Danny Rand arrived at Ryan's house and went inside, his eyes widening at the sight. A gaping hole had been blasted in the kitchen wall, and the scattered, broken parts of a robot lay across the floor.
"Is this a prank by Tony Stark?" Danny asked, a note of disbelief in his voice.
"Apparently not," Rudra replied, gesturing to the wreckage. "That robot over there came in, declared that I am a mutant, and tried to kill me."
Danny's gaze sharpened, and he asked the question that was on everyone's mind. "So, you're a mutant?"
"I don't know, man. I never knew I had mutant powers," Rudra said, sounding genuinely confused.
"Except for the time your strength suddenly increased when you attacked the Avengers," Danny pointed out.
"Isn't that like a breakthrough in martial arts?" Rudra countered, his expression earnest.
Danny threw his hands up in exasperation. "Dude, we aren't in a xianxia troupe where you just break through and power up."
'I didn't know he read xianxia,' Rudra thought to himself. "I don't know, I might break through in the future," he tried to argue, a faint smile on his lips.
"Seriously?" Danny deadpanned.
"Something that old man once said about training just put that idea in my mind, sorry," Rudra relented. "So what do we do now?"
"We load up the robot and look for the mutant experts," Danny said, already heading for the door.
"The X-Men?"
"The X-Men."
"Then let's go."
They loaded the robot parts into a truck and drove to the Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters.
Meanwhile, at an underground facility used by the X-Men, Charles Xavier sat in Cerebro. Logan, Storm, and Magneto were present, and the atmosphere in the room was somber.
"So have you found a way to turn them off?" Magneto asked, his voice low and full of tension.
"No," Charles replied, his tone downtrodden. "After they are fully functional, the system cannot be shut down."
"So that means war is coming," Magneto stated, ever the pragmatist.
"No, I may not have found a way to stop them and fight them, but I found something else," Charles said, trying to stop him from going ballistic. "I will tell you once I am sure of it, but until then, Ororo, please welcome the guests that are coming."
"Alright, Professor," Storm said, and she made her way toward the mansion's entrance.
As Danny and Ryan parked the car and stepped out, they saw Ororo Monroe, a.k.a. 'The Storm', coming out of the mansion and walking toward them.
"The Professor would like to meet you two," she said, her voice a calm breeze.
"Then what should we do with this?" Danny asked, pulling back the tarp to reveal the broken robot.
Storm gave them a slightly astonished look and said, "I will ask someone to bring it in."
After they reached the underground laboratory and came face to face with the Professor, he gestured for them to sit down.
"It is fascinating," Charles said. "When I look at you two, I can feel the energy of your body protecting your mind. And it might sound slightly offensive to you, but I tried probing your minds slightly, but your energy protects you. Though I could break through with some effort, it is astonishing nonetheless. Ah, pardon me, I am Charles Xavier and I will have to ask your purpose for coming here."
"I am Ryan Angelo and this is Danny Rand, I was attacked by a robot this morning that called me a mutant," Rudra replied. "And since it did not seem like a prank, we decided to visit you, the experts in the field."
"Did you escape the robot?" Charles asked.
"No, I cut it down," Rudra said.
"How?" Asked Charles Xavier.
"With my sword," Ryan said, extending his hand as his gauntlet instantly turned into a sword.
"Vibranium and Adamantium, a good weapon," Magneto commented, a hint of grudging respect in his voice for the craftsmanship.
Danny looked at the sword with envy, just as he had many times before.
"So you came to ask us about the source of the attack?" Charles summarized.
"No, I wasn't bothered by the attack or whoever is involved, as it was almost harmless," Rudra said. "What bothers me was the fact that it called me a mutant, but I don't remember ever having any mutant abilities, so I thought maybe you could tell me my mutant powers."
Now everyone else was speechless, except Logan, who laughed out loud.
"I see. Then maybe Hank can help you with that," the Professor said, looking at Logan. "Logan, can you take our friends to Hank?"
"Alright, boys, follow me," Logan said as he walked ahead, still laughing.
After the three left the room, Eric smiled at Charles and said, "You should've seen the look on your face when he said the attack didn't bother him and that he didn't care about its origin. But the fact that such an attack didn't faze them is a testament to their strength, and they might be of great help against the Sentinels."
"I have to agree on that," Charles replied.
After the trio reached Hank McCoy's lab, Logan asked him to test Ryan's mutant abilities. Ryan was laid in a futuristic-looking capsule that surged with various lights. After five minutes, the capsule opened, and he came out.
"So, I have your results," Dr. McCoy said. "According to them, you can absorb electricity and use the absorbed electricity to enhance yourself."
"Then isn't it kind of amazing?" Rudra asked, a little confused.
"Not so much, more like very weak," Dr. McCoy explained. "You are very different from a normal mutant. When a normal mutant awakens, the X-Gene almost all the cells in his body or at least the majority of the cells do it, but in your case, the amount of X-cells in your body is less than 1 in 1,000. So yeah, you have great potential, but your ability is not that great."
"So how much can I absorb?" Rudra asked, his voice full of exasperation.
"About a car battery's worth without overloading yourself." said Hank trying to hide his smile.
"That's!... whatever."
"So what's the deal with the robots?" Danny asked.
"The robots, called Sentinels by their creators, have been active for a couple of months and have killed almost 11% of the mutant population," Hank explained. "They have hardly failed. Their tracks are covered up by the government, which helps put them in places near targets."
"They have the ability to adapt to almost any mutant powers and are immune to most psychic ones," Storm continued as she entered the room and looked at Ryan's test results. "And their hunting speed is increasing. The more they kill, the more data they have and the less time it takes them to adapt."
"Do you need any help?" Danny asked.
"At this point, we need all we can get," Storm said.
"You in?" Danny asked Rudra.
"Fine. I'll get some equipment," Rudra said, pulling out his phone. He called his housekeeper to deliver one of the trinkets he received from Stark, knowing that most of them would be useless against robots.