Disclaimer: I do not own any of these characters except for those I invent. I am not, in any way, making any money with this story.
Bear with me please. I get a little long with the details, but they are essential to the story. I also changed a few things, but to quote an American president, "It's fiction, stupid!"
David walked down the street. He looked at all the people rushing about, and smiled slightly. If they knew who he really was, they would all be running away, screaming. Well, that was their problem. He just hoped none of them had guns. However, it hadn't exactly his intention to make worldwide news. But luckily his appearance had changed a lot over the years, ever since he first discovered his powers…
It had started with him able to turn the lights on and off. Simple stuff, on, off, on, off… Then the blender. Then the TV. Then every electrical appliance in the house. He only did it when he was alone in the house, which was very often, as his parents has jobs and his sibling had after-school activities that David regarded as stupid and unimaginative. He had had the sense to keep his powers a secret. Even if he had been 12 years old back then, he knew what people did to mutants. At least, he thought he was a mutant. It was a very certain possibility.
But then the gang, then the mob, the explosion, and being on the FBI's top ten most wanted list, and David was out on his own. He had wondered the U.S. for six years, eventually learning how to go through electrical power lines.
Food was no problem. All he had to do was find an energy source, like a hydroelectric dam, a battery, or sometimes he would just lie in the sun. But sunlight was considerably slower at energizing him then all the other things. He could've used a nuclear reactor, but after his experiences, he wasn't very fond of them.
Once he powered up by leaving a microwave oven door open. He got so energized he had to run twenty times around Las Vegas. He had done that in 30 seconds (which was a record, but Guinness doesn't include mutants anymore). But he couldn't get to microwave ovens all that often, because he disliked breaking into homes, and not many stores had them anymore.
David had ended up in New York City(of course!), sleeping in old batteries on the street, walking up and down the streets, seeing the sights, and feeding on the electrical system. Once, he accidentally caused a city-wide power outage by draining the power station too fast, but they fixed it. Eventually…
What he really wanted to do was go to Liberty Island, but he couldn't due to the fact that it was closed for repairs after that crazy old loon tried to mutate the world leaders at the UN summit. That had gotten the guy a life sentence at a top security prison. David was kinda sure he couldn't get out, but was not too sure. He had heard disturbing rumors that he had an accomplice whom could change into different people at will. That could get him rescued in half a heartbeat.
Meanwhile…
The guard strolled down the hall, leaving behind another guard, slumped down on his desk, his eyes wide, staring…and dead. He turned a corner, and found the cell that Magneto was in. It required a retinal scan, but the guard had access, simply because he had reproduced the dead one perfectly. It was one of the oldest tricks in the book.
The door opened, and a plastic walkway started to extend toward the plastic box hanging in the center of the plastic room. The guard looked up at the main viewing area. Nobody was up there; he had made sure of that. In a few hours when the next shift came in, they would have an extremely unpleasant surprise.
He walked into the cell as the door slid sideways. Magneto sat at a table. He turned around and said, "Yes? What do you want?" It was then that the guard melted into a woman that had blue skin, yellow eyes, and red hair. Mystique. (Who were you expecting, Morph?)
"The mutant responsible for UN summit incident has escaped. Police think he had an accomplice who somehow broke through the security systems, and killed fifteen guards. Leaders of other countries are criticizing the U.S. for inept…"
So. He was out. It was a matter of time, sheesh. As he turned away from the electronic store window, David thought that this was an interesting turn of events. David had mixed feelings about this guy. He did think that mutants should have equal rights, but normal people have the right not to be turned into mutants against their will. Killing people was not his idea of gaining mutant rights either. David had heard whispered stories all over the country, speaking of a secret army of mutants, getting ready to rid the world of the weaker Homo sapian sapians and establishing the rule of Homo sapian superior. David had no idea whether this rumor was true or not, but either way, he didn't like it. But at least he had the satisfaction that it could never affect him.
Meanwhile, on an island offshore, Magneto and Mystique were trying to piece together a plan. A plan that would mutate, not just the leaders, but all the people in the world. They decided they would use the same machine as last time, but they needed a stronger power source, something that would provide enough energy to spread the mutation rays across the entire surface of the Earth. They still didn't believe that their rays killed. They still thought it was just a story made up to deter them. They would also need a bigger structure, a building that was much, much taller then Lady Liberty. They needed-
Toronto, Canada. A tour guide moved out of the elevator, and as his group followed, started to speak. "Welcome to the CN Tower, the tallest man-made free standing structure in the world. Topping out at 1,815 feet five inches, the Tower was at first supposed to be just an antenna, sending out radio, TV, and microwave signals. The glass floor enables visitors to look straight down about… "
It was night in Manhattan, and David had found a nice little triple A battery in Central Park. Nobody would notice that. He was about to transfer into it, when a hand roughly grabbed his shoulder and he felt a gun pressed to his back.
"Give me all your money kid, or you'll have one more hole then you were born with!"
"Now there's a original threat. I don't have any money!"
"Don't be smart with me, kid. I know a tourist isn't going to come to New York and not have money in his pockets! Now hand it over! NOW!"
"I told you, I don't-"
BANG!
David felt his skin getting pierced by the bullet, but he didn't experience any pain. He felt go out his stomach, but still, no pain. Just anger. Hot, molten, blinding anger.
"You, sir, just made-
A-BIG-MISTAKE!!!"BOOOOOOM!!!
"A big explosion has just occurred in Central Park. Brandon Johnson is there now, Brandon?"
"Bob, the scene is very chaotic, there are dozens of homeless people and tourists pouring out of the park, some of them have burns, some severe, and no one has any idea what has happened. Whatever it was occurred less then ten minutes ago. A giant fireball is still visible high in the sky, and I can see a bunch of trees on fire next to the reservoir-."
"Thank you Brandon. We now have our news chopper in the air, and it is now nearing the scene. Nicole Smith is in the chopper. Can you hear me Nicole?"
"Yes I can Bob, we are now above the area. We are competing for air space with many police choppers now, searching the area with spotlights. I can see fire fighters arriving at the edge of an area about two hundred meters across that is burning like the crater of a volcano. I can see a few fire hoses going but-Wait a moment, what's that? Can you see that? Zoom in. It looks like a man is down in the very center looking very distraught. How could he have survived?"
One week later.
David was in the police station. Where else would he be? He had just caused an explosion visible from eighty miles away! He had been questioned around the clock, but he hadn't answered anything.
Yet.
The mugger was alive, barely. He had gotten blown right into the East River, a nasty place to be. He had third degree burns over 95% of his body, as well as severe shock because he landed right on top of a dead body floating in the river, and the doctors weren't optimistic about his or the dead man's survival.
And David had made worldwide news again. Nobody knew it was for the second time, because no one recognized him after six years. At least, he thought so. Hoped so. He had blue hair and eyes instead of brown hair and eyes, he was taller, and he didn't have any pimples. But he had gotten caught this time, and he had no idea how to get out. He thought about escaping out through the light bulb, but he thought there was probably a camera behind the mirror in the questioning room and he didn't want to turn it off because they already knew he was a mutant. Anything that went wrong this week had probably been blamed on him. Besides, he didn't want them to know he could do jump into the electrical system because he was too identifiable.
This was the seventh day he had been in here, and he could still hear an angry mob outside. He was pretty sure they were trying to break in. He didn't think that trying to break into a police station to kill a mutant who had caused a big explosion because he was mugged was a very good idea. He would probably blow up the entire city if they did. He didn't want that to happen of course, but he didn't want that explosion in Central Park to happen either.
He didn't answer any of the questions because he knew he had no explanation for what he did. He had only wanted to punch the guy's lights out, but somehow the explosion had come out during mid-punch. The shock wave had shattered all the windows in the Empire State Building, two and a half miles away. David was really embaressed, and he hoped his family back west didn't recognize him, because that would bring back too many bad memories for them.
The door opened again. David braced himself but was surprised to see a man in an electric wheelchair roll in.
"Hello David. I'm Charles Xavier."
"Hello, you already now my first name because that's the only thing I've said to the police so far. So are you going to question me or what? Aren't you afraid I'm going blow up again? All the other questioners have been wearing bomb squad armor. You're not wearing any type of protection."
"That's because I know you can control your powers…somewhat."
"Oh? And how do you know that?"
"
Because I have a special power too."Oh my gosh. His lips didn't move. I heard it in my head, he's got a funny look on his face, and I'm starting to panic. What a great start to a day.
Suddenly, David heard shattering glass.
"Might I ask what is happening?"
"Oh, the mob has just succeeded in breaking into the station."
"You're taking it pretty calmly."
"That's because I know you are capable of getting out of here, and taking me with you."
There was a banging on the wall, and they both heard angry voices behind the door.
"Well?"
Just as the door burst open, both David and Charles disappeared.
"So, what do you think of the inside of a light bulb?"
They were in the filament, surrounding by little blue balls of light. They could see out into the room. They saw about ten people armed with clubs burst in, look around, and shatter the mirror, revealing a viewing room with a camera. They climbed into the room, broke the camera, threw the chairs around, and ran back out.
"If you don't mind, can we go to my place? It's in Worchester, New York. It's a safe place, for people like yourself."
A minute later they were there. They were surrounded by a wall of kids, who apparently very interested in how an 18-year-old and their principal had suddenly appeared in the middle of a basketball court.
"Gang way. I've got to take this kid to my office."
The kids parted, and David and Xavier walked into the mansion in front of them. It was a nice place, and surprising clean, which was hard to believe because only teenagers lived here. Or so David thought. They got to his office, a big comfortable room. Charles went around to the other side of the desk.
"Please, sit."
David sat down in a chair in front of the desk.
"Now, tell me how a kid like you ends up setting off an explosion in the middle of Central Park."
"Well, I got mugged, I tried to pun-"
"No. Tell me how you ended up in New York alone."
"You should know. You're the psychic."
"I know. But there is something about you that blocks me from your memory. I can talk in your mind, but I can't seem to get into your memories."
"OK, if you really must know…
"I was a happy kid, friends, good family, good neighbors. Then, I could turn lights on and off when I was angry. My family didn't notice this, luckily. Eventually, I learned to turn electrical appliances on and off at will. But, when I was twelve years old, some kid caught me turning the TV on without a remote. I tried to convince him it was a timer, but he had seen me point at the TV and little sparks flew out of my finger and hit the screen.
"I was very unfortunate that of all kids this one happened to be the leader of a small gang who beat up anyone they thought was a mutant.
"I lived near a nuclear power plant. The gang chased me up there. I climbed over the fence and ran inside, and I somehow deactivated the security systems. I was running scared.
"I looked all over for a place to hide, and unfortunately I chose to hide right next to some barrels containing uranium fuel pellets. I didn't even hear then climb up to the top. They took the top off of four barrels…and they poured it on me.
"I-I-I…I got buried in radioactive uranium. They left me there to die…I fainted because I couldn't breathe…
"The next morning I woke up to the sound of somebody trying to dig me out…
"I thought it was one of the people who worked at the plant, but it turned out to be the gang, who came back to finish their dirty work.
"When they found I was alive, they forced me to swallow twenty uranium pellets from a fresh barrel, because apparently all the uranium that they poured on me the night before had turned to lead. I had already swallowed several trying to breathe. Then they piled five more barrels' worth of uranium on me. The next morning, I was still alive, so they took me onto the roof and threw me onto some power lines.
"Then they left for good. A gust of wind blew me down, and I fell thirty feet. I regained consciousness a few hours later and stumbled home. I guess my family was out looking for me or something, because nobody was home.
"Then…then…then the mob came. Somebody saw me go into the house and he called a whole bunch or mutant-haters. They sent in two people…to bring me out so that they could kill me. I ran into the basement, I hid in the furnace room. They searched the house, and when they found me, they started to beat me with…with baseball bats. After they hit me about…twenty times, something inside me snapped.
"I don't know exactly what happened next, but a news report I watched later while I was on the run said that the two men somehow damaged a gas pipe in the furnace. Then they hit the furnace again, and the time it somehow caused a spark which caused a gas explosion.
"But after what happened last week…I think I know what really happened.
"Anyway, the explosion blew my houses to pieces. The roof came down two blocks away, killed a man driving in his car. The shock wave killed four more mutant-haters, slammed them into a wall…
"I jumped into an electric cable in full-blown panic, and I came out somewhere in Los Angeles.
"The men who were beating me were found driven halfway through a couple of trees, clutching their baseball bats. My blood was burned onto their bats, hands, and arms. So I killed seven people.
"The FBI thought I was a mutant wanted for murder, and they put me on their top ten most wanted list. I had to hide every time I saw someone. I hid from every person I saw for two months!
"One side-effect from this ordeal was I got the blue hair and eyes you see here today. I don't know when it turned blue, but I think it was after I was buried in the uranium. I was able to get medical attention for my burns and broken bones, but I had to sneak out of the hospital because there was a chance somebody might recognize me…"
All this time tears had been sliding down David's face. Professor X looked sympathetic, and opened his mouth to say something.
Then, there was a knock on the door. A black woman with long white hair came in and said, "Professor, Magneto has been sighted in Toronto. He's holding Logan prisoner in the CN Tower."