DISCLAIMER: OK, I should tell you that I am writing about a character I have never used before, so there’s a good chance I’m gonna screw this up royally. However, this is all done in the name of entertainment, so please bear with me. I’ve been toying with this idea for the last few months and it should work out the way I planned. The X-Men and all related characters belong to those nice folks at Marvel. All unrecognizeable characters are my own creation. Feedback is appreciated, but please keep your flames to yourself -- my ego is very fragile. :)

Erik Magnus Lensherr sighed to himself as he eased back in his chair. The wood groaned and squeaked beneath him as he shifted in an attempt to make himself more comfortable. He looked at the clock on the far wall. One forty-five p.m. He had been in this room for just under five hours, but to him it felt like years.

"I suppose I should count my blessings," he mused to himself, trying to keep positive thoughts as he peered around the room. "Though it’s quite likely that I may have to spend my remaining years here, there is still a possibility of my release, however slim it may be."

"Mr. Lensherr," a voice called from across the room. He looked up to see a middle-aged man in a cheap suit walking toward him. The man’s slicked-back hair showed hints of greying at the temples, and his striped tie was tucked into his oversized waistband. Magnus groaned inwardly. The prosecutor. Humanity's lowest of the low. He wondered how the man could sleep at night when he had likely sent many innocent men and women to jail.

"Yes," he responded, straightening in his seat. The prosecutor paused for a moment as he checked the notes he had hastily scribbled on his yellow legal pad. He adjusted his glasses as he spoke.

"Please tell the court your full name."

"Erik Magnus Lensherr."

"Do you understand the gravity of this situation, Mr. Lensherr?"

"I believe I do, yes," Magnus replied.

"So you realize that we are here for a murder trial?"

"Yes."

"You know that six months ago, three innocent human beings had their lives taken unjustly?"

"Yes." Is he always this condescending? Magnus wondered. He looked around at the faces in the jury box. One young woman slumped in her seat and stared out the small window on the opposite wall. The middle-aged businessman in the third seat from the left fiddled with the cuffs on his shirt. An elderly man in the back row had dozed off twenty minutes earlier and sat with his face bunched up against his shoulder. Magnus suddenly found himself envying the old man.

The attorney looked down at his papers again and frowned. "Aren't you the mutant terrorist known to the world as Magneto?"

"I am," Magnus replied as he shifted his weight. Why are these damned things so uncomfortable? His chair let out a loud squeak, which, sadly, did more to rouse the jury than his recent revelation.

"Isn’t it true that over the years you have harmed hundreds of people in your quest for mutant domination?"

"No."

The prosecutor’s head jerked up and he looked toward the judge. "Your honor ..."

"Answer the question truthfully, Mr. Lensherr," the judge sighed as she wiped her hand across her face.

At least I’m not the only one who’s suffering, Magnus thought. He looked up and met the judge's stern gaze. Alright. If they want the truth, then the truth they shall have. He smiled and looked the prosecutor dead in the eye.

"It would be far more accurate to say that I have harmed *thousands* of people in my quest for mutant domination," he said.

The prosecutor’s pen dropped from his hand and landed with an audible click on the tile floor. The judge sat back and raised an eyebrow, and the jurors leaned forward in their seats, eager to hear the only interesting testimony of the day. Magnus was somewhat pleased at the stunned reaction of those around him. Especially that of the attorney standing in front of him.

The prosecutor realized he was gaping like a fish and quickly tried to cover his lapse in proper demeanor. "No more questions, your Honor," he said as he retreated and slid into his seat behind a long wooden table.

Magnus watched as a slightly younger man stood up from behind the adjacent table. The man’s artfully styled hair and designer suit told Magnus that this was one very successful defense attorney. "Probably gets murderers off the hook all the time," Magnus thought with a smirk.

"Mr. Lensherr -- or should I say Magneto?" the attorney greeted as he leaned his hands on the short wall of polished oak that separated them. "Perhaps you would like to explain your philosophy about mutant domination."

"As a matter of fact, I would." He smiled inwardly as he realized that he had just been handed one of the greatest opportunities of his life.

"Mutants are the next step in the evolution of mankind," he began, his voice echoing off the walls of the courtroom. "We are engaged in a race for survival, a race where there is room for only one victor.

"You see, foolish humans, mutants are that superior race, and we must eradicate the homo sapiens before they can harm us. With me as their leader, mutants will someday be victorious and crush the rest of humanity like the insects that they are!"

He looked expectantly at the judge, almost daring her to say something about his impromptu speech. If she had heard him, she made no indication, as she appeared more interested in twirling her upended gavel on the bench in front of her.

"Well," the younger attorney said, running a hand through his hair, "the defense has no objections to this man, your honor."

The judge looked over toward the prosecution side of the room. "Counsel?"

"The prosecution does not object, your honor."

"Very well." The judge turned to Magnus. "Mr. Lehnsherr, you may take the next available seat in the jury box."

Magnus sighed audibly and pulled himself out of the chair on the witness stand. He walked over to the jury box, stepped up to the second row and took a seat next to the old man who had dozed off earlier. His movements jostled the man awake, and the man looked up and gave Magnus a look of sympathy for their shared commiseration.

As the next victim was called forward, Magnus leaned back in his chair and closed his eyes. He had realized too late that not even the Master of Magnetism could escape jury duty.