The night had fallen softly upon the New Xavier's School, but the energy in the air was anything but restful.
One by one, the golden portals flickered open across the central square. Seven teams of X-Men, victorious and unharmed, returned from their mission.
The portal shimmered one final time as Loki was escorted through and sealed beneath the castle, bound inside a containment spell etched in ancient magic. The Tesseract and psychic scepter followed quickly, teleported into secure chambers inside the school by Blink with practiced precision.
And then, the applause erupted.
"Wooooaaaah—!"
A thousand Mutant students stood in the square, erupting into thunderous cheers, clapping in unison with fiery excitement. Their eyes burned with admiration, inspiration, and pride.
This mission hadn't just been a tactical operation to repel an alien invasion—it had been a message.
The X-Men had emerged in full force.
Not only had they defended Earth against an alien horde, but they'd done it in a way that made it clear to every student watching: Xavier's School is no longer just a refuge. It's the future.
Earth had faltered. S.H.I.E.L.D. had all but collapsed. Governments scrambled. And yet, the X-Men had succeeded.
Without a single casualty.
That victory, that certainty, now pulsed in every student's chest like a living flame.
For the younger Mutants watching the livestream, seeing their mentors fight side-by-side—clad in state-of-the-art battle suits—had changed everything. No longer were they just "gifted children."
Now, they believed they could be heroes.
The future of Mutantkind…
Blazed with light.
---
Even Wolverine, never one for sentiment or speeches, found himself quietly impressed.
"So this was Joseph's plan... Organizing students to watch the mission live..." he thought, puffing thoughtfully on a cigar. "Smart move."
In just over an hour, the entire spirit of the school had transformed.
There was momentum now—a sense of hope and hunger that had never been there before. Not in Wolverine's long, bloodied lifetime.
This... this was different.
The days of Professor X and Magneto were gone.
In the eyes of the X-Men and students alike, Joseph had become the King of Mutants.
---
As the cheers echoed across campus, Wolverine turned to Cyclops, Phoenix, and Storm with a half-smile.
"Well, I'd say we've earned a break. Three days off from training in Oasis, at least?"
The others chuckled knowingly.
"Oasis"—Joseph's digital training dimension—was a godsend, but also exhausting. Students loved it. The X-Men? They'd been grinding away in combat simulations for weeks.
Wolverine exhaled, blowing a perfect smoke ring. "I swear, another dungeon run and I'd start seeing polygon-shaped nightmares."
Just then, the triumphant return parade reached the front steps of the castle. Waiting for them were Professor X, Magneto, and Dr. Banner.
They all wore proud expressions, but Banner's enthusiasm was the most visible. "With all the Chitauri tech and corpses... we might actually get salvage rights this time!" he said, rubbing his hands together.
He didn't get to finish.
In an instant, a chill swept over the crowd.
Every Mutant present—more than a thousand—froze. Their expressions sharpened. Their eyes turned skyward.
Something was howling.
It wasn't human. It wasn't even in the school.
It was distant... a low-pitched infrasound, a sorrowful wail that swept across the atmosphere itself.
Ordinary humans like Dr. Banner and a few civilian staff didn't even notice it. But to those with heightened senses—Mutants, telepaths, energy manipulators, enhanced bodies—it rang out clearly.
A whisper carried on the bones of the planet.
"What kind of being could howl loud enough for the whole world to hear it?" the thought passed silently through every mind.
Then, high above the square, a golden light curtain unfolded across the sky.
A near-frozen image filled the veil—an enormous screen suspended in the heavens.
In it, Superman stood tall, blood gushing from his chest where a monstrous claw had impaled him.
His hand, shaking, was thrust forward... a green spear buried deep in the monstrous body of Doomsday—a creature even more grotesque than Hulk or Abomination.
It was mutual destruction.
Both beings were dying.
Ten seconds passed.
Then Doomsday collapsed first.
And Superman... finally fell.
The Man of Steel.
Gone.
---
"Hisssss—"
Gasps tore through the crowd. The air turned cold and silent.
What had moments ago been a celebration now felt like a funeral.
Even the seasoned leaders—Professor X, Magneto, Storm, Cyclops—all instinctively turned to look for one person:
Joseph.
Their compass. Their strategist. Their pillar.
But...
He wasn't there.
There was no sign of him.
Even his Mirror Projection had vanished.
And then, someone noticed the most unsettling detail of all.
The golden light curtain in the sky?
It wasn't summoned by Joseph.
It came from someone else.
A figure stood beneath the floating image—a person no one had noticed until now. Her presence had been there the whole time, but every eye had subconsciously ignored her.
It was a woman in a flowing apricot-yellow robe, bald, serene, and smiling faintly.
She had no aura, no radiating power.
And yet, everyone suddenly realized they couldn't look away.
---
She bowed slightly to the headmasters.
"Mr. Xavier, Mr. Lehnsherr, Dr. Banner..." she greeted them calmly.
"My name is Ancient One, Sorcerer Supreme of Kamar-Taj. I was invited by Mr. Joseph to give an open lecture for the professors and students of New Xavier's School."
"Sorcerer Supreme?"
"Kamar-Taj?"
"Open class?"
The crowd broke into murmurs. Even among the faculty, few had ever heard those names.
The Ancient One nodded politely.
"You've just witnessed the death of Superman," she said, still calm. "And the creature that killed him was a mutated version of General Zod—transformed into what is known as Doomsday."
There was no sorrow in her tone, only clarity.
"But this is not just a tragedy. It's a warning. The world you live in is far more dangerous, far more complicated, than you believe."
"In the future, humans, Mutants, magicians of Kamar-Taj, and even hidden races on Earth... we will all face a storm unlike any before."
"This is why Joseph asked me to teach this class."
She raised her hand, gesturing to the heavens.
"As Mutants—humans with enhanced genetics—you are already the best of mankind. But you must now look beyond Earth. You must learn to see the universe."
---
The statement struck like lightning.
Professor X and Magneto looked at each other, their expressions grave. This wasn't just about alien civilizations like the Chitauri or the Asgardians.
It was something deeper.
Sure enough, the Ancient One asked her first question:
"General Zod was dead. But he came back after being mutated. How?"
"Does that mean Superman might return one day?"
"What is death, really?"
"What are life, the soul... consciousness?"
"Are they all physical things? Or is there something more?"
Her questions weren't just academic.
They were existential.
The X-Men, the teachers, even the younger students—everyone listened in stunned silence. They'd trained in combat, strategy, powers...
But this?
This was cosmic philosophy.
The kind of questions only a Sorcerer Supreme could ask.
And even ask with confidence.
Ancient One had spent centuries exploring the hidden dimensions of reality—space, mind, time, soul, reality, and more. Her understanding of power and energy eclipsed every Mutant in the square.
Even Professor X and Magneto couldn't match it.
---
And so, the open class began.
The Ancient One spoke in a voice like rippling water—smooth, patient, full of hidden force. She taught of the four elements, of energy channels, of fields of consciousness.
She explained how the magnetic field, the spiritual self, and the cosmic weave were interconnected.
As she spoke, the minds of the audience lit up like candles.
Storm marveled at her limited understanding of lightning.
Cyclops re-evaluated his control of light beams.
Even Iceman began to understand his cryokinesis in terms of molecular vibration.
But no one was affected more than Phoenix.
As Joseph's most promising protégé and the future wielder of the Phoenix Force, she had already been at the edge of cosmic enlightenment.
Now, every word from Ancient One brought her closer to a breakthrough.
In her mind, concepts of life, death, rebirth, mind, soul, reality fused into something new.
Soon, Joseph had predicted, Phoenix would be more than a Mutant.
She would be Earth's strongest magician.
---
Far away, in a pocket space, Joseph smiled as he examined the Tesseract and the psychic scepter.
His voice echoed in the empty realm.
"Convincing the Sorcerer Supreme to give a lecture at my school?"
He grinned.
"If that isn't success..."
"I don't know what is."
---
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