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Chapter 27: Handsome, Genius, Smart, Exquisite, Unique
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Adam honestly said, "I'm just used to entertaining an audience."
[That's us!!]
[Definitely us!]
[The psychos at Illuminati are fantasizing again.]
[Dude, it's just roleplay, just fun and giggles, it's not like they actually believe he sees them.]
[We fucking do, dumbass.]
[We believe.] [+1] [+1] [I believe!]
His internal monologue, however, was more complex. That's just what she needs to hear; she's quite the wounded soul after all.
'Plus, giving her a confidence boost now might mean the Dark Phoenix goes easier on me later.' He jokingly mused.
A little emotional investment for a potential future payoff. And, well, she is a redhead.
"I'm glad you're fitting in," Jean said, her tone turning sincere. "I really hope you find your way back to the team."
Adam chuckled and shook his head, his tranquility unshaken. "I won't be rejoining the X-Men, Jean."
The statement landed like a physical blow. Jean stared at him. "What? Why not?"
Her voice was loud enough that the conversations and focused training around them stuttered to a halt.
Adam kept his tone light, almost casual. "I won't be staying here much longer. There's no point in going through the motions of your counseling sessions if I'm just going to leave."
The garden was utterly silent now. Every eye was on him.
"What do you mean, leave?" Kitty Pryde asked, her voice small.
"Leaving the school," Adam said, his gaze distant. "To pursue other things... Like food, hahaha."
Anna was on her feet in an instant, a determined set to her jaw. "I want to go with you."
Surprisingly, John was right behind her. "Me too."
Before Adam could formulate a refusal, Jean was on her feet, her expression a storm of concern and hurt.
She grabbed his hand; the one not holding the teacup; and pulled him to his feet, leading him away from the stunned group.
"Adam, what is this?" She demanded, her voice low and urgent. "Is this about Hydra? You don't have to do this alone! We can help you! We want to help you!"
He shook his head, his expression softening. "This isn't about Hydra. Not directly. I can't deal with them yet. This is about… me."
He looked out at the sprawling estate, a place he had started to think of as home. "I've spent one life in a hospital and another in a lab. I've never just… lived. I need to experience the world, Jean. The good, the bad, the boring. I need to be a person before I can be anything else."
Jean's anger deflated, replaced by a deep, aching sympathy. She understood the yearning in his words.
The world was a dangerous place for a mutant, but the desire for a normal life, however fleeting, was a universal language.
"You'll be careful?" She asked, her voice barely a whisper.
"I'll try to stay out of trouble," He promised, a genuine smile touching his lips. "And if I find trouble I can't handle, you'll be the first person I call."
[He's leaving?! NOOOO!]
[This feels like the end of Season 1!]
[He's gonna get himself killed out there!]
[But his reason is so heartbreakingly pure… If only it wasn't all fucking bullshit!]
[Yeah, like that's a speech straight out of a kindergarten book.]
[No way he's staying out of trouble!]
It was a small concession, but it eased the tightness in her chest a little.
She watched him walk back toward the mansion, leaving a wake of confusion and dismay among his impromptu students.
She knew she had to talk to Charles immediately.
Back in the quiet of his room, Adam's serene mask dissolved. He sat on the edge of his bed, a slow smile spreading across his face that quickly morphed into a low, incredulous laugh.
The absurdity of his own lie was delicious. Experience life? What a beautifully sentimental fiction.
He picked up the secure phone by his side.
He navigated past Fury's contact and dialed a number he had acquired through far less official channels.
It rang twice before a raspy, graveled voice, rough with suspicion and what sounded like a lifetime of cheap whiskey and cheaper cigarettes, answered.
"Who the fuck is this?"
Adam's smile was all sharp edges now. "Frank?"
The line was silent for a beat, the tension palpable even through the connection.
"Who's askin'?" The voice; Frank; growled.
[ya mama, hehe.]
[...] [...] [...] [Aghh.]
[Come on guys, it wasn't that bad.]
[Just... Shush.]
[Wait, Frank Who?]
[FRANK?! COULD IT BE FRANK CASTLE?! THE PUNISHER?!]
[OH MY GOD HE'S CALLING THE PUNISHER!]
[He's not going to 'experience life,' he's going to start a war!]
[This man just promised Jean Grey he'd be safe and immediately calls a one-man army. I can't breathe.]
[I'm dying lmao!]
The game, it seemed, was far from over. It was just changing venues.
Adam Cypher was a creature of momentum, obsessed with the relentless forward march of progress.
Charles Xavier, for all his disappointment, understood this restless energy.
He wasn't surprised when Adam formally announced his departure, and he didn't stand in his way, despite the vocal protests from others.
Adam had, in his own peculiar way, grown on them.
His calm presence was a balm, his imaginative solutions to their power struggles were transformative, and his own abilities were the ultimate support system, effortlessly tilting the scales in their favor.
But Charles saw the danger. Adam's charisma was a potent force, and his philosophy; a pragmatic extreme, ends-justify-the-means approach; was a virus that could mutate the very DNA of the X-Men.
It was a path Charles had consciously rejected through decades of hardship, and he wouldn't let it take root in his school.
So, he watched, a silent, somber sentinel, as Adam loaded a sleek, black sedan.
He wasn't alone.
Accompanying him was a woman from the M.R.D. rescue, a quirky individual with a shock of white hair amidst the black and eyes that held a mischievous, unpredictable light.
Her name was Neena, and her reason for leaving was as idiosyncratic as she was: "I don't like the weather here."
They were, Charles mused, a fittingly strange pair.
[He's really leaving! End of an era!]
[Who's the goth girl? She's cute.]
[That's Domino! Luck is her superpower! This is gonna be chaos.]
[Wait, she was captured by the M.R.D.? If her power is luck, how did that happen?]
[Ehh, not strange, she's experienced many unlucky things in the comics.]
[Her power is not strictly luck, I think.]
"Good morning, Neena. Jean," Adam said, sliding into the passenger seat. Jean, insisting on one last duty, was behind the wheel.
It was a principle Adam had drilled into her: the "Just In Case" protocol. Always have an exit strategy.
Neena was already in the back, impeccably on time. She was dressed in practical black tactical gear that somehow managed to look stylish, her posture relaxed.
Adam, by contrast, had been late, busy loading the trunk and backseat with an arsenal of disassembled electronics, custom-built servers, and crates of mechanical components.
As they pulled away from the mansion, Jean couldn't hide her anxiety. "Neena," She said, her eyes flicking to the rearview mirror, "Please take care of him. You know he has a knack for trouble. Well, you too, but you know what I mean."
Neena laughed, a light, melodic sound. "Relax, Red. I'm not a troublemaker. I'm just… confident."
[Famous last words.]
["I'm not a troublemaker," says the walking probability-altering disaster.]
[Jean's mom-energy is at an all-time high.]
"Confidence," Jean muttered. "That word again."
Adam nodded sagely from the passenger seat. "Confidence is the answer to all, Jean. Even if it isn't, just act like it is.
What's the worst that can happen?"
"A lot!" Jean and Neena said in unison.
"Exactly!" Adam laughed. "Thus, the 'Just In Case' method. You always need a reason, a contingency. So, Neena, what's your reason? Why follow me? Your choice reeks of certainty. Like it's based on something unshakable."
Neena's playful demeanor shifted into something more thoughtful.
She looked at Adam, her gaze intense. "Oh, now I love you even more," she said, stunning Jean into silence.
Tf is with girls trying to honeytrap him? Adam was confused. He wasn't even trying, so he felt like they were trying to scam him when they behave so... Intense.
Sure, he feels like he's handsome, genius, smart, exquisite, unique, special, and so on, but this is weird, right?
[Ok, duuude.]
[...]
[I'm speechless, his thought process is a movie.]
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[ 1000 Power Stones For An Extra Chapter!!! ]
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