Author´s note:

I know updating was faster before, but I´m sorry, the last days have been rather busy so... you had to wait a little. However, here´s a new chapter for you guys, one which you will hopefully like.

Deus X Machina: Thanks again. :-) Some more Mystique for you, although not much. Another tiny flashback.

Eraina: Wow, thanks a lot for this very nice review. I will try to keep up with your expectations. :-) No, to be true I normally don´t write on the whim of reviewers... but still, it might happen that my ideas of the story share similarities with what readers want to read. ;-) So, maybe this is the case. Nice to hear you like my portrayal of Magneto. Writing his dialogues is not always easy, but I try to imagine Ian McKellen performing them as Magneto and sometimes it helps. If they sound good like that, they hopefully work in the story as well.

Okay, enough said, another chappy for you guys. I hope I´m doing okay language-wise. I´m not a native English speaker, so please forgive me, if there are any stupid mistakes or things of the like... As for now: Enjoy!

CHAPTER 6

TESTING POWERS

The rest of the day had been more than dull. Erik knew perfectly well, he was trying to distract himself from thinking about what had happened that morning and he knew just as well that this attempt had failed miserably. He had pretty soon found, there was almost nothing for him to do... but the days growing longer and longer was one thing... being tortured by memories was another.

"Good" he shouted encouraging as the girl completed another perfect sequence of movements. She had brilliant reflexes and in so short a time nothing had remained of the shy, lonely girl he had found. Erik smiled and she returned his smile, blocking his attack with ease, flipping over with the speed of a wildcat. He was too slow, suddenly found her behind him and in the next second Erik was flat on his back. She laughed triumphantly, while he got to his feet. "Excellent" he said, rolling down his sleeves. "You learn quickly. I wish I had your reflexes."

He could tell this remark made her more proud than anything. Had her skin not been blue, he was pretty sure she would have blushed at the compliment. "I have a good teacher" she replied simply, her voice as unique as always.

She had told him she had never taken lessons in martial arts before and Erik was about to assume that her reflexes were part of her mutation if not its primary trait. However, he could not yet figure out what the girl´s true mutation was. If it was just that, fine, he thought. He could need a fighter like her. A little more training and no gunman in his right senses would be a proper match for her. She was only 14 – he had been mistaken in guessing her to be a little younger – but she fought with the fierceness of a warrior and the grace of a panther.

"Enough for today" he announced and was about to leave the training room. As always, she seemed disappointed. "More of it tomorrow" he said and chuckled. "You´re getting better, my dear, better than I am."

She followed him. "No." she said. "You have real power. You can do things. All I can do is..." He turned to look at her and raised an eyebrow. "...fight."

"You fight better than any homo sapiens I have ever seen." Erik said in a low voice. He sighed. "I know it is hard for you to deal with all this. Being a mutant is never easy especially when one is still young." He knew what he was talking about and was glad she didn´t.

"But my mutation is so..."

"So what?" he smiled ironically.

"Useless." She shrugged her shoulders. "I´m just a weird girl with blue skin and... well, nothing really cool or powerful."

Erik shook his head. "Don´t say things like that!" he said sternly. "You are not useless... neither are you..." the word seemed ridiculous to him. "...weird. Those who tell you different, know nothing."

When the front door was shut with a bang, Erik looked up from the book he had been reading... or holding rather, for he had not flipped a page in minutes. He could hear footsteps on the corridor, footsteps of a certain someone who obviously thought to have the lair to himself... for Pyro had not come alone.

"You sure he ain´t here?" Another voice Erik had never heard before, the voice of a boy around John´s own age, he guessed. The stranger was speaking hushed as if he did not trust the peace.

"Yeah! I told you so, didn´t I?" John replied, his voice normal volume or a little above to demonstrate his self-confidence. "I know him. He won´t be home for another few couples of hours."

The other seemed not persuaded, but kept silent.

"Creepy place." A third voice, more footsteps. The new voice had been a girl´s.

"Nobody made you come." That was John, sounding determined. "Don´t be such as sissy!"

"I´m no sissy!" The girl, who had spoken hushed, too, was now obviously angry. Seemingly John had been teasing her for quite a time. "I´m just saying that if... well, you know what I want to say, if he´s here and...this is his place after all. Wouldn´t he be angry you had brought us here? Telling away his secret... lair and ev´rythin´ ?"

While they had been talking, Erik had gotten up and walked over to the door. When he silently walked around the corner he could see them. Two teenagers, unknown to him but teenagers by their size and voices as he could not see their faces them having turned their back on him. The girl had long black hair, the boy´s hair was a very bright blonde.

When the girl uttered her doubts, Erik crossed his arms in front of his chest and said: "Well, in that case I might want to have a word with my young and eager friend St. John."

All three of them jumped and he noticed with grim satisfaction that he had startled them horribly. The two kids turned around slowly, too scared to look, as it seemed and John looked up, only now noticing him, his face flashing from shock to something that was hard to tell. Decidedness?

"At least" Erik continued in a manner as if nothing was wrong at all "I would expect him to introduce his new friends to me. Out of respect."

John gave him a long look, looked him straight into the eyes... something, as Erik realised, he had never dared to this moment.

"Or is there anything wrong with this, my young friend?" He asked, raising a single eyebrow but apart from that, not moving a single muscle in his face. He could see the two strangers were highly irritated. The girl looked as if she was about to run. John had told them what had happened to him on Alcatraz, no doubt, for otherwise those two kids would never have dared to go to Magneto´s lair just because a cocky young mutant invited them, to. Those young people, Erik thought. No manners.

"I would like a word with you, St. John." he said, giving the other two no other look and turned around to enter his study again. For a short moment there was dead silence on the corridor, then Erik could hear footsteps. They sounded angry... the footsteps of a petulant child.

"Close the door." he simply said, not giving any attention to the anger that was obvious in the young mutant´s eyes. Erik had humiliated him in front of those two insecure little mutant kids out there, it was obvious from the way he was staring at Erik.

When John had reluctantly obeyed, slamming the door shut rather than closing it – another outburst he ignored. – Erik sat down behind his desk, putting his fingertips together.

"So." he began in a casual voice. "Are there any plans I should know of?"

"I don´t know what you are talking about." The way in which the boy he said this, as well as the choice of words did not fit with the old Pyro... this was no longer the sleezy, obedient boy. This was a mutant who was testing his powers... testing them against a human. A fight he could only win.

"I do not mean to sound rude, John" he continued, indicating by leaving out the St. that he, too, was in a dangerous mood. "but if you have intentions I do not know of, like this little assembly... let me tell you that I will not suffer this."

John curved a smile. "I was just bringing some friends along, so where´s the problem?"

"Both of us know this is not everything", Eric gave back. "I will not tell you again what I told you about the brotherhood, John. It does no longer exist."

Angrily, John did some steps forward and hammered his hand on the heavy desk. Erik did not flinch. The boy was angry, he could tell. Angry and dangerous.

"Things have changed!" Pyro roared. "If it is not me, bringing things on, who then?" Clearly, he was desperately looking for words and got even angrier not finding the right ones to serve his needs. "I... don´t want to wait and see what happens to mutants. I still have my powers, Erik!"

The last word had been loud and full of mockery. It hurt him to hear it from this insolent boy and in this moment, unable to control his uprising anger, he swiftly rose from his chair, bringing his eyes on level with John´s.

"You. Are. Forgetting your place, St. John!" he said dangerously and for a moment the youngster seemed to shrink back. Then the slight fear in his eyes turned to something like a mix of anger, disbelief and disgust. "So are you." he said slyly.

There was a long moment of silence that passed between them, standing on opposite sides of the desk, staring into each others´ eyes, John´s anger open and wild, Eric´s half concealed. Both, the mutant and the human testing their powers. A struggle which, as Erik suddenly realized, had begun the day before and had now found its climax. John playing around with his lighter, John igniting the flame while Erik was watching the storm, making sure the man who had once been Magneto saw that he was still in full command of the ability which made him superior of ordinary humans as Erik himself had told him several times. The boy had become a danger and Erik had known it.

Suddenly Pyro broke their eye contact. Once more he angrily slammed his palms onto the desk and Erik was not sure whether this was another attempt of demonstrating his determination or just the behaviour of an angry kid whose parents had just forbidden him to see friends that were no good for him. Then the young mutant swung around, quickly paced over to the heavy metal door and opened it quickly. And suddenly Erik knew, Pyro had crossed a line.

He straightened. "Did I allow you to end this conversation?" he thundered and raised his hand. He was angry, he had not felt this kind of anger for quite some time although this might have surprised his enemies, had they known this. Erik had always been convinced he was doing the right thing, trying to make life better for mutants, anger had been an emotion that had been unnecessary for the most part. He had hidden it well, as anger tended to make oneself unfocussed. But enough was enough. Magneto had always had a weak spot and in this moment Erik Lehnsherr had to discover that he possessed it, too. He could suffer anyone trying to threaten his authority in such as way!

As he raised his hand, things suddenly happened to quick to recall. Later, he could not tell how it all happened, but he knew Pyro´s behaviour had been the trigger. More from instinct, as life long behaviour was not to be erased in a matter of days, he waved his hand in anger, pointing it at the door and in the same moment gave a muffled scream of pain. It was a feeling as if his nerves were on fire, being struck by a mighty bolt of lightning or something he could barely name as the pain immediately dulled all of his senses. His knees gave way and he felt his legs were not carrying him any longer and he was about to fall. Out of reflex he grabbed for the rim of his desk, got hold of it and somehow managed to stop himself from sliding to the ground when, a split second after this horrible pain had shot through him, he realized it was already gone, leaving behind only a fading phantom of agony. But this was not the only thing happening. He had waved his hand and something that had slumbered inside him, slumbered but was not dead, he suddenly knew, had been ripped to painful life. The metal door, against all odds and all rules of gravity whatsoever, shut with a bang. Erik gasped.

All he could do was stare. Stare at the door, then stare at his hand, watching absent-mindedly from the corner of his eye the deep shock in John´s face. For a second or two, the boy stood there, transfixed, unable to move, then he opened the door hastily and ran out. With some effort, Erik sat down on his chair, heaving a heavy breath, knees still shaking, his heart pounding. He moved his fingers and suddenly felt terribly weak and effeted. But still, a smile curved his lips.