Marvel: The Awakened One

”So, Professor—you came here to ask my mother to spare them?”

Charles didn’t answer immediately, and that was answer enough.

Once Jean understood why he had come, the way she looked at her former mentor began to change.

In the past, she had stood beside Professor X while he defended humanity. She had helped him persuade mutants who could no longer endure human oppression to set aside their anger and give people one more chance.

At the time, Jean had seen nothing wrong with his beliefs. Hatred only deepened the divide; it could never heal it.

Now that she stood on the other side of the argument, however, the same philosophy sounded almost ridiculous.

”You know those people deserve to die,” Jean told him. ”None of this would’ve happened if they hadn’t plotted against my father and created the Sentinels.”

”They were afraid,” Charles replied with a sigh. ”Human beings often fear power they don’t understand. We have to give them enough time to overcome that fear and learn to understand us.”

”Fear?” Jean repeated. ”That isn’t what I saw.”

Her face tightened.

”I saw greed and shamelessness. My father showed them more mercy than they deserved. He gave them a chance to live, and they mistook that mercy for weakness. They treated the hope he offered them as permission to keep pushing their luck.”

Jean gave a cold laugh, then looked at the man standing beside Charles’s wheelchair.

”What about you, Magneto? Did you come here to ask my mother to let them go too?”

Magneto met her gaze and remained silent for a moment.

”Charles isn’t wrong,” he eventually answered. ”And this time, we have an opportunity to secure real rights for our people.”

Jean laughed again.

”You know what? I finally agree with my father’s opinion of you.”

Magneto frowned. ”What opinion?”

”Any mutant who follows you because they think you’ll build them a homeland has the worst damn luck in the world.”

It reminded Jean of something Hawk often said.

Imagine leading a rebel army all the way to the palace gates, only for the general to announce that he had never intended to overthrow the king. He merely wanted His Majesty to listen to their complaints.

At that point, what was there left to discuss?

They were already in open rebellion. Take the throne first. Once the war was won, the historians and lawyers would line up to explain why they had been right all along.

Instead, the general wanted to negotiate.

Had he spared a single thought for the soldiers who had followed him into rebellion?

The mutants who had once rallied behind Magneto believed they were following a hard-line leader who would fight for the homeland they dreamed of. When Magneto surrendered, what happened to them?

Nothing good.

Now he was doing it again.

Worse, the supposed mutant paradise he wanted to bargain for hadn’t been created by mutants at all. Hawk had forced Washington into offering it after their leaders betrayed him, broke their word, and pushed their greed too far.

Before the battle, Washington had been confident and ambitious.

Now that it had lost, it suddenly remembered pain. Its leaders sought mercy, so they ran to Professor X, the great champion of peace. Apparently, Charles hadn’t trusted his own chances, because he had brought Magneto along as backup.

Jean looked back at Charles, unable to hide her disappointment.

”I’m sorry, Professor. I can’t help you.”

”They understand that what they did was wrong, Jean,” Charles insisted.

”No.” Jean’s face went still. ”They don’t think they were wrong. They know they’re about to die.”

Jean finally understood what her father had been trying to teach her.

Some people could stare directly into an open grave and still convince themselves their enemy would show mercy. They would use that mercy to regroup, rebuild their strength, and look for another chance to turn the tables.

Charles drew a slow breath.

”The Jean I remember would never have said that.”

”The Jean you remember is dead.”

Jean held his gaze without wavering.

”I’m not the orphan Jean Grey anymore. I’m Wanda’s daughter and Hawk’s eldest daughter. I am the daughter of Wanda Phoenix, the Scarlet Witch, and Hawk Phoenix, the Phoenix God.”

She raised her chin.

”My name is Jean Phoenix.”

Whatever attachment Jean had once felt toward this universe had died at Quantico, the moment Charles told her, This is our universe.

Now this world felt foreign to her.

More importantly, Hawk was still trapped between life and death because of Washington’s actions.

”My father is fighting for his life because of those people,” Jean continued. ”They deserve to die, and they will die. If you don’t want him to wake up, lose whatever faith he has left in this world, and destroy it, then go back to the people who sent you.”

Her voice turned cold.

”Tell them to kill themselves. That is the last mercy my father is offering.”

Charles’s hands tightened around the arms of his wheelchair.

”No one has the right to destroy this world,” he declared. ”We won’t allow it.”

Jean stared at him for a moment before laughing in disbelief. This time, there was open contempt in her eyes.

”If you think you’ve seen my father’s power, then you’re badly mistaken. Everything he’s shown you so far isn’t even one percent of what he can do.”

She stepped closer.

”Every god-tier being in every galaxy back home knows one of my father’s rules: If I decide to erase you, you don’t get a vote.”

Jean wasn’t exaggerating. Wanda had told her the same thing.

After Hawk took control of the World Tree and transformed it into the Phoenix Tree Universe, the number of divine beings remaining in the solar system had plummeted.

In fact, hardly any were left in the entire Milky Way.

Hawk’s reputation was the reason.

If he decided to erase someone, their opinion didn’t matter. If he decided to kill them, he didn’t need to offer a reason.

Every god capable of relocating had packed up and fled the galaxy at the earliest opportunity. The universe was vast, and the Milky Way had become a dangerous neighborhood.

If Hawk refused to leave, they would.

A few divine beings remained, but only because they couldn’t move or needed more time to do so. Even they had immediately contacted Anna and reported their locations, making sure she understood that they weren’t looking for trouble.

With Hawk absent, his chosen vassal spoke for him. As the Goddess of Death personally appointed by Hawk, Anna had the authority to act in his name.

Jean’s warning was simple.

”I don’t like the humans in this world anymore, Professor,” she said. ”No—at this point, I despise them. They’re selfish, greedy, and shameless.”

She looked at the man who had once been her mentor.

”I don’t feel anything for this world now. Not for its humans, and not for you. You shouldn’t have come here.”

Jean gestured toward the door.

”You just used up what little affection I had left for you. Leave.”

Her father’s soul still wandered between life and death. Jean didn’t know whether he would return—or when.

Washington’s greed had caused all of it.

And now someone had come to their home asking Hawk’s family to spare the people responsible.

Where did they find the nerve?

If Washington had sent anyone other than Professor X, Wanda wouldn’t have needed to lift a finger. Jean would have erased the messenger herself.

The only reason Charles remained alive was the bond they had once shared.

That bond was now gone.

”If those people die, the world will descend into chaos,” Charles argued, his expression shifting uneasily.

Impatience crossed Jean’s face, but before she could answer, scarlet energy gathered behind her.

Wanda’s calm voice came from the crimson haze.

”The world will not stop turning because a few people are gone.”

She stepped out beside Jean and looked toward Charles.

”But if those people are still alive after the twenty-four-hour deadline...” Wanda smiled without warmth. ”Then the world will stop turning because they’re still on it.”

Her voice became glacial.

”You can choose between their deaths and the death of every living person on this planet. The decision is yours.”

Charles looked from Wanda to Magneto, silently asking his old friend to intervene.

From a certain perspective, Magneto was Wanda’s father. That connection was the main reason Charles had persuaded him to come.

Once again, when forced to choose between humanity and his brother-in-arms, Charles had chosen humanity. If saving humans required him to use Magneto, then that was what he would do.

Magneto understood Charles’s look and turned toward Wanda.

Before he could speak, Wanda stopped him with a flat stare.

”If you keep meeting with this man, I’ll make you a town where you’re the only person living in it.”

Magneto immediately closed his mouth.

Wanda returned her attention to Charles.

”As for you, my husband was right. There are people with savior complexes—and then there are self-righteous assholes who volunteer everyone else to suffer for their conscience.”

Her eyes narrowed.

”Hawk believes you’re closer to the first than the second. That doesn’t mean I like you.”

Wanda stepped forward.

”I’m curious, Charles. From whose position are you asking us to abandon our revenge?”

She held his gaze.

”Are you speaking as a mutant?”

Her smile disappeared.

”Or as a human?”

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