Canon Fodder

CHAPTER 386 MORALITY

We were in a small room off to the side of the Danger Room. More of a unisex locker room we sat on the benches apart from one another. Lorna and Alex were breathing heavily as we caught our breath. I was doing pretty well, and actually breaking a sweat. But in normal gravity this was still a walk in the park for me. 

After the first scenario with Avalanche, Ororo changed the testing to just saving people. Lorna and Alex got experience trying to get to people stuck in different life endangering situations. Most scenarios I had already trained or saved people from in the past. Breaking people out of elevators. From fires. Overturned cars. Gas leaks. A wide range of rare but possible exercises. If we took too long to save them the floor would collapse and the ‘people’ would die. 

Once Ororo was satisfied with the emotional trauma she let Colossus take over. The giant Russian decided on a labyrinth to make it fun. An impossibly huge maze made in the Danger Room he acted as the minotaur. Cornering us, making trap doors fall open, separating us. It had been a fun few hours of trying to navigate my way to the center. 

I didn’t show all my skills like flight or Timeflow, but did use my physical strength. Taking on the big guy head on even I knew I would have trouble taking him down. His mutant power was to be able to coat his body in a metal armor/exoskeleton. Making him into a walking tank. My nen was good against him, but I hoped to train more against the guy after I revealed my true powers. 

After Colossus got his fill of the maze; I was the last one standing and the Danger Room ended, allowing us to take our first break. I could tell the tests had been hard on Lorna and Alex as they continued to recover near me. 

I munched on a granola bar, sipping water out of a bottle as I tried to think about my code name. I wasn’t about to steal a name from heroes I knew. Blackheart was too melodramatic and Frostwave was pointless. I had to do something off my Fusion skill. Although I was leaning toward Haste, my hero name in Invincible World before I was sent on a vacation. 

I was leaning toward Blender, a play on Bender. Combo and Amalgamation were other options. Combo was in the lead because it rolled off the tongue more easily and it sounded like Columbo. Annoyed that I had to think about this process all over again I was brought out of my thoughts as Lorna spoke to me. 

“How are you dealing with this so easily?” She asked. The green haired woman was a mix of surprise and annoyance. Which in my book were the first stages of seduction. 

“The scenarios? Fights? Which part?” I asked, trying to understand how other people saw me. 

“All of it. We were warned about this a few months ago, but the actual test is way different than I expected,” Lorna said. I looked to Alex, he frowned but his Haki was the same. 

“I don’t know,” I said with a shrug. “Pretty standard stuff. What did they tell you this X-Men thing was?”

“A team that goes on missions to stop mutants and other super powered people,” Alex said. “We were told to train physically and with our powers, but I don’t think we practiced near enough as we needed to.”

I nodded. “Which is probably by design,” I said. “They want to make the tests hard so you understand the gravity of it all. Let you quit now if you want. I doubt they deal with any of this crap on the daily.”

“But we could,” Alex said. As the brother of Scott Summers, the leader of the X-Men, I was surprised he wasn’t well informed. 

“Yeah, probably worse stuff too,” I said. I felt someone approaching. Getting up I stretched my legs with a groan. “Just react. Don’t overthink it all. If you knew it all you wouldn’t have to train. From what I’ve seen this whole thing is still new. They’re figuring it out as they go along. As long as we stick with it, I’m sure you’ll pass.”

The door to the room opened and Wolverine met us. “You made it to the last phase,” the man said with an evil grin. “Come on.” He waved and walked us back out to the Danger Room. I began walking after him and the other 2 followed more slowly. Both of them in pain from all the running we have had to do.  

“Where Colossus and Ororo like to keep it simple,” Wolverine said, leading us to the middle of the Room. “I prefer to make this more like real life.”

“You there, you there, and you here,” he ordered, pointing to nondescript areas on the floor. We followed his directions as he moved to the side room. 

Once inside the small control room the scenery changed. Lorna and Alex disappeared from my view as the metal walls and ceilings turned white like I was in the loading area of the Matrix. I could feel them with my Observation Hako but everything around me was a white light. 

“Alright, bub,” Wolverine’s voice said in my ear. “Here’s the scenario. Short and simple. You accidentally killed an innocent bystander in your last mission. The law dictates that you stand trial for inadvertently killing someone. Rather than risk jail you break out and decide to leave your life as part of the X-Men. Lorna and Alex, your long time partners were sent to capture you to face trial. What do you do?”

Honestly it was a great moral conundrum. One that I had thought about long and hard back in My Hero Academia World. When I was skirting the edge of heroes and villains I wondered what I would do if I was caught.  

“The other 2 getting the same information?” I asked. 

“Yep,” Wolverine said. 

“I’m assuming giving up isn’t the correct answer?”

“There is no right answer. Just do what you would do,” Wolverine said in my ear and the scenery turned from white to a green grassland. Lorna and Alex in front of me they hesitated a moment. Giving me all the time I needed to close the distance to them. 

Alex raised his hands, ready to shoot his weird plasma wave, but I was already behind him. My hand wrapping around his neck I put him between Lorna and I. 

“Hands down,” I ordered. Lorna hesitated, I squeezed Alex’s neck harder. Making him grunt. “Hands down.”

“Weston-“ Alex tried to say but I punched him in the side. He struggled for breath. 

“Hands down both of you,” I ordered. “Or I break his neck.”

“Weston this is too-“ Lorna said but I cut her off. 

“Far? No, this is a scenario,” I said. “A scenario that is very plausible and real. We should all know how we would react.” I eased up on Alex’s neck, letting him hear the serious tone in my voice without struggling for breath. 

“You 2 are very naive if you think this couldn’t happen,” I said. I took a deep breath, trying to picture this scenario. It was sad how easy it was to imagine. 

“For years I’ve fought and helped people. Saved them from mutants. You all turned on me in an instant after 1 mistake.” I felt like Lady Day in Hero World. After I condemned her for the death she caused and her own act of ignoring the death the others caused. 

“I happen to like my freedom. So I will go out there. Continue doing what I feel is right. And the next time the X-Men want to send someone after me, they better send someone better than you 2,” I said. 

The duo felt like they were finally understanding the gravity of the play. I threw Alex at Lorna. She caught him and I moved for her. She didn’t have time to catch him and block me so I tripped both of them.

Raising my hand as if I was going to attack them both I was stopped as Wolverine’s voice broke the silence, “that’s enough.”

I stopped mid-punch. “Very good. Let’s switch it up this time,” the voice said. It all went white once more. 

“This time you’re going after Lorna. She has been acting off lately and…” so the scenarios continued on. Each of us becoming the villain in the scenarios. The fights actually became more heated. I guessed Wolverine did the test to put us against one another. A form of sparring with a little bit of acting mixed in to help us not pull punches. 

Avalanche made another appearance after that. Instead of blowing up the city though, he was knocking over a monument at a national park with his earthquake ability. We tried talking him down that time. But it led to more fighting. 

It was 2 in the afternoon when we were told, “this is the final test.” The area was white all around us as we were separated once more. “This time, no explanation, just…do what you feel is the right course of action.”

The white turned into a small town. A few businesses around me. There were some cars parked in the street but no one was around. Down the road was the tallest building. Only 3 stories there was a gold painted roof and immaculate brickwork. I guessed it was the small town courthouse. 

I waited long seconds but no people appeared in the illusion. With a frown I walked to the nearest shop. A small diner near me I became curious if the holograms could mimic taste but was pushed back by the smell inside the diner. 

Covering my nose I stepped back. It smelled like burning sulfur thrown on high in the microwave. When my nose recovered from the smell I took a deep breath and walked back inside. 

I noticed a puddle of goop bubbling on the floor. Like acid had been poured over the seats and benches in the diner. Small piles of green sludge sat on the tiled floor, eating away at it. 

I walked over to the closest pile, knowing but not understanding what I was seeing. At my feet was a green sludge that leaked over the floor. There were other piles of it scattered under chairs or in spots where people should have been sitting. 

I bent down, touching the goop. It irritated my skin so I wiped it off immediately. Around the pile was a red cloth. As I picked it up I found that it was an XL shirt. The green goop had eaten away at it, but left enough of the collar and tag to let me know that each pile of sludge had been a person. Probably not too long ago from the smell. 

I walked out of the diner. Taking in a deep breath the smell of whatever the people had turned into had almost been overpowering. I thought maybe I had read about this exact scenario in an X-Men comic. 

Back on the street I yelled, “Hello!” Walking down the street I couldn’t feel any mannequins that would signify actual people in the hologram. I continued throughout the city. Yelling and searching for people. 

The further I went, the more piles of green sludge I noticed. More people dead and rotting. But one pile was especially rancid and smoky. I guessed they were more fresh. I started running in the direction and yelling. 

To my surprise as I left the town someone stepped out from behind a tree. A small kid, only about 13 years old. He had tan skin, black hair, blue eyes, and tears streaming down his cheeks. 

“Don’t come any closer!” The boy yelled. I knew he wasn’t real but they did a good job with this scenario. I could almost feel the fear and confusion the boy was going through. 

“What happened here?” I asked. 

“I-I don’t know,” the boy said. “I just…I stopped at my mom’s work at the courthouse. For-for lunch. Then she screamed and turned into this green sludge. Then-uh-other people. It happened to them. Everyone around me. They just up and died. I-I don’t know why I’m immune. But whatever bomb or whatever hit here. You-you need to go.”

I frowned. “Kid, you know it’s not a bomb,” I said. Taking a step toward him. 

“Don’t get closer!” He yelled, taking a step back. I risked it and kept moving toward him. 

“You know that it’s probably your mutant power or whatever. Turning biological material into acid or some fucked up power,” I said. Saddened by the hurt in the boy's face. I knew it was fake, but I felt like the act was real. “You know it’s you, right?”

“I-I don’t,” the kid said. No conviction in his voice as I came to within 10 feet of him. “I-is it?”

“I think so,” I said. One major point of mutant powers was they were random. And oftentimes very deadly. Whether people meant for them to be or not. There were people like Scott Summers who couldn’t look at anything without blowing them up. Or Anne who couldn’t touch anyone. Though minor, they had it easy compared to unlucky kids like this. 

Cursed with a power that killed everyone around them. Killing everyone they knew or loved just by being near them. It was a harsh truth. 

Where My Hero Academia and other worlds I had been to had a dark side to them as I traveled to them. Marvel was always this dark. Showing the worst part of having super powers as these people that couldn’t control them were ostracized and turned into victims. It was a good reminder what kind of world I was in. A real world. 

“What can I do?” The boy asked. Scared as the script he was following allowed him to admit that he was the problem. 

“Disappear into the woods. Don’t get close to anyone ever again. No animals. No people. No nothing,” I said. There was no stopping mutant powers once they started. At least not yet. 

“That’s impossible!” The kid said. “How-“

“I know it’s impossible,” I said. 

“Then what?”

“Give up,” I said. “If you don’t want to hurt anyone. You’ll need to give up. Just accept your shitty luck and…kill yourself.” I said the words as simply as I could. But they were hard to get out. I could have just as likely awoke in this world with a power as bad as this kid. And if I had I would have let thousands die until I figured out how to control it. This kid wasn’t me though. He didn’t have the resources I did. 

I wondered if I was really brought to this event in real life if I would give up a Weakness Eliminator to spare this kid. It was sad to admit I didn’t know the answer. 

“I’m scared,” the kid said. The script he was following allowing him to come to terms rather quickly. 

“I know,” I said. “Me too. Do you want my help?”

The kid bit his lip, holding back a sob in a very human-like way. He nodded and I felt my gut clench, making me feel disgusted that I could have to kill a kid. 

“What’s your name?” I asked, hesitating. 

“M-Mike-“ he said but was cut off as I ran at him. Closing the distance in an instant I went right through where he had been as the hologram turned white. 

I breathed in and out heavily, caught off guard. Reminding myself it had all been an illusion I pushed the event to the back of my mind. Trying to get over the fact that I would have been very minimally affected by killing a kid. 

“Well…done,” Wolverines voice said as the white turned into the steel panels. I turned to see Lorna and Alex behind me. Both had haunted looks in their eyes. 

Ororo, Wolverine, and Colossus walked up to us. All 3 gave us sad looks as they approached. They stopped near me and called the other 2 over. 

“That is a new addition to the test,” Ororo said. “We recommend you don’t talk about what you did in the last scenario. But if you would wish to talk to a psychologist about what you went through. Professor McCoy will be made available to you.”

“That wraps this story up for the day,” Wolverine said, his eyes on the other 2 but his attention focused on me. “We will review the results and let you know tomorrow if you made the team. If you’re still interested at least.”

From the Haki of the other 2 I wasn’t sure they would try to stick around to become X-Men. The haunted looks in their eyes only got worse. Ororo walked over to both of them. Whispering to them and grabbing their shoulders she escorted them out. 

I moved to follow but Wolverine signaled me to hang back. Everyone else exited the Danger Room as I waited behind with the toughest X-man there was. 

“You did good, kid,” Wolverine admitted. “You’re in if you want it.”

“That quick huh?” I asked, surprised by the quick decision. 

“All of you are in. If you decide to go through with it,” he admitted. “You would have been kicked out of the testing if you weren’t doing well.”

“Oh yeah? How’d I do? Get the high score?” I asked. 

“Ha, maybe,” Wolverine admitted. “You did good. I could tell you were holding back though.”

“Maybe a little,” I said with a shrug. 

“See, that’s why I’m liking you more and more, kid,” Wolverine said. “I thought you were mostly talk, but you’re stronger than you were a few days ago. I can feel it.”

“Ready for that spar?” I asked. 

“There will be plenty of time for that later,” Wolverine said. Grabbing my shoulder he began to walk me toward the exit. “You failed the last test.”

That was news to me. We began to ascend the stairs. A long silence followed his admission. I could feel that he was telling the truth but also holding back. 

“What is considered a pass for the last scenario,” I asked. 

“There was no right answer there,” Wolverine admitted. “Ororo and Colossus saw your act as a failure though. They voted against you. Unluckily for them they don’t get final say.”

“Who does?”

“Me,” he admitted. “I’ve been doing this a long time. That kid that killed his whole town, not exactly a figment of my imagination.”

“I assumed so.”

“Some people like to put on rose colored glasses. See it through the ideals of others. You and I. I’m guessing we see it as it is.”

“Which is?” 

“Take a guess,” Wolverine said. 

“I see it as life. Good with the bad. Life with death. There’s a kid that kills his whole town and somewhere else one that can heal the masses,”

I said. 

“Close. The ones that can heal the masses are few and far between,” Wolverine said. I hoped the ones that killed their whole town were fewer and farther between. 

“Professor Xavier wants the world to be at peace with mutants,” Wolverine said. “I don’t know why or how, but he looped me into his goals as well. So that’s what I do. Help him out. There was some pushback on letting you try for this, but you proved you’re more than ready. Better off than those other 2 at least. I want you on my team for a while.”

“You have your own team in the X-Men?” I asked, intrigued. 

“We tend to get more done when we split up. But I’d like you to join,” Wolverine said. “I tend to handle the less flowery missions for the professor. It would be good to have someone that understands how the world really works when I’m not around.”

“Like?”

“Like I will train you to know what to look for,” Wolverine said. “Teach you what it means to be out in the real world.”

“But I’ll be a part of the X-Men?”

“Yep. We are usually on solo missions most of the time. We meet up for training now and then. Or if we need a partner here and there. We only meet for big stuff and joint operations. Which as of late happen very very rarely. So it would be you and I, maybe someone extra for a time. Then when I feel you’re ready, Scott will want to work with you and a few others in our team.”

I nodded as we continued back toward the school. “And if I want to quit?”

“Do you want to already?” Wolverine asked. 

“Not especially. But that first scenario you had me in… I want to make sure I don’t have to put in 2 weeks notice.”

Wolverine chuckled. “No, you don’t need to do that. Quitting hasn’t really happened yet. Most people just request a leave and do their own thing for a bit. Once an X-man always an X-man.”

“Good to know,” I said. “Then yeah. I want to join up.”

“Great, we start Monday morning. Bright and early,” Wolverine said. 

“Great, thanks…what’s you’re first name?”

“Oh sorry. I go by Logan,” he said extending his hand. 

I shook it. “Thanks, Logan. I’ll be ready Monday.”

“Good to hear, Weston,” the short man said practically crushing my hand in his firm grip. His metal bones harder than I imagined we shook for a long time until I had to admit defeat and pull away. “I think you and I will get along fine.”

“Sure hope so,” I mumbled trying not to cradle my hand as I walked toward the elevator. As I got in and headed up my quest finished and I let out a sigh knowing my night had only just begun. 

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