welcome to die || hao

[Erik Lensherr]

No matter where Erik went, he couldn't avoid humanity. It was hardly something he was surprised by - even in a world so filled with rifts, the malevolent influence of humans was clear. It would be difficult putting an end to them alone. A plan had begun to formulate in Erik's mind, one that he had already somewhat started beforehand... If not for the rifts, this plan could have been executed years ago. However, that was nothing he could reverse. Even one with complete control over magnetism was unable to reverse such an event. It would be foolish to even try. Besides, the plan was still usable. He would just need to find the right amount of like-minded people. The plan, of course, began with the formation of a group.

Erik needed a certain amount of people to aid him. Of course, he knew that human hatred wasn't limited to just mutants here. There were others... magic users, aliens, those with any sort of power beyond that of humans... in other words, metahumans. It was Erik's goal to find those that agreed with him and work with them. That was why he had traveled to San Francisco. He'd already been to a few choice locations, those that were populated enough to find at least someone who agreed with him. However, he had found nothing so far... in fact, he was still at step one in his plan. It occurred to him, of course, that perhaps those who hated humans had fled to more secluded areas. The ideas was possible... but, it was still best to search heavily populated areas.

The street he was moving through was far from crowded. He had purposefully avoided crowded areas. Unless they were actively antagonizing humans, Erik was certain that no meta-human would travel among them. Even he was wary when doing so, though he had no real reason to be. He looked exactly like a human, giving him a certain advantage when dealing with them. To a human there is no way to deal with people who don't look the same as them besides violence and hatred.

[Hao Asakura]

Humans were disgusting.

Hao could hear them, always - their thoughts pressing in on his, a whirlwind of petty matters, small-minded anger and grudges, small conflicts, a thousand biting little concerns and issues that swarmed him. Greed, rage, the ridiculous sense of entitlement that all humans possessed to this world - they all beset him.

He was used to it. As used to it as he could be, after three lives of having to deal with it. Once, this flood would have made it impossible to move, to think - but he had come a long way since when his powers first went out of his control. Still, that didn't make enduring any more tolerable. He couldn't start a scene just yet - but torching this city would have quieted the constant noise. It would have made him feel better.

How ironic, that the only way to escape the suffering of others in his head was to cause suffering of his own - but wasn't it what they deserved? Humans really didn't need to exist.

In fact, what they needed was to disappear.

But this was not his world, and if there was a Great Spirit here - he had flown to Colorado, just to check if the Patch Village was where it should have been, only to find it just a bland tourist spot - it hadn't revealed itself. He had sworn to annihilate humanity - but he didn't have the power for that just yet. And besides, this world wasn't his own. Its state of being didn't matter to him.

...But how he hated this city, and the humans within it.

And how strange, to find that same hatred and disgust mingled in someone's thoughts, like an echo of his own. It didn't take long to isolate who he had stumbled upon - the street didn't have that many people on it, and only one was being so openly misanthropic.

Or perhaps... he wasn't human at all.

Smiling, Hao got up from the curb where he had taken a seat. "Hello there!" he called out. What better way to find out more than cheerfully accosting someone?

Besides, if he was lucky, this person would be able to sense he wasn't human either. And if not, well, he'd make it obvious soon enough.

[Erik Lensherr]

The last thing Erik had expected to see was a child - particularly one so strangely dressed. It wasn't very often that he found anyone wearing roaming through a city wearing a cape instead of a shirt, much less a child. But, Erik was hardly one to judge based on appearances... he had taken to wearing an outfit to reflect his identity as "Magneto", an outfit that... wouldn't fit into everyday society. Obviously, he wasn't wearing such a flashy costume then. Instead, he wore a simple black suit and hat, the sort of thing he would wear before.

"Hello." Erik replied, simply. To be frank, he wasn't in the mood for conversation. Although the boy's clothing suggested that he was... different from humans, he had no business inducting children into his group. On the other hand... it occurred to him that all was not as it seemed her. It seemed like a foolish thought at the time, but it was a little strange for someone as young as him to accost an adult.

So, he decided to press further. "My name is Erik Lensherr." He said, his voice amiable enough, with the tiniest hint of caution. He had to remind himself that he knew nothing about what was going on, even if it seemed so normal. If there was one thing he knew about this world, it was that nothing was as it seemed. "Was there... something you wanted?" He asked, trying his hardest not to sound dismissive. He did want to know what was going on... but he wasn't exactly in the mood do deal with kids.

[Hao Asakura]

What was that thought just now? Magneto... that wasn't the name he had introduced himself by.

Another identity?

Interesting.

But Hao wasn't here for that, and besides, revealing anything so soon would be far too stupid. So his smile widened and he nodded briefly, acknowledging the man's introduction. Not a name he recognized - this man wasn't a shaman, clearly. "I'm Hao Asakura. It's nice to meet you," he said cheerfully enough. His name meant so little here, apparently - the Asakura family didn't exist. His clan had never been. He had never been born, in this world, let alone born three times over.

Luckily, he wasn't prone to existential crises.

Oh, he was quick to get to the point. That took a little of the fun out of it, but... he could hear such determination coming from him. This person had a person similar to his own.

It would have been nice if he hadn't been so casually dismissed, but it was also amusing to be so clearly underestimated as just a strange child. "Well, I guess you could say I just had a question to ask of you..." he murmured, straightening up a little.

"You're not a normal person, are you?"

[Erik Lensherr]

The question was... not what he was expecting. Then again, he really didn't even know what he expected. What was he supposed to except, from a child who randomly accosted him on the street? Erik raised an eyebrow, assuming a more defensive position. He wasn't hopeful about the question... not one bit. In fact, it was quite the opposite. He could only assume that the boy was one of the humans... prejudiced, hateful and violent. It wasn't uncommon, for children to take after their parents in such a way... and, although they were young, they were still human.

At any rate, he needed to answer honestly. There was no use in hiding, at least not in this particular scenario. "...Normal?" Erik asked, giving the boy a bit of a smirk. In all honestly, he had heard that word too many times. It wasn't welcome anymore. "Does it matter if I'm 'normal'? Normal is a biased thing, you know... My normal and your normal..." He raised a hand, causing the nearby buildings to contort ever so slightly. His eyes narrowed, his grin taking a turn for the malicious. "...could be two very different things."

He released his hold on the buildings, returning them to their normal states. "... So, why don't you tell me something." Erik said, his voice confident and unwavering. "Why, exactly, are you asking?" It would be easy to say something like Erik was "afraid" of the boy hating him... when, in fact, that isn't true at all. It wasn't "fear"... it was much more like anger. If the boy did hate him, well... He would cross that bridge when he got to it.

[Hao Asakura]

It was almost fun, to hear him go entirely in the wrong direction.

Almost.

But he knew that fear, that anger, that hatred of being confronted, belittled or cast out because of differences he hadn't possibly been able to control. Humans had killed his mother, after all - just because a fraud had goaded them into it using their fear of the unknown. This man... understood a fraction of that. But not enough to guess at the meaning of his words.

That just meant he'd have to demonstrate, right?

But it was Erik who made the first move, manipulating the metal in the surrounding buildings. Hao kept up his smile, impressed - so he had onmyouji-like powers in one element, at the very least. "Why? Oh, well, I'm glad you prompted me like that.... To tell the truth, I picked you out to ask because I could sense you were different. That you weren't a human.

"Because neither am I." He announced it without any change in his tone. That made it more fun too - would he think he was joking? But really, there was just something appealing to acting as if none of this mattered.

"Maybe I should introduce myself properly this time around. I'm Hao Asakura, a shaman. It's a pleasure."

[Erik Lensherr]

That was... not much of a surprise. Although Erik certainly expected Hao to be a human child who had somehow found out about his mutation, he had considered this possibility as well. His demeanor shifted immediately from one of anger and malice to a commanding, if a bit relaxed, posture. His fists loosened, his eyes returned to their normal state... but, he was standing straighter than before. This was it.... perhaps Hao could be his first recruit.

Of course, there was the barrier of him being a child, but... well, that was something he'd thought of before he really heard him speak. There was something about him that was a little... well, different. Erik couldn't place it and he was well aware that he could have been wrong, but something told him that there was more to Hao than there seemed. His tone, however, was... almost confusing. He never broke it, making Erik doubt his initial thoughts.... but, his thoughts were confirmed when Hao revealed himself as "shaman". Of course, he couldn't mean the sort of shaman that was known among humans. From the way he worded it, it sounded like another species.

"My name is Erik Lensherr." He paused, considering his wording carefully. "I am what is known as a "mutant".... one who has evolved beyond humanity's limits... both physical and mental." He waited for a second, giving himself a bit of time to consider his next words. "... Now that I've told you what I am, why don't you tell me. What is a 'shaman'?"

[Hao Asakura]

"A mutant? That's quite impressive," Hao said. That didn't... quite make sense to him - to surpass humanity meant gaining new abilities, perhaps, but how did a metahuman arise in the first place? This world really was different, for such a thing to occur.

Regardless, it wasn't really his problem, nor did he care much about it. What interested him were Erik's next flurry of thoughts - he had heard "recruit" among them. It was even easier to smile, when he thought of that himself. He, the future king... being recruited by someone who was no doubt much weaker. Still, why not go along with all of this, just to see where it led? Maybe Erik would know something of how to get away from this world.

And even if he didn't... it was strange, to meet someone who echoed his hatred and disgust so perfectly.

"A shaman is, too, beyond a human. Someone gifted with the spiritual power to see and interact with ghosts... that could be said to be a shaman. It's more than that, though. A shaman is one who watches over the boundary between life and death, and governs the balance of the world. We help lingering spirits forget their grudges and pass on. We remind humans of their need to respect the world.... It's a lesson they sorely need."

His speech done with, he stretched out his arms and then readjusted his poncho a little, ignoring the familiar weight of the Oracle Bell under one glove. It was useless right now.

"I know it's all a bit esoteric, but that answers your question, right?"

[Erik Lensherr]

How strange... someone with such a deep connection to life and death, running among humans. Erik couldn't fathom the reason why such a being would wander among... humans, especially since Hao didn't seem to be very approving of humans himself. But, he still didn't quite understand what a shaman is, so he could hardly judge him for it... especially when it seemed like the two had very similar opinions.

"....Yes, it does." Erik replied, still not quite understanding what he meant. Concepts so beyond what he knew were interesting... life and death were hardly things that mankind had even begun to touch upon. Perhaps mutants would be more capable of discovering such things than their incompetent predecessors. With the help of Hao, if he could get it, mutants would be capable of proving their clear mental superiority over humanity. Though, that would likely only make the humans hate them more. They couldn't stand anything better than them...

"... You don't seem to be very interested in humanity." Erik stated, deciding to begin the recruitment process as soon as he could. "In fact... you know what they really are, don't you?" It was a guess, but at least it was an educated one. From what he said about humans needing a lesson, well... he could only assume that's what he meant.

[Hao Asakura]

Well, at least Erik had proper respect for things he couldn't claim to control or understand. Not many people realized just how little they knew about the world - and how much shamans knew, in comparison.

He shared Hao's own feelings, even if they were focused so strongly on his own species. Mutants - well, who was he to say such couldn't exist in other worlds? Many things had been brought in because of the rifts. How this world had to have changed and adapted, to endure such intrusions.... If there was a Great Spirit here, it would be, perhaps, far more immense than the one in his world. A collective memory of the universe, with the entirety of each rift connected to it....

But that was speculation, and he had more important things to concern himself with right now. Keeping up that bright smile, he laughed quietly. "Humans... are a plague upon this world, as well as my own. They expand without following the natural cycle of growth and death. They forget to show respect to the world and to spirits. They destroy everything they touch, or corrupt it to their own uses." His eyes narrowed, though his expression remained the same.

"I hate them completely."