A Kryptonian to Cushion the Blow

Unlike the young X-Men who would jump at Professor X's command, Mystique who wanted to continue persuading Jean Grey. She knew that fighting wouldn't solve today's problems, and she felt guilty about Charles's actions, so she didn't want to fight.

So Mystique didn't make a move; she simply approached Phoenix was on the verge of losing control, cautiously.

Jean Grey's behavior was indeed as Mystique had hoped; as long as she didn't provoke him, she wouldn't react much. So Mystique approached step by step, calling out to him with gentle words.

The professor either harbored the same unrealistic delusions, thus wanting to give Mystique a chance to persuade him, or he himself was like a headless fly, so he would give any person who stepped forward to try a chance.

To give Mystique a chance to persuade Jean Grey, Professor X even stopped the Beast, who was about to use special ammunition, and the surviving, clueless police officers who were about to fire. The mind freeze stopped them from even thinking.

It's not fair to blame these police officers for being clueless, because while Mutants possess a wide variety of bizarre abilities, most Mutants would still die if they held a bullet. Therefore, the first thing they thought of when there was still ammunition in their guns was not retreat.

However, judging from the X-Men's actions, it's clear that Professor X has lost his footing and isn't as wise as one might imagine, always making the right choices.

The Charles Francis Xavier in this world seems more like a human being than an infallible Mutants leader.

Mystique's attempt to test her was doomed to fail; a woman in the heat of the moment is unlikely to calm down so easily. Even her own woman's intervention couldn't solve the problem.

There must be a third party who is completely unrelated to the whole matter and has enough trust to be someone who can listen to you.

It was obvious that none of the people present met the requirements.

But Mystique was unaware of the danger, or perhaps he was gambling. As he closed the distance with Jean to the final step, he reached out and touched Jean's arm.

If this initial test is successful, the next step will be a big hug. Then things will probably be over.

Unfortunately, Jean Grey is currently facing a combination of emotional turmoil and the Phoenix Force, making her beset by both internal and external troubles.

So when he was touched by Mystique, he instantly exploded!

Mystique shot off like a cannonball, carving a deep trench in the ground and destroying everything in her path.

This outcome chilled the fighting spirit of everyone present. Jean Grey stared frantically at the traces she had created, hoping to see the vanished figure and find out what had happened to him.

But in the end, Jean Grey didn't have the courage to take that step. Instead, she used telekinesis to control herself and flew away.

Whether it was for himself or for others, Professor X, utterly disappointed, released everyone's Mind Stone restraints. The police, having lost their target, was momentarily bewildered before simply holstering their guns and rushing to help their colleagues in the other two police cars.

The Beast, wielding the special weapon, looked bewildered. He gazed at the battlefield where Phoenix had already left and asked the man in the wheelchair beside him, "What happened? Where's Raven?"

Professor X laboriously raised his hand, pointing to the abruptly ravine. The excavated soil piled up on either side, preventing him from using his wheelchair to investigate. Therefore, he didn't know what had happened to the person he was worried about.

The Beast quickly put away its gun and ran across the abrupt ditch.

This deep ravine was probably at least a kilometer long, cutting across almost half of the town. At its final point, where it almost carved out a small hill, the Beast finally found the woman. Mystique lay in the ravine, groaning and unable to get up by herself.

The Beast rushed down into the pit and helped the woman up. But no matter where he touched her or how hard he tried, Mystique winced in pain.

After finally managing to pull the person out of the pit, a hand suddenly emerged from the bottom of the mound. Then a second hand, followed by the entire upper body. It was as if the Deadman in the grave had come back to life, gasping for breath.

Henry cursed, "Damn, I almost suffocated."

The Beast finally noticed this previously inactive outside help and exclaimed in surprise, "What are you doing here?"

"To be a scapegoat. Otherwise, why do you think I'd be stuck on the bottom?" Henry muttered.

The instant Phoenix blasted Mystique away, Henry used his Super Speed to cushion Mystique's fall from behind. It wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that this impressive trench was carved out by him and Phoenix working together.

The reason Henry didn't stand in front of Mystique to take the hit from Phoenix was because he was with Jean Grey.

Grey discovered in several of his attacks that his telekinetic attacks were directed at a specific object, rather than following an invisible trajectory.

What If...? Phoenix's telekinetic attack were similar to an air cannon, pushing everything and everyone along a certain path outwards, then Henry acting as a human shield in front would make sense.

But the current situation is that even if Henry wanted to act as a meat shield, standing between Phoenix and Mystique, those who were meant to be blasted away would still be blasted away, while Henry wouldn't be hurt at all. It's a classic example of using a technique that hits a cow from across a mountain.

Then, looking at the trajectory of Mystique's blast, there was a broken wooden stake right in her path. What If...? nothing had gone wrong, this veteran of the X-Men would have been impaled on the stake like a frog on a branch by an eagle.

Thanks to her mutant ability to freely alter her appearance, Mystique's physical strength far surpasses that of ordinary people.

However, it's not invulnerable to bullets or blades, nor does it possess regenerative abilities like Wolverine.

If he had been impaled on a stake, he probably wouldn't have survived.

Considering that he had been summoned by Mystique, it didn't seem right to let him die, so Henry became a human cushion.

The Beast seemed to be so frightened by the series of shocks that it lost its mind. It asked in a daze, "Did you make this ditch?"

Henry, who had crawled out of the dirt, brushed the mud off himself and said irritably, "It's you x..."

"That girl from the X-Men did it! Not me, I'm a victim too."

"You're capable of preventing such severe damage, aren't you?" The Beast, as if looking for a scapegoat, spoke in a slightly harsher tone, blaming the alien who wasn't a member of the X- X-Men.

Henry retorted with a disdainful look, "I remember you were also a strategist and scientist in the X-Men. Look at this ditch on the ground, it pushed two people like cannonballs for a kilometer and shoveled away a lot of soil."

"If such power were concentrated and stopped in a single moment—meaning I survived—do I need to remind you what would happen to the person caught between me and that girl, the one you're holding?"