บท 63: Chapter 63 He’s… Confident
I arrived at the familiar gates of the X-Mansion, the fancy building looking as impressive as ever. "It's been a while," I murmured to myself, recalling the last time I had set foot on this ground. My mind drifted back to that visit and how much had changed since then. Back then, I was a newly enhanced individual and had a lot of things to fear, especially around individuals like the X-Men, who could easily subdue me.
But now things are different, I thought to myself, looking down at my hands. I clenched my fists tightly and felt the newfound power coursing through me.
Still, I can't let this get to my head. While this new strength is impressive, it really isn't much in the grand scheme of things. Hence the reason why I am here. To get a good fight and also record all the individuals I can to recreate them in VR.
"Speak and they shall appear," I said, noticing some new arrivals waiting for me at the school's entrance.
As the group drew nearer, I recognized Storm at the forefront. She walked toward me with a warm and welcoming smile, clearly happy I chose to visit. However, alongside her were two unfamiliar faces. One was a blue-skinned figure with a tail, instantly recognizable as Nightcrawler, and the other was a blonde young man with a confident stride, likely Iceman.
"Kol," Storm greeted warmly as they reached me, her eyes reflecting a mixture of surprise and curiosity. "It's good to see you again."
I nodded, offering a small smile. "Good to see you too, Storm. It's been a while."
Storm gestured to her companions. "These are some students who attend, Kurt Wagner and Bobby Drake. They're new to the team."
Kurt stepped forward, offering a friendly hand. "Guten Tag, Kol. It's a pleasure to meet you. Heard lots about you from Kitty."
[+10 Meeting Nightcrawler]
Bobby followed suit, his expression friendly. "Hey, man. Nice to meet you."
[+10 Meeting Iceman]
I shook their hands, appreciating the free points "Nice to meet you both and hope it was all good things."
Storm smiled, seeing that I lacked a negative reaction to Kurt's appearance . "Glad you were able to visit us again, and the others have been quite upset that you haven't come by sooner. Especially after you created those fancy robots."
Kurt quickly nodded beside her in agreement. "Yeah man, watch out for Kitty. She got really grumpy after seeing you all over the news, so she might play some prank on you for that."
I just shrugged in response since that felt like her character, but it's not really my fault. I didn't really have the chance to visit with all that's been going on, and then there's Xavier's mind-reading tendencies that kept me away. But that problem has already been solved, I thought with a grin as I recalled another one of my small projects.
After having a mental battle with Jean on our first encounter and constantly being wary of Xavier, I knew that I needed to do something about it. NZT was good and gave me lots of mental techniques, but at the end of the day, I was not psychic.
So I tried thinking of many solutions, with one even being a metal helmet like Magneto's, but that was just too weird to wear around, and its purpose would be too obvious to the X-Men. It would make it seem like I don't trust them, which I don't, but they don't need to know that.
Other than the helmet, I wasn't able to get any other good ideas besides maybe traveling to Kamar-Taj to learn some sort of mental magic, but those thoughts were erased as soon as I received Nerve Gear knowledge.
VR was more than just creating your own world; it was the result of years of brain study, particularly in two specific parts. The first is the hippocampus, which plays a role in processing our memory, learning, and emotions. The second is the cerebrum, which controls our thinking, reasoning, and problem-solving skills.
All of these are the same parts that are interacted with in mental skills such as telepathy. After learning this, blocking telepaths became simple as I created a small chip that was implanted in my brain to protect these two sections, but all this was in theory. Meaning today would be the real test.
"Haha, yes she will be quite upset, but I think we've had enough small talk, and we have kept you out here long enough. How about we take you to the Professor?" Storm asked as we walked to the building.
"Actually, I came to see if I could have a rematch with Wolverine and maybe even spar a couple of rounds with the others. If that's alright, of course?"
"Mhm, no issue on that. In fact, it's rather good because everyone is together in the Danger Room."
"Danger Room?" I asked, only because I wasn't supposed to know about it yet.
"Dude, it's our training room, and trust me, you're going to love it! Your robots might be high-tech, but it's nothing compared to that room," Kurt stated as if it was fact, with a happy expression.
"Yeah, it's pretty impressive, and everything in that room is built to stimulate and push you, but of course, it's nothing for me," Bobby added smugly while making a gun pose and blowing a bit of ice away.
I chuckled at their enthusiasm and did admit that it was pretty impressive compared to my VR. It wasn't much because I could simulate any environment, opponent, and basically whatever I wanted.
.
.
.
Inside the Danger Room, the rest of the X-Men were gathered and were currently practicing. Jean Grey flew through the air, providing support using her telekinesis to lift debris and deflect projectiles. Kitty Pryde phased through the floor, darting through turrets and pulling their wiring as she emerged, rendering them useless. Scott Summers, standing at the center of the action, led the team with precision, giving call-outs while also providing cover fire with his optic blasts.
On the sidelines, Professor Xavier, Logan, and Rogue observed the training session. Xavier's eyes were intent, analyzing every move, while Wolverine's stance was more relaxed but alert. Rogue watched with eagerness to join her friends but she knew she couldn't. Her powers required touching another to copy the individual which usually led to momentary weakness. Which she didn't want to cause on her friends or get used to causing.
As the doors to the Danger Room opened, the new arrivals caught the attention of those inside. Storm, Kurt, Bobby, and Kol walked in, their presence immediately noticed by the trio on the sidelines.
Logan sniffed the air a couple of times before meeting Kol's eyes with a strange look. "This smell… grr the kid smells even more unnatural than the last time."
Xavier heard Logan's words and also focused on Kol curiously on what he was sensing when he suddenly felt himself passing through. 'Huh what's this…' Kol's mind had always been protected but this was different. Almost like he wasn't there. This was definitely something he'd ask about later but first came greetings. "Kol, it's good to see you again. It's been quite some time."
Kol nodded in agreement as he walked over to their group "Likewise, Professor. I see the team is hard at work."
"Always," Xavier replied, his tone proud. "Would you like to join them?"
"That's the plan," he said, glancing at the team as they continued their coordinated efforts. "I'm here for a rematch with Logan and maybe to spar a few rounds with the others."
Logan's caution finally eased a bit as he heard that. "Think you're ready to take me on again, kid?"
Kol met his gaze, his expression confident. "More than ready."
His response took them by surprise. Something about the young man had changed this was clear to everyone. Actually, now that they got a better look at him he really did seem to have changed.
He seemed larger and stronger. Every movement he made seemed to be filled with power but most of all there seemed to be a sort of confidence that flowed from him. Not that the boy wasn't confident before. He had always been strangely calm in their presence but this was different.
Rogue stepped forward, not noticing her two teachers' reaction, and greeted the boy warmly with her cute Southern accent. "Are you sure Kol? Last time didn't end so well"
"Haha" he said sarcastically as she winked before moving behind Logan as if hiding for cover. "But trust me, the outcome will be very different from the last time." He added
"I'll believe it when I see it bub" Logan replied, rolling his shoulders as if already preparing for the fight. But beneath he knew somehow this fight would be different. His instincts were whispering to him that the boy wasn't the same as if he wasn't sure if he was human or not but he wasn't going to ask. The kid's secrets were his own and not his to pry in.
Unfortunately, these thoughts were heard by Xavier as he looked at the boy with even more curiosity.
Storm moved to join the other X-Men, signaling for a pause in their training. "Everyone, take a break. We have a guest who's looking to challenge Logan."
Kitty Pryde's eyes lit up as she noticed him. "Kol! Finally decided to visit us, huh? I've been waiting to get back at you for not keeping in touch."
He chuckled in response, already expecting the girl to be upset. "Blame the busy schedule. But I'm here now, ready to make it up to you all."
Jean floated down gracefully, her telekinetic aura fading as she landed. "It's good to have you back, Kol. We've been hearing a lot about your machines. Pretty big deal"
"Yeah! What is that? We had to find out from social media why didn't you visit" Kitty complained before throwing fake punches at his arm.
"Sorry sorry, my bad but hey I'm here now, right? And I'll make it up to guys some time" He said while pretending that her hits hurt
"Hmph I guess that's true but just for that be prepared. Hey Logan rough him up for us" Kitty said eager me to get some punishment but too bad that wasn't going to happen today.
Wolverine stepped forward, cracking his knuckles. "No problem"
"Woah already going to fight right now, let me get my camera!" Kurt shouted before teleporting somewhere and then teleporting back as he reappeared with a huge movie-style camera.
Walking forward they both ignored Kurt's antics as they entered the now empty space and took on their stances. Wolverines was the same as before as he crouched down allowing his claws to appear in an animalistic style but Kol on the other hand took a different approach.
In the previous fight he copied the fighting style Naruto used from his memories but this time he didn't need to copy such things to win. Not after copying multiple martial arts. So instead he just stood still and relaxed his muscles with his arms by his sides not really taking any stance but this was preferable. It allowed him to take on whatever martial art he wanted for whatever attack he needed to respond to.
"Hey, he's not even taking a stance. Did he get cocky after not seeing us for so long?" Kitty asked Jean beside her.
"No… I don't think that's it. There's something off about him today" Jean said as she focused deeper into the fight. When she suddenly noticed that she couldn't feel Kols's mind. 'Huh, what's this?'
Hesitantly she glanced at the professor who seemed to be waiting for her reaction as he raised his hand and made a motion to wait before he entered her mind.
'I see you've noticed it as well?'
'Hard not to Professor when the person in front of you feels like they aren't even there' Jean added truly surprised by the experience 'Are we sure it's Kol? It could be a robot since those don't have thoughts' she said offering a potential reason for this
'No, I don't believe so. Logan has keen senses and he hasn't said anything about him not being Kol so this must be him but it doesn't change that something about him has changed.' With that said he pulled away from her mind as they both looked to the fight which was about to start.
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