Above the sea, the bow of the Soviet freighter was already about to cross the invisible embargo line.
But-
As if it had slammed into a solid wall, the bow suddenly collapsed inward.
Metal folded.
Compressed.
Formed into a dense iron sphere.
The sphere was seized by an invisible force and lifted straight into the air.
At the same time, the entire freighter was held in place.
Like it was being gripped by a giant invisible hand.
The engines roared at full throttle.
The forward command was engaged.
The ship didn't move an inch.
"I think I should show them what I can do," Erik said to Charles.
"What do you think?"
"You're the man outside. I'm the woman inside," Charles replied with a faint smile.
"That's what we agreed on."
"You handle intimidation."
"I'll handle communication and negotiation."
Morin, sitting quietly with a book in hand, twitched at the corner of his mouth.
Already "man outside, woman inside"?
You're moving fast.
Why not just get married on the spot?
Morin glanced at Moira in the co-pilot seat, sympathy in his eyes.
If he remembered correctly, she and Charles were supposed to be a couple in the original timeline.
"Then let's destroy this freighter," Erik said, standing up.
"Hank. Open the hatch."
"I'm going down."
The jet hovered above the immobilized freighter.
The hatch opened.
Erik jumped.
"What the f*ck?!"
"Suka blyat!"
Both the American and Soviet captains cursed at the same time, binoculars still raised.
But what came next-
Was only the beginning.
Erik didn't fall.
He stopped.
Floating in midair.
No equipment.
No machinery.
Just hovering.
For anyone unaware of mutants, the impact was overwhelming.
Visual.
Psychological.
Absolute.
Erik floated above the freighter, unconcerned with the stares.
This was exactly what he wanted.
Today was the Cuban Missile Crisis.
The day World War III nearly erupted.
And the day mutants made their first grand appearance.
Erik needed to show power.
Mutant power.
To pave the way for what came next.
"I'll use you to warm up," Erik said calmly, looking down.
"Then, Shaw... you're the main course."
The metal sphere formed from the bow had become perfectly smooth.
It glowed red.
Heat radiated outward.
This wasn't deliberate heating.
It was a side effect.
Kinetic energy.
Acceleration.
From the moment it was compressed and suspended, the process had already begun.
Electromagnetic forces.
Ampere force.
A complex electromagnetic system accelerating a projectile.
This was the principle of a railgun.
And Erik was holding the projectile.
Since he could already stop the freighter, he could have simply turned it around.
But that wouldn't be enough.
Not visually.
Not symbolically.
"That's enough."
Erik located the ship's power core.
He flicked his hand.
The glowing sphere vanished.
Only a ring of steam remained.
A sonic boom followed instantly.
Then-
Fire.
Explosion.
Shockwaves rolled across the sea.
The projectile struck the power core and detonated the fuel.
At the same time, Erik shattered the projectile inside the hull.
The speed carried unimaginable kinetic energy.
If it had passed straight through, the damage would have been limited.
Instead-
It fragmented.
Countless tiny particles.
Each carrying lethal energy.
Penetration.
Massive internal destruction.
The hull's structural integrity collapsed instantly.
The fuel explosion finished it.
The freighter disintegrated.
Firelight.
Soundwaves.
Silence afterward.
Every ordinary person stared in awe.
All of it-
Caused by a man floating in the sky.
"Radio reports confirm it," a voice said.
"A man hovering in the air destroyed the freighter."
Deep beneath the sea, a nuclear submarine lay hidden.
Azazel appeared in a flash, reporting Charles's telepathy to Shaw.
Since then, Shaw had been listening.
"Erik Lehnsherr..." Shaw frowned.
"He's gotten stronger."
"...Plan B," Shaw said after a moment.
"I'll absorb energy from the reactor and launch a direct strike on one of the warships."
He put on the telepathy-blocking helmet.
"We need to find Shaw," Charles said.
"He's underwater."
"Can't you locate him?" Erik asked as he floated back into the jet.
"My range is more than enough," Charles frowned.
"But they're blocking me."
"Technology."
"I can't sense them."
"I can't either," Erik said.
"The area's too large."
"Searching manually would take too long."
"They'd escape."
"Unless..." Hank hesitated.
"The jet doesn't have sonar."
"No," Charles shook his head.
"I won't directly control soldiers or officials."
"That would destroy trust."
"And trust, once broken, never fully returns."
"No," Sean suddenly said.
"We have sonar."
"...Right," Charles realized instantly.
Sean could emit and receive ultra-high-frequency sound waves.
From another angle-
He was human sonar.
"Come with me," Erik said.
Iron beads broke apart into fine particles, surrounding Sean like a veil.
Erik could have lifted Sean using the metal patches in their uniforms.
But stability would be poor.
Experience too rough.
As for lifting him directly-
His micro-control wasn't there yet.
Power wasn't the problem.
Precision was.
As Morin had explained, true mastery meant controlling electromagnetic forces at the molecular and atomic level.
Decomposition.
Aggregation.
Not just metal.
Potentially everything.
One of the four fundamental forces.
But that was later.
For now-
This was enough.
"You're sure you can hold me?" Sean asked.
"I can lift a freighter," Erik replied flatly.
"Are you heavier?"
"Stop talking," Charles said telepathically.
"Hurry. I'm worried he'll escape."
"Alright, alright."
Sean surrendered.
"Take me down."
"I need seawater for better detection."
With the freighter destroyed, both sides paused.
Awaiting orders.
Watching.
Reports had already been sent.
But both Congresses were still arguing.
They had seen it.
Mutants were uncontrollable.
And uncontrollable power was unacceptable.
Unless you could fight back.
Which both nations could.
Erik lowered Sean into the sea.
"Aaaaaah!"
Sean screamed underwater.
Ultrasonic waves spread in all directions.
Reflected.
Returned.
Moments later-
"I found it!"
Charles' eyes widened.
The location transferred instantly.
At the same time, Morin closed his book.
He took out a small notebook and began writing.
"What are you doing?" Moira asked.
She was the only non-mutant who could see him.
And couldn't say a word.
"Scoring," Morin replied, pen moving nonstop.
"And taking notes."
"Scoring?" Moira blinked.
"For what?"
"I'm their teacher," Morin said calmly.
"This is homework."
"The score measures how well they learned."
"...You're treating this as homework?" Moira was stunned.
A crisis that nearly caused World War III-
Homework?
"Of course," Morin nodded.
"They need to pass this to earn the next assignment."
"The first assignment was nearly ending the world?" Moira's mind stalled.
"Then what's the second?"
"The apocalypse?"
"...Pretty close," Morin said after pretending to think.
"But I'll try not to let it get that far."
Moira: "???"
That did not make her feel better.
Outside, Erik pulled Sean back up.
Coordinates locked.
Electromagnetism surged.
Erik could have crushed the submarine instantly.
But he didn't.
He wanted it lifted.
Displayed.
Shaw would die in full view.
A declaration.
A statement.
And an end to his hatred.
The magnetic field enveloped the submarine.
Fifteen thousand tons.
A toy.
Ampere force overwhelmed everything.
The submarine rose.
Breaking the surface.
"My God..."
"Suka blyat..."
Both captains whispered in disbelief.
Erik dragged the submarine toward the coast.
Then-
The hatch opened.
Riptide emerged.
Miniature tornadoes spun in his hands.
Erik narrowed his eyes.
Charles did the same.
This wasn't the old Erik.
Lifting a submarine still left him excess power.
Riptide wasn't a threat.
Neither was Charles worried.
His telepathy now far exceeded its original level.
Before either acted-
A beam of light struck.
Riptide was pierced straight through.
"...Uh..."
The tornadoes vanished.
He looked down.
A scorched hole replaced his chest.
Then he fell.
Into the sea.
"It's about time we did something, right?" Alex said, retracting the beam from the focusing plate.
"Good job," Erik said immediately.
Charles opened his mouth-
Then closed it.
He remembered Morin's words.
"Charles," Morin had asked him once, "you think they shouldn't die."
"Then tell me-who avenges the people they killed?"
"Life is equal."
"An eye for an eye."
"A life for a life."
"Do you disagree?"
"...Those innocent people," Charles thought, "who speaks for them?"
Was he too soft?
In the end, Charles decided-
Leave it to Erik.
He would just make sure they didn't go too far.
That they didn't kill those who shouldn't die.
That was enough.
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