In truth, it was Logan who was the real culprit behind the young Charles's turmoil, pain, and inner struggle.
He had traveled through time and forcibly awakened Charles from his confusion and depression—essentially pulling the seedling before it was ready to sprout. In the original X-Men timeline, Charles was meant to overcome his doubts on his own and grow stronger through the ordeal.
But because of Logan's interference, Charles's "condition" worsened, leaving him even more fragile and lost.
The older, bald Charles understood this perfectly. He said gently, "What you fear isn't their pain—it's your own. Charles, pain may be frightening, but it can also make you stronger. If you learn to feel it for yourself, to embrace it, it will empower you beyond imagination.
That is our greatest gift—to bear the pain of others without being crushed by it. And this gift stems from the most powerful force of all—hope. Please, Charles. We need you to find hope again."
In the psychic plane, the younger Charles glimpsed the vibrant future of Xavier's School, felt the energy of its young mutant students, and saw—hope—on their faces.
When he returned to his senses, the confusion, the doubt, the struggle on his face—all faded away. He knew now what he had to do.
Watching all this, Erik couldn't help but scoff from outside the screen. "Charles, do you remember what you told me in that earlier video? You wanted me to forget the pain, to draw strength from the goodness in humanity. And now look at you. You're drawing strength from pain. You see? That's why we became friends."
Charles took a deep breath and said calmly, "Maybe so. But Erik, we endure pain so that we can find the light in the darkness. That doesn't contradict what I taught you."
From the moment he awakened his powers, Charles had been bombarded by the pain of others. Just like the older Charles said, he had learned—at a very young age—to draw strength from others' suffering. It was a gift they were born with, tied to their enduring belief in the goodness of humanity.
But after suffering such a heavy blow, Charles fell into depression and self-doubt. Now, he understood it all. Or perhaps—it's better to say he had found hope again.
Ultimately, in the video, Charles overcame his confusion. This time, with renewed resolve, he put on the Cerebro helmet and successfully located Raven.
And it was then that the audience witnessed just how incredible and powerful Charles's telepathy really was.
In the footage, Raven was in an airport waiting lounge. Still limping, still moving with difficulty, she was dressed stylishly —completely unrecognizable as the infamous blue-skinned mutant who had caused such a stir recently.
Just as Raven sat down to rest, an elderly woman nearby suddenly turned to her and said, "Raven, stop this. Don't keep running."
Clearly, the old woman had come under Charles's telepathic control without even realizing it.
Raven was surprised, but she had grown up with Charles and knew him well—she recognized him immediately. "Charles, where are you?"
The old woman looked at her kindly and sincerely. "I'm at home. You should come back. I need you to come home."
Raven had missed that home, too. But after everything she had gone through, she was no longer that naïve little girl. She still resented Charles's paternalistic way of trying to control her.
She got up and walked away. "I know what I'm doing." Like a runaway child refusing to be called back.
As she walked, random strangers along the way—men and women alike—suddenly began to speak to her in Charles's voice. Just a moment before, they had seemed like ordinary passengers, but now each one was trying to persuade her.
Truth be told, the scene was eerie—downright chilling for many viewers.
Charles's telepathy was terrifying. He could silently invade other people's minds like some kind of ghost possession.
It might not have looked as flashy as Magneto's stunts, but in this video, Charles was using civilians as his mouthpieces to talk to Raven. What if he'd wanted to kill someone instead?
Those poor bystanders might've died without even knowing why.
No matter how hard Charles tried, Raven still refused to give up her plan to assassinate Trask. In the end, their conversation broke down.
Meanwhile, trouble was brewing in the future as well. The girl who had been maintaining the time bridge for Logan was still bleeding heavily from a previous injury. She hadn't even had time to bandage the wound and was now close to losing consciousness.
If she kept going like this, her life could be in danger. Some of the others wanted her to stop and rest, but Charles—having just finished his conversation with his past self—understood that there were still too many variables left. They had come too far to give up now.
Just then, the video paused, and—as usual—a quiz popped up on screen:
[Which of the following will replace Kitty Pryde (Shadowcat) in maintaining the time-travel link for Logan?]
[A: Rogue (Anna Marie)
B: Jean Grey (Phoenix)
C: Blink (Clarice Ferguson)
D: Storm (Ororo Munroe)]
Outside the screen, Erik looked thoughtfully at the question and the four choices. "Logan, did you notice something?"
"What? All I see is that they're all women," Logan shrugged. "Honestly, we don't know much about these mutants' powers. Their code names don't give much away either. I mean, who would've thought 'Shadowcat' could send people back through time?"
Erik gave him a side glance. "Option A—Rogue—showed up in the last round of questions. You two were quite the odd pair, remember?"
Logan snapped his fingers. "Right! I remember now. Her ability was… draining people's life force, wasn't it?"
Charles raised an eyebrow. "Not just life force—maybe… their powers too?"
Logan caught on quickly. "So you're thinking the answer is A?"
Erik smiled at Charles. "Looks like we're in agreement again."
Meanwhile, Stephen and Pietro were scratching their heads. They knew even less about mutants, and couldn't extract any useful insights. In the end, they also chose A—mostly on a hunch.
Fortunately, it was the right call. Even better—it was a speed round question. They scored 4 points! And their opponent just 1 point.
Stephen let out a breath of relief. "Alright, let's keep going. We need to grab every chance we can to win this game."
Pietro sighed. "Honestly? I care more about the future of mutants than I do about this game…"
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T/N:
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