Making A Statement (AtTN: Magneto)

[sporadicenigmatic]

Senator Richard Kelly was in town with one thing in mind, awareness of something huge that was on the horaison. To most people, you think of people with super powers and you think of comic books or movies. But what the public doesn't realize is that this is slowly coming a reality. This is a reality that he hopes to use as a hook to propel him past being Senator of New York, towards perhaps being President of the United States, where making a mandate on these, powered freaks would surely be effortless.

The scene was serene, there was a small banquet hall, with different booths with different men and women who had seemed to have practiced the same propaganda sheet that Kelly had prepared for them.

A good four to five thousand had attended this address. There were two large television monitors stationed beside a podium at the main stage area of the hall. There stood Senetor Kelly with his primary advisor Peter Gyrich. Gyrich was a expert rotobotechnician and together they had been developing some hypothetical methods of apprehension should the targets of interest get out of hand...

"Be calm Richard. After this, many important people's eyes will be open to this. Eventually they will mess this up for themselves. These mutants, they're egotists..." he said looking to Kelly as he sat in his chair next to the podium.

"It's only a matter of time before one of them acts extremely."

Kelly looked to Gyrich before looking to the filling hall. "We have a goal today Gyrich... Todays part of a principal agenda, we need not forget this... soon it will be time to start the presentation."

[Magneto]

Erik Lehnsherr or so the man was known entered the scene, the tall white haired man walked with a steadfast and determined gait. With as many people within hall, it wasn't all that difficult to slip by unnoticed. Wearing a plain grey suit and dark brown duster coat, the master of magnetism brought the brim of his hat low to conceal his face. The surge of energy in the room kept the man on his toes. People were excited, afraid and anxious, the buzz around the air was almost electric, something that Magneto was able to pick up on.

There comes a time when even someone as powerfull and respected as the senator, deserves a chance to be heard in his own camp. Magneto was not one to sit idly by, he had kept tabs on the man whose agenda to propell himself towards Presidency was for lack of a better word transparent. Whenever they said that they had no interest in running, that was the clue. It seemed in order to win votes, this man would be making some rather large announcements. If he was planning on putting forward what Eric imagined, then the war was just about to begin.

Magneto's mind was troubled, he felt a great sense of movement. An inertia, or dizzying feeling as if he had been at sea. Closing his tired old eyes, a weathered hand came to cup his face. Breathing several breaths to calm himself again, he looked up and watched the spectical from behind a throng of people. "It's only a matter of time.." he said whilst erecting an invisible forcefield. It was a tight bubble around his person so that it would not cause any notice or harm to anyone. The most they might feel was a sharp shoulder barge if getting to close to the man's frame.

The wait caused Magneto to eye his surroundings, he looked from the stage to the camera personel on their platforms scattered around the hall. There were at least three main positions, with the possibility of a hand held transmitting to a AV crew in a van outside. Magnus yawned quietly, the power load for the hall was excessive. What with all the lights, the large screen televisions and audio equipment. To bend it to his will would take very little effort, even in his state. The temptation was certainly there, but for the sake of remaining unseen, Eric bided his time.

[sporadicenigmatic]

Tapping the microphone gently, the feedback silenced the large crowd duly to the fact that it caught most everyone's attention. The crowds who were positioned now fought for the remaining seats. There was electricity in the air, and Kelly felt like he was in the epicenter of its energy, he was excited. Nervousness washed away from him as the lights in the hall grew dim, the senator began his speech. "This footage I am about to show you is considered controversial. There are very powerful people who did not want me showing this to you today. I believe that’s another reason to consider how serious this matter here before us today is, Ladies and Gentlemen…”

As the video began playing, a large man in what appeared to be an armored suit wreaking havoc through a open terrain during a snowfall, coming up to some military tanks, he flips up the tanks like pancakes on a skillet. "This footage here was shot in Russia, if you watch the video here in real-time speed, you can see that there is clearly nothing that can stop him. If I pause the video here, I think we can all agree that the figure in question has a metallic tint to him... "

The camera began to pan and now on the second screen, an enhanced image of the blurry image now displayed on the opposite monitor. "If we enhance the quality of this footage, you can see that this man is not wearing armor at all, but intact his skin to his fingers carries this metallic pigment. Could this really be a man with metal skin?"

"This video here shows a boy who turns into multiples of himself if he comes in extensive contact with something, as he does here... when shoved." The next video showed a small teen no older than 12 or 13, walking with some friends in the mall. Once he's knocked into, three other exact duplicates spring from the boy before quickly being re-absorbed, nobody specifically seems to notice the incident

"What I'm showing you today is the first signs of major change for our species ladies and gentlemen, change that not all of us may bare due to experience ourselves. These people are born with a simplistic change in their DNA that could result in unimaginable potential." he said looking to the screen again.. "A woman in Delaware, who is in a mental institution because the continuous voices drove her there. Voices that we assumed only we heard, she heard, loud and clear."

Pausing as a new video began, the woman was asked a series of questions, which she did not answer, padded in a straight jacket her delusions were obvious. She violently accosted those around her telling them to shut up, telling them all to stop talking. Begging, pleading to the point of crying. She's continuously in a straight jacket throughout all the clips. "This woman is not allowed to be un-restrained, because she's numerous times attempted to plug anything she can up her ears, to stop the voices from talking to her."
He cleared his throat. "What we have here, is an anomaly. We've tracked, statistically, only these few video clips, and a couple others I will show you in a moment. But what we have here could be the beginning of a tidal wave."

"I’m not trying to cause alarm. I'm simply raising awareness. This is a major scientific breakthrough that we are on the weave of. People, who possess abilities so immense, that they can control the effects of Magnetism itself..." Senator Kelly gave the crowd a few moments to calm down, in lieu of most recent events; the crowd had developed a small murmur that grew into chatter. The energy inside the building, it was still there. Many important people were watching this presentation.

[Professor Xavier]

(I'm totally toying with the whole idea that Charles isn't paralyzed. That's just too cool )

Walking into the decorated hall for the Senator's meeting, Charles Xavier looked to fit in but was complacently anonymous. He wasn't here to be noticed, he was here to watch something he considered monumental. He wore a navy blue suit and overcoat, as he mixed with the masses also formally dressed. Senator Kelly was holding this whole thing to raise awareness of Mutants. As far as Charles knew, this was not to be a attack against nor a swan song for mutants. However, Charles did not know what lengths the Senator would go to ‘raise awareness’.

Charles found himself a seat fairly close to the back of the conglomerate of chairs. He was sure he sensed Magneto but wasn’t exactly sure enough, he had a strong suspect that he was here, it was simply too important for him not to be. If he’d find him after the presentation perhaps he’d corner his old friend for a few words. It had however, been a long time since Charles could justify calling Eric “Magneto” Lehnsherr a ‘friend’. However since Charles chose a stance of peace, he wasn’t expecting anything drastic should their path’s cross.

The senator’s presentation began and Charles was now seeing first hand video footage of some of the mutant’s he’d seen in Cerebro. One mutant he’d known first hand to be named “Piotr Rasputin.” Not that he’d care to divulge that information around here, even if Eric had managed to bring a Psychic into this event to try and pick Charles’ mind, Charles Xavier was one of the strongest Telepath’s in the world, not that he’d care to boast, and it would be a far more than formidable task for any telepath to try and intrude his mind.

Another boy, this one Charles had known for sure, for he was staying at his school for gifted youngsters. Jamie Madrox, a young teen with a penchant for getting into trouble. This footage was news to Charles, and its presence didn’t ultimately worry him. It did however remind him to have a talk with the boy about caution, especially when in public places with expensive security systems.

This new footage and subject were new to Charles completely. Cerebro had not picked up such distress. Its footage worried him completely, who was holding her captive. Who would do such a thing? She clearly had immense telepathic potential; however it had sent her into immense delusional trauma. He was unsure that in her state, if the damage she clearly had would be reversible… This tugged at his heart, but he continued to watch, the senator voiced about his urgency for awareness. Charles knew just /how/ many mutants there were. By volume, they seemed to be growing every month, however specifically he couldn’t tell you, maybe there were around a thousand or so in the whole world. More and more were getting powers every month.

How would a man like Senator Kelly handle a situation like this… Charles kept thinking as he watched, completely unsure of what to expect from Kelly.

[Magneto]

What exactly was the purpose of displaying all of this? Eric wondered, besides a rather interesting advertising campaign as to what was potentially out there, Magnus couldn't help but think of what the homo sapien community would be thinking. Would they truly fear and hate as he had seen in the past. It was undoubtedly what Kelly was leading to. The man, the senator, had a firm belief in what he called 'family values' and any divergence of normality such as these magnificent creatures, would only help his position by using the general misconceptions and fear of the unknown.

Whether it was for beliefs, social standing, race or orientation. There would always be a conflict in dealing with the different. They simply had no idea what consequences would be brought forward if this new evolutionary change was disputed. The sea of people began to voice their concerns, murmurs and whispers some of which Magnus was able to pick up on. He turned to better hear one of the crowd, when he though he spotted a familiar face. It shouldn't be possible, but there was no doubt that other mutants would be interested in the evening’s happenings.

Eric pushed his way through the crowd, not an easy feat when most of his powers were being used to sustain his personal field. He was getting old and his effort to make it to the meeting tonight had sufficiently drained the man. The people in Magneto's way were all focused on the large screens in front of them watching replays of some of the spotted mutant individuals. Some of them were angry others more in shock. Unsurprisingly many of the sheep had no inkling of what they should do or feel, they just stared dumb founded as the pitiful humans they were.

Eric pushed aside one of these frozen members to reveal an old acquaintance of his. "Mortimer Toynbee, what exactly do you hope to achieve here?" The cowering British man looked up at the Master of magnetism and immediately made to run away. "I'm not going to hurt you, you pitiful toad even though you deserve it." Mortimer looked this way and that, he tried to raise himself up painfully to a normal height. "I'm going to prove myself, to you, to the world, I'm going to stop this poly prat before he can go on slandering our kind!" Without another word the man leapt up in the air and bounded a great many lengths over several people before finally coming to a stop on the edge of the stage! Eric could do little but to watch and see what would happen.

The man that appeared on the stage pointed his finger at the senator "You sir are an abomination you that try to manipulate the minds of others to think that these fine few are freaks. When it is you! These are my people, and as such we are a growing community. So fear us, as we will soon be the inheritors of your squandering." With that the squat man leapt upon Richard Kelly and pressed him down to the floor of the pulpit

[sporadicenigmatic]

Senator Kelly was about to continue his speech, the buzz had died down but Kelly was soon to realize why. An abstract shaped man of rather unappealing appearance leapt onto the stage. “Fear us!” he yelled. This man called the senator a freak and an abomination before tackling the Senator to the ground. “Get him off of me!” Senator Kelly cried! Security rushed to the stage, tazers shooting into the man, he cried sharply after being zapped. The man Magneto knew as Toad fell to the ground, prone from sudden unconsciousness.

Handcuffing and carrying the attacker off of the stage, Senator Kelly was helped to his feet by Trask. “Are you okay, Richard?”

“I’m fine, Bolivar.” Kelly said as he motioned for Trask to sit back down. Senator Kelly walked back up to the stand. “That radical will be dealt with by the authorities and I apologize for that.” He said, feeling a bit shaken. He fixed his glasses as he looked to the crowd.

"The potential these people possess are incalculable. I am here to clearly make this issue aware to more people. You or I, individually, do not have the power to make decisions that can change the way we live. We need to come together and look at hard evidence, look to our future. As more and more of these mysterious 'mutants' emerge, a greater question emerges that I would like to ask all of you. Just what are we going to do when one of these mutants decides that he's going to make your home, his home? What are we going to do when he decides that he's going to make a timely, violent withdrawal from the bank as this mutant does... here."

The newest video, showing masked men with a display of power unique to themselves, one who was shooting a greenish colored energy blast. One who appeared much more muscular than the rest who threw a security officer clear across the bank, before the tape cut out, gory footage of one of the men assaulting another officer was shown. This garnered various gasps and a mixture of responses from the audience. "The question I want all of you to ask yourselfs when you go home today is, when and where do we draw a line? Thank you." As he ended, general applause greeted him, a wide grin on his face and a wave, he walked away from the podium, feeling like he had hit a home run. Especially with lieu of the events that unfolded during his presentation. It had helped his presentation end with even a more unprecedented impact.

[Magneto]

Toad got himself into the mess and he'd be man enough to prove that he could get out of it. Eric thought as he watched the fiasco take place. He felt somewhat embarassed by the repulsive man. There was no way he'd go to the simpleton's rescue not when he had acted so fool hardy. The senator used the attack to help strengthen his message. It seemed that the eager Toynbee did nothing but help this man's holy cause. Eric shook his head and turned his back on the unconscious man being dragged away.

What did catch Eric's eye however were the further videos of some rather powerful mutant individuals, ones that had come together and formulated an attack against security forces. Eric was impressed and made note to seek out such power houses. It was a brand new world, one of many possibilities. The white eyebrows rose and an idea or a memory surged in the mind of Eric. Indeed where did they draw the line? It reminded him of times past; the death camps, mountain villages, Israel.. There was something else. Something that stopped Magnus' thought pattern. He suddenly felt something not quite natural and spun around to his left and right.

In the midst of the assembled crowd, Eric felt that the focus of everyone around him was fading as if the colour was being drawn from everyone. The murmers and the hubub of people died down, Magneto removed his hat from his head and spun again. His shoulder length white locks now free to spin with his twisting. People seemed to lose their momentum and a single thought entered the old man's mind -Charles- Eric looked up and around at some of the balconies and alcoves, the man that he had once held regard for was somewhere -Where are you, old friend?- Eric pulled his hat close to his chest. -What game are you playing at? Hide and seek hmm?-

[Professor Xavier]

Charles watched as a mutant he knew was named 'Toad' leap to the stage and tackle the Senator down. Only to be apprehended by tazers alone. The Senator flowed from this incident into what Charles felt was clearly the strongest part of his presentation. He'd never heard about the group of individuals in the video but they looked powerful. A threat no doubt Charles needed to bookmark in his mind. His X-Men would no doubt be crossing paths with them at some point. They would need to be ready for all kinds of threats. Charles knew his kids had the strength but he was always uncertain about the path he decided to take into this.

If this whole thing had any slant to it, this video was it. It was purely used to show the audience what destructive potential people with powers can have. It would strike fear into a good sum of these men and women. Powerful men and women in politics and other position of power. The Senator had put together a smart presentation here. He just hoped the first Senator to push this issue could've been a politician of a more liberal background.

The presentation ended and people began to sift out of the hall. Charles was sure this was perfect time to contact Eric. Charles had found him midway through the presentation. Being a psychic made finding people dull at times. *Eric, old friend. Please tell me you didn't organize that little stunt just there.* He was certain that even Eric's keen eyes wouldn't find him in the moving crowd.

[Magneto]

The thought entered his mind, and Eric grinned. The mutant telepath was certainly there, he could easily have been right next to the man for all he knew. The time shared between them had revealed many things, tonight Eric was learning something anew. Charles could be quite sneaky, he remembered to not let his thoughts wonder lest the bald headed man might find some way to intrude his mind. -Charles if you truly believe that, you really don't know me at all.- Eric started to move, there was no need for him to stand around looking longingly for someone that did not want to be found. He had more important duties in any case.

No matter how powerful Magnus' powers became, they simply were no match to one that could know your every thought. Something that the self proclaimed Master of magnetism would have to neutralize. -Tell me something, do you still think you can bring about peace after what you've just witnessed. See what happens to those that try to speak out. Our one true freedom?- Eric slid past a couple of people and silently cursed under his breath "Flat scan" an overweight looking woman was stubbonly blocking his path. Eric was halted once more and felt the creeping sensation against his temples.

-What of your school Charles? Still the bleeding heart for the weakest of our kind? There's something comming that neither of us can stop, you've seen it on the news and heard whispers of it on the air. War, will they be prepared for that? Or have you bred another generation of thinkers instead of doers- Eric managed to circle around the woman, not before warping his magnetic forcefield around her and dropping the woman painfully to the floor. The exit was in sight, and if Xavier wasn't man enough to face him in the open, then there was no need to hang around.

Eric stood by the entrance to the hall and watched a few dozen people make their leave. It seemed like something pivotal was about to happen, something that would force Magneto's hand. He wasn't sure if he was ready yet. Certainly they were not ready yet. -Oh and Charles, your not the only one with a school for the gifted. Although the term school is a fairly loose one. Where you lack the foresight and military design, I have prevailed. Perhaps we will finally see who is right- Lehnsherr grinned and pulled his hat back on and down over his face.

[Professor Xavier]

-Tell me something, do you still think you can bring about peace after what you've just witnessed. See what happens to those that try to speak out. Our one true freedom?- Charles just shook his head, Eric was stubborn to the very end, much as Charles was to the opposite end of the spectrum. -What of your school Charles? Still the bleeding heart for the weakest of our kind? There's something comming that neither of us can stop, you've seen it on the news and heard whispers of it on the air. War, will they be prepared for that? Or have you bred another generation of thinkers instead of doers-

*My school will educate mutants and further relations with humans instead of turning this into something you fear from your childhood.* Charles’ retort was stern but he felt it was necessary. Magneto was not a man easily swayed but Charles was vindicated in his own right. *What will you do when an unnecessary act end’s up killing one of the pupil’s you’ve taken upon yourself… How will you act then.* Charles had his own feeling about Magneto but for now he would keep them to himself.

*I can’t mediate you Eric, but give me time and I will try, I will promise you that. You will not stop what little hope mutant-kind has for a peaceful co-existence with mankind. Eric, I will not let you stop this.* Charles’ last words, he felt, were his strongest. Magneto knew that Charles would stop him from doing something truly horrific. Charles didn’t know what lengths Magneto would set to but Charles was certain that he couldn’t tread cautiously.

[Magneto]

Eric stayed on baited by the thoughts that Charles Xavier was projecting into his mind. He felt he had to have the last word to satisfy his own being. In response to the stern words exchanged by his old ally, Magneto decided to play along prolonging the telepathic conversation. -I'm not limited to the memories of the past Charles, but I have learnt my lesson from them. They will never accept us. That which is different will lead inevitably to fear.-

His students? In truth, Magnus had not taken the time to postulate over the fate of those that were amongst his Brotherhood. There were so many other things going on that required his attention. However to continue the repartee Magnus let his mind free to announce -They are only necessary to their own end, old friend. They will learn the true harshness of the human spirit and will be strengthened by it. For even as misguided Toynbee was, there will be an uprising and then the conflict will begin.-

Xavier didn't want Eric to stop this? What was he doing there at that school of his after all, Magnus pondered. He had not seen nor heard from the professor for some years now. What ever it was that the bald headed man was up to was leading to paltry threats. Eric was inclined to find out but feigned disinterest -Left to your own devices eh Charles? What would you do, what have you already hidden from them. Do your students know you truly? Do they know what your capable of?- A wry smile formed on Lehnsherr's lips and he adjusted his coat before strolling out into the night.

There would be a time when he would find it necessary to investigate the Bayville estate. To see for himself, if all of Charles talk was amounting to anything more than lucid dreams.

EXIT MAGNETO