"Welcome back."
Ororo flew the jet smoothly. The moment Fenris stepped off the boarding ramp, he saw Professor X already waiting not far away in his wheelchair.
A tall woman in a vivid red dress stood quietly behind him.
"It's good to see you again, Professor."
Fenris gave the Professor a slight nod, then glanced at the woman behind him and smiled politely.
Jean Grey.
The host of the Phoenix Force.
As one of the oldest powers in the original universe, the Phoenix Force was the creator and source of psionic power, the embodiment of life and mind itself, wielding power that transcended dimensions and planes.
It was something far beyond what Fenris could even begin to brush against right now.
"Fenris, I knew you would come. Welcome to the Xavier School family."
The Professor was so happy at Fenris's arrival that he laughed out loud. He then drew Jean forward and introduced her.
"This is Jean Grey, my student and also one of the teachers here."
"It's very nice to meet you."
Jean extended her hand with natural grace. "Ever since the last time he got back, the Professor's been bringing you up in front of us all the time."
"Hello. I'm Fenris."
Fenris lightly shook her fingertips. "Your eyes are beautiful."
"Thank you!"
"Professor, there's something I should make clear in advance."
Fenris paused, then emphasized, "Because of my particular ability, I probably won't be staying at the school all the time, and I won't be able to serve as an X-Man on permanent standby."
"That is only natural."
The Professor nodded, his voice warm. "This is a school. No one's freedom will be restricted here."
"Thank you for understanding."
Meanwhile, Scott stepped in with a weary look and blocked Logan's burning stare at Jean.
"Hey, man. She's my girlfriend."
"Wow."
Logan withdrew his gaze and answered flatly, "Then I really can't praise her taste."
"Hmph."
With a cold snort, Scott hoisted Sabretooth over his shoulder and turned away.
...
"Professor, everyone's back."
Coming to a stop in front of Professor X, Scott dropped Sabretooth to the ground with a heavy thud, then rubbed his aching arm.
Fenris had made carrying him look easy, but when it was his turn, the man felt unbelievably heavy.
"Sabretooth. One of Magneto's most capable men."
The Professor recognized him immediately. "My old friend is clearly preparing to do something big again. Secure him first."
Then the Professor turned his gaze toward Logan and Rogue nearby.
"Who was he after this time?"
"No idea."
Scott shook his head helplessly. "By the time we got there, Fenris had already knocked Sabretooth out and captured him alive."
Thanks to his powerful healing factor and rich combat experience, there were very few X-Men who could drag Sabretooth back alive the way Fenris had.
Seeing everyone turn to look at him, Fenris spread his hands.
"I didn't expect him to be that easy to beat."
"..."
"All right. Everyone's worked hard. I'll investigate it myself later."
The Professor let out a light sigh. "Fenris, the nuclear waste is being stored ten kilometers north of the school. You can go see it whenever you like."
"Oh?"
Fenris's eyes lit up instantly.
"Do you need a car?" Ororo asked thoughtfully.
"No."
The moment the words left his mouth, Fenris vanished from the room.
The school grounds were simply too large. Fenris could not be bothered taking the long way, so he found a window and jumped straight out from the upper floor.
Down below, Professor X nearly laughed out loud at the sight.
"Professor?"
"I was just thinking of something pleasant."
The Professor glanced at Jean and honestly explained what had amused him. "I have a feeling Fenris's arrival may bring a different kind of change to our school."
"But before, you said you couldn't read his thoughts, only hear countless beastly roars with no clear meaning."
Jean looked a little hesitant. "The way Fenris grows stronger is too strange. And when it comes to enemies, he shows absolutely no mercy. His methods are extremely ruthless. I'm worried..."
"Yes. There is a beast hidden inside him."
Remembering the shock of their first psychic contact, when waves of roars - fierce, domineering, savage - had surged back at him in retaliation, Professor X still felt lingering unease.
"But I trust that child. With enough guidance, his experiences won't turn him into someone as extreme as Erik."
"I hope you're right."
...
The scent of radiation was simply too irresistible. Following the direction he had been given, Fenris sprinted all the way there, and not long after, a barren mountain that looked entirely unremarkable appeared before him.
"This is it."
Fenris's eyes brightened. Following his own senses, he kept moving deeper, and before long the space opened wide before him.
The inside of the mountain had already been hollowed out into a massive cavern.
The moment he stepped inside, Fenris felt every cell in his body become unusually active. A familiar warmth began to spread gradually from the outside in.
An indescribable sense of comfort flooded through his entire body in an instant.
Even after being processed, highly radioactive nuclear waste still released an impressive amount of radiation.
It was nowhere near the radiation burst inside the reactor chamber at Alkali Base, but if he could stay in an environment like this for a long time, the improvement to his strength would still be enormous.
"The Professor really is a good man."
Fenris even found a small simple room inside.
The thoughtful design ensured that even while staying in the room, he could still absorb radiation from every direction. There was also a specially treated high-tech communication device inside, allowing Fenris to stay in contact with the outside world whenever he wanted.
"This place is perfect."
After praising it once, Fenris thought for a moment, then simply took off his coat and transformed back into that monstrous form.
Following pure instinct, he found the place where the radiation was strongest and curled himself up there like Godzilla.
Feeling the strength of his skin, muscles, and bones steadily increase, the sensation of growing stronger every second was intoxicating.
A deep, heavy breathing sound filled the air. In his sleep, the spines along Fenris's back gradually began to glow with a faint blue light.
At the same time, the biological reactor inside his body began operating at full power. In his throat, an entirely new organ was slowly taking shape.
Unlike Fenris's peaceful comfort, several days later at the school, a group of people stood tensely around Professor X, while Sabretooth - Victor - lay quietly on an operating table, allowing the Professor to search through his mind at will.
"Well?"
The moment the Professor opened his eyes, it was Logan, of all people - usually indifferent to almost everything - who asked first.
"I saw you in his memories, Logan."
The look the Professor gave Logan was full of complexity. The twists and hardships of his past were enough to move even Professor X.
"Me?"
Logan froze.
"I know the answer, but I can't just tell you directly. I will give you guidance and help you recover your memories."
Perhaps worried Logan might grow anxious, the Professor explained carefully. "If I tell you outright, then what you gain will only be a stranger's story, not your own past. For you, that might be even crueler."
"Fine."
Logan nodded gloomily.
"There's something else. I now know what my old friend is planning."
The Professor's tone shifted as his gaze swept across everyone's faces. "His target is not Logan. It's Rogue."
"He wants to use Rogue's power to turn all the ordinary humans in New York into mutants. But the mutant situation is already hanging by a thread. An extreme act like Erik's will only deepen the misunderstanding and conflict between both sides."
"So we have to stop him."
"But Professor, Rogue's been at the school this whole time. How could Magneto possibly..."
Before Ororo could finish, Scott's communicator suddenly rang.
He answered it, and an anxious male voice came through at once.
"Sir, something's wrong. Someone saw Rogue arguing with me, and now she's already left the school."
It was Bobby. His voice was full of panic.
"But I wasn't even there at the time. I didn't do this."