Chapter 52: He Is Back

After finishing the story, Wanda wore a heavy expression. Jean—the one most affected by what had been said—turned her gaze toward me.

"So… this is what was originally meant to happen?" she asked, her voice low. "But at least it hasn't… right?"

"I know Charles," she continued, almost as if trying to convince herself. "He's a kind old man who loves children. He's like a father to me. He would never do something like that. Maybe… maybe something happened to him at that time, something that changed him."

She was in denial.

Charles Xavier had always been the kind of man who decided what was best for others without asking them how they felt. He had a long history of playing chess with people's lives—sometimes literally.

From suppressing memories to manipulating choices, his actions simply are teasing the line between well-meaning guidance and outright control.

I looked her in the eyes and said gently, "Sweetie, I honestly don't care about Charles. What I'm telling you is just one of his many bad decisions. I'm not denying that he often has good intentions—he truly does. But it's the way he acts on those intentions that bothers me."

"I'm telling you this story so you can prepare yourself for the worst. You remember the timeline I mentioned—the one where you destroyed Earth? Trust me when I say, he was the number one culprit. It was something he did, something preventable, that triggered your breakdown."

Her face twisted with that familiar, ugly anger. I didn't push further.

"Anyway," I said, waving my chopsticks dismissively, "this isn't even one of those 'world-ending' threats. It's not an extinction-level event, not for Earth, the universe, or the multiverse. So relax. Just breathe and enjoy your food."

I turned back to my ramen, savoring the warmth and flavor. I knew she'd eventually come to terms with it—at least, if she truly was as strong as I believed her to be.

I was in fact considering spending the remaining four days before my spectacular descent on her studying Rune in the Hyperbolic Time Chamber to free myself once for all.

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(3rd POV)

After a week of being kidnapped, Tony Stark was finally back.

Although only a week had passed, during this time, his worldview and everything he believed in had been completely challenged.

He had encountered an unknown person, yet that person had saved him and even sacrificed his life just because he believed in him.

He had created an armor—one that's probably among the most advanced in the world and perhaps impossible for anyone else to replicate.

It was only natural that, once he was finally free and saw his assistant Pepper, the first thing he asked for was his favorite golden lobster corn dog. Just another poor, starved soul.

He was also secretly watching her. Although he suspected that someone close to him had been responsible for his kidnapping, his experience with Yinsen had kept him from being entirely disillusioned with the world. He still believed that some people were truly good—like her.

Still, he didn't show his emotions. He simply enjoyed his food and asked her a question.

"By the way, during the time I was absent, did something big happen?"

He had a plan to stop manufacturing weapons. He knew this decision would likely cause the company to hit a new low—even lower than when he had been kidnapped.

Still, it was normal to inquire about the state of the world. Who knew what might have happened while he was gone? Though, in truth, he didn't expect anything world-shaking to occur just because he'd been missing for a week.

Pepper didn't reply right away. She looked at him strangely—this didn't feel like the Tony she knew. He was… more polite.

Despite rejecting her insistence that he go to the hospital and be checked—especially with that glowing hole in his chest—he was definitely not the same man.

That arc reactor as he call it gave her a bad feeling every time she looked at it.

As for answering his question, she didn't even know where to start. She smiled wryly.

"Trust me, Tony, you need to see everything for yourself to understand. I think you should ask JARVIS."

Tony, who was eating, paused for a second and looked at her like she was joking. But Pepper nodded seriously before turning to Happy, who also nodded in agreement.

"Oh well," he said, wiping his hands, "let me check before these reporters get wind that I'm back."

What Tony didn't know was that the reporters simply didn't have time for him right now. The world was too busy being shaken by the appearance of real gods. Otherwise, the moment he returned to the United States—secretly or not—he would've already been swarmed.

Although he wasn't at his mansion, Tony still had access to JARVIS the moment he returned to U.S. airspace.

"JARVIS, can you give me a brief report about the important things that happened during my absence?"

[Affirmative, Mr. Stark. Compiling summary of high-priority global events during your absence.]

[First Incident: Cape Citadel.]

[XXX hours after your disappearance, a group of hostile mutants launched a direct assault on a U.S. military installation at Cape Citadel....]

[Second Incident: Nevada.]

[XXX hours later, a top-secret mutant experiment site in Nevada was remotely annihilated by the terrorist Magneto...]

Although Tony was at first surprised by the mutants' attack, he didn't think that much of it, as mutants losing control had happened too many times—also the reason why people hate mutants.

But as Jarvis continued, with Reed Richards—one of the men almost as intelligent as him—getting superpowers from cosmic radiation, he definitely wasn't jealous of the latter, who now apparently seemed able to stretch his little zizi.

Then came the mutants' attacks, seemingly pushing humanity into desperation, as there seemed to be nothing humanity could do—until JARVIS talked about the final part.

[Seventh Incident and Final Development: Emergence of 'Hela'.]

[A key member of the X-Men—Jean Grey—was apparently overtaken or possessed by a being referring to herself as Hela...]

It took JARVIS no more than ten minutes to give Tony a brief summary of what happened, but those ten minutes also impacted his point of view again—the second time in such a short span.

If it had been an average person, the response would've simply been to deny what was happening—but for Tony, he looked to Happy and Pepper for confirmation.

The latter, as usual, nodded once more. Tony's second reaction wasn't disbelief, but rather to immediately search for a scientific explanation to make sense of everything JARVIS had just summarized for him.

"No, Happy, drive me to my villa—quick," he said, swallowing everything in one swift, determined gulp. "I need a proper update on what exactly has happened."

Happy didn't answer. He was staring at Stark, who had just swallowed like some kind of alien creature. He could swear he wasn't into men—but, well, a strange image of Stark swallowing something else popped into his mind.

He quickly shoved the thought aside, though from today onward, he might never see his boss the same way again.

Tony turned to the very same Happy, who was now briskly heading for the door, then glanced at Pepper. "Did he take the wrong meds or something?"

Pepper threw up her hands, equally confused, before offering hesitantly, "Maybe… he needs to use the bathroom?"

Regardless, that didn't stop them from following right after him.

.....

AN: I seriously can't believe how f*cked people can be. I'm a student. We decided to rent a place with my friends—we are four. One of them is my childhood friend, while the others were people I met just last year.

Finally, I decided to leave because I had my things stolen too many times, and I was sure it was my childhood friend, but I didn't want to have too many problems with him.

Who knew that after leaving for a few weeks, I'd get called to the police station because apparently, he took things from the other two, and they accused him. Then he filed a complaint against them at the police station, with me being dragged into it.