[A/N]: Support my work and get early access to 45+ chapters, exclusive content, and bonus material at my P@treon - Max_Striker.
The projection fast-forwarded through weeks of this Jay gradually integrating into mansion life. The initial fear gave way to acceptance, then genuine friendship. But the most significant development was his relationship with Rogue.
It started accidentally as they reached for the same book in the library, their hands brushing. Instead of painful absorption, Rogue felt nothing. Just warm human contact.
"Sugar... how is this possible?" she whispered, staring at their joined hands.
"I think our powers having a similar nature cancel each other out."
Their relationship blossomed from there. Jay watched scenes of them talking for hours in the gardens, this Jay teaching Rogue to drive (badly, with several dented practice cars as evidence), Rogue sharing her poetry collection. The projection showed a quiet moment in her room, something that should have been impossible. She lay curled against his chest, both reading, her bare hand resting on his arm without any pain.
"All this time," Rogue murmured, "I thought I'd never be able to touch someone without hurtin' them."
"You deserve that and more," this Jay replied softly. "Everyone deserves loving touch and warmth."
Meanwhile, Xavier had taken Jay's words about narrative improvement to heart. Late-night strategy sessions focused on public perception.
"If Jay's words are accurate," Xavier said, "the key is showing the world that mutants are protectors, not threats."
"But how?" Jean asked, frustrated. "Traditional media won't give us fair coverage."
Scott nodded grimly. "The newspapers are even worse. 'Mutant Rampage Destroys Downtown' gets better ratings than 'X-Men Save Hundreds from Building Fire.'"
That's when this Jay made a suggestion that would change everything.
"What if you took control of your own narrative?" he said simply. "YouTube, Twitter, Facebook, these platforms exist now, but you're not using them to their full potential."
Xavier looked intrigued. "You mean create our own media presence?"
"Exactly," this Jay said, leaning forward with enthusiasm. "Instead of hoping a news reporter will cover your rescue mission fairly, you film it yourselves and show people exactly what happened. Instead of letting politicians define what mutants are, you let mutants speak for themselves."
"That's... actually brilliant," Scott said slowly. "Bypass the traditional gatekeepers entirely."
This Jay nodded. "Social media has already proven it can change politics. I've seen entire movements organize through these platforms. In my universe, Nepal just a few years back had widespread corruption that had essentially silenced traditional and digital democratic voices. But people organized online, coordinated through social networks, and after a civil revolution, selected their leaders on Discord of all things."
Xavier's eyes sharpened with interest. "Digital democracy..."
"Show them daily life at the school, start a channel called 'X-High' or something," this Jay continued passionately. "Let them see mutant children learning and playing like any other kids. Document your rescue missions from your perspective. Share personal stories about overcoming discrimination and finding acceptance. Make it impossible for people to see mutants as faceless threats when they've watched Kurt cooking dinner and laughing with students, or seen Storm teaching young mutants to control their abilities with patience and kindness."
Xavier's eyes lit up with understanding. "We could control our own narrative."
The projection fast-forwarded through months of careful preparation and then the launch of their YouTube channel. The content was exactly what this Jay had suggested: a mix of heroic rescues, daily life at the school, personal stories from students about overcoming discrimination, and educational content about mutant abilities.
The channel exploded in popularity. Videos of Storm helping with drought relief went viral. Clips of Beast teaching chemistry to giggling students humanized the X-Men in ways traditional media never could. Personal testimonials from students who'd been rejected by their families brought viewers to tears and sparked nationwide conversations about tolerance.
The comment sections became battlegrounds of changing opinions.
"I used to think mutants were dangerous," read one popular comment, "but watching Nightcrawler help that scared little girl teleport to safety... these are teachers, not terrorists."
Another viral comment thread started when a viewer wrote, "My son has been afraid of his ice powers since they manifested. Seeing Bobby Drake make ice sculptures for the school kids showed him his abilities could create beauty instead of destruction."
But perhaps most importantly, they documented every act of discrimination they encountered. When the Friends of Humanity attacked the school, it was livestreamed to millions of viewers who watched heroes protect children from terrorists. The chat exploded with outrage, not at the X-Men, but at the attackers. #MurderingKidsInSchool became a trending hashtag that dominated social media for weeks.
When Mister Sinister's Marauders were deployed in New York, the X-Men's rescue efforts were broadcast in real-time, showing the world exactly who the real villains were. The footage of Cyclops carefully evacuating civilians while Sinister's clones attacked indiscriminately became the most-watched video in YouTube history at that point.
The projection showed a montage of changing public opinion, news anchors discussing mutant rights sympathetically for the first time, politicians calling for inclusive policies, teenagers wearing X-Men merchandise and organizing pro-mutant rallies at their schools. Fan art flooded social platforms. Cosplayers at conventions dressed as X-Men instead of avoiding mutant characters.
Behind the scenes, the X-Men were also preparing for larger threats. Armed with knowledge of future events from this Jay, they began hunting Sublime's research facilities and dismantling his network before it could fully establish itself.
Meanwhile, operating entirely separately from the X-Men's efforts, Magneto had been conducting his own investigation into genetic experimentation. When he discovered Mister Sinister's main laboratory, which was filled with evidence of decades of experimentation on mutant children and his involvement in giving Sebastian Shaw his mutation, Erik's response was swift and brutal. The execution was broadcast live, hijacking multiple platforms.
"This monster created living weapons from the DNA of children," Magneto said directly to the camera, his voice shaking with rage and grief as he stood over Sinister's body. "He stole their childhoods, their identities, their very humanity. What justice system would give him a fair trial when his victims are too traumatized to even speak their names?"
The footage became part of the overall narrative nonetheless. The public response was overwhelmingly supportive. #JusticeForMutantChildren trended globally, and even human rights organizations that had previously been neutral on mutant issues released statements condemning Sinister's research.
Though the X-Men publicly distanced themselves from Magneto's methods, the impact on public perception was undeniable.
By the time of the Chitauri invasion in 2012, the landscape had transformed completely. The X-Men weren't just accepted, they were beloved public figures with millions of followers across social platforms. Their subscriber count had reached unprecedented levels, with their rescue videos routinely hitting tens of millions of views within hours of posting.
The collaboration with Reed Richards had yielded practical innovations that revolutionized superhero operations. The Fantastic Four leader had developed an unstable molecule clothing line specifically for the X-Men, creating uniforms that could adapt to each member's unique abilities.
Seeing a business opportunity, Jay, with Reed's help, released a clothing line that could accommodate all kinds of mutants, and it was a big hit.
This Jay had also assembled his own specialized team, X-Force, strategically building his power set through careful absorption. From Skye, he'd gained seismic shockwave abilities that could level buildings. Cloak and Dagger had provided him with light and darkforce manipulation, the ability to blind enemies, heal and purify others, create constructs of solid light and darkness, or teleport through shadow dimensions.
Most controversially, he'd managed to completely copy Mister Sinister's genetic template before Magneto's execution, granting him telepathy that rivalled Jean's, telekinesis powerful enough to move aircraft, technopathy that let him interface with any electronic system, and cellular regeneration that effectively made him immortal.
When the Chitauri invasion began, the world watched the most perfectly coordinated superhero response in history unfold in real time.
The battle showcased unprecedented cooperation between hero teams. The X-Men, Fantastic Four, and the newly formed Avengers worked with the same goal in mind. Reed Richards provided tactical analysis and technological solutions, Tony Stark coordinated air superiority with his suit alongside Storm and Thor's lightning mayhem, while Captain America and Cyclops established unified ground command.
Multiple livestreams showed different perspectives of the battle.
The chat logs from those streams became legendary. "CYCLOPS JUST CUT THAT LEVIATHAN IN HALF WITH ONE SHOT, #Cyclops>Wolverine" and "I ship #StormXThor " scrolled past millions of messages of support, suggestions from viewers, and real-time updates about civilian evacuations.
The coordination with emergency services proved decisive. The X-Men had spent months training first responders and establishing communication protocols. When the invasion hit, paramedics knew exactly where to set up triage centers, police had predetermined evacuation routes, and fire departments were pre-positioned to handle alien weapon damage.
The result was a defensive victory that bordered on the miraculous. Not a single civilian casualty occurred during the hour-long battle, and the mothership was disabled and secured rather than destroyed, providing Earth with invaluable intelligence.
The most powerful moments came in the post-battle interviews with civilians who had witnessed the events firsthand. The X-Men's camera crews captured raw, unscripted reactions that would reshape public opinion permanently.
Margaret Walsh, former anti-mutant supporter, said, "I signed petitions for registration. But I watched Nightcrawler teleport into a collapsing building seventeen times to save people. My grandson was in there. How do you hate someone who risked his life for your family?"
Detective Rodriguez, former anti-mutant task force member, confessed, "I spent three years investigating 'mutant incidents.' Today, Cyclops coordinated evacuation better than any sergeant I've served under. These aren't criminals, they're better cops than most cops."
The transformation was immediate and sweeping. Within weeks, mutants were officially recognized as a protected class with comprehensive anti-discrimination legislation. The Superhuman Registration Act was rewritten as a voluntary program providing heroes with legal immunity, government resources, and official support in exchange for basic emergency service coordination.
Public opinion had completely reversed, where mutants had once been viewed with suspicion by 70% of the population, now 85% viewed them as essential protectors. The dream Xavier had held for decades had become reality through transparency, competence, and simply letting the world see who mutants really were when given the chance to be their best selves.
-----------------------------------X--------------------------------------X----------------------------------
The final scene of this timeline showed a quiet suburban home in Westchester, not far from the mansion but worlds away from the constant vigilance of superhero life. The house was a modest two-story colonial with blue shutters and a wraparound porch that spoke of chosen simplicity.
Children with light brown skin and distinctive white streaks in their hair played in a fenced backyard. Eight-year-old Mira floated three feet off the ground, carefully picking apples from the tree telekinetically without touching the branches, her face scrunched in concentration as she practiced the control her parents had been teaching her.
Her younger brother, six-year-old Avi, was currently phasing his hand halfway through the shadow of the wooden fence while making it glow with a soft white light, a combination of his father's abilities that still amazed everyone who saw it.
"Mama, look!" Mira called out, successfully plucking an apple without making contact. "I got it without touchin' anything!"
"That's wonderful, sweetheart," Rogue called back from the porch swing, her voice warm with pride and just a hint of her lingering Southern drawl. One hand rested protectively over her rounded belly; she was six months along with their third child. "Remember to come down slow, just like Daddy taught you."
This Jay looked older, more settled, laugh lines around his eyes and silver threading through his hair. He'd developed the comfortable softness of a man who'd traded his rigid superhero physique for pancake breakfasts and bedtime story marathons. There was a contentment in his expression that the original Jay had never seen in any mirror, the look of a man who had found exactly what he'd been searching for.
He wore a simple t-shirt stretched slightly over what Rogue lovingly called his "dad bod," grass stains on his knees from playing with the children earlier. His attention was completely focused on his children while unconsciously reaching over to rub Rogue's back as she shifted to accommodate her belly.
Rogue sat beside him on the swing, her bare hand intertwined with his, something that still made her smile even after all these years.
The porch was covered with evidence of their suburban life: children's bicycles, a half-finished puzzle on the small table, Rogue's collection of storybooks stacked beside Mira's coloring books, and a small garden where they grew vegetables with the kids.
"You know," Rogue said softly, watching Avi produce light constructs like fireflies, "sometimes I think about that day when we met you half-passed out in the alley."
Jay's thumb traced over her knuckles out of years of practice. "One accident in another universe that changed everything." He chuckled. "Who would've thought a simple meeting in an alley would lead to all this?"
"Not a mistake," Rogue corrected, "fate. Had to be." Her voice grew soft with wonder.
They watched as Mira gently floated down to help her brother catch his fireflies.
"This little one," Rogue said with a soft smile, rubbing her belly gently, "is gonna be surrounded by so much love… not just from her mama and daddy, and all her aunts and uncles, but from her big brother and sister too."
The house around them felt like a quiet celebration of everything that made life beautiful.
Family photos were tucked into shelves and frames everywhere, wedding pictures of Rogue and Jay with their goofy, perfect smiles; snapshots from backyard barbecues where X-Men and Avengers mingled over burgers and laughter; and vacation shots where everyone posed awkwardly but joyfully against mountains, beaches, and cityscapes.
The fridge was plastered with kids' drawings, bright stick figures of their favorite hero, Spider-Man swinging from webs, capes trailing behind them, and goofy smiles drawn with extra big eyes.
Toys lay scattered across the living room floor, half-played with, half-forgotten. Here and there, photos of precious moments were frozen in time: a baby's first steps, siblings tangled in blankets, someone covered head to toe in paint. It wasn't neat and it wasn't perfect, but it was warm, alive, and unmistakably theirs, a home filled with love, laughter, and the beautiful mess that came with it.
Jay leaned over to kiss Rogue's temple, breathing in the familiar scent of her shampoo. "We did good, Marie. Not just with the kids, but with everything."
The projection froze on this image of Jay's arms wrapped gently around his pregnant wife as they watched their children laughing and playing together.
Just a family at ease with one another, their faces alight with love and warmth, surrounded by the small, beautiful moments that made life worth living.
Jay stared at the empty space where the projection had been, emotions churning.
"Why show me this timeline specifically?" he asked quietly.
The Ancient One's smile held genuine warmth. "Because in countless other timelines, you achieve unprecedented heights... god-emperor of cosmic empires, reality-shaper, a transcendent being. But none possessed what that suburban father had."
"What?" Jay asked.
"He was happy. Truly happy and content. He wouldn't give up a single day of his life in this world for unlimited power if he had the chance. Such contentment… even made me a bit envious."
Jay's throat felt tight. "So, what... all this power... all this preparation… it meant nothing?"
"Your desire for revenge and justice isn't wrong, Jay. But consider what you're truly seeking. Freedom and connection aren't mutually exclusive." The Ancient One replied, "Do you regret your path?"
He considered. "No. But now I understand that power without meaning is empty."
As the mystical protections dissipated, Jay found himself thinking maybe it was time to discover what this world could teach him, not just what he could take from it.
Author's Note:
Idk about this one, guys… it took to long to write these chapters, and I think all the continuous editing got me a bit lost along the way. I'm not sure if it came out how I envisioned. What do you guys think? So drop your thoughts and suggestions. Would really appreciate it.