Thunderclouds loomed across the sky, casting shadows over the massive, scorched playground. Flames still danced along the charred ground, flickering as if reluctant to fade.
From a distance, the scene resembled a breathtaking landscape painting—one filled with elemental beauty and raw destruction. But for those caught in its brushstrokes, it was anything but beautiful.
"You and I…" Pyro John stood trembling, his body bare, his clothing and hair utterly burned away. His skin, though oddly unscathed, quivered with the trauma of what he had just experienced. His eyes were blank, his mind spiraling.
Storm hovered above, worry lacing her features. "Joseph! If you don't stop right now, I swear I'll go straight to Principal Charles!"
Joseph sighed, throwing her a weary, mildly annoyed glance. "Teacher Orolo, I told you already… I have my own limits."
He snapped his fingers.
In an instant, to Storm's astonishment, the massive flaming hydra—nine serpent heads of magical fire—vanished like soap bubbles in the breeze. The blazing fires, the magical residue, the signs of devastation—all of it began to recede as if caught in reverse.
The flames dissolved.
The cracked and blasted earth refilled itself.
Scorched grass regained its green hue.
The stone pillars Petra had summoned earlier slowly reassembled, each chunk rising from the ground and returning to place. The once-melted basketball hoop gleamed anew, completely restored.
The playground healed itself.
It was as if the battle had never taken place.
Storm froze mid-air. Even Joseph's earlier display of destructive magic hadn't shaken her like this. But now—watching the ground repair itself under an invisible wind of magic—she felt genuine disorientation.
Was this some kind of temporal reversal? No… Joseph was supposed to be a Fire-type mutant.
Were all the spells earlier just illusions? Had the whole attack been part of a larger mind game?
Just how much power was Joseph hiding?
Dozens of questions flooded her mind—but she had no answers. And around her, the voices of stunned students echoed like waves.
"Joseph is insane… insane in a good way!"
"I thought he was just smart—who knew he had real powers?"
"He's a fire-user like John, but he's like ten times stronger!"
"John couldn't even fight back!"
"Not just John—Bishop, Petra, Kevin, Carl… all of them were taken out in seconds!"
"No wonder the professor wanted Joseph to lead the mission."
"Damn, if I had known, I would've passed that test no matter what!"
"Bishop must be kicking himself now!"
The crowd buzzed at the edges of the field, but Joseph didn't react. His hand hovered over the air one final time, completing the incantation.
Four-Ring Magic: Restoration.
A soft shimmer rolled across the entire area like a curtain falling on a stage.
Moments later, the battlefield looked exactly as it had that morning—clean, untouched, peaceful. The only physical trace that remained was Pyro John's burned clothing. Everyone else, including Bishop and Petra, still had theirs intact.
It felt like waking from a dream.
But everyone present knew—this had been real.
Carl Wen, the mimic. Kevin, the shapeshifter. Petra. Bishop. All of them exchanged uneasy glances. It dawned on them, with sickening clarity, that they had made the wrong decision earlier.
"Joseph…" they began to speak, guilt coating their voices.
But Joseph had already turned his back on them.
"Bobby, Peter, Roberto," he called out casually, looking over his shoulder. "What are you three standing around for? Didn't you hear me? Katie and Mirage are already back at the dorms packing."
His voice was calm, but now, there was weight behind it—a quiet authority.
Colossus, Iceman, and Sunspot snapped to attention. They shared a look, nodded, and bolted toward the dormitory without hesitation.
Iceman didn't even glance at the flirty group of girls he'd been entertaining.
Storm watched this with wide eyes. Now she understood.
This was what Joseph wanted.
He had remained in the shadows for ten years, quiet and unassuming. But now, he had revealed his power with devastating clarity—a signal to everyone that he was done hiding.
He wasn't just stepping forward.
He was taking control.
Poor Pyro John had merely been the unfortunate target of that declaration.
Had John truly picked a fight of his own accord? Storm wasn't so sure. Even the most impulsive, hot-headed youth wouldn't have been stupid enough to challenge Joseph publicly—not without encouragement.
Could Joseph have… nudged him toward it? Mentally, perhaps?
Storm shivered at the thought.
Setting her doubts aside, she descended and approached the still-dazed Pyro John.
"How are you feeling? Any pain or discomfort?"
John didn't answer right away.
Seconds passed before he lifted his head, eyes unfocused. Slowly, emotion returned to his face—but it wasn't relief.
It was rage.
"Miss Orolo," he muttered, voice trembling, "why didn't I get hurt?"
Storm blinked. "What?"
"Why didn't I get hurt?" he asked again, louder this time.
And then again, screaming: "HOW COULD I NOT BE INJURED?!"
Storm opened her mouth, but no words came.
She understood.
John had just been humiliated.
Joseph had annihilated him—yet hadn't even deemed him worth harming. The barrage of spells, the overwhelming force… none of it had been meant to injure. Joseph had merely toyed with him.
Which meant John had never been a threat in Joseph's eyes.
That truth hurt more than the flames ever could.
Storm exhaled quietly, placed a hand on his shoulder. "Go rest. Sleep it off. It'll pass."
She didn't add the rest: And maybe we'll erase your memory of this.
...
What Storm didn't know was that Professor X had already seen everything from his office.
And he wasn't alone.
Jean Grey, Cyclops, and Wolverine stood beside him, each watching the screen with stunned expressions.
"His fire abilities…" Cyclops murmured, "The control… it's beyond anything I've ever seen. Professor—is this the 'magic' you spoke of?"
Professor X remained quiet for a moment before shaking his head. "No. What Joseph displayed in my office was a space-warping spell. Something like a 'stretching charm'—he expanded the internal capacity of objects."
He paused, eyes narrowing. "And just now, he revealed another one. A kind of large-scale restoration spell."
Jean furrowed her brow. "So, it's not just fire. Then… what is his ability?"
"Didn't you ask him?" Cyclops asked, incredulous.
"No," Charles admitted.
Jean and Cyclops exchanged a look of disbelief. "Why not?"
Another silence filled the room before Charles spoke again.
"I attempted to probe his mind."
That statement alone made all three turn sharply toward him.
"And?"
"I failed," Charles said simply. "There is a barrier around Joseph's consciousness—dense, absolute. Even if I used my full psychic strength, I doubt I could break through it."
Jean gasped.
As a telepath herself, she understood what that meant better than anyone.
Aside from Magneto, who had specifically developed defenses against telepathy, no one had ever completely blocked out Professor X.
Could Joseph really have that level of mental protection?
"I didn't press him," Charles continued. "If he wants to reveal the truth, he will."
Jean frowned, but she understood.
From that moment forward, the dynamic had shifted. Joseph wasn't just a student anymore.
He was a peer.
A partner.
Someone too powerful to be casually analyzed or controlled.
Wolverine finally broke the silence, flipping through a document absentmindedly. "You're not worried he'll turn out like Magneto?"
Charles smiled faintly. "No. He's calculated, yes—but everything he's done has been measured. He didn't hurt John. He could've. But he didn't."
"He needs to assert himself," Charles continued. "He needs the others to listen. And he needs us to believe in him."
"Logan, you'll see soon. Joseph has a plan. He's prepared. And when the time comes… nothing will stand in his way."
Wolverine raised a brow. "Quoting Eastern poetry now, Charles?"
Professor X chuckled.
"Three years of silence for one resounding strike. Or in Joseph's case… ten years."
"There's an old saying: 'The roc rises with the same wind in one day, and soars ninety thousand miles.'"
"Joseph is that roc."
"And he's already taken flight."
Silence returned to the office as everyone absorbed those words.
After a long pause, Logan grunted and muttered, "Next thing you know, you'll be studying calligraphy and drinking herbal tea."
Charles just smiled and looked out the window.
The winds were changing.