I really don’t want to be here. There’s a lot of government folks here. I mean, the thing is called ‘The Truth About Mutants’. I’m a mutant, a pretty pissed off mutant. The girl up on the stage doesn’t look like some up tight bitch, but… she’s one of those music singer people. Marie’s here with me, but she doesn’t look all that happy to be here either. Marie used to like this lady until she heard from those stupid magazines that she was an anti-mutant, uptight bitch. But like I said, she doesn’t look like one. Of course… none of them ever do.

I remember the Prof. calling me and Marie into his office and handing us each an invitation. Apparently, they were anonymously sent to the school, inviting two people to come see the show. I thought it was a trap. So did Marie. But Chuck and his damn ideals said it might be enlightening to go and see just ‘what the truth about mutants’ is.

So, here we are, standing squished in between government officials. A lot of them that were invited came… mostly because a lot of them hate us. I see some recognizable faces in the civilian crowd. Some of them are mutants… except, they don’t look like mutants, so I guess they can get away with being here. Most of them I think are just humans. Bastards.

The woman on the stage moves to the microphone. “This song is called ‘We Are’ originally sung by Ana Johnsson, but I thought it might just fit for this little show. Like I promised on the invitations, this won’t take too much of your time because I know a lot of you government officials have busy lives controlling the mutant problem.” She smirked then and some of the officials laughed and nodded. Like I said, bastards. “Well then, let me introduce myself. My name is Ury. I know I’ve been on the tabloids a lot, being a new singer and all; they like to get their hands on ya early. For this demonstration, I will probably never get another contract… in my life. Everybody better listen up. It’s an important song.”

The woman’s pretty… no, not pretty. She’s fucking hot. I’d bed her in an instant if I could. She’s got this black hair that comes down just past her shoulders. There’s people with this dyed crap that just looks like shit. No, hers is natural looking. And her eyes are strange. They’re a light brown and I swear… they look almost metallic underneath the color. She’s got curves in all the right places, legs that go on for miles, and pouty lips that probably taste ten times better than they look, which, by the way, they look fucking delicious. But she’s still a bitch.

She moves the microphone over to the side of the stage… which… it’s really strange, but /a lot/ of security officers are lined up in front of it and they’re watching the civilians… and government officials like a predator would watch its prey. Trust me… I know that look. She nods to someone just behind the curtain to the left and the big, white screen behind her hums to life. The first thing that pops up is a title slide. “This is the truth about mutants, ladies and gentlemen,” the woman said into the mic. The music started.

See the devil on the doorstep now (my oh my)
Telling everybody, oh, just how to live their lives
Sliding down the information highway
Buying in just like a bunch of fools
Time is ticking and we can't go back (my oh my)

As the woman sings the words, slides fade in and out on the screen. They’re all pictures of mutants acting violently towards humans. There’s one of the Statue of Liberty torch after Magneto’s machine destroyed it. There’s one of a Cure Clinic on fire from mutant arsons. I feel my blood starting to boil. This can’t be all they see in us. I can feel Marie tense up beside me. I can smell her fury building too. These smug government people are all nodding. I want to gut every one of them.

What about the world today
What about the place that we call home

A picture of an American flag pops up on the screen, then a picture of the United States. Not a very creative slideshow if you ask me.

We’ve never been so many
And we've never been so alone

There’s a picture of a bunch of people, standing together and linking arms. It morphs into a picture of a lone, little girl, clearly a mutant with pointed ears and pink hair. She’s got tears running down her face and the room around her is totally dark except for the spotlight on her. The side curtain whip open and reveal about 50 or so young people. Boys and girls alike. Some are clearly mutants, and some are harder to figure it out. Now I’m confused.

You keep watching from your picket fence
You keep talking but it makes no sense
You say we're not responsible

Ury points at the civilians like she’s jabbing them in the chest, her face contorted in anger.

But we are, we are

She then sweeps her arm behind her to motion to the other people on stage.

You wash your hands and come out clean
Fail to recognise the enemies within

She points then at the government officials who looked more shocked than anything. Someone accusing them of causing the ‘mutant problem’? Whaaaat?

You say we're not responsible
But we are, we are, we are.

I’d laugh at their expressions if I didn’t know that this could quickly get out of hand if she infuriated people. I pulled Rogue closer to my side.

One step forward making two steps back (my oh my)
Riding piggy on the bad boys back for life
Lining up for the grand illusion
No answers for no questions asked
Lining up for the execution
Without knowing why

You keep watching from your picket fence
You keep talking but it makes no sense
You say we're not responsible
But we are, we are
You wash your hands and come out clean
Fail to recognise the enemies within
You say we're not responsible
But we are, we are.

The officials are becoming angrier by the second, but Ury just gets louder and angrier looking. I swear, she looked like an animal on the stage with her expression. The pictures on the screen passed quickly. There were hundreds of pictures of the kids on stage in cells and being experimented on. There were pictures of human brutality towards mutants. There pictures of government officals, even some of the ones present, performing experiments on mutants. In most of them, the victims were beaten, bruised, and very clearly in pain.

It’s all about power
By taking control
Breaking the will
Raping the soul
They suck us dry till there’s nothing left
My oh my, my oh my

What about the world today
What about the place that we call home
We' ve never been so many
And we've never been so alone....

Most of the civilians watching looked stunned. They stared up at the picutres. There were even a few who puked on particularly gory pictures. The officials were pissed. I could smell it on them.

So alone!

You keep watching from your picket fence
You keep talking but it makes no sense
You say we're not responsible
But we are, we are
You wash your hands and come out clean
Fail to recognise the enemies within
You say we're not responsible
But we are, we are, we are.

Okay, I admit. I was wrong. She’s not a bitch. And let me tell you something, that woman can sing without annoying me… which can be kind of hard to do. More like really hard to do. Only Marie (who is always off key) has been able to do so.

It’s all about power (we are)
By taking Control (we are)
Breaking the will (we are, we are)
Raping the soul (we are)
They suck us dry till there’s nothing left (we are, we are)
My oh my, my oh my

By now, the kids on stage were singing the main words with Ury singing the ‘we are’ parts. I looked over at Marie. She had tears standing in her eyes.

We are
We are (its all )
We are, we are, we are (take control)
We are
We are

Suddenly, the kids stop singing as Ury finishes the song.


It’s all about power
By taking control.

The second last slide at the end reads: THE TRUTH ABOUT MUTANTS… IS THAT THEY’RE JUST LIKE YOU. THEY’RE PEOPLE THAT ARE SCRUTINIZED, HATED, AND FEARED FOR WHAT THEY ARE. THERE ARE THE GOOD AND THE BAD MUTANTS. THERE ARE THE GOOD AND THE BAD HUMANS. ONE GENE SETS THEM APART FROM YOU. ONE GENE SETS YOU APART FROM ANOTHER HUMAN. THE GOVERNMENT HAS KIDNAPPED MUTANTS, TORTURED THEM, AND EXPERIMENTED ON THEM. WHO ARE THE ONES TO SCRUTINIZE, HATE, AND FEAR NOW? DON’T JUST WATCH FROM YOUR PICKET FENCE. DO SOMETHING. ASK QUESTIONS ABOUT YOUR GOVERNMENT. UNLOCK THE TRUTH, NOT THE BULLSIT LIES THEY FEED YOU.

And finally, the last slide had a full list of names of government officials and military operatives that have partaken in acts that were shown in the pictures. One name stuck out. William Stryker. I know Marie saw it too because she grabbed my hand and squeezed it.

Officials tried to storm the stage, but the security officers held them back easily. The civilians stayed in their seats, staring at the list and the kids on the stage. Ury glared at the officials, but didn’t move from her spot. Nope. She’s not a bitch. I think I kind of like her.