Jean roared and leaped in front of her friends. "Didn't you say you wouldn't hurt mutants?"
"I haven't yet, have I? But my patience is almost gone tonight," he growled.
Felicia sneered. "Spider-Man did that, didn't he?"
She looked at the wounds on Magneto's body.
"Superior race, my ass!"
"Insolent brat!"
Magneto tore loose a chunk of concrete and rebar and hurled it at Felicia.
The silver-haired girl ducked, but the concrete stopped in midair. Jean held both hands up, fiercely shielding her friends.
"You. Will. Not. Touch. Them!"
She roared and hurled the concrete back.
With a thought, Magneto deflected it.
"If you want to protect these pests, then die with them!"
He slowly drew several lengths of rebar from the wall and aimed them at Jean and the girls.
Just as Magneto was about to launch them, thunder suddenly boomed overhead.
"You will not hurt them!"
A voice rang out, and fierce winds rose. Dark clouds instantly filled the clear night sky, and rain poured down.
Magneto looked up and growled, "Not now."
A woman in a skintight black suit and cape descended on the wind. Her hair was snow-white, her skin a deep chocolate brown. Electricity flashed in her eyes, and fierce winds swirled around her without moving her in the slightest.
"Stop immediately, Magneto, or we will stop you."
"We?" he asked.
Suddenly, the door to Jean's room was kicked clean off, and a broad-shouldered man in an orange-and-black bodysuit walked in. He looked ferocious, his mask bearing V-shaped black goggles.
"Hey, bub! Long time no see!"
The man spread his hands with a roar, three metal claws springing from each.
Magneto turned and growled, "Logan, good to see you again."
"Yeah, you got away last time. I promise you won't this time, bub." He sneered.
"I doubt that, metal man." Magneto scoffed. "Charles, is this all you've got? A beast and a firefly? I'm insulted."
"My students are more than enough to handle you, Erik."
A calm British voice came from Jean's room.
A bald man in a wheelchair slowly rolled into the already overcrowded bedroom.
The man looked at Magneto, then narrowed his eyes as he examined his wounds.
"You're hurt, Erik."
"Yes."
"You've lost too much blood, Erik. Stop now. We can resolve this another way, old friend," the bald man pleaded.
"No, Charles, we can't," Magneto snarled.
"What the fuck are you people doing?!" Liz shouted.
The bald man turned to the girls with a smile. "Miss Allan, I'm sorry that you, Miss Watson, and Miss Hardy have been dragged into this. Rest assured, we will not let him hurt you again."
"Who are you?" Jean asked. "What the hell are you doing in my house?!"
"Jean, I'm Professor Charles Xavier." The man nodded. "You may not have heard of me-"
"You're the leading expert on mutants. You wrote Mutant Evolution!"
Felicia narrowed her eyes.
"What are you doing here?"
Charles blinked in surprise. "I'm surprised you know that book, Miss Hardy. Yes, I'm the leading expert on mutants, but I'm also a mutant myself."
The girls gasped.
"Peter is absolutely going to lose his mind," Mary Jane whispered.
"Enough!"
Magneto's face was growing paler.
"Move aside, Charles, or I'll move you myself! Don't test my limits tonight!"
"No, Erik, I won't move."
Charles firmly positioned himself in front of the girls.
"Wolverine, Storm, please."
"With pleasure, Professor."
Storm sent fierce winds rushing at Magneto, forcing his eyes shut.
"Get out, Magneto! You're not welcome here!"
She thrust both hands forward, and a bolt of lightning crashed down.
"You're not even worthy of challenging me, woman!"
Magneto shouted and raised a chunk of concrete to block the lightning. The concrete shattered instantly.
Wolverine leaped through the gaping hole in the wall, his claws gleaming.
Magneto waved a hand, and he instantly froze in midair.
"Sending a man full of metal against me? Charles, have you lost your mind?"
He hurled Wolverine at Storm, who quickly caught him with the wind.
"I'll crush you all!"
Magneto roared as he rose into the air to face Storm.
"You will submit to me tonight, Charles! I won't stop until-"
"Oh, shut up!"
Peter shouted as he landed on the roof of Jean's house. He grabbed the electromagnetic pulse gun and threw it at him.
"Eat shit, you fucking idiot!"
"You!"
Magneto turned and raised a hand to catch the gun.
"You think this pathetic toy can save you?!"
He squeezed both hands together, crushing the electromagnetic pulse gun.
Suddenly, a surge of electrical energy erupted, enveloping Magneto in an energy shock wave.
He looked bewildered, then dropped straight down like a puppet with its strings cut.
He fell with a startled cry, hitting the ground with a sharp crack. His right leg bent at an unnatural angle, the bone broken.
Peter jumped off the roof and landed in Jean's yard.
Magneto struggled to get up, looking at his broken leg and wailing in pain. His cries were so agonized that Peter almost felt sorry for him.
Almost.
Peter walked toward Magneto, then turned to look at the girls and Charles Xavier. They slowly emerged from the damaged house and entered the yard. Wolverine and Storm landed beside them, everyone's eyes fixed on Peter.
Rain poured down, and thunder rumbled.
Peter felt the rain soak his entire body. His helmet was soaked through too, and the rain stung his bleeding forearm.
"You must be wondering why your powers stopped working."
Peter lowered his voice, though everyone could surely hear him.
"It's simple. That 'toy' you just crushed was a modified electromagnetic pulse gun. Instead of an ordinary electromagnetic pulse, it released a burst of reverse electromagnetic interference, completely disrupting the magnetic field around you."
"Your powers are still working. They just can't reach any metal now."
Peter reached into his utility belt, took out a pair of bronze knuckle dusters, and slipped one onto each hand.
Magneto tried to crawl away in terror.
Peter grabbed him by the collar and lifted him up.
"Remember this, you executioner hiding behind the guise of a victim. Just because you have one extra gene in your blood doesn't make you better than anyone else."
He drove his fist into Magneto's helmet.