The Raptor of Life

Chapter 8

Grey Penthouse
Haven Pavilion building
20:00 PM

The welcome home wasn't any good. Mom lunged at me, enveloping me in a tight hug which robbed me of breath and dad followed suit. We were in the living room, and Cindy was forced to return to her home with firm instructions on keeping her trap shut after signing some NDA; didn’t they need her parents’ permission to do that?

Phil was still in the room with us and proceeded to take my version of the events. I recounted to him what had occured, and that the psionic being who attacked me worked under the man who wanted to take me.  He seemed worried, but at the same time disappointed by my actions. “So let me get this straight, they attacked you and you choose to fight and show your powers in public?” He leaned forward as he was taking notes with some kind of pen.

“It was that or dying.” I answered with exhaustion, pushing myself further against the sofa.  Phil stopped writing and looked into my eyes, a compassionate expression etched on his face. “I can certainly understand that, Jean.”

It made me think of Sinister, and what this probing strike of his had confirmed. Nathaniel was aware that I was a powerful mutant but now he did not know by how much. He must have an idea. Fortunately, I didn't go like the Jean in "X-men The Last Stand" in the middle of the Queens, disintegrating everything around me. I think the reason for that was because Cindy was in the area. 

I scowled, a red aura surrounding me, making my hair rise into the air. “He is getting bolder now, which is a sign of his impatience.” 

Phil not flinching at the display of power was a testament to the trust he held for me. “Don’t worry, we will tighten security.” He assured, trying to soothe me. But I knew Marvel, and it always found a way to fuck us up when we thought we were safe. Safety in the Marvel Universe is an illusion. You could be killed by any two bit villain or Galactus could come tomorrow to dine on the planet.

I smiled patronizingly at Phil. “I am not trusting that the means you have in your bag of tricks will be entirely enough. I will need to up my own training and gather resources.”

I avoided saying how I planned to gather them, there was a big building far away from mine towering in the sky and across it was a massive sign which read ‘Oscorp’ on it. I smiled predatorily; Norman Osborn was a snake in whichever reality he was. What he did to Peter Parker and Gwen Stacy in Earth 616 won’t stand. He was simply a monster and his son would mould into one soon enough too- 

It was then that Mom interrupted my train of thought leaning toward the murderous kind.

“Jean? What are you talking about? Moving was entirely for your protection.” Mom questioned, her brows furrowed. 

I shrugged. “Mom, I like Phil and Peggy... but I don’t think they can compete right now. So I will still work on my own means of staying safe while you guys guard my back, okay? That man after me, he will not stop. You’ll see.”

After this, Phil began to run me through what would happen now; about my car, Cindy and the protective detail SHIELD had prepared for me. I decided to humor them, as they thought they couldn't leave me unsupervised. As I was about to go to my bedroom, I felt the presence of a human mind I was unfamiliar with outside on the balcony. It was a bird, a raven to be accurate.

 

# # #

(Raven Darkholm)

 

Raven observed as the parents of the girl fussed over her. Strange, they seemed to be aware of her powers yet treated her the same.  Sometimes Raven was shown that all flatscans* weren’t hateful and bigots by that kind of scene. What worried her though was that SHIELD was aware of her and her powers. Normally when they found one of her people, the protocol was to either lock them up or hand them to Charles Xavier to educate.

When the meeting broke up, Raven reviewed what she heard. It seemed some man was after the girl and she doubted SHIELD’s protection. It was interesting, maybe the brotherhood could offer her protection if she joined their ranks. Raven had witnessed how utterly merciless the girl was when she fought and how she dealt with her foes. All of a sudden the girl looked at her from the living room, as if she saw what really-

<Hello, Mystique.> A female voice rang in her head.

Raven attempted to fly away in panic. She was dumbfounded, shocked she had been detected this easily; however, it seemed that it was too late as she was unable to move. She felt a pressure weigh on her mind and recognized the signs of being kept in place by a powerful telepath. 

Raven looked in fear at the young redhead.  <How do you know me? Did you->

The teenage girl sat on one of the armchairs of the blood red sofa, a smug look plastered across her face as she gazed at Raven whose mood darkened upon seeing the girl's expression. It pissed her off in a way that was foreign to her.  The little redhead acted as if she was an open book. 

*She was a telepath, so she certainly could.* A little voice rang in Raven’s head.

A white plastic cup full of root beer flew in the girl’s hand. <Oh, that's because I’ve read Charles Xavier’s mind. He wasn’t as careful as he should have been.> she said smoothly. 

Raven struggled as she fought to keep her out of her mind.<You…>

Raven felt a headache coming on as her bird form shook violently; she almost returned to human form but it was stopped by the girl.

She smiled at Raven who couldn’t believe that she was being done in by a kid. <You shouldn’t resist; I am not going to kill you, I just want to talk, Miss Darkholm. If I wanted you dead I would have crushed your body into a ball of flesh and punted you into orbit.>

This gave Raven a pause as she imagined the horrific image summoned by the girl’s evil words.

The red-headed devil smiled. <Good. So are you here on business or simple curiosity?>

To Raven the girl acted as though she knew her in depth and was familiar with her methods and way of thinking. Then, the shapeshifter remembered that the girl had just claimed to have read Xavier’s mind; and she seemed to have none of his ethics. Raven decided to cooperate and wait for the girl to lower her guard to escape at a moment’s notice. The smile on the redhead’s face became brighter as she read Raven’s mind. 

<Business, My… leader is aware of your existence.> Raven revealed as she tried to not think about everything Magneto had asked of her concerning the girl.

It was completely useless, though. <Ah, I see. Mister Lhensherr is interested. He wants to do his usual recruiting pitch?>

Anger rose in Raven and bled through her mind’s voice. <There’s nothing I can say that you don’t already know, girl?>

Her smile melted into a thin one, then she drank the root beer from the plastic cup she clutched, her eyes steady on Raven’s as she did so. For a moment the shapeshifter felt she was being burned alive but just as she started the sensation was gone. Raven knew she hadn’t imagined the feeling when she saw the flame in the girl's eyes. <Call me Jean, Miss Darkholm.> Jean said in a steely voice.

Raven felt that she could move the top of her body, she understood that the girl allowed it. She bobbed her head in acquiescence to defuse the situation. The shapeshifter had always known that her words would provoke some trouble in her life one day and it seemed that day was here.As Jean stared at her, Raven was sure that she was rummaging through her memories due to feeling the same sensation she felt when Charles was reading her mind that time he was less skilled. However, Jean seemed to have a different psychic signature and was more delicate in her perusing, something that was strange to Raven. <You know, when I learned of your existence, I was really happy to know that people like me existed. Then I’ve learned of your story from Charles, it’s not pretty at all.>

Was that pity  she saw in Jean’s eyes? No, it was compassion. Raven’s anger increased; this wisp of a girl was holding her prisoner and viewing her memories like she was leafing through a cheap hardcover. <Why do you care?>

Releasing the cup and using her will to put it on the low table, Jean advanced toward the bay window, staring straight at Raven. <Because I can, you shouldn’t be reviled because of what you look like.> 

Those were eyes that had seen tragedy, eyes of someone who knew what it was like to lose. Raven stood on the balcony for a minute staring at the girl… no, the woman before her.

<Can it, girl. Charles already tried to reform me.> Without heat into her words, Raven huffed; averting her eyes by turning her bird head. 

Jean smiled anew, and this one was more genuine that the other ones Raven saw from her. She reminded her of Xavier, before he became that inept caricature of grandfatherly uselessness. Raven hoped that she would never suffer like he did; the girl moved with purpose and seemed ambitious from the words she had caught her saying earlier to that SHIELD agent.

Scowling slightly, Jean answered Raven’s train of thought. <I am not Xavier. He is more hypocritical and sly than he lets on. I don’t believe in his coexistance’s spiel. He would let the world burn before doing anything worthwhile and do what needs to be done.>

Raven smiled inwardly. Was fate giving her a boon? The girl had not been polluted by the lofty ideals of the bald monk?

<I see… we are more alike than I thought.> She answered almost too quickly.

<Just a tiny bit.> Jean laughed out loud. <When is Mr. Lhensherr going to arrive?> She said more seriously.

Raven cocked her bird's head. <Two days, tops. The meeting will be in Central Park, it’s the usual place for recruitment.>

Jean pondered over that for a while, her arms folded as she seemed to look beyond Raven and in the city. Oscorp's sign shone as the sun declined. Finally, her eyes focused on Raven. <I will be there, Miss Darkholm. It was a pleasure meeting you.> She finished, releasing her hold on Raven’s cerebral motor function.

Raven didn’t leave yet, instead continuing to interact with Jean, <I will come get you at nine this saturday. Don’t be late>

And she flew away as the girl waved at her, a smile caressing her lips. Raven put a good distance between her and Jean; she would never admit it, but Jean had scared her. That much power in the hands of a teenage girl should be forbidden. But in essence she had a good feeling about her. 

 

# # #

 

Watching Raven fly away, my smile morphed into a smirk. I now had a link to the shapeshifter’s mind. I possessed the ability to locate her no matter her whereabouts, or if it was needed to speak to her. This meeting was fortuitous; it would be able to allow me to advance my plans apace.

“Just as planned, I am finally on the map for the players. But I am not a pawn, I am a queen.” I spoke, ascending up the stairs, and entering my bedroom by opening the white, oak door with my end. I was now in my -temporary- domain.

The room was more spacious than my bedroom at home in Annandale, the size of the living room actually. Sixty square meters at least. The walls were painted white, and the bay window gave view on the other side of the Haven building, I could see other skyscrapers. The window wasn’t glass at least, it was basically transparent metal. I didn’t know how they did it, but at least I was safe from any snipers now. 

My head turned toward the queen sized bed with red and black bedding, I had thrown my school bag on it in haste earlier when I arrived.

“I need to think about this, but first! Bath, a long one…”

And this is how I spent the night, showering, dining with my fussy parents and doing my homework. Until the skills and ability I took from Malice congealed in my mind and the information on how to do something similar to her own power was in my grasp. This was scary, really scary. I could go use my astral form to control people, they wouldn’t even know about it.

The ethical dilemma of trying to use or not to use this ability made it difficult for me; I was racking up more pros than cons. But goddamnit, this was Marvel! This universe was dangerous and wearing kid gloves would only lead to my death.  Which was what happened to Charles Xavier or Captain America in Civil War when they refused to compromise on their morals in a certain situation which caused them to be killed by snipers.

Astral projection basically gave me the power to gather intelligence covertly. I was strong enough of a psionic to use my telekinetic abilities while in that state, so why not the possession too? This thought evoked a smile from me. Glancing at the time on my wristwatch, I saw it was 11:02 PM. SHIELD watched my every movement and mom woke up at night to see if I was in bed.

I had no choice but to use my Astral Projection to see if I could continue my night life. After wishing goodnight to mom and dad, I went to sleep in my usual t-shirt and shorts. Closing my eyes, I waited for my body to be  half asleep and pushed my spirit outside of my body.

When I reopened them, I floated in the air, looking down at my own body. A smile left me. *Damn I am hot.*

Since my spirit was tethered to my body, I still felt connected to it.  Looking up, I instantly noticed the call of the astral plane, but after the incident with the Phoenix weeks ago, I ignored it, instead directing my focus on staying on the material plane. The Phoenix was still there on my personal island, waiting; but waiting for what? For me to fuck up and take over, that’s what. 

*Not today.* I told myself.

I was training, pushing myself like never before. Three days out of seven were spent training with Elektra and Matt.. Meditating to find my balance, pushing the range of my powers. I wasn’t limited to one kilometer with my telepathy anymore. In fact, I could feel my friends right now, brushing the edge of their thoughts. They were at different ends of the Queens. However, it wasn’t enough; I wouldn’t be satisfied until I could reach everyone on the planet and beyond.

I left the room through the window by phasing through it, and looked under my feet. The street under was lit by the lampposts and lights of the cars passing by. Flying around over my building, I was still deliberating about using possession on someone. *I can do it! Being coddled and wrapped in bubble wrap has actually become rather inconvenient and slowed down my progress.*

With that rationalization I decided to stop pussy footing around the issue and go through with it. Rising in the sky, I went east of Oscorp and continued to fly aimlessly for ten more minutes.I didn’t want to do anything supernatural close to my home in the Queens. Going somewhere else would be much more beneficial as SHIELD wouldn’t know about it. 

As I descended overland after passing over the Harlem river, I began my search for trouble. I didn’t want to possess a man- someone anatomically close to my own would be preferable. It was easy, I found the less reputable part of town on my first try. It was behind a theater in a clear state of disrepair that I found a man suddenly starting to beat up a young black woman clothed with a red strappy top, a black jacket, really short shorts and knee high heeled boots.

Her hair was straight with a slight wave, and dyed ash blonde. She held the look of a grungy version of Beyonce. Fortunately, none of them could see me and I watched what this was about.

“Bih! Ya better have me money!” The man kicked her on the ground. 

The girl attempted to shield her face with her arms. “Please stop Kamal! I-”

He backhanded her again. She fainted and lay still, and I saw that her pimp was going to continue stepping on her. I watched a slimy smile come to him. He oozed of vileness; the same greasy feeling I felt from a certain gangster who had tried to kill Martha Wayne. Time stopped and I made my choice, stepping into the woman’s body. 

Possessing someone was akin to wearing a new coat, albeit an ill fitting one. The woman I possessed was called Nicole, aged twenty two, and was a high school dropout. She fell in with bad guys and her parents kicked her out. She was forced into becoming a street worker and this man Kamal had forced her into his service.

Opening my eyes, I saw he was ready to stomp Nicole’s face, so with swiftness, I caught his foot. I positioned her thighs around his leg and reversed our position, pulling him to the ground. I straddled him as I punched  his left temple with all the strength I could muster from this body.

Crunch.

Kamal stopped moving and blood flowed from his mouth, nose and ears. I felt his mind slowly die, but as I quickly linked to him I took the information that I wanted from his mind before he faded completely. 

*Excellent, now I know who he is working for. What am I gonna do about it?* I smiled as possibilities for mayhem and meeting out justice for this poor Nicole were possible. I could have my cake and eat it too.

I could possess people and use my powers through them, now I needed to know for how long I could hold it. Kamal's boss would not like my inspection visit. Rising from the dead pimp’s body, I kicked him. As I looked at him I decided to vaporize him, not wanting his body to be found lying there and muddy any evidence left over; though I doubted anyone would miss that asshole. She learned her lesson with SHIELD, thank you very much. 

*Let's have some fun!!*

 

# # # 

 

Grey Penthouse
The following day
October 26th 1996
06:00 AM

A sun beam illuminating my room passing through the opened shutters of the bay window woke me up. Yawning, I stretched like a cat and slowly got out of bed in a more sluggish manner than I would expect my body to be. That evoked the realization that the possession stunt from last night had unforeseen consequences.

Sitting back on my bed, I began to meditate; after five minutes of emptying my mind and breathing in and out, I finally discovered the cause of my unease in my own skin. My spirit and body were out of sync!

*Huh, it’s like seeing double.* My spirit wasn’t sufficiently anchored; I could see bits of my spirit self leaking out of my body.

 I quickly fixed the problem by centering myself even more and thinking about happy things, when I reopened my eyes there was no more double vision like effect. I stood up and my body followed the impulse of my brains. Nodding, I gave myself a rewarding pat on the back. “I am totally not going to abuse astral projection like this again.” I muttered to myself.

Knock. Knock. “Jean, wake up!” 

The shrill voice of my mother woke me up further, any trace of somnolence gone, and I shouted back,  “I am up!”

Mom opened the door, shooting me a smile which I returned, and walked up to hug her. She was clad in a pink robe which covered her red nightgown. Mom was a beautiful woman, I saw why my parents still had an active sex life and tried to give me more siblings.

I engulfed her in my embrace. As she hugged me back, she kissed my right cheek and said as if in passing, “I woke you up early, but we are not sending you to school yet. Maybe next monday.”

“Huh, what?” As she looked right back at me straight in the eyes, I understood that it wasn't an offer- she was telling me what was going to happen.

Mom’s expression became serious, and she placed a stray lock of hair behind her ear. “Phil called and said sending you back outside is still a bit dangerous.”

Straightaway I understood that it was normal procedure, now they had tangible evidence that someone wanted to take me away. SHIELD was about to tighten the security around me. *Shit.*

A future full of mooks following me wasn’t interesting and there were things needed to be done by me which were sometimes illegal and having Fury breathing down my neck was suboptimal. I needed to keep a lid on this. I looked at mom and began to say with a whine, “But mom, I want to see Cindy!”

*Damn right, I want to hang out with Cindy, Jessica and the rest of the gang freely too.* Looking stubbornly at my mom, I wanted to tell her that I didn’t need protection at all. I was almost in total control of my powers right now, fifty percent of my psionic energy was easy to manipulate thanks to all the meditation I practiced.

Mom sighed and put a hand on my shoulder. “Jean. Don't be difficult, you were almost kidnapped.”

“Fine.” I crossed my arms and looked on mulishly at her.

Mom began to pat my head, combing my hair with her fingers, and the emotions of understanding, fear for me and unconditional love that began to radiate from her were beginning to slowly chip away at my own stubbornness. My mother loves me and she would do anything to keep me safe, even if it hurt me a little. 

She smiled at me, her eyes glistening slightly. “I know that you can defend yourself, but one day even your powers will not be enough if they come at you with sufficient numbers and a different range of ability to take you down.”

*I can’t say that she isn’t right here... But wait a minute?! Since when did mom know about that kind of thing?*

I looked at her with wide eyes. “Mom?”

Her cheeks flushed, and she averted her eyes,straightening her robe. “I've been reading a bit of comic books lately, to have a frame of reference about powered people. There are a lot of different kinds of powers, a lot of people can have counter abilities of someone the reader thinks is invincible. Even in normal life there's always someone stronger, Jean. That’s why I want you to listen to us, okay? I don't want to lose you, baby girl.” She explained, placing her hand on my cheek with affection. 

“Okay.” I huffed.

Mom spread a wick of hair out of my face and her face gained a conspiratorial expression. “As a concession, maybe Cindy could come here after school, what do you think?”

Perking up at that, I jumped up and down in happiness and glomped mom. “Mom you are the best!!”

She patted my back before stepping away from me, a smile directed at me. “Yes, I know. Now go take your shower and have breakfast. Elektra is coming to see us.”

Those words prompted me to flinch, my quivering just a bit. “S-sensei is? Q-quick, I must prepare!”

At super speed, I ran to the bathroom. I stopped before the door, opened it and was already before the mirror making my toothbrush and toothpaste float and putting on the paste on the tool. After that I took my time bathing, toweling and in clothing myself; forty minutes later I was ready to go have breakfast! 

I arrived in the living room via levitation, which my mum scolded me about, and was served a big plate which held bacon, eggs and sausage with some orange juice. I devoured it all while dad switched on the TV to the local channel for the early morning news.

“Jean eat slower,  the food won't leave your plate.” Dad commented as he lowered his newspaper.

I didn’t bother stopping; it would acknowledge the fact that he thinks he can tell me to stop. Elektra was coming, and I was readying for an impromptu training session.

“Stranger things have happened, dad.” I answered as I scarfed down my eggs. 

I smiled at him, and a weak chuckle left him as she shook his head. “Just… go slowly.”

Swallowing the last sausage and drinking my glass of orange juice, I finally finished while staring at him tauntingly. “Fine. I’m done anyway.”

Dad laughed at me and I glared at him; he could be insensitive sometimes. I ate fast lately and still paid attention to my manners, but dad thought I was eating like a pig, I read it from his mind. *How rude.*

Deciding to ignore him, I focused on the news. I took the remote and raised the volume, the voice of the anchor even and concise.

“Earlier last night, a tragedy struck in Harlem as the recently opened nightclub The Orchid was burned down with people still inside. The firemen reported that it was an act of maleficence…”

Despite me, a smile left me as I faced the TV screen. That was all me and I really, really enjoyed tearing apart the Orchid and giving a bit of justice back to Nicole. The woman’s life was really sad; she didn’t deserve to be thrown out of her home, or to have to sell her body to be able to simply eat, and to be beaten up by monsters like Kamal has been. After killing him, I went to his boss in the Orchid and killed all his goons who tried to stop me from reaching him. 

Of course, after scanning the entire club, I made everyone who wasn’t involved leave the place, keeping Thomas Calvin aka Kukri -his street name- and proceeded to kill or disable his men. I met him in his office, he had a sort of panic room and was about to leave when I got to him. I didn’t go easy on the afro american man, raiding his mind, prying open his secrets and stealing his bank information and his insight on the local criminal organization.

I took all the money he was laundering in his nightclub in bags- a total of twenty millions dollars in black duffel bags stored in a concrete vault with a steel door. Absconded with them and short circuited the electrical grid so the entire nightclub was lit ablaze with Kukri and his men still inside. I then set aside sixty thousands dollars aside for Nicole and wrote a note telling her to get out of Manhattan, that I killed Kamal and Thomas Calvin and that she was free.

Then, with the help of my telekinesis, I buried the eleven duffel bags five meter into the earth in the Harlem River Park, next to a playground and deposited Nicole at the nearest bus station. It took all of three hours to test my possession skill, and I was really satisfied with it.

“Geia (Hello), Jean. You seem very chipper this morning.” A familiar and sultry voice commented in my ear. 

I jumped out of my seat, startled. “Aaaah!” 

Turning, I saw Elektra, dressed in a top with a revealing neckline covered by a blue cardigan, dark blue jeans and blue tasteful heeled sandals. Her outfit wasn’t the only thing that looked fabulous; her long hair was styled in a sleek, chic cut that provided body and movement. She was ahead of her time in the aesthetic hairstyle. I just asked myself how she made her hair into such a multi-layered mix that framed her face perfectly.

I never noticed before, but she had the bluest eyes ever. I scowled at her after my heart settled and shouted, “Damn it, sensei! How did you get past my mental detection?!”

She smiled at me enigmatically, posed with her fist on her hips and said, “You’ll figure it in our next lesson that we will have… right now.”

I stepped back. “Fuck.”

“Language!” She bopped me on the head, a laugh bubbling out of her. 

I always ended up the butt of the joke with Elektra; but I liked, no, I loved her as though I would love an elder sister. And it only took six weeks for her to insinuate herself into my life, my heart and gaining my respect. Elektra took my hand, pulling me into the little sports room in the penthouse, which was big enough for being considered a dojo; but hey, it came with the luxurious penthouse, SHIELD had footed the bill for it.

As Elektra sat in the middle of the room on the mats, I followed suit. “What are we going to learn today?”

She was already assuming a lotus position. “A different brand of meditation, Jean. Something that in the long term will help you. Qi Gong”

She placed her hand on mine, grasping it tightly. 

I tilted my head, staying mute for a moment, trying to recall what Qi Gong was. “Okay, sounds cool. I am almost able to control my power completely. You brought me this far sensei.”

“And I intend to bring you above and beyond what you call control, Jean.” Elektra grinned at me.

It wasn’t a comforting grin; it was a grin that promised pain and suffering, but that in the long term I would thank her for what I was about to get into. The feeling of fear was foreign to me but in this moment, I had an urge to bolt. Elektra had kept a hold of my hand all the while. Maybe my body language indicated my thoughts. And we began in earnest. 

Qi Gong was completely different from Tai-chi which I was already an expert in, thanks to Elektra bringing the martial skill and spirituality that I copied from agent Shane to an entire new level. Qi Gong was more esoteric, its practice typically involved moving meditation, coordinating slow-flowing movement, deep rhythmic breathing, and a calm meditative state of mind. People practiced qigong throughout China and worldwide for exercise, relaxation, preventive medicine and self-healing. 

However, Elektra was teaching me these methods more with the goal of teaching me advanced meditation, self-cultivation, and for martial arts.

We began with Heaven and Earth Qigong, a method designed to clear out stagnant energy, heal body imbalances, progressively release stuck tissues and negative emotions, and sharpen focus and mental processing in general. 

From the start of this first session, I could feel results. I quickly understood Elektra was trying to teach me how to use my Chi. With only one continuous motion, we repeated move after move for two hours.

By the time we had finished, I was exhausted. I laid strewn across the blue mat, panting heavily. When I looked up at the wooden ceiling, Elektra sensei  appeared in my line of sight, smiling with satisfaction. “You learn fast, but we will be doing this every two days, and you’ll have to do self practice alone sometimes.” 

It was annoying to see her standing there, not even sweating in the slightest, while I was completely drenched and feeling icky.

I rolled my eyes and said, “Understood.” 

Standing up, my body ached, and I went to shower again. After this, we discussed the attempted kidnapping and Elektra decided to monitor me at night, and she promised mom that she would be unobtrusive. It was eleven when Elektra left after having a long discussion with my mother, she had even gifted us some delicious greek pastries; something called Loukoumades, some kind of deep fried doughnut balls and Halva that were cakes flavoured with cinnamon and cloves and is made with raisins and nuts. It was absolutely delicious.

The house gift gave me a big idea! I asked mom for permission to go to the supermarket, so I could purchase enough for ten people to make some food that I planned to share with some friends. The lockdown will be lifted this weekend, so why not make some preparation for my meeting with Magneto?

 

# # #

 

October 26th 1996
08:25 AM

 

Saturday was the day I was meeting Magneto. My bodyguards and SHIELD eased up slightly, allowing me to leave the house.  Or it was better to say that I crossed a line and influenced them into letting me go for a while, to Fury and Peggy I had to promise more tests with my powers and doing some cheap interrogations for them; yeah, they had to pay me for each interrogation I practiced now.

For this outing I had chosen to wear a scarlet red drawstring tight-fitting hip skirt elastic waist long sports sweater with knee long boots. I felt sexy, powerful and snarky when I stared at myself in the mirror, making various poses and pouting. There was no metal on me at all.

For this important meeting, I had prepared a picnic which consisted of club sandwiches, homemade juice with apple pie in an overly large picnic basket that cost me forty dollars.

I had just finished my Qi Gong, which I was practicing as I waited for transport, when I felt a familiar mind come into range. For security purposes I had only extended it to two kilometers. Mystique was on time.

She arrived in a black blue BMW 850 CSi convertible, a new model which I’d been eyeing up since I recently came into money last Wednesday. My Camaro was totalled, full of bullet holes and the engine could only be written off, so I was thinking about making a change, anyway.

Raven was in the form of a caucasian blonde with grey eyes and a sinful body. Her face indicated that she was a few years older than me. 

She beamed at me, waving. “Hi, Jean.” 

With wide eyes, I walked up to her car and gushed, “Raven! It's cool to meet you, damn, I love your car!”

I spoke the truth, but this was all an act. I didn’t want to tip up SHIELD of where I was heading. They would surely know who Magneto is. I couldn’t not meet him. So far this universe had shown me that my metaknowledge was useless sometimes, only letting me know what was in context. Magneto was often an evil bastard or a good man in different realities. I wanted to know which one was which in this one.

She slapped the car horn and then grinned, showing me teeth that wouldn’t be out of place in an ad on TV. “I do too!”

After placing the picnic basket on the backseat, I was ready to climb in her car when someone interrupted. “Jean could I have some of your time please?”

Turning, I saw Phil Coulson. I had known that he was here but I didn't anticipate that he would want to speak to me before I left with Raven. “Uncle Phil?”

“Good morning.” He greeted awkwardly.

Smiling at him, I answered his greeting. “Morning.”

“Um, this is Raven. A friend I recently made through someone at school.” I said to break the silence and waved to the seemingly pretty blonde.

“Hi, Mr. Phil!” Raven smiled enthusiastically and waved.

Phil stared at her for a long moment, flushed, nodded at her, then pulled me aside. “You shouldn't be going out, it's dangerous.”

I felt his desire to keep me safe; the previous attack had left him rattled, and there was also the fact that he felt that he needed to save me from myself and from killing people. I felt everything through my empathy and it made me hug him, which he returned, wrapping his arms around me. Phil was used to my spontaneous displays of affection because of my empathic ability being always active, there was no way of misunderstanding him.

I was more than a job to Phil since I really grew on him. However, at the end of the day, he was still an agent of SHIELD, and I needed to keep them from discovering my plans and resources before it was too late for them to do anything about it.

It hurt me to lie to him.

“I know, believe me uncle Phil, I know. But I cannot live in fear anymore, this… this world is unfair. I’ve been hunted since my powers awakened and I had to sully my hands with blood instead of living like a normal girl should. Nevertheless, I will be damned if I allow that guy from making me stop enjoying life.”

I felt how half of him believed me. I also felt the bug he put in my purse when we hugged but I decided to leave it there. 

Phil straightened his suit and stared in my eyes, a quirky smile on his face, just like in the show. “I see, Then you will not mind if we bring more tagalongs?”

It didn’t bode well with me at all, but I had more tricks in my sleeves; I returned his smile, flicking my hair behind my back, saying, “Do what you think is best, Phil.”

Then I made my exit, jumping into the BMW convertible at super speed. Raven waved at Phil and stepped on the pedal, leaving the SHIELD agent behind us.

Raven wanted to make conversation and extract more information from me. “So, you are…”

I pressed my finger against her lips, telling her via telepathy not to speak about M business aloud, only do it in her mind because there was a bug in my purse placed by Phil. She understood and began to speak about fashion and hairstyle while driving from Fresh Meadows to Central Park. All the while she gave me information via thought projection. Raven impressed me with how good she was, better than Jessica.

The ride wasn’t long; twenty six minutes while we spoke of things that interested us.

I liked Raven’s style, and mentally told myself to keep in  contact with her after this, Magneto or no Magneto. I didn’t rummage through her mind, promising myself I wouldn’t do that.  Then the conversation ended when we spoke about education. I revealed to her that I planned to open my own tech company one day and she encouraged me.

We finally arrived at Central Park, and she parked the car  in one of the parking lots on  97th street Transverse; Raven activated the roof closing mechanism of her BMW. She genuinely loved this car, I felt. Picnic basket in hand, I psyched myself up, leaving my purse in the car to avoid being spied on by SHIELD and walked with Raven to the rendez-vous point.

 

# # #

(Erik M. Lehnsherr)

 

Central Park
Nutter’s Battery
09:02 AM

Magneto had lived for an awfully long time. As memories unfolded rapidly in his mind, he thought about how fate brought him to walk on this path and his resolve steeled; he had lived through the holocaust in World War II, he was experimented on by Nathaniel Essex and geneticist Josef Mengele operating at Auschwitz.

The monsters who performed those atrocities on him made him a Sonderkommando at Auschwitz for almost two years to avoid his selection. Cleaning out the furnaces of the crematoria, he discovered the bodies of his friends who had been picked, and turned into monsters by the experiments of Essex and Mengele.

All the while, he watched thousands of men, women, and children walk to their deaths. It was him who pulled their bodies from the gas chambers. Dug out their teeth so the Germans could take their gold. Carried them to the ovens, where he learned how to combine a child’s body with an old man’s to make them burn better.

He saw his fellow workers buried alive under an avalanche of rotting corpses, he saw thousands of bodies burning in giant outdoor pits. His eyes had seen at least a quarter of a million dead beings… and he was unable to save even one of them. Erik learned first-hand how brutally human beings could treat those they considered different.

Everything had changed when he was reunited with Magda, a Romani girl, the daughter of the cleaner of the school he had attended. He had fallen in love with Magda at first sight.  He saved Magda from the gas chambers and then from execution; as the Sonderkommando revolted, the two of them escaped together. For several years, Erik and Magda lived in a Carpathian mountain village, and eventually they became married. They had a daughter, Anya.

He remembered the flames, the smoke and the people of the city Vinnitsa preventing him from saving Anya in their inn room on the upper floors. It was lit up by the mob, the KGB and the soldiers hunting them. When she perished, Erik’s mutant powers killed everyone in Vinnitsa in revenge. It was at this point Magda fled. She was terrified of her husband's powers and overwhelmed by the tragedy. 

At this point, unknown to him she was pregnant with twins, after looking for her for months, he never found Magda, not for a long time.

As he thought about his first and late precious daughter, Erik sat on the stone bench facing the lake. He took off the pendant that rested on his neck and opened it, staring at the two pictures within it. They were of Magda and his little Anya. The memories that unraveled again in his mind made him almost tear up; the pain was dulled but still there. 

Magneto or the man better known as Erik Lehnsherr was a man who has seen, done, and endured the unforgettable and unforgivable. At some point in his life, he had become tired of living, the weight of those memories weighing him down.  He had to find another goal, to look for himself. Eventually Erik  traveled to Haifa, Israel, under the guise “Erik Magnus.” 

Magnus volunteered as an orderly at a psychiatric hospital for Holocaust victims. That was where Erik met and became friends with Charles Xavier. Magnus and Xavier frequently debated the subject of mutants’ coexistence with the rest of humanity, though neither revealed to the other that they were mutants.

But yet again, destiny forced him on the path of war as him and Charles joined forces, revealing their powers to each other, to rescue their friend, Gabrielle Haller from Baron von Strucker and his Hydra agents. After this, Erik seized Nazi gold and left for parts unknown, realizing his views and Xavier’s were incompatible; as multiple skirmishes between their organizations, the Brotherhood and the X-men had proven over the next decades.

Charles was unable to do what should be done. Not to mention, his hope for coexistence has caused many personal tragedies  amongst his own people. Erik closed his pendant and placed it inside his armor again. Just in time to see Raven and the prospective recruit become visible in the air and slowly touch ground.

“You see, Raven, not a hair out of place.”

Mystique sighed dramatically, crossing her arms as a huff left her. “I owe you twenty dollars and some fashion advice.”

The red headed young woman held her hand to Mystique who regained her base form. “Pay up.”

Mystique gave her a look. “After the meeting, Jean.”

“Fine. Okay, is this everyone?” The redhead grumbled, eying Magneto with a big smile, her head tilted and looked behind him in the woods. 

Just like this Magneto understood that she was more than a mere teenager he could  gang press into his service. Her telepathy was further along than he thought if she could go through the psionic dampener his scientist on payroll had come up with. Jean Grey was at least as strong as Charles Xavier and it didn't bode well if she was an omega level mutant like him.

Jean Grey strode toward him, moving like a predator. She was aware of her beauty, and used it as a weapon. From his report from Mystique, he assumed she was a less ethically inclined analog to his friend, Charles. He had believed she was weak, and that he would be able to sway her easily to his side with the promise of all the incentives that a youth would want.

He was wrong. The woman in front of him was young, but dangerous, and she didn’t need telepathy to read him like a book. Her eyes were too old, as if she knew what suffering and pain was like, a strange dichotomy for so young a girl.

Her smile became vulpine and she laughed, “Hello M. Lehnsherr, it's so nice to meet you; but it would be even nicer if all your junior league members hidden behind you could join us?”

Magneto nodded solemnly, raising his left hand, and making a sign. 

“Very well. I am pleased to finally meet you, Miss Grey. I have heard good things about you.”

Four people exited the woods, all dressed in civilian clothings, except Pyro who was in an armored bodysuit with two canisters on his back linked to flamethrowers. Magneto carefully watched the girl’s reaction, her eyes sliding over each of the boys her own age and dismissing them. When they finally settled on Gambit, her face became neutral, but her eyes hardened. 

Magneto recognized that those were the eyes of a killer. When her gaze returned to his, she was all smiles again, shyly flicking a wick of hair from her face. “From Mystique no doubt. I like her. She's a good person deep down.”

This meeting was slowly taking a different turn. Magneto nodded, and went to sit at her side and added, “She had nothing but good things to say about you.”

“Really?” She asked, the picnic basket she arrived with floating slowly toward her and landing at her side on the bench. Mystique stood, observing them with a blank expression. She wore her white and almost barely there costume, the girl's eyes occasionally came back on her from time to time.

“More importantly that you don't believe in the coexistence spiel of Charles' dream.” Magneto smiled thinly, wanting to know her opinion on what should be done to save their people; if she had refused to join Charles it meant that she had her own opinion on the matter.

Loud spurts of laughter bursted out of her, and the four members of the Brotherhood stared at her as though she was insane. Finally, after a few beats, she calmed down and sat on the stone bench at Magneto's side.

Jean Grey wiped a tear from her cheek. “Wew, that was a good laugh, I really needed that.”

“Can you be serious for an instant?” Magneto said darkly.

Everyone around them froze, which was a feat he was used to. They all feared him, and feared his power. However, Jean Grey didn’t look fazed, even grinning slightly as if she wasn't concerned by him at all. Magneto noticed how much Pietro, his son, kept looking at the young woman. He stopped when he noticed Magneto observing him with disapproval. 

Jean, having noticed, leaned against the back of the stone bench. “Sorry Mr. Lehnsherr… but Professor Charles Xavier is not my favorite person, and his goals are... laughable.”

Magneto was left with a bitter taste in his mouth as the redhead seemed to spit on his friend’s dreams. He may not agree with Charles, but he respected him. It was clear that Jean didn’t at all,  but the next sentence made him understand why.

Jean Grey spoke with anger in her voice, opening her hand. “When we met, he tried to read my mind without permission, and I shut him out.” Then she closed it, forming a fist. Magneto heard her knuckles cracking. 

A faint red aura began to momentarily appear around the girl. Some of the boys stepped away from her, feeling the oppressive aura and the killing instincts she emitted through it.

*Oh Charles, what have you done?* The girl, if he could believe what she just said, had batted him away in his own specialty, the mind.

Pyro gazed at her in anger, not pleased by being made afraid by a slip of a girl. Gambit stared at the young woman with trepidation, and he didn't understand why. Pietro… his son stared at her hungrily, and there was room for a problem later if he was too infatuated with Jean Grey.

“Oh.” Magneto looked on at Jean whose mood shifted from anger to disappointment. 

Jean returned his gaze, before shifting it to  Mystique and Gambit. “In answer, I subtly ransacked his mind to see what he is all about. And from what I've seen, I don't want anything to do with his vision. Charles Xavier is well meaning, however he is blind and this famous saying of Edmund Burke describes him to a T.”

“The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.” Mystique interrupted, harrumphing. “Jean is right.”

“Maybe she is, but the man has been wounded and lost most of his loved ones and students. I can understand why he became what he is.”

Jean shot a thumbs up to Mystique who nodded at her. “Yeah well, Mr. Lhensherr he is your friend, but he is not mine. He should just do what he can and teach kids how to use their powers not fill their head with kumbaya songs about equality and coexistence. Like you, I don’t believe the world is all sunshine and rainbows.” The venom in her words was palpable and he found himself almost agreeing with her. 

The boys, and even Gambit who had experienced both emotional and physical torture nodded in acquiescent understanding. This rhetoric was strange, coming from a young woman living with her loving parents and led an idyllic life full of friendship and mundane events. 

But everything wasn't as it seemed and with the shadows of SHIELD in her life, he was made wary. He decided to question her so they could engage in a debate and he would gain insight into her vision, as he realized that this young woman wasn't made to follow but to lead. “Oh, and what would you do in his place, Miss Grey?”

Magneto believed that he had cornered her, when she simply deflected his attempt at taking back control of the conversation by smiling sagely and patted the basket at her side. “I have a plan, but before I tell you all about it, I brought snacks!”

Jean placed a green tarp on the ground, then sat, displaying three Tupperware boxes full of club sandwiches and a glass bottle full of fruity orange juice. She also had water bottles, plastic cups and tissues. Magneto had frozen, barely understanding what was happening.

They were being treated to food. It was as if this girl had the hobby of wanting to destabilize his thought process. Magneto couldn't believe his eyes when it was Mystique who was the first to take the young woman on her offer, taking a big sized club sandwich before sitting at Jean’s side. The other boys, except Gambit, had looked between him and the food, *They at least have a sense of priority!* Magneto thought.

Not wanting to show disrespect to the girl and her kind offer, he raised his chin and sat before the little hellion. She took a sandwich wrapped in plastic film and handed it to him, also serving him some juice with a smile. The boys followed suit, but Gambit stubbornly refused to accept Jean's largess and took out his staff and began to do some katas.

Magneto found it strange that this young man would squander an opportunity to work a charm on this delightfully good looking redhead. There was a sliver of panic in his movements as he felt the weight of the young woman's gaze. With everyone finally watered and fed, it was finally time to get to business.

With a plastic cup filled with orange juice, the young woman put herself in a sit cross legged pose that wouldn’t be strange on the cover of a photoshoot. Toad and his son couldn’t keep their eyes away from her; all her movements were made to maximize her femininity and grace. Pyro was getting wise of her wiles and Magneto decided he would reward him later. 

After she finished her drink, Jean Grey crushed her cup and smiled as she looked at Magneto. “Like I said earlier, I have a plan.”

Magneto believed her, but was her plan good enough? At first he didn’t care what it was, thinking he’d forcefully take Miss Grey and induct her in the brotherhood, but now he had an inkling that  it would be dangerous to do so. When he looked at her, he saw someone able to call him out on his goals and behavior. At one point, he feared she read his mind despite the protection of his helmet.

Then he laughed internally, dismissing the thought; even Apocalypse couldn’t have done it the last time. Magneto sat, wiped his mouth with a tissue and said, “Is it the same as Charles? Or mine?”

“Huhu, no.” Jean Grey smiled thinly,before  all traces of amusement left her face and body language.

She stared at him wistfully, then in resignation. “At first when I heard about you, I wanted to join you Mr. Lhensherr. Contrary to what Xavier represents, you are a smart guy and you know how the real world works.”

Magneto frowned. “Why didn't you?”

“That's because I love my family, my friends and I want them with me in the future. If I joined you, I would have to choose between your cause and them. I am sure that you understand my position Mr. Lhensherr…”

Magneto flinched, as indeed this was his Modus Operandi for young recruits; severing them from the influence of their parents and friends and slowly starting the… brainwashing. Mastermind was also key into editing their memories to make them compliant and loyal to the cause.

“I do, family is... everything.” Magneto admitted, his eyes on his son and the memories of his elder twin sister, his second born who wasn't present with them made his heart ache about what he has done to her. Magda would curse him for what he'd done but he had sought help for her, mutant and magical ones. However, Charles failed in delivering a solution that would allow Wanda control of her powers, and this pitiful practitioner died when his daughter lost control of her powers yet again.

She had stared at him in utter disbelief when he had institutionalized her and they were taking her away. She had pleaded and cried to stay with him and Pietro had begged in desperation for him to not do it. He understood at this moment that he had broken her heart and betrayed her and he doubted that she would forgive him in her lifetime. But Wanda was too powerful and unstable to be let free in the world.

“And there’s also the fact that you believe humans are below us, that they are akin to insects.”  The girl chimed in as if this fact was a deal breaker to her.

Magneto’s ire rose. He could understand her first reason for not wanting to join but his opinion on the humans he would never budge on! “Of course they are, we are to them what god is, the world belongs to us now!”

The redhead chuckled darkly, shurgging. “See, you truly believe that. I don’t.” 

To Magneto the girl became a walking contradiction, couldn’t she see what was coming? Another war, more death as his people’s number rose, more internment camps and monstrous experimentation. Could it be that… “I thought you said that you didn’t believe in Charles’ vision.”

She replied instantly. “I don’t, humans are flawed. They only change and gather for a common goal when they are threatened.”

Magneto nodded, calming down slightly. “At least we agree on this. Mutants are a threat to humanity. They would seek to herd us, enslave us then destroy us like cattle.”

All around him, his people nodded, agreeing with him and surprisingly… so did Jean Grey. Her eyes blazed with anger, and then the polarizing feeling emanating from her passed. “You are right, they would. Mankind fears what it doesn’t understand. Those in the know about our existence are afraid of our gifts, because we are different. But you know what? They are right to fear us! We are the future! We are the ones that will inherit the Earth!”

Magneto, Mystique, Gambit and the three other boys felt as they were seeing double. Pietro even wiped his eyes because this was word for word what his father had told them in a rally. Jean’s speech was good; it didn’t feel hollow nor were her words laced with sarcasm. Magneto realized that he may be protected from her telepathy but the others around  him weren’t.

How could he have forgotten? She was not as ethical or good at heart as Charles. Then Magneto realized Jean Grey was possibly the most dangerous mutant he encountered since En Sabah Nur -aka Apocalypse- or Bennet du Paris. She was young, charismatic and -until proven the contrary- powerful enough to rival his old friend Charles Xavier.

“However,” She trailed her eyes over the group. “To deserve to have the world we must be worthy of it. Terrorism, blackmail, kidnapping? Mr. Lhensherr, you have a beautiful dream, but does all the blood you’ve spilled and the lies you’ve sown in its name make you worthy to be the face of… you know what? Mutant? I don’t like this word! It dehumanizes us, because yeah we are still humans, just really advanced ones. I will look for a more PR name for our race.”

Magneto rose from his position on the port, hovering from the ground, and bellowed, “You don’t think that I could lead our people?!”

*The gall of this young whelp!* Magneto fumed, staring down at Jean Grey.She raised from the ground herself, adjusting the tight outfit she wore and placing a hand on his red gauntlet, making her voice soft and calming. “Calm down, Mr. Lhensherr. I am not your enemy, at least I wish you will never be. It’s not that I am afraid of you or anything of course.”

He believed her; she had come into this meeting knowing what type of man he was and didn’t seek to avoid it. A few seconds after she spoke, her words rang deeply within him. Was he worthy? Was he now a monster because of everything done to him? He wanted to rage and deny and that he simply wanted to avoid another holocaust, that he...

“Bullshit!” A voice rose from behind him, Magneto turned and his eyes settled on Pyro. His resident aussie teen interrupted his musings.

Jean Grey turned to Pyro, hovered toward him and landed. “Oh?”

“How dare you spit on our dream? Our goal!” Pyro shouted in a foolish manner.

Toad took his friend's arm, trying to pull him away from the dangerous girl. “Woah, Pyroboy. Calm down.”

Pyro pushed Toad away who ended up on the ground. “Back off Toad! This Sheila needs to be taught a lesson!”

*Foolish boy.* Magneto thought. Pyro was one of his most loyal underlings. However he was also -pardon the pun- hotheaded and stubborn.

“Do we really have to do this?” The redhead huffed, looking annoyed. 

“Absolutely bitch! Come and fight me, and we will see if you are so bloody hot!”

“But I assure you, I am.” A red aura engulfed the young woman, and her hair wildly raised into the air. “Do you worst, Pyroboy.”

Clenching his hands, Pyro punched toward her, a cone of fire flying towards her, and he kept pouring the heat on the girl. Magneto chose not to intervene. Mystique was about to but he placed himself between her and the battling teenagers. Pietro almost defied him.

“Hahahahahahaha!” Pyro cackled,, mindlessly throwing flame at Jean Grey who stood unmoving and her form on fire.

Mystique looked at him, seeming upset at the scene before her. “Magneto, is she…?”

He opened his mouth to reply but closed it when Jean Grey’s red and yellow flame morphed to a golden and orange one. There was the faint outline of a bird that the flames silhouetted. Until Pyro’s own flames connected to the bird of fire and the table were turned. The orange fire devoured Pyro’s own controlled flame and leaped on his gauntlets, beginning to devour them. 

“W-what the hell?!” The young man stuttered, trying his hardest to control them but failing as they continued to burn him, refusing to fall under his sway. Pyro’s costume and gas tank began to burn at a high pace and his form was the one wreathed in fire in turn. All of a sudden the gas tank on his back was separated from him and floated in the air and became surrounded by the strange orange fire and a cage of force.

The gas tank exploded, it was of course contained, and the only thing reaching them was the temperature. This was an excellent show of control and power that impressed Magneto. The orange bird of fire gradually disappeared, leaving in its place the untouched form of Jean Grey who strolled with grace to the now naked Pyro who sat there relieved that he wasn’t burned or still on fire.

He laid down in pain, struggling to breathe, when Jean kicked him in the solar plexus. She placed her booted foot on his face, pressing into it, saying, “I hope this kind of incident won’t happen again, Pyroboy?”

She waited for him to answer her. Pyro seemed to understand that he was vastly outclassed and nodded frenetically. Jean then turned to Magneto and with her piercing gaze that seemed to peer into his soul began to speak, “A boy is always willing to prove himself, to others and himself, that he qualifies as a man.” She kicked Pyro again, making him squeak.

Mystique smiled at her, that girl was dangerous and she had come to like the girl too much.

“I think we can get past this incident and still talk, can’t we? You still didn’t tell me what you want to do, young woman.” Magneto intoned, hoping that the interaction with Pyro didn’t sour the girl against him.

She sighed, kicking Pyro once more in the stomach. “I think we can, but there’s something I wanted to give you. Before that, it’s a note, you’ll consult it when I leave, deal?”

She handed him the folded white paper. He examined her expression. She didn’t think much of his underlings he seemed and preferred to not make a big issue of Pyro’s assault. He smiled.“It’s an agreeable condition.” 

And then they began to discourse amiably. Jean Grey wasn’t like Xavier, oh no, she was more dangerous; she was more like him but more moderate. She wanted to be the middle path, another choice for their brother and sisters. Jean was willing to cheat, steal and kill to realize her goals, and anyone foolish enough to stand in her way would suffer immensely.

Her plan was to specialize in research and technology and reveal their people with safeguards put together to protect them beforehand. She was willing to go to war, but in the meanwhile she would try to educate the flatscans and then appeal to their greed by giving them what they wanted- health and riches. If it failed, she  wasn’t adverse to founding her own country to gather all their people.

*This plan is pragmatic and hinges on the reaction of the world. It gladdens me that she’s not like Charles, though.*

Magneto decided that Jean Grey wasn’t a good fit for the Brotherhood; she would push him away from leadership and take his organization if he allowed her entry. It was best if the Brotherhood and her future organization- or group- were his allies.

“I understand, Miss. Grey. I am willing to not force the issue with your recruitment.” Magneto said, his tone magnanimous and commanding.

She laughed softly, and enveloped him in a hug. The action surprised Magneto, making him stand rigidly. She looked at him and patted his back. “If you ever need a favor you know where to find me, Mr. Lhensherr.”

“I-I will gladly extend a helping hand to a fellow sister.” Magneto said awkwardly.

She stepped away from him.“Thank you for your time.” When she turned, she looked at Toad the poor malodorant boy and the speedster who couldn’t stop imagining her naked. “Pietro, Toad. I hope I will see you guys next time and maybe we can hang out?”

“Hum…” Toad tried to say something, anything, but just caved under her gaze. Her fight with Pyro had cemented how dangerous she was in his mind. 

Pietro smiled, running a hand through his white hair. “Sure.”

Mystique’s body shifted and adopted the form she had come with before the meeting. The green tarp floated in the air, folding by glowing red constructs that resembled feminine hands. The plastic cups were gathered and placed into the nearest trash cans with telekinesis, and Jean placed the leftover food within the basket. Said basket floated toward her and then Mystique accompanied Jean Grey away from this part of the park.

Magneto looked at her departing form with anxiousness. There was a powerful omega level mutant who thought he was right but misguided. She should be joining him, but it wasn’t to be; like a certain Chinese proverb say, *two tigers can’t live in the same mountain.*

But maybe, just maybe she will succeed; he will stay on his path and keep his eyes on young Miss Grey, and maybe help her the best he could. He was sure that his people needed a third choice- not all were the same morally. Magneto recognized that he was a radical voice in the defense of mutantkind against mankind. Magneto shifted his thoughts to the term ‘mutant’ and noted Jean Grey was right. Their people needed a new name; they were not monsters like the term implied. Gambit and the boys watched her and Mystique disappear with the same cloaking bubble. Gambit had been strangely silent today; normally he was a chatterbox. Magneto opened his palm, unfolding the white paper. 

“Gambit works for Nathaniel Essex.”

Magneto could scarcely believe what he was reading, but if it was true? Then… oh, he would kill the little thief agonizingly slowly.  He wasn’t given a chance to fully digest the information before something occurred that would completely alter the way he would interact with Jean Grey in the future. “Argh! Aaaaaah!” Gambit held onto his chest, screaming in pain as blood flowed out from his mouth and nose. He fell to his knees, and started to… dissolve? 

It happened slowly. First his fingers and his hand disappeared in a cloud of dust dissipating into the air, second were his arms and the process sped up and left only his head but he still screamed until there was nothing left of him. Magneto looked on, horrified by what he saw and the boys, Pietro and Toad had emptied their stomach at what they witnessed.

Shaking his head, Magneto understood that the girl had something to do with what happened; he would never know if what she informed him about the thief was true. When Mystique would return, he’d ask her to maintain a sharp eye on the girl and ask what her issue with Nathaniel Essex (Mr. Sinister) was. Magneto didn’t panic when the white paper slip disappeared into the same cloud of particulate.

 

# # #

Back with Jean...

 

I left the meeting with Magneto, harbouring a hindsight of the kind of man he was. He was closer to his alter ego from the main timeline in 616. I could deduce that this timeline wasn't far off from the main one but with key differences mixing what I knew from the cartoons, comics and the cinematic universe. 

After seeing Pyro, Pietro and Toad, I knew that they resembled their counterparts from the show X-men Evolution. Wanda wasn't with them and my other self told me that from Pietro's memories that she was without doubt institutionalized like in the cartoon. This Wanda was really dangerous and held deep hatred for Magneto when she escaped and got swindled by Raven and joined the brotherhood lite in Bayville. 

The memories my other self gave me showed that at times she appeared unhinged.

Nevertheless, I would help her and bring her to my side, but first I needed to find someone powerful, willing, and able to see past the chaos magic that her powers clearly were. There wasn't anyone else on my list beside Agatha Harkness, Doctor Strange or The Ancient One. All of them were scary and… let's not think about what could happen to me if I made them mad. 

I really hoped that Strange was the sorcerer supreme, the MCU version… that woman was dangerous.

When we finally landed in the parking lot, I made everyone ignore us so they didn’t notice when I lifted my cloaking field. Raven went to unlock her car, I gathered my purse and then I told her with an impish smile, “Pay up.”

She rolled her eyes, retrieved her own purse from the glove compartment and grabbed twenty dollars from it. “Take my advice from my memory.”

Raven opened herself to me, not completely, but slightly so.

I looked at her with trepidation. She wasn't a bad woman. She was simply desperate, and her life had been shit for a long time. “Are you sure?” I asked; this was a big step in our relationship. I threatened to kill her when we first met, and I felt icky about it.

She smiled at me, leaning against her car and leveling me with an intense look. “Trust, I decided to extend a bit of mine to you. If you really want to save our people, we will inevitably work together.”

I placed my hand atop Raven’s, slowly extracting the knowledge she possessed about fashion. It was extensive, she had knowledge and skills related to body language to enhance beauty and manipulating men and women that made mine look like a high schooler's while she had multiple PhD on it; Raven was also a makeup and hairdressing artist with professional levels of skills. 

Despite me and my intentions, some of her memories bled into the experience and skills I was copying from her. “Hum okay. I am done and hum... I have to apologize, some of your memories bled through in the process.”

Raven waved dismissively at me, massaging her temple because of the slight migraine the knowledge replication due to my telepathy caused. I passed one of the remaining water bottles to her which she gulped down. While doing so, I spoke to her absently. “You know, when I create my own powered group, you could join me?”

I didn't expect her to accept, but I wanted her to know that the door was open if she ever needed it.

Raven shrugged, climbed into her BMW and closed the car door. “I will think about it, but actions are better than words.” 

That was fair, and I understood her position. I slapped my hand on the car's roof. “I will show you then, okay I'm going to stay in central park for a while, goodbye Raven and say hi to Irene and Anne-Marie for me.”

Rogue still lived with Raven and Irene aka Destiny, a precognitive and the shapeshifter's lover. She was under the protection of the Brotherhood because her powers were greatly sought after.  Irene Adler was an old woman now, more than one hundred years old, she had lived this long because Raven shared her blood with her to stall her aging.

Another thing to put on the list- Destiny was important and I didn't want her to die. Precogs are awesome.

Raven didn't panic, but her voice held a sliver of apprehension. “I'm sure Irene already knows about you.”

I smiled at her when she flinched and put a finger on her right earlobe. “This is Mystique.” Raven said aloud.

*Wow, the brotherhood has micro-communicators!* I gushed.

See? Right there, this is the kind of tech I wanted. The engineer in me that I keep repressing after copying the knowledge of every specialized tech and support agent in SHIELD screamed that she wanted to put apart the communications device and come up with my own. *Calm down, me.*

Raven looked at me in disbelief to the info being reported to her, then started her car before continuing her speech.  “Yes, she's with me, fine. I will rendezvous with the team at the rally point.”

The emotions of wariness she emitted towards me were my cue to leave. “Bye.” I waved at her before disappearing with my cloaking field and floating away.

Staring at her car driving away in the sky, a smile appeared on my face. So my killing of Gambit had kicked the hornet nest. The bastard worked for my nemesis and was responsible for the kidnapping attempt and there was more! He actually hired a team of mutant mercenaries to do the same, he didn't have specifics on their powers, so I couldn't know what they were capable of, but I knew each of their faces, it should be enough.

I didn't regret atomizing the bastard, he and his goons had almost killed my Cindy. I don’t care if Charles would have reformed him; he was a horrible person anyway.

I left 97th street Transverse to go gallivanting in the park and tour it. My first stop was at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. which was an awesome place to visit and well suited for a perfect date. I mentally noted I’d bring Cindy there. I observed the great collection of art and artifacts from all eras and cultures. I couldn’t possibly appreciate it all in one day so I put off touring more with Cindy later.

While I zipped all over the park, I noticed that I had a tail- SHIELD field agents without a doubt. I kept feeling on my mental detection field, the flavor of their minds and interests. There were also some squid amongst them. I swiftly avoided them by flying over the lake in the middle of Central Park and landed in a place called Sheep Meadow, a scenic lounging lawn.

The sun began its decline in the sky, and I glanced at my wristwatch seeing it was 03:00pm. *It’s time to go face the music. I hope Phil won’t be too cross with me.*

Walking on the perfectly cut lawn, I looked around me; my pursuers were farther than I thought at the edge of my mental detection field, eight kilometers away. I walked slowly, waiting for them to catch up when a strange feeling brought me to a carousel nearby. A family was there, enjoying each other's company. The man was in his late twenty, muscular and 1.90 meter with black hair and blue eyes; his partner was a tall and curvy blonde woman with an easy smile.

Their kids, a black haired boy and blonde haired little girl climbed down from the fake horses and unicorns, laughing with glee. And it was at this moment Marvel chose to open it’s maw when dozens of men of different ethnicity that were in the shade of the copse of trees at the carousel’s side took their weapons and were about to fire at each other.

They began firing their weapons, striking the mother before I shielded all of them in a force-field. Dropping my basket and purse, I jumped  in the middle of the melee, covered by my dermal armor, but I still avoided the bullets and snatched their guns, force choking them. There were a lot of wounded and at least ten dead.

I kept the surviving ones in the air, letting them struggle until they passed out or let go of their bladder or guts. “Eww.”

Feeling the woman fading, I released the men, running towards the shielded people. The kids were crying about their mom, while the father, teary-eyed, pleaded with the blonde woman to stay with him. “Maria, stay with me baby.” The father desperately cried out, putting pressure on the thigh wound. 

Maria placed  a sluggish hand on her husband’s. “I-I am sorry Frank, take care of Junior and Lisa.”

“Mom, no!” The boy didn’t know what to do and looked around, he was the first to see me.

“Mom!” The little girl sobbed, her dress stained red with blood, as she mimicked her dad.

I walked toward them and said gruffly, “Hey move, I need to save her life.”

“What…?” The black haired man tried resisting but I used my telekinesis to push him away. Using my mind, I applied pressure on her thigh where the wound was located. The bullet had touched an artery. When I extracted the bullet, Maria let out a scream as the bullet floated in the air and fell on the ground. Then I saw inside of this part of her with my telekinesis. I could see the hole in her circulatory conduit and smoothed it out, sealing it at the molecular level.

The excess blood splashed onto the grass when I pushed it out, and I sealed the wound  with micro-kinesis. I was getting good at this. Thanks to my stolen skills and experience as a Special Force Medic gleaned from one of the team members of SHIELD who posed as my neighbor, I saved Maria’s life.

“Okay, I stabilized her. But she lost at least two liters of blood.”

Frank pushed me away, glaring at me, then he inspected his wife and saw through the bullet in her blue jeans that her skin was closed. “You… how did you do that?!” Frank demanded.

“Frank stop, she… she saved my life!” Maria shouted as she patted at her thigh while her kids surrounded her and hugged her.

I smiled at them, my voice soft when I spoke. “You still should go to the hospital, in case of infection okay?”

Maria nodded. The children stared at me with their eyes glistening and snot coating their face. t Frank stood up and watched the downed men in the copse of trees, some dying or already dead. Walking up toward them, I followed him, afraid he might do something he might regret. He stopped at  ten meters from them and looked between me and the men. I felt trepidation, respect and him squashing the fear he felt at my strange abilities. 

A sudden cold determination filled him and he asked me an excellent question. “Who were those men who attacked us?”

I tilted my head and tried to read the mind of the dying. I came to the conclusion that, “They didn’t attack you, they were fighting because of a deal that didn’t come through. Let me see…” I made one of the mooks float toward me, he was awake and still had a weapon on him.

I took it, made it float and disassembled it before his eyes. The adults around me looked frightened, The kids were different, feeling wonder and awe simultaneously. Putting the guy to sleep, I perused through his thoughts and memories. “This one is a member of the Kitchen Irish. They were trying to come up with some kind of peace offering to some newcomer who had been bleeding them. The latinos on the ground are members of a , Mexican cartel that moved in town recently.”

When I let go of the mobster, he tumbled to the lawn like a bag of potatoes.Frank frowned. “How do you know that, it’s as if…”

“Oh, I am a telepath.” I smiled at him.

Frank shook his head, attempting with all his might to not crumble. His view on the world was challenged with the way I showcased my telekinesis and how I had read those men’s minds.“Those guys, do you know more about them.” Frank asked, and I felt the question wasn’t innocent. In his mind, he was already concocting plans to obliterate each of those guys’ organizations.

“Frank, do you truly want to?” 

He guessed that I already read his mind and saw what he was planning. The fury he was radiating was stronger than any emotion of the sort that I ever felt.

“They almost killed Maria. They need to pay.” He said, leaving no room for argument. 

I shook my head. “But Maria is alive, and she will need you, your kids will need you. Please don’t do this.”

The stubborn man’s wrath didn’t abate at all.“I need to do this.” I glared at him, gritting my teeth. “Then do it after they are safe, Frank.” I waved toward them.

Maria and the kids stared at us with various emotions flashing across their faces. Frank watched me for a long moment, and I felt his appreciation towards me for thinking of his family first. After a long moment of debating, he settled on following my advice. A sigh of relief left me at that. There was a feeling inside of me, my other self was actually getting loud in my head as she was trying to tell me something but I tuned her out as I walked back toward Frank’s family.

Following me, Frank asked, “What’s your name?”

“Jean. Jean Grey.” I answered without turning to him.

I kneeled at Maria’s side and put a hand on her leg, looking at my work again. She wasn’t bleeding anymore, the artery sealed at the molecular level as if it had never been punctured at all. Now she needed an IV full of antibiotics.

As I mused, Frank continued to speak. “Thank you for saving Maria and the kids. I don’t know what I would have done if my family had died. My name is Frank, Frank Castle.”

I flinched, my head whipping in his direction. I was shocked by the implications of my actions; I saved the Punisher’s family. “Well, um… your welcome.” I acknowledged, lamely. 

Maria looked at me strangely.

“If there’s anything I can do…” Frank was about to say when I felt a familiar mind coming at great speed toward us.

A SHIELD armored vehicle, followed by another five, surrounded the carousel,  heavy weaponized strike teams in SHIELD uniform and body armor exiting them. Frank and I automatically raised our hands. I wasn’t surprised to see a certain black man in a SHIELD uniform and a black leather coat, swishing in the air with style, exiting the lead vehicle.

He stared at me as though I was a terrible disappointment and that I needed to be on latrine duty for a year. It didn’t make things better that I felt that he thought I was a plant for a certain red armored mutant that he discovered being in Central Park. *Shit.*

“Well, well. Red, you have been naughty.” Nick Fury tsked, taking steps towards me, holding a special collar in his hand that I recognized.