Even though Magneto's magnetic power could shake the earth itself, Aquaman's strength was equally formidable, capable of moving tectonic plates.
At a glance, it seemed like the two were merely locked in a struggle through the trident. But the energy they released every second was enough to make the entire city of Gotham tremble.
'How can anyone wield such overwhelming power... and he's from Earth?' Charles' voice echoed inside Magneto's mind, filled with disbelief.
Back when Martian Manhunter and Captain Marvel fought against the Kree fleet, the mutants never made it to the battlefield in time. Even so, Charles had still managed to invade a Kree soldier's mind using telepathy. Through that alien's vision, he'd witnessed the immense power of both heroes.
He could still explain those two: alien origins, alien technology. But Aquaman's appearance shattered his understanding of Earth once again.
A race that lives in the depths of the ocean, and possesses this kind of strength?
As Charles struggled to grasp this revelation, he didn't notice that Reid had quietly tapped into Aquaman's mind using the psychic network. Borrowing a portion of the man's own mental strength, he began preparing for a surprise attack.
By the time Charles realized that psychic energy was gathering inside the mind of the man from the sea, it was already too late.
An invisible spike, forged entirely from mental energy, pierced straight toward Magneto's brain.
Charles reacted instantly, attempting to intercept the attack, but he was a fraction too slow. A trace of the psychic force slipped past his defenses and stabbed into Magneto's mind, sending a sharp jolt of pain through his head.
"Ahh!! Charles!" He cried out, staggering under the mental assault.
'Erik! Stay calm!' Charles responded immediately, and focused his power to soothe the damage in Magneto's psyche, but that brief moment of vulnerability was all it took.
Because of his momentary lapse, Aquaman broke through the magnetic field Magneto had formed. The trident shot forward, aiming straight for his chest.
But at the edge of life and death, the mutant leader unleashed his full potential. His power, which had weakened with age, now surged back into him like it never left.
A massive magnetic force erupted from Magneto's body.
This time, he didn't just control external metal. He seized the metallic elements inside Aquaman's own body.
"What?!"
The sudden shift inside his body caught Aquaman completely off guard. His strength could shake the world, but never once had it turned against him like this.
Now, with Magneto manipulating the metal within his body, the Atlantean king was forced backward. And for the first time, he had no way to counter it.
Still, he didn't panic. The plan was still under control.
As Aquaman crashed helplessly into the sea, Charles continued tending to his friend's mental wounds. Magneto, drained from the final burst of power, hovered above the water.
Then, without warning, the storm that had been swirling around the battlefield suddenly stopped.
No one thought much of it. Both mutants simply assumed the winds had calmed because Aquaman had been knocked back.
However, hidden within that storm, a giant shadow in the shape of a bat dove down fast.
'Batman.'
His suit insulated against electromagnetic detection, his mind protected by barriers constructed with Red's help, 'Batman' had prepared everything ahead of time. He bypassed both Charles and Magneto's senses with ease. In his hand was the explosive that had never gone off.
Boom!
'Batman' crashed into Magneto from behind with full force. The impact alone made the mutant vomit blood once again.
"Another enemy?!" Magneto growled, pain lacing his voice.
Just as he tried to strike back, he realized that whoever had hit him had already leapt away and disappeared into the waters below.
"He ran—Ahhh!!"
Before he could finish speaking, 'Batman,' now safely out of range, pressed the detonator. The electric bomb that had been secretly attached to the mutant's back went off.
Thousands of volts surged through Magneto's body in an instant.
With a single scream of agony, even Charles couldn't process what had just happened. The next second, his consciousness was forced back into his own body in Westchester.
...
"Professor... what's going on?"
As soon as Charles opened his eyes, Ororo rushed to his side, her expression tense.
She called out several times, but he didn't respond. He just stared ahead, his gaze empty, his mind clearly somewhere else.
"Could this be a side effect of Cerebro running at full power?" she muttered, frowning. She immediately prepared to contact Hank, hoping he could come and check on the professor's condition.
Then, Charles moved. Because of Cerebro's intense strain, his eyes weren't just bloodshot; they were completely red.
"Huff... huff... huff..." he gasped heavily, like someone who had just clawed his way back from the edge of death.
Because he had. He had just experienced Erik's death, firsthand.
"NO!!!"
Realizing what had happened in Gotham, Charles let out a pained cry toward the sky.
"Why! Why did it have to come to this!"
It was all gone. His lifelong dream had completely collapsed. Erik was gone. Even if Jean eventually grew strong enough, it was unlikely the mutants could rally the strength needed to fight back against humanity.
At least, not in his lifetime.
What made things worse was that some humans were now aware of the mutants' ambitions. Not only had they lost half their fighting power with Erik's death, but now they also had to face the coming onslaught from humanity's elite forces.
No matter how he looked at it, Charles saw only darkness in the future.
Still, as his grief began to settle into resolve, his eyes drifted to Jean.
She was the mutants' last hope.
Her potential far exceeded even the Omega-level threshold. If she could fully awaken, even if she couldn't lead a counterattack against humanity, she could at least protect their kind during her lifetime.
But when he thought about Jean, another name came to mind—Reid.
He had once thought that man was just an ordinary human, but now it seemed clear. Jean's changes over the past few years likely began after that first encounter. It must have been the result of Reid subtly influencing her through his psychic abilities.
Thinking of this, even as sorrow filled him over Erik's death, Charles forced himself to refocus. He turned to Jean and spoke.
"Jean, the time has come. Starting tomorrow, I'll begin psychic training with you. We'll try to link our minds."
"Really? Okay."
Jean was a bit confused. Just a few days ago, Charles had said she wasn't ready. But now that he was taking the initiative, she had no reason to refuse.
And deep down, she also wanted to grow stronger. In her heart, she believed that if she grew powerful enough, Reid would stop disappearing so often. He would stay by her side forever.
After all, over the years, the stronger she became, the more frequently Reid appeared.
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