Chapter 4: Magnetic Fields
When Kurt awoke, he stared up into the high ceiling of his new bedroom. The bamboo-like fan was twirling incessantly, and also making the elf slightly dizzy. He shook his blue head and grasped it with one three- fingered hand before hopping out of his comfy bed and landing on the unpleasantly cold tile floor. He yawned, baring sharp looking fangs, stretched, and threw on a shirt; he was only wearing red and white striped boxers (with a hole in the back). He stumbled down the grand staircase that lead to the kitchen, his favorite room so far in the mansion. He went over to the breakfast table and saw a couple new faces among known ones. Bobby waved, smiled and hopped out of his chair next to a pretty girl about his age with a high brown ponytail. Bobby led Kurt to the cabinet that contained about a million types of cereal. "Pick one!" said Bobby, jovially bouncing up and down on the balls of his feet with a large smile when he saw the look of pure joy on his new friend's face. Kurt was amazed. His eyes widened with every box he read. In the end, he picked the one called 'Lucky Charms'. "They sound fun!" he exclaimed. Bobby got out a large bowl and a spoon for Kurt while he was being directed to the fridge for milk. Kurt felt this strong urge to talk to the girl who was at the table, silent as a mouse. He was confused for a moment, pouring a little too much milk into his Lucky Charms, 'this girl can see me, yet she is not afraid,' Kurt thought to himself. He realized what he was doing quickly as the girl began to smile and giggle slightly. He pulled away just as the milk was about to leave the bowl. Bobby sat back down in his seat, while Kurt klutzily went to sit across from the girl and Bobby. He mustered up the courage to talk to her. "Hello, my name is Kurt. Kurt Wagner. I am new here," he said shakily. "I...I know," she said, blushing and keeping that cute smile of hers across her lips, "I'm Kitty. Well, Katherine, actually, but everyone calls me Kitty." "Katchzen, huh," Kurt replied, "Can...can I call you that? Do you mind? I am German and that's 'cat' in Germ..." "Of course!" she said giggling. She smiled softly, despite Kurt's blank expression. He started eating his cereal but for some strange reason his spoon kept missing his mouth. Maybe it was because his eyes were transfixed on Kitty. She tried not to notice that he was staring, and looked away every so often because, quite frankly, the milk dribbling off his chin was funny and she didn't want him to think she was rude. He noticed this, and he just smiled a wide toothy grin and took another spoonful of Lucky Charms. He missed again. But this was odd... he hadn't been watching Kitty this time. Confused, he tried again, and it was strike three. Something strange was definitely going on. He sheepishly glanced up at Bobby and Kitty. It seems they were having trouble eating, too. He sighed, thankful that he wasn't the only one acting like a baby here. But then he thought, 'Why can't they eat too? We can't all be nervous around each other...' Just at that moment, Kurt was swept away in his chair. The chair took him out of the kitchen, into the great hall, and finally out of the mansion. It was as if his chair had a mind of it's own. He was terrified, gripping the metal arms as hard as he could with just three fingers. He was zooming down the highway now, so scared and shocked that he could not even think of or consider teleporting his way out of this mess. He just shut his eyes tight and prayed for the best. He was too young to die, after all; the Lord had great plans for him. That's what his foster mother would always tell him, so how could he die now? "Please, Lord...," Kurt whispered through small tears, "Get me through this."
'Whoever wants me so badly will not have their wish!' Kurt thought with a sudden rush of determination. He tried to lift himself up off the chair with his furry arms and was getting G-force from the strong gusts of wind. The harsh wind was piercing his eyes and they stung and watered because of it. Or maybe it was because he was just crying. Either way he had a defeated yet strong look across his face. Though all the odds of his escaping were against him, still he tried to get out of the wretched chair. He mustered up whatever strength he had left and finally pushed himself up and off the chair. He then planned to jump onto the next car that passed by. A large grey truck was his answer, and it came just in time, seen as his arms were wearing out quickly. He readied himself for his leap of faith as the truck was neck-and-neck with his chair. With a burst of power and speed, his muscular calves and arms sprung him to what seemed to be the roof of the 18-wheeler. 'Yes!,' Kurt thought out loud, 'I'm going to make it!' He was but inches away from the safe haven of the truck when he was struck headfirst into some sort of forcefield. It was surrounding the truck. When he connected with the barrier, he was instantly knocked unconscious. He was to fall to certain death on the pavement below, going 80 on a clear highway. But as soon as he was about to hit rock bottom, the metal arms of the chair extended, caught dead-weight Kurt, and brought him back to the 'safety' of the seat. But, as he was to find out soon, he probably would have been more safe if he had fallen. The 'safety' of the chair was taking him to a slow and painful death as opposed to falling on the concrete and having a chance, however small, of surviving. Even if he hadn't survived, it would have been a better way to leave the world than what was waiting for him next. -Meanwhile, back at the Institute-
Bobby and Kitty were running around the mansion, searching every corridor they knew of for Kurt, but they had no luck. "Where could he have gone?" said Kitty, clearly worried about the demon she knew near nothing about. "Look," said Bobby with a gulp. The front doors of the Institute had been smashed through in the clear shape of a chair and it's sitter. "He was kidnapped!" Kitty cried, "That chair took him away! I didn't even have a chance to talk to him! I...I...I...,"
"We'll go get the Professor to look for him with Cerebro, it will be alright," Bobby said comfortingly. Kitty was in hystronics by the time they found Professor X in the humongous house. He took in as much of the unbelievable story as he could, and took to Cerebro immediately. Bobby went back to Kitty's room with her to keep her company. For some reason, she was extremely distraught about Kurt. Bobby thought, 'She should be upset that one of our team was kidnapped by a chair, but she knew the guy for all of 20 minutes and she's crying over him..." This wasn't like Kitty at all, but maybe she had connected with Kurt at first sight. Bobby spent the rest of the night comforting his friend, and Kurt spent his night on the freezing metal floor of a jail cell smack dab in the middle of Magneto's territory.
The Professor finally managed to locate Kurt in the wee hours of the morning. 'Kurt! Kurt, wake up!' The buzzing from the Professor woke Kurt instantly. He grabbed his head; his back hurt from laying on the hard metal. 'What is it Professor?' Kurt asked quite unaware of the dire situation he was in, 'Wh...where am I? What am I doing in here!?!?' Kurt learned how to speak to Professor X in his mind just the first day he was in the mansion. He realized that he was in a plain cell, and that everything in it was made of iron. 'Get me out of here!!" Kurt said, more than a tinge of panic in his voice. 'I'm sending out a rescue team to come and get you soon, Kurt, hang tight and you'll be fine...,' Professor X said, then closed the line of brainwaves through Cerebro to Kurt. He looked extremely nervous and defeated, not how the Professor usually was. There was doubt spreading across his face, and his heart filled with gloom. '...I hope.'
When Kurt awoke, he stared up into the high ceiling of his new bedroom. The bamboo-like fan was twirling incessantly, and also making the elf slightly dizzy. He shook his blue head and grasped it with one three- fingered hand before hopping out of his comfy bed and landing on the unpleasantly cold tile floor. He yawned, baring sharp looking fangs, stretched, and threw on a shirt; he was only wearing red and white striped boxers (with a hole in the back). He stumbled down the grand staircase that lead to the kitchen, his favorite room so far in the mansion. He went over to the breakfast table and saw a couple new faces among known ones. Bobby waved, smiled and hopped out of his chair next to a pretty girl about his age with a high brown ponytail. Bobby led Kurt to the cabinet that contained about a million types of cereal. "Pick one!" said Bobby, jovially bouncing up and down on the balls of his feet with a large smile when he saw the look of pure joy on his new friend's face. Kurt was amazed. His eyes widened with every box he read. In the end, he picked the one called 'Lucky Charms'. "They sound fun!" he exclaimed. Bobby got out a large bowl and a spoon for Kurt while he was being directed to the fridge for milk. Kurt felt this strong urge to talk to the girl who was at the table, silent as a mouse. He was confused for a moment, pouring a little too much milk into his Lucky Charms, 'this girl can see me, yet she is not afraid,' Kurt thought to himself. He realized what he was doing quickly as the girl began to smile and giggle slightly. He pulled away just as the milk was about to leave the bowl. Bobby sat back down in his seat, while Kurt klutzily went to sit across from the girl and Bobby. He mustered up the courage to talk to her. "Hello, my name is Kurt. Kurt Wagner. I am new here," he said shakily. "I...I know," she said, blushing and keeping that cute smile of hers across her lips, "I'm Kitty. Well, Katherine, actually, but everyone calls me Kitty." "Katchzen, huh," Kurt replied, "Can...can I call you that? Do you mind? I am German and that's 'cat' in Germ..." "Of course!" she said giggling. She smiled softly, despite Kurt's blank expression. He started eating his cereal but for some strange reason his spoon kept missing his mouth. Maybe it was because his eyes were transfixed on Kitty. She tried not to notice that he was staring, and looked away every so often because, quite frankly, the milk dribbling off his chin was funny and she didn't want him to think she was rude. He noticed this, and he just smiled a wide toothy grin and took another spoonful of Lucky Charms. He missed again. But this was odd... he hadn't been watching Kitty this time. Confused, he tried again, and it was strike three. Something strange was definitely going on. He sheepishly glanced up at Bobby and Kitty. It seems they were having trouble eating, too. He sighed, thankful that he wasn't the only one acting like a baby here. But then he thought, 'Why can't they eat too? We can't all be nervous around each other...' Just at that moment, Kurt was swept away in his chair. The chair took him out of the kitchen, into the great hall, and finally out of the mansion. It was as if his chair had a mind of it's own. He was terrified, gripping the metal arms as hard as he could with just three fingers. He was zooming down the highway now, so scared and shocked that he could not even think of or consider teleporting his way out of this mess. He just shut his eyes tight and prayed for the best. He was too young to die, after all; the Lord had great plans for him. That's what his foster mother would always tell him, so how could he die now? "Please, Lord...," Kurt whispered through small tears, "Get me through this."
'Whoever wants me so badly will not have their wish!' Kurt thought with a sudden rush of determination. He tried to lift himself up off the chair with his furry arms and was getting G-force from the strong gusts of wind. The harsh wind was piercing his eyes and they stung and watered because of it. Or maybe it was because he was just crying. Either way he had a defeated yet strong look across his face. Though all the odds of his escaping were against him, still he tried to get out of the wretched chair. He mustered up whatever strength he had left and finally pushed himself up and off the chair. He then planned to jump onto the next car that passed by. A large grey truck was his answer, and it came just in time, seen as his arms were wearing out quickly. He readied himself for his leap of faith as the truck was neck-and-neck with his chair. With a burst of power and speed, his muscular calves and arms sprung him to what seemed to be the roof of the 18-wheeler. 'Yes!,' Kurt thought out loud, 'I'm going to make it!' He was but inches away from the safe haven of the truck when he was struck headfirst into some sort of forcefield. It was surrounding the truck. When he connected with the barrier, he was instantly knocked unconscious. He was to fall to certain death on the pavement below, going 80 on a clear highway. But as soon as he was about to hit rock bottom, the metal arms of the chair extended, caught dead-weight Kurt, and brought him back to the 'safety' of the seat. But, as he was to find out soon, he probably would have been more safe if he had fallen. The 'safety' of the chair was taking him to a slow and painful death as opposed to falling on the concrete and having a chance, however small, of surviving. Even if he hadn't survived, it would have been a better way to leave the world than what was waiting for him next. -Meanwhile, back at the Institute-
Bobby and Kitty were running around the mansion, searching every corridor they knew of for Kurt, but they had no luck. "Where could he have gone?" said Kitty, clearly worried about the demon she knew near nothing about. "Look," said Bobby with a gulp. The front doors of the Institute had been smashed through in the clear shape of a chair and it's sitter. "He was kidnapped!" Kitty cried, "That chair took him away! I didn't even have a chance to talk to him! I...I...I...,"
"We'll go get the Professor to look for him with Cerebro, it will be alright," Bobby said comfortingly. Kitty was in hystronics by the time they found Professor X in the humongous house. He took in as much of the unbelievable story as he could, and took to Cerebro immediately. Bobby went back to Kitty's room with her to keep her company. For some reason, she was extremely distraught about Kurt. Bobby thought, 'She should be upset that one of our team was kidnapped by a chair, but she knew the guy for all of 20 minutes and she's crying over him..." This wasn't like Kitty at all, but maybe she had connected with Kurt at first sight. Bobby spent the rest of the night comforting his friend, and Kurt spent his night on the freezing metal floor of a jail cell smack dab in the middle of Magneto's territory.
The Professor finally managed to locate Kurt in the wee hours of the morning. 'Kurt! Kurt, wake up!' The buzzing from the Professor woke Kurt instantly. He grabbed his head; his back hurt from laying on the hard metal. 'What is it Professor?' Kurt asked quite unaware of the dire situation he was in, 'Wh...where am I? What am I doing in here!?!?' Kurt learned how to speak to Professor X in his mind just the first day he was in the mansion. He realized that he was in a plain cell, and that everything in it was made of iron. 'Get me out of here!!" Kurt said, more than a tinge of panic in his voice. 'I'm sending out a rescue team to come and get you soon, Kurt, hang tight and you'll be fine...,' Professor X said, then closed the line of brainwaves through Cerebro to Kurt. He looked extremely nervous and defeated, not how the Professor usually was. There was doubt spreading across his face, and his heart filled with gloom. '...I hope.'