Chapter 194: Visiting Jean, Kitty, Rogue

Location: Unknown

Officers and search dogs raced after a man wearing a dark green and light green striped shirt, brown pants, and brown shoes.

"There he is!" one of the officers shouted.

"Woof! Woof!"

"Stop right there, Marco!"

The man stopped in front of a fence.

As he turned around, one of the dogs charged toward him, ready to bite.

He caught the animal before it could reach him, grabbed it by the neck, and struck it, making it let out a pained whine.

Turning back around, he began climbing the fence.

The same dog leaped at him again, but this time it fell short.

"Stay back! This is a radioactive testing ground! It is dangerous to go in there!"

The officers watched as the man kept running until he reached a point where there was nowhere left to go.

"Where did he go?" one officer asked.

After tumbling down an embankment, the man slowly got to his feet and looked around.

Suddenly, a bright light illuminated him, forcing him to shield his eyes.

A few seconds later, the light disappeared.

When he looked up again, he saw a strange machine, electricity coursing through what appeared to be large white tubes.

Inside a bunker some distance away, heavy doors sealed shut.

A woman noticed an anomaly on one of her monitors and immediately alerted her colleagues.

"Conne, there is a disturbance in Sector One," she said.

"There is a change in mass," another researcher reported.

"Demolecularization initiated," a third announced before activating the machine.

The man watched as the tubes slowly descended and began rotating with an unsettling mechanical hum.

Looking upward, he spotted what appeared to be a possible exit.

To reach it, however, he would have to cross an area now blocked by the spinning tubes, which had formed a barrier of crackling energy.

He sprinted forward.

The instant he reached it, it felt as though he had slammed into a solid wall.

Electricity surged through his body.

He watched as the tubes continued accelerating, gradually forming a swirling vortex.

Closing his eyes, he instinctively raised his arms to shield his face.

Unbeknownst to him, his molecular structure was slowly changing.

His genetic code came into contact with a microscopic grain of sand, triggering the beginning of a mutation.

The man watched in horror as one of his hands slowly transformed into sand and began to crumble away.

Agonizing pain coursed through his entire body.

"AHHHHHHH!"

What felt like hours lasted only a few minutes.

As soon as the experiment ended, the police rushed inside.

They found nothing.

Inside the bunker, the woman smiled as she reviewed the data on her monitor before approaching a man dressed in an elegant suit.

His eyes remained closed, his expression one of absolute composure.

"Mr. Essex, the particle accelerator produced very encouraging results. It will be ready for full-scale operation soon. There are only a few adjustments left to make."

The man opened his eyes and studied the results she presented.

A satisfied smile crossed his face.

"Excellent. Keep up the good work. Additional funding will be provided so you can continue the experiments."

The woman smiled.

"Understood."

Mr. Essex turned and walked out of the facility, looking thoroughly pleased.

-----

Sitting down, he began reviewing the files he had gathered on Black Fox, devising a backup plan in case the first one failed.

Suddenly, all the information disappeared from his screen.

He raised an eyebrow.

A new folder appeared in its place.

"It is the Howlett X file," Karen said.

Frowning, he opened it and began examining it closely.

The more he read, the more his anger grew.

Most, if not all, of the information focused entirely on Logan and what certain parties intended to do with his blood and abilities.

The file listed four separate facilities, but only one immediately caught his attention.

According to the report, out of a group of twenty-six children, only one had survived.

Finding the entire project utterly reprehensible, he continued reading.

They had sacrificed all those children to achieve a single successful result.

When he saw the name of the doctor who had overseen the project and the identity of the surviving child, he groaned and rubbed his face, frustrated that the world kept connecting things he had hoped were unrelated.

The girl was still alive because she was considered the key to creating more subjects like her.

"Karen, get my car and the Bat-Wing ready. We are going on a trip."

He stood up and gathered everything he needed.

After changing into casual clothes, he retrieved a Nanocube from his hidden shelf and headed to the DCB.

As soon as he got in, the engine roared to life.

"What are you waiting for? Get in."

He leaned his head out the window and called to Karen, making her eyes widen.

"You want me to get into that beast?"

"Yes!"

"Understood. Yes."

She climbed in.

Holding down both the accelerator and the brake for a few brief seconds, he checked the gauges, released the brake, and the car lifted for a fraction of a second before launching forward.

"WOOOOOW!" they both shouted in unison.

Karen turned on some music, filling the car with an energetic atmosphere.

Glancing into the rearview mirror, he spotted a police car behind them.

He activated the patch on his neck, and his face shifted into Jason’s.

Cranking the wheel, he sent the car sliding sideways, stuck his hand out the window, and gave the officer the middle finger.

"Hahahaha!"

Watching him, Karen copied the gesture with a smile.

Approaching another turn, he shifted gears, gaining even more speed as they left the police car behind.

He pressed the patch again, and his face returned to normal.

A sharp curve appeared ahead.

Smiling, he yanked the handbrake and turned the wheel, sending the car into a full drifting spin.

"HAHAHA! YESSSS!" Karen shouted, sounding both delighted and amazed by her father’s driving.

Seeing the usually stoic Karen genuinely enjoying herself filled him with satisfaction.

Afterward, he resumed driving normally and continued toward their destination.

"Next stop, Xavier Institute."

-----

A certain stunning redhead, still a student, lay sprawled across her bed with her hair in complete disarray.

She had tried countless ways to make Logan reveal something about the masked visitor, even pushing her telepathic abilities to their limits.

She still could not enter his mind.

She had even tried bribing him with beer and cigars, but, surprisingly, Logan had not revealed a single piece of information.

What surprised everyone most was Logan’s unwavering loyalty to the masked man.

Climbing out of bed in Spider-Man-themed pajamas, she left her room and headed toward the dining room for breakfast.

Along the way, she met Rogue and Kitty, both wearing their own Spider-Man-themed sleepwear.

After pouring herself a bowl of chocolate cereal, Jean quietly began eating while watching television.

Halfway through lifting another spoonful, she suddenly froze.

Turning toward the window, she felt a familiar mental presence.

Her eyes widened.

She looked down at her pajamas, then caught sight of her sleep-mussed hair reflected in the glass.

She looked horrified.

"Jason!" she shouted, immediately drawing the attention of the other two girls.

"What is happening?" Rogue asked.

"Jason is coming!"

Leaving her breakfast untouched, Jean sprinted back to her room to change.

The other two exchanged a quick glance before doing exactly the same thing.

Inside her room, Rogue struggled to decide what to wear to impress the boy, something she had not done in quite some time.

After searching through her wardrobe, she selected several pieces and quickly got dressed.

She finished the outfit with a pair of spiked bracelets and a pendant.

Looking at herself in the mirror, she smiled.

Glancing down at her hands, she remembered she no longer needed gloves, so she abandoned the idea entirely.

"Today is the day," she murmured to herself with a confident smile.

Blowing a kiss at her reflection, she left her room.

Unlike Rogue, Kitty chose an outfit that helped her stand out while balancing elegance, youthful charm, and a playful air.

When she looked at herself in the mirror, she felt satisfied.

She only needed a pair of pink shoes to complete the outfit.

Jean searched through her wardrobe but found nothing particularly eye-catching, only oversized clothes and pieces that did not match well.

Eventually, she found a fitted T-shirt with the X-Men logo on the sleeves, tight black pants, and matching black boots.

When she looked into the mirror, she noticed how neatly the shirt outlined her figure.

Just as she was about to change into something else, she paused.

Looking at herself again, she struck a few different poses.

The quiet voice that had lingered in the back of her mind for quite some time whispered that she looked beautiful and confident.

She decided to keep it on.

Slap!

She playfully slapped her own hip and gave herself a confident smile.

"Time to make an impression."

Leaving her room, she drew more than a few curious glances as she walked down the hallway.

Scott, who happened to be passing through the corridor, frowned.

Jean was dressed completely differently from how she used to dress when they were together.

Curious, he followed from a distance and soon noticed that Rogue and Kitty were dressed in a similarly deliberate fashion.