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"A place where someone still thinks about you is a place you can call home."
—Jiraiya, (Naruto)
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"You guys are still alive?" Kurt Wagner was the first one to approach them with an unsure face.
"Yeah seems so." Rudeus said as he turned towards him.
Jean wasn't saying anything because she was ashamed of all the destruction caused by her 'evil personality'. She just stared at the ground with a downcast expression unable to face anyone.
"Turns out a really evil, all-life hating entity had possessed Jean and controlled her to cause all this destruction. All I needed was to just reach out to Jean and remind her that she still had a family, that she still had people that cared for her here, doesn't she?" Rudeus said with a raised voice making sure everybody nearby was able to hear him.
He understood what Jean was thinking and so he was making sure that people didn't blame her for the destruction caused here or make it awkward for her. Of course, some people would still be unable to completely forget and forgive but he atleast wanted the people closest to her to be cool with her.
Normally he wouldn't go to this length to try to make Jean friends with everyone here again but the school and most of its students and faculty were most or less his followers and faction. After the influence of the Professor diminished in the school, his reached a new high. The newly named 'Arcane Institute' has unofficially become an asset for his metahuman program directly connected to his current metahuman capital of Genosha. So maintaining a good relationship among his own faction members was for his own benefit.
"Really? So she is back to normal now? Thank god Jean. We were really worried about you. Its good that you are okay now." Kurt being one of the kindest and most gullible of the bunch easily believed Rudeus' words and exclaimed happily.
Hearing Rudeus' explanation, seeing Jean's sad guilty face and Kurt's forgiving attitude a lot of people also brought their guard down as they went near them. Many like Pietro, Piotr and Ororo directly forgave Jean after Rudeus healed all their injuries with his skill. But there were certain people like Anna, Wanda and Lorna who maintained their distance from Jean and didn't interact with her enough showing their disapproval to Jean's presence.
However all this did not dissaude Jean at all. She knew what she had indirectly done and the damage she had caused. She didn't blame anyone for being afraid or angry at her nor did she hate anyone for ignoring her. In her mind she was determined to one day win back their respect and friendship by proving herself worthy of being Atem's follower in the future.
"Jean, I am glad you are back. I always hoped that you would return one day. We all thought that we had lost you. I am happy to see that we were all wrong." Professor Charles Xavier said as he came rolling on his wheelchair. He was looking really weak with deep sunken eyes and a thin body. He looked to have aged a couple of decades from when Rudeus saw him last. He was even having a little trouble in breathing properly.
"Aah Professor. Its good to see you too. I am glad to see that you are still alive after all that. Your survival ability is almost like a cockroach, isn't it? And it seems you also haven't changed much even after all this time, have you? Still keeping... secrets in that mind of yours." Jean said in an almost threatening manner as she ominously stared down the Professor with a knowing relaxed smile.
Rudeus wondered what she was talking about but after a gesture from Jean indicating that she would tell him everything later, he kept quiet.
*Honk Honk Hoooonnnk*
Suddenly an ice cream truck brightly coloured in all pink showed out of nowhere honking like its engine depended on it as it came driving straight towards them and stopped just before almost hitting the Professor in his wheelchair.
"Oh Sorry. I didn't know this was a handicapped parking spot. Anyways whatchya guys doing? Wait, did all the action already happen? Am I late in my first potential X-men team-up action sequence? Oh god, I hate this slow ass ice cream truck. I knew that sleazy salesman lied when he was giving me the specs of the truck." Gwenpoole said as she got out of the truck with a depressed expression that she missed the fight.
"Maybe next time Gwen. There will be many more fights to come in the future. You'll have your chance." Rudeus couldn't help but give some hope to the girl who was drawing circles on the ground in depression.
"Oh, heya boss, didn't see you there. I did the job you assigned me. I brought those people you requested. But they were resisting and asking too many questions, so I just used the old fashioned way and kidnaped them. I did good right? Praise me." Gwenpoole instantly became happy again as she acted like a kid on sugar rush.
"Wait, you kidnapped them. *Sigh* Gwen I told you to escort them here not kidnap them. Anyways, what's done is done. But no praises for you this time. You get a 6 out of 10 in your mission achievement rating." Rudeus said as he opened the truck's back and saw a man and a woman tied with their hands behind their back and mouths sealed shut with tape. They were groaning, begging for someone to release them.
He felt a headache coming his way after seeing this.
"Just release them quickly." Rudeus said as he looked at Jean with a little pity.
"Huh? Why are you looking at me like that?" Jean asked, confused.
"Because this kidnapping is related to you." Rudeus gave a nervous laugh. He never ever thought in his wildest imagination that he would be involved in a kidnapping even though he is a god now.
"What do you mean?... Wait, do I know these two? Their faces seem awfully familiar for some reason." Jean said as she tried to remember where she might have seen them before. Maybe they were some popular celebrities or something.
"They are your parents Jean. Charles Xavier had erased and fabricated your memories about them while he made them believe that you were sick and needed help to get better in his school. He made it seem like you could never leave school premises and that they could never get in contact with you if they wanted you to get better. Most probably, he used telepathic manipulations to make them believe and accept such stupid conditions. Infact the entity that possessed Jean today was also a direct result of the unethical mental manipulations that Charles had done on your mind without your consent when you were just a child." Rudeus revealed as he made sure that everyone present could clearly hear him.
"What?" Both Jean and her parents who were free of their binding now shouted at the same time, not able to believe that someone almost ruined a major portion of their lives just so that he could recruit a student for his school.
The Professor on the other hand couldn't react at all and just clenched his jaw and looked down in shame. He could not deny any of those allegations because all of them were indeed true.
Rudeus's revealed all this about Jean in front of everyone in the school to convert Jean's image from a villain to a victim of Charles' manipulations. This way he would not only be able to clear her name and image but also lay all blame on the Professor and destroy the last remaining dignity and respect he had in the minds of the teachers and students, finalizing Rudeus' control over the academy, eliminating Professor Xavier's influence and removing him from the game forever.
"You, you truly are a shameful man, aren't you? I couldn't believe that I once respected you. You are a devil in saint's clothing. You ruined not only my life but also the lives of my parents as well.... And you still haven't improved. You are still hiding things, trying to manipulate people and doing the unthinkable. But not anymore. I'll show everyone what you are hiding and what type of person you truly are." Jean said as her eyes glowed silver.
The Professor was legit afraid. He was not afraid for his life but for his own mind and sanity as he could slowly feel telepathic tendrils trying to enter his mind slowly puncturing his mental defences. He looked around everyone, begging them for help with his eyes, hoping that some one would understand what he wanted to accomplish, someone would empathize with him and stop her but alas nobody did.
Rudeus had already stopped everyone from interfering. He believed in Jean. He knew that she would not do anything that would make his job harder or cause everyone to doubt or blame her again.
So nobody came to help Professor Charles Xavier as he sat in his wheelchair despairing about his mind being forced open for the first time in his life. His alpha level mind powers not even close to what was required to stop Jean's upgraded omega level telepathic assault. He was now the one who was feeling the full brunt of being mind-raped.
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