Sanctum Sanctorum.
After hanging up the call with Sam, Alex's expression shifted ever so slightly.
At first, his brows merely furrowed—but soon, a look of realization dawned on his face.
Letting out a cold snort, Alex slowly turned around and muttered to himself:"I should've seen this coming… A flaw that obvious in the Sanctum Sanctorum? No way you'd leave it open for me that easily."
As his words fell, silence engulfed the rooftop. It was so quiet you could hear a pin drop. The atmosphere was thick, oppressive. Still, Alex showed no panic. Instead, he let out a mocking laugh and raised his voice.
"Come out. I know you're nearby."
His voice rang out once more—but still, the rooftop remained deathly quiet. It almost made him look like a madman, talking to shadows that refused to answer.
"What's wrong?"
Alex shook his head, his voice laced with cool sarcasm.
"Haven't you been looking for me all this time? I'm right here, in plain sight. Don't tell me you don't even have the courage to speak to me face to face."
At last, something responded.
The reflection on a nearby mirror rippled—like the surface of a lake disturbed by a falling droplet. The glass shimmered, warping with concentric rings of distortion.
And then, out of the swirling illusion, a figure emerged. Cloaked in black, neither entirely real nor entirely imagined, the Watcher materialized within the mirror. You could glimpse him out of the corner of your eye—but when you tried to focus, he vanished into blur.
Seeing this, Alex calmly stepped closer to the mirror.
"It's been a while, Watcher."
The figure within didn't respond at first. He stared silently at Alex, unblinking—his gaze piercing, as though trying to see through time itself.
Alex remained composed.
"Took a lot of work to lure me here, didn't it? And using Deadpool as bait… clever. Guess that's what makes you Watchers, huh?"
"Do not refer to us by that name."
The voice that answered was deep, low, vibrating through the glass—cutting off Alex mid-sentence.
Alex raised an eyebrow.
"Oh? Finally decided to speak?"
"I thought you'd keep playing the silent game."
The Watcher's expression darkened slightly, clearly annoyed by Alex's flippant tone—but he didn't act rashly. After a brief pause, his voice sounded again:
"Once, they called you the Time Bard.
They believed your arrival was the manifestation of the Creator—a higher dimensional being beyond comprehension.
They said you were a bug in the system of the multiverse, a paradox destined to rewrite all of reality itself."
Alex tilted his head.
"And what do you call me?"
"How about… The Invader."
The words echoed from the mirror. The Watcher hadn't moved his lips, but the voice rang clear.
Alex folded his arms across his chest, a smirk tugging at his lips.
"Invader, huh?"
"Your very existence is a mistake—an anomaly the multiverse itself refuses to acknowledge. Some may see you as a savior… but we see through the illusion. You, Alex… you are the root cause of the multiverse's unraveling!"
Alex raised an eyebrow, amused.
"Interesting."
Truth be told, even Alex didn't fully understand how he had ended up in this world. So hearing this proclamation only made him chuckle slightly.
Staring straight into the mirror at the figure within, he spoke slowly: "You say you've seen through me… but if that's true, why haven't you shown yourself in person? You know exactly what state I'm in right now. Or should I take it to mean… you're scared of facing an ordinary man?"
The Watcher in the mirror seemed ready to respond, but Alex didn't give him the chance.
"You know, this world you've chosen to stage your drama in—it's fascinating. Humans fear mutants… but at the same time, they covet mutant powers."
"Isn't that the perfect reflection of what's happening here?"
"You think you've seen through me. But the truth is, when you refused to stand here in front of me—when you chose to speak through a mirror—that's when I saw through you."
"You fear me. You fear what I am. You fear what I'm becoming. But at the same time, you want my power. You want to use me as your pawn to accomplish your agenda. That's why you set this whole stage…"
"How did you figure it out?"
The Watcher's voice turned cold, laced with a hint of unease.
Alex smirked.
"I'll admit, it was clever. You almost had me fooled."
Alex raised his hand and pointed at the Dark Watcher with a smirk, the glint in his eyes full of ironic praise.
"Using my personality against me? Clever. If I hadn't been warned, I might've really played right into your hands."
"Help Wolverine, save him, cure whatever's tearing his body apart… keep Charles alive a little longer. If I got lucky, maybe I could pull the dead X-Men out of the past. Or better yet—drag Logan and Charles straight back to the Wastelands."
He chuckled, shaking his head.
"You really do have me figured out."
The Watcher said nothing, but Alex wasn't done.
"Honestly, you almost pulled it off. So close. If it weren't for the warnings from those other heroes—those summoned here by the will of this universe—I might still be dancing on your strings."
At that, a faint flicker of surprise crossed the Watcher's face—barely noticeable, but enough for Alex to catch.
"Surprised I figured it out?"
"It wasn't hard. Your biggest mistake? Showing up in front of the ones you sent here. I'm a traveler too—I know what a non-voluntary jump between realities feels like. That disoriented moment when you're yanked into a world you've never seen before... it's not something you can fake."
"With that as my baseline—and just a little background digging—it didn't take long to tell who came here because of you… and who was summoned by the universe itself. You underestimated this world's will. Even a timeline on the verge of collapse can fight harder to survive than you expected."
He leaned forward slightly, grin widening.
"But I gotta give you credit—you don't quit easily. Even after everything, you still pushed ahead. That wild Sentinel in Manhattan? Yeah… that actually caught me off guard."
"You think we've failed?" the Watcher said coldly.
"Haven't you?" Alex shot back without missing a beat.
The Watcher stared at him as if looking at a convict who had just broken out of prison.
"You don't realize it yet, do you? That you've figured all this out too late."
Alex's expression shifted slightly, his eyes narrowing in suspicion.
Before he could reply, the Watcher continued.
"This world's timeline is already locked. You can't undo the arrival of the mutants we sent—they're now part of this reality's foundation. What can you even do at this point?"
"Do nothing, and Magneto and his army of cross-dimensional mutants will reduce this world to ash. But if you act—if you interfere—you'll permanently rewrite this universe's history with your own hands."
"You don't actually believe that old wolf and that senile Charles can change all of this, do you?"
The Dark Watcher's voice dripped with mockery, his eyes locked on Alex's face as if hoping to catch even the slightest flicker of doubt or fear.
"You claimed we underestimated this universe's will to survive, but in truth… it's nothing more than a dying gasp. This reality has already reached its end. We're here to liberate the souls shackled to its decay."
"Tell me, Invader… what can you even do now?"
"We've seen your power firsthand. We'll admit, the corruption that clings to you makes even us wary. But what does that matter? In the ages you've been unaware, we've studied you for centuries. We've reconstructed every path you've walked. We know you down to the last cell."
Alex stood silent for a beat, then replied evenly: "You really think you've got me cornered?"
"Don't we?" the Watcher replied, tilting his head high with arrogant certainty, his gaze towering over Alex.
"You abandoned your power to avoid our gaze. A smart move—but ultimately meaningless. We've accounted for that. Every one of your actions has played into our hands. And now, your own web of caution is what ensures our victory."
"So, in your own words..."
From the mirrored surface, a chessboard slowly emerged—sixty-four squares of black and white. The black king—clearly symbolizing Alex—was trapped in a corner, surrounded on all sides by white pieces.
"Check."
Alex stared at the board, his eyes fixed on the black king piece. His silence stretched—calm, thoughtful. A mind working through options. Yet to the Watcher, it looked like desperation.
Then Alex broke the silence, his voice low, measured.
"I've been wondering… ever since I learned about your corruption, I've had one question: Why?"
"You Watchers once swore never to interfere with the civilizations of the multiverse. So why this universe? Why break your own code?"
"Changing the subject doesn't change the reality." the Watcher said coldly. "Or are you about to flip the table again?"
Alex chuckled quietly at that, shaking his head with a bitter smile. He knew by now the Watcher wouldn't hand over any more answers. Not willingly.
He licked his dry lips, then slowly lifted his head again to meet the Watcher's gaze.
"So you really believe you've won. That I'm the one who's out of moves."
He raised his hand and pointed—not at the black king.
But at a lone pawn on the board.
"Maybe I can't win."
"But they can."
...
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