Chapter Eighteen

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I wake up in shock and out of breath. I am in a new enivironment; a grey room with just one small window and a metal door. Someone has placed me onto a hard prision like bed. Where am I? Did I make it to Magneto's headquarters? I cannot remember anything, just a few images of a forest and Cerebro.
I rise from the bed and go through the door. It leads to a long empty cement corridor which I decide to walk down. There are voices speaking and they become louder and louder the longer I am walking down the corridor. I recognise only one voice and this is Magneto's. This can only mean that I somehow made it to the Brotherhood and this is fantastic. I only need to find out why I lost my memory.
At the end of the corridor I spot some kind of conferrence room. Magneto and his entourage of five are sitting in it around a big round table while Callisto is holding some kind of presentation like in a business meeting. The doors are wide open, so I decide to enter without knocking. No one notices my presence since everyone is focused on the presentation. It shows a map of a big and well organised building run by the FoH. It seems like the Brotherhood is currently plotting a plan for blowing it up, as promised earlier. The humans also seem to have upgraded their security measurements so it is not so easy to break in. The Brotherhood has found a way to get in but not a way how to get to the main target, the head of the FoH. This is the current discussion topic and the discussion is really enfired. I watch them with a small grin on my face while I am still standing in the doorway still unnoticed.
"Good morning.", I greet as loud as possible. Everyone turns to me immediately. Magneto stands up from his seat and walks over to me with his arms opened and a bright smile on his face. He wraps his left arm around my shoulders and presses me against him like I was a close relative. "This is the girl I was talking about. She is one of the most skilled and powerful mutants I have ever seen and the very best is that she has left the X-Men to join us, our cause. I want you all to welcome her and to accept her as full member of our Brotherhood." I look around but no one is impressed or even welcoming me. Magneto notices this, too. "What is wrong? Are you all jealous or just too blind to recognise our luck? With her, we cannot fail. Tell them, Callisto." I feel really flattered because no one has ever felt lucky to have me before.
"Yeah... she is very badass.", Callisto tells the others but she is still not convinced of it herself yet. The others just nod and scan me carefully. Everyone looks so fierce and dangerous and I look like the geek next door. It's no miracle that they are sceptical towards me.

Magneto guides me to his seat and creates a simple chair out of the metallic floor for me to sit on. I accept the seat next to him, mimicking his smile. "As you may have noticed, we are currently working on our revenge. To sum it up in brief... we want chaos. As much as chaos as possible...and of course, we want to eliminate the inner circle which will assemble there today.", Magneto explains.
"Today?", I wonder.
"Yes. Today is the perfect day for revenge. I hope that you are with us, Lady Polyglot." Everyone is staring grimly at me. It's a macabre feeling. "Of course I am in...as long as everyone is okay with this..."
"Of course we are okay with this, dear." Magneto rubs my back and looks around.
"I am not convinced yet. Show us what you can do and then we will decide if you're worthy of being a part of us.", a guy with a slimy greenish skin says in a slightly scratchy voice. He is trying to scare me with his direct stare but I stay calm. "His name is Toad because he is a toad-like mutant. Twist his tongue and he will shut up. The people like it brutal here." ,Magneto suggests. I raise my eyebrows and take control of Toad's body. I lift him up in the air and open his mouth. "What does it take to convince you?" Slowly, I let his impressively long tongue come out to twist it like Magneto told me. "You should not underestimate my will or my abilities... Toad." I grin mischievously before I finally tie his tongue to a double knot and throw him back at the walls. Toad groans in pain and he crashes to the ground. Magneto gives me an approving nod while the others stare at me again but this time in surprise. "Am I worthy now or does anyone else need a demonstration of my telekinetic powers?" Nobody dares to answer. They just nod. "Help Toad with his tongue.", Magneto orders as he stops laughing at the slimy mutant on the floor desperately trying to untie his tongue. With one thought, I untie his tongue and help him up. He looks at me like a shocked deer would look at a fast car coming closer to it. "Do you think that I am worthy to be a part of the Brotherhood now, too... Toad?"
"Yes, yes... you are like Magneto... strong, aggressive and dominant. You couldn't be a better addition.", he answers in a low voice with a hint of sarcasm in it. I can sense that he is a little afraid of me now and this is good.
"So... I suppose that you all will respect Lady Polyglot as full member of our Brotherhood like I do.", Magneto says. He is playing the boss card now and everyone immediately obeys.
"There is just one thing that is bothering me about you, girl.", the blonde guy sitting in front of me throws in. He motions to the X-Men logo on my sleeves. I try to rip it off since I won't need it anymore but I can't. It's sewn too well on the fabric. "May I help?", the Asian woman next to me offers. All of a sudden, her fingernails get longer and turn into long metallic claws. With two precise strokes she has cut off the logos from both of my sleeves and throws them aside. "Way better. Thank you.", I reply. It is indeed better because now I am not an X-Men anymore and it is a good feeling.

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Magneto has given us one hour to prepare before we take off to the FoH headquarters. I am very excited and can't wait to feel the blood of Donovan Zane, the head of the FoH, on my hands. Finally. Magneto has even made me his second hand for this mission and told everyone that they need to listen to me. I really wonder why Magneto likes me so much that he has so much trust in me. Speaking of the devil, I can sense him coming closer to my new room.

"Please enter." I shout as he is about to knock on my door. He enters fast and closes the door behind him. I turn to him and smile. "I am very pleased that you're finally being yourself, Lady Polyglot."
"You mean that you are pleased that I joined your Brotherhood." Magneto sits down on my bed but I remain with my gaze directed at the small window. It's time to act mysterious and strong now.
"Of course this made me happy, too, but I know that you wanted it as well... and aren't you much happier now? This is who you are and this is the place which you belong to."
"You are right. I feel free here... there is just another thing... why do you have so much trust in me? Don't you see the psychopath in me like everybody else? Tell me."
Magneto snorts. "Psychopath? You? Pah! Did Charles or Wolverine call you like that? They were never able to recognise raw talent. Since Charles has opened his school, he accepted all kinds of young talents and taught them how to use their gifts. He does a great job but he also teaches those children that they need to be controlled. He forces them to fit into humanity and never lets them discover themselves. But if there is one individual which does not fit his plan Charles does everything to reach his goal and to surpress the raw power of this person."
"Don't you do the same? You tried to manipulate me as well, didn't you?"
"With what?" He really doesn't seem to know. I take the metallic Omega out of my pocket and show it to him.

"This was just a present for you. You are right that I tried to win you with this in some way but it was for your benefit...and you must admit that it was not the number one reason why you are here now."
He is right. "You are right but you did not answer all of my questions."
"You want to know why I trust you so much? Well... you saw the others... all are skilled but they are still not smart enough. I have the feeling that you are smart enough to be a leader...not just a leader of the Brotherhood of Mutants but of our whole race. You impressed me with your actions from the very first moment I saw you. I met many mutants before and only a few had an aura like yours. Your friends for example... they are weak... I saw them. Just the blonde...what was her name... Lena? She has the potential to become a strong personality but she also has a sensible side which is still dominating her... like the other two. You are different because you are strong and you know what you want. You want real justice... like me... and wouldn't you trust someone who is similar to you."
"I would... but what tells you that we are so alike?"
"I was studying you from the very first moment and you reacted to everything that has happened like I would have... so... we are alike and everyone notices it... you and I are even more similar than me and my children."

Magneto is a father?! I still don't dare to turn around and remain silent for now. "I guess that you want to know where my children are and why they don't support their old father." I nod in response. "See? I know your mind without being a telepath. Well, all my three children are mutants but one was brainwashed by Charles, one went crazy because she could not control her vast powers and my youngest, my sweet little Lorna, disappeared with one of Charles' first students and started a family with him." I can feel his sadness and turn around to face him. He has tears in his eyes but is holding his feelings back. This day is indeed crazy so far even if it's just close to midday. "I'm sorry.", I whisper and he tries hard to hold his emotions back. "There is no need to be sorry. It's their loss." Magneto rises from the bed and puts his right hand on my shoulder. He stares straight into my eyes. "Feel free to be yourself here, Lady Polyglot. Live the life you always wanted and deserved... and fight for it... by all means necessary."
I nod. "Thank you for everything, Magneto." Magneto smiles and leaves the room in silence.

I am alone again and look at the little Omega in my hand. Magneto is right. The Brotherhood of Mutants is my destiny and I have to fulfil it. This is the life I wanted.



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