Control: An X-Men Adventure and Wolverine Romance

Betrayal

I soon learned my two latest companion's names, Ororo and Kurt, as we rejoined the rest of their rescue party. I was surprised by the number of adults in total, let alone with the kids added too - for most of my life I had never knowingly encountered any other mutants. Logan had been only the second one I'd met.

The adults were extremely powerful too. The red-headed telekinetic, Jean, had just returned after rescuing her partner Scott - I recognised him instantly as Stryker's latest aquisition. The visor was too striking to forget. The shapeshifter, who went by Mystique, had flair, as did her older associate. He could manipulate metal to his will, something he was all too willing to demonstrate. I gathered that his name was Eric, though he somewhat melodramatically prefered to go by Magneto.

I noted that the pair seemed separate from the rest of the group. They didn't wear the same uniforms and the interactions seemed frosty between them and the others. They held themselves differently too, with an air of definite superiority. I felt their gaze on me. The bright yellow of mystique's eyes in her true form was espescially hard to miss. The way they were looking at me made me nervous.

"You're like the other one..." Magneto mused, before adding, "and I thought he was unique".
I didn't appreciate the superior, mocking tone to his voice.
Mystique seemed to hang on his every word, smiling slyly, as though she was in on some big secret that the rest of us weren't privy to. My gut told me they couldn't be trusted, a sentiment which Ororo, who also went by Storm, seemed to share. I could almost see the distrust emanating from her when they spoke.

From the frantic verbal exchange between the adults, it seemed as though Stryker had kidnapped another group member, a very powerful telepath, and planned to use him to target mutants. Worse than that, Stryker wanted to eradicate the entire mutant population by amplifying the telepaths ability through a machine. My mind jumped back to his comment to Yuriko and I, that he was almost disappointed to lose us since we were so useful to his agenda. My insides twisted with hatred at the memory. Of course he saw no moral issue with his planned act of genocide, only a waste of resources.

When we reached the machine, which the others called 'cerebro', Magneto would be able to enter the chamber. He was the only one of us immune to the telepath's ability, due to the helmet he wore. We soon saw this in practice, as a searing pain flooded my head. It was ice cold and burning hot at the same time, an immense and overwhelming pressure. It was like my brain was expanding within my skull, the tightness building and building. It was so bad that my muscles began to shake violently and I lost my footing. I was barely able to hold my head up long enough to take in my surroundings. From their agonised cries, I realised everyone else in the group was affected too. I could move a little, under immense strain, but it seemed as though the others could not fight it at all. The shapeshifter was rapidly flicking through different forms, almost likeshe was experiencing some kind of seizure.
Magneto was the only one totally unaffected, entering cerebro and disappearing from my line of sight.

Those few minutes felt like years, and just as I'd started to think death would be a welcome release from this all-consuming agony, it stopped. Panting heavily we all could not yet stand, just breathing was hard. Mystique was first to her feet and

I saw her enter cerebro. As I struggled to my feet, still in immense pain, she reappeared with Magneto in tow.

"Where's Charles?" Asked Ororo, as she managed to sit up.
"I'm sorry my dear but I can't let you disturb him," he said solemnly, sealing the metal door with a nonchalant wave of his hand.
I stood to block their path.
"What did you do?" Asked Ororo, in a panic.
"What must be done to protect mutantkind, as always."
"He's reversed the machine - he's making Charles find all the humans and then..." Jean called out.
"You double crossed us," muttered Scott, sounding disappointed but unsurprised.
I grabbed for Mystique, hoping to give Magneto a reason to go back inside and fix it.
"I wouldn't do that if I were you" she said slyly, head cocked to one side. There was something almost reptilian about her.
"And why's that?" I asked as my claws shot out.
"Because i'm afraid Mr Stryker's little procedure has rendered you incapable of stopping us," Magneto lectured.

Suddenly, I was pulled upwards with immense force. In shock I cried out.

"You are a little slow on the uptake my dear, Adamantium is a metal, so naturally, that means I can do this".

With a flick of his wrist I was sent hurtling down the tunnel, right over the heads of the rest of the group. I crashed into the wall at the nearest junction. The sheer force of being pressed into the wall began to buckle the metal pipes which my body was being crushed against.
"Alright, you've... made your point."

I struggled to get the words out.
With a dismissive smirk, he let me fall onto the grating on the floor below.

As their figures disappeared down the hallway, I looked up just in time to see Kurt and Storm teleport into the sealed chamber.