"...a hero?"
Magneto: "???"
Mystique: "???"
Everyone present looked equally confused.
"Oh. Do you know where Professor X is?" Saitama ignored their bafflement and turned to leave. In his head, the math was simple: if the system made him pick one side quest, beating Professor X would be faster than tagging along with Magneto to shepherd mutants toward a gentler future.
"You—you're looking for Charles?"
"Who's Charles?" Saitama tilted his head like he'd just heard a weird name.
"Don't play dumb—you just said you were going to find Charles," Magneto snapped.
[Host, Charles is Professor X.]
"Right. I'm going to find Charles. You know him?"
The second he said it, the Brotherhood began to edge closer, step by step.
"Do we know him?" Magneto's eyes narrowed. "Of course. If not for him, we wouldn't have gathered like this."
"Erik, he doesn't realize Charles can command mutant minds," Mystique said coldly. "We have to restrain him now, or we'll have one more enemy—ten, even."
Magneto gave a sharp nod. He clapped his hands together, and the metal all around—chunks dislodged by Saitama's crash—swarmed in, weaving into steel chains that wrapped Saitama head to toe. In moments the chains compacted into layered metal shackles—less a restraint and more a sealed coffin.
Given the crater Saitama left when he fell—who knew how high he'd dropped from—and the way he stood up without a care, Magneto had him pegged as a physical-type mutant. So he didn't hold back: he used every scrap of metal to bind him.
Saitama didn't resist. In the instant the metal closed, he hadn't felt a killing intent from Magneto at all. For all his lazy vibe, Saitama's sense for people was sharp—hostility or murderous will would have triggered a reflex. This wasn't that.
Once he decided they only wanted to hold him, he flicked his wrist.
The "coffin" detonated outward. Screws, beams, and plates scattered like chaff.
The entire room went on high alert.
"Look, if you don't know where Professor X is, I'm leaving. We can play another time," Saitama said, frowning.
"You—!" Magneto flashed forward, his movements suddenly several times faster. Magnetic reinforcement toughened his body; his speed and power leapt beyond human limits—still only four- or fivefold an elite athlete's, and a far cry from melee monsters, but enough to close distance.
"Listen to me. You absolutely cannot meet Professor X!" His face was taut. Those binds—class-3 mutants couldn't slip them. Class-2 types usually needed raw power (Cyclops's optic blasts, etc.) and at least a minute to break free.
This baldy shattered them in an instant.
Confirmed: at least Class-2. Maybe Class-1—Alpha level. Same tier as himself and Professor X.
Even if the guy had no "powers" beyond a ridiculous body, that alone was a nightmare. If Charles got to him first, Charles's plan would become… unsolvable.
"Uh, who are you again?" Saitama dug a finger in his ear. The guy clearly wanted to talk.
Magneto inhaled. "Formal introductions: Erik Lehnsherr—Max Eisenhardt. Leader of the Brotherhood of Mutants. Codename: Magneto."
Saitama blinked, then eyed the helmeted, cosplay-looking man up and down. "You're Magneto."
Well look at that—wear out iron shoes, find without effort. He'd been wondering how to track Professor X; turns out Magneto was right here.
Unless… he's lying?
Saitama pinged a scan.
Name: Max Eisenhardt
Codename: Magneto
Stats: Intelligence 5 (genius); Strength 2 (normal); Speed 5 (supersonic); Stamina 2 (normal); Energy Projection 6 (multi-form emission); Fighting Skills 4 (experienced combatant)
Abilities:
• Magnetic Control — Manipulate magnetic fields; levitate objects over 30,000 tons.
• Field Sheath — Generates EM pulses and isolation fields; at peak can tank thermonuclear strikes and operate in vacuum. (In this X-Men 1 timeline, this remains unawakened.)
• Self-Reinforcement — Enhances his own body via magnetism.
• Transmission — Uses field manipulation for short-range teleport-like movement.
"Huh." Saitama scratched his chin. "So you are pretty strong."
"Which is exactly why you cannot meet Charles," Magneto said, voice low and urgent. "If he reaches you first, with your level of power… he will bend you into his design. And if that happens, nothing I've planned can stop him."
Saitama glanced at the hole in the ceiling, then at the stunned faces around the room.
"Got it," he said. "So where is he?"
(End of Chapter)
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