Sure enough, Magneto was trapped in a nightmare.
Inside the dream, he had watched every mutant in the world be wiped out. Even Lorna and his old friend Charles had died right in front of him, leaving him utterly alone in a world with nothing left.
Liam pulled back slightly after seeing it all. It was obvious now that the nightmare itself had taken complete control of Magneto's mind.
"Magneto, wake up!"
He used telepathy to tear straight through the dream and shatter the illusion imprisoning him.
For a brief moment, Magneto looked dazed. Then his eyes slowly cleared, and he finally came back to himself.
"Thank you," he said softly, looking at Liam with a complicated expression.
"Don't worry," Liam said calmly. "I'll never let what happened in that dream become reality."
Hearing that, Magneto finally managed to smile.
"Liam, are you alright?"
As soon as the ice wall dropped, Lorna and the others hurried over.
When Magneto heard her ask that, his heart turned sour for a second. He had been the one under control, but no one was asking whether he was hurt.
Then again, could he really have injured this kid with his current strength?
Seeing the faintly resentful look in Magneto's eyes, Liam's mouth twitched. But it was also the first time he had seen Magneto show such an obvious fatherly reaction.
"You should be asking Magneto whether he's hurt," Liam said, waving a hand. "With my strength, who exactly do you think is capable of hurting me?"
Magneto secretly nodded when he heard that. At least this kid had some sense.
Lorna glanced at Magneto after hearing Liam's words, but she still didn't say anything concerned. That left Magneto feeling strangely disappointed.
"Alright," Liam said, turning to look deeper into the prison. "Let's find Mystique first, and then we kill Colonel Stryker."
Magneto shook his head. "Raven should still be in there, but William Stryker isn't here."
"He's not here?" Liam frowned immediately.
That old bastard really was slippery. If Stryker wasn't here, then where had he gone?
Then a location flashed through Liam's mind.
Alkali Lake.
In the original story, Stryker had built a base at the hydroelectric station there. It was both his stronghold and his research facility.
If he wasn't here, then he was almost certainly there.
Once he figured that out, Liam stopped wasting time. He led the group deeper into the prison and quickly found the dying Mystique.
"Raven!"
The moment Magneto saw her lying there, he rushed forward and helped her up with unhidden urgency.
Her chest had been shot multiple times, and blood had soaked through her clothes. If not for Mystique's own healing ability, she probably would have died from blood loss already.
"Easy," Liam said quickly as the entire prison began to tremble under Magneto's surging emotions. "Let me handle it."
Magneto looked up at him with reddened eyes. "Can you save her?"
Mystique was one of the people who had followed him the longest. Whatever exactly existed between them, it clearly went beyond ordinary loyalty.
If she died because of him, Magneto would absolutely lose control.
"Trust me," Liam said. "No problem."
Magneto forced himself to calm down and laid Mystique back on the ground.
Liam didn't waste any more time. He immediately used molecular manipulation and began repairing the damage inside her body.
In only a short moment, all of the gunshot wounds in Mystique's chest were restored as if they had never been there.
"Thank you," Magneto said in a low voice.
"Wake her up," Liam replied with a smile.
Called by Magneto's voice, Mystique's consciousness slowly returned.
"Eric…" she said weakly after opening her eyes. "I thought I'd never see you again."
In that brush with death, she had thought about many things. The people she had most wanted to see one last time were Magneto and Professor X.
"We'll have plenty of chances to see each other in the future," Magneto said, his eyes still red.
Liam felt goosebumps immediately. "Alright, alright, let's go back first and talk later."
When the others saw how uncomfortable he looked, Kitty and Rogue couldn't help smiling.
Magneto and Mystique also looked a little embarrassed and didn't continue.
A moment later, Liam used spatial movement, and the whole group vanished from the prison.
In the blink of an eye, they were back at Xavier's Academy.
Magneto frowned the moment he saw the grounds. "What happened here?"
The academy was filled with the smell of smoke and gunpowder, and signs of battle were everywhere.
"Oh, don't worry," Liam said with a casual wave. "It was just a performance."
"You're back."
At that moment, Scott and Logan came over, along with Storm.
"Mr. Scott, did your mission go smoothly?" Liam asked.
"No problem," Storm said with a smile. "We brought the mutant back."
"Well done." Liam nodded in satisfaction.
He was actually a little curious about Nightcrawler. A blue-skinned mutant like Mystique, and if the information was right, supposedly the son of Mystique and Azazel.
But Mystique also seemed to have a complicated history with Magneto and Charles, while not having a child with either of them.
The whole thing was confusing enough that Liam decided not to think too hard about it. Western relationship circles really were chaotic.
"Did you deal with Stryker?" Logan asked suddenly.
For some reason, every time he heard that name, a strange anger rose inside him, like an instinctive hatred he couldn't explain.
Liam shook his head. "No. That old bastard is even more slippery than I expected."
Logan frowned when he heard that.
"But it doesn't matter," Liam continued. "I already know where his main base is, so I'll just go deal with him now."
Even though it was already past midnight, Liam had never been the patient type when it came to enemies. He preferred to settle scores immediately.
Otherwise, he'd lose sleep over it.
"Then I'm coming with you," Logan said at once, grabbing Liam's shoulder. "On this one, you're taking me."
"And me," Magneto said coldly. "He nearly killed Raven. I have a score to settle with him too."
"Eric, leave this to the younger people," Professor X said as he rolled over in his wheelchair.
"Professor, you're still awake?" Liam asked with a grin.
Magneto snorted. "Humph. Charles, you may be old, but I'm not."
Liam looked at the stubborn old man and finally gave up arguing. "Alright then."
"Everyone coming, grab on," he said.
Logan immediately held onto his shoulder with a determined expression. Magneto placed a hand on Liam as well, and Mystique then grabbed onto Magneto.
"Liam, we're coming too," Lorna said, stepping forward with Rogue, Clarice, Kitty, and Lauren.
Liam looked at them helplessly. "Forget it. It's late, and if you don't sleep, you'll get wrinkles."
He really didn't intend to take that many people.
Originally, this was supposed to be a quick solo trip. Go there, kill Stryker, come back, and sleep peacefully.
Besides, this was a midnight raid, not a field trip.
After hearing that, Lorna and the others could only give up reluctantly.
"Master, please take Yuriko too."
The sudden voice stunned everyone.
The moment they all turned to look at the speaker, their expressions grew even stranger.
"Liam," Storm said suspiciously, "who is this woman?"
Liam's mouth twitched. Being called that in public really did feel like social death.
"She's a mutant Stryker controlled…"
Before he could finish, Logan raised a brow. "You altered her memory and made her your… what, exactly?"
Liam's face darkened instantly. "Uncle Logan, it sounds like you don't want to go see Stryker after all."
"No," Logan said immediately, looking away. "Pretend I never said that."
"Liam, telepathy can't be used however you want," Professor X said seriously. "You need to understand the principles involved, or you may go down the wrong path."
Liam's expression darkened even more.
"Enough," he said. "This was an accident."
To everyone's surprise, it was Lorna who stepped up to defend him.
"I believe him," she said. "Liam wouldn't do something like that on purpose."
She knew him well enough to be certain of it. A woman could throw herself at him and he still might not notice, so there was no way he'd deliberately play this kind of game with some prison mutant.
"I don't think it's a bad thing," Magneto said at that point. "But either way, let's focus on the real issue."
Liam had no interest in explaining the misunderstanding any further.
"Let's go."
As soon as the words fell, the four of them disappeared from everyone's sight.
....
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