Off the coast near New York, countless islands, big and small, dotted the sea.
One of them had been hollowed out in secret. Tunnels crisscrossed its interior, and metallic gates gleamed in the shadows—forming a massive underground base.
This was Magneto's lair.
But at the moment, the lair was completely empty—except for one small "rat" wandering leisurely through the vast metallic maze.
"No one? Seriously? Don't tell me Magneto only has two henchmen. No second-tier underlings? That's just... pathetic."
It took Jack Harper two full hours to confirm that the base was indeed deserted—a surprise he hadn't anticipated. To stay hidden, he had even jumped into the sea and swum over before his speedboat reached the island. All that effort, it turned out, had been completely unnecessary.
However, that didn't mean he could now roam freely through the base.
This place was strange.
Many pathways abruptly ended, cut off by chasms stretching over a hundred meters, with rooms visible but unreachable on the other side. Some corridors were blocked by thick iron bars, wider than a man's arm, with no doors or mechanisms in sight. Jack couldn't fathom why anyone would build so many inaccessible rooms.
In truth, these spaces weren't inaccessible—they just weren't meant for normal people. With his mastery over magnetism, Magneto could summon metal plates to bridge the gaps and twist iron bars like noodles. But without him, even his subordinates couldn't navigate the base with ease.
Fortunately, for the sake of functionality, much of the maze was still usable—including Magneto's study.
Even more fortunately, Jack Harper found something useful when he entered that study.
"Hm... schematics for some kind of machine... records on mutants from around the world... This? A schedule, a plan, a contingency protocol... Yes, this is it!" After half an hour of rummaging through Magneto's files, Jack finally found his target.
In fact, Jack Harper owed his luck to Magneto's age.
According to the movie's setting, Magneto was born in Poland before World War II. Both of his parents had died in a concentration camp, instilling in him a lifelong hatred of racial oppression—an experience that eventually turned him into an extremist and anti-human radical. Based on his birth year, he was already over eighty years old at this point in time. Although his mutant genes allowed him to retain a younger appearance, some habits couldn't be changed.
For instance, he wasn't the kind of person who enjoyed using computers like the younger generation.
Despite his ability to invent advanced machinery and his deep understanding of computer systems—he even mentored a student as skilled as Mystique—Magneto still preferred pen and paper for certain records. That worked in Jack Harper's favor. Given his outdated digital skills, there was no way he could've extracted any useful information from this world's hyper-advanced computers.
"Two-thirds of the mission complete. Now all that's left is to find Professor X?"
While Jack Harper was busy stealing information, Magneto was in the middle of an all-out battle with the X-Men.
Originally, in the movie plot, Magneto's plan to kidnap anti-mutant Senator Kelly was supposed to be a silent, surgical operation. Only Toad, who piloted the helicopter, and Mystique, who disguised herself as the senator's assistant, were supposed to be involved. Magneto and Sabretooth weren't even needed.
But thanks to the reckless actions of several rookie adventurers, the plan was prematurely exposed. Mystique was forced to act ahead of schedule, assuming multiple identities to abduct the senator from his office building and then rendezvous with her ally who had hijacked the helicopter.
Meanwhile, thanks to intel provided by veteran adventurers, Professor X caught wind of Magneto's scheme ahead of time. Using his psychic powers, he not only tracked down Senator Kelly's location but also discovered Magneto's team. He immediately dispatched the X-Men along with two veteran adventurers to intercept the villains and rescue the senator.
At the same time, the mission "Rescue Senator Kelly" appeared in the adventurers' Book of Reincarnation.
The X-Men's stealth jet, powered by advanced sci-fi technology, was far faster than any ordinary helicopter. It intercepted Magneto's team along the coastline in no time. But once the fighting began, the situation quickly turned one-sided—against the X-Men.
Unlike the comic version, the film version of X-Men used a five-tier classification for mutant powers. At the top stood Jean Grey, who would later awaken as the "Phoenix," reaching the mythical Level 5. Just below her were two Level 4 mutants: Magneto and Professor X.
In terms of raw lethality, Professor X—when using his Cerebro amplifier—could theoretically wipe out all humans on Earth in an instant. Magneto couldn't match that scale. However, in a one-on-one battle, the tide turned. Thanks to his custom-designed helmet that blocked Professor X's psychic abilities, Magneto could easily overpower him. So, until the Phoenix emerged, Magneto was unquestionably the strongest combatant in the world.
Others—Sabretooth, Storm, Cyclops—were all Level 3 at best. Against Magneto, they were like kindergarteners trying to fight a special ops soldier. There was no chance of victory. Not even with Professor X's help.
Fortunately, the arrival of two veteran adventurers, more specifically the team captain of "Eight-Winged Lyre," helped turn the tide—if only slightly.
Magneto's power was formidable, but not limitless. For one, his magnetic field range maxed out at about 200 meters, and all manipulations had to be personally controlled. If he couldn't see his target, he couldn't attack it.
So Captain Takashi of the veteran team used his sonic attack abilities from beyond 300 meters, strumming his harp from a safe distance where Magneto's powers couldn't reach. While Magneto could hurl cars or metal debris at him, those attacks posed no threat to Takashi's body, which was enhanced by the energy of a Silver Saint's Cosmos.
Takashi couldn't defeat Magneto, but he could pin him down.
Soon after, the other three veteran adventurers arrived, and the battle shifted once again.
The elven archer switched to wooden arrows, using magical projectiles to constantly disrupt Magneto's focus. A swordmaster known as "Old Blade" had come prepared with a bone-forged Dragon Fang Blade. Wearing simple robes and empowered by profound martial arts, he darted in close to Magneto in the blink of an eye. Magneto, however, was a seasoned combatant. Splitting his attention, he raised a swirling storm of metal shards to block the swordsman's approach.
As for the paladin, lacking long-range abilities, he couldn't engage directly, but he stayed back to support the team with magic.
Though the three veterans couldn't decide the battle outright, their intervention freed up the X-Men. Storm and Cyclops seized the opportunity and launched their attacks.
"I call upon the storm... I summon the thunderclouds!"
Storm—Ororo Munroe—possessed the power of weather manipulation. In some African tribes, she had even been worshipped as a goddess. Her eyes turned pure white, glowing with an eerie light. Instantly, the sky roiled with clouds, blocking out the sun. Lightning flashed and thunder cracked, slamming into the coastline like a barrage of artillery fire.
Cyclops—Scott Summers—unleashed his optic blasts, beams of concentrated energy with immense destructive force. His only weakness was lack of control; without his specialized visor, he couldn't direct his power. In the comics, he was originally the lead character, but the movies had relegated him to a side role. Often, he was rendered useless when someone knocked off his visor. But with the story now deviating from the original path, his moment to shine had finally arrived.
Storm's lightning and wind were powerful, but lacked focused precision. As long as Magneto raised a lightning rod, he could deflect them entirely. Cyclops's optic blasts, however, were a different story. Their penetration was strong enough to tear through reinforced concrete—and they reached just beyond Magneto's effective range, posing a real threat.
Of course, Magneto wasn't defenseless. After all, light was a form of electromagnetic radiation. If he exerted his full power, he could theoretically bend the path of Cyclops's optic beams using magnetic fields.
However, at the moment, he was already being bombarded from multiple directions—Storm's interference, Takashi's sonic waves, and the elf archer's relentless magical arrows. Up close, he also had to deal with the threat of the swordmaster. And to make matters worse, Professor X had psychically disabled his subordinates, leaving him isolated.
In the end, Magneto had no choice but to give up Senator Kelly in exchange for his captured comrades and retreat immediately.
Because the senator was rescued, the side mission was still marked as complete, and the five veteran adventurers received their reward. But none of them felt particularly happy about it.
Back at Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters, the adventurers were deep in discussion.
Captain Takashi turned to the elven archer. "Sayuri, what kind of ripple effect do you think this deviation will cause in the main storyline?"
Sayuri, who often acted as the strategist of the team, paused for a moment before responding. "Since we confronted Magneto head-on to rescue the senator, we didn't take any shortcuts. From an effort-versus-reward standpoint, it shouldn't trigger any karmic backlash from this world. However, from a plot perspective, Senator Kelly's death—while not absolutely essential—was still an important event. Without being captured and experimented on, he won't return with Magneto's plan. More importantly, he won't die from the flawed machine, which means no one will realize the device has a fatal flaw."
"So what?" grunted the druid, now in his human form—a burly, white-haired man. "Even if no one knows how dangerous the machine is, do you think the X-Men wouldn't stop Magneto? Don't forget, that machine needs Rogue as its power source."
Sayuri shook her head and replied, "But what if they never manage to kidnap Rogue?"
Takashi frowned. "What are you saying?"
"I'm saying that now the plot has changed," Sayuri said with concern. "We've already fought Magneto. The X-Men now know about Mystique's powers. There's no way they'll leave Rogue unguarded. So Magneto's chance to abduct her has drastically decreased. If he fails, he might just decide to sacrifice himself to operate the machine. And if no one knows the machine is lethal, what reason would the X-Men have to stop him?"
The room fell silent.
Through the movie, all the adventurers knew Magneto's ultimate plan: to use his custom-built electromagnetic device to emit a special radiation that would turn the entire population of New York—including the world leaders gathering there—into mutants.
In the original plot, the X-Men were determined to stop him for two main reasons: first, the machine was unstable and caused genetic breakdown, killing its subjects shortly after transformation; second, the machine drained Magneto's life force during operation. That's why he planned to transfer his powers to Rogue, who could absorb mutant abilities, and have her operate it instead—at the cost of her life.
If the plot had proceeded according to the film, the X-Men's mission was morally justified. But now, with the changes, what if Magneto chose to sacrifice himself? Would the X-Men still have a reason to intervene?
Most mutants had suffered rejection and discrimination their whole lives. If suddenly millions more mutants appeared—especially among global leaders—mutants would shift from a marginalized minority to an empowered minority group, like African Americans or Jews. Could the X-Men truly object to that future?
Maybe Professor X would worry about the consequences of such drastic change. But the younger mutants might not think the same way.
"Can't we just tell Professor X the machine is dangerous?" the paladin asked.
Sayuri sighed. "We have no proof. We haven't even seen the machine. If we try to pass it off as a prophecy, there's no guarantee he'll believe it. And the Lord God blocks us from revealing any information about the 'Infinite Space.' Even if we try to speak the truth, the locals will instantly forget it. That's why we can only vaguely hint at certain things—we can't let them realize their world is a movie."
Takashi stood and took a few steps, lowering his voice. "Then… are you saying we might have to help Magneto kidnap Rogue?"
"If we have no other choice, then yes," Sayuri said with a grim expression. "We'll be exposing ourselves and probably making enemies of the X-Men, but it can't be helped. What worries me more is—what if Magneto changes his plan entirely?"
"In the film, he only managed to kidnap Rogue because Professor X didn't know who the target was. He played the timing perfectly. Otherwise, even threatening innocent lives wouldn't have convinced Professor X to let her go. But this time, those five rookie idiots spilled the beans to Mystique. We don't know exactly what they said, but Magneto probably knows his plan has been compromised. He might not risk an all-out war with Professor X just to get Rogue. And if he doesn't intend to abduct her anymore, what then? Are we going to kidnap her ourselves and hand her over? He'd probably kill us first."
While the veteran adventurers were deep in anxiety, Jack Harper wasn't worried—he was terrified.
A furious Magneto had returned to his lair after the mission failure. Even before the helicopter landed, he noticed the speedboat moored near the island. With his experience, it took him only a moment to realize what had happened.
"It seems a little rat has snuck into our home," he said with a cruel smile forming on his weathered face. "Go find him."
At the boss's command, his three henchmen sprang into action.
Despite hearing the sound of the approaching helicopter and trying to hide, Jack was facing three superpowered enemies—who were also intimately familiar with every inch of the base. Moreover, the place was devoid of furniture or debris to use for cover. Within ten minutes, he was caught.
"Ahem… gentlemen, allow me to explain. I just happened to stumble upon that boat, and by complete coincidence, I found this fascinating island. Driven by curiosity, I wandered in to take a look. I didn't steal anything, I swear. I'm just a clueless trespasser. Honestly, if you want, you can call the police and—okay, okay, no need for the death glare. I admit I broke in. Feel free to arrest me…"
Jack desperately tried to distract Magneto with chatter, but it was clearly ineffective. The man who had been planning the destruction of New York merely turned away and said coldly, "We happen to need a test subject. Sabretooth, bring him over. Let's see if he can become one of us."
Soon after, Jack Harper was strapped to a large metallic device.
The silver machine looked like a two-story pavilion built entirely out of metal.
Jack was tied to a chair about thirty meters away from the base of the device.
He had never seen the movie and didn't know what was coming—but at that moment, it didn't matter. Magneto had stepped onto the lower platform of the machine and was now being raised to the upper level. There, a semi-circular steel beam arched overhead, locking into place with an inner ring more than two meters in diameter. Magneto stood right in the center of that steel ring.
"Just curious—what exactly are you trying to do?" Jack asked nervously. The cold metallic chamber and the silver apparatus reminded him of that hellish laboratory where he had been frozen for ten years.
Magneto shook his head. "I've always believed that mutants are a divine gift to this world. Unfortunately, too few have received this gift—and so they suffer. I intend to take more of those gifts from God's pocket and share them with all of humanity."
Jack blinked. "Sorry, uh… you kind of lost me there. What gift are you talking about, exactly?"
Magneto smiled proudly. "Don't worry—you'll understand very soon."
With that, he placed both hands on the circular handles of the machine.
A low hum filled the air. Several discs mounted on the curved steel beam began to glow one by one. The massive ring surrounding Magneto started to spin rapidly. Some unseen force surged through the device, warping even Magneto's face with its intensity.
Then, from the top and bottom of the apparatus, streams of liquid mercury-like energy began to unfold, like two ghostly midnight orchids blooming in opposite directions. When the twin silver auras met and fused, their expansion exploded a hundredfold, forming a curtain of light like an aurora. The shimmering wave surged outward, engulfing the entire island in seconds.
What happened next, Jack Harper could barely remember—because the moment that silvery tide washed over him, he plunged headfirst into the transformation of his own body.
A tremor—one that came from his body, his blood, his cells, and even his genes—overtook him.
Jack Harper had never experienced anything like it.
In that instant, it felt as if every one of his 700 trillion cells had suddenly awakened, erupting together in a symphony of life, each one shining like a star in the night.
Jack didn't know how to describe the sensation, but he felt as if an ancient and sorrowful tapestry was unraveling at high speed within his body. Fragments of imagery—strange beasts, desolate landscapes, surging rivers, searing lights—flashed before his consciousness like a flood. These were not things he could understand. Most of the impressions weren't even visual, but raw emotion: joy, sorrow, hope, pain, greed, courage, rage… all of it crashing over him, faster than he could process. It was like compressing the experience of millions of years into just a few minutes.
He couldn't grasp the meaning. He couldn't even remember what exactly he had felt.
But the impact of it etched itself deeply into his soul.
As the shock faded, a strange new feeling rose up from within him.
A cold, subtle stream seemed to trickle outward from inside his body. Each thread was faint, nearly undetectable, but they flowed continuously. Jack couldn't see them, but in his mind's eye, he imagined hundreds of faint blue filaments shimmering gently as they spread through his body.
The icy touch of these currents made Jack uncomfortable—it reminded him of his ten long years spent frozen in cryostasis. But while his mind recoiled, his body did not. His cells quickly adapted to the new cold. The streams didn't harm him; in fact, they seemed to cleanse him. Wherever the icy energy passed, his cells felt clearer, sharper. Slowly, the pale blue currents deepened into a rich navy blue, darker and seemingly without end.
And that wasn't all.
When the cold streams reached his heart, they awakened something else—something far more sinister.
That thing—an eerie, necrotic energy—had been lying dormant in Jack's chest ever since he entered this mission world. It came from the cursed sword "Frostmourne"—a chilling, spectral force that had embedded itself within his heart. Jack had, through sheer will and years of cryogenic adaptation, grown used to the near-heart-attack-level pain it caused. But that didn't mean he had escaped its influence.
This alien energy was cold too, but in a completely different way from the serene icy streams. It was chaotic and violent, and though it had no shape, Jack's mind instinctively visualized it as a howling, emerald-green skull wreathed in ghostfire.
The moment the navy-blue currents touched the skull, a clash erupted.
The previously gentle streams turned aggressive, lunging toward the green energy with deadly precision. It was like a school of sharks surrounding a massive whale—while individually weak, the blue currents had numbers on their side. Backed by the full force of Jack's body, they began to overwhelm the green aura. Every time the frost energy touched the cursed soulfire, it tore a chunk off and carried it away, swirling the corrupted energy through Jack's body until it re-purified itself into navy-blue frost.
As the struggle continued, the green skull shrank and dimmed, its emerald glow gradually turning a deep sapphire. Eventually, it compressed into a marble-sized orb nestled near Jack's heart, indistinguishable in color from the other frost currents. No longer an enemy—it now acted as a command core, with every stream of icy power flowing back into it like a nest.
Only then did Jack Harper's mutation settle.
He felt… like a polar bear submerged in the Arctic Ocean—cold, yes, but also completely at ease.
As night fell over New York, the adventurers of the "Eight-Winged Lyre" gathered for dinner.
Between bites, they continued their earlier discussion. Then, one of the two remaining rookies—a young man—turned to the elven archer and asked, "Sayuri, in the movie, didn't Magneto's machine give regular people superpowers? Can't we use it to make ourselves stronger?"
Sayuri hadn't yet responded when the druid gave a cold snort and cut in, "Don't be stupid. Did you forget how Senator Kelly died in the movie?"
But the female rookie chimed in as well, "Still, the movie only showed one test subject. And we're different from people in this world, right? Isn't there a chance it could work for us?"
Compared to the veterans, these newcomers clearly longed for power. After witnessing the terrifying abilities of Magneto and Professor X, their desire for strength had only grown. Though they weren't mutants, the mere thought that there was a machine capable of turning ordinary people into mutants was too tempting to ignore.
The paladin, however, poured cold water on their enthusiasm. "I'd advise you to forget it. This movie's been out for years. Plenty of teams have run this mission before. Some even stole Magneto's powers and took the entire machine back to run tests—but the results were disappointing."
He continued calmly, "That machine has at least three major flaws. First, the death rate: over 80% of test subjects die from genetic rejection. Second, the power gain: even among survivors, the resulting ability is always at Level 1—completely random, and often useless. Over 90% of them end up with trash abilities. Third, compatibility: mutant genes don't play well with other types. Sayuri's elven bloodline, for instance, is incompatible. Even other superhero bloodlines—Spider-Man, Hulk, Captain America, the Fantastic Four—they can't coexist with mutant powers. One will always cancel out the other. That's why very few adventurers bother using that machine. If anything, the artificial mutation tech in X-Men II had a slightly larger market."
"Then… does the subject's physical condition affect their chances of survival?" the female rookie asked, still not giving up.
"No formal statistics, but there doesn't seem to be much difference," the paladin replied seriously. "At most, regular bloodlines can boost a basic stat to 100, give or take a little. Beyond that, you'd have to switch to a new bloodline altogether—which would almost certainly conflict with mutant DNA. So I wouldn't count on it. Of course, it's your life. If you still want to try, we won't stop you. Just don't expect miracles."
What none of them knew was that the "useless burden" they had left behind had already passed through the deadly trial of mutant transformation—and survived.
When Jack Harper woke up, he had no idea how much time had passed. He was no longer in front of the machine, but imprisoned inside a spacious, empty cell.
The cell was about a few dozen square meters in size, with a circular door and window—each sealed off by bars as thick as a grown man's arm. There were no visible hinges or locking mechanisms. Jack had already seen Magneto's ability to manipulate metal firsthand, so he figured only Magneto himself could open those exits.
But at that moment, Jack was more concerned with something else—his own transformation.
He immediately opened the Book of Reincarnation. As he had hoped, his status had changed:
Name: Jack Harper
Identity: Rookie
Battle Evaluation: None
Base Attributes:
Strength (Physical Capacity): 23 / 200
Agility (Nerve Response): 25 / 200
Intelligence (Cognitive Capacity): 77 / 200
Vitality (Cell Activity): 84 / 200
Bloodline:
Level 1 Mutant (Low-tier Iron) – Result of radiation-based gene mutation from X-Men I
Initial Cold Energy Reserve: 100 points/day
Abilities:
Touch of Frost (Mid-tier Iron):
Causes objects touched by the palm to drop to –50°C.
Consumes 50 cold energy per use.
Equipment: None
"Attribute caps doubled… Strength and Agility didn't change, but Intelligence went up by 10, and Vitality jumped by 70. Not bad," Jack murmured to himself, looking over the stats. "But this bloodline and ability... freezing things to –50°C? That's like Siberia in winter—not exactly lethal. I guess it's only rated Iron-tier for a reason."
He recalled what the veterans had told him: in most worlds, powers were roughly ranked into four tiers—Iron, Bronze, Silver, and Gold. Each tier had three sub-levels: low, mid, and high. This mission had a total world rating of "Low Silver," meaning the final boss—Magneto—was classified at that level.
The same applied to mutants.
Level 1 mutants generally aligned with Low Iron, Level 2 with High Iron, Level 3 with Mid Bronze, Level 4 with Low Silver, and Level 5 with High Silver. (According to X-Men III, even Jean Grey as the Phoenix didn't reach city-wiping capability, so still within Silver.)
That said, this bloodline rating was more of an average. A mutant's actual abilities could be ranked higher or lower depending on their utility and drawbacks. For instance, Magneto and Professor X were both immensely powerful in their respective domains, but physically fragile. If an enemy could bypass their powers, they were easy to kill. That's why power ratings often exceeded bloodline ratings.
Still, Jack wasn't satisfied.
Even so, he stood up—ready to test his new ability. After all, a superpower, no matter how weak, was still a superpower. For someone from a normal world, that alone was incredible.
Jack pressed his hand against the thick metal bars of the window and focused.
Almost instantly, he felt the deep-blue frost energy surging toward his palm. Dozens of streams converged, and a layer of white frost bloomed across the bars, spreading rapidly. In less than a second, the entire window was coated in a thick layer of frost, turning all the bars stark white.
Then, on a whim, he gave a gentle push—and heard a crisp crack.
The bars—each as thick as an arm—snapped clean in half.
Chunks of steel clattered to the ground, scattering like broken icicles.
Jack Harper stood frozen, eyes wide in disbelief.
"What the hell...? Steel doesn't snap like that at minus fifty. This has to be... what, minus two hundred degrees?"
He was starting to realize something: the listed "–50°C" must have referred to the pale-blue energy he'd first developed. The current deep-blue frost was likely a second-stage mutation.
He was half right.
Jack had already guessed that his power had undergone a secondary mutation.
And he was right on both counts.
If he hadn't spent ten years frozen in a cryogenic chamber at nearly absolute zero, with his cells exposed to prolonged electromagnetic fields, then his body would have rejected the mutant radiation completely—resulting in a swift and gruesome death, just like Senator Kelly in the film, who melted into a puddle after gaining jellyfish-like powers.
Fortunately, Jack's newly awakened ability was cold-based.
Thanks to his unique physiology—conditioned by years of sub-zero hibernation—his cells had no problem accepting the electromagnetic radiation and the new cold-energy gene. Instead of resisting, his body embraced it and even enhanced it. That's why an ability originally capped at –50°C had now mutated into something that could freeze steel at –200°C or lower.
But that was only half the story.
The other half came from the icy necrotic energy still lingering in Jack's heart—the cursed soul residue of the demon sword Frostmourne.
That soul-bound chill had significantly boosted his energy capacity and regeneration rate. What was once a once-or-twice-a-day ability could now be used dozens of times in rapid succession. And the eerie soul energy hadn't just expanded his capacity—it had also quietly altered the nature of his power in ways he had yet to discover.
Had the man who killed Jack—the son of his enemy, Qian Tang—used the original version of Frostmourne instead of a diluted projection, Jack would have turned into an ice corpse seconds after entering this world. He never would've had the chance to absorb and refine the sword's ghostly power.
In truth, Jack's current strength might not match elite mutants like Cyclops or Storm, but it already rivaled that of a typical Level 2 mutant.
And because these abilities had awakened before he formally entered the Infinite Space system, the Book of Reincarnation hadn't even factored them into his profile.
Which meant that, officially speaking, Jack Harper was still just a rookie.
With his newfound powers, Jack Harper naturally began contemplating escape.
However, Magneto's prison was insidiously designed. Both the door and the window of the cell opened out into a sheer cliffside—hundreds of meters straight down. Below was the raging sea, its waves crashing violently against jagged rocks.
Sure, Jack could now freeze and shatter steel bars, but there was no way he'd survive a fall like that. Even if he somehow did, he had serious doubts about swimming back to New York. The speedboat ride alone had taken more than two hours—it had to be at least several dozen kilometers. He wasn't even confident about his swimming skills in a pool, let alone open ocean. Worst case? He might just end up swimming all the way to Europe.
In the original film, Senator Kelly only managed to escape because of sheer luck—he missed the nearby rocks when he fell, and his mutant power of "jellyfish transformation" gave him a squishy, boneless body that absorbed the impact and let him swim like a pro across the ocean.
As Jack was racking his brains for a solution, fate gave him no time to act.
Magneto was coming.
He appeared exactly like the final boss of a game—confident and commanding. He didn't care that the walkway outside the prison cell was a vertical cliff. Instead, he simply stepped out into the air.
With every stride, several one-meter-square metal plates flew out from the rock walls on either side, forming a seamless path beneath his feet. The plates locked into place in perfect rhythm, creating a hovering bridge with theatrical flair.
Jack couldn't help but click his tongue from inside the cell. "Tch. Dude's almost eighty years old and still showing off."
Magneto, of course, remained unaffected by Jack's sarcasm. He stopped in front of the cell and gave a casual wave. The dozen thick iron bars blocking the entrance twisted and curled aside like soft clay, opening a path.
"Hello, my friend," he said warmly. "Have you become one of us yet—"
His words caught in his throat as his eyes fell on the scene inside.
Then he smiled, even more pleased than before. "Ah, it seems I don't need to ask. Welcome, brother. Welcome to your new family."
During Jack's earlier experimentation, the intense –200°C frost had shattered the window bars, and the cold had spread across half the room, turning it into a small glacier. It was obvious at a glance—Jack Harper had successfully mutated.
"What exactly do you want from me?" Jack asked warily. "So what if I borrowed your boat? Are you planning to keep me locked up here forever?"
Magneto shook his head with a chuckle. "No, no, my dear brother. I would never imprison you. You represent the dawn of a new era."
"What does that even mean?" Jack played dumb—despite already having read through Magneto's files. He still needed to act the part.
Sure enough, in his excitement, Magneto began to speak freely—sharing far more than Jack expected. From his childhood trauma in the Holocaust, to his rise as a mutant revolutionary, to the construction of his machine and the plan to unleash it during the upcoming world summit—Magneto laid everything bare. He even revealed more detail than Jack had gleaned from the documents.
"So then, Mr. Lensherr," Jack said slowly, using Magneto's real surname—Erik Magnus Lensherr. "Are you planning to use me to help activate the device?"
"No," Magneto replied. "I want you to help me persuade an old friend."
As he spoke, his gaze drifted beyond the broken window—past the ocean, toward the distant city skyline of New York.
"Persuade who?" Jack asked, though he already had a good idea.
"Charles Xavier," Magneto said.
"Most people call him Professor X."
When Jack Harper knocked on the gates of Xavier's School, the veterans were already on high alert. The recent plot deviation had left everyone anxious and unable to sleep or eat properly. Although Wolverine had finally awakened—and as expected, he'd lashed out in a nightmare and accidentally clawed Rogue—the aftermath hadn't unfolded as scripted. Rogue, in a near-death state, had activated her gene absorption ability, siphoning off Wolverine's healing factor to recover. But the cost was steep: the drained Wolverine slipped back into a coma.
This incident was supposed to be a crucial turning point. Next, Mystique would impersonate Rogue's boyfriend, Iceman, and lure her out of the school—setting up Magneto's abduction attempt. But for the past day, nothing had gone according to plan. Wolverine woke up, Mystique didn't show, and Rogue remained on campus, isolated and drowning in guilt.
Instead of an infiltration, they got something far stranger. The person who appeared… was a former discard.
"You found us?" the Paladin asked in surprise. Of all the veterans, he was the most sympathetic toward newcomers—he'd even given Jack cash and supplies before leaving him behind.
"Uh… well, technically, I came here with Magneto," Jack said awkwardly, stepping aside to reveal the boss behind him—Magneto himself.
In that instant, all conversation ceased.
The villainous figure of the mission world, the one everyone expected to clash with Xavier, had walked straight into the school.
Was this a declaration of war?
None of the veterans had expected this. Magneto—the main antagonist of their mission world—had walked straight into Xavier's School. Was he here to declare war?
They were uneasy. The last time they'd crossed paths with Magneto, their victory was thanks to a lucky alignment of events: tight coordination with the X-Men, a hasty enemy withdrawal, and Professor X's psychic intervention that neutralized Magneto's subordinates. Even then, they hadn't managed to hurt him.
This time could be different.
"Charles, my old friend," Magneto called out warmly, ignoring the tense veterans and wary X-Men. "I'd like to talk. I imagine you're just as curious about my intentions."
"Let them in," came the gentle voice of Professor X—broadcasted directly into their minds.
Inside Xavier's meeting room, Charles Xavier and Magneto sat face to face.
Magneto made no attempt to hide anything. He allowed Jack Harper to speak first, laying out their plans for Professor X. Then he continued: "If my plan succeeds, mutant numbers will rise from the mere thousands to over ten million. And more importantly, they'll emerge as entire families—genetic lines bound by shared evolution. We've discussed this before: mutants lack power not just because we're few, but because we emerge in isolation. Often, the first to reject us are our own families. But if whole households awaken as mutants, we'll have roots. We'll become an elite race—leaders of a new world."
Professor X paused in thought, then shook his head. "I disagree. Mutant rights must be earned through compassion and understanding. Dragging innocents into our struggle will only breed resentment, not unity."
Magneto scoffed. "Hatred's already here, Charles. You know that. They'll learn the truth soon enough: the world won't accept them. When there's no other choice, they'll join us—not out of loyalty, but out of necessity."
The debate between Magneto and Professor X grew fierce, lasting nearly twenty minutes. The X-Men were left stunned, watching as two legendary figures—once friends, now ideological foes—clashed with unwavering conviction.
Yet for Jack Harper and the other veterans, this exchange revealed something more: Magneto wasn't just a villain. He was a visionary. Half idealist, half martyr, with barely any personal desires—every word he spoke was for mutant freedom. His methods may be radical, but his goal was noble. A thought began to creep into their minds: What if our mission was to help Magneto instead? Wouldn't that be simpler? More meaningful?
Eventually, both elders fell silent.
"Well, that's enough of that," Professor X said, exhaling. "We've debated this for decades. Neither of us will be convinced."
"But I will still try to stop you," he added. "Not only because I reject your morality, not only because I distrust your machine—but because the chaos your plan will unleash is unacceptable. A sudden surge of mutants won't just cause panic—it will trigger catastrophe."
He turned to the X-Men. "Very few of us had control when our powers awakened. Storm was lucky. But Scott… his optic blasts kept him from opening his eyes for years. Rogue had to run away after nearly killing someone. As for Jean…"
He looked toward Magneto. "You know better than anyone what happened then."
"Imagine ten million awakening mutants in New York. Even if one thousand of them have unstable, destructive powers like Scott's… we'd see tens of thousands dead, hundreds of thousands injured, and mass chaos rippling through the city. Looting, arson, murder—it would be a disaster unlike anything we've faced."
Magneto shook his head, amused. "Chaos? Charles, with your mental amplifier, you could suppress the emotions of ten million New Yorkers if you had to. Don't pretend it's impossible."
"I already said—I won't support you," Professor X replied firmly.
Still smiling, Magneto leaned in. "But if I succeed, you'll help me anyway. Whether you want to or not."
Silence fell between them. They both knew he was right. If Magneto truly went through with his plan, Charles would have no choice but to intervene and clean up the mess—for the good of mutants and humanity alike.
"You claim to care about mutants," Elf Archer Sayuri interjected sharply. "But you were willing to sacrifice Rogue to power that machine. Do you think Professor X would stand by and watch you kill his student?"
Magneto chuckled. "Initially, yes—I intended to use her. A single city's awakening wouldn't shift the balance. I needed her power, and a display of strength to deter retaliation." He glanced at Jack. "You know how unpredictable humans can be. A frightened senator might reach for a nuclear button. I needed a deterrent."
Captain Takashi frowned. "Even so, there's no reason to sacrifice Rogue."
"Who said anything about sacrificing her?" Magneto raised an eyebrow. "Sure, the machine drains life when operating at full power. Anyone under level five would be killed. But Rogue is unique. She doesn't just absorb my power—she can draw from others too."
He looked toward Wolverine. Everyone paused, suddenly grasping the implication. In the original film, Wolverine had saved Rogue by transferring his own vitality. If she drained too much, even he might have died. But now, Magneto had other plans.
Sayuri's voice sharpened. "You're just replacing Rogue's death with Wolverine's. How is that better?"
"If there were only one Wolverine, perhaps. But what if there were two?" Magneto said calmly. "Don't forget—Sabretooth has the same regeneration ability. If both of them transferred half their life force, Rogue could power the machine without dying. And they would survive too."
With just a few words, Magneto flipped the entire situation. In the original film, the plot had been clumsy—Rogue was nearly sacrificed, Mystique and Toad were defeated, and Magneto ended up captured after a one-sided battle. But here and now, things were different.
This version of Magneto was calm, calculating, and terrifyingly persuasive. With a few adjustments to his plan, he had removed the X-Men's moral high ground. Even if Professor X refused to support him, the rest of the team couldn't justify waging war against a man who no longer intended to kill.
His machine, once a symbol of destruction, had become a beacon for mutant ascendancy. With Wolverine and Sabretooth supplying life force, Rogue wouldn't die. No innocent lives would be lost. All that remained was a monumental transformation—and a tremor of fear from those who opposed it.
Every veteran in the room turned pale. They understood all too well: the situation had officially spiraled. Magneto wasn't just altering the plot—he was rewriting the rules.
In the original storyline, Magneto was defeated by emotion, arrogance, and poor planning. But this time, he had adapted—and that made all the difference.
Sayuri's voice was sharp. "You're still sacrificing someone. It doesn't matter if you split the cost between Wolverine and Sabretooth. It's still wrong."
Magneto responded evenly. "If one life must be used entirely, it's a tragedy. But if two lives contribute equally without loss—then it's cooperation. Rogue survives, the machine operates, and no one dies."
His words left the room in stunned silence.
Because he was right. In this version of events, the old Magneto—impulsive and reckless—was gone. This new version had logic, foresight, and persuasion.
If Professor X refused to help, Magneto wouldn't force him. He'd simply move ahead alone. And the X-Men, confronted with a plan that no longer required bloodshed, might not stop him.
Everyone in the room realized the same thing at once: Magneto didn't need their permission anymore. He had rewritten the game.