Marvel's master of cosmic magic-Chapter 588

Rowan Mercer and Pietro kept talking as they walked, and before long they reached the door to the headmaster’s office.

Charles Xavier had been taken from the underground Cerebro chamber, so the students aboveground had no idea anything was wrong. Classes continued as usual. Mystique and Hank had deliberately kept the truth from the students. Panic would help no one.

Knock. Knock. Knock.

Rowan tapped on the door. He could already sense everyone inside. Mystique, Hank, Moira, and Alex were gathered there, clearly trying to piece together a way to find and rescue Xavier.

"The headmaster isn’t in today," Hank called out automatically. "If this is about—"

He opened the door and froze.

"Pietro?" Hank stared, stunned. "It’s been a long time."

Ten years earlier, Pietro’s intervention had made their escape from the Pentagon possible. Hank had never forgotten that.

"Yeah. Long time," Pietro said. "I came to ask Professor Xavier about Magneto."

Mystique walked over, her expression sharp. "What, you saw his speech on TV and bought into it?"

Magneto was a global fugitive, but his words had inspired plenty of mutants. To her, Pietro looked like just another one drawn in.

Pietro hesitated, then stepped inside with Rowan. After a moment, he spoke quietly.

"He’s not just Magneto. He’s my father."

Silence hit the room like a dropped plate.

"What?" Mystique, Hank, and Alex all stared at him.

Pietro made an awkward hand gesture, then realized how ridiculous it looked. "I mean... him and my mother. You know."

"We understand," Mystique cut in quickly. "You don’t need to explain that part. But are you sure?"

"I am," Pietro said. "He disappeared before I was born. I met him once ten years ago, but I didn’t know who he was back then. Now I do. I just want to talk to him."

There was a trace of hurt in his voice.

Hank stepped forward and rested a hand on his shoulder, then explained what had just happened. Apocalypse. Charles being taken. The situation spiraling out of control.

"Right now," Hank finished, "finding Erik won’t be easy. He’s with—"

"If you’re trying to locate someone," Rowan said calmly, "I might be able to help."

Hank turned to him, puzzled. "I’m sorry, you’re not a student or a teacher. You’re Pietro’s friend?"

"We met at the front gate," Rowan said with a smile. "I actually came because I heard the school was hiring teachers."

Hank’s eyes lit up. "It is. Desperately. But you said you can locate people?"

"Yes. Give me a name, and I can find them."

Pietro blinked. "Wait, I thought your power was making stuff out of thin air."

"That’s just one of them."

Hank didn’t hesitate. "Then on behalf of the headmaster, you’re hired. Right now. Please help us find Charles."

Rowan raised a hand in a casual thumbs-up.

Before he could act, the distant thrum of rotors cut through the air.

They rushed to the window.

Outside, more than a dozen armed helicopters had landed. Soldiers poured out, forming a tightening perimeter around the school, weapons already raised.

Mystique’s face went pale. "It’s Stryker."

William Stryker. Trask’s former subordinate. The man who specialized in hunting mutants.

Her warning came too late.

Stryker gave the order, and a pulse of sound rolled across the campus. Specialized sonic weapons flooded the grounds with vibrations tuned precisely to mutant physiology.

Teachers and students collapsed where they stood.

In the office, Hank, Mystique, Pietro, and Alex all dropped unconscious.

Rowan didn’t.

"Good thing I left a backup," he muttered.

Without the explosion that was supposed to destroy the school, everyone had remained inside. In the original chain of events, several people would have escaped simply by not being there. This time, Stryker had nearly caught them all in one sweep.

Rowan raised a hand.

"Wake up."

A subtle ripple passed through the room. One by one, the others stirred and opened their eyes.

"What... happened?" Mystique groaned.

"Sonic weapons," Rowan said, nodding toward the window. "I cleared the effects. Temporarily."

Mystique rubbed her temples. "You really do have a lot of powers."

"Just enough to be useful," Rowan replied.

Pietro had already slipped on his headphones, music blasting. A grin spread across his face.

"Then let me handle the cleanup."

He vanished.

Seconds later, it was over.

Stryker and every soldier were wrapped in tape and strapped to trees in the nearby woods, struggling helplessly.

Pietro reappeared, pulling off his headphones. "Rude guests should be escorted out."

Rowan watched him thoughtfully.

Against ordinary enemies, Pietro was terrifying. Faster than reactions. Faster than gunfire. Only someone like Apocalypse, someone whose defenses ignored speed entirely, could stop him head-on.

And that, Rowan thought, was the real problem.