---
The city was calm that night.
Not peaceful—New York never slept enough for that—but calm in the way a crowded mind sometimes drifted into rare, quiet clarity. People's emotions felt softer, gentler. A background hum instead of a hurricane.
I walked with my hood low, hands in pockets, breathing in the cool air.
After a year of chaos, these moments were rare. Precious.
That was why the spike hit me so hard.
Sharp.
Alien.
Vibrating with something primal.
The emotional signature that slammed into my senses wasn't human.
And it wasn't subtle.
Instinctively, my head snapped toward the source.
A man—if you could still call him that—crouched atop a fire escape, yellow eyes glowing faintly in the dark. His presence was twisted, sticky, unsettling… like touching someone's emotions and finding them coated in slime.
Then I recognized him.
Toad.
A mutant.
A known member of the Brotherhood.
One of Magneto's foot soldiers.
He stuck to the metal railing with long, frog-like fingers, his tongue flicking in and out to taste the air. His entire emotional field quivered like an insect trapped under glass.
Paranoia.
Excitement.
Purpose.
He was following someone.
More importantly—he was following someone for someone.
Magneto.
I kept my distance, slipping into the hum of the city, masking my emotional resonance. I'd practiced doing this—flattening my presence, blending in like static.
Toad didn't sense me.
He dropped down to the alley floor with an unsettling squelch and began hopping along the shadows, quick and agile.
My curiosity prickled.
Why was a Brotherhood mutant here?
Why alone?
Why without a cover story, without backup, without subtlety?
Whatever the reason, it mattered.
And I needed to know.
So I followed.
---
A Predator in the Dark
Toad moved fast—faster than I expected. His movements weren't elegant, but they were efficient, low to the ground, almost insect-like.
He crossed an intersection in a single leap.
I slipped between a delivery truck and a taxi, staying two steps behind, letting his emotions guide me. He was jittery, hungry to complete whatever mission Magneto had given him.
But he was also afraid.
Afraid of failing.
Afraid of disappointing someone.
Afraid of being seen as weak.
Those emotions made him easier to track. Strong. Sharp. Vibrating like electricity in the dark.
I followed him past shuttered shops, across rooftops, through a broken fence behind a laundromat.
Then he stopped.
He perched on the edge of a five-story building, staring down into a narrow, dead-end alley below. The air around him thickened with anticipation.
Someone was coming.
I hid behind a vent unit, pulse steady, emotions shielded.
Toad whispered, barely audible even to himself:
"…Magneto wants the kid alive…"
My blood ran cold.
A kid.
A mutant kid.
Someone Magneto wanted badly enough to send one of his Brotherhood members into my side of the city.
I leaned forward, eyes narrowing as a small figure entered the alley.
A teenage boy—maybe fourteen. Slight, scared, clutching a backpack like it contained his whole world.
His emotional aura flickered uncontrollably, switching between fear, confusion, and bursts of something unstable—something powerful fighting to break free.
He was newly awakened.
A mutant experiencing their first uncontrolled surge.
Toad grinned, saliva dripping from the corner of his mouth.
"There you are…"
He dropped silently behind the kid.
The boy froze.
Toad reached out a hand.
"Don't be scared, runt. Magneto wants to talk to ya. That's all."
The boy shook his head violently. "No—no, no, no! I don't want to go with you!"
His fear exploded outward—an emotional shockwave that rattled me even from above. A raw panic attack tied to unstable powers.
Toad staggered but steadied himself with a wet slap of his hands against the wall.
"Brat! Don't make me drag you!"
He lunged.
I moved.
---
Resonance Meets Mutation
I dropped from the rooftop, landing between Toad and the boy. My hood stayed low, masking my face.
Toad croaked in shock.
The boy gasped.
My knees stung—but I stayed upright.
"Back away," I said calmly.
Toad snarled. "Who the hell are you?"
"Someone telling you to leave the kid alone."
He spat onto the ground. A sizzling glob of acid burned into the cement, smoking.
"You don't understand, freak. Magneto needs this one."
"No. He wants him. Big difference."
Toad crouched low, muscles coiling like springs.
His emotions surged—anger, annoyance, superiority, and buried beneath it all… envy.
He hated people who stood in his way.
It made him feel small.
Overlooked.
Inferior.
I absorbed a sliver of that emotion—just enough to sharpen myself.
Toad leaped.
I unleashed a pulse of steady tranquility—dense enough to disorient him mid-air.
He faltered.
Just enough.
I dodged left as he crashed into the wall, cracking bricks with his shoulder. He flipped onto his feet with inhuman agility.
"Cute trick," he hissed. "Let's see how long you last."
His tongue lashed out like a whip. I ducked—
But he wasn't aiming for me.
He aimed for the kid.
I reacted instantly.
A wave of concentrated terror—calibrated, directional—slammed into Toad. He recoiled violently, gagging as the emotional force threw off his concentration.
I stepped between him and the boy again.
"You're not taking him."
Toad wiped his mouth with the back of his hand, eyes glowing with fury.
"You think you can protect him from Magneto? You? A nobody?"
"Funny. That's what everyone said before they lost."
His emotions spiked at the taunt—pure rage.
Perfect.
I absorbed another sliver of it, careful not to take too much. Rage was volatile and could burn if you held it too long.
My projection intensified.
Toad jumped again, faster this time.
I met him with a concussive emotional blast—fear and pressure combined into a heavy, crushing pulse.
He hit the ground hard.
He tried to get up.
Failed.
Tried again.
Wobbled.
"You… freak…" he groaned.
I stepped forward, keeping my tone steady.
"Tell Magneto this: he doesn't own this city. And he doesn't own this kid."
Toad spat blood.
"This isn't over…"
Then he used his remaining strength to leap upward, disappearing into the maze of rooftops.
But his emotional trail lingered long after he vanished—anger, humiliation, a simmering hunger for revenge.
I ignored it.
The kid needed me more.
---
The Mutant Boy
He was curled on the ground, shaking violently. His emotions were like a malfunctioning electrical grid—sparks of fear mixing with bursts of unstable power.
"Hey," I said gently. "You okay?"
He stared at me through tears.
"I—I didn't know what was happening. My head… it felt like it was breaking."
"You're not breaking," I assured. "You're mutating."
His breath caught.
"No. No, no, no, I'm not— I'm not a mutant. I can't be."
"Your emotions are overwhelming your power. It's normal."
He wiped his face with trembling hands. "Why did he want me?"
"Because Magneto wants all mutants. Especially young ones."
He swallowed. "Will he come back?"
"Yes," I said honestly. "But you won't be alone."
The boy steadied himself. "What do I do?"
"You go somewhere safe. Stay with someone you trust. And you don't use your powers until you feel stable."
He nodded slowly.
I gave him a card—the one I carried for cases like this.
Not a number.
Not a name.
Just a location.
The Paper Lantern.
"Come here tomorrow," I said. "I can help you control your emotions. If you control those—you control your powers."
"Why are you helping me?" he whispered.
Because no one helped me.
Because I knew what it felt like to be overwhelmed.
Because I wasn't letting Magneto take another kid.
But I didn't say any of that.
"Because someone has to."
He looked at the card again, then clutched it to his chest.
"Okay. I'll be there."
He ran from the alley—scared, but hopeful.
His emotional field steadied as he left.
And I stood alone in the dark, staring at the rooftop where Toad vanished.
Magneto had his eyes on my city.
And now he knew a new empowered young mutant was loose.
He would send someone stronger next time.
Maybe Mystique.
Maybe Sabretooth.
Maybe Magneto himself.
I pulled my hood lower.
If he wanted to step into my territory, he'd find out something important:
I didn't bow to heroes.
I didn't bow to villains.
And I sure as hell didn't bow to Magneto.
This was my city.
And I was done hiding in its shadows.
---