While Drex Valen was visiting Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters, Magneto made his move.
The Brotherhood launched a direct assault on the Supernatural Management Bureau's headquarters.
Magneto knew exactly how dangerous the facility was.
The plan was simple: get in, retrieve what they came for, and leave before the Bureau's heavy hitters could respond.
With a casual wave of his hand, the reinforced alloy gate twisted like soft clay.
Metal screamed as tons of steel folded inward, revealing the entrance.
Immediately, alarms erupted throughout the facility.
Red warning lights flashed across the corridors.
Yet no soldiers rushed out.
No security teams appeared.
The Bureau's staffing levels were so absurdly low that there simply weren't any cannon fodder guards to throw at intruders.
Magneto glanced toward the mutant standing beside him.
A young woman whose ability allowed her to sense the location and strength of other mutants.
She closed her eyes briefly.
Then pointed.
"That way."
The prison wing.
The area where mutant criminals were being held.
Not wanting to waste time navigating corridors, Magneto simply created a shortcut.
The entire facility was built from metal alloys.
For a man who controlled metal, it might as well have been made of wet clay.
Walls peeled apart.
Passages opened.
A direct route formed toward the containment level.
The alarm immediately mobilized the Bureau.
With the surveillance system damaged by the intruders, they had no clear picture of the situation.
They split up.
Steve Rogers and Emil Blonsky would intercept the attackers.
Ross would secure the prison.
Bruce Banner would remain on standby as the emergency backup plan.
Banner stared at them.
"...I'm the backup plan?"
No one answered.
Three minutes later, Magneto and the Brotherhood reached the lower levels.
They didn't get far.
Steve Rogers and Emil Blonsky appeared directly in their path.
Steve stepped forward.
"Sir, put down your weapons and surrender immediately."
He had spent the past few weeks studying modern history, technology, and current events.
Mutant affairs hadn't reached the top of his educational list yet.
As a result, he didn't recognize Magneto.
Blonsky certainly did.
The Brotherhood's leader was one of the most infamous mutant terrorists in the world.
Years ago, Blonsky would have approached the encounter cautiously.
Now?
Things were different.
He possessed the power of Abomination.
Fear wasn't really part of the equation anymore.
Likewise, Magneto didn't recognize Steve.
Captain America's revival remained highly classified.
To Magneto, the man simply looked like a fan dressed in a Captain America costume.
Blonsky didn't bother with conversation.
He transformed immediately.
"Wait, Blonsky!" Steve called.
Too late.
Muscles expanded.
Bones shifted.
The monstrous exoskeletal plates erupted across his body.
Within seconds, Abomination stood where Blonsky had been.
The Brotherhood froze.
"Abomination!"
Several mutants turned pale instantly.
Ever since the battle that had shaken New York, the entire world knew the names Hulk and Abomination.
Those monsters had become global nightmares overnight.
The last thing anyone expected was to find Abomination guarding a government facility.
A savage grin spread across Blonsky's face.
Then he charged.
The alloy floor crumpled beneath his feet.
Massive footprints sank into the metal as if he were running through soft earth.
Each step propelled him forward with explosive force.
Magneto frowned.
With a gesture, he ripped a section of alloy wall free and dropped it directly into Blonsky's path.
The result was disappointing.
Blonsky didn't slow down.
He smashed straight through it.
BOOM!
The steel barrier exploded apart.
Abomination burst through the debris and threw a punch.
Magneto barely avoided it.
The mutants behind him weren't so lucky.
The punch landed among them.
Several Brotherhood members were instantly reduced to mangled flesh.
The sheer force was horrifying.
Against Abomination, a direct hit wasn't an injury.
It was a death sentence.
Pyro broke into a cold sweat.
Flames erupted from his hands.
A torrent of fire blasted toward Blonsky.
Blonsky laughed.
"That's it?"
The flames washed across his body harmlessly.
They weren't even warm.
With a casual backhand, he swatted Pyro away.
The mutant flew down the corridor and slammed into a wall hard enough to nearly kill him.
Blonsky had actually held back.
Otherwise, there wouldn't have been anything left to identify.
Magneto reacted instantly.
Metal surged from every direction.
Walls.
Floors.
Support beams.
Everything twisted together and wrapped around Abomination's body.
A giant metallic prison formed around him.
Blonsky grabbed the restraints and pulled.
The supposedly indestructible alloy bent like putty in his hands.
Magneto's eyes widened.
What kind of monster was this?
Fortunately, he could reshape the metal faster than Blonsky could tear through it.
For the moment, the restraint held.
"Move!" Magneto barked.
He ignored Steve completely.
The priority was reaching the prison.
Steve charged anyway.
Still in human form, he threw a punch at Magneto.
Magneto barely looked at him.
A piece of steel shot sideways.
The impact launched Steve across the corridor.
Magneto continued forward with the Brotherhood.
The prison level came into view.
Waiting for them was a single man.
Thaddeus Ross.
The general sat calmly in a chair, a cigar hanging from his mouth.
"Magneto?"
Ross looked genuinely surprised.
Magneto was equally surprised to find him there.
Then Ross remembered something important.
He wasn't just General Ross anymore.
He was Red Hulk.
Fear disappeared immediately.
Magneto's attention shifted toward the cells.
Mutant prisoners filled the containment wing.
The sensing mutant beside him suddenly became excited.
"There!"
She pointed.
"That's him!"
Magneto followed her gaze.
Whatever powerful mutant she had detected was somewhere nearby.
Hopefully this entire operation wouldn't be a waste.
Then Ross stood up.
His body expanded.
Muscles exploded outward.
Crimson skin replaced flesh.
Heat rolled through the corridor.
Red Hulk had arrived.
The Brotherhood stared.
"A red Hulk?"
Their minds stalled.
One Hulk was bad enough.
Why was there another one here?
What exactly was this place?
Magneto's expression changed immediately.
Without hesitation, he ripped open every cell in sight.
Metal restraints snapped apart.
Prison doors flew open.
Mutant inmates poured out.
At that exact moment, Red Hulk charged.
Having witnessed Abomination's strength firsthand, Magneto had no intention of allowing another Hulk to get close.
Then something unexpected happened.
One of the prisoners burst from his cell.
The giant figure slammed directly into Ross.
BOOM!
Red Hulk was launched backward.
Ross blinked.
For a split second, he genuinely didn't understand what had happened.
Something had just hit him hard enough to send him flying.
That wasn't supposed to happen.
He looked up.
Standing there was a massive figure nearly equal to Red Hulk in size.
The giant wore a dome-shaped crimson helmet.
Juggernaut.
The sensing mutant pointed excitedly.
"That's him!"
Magneto's eyes lit up.
He had struck gold.
A mutant capable of physically matching a Hulk.
Ross recovered instantly.
Then he swung.
His massive palm crashed into Juggernaut with enough force to flatten a tank.
The impact thundered through the corridor.
Juggernaut was hurled sideways.
His body smashed into the wall and embedded itself deep within the steel structure.
The force alone would have liquefied most beings.
Ross recognized him immediately.
"Juggernaut."
The profile was hard to forget.
Unstoppable momentum.
Immense strength.
Near-invulnerability.
A living battering ram.
The steel wall bulged outward.
Then Juggernaut simply climbed back out.
Unharmed.
He lowered his shoulders and charged.
The distance vanished instantly.
CRASH!
Red Hulk was driven straight through another wall.
Metal screamed apart.
A section of reinforced steel spanning dozens of square meters was ripped completely free.
The sheer strength on display was absurd.
Around them, the other mutants stared in silence.
For the first time, many of them realized how insignificant their own powers seemed compared to monsters like these.
Meanwhile, footsteps echoed behind them.
Heavy.
Deliberate.
Magneto turned.
Abomination had broken free.
Steve Rogers had returned as well.
The Brotherhood suddenly found themselves trapped.
One Hulk-sized monster in front.
Another behind.
And somewhere nearby, a second Hulk and Bruce Banner were still waiting.
The metal beneath their feet trembled from the shockwaves of Red Hulk and Juggernaut trading blows.
Neither giant seemed capable of seriously injuring the other.
The raw power involved was difficult to comprehend.
Abomination cracked his neck.
A predatory grin spread across his face.
"Nobody's leaving."