Professor X

Du Yang was completely beyond anyone's control. And he was a Mutant with a blood feud against the very people who oppressed Mutants.

They had no idea that their greatest fear had already appeared right here.

The next day

Du Yang's cell door suddenly swung open.

He knew exactly what that meant. Mutants were supposed to be resting at this time of day, and no one ever disturbed them.

If they did, it had to be an emergency.

But he was puzzled. He hadn't even tried to escape yet, so why had they come for him?

Could they read his mind?

Or had the researchers decided he was no longer useful and that it was time to dissect him?

Two white guards with displeased expressions appeared. They waved their batons and looked at him like he was trash. "Number 812, you're in luck. Someone's here to see you. Maybe you can get out of here."

"You've got it better than all the others."

Du Yang looked surprised.

Then they put him in handcuffs and escorted him somewhere.

The two guards were clearly impatient.

As they escorted him, they kicked him hard for walking too slowly.

The Mutant prison had a visitors' room, after all. They still had to keep up appearances.

On the way to the visitors' room, Du Yang passed countless cells packed tightly together.

But that wasn't what occupied his thoughts. He wondered who had come to see him.

Both his parents were dead, and he didn't have any relatives worth mentioning. He should have had no one left to care about him.

It wasn't until Du Yang reached the visitors' room that he finally understood.

The person waiting for him was Professor X, the man named Charles Francis Xavier.

They were the only two people in the visitors' room. Professor X sat in his wheelchair with his hands folded in his lap. When he saw Du Yang, his eyes held both wisdom and compassion.

Professor X spoke earnestly. "My boy, I know you've suffered here. But I've come to take you away."

Du Yang fell silent. Now he understood why Professor X had come for him.

As one of the most powerful telepaths in human history, Professor X was an Omega-level Mutant. How could he fail to sense Du Yang's potential?

Just as Du Yang had guessed, Professor X continued, "I've had a premonition about you. Your potential goes far beyond this. You can't stay trapped in this prison forever."

"Come back to the school with me. It's a home for Mutants. We can help you control your abilities and teach you to use them to bring peace between Mutants and humans. This world needs hope. It needs people like you to build a bridge of understanding."

Du Yang looked at him, at the legend revered by countless Mutants as their savior and regarded by some human factions as the only voice of reason.

Then he laughed.

At first, it was only a quiet snicker.

Then his laughter grew louder, echoing through the empty room until it turned sharp and grating.

Professor X maintained his smile. "I know what's troubling you. Let me explain."

"I don't think that's necessary, Professor X." Du Yang's expression was calm. "You were born into one of the wealthiest families in New York. You own a mansion in Manhattan and a castle-like school in Westchester County."

"Even as a Mutant, you have billions at your disposal. No wonder you're always talking about Mutants and humans living together in peace and understanding one another."

Professor X's expression barely changed. "There isn't really that much separating us."

"You're wrong, Professor." Du Yang spoke with complete seriousness. "There's a huge divide between us. Have you ever experienced a family being beaten in the street because someone realized they were Mutants? Have you ever gone hungry because you couldn't find a job? Have you ever been driven out by your landlord and left homeless?"

"Of course not. You've never been that desperate, and you've never had to think about how most ordinary Mutants live."

Du Yang leaned forward, the handcuff chain scraping against the metal table with a shrill sound. He continued to press him:

"Your peace means we don't fight back or talk back. It means Scott Summers has to put away his optic blasts, Ororo Munroe has to hide her godlike command of the weather, and every Mutant has to behave like a good little child."

"Your peace means those of us born different have to accommodate the majority—the people who fear and hate us?"

Professor X tried to speak, but Du Yang drowned him out.

"You sensed my potential, so you came to get me. But what have you done before this? You came all the way to this Mutant prison, yet you turned a blind eye to it."

"Isn't this a prison for Mutants? Isn't it a place built by the very humans you insist we have to get along with?"

"What were you doing while Mutants were being abused? What were you doing while they were being experimented on? And what were you doing while they were being slaughtered? You send the X-Men to help the humans who hurt us?"

Du Yang found it all absurd and laughable.

He kept exposing Professor X, speaking without pause. "You founded a school and took in young Mutants. How noble. And then what? You trained those children to become X-Men and fight, get hurt, and even die for your 'vision of peace.'"

"Meanwhile, you always sit safely behind the lines. You dress it all up in idealism and make them think they're sacrificing themselves for a noble cause. But whose order are they really protecting? An order where humans cannot be challenged."

Du Yang stared at Professor X, then enunciated each word. "The gentle leader of the Mutants. Humanity's most agreeable Mutant friend. Charles, your hands are stained with Mutant blood, yet you think they're coated in honeyed hope."

"My parents died at human hands. Has your theory improved the lot of ordinary Mutants? No. It's made things even worse."

"Mutants need to show humans what we're capable of if we want to survive in society."

At those final words, Professor X's expression suddenly changed.

The next moment, a wave of telepathic power washed over Du Yang.

For an instant, it felt as if his consciousness had split in two: one half filled with malice toward humanity, while the other seemed to contain nothing but pure goodness.

He realized what was happening. Professor X knew how powerful his potential was, and just as he had done with Jean Grey, he meant to seal away the part of Du Yang that he considered evil.

The entire room began to shake.

Professor X had never been what he claimed to be.

Du Yang sneered.

"Professor X, do you still think you can succeed?"

Professor X was nothing more than a powerful level-four Mutant.