Shadow of the Beautiful World

More than a month later, Halloween 2008.

Charles Francis Xavier opened his eyes, and the sunlight outside the window shone on his face through the screen, making it difficult for the professor to fall asleep again.

Besides, the elderly have less sleep.

He sat up from the bed, leaned on his cane to wash and go to the toilet, and then went to the closet to choose a set of clothes for himself.

The weather in New York has been a bit cold recently, so the professor added a scarf for himself.

The professor's figure is still very good. Although he has been sitting in a wheelchair all these years, due to his healthy living habits, he still maintains a very good physical fitness in his old age.

He was wearing a blue-gray long suit with a loose shirt and a scarf hanging around his neck and hanging low at his sides.

Coupled with a black, exquisitely shaped cane, this bald old man also has his own temperament.

Speaking of which, when the professor was young, he was a real swinger.

Although his career as a sex hunter was repeatedly interrupted by Ruiwen, the Mysterious Girl who was with him at the time, when the professor was in school, he had many little fans.

Leaning on a cane, the professor walked out of the room. He stood at the door of the next room, and knocked on the door as he did in the past half a month. He said:

Eric, are you up?

No! Leave me alone!

A slightly irritable voice came from the room, and the professor couldn't help showing a helpless expression.

He stood at the door and continued knocking, saying:

Get up quickly, don't sleep, your children will come to see you later.

I told them not to come.

The voice in the house sounded again:

I'm in a bad mood and don't want to see them...Damn it, Charles! I'm in a nursing home, can't you just let me be clean for a while?

Alright alright.

Professor Charles was leaning on his cane. He raised his wrist, looked at his watch, and shouted to the people in the house:

Then you should at least get up for breakfast, right? Check the time, Ruiwen will be here soon.

The people in the house stopped talking, and after a while, there was the sound of rustling clothes, and then the door opened, revealing the indifferent face of Magneto King Eric.

He was transferred from the island prison half a month ago.

It was approved by Merlin himself. It is very immoral to imprison an incapacitated old man in a cell.

And he's been locked up in the island prison for years.

So Merlin sent him to the Luyinyuan Nursing Home in New York. Of course, he was not completely free.

There are monitors on Eric's ankles, and he cannot leave the nursing home. There are also several agents in the nursing home who are responsible for Magneto's detention.

Eric Lanciel was quite satisfied with the transfer of imprisonment at first. After all, serving a sentence in a nursing home is much more comfortable than serving a sentence in a prison.

But the day after he moved here, he had a new neighbor.

Professor X Charles, who had just completed the soul cutting operation, was also sent here by Merlin. I don't know if it was because of bad humor, but Merlin specially arranged them together.

The pair, longtime friends, are starting their retirement in this new way after a lifetime of fighting each other.

They are all ordinary people now, and they are all incompetent.

They are all old men, and they can't even raise their fists to fight.

Let's go and eat.

The professor smiled at his old friend, and he patted Eric on the shoulder.

The latter snorted, ignored him, and walked out by himself.

Despite his terrifying background as Magneto, he is still a proud old man.

Magneto was wearing a black coat with a gray sweater and an octagonal hat on his head. His pale hair was neatly combed, and he was also leaning on a cane.

The two old men were walking slowly while talking.

Most of the professors were talking, and Magneto was listening, and occasionally refuted a few words, but most of the time, he was very silent.

Years of imprisonment have made Magneto accustomed to this kind of taciturnity.

Ten minutes later, the pair of old friends were sitting in the garden of the Luyinyuan Nursing Home and playing chess.

This nursing home is almost one of the best nursing homes in New York. There are many young and beautiful nurses helping the elderly with their daily life.

But neither Professor X nor Magneto needed their help, nor did they dare to ask them to help... Once a young girl appeared in their room, it would cause very bad consequences.

There was a woman whom neither of them could afford to mess with, who had been taking care of them and monitoring them for the past half month.

You made a wrong move!

Eric leaned on a cane in one hand, picked up the queen chess in the other, and proudly said to Charles who was sitting opposite him:

This will set you back a miserable failure!

Yeah?

The professor didn't take it seriously. He watched his old friend move the queen chess piece. After the move, a smile flashed across the professor's gentle face.

He calmly moved another chess piece, and the situation on the chessboard was immediately reversed.

check!

The professor said something softly.

Magneto King Eric's proud expression suddenly froze, his eyes widened, and he looked at the chessboard in front of him.

After several minutes, he glared at his old friend, then threw the chess piece in his hand on the board, and said:

No fun...

You're still the same as before, Eric, in a hurry.

While rearranging the chessboard, the professor said slowly:

You could have discovered the trap just now, but your desire for victory blinded your eyes. You are willing to take risks, just like we played chess in Germany when we were young. You haven't changed at all.

Are you mocking me, Charles.

Eric leaned on a cane, he said in a cold voice:

A person who was almost controlled and destroyed the world, and still has the face to accuse me...I heard that you fought with them on the moon? Almost killed Merlin with a magnetic field?

That's a thing of the past.

The professor obviously didn't want to recall the time when he was manipulated by the mad attack, but Eric was persistent.

The stubborn old man tapped the cane on the ground a few times, and said dissatisfiedly:

You've been fighting me for so many years, I thought you were determined enough, but look at you, Charles!

A split personality will defeat you, you are too weak, much weaker than when you were young, you really let me down.

Eric!

The professor said softly:

Stop talking about that, how about playing chess?

snort.

Magneto snorted, but didn't continue talking about these things. He picked up a chess piece again, moved it to a certain position on the board, stared at the board, and said:

But you're still alive anyway... You're still alive after something so horrible. Maybe I should thank Merlin and his friends.

So, you're actually glad I took my life, right?

The professor smiled, his eyes were full of the tenderness of sincere friendship, and he said:

Are you feeling guilty? Eric, Kuang Gong was born because of you. Are you using this method to say sorry to me?

You think beautifully!

Magneto glared at the professor, and he said in a cold tone:

A coward who can be defeated by himself still has the face to ask me to apologize?

If you hadn't just finished the operation, I would have picked up my cane and beat you up! As the leader of the mutant world, you are so unbelievable! It's so embarrassing!

Okay, say what you want.

The professor cheerfully moved the pieces, and said:

I know you care about me. Although I can no longer perceive your thoughts, I can feel... Well, Riven is here.

The two old men looked up the next moment, and saw a beautiful woman in a long black dress, with beautiful long hair, sunglasses, and a scarf, walking into the garden with two lunch boxes.

That's Raven...

Mystique.

She was also released. Of course, she took the initiative to accept the leech virus injection in order to take care of these two old men who did not let her worry.

She would rather lose her power.

Did you take your medicine on time today?

Rui Wen sat next to the two old men. She took out the lunch box and distributed the prepared dishes to them. While watching the two old men eating, she asked:

Especially you, Eric, who take your asthma medicine every day.

I'm not a child.

Eric glared at Raven. He rolled up the spaghetti and put it in his mouth, saying:

You still have a job, what's the point of running here every day?

It doesn't matter if I go to that job or not.

Rui Wen, who looked only in her 20s, took out a women's cigarette from her pocket, lit it, and puffed the smoke. She said:

Anyway, it was arranged by Merlin, just to keep me from running around...that narrow-minded guy.

Understand him, Raven.

The professor took a spoon and stirred the fragrant soup. He said to Raven:

Merlin also has no other choice. Your reputation among mutants is too high, and you have provoked many enemies because of your past independence. Once it is known that you have lost your ability, many people will come to seek revenge.

Yes.

Eric also said worriedly:

Charles and I are ordinary people now, we two can't even beat street gangsters...

We can't protect you anymore. You have to protect yourself. To be honest, I would rather you stay in the island prison than you are showing your face like this now...

At least no one will harm you there.

I'm better than you two, two old men who always think too much.

Raven snorted, and she said:

I have lost my ability, but my fighting skills are still there. I can protect myself well, so stop thinking about it... Take care of your body here.

Mystique stretched out her hands, stroking the cheeks of Charles and Eric, she said softly:

Oh, look at you, you are all old...

But you're still young, Raven.

Professor Charles said with a smile:

Don't waste time on the two of us, you can still enjoy your own life, maybe you can still meet the man you like.

I have already met.

Ruiwen stubbed out the cigarette butt, she said softly:

And there are still two...

I am much luckier than the average woman, and I no longer expect anything extravagant.

The atmosphere among the three became quiet at this moment. Under the warm sunshine, the three old friends who had complicated relationships and could not be described clearly in ten thousand words were sitting in the garden, eating and drinking. talking about the past.

Wonderful...

It's so beautiful that people can't bear to disturb it.

But there's always a guy who's a spoiler.

Just like now, after the two old men finished eating, a slightly noisy voice sounded outside the garden:

Old man! I'm here to see you!

Hearing this voice, Magneto's expression immediately became gloomy.

Moments later, Pietro and Wanda in denim outfits walk in, Lorna following them.

Outside the garden, Merlin was talking to Crystal, and they didn't bother a complicated family reunion.

Didn't I tell you not to come?

Eric sullenly said to Pietro and Wanda:

You shouldn't have anything to do with me, you have your own life to live, the closer you get to me, the troubles I have will come to you...

Why are you so disobedient!

Then can we really leave our father in the nursing home?

Quicksilver is a young man who defies his old father by saying to Magneto:

Maybe you're a wife-and-child bastard, but we're not.

Pietro!

Wanda glared at his younger brother fiercely. Pietro was still very afraid of his older sister. He stood aside and stopped talking, but Magneto's expression became a little sad.

Probably because of the loss of strength, he became a real old man, and once a person gets old, he becomes gentle and sensitive.

Pietro, Eric also had difficulties...

Professor Charles tried to smooth things over, but was interrupted by Magneto reaching out. He raised his head and said to Wanda and Pietro:

What happened back then was my fault...

I'm a doomed person, I chased too much extreme hatred when I was young, I caused a lot of trouble, I tried to protect my loved ones, but every time I hurt people I cherished.

He said to Wanda:

I put you in Sokovia. I hope you won't be involved in my troubles. I'm always in trouble. I lost Anya, and I don't want to lose any more.

Including you, Lorna.

Eric turned to look at his little daughter, and Lorna looked away from him.

Although she already knew her life experience from Wanda, Lorna has lived with Merlin for so many years, and she has no place for Magneto in her memory.

It was difficult for her to admit that she had a father.

After all, she was heartbroken by her past adoptive parents.

Seeing that Magneto wanted to reach out and touch her hair, Lorna immediately took a step back.

The movement stopped Eric's outstretched hand in place.

well...

Seeing Lorna's expression as if he looked at a stranger, Magneto withdrew his hand in a lonely way. He leaned on his cane and whispered:

It's all on my own... You guys go away and don't come to see me again.

The past is the past.

Wanda squatted down, she stretched out her hand, and held Magneto's cold fingers.

She watched her old father, after becoming an ordinary person, lose the activation of his magnetic body, and the time left for Magneto is running out.

The important thing is the present, and the future...

Father, you still have time, and Lorna still has time... If you feel that you owe her, then maybe you should use the remaining time to make up for her.

Wanda waved to Lorna. The green-haired little girl hesitated. She looked back at Merlin outside the garden. The latter put his hands in his pockets and nodded to Lorna.

She stepped forward reluctantly, and she looked at Magneto.

Eric's eyes were a little moist, which was an expression that Magneto, who had been tough all his life, almost never showed.

Wanda is right, Eric, you still have time...

Professor Charles also stood up. He held Lorna's hand with one hand, and then reached out to his old friend. The latter gritted his teeth and let Charles put his hand on the back of Lorna's hand.

The familiar fluctuation of magnetic force made Magneto take a deep breath. He wiped his eyes and said to Lorna:

I know you hate me, girl, but I know you have people you want to protect.

Do you desire power? Are you willing to learn how to use your power with me? If you want, I will teach you, we still have time...

Probably not too much though.

Magneto is worthy of being Magneto, and he can see Lorna's desire at a glance.

Lorna looked up and looked at Magneto's power, she frowned and thought for a few seconds, then nodded to Magneto.

Well, I want to learn...

But don't try to trick me into calling you daddy!