"Can you really still get through books like these at your age?"
Fenris casually picked one up and flipped through it. The pages were packed with dense words, along with all kinds of formulas and symbols he could not make heads or tails of.
On the yellowed paper were Magneto's own neat annotations and handwritten notes.
"These things really are not easy to understand," Magneto said, walking over and taking a seat off to the side. He lifted a finger slightly, and streams of multicolored light actually began to shimmer at his fingertips.
"Compared to the crude way I used to control steel, once I realized there are subtler forces at work, things ordinary people cannot even perceive, I felt as if a door to an entirely new world had opened right in front of me."
Looking at the dazzling lights on his fingertips, Magneto's eyes were full of admiration. "Fenris, don't you think this is beautiful?"
"It is."
Fenris nodded.
As one of the four fundamental forces of the universe, electromagnetism had immense potential.
The greatest difficulty with that kind of power was never the power itself, but how its wielder chose to use it.
Using magnetism to swing the Golden Gate Bridge around, or lifting an entire stadium just to smash someone with it, was like blasting a fly with a cannon. It was an outrageous waste.
"All right, enough of that."
Magneto slowly withdrew his hand, and the strange phenomenon at his fingertips vanished with it. "You came here making such a scene. Is something the matter?"
"There is." Fenris admitted it at once. "The school has a very difficult patient right now, and only you can save him."
"So..."
"Save someone?" Magneto frowned. "Did one of the X-Men get hurt?"
"No. Just an ordinary human."
Fenris hesitated for a moment, but in the end chose to tell the truth.
"This..."
Magneto hesitated.
His time was precious, and saving a life would take no small amount of effort.
More importantly, that person was not an X-Man, nor a fellow mutant. Just an ordinary human.
"I'm sorry, Fenris."
In the end, Magneto still shook his head and refused. "I may have to disappoint you, but I can't help you with this."
"Before I came, the professor told me to tell you to bring your chess set."
Seeing how decisively Magneto had refused, Fenris's eyes shifted slightly, and he repeated Professor X's words exactly as he had heard them.
"Charles wants to play chess with me?"
Magneto had already gone back to his desk and sat down, book in hand, ready to continue studying. But after hearing that, he seemed to hesitate for a moment, and then...
Bang!
He slapped the thick book onto the desk without hesitation. As the pages fluttered, a thin slip of paper slid free and drifted quietly toward the floor.
Seeing that, Fenris strode over and caught it between his fingers.
Meanwhile, Magneto briskly rose to his feet, took a coat from the wardrobe, and slipped it on. Then he moved efficiently to the bookshelf, pulled out a fine chess set, and instinctively blew on it as though dusting off grime that was not even there.
"Let's go."
In no time at all, Magneto was fully dressed and standing in front of Fenris. "What are you waiting for? Charles is still waiting for me."
"..."
Looking at the old man whose expression had changed so fast, Fenris clicked his tongue in amazement. Then he pointed at his own temple.
"You're going to play chess with the professor without wearing the helmet?"
"No need."
Magneto waved a hand carelessly. "He can't beat me."
"All right, then."
Fenris shrugged and casually handed over the slip of paper he had just picked up. "Your bookmark. It fell off the desk just now."
"It's only a map. Nothing important. Just leave it on the desk."
Magneto glanced at it and kept urging him on.
"This is..."
Fenris instinctively swept his eyes over what was on the paper and saw an exquisitely printed world map.
The map was centered on the Americas, with several lines stretching out from cities like New York, Washington, and Los Angeles.
Those lines made several large loops over the Pacific before ultimately converging on a small African nation.
"Wakanda?"
The moment he saw the country's name, Fenris blurted it out in surprise.
"Just some little African country. Nothing special."
Without changing expression, Magneto pulled the map from Fenris's hand and casually tucked it into a book. "The place is backward and obscure. You probably didn't even know it existed."
Of course Fenris knew Wakanda. It was Black Panther's homeland, the largest source of vibranium on Earth, and a nation with astonishingly advanced technology.
Magneto had set his sights on Wakanda?
"Mm."
Fenris had no connection to Wakanda to begin with, and vibranium was of no use to him either. Seeing that Magneto had no intention of saying more, he had no interest in pressing the matter. A yellow portal opened.
The two of them stepped through it in a single stride and appeared outside the treatment room.
"Long time no see, Erik."
The moment they arrived, Professor X turned his head. The instant he saw Magneto, a bright smile spread across his face.
"Charles."
Magneto smiled too and stepped forward to give his old friend a light hug.
His gaze swept across the treatment room. When he saw the pale man lying on the operating table, his pupils contracted. He recognized that notorious playboy at once.
"Tony Stark?"
Magneto turned around and yanked Fenris in front of him. "This is your patient?"
"That's right. Him."
Fenris nodded.
The others in the treatment room all instinctively shrank back when they saw Magneto.
Pepper Potts especially went pale with shock when she realized that the savior Fenris had brought back was the infamous Magneto.
Would a madman who was always plotting to destroy the world really save someone?
And how was he so close to the X-Men?
Weren't they supposed to be mortal enemies?
Naturally, Magneto noticed everyone else's reaction, but he did not care. When he saw Professor X give him a nod, he let out a helpless sigh.
"Fenris, what exactly is Stark's condition right now?"
Magneto stuffed the chess set into Professor X's arms and walked straight to the operating table.
"A few months ago, Tony Stark was hit by one of his own missiles, and several fragments entered his body," Fenris explained briefly. "Most of them were removed, but there are still a few extremely tiny pieces near his heart that we have no way of dealing with."
After hearing that, Magneto frowned.
He pulled off one glove, reached out, and lightly pressed a hand against Tony's chest.
A moment later:
"That's it?"
(End of Chapter)
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