Chapter 16: X-Mansion.

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(General P.O.V)

-Nexus of Realities-

A kaleidoscope of mirrors, surrounded the Watcher's front and back.

His eyes could see all. His mind knew ALMOST all; The enigmas of everchanging reality were hard to properly predict after all. Even for a being that could see the future like him.

Speaking of which, the Entity of Extinction's influence had already taken over more than half of the known realities.

Half of the earth's displayed in the mirrors of the nexus were covered in her aura. An ominous cloud of red hanging over worlds and bleaching out into the respective universes, infecting billions of planets.

Those who stood to oppose her were felled one after the other, buried under a swarm of dark creatures summoned from the Chaos realm and Dark dimensions.

Or destroyed by the numerous bewitched Heroes and villains under her command.

Not even The Watcher knew which world The Entity of Extinction came from.

All he knew was that left to her devices, Wanda Maximoff, The Scarlet Witch was going to destroy the whole Multiverse.

And the only ones ready to stop her were a shoddily put together team of survivors from the worlds already conquered.

Every future he looked into where the Guardians of the Universe fought the Entity Of Extinction, only defeat awaited. Uatu was at wits end.

A sigh escaped him as he turned his sights onto the Castle surrounded by a green barrier of energy, floating in the Nexus of Realities.

Maybe a change was in order. Afterall there was one world where the Scarlet Witch had failed to spread her influence.

-0-

"Stark, will you stop reworking the calculations?"

Doom growled at Tony, who was wiping off sections of numbers from a complex equation on the white board in front of the room.

"Your calculations are off Victor."

Tony told him with an imperious tone.

"The equation as it is will spaghettify us before we can sneak in to her base."

Doom stalked forward, snatching the feint pen from Tony.

"Rude."

Stark snorted as Doom turned to the white board and begin rewriting sections of Tony's own equation.

"You forget, Stark, that the exact science behind opening a portal through the Quantum Dimension is not applicable in this case, without accounting for the difference in physical laws between this plane and the target universe. But if we add a variable to the phasing matrix..."

"No no no."

Tony shook his head, cutting him off.

"That's your problem Victor. You see things in two dimensional."

"How dare you? Doom does not see things in Two Dimensional you arrogant git."

Doom replied in anger.

"Git?"

Tony scoffed.

"What are you? An 1800's victorian era grandma?"

Behind them, seated while listening to what was supposed to be the mission briefing, Spiderman turned to Captain America,

"Huh? Should we...separate them or something?"

"Nah."

Cap shook his head, hands crossed over his chest.

"They're geniuses. They'll clash with their minds where normal men would use fists. Let them work it out between themselves."

Strange, standing close to the door, felt a gaze piercing into the room from the outside, and turned his attention to the direction it was coming from.

"Excuse me."

He said to no one in particular, turning to leave.

"Strange."

Captain Marvel called out, floating off her chair,

"I'm coming with you. This...dick measuring contest seems like it might go on for a while."

Doctor Strange shrugged,

"I don't mind the company."

"If this was a real class, I would note you down for truancy."

Blue Marvel informed them, his attention on the Whiteboard.

He was probably the only one who could keep up with Doom and Tony's argument. Seeing as he was rapidly jotting on a note book.

"Lucky for us, it's not."

Captain Marvel threw over her shoulder, she and Strange entering a portal.

The portal emptied outside Doom's castle in the Nexus of Realities, right next to the Watcher.

"You called?"

Strange asked, floating forwards with Captain Marvel close behind.

"I did."

The Watcher replied, pointing a finger at one particular world displayed by the nexus.

"I also found a potential solution to our extinction problem. An Earth resting in the middle of the conquered and unconquered worlds."

"Interesting."

Strange breathed, eyes falling on a blonde haired man fighting Wanda and Vision. Eventually, with a burst of electric might, he annihilated the Scarlet Witch.

"Who is he?"

"I do not know."

Uatu responded,

"But I do know he stole the Darkhold from that world's Wanda Variant. He might also be connected to our Iron Man and Captain America. The very ones on the team."

"Incredible."

Captain Marvel butted in, admiring Locke and the X-Men's battle with Magneto.

"To think he was able to succeed where Stark's Avengers failed. Are you thinking of recruiting him?"

Her question was meant for the Watcher.

"No."

Unexpectedly the Watcher gave a negative.

"I cannot see his future nor his past. Thus I cannot determine his true intentions. Joining the Guardians of the Universe could do more harm than good."

"Yeah? Well what choice do we have?"

A new voice spoke from their back.

Levitating across the Nexus space, clad in red flames, the Phoenix Jean Grey came forward.

"I can sense him near my Variant. There is a Jean Grey in that world. With our connection, I could scan his mind and figure out whether he's a friend or foe. We need all the help we can get."

-Massachusetts-

-Xavier's Mansion-

-Locke-

Good news. I was still alive. Somehow, I didn't die from the fall. Storm was able to catch me, I hear. To add to the good news, my injuries were all healed up.

My new favorite physician, said I only needed a few days to a week to fully recover.

In the meantime however, I was confined to bed rest- inside the Xavier's Institute for gifted Children no less.

I geeked out a little when I woke up to find Beast performing a medical check up on my body. Seeing the Iconic X-Men stirred memories of my childhood.

And no, if you're still waiting for bad News, there's none. My luck had changed for the better. I was truly and really verily fine.

No sarcasm detected here. No siree.

Thank god all that exciting and traumatizing shit is over. Wanda was dead, Magneto was dead...no need for a ticket to Antarctica anymore.

Damn, I feel alive!

"Are you okay?"

Noticing my agitated good mode, a girl next to my bed asked.

She had mousy colored hair and was cute in that next door girl- type of way. She could also phase through things. Ladies and gentlemen, I give you Kitty Pride.

"Yeah. Just happy to not be dead. I think the Adrenaline is just catching up to me."

I replied, still jittery.

A strange look was thrown my way by the Metal man Kitty was sitting on.

"That is not how Adrenaline works."

He drawled in a heavy Russian accent.

"And you would know how colussus?"

I curiously asked, motioning to his body.

There was a collective silence in the room as everyone waited for his reaction.

"Hm."

The gray colored Mutant snorted in amusement,

"Funny. You're referring to the fact I am made of metal. I like you."

Huh. A guy that could laugh at my borderline offensive jokes. I had a feeling we would be good friends. Not many could stand me.

"And I love your accent."

I scooched closer to the side of the bed and we fist bumped, a smirk on my face.

"The name is Locke Mastiff. Friends call me Locke."

"Colussus."

He motioned to himself, and then to Kitty,

"Girlfriend, Kitty."

"Hi."

Kitty waved with a cute smile.

Colussus pointed to the rest in the room with us, introducing them as,

"X-Men. My family."

Seeing as I had just woken up, this was our first official meeting. Nonetheless the line up was made up of the same mutants that had come to my rescue in Strucker's base.

On my left was the gorgeous Storm, Rogue, Gambit, Jean, Scott and finally Collusus and Kitty. They were all in civies. Except for Gambit. The Man had a killer style.

The only one missing was Wolverine. Probably training or drinking beer somewhere.

I bowed my head in a show of gratitude- a lesson I'd learned from my Guru,

"Thanks to all of you for saving my hide. I would have died had you not showed up."

"No thanks needed. Happy to lend a hand to a fellow Mutant."

Gambit gave me a thumbs up. His voice had a distinct accent I couldn't place. Cajun maybe?

"But, we would have done so regardless of whether you were a mutant or not. Our mission was to stop Wanda. You ended up doing that for us. Who knows what would have happened if you hadn't? so thanks back to you, sugar."

Rogue added in smooth southern.

I could listen to her and Gambit all day and not get bored.

"Yeah..."

I trailed off, reminded that I had killed Wanda and Magneto. Heroes don't kill and the X-men were heroes right? Was it jail for me?

Someone placed a hand on my shoulder. Looking up, I was met with an understanding expression on Storm's face.

"No one blames you for their deaths. Killing may not always be the right answer but sometimes it is the only one available."

She said firmly.

"Storm's right."

Jean echoed.

"I shared your memories with everyone, including the Professor. You've been through a lot, Locke."

The way she said his name, told me I was due for a talk with Xavier. Him and Magneto were fre-nemies of a sort. If there was anyone I could expect hostility from, it was him.

Damn, I couldn't help but wonder what Scott thought. He hadn't said anything yet. It was also impossible to read his expression under the red googles he wore.

He stepped closer to the foot of the bed.

"On the field, the lives of the team are the Leader's responsibility. I could have lost my teammates fighting the Scarlet Witch. If that were to happen, I don't think I would have stopped myself from trying to kill her."

Scott admitted with a heavy expression.

Huh?

Further surprising me, he bowed his head my way,

"You prevented that from happening. And for that I am thankful. I wholeheartedly believe you did nothing wrong, Mr.Mastiff."

I was speechless.

Just then, the door opened and Beast walked in, a tablet in his hands.

"Alright, visiting hours are over, let's give Mr.Mastiff time to rest."

"Bye."

Kitty waved as they all filed out.

"I wish you a quick recovery."

Storm addded, being the last to leave.

Only after the door was closed behind them did I recall I had some questions to ask.

For starters, what happened to Vision? And why did they seem to think I was a mutant.

I was only alone for a second before the door opened again. It wasn't Beast like I expected though.

"Perhaps I can provide you with the answers to your questions, Mr. Mastiff."

A bald man said as he entered, sitting on wheelchair pushed in by the Wolverine.

My eyes made contact with Xavier's, and all I could say was,

"Crap."