The border of Wakanda was a desolate wilderness, uninhabited and rarely visited. Rolling hills stretched endlessly toward distant mountain ranges, while sparse trees dotted the barren ridges, painting a bleak and lonely landscape...
Magneto arrived with the Brotherhood, his purple robes fluttering in the wind, his white hair swaying. The veteran powerhouse among mutants stood tall, his sharp gaze piercing toward the young man approaching alone in the distance.
This place had once been a camp for the Border Tribe, but under the relentless advance of NATO forces, it had been reduced to ruins. Scorched earth from fires and craters from artillery bombardments littered the ground, along with broken vibranium weapons scattered in the blackened soil.
Sean and Magneto stood at opposite ends of the camp, facing each other... one relaxed and casual, the other tense and battle-ready.
Further away, on the barren ridges, Pyro and the Mutant Corps began clearing the area, setting up a perimeter to prevent outsiders from interrupting this clash of titans.
The Wakandan royal family had been exiled, led by the young Black Panther, T'Challa, to distant lands. They would never accept this outcome willingly.
Had Sean not placated the tribal elders and leaders, Killmonger's throne would hardly be secure. The noble factions within Wakanda still leaned heavily toward the royal family.
"To earn the right to speak as equals, you must prove your strength." Sean said calmly.
There were few left on this planet who could truly challenge him.
Magneto had initiated this challenge. He was not one to admit defeat easily. Though he had once lost to Sean, becoming a prisoner and forced into a cooperative agreement, deep down, this veteran mutant leader had always sought to break free from Sean's control... or at least secure an equal standing, rather than the humiliating sense of being a mere subordinate.
Now, with the Brotherhood controlling the Border Tribe, free from the constraints of the Kenyan government, and securing a share of Wakanda's vibranium exports, they had firmly established their foundation.
If they could shake off Umbrella's control, the sky would be the limit. Unfettered expansion and greater ambitions awaited.
"Do you think the boss will win?" Colossus muttered from a distance.
John shot his companion an exasperated look. The question was pointless.
Though he had never witnessed the full extent of their young leader's power, the whispers and rumors painted Sean as unfathomably strong, a man who, even in his early days, could stand toe-to-toe with veteran powerhouses like Professor X and Magneto.
He had gone blow-for-blow with the Hulk, subdued the Abomination, and reportedly clashed head-on with the distant King of Asgard.
By any measure, Sean's strength was undeniable.
"It's starting." John said gravely.
An unnatural phenomenon suddenly manifested on the battlefield. Both the Mutant Corps and the Brotherhood held their breaths, watching in tense silence.
Magneto strode forward, his steps steady. As he moved, faint glimmers of light flickered around him, the surrounding space warped as if reality itself were bending. Rays of light refracted and shifted, coalescing into a massive halo resembling the aurora borealis.
Sean narrowed his eyes...
Under the intense magnetic field, the space around Magneto twisted violently, forming dazzling, rainbow-like distortions. Within these turbulent magnetic forces, sparks of brilliant white fire crackled into existence.
Across the abandoned camp, vibranium weapons buried in the soil melted like wax under heat, liquefying and reshaping under Magneto's will. They transformed into dense magnetic lines, gleaming with metallic reflections, arranging themselves into a stable, formidable electromagnetic barrier.
It seemed that after his last defeat, Magneto had learned a painful lesson: to never let the enemy get close...
This time, he had constructed a powerful electromagnetic shield to protect himself first.
"Interesting." Sean nodded approvingly. A flash of gold streaked across his chest as the Sentinel suit materialized, radiant flames erupting around him.
He stepped into the expanding magnetic storm. The chaotic, violent fluctuations of magnetic force surged like tidal waves, crashing against him relentlessly.
The refracted light painted a breathtaking, multicolored spectacle, but behind the mesmerizing beauty lay deadly intent.
Sean didn't pause. He watched as Magneto melted vibranium into two parallel rails, a polished metal sphere suspended between them.
A blinding flash erupted as crackling electricity wove into a deafening hum...
"Try this."
Magneto's eyes gleamed with intensity as he glared at his opponent from afar. His aged body seemed infused with boundless energy, a terrifying aura erupting skyward.
A searing white light detonated. The metal sphere blazed like a miniature sun, radiant silver arcs of electricity intensifying alongside the piercing hum.
In an instant, light exploded.
The onlookers instinctively shut their eyes, their retinas scorched as if seared, leaving long afterimages. Tears streamed uncontrollably.
Propelled by immense kinetic force, the metal sphere arrived like a bolt of divine lightning. With a thunderous roar, it struck the motionless Sean head-on.
*Boooom!*
Massive chunks of earth were flung into the air. The hard bedrock peeled away layer by layer under the destructive force, crumbling like brittle biscuits into dust. A towering dust storm blotted out the scene.
John's heart clenched with panic. The small-scale electromagnetic railgun Magneto had constructed was horrifying in its power. It was a weapon of terrifying lethality.
Even Colossus, with his impenetrable steel skin, would be lucky to survive a direct hit with anything less than crippling injuries.
Before the dust could settle, the earth trembled violently. From the spreading fissures, a fierce figure tore through the scorched air, slamming into the unyielding electromagnetic barrier.
*BOOOM!*
A deafening explosion erupted!
The point of impact unleashed a shockwave like a tsunami. The distant spectators felt the ground shake beneath them, a chill running down their spines.
In a battle of this scale, they didn't even qualify to stand close...
The next moment, a disheveled Magneto soared into the sky, magnetic lines shifting around him as he maintained his defensive barrier.
Sean's fist, which was capable of sinking a thousand-ton warship, had failed to break through...
"I won't make the same mistake twice." Magneto said, his expression grave.
With a wave of his hands, the metallic debris scattered across the camp began to glow under intense magnetic induction, heat radiating violently.
Streams of light materialized in the air.
Under the magnetized atmosphere, the metal ignited, as if thrown into an induction furnace. The surrounding temperature skyrocketed. It became hot enough to melt even steel.
"Still not enough..."
The battle reached its climax.
Orange flames erupted like thunderclaps, the destructive heat and overwhelming shockwaves reducing the remnants of the camp to nothing. The sparse shrubs vaporized instantly, a sea of fire spreading across the valley.
The distant onlookers broke into a cold sweat. Against such a wide-ranging, devastating attack, none of them would have survived...
~~~
Bonus chap @50 power stones...