Chapter 20

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While Mark had indeed felt a powerful impulse to engage Magneto in combat, especially while channeling the power of Goku, it was not his highest priority in that moment. Despite the combative temperament that the Goku template brought forth, Mark understood that saving lives was ultimately more important than testing one's strength against a formidable adversary. Even Goku, for all his mischievousness and bravado, understood the primacy of protecting the innocent over seeking glory in battle.

Thus, rather than confront Magneto head-on in a direct contest of strength that would likely have caused collateral damage and jeopardized others, Mark opted for a more strategic approach. He deployed his "Triple Afterimage Technique," a sophisticated maneuver designed to deceive the enemy by creating multiple residual images of his body. This illusion successfully diverted Magneto's attention, allowing Mark to bypass him entirely and neutralize the true threat first, Jason Stryker

The logic behind Mark's decision was straightforward yet profound. Jason was eliminated, Professor X would no longer be under psychic control. Without that influence, there would be no further risk of a psychic genocide being carried out via Cerebro. Consequently, both mutantkind and humankind would be saved from mutual annihilation. To Mark, this outcome far outweighed the tactical satisfaction of besting Magneto in personal combat.

As for Jason himself, his tragic backstory did evoke a measure of sympathy. He had, after all, unintentionally killed his own mother due to his inability to control his powers, only to be later exploited and transformed into an experimental subject by his own father, Colonel Stryker. His life had been marked by trauma and manipulation. Still, for Mark, sympathy could not take precedence over reason and responsibility.

In a scenario where the lives of billions were at stake, including those of his companions and new family, he could not allow personal emotions or speculative morality to cloud his judgment. The lives of countless innocents, both mutant and human, outweighed the life of one tragically manipulated individual. There was no room for hesitation.

"Impressive. Most impressive," Magneto intoned, his voice a thunderous rumble laced with venomous admiration. His body lifted effortlessly from the ground, the air itself crackling with the raw power of his fury. The chamber groaned in protest, its adamantium-reinforced walls trembling as if caught in the grip of some unseen god.

"You have stolen destiny itself from my grasp," he continued, his words dripping with icy contempt. 

"With but a single command, the age of humanity would have ended, their wretched reign reduced to ashes in the wake of mutant supremacy. The future I have fought for, bled for... and you dare stand in its way?"

His magnetic field pulsed violently, warping the very air into a visible corona of energy. The floor beneath him buckled, metal screeching as it twisted into various shapes.

It was then that a weak, strained voice echoed through the chamber.

"Erik... are you here to rescue me?"

It was Professor Charles Xavier. Freed from the grip of Jason's psychic manipulation upon the latter's death, Charles slowly regained consciousness. He removed the Cerebro helmet from his head with trembling hands and turned his wheelchair with visible effort to face Magneto, who still hovered ominously in the air.

Upon seeing his old friend and ideological rival conscious once again, Magneto inhaled deeply, calming his rage. His levitation ceased, and he descended slowly back to the ground.

"Charles," Magneto said, his voice laced with both challenge and bitterness,

"in the world of illusions you saw, did you still believe in justice? Are you still so certain of your righteous path?"

He continued, his tone sharpened by experience and scorn. "It's unfortunate that your so-called human allies do not abide by your code. They were prepared to eradicate every mutant. Even now, they conspire in darkness."

Professor X, never one to retreat from his ideals, responded to Magneto's bitter observation with calm conviction.

"Erik," he said gently

"people stumble. They lose their way. But that does not mean they are forever lost. Sometimes, all it takes is for someone to reach out a hand. If we persist in our efforts, if we believe in the possibility of change, then together, we can guide humanity toward a better future."

His words reflected a deeply-held belief in redemption, understanding, and moral perseverance.

Magneto, however, remained unmoved. With a scoff, he dismissed Charles's ideals as youthful fantasy.

"You remain as naïve as ever, Charles. Humanity does not change. It fears what it does not understand and it destroys what it fears. Coexistence is a lie. In the end, it will be us or them."

As the tension escalated, it seemed the ideological chasm between them would once again erupt into conflict. But before the debate could continue, Mark interrupted with a pragmatic suggestion.

"Perhaps" he offered, "we should continue this conversation somewhere safer?"

He was right. The current base, structurally compromised and built atop a dam, was hardly a suitable arena for philosophical arguments or further confrontation. A single miscalculation, and the entire installation could collapse, drowning everyone.

As far as the ideological conflict was concerned, Mark felt no particular inclination to join either side. He was not a mutant, after all, and thus did not share their existential concerns. Moreover, such philosophical disputes often lacked definitive moral resolution. They depended entirely on where one stood and what values one prioritized.

If a person saw their identity as a mutant as paramount, then the annihilation of humanity might seem justified. If, however, loyalty to one's friends and loved ones took precedence, then the equation changed entirely. Mark believed that the binary lens of us-versus-them was an oversimplification. In a universe like Marvel's, such distinctions were endless and, in many cases, meaningless, nation versus nation, race versus race, skin versus skin, mutants versus humans, humans versus Inhumans, Earthlings versus extraterrestrials.

And at a cosmic level, even Earth and the Sun were creations of the Celestials. Mutants themselves were merely the result of Celestial genetic experimentation. In the grand scheme of existence, notions of superiority and inferiority were relative at best.

Suddenly, a loud mechanical click was heard. The Cerebro chamber doors opened. Storm, Wolverine, and Cyclops burst in with urgency.

It turned out that Colossus and Wolverine had successfully subdued Lady Deathstrike and had escorted Colonel Stryker to the chamber, forcing him to input the override code that unlocked the reinforced doors. Meanwhile, Cyclops and Lady Deathstrike, previously under the influence of Master Mirage's neurochemical manipulation, had regained their autonomy upon his death.

Seeing this, Magneto knew the time for discussion had ended.

"Enough," he said coldly.

"Let's go."

Without further words, he turned away, beckoning Mystique to follow him as they exited the chamber. The plan had failed. It was time to withdraw and regroup.

"Don't. Let them go,"

Professor X's telepathic voice rang out in the minds of Storm and Cyclops as they prepared to pursue.

He was right. This place was not Liberty Island. If a battle erupted here, the entire dam could be compromised. Magneto would escape easily, but the rest of them could be trapped beneath tons of cascading water. Furthermore, Charles had begun to rethink aspects of his approach. Perhaps letting Magneto walk free, for now, was not without its benefits.

Once the chamber had cleared, Professor X turned toward Mark.

"I'm sorry," he said with genuine regret. "I never intended for your time here to begin with something like this. And thank you for everything you've done."

Having accessed Storm's memories upon her arrival, Xavier now understood the full extent of Mark's actions, the risks he took, and the sacrifices he made to protect not only the school but also the greater world.

Xavier had never planned for Mark to be thrown into conflict so soon. He had merely wanted the boy to complete his education, to enjoy a normal life before perhaps joining the X-Men as a graduate. But fate had chosen otherwise. And if not for Mark's intervention, Magneto's plan might have succeeded.

Mark offered a reassuring smile. "I told you you wouldn't regret your decision that day."

Yet his smile faded when Xavier added, in a much firmer tone, "But I must insist. No smoking or drinking while you're at school. At least not until you're of legal age."

Then, turning toward Wolverine, Xavier added with mock sternness, "And you. If you give him another cigarette, I'll rewire your mind to believe you're a six-year-old girl. Then I'll have Jean braid your hair into a dozen pretty little pigtails."

Laughter rippled through the room.

Finally, casting one last sorrowful glance at the lifeless body of Jason, once one of his own students, Xavier led the group out of the Cerebro chamber. No matter how gifted a teacher, he knew he could not help every student master their abilities perfectly. Some were simply lost too early.

Meanwhile, outside the facility

As Magneto and Mystique emerged onto the spillway, their exit was met with hostility. A sharp, whistling sound cut through the air as an arrow flew straight toward Magneto's head.

"Who's there?"

Reacting instinctively, Magneto froze the arrow midair with a flicker of magnetic force. But before he could inspect it, the arrowhead detonated with a powerful concussive blast, sending him stumbling backward. Only Mystique's swift reflexes saved him from falling.