'Erik. Found him.'
Magneto's sudden unconsciousness had caught Charles off guard, temporarily severing the telepathic link between them. But as long as the brain was still functioning, locating him again wasn't difficult.
Now, Charles had locked onto Magneto, who was currently trapped inside a metal sphere beneath the water.
At the same time, he sensed another figure nearby: 'Batman.'
'This is bad!'
Charles immediately realized what was happening. 'Batman' was most likely planning to take Magneto out while he was unconscious. And given the current circumstances, his method would almost certainly be lethal.
Charles didn't believe for a second that someone like Magneto, a known terrorist who had launched attacks in the South and championed mutant supremacy, would be treated as just another Gotham criminal. 'Batman' wasn't going to simply throw him in prison. No, someone like Magneto would be seen as a threat too dangerous to keep alive.
With that in mind, Charles didn't hesitate. His mental power shot straight toward Magneto's brain.
He didn't bother trying to control 'Batman.' That was futile. He had already sensed it: just like the Joker, 'Batman's' mind was protected by another psychic force.
This city, its order, its chaos, its fear, its madness—was all under the control of someone hiding behind both 'Batman' and the Joker.
This also made Charles fully understand why Magneto's mission had ended up like this.
Charging into a city completely controlled by an unknown power and trying to replace it, Magneto and the Brotherhood had already made it farther than anyone could've expected. That alone was a miracle.
'But as long as Erik's alive, and I'm still alive, one day this force will fall to mutants too. Just wait, you bastards of Gotham.'
Charles felt no sympathy for this city, a place that had buried so many of his own comrades.
...
Meanwhile, far away in New York, Reid slowly opened his eyes.
Keeping track of the Skrulls on Earth was a mentally draining job, but that didn't mean he was going to vanish forever like he was dead.
Sensing Charles' overwhelming psychic power, amplified by Cerebro, spreading across Gotham's skies, Reid clicked his tongue in surprise.
"Should I say Marvel tech really is something?" he muttered. "Even a brain teetering on the edge of dementia can still put out that kind of force. But…"
A faint smile played at his lips as his own powerful consciousness surged toward Gotham.
"My brain is far superior to yours now."
Charles Xavier's mind was often called the most dangerous brain on Earth. But that title was based entirely on his Omega-level telepathic ability.
In reality, Charles was at best a mediocre genius, one with a very unbalanced skill set. He had shown exceptional talent only in evolutionary biology and psychology. His level was similar to someone like Otto or Dr. Connors.
Compared to true prodigies like Tony, Reed, and Victor, he fell far behind. In front of minds like theirs, Charles' intellect was barely above average.
As for Reid?
When he first arrived in this world, he had been just an ordinary man. Now, he possessed the powers of Alfred, the Joker, Martian Manhunter, Luthor, and Batman.
Even though the system refused to hand over Superman no matter what, the cards it had given him were all brimming with intelligence. Each one smarter than the last.
Combined with the enhanced brain of the Martian race, his mind was now far more powerful than Charles'. Even with Cerebro's amplification, Reid didn't feel threatened at all.
And just like that, the two mighty psychic forces collided in the skies above Gotham.
In an instant, whether it was civilians being evacuated or Gordon and Harvey working to calm the crowds, everyone felt it: a sudden pressure that gripped their minds.
Even Aquaman and Namor, locked in a deadly underwater battle deep in the pitch-black ocean, felt a sharp pain pierce through their minds.
'Who?!'
Charles' psychic projection roared in the air. He needed to wake Erik right away. If he delayed any longer, who knew what 'Batman' might do to him?
But the opposing psychic force pushed back with equal strength. And then, Charles recognized it.
At first, he thought Martian Manhunter had returned to Earth. But it didn't take long for him to realize the true identity of this presence.
'It's you?!' he gasped. 'How is that possible?!'
Through their psychic connection, Charles immediately recognized who the other person was.
It wasn't that Reid didn't want to disguise himself. It's just that to a telepath, a psychic projection was as clear and identifiable as an ID. He was Reid. Unless he used a role-play card to fully become Martian Manhunter, his psychic presence would always be Reid's. There was no way to hide or fake it.
Besides, though his mental strength was powerful, it still wasn't enough to completely overpower Charles, especially while he had Cerebro boosting him.
'Professor X, long time no see,' Reid's psychic form greeted with a smile.
He looked calm, even friendly, but Charles knew full well there was no way Reid would let him get anywhere near Magneto.
And now, seeing the man here, everything suddenly made sense to him.
'This was your scheme from the start, wasn't it? It began with Scott.'
The exposure of the mutants had always felt far too coincidental. Charles had never been able to figure out why. But now, seeing Reid, the final piece of the puzzle fell into place.
Somehow, his ambition must have been exposed to this man. And ever since their first encounter, he had begun planning his moves against the entire mutant race.
'Scott really was an accident,' Reid replied calmly. 'A rose I picked on a whim. But you don't need me to remind you, your ambition alone was enough. Even without him, this outcome was bound to happen one day.'
'...Yeah.' Charles nodded silently.
His dream, Erik's dream, the dream of all mutants—as long as they kept chasing it, they were destined to clash with people like Reid.
Because he wasn't a mutant. And that alone made conflict inevitable.
'But this time, I must wake Erik up! You're not burying him tonight!'
With a surge of determination, Charles, ignoring whether his body could take it, cranked Cerebro to its absolute maximum.
As an Omega-level telepath, his mind was already terrifying. But now, amplified a hundredfold, he unleashed a full-force psychic assault on his opponent.
Reid frowned. The surge of mental power had already surpassed what he could fully withstand at the moment. But... if it was just about holding off for a short while—
'Come on, old bald man. Don't go and get yourself killed.'
The two waves of psychic energy clashed again.
And in that moment, the entire city of Gotham—every single person—completely lost the ability to think.
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