09/26/11

I had this idea in my head for a while and really wanted an excuse to start it.

For those of you not familiar with Legion of Superheroes you won't need a lot of background knowledge to read this story. Those of you not familiar with the X-Men movies... might want to go watch them.

For those of you reading this from the club, I know the challenge for CxB week was "Sept 26: Fusion Monday: Make Clark and Brainy into characters from another show/book/type of media" but I think that works better visually. Instead I did a fusion of DC/Marvel Cartoon/Movies, etc...

Clark actually won't be in the story much, at least not for what I have currently planned, but he will be alluded to.

This will be largely X-Men focused.

The Road Not Taken

Chapter 1

The metal chess piece had moved. It had not floated gracefully into his hand like it once would have but it was a start. He could begin to feel the buzz of metal all around him again; watches, jewelry, bicycles, light poles, all surrounding in the park, right there buzzing in his mind but without the firm grasp needed to move them as he willed. The chess piece was all he had at this moment.

"Fancy a game?" a boy's voice asked him but when he, Magneto, or rather Erik as he was now, looked up it was a teenager with longish blond hair and the strangest magenta eyes. His mind tingled as he took his boy in, something wasn't quite right.

Not waiting for an answer the boy sat across from him and quickly, almost too quickly too be human, rearranged all the pieces on the board back into their starting pieces. That is with the exception of the piece Erik had in hand, the boy waited patiently for that one.

Erik withheld it, "You're not here for a game."

"True," the boy gave a nod, "but the game would be a bonus during our discussion."

"Why would I have anything to discuss with you?"

"It's about Xavier."

The name of his old friend gave Erik pause. There was so much in the deepest hollows of Erik's mind when it came to Charles that no one, not even Charles or he could ever fully grasp it; leaving it to forever be unspoken now-

"Charles is dead," Erik meant it to come out as a statement of fact not the pitiful declaration of mourning it sounded like out loud.

"He isn't in the past," the boy stated a rather remedial fact in a way that made him look like he was quite brilliant.

After a moment, Erik put down the chess piece, the buzzing in his brain blurring out the rest of the world whenever his boy spoke. He could give him one game.

"You must be some sort of genius," Erik's tone was appropriately sarcastic.

"Twelfth level actually," the boy stated; starting the game.

"Is that supposed to mean something," Erik followed suit.

"It will," the boy didn't even have to think of his next move.

"This will be a short conversation if you keep that up," Erik took his time moving his pawn.

"It doesn't have to be. The length of this conversation shall be determined by your answer to my question," again the boy barely blinked before making his move.

"And that is?" Erik drawled it out.

"What would you do for Charles Xavier?"

The question made Erik stop completely. First of all he wasn't sure what the boy meant. What could he do for someone who was dead? But they why the boy said it made him think the boy was ignoring the fact that Charles was dead or simply didn't care. The boy spoke of time and more specifically the past. Could this boy alter time? He had seen mutants with the power with the power to change their own cells to alter appearance to anyone no matter the age, sex or race. He had seen people transport themselves two miles as easily and as quickly as someone could blink an eye. Was it so hard to imagine that time was a substance that could be controlled and rearranged?

"What are you, boy?"

"That's a rather impolite way to phrase that question. You may call me Brainy; it's an unfortunate nick name but it won't give you any clues to my identity unless I reveal the whole picture to you."

"That's not what I asked."

"I'm not a mutant," Brainy stated simply, "But I'm not a mutant either."

"What else is there?" Erik frowned, "Don't tell me you're another Silver Surfer."

"Not even close but you're getting warmer."

"So unlike the Silver Surfer you're an alien actually made of metal," Erik made his move, the buzzing in his brain finally made clear.

"Red hot," Brainy didn't hesitate.

This time neither did Erik, moving his piece while forcing Brainy to meet his eye.

"You know I could rip you apart with a thought."

"I know you could have," Brainy said evenly, "but this," he took the very piece Magneto had moved before the boy arrived, "is about all you can manage right now."

"I could be faking; why risk it?" Erik took a piece in return.

For the first time in front of Erik, Brainy hesitated. He played with the top of the King piece, almost like a caress.

"For completely selfish reasons," he stated, picking up another piece but not placing it back on the board; holding the game hostage. "You didn't answer my question."

"It is a hard question to answer," Erik admitted.

"I've been told answering honestly is easiest."

"Whoever said that had no consequences for speaking the truth."

"Perhaps or the consequences were worth speaking the truth."

Thoughts and memories tried to cloud Erik's mind as they often did when it came to Charles. He tried to distract himself with the metal he could sense within the boy; it was almost mesmerizing to even attempt to take it all in.

The metal was in his skin but there was flesh and pores so entwined with the metal it was almost one in the same. The eyes had metal as well and were bigger then what he saw on the surface and seemed to have layers. He could go deeper and follow veins, not through the iron in the blood but the vein itself would lead him in deep to the heart; all of this boy flesh and metal so smoothy coexisting it was like being a witness to perfection.

"That's doing nothing but mildly tickling me," Brainy brought Erik back to reality, whom had not realized in his excitement that he had began to pull a bit at the metal inside of him. It was almost hard for Erik to let it go. "Answer the question or I'm leaving."

The game was barely half finished but the cards were on the table and it was Erik's turn to deal.

"How much do you know about my and Charles' relationship?" Erik stalled.

"Only what has been recorded," Brainy spoke of time again. "That you were friends; even though you were on opposite sides and that you had actually started the school together. And when you were imprisoned he would come to visit; not to gloat but to play chess with you as we are now."

"Don't compare your self to him," Erik found himself snapping.

There was a moment where those magenta eyes just watched him but looked away when Brainy released his prisoner.

"Forgive me, it was unintentional."

The silence returned and images of fingerless gloves pressed to a temple came rampaging into Erik's mind as the owner of those fingers smiled and called him, "my friend" as he did from the very beginning to the very end.

"I would be lying if I said I would do anything for Charles," Erik moved his piece cautiously. "I couldn't see the world through his eyes, I couldn't compromise to his views and I couldn't stay by his side. I even used him as a means to my own end when he could have used my help and then… he was gone."

"You said couldn't not wouldn't," Brainy countered his move.

"What's the difference now?" Erik slammed his piece.

"What if I told you, you could go back and change a decision? Even if it was only a month ago or years ago but you could change something, would you take that chance?" Brainy moved his piece calmly, never taking his eyes off of Erik.

Silence was almost a third player in this game.

"Charles has been dead for over a month," Erik countered.

"The basic question remains the same."

Erik looked over the board; there were no more moves to make.

"I would take that chance a thousand times over." He tipped over his King.