Charles gave one final, gentle plea. "I believe in you, Raven." Then he withdrew from her mind, leaving the choice entirely up to her.
On screen, Raven's face was full of inner conflict and hesitation. Her hand, gripping the gun, trembled visibly. Clearly, Charles' words had struck a chord.
But if that was the case… then why was the correct answer B?
Offscreen, Charles and the other viewers were visibly puzzled. Just then, the scene transitioned into a montage-style flashback, cutting back and forth to events in the future—2023.
While Raven stood frozen in 1973, struggling to decide whether or not to pull the trigger, the mutants in the future were nearly all wiped out by the Sentinels. In the end, only Charles, Erik, and Rogue remained, protecting Logan as he remained locked in the time-travel trance.
But the Sentinels had already broken into the sealed chamber. They closed in from all directions, their heads splitting open as they charged up devastating energy blasts—ready to erase the last survivors.
And then, in 1973, Raven made her choice—she lowered the gun. She let go of the assassination. In that instant, the future changed.
In 2023, the Sentinels never got the chance to fire. They vanished into thin air, and along with them disappeared Charles, Erik, Rogue, and Wolverine. The future had been rewritten.
Offscreen, Charles slowly exhaled. Raven hadn't let him down. She had made the right choice. But almost immediately, he frowned again. If Raven had changed the future… why was B still the correct answer?
The footage continued. After Raven lowered her weapon, Charles was finally able to focus. His consciousness reached out and took control of Erik's mind, forcing him to lift the heavy lighting rig pinning Charles down—though the effort also woke Erik from unconsciousness.
Erik looked around the room, then back at Charles. Though his plan had failed, he seemed strangely calm.
"You hand me over to them, and I'm dead. You know that."
"I do," Charles said.
But he didn't turn Erik in. Emotionally, he couldn't bring himself to condemn his old friend to death. Logically, it made no sense either.
Erik had just shown the world how powerful mutants could be. That image alone was a deterrent. If Charles were to hand Erik over to the authorities, he'd not only lose the trust of every mutant—he'd be seen as nothing more than the government's lapdog.
Charles was a pacifist, yes—but not a fool.
The two exchanged a final farewell. Erik looked deeply at Raven one last time, then flew off without a word. Raven, too, didn't linger. With the matter settled, she turned and left.
Hank turned to Charles. "You're really going to let them go?"
"I am," Charles replied. "Because I still have hope. One day, Hank, we'll all find our way back to each other."
Hank asked, "What about Logan?"
Poor Logan was still floating unconscious underwater. By all accounts, he'd had the roughest time of them all.
But in the end, he had succeeded in his mission through time. Raven had chosen not to assassinate. The future—where mutants were exterminated by Sentinels—had been changed.
But was this new future guaranteed to be bright and full of hope?
The screen faded to black and reopened on a much later scene. Logan was finally pulled from the water. Thanks to his extraordinary healing ability, he was still alive—but he was immediately taken into government custody.
Apparently, even in this new timeline, Logan couldn't escape his fate of becoming a lab rat.
Still, Raven had stopped Erik's act of terror. She had saved the president and other top officials. She had even helped salvage America's image in the eyes of the world. News of her heroism spread everywhere, and Raven was hailed as a symbol of hope—proof that humans and mutants could stand side by side.
Following this, the government officially scrapped the Sentinel program and arrested Bolivar Trask, the dwarf scientist, for leaking classified national intelligence. Some mutants did see their circumstances improve.
But as Charles and Logan watched these scenes unfold, unease began to build. If things had truly improved for mutants, then how could the correct answer to the question be B?
It was as if Erik could sense their confusion. He gave a cold snort and said, "Don't jump to conclusions. Keep watching."
The video continued. Charles, now reinvigorated, reopened his school—Charles Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters—and began taking in young mutants once again, guiding them toward a better path.
On the surface, everything seemed to be heading toward a hopeful future. But light always casts a shadow.
Though things had improved for some, and a few mutants could now live relatively normal lives in human society, many were still seen as freaks—unwelcome, feared, and hated.
Raven was celebrated as a hero, a bridge between humans and mutants. But she felt no pride in that title. What she saw instead were her fellow mutants still suffering—oppressed, hunted, and hurt. She knew deep down that the future was far from the one she had dreamed of.
Change, of course, takes time. At least Charles still believed in hope.
The camera then cut to Erik.
As the man responsible for attacking the White House, Erik was now a global fugitive. He had fled to a quiet corner of Poland, where he met someone—someone who loved him despite his past.
Erik didn't hide his history, and she accepted all of it. They got married, had a beautiful, bright little daughter, and began a quiet, peaceful life together.
Watching this, Erik's cold expression softened noticeably. When his daughter Nina appeared on screen, charming and full of life, even the corners of his lips curled upward ever so slightly.
Even a man as steeled as Erik had a tender side. Deep down, he longed for a life like that, too.
Charles noticed the change in his expression and said gently, "See, Erik? As long as we hold on to hope, we can still find our way to a better life."
This time, Erik didn't argue. He only murmured to himself, "If that were true… that wouldn't be so bad."
But he was wrong.
Completely, utterly wrong.
Living in hiding, Erik worked at a small steel factory in the town to support his family. He loved them deeply—especially Nina. Scarred by his own horrific childhood, he had made a vow to her: he would never leave her.
But one day, tragedy struck…
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