Alex held out his palm, and a metal plate with food wobbled in the air, floating unsteadily. Food spilled as the plate shook.
His hand trembled slightly. After a while, Alex caught the plate and exhaled deeply.
Since copying Eric's genes a few days ago, Alex could manipulate metal with magnetic fields, but his power was weak and needed practice. He could only control about two or three pounds of metal—anything heavier was beyond him.
It was far from Eric's level. In the X-Men movies, Magneto could command hundreds of bombs or even yank a submarine from the sea. Still, Alex reminded himself that young Magneto couldn't move a coin. Lifting a few pounds so soon after copying the gene was decent progress.
"Guess I'm on a diet now," Alex muttered, eyeing the half-empty plate. He cleaned up the spilled food and ate dinner alone. Lately, Eric had been out all day, searching for Charles Xavier, returning late.
Before Alex finished eating, Eric burst in. "It took days of searching, but I found a professor named Charles," he said excitedly. "Alex, let's go meet him now!"
"Now?" Alex stood, glancing at the clock. It was 7 p.m. But Eric's impatience made sense—revenge against Sebastian Shaw drove him.
Eagerly, Eric pulled Alex along, and they took a taxi to Charles's place.
Alex felt a mix of excitement and nerves about meeting Charles, known as Professor X. Charles's telepathy could read minds or even control thoughts. If he probed Alex's mind, would he discover Alex wasn't from this world—or that he knew it was a movie?
Still, Alex doubted Charles would expose him. Based on Charles's kind nature in the movies, Alex felt safe. Besides, he had a goal: Charles trained mutants in X-Men: First Class, boosting their powers. Alex wanted that training to master his new magnetic abilities.
Charles, wealthy even young, lived in a grand castle—the future X Academy. After paying the taxi fare, Eric and Alex knocked on the gate.
A striking blonde woman opened the door, eyeing them curiously. "Who are you? What do you want?" she asked.
"Is Professor Charles here? We need to see him," Eric said firmly.
She studied them, then nodded and led them inside.
Charles was young, with thick, curly hair—far from the bald Professor X of later years.
"Hello, Professor Charles? I'm Eric," Eric said.
He got straight to the point, raising his palm. A coin floated up, spinning around his hand, proving he was a mutant.
"Mutant?" Charles exchanged a glance with the blonde woman beside him.
Charles extended his hand, shaking Eric's. "I understand who you are. Why are you here?" Before Eric could answer, Charles touched his temples and added, "No need to explain—I'll sense it myself."
After a moment, Charles lowered his hand. "You're here for help," he said, clearly having read Eric's mind.
He glanced at Alex with surprise. From Eric's memories, Charles knew Alex had guided him here and had the ability to see glimpses of the past and future.
"Hey, are you all mutants?" the blonde woman asked, smiling warmly. Most mutants hid their true selves from the world, so meeting others like them brought a sense of finding kindred spirits.
She demonstrated her power, shapeshifting into Eric's likeness, then Alex's, before returning to her blonde form. She was Raven, known as Mystique.
Eric, Charles, and Raven had shown their abilities. Now, Raven looked at Alex expectantly.
Alex hesitated, then spoke. "Hello, Raven. You don't need to hide your true blue form—it's actually pretty striking."
"You know me?" Raven asked, startled. He'd used her real name and knew her natural appearance.
"My power lets me see fragments of the past and future," Alex explained.
"Alright, Eric, Alex, please sit," Charles said. With their mutant identities out in the open, he invited everyone to relax and talk.
In the castle, Eric explained his quest for revenge against Sebastian Shaw. As they spoke, a car sped toward the castle.
Moira, a CIA agent, had uncovered a plot at the Hellfire Club. Azazel and other members were targeting a parliament to deploy nuclear weapons, risking a war between the U.S. and the Soviet Union. Mutants were behind it, but her boss dismissed her claims. She needed an expert on mutants—someone like Charles.
Inside, Eric finished his plea. "I need your help," he said earnestly.
Charles hesitated. "I need to think about it." A stranger asking him to join a mutant conflict wasn't an easy yes.
"You can see the future," Raven said playfully to Alex. "Are you sure we'll help?"
Eric glanced at Alex, uneasy. Alex had promised revenge was possible, but what if Charles refused? Was Alex's vision wrong?
Knock, knock, knock.
The castle door swung open. A woman's voice called out, "Is Professor Charles here? I'm Moira from the CIA. I need to talk about something urgent. Do you have time?"