Professor Xavier looked up and smiled as Monster entered the room. "Hello," he greeted her. "I'm Professor Xavier."
"I'm called Monster," the girl responded, sitting down in a nearby chair. She undid her tail from around her body, and slid it through the slats in the back of the chair.
Professor Charles Xavier looked at her closely. From the front, Monster looked calm and assured, but he could just see underneath the chair that her tail was twisting itself into a set of complicated knots – and then undoing itself and repeating them. "You don't need to be nervous," he reassured her.
Monster smiled faintly – and grimly. "Why do you wish to talk to me?" she asked.
Professor Xavier paused. He could tell that the best way to deal with Monster was to be blunt. "Are you responsible for the changes to Kurt's body chemistry?"
"Yes."
"How did you cause them?"
"Medicine. Pills that he has to take every so often."
"And you make the pills?" Professor X persisted, wishing that she would answer him more fully, instead of making him interrogate her.
"Yes."
"Why does Kurt have to take this medicine?"
"Because…" Monster trailed off. Suddenly, she projected a series of images to the startled Professor.
Hiding in a tree. Blocked-off telepathy.
Something touches shoulder. Spinning around. Claws out.
Blue fur, and gold eyes shocked. Young – and a mutant. Claw wounds on his chest.
Professor X stared at her in silence. "You attacked Kurt when he was young?"
Monster nodded, meeting his eyes reluctantly. "Yes."