Chapter 856: Glittering Stars Rotten (Part 1) (Patreon)

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Autumn in New York was vibrant, with its warm-colored leaves, not resembling the symbol of fading life. As they gracefully descended from the branches, they carried an unwavering determination, embracing the pedestrians below.

In the bustling commercial streets of Manhattan's Prosperous district, nature was encased by steel walls, devoid of its former vitality. However, in slightly more remote places, beyond the fences surrounding buildings, rose bushes had shed their flowers, leaving behind vibrant red fruits. The patterns on the doors' railings exuded an American countryside charm.

A pristine hand approached the railing, yet it didn't grasp it. The iron door swung open, and a pair of boots stepped onto the thick layer of fallen leaves in the courtyard, creating delicate rustling sounds.

Entering the Polaris building, the person removed their scarf, took a deep breath, wiped the beads of sweat from their forehead, and addressed the receptionist, saying, "Hello, I'm Lorna Dane, and I have an appointment."

"Of course, please wait a moment," the receptionist replied with a smile. While checking the appointment records on the computer, Polaris stood by the front desk, exhaling softly. Despite her stunning beauty, signs of fatigue were evident, with dark circles under her eyes.

"Hello, please follow me," the receptionist gestured toward a corridor with her finger. Polaris followed her as they boarded an elevator and ascended to a floor. Exiting the elevator, they reached the entrance to an office. The receptionist knocked, and a gentle voice from inside said, "Please come in."

The receptionist stood by the door, and Polaris pushed it open herself. Dr. Rodriguez, seated behind the desk, adjusted his glasses with a push and said, "Miss Dane, isn't it? Please have a seat. Your appointment for a treatment session from 5:00 to 9:00 this evening begins in half an hour. Please make yourself comfortable while I finish up these documents."

"Thank you, Dr. Rodriguez," Polaris replied without much elaboration. She took a seat on the sofa in the waiting area.

Schiller, behind the desk, continued writing as he spoke, "To be honest, Miss Dane, I was quite surprised when I received your appointment. After all, there's no psychologist more renowned than Professor Xavier in this world. I've heard that you have a good relationship with him. Why didn't you seek treatment with him?"

Polaris lowered her head slightly, brushing her green hair behind her ear with her hand. Schiller glanced at her motion.

Polaris rarely displayed such gentleness. Most of the time, she was fierce and seemed unapproachable. It was hard to tell whether she was being gentle now or just fatigued.

Before speaking, Polaris sighed deeply. Within that sigh lay complex emotions, to the extent that when she finally spoke, she didn't know where to start. After a brief pause, she began, "This all began when Professor Charles found me a job..."

The job Charles had found for Polaris as a space traffic officer was a perfect fit for her abilities, except for one issue – it was extremely demanding and tiring. Moreover, it contributed significantly to the possibility of a third world war.

After working in this role for three days, Stark intervened and prevented Polaris from continuing her space missions. Polaris was infuriated and felt that Stark was making trouble for no reason. She had no intention of paying him any attention and planned to go to work as usual the next day.

However, on that same evening, Polaris encountered Magneto, Erik, outside her rented apartment.

It was an Autumn night, slightly cooler than usual. Exhausted from the day's work, Polaris had no appetite for dinner and bought a Taco from a roadside vendor. After exiting the elevator and taking out her keys, she was about to unlock her door.

At that moment, she keenly sensed a fluctuation in the magnetic field. She turned her head, and there, at the end of the corridor, stood Magneto. The moonlight streaming in through the window cast his shadow long, like a candle about to burn out.

In that instant, fear gripped Polaris's heart. Her hand trembled, and the keys fell to the ground, making a crisp sound.

Then, she witnessed the keys floating in the air, inserting themselves into her apartment's lock and opening the door.

Polaris's arm trembled, and she shouted at Magneto, "What are you doing? Why are you here? Why did you appear here?"

Magneto remained silent, gesturing for Polaris to enter with his eye contact. She pushed open the door with trembling hands and, upon entering, turned to Magneto, saying, "You can't come in!"

"Why did you come looking for me?" Polaris asked again.

"You recently got a new job..." Magneto's voice rumbled in the corridor, resonating like the tremors of magnetic force.

Polaris leaned against the doorframe, took a deep breath, and said, "That's correct. But what does that have to do with anything? You fired me. Can't I find a new job?"

Before Magneto could respond, Polaris continued, "Fine, I know. Professor X must have complained to you again that I don't study. But I just can't stand being at that wretched school!"

"What's there? A bunch of kids! Do you know what they do every day? They freeze the entire school building, then set it on fire. They electrocute all the leaves on the trees or punch holes through the walls..."

"Do you want me to play those games with them? Those foolish, short-sighted, immature kids! Those idiots who can't see that disaster is right around the corner! How can I stay with them?"

Polaris's hand gripped the doorframe tightly. "You should leave here and return to the Andromeda Galaxy. Don't appear before me!"

"Lorna..." Magneto began to call her name, but Polaris grew angrier and angrier. She said, "Don't call me that way! You have no right to call me that way!"

Polaris took two steps back, looking into Magneto's eyes. "Don't try to make me go back to the school... Magneto, if it weren't for you, if you hadn't abandoned my mother, she wouldn't have died!"

"If my adoptive parents hadn't died, I wouldn't have been sent to an orphanage and then to that boarding school. I wouldn't have been bullied by those weak, immature, foolish ordinary people!"

Polaris's chest began to heave rapidly, and her fingertips started to tremble. She spoke rapidly, "What did I do? I just broke a few bones of those who bullied me, making sure they could never stand again. What's wrong with that? It's what they deserved!"

"They stuffed mud into my desk, smeared sticky candy on the walls next to me. They should have known that this day would come! I regret not killing them!"

"And then what? Those meddlesome X-Men came looking for me, calling me a criminal! They said I shouldn't do this, that I should never harm ordinary people... Screw ordinary people!"

"Do those schoolkids who bully the transfer students, the rich ones bully the poor ones, the ones with both parents bully the kids from single-parent families, not see the true nature of these ordinary people? They are not weak sheep in need of protection; they are a despicable pack of wolves ready to bite others at any moment!"

"No one in this world is more malicious than them! But the X-Men say they want to protect them, care for them, stand with them!"

Polaris trembled all over. She looked at Magneto and said, "And now you intend to stand with them... Get out! Leave here! I don't want to see you again, you damn monster..."

Suddenly, she heard the hum of a magnetic field. Polaris's expression stiffened, and she instinctively created a magnetic force barrier around her, but it shattered instantly. She was no match for Magneto in terms of power.

"What do you want to do? Do you want to kill me? You've wanted to do that for a long time, haven't you? You heartless monster!"

In an almost instant, a magnetic force storm enveloped Polaris's body. After the storm subsided, she collapsed to the ground, having fainted, and thus couldn't see the expression on Magneto's face.

Magneto wasn't angry, nor did he appear as serious and stubborn as usual. His expression was extremely complex.

Few people had ever seen Magneto display so many emotions. In most situations, he always wore a stoic expression and rarely spoke.

The figure of Polaris, who had fallen, slowly faded away, condensing into a small shadow reflected in Magneto's pupils.

Ending the recollection, he looked at Charles across from him, still with no expression on his face. Professor X continued to smile and said, "Last night, you must have followed my advice and expressed your support to young Lorna, right?"

"You see, Erik, parents are supposed to stand by their children, even if they make mistakes. You should convey your intention to protect her. That's how you show your love for her..."

Charles turned his wheelchair to the desk and said, "I've advised you many times before, but you remained indifferent. It seems that Lorna means something different to you, and you're willing to give it a try."

"With a powerful father like you behind her, she can gain a greater sense of security. This way, it can help heal the wounds caused by the bullying she experienced on the campus..."

Charles turned his head to Magneto and said, "Children often cry loudly, but in reality, they don't ask for much—just a sense of security."

"You must prove through your actions that you'll always stand by them, never leave, and no matter what happens, you'll be together because you're family. That's how family members should support each other..."

"Lorna..." Magneto's fingertips moved slightly, and he was filled with various emotions, but he couldn't put them into words. In the end, he said, "...Her issues are quite serious."

"Serious? What do you mean by serious?" Charles looked at Magneto with some confusion. He had no knowledge of what had happened the previous night.

At that time, Stark had called Magneto and asked him to return. Magneto did return but went directly to Xavier School for Gifted Youngsters, where he met Charles. Charles had cautioned Magneto not to criticize Polaris, even if he wanted to point out her problems. He had to first express his attitude, that as her father, he would always stand by her and protect her, no matter what.

So Magneto went.

However, somewhere along the way, Polaris and Magneto's descriptions of that evening were completely opposite, and Schiller and Charles, the two psychologists, understood the situation differently.

Schiller, based on Polaris's description, had imagined a large-scale horror movie scenario. Even without considering the ethical aspects, it was eerie and terrifying.

But since Charles had asked Magneto if everything had gone smoothly the previous night and received a nod in response, he believed that father and daughter had surely sat together intimately, allowing their initially distant relationship to evolve into a family bond.

This led to the psychologists taking drastically different approaches in counseling this father-daughter pair.

"Well, Miss Lorna, may I call you that? You see, Charles and your father have a close relationship, so you came to me instead of seeking help from him..."

"If you've come to a psychologist voluntarily, it suggests that you may feel there are some psychological issues you're facing. Do you feel any changes in your recent life? Can you talk to me about it?" Schiller asked Polaris across from him.

"Changes?" Polaris frowned, lowered her head, and looked very fatigued. She said, "I've been very tired lately, to the point where I can't even lift my arms..."

Schiller began to take notes in a medical record. He noticed that Polaris's attention was no longer on herself, so he relaxed slightly.

"Has work been hectic recently? Have you taken a few days off to relax?" Schiller asked.

"I was indeed tired the past few days, but it got better afterward. I haven't taken any time off, and I don't think I need it. When I was in the Andromeda Galaxy, I could work continuously for two months," Polaris replied.

Schiller raised an eyebrow and said, "Miss Lorna, everyone needs rest. If you feel there's never a time when you don't need a break, it's very likely that some other emotions are driving you to work this way. These emotions may be clouding your judgment, causing your brain to produce excessive adrenaline, and keeping you in a state of excitement. This isn't a good thing."

"What were you thinking about when you were working in the Andromeda Galaxy?" Schiller asked.

Unexpectedly, Polaris remained silent for a long time before finally saying, "I was thinking... about the future of mutants."

[Read at www.patreon.com/shanefreak, and thanks for the invaluable support!]

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Next Chapter>>Chapter 857: Shining Stars Rotten (Part Two)