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I'm the king of missing the obvious.

I hadn't even considered it, but then again, why would I have? Me being my father's successor, me leading the actual brotherhood?

It was just too crazy for me imagine. I was just a kid of fifteen, why the heck would Magneto train me to be his successor? Who already knew what they wanted to do in life at fifteen years old anyways? I knew I wanted to work with technology, sure, but everything else was pretty vague.

I heard this crazy idea about me being 'Magneto number two' from Toad and just had to ask.

"You really think he wants me to lead?"

"Of course he does! Man, it's so obvious. He's been grooming you for command."

"Wow. I want to be strong like my father, a master of mutation like him, but leadership? I've never wanted that."

Toad's face turned into one of intense disgust and he left my room. I swore I heard a muttered 'spoiled brat'.

I decided to go to my father's office and see for myself.

"Father."

"Yes."

"Are you trying to teach me to lead so I can head the Brotherhood like you?"

"Why, where did you hear that?"

"Toad."

"I see... I'm teaching you to be a leader so that you can succeed in anything you put your mind to."

But? There had to be more.

"Although I would like it if you were my successor."

"I, well... Um. I don't know if I want that."

"You're young. It's perfectly fine to not know exactly what you want. Simply keep your options open."

"Okay. Um... Sure."

The idea of leading The Brotherhood made me dizzy. So much responsibility. And if I messed up, people would die and it'd be my fault. Good people just as committed to our cause as me.

Though now that I think about it how could I have not noticed. This is what happened earlier:

"I think you have the characteristics of a leader."

"Really father?"

"Of course. For one thing you hate being told what to do."

I smiled at that.

"I don't mind as long as the person I'm working under is competent."

"Yes, but unlike many I can't see you leaving that up to chance."

"True."

I did take command when necessary, when all else failed. I didn't wait around, I took action.

"You don't put up with fools. And you're a long term thinker. You never fumble around without purpose. You always have a plan. Given all this I don't see you not being a leader."

"Maybe, maybe."

And this event happened even earlier than that:

As I was walking out of the training room my father quizzed me.

"Say, you go and find a group of members of the FOH during a meeting. Recently, member of the FOH had killed a mutant. These aren't the same men and after they lose their weapons they plead for mercy."

"Like the cowards they are," I chime in.

"Exactly. What do you do?"

"Leave. find the men responsible."

"Wrong. You interrogate the men. Say you'll let them go if they rat their buddies out. Then, to ensure they won't warn them, you kill them all."

"Why?"

"Use of force is effective up to a point during an interrogation. Often, people will say what they think you want to hear and not an implausible but correct truth. They don't want a penalty just because you don't believe them. To avoid this, use the least force necessary."

"No, why lie about sparing them."

He looked at me with a piercing stare that I recognized as the 'listen-to-me-this-is-important-stare.'

"Because it ensures the others won't be warned. I said this before Electron. These men will stop at nothing to kill us. They are are our enemies and as such it makes sense to lie."

I felt very stupid after hearing this. "Of course. I'm sorry, sir."

"No, it's fine. You simply still have the mind of a civilian... I'll change that."

How could I not have noticed! I'm such an idiot at times.

Time continued to pass. The weather getting colder as winter approached. I had recently been promoted to club leader after the president resigned willingly to give the position to me. He couldn't handle the fact that I was the best player and didn't lead. As if skill in chess meant good leadership ability.

I also had Marie. But that was self imposed and I thoroughly enjoyed helping her. Despite the number of complicated maneuvers I had to use to obtain the mice, it would be all worth it when she learned control of her mutation. Funny how my attempts at recreation simply generated more work.

Even home I was my father's child and was expected to act as such. If I was at home and I wasn't training I'd be expected to study quietly. That had incentivized me to stay out for long periods of time but father noticed.

Despite doing well in all my other classes, I had to follow a study schedule because I had a B in speech.

I'm introverted as hell! The fact I got a B is a miracle.

I thought . This was one of the few times I'd disagreed with my father. I didn't say anything of course.

My new dog Watts whimpered at me.

"I'm sorry buddy but I can't play now. I have a test to study for."

He kept pawing at me and eventually I caved. One minute turned into an hour and after that I had dinner and then bed. That same thing happened for five days straight. Then it was test day.

I'd done very well and proudly showed my grade to my friends. I figured father would be pleased. He might have been busy but he always wanted to be notified of my test scores so he could know how I was doing.

Boy was I wrong

"You could've done better." He said

I frown. "I set the curve for the class."

"Yes, with an amazing score of 80. You've been slacking you normally get something in the 90's sometimes a perfect score."

"Well father I'm kinda a curve breaker and…"

"Yes?"

"Everyone hates me because of it... I've kinda been going easy on them…"

"Do you know how ridiculous you sound? You'd conceal your brilliance just because of a few humans disliking you."

I stared at the floor.

"Look at me." I did

"There's something else." He said

"It's just. Well my professor... she's been making the tests harder to try and trip me up. If I didn't do so well she'd stop."

My father gave me a very stern lecture on the importance of not caring about what humans thought.

So yeah I got in trouble. But not for what you'd expect. Now that my father was on my back I couldn't slack anymore. He expected me to be the curve setter in my class.

Despite the extra study time, I still found a way to hang out with Marie.

"So he's unhappy over an 80? Wow."

"Well, you see my father really hates when I don't fully apply myself. If an 80 was my best effort he'd want me to study more but since I wasn't trying my best… he wasn't happy."

"Still, that's crazy. You still get a 100 percent due to the curve."

"Yes, but my father does not like it when I try to hide my abilities. I don't want to stand out."

"And you don't want any conflict." She said

"Exactly. I figured that if I was "stumped" by a test once the teacher would leave me alone."

"And?"

"It's working."

"Good, at least something came out of it."

Next, it was time for us to train.

We kept trying in vain to have Marie not absorb the energy of the mice.

We got to our final mouse.

"Last one." I said as I handed to her, not that she'd notice her eyes were closed as she concentrated. The mouse touched her hands.

It then squeaks. But didn't die.

"Oh my God!" She said eyes closed.

I smiled happily at the sight.

The mouse on the other hand had the sense to jump out my friends' hand before she could lose focus and kill it.

"Ah did it! Oh my God is this a dream? This better not be a fucking dream!"

We talked at length, she hugged me again and we went our separate ways. I was so happy that day for my friend.

Yay Marie! Go girl!