International news reports that Magneto
is believed to be in Singapore. The Avengers arrive to talk to Mr
Ronalds, head of an international law enforcement unit, to learn that
the Soviet Super-Soldiers have returned to their homeland and the
X-Men have been taken into protective custody. Informed that Magneto
has been sighted, Ronalds refuses to share the info with the Avengers
whom he considers to have failed in their mission....
The feds are getting into position to
arrest Mags in the marketplace but a tourist recognizes him and
panics. The agents open fire on Mags who gathers all of their bullets
into a big ball and throws it at them. Mags is then approached by a
trio of mutants (Slider who can control friction, Crawler who can
climb walls, and Leiko who can recognize other mutants) and helped to
escape the agents. He is brought to the Galleria, a haven for mutants
and hailed as their hero. The leader, Light, wants to support Magneto
in his battle against mankind, a battle which he had rejected. The
place is raided by soldiers and Mags uses a wave of magnetic force to
stun them. The mutants head for another secret base....
The X-Men, held in an armored car,
become impatient with waiting for the authorities to formally arrest
them, so Rogue breaks out and carries the car away....
The mutants have decamped to another
base, this one in a docked ship; there, Magneto modifies his familiar
helmet with circuitry recovered from his asteroid, giving him
enhanced mental powers. When the Avengers confront the X-Men, Magneto
uses his new powers to paralyze the heroes and spirit away the X-Men
and Captain America. At the ship, Mags explains that he can use his
new powers to remove all traces of anti-mutant prejudice from
people's brains and asks Cap his opinion; Cap believes everyone
should be free to make up their own minds and advises him to destroy
the helmet. Mags uses it to wipe all anti-mutant bigotry from Cap's
mind—and to his astonishment, discovers that Cap had no such
prejudice, that Mags was unfairly characterizing all of mankind as
hostile. So Mags destroys the helmet and surrenders to Captain
America....
A special tribunal of the International
Court of Justice convenes in Paris with a trio of judges to hear
Magneto's case: Du Motier, Southerland, and Uderzo. The X-Men are in
attendance with Psylocke and Longshot held in reserve watching from
home. Magneto's lawyer Gabrielle Haller makes a motion that the court
has no jurisdiction over Magneto but it is denied by Judge Du Motier.
Many witnesses are called, including Captain America, and Du Motier
continues to rule against Magneto; Mags suspects that Du Motier is
secretly a mutant wanting to provoke war between mutants and
humankind by making Mags a martyr. Mags contacts Captain Marvel and
asks her to go to Singapore and return with Leiko who can detect
other mutants. She does—and finds that the mutants there have been
attacked and many—including Leiko—are dead. CapM returns to Paris
and listens in on the judges in private and learns that Du Motier is
human—but still wishes to provoke a war against mutants while
humanity could win. When Magneto learns of this he summons his helmet
and uses it to wipe all prejudice from Du Motier's mind; at the
trial, Du Motier declares that the court has no jurisdiction over
Magneto and, to everyone's astonishment, sets him free. As he leaves
the courthouse to face hostile mobs, Magneto realizes that he was so
concerned about the reaction to his death that he never considered
the consequences of his freedom and wonders if the outcome was
worse....
X-Men: Storm, Havok, Rogue, Wolverine,
Dazzler, Magneto, Psylocke, Longshot
Avengers: Captain America (Steve
Rogers), Captain Marvel (Monica Rambeau), Black Knight, Dr Druid,
She-Hulk, Thor