Where did the collapse begin?
Peter couldn't say for sure.
Broadly speaking, around 2013, Senator Kelly of the GOP delivered a speech demanding that Congress legislate the Mutant Registration Act, requiring all mutants to be registered.
This bill naturally met with fierce opposition from mutants. In response, the Brotherhood of Mutants, led by Mystique, carried out an assassination plot against Senator Kelly—it was later proven that the senator might have been Magneto's "black glove" operative.
However, the death of a single senator failed to rapidly advance the agenda. That changed when terrorists known as the Ten Rings kidnapped and murdered the President of the United States, killing Tony Stark—Iron Man—in the process. Afterward, the Vice President, who temporarily succeeded Matthew Ellis, opted for a radically different strategy, launching a massive war on terror against all terrorist organizations across America.
The Brotherhood of Mutants was naturally included in this. Under the guise of counter-terrorism, the U.S. government quickly passed a slew of bills, effectively establishing surveillance over superpowered individuals. They swiftly announced that the mastermind supporting the Brotherhood of Mutants was Magneto and his nation, Genosha.
Magneto was waiting for humanity to take the initiative and attack Genosha. They did, but the outcome was not what he had hoped for. With the support of the new President, A.I.M. expanded its business operations in all directions. Leveraging a perfectly timed series of terrorist attacks and the war on terror, their weaponry became the primary choice for the U.S. military. Subsequently, A.I.M. acquired Trask Industries, the original manufacturer of the Sentinel robots.
Utilizing a brand-new super-AI hub built by A.I.M. for the next generation of Sentinels, and using the "Super-Adaptoid" robot as a template, they created a new generation of Sentinels: "Nimrod."
Then came the Genosha Massacre.
Just three of these new Sentinels wiped out the entirety of Genosha. Over fifteen million mutants perished. The magnetic power Magneto took such pride in was pathetic before Nimrod. Before he could attempt to reverse the Earth's magnetic field, the Sentinels—completely unrestrained by magnetism—thoroughly annihilated him and completed the near-total erasure of the island of Genosha.
Kitty was there that day. The X-Men tried to help mutants escape Nimrod's assault, but they accomplished nothing besides adding to the death toll.
Then, as expected, Nimrod spiraled out of control. It turned out humanity's control over a super-AI was premature. Nimrod's objective quickly shifted to the destruction and internment of all mutants and potential mutants worldwide. A small portion of ordinary humans were transformed into mechanical lifeforms to serve as guards for the mutant concentration camps. Even more ordinary humans were liquidated directly due to the mutagenic potential of the X-Gene.
Conversely, mutants who had already awakened their abilities or established superpowered individuals were more likely to be thrown into prisons.
The Avengers, the X-Men, and the Fantastic Four all attempted to resist Nimrod. They established a defensive line in New York. Just three minutes after the battle began, Nimrod launched a nuclear strike on New York, the city with the highest concentration of superpowered beings.
Thor, utterly disillusioned with humanity, left Earth. Hulk had his gamma energy absorbed by Sentinel robots; once he reverted to Bruce Banner, he was annihilated by a ray. The X-Men suffered catastrophic casualties, and the mansion was almost entirely destroyed. Cyclops lost an eye and only managed to escape under the cover of the White Queen's sacrifice.
As for the younger generation, Captain America chose not to involve them in the front-line combat, which is why they survived.
"Sixteen years have passed since then, and we've lost many more people. It wasn't until a few months ago that I woke up in the underground facilities beneath the ruins of the Academy and learned all of this."
Charles Xavier had no idea what had happened to the world. He only knew that after being dead for over twenty years, he woke up from a state of suspended animation to find this reality. He tried to use telepathy to find his students, but instead triggered Nimrod's sensors. Fortunately, Logan—the legendary king of survival—found him first and got him out in time.
Nimrod seemed deeply interested in telepaths, to the point of issuing orders to capture them alive rather than kill them. This was the only reason the two had a chance to escape.
"So, what is your plan, kid?"
"I asked Kitty to recover a data storage drive from the ruins of the Baxter Building. It contains the Fantastic Four's data on time travel. That's what we need."
"So your plan is to pull a 'One-Eye' move? Get us all killed for a gamble on a fixed past?" Logan clearly didn't approve of Peter's plan. While living now was arguably worse than being dead, one should at least pick a better way to go than suicide.
"No, I've discovered something new. Actually, since Cyclops' failed attempt at time travel, I noticed the intensity of the Sentinels' pursuit has dropped significantly. It takes them longer to find our new hiding spots, and their reactions have worsened. I wondered why, and eventually, I found only one answer."
Peter handed a stack of documents—which Logan couldn't make heads or tails of—to the Professor. After flipping through them, Xavier's expression turned to one of shock. "You mean... Nimrod, like the person Scott and the others sent back, has transmitted itself to the past?"
"Not just that. Nimrod didn't just copy its program and send it back; it is directly controlling its past self from the present. The computational power required is massive, which is why this opening exists."
Why did Nimrod send itself back to 2013? To ensure history proceeded "correctly" and the world was destroyed as scheduled, of course. Xavier looked grave at this news and then turned back to Peter. "And then? What is your thought?"
"In the past, back in 2013 when Tony Stark was still alive, we were far stronger than we are now! Nimrod, meanwhile, was weaker. We don't need to physically travel back; we just need to transmit a person's consciousness, or even just their memories, into their past self. That way, we can ensure we are fighting a severely weakened Nimrod across two timelines simultaneously."
Peter grew more excited as he spoke. This Spider-Man, now over thirty and sporting a scruffy beard, finally presented his solution: "If we can gather all the survivors and attack simultaneously from both 2013 and 2029—hitting Nimrod while its processing power is split between two eras..."
"We could not only save our past, but potentially save our present as well. That way, even if we change history, the universe that diverged and was destroyed by Nimrod could still be saved. But the risk is immense. If we fail, there will be no chance left to fight."
"You're being too optimistic, Chuck. We didn't have the ability to fight to begin with; this kid just gave us a chance." Logan looked at the five people in the room. In all likelihood, they were the only ones left to face Nimrod in 2029. "So, whose memories are we sending back?"
"Actually, there's only one person who fits the criteria."
Peter finished and looked at Kitty. "Only Kitty acts as the perfect medium when she uses her phasing ability."
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