Jovian floated in the air and slowly let out a breath.
"Time. Space. Reality. Power. Mind. Soul…"
"The world isn't a straight line the way we imagine it. It's more like a kaleidoscope, branching apart into endless possibilities."
"Now, follow me and consider one question. What if…"
"The timeline arrives in the 1980s, and a time traveler kills Apocalypse, the powerful mutant who once strode across time. He then continues Apocalypse's work, gathers Apocalypse's Four Horsemen, and then—"
"Fuck! I've put up with you for long enough. That's enough. Shut up. Stop yapping in my ear."
Finally unable to take it anymore, Jovian clamped a hand over the mouth of the shiny bald man floating beside him, the same guy who had been muttering mysterious nonsense nonstop and talking to God knew who.
"Mr. Jovian, please allow me to explain. I'm not babbling. I'm working…"
"You will follow my point of view and observe every possibility across the multiverse. We observe, but do not interfere… because we are Watchers!"
The bald man adjusted his clothes and explained himself to Jovian with complete seriousness.
"Listen to the useless nonsense coming out of his mouth."
"'We observe, but do not interfere'? As if you people don't interfere all the time."
"If you're going to watch, then just watch. Stop buzzing in my ear the whole time."
Jovian grabbed the bald man and spoke with grave sincerity.
"All right. Something rather unfortunate has happened. As Watchers, our work has enraged the time traveler. He is very angry and has ordered me to shut up. But what he does not know is that he cannot make a Watcher close his mouth…"
The bald man slipped free of Jovian's grip, floated back into the air, and continued his work, still speaking in that weird, cryptic tone to some unseen audience.
At that exact moment, a soda can wrapped in invisible force smashed into his shiny bald head at near-lightspeed.
"Oh. The time traveler is angry. He has thrown a carbonated beverage at us…"
"Let me see… ah, good. It's Coca-Cola."
"Something depraved like Pepsi is a drink only the wicked Celestials would enjoy…"
The bald man rubbed his head, crooking a finger to summon the can back to him. When he saw the classic red label, he let out a relieved sigh.
Jovian shot the bald man a sideways look, said nothing, and waved a hand. A portal opened in front of him.
"Let's go, Storm."
Jovian glanced at Ororo Munroe, who stood beside him under his mental control, and spoke softly.
Ororo's eyes were vacant as she obeyed his every command. The moment he spoke, she followed him into the purple portal without hesitation.
A moment later, another portal opened inside a hidden room, and Jovian and Storm stepped through it together.
"Welcome to Caliban's place."
Inside the secret room, a nervous bald man sat behind the counter and greeted them.
"Oooh…"
"Caliban knows all mutants, but Caliban doesn't know you. So tell me, why have you come to Caliban's place?"
The bald man named Caliban looked at Jovian and asked the question cautiously.
"I'm here for her."
Jovian didn't waste any words. He simply raised a finger and pointed at the woman hiding deeper in the room, dressed in a skintight outfit with a stunning figure.
"You're here for Psylocke?"
Caliban froze. It was the first time he'd ever met someone who came to his place and wanted his hired muscle instead of him.
"That's right."
Jovian nodded.
"Psylocke, come out for a second."
Caliban thought for a moment, then waved to Psylocke behind him.
The beautiful woman stepped out from the room, striding forward on a pair of long, straight legs.
"Psylocke, this gentleman says he's looking for you. Do you know him?"
Caliban asked her with a trace of respect in his voice.
"No."
Psylocke shook her head. She had never seen Jovian before.
"I need her help. Name your price. Sell her to me."
Jovian looked Psylocke over once, then turned back to Caliban and stated his purpose directly.
Caliban laughed softly.
"Psylocke isn't for sale. If you came here to buy her with money, then you've wasted your trip. Whether it's a contract job or anything else, I will never let her leave my—"
Money mattered, of course. But compared to money, staying alive mattered more. And if he wasn't alive, what use was money anyway? That was why Caliban had no intention of letting the bodyguard who protected his life go work for someone else.
Jovian said nothing after hearing him out. He simply walked toward Caliban one step at a time.
"Back off!"
The moment Psylocke saw him approach, she barked the warning.
Jovian ignored her completely and walked straight up to Caliban's wooden table.
Then he placed a hand on it.
Golden light flashed across Jovian's palm, and in an instant the plain wooden table began to shine. Under Caliban and Psylocke's stunned eyes, it transformed into solid gold.
"Is this enough?"
Jovian asked them calmly.
Caliban, who had already decided he wouldn't sell Psylocke no matter what, slowly swallowed.
Damn it.
He was offering way too much.
Using that much gold to tempt him—wasn't this just a direct test of his character?
Jovian let out a cold laugh as he watched Caliban waver. None of this surprised him. Whenever something seemed impossible, it just meant the price wasn't high enough.
"Give it up. Caliban isn't going to sell me."
Psylocke sounded very sure of herself. The money was indeed absurd, but some things couldn't be measured in cash.
"Deal."
"Other than Psylocke, is there anything else you need Caliban to do? As long as Caliban can do it, Caliban will serve you well."
Then Psylocke heard Caliban say the word deal.
She froze on the spot.
So she had just been flattering herself all along.
The only reason Caliban had never sold her before was because nobody had offered enough money.
As for Jovian…
Caliban honestly felt like Jovian was offering too much. This much money for a single Psylocke? It made him uneasy.
"Come with me."
Jovian ignored Caliban and looked at the long-legged Psylocke.
"All right."
Psylocke was completely disillusioned by now and fell in at Jovian's side.
"Psylocke…"
Jovian looked at her, then suddenly reached out and took her hand.
"You… what are you doing?!"
The sudden move startled Psylocke badly. Her face flushed at once.
"Feel your true power."
As he spoke, Jovian activated his ability on her.
Psylocke instantly felt something surge into her body. In a single moment, it was as if several shackles inside her had been broken open, pushing her mind to a level it had never reached before. The sensation hit so hard she couldn't even stop herself from letting out a soft cry.
In the next second, purple flames blazed in Psylocke's eyes. A violet energy spear formed in her right hand, while her left became an energy shield. In the blink of an eye, she looked like a goddess of war.
"What terrifying power…"
"Am I three times stronger than before? Four? I feel like I could kill the old me with no effort at all."
Psylocke stared at her own hands as astonishing energy surged through her body. It was many times greater than what she had ever possessed.
"This is your true power."
Jovian smiled at her.
"What do you want me to do?"
Psylocke looked at Jovian and asked what exactly he had planned.
"To create an age where only mutants exist. A new era."
Jovian looked at Psylocke and waved his hand. A holographic vision appeared before her eyes—an era where every person on the street could casually use superpowers, where everyone was a superhero.
"All right. I'll help you."
After snapping out of that sweeping vision, Psylocke agreed immediately.
"You need powerful mutants to help you, don't you?"
Psylocke looked at Jovian and asked.
"That's right."
Jovian gave a slight nod. In truth, he didn't need powerful mutants at all, but to keep this absurd script going, he had no choice but to pretend he did.
"I know someone."
"He's very powerful."
Psylocke told Jovian that she knew the location of a mutant strong enough to be useful to him.
"Good."
Jovian nodded, and another portal opened in front of him.
"Lead the way."
He gave the order to Psylocke.
"As you command."
Psylocke dipped her head and stepped through first.
They arrived in an abandoned factory.
A man with a broken pair of wings hanging from his back sat high on a metal frame, drinking alone in the dark.
Then a purple portal opened in front of him.
"Angel."
Psylocke stepped out first and called up to the man above them.
"Psylocke?"
At the sound of her voice, Angel beat his ruined wings and flew down from the frame, landing in front of the group.
"No. I didn't know he was already ruined. Let's go."
Psylocke looked at Angel's wrecked wings, shook her head, and prepared to leave with Jovian.
"He's done for, but not completely."
Jovian had already guessed that Psylocke would lead him to Angel, but when it actually happened, he still felt a little speechless.
This was her idea of powerful?
Kid, apparently their definitions of strong were very different.
"What?"
Everyone stared at him blankly. None of them had the slightest idea what he meant.
Jovian didn't explain. He simply raised a hand toward the crippled Angel.
At once, Angel screamed. Every feathered wing on his back fell away, replaced by a pair of ultra-metal wings.
And Jovian didn't stop there. While strengthening Angel's wings, he also enhanced Angel's physical body itself.
"You can fly at supersonic speed now. With those indestructible metal wings, you'll become the fastest blade in the world."
Jovian smiled slightly as he looked at Angel, reborn from the ashes.
"I have never been stronger than I am right now…"
Angel clenched his fists, feeling the abundant power flowing through his body. He truly believed that very few people in the world could stand against him now.
"Who are we finding next?"
Psylocke and Angel both turned to look at Jovian.
"Someone who can actually fight."
Jovian waved a hand, and a purple portal spread open before him.
"Someone who can actually fight?"
Psylocke and Angel both looked a little annoyed. The way he said it made them sound like dead weight.
Deep in the jungle, a middle-aged man held his wife and daughter in his arms and wept in agony. Corpses were scattered all around him.
He was in terrible pain. He couldn't understand why his child had been the one to suffer.
"Child, it seems you need a little help."
Just as the middle-aged man clutched his wife and daughter in despair, a hoarse voice sounded beside him.
"Who are you?"
The man turned at the sound and looked at the smiling stranger behind him, his eyes shaking.
"I need your help, child."
Having fully committed to the Apocalypse act, Jovian looked at the middle-aged man and gave him a gentle smile.
"If you can save my child, I'll do anything you ask."
The man laid the woman and girl in front of Jovian and pleaded desperately.
"That's easy."
Jovian smiled and walked up to him. He pulled out the wooden arrow lodged between the woman's and the girl's hearts. Then both of his hands shone with brilliant golden light, and the wounds on their bodies restored themselves instantly.
The middle-aged man's expression eased a little when he saw their injuries disappear, but his grief remained because neither of them had opened their eyes yet.
"Don't worry."
Jovian patted the man on the shoulder and slowly clenched his right hand.
At once, the still hearts inside the woman and the girl began beating again. Blood started circulating once more, feeding every cell in their bodies.
A few minutes later, both of them suddenly opened their eyes, gasping back to life.
"My child."
"Dad!"
"Darling, what happened?"
The revived woman and girl were pulled into the man's arms, and he held them tightly while crying harder than ever. This time, he refused to lose them again.
At Jovian's signal, the others stayed silent and simply stood off to the side, quietly watching the warm reunion unfold.
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