"One second has already passed."
Still in the guise of a doctor, Shaw pointed his revolver at Erik's mother and kindly gave him a reminder.
"MOM!"
Erik had forgotten that he was an adult. It was as if he had returned to his helpless childhood as he looked at his mother.
"It's all right."
"I believe in you."
His mother, an ordinary woman, spoke gently to her child even with a gun pointed at her.
Erik held both hands toward the coin on the table.
Yet despite already being able to move large metal objects, he couldn't even move this tiny coin now.
Deep down, he felt frustration, shame, and fear.
"Two seconds, child."
Shaw leaned back and reminded him again.
Erik looked at his mother once more. He was on the verge of breaking down. He was afraid he wouldn't be able to move the coin. He was afraid his mother would die before his eyes again.
That kind of pain, once had already been enough.
Let alone twice.
"It's all right."
"Erik, everything will be all right."
Erik could only turn back, grit his teeth, and use every bit of strength he had to move the coin.
Behind him, his mother kept saying, "Everything will be all right."
"Everything will be all right."
Shaw glanced at his watch and looked at Erik with regret.
"Three seconds."
In an instant, Erik could hear nothing else.
Only a single gunshot, clear beyond measure.
That gunshot echoed in his ears every time he woke from a midnight dream.
And now, it rang out once again.
So clear.
So deafening.
Erik could even smell the gunpowder.
Then he looked behind him.
He saw the middle-aged woman lying on the ground.
He saw blood slowly spreading beneath his mother's body.
The blood was so bright red, so glaring, as though it were a sharp knife plunging deep into Erik's heart once again.
Then, the volcano erupted.
———
Inside the castle, Charles was reading when he suddenly felt Erik's emotions fluctuate violently.
Anger. Pure anger.
The anger that wanted to tear everything apart.
Like fury intent on destroying the world, it burst forth all at once.
Then he heard Erik's roar and saw every metal object in the room rise into the air, twisting and warping.
"Damn it!"
Charles hurried onto the terrace and saw Erik below raising both hands toward the satellite receiver in the distance.
The earth trembled, matching Erik's fury.
The enormous white "dish" was torn straight out of the ground by Erik.
Erik made a throwing motion with both hands, and the receiver flew away, crashing into the distance and kicking up clouds of dust.
This earth-shaking blow shook the ground itself. People inside the castle all ran outside.
When they saw the satellite receiver lying in the distance, some cried out while clutching their heads, while others covered their mouths in disbelief.
Erik gasped for breath.
He looked at his own hands in surprise.
He seemed unable to believe he had actually been capable of doing something like that.
At that moment, a tear rolled down from the corner of his eye.
He touched his face.
It was covered in tears.
Alex patted him on the shoulder and smiled, "Congratulations. You've already broken through your limits."
"Remember that feeling just now."
"You'll be unstoppable."
For the rest of the day, everyone talked about Erik.
"Erik was so cool. That kind of power is unbeatable!", After a day's training, Alex's(Havok) hands were shaking even while holding a cup.
His eyes were full of envy. He wanted to be like Erik too.
Unfortunately, one day of training wasn't enough for him to gain control over his powers.
Hank looked at Alex.
"Mr. John, how did you do it? How did you make Erik so much stronger?"
Alex smiled, "That only worked for Erik."
"As for the rest of you, just stick to the methods I designed."
Just then, someone outside the door let out a soft cry.
Everyone turned around.
Another Hank was standing outside the door.
Alex immediately looked at the one in front of him.
"Raven?"
Sure enough, the Hank before him instantly changed back into Raven.
She gave Alex a playful smile, "So, Mr. John, was I convincing?"
"Not bad," Alex nodded.
"I didn't notice just now."
Of course, if Alex had wanted to, spotting Raven would have been easy.
Although Raven could become anyone, her mind was unique.
In X-Men: Days of Future Past, Professor Charles had found Raven precisely because of this.
So identifying Raven was actually very simple.
As long as you marked her mind.
Of course, that only applied to people like Alex or Charles, who possessed telepathic abilities.
For everyone else, it was still extremely difficult.
Hank sighed as well, "You really looked like me. Just now I thought I was looking into a mirror."
Raven winked at him, "Thanks for the compliment."
Hank said nervously, "Raven, could you come outside for a moment? I have something to tell you."
Raven walked out of the hall curiously.
Hank lowered his voice, "Do you remember the idea I told you about back at the CIA base?"
Raven blinked, thought for a moment, then suddenly realized.
"You mean the serum."
"The serum that can turn us into ordinary people?"
Hank nodded hard, "That's right. I've developed it."
"With the serum, we can become normal people again. We won't be treated like freaks or circus clowns anymore."
He still couldn't let go of the mockery the CIA agents had directed at him.
Then Hank took out two pale green syringes of serum and handed one to Raven.
"Here."
If this had been before talking with Alex, Raven might have been willing to try it.
But now, she had different thoughts.
"Thank you, Hank."
Raven shrugged, "But I think I'm fine the way I am now."
Hank froze, "Weren't you saying before that you didn't like people looking at you differently?"
"Yes."
Raven turned around and glanced toward Alex inside the hall, "But after talking with Mr. John, I changed my mind."
"Mr. John is right."
"We don't need to hide ourselves, and we don't need to advertise ourselves either."
"We just have to live the way we want."
"I think you should talk to Mr. John too, Hank."
"Really, he's very wise."
"He can show you the way forward."
"Trust me."
Hank looked disappointed.
In fact, ever since he had met Raven, he had liked this girl who had so much in common with him.
He had thought Raven would be happy that he had developed the serum.
But now Raven had refused him.
"All right."
"It's okay."
"That's your freedom."
"But I still don't want people to see me as a monster."
Hank raised the serum in his hand, "So I'll use it myself."
"Goodbye."