~Battery Park, Manhattan~
An unremarkable middle-aged man carrying a black briefcase weaved through the bustling streets, turning into a narrow, shadowy alley...
Following a memorized route, he arrived at an old building hidden deep in the neighborhood. He pressed the doorbell, and after a moment, a small window slid open, revealing a wary face.
"Who are you looking for?"
"Mutant and proud!" The man answered coldly, like a Cold War-era spy exchanging code phrases.
With a loud...
*Clang!*
...the reinforced iron door swung open. The man strode in without hesitation.
The moment he crossed the threshold, the plain-looking middle-aged man transformed...
Beneath the black trench coat emerged a curvaceous blue figure... Mystique sauntered through the century-old building, occasionally passing by odd-looking individuals...
These were Magneto's recruits, each possessing unique superhuman abilities.
*BAM!*
A hulking figure crashed at Mystique's feet like a cannonball. She paused, recognizing the dim-witted Sabretooth, Victor Creed... The feral brute had clearly provoked their temperamental leader yet again...
Upstairs, a cacophony of clashing metal echoed through the halls. Mystique glanced at Toad, who was crouched in the corridor.
Erik rarely lost his temper like this... she couldn't imagine who had managed to enrage the mighty Magneto.
Swaying her hips, Mystique ascended the stairs. Magneto's private room was in chaos... papers scattered like snowflakes, metal furniture overturned. The architect of this destruction stood rigidly before a computer, silent as a statue.
"What happened, Erik?" asked Mystique
Magneto suppressed his fury. Only a handful of people in the world dared to address him so familiarly...
"If humanity wants war, then I'll give them war!" The helmeted elder's voice was icy. The computer screen displayed news articles about mutants being captured, tortured, and subjected to illegal experiments.
Mystique stepped forward, skimming the reports. Her yellow eyes flickered with rage, her pupils dilating as she absorbed the horrific images of their kind strapped to operating tables, treated like livestock...
Hatred burned through her, a searing pain gnawing at her heart, "Erik..."
"This is why Charles and I parted ways. He insists on seeing the good in humanity, dreaming of peaceful coexistence between mutants and humans on this planet..."
Magneto's composure returned, his lips curling into a sneer, "...He forgets, or refuses to admit that no species tolerates outsiders, especially those who threaten them. This isn't mere discrimination. It's a battle for survival! Mutants deserve better than to be hunted, shunned, forced into hiding like rats in the sewers!"
"...We are neither freaks nor monsters... we are the next step in evolution, proud of our innate gifts! This time, I will force the world to acknowledge us. Not even Charles can stop me!"
Magneto's voice swelled with fervor. After lying dormant for half a century, he believed the time had come. Mutants would no longer cower in the shadows, they would take the stage and make their voices heard!
The world leaders' summit on Liberty Island was the perfect opportunity. Magneto had designed a mutation-inducing device capable of transforming ordinary humans into mutants... though the violent process would destabilize their DNA, killing at least half of them.
But the mutant leader, who harbored deep hatred for humanity, couldn't care less. This was his warning... mutants were not helpless prey, but lions with sharp claws, while humans were the feeble lambs.
"Perhaps we can deliver our message another way... one that strikes fear without inviting annihilation."
Magneto stared at the screen, memories flooding back... the horrors of Auschwitz, the constant fear of the gas chambers, the officers who treated Jews like cattle to be slaughtered. It was the darkest period of Erik's life, one that forged his unyielding resolve.
He had been spared only because a Nazi scientist, Sebastian Shaw, recognized his potential. To awaken Erik's powers, Shaw executed his mother before his eyes. The overwhelming rage unlocked his magnetic abilities, birthing the legend of Magneto.
Before meeting his lifelong friend-and-foe, Charles Xavier, Erik lived only for vengeance. After killing Shaw, he fought for his people, ironically embracing his enemy's vision... a world where mutants thrived.
"I always thought attacking Liberty Island was too risky. Killing world leaders would make mutants global enemies. But targeting Worthington? That's different. Governments might rage, but it won't trigger all-out war."
Mystique rested a hand on Erik's shoulder. As part of the Liberty Island plot, she had infiltrated the government, securing attendee lists and security details.
Though one of Magneto's most trusted allies, she disagreed with his plan. Massacring world leaders wouldn't improve mutants' plight, it would only invite brutal retaliation, shattering the fragile peace that Charles had painstakingly maintained...
"You're right. Now isn't the time for open war." Magneto conceded, sighing, "Raven, you're still so young... while Charles and I have grown old."
Mystique fell silent. The proud, fiery Magneto of her memories had become a wrinkled elder... He was still mighty, but undeniably aged.
"Charles and I chose different paths, but our goal was the same... to see our people live freely, without fear or shame." Nostalgia flickered in Magneto's eyes.
Few could imagine that half a century ago, he and Professor X had fought side by side as brothers.
Shaking off the sentiment, his expression hardened like steel:
"Worthington's destruction will serve as a warning... mutants are not lambs to be slaughtered!"