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Swish.
Just as the fork was about to strike Professor X, a strong, blue-furred arm intercepted it midair.
Hank had stepped in to block Magneto's attack.
"Magneto, calm down," Hank said firmly, his tone carrying a warning.
"I'm sorry, Erik. That was the last time I'll ever use my ability on you,"
Professor X said sincerely, showing no anger toward Magneto for the attack. Instead, he offered an apology.
Magneto snorted in response, his expression cold, and returned to his seat, flipping the coin in his right hand with practiced ease.
Brian observed the exchange with amusement, a subtle smirk on his face.
On the surface, the X-Men appeared to be a united team.
But in reality, they were fractured into three distinct groups.
Professor X and Hank formed one faction.
Magneto stood alone as his own faction.
Brian and Raven made up another.
As for Alex Summers and Sean Cassidy.
They were newcomers with no real influence or allegiance. They simply went with the flow.
Despite these divisions, the X-Men had not completely fallen apart,
Bound together by a common enemy—Sebastian Shaw, the Black King.
However, Brian knew one thing with certainty:
The moment Sebastian Shaw was defeated, the fragile unity of the X-Men would shatter,
And the team would disband completely.
"Alright, everyone, get ready. We'll head to Washington, D.C., in five hours."
Finally breaking the silence, Professor X set the schedule for their trip to the White House and then left the room.
Five hours later.
A supersonic jet took off from Xavier Mansion.
In the cabin, Beast Hank approached the group carrying a suitcase.
Breaking the tense quiet in the room, Hank's voice drew everyone's attention, especially Brian's, who raised an eyebrow at him.
"We're a team, and as a team, we should have a unified uniform," Hank said, opening the suitcase to reveal a bright yellow battlesuit.
"Hank, is this the X-Men battlesuit you designed?"
Professor X asked, frowning slightly as he looked at the garish yellow uniform.
His tone carried hesitation.
"Hank, this is hideous," Magneto said bluntly, his response far less diplomatic than Professor X's.
"Absolutely not," Brian added flatly, sharing Magneto's disdain.
Raven, on the other hand, simply shook her head. For her, wearing any kind of uniform would limit her shapeshifting abilities, making it impractical.
In the end, only Professor X, Beast, and Alex Summers (Havok), reluctantly agreed to wear the uniform.
"Is it really that bad? I think it looks fine,"
Hank muttered to himself, stretching in the suit with a confused look.
The battlesuit, despite its questionable aesthetics, was made of special materials capable of withstanding the impact of an RPG, a fact that Hank seemed to take pride in.
The battlesuit was a rare protective outfit, capable of withstanding considerable damage.
Thanks to Beast Hank's yellow battlesuit episode, the tension in the cabin eased considerably.
Everyone began to chat casually, and the atmosphere among the X-Men grew harmonious once more.
Half an hour later.
The supersonic jet reached the heart of Washington, D.C.,
Where one building stood as the undeniable symbol of power and authority—the White House.
As the jet hovered above the White House, all eyes turned to Professor X.
"Let's begin," he said firmly, pressing his right hand to his temple.
Boom.
A wave of immense psychic energy rippled outward.
...
Inside the White House, President's Office.
America's military and political leaders were gathered, their expressions grim.
The recent press conference from the Soviet Union had left them deeply unsettled.
Particularly troubling was the revelation of Mutants and their powers.
It felt as though the very fabric of the world had shifted overnight.
"Everyone, what do you think Black Emperor's intentions are?"
The President of the United States asked, his voice heavy with weariness.
Since Sebastian Shaw's speech in Red Square, America—like the rest of the world—had been forced to re-evaluate its position.
As a superpower rivaling the Soviet Union, the U.S. now faced the terrifying possibility of a war sparked by Mutants with unprecedented abilities.
"There is no doubt that Sebastian Shaw, the Mutant known as the Black King, aims to provoke a war,"
One of America's military leaders, who had previously worked covertly with Shaw, stated decisively.
"War is coming, and we must be prepared for a full-scale conflict,"
Another voice chimed in, this time from the warmongers advocating immediate action.
"Do you even understand the cost of war?"
A more rational politician interjected, his voice rising to counter the warmongers.
"Ladies and gentlemen, times have changed.
If war breaks out now, it won't be conventional—it will be a nuclear war.
Human civilization as we know it will be annihilated.
Can you afford that price?"
The room descended into chaos as the debate intensified, splitting between those urging for war and those calling for peace talks.
Amid the clamor, the President of the United States sat quietly, staring at a document in his hands.
This document had been provided by a genetic professor named Charles Xavier.
It detailed the various abilities of the Mutants associated with the Hellfire Club,
Emphasizing the immense power of Sebastian Shaw—a humanoid, self-propelled nuclear bomb—and his ambition to create a Mutant-controlled nation.
The document also made one thing clear:
Only a Mutant could stop another Mutant.
Charles Xavier urged that the top priority for America was to delay war as long as possible.
"Nonsense."
Looking at the arguments on the document, Kennedy sneered.
Kennedy admitted he was unnerved by the abilities of the Hellfire Club's Mutants.
However, as the President of the United States, with the most advanced weapons in human history at his disposal, he firmly believed that there was nothing a nuclear bomb couldn't solve.
And if one wasn't enough, a second would surely do the job.
In his mind, even the formidable Sebastian Shaw, let alone the Soviet Union, could be obliterated under the power of a nuclear strike.
"War is imminent,"
Kennedy said, casually tossing the document from Charles Xavier aside.
He then prepared to exercise his presidential authority to sign the order for summer war authorization.
But just as he was about to give the command, "..."
He noticed something strange!
The room had grown eerily silent.
Confused, he looked up from his desk, his eyes scanning the room.
What he saw made him freeze.
The once-noisy office was now unnervingly still, so quiet that even the sound of a pin dropping could be heard.
Everyone in the room was frozen in place, as if someone had pressed a pause button on time itself.
Kennedy's eyes widened further as he noticed some were mid-motion—several officials were in the act of drinking coffee.
The steaming liquid dripped from their mouths, spilling onto the table below.
"Holy... what's going on?"
The President of the United States had never witnessed such a surreal scene.
Fear gripped him as sweat began to bead on his forehead.
Frantically, he pressed the alarm button on his desk, triggering an alert throughout the White House.
But after waiting several minutes, the security team he expected to burst through the doors never came.
"G-God is good..."
Perplexed, Kennedy stood up, his unease growing.
"God is great... "
He cautiously walked to the door and opened it, peering out carefully.
What greeted Kennedy's eyes as he peered out were countless figures frozen in place, mid-motion.
"Mutants… it's Mutants,"
He muttered, fear tightening his chest as the realization struck him.
The surreal stillness in the White House could only have been caused by a Mutant's power.
Terrified by the sight, Kennedy quickly shut the door and retreated back into the President's Office.
But as soon as he turned around, his heart nearly stopped.
Seated casually in his presidential chair was a young Asian man, sipping coffee with an air of complete ease.
"Who are you?
What do you want?"
Kennedy tried to sound authoritative, but the tremor in his voice betrayed his fear.
"God is indeed great~"
The man in the chair—Brian—didn't answer immediately.
Instead, he casually raised his hand, and an untouched cup of coffee from the table floated into his grasp.
Taking a sip, Brian regarded the visibly shaken President with interest.
"Mr. President, for your safety, we need to move you to a secure location,"
Brian said, his tone calm and deliberate.
"Who are you?"
Kennedy asked again, his fear mounting.
"We? We're the X-Men,"
Brian replied nonchalantly.
Without further explanation, he raised his hand, and Kennedy collapsed, unconscious, struck down by Brian's telekinetic power.
"Raven, he's all yours,"
Brian said, effortlessly lifting Kennedy with his telekinesis and stepping toward the window.
In a single motion, he leapt through the window, leaving the office behind.
Inside the President's Office.
Raven nodded with a smile on her face. "Don't worry, Brian."
While muttering, Raven had turned into Kennedy's appearance, and then sat on the presidential chair.
In an instant, the owner of the White House had changed.
_______
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