The shadows creep towards the mound.
The late September air is crisp.
No bunting will be hung this year,
Our team is old and in eclipse.

In the box the batter waits.
His knees are sore, his bat grown slow.
In his time he was a champion.
In his heart he knows it’s time to go.

How quickly do the seasons change
from youthful promise to aged despair.
You start out as a diamond star
And end up in a rocking chair.

Baseball is an old man’s love,
each Spring bringing hope of glory.
Yet it is not an old man’s game.
That’s quite a different story.

The stadium this day, half full,
and ready for the wrecking ball.
Mickey Charles Mantle has flied to right
and joined the legions of the Fall.

Dear Charles,

I am writing this to tell you one thing and one thing only:
A war is about to begin soon, and once it has, both you and I know that only one side can win. This means that the losing side loses everything.
Unfortunately for you, I do not share your faith in humanity. And I absolutely have no pity for them. They are a bunch of idiots who fear what they do not understand and try to get rid of it before figuring out what they are actually dealing with. Humans see us as a disease, Charles. They fear us because we have far more potential than them and that we are above them in terms of power. Believe me, I didn't want to fight against humanity either, but I am not able to just sit and watch while another fellow mutant die because of them. We are initially not a threat, but now they have turned us into one. And we are certainly not experimental subjects, but they have turned us into those too. From the moment I noticed these signs around me I knew I had to save myself before it's my turn, even if it means eradicating everyone else.

I do not wish to do this, Charles, but one day you will learn that some matters can only be solved using the hard way. As much as you hate to admit it, diplomacy is not able to smooth everything out. I am sure that your friend Hank knows this well more than we do. I am not the enemy here, Charles. I am only trying to save myself and also my own kind. Our own kind.

I have left with several of our fellow mutants. You might be able to track them down with Cerebro but not me. However, just in case you do, please don't bother coming for me. I have set my mind and you know that the only way to change it is for you to get into my mind and take over it, which you won't. I will be carrying out plans you will certainly disapprove of. But then again, Charles, we are two very different people. As far as I can remember, we have never agreed on a single thing before, which surprises me that we even became acquaintances in the first place.

I hope I will never see you again, Charles. But if we do, I hope we will be fighting alongside each other, not standing on opposite sides of the battlefield.

Take care of Raven for me. I trust you better at handling her than I do.

Your old friend,
Erik