"Long ti no see, Logan. I’m sorry to et you this way." Captain Arica sighed and sat in front of the visiting window, looking at the reflection of himself overlapping with Logan’s face. He recalled the scenes from the past when they fought side by side.
Logan shook his head. The lines of his facial muscles always seem to go downwards like the roots of an old tree; his eyebrows even faintly appear gray—it truly resembles a Wolverine.
"It’s entirely my fault," Logan said, "I swear, I never intended to harm any civilians. I feel sorry for their injuries. I know, this isn’t the battlefield anymore. Even on the battlefield, slaughtering civilians is absolutely evil. I really didn’t expect, that I would..."
Logan choked up towards the end of his speech. Captain Arica also bowed his head. Clearly, they both rembered the sa incident. Back then, they received a mission to clear remnants on the Eastern Front, chasing the enemies so desperately that they eventually cornered them into a low residential building. It was a hiding place for a mother and two children, civilians being held hostage. Though they tried with all their might, they couldn’t save the mother’s life. She was the first civilian to die because of them.
Since then, they understood to proceed cautiously and never pursue desperate foes. In battlefields, people always silently recite why they fight, but war itself makes one forget this. They once vowed on the way back, never to let any civilian bleed because of them again.
Logan appeared to be in great pain, so Captain Arica had to reach through the visiting window to grab his wrist, helping him to breathe steadily, adjust his mindset, and finish the interrogation.
Were it not for the gravity of the situation, Captain Arica wouldn’t have wanted to press his old comrade at this ti. But unfortunately, there were only two people involved and the other one was not clear-headed, tangled too deeply with the Phoenix, hence not a good subject for inquiry. Logan was their only hope.
"I know I ought to say sothing, but the problem is I don’t know what to say." Logan almost roared, "Scott suddenly seed to go crazy, starting by scolding . At first, it was alright, I just ignored him. But he went further, suddenly starting to insult my comrades, even making personal attacks on my height and appearance. I really don’t get it."
"Anything else?" Captain Arica asked.
"Then he began to sow discord between and Jean. Of course, they were boyfriend and girlfriend, and since they hadn’t broken up, I wasn’t going to be a third party. But Jean and I were comrades fighting alongside each other. Is it too much for to pour her a cup of coffee? I poured coffee for everyone; can’t exclude her, right? Wouldn’t that be ostracizing her?"
"Was this the first ti you and Scott had a conflict?"
"Sort of. There might have been so issues before, but it was always him giving the cold shoulder, and as you know, I’m not very sensitive, probably ignored many details."
"Did he co looking for a fight after that day?"
"Yes. He insulted a lot, saying things like being a shaless third party. But I really didn’t do anything. I explained to him, but he wouldn’t listen and insisted on fighting . I didn’t dare to fight him for real, so I had to avoid him. But the next day, he barged into my classroom and started swearing at in front of my students. I was humiliated, so I pushed him a bit, and he used a laser attack on !"
Logan scratched his head vigorously as he spoke, "You know, there were over a dozen minors in that classroom! He fired a laser, shattered the glass, and even scratched a child’s face. I was so pissed! Jean was very angry too, she rebuked Scott loudly. Scott actually cursed at her... God, I can’t even say the word..."
Although he didn’t say it, Captain Arica could probably guess. Such things are quite common; soone does sothing irrational out of jealousy, and their boyfriend or girlfriend stands by justice, helping the right rather than the close. Even if rationally knowing the other is just being kind, it’s still hard to accept.
"Since then, Scott has gone completely mad," Logan sighed, "We were supposed to have a peaceful camping trip, and he wanted to go crazy again. I had no choice but to lead him to the nearby beach, the two of us fought it out."
"Who won between you two?"
"In fact, I didn’t actually fight him; it was him firing lasers at while I kept dodging."
"Why didn’t you fight him for real?"
Logan looked at him incredulously, practically saying "Are you kidding ?" with his face.
"Although Scott can shoot lasers from his eyes, his body is just that of a civilian, not like Superman who could take a punch from Magneto all the way to Jupiter and be fine. If I swoop in with my claws, he’d be cut into several pieces."
Captain Arica also realized he asked a foolish question. Although Laser Eye Scott is long-range and Logan is close-range, Logan’s claws are Adamant Alloy, scratching Superman might even draw blood, let alone a civilian-level Laser Eye.
If Logan were to really fight Laser Eye, Logan could make many mistakes; he has self-healing power, but Laser Eye could only afford one mistake, or he’d be torn into pieces.
And although Laser Eye is rational when his mind is functioning, he clearly seed a bit frenzied then, attacking indiscriminately, he would be close in no ti, and that would be the end.
Captain Arica rubbed his forehead, saying, "Alright, what’s up with the power plant?"
"Pyro works there," Logan said, "Ever since the two Earths rged, New York’s rent has gone up. Previously normal mutants could manage with a stable job, but after the rger, they can’t anymore—they either work two jobs or switch to a high-paying job."
"Pyro had originally always worked at an Arican-style BBQ joint, not a high salary but a leisurely job, just sitting in the yard helping custors grill their at by controlling the fire. You know, like a pool lifeguard. The job suits him quite well."
"But since the weekly rent increased by 100 dollars, his ager salary couldn’t cover it. He wanted to rent a place in the suburbs, but couldn’t find one, so he had to look for a higher-paying job."
"So he went to the power plant?"
"Yes. The Osborn Group offered a high salary, basically all mutants who can control fire would go there. Of course, they’re not there to set fires and generate electricity themselves, but to conduct temperature control experints or sothing. I don’t really understand it, anyway Pyro got hired."
"Pyro got a new job, and after receiving his first paycheck, he rembered that many at Xavier’s School for Gifted Youngsters weren’t very well off, so he decided to treat everyone to a barbecue, and of course, invite his colleagues too. So at that ti, Scott and I, one after the other, drove to the power plant to pick up his colleagues, and then the accident happened..."
"How did you two end up fighting?"
"I worry you’ll laugh at if I tell you. You know I drive pretty aggressively, and when I reached the entrance, I was going fast, afraid I’d overshoot, so I hit the brakes hard. But Cyclops, for so reason, didn’t brake at all, smashed my trunk lid off. Then he insisted I was provoking him, and we started fighting. My claws couldn’t do much damage to the power plant, but he fired a laser and sohow ignited sothing, blowing up half a building."
Captain Arica was indeed left speechless. Normally, rear-end collision ans the rear car is at fault, even in Arica. Although Logan’s abrupt braking wasn’t ideal, maintaining a safe distance is the rear car’s responsibility. Moreover, Cyclops didn’t brake at all, which was really odd.
Normally, when you’re about to crash, you’d at least tap the brakes. Not braking at all, plowing straight into the trunk lid with such force, it’s simply outrageous.
The more they asked about Cyclops’s outrageous actions, the more it beca clear no one knew why he acted that way, and Logan was even more clueless.
Hit a dead end, Captain Arica, guided by Professor X, asked a few people who had a good relationship with Cyclops, but they all said he used to be a good person, no idea how he suddenly changed so much.
Captain Arica could only take this information back to S.H.I.E.L.D. to get professionals to help with analysis. S.H.I.E.L.D. also has a Behavior Analysis departnt, but unfortunately, they don’t do much. The people in the departnt may have so tricks, but they lack the thoroughness. Even after emailing his teacher, they couldn’t conclude anything from such a brief description.
Peter also took back a copy of the information, but he actually understood even less. His relationships were always pretty straightforward; he never even had a romantic rival, except for Harry.
But the nature of this matter was indeed too serious, and without figuring out what’s going on, Peter really didn’t dare to start building the magical defense network. If mutants truly lost control, wouldn’t the half-built magical defense network be torn apart by them? The loss would be significant. If they really caused so accident, there’d be no way to account to the mage.
Peter was scratching his head over the information, until it was again the ti for him to sleep last night. He turned his head and saw the bright moonlight streaming into the room along the window ledge.
Peter seed to be stifled in the room, so he walked out along the window ledge, the curtains fluttering behind him. He leaned on the balcony railing and looked down, seeing many who were busy until late now returning ho.
Suddenly, he felt his left side light up, knowing soone had arrived. He turned his head and saw a long cloak filled with the wind, although he couldn’t see the face, he could sense the person under the hood was smiling.
"Hello, I still don’t know how to address you."
"Call Moonlight," the person said.
"Moonlight? Are you Moon Knight? No, I’ve t Moon Knight, he seems to be bulkier than you, and his clothes are also different."
"I am Moonlight."
"Alright, Moonlight. I don’t want to pressure you, so just treat my words as if I were talking in my sleep. During the day today, I went to the scene of the explosion case, and Captain Arica also pried information from Logan about Cyclops Scott’s various odd behaviors. Yet none of us know why he went crazy..."
"Distressed by love," Peter heard Moonlight say.
"Yes, I guessed that too. Probably because of his rivalry with Logan..."
"No," the other interrupted before Peter finished. He heard the other say, "He realized he didn’t care that much anymore. He started out wanting to possess, but possession is never satisfying, and so he went crazy."
Peter paused, he was tempted to peer under the hood because the tone was too assured. But the person hadn’t even looked at the files, what Peter just outlined barely allowed for such a deduction. So how did he deduce this?
A gust of wind suddenly made Peter dazed, and by the ti he regained clarity, the person was already gone. He only heard a faint voice carried through the moonlight:
"Ask them if they ever quarreled, you will get the answer you seek."
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