Chapter 7 - Practitioner of the Mystic Arts pt. 2

"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 them 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, were wide-eyed upon witnessing the sight, their rage increasing substantially. Without wasting time, they charged back in.

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. With a commanding tone, he sent his son with Mastermind towards the two, the mutant beginning to work his psionic illusions.

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 as 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 without 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, eyeing 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, with 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 was 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 that 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 about half a meter in size as it traveled across the field. When close to Magneto, it diverged into three separate streams, each focusing on 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, we 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 on 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 add 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 from cuts caused by the flying metal that barely didn't pierce our body, and the energy attacks that broke our shield before a stronger form 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 is a ring of water with enhanced durability with another layer courtesy 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 strength, 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."

---LineBreak---

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 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 should never do something like that 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. "I know it's bit of a personal question, so I won't force you."

"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 at the top of their lungs.

"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."

---LineBreak---

"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 firepower. 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.