Chapter 016:The School of Mutants (5).
Fisk stood for a moment staring at Charles after witnessing what had happened; a mix of admiration and astonishment flickered across his features before being replaced by a cold smile.
"I didn't know you had that level of control," Fisk said in a measured voice, though he tried to make his words sound more like sincere praise than a threat. "There are a lot of outlets for someone like you, Headmaster. Imagine... helping mutants integrate socially, rehabilitation programs, partnerships with the city — I can open doors for you. And naturally, I would benefit as well."
When Daniel saw that change on the monitor, he both wondered and genuinely admired Fisk's cunning; Fisk was one of the smartest people in the Marvel world when it came to recruiting and using others to serve his ends.
"An appealing offer," Charles said calmly, "but what do you actually want in return?"
Fisk gave a short smile and waved his hand as if outlining a table of benefits and gains. "Acceptance of mutants by society, stable cities, reduced fear — all of which benefits everyone. We'll show the world that mutants are not a threat. We'll craft a new narrative."
Charles looked at him, waiting for an answer that still had not come.
Charles read more in Fisk's eyes than Fisk's lips had spoken; a quick flash of an inner scene revealed a deeper ambition — a dream of social control, of using laws and the media as tools of domination.
It wasn't that Fisk harbored outright hatred for mutants so much as he desired a civilization that would be under his grip in one way or another.
Although a small part of Charles's heart stirred at finding him sincere about mutants' integration with humans, in the end... Fisk was Fisk — rotten to the core.
"I refuse your offer," Charles said simply. "We are human too, and in time everyone will accept us without us having to do what you want."
The expression on Fisk's face changed for an instant — it wasn't shock that his offer had been rejected so much as the realization that someone had the power to stop his plans without visible violence.
The schemes he had not yet disclosed tightened the lines around his mouth and a trace of hidden anger surfaced. He tried to keep his voice steady.
"If you try anything to me... there are people who know a lot about me. If my will changes suddenly, they'll interpret the reason one way: mind control. I told them I would work with the Purple Man. I told them before that any odd behavior on my part would be because of the Purple Man. And on top of that, they have explicit orders to attack him if that ever happens. If they are killed and nothing changes, they'll assume it was you — you mutants I visited just now."
A moment of silence settled over the room, but it was not calming; it was an outright threat.
Fisk did not hide that he had set a safety net to deal with the Purple Man if he ever needed to be opposed, though he had not expected to have to use it now.
Charles smiled softly, then spoke in a low, barely audible voice: "My field of control reaches further than you imagine; I can control them while I sit right here."
Charles was being truthful — he could do that if he employed the weapon he kept beneath the school.
A flush of boldness left Fisk's face for a beat, and signs of confusion that had not been there moments before appeared.
His mind addressed fears he had not expected to be stirred so easily: the idea that someone else could touch his deepest motives and turn his own arguments against him.
Suddenly, and in perfect calm that did not announce itself with any cry, Charles reached out — yet there was no visible physical touch.
It was an inward motion, a small mental pulse he used to reach into Fisk's depths. It was not an unnecessary invasion, but a focused, limited intervention: a single word, a mental nudge, a string of gentle commands that did not break Fisk's personality but restrained his behavior in that moment.
Fisk did not know exactly what had happened to him — all he felt was a flash of sudden cold.
Charles did not want to crush the man's will or change it fundamentally; that would contradict his moral convictions. What he did was tactical and temporary: a light erasure of the immediate danger's core.
He made Fisk gradually forget the specific details of the events that had occurred in the school, reminded him that he had important meetings elsewhere, and suggested that the Purple Man's company was required to take action in a different direction now.
He implanted a simple shared idea in both minds — Fisk's and Kilgrave's: that what they had come to the school for had already been accomplished, that there was no need to visit again in the near future, that they should return immediately to where they had come from, and that they should take no hostile action toward the mutants in the near term.
Those commands slipped quietly into their heads like a gentle current changing a river's course without causing a flood. Kilgrave and Fisk did not feel an external control; what they felt was a vague confusion and then an abrupt desire to leave and get back on another path.
Fisk rose slowly, his steps awkward, then hesitation overcame him. A vacant look crossed his face as he tried to gather inconsistent mental papers, then he looked to the Purple Man, who was already looking back: "Let's go. We have... meetings."
After they left, Charles focused for a moment on Beast and sent a light pulse from his mind that freed him from the Purple Man's hold.
Beast recovered his balance slowly, glanced around with mild bewilderment, and Charles said to him with a smile, "It's over."
Beast nodded in silence, then followed him into the office.
At the same time, inside the office, Daniel was speaking again with Scott and Jean.
Jean spoke first. "Can you show me the mana you displayed earlier?"
Daniel agreed, and just as he was about to do so, Scott stopped Jean and said to her, "It's unknown and dangerous now; let's see how the professor handles it first."
Jean hesitated. Daniel said, "No problem."
Then a thought occurred to him suddenly, and he asked Luna, "If I were ever defeated, which archetype would be unlocked from him?"
Luna replied: "[Syndra's template is the one — the resemblance between them is great.]"
Daniel thought for a moment and reviewed the common points between them in his mind.
Luna answered his unspoken question herself: [The things Syndra and Jean share are clear and profound: both possess psychic powers that manifest visually in powerful ways — energy orbs or breathtaking effects — and both endured a troubled childhood marked by fear and restraints, which planted in them a fierce need for control and rebellion.
Their struggle with the idea of 'control' also binds them; each resists having their will constrained and desires complete freedom over their own fate. Yet their potential to become a devastating threat if they lose control makes each a double-edged weapon, while their independent, isolated personalities — self-reliance and mistrust of others — give them a strength and rigidity that make approaching them both risky and enlightening at once.]
Daniel nodded in agreement, though he realized that winning against someone and obtaining a template to use magic from them — a powerful template — was still far beyond his current capabilities.
Charles and Beast entered the room.
A short, light silence reigned, as if everyone waited for someone to break the tension.
Scott started the conversation, his voice hurried and carrying a hint of concern: "Are you all right now? For a moment it looked... bad."
Beast raised his hand to his head, breathed slowly, and then said in a hoarse, tired voice, "I think so... I'm just a bit dizzy, but my mind is clearing. It felt like... someone switched the light off inside me and then suddenly turned it back on."
Daniel stepped forward and said, "What now?"
They all exchanged glances for a moment, then silence fell again.
Charles finally turned to him, his tone more serious this time, and said, "Give me definitive proof of what you claim, Daniel."
He leaned forward slightly, his voice lower and deeper. "Give me, for example... things only I would know, things no one else knows. You can do this with what you showed us."
Daniel paused, sensing that the whole room awaited his answer. He thought quickly.
"(Luna... is there something in my memory like that? Something only he knows?)"
Luna answered in a calm, steady voice, her cadence carrying a quiet certainty: [Yes, there is.]
Daniel smiled instinctively, then said to Charles, "If so, I think you're the only one who should hear what I'm about to say."