Krakoa.
The Laboratory.
CLACK-CLACK-CLACK!
CLACK-CLACK-CLACK!
Hank's fingers danced rapidly across the holographic keyboard.
A floating virtual display flickered with streaming data, strange symbols, shifting graphs—
nobody else could decipher any of it,
but it looked cutting-edge enough to impress any onlooker.
Sitting in front of him was the head housekeeper, Raven, wires connected from the inhibitor collar around her neck to several glowing diagnostic modules.
"Still not done, Hank? I've been sitting here for an hour already."
Raven finally lost her patience a bit, turning her head to urge him.
"This device comes from the future," Hank replied seriously.
"Some of its technology doesn't exist in our current era.
Even though the module is relatively 'simple,' it still takes time to reverse-engineer."
"Raven, if you're tired, I can pause. We can continue after you rest."
He pushed up his glasses in that familiar professorial manner.
This—
was exactly why Alex hadn't destroyed the collars outright when he teleported everyone home with the Infinity Gauntlet.
These collars were valuable research specimens.
Suppressing X-genes alone?
Krakoa already had that capability.
But suppressing non-mutant abilities as well?
That was something not even Krakoan science could accomplish yet.
Definitely worth dissecting.
"No need. Keep going."
Raven waved dismissively.
She had only been complaining casually; she wasn't that fragile.
Besides, mutant physiology—even for a shapeshifter like her—was far beyond that of an ordinary human.
Sitting still for a few hours wasn't a real hardship.
Just boring.
"At most half an hour," Hank reassured her.
"I should be able to open it."
He resumed typing swiftly.
And in fact—
it didn't even take half that long.
CLICK.
The collar sprang open.
Raven immediately snatched the thing off and slammed it onto the table.
"I never want to see that thing again."
"It won't trouble you again," Hank smiled.
Then he gestured toward America Chavez.
"America, your turn."
"You're incredible, Mr. Hank!"
America Chavez said with sincere admiration.
Her time in Krakoa wasn't short anymore, and she'd learned just how many miracles the nation's science rested upon Hank's shoulders.
Most of Krakoa's incredibly advanced tech, decades ahead of the world's standard,
existed because of him.
He was one of Krakoa's greatest heroes.
"I'm only doing my job," Hank said modestly as he began working on her collar.
Since he had already cracked the mechanism from Raven's module, America's took less than five minutes.
Then the others followed one by one.
---
"This damn thing is finally off."
Wolverine exhaled a smoke ring, shaking his head.
He had come very close to slicing the collar open with his claws.
---
"Alright. Everyone, get some rest. You've had a rough few days."
Alex clapped his hands lightly.
The X-Men nodded, bid him farewell, and dispersed.
---
"Lord Alex!"
America Chavez hurried over, eyes bright but anxious.
"You said… this whole incident wasn't my fault?"
The issue had been weighing heavily on her.
She needed Alex to confirm it—not out of ego, but out of genuine guilt.
"You… weren't just trying to make me feel better, right?"
Alex smiled.
Of course not.
He explained everything:
Kingpin's particle collider,
the resulting spacetime instability,
and how it inadvertently dragged multiple people—including her—into the Quantum Realm.
Only then did America finally relax, exhaling in deep relief.
So Alex hadn't merely been comforting her—
She really wasn't responsible.
She had just… had spectacularly bad luck.
With that burden gone, excitement quickly filled her mind.
If this wasn't her fault…
then her X-Men evaluation wouldn't be affected, right?
Did that mean…
she could officially become an X-Man now?
Her eyes sparkled in pure joy.
"Lord Alex, I'll head out first!"
She waved cheerfully and practically skipped away like an overexcited sprite.
---
Later That Afternoon
The X-Men reconvened.
Magneto, Charles, and the other senior members all attended.
The group shared everything:
the causes of the Quantum Realm incident,
their encounters with Kang,
their observations, lessons, and reflections.
Nearly an hour later, the emergency meeting concluded.
---
"America!"
Magneto stopped her before she could leave, his tone surprisingly gentle.
"I have good news.
Your evaluation is complete. You've passed.
From today onward, you are officially an X-Man."
"Really?!"
America nearly jumped straight into the air.
Her dream—
finally realized.
---
"Alex," Charles approached afterward and handed him an envelope.
Alex opened it.
A wedding invitation.
From Reed Richards of the Fantastic Four.
Charles had mentioned the upcoming wedding before.
At the time, Alex had zero interest.
But now…
he remembered which version of Reed existed in this universe.
And if memory served—
At Reed's wedding,
a very interesting individual was destined to appear.
Someone Alex suddenly found very curious.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
For 60 advanced chapters, visit my Patreon:
Patreon - Twilight_scribe1
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~