At the moment when the small flame mushroom cloud rose, Iron Man and Peter instinctively raised their arms to shield their faces, but were still swept away by the air wave that surged in an instant.
Fortunately, the flames did not spread, and the air wave was not the heat wave generated by the explosion, but purely a wave of energy. So although it blew away all the unfixed objects on the street and many people fell, it did not cause too much damage.
Iron Man straightened up his body, squinted his eyes at the base and said, "It's Magneto, it must be him."
"Do you think it's Magneto trying to bluff, or is the Phoenix about to erupt but stopped by Magneto?"
Iron Man shook his head slowly, his expression became very serious. He adjusted the channel in his Iron Armor and soon connected with Professor X.
"Hello, Professor Xavier, I am Iron Man of The Avengers. I saw a fire at the X-Men's base, what happened? Do you need help?"
Peter stood by watching Iron Man communicate with Professor X. After a long while, Iron Man said, "He invited us in, but I suggest you'd better not go in. Your spell is sometimes unreliable..."
"No, I suggest you don't go in. Did you forget? Once my life is in danger, the god I believe in will take me into his Divine Country. No one can kill me, including the Phoenix. But you're different. If the Phoenix really erupts..."
"Then it would be useless even if I hid at the end of the cosmos." Iron Man waved his hand, "Alright, let's just both go in together."
The two returned to the main entrance of the base. This time, someone finally came out to greet them. When he saw Mystique, Peter knew Iron Man was right — Magneto probably really came.
The group walked all the way into the base, and the voice-activated lights lit up accordingly. When they arrived at the office, there was only Professor X alone. But Peter felt that they were not deliberately hiding Magneto, after all, the enmity between these two is known to the world, and it's too late to think of hiding now. Magneto is most likely off doing something only he can handle.
Realizing this, Peter's heart sank even more. He looked into Professor X's eyes, which, like dozens of years ago, were still blue and just couldn't believe he would be the mastermind behind all of this.
But Peter couldn't help but harbor some suspicion. Cyclops and Wolverine had not been love rivals for just one day; if Wolverine were such an impulsive person, he would have gone mad the day Cyclops and the Phoenix established their relationship.
But in fact, as Captain America said, Logan, though his fighting style is fierce and resembles a wolverine galloping across the grasslands, actually possesses a cunning and sly nature unique to small animals. He would never be the one to make the situation ugly first.
And Cyclops, even more so. He might have been impulsive when he first debuted, but after years of training, he's no longer that reckless youth. If he didn't have a reassuring aura about him, the Phoenix woman wouldn't have chosen him.
All things considered, although the relationship between the two is not good, it would never escalate to a deadly duel. If no one were behind the scenes, even if the Phoenix woman married one of them, at most they wouldn't attend the wedding, they wouldn't do anything worse.
So who is stirring the pot?
This brings us to this point in time. There wasn't such an incident before because the two Earths hadn't merged. After the merger, who among the mutants is most affected? Of course, it's Magneto, who always clashed with Superman.
With relentless superheroes like Superman and Wonder Woman, the Mutant Brotherhood can't have its way so easily. This also impacts Magneto's prestige to a considerable extent. He used to force the Federation Government to compromise through terrorism; now that there are people he can't deal with, the Federation Government certainly won't show him a pleasant face.
So is it possible that Professor X, for Magneto's sake, deliberately staged such an accident to frame Superman?
As long as they give Superman some trouble, making it difficult for him to limit Magneto for a while, the other party will naturally come back with interest on what they owe.
Peter, though suspicious, couldn't be sure. Even having such suspicions stems from the extremely deep entanglement between Professor X and Magneto.
Peter is a person who deeply understands love. He possesses both the ability to accept love from others and to love others. So he's very clear that pure love or pure hatred is not enough to bring these two to where they are today. It must be a tangled web of love and hate, mutual debts, which have forged such deep ties.
This kind of relationship cannot be called healthy; they won't separate primarily because the grudges are still unavenged. In such circumstances, anything eccentric these two crazies do wouldn't be surprising.
Peter carefully observed Professor X. He didn't have the usual genial smile; on the contrary, he looked worried, and the lines on his face accentuated the marks of time. However, Peter still didn't lower his guard because people like them are always adept at feigning weakness.
"Did you come from the explosion site?" Professor X asked. In the past, he might add a sentence saying, "Don't worry, I didn't read your mind, just deduced," but now he clearly doesn't have the mood for that.
"I'm very sorry, destroying the building was not our intention. Were there any casualties?"
By saying that, it's basically an admission. Peter had to overturn his previous assumptions—it seems Professor X didn't intend to frame Superman, so this incident is indeed likely just an accident.
"Currently it's still being assessed." Iron Man didn't give a specific answer. There were indeed workers in the factory at the time, but fortunately, the noise from those two fighting was quite loud, so normal people would have run away when they heard it. Thus when it came time to unleash the big moves, there shouldn't have been many people left inside. If really grisly deaths were discovered, the alert level wouldn't be what it is now, so most likely there were no fatalities, though there certainly were injuries.
Professor X sighed deeply and said, "I really feel very sorry, all of this is my fault. I didn't expect my neglect would lead to such a tragedy."
"Hold on," Peter started, "first tell me what happened."
"You should have figured it out by now, right? The laser that sliced through the building was unleashed by Scott. He couldn't catch up to Logan, so in a fit of anger he used a wide-area attack."
"We're more concerned right now about where the two of them are," said Iron Man, "don't tell me that even with all this happening, you still want to protect your students."
"Of course not, the X-Men have already detained the two of them separately. But you know, the Phoenix… we can't completely restrain him. Even with Magneto there, he's still causing disturbances."
"So what's really going on here? Are they fighting because of emotions?"
"Sort of. Initially, it was just a minor conflict, like someone saying something in front of someone else, and then it gradually escalated to verbal arguments. Later, when we went out camping, they fought by the beach. If only I had taken it seriously at that time…"
"Please get to the point, Professor," Peter had to remind him, as he really didn't have time to listen to Professor X's confessions.
"Then it became uncontrollable." Professor X couldn't help but press his temples with the thumb and forefinger of one hand, "I had reprimanded them, but I didn't realize they were already out of control by then. The verbal reprimands had no effect, and eventually things escalated, they blew up a thermal power plant, and then today—Scott directly used the laser to slice open the building."
"This shouldn't have happened," Iron Man said, "especially given that you are Professor X. Can't you take the time to care about their mental health?"
"Unless it's necessary, I don't casually read other people's minds," Professor X shook his head and said, "I would never do it to my own students. Surely, this is also due to my arrogance. I thought using psychology and educational methods was sufficient to manage them, but I didn't expect this to happen."
"Well, let's not talk about anything else. Why did they start fighting now of all times? What triggered them?"
"That's what I want to find out," Professor X said, "Their emotional outbursts are indeed unusual. I'm considering using the Mind Reading Technique, but you know, the Phoenix…"
Iron Man also couldn't help but sigh. Honestly, although this more or less has to be cleaned up by The Avengers, he still feels empathy for Professor X.
Anyone tasked with storing and managing so many nuclear bombs finds it's no easy job, and what's more terrifying is that chemical reactions occur between these bombs—one unresolved issue could cause a chain explosion.
Now, Laser Eye Scott has caused a huge mess, but disciplining him, or even investigating him, would trigger emotional turbulence from Phoenix Lady Jean Grey. Regardless of how Jean thinks, if she experiences emotional turbulence, the Phoenix will take advantage of the situation, eventually leading to a Phoenix Force outbreak.
Even if Phoenix chooses to stand on the side of justice, it doesn't mean she won't be saddened. Even before any judgment, the moment she realizes the two sides fought because of her, she will surely be both angry and sad. That's probably how the Phoenix escaped just now; if Magneto hadn't arrived quickly, that fire would have burned far more than just the base.
Now, any actions regarding Laser Eye must be handled with utmost caution. To deal with him, you first have to get past Phoenix Lady, but she's clearly not in a state to think calmly right now—even sending her to Centaurus, a Phoenix Force outbreak might still reach Earth. It's simply impossible to handle.
Iron Man was getting a headache, but Peter said, "I went to the battle scene, the claw marks Wolverine Logan left on the wall were for escaping, he's clearly the more rational of the two, and doesn't wish to conflict with Laser Eye. Why not talk to him?"
"In fact, I asked him immediately," said Professor X, "but he said he was also unaware, feeling inexplicable. He said Laser Eye seemed like a different person, constantly harassing him, escalating from taunts to direct action, but he didn't understand why."
"So you're saying Logan is innocent?" Iron Man asked.
"His involvement can't be ruled out for now, hence he's also detained. But from their behavior, Logan does seem more rational. Would you like to see him?" Professor X said, "I know this will likely trouble The Avengers again, and to show our sincerity, the X-Men can let you question them directly. However, considering the dangers posed by Laser Eye and Phoenix Lady, we can't let you contact them until Magneto has them fully subdued. Logan poses a slightly lower risk and is clearer-minded, you can meet him."
Peter and Iron Man exchanged a glance. Iron Man pressed his earpiece and nodded, saying, "Okay, The Avengers should indeed meet Logan—though it won't be us, Captain America will arrive shortly."