Chapter 29: Malice of Doc Ock Part Two

Chapter Twenty Nine "Revenge of the Sinister Six Part Two."

One of the lessons that was imparted in the X-Men was that distress could come at any single time, at a moment's notice, and out of nowhere. It was something that could not be avoided no matter how well prepared a person was. There was a reason why the X-Men had communication devices and that it was required that they would be on them at all times, along with the devices being on. The distress signal ringing out would serve as a notice that one of their teammates were in danger but now the communicator device rang out. All of their teammates as of this moment were all present and accounted for, well with the exception of one.

This is why when the communicator went off, Harry and the others hoped that it was Jean trying to contact them. Although they really did not hope that she was in trouble because that would mean their worst fears would come to light but that was something that they could not really think negatively about. The Danger Room session did not quite start which allowed Harry to answer the communication link and put it up this ear.

It was not Jean, in fact it was far from Jean, they heard an echo of someone on the other end of the line and Harry put his ear up to the communicator device with a frantic thought going through his mind. Harry pressed it up against his ear before he spoke to whoever was on the other line. To try if he might to see if they were going to pick up and answer the communication link.

"Hello, is anyone there? Please answer me if you could hear me?"

There was a sound of a communicator popping when it got smashed and Harry winced when he heard the feedback in his head, that was not good, that was far from good in fact. The dark haired wizard could not think about how this could get any worse than it was now, even though there was a possibility of it getting far worse. He turned his attention back to the communicator in his hand and leaned forward.

"What is it?" Kitty asked Harry when she tugged on his sleeve to get his attention.

"Yeah, it sounds like someone is in trouble," Kurt chimed in when he rocked back and forth and looked up into the sky to consider what was going on.

"It sounds like it, because someone is in trouble," Harry answered before he put his hand up in the air to stop any further inquiries. The team stood around him, with Rachel joining Rogue, Kurt, Kitty, and Harry around the communication link.

Harry thought that these types of communicators were very tricky to trace any kind of information but somehow he tapped into the communicator link to see what he could find within them. He was getting more adept with technology even if it was not the thing that he was the most comfortable in the world with. Being away from it for ten months out of the year for five years and not really having any access to it whilst at the Dursleys due to them keeping him away from their valuables would do that with a purpose. He tapped on the communicator, trying to triangulate some kind of signal to reach them.

"Is there a problem?" Scott asked when he heard the same distress signal over his communicator link.

Harry paused to consider what he would say before the two young men stared each other down.

"Spider-Man, that's the problem," Harry answered when Scott gave him a confused look, this was the first he ever heard of Spider-Man receiving a communication device. He frowned a bit but to his credit did not say anything. "He's in trouble, someone attacked him."

"Did you find out where he is?" Rachel asked Harry when he tried to get the communication link working but sure enough he managed to trace the signal, said signal was faint, fainter than anything the young mage ever traced before. But it would do the trick for what it was and he spun around to face the remaining members of the team.

"He's at the Oscorp facility, just about fifty miles from here."

Scott chimed in when he looked at Harry. "Why don't you five go there and see what the danger is? I can handle the Danger Room training session from here."

Harry was about to make a similar suggestion to Scott so it was just as well that he said it. The young wizard stepped forward on his feet before he stared back at Scott with a crisp nod of his head.

That was actually good that Scott wanted to step up, it made Harry's life a little bit easier, perhaps his leadership skills would not falter. Harry picked up a lot of the slack that Scott left off after the Asteroid M but given how much the team dynamic shifted in the direction of the young man being the de-facto leader, something that he had little time for given his training, he secretly held out a hope that Scott could pick up the slack.

He did note that Rachel picked up some distinct team leadership tactics during the Danger Room training sessions, at least becoming the leader of the new recruits on that note, with Bobby being the second in command when he wasn't goofing around.

Of course, Rachel being the oldest of the new recruits and the hints Harry received about the mysterious dark past she had really made her a perfect candidate for leadership. At least that's what the young man observed during this time but his observations could potentially be wrong, he found himself the furthest thing from perfect possible.

Yet, he would worry about team dynamics and leadership much later for right now there was another problem that presented itself. Harry could tell that Spider-Man was in over his head, not that it was anything do. He suspected that the web head's charming personality netted him more than a few enemies that he would have to deal with and the dark haired wizard wondered if some of them joined forces to lay a beating down on the web slinger?

"So do we have a plan?"

Kurt asked that question and Harry offered his response as honestly as he could give.

"Yes, we do, but I'm working on it."

That was fair enough for Kurt for now and for everyone else. The X-Men moved out ready for battle, ready to help a friend in need but they hoped that Spider-Man did not send his distress signal too late. Knowing the web slinger that was highly likely. He tended to march with his own beat and walk alone.

Spider-Man knew one thing and he supposed that this could be considered highly likely, he was kind of in over his web head. The power of Electro shot electricity out towards him but the web slinger dodged the attack. He dodged another attack and another one with the web head avoiding each and every attack with the fury that he could. The electricity-based villain seemed to want to make up for lost time to fry the web slinger and there was something that was worse yet.

These brain surgeons actually managed to come up with the foresight to turn off the sprinkler system in the building so the same trick that Spider-Man used to defeat Electro the first time would not work this time.

Spider-Man held that thought when several glass orbs shot from Mysterio's hands and shattered on the ground to reveal clouds of dust that moved towards the web head. The web slinger dodged the individual attacks and tried to run up the wall to escape. That plan was cut short with one account of Scorpion shooting the wall with the acidic substance from his tail and on the other account of Doctor Octopus smashing the wall with his robotic arms. The robotic arms crushed against the wall and Spider-Man flipped to land onto his feet before he shot several lines of webbing.

"Right, figure that wouldn't work as well as I planned," Spider-Man managed, wishing he could wipe the sweat from his brow but he had no time for that was when Rhino charged him with the subtlety of a tank coming at him. The arachnid themed hero dodged and webbed onto the horn of the rhino.

"Halt Spider-Man, your little tricks are no match for the might and majesty of Mysterio!" Mysterio bellowed at the top of his lungs when he waved his hands from the side and sent more little bats fly towards him.

Spider-Man ducked and rolled before he picked up a desk chair and launched it into the air before he latched onto it with his webbing, to swing for the fences and smash the chair into the bats that flew in the air. They dropped to the ground and Spider-Man dropped to one knee where he once again felt himself smashed with the sand fist of Sandman. The deadly enemy raised up to his full height.

"I demand you quit clowning around and get me out of here," Norman responded in a surly voice when he watched the battle off to the side, tied up with no place to go.

The web head blocked out this particular distraction before he swung around three hundred and sixty degrees to launch himself forward and off towards the charging form of Scorpion. Scorpion was surprised to see this attack but he recovered immediately.

Just when he recovered, Nightcrawler popped up in front of him.

"Hello!" Nightcrawler stated when he appeared in front of Scorpion and the angry villain swung his tail towards towards the fun loving mutant but he teleported out of the way.

Scorpion was taken down and smashed into the wall with a tripping spell which set him up for something more dangerous.

"I've got your back!" Electro yelled when he stood in front of Scorpion but Kitty popped up from the ground and the villain tried to go after her. "Out of the way girl!"

"Make me!" Kitty yelled but suddenly a black light shot out of nowhere. It had the effect on electronics where it would short circuit them from the impact and Electro screamed when he was blasted backwards.

"Well if it isn't the X-Men!" Doctor Octopus stated with his usual sadistic voice when he turned to the mighty group of mutants, peering over his sunglasses at them, before he went for Rogue who showed up.

Harry got Rogue out of there and a shield charm appeared around the young wizard to block Ock's incoming robotic arm attack. he snapped his wrists and the robotic arms twisted around before the sharp ends pointed towards Doctor Octopus's chest and threatened to stab him.

"Ah another sorcerer, but how would you like to match whits with true magic?" Mysterio bellowed at the top of his lungs when he moved to face Harry and he conjured a dragon. "Tremble before the magnificent might of Mysterio!"

"Nice illusion, saw that one at my school during my first year," Harry answered in a bored voice when he made the dragon disappear before he conjured a six live snakes. "Now there's a magic trick!"

Mysterio backed off before the snakes shot at him with sadistic fury and screamed when the snakes bit into his arms and legs to cause sparks to fly out. The web head's head spun around to face Mysterio before his eyes widened in abject frustration.

"Oh you've got to be kidding me, robot again?" Spider-Man asked as Rachel trapped Sandman's consciousness into particle of sand to set it up for a vanishing spell form Harry to get rid of Sandman once and for all.

"This happens a lot to you, doesn't it?" Arcane asked Spider-Man and the web slinger nodded with a smile underneath his mask.

"More than you could ever know."

Doctor Octopus detached his arms from himself and moved across the other side of the room, to say this battle was not going his way, that would be the understatement of the century.

However, much like all great thinkers did, Doctor Octopus had an ace up his sleeve and he was about to implement it now. He grabbed Osborn off the chair and held a razor sharp tentacle to his throat before the X-Men and Spider-Man stood over downed bodies of the other five members of the Sinister Six.

"You can't beat all of us!" Kitty yelled in a triumphant voice.

"So you might as well give it up," Kurt answered to Ock but the scientist shook his head.

"You poor children must be deluded if you think I have some pathological need to win, no today was just the beginning. Even if you beat me, you will have lost today. I've planted a bomb in the lab and it will explode taking everyone in this building with it."

"You're bluffing!" Rogue challenged him but Ock turned to the young goth mutant before his face twisted into a grin, showing three rotten teeth to them that really added to his oily demeanor and complexion.

"Am I bluffing?" Ock challenged the wall crawler and the X-Men but Harry moved forward to turn around and scan the buidling.

"Well there is something in the ground underneath here, something below, Kitty, go down one floor and see what you can do about disabling it."

"Gotcha," Kitty answered, giving Harry a brief kiss before Harry turned to Spider-Man.

"As for Ock, the two of us can go after him."

Spider-Man and Arcane rushed down the hallway to meet Doctor Octopus who had his hostage, a very important hostage. The hostage, that Spider-Man reminded himself, who was the father of one of Peter Parker's friends. The two made their way down the hallway to chase Octopus and Osborn.

"You won't get away with this, Octavius," Osborn said to him through gritted teeth.

Ock chuckled at the brave words of this man, he considered etching them on his gravestone.

"I already have, Osborn but I may show mercy, if you apologize," Octopus replied when he held Osborn in his metallic grip.

"Never, I'll never apologize to the likes of you," Osborn responded when Octopus held him more tightly in his grip.

"Ah that's right, the great Osborn credo, they never apologize, well you'll be very sorry never the less."

"You're the one who's going to be sorry, Octopus."

Spider-Man rushed in but Doc Ock grabbed the web head around the throat before he propelled in backwards into the wall. The arachnid themed super hero bounced off of the wall but he ducked and rolled before recovering immediately.

"There's a power source of some kind in his chest plate, that's how he's controlling those things!" Spider-Man called to Arcane before the wizard removed it from his chest with a well placed summoning spell.

"It was controlling those things, any way," Arcane answered when the power cell flew up into the air and he caught it in in his head. He put in his bag, something like this technology would be useful to study for future reference.

"Did you really think that I wouldn't have reverse power in the arms?" Ock demanded when his two robotic arms shot out to nail Arcane and Spider-Man.

Arcane put up a shield and Ock opened up the lab before he held Osborn up.

"One step closer...I did warn you," Ock answered when he grabbed a switch and activated the heater underneath the green chemicals that bubbled in canisters in Osborn's lab. "The next thing people will read about Norman Osborn is his obituary!"

Ock threw Osborn off to the side and Arcane and Spider-Man's eyes both widened when an explosion rang out.

Shield spells blocked the explosion but since Osborn was right next to the container the explosion still rattled him. The loud bangs and cracks echoed outside of the lab.

"Harry, I thought that I got rid of the bomb, what happened?" Kitty asked after she heard the explosions ring out.

"Osborn, Norman Osborn happened, Ock set off a lab explosion," Harry answered when waited for the green smoke in the lab to clear.

When the smoke cleared, Osborn and Ock both disappeared into the night. There was a huge hole in the floor but thankfully there was no one below them that could have gotten hurt. There was an instant where Harry dropped down.

He saw the wall smashed open and Doctor Octopus disappeared into the night to fight another day but did Osborn? That was the question and the blood soaked tie that the millionaire wore gave him the answers. And other than that there was no trace of Norman Osborn.

Sirens echoed throughout the city as the chemical fire at Oscorp continued to burn but thankfully Arcane managed to back off the brunt of it from the fumes getting out into the city. A company like Oscorp worked on any number of projects that could lead to problems if the people in the city inhaled it. Harry got a whiff of the chemicals up close and they were quite noxious, there seemed to be no way Osborn could have survived the blast.

Which as Harry reminded himself likely meant that he could but then again Osborn was a normal guy. A dedicated and ruthless businessman to be sure but he was perfectly normal otherwise, not extraordinary at all. He could not have survived what happened, unless he had an escape hatch that he got out of straight away. Of course, with half of the floor blown out, there was no telling what might have happened.

These thoughts cut off mid stream when Spider-Man turned up to drop down next to Harry. The two young heroes stared down each other before Spider-Man stated the one question. "Any luck?"

"No, no luck," Arcane responded back to Spider-Man when he decided to add in a joking manner. "You know these teams up are starting to become a regular event. They might have to give us some corny team up name."

"You mean like the Dynamic Duo?" Spider-Man asked but Arcane responded by shaking his head.

"I believe that name was already taken," Arcane responded when he looked out in the city and let out the breath he held when he realized that Osborn was the extent of the damage. "We got the civilians out of there...no one seemed worse for wear."

"The Sinister Six were gone as well, looks like you didn't blast them as hard as you normally do," Spider-Man responded before his eyes looked towards Arcane, half joking and half serious before the web head added in a jovial manner, trying to keep his spirits light. "If I didn't know any better, I thought that you're getting soft."

"Well you'd know, you're soft in the head," Arcane quipped back when he watched Spider-Man. "You didn't inhale any of the fumes, did you?"

"No, I didn't, last thing I need is growing four extra arms or something like that," Spider-Man fired back when he turned around and the police walked up, lead by Captain George Stacy.

Captain Stacy stared down Spider-Man so he responded to his best friend's father in a voice that was even and serious, especially for the web slinger. "So was there any word about Ock or Osborn?"

"I'm afraid not Spider-Man, there wasn't a trace of either of them," Captain Stacy responded in a serious voice, the death of someone like Norman Osborn would lead to an immense amount of paper work. This Doctor Octopus was Otto Octavius, a former scientist at Oscorp who went absolutely insane when Osborn spurned him many times and belittled him, it was something that commonly happened in the business world, all too much come to think about it.

Spider-Man was afraid of this, without a trace Octopus ran off.

Arcane spun around in time to greet the members of his team to give a report at what they found but the report was not that encouraging.

"We searched it high and low but those guys managed to give us the slip," Nightcrawler answered when he looked around, frustration mounting in his voice.

"Yeah, we'll get them next time," Kitty answered but Rachel shook her head at Kitty before her eyes snapped towards the young brunette to glare at her.

"There shouldn't be a next time, we should have struck them hard this time," Rachel answered when she looked back at them.

They all turned to Harry, as they did so many times before.

"We were very fortunate," Harry agreed with his teammate when he turned around and sure enough, the fact of the matter was that if the Sinister Six had a bit more team training, the battle would have been more of an even playing field.

Ock's ego and need for revenge drove the Sinister Six more than anything else that they had and Harry understood that. "But we'll go over this battle and figure out what went wrong and we'll be back with a fresh perspective."

"Yeah, that's right, that's what we do," Rogue answered feeling a bit more optimistic about this battle.

The Sinister Six's only thing in common was a hatred of Spider-Man, it was likely that none of them would even look in each others directions if it was not for that fact. The X-Men, through all of their snags and bumps in the road, worked together as a team.

"Remember, keep in touch if you get into trouble," Arcane stated to Spider-Man and the wall crawler nodded in response.

"Will do and believe me, this won't be the last time we'll team up."

Spider-Man turned around and swung off but right now he had a more demanding task than any one of the Sinister Six put together or even all of them.

He had to explain to Aunt May why he was out so long past curfew, a more fearsome task to him then fighting any super villain or even all of them. Peter Parker gulped when he returned home to face the music.

The latest training session sputtered to a stop and Harry returned at the very end to monitor the session; to be honest Harry was pleased that the team improved to such a rate.

Did they have a long way to go?

Yes they did, there was no questions about that but Harry felt confident that their abilities would increase in the Danger Room and they would be better with each passing moment. The new recruits fired out of the Danger Room at the time and the magical mutant had a few pages of notes, although not as many as he would have had he monitored the entire hour long training session.

"All of you seem to be focusing on what I told you to focus on but just a few general pointers for a reminder."

The new recruits stood up straight to listen before Scott really could critique them. He waved his hands to defer to Harry for this point, the new recruits seemed to be among those he had intimate knowledge about and knew exactly how to talk to them.

Harry turned his attention to Bobby first and foremost.

"Bobby, today your focus seemed a little bit better, which is good but don't get too arrogant, your focus needs to keep nice and steady. Remember, when you're in the Danger Room, your focus needs to be on what is in there, for if you take your eyes off the ball for one moment, a deadly enemy will take you out. It's happened to me before, focus needs to be one hundred percent vigilante."

Bobby nodded before Harry continued to go down the row to Magma.

"Amara, you're more at ease with your powers and the more comfortable you are with them and with yourself, the easier things will be in there. Believe that you are in control and the sky is the limit for you. The powers are something you rule, you rule the powers."

Harry moved down the row to face off with Cannonball next.

"Cannonball, your aim on that wall looked a little spotty there, but otherwise you're improving by leaps and bounds. Try not to overthink things but at the same time, calculate everything."

"Gotcha...I think," Sam responded when Harry moved down the row.

"Ray, the electricity seems to be building up, try and push your limits just a little bit more but don't overextend yourself, that's the key."

Ray felt that Harry had some good genuine device. He turned to Boom Boom before he addressed her next.

"Tabby, remember, those little bombs in your hand work best when they are thrown at an enemy and not at your teammates," Harry told her when she nodded. "I know your aim can get a little...boisterous in there."

"Is that what we're calling it now?" Bobby whispered to Sam who nodded. Both of them were victims of extremely near misses.

"But remember, turn that enthusiasm into a weapon that you can bludgeon your enemies with."

"Blow up the baddies and not the rest of the team, o-kay Professor," Tabby responded with a smirk and Harry turned around and moved on.

"Jamie, remember to calm yourself in there, I'd recommend meditating a little bit so you are in control of your dupes. If you'd like, I'd show you some techniques, they'll help calm your mind."

Multiple nodded before he stared back at Harry. "I'll keep that in mind."

His dupes, Harry noticed, seemed to have different personality traits. Harry walked down the row and turned to Wolfsbane.

"The animal within still needs to be controlled by the human mind," Harry informed Wolfsbane who nodded back at him. "You're control is better but you need to temper the savage feral fury you have, I'd offer you the same kind of meditation techniques that Jamie should use as well. They will allow an inner harmony between the beast and the person. And will temper your deadlier thoughts."

"Aye, of course," Rahne responded when she looked at him, he made a lot of sense and there were some times that the beast within got control of her.

"Jubilee, better control this time, see if you can amp up the fireworks to blind any enemies, without hurting your teammates, that will help you out there," Harry responded before he offered one more piece of advice. "Most enemies rely on their eyesight to attack but they can't hit what they can't see...but don't rely on that too much."

The new mutants responded by nodding at this statement, it did make perfect sense. Harry turned to Sunspot last.

"Your power seems to work on the sunlight, but perhaps you can work on trying to conserve some of that energy into a battery so to speak," Harry advised them before he gave them some good general advice. "Keep up with the team work drills outside that I assigned you and we'll meet back here in a few days with a more in depth session. Class dismissed."

The new recruits filed out and Rachel stood their alone with Harry. She smiled at him.

"You seem to know how to get the best out of people," Rachel responded when she stepped forward so she was up next to Harry. "Like a true leader should be."

Rachel's statement was both a praise for Harry and a bit of a shot towards Scott, he noticed.

"It's too bad I'm not being groomed for that position," Harry answered with a smile.

"Being groomed is for dogs, you should take the position, I doubt many would complain," Rachel offered when she put her hand on Harry. "Arcane, the leader of the X-Men, has a nice ring to it."

"Yes, perhaps, but the X-Men aren't my dream, and thus not my leadership," Harry answered when he stepped close to Rachel.

"It's almost like you're half planning forming a group of your own," Rachel answered but Harry's smile crossed over his face.

"Maybe," Harry answered, the truth was he began to look at a few places he could use for a headquarters, there were a number of real estate properties that were up for grabs that he could pick up for cheap.

The time at the X-Men was great, but Harry suspected that there would be time where he would split from them, although there would be some parties that would follow him. Where they stood with him, that remained to be seen.

Still this latest training session with the New Mutants offered him a chance to fine tune his skills as a teacher and he wondered if some of them would follow him over to his potential new team when he joined them.

"Well whatever you'll do, you're destined for greatness," Rachel added when she took a step forward and their lips were inches apart.

"Rachel, Harry, Professor Xavier wants you in the other room, we might have found Jean!"

Rachel and Harry stopped, the moment lost between the both of them, and Scott, unknowingly, stopped Rachel from kissing Harry. Their thoughts were on Jean however and the pair walked out to see what Xavier found out. All the while Rachel felt like she almost did something on an impulse but not the moment temporarily had been lost. Kitty, Rogue, and Kurt also filed out with Scott leading the way.

Harry allowed him to lead for now because he would not follow much longer. His desire for independence grew.

"Ororo and I tried to corner her, to convince her to come back but Jean lashed out at us, saying that she needed some space and I know that she meant without us in it," Logan stated, short simple and to the point. Ororo picked up where Logan left off.

"And then Jean knocked us out with her powers, they're far stronger than they were since before the incident," Ororo added when she spun around to look up at the assembled team members. Xavier pondered the matter for a moment, time ticked by while the rest of the time waited for what the Headmaster of the Institute had to say about this entire situation.

As it turned out, they did not have much longer to wait for Xavier's eyes focused on the entire group before he offered his honest assessment on everything that went on regarding Jean. He mulled it over himself over the past number of days, weeks, months, and what have you.

"I do believe that Jean's attempt to assert her independence is something that we should give her the space for," Xavier responded when he put his hands on her lap. "Her powers always were a cause for problems and she is just going to get stronger."

"Can she be stronger than you, Professor?" Scott asked when Xavier paused.

"My powers, while immense, are based on the mortal plane," Xavier answered in an honest voice when he addressed the entire X-Men team. "Jean's powers are immersed on an immense scale of a cosmic proportions."

"So in other words, she could swat us all like flies if we annoyed her," Kurt answered when the fuzzy mutant sat back in the chair fretfully. He could not think of a worst scenario and believe me. "So I suppose a fruit basket won't convince her to come home."

"She could swat us all around but there is one of us that might be able to break through her defenses," Kitty answered when several sets of eyes locked on Harry.

Harry said nothing at these words, he thought Jean needed some time to come to terms with the power she wielded and what went on in the inside of her head. It could be very sobering to deal with cosmic power that could rip people apart on a vast scale.

Jean's mind was interesting the brief time that Harry and Rachel stepped into it, not to mention it allowed for the potential to lead down some disturbing roads. And Harry knew first hand what a disturbing mind could be, going through the memories of one Tom Marvolo Riddle, with the help of Rachel. While Jean's mind was no where near that level of disturbing there was still some levels of it where Harry was reluctant to even think that much about.

The time would come when Jean would come to grips with what went on in her mind and when that moment came, it would be Jean who would come back home. Harry knew what the entire team was thinking and while he appreciated their high opinion on his skills, the fact of the matter was that forcing her hand would do more harm than good.

He knew if he set his mind to it, Jean could be tracked down, given the psychic trace Harry left in her mind, along with Rachel, when they left. Granted, it would take some powerful and very draining magic to get the trace activated but when they did, they would have it.

"So what do you say, kid?" Logan asked to break Harry finally out of his thought process and he turned around to address the group before he gave his words.

"I think Jean will find her own way back here, in her own fashion, it's not a good idea to push her."

'Especially after the way she acted the last time when she left,' Harry thought to himself before he paused to offer the X-Men a word to the wise.

"The last time the Phoenix Force was almost contained, it lead to this and Jean lost all sense of herself," Harry offered to Xavier and he considered the fact. Harry framed his question in a way where he was not accusing Xavier of anything but in the same instant, he did not absolve him of all responsibility. "The Phoenix is a force of power but I think that it has feelings, desires, just like normal people."

"You think the fact that someone hurt its feelings caused Jean to lash out," Rogue suggested and Harrysmiled.

That was exactly what it thought, it was amazing that the Phoenix Force was a part of Jean but yet was something that controlled her as she struggled with her inner demons.

Jean should find a balance and while Harry knew that his abilities were not up to par enough to help her perhaps Rachel could help her. Providing of course that Jean consented to accept anyone's help, that was the one sticking point.

Such a sticking point made it very difficult to plan for anything but one thing was for sure, the X-Men headed forward into a brand new challenge. The question was would Jean agree to return home?

And how long would it be if any of their enemies found out about Jean and tried to take advantage of their state? There was a Sinister force looming that offered Harry a bit of a concern but given a brief discussion he had with Doctor Strange, there might be other dark forces that would corrupt the Phoenix Force for their own gains.

Harry coughed, he tried to hide his discomfort. He was not feeling his best after he inhaled the formulas at Oscorp when they exploded but he was certain that it was nothing.