35 CH 35: You are?

All of the Neo gave Magneto a greeting out of politeness. After Ruler gave his greeting to Magneto, his gaze traveled to a familiar green-haired young woman. Seeing that she looked fine, Ruler let out a sigh of relief. He had been worried about her since she joined her father.

Lorna was standing behind her seat and looking better than ever. The woman was wearing a skin-tight green leotard with a matching green cape and a pair of green leggings that were were the same shade fo green as her hair. On her wrists and ankles were metal brackets along with a small green headdress across her forehead.

Lorna noticed Ruler's stare and waved him a small smile before mouthing, 'Talk after?' Ruler nodded toward her before looking at the man who was currently holding onto one of Lorna's hands.

'That seems to be the little boy to... I mean boyfriend Lorna told me she got. I wonder if Magneto has driven the fear of God into him. If he hasn't, I will. And if he has... well it doesn't hurt to get taught the same lesson twice.'

Ruler smiled to himself at the thoughts and had to have Ember tug on his arm to pull him out of his thoughts. He noticed that almost everyone was already seated so quickly made his way to his seat.

When Ruler sat down in his seat, the meeting was ready to begin. The Neo stated both their terms from the beginning: a community for all of the Neo to live in and 3 spots in Magneto's Inner Circle.

The first was not too difficult to fulfill. There had been many groups of mutants who wished to remain together such as families and organizations. The Neo were not even the largest group to want to move in together and have space for themselves. This was quickly agreed on.

It was the other condition that had issues. The issues came from three different factors. The power of the Neo, the influence of the Neo, and the loyalty of the Neo.

The first wave of disagreement came from mutants who believed that the Neo were overrated and undeserving of their claim as the strongest mutants.

But after a quick display of power by Stare, leader of the Guardian Clan, who took on and out the 7 mutants who thought the Neo's abilities were overrated, this factor was taken off the table.

'So it seems like these Neo will make excellent soldiers and commanders for the mutant cause if we need them to be,' thought Magneto as he watched what happened without saying a word.

The second factor was brought up by those who were well known within the community such as Avalanche and Pyro. This group was ignored by both sides due to its meaninglessness.

There had been many members of the Brotherhood before they came to Genosha that was completely unknown and still got a spot in the inner circle such as Destiny and Toad.

The last group was the one led by Mystique. In her own words,

"I do not question your abilities or your power. Your title as 'the strongest mutants' does not seem completely undeserved. What I question is your loyalty to us, to the mutant cause.

You call yourselves superior to us, you have turned your backs on us, and have even fought against us. Your motive for joining us seems questionable. What makes us sure that you will not do the same in the future? Why should we let you in the Inner Circle?"

The Neo and Inner Circle of Geonsha were stumped because of the bluntness of Mystique. To question their loyalty so directly, most would consider it offensive. Before anyone else recovered, it was Ember who spoke up first.

"Because we are no longer blind. The old Neo taught the old ways. They had blinded the Neo from the truth due to their arrogance and also their inability to see the dangers the future held.

Now, we can see how powerful and useful other mutants are. We see just how dangerous humans can be. We see the threats that are beyond this world. That arrogance may have been acceptable before but our clans have grown past that for the most part."

The clan leaders nodded their heads in agreement. They knew that by sticking to the old ways, it would only spell the doom and extinction Ruler picked up where Ember left off.

"As for the reason to let us into your Inner Circle is simple. The Neo are outsiders. Even if the clans have agreed to come here, they still hold some of their pride. To have not a single one of their members be apart of the top brass would be an insult to them.

The other thing that you must consider is, we are worthy of it. You have seen my abilities personally and know of me, Mystique. You have also worked with Ember before as well. We are two of the 3 members who wish to be apart of the Inner Circle. We are the future leaders of the Neo. Do you not want us to be influenced by you all?

Not only should are abilities be unquestioned, neither should our ideals. All 3 of us have not been raised among the Neo. We lived among the normal humans and mutants before we joined the Neo. We have more experience with the world than the older Neo. So now I ask you, what do you say?"

Mystique stared at Ruler before she felt a hand on her shoulder. A person wearing a golden mask was the one holding her shoulder. Mystique relaxed her body before saying,

"I have no qualms against having 3 of you join the Inner Circle."

Magneto looked at everyone discussing without involving himself and seemed pleased at the result. Magneto stood up and opened his arms.

"Good. The Neo are now apart of and a community on Genosha. We welcome you with open arms."

Each of the Neo shook hands with each of the members of the Inner Circle. Ruler just went through the motions with most of them but paid attention to a few of the members.

With Magneto, he did not shake his hand at first but instead looked into the old man's eyes. It was the first he would meet the old man when he was not on the ground and nearly died due to a Sentinel attack. He wanted to see what his best friend's father was like. He could see two things deep within Magneto's eyes.

'No. Not deep. They are lingering just beneath the surface. Anyone who truly looks him into the eyes without prejudice would be able to see them. That fear and hope.

The Neo's presence on Genosha? But we already agreed. What does he fear? What does he hope for?'

Ruler shook the old mutant's hand while thinking about the reason behind the emotions in Magento's eyes. Because he was so focused on looking into the meaning behind Magneto's eyes, he did not see the old man size him up as well.

'This boy... he has changed so much since I first met him those 2 years ago. He has strength and potential but I wonder... just what does Destiny and Lorna see in him?'

When Ruler reached Lorna, he held out his hand for a handshake but his hand was slapped away and the young woman gave him a big hug which he returned.

"Been awhile, L"

The duo released each other before standing before each other with a bright smile on each of their faces.

"Hmm. It has. And I told you, call me Polaris during meetings and official business hours."

"Oh. You chose the name I picked out for you? U thought you were joking. You always said it sounded stupid."

"Hmm. It does sound stupid but still fitting. So I kept it. Got a problem?"

Ruler waved his hands in mock surrender.

"Not at all. Just thought it was funny. And you are?"

Ruler turned his attention from Polaris to the blonde young man who stood by her side. He wore a black suit with glowing blue rings all over it. Polaris shot Ruler a warning look but he ignored it. The young man put out his hand to shake with Ruler.

"Name is Alex Summers. You can also call me Havok. I'm Polaris's boyfriend."

Ruler looked down at Havok's hand but ignored it and looked back up at the blonde guy's smiling face. When he saw the smile crack a bit, he smiled and reached out to grab Havok's hand.

"Boyfriend? Haven't heard of you before, Hancock. Polaris, why did you never tell me that you had a boyfriend named Axel?"

Havok smile turned cold and began putting in extra pressure while gripping Ruler's hand. Ruler smiled when he felt the extra strength.

'I can go all out now then?'

"I'm sure she has mentioned me before. I heard from her that you are a bit..."

Before he could continue, Ruler began applying more pressure to his handshake. Havok felt pain in his hand but did not want to show it on his face. The two young men began having a silent battle of strength.

Havok thought that Ruler was as strong as any other Neo and figured that it would only a small amount of pain before Ruler backed down. He did not know that Ruler was 5 times stronger than other Neo even without going all out.

So when Havok felt his hand truly start to get crushed, he began letting out cold sweat but did not give up. He continued to stare down Ruler and began to give out a friendly laugh. Ruler returned the stare and laugh.

Anyone who watched the duo could see that they were being anything but friendly at the moment. In fact, some imagine a white tiger behind Havok and a blue dragon behind Ruler.

Suddenly, several knives appeared around both the young men's necks while a glowing green hand appeared in between the two faces. Both turned and saw an very pissed looking Polaris.

"Person who is last to let go will get 5 knives in your throat. If you are still holding hands after another 3 seconds, you will get 5 knives in your throat."

Neither released immediately but it was Havok who released first. Polaris launched the knives at Ruler's throat and mad them dip slightly into the neck where they drew a drop of blood before retracting them.

She shot Ruler a dirty look that said, 'You're lucky everyone else is around. Next time, don't test my patience.'

Ruler gave her a smile before continuing to shake hands with the other members of the Inner Circle before stepping into Junction's green mist to return to the HQ. He had to pack up his stuff so he could move back to Genosha faster.

"I'll be back in a few days, Polaris. We can continue where we left off later, Hancock."

Before either replied, the Neo had left. This left Havok frustrated, his hand in pain, and with nowhere to let his frustrations out on.

' I'll definitely deal with you later.'