Broken Promises [Book Two | REMASTERED]

Chapter 18: Raven

        The train engine rocked the coast of the land, the area otherwise silent beyond the sound of waves hitting the rocks over and along the hillside. Erik Lehnsherr waited as the train sped on towards him, listening for the sound of it, feeling the rumble of it approaching on the iron tracks. It came towards him and passed in a rush, the wind rushing past him as it did. The signs on the crates it pulled along were are too familiar to him. The symbol of Trask's creation. 

        Erik stepped onto the tracks just as the trained finished roaring past him, watching the train as it kept going. He reached out with his hands, his powers extending for him to grab hold of the train. Instead of stopping it altogether, he used the pull of the metal to levitate himself to it. His feet landed on the top of the last cart, his eyes set.

        There was no time to waste.

        Once on the train, he turned to see the land traveling away in the train's wake. He raised his arms, his powers seeking out and gripping the metal rails of the tracks as the train passed over them. One by one, Erik pulled both sides of the track up, lifting them and bringing them forward to fly over him and towards the front of the train. He turned with them, using his powers then to open the metal doors to the crates and allow the manipulated metal strips inside. 

        In the crates, the Sentinels remained dormant and susceptible. Erik stripped the metal bars with his powers, turning them to mere strips of metal. Like fluid, Erik conducted the metal into their mechanical bodies, weaving metal through their insides, making sure to cover every wire and internal switch. 

        Now, the Sentinels were his to control.

Xavier Mansion

        "You're sure it will work?" Charles asked hesitantly, reaching out to run his fingers over the control board to Cerebro. Shattered glass covered the flooring beneath them, mere remnants of the malfunction they experienced earlier. 

        "Of course it will," Hank assured him, though it was something they all needed to hear. He looked over the wiring of the system once more. "After all, I designed it."

        "I would do it if I were strong enough." Kat approached Charles's side, placing a comforting hand on his shoulder. To her surprise, he reached up, placing his hand over hers. It was only a touch, so simple yet so important. Nevertheless, she still had to protect her mind from his, especially if he went through with this again.

        "Perhaps one day, Christiana." And as much as she had detested that name, she could never deny how right it felt for Charles to call her by it. It was enough for now; they were enough for the time being.

        Hank stepped out from behind the control system with an air of confidence around him. "If it malfunctioned last time from resistance, I would suggest not holding back this time." From the top of the panel, he grabbed the Cerebro helmet, passing it to Charles. "Whenever you're ready."

        Charles gave a curt nod, eyeing the helmet as he took and held it in both his hands. He took a deep breath, preparing himself for what he knew he had to do. They had to find his sister.

        Kat gave a gentle reassuring squeeze to Charles's shoulder as she mentally prepared herself for the kind of stretch Charles was to make once more. The three of them watched the telepath examine the helmet briefly before he placed the helmet on his head. 

        Just as before, the helmet lit up with its sensors inside, and once more, the red illusion of the earth spread out around them, filling the sphere room with nothing but the vast world. There were the figures again, standing about, but there was no screaming this time. Kat could just feel the hum of their minds, hearing the slightest murmur of what could have been thousands of voices, thoughts—millions, if not more all at once. It was incredible, she realized, as she glanced to her hand on her husband's shoulder.