Alex rummaged through the lab, gathering everything that looked remotely valuable or suspiciously high-tech into several large crates.
By the time he was done, the scene looked less like a battlefield and more like a successful shopping spree.
Dozens of containers—big and small—floated silently around him, like loyal satellites orbiting their star.
If this were the old days, carrying them would've been a logistical nightmare. He only had two hands, after all.
But now?
With telekinesis, this was child's play.
He could've carried hundreds.
With a casual wave of his hand, the entire horde of loot obediently hovered in the air.
"That should be everything."
A final sweep with his X-ray vision confirmed it—he'd thoroughly ransacked the place. Nothing valuable remained.
Without a word, Alex turned and walked out.
CLUNK.
The door slid open.
Oddly, none of the S.H.I.E.L.D. agents were outside. Even the ones who had been standing guard earlier had vanished.
They were probably all too busy fighting the Decepticons.
BOOM!
In a blur of red and a thunderclap of displaced air, Alex took to the skies—
—then slammed down into the courtyard of the mutant base.
The sonic boom barely fazed the residents. They'd long grown used to that sound.
But Raven and Hank rushed out from the meeting hall, having been waiting anxiously.
Then they saw him.
More accurately, they saw the cloud of crates floating behind him.
And both of them froze.
"Alex… what is all this?"
Hank was utterly dumbfounded.
When Alex had taken off earlier, they'd assumed he'd gone to help S.H.I.E.L.D. battle the Decepticons.
Instead, he returned with what looked like the spoils of war.
Like he'd just raided a tech expo.
"Good stuff," Alex said casually, flashing a mysterious grin. "Trust me, Hank—you're going to love these."
Under any other circumstances, Hank would've been giddy.
But not today.
Today, his mind was elsewhere—on the alien threat, not shiny new toys.
"Alex, this can wait," Hank said, his tone urgent. "Why are you back so fast? I thought you were going to help fight them."
"I said I'd take a look. That's all," Alex replied coolly, correcting him.
"Alex," Raven cut in, her voice tense, "I know you're not Charles, but this is different. These aren't just people or politics—we're facing aliens."
"Relax," Hank said, suddenly realizing something. He looked at Raven, then back to Alex. "I think Alex has a plan."
"You do?" Raven's eyes lit up.
"You two head back inside," Alex said, waving them off. Then he turned to Selene.
"Take these crates to the vault. Maximum clearance. Understood?"
Selene's expression turned serious in an instant. She didn't know what was in those boxes, but if the Supreme was treating them like state secrets, she'd guard them like crown jewels.
With that settled, Alex headed inside.
By the time he reached the conference room, Raven, Hank, Emma Frost, and Copycat were already waiting.
Smith, Number Six, and the others had been excused—this wasn't their fight.
"So?" Emma asked, eyes gleaming. "Raven says you've got a plan. I'm dying to hear it."
"Honestly," Copycat added, "I thought you were going to save people. But you came back awfully fast."
All eyes turned to Alex.
He didn't waste time.
"The Decepticons? They're not a crisis. They're an opportunity."
An opportunity?
The others exchanged glances, not quite sure what he meant.
"You've all been worrying about the state of mutants in the world, right? Our image, our treatment, our future?"
"Until now, we had no way to change it. But now?" Alex looked each of them in the eye.
"Now we do."
Understanding flickered in Emma's eyes.
"You mean…"
"Wait until the casualties mount… then we swoop in and save the day?"
Alex nodded. "Exactly."
It sounded cold. Cruel, even.
But strategically? It was perfect.
He hadn't exactly been subtle during his raid on S.H.I.E.L.D.—they'd seen everything.
And the Decepticons? Once they learned the AllSpark had vanished, they'd definitely trace it back to him.
Conflict was inevitable.
But that didn't mean he had to act now.
No. The timing wasn't right.
Better to let the Decepticons tear through S.H.I.E.L.D., to let humanity feel the threat—fear it, despair over it—
—and just when all hope seemed lost?
The mutants would rise.
Saviors. Heroes. The only ones strong enough to turn the tide.
And in doing so, everything that had plagued them since the Cuban Missile Crisis would change.
Maybe not overnight.
But permanently.
"You're not wrong," Emma murmured, arms crossed. "Once we're seen as the last hope of mankind… they won't dare ignore us again."
"But… people are going to die."
Raven's voice was soft. Hesitant.
"Of course," Alex said calmly.
He didn't even blink.
"They die, we win. I don't care how many of them drop dead in the meantime."
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