She continued taking down the security personnel while the officials and dignitaries were quickly evacuated from the building.
Trask stood in a corner, watching everything unfold.
Stryker eventually caught Raven off guard and struck her with a stun gun. She dropped to the floor, her body spasming.
That was the scene Nathan,Logan,Eric and Charles walked into.
As soon as Nathan saw Stryker,still wearing a smug expression while Raven lay on the ground,memories resurfaced. Anger followed.
He clenched his fist and lunged at him.
Stryker turned just in time, his lone eye widening as a fist came straight at him.
The next moment, everything went black.
When he came to, he was already on the floor with Nathan on top of him. Nathan's fist was drawn back, ready to strike.
His punch was about to land when Logan pulled him back.
"Hey, hey, calm down there, bub. You know the consequences of doing that."
Nathan struggled under his hold for a few seconds before relaxing.
"I'm calm. Now let me go," he said, shrugging himself off.
He turned toward the corner and saw the man he hated more than anyone in the world at that moment. His hands clenched into fists as he forced himself to calm down.
Trask finally turned his eyes toward him. A flash of recognition crossed his face as he looked at the device in his hand and pointed it toward Nathan. It beeped, signifying that he was also a mutant. All the people he had brought with him were mutants.
The silent staring contest ended when Nathan felt a hand on his shoulder.
"He's not worth it, Nathan. Let it go," Hank said.
Meanwhile, Eric was deep in thought, staring at Charles, who was having a brief reunion with Mystique.
Suddenly, Charles raised his hand, and a gun floated into his grasp.
Seeing this and the dark look on Eric's face, Mystique slowly stood up, cautious.
"Eric?" she muttered.
Eric leveled the gun at her.
"What are you doing, Eric?" Charles asked.
"Securing our future. Forgive me, Mystique, but as long as you're out there, we'll never be safe," Eric replied.
"You can't let him do this, Charles. Stop him, use your powers!" Mystique said.
"He can't," Eric said.
Upon realizing that Charles couldn't help her, Mystique turned and bolted toward the window.
Hank acted fast and tackled Eric to the ground, but not before he managed to squeeze the trigger, guiding the bullet toward Mystique. She crashed through the window, the bullet following and lodging itself in her calf as she fell into the bushes, shocking the crowd gathered outside.
Inside the hotel, Nathan joined in, helping Hank pin Eric to the floor, while Charles checked on Logan, who was struggling to control his other self as traumatic memories surged.
While being held down, Eric manipulated a gun, firing it forward and striking Nathan in the back of the head like a hammer. Nathan released his hold,clutchinghis head in pain. Eric then used his free hand to punch Hank, shoved him back with his foot, and pushed himself to his feet.
He cast a single glance at Charles before levitating out the window after Mystique.
Nathan landed hard and rolled to absorb the impact.
When he looked up, it was already over.
Hank hung over the fountain, suspended by its metallic decorations. Eric, soaked to the bone and bleeding slightly behind the head was already walking away.
Nathan didn't even consider going after him. He knew exactly what Eric was capable of.
The goal had been to stop him from killing Raven, and now that she had escaped, there was no reason to confront him again.
----------------
Hank struggled against the twisted metal wrapped around him, muscles straining as the fountain creaked under the pressure. The metallic decorations groaned as he tried to pull free.
Then he stopped.
The noise around him became clearer.
People had gathered at a distance. Some stared openly. Others stepped back. A few had already taken out their cameras and taking pictures and videos.
The looks on their faces filled with terror and disgust.
Hank's jaw tightened. It wasn't the first time he had seen that expression,but it never got easier.
Nathan pushed through the growing crowd, brushing past shoulders and ignoring the whispers.
"Hey," he said quietly as he reached him. "We need to go. Police are on their way."
As if on cue, sirens echoed in the distance, growing louder by the second.
Hank glanced toward the sound, then back at the crowd.
With a low growl, he flexed his arms and tore himself free from the remaining metal restraints. Pieces clattered into the fountain.
"Let's get outa here," Nathan said.
Without another word, Hank took off down the street. Nathan followed close behind, both disappearing into the narrowing alleys just as police vehicles began pulling into the square.
A Day Later
White House
The room was silent as the President, the Vice President, and the Secretary of Defense watched the news coverage.
"Yesterday, the Paris peace summit was canceled due to the appearance of unidentified assailants,the likes of which the world has never seen. Massive hysteria has followed, as people ask: where did they come from? Will they be back? And most importantly… are they friend or foe?" the reporter said.
The television was switched off.
"What are we dealing with here?" the President asked.
He paused.
"Off the record."
One of the officials reached into the drawer and switched off the audio recording device. Another opened his briefcase and handed a file to the President.
"Two days ago, a man named Eric Lensherr escaped from a maximum-security prison inside the Pentagon," the official said.
He handed over two photographs,one of Eric, one of Mystique.
"We believe this woman is a former associate of Lensherr. They were together in Cuba during the crisis in '62. He was also implicated in President Kennedy's assassination."
The official then placed more photographs on the desk.
"These are images of the others who raided the peace talks yesterday."
The President studied the pictures: Nathan. Logan. Charles. Hank,fully transformed as Beast.
"And what is this thing?" the President asked, pointing at Hank's photograph.
"We don't know what that thing is, sir," another official replied. "Actually, we don't know what any of them are."
A voice spoke from behind them.
"I beg to differ."
They all turned.
Trask stepped forward.
"They're mutants," he said.
"His name is Nathan Smith. He used to live with his parents in Brooklyn until they were killed in a car accident on the way to church," Trask began. "You see, Mr. President, I've been studying mutants for some time. When I received word that a teenage boy had an incredible healing ability, I took him from the hospital as soon as he recovered and brought him under my wing, hoping to learn more about the X-gene,the gene that makes mutants.
That was until two days ago, when he revealed there was more to him than healing. His powers got out of control, he destroyed the research facility, and fled the scene."
"And?" the President asked.
"Well," Trask continued, "during the incident, our instruments measured energy within this individual that rivals the release of a multi-megaton nuclear device."
"In a human body? How is that even possible?" the President asked skeptically.
"It is what it is, Mr. President. For all we know, he may be a walking nuclear device waiting to detonate. But there's more. This individual is capable of manipulating the earth,which is everywhere,to a remarkable extent. If his energy is tied to this ability, the potential is… staggering."
Trask paused and leaned forward. "To give you an idea: it takes roughly 8.89 million joules to lift a thousand tons of earth by one meter. This boy has, according to our measurements, approximately 4.7 billion times that amount of energy. If his ability to manipulate the earth is tied to this energy, he could theoretically lift a thousand tons 4.7 billion times,or scale that effect proportionally."
The room went silent. Some of the officials even swallowed audibly in shock.
"Of course," Trask added, "he hasn't shown the capability to do this as of yet… but how long that will last remains to be seen."