Marvel: A Lazy-Ass Superman Chapter 835: A Different Development

Inside the cockpit of the X-Jet Blackbird, Mystique was seething with anger because the one man she could take it out on wasn’t there.

No one knew exactly why the former principal of Xavier’s School for Gifted Youngsters was angry. Everyone only knew that it was best not to approach her when she was in this mood, lest they get caught in the crossfire.

After all, those present were either her former colleagues or her former students. This principal’s temper was certainly not that of some gentle, kindly old grandmother.

The only two people who could roughly be considered strangers to her were Wolverine and Rogue.

Wolverine himself had simply forgotten that he and Mystique had once been comrades during the Vietnam War. That was why Mystique had unusually slipped into his tent last night, hoping for a long-overdue “friendly competition.”

Rogue’s situation was even more complicated.

This rebellious girl had already run away from home once, long before her mutant abilities awakened and she accidentally hurt someone else, prompting her to flee for good.

At the time, Mystique had also just left the X-Men and departed from the mutant school.

The two of them had lived together for a while.

Mystique had used a human appearance back then, never revealing her original blue-skinned form. She was also involved with another mutant at the time—Destiny, Irene Adler.

Later, the two lovers broke up. Mystique persuaded the rebellious girl to return home, while she herself reunited with Magneto and formally joined the Brotherhood of Mutants.

Out of concern for the girl, Mystique had continued to quietly keep an eye on Anna Marie LeBeau—Rogue—and her life.

That was also why, when Selene performed a divination to determine who could play a major role in Magneto’s plan to transform all humans into mutants, Rogue’s appearance emerged from the vision. The Brotherhood of Mutants was therefore able to quickly identify her and confirm the nature of her abilities.

After all, Rogue had always been within the Brotherhood’s field of vision.

What Mystique hadn’t expected was that Magneto would nearly get the girl killed.

In fact, Magneto himself didn’t know that Mystique and Rogue had a history together.

So after the Battle of Liberty Island, Magneto was captured and spent several years in prison.

Was it really because Mystique couldn’t find him that she hadn’t helped her old comrade escape?

Didn’t she have informants within the X-Men? Didn’t she know that Professor X would visit Magneto in the special prison?

Those three years Magneto spent behind bars were less a period of atonement for his actions than a sentence handed down by Mystique.

And now that she felt he’d served his time, Mystique conveniently found a lead and rescued Magneto.

Perhaps because she felt she owed the girl something, Mystique had no intention of transforming into one of the human forms she had once used in front of Rogue and then approaching the girl as some understanding older sister.

In any case, a heavy, oppressive atmosphere permeated the Blackbird, almost making it difficult to breathe.

The three groups had gone through quite a few twists and turns before finally meeting up.

The X-Men team that had flown out consisted primarily of Storm and Jean Grey.

After finding their former X-Men comrade, Kurt Wagner, Nightcrawler, they had intended to return to the school, only to find that they couldn’t contact anyone there.

It wasn’t until they got in touch with Wolverine that they learned the school had been overrun by the U.S. military and that some of the students had been captured.

The two groups met on the outskirts of Boston, preparing to rescue them.

Before the rendezvous, however, Wolverine and the others had gone to Iceman Bobby Drake’s family home on the outskirts of Boston to take a temporary rest.

His parents and younger brother’s lack of understanding toward mutants had brought the police to the scene.

A confrontation broke out, and Pyro blew up several police cars.

That was why, after the Blackbird took off, U.S. fighter jets had appeared to intercept them.

After issuing a single verbal warning, the fighters had opened fire without hesitation.

Storm and Jean Grey each used their powers to take down one of the two U.S. fighters, but the air-to-air missiles they had fired still damaged the X-Jet.

Just before the Blackbird crashed, Magneto had saved them.

Only then were the three groups able to come together and share their respective intelligence.

From Magneto, everyone learned that the mastermind behind the entire incident was Colonel William Stryker of the U.S. military.

Professor X had very likely fallen into his hands as well.

From Wolverine, they learned that William Stryker’s hideout was most likely in the abandoned Alkali industrial complex in Canada—the location of the Alkali Lake dam.

Calling the Alkali industrial complex “abandoned” wasn’t entirely accurate.

The project had once been formally approved, and a massive amount of raw materials had been transported there to construct the industrial complex.

But before the complex could begin operating, the project had been abandoned, leaving the Alkali industrial complex as an unfinished project.

…At least, that was how it appeared to outsiders.

In reality, the entire project was merely a cover for Colonel William Stryker’s Weapon X program.

All those supplies had been used to construct a secret research base beneath the dam.

The three assembled groups then flew the Blackbird into Canada.

The Canadian Air Force’s airspace surveillance was not as thorough as that of the U.S. military, so they encountered no further fighter interception before reaching their destination.

Just as Storm was using the Blackbird’s advanced technology to scan the internal structure of the dam base and discuss with everyone how they should infiltrate the facility and rescue the people inside, a transmission came through the radio frequency used by the X-Men.

“This is Scott. Ororo, Jean, are you there?”

Jean Grey, sitting in the copilot’s seat, quickly responded.

“Scott, it’s Jean! Where are you?”

The others also gathered around the cockpit to listen to the radio transmission.

“We’re inside the dam base right now. We’re fine. Professor X and the students are all here.”

“How did you get inside?”

Jean Grey actually had a lot of questions she wanted to ask, but in the end, she blurted out this rather inexplicable one.

“It’s a long story. Honestly, I’m not entirely sure what’s going on myself.

“But Jean, the Professor wants me to tell you that everyone needs your help inside the base right now.

“Bring in all the first-aid supplies you can. We have a lot of seriously wounded people, and the medical supplies and staff in the base’s infirmary aren’t enough.”

Magneto snatched the radio away.

“Cyclops, is this a trap? A trap to lure us inside?”

“Magneto, is that you?

“No, this isn’t a trap.

“William Stryker is dead. The remaining U.S. soldiers have agreed to a ceasefire after the Professor persuaded them.

“The condition is that we provide assistance.”

The people aboard the Blackbird exchanged glances, unsure whether they should believe what they were hearing over the radio.

Mystique reached out and took the radio.

“Cyclops, this is Mystique. Is the Professor there? Let me speak to him.”

“All right. Please wait a moment.”

It wasn’t long before everyone heard that familiar, reassuring voice.

“Raven, it’s good to hear your voice again.”

“You damn bastard. Don’t call me by my slave name. We’ll settle our accounts later. First, tell me what happened inside the dam.”

“Last night, they were attacked by an unidentified intruder. The U.S. soldiers suffered heavy casualties.

“The base commander, Colonel William Stryker, also died in the battle.

“And so did his son, Jason Stryker.”

“Who did it? I ought to give him an award.”

“Unfortunately, we don’t know.”