Chapter 50: The Unbreakable Oath

The cacophony of battle roared through the collapsing corridors. Dust and flame filled the air. While the rest of the team was locked in their own desperate fights, Peter darted across the shattered hallway, eyes flicking between Elio—cowering alone in the debris—and the swirling chaos around him.

His heart pounded so hard it drowned out the world. He had to move faster. Had to be smarter.

A whip of flame slashed across his path, forcing him to dive sideways. Pyro emerged from the smoke, flames coiling around him like hungry serpents. "You look like a spider—let's see how well you burn!" Pyro taunted, sending a roaring wave of fire at Peter.

Peter leapt, firing webs in a frantic crisscross, snagging shattered beams to swing himself above the flames. But as he soared, a wet thwap cracked through the haze—Toad's tongue snapped around his ankle, yanking him violently sideways.

Peter crashed into the far wall, plaster and steel exploding around him. He landed hard, dazed, vision swimming. Toad leapt after him, boots slamming down with crushing force. Peter rolled just in time, Toad's feet cracking the floor inches from his head.

"You're fast," Toad sneered, drool trailing from his lips. "But not fast enough."

Peter backpedaled on hands and knees, firing webs wildly. One strand snagged Toad's wrist, but the mutant yanked back, hauling Peter into a tumble across shattered glass and twisted steel.

"Get OFF!" Peter roared, slamming his knee into Toad's chest. Toad croaked in pain but retaliated instantly, a savage headbutt that sent stars bursting across Peter's vision.

Through the haze, Peter glimpsed Pyro advancing, a jet of flame spiraling like a dragon's breath. He twisted, shoving Toad into the fire's path—Toad screeched as his sleeve ignited, flailing backward.

Peter flipped to his feet, chest heaving, sweat and soot streaking his face. Think, Peter. They're trying to separate you. Trying to break you. His eyes darted: Elio was alone, eyes wide with terror, small hands covering his ears as explosions rattled the walls.

A massive steel beam overhead creaked ominously, dislodged by the constant tremors. It groaned, then snapped loose—falling straight toward Elio.

"No!" Peter screamed, sprinting.

He reached out instinctively, every nerve in his body screaming with desperation. His muscles burned—and something inside him surged. His eyes widened as raw power coursed through his limbs.

The world slowed. He felt strength beyond anything he'd ever known flooding his veins.

He caught the falling beam with both hands. His legs buckled under the impossible weight, boots grinding across the fractured floor. But he held firm, arms trembling violently, teeth gritted. I won't let him die!

He pivoted, still holding the massive beam, and with a roar hurled it like a javelin. The steel girder sailed across the corridor, smashing into Pyro mid-spell. The mutant was launched backward through a wall, flames sputtering out.

Peter staggered, gasping, his limbs tingling with electric power. What… what was that? He barely had time to process before Toad lunged again, claws slashing. But Peter twisted with newfound speed, catching Toad mid-air with a brutal haymaker that flattened the mutant instantly.

Toad's limp body crashed to the ground. Peter stood alone amid the devastation, chest heaving. The corridor pulsed with flickering emergency lights, smoke drifting in swirling veils. Beyond the shattered doorway, he glimpsed Magneto floating like a dark god, debris and steel swirling around him; Adrian faced him down alone, red lightning crawling across his limbs.

Peter's gaze snapped to Elio, still huddled in the wreckage. I can't stop… I have to protect him…

Magneto hovered at the heart of the devastation, eyes hard and calculating, cloak billowing like a storm. His gaze locked onto Adrian, battered but unbroken.

"So, Adrian," Magneto said, voice low and dangerous. "You've shown remarkable control over your ability… but you squander your potential protecting these weaklings."

Shards of metal rose into a lethal orbit. "Stand with me, and I'll show you a world where no child like Elio ever fears humans again."

Adrian's eyes flared with fury. His voice was hoarse but fierce: "All you do is trade one fear for another. I won't let you take Elio."

Magneto's lips curled into a thin line. His hand snapped forward—the floating shards launched in a storm of glinting steel.

Adrian exploded into motion, red lightning streaking from his limbs. He weaved between blades, hardened plates of his skin clanging like struck iron as he batted metal aside. Sparks burst where shards skidded off his arms.

Magneto lifted his hand—an entire support beam wrenched free overhead, hurled like a spear. Adrian leapt, Float igniting mid-air. He twisted, sending a crimson shockwave that cracked the beam off course. Landing hard, Adrian skidded across fractured tiles, chest heaving. The corridor trembled as Magneto conjured a swirling maelstrom of twisted girders and rebar, a cyclone of metal howling around him.

"You are strong, Adrian—but you are still flesh and bone," Magneto thundered. "And I am the master of metal!"

The swirling storm screamed as it collapsed inward. Adrian braced himself, boots grinding on shattered concrete. His hardened skin sparked where blades struck. Each breath rattled his frame—bones cracked under the crushing pressure, but his eyes never left Magneto's.

Cracks spiderwebbed across his armored plates, purple light pulsing through fissures. Magneto's eyes widened, the storm faltering. "That metal… I cannot command it…" he hissed, voice edged with disbelief. "Adamantium… carbonadium… osmium… metals that defy my power—but none should exist in this state!"

Adrian's eyes snapped open, swirling with fierce light. Shadows coiled from his face—Warp Gate energy swirling outward like living fog—until his head was a roiling black void, shifting like Kurogiri swirling visage. Red and purple lightning pulsed as he took one step forward, muscles screaming. The corridor warped under his monstrous pressure.

"I. Will. Not. Yield!" Adrian roared, voice shaking the walls.

Magneto rallied every scrap of steel into a final, crushing wave. The swirling storm imploded inward—hundreds of blades screaming toward Adrian.

His breath caught. Deep inside, something snapped. Black energy surged from his hands—whips of darkness lashed out, catching blades mid-flight. The Black whip danced, splitting into dozens of tendrils that seized every piece of Magneto's storm.

Adrian screamed, forcing Black whip wider, weaving a net of shadows that halted the deadly storm. The corridor shuddered as the two powers strained. Then, with a roar, Adrian yanked his hands down—and the metal crashed to the floor in a deafening quake.

Magneto hovered frozen, eyes wide with disbelief, before he dropped heavily to the ground.

Adrian stood amid the wreckage, Black whip sizzling around him. His eyes burned through the swirling Warp Gate mist.

"You lost," he growled.