Chapter 11 - The Strange Case of Li Fu-Jung and Mr. Xorn and Magneto and Xiao Do and ...

Three lines formed. Three, crimson lines against pale pink flesh. On a mental command, proteins rearranged their shapes, found new connections and sent out a pulse of psychic energy. Though broadcast, this message was destined to be received by only one.

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Driving around Springfield Missouri in a gray passenger van, a frantic Dani was being comforted by Xi'an. "Ed told you they were fine and headed this way. They probably just went for late night pancakes"

"That irresponsible fool should have stayed with them until they were safe and HOME" Dani spat. "It's nearly two thirty anyway. Where are the police in this town?"

Xi'an was taken aback. "Look. You've got to calm down, they are just being kids and Ed totally did the right thing. How damn creepy would it have been if he just popped out of the woods and said 'Ok kids! Time to go!' Nothing suspicious there!"

Dani shook her head "Yea, I know. But I'm worried." She took a right turn onto a more promising street. "I mean, what else can go wrong? Ever since Professor Xavier asked me to check out the two new mutants detected in the mid-west everything has gone down hill. First that Emma Frost bitch-a-like, Esme tricks me into taking you and the kids along for the ride..."

Xi'an rolled her eyes and pouted. Her Asian features made the face even more exaggerated as she goaded, "Gee thanks."

"It's not just you and you know that. The kids just aren't field agents."

"Well they didn't do too bad against your first contact when he turned out to be a juvenile delinquent calling himself 'Black Ice'. Who robs candy stores now 'n days, anyway?"

"Kids. Stupid punk Kids, that's who!" She tightened her grip on the truck-like steering wheel of the van. "It still gets me how self centered that kid was. He would have killed that clerk and even his own friend had Josh not put himself in a coma while healing them. And while we are fixing the mistakes Black Ice made, he escapes! Leaving a public relations nightmare."

Xi'an tried not to notice her friends frustration. "As I said, they didn't do too bad. And it turns out they were safer here than at the school."

"Don't remind me. Seeing the school all bombed out like that on TV..." She confronted the image of her home in flames and shuddered as a chill went down her spine.

The young Cheyenne woman looked over the dashboard lights to the quiet street scene around her. "And now, this place. There's no word from anyone at Xavier's or the whole of New York City for that matter. Still, we rush here because our other powerful new mutant freaks in a public display of power. Only, when we get here we are greeted by the same Purity movement that gave you and Kitty Pryde so much trouble in Chicago."

"Well I for one wish we could take those jerks on. If they hadn't messed with Kitty,... You know, Dani, I really think I could have had something with her. I know she's not into women, but still. She's my friend." She was quiet for a moment then spat, "I owe those bigoted bastards for what they did to her! Outing her as a mutant like that!"

"Well, at least you have Ed! Don't think I haven't noticed you two getting chummy."

"Oh I didn't tell you? He made a play for me while we were watching the Purity guy, Marks, debate earlier."

"And?"

Her pretty Asian eyes dropped to the floor boards. "I dropped him."

"Really? Why? I mean, he rubs me the wrong way, but the kids like him and so do you."

"He's a guy Dani. It just doesn't work for me. I've tried, but it's just not right."

"And it was supposed to be for Kitty?"

"No, but I can dream can't I? Anyway, I feel bad. I have a feeling that he's only on this trip because of me."

"Awfully romantic for a slime ball." Xi'an gave her a look. "Oh come on. He's his own favorite guy!" Dani paused thoughtfully. "He is pretty good with the political stuff, though. That Kendal Marks seems to have quite the movement following him in town. And again, we are on the defensive! Next thing you know, his low rent State Level Mutant Registration Act will have the towns-folk out with torches and pitchforks! And I'm sure it won't take them long to find their way to May Armstrong's door!"

"And you didn't even bring up that freaky thing that happened to David on the plane, picking up the knowledge from some mutant killer who also knew May's address!"

"The address is one thing. We can keep an eye on the house. The kid is another. That's why I want to find them. All of them." She looked up as it started to snow again. "Great. Snow. You know, I should have my head examined. Here we are looking for the kids because Ed thought it would be good to let them go to the same keg party as our new mutant girl, May, right? I mean, come on! A KEG PARTY? I REALLY should have my head examined. So, Ed promises to keep an eye out in the bushes like some mutant peeping tom, thinking that if someone really had wanted to get to May, this would be the most opportune time. Fine, we are finally out in front of something. I didn't want her there alone but, I sent the kids into a party to keep her safe? I'm risking putting all of them in danger! No plan for what they would do should danger arise, of course. And guess what, they were in danger, Xi'an! For all we know that guy in the tree was our mutant killing psychopath! I just wish I knew what was really going on."

"The kids know the risks and are watching out. Remember, they were there to try to help out the Armstrong girl because she was not aware of the danger! Anyway, they've been on their own for what, 20 minutes? You want me to bust out a cerebra and track their mutant signatures? You that paranoid?"

"Yes,.. No! I'm not paranoid! You had a cerebra in the van and we've been sitting here chatting and driving around in circles?"

Xi'an reached into the bag in the back seat and fished out the breadbox-sized device. While setting it up, she mumbled, "You know, this whole den mother thing is not a good look for you. And if you were going to get all paranoid about the kids, you might have gotten their cell phone numbers from Ed before they left." It flashed to life, under lighting Xi'an's sharp Asian features. "They are about a block away," she pointed straight ahead. "probably at that diner."

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Inside the diner May sat uneasily with her new acquaintances. Over the remains of the hastily prepared and eaten food that cluttered the table, the little blonde girl asked, "So, what do you all do, exactly?"

"We go to school." Sofia said a little puzzled. "We are not yet old enough to hold jobs."

David smiled at Sofia's mistake. She looked half asleep and barely holding it together. The older boy said quietly, "You are wondering about our gifts. Well, we're not supposed to talk about that in public. Some one might overhear."

Josh said in his usual brash voice, "Don't you think that's a little paranoid, dude? We totally know about her and she doesn't know us from jack!"

Cessily saw May getting a little freaked by the secrecy and said, "I know. Why don't we play 'If I were an X-man.'? You can say what your power would be if you were a mutant." She looked around the table and seeing no dissenters she started. "Ok, if I were an X-man my power would be to be made of living mercury. I could make any shape with my mercury and I would be snowball fight queen. Ok Josh, your turn."

Josh looked at Cessily smiling encouragingly. He had never seen her smiling encouragingly before so he knew it must be important and to try to keep it light for May. "Right. Now if I were an X-man, I'd be able to heal any wound, like Wolverine. Except, I'd be able to heal other people's wounds as well. This is, of course, the most useful of all powers and would elevate me into the pantheon of X-mendom right next to the guy who can taste things with his hair." He slapped David on the shoulder and said, "How about you." Seeing David wince he added "Oh sorry man."

David rubbed his shoulder. "Well, if you must know, were I an X-man I'd be able to learn anyone's skills and knowledge that was standing close to me. I'd know everything that they know instantly."

May got a bright grin on her face and blurted, half laughing, "Wow, what a lame power!"

The booth erupted in laughter as David looked around stunned and hurt and Laurie continued to snooze into Josh's side. At another table, Jannie turned around to see May hanging out with this strange new crowd of kids. She had heard that they were exchange students but the whole thing didn't seem quite right. 'May would usually either go home after a party goes bust or sit over here with me; especially if we are sitting with half the starting offense of the football team.' She turned around and frowned. May had homed in on HER GUY and now she was avoiding her. She was hurt and angry in her half drunken haze. 'This just isn't right.'

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Ed surveyed the scene before coming out of the forest. While the kids had their disastrous, but rather typical, high school keg party, he had stayed hidden in the forest. Using his mutant gift of enhanced eyesight he watched for anything that might be dangerous to the six kids he was with or to May Armstrong, the new girl they were trying to protect. Now, finding the street deserted, he stepped through the final few yards of wilderness and onto the civilized sidewalk.

'Finally I'm free of those stupid twigs!' He found himself on a nondescript road at the edge of the lot that held the campgrounds. 'Guess I'm walking home. Pretty low end to an active day. I remember when friday night was a diversion And if you found yourself in the woods, it meant that you got lucky.' As he walked along the mostly deserted street, the sky started to spit out the occasional flake of snow. He wiped the first traces of wet snow from his sunglasses and in the now streaked street scene he saw a welcome sight. In the distance, a bar with an "Open" sign in the window called to him. "Looks like it's my lucky day."

He closed the distance with the bar as the snow started to show signs of picking up. On the door was the encouraging sign that said "Bills pull house. Come in as a stranger but leave as a friend." 'Don't mind if I do, Bill.' He thought as he pulled open the heavy wood door and wiped his feet in the vestibule. Opening the second door he instantly surveyed the scene. It was a typical neighborhood tavern with a pool table, darts, TV, slightly overweight bartender and one neighborhood patron at the bar. Ed grimaced at the way his luck turned out. The patron at the bar was Ted Armstrong, May Armstrong's father.

"Come on in." The bartender bellowed to Ed, making Ted turn around. "We're about ready to close up as soon as the boys find that worthless bar back, but I got time to help you warm up."

"A burger and a beer would hit the spot. Thanks." The bartender scribbled Ed's order down and went through a door behind the bar.

Coming back from the kitchen the bartender began to pour a beer. "So what brings you out this late, friend?"

"I was looking for a keg party."

"Ah! Well, you've come to the right place. The boys from the police force use this place to keep an eye out on the campground over yonder. If there's trouble, it'll pass through here. I think it's pretty much done now though with no casualties, thank god." He placed a pint of beer in front of Ed and ran back into the kitchen.

"Thank god." The older man agreed. Ed studied Ted Armstrong's seemingly bored face from the collection of distorted reflections in the hard liquor bottles that lined the wall behind the bar. He knew a second before he heard that the older man was about to speak. "So what's your interest with the party?"

With a shrug Ed said, "I'm keeping an eye out for my kids."

"Ah." Ted took a swallow. "And which ones are yours?"

"Exchange students. I'm a Chaperone."

"Doin' a bang up job." The older man smiled to show he was kidding. "So's there hell to pay or are you going to let it go."

Ed grinned. "We'll probably let it go. They're good kids just trying to have some fun and meet the other students."

"Guess that's why they did the student exchange."

"I guess so. So who are you looking for?"

Ted put down his glass. "My daughter, May. She knows how to keep out of trouble, mostly. Though her grades could be better, I'd just as soon let her run. But we just found out that she's got this condition..." Ted looked over with the look of a man carrying the world and said, "So, I worry. You know what that's like mister?"

Ed thought of the kids and nodded, "I think I'm beginning to."

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"If I was an X-woman," Sofia started before getting cut off by Victor.

"That's X-man." He corrected.

"Why is it X-MAN? I'm clearly a woman!" She motioned, immodestly pointing out her well-built body.

Victor shrugged his shoulders. "Just is, I guess. Storm's an X-man."

Sofia shook her head. "English. Very strange! Anyway, I would have the power to fly and use the wind. The wind would carry voices from afar."

May, sitting between Cessily and Sofia looked at the tall Argentinean girl and said, "Wow, that's kinda cool. You are a windborne wiretap." Nodding over to the passed out form of Laurie Collins snuggled up to Josh's coat sleeve she asked, "So, what would her power be?"

Josh raised his eyebrows and said, "Right now hers is the power to sleep it off, and I think its working overtime!" Another round of laughter came from the exhausted bunch. Laurie mumbled and waived her hand, which made some of them laugh even more.

"So Victor, what would your power be?" May said to Victor, not noticing that he had stopped laughing and had become quite stiff.

In a slow voice Victor said, "I'd have the power to tell you that Dani and I are waiting outside in the Van. May, I'm glad to see you met the group and that you are all OK."

Cessily rolled her eyes at Victor now that he was possessed by Xi'an's mutant power. "Thanks Xi'an, we're cool. You know, Victor's going to start to take it personally, you using him that way."

Quietly, Victor replied, "Yes, well, He can get over it. While I have an affinity for controlling all of you, built up during our training, I find easiest to control him. Plus he's my height." Victor stood up with a noticeable feminine grace as the kids all started to scoot out from the booth. While the others in the group put on their coats, Victor froze, looked around and said, "Dang man! She did it again didn't she?"

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Three lines deepen into pale flesh, sliding through meat. The mental broadcast is completed and is waiting for dreams to come to the one who would see. The lines can now do as they please. The broadcast is over.

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Li Fu-jung shuffled through the streets of Shanghi to Office of Extra Human Affairs. He was nervous. Being called upon by the 'Office' never went well. He had heard of people going to The Office. They often returned traumatized if they returned at all.

He traveled the raised sidewalks up to the intersection overpasses, with their overflow of advertising. In that respect, the Bundt District resembled Japan more than China, so he was told. All he knew was that everything looked different here. He'd also been told that it looked like 18th Century England, but he had no frame of reference for the claim. Such was the life of a teenaged peasant that many experiences were outside his frame of reference.

Sneaking quietly into one of the many brownstones that lined the street, he made his way to the receptionist's desk. Hat in hand he said humbly, "I'm told to ask for Controller 5."

"Well then ask, and be quick about it! Room 230. Lift is behind and to the left, or take the stairs. You are expected, Mr. Fu-jung." The stern woman at the desk never looked up but handed him a paper badge on a string displaying his name and a large red X.

The lift came to an abrupt stop on the second floor, almost knocking down Li's tall slight frame. He shuffled down the hall and found room 230 at its end. He opened the door to find a portly old man dressed in the plain brown suit of the revolution sitting behind a perfectly clean desk. The entire room seemed tan as if years of grime had taken the liberty of painting everything Li could see, including the man. Only the desk was clean.

"Have a seat Mr. Fu-jung." The man pointed his hand at one of the chairs facing him and waited for Li to sit before continuing. "I understand that you have the ability to look like another person. Is this true?" The man crossed his fingers and looked closely at Li's face.

"Yes it is, Mr..." Li probed for his name, but did not get a response. Giving up, he continued nervously. "Yes. I can do men, only men, and only after I study them for a good deal of time, is the mimicry believable."

After an uncomfortable silence the man asked, "Is there anything you can do, short of studying someone? Can you make a copy from a photograph, for instance?"

Li became excited in spite of himself. So few people had ever asked him about his ability, because they were afraid. But this man wanted to know all about it. "I can, but it wouldn't be the same. I must know what the body looks like, for instance, and how he walked, and gestures. People are full of gestures. The talent picks these up and incorporates them into the copy, but it takes time."

"Hmm!" The man looked at Li, then at his file drawer. "You are familiar with the teachings of Mao, are you not?"

"Yes, of course. He was the greatest mind of all time."

"He taught that we must give to the country the talents that we have so that we may take from the country that which sustains us. You have an exceptional, but underutilized ability, Li. I would like to train you to be able to copy someone quickly and convincingly enough. I believe that instead of observing the target of the mimicry, you can observe people who know the person best. You can then adjust yourself until their body language tells you that they believe you. In other words, get the copy working, then fine tune it to fit the people who would ask questions. We offer this opportunity to expand your talent so that you may help your country by copying a specific man. You are familiar with the critical and flamboyant Mayor of Beijing?"

"As familiar as one is able and still have time to tend the farm."

"Well", the man paused then turned and looked directly at Li with cold eyes. "We would like you to impersonate him. You would then take your orders from us as to what to do and say. Do you think you can handle that?"

Li shook slightly, overwhelmed with it all. "I guess so, when do I meet him?"

"Ah that is why you need the training, for you see," the man spread the contents of the folder on his desk, including a grizzly photograph. "He is already dead."

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Three lines deepen. Driven by muscle and rage, they slide softly through crimson, parting the pale pink background, leaving it behind.

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"We would like you to go undercover again, Li."

In an Armani suit and sunglasses the Chinese man in his mid twenties replied distractedly. "I don't suppose you have heard of this western custom called a vacation, have you? I hear that it is what one is usually given by their employer after a hard year-long assignment. Of course, you might have thought my current posting in gods dump-no where might count. I, on the other hand, was really thinking London, or maybe San Francisco."

The controller sighed. "You have become soft and corrupted by the influence of the infidels. I guess it is the risk someone with your particular talents runs. Your time acting like that Italian counter-revolutionary drug runner has not helped your attitude, Li." The gray haired controller paced his spartan office behind the seated Li. "We sent you to Chengdu so that might once again become Chinese and reestablish your bond with the people."

"The people smell, quite frankly. The people are also frighteningly poor compared to the rest of the world. Though I knew you would once again conscript me to dangerous service, honestly, I was looking forward to visiting Shanghi. At least here pigs and cattle do not run loose in the streets."

"No and being able to get Cocaine in a big city like this doesn't hurt either does it? Let's not forget the other reasons we had for sending you to, as your report put it, 'live in filth.' Your addiction to the western vices is simply unacceptable and we had hoped that you could shake it off, given the pure air of the land from which Taoism first came to our forefathers. Apparently things are more complex than we had believed." The short old man in revolutionary garb shot Li a glance that made him sweat behind his sunglasses. He knew his life was in the old mans hands. "Nonetheless, we have need of your talents and must reassign you. We simply have no alternative."

Li swallowed hard but kept his disinterested front intact. "So you would have me live so that I may continue to spy for the revolution?"

"The country is generous with those who give to it as much as you have. The parasite you conspired with has contributed to the lives of the people with his death. You're life will be your contribution and your service will make amends for your transgressions." A manila envelope slapped down on the desk in front of him. "Study that. You will be him." The order was firm. There was no opening for further discussion. "He has already been contacted by the mutant Fabian Cortez to join some sort of rogue army. We want a man on the inside."

"You know I'll need a few days to get this right. What if the real guy makes contact with this Cortez while I'm studying?"

"Don't worry. He won't." The controller looked past his own icy reflection to see the skyline of Shanghi. "We made sure of that."

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Flat, doughnut shaped cells slide along veins. Suddenly an intruder appears in the vein's flow. It is the tip of a metal wedge, initially seen just barely blocking the flow, then eclipsing the vein completely, cutting the hapless doughnut shaped cell cleanly in two on it's passing.

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"Do Wolverine, Xiao!"

The young, overweight form of the Chinese Mutant Xiao Do was backlit by a three-pained stained glass window in this small chapel. The gold studded lectern had been moved aside, making a makeshift stage for his performance. Turning around, Li transformed from the fat disguise of Xiao Do, to the fearsome shape of Wolverine. "Who says I do requests bob?"

The young mutants chuckled, dressed in their blue uniforms with a large red V on the chest. One with bright markings on her face said "Ok How about Storm?"

Another neophyte gave her a quick punch. "You know he can only do guys. Hey, how about Northstar?"

He changed quickly into Groucho Marx, complete with grease paint eyebrows and mustache. "Ok, but that is dangerously close to being a girl, if you know what I mean." They all laughed as he turned into Northstar and said in a homosexually affected French Canadian accent "You know, without my costume I could be any pretty boy French ski instructor. It is a good thing I am with the low powered team Alpha Flight or the fact that I am a loser with easily countered and generic powers would be so very obvious to everyone."

They all laughed as he mocked the speedster. Ever since he dug into Cortez's Data bank of known mutants, he has been amusing his fellow young Acolytes with these shows of his powers. He found that he enjoyed being the center of attention and sometimes marveled at how far he had come from that peasant boy that shuffled into the controller's office years ago.

He had been around the world as an agent of China's secret spy organization The Office of Extra Human Affairs. Since his first assignments infiltrating democratically inclined groups in Beijing, He had single handedly stopped many of the western organized crime syndicates from establishing a foothold on the Chinese soil or people. He had set up many industrial espionage operations in the western countries and in South America to gather knowledge needed to grow China into the dragon it should be. Though he had been many places and in some tough positions, but this had to be the toughest.

What had seemed to the bosses in Shanghi to be a rogue army under the leadership of Fabian Cortez was really turning out to be a psudo-religious group dedicated to the Martyred mutant terrorist Magneto. All were devoted to the late 'Master of Magnetism' but some scoffed at the idea that Fabian Cortez truly spoke for him. Li himself had noticed that Magneto's writings were often less militaristic and more utopian than Cortez's supposed divine mandates. And here he was, a Judas among the believers, under deep cover.

Though in danger of discovery at all times, Li found that this was an excellent opportunity to expand the number of faces he could effectively impersonate. He didn't mind that he had to constantly be disguised as Xiao Do, and began to actually like the squat boy that provided him his alias.

Sometimes he wondered if it was right, taking the place of someone, even if that someone was dead. Then again, it was the government's decision, not his.
Now in the guise of Richard Nixon he said "So, do you have anything further for me or can I go and play with checkers now?"

"Do Magneto." A voice from the back of the room made everyone turn around in startled silence. The Acolyte Cortez, The one who would speak with Magneto's voice, leaned against the doorway with his arms folded across his chest.

Li shifted to the fat, friendly form of Xiao Do and said humbly, "I do not impersonate Magneto out of respect. Our lord Magneto is above the amusements of clowns and children."

"But you would impersonate, say, me for instance?" Cortez made his way as regally as he could but he seemed a pale imitation of a true leader.

This impression was not lost on Li for he was, in fact, far more experienced inside than the form of Xiao Do would betray. His playful side got the better of him as he tapped into the distrust he had observed growing in the rest of the Acolytes. He shifted into Groucho Marx again and said "Only if you let me take a shower afterwards, I might feel a little slimy."

"You would dare mock me?" He strode through the parting crowd.

Li shifted to the form of a monk he knew from one of his previous assignments. "Apologies Sir,.." He shifted again to take the form of Rodney Dangerfield. "But you named me the Mocking Bird, I'm just doing my part to live up to the name. A little Respect here! Ack!"

Fabian Cortez grabbed Li by the throat and lifted him from the ground. "You should hold your tongue Jester. I speak for our Lord Magneto and am your better. As such I am the one deserving of respect."

Li was momentarily caught off guard but then shifted to the size and shape of the armored Colossus. Cortez's hand could no longer maintain its painful grip. "I was under the impression that in Lord Magneto's realm that we were all equal. Much like in mother Russia, Torvich!"

Wham!!! A mighty blow met with the midsection of the mock-Colossus and Li went crumbling to the ground. It took all his training not to revert to his own neutral appearance but to shift back to Xiao Do. Towering over the crumpled figure, Cortez pulled back his fist and recomposed himself into his failing approximation of regal stature. The audience of neophytes drew to the perimeter of the room in fear and awe. "You of all people should know that in communism, no matter how perfect, some people are more 'Equal' than others." Turning to the assembled group he said, "If you could please leave us, I have business to discuss with Young Mr. Do." The others walked to the arched door immaculately crafted into the stone wall and filed out of the chapel.

"Now, Mr. Do, it is really too bad that you do not actually possess the armor or strength of Colossus, is it not? For if you did, you wouldn't feel like throwing up now." From the floor, Li gasped for air. "Don't feel much like talking either? I understand. Truth be told, I understand more about you than you know, Mr. Do." Li's eyes went wide. He had waited to be discovered for two years now, living among telepaths and super-sensorial mutants, and never had. But now the time seemed to be at hand. What would Cortez do?

"Yes, I understand that you are lazy, Mr. Do." Fortunately Cortez failed to fully realize events even as he was planning to manipulate them to his own ends. If Li hadn't had the wind knocked out of him, he would have sighed in relief. "You use your powers to do parlor tricks but you could do much more. See, I not only have the ability to amplify a mutants powers, through exposure to a mutant, I can see the pathways that the mutants power can mutate. You, Mr. Do, are on a very low rung with your powers. For instance, did you know that you are, in fact, possibly the most powerful mutant here? You only use a hint of that energy when you switch from one form to another."

Li regained some of his composure and leaned against the lectern. Cortez had wandered around the room while he was rattling on and was now a more comfortable distance away. "So what?" He managed to choke out. "I shift, I monitor my audience to make sure they are buying it, I adjust if need be, that's it, that's all I got." He conveniently left out the part of his power that collects volumes of information from people's body language. A side effect he had honed over many years spent in the field.

"Ah, but you could be much more. Think, boy. What is a perfect copy of a mutant?"

Sparks went off in Li's brain. "To copy their abilities?"

"You are starting to see. And only I can help you get over the hurtle that is limiting your greatly expanded use of your powers."

"At what price? There is always a catch, especially with the likes of you. What would you want in return?" Li braced for the other side of this devil's pact.

Cortez straightened at the straight forward slight, but knew he was not dealing with a fool. "You must help me control of the Acolytes. There are those who doubt my leadership and a shape changer can aid me. You can help me eliminate my enemies while keeping the good will of the rest of the flock. Once in line, The Acolytes will help me cement my power in the larger game with a group called the Upstarts. If I control the Upstarts, a group of even more powerful mutants with vast resources at their disposal, I could remake the world as Magneto had prophesized. Would you join me in reshaping the world?" He smirked.

Li's mind buzzed with the implications of these statements. No doubt Cortez would fail to pull off his plan in any number of ways, so the threat of having this pompous, power mad, ass as a supreme ruler was nothing more than hot air. 'But who are these Upstarts? Is Cortez in a larger game than just collecting the disaffected into Magneto's Martyrs? And to have the powers of other mutants, even If it was a copy of the effects of those powers, now that was something worth exploring. For the greater glory of China, of course.' Holding up his hand he said, "Throw in helping me off the floor and you have yourself a deal."

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One by one by one, three lines meet with bone, at first only scratching the surface, then cracking at the point of the attack. Bone fractures leaving a chasm quickly filled with metal for the lines. There is a sound to the lines now, the sound of tectonic plates moving against one another at a fault. It is the sound of the world changing.

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When Fabian Cortez laid his hands on Li and used his mutant power to augment mutant powers, the rush of endless faces, gestures and even mutant abilities went to his head harder than any drug kick he had experienced in his life. His body warbled through a number of different people before he settled back on Xiao Do.

"hooooOOOOOO Goooooooooooooddddddd.." He just sat in the extraordinary feeling of power for a moment. His eyes wandered around the small chapel where just days ago, he had made his pact with Cortez.

Slap! Cortez slapped him across the face and he awoke to hear the man screaming at him. "I give you more power than you have ever had in your life and you sit there like it's a Saturday night buzz. You sicken me! Get up and use those powers like you should. Like you were born to! Come Xiao, become Peter Rasputin!"

Li concentrated on everything he knew about the X-men's strong man and channeled that through his body, letting it wash over him in blankets of white hot light. He could feel the change. It was almost painful but it felt so good! The itch that he didn't even know existed moments before was being scratched and soothed in this ultimate expression of his power. When he finally calmed down he opened his eyes and saw Cortez looking rather small.

"You did it." It almost sounded like a question. "Now to see if it is as good as the real thing." The red haired mutant pulled a semiautomatic pistol from his shoulder holster and fired it at the shape shifter's head. Out of reflex, Li brought his crossed arms up in front of his face and was astonished to hear the bullet ricochet off of metal instead of the sound of his own death. He looked at his hands and found the metal gauntlets of Colossus. He ran to find a mirror and looked at himself. "I gave you the power Xiao, but you made yourself into a fine approximation of Colossus. Now let's try someone else."

"Oh yes, please!" Li reverted to Xiao Do, his face sincere in it's blind enthusiasm to repeat the experience. "Please, lets do more!"

O0o0O0o.o0O0o0O

Metal was never meant to be where metal now was, sliding gracefully and horribly through meat, It's path lubricated by slippery blood.

O0o0O0o.o0O0o0O

Warning - Atmospheric Decompression in Progress - Warning

Sirens blared as smoke filled hallways rang with panic and fear. "Let's go, Let's go! Into the life boats!"

"This is my home! It's the only home I know! I can't believe the X-men would destroy it like this!"

"The X-men would see us all dead, Static. Defy their evil by surviving. To the life boats!"

"Wait! Where's Xiao?"

"He didn't make it. I saw him all burnt up in the power room. Come on, save yourselves!"

They hurried into the cramped capsule, strapped in and blasted away from the exploding hulk of Avalon.

On board, the horribly burned figure of Xiao Do stepped out of the main power generation room and into the smoke filled hall. Slowly the features filled in and ceased to be burnt and Li Fu-jung, for the first time ever, made his true appearance known to this station space station.

He ripped off the rest of the half burned Acolyte uniform and made his way to the nearest computer station. He looked at his reflection in the computer screen. This was a face he hadn't seen in a very long time and he took a moment to get reacquainted with it. His hair, it seemed, had turned a little gray around the temples and it reminded him of his father.

He changed into the silver haired form of Magneto. He had studied the master of Magnetism up close during his time at the Avalon station and he knew the man extremely well. He had talked to him at great length about his world-view, his past and even his powers. He had also studied the station's systems and had planned for this day. In a voice that matched his current face Li said, "Avalon computer, who is left alive on this station?"

Only you, Magneto.

He noted the irony that Magneto's own computer was fooled by his impersonation. "Is there enough intact to initiate any plan coded one-two-nine-end?"

There is enough power to initiate plan code one-two-nine-x. Initiate?

Inside Magneto's body, Li smiled, "Yes, please. Authorization: Li Fu-Jung."

Initiating

A blazing glowing light surrounded Avalon and shrapnel filled the space in all directions. There were no casualties from this silent explosion though many were in the escape pods. All that saw it looked back where they had come from and found only an empty space. Avalon had seemingly been blown to smithereens.

O0o0O0o.o0O0o0O

Bones splinter and separate. Electricity stops coursing through its bone tunnel for lack of a place to go. Three lines continue their relentless way through gristle and fiber, flesh and blood.

O0o0O0o.o0O0o0O

"So you were able to survive by becoming a replica of Magneto. You used his magnetic powers to safely travel back to earth. That was quite fortunate indeed!"

Back in the controller's plain office, which hadn't changed in the years he'd been away, Li gave his report. "Yes, quite. Though I'm afraid I had to leave the persona of Xiao Do to die on that station."

The controller scoffed. "A pawn. He served his country well, but in the end Xiao was a pawn. Surely, you understand that, Li. You have been in this game for a while now, seen players come and go. Sometimes you need to sacrifice in order to gain. Xiao, if he was a true brother in the revolution, would have understood that. China is better today for his part in our plan and for that the people have found in him a hero of the revolution."

"As far as the people are concerned, he died a supporting an international terrorist on an asteroid miles away from China. Somehow, I can't help but be skeptical that Xiao would be happy with the way that I spent his life." Li, dressed in cotton pants and a sweatshirt, sat in the simple wooden chair and shook his head in disbelief. "Cortez too saw this as a game. He even had a man called the Game Master helping him control his mad competition with the other Upstarts. But I can't believe that this is all just a game and that Xiao's was a life that was meant to be used as currency. Cortez wanted to use Xiao to impersonate rebel Acolytes to make them seem untrustworthy and evil. He would banish them to harden his control the Acolytes and gain favor in the Upstarts sick little game. A stupid plan, but Cortez was a foolish man. You wanted me to impersonate Xiao to control Cortez. A much better plan, but I still ask, is that all there is? Is this all just a game?"

The controller turned around with a quizzical look on his face. "Of course it's all just a game. You know Li? In all the years we've known each other I've never thought of you as being such a philosopher. I guess it comes with age."

Li slumped in the chair. He took solace in that he had, in fact, saved a large part of Avalon and had managed to get the cloaking devices working. He had examined the situation in Avalon and had correctly assumed that no station this size would be allowed to remain in place. Either rival super human factions or a coalition of governments would conspire to claim such a prize. And now it was his little secret. If this was to be a game, at least he had himself a chip. He felt a little bad, robbing China of such a prize, but the land of his birth was starting to seem like less of a worthy recipient of such a gift.

The Controller went to the door of his office and motioned out into the hall. "Well then, since you have become so ... contemplative, you might even find yourself enjoying this next assignment. Would you like to meet the person we would like you to duplicate for us next?"

"What? Are we on our way to the morgue so soon? Am I to make another dead man walk, Controller number 5? How stupid! If, as you say, you have known me for so long, why is it that I still don't know your name?"

"You should know by now that I have no name. Your new mission is simple. You are to be a duplicate of one of the Office's hidden treasures. His original location was compromised by the meddlesome Charles Xavier, so we would like you to hold that place while we re-hide him. So, if you would, Li Fu-jung, meet Mr. Xorn."

A large man with his head sealed in a metal mask and wrapped around the torso with large chains came in accompanied by two guards. When he spoke, it was directly into his brain. "Good day to you, Brother. I am told we have much to discuss."

O0o0O0o.o0O0o0O

Taught rubber bands of flesh strain against the physical forces stretching them. One by one they find that they are not up to the task.

O0o0O0o.o0O0o0O

Xorn and Xorn looked at each other through identically crafted metal masks. They sat in the relative comfort of the prison that had been crafted for them. Of course, there were two such prisons now, since Li Fu-jung had found the ability to ignite the star inside his head. Their handlers had given them two different colored tunics. One was Red while the other one wore white.

The White robed Xorn spoke. "I feel it. They have come again and it is for the last time. It is a shame that the time has come for us to separate, Brother, for when I look at you and talk to you, I feel as if I am talking into a mirror. I find the experience to be unique and quite pleasant."

"I am told that it is what is best for all. For the country that gave us life and it's people."

"Do you truly believe that?"

"I do not know what to believe brother, but they have gone to significant lengths to make it so and I would assume that the reasoning behind our meeting and departing must be as they say." The Red robed Xorn replied without moving at all, just like his white robed counterpart.

"Yes, many things are said. But truths are difficult to come by even under the best of circumstances."

"These circumstances are what we have. Since they are far from ideal, I see your point. But these people mean well. They would see great things come about from the power, if they did not fear it so."

The Xorn in white spoke in turn as if they were playing ping-pong with ideas. This was their only pastime in this rock-hewn cell they were housed in. "And it is fear that has the government going to such great lengths to hide us from the world my brother."

"Yet they would also expose us to the world, my brother. At times I find the logic, contradictory"

"They would hide us in plain sight. A prince once desired to steal the North Star. As a small boy he climbed tall trees with a net to snatch it from the sky. After many hard falls he tried climbing mountains. Even at the highest peak, the star eluded his grasp. He was determined to at least grab a piece of the star to have as his very own.

"One day a beautiful princess saw the prince and desired his heart. She flirted and fawned, but all for naught for the prince's head was in the stars. So she fashioned a plan. She said that she had found a way to capture the star. Overjoyed, he asked her to show him, so she plucked the sapphire she had stowed in a low branch from it's hiding place and showed it to him. It shined like the North Star and was cool and calming like the star's rays so he accepted that she now had what he had always wanted and never left her side."

The red Xorn thought for a moment then spoke. "That is a fine fable my brother, but what of the prince? He had been duped."

"Indeed."

Silence filled the room. Nothing but a steady drip and the sounds of birds chirping disturbed the meditations of the two identical beings. Before too long, a door opened on the red and white Xorns. A man in a plain dark gray suit walked in. "Mr. Fu-jung. I've come to take you to Xorn's former home to proceed with your mission."

Both Xorns sat motionless. The one in the red spoke. "I will miss you my brother. Be well."

"I will miss you as well, even as I take you with me in my heart, my brother." The white Xorn slowly got up and turned to the door.

The still seated Xorn grabbed the other's tunic. Looking up he cautioned, "Be wary my brother. Though your body is healthy, your soul has many scars. Though I have tried, I was not able to soothe all the wounds you harbor from your days on the knife blade between truth and deception. Be wary also of your weaknesses. I worry for you brother, I worry for you and the Me you would be. Your very nature is to stay as you are where as mine is to grow and change. You cannot follow this path of constant change as you are, yet you must in order to be me. This will be difficult for you and I have no answers. Hopefully you will find the answers yourself. Be well." He slowly let go and the white robed Xorn followed the operative to the waiting truck.

The truck had a boxcar mounted on the back with a chair inside where Xorn was to sit. Before long, the boxcar was moved from the truck onto a waiting train chassis for the long trip across country. The method of travel suited Li. During his time with the Acolytes, he had mastered several different and challenging mutations. One of them was particularly useful now. A Neophyte named Static had the ability to transmit himself over conductive metal wires as a sentient electronic pulse. He now had a need to put that talent to the test.

Li shifted form inside the iron mask of Xorn. He quickly became Static and jumped completely out of the Shell Xorn wrapped himself in and let the metal train components carry his current to a railway switch. The switch was connected to a phone line and He traversed the endless maze of conductive materials that now circle the globe. He made his way to a run down New York apartment and out of a generic black phone.

The place was dingy and smelled of sweat. He was naked and alone, but from his previous conversations with this contact he was sure he was in the right place. The phone system was like a well-marked interstate for Static's power. He looked around and finding jogging outfit, gave it the sniff test and put it on.

"Beggars can't be choosers, my friend." A voice from nowhere advised. "I do hope you have an invite. This is a very exclusive address."

"Yes, this is Li. I am not accustomed to talking to the air, Vanisher. Can you please show yourself? I have the access codes to the property you wanted."

"Ah, Mr. Fu-jung." In one corner of the apartment an older bald man with a long, pointy face appeared from thin air. He was seated at a plain wooden table where he had clearly been playing solitare with cards. "I was beginning to believe that our arrangement had fallen through."

Li looked around as if someone else might miraculously appear as the Vanisher had, but no one did. He came over and sat at the table. "They reassigned me at the first possible opportunity and I had a hard time getting away. My apologies. Has AIM made the proper deposits in the accounts?"

He picked up the cards and shuffled them absentmindedly. "They were awaiting word, my good man. As I remember, you were late in Oslo when we did that deal back in the 80's very much like you are late now. That deal did not go very well for me. Those people thought I had ratted them out, never suspecting their own leader. I know you say that you are now a free agent, but tell me, can I trust you this time?"

"No."

The Vanisher hesitated then smiled. "Good enough, then. Boy scouts always make for boring business. I was to give you the account codes when you gave them the necessary information to find what they seek. Being able to deactivate the security systems would also come in handy for them, don't you think?"

Li smirked. "What, you think I was going to leave them a present? Like in Buenos Aries? I tell you I've reformed. Though it would be nice to see how smart these kids really are. For weapons makers, AIM really are quite full of themselves. But I have no need to make an enemy of them."

"Good to hear." He motioned to the cards. "Game of gin, for old time sake?"

Li stood up and shook his head. "No, thanks. I've found that I've lost my appetite for games of chance. I prefer to find ways to stack the deck."

"Is that what this little deal is about?" The bald man arched his eyebrow and said, "You making some moves now that you've decided to go solo?"

Li was surprised. "Since when have you cared about people's motivations, Vanisher? Don't tell me that you have grown a conscience or, worse yet, a moral fiber since I've been gone these last few years! You're American Lassies fare attitude and willingness to make any deal was a constant one could rely upon."

"Merely curious, my old friend. You know, of all the scoundrels we associated with, I always envied you. You always had the ability to be anyone you set your mind to be, where as I could only be nothing at all."

Li looked down and thought of Xiao. "You'd be surprised to find how similar those two things are some time."

"And now who has grown a conscience?" Li looked up to find the Vanisher searching his face.

"If you must know, I'm making my assets more liquid, is all. Sitting in an asteroid, scheming just isn't my style. So, back to the matter at hand. You've got my money right?"

The Vanisher nodded.

"Good." He became partially energized in blue flame. "I am transmitting the codes now. I trust they will enjoy your new home away from home. Asteroid M is always a lovely vacation spot, but I found it to be the death of me."

The Vanisher grinned. He got up and checked his computer. The money was sent. "Very good. Paid in full. You know, I don't think I've ever talked to you as, well, YOU for any length of time."

"That's because I haven't been just me for quite some time." His business done, Li got up and walked around. He noticed that on the coffee table in the other room there was a familiar sight from days past. "You have cocaine? You know, I think I might like some if you don't mind."

"You just made me a rich man. Oh I'm sorry, A richer man. Please, indulge yourself. I would offer you another commodity that I have recently started trafficking in, but it only works on humans."

"SNNNNNNNort!" "Really? What does it do?"

"It lets them be mutants. Isn't that a kick? We spend all this time fighting with the humans just to be who we are and they want to be us for a good time on a Friday night!"

"But I thought you don't care what humans and mutants do to each other."

"I don't. I could care less as long as I have a piece of the business. I do find the folly and irony entertaining, however."

"SNNNNNNNT! I suppose you would. Thanks for the lines. Too bad, really that I can't take it with me."

He turned into blue static and raced away through the phone lines, leaving the jogging suit behind.

O0o0O0o.o0O0o0O

Three lines encroach upon pale flesh from the inside out. They take with them pain, confusion and terrible longing. In the end, only the madness survives their passing.

O0o0O0o.o0O0o0O

Li walked down the halls of Xavier's school as the new X-man and instructor Xorn. In the weeks since Xavier went public with the school's true purpose, scores of new students had arrived, making the halls buzz with the energy of a hundred anxious teenagers.

The experience of being Xorn, a living being and a highly spiritually evolved one at that, gave Li new optimism about life. He had wondered if he could ever truly be free of the prejudgments that had ruled his life as a field operative. While he realized that according to the Chinese, he was still a planted agent, He had considered himself rogue for a while.

So as he walked through the chaos of the hallway, he contemplated why he continued to be Xorn. He was sure that Charles Xavier and his people would protect him and not judge him, as so many others would. In a way, this made the decision to unmask even more difficult. These were his friends, his teammates, his people. He had fought with them against Cassandra Nova and cried with them over the enormous loss of life at the mutant homeland of Genosha at her hands. He didn't want to confess to lying to them, especially considering that he was certain that they would be understanding and kind. He did not feel worthy.

Bump! Scatter! Thump! Li was so lost in contemplation that he failed to watch where he was going and bumped into a quartet of blonde, slim, identical girls called the Stepford Coocoos. Though only one of them fell to the floor, they all said "OW!"

The unfortunate girl that fell said, "Does that mask of yours allow you to see, Mr. Xorn?" The others quickly said in unison "You ran right into us!" The girls were all helping to collect the scattered contents of their fallen sisters bag.

Squatting down he said, "I'm so very sorry children. Please, let me,.. help?" He spotted what looked to be an asthma inhaler, but it was black. The girl on the ground snatched it from him as he went to pick it up. Standing up he said, "I'm afraid I'm going to have to see that, Miss." He held out his hand to the girl

Instead of handing over the inhaler, she grabbed the hand and pulled herself up. "I don't think you need this, but thanks for helping me up." Xorn could feel her attempting to tap into his mind to make him disinterested.

"You fail to understand the situation. Your mind powers don't work on one who has a star for a brain. Never the less, expect to be punished for trying. Please give me the inhaler." She sighed and handed over the black plastic device. "Unless you girls are involved in this too, I would recommend that you go to class." He turned to the girl in trouble. "What is your name?"

"Esme", she sassed.

He said to the still hovering girls, "Esme and I appear to have some things to discuss."

The two sat in Mr. Xorn's classroom. Xorn sat behind the front desk as Esme looked down at the floor past the desk built into her chair. The metal masked mutant toyed with the kick inhaler, scooting it between his hands on the desk. For ten minutes neither one talked.

"Mr. Xorn?" Esme finally found her voice and it was a crisp, cold and articulate imitation of her mentor, Emma Frost. "Are we going to sit here all day? I don't know if you eat, but I'll need to get dinner eventually." She looked at Mr. Xorn for a long moment then added, "And besides, you can't keep me here."

Since getting to know Emma Frost, Xorn had noticed her ability to attack most effectively when she was at her weakest. Though Esme was on her way, she was clearly not as accomplished at this tactic. "You are mistaken. I can keep you as long as I wish." He laced his fingers and bounced his thumbs against the mask where his lower lip would be. "You are free to leave at any time. Of course, this stays here." He quickly pointed to the inhaler then re-laced his fingers. "Now, I assure you, anything that happens in this room stays here. But, if you walk out the door, it becomes a mater of school policy. Since the unfortunate death of Quentin and your sister Selphie, This drug, Kick, has been expressly forbidden. Which makes me wonder why you, of all people, would use it."

The two sat in silence once more. On the hour classes let out and the quiet classroom was filled with the echo of the bustling hallway. Mr. Xorn could hear his class trying to get in the locked classroom door. The muffled sounds of Beak wondering what to do. The sharp sounds of Angel telling him what to do and the laugh of Basilisk to whatever was said could be heard distinctly through the closed door. After 10 minutes classes had begun and the hall was silent once again.

Esme looked at Mr. Xorn. "I bet you think it's quiet in here."

"It was, but now that we are talking, it isn't. What do you hear when we are not talking that isn't quiet, Esme?"

"I hear my Sisters, the other Coocoos. I hear them and everything they hear and every thought they have and the thoughts of people around them that they are looking into expressly and I hear thoughts of other people that we haven't been able to mask out. You ask me why I would run the risk of damaging myself with that crap, well I'll tell you. That crap gives me the power to shut my sisters out for a while. That stuff lets me be my own person and not a quarter of the collective. Without that extra power, there is no ME to risk damaging." She began to cry. "You have no idea what it's like to not know where you stop and someone else begins. That is what I get out of Kick. I get ME!"

Mr. Xorn held the inhaler between his thumb and index finger. "You need control. We can set something up with you and your sisters that will help,..."

"You haven't been listening." She cut him off, her face red. "They LIKE it this way! They want me to stop pulling at them to change! Without the power, I become a slave to the collective will. I can't do that! I won't! It's not fair!" She broke down and started crying into the chairs arm desk. Her sudden tumble from being cold and distant to shamelessly weeping made the blonde girl look all the more vulnerable.

"Esme, I'm going to help you. After diner tomorrow, I'd like to see you here. We will try to see what we can do about giving you more independence from the Coocoo collective. I am going to keep this", He held up the inhaler, "and analyze it. If it is safe and only if it is safe, we may get more of it for your treatment." He straightened up and said, "If you find this unacceptable, I will be more than happy to discuss the situation with the Professor, but he is rather close minded about kick after what happened. I would just as soon keep this between us."

Esme sat up and sniffled. "Ok. I'll come back." Without looking at Xorn she scampered out of the room.

While Li was filled with thoughts that approximated those of the true Xorn, He definitely had his own thoughts. In this situation, the combination of Li and Xorn wound up behaving differently than the true Xorn would have, to be sure. But Li was still in control and he thought this was the best way to handle things. No one knew the effects of drugs better than a drug user. Where as Xorn would have prescribed meditation and referred this to the Professor, Li wanted to know how well this stuff worked.

After classes let out that next day he was once again in his office, this time waiting for Esme. He had analyzed the Kick to the best of his abilities and found that, for the most part, it was adrenalin and amphetamines. Though he knew it was wrong, he still wanted to try it. His experiences with the power booster Fabian Cortez made him anxious to once again, feel the feelings he felt during those sessions. It was a dark and human thing inside him that made him reach for the Kick.

Once the decision was made, follow through happened as quickly as falling down. He realized that he couldn't use the inhaler as Xorn because of Xorn's unique physiology. Having a star for a brain left little room for a mouth. Li changed into Magneto so that when the initial rush hit him, the power that was amplified was not his own but the more stimulating and primal power of magnetism. It was a quick decision that would cost Li dearly. With one huff and one inhale the die was cast. Li knew he was in trouble immediately as the kick started to work. The powerful personality of Magneto, which he gleaned from close observations of the man over many years on the Avalon station, took him over like a tidal wave. Suddenly, there was no Li Fu-jung or Mr. Xorn. There was only Magneto.

Behind him, he heard the door open. Using his magnetic powers he slammed the door shut. Esme had just barely slipped inside and squeaked in surprise. Dumfounded, she looked at the man that used to be Xorn. Magneto, still wearing Xorn's jacket and chains, turned around and faced her. "You would like to be your own person, yes?" She nodded her head. "My dear Esme, you need not be subservient to anyone ever again. None of us will." He grabbed the map of the world with his power and flipped it over, making north south and east west. "I've come back from the slaughter that would be a mutant homeland. I've come to strike back at the vengeful humans and their engines of death. All oppressors will ether change their ways or face extinction." He looked at Esme who was still staring in awe and terror. "Would you join with me so that I can set you free?"

She looked at power personified and said the only thing she could say. "Yes."

O0o0O0o.o0O0o0O

Lines slide by tendons and slip through muscle. They drive relentlessly forward, searching for daylight.

O0o0O0o.o0O0o0O

"Ah Sunshine! Is it going to be another beautiful day? 80 degrees and cloud free?" The master of magnitisim floated onto the makeshift balcony he had made part way up the empire state building. On the balcony was sunshine, who's power was to create a perfect day.

The manically smiling girl with curly red hair tilted her head toward Magneto. She was one of the few mutants that had kick hooked up to a mask around her face because she had become so addled with addiction and overuse of her powers that her limbs no longer moved. With rat like twitchiness she smiled through the clear plastic mask. "Of course! 80 and sunny! No cloud may darken Magneto's horizon nor will the cold chill his triumphant reign, even as fall turns to winter. The people rejoice!"

What was left of the mind of Li under the meat mask that was Magneto, stirred. "Ah yes, the people. I'd almost forgotten that all this is for them! My people!"

Madness and bloodshed was everywhere he looked. As he traveled up the west side to the building housing the third species movement, he saw running street battles between mutants and humans, and countless corpses. The movement, and its spiritual leader John Sublime survived and even prospered under Magneto's rule because they owned the secret of the drug Kick. Now they were producing the stuff like mad, paid by Magneto to satisfy the need for drugs in these battles in the mutant revolution.

Magneto dropped down to the street where he could see a cargo van being loaded with kick inhalers and pressurized tanks. He walked into a dark alley to get a better view of the scene without being observed. 'Why am I sneaking around like some rat? I am Magneto!'

'$Because$' A voice in his head replied to the rhetorical self examination, '$you are a spy$'

Leaning up against the building, Magneto scoffed. 'I'm no spy. I'm the leader of the mutant uprising!' The same voice that haunted him in his apartment, high above New York, followed him into this dirty alley. Had he not been so proud, he would have thought he was going mad with all the wanton torture he had inflicted on these humans. 'I'm not a spy.'

'$You are so twisted you don't even know that you can be someone else. That you used to be someone else. You have the deaths of millions on your hands but you still refuse to see who you are.$' Magneto shook his head. The voice seemed to be that of Xorn, the imaginary person he had pretended to be for all those months in hiding at Xavier's.

'I was waiting and plotting at Xavier's! Wasn't I? I was a plant...planted myself...infiltrated the school to subvert it to my cause! I'm sure of it.'

The voice again spoke up. '$Sounds like a spy to me.$' Magneto looked around contemplating the logic of the voice in his head, wondering why Xorn, who in his mind was a fiction created by him to get to Charles Xavier, was still haunting him. '$If you are not a spy, why are you here and why don't you just blow through the front door?$'

'I want to know what Kick is. How they make it so I don't have to be beholden to these Vial U-men.'

'$It's a junkie's drive then, to secure the source of your fix.$', the voice mocked.

'You know nothing. You are like Esme, telling me that I take too much Kick. It comes down to power! I have to be at the top of my performance if I am to change the face of the world!' Magneto raged against his own inner demons with clenched fists in the dark dank alley.

'$It would be so easy if we could just be that delivery man.$' Magneto looked at the man in the diving bell-like U-Man pressure suit. Most of the Third Species followers used these to keep their grafted mutant parts viable and it made them look like aliens. He was clearly waiting for the rest of the men to load up the truck with tanks full of kick and boxes of inhalers. Grabbing on to the iron in the U-Man's blood Magneto pulled him over to the alley, killing him instantly.

'Who says I can't be him?' Magneto smiled as he prepared to take this U-Man's place.

Later, inside the Third Species headquarters, Magneto walked through the halls wearing the pressure suit of the now dead U-Man. The U-Man had no further need for it not that magneto had stuffed his dead body into a discarded suitcase and flung it across town. The disguised master of magnitisim followed his nose and his magnetic sense to find a lab full of heavy equipment.

"HEY! What are you doing here! You don't have authorization to be here!" A man yelled behind him. He was not a U-Man but a regular scientist in a white lab coat. A human!

While Magneto's first inclination was to rip the man's heart out, for some reason he didn't. The spirit behind the soft Chinese voice inside him took over for the second that he had his guard down. Inside the U-Man suit, Li Fu-jung seized the opportunity and changed into Charles Xavier. Using Xavier's mental powers, he reached out to the scientist. 'Of course I belong here. I am fine. You are mistaken. In fact, you should tell me all that you know about the drug Kick. Tell me everything.' The personality of Magneto once again surfaced, cutting off the mental transmission, but it had done its job.

"Oh, so sorry", the scientist, with his clip-board and civilian clothes said cheerfully. Magneto turned around to face him through the portal of the U-Man suit. "I didn't recognize you. So you are interested in how Kick works eh?"

Confused but pleased, Magneto couldn't believe his luck. "Yes, please. I'm anxious to learn all about it."

"Cool, I hope you have a moment." Completely at ease, the scientist adjusted his glasses and leaned against a computer console "You know how Humans use only five percent of their brains? Well, in mutants, it's more like twenty. The extra fifteen percent is dedicated to whatever control they have for their mutant powers. Some mutants then use the rest of their brains for the actual power it's self but that's another story. This is part of the big trick with the U-Men process. We may be able to graft the parts, but wiring the brains of the recipients is a whole different deal. That's when we came up with Kick."

The emotionless voice that came through the U-Man suit asked, "What's that got to do with helping recipients control donor organs?"

The scientist smiled. "Everything. You see, we needed an intelligent agent, so we came up with Kick. Of course, we didn't call it that then. The drug would infiltrate the donor subjects brains and copy the natural wetware programs that allowed the mutant to control the organs. We would then extract the drug from the donor, treat it, and inject it into the recipient. The treatment changed the drugs behavior from read to write. The drug took over enough of the brain to use it to make allowances for the differences in the two brains and modify the wet ware to the specific recipient. This gives the recipient control over the grafted organs."

Magneto played along. "So how did you get mutie crack out of it?"

"John saw the potential in this to prove the supremacy of the third species. He came up with an entirely new program for the intelligent agent to perform. This one would amplify the muties abilities for a short time and get him addicted. In order to do this the drug has to be even more intelligent. Mutants are so unique, it must learn what drives the mutant's power and then amplify that biological component. For that it must read and borrow from the mutants higher brain functions. This had the delightful side effect of making their powers slightly unstable and making the mutants base personality slightly psychotic. These crack-addled mutants were proving our point even as they filled our coffers with gold. How sweet is that?"

Inside the U-Man suit, Magneto gritted his teeth. He had unwittingly been contributing to the disintigration of the mutant race by his use and distribution of Kick. The emotionless monitone voice the scientist heard from the suited magneto said, "Diabolical."

Turning his back on the disguised mutant leader, the scientist checked the computer console. "Yep. John's a pure out genius. Since then, there have been improvements. He's made the drug ever so slightly telepathic so newer versions have the drugs intelligence talking to each other. It coordinates with other infected minds to affect the base personality and work against the groups self interest. You add to that the even more powerful psychotic side effect and Walla! Magneto takes over New York and kills millions. Everyone except us, because we pull his strings." Behind the man, the disguised Magneto paced and wondered what he should do now. Unaware of his impending doom the scientist continued. "And if it wasn't that stooge, it would have been someone else. John was actually hoping for Xavier to be the big bad guy to come out of all this, but we'll take Maggie. He's such a butcher! As an added bonus, this little war he's brought on has made New York a hunter's paradise for Mutant organs. Our morgue is overflowing with mutant donors just ready for vivisection!"

This was the final straw for Magneto. His erily monitone voice rang out, "How nice for you. You must be so happy for your pile of innocent mutant bodies. Here, let me help you give them a proper burial."

With a thought, Magneto pulled every last bit of metal out of the structure and threw it into the east river as a huge arching streamer. Without the structural supports, the building collapsed into a pile of crumbling concrete blocks and dust. Within moments only one living being inhabited the once proud structure. Magneto's metalic bubble burst out the top of the heap of rocks and soared toward his home at the Empire State Building.

He landed lightly on the balcony and looked at his hands. They were as he had always remembered them, but what if that memory was a lie and he really was fooling himself. How had he convinced that U-Man scientist into telling all he knew? '$You are starting to see. You aren't you. You are me.$'

"No! I'm Erik Lenshir! I'm Magneto! I'll not allow you to play with my mind!" He pulled down on his telepathy proof helmet to keep the invading voice from playing its maddening games.

But the voice came from within, not without and continued. '$You are my mutant power to duplicate other Mutants I've observed over time run amok. Kick made my approximation so good that you took me over. Why do you think you could momentarily turn into Charles Xavier and alter that man's mind? I did that. You are not you. You are me.$'

Magneto began to thrash wildly with his hands over his ears. "Get away! I'm so close! The humans are being hunted down in the street. They will never enslave us again! Never slaughter us like Genosha. We are the dominant power in the world! And once I reverse the poles, unleashing unparalleled destruction, only the strong will survive. Only the mutants!"

'$The supply of kick is gone. Soon I will have enough control to take over my body for small lengths of time and I will send my message to Danielle. But we will finish what you have done. This can only end one way. The X-men will have your head.$'

O0o0O0o.o0O0o0O

Slice!

Three lines disappear into time and space, leaving two round medallions the size of hamburger patties. The nightmare is revealed as the dream continues.

O0o0O0o.o0O0o0O

Li Fu-jung walked directly forward, taking off Xorn's mask. "And so you see, my dear Danielle, it is out of best intentions and debilitating confusion that I would be the architect of the greatest evil ever seen in this country. Countless slaughtered to counter the senseless massacre of millions in Genosha. Now that I am almost dead I can finally express with sadness that my weakness in the face of the various additions in my life hastened, and possibly made possible this evil. One evil begetting another. The drug kick, you see, has a mind of it's own that delivers madness. I believe that I was led on a quest that meant my demise from the first moment I encountered it, yet I do not blame John Sublime or the drug for the evil I've wrought. That evil was my own.

"You are probably wondering why? I'm not sure I can answer that except to say that it was inevitable. I've played the game to it's utmost and in the end, all my grand moves have been those of a pawn in a much greater game. The game is played out on a global scale with countries and races vying for the elusive entity that is power.

"But as to why I manipulated you to spare you the tragedy of the mansion and the aftermath? Tactically, it was important to remove Cessily Kincaid and Josh Foley from the scene because Cessily would be immune to magnetism and Josh could have allowed people to regroup far to quickly.

"This is far too easy a reason, though. There were others, similarly gifted that I left at Xavier's. There must be something more. Maybe it's Magneto's fondness for you and Xi'an as his pupils. I would like to think that it is my own desire that someone had to know, someone who would understand. I would hope that, in the end, I had that much control over myself. And it is my hope that you do understand. My time is short and so this message must also be short. It is important that you understand.

"To say that mutant kind is at a critical stage is cliché. It is more important to recognize that human and mutant will continue to have ebb and flow in their relationships. By Mutant's very nature, they will always be the powerful minority. It is sad to realize that most mutants, due to their uniqueness, will be either physically or socially unable to find a suitable mate and reproduce. Dr. McCoy, though brilliant, failed to factor this into his extinction equation. So mutant kind will always be parasitically dependent on humans for the creation of more mutants. But much like a child, mutant kind must demonstrate it's ability to fight back against it's parent or older sibling or be forever condemned to repeating over and over again atrocities like Genosha, and before them the mutates, and the morlock massacre and the countless little deaths blamed on individuals. Humans must understand that their naked hatred and fear of mutants must be tempered by respect for what this powerful younger kin can do. If nothing else, the madness that I unleashed upon New York can teach us this much. Humans must learn to respect mutants or they will give rise to madmen like Magneto, or myself.

"And so now, I will die. But I have delivered a final message to you, my child. Make sure people know. Make sure people understand. This is the first of countless battles between mutants and humans. Yin and yang stay constantly separate and constantly swirling. We must come to peace with our perpetual war. It is the way of the world. Only then will yin accept a piece of yang and give a bit in return.

"But most of all, I want you to remember my name. I am Li Fu-jung, not any of the countless lives I've impersonated. I am a man who lived and died and put his mark on the face of the world. Please don't let me die with no name, even if that name is associated with this great evil. Please tell people that I lived."

Wolverine walked right up behind the speaking Li Fu-Jung and in one savage swipe he cut his head clean off his shoulders.

O0o0O0o.o0O0o0O

Dani bolted upright in bed making her two long braids swing out in front of her before coming to rest on her chest. Beads of sweat collected on her brow. She recalled what her dream so vividly told in her and the warning it delivered. 'This was no ordinary dream. Someone was speaking to me. My god, could that really be what's happening in New York right now? It was all so real! So Horrible!' The clock read 3:10. She hadn't been asleep that long but the dream felt like it had taken days.

Still shaking, she got up and looked in on the kids. The boys room contained everyone it should, as did the girls room. On a lark she peeked into Ed's room, only to find it still empty. 'I hope he's ok. Tomorrow I'm going to want to pick that brain of his for the plausibility of this story.' She closed the door and walked back to her room. 'Oh who am I kidding? He's probably found some honey out there to bounce him back from being drop kicked by Xi'an. I swear, men can be so juvenile sometimes.'

O0o0O0o.o0O0o0O

Ed wiped the last of the burger from his face and wordlessly ordered another pint and the check. "So, I understand that your girl, she seems like a good kid."

"Yep"

"Well, I'm, I'm sure it's not the same, but these teens... kids, really... I've really grown attached to them. And I never was terribly good with kids, so how..."

"How do you deal with them? How do you handle it when they are up at all hours? How do you watch them sprain wrists and pull hamstrings and not get up and murder the coach who tells them to tough it out?"

"Yea, what are you supposed to do?" Ed looked at him for answers to the questions he hadn't quite formulated.

"Well, I don't know. My father, well he was a simple man. Could work wonders with wood, but that was about it, so no example for me there. For a lot of it, you look to God for patience, you're wife for support and when all else fails I got a good piece of advice from this guy. Have you ever heard of Dr. Spock?"

"The guy with the ears?"

"Nah, the real Doctor. Wrote a book a while back. I was concerned when May was born that I would ruin her so I picked it up and read it like the bible. You know what he said?"

"No, what?"

"He said: Kids. You protect them with everything you got from REAL harm, right? You put a roof over their heads and clothes on their backs. Then for the rest of it, you just love 'em." He finished up his beer. "I don't know, but that seems to work and It's kinda a two way street. Maybe it's already working for you and you just don't know it yet."

A sudden whoosh came from the front door as two police officers came in with a small man with a mop of brown hair. One the officers said, "Hey Bill, I picked up something you lost." The other officer laughed.

The large Bartender leaned over the bar and addressed the group. "Thanks Tony. So Luthor, what is it this time? Miss the bus?" The officers scoffed at the dig.

The small wiry man became animated in his guilt. "Man, I'm really sorry, I just sat down for a second and next thing I know, I have Officer-Friendly Yohansan here knocking on the door and offering me a ride."

"Well I hope you don't mind that I called them to give you a hand up. I really need your help closing up tonight." He turned to the man who was hurriedly running into the back shucking his coat. "Not to mention the fact that I already warned you about being late and I really don't want to have to fire you!" He walked around the bar mumbling. "Kid's got rocks in his head about being on time or something I swear."

Ted watched the bartender go up to the two officers and take their orders. He swiveled his head around and looked at Ed. "It just dawned on me. You are one of Dani's people aren't you?"

Ed smirked. "I like to think of myself as my own man, but I guess you could say that. What gave it away?"

Ted tapped his temple. "Sunglasses."

"Less obvious that the alternative, I assure you. Is that a problem?"

"Nope. I take it you all were keeping an eye out for my girl and I appreciate it. You be careful with those kids though. They grow on you. Need a lift home?" He started to get up from his stool.

Ed's first impression was to say no and walk home, but then he realized that he's a part of this team now. "Sure, thanks."

O0o0O0o.o0O0o0O

Ring! The phone at the Krandal household cuts into the darkness of early morning. Olive Krandal, having snuck in only moments earlier, worried that someone had seen her and was now telling her mother. She could hear her mother say, "This had better be good, it's three in the #$#ing morning!" Half stricken with fear that her mother would beat her again if she had broken her curfew, she silently lifted the handle on the phone and listened in.

The warbling and strange voice on the other end said, "Shut up and listen you fat obnoxious cow! This is more important than your beauty sleep. You're daughter has been cheated out of victories for years now. Her reputation has suffered and she will be looked over for scholarships because of it."

"Who is this and what do you want?"

"You can call me The Raven. I have a message. May Armstrong is a mutant. She has been using her gravity defying power to cheat at gymnastics since she was thirteen"

Olive gasped loud then hung up the phone. She listened to her mother scream "Hello?! Are you there?" The plastic sound of a phone hitting the receiver rang out and Olive continued to listen as her mother laughed a wicked laugh.

O0o0O0o.o0O0o0O

To be continued ...