It was the weekend.
With no classes scheduled, Liam Hayes slept all the way until noon before finally dragging himself out of bed. After everything that had happened over the past few days, including the mess he'd stirred up for the president, he felt completely justified taking it easy.
As for the aftermath of that whole situation?
He didn't care in the slightest.
"Morning," Liam said lazily as he stepped out and immediately ran into Lauren. He lifted a hand in greeting, looking far too relaxed for someone who had just caused political chaos.
"It's almost noon. What morning?" Lauren rolled her eyes at him.
Liam just smiled it off. "You look busy. What are you up to?"
"Scott's got everyone repairing the damaged parts of the academy," she replied. "I'm heading over to help."
"Oh… right," Liam said, finally remembering.
That "performance" they had staged the other night might have been fake in intention, but the damage it left behind was very real. Large sections of the academy had been torn up, and now they had to fix it.
"Then I'll come with you," Liam said after a moment's thought.
"Sure," Lauren agreed without hesitation.
The two of them walked together toward the school gate, chatting casually along the way. By the time they arrived, quite a few students were already gathered there under Scott's supervision, working on repairs.
The problem was obvious at a glance.
Most of them had never done this kind of work before, so everything looked clumsy and inefficient.
"Liam, you're here!"
Lorna and Rogue were already there, and they waved happily when they saw him.
Liam nodded in response and walked over to Scott.
"I've got to ask," he said, glancing around at the chaotic repair work. "Why not just hire professionals to fix this place?"
Watching students struggle with basic repairs was painful to look at.
Scott gave a helpless shrug. "I'd love to. But bringing in outsiders risks exposing the academy. Not just mutants, but what happened with the military too."
That was the problem.
Once outsiders got involved, the risk of information leaking skyrocketed.
Liam thought about suggesting that Jean could simply erase their memories afterward using telepathy, but he decided against it. Mind manipulation was a sensitive topic, and not everyone was comfortable with the idea of having their thoughts tampered with.
"Fine," Liam said. "I'll handle it."
He snapped his fingers.
Then—
Molecular manipulation spread out from him like an invisible wave.
Everything within his line of sight began to restore itself.
Cracked ground reformed. Broken steps rebuilt themselves. Even the damaged fountain returned to its original shape as if time itself had been reversed.
The entire scene left everyone stunned.
"Whoa—!"
"That's insane!"
"What kind of ability is that?!"
"As expected of the boss…"
The students stared in shock as the academy returned to normal in seconds.
Lauren couldn't help but look at him with envy. "When will I be that strong…"
She had been training her own ability constantly, and she knew exactly how difficult it was to repair structures on even a small scale.
What Liam just did?
That was on an entirely different level.
"Alright, it's done," Liam said casually, brushing it off. "Go do whatever you want."
The students didn't need to be told twice. They immediately scattered, clearly relieved to be free from manual labor.
"Nicely done," Scott said, raising a brow in approval.
"Nothing special," Liam replied with a shrug.
Scott nodded and left, already moving on to other matters.
As Liam turned, he noticed a little girl squatting quietly in a corner, staring at the ground.
"Hey, kid," he said, walking over. "What are you doing?"
The girl looked up at him. "I dropped something."
Liam followed her gaze and saw a crack near the base of the wall.
"In there?" he asked.
"Yeah… but it's deeper," she said, pointing slightly away from the visible gap.
Liam raised an eyebrow. That didn't line up with what he could see.
"Alright, I'll get it for you," he said anyway.
He reached down, following her directions.
"A little left… a bit lower… yeah, right there…"
After a few adjustments, he finally pulled something out.
A glass bead.
"Thank you!" the girl said happily, grabbing it and running off.
Liam watched her go, a thoughtful look crossing his face.
She had been able to see exactly where that bead was… even underground.
Without her guidance, he would've had to break the floor to find it.
"Interesting…"
He activated his system.
[Ding! Would the host like to check in with mutant Elena?]
"Yes."
[Ding! Check-in successful. Congratulations to the host for obtaining the super ability 'X-Ray Vision,' along with 100 experience points.]
So that was it.
X-ray vision.
No wonder she could see through the ground.
Liam nodded to himself, satisfied.
"Liam, it's the weekend," Rogue said suddenly, running over and grabbing his arm. "Come to New York with me today!"
She clung to him naturally, completely at ease.
At this point, she was the only one who could get that close to him without any hesitation.
Almost reflexively, Liam activated his new ability.
Then he looked at her.
…
The next second—
He coughed.
"Uh… where do you want to go?" he asked, forcing himself to sound calm.
Internally, however, his thoughts were far less composed.
That ability needed to be used carefully.
Very carefully.
"Obviously New York," Rogue said, pouting slightly. "Don't think I didn't notice you took Lorna there last time."
She looked genuinely annoyed.
After all, she had known Liam longer than Lorna had.
Liam glanced at Lorna, who was standing nearby with a faint smile.
"…Right," he said.
His gaze flickered.
Then—
He immediately shut off the ability with sheer willpower.
"Liam, are you okay?" Lauren asked, walking over with concern.
"I'm fine," he said quickly. "Just… a little thirsty."
He waved it off, trying his best to look normal.
That ability absolutely could not become public knowledge.
"I've got water," Clarice said, handing him a bottle.
Liam took it and drank straight from it without even opening it properly.
Right then—
His phone rang.
He glanced at the screen.
Tony Stark.
"Hey, Uncle Tony," Liam said as he answered. "What's up?"
"Hey, kid," Tony's voice came through. "Didn't you say you wanted me to treat you to a drink? I'm throwing a party tomorrow night."
"A party?" Liam smiled instantly. "Count me in."
He was genuinely interested.
After all, Tony Stark's lifestyle was something worth seeing firsthand.
And more importantly—
Iron Man had always been one of his favorite figures.
As the call ended, Liam's smile lingered.
Looks like tomorrow night was going to be interesting.
....
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