What was the fastest thing in the world? Light?
If Xiang Qian were asked, he'd tell you it was the human mind. A single thought could cross millions of light-years in an instant.
At the professor's thought, the attacker's dagger stopped right in front of him, unable to advance another fraction. The woman frozen in front of the professor was a Latina in her twenties.
The professor shifted his gaze. As he fixed his eyes on Magneto, the Latina attacker struck back at Magneto just as swiftly.
Magneto casually waved a hand. The cars around him instantly fell apart, their passengers tumbling out and rolling across the ground as cries of pain rang out. The wrecked car parts seemed to come alive, piling up in dense layers to form a metal wall that trapped the out-of-control Latina inside.
Magneto looked at his old friend with some exasperation. Mind control was an unbeatable bug on the battlefield. Without a way to counter it, any ally could be turned in an instant and made to point their gun at their own side.
The original plan had been to use Nightcrawler's speed for a surprise attack, but even that couldn't outrun the professor's thoughts. One misstep, and she had become a weapon in the other side's hands.
Just then, Juggernaut got back to his feet. With his metal helmet, he was the only one besides Magneto immune to the professor's mind control.
The laser beams had burned Juggernaut's clothes to shreds, leaving his chest and back charred black. But the giant had a terrifyingly powerful vitality, and his burns were healing almost every moment.
Juggernaut ignored Scott, who was still firing laser beams. In the giant's eyes, there was only the brother he had hated since childhood.
"Charles!" His ground-shaking charge began again.
Even the laser beams couldn't stop Juggernaut's unstoppable charge.
"Logan!" Beast, who had been guarding Scott, shouted, warning Logan to protect the professor. Beast himself braced to pull Scott away at a moment's notice.
Magneto and Juggernaut alone had already put them at a decisive disadvantage, attacking from both sides.
Scott roared and pushed the laser beams to full power, but could only watch as Juggernaut rushed straight toward him without slowing even a step.
At the critical moment, a hulking figure shoved through the crowd, his body gleaming silver-gray. Risking an accidental hit from the laser beams, he charged straight into Juggernaut and wrapped his arms around his waist.
For the first time, Juggernaut slowed down.
The tremendous impact drove Colossus Piotr's legs deep into the ground, but he managed to halt Juggernaut's advance. He had been standing guard near the Blackbird and had rushed over after hearing the news to back up the professor and the others.
Juggernaut and Colossus began a savage wrestling match. With Scott's laser beams backing him up, Colossus, who had been at a disadvantage, clung stubbornly to Juggernaut.
The situation seemed to have reached a stalemate, but everyone on the X-Men's side knew that Magneto had the advantage.
In the city's steel jungle, Magneto's destructive power was unmatched. The professor's psychic powers had no effect on Magneto, while Wolverine's metal-laced skeleton was naturally vulnerable to him.
Beast returned to the professor's side in time. He gripped the wheelchair handles, ready to get the professor out of there at any moment.
No one else appeared on Magneto's side. Perhaps they, too, knew that having more people wasn't an advantage against the professor.
"Erik, we need to talk," the professor said calmly, facing his old friend.
Magneto's expression was as dark as water. "Charles, leave San Francisco. Go back to your school."
"I can't let you hurt an innocent child, Erik!" the professor pleaded. "Please, calm down. Let's talk. There's no need for you to resort to violence, let alone kill anyone."
Magneto remained unmoved. "I've never wanted to spill the blood of my fellow mutants, but there are more people who need protecting."
As the two old friends argued in the street, two men in a penthouse suite high above were also trading words.
"Director, aren't you going to help? I've seen plenty of casualties at the scene. The people of San Francisco need S.H.I.E.L.D." Xiang Qian needled the dark-skinned director standing beside him.
Nick Fury shot back sarcastically, "I'm just an agent no one trusts. What could I possibly do? S.H.I.E.L.D. has no jurisdiction over mutant affairs. You should take that up with General Ross."
"Oh, wow, so this is S.H.I.E.L.D.'s so-called spirit of cooperation!"
"Don't trust Nick Fury. That's a universal consensus, transcending differences in race, bloodline, and class." Nick Fury delivered the line with theatrical gusto, repeating Xiang Qian's own words.
Xiang Qian wasn't bothered by the director's retort. "Your actions have certainly deepened my understanding of Fury's behavioral patterns." Another baffling phrase slipped from Xiang Qian's mouth, and at the same time he quietly switched on the Electronic Bracelet on his wrist.
Nick Fury didn't notice Xiang Qian's little move. He continued to taunt him. "I thought this was when you were supposed to step in. You're a major participant in this incident, after all. And, most importantly, even Wolverine Logan trusts you more."
"Not surprising. Logan often trusts the wrong people, which is why he's had bad luck his whole life." Xiang Qian wore an utterly shameless expression as he looked at the dark-skinned director with a faint smile. "Besides, I'm an unarmed civilian businessman. How could I possibly help them?"
"The only ones capable of helping them are S.H.I.E.L.D., like those snipers and assault teams you stationed all around us."
As if to back up Xiang Qian's words, before Nick Fury could react, a flash of gunfire suddenly flared from the roof of a nearby building. A large-caliber armor-piercing sniper round shot straight toward Magneto's face.
An ordinary metal bullet stopped less than half a foot in front of Magneto. Its tip was still spinning rapidly, but it couldn't move forward another inch. Only when the bullet stopped did the explosive crack of the gunshot finally reach them.
Xiang Qian's smile widened. Nick Fury stared in stunned disbelief.
Magneto, who had been delivering a final warning to the professor, held the bullet aloft in one hand and turned his gaze toward the rooftop it had come from, his eyes blazing with cold fury. With a flick of two fingers, he sent the bullet back along its original trajectory.
At the crack of the sniper rifle, dozens of fully armed soldiers appeared around the street almost simultaneously and opened fire on Magneto. Sniper rifles also roared continuously from several distant buildings.
Everyone was targeting Magneto.
"Motherfucker!" Nick Fury watched the situation spiral completely out of control in an instant, his fury mixed with shock.
Xiang Qian, on the other hand, watched the dark-skinned director's rare loss of composure with interest.
"Did you do this?" Nick Fury was so enraged that he almost instinctively singled out the culprit. He reached into his pocket and pulled out his tactical communicator, which he had removed earlier to show the professor basic courtesy.
Xiang Qian smiled mockingly. "Director, you need proof before you make accusations. I've been in this room the whole time. I haven't gone anywhere or done anything. The director of S.H.I.E.L.D. can vouch for me."
Nick Fury had no time to argue with Xiang Qian. He hurriedly put on his communicator, but all he heard in his earpiece was crackling static. Nothing else.
The communications had been cut.
Nick Fury glared at Xiang Qian as if he were his mortal enemy.
Xiang Qian seemed to know what he was about to say and spoke first. "I forgot to mention: for security, I set up an anti-surveillance jammer in the room before meeting with the professor. I forgot to turn it off after they left."
Xiang Qian's face spread into a devilish, malicious grin.
A sudden commotion erupted outside the suite. Someone pushed past Xiang Qian's bodyguards and barged into the room.
They were S.H.I.E.L.D. agents.
"Who gave the order to attack?" Nick Fury roared at his subordinates.
The agents who had rushed in looked at one another. "You did, sir. You ordered the Special Task Force to intervene in full force."
"Motherfucker, didn't you notice that our communications had been cut? How could I have given the order?"
Nick Fury looked down at the street. The X-Men had already escaped, leaving only the S.H.I.E.L.D. Special Task Force to face Magneto and Juggernaut's fury.
Magneto whipped up a storm of metal, while Juggernaut used his unmatched strength and massive bulk to slaughter the Special Task Force without restraint.
"Order them to withdraw at once!" Nick Fury was burning with rage.
Xiang Qian put on a look of sudden realization. "Oh, sorry. I've turned off the jammer, so you can give the order now. I deeply regret my mistake."
"At the same time, I'd like to thank the S.H.I.E.L.D. Special Task Force on the professor's behalf for their brave and selfless assistance. Thank you, Director Fury."