Reborn with Steve Stand

Hearing Logan's words, both Charles and Beast fell into a brief silence.

Charles instinctively glanced at Fang Mo, and his mind began to piece together a rough picture of what had happened.

If there had been any lingering doubt about the Sentinel robots, now he fully believed everything Logan had said, including the fact that they had traveled back in time. Logan’s explanation had been too real to ignore.

Even young Charles, who tended to be skeptical, had to accept this terrifying truth in the face of such overwhelming evidence—especially the part about Fang Mo destroying the world.

To be honest, Charles had feared this possibility ever since they teamed up against Sebastian Shaw during the Cold War.

Fang Mo, regarded as a godlike being by the original X-Men, had powers no one could fully comprehend. If he was on their side, he was indeed a powerful ally. But if he were ever to be provoked...

No one knew what would happen.

Now, Logan’s account confirmed Charles' deepest fears. If Fang Mo lost control, the consequence would be the destruction of Earth—a future that had already become reality.

"I..."

Charles was overwhelmed, struggling to find the words.

"You think I wanted to bring him back?" Logan could tell what Charles was thinking just by looking at his face, so he threw up his hands in frustration. "I planned to do this alone, but you wouldn’t believe what happened..."

"Yeah, you really wouldn’t believe it," Fang Mo cut in. "The moment I arrived, I found Logan caught in bed with someone’s daughter, and a bunch of people were chasing him with guns. He was in such a hurry to escape that he didn’t even have time to put on underwear... Don’t believe me? Check his pants, he’s not wearing anything underneath."

"???"

Charles and Beast were both dumbfounded.

"Stop causing trouble!" Logan snapped, barely holding it together. "I told you, it wasn’t me! It was the *past* me!"

"Right, right," Fang Mo nodded mockingly. "Just like how the *future* me destroyed Earth—what’s that got to do with the *current* me?"

"You..." Logan’s head was throbbing with frustration.

"Alright, let’s stop arguing," Beast, trying to mediate, said quickly. "If we need to change the future, we should be focusing on the task at hand."

"You’re right," Logan exhaled deeply, trying to calm himself. "Let’s get back to business. So, where do we start?"

"If what you’re saying is true, we need to save Raven immediately," Beast said, his gaze flickering.

Of course, Beast had his own reasons. He had always harbored feelings for Raven, even though she never reciprocated. Despite the fact that she had run off with Erik, Beast still worried about her, wondering if she was safe or being mistreated.

While everyone else’s priority was to stop the Sentinel Program, Beast’s was to save Raven first.

"But we don’t even know where she is," Logan said, shaking his head. "I have no memory of these events, and I don’t know anything about your past. Isn’t she with Magneto? Don’t you know where he is?"

"Charles?" Beast looked at Charles.

"I..." Charles hesitated, then sighed deeply. "Erik’s been captured, so we don’t know where Raven is."

"Magneto’s been captured? By who?" Logan asked, surprised.

"The U.S. military," Charles said, rubbing his temples. "It’s hard to explain, but... let’s just say he brought it upon himself. A lot of lives were lost because of him." ŖἁƝổ𐌱ЁṢ

"What did he do?" Logan asked, growing more curious.

"He assassinated the president," Charles replied. "Kennedy."

"What—" Logan started to say, but Fang Mo interrupted with a burst of laughter.

"Ha! Erik, you mad genius!" Fang Mo howled. "That’s some next-level thinking! Now I’m starting to wonder if he’s responsible for the state of my home country. How else do you explain Biden’s brain being so... loose?"

"Will you stop with the nonsense?" Logan shouted, feeling another headache coming on.

"We’ve lost track of Raven," Beast said, sighing in exasperation at Fang Mo’s antics. He turned back to Logan. "I bet Erik knows how to find her, but he’s being held at the Pentagon. Getting in there would be nearly impossible."

"Easy. I’m here," Fang Mo declared. "Watch as I use my *Indian Vengeance Blade*. I guarantee, in three minutes, there won’t be a single American left in Washington with a scalp."

He brandished his fiery sword, Lavateinn, and began to head off.

"Stop right there! Put that thing away!" Logan yelled, terrified. "There’s no Kitty here to fix this timeline if you destroy everything!"

"?"

Charles and Beast exchanged confused glances, unsure why Logan was so panicked.

"He used that sword to destroy the entire planet!" Logan explained quickly, turning to Charles with desperation. "Professor, don’t you still have Cerebro? Can’t you use it to locate Raven?"

"That..." Charles paused, looking slightly crestfallen. "I can’t use it anymore."

"Why not?" Logan asked, confused.

"Professor... he can’t handle the voices in his head anymore," Beast said with a pained expression. "Without a high dosage of suppressants, his powers overwhelm him."

"Exactly," Charles admitted, a touch of bitterness in his voice. "Sorry to disappoint you, but that’s the truth. I can’t live without those suppressants. Without them, I can’t even sleep at night..."

"Sounds like you’re haunted by monsters, too," Fang Mo chimed in, offering his usual sarcastic humor. "You keep torturing yourself like this, and you’ll end up with dementia in your old age."

"Hah, I probably won’t live that long," Charles replied, shrugging with self-deprecating humor.

"You…”

Logan felt a headache coming on. Before traveling back in time, both Professor X and Magneto had warned him that dealing with their younger selves might be a bit tricky… but this was way more than "a bit." It was hard to believe that this disheveled man before him would eventually become the composed, compassionate Professor X.

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"Maybe we should just go find Erik," Fang Mo suggested again from the side.

"Don't start," Logan sighed. "Even if we do, it’ll be Hank and I going. You stay here, and keep that sword of yours out of sight—I never want to see it again!"

"What? Did I offend you or something?" A voice suddenly retorted.

"Who said that?" Logan asked, bewildered as he glanced around the room.

"If you don't want to see me, just gouge your eyes out!" The voice continued, full of attitude. "You’ve got a problem with me burning a glass ball or something?"

"Alright, enough," Fang Mo quickly dismissed the voice and put the fiery sword, Laevatein, away.

"What’s with that sword?" Logan asked, frowning. "Is it like my cigars? I don’t remember it being able to talk before."

"Something like that," Fang Mo replied dismissively, not wanting to delve too deeply into the topic. "So, what’s the plan now? Are we going to find Erik, or are we doing this solo? I don’t mind either way—just give me ten minutes, and I can kill every Bolivar on the planet."

"Please, just stop!" Logan rubbed his forehead in exasperation. "Professor X made it clear: senseless violence might backfire. If we go on a rampage, it’ll only increase the fear humans have of mutants, speeding up the creation of the Sentinel Program."

"So what’s the alternative?" Fang Mo shrugged. "I’ve got an entire universe that can accommodate all mutants—no discrimination, no conflict. Why don’t we just relocate everyone and live in peace?"

"Hmm?" Beast perked up at the idea, intrigued.

"It won’t work," Logan shook his head. "There are humans with the X-gene too. Even if you take all the mutants now, a new generation of mutants will be born. Running away won’t solve the problem."

"If that won’t work, then maybe I’ll just slice the Pentagon into an octagon with a few swings—"

"Enough!" Charles interrupted suddenly, speaking up. "Leave Erik to us. Fang Mo, we don’t need your involvement in this matter."

"Charles?" Beast said, surprised. "You’re not thinking of..."

"I still don’t want to hear all those voices again," Charles sighed, glancing at the vial of healing serum in his hand. "But... I think I can reduce the amount of suppressant I’m using."

With that, they discussed their plan. To avoid relying on Fang Mo’s unpredictable powers, they decided to try to break Magneto out of the Pentagon themselves. After all, if anyone knew Raven’s whereabouts, it would be him. And so, Beast set about making the necessary preparations.

As for Fang Mo? It seemed the group intentionally sidelined him.

Not that he minded. He was happy to continue fiddling with his "wishing machine." Earlier, he had created a strange character from his memory, and now he was eager to further study it.

Since the group’s plan didn’t include him, Fang Mo spent the night experimenting with his creations, including a creature he had conjured from a meme-laden memory, tweaking its consciousness and refining its quirks. By morning, the creature had become a nearly perfect embodiment of its fictional counterpart—except it was just as weak as an ordinary person.

To solve that, Fang Mo turned his attention to a devil he had captured from another world. After some experimentation and using a combination of techniques, Fang Mo successfully transferred the devil’s powers to the creature, upgrading it from a mere meme-based entity to a formidable one.

Satisfied with his progress, Fang Mo finally laid down to rest, having spent the night immersed in his creations.

However, just as he was about to drift off, a knock came at the door.

Grumbling, he opened it to find Logan standing there.

"Didn't you guys go to break Magneto out?" Fang Mo asked, raising an eyebrow.

"We are," Logan replied, "but you’re coming with us. I thought it over last night and realized that if no one keeps an eye on you, you might blow the whole place to pieces."

"You’re insane," Fang Mo muttered but followed Logan anyway. After walking for a bit, he suddenly asked, "So, how are we getting there?"

"By car, of course," Logan answered as they walked. "I know a guy with some useful abilities. I’m bringing him along."

"Car? That’s way too slow," Fang Mo shook his head. "Don’t forget, Kitty’s been keeping her powers active for a long time in the future. Driving will waste too much time."

"That’s a good point," Logan admitted. "So, how do you suggest we get there?"

"Helicopter, obviously!" Fang Mo declared.