"Why should we be the ones to do this? You could find any middle school teacher... no, actually, you need to find elementary school teachers because some of them can't even understand a basic two-variable equation..."
"I am wasting my time and my intellect. The human race is in an era of rapid progress; with my time, I could be advancing human accomplishments in the cosmos, why am I wasting it here teaching a bunch of idiots?"
Stark spoke loudly, but most of the students knew that they couldn't refute him. Their grades at Dreamland School had been, in fact, appalling. The whole concept of prenatal education wasn't a joke.
"Don't be like that, Tony. They have potential. After all, they possess powers ordinary people don't have and they learn pretty quickly. They've learned a great deal in just a few days at Dreamland School, haven't they?"
"That's just general knowledge. Oh, my God, we even have to start teaching them about the eight major planets!" Stark rolled his eyes, making a gesture of exasperation.
"As far as I am concerned, there's no hope for mutants. They should just make use of their innate abilities to make a living on Earth and forget about venturing into the cosmos. They probably wouldn't even know how to avoid a black hole if they run into one..."
While Stark was mid-speech, he felt a cool breeze on his forehead. He turned his eyes back to find a ballpoint pen held against the center of his forehead.
Iceman quickly looked at Polaris and whispered, "Don't do that. We can't just use our powers in school, let alone threaten a teacher!"
Polaris turned her head and said, "It wasn't me!"
At that moment, faint footsteps sounded at the entrance of the classroom. Everyone looked over to see a figure clad in black battle armor standing in the doorway. His deep, aged voice reverberated throughout the classroom,
"Shut your mouth."
In an instant, the ballpoint pen in front of Stark disintegrated at a speed that was impossible to discern with the naked eye, leaving nothing behind.
Stark turned to Magneto, resisting the urge to call upon his mecha because he knew that using it in front of Magneto would be akin to handing a knife to your enemy.
However, Banner looked rather displeased. "How dare you threaten us? Even if Stark was a bit harsh, he's speaking the truth. The educational foundation of the mutants is very weak. It's really a headache for us."
"That's enough, Banner. Erik was wrong. Don't worry about it." Professor Charles, wheeling himself in, said to Banner and Stark, "You see, I heard that you were planning on teaching some basic knowledge about the cosmos in class today. So, I brought Erik along. He can help bring the cosmic conditions to life for you."
Stark snorted and said, "Please, don't tell me we're supposed to teach you two along with the students..."
While he was talking, he saw Magneto slowly raising his hand. A spherical ripple appeared on it, about the size of a fishbowl, indicating magnetic fluctuations.
"What are you trying to do? Threaten me with some steel artifacts again? This is all you've got…"
Just as Polaris was about to lose her cool, Iceman and Quicksilver promptly stopped her.
At that moment, a blinding spot of light burst from the center of the round magnetic field in Magneto's hand. Following that, a small flame erupted in the center.
Stark's expression changed drastically. His eyes were glued to the flame which was rapidly growing, turning into a palm-sized sphere within seconds.
Despite its small size, it was too bright to look at. As the flame grew more vigorous, some particles began to revolve around the sphere and started to conglomerate. Stark murmured, "Fusion fire..."
The sphere started to compress, gradually shrinking to half its original size, but becoming even brighter.
Everyone stayed still, gazing at the sphere of light in Magneto's hand. Iceman, who had observed it up close on Mercury, was the first to ask, "…Is this the Sun???"
No one answered him, but soon after, numerous small particles began to revolve around the light sphere, more and more, faster and faster, constantly interconnecting, merging, and colliding.
It was as though billions of years had flitted by in the blink of an eye. When the speed finally slackened, only nine small spheres remained.
And then, the transformations resumed at a frantic speed. Everyone watched the round magnetic field with rapt attention. Quicksilver leaned halfway over the desk, asking, "What's that?"
"It's Saturn! Look at that! Saturn's ring!"
"That big one should be Jupiter; remember? Jupiter is also a giant planet!"
"That should be Earth, right? And that one close to Earth should be Mars?... My god, is this the Solar System?!"
Finally, Magneto extended his hand slowly. As he did so, the magnetic field floated upwards, coming to a stop in the center of the classroom ceiling. It began to expand until the whole Solar System appeared above the students' heads.
Everyone was fascinated by the spectacle. They stared, open-mouthed, as countless celestial bodies spun above them. As the celestial light shone down, their eyes shone brightly in response.
The mystery and beauty of the cosmos were underscored in that moment. The night sky has been a constant source of enchantment for humankind. The spectacle presented by the rapid transformation was of a charm that wholly absorbed everyone present.
Stark was the first to tear his gaze away, for he noticed another smaller magnetic field forming in Magneto's hand.
Again, the same fusion fire forms a star, but this time, no planets appear around the star, instead it grows and grows. Banner took the opportunity to explain: "Pay attention, this is the aging process of a star. After a star undergoes its youth period, it gradually turns into a red giant..."
"Who can guess how many times bigger a red giant is compared to a normal star?"
"Ten times?... No, I guess it could be a hundred times!"
"No, far more than that, a red giant will be a billion times bigger than a normal star."
The students below let out exclaimed in astonishment, discussing the vast number of a billion amongst themselves.
Following Banner's explanation, the red giant in Magneto's hands continued to change, followed by a white dwarf and a neutron star.
Then, the evolution retracted, at a certain time point, everything collapsed inward. After a bright explosion, the entire magnetic field became pitch black.
The students all froze, Polaris squinted her eyes and said, "The light is gone?"
"Of course, we saw it, it turned black..."
"What I mean is, something had absorbed the light."
"That's right." Banner pointed at Polaris and said, "That is a black hole. A black hole will absorb all the light, so you can't see anything..."
Stark was also staring at the magnetic field in Magneto's hands. Magneto remained silent, saying nothing, but what he was doing made Stark and Banner, the two scientists, deeply recognise how powerful a mutant can be.
It has always been said that mutants are powerful, but in the eyes of scientists like Stark and Banner, technological advancement could possibly surpass them at some point. But now, Magneto was telling them, it's not the mutants who need the cosmos, it's the cosmos that needs mutants.
With one thought, galaxies evolve, all things in the universe, all in my hands.
The strength of this power is beyond anyone's imagination. It's too shocking, even for these students who are also mutants. They can only stare at the cosmos above their heads.
The class ended quickly. After all the teachers left the classroom, it was silent for a second, then instantly burst into excitement.
No matter what their stances, experiences, or knowledge levels were, all the students were pointing at the galaxy above them and discussing fervently.
Magneto disappeared as soon as he walked out of the classroom. Stark turned his head to look, but Professor Charles seemed used to it. Charles sighed and said, "Exhale, let's go back and find the director of this show."
Soon. They appeared in the Arkham Sanatorium. Shiller was writing patient records with his head down. Seeing them come over, he looked up and asked, "How did it go? Was it smooth? Are the students full of fighting spirit and ready to dedicate themselves to the ocean of knowledge?"
Stark shook his head and said, "Why am I the one playing the bad guy? I think they all despise me now, if that girl called Polaris is as strong as her father, then I might end up with a black hole in my room some day..."
"Don't worry, I will be watching them, and there is a long way for Polaris to reach her father's level." Charles shook his head and said.
Speaking seriously..." Stark crossed his arms, turned back, frowned at Charles and said, "Isn't that Magneto guy a bit too strong? He can manually trigger nuclear fusion and create a solar system. What is he still doing on Earth?"
"I'm afraid he has reached the level of directly controlling subatomic particles." Banner theorized, "He can even create a sun without needing a molecular cloud, and ignite nuclear fusion out of thin air...it's just...beyond imagination."
"Erik is indeed very strong. He once told me that before he dies, he can even create a complete universe."
As Charles was saying this, he looked at Shiller and said, "But as I said before, we now not only represent ourselves, but also those standing with us."
At this point, Stark came to realization, he looked at Charles and asked, "You and Magneto are the two leaders of the mutants. Does this mean you are as strong as him?"
Right before Charles was about to be modest, Shiller concluded, "If Professor Charles is willing, he can instantaneously alter the thoughts of all humans, oh, no, not just humans, perhaps includes all intelligent life. Anyone who thinks, can't resist Professor Charles's psychic ability."
"Then why are we going to such lengths to..."
Shiller shook his head and said, "Again, we cannot rely on one or two particularly strong individuals, it will lead us nowhere."
Stark relaxed his shoulders and sighed. He said, "I must admit, mutants do have a distinct advantage. It would be even better if you weren't illiterate."
"I'm more troubled than you, which is why I'm willing, at this point, to lead the mutants to help you as much as possible. I only hope that knowledge will enable mutants to catch up with the next era as soon as possible because..."
Charles looked up at the sky as if he could see through the layers of walls and atmosphere, directly at the cosmos.
"We already have a spaceship, so how far away can the interstellar era be?"