Tony Stark glanced at him and said thoughtfully, "Erik, honestly speaking, the friendship between you and Charles is something many people would envy. Maybe you should talk to him more."
"Talk about what?" Erik Lehnsherr sneered. "About his naïve ideals? Or about how, in his eyes, I'm a deranged terrorist?"
Bruce Banner shook his head. "Ideological differences are incredibly hard to reconcile. From what I can see, both Erik and Charles are people with unshakable convictions. Neither of them is likely to change their beliefs easily."
Tony shrugged. "I've said it before—Erik's heart is made of adamantium."
As they spoke, they continued watching the future footage.
In the video, Erik Lehnsherr was not particularly moved by his old friend's attempts at comfort. To him, no matter how eloquent Charles sounded, it all felt hollow. Truly feeling someone's pain was never the same as personally enduring it.
Charles Xavier continued to persuade him. "Erik, come back with us. I'll help you."
Erik's expression remained cold. "Help me?"
"Think about your wife. Your daughter. What kind of hope they placed in you."
"They just wanted to live!" Erik snapped. "I tried your way, Charles. I tried living like humans—living their kind of life. And how did it end? They took everything from me! Now, we're going to take everything from them!"
As he spoke, Erik turned his head toward Apocalypse and his entourage.
Outside the screen, Natasha Romanoff looked grave. "In that future… you're going to take revenge on all of humanity?"
Erik Lehnsherr, mirroring his future self's expression, replied coldly, "Perhaps only when they experience that kind of ultimate pain will they truly accept mutants."
Yet despite saying this, deep down he did not agree with his future self's choice. No matter what, he would never bow to Apocalypse and become one of the so-called Horsemen.
Tony shook his head. "Natasha, I said it at the start of this game—this quiz has basically turned into a villain convention. Why? Because aside from Homelander, Erik here isn't exactly a saint either."
Erik shrugged. "If you view me from humanity's perspective, then yes—I'm your enemy. There's nothing more to say."
Bruce Banner raised an eyebrow and offered a suggestion. "Erik, your thinking is too extreme. Why not try to reconcile with Professor X?
From my point of view, the two of you could complement each other. If you truly care about the future of mutants, you should be working together—not standing in complete opposition."
Erik looked at him calmly. "Charles wants me to be the one who compromises. But after seeing these futures, I'm even more convinced that he should be the one to compromise.
His school might create a relatively peaceful environment for mutants—but what about the world outside its walls?
Everyone knows that peace isn't achieved through words alone. True peace comes from the very thing you all reject and despise—war."
Tony smirked meaningfully. "Or maybe a different kind of peace—one flattened by nuclear weapons."
Erik let out a mocking laugh. "Humans are the ones who control nuclear weapons. Humans are the ones who decide whether to press the button. Enough—we're not going to agree. Let's just watch the future footage."
In the future video, Charles Xavier also sensed the presence of Apocalypse and his group through Erik.
At the same time, Apocalypse noticed as well. He studied Magneto thoughtfully and remarked, "How very interesting."
Angel asked curiously, "What did you see?"
"An answer." En Sabah Nur's eyes turned white as his power activated.
Charles was pulled directly into Apocalypse's mental world. In an instant, he was confronted with visions of raging flames, destruction, and apocalyptic ruin. His eyes widened in shock.
"My God…"
Apocalypse spoke politely, "Thank you for letting me in."
When Charles Xavier entered Apocalypse's mind, it was effectively the same as allowing Apocalypse into his own. In this telepathic confrontation, En Sabah Nur clearly held the upper hand.
In the blink of an eye, the mental world Charles had constructed began to be corrupted.
Charles's psychic realm glowed crimson, while Apocalypse's invading energy was a deep violet. At first, the purple appeared only in scattered patches—but soon it spread rapidly, threatening to completely overtake the red world.
Throughout this process, Charles had almost no resistance. Or rather, he was overwhelmed by Apocalypse's sheer power. His eyes darkened, his breathing grew rapid, and he murmured in awe,
"I've never experienced power like this before…"
Hank realized something was terribly wrong and called out desperately, trying to wake him.
"Charles! Disconnect—now! Break the link!"
But it was useless. He couldn't reach him.
Raven also sensed that something had gone wrong. "What's happening? What's wrong with him?"
"…Someone has seized control of Cerebro," Hank said in disbelief. "They've taken over the system—it's like hacking into a network!"
Outside the screen, Tony Stark clicked his tongue in amazement. "That's unexpected. Apocalypse not only has telepathy—he's better at it than Charles. It's like advanced AI invading a normal network. A total checkmate."
Natasha frowned thoughtfully. "This is the result of an information gap. Professor X didn't know enough about Apocalypse. He wasn't cautious enough—or perhaps he was too confident. The moment he sensed Apocalypse, he should've severed the psychic connection."
Erik Lehnsherr said calmly, "Apocalypse isn't necessarily stronger than Charles in telepathy. Their abilities are focused differently.
But you're right—Charles was too confident. He's long been accustomed to reading others' minds with telepathy and has never really suffered for it before. Maybe this time will teach him a lesson."
Tony and the others exchanged strange looks.
They could all hear it clearly—despite his words, Magneto was unmistakably showing concern and recognition for his old friend.
Enemies, allies—perhaps both.
More than anything else, they understood each other all too well.
..
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