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Chapter 62: Clues About the Decepticons
🕑 Added 2025-05-15 17:00:26 +0000 UTC
As it turned out, experience truly was the best teacher.
While Erik and the others didn’t exactly enjoy getting thrashed by Alex, once the bruised egos and bodies settled down, everyone could clearly feel the progress they’d made.
Pressure made all the difference.
"Well then, if that's the case—everyone—why don’t we make actual combat a regular part of our training from now on?"
Seeing the remarkable results, Charles made the decision without hesitation.
"Huh?"
"Not again?"
The mutants all groaned in unison, faces long and eyes wide, shaking their heads like rattles.
They had no desire to relive the trauma of being dominated by Alex.
"It’s settled then!" Erik didn’t even stop to think. He was the first to agree. "Get some good rest, everyone. Tomorrow, let’s try not to get beat up quite so badly by Alex."
With that, he patted the dust off his pants and walked away without looking back.
"You all heard Erik." Charles shrugged. "Good luck."
He too departed with an air of casual grace.
The rest of the mutants stood there in silence, glancing at each other in dismay as the wind rustled around them.
But then Darwin suddenly shot to his feet and headed off at a brisk pace.
"Darwin, where are you going?" Banshee leaned forward, calling after him.
"To train!" Darwin called back. "You heard what Charles and Erik said!"
He disappeared around the corner, his determined voice echoing behind him.
"So... what do we do?"
"What else? Accept our fate."
Banshee and the others exchanged resigned looks and sighed. Deep down, though, they knew this was the right path—they just weren’t ready to admit it aloud.
And so began the mutants’ long journey of living under the shadow of Alex’s merciless training.
But to be fair, since implementing these live-combat sessions, their growth had been remarkable. The improvement was obvious—almost visible to the naked eye.
In just ten days, their power levels had noticeably increased.
The childish immaturity they once carried had mostly faded, replaced with the presence of warriors in the making.
Had they been in this state back when they attempted to capture Shaw in Manhattan, Charles wouldn’t have hesitated to bring them along.
---
On the training field, each mutant was busy with their own regimen. Charles, Erik, and Alex stood off to the side, watching with satisfied expressions.
Moira, however, was once again absent.
Though she’d inadvertently walked the team into Shaw’s trap last time, it hadn’t stopped her pursuit. If anything, it made her more cautious—nothing more.
But as always, Alex didn’t think much of her efforts.
The Cold War tensions between the U.S. and the Soviet Union were escalating. Shaw, as the one pulling the strings from the shadows, would now be more focused than ever on igniting conflict between the two superpowers.
Why would he show his face so easily?
"Charles, they’re ready now." Erik’s voice broke the silence as he spoke to Charles.
"Yes, they are." Charles nodded. Even someone as cautious as him couldn’t deny it.
"And we have Alex to thank for that." Charles turned to Alex with genuine appreciation in his eyes. "Without your 'motivation', none of this would’ve been possible."
"Yeah, that was some motivating you did," Erik muttered, rubbing his cheek where a bruise still lingered.
He had told Alex not to hold back—but damn, the guy really took that to heart.
"Erik, don’t look at me like that," Alex said with a perfectly serious face. "I got hurt too… my fist really hurt from punching your face."
"You little—" Erik laughed helplessly. This kid really had no shame.
Charles couldn’t help but burst into laughter. He truly enjoyed these moments of camaraderie.
Unfortunately, he had no way of knowing just how fleeting they would be.
"Erik, Alex—I have an idea," Charles said, eyes gleaming. "The live combat sessions have been incredibly effective. So, I was thinking—what if we built a dedicated training room?"
"To make our beatings feel more official?" Erik teased, not quite catching the full implication.
"No, Erik, I mean a real combat simulator. A room where we can recreate realistic scenarios—even battles against Shaw!"
"Right now, the training’s been great, but it’s still too basic. Everyone knows we won’t go all out on each other, which limits how far we can really push."
"It doesn’t draw out their true potential!"
Charles grew more animated as he spoke, painting a vivid picture of a high-end training room. A place where the team could experience the intensity of real combat—the life-or-death kind.
Isn’t this just the Danger Room?
Alex couldn’t help but mutter to himself. That kind of facility would one day become a staple of the Xavier School. The X-Men would even use it to fight simulations of Sentinels.
Who would’ve thought it’d come into existence this early—by accident?
As they were chatting, Alex’s wristwatch suddenly beeped with a sharp notification tone.
He glanced down.
A message had popped up: “Key clue on mechanical lifeform discovered. Requesting a meeting.”
In this era, such wristwatches were practically black tech—but that made sense. Howard Stark had custom-designed this one specifically for Alex.
The same Howard Stark who’d made a flying car during WWII. A fancy communicator wasn’t even impressive by comparison.
“Charles, Erik—I’ve got something to take care of. Keep training the team, I’ll be back later.”
Alex didn’t hesitate. He gave a quick nod to the two and turned to leave.
After all, the S.H.I.E.L.D. investigation into the Decepticons had been set in motion by Alex himself—his goal was the AllSpark. Now that there was finally a lead, of course he had to follow up.
Besides, hiding away in the Xavier estate wouldn’t trigger any quests. He’d known that from the beginning.
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