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"This is the plan I drafted earlier. The details need refining."
Norin handed over a notebook. Charles took it carefully. This was a secret tied to the mutants' survival and required the highest level of confidentiality.
It couldn't leak.
"First, during this mission, I noticed a critical flaw."
"Ororo mentioned that every time the X-Men go out, they register with the United Nations and notify local governments?"
"That's correct. Hank and I discussed and agreed on it," Charles said.
Beast, beside him, looked puzzled.
Wasn't this a good thing? It built trust with the government.
Despite the growing hostility toward mutants, there were still allies like Congressman Kelly, who publicly defended mutants and opposed their persecution.
But Kelly was rare. Many politicians spread fear, painting mutants as demons and monsters hellbent on destroying humanity.
Mutants were vilified; their codenames were often tied to demons.
People feared them, hated them, and wanted them eradicated.
Yet Charles had remained steadfast, even registering the X-Men as an official UN entity.
Their existence wasn't a secret. Even their abilities were public knowledge.
—
"Your intentions were good, but you underestimated human malice."
Norin shook his head. Charles had telepathic powers that could read almost anyone's thoughts, yet he chose to believe in people's goodness.
Frankly, Charles was too saintly. He had godlike powers but refused to use them.
If he had, he'd have seen the true evil in the world—the forces coveting and seeking to destroy mutants.
If he'd acted sooner, mutants wouldn't always be fighting back at the brink of extinction.
Charles wasn't a qualified leader, and Erik was too radical.
Plus, this was the Marvel Universe. Countless beings were stronger than Magneto.
Magneto was just the most prominent for now.
Take the Hulk, for example. He wasn't weaker than Magneto.
And the wizards—especially the Ancient One—were on par, if not superior.
—
"Is it really that serious?" Charles asked.
Jean and the others looked over.
"Serious doesn't even cover it."
"Let me ask you this: during your missions, did you notice anything unusual about your targets?"
Norin's tone was grave. He doubted no one had noticed.
He'd checked the UN roster earlier and spotted a familiar name: Alexander Pierce, the current President of the UN Security Council.
The X-Men reporting to the UN was practically walking into a trap.
Hydra wasn't ready to move against the X-Men yet, but if they were, the school could be wiped out during a mission.
—
Charles glanced at Scott, Ororo, and the others.
Due to his disability, Charles often stayed at the base, while Scott and Ororo handled missions. Jean occasionally joined.
They knew more about this.
Ororo thought for a moment. "It does seem odd. During several missions, the targets' defenses were weak, and key personnel were missing. Even research data was scarce."
Charles's expression grew serious. He hadn't considered this before, but now it was glaring.
"You're saying we have enemies in the UN?"
"Yes. They might even be capturing mutants for experiments."
Norin nodded and briefly recounted his own experience.
"We need to be cautious. From now on, we should avoid revealing our targets to prevent tipping off the enemy."
Hank thought for a moment before speaking. "I'm sorry, Professor. I didn't expect this to happen."
Hank looked embarrassed. He'd thought this would help mutants, not indirectly aid their enemies.
"It's not your fault. We agreed to this together. We just didn't realize how bad things were. We can't even trust the UN."
Charles sighed. Enemies were everywhere.
"If the UN has our enemies, why bother reporting to them?" Logan scoffed.
He didn't understand why something as simple as reporting had to be so complicated.
Charles shook his head. "The agreement with the UN can't be broken unilaterally. It could spark regional conflicts and turn more people against us."
"We'll discuss how to handle this later. We need to hide our movements without alienating the UN."
Norin stayed silent, letting them discuss.
As a future leader, it made sense to raise questions without providing all the answers.
---
After Charles and the others finished, Norin made his second suggestion.
"I propose we cancel cultural courses and add practical training. Every combat-capable mutant should be able to handle crises. Even if it's just self-defense, they need proper training."
"And those without combat abilities should learn basic military skills. At least they shouldn't just stand there yelling or glaring in dangerous situations."
The Mutant School did have such courses, but they were short and only for X-Men members and candidates.
This was Charles's idea. He wanted mutant students to live like normal children, not be trained as soldiers.
In the entire school, only the X-Men were considered combat-ready.
Of course, this was also because most mutants weren't very powerful.
Level one and two mutants made up the majority, with only a few having the potential for advanced training.
While this approach had good intentions, it ignored the reality: this was a war.
Mutants were already outnumbered and struggling. If they didn't train quickly, they'd be helpless when disaster struck.
---
As soon as Norin made his proposal, Scott opposed it.
"No! They're just children! Forcing them to learn military skills makes us no better than the evil forces."
"Just children?" Norin sneered. "When they point guns at us, they don't care if you're a child! To them, mutants deserve to die! They'd even turn us into mindless killing machines!"
"Or would you rather see graduates captured and dissected because they can't protect themselves?"