Val and Mystique were sitting on the couch in the living room.

Val noticed Mystique had a serious expression on her face and thought, 'Did something go wrong? It's only been a year since Lawrence Industries has established. Nothing can go wrong in the company if we want to take down Trask Industries.'

He asked her, "What's wrong, Mystique? Did something happen?"

A sigh escaped from lips and her gaze wandered to the vast garden behind Val.

She said, "I want to ask you something, Val. And, please be honest."

Val nodded and said, "Sure, ask away."

She shifted her gaze from the garden and into Val's eyes and asked, "Do you hate Charles?"

Val was caught off guard by her question.

He was clearly confused by her and asked, "Why are you asking me this?"

Mystique, however, glared at him and repeated, "Do-you-hate-Charles?"

Val rubbed his chin as if he was in deep thought.

Mystique waited for a few seconds until she realized that Val was stalling.

So, she angrily ordered, "Just answer the damn question!"

Val glanced at her and a sigh escaped his lips.

He stared back at her and answered, "No, I don't."

Mystique stared at him while thinking, 'Is he lying? I can't tell if he's lying. Damn it'!

She asked him suspiciously, "Really?"

Val rolled his eyes at her and replied, "Yes."

"Even after all that happened between you and him, you... still don't hate him?", she asked.

Val smiled and said, "No, I don't. You... want me to hate him?"

Mystique rolled her eyes and replied, "Of course not!"

"Then, why are you asking me this?", he asked.

A sigh escaped her lips and she stared in his eyes and pleaded, "Charles... needs help."

. . .

In Westchester, New York,

A sleek black car arrived in front of the former Xavier mansion.

Val and Mystique got out of the car and looked around.

Val's gaze wandered to the sign that read - Xavier's School For Gifted Youngsters.

Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

He noticed that it was extremely dirty.

So dirty, in fact, that he couldn't even read what was written on the sign.

He noticed weed had grown around the sign and it looked like it hadn't been taken care of for years.

He shifted his gaze to the outer garden and he noticed the over-grown, uncut grass.

The trees were also over-grown.

The pavement was dirty and covered in grime and dust.

He turned to Mystique and asked, "What happened here?"

His gaze wandered around as he continued, "Where are the kids? Where is Angel? Where is Havok? Where is Charles? Where is... everybody?"

Mystique sighed and replied, "It's... complicated."

"Huh?", Val looked at her and asked, "Why is it complicated?"

Mystique didn't answer and instead, opened the entrance gates of the mansion.

Both of them entered the garden in front of the mansion.

Val said, "It looks like as if it was abandoned."

Mystique remained silent and led him to the front door of the mansion.

She took a deep breath and opened the door.

She looked at Val and said, "Let's go!"

When Val entered in the school, he looked around.

All he saw was empty classrooms, empty halls, empty rooms.

Everything was just... empty.

He thought, 'Where is everybody?'

He followed Mystique through different halls of the school until she stopped in front of a door.

She looked at Val and opened her mouth to say something but... she shook her head and stopped herself.

She sighed and said, "Prepare yourself!"

Val saw her opening the door.

She gestured him to come inside which he did.

When he entered, what appeared to be formerly Charles' office, he was shocked.

Because the whole place was a mess.

The chairs were torn apart and broken.

The curtains were torn down.

It seemed like somebody had thrashed the place.

Val asked her, "What happened here?"

Mystique remained silent and pointed at a door in front of her.

She sighed and walked toward it and opened it.

Inside the room, Charles was roaming around half-naked with an alcohol bottle in his hand.

He was extremely drunk.

Also, he had an idiotic smile on his face and he mumbled the lyrics of a song that was playing in the background.

Charles turned around and tried to see who entered his room.

But, he couldn't since it was too blurry to see.

So, he rubbed his eyes and then, looked at her.

He finally recognized her and exclaimed, "R-R-Ravinene! S-S-Sis! H-H-How... a-a-are you? C-C-Come inside!"

Val entered the room behind Mystique and he was shocked to see how horrible Charles looked.

He blurted out, "What the fuck happened to you?"

Charles was startled when Val suddenly entered.

But, when he saw that it was Val, he angrily shouted, "W-W-What is h-he do-doing here?"

Mystique tried to calm him down as she said, "He's here to help you."

But, Charles wouldn't calm down and he got even more irritated as he shouted, "W-Why i-is h-he here? G-Get him out! G-Get out!"

Before Charles could do anything rash, Val picked him like a ragdoll and placed him on the chair in the room.

He held both of his arms and said, "You need to calm down!"

He sent a strand of Chi inside Charles' body and in a matter of seconds, he wasn't drunk anymore.

The Chi purified the alcohol in his entire body and he came back to senses.

Val let go of Charles and said, "There you go! Normal Charles is back!"

Charles glanced at his arms and asked, "What did you do to me?"

Val calmly replied, "Nothing much. Just cleansed your body of alcohol, that's it."

Charles sighed and he looked at Mystique and asked, "Why did you bring him here?"

Mystique wiped the tears from her eyes and replied, "Because you need help."

Charles gritted his teeth and shouted, "I don't need any help...especially from him."

Mystique shouted back at him, "Yes, you do! Stop being a stubborn fucking idiot! You, alone, can't change anything! Drinking all day and sitting in this room won't bring them back!"

Charles tried to reply, "But-"

But, Mystique stopped him and pleaded, "Listen to me, please!"

Charles stared at her face for a few seconds and then, he sighed.

He turned to Val and said, "You might be wondering... what happened here, right?"

Seeing Val nod, Charles raised two fingers and said, "Just two words.... Vietnam... War!!"

. . .

In the Trask Industries Nevada Base,

Trask was looking through some files in his office when suddenly, somebody knocked on the door.

* KNOCK *

* KNOCK *

Trask ordered, "Come in!"

The door opened and a man, wearing a suit entered.

He smiled and said, "We have got the shipment, Sir!"

Trask looked up from the files.

He asked enthusiastically, "Really?"

Seeing the man nod, a wide smile formed on his face.

He immediately stood up from his seat and ordered, "Take me there!"

A few minutes later, Trask stood before a pile of bodies.

They had a red mark on their chests.

It didn't matter whether they were male or female.

The red mark was a large 'M', an indication that they were mutants.

Trask smiled widely and murmured, "Perfect!"

. . .

Val, Charles and Raven were sitting on a bench in the front garden of the mansion.

Charles had covered himself up and he was sipping on a cup of coffee.

Val rubbed his chin and he was in deep thought.

A few seconds later, he turned to Charles and asked, "So, everybody was taken?"

Charles nodded and clarified, "Only those who were above 18. Rest of them were forcibly sent back to their parents, or sent to orphanage homes, or simply taken away."

Val asked, "Did they say anything before taking them away?"

"Yes, they told us that they were being drafted to fight in Vietnam.", Charles replied.

Mystique angrily said, "Lies! I tailed one of those guys and he was acting suspiciously. He went to a secluded place, waited for a few minutes and then drove off."

Val sighed and said, "It's Trask."

Charles looked at him clearly confused by what he said.

Val ignored his confusion and said, "All of this is orchestrated by Trask. He wants mutant bodies so that he could experiment on them and this.. is the perfect way he could get them."

Mystique shouted, "Then we must stop him!"

Val nodded and said, "Yes.. we will stop him, once and for all!"