"No, in terms of ideals, I'm not much better than you," Kino said. "I just hold onto a belief—if one way doesn't work, then try another."
He paused, then added with a heavy tone,"And because of my orders, the number of mutants who died is at least in the tens of thousands. I even pushed forward legislation for legal experimentation on mutants."
These words chilled the young mutant across from him.
Professor X, however, didn't flinch.
"But the outcome was good, wasn't it?" he said calmly.
"…I almost miss the version of you from that time. The Charles on my side has become a sly old fox," Kino muttered.
Just as he finished speaking, the younger Charles behind him looked genuinely hurt.
"Didn't expect to be disliked by our leader after becoming young again. Fine, I'll retire and live in peace. Let Jean take over the work," he grumbled.
But his youthful appearance made the whole statement feel absurdly out of place.
"Ugh, I was wrong. Please, just shut up."Kino sighed and held his head.
The gentle, kind old man from before was now nowhere to be seen.
Professor X looked on with some envy.
Because this also meant that the burden of mutant leadership had finally been lifted—or rather, passed on to someone else.
Just then, a voice came from above. It was Thunderbird, the sentinel on watch."Twelve transport aircrafts. Ten miles out."
"No more talking," Kino said. "From this moment on, I'm taking command. All of you will follow my orders. No objections, right?"
The mutants from the other side frowned at this sudden declaration.
A complete stranger was demanding they follow him. Of course there would be tension.
"Of course, we will fully cooperate," said Professor X without hesitation.
Perhaps it was because Kino had achieved the ideals he once believed in… or maybe because Kino reminded him of another version of himself.
"I like your attitude," Kino said with a satisfied nod."Hank, give them the serum. Erik, bring back some samples."
"Intramuscular injection will suffice," Hank explained, passing out prepared doses of the serum.
Shadowcat, Iceman, and the others looked toward Professor X.
Without hesitation, Professor X took his and injected it straight into his thigh.
"You're still so impulsive," Hank said as he watched.
"Well, the outcome can't possibly be worse, right?"Professor X smiled with a calm optimism.
After receiving the injection, Magneto felt something change within his X-gene—it now had a "switch," allowing him to hide it at will.
"If we had this serum a few years ago, so many people wouldn't have had to die. Everyone, take your shots."
Encouraged, the rest began injecting the serum, and one by one, their X-genes started to go dormant.
Erik returned, flanked by two sentinels wrapped in metal.
[Release me, human. I must continue my mission to exterminate mutants.]The sentinel's mechanical voice echoed coldly.
This was the first time Iceman and the others had heard one speak. They had always assumed sentinels were just mindless killing machines.
"Let me take a look,"Tony stepped forward and began dismantling the back of the sentinel.
Even during this, the sentinel showed no aggression.
[Stop unauthorized operations.][Uploading logs to central platform.][You've violated 241 laws. Report to the Tribunal for judgment tomorrow…]
Then, the light in the sentinel's eyes abruptly went out.
"Dr. Zola, this one is yours."Erik manipulated the metal to lay one of the sentinels flat.
Dr. Zola stepped up. His arm transformed, producing a bundle of fine data cables that infiltrated the sentinel's body.
"This remarkable structure is very similar to nanometal, but it has traits of biological cells. It's a special kind of bio-metal… though its strength is lacking."
Tony studied the sentinel closely."Maybe we can combine it with nanometal to make up for the weakness."
Stark shared his idea.
"That might interfere with the transformation structure of the biomaterial," Zola mused. "But we could use promethium metal as reinforcement—it already shares some biological metal characteristics."
Elsewhere…
"Ice-brain, if you keep staring at me like that, I swear I'll punch you," John growled at Iceman, especially annoyed by the full beard on his face.
"Sorry… I just miss my friend,"Iceman's eyes reddened. The nickname pulled deeply at his memories.
"How did I die in this world?" he asked.
"To save us," John replied. "You lit up explosives and went down with hundreds of sentinel soldiers."
"Not bad. At least it wasn't embarrassing."
BAM!Logan slammed his alternate self—Wolverine—against the wall, eyes bloodshot.
"You bastard! You ate my grilled meat, drank my wine… I've been on a diet with Emma all week just for this one cheat meal—and you gulped it down in a few bites!"
Wolverine had his claws out, ready to stab, but hearing that made him hesitate in guilt.
"What are you even getting out of marrying her?"
"I'm not… she's the one who—mmph!"
"Honey, it's snowing outside. Come watch it with me~"The White Queen appeared, covering Logan's mouth and dragging him off.
Wolverine gave him a look of pity.
"I'm never getting married," he vowed silently.
"Jean… I miss you so much,"Shadowcat couldn't hold back and hugged the Black Phoenix.
"Kitty, you've got the wrong person."The Black Phoenix gently patted her head.
"How did I die in this world?"Jean (from the other world) asked.
"You were on a mission in space, and Phoenix Force took over. You became the Dark Phoenix and tried to destroy the world. In the end… you ended yourself."
Storm looked at the two Jeans with mixed feelings, wishing one of them was really theirs.
"Dark Phoenix? Have you ever wanted to destroy the world?" Jean asked her counterpart.
"Destroy the world? Why would I do that? What did the world even do to me?"The Black Phoenix looked genuinely confused.
Still hugging her, Kitty froze. Slowly, she looked up.
"You're the Black Phoenix?"
"Mhm~ So… want some snacks?"
"…"
"She fainted?"The Black Phoenix looked innocently at Jean.
"Why are you so weak?"Erik asked the old Magneto curiously.
He had noticed earlier—despite being older, his power was severely diminished.
Magneto sighed in exhaustion.
"Our powers are closely linked to our mental state. For fifty years, I've watched people die in front of me, lived in hiding, failed over and over… I'm just tired."
His voice grew lower as he spoke.
Erik felt conflicted.
His other self had clearly led a much more tragic life—one without a leader, where mutants lived in utter despair.
Professor X turned to Charles and said sincerely,"Thank you."
"It wasn't me—it was the leader's decision," Charles replied, waving it off.
"Can you tell me about your world?"
"Then I'll start… with the demon invasion."
Quote of the Chapter
"When two worlds meet, truth and pain walk hand in hand—but so does hope."
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