Whether William Stryker truly had the authority to deploy armed units into Manhattan was questionable.
Karl remembered clearly what had happened when General Thaddeus "Thunderbolt" Ross deployed troops into Harlem during the Hulk incident. The political backlash had nearly cost Ross his rank. It was Tony who had quietly intervened through senators and defense committees to soften the fallout.
That favor had not been small.
Ross remembered it.
Which meant Karl wasn't particularly worried.
Stryker, by comparison, was only a colonel. His influence was far narrower. Even if the Pentagon was dissatisfied with Tony Stark at the moment, that dissatisfaction did not automatically translate into full authorization for domestic military escalation in Manhattan's wealthiest district.
This wasn't a remote desert base.
This was Manhattan.
Executives.
Judges.
Lobbyists.
Foreign diplomats.
The mayor himself lived nearby.
If heavy weapons were discharged here, the political consequences would be catastrophic.
Karl stood calmly at the gate.
"Are you certain?" Stryker pressed.
His eyes were feverish.
He had spent years hunting mutants — from Weapon X projects to covert detention programs. He saw them not as people, but as biological weapons to be catalogued or neutralized.
Behind his back, he made a subtle hand signal.
A sniper positioned across the avenue adjusted aim.
Not a lethal round.
A tranquilizer dart.
Stryker's plan was simple:
Neutralize Karl.
Disable command authority.
Seize the children.
Control the situation before escalation.
Karl noticed the sniper immediately.
He didn't even look in that direction.
Instead, he shifted slightly and said one word:
"Tank."
The ground shook.
Juggernaut burst through the manor gates like a freight train.
When Cain Marko charges, it is not simply muscle — it is the mystical momentum of Cyttorak anchoring his movement. Once in motion, almost nothing stops him.
"Fire!" Stryker shouted.
Rifles erupted.
Bullets struck Juggernaut's chest, arms, face.
They flattened harmlessly.
The tranquilizer dart shattered before penetrating skin.
The mutant detector in Stryker's hand remained dark.
Juggernaut was not a mutant.
He was an avatar of an extradimensional entity.
That distinction mattered.
Juggernaut hit the front armored carrier.
The vehicle flipped.
Another truck crumpled beneath his shoulder impact.
Sonic concussive rounds were deployed.
They staggered him briefly — but the crimson aura around his body flared faintly, absorbing and redirecting mystical resistance.
Soldiers scattered.
Karl rose slowly into the air.
He did not rush.
He simply floated forward and stopped before Stryker.
Stryker's eyes widened slightly.
"You're not registered," he muttered, activating a second mutant detection scanner.
Still nothing.
Karl wasn't emitting the X-gene signature.
That complicated Stryker's assumptions.
If Karl wasn't a mutant—
Then perhaps the children weren't either.
Had he miscalculated?
Juggernaut continued tearing through vehicles — though not deliberately killing. Most casualties were injuries from collisions and overturned transports.
Karl did not intervene.
But he also did not allow it to escalate further.
He did not kill Stryker.
As tempting as it might have been.
Stryker was still a commissioned officer.
Killing him would trigger congressional review, Department of Defense inquiry, and political blowback that could spill onto Tony.
Preserving Ross's favor was strategically wiser.
Sirens approached.
Additional armored units arrived.
But these bore different insignia.
Thunderbolt Ross's command.
They quickly moved between Stryker's troops and Karl's estate.
Orders were barked.
Stryker was escorted away — not gently.
Ross understood exactly what had nearly happened.
He owed Stark.
He would not allow Manhattan to become a battleground over Stryker's obsession.
Juggernaut returned at Karl's gesture.
The manor's weapons systems retracted into hidden panels.
Missile pods sealed.
Energy cannons powered down.
Silence returned gradually.
Inside the house, Karl reassured May, Wanda, and Pietro.
He wasn't entirely certain of their classification.
In Earth-616 continuity, Wanda and Pietro were originally introduced as Magneto's children — though later retcons complicated that lineage.
Chaos Magic, however, was not a simple mutant expression. In comics, Wanda's power was tied to the Elder God Chthon and reality manipulation beyond genetic mutation.
Pietro's speed, on the other hand, was consistent with a mutant X-gene manifestation.
The Avengers cinematic universe had altered their origins via the Mind Stone.
But this universe clearly contained active mutants.
And Magneto's genetic sample existed in Karl's possession.
An idea formed.
If Magneto truly was their father—
It would change future political dynamics.
He quietly took strands of hair from Wanda and Pietro and entered the Shadow World.
Moments later, he appeared at the laboratory.
Samuel looked up from his station.
"Boss?"
Karl handed him the samples.
"Compare these to the Magneto genetic file."
Samuel blinked but complied.
Sequencing began.
Karl waited in silence.
He did not disturb Yinsen.
Results printed within minutes.
Samuel handed over the analysis sheet.
"Genetic compatibility indicates approximately 98% paternal lineage correlation. The samples are very closely related to Magneto's genome."
Karl nodded slowly.
So it was confirmed.
In this continuity, Wanda and Pietro were indeed Magneto's biological children.
He dismissed Samuel and returned to the manor.
As he walked, he reflected.
Magneto's genetic legacy was extraordinary.
Electromagnetic mastery.
Chaos Magic potential.
Extreme speed.
Yet Magneto had never raised them.
Had he nurtured Wanda's reality-warping potential under guidance rather than trauma, mutant supremacy might have become inevitable.
But chaos magic required balance.
The Ancient One would not ignore reality destabilization.
Nor would Odin overlook large-scale cosmic imbalance.
Karl understood one thing clearly:
The twins' existence would eventually draw attention.
From Magneto.
From Xavier.
Perhaps even from forces older than both.
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