"We aren't in space, Logan. We're still on Earth. This island's unique environment has simply allowed certain ancient creatures to survive."
Ernst paused, looking toward the playground.
"As for those children, they are alive now. But they all died once. I used a technology to bring them back."
Ernst didn't hide anything. He gave Logan a straightforward explanation of the Cradle of Rebirth.
"In the future, the mutant population will grow, and humanity will react with fear, rejection, and persecution," Ernst explained.
"It will be a dark period for our kind. All I can do is try to give these vulnerable kids a second chance at life. After facing such horrors, starvation, torture, and laboratory experiments, most of them are completely disillusioned with human society. They've chosen to live in seclusion here."
Logan, having lived through nearly a century of war and tragedy himself, felt a profound sense of gratitude.
"You gave them a second chance. I thank you for that. It explains why I saw such a deep appreciation for life in their eyes."
"Let's not dwell on the heavy matters," Ernst said, pulling a sleek silver watch from his pocket.
"Take this. If you want to leave, use it to contact the Red Queen. She will guide you."
Logan scrutinized the watch.
"What is this? How does it work?"
"It's a communicator," Ernst explained.
"It transmits information through space, allowing you to contact the Red Queen from anywhere on Earth. More importantly, it emits a localized force field that blocks telepaths, keeping the island's location secret. If absolutely necessary, it can even be used to erase your memory of this place."
Though the idea of memory erasure made Logan uncomfortable, he understood the necessity of protecting the children.
Ernst guided him on how to wear it. After a quick genetic and voice authentication, a beam of light projected from the dial, forming a small hologram of a red-haired girl.
"Hello, Mr. Logan. The artificial intelligence Red Queen is here for you," she greeted.
Logan, a man out of time, blinked at the projection.
"Who are you?"
"She is an artificial intelligence," Ernst clarified.
"Her core processor is elsewhere, but this watch acts as a terminal. You can talk to her, and I have a similar link, allowing us to stay connected."
"Convenient. I'll take it. Thank you," Logan grunted, unaware that by accepting the high-tech watch, he was playing right into Ernst's hands.
Ernst knew the X-Men would be crucial in the future, and monitoring Logan was a strategic move to potentially explore parallel universes later.
, , ,
While Ernst cultivated his alliance with Logan on Skull Island, the outside world descended into chaos.
During a covert mission, the White Queen, Emma Frost, was intercepted and captured by Erik and Charles while disguised as a Soviet official.
Using his telepathy, Charles extracted Shaw's master plan from her mind.
Simultaneously, Shaw, Azazel, and Riptide launched a brutal raid on the CIA headquarters.
The fledgling X-Men were entirely outmatched.
They huddled in their quarters, shaken by the assault. Shaw was an unstoppable force, casually absorbing bullets and explosive shells as he walked through the facility.
Riptide conjured massive tornadoes, sweeping agents into the sky to plummet to their deaths.
Azazel was a blur of lethal efficiency, opening blue wormholes in front of himself to strike agents with his blades and tail from behind, killing them instantly without ever crossing the room.
Having cleared the facility, Shaw cornered the young mutants.
"Hello, I'm Sebastian Shaw," he greeted them smoothly.
"A great change is coming. When humans finally discover us, we will face two choices: be enslaved or rule the world. If you don't stand with us, you stand against us. Will you fight for humans, or live like kings and queens?"
Angel, swayed by the offer, walked over to join Shaw.
Darwin and Havok, however, had a different plan.
Darwin pretended to defect, stepping beside Angel to protect her, while Havok unleashed a surprise blast of pure energy.
Shaw simply caught the blast, absorbing the shockwave's energy entirely.
He grabbed Darwin, who was attempting to flank him.
"I seem to be a bit too kind," Shaw said, his tone turning cold.
"I hope this helps you grow. You'll learn a lesson for when we meet again."
Shaw compressed Havok's absorbed energy into a glowing sphere and forced it down Darwin's throat.
He then signaled Azazel, and the Hellfire Club teleported away.
Darwin's body rapidly adapted, trying to survive the raw energy, but it was too much. He exploded.
However, completely unnoticed by anyone in the room, a microscopic space wormhole opened just for a fraction of a second, inhaling Darwin's soul before the blast faded.
When Charles and Erik returned to the ruined facility, they were devastated by Darwin's death.
The CIA, blaming the mutants for the disaster, promptly kicked them out.
Left with no other options, Charles led the remaining X-Men to his family's Westchester estate to begin formal combat training.
, , ,
Aboard his hidden submarine, Shaw received the news of Emma Frost's capture.
Without her telepathy to manipulate foreign dignitaries, he was forced to pivot, relying on direct threats and brute force to push the nuclear crisis forward.
Meanwhile, back in his lab on Skull Island, Ernst received an alert from the Rebirth Cradle.
Darwin's data and soul had successfully transferred into the database.
Realizing exactly what his father had done, Ernst immediately instructed the Red Queen to begin cloning a new body for Darwin.
As the Cuban Missile Crisis accelerated, Ernst tapped into the spatial coordinate token he had left on Shaw's submarine.
Using his magic, he warped directly into the sub's main cabin.
His sudden materialization startled Angel so badly she nearly choked on her glass of water.
Ernst merely smoothed his coat. Whatever misgivings he had about his father's brutal methods, he concealed them effortlessly.
The critical moment had arrived, and he needed to play his part.
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