A woman's intuition is always sharp, especially when facing a "love rival."
Under Kitty's questioning, Jean's expression became flustered, and after stammering a bit, she said, "No, nothing."
(Nothing? Then don't look at me so strangely after saying that.)
Jean's behavior made even Saiki Kusuo nervous, as if he really had done something wrong.
"Really?" Kitty's gaze shifted back and forth between Jean and Saiki. "You just seem a little off."
"That's not it, I…"
Afraid that Jean would make things worse by trying to explain, Saiki had to interrupt her.
"Excuse me, the Professor and I have something to do, so we'll be leaving."
Kitty looked disappointed. "Won't you stay a little longer? There's a welcome ceremony for a new student later. Would you like to attend?"
"No." Saiki refused coldly. "In about ten minutes, the you from ten years ago will be here to pick me up. I'm sorry, I need to get things done quickly."
Kitty: "…"
Kitty Pryde never imagined that one day she would be jealous of her ten-years-younger self.
After Saiki and Charles left, Jean patted the dejected Kitty, trying to comfort her. "Give up, Kitty. He's not like us. He has to return to his own world eventually. Did you really think he'd stay in this world for you?"
Even without Jean saying it, she understood. Saiki, who had time-traveled 3652 times, couldn't possibly stay here. But love made her blind, and every time Saiki came to find her, she always fantasized that he would say, "That's it, I give up."
"Sigh." Charles let out a long sigh.
Saiki, who was pushing the wheelchair, paused, knowing that this guy was about to launch into another long speech.
As expected, Charles began, "Kitty is a good girl. Are you really not going to consider her?"
Saiki wasn't as polite to him as he was to Jean, and he retorted bluntly, "You're so considerate of me, I'm very touched. I've decided to help your old flame regain her memories."
Charles: "…"
Charles, who had never won an argument against Saiki, fell silent for a second before obediently admitting his mistake.
"I'm sorry, please forgive me."
Saiki had practically memorized how to use Cerebro. If it weren't for his respect for Charles and his reluctance to use someone else's machine without permission, he would have already bypassed Charles and done it himself.
Since Stryker had disappeared ten years ago, Cerebro couldn't detect his whereabouts, and this was used to confirm whether or not he had traveled to this point in time.
This time, the result was the same as always: there was no trace of Stryker on Earth.
Just as Saiki was about to go back and time travel again, he suddenly heard Charles exclaim.
"Wait, I've found Stryker's location! The specific coordinates are…"
Before Charles could pinpoint the location, the point on the map vanished like a fleeting phantom.
"Why did it disappear again?" Charles looked surprised. "Is the machine broken? No, that's impossible. Erik and I maintain the machine regularly. Could it be that the Stryker from ten years ago is in this world, using the Time Stone to hide his presence?"
That was a possibility, but the past Kitty had also obtained a Stone, and Charles had still been able to find her.
"There's another possibility," Charles said suddenly, his tone turning serious. "The Stryker of this world is dead, or has left Earth."
Saiki preferred to believe that the machine was malfunctioning, but it was clear that Charles didn't believe the machine would fail.
So, Saiki had no choice but to wait for Kitty to come and send him back to this point in time again to confirm Stryker's location.
Just then, Charles suddenly screamed. Saiki jumped up in alarm and saw a black hole appear. A hand reached out from the black hole and grabbed Charles, pulling him in.
"Professor!"
"Charles!"
The sudden attack caught everyone off guard. Raven, who had arrived with Erik, was a step too late to save Charles.
"What the hell is going on?" Raven demanded sharply, questioning Saiki, the only other person present.
Saiki shook his head, clearly still processing what had happened.
Erik, however, recalled what Raven had told him when she came to find him, and offered a hypothesis.
"First, we rule out the military. If they wanted to capture Charles, they'd have to consider whether they're strong enough to contend with the X-Men. Moreover, the CIA gave us this mission, so it's even more unlikely they'd make a move now."
"Other ordinary people are even less likely," Raven added.
Humans didn't have this ability, and mutants revered Charles as their leader; it was even more improbable that they would commit such an act of insubordination.
Erik continued, "So the only possibility is probably that so-called Mutant Number One that Charles's old flame mentioned."
Raven, extremely displeased with Erik's way of referring to her, warned, "Can you not use that term to describe that woman?"
Erik shrugged, acknowledging her request. "The key question now is, what's that guy's purpose in capturing Charles? Does he think he's the ancestor of mutants and wants to become the leader, so he grabbed Charles to try and usurp his position?"
"If that's the case, Charles is in danger." Raven's face was grim. As soon as she finished speaking, Erik turned to leave. She asked, "Erik, where are you going?"
Erik explained, "Actually, I don't really care who's the leader."
Raven: "???"
Erik added, "You know, my wife is about to give birth."
Raven: "So?"
Erik: "I need to go back and take care of my wife and child. The task of finding Charles is up to you, Raven. This is an order from the Captain. By the way, if you rescue Charles, don't bother notifying me. If he dies, let me know, and I'll come to attend his funeral."
Charles felt that he could still be saved.
Raven chased after him. "That's too much, Erik! He's our comrade, after all."
Erik countered, "Do you think comrades are more important or family?"
Raven reflexively wanted to say family, of course, but Charles was her family and her comrade, so she said righteously, "Both are important."
"Tch." Erik scoffed, then asked, "Then what if the person in trouble was me, and at the same time, Charles fell ill and needed you to take care of him? Would you abandon him to come and save me?"
This question didn't even require consideration. Raven blurted out, "Of course I'd take care of Charles. What do I care if you live or die?"
"Well, that's my current thinking. What do I care if Charles lives or dies?"
Saiki sighed. He was used to these three's internal strife, which had remained consistent for a decade. The time-traveling Kitty, however, looked at the wrecked secret chamber, completely bewildered.
"Saiki, what happened?"
"It's nothing." Saiki didn't know how to explain the dirty, complicated adult relationships, so he simply brushed it off.
"Let's go back first. Later, you can send me back to that previous point in time again."
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