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Professor Charles Xavier arrived, his movements slow and deliberate. But when he saw the wreckage of the Cerebro room, a profound silence fell over him. After a long moment, his voice was heavy.
"It seems, Erik, that you're no longer playing games."
He knew that Mystique, Raven, could have easily infiltrated the mansion and destroyed Cerebro at any point in the past. The fact that she had only done so now, at the very start of this conflict, meant their previous clashes were merely skirmishes. This time, Erik Lehnsherr, also known as Magneto, was serious. He had no intention of holding back, aiming for a decisive victory from the start.
"But what is he thinking?" Charles mused, still trying to piece together the pieces.
While he knew Magneto's ultimate goal was for mutants to inherit the world, the current information wasn't enough to reveal his strategy. After two days of searching, Charles was even beginning to doubt that the target was Wolverine, Logan. Why would Magneto go to such lengths just to capture a mutant with a healing factor?
"We can only get answers when Raven wakes up," he said, glancing at the unconscious Mystique.
A flicker of nostalgia crossed his eyes. He had been the first to reach out to Raven, but their differing beliefs had led her to Magneto's side. Quickly, he pushed the sentiment away. Now was not the time for personal feelings; the future of mutantkind was at stake.
Meanwhile, Superman, Clark Kent, who had been using his X-ray vision to scan the entire school, frowned. He turned to the others.
"Guys, Rogue is gone. She's not anywhere in the school."
"Rogue is missing?" Charles's telepathy immediately swept through the academy, confirming that Rogue's unique brainwaves were nowhere to be found.
"She left," Charles concluded, his understanding of human nature leading him to a quick assumption. "Did she run away because she's afraid of being an outcast after hurting Logan?"
While this made sense, a small detail bothered him, yet he dismissed it. People leaving was not uncommon, and his school wasn't a place for everyone. Clark, however, shook his head.
"No. She would feel guilty for hurting Logan, but she wouldn't leave without a word. Not after making friends here."
He looked pointedly at the unconscious Mystique.
"Someone important to her must have said something to make her leave so sadly."
Wolverine, who had been on edge since hearing Rogue was gone, immediately focused his anger on Mystique.
"So this monster did something to her?" he growled, ready to wake her up and get answers.
"Logan, calm down!" Storm and Cyclops had to hold him back.
"Let me find her," Charles said. "If this was Raven's doing, Rogue can't have gone far."
While Cerebro was destroyed, Charles could still easily sense mutants in the immediate vicinity of the mansion. He focused his mind, and in an instant, his eyes widened in shock.
"Rogue is back, but in the sky? No… it's the enemy! The enemy is attacking!"
His words stunned everyone. An enemy who could elicit such a reaction could only be Magneto. The ground began to tremble violently. The underground laboratory, built with anti-magnetic metal, was spared from being ripped out of the earth, but the message was clear: Magneto was tearing up the ground to force them out.
"I'll stop him!" Clark declared.
Knowing that if Magneto continued, everyone would be buried, Clark rushed out, a blur of red and blue. He smashed through the metal walls, his Kryptonian body slicing through the thick layers of rock as if they were made of paper.
Outside, Magneto hovered in the air. All the mutant students were gathered on the lawn, trembling inside a makeshift cage of steel bars. Jean Grey, who had been left to protect them, was wrapped in thick sheets of iron, only her head visible. She lay helpless on the ground. Though she possessed a powerful, latent force, it hadn't been activated yet, leaving her weak against Magneto's control.
"Perhaps being buried here is a good end for you, Charles," Magneto muttered to himself. He knew Charles and Raven were in the lab below, but that wouldn't stop him. His plan was on the verge of success; why not eliminate his greatest rival?
He wasn't concerned for the students. They were the future of mutantkind, and despite their different methods, he and Charles both fought for the same cause.
"Magneto, stop!" Jean cried out from her iron prison.
But how could a few words stop a man who had already decided to sacrifice a decades-long friendship for his cause? The ground was on the verge of collapse.