To be honest, the Hellions' blockade was strange, but fortunately, once they realized Storm was a returning X-Man, they apologized very respectfully. However, their attitude toward the Avengers was still less than ideal.
"These kids are clearly a bit exclusionary, but they're not exactly hostile towards humans like Magneto. They seem to have the idea that 'mutants' problems should be solved by mutants, and others shouldn't interfere,'" Storm summarized the children's attitude problem. She didn't know how Emma Frost was training these kids, but this philosophy was clearly not consistent with Charles Xavier's ideals. She was also puzzled why Cyclops would allow such an ideology to spread in the school.
The Hellions remained nearby, staring pointedly at Peter and T'Challa—both of whom were wearing their suits.
On the way, Peter saw a few familiar faces: the slightly familiar Kitty Pryde (Shadowcat) and the completely unfamiliar new New Mutants teammates.
"Hey, Spider-Man! I heard from Logan that you were coming!"
Peter nodded, walking over to greet Kitty. "Yeah, I got an invitation, said someone prepared a Christmas gift for me."
"What do you think it is?"
"I hope it's not their blue and yellow uniforms. They're much uglier than the New Mutants' black and yellow suits or the Hellions' red and white ones."
In truth, the classic comic costumes, after being modernized like Nolan's Batman suit, weren't truly ugly anymore. At least they weren't as jarring as pure cosplay. However, the main X-Men team's yellow and blue scheme had a strange, dated feel when compared to their students' uniforms.
"Wait, the Hellions? You've already met Julian and the others?"
Kitty looked unhappily at the distant Hellions staring at them, then sighed and scratched her head. "Sorry, I mean, um... maybe the Hellions dislike the Avengers because of us? Because the New Mutants, mainly me, have worked with you, and our two teams have a bit of a... competitive relationship? So they might dislike you."
They dislike me because of that? Peter was speechless for a moment before sighing and changing the subject. "It doesn't look like there's a lot of Christmas spirit at Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters yet."
"We're setting up now. It'll be much better when it's finished. Want to come over on Christmas Day? It might be fun."
"I might be spending Christmas with my family, sorry."
After saying goodbye to Kitty, the group continued toward the X-Men's main office building. On the way, they could see various students decorating, and the Christmas atmosphere was slowly building. Although Cyclops had said the student body was much smaller than in previous years, Peter roughly estimated there were still several hundred people.
When Peter and his companions arrived at the school building, they were surprised to see the X-Men fully suited up, seemingly ready to leave.
"Spider-Man, you've arrived. We are very grateful for your previous help, and therefore..."
"Watch out!"
Peter shouted. He realized something was wrong; his Spider-Sense was blaring maniacally. There was something wrong with these X-Men!
His shout alerted Black Panther and Storm. The group dodged Cyclops's attack, but then a large group of X-Men rushed them. Nightcrawler teleported behind Peter, intending to attack, but Peter's Spider-Sense locked onto him first. Peter kicked him away, then grabbed Nightcrawler's tail and slammed him into the crowd, hitting Iceman.
This slam had an unexpected result: the struck Iceman transformed into a red-skinned, horned, demonic version of himself. He didn't look like a good guy at all.
"Demon X-Men? Are we being invaded by some demon universe?"
Peter immediately felt something was off. That shouldn't be right. Earth-616 has the strongest reality barrier. How could it be subjected to a dimensional invasion? He quickly glanced at the bracelet Miguel had given him and spotted a severe problem.
These X-Men were a mixed group, almost every one of them came from a different universe.
What is going on?
"Careful, these people are extra-dimensional invaders."
"Then I don't have to worry about my friends." Ororo (Storm) said, using a powerful wind to sweep all the demonic X-Men outside, while simultaneously using a gale to suppress them.
The immediate question was: where were the X-Men of this universe?
Black Panther quickly accessed the computer in the ground-floor lobby and pulled up the surveillance footage. The X-Men had noticed a small girl in the school emitting distinct energy fluctuations and rushed off to solve the problem, but for some unknown reason, they all suddenly vanished in an instant.
What is this?
"That girl is Illyana Rasputina, the sister of the X-Man Colossus. The red energy wave she emitted is unknown. Perhaps the X-Men's research equipment has a record of it."
Upon hearing the name Illyana Rasputina, Peter immediately knew what had happened.
The Avengers had also provided the X-Men with a list of things the X-Men might encounter in the future, which included Illyana being abducted by Belasco, the lord of Limbo. The X-Men must have remembered this and collectively rushed out to stop the enemy.
As a result, they were all scooped up by Belasco and were likely now in Limbo.
But how was Belasco able to cross the reality dimension of the 616 universe? He wasn't Dormammu, who dared to outright smash the barrier. How did he bypass the reality wall?
Peter thought for a moment and performed a remarkably clumsy magic spell to enhance his Spider-Sense. After a flickering image flashed before his eyes, he sighed. He only saw two scenes: one of himself being taken to Limbo by Nightcrawler, and another of Venom battling an unknown enemy.
"King T'Challa, please arrange for the Avengers to contact Strange. This is a matter for the magical community; the Sorcerer Supreme needs to handle it."
Black Panther watched Peter walk toward the demon X-Men and asked a question in return. "And what are you planning to do, Spider-Man?"
"Belasco intends to take me. Conveniently, I intend to bring them back."
Peter said this, walking against the wind pressure to grab the demonic Nightcrawler's hand. Accompanied by a sulphurous plume of blue smoke, the two figures vanished from reality.
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