X-men Disassembled

After that horrendous gacha pull, everyone returned to their own worlds to continue on with their duties. Or, in Flash's case, flaunt his new power.

The Phoenix never made a comment about being advertised as my cafe's mascot, which I took as it accepting the job. Once everyone left, it flew up to the second floor, presumably to have a chat with Jean, who woke up some time after we teleported away to cook toast.

With that, I had a few hours of free time to break out my Nintendo DS and play Pokemon Diamond. This makes me think, should I send someone to go become the pokemon master? It would be hilarious to see someone serious like Batman or Nick Fury commanding a Pikachu to use thunderbolt. Or maybe I should go myself? That's a thought for the future.

Without noticing, a few hours pass, and the door opens as the entire Xmen crew enter the cafe.

Knowing what they are here for, I send a telepathic message to the Phoenix, inviting it to come downstairs along with Jean.

Scott and Xavier start firing off questions like a machine gun, but I tell the Xmen to sit down at a table and wait quietly for Jean to come down. I'm in the middle of a gym battle, leave me out of this.

They behave, sitting quietly, and only a few seconds later, Jean descends down the stairs with the Phoenix on her shoulder.

Noticing the bird on her shoulder, most of the Xmen look on with weird faces trying to understand what it is doing there, but Scott freaks out, firing his laser eyes at the Phoenix. Did you not just see it fight a few hours ago, you really think that's gonna do something?

Anyways, no fighting allowed in my cafe, so I get rid of the beam, leaving Scott without his sunglasses looking around normally for the first time in years.

While surprised, he doesn't let his powers disappearing faze him as he lunges forward, trying to punch the bird. "Get away from Jean, you damn chicken!"

"Stop, sit back down, Scott" Xavier stops him and asks, "Kira, didn't you promise to separate the two?"

"I did separate the two, can't you see they have their own bodies now?" Damn, Drifblim with its minimize, can't hit it at all.

Now turning to Jean, Xavier pleads with her to go back with them. "Jean, please get away from the Phoenix, you have no clue how dangerous it is. Just leave it and come back home with us."

"No, I don't think I will," Jean says. "Conveniently, you seem to be forgetting about messing with my mind for years, I and the Phoenix decided to continue working together in the future."

Now turning and addressing the rest of the Xmen, "Aren't all of you afraid of him having messed with your minds? Are you willing to remain with him despite all that has happened?"

"Jean, anything that the Phoenix has told you is just to manipulate you, don't listen to it, just trust in the professor instead," Scott tells Jean, trying to indoctrinate her with his blind faith in Xavier.

Not letting him go any further, Wolverine stands up and heads towards the exit. "Actually, we have been talking and decided to leave for this exact reason." Guess he figured out why his memory hasn't returned yet.

Xavier tries to stop him by making some excuses, but Ororo follows right behind Wolverine, and the two leave, not looking back.

Opting to deal with those two at a later time, Xavier turns back to Jean, trying to convince her to go back to the mansion with them, reasoning that she has nowhere else to go other than them.

Making Mismagius faint and getting my gym badge, I turn off my DS and address the remaining Xmen. "Actually, I just created an inn on the second floor for these kinds of situations. Jean can stay here if she wants. The food that gives effects might cost CC, but you can get normal food free of charge."

This useless fight between the Xmen and Jean continues for roughly half an hour before Xavier and Scott are forced to face reality and return home without Jean.

At least Xavier was considerate enough to send his thanks to me and everyone who helped deal with their catastrophe before rolling through the door in his wheelchair.

With the Xmen leaving, Jean gives me a quick thank you and goes back upstairs to her room with the Phoenix in tow.

Getting ready to turn my DS back on and continue on my journey of becoming the pokemon master, I notice that one member of the Xmen has stayed behind even as the rest leave.

The one staying behind, of course, is Rogue, and I have a pretty good idea on what she could want from me.

Hesitating for a moment, she turns to me and begins speaking, "Your cafe allows people to sell their powers, right? This means getting rid of them permanently?"

Affirming her questions, I nod and tell her that she could get 1500 CC for her mutant power, considering how powerful it is.

"Are you sure you want to get rid of your power? Repurchasing it will be a lot more expensive, and you can't afford it right now." I ask for confirmation and get a confident answer in return.

"Yes, that's all I've ever wanted, to be free of this curse." She takes off her gloves. "I haven't been in contact with anyone ever since I awakened my mutation without nearly killing them. I just want to live a normal life."

Who am I to argue when she is so adamant about her choice?

Relinquishing Rogue of her power and giving her the promised CC, I ask. "Will you be purchasing any power as a replacement? You are the richest customer I have right now."

She shakes her head. "No, thank you, I'm finally free of my power and will not be getting any in return. Thanks to you, I will be able to go on living a normal life."

With those parting words, she turns around and leaves the cafe. Will you really be able to live a normal life, though?

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[Outside Xavier's mansion, Scott Summers POV]

Shortly after returning from that damn cafe, I decided to come to the forest outside the mansion for a walk to clear my head.

Ever since we ended up there, everything has gone wrong.

Jean, Ororo, Logan, all of them, have been manipulated by the Phoenix and Kira.

I mean, really? The professor manipulating our minds is laughable, why would they even consider that being the truth?

Making things even worse, Rogue came back a few minutes later from the cafe without any of her powers. Sure she was happy being able to touch people again, but I can tell this was just another of Kira's plans to drive the Xmen apart. Last I heard, she was packing her things to go back to her parents.

Breaking me out of my thoughts is the sound of footsteps approaching from behind me.

Turning around, I see a man with a red diamond in his forehead wearing an imposing black costume approaching me.

"Who are you? You aren't allowed to be here!" I tell him, getting ready to call for backup, but before I can, I feel something entering my head as I calm down considerably.

"Do you want revenge? Do you want to bring back those who left? Then come with me, together we can accomplish great things." The man tells me, extending his hand.

Do I want revenge on Kira?

Yes absolutely!

Taking his hand, I apologize to the professor in my head, I don't want to leave, but I must fix what has been done to our team.

"What can I call you?" I ask the man

"Nathaniel Essex"

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Note: With this, Jean, Storm, Wolverine, Cyclops, and Rogue are out of the Xmen, with Xavier losing one of his most used powers. Rip Xmen... for now... maybe. Well, for a while at least as the X-men arc is over now.