jean talking to me while coming up from behind me. Oh, come on, don't let her see me like this! Flipping the faucet upwards quickly to wash my face, just in case I had anything on my face.

"Are you alright?" Jean asked softly.

I turned off the water, lifting my head up to meet my reflection on the mirror on the wall. I was most definitely pale and looked like I just got out of a coma, my white skin

"Yeah, I'm okay." I slowly turned around, leaning back with my arms clutching the edge for extra support, just in case. Jean handed me a water bottle, muttering a quiet "thank you" before I took a long continuous sip before stopping, letting out a relieved sigh.

I limped back towards the table, with Jean walking beside me if I needed help, even though I told her I was fine.

"You gave us quite a scare," Hank tenderly said while repositioning one of the monitors so I can see the display. "Initially, we-"

"Yeah, yeah, yeah, listen, I would hear you a lot better, if you had some Ibuprofen or anything to kill this headache."

Hank speedily moved across the lab to find a small bottle, handing it over to me. Taking a pill out and placing it in my mouth, then drinking more water, stopping for a moment when swallowing it. Suddenly, I poured some of it on my face.

"Okay…" I said with a sigh. "I'm better now."

"We thought you might have had internal injuries in your and Jean's fight with Magneto, but once we brought you in, we soon realized that wasn't the case. Our scans didn't show such an injury, several bruises, a few cuts and severe exhaustion sure but nothing to consider life-threatening. Here, look."

Pointing with his finger and changing the screen's display, Hank went on to number a few more things, nodding every now and then. "We were wondering if you could fill us in on a few areas."

Eh, might as well explain some bits to get off the hook quicker.

"Well, there's an unspoken rule in magic," I began explaining while taking another sip. "An unspoken rule that basically means anything your mind could fathom is definitely possible. Any desire, any amount of power or knowledge is accessible if you know how to use them. If you can work around some of their rules and side-effects, you can get off scot-free from any payment necessary. What I did back there was use every last ounce of power I saved for a reserve to take them out. In normal circumstances, I'm not skilled enough yet to do heavy-based abilities on their own, so I have to resort to using the energy I stored up from before. The more I use that particular ability, the quicker I lose fuel, so to speak.

"How much did you use for you to end up out cold like that?" Laura asked.

I shrugged at her question. "Two weeks' worth, maybe? I'm back to square one in that field. One particular side-effect that's annoying is that it amplifies the strain the body takes with each spell cast with it. If properly timed, you get off with minimal damage. Overusing it too much with little supply every time can lead to more severe nerve damage."

"And yet, you used it anyway when knowing the cost?" Laura asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Eh, can't know your limits unless you confront them head-on. I'm still breathing, aren't I?" I merely shrugged with a sheepish smile. "Besides, I wasn't out that long… was I?"

"A few hours, actually," Hank corrected me.

"Ah," was all I uttered, taking a moment to fully digest. "I see…"

Hank insisted I stay a little longer, to do a few more tests for safe measure. Laura excused herself when I was on my feet and awake, but not long after, I was allowed to leave the hospital wing, Hank deeming I should be good enough to walk without any trouble. Even though I was walking slowly to avoid testing my luck, making it easy for the sake of my body. I only took a water bottle with me, not feeling like carrying anything else on me.

Jean stood by me all the while, keeping me company while we strolled around the institute, before walking outside for some fresh air, coming close to perfection as the sun started to set, not a better way to forget the thought of lying unconscious the last few hours.

I, however, wasn't thinking about that all. Okay, maybe a little bit.

For the first time in a while, I actually slept several hours in a piece without using my Astral Form to take advantage of every single second available. It was a little weird how fast I got used to ignoring the need for "proper" sleep.

I tried paying attention to whatever Jean was saying, but I kept zoning out when I would follow along. Right now, she talked about how everyone was pitching to repair all the damages caused by the battle, and that she offered to help but was told to take it easy as well. I was still trying to find a way to describe my recent showcase. To be frank, I was glad that I was able to test my capabilities, now I have a measuring chart to know where I stand. Before I would be content with using several spells at a time to hold up a fight, now I was controlling it when I would push myself to the limits. Jean's efforts cannot go unnoticed either, it was like we were in sync, without being mentally connected. I was fully on my own, I would have had to take out instantly with a strong enough attack.

Wanda and Magneto did put up a good fight, and I could definitely see her surpassing him.

What really grinded my gears was how stupid I was for slipping up. Trust me, when looking at the faintest of details, I see that as a failure. I greatly underestimated how much my body could handle, that was my first mistake. When I could feel I was reaching my limit, I should've stopped using the Power Bank's stored energy, instead of using alternative methods to not push it.

Which begs the question, how can I improve faster?

While a slight setback, I now have an idea of what certain fields I should focus on. Task number one, amp up the training big time. I'm close to accessing my own Pocket Dimension that's linked to my bag, a perfect field to practice. Since I can't tell how much passes in my Astral Form, I'm glad I won't ever know how much time and nerves were spent studying it and the Mirror Dimension, excluding the time prior before I had to learn it manually. It took a few months, but well worth it. I'll have to retrain myself from trying anything over the top, and practice

Also, potions.

Right now, I felt like my body was tossed through a shredding machine. When I get the space and start brewing some potions, I won't have to go through this sluggish state ever again. Might not fully recover if I use this repeatedly without a proper healing factor, but will cover most things. Better to have them ready for any scenario, as it would be idiotic to not use them. Since it requires time and delicacy to properly make, along with strictly following instructions, might as well call it "cooking two-point-o".

If I had one of those potions on me, I could relieve some of the pain that's washing over me right now.

Hmm, what else, what else. What else could I do? Need to think bigger, like-

"Ethan? You in there?" Jean waved her hand over my face, causing me to blink repeatedly at the sudden gesture.

"O-Oh," I rubbed my eyes for a moment. "Sorry, Jean. I was just... thinking about something."

"Care to share?" Jean asked with an eyebrow raised, a hopeful smile appearing as well.

"Nothing important, really. Just what happened today, been troubling me ever since I left the hospital wing."

"Why? Are you feeling sick again?" Jean asked, already getting unnecessarily worried. "If so, let's go back. Hank won't mind doing another checkup-"

"No, no, no, nothing like that," I quickly dismissed her concerns. "It's on the more in-depth side of things, boring magic stuff to be honest."

"Well then, make it interesting then."

I could help but grin at the redhead, it seems like it was hard to change the subject when she's around. Might as well open a little. Aside from a mage who is a few hundred years old, I didn't have much interaction with anyone else besides "To be honest, I'm glad how I did today. Compared to everyone else, it's reassuring to know I can stand my own against stronger threats."

"On your own?" Jean quoted me as sounding offended, but her expression and tone said otherwise.

"Of course, you've deserved half of the credit as well," I gave the redhead her well-deserved praise. "Looking back, we made a pretty good team. Our fighting styles meshed really well. You had my back out there, so thanks."

"Guess I was right about you, you are a bag full of tricks. I had no idea you could pull that much water around. You should have seen the look on their faces, they didn't know what hit them!" Jean said energetically.

"Was surprised myself, to be honest," I said slowly, looking away momentarily. "Up until this point, I never had to resort to going all out. Good to know where I stand in that category."

"You use situations where you almost died as a measuring point that nonchalantly?" Jean asked.

"Am I supposed to contemplate the amount of times I should have died instead?"

"Fair point."

Jean and I stayed silent while watching how the mutants were fixing the landscape. Together, they can finish any task with ease. That is to be expected, really, considering how much this place gets targeted for an attack.

I was about to spark another conversation, but Jean beat me to it.

"Thank you, Ethan."

I turned to the telepath, somewhat confused. "Eh, no problem, for what, exactly…?"

Jean shook her head playfully with a soft laugh. "For helping us, dummy, what do you think? To Scott, it may have looked like you were just butting in, but to me, I greatly appreciate it, and I say for a majority of people here think the same. When Magneto is involved, things rarely go smoothly. Being what we are, forced to fight our own kind with someone like him at the helm, each battle becomes increasingly difficult. That, and for being the only non-mutant who doesn't have any prejudice against us. The moment you step foot here, you didn't show any fear or treat us differently. Nobody will come out right and say it, but that behavior alone carries a lot of weight. You heard the Professor, It's a not easy for humans and mutants to live peacefully, let alone work together. Guess what I want to say is, thank you for risking your life for us, I won't forget that."

For the whole duration, I simply stared at Jean, not yet fully realizing the full implication of her words, meaning I only blinked every now and then. It wasn't until she had nothing left to add that I realized I had to respond. "Wow… I… was not expecting that. Truth be told, I didn't even put much thought into it. You all seemed like a friendly bunch, and you didn't treat me with any hostility, all I did was treat you all the same way. Also, you seem to be forgetting something, I'm a guy dressed in robes that uses magic, so I wouldn't outright call myself normal."

"Still, it's a refresher to have someone not run away screaming when they see us," Jean looked back to the destroyed field. "On one hand, I can’t hold it against them for being scared, but at the same time, it's just so… how do I put it, unfair. I just want to show them were not all that different from one another."

"I still think that might change," I said in a similar tone. "The world is starting to believe the unbelievable, so eventually, they'll have to realize different people live among them. If done right, and with a good first impression, the chances of humans and mutants coexisting become more obtainable."

"You think so?" Jean sincerely asked.

"I know so," I confidently said while looking back at her. "It's going to take some more time, but I'm sure we'll get there eventually."

Jean was about reply, but "Ah!" I winced at the sudden occurrence of pain at left side of my chest. "God, this is annoying."

"I'm still not sure you should be even walking," Jean told me, with a hint of worry. "I know you think you can shrug it off, but right now, in your condition, I think moving is the last thing you should be doing."

"Come on, Jean, what are you talking about?" I looked at Jean with a skeptical look to hide my grin, going for a witty remark before taking another drink to ignore my discomfort. "I'm in perfect condition."

"Ethan, you're walking slower than a crippled tortoise," Jean stated with a half lid expression.

Right after taking my drink, I spat the water out while laughing, coughing mildly at the same time. "Okay, I'll give you that one."

I looked down at my shirt, finding that my chest area was completely wet.

Wait… where are my beads?

I checked under my shirt, gone. My face went pale quickly realizing I've been walking around without my only form of protection against Xavier!

"If you're looking for something, I got it right here."

Jean reached into her pocket, taking out my enchanted beads, extending her hand out for me to take them.

My head snapped to inside the school, the bald Professor instantly flashing through my mind. Did he lurk around in there while I was out?

"In case you're wondering, neither I nor the Professor were inside your head. I made sure of that, I can promise you that."

I looked back at the redhead, a mixture of disbelief and shock. Did… did she really make sure my mind wasn't tampered with? At the moment, I was skeptical whether I could fully trust her, as this precaution was essential to keep everything safe. The worst possible scenario, my mind was exposed and the bald man had a thrill finally going through it, or Jean really make sure I wouldn't be tampered by Xavier.

"So you knew what it was, huh?" I asked calmly as I took them out of her hand, placing them back around my neck.

"Not at first. We had to remove everything when we brought you on the hospital bed, just so it doesn't get in the way. I try to not use my telepathy on anyone, but sometimes I notice certain things around me, I'm not always in control, so it happens accidentally. I could feel like something was blocking my powers when around you. Once it was off, those walls were non-existent. Can't honestly blame you for having such a thing, this ability, in the wrong hands, can cause devastating effects."

"All the more reason to be prepared for anything," I simply answered. "I'm not comfortable having anyone going through my head. Especially if I can't even tell if someone did. Always a little paranoid, I guess."

Jean chuckled softly. "You do have a solution for everything, don't you?" The redhead continued on with a similar tone. "

"I think I'm not still properly adjusted to this level yet, that's why."

"What do you mean?" Jean asked.

I probably shouldn't have said that, or at least have constructed the sentence better. Looks like my mind is still not properly working. While I cursed myself for saying something like that, I still felt some relief nonetheless. Besides a bold sorcerer who's a few hundred years old, I didn't talk to too many people aside from simple conversations that were nothing more than to pass time. This time around, I'm actually holding a conversation with someone close to my own age, something I haven't done in a long while.

Might as well only reveal a small piece of the truth.

"You see, I wasn't always involved with this kind of stuff, quite the opposite really," I finally said, looking back at the students doing repairs. "When I got entangled in this world, I had come to terms with some things, some things that never came up before. Everything that's happening right now, it's all insignificant when compared to the bigger picture. It's a nasty place, with people who are just as bad. The more I think about it, the more and more problems arise that need fixing. Someone has to keep everything in check, even if different methods are required. If need be, I'll do what's necessary to keep the peace, or make a change that's long overdue."

For the next minute or so, we stood in complete silence, the only sound coming from some of the kids who were messing around in the long hole in the field instead of doing repairs.

"Why don't you just, you know… not get involved?" Jean asked sincerely, her tone low. "If you think it may be too much to handle, nobody is forcing you to put your life at risk. I can tell you want to do-good in the world, and I don't need to read your mind to know that, but you have to think about yourself before anything else. When you get overwhelmed, you can't think rationally sometimes."

I chuckled at her response. It's definitely something Jean would say, after all. "Actually, it's the other way around. It's because I know I can make a difference that pushes me forward, no matter the risk. I can't sit back knowing another dilemma is just waiting to happen, it's just not in my nature. Before, I didn't have the ability to do anything, but when I stumbled upon magic, I knew I had to act. To me, power is nothing more than a tool to use, and there's never a cap on how much is enough, so you always have to have a leg up on whoever you're facing. I've been close to death before when I had no powers, and I don't plan to live through that again."

"I guess, but still, you shouldn't never do something unless you're sure you'll be okay afterwards. Who knows what would have happened if the circumstances were different." Jean argued back.

"Then I'm lucky I got excellent help to prevent that." I said coyly.

"Just be careful next time, would ya?" Jean said with a shake of her head, a smile present as well. "I'd really much like to avoid the anxiety, you know."

"I can agree to that."

"Say, since we're already talking about it, what did you do before you learned magic?" Jean asked, another spark of interest spreading across her face.

"About that…" I trailed off,

Don't worry, I already thought of a backstory that should cover everything if I ever needed it. I was thinking it over, while also wanting to find an excuse to avoid the topic.

"You don't need to talk about it if you don't want to," Jean said reassuringly with a smile. "It's bit of a personal question,

"Thanks, Jean." I gave her a smile of my own, glad I didn't have to open that box just yet.

Our brief moment of silence was interrupted with, what sounded like, an explosion. Our heads snapped back to the students, a large fire could be seen spreading. The kids yelling

"I think they might need your help over there." I leaned in closer to say lowly, not taking my eyes off the fire-engulfed field.

"Yes," Jean sighed, rubbing her temples. "Yes, they do."

----------------------------------------

"Guess this is my cue," I turned to the X-Men that accompanied my leave. "Finally, I can put this hectic day behind me."

Jean, Laura, Hank, Ororo, and Charles escorted me out of the mansion, now standing next to the statue. Just before I left the mansion, I made some quick repairs to my robes, who were now good as new.

"Farewell, Ethan," Charles said with a smile. "We won't forget what you did for us today. If you ever would like to visit, know that you are always welcomed."

"I'll keep that in mind, Professor," I said to him before turning to Hank. "I haven't forgot about our little discussion. When I'm free, we'll set a date and work around the details from there."

"Looking forward to it." Hank replied with a grin.

Lastly, Jean and Laura were left. "Guess until next time, right?"

"For sure. When not fighting for our lives, I enjoyed our time together. Looking forward to next time." Jean said happily. Laura on the other hand, just stood next to the redhead with half lid eyes, along with her arms crossed.

"What? I don't even get a goodbye for my troubles?" I asked Laura, acting hurt at her cold demeanor.

Laura merely facepalmed, then lazily waving her hand, not bothering to put any effort. "Goodbye."

"I have a feeling that's the best I will get," I said, feeling slightly disappointed. "Not getting better than that for now, I suppose."

With one last wave, I opened my portal to my apartment.

When crossing through the portal, the golden ring disappeared, leaving me in my living room. Ah, forgot to give them something. Quickly opening a smaller portal, right above my chest so I could stick my head to the other side. Finding them going back towards the mansion, a simple "hey" was enough to make them turn around. I tossed one of my Communication Stones towards Jean, who caught the stone instinctively with her powers when she saw it falling in front of her. Pulling the stone into her hand, Jean gave me a questionable look.

"If you ever need to get in touch with me, you can use that at any time. Three taps on the mark should do it," I said cheerfully, tapping my closed index finger with my thumb as a demonstration. "And if it's a fight, please call beforehand. Until then, bye-bye!"

This time around, I left for good. The moment the remaining gold sparks disappeared, I collapsed onto the couch, a long and exhausted sigh escaped my lips.

"Finally!" I thought, wanting to do nothing more than to take it easy. I tried keeping in every single possible complaint I had until I was all alone. I didn't want them to have to deal with my whining, and to be frank, I wanted to be left alone for the remainder of the day.

My thoughts were broken in half when Helix landed on top of my head, looking down at me with his head tilted.

"Hey, little guy," I smiled slightly at the sight of my pet, lazily placing my arm on my stomach, a motion for Helix to jump onto it. Looking around for the clock on the wall, I was surprised to see it show a quarter past eight p.m. on the display. Groaning, I used my free arm to take out a small bowl from the cupboard and filled it with water, making it stay in the air while I took out some meat from the freezer alongside two plates. I also took out a frozen pizza, something to make on the fly. Pulling them towards me, I sat the two plates onto the table, flicking my fingers to make the meat float slightly, placing on the plate.

Helix looked at me questionably with his head tilted, I looked back and forth between him and the food, giving him the go-ahead. The bird jumped towards the table, using its wings to stabilize his landing in front of his food, firstly dipping its beak into the bowl before starting off the main meal.

Glad that I've finished giving my pet its food, even though he still didn't need it. With a gesture, the pizza was pulled out of the box, which I sent flying towards the trash. Slowly spinning my finger in a circle, the pizza started rotating at a similar pace, the bread starting to heat up. Within less than a minute, it was ready, a snap, the meal was split into eight separate pieces, then placing them on the plate. As I slice flew into my hand, I leaned back for a more comfortable position.

A year. I got about a year before Loki's invasion on New York, which is going to need a lot more fire power. Now that I should have a few things up and running, I can cut some time off. But that won't be enough. Challenging, but doable.

What to do, what to do. In this state, I'll be mostly relegated to more Astral Form studying. Better find something new to work on. Then an idea popped into my head.

"After this, and some rest, I really should start the next-"

-"[And now, the first episode of HBO's hit series, now on reruns, The Wire.]"

I stopped to look at the television, my attention was immediately drawn to the TV. Alright, maybe I should rest up a bit, without doing anything, just lying on this couch.

I think I can go one evening pretending like everything's normal again. Just this once.