I decided to go pass the time outside, like before. Only this time, it would be away from any other kids or people. That way no one would get hurt. Looking around, I spotted the fountain. Surprisingly, no one was there or even near there. I plopped down on the bench me and Kurt had been on earlier that day. But I swivelled my waist so I was facing the fountain. Glancing around, I didn't see anyone so, I started.

Manipulating the water to go into shapes was fun, but tiring. I reminded myself that I had another session with Chuck the next night. Maybe he could teach me to control it so that I wouldn't get so worn out.

I had held out my hand, palm facing toward the fountain, like I was saying 'stop.' This seemed to be the best position for making shapes and designs. Trying other methods didn't work as well. Taking a deep breath, I tried to lift all the water up into the air to make a huge design. Slowly moving my hand up with the H2O, I had to concentrate. It was not easy. But after about two minutes of straining myself, it worked. The water lifted off one inch. It wasn't much, but it was something. Sighing, I dropped my hand and it responded by splashing noisily back into the fountain. I turned back around on the bench, tilted my head back, and closed my eyes. Then they shot open again.

Everyone (except Chuck and Logan who were still in Chuck's office) was standing there. Just standing and watching me. Then they seemed to realize I had turned back around so they shrank away. Trying to will the anger back down so I wouldn't hurt anyone, I asked in a shaky voice,

"What are you guys all doing here?" A small wave was beginning to rise behind me but it never got bigger because I didn't let it. It just stayed the size of three feet, enough to soak their knees. No one spoke. Just like the last time. "Well!?" I demanded and the wave grew about a half a foot larger. This time I wasn't going to walk away.

"We, like, needed to come get you for dinner?" Kitty asked.

"Is that a question or a statement?" I asked, smirking. She fell silent. I addressed the whole group.

"Unless you can tell me that I've been out here for about two and a half hours, dinner isn't ready yet."

"Actually Crys, it is time for dinner and you have been out here for two and a half hours," said Jean. My jaw dropped. Then I changed moods and asked,

"Why do all of you need to come and get me. Couldn't Jean have sent me a telepathic message? No wait, let me guess, you wanted to see the famous 'water-art' and couldn't wait. You couldn't just ask me, no, that's too simple. You all have to stand there like idiots waiting for me to turn around so you can stay silent and let me get riled up." By now the wave was behind my head. I started to back away so the wave wouldn't get any of them. "I'm going to my room now, just so I don't hurt anyone. I'm not coming to dinner. You can bring food up but there's no guarantee that I'll eat it. Hey, I might even waste away before I get a chance to go to 'perfect Bayville High.' Maybe I should join up with Magneto. At least then I'll have privacy." I didn't really mean the last of the words, but they sure had an effect. Before turning around and bolting to the house, I could see the shocked expressions on everyones' faces.

~*~

Plopping down on my bed face up, I sighed. I seem to end up in my room a lot. Maybe I should stay here until I gain control and go back to my own universe. Then I'll never have to see these people again unless it's on TV. I might miss Kurt though. I heard knocking at my door.

"Don't come in!" I yelled. " You'll probably get pelted by a tidal wave!" My door opened anyway, damn I forgot to lock it, and a familiar fuzzy blue head peeked in, looking around frantically for the afore mentioned danger. I chuckled and said, "Don't worry Kurt, that was just something to scare people off. But I'm still not coming to dinner." He came all the way in and frowned. Closing the door, Kurt bamfed onto my bed to sit next to me and lay back on my pillows.

"So, going to tell me vhy you're not coming to dinner?" he asked nonchalantly. I growled.

"Furball, get off my sheets before you shed." He held his hands up in defense and bamfed to my ceiling, hanging upside down comfortably.

"Now vill you tell me?"

"Why do you insist on knowing everything ?" He shrugged.

"It's just who I am." Sighing again, I drew my eyes to his face, which looked at me pleadingly.

"Why do you think I'm not? It gets really annoying when people stare at you from behind, then when you turn around, they hardly say anything. Then when you try and get away from it all, someone forces you back to talk. I need alone time right now; dinner is too social. Besides, everyone will be whispering and glancing at me, and that's even more annoying. Don't you think? And to top it all off, I've discovered I can freeze time! How 'bout that!?" He seemed to think for a while, then replied,

"I zink zat everyvun did not mean to startle or anger you. Vee only vanted to see your talents. As for asking, I zink vee vere afraid zat you vould say no since you had not gotten a grip on it yet or did not like doing it in front of others. Besides, if you can stop time, zen vee have never-ending possibilities for pranks. Vat do you say, come down and eat vith us? Vat else are you going to do up here?" I didn't talk back for a while. Then I said,

"I thank you for trying to cheer me up Kurt, but I still don't think I'll be coming down. Don't force me down there, please, because I really don't want to hurt you. I think that you are right about one thing though, I over-reacted. My anger is too much for me too handle right now and I need to think. If anyone tries to force me to do anything, I'll probably run. And I really don't want to have to do that. Maybe I'll talk to you later. You'd better go before all the food is taken. Never mind that you take most of it anyway. Oh, and don't tell Chuck, even though he most likely already knows. Go on now, they'll be wondering where you are, you're never late to a meal." Forcing a smile on his saddened face, he said,

"I'll be looking forward to zat talk of ours," and bamfed off. I flopped over on my stomach and fell asleep, even though it was only 8:00.

~*~

When I woke up, the first thing I did was check the time. 12:30. No one would be up now, so I could probably get a snack. I didn't know how I could sleep that long, but I was hungry now since I missed dinner. Setting my feet down on the floor softly, so as not to wake anyone up, I trotted to my closed door, opened it, and peeked out into the hallway. Not a thing looked to be moving.

I moved on my tip-toes down the hallway and stairs, wincing when the last one creaked. I stopped to listen for anyone waking up, even though some of them could sleep through a thunder-storm. It was dark and gloomy in the deserted corridor as I snuck over to the kitchen door. Slowly turning the knob, I opened the door to see it was deserted as any where else. Sighing in relief, I flipped the light switch and walked over to the fridge. Swinging the door open, I proceeded to search for something that wouldn't take long to make. Finding nothing but yogurt that took less than five minutes to make(hey, all you do is take off the top and eat it), I flopped into a chair like a puppet without strings and slurped it.

"Still want to refuse my offer? You didn't even come down for dinner and said yourself that you might run if provoked more." I froze and didn't turn around to see where the voice was coming from. I already knew. Erik Lencherr, better known as Magneto. Man, does this guy ever give up? I thought to myself. Plunking my spoon into the yogurt container, I leaned my head back so I faced the ceiling and closed my eyes.

"I didn't come down for dinner because I was angry. Those feelings have subsided and now I'm fine. What I said about running was just something to get Kurt away. No one said I was actually going to do it. Besides, what makes you think I'm going to join your cause if you keep spying on me? It tends to kinda creep people out." Prying my eyes open because I really, really, really, didn't want to see Erik, I saw him looking down on me with an amused smirk.

"My dear, what beautiful eyes you have. But back to what you were saying, I was not spying, just waiting to see if you were actually going to take me up on my offer. I just happened to over hear your conversation." I snorted.

"Yeah, and I just happened to puke my guts out at anything you just said." I began to get up and head for the door. Then I stopped, because I literally couldn't move. My legs could, but my arms were held in place.

"Did you forget about your bracelets, my dear, dear, Crystal?" I looked down and cursed. Erik was holding me by my arm bracelets. They had metal spikes protruding from them.

"And all this time I thought it was silver colored plastic. Damn." Erik laughed cruelly, his arm held out in front of him, fingers spreadeagled and pointed toward me. Throwing me up against a wall, he walked over and stroked my cheek with his free hand. I narrowed my eyes at him and spit on his cloak. He stopped laughing and frowned.

"You'll regret that."

"What happened to helping me and mutant-kind, Erik? Have a split-personality disorder or something?" He smirked.

"I got tired of waiting, Crystal. Either you join my cause, or pay the price. Oh, and if you try and use that tidal wave that I've been seeing so much, it won't work. I can put up a magnetic shield to stop it. I won't be electrocuted because I have so much control over my power. Looks like you lost this one."

"What the hell is the price? I don't have that much metal on me, what are you going to do?" I scoffed. Unfortunately, taunting a man who can control metal isn't the smartest thing to do. Smirking even wider, he just motioned to my wrists. Gulping, I looked down to see that my bracelet spikes had been sharpened. Enough to pierce skin. And it would hurt. They glistened in the dim lighting. He moved his hands in the slightest and my arms started to move inwards, toward my torso. I watched, horrified, as he stopped them one centimeter from my madly beating heart.

"What is your choice, Crystal? Not that you have one." Stroking my cheek again he said, "You're so beautiful. Why can't you see why you should be on my side? I can help you much farther than Charles ever could. My old friend underestimates you. You could be great, you know. Maybe even as powerful as me." He sighed and continued to touch my face. He even combed his hand through my hair. I hated him. He had no right to do this to me. Force me to agree. Yet, that was just what Chuck did. He forced me to come back and talk. If they both used force, who was I supposed to trust? It was too much. My eyes, instead of their regular brilliant gold, swirled into a dark blue, almost black. I looked straight into Erik's eyes.

"You should not have done this. Now you will suffer the consequences. You should have left when you had the chance. Your overconfidence will be your downfall. Goodbye, Erik." I wasn't myself, it seemed as though I had undergone a personality change, or someone was taking over my body for the time being. As I said my "morality speech" in a low, monotone voice, a wave was rising beside me. He laughed, because he thought it could never hurt him. He was wrong.

With a mighty cry, I broke free of his hold and landed on my feet on the floor. I wasn't supposed to be able to do that, so, naturally, it shocked him for a brief moment, and that was all I needed. Standing in front of the window, he was an easy target. I held my palm out to face him and water shot out. Earlier on, though I can't remember when, I had encased myself in water. It blasted him through the window, breaking it with a crash I'm sure everyone heard. Erik landed on the lawn, gasping for breath. I stood at the remains of the glass, looking down calmly. He was furious.

"This isn't over yet! I'll get you, Blackhound, and when I do, it won't be pretty." He flew off shakily until I could no longer see him. Feeling the presence of others, I turned to find everyone (this time I mean everyone) gaping at me, the window, and the lawn in turn. My eyes faded back to their original gold and I uttered two syllables before collapsing into Kurt, who had teleported to my side to check for injuries.

"Lencherr."