The Blackbird sped through the smoke-streaked skies, its engines straining slightly under the magnetic interference still clinging faintly in the atmosphere. There was tension Inside that hung thick like a stormcloud, no one could speak through.
Suddenly, a soft chime echoed through the cabin Cerebro's link. The voice that followed was familiar and laced with unmistakable worry.
"X-Men," came the voice of Professor Charles Xavier. "Thank God. You're all ok."
There was a collective exhale, but it was Logan who broke the silence first. He stood, arms crossed, face hard and unreadable.
"Alive, yeah," he growled. "But far from okay Chuck. That whole damn operation fell apart before we could even make a move. Erik
lost it and ten steps ahead... again."
Storm, sitting nearby, nodded grimly. Her normally calm eyes burned with frustration.
"He turned the entire city into a trap. The magnetic field was so dense I couldn't even sense the natural wind currents. I've never felt anything like it."
"Agreed," Beast added, removing his hand from the control to rub his eyes wearily. "His manipulation of the electromagnetic spectrum wasn't like it used to be Charles, it's advanced. He's begun using polarity in ways I didn't think biologically possible."
A quiet buzz from the console redirected attention. Scott stepped forward, frowning.
"Professor," he said, tapping into the main console. "You patched into Cerebro—did you want us to uplink to a feed?"
Charles' voice came again, slower this time.
"Yes, Scott. Turn on the broadcast. You all need to see what's happening."
Scott complied, and the inbuilt monitor blinked to life. The cabin fell into silence again as the visuals spilled out across the screen.
"We're getting breaking updates from Berlin, Munich, and Zurich—all reporting powerful earthquakes and electromagnetic interference. Hospitals and airports are down."
"In New York City, traffic lights have blacked out entirely, planes were forced to make emergency landings, and multiple ships in the harbor report navigational failure."
Jubilee, huddled next to the screen, gasped and covered her mouth. "Oh my God..."
Scott's jaw tightened as the scope of devastation unfolded across the screen.
Logan clenched his fists. His voice was low, guttural. "He's gone too far this time Chuck. Erik's not just making a statement anymore... he's declaring war on the world."
Storm shook her head. "This isn't the Magneto we knew. He's in rage… and he has the right to be Charles. How could they murder children like that?"
Beast murmured thoughtfully, "His actions resemble more of a geological event and he's rewriting the Earth's laws for vengeance."
"And Gojo?" Rogue asked suddenly, her voice cutting through the moment like a blade. She looked toward Jean. "You said you felt him. What's happening with him now?"
Jean looked down at her hands, voice trembling slightly. "He was still fighting... trying to hold back Magneto long enough for us to escape. He helped me stabilize the Blackbird when the magnetic waves threatened to tear us apart."
She turned to the comms unit.
"Professor... do you know anything? Is he... is he still alive?"
There was a long pause. Then Charles' voice came through again, lower now.
"I... I don't know."
Everyone went quiet.
Charles continued, reluctantly.
"I made contact with him briefly, through the psionic field. He was focused, but... then something severed the connection. I don't know whether it was Erik... or something else entirely."
Rogue stood abruptly, fists clenched."Then we have to go back for him. We have to. We can't just leave him behind!"
Before anyone could respond, Beast raised a hand gently. "And what of the civilians aboard? If Magneto truly intends to erase everyone from Havelstadt... we are effectively transporting targets across international airspace."
That cooled the fire in Rogue's chest, if only a little.
Scott finally spoke, his voice steady despite the churning emotions.
"First priority is landing the Blackbird in a secure zone. Once we drop the civilians off, we regroup. Then we go back."
Logan turned sharply, shaking his head.
"Go back? With what, Summers? Harsh language? Erik isn't playing chess anymore—he's rewriting the board. We go back with the same damn plan, we'll be signing our own death warrants."
Storm looked at Logan, then at Scott.
"He's not wrong. We'll need more than just our powers. We'll need strategy... maybe even contingency failsafes. Because if Magneto's powers continue to grow unchecked... we may be too late already."
Silence again.
And back in Havelstadt, beneath tons of rubble and electromagnetic distortion...
A flicker of energy pulsed like a heartbeat.
The pulse was subtle at first. A strange, almost imperceptible tremor rippled across the battlefield, threading through the chaos like a hidden predator's breath.
Magneto, already turning to pursue the Blackbird streaking away in the distance, felt it instantly—the shift in the energy around him. His magnetic field, ever present, quivered like a tuning fork struck by an earthquake unseen force. His head snapped downward, eyes narrowing at the jagged ruins of earth and metal where Gojo had been entombed over seventy meters away.
'He's alive?' Magneto thought, disbelief tightening his grip on reality.
The ground began to glow—a molten orange seeping from beneath the layers of shattered rock and twisted steel. The earth itself hissed as cracks webbed outward, glowing veins of magma coursing through the battlefield. Sparks—bright, fleeting arcs of lightning—snapped across the surface, lancing through the debris as if the very air crackled with tension.
The metal around the site warped and sagged. Debris that had entombed Gojo began to liquefy, the once-solid steel groaning as it dripped and pooled onto the searing earth. The glow grew deeper—angrier—shifting from a dull orange to an incandescent red, until the ground seemed to pulse like the heart of a volcano, veins of fire illuminating the battlefield.
Then, with a thunderous roar, the entire area erupted in an explosion.
A shockwave burst outward as molten rock, magma, and half-melted debris were flung in every direction. Dust billowed high into the sky, a cloud of grey and ember swirling violently. Magneto, his instincts razor-sharp, thrust out his hand, manipulating the magnetic fields to deflect the larger chunks of molten wreckage harmlessly away, his cape billowing like a war banner in the storm.
——————-
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