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"Looks like we won't have so many people bothering us anymore."
Near Jean Grey, Toad and Sabretooth stood watching as Magneto manipulated the metal within the earth, making the ground unstable and causing the entire academy to slowly sink.
"Too bad we didn't find that kid."
Sabretooth didn't respond to Toad directly. He carried the unconscious Rogue on his shoulder, his eyes scanning the students, searching for the boy who had nearly killed him.
"You kicked him in the face and broke his neck. Even if he were an X-Man, there's no way he could have survived that."
As Toad spoke, he felt the vibrations beneath his feet intensify, assuming their leader was increasing his power. But he failed to notice the look of confusion on Magneto's face as he stared at the shaking ground.
"What's happening... This isn't my power."
The metal used to build the basement was difficult to affect with his magnetic powers, but that didn't mean it was imperceptible. To Magneto's surprise, the underground structure seemed to be slowly moving upward.
How could this be? He had split the ground around the basement so that the entire building would sink deeper. Yet, instead of sinking, the structure was rising.
Rumble!
With a deafening roar, the ground completely split open. To everyone's shock, the entire teaching building, along with the basement beneath it, rose from the earth and slowly began to fly into the sky.
"A mutant?"
Everyone was captivated by the sight of the flying building, but Magneto, ever calm, saw a small figure at the bottom, slowly lifting a weight of several thousand tons.
"So... heavy..."
Clark's face was flushed red. In the DC Universe, he had once lifted the 35,000-ton Jotunheim Prison, but a lot of its weight had still been supported by the ground. This time, he was bearing the entire weight of the teaching building. With his current strength, he knew he couldn't hold it for long.
"It seems Charles has found an unusual child."
Magneto sighed. Unlike Charles, he didn't have the ability to directly identify mutants. However, seeing what Clark was doing, Magneto immediately assumed he was a new mutant that Charles had recently recruited. But even so, Magneto didn't abandon his plan.
He waved his hand, and the teaching building instantly disintegrated. Heavy metal steel bars flew out, shooting toward Clark like spears.
This child has great potential. If he hadn't already sided with Charles, I might have spared him and let him lead the entire mutant race one day.
But then, Magneto was utterly shocked. He had expected Clark to have incredible strength but not this level of physical durability. When a steel bar struck Clark's chest, it merely tore his clothes and then bent and deformed. As a building material, steel bars were known for their strength, yet they couldn't leave a single mark on Clark's body.
With the building dismantled, the pressure on Clark decreased as he only had to hold the weight of the basement. He dodged Magneto's attack, then carefully set the basement down, punching a hole in the side to allow Charles and the others to emerge.
"Magneto..."
The two old friends faced each other once again, but there was no hope for dialogue between them.
"What do you want?" "Hand over Riven!"
They both spoke at the same time.
The moment he saw Charles and the others escape, Magneto knew it would be nearly impossible to kill them. Even though he was powerful, he only had Sabretooth and Toad with him. And while his magnetic field control was strong, he wore a special helmet to resist Charles's mental attacks. If his helmet was removed for even a moment, Charles could instantly take control of him.
Retreat was the only option.
"If you want your students to live, hand Riven over to me. You know I'm capable of anything."
With that, Magneto clenched his fist, and the metal cage trapping the students began to slowly shrink. If it continued, the students would be crushed in less than a minute.
"Stop!" Clark yelled, but Magneto paid no attention.
Just as Clark was about to act on impulse, Charles's voice appeared in his mind.
"Clark, calm down. Magneto's ability is to control the Earth's magnetic field. Even though you are Superman, you can't resist his magnetic power with your current strength."
As an old friend, Charles knew exactly how powerful Magneto was. If mutants didn't need the Earth to live, Magneto could simply reverse the planet's magnetic field, causing the surface to fly into space and the world to slowly fall apart. Magneto, with such power, was not someone Clark could defeat on a whim.
"Cyclops will attack first. Go and rescue the students in the cage. I'm sorry, but we need your strength now."
Clark agreed in his heart, knowing that Charles, with their direct mental connection, could sense his thoughts.
True to his word, Cyclops suddenly attacked. He pressed a button on his glasses, and a powerful red ray shot from his eyes, aimed directly at Magneto.
Even with his abilities, Magneto was still human. He immediately pulled a huge sheet of iron to block the attack. At the same time, Storm launched her own assault. A bolt of lightning fell from the sky, joining Cyclops's optic blast to strike Magneto.
Wolverine and Beast moved simultaneously, leaping toward Sabretooth and Toad, who were guarding the cage.
Finally, seeing the path clear, Clark flew straight to the students' cage.
"I'll get you out of there!"