As expected, when Magneto led the rescued Mutants out of the cave in a grand procession, he immediately spotted the Blackbird Jet hovering several hundred meters away, as well as the X-Men lined up across the slope below.
The bald man in the wheelchair still wore a gentle smile, his hands folded over his lap beneath a small blanket as he watched from afar.
With a gesture from Magneto, the Brotherhood formed up as well. The two sides looked ready to fight at the slightest disagreement, but Magneto still flew to the front and said to Professor X:
"You came?"
Charles nodded and looked at the pale, emaciated Mutants behind the Brotherhood's line. Long periods without sunlight, combined with blood draws and other experiments, had left them looking as though a gust of wind could knock them over.
Yet the mountain of human corpses piled at the cave entrance was even more conspicuous. Blood and brain matter flowed freely over the fallen leaves. Magneto had probably killed several hundred people again this time.
"Looks like I was one step too late again. You shouldn't have killed so many people. It will only make the conflict even more irreconcilable."
The two had known each other for years. Neither feared the other when it came to verbal sparring. Magneto answered coldly, "In the eyes of both nations' militaries, these people are nothing but tools anyway. The Brotherhood's actions won't stop you from kneeling before the presidents."
The professor sighed. The two of them had once gotten along quite well, but after gathering their own teams, they had become unable to act freely. Their differing ideals had instead widened the rift between them.
There was even less need to argue with Magneto or start a battle here. If they delayed any longer, the