"It looks like I've found the one who's going to power that machine," Luthor muttered.
Despite Beast undergoing secondary evolution, his abilities were still far too weak. He wasn't even as suitable as Havok when it came to providing a power source.
But Logan was different. His incredible regeneration ability meant that even if his energy was constantly being drained, his body could keep replenishing it. Aside from Magneto, he was the ideal candidate to fuel the device.
And now, Luthor had already pieced together part of Charles's plan.
Even if it succeeded, and radiation swept across New York, could it really reverse the downfall of the X-Men?
That was never going to happen. The destruction of the X-Men was practically inevitable.
What Charles had done, sending Beast with the last remaining fighting force to activate that machine and turn everyone in New York into mutants, wasn't a last stand. It was a final hope.
America wouldn't fall apart just because of this.
People who had always lived as humans wouldn't suddenly start identifying with mutants just because they gained abilities. But if everyone in New York did become one, it would deal a massive blow to LexCorp, whose headquarters were based in the city.
That had always been Charles's goal. He wasn't trying to win a war against humanity. He wanted to use the last of his strength to deliver one fatal blow to the greatest enemy of mutantkind.
"A clever plan," Luthor said softly.
Ideas like Charles's and Magneto's, putting mutants above all, were rare, but not unheard of. Charles was gambling on the future. He was using everything he had to try and build a world without LexCorp. Then, he would leave the future of mutants in the hands of a successor who might one day rise.
"But my preparations go far beyond that."
Luthor gave a faint smile as his thrusters flared to life again. With a roar, his powered armor blasted forward, tearing through the air. In the blink of an eye, he reached the very top of the Statue of Liberty.
By now, Beast had also reached the top using his natural climbing abilities. He had just finished installing the device.
The moment he saw Luthor appear before him, he didn't even have time to mourn Havok. He leapt straight at his enemy.
"Get away from here!"
But Luthor, suspended in the air, was incredibly agile. Beast's lunge missed completely. If not for his claws managing to grip the statue's surface, he would've fallen from that height and died instantly.
Just then, Logan arrived at the top as well. He saw Beast clinging to the statue, locked in a hopeless struggle against Luthor.
'No way. He doesn't stand a chance.'
Unlike the other versions of himself, the Logan in this world had never been altered by William. He hadn't received the Adamantium skeleton and hadn't lost his memory.
Thanks to nearly two centuries of experience, he could immediately tell: fighting Luthor was pointless. It was like a medieval knight charging at heavily armed terrorists with nothing but a sword.
And because he didn't have Adamantium protecting him, this version of Logan understood when to fight and when to retreat far better than most others.
He was ready to turn around and leave right then.
But before he could, Luthor grabbed Beast and hurled him through the air. The mutant crashed heavily into the ground right at Logan's feet.
"Gah!"
Blood spilled from Beast's mouth. His face turned pale, drained of all strength.
His mutation had given him enhanced senses and incredible physical strength. But everything he once took pride in meant nothing against Luthor flying above them. Even if the man had stood still and let him attack freely, Beast's claws couldn't scratch that armor.
"Logan… help me up."
Beast's eyes shifted slightly before he reached a hand out toward Logan.
"...Fine."
Logan hesitated for a moment, but eventually agreed. Still, in his mind, he had already made a decision: once he helped Beast stand, he'd leave. He'd head straight back to Westchester and have nothing to do with this fight.
He had no intention of laying a finger on Luthor.
Yet while he had his plan, Beast had one of his own.
The second Logan reached out, the mutant suddenly sprang into action, slamming him to the ground.
"You bastard! What the hell are you doing?!"
Even with all his years of experience, Logan never imagined Beast would attack him, especially in front of the enemy.
After all, for most of those nearly two centuries, Logan had lived either as a soldier or a drifter. He had no deep understanding of science, so it never even occurred to him that the real reason he'd been brought here was to act as a living power source for the machine.
"Logan, our technology saved your life. So now, stand with me. Sacrifice yourself for the future of mutantkind!"
With wild eyes, Beast grabbed Logan and dragged him into the machine, hitting the activation switch the moment they were both inside.
"Oh? So it's starting now?"
From above, Luthor, who had been holding back this whole time, finally descended to the top of the Statue of Liberty, landing next to the device. Without hesitation, he began working at the control panel.
To Beast, this was a sign of panic. That damn human had finally realized things were spinning out of his control. He was scrambling.
"It's too late! Lex Luthor, once the machine is running, it can't be stopped! All of New York will become a haven for mutants!"
Luthor didn't even look at him.
"Shut up, will you? Useless trash."
The insult silenced the mutant. Only then did he glance at Luthor's screen.
That's when he realized the man wasn't trying to shut down the machine at all. Instead, he had opened the database and was scanning through the device's research logs.
"You're… reading the data? What are you planning to do?!"
"What am I trying to do? Isn't that obvious?"
Luthor's mind—especially this particular version of him, the most brilliant one in the entire DC universe—had no trouble understanding a set of technical documents, as long as the tech level matched his own.
At this time, he already had a general grasp of the machine Beast had built and how it differed from the one shown in the film.
The key difference was this: after the device released radiation to turn humans into mutants, it wouldn't cause fatal genetic conflicts. Instead, the excess radiation would stay in the body, helping it slowly adapt to the new mutant abilities.
A flawless, refined system.
And it just so happened to complete the last piece of their larger plan. The final step to fully controlling the mutant population had finally been realized.
"I've already had a method to wipe out mutants entirely. And now, you've just handed me the means to create them."
Luthor turned toward Beast. "So tell me… how should I thank you for that?"
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