"Hell," Logan growled through clenched teeth as steel bars pinned him to the wall, "he really cloned Erik."
Pain burned through his body, but he still had breath to shout toward the shattered window."Kid, you planning to move today or what?"
"Relax, Jacket Wolf," Tony's voice replied calmly over the comms. "You're coming out in one piece."
High above the battlefield, panels on Iron Man's back slid open. Inside the helmet, JARVIS finished locking onto nine targets.
Nine non-metallic rounds fired in perfect synchronization.
"Beautiful," Tony muttered.
Each bullet struck true. Nine Magneto clones dropped instantly, lifeless before they hit the floor. Clones were still clones. Even when stacked together, their power never reached the original. If the real Magneto had been here, Tony wouldn't have had time to blink, let alone fire.
The magnetic pressure vanished. A silver figure smashed through the window, severed the steel bars pinning Logan, and dragged him free.
Inside the control hall, Sandell Reiss stared at the tablet in disbelief.
"All of them… gone?" His eyes flicked to the armored figure hovering outside. "What is that thing?"
Then he exhaled slowly and steadied himself.
Of course Wolverine hadn't come alone. And if Logan was here, then Subject 757 was likely nearby too.
"Activate all remaining clones," Reiss snapped. "Leave one of each type behind. Send the rest out. Kill Wolverine, Subject 757, and that machine."
As clone pods opened across the facility and figures poured toward the battlefield, Rowan Mercer slipped in from the rear entrance.
"Track footprints.""Freeze.""Unlock.""Petrify."
Magic layered seamlessly with motion. Rowan followed glowing traces across the floor, freezing surveillance feeds mid-frame, opening biometric doors with a flick of his wrist. Guards froze in place, bound head to toe, only to fall moments later with their throats cleanly cut by invisible blades.
No alarms. No hesitation.
Within minutes, he entered a vast hall larger than any warehouse. On the elevated platform above stood Sandell Reiss and his commander, Donald.
Rowan raised his pistol.
The bullet curved gently through the air.
Donald collapsed without a sound.
Reiss staggered back, eyes wide.
"Good evening, Dr. Reiss," Rowan said as white wings unfolded behind him and carried him effortlessly onto the platform.
Reiss recoiled in horror. "You… you weren't supposed to have wings. I never put angelic DNA into you!"
"Kill him!" Reiss screamed.
The guards barely had time to raise their weapons.
Blades flashed.
Blood sprayed.
Every guard fell.
Twin red beams suddenly cut through the smoke, aimed straight at Rowan's head.
He bent backward in a smooth, inhuman arc, the beams slicing harmlessly above him. His gaze snapped to the right.
"So you kept a few," he said quietly.
Below him stood a group of naked mutant clones: younger versions of Magneto, Professor X, Phoenix, Storm, Cyclops. The optic blast had come from Cyclops, weaker than the original but still dangerous.
Reiss vanished in a red blur and reappeared behind them, teleported away by Nightcrawler's clone.
"Subject 757," Reiss shouted triumphantly, "you're nothing but a second-tier hybrid. Every one of these is close to third-tier strength. You're dead!"
Rowan didn't flinch.
"That was always part of the plan."
He lifted his hand.
"Smoke."
Thick fog swallowed the hall instantly. Rowan fired once, the bullet curving through the haze.
Nightcrawler collapsed before he could teleport again.
The hunt had begun.