The portal shimmered for a moment before closing behind Ethan, Jean, and Anna as they stepped into the familiar grounds of Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters. But instead of warm greetings or the buzz of celebration, they were met with an eerie silence. No cheers. No laughter. Just a stillness that felt off.
Ethan furrowed his brows. 'This doesn't feel right.'
Jean looked around with tension building in her shoulders. "Where is everyone? I thought we'd be late to the celebration."
They moved quickly through the halls until they spotted Kitty Pryde hurrying down the corridor.
"Kitty!" Jean called.
Kitty paused and is clearly distressed. "Thank God you're here. Guys... Madelyne and her baby are missing."
"What?!" Jean and Anna said in unison with eyes wide with shock.
Ethan blinked. "Missing? That's… odd." But then he dismissed the dark idea forming. 'Can't be sinister. I destroyed his soul myself.'
"She probably just took the baby for some fresh air," Anna offered hopefully.
Kitty shook her head. "We thought the same. But she didn't tell anyone. Her phone's off. The Professor is in Cerebro trying to find her. Come with me."
They followed Kitty to the common room. Inside, many familiar faces were gathered—Bobby, John, Kurt, Angelica, Jubilee, Betsy, and Colossus. Worry clouded everyone's features.
Ethan looked around. 'Feels like the whole damn gang is here,' he thought.
But before more could be said, the front doors exploded with a deafening BOOM.
A squad of black-clad soldiers rushed in, rifles raised, moving with brutal coordination.
Ethan didn't flinch. 'Oh look. The mansion's getting attacked again.' He chuckled faintly. 'If this were a game, this place would be a perfect EXP farming zone. Always getting raided. Poor devs forgot to patch this exploit.'
The mutant students scrambled to respond — but something was wrong. Bobby tried to summon ice. John snapped his fingers for a spark. Kurt prepared to teleport. Nothing happened.
Jean clutched her head. "I... I can't use my powers!"
Anna looked just as alarmed. "Me neither!"
"My powers—!" John yelled.
"I can't teleport!" Kurt grunted, trying and failing to vanish.
But Ethan was different. His powers remained intact.
His mind expanded like a web across the field of incoming threats, and with a single thought, the entire first wave of soldiers froze in place — caught in a powerful telepathic grip.
He dove into their minds with ease and quickly understood.
"They're using new tech. Dampening fields... like those suppression collars," Ethan said aloud to the others. "Guess who's behind it? Stryker."
"Damn him," Colossus growled.
Jean clenched her fists. "If you weren't here…"
"Then this would've been a clean sweep," Ethan replied before stepping forward. "But not today."
He observed the soliders, "These devices are more advanced than the collars. And Stryker isn't even here—just commanding remotely. There are four massive power dampeners placed around the mansion to suppress mutant abilities."
Ethan turned to the group. "Get the senior X-Men. Split into teams. Evacuate anyone hit by tranquilizers and get them somewhere safe. I'll handle the dampeners."
He gave them no time to argue and others executed the work.
Then, almost casually, Ethan snapped the necks of the paralyzed soldiers. "Nothing personal, gentlemen."
Outside, he moved swiftly toward the closest of the dampeners positioned on the east field. A squad surrounded it. As he reached out with his mind to freeze them — nothing happened.
'Telepathy blocked?' His eyes narrowed. 'Interesting...'
They began to open fire. Bullets and tranquilizer darts bounced harmlessly off him. His clothes shimmered faintly — enhanced for durability using magic.
'Glad I reinforced this outfit. I'd rather not fight in my underwear again.'
Soldiers panicked. "He's not affected by it! That's impossible!"
He raised a hand, and with a wave of telekinesis, the device rose into the air. He clenched his fist—metal shrieked as the machine crumpled into a dense orb of crushed steel.
Ethan calmly advanced. "Your science project failed, boys."
"Impossible!" one soldier gasped. "We tested these! This shouldn't—!"
They never finished. Ethan advanced, lifting the entire squad into the air, then slamming them down like ragdolls. Bones shattered. Screams echoed.
Finally, he stood before the squad leader. "Stryker didn't even show up, huh? Sent you as cannon fodder while he watches from a safe distance?"
"Mutants are a plague!" the man spat. "You'll all be purged."
Ethan tilted his head. "What's the tech blocking my telepathy? Only some of your men got it. Something exclusive?"
The man didn't answer. Just glared and cursed.
"Fine. Be stubborn."
With a disappointed sigh, Ethan crushed his windpipe with a thought. "You people aren't even worth half of my powers. Telekinesis and telepathy are plenty."
He vanished in a blur, tearing through the perimeter and crushing the remaining three dampeners one by one.
By the time he returned to the mansion, the chaos had died down. The tranquilized students were safe, and the X-Men had regrouped.
Logan met him by the hallway with arms crossed, "You take care of the attackers?"
"They didn't make it," Ethan said flatly. "Feeling a little sorry for them, honestly."
Logan smirked. "Right. And I'm the Queen of England."
Ethan shrugged. "You asked."
"Did you find Madelyne?" he asked more seriously.
Logan nodded. "Found her. The moment the Professor tried to use Cerebro to track her, the dampeners went active. We couldn't do anything until you knocked them out. But now we've got a lock."
"Then what are we waiting for?"
Quickly, Ethan followed Logan deeper into the sub-levels.
In the Room, almost every member of the X-Men was present — Scott, Hank, Betsy, Storm, Morph, Kurt, Kitty, Colossus. Jean and Anna stood together, and across from them stood a new face. An older man with a calm, powerful presence.
He smiled as Ethan entered. And then, with a reverent smile, the old man said, "Finally… you're here, Uncle Aeon."
Silence dropped like a hammer.
Jean's mouth opened slightly. "Did he just say… uncle?"
Anna looked back at Ethan in shock. "You're his uncle?!"
Ethan's expression didn't change—at least not outwardly. But deep inside, '…What the hell is going on?'
Logan raised an eyebrow. "You got an explanation, or do we just stand here awkwardly?"
The old man looked around the room. "You all know him as Ethan Carter… but I know him as Aeon. My uncle."
The silence that followed was thunderous.
Logan raised an eyebrow while Storm blinked in surprise. Kitty's jaw nearly hit the floor.
Even the always-calm Professor Xavier was caught off guard.
Professor Xavier had attempted to read Cable's mind, but something blocked him—a powerful mental barrier unlike anything he'd encountered in years.
He could break through it if he truly wished, but doing so might harm the guy, and Charles Xavier never forced his way into a mind without cause.
Scott's eyes narrowed sharply, and Jean's mouth parted in disbelief. Anna just looked between the stranger and Ethan with wide eyes.
"Uncle?" Kitty asked with her voice cracking.
Jubilee whispered to Kurt, "Did he just say uncle?"
The old man nodded once, stepping forward. His posture was firm, his presence commanding. "My name is Cable," he began. "I'm from the year 2199."
That earned a chorus of gasps and murmurs from the group.
Logan raised a brow. "From the future, huh? And you're calling him..." He gestured at Ethan. "Uncle Aeon?"
Cable nodded without hesitation. "Yes. He raised me."
Kitty's voice rose, still stuck on what shocked them most. "Wait—back up. Did you really come from the future and why did you call Ethan your uncle? And what did you mean by Aeon?"
Cable turned toward her before nodding. "Ethan went by the name Aeon in the future. He's my uncle—the man who raised me when I was a child."
Gasps echoed again.
Cable smiled faintly as he glanced toward Jean and Anna. "And Aunt Jean, Aunt Anna and Aunt Didi took great care of me. Always made sure I stayed out of trouble. Well... tried to."
Kitty's eyebrows shot up. "Wait, you all survived that long? All the way to 2199?"
Cable gave a small chuckle. "Of course. They are the wives of Uncle Aeon—Guardian of Time, Walker of Realms, Owner of the Divine Spring. Surviving for an eternity is a given."
Silence fell over the room like a hammer. Everyone turned slowly to Ethan.
Both women blushed instantly, glancing at Ethan in disbelief. Kitty just mouthed, 'Guardian of Time?'
Logan looked between them all. "Okay. So I'm not the only one confused, right?"
Besty shook his head. "Not even close."
Ethan narrowed his eyes slightly, "How did you even get here, and more importantly why are you here, Cable?"
Cable hesitated. "It wasn't easy. I used a time fracture created by a chronal surge in 2199. It was unstable, nearly killed me. I ended up here… a few minutes before you arrived, Uncle."
Professor Xavier confirmed it with a thoughtful nod. "Yes. He arrived just moments before you, Ethan. Appeared right in the courtyard. I sensed no hostility, so I invited him inside."
Ethan muttered under his breath, "Timing, huh."
Scott frowned before taking a step forward. "And how do we know we can believe you? You just show up, call Ethan your uncle, claim you're from the future, and expect us to trust you?"
Cable didn't flinch. "It doesn't matter if you believe me. I'm here to help you save moth-Madelyne. That's all."
Jean looked up before frowning. "You said Ethan raised you… but do we—do we have children in your time?"
Cable hesitated for a beat. Then said plainly, "Yes. You both do."
Anna blinked. "Me too?"
Cable smiled faintly. "Yes. Aunt Jean and Aunt Anna both."
Jean's face flushed pink. Anna looked like she was trying to piece her thoughts together.
Ethan quickly cut in while rubbing the bridge of his nose. "Isn't it more important to save Madelyne first?"
Kitty, however, wasn't letting it go. "Come on! He just said you raised him and Jean and Anna were his aunts! We need answers!"
Cable raised a hand to calm the chatter. "Look—I understand the curiosity, but I don't know if your timeline is even the same. My entry point into this era has already shifted the future. The moment I arrived, the timeline branched. I can't tell you what will or won't happen anymore and the main reason I've come back in time is to help you in getting her back," Cable said, looking at everyone in the room, then locking eyes with Ethan. "To save Madelyne... from Sinister."
Logan crossed his arms. "That's impossible. Ethan killed Sinister."
Cable turned his gaze calmly toward Logan. "Yes, he did. But Sinister had clones activated upon death. Failsafes. Automated systems. Even if uncle Aeon destroyed his soul, these remaining versions move like machines, running on protocol and implanted memories."
Ethan narrowed his eyes slightly but said nothing. He looked at him, "Do you know how many clones Sinister has left? And their locations?"
Cable nodded. "I know a few locations, Uncle. But the most important one—Madelyne—is being controlled by one of the Sinister clones. He's the one who created her."
The room fell into stunned silence once again.
Scott blinked rapidly. "Wait. What?"
Professor X straightened in his chair. "Explain, please."
Cable continued, "After the Apocalypse incident, Sinister became obsessed with Aunt Jean. She killed Apocalypse single-handedly. He harvested her blood during the human-mutant conflicts when she fought alongside the X-Men. From that sample, he created Madelyne. His wished to produce a powerful mutant child when she was bred with another high-tier mutant—like you, Scott."
Scott's hands clenched at his sides.
His eyes darkened. "His goal was simple—breed her with Scott Summers. The child of that union would be unimaginably powerful. He planned to use that child… as a slave. He planned to experiment on him. Twist his DNA. Turn him into a puppet under his control."
That set off the room.
Scott's voice was laced with fury. "He used her to create a weapon of our child?!"
Betsy's hand shot to her mouth. Bobby swore under his breath. John looked like he was about to explode. Storm eyes turned white with rage.
Besty whispered, "That's twisted…"
It all made sense now. Sinister had been behind everything from the beginning—the twisted mastermind who created Madelyne for his own selfish ambitions.
Professor Xavier's eyes burned with purpose. "Then we have no time to waste. We stop Sinister once and for all."
He turned to the group, his mind already working through strategies.
"We'll split into groups and hit each location Cable provides. We can't let another clone survive."
Cable stepped up and shared the coordinates. A digital hologram lit up the table, marking various global points in red.
"Ethan, Cable, Scott, Logan, and Hank—you'll head to the facility holding Madelyne and the child."
The Professor turned to the rest. "The others will strike the remaining clone labs. Cut off all limbs of the beast."
Ethan nodded slowly. 'I'll do more than that. I'm ending this. Every clone... gone. Today.'
He turned to Jean and Anna. "You two stay safe. You're in different strike groups, but I trust you'll be fine."
The two women looked worried, but they nodded.
Professor Xavier spoke again. "I, Betsy, and Storm will stay here in case there's another attack. The Mansion must be protected."
Ethan turned toward Cable. "Confirm the locations. I'll open the portals."
Cable touched the hologram table again. Coordinates locked in, "These are the locations I know of, Uncle Aeon."
'Uncle Aeon… that's gonna take some getting used to.' and with a flick of Ethan's hand, brilliant golden portals began to form—one after another.
Each team stood ready, geared up, focused.
One by one, they stepped into the shimmering gateways.
Ethan was the last to go. 'No more games. This ends today.'
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