Mike Dorie goes to Genosha

Mike hesitantly stepped on the ferry towards Genosha. This was a one-way trip for mutants. Worthington Industries' mutant outreach program, Mutants Sans Frontiers, had done wonders in increasing mutant acceptance across the globe. However, one could not forget that the lord and master of Genosha was Erik Lehnsherr, the man known as Magneto. Once a Jewish terrorist striking out at Nazis who had gone into hiding and otherwise fascist government institutions, Lehnsherr and his Brotherhood of Mutants - who once openly called themselves evil to gaslight humans into forcing mutants to follow them - soon became a to be reckoned with. But the crimes of those days were never really forgiven and thus, though the United Nations granted him and sixteen million mutants the country of Genosha, that was all they gave him.

Once Mike landed on Genosha, he would never be allowed to return back home to Kansas. Everyone that he knew, everything that he knew, would be lost to him until he could find a way to leave. He would return. He knew that. Laws be damned. Genosha be damned. He was not going there to have fun. He was going there to train. He was going there to learn how to be a hero.

He hardly even noticed as the ferry started streaking across the blue ocean, making its way for the island nation's capital city of Hammer Bay. He stayed out on the deck, staring at the distance under the Sun at the small dot that would soon become his home.

"Heya!" said a cherubic looking girl who flittered down next to him. She had pink wings and a bright smile.

"Hey," nodded Mike.

"Aren't you excited to go to Genosha?" she asked.

"Yeah," nodded Mike. "Yeah, I guess I am."

"I'm Megan," she said, extending out her hand. "Megan Gwynn, but most people call me Pixie. You are?"

"Michael Dorie," said Mike. "But most people call me Mike. Or Shaman."

"So, why are you going to Genosha?" asked Pixie.

"Well, I want to learn how to use my powers better," said Mike. "You?"

"I was invited," she answered. "My father... was one of the first followers of King Lehnsherr."

"Don't tell me Toad's your dad," joked Mike, much to Pixie's amusement.

"No, my father was... not Toad," she said. "I'm going to get to tour the royal palace. I think they want me to take the Bishopric that would've been offered to my father."

"He's not around?"

"He died to the Legacy Virus," said Pixie.

The Legacy Virus. A gene specific virus that only killed mutants. It had been arranged for release by the terrorist Stryfe in the event of his . It had killed hundreds of mutants. Rumor had it that Beast had managed to cure it at a cost, but what that cost was, nobody knew.

"Oh, shoot," said Pixie, suddenly turning around. Looking back, Mike found himself startled by the presence of two Genoshan armed guards.

"My lady," said one guard. "We are to guard you at all times. It is best if you return to your suite."

"Maybe I'll see you on the island, Mike," said Pixie, smiling at him.

"Yeah, maybe," said Mike. With that, Pixie turned and joined the guards, leaving him to look at the Sun.