San Francisco's Financial District was in ruins. The once-bustling street outside the Hilton hotel was littered with wreckage.
Bodies, blood, wrecked vehicles, damaged buildings and infrastructure—the glaring red and blue police lights illuminated the devastation. The incessant wail of sirens seemed like the soundtrack to an apocalyptic scene.
Magneto had left, calm and carefree, taking the Juggernaut with him—the Juggernaut had gone berserk after failing to kill Charles.
I had to admit, watching a giant like that get lifted into the air by an invisible hand gripping his head, his limbs flailing as he was carried away, made for a shocking sight.
Maybe it was just my imagination, but just before Magneto flew off, I thought he glanced toward the window of the room where I was. I raised my glass and took a sip, as if returning the salute.
Nick Fury had left too, taking the badly battered S.H.I.E.L.D. Special Task Force with him.
From where I stood, I could still see several agents in black suits talking with the police securing the scene. People without any identifying insignia were expertly gathering the bodies of the fallen task force members and clearing away the weapons and equipment left behind.
Before Nick Fury left, he and I had silently faced off for a long time. Our bodyguards eyed one another with mutual hostility, each side on guard.
I knew Nick Fury was silently weighing the pros and cons. In the end, he'd said nothing and chosen to leave, which meant he'd concluded that the risks outweighed the benefits and the whole thing simply wasn't worth it.
A burly, middle-aged man came in and handed me a tablet and several wireless signal amplifiers.
I took them and asked, "How did it go?"
"Just as planned," the man replied. "From the moment Nick Fury appeared in sight to the moment we breached S.H.I.E.L.D.'s tactical communications channel, it took two minutes and thirteen seconds—seventeen seconds faster than expected."
"So S.H.I.E.L.D.'s tactical communications system is about on par with the one we use at the Bureau?"
The man nodded. "Yes. And the voice imitation program was almost flawless. Without specialized voice-analysis equipment, it would be completely convincing."
I smiled smugly and opened the program, which was still running. Nick Fury's booming voice came through the speakers: "All units, engage. Repeat, all units, engage. Magneto is the primary target..."
That was the truth behind Nick Fury's order to attack. The director's first instinct had been right: I was the one behind it.
"I'd only meant to run a practical exercise in electronic infiltration. I didn't expect to get an unexpected bonus, too."
The man analyzed S.H.I.E.L.D.'s security flaws. "They were probably too careless. If they'd assigned codewords to important commands before the operation, it would've been much harder for outsiders to forge an order. They also probably didn't realize that our joint operations with S.H.I.E.L.D. had let us figure out the basic patterns in their commands."
"I'm not handling changes to the security regulations. You can report that to the director yourself." I busied myself packing up the equipment. The most important thing was to delete the backup in the voice imitation program and destroy the evidence completely.
The man hesitated, then couldn't help offering his advice. "Xiang Qian, could you try not to take such risks in the future? Seeing S.H.I.E.L.D. gearing up like that just now scared the hell out of me. This is American territory, not home. If something goes wrong, it'll be hard to fix."
I smiled unconcernedly. "Exercise more, sweat more. It's good for your health. Besides, I couldn't just stand by while the Professor was in danger. And we couldn't send our people in ourselves. Even if we helped the Americans capture Magneto, they might turn around and accuse us of acting outside our jurisdiction."
"The Americans would absolutely pull something like that," the man agreed with a nod.
"Exactly. So we had to find someone with a big enough head to take the fall. Better someone else dies than me."
The man shook his head helplessly and walked out. Zheng Xian had specifically pulled him from Xiang Tian's Special Task Force to handle security for my part in the operation.
He was a veteran field agent with the Spear Bureau. His surname was Hong, but his real name was unknown. His codename was Red Star, though outsiders also called him Red Giant.
Red Star was clearly steadier than Saber, and he and I had no direct conflict. If Saber had seen me acting so "irresponsibly," we'd probably have ended up arguing again.
I'd just finished dealing with the "evidence" when the phone rang.
I picked up. It was Phoenix.
"James, the Professor's been injured," Jean said anxiously.
I couldn't help drawing a deep breath. In the end, something had gone wrong after all.
"How bad is it? Have they made it back to the school?" I estimated the Blackbird's speed. Three hours had passed, so they should be back in New York by now.
"Yes. I just operated on them. The bullet's out, and there's no danger to his life. But it was a deformed ricochet. It caused a cavity wound in the Professor, and he's very weak now."
I clenched my back teeth. A ricochet could take an unpredictable path. If you got hit by one, you could only call yourself unlucky.
The Professor's greatest strength was his mind. His body was his weakness—after all, he was seventy. Even a strong young man wouldn't come through a gunshot wound unscathed.
Dark clouds were already gathering over Alcatraz Island, and the X-Men had lost their greatest strength before the battle had even begun.
"Hank was shot too while protecting the Professor, but luckily it's only a graze." Jean's voice was thick with anxiety.
Thousands of miles away, there was nothing I could do. All I could offer was reassurance. "Don't worry, Jean. The Professor will be fine."
"We probably can't send many people to support the operation at Alcatraz Island. The Professor is down, and the school is incredibly vulnerable now. And there's that device you came up with." There was no hiding the resentment in the beautiful woman's voice.
I nervously scratched my nose and said, trying to sound confident, "Don't worry. I'm here. Still, I recommend sending a few representatives over."
"Magneto's actions are bound to worsen tensions between Mutants and ordinary people. At a time like this, the school has to make its position clear. As relations between Mutants and ordinary people deteriorate, you need to act as a brake," I earnestly advised.
"I understand... When do you think Magneto will act?"
"Tomorrow!" I answered with absolute certainty.
"Why?"
"Because he attacked the Professor tonight, and now everyone knows he's in San Francisco. That includes a lot of law enforcement agencies that have been hunting him for years. The longer he waits, the worse things will get for him. He has to deal with Worthington Industries before the situation deteriorates."
"I understand." Jean hung up.
I set the phone down, then raised my left hand. An encrypted signal was flashing on the screen of the Electronic Bracelet around my wrist.
I hadn't told Jean that my certainty about when Magneto would act wasn't based solely on the situation. I also had definite intelligence from within a radical Mutant group.
The intelligence had come from Mystique.