"Charles, the jet is ready. We can take off anytime."
Hank—reliable as ever—stood up and reported.
"The jet is too slow, Charles. Let me take you instead."
Alex smiled faintly as he said it, effortlessly showing off.
But the mutant leaders around him didn't think anything of it.
Alex's speed was unquestionably far beyond that of the Blackbird.
"That works. Alex, the place we're heading to is—"
"I already know, Charles."
Alex interrupted with a grin.
His super-hearing had already spread out.
Just catching Tony Stark's voice told him everything.
Stark was already at the Illuminati's secret base.
"Alex, that's blatant showing off! Absolutely shameless!"
Raven teased from the side.
"No, this is showing off."
Alex chuckled, wrapped Charles with telekinesis—
BOOM!
—and vanished.
The core members of Krakoa froze for half a second.
Alex… had grown stronger.
Much stronger than six years ago.
Then the room erupted in excitement.
The stronger Alex became, the safer Krakoa would be.
---
BOOM!
While the mutants were still marveling, Alex arrived outside the Illuminati's secret base with Charles.
After identity verification, the two were escorted straight into the core chamber.
Several figures were already waiting.
Alex scanned the room—most were familiar faces.
He'd met some personally, others only through reputation, but he recognized them all.
"Homel—no, Alex. I knew you'd come. Told you we'd meet again."
Tony Stark was the first to greet him.
"Alex."
The man beside him—cool, composed, and equally dramatic—nodded lightly.
It was Doctor Stephen Strange.
"Alex! Finally meeting you in person. Just so you know—I'm actually a fan."
A handsome middle-aged man with a beard stood up politely.
"Oh, I'm Reed Richards."
Reed Richards?
Mr. Fantastic?
The same one who was turned into spaghetti by Wanda in Doctor Strange 2.
Except this wasn't that universe.
The Illuminati lineup was different.
And with Alex present, Reed definitely wouldn't be getting noodle-ized.
A burly man stood silently nearby, offering only a nod.
Black Bolt.
"Alex, that's Blackagar Boltagon—Black Bolt. His voice creates fatal sonic waves, so he rarely speaks."
Charles explained.
Alex, of course, already knew.
He simply nodded a greeting.
After a brief round of introductions, the group took their seats.
---
"Alex, you're not an official Illuminati member, so we've prepared a separate observer's seat for you—there."
Charles guided him to a lone chair—ironically making Alex stand out even more.
Alex didn't mind and sat down casually.
---
"Alright, bring the other Stephen up."
Tony gestured to two hovering AI drones.
They returned shortly with a second Doctor Strange.
Alex immediately recognized him—the slicked-back hair with two streaks of white, the cold aura—
The Strange who died in the opening of Multiverse of Madness.
This one.
"So, what is this place?"
The alternate Strange glanced around, unimpressed.
"Never mind. What matters is—you must release me.
She'll find this place."
"When she does, this entire base will end up exactly like Kamar-Taj."
"Wait—Kamar-Taj was destroyed?"
The main-universe Strange's eyes widened.
To him, Kamar-Taj was one of the strongest fortresses in the entire universe.
How could anyone destroy it?
"Yes. Destroyed.
By a single person."
The alternate Strange nodded heavily.
"Wanda."
Wanda?
Everyone in the Illuminati room blinked in confusion.
Who?
This universe had diverged massively because of Alex:
The Battle of New York never happened
HYDRA was wiped out early
Wanda Maximoff never underwent HYDRA experiments
She never joined the Avengers
Result:
She was completely unknown.
A total nobody.
Though her magic still awakened naturally—its source was never the Mind Stone; the Scepter merely "unlocked" it.
"You don't know Wanda?
She's not important in your world?"
The alternate Strange sounded baffled.
"But it doesn't matter. She can enter this universe through dream-walking."
His expression darkened even further.
Reed Richards spoke.
"So this Wanda… what exactly is she?"
The alternate Strange explained everything:
Scarlet Witch.
Her identity.
Her corruption.
Her hunt for America Chavez.
The room grew noticeably heavier.
Even for the Illuminati, a being capable of soloing Kamar-Taj was terrifying.
---
BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!
A sharp alarm blasted through the facility.
Tony immediately brought up a holographic projection screen.
On it—
A woman was cutting her way through their defenses like a reaper.
There was no mistaking it.
Wanda had arrived.
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