CHAPTER 80-THE MASTER OF MAGNETISM
The smoke curled like snakes around the lab.
Magneto stood tall in the wreckage, cloak spread wide as though the explosion had birthed him.
Logan's nostrils flared. The scent hit him like a blade across the soul. Not just sweat or iron or smoke. It was deeper. Arrogance, sharp as steel. Desire to dominate, thick and choking. A soul dripping with superiority.
'This one don't just think he's above us... he knows it, down to his bones.
Logan didn't wait for orders. He leapt, claws out, a roar tearing from his chest.
Magneto lifted a single hand.
Logan froze midair, his body yanked like a puppet. His claws screamed against themselves, metal twisting, bending toward his own throat. Pain lanced up his arms. He hit the ground hard and rolled back, shaking, teeth bared.
Thunderbird's eyes blazed. "Coward! Try that on a man with flesh and blood!" He charged.
But Magneto had already turned. Colossus came thundering in beside Thunderbird, steel skin gleaming in the broken light. For one heartbeat, hope flickered-two titans against опе.
Then Magneto's power wrapped around them.
Colossus staggered, clutching his own body as though strangled by unseen chains. His armored limbs jerked and twisted against his will. He looked at his hands-his weapons-turned against him.
"..... I cannot..." His voice cracked with despair. "I cannot even stand without harming you all..."
Thunderbird tried to grab him, steady him, but Magneto flicked a wrist. Both men flew backward into the wall with bone-rattling force. Colossus' frame dented steel before he slid to the ground, eyes burning with shame.
Logan growled, claws shaking, desperate to move.
"Pathetic," Magneto intoned, his voice calm as a god's judgment. "You bring children and savages to war. You dare raise them against me?"
Sunfire erupted in flame, hurling a firestorm.
Magneto's shield drank it whole, flames wrapping around his figure like worship before vanishing.
Storm lifted her hands, calling wind and lightning. For a moment the room roared with power, walls trembling. Magneto's eyes narrowed. With a gesture, iron dust swirled from the air, knitting itself into a coffin of red metal that clamped over her form.
She screamed, muffled, body thrashing as the iron shell sealed tight.
Nightcrawler tried to teleport to her side. He vanished in smoke-only to reappear mid-leap, crushed against Magneto's field and flung like a doll into rubble.
Storm's cries dimmed. She couldn't breathe..
Logan's heart pounded. 'She's dying. If I don't
With a snarl, he slammed his claws against the iron shell. Sparks flew, metal screamed, and at last a seam split open. Storm burst out, gasping air, her eyes wide with terror.
Magneto turned toward them, lips curling into disdain, "You dare touch my creations?"
Banshee let loose a scream that shook the entire lab, the sound splitting ears and shattering instruments. For a flicker, Magneto staggered-then his shield hardened, the sound bending around him.
One by one, they faltered. Thunderbird battered. Colossus pinned by his own body. Storm half-conscious. Sunfire drained. Banshee's voice breaking.
Logan snarled, crouched low, claws aching to strike but bound by invisible chains.
Magneto's voice cut through the chaos like a blade. "You are nothing. I am EVOLUTION'S END. THE TRUE LORD OF THIS EARTH."
And then-
A red bearn sliced the room, hissing across Magneto's shield. The master of magnetism staggered a half-step, cloak snapping.
Cyclops stepped from the smoke, visor burning.
"You'll find I don't kneel so easy, Magneto."