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| - Wolverine woke up in 1997, laying in bed next to a sleeping woman, both of them naked. Standing up and getting dressed, Logan looked out of the window, finding himself in Times Square. Howlett walked out of the motel and hopped on his motorbike, before riding it to the X-Mansion. Wolverine walked up to the School’s front door and knocked on it. Almost immediately, a young man looked up sternly. -Scott?- Logan couldn’t help but chuckle. -What’s so funny?- Summers replied bitterly. -Move aside, bub. I need to talk to the Professor.- A young Jean Grey walks to the door, where her boyfriend is trying to find out who the visitor is. -What’s going on here? Who are you?- Extremely surprised and still mourning future Jean’s death, Wolverine is barely able to ask to see the Professor once again. -For the third time, no one sees the Professor unless they’ve announced themselves first.- -Alright, bub.- Logan rolled his eyes and pushed his way in. Suddenly, young Beast jumped on the time-travelling mutant and started brawling against him. -Henry, be quiet.- Professor X got inside the Mansion’s main hall. -I remember you.- He then looked up at Wolverine. -Have you changed your mind?- Cyclops, Jean, Storm, Beast and Nightcrawler gathered around the two mutants. -I… I quite have… But not yet.- Howlett scratched his forehead. -I… I am not from this time… Well… Technically I am… But… Ugh… This is far too complicated for me to explain.- -Explain what?- Professor X inquired. -I… My mind was sent back from 2016 to this time because mutantkind is in danger.- -Who sent you?- Charles asked. -You. There’s… There’s this program… The Sentinel Program. Bolivar Trask has been developing it since the 90s, but Congress kept on denying it until 2016, after a couple of huge events related to enhanced people. Trask was killed this year by Mystique.- Nightcrawler’s face changed after hearing his mother’s codename and Beast walked out of the room. -Raven.- Xavier corrected the time-traveller. -Raven, yes. So… I was sent here to save Trask so mutants are not seen as a threat anymore… Magneto wanted me to find him too… So he can join us.- -No, absolutely not.- Professor X shook his head. -I will never join forces with Erik again. He betrayed us. And I will not use this team to fight Raven.- -This would be Raven’s first murder of many… Once she kills Trask, not only her history will be changed forever, but also mutantkind’s.- Beast walked in the main hall again and nodded, carrying some notes he had taken. -I looked up Bolivar Trask and what he is saying is right. He’s been developing an anti-mutant program since 1995 and he’s meeting up with the President in the White House this Wednesday…- -…The day in which Mystique infiltrates the White House and deliberately kills him.- Wolverine finished his sentence. -We have two days, Professor, and not many good options.- -I wanna do it.- Jean nodded, taking a step forward. -So do I.- Ororo agreed. -If we can save… Mystique from becoming a really bad person, I think we should do it.- Nightcrawler muttered. -What he is saying makes sense, Professor…- McCoy shrugged, pointing at Wolverine. Considering his possibilities, Xavier closed his eyes slightly, before nodding. -Alright then, we are going to stop Raven.- Bringing a pile of newspapers, Beast walked inside Xavier’s office, where the mutants were gathered. -This is what they call the Bent Bullet Conspiracy. The media is blaming Magneto for killing JFK. “The Warren Commission theorized that Lehnsherr was present at the assassination site and used his mutant powers to control the path of the second bullet, ensuring it hit the president. The 1.2”-long bullet passed through the men “in an unlikely vector”, entering Kennedy’s upper back, exiting through his throat, slicing through his shirt collar and nicking the knot of this Christian Dior tie. It then entered Connally’s back, near his right armpit. It tore through the governor’s body, obliterated one of his ribs, and exited just below his right nipple. The bullet then smashed though Connally’s right wrist, and pierces his left thigh. Scientists then and now say this “bent bullet” theory is possible.”- Beast read an article and then picked up another newspaper. -“According to the Warren Commission, Lehnsherr was present during the assassination. He stood on Dealey Plaza’s grassy knoll - an elevated area near Elm Street, the road where Kennedy was shot. Several eyewitnesses saw Lehnsherr, including 12-year-old Marie Ellen Dodge. Dodge stood near the knoll with her parents. As the President’s limo approached, Dodge snapped photos with her Kodak Instamatic 100. Uninterested in Kennedy, Dodge photographed “the strange, squinty man” staring at something behind the president, at the Texas School Book Depository. “He had his hand raised,” Dodge recalls. “I heard the second shot, and then I saw the bullet. I saw the actual bullet. It just kind of hung there in mid-air for a second, and then zipped away. Toward the limousine”.” -That doesn’t make sense… Since we thought most of the Kennedy’s are actually mutants, including JFK and Ted.- -Magneto then had a secret trial and is now imprisoned in the Pentagon.- Beast continued. -I have analyzed the Pentagon’s map and found Lehnsherr’s cell. It is placed 1.320 ft underground, protected by a DNA-Verified Access door made of reinforced concrete leading to an observation deck, and the chamber is placed under pressure-tempered glass. The lights are wireless electronics made using an alternating electric field.- -Who else didn’t understand a thing?- Wolverine asked. The young mutants except Cyclops and Beast raised their hands. -Scott, be honest, you didn’t understand either.- Jean raised her eyebrows at her boyfriend, folding her arms over her chest. Rolling his eyes, Cyclops raised his hand as well. -Alright, let’s say it’s a maximum security cell. It will not be easy to get in there.- Beast summarized the description. Jean, Scott, Ororo, Hank and Logan walked inside the Pentagon separately in order not to raise suspicions. Walking to the left and pressing his back against a column, McCoy communicated with the others through intercommunicators. -Alright, Jean, Scott and Ororo, you will go retrieve Magneto. Logan and I will stay up here and watch your backs.- Wolverine nodded after hearing what Beast had just said and walked to the right, standing across the super genius. -According to the maps I could gather, you have to head right now and you will most likely find a door to the left in the middle of the hallway.- Beast gave the orders, as the three teenagers executed the plan. -It’s locked.- Scott replied, pulling on the metal lock on the door. -Blast it open… But be discreet.- With a small optic blast, Cyclops destroyed the lock and the three walked through the door, facing a 1,320 ft. drop. -Uh… How are we supposed to get in here?- Grey asked. Suddenly, two guards appeared behind them carrying guns. -We got company…- Storm muttered. -Knock them down, don’t kill them.- Beast ordered. -We will need one of them.- Ororo fired lightning at the two guards, rendering them unconscious. -There should be stairs on the left side of the underground walls.- Hank indicated. -Storm, you will have to fly your way down carrying the guard.- Nodding, the three teenagers got down to the bottom of the drop and found a reinforced concrete wall with a door in front of them, with a panel on the right side of the door. -Carefully, place the guard’s right hand on the panel, it should open the door.- Guiding the man’s hand to the area Beast told them to, Munroe unlocked the door and the three mutants walked inside the small room with a pentagonal glass window on the floor. Knocking on the glass, Cyclops talked to Beast through the intercommunicator. -This doesn’t sound like thin glass.- -It’s not, it’s pressure-tempered. Jean, you should make the glass vibrate using telekinesis, while Scott and Ororo fire at it.- The X-Men did so, and Magneto looked up at them, confused. -C’mon. We are setting you free. Fly up here.- Cyclops muttered bitterly. Magneto flew towards the teenagers, scrunching his face. -Why are you doing this?- -We know you didn’t kill JFK.- Scott shrugged, trying to come up with a reasonable theory. -And we need you.- Storm rolled her eyes. -That makes more sense. You don’t even know what you got yourself into, X-Men.- -Uhm, guys…- Beast talked to the three teenagers. -The guards are starting to get uneasy. I think they found their knocked-out colleague.- -Time to go.- Summers looked at the others, but when they got through the concrete door they found a group of guards, aiming their guns at them. -They’re not using metal, they’re using plastic… Can’t you go all Obi-Wan on them?- Magneto whispered to Jean, who looked up at him sternly. -Don’t kill anyone!- Beast exclaimed and he was spotted by a guard, who started chasing him around the Pentagon. The mutants started fighting the guards, Scott and Ororo firing non-lethal blasts at the guards, while Jean knocked two guards’ heads together. -We need to go up, fast.- Cyclops looked at the others. -Storm can fly, but Jean and I cannot.- -Your suits, they have metal right?- Magneto asked, and the teenagers nodded. -Then hold on to it.- Magneto started levitating, bringing the two non-flying teenagers up with him, as Munroe flew alongside them. When they got all the way up, they found twice the agents as before. -Okay, I think I might have to use this trick I have come up with.- Magneto closed his eyes. The guards dropped their guns and looked petrified, before falling limp to the ground. -What did you do?!- Jean exclaimed. -Manipulated the iron in their blood. I’ve been in here since 1964, I’ve had quite a long time to think of new methods.- Soon, the four of them found Beast and Wolverine, who had knocked down every guard on that wing. -We need to go, now!- Beast exclaimed. -To the Blackbird!- He ordered, and the six ran out of the Pentagon, hopping on the X-Jet. -I need my helmet.- Magneto commented, looking down. -I am pretty sure Bolivar Trask has it.- Beast commented from the cockpit. -He has gathered everything he could about mutants.- -Who is that Bolivar Trask?- Erik asked. After the X-Men explained the whole situation to him, Magneto nodded. -I would normally let Mystique do whatever she wants… But this might destroy mutantkind. We cannot let her get away with it.- The press gathered around the White House on Wednesday, in order to report Bolivar Trask’s meeting with the President and Congress. Trask he walked inside the White House, followed by Col. William Stryker, who was there to protect the businessman. One of Stryker’s soldiers’ eyes glowed yellow, as they walked inside the building. -Mr. President,- Trask started his speech before Congress. -I assume you have heard the latest news, am I right? Kennedy’s assassin was freed out of the Pentagon by mutants. That… That is unacceptable. I haven’t heard about this in the news, have you?- Trask shook his head slightly. -We are looking into it, Mr. Trask.- Clinton replied. -But we are not here to discuss that.- -Oh, I thought we were.- Bolivar pretended to be surprised. -A group of mutants have freed a mutant assassin… That has everything to do with my Program. Mutants are a threat. Mutants have killed a former President. Mutants will not hesitate to kill you, Mr. President. And God forbid that happens! But we are not them. We don’t think like they do.- -There is no real proof Erik Lehnsherr has killed Kennedy, Mr. Trask. All we know is that he was there when it happened.- -I am pretty sure the Judge didn’t say that when he gave him a life sentence in the Pentagon.- -I do not agree with that sentence, Mr. Trask.- Clinton shook his head. -And I don’t agree with annihilating a part of our population. No matter if they’re mutants or humans. This meeting is over, Mr. Trask.- The President concluded and stood up, as Trask was escorted away. Mystique, disguised as a soldier, walked to the room where Trask was resting at and looked into his eyes. -Uh… Who are you?- Trask scrunched his face, still upset about the denial of his Project. -You can call me… Mystique.- The mutant smirked, showing her real appearance. Terrified, Trask jumped up of his chair and started walking backwards, as Darkholme pulled out a gun. Suddenly, Professor X, Magneto, Wolverine, Beast, Cyclops, Jean Grey, Storm and Nightcrawler stormed inside the room. -Raven, stop!- Charles yelled, holding his hand out at her. -Or else? Are you going to mind control me, Charles?- Raven asked, smirking. -No, I promised you I would never do that.- -But I never promised anything!- Magneto took the gun out of Raven’s hand and tossed it away from her. Seeing herself surrounded, Mystique jumped out of the window, being seen by everyone who was outside the White House. Beast, Nightcrawler and Magneto followed her and people went crazy after seeing JFK’s killer free. -Stop, Mystique!- Magneto yelled, as everyone ran away from the White House. Walking through a group of people, Mystique changed her appearance to that of a civilian, getting lost among the crowd. -We lost her.- Nightcrawler looked up at Beast, who nodded. When Beast looked back at where Magneto was, he couldn’t find him. -I guess we lost him too.- Inside the room, Col. William Stryker barged in, aiming his gun at the mutants. -Wolverine…- Stryker muttered, holding Logan at gunpoint. -You… You remember me? I thought I had wiped your memories off…- He asked surprised after seeing the look on Howlett’s face. Visibly unsettled after seeing the man who bonded adamantium with his bones, Wolverine lost focus and his consciousness started shifting between 1997 and 2016. -Professor, he’s shifting between eras!- Kitty exclaimed, looking up at Xavier. -Focus, Katherine.- Charles exclaimed. With Kitty’s help, Wolverine’s consciousness went back to 1997 and he recovered control of his body, standing up. Logan walked to Stryker and held his claws on his throat. -You will pay for what you did, Stryker.- -Are you seriously going to kill me inside the White House?- -Logan… Don’t do it.- Professor X said. -We will undo everything we’ve done up to now.- Calming down, Wolverine nodded. Xavier, Logan, Summers, Grey and Munroe, after successfully stopping Mystique from killing Trask, walked out of the White House and after rejoining with Beast and Nightcrawler they got on the X-Jet. -Where is Erik?- Xavier asked McCoy. -He… He disappeared. So did Raven.- -That… That is never a good sign. But I guess that’s history’s natural course, isn’t it?- Xavier looked at Wolverine, who nodded. -I guess I’m about to go home, so don’t come looking after me if I become distant. Just let me go. We will see each other again.- Logan assured the mutants, who nodded. However, his 2016 consciousness was still in his 1997 body. -If… If we had stopped the Sentinel Program, Logan wouldn’t be able to recognize us. But he still does.- Beast figured out, parking the Blackbird. -That is not good…- Cyclops shook his head. After watching the news, they found out that while stopping Mystique’s murder they made people believe the whole group was out to kill Trask and started protesting against mutants. -Uh, oh…- Kurt muttered, looking at Wolverine. -Congress… Congress is going to approve the Project.- Ororo closed her eyes, looking down. Some minutes later, the news anchor revealed that Congress had finally green lit Trask’s Project, and it would be put in action next Monday. -Told you.- Storm pursed her lips, pacing around the room. -What are we going to do now, Professor?- Jean asked. -I… I think we have changed history for the worse.- Professor X said. -We need to fix it as soon as possible.- -Maybe we should go to the White House on Monday, when Trask puts the program in action and see if we can try to stop it then.- -That’s not a bad idea, Henry.- Xavier nodded. -We should do that.- Late at night, Magneto hovered to Trask Industries’ headquarters. Sneaking inside, he found the crates holding the Sentinels, ready to be showcased on Monday in front of the White House. Erik lifted his hands to his sides, getting different metals in his surroundings inside the Sentinels, so as to be able to control them. On his way out, Magneto walked to the Mutant Analysis Division area, where he found his helmet inside a glass cage. The mutant pulled it out using his magnetokinesis, breaking the glass in the process. Magneto put his helmet on, before flying away from the building. On Monday, Professor X, Logan, Beast, Jean, Scott, Storm and Nightcrawler attended the Sentinel Project announcement at the White House. Unbeknownst to them, Magneto was also there, standing in the shadows and Mystique was posing as one of Stryker’s officers once again. Bolivar Trask suddenly walked out from among the crowd, followed by his personal security, and stood on his podium. -Good afternoon, American citizens. Todays marks a new beginning for humankind. At last, we will be able to purge our society from mutants, who have been attempting to destroy us ever since they first appeared. Thanks to President Clinton, here with us…- Bolivar looked at Mr. President, who nodded. -…We were able to bring this dream of mine to reality. And soon, you will be thankful for this decision. Mutants are… Definitely not like us. They are not humans. Their DNA is different, I have seen it myself… And I have programmed these mechanical beings to locate this… X-Gene. Before you ask, the Sentinels are not made out of metal, so JFK’s assassin will not be able to manipulate them.- Bolivar looked at Clinton, who nodded. -Without further ado, let’s start the Sentinel program.- Trask pushed a red button on his controller, and the Sentinels’ eyes opened. The Sentinels started targeting the nine mutants present at the conference, ready to fire a blast at them. Suddenly, Magneto walked out of the shadows and started controlling the Sentinels discreetly. The Sentinels turned around and loaded their guns against Trask, Stryker and Clinton, who tried to hide. Trask tried to gain control of the Sentinels back but his controller was unresponsive. -What is going on here, Trask?!- Clinton yelled. -I… I… Everything was perfect!- -Obviously not!- The President replied, being escorted away. People started running away, and Mystique looked up surprisedly at the mechanical beings before realizing it was Magneto who was controlling them. -Erik, stop this!- Professor X exclaimed, as the X-Men gathered behind him. -Charles, they tried to exterminate us all!- Lehnsherr argued. -Logan said that stopping Mystique would put this Project down, but here we are, way earlier than it happened before!- -This is still not the right thing! They feel threatened and you aren’t helping them feel any different!- -We are superior, Charles! Our species name tells us so!- -We are just like them, Erik.- -NO WE AREN’T!- Magneto made one of the Sentinels fire a blast at Professor X, but Beast pushed Xavier out of the blast’s way. -To me, my X-Men!- Professor X yelled, and the X-Men started fighting the Sentinels. Nightcrawler BAMF’d his to a Sentinel’s shoulder, smirking, punching it all the way up. Storm summoned lightning at the mechanical creature that was now a conductor because of the metal Magneto got inside it. Cyclops and Jean Grey dodged the Sentinels blasts and counterattacked. Using her telekinesis, Jean pulled a Sentinel’s head away from its body. The telepath tossed the mechanical head at Magneto, who caught it mid-air using his magnetokinesis. -I thought you were smarter than this, Jean Grey.- Erik smirked, ready to fire the Sentinel Head back at the young mutant. -I thought you were too, Erik!- Cyclops yelled, firing an optic blast at the Sentinel Head, making it explode. Wolverine ran towards a Sentinel, slicing its legs off with his adamantium claws. Enraged, Magneto picked him up, manipulating the metal bonded to his bones and tossed him miles away from the White House. While Magneto was distracted, Mystique pulled out her gun and fired it at Erik, weakening him. Reacting quickly, Jean Grey used her telekinesis to pull Lehnsherr’s helmet off his head, leaving him vulnerable to telepathy. -I have to break my oath, Erik, because you are endangering humankind!- Professor X exclaimed, controlling Magneto’s mind. Lehnsherr, under Xavier’s control, made each of the six sample Sentinels explode, before freeing Magneto from his enthrallment. -You just made a terrible mistake, Charles.- Magneto shook his head. -You may have stopped the Sentinel Program now… But this won’t be the last example of mutant hate.- -I am well aware of that, Erik. But harming humans makes us just like the monsters they think we are.- Professor X nodded. -So be it, Charles.- Magneto nodded, flying away from the White House. -Professor, you might wanna take a look at this.- Beast muttered and Xavier turned around to face Mystique, who was holding Trask at gunpoint. -Raven… Raven, please. I… You’re not Erik. You… This would be your first kill. Is it really worth it?- -What will you do, Charles?- Darkholme muttered bitterly. -Control my mind like you did with Erik?- -I will not do that now, Raven. You can be good. You don’t need to be mind controlled to do the right thing.- Closing her eyes, Mystique evaluated the situation, before dropping the gun. Turning around, she walked away from the White House. As she was heading out, she smiled honestly at Nightcrawler, who felt uneasy by that. -Are we going to let her walk away?- Cyclops asked the Professor, who nodded. -I have the feeling this won’t be the last time we see her.- The next day, President Clinton offered a press conference. -Dr. Trask has now been arrested and will face trial for his actions, not only against mutantkind but also against humans, myself included. Trask Industries are now officially defunct, and every Sentinel will be destroyed. As the representative of this nation, I would like to ask the mutant species as a whole for forgiveness. Forgiveness for letting us being manipulated by Trask and his Program.- From the X-Mansion, Xavier smiled, nodding. -Thank you, Logan.- He muttered. Wolverine woke up again in 2016, inside the X-Mansion. As he walked along the halls, he spotted Cyclops, Jean, Beast, Storm, Kitty and Iceman. Inside a classroom, he could also see Blink, Sunspot, Warpath, Shatterstar and Rictor, all of them now part of the Xavier’s School student body. Walking inside Professor X’s office, he saw Cable and Bishop, sitting across Xavier. -I… I thought you would be gone, since I changed the timeline… You… You shouldn’t exist.- -You don’t know anything about time travel, do you?- Cable rolled his eyes. -Our home isn’t our home anymore, but we are now stuck in this timeline.- Bishop explained. -If we went back, we would be wiped from existence.- After nodding, Logan shrugged. -Huh, I guess that’s a good thing.- -If you excuse me, Professor…- Cable stood up, readying his gun. -I have something I need to do.- Nathan walked out of the Mansion. In Mojoverse, Mojo hovered to Spiral and Longshot, who were carrying their swords. -I need you to carry out a special task for me.- The Spineless One smirked, pressing a button on a panel, activating a hologram. -He has escaped my clutches and we cannot allow that to happen. You know what you have to do.- Spiral and Longshot nodded, looking at Shatterstar’s picture displayed in the hologram. Cable stormed in inside a lab, where a pale mutant was experimenting on a young girl, who was already displaying her mutants abilities despite not having hit puberty, by making her touch a pod containing a blue being. -Stay there!- Nathan ordered, holding the scientist at gunpoint. -Give me the girl.- Without saying anything, the mutant handed the girl to the mutant, who escaped. The pale mutant smiled widely. -The pinnacle of mutantkind…- He whispered, before looking at the blue being in the pod.
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