Welcome to Wichita, Kansas.

Some interesting facts. There are about 2.6 million people who live in Kansas, and 523,000 of those people reside in the Wichita Metropolitan Statistical Area. Fifty-one percent of that, around 266,730, are female. Less than one percent of that are mutants.

You are Lorna Dane. You fall into that less than one percent.

There is one difference between you and the other two people in the Wichita Metropolitan Statistical Area who happen to be mutants. And that difference is that you could destroy Wichita if you so desired.

But that's not your desire. You are Lorna Dane. You also used to go by the name Polaris. You were once an X-Man, and you served with the government-sponsored team of mutants known as X-Factor for many years. You have the mutant ability to control magnetic fields. This goes without saying, but that gives you quite a large palette to work with. In fact, your power may even rival that of Magneto, current ruler of the island nation of Genosha.

Just don't tell him that.

But, for you, that's all in the past. You are no longer an X-Man. You are no longer working for the United States government. As far as you're concerned, you are no longer a mutant. You are Lorna Dane. A young woman who is currently enjoying a new life as a professional geologist. Your job description says that you work full-time, and that you manage all elements of soil and water remediation projects. You are currently pulling down around sixty-two thousand dollars a year. Not bad for a single woman living on her own.

And you enjoy living in Wichita. It's not New York, but it's a nice place. Here, you're able to forget about your past. You're able to put it all behind you and just enjoy your life. Although sometimes, you look in the mirror, and you see your newly-dyed brown hair, and you think to yourself, "is that me?"

But not now. Now, your only thought as you get into your car and place your key in the ignition is, "pizza or Chinese?" Both are within close distance of your apartment, but it's just a question of which one to choose. Unfortunately, once you turn your key, another thought enters your mind.

And that thought is, "why won't my car start?"

You turn the key again. Still nothing. Again. Just a click. Your hand slides down and you pull the latch. The hood is released with a loud KLUNK.

You pull open the hood and you try to look and see if you can find the problem. You may not be a mechanic, but you have at least some working knowledge of how your car works. But you get another one of those pesky thoughts in your head as you try and find the problem.

"Since when is my engine white?"

Your next thought is, "since when does my engine have eyes?"

Your third thought is unprintable as the entire car suddenly begins to turn white as well. You watch as it molds into some sort of huge, white lump and begins to form into something almost humanoid.

He is Pestilence. One of Apocalypse's Horsemen. He has been ordered to attack you. Like any good lackey, he doesn't question orders. He just carry them out. He is similar to a race of techno-organic beings known as the Phalanx. What he just did to your car? That's called assimilation.

However, you aren't thinking about any of that. All you can think about is how you can use your magnetic powers to get yourself out of this mess.

Pestilence's arm forms into some sort of giant spike and comes flying towards you. Concentrating, you latch onto the metal in his body, and you split the spike in two before it can reach you. You continue this split down his arm and across his entire body, which leaves Pestilence lying in two seperate halves on the ground.

Unfortunately for you, Lorna, the halves begin to merge back together. Pestilence isn't finished with you yet, not by a long shot.

His body extends from his point on the ground, and he comes closer to you. Instinctively, you encase yourself in a magnetic shield. Good move, Lorna. Pestilence can't even hope to penetrate your shield. There is nothing there for him to assimilate.

But you aren't the one just to stand there and take a beating, shield or otherwise. So, you use your magnetic field to repel him and send him flying. You also take control of a street light and tear it from the ground with your powers. You then look over as Pestilence, and the street light flies towards him.

Pestilence simply extends a massive hand and grips the street light in it. It begins to turn a pale color, just like him, and then, it becomes absorbed into him.

"What do you want?" you ask.

"By mandate of the High Lord, you must come with me," was his reply.

"Not good enough," you tell him.

You hover in the air and begin to take command of all the surrounding metal objects in the area. Slowly, they all begin to rise and gravitate towards you. You command them to begin spinning. They obey the command, spinning faster and faster, gaining momentum. When they get to a speed you are pleased with, you force them to fly directly at Pestilence. The speed at which they are traveling is faster than that of a bullet. And there are millions of these little metal debris which strike his body. His body becomes perforated with millions of tiny holes. He falls to the ground.