By the third week of June, the House of M from Australia arrived in New York.
Strictly speaking, the name "House of M" was not entirely accurate. First of all, Magneto's own surname was not Maximoff. Maximoff was the name of the local friend in Eastern Europe to whom he had entrusted his infant son and daughter when he fled years ago—the surname of Wanda and Pietro's foster father. Secondly, Magneto's family was not a true royal house. While Magneto was indeed the President-for-Life of the Australian Mutant Federation, that did not mean he had founded an empire.
At the very least, it wouldn't truly count until Wanda or Pietro inherited everything.
"Welcome, Lord Erik."
Kingpin, dressed in a sharp, handmade white suit and leaning on a walking stick, arrived at the airport to greet the head of state. In present-day North America, there was no longer such a thing as a President. North America was Kang's personal domain, but because Kang was obsessed with fixing bugs in reality within his small private chamber every day, the region was essentially left to its own devices.
Furthermore, it was highly unlikely that Kang would personally come out to receive Magneto, so the task fell to Kingpin.
Cradling his youngest daughter, Lorna, Magneto gave Kingpin a friendly nod. He did not engage in much conversation with the King of New York, choosing to depart after a few brief pleasantries.
Aside from Kingpin, Nick Fury and Professor Charles Xavier had also come to welcome him.
"Charles, it's good to see you." Ignoring Nick Fury, Magneto shook hands warmly with the Professor, who had approached in his wheelchair. "I am glad our differences have come to an end."
"I'm afraid only our major differences have ended; the minor ones remain," the Professor said with a smile, looking at Magneto. "Ah, once you've finished with your business, would you have time to visit the Academy? We might find time for a game of chess."
"Of course. For you, there is always time."
Magneto glanced back. Wanda had rejected Kingpin's forced, theatrical hand-kissing gesture, whereas Pietro was happily taking photos with Kingpin's bodyguard, Bullseye. Magneto shook his head; if it weren't for the need to reduce the number of mutants heading into the future to fight, he never would have come to New York.
"Good news: you're all pure-hearted students."
Ghost Rider released the last mutant of the Hellions squad. He looked at the group of students, who were drenched in sweat from the Penance Stare. Even though Ghost Rider had tried his best to lower the intensity—not letting the hellfire burn their souls but only showing them the truth of their spirits and sins—the experience was still harrowing for the students.
Naturally, a group of students vetted by the Academy was unlikely to have committed any truly egregious evil acts. Julian, the leader of the Hellions, stood up unsteadily, looking at Logan and Beast as they came over to comfort and explain the situation.
"Ms. Emma, the Headmaster, and the others have all disappeared... this..."
"I highly doubt Kang actually killed them," Logan said calmly. "It's more likely he didn't. Kang is an extremely arrogant man; if he had eliminated his opponents, he would have made sure to broadcast it far and wide."
This was why Logan believed there was still a chance to rescue both the X-Men and the Fantastic Four.
Furthermore, Kang had a fatal flaw: the complete Cosmic Cube could not leave the current timeline. Peter Parker had mentioned that a previously incomplete Cosmic Cube had traveled through time, but the reverse was true for the complete one—it was physically incapable of time travel. This property meant Kang could not take the Cosmic Cube to other timelines to eliminate his enemies.
Considering the time the X-Men and Fantastic Four went missing, it was highly probable they had been sent to a specific point in the past.
As Logan pondered this, Jubilee, who was passing by and had just recovered, asked him, "I'm a bit curious, Logan—what is that thing you're wearing?"
Jubilee was referring to Logan's new uniform. It wasn't the classic blue-and-yellow X-Men suit, nor was it a SHIELD operative uniform. It was a black-and-white suit with a "4" marked on the chest.
He wasn't the only one; even Ghost Rider had donned a similar suit, though his looked like an inverted version of Logan's. Ghost Rider's new uniform was predominantly black with white design accents and a white "4."
"This? Something the Spider-kid cooked up. You'll find out when you watch TV tomorrow. Right now, we need a target to draw Kang's attention, so we're becoming the new target."
Logan shrugged nonchalantly. Seeing the official cars driving into the school grounds outside the window, he immediately deployed the plan. "Alright, kids, get ready to receive our guests."
Meanwhile, as the motorcade entered the Xavier Institute for Higher Learning, Magneto admired the vitality within the academy and smiled with satisfaction. As the two parties met at the school gates, they were soon treated to the academy's highest form of hospitality: the school sent out the best of the new generation of mutants to interact with Magneto's son and daughter.
"Very good. Pietro and Wanda really should spend some time with people their own age," Magneto said as he entered the Headmaster's office with the Professor. The two old friends sat down for a rare game of chess. Elsewhere, once it was confirmed that the New Mutants squad was paired with Wanda, Julian of the Hellions nodded to his teammates.
Dust and Mercury—one capable of turning into sand and the other into liquid mercury—were perfect for containing a speedster!
"Hey, what are you doing!"
However, Quicksilver was a step faster, escaping before they could pounce.
Or was he?
Green energy flared from Julian's hands. He used his telekinesis to lock Quicksilver in place directly. His two teammates' attacks weren't meant to catch Quicksilver, but to restrict his movement options so Julian could pin him down. As he gripped Quicksilver with telekinesis, Ghost Rider opened a portal and grabbed the immobilized Quicksilver by the collar, staring at him with burning eyes of penance.
"Pietro!"
On the other side, four members of the New Mutants were sent flying by scarlet energy. Julian cursed under his breath and released Quicksilver, who was already under Ghost Rider's control. Green telekinetic force collided with scarlet energy, causing a violent explosion in the reception room.
Wanda rushed through the smoke and dust to find her brother, but she was met only by a flaming red skull.
"Hello there, miss."
In the Headmaster's office, Magneto noticed the commotion. He couldn't help but frown, but the Professor told him through his mind that everything was fine.
"You don't need to use telepathy, Charles. We are face to face."
But in the next second, a massive flood of memories belonging to Logan poured into Magneto's mind.
Several metal chess pieces began to hover around the Professor's head.
"Stop, Lorna. As I told you, Charles is not a bad man."
In the ensuing silence, Magneto pressed down the hand his youngest daughter had raised and looked at the Professor.
"Do you believe that world is truly better?"