Fledgling (Revised)

While the X-Men were making their initial contact with a shaken Madeleine, an encrypted video call was also placed to the Xavier Institute thousands of miles away.

On the screen at the Xavier Institute base appeared a woman who looked to be in her forties. She wore a dark uniform against a backdrop of coldly austere, metallic-toned office decor. Despite her aloof demeanor, one could still tell from her brow that she must have been a beauty in her youth.

"Hello, Professor Charles," the woman said. "Let me introduce myself. I am Rets Yoel, director of the Office of Extraordinary Threat Response and Strategic Integration. According to federal arrangements, we will be responsible for handling mutant-related incidents from now on."

"Hello, Ms. Rets," Charles responded politely.

"Professor Charles, I initiated this contact because I need to confirm a situation with you," Rets continued. "Your X-Men seem to be showing up where they shouldn't be. In particular, the reports I received mentioned that there also appears to be a little fellow among them who can manipulate electronic equipment..."

"The X-Men's operations were authorized by the state government, with all paperwork in order," Charles replied with a calm, unhurried smile. "As for Miles, your agents personally confirmed not long ago that he is indeed still staying at the Institute. The battlefield situation changes in the blink of an eye; perhaps you received some inaccurate information, Ms. Rets."

"..."

Ms. Rets was silent for a few seconds. Those sharp eyes looked deeply at Charles through the screen, as if trying to find a flaw in his gentle smile.

Then she gave it up.

"Very well, then I won't pursue this matter any further this time," Rets said, her tone sounding unexpectedly calm.

"However, I hope to gain more of your support in future work, Mr. Charles."

"After all, we are the primary mutant affairs department accountable to the federal government, and you are currently the strongest mutant in the world. The two of us still have a vast scope for cooperation in the future."

"Thank you for your understanding, Madam," Charles responded with a smile. "Also, regarding Miss Madeleine... I hope to obtain her custody after the matter is concluded."

"Since she has already been discovered by you, as long as you can ensure she doesn't go crazy again, handing her over to you for containment is fine. I will help you fight for it."

Rets said it crisply, then her tone shifted. "However, the ones currently hunting her down are personnel from the Department of Defense's Special Assets Command. I don't have the direct authority to deploy them, so you'll need to have your people figure something out yourselves."

"That is enough." Charles nodded. "Your attitude surprises me somewhat, Ms. Rets. May I assume that you are relatively friendly toward us?"

"Not at all. I am simply maintaining as much fairness as possible," Rets's voice was calm and objective. "In my view, you are a group with a high degree of danger, but you are also very valuable collaborators. Under the current situation, we share a common goal, so of course we can try to cooperate."

"A common goal?" Charles asked pointedly. "Actually, I am quite curious, Ms. Rets. According to my understanding of you, wouldn't you normally adopt a hardline response first when it comes to powerful mutants out of control?"

"That was once the proposition of the Department of Defense's hardliners," Rets replied. "However, following the accident at Whiteman Air Force Base last year, along with the complete annihilation of an active-duty military force in the battle against Red Phoenix not long ago, and compounded by the fact that the downed research facility this time seems to have been connected to them behind the scenes... they are a thing of the past now."

"The Department of Defense just held an emergency meeting not long ago, and Secretary Harrison has submitted his resignation. Now, this affair is under the sole responsibility of our Office of Extraordinary Threat Response and Strategic Integration (ATHENA). From my perspective, I am not hostile to mutants, so in my eyes, you are a very good cooperative partner."

"I see." Charles nodded. "Thank you for clearing that up, Ms. Rets."

In the wilderness of Spruce Hill, West Virginia, the X-Men were taking Madeleine and heading toward the rendezvous point with the Blackbird.

"If you don't have a place to go for the time being, why don't you come with us to the Xavier Institute?" Delia walked beside Madeleine, saying softly, "Professor Charles should be very welcoming to you."

Madeleine's body trembled imperceptibly, her hollow gaze fixed ahead.

"I spoke with Professor Charles just now..." Madeleine still carried a trace of lingering fear and bewilderment on her face. "But I'm sorry... I can't go with you."

"There is a terrifying being... who has always been by my side. The moment I see her, I lose control... My power is far too dangerous. If I follow you back... I will bring disaster upon you."

"A terrifying thing? What is it?" Miles spoke up, asking, "Is it a strange person? Or a monster? Or something else entirely?"

"It's... a person."

Madeleine replied, her voice involuntarily dropping lower. "A strange woman... I saw her back when I left the laboratory. After that, I kept running, and running... But she can always appear by my side from time to time, and then... kill everyone who gets close to me."

At this, Madeleine's expression turned gloomy.

"Earlier during my escape, when I fainted from hunger, I was once rescued by an old woman. She gave me food and then said she could take me home... But right at that moment, that woman appeared."

"Then... I lost control. By the time I woke up, a lot of people on that street were dead."

"After that, the military showed up, and I could only keep running..."

"But no matter where I escape to, that woman always appears again..."

[That certainly sounds like a strange fellow.]

Listening to Madeleine's chaotic description, Miles gave instructions to his X Terminal without a change in expression.

"Aurora, trace this route in reverse, investigate all locations where large-scale abnormal casualties have occurred, and determine where Madeleine has engaged in combat."

"Understood, Miles," Aurora's soft voice responded from the terminal.

"Hmm?"

At that moment, Miles's gaze suddenly tightened.

His gaze cut past Madeleine's shoulder and caught the flash of a woman's figure behind a huge rock in the distance.

Almost at the same time, Delia, who walked beside him, also abruptly looked over in the direction of Miles's gaze.

"Did you see it too, Delia?" Miles asked in a low voice.

"Yeah." Delia nodded, her expression grave.

At the same time, the psychic powers of the two instantly spread out, sweeping across every inch of nearby land like an invisible radar, yet they found nothing.

It was empty, with no sign of anyone's existence at all.

"Something's wrong. Something is watching us," Miles warned the others aloud, then turned back to Madeleine. "Come back to the Institute with us. If 'that thing' really follows us, Professor Charles has plenty of ways to deal with it."

"It's too dangerous," Madeleine shook her head stubbornly. "I can feel that you are all good people, but I'm different... If my power gets out of control again, you'll be in great danger."

"It's fine," Miles said. "Charles will make you wake up."

"No," Madeleine said with unease. "My power was awakened just now before it was fully released. I have a feeling that the next time I lose control... it will be even more terrifying than before!"

"But..."

Miles wanted to persuade her further, but Delia gently pulled him back.

Immediately afterward, Delia spoke directly into his mind through telepathy: We need to give her some time, Miles.

She's a girl, and this is our first time meeting. Everyone needs to build an understanding of each other first.

"All right."

Miles stopped persisting, and instead said to Madeleine: "Since that's the case, we'll rest here for a bit."

"If the woman you mentioned shows up again, it'll just give us a chance to see what on earth that fellow is."

Thus, in the clearing by the Blackbird, the group sat down in a circle and began chatting with each other, trying to help Madeleine relax.

"So, you all grew up in a laboratory?"

Listening to Delia briefly recount the past, Madeleine widened her eyes, a hint of excitement at having "found her own kind" gleaming in her gaze.

"Yeah, we're all 'laboratory kids'," Charlotte pointed to himself, then pointed to Richter and Delia, and finally pointed to Logan, who was resting his eyes against a tree trunk not far away. "And that 'laboratory old man over there'."

The few of them subconsciously glanced at Logan, and then watched the old wolf casually flip them the middle finger in response.

"Hey..."

Madeleine chuckled softly, then asked the others with curiosity, "When you were in the lab, did you also have to cooperate with experiments every day?"

She gestured, trying to describe her own experience. "You know, like... constant testing, drawing blood, and reading lots and lots of books..."

"Books?"

Richter's expression turned somewhat complicated, and the corners of his mouth twitched. "Our lives weren't nearly that peaceful. Those people trained us as assassins, forcing us to do some... tasks we really hated."

"Except for Miles."

Delia added, "Miles stayed in the lab the whole time."

"After all, he's Dr. Zander's one-of-a-kind 'precious collection'." Charlotte added.

Seeing that this guy was about to say more, Richter gave him a timely glance to shut him up.

"Huh?" Madeleine asked instinctively, "Is it because Dr. Zander liked Miles very much?"

"..."

The atmosphere fell into a brief stagnation.

Richter, Charlotte, and Laura were momentarily at a loss for words.

"...Yeah, that's right."

Yet Miles acted as though nothing was the matter, nodding solemnly at Madeleine. "Dr. Zander certainly liked me the most."

"Dr. Zander—is he your father?" Madeleine seemed to have found common ground. "Just like my father, 'Dr. Stasis'?"

"...No, I will absolutely never admit that guy is my father."

Miles's voice finally turned cold. "I am an experimental product. I have no father and no mother. That was true in the past, and it will be true in the future."

Madeleine was startled by Miles's sudden change, and said carefully, "Sorry..."

"All right, let's change the subject to something lighter!"

At the critical moment, Charlotte very consciously took the initiative to try and liven up the atmosphere. "Next, let's talk about what happened last year! We escaped from the lab last year, Miles and Laura got separated from us, then ran into Logan and the others, and went through a whole series of things..."

"That experience was so exciting it was like a movie. You honestly wouldn't believe it..."

Time passed quickly, and an hour or so later, the sky grew dim.

The teenagers lit a campfire in the wild and began gathering to eat.

"Try this, Delia."

Richter took a pack of exquisitely packaged cookies from his backpack and sat down beside Delia.

"Thanks." Delia looked at her boyfriend in pleasant surprise. "You specifically brought sweets?"

"Because I knew you liked them."

Richter said with amorous devotion, "So I bring a pack every time we go out, just so I don't miss any chance to eat them with you..."

Before he could finish his words, Delia eagerly leaned in and planted a big kiss on his cheek.

"Tch..."

The others let out a unanimous, synchronized cold snort, and tacitly and spontaneously ignored the two clingy lovebirds.

Miles simply turned his head and concentrated on adding firewood to the campfire.

Before long, Delia finally released Richter's head. The two exchanged a deep, affectionate gaze and prepared to share the sweets together.

"Excuse me..."

A voice broke in abruptly right between the two of them.

Richter and Delia jumped in fright, turned their heads, and saw Madeleine standing right in front of them with a blank expression, pleading look on her face.

"Delia, these... cookies, can you give me some?"

"Umm..." Delia hesitated, subconsciously exchanged a glance with Richter, and then nodded. "Sure, do you want to try some too, Madeleine?"

"No." Madeleine shook her head. "I just thought... I should go apologize to Miles."

On the other side, Miles was squatting alone on a rock nearby, gnawing on a somewhat burnt hamburger patty grilled by Logan.

Then his expression shifted, and he turned his head to see Madeleine walking carefully toward him, holding a few cookies.

"Earlier... I'm sorry..."

Madeleine stood next to him and whispered, "Miles, I didn't know... that Dr. Zander's harm to you in the past was so deep."

After Charlotte's explanation during the day, Madeleine finally understood just how deep the malice hidden behind that word "favorite" truly was.

A cerebrospinal fluid extractor, mental derangement, paralysis from the waist down... If this was also a manifestation of "love," then Dr. Zander truly loved Miles down to his very bones.

"...So, you specifically came to apologize to me for a matter like that?"

Miles looked at Madeleine, saying somewhat helplessly, "Seriously, if you hadn't mentioned it, I probably would have almost forgotten about those things by now..."

"There's a book that says painful memories are hard to forget, Miles." Madeleine shook her head earnestly. "Especially for people like us... 'laboratory kids'."

Miles fell silent.

He could feel the girl's gaze. There was no sympathy and no pity in it, only a kind of calm that said... "we are the same kind."

After a while, he let out a slightly helpless sigh.

"...Fine, I accept your apology." Miles nodded, then added, "Though you can keep the cookies. I don't like sweets."

"Huh, could there actually be someone who doesn't like sweets?" Madeleine was somewhat uncomprehending. "When I fainted on the street before... Mrs. Melinda made me eat cookies to get my strength back. It really was the most delicious thing in the world..."

"Whatever, give it here."

Miles couldn't be bothered to say any more, reached out and took a piece of cookie from Madeleine's palm, and stuffed it into his mouth under the girl's expectant gaze.

Crunch, crunch...

The cookie was very crisp, but that cloyingly sweet taste instantly occupied his taste buds, causing him—someone who always preferred lighter flavors—to feel a bit nauseated.

At the same time, however, seeing Miles eat the cookie, Madeleine subconsciously revealed a faint smile.

[...She really is just a foolish girl who grew up in a lab.]

Miles thought to himself while chewing the cloyingly sweet biscuit.

And so, Madeleine sat down beside Miles, continuing to chat in a desultory fashion.

The campfire crackled, its warm yellow light casting a glow on both of their faces in a somewhat delicately quiet atmosphere.

Miles finished off the last bite of the charred meat patty, tossed the skewer into the fire, and turned his head to look at the girl sitting bolt upright beside him.

"So, Miles, were you really... in a wheelchair the whole time before?" Madeleine finally couldn't hold it back and asked the question she had been wanting to ask.

"Yeah." Miles nodded. "It wasn't until a few months ago that my legs were cured by Aurora, and I could get down and walk."

"Aurora, is that... the artificial intelligence lady?" Hearing Aurora mentioned, Madeleine asked with curiosity.

"That's right." Miles said. "Are you curious about her?"

"A little bit." Madeleine nodded. "Delia said Miss Aurora knows everything, so I want to ask her: where is my father?"

"Your father? Dr. Stasis?"

Miles's expression shifted, and he immediately pulled out his X Terminal. "Aurora, can you find any clues about Dr. Stasis?"

"I'm sorry, Miles. Dr. Stasis's identity records are heavily encrypted, and there are very few clues I can find on the network."

"He really is a mysterious fellow." Miles curled his lip, then asked again, "Then what about the battle Madeleine mentioned earlier? Is the investigation finished?"

"Related records have been banned on the network. I only managed to find a video backup from a news company's internal network not long ago."

"Investigations show that the location where Miss Madeleine's battle erupted earlier was in the Beechwood District of Parkersburg."

The X Terminal projected a three-dimensional holographic image upward and began playing that surveillance footage.

In the footage, the street was instantly swallowed by crimson-red energy, and a terrifying shockwave flipped cars into mid-air like toys, the asphalt road cracking inch by inch.

At the center of the energy, Madeleine's body was slowly rising, roaring flames igniting from her body as if to set the entire night sky ablaze.

Even through the recording, that destructive power was enough to make one's heart palpitate.

"Oh, it was that time..." Madeleine leaned in a bit closer with curiosity, pointing at the screen. "That was when I saw that woman, and started fighting with her..."

"Are you sure?"

Miles muttered to himself, then continuously fast-forwarded, slow-motioned, and searched frame by frame within the surveillance footage.

Yet from beginning to end, there was only Madeleine alone in the footage.

That violent power was like a baseless, uncontrolled outburst of release, leaving behind no trace of any second target's existence.

"I remember there being one..." Madeleine frowned as well, continuously searching within the footage, yet she simply could not find any sign that another enemy had existed.

"Wait, zoom in on this guy!"

Miles suddenly signaled Aurora to stop, then froze the frame on a fleeting figure at the edge of the recorded video.

This fellow... looked somewhat familiar.

"Aurora, enlarge this person's face!"

As the man's face was magnified within the recorded video, Miles quickly recognized the target.

"Josen Kona, the deputy of Task Force 77?" Miles murmured to himself, "Was he nearby when Madeleine lost control?"

"Mng..."

Right at that moment, Madeleine suddenly let out a painful groan, instinctively covering her head with both hands as fine beads of cold sweat seeped from her brow.

"Are you all right, Madeleine?"

Miles immediately cut off the footage, reaching out to steady her.

However, the next second, he sensed that something was not quite right!

Hiss, hiss...

At some point, flames had begun burning within Madeleine's eyes!

Meanwhile, Delia, who was speaking in a low voice with Richter, also experienced a sharp shift in expression, abruptly turning her head to look toward the other side.

In the night, a figure had appeared beside a withered tree in the distance at some unknown time.

It was a woman wearing a black trench coat, her features obscured in the darkness, quietly watching them from across the campfire!

"Richter, someone is here!" Delia spoke out suddenly.

"Someone?!"

Richter looked in the direction of the voice, yet discovered nothing at all.

Just as he was about to say something, the next second he suddenly heard the alarm sound sent by Aurora from the X Terminal.

"The enemy is coming! It's the military force that left earlier!"

"It's those people again?" Richter stood up immediately. "Delia, prepare for battle!"

"Delia?!"

Delia sat blankly in her spot, her gaze vacant, seeming to have lost perception of everything in the outside world.

Rustle, rustle, rustle...

Uniform footsteps gradually approached from the mountain woods, and soldiers armed to the teeth holding heavy weapons closed in from the darkness like ghosts!

Inside the command vehicle, the deputy Josen Kona looked at the real-time footage transmitted back on the screen, a trace of a cold, sinister sneer appearing on his face.

"Damned mutants..."

He muttered in a low voice, an eerie white light flashing within his eyes.