On Luke's side,
He reappeared in the middle of a street.
A horn blared.
A massive truck was a second away from turning him into roadkill.
Ti stretched for him instinctively—the truck grille rushing closer in slow motion as he shifted his weight, already about to step aside—
CRACK.
A wall of ice erupted in front of him.
The truck slamd into it with a deafening boom. tal folded. Glass exploded. The impact sent the vehicle skidding sideways, crashing into the cars behind it. Another collision followed. Then another.
Fire ignited. Alarms scread. The street turned into chaos in seconds.
Luke stood there, unhard, staring at the frozen wreckage.
He felt it then.
That familiar, predatory cold.
Luke turned.
Esdeath stood a few steps behind him, hands casually at her sides, boots crunching on frost that hadn't been there a mont ago. Her expression was calm—almost pleased.
"…How the fuck did you get here?" Luke asked.
She smiled faintly. "You said, let's see if you can co."
"So I did."
"How—what—" Luke had a dozen questions fighting to get out.
But they died in his throat.
Screams cut through the air.
"MY LEG—!"
"FIRE! THERE'S FIRE—!"
Luke swore under his breath. This wasn't the ti.
He snapped his fingers.
FWSSSH—
The flas across the wreckage died instantly, heat sucked away as if soone had flipped a switch. Smoke thinned. tal cooled.
Luke moved fast.
He tore open a crushed door, peering inside the truck. One glance was enough.
"…Damn."
The driver wasn't alive. Head crushed on impact. No fixing that.
Luke didn't linger.
He moved from car to car, bending steel aside with bare hands, pulling doors free, helping people out.
"Can you stand?"
"Hey—look at . You're fine. Just move slowly."
For a mont, people listened.
Then soone saw the ice.
Soone saw Esdeath standing in the street, frost crawling outward from her boots.
"—M-mutant!"
"THEY DID THIS—!"
"RUN—!"
Panic spread faster than fire ever could.
People tore themselves from Luke's grip, stumbling away.
"Are you hurt?" Luke called after a woman clutching her arm.
She flinched like he'd threatened her.
"DON'T CO NEAR !"
Another man pointed shakily. "Monsters! Both of them!"
Within seconds, the street cleared. Sirens wailed in the distance. Doors slamd. Windows shut.
"Totally not strange," Luke muttered.
Honestly, this was the most realistic outco possible. Two people appearing out of thin air, one of them casually throwing up a wall of ice, an accident spiraling out of control—panic was inevitable.
But one word stuck with him.
Mutant.
He exhaled slowly, rubbing the back of his neck. He had a gut feeling about what world they were in.
Luke glanced around the street again, the damage, the distance people had put between themselves and him even before they ran.
"…Yeah," he said under his breath. "This is going to be annoying."
Last ti, his class quest had dumped him into an isolated space—contained, clean, no collateral issues. This ti was different. This ti it was happening here, in a living world, with consequences and eyes everywhere.
He could already feel it.
"This class quest is going to be a pain in the ass."
Within seconds, the street filled with noise.
WHUP–WHUP–WHUP.
Helicopters dropped low overhead, rotors chopping the air hard enough to rattle windows. Black armored vehicles screeched into place from both ends of the road, tires smoking as they boxed the street in with practiced precision.
"…Wow. That was fast."
Too fast.
This wasn't a normal response ti. This was the kind of speed you got when soone was already watching the area—or waiting for an excuse.
Doors slamd open. n in sealed tactical suits poured out, moving in clean formations. Rifles ca up in unison, laser sights dancing over Luke and Esdeath.
A loudspeaker crackled.
"Unknown enhanced individuals," a voice barked. "You are surrounded. Kneel down. Hands where we can see them."
Luke glanced sideways at Esdeath. She looked bored.
The loudspeaker crackled again.
"You can't escape. This is your final warning."
"…Okay," Luke said slowly, scanning the sky, the formation, the timing. "Sothing is definitely strange here."
Then—
KRRRRSH—BOOM.
The air split open with heavy impacts as six massive tallic figures dropped from above, landing hard enough to crater the asphalt.
They rose in perfect unison.
Tall. Broad. Inhumanly precise.
Mounted machine guns whirred to life. Missile pods slid open with a chanical clack. Red optics locked onto their targets.
Luke stared.
"…Sentinels," he muttered.
Everything made sense in an instant—the speed, the coordination, the word mutant, the way this response had been waiting rather than reacting.
"So that's it," he said quietly. "Not just another city. Not just another Earth."
"This is the X-n universe."
At the sa ti,
Deep underground, inside a hidden bunker,
Charles Xavier sat quietly in his wheelchair, eyes half-closed. His fingers rested on the armrests as a faint tension crossed his face.
"…That presence," he said softly. "The vast amount of Spiritual presence."
He could still feel it—raw, overwhelming, brushing against his mind like a passing storm.
He turned his head slightly.
"Hank."
A voice answered from nearby equipnt. "Yes, Professor."
"Search," Charles said calmly. "Any new mutant-related incidents. Now."
Keys clicked. Screens flickered. Within seconds, surveillance footage filled the room.
On one of the monitors, a street scene froze into focus—smoke, overturned vehicles, panicked civilians. Above it all, towering tal figures descended from the sky.
Sentinels.
And in the middle of them—two figures standing their ground.
"Send soone," Charles said calmly. "They might be the ones capable of saving us in this situation."
***
On Luke's side,
"Alright," Luke said evenly, hands relaxed at his sides. "I'd suggest you all listen before this gets out of control."
Provoking Esdeath wasn't a risk—it was a death sentence.
She might listen to him sotis, might even restrain herself when he was watching, but the mont soone crossed her… the outco was always the sa. Swift. Absolute.
People didn't get second chances with her.
The squad seed to ignore Luke's words.
"Fire!"
The order echoed.
WHRRR—THUD—THUD—
Sentinels opened up first. Machine guns roared, rockets streaking through the air. Soldiers followed, gunfire cracking from every direction.
*****
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