Chapter 15: Searching for Wolverine

"Could I borrow your phone for a moment?"

As the truck started moving again, George asked Gabriela.

Before he could think about rescuing Tony Stark, he needed to gather more information about this world's history and current situation to make better judgments and formulate a plan.

In this era, the quickest way to do that was, of course, through the internet.

"Of course, here you go." 

Gabriela didn't hesitate, handing her phone over to George.

George began searching for information online, combing through what he needed to know until the truck crossed into Mexico. By the time dusk fell, he handed the phone back to Gabriela.

"So that's how it is."

It turned out that this universe's history wasn't too different from that of the movie universe, with the addition of mutant-related events.

According to the news archives, mutants became widely known in 1973.

Mystique had attempted to assassinate Trask, but she was ultimately stopped. Mystique became a hero among mutants, and humans gradually started accepting their existence.In 1977, Quicksilver broke eight world records in sports, leading the sports world to ban mutants from professional competitions.This conflicted with the movie universe, as in that timeline, Quicksilver hadn't even been born yet. In the movie universe, both Quicksilver and Wanda were born in 1990.This discrepancy reminded George that he couldn't entirely rely on the movie plots for his future decisions.

Afterward, the X-Men as a superhero team became popular, with a lot of extended media about them, including the comic book that X-23 and the other children were holding. Many of those stories were based on real X-Men events, but there were also fictional elements—like the so-called Eden.

In 1983, the Apocalypse event occurred, and shortly afterward, the Westchester incident broke out. Professor X had a seizure, lost control of his powers, and ended up killing all of the X-Men, as well as the mutant students at the school, except for Wolverine. Additionally, over six hundred innocent civilians nearby die

Since then, Professor X was classified as a "weapon of mass destruction" by the U.S. government and was hunted down, leading mutants to vanish from public view.

Twenty years later, most humans had forgotten about mutants, and many of the new generation believed them to be nothing more than fictional characters from comics.

Governments worldwide were seemingly downplaying the existence of mutants, perhaps to assert that humanity could only depend on the government, not on mutant superheroes.

Before 1973, there were virtually no records of mutants, though events like Captain America's creation in 1943 through the Super Soldier Serum and his defeat of Hydra were well-known.

Perhaps it was because Wolverine and Sabretooth were still just ordinary soldiers at the time, and Professor X and Magneto were just kids, while the Hellfire Club operated in secrecy.

"Have you ever thought about finding Wolverine or Professor X?"

George now had a rough plan in mind.

While there were differences between this universe's history and what he remembered, many core elements remained the same. He couldn't rely solely on known plot points but couldn't disregard his knowledge altogether.

At the very least, the initial cause of Tony Stark's kidnapping likely still involved Obadiah Stane wanting to eliminate him to take over Stark Industries.

The problem was that George's psychic abilities were not strong enough to read Obadiah Stane's mind for information about the Ten Rings, so he needed Professor X.

Although Professor X's seizures sometimes made his mind uncontrollable, he was relatively stable under medication, and his sanity was mostly intact.

He might not be as powerful as before, but reading memories should still be feasible. After all, he could still communicate occasionally with Laura from afar.

Moreover, with Wolverine acting as a tank and George's own powers, rescuing Tony Stark shouldn't be too difficult. Wolverine might be old, but if he got serious, ordinary terrorists wouldn't stand a chance. Plus, Gabriela had taken quite a few enhancers for mutants during their escape, which could boost Wolverine's strength.

Most importantly, both Wolverine and Professor X had extensive experience in planning and carrying out missions—something George, Gabriela, and the children lacked.

Truth be told, in a foreign country like this, George was clueless, perhaps even more so than Gabriela.

"We did think about it. We tried to find information about them, but all we heard was that someone resembling Wolverine was driving a limo in El Paso. Other than that, there were no leads.

And we also thought about Professor X. He's a wanted man, so we weren't sure he'd be able to help us."

Gabriela replied helplessly.

George nodded. In a sense, Gabriela wasn't wrong. Wolverine and Professor X were indeed struggling to survive themselves.

"I have a plan now. If it works out, these children may not have to live under anyone's control and can live normal lives."

Without hiding anything, George laid out his entire plan to Gabriela.

His intention was simple—if Gabriela agreed, he would go out of his way to help, as a form of future investment.

If Gabriela didn't agree, he wouldn't force it. He wasn't a saint; after escorting the children to the border, he'd carry out the plan on his own and settle down in New York.

Besides, his choice might not necessarily be the best one for the children. They might end up better off in Canada for all he knew.

After hearing George's plan, Gabriela fell into deep thought.

She was torn. Truth be told, she didn't have much faith in the Canadian government either. Growing up in Juarez, she had little trust in any government.

But George's plan was risky too.

If George failed to rescue Tony Stark and they missed their rendezvous with the Canadian government, the children would surely be captured by the lab's people and killed.

Moreover, would Wolverine and Professor X even be willing to help?

Seeing Gabriela's hesitation, George added:

"If Wolverine and Professor X refuse to help, or if we don't make it back by Friday at five, you should stick to the original plan and cross the border to Canada."

Today was Saturday, so they had six days until next Friday. If everything went smoothly, six days would be enough to rescue Tony Stark.

"Alright, George, thank you so much!"

Gabriela nodded gratefully.

George could have easily left on his own without helping them. With his abilities and his intellect, escaping the lab's pursuit wouldn't have been difficult.

Yet he chose to stay and help them, trying to find a way for them to have better lives.

"No need. You could say I'm like them—a product of the lab. In a way, I'm their big brother."

George smiled wistfully.

"Actually, given your creation date, you're probably the youngest of them all."

Gabriela suddenly laughed, as if remembering something.

George couldn't help but chuckle at that. True, this body had only been created less than a year ago. He really was the youngest mutant in the lab.