"You'll never make me work that thing for you, Magneto," he says.
Magneto cocks an eyebrow, as if in amusement at John's futile attempt to stand up to him. "You wouldn't want us to do anything to your human though, would you?". I see the muscles at the back of John's neck tense up.
"Well you'll have to get past me first," he says readying himself, feet apart. I'm horrified at the thought of him unarmed, trying to win a losing battle against Magneto. But at the same time, my face grows warm at his words.
Magneto laughs, that same tinge of amusement in his voice. He likes John's seeming fearlessness.
He raises his arms and I feel the static crackle in the air, his powers attracting metal objects all around us. A long pole with a sharp end lying against the wall levitates and flies towards us.
"No!" I shout. Suddenly, the pole falters and twists, as if another force is changing the direction of its movement. I see Magneto's face twist in confusion and his eyes widen as the pole turns to point its sharp end at him. A flash of red leather comes up behind him.
"Don't mess with my friend," the familiar figure says. Kaila? I almost don't recognise her; she has changed so much in appearance. Her eyes look hardened as if from prolonged anguish.
"Kay! What are you doing?" Magneto heaves, trying to force the pole from flying towards him.
Kaila gives a sardonic smile, one which I've never before seen on her pretty face. It looks alien on her. The pole charges towards Magneto, as if it is going to impale him. Violent images of blood fill my head. I scream at Kaila to stop. At the last second, it stops and twists itself around him, trapping him.
"Don't worry Lyn, I wasn't gonna kill him," she says coolly. I stare at her in amazement. Our faces break into wide grins.
Kaila holds the pole around Magneto's body against his will until we manage to find a piece of rope to tie around him. I can't get over how much her powers have grown.
"Bravo, Kay," Magneto says with a small, ironic smile. I can't help but feel that he somehow feels proud of what she's done. "You've fooled us, fooled me all along".
"Hey, I learned from the best," Kaila cocks an eyebrow at him and stuffs his mouth with a ball of cloth.
Kaila has changed, I can see that. She has somehow become colder and
John comes up behind me. "I could've handled him myself," he says, eyeing her sullenly.
"Welcome," she quips. The both of them must not have gotten on famously in the past, from the off-handed way at which she handled him.
Or perhaps she handles everyone like that now. However, such thoughts escape my mind when she walks past him towards me with a warm smile. We hug each other tight, long-lost sisters reunited.
"It was you, wasn't it?" I ask in realisation. "You've been helping us all along". She pulls back.
"You," she corrects. "Not 'us'. Not him," she jerks her head towards John who is still eyeing her warily.
"The both of you must have gotten on pretty well," I joke. John snorts behind her.
Kaila's expression grows serious. "Alright, the both of you have to leave now, although we have much catching up to do," she looks at me with the eyes of the best friend I used to know, although somewhat changed. "Frog must be crashing the door down by now". Seeing my quizzical expression, she laughs, "I locked him in the storeroom and pretended that the door got stuck. Be back in a sec, I said".
I laugh. Then my voice growing softer, I ask her, "Why are you here Kaila? Why did you join Magneto? Do you hate humans now?" I gulp, remembering different times.
A look of profound sadness appears in her eyes. "I've changed, Lyn. Before we left, I still had you to remind me that not all humans are narrow-minded idiots. But later on, it got harder. My parents found me too much of a burden. What I am too much of a burden. They chased me out, left me to starve to death. I had nowhere to go, then Magneto took me in. From then on, I'd promised myself that I woudn't let humans get the best of me again," she stops. "But then, there'll always be one exception. That's you".
My heart aches at what she's saying but I know I can't make her change her mind. She's not the same Kaila I used to know. I'd known it from the moment I'd first seen her. I nod.
"So what will happen to you now?" I ask, indicating towards Magneto tied up on the floor.
"Don't worry, I'll think of something. You know I always do". I do know. Some things will never change in Kaila, like her stubbornness. Like mine too, for that matter.
We're led out of what now looks like a warehouse. I wonder how often Magneto has to keep moving his headquarters to avoid discovery.
Before we leave, Kaila presses something cold and hard into my hand. It is a dagger, the one we had used in our pact.
"Keep this, to protect yourself, and to remember our friendship". I detect a hint of sorrow in her eyes, although she tries hard to hide it. Silly Kaila, I won't forget her, even without the help of the dagger to remind me. I try one last time to persuade her to come along with us. She shakes her head.
"I have too many things to do. Too many things to resolve". I don't think I would like what she has planned in mind. I bite my tongue, not willing to know what her intentions are. I don't wish to make an enemy of my own best friend.
She shooes me off with a wave of her hand. "Go on then, you have a long walk to make," she says. I turn away slowly. This wasn't how I'd wanted our reunion to be, curt and unsatisfying. But John is already walking in front of me, eager to leave. I walk faster to catch up with him, feeling Kaila's presence growing fainter and fainter with each step. Unbidden, the tears roll down my cheeks.