21 Escape

As I made sure none of my blood dropped to the ground and left evidence of my identity, I turned to Eric and said" Why don't you surrender? Is there really a need to go that far? You know you can't win by yourself."

Eric frowned and said" Why are you standing with those humans? One moment you save them, and the next one they will betray you. If you don't believe me, then ask Charles, he will certainly know what I am talking about!"

I shook my head and said" I do understand human nature, but hatred will only bring more hatred. What do you think will happen when you try to transform those leaders but fail and kill them? I tell you, they will be afraid of you, of mutants, this will ignite everyone's hatred for us, eventually leading to the death of either race."

Erik waved his hands and said" So be it! I prefer that instead of being under their feet!" I sighed and said" This isn't the only road. Can you even fathom how much humanity would progress if humans and mutants could work hand in hand?"

Magneto growled back" And what tells you they won't secretly capture some of us to lead experiments and use it against us?" I smiled and replied" Nothing. But if you don't try to put your thrust into them then the situation will never get better. Why don't you try at least? It's not like you don't have the time!"

Magneto lowered his guard a little and asked" Why do you say so?" I shrugged and replied" You are still pretty young, you're in what, your early thirties? Can't you let us try at least? What would you lose in letting us trying?"

Magneto looked at the other mutants and said" Then let's say I let you and Charles do that. Imagine one day all of those young people get abducted by the government and gets killed in the process, after getting tortured for countless hours. How will you react then?"

I smirked and asked instead" Do you know who I am?" Erik was surprised at my question but still answered" You call yourself Night Walker, but I have no idea about your real identity." I nodded and continued" My real identity doesn't matter. Do you know what my job is?"

Erik frowned and replied" Wear latex and run around?" I rolled my eyes and replied" First it isn't latex, and secondly my job is saving people. Those mutants are as much people as other humans in my eyes. So if anything ever happens to them and I get wind of it, then I will do my job."

Erik was still skeptical and said" Do you really think everything will happen so smoothly?" I frowned in frustration and said" Listen we don't have a lot of time left, that girl will soon die. Either trust me, or get beaten."

Erik answered by raising both his arms and making metal pieces fly. I sighed and was about to rush at him when I saw that he did not throw those pieces at us, but at the device Anna was connected at.

It was quickly destroyed, and Anna was unconscious, getting carried to the ground by Magneto. He then looked at me deeply and said" I leave you and Charles one year to make things change. If nothing has happened by then, I will come back."

I nodded and he flew off. I turned to the X Men, and seeing their relieved looks, I scolded" The mission hasn't finished! Anna is still between life and death while Jean is injured! Quickly prepare the queen jet. Everyone goes except Wolverine and Cyclops!"

They did as they were told and soon only Jean groans could be heard. I turned to Logan and said" Go help Anna, if she doesn't recover then let her touch you skin for a few seconds to let her heal with you power."

He hurried to her while I approached Jean. I turned to Scott and said" Contact the professor or anyone still at the mansion and tell them to tell Xavier to initiate a conversation."

Scott nodded, quickly getting out of the room, while I sat in front of the panting Jean. She looked up a little and forced a smile" A shame I… Gasp…. Disappointed you…" I shook my head and said" You didn't, you are very brave.

I don't know how to help you, but the Professor will soon reach us with his mental powers. He will help you. Hold on until then." Jean was in so much main that she couldn't even muster the strength to nod.

I sighed but fortunately I quickly felt a mental presence arrive, and coincidentally the queen jet was already flying above us. I looked at Logan and Anna, and saw that the latter had awakened, but Logan was not looking good.

I knew he would be fine so I shot" Quickly enter the jet!" The two nodded and jumped in, quickly followed by me carrying Jean in princess style. As we entered the jet we sat, and I was surprised to see that everyone distanced themselves from us.

I frowned but at that moment I heard the voice of Xavier" I can't help Jean as she is. I already tried but I will need her to be nearer to help her. Right now she is feeling pain because the mental defense I had created against her own powers has been destroyed and she can't control them anymore."

I nodded and asked" Then what can I do?" Xavier seemed to hesitate for a little bit before saying" The only thing you could do right now would be to lessen her pain, but you would have to let her give you access to her mind, and then you will have to take her pain."

I nodded and asked" How much can I take?" Xavier sighed and replied" It depends on the amount you take from her. You could take only a tenth of her pain and lessen hers by a tenth. But be warned, she is accustomed to the pain and can manage it, but you will suffer way more than her."

I turned to Jean and asked" Send me inside your mind, I will help you." She looked reluctant to get my help but another wave of pain appeared, and she nodded. She extended her hands slowly, which I took, and suddenly I felt the world go dark.

The next moment I was inside an infinitely big white piece, walking on the air, with a crouching Jean in front of me, and an enormous ball of dark red above her, that already was ten times as big as her, and was getting darker by the second.

I walked toward her and extended my hand toward her. She looked up but did not take it. She looked at me in shock and said" You… You are that guy from back then!"

I looked at her stunned, then at my hand, and indeed saw it was not covered. I sighed and smiled" That's my real identity. Now tell me, how can I take some of your pain? And don't refuse, you will only make it worse."

Jean almost fell to the ground due to another spike of pain, but I held her, and she difficultly said" That ball above me, it's my powers… If you were telepath then you could deal with it, but now you can only take some of it to make my pain disappear."

I smiled and said" Then that's simple." She looked at me in shock, and before she could react I was before the big ball, willed for it to come at me. It was the first time I did something like this, it wasn't using my will through haki but more like a metal command.

I suddenly felt a huge pressure come down on me, almost making me kneel in an instant. I also felt the worst pain ever, but the worst was all the different voices I heard. There were so many that I already got dizzy.

I greeted my teeth and sent a wave of conqueror haki at it, and for the first time I did not control myself, I just let my raw haki flow out. Immediately the pressure lessened, not enough to make me forget the pain, but at least I wouldn't want to die over it.

I felt a hand on my shoulder, and a panic stricken Jean was shaking me and saying" What are you doing?! You will die!" I smiled, and breathlessly said" I won't! I consider this as training!" As I said that my haki strengthened again, but pushing Jean by a few meters.

I fell to the ground after what seemed to be a minute, unable to stand because of the pain. As for the rest I couldn't remember well how much time passed, but after what seemed to have been an eternity I felt my pain lessen.

I opened my eyes, which I had unconsciously closed due to the pain, and saw that the dark red ball was getting smaller. In the end it totally disappeared, along with the pain, and a huge black door was revealed, slightly opened.

I turned to look at Jean but saw she was unconscious. I turned back to the door, and unable to contain my curiosity, I moved toward the door. I strangely had no problem moving despite the pain I felt earlier, and soon got my hand on the slightly opened door.

I once again felt the pressure, but it was lesser than before. And I could feel that the door was closing. I frowned, and instead of acting like any sensed person and pushing it, I pulled.

It was almost impossible to pull, even using as much strength as I could, but remembering where I was, I stopped using physical strength and instead willed it as hard as I could.

The door slowly opened, moving by less than a millimeter every second, but still moved. The more it was getting opened, the more the pressure grew. Soon the door was opened enough for someone to go through it, and that's exactly what happened.

It was more a flash of light that banged against the door, which sent me flying, and opened the door entirely. I got back up stunned, and looked at the door. There was not a person, but a bird made of fire the size of an eagle.

It was looking at me, and I heard a magnificent female voice say" Human, who are you?! Why are you in the minds-cape of my host?" I frowned and asked" Who are you?"

The bird snorted" I am the Phoenix!" I broke out a sweat, figuratively, and said" I am Mason, and I am here because I tried to help your host." Phoenix snickered and said" Playing hero young Night Walker?"

I was stunned by her words. I asked" Do you see everything Jean sees?" Phoenix growled" Enough! You are not worthy to ask me questions!"

I smiled and asked" What do you intend to do?" I could feel frustration as Phoenix said" Impudent!" I sneered and sent a wave of Conqueror's haki. I could feel that it was stronger than before by many times, and it could be seen.

Slowly Phoenix was forced to retreat inside the door, as I walked toward it. It roared" Stop right there! If you continue I will burn you to ashes!" My smile widened as I said" You can't right now, I can feel you can't use any power because Jean still is in command. As long as she doesn't lose control you can't do anything."

Phoenix growled in frustration, and as it was about to go through the door, I said" I hope our next meeting will be better than this one, maybe you could get a little more polite." With that said I pushed with all my will and closed the door, finally destroying the pressure.

At the same time exhaustion overwhelmed me, and I blacked out.