After a long journey back, the mutants finally returned to Xavier Manor.
Charles, Eric, and Moira had not come with them. The three had taken Copycat to the CIA for interrogation and temporary detention. They would return later after finishing the necessary procedures.
The remaining young mutants walked into the mansion together, their voices filling the entrance hall with loud chatter.
"Darwin, did you see that?" Havok said excitedly, waving his hands as he talked. "I hit that beast-looking guy so hard he could barely breathe!"
Darwin snorted.
"Come on, Alex. If I remember correctly, he almost killed you. Rorschach had to save you at the last second, didn't he?"
"Exactly," Sean added with a laugh. "What's there to brag about? If we're talking about performance, why don't you hear about mine instead?"
"Your performance?" Havok shot back. "You got blasted by that wind attack and ran away!"
The hallway filled with laughter.
The young mutants talked loudly, joking and exaggerating their accomplishments. Their faces were full of excitement, and when they described the battle, they couldn't help gesturing dramatically with their hands.
Despite everything that had happened, they looked strangely energized.
In truth, the mission in Manhattan had been a complete failure.
They had spent time, energy, and effort chasing an enemy who turned out to be nothing more than a decoy. They had gained no useful information and almost died several times in the process.
At first, the group had felt nothing but frustration.
During the fight itself, many of them had been nervous and afraid.
But now, after everything was over, those feelings had transformed into something else.
Excitement.
For most of them, this had been their first real battle.
Not a training exercise.
Not a simulated fight.
A real fight with real danger.
The adrenaline of facing life and death, the rush of standing on the edge of disaster—those were things that couldn't be understood without experiencing them personally.
"You all have the nerve to brag," Raven said suddenly, rolling her eyes. "If we're being honest, Rorschach handled almost everything himself."
Her comment instantly deflated the atmosphere.
The others looked at each other awkwardly.
Because when they thought about it carefully… Raven wasn't wrong.
Aside from the phasing mutant who had escaped, every enemy had been defeated by Rorschach.
Even the strongest opponent—the fake Black Emperor—had ultimately been beaten down by him.
The rest of them had spent most of their time helping Charles search the hotel for the device blocking telepathy. In the end they found nothing.
By the time they finished searching, Rorschach had already defeated Shaw.
When looked at objectively, their contribution had been little more than support.
"Wow, Raven," Sean groaned dramatically. "You're ruthless. After hearing that, I suddenly realize how useless I am."
"Same here," Havok admitted with a sigh. "I thought I did pretty well fighting that monster. But compared to Rorschach…"
He shook his head.
"Rorschach literally saved my life."
"Why would you compare yourselves to that monster?" Darwin said casually.
He seemed far less bothered.
"That's just asking for pain. You need to remember something important."
Darwin shrugged.
"We're not on the same level as Rorschach."
"Once you accept that, life becomes much easier."
For a moment, everyone stared at him.
Then they realized he had a point.
Oddly enough, the mood improved immediately.
The huge gap between them and Rorschach suddenly felt much less uncomfortable.
Back during the earlier battle at the CIA base, Rorschach had already demonstrated strength far beyond the others.
At that time, however, Charles and Eric could still be mentioned in the same conversation as him.
But after this battle…
The difference had become obvious.
Rorschach had played the decisive role from beginning to end. It wouldn't be an exaggeration to say he had single-handedly shattered Shaw's ambush.
Meanwhile the rest of them—including Charles and Eric—had contributed very little.
That was simply a fact.
"Everyone," Rorschach said with a sheepish grin, scratching the back of his head. "If you keep praising me like this, I'm going to get embarrassed."
He paused briefly.
"So since you're all so good at talking… maybe you should keep going."
The group immediately rolled their eyes.
After a final round of laughter and teasing, they eventually reached the dormitory building.
Although the earlier excitement lingered, the long journey and the intense battle had drained everyone both physically and mentally.
Normally they would gather in the living room downstairs to talk late into the night.
Tonight, however, no one had the energy.
After exchanging a few quick goodnights, everyone headed straight to their rooms.
Sleep was the only thing on their minds.
Everyone, that is—except Rorschach.
His physical endurance had already surpassed normal human limits. Even after the battle and the long trip home, he still felt energetic.
In fact, he was more excited than tired.
After all, he had just completed a major enhancement.
Rorschach couldn't wait to test his new strength.
While the others rested, he walked alone toward the training room.
Bang!
He threw a casual punch at a heavy metal sandbag.
The thick steel surface instantly dented inward, leaving a deep fist-shaped impression.
If Rorschach hadn't steadied the bag with his other hand, it would have flown across the room.
Whoosh! Whoosh!
He began throwing punches rapidly.
His fists moved so fast that they left faint afterimages in the air.
Next he moved outside to the training field.
When he ran at full speed, his body became little more than a blurred shadow.
His speed had already surpassed one hundred meters per second. To ordinary eyes, he was almost impossible to track.
The improvement was obvious.
Every aspect of his body had been enhanced.
Rorschach felt extremely confident.
If he faced Deadpool again now, he could probably defeat him instantly—even without using heat vision.
There would be no need for the exhausting battle from before.
The same applied to enemies like the Nail Man, the ninja, or the Windblade Man.
With his current strength, Rorschach could eliminate them all in a very short time.
"Next… let's test the heat vision."
Feeling excited, he walked into the special training chamber designed for that ability.
He activated the tennis ball launcher.
Whoosh!
Whoosh!
Tennis balls shot across the room one after another.
Rorschach's eyes glowed red.
Thin beams of heat vision flashed outward repeatedly, blasting every tennis ball into fragments before they could reach him.
During this test, he carefully measured the duration of his ability.
Five and a half minutes.
His heat vision could now fire continuously for that long.
At first glance, the number didn't sound impressive.
But in practical combat, it was more than enough.
After all, how many enemies could force Rorschach to fire continuously for five minutes?
More importantly, the power of the beams had increased as well.
Even within the chaotic era of emerging superheroes, Rorschach's strength was no longer insignificant.
There was only one small regret.
His flight ability was still locked.
Once that power awakened, his combat capability would increase dramatically.
At that point, Rorschach would become truly unstoppable.
He had no idea what percentage of the template was required to unlock it.
But the anticipation only made him more motivated.
For now, however, he had something more immediate to do.
He needed to adapt to his new body.
With that thought, Rorschach threw himself fully into training.
.....
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