Senator Robert Kelly prided himself on his ability to stay one step ahead. He had built his career on navigating the treacherous world of politics, sidestepping scandals, and dodging threats both literal and metaphorical. He had seen allies rise and fall, some vanishing under mysterious circumstances, others ruined by forces beyond their understanding. He liked to think of himself as a survivor.
But all the preparation in the world hadn't accounted for this.
A shadow moved through the room, silent as death. Kelly didn't even notice when his most trusted bodyguard had stopped being himself hours ago. Mystique had taken his identity with a casual touch, his memories, his knowledge—his entire presence. The moment he entered his office, believing himself safe, his fate had already been sealed.
Kelly opened his mouth, probably to grumble about the latest mutant rights legislation he was hoping to squash, when Mystique moved.
A single precise strike to the back of his neck.
Kelly didn't even have time to process what was happening. He crumpled like a puppet with its strings cut, his body hitting the floor with an undignified thud.
Mystique sighed, shaking her head as she knelt beside him. "You know, for someone so paranoid, you'd think you'd check your actual security team a little better."
She pressed a finger to her earpiece. "Target secured. Extraction in progress."
A voice crackled through the line, smooth and amused. "Bring him in."
Magneto stood before his machine, the Mutant Conversion Device, basking in the dim glow of its humming energy core. It was a grotesque thing, twisting science and mutation into something unholy—a device that could force mutation upon any human it touched.
The Brotherhood of Mutants stood at his sides, watching with eagerness. Pyro's hands flickered with anticipation, Sabretooth cracked his knuckles, and Toad muttered something about how "this was gonna be good."
Then, the doors slid open, and Mystique stepped in, dragging the limp body of Senator Kelly behind her.
She tossed him forward, his unconscious form landing in a heap at Magneto's feet.
The mutant leader's lips curled into a smirk. He reached down, lifting Kelly's head slightly, looking into his dazed, fluttering eyes.
"Ah, Senator," Magneto murmured. "How wonderful of you to join us. You've been so vocal in your hatred of mutants. I thought it only fitting that you get to experience the gift you fear so much."
Kelly groaned weakly, his eyes barely focusing.
Mystique folded her arms. "He won't be awake for long. Do your thing."
Magneto gestured toward the machine, his voice taking on a grandiose, theatrical quality.
"My brothers and sisters, for too long we have suffered under the ignorance of men like Robert Kelly. They seek to suppress us, to legislate us out of existence, to strip away our birthright! But tonight, we remind them that nature does not bow to the whims of small men."
Pyro actually clapped at that.
Magneto turned back to Kelly, his expression darkening. "You've spent your entire career demonizing us. But what will you do, Senator, when you become one of us?"
Kelly's eyes widened. He was waking up just enough to process that.
His voice came out cracked and raw. "N-no…"
Magneto flicked his fingers. The Brotherhood's grunts dragged Kelly to his feet, shoving him toward the glowing core of the machine.
Mystique stepped back, watching impassively.
Then, Magneto flipped the switch.
The machine roared to life.
A surge of raw, twisting mutation energy burst outward, engulfing Kelly. His body jerked violently as if an invisible force was rewriting him at a molecular level. His eyes rolled back, his veins darkened, and his bones cracked audibly beneath his skin.
He screamed.
Not a human scream. Something else. Something wrong.
His entire form distorted as if his very biology had no idea what to do. His skin liquefied for a moment, melting into a puddle before snapping back, his body reforming in an uneven, grotesque way. His face flickered between recognizable and alien, his hands stretching and warping before snapping back in jerky, erratic motions.
He was being shattered and reconstructed in real time, every nerve in his body on fire.
His mouth opened in an attempt to speak.
But the words melted away before they could form.
The Brotherhood actually stepped back.
Magneto frowned. "This… is not what I intended."
Then, from above, the hidden members of L.E.Y.A watched the scene unfold with varying degrees of amusement and disdain.
Gwen took a slow sip of her stolen gourmet coffee. "Wow. That was… awful."
Storm raised an eyebrow. "Truly pitiful execution."
Natasha, arms crossed, smirked. "Sloppy work."
Wanda's lips curled in amusement. "A machine to force mutation? How… uninspired."
Mystique glanced up, briefly catching the faintest flicker of psychic camouflage. She smirked slightly. She knew exactly who was up there.
But Magneto?
He was still staring at Kelly's twitching, barely-formed body.
Then, it got worse.
Kelly lurched forward, his liquid-flesh sloshing unevenly. His body was barely holding together, shifting unpredictably, his features rippling like a broken reflection in water.
His rage-fueled instinct kicked in, and suddenly he threw himself at Magneto.
"You… DID THIS!"
Magneto stepped back, eyes narrowing. "Restrain him."
The Brotherhood moved to grab him—but their hands slipped right through his half-liquid state.
Kelly collapsed through them, reformed behind them, and scrambled toward the nearest escape.
Magneto's expression turned from frustration to actual anger.
"Catch him!"
But it was too late.
Kelly melted, reformed, and slipped past them, his liquid-like body phasing through small gaps in the machinery. In a matter of seconds, he was gone.
Silence.
Then, from above…
Gwen laughed. "Wow. He really just let him go, huh?"
Storm scoffed. "Pathetic."
Pyro looked visibly embarrassed. "This is… uh… yeah, I got nothin'."
Magneto whirled toward Mystique, furious. "Where did he go?!"
Mystique's smirk widened slightly. "You lost him."
Magneto clenched his fists, trying to process this colossal failure.
Natasha, still watching unseen, shook her head. "We're dealing with a complete amateur."
Wanda chuckled. "Indeed. But now, things get interesting."
Because Senator Kelly?
He was running.
And he was headed straight for Xavier's school.
The real show was about to begin and it was time for Storm, Jean, and Rouge to have some fun. With this fool who thought he could dictate the fate of mutants when he, in fact, can't even dictate the fate of the mice that will soon feed on his cold, dead corpse.
Join my patreon today to read up to chapter 108 in advance your support is my inspiration join for only 3 to 5$
patreon.com/everstone