Half an hour before the fight, two ordinary teens were wandering around an abandoned building just outside their town.
"This place is sick; this will be great for our channel," Boy 1 said.
"Yeah, for sure. Should we fake some mysterious accident happening here for more views?" the Boy 2 asked.
"Sure. You brought the blowup doll and speaker, right?" Boy 1 said.
"It's in my backpack," Boy 2 replied.
"Good. Let's get it out and hide it in a dark corner. Put the speaker behind it, too. I edited some of the best creepy noises I could find. With this, we can finally get famous." Boy 1 said.
After putting everything in place, they both went back to the entrance of the abandoned building. One of the boys grabbed a camera from his bag while the other was on his phone, preparing the noises.
"Okay, you ready?" Boy 2 asked, holding the camera.
"Yeah. Later, when we get to the part, just take the camera off me for a second, and I'll activate the noises," Boy 1 said.
"Sure. We're going live in 10 seconds, so be quiet," Boy 2 replied.
As they went live, they walked deeper into the factory. Their average viewer count was just above two thousand—impressive, considering YouTube had only been around for about five years.
As they went further into the factory, they heard a somewhat loud roar in the distance. The first boy, who wasn't holding the camera, instantly ran out of the building at top speed. The boy holding the camera stood frozen for a second, confused because he thought it was part of the act. When he realized it wasn't, he ran out after his friend and found him standing frozen at the building's entrance.
"What are you doing?" the boy with the camera asked.
His friend didn't answer, just stared blankly in one direction. The boy with the camera followed his gaze and felt his heart stop.
There, in the distance, was a creature as massive as a wind turbine. It slammed its fists into the ground, releasing fire beams in all directions. The chat on their livestream went wild as viewers poured in.
"Fakers."
"CGI."
"This is so fake."
The chat was flooded with accusations, but the truth was undeniable—if these boys had access to effects this good, they would already be in Hollywood.
The first boy saw this as a golden opportunity. Despite shivering in fear, he grabbed the camera from his friend and began climbing up the abandoned building to get a better view. His friend somewhat unfroze but chose to run instead.
By now, the stream had spread to nearby news stations and was quickly gaining traction across the country. Mutants were a known phenomenon, but a creature of this size? Unheard of.
Local news crews rushed into cars, sensing a massive story. Police stations nearby were already sending units to the rough location provided.
Meanwhile, the boy still livestreaming realized his viewer count had gone past a hundred thousand.
"Holy shit, we're blowing up," he muttered to himself.
Encouraged by the chat, which dared him to get closer, the boy summoned all his courage and climbed down.
"Fine! I'll do it!" he shouted, as messages like "Don't be a pussy!" and "Closer! Closer!" flooded his screen.
He ran through the fields, his camera still locked on the gaint creature. As he got closer, the creature got larger than he ever imagined.
"Hey, guys, it's getting taller. I swear, I'm standing still, and it's still growing," he panted into the camera. "I don't know if I should go any closer."
The chat, predictably, called him a coward.
With shaky hands, he made up his mind and pushed forward.
Zooming in with his camera, he could finally make out something else—another figure was fighting the creature.
"Look at that! A mutant's fighting it!" he shouted, out of breath.
Stopping once more to catch his breath, he muttered, "Fuck, that thing is tall."
In the distance, police sirens sounded, getting closer. Suddenly, the sky darkened, and golden light came through the clouds.
The creature roared again, louder than before, and the sound sent shockwaves through the air. The boy dropped the camera, clutching his ringing ears.
Somewhere far from the livestream location, at a school for gifted youngsters, several individuals in suits were rushing into a jet. A specific someone had sensed an extreme signal of danger.
Back at the livestream, the boy uncovered his ears, exhaling in relief when his camera still worked. He lifted it again, only to see walls rising up from the ground a few hundred meters away from him.
"What the fuck is going on?" he asked out loud, his voice shaky.
Running towards the walls, he found a cluster of police cars parked in front of them. Officers were shouting, trying to contain the chaos. Nearby, a police helicopter was going up in flames.
"What happened here?" the boy mumbled.
An officer approached him. "Hey, kid! You can't be here!"
Before the officer could say anything more, another roar echoed from behind the walls. Soon after a massive bang was heard, which dented the wall outwards. Followed by multiple other softer bangs.
"Everyone, move back!" an officer screamed, panic clearly noticable in his voice.
The pounding eventually stopped, and silence fell. Everyone stood tense, weapons raised, waiting for the next explosion. Slowly, the top of the walls began to vanish, retracting back into the ground.
Unbeknownst to them, a stealth jet flew over them and landed behind the remaining wall. Its hatch opened, and several figures in battle suits stepped out.
"My god," a young voice muttered in awe as they looked at the massive corpse.
"What the hell is that thing, Professor?" asked an older, rougher voice.
"It appears to be completely made out of energy," said another, belonging to a beast-like figure with blue fur as he stepped forward to examine the area.
"I don't know what that is either, Logan," Professor Xavier said, rolling out of the jet in his wheelchair. "The other massive energy signatures are gone, but we must not forget the four mutant children a few miles from here."
"Jean, take Bobby and Rogue and go pick them up," Xavier instructed.
Jean Grey stepped out of the jet, nodded, and gestured for the students to follow her.
---Back to Liam.---
Hours after falling asleep, Liam was rudely awakened by a scream.
Groggily, he opened his eyes and turned toward the noise. Standing next to him was a stunning girl with long blonde hair, clear blue eyes, an hourglass figure—and tiny red horns poking out the front of her head.
"Red horns?" Liam muttered, confused, as he sat up. Looking closer, he noticed small red wings on her back, too.
"What the hell happened to you?" Liam asked, bewildered.
"I don't kno—" Illyana began, but then paused, staring at him.
"What?" Liam asked.
"Your eyes," she whispered, pointing at his face.
Liam frowned. "What about them?"
"They're red, and they have those strange crosses in them. Just like that monster," she said.
"What is she talking about?" Liam thought as he reached into his dimensional pocket, pulled out his phone, and flipped it to selfie mode.
What he saw shocked him.
"What the fuck?" Liam said.