"What the hell happened here?"
Rowan dropped Black Widow onto the ground and fired off several stunning spells in rapid succession. The mutant clones swarming Tony collapsed one after another.
Logan could survive almost anything. Even pinned down, he wasn't in real danger. Tony was different. Without his armor, he was just a man. And a broken suit meant a dead man.
"Ask Leather Wolf over there," Tony said between breaths, pointing ahead. "He can't bring himself to hit former teammates. Especially the women."
Logan had fought without hesitation against clones like Shaw, the White Queen, even Sabretooth and his own duplicate. But when it came to X-Men clones, his hands kept hesitating.
The nine Phoenix clones were the worst of it.
"Don't call me Leather Wolf," Logan snapped as he finally broke free and fell back beside Rowan and Tony. "I hesitate with old teammates. You hesitate with every woman."
Tony reassembled his armor mid-sentence and replied without shame, "I prefer fighting women in bed. Turning them into pulp out here feels uncivilized."
"You both deserved that beating," Rowan said flatly.
Sirens wailed in the distance.
"No more delays. Police are coming."
"Reparo."
One spell restored Tony's shattered armor completely. Tony froze, staring at himself as if reality had cracked.
Rowan didn't bother explaining.
"You two take the male clones and the non–X-Men units," he said. "I'll handle the rest."
To Rowan, enemies were enemies. Gender didn't factor in. Courtesy was for allies.
He stepped forward.
"Change."
Giant magic surged again. Rowan grew to nearly four meters tall, seized his spiked mace, and leapt straight into the cluster of Phoenix clones. One spinning swing obliterated most of them instantly.
Spells followed in a relentless rhythm. Stunning charms. Full-body binds. Confusion. Blades whipped through the air under magnetic control like harvesting tools.
Within minutes, Phoenix, Storm, Mystique, Kitty Pryde, and the White Queen clones were reduced to shattered remains.
"Seriously messed up," Tony muttered.
Both he and Logan stared.
Part of it was shock at how merciless Rowan was toward so many identical faces. The bigger part was realizing just how strong he truly was. Until now, they'd only seen tricks. Precision shots. Clever magic.
This was something else entirely.
With the last of the female clones gone, hesitation vanished.
Tony deployed micro-missiles strong enough to tear tanks apart. The explosions overwhelmed the remaining Shaw clones' absorption limits, killing them outright.
Logan stopped defending altogether. He went on the offensive, adamantium claws tearing through everything in reach.
In the end, clones were still clones. Even the strongest barely brushed true high-tier territory. Without overwhelming numbers, they were never going to win.
After the last body fell, Tony wandered over to the unconscious Black Widow and whistled.
"So… is she a clone too?"
"She's a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent," Rowan replied. "Leave her. Police are here. We're gone."
Sirens closed in fast.
Rowan hauled the mutant clone corpses into the burning research building and erased every trace of blood. No samples. No leftovers. No second chances.
Then he dismissed the giant magic, spread his wings, and carried Logan and Tony back to the cloaked X-Jet overhead.
Minutes later, police vehicles flooded the scene.
Black Widow came to in handcuffs.
"Ma'am, you're under arrest," a Mexican police officer said. "You're suspected of homicide and arson related to the Leukemia Research Facility. Please cooperate."
She blinked, disoriented.
Memories surfaced.
She remembered infiltrating the facility as Natalie. Being discovered. Fighting guards. Setting the building on fire to escape. Then an explosion. Darkness.
The memories felt real.
They were also wrong.
Too many gaps. Too many inconsistencies.
Deal with the police first, she decided.
She leaned forward just enough to draw attention, struck with her elbow, dropped the officer, took his keys, and was gone. A stolen car. Then another. Then silence.
Next step: report to headquarters.
Tony was dropped off at his Malibu estate. His armor battery was critically low. Flying home alone wasn't an option.
Rowan and Logan returned to the mutant school immediately.
Rowan found Professor Xavier and explained everything. Then he reached into his pocket and released the young clone of Xavier's body.
"Professor," Rowan asked, "can you transfer into this body?"
"Yes," Xavier said quietly. "But I don't wish to."
He sighed.
"I should have died long ago. I'm still here only because these children need guidance."
Before Rowan could respond, Logan grabbed Xavier's shoulders.
"Enough," Logan growled. "You want to make things right? Then live. A better body lets you teach longer. Sitting in that chair, you fall asleep halfway through lectures."
Xavier didn't argue.
After a long pause, he nodded.