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Chapter 286: The Other Alex, The Ultimate Weapon to Save the Mutants
🕑 Added 2025-08-26 17:11:51 +0000 UTC
“Truly worthy of me.”
Alex’s voice echoed with amused satisfaction as he strolled leisurely through the grand hall of Krakoa. The chamber was vast and luminous, its walls embedded with crystalline structures that glowed faintly like veins of living energy. Pillars lined the edges of the chamber, each one carved with markings that pulsed faintly in rhythm with the island itself. For a place built to represent both sanctuary and power, it radiated an almost sacred majesty.
Alex swept his gaze across it all, nodding repeatedly as though he were inspecting a masterpiece designed for him alone. “The style completely suits my taste. Excellent!” His lips curled into a grin, half mocking, half genuinely pleased.
The others—Erik, Charles, and the 2016 Alex—had already taken their seats, their expressions betraying little. They did not interrupt him, nor did they scold him for his casual arrogance in such a critical place. They allowed him to wander freely, unrestrained. It was as though they, too, were measuring him, silently testing how this new arrival would behave under their watch.
For Alex, however, it was simply entertainment.
Hum—
The sudden low vibration cut through the hall.
The 2016 Alex stiffened instantly. His hand dipped into his coat and withdrew a small bead that looked unremarkable to the untrained eye, no different from a polished pebble one might skip across a pond. Yet, the moment he set it upon the floor, the bead pulsed with energy.
A beam of light projected upward, twisting, coalescing—until the familiar figure of Ajak emerged.
“Ajak,” the 2016 Alex greeted with a curt nod.
“Alex.” Her tone carried a gravity that matched his own.
Their reunion was brief, but the weight behind it was undeniable. Time was precious. Without delay, Ajak’s voice sharpened: “So~ what’s the deal with that suddenly appearing mutant who looks exactly like you?”
The question hung heavy in the air. Even the faint background hum of the hall seemed to dim at her words.
The reason for the 2016 Alex’s immediate appearance here was now laid bare. The Eternals had reached out—concerned, curious, perhaps even alarmed—about the sudden anomaly.
Alex himself.
The 2016 Alex’s eyes narrowed in thought, his jaw tightening before he replied. “Ajak, we need to meet.” His tone left no room for debate. This was no matter to be settled by projection or guesswork. It was too great, too dangerous, to be spoken of lightly.
Ajak did not press further. Her sharp intuition told her enough; if even this Alex was treating the matter with such gravity, then it was not something to pry into through words alone.
“The day after tomorrow,” she answered after only a pause, “the usual place.”
“Agreed.”
The 2016 Alex inclined his head, but his expression grew even sterner as he added: “Also, how many know of this… discovery?”
“Phastos detected the anomaly and told me,” Ajak replied evenly. “I dispatched Makkari and two others to investigate. Beyond us, no one knows.”
“Good.” Relief flickered for only a moment in his eyes before hardening again into resolve. “Ajak, keep this matter absolutely confidential. No leaks, not even whispers.”
“I understand.”
With that, the projection dissolved, the beam of light folding back into the bead until all that remained was silence.
By then, Alex had finished his little tour. His boots echoed softly across the floor as he returned to the group, expression unreadable.
Soon after, Charles summoned the others. The chamber filled with familiar figures: Raven, Emma Frost, Copycat, and Hank. The heads of Krakoa, the strategists, the ones who carried the weight of their people’s survival.
When the 2016 Alex explained—when he revealed who this “other Alex” truly was, and the terrible truth of their failure—the hall descended into stunned silence.
The revelation was staggering. A failed plan. A future where every safeguard, every effort, had collapsed. And a man, another Alex, who should not exist but did, standing before them like a living paradox.
Shock gave way to disbelief, and disbelief eventually eroded into acceptance. Yet even acceptance carried a heavy, uneasy weight.
Copycat was the first to break the silence, her voice sharp with scorn. “I knew those Eternals couldn’t be trusted. Executioners, every one of them, their hands dripping with blood—and suddenly they grow a conscience? Don’t make me laugh.”
Emma Frost’s eyes narrowed, her tone cool but edged with frustration. “But Charles and I both probed them. Their intentions were genuine. Ajak truly seeks to help us.”
Charles nodded gravely beside her, confirming her words. Before aligning with the Eternals, they had not been reckless. Every telepathic probe, every subtle scan, confirmed what they needed: sincerity. At least, sincerity in Ajak, Sersi, Phastos, and the rest.
“This is the future of eight million mutants,” Emma added, her voice tightening. “None of us took it lightly.”
“I trust Ajak and Sersi,” Raven spoke suddenly, cutting through the rising tension. Her eyes gleamed with a hardened conviction. “If something went wrong, it wasn’t them. The true problem lies with Ikaris and his unwavering loyalty to Arishem.”
The name drew grim nods.
The 2016 Alex’s foresight, the telepaths’ probes, even past confrontations—all pointed to the same truth. Ikaris was the blade Arishem held in his hand. And if ordered, he would not hesitate to cut.
“Ajak and Ikaris already clashed once over this,” Raven continued. “Unable to sway him, she pretended to submit. Outwardly she followed Arishem’s will, but in truth, she worked with us. A feigned roadblock, concealing a hidden path.”
“‘Repairing the plank road while secretly crossing Chencang,’” the 2016 Alex murmured, repeating the old idiom. A deception of appearances, a stratagem built on shadow and misdirection.
“Unless,” Hank interjected thoughtfully, his chin resting against his knuckles, “Ikaris sensed something. A crack in her deception. If he acted upon it…”
But no answer would come. The event lay in the future, already etched into a timeline they had yet to reach. No amount of speculation could yield certainty.
After much debate, their conclusions were thin, unsatisfying. The only actionable step: Charles would continue probing the Eternals, searching for even the smallest fracture, any sign of deceit or betrayal. But none truly believed such a probe would reveal anything new. They had already searched before, and everything had seemed unshakably normal.
Even so, they could not afford to leave the stone unturned.
“Everyone,” the 2016 Alex finally spoke, his voice resonant and unyielding, drawing their scattered thoughts back into focus. “Given the circumstances, we must prepare a powerful contingency plan.”
His words silenced the chamber.
“No matter what detail went wrong a month from now, our plan failed. And before, we had nothing else. No backup strong enough to turn the tide.” His eyes swept across the room, lingering briefly on the other Alex before continuing. “But now… things are different.”
Every gaze shifted with him, settling on the man who stood apart yet mirrored their leader’s face. The other Alex.
Their unspoken understanding weighed heavy in the air. He was the wild card. The weapon fate had handed them.
Alex arched a brow, a faint smirk tugging at his lips as he caught the attention fixed squarely on him. “Didn’t you prepare any contingency plans before?”
Charles exhaled softly, a rueful smile pulling at his mouth. “Of course we did. But clearly, they weren’t strong enough.”
“When the Eternals initiate the transmission ceremony, when they form the Uni-Mind,” Charles explained, his tone edged with frustration, “every mutant becomes… dormant. Immobile. Unconscious. Even I am not exempt.”
“Our only safeguard was the intelligent robots Hank designed, programmed to keep the plan on track while we slept.”
A pause followed, heavy and bitter.
“But obviously,” Charles finished grimly, “those robots failed.”
