"Smack!"
The crisp sound of the slap stunned Trask. He covered his swollen cheek and looked up at Smith, completely bewildered.
It wasn't just Trask; even his men were dumbfounded. They exchanged glances, not daring to breathe.
"Mr. Smith, what are you doing?" Trask's face darkened. If Smith didn't give him a reasonable explanation, he would hold him accountable, even if he was his superior.
"What am I doing?" Smith sneered, as if Trask had asked a ridiculous question.
Then he pointed to the wreckage of the Sentinel robot behind him and demanded, "Is this the machine you said could protect humanity and exterminate mutants?"
Smith was disheveled, his image in tatters. The entire venue was a mess. Trask was embarrassed. He tried to explain to Smith, but Smith, blinded by rage, wouldn't listen.
"It randomly attacked humans, turning this place into a disaster. If this dangerous machine were put into service, would you be trying to destroy mutants or destroy humanity?"
Trask again tried to shift the blame to the two mutants: "It's only a prototype, Mr. Smith. And the machine wouldn't have activated if it hadn't detected mutants."
"So you're saying this is all because of the mutants?" Smith said sarcastically.
Trask felt deeply uncomfortable being mocked. He knew his machine well. Perhaps the activation was due to Raven and Erik, but the indiscriminate attacks were due to inherent flaws in the machine itself. After all, it was only a prototype; many commands hadn't been programmed yet.
But with so many important people around, admitting the machine's flaws would not only halt its production but also likely ruin his career. So he stubbornly nodded. "That's right. Their goal was to assassinate us. When their plan failed, they took control of the Sentinel robot, trying to take us all out."
But Smith scoffed at his words and then said something that shocked him and everyone else present.
"Assassinate? Control? If they were really here to kill us, then when I was hit by your out-of-control, crappy machine, he wouldn't have intervened to save me. He would have let me be trampled to death by the fleeing crowd."
"It was the mutant you claim wanted to take us all out, the one you call evil, who saved me!"
Erik: "..."
Raven looked at him with a teasing smile. "I'd like to interview you, Erik. How does it feel to be thanked by a human?"
Erik responded to Raven's teasing with silence.
Trask was stunned. "You're crazy, Mr. Smith, to say such things in defense of mutants." Suddenly, he changed his tone. "I've studied many mutants. Their abilities are bizarre and varied. One of those abilities is mind control. Mr. Smith, could it be that you..."
Trask's implication was clear. Smith retorted, "Then have you been controlled by a mutant? Otherwise, why did you gather all of us important figures here to watch your unstable robot? And why did you repeatedly emphasize that it was safe and that no one would cause trouble, and what was the result?"
"That's right, Mr. Smith is correct!"
Before Trask could find a suitable response, a woman who had been sitting on a bench with her arms crossed, listening to the two men argue, stood up.
Trask's eyelids twitched. This woman was an even bigger figure than Smith, and she was known for her strong personality and holding grudges.
The woman walked over and continued where Smith left off: "I'd like to ask, Mr. Trask, during the chaos, I was almost hit by your machine. Where was your so-called rescue team? In the end, it was the woman you claim was attacking me who saved me."
Raven, who had pushed the woman out of the way because she thought the woman was blocking her, and thus accidentally saved her: "..."
Erik, finally getting a bit of payback, retorted, "I'd also like to interview you. How does it feel to be thanked by a human?"
Raven, however, wasn't as complicated as Erik. She listened carefully to the conversation between the three. Two seemingly high-ranking people were constantly defending them, which made her a little curious: "Could it be Charles?"
Erik glanced at Trask, who was being completely shut down by the two important figures. "I don't think Charles is smart enough to come up with this kind of plan. That kid, though, might be."
Turning black into white, twisting something completely illogical into something seemingly logical.
In the end, the two mutant assassins became the heroes who had saved humanity in the eyes of the important figures. Trask, on the other hand, was arrested for creating a dangerous machine and falsifying experimental results to obtain more funding.
Considering the number and status of the important figures he had invited this time, he was likely to spend the rest of his life in prison.
Trask was taken away. Smith dismissed the men who had surrounded Erik and Raven.
He walked towards them and extended his hand in friendship. "On behalf of everyone present, I thank you for your help. I've always been prejudiced against mutants. I thought they were cunning and cruel, and I was influenced by Trask to believe that mutants wanted to replace humans. But now, you have saved us without regard for past grievances, and I am deeply ashamed. I am beginning to believe what Professor Charles said, that mutants and humans can coexist peacefully in the future. And I look forward to that future."
Erik: "..."
Raven: "..."
The two of them looked at each other, still in a daze, unable to comprehend how a well-planned assassination had somehow turned them into heroes.
Finally, Raven released the dagger she had smuggled in, hidden at her waist, and shook Smith's hand.
Erik, however, was unwilling to shake Smith's hand. Raven, putting on the ladylike smile she had learned back at Charles's house, covered for Erik. "I apologize, my friend is a little shy. Please forgive him."
The "shy" Erik: "..."
Smith laughed heartily, indicating that he didn't mind. Because there was still much to be done after the disaster, Smith didn't chat with them for long and prepared to deal with the aftermath.
Charles, with a triumphant smile, entered the scene at this moment. He shook hands with Smith, offering his assistance.
"Thank you very much, Mr. Smith, for being willing to accept us. I believe the future between mutants and humans will be very harmonious and beautiful. Oh, by the way, this is my team leader and deputy leader. Let them help clean up the mess. It will also allow others to better feel the sincerity of the mutants."
Raven had no objections. She and Charles had reconciled. Now that the only obstacle between them, Trask, had received his just punishment, she had let go of her grudges and was content to stay by Charles's side.
Erik, however, was filled with confusion.
Hadn't Charles's X-Men disbanded? How had he suddenly become the team leader of the X-Men?
What Erik didn't know was that in the future, he would not only be the leader of the X-Men but also a great hero serving the people.
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