The quiet afternoon sunlight filtered through the tall windows of Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters, casting long golden beams across the polished floors of the central hall.
As the grand doors opened, a familiar presence returned.
"Professor, I'm back."
Jean Grey. Her beautiful face carried a composed expression, but her eyes hinted at other things...
Professor Charles Xavier looked up from where he was standing, and a flicker of relief softened his features.
In recent weeks, the Mutant world had grown increasingly unstable.
Tensions were rising, and the name Magneto carried a darker weight than ever before.
"Welcome back, Jean." Professor X greeted her with a warm smile, his voice gentle but weary.
"Has your… situation been resolved?"
Jean gave a small nod, avoiding the details.
The matter between her and Soren, the very brilliant doctor who had treated her, was not something she was prepared to discuss.
"That's good." The Professor visibly relaxing.
"Dr. Macaluso's skills are truly remarkable. If it weren't for him… we might never have been able to stabilize your condition."
Jean remained quiet, her thoughts briefly returning to Soren's amazing skills and the strange power she'd felt in his presence.
"Stay at the school for now." Charles continued. "I'd like to introduce you to someone. Logan codename Wolverine."
Jean turned, her gaze settling on the stranger standing nearby.
A rugged, broad-shouldered man with wild hair, fierce eyes, and a perpetual scowl. His very presence radiated danger, like a lone wolf lurking at the edge of civilization.
For a moment, their eyes met.
Wolverine's instincts bristled.
As a predator, Logan was hypersensitive to threats, and though Jean appeared calm, her aura sent a primal warning through his system.
There's something inside her… something dangerous.
Jean gave him a small nod, a polite greeting to which Logan responded with a simple grunt.
"He's new to the school."
"Logan was recently attacked by Erik. We're still unsure of Magneto's intentions. But it's clear Logan is important to him, for reasons we don't yet understand."
Charles turned to Jean.
"If you're able, I'd like you to conduct a full examination. See what makes Logan different from ordinary mutants and why Erik would go to such lengths to target him."
Jean, though curious, kept her professional tone.
"Of course, Professor."
Inside the medical wing, Jean guided Logan through a series of tests and scans.
Soon, the hum of the MRI machine filled the room.
An hour later, the results were projected onto a large display in the adjoining conference chamber, where Professor X, Storm, Beast, and Cyclops gathered.
Everyone stared in stunned silence at the image of Logan's internal anatomy.
It was horrifyingly fascinating.
"This…" Storm whispered, eyes wide.
"The entire skeleton… it's not bone anymore."
Jean pointed to the glowing metallic structures in the projection.
"It's a super-dense, virtually indestructible alloy. The metal has replaced all of his bones, including his claws."
She paused, frowning. "This is what gives him enhanced strength, resilience, and combat prowess beyond any normal mutant."
The Professor's expression soured. "Who would do this to someone?"
Storm spoke the question on everyone's mind. "How did he even survive something like this?"
Jean's answer was quiet, but it silenced the room.
"His mutation. Logan possesses an extraordinary healing factor, far beyond what we've seen in most mutants."
"It allows his body to recover from catastrophic injuries almost instantly. That's the only reason he survived this… atrocity."
She glanced back at the scan. "In fact… his regeneration is so advanced, it complicates estimating his actual age. Biologically, he could be older than any of us. Possibly even older than the Professor."
"Do we know who did this to him? Who turned him into… this?"
Jean shook her head, her voice laced with quiet sympathy.
"Logan's memories have been damaged. He has no clear recollection of what happened before… or who did this to him."
Professor Xavier's face grew grim.
His heart ached at the thought of the agony Logan must have endured during such an unnatural transformation.
"Unexpectedly… someone has begun targeting mutants in ways we've never seen before." His voice weary.
"It's not as though humans have no history of violence against us… but forced experimentation is unheard of."
His gaze lingered on the ghostly outline of Logan's metal bones.
Is this why Erik is so interested in him?
What is it you're really after, old friend?
The thought weighed on him.
If Erik's suspicions were correct, that humans were developing new ways to capture, manipulate, or manufacture mutants, then this was a threat greater than any they'd faced before.
Far from the safety of Xavier's school, in a hidden underground chamber beneath a remote island fortress, Mutants gathered in secret.
These weren't students or peaceful advocates like those at the school these were the militant, outcast, and vengeful. Powerful figures with burning resentment against the human world.
And at the heart of them was Magneto.
Among the crowd was a lone, trembling human a middle-aged man with graying, sweat-matted hair and wide, frightened eyes.
He was no ordinary hostage.
Senator Robert Kelly, a high-ranking United States lawmaker, known for his hardline stance against Mutants, had been kidnapped and brought here against his will.
His body shivering as he looked at the assembly of Mutants surrounding him, their eyes glowing faintly in the low, flickering light.
Magneto stood before him.
"Do you recognize me Senator?" Magneto asked.
Senator Kelly swallowed hard.
Both Erik and Charles had been present at the senate hearing just weeks ago, where Kelly had delivered an impassioned speech about the need for government control over Mutants, describing them as a danger to society.
His words had drawn applause from some, and fury from others.
Now, he was face-to-face with that fury.
"Wh-what do you want from me?"
Magneto's lip curled into a humorless smile.
"I want to give you a gift, Senator. One that will make you… one of us."
꧁𓊈𒆜༺⚜༻𒆜𓊉꧂
Fellow Phantoms and aspiring Phantoms to be, if you seek to access advanced parts of this story procced to my shadowy realm of p@treon.
PhantomDream