"Ouch!"
The chubby boy slammed headfirst into Jack's stomach and immediately bounced backward as if he had hit a steel wall. He dropped onto the ground clutching his head, tears spilling down his cheeks while he wailed in pain. The impact had clearly hurt him far more than it had hurt the person he ran into.
"Henry!"
The other two boys shouted at the same time, alarm flashing across their faces. The taller one instantly clenched his fist, and the thick vines wrapped around Jack's body began tightening automatically as if responding to the boy's anger.
"I'm fine," the chubby boy cried while rubbing his head miserably. "It just… hurts! This guy's body is harder than steel!"
A thin vine suddenly slid down from Jack's shoulder and coiled around the chubby boy's ankle. The boy struggled for a moment before twisting around in confusion and shouting toward his brother.
"Henry, why are you messing with me?"
The tall boy panicked immediately. "It wasn't me!"
"Henry, stop joking! Let me go!"
The chubby boy kicked wildly, but the vines wrapped tighter and tighter until he was bundled up like a rice dumpling in seconds.
"I told you it wasn't me!" the tall boy yelled again before glaring suspiciously at Jack. "You did this, didn't you?"
A faint smile appeared on Jack's lips. The vines wrapped around his body slowly loosened and slid to the ground before slithering toward the other two boys like living snakes.
Sweat instantly broke out across their foreheads. Even so, neither of them showed any intention of running away.
The vines stopped less than a meter in front of them. Jack tilted his head slightly, watching them with curiosity.
"Why aren't you running?"
The tall boy gritted his teeth and shouted loudly, "If we die, we die together! We won't abandon our brother and run away!"
Jack raised an eyebrow with mild appreciation. "You've got some backbone."
He studied the three of them more carefully before asking calmly, "You're students from Xavier's School, right? What are your names?"
"Why should we tell you?" the freckled boy snapped coldly.
"Ouch! Ouch, ouch, ouch!"
The chubby boy suddenly began screaming again as the vines around him tightened painfully.
Seeing this, the tall boy panicked and shouted, "Alright, alright! I'll tell you! Just don't hurt him!"
"My name is Hunter," he said quickly, pointing to the others. "That's Henry… and that's Henry."
Jack blinked once. The name combination was interesting.
"So you're the Heinz brothers," he said casually.
The tall boy nodded stiffly.
"Why did you attack me?" Jack asked.
Hunter, who appeared to be the eldest of the three, hesitated before answering honestly.
"We didn't mean to attack you. We just… wanted to protect the school."
"I see."
Jack waved his hand lightly, and the vines instantly loosened and released the chubby Henry.
"Hunter. Henry."
The moment he was free, chubby Henry scrambled up and ran straight behind his two brothers like a frightened kitten.
Hunter studied Jack cautiously before asking, "Are you… a mutant too?"
"I guess so," Jack replied with a small shrug.
Mutants gained their powers from genetic mutations. Jack, however, obtained abilities from other people without any changes to his genes. Strictly speaking, that didn't qualify as being a mutant.
Still, claiming to be one made things easier.
"How many students are left at Xavier's Academy?" he asked.
The three brothers exchanged hesitant glances and remained silent.
Jack smiled reassuringly. "Relax. I'm not here to hurt you. Professor X invited me to help."
While speaking, he walked over to the side and casually stored his mech into his dimensional storage.
The Heinz brothers' jaws nearly dropped.
Normally a mutant only possessed a single superpower. Having two was already incredibly rare.
But Jack had just demonstrated three abilities in front of them: incredible physical durability, plant control, and now something that allowed him to make a massive machine disappear.
At that moment, the brothers were practically looking at him like he was their idol.
"Professor X really invited you?" Hunter asked cautiously.
"If you don't believe me, you can ask him yourself," Jack replied.
Chubby Henry suddenly poked his head out and muttered nervously, "But the professor already—"
"Shut up!"
Hunter and the other Henry immediately covered his mouth at the same time.
Chubby Henry froze, realizing he had nearly revealed something important, and quickly covered his own mouth with both hands.
Hunter turned back toward Jack and hesitated before speaking again.
"We can take you to see the professor," he said slowly. "But you'll have to let us handcuff you first."
"Sure."
Jack chuckled softly. He was curious what tricks these kids had prepared.
"Henry, go get it," Hunter ordered.
"Okay."
Chubby Henry glanced at Jack nervously before running off on his short legs.
A minute later he returned carrying a metal box. He set it down in front of Jack and hurriedly stepped back.
Inside the box was a pair of heavy black handcuffs.
"What's this?" Jack asked.
"Superpower-suppressing handcuffs," chubby Henry blurted out.
"Shut up!"
Hunter and Henry shouted again in unison.
Hunter then explained reluctantly, "Those can temporarily suppress mutant abilities. If you're willing to wear them, we'll take you to the professor."
Jack looked at the cuffs thoughtfully.
They suppressed mutant abilities… which meant they probably wouldn't affect him at all.
"Alright."
He picked them up and calmly locked them around his wrists.
The three brothers stared at him in surprise. They hadn't expected him to agree so easily, and that alone earned a bit more of their trust.
"Follow us," Hunter said.
During the walk, Jack chatted casually with them.
The boys tried to remain cautious, but they were still kids. Before long Jack had already extracted plenty of useful information.
One Henry possessed enhanced durability that made his body as hard as stone.
The other Henry could disable electronic devices.
Hunter could control plants.
More importantly, they were now the only three normal mutants left at Xavier's Academy. Everyone else had been infected by the zombie virus.
To prevent those zombie mutants from escaping and harming people, Professor X had locked them in the basement with ability-suppressing cuffs.
So the three Heinz brothers had taken it upon themselves to guard the school.
Eventually they arrived outside Professor X's office.
The brothers stopped at the door and gestured for Jack to enter alone.
When Jack pushed the door open, he discovered the office had been split in half by a thick metal wall. A small iron window about waist height allowed the two sides to see each other.
Professor X sat in his wheelchair on the other side with a blanket over his legs, quietly watching birds outside.
"Jack. You finally arrived."
The professor turned and rolled his wheelchair up to the iron window.
"Professor," Jack said, "let's continue our conversation from last time."
"Where did we leave off?" Professor X asked after thinking for a moment.
"Oh, right," he continued. "You asked how the war was discovered."
"Yes," Jack confirmed.
Professor X frowned slightly.
"That's a difficult question."
"The conflict between mutants and humans goes back more than a century. Perhaps even further. War has never truly stopped."
Jack could already tell the zombie virus had affected the professor's thinking. The fact that he remained conscious at all was remarkable.
"Professor," Jack said gently, "let's talk about the war that's about to begin."
"Oh… right."
Professor X nodded slowly and gathered his thoughts.
"I don't know much," he admitted. "All I know is that this war will begin from a crisis."
"Who's behind it?" Jack pressed.
"Magneto," Professor X replied. Then he shook his head. "No… someone powerful is hiding behind Magneto."
"That person hates humanity deeply. Especially after this zombie outbreak. He believes humans are responsible for everything."
"So he wants to wipe humanity off the Earth."
Very few mutants were stronger than Magneto.
Jack immediately thought of Apocalypse… and Scarlet Witch.
As for the true identity, even Professor X didn't know.
The virus had weakened his telepathy, leaving him with only fragments of information.
"Jack," Professor X said gravely, "you must investigate this quickly. Otherwise… humanity may be destroyed by this war."
The conflict between humans and mutants had never truly been decided.
Especially now.
Mutants didn't even need to fight. They only had to open a gap and let the zombie hordes flood in.
With no further useful information, Jack returned to the shelter in downtown New York.
Wonder Woman had already completed her investigation but found no new leads.
The three S.H.I.E.L.D. agents had died peacefully without wounds or poison. Jack suspected a psychic mutant was responsible.
"So you're saying mutants have infiltrated the shelter?" Coulson asked in shock. "And they're preparing for war?"
"That's the current situation," Jack replied.
"So what do we do now? Hunt them down?"
Jack thought briefly.
"The mutant hiding in the shelter isn't very powerful. Killing S.H.I.E.L.D. agents is simply a way to spread fear."
"The real threat is the larger mutant organization preparing for war."
"So we should focus on finding their gathering places."
Coulson frowned. "You mean attack their settlements first?"
Jack blinked.
"Coulson… I'm only now realizing how aggressive you are."
He leaned forward slightly.
"If humans and mutants truly go to war right now, what do you think our chances of winning are?"
Coulson coughed awkwardly.
"If the superheroes were still around… maybe."
"But now…"
He forced a smile.
"Alright. What's your plan?"
"I want to talk to them," Jack said.
"And persuade them to abandon the war."
"And if they refuse?" Coulson asked.
Jack patted his shoulder calmly.
"Don't worry. I'm very good at negotiating."
Coulson sighed and handed him a document.
"These are locations where mutants have previously gathered in New York."
Jack glanced through it briefly.
"Leave the search to Bane and the others."
Back in his room, he took out the Eye of Agamotto and looked into the future.
Among countless possibilities, one vision appeared clearly.
The shelter building had collapsed into ruins. Tanks and aircraft wreckage littered the ground.
Everyone was dead.
Coulson.
Melinda.
Wonder Woman.
None of them survived.
Magneto lay impaled by a metal pillar.
Standing above him was a blood-covered Scarlet Witch.
Was she really the powerful mutant hiding behind Magneto?
A knock sounded at the door.
"Jack," Wonder Woman's voice called.
Jack quickly put away the Eye of Agamotto and opened the door.
Seeing her alive after witnessing her death in the future left him strangely uneasy.
"Jack, what's wrong?" she asked, taking his hand.
"Oh… nothing," he said. "I just wanted to—"
Before he could finish, Wonder Woman lightly punched his chest.
"Jack, you're so naughty. Thinking about that in broad daylight."
Jack froze in confusion.
What exactly did she think he meant?
That evening, Bane, Joker, and Scarecrow returned with an iron box.
"Boss," Scarecrow said excitedly, "we caught a hedgehog."
Inside the box was a mutant covered in sharp spikes.
"I'm warning you," the man snarled, "let me go now or I'll stab all of you!"
Scarecrow immediately smashed a steel pipe over his head.
"Talking to our boss like that?"
Blood streamed down the mutant's face.
"Bastard! I'll kill you!"
Chains yanked him back violently.
Scarecrow raised the pipe again and beat him repeatedly until it bent.
"Stop! Stop hitting me!"
The mutant collapsed trembling on the ground.
Jack crouched in front of him.
"Tell me where Magneto is."
"Magneto?"
The mutant blinked in confusion.
"Who is Magneto?"
....
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