Westchester, New York. Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters.
In one of the school's classrooms, Charles Xavier was teaching physics to his Mutant students from his wheelchair.
Now in his seventies, Charles Xavier looked nothing like other elderly people, who seemed to have faded with age. His skin was somewhat loose, but his complexion still brimmed with vitality more often seen in the young.
Many people thought Charles looked this way simply because Mutants were physically healthier than ordinary people. But the truth was more complicated than that.
After all, the body also responded to changes in the mind, even if those responses weren't especially pronounced.
Like Magneto, Charles was a man of deep, unyielding convictions. His convictions were so extreme that they were nearly impossible to change. As a result, even at his advanced age, Charles's mental abilities had yet to weaken in the slightest. But that was also why the two men, once friends, had parted ways over their differing ideals.
Magneto sought to rule humanity through extreme violence and fear, proving that Mutants were a higher form of life than humans, until the human race had disappeared entirely.
Charles, on the other hand, wanted Mutants and humans to coexist peacefully until, over time, all humans either gradually disappeared or evolved into Mutants.
The two men had fought over this issue for decades. Honestly, both of them had their share of right and wrong in their approach, but compared to Magneto's methods, Charles's were much more acceptable.
"Emma?"
Charles abruptly stopped his lecture. Just moments earlier, he'd sensed several Mutant mental signatures moving toward the school. Two of them were particularly powerful; if they hadn't been so strong, he might not have noticed them at all. What's more, one of them felt incredibly familiar.
"She's still alive?"
With that