Chapter 189 — Into the Guts of the Beast
The steel Logan cut through still smoked, edges glowing faintly orange. The air in Magneto's bunker smelled like burnt metal, sweat, and something sterile — like a hospital that hated you.
Cyclops stepped forward first, shoulders squared. "Two paths. Logan, carve into that side chamber. The rest of us hit the inhibitor generator."
Logan gave him a long, amused look. "Already givin' orders like you never left. You even say please anymore, Slim?"
Scott's mouth tightened, but he didn't bite back. "If you've got a better plan, let's hear it."
Logan's claws clicked together, a wolfish grin splitting his face. "Nah. I just like hearin' you sweat."
Colossus snorted, tension easing for a moment. "Some things never change."
Storm moved to the second door, kneeling gracefully. From her belt she drew a thin strip of steel, flexing it between her fingers. Her white hair brushed her shoulders as she tilted her head, listening to the tumblers.
Kurt leaned close, whispering. "Fraulein, I did not know you had such… questionable talents."
Storm's lips curved faintly. "Cairo teaches many lessons, Kurt. Some better left unspoken." The lock clicked under her hand, and she glanced at Logan. "I would prefer quiet while I work."
Logan grunted, claws scraping sparks from the wall as he carved a second path. "Ain't my style, but I'll try not to breathe too loud."
Kitty hovered nervously near Scott, hugging herself. "So, uh, I'm actually doing this? Like, really doing this? No pressure, just the entire fate of mutantkind on the line."
Scott crouched beside her, voice even. "You can do this, Kitty. Focus. Ignore the noise."
She peeked up at him. "You sound like my math teacher."
Logan barked a laugh. "Careful, kid, he'll assign you homework if you keep starin' too long."
Scott shot Logan a glare. "Enough."
Logan shrugged, smirk tugging his mouth. "What? She loosened up. Fear's a killer, Summers. Better she laughs now than panics later."
Kitty swallowed, nodding. "Thanks. Both of you. I'll… I'll try."
Colossus stood guard near her, fists clenched tight. Without his armor, every sound made him twitch. His voice was low. "I should protect you better, Katya. Without my steel, I feel like a scarecrow."
Kitty glanced at him, softer now. "Peter, you're already protecting me. Just… by being here."
He blinked, touched, before Kurt clapped him on the back. "See? Even without metal skin, you are useful, mein freund."
Colossus muttered, but his chest straightened a little.
Storm's lock gave a final, decisive click. She pushed the door open slowly, revealing the hum of the inhibitor chamber beyond.
Scott rose, his jaw firm. "Storm, Kitty, Peter, Kurt — with me. Logan, finish that cut and be ready."
Logan's claws hissed as they slid back with a SNIKT. He leaned against the scorched metal he'd carved through, cigar smoke curling. "Don't worry about me, Slim. I'll make enough noise when it's time."
Scott's gaze lingered on him a beat too long. Neither spoke the thought in their heads: 'Can I trust you not to screw this up?'
The team split.
Inside the inhibitor chamber, the machine dominated the space like some alien god. Huge coils pulsed with cold blue light. The hum wasn't just sound — it pressed against bone, against nerves, choking out the spark of power in each mutant body.
Kitty winced, her teeth gritting. "It's… loud. Not in sound, just… in me. Feels like it's clawing at my insides."
Storm steadied her. "Stay focused, child. You are stronger than it."
Scott pointed at the console. "Kitty, now."
She went to the humming tower. Her eyes screwed shut, fingers twitching as she worked by feel more than sight.
Kurt's tail twitched nervously. "If zis goes wrong, what happens?"
Scott's voice was flat. "It explodes."
Nightcrawler blinked. "Comforting."
Storm's brow furrowed as she laid hands on the panel, lockpicks ready in case Kitty couldn't get through. "Then let us pray it does not come to that."
Meanwhile, Logan crouched in his carved hole, senses sharpened despite the inhibitor's choke. His ears caught the faint scrape of boots somewhere deeper in the halls. His nose picked up sweat, oil, and… metal. Too much metal.
He spat the cigar stub onto the floor. "They know we're here."
SNIKT.
'Guess it's almost curtain time.'
The chamber pulsed like a living thing. Blue coils glowed brighter, veins of power crawling across the walls. Every thrum rattled the X-Men's teeth, every hum a reminder of the leash strangling their gifts.
Kitty went deeper into the console, eyes squeezed shut. Sparks spat around her like angry fireflies. "This isn't just wires — it's like… like a trap maze. Every path I touch just loops back into itself. Magneto wanted this to blow if anyone got curious."
Scott stood rigid, fists clenched. "Can you bypass it?"
She bit her lip, trembling. "Maybe if I had, like, days. But right now? No way."
Colossus stepped forward, his broad shoulders hunched. "Then we destroy it. Even if it costs us."
Scott snapped, voice sharp. "No! If it detonates, the island goes with us."
Logan's voice cut in from the dark, claws extended, gleaming in the machine's glow. "Sometimes you gotta take a gamble. This thing keeps hummin', none of us ever fight free. You ready to sit here and wait for Mags to come collect your bones?"
Scott whirled, jaw tight. "And what if your gamble kills everyone in this room?"
Logan smirked. "Then at least we won't be Magneto's playthings."
Storm's voice cut through, calm but cold. "Both of you. Enough. Kitty, step back."
Kitty distanced herself from the console, collapsing into Colossus's arms, chest heaving. "I tried. I swear I tried."
Peter held her gently. "You did more than anyone could ask, Katya."
Logan sized up the core — the way the coils wrapped like ribs around a heart, the faint vibration thrumming through his claws. He crouched, testing the resonance with a tap of metal against metal. Sparks flew.
'Feels like slicing an artery,' he thought. 'Do it wrong, it gushes all over. Do it right, it just bleeds out.'
SNIKT.
His claws plunged in.
The machine screamed, lights flashing red. Energy surged, lashing the walls with electric fire. Kitty shrieked, covering her ears. Colossus shielded her with his body, teeth gritted as sparks scorched his skin.
Scott shouted, "Logan, stop—!"
Too late.
The core split under feral strength. The hum pitched higher, higher—then collapsed. A detonation ripped through the chamber, a shockwave flinging them all to the floor.
Dust choked the air. The glow of the machine died in a shuddering cough.
Storm coughed, eyes watering. "What… what have you done?"
Logan hauled himself up, smoke curling from his hair, claws still dripping molten steel. He grinned through the soot. "Cut the leash. You're welcome."
For a moment, silence. Then — the hum shifted again. The air grew heavy, like iron filling their lungs. Bolts lifted off the floor, floating like angry daggers.
A voice rolled over them, deep and unyielding.
"FOOLS."
The walls bent inward, plates tearing loose.
Magneto floated into view, cape snapping in a wind that wasn't there. His helmet gleamed, eyes burning with contempt. The broken remains of the inhibitor coiled around him like a living serpent, scraps reassembling at his will.
"You believed you could unmake what I have wrought? You believe yourselves clever, children? I AM EVOLUTION. I AM INEVITABLE."
Scott staggered up, visor-less eyes hidden but his stance defiant. "We'll stop you, Magneto. Whatever it takes."
Magneto sneered. "You will try. And you will fail."
Steel shards screamed through the air.
Storm cried, "Scatter!" and hurled herself aside, dragging Colossus with her. Kurt vanished in a puff of brimstone, reappearing behind a pillar. Kitty phased instinctively, shards passing through her like whispers.
Logan stood his ground. Claws out, grin feral. "Round three, tin man."
The battle had begun.