Trying to play it cool, I said, "Yo, Erik, how's it hanging? Um, how come you aren't frozen? Where are you, anyway?" I felt a breeze behind me and whipped around. There he was, cape, helmet and all. Wait. The helmet! Maybe it protected him from the freezing like it did from Chuck's telepathy. Or maybe he was the cause of the freezing. Erik still had a calm look on his face, and it was starting to creep me out because I was scared as hell and was sure it showed in my expression.
"I am not frozen, as you put it, simply because I have this helmet." Ha, I was right. "It protects me from certain mutant abilities, as you know, telepathy, and yours, the ability to stop time." I gaped. This was my power? I was doing this? But I wasn't even aware of it!
"You've got to be kidding me. I-I-I can only control water. N-n-not, well not this." I gestured to the suspended animation everyone appeared to be in. "And besides, Chu-, Professor Xavier would have told me about it." He raised a critical eyebrow.
"Would he have? And what if he didn't know? What if Cerebro can't detect everything? I, on the other hand, know what you're going through. When I first learned of my ability, I thought for sure something was wrong with me. I was a freak. Then I slowly learned to use it to my advantage. Come with me, Crys. I can help you far beyond whatever Charles is offering. Together we can help mutant-kind rise above the humans, where they are supposed to be." He held out his hand and I pondered what he was saying. But then I remembered, this was Magneto! But what had he done to me? Nothing except offer me help. So had Chuck. Who am I supposed to choose? I thought confusedly. My instincts and TV knowledge told me Xavier, but common sense said Erik.
After all, wasn't it Chuck who forced you to come back and talk even after you said you didn't want to? Wasn't it Chuck who held you down with steel shackles to a table until you agreed with him? He wouldn't even let you try your hand at surviving in your own universe. He just let Badger try and knock you out so he could take you back to this mansion with all these stuck-up kids. Well, maybe Kurt isn't stuck-up, but the rest of them I'd say 'yes.' Who are you gonna choose now? I argued with my conscience for about five minutes, Erik all the while waiting patiently. Finally summoning enough courage to say something, I asked, "If I say yes, does that mean I have to live with the Brotherhood and fight against the kids here? Besides, everyone I know says you're the bad guy."
"No, you will not have to live with those sorry excuses for companions Mystique keeps around. You will live with me in a secluded area with no one else around for distractions, and we will train your power to the maximum. Many say I am evil, but do you really believe everything you hear? Why, I don't tell the Brotherhood to go out and cause trouble, that is my dear Mystique. I simply wish to make things better for mutants." He kept talking, but I had stopped listening after the first two sentences. Alone. With Erik Lencherr/Magneto. No one else. No one to help if he went overboard. Just me and him. Him and me. No friggin' way. No friggin' way I was agreeing to this.
"Ummm, I really don't think you've got what I'm looking for. Maybe another time?" I squeaked out the last part. He advanced on me, I tried to back up, then remembered I was against the railing. No where to go. Crap.
"Are you absolutely sure? This pansy approach that Charles is taking to deal with humans' reaction to mutants won't hold out for long. It will collapse, and when that day comes, you should be sure that you're on the right side. Even if that side is the one that opposes my dear old friend." Advancing again, he made me stumble and fall down trying to back up farther which was impossible because of the railing.
"I think I'm sure, Erik. My decisions effect my life, so I try and make them right. Isn't that a good philosophy?" Erik stopped advancing and cracked a half-grin.
"I suppose you're right Crystal," I winced at his use of my full name," this choice would effect your life. But remember, I'll always be there if you change your mind. Just call out my name, and we can start a new life. I'll be watching." He turned to go. As he floated away, I mumbled under my breath,
"Well that would be creepy. Now I'm gonna be paranoid."
"Paranoid about vat, Cryees?" I jumped. Apparently, time had resumed its normal flow without me noticing.
"Nothing Kurt. But, I think I will need to talk to Chuck. Whether I like it or not. He needs to know some things." Glancing toward the spot where Erik was not two minutes ago, I sighed deeply and stood up. As I trotted off to Chuck's office, he called to my retreating back,
"Ven did you seet down?"
~*~
I stopped just outside of Chuck's office door, not wanting to go in but knowing that I had to. I didn't even consider knocking because he probably knew I was there anyway. Sighing again, I opened the door to find Chuck sitting(well he can't really do anything else now can he)behind his desk calmly, like he knew all of our secrets(which he probably does, he's telepathic, doi). He smiled at me.
"Hello Crys, what can I do for you?" I plopped down in a chair that was in front of his desk and put my head in my hands. Chuck didn't look surprised. Why would he look surprised? After all, what's to stop him from reading your mind like he did before? Of course, he always said he wouldn't read others' thoughts without their permission. But then what about back at the lake? Was that an emergency? Did he need to read my mind in order to help? Lifting my head up, I said,
"We need to talk. Big time. I'm not sure if I'm supposed to tell you, or if you already know, but...." I hesitated.
"But what?" he prompted. This time I looked him straight in the eye.
"Erik Lencherr gave me an offer. He also told me something that I wasn't aware of. He told me that I have the ability to stop time and you didn't know that. What do you say to that?" Chuck looked intrigued.
"Well, Erik often tries to get new recruits of mine to join his side. Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't. I'm glad you decided not to. On the matter of your new ability, I was not aware that you have two. I'm afraid I must see to believe, as some put it. I take it you wouldn't want me peeking into your memories, so you might as well show me."
"But I don't know how! It just, well it just happens. I can't control it. So how am I supposed to do it?" But Chuck didn't answer. He was frozen. I sighed. Might as well do something while time is frozen. I figured that it would only last for a couple of seconds, since that's how long it lasted before. Quickly, I got up and lay down on the couch beside Chuck, staring at the ceiling. I guessed that time resumed because I heard a startled noise beside me. "Believe me now?" I asked without turning my head.
"Yes, I do. But I still fail to see what triggers your power. Before time stopped for you, I had just asked you to show your gift. Did you say anything before you realized time was frozen?" I thought.
"Yeah, I got sort of upset. I said something about not knowing how it happened, it just happened. But what does that have to do with anything?" Chuck thought for a moment then replied,
"Have you done this any time before now?"
"Yes. Two times."
"Do you notice anything similar between your three experiences?" I didn't reply right away. Then a lightbulb went off in my head.
"Emotions! Whenever it happened, I had a strong emotion, and when I tried to talk to someone, they didn't respond since they were frozen. Then I sort of calmed down because I had to try and figure out what was going on and time resumed. Could that be it?"
"I believe it could. Emotional stress usually triggers the mutant gene in humans. But I have never heard of someone who did not get all their gifts at one time. It seems odd."
"Right. Well, now that you have something new to ponder over, can I go? I think I left someone hanging on the tail-end of a conversation," I said, thinking of Kurt.
"Of course you can, Crys. Maybe we'll talk again sometime," Chuck said distractedly. I loped out of the office back to my room, where it smelled faintly of fire and brimstone. Kurt must have teleported off somewhere, I thought.
"Well, at least I've got privacy. Oh, wait, with two telepaths, a girl who can walk through walls and an elf who can teleport almost anywhere he wants, no one gets privacy. How could I forget?" I mumbled to myself as I trudged over to close my windows.
"I dunno how ya' could ferget, Tidepool. I just know you an' me gotta have a talk." I froze as I turned around to face Logan, who had stepped out from the shadows of my room's corner.
"Wh-what are you doin' here, B-Badger?" I asked shakily. Come on, time freeze, it'd be good for you to kick in right about now.
"What do ya' think I'm doin' here? Like I said, we gotta have a little talk. You an' me." I gulped. It was never good when Wolverine/Logan/Badger wanted to talk with you. Never.
~*~
Like my encounter with Erik, I tried to play it cool. "Um, heh, what, um, do we have to talk about? Do you, um, do this with all the new students? Heh, heh." I gulped again and cracked a half-smile when I was going for that confident full one. He smirked.
"Why weren't ya, I dunno, sad about leavin'? Ya' never wanted ta' go back and get stuff that we fergot to get for ya'. All the other squirts, scratch Rogue and One-Eye, got families they go ta' over the holidays. People they call every once in a while. What 'bout you?" I gaped. I was not expecting this. To my knowledge, he was gonna spear me for the sarcasm I treated him to. Now he's gettin' all touchy-feely on me? Looking at him skeptically, I asked,
"Is Chuck in your head or somethin'? This....well this isn't you. To answer your questions though," at this point I sighed deeply, sat down on my bed and continued, "I kinda wanna forget my past. I didn't have any true friends, only people to talk with when there's nothin' else to do. My parents didn't really approve of me ever since I stopped wearing dresses and tiaras and started wearing boxer shorts. They just can't accept who I am. Not much was in my room because I was packing to go live at a motel for a while till college. There's not much to go back and get. I just wanna, kinda, forget all of that and live life here to the fullest with no memories of how screwed my life used to be. But you probably won't have heard any of this, since my 'emotional state' most likely triggered the time freeze." But looking up, I saw that Logan was no longer leaning against the wall, glaring at me. He was now sitting on my bed next to me, soaking up every word. Amazingly, time had continued. His expression had changed in the slightest, but it still had changed.
"All that true, Crys?" he asked in a low voice.
"Yeah, it is. Why would I lie to you? Other than the fact that every time we meet you somehow end up threatening me." He grunted in what I thought was supposed to stand for a laugh. I was still amazed that he had said my real name, not some nickname that he made up.
"Just to let ya' know, any time ya' need advice and don't want to deal with Chuck's intelligent mumbo-jumbo, ya' can come an' see me. But tell any of the squirts I said that an' yer' dead. There's just somethin' 'bout you that changes something about this place. Dunno what it is yet. Maybe you can tell me." Shocked that he'd offer advice to the kid who just came here yesterday from a different universe and obviously doesn't want to talk about it, I said,
"Um, sure. Maybe I can tell you. But not right now. Right now I've got a lot of things on my mind. And everyone seems to be in my room lately. So, not to be rude or anything, but, er...could you leave?" He nodded and got up. Opening the door, he said without turning around,
"I woulda' done the same thing. With Magneto. Considerin' yer' choices, I'm kinda surprised." Then he walked out and shut the door behind him. I pondered what he had said, and wondered about what he had meant. Sighing, I flopped back on my bed and turned to the side to look at my clock. It read 5:30. You'd think more time had passed, but since it was frozen for a while, it didn't really pass.
Dinner was at 8:00. This left me with two and a half hours to do, whatever. I wasn't really looking forward to dinner, as I wasn't comfortable around everyone yet. They still kinda creeped me out. Besides, they were paranoid about me doing something or knowing something about them that they themselves didn't know. But I actually didn't know much more than they did.
~*~
"I am not frozen, as you put it, simply because I have this helmet." Ha, I was right. "It protects me from certain mutant abilities, as you know, telepathy, and yours, the ability to stop time." I gaped. This was my power? I was doing this? But I wasn't even aware of it!
"You've got to be kidding me. I-I-I can only control water. N-n-not, well not this." I gestured to the suspended animation everyone appeared to be in. "And besides, Chu-, Professor Xavier would have told me about it." He raised a critical eyebrow.
"Would he have? And what if he didn't know? What if Cerebro can't detect everything? I, on the other hand, know what you're going through. When I first learned of my ability, I thought for sure something was wrong with me. I was a freak. Then I slowly learned to use it to my advantage. Come with me, Crys. I can help you far beyond whatever Charles is offering. Together we can help mutant-kind rise above the humans, where they are supposed to be." He held out his hand and I pondered what he was saying. But then I remembered, this was Magneto! But what had he done to me? Nothing except offer me help. So had Chuck. Who am I supposed to choose? I thought confusedly. My instincts and TV knowledge told me Xavier, but common sense said Erik.
After all, wasn't it Chuck who forced you to come back and talk even after you said you didn't want to? Wasn't it Chuck who held you down with steel shackles to a table until you agreed with him? He wouldn't even let you try your hand at surviving in your own universe. He just let Badger try and knock you out so he could take you back to this mansion with all these stuck-up kids. Well, maybe Kurt isn't stuck-up, but the rest of them I'd say 'yes.' Who are you gonna choose now? I argued with my conscience for about five minutes, Erik all the while waiting patiently. Finally summoning enough courage to say something, I asked, "If I say yes, does that mean I have to live with the Brotherhood and fight against the kids here? Besides, everyone I know says you're the bad guy."
"No, you will not have to live with those sorry excuses for companions Mystique keeps around. You will live with me in a secluded area with no one else around for distractions, and we will train your power to the maximum. Many say I am evil, but do you really believe everything you hear? Why, I don't tell the Brotherhood to go out and cause trouble, that is my dear Mystique. I simply wish to make things better for mutants." He kept talking, but I had stopped listening after the first two sentences. Alone. With Erik Lencherr/Magneto. No one else. No one to help if he went overboard. Just me and him. Him and me. No friggin' way. No friggin' way I was agreeing to this.
"Ummm, I really don't think you've got what I'm looking for. Maybe another time?" I squeaked out the last part. He advanced on me, I tried to back up, then remembered I was against the railing. No where to go. Crap.
"Are you absolutely sure? This pansy approach that Charles is taking to deal with humans' reaction to mutants won't hold out for long. It will collapse, and when that day comes, you should be sure that you're on the right side. Even if that side is the one that opposes my dear old friend." Advancing again, he made me stumble and fall down trying to back up farther which was impossible because of the railing.
"I think I'm sure, Erik. My decisions effect my life, so I try and make them right. Isn't that a good philosophy?" Erik stopped advancing and cracked a half-grin.
"I suppose you're right Crystal," I winced at his use of my full name," this choice would effect your life. But remember, I'll always be there if you change your mind. Just call out my name, and we can start a new life. I'll be watching." He turned to go. As he floated away, I mumbled under my breath,
"Well that would be creepy. Now I'm gonna be paranoid."
"Paranoid about vat, Cryees?" I jumped. Apparently, time had resumed its normal flow without me noticing.
"Nothing Kurt. But, I think I will need to talk to Chuck. Whether I like it or not. He needs to know some things." Glancing toward the spot where Erik was not two minutes ago, I sighed deeply and stood up. As I trotted off to Chuck's office, he called to my retreating back,
"Ven did you seet down?"
~*~
I stopped just outside of Chuck's office door, not wanting to go in but knowing that I had to. I didn't even consider knocking because he probably knew I was there anyway. Sighing again, I opened the door to find Chuck sitting(well he can't really do anything else now can he)behind his desk calmly, like he knew all of our secrets(which he probably does, he's telepathic, doi). He smiled at me.
"Hello Crys, what can I do for you?" I plopped down in a chair that was in front of his desk and put my head in my hands. Chuck didn't look surprised. Why would he look surprised? After all, what's to stop him from reading your mind like he did before? Of course, he always said he wouldn't read others' thoughts without their permission. But then what about back at the lake? Was that an emergency? Did he need to read my mind in order to help? Lifting my head up, I said,
"We need to talk. Big time. I'm not sure if I'm supposed to tell you, or if you already know, but...." I hesitated.
"But what?" he prompted. This time I looked him straight in the eye.
"Erik Lencherr gave me an offer. He also told me something that I wasn't aware of. He told me that I have the ability to stop time and you didn't know that. What do you say to that?" Chuck looked intrigued.
"Well, Erik often tries to get new recruits of mine to join his side. Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't. I'm glad you decided not to. On the matter of your new ability, I was not aware that you have two. I'm afraid I must see to believe, as some put it. I take it you wouldn't want me peeking into your memories, so you might as well show me."
"But I don't know how! It just, well it just happens. I can't control it. So how am I supposed to do it?" But Chuck didn't answer. He was frozen. I sighed. Might as well do something while time is frozen. I figured that it would only last for a couple of seconds, since that's how long it lasted before. Quickly, I got up and lay down on the couch beside Chuck, staring at the ceiling. I guessed that time resumed because I heard a startled noise beside me. "Believe me now?" I asked without turning my head.
"Yes, I do. But I still fail to see what triggers your power. Before time stopped for you, I had just asked you to show your gift. Did you say anything before you realized time was frozen?" I thought.
"Yeah, I got sort of upset. I said something about not knowing how it happened, it just happened. But what does that have to do with anything?" Chuck thought for a moment then replied,
"Have you done this any time before now?"
"Yes. Two times."
"Do you notice anything similar between your three experiences?" I didn't reply right away. Then a lightbulb went off in my head.
"Emotions! Whenever it happened, I had a strong emotion, and when I tried to talk to someone, they didn't respond since they were frozen. Then I sort of calmed down because I had to try and figure out what was going on and time resumed. Could that be it?"
"I believe it could. Emotional stress usually triggers the mutant gene in humans. But I have never heard of someone who did not get all their gifts at one time. It seems odd."
"Right. Well, now that you have something new to ponder over, can I go? I think I left someone hanging on the tail-end of a conversation," I said, thinking of Kurt.
"Of course you can, Crys. Maybe we'll talk again sometime," Chuck said distractedly. I loped out of the office back to my room, where it smelled faintly of fire and brimstone. Kurt must have teleported off somewhere, I thought.
"Well, at least I've got privacy. Oh, wait, with two telepaths, a girl who can walk through walls and an elf who can teleport almost anywhere he wants, no one gets privacy. How could I forget?" I mumbled to myself as I trudged over to close my windows.
"I dunno how ya' could ferget, Tidepool. I just know you an' me gotta have a talk." I froze as I turned around to face Logan, who had stepped out from the shadows of my room's corner.
"Wh-what are you doin' here, B-Badger?" I asked shakily. Come on, time freeze, it'd be good for you to kick in right about now.
"What do ya' think I'm doin' here? Like I said, we gotta have a little talk. You an' me." I gulped. It was never good when Wolverine/Logan/Badger wanted to talk with you. Never.
~*~
Like my encounter with Erik, I tried to play it cool. "Um, heh, what, um, do we have to talk about? Do you, um, do this with all the new students? Heh, heh." I gulped again and cracked a half-smile when I was going for that confident full one. He smirked.
"Why weren't ya, I dunno, sad about leavin'? Ya' never wanted ta' go back and get stuff that we fergot to get for ya'. All the other squirts, scratch Rogue and One-Eye, got families they go ta' over the holidays. People they call every once in a while. What 'bout you?" I gaped. I was not expecting this. To my knowledge, he was gonna spear me for the sarcasm I treated him to. Now he's gettin' all touchy-feely on me? Looking at him skeptically, I asked,
"Is Chuck in your head or somethin'? This....well this isn't you. To answer your questions though," at this point I sighed deeply, sat down on my bed and continued, "I kinda wanna forget my past. I didn't have any true friends, only people to talk with when there's nothin' else to do. My parents didn't really approve of me ever since I stopped wearing dresses and tiaras and started wearing boxer shorts. They just can't accept who I am. Not much was in my room because I was packing to go live at a motel for a while till college. There's not much to go back and get. I just wanna, kinda, forget all of that and live life here to the fullest with no memories of how screwed my life used to be. But you probably won't have heard any of this, since my 'emotional state' most likely triggered the time freeze." But looking up, I saw that Logan was no longer leaning against the wall, glaring at me. He was now sitting on my bed next to me, soaking up every word. Amazingly, time had continued. His expression had changed in the slightest, but it still had changed.
"All that true, Crys?" he asked in a low voice.
"Yeah, it is. Why would I lie to you? Other than the fact that every time we meet you somehow end up threatening me." He grunted in what I thought was supposed to stand for a laugh. I was still amazed that he had said my real name, not some nickname that he made up.
"Just to let ya' know, any time ya' need advice and don't want to deal with Chuck's intelligent mumbo-jumbo, ya' can come an' see me. But tell any of the squirts I said that an' yer' dead. There's just somethin' 'bout you that changes something about this place. Dunno what it is yet. Maybe you can tell me." Shocked that he'd offer advice to the kid who just came here yesterday from a different universe and obviously doesn't want to talk about it, I said,
"Um, sure. Maybe I can tell you. But not right now. Right now I've got a lot of things on my mind. And everyone seems to be in my room lately. So, not to be rude or anything, but, er...could you leave?" He nodded and got up. Opening the door, he said without turning around,
"I woulda' done the same thing. With Magneto. Considerin' yer' choices, I'm kinda surprised." Then he walked out and shut the door behind him. I pondered what he had said, and wondered about what he had meant. Sighing, I flopped back on my bed and turned to the side to look at my clock. It read 5:30. You'd think more time had passed, but since it was frozen for a while, it didn't really pass.
Dinner was at 8:00. This left me with two and a half hours to do, whatever. I wasn't really looking forward to dinner, as I wasn't comfortable around everyone yet. They still kinda creeped me out. Besides, they were paranoid about me doing something or knowing something about them that they themselves didn't know. But I actually didn't know much more than they did.
~*~
