"It's him!?"
As the surveillance footage appeared on the TV screen, James shot to his feet.
Even though the man in the image had changed a lot—aged and hardened—James still recognized him immediately.
Just like the news anchor said, the suspect was none other than Pyro—Magneto's former right-hand man from the Brotherhood of Mutants.
Beyond him, aerial footage from a helicopter showed hordes of mutants launching attacks on everything in sight.
"This can't be happening…"
It wasn't just James—Lorna and Blink leapt out of bed as well, their faces pale in disbelief.
"The… the mutants attacked the Capitol Building?! How's that possible—"
"This is a live broadcast," James said grimly. He hadn't been this agitated in years. "I doubt these are 'our' mutants."
"You mean… intruders like us," Lorna muttered, remembering what Pierce had once said to Logan. Her mind was racing.
This world had been marked—targeted by something powerful beyond comprehension. Beings from other universes were starting to descend upon it, summoned by some overwhelming force.
James hadn't taken it seriously before. After all, Alex and Petra, even Lorna and Blink—they were powerful, yes, but not reckless or hostile. He didn't see them as invaders.
Besides, from talking with Lorna and Blink, James had come to understand the catastrophe that had struck their universe. If they hadn't fled here, they'd likely have been annihilated.
But now, staring at this massacre unfolding live on screen, James couldn't shake the growing sense of dread in his gut.
(No one knows how these mutants appeared. The attack was launched right as the summit began—everything happened so fast, there was no time to react.)
The reporter's voice continued over a backdrop of explosions consuming the Capitol Building.
If James remembered right, today was the day EU leaders were holding their summit. Normally he wouldn't care about political gatherings—but this summit was different. It was set to address border security and illegal crossings.
James had been thinking about leaving the country with Charles, and the summit's outcome could have affected their route—made it easier or safer to escape.
He never imagined that such a critical event would be obliterated by mutants descending from the sky. And from what the footage showed, the death toll among world leaders and officials was catastrophic.
No one knew where these mutants came from—because they weren't from this world. And no one understood what kind of upheaval was now unfolding.
"This is bad…"
James clenched his jaw. If these off-world invaders reignited the war between mutants and humans, it could mean the end of everything.
Lorna and Blink were trembling now—not out of fear, but because, since the day they were born, they had never witnessed something this horrifying. Their bodies simply reacted on instinct.
Knock knock knock!
Suddenly, the knocking at the door snapped James out of his spiraling thoughts. He frowned and motioned to Lorna and Blink to stay calm before turning toward the door.
"I told you, I'll come down for a drink if I—"
Opening the door, James expected to see the tavern owner again. Instead, he found himself staring at someone he'd only briefly met before—Alex.
The rest of the sentence died on his lips.
"Drink with me?" Alex stood there with his arms crossed, raising an eyebrow.
"It's you," James muttered, his expression darkening.
He hadn't forgotten the unease this man stirred in him. And ever since they met, James' luck had taken a sharp dive.
Truth be told, James had no interest in dealing with any more of these multiversal outsiders. But no matter how much he tried to stay away, trouble just wouldn't leave him alone.
He had just shaken this guy off, and now here he was—followed almost immediately by Lorna and Blink appearing in his life. The only reason he hadn't snapped was because the girls were young, and… well, decent.
But his patience was running thin.
But now, seeing Alex again, James naturally wasn't in the mood to be polite.
"What are you doing here?"
"That's how you talk to someone you're in a deal with?" Alex didn't seem bothered by James' hostility. He casually sidestepped and headed toward the room.
But after just two steps, James blocked him with his arm. Alex turned his gaze to James' face and saw clearly from his expression that he wasn't welcome inside.
"I get it, you don't want much to do with me. But the situation's changed. Logan, you really want to have this conversation with the door wide open?"
James hesitated for a second, then finally dropped his arm and let Alex in. He glanced cautiously down the hallway, scanning both directions before slowly closing the door behind them.
"How did you find us?" James asked coldly, watching Alex act like he owned the place.
"I'm a sorcerer, remember?" Alex replied offhandedly. "After we parted ways last time, I tagged you with a locator spell. Doesn't matter where you go—I can find you instantly."
Then his eyes shifted to the two girls in the room. "Hiding beauties in your lair, huh, Logan? Aren't you going to introduce me?"
Lorna and Blink tensed up at the sight of the trench-coated stranger, but seeing that he seemed to know Logan, they held back any aggression.
James glared at Alex but got nothing back—no apology, no acknowledgment. With a rasp, he muttered, "Didn't you say you're a sorcerer? Why don't you go ahead and 'foresee' it yourself."
"Jeez, drop the tone, will you? I'm not your enemy." Alex shrugged, then suddenly noticed the half-eaten can of beans in Blink's hand. "You're feeding them this crap?"
With a dramatic sweep of his hand, the air shimmered—and in an instant, the table was piled high with burgers, pizzas, snacks, sizzling steaks, and roasted chicken.
That move stunned everyone in the room. Even James couldn't help but twitch his nose at the smell.
"Name's Alex," he said casually. "Codename: Death Crow. I'm a sorcerer from the Wasteland Universe. Had some dealings with Logan back when I first arrived in this world. And you two?"
Lorna looked to Logan first. When he didn't react, she finally spoke.
"I'm Lorna Dane. And she's Clarice Ferguson."
Polaris and Blink.
Alex nodded thoughtfully. Ever since seeing Cloak and Dagger, Magik, and Wolfsbane, he was no longer surprised by people from other universes.
Just as he remembered, the two young women in front of him were the main characters from X-Men: The Gifted.
Judging by their age, they seemed to have just escaped from prison—they hadn't met Thunderbird, Eclipse, or others yet, nor formed any underground mutant groups.
"No need to be reserved. Help yourselves—I have plenty more," Alex said with a slight smile, generously offering his goodwill.
James then walked over to Alex, puzzled. "What about that woman who's with you? She didn't come?"
"You mean Petra? It was too dangerous for her to stay here, and her world was already destroyed. So I sent her to live in another universe," Alex said casually. But his words struck everyone else like a thunderbolt.
"You sent her to another universe!?"
James' pupils shrank as he fixed a sharp gaze on Alex. Lorna and Blink were shocked too—their hands trembling even as they held their food.
Alex wasn't surprised by their reaction. After all, his powers sounded almost unbelievable, especially since they had only just arrived here.
Smiling faintly, Alex pulled out a chair and sat across from James.
"Don't look at me like that. I know what you're thinking. Yes, I can send people to other universes—but I don't know how the cross-dimensional travel works. In fact, I wasn't the one who brought these two and the others here. I'm investigating that myself."
As they spoke, the television screen changed again.
A colossal, hundred-meter-tall purple Sentinel suddenly appeared out of nowhere. It had three heads, and its body was like a fortress. Upon materializing, it caused the ground to quake and mountains to crumble around it.
"What is that!?"
Before James could respond to Alex's words, his attention was seized by the news on the TV.
If the mutant attack had been chaos, this Sentinel's arrival amplified the threat exponentially.
This wasn't just an attack on the Capitol anymore—Manhattan itself was in peril. The lasers from the robot's eyes tore the earth open in an instant, unleashing destruction on a massive scale.
Sitting in his chair, Alex stared intently at the wild Sentinel on the screen.
He knew this was the next move by the Dark Watcher.
..........
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