Magneto looks in the mirrored reflection of a device. Normally he resembles a man just past his prime...much younger than he actually is. But today, he looks and feels every inch his age.
"She...lost control...when it was revealed her own children...my grandchildren...were taken from her. People died as a result...and there was a convening of heroes from all walks to decide what to do with her. A death sentence loomed on the horizon, despite her own innocence of intent...when her brother, my son, intervened. He convinced Wanda to try to use her powers to change the whole world...with me as its linchpin. I was suddenly master of all, ruler of an ideal world, though one dominated by mutantkind...and therefore, the scapegoat for those who were awakened from their dreams.
"A battle ensued, as they always do...and in the heat of that battle, my rage over what had been done in my name, I killed Pietro, my own son."
He lets out a breath as he remembers that awful rage. He and Pietro had never been close...indeed, Pietro always hated him. Erik had chalked it up to them being too much alike...that Pietro looked at him and saw the potential for darkness in himself...a darkness that he would rail against with everything he had, before succumbing to it in that one awful moment of temptation.
"When she learned of this, Wanda was...'distraught' is far too mild a term. She lashed out again with her powers, making everything as it was before she changed the world...with one change. Three words, that will haunt me until I finally go to my grave: 'No More Mutants.'"
The scene replays itself in his mind. Pietro's broken, battered body restored to life with a touch of Wanda's hand. Erik's mouth taken away before he could apologize, or explain his actions, or say anything...if indeed, there was anything to say. Then a light had blinded him.
"And the world was back, but mutants were gone. Before that day, there had been millions...tens of millions...we were a minority still, yes, but we were emerging as our own culture, and things were changing, moving ever closer to the dream of coexistence my friend Charles Xavier had envisioned all those years ago. In the blink of an eye, we became an endangered species, numbering in the mere hundreds...and our numbers began dwindling ever sharper after that day, as those who decried us saw their chance to avenge themselves."
And it is, in part, my fault. I lashed out at Pietro, for committing this act in my name. Had I spoken to Wanda first, been a clearer-headed man, her grief and rage might not have had such dire repercussions.