All the disclaimers and restrictions from my last stories are in effect.
A million confused and angry thoughts run through my head, and as I try to voice them, I find myself still paralyzed by whatever toxins are still running through my viens due to the dart STILL in my chest and starting to hurt like a bitch, by the way.
"I am sure you have many questions," the man named Erik begins, "And I do apologize for the crude way we had to bring you here, but I fear it was for the best as there is no way Charles would ever allow us to talk to and help you. Don't worry, the tranquilizer should wear off momentarily, and you should be just as good as new."
Sure enough, as Erik was saying these things, I could gradually move my fingers again and, within a few more minutes, was standing, albeit a bit shakily.
"So you shoot and kidnap me, and now want me to sit down and calmly listen to the things you want to say, AND you expect me to just be fine with it?! Thanks but no thanks! Now how do I get out of here?"
"Is what we did any different than the tactics Charles used when he abducted you to Muir Island?" asks Erik, "I think not! The only difference was we incapacitated you for only a brief time while Charles kept you knocked out for a few days."
"How do you know that?"
"As I said, we have been watching you for a long time, my young friend," Erik laughs, "And I must also ask, when you awoke, were you free to move around, or were you treated as a prisoner?"
"Well ... I was bound to a table, but Xavier said it was for my safety and that of ..."
"Oh DID he now?" booms Erik, "I am sure that was his excuse! Charles has always been about controlling those with power, 'for their own good' of course. And how else did he restrain you?"
"Restrain me? I don't understand."
"Dont play coy with me, boy. What other steps did he take to supress your amazing powers? Was it this?"
And as Erik says that, he raises his hand and the neural inhibitor on my head flies off and lands in his hand.
"WAIT, DONT!"
"Or what?" Erik asks as he twirls the inhibitor in his hand, "That you will go crazy and destroy us all? I seem to be doing quite fine. How about you, my dear?" he asks the blue woman next to him.
"Why I'm perfect," she says in an alluring, yet somewhat alien voice, "Never felt better."
"You see, my boy, not everything Charles says can be taken at face value. He is just as fallible as everyone else."
"But what about the attack at the memorial? The Phoenix inside me?"
"The Phoenix? Is THAT what you call your powers? And where did you hear THAT term from?"
"Well, Xavier said ..."
"But of course he did! It was all part of his plan to control you. I would rather guess that the stress of what has taken place in your life repressed and then amplified your latent powers. Science would seem to be with this explanation over that of some spirit residing inside you."
"But what about Jean? She exhibited the same symptoms I do, and Xavier has proven they were caused by this same force that seems to reside in me. And how can you explain that I found these powers on the same day she sacrificed herself to end the battle raging inside her?!"
Erik stops for a moment and peers down. He slowly raises his head and begins, "Jean was, by far, the most gifted mutant I have ever encountered. Her powers had lain latent for most of her life until they were brought to full force by a moment of stress and tragedy. Unfortunately, Charles made the same mistake with her that he was trying to do with you; he suppressed her abilities instead of teaching her how to use them, and it eventually overwhelmed and consumed her. As much as he claimed to love her, it was his own blindness that led to her eventual demise."
As he spoke, certain things certainly rang true with me. Xavier DID incarcerate and suppress this power within me, but I still couldn't help but remember how I lost control, blacked out, and attacked my friends. Plus there was one nagging thing that kept popping up.
"When Moira was running tests on me on Muir Island, she said that it came back that I'm not a mutant. How do you explain that?"
"Moira?" scoffs Erik, as the blue lady next to him scornfully laughs as well, "You would trust the word, of one many consider to be a crackpot scientist, and who is also completely in league with Charles? I had thought you an intelligent child. Well then, let's put their theory to the test. If you are possessed by the same force that was present in Jean, and you are NOT a mutant, how have you been able to keep its powers at bay for years when Jean, a trained and accomplished telepathic mutan,t was driven to madness by it over a very short period of time? One simply can not view all this objectively and come to such an irrational conclusion. But, I am not here to argue or force you to do anything. I am a man of morals and refuse to make you do anything against your will; thus I give you a choice: stay here with us and let me teach you how to master and control your powers and reach your potential ..."
"Or?" I ask cautiously.
"Or, we return you to the airport and into the charge of the man who would imprison your mind with this."
And as he says that, he moves his hand, and the inhiitor floats over and revolves in front of me.
I am completely overwhelmed and have no idea what to do. Both Xavier and Erik have made some excellent points in the last few hours, and while Xavier's seem to be all about 'the greater good', Erik seems genuinely interested in helping me instead of inhibiting me.
"Well," I think inside me, "If you really are this Phoenix Force, or just my own mind playing tricks, what do YOU think?"
Whatever the voice is and wherever it comes from is silent and gives no answer.
I brace myself, take a deep breath, and say, "How do I begin?"
Erik smiles warmly and says, "I knew you would make the right choice, my boy. We shall have a warm meal and let you get some rest; you have had a busy and trying time. We shall start tomorrow."
Let me know what you think! Ender2155@gmail.com