Did you ever read the Harry Potter books? Remember the first one where he finds out he is NOT just a normal human, and that the weird stuff happening to him is because he is a wizard and has magic powers, and how amazed he is when he attends Hogwarts and learns magic? Well, that was how the next few weeks were for me!
Suddenly, all this stuff that had been going on in my life, the dreams, the voices, strange happenings, were falling into place, and I was finally making sense of it all! I was a mutant, and Erik was teaching me how to deal with and control my powers.
At first, it was simple stuff, like levitate a cup or shield my mind from psychic attacks; but as time went on, we moved onto bigger things like telekinetic attacks, hovering and even flying. Let me be the first to say that being able to fly, without the aid of a plane or helicopter, is one of the coolest things you can ever do. I also learned how to attack an opponents mind and leave them sitting there stunned and stupified (mind you, it was never permanent, only a temporary handicap).
Liz was the most helpful with the mental attacks, as I learned her mutant abilities were completely telepathic. She could do AMAZING things in another's mind, but had no control over actual physical objects -- while the exact opposite came natural to me. I could easily lift a car 100 feet in the air before I was able to even read a person's mind and learn their memories.
Everytime I worked with Erik and Liz on my telepathic powers, he always wore this strange helmet that he claimed would protect him from our sparring in case we misdirected our intentions. Sure enough, even after I finally became quite competent at getting into someone's head, I was completely unable to make it through his shield. I made it my unsaid goal to make it through his defenses.
Overall, I was pretty happy. Erik's Brotherhood of Mutants were all relatively nice (even if there were some weird and abrupt ones I didn't quite get, like that strange Toad, or incredibly fat Blob). For the first time since I had first come out and gone to my first gay club, I finally felt like I was at home.
Occasionally, I thought of Charles and the X-Men, and while I was annoyed that he only wanted to limit my possibilities, and I was still upset with Nick for spying on me and pretty much lying about his connection with the X-Men, I was too caught up in my training to bear them much ill will, and just realized they were fighting for the same reasons we were: equal rights for all people, including mutants.
Which is why I was caught off guard one day when Erik approached me and asked if I would take part in a strange mission.
"Ryan, I am sending the Brotherhood to do some urgent work, and I want you to go with them to make sure they accomplish their goal."
"Erik, I'm not sure I'm ready to do this, I mean, I'm still learning how to manage my powers. What makes you think I can even help them do this? They're the experts; I'm still just a student."
Erik smiled and said, "My boy, you are quite ready for your first test in the field. In fact, I think it's high time we put you to your first true test of your abilities. Do you think you can handle this challenge?"
I really didn't know what to say. I mean, I had learned a lot, and was getting better with my abilites, but I had no clue what kind of real life test Erik had planned for me, and I certainly didn't want to let him, or my friends, down in a real life challenge.
"Well," I began, "I'm not sure what to say here ... do YOU think I'm ready?"
Erik smiled, slightly, and responded, "My boy, you've grown in leaps in bounds in the short time I've known you. I feel very confident you will be MORE than able to support our team in this trivial matter I have planned for you."
I smiled, and blushed, at his compliment and said, "Well, if you have faith in me, then I'm ready. What are we doing,exactly?"
Erik nodded at Liz, who had suddenly appeared in the room, and she typed a few commands into a computer, and images began to pop up on the screens behind Erik.
He turned and began talking as schematics and blueprints begain to appear on them.
"There is an anti-mutant group that is planning on disrupting a wedding party between a mutant and a non-mutant, at this location tomorrow in Utah. We want you, and a few others, to travel there and keep any violence from happening. Liz has analyzed these schematics, and has pinpointed where we think the group would look to strike, if given the chance, as shown here."
Certain sections of the blueprint flashed red, and I could easily see many of them included windows that faced the street, or other somewhat secluded places, where assailants could enter unnoticed.
"What should we do, if we face these people?" I asked.
"Well, we don't want to hurt them, of course, so just do what you can to disable or disrupt their plans, should they get so far as to possibly harm the people at the wedding party," Erik stopped a moment, before turning back to me and smiling, "However, since this is a blessed day between two people, I hope that you and your team, will keep them from even interrupting the event, and I have faith that the day will proceed as planned with no problems."
His implication did not miss me.
"Me and MY team?!" I wondered.
"Yes," Erik replied, "You, among all of us, have had more experience lately in the homosapien world, so you will be leading the team. Mystique, though, will be right with you helping you out, won't you, my dear?"
As he said that, the beautiful blue-skinned woman entered the room, and immediately morphed into a gorgeous tall woman in a most revealing, yet tasteful formal dress.
"Yes," she cooed softly, "I'll be right there to help you out however you need."
Erik smiled and said, "You have your orders, follow them through! I will be here to debrief you when you return. Good luck, and my faith is with you, my young child."
My breath caught in my throat for a moment as I revelled in the pride his words gave me before responding, "Thank you, Erik, I won't let you down." I turned and left, flanked by my new friends who would accompany me on this mission and immediately began talking with them about the strategy we would use to keep the wedding party safe tomorrow.
......................................................
"He is gone?" Magneto demanded of Liz.
"Yes, he is beyond earshot, and my abilities will keep him out of my and Mystique's head; you are safe to continue." Liz answered docily.
"Good!" Magneto began, "Tomorrow is the most important task we have faced since bringing Ryan into our fold. Tomorrow we work to unleash his true talent. Liz?!" Magneto asked as he turned sharply to face her, "Are you ready for what must be done?"
Liz turned away and looked down. She had dreaded this moment since Magneto had asked her this favor, but she knew she had to fulfill her obligation after what he had done for her.
"I'm sorry, Ryan," she thought sadly, "but I have no choice in the matter. God forgive me! ** Copmosing herself, Liz turned back around and said, "Yes, I am ready."
Magneto smiled. "Good! Tomorrow, the power of the Phoneix shall be ours, and all homosapiens will bow to our mercy!"
I am REALLY sorry it took so long to get this chapter up! I've just been so busy with work, it seems all I do aside from that is sleep!
As always, feedback is welcome at ender2155@gmail.com ... thank you so much for your continued support, and I promise the next chapter will not take NEARLY as long to be posted!