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"Let's... close the school," Ororo suggested.
Logan, Piotr, Beast, Kitty Pryde, and Bobby Drake, who were all in the living room, remained silent.
"Let the students go home and decide for themselves if they want the cure," Ororo continued, "The rest of us will stay and fight Eric in the end." She wasn't suggesting they run from the fight.
But with Charles now in a vegetative state, they no longer had the confidence to lead and support the massive academy. Even Hank, a co-founder and former teacher, didn't believe anyone else was qualified to carry on Charles's legacy.
Outside the door, Scott Summers sat alone, listening to the discussion. He wanted to speak, but the accidents involving the two most important people in his life—Jean and Charles—had hit him too hard. For a while, he couldn't find the strength to rally. Even he, the one Charles had groomed as his successor, had lost all hope.
In the kitchen, some of the younger students had lost interest in playing, seeing their teachers so depressed. It seemed everyone had accepted that the academy was about to close, forcing them to return to a human world that might not accept them.
Then, the forgotten door swung open. A young, blonde boy walked in.
"You are…?" A confused Scott stood up. "Can I help you?"
The boy's name was Warren Worthington III, the son of the owner of the biotechnology company that produced the cure. His father, Warren Worthington II, had spent decades searching for a cure for his son's mutation, ultimately leading to this moment.
But when the cure finally appeared, Warren, who had been restrained for so long, refused it. He had been bound by special devices for over ten years, and all he wanted was freedom. He had used his abilities to fly away from his father and come here, to the famous school for mutants.
"I'm sorry," Warren said, "I know this is a bad time, but I heard this was a safe place and a school for mutants."
Scott knew this was a mutant child who had found his way here, but it didn't feel like the right time. "I'm sorry," he replied. "This was a school for mutants." Scott had heard Ororo's suggestion and knew they were about to give up.
But then he looked up and saw the confusion and uncertainty in Warren's eyes. It was a look they had all shared once, the feeling of a child who had just left home.
He remembered how the Professor had found and saved them, giving them a home. Now, his words had just wiped out this child's hope.
Regret washed over Scott, and he immediately corrected himself. "I take that back."
He pulled Warren toward him, pushed open the living room door, and stepped inside. "Everyone, no matter what you think, I'm staying," Scott announced. "The academy will not close. I'm going to find a room for this kid. What about you?"
Scott's sudden declaration startled everyone. Ororo was the first to react. Like Scott, the X-Men Charles had trained all had similar experiences to Warren. Seeing the boy's state deeply affected her.
"Yes, I'll prepare some daily necessities for him," Ororo said, moving quickly. She and Scott took Warren out of the living room to get him settled.
"I'll show him around the school," Piotr offered, leaving the room.
"We'll go tell everyone the news," Kitty and Bobby said, looking at each other before leaving.
Hank and Logan exchanged glances. Logan spoke up, "Don't tell me you're leaving me here alone."
Hank smiled. He pushed himself off the sofa. "If Charles can't wake up, I'll naturally be responsible for the new students' class schedule." With that, he left too.
Logan was the last one left in the living room. He looked around, realizing the room that had been full of people was now empty. "Damn it," he grumbled, shaking his head.
He took off his coat and threw it onto the sofa where Hank had been sitting. "That kid better have brought some luggage. If not, I'm going to the city to buy some. It's like I'm the only useless one here!"
Meanwhile, Elsewhere
As the X-Men struggled to keep the academy running during Charles's unconsciousness, Erik Lehnsherr's actions didn't stop for a moment. A large number of mutants under his command continued to attack cure injection sites across the United States. Without the X-Men to restrain them, their assaults became even more audacious.
But soon, without relying on the X-Men, humanity began to turn the tide. The all-out attack by mutants united American society and unified the complex political landscape at the highest levels of government.
The powerful US state apparatus unleashed its technological might. The cure had originally relied on secretions from a single mutant named Jimmy, but humans quickly found a way to replicate his secretions, drastically increasing production.
At the same time, Tony Stark, chairman of Stark Industries, collaborated with the government for the first time, manufacturing non-metallic weapons for US soldiers. These weapons, specifically designed to counter Magneto, were quickly distributed.
Soon after, the mass-produced cure was loaded into bullets, and soldiers began fighting the mutants. Within a day, the scattered mutant forces were completely overwhelmed, with all of them forced to take the cure and lose their powers before being thrown into prison.
Eric had wanted to start an all-out war between mutants and humans, but he had forgotten the terrifying force that would be unleashed when humanity, facing an outside threat, united.
Still, Eric had one last trump card. With Jean Grey on his side, he had a chance to turn everything around. While his other mutants were being captured, they had successfully tied down a large number of government forces, allowing Eric to lead his most elite group of mutants to a laboratory.