"You sound like you're in a pretty bad mood. Lose a lot of people in Alaska?"
Even in this unusual first conversation with Magneto, Adam remained perfectly calm. He felt no tension or unnecessary anxiety whatsoever.
Just from the gravelly voice on the other end... raw with undisguised fury and frustration... Adam already had a clear picture of what had happened.
He didn't have the kind of real-time satellite monitoring that major organizations enjoyed, so he didn't know the exact details of the battle. But the fact that Magneto had picked up on the subtle signals Adam had planted and responded this quickly told him enough.
"As far as I know, while the Deviants are strong, they alone shouldn't have been enough to cripple the Brotherhood," Adam said.
"Plenty of Eternals joined the fight too... each one with powerful and practical abilities. Any other time, I could have wiped them all out myself! But they ran too fast!"
Magneto's tone grew heavier.
For someone of Magneto's experience and composure to show such obvious emotion, the Brotherhood's losses had clearly been far worse than Adam initially estimated.
Or perhaps it also stung because he had failed to achieve his goal and taken a hit to his prestige?
"Also, I refuse to acknowledge those crawling abominations on the ice as Deviants. Kid, no matter how much you think you know or where you got your information, you'd better choose your words more carefully!"
Only now did Magneto finally voice the discovery that enraged him most.
Losing personnel could make him angry. This was something beyond anger.
"Getting hit by both Eternals and Deviants at once would cause casualties for any organization on this planet. That much is inevitable," Adam replied.
To make the conversation easier, he grabbed Mystique's seemingly slender but densely muscled arm and pulled her firmly in front of him.
Mystique's face remained blank. She had survived far more dangerous and complicated situations; her spirit had been tempered long ago. Enduring Adam's various forms of humiliation was just another minor inconvenience. She had already steeled herself for it.
The recently recruited Elektra, standing nearby, couldn't match that level of composure.
"But if you're trying to deny any connection between these animalistic Deviants and mutants, there's really no need," Adam continued.
"So you're saying these inferior creatures are the ancestors of mutants?"
"No, of course not. The Deviants and mutants are closely linked... that much is true. Just not the ones that attacked you." Adam explained.
Magneto was silent for a moment. "There's more than one kind of Deviant?"
"There are many kinds. Just on Earth alone, two have existed. One is the inferior type you've already encountered. The other was wiped out twenty thousand years ago by forces beyond their control."
Adam counted on his fingers. "Beyond Earth, across the vast universe, there are far more varieties. Some have gone extinct, while others thrive and have built powerful civilizations far beyond Earth's level."
"That's a lot to take in. I'm starting to think you might be insane," Magneto said.
"In this world, only madmen walk at the forefront. You don't really believe the rule-following types who love playing by the book ever become great revolutionaries, do you?" Adam spread his hands, then slowly closed them. "Thanks for the compliment, by the way."
For a moment, Magneto genuinely couldn't tell whether this was a complete lie or a mix of truth and deception.
"What about the Eternals?" Mystique suddenly asked.
"Same principle. As many kinds of Deviants as there are kinds of Eternals. That's the iron rule. The universe's creators clearly have a fondness for pairs," Adam replied.
"Tell me what really happened twenty thousand years ago. And don't lie. Say everything you know. I have ways to verify the truth…" Magneto's voice came through the comm device.
"Interesting. If I'm not mistaken, you're already planning how to crush my forces, capture me, and interrogate me for information, right? You're probably even wondering who has telepathic abilities so you can rip the knowledge straight out of my brain." Adam let out a low chuckle.
In fact, Magneto had been considering exactly that. This was too important to take at face value from some unknown kid. After all, Adam wasn't a long-established figure like Professor Xavier with a proven track record of integrity.
Even S.H.I.E.L.D. wouldn't be able to protect him, Magneto had said.
"If I find out you're scheming something nasty, you'll get nothing. And don't underestimate my power. I have plenty of ways to make you regret it at the critical moment... just like how the Deviants and Eternals suddenly appeared and did a number on you," Adam said slowly.
"I've captured several Deviants. I can hand them over for your pets to infest."
"Bingo! I love it when talks go smoothly. That solves everything, doesn't it? Ten Deviants per question... seems like a fair price." Adam clapped his hands.
Magneto wasn't in the mood to haggle over numbers with someone who had been a nobody until recently. Given his personality, he would have already resorted to force if he weren't so uncertain about Adam.
Why use words when force could solve the problem?
But until he confirmed Adam's true background and sources, he could afford a little patience.
"By the way, among the Deviants you captured, was there a leader?" Adam had been eyeing that particularly cunning and powerful leader-class Deviant for a while.
"Ten Deviants."
"Five. Take it or leave it."
"If you mean the biggest and strongest one... no. If not for that beast, the Brotherhood wouldn't have lost so much. It even dragged off Juggernaut in the end…"
"Wait... you're saying Juggernaut? A Deviant leader took Juggernaut?" Adam had been casual until that name dropped. His tone sharpened with genuine surprise. "Is your Juggernaut an actual mutant?"
Mystique cut in with a mocking edge. "All that careful acting, and you slip up in the one place you really shouldn't. Do you have some special feelings for that big oaf Juggernaut?"
Magneto, far away, looked equally puzzled.
Juggernaut was one of the Brotherhood's key members... Professor Xavier's stepbrother, with an nearly indestructible body and immense combat power. He was a bit slow upstairs, sure, but was he really worth that kind of reaction from Adam?
He hadn't met Adam in person, so he stayed quiet and waited for Mystique's read.
But before Mystique could speak, Adam continued.
"Guys, whether you believe it or not… if we're unlucky, the Juggernaut in your organization might be exactly what I'm thinking. That would be… a big problem."
Because Juggernaut possessed a massive reserve of energy far beyond normal imagination... dormant in most cases.
And the source of that power was a multiversal heavyweight…
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