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.
Time 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 slammed into it with a deafening boom. Metal folded. Glass exploded. The impact sent the vehicle skidding sideways, crashing into the cars behind it. Another collision followed. Then another.
Fire ignited. Alarms screamed. The street turned into chaos in seconds.
Luke stood there, unharmed, 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 moment 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 come."
"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 time.
He snapped his fingers.
FWSSSH—
The flames across the wreckage died instantly, heat sucked away as if someone had flipped a switch. Smoke thinned. Metal 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 me. You're fine. Just move slowly."
For a moment, people listened.
Then someone saw the ice.
Someone 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 COME NEAR ME!"
Another man pointed shakily. "Monsters! Both of them!"
Within seconds, the street cleared. Sirens wailed in the distance. Doors slammed. Windows shut.
"Totally not strange," Luke muttered.
Honestly, this was the most realistic outcome 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 time, his class quest had dumped him into an isolated space—contained, clean, no collateral issues. This time was different. This time 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 time. This was the kind of speed you got when someone was already watching the area—or waiting for an excuse.
Doors slammed open. Men in sealed tactical suits poured out, moving in clean formations. Rifles came 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. "Something is definitely strange here."
Then—
KRRRRSH—BOOM.
The air split open with heavy impacts as six massive metallic 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 mechanical 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-Men universe."
At the same time,
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 equipment. "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 metal figures descended from the sky.
Sentinels.
And in the middle of them—two figures standing their ground.
"Send someone," 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 sometimes, might even restrain herself when he was watching, but the moment someone crossed her… the outcome was always the same. Swift. Absolute.
People didn't get second chances with her.
The squad seemed 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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