The blood on his hands had long since stopped flowing.
Peter stood in midair, overlooking everything below.
The earlier clash between him and Juggernaut had left the land riddled with craters, like a battlefield torn apart by giants. But Juggernaut's subsequent rampage had flattened it all—forcefully, violently—into a deceptive stillness.
But that calm…
…was only temporary.
Looking down, Peter's gaze sharpened.
Below him, Juggernaut's eyes were gone—replaced by a blazing crimson glow. His entire body had fallen into an eerie stillness, yet his face carried a chilling, unnatural smile.
In those hollow sockets—
Red light burned.
And it locked onto Peter.
A strange, unsettling feeling crept into Peter's chest.
He understood immediately.
This…
Was no longer Juggernaut.
His sanity had completely collapsed.
And now, the power of Cyttorak had fully taken over.
BOOM!
They moved at the same time.
With his strength pushed even further, Juggernaut relied purely on brute force—yet the speed he unleashed was no slower than Peter's.
Two figures shot through the air—
Colliding.
Separating.
Then colliding again.
In mere moments, the ground that had just been flattened was once again reduced to something resembling the surface of the moon—pitted, broken, utterly devastated.
The entire Washington, D.C. was jolted awake.
The tremors drove people out of their homes, and what they saw next—
Was nothing short of apocalyptic.
"Open fire!"
Inside the communications channel, the President—already aboard Air Force One—roared in fury.
And then—
The retaliation began.
On the ground, the National Guard and arriving Army units unleashed a barrage. Rocket artillery vehicles and armored tanks roared to life, their cannons erupting in unison.
At low altitude, armed helicopters hovered in formation. Flames burst from their rocket pods, streaking across the sky in dazzling trails.
Above—
F-22 Raptors locked onto their targets and released deadly missiles.
The sky lit up.
An endless storm of artillery fire blossomed like fireworks during the New Year—
Except these fireworks brought destruction, smoke, and death.
…
From a distance, watching the White House ruins now engulfed in a sea of flames—
Mystique, pressed her lips together.
"Can you… still sense him?"
Her voice carried a trace of hesitation.
She didn't understand why Peter had orchestrated all of this.
But under such overwhelming firepower—
Aside from someone like the so-called "King of Iron"—
Who could possibly ignore this kind of attack?
Even Wolverine, with his adamantium-laced skeleton, would be blasted to pieces—or melted by the sheer heat.
This barrage—
Was no weaker than a nuclear detonation.
In fact, in terms of concentrated destructive force, it might even surpass one.
The only difference—
No radiation.
"I can't tell," Psylocke replied, shaking her head. "If a telepath deliberately hides themselves, they can't be detected."
But the moment her words fell—
A violet psychic blade materialized in her hand, pointing sharply toward the darkness beside them.
Someone was there.
And when the figure stepped out—
She froze.
"…You?"
Ignoring her shock—and the unmistakable amazement in her eyes—
Peter walked forward, completely unscathed.
Not a single mark on him.
He came to stand beside Raven, looking ahead at the inferno consuming everything.
"How beautiful…"
A satisfied smile spread across his face.
"The flames."
The chaos.
All of it—
Ignited by his own hands.
"Your request is fulfilled," Peter said calmly. "Starting tomorrow, there will only be two paths left between the U.S. government and mutants."
"Total war…"
"Or negotiation—treating mutants as a legitimate race and addressing the issue publicly."
But just as he had predicted—
War was impossible.
Mutants were not weak.
And the world's other superpowers were certainly not passive observers.
Russia.
China.
They would gladly watch as the United States descended into civil conflict—dragged down from its throne as the world's leading power.
"You see," Peter continued with a faint grin, "I'm not like Magneto."
"I know when to stop."
"I understand what it means to take the win."
Just like moments ago—
The instant the missiles were launched, Peter withdrew.
Leaving Juggernaut as the sole target.
Similarly—
While the destruction of the White House resembled one of Magneto's terrorist attacks…
There was a fundamental difference.
Magneto would have targeted the President.
Because his goal—
Was war.
Peter?
He let the President escape.
And destroyed the symbol instead.
One was a declaration of war.
The other—
A demonstration.
A warning.
A rebellion.
"…Have you ever considered joining the Brotherhood?"
Raven suddenly asked, her eyes filled with a rare intensity.
What the Brotherhood lacked—
Was exactly someone like him.
Powerful.
Rational.
Strategic.
Even she herself was destined to remain second-in-command—her strength simply wasn't enough.
"We'll see."
Peter turned away casually.
"I'm heading back to sleep."
"Though after all this… I wonder if the debate competition will still happen."
His figure gradually disappeared into the forest, swallowed by darkness.
-----
The next morning—
Peter was woken up by Gwen.
Ignoring Ned's jealous stare, Peter freshened up and joined his girlfriend for breakfast.
Naturally, their conversation drifted to the events of the previous night.
"Ah… I slept way too deeply. Didn't hear anything," Peter said lazily.
Their residence wasn't particularly close to the White House, and the soundproofing was decent.
As for Ned—
After being subtly hypnotized by Peter, he had slept like the dead until morning.
Gwen could only sigh in amazement.
"Then you seriously missed something incredible. Even from here, I could see the sky over the White House glowing with fire."
Peter shrugged.
"I'm more concerned about whether our debate competition is still happening…"
"Or if we're heading back early."
A faint smile tugged at his lips.
"Because I've got some new plans for the future."
--------------
T/N:
Support the Story and Read 30+ Chapters early on P@treon:👉[email protected]/MPHFics