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*****
"Restore as before!"
With the newly acquired power of Apocalypse, George's mood was particularly cheerful. With a mere wave of his hand, the shattered city of Cairo instantly returned to its original state.
"As expected—my spiritual power has risen, and the effects of my magic are stronger as well."
He realized that casting a restoration spell on an entire city now felt far easier than it had in the past.
"Oh, my God!"
Seeing George repair, in the blink of an eye, the city that Apocalypse had destroyed, the members of the X-Men couldn't help but exclaim in astonishment.
They did not recognize George's true body, which had altered its appearance. They were cooperating only because they had received mental instructions from Professor X, pretending to be captured.
Now, witnessing George not only defeat Apocalypse inside the pyramid but also demonstrate such overwhelming power, their hearts were filled with shock and awe.
Amid their amazement, George's true self exchanged a meaningful glance with his thought projection. In secret, he used spatial magic to swap their positions and also changed his appearance.
In other words, the George standing behind the X-Men was now his real body, while the George at the pyramid's entrance had become the projection.
Of course, he had his reasons for doing this.
The commotion he had caused was bound to alert the Time Variance Authority soon. If he wanted to cover his tracks, he would need to employ a few tricks.
"Thank you for helping us."
Professor X, once again seated in his wheelchair, gazed at George with genuine gratitude on his face.
He had just spoken with Erik and learned that George had saved both Erik's wife and daughter.
Based on all the information so far, he deduced that George had done everything to acquire Apocalypse's power.
Even so, Professor X still felt grateful.
Whatever George's motives, the fact remained that he had saved them, and he had just restored Cairo to its former state. That was not something a wicked man could accomplish.
"There's no need to thank me. I have my own goals. The reason I helped you is because, in another universe, you are my friends."
George stepped up to Professor X and placed his hands on the professor's legs, activating his healing technique.
"Another universe?"
A look of confusion crossed the professor's face. But moments later, his eyes widened in disbelief.
"I can feel my legs!"
With a surge of strength, he stood up from his wheelchair. And unlike before, he had not taken any of Hank's experimental drugs—his telepathic abilities remained intact.
"My work here is finished. It's time for me to leave."
Having healed Professor X's legs, George released Magneto's wife and daughter, preparing to return to his own universe.
But as he painted the portal, he also transmitted certain visions directly into the minds of Professor X and Magneto.
"This is what happened in my universe. I believe if you continue to stand divided, clinging to your own beliefs, then the same fate may await your world.
Do not wait until mutants are extinct before you regret it.
Exterminating humanity is not the answer—but pandering blindly to them is a path to destruction as well.
My suggestion is this: you must demonstrate overwhelming strength as deterrence. Humans will never spare you out of pity or submission. They will only step back in fear of your power.
Of course, in the end, how you choose to act is up to you. I can only offer this advice."
With those final words, George stepped through the spatial portal, boldly returning to the Marvel universe.
Professor X and Magneto stood at opposite extremes: one clung to his illusions of human kindness, while the other was consumed by his bitterness and hatred toward humanity.
Peaceful coexistence between humans and mutants was, in truth, impossible.
For this world would never be made up of only good people—there would always be those with malice. And among those who rose to positions of power in human society, very few were truly kind.
No matter how many times Professor X and his X-Men saved humanity from crises, the human elite would never overlook the threat that mutants posed.
From their perspective, they weren't wrong. Even if Professor X was a good man—what if he died one day, and a powerful mutant leader emerged who bore hatred for mankind, like Magneto, or worse, like Apocalypse?
The reason George could lead his school for gifted youngsters in peace alongside humanity wasn't because his superheroes had performed countless good deeds.
It was because George himself was terrifyingly strong, merciless to his enemies, and impossible to provoke.
The human elite knew that the moment they entertained malicious schemes against him, they would face annihilation. Their fear of George outweighed everything else.
The admiration of the common people meant nothing. If the human elite decided to turn against you, they could twist public opinion in an instant. Today's superhero could easily become tomorrow's supervillain.
Magneto's path was equally flawed. Would slaughtering humanity and leaving only mutants truly solve the problem?
Mutants were still human beings—merely with unique abilities. They too would scheme against one another, fight for power, and struggle for profit.
And who could guarantee that every child born of mutant parents would also be a mutant? What if some were born ordinary? Would Magneto kill them as well?
Many mutants were accepted and cherished by their families. If their loved ones were murdered, would they not rise up in vengeance?
George believed that Professor X and Magneto could instead cooperate to establish a sovereign mutant nation.
With Cerebro, Professor X could amplify his telepathic powers to control the will of any ordinary human on Earth—or even kill them all instantly. Was that not a deterrent more terrifying than nuclear weapons?
So long as humanity understood that if they ever acted against the mutant empire, Professor X could wipe them all out in an instant, the world's leaders would hesitate.
Even among human nations, those with nuclear weapons kept others in check by the same principle—mutually assured destruction.
And Magneto alone could restrain nearly all of humanity's conventional weapons.
Together, if united, no alliance of human nations could stand against them. And besides, humans themselves were never truly united.
George had given his advice. Whether Professor X and Magneto would heed it was their own choice.
If they did, George—disguised as Teacher George—might even help from the shadows, perhaps using Apocalypse's power to further strengthen them.
If not, he would stay out of their affairs, focusing instead on quietly watching over Jean Grey and Scarlet Witch, keeping them hidden from the TVA while slowly absorbing the Phoenix Force and the Chaos Magic.
Once he had devoured them completely, he could move on to wander other parallel universes.
After George's departure, Professor X and Magneto exchanged a long look. Then, simultaneously, they spoke:
"It seems we truly need to have a serious talk."
The visions George had implanted in their minds had shaken them to the core, altering many of their original thoughts about humanity.
(End of Chapter)