"So a space god monster that eats worlds shows up, and then the Ancient One literally reverses time to punt it back to its evil monster dimension," Anna said slowly. "That about right?"
"Yep." I was stretched out in one of the resting rooms, idly flicking a little fishing-rod cat toy for Erwin.
"Dude… sometimes I can't believe what my life has turned into." Anna giggled in disbelief, Little Bastard tucked comfortably in her lap. "You were gone for a day."
"What can I say? I'm an exciting guy. Not my fault, all the monsters want a taste of this premium nonsense."
"Ew."
A pillow flew at my face. I dodged it, much to Erwin's annoyance as he hissed. Anna stuck her tongue out at me.
I chuckled. "So how's the spell you were working on coming along?"
She lit up and tugged one of her gloves off. "Touch my hand."
I raised an eyebrow but obliged. Even if there was a drain, it should only last a second.
Our hands touched, but I didn't feel the familiar pull.
"Surprised?" she said with a grin, intertwining our fingers.
"You fixed the drain?" I nearly jumped, then pulled her into a hug. "That's amazing!"
"Pffy, uwa, hey," she stuttered as I squeezed her. "Well… not a perfect fix though." She tapped my shoulder, and I took the hint, stepping back.
Anna took a deep breath. I felt a faint ripple of energy in the air before she pulled her gloves back on.
"What's the issue?"
"It's a spell called Heart of Kun. It lets me control the flow of my chi. When I have it active, my power doesn't drain people." She frowned. "But it takes effort. Not a lot around the amount of a light jog. I can't keep it going forever, so if I get tired or distracted, it could be a problem."
"A permanent fix isn't possible with sorcery?"
"Well… maybe. Teacher said there might be some options, but I can't really ask now."
"Right… yeah." I grimaced.
Surprisingly, the Ancient One's crimes were publicized pretty quickly throughout Kamar-Taj. Maybe I was just used to corporate nonsense and blame-shifting, but the transparency was a breath of fresh air.
Her status as Sorcerer Supreme was revoked, and she willingly submitted to arrest. A conclave of other masters was deliberating on punishment, and from what I could tell, it was all being handled very openly.
I wasn't exactly fluent in Kamar-Taj politics, but the mood was clear enough. Anger. Betrayal. A lot of hurt. And yet, no riots. No splinter factions clammering for her head. Her long service and the fact that she went willingly seemed to buy her more goodwill than I would've guessed.
Not enough for everyone, though. Karl Mordo's loud, very public resignation as a Master of the Mystic Arts was still the main topic buzzing through the temple. Anna and I got pushed to the wayside in all the chaos, and honestly, I couldn't blame them.
It did make things awkward. Anna, studying under a now-excommunicated criminal master, put us in an uncomfortable gray zone.
Wong was upfront about it, at least. But access to deeper instruction and restricted material was going to be limited until the whole Ancient One situation settled.
I'd considered intervening. Maybe go beat up Mordo one time before he went crazy. Trying to scope out Kaecillius had been a thought; the man had been strangely quiet.
But in the end, I didn't. Picking a fight with my only stable magical allies felt like a bad long-term move, no matter how tempting the tickets were.
I thought about it for a moment. "Do you want to go meet the X-Men?"
She tilted her head. "Sure. I'm kind of curious about my supposed superhero team."
—
A quick chat with Wong got us a portal to Westchester.
We stepped out onto a quiet street, surrounded by thick stretches of woodland. A quick check on the map told me we were about a ten-minute walk from the Xavier Mansion.
God, sling rings were so ridiculously useful. I really hoped they'd ease up and let us take one next time.
Little Bastard took to the sky with a sharp caw while I carried Erwin, who was already fast asleep.
"So what're they like?" Anna asked. "My supposed future team."
"Don't know," I said with a shrug.
"Weren't you supposed to be Mr. All-Knowing?" She poked me in the arm.
I tried to bat her hand away, but now that we could touch without worrying, she'd gotten even cheekier. A neat elbow counter and the ghosting of both her hands left me conceding the round. I stuck my tongue out at her, even as she cackled in victory.
Still, where do you even start with the mess that was the X-Men?
Don't get me wrong, they were iconic. They saved the world more times than anyone ever gave them credit for. But the drama orbiting them was unreal. Cyclops and his deeply questionable relationship decisions. Entire teams dying, coming back, splitting apart, reforming under new names. Xavier straight-up mind-wiping people because he thought it was for the greater good.
There was a lot.
"…They're a lively team, I guess," I said at last.
"That's all you've got?" She snorted.
"Hey, there's a lot rattling around in my head. I'm doing you a favor." I waved a hand. "God knows how much weird stuff I could unload. As I said before, I only got snapshots of possible futures. And the X-Men had a lot of paths."
"Didn't you say I was there?"
"You were. There were patterns, at least. Pretty similar ones. But different versions had some big differences."
"So which version were we?"
That was the problem. I frowned because I honestly didn't know.
Logan looked like his movie counterpart, more or less. Most of the X-Men I'd helped save were young, though, which didn't line up cleanly with any timeline I knew. Anna and I were about the same age, college-aged. The rest of them looked like high schoolers, maybe younger.
A lot of the people I'd met so far felt closer to their MCU versions, but the kids didn't match any on-screen versions I recognized. And then there was that weird Fox-versus-MCU divide sitting in the back of my head, muddying everything.
And that was before factoring in however many comic book continuities existed. I liked Marvel. But I wasn't a Marvel encyclopedia. I doubt I would recognize some non-mainstream version of them.
"Hell if I know," I admitted.
"Give me something." She poked my back. "Come on."
"Alright, alright." I sighed. "They're superheroes, so they save the world a lot. There's also a ton of time travel and cloning nonsense. Dealing with groups like Hydra is practically their job. And their house has a bad habit of exploding."
"You're really not selling me on this superhero lifestyle, sugar. I could go my whole life without another lab or super-science nightmare." She shuddered. "We're not going somewhere that's going to blow up, right?"
"We should be fine," I said, then hesitated. "...I think?"
The X-Mansion didn't get destroyed that often… I mean, there was Belasco. Magneto. Sinister…
Oh god.
A bad feeling stirred, but no. No way. It wasn't like the X-Men were always on fire or anything.
A sharp caw made us both look up as Little Bastard swooped back down, landing neatly on my shoulder. He mimed forward with his beak.
"Looks like we've been noticed," I said.
Anna looked a little nervous. I reached out, grabbed her shoulder, and gave it a reassuring shake. "It'll be fine. Plus, you get to meet people like you."
"Not nervous." She stuck her tongue out at me.
Up the road, two figures approached. One was unmistakably Logan in his scruffy, short man glory. The other, though—Anna gasped, and I did too.
Tall. White hair. A face people would kill to put on a magazine cover. Crystal-blue eyes that felt like they saw straight through you. Ororo Munroe, Storm. She didn't look like any movie version I remembered. Ironically, she looked even better. I could easily see how people might mistake her for a goddess.
"You two gonna keep gawking, or you gonna introduce your friend here, bub?" Logan said.
"Logan. Be nice." The woman's tone was amused. "It's nice to meet you. I'm Ororo Munroe, a professor at our school." Her gaze flicked to me. "I've already heard quite a bit about you, Jack, from Logan. But your friends…"
"This is Anna," I said, gesturing. "And these little guys are Erwin and Little Bastard."
The crow perked up and launched itself from my shoulder straight toward Ororo. With a casual wave of her hand, a gentle gust of wind lifted him higher, sending him into an excited cawing spiral. He loved it.
Anna's eyes lit up, unmistakably excited to meet Ororo, another mutant.
Ororo smiled at her. "Is this the first time you're meeting someone like us?"
"It is!" Anna said, excitement spilling straight out of her.
I just smiled, quietly relieved. This was good. She deserved this.
"Having second thoughts about the offer to join up?" Logan asked as we fell into step behind them.
"Pass," I said, rolling my eyes. "I just wanted Anna to meet you guys. She's had it rough, as you can probably guess." I glanced at him. "Though you did say you owed me a favor."
"Spit it out, kid."
"She's got an issue with her mutant power," I said as we walked. "I think it might be mental. Charles is… open-minded enough to help. Thought maybe he could take a look, with some conditions."
At his best, Charles Xavier was a good man who genuinely wanted a better world. At his worst, sketchy didn't even begin to cover it. I had the Mind Palace as a safety net, but I wasn't about to gamble on this being one of the better versions. If I met him, it'd be with every precaution I could manage.
"I'll mention it to Charles," Logan said.
We kept walking. The mansion was coming into view.
"Welcome to Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters." Ororo spoke as she looked at us."A place of peace and learning for young mutants."
The mansion came into view as the path opened up, wide grounds rolling out beneath trimmed hedges and manicured gardens. Stone paths wound between old trees and carefully shaped shrubs, drawing the eye toward the broad sweep of red brick and dark windows. It rose out of the greenery with an easy elegance, an estate that felt peaceful and enduring, old enough to carry its history while still touched by a quiet hint of modernity.
There was just one problem—
The entire left wing was on fire.
For a heartbeat, nobody moved.
Then Ororo and Logan took off together, sprinting toward the mansion without a word.
Goddammit. Really?
I dropped Erwin into the grass, grabbed Anna by the shoulder, and blinked towards the school.
***
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