41 Then There Were Three

They were hesitant.

It was only natural of course.

Scott would be more concerned if Hank's parents weren't worried about the offer when considering everything that had happened. They had been hesitant to even accompany them to Bayville, not entirely trusting either him or Amelia.

Accepting the offer that Charles was giving them without some measure of scepticism and concern would only raise red flags. It would mean that Charles was similar to how he had been in Cyclops' memories, making liberal use of his telepathy to alter the way people thought and acted in small ways.

Not massively as that would raise too many eyebrows and cause people to look deeper.

But just enough that people wouldn't think much of it.

However, to Scott, if that had been the case, then it would have only served to make him cautious. Charles was a good man at the end of the day, but one with a complex that made it difficult for him to see his own faults or hypocrisy. The actions he condemned as evil and cruel, were sometimes, very similar to his own.

He just chose to willfully ignore the similarities, or deny they ever existed.

Scott knew that Charles had done both, but he had the experience to tell when telepathy had a hand in influencing a person's decisions. It was another reminder that this world was different as Charles was not making use of his powers to influence others into his way of thinking, instead relying upon words and proper human interaction.

'But how long that stays the case remains to be seen.' Scott thought to himself, turning away from the door with which Hank and his parents had gone to speak with Charles to then look upon the empty corridor.

Amelia had gone to settle into her room and would no doubt be going to see Alex as soon as she had settled in a little. His brother in question was nowhere to be seen, Scott having briefly caught a glimpse of him when they had pulled up in the taxi to the entrance of the Xavier mansion. Since then though, he had seen nothing of Alex, he was no doubt hiding away in his room avoiding both him and Amelia, though mainly him for having left the way they did.

That just left the final member of their group, Logan.

A man who was as he came down to the main entrance and looked into the living room, saw that he was already drinking as he watched TV. It was a sight he had expected to see and so, Scott dismissed it entirely, moving straight out to sit down upon the front steps, slightly flexing his hand.

He wouldn't describe the feeling that shot through his arm as pain, but it was uncomfortable. It was nothing more than a hairline fracture, that much he knew for a fact which meant he couldn't use his right arm for upwards of six to eight weeks.

Though it wasn't a concerning level of injury, with the limitations of healing technology that Charles currently had available for his X-Men, it certainly was a dangerously long time to be inactive. If he rested and did nothing strenuous, Scott knew ways that he could at least speed up the recovery to four weeks at a stretch through meditative exercises Cyclops had learned throughout the course of his life.

But even with those meditative techniques, there were limitations without the proper medication and equipment on hand. If he was to be doing strenuous activity like he needed to do, Scott could take possibly three to four months to heal the fracture.

One thing the past few days showed him was that he was well ahead of the curve at the time being.

Heroes and villains alike were just beginning to become a thing in this world and therefore didn't have familiarity with their powers nor the experience that would make them truly dangerous. That was not a weakness that Scott had thanks to Cyclops, it was safe to say that he was an overwhelming individual at this current stage of the world's development.

But that would not remain the case forever and perhaps not for very long.

'Rhino and Tombstone.' Those two individuals came to mind immediately as he thought of the changes he had caused. 'Sinister is making moves much for overtly than before and now, both Tombstone and Rhino are stronger than ever. All because of my actions.'

Even though he had not seen Sinister personally, Scott knew that he was the only man that could be responsible for what had happened. There was not a man alive that understood genetics better than him, he was the only one that Scott could confidently say would be capable of not only being able to empower Tombstone and Rhino to the degree he had.

Rhino's were subtle, nothing different about him on paper.

However, the upper limits of his strength, speed and so on had been dramatically improved to a noticeable degree. Comparing the Rhino he had fought against in the lower levels of Oscorp to the one he thought against in the base of Conquistador was impossible to do.

If Scott had fought the current Rhino in the lower levels of Oscorp while dealing with Sandman, he would not have felt so confident in that fight. It was only because Tombstone and Blockbuster were present that he had managed to turn the fight in his favour by the skin of his teeth.

Tombstone was much more obvious in his enhancements, but that made him much more worrying. The ability to absorb energy and use it to empower one's self was by no means an uncommon thing for Cyclops and therefore, Scott had known how to deal with Tombstone. But the ability to give that ability to someone had certainly been worrying.

He was in a predicament and one that would continue to grow until eventually, he was no longer the overwhelming figure he was at the time being. 'If I had killed them both when I had the chance.' That was what it came down to and Scott clenched his left fist tightly, bowing his head and gritting his teeth as he fought with turbulent emotions.

He would not deny that he was afraid of his powers because he was.

Scott had seen the potential within them as had Cyclops, but unlike his older counterpart, he had all the time in the world to train himself to use them. As the world continued to develop, Scott needed to do the same, pushing his limits and growing stronger until he surpassed his other self. Only then would he be able to truly make the changes that were necessary for everything that was to come.

But at the same time, the more powerful he became, the more destruction he would be able to cause. The more he killed, the more of the morals that he sacrificed, and the more like his older self he would become also.

Cyclops was a man worthy of respect.

Yet he was not a man without fault.

He was by no stretch of the meaning, an extremist.

The ways he had fought his battles and the tactics he had used, had made him a villain to the world on many occasions. Sometimes, Cyclops had become the cause of some of the X-Men's greatest villains simply because of his actions.

At the same time though, Scott knew that he simply couldn't allow his enemies to keep coming back stronger. If he didn't act to take care of them permanently, then they would keep returning, stronger than ever before and posing an even greater risk to the people around him. Scott knew he had to act smarter, more logically and more harshly in order to win.

'But there has to be a line.' Scott knew that much. 'A line between the blurred lines that I can walk. One that stops me from becoming the very thing I fight against, while also enabling me to win.'

-X-

Opening the door to the office, Scott looked to see Charles waiting for him, eyes boring into him, watching his every move as Scott closed the door behind him and took a seat. "You wished to see me, Professor?"

"I did." Charles nodded his head.

Scott remained unflinching in the face of the gaze that would have made many shift uncomfortably as they came under such heavy scrutiny. "Are you displeased with what I accomplished?"

"No." Charles admitted. "Warren contacted the mansion yesterday, he seemed to have a change of heart as you expected. I have a meeting with his father tomorrow where I shall explain the benefits of his staying at my home."

That meant he was either going to use his telepathy to force Warren Sr into accepting the demands or threaten him with exposing Warren's Mutant status. Charles wouldn't do it, not this version of Charles, but Scott knew that using bluffs was not above him. Either way, Warren would be coming here to join the X-Men and it made him smile lightly.

"As for Hank and his parents, they shall be moving to Bayville soon also." Charles continued. "For now, it shall be just Hank moving into the mansion. His parents though do intend to move to Bayville once they find jobs here so for now, shall remain within Dunfee."

That was as Scott had expected, but that meant one thing.

The X-Men were slowly being formed.

He, Warren and Hank.

Three of the original five back together again.

Now it was time to build them up, stronger than ever before while things were still peaceful and calm.

"Yet," Charles was not finished though. "Just because I am pleased with the results, does not mean I am pleased with the process taken to get there."

"People are rarely fond of the methods." Scott's response was quick and sharp. "But at the end of the day, I acted in a way I felt worked best."

"Did you?"

Scott nodded his head. "There were unforeseen variables at times." He admitted. "However, despite those variables, I handled what came my way in what I felt was the best way at the time. Do I look back on things and think I could have done things differently? Better? Certainly, but that is the benefit of hindsight."

"So you stand by your assault on Oscorp that made headlines? Stand by the battle you had on the train? The conflict in Dunfee?" Charles wondered.

"I am." Scott rose to his feet. "At the end of the day, Professor, this is the truth of the world. People will stand in your way and will fight to remain there because they are too moving towards their own goal. It is a matter of whether you will stand down or resist. Mutants are already being backed into a corner, either to be killed or used in one form or another. To fight for Mutant rights, we must first show the strength we possess."

"In doing so, you will paint Mutants as monsters. As things to be feared." Charles did not back down. "They will hunt us with more anger and hatred than ever before."

"They already viewed us as monsters, Professor. Nothing has changed there. The only thing that has changed now is that they realise that even the weapons they craft to stop us cannot do so." That was ultimately what Rhino and Sandman had been forged to do and he had defeated them both.

The public would not know, but the governments connected to Oscorp would.

Charles shook his head. "They will never negotiate."

Scott scoffed. "They never were going to in the first place." He replied. "They hold the power and can choose whether to negotiate or not. As for us, we Mutants would either have to accept whatever ridiculous demand they came up with or keep fighting a hopeless battle. No, in order to get the equality you seek we must negotiate from a position of strength, not weakness."