3rd Person POV
Tension hung in the air like a blade waiting to fall.
The courtyard of Xavier's School was no longer a safe haven...it felt like a storm on the brink of eruption.
Logan paced back and forth, claws half-drawn, nostrils flaring like a beast trying to contain his fury. Raven and Hank stood in his way, bodies tense, doing everything they could to keep him from making a fatal mistake.
"I ain't forgiving him," Logan growled. "I trusted Chuck. But he lied. He violated us."
"Logan, please..." Hank said, voice steady but imploring. "Killing him won't change what happened. It'll just destroy what's left."
"He played God," Logan snapped. "And I lost my wife because of him."
Raven stepped forward. "And you think more death's the answer?"
Logan's silence was damning.
But before he could argue, Jubilee hesitantly stepped in, voice soft yet firm, "Didn't Professor X say Ritsuka and Hakuno were tracking Hydra? You want vengeance? Go with them. You're a fighter, Logan—not an executioner."
Logan stopped, eyes narrowing. He hadn't considered that.
Bobby Drake spoke up from behind her. "Professor Logan, I trust Ritsuka. You saw him. He doesn't just fight for people—he fights with them. He'll help you find answers for your wife... or peace."
Logan exhaled through his nose. The rage didn't vanish—but it dulled, slightly.
"Maybe I will," he muttered. He finally acknowledged Ritsuka help.
Near the steps, another storm brewed.
"You don't get to talk about pain like you understand it, Remy," Rogue hissed, fists clenched.
Remy LeBeau leaned against a pillar, arms crossed and eyes cool. "I know what grief looks like, chère. And what it does to someone."
"Then shut your damn mouth," Rogue snapped.
Remy shrugged. "I'm sayin' it 'cause someone has to. What happened—it ain't your fault. He died, yeah, and it hurts. But drownin' yourself in guilt? That ain't justice. It's just you letting his memory rot in self-pity."
"You bastard—"
"You still got powers, Rogue. Gifts. People like Ritsuka fight with their bare hands And he gets up every damn day to help others. If you want to honour the one you lost—live. Not cry."
Rogue stared at him, breathing hard.
"I hate you," she whispered.
Remy smirked, "Good. Hatred means you're still feelin' something."
A few feet away, Scott stood still, fists tightening and loosening over and over. His jaw trembled. Anger warred with clarity.
He had wanted to kill Xavier.
But Ritsuka's words echoed louder than his fury:
"I don't have the right to stop you. But Jean wouldn't want you to become something you're not."
"I just want her back," Scott whispered to himself.
And so, quietly, he made a decision.
He would follow Ritsuka—not because he trusted Xavier anymore.
But because Jean needed him to not become the man Xavier once tried to shape him into.
Meanwhile, inside the silent, dimly-lit hallway—
Karna stood behind the wheelchair-bound Professor Charles Xavier, who gazed out the window, blank and wordless.
Xavier didn't even turn around. "If you've come to condemn me, I've already heard enough."
"I don't speak much, Professor," Karna answered. His voice, always calm, carried the weight of a blade held inches from the soul.
Xavier chuckled bitterly. "Then perhaps you'll be the only one not calling for my head."
Karna was silent.
Xavier turned slowly, eyes shadowed. "They all want me dead. I read their thoughts even now. Logan especially."
Karna nodded. "Yes. I can still sense his killing intent. His emotions burn hotter than a battlefield."
Xavier looked away.
"But I don't understand one thing," he muttered. "Why would Ritsuka protect me… after I tried to read his mind?"
Karna stepped closer. "Because he sees you… as part of humanity."
Xavier blinked. "What?"
"I read the book you wrote," Karna said. "In the library. You wrote that mutants are the next step in human evolution. But Ritsuka doesn't see it that way. To him… you are still human."
Karna glanced through the window—toward Logan, Rogue, and Scott.
"A friend of mine," he said, voice dipping into memory, "once did something similar to you. His name was Arjuna… a god in his world. He erased the pain, the chaos, the sadness… Mainly Mistakes from his people. He created a world of silence. A world where no one could feel."
Xavier's breath caught.
Karna's crimson eyes fixed on him. "You took away what made them human. Their sadness. Their joy. Their choices. Memeroies, Love, pain, even hatred—those things matter, Professor. Master Ritsuka knows that. And that is why, despite what you've done, he still sees you as human."
Xavier lowered his head. Shame filled every line of his face.
"You can't take away their darkness just to force your light," Karna finished.
The words cut deeper than any psychic blade.
And Karna—quiet, eternal, unshakable—turned and walked away.
The silence lingered. Long and heavy.
Xavier sat unmoving in his chair for what felt like hours.
And then, finally—he looked at Emma.
"Emma," his voice cracked.
Static. Then her voice came through. "Charles?"
"I… I want to help."
Emma Frost raised an eyebrow. "Help?"
"I will help you find Jean. No more secrets. No more control. I'll fight this time… as a man—not a mind."
Emma said nothing for a long while.
Then her voice softened. "Welcome back, Charles."
---
Ritsuka Fujimaru's POV
The soft hum of the Blackbird jet's engines was a dull roar beneath our feet, cutting through the clouded sky like a knife through silk. Outside, the world blurred past—mountains, lakes, skies tinged in orange light. But inside, the tension was sharp, heavy. Like a drawn blade.
Erik Lehnsherr sat across from me, arms folded and eyes hard, the weight of a thousand battles pressed behind his gaze. The metal walls around him vibrated ever so slightly—not from turbulence, but from his mood. From him.
"This… power she acquired," Erik finally broke the silence, his voice low but cutting, "can it be controlled?"
I looked down at my hands, hands that had seen countless timelines burn, gods fall, and innocent lives vanish into history's forgotten footnotes. And yet, even I couldn't answer that question with confidence.
"No idea," I admitted, rubbing the back of my neck with a sigh. "All I know is... every second that ticks by, Jean's getting closer to something beyond human comprehension. Godhood, maybe. And if she falls into her own darkness before she figures out who she wants to be with that power—"
"Then we die," Erik finished, eyes unblinking as he stared through the cockpit wall. "Every last one of us."
"Yeah," I nodded, the word heavy in my throat. "But..."
"But there's still a possibility she learns to control it," Hakuno added quietly, seated beside me, her voice calm but firm. "And doesn't kill us."
She took the words right out of my mouth.
Erik's gaze narrowed. "A possibility I won't stake my kind's future on."
Ah. There it was. That cold certainty, the same steel resolve he always carried when the world stood on the brink. I already knew what he was thinking—he wanted to end Jean. To strike first.
Hakuno's eyes narrowed. "Come on, dude. We have options. You don't have to kill her. We won't let it come to that."
He didn't answer right away, but his silence was its own kind of war drum.
"Not to burst your metal-plated bubble," I added with a smirk, "but even if you tried to kill her, you wouldn't get far. Jean's not a girl anymore—she's a force. I'd have better odds strangling you with my bare hands than you taking her down now."
That got his attention.
Erik turned, his expression twisting into an amused sneer. "You'd have zero chance of killing me with your bare hands."
Hakuno rolled her eyes. "You have no idea what he's faced before. If he says something's out of your league, you should listen."
I shrugged. "She's basically immortal now. The ones we can deal with—are the D'Bari. They're within reach. While Hakuno and I keep Jean from blowing up another city... or the planet."
Erik leaned back, rubbing his chin. "So… the D'Bari are the true threat. If we eliminate them, will that stop our extinction?"
I nodded. "It would help. Jean, despite how unstable she is right now, doesn't want to destroy us. Not truly. If she wanted us dead… she'd have done it back at Xavier's school. Snapped necks with a flick of her hand. Boom—done."
Hakuno winced slightly, imagining the scenario of everyone in the school dead, and Jean stood, eyes aflame, barely holding herself back.
"But her powers are spiraling. Uncontrolled. The D'Bari want that power—her power. To wipe out all life on Earth. For reasons I still don't fully understand."
Erik scoffed. "And you want to talk to them?"
"I do," I admitted, resting my elbows on my knees. "I need to understand why. Civilizations don't just become genocidal without a reason. Maybe they lost their world… maybe they believe Earth is theirs to reclaim."
Erik rolled his eyes. "You sound just like Charles. You still think humanity would welcome aliens, when they can't even tolerate mutants?"
Hakuno interjected, voice sharp, "Not everything has to end in war, Erik."
"You don't understand," Erik snapped, his tone darkening. "Humans are ungrateful. Afraid. They cheer you when you save them, and spit on you the next day when you remind them you're different."
"They're complicated," I replied quietly. "But not all of them are like that. There are good people."
Erik's lip curled. "People can change. Into monsters. I've seen it. Just like those bastards who experiment on us like we're animals in cages."
His words hit a nerve.
"I agree," I said, the words leaving my mouth before I realized how cold they sounded.
That surprised him. "What? You know them?"
I sighed. "I didn't want to get into this now, but… yeah. I messed with Hydra. Took out one of their bases when I first got here."
He stared at me, suddenly silent.
"They marked me. Said they'd hunt me. That I'd made an enemy I couldn't even comprehend. But I've seen worse than Hydra. And I'll destroy them."
Erik's voice turned into a low growl. "So... you've destroyed before."
I didn't flinch. "More than I ever wanted to. But when monsters threaten people I care about—I stop them."
Hakuno glanced at me, a faint sadness behind her calm smile. She knew what I meant. What I had done. And what it cost me.
"Exactly," she said softly, looking back at Erik. "You're not the only one who knows what it's like to be forced into impossible choices."
Erik said nothing for a long moment. Then, slowly, the tension in his shoulders lessened.
"Then perhaps," he said, "we aren't so different."
Outside the jet, the clouds were thinning. The stars were beginning to appear—cold, distant, ancient.
And somewhere beyond them, a firebird stirred.
Colossus, who had been quiet riding the jet, raised an eyebrow. "Can you guys stop talking like cartoon villains for a second?"
Hakuno smirked, tossing her short hair. "Yes, we're planning to take over the Earth. Want in, Colossal?"
"No way in hell," Colossus replied with a laugh. "Besides, I'm goddamn Colossus. I would always protect the Earth."
We all laughed.
But Erik stayed quiet for a moment before saying, "After this… if you need a hand… count on me."
I looked at him, surprised. "Are you sure? I mean… I know you're trying to stay out of the 'kill everyone who looks at us wrong' business. I don't want to drag you back into that."
"This is beyond that," Erik said, his voice sharp. "Hydra tortures mutants. Kidnaps children. They will keep doing it unless we stop them. No one cares when a Hydra agent dies. No one sheds a tear."
He was right. And that, more than anything, was the tragic part.
"You know what? Sure. I'll call you if I need backup for a few raids." I extended my hand.
He shook it without hesitation.
"Here's our number," Ariki added, handing us a secure communicator. Hakuno grabbed it and quickly added the contact to her device. "Labeled it Metal Dad, by the way."
"I'll pretend I didn't hear that," Erik muttered, though I could see the faintest smirk tugging at his lips.
"We're here," Ariki said, pointing to the GPS as the Blackbird descended.
"Then let's say hi to everyone…" I said with a sigh.
---
Note: how is the chapter? I brought karna to talk with Charles. I planned this from very beginning. God Arjuna did similar to what Charles did but on large scale. I'm planning to add Logan and Scott in Ritsuka team.
Anyway I posted 2 chapters so enjoy it. A surprise is waiting.