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Chapter 12: The Black King Strikes
🕑 Added 2025-05-12 19:05:32 +0000 UTC
"How impressive."
Erik's face was tinged with undisguised disappointment as he spoke in a biting, sarcastic tone.
"I had higher hopes for all of you."
Charles couldn't help but shake his head repeatedly, but then his gaze shifted toward Alex, and he added,
"Not you, Alex. You've done exceptionally well."
Mystique, Riptide, and Siren couldn't help but glance at Alex, who was sitting calmly to the side. A trace of guilt surfaced on their faces—they had gone a bit too far.
Angel, however, simply scoffed and turned her head, visibly displeased. Though she said nothing, she was clearly unconvinced.
Who do they think they are?
Coming here to scold me like I'm some kind of child?
Wasn't it them who begged me to join in the first place?
"Alex, could you come over for a moment? We need to speak with you,"
Moira called, motioning to him.
Alex had a vague idea of what this was about but didn't say anything. Without a word, he followed Moira, Charles, and Erik to a grassy area a short distance away.
"Alex, we've managed to gather some intel on Shaw. Our jet is scheduled to take off in an hour. We're heading to the Soviet Union, and we were wondering if you'd like to join us on this mission,"
Erik said seriously, looking to gauge Alex's thoughts.
"What do you think?"
Ever since the amusement park operation, Erik had been thoroughly impressed with Alex.
But Alex didn't give an immediate answer—he knew this mission would turn out to be a bust.
Shaw wouldn't be in the Soviet Union. Only his confidante, the White Queen, would be there.
In fact, Shaw was headed here, to this very base.
Alex quickly made up his mind.
"Erik, I appreciate the trust, but I'm afraid I'll have to decline. I don't know why, but something seems off with my body lately."
He decided to fall back on an old trick from his past life—calling in sick.
"What's wrong? Are you okay?"
Charles immediately looked concerned.
"I'm fine, Charles. It's just my eyes… they hurt sometimes, like something is building up inside, trying to burst out."
This was Alex planting the seeds for unlocking his heat vision down the line.
"Have you gotten it checked out?" Moira asked.
"I plan to talk to Hank about it later," Alex replied.
Beast, nicknamed Bigfoot by the group, didn't seem very useful apart from being fast. But only Alex knew what a treasure Hank truly was.
The Blackbird jet, Cerebro, even a future cure for Charles's paralysis—all would be Hank's inventions.
A man like that was no joke.
"Alright then. If it gets worse, go to the infirmary,"
Charles nodded.
"In the meantime, stay at the base. We'll take a closer look at your condition when I return."
"I'll be here."
"Okay then, we're off."
"Take care!"
Alex waved goodbye as they left.
But he didn't return immediately. Instead, he walked off in another direction.
Since Shaw would be arriving soon, he needed to make some preparations.
By the time Alex made his way back, the once-rowdy group of young mutants were sitting stiff and silent. Siren had even gone so far as to pick up and straighten a toppled chair.
The scene reminded Alex of naughty children caught misbehaving by their parents.
"Well, Charles sure knew how to kill the mood,"
Mystique Raven finally broke the silence with a dry cough, trying to ease the awkward tension.
"Who the hell do they think they are? Our parents?"
Angel huffed in irritation.
"But… we did wreck quite a few things,"
Siren mumbled guiltily.
"Government property,"
Riptide Alex chimed in like a dagger to the heart.
"So… what about our party?"
Siren asked quietly, glancing around.
"Party? Dude, what are you on about? The party's over, man!"
Hank sighed and shook his head, then took the lead in cleaning up the mess.
The others followed suit without further complaints, joining Hank's "clean-up crew."
As for why Charles and Erik had pulled Alex aside, no one asked.
They had long gotten used to it.
Everyone knew Charles and Erik placed great importance on Alex.
They had played recklessly, and now they were paying the price for their fun.
It took quite a while, but the group finally managed to get the place looking somewhat normal again.
After the whole ordeal, Raven, Hank, and Siren began reflecting on their actions.
They gathered on the couch, discussing how maybe it was time to start changing themselves.
Meanwhile, Riptide and Darwin pretended to be immersed in their video game, using it as a way to mask their own unease.
---
At that same moment—
Inside one of the offices at the base.
"Still no confirmed location on Shaw?"
"No. That's exactly what Moira's team is going to verify."
Two CIA agents were deep in conversation when a strange noise rang out.
One of the overweight CIA executives stood up, walking over to the window to investigate.
But just as he turned around—
A red-skinned figure appeared out of nowhere, ghostlike in its suddenness, and seized one of the agents.
The next instant, both were gone.
By the time the executive turned back around, he was stunned.
Where the hell did he go?
WHOOSH!
Before he could react, the red-skinned mutant reappeared, grabbed him, and vanished again.
Moments later, the executive found himself hundreds of meters above the ground.
Then—the red demon let go.
He fell.
THUD!
A sickening crunch echoed as he hit the ground.
---
BAM! BAM! BAM!
A series of muffled thuds began ringing out around the base.
The young mutants felt something was off and quickly moved to the windows.
Only Alex remained calm—he already knew what was coming.
The Black King had arrived.
Those sounds? Red Nightcrawler was butchering CIA agents like cattle.
THUD!
A CIA agent's mangled corpse dropped from the sky, landing with a sickening splat in the courtyard—right in front of everyone.
"Aaaahhh!!"
The young mutants screamed in panic.
Sure, they had powers—but they were still just kids who had never witnessed real bloodshed.
What composure could they possibly have?
THUD! THUD! THUD!
More bodies followed, raining down across the compound.
Panic erupted.
Total chaos.
