Red Hulk raised the massive iron sphere—dozens of tons in weight and denser than any metal known on Earth—with a single hand.
He spun it overhead like a gigantic meteor hammer, its rotation cracking the air.
While swinging it, he shouted with mocking impatience:
"Hulk! I know you're awake—get up already!"
With a final heave, he hurled the sphere at Magneto's face.
The projectile tore through the air so fast that friction set its entire surface ablaze, glowing crimson like a falling star.
It streaked across the battlefield in a fiery arc, hurtling straight toward Magneto as if to shatter the world itself.
"Fool. All brawn, no brain."
Magneto extended one hand calmly.
A tidal wave of magnetic force surged outward, enveloping the blazing sphere.
In an instant, its terrifying momentum bled away—
and when it came within a single meter of Magneto, the projectile froze in place, unable to advance another inch.
Such was the overwhelming dominion of the Master of Magnetism.
But before anyone could draw breath in relief—
A faint, beast-like growl seeped through the sphere's tiny cracks.
Magneto's expression shifted.
A split second later—
BOOM!!
The iron sphere exploded outward like a fragmentation bomb.
"HULK!!!"
Shrapnel blasted in all directions, shredding everything within a hundred meters.
Friend and foe alike were ripped apart like targets hit by a point-blank shotgun.
Only Magneto reacted in time, suspending the deadly fragments mid-air.
But the Hulk's punch followed immediately—
a green comet of rage bursting through the haze, too fast for Magneto to form another cage.
All he could do was gather nearby metal into a smaller defensive sphere around himself.
CRACK!
The Hulk's fist struck with an earth-shattering impact.
The metal sphere was launched hundreds of meters away, smashing straight through the recently repaired academy building.
The elegant English manor, restored with painstaking effort, collapsed in a roar of rubble and dust, burying Magneto beneath tons of stone and steel.
On the battlefield, despair rippled through the ranks of the mutants.
If even Magneto had fallen—
who could possibly stand against these two monstrous Hulks?
Yet—
A tremor rippled through the ruins.
Massive beams and concrete slabs lifted into the sky, suspended by an invisible force.
No one who dared oppose Magneto would be allowed even a moment of peace.
In seconds, the darkened sky was blotted out by a mass of levitating metal.
Even the Helicarrier—brought by Captain America—shuddered as Magneto's power dragged it toward his domain of steel.
With regal indifference, Magneto rose atop the spiraling storm of metal debris, glaring down at the two Hulks.
"It's been many years since I've used my full strength. Perhaps you've forgotten what it feels like."
Tank shells, helicopter frames, rifles, bullets, steel beams—
every piece of metal on the battlefield tore free and spiraled upward.
A colossal vortex formed—
a storm of iron more terrifying than any Category 12 typhoon.
If Magneto brought his hand down—
the battlefield would be reduced to carnage in an instant.
Even so, such a display of power drained his aging body sharply.
But with the situation as dire as it was—he had no choice.
Yet Magneto failed to notice—
His psychic-shielding helmet had been knocked loose during Hulk's earlier strike.
And the moment it fell—
A vast, immeasurable mental force washed into his mind.
His raised hand froze in place.
Time itself seemed to halt.
Bullets suspended mid-air like specks of dust in a photograph.
Even the roaring metal vortex stilled.
Only Magneto's thoughts continued to move.
He recognized this ability instantly.
Only a handful on Earth could command such psychic might.
"Charles…" Magneto murmured.
"I was told you were dead."
If he'd known otherwise, his first move today would have been retrieving his helmet—
not charging headfirst toward two Hulks.
A wheelchair rolled silently across the suspended mental plane.
Professor Charles Xavier emerged from behind Magneto, wearing the same gentle expression he always had.
"In a manner of speaking, I did die," Xavier said softly.
"I'm using the body of my twin brother. He has been in a vegetative state since birth."
It was the post-credit revelation from X-Men Origins: Wolverine:
Charles Xavier's consciousness had survived by transferring into his comatose twin brother.
the very reason Marcus had instructed Tony to search U.S. birth records for twins named Xavier.
Magneto let out a bitter laugh.
"If I knew you were still alive, Charles, I would have killed you first today… But now? I suppose I'm nothing more than a lamb waiting to be slaughtered. So—what do you want? My head as a peace offering to the government?"
Xavier shook his head.
"Erik… I want to know how you convinced Cyclops to shake your hand."
He rested back in his chair.
He would never violate a mind without consent—even that of his oldest rival.
Magneto smirked.
"You want answers? Then look. Everything you seek is in my memory."
"Very well. As you wish."
Xavier touched two fingers to his temple.
Their eyes met.
And he plunged directly into Magneto's memories.