𝕄𝕌𝕋𝔸𝕋𝕀𝕊 𝕄𝕌𝕋𝔸ℕ𝔻𝕀𝕊 ～ 𝘟-𝘔𝘦𝘯

35 - 18/11/1969, TUE

He's zones out as his eyes trail on the scenery outside: an aisle of birch trees condensed together to line up each side of the country road. Even though the tree branches sway softly in the breeze, it looks sinister since their naked of any leaves. It's practically the dead centre of winter.

Charles Xavier, still unable to come to terms with the fact that he isn't six feet under, can't help but think of the most basic of thoughts while watching the trees run by. Lillian is seated beside him in the back, while Hank is in the passenger seat upfront.

How... in the world are they here right now?

It's something none of them have a decent explanation for, but people have told them stories and debriefed them on what happened.

As they are driven back to Westchester and the School For Gifted Youngsters in a private car after a lengthened and exhausting journey from the clutches of that treacherous 'research' facility, Charles begins to reflect on the events that took place over the past couple of weeks.

After the clocked ticked to '00:00', everything went dark for Charles... and for Lillian and Hank too. He had expected it to continue for the foreseeable future but with a turn of events he had awakened after a couple of days, he was informed, on a bed in a hospital. He was disoriented at first, not able to put two and two together and realise that what he had just been through and where he was at the moment. Soon, he was informed of everything.

To his utmost surprise, the 'self-destruct' for the facility he and his friends were trapped in was not a traditional last-resort explosion. The command Ennis had created linked every single mutant in the building to the mainframe of the facility via the chips installed in the mutants necks. As soon as the clock struck 12 AM, the facility system konked off and every mutant fell into a comatose state. They all were braindead, with no return... or so it seemed.

The building didn't blow up at all, and if it wasn't for the massive power outage the towns in its proximity suffered form, no one would have found them. Charles, Hank and Lillian, and the countless other captive mutants would have been entrapped in the building until they died of a variety of causes.

A complete lockdown commenced and the rescue team had to power-saw them out to penetrate into the industrial-grade metal structures within the building. Every mutant was taken to the local hospital in town and they were nursed back to health. Doctors did MRIs for each person along with Xrays and other examination procedures to see what type of experiments were done and what lasting effects, if any, are evident. Doctors soon found chips in every single mutant and they were extracted.

To Charles disappointment... the result of taking out the chip from his body causes him to fall restricted to a wheelchair again. He was completely isolated for a couple of days, getting over the lie of a second chance he had been given to walk again. But on top of it all, he was relieved to find that Lillian was back to her normal self, and Hank... he was back to normal too.

Upon exiting the hospital, Charles had given every mutant an invitation to join him at the School For Gifted Youngsters. Many happily accepted the offer but most wanted to be reunited with their families across the world.

Before the three of them left for the United States from France, they had visited the building they were stuck inside. Charles laughed and shook his head when they had arrived in '36 Rue Bamberger, 60119 Hénonville', gazing upon the 'Château d'Hénonville'. It has stood up through its time. He would never guess that it was the place where the most sophisticated research work and scientific experiments were taking place. The pristine white interiors juxtaposed the rather dull and vintage architectural exterior. To top it all off, the research facility scaled for floors underground.