My education was coming along nicely, I had a fun job, but I still found myself troubled. Even when my life was starting to go the way I wanted it to, I continued to feel as though something was wrong. I was waiting for something to happen and mess my plans up.I was waiting for the other shoe to drop.

I know why I feel like this, I thought, fidgeting with my pencil. It was clear as day, really. I'd started feeling unnerved and uncomfortable ever since the day of the attack. Ever since that day, there had been two thoughts plaguing my mind. Even when I wasn't thinking about it directly, it was still stressing me out subconsciously. I sighed. It was like looking forward to a pizza party after class. The suspense sapped my energy, even when I tried to distract myself.

I knew it was stupid to remain in Chicago, that it was dangerous. I'd had enough time to think on the matter. The correct option was to flee. It was to run far, far away and never look back. But I couldn't do that.

Who'd look after my mother if not me? How would she pay the bills without my assistance? She had finally been able stop working such long hours with the addition of my paycheck. She could indulge in her hobbies of reading, and could paint far longer than what her previous schedule allowed. And she was so much happier. I couldn't take that away and betray her by running. Not because I had a weird feeling, not because I was afraid.

That was worry number one. The second thing on my mind was more about me. Why had I been so affected by Magneto's taunts?

I looked up to my ceiling, but sadly I couldn't find the answer there. How convenient that would've been...

Why was he different? I thought. Why had I let Magneto get under my skin? I usually didn't really care if someone was rude to me. And indeed, it wasn't the man's rudeness that bothered me. It was his whole aura of superiority. How he knew he was stronger, more skilled, better educated, and flaunted it with every word he spoke. Even worse, I knew he was right. There was nothing I could do to stop him. I knew that if we ever crossed paths again, I would once more be at his mercy.

I sighed, settled into my bed and decided to sleep on the question.

This literally meant sleep on it. Ever since I was a young boy, I had lucid dreams. The ability to control your dreams sounds cool, but to me it was much more than that. Dreams allowed me to think about problems for hours at a time without interruption. It was always pretty nice. So long as the dream wasn't a nightmare…

I'd barely shut my eyes when my windows flew open with a loud bang.

I sleepily rubbed my eyes, berating myself for forgetting to lock the windows and wasting heat.

Hopefully that didn't wake Mom. I don't want to scare her over nothing.

I suddenly froze. There was a street lamp just outside of my room, and the entire room should have been flooded by its light. Instead, I could see the dark silhouette of a man blocking out the light. At first I assumed he was a burglar, but after my brain went through the initial shock of the situation I noticed he was floating in mid-air. I sat up completely, clutching the blanket tight.

I only knew of one man with both the ability and the egotistical attitude needed to arrive in my room this way, at this time. I could do nothing to stop Magneto as he entered, disturbing the private sanctuary that was my room.

"You're an extraordinarily hard person to find," he stated, sickeningly calm like before, completely ignoring the lack of respect he showed for my privacy.

What if I didn't even have PJ's on? I thought mildly hysterically. Could he have at least knocked before entering? He could have, of course, but he didn't have to. That's the benefit of having power. He didn't need to take the feelings of others into consideration. He might choose to, but there was no need for it. Every boundary he broke, every act I couldn't prevent him from doing further cemented his power. He knew doing these things would make me uncomfortable, but he didn't have to care. And he made sure other people knew that as well. I was no exception.

Forcing my mind to analyze the situation logically had calmed me down considerably. I schooled my expression and replied, "I would certainly hope so, as that's the point. Besides, if you have to rely on me being stupid enough to announce to the world where I live you really need to reevaluate your strategy." If he was going to show off how much power he had over me, I wasn't going to give in. Not without a fight. Maybe I couldn't best him in combat, but I could at least have a spine while talking to him.

I saw his eyes wandering around my room.

There wasn't much to see, really. My room was neat and simple. A large bookcase covered in books stood in one corner, a framed picture of my mom and I from my younger days on my drawer. He moved over to the bookcase.

"On the Origin Of Species by Darwin. An interesting choice," he noted.

I wasn't insane and figured that if I became too snarky I'd be a very dead man. Nonetheless, certain ground rules had to be set. If I could at least do this, something so many grown men and women failed at doing, I'd consider that a win.

So I said, "Let's work on things in their relative order of importance. How did you find me?"

He was still hovering a few inches above the ground in an obvious display of how superior his skills were compared to mine. He didn't take his eyes from the books. "Pray tell, why should I answer that?"

I killed my urge to roll my eyes. Of course, he'd deny me even the tiniest bit of control over the conversation. He might have looked relaxed and distant, but I knew what he was pulling, I'd seen it before. He wanted to make me feel powerless and weak, so I would feel like I had no choice but to do as he said. Everything he did was meant to achieve that end. Maybe he'd up the charm later, so I'd feel glad for the change so I'd be more willing to do as he said, not wanting his previous mood to return. But it was important that I feared him first, so that that fear could fester and make me freeze when I wanted to fight, listen when all I wanted to do was scream.

The cults I'd been in had given me far more education about emotional manipulation than any cliche pamphlet on domestic violence could ever do. It wasn't that I couldn't fall victim to it, but at least I knew what it looked like and how it worked. I knew the warning signs. I simply had to pay close attention to them. If I chose to pay attention anyway.

"I'm willing to answer questions honestly if you do the same," I said. The offer should intrigue him, surely the man was curious about some things. I knew I would be, were I in his situation.

"And if all of my questions have already been answered?" he asked casually.

I doubted that that was true. Surely the man couldn't know everything about me, surely he was curious about what I could do. So, he was acting as though he knew everything he wanted to know to maintain the advantage. Very well. I shot back at this with, "Then we'll just stare at each other for the next few hours. You discovering my identity has tipped the scale in a way that I will not passively accept." Saying that sentence had taken all of my strength. I hoped that I wouldn't be forced to back this assertion up.

"Yet you're perfectly fine with my presence, despite the fact that I could kill you if I wanted to." His calm gaze turned to ice, a reminder of the very thin ice I was currently treading on.

Oh, an underlying threat. I was wondering when that was going to happen. I thought.

You're doing good Chris. We're all shutting up so you can concentrate. One voice said. I knew that wasn't logically the case, they weren't alive and they weren't people. Still, this fake support from my own thoughts felt nice. It spurred me on.

I shrugged. I was very fond of those. It was noncommittal and the air of confidence tended to scare off bullies.

"Every bit counts. The main reason is I can do something about this in the short term." I made the decision to absentmindedly start moving my hammer which was currently laying on the ground, by the door.

A large enough smash would alert my mom and, if I was kidnapped, leave evidence of a struggle. Still, I didn't fool myself by thinking Magneto didn't know of my panic and terror. I just hoped he thought that I was masking it very well.

There was a pause. I knew I was stubborn enough to simply ignore the man. I had to set some boundaries, or else the man would walk over me like he did everyone else. Luckily, I also had the advantage of Magneto being a very busy man. I doubted he'd be willing to waste time for much longer. Especially when the key to my cooperation was only a bit of information.

I was very right.

"Your little program for underprivileged adults, it was mentioned in the papers." Inside of my head I did a little fist pump. I'd actually gotten the man to concede to a request, even if it was a tiny one.

Then I thought about it. No good deed goes unpunished. If my pass rate hadn't been so high I wouldn't have been mentioned at all.

I nodded my head. "Plausible enough to be true. Either that or you're a damn good liar. And I've analyzed all sorts of speeches from liars."

"Even Mlinton?"

"Especially Mlinton." I imitated the former president's way of talking. "'I did not have sexual relations with that woman.' indeed."

"Really? What tipped you off?"

"Unnatural speech patterns. Everyone makes the same mistakes. He said "that woman" not her name. That's distancing. And well, you don't distance yourself from something if you're not threatened by something." I paused. "There was the lack of contractions used too. 'Did not' is something you'd expect from someone who was new to English. Not a native. I'm not even going to begin getting into the details of the body language. I'd be talking for hours."

I paused, then asked, "tell me, did a woman named Ann try to make the story about herself?"

"Yes, I almost didn't finish the article thanks to that."

I laughed.

It's a shame you kept reading. The one time I rely on luck..

"For someone who insisted on answering questions in their 'order of importance' you're quite eager to chit-chat." He threw my words back at me.

I shrugged, unaffected. I had a plan for getting control of the conversation in the works.

"Just hitting my quota for the day."

Magneto was the exasperated one now. I enjoyed this tiny advantage greatly.

"Pleasure to be of assistance," He said.

"No time like the present -well that implies that the future is a real thing." I smirked at that, enjoying the thought of getting him even more exasperated.

"You believe the present is all we have." He correctly inferred, one eyebrow raised.

"Well, the only reason why we expect the sun to rise is because it has always done so before. But who's to say a black hole can't appear randomly in our part of the universe? It's happened in other ones. So yeah, I think the present is all we have and that the present is the result of a ton of factors from the past."

He paused, then said, "perhaps. And your thoughts on mutation... I assume you read the newspapers. Although… Does your generation still do that?"

I did not rise to the challenge. I knew he was trying to ruffle my feathers. I wouldn't let him win this time. Besides, I knew he wasn't completely wrong.

"You mean my opinion on DNA mutation in general, not on mutants specifically?" I asked. He nodded. "Well," I began. "I don't base my opinions on what I read in the news. Especially not something so politically polarized. Too many interest groups trying to make people think one thing or another. Instead, I use my knowledge of science and closely read any studies written after 1962."

"Why 1962 in particular?" he asked, frowning slightly. I knew he'd latch onto that. I knew he'd be interested, that's why I said it. It felt nice to have proof the man wasn't the all knowing, invincible entity he portrayed himself as.

"The scientific community suddenly had a major change of heart. Suddenly, mutations were not natural byproducts of changing times anymore, but things to control et cetera. I honestly believe that is not a coincidence. Sure, it's circumstantial but one thing I know is that scientists gossip, a lot more than people think. They love to talk about discoveries, in part to prove how smart they are, but also so they can get information out of others to use in their own research." I paused for a second as I formulated my next sentences.

"Well, despite the world's first official reporting of mutant activity being in the 80's, research on mutation accelerated in the 60's. The budgets show this. Of course, the increases in budget aren't too strange, but it's still enough to take note of. That, and the research papers occurring at the same time with the exact same scientists in those government-funded programs... Something must have happened. You yourself are proof of that. According to the government, mutants only started appearing in the 80's, and mutants get their powers when they're young. But you were obviously an adult in the 80's. So both statements can't be true. So what makes more sense, that mutants first appeared in the 80's or they've existed for much longer, but no one believed any witnesses without proof?" Oh, the joy of looking these things up on the internet.

I continued, "Seeing as how that shift occurred directly after the Cuban Missile Crisis, it's probably related somehow."

The older man smiled, clearly knowing something I didn't. Still, he didn't deign to tell me.

I decided to focus on answering the question. What was it about again? Oh yes, my opinion on mutations.

"And my thoughts regarding mutations…. Well, obviously I have no problem with it. In that case I'd have a problem with my existence. Things change, life adapts to the environment. I really don't think natural processes can be intrinsically good or evil. But it's fine, overall, there is no life without growth and change," I concluded, before remembering something else. "Besides, we all have mutated DNA to some extent," I added. He looked thoughtful for a moment.

I continued. "People think that what we see now on earth, that's it, That humans now are all that have ever been and are that ever will be. They are wrong. The world we see now is only a single photo of the film that is history. Take just one look at it in isolation and you think that's how things will always be. Lay them all on a table and you see how different things are, were, and could be. Look at them all and flip through it... And you see how wonderful and how much more complicated our planet is, our existence is. Only after millions of years can those gradual changes be fully appreciated."

I shook my head. "But that's not happening here. Things are accelerating way faster than usual, and only for humans. People see this and assume these changes must be unnatural, wrong. We're new and unfamiliar and even worse, at times dangerous. We're seen as invaders and so any attempts to get rid of mutants is seen as a correction of things to the natural order."

"A natural order that conveniently favors humans as the planet's dominant species." He added.

"Pretty much." I nodded. "You don't skip millions of years of evolution without consequences."

"Well, I didn't take you for a poet, Chris," he said, smiling. I could feel heat rising to my cheeks.

"I- just care about this stuff a lot. It's nice to talk about it with someone who feels the same. And say what I actually..." I paused.

"Think? Don't look surprised Chris,"he said. "I'm aware of the rubbish you had to endure each time you had to visit the churches of those fanatics. How you were able to endure being insulted in every conceivable way weekly and not use your powers on them is beyond me. Your self control is truly remarkable."

Was that a complement? It was. How strange. I didn't get much of those, not from people whose opinions meant anything anyway. I'm sure I would have blushed even harder had I not been completely flabbergasted.

"Thanks," I managed. "Though it's not a big deal. Mom likes going."

"And you?" A pause "You like making your mother happy." That wasn't a question, but a statement.

I look away, embarrassed. This embarrassment was soon overridden by fear when I realized the implications of his previous sentences.

He's been watching me. But, for how long? No, that's irrelevant. He probably knows everything about me down to what dose of chlorpromazine my mom takes.

This is far too close for comfort... High time to pivot..

"What about you?" I asked.

He raised one eyebrow as if to say really? "I am a public figure. You are a child who clearly keeps himself updated on the latest news, I'm sure you know my views by now."

"Editing on live TV is a thing. I'd rather hear it from the source. The people who control the news are both human and terrified. That will obviously make any semblance of objective reporting impossible."

He seemed to agree, nodding. Rather than respond however, he decided to float off the ground and out the window. I followed before stopping at my window.

Sure, he was trying to isolate me and I knew it, but if he wanted to harm me I would've been hurt already. Plus, not following wouldn't make me any better off. The man knew far too much about me for my own comfort.

But he can fly. I don't know how to do that.

I swung my body into the frame of my window and formed a metal disc from my hammer. Hoping this technique didn't make me seem too amateurish, I then floated it in front of me. I hopped on and applied the same techniques I used to control metal at a distance.

Magneto obviously wanted me alive, so I was fairly confident that if I fell he would save me somehow.

The first thing I thought was, how does he make this look so easy?

I'd been on solid ground my whole life. I hadn't even been in a boat, despite the abundant lakes nearby.

As such, even the tiniest wobbles my disc made ate up my attention. There was so much information that I had to take into account now. Making a sharp turn was hardly a problem when it was simply a disk but I certainly didn't want to fall off and die. I was reminded of the stories I'd heard about how hard it is to fly a drone as I only just managed to avoid overcompensating for particularly nasty wobbles.

A few moments later, I'd managed to steady myself and looked around for the older man. I spotted him. He had slowed down so I could catch up. He smiled- a tiny expression I only barely caught- and extended an inviting hand.

My mouth split into a smile as I launched myself forward. I leaned forward on my right leg to steady myself as I flew. There was nothing that compared to the freedom I felt- nothing.

This feeling… It was exactly the same feeling I had when I got my first car.

I'm in total control right now. I don't need to rely on anyone else anymore.

I can go anywhere! This is amazing, the world is literally at my disposal.

My thoughts were cut off abruptly as I caught up to the other man and realised something.

Wait, how do I stop?

Just as I was about to pass the man, the disk slowed so I was traveling at the same speed as him. This and the fact that my disk was no longer wobbly alerted me to the fact that I wasn't in control anymore.

I wasn't stubborn enough to fight for control over my disk. I'd not get far if the knife incident was anything to go by and the fact that I didn't have to try to avoid impending death meant I could actually focus on what the man was saying. It was a win win, so I didn't resist.

"Chris," A chill went up my spine at that moment. Yes, obviously he knew my name, but having him say… It was unnerving. Even after hearing it a few times, it still was unnerving.

The look in his eye was even more unnerving, though. It was downright scary. I already knew who he was, of course, and I had seen him be quite intimidating already. Even so, at that moment, I felt like my fight-or-flight responses had been set into overdrive. Every cell in my body screamed at me that this man was dangerous. And then, just like that, he blinked and the feeling was gone.

"My goal is simple," he said. "I will not allow the humans to destroy us." Through the lingering dread and fear, I almost didn't realise the meaning of his words. As I composed myself, however, I realised he had just said something incredibly important. "I will not allow the humans to destroy us," wasn't just a throwaway phrase. It must've been his life goal, the reason behind every crime he had committed.

Images of my mother appeared in my mind. I highly doubted she'd harm me. She drummed to the beat of whatever congregation she belonged to yes, but had never consciously laid a finger on me. This was the case no matter where she went.

Of course, that didn't stop the other members of the various churches I've been to from beating me whenever they felt I committed some 'sin'. But we'd leave that church forever immediately after she found out about this.

Stryker's group of cronies were crazy, yes, but only about harming mutants and not your children. Yes, even they had standards. Compared to the others, they were quite mild.

Her love gave me hope for her and, through her, for humankind. Even so, I knew she hated mutants. Stryker's rhetoric had already made her believe they were monsters. Demons that must be destroyed. So what would she do if she found out? Report me? Try to get me exorcised to return her 'sweet boy'? I hadn't a clue. And if I was this pessimistic about my mother, how could I be optimistic about anyone else?

"Humans already kill themselves for resources. Think of what they'd do for survival," Magneto said.

I thought about it- and I didn't like it. Not one bit. From my silence, he already knew I was thinking about what he said.

"The decimation of the Native American population; the colonization of India that destroyed it so thoroughly that millions live in poverty today; the same people that you work with today would report you to the government without hesitation if they knew."

There was a hard edge to that sentence, as if he was speaking from experience.

It's possible. He's around that age. If he was anywhere near Europe or Asia during WWII...

I wisely didn't ask about that.

"Mutantkind will not roll over and die. Not without a fight," he said resolutely.

There was something about this man that told me he'd be willing to do anything to achieve this.

"So you want a war," I summed up.

"I want us to win the war. It's coming and it is inevitable." The man spoke with such certainty, it was hard to consider his words as being anything but fact.

There was another pause. I considered the probabilities of the scenario Magneto proposed. It was far too likely for my taste. He continued speaking.

"There are millions of us. A tenth of one percent of the Earth's population is still six million. I can stop armies and in time so will you. There are others like us, who can walk through walls and control minds. The humans stand no chance and that is why they are afraid."

I looked at the man and was surprised to make eye contact. I looked away after a few seconds, redirecting my attention.

"You don't believe me," Magneto said. "I can see it. You've heard it all and you're comparing me to all the other charlatans you've heard. Well, what's the result of your analysis?"

"You're not lying to me at all." l had to admit.

"No, you wouldn't have believed me at all if I had," he said almost absentmindedly.

A familiar ringtone interrupted what was probably the most important conversation of my life.

I reached to answer, but my phone separated into pieces in the air, slipping out of my grasp..

"As I was saying." There he was, taking control of the conversation again. After all, how dare I try to answer my phone in his presence?

I shook my head. "No. This is important." It wasn't as if I had a mentally ill mother that I had to look out for. No way, not like I had responsibilities to attend to.

I yanked back the parts and put the phone together with a force I'm sure Magneto didn't expect. I redialed.

"Ms Johnson, is something wrong?"

I paused. She said some things, I don't remember what she said.

"OK. I'll help carry her home. No, don't worry about any legal issues. She's just sleeping right? If you think she's waking up don't make any sudden movements. She has a hell of a right hook." I hung up.

I turned to the older man. "I don't carry this phone around even in my pajamas for show." The man nodded and seemed to accept that I had made a valid point. But he didn't let me go.

"Let me down. I have to-"

"Mystique will handle it." He cut in. Just as domineering as always.

"That does not make me feel any better. She can't guide my mom through an episode." I glared at the fact that we were still in the same place, despite my request.

I looked at the nearest solid surface, the roof of a house's garage. After estimating the distance, I figured that I could make the drop from the disk to a nearby house without injury.

I'd just hung both legs over the edge when he said, "If she knew what you truly were, would she do the same for you?" That stopped me.

"No." I shook my head and dropped onto the roof, trying to make as little sound as possible. From this I scaled down a tree to the ground and started walking away.

"You could leave her," Magneto offered.

I stopped.

"Start afresh, no longer bound by an undue burden," he continued.

I kept walking.

I'll get on the bus and get there as soon as I can.

For several moments I continued walking, oblivious to the fact that he was following me. That was just how angry I was.

He flies into my life and expects me to follow him, even after he belittles the only person I care about.

When I did notice, I turned around and looked up at him. "Are-" I exclaimed. Then I realised the time and stopped abruptly. "Are you insane?" I yell-whispered, gesturing wildly. 'You're on everybody's most wanted list!"

At least walking around in pajamas won't get me arrested.

"I didn't mean 'leave her' in that way. Obviously." He paused, once more not apologizing for his actions. He may have implied that my mother was a burden, but how dare I hold that against him? "Regardless, I can't allow you to leave." Something about the finality in that sentence bugged me, a lot. He was speaking as if anything else happening wasn't even a possibility.

"What do you mean by that?" I asked wearily.

Ironically enough, this time his communicator rang.

I rolled my eyes at the parallel.

"It is exactly as I said, boy. You're not leaving," he said, tinkering with his communicator. The terrifying chill in his voice from before had returned.

"And why not?"

I heard my voice floating from the communicator, telling my mom soothing things. My heart leapt into my chest.

He hadn't.

I wanted to tell my mother not to listen, that the person she was with wasn't me, but that would only make things worse. If she'd made it all the way to Ms Johnson's house, then this had to be extremely serious.

Magneto soon answered. "I wanted to reason with you. But it seems you're too stubborn to listen. I've read that most antipsychotic medications are lethal at 5x normal dosage."

I got the picture. All thoughts of resistance died then and there.