Marvel: Master Of Role-Playing-Chapter 155: Different Paths

The tension in the air was rising fast. Logan could feel it in the deepening sound of the bartender's breathing behind him.

At any moment, the man could pull the trigger.

As silence stretched between the two, Logan's instincts reached their limit. He couldn't hold them back any longer. In the next second, the claws from his other hand extended as well.

The bartender saw the flash of bone and reacted on impulse. His finger squeezed the trigger, about to blast Logan's head clean off with the shotgun.

But before that could happen, a bolt of lightning struck down from behind, hitting him directly.

Lightning moved faster than thought. The bartender never even realized he was dead before he stopped breathing completely.

As the bartender's body collapsed with a heavy thud, the people nearby finally sensed the danger. Panic exploded through the bar. One after another, they ran for the exits. In no time, the place was nearly empty—only Logan and the underground fight champion he still held in place remained.

The sudden lightning had startled Logan too. He quickly turned his head and saw the figure of a woman dressed in black, now standing calmly in the doorway of the bar.

"James Howlett. Born in 1832, Canada. Mutant abilities: regenerative healing and retractable bone claws. Correct?"

She didn't introduce herself. Instead, Ororo chose to lay out Logan's background.

"You've investigated me? You even found out something that old?"

Logan was sure everything about his past had long been buried by time. Yet this woman in front of him could recite his history in such detail.

Over the years, he'd used countless aliases. That alone should have made it impossible for any database to compile a complete record of his life.

"Learning about your past isn't that difficult."

Even if S.H.I.E.L.D. or the FBI came after him, they could never fully uncover everything. But with a telepath on their side, it was a different story.

"Our companion read your mind. From deep inside, we saw your past. And you've realized it by now, haven't you? We're the same kind of people."

"The same kind of people," Logan muttered.

He knew he was a mutant. He also knew they weren't exactly a small or weak group. But still, he had never believed that others would consider someone like him as one of their own.

The woman's words hit something deep inside him. And just as he stood stunned, Ororo moved again.

She raised her hand, sending out another bolt of lightning. It slithered like a snake, dodging around Logan with eerie precision before striking the underground champion, who was still trembling and too scared to speak.

"Ahhh!"

With a sharp, painful scream, the man collapsed onto the floor, lifeless.

Logan's eyes went wide. "What did you do?!"

Ororo lowered her hand. Her expression didn't change. "Just protecting our kind."

With that, she turned and walked out of the bar.

Her cold disregard for life made Logan question whether people like her, his so-called kind, were really worth getting close to.

But right now, he didn't have a choice. Even if he wanted to leave, his truck was outside the bar. So he could only follow behind Ororo and step out with her into the snow-covered world.

Only then did he realize things were far from simple.

The people who had fled the bar earlier were now all lying motionless in the deep snow, not a single breath left in them. Their bodies were being slowly buried by a blizzard that had started who knows when.

"What the..." Logan whispered, stunned.

"A companion eliminated those weak humans. If they escaped, they would have reported the previous man's death to the government. That would have only made things worse for mutants."

Ororo spoke calmly, explaining her actions as if they were logical, even necessary. She had saved Logan, and now she was trying to persuade him, with words meant to make him believe only mutants would protect their own.

Humans, in her eyes, were all the enemy.

But she had misunderstood something. Logan wasn't like her, or the others raised by Charles from a young age. He had lived more than a century and a half. He had his own values and identity. Words alone would never be enough to sway him.

"That's because you killed first," he said sharply. "If you hadn't, there wouldn't have been anything to report."

"You say that," Ororo replied, without turning her head, "but just moments ago, you were about to get your head blown off by that bartender."

Her response left Logan speechless. He could stay indifferent to the harm he received because of his healing ability, but it didn't change the fact that the man had tried to kill him.

"Yeah... that's why he's dead now," he murmured.

Ororo's brow furrowed. Now, she was beginning to sense it—there were real differences between her and Logan.

"And what about you and your companions?" Logan asked quietly. "Killing so many innocent people? What kind of ending will that bring?"

Hearing his words, Ororo turned back to him. The look in his eyes, like he could see through everything, sparked a sudden rage in her chest.

So many mutants had already died or disappeared. As one of Charles' main allies now, she knew better than anyone how dangerous the current situation was for their kind.

To her, Logan's words felt like mockery.

"Mutants will defeat humanity. We'll become the dominant force in this world! That is the future we're heading toward!"

Logan remained unmoved by Ororo's declaration. He had seen far too many people like her before—those filled with ambition, trying to shape the world in their image. He'd even been caught in their schemes, during both of the world wars that engulfed the globe.

But even after all that, no one had ever managed to realize such grand ambitions. And Logan had no intention of joining anyone's cause again.

"Thanks for saving me back there. I mean it."

Logan expressed his gratitude. Even if he didn't agree with their ideals, they had saved his life, and that was real.

But after speaking, he started walking toward his truck and climbed into it, ready to get out of the area and lay low.

"But as you can probably tell, we're not the same. I appreciate the help, but this is where it ends. I hope you and your people won't come looking for me again."

With that, Logan started the engine and drove away.

Ororo stood in silence, watching him vanish into the snowy horizon. Frustrated, she raised her hand and unleashed a bolt of lightning, splitting a nearby tree in half.

"Stubborn bastard," she spat. "You better die at the hands of those humans. Traitor to your own kind."

Taking a deep breath to calm down, Ororo activated her powers, clearing away the storm clouds and snow. Sunlight broke through and lit up the land once more.

....

Deep within the forest nearby, hidden by the trees, a jet rested quietly.

Charles hadn't issued any strict orders. After Logan's rejection, Ororo decided not to push further and was about to return to the school.

But just as she approached the aircraft, a sharp, piercing sound cut through the air from behind.

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