After failing to activate his telepathic ability, Charles sank into despair.
He felt like everything had been a mistake from the very beginning. Even Logan shouldn't have traveled through time in the first place.
Logan, never one for eloquence, caught up to him and said in a low voice, "You're right. It shouldn't have been me who came back. It should've been you fixing all this. But I was the only one who could survive the trip."
Truth was, he'd been forced into the role—he originally thought his job was to find Professor X and serve as a kind of bodyguard for his younger self, just like he'd done so many times before.
He was used to following Charles's lead.
What he didn't expect was that the Charles Xavier of this timeline was a depressed man who had lost his powers.
Logan didn't mind being sent to fight people, but asking him to devise complex plans? That was just setting him up to fail.
Still, he had no choice but to tough it out and keep trying to talk Charles down. "I don't know how much time we've got, but I do know that in the future—long after this—I was once your lost and helpless student.
You helped me find myself, to understand who I really am. I don't know how to help you right now, but I know someone who might."
Outside the video, Erik watched with a thoughtful expression. "I never thought I'd see the day Charles lost his spirit like this."
Charles shot him a cold glance. "Hmph. If you want to laugh, go ahead. Isn't this exactly what you were hoping for?"
But Erik shook his head. "No, Charles, you're wrong. This isn't what I wanted at all."
He raised a clenched fist, his expression solemn, his gaze firm and sincere. "The future of mutantkind is in our hands. If one day it turns out that my path is the wrong one, then Charles, I hope you'll be there to set things right. Do you understand?"
His words moved Charles. Thinking about it carefully, aside from what they'd seen in the future video, the two of them weren't even that close in the present reality.
But human relationships can be strange. Sometimes you just know you can trust someone—it's probably fate.
That said, although Charles felt Erik was someone he could work with, he couldn't help being wary of him after seeing that video of the future—especially how close Raven had become to him.
Luckily, in the present timeline, Mystique still remained loyal. She hadn't switched sides just because of what they saw in the video.
Of course, that probably had more to do with their current situation—after the future video revealed the existence of mutants, governments around the world, especially the U.S. and the Soviet Union, began hunting them down like enemies of the state.
Given this hostile environment, Charles and Erik had no choice but to stick together. Even though their ideologies differed, they prioritized survival and unity. Raven and the other mutants also rallied around them.
Still, based on Charles's own calculations and long-term plan, it was inevitable that he and Erik would eventually part ways—perhaps even come to blows. Charles had begun leaning toward the more peaceful, justice-aligned side, hoping to gain support from external powers in order to prepare for a future confrontation with Erik.
He was convinced that Erik already saw him as a threat—especially now that Erik had won the previous round of the quiz game and used the Observation Haki reward to shield himself against Charles's telepathy. It was becoming more and more effective, and the idea of a Magneto with no exploitable weakness was truly terrifying.
So when Erik suddenly came out with such sincere, heartfelt words, Charles felt incredibly conflicted. It felt like Erik was operating on a higher level than he was.
He sighed. "Erik, you really do know how to work a crowd."
Erik spread his arms with a smug smile. "I like a good crowd."
Logan wasn't too pleased at being sidelined. "Hey! I'm the main character in that video, remember? Charles, I'm trying to help you get your act together too!"
Charles chuckled and gave him a playful wink. "Come on, with the kind of bond we've got, I don't think I need to thank you, do I?"
Back in the video, under Logan's persistent urging, a defeated Charles Xavier finally agreed to read his memories. And what he saw shook him to his core.
He saw the pain buried deep in this lone wolf's mind—gruesome experiments on his body, beatings from every faction imaginable, and even his extraordinary healing power only meant he had to endure that agony again and again until he went numb. He saw loved ones die in his arms—one he had to kill himself.
Even just glimpsing these memories, Charles couldn't help but frown and shake his head. "You… you're a pitiful man. I don't want to see your pain. I don't want to see your future."
The suffering was enough to drive anyone insane.
But Logan, having lived through it all, was calm and detached. "Forget my future. Look at your own."
Following his lead, Charles finally saw what lay ahead—a future ravaged by Sentinels, with an aged Logan lying on a stone bed, surrounded by fellow mutants, wounded and terrified, looking like beaten strays. And of course, he saw an older version of himself—bald, tired, and wise.
Just the sight of that bald head radiated pure intelligence.
At that moment, caught between despair and confusion, young Charles desperately needed guidance from a wiser self. Staring at his future counterpart, he asked with deep emotion, "Charles… is this really what we become? Erik was right, wasn't he? It's humanity that drove us to this."
He poured out his deepest doubts to the older version of himself. Had he been wrong all along in clinging to his ideals?
Maybe mutantkind's future should follow Erik's path?
But the bald Charles answered in a calm, firm voice, "We must lead humanity down the right path."
Young Charles didn't quite understand. "You still believe that?"
"Just because someone stumbles and loses their way, doesn't mean they're lost forever. Sometimes we all need a little help," said the older Charles, his voice carrying the weight of experience. He had once been lost too, but he had found his way again—and emerged more committed than ever to his ideals.
But the young Charles, still trapped in his low point, couldn't yet see that. He sighed. "I'm not who I used to be. When I used my powers, it nearly crushed me. So many voices, so much pain… it scared me."
And truth be told, Logan was largely to blame for why young Charles was in this mess to begin with.
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