Chapter 103 – Meeting

[2009 – September]

We walked along the streets of the city while Arya was already soundly asleep inside my high collar. She was practically in a food coma as she had been unable to decline Laura's bribes and had gorged herself, before promptly huddling up close to me and falling asleep.

"Are you sure it is a good idea to meet the Professor?", Jean asked quietly, clearly conflicted about the whole situation.

"But you want to, don't you?", I replied while brushing over the back of her hand with my thumb, "I think Yukio is right. It might be good to clear the air between us and it is a chance for you to ask him about your father."

"Mhm-hm.", she hummed quietly, as she leaned on me.

"Did you see how Pietro and Angelica flirted with each other? You think something might happen between them?", she started, changing the topic to something less depressing.

A snort of laughter escaped my lips as I looked down at her and replied: "With how much they bickered like an old couple, I am surprised they didn't rip each other's clothes off and did it on the salad bar."

A beautiful peal of laughter rang out as Jean countered jokingly: "Well, they did seem to fire each other up quite a bit, though I am glad that they aren't completely without shame. Not to mention that I am sure something like that would be against the Health Code."

"Please, we are in New York City. The Health Code is more of a suggestion to most restaurant owners. And I have no doubt that they all have experienced crazier stuff than just some horny teens making out with each other.", I said with a laugh.

"Sadly, I think that you might be right.", Jean answered while shuddering lightly, nose curled up in nausea, "Though I think they make for a cute couple- … Elijah?"

Stopping dead in my tracks, I took half a step forward as I instinctively shielded Jean with my body, my gaze fixated on the alley in front of us to our right.

Three unknown but dangerous presences had just appeared in it from thin air, my Extrasensory Perception having picked up on them almost immediately.

I stayed perfectly still as small blackish disks appeared in my palms, my barriers ready to strike a lethal blow at a moment's notice.

"You got some pretty sharp senses, boy!", a rough voice sounded out as the first of the trio stepped out of the alley.

It was a man with an imposing physique. Broad shoulders, a muscular torso with a slightly more narrow waist, and he moved with predatory grace, his steps light despite his heavy boots. He had a pronounced jaw and a buzz cut, while his amber eyes shone with a playful and cruel luster.

Instinctively, I knew the man was a threat and something inside of me compelled me to strike him down and kill him right then and there, though I suppressed that instinct, my eyes moving to the other two people emerging from the dark alley behind him.

A grey-haired old man with a remarkably well-muscled physique appeared in my vision while wearing a helmet and a long coat with a suit beneath, at his side was a young dark-skinned woman in tight, yet casual clothes.

Knowing what I did, it didn't take me more than a second to identify the older man as Erik Lehnsherr, the helmet being a rather obvious hint, though I wasn't sure about the girl.

The gruff-looking man though could have been Victor Creed, judging by the beastly presence he carried himself with.

My muscles tensed as I understood the grave threat Magneto represented, one of the barriers in my hand shifted to an ethereal state, ready to rob the three mutants before me of their power so that I could strike a lethal blow should things turn bad.

Jean had also become quiet as she had undoubtedly sensed how serious the situation was, and I could vaguely pick up on the immense power that welled up inside her, ready to be unleashed against the three in front of us.

…

Victor stared at the two teenagers before him with an aggressive stance, not bothering to suppress his bloodlust. This was nothing personal as he acted this way around others most of the time.

He lived for battle and slaughter, and he had been alive for too long to bother with concealing his true nature. There were only a few occasions he did so, mostly when he had decided to play with his 'prey' before the hunt.

Though he quickly noticed that the two of them didn't show the reaction that he expected, and desired from them. There was no fear or trepidation.

On the contrary, the girl just frowned as she stared at him and his companions calmly, strength in her gaze.

Victor knew about her mutation and the fact that the girl was supposedly even more powerful than the man by his side, Magneto the leader of the Brotherhood. Still, seeing her not even flinch under his killer aura had him quite surprised, though the boy was even more strange.

From the information he had been given, Victor knew that the girl was most certainly more powerful than the boy but his animalistic instinct told him otherwise.

The young man stared at him with an impassive gaze but behind that indifference, Victor could spot the pure menace hidden inside the boy. As if a murderous beast was chained up inside him, ready to pounce on them and bathe in their blood.

Victor had fought in dozens of wars and killed an uncountable number of people, but the danger he felt coming from the boy was something he had only felt very few times in all his life. And even then, he couldn't remember having ever felt so threatened by a simple gaze.

It was as if innermost instincts told him that only a painful and gruesome death awaited if he dared to fight the boy.

His smile widening imperceptively, Victor's interest was roused as he couldn't imagine how a teenager could cultivate such a strange pair of eyes.

…

"Please, forgive the rather unusual time and place of this meeting. We are not here to fight, Mr. Frost, Ms. Grey.", the elderly man voiced out, "Let me introduce myself. I am Erik Lehnsherr, though you might have heard of me as Magneto. These are my companions Victor and Beth, or how they prefer to be called – Sabretooth and Astra."

"We are from the Brotherhood of Mutants, a group dedicated to fighting for mutant rights. Though I imagine Charles and Emma may have told you two otherwise.", he ended with a calm smile.

Jean though didn't answer as she just stepped beside me, facing the three mutants without fear.

Inwardly smiling at her bravery, I addressed the powerful mutant before me: "If you are not here to fight, then why are you here? I doubt you came here just to say hello."

"Ahh, you would be wrong with your assumption, young Frost.", Magneto replied, "I just came to introduce myself and the Brotherhood to you. And to tell you that our doors are always open to mutants that seek to bring about change.

He paused for just amoment before he continued with a light sneer: "After all, different from Charles, I don't believe in sacrificing the lives of our own people in exchange for false peace."

"Instead you prefer terrorism and random acts of violence against innocent people.", Jean retorted with a look of disgust on her face, no longer staying silent, "I know very well what the Brotherhood is capable of."

Considering her status as a former X-Men trainee and her immense telepathic abilities, it was no surprise that Jean knew about the Brotherhood and what kind of deeds they were responsible for.

Raising a single eyebrow, Magneto answered: "I would hardly call those standing by and doing nothing, as children of the mutant race are abused and murdered, innocent. Charles may have preached about peaceful coexistence as the goal to strive towards since he was a young man but the reality is different, young lady."

"A war between the races is inevitable, not to mention that it has already started. For decades, humans have been experimenting on our kind, trying to find ways to strip us of our power and develop weapons in case that they can't."

"Just because this conflict has up to this point been a shadow war, doesn't mean that it will always be like that."

"I came here to invite you to fight at the side of your race when humanity finally drops its facade of tolerance and equality.", he ended, his tone deep and clear.

Jean frowned heavily as she stared at the old mutant with a defiant gaze, clearly not impressed by Magneto's words. I, on the other hand, knew very well that Erik was right.

The Purifiers. Trask Industries. Friends of Humanity. The Human Council. Sapien League. The Facility.

These were just a few of the many many organizations that I could recall, who aimed to hunt down and kill mutants, or experiment on them and replicate their powers in normal humans to create super soldiers.

Humanity as a whole would never simply accept mutantkind, not with so many of the powerful and influential men in the background acting against mutants.

Humans fear that, which they cannot understand. I knew this to be true, and I also knew that there were many parties actively working to stoke the flames of fear and discrimination.

It was only a matter of time before there was open conflict between mutantkind and humanity, and unlike Charles, I believed that the only chance for the survival and prosperity of mutantkind was winning this conflict.

Still, this didn't mean that I was interested in joining Magneto and fighting against humanity.

"Well, thank you for your introduction. We heard your words.", I voiced out calmly, "But if you have nothing else to say, we will be on our way."

Looking back at me with his steel-grey eyes, his gaze fixed on my own as if searching for something, Magneto gave a light smile as he replied slowly: "Of course. I am sure there will be other chances for a more lengthy talk between us, Elijah."

After saying his piece, he gestured for the young girl to take them away, which she did by placing her hands on Magneto and Victor respectively, the former still keeping his deep eyes on me while the latter did the same, a disturbing mixture of interest and murderous intent in his gaze.