A New York street. 

A drunkard stumbled along, vodka bottle in hand. Clearly very inebriated, yet still reluctant to give up the bottle. He kept taking sips as he walked until it was empty. 

Seeing no drink left, he raised his head trying to pour out the last drops. Just then a fast flying object caught his attention.

"...There's...there's someone flying in the sky!"

"I must be drunk, just seeing things!"

He shook his head and looked up again. A golden flash came from the sky.

"A meteor...hehe...it's a meteor..." 

Muttering that, the drunkard collapsed, falling asleep while snoring loudly. 

At that time only Andrew, who had chased Magneto out, was in the sky.

With Andrew's speed he could easily catch Magneto. But he just wanted Magneto to fly away from New York. As long as Magneto eventually stopped by his own strength, Andrew was fine with it.

Punched away by Andrew, Magneto was using all his power to block the sheer force. 

"Who is this guy..." 

The more power he summoned to resist, the more panicked Magneto felt. He never imagined losing a pure power contest someday. Currently he could easily lift a whole stadium. 

Yet such power, enough to make ordinary people despair, was fragile as paper before the Emperor. This was the first time since his powers awakened that Magneto felt such frustration.

Though the Brotherhood was always stopped by X-Men, Magneto never felt it was his fault, just that his idiot underlings were too stupid. But now, for the first time, Magneto felt he had completely failed. 

"Could he be..." A thought flashed in his mind, terrifying him slightly. "An omega level mutant?"

Beyond that, Magneto couldn't think of another possibility. But now it didn't matter whether this Emperor was the legendary omega level. The urgent task was stopping and finding some way to talk nicely with him.

Magneto expelled his power again, constantly reacting upon himself. Finally the backward recoil lessened more and more. 

"Ah!" Roaring, the air behind him boomed as if struck by something. With this explosive reactive force, Magneto finally stopped, suspended in midair. 

Not far away, Andrew also stopped and looked at Magneto flatly. That gaze made cold sweat bead Magneto's forehead, the psychological pressure at its peak. This emperor before him was freakishly strong. Even his aura could oppress and suffocate people.

Suppressing his discomfort, Magneto spoke slowly: "Emperor, I believe this is our first meeting. There should be no misunderstanding or hatred between us." 

After thinking for a bit, he added: "If you happened to see me try killing someone and went to intervene, I guarantee I won't attack ordinary people again in the future."

Apparently Magneto had already categorized Andrew, this 'omega level mutant', into the X-Men camp. In his view, only those claiming to be superheroes would stupidly protect commoners like that.

Andrew understood what Magneto meant - euphemistically begging for his life. He just smiled and said: "You're mistaken. I'm hunting you not because you tried killing someone."

Hearing this, Magneto's expression darkened, silently cursing Andrew a few times. If not to save people, why the hell chase me all over New York? 

Their current position was in New York's outer mountain woods, where Reed's team had recently crashed. 

"Then why?"

Andrew thought for a bit then casually said: "Maybe because I was too bored." 

"Or perhaps you provoked someone recently that you shouldn't have."

Magneto knew the first line was a joke. The second was the crux. Offend someone he shouldn't? 

Magneto racked his brains, then said: "If someone sent you to kill me, however much they paid, I'm willing to pay double, no triple, for my life."

Hearing Magneto's speculation, Andrew had to admire his courage - able to adapt so flexibly, it was no wonder he became the Brotherhood's leader. 

Too bad he had provoked someone he shouldn't. Brainwashing and mind control were no less cruel than killing Andrew himself. If Andrew wasn't strong enough, falling into Magneto's hands, would he show mercy?

So Andrew didn't plan on staying his hand with Magneto. "Too bad you can't afford it!" 

After speaking, golden light flashed over Andrew's body as he instantly appeared before Magneto. Despite the mask, Magneto could feel the disdainful sneer beneath.

Immediately, goosebumps rose all over Magneto's body, an ominous chill sweeping him. Almost simultaneously, his survival instinct unleashed a powerful repulsive force between him and Andrew. 

Andrew only took a small step back, but Magneto was flung straight into the woods below. His face gloomy, nearly dripping. Negotiation had clearly failed. 

"Don't think I'm easy to bully!" 

"Since you refuse, I'll send you to hell myself!" Meeting Andrew had finally unleashed all Magneto's pent up frustrations. 

He slowly rose from the ground. At the same time, the mountain beneath him shook violently. Feeling the tremors, Magneto's mood brightened. 

He looked at Andrew, saying gratefully: "I really must thank you for pushing me here. I believe even you can't imagine there is an iron ore vein deep underground."

With the ore vein beneath him, Magneto's confidence grew. Smiling at Andrew, he said: "Emperor, I'll give you one more chance to leave, or I'll crush you into mincemeat, burying you in the iron ore below." 

As Magneto spoke, the mountain range cracked rapidly, countless black sand-like substances seemingly drawn from within, dyeing the mountain pitch black, like a dark desert. 

"Can you still use your power like this?" Andrew looked mildly surprised. The substances were clearly iron sand. Magneto had extracted the iron element from the mountains like he did in the human body, forming the sand.

Seeing Andrew's response, Magneto grew even more confident, raising his hands skyward: "I am Magneto, the Brotherhood's strongest mutant!"

The iron sand seemed to come alive, surging towards Andrew, drowning him in a wave. Magneto made a squeezing motion, and the sand condensed into a massive black iron ball in the sky, continuously compressing inwards with loud thumps.

"Emperor, I'll crush you and that weird armor to pieces!" 

"Meddling around, playing hero like that idiot Charles, has a price..."

Before Magneto finished, a golden sword light pierced the pitch black iron ball, shattering it back into loose sand. The huge returning force made Magneto spit blood.

But staring at the golden figure amidst the iron sand, he said trembling: "No...this is impossible..."

"How could you be unharmed..."

Looking down at Magneto, Andrew said: "That's it?"

Mocked, Magneto spat out old blood again, the hatred and anger towards Andrew only growing... 

The X-gene in his body seemed to open some shackle. More iron sand poured from the cracked mountain near Magneto.

"Emperor! I must thank you for evolving my power to a new level!" 

Sensing a greater strength from Magneto's body, Andrew muttered: "So the X-gene can still provide power like this..."

To be continued...

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