Perhaps it was the shock of what they had experienced earlier that day, or perhaps it was the lingering fear that Sebastian Shaw might somehow track them down again.
Whatever the reason, no one slept well that night.
Even though they were physically exhausted, real sleep refused to come easily. Many of them tossed and turned for hours. Others would finally drift off only to wake suddenly at the slightest noise.
The memory of Shaw and his team slaughtering the CIA base weighed heavily on everyone's minds.
The entire group was tense.
For them, it was a night filled with unease.
Rorschach, however, wasn't lying awake because of fear.
Quite the opposite.
He was excited.
Ever since the system notified him that heat vision could be unlocked, he had been itching to test it.
"I should be safe to try it now," he thought quietly.
"It's late enough that everyone must be asleep."
The thought finally tipped the balance.
Rorschach threw off the blanket and quietly climbed out of bed.
He planned to sneak outside and test the ability somewhere in the yard.
Charles's estate was massive. As long as he avoided damaging anything important, there would be plenty of room to experiment.
Squeak…
The door creaked softly as he opened it.
Trying not to wake anyone, Rorschach moved carefully, even walking on his toes.
But just as he stepped into the hallway, a surprised voice suddenly spoke.
"Rorschach?"
He turned his head.
"Raven?"
Standing nearby was Mystique herself.
She was wearing a loose nightgown that draped comfortably over her figure, though it still outlined her natural curves.
More notably, she was not disguised.
Her blue skin and intricate natural patterns were fully visible. Clearly, she had dropped her human appearance while sleeping.
Like everyone else, she hadn't been able to rest.
She had simply gotten up to find something to drink.
And instead, she had run into Rorschach.
"Can't sleep?" Raven asked casually as she walked closer.
Rorschach silently regretted not using his super hearing before stepping out of his room. If he had listened first, he might have avoided this awkward encounter entirely.
"I could ask you the same thing," he replied calmly.
"After everything that happened today, it's hard for anyone to relax," Raven said quietly.
She stepped closer until she was standing directly in front of him.
Rorschach could feel her breath and faintly smell the perfume she was wearing.
"But you're different," Raven added with a slightly playful look. "You didn't seem scared at all."
She tilted her head slightly.
"Since neither of us can sleep… maybe we could go back to your room. You could explain how you stay so calm."
For a moment, Rorschach didn't know whether to laugh or sigh.
Western women were certainly straightforward.
But Mystique's current appearance—while not ugly—was far outside his personal preferences.
"Raven," he said seriously, "I'm not awake because I can't sleep. I actually came out here for something."
Mystique blinked.
"Is it because of how I look?" she asked suddenly, sounding slightly disappointed.
Then her body shimmered.
In a ripple of blue skin and shifting form, she transformed into her familiar human disguise.
"Is this better?" she asked.
The transformation was flawless.
Still, Rorschach couldn't help thinking it felt a bit like someone showing a heavily edited photograph after you had already seen the real thing.
"Raven," he said suddenly, "look at my eyes."
She blinked again.
For a moment, she thought he might be about to say something intimate.
But the next second—
His eyes began glowing red.
"Rorschach!"
Mystique jumped slightly, instantly forgetting whatever she had been thinking earlier.
Her expression shifted to pure surprise.
"See?" Rorschach said calmly. "It looks like I've awakened a new ability. I came out here to test it."
Raven stared at him for a moment before finally realizing he had been telling the truth earlier.
He hadn't been brushing her off.
"Raven," Rorschach continued, "I need a place with plenty of open space to try it out. Can you show me somewhere suitable?"
Since heat vision wasn't something he needed to hide, there was no problem demonstrating it in front of her.
"Of course," she said immediately. "That's easy."
She gestured toward the back of the estate.
"Trust me, Charles's property has plenty of empty space."
A few minutes later, Raven led him to a large open field.
There was even a small training playground located on the property.
Yes—Charles Xavier's home was so large that it literally included its own playground.
For testing heat vision, the space was perfect.
Rorschach took a deep breath.
He focused inward, feeling the energy gathering behind his eyes.
The power condensed rapidly.
Then—
Swish!
Two blazing beams of heat erupted from his eyes.
"Oh, damn!"
Raven covered her mouth instinctively.
Even as a mutant, seeing someone fire lasers from their eyes was a shocking sight.
She could feel the immense energy radiating from the beams even without standing directly in front of them.
The two rays illuminated the night like pillars of blazing light.
They cut through the darkness brilliantly.
For Rorschach, the sight was strangely beautiful.
Unfortunately, the heat vision lasted only about five seconds before he had to stop.
Any longer and the strain on his eyes became uncomfortable.
Still, considering that his template progress had only reached five percent, Rorschach felt perfectly satisfied.
Five seconds was just the beginning.
Next, he began testing the beams on nearby rocks.
The results were impressive.
Solid stone disintegrated instantly when touched by the heat rays. The rocks crumbled as if they were nothing more than fragile sand.
Rorschach nodded with satisfaction.
"This will definitely become one of my strongest abilities," he said quietly.
Raven watched everything with a mixture of awe and excitement.
"Rorschach," she said after a moment, "you've become even stronger."
She shook her head slowly.
"Honestly, you're already the strongest among all of us."
Before this, many of them had believed Havok might eventually become the most powerful mutant in the group. His energy rings were incredibly destructive.
Even Rorschach had once been cautious about facing them.
But now things were different.
Rorschach possessed a comparable offensive ability of his own.
And Charles's telepathic power didn't work on him either.
Considering everything together, there was little doubt left.
Among all of them, Rorschach now stood at the top.
.....
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