"Look what I've found. A little friend from another world."
The older man's smile was kind, his tone gentle. But Saiki Kusuo knew he was no pushover.
He also possessed telepathic abilities, so the instant their eyes met, Saiki followed him to the school he'd founded, the Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters.
It was full of superpowered individuals, or what this world called mutants.
Charles Xavier used his Cerebro to locate Saiki. After reading his memories, he showed a trace of longing.
"Although your world is still plagued by war and conflict, mutants aren't rejected like they are here."
Charles went back to his work; the students here seemed accustomed to his comings and goings, and they didn't pay much attention to the newcomer, Saiki.
As the founder of Xavier's School, Charles seemed quite busy. After bringing Saiki back, he hurriedly left again. The one who greeted Saiki was Hank McCoy, who could transform into a beast-like form. In his human form, he was gentle and refined, seemingly easygoing, much like Banner.
He enthusiastically introduced Saiki to the school. Even though Saiki's attitude was perfunctory, Hank didn't get angry and continued with his work.
As they passed a small lake, a young man and woman caused Hank to pause.
He smiled and greeted them, "Hey, Jean, Scott. What are you two up to...?"
He raised an eyebrow, noticing their close proximity, and a teasing expression spread across his face.
"Did I interrupt something? Is it too late to say sorry and leave?"
Realizing what he was implying, Jean quickly put some distance between herself and Scott, waving her hands in denial. "Don't be ridiculous. We were just discussing something."
However, her explanation was unconvincing, and Hank's knowing smile clearly indicated he didn't believe her. The more she tried to explain, the deeper the misunderstanding became. Jean could only change the subject, shifting her gaze to Saiki.
"Is this the new friend the Professor mentioned?"
Hank didn't point out how awkwardly Jean had changed the topic, but instead nodded in agreement.
"That's right. This is Saiki Kusuo."
"An Asian? He looks quite young. Welcome. You'll like it here," Scott assessed him, extending a friendly hand.
Although he didn't believe he'd be staying long, Saiki reached out and shook his hand.
Because Charles had left in a hurry, he hadn't given many details about Saiki. Hank and Scott both assumed he would become a member of Xavier's School. Only Jean looked at him with a thoughtful expression.
Then, she seemed to realize something. She opened her mouth, but Saiki stopped her.
"Don't tell them."
The voice directly imprinted in her mind made Jean's eyes widen. She looked at Scott and Hank, who were still chatting beside her without any awareness, further confirming her guess.
For a moment, Jean's gaze lost some of its politeness and gained a hint of eagerness.
At this school, apart from Scott and the others who were willing to interact with her, everyone else either feared her powers or shunned her because of them. Now, someone who seemed to share her abilities had arrived, making her feel a sense of camaraderie.
She silently said to Saiki in her mind, "Don't worry, I won't say anything."
Saiki glanced at the favorability rating of 60 above her head, feeling a slight headache.
He would be leaving sooner or later; he didn't want to get too involved with the people of this world.
The group of two eventually became a group of four. Jean's enthusiasm for Saiki made Scott, who had a crush on Jean, feel a sense of crisis. As a result, he didn't give Saiki a single pleasant look all afternoon.
Saiki actually hoped that Scott would be brave enough to confess to Jean and drag her away, giving him some peace.
Before Saiki's patience ran out, Charles finally returned.
He brought back another small child for Hank to take care of, and then he asked Saiki to come to his office.
The affable Professor poured him a cup of tea. "Don't worry, child. Although I haven't found a way to send you back yet, there might be a mutant among us with the ability to do so. Speaking of which, have you checked the Time Stone in your body? Could it be that you've overused it and are suffering a backlash, or that its power is too great and is restricting your abilities?"
Charles proposed a hypothesis.
Saiki hadn't thought of that. He'd been too preoccupied with the parallel world and the laws of space-time.
He checked the Infinity Stone inside his body and found that the Time Stone was indeed dim and lifeless, having become a powerless stone. He tried to take the stone out, but his efforts were in vain.
Moreover, every time he tried to activate his powers, they were absorbed by the stone.
It was too strange. The other stones were fine. If he couldn't find the reason, would he have to stay here forever?
A hint of anxiety finally appeared on Saiki's usually expressionless face. Even without reading his mind, Charles could see his unease and reassured him.
"Don't worry, child. Perhaps we can think about this more deeply. For example, why are your other stones still usable, but only the Time Stone isn't?"
A thought flashed through Saiki's mind. He asked uncertainly, "What do you think, Professor?"
Charles clasped his hands together on the desk. "I have a bold conjecture. Perhaps this world has its own Time Stone. That would explain why yours is ineffective."
"Because my Time Stone comes from another world. If this world has a Time Stone, then mine is a counterfeit, unusable. The only way to go back is to find that stone."
Saiki followed Charles's speculation, earning an approving look from the Professor.
"That's right. You're very smart, child."
No one dislikes talking to intelligent people, not even the patient and communicative Charles.
But the question was, where was this stone? And why did this world only have one Infinity Stone?
Saiki tried using his Equivalent Exchange ability to swap for the stone, but it failed.
Charles had no good solutions either, and he didn't know much about the Infinity Stones.
He only knew that someone had once tried to collect all of them, but after gathering them, they suddenly disappeared, and the whereabouts of the stones were unknown.
But since Charles had decided to help, he wouldn't stand idly by.
When Saiki left Charles's office, it was already late. After a hasty dinner, Saiki was assigned a room by Hank and went to sleep.
He'd thought that after everything that had happened, he'd surely suffer from insomnia. To his surprise, he fell asleep the moment his head hit the pillow.
Saiki had a dream. He dreamed that he was standing on a steep cliff, with an endless abyss in front of him. Within the abyss, a familiar white light shimmered.
For some reason, Saiki knew in his heart that it was the Time Stone he was looking for.
"Do you want it?" Suddenly, a female voice sounded in his ear. Saiki turned his head, and a strikingly beautiful woman appeared behind him. She gave him a bewitching smile, her voice cool and alluring as she coaxed him.
She repeated the question, "Do you want it?" Without waiting for Saiki's answer, she answered herself. "After all, it's the most powerful stone in the universe. Everyone wants to possess that immense power." The woman sighed, her captivating eyes scanning Saiki from head to toe, her smile widening. "You're no exception, are you?"
If the woman's almost constant stream of thoughts hadn't been so distracting, Saiki would probably have been quite happy to watch her performance.
"Don't you even bother to find out about your target before you approach them?"
Saiki suddenly blurted out a seemingly random sentence.
The woman: "???"
"But I think you're right. Everyone wants the Infinity Stones. So, can you tell me where the Time Stone is?"
Saiki's tone held a hint of urgency, which surprised the Goddess of Death.
Everything was going as she'd expected, yet something felt off.
Was it because it was too easy?
The Goddess of Death's intuition was correct. She smiled mysteriously, not rushing to tell Saiki the exact location of the Time Stone. Saiki also couldn't read the correct location from her mind.
Seeing that time was almost up, the Goddess of Death decided to end her seduction and come back tomorrow.
"Actually, you don't have to go through all this trouble. I think you could just tell me everything at once."
Unfortunately, the Goddess of Death couldn't hear his plea. She said, "Think about it. I'll come back to you."
No, I don't need to think about it. I want the stone now!
Sadly, the Goddess of Death couldn't hear Saiki's inner cries and vanished before his eyes.
Saiki awoke from his dream with regret, wishing it were night already so he could go back to sleep and find the Goddess of Death.
There was a knock on the door. It was Charles. He seemed to have been monitoring Saiki's every move. While this surveillance-like behavior made Saiki uncomfortable, Charles was his best hope of returning home, so he had to endure it.
Saiki opened the door and stepped aside to let him in.
"I apologize for coming to you so early. But I sensed your emotional fluctuations and guessed that you might have discovered something, so I came to see you."
"I did learn something," Saiki nodded. "So, Professor, do you know anything about the Goddess of Death?"
The Goddess of Death. This name caused Charles's smile to fade.
"It seems you do know."
Charles had to nod. "When I was young, I heard some stories about her."
Charles had to continue what he hadn't finished saying yesterday.
The person who had collected the stones, their goal was to revive the Goddess of Death. However, just as he was about to succeed, he suddenly changed his mind. He destroyed the Soul Stone, making it impossible for the Goddess of Death to ever be revived, and then he destroyed the other stones as well, preventing anyone from collecting them again. However, for some reason, the Time Stone remained.
So the Goddess of Death approached him last night to have him revive her?
If that was the case, it was exactly what Saiki wanted.
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