1973
The thermal power station was still in operation.
Fortunately, the three arrived at night. The facility was nearly deserted, save for a few guards patrolling the grounds. Had they appeared in broad daylight, their arrival would have caused a commotion—and their exposed state would have been seen by all.
"Is this… 1973?" Blink asked, arms crossed protectively over herself. A gust of night wind swept past, making her shiver.
Fenric nodded, his senses sharpening. His ears twitched, catching something in the distance.
A moment later, Blink gave a startled cry as Fenric suddenly pulled her against his chest.
Skin touched skin. Neither of them wore clothes, and the heat of each other's bodies was undeniable.
"You—what are you doing?!" she stammered, her face burning with embarrassment.
"Someone's coming," Fenric said calmly. Without hesitation, he extended his psychic power to seize Storm as well, lifting all three of them into the air and carrying them out toward the sea.
Moments after they vanished, several security guards appeared where they had been standing.
"What was that?"
"Strange. I swear I saw a burst of light here!"
"You're seeing things."
The guards shook their heads and continued their patrol, unaware of what had transpired.
Meanwhile, Storm scowled.
Fenric had carried Blink in his arms, yet used his telekinesis to drag her along as an afterthought. The difference stung. Was it because she wasn't as attractive?
"Where are we going now?" she asked curtly.
Fenric's gaze shifted. In the distance, a luxury cruise ship drifted on the waves. With a flick of his power, he rode the currents toward it. "There's a ship ahead. We'll find clothes there."
Storm followed his gaze. Sure enough, a brightly lit cruise ship floated not far away.
"I can get there myself!" she snapped. With a surge of wind, she broke free of Fenric's light hold and flew toward the ship.
Fenric didn't care. He adjusted his course and continued forward with Blink in his arms. Whether Storm was sulking or not was of little concern to him.
Soon, the three slipped aboard the cruise ship.
On the deck, social elites in tuxedos and gowns laughed over champagne, engrossed in their own revelry. None noticed the uninvited guests.
Fenric, Blink, and Storm moved swiftly through the halls, slipping into a luxurious cabin where they found clothes suited to the era. Within minutes, they were dressed, blending seamlessly into the crowd.
No one had seen a thing.
"What now?" Fenric asked evenly.
Storm thought for a moment before replying, "We should find the Professor of this era first."
Fenric inclined his head. "Then I wish you good luck."
Blink frowned. "Wait—you're not coming with us?"
"No."
"Then… where are you going?"
"I have my own business to attend to."
Blink's lips parted as if to protest, but seeing his resolve, she fell silent. Still, a faint disappointment flickered in her eyes.
The three parted ways. Storm and Blink went in search of a younger Charles Xavier, determined to prevent the creation of the Sentinels.
Fenric, however, had a different goal.
—--
Two days later.
Fenric stood in the heart of New York City—only it was no longer 1973. He had crossed through time once more.
The year was 2000.
In the last two days, he had used sheer force to plunder a laboratory, securing materials for Skynet to reconstruct another time replacement device.
Other Terminators required advanced chips to manage time displacement, but Skynet was different. The first prototype of the device had been her creation. To call her the true inventor was no exaggeration.
Fenric had not come here at random. He remembered the timeline well.
The year 2000 marked the beginning of the first great conflict of the X-Men.
And at the center of it all—Magneto.
At this point in history, Magneto was still at his most radical. He despised humanity, convinced that mutants were the superior species destined to rule. To that end, he founded the Brotherhood of Mutants and declared war on mankind.
That year, Magneto discovered a machine capable of transforming ordinary humans into mutants.
With it, he devised a bold plan: during the upcoming World Summit, he would use the machine to turn the world's leaders into mutants. Once humanity's elite carried the X-gene, mutantkind's status would rise overnight. Prejudice and discrimination would be forced to end.
In other words, it was a plan for mutants to seize the world under the guise of equality.
A clever plan indeed—yet in the original history, the self-righteous X-Men foiled it at the final moment.
Fenric's goal was that very machine.
Like Magneto, he intended to create more mutants. But unlike Magneto, his goal wasn't to elevate their status.
Fenric intended to butcher them.
Only by turning countless humans into mutants—and then slaughtering them—could he earn the highest possible evaluation: Super God.
—--
At present, Fenric had just infiltrated a lavish villa. He stood before a mirror, buttoning a crisp new suit he had claimed for himself.
On the floor behind him, the villa's owner lay unconscious, courtesy of a swift strike from Fenric.
"I wonder… how far has Magneto's plan progressed?" he muttered.
Just then, his gaze fell on the television. A news broadcast filled the screen.
"The 27th World Summit will be held in six days," the anchor announced.
Fenric's eyes gleamed.
"So, the summit hasn't begun yet. That means Magneto's plan is still in motion."
He recalled the details. At this point, Magneto was likely abducting the young mutant known as Rogue. Her ability to absorb others' powers made her the perfect pawn.
The machine's activation drained its user's life force. Magneto, unwilling to sacrifice himself, planned to transfer his power into Rogue and force her to die in his place.