Disclaimer: I don't own the X men nor any other Marvel stuff
Chapter 1: They did it
He walked slowly down the damp alleyway trying to shrug off the chill which was making him shiver. The cold was unbearable and he could never stand it, no matter how mild it felt to others. It was just one of those things... Like a tick, he thought to himself. Suddenly he felt a powerful shiver go down his spine, and this time it wasn't the bitter air. It was something else. Slowly turning around, he looked behind him. A lonely figure wearing a hooded shirt was standing at the alley entrance, face covered in shadow. No, not here... not now... not when there was no one around!
Turning back forward he prepared himself to run, but he noticed two more hooded figures standing in front of him, facial features unrecognisable do to the failing light of the evening. Rain started to pour with a loud thud, drowning out the footsteps advancing on the young man, as he slowly backed in to the red bricked wall, fear and despair shining in his eyes, giving away his feeling of a cornered animal.
"You thought you could fuck with me and get away with it, did ya, mate?"
The boy just shuddered, his pupils expanding with fear, which has taken away the feeling in his legs, making them feel like a pair of wooden beams attached to his body. He could not move them, nor control them, even if he wanted to, but they were the last thing on his mind at the moment anyway.
"I can't hear ya, so I'll just ask again: Did you think you could fuck with me and get away with it?"
The person cutting him off from the alley entrance had pulled the front of his shirt down making him kneel and was shouting in his ear. One of the other two thugs kicked him hard in the ribs making him double over in pain, his forehead hitting the damp concrete, as rain thumped on his back. He was breathing hard, each chilly breath causing sever pain to his side. 'My ribs... He broke them...' The message was flashing across his brain blocking all other thought, even the fear he felt moments before, only for it to return in double strength as the first hooded person pulled him up by his messy, 2 inch long, brown hair, tilting his head backwards, revealing his neck in the process. A knife flashed in front of his eyes water slowly dripping down the blade, onto his chin in addition to the rain pounding on his face. It felt so cold.
"This is whe' I should ask you whetha you got any last words, but seein' I'm not a sentimental person and I'm not really interested in wot ya got to say. Goodbye mate! Been nice knowin' ya!"
And with a quick flick of the wrist he pulled the knife across the boy's neck. The smile hanging on the thugs face instantly vanished as he realised that there was no blood. In fact, the knife didn't even break the skin. It just slid off the throat, leaving the boy completely unharmed and rigid. He didn't even flinch nor twitch, just knelt there not making any movement at as though he was carved in stone like one of those ancient roman statues.
The three hooded people quickly backed away in fear looking at the still rigid boy who remained kneeling there without any sign of visible life. The first thug regained from shock and with an angry face tried a quick jab in the chest only to have the knife go through the clothes but still slide harmlessly off the boy's chest. The other two boys looked at each other and without a word started running for the alley entrance as fast as they could.
The first thug stood still for a few minutes and then removed the hood of his face to reveal a 17 year old boy with short dirty-blond hair. First he looked at his hand and then his glance slowly slid from his wet palms to the terrified face in front of him. He reluctantly touched the cheek of the 'statue'. It felt cold. Suddenly realising he could hear the sound of police sirens approaching he slid the hood over his face and without a backward glance ran down the alley leaving the still kneeling boy behind him.
...10 years later...
"Professor, Kitty haz fried mein stereo again!"
"Its, like, not my fault you moved it elf!"
"Then stop coming into mein room through ze vall!"
"Like you never pop down to my room when you feel like it! Its like my room is a drop off point every time you feel bored! I can never have some privacy!"
"What about mah privacy?" Rouge intervened, as the argument raged in the X-mansion recreation room.
The other students were simply ignoring the whole thing with their attention focused on the TV. They've seen these kind of fights way too many times to find them interesting. Coincidentally most of the staff at the Xavier Institute for Gifted Children was in the recreation room as well, which was a very rare occurrence, but all of them were focused on the TV screen, ignoring the noise in the background.
"...and I believe that none of these so called 'mutants' should be allowed to roam free in our cities, endangering our citizens and their children. They are highly dangerous and as such they should be treated with extreme caution. Some of those people have powers far more destructive than anything we are able to construct even with the advanced technology today, this is why I am proposing that the mutant registration act should..." The spokesman on the television blared into the microphone, while the people in the background were cheering at his every word as though he was voicing out their worst fears.
"Charles, this is getting out of hand! More and more people are standing against us while we sit here waiting for our fate to be decided. The whole Apocalypse incident didn't help us at all, and people seem to have forgotten that we prevented the whole thing... I just don't know what we're going to do if they pass that bill." Storm was pacing nervously around the room. "Could you three, please, just shut up?!" She lashed out at Rouge, Kitty and Kurt who stopped arguing promptly and were staring at the angry African goddess.
"I'm sorry" she apologised "its just that all of this stress is finally starting to get to me. I've never been this scared for the future of the school."
"I know Storm, we're all concerned" the Professor replied "but we must remain calm and keep hold of our composure. The last thing we need is someone losing their mind in the middle of all of this hysteria; it would not have a good impact on the public opinion, not to mention that it would just push the bill forward."
"While we're on the subject, what has happened to Magneto, did you manage to find him?" Hank spoke.
"No, I tried finding him using Cerebro but with his helmet he's impossible to track and there is no point in following the movement of his Acolytes since all of them seemed to have dispersed in various direction, so it would seem they don't have any connections with Magneto any more." The Professor answered.
"So when is Piotr going to join us?" Hank asked again.
"I'm not sure, he said that he needed to go and see to his family back in Russia and make sure that his sister is safe and sound. Apparently, the only reason he had served Magneto was because he held his sister captive, but seeing he is gone now, she has been released."
"What about the otha' Acolytes Professor?" Rouge joined in the conversation, with a certain Cajun on her mind.
"I believe Mr Allerdyce has returned to Australia and as for Mr LeBeau, he was still in the immediate Bayville area last time I checked."
"So, basically what you are saying, Professor, is that Magneto is out of business?" Scott asked.
"I wouldn't put it that way Scott. It seems that he has abandoned his current plans, but that does not mean that he has changed his believes. Sometimes the biggest motivator, when taking actions is your own ideals, and I believe that Magneto still feels strong resentment towards humanity, especially with the recent events taking place."
Suddenly there were loud noises coming out of the TV set. They all turned their attention to the flickering screen which showed scenes of people fleeing the demonstration, dropping their anti-mutant slogans with screams filling the air. The camera was still pointing to the podium where a new speaker appeared holding the microphone, while the person who spoke before him was lying motionless next to his feet.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Please R&R and I don't mind any flames, just don't be 2 cruel, plz... ;-)