The moment the prison gates slowly creaked open, Pietro sped through them with Erik in tow. Their velocity was so intense it was like two runaway trucks barreling through—plowing down the guards outside in an instant and rushing straight into the elevator.
It was Erik's first time experiencing such near-teleportation-level speed. He was still dazed and clearly not used to it.
While Erik was still blinking in confusion, Pietro had already changed back into his clothes at lightning speed.
Outside the screen, Stephen Strange glanced at the Pietro beside him, a look in his eyes that seemed to ask, "Can you be as smooth as the Pietro on screen?"
Pietro clearly picked up on the look and shrugged with a touch of defiance. "Is that supposed to be hard? I could totally do it too."
Stephen smirked. "I'm not doubting you. I'm just curious… what does it feel like to move that fast? Mind letting me try it sometime?"
Pietro chuckled and repeated a line from his on-screen counterpart. "You better be careful with your neck."
Back on the screen, Pietro and Erik descended in the elevator. During the brief ride, the two of them had a quick chat.
Pietro only now learned that Erik had been locked up for allegedly attempting to assassinate the President. Clearly, when Pietro came to bust him out, he hadn't thought things through—it seemed he was mostly in it for the thrill.
He also let slip another important detail: his mother once had a fling with a guy who could control metal.
Was this a subtle hint that Pietro and Erik might be father and son?
On screen, Erik didn't take the comment seriously. But the real Erik, watching from outside the video, wore an odd expression. Do I really have a kid in the future?
Logan gave him a teasing grin. "Wow, sounds like we just stumbled onto a juicy secret."
Erik shot him a glance, deadpan. "He was just talking nonsense to pass the time."
Charles, however, was far more concerned about how the rest of the video might play out. He frowned. "Pietro's fast, sure—but there are tons of guards at the Pentagon. They're bound to be surrounded soon… If a fight breaks out, the casualties could be serious."
As he said this, he glanced at Erik, clearly worried that the Erik in the video might go on a rampage in the Pentagon. That would turn their rescue mission into a full-blown terrorist attack—something Charles absolutely didn't want to see happen.
Erik understood what he was thinking and scoffed. "In that future, you're just a cripple, so someone's gotta take the lead. Charles, stop being so naïve."
Charles shook his head and said nothing more, simply turning his attention back to the screen.
There, the video showed Charles and Logan arriving at the kitchen next to the elevator to provide backup. Thanks to some tampering by Hank, the sprinkler system had gone off, making it look like it was raining indoors.
Both men were soaked. Unfortunately, two guards were posted right outside the elevator, eyeing them with suspicion. Charles stepped forward and tried to talk his way through with a bunch of nonsense, only earning bewildered looks from the guards, who now seemed even more alert.
In the end, Logan couldn't take any more of the rambling. He stepped up and knocked both guards out with ease.
Watching this, the real Logan couldn't help but laugh. "Charles, you really gotta understand—sometimes fists work better than words."
Erik laughed too and added, "No, Logan, you've got it wrong. If Charles had his powers back, his words would be far more effective than your fists. But yeah… the Charles in that video definitely can't pull that off."
Erik was happy to see Charles make a fool of himself—until the scene kept playing.
In the video, after Logan cleared out the guards, Charles grabbed a key from one of their bodies and opened the elevator.
Erik inside the elevator immediately saw Charles and called out with confusion, "Charles?" Clearly, he never expected Charles to come rescue him, especially since the two had fallen out badly.
Charles didn't waste any words. He walked up and punched Erik right in the face. Not long ago, he had just told Logan he didn't like solving things with violence—yet here he was, swinging hard.
Still, anyone who had watched their backstory could understand the sheer rage Charles must've felt in that moment.
Erik had taken so much from him: his legs… and Raven, his childhood friend.
It wasn't an exaggeration to say that Charles's downward spiral—his days of self-isolation and drug abuse—was largely Erik's fault.
Erik took the punch and dropped to the floor but didn't retaliate. Instead, he smiled and extended an olive branch. "It's good to see an old friend. And I'm glad to see you walking again. I just… never thought you'd be the one to come."
"Believe me, if I had any other choice, I wouldn't be here to save you," Charles said coldly. "But since I did, you're going to listen to me—no killing."
Erik shrugged and gestured with his hands. "I don't have my helmet. Even if I wanted to disobey you, I couldn't." He still didn't know Charles had lost his telepathic powers.
Charles didn't clarify either. He just said, "I won't go into your head again. But I need your promise, Erik."
The two stared at each other for a moment. Then Erik nodded in agreement.
Outside the screen, Erik mused, "Charles, turns out you're pretty sly. You lost your powers, but you still fed me that 'I won't enter your mind' line just to play the emotional card. Trying to soften me up, huh?"
Charles frowned. "Erik, I've always kept my promises. I do what I say. Can you say the same?"
Erik shot back, "Charles, you want the lion to pull its claws and wag its tail to appease the poachers… Even if I promised you, I couldn't do it. That's just too stupid."
Charles didn't want to keep arguing. Their ideological rift was one that could never be settled, no matter how long they debated.
They turned their attention back to the screen. Though Pietro had broken Erik out of the underground prison, they were still far from safe. More guards, armed to the teeth, were closing in from every direction, rifles aimed squarely at the four of them.
_____
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