Manhattan, Battery Park.
An ordinary-looking middle-aged man crossed the bustling avenue, carrying a black briefcase. He entered a narrow, dim alley and followed the route he remembered until he reached an old building hidden deep within the neighborhood. He pressed the doorbell outside. After a while, a small window in the door opened, revealing a wary face.
"Who are you looking for?"
"Mutant and proud!"
The middle-aged man answered coldly. Like Cold War agents exchanging code phrases, they traded passwords. With a clang, the reinforced iron door opened, and the man with the briefcase walked straight inside without looking around.
The moment he crossed the threshold, the unremarkable middle-aged man abruptly transformed. Beneath the black trench coat appeared a curvaceous blue body. Mystique walked gracefully through the old building from the last century, occasionally passing strange-looking figures along the way. They were all subordinates Magneto had recruited, each possessing unusual superpowers.
Bang!
A burly body was thrown like a cannonball at Mystique Raven's feet. She stopped and saw that it was Sabretooth Victor, the dim-witted beast. Who knew how he had angered the ill-tempered Mutant leader again?
A commotion came from upstairs, like the piercing screech of countless pieces of metal colliding. Raven turned her head toward Toad, who was squatting in the corridor. Erik rarely lost his temper like this. She could not imagine who had provoked the powerful Magneto.
Mystique swayed her hips as she went upstairs. Magneto's private room was a complete mess. Papers lay scattered across the floor like snowflakes, while metal tables, chairs, and other furnishings had all been overturned. The culprit behind the destruction stood straight-backed before the computer like a silent statue.
"What happened, Erik?" Magneto had calmed the anger in his heart. There were only a few people in this world who