131 [The First Mutant Mayhem] - The Clash of Ideals - Xavier and Magneto's Divergent Paths

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Meanwhile,

Aboard the Navy vessel,

Charles, accompanied by his cadre of mutants - Angel, Banshee, and Havok, sprinted toward Magneto, casting anxious glances at the impending missiles.

Once they reached his side, they came to a halt. Angel, her eyes wide with fear, looked towards the descending missiles and asked, "Professor Xavier, what are we going to do?"

Havok's gaze also lingered on the missiles as he voiced his urgency, "I think we need to leave, now."

Charles spun around, addressing them calmly, "Hold on! No one is getting out of here."

Switching his focus to Magneto, Charles said, "Erik! You need to hear me out!"

Yet, Magneto's attention remained anchored on the missiles, neglecting Charles entirely. After a brief, tense silence, he voiced his skepticism, "Go ahead, Charles. Convince me I'm wrong."

Charles exhaled deeply before responding, "Erik, you yourself claimed we're better men. This is our moment to prove it. Thousands of lives are aboard those ships - decent, truthful, innocent men merely obeying commands."

Magneto responded with a cold stare, "I've fallen victim to men just obeying orders before. It cost me my family, my childhood, everything I held dear. I won't let it happen again."

With that, Magneto lifted his hands, focusing intently on the inbound missiles. In a display of his immense power, he halted their descent, then seized control of them, spinning them around to point at the surrounding Navy vessels instead.

Witnessing Magneto's dangerous course of action, Charles shouted, "Erik, you must release them!"

Magneto replied, "No! I don't wish to cause you harm. Don't force my hand!"

Charles touched his temple, the hub of his psychic prowess, and began to assert his telepathic influence over Magneto, warning, "Stand down!"

Feeling Charles' psychic efforts, Magneto shouted, "Enough, Charles!"

Charles locked eyes with Magneto and pleaded once more, "Erik, stop this now!"

Magneto then whirled around, facing Charles, and stated, "Us fighting among each other, Charles, it's exactly what they want. I tried to warn you. I envisioned us standing united, brothers in arms, protecting each other."

"We seek the same end," Charles pointed out.

Magneto, shaking his head with regret, retorted, "My friend, I am truly sorry, but we do not see eye-to-eye. This society has rejected us. It's time we established our own. The humans have made their move. Now we prepare to make ours."

With that, Magneto spun around once more, poised to direct the missiles toward the Navy vessels, when all of a sudden...

* BOOOM *

A sudden blast from beneath catapulted everyone into the air. Angel, Havok, Banshee, and Magneto all landed, somewhat disoriented but unhurt, scattered across the expansive flight deck.

With Magneto's telekinetic grip on the missiles severed by the unexpected explosion, the projectiles veered off their courses, painting erratic trails across the sky before they plunged harmlessly into the ocean.

Picking himself up, Magneto surveyed the scene around him, his gaze finally landing on the site of the blast.

Emerging from the smoke and debris, Mystique appeared, coughing violently. Climbing up and out of the crater created by the explosion, she collapsed onto the flight deck, her breath coming in ragged gasps.

Turning her head to the side, she saw Charles lying nearby. Seeing her finally, Charles asked, slightly bewildered, "Where have you been? What just happened?"

Mystique took a few moments to steady her breath before responding. "I was in the ship's C.I.A office. There was an alien masquerading as the C.I.A director. When I exposed him, he blurted out some unintelligible phrase and detonated the ceiling, creating the hole through which I climbed out."

Her eyes scanned Angel, Havok, and Banshee as she asked, "What happened here?"

As Magneto watched Mystique, he seemed on the verge of saying something. But, swallowing his words, he merely shook his head and addressed Charles, "Farewell, my friend," before soaring into the sky.

Watching Magneto fly into the distance, Charles sighed, whispering a melancholic, "Farewell to you too, my friend."

Rising to her feet, Mystique turned to Charles. Seeing the blood trickling from his head, she urgently said, "We need to get you to a hospital, Charles. Just stay still, okay?"

A gentle smile traced Charles' face as he prepared to respond. Yet, his smile faltered, replaced by a dreadful face. "Actually..." he began, his voice shaking, "I can't feel my legs."

Struck by his words, Mystique asked, "What?"

Looking up at her with a hollow stare, Charles repeated, his voice filled with a haunting realization, "I can't feel my legs. I... can't feel my legs."

Meanwhile, some distance away,

Val was standing in front of Adrienne Frost's corpse and tears were streaming down his face. He tried to stop himself from crying but he couldn't. How could he? When there was clearly a small hand popping out of the hole in which the rod had pierced through Adrienne's abdomen.

'I know this is the Marvel universe.', Val thought, 'I know here, common people are just canon fodder in the middle of a superhero and a villain fighting. Yet..

How can I not cry at this scene? My heart is not made up of stone. I can't ignore this. This...senseless killing...is one of the reasons why I hate Marvel.'

Val wiped his tears off and picked up Adrienne Frost's corpse carefully and flew away with a sudden sonic boom.

* BOOM *

At the sound of the sonic boom, Mystique and the others spun around to catch sight of Val, burdened with the lifeless body of Adrienne Frost. A wave of sorrow washed over Mystique, etching lines of worry onto her face.

Taking control of the situation, she directed Angel, Havok, and Banshee. "Help Charles up!" she commanded.

Meanwhile,

From the depths of the ocean, two guards of Talokanil stealthily emerged. They silently observed Val as he receded into the distance. The sight seemed to pass an unspoken message between them.

"We must inform His Majesty," one guard finally broke the silence, his voice a low whisper. "Let's move," he urged his companion, ready to dive back into the ocean depths.

A few hours later,

* CLANG *

Standing amid the solemn quiet of a cemetery, Val was painstakingly returning soil to its resting place, covering the wooden casket underneath. The tombstone bore a tender inscription - "Here lies Adrienne Frost, who loved her husband with all her heart."

Adjacent to this grave was another, smaller in comparison, yet carrying a weight of its own. Its earth freshly turned, the tiny tombstone echoed a profound truth - "Here lies Baby Frost, a child untouched by the world's darkness."

* CLANG *

As the exertion of his labor etched rivulets of sweat on his forehead, Val took a step back to appraise his work. His gaze roved over the final resting place of the mother and child, now covered in freshly turned soil. A slow nod of approval came from him, a quiet acknowledgment of the task completed with due respect.

Picking up the bouquet of flowers he had brought with him, he delicately placed them atop the mounds, a final farewell. With a final glance, he turned, his figure receding in the distance as he walked away from the silent graves.

In the limitless expanse of the cosmos, a celestial being observed the scene with gentle approval. Yggdrasil, radiant with divine light, watched her chosen one with a soft smile. "Excellent, my champion," she murmured to the vastness of space, her voice echoing amidst the stars, "Empathy, kindness, forgiveness... once again, you have proven yourself worthy of my trust."

[Aiden's Note: I will be celebrating Eid-ul-Adha with my family. So, no chapters would be uploaded on 28th and 29th.

Eid Mubarak to everybody!!!]

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