Chapter 6 – Practitioner of the Mystic Arts pt. 1

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 dont know about the place. "Point on the map, as I feel you should know this. Any detail would help, open 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."

---LineBreak---

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 confirmation.

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 by 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 our 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 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 hoped 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.

---LineBreak---

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.

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.

---LineBreak---