Chapter 2: The Box

"In chess, the pawns go first." Magneto, 2006

Fire and ice rained down upon the first group of invaders. They were easy to dispel—a group of ill-prepared class twos, used as a diversion. They moved like the animals they were. Spit watched them and took them out, one, two, three, until he lost count. The flames flew from his fingers and caught their disgusting, hairy, slimy bodies and he watched as they writhed in pain.

He ran down the stairs into the subway tunnel that was serving as a kind of fort. Though the first group had been easily eliminated, it had been huge—unlike anything Spit had ever seen.

He approached Himmel, commander in charge of ground troops, a class three with the power over the sky and the air. He could not control the weather, but he could make it seem light or dark, and make the wind blow like a hurricane, or as a light as a breeze.

"Sir," Spit saluted him, straight-backed and narrow-eyed, "the first line of offenders has been defeated."

"But?"

Himmel had an uncanny way of reading people's minds that had nothing to do with his mutant abilities.

"Permission to speak freely sir?"

Himmel nodded.

Spit relaxed slightly. "I believe this first wave of invaders was only a diversion. There were more of them than usual—and I believe that there are a great many more on their way—more powerful."

"And?"

Spit bit his lip. "And…I have very little confidence in Commander Sky…sir."

Himmel raised a blue-black eyebrow. "Oh?"

This was an invitation for Spit to continue his grievances, and he did so. "Sir…Commander Sky seems reluctant…to fight, sir. She…was delayed in her response time to the attackers—and it took us some time to find her—we lost more people…than we should have…I think, sir. I mean no disrespect."

"Where?" said Himmel.

"Sir?"

"Where was she? Commander Sky."

Spit frowned. "She was in the tunnels, sir. Deep down."

"Commander Himmel?" The mutant Tymah, a class three weather worker, approached Himmel. "Fathom has detected several thousand Non-Elementals approaching the city. She does not detect Commander Godspeed with them."

Himmel nodded once. "Send out all class four weather workers beyond the city. Have them shield us for as long as they can. They are permitted to use any means necessary when confronted by the enemy."

"Sir." Tymah turned and flew further into the tunnels. Her red-gold hair flashed in the dim light before she disappeared.

Himmel turned to Spit. "Get your team ready. Have flame throwers stationed at all points. Alert all commands that it is my intention to take at least one of the class fours alive. They may know Godspeed's location within the Non-Elementals."

"What about Commander Sky, sir?" Spit asked tentatively.

Himmsel bristled. "You have your orders!"

Spit straightened. "Yes sir."

Creature moved soundlessly down in the deep black tunnels, beyond the throes of battle. His eyes grew accustomed to the pitch black quickly, and he saw as clearly as if it had been day.

His wings did not rustle, nor did his clawed feet tap. He moved a easily as air.

Around one corner, and down another set of slanted track, he saw at last what he was looking for. A single door, guarded, just as Godspeed had predicted. He stood in the shadows, undetected and waited.

A beautiful mutant, with red-gold hair, approached him and barely whispered. "Is that you?"

"Only if you are expecting me."

Tymah stepped closer. "The mutant called Creature. Godspeed communicated your name to me."

"Godspeed trusts in your trust—can I do the same?"

Tymah nodded nervously. "Yes."

"How many are there, that hide our father?"

Tymah frowned. "Four guards. I know some of them. Commander Sky is fighting above us. Some of the others are as well. There are never less than four."

"Two for Creature, two for Tymah."

"I don't know how to open the door."

"It will open when we open it," Creature answered.

Fathom, a sensor, class two, rushed down into the tunnels. She had been acquired by the Elementals some years ago. She served as living radar, able to detect the approach of any mutant within a forty mile radius—she could detect both class and species. "Himmel!" she called. "Himmel?!"

The Commander appeared in front of her. "What?"

"Godspeed is here," Fathom answered, smartly, but breathless.

Himmel eyes jumped. "Where?"

Fathom pointed upwards. "Up there! She's fighting!"

Himmel crossed his arms contently. "Victory," he said.

"You don't get it," Fathom replied, "she's not fighting on your side. She's beating you back."

"Impossible."

Fathom turned and he followed. "Come and see," she called.

Tymah was injured, but not seriously. Creature was unscathed and unshaken. They had dispelled of the guards. The door, metal, thick and without a noticeable keyhole, loomed in front of them.

"This mutant," Tymah said to him, pointing to one of the dead. "He's not an Elemental. He's a communicator called Code. He can send messages with his mind to anyone—I thought he was dead." She looked up suddenly. "He may have alerted others."

Creature pressed his palms against the wide metal wall. "It must be opened."

"Maybe it's not supposed to," Tymah considered. "Maybe he's walled in there and they don't want him to be revived. Why would you build a door without a way to open it?"

"Why would you hide a treasure if you never intended to look at it again?" was his reply. "If it was not meant to be opened, it would not be closed."

Tymah stepped to his side.

Creature tilted his head in an odd, animal manner. Instinctually, she was frightened and somewhat disgusted by his manner. He was so strange and inmutant-looking—he looked like a combination of a bird and snake. It was so odd and unnerving. Tymah had been taught from birth that Animalis were nothing compared to Elementals. They were secondary, and, like humans, not worthy to share the earth. Standing next to this Animalis, she did not see weakness—she saw incredible strength. But, despite her attempts at "looking past it", as Godspeed had instructed her, all she could see was an animal.

"Your heart is in your eyes," said the mutant.

She had been staring and blushed, looking away. His head tilted in the other direction. "Ah," he said, as if he had heard something, "the message was sent." Tymah heard it then: footfalls above. They were coming.

"We're too late!" she cried.

A flash of smoke and the smell of sulfur filled Tymah's reality. She coughed, and waved the smoke away. A man stood in front of her and she gasped.

"Do not hurt him," said Creature. "He is the key."

The footsteps grew louder and now Tymah heard voices.

"I guess I came just in time," said the man, smiling slightly.

Tymah swallowed, the sulfur lingering in the back of her throat. "Are you a teleporter?" she asked.

"I'm not late, am I?" was his reply. Without waiting for an answer, he had grabbed hold of Tymah's arm, and she felt a sudden weightless, nauseating sensation, and then the ground slammed unkindly under her feet. She fell.

The teleporter helped her up, introducing himself as Daytripper, "Or Trip or Day or Tripper, for short, whatever you want."

When Tymah had gotten to her feet, she looked around her, and could care less about the teleporter's nicknames. She was in a huge, cavernous room, lit faintly by bluish glowing lamps on the walls. At the center of the room, there was a long box, with all sorts of tubes and plugs and wires going in and out of it. Creature was already next to the box. He was on one knee, and his hand reached tentatively towards it, but he would not touch it. She approached him.

"Is that…Magneto?" she said the name in a whisper.

Daytripper was by her side, hands shoved deeply into jean pockets. "Magneto!" he asked. He laughed. And then stopped laughing. "Magneto?" He looked closely. "You mean…his…body…is in there? The Magneto?"

Tymah nodded and the three of them, the Animalis, the Elemental and the Teleporter, stared at the box in utter silence. One in reverence, the other in disbelief, and the last in complete confusion.

"Wait a minute…" Daytripper spoke, "this is what I have to teleport beyond the border? Are you serious?"

Tymah turned. "Can't you do it?"

Daytripper grimaced and twisted his fingers together. "Well…it's pretty big…and with both of you in tow…I don't know…that'll take a lot of me."

"Take the box first, then, and Creature and me last, if you don't think you can do it all at once." The footsteps grew louder as Tymah was speaking. She could hear voices outside of the metal wall. "Go! Now!"

Daytripper touched the box and disappeared with it. A look of pain was the last she saw in his face before he vanished. Creature's hand was still extended, even as the box became nothing but a puff of smoke and sulfur. Tymah began to pace nervously, tapping her long fingers against her arms.

"What's taking so long?" she muttered.

"Do you fear the end?" Creature whispered.

"If you mean am I afraid of death, yes…I am!"

He raised his eyes from where the box had been to her. "No. I did not mean that. Are you afraid of the end of war?"

It was the least cryptic thing Creature had probably ever said, and yet, in its simplicity, it was a most difficult concept. Of course Tymah longed for peace. She wanted to have a family some day, and not have to worry about her children and her children's children dying for nothing. Godspeed had already lost most of her family—Tymah had no desire to share in such an experience.

And yet, no war—what did that mean? What was there to do, if not fight? What was there to believe in, if not a cause that demanded, even required, blood? What purpose would she serve? Would she have one?

So, in the end, she answered the Non-Elemental with a simple, quiet, "Yes."

And the metal wall was pushed back with such a force, that it knocked her off of her feet. It was not an explosion—a metal worker pushed it back and knocked her down. She knew nothing but darkness then, and had no idea whether Creature had survived at all.