Chapter 32: 32.
Kai set her down gently, his demeanor calm yet watchful. "They'll need time to process what happened back there,"
Kai's casual remark was accompanied by a subtle shift in his demeanor as the armor around him dissolved into nothingness, revealing the ordinary attire beneath. His eyes, usually intense and focused, softened slightly as he glanced over the cityscape spread out before them.
Rogue watched as Kai's transformation unfolded, noting the change in his aura from formidable fighter to contemplative observer. She had seen glimpses of this side of him before, moments where his guarded exterior seemed to momentarily lower, revealing glimpses of vulnerability beneath.
"Yeah," Rogue replied quietly, her gaze following Kai's across the city.
The revenge in itself didn't matter to Kai, but he couldn't deny the feeling surging from within as he finally put down the man responsible for his brother's death. But his purpose wasn't so vain to stop his work here and now, he knew he needed to carry on further.
But the calmness stirring his heart, made him feel relaxed as the past couple of days had been extremely hectic, "Maybe a vacation for a day or two wouldn't be too bad..."
"What?" Rogue questioned at the certain statement from Kai who just shook his head in reply, "That's great and all but what about the guys I turned into mutants?"
"Oh... I nearly forgot about that."
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"What the hell happened here..." The police looked around at the mess the Statue of Liberty was in.
The hand holding the torch was completely cut off, and the land around it was completely devasted followed by a burning jet on the side.
"Sir!" The police officer hurried over to his commanding officer who was surveying the scene with a mixture of shock and concern. Debris from the damaged Statue of Liberty littered the ground, and the remnants of a jet burned nearby, adding to the chaotic scene.
"What do we have here, Jenkins?" the commanding officer asked, his tone reflecting the urgency of the situation.
"There are people stuck underneath the debris and from what I can tell..." The officer pointed at the metal arm sticking outside the rubble,
"Mutants..." The officer sighed, "We had information that Magneto did escape but I didn't expect him to cause a disaster so soon after what happened last time."
The commanding officer frowned deeply, his mind racing with the implications of Magneto's actions. "Get rescue teams here immediately. We need to prioritize getting those people out safely if they are still alive," he instructed, his voice authoritative yet tinged with concern.
Jenkins nodded briskly, already relaying orders to the emergency response teams. "Yes, sir. I'll coordinate with the fire department to secure the area and begin extraction," he responded, his voice tense with urgency.
A man in a suit rushed to the scene and began examining the scene around them, investigating the chaos one after the other as the commanding officer couldn't help but go over and ask, "Who are you and what are you doing here?"
The man flashed a badge with a quick smile, "We will be taking over from here..."
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Wolverine waking up from his unconsciousness shook his head pulling his burning body out of the Jet's wreckage, as he began healing immediately.
Today he had been knocked out many more times than he could remember, making him reconsider his nonchalant attitude. He had been hit, thrown, drowned, and even burned all within a single fucking day.
Walking away, he walked towards the remaining X-men team, with Kai and the girl out of sight as he glanced towards Xavier, "What happened?"
Xavier remained quiet as Wolverine, confused as to what had transpired turned towards Scott who was lying face down covering his face, and Jean who was unconscious.
Someone patted him on the shoulder, as he turned back to find Storm who looked extremely tired, "Can you help me get them out of here?"
Wolverine regardless of his usual attitude could sense the defeat in the air as he asked, "What happened to the girl?"
"She went with Kai, willingly." She answered making sure to emphasize the words 'willingly' to not give Wolverine any further ideas, "Let's just leave..."
Wolverine wanted to question things even further but seeing the situation of the team he shook his head, picked up Jean from the ground, and grabbed onto Cyclops he began walking away from the disaster alongside Storm who pushed the non-responsive Xavier away.
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"Director, we have collected the reports on the Liberty Incident."
"Hill... don't tell me all we have is some mutants classing against one another." Nick Fury turned around slowly sparing a glance at the report presented on the desk.
"I believe we have something more than just that..." Maria Hill replied, her expression serious as she handed over a tablet with additional information, "After some thorough examination, we have found something much more... we believe the mutant known as Magneto had created a device that could turn regular humans into mutants as suggested by the evidence we have gathered."
"Some thugs who work under the 'Kingpin' were found around the rubble, dead of course, but every one of them showed traces of being artificially mutated with different powers to their name." Maria continued, "However, the device seems to have a major flaw in it, as all the bodies that we recovered have decomposed into either just plain liquid or solid depending on their powers leaving no trace of their human selves whatsoever."
"That's concerning and quite interesting at the same time... find out more about the device in itself and see if you can track whether there are more of these devices around or not." Fury said with a deep breath, "A perfected device could cause mayhem unparalleled to anything we have seen before, so I believe we must act before-"
"Magneto is dead!" The statement hung in the air like a thunderclap. Fury's one good eye widened in surprise as he processed the information.
"How?" he demanded, turning to face Hill with an intense gaze.
"We found his body at the scene," Hill explained, her tone steady despite the gravity of her words as she flipped through the report landing a picture of a heap of flesh and blood. "Well... calling it a body exactly wouldn't make sense."
"Who the hell could've done something like this..." Nick's eyes narrowed looking at the unrecognizable pile of meat and bones, "Another mutant? Or has the X-men gone rogue?"
"The X-men were present at the battle it seems, since the damaged Jet laying on the site belonged to them but what or how they were involved doesn't make much sense." Hill relayed the information, "Luckily, we found a camera hidden within the Jet, and although it's quite damaged we are working on extracting the footage,"
Hill continued. "Hopefully, it will give us some insight into what transpired."
Nick Fury rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "We need to get to the bottom of this, and fast. The potential threat of that device is too great to ignore. Prioritize getting that footage restored. I want to know exactly what happened and who, if anyone, was responsible for Magneto's death."
"Understood, Director," Hill replied, already making mental notes of the necessary steps.
"Also, put our best techs on finding any remaining devices," Fury added. "If there are more out there, we can't afford to let them fall into the wrong hands."
Hill nodded and exited the room, leaving Fury alone with his thoughts. The stakes had never been higher, and the balance of power among mutants and humans was more fragile than ever. Fury knew that whatever the outcome, it would shape the future in ways they couldn't yet foresee.
But more importantly, the question of what if another person, someone they had no records of had entered the game kept gnawing at Fury's mind. An unknown player with the capability to kill Magneto and cause severe enough damage.
Pulling a folder labeled "The Avengers Initiative" out of his desk, he glanced at it with serious consideration.
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