Professor X Arrives

More than two hours later.

The sun had climbed to its zenith over the desert, mercilessly baking the earth. Heat distorted the air, and every breath felt like swallowing fire.

Russell walked in front. His steps were still steady, but he had slowed considerably.

Two hours under the blazing sun and in the blowing sand had left his once-fair skin sallow and dry. His lips were cracked and peeling, and his throat felt as though it were on fire.

He had miscalculated.

He had assumed that since they were in New York State, they could escape the base, walk in any direction for an hour or so, and find a road or town.

But this wasteland was far larger than he had imagined. After two hours of walking, all he could see were dunes and jagged rocks stretching into the distance. There was no sign of civilization.

The little food and water he had grabbed from the base were long gone.

Not far behind him, Felicity stumbled along, panting. The brown-haired girl could barely keep up.

She clearly wasn't built for a trek like this. Now she had to stop every few steps to gasp for air. Sweat mixed with dust ran down her forehead, leaving streaks across her face.

"Under... under that dune..." Felicity suddenly pointed ahead, too breathless to finish her sentence.

"There's a... car! Maybe we can get a ride. And... and some water!"

Russell followed her finger. In the shade of a dune several hundred meters away sat an aging SUV, its body coated in dust. It had clearly been parked there for some time.

At that moment, the vehicle was rocking gently in a steady rhythm.

The corner of his mouth twitched.

Laura said nothing. She stared at the rocking SUV, pressed her cracked lips together, and nodded firmly.

There was no trace of exhaustion in her cold eyes.

"A ride does sound like a good idea," Russell said with a nod.

The three Mutants with physical deformities who had initially followed him had given up after an hour. Russell showed no sign of stopping, and the wilderness ahead seemed endless.

After saying goodbye, they had trudged off in another direction to seek their own fortunes.

Now only Felicity and Laura remained, still following Russell with determination.

Russell had his own reasons for keeping the two girls around.

Felicity had psychic abilities. She didn't seem particularly powerful and couldn't get into his head, but the attempt itself triggered his passive Mental Defense and increased its proficiency.

Her tentative probe back at the base had earned him a system notification: experience +1. If he kept her around and she made a few more such attempts, his Mental Defense might level up much faster.

As for Laura, the blonde girl he suspected was X-23, she didn't seem especially useful for now.

But she had a Healing Factor and sharp claws. Perhaps sparring with her could help him train his Superhuman Healing. After all, getting hurt, healing, and getting hurt again was the most direct way to practice.

Of course, those were only preliminary ideas. He wasn't going to force anything.

He would see how things went.

Soon, the three of them reached the SUV.

Up close, it was in worse shape than expected. Its paint was chipped, and its tires were badly worn. It had clearly seen plenty of long-distance travel.

Dark tint hid the interior, but any adult could guess what was happening from the vehicle's rhythmic rocking.

Felicity took a deep breath and tried to steady her ragged breathing. From her pocket, she pulled a few crumpled bills she had taken from a dead guard at the base.

She stepped forward, tried to look polite, and tapped lightly on the still-shaking window.

Knock, knock, knock.

The rocking stopped abruptly.

After a brief silence, a man's rough, furious voice came from inside. He was plainly angry at being interrupted. "Fuck! Who the hell is bothering me now?!"

The window rolled down a crack, then all the way.

The interior came into full view: two shirtless men were crammed into the narrow back seat. One was fumbling to pull on his pants, while the other glared out the window. The air smelled of sweat and something less easily named.

Felicity's face went through a remarkable series of expressions: shock, embarrassment, and a hint of nausea.

She opened her mouth, but the words she had prepared stuck in her throat. At last, she managed, "Sir, sorry to bother you. We were hoping for a..."

She trailed off, suddenly uncertain.

This car, these two men... Her instincts told her this was a bad idea.

But the man who had been cursing a moment ago saw that the person at his window was a young girl holding a wad of cash. His anger quickly gave way to something else.

Greed, plain to see, and something more dangerous.

He craned his neck and surveyed the area like a hyena scenting blood.

When he saw that, aside from the girl, there were only two "kids" who looked barely into their teens, his greedy smile spread wide. It was so fake it turned the stomach.

"Need a ride?" He opened the door and stepped into the sunlight, wearing what he clearly thought was a friendly smile. "No problem. Hop in. We were just about to leave."

But his smile and the way his eyes roamed over Felicity made one thing clear: this ride would not be free.

Felicity frowned. Her instincts put her on guard, and she took half a step back. "No, thank you. We'll find another way."

Russell stood nearby and watched it all.

They say America is the land of the free and daily shootouts. We try to hitch a ride and run into this? Just our luck.

Still, it made sense. Out here, beyond the reach of the law, two unaccompanied girls and one young man who looked scrawny were easy prey.

He was considering taking action when—

"Child, child, may we talk? You are quite special."

A gentle, elderly voice suddenly sounded inside his head.

Russell's pupils contracted.

Mental Defense Experience +1

The system notification followed at once.

Professor X?! Charles Xavier!

Russell recognized him immediately.

That voice, the way it entered his mind directly, the tone that suggested it saw through everything—who else could it be but the world's most powerful telepath?

Russell wasn't particularly surprised to hear that voice in his head.

Charles was practically a walking Mutant radar, especially sensitive to unusual psychic activity.

Russell had escaped the base, cut his way through everyone in his path, and experienced a surge of emotion. It was only natural that the old bald man had picked him up on his "scan."

Still...

Scenes from Logan flashed through Russell's mind.

The man who had founded the X-Men and protected Mutants for decades, the most powerful mind on Earth, had ended up with dementia. He had hidden alone in a rundown Water Tower, barely kept alive by medication, only to die miserably at the hands of a clone of his former "student."

What bitter irony. The most powerful mind in the world couldn't heal its own brain.

Talk? Russell sneered inwardly and answered with his thoughts, making no effort to sound polite. Sorry, but barging into someone else's head isn't exactly polite.

Ordinarily, a Mutant meeting an elder as revered as Professor X ought to show respect.

But Russell's feelings about Charles Xavier were complicated, especially when it came to the things he had done. He could have changed so much, yet his supposed "moral principles" and refusal to kill had made him miss chance after chance, ultimately leading Mutants toward extinction.

Compared with Magneto, whose methods were extreme but whose goals were clear, a self-righteous do-gooder like that could be even harder to stomach.

Mental Defense Experience +1

The system sounded again. Clearly, Professor X was still trying to reach deeper into his mind. Russell's level-one Mental Defense was powerless against him; it provided experience points but blocked nothing.

"Child, I'm sorry," the gentle voice said again, full of regret.

"I shouldn't have entered your mind without your permission, but I... haven't met a child as special as you in a very long time.

"Please forgive a lonely old man for wanting someone to talk to."

After a pause, the voice added, "And I can help you out of this desert. I know you need that."