This is the first story that I have published to the general public, so please review or comment. I'd love to hear what you think. I know it's only a prologue, but please trust me; I have the first chapter on the way! This story does also include a few OCs of mine, so there will be a few names you may not recognize (including a main character in the story). Hope you enjoy!

Disclaimer: I do not in any way own Marvel Comics or its characters. I take no credit for its ownership or creation.

EDIT: Changed a few things here and there. The story is...taking much longer than I had hoped...

Journey of a King: Book 1: Alien

Prologue

November 14, 1999

As I lay within the cargo hold of this ship as it rocks up and down on the waves, I examine my fellow passengers. They are refugees, doing their best to get comfortable until we reach our destination. Although we are all mutants, bound for the same location, I fear many of the similarities end there. Whilst many here simply wish for a better life within the so-called 'mutant haven' that we are headed to, I am here for a far more sinister purpose. This is a mere part of my journey to take back what is mine from they who stole it from me, and I plan to see it through to the end, whether I succeed or meet my death in the attempt.

But I get ahead of myself. My name is Michael Malcom, or at least that is the name I have taken. I am what many on this planet call a mutant. If you are unfamiliar with the term, allow me to elucidate.

The genetic code within every sentient being in the galaxy (humans included) consists of four specific gene codes: G-C, A-T, C-G, and T-A. Each letter represents a protein found within your very DNA, and it uses these four codes in a very specific way to create everything about you. Your height, the shape of your ears, your voice, the length of your arms, everything. It's all determined this way. Mutants are no different, save for one small exception: while non-mutants have four gene codes, mutants have five.

It is known simply as the 'X gene', and it is why we are all here now, bound for Asteroid M. The X gene causes mutations within the gene code that causes one to develop interesting powers. The powers one gains depends on the gene code in question. One man becomes a pyrokinetic, with the ability to create and control fire. Another, perhaps even his brother, becomes ethereal, able to phase through solid objects and fly. Mutants gain powers that humans can only dream of.

Unfortunately, however, this power comes with a price. En masse, humans are…distrustful of unfamiliarity, and have a tendency to hate out of fear. When mutants began to make headlines, many called them out as freaks of nature. Even certain high-ranking UN senators began to formulate plans to have us all imprisoned, 'to protect humanity from the mutant menace', if I am to quote them. Mutant menace, indeed. A few of these mutants around me are children, not even fully grown. They need an education to hone and control their abilities, not a pair of handcuffs and a jail cell. It seems, however, that most of the United Nation believes otherwise.

That's why they're all here. That's why these refugees are huddling within the bowels of a cargo ship, waiting and praying for a fast journey. To escape the torment that humans have placed upon them, that they might live in the relative peace and comfort that they desperately desire. Our destination is Asteroid M, an enormous space station currently in orbit above planet Earth. A perfect society for mutants, if one is to believe the stories. Although we cannot reach it from a mere sea ship, there is an island off the southern coast of Africa which is used to transport mutants from the surface of the planet onto Asteroid M.

Asteroid M is led by its creator, one of the most powerful mutants of our time. He is known as Magneto, and is mutant ability allows him to generate and control all magnetic fields around him. Metal, and anything else that responds to magnetism, are subject to his will, and in a world that includes metal within almost everything it builds, this makes him nigh to unstoppable.

Unfortunately, I have considered him an enemy in the past. He once tried to recruit me, to make me see that humans were an outdated and retched species that evolution has now found lacking. I didn't believe him, and in truth I still do not now. He has tried multiple times to begin wars with human kind, believing (somehow) that war is the only solution to mutant survival. But to attack innocent people and subjugate them, perhaps even kill them, is downright monstrous. I know this all to well. An innocent bears innocent blood, no matter whom they are or even what color it is. And I vowed to never shed innocent blood.

Not again, anyway.

Besides, many mutants do not wish to fight in a war. Many are just civilians, simply wishing to live in peace as most do. The passengers that sit among the cargo crates around me are proof of that. And there are those that will fight to prevent a human/mutant war from ever occurring. I joined such a team once. They are known as the X-men.

The X-men are led by Professor Charles Xavier, the world's most powerful telepath. It is his dream to see mutants and humans accept one another for who they are, and live amongst one another in peace. It is a very large dream, especially nowadays, and one that will not be easy to achieve, but their cause is just, unlike Magneto, and I share their dreams of a peaceful world.

So why did I leave, you ask? Why did I abandon the X-men to join Magneto, if I still do not share his views? And who am I, anyway? Who is Michael Malcom, and what makes him so important to this story? If you have the time to spare, then by all means read on, and you shall have the answers you seek. Allow me to tell you, through my writings, how I turned from an alien Emperor, to an X-man, to exile, to one of Magneto's Acolytes, and hopefully, into an alien Emperor again…

And there it is. The prologue. If you're wondering about the wording, it's designed to make Michael out as someone who likes to over-explain things, and use complex words. A high-society kind of guy, you know? Like I said above, please comment and review. I'll have the next chapter up soon. Until I write again!