Walking Hand in Hand Toward a New Future

In the original storyline, Sebastian had been defeated by this very move. Now, in a different place and under different circumstances, he still fell to the same move.

The moment the young Magneto showed off his precise control, turning metal into slender Metal Wire that silently approached and wrapped around that helmet, the outcome had already been decided.

Without the helmet’s protection, Sebastian was powerless to stop Charles’s Mind Control Ability. Controlled as he was, he had become a lamb awaiting slaughter, with his life and death entirely in his enemy’s hands.

It seemed to prove that relying too heavily on any piece of equipment would eventually come back to bite you. And no matter how powerful your abilities were, it was best to remain sufficiently vigilant when facing an enemy. Otherwise, you might one day end up like Sebastian, foolishly getting yourself killed.

What happened next was equally unsurprising. Magneto Erik took out that deeply meaningful coin.

Back then, Sebastian had captured Erik’s mother and forced the young Erik to demonstrate his abilities, threatening to kill his mother if he failed.

That coin had been the tool used to make him demonstrate his power.

At the time, Erik had no idea he possessed special abilities. His powers had only just awakened, and he had been unable to control them freely. Naturally, he failed to display his ability, and his mother died right before his eyes.

For all these years, he had kept that coin close to his body for this very moment.

Looking at Sebastian, who was under Charles’s control, Erik did not care whether the man could see or hear him. He only wanted to vent the rage he had suppressed for decades.

The coin slowly flew through the air, inch by inch toward Sebastian. Charles kept trying to persuade him, but after realizing Erik was paying no attention to his words, he began considering other options.

Compared to the original storyline, Charles now had far too many choices.

He could control Erik and stop him from killing Sebastian. But just as had happened in the memories, Erik had taken Sebastian’s helmet. Clearly, he was guarding against that move as well.

He could also rush over and stop Erik himself, or control Azazel and have him teleport Erik or Sebastian away. But was that really what he should do?

After hesitating for a moment, Charles finally made his decision. He would follow his beliefs. He did not want Erik to become a murderous maniac.

Yinsen could not understand that way of thinking. Instead, he understood Erik’s obsession with revenge more.

As a child, avenging his murdered mother was the right choice. In his eyes, talk of abandoning hatred was complete bullshit. So just as Charles was about to do something, the young professor suddenly found a transparent, glass-like wall appearing around him, enclosing both him and the Azazel he controlled.

To outsiders, Charles and Azazel, who had been standing in the middle of the area, had suddenly vanished. But everyone had seen Yinsen lightly wave his hand earlier, and it was obvious that he was responsible.

"What did you do?"

Moira was extremely agitated. Her hand had already moved to her weapon, and judging by her stance, if Yinsen did not give her a reasonable explanation, she would attack him immediately.

"I simply didn’t want him to do something he would regret for the rest of his life."

Yinsen briefly explained that he had merely thrown Charles and Azazel into the Mirror Dimension. Within that independent space, Charles could see everything happening outside, though it was as if a layer of glass separated him from it.

Yinsen had not cut off Charles’s abilities. If he had, Sebastian would have been freed as well. All he wanted was to stop Charles from rushing over to interfere with Erik, and to prevent Azazel from teleporting Erik away.

Erik naturally realized what had happened. He calmly put the helmet on his head, knowing Charles could no longer stop him. At the same time, he had no intention of letting Sebastian escape. This was his best chance for revenge.

He gave Yinsen a slight nod of thanks before finally sending the coin into Sebastian’s skull.

The instant the coin drilled into Sebastian’s head, Charles, who had established a Mental Link with him, suffered immense pain as well. Yinsen decisively severed the connection between them.

Sebastian was dead now. There was no need for Charles to continue enduring such pain. Charles’s connection with the outside world was also less tight while he was in the Mirror Dimension, so cutting it off was not difficult.

After Sebastian collapsed completely, Yinsen dispelled the Mirror Dimension as well. Seeing Charles reappear, Moira, who had been tense the whole time, finally let out a breath of relief. But Charles clutching his head with a pained expression made her tense up again.

"What’s wrong with you?"

She thought Yinsen had done something, but Charles quickly said he was fine. He had merely overused his abilities.

The details? He had no intention of explaining them to Moira. They involved the clash between his ideals and Erik’s.

Yinsen noticed that after the Mirror Dimension was lifted, Charles had released his control over Azazel because of his splitting headache. The teleporting mutant had already fled somewhere unknown, or perhaps he was hiding in some secluded corner and observing the situation?

Yinsen did not know Azazel very well, nor did he know what the man thought of his companions. If he was still nearby, he was likely planning to rescue Emma Frost.

Temporarily ignoring Azazel and Riptide, whose whereabouts were unknown, Yinsen patted the silent Erik on the shoulder. "Does it feel like a massive boulder has finally been lifted off you?"

Erik remained silent. He truly did feel something similar, but thinking of Charles’s repeated attempts to persuade him, he was not sure whether his choice had been right or wrong.

"There’s no right or wrong. As long as you don’t regret the choice you made."

"I won’t regret it."

Erik firmly believed that. No matter what, he did not think killing that man was something worth regretting.

"Go thank your friend."

Erik looked toward Charles, then at the group of tense special forces agents around them. It seemed he was facing a choice once again.

From the future Charles had told him about, he knew what mutants would face. But was Charles’s chosen path really what he wanted?

Erik fell into conflict, but seeing Charles unable to even stand because of his headache, he ultimately could not bring himself to simply leave.

Especially not after Charles had just helped him kill Sebastian.

Erik silently removed his helmet, then walked over to Charles. "I’m not sure what decision the me from that world would make, but I’ll help you, just as you helped me before."

Watching Erik and Charles gaze deeply at each other, Logan felt more and more that this place was vastly different from his own world. Magneto and Professor X had not parted ways over their ideals. From the looks of it, they were going to join hands and keep moving forward. Perhaps this world would welcome an entirely different future.

"I suddenly find myself looking forward to what this world will become."

Yinsen walked back as well, but his gaze kept shifting between the seated Charles, Moira supporting him, and Erik kneeling on one knee before Charles. What he looked forward to more was Moira suddenly pulling out a pistol and unloading a magazine into Erik.

"I’m looking forward to some more interesting scenes."

Logan was speechless. Yinsen occasionally had these sudden weird impulses. Sometimes Logan found them quite amusing too, but this was such a moving and meaningful moment that he forced himself not to continue along Yinsen’s line of thought.

"What now?"

"What now? We definitely can’t stay here."

The base the CIA had arranged for them covered a vast area and consisted of an entire complex of buildings. After Magneto’s spectacular battle, it had been reduced completely to ruins. Even though the enemy had been dealt with, they could no longer remain here.

Considering that in the original storyline, they had left after this attack and moved into the estate left behind by Charles’s family, which would become the prototype for Xavier’s School for Gifted Youngsters.

Furthermore, Professor Charles now possessed memories of the future. He knew what difficulties his future self would face, and he also knew how his future self and his companions had dealt with them. Among those measures, establishing a special school to care for and educate young mutants was a crucial part.

There was almost no suspense that this school would be created again. The young mutants around them would undoubtedly become its first students, and once they matured a little, they would become the school’s first teachers, educating even more young mutants.

After resting on the ground for a while, Charles had recovered considerably and finally stood up. Watching Professor Charles walk freely, Logan suddenly found it a little strange.

In his memories, the professor seemed to always appear alongside a wheelchair. In this world, perhaps that would no longer happen.

Even if they encountered a Charles who could no longer walk, Yinsen’s current abilities would allow him to heal him. Now that the two sides had established an initial friendship, even if Charles ran into trouble and became paralyzed again in the future, Yinsen could treat him when he returned and discovered the situation.

"A Magneto who no longer goes to extremes and becomes hostile toward ordinary humans, and a Professor X who can walk freely. That really is quite a change."

Yinsen stroked his chin and glanced at Charles, who had walked over.

"And a thick head of hair."

Charles, who had looked weak moments ago, suddenly had a sharp gleam in his eyes. He stared at Yinsen with an incomparably serious expression.

"No one is touching my hair!"