Adapting in Marvel

"Holy cow, fuck me!"

"Does Brian want to bring the entire world's attention to mutants? How dare he destroy the CIA headquarters? He might as well just level the White House!"

Outside the CIA headquarters, Professor X stood, watching the raging tornadoes and the devastation that made the CIA headquarters look like it had been bombed by missiles. He cursed in frustration, unable to contain his anxiety.

"Don't lose your composure, Charles," Magneto interjected, his face darkening with irritation.

"Sorry, Erik. I lost my temper," Professor X responded, gradually calming down after Magneto's interruption.

He glanced at the fleeing CIA agents escaping the crumbling headquarters, his eyes filled with pity and reluctance.

"Charles, you are not a qualified leader," Magneto said with a hint of disappointment in his voice, disapproving of Professor X's hesitation.

Then, his gaze shifted toward the escaping CIA agents, and with the only finger he could move, he raised it gently, preparing to act.

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh.

Not far away, the fleeing CIA agents suddenly felt their stab-proof suits tighten against their bodies.

"Fuck, there's a mutant over there too!" one of the agents shouted, his voice filled with panic as he spotted Magneto floating in his wheelchair. Cold fear gripped the remaining agents.

One by one, the agents were immobilized, the metal layers of their stab-proof suits constricting them, pinning them to the ground and rendering them unable to move.

As more agents continued to flee from the ruins of the CIA headquarters, Magneto's frown deepened. He raised his index finger again.

Every piece of metal in the area began to rise, hovering in the air. The floating metal quickly condensed into a massive circular wall, which crashed down heavily, sealing off all escape routes for the CIA agents.

Magneto's display of power was undeniable, and the scene was terrifying.

In the wide, horrified eyes of the agents, Magneto casually hooked his finger once more.

All the guns in their hands were yanked away, floating in the air before turning and aiming directly at them.

Click, click, click.

It was as if invisible hands were controlling the weapons, ready to fire at the helpless CIA agents overwhelmed by fear.

All the guns were cocked, and the bullets were loaded.

The CIA agents closed their eyes in despair, bracing for the worst.

"Enough, Erik."

Just as Magneto was about to pull the trigger and kill the CIA agents, Professor X finally intervened.

Using his telepathic powers, Professor X controlled Magneto, stopping him from executing the agents.

"What the fuck, Charles!? what are you doing?" Magneto shouted angrily, glaring at Professor X.

"Erik, the X-Men are supposed to stand for justice and protect the human world, not slaughter ordinary people at will," Professor X responded sternly, his face serious.

His words only deepened Magneto's scowl.

"Justice? We're mutants, Charles, and they're humans. We were never meant to coexist," Magneto sneered.

"As mutants, killing a few humans means nothing."

"Mutants are also human beings," Professor X said, his voice unusually serious.

Swish.

Just as the argument between the two escalated, a hurricane swept down, and Brian, in his four-winged angelic form, quickly descended in front of them.

After landing, the four wings behind Brian vanished. He casually tossed Senator Foster in front of Professor X and gently set Raven down.

"Brian, do you even realize what you're doing?"

"If you keep this up, the entire world will unite against mutants!" Professor X, who had just calmed down, became furious once again upon seeing Brian.

Brian, however, only glanced at him calmly.

"Relax, humans won't know that we were responsible for the destruction of the CIA," Brian said lightly.

Professor X: ???

The fury in Professor X's eyes was momentarily replaced by confusion as he stared at Brian, stunned.

"What do you mean?"

This time, Brian didn't need to speak. Raven, who had completely lost hope in humanity, spoke first:

"Charles, don't we still have you?"

Professor X looked at Raven in astonishment, confusion spreading across his face.

Sensing his doubts, Raven continued.

"As long as you use your telepathic abilities to modify the memories of these surviving CIA agents, no one will know that the destruction of the CIA was caused by us."

Professor X couldn't believe what he was hearing. Such cold and calculated words, coming from his Raven...

"This.. Raven, do you realize what you're saying?" Professor X asked, disappointment clear in his voice, his tone almost weak.

"Yes, Charles," Raven replied calmly, her eyes shifting toward the terrified CIA agents behind them.

"We don't have any other choice now. You know as well as I do—if the world's leaders find out that the X-Men were responsible for destroying the CIA, every one of us, including you, will become enemies of mankind," Raven explained earnestly.

Professor X remained silent for a moment before letting out a bitter smile.

He knew all too well what would happen if the world's leaders learned about this.

It would mean that the existence of mutants and their terrifying powers would be fully exposed to humanity.

And at that point, it wouldn't just be the X-Men—mutants across the globe would face catastrophe.

Though Professor X held firm to his ideals, he could not stand by and allow mutants to be destroyed.

"Brian, you planned to use my mental abilities from the start, didn't you?" Professor X asked, looking at Brian with a weary smile.

"Professor X, we're a team. We should help each other. Together we thrive, and together we face hardship," Brian responded with a smile.

"A team?" Professor X muttered quietly, not offering any further comment as he looked at the terrified CIA agents behind Brian.

With a heavy heart, Professor X raised his right hand, placing two fingers against his temple.

Boom.

A powerful wave of telepathic energy radiated from him.

In an instant, Professor X's telepathic power enveloped the entire CIA headquarters.

The eyes of the terrified CIA agents became vacant and dull simultaneously.

One minute later, Professor X lowered his hand.

He had just used his immense mental power to invade the minds of all the CIA agents, forcibly altering their memories.

He erased any knowledge of the X-Men and rewrote the cause of the destruction of CIA headquarters—fabricating the story that a sudden tornado had leveled the building.

"Professor X, you've worked hard," Brian said as he approached, gently patting him on the shoulder.

"Welcome to the X-Men, Charles," Raven added with a smile, walking up and also patting him on the shoulder.

"Charles, you're not so foolish after all," Magneto said, his voice laced with approval.

Though he wanted to pat Professor X's shoulder, he was unable to move, so he simply tapped the armrest of his wheelchair with his fingers instead.

"..."

"Sigh," Professor X sighed deeply.

To protect the mutants, he had been forced to compromise. He had gone against his principles and used his mental powers to clean up the mess.

For the first time, young Professor X felt the helplessness that life could bring.

However, he silently swore to himself that this would be the last time he would go against his original beliefs.

"By the way, Professor X, don't forget to read Senator Foster's memory. We still need to find the CIA secret base to locate Hank," Brian said, turning his head to remind Professor X as he walked away.

Professor X glanced at the unconscious Senator Foster, his eyes twitching slightly.

With a resigned sigh, his telepathic powers invaded Senator Foster's mind, extracting the information they needed about Beast Hank.

"This is the last time I go against my principles," Professor X muttered to himself, setting yet another internal promise.