xp_logs | The Rictor Effect

Late Monday night, Someone comes to claim Julio.

Julio awoke to the sounds of screaming. He struggled out from under his drugged sleep, flinging the sheets off in a panic. It was dark in his room, and all he could hear was the ping of his monitor. No screaming, just silence and the pinging. He put a hand to his chest and took a ragged breath, trying to calm his heart. A dream, it was all just a dream. Then he heard screaming again, followed by a loud crash, coming from the outside. The building shook and the lights flickered. What in the hell?

Julio swung his legs over the edge of the bed and got up unsteadily. He was still as weak as a kitten, but at least he could walk. He took a few shaky footsteps and pulled aside the curtain. The other bed in the room was empty and he could hear more running in the hallway. Julio tried to get to the door, but his hand was still tethered to his i.v., and no one had bothered to give him a mobile line. The building shook again, and Julio grasped the edge of the other bed. The fuck is going on?.

From across the room, shelves rattled and drawers shot open, spilling their contents onto the floor. Along the walls, small cracks formed, then sparks flew as power wires snapped free, writhing along the floor like snakes. Metallic cords braided together, creeping from the walls as the windows in the private hospital room shattered.

The windowframe widened, power wires extending to form a ramp from the window to the floor. Slowly walking down that ramp was a man in a dark outfit, cape around his shoulders and a smile that Julio recognized - the gabacho!

"Hello, Julio," the gently accented voice of Erik Lehnsherr carried above the din. "I would like you to come with me."

Julio jerked away from the man, falling to the ground. His i.v. line ripped out of his hand, and it began to bleed freely. He covered it with the other and began to back away, terrified.

"Who....who are you?" He said carefully in English. "What do you want?" He edged closer to the door.

"I want you to help me, to help all of our kind, Julio. We are mutants, the next step in evolution. Rest assured, when the humans in this hospital discover what you are, they will take you away from everything you love, they will tear your life apart. I offer you a different path."

Magneto extended his hand to the boy. "They will turn your life into a war, Julio. I offer you the chance to take the war to them. My name is Magneto, and I will save you."

Julio also remembered the man in the helmet from when he was standing in the middle of the road, right before... He looked from the man's face to his offered hand. Then he turned and fled.

He crashed out of the door before Magneto could stop him, tumbling and rolling on the tile floor. Panicked nurses and patients were already evacuating, and they dodged around him. He offered a silent prayer of thanks that his hospital gown was not backless and got to his feet, only to slip in the puddle of blood his hand was making and crack his elbow on the floor.

Two hospital orderlies moved towards Julio, but were swatted aside by a gurney that shot down the hallway like a rocket. Magneto stepped after him, reaching out to snake a series of metal tubes around Julio's limbs and lifting him from the floor.

"Of course," he said gravely, "if you will not fight my war willingly, I am ready to introduce you to the concept of conscription."

Julio struggled and kicked feebly against his restraints. "~Just who the fuck do you think you are?~" he cried, his terrified brain slipping back into Spanish. He kicked harder, trying to get free. "I'm not going anywhere with you." He said again in English.

Unnoticed by Julio and Magneto, a nearby security guard aimed his pistol at the man in the red helmet.

However, Magneto didn't need to see the drawn pistol to react. A simple gesture brought the muzzle of the pistol unwillingly to the guard's temple.

"~P...please...~" the security guard blubbered, his watch tightening around his wrist. Without any change in expression, Magneto snapped his fingers.

The gunshot was deafening in the enclosed hall.

”No!” Julio cried. The man dropped heavily to the floor, the rest of his brains on the wall beside him. Julio's struggles increased, but he was held fast. "Ay dios mio." He whispered.

"Yours, not mine," Magneto intoned, lifting Julio up to his eye level. "Come now, we have a war."

Julio's eyes widened. If he kept resisting, there was no telling what this vicious son of a bitch would do. Julio looked in the direction of the security guard, and then around the hallway, where orderlies and patients cowered near the walls. "Please, don't hurt anyone else," he begged, looking at them. "I- I will go. Put me down and I won't run." He turned back to Magneto. "I promise."

Magneto glanced around, then lowered Julio carefully, opening his other hand to rip a hole in the wall. "Then we begin," he said.

Julio cradled his bleeding hand and stepped carefully to the edge of the opening. Outside he could see the path of destruction Magneto had caused on his way to the hospital. Julio had no idea what would happen when he went with this madman, certainly nothing good, but he didn’t have much of a choice. It was either that or let more people die.

A metal disk formed outside the opening. At a nudge from the man, he stepped on. It was surprisingly solid.

"There now," Magneto said, his hand on the boy's shoulder giving a reassuring pat. "Allow me to show you the future..."