Chapter 90: Master of Metal

~Time rewinds ten minutes earlier~

At 6:30 in the evening, during the peak of rush hour, the streets of this international metropolis were filled with an endless stream of cars...

The sharp blare of horns echoed through the air as vehicles flowed like droplets merging into a river, crawling along the congested roads...

Peter Parker rode his newly bought electric scooter, clutching a bouquet of vibrant roses, waiting at a red light at a crossroads.

The young Spider-Man seemed to be on a lucky streak lately... After capturing those photos of Senator Kelly, he had also obtained crucial evidence from his old classmate Sean, exposing Worthington Industries' illegal human experiments...

This allowed the Daily Bugle to keep publishing sensational, eye-catching reports... so much so that even the notoriously stingy and harsh boss, J. Jonah Jameson, had surprisingly offered rare praise.

Jameson had even declared that if Peter could keep this up, he would soon become a full-time employee at the Daily Bugle. Coincidentally, the tabloid was still missing a chief photographer...

For Peter, who was struggling financially, this promise was like a shot of adrenaline. Every day, he psyched himself up, hoping to secure that official position so he wouldn't have to rely on meager wages to pay rent and living expenses.

Lowering his head to inhale the sweet fragrance of the roses, Peter couldn't help but smile in satisfaction. This was a surprise for Mary Jane. Today, she would be making her first-ever stage performance at a small theater.

Not usually skilled at setting a romantic mood, Peter, at Gwen's suggestion, had gone out of his way to reserve a table at a Michelin three-star French restaurant, planning a beautiful candlelit dinner to win the delight and cheers of his dream girl...

Lost in his happy thoughts, Peter suddenly felt his beloved scooter (affectionately nicknamed "Little Lamb") begin to tremble unnaturally...

As if it was being pulled by an invisible force, it slipped from his control and levitated into the air.

"What's going on... Wait! My new bike–!" Before Peter could finish speaking, a chorus of shouts erupted around him, rising like crashing waves.

His brand-new Little Lamb seemed to be manipulated by an unseen hand, disassembling mid-air into countless metal fragments that drifted upward.

Peter wasn't the only one experiencing this bizarre phenomenon. Every vehicle at the intersection was undergoing the same fate...

The young Spider-Man watched as a car beside him was torn apart in mere seconds, its body splitting into pieces while the chassis and engine floated upward, leaving the driver clutching the steering wheel in stunned confusion as his beloved car soared away.

Peter had no time to mourn the brutal dismemberment of his cherished scooter. He looked up at the sky, where a surging storm of metal raged like a tidal wave, rushing toward a certain direction...

A faintly visible figure stood mid-air, metallic steps materializing beneath his feet as he made his grand, earth-shaking entrance...

"A mutant?" Peter thought, instinctively raising his camera...

The streets had turned into a boiling cauldron of panic. People abandoned their cars and fled, screaming in terror as fear spread like wildfire.

Glancing at the roses in his hand, Peter sighed in frustration... it seemed he was going to stand Mary Jane up again. The thought of her angry interrogation later already gave him a headache.

...

The metallic tornado roared and spiraled in the sky. Magneto, clad in his helmet and flowing purple cape, exuded an aura of chilling authority. His face was stern, radiating an icy disdain as he strode forward on his floating metal staircase, like an indomitable king commanding the vast tide of metal swirling around him as if they were his loyal subjects...

Magneto spread his arms wide, as if wielding an invisible conductor's baton. Cars from the entire block rose into the air like a coiling dragon. Even streetlamps and trash cans weren't spared... anything containing metal was seized by this

overwhelming force, torn apart and absorbed into the sky-obscuring storm...

Looking down at the tiny, panicked figures scattering below, Magneto couldn't help but sneer coldly...

This world belonged to those at the forefront of evolution... the powerless ordinary humans could only tremble beneath the might of the superior, pathetically begging for help.

With his gaze fixed on the Worthington Tower standing tall at the city's heart, Magneto's expression darkened...

Originally, he had planned to attack Liberty Islands... There, he would transform the world leaders gathered there for a high-profile summit into mutants... All in hopes to shift the global order and secure a new, liberated future for their kind.

But Worthington's secret experiments on mutants had ignited the mutant leader's fury. The bloody and cruel photos had dredged up his darkest memories of being trapped in a cold, damp concentration camp, watching people die every day... Those faded, agonizing recollections surged back with painful clarity...

Later, Mystique had suggested that if they wanted to declare mutantkind's strength to the world, Worthington would be the better target...

Attacking world leaders would only worsen their people's plight, provoking an extreme human backlash that could escalate into full-scale war... a point of no return.

After careful consideration, Magneto had accepted her proposal... Though mutants were gifted, they were divided into two factions... They were scattered and disorganized. Because of this, they stood no chance against the deeply rooted and powerful human governments.

Even someone as proud as Magneto had to admit this truth... alone, mutantkind lacked the strength to overthrow human rule. Unless of course, his old friend Charles stood by his side, abandoning his stubborn, laughable ideals of peace...

Lost in thought, the mutant leader raised his hand. The floor-to-ceiling windows at the top of Worthington Tower shattered explosively, followed by glass raining down like hail.

Magneto strode forward on his metal staircase and stepped directly into the office of the building's owner... Marcus Worthington...

The usually composed and authoritative leader of Worthington Industries struggled to maintain his dignity, but the raw terror in his eyes betrayed his true state of mind.

"So, you're the one who used my people for those inhumane, bloody experiments?" Magneto's voice was sharp, his gaze piercing.

Staring at the fear-stricken Marcus Worthington, he couldn't help but recall the Nazi officers from the concentration camps. The dark past and painful memories surged like a tidal wave, breaking through the floodgates of his mind.

"It's because of people like you that I led the Brotherhood down a path so different from Charles..."

With a slight twitch of his fingers, the floating metal twisted into a solid noose and tightened around Marcus' neck. The head of Worthington struggled desperately, but it was futile.

"From this day forward, the world will no longer ignore the voices of mutants. Everyone will know that we are not weak, helpless lambs. If humanity wants war, then mutants will rise and fight back!" Magneto's declaration thundered across the sky.

He strode out of Worthington Tower, standing tall in the open air. Under the command of his unseen hand, the surging tide of metal melted like wax under high heat, coalescing into an enormous steel cross.

With a deafening crash, it embedded itself deep into the ground, cracking the concrete pavement with a web of fissures...

Standing atop the colossal cross, Magneto raised his arm.

Marcus Worthington, still bound by the metal noose, screamed for help... but the arriving police officers dared not act, only aiming their guns at the imposing figure looming above them...