Loki would never truly grasp just how much Joseph had accomplished during the Chitauri invasion.
While all eyes were on New York, the true scale of his operation was unfolding in secret.
---
Xavier Building, Second World Headquarters.
As soon as the Chitauri appeared in Earth's atmosphere, thousands of employees in the towering headquarters noticed the chaos brewing outside.
But panic never got a chance to spread.
Over the intercom, two calm voices cut through the rising fear.
"Everyone, remain calm," said Shadowcat.
Jubilation Lee followed. "This building is, at this very moment, the safest place in the entire city."
There was no illusion spell, no grand magical theatrics like Joseph would cast—just simple, unwavering confidence.
Yet it was enough.
Because as the staff looked outside, they saw the impossible.
Chitauri attack ships were tearing through Twisting City, ripping open buildings and leveling streets. Yet not one ship so much as slowed down to glance at the Second World tower.
The towering Leviathan beasts barreling through Manhattan didn't veer toward them. No troops, no weapons, no panic-stricken civilians ran in their direction.
It was as if their building… didn't exist.
"Why are the aliens avoiding us?"
"They're skipping right over this building!"
"It's not just them. The people on the streets aren't even looking at us…"
"Are we invisible?"
"No... it's like they subconsciously avoid this place."
"It's not that we vanished from sight—it's like we never existed in their minds to begin with!"
Confusion turned into awe.
And then something else happened.
The X-Men arrived.
Half the staff watching from the windows suddenly turned quiet. No longer could they claim plausible deniability.
Everyone had long suspected Second World was more than just a high-tech data company. Now, seeing the X-Men arrive through portals, the truth was undeniable.
They were working for Mutants.
But no one was upset.
Not even close.
The pay was better than any company in the industry. The workplace was safe—even in an alien invasion. And most of all, the people they supported were heroes.
The X-Men had just risked everything to defend the planet.
Who wouldn't be proud to support that?
"I'm working for superheroes," someone whispered. "Honestly… feels kind of amazing."
---
In the server room, Shadowcat's voice came back over the loudspeakers.
"Alright, listen up. I know things are tense, but President Joseph once said: 'There's a specialty in every field.' This situation? Fighting aliens is the X-Men's job. Ours is to gather data. Get back to work!"
There was no resistance.
"Copy that!"
"Start pulling real-time scans!"
"Chitauri soldier—humanoid, armor class C, possible cybernetic enhancements..."
"Leviathan size: 300+ feet, speed: 40 knots, vulnerable underbelly..."
"Flight devices running on particle acceleration. Let's analyze the energy sources!"
Monitors came alive.
Across the entire floor, employees returned to their stations and began compiling combat data—species, weapons, velocities, weaknesses—and uploading it into the Oasis Database.
In the office of the tech director, Shadowcat, Jubilation Lee, Skye, and Felicity were typing furiously.
Lines of code, battlefield readings, energy fluctuations, and heat signatures streamed across the screens.
"Joseph left all this to us again," Felicity groaned. "I swear, when he gets back, I'm going to make him wear a neon 'I'm Lazy' sign for a day."
The others agreed without hesitation.
"He better bring coffee next time too."
---
But Joseph wasn't hiding.
Far from it.
He stood quietly on the roof of a small apartment building, high above the chaos.
His eyes were closed.
And his mind—his mind was everywhere.
A massive sea of spiritual energy surged outward from him like a tidal wave, silently engulfing nearly half the planet. Through this metaphysical vision, he watched it all unfold.
He saw Tony Stark shove the nuclear bomb through the space wormhole.
He watched Phoenix, Polaris, and Blink step through shimmering portals—mirror duplicates cast ahead of time—to reach the frontlines in Jidu, Hong, and Australia.
He observed Magneto, still at Xavier's School, portal into the Paul battlefield.
Four cities. Four bombs.
And in synchronized action, the women took the skies.
Phoenix's psychic energy glowed like a sun. Polaris bent metal to her will. Blink carved vast portals mid-air, rerouting the missiles. Magneto raised a hand…
And the nuclear bombs vanished.
Out in space, in the dark vacuum above Earth, five nuclear explosions blossomed like dying stars.
Chitauri motherships were obliterated.
Their army fell into chaos.
The invasion collapsed.
---
"It's over…" Joseph whispered.
Beside him, a figure stood silently. A bald woman in saffron robes, radiating a calm and distant energy.
The Ancient One.
"You saw what those nukes could've done," Joseph said, turning to her. "Five of them. If we hadn't stepped in... cities would've turned to ash. You really had no intention of intervening?"
The Ancient One remained composed. "Kamar-Taj exists to protect the Earth from magical threats. Human affairs, no matter how destructive, are not our concern."
Her voice was soft, but firm.
"I've lived for centuries, Joseph. War and death have accompanied humanity since the beginning. If Kamar-Taj intervened every time humans launched a weapon, we would no longer be guardians—we would be rulers."
Joseph nodded slowly. He'd expected this answer.
"Which is why," he replied, "you only killed the Chitauri that wandered too close to your sanctum."
A hint of a smile flickered across her lips.
"It was necessary maintenance."
Joseph exhaled. "We didn't have that luxury. We had to act. We already declared ourselves before the world. If we didn't stop those nukes, everything we've done today would be meaningless."
The Ancient One studied him carefully.
"You're not hiding anymore," she said. "You used this invasion to boost Mutant reputation… build power. What's your endgame? Ruling humanity?"
Joseph tilted his head curiously.
"And if we did?"
Her eyes glowed faintly.
"Kamar-Taj wouldn't interfere," she said without hesitation. "Regimes rise and fall. Be it by humans or mutants, the Earth remains. In the cosmic balance, your political squabbles are... fleeting."
Joseph chuckled.
"Those who gaze at the stars care little for the dust beneath their feet."
"But not everyone looks at the stars," he added more somberly. "And some people are too afraid of the new to let go of the old."
He gestured to the skies above.
"Six nuclear bombs," he said. "Do they really think those will kill people like Superman?"
The Ancient One gave no reaction.
But they both knew what he was talking about.
Far from Twisting City, another battle had erupted.
Batman vs Superman.
A war sparked by fear and manipulation. And in the shadows, Lex Luthor had taken the body of General Zod to create Doomsday, a Kryptonian abomination.
Superman had fallen.
So the governments of the world launched a sixth nuke.
To stop Doomsday—or so they said.
But Joseph knew the truth.
They feared Superman more than they feared any villain.
"Those men at the top aren't fools," Joseph muttered. "Their minds have been consumed by power and fear. Fear of the new. Of those stronger than them."
"In the end," he concluded, "they'd rather bomb the Earth than accept a world they can't control."
The invasion had deviated wildly from anything Joseph remembered or expected.
He now understood just how messy and unpredictable this world was.
Why had the Chitauri targeted S.H.I.E.L.D and the Avengers—but not Superman?
Because Superman wasn't a threat anymore.
Some greater force had moved the pieces—maybe Thanos.
Or maybe… Darkseid.
No ordinary man could've twisted Zod's body into Doomsday so easily.
Yet Joseph didn't flinch.
He continued his mission, step by step.
He was here for a reason.
To meet the Ancient One.
This was the sixth task on his list during the Chitauri invasion.
She watched him silently.
"A new age is dawning," she murmured. "And yet… in all the futures I've seen, not one shows Mutants ruling the Earth."
Joseph raised an eyebrow.
"Then maybe I'm the anomaly."
Golden light flared in her eyes.
The next words came not with her voice, but her presence.
"Even you… shouldn't be the one standing here."
With a snap of energy, golden sigils burned around them.
The roof vanished.
The sky collapsed.
Reality shattered.
They were inside the Mirror Dimension.
The Ancient One's voice reverberated through the folding walls of magical space:
"So tell me, Joseph..."
"Why are YOU really here?"
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