"Alex, are you alright?"
A concerned voice called out beside him. Raven was staring at Alex with deep worry in her eyes.
Hank, too, was staring at him, unblinking.
"I feel great," Alex replied with a beaming smile. "Actually, after taking a moment to check… it seems like I've awakened a new ability."
Raven and Hank were speechless.
Seriously, Alex—how many hacks do you have?
And it hadn't even been that long since he awakened his heat vision.
Raven was starting to feel like a fake mutant next to him. If they were all mutants, then what was Alex? The real mutant?
Otherwise, how could there be such a ridiculous power gap between them?
Something suddenly clicked in Raven's mind.
The last time Alex awakened a power—his heat vision—it was after their fight with Shaw at the CIA facility.
And this time? He'd just fought Shaw again… and awakened another power.
Was Sebastian Shaw secretly Alex's good luck charm or something?
"Really, Alex? That's amazing! What power did you awaken this time?" Hank asked excitedly, unable to hide the anticipation in his voice.
Alex grinned with a hint of smugness and uttered just one word.
Raven and Hank both shouted in shock, eyes wide.
Flying! Even among mutants, that was a rare ability.
And unlike the guy they'd just fought, Alex didn't even have wings.
"Alex, I have to admit—I'm kind of jealous. You're like God's favorite son, and we're just the adopted ones." Raven gave him a look full of envy, jealousy, and frustration.
"I'm sure when Charles and the others find out, they'll be…" Hank started enthusiastically but then trailed off as he remembered their current situation. The mood instantly dimmed.
"You're right, Hank. If Charles and the others knew, they'd be happy for me." Alex finished the sentence for him.
"They would," Raven said, nodding firmly, though her expression turned wistful.
She still missed Charles and Erik. But deep down, they all knew—they could never go back to how things were.
"Raven, Hank, this new ability came just in time. Hold on tight to me."
Alex reached out both arms.
The two of them understood immediately and stepped to his sides, wrapping their arms tightly around him.
Their vision blurred. Their bodies lifted off the ground as Alex soared into the sky with them in tow.
The area had just witnessed the destruction of two fleets. Both the Americans and Russians would definitely send teams to investigate soon.
Alex was right—his newfound ability had come at the perfect moment. It let them escape immediately, before things got complicated.
"Whoa! We're really flying!"
Feeling the wind rushing past them and watching the land shrink below their feet, both Raven and Hank couldn't help but cry out in excitement.
Alex deliberately flew slower than he could have—he didn't have a bio-force field yet, after all.
Fortunately, both Raven and Hank were mutants with enhanced physiques. They didn't feel too uncomfortable and could even enjoy the exhilaration of high-altitude flight.
Because Alex kept flying for nearly four hours straight before finally landing in a remote, uninhabited stretch of American countryside.
He had no choice—without a bio-force field, he couldn't fly too fast or risk harming his passengers.
Holding the same position for that long, scenery or not, was enough to exhaust anyone. Raven and Hank's arms had gone numb.
If Alex hadn't had the strength to keep them held tight the whole way, they might've fallen long ago.
"I'm dying. I'm sore all over—I can barely stand," Raven groaned, stumbling over to a nearby wall and leaning against it to catch her breath.
God have mercy, she thought. Being carried while flying was a full-body workout.
Normal people wouldn't have survived it.
"I swear, I never want to do that again," Hank muttered. He looked like he'd just come off a bender—back aching, head spinning.
"Again?" Alex chuckled. "Hank, next time I'm charging tickets."
He was still composed and steady. At 35% of the template's power, he had the stamina to match. After carrying them for hours, he felt only slightly fatigued.
His two passengers, on the other hand, were wrecked. The difference was laughable.
After resting for over ten minutes, Raven and Hank finally began to recover.
They exchanged a glance—and in that moment, both realized something: they had no idea what came next.
Back in Cuba, following Alex had felt like the right choice. But now, with the adrenaline gone and the dust settled, the question hung in the air:
Where do we go from here?
They had lost their direction. Lost their purpose. Even lost Xavier's school—the one place they'd always called home.
An empty, aimless feeling settled into their hearts.
"So… what now?" Raven looked at Hank, then turned to Alex, unable to keep the uncertainty out of her voice.
She had grown up in Xavier's mansion. By leaving, she'd closed the door on that life.
"I… don't know," Hank said honestly, shaking his head.
Both turned to look at Alex.
"Well…" Alex met their gaze with a wide grin. "I do know a place."
It was finally time to take over the undead legion Dracula had given him.
Raven and Hank's eyes lit up with intrigue.
"But first," Alex added, "let's find something to eat."
Right on cue, their stomachs growled.
They shared a glance and chuckled, shrugging wordlessly before walking alongside Alex, following a narrow path out of the area.
"Raven, could I ask you to shift into a different look?" Hank asked gently after a few steps, noticing her still-blue skin.
"Erik said we shouldn't have to hide who we are."
"I know, but… after what happened in Cuba, the world's about to explode. Things are going to get tense for mutants. I think… for now, it's better if we keep a low profile."
The Ice Age for mutants was coming.
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