"Let go of Rogue, Magneto! She's a mutant too—why are you targeting her?"
"Logan, I'm scared!" Rogue cried out, clinging to Logan as his angry roar filled the air. But Magneto—Erik—remained unmoved.
"Logan, after all these years, you still haven't learned your lesson," Erik said coolly. With a casual wave of his hand, he sent Logan flying into the wall. The adamantium in Logan's body made him Magneto's perfect target. Against most enemies, Logan had a chance. But against Erik? He didn't stand a chance.
"Still so impulsive," Erik muttered, shaking his head. "You're a wolf, Logan. Why are you wasting your time with Charles? Join me. You belong on the battlefield."
Despite the offer, Logan spat out his answer without hesitation. "Eric, isn't Victor already following you? We're not the same. You've got no damn limits—and I don't fight beside people like that."
Erik sighed. "Pity."
With another flick of his hand, steel pipes flew up and locked around Logan's joints. No matter how strong he was, if he couldn't move, he couldn't fight.
"Erik!" a sharp voice called out.
The X-Men had arrived at the Statue of Liberty in their jet. Cyclops—Scott Summers—led the charge and fired a beam of red energy at Magneto the moment he saw him. But Erik easily raised a massive metal sphere to block it.
"Toad!" Erik barked.
The mutant Toad sprang into action, his elastic tongue snapping forward and yanking off Scott's visor. Scott clenched his eyes shut just in time. Without his glasses, he couldn't control his optic blasts—using them now would be a disaster.
High above, Storm—Ororo Munroe—took flight. Lightning crackled around her, but Erik was ready. With a swift motion, he bent nearby steel bars into a makeshift Faraday cage.
The lightning surged harmlessly through it.
Steel pipes rose behind Ororo like snakes and bound her tight. Another wave of Erik's hand slammed her against the wall.
Storm was a powerful, mage-like mutant, but with her arms pinned, she couldn't channel her powers. One by one, Erik's team struck down the rest of the X-Men. Sabretooth, Pyro, and even Hank—the Beast—were overpowered.
Without Professor X leading them, the X-Men collapsed the moment the fight started.
"Why, Erik?" Logan demanded through gritted teeth. "Why go this far just to capture Rogue and drag her here?"
"Because, thanks to her abilities, she's essential to our next step," Erik replied. "You're lucky to be a mutant, Logan. Otherwise, you'd be dead already. Today, you'll witness history. I'm going to turn every human in New York into mutants. Let's see how the American government handles that!"
"Victor, start the machine!"
At Erik's command, Rogue was strapped into a metallic seat. Pulses of powerful electromagnetic energy began to charge in the device.
"Stop this, Erik!" a familiar voice called.
Professor X had arrived.
Normally, Erik wouldn't kill the X-Men—he still considered them fellow mutants. But his old friend Charles was always a thorn in his side.
"Charles, still trying to stop me?" Erik asked, amused. "You've always believed in compromise. You really think humans will thank you for it? Don't kid yourself. They'll never understand mutants—unless they become one of us."
"Erik, your device failed. Bob Bell was your first mutant conversion—he died of radiation exposure shortly after. Your machine doesn't create stable mutants. It creates cancer-ridden corpses!"
"If you use it here, you'll kill every single person in New York—and you'll doom all mutants!"
Charles had found Bob Bell recently, and it was clear the man didn't have long to live.
But Erik refused to listen.
"Lies," Erik spat. "I don't believe you. And even if you're right... I'm not stopping. If I have to sacrifice New York to secure the future of our kind, so be it."
He knew Charles wasn't lying—but it didn't matter. Magneto had fought too long, sacrificed too much. Mutants were still hunted, hated, feared. Nothing had changed.
Once he was gone, who would carry the Brotherhood forward?
Erik had always been cautious around Charles. That's why he wore his signature helmet—it blocked Charles' psychic powers. So now, Charles could do nothing to stop him.
"Bobby, take a good look at this," said a calm voice from above.
Everyone turned their gaze skyward.
Two figures floated in the air.
Logan recognized them instantly—Su Xiuyu and Bobby, the Iceman. They'd spent days together in an illusion. Logan would never forget them.
"It's you!" he called out.
But no one else paid him much attention.
"Tsk," Erik scoffed. "So Charles brought reinforcements after all?"
"That's not one of mine," Charles replied quickly, though part of him wished it was. The aura was familiar—and Logan's reaction only confirmed it. This was the mysterious man who had taken Bobby away.
"Master, are you sure we're okay just floating here like this?" Bobby whispered nervously. Everyone was staring at him.
"Relax," Su Xiuyu replied calmly. "It's the perfect chance to test what you've learned. Go help Professor X and the others. Treat this as your warm-up. No real threats here, anyway—no Dark Phoenix around."
Bobby took a deep breath and nodded.
It was time to step up.
--------------------------
After saying that, Su Xiuyu descended from the sky. Upon landing, a thought flashed through his mind. Instantly, a throne of rock rose from the ground beneath him. With a regal air, Su Xiuyu sat down, calm and imposing.
Bobby stood awkwardly in the middle of the field, glancing around nervously. His heart wavered. There were too many powerhouses here, and for someone like him, it was terrifying.
"This is a test to see the results of your training," Su Xiuyu said, his voice calm but with a sharp edge. "If you don't perform well... you know what happens."
That thinly veiled threat sent a chill down Bobby's spine. But hearing his master's "encouragement," he realized he had no way out. Gritting his teeth, he stepped forward.
"Ice Mirror!" Bobby shouted.
In an instant, the ground beneath him froze over into a slick ice rink. He tapped the soles of his sneakers, and a pair of sleek ice skates formed beneath them. Just as the saber-toothed mutant lunged at him, it slipped and crashed face-first onto the frozen surface.
Watching his subordinate wipe out so embarrassingly, Magneto remained expressionless. He wasn't concerned with the blunder—both he and Professor X had their eyes fixed on Su Xiuyu.
"Why are you interfering with mutant affairs?" Magneto asked, voice low and dangerous. He felt a tremendous sense of danger from Su Xiuyu—something he'd only experienced once before, during his battle with that bastard, Shaw.
Su Xiuyu remained relaxed on his throne, lounging like he owned the battlefield. His nonchalance only made Magneto more unsettled.
"I brought my apprentice here for some real-world practice," Su Xiuyu replied casually. "And honestly? You're making a mess of New York. I don't really give a damn about the lives of everyone here, but I hate unnecessary trouble. And since I live here now, your chaos is messing with my mood."
There was no respect in Su Xiuyu's tone. He didn't care that Magneto was a legendary figure—just another stubborn old man to him.
"Then it seems we have nothing more to discuss," Magneto growled and prepared to strike.
But Su Xiuyu's voice cut through the air before he could move.
"Eric," he said coldly, "don't make me repeat myself. If you interrupt my apprentice's battle, your Brotherhood will be wiped out. Now shut up and enjoy the show. You can attack me later—if you still have the balls to try."
The words were blunt—borderline insulting—but the killing intent behind them was unmistakable. Magneto and Charles both felt a chill run through them.
Magneto went silent.
I'm not afraid, he told himself. I, Magneto, have fought my whole life. I'm just... letting the kid finish. That's all. Nothing to do with fear.
Charles, meanwhile, let out a quiet sigh of relief. For now, New York had been spared. Its citizens had no idea how close they'd come to another disaster.
The duel between Victor and Bobby continued. The battlefield had become a massive ice rink. Victor, with his brute strength and battle experience, couldn't land a hit on Bobby. Every time he got close, Bobby would skate away, leaving him to deal with a barrage of icy projectiles.
Su Xiuyu watched with a critical eye.
His disciple was holding back.
Su Xiuyu had designed Bobby's training based on the Ice Release from Naruto and the Ice-Make Magic from Fairy Tail. In the past, Bobby would foolishly just try to freeze opponents head-on. It got him knocked down often.
Now, at least, he was keeping his distance and using ranged attacks. But still...
"Idiot," Su Xiuyu muttered, shaking his head. "Victor's regeneration is nearly unstoppable. Even a bullet to the brain won't kill him. What are you doing—embroidering? Scared you'll actually kill him?"
He knew Bobby too well. The boy was kind, too kind. He didn't want to kill Victor, even though the method Su Xiuyu had taught him was meant to end fights fast and decisively.
Victor, meanwhile, was furious.
I—Sabretooth—am getting toyed with by a damn teenager?
His heart pounded, his body surged with adrenaline. He began weaving through the ice, closing the gap fast. He was done playing.
Bobby, hearing his master's scolding, clenched his fists.
He had been holding back. Even though he knew Victor wouldn't die easily, a part of him didn't want to cause too much harm. But now...
"Ice Spear!" he shouted.
A jagged spear of ice formed in his hand. With a swift motion, he hurled it toward Victor, piercing his abdomen clean through.
"Ice Explosion!"
The spear detonated inside Victor's body, instantly freezing the surrounding flesh and muscle. With a sharp crack, the entire section shattered into powder.
A gaping hole now sat in Victor's stomach. He collapsed to the ground.
Even an elephant wouldn't survive that kind of injury.
Blood sprayed across the ice, quickly freezing into eerie crimson flowers.
Logan watched in shock. In just one month, the boy who used to hide behind him had become a real fighter—maybe even stronger than him in some ways.
Wolverine might have had the adamantium skeleton and superior healing, but his speed wasn't as sharp as Victor's. And if he had to go up against Bobby? He wasn't sure he'd fare much better.
Off to the side, Toad tried to sneak attack. His tongue shot out, aiming for Bobby's neck—but the moment it touched him, Bobby turned into a frozen sculpture.
The cold backlash sent Toad stumbling back, his tongue almost frostbitten.
Then came the Firestarter.
Seeing his comrade lying motionless, the pyrokinetic mutant snapped. He didn't care for rules or honor. He flicked his lighter, summoning a wave of fire, and hurled it at Bobby.
"Ice Wall!" Bobby reacted instantly.
A massive wall of translucent ice surged up between them, catching the full blast of the flames. Through the clear wall, you could see the fire swirl, but it fizzled out, unable to melt through.
For a first real fight, Bobby'l had performed brilliantly. Even Victor—who had battled for years—had been taken down decisively.
Charles Xavier watched with growing interest.
"He's impressive. Why not let Bobby attend Xavier's Academy? He's a mutant—he'd fit in better with others like him."
Whether it was admiration or an attempt to poach talent, Charles clearly saw Bobby's potential.
Su Xiuyu didn't react with anger. Instead, he gave a cold smile.
He remembered another timeline, one where Iceman Bobby died pitifully at the hands of the Sentinels—sliced apart after doing little more than freezing the air to look cool.
So much potential, wasted.
"Charles, I know what you're thinking," Su Xiuyu said flatly. "If he wants to go with you, that's fine. I won't stop him. I'm not obsessed with keeping a kid around."
He let out a low chuckle.
"But if you think your school can train an Omega-level mutant better than I can, then maybe you've finally gone senile."
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