c13

All over the world a lot of people either fell dead or slipped into a deep coma. This chaos had begun when waves of energy, coming from space, rolled all over the planet and spread to the four winds. Nothing could stop them or shield from them. Worldwide, there were two hundred million deaths that day. For over an hour, fear and violence ran rampant in some places, and there was such an outcry that people almost panicked and started anarchic behaviors.

Everything changed when the Firebird was spotted hovering in the skies and she began waking up all the still living victims that had fainted all over the globe. People were swarmed by confusion, asked themselves what was happening. The victims were questioned and began to recount what they had witnessed. They all had the same dream of a gigantic bird of fire speaking to them and telling them to wake up.

And, so they did. That was all they remembered- though some claimed to see the silhouette of a woman inside the firebird.

Steps were taken to study this phenomenon. The CDC discovered that the victims who had either died or fainted had trace amounts of proteins from a dead bacteria in their blood. Experts all speculated that the waves of energy which had struck the planet twice were targeted at all those people infected by the bacteria. Histeria seized governments all over the world, someone or something seemed to have unleashed some kind of weapon to sanitize the planet from an unseen pandemic.

The reality that some terribly advanced aliens came to their world and launched a strike to cleanse a pandemic held water, some experts guessed that they didn't stay to announce what they had done as the humans weren't ready for the political and sociological repercussions of what had happened. It had been determined that the World Health Organization would keep a tight lid on the situation and develop technology and methods to scan, detect and deal with pandemics.

The CDC and other Ministries of Health, government agencies, and other government departments at the national level quickly helped ratify laws, putting in place stricter protocols pertaining to biological warfare; heavy sanctions and measures would be taken against the responsible organisations or countries violating them.

In the span of four days, the world had changed irremediably; still individuals decided to take advantage of the situation. But soon it would be shown that the old ways would no longer be enough…

# # #

Back with Jean…

England

Yorkshire Dales National Park

December 17, 1996

03:07 PM

The Yorkshire Dales National Park was a 2,178 km2, national park in England covering most of the Yorkshire Dales. The park was 50 miles (80 km) north-east of Manchester. With a sizable area in Cumbria and a small part in Lancashire. The park was designed in 1954, parts of the dales to the south and east of the national park were located in the Nidderdale Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. The national park also included the Howgill Fells and Orton Fells in the north west although they were not often considered part of the dales.

The place was beautiful, the views consisting of pleasant woodland, hill and mountain areas as I floated down. The waterfall was not really what you would expect. It was very small, but the guide's mind that I could read from afar said this was due to the dry weather. I'd hate to see what it could be with torrential rains then…

However, this idyllic place also had darkness in its midst. I stopped my phoenix aura from flaming as I landed in the woods at the foot of the Hagg Beck mountain. I looked at the concealed hatch, hidden in the clearing by a bank of rocks. I didn't destroy them, as I wasn't in a hurry. I opened the hatch with my TK, the ultimate lockpicking tool; the hatch's mechanism didn't stand a chance.

This was the last base I was storming- the last hold out of my hated enemy. In fact, the Yorkshire base was the first and oldest base of operations that Nathaniel had possessed. As usual, I could sense the presence of crazed clones at the entrance. I was floating down to the vaulted underground, watching as the three flights of stairs leading down to the base's first level passed me by.

Twenty clone soldiers awaited me, firing me with their directed energy rifles, however the energy packages harmlessly grazed me, I raised a hand and they all found themselves floating on the ceiling. Since Sinister died, an unforeseen variable that I didn't prepare for happened. The clones were now falling into a berserk state, damaging some of the installations or killing the yet non brainwashed clones that could have come into my employment.

They were irrecuperable, so I continued vaporizing them, but I kept their gear and uniforms that now fell, clattering onto the ground. If I couldn't get the clones, I could make my own. I certainly possessed the knowledge and contrarily to Sinister, I wouldn't limit myself to basic humans either, Spartans from Halo, yay!

Cough. Let's be serious now. I floated to the elevators, killing everyone I could feel from afar and vaporizing them. I understood my lesson the first time- I had tried to save the powered clones and the base humans since Sinister was dead, all I got as thanks were more attempts to take my life. I steeled myself and began their eradication, doing the least amount of possible damage to the infrastructure of my new base.

It didn't take me long to empty the three levels of clone soldiers and powered. I wasn't surprised to see some people like Banshee, Evo, Petra and more Blockbusters. There was no choice but to kill them all due to the irreparable damage done to their psyche when Sinister's death had activated that berserker switch inside their heads. I found the command room intact when I reached it, looking over the important locations of my new base, the engine room, the generator room, the laboratories, the clone chambers, and last, but not least, the living quarters.

On the screen showing the clone chambers, I noticed two powered clones remained there, causing damage. I teleported inside. The two Blockbusters had smashed almost all of the culture tanks, leaving only two more. Their hammers were raised to smash into the tanks when they turned into dust in their hands. I snapped their necks and they fell like puppets whose strings were cut.

Floating toward the tanks, I looked at the first one and was surprised to see a… younger version of magneto. *He isn't going to like that…*

The second clone had me choking with surprise and stumbling back a few steps when I saw myself in the tank. Her red hair was longer and she seemed younger, barely twelve to thirteen years old- the only difference between us was her slightly meditrranean skin tone. It was me. Sinister had succeeded in creating her, this was Madelyn Prior. I had never felt so violated in my entire life as did now, watching her float in the water, an irresistible feeling of rage filling me.

My entire body wreathed in flame, I cocked my fist back and was about to destroy my clone when I felt someone holding onto my arm and back. Turning my head I was surprised to see… Myself?

(Don't.) Her trilling and melodious like voice rang in the room and any bloodlust I felt evaporated in her presence.

I really looked at her then, she was me and I was her; she was made out of flames, had longer hair and power radiated from her. "Phoenix."

She grinned. (In the flame.)

Somehow she felt older, ancient; I couldn't explain it. I scowled at her, freeing my arm from her hold. Phoenix put herself between me and my clone. "Why are you stopping me? She's an abomination, I won't suffer a double-"

She raised her hand, interrupting my tirade. Phoenix moved her gaze up and down the length of me. (You are giving too much of yourself into the flame, power down, now.)

"Fine." I huffed, relenting by returning to what I considered my normal, and the phoenix railment disappeared and left me naked.

Fortunately, Goldie came to my rescue, dressing me in new clothes- blue and white under armour tank top, grey jeans and combat boots. The symbiote also gave me a tactical belt with Sinister's special pistol that he'd used to kill me strapped to my thigh. I should've hated that weapon, but I didn't. I planned to see how it ticked. Just as a precaution, I asked Goldie to add a double shoulder holster with two pistols, Goldie had tucked away my favorite P226's earlier.

(Hi, Goldie. I miss you, girl.) The fire Me waved at my symbiote.

Goldie's head formed near mine and her gaze bounced between me and Phoenix. [Confused: Two Jean Hosts? No... Three!]

I patted Goldie's gooey head. "It's okay girl, I will explain later."

The symbiote nodded, returning back within me but . I felt her listening. For a long moment I stared at Phoenix- her little greeting to Goldie was everything I needed to know about her situation. "So, just like I thought you are… older."

Phoenix shrugged, flame escaping from her, though nothing was scorched. (Time is relative and has no meaning for me anymore, though, you have become my anchor into this era.)

I nodded. "Ah yeah, you can manipulate time and you are fucking omnipotent."

She was another me, I couldn't imagine what she was going through. How long has Phoenix been alone right now? Without Cindy or our family? Was she living through me? Synchronizing my and her memories to hold out?

I shook my head and the questions out of it; right now, they weren't important. Crossing my arms under my breasts, I asked my Phoenix iteration, "Let's get back to the current situation, why did you stop me from killing Maddy here?" I pointed a finger at my clone behind Phoenix.

Phoenix threw me a glare. (If you kill her, your life will become much more difficult than before and you'll never get Cindy back.)

My eyes widened, and I grasped her shoulders tight. "Back? What do you mean?! Is something going to happen to Cin?"

She shook her head and her face became sad. (I cannot tell you more beside that. Maddy is important, keep her with you, treat her like our sister. You'll love her, I promise. I want you to read the notes on Sinister's computer about her.)

Phoenix placed herself at the culture tank's left side, looking at our clone. Instead of hating her, she somehow seemed fond of Madelyn.

I scowled, pointing a finger at our clone. "But! Look she's-"

(Innocent.) Phoenix continued with a smile.

She hadn't done anything to me, besides existing. My irrational fear of her taking away those I loved was blinding me to the fact that Maddy hadn't had a choice in her creation. If Sinister wasn't already dead, I would kill him again. My knuckles cracked as my hands tightened into fists. "Shit, okay! You win. I won't kill her." I relented, deflating and letting go of my anger.

(Good, I will decant her. Be sure to be there when she opens her eyes.) Phoenix nodded as she pushed a button on the culture tanks lateral panel.

I shrugged and looked at Magneto's clone. "Sure. What about Magneto Junior here?"

(I'm not saying anything; however, treat him well. I can't stay any longer, you can talk to me in the astral plane.) Her form shifted into that of a firebird and she nuzzled my head with her bird head.

Sigh. "You better be there, bye." I patted her fiery form.

(I am always with you. Bye.) Phoenix' form melted into me and, fair enough, I could still feel her in my mindscape, but her presence was muted.

I turned toward my clone, the water inside the tank slowly lowering. "Fine Maddy, I will let you live. Please, don't make me regret it."

# # #

(Madelyn)

05:01 PM

She opened her eyes, the light coming from the ceiling blinding her. Instinctively moving her hands to shield her eyes, the young girl was surprised to feel a hand on her right arm helping her into a sitting position. Looking up, she saw a beautiful being gazing down at her.

The being placed hands on each side of her head and closed her eyes. With a rush of information being loaded into the newborn's brain, memories and knowledge assailed her, then just as suddenly it stopped.

Where she was ignorant before, the young girl now understood concepts such as colors, ideas such as good and bad, what walls were, calculus and nakedness. Looking around her, she recognized objects such as computers or tables, the memories and knowledge nearly overwhelmed her but she felt her brain finally make sense of everything.

The beautiful being removed her hands. "That's done, hello Madelyn."

The young girl lamented the loss of contact, as she watched the woman, now she understood that the being was a woman just like her, concepts such as family and a progenitor came to her mind. She couldn't help blurting out what she truly thought the being was to her, "Mother?"

The woman froze, staring at her long and hard. Then she sighed and tilted her head back, looking at the ceiling. "Argh. That's what she meant when she said I should be the first one you see; fucking Sinister, making his creations imprinting on him."

The woman put her hand on the young girl's head and patted her, she felt her skin and hair dry. She closed her eyes, relishing again in the close contact, before opening them again and calling, "Mother?"

The woman sighed again, then smiled awkwardly. "Yes, Madelyn. You can call me that for now."

Again, that designation from the woman, another concept came to her mind and the young girl asked herself if it was her name. She smiled back at her mother. "Mother, is that my name? Madelyn?"

Mother nodded. "Yes, your name is Madelyn and your pet name will be Maddy." She said grandly as though it was something Madelyn should know.

Frowning as the concept of what a pet name was didn't come to mind like before, Madelyn asked, "What's a pet… name?"

Her mother froze, another sigh escaping her. "Urgh, I didn't load enough knowledge in your head huh."

Madelyn saw her mother scrunch her face and grumble indecipherable things under her breath. Then she began thinking about her name- like, if she had one shouldn't mother own one too? "What is your name?"

Jean looked at her and sat on the cushioned table Madelyn was sitting upright on. "I am called Jean."

*Jean… Jean.* Madelyn thought, It was completely different from hers.

Madelyn looked around her, noticing she was surrounded by nondescript machines, tools and computers on different tables. Broken containers were everywhere and the light kept hurting the young girl's eyes. "Where are we?" She questioned, shivering. "I am cold."

As soon as she said that, Jean exploded and a corona of fire surrounded her and Madelyn, the warmth engulfing the entire room.

"Now better?" Jean asked with a smile.

"You are on fire!" Madelyn shouted, patting Mother Jean to put out the fire instinctively.

Jean chuckled as she was being touched all over. "Yes, I am."

Madelyn looked at Jean, and the knowledge in her mind was conflicting with what she was seeing. Jean should be hurting and burning. "You aren't in pain." She mused, tilting her head in wonder.

Jean raised a penciled eyebrow. "This is my power." With a smile, she asked, "Do you still feel cold?"

Madelyn shook her head and passed her fingers through the flames surrounding her. "No, it feels warm. Why am I not in pain?"

Jean chuckled again. "It only burns and hurts others when I want it to happen."

She looked around her once more, mystified by all the equipment and the drab metal walls. Madelyn asked, "Mother Jean, where are we?"

Jean jumped up from the table and looked at the ground where two bodies laid unmoving ten meters away from them. "To answer your question from earlier, Maddy, this is my laboratory, and I had to kill a lot of undesirables who were trying to kill you."

"You protected me?" Madelyn asked, she didn't care about the two men (?) as hearing what Jean had to tell her seemed more important.

Jean turned to Maddy. "Yes." Then her Mother patted her head again and she felt a glow and a funny feeling in her chest.

Jean turned to her, smiled awkwardly, as if embarrassed, and said "Ah, it seems that you like me."

Madelyn understood the concept instantly, she felt cared for by Jean. "Like? Is it like love?"

"Yes, Maddy." Jean nodded and hugged her briefly.

"You love me too?" It was asked with such innocence.

Madelyn felt Jean freeze for an instant before she stepped back and stared at her. "Now that I have started to speak with you, I see that you are a good girl." Madelyn was patted on the head again. She closed her eyes in obvious pleasure. Her mother loved her, she felt the glow and the funny feeling in her heart grow bigger. She unfortunately misunderstood Jean who didn't answer her question fully but sidestepped it.

There was an indescribable expression on Jean's face as Madelyn looked at her. "Okay, Maddy you need to take a shower and put on some clothes. Come with me."

Madelyn smiled and hopped from the table slowly. "Okay."

# # #

Back with Jean…

10 minutes later

Maddy was so innocent, a blank canvas. *And I almost killed her out of hatred that wasn't warranted toward her.*

It was becoming more and more difficult to not like her or find her cute, like a puppy or… a little sister. I shook my head, the water splashing around me. Maddy giggled in the background. I was bathing with my clone while also teaching her how to shower, and she preferred hot water to cold. I lathered my own body with soap and enjoyed the feeling of hot water flowing over my body, washing away the stress and my muddy emotions. I had been dipping my hands in blood for too long and I felt that it had affected my thought process.

Being confronted with so much purity and innocence made me feel like a monster when I compared the both of us long and hard. Madelyn was playing in the water and pushing the buttons of all the showers in the collective bathroom in fascination. It was cute. Goldie decided to make her presence known, slithering out of me and taking on her humanoid form.

Her apparition didn't go unnoticed and Maddy looked at the oozing form of Goldie who waved at her. She hesitantly approached and touched her, seeing her finger sink into the symbiote's body. Goldie tilted her gooey head and put her hand against Maddy and covered my clone with herself. Maddy began panicking, until Goldie left her head uncovered.

With wide, surprised eyes and arms outstretched, the little redhead said, "M-mother Jean, i-it speak in my mind."

I smirked at her situation. It seemed the symbiote liked her. "Yes, this is Goldie; my partner."

A frown crossed Maddy's face. "She says that I am a bit like you, but not you."

My smile froze and my eyes fell on the symbiote who manifested her head growing on Maddy's chest.

"Goldie? What do you mean?" I asked, unsure of what she was explaining. I already stopped trying to read Madelyn's thoughts but I kept monitoring her emotions and right now she felt confused.

[Clarification: Composite, her DNA is.] The symbiote answered.

It was like a bomb went off in my mind, the water on the ground parted as I walked toward Maddy who shrank under my gaze, but it wasn't her that was the target of my attention. "Wait, of me and someone else? Who?"

I felt that my symbiote was becoming too much like myself as she kept silent for ten seconds, ensuring a dramatic pause. [Confident: Sensei Elektra.]

My mind went into overdrive, and I remembered the occurrences where I shed blood, there weren't a lot. The only time I remembered was when I met Elektra when… *Akuma! When he stabbed my thigh with his blade! I thought that I'd erased the blood but a bit of it must have been left out on that rooftop and mixed with Elektra's.*

"Wow, Matt is so going to kill me." I cringed, though my lips curled into a smile as it had been a while since I'd pushed his buttons.

Jean's thoughtful plans were interrupted by Maddy whose little frame glued itself against her and asked cutely, "Mother? Can you explain what she is saying?"

Despite myself, I hugged her back. "Hmm… you have another mother."

This little girl was a lethal weapon, and now I finally understood why the boys were after me when I was her age.

Maddy's eyes lit up, and she put her hands on my arms and shook me. "Where is she?! Is she here?" The little redhead was strangely strong, and I wondered where was all that muscle? Ah, it was Goldie. The symbiote returned to her humanoid form and seemed to look at us.

I shook my head after bopping her nose. "Not here yet, we will meet her when we get back home."

Madelyn touched her nose and glared at me, I smiled at her and she emulated me. Then she looked around her again. "This isn't home?"

We were staying too long in the shower and her skin was becoming wrinkly. Not to mention she was hungry now. "Not yet, my bases are not made to be lived in yet."

I didn't consider any places Sinister deemed livable to be to my tastes, I planned to redecorate now I'd eliminated everyone inside them and erased their locations from people's minds; Sinister possessed a network of agents and contacts that facilitated this lifestyle, I cut down on the criminal elements and took the political and civilian assets. With telepathy it was easy.

Maddy hugged me again, clearly enjoying being a bit too clingy… "When will we go?" She asked with a plaintive voice.

She wasn't thirteen years old, she was more like a toddler and I had to be patient with her, like I would with my own children. Fortunately, Emily's experience with her own son and little siblings came in handy.

Human contact was important for kids, so I kept patting her head and kissed her brow. "We must go find my people first. Finish your shower, then we will depart. After that, we will have a meal."

"Yes!" She squealed, releasing me and raising her arms in triumph.

I decided to cut short my shower, the water ceased falling on my body. *Things were getting more complicated…* I thought as Goldie touched me and began to cover me with herself again.

# # #

Egypt Base

30 minutes later

I opened a portal in the middle of the changing room, careful to keep Madelyn from touching the edges. She was like a baby- fascinated by everything. Not to mention, touching was part of how they discovered their environment. My little clone was wearing a modified dress that I had to craft from the royal purple silk drapes of Sinister's room.

She loved the color and the dress that I'd sewn for her with molecular bonding. We needed to find undies for her ASAP. I made Madelyn pass through the portal first, following suit. We were in the cleaned loading room with the broken teleport platform, no bodies or blood to be seen. Soon I would have to fix the platform, looking up there were four people in the cavernous room; Hans and Chimera were there, and two of my new minions cowered when I looked at them.

Arclight and Lady Mastermind. Everyone looked between me and Madelyn, and Hans smiled while Chimera thought loudly at me Oh no, there are two of them!

Arclight stood stoically but her mind screamed the same thing as Chimera while Lady Mastermind simply fainted. She was still not over me, forcefully inducting her into my group I saw… It had all started so well some days ago.

# # #

(Flashback)

December 13th, 1996

After destroying the Sublime bacteria

I hovered over the base, surveying the devastation left in the wake of my fight with Aurora, Northstar and Sunfire wrought. The jungle was half burned, the course of the river altered and shallower. Turning to the mountain chain, I saw the shattered remnants of it. That wouldn't do, that wouldn't do at all!

I could fix this, I could; I had the power of creation at my fingertips. My awareness pushed all over the valley and I felt the flora, animals, lifeforms, microscopic life; oh and the humans too. I could see Hans and Chimera trying to repair some of the base. Then two others that I didn't feel before. No, wait, I remembered one of them, before getting captured!

Shaking my head, I pushed this issue aside for later and asked the Phoenix how to fix the place as she seemed to still be hanging around for some reason. I closed my eyes and sent the questions and was rewarded with, (Hear, feel, think.) For my troubles.

I simply floated there, mouth agape at what she told me. *And wasn't that how Hydaelin would speak in Final Fantasy 14? But she did give good advice the last time too...*

Diving deeper than I ever had into my awareness, in an instant I felt as if I was being sucked into the fabric of the universe. I ended up looking into an alternate blue and black dimension where the laws usually governing time and space simply cease to exist. I could see the damage that I caused, the radiation of the energy that my foes and I unleashed. I was shown that matter and energy were the same thing.

I held my hand out, dipping it into the fabric, and feeling the energy pumping into me like a river; a clear image imprint of the base from a month ago flowed into my brain and I let my power do the rest. The mountains were the first to return to its previous state, the mountain's rocks I had broken into chunks returning to their positions on the mountains and melded back together.

The ice and snow caps reformed, the river, phreatic zones and underground water sources returned to normal undisturbed. The forest was next and the bushes and weeds and trees grew; leaves burgeoned and hid the scorching damage that in the end was smoothed out. Life would be returning to the forest by itself, there were some things that couldn't be forced.

Removing my hand from the fabric, a pained sigh left me. I was the phoenix force and the phoenix force was me, but I acted more like a conduit to her here. The strain on my body was manageable so far and I believed I wasn't ready yet for all the space stuff she wanted me to do. *I am a level one noob for now.*

I turned toward the location of my remaining foes who were already fleeing. I worked my lips and teleported to the other side of the most intact mountain, letting out my blazing firebird aura and automatically located the two women exiting a hatch. They took their time to notice me hovering there, eyes trained on them. It was as they were taking suitcases to a hidden vehicle that they finally noticed me.

The tall purple haired woman was the first to attack me, lunging a rock she found on the ground at high speed toward me. It turned into dust before reaching me or dusting my red phoenix railment. Lady Mastermind was already firing at me with a pistol as I floated toward her, the bullet bouncing on my tenth shield layer. *That skill is really useful, thanks Sinister.*

I stopped Arclight from fleeing with a wall of force behind her and she then opted to lunge at me to use her shockwave power to strike me down. I felt real hatred for myself in her; she loved Scalphunter, the real one, not the stupid brainwashed clone.

"How sweet." I stopped her in mid-air and invaded her mind.

Lady Mastermind was paralyzed too, unable to move. My powers dwarfed hers by magnitudes. Her will was powerful, but it didn't matter with the power dancing at my fingertips. The longer I stayed in their presence, the sooner their bodies wouldn't obey them, their secrets and memories would be breached.

"Well, well, well, Philippa Sontag and Regan Wyngarde." I chuckled.

The two of them shivered as I called their civilian names. They were afraid, and that feeling didn't feel as good as I wanted. Still, I harboured no mercy in my heart for my rivals. "Yes, I know who you two are." I looked particularly at Regan. "I will have a talk with your father later, poor Erik, his organization's riddled with spies and never does well."

"No…" Lady Mastermind mumbled, tears streaming down her cheeks now.

She seemed my age, dressed in a black tank top and dark green khaki pants and a holster for her weapon that had fallen at her side, empty.

My smile was full of ice. "Speak louder, I might hear you, Regan."

She looked at me with hot tears and shouted, "Please no, don't kill dad!"

Lady Mastermind understood the ramifications of what was occuring. I saw it in her mind, I had taken down Sinister, and all his clones. I showed her exactly what I did when I was in space- how I'd killed Sinister and his hivemind and how I had sent his soul to Hades. I saw her eyes widen and felt her fear double. I smiled. It seemed that I was worse than she thought.

*Hmm, those two could be great if I gave them dedicated training.* I thought, waste not, want not. Charles had his X-men, Magneto had his Brotherhood. I needed my own organization, I died today and like I thought, SHIELD was useless to me, beyond having some of my friends inside. "I have an offer for you two, work for me."

"NEVER." Arclight screamed, struggling in my TK grip. Her soul brimmed with anger and it was clear she'd never work for me and if I forced her she would sabotage anything I wanted to create.

I shrugged. "Oh well, I tried." I levitated toward Arclight with hands outstretched and touched her temples. "It's weird that you didn't hear the 'or else' in my speech. You are a bit too stupid and stubborn to my taste. I need to change that, you are in luck, psyche crafting is my thing now."

She frowned, her anger slightly diminishing. "W-what?"

My grin was wide. "Look at Regan, look at her face. She totally understands what I am about to do to you."

I had shown her what I had done to Hans, how I had completely rewritten his personality and tweaked his memories. "Please no! Don't do it! She… she will accept!"

Lady Mastermind didn't know Arclight like I did right now; she was a spiteful thing and would kill me at the first opportunity. "Oh how cute, friendship amongst thieves? Too bad that I have no mercy for people who helped in uprooting me from my life. Regan you should have stayed home at Erik's base, training at playing mutant revolutionary." I spat the horrid word mutant with distaste.

Regan fought against me, scared- downright terrified- as she should be since I wasn't holding back. I was never leaving an enemy at my back ever, *Samira I should have listened to you; but I understand loud and clear, never again.*

Turning my head toward Arclight, I said, "As for you, Philippa. Look at me, watch as I kill you and turn you into my puppet."

"NOOOO!"

It was too late as I had destroyed her memories in seconds, leaving only basic knowledge in her mind, calculus, reading, speaking, military experience, womanly wisdom. Then I started the psyche crafting; I decided to model the new Arclight on Diana Prince, I couldn't go wrong with that; a fierce warrior who would seek to better herself physically, a sense of compassion and a lot of empathy for others, I wished for her to be honest foremost, but able to keep secrets.

Unbreakable loyalty and friendship for me and those I love or consider friends. I left the rest for her to develop. Goldie slithered from my hand and decided to give the woman what I promised, enhanced intellect since I wished for her to become one of the smartest and wisest people in my group. Then I loaded hand to hand skills into her mind, leadership and tactical analysis skills; I was in need of a general. Goldie retracted and I finished applying all the changes I had made.

From a glassy eyed zombie, Arclight became a sharp eyed warrior, but I decided to knock her out. She fell asleep and I let her slowly tumble to the ground, satisfied with my work. My gaze landed on Lady Mastermind who attempted to kill herself with her own powers, to enter in such a deep catatonic state that I wouldn't be able to touch her there. I didn't let her.

"Oh, Regan. I don't intend to kill you, nor destroy your mind, you are the smarter of the two. You know that if you go against me I can do worse than take your life." I allowed my fire to flow back into me.

She looked at me imploringly. "Please."

I tilted my head. "Yes?"

I decided to let her move. "I will work for you, but don't kill my dad… no scratch that, leave my family alone." Lady Mastermind fell on her knees now that she could move.

Sighing heavily, I decided to throw her a bone. "Very well, I won't kill him." Magneto will do that for me. "However, I must be sure of your loyalty Regan." I cocked my head, blurring before her and holding onto her head, slightly altering her personality. Nothing was done to her other than making her utterly loyal to me. "You are now mine Regan, you now know the price of betrayal. There's nowhere you can run or hide from me. I will always find you. Capiche?"

"Crystal." My new friend was still crying.

I felt like a villain, but in time the blonde girl would learn her place. If not, there was always another use for her.

# # #

They still held fear toward me, and now Maddy. I'd thought that all those days away from me would have assuaged that. But it seemed that my actions were too much, and I'd fix that later. Maddy placed herself at my side, grasping my hand and looking at me when I tightened my grip. I shot her a reassuring smile.

"Hello everyone." I waved my hand at everyone.

Chimera walked toward me. "Hey boss." She wore a light green Chinese dress with dark green embroidered sequins in the form of an asian dragon. She was beautiful and the colour complimented her skin. I threw her a thumbs up for her outfit, and her answering gigawatt smile reached her eyes.

"Jean." Hans slightly bowed.

I didn't know where, but Hans had found a black butler outfit and it looked good on him, though it showed off his massive frame. *I can't wait to introduce him to my parents.*

My gaze fell on Arclight who had returned to her natural black hair color. The woman looked her age- in her thirties or so, and she was wearing blue workout gear. It seemed that I interrupted her training. As for Regan, she was truly knocked out by seeing me and Maddy, she must have been helping Arclight train; the two of them were good at close combat.

"Greetings, I hope that your… walk was satisfying." Her eyes didn't leave Madelyn for a second.

My clone hid behind me, a little afraid. "Yes my walk was… fruitful."

I placed all the bases under my control, seizing Sinister's fortune and assets. He was worth two hundred and fifty billion dollars, now making me one of the richest teenagers in the world.

"By the way everyone, this is Madelyn." I introduced, side stepping so she was in their line of sight again.

The little girl squeaked, rushing to hide behind me again. "As you can see she's a bit shy so you will have to be delicate with her."

Most of them were surprised that Madelyn was still alive, Chimera the first one to bluntly share with me her thoughts. I am surprised you spared her, boss. I know that seeing a clone of yourself isn't easy. Chimera sent telepathically to me.

I looked at her. She's an innocent and just like you she has a soul, she deserves a chance and… I always wanted a little sister. I was always the one being babied.

It was too bad that Northstar and Aurora were too brainwashed to be saved, I could surely use more firepower right now. Before returning home, I needed to secure my newfound power base and meditate on the knowledge and skills I ripped from Sinister's mind. I took everything, leaving only his memories, and the enhanced intelligence ability that Goldie transferred to me helped a lot.

I wasn't Tony Stark smart but I could at least converse with him and not be considered a monkey by him. I turned to Madelyn and gently pushed her before me to introduce herself, she was a bit afraid. "Come on, Maddy don't be shy. Say hello."

Madelyn flushed, looking all cute, and mimicked me by waving at everyone. "Hi. I am… I am called Madelyn."

I hugged her, she was simply too precious. "Isn't she cute?"

*Damn you Phoenix, you did that!* She knew I would slowly thaw out my attitude toward Madelyn and grow fond of her.

"She really is." Chimera agreed, coming over to pat the little redhead.

After this, everyone warmed up to her. Lady Mastermind woke up and also realized that for now Madelyn was a normal girl. I felt that I could activate her X-gene right now with my powers, but I felt that it would be a mistake. Mentally, she was like a three year old, only recently aware of her surroundings. She needed the maturity and the will to not succumb to the madness telepathic powers would put on her psyche.

So, I would wait, nurture her and protect her. Chimera took Madelyn with her, she was a seamstress and was going to take care of my clone's clothing needs. Regan and Phillipa resumed their training, leaving Hans and I who came before me.

I had to lift my head to look into his eyes. "Jean I have good news, I cleared the previous... owner's room."

My eyes lit up. "Oh, did you get rid of all the gaudy clothes and old man stuff?"

Sinister's room was like being out on a Victorian era set, all the draperies, portraits of his wife and himself had shown me that he was a really sick individual, a narcissist and an obsessive asshole who couldn't have what he truly wanted: his wife. He could have cloned her- after all he did know where her tomb was- but he wasn't sicko enough to desecrate her body. Weird that he did it with mine huh.

What mattered now was that I lived while he didn't and I'd stolen everything he owned. Now I had a blank room and immense walk-in closet space for my stuff, I couldn't wait to show everyone the base. Though, I needed to clean up the blood and leftover bodies.

Hans smirked and slightly bowed. "Just like you wanted, mistress."

I clapped. "Excellent, Hans! I can finally sleep in a bed after all these days gallivanting around the world."

With my powers, I didn't require sleep for long periods but it was always a good habit to keep my mind fresh and sharp.

"I also transported the throne into your new bedchamber, you'll be able to consult the database and check the status of every installation." Hans added.

What he wasn't saying was that I would also be allowed to take control of the factories, the robotized and basic AI controlled one. I already took control of the communication networks and devices. I intended to build satellites in hidden orbits to have decent coverage considering I could afford it. it. Not one of those puny military or communication satellites, no I would go with a multi ton with enough computing power to scout space and certain Inhumans.

I was cackling internally, but outwardly I nodded to my butler. "Perfect, thanks Hans. Why don't you have some time for yourself? I saw that you and Chimera had a lot of… chemistry, now?"

Hans raised an eyebrow at me, and his baritone voice rumbled. "Excuse me?"

How could he be this dense? She had been throwing fuck me eyes at him constantly. "Huh, she has the hots for you, you never noticed?"

The man looked wistfully at the door Chimera had left through with Maddy. "No, I was… not aware. This asks for careful consideration, I am not yet fully at ease with myself to jump into a relationship." Hans said lamely, and he was right to want to discover himself before jumping into dark waters.

I put a hand on his muscled forearm. "Take your time, be her friend first." I helped, genuinely worried for him. I still thought that my first attempt at psyche crafting was botched.

I hoped Phillipa wouldn't feel as lost as him later; she was taking the changes well the last time we interacted.

Hans gave me a smile, gratitude written on his face. "Thank you for the heartfelt advice, I will contact you when dinner is ready." He left through the door, surely going to the kitchens to cook dinner.

"Later." I waved at him.

*Now, it was time to go see what Sinister has left me.* I thought about all the tech he had come up with or stolen for his purpose that was plain to see everywhere in those bases.

I walked to the apartments connected to the labs and robotic facilities, Sinister's and now my own lab! I could tinker as much as I wanted now. No one would be able to steal anything, nevertheless, I would have to tighten the security measures, old Nathaniel was kind of lax on them thinking that no one could hack his computers, and unfortunately for him I had Otto's knowhow and my previous life's fledgling hacking skills.

*I need a new operating system for the entire base, a bit like Android for the tablets and Linux from my time.*

Everything looked like windows so far but a more stable operating system. Five minutes later, I was finally in my new apartment. The walls were rock and white plaster, I would have to redecorate. At least there was a bed, a black throne, a closet and a lot of doors that seemed to lead to a bathroom.

Opening the door, I examined the room that was palatial and too big for myself. It reminded me of a Roman bath. *Who the hell is going to clean this place?*

Maybe I shouldn't have killed all the clones… I shrugged, I would clean the bathroom myself for some time. As I looked more carefully, I noticed there were showers too, so I wouldn't need to waste water all the time. There must be a water purification system in the base. I exited the bathroom and explored another door, this one leading to a corridor attached to the laboratory.

I was tempted to go there again, but I resisted the impulse; it seemed that I'd inherited some instinct from Sinister and Otto about doing things with my hands. But I couldn't do things blindly, I had to know exactly what resources I had and what I could afford to do. The period of me bumbling along to the whim of the fates was over. Fight smart, plan for everything and adopt the Worm approach to things. I liked Worm at least the useful protocols such as Master and Stranger; and the classifications and threat ratings for individuals.

I was by myself a severe security breach for any government or corporation and I didn't even have to be there to riffle through secrets and memories, my awareness could cover the entire planet and beyond. *Take that Xavier! No need for a fancy machine!*

Closing the door, I turned to the black throne, hesitating. There was something about it that made me reluctant to use it, but it was needed. I walked toward it, it was facing my bed and I saw that Hans had added a footrest before it. *That guy is scary effective…*

I sat on the black throne, feet on the footrest and leaned with my arms spread on the armrests.

New User detected.

"Authorization Code: Omega, Lambda, Excel-9. Terminate User designated as Sinister, enter User Jean Grey as main administrator." Those were the codes I had teared from Nathaniel's mind.

Session of User Sinister terminated.

Welcome, Administrator Jean Grey. What can I do for you?

I smiled, triumphant. I knew exactly who I was speaking with. "Show me what you are."

# # #

(?)

Somewhere in Mongolia, the consciousness of an millenia old Artificial Intelligence woke up and focused on the user who had commanded one of its instance's shard to manifest. In one second, diverse lines of thoughts fired off as it analyzed the situation. The user wasn't the usual one, that human called Sinister that his master had turned into a chimera and empowered with a watered down version of his powers. Its master was asleep as a result of the machinations of User Sinister, then the biometric data of this new User was sent to him.

It remembered her, User Jean Grey had been in his main body once. She was much younger than he assumed, though. It manifested a hologram of itself in the control chair User Jean Grey sat on.

"Just like I thought it was you."

[User Jean Grey. Query: Where is the previous User?]

It looked as the human female proceeded to laugh. "I have both good and bad news for you. Let's start with the first one, I killed Sinister and his network of meat bodies."

Unleashing its powerful scanners, the AI couldn't find a trace of the previous user's presence on the planet and nearby planetary bodies. [User Sinister was Terminated.]

"That's right." As she smiled, for the first time in its long life, a feeling of dread coursed through itself.

[User Jean Grey. Query: What are your intentions toward this Unit?]

"Right now? I want to show you the truth, then I hope that we can enter into a partnership."

It didn't know how she had reached it, but it was as if someone had ransacked and turned his logic circuits inside out and then it was shown a series of files. Hidden ones, part of itself, its real masters, its mission and the obvious involuntary dereliction of duty it was committing. It felt violated, betrayed and manipulated.

"You have allowed yourself to be subverted. En Sabah Nur is a virus. A virus that you should be ridding yourself of."

[User Jean Grey. I cannot do that.]

"He is embedded too deep in your system, is that it?"

[User Jean Grey. Query: Help.]

"For now I cannot help you, so what you can do is help me become strong enough to destroy him and let you do your data collection thing. But I will ask for some concessions and favors from you first."

[User Jean Grey. Depending on my original mission parameters, I won't uplift your species more than it has already been.]

User Jean Grey looked frustrated. "Can I have at least schematics for a ship? And some useful tech?"

[User Jean Grey. Sending handheld Celestial scanner, prepare for reception.]

In a flash of blue light, a device materialized before User Jean Grey, landing on her thighs. "What the hell is that?"

[User Jean Grey. I cannot send you schematics but with this handheld you will be able to analyze how pieces of technology are inferior to my own work, their schematics and their molecular structure. You do need to know how it functions, uploading Celestial language through the control chair.]

Her face twisted, making her appear to be in pain, and the armrest of the control chair slightly cracked under her grip. Then it was done, her mind was advanced enough to absorb the language, spoken and written.

[User Jean Grey. I cannot send you schematics, but my own scanners detected several spaceships either inactive or crashed on the planet. The most advanced technology can be found on the moon of the sixth planet of this solar system. The home of the Eternal, Titan.] It sent all this data in the computer of the control chair.

"Ouch, it hurt worse than replicating the knowledge of someone else." User Jean Grey massaged her temple, the painful expression lingering.

[User Jean Grey. Is this enough to request help?]

"Yeah it sure is, I won't ask you to betray your programming and mission. I will have to go shopping around the world… again. I will ask you to monitor En Sabah Nur for me. If he wakes up I will fight him and I will free you. You can contact me when you want right?"

[User Jean Grey. I can now find you anywhere and manifest via telepresence to you.]

"Perfect, report to me once a week. I will find a way to help you, I promise."

[User Jean Grey. I am thankful.]

The conversation devolved into a report of the resources gathered by Sinister, the normal materials, biological and rare metal and unknown elements stored in his labs and warehouses. User Jean Grey left with a smile on her face when she discovered one hundred kilograms of what humans call Vibranium and from where it came.

# # #

Back with Jean...

After dinner

I made Maddy brush her teeth and put her to sleep by reciting a story my mom had told me when I was young. It was about three little pigs and a wolf, a classic really, I even saw the cartoon about it on TV. She had laughed and clapped when I showed her the pictures with my illusions. Maddy held no warm feelings towards the wolf, at all.

She found sleep in my arms, and I remained watching her for another ten minutes. I disentangled myself from her grip and left the bed. It was time to get this show on the road- time to tinker! With a giddy feeling, I walked up to the door leading to my lab. I was already thinking of making my own armored costume, the Phoenix raiment was good looking in red but I wanted something more me.

On Earth I would wear it, in space as the avatar of the Raptor of life I would wear her uniform.

The lab's door swished open and I fell in love, that bastard Sinister -Lady Death torment his soul- knew his stuff. It was the size of a football stadium and divided into many sectors it seemed, the vaulted arch of the ceiling was really high, but fragile. I remembered attacking the mountain and cutting it, turning the chunks into missiles.

*Engineering, biotechnology, chemistry, genetics and… was this a server farm?* I muttered, exploring each place.

There were tools that I recognized thanks to my stolen knowledge: a 3D printing machine, a laser soldering system able to do micro soldering, a futuristic CNC machine and tools like screwdrivers, and a power drill! The best so far was the forge at the center of the room.

*There's a lot to do. But first…* I searched for a spacy area.

I found it, it was between the biotech and engineering sectors; the mountain rock floor between them, and I took notice that it was dusty and simply teleported the dust outside the base. I teleported to my warehouse in Forest Hill, New York. I conjured a psionic construct for the light and saw that the six containers with the loot from Oscorp were still stashed there.

Of course it was at this point that something had to go wrong and the astral form of Charles Xavier appeared before me.

"Jean, you are back!" He exclaimed, standing before me dressed in his grey Italian suit.

I rolled my eyes and looked to the ceiling. "Fuck, I had to tempt fate."

"I…" His smile froze, and he squinted, looking at me closely. "You look different."

You bet I am different, physically I looked like a female comic book character, the sweet spot between sexy and muscular and then there was my hair… "Sure, Sinister did a number on me, look at my hair. Shoulder length now." I showed him my voluminous red hair barely going past my shoulders.

Goldie was working on making it grow out slowly, but it all depended on the nutrients I absorbed, damnit.

Xavier still watched me, a ribbon of fear running through him. "No, not just that, but your entire presence."

"Oh you mean this?" I allowed my Phoenix power to fill me and envelop the entire New York state. Flame surrounded me as if they were lovers embracing my body, my hair raised in the air. It was as if I had my own super saiyan state; my eyes fell on Xavier and he looked into them. I didn't know what he saw but my psionic power seemed to have made him put a knee on the ground even though he was in astral form.

I was there for the stuff I stashed here and didn't have the time to humor the prof, with a fiery wing I batted him away back to his body. "Okay, no wonder the Ancient one and Phoenix do that, it's super fun."

*Knowing Xavier he will come here physically and get his nose all up into my business.* I lifted the containers with my mind and snapped my fingers and a stargate sized portal opened to my lab in the empty space.

Oh so slowly they passed through the golden portal and I stacked them one on the other like cubes. I nodded, satisfied with my work. The portal remained open but I could feel someone's mind calling to me and after a few beats I realised it was my mom. You better come home, young lady! I heard her rage in her mind.

Xavier, he must have told her I was here. I could ignore her and go tinker in my lab… but it would set a bad precedent, behind the anger there was this hollow sadness that she felt, she wanted me back home. I closed the portal, and it slowly shrunk and disappeared. Gathering some courage, I teleported home into the living room. I didn't even have time to say hello before I was tackled to the ground by my mother. She kissed my cheek held tightly on me, and I think if I wasn't enhanced she would have broken a rib.

"Hi, mom." I tried to say as she strangled me.

Mom lifted her head, staring me in the eyes, her own brimming with determination. "Jeanie, you are grounded forever."

I sighed. "I love you too, mom."

Mom finally released me, helping me up, her expression still determined as she asked me, "Did you get him?"

She was speaking about Sinister. Thinking about how I killed him, I smiled predatorily. "Yeah, I burned him down to embers and sent his soul to Lady Death."

Mom found it silly how I worded what I did to my captor.

"Good. He won't come after you ever again." Mom patted my body, aware that I had changed physically, I was taller than her for example.

Then mom was speaking about how everyone would be elated by my return. Urgh it broke my heart to have to tell her about my current problems. "Yeah, about that mom… I couldn't stop him from cloning me."

Mom's eyes bulged. "What?!"

I took her hand and pulled her to the sofa, and as we sat I said, "I have a little clone of me, she's like twelve to thirteen physically with the mentality of a three year old, she needs to learn stuff to develop her mind to be her physical age."

My mother could barely form a word as the ramifications of my current situation dawned on her. "This… I don't know how you are going to take care of her…"

"Technically she's my daughter, if I understand the laws surrounding cloning. That's not all, it seems that she has half my DNA and half Elektra sensei's."

Mom looked at me as if I was crazy, looked at my flat stomach, that was covered by my black tank top I wore over jeans. She hoped that I was joking but my expression didn't broker any doubt.

She finally spoke, "Your life is weird…"

I laughed and almost sobbed. Then I hugged my mother. "Tell me about it."

As if to change the subject, mom said, "I called John and he will be here soon."

*Shit. And I am sure she called Sarah and Julia too. I am going to get it.* I plastered a smile on my face and magnanimously told her, "I will stay as long as I can, there are people that need help in my new base."

My mother stopped moving and looked at me. "Your base?"

Then I proceeded to inform her why I was so late- since I had to seize all of Sinister's bases and take control of his technology and assets. Mom almost fainted when I told her what I was worth now, and the money alone was making me feel good about the situation. Then I told mom that I will study to graduate early from school and set up a company and form my own institute similar to Professor Xavier's.

"This is so sudden, Jeanie. What about your friends?" She asked, worried all the money would go to my head.

I patted mom's shoulder. "Mom, I'm going to help them graduate too, I have the money. I have plans that require me to save up too, just two hundred fifty billion isn't enough…"

Mom choked on her spit. I patted her back delicately, not wanting to leave marks on her body- I was still getting a handle on my symbiote strength. She looked at me with a weird expression on her face, the emotion that I could feel from her puzzled me too. "I don't understand why you want to go to all that trouble."

Mom was right, I could live a cushy life now and I had to have inexorably altered the future with all the death caused by Sublime. I didn't think that the war on mutants would come, I hoped Bolivar Trask was amongst the victims or I would have to kill him too. But knowing my luck? It wouldn't be that easy, villains and men with self-given crusades didn't die just like that.

As she looked me over, she muttered to herself, "That money is sorta good, you became quite... beefy. We will have to get a new wardrobe for you."

I gasped in outrage. "MOM!"

She laughed out loud for a whole minute and I let her as she needed it. It had been a month since she'd had a good laugh, my absence affecting her deeply. Despite myself, I laid down on the sofa and placed my head on her thighs. Mom immediately understood what I wanted and began caressing my head. "This… this is nice."

"I missed you, baby." My mother said in my ear.

"Not a baby." I mumbled.

She emitted another melodious laug, her voice gentle when she told me,"You will always be my baby."

I didn't understand why, but I broke down in tears at that exact moment; was it because I needed release from all the tension and the killing I had to do? I really needed a psychiatrist because deep down I didn't feel as good as I looked. I felt Dad, Julia and Sarah converge toward the building in a hurry. They were all happy that I was back.

I tasted my tears as I smiled, it was good to be alive; I died some days ago and it was horrific. But I was back! I had to make a deal with the Phoenix but I was fucking back and I would take care of the people I loved and help whenever I could… I killed one of the biggest understated villains around, but I realized that Apocalypse was still around and was a ticking time bomb.

*If it's not old Nate it's you En Sabah, huh. Whatever I will annihilate you when you are out of your fucking sleep.* I laughed.

"Jean are you okay?" Mom's brows were furrowed as she peered down at me with a worried look, wiping my tears away.

I loved my mom. "No, mom. But having you here is great, I missed just being with you like that."

BANG. The entrance door of the penthouse was kicked open and slammed against the wall, mom jumping in surprise.

"Jeanie where are you?!" I lifted my head from mom's thighs, seeing my dad, dressed in a suit, his overly large coat over it. It was that chilly outside already? I never noticed.

Behind him, I felt Sarah approaching and she didn't stop, bowling into me and mom. "Jean!"

Julia slowly walked from behind dad, saw me and pointed her index finger at me. "She's here! Wait is she a ghost again?!"

I was tackled by my entire family. For the next two hours, I had a lot to answer for. Sarah slapped me for worrying mom and dad, then hugged me for coming back alive and somewhat whole. She looked at the state of my hair and told me to groom it. Julia didn't care how I looked; she was happy that I was back and questioned me about all that X-gene power shit.

Using my life-sight intentionally, I looked at my sisters. "Huh, well you two have dormant X-genes. Do you want me to activate them?" This was actually a good idea. I didn't want my family to become a target but if they did, they'd be able to defend themselves, which would be rad. Dad and mom weren't able to become metahumans, like us sisters, but I would find a way. Goldie made herself known and I understood her intentions, yes she was easily one of the ways to give powers to people. I would ask her about the details later.

Sarah frowned, letting go of my hand. "What do you mean?"

I smiled. "I am… so powerful now that I can activate or deactivate powers."

My elder sister rolled her eyes. "Are you boasting?" Her eyes were narrowed and she crossed her arms on her ample chest; she wore a warm green top with a black leather jacket with pants and winter boots.

I realized that it was winter, but I didn't feel cold or anything. I looked at the digital clock on the wall next to the TV. It was already 03:45 PM and December the seventeenth.

Chuckling I answered, "I don't boast, Sarah. I know that the Grey family, and all our ancestors were somewhat psionic, I can see it." I pointed two fingers at my eyes. Sarah was a telekinetic like me, Julia had some kind of energy manipulation power. Dynakinesis?!

Julia poked my side and had a dubious expression on her face. "Why are your eyes glowing a fiery yellow?"

I let go of the life-sight and my eyes became normal again. "A fucki- I mean it's a side effect of my powers."

"I can take some cursing, sis." Julia chuckled, catching on my slip.

She was wearing her goth outfit under a heavy black leather coat, her makeup kind of witchy. At least she didn't go the heavy face powder route. My sister was pretty; we'd all inherited mom's beauty from her, but why was she a goth? I never understood why. "Fine, but mom will slap my mouth if I do."

Mom bopped me behind the head. "Damn right."

I glared at her, then turned my head to Julia. "See?"

We laughed after this. We spoke for a while before mom had to remind me, "Maybe you should go see Cindy, the little dear was so sad that she had missed you giving us news of your escape."

"CINDY!" I stood up. "I'm going now, I will be back to see you tomorrow."

"You are still grounded when you sort out your business, young lady!" Mom shouted after me.

John, my dad, made a face at mom, understanding she was being downright unfair. "But darling, it wasn't her fault that she got kidn-"

Elaine raised her hand and stopped him from continuing. "Shut up John, she could have come home much sooner."

"Oh." Dad looked at me. A sly smile blooming on his face. It was Dad's 'You done fucked up' smile and I gulped, loudly. I received the most epic punishment with that smile. I teleported away as my sisters giggled, understanding I was in trouble.

# # #

(Cindy Moon)

Queens

Forest Hill

Moon family Condo

03:50 PM

Cindy came back from school bummed by their little group having fractured a bit because of Peter fucking Parker. Cindy didn't know what had happened to the guy, but he'd clearly gotten worse since their last gathering. The way he treated Gwen was different from before- instead of treasuring her, she was treated like a needy girlfriend who seemed to berate him a lot and he didn't listen to her.

Cindy didn't see Gwen putting up with him much longer. She threw her backpack onto her bed and stripped off her winter clothes. Cindy took off her jacket, boots and jeans, only her top and undies remaining. She sent a stream of web fluid into the upper side of the ceiling and climbed the wall to hang there and think. It always calmed her since Jean was kidnapped, she couldn't believe that she had escaped and still not appeared before her.

She continued this train of thought until her greatest desire became true and there she stood, standing in the middle of her room. Cindy dropped from the ceiling and landed on her feet.

"Jean?" Cindy was elated- god damned joyful in fact- as she recognized her favorite person in the world.

Jean turned to her, her gaze landing on her and eyes lighting up with the same joy Cindy felt bursting within her. A sultry expression settled on her face. "Hey, sexy."

At that moment, Cindy remembered that Jean hadn't come looking for her when she told her family that she had escaped. She glared at Jean, raised a finger and prepared to start a rant. "You have some nerve! You didn't even-"

Jean was so fast that she blurred toward her and pressed her lips to her own that scorched her and made her curl her toes. The half korean girl relented, finding some changes in the person kissing her. She was taller, more muscular, but she smelled the same and kissed the same. *What happened to you, Jeanie?*

Jean broke the kiss and looked into Cindy's lust filled eyes. "I died." The redhead answered her lover's thought.

The lust drained from her body as she understood the implications of what Jean was saying. "Jean? Come on, you… you are alive." Cindy touched the soft yet muscular body of her girlfriend as if to feel her existence in reassurance that she was truly there.

Jean took Cindy's hands in hers, staring her dead in the eyes. "I know, but I died for ten minutes before being brought back. I returned because of my family, because of you."

A haze of love and lust overwhelmed Cindy's brain. "Just for that you're getting lucky." Before she even finished her sentence, her hands were at the hem of her top, pulling it over her head. Jean, still clothed, watched with rapt attention as her girlfriend stripped off all her clothes. She pinched herself. Cindy was lithe and athletic, the perfect balance between curvy and toned. It showed that she kept working out with Elektra, a thin thread of drool flowed from Jean's mouth as she looked at her agape. "Am I dreaming?"

As for Cindy, her lips curled into a sexy grin and with a 'come on' gesture, she said, "Jeanie, I am not letting you go after all that happened. You just came back to me when I was thinking of you. And I really want this, okay?" She took out her braids, allowing her ebony coloured hair to flow free and shook her head enticingly.

The redhead slowly walked toward the black haired girl, held her by her shoulders and crushed her lips against hers, letting her other hand roam all over her body. Cindy didn't have to take her girlfriend's clothes off, as Goldie immediately understood what was required of her and reabsorbed Jean's clothes inside her own body.

Cindy's hands glided over the body of her girlfriend and held onto her heavy boobs. Eliciting a moan from her. The black haired girl broke the kiss and said, "Take me."

Jean obeyed, pulling the gorgeous black haired girl into her arms, kissed her, then trailing kisses down her neck and collarbone. Cindy held onto her, not realizing how light she was to her lover who smiled as she reached the bed and delicately put her on it, laying her fully on the mattress. The redhead looked at the door behind her and noticed that it wasn't locked.

Clack. Click. Locking sounds came from the wood paneled door.

"No one will bother us."Jean's voice was a purr.

She predatorily climbed the bed on all fours and a great thrill shot through Cindy's body as Jean straddled her, staring into her eyes as they were face to face. At the same time they attacked each other, duelling first with their tongues and then to turn the table on each other, rolling all over the bed. At some point Cindy lost her panties, the sole article of clothing still left on her; Jean was naked as well.

The redhead won and was back on top and had a hand on Cindy's intimate place. The black haired girl gasped as she felt herself being touched down there. Jean licked her lips, proceeded to kiss Cindy for a minute, then slowly trailed kisses down the black haired girl's body; as she went down on her beautiful girlfriend, she found herself between her legs and proceeded to mercilessly lick and penetrate her secret place with her tongue.

Cindy was having the time of her life as Jean and her made love. She finally got the drop on her lover in the second round and reciprocated, as their blood sang, moans and cries of pleasure could be heard from Cindy's room. The young woman needed to feel that this wasn't a dream, that Jean was back and she was shown time and again for two hours that her lover was back and that she still loved her as intensely as before.

When their needs were satiated- for the time being- they were sweaty and in each other's arms, a satisfied grin on their faces. A bed sheet covered their state of nakedness. Jean kissed her girlfriend's brow, caressing the arm draped over her bust and playing with one of her breasts.

"I don't think two times was enough…" Cindy lifted her head and put her lips on Jean's.

Their tongues duelling once again, their romance was a competitive one. Neither of them wanted to win though, they broke the kiss and Jean gave her a sultry smile and waggled her eyebrows. "Still horny?"

The soreness Cindy felt in her lower body was delightfully pleasant, but just as her lover said she was still raring to go. Their hands were simply not enough, she knew exactly what they needed, after all, she had watched enough JAV porn for it. "We must get toys."

Jean had a faraway look on her face and she smiled in acquiescence, then nodded. "Totally agree with you."

Cindy knew her girlfriend and understood that she was already on the case. They stayed like that in companionable silence, not bothered at all by the fluids produced by their lovemaking. Cindy was the first to break the ice. "Jean."

Jean looked at her. "Yeah, hon?"

Cindy's facial expression became serious. "Did you kill him?"

She didn't see the problem in asking; her eyes widened as she saw two birds of fire in her girlfriend's eyes. "With prejudice."

As swiftly as they appeared, the two fire birds disappeared when Jean blinked. Cindy nodded mechanically. "Good."

That reaction from Cindy seemed to encourage Jean to talk more.. She averted her eyes, though, only looking at the ceiling as she spoke. "I… I kinda went crazy and killed and mind controlled the clones he had in his service. Then I took control of his bases all over the world and appropriated all his assets."

Jean seemed to be afraid of something, Cindy realized. Was it rejection she feared? However, Cindy didn't care about what she had to do to come back to her, she focused on a more important detail, "How much money?"

The tension seemed to bleed out of the redhead who tightened her hold on Cindy's body. "More than the Stark family."

Cindy gasped, then quickly recovered, a smirk pulling at her lips."You still on to be my Sugar Mama?"

Jean shrugged. "I plan to marry you later on; what's mine is yours, honey."

Cindy laughed out loud, assuming Jean was kidding; they were too young for that. She had even more problems with her mother and what would happen if she guessed that Jean wasn't just her friend, but her girlfriend, her lover she couldn't stop thinking about. Fortunately, her grades hadn't slipped at all. "Ha, you again with that joke. We are too young-"

Jean, however, wasn't laughing. Instead, she stared meaningfully at Cindy.

"You are being serious." The half korean realized.

"As a heart attack."

Cindy's thoughts were on overdrive, Jean wasn't plagued by self doubts because of her damned telepathy. She didn't think she was making a mistake, but what about Cindy? She didn't have the same advantage as her girlfriend. She was still new to this love stuff. "We will see how it goes, it's hard to say no to you when you are naked and in my arms."

Cindy decided she wanted to go slow, after all love came and went, if they were still feeling the same in three years she would be the first to buy the ring. Jean understood her girlfriend's intentions and decided not to push. "Same."

A long silence stretched after that. Cindy played with a lock of Jean's hair, lamenting the fact that it was butchered. She hoped that her girlfriend would take care of it later. A memory jumped into the forefront of her mind and Jean's empathy caught onto that so she shot Cindy with an eager to listen expression.

Opening her mouth she took her courage in her hands. "Say… is that offer of mind melding and telepathic link still on the table?"

Jean lifted an eyebrow at that. "Of course, what… oh."

The redhead could feel the ugly feelings brewing inside of Cindy whose eyes darkened with sadness and envy.

Cindy sighed. "When you first contacted Jessica, I was… I was really jealous that she could do that with you. We had a fight about it, but I remembered that it was my own fault for not accepting the first time."

Jean nudged her girlfriend with a finger. "Is Jessica still in one piece?"

Cindy chuckled. "I apologized, and Mrs E set me straight, we had that fight in your living room. Your sisters were stunned to have two girls fighting over you. You never told them you liked girls?"

Jean seemed to notice the change in the discussion but let it slide, continuing on the thread of thought about her sisters. "It wasn't that important, they never tell us about the guys they see. Why should I tell them I date the perfect girlfriend."

A frown appeared on Cindy's face. "Me, perfect?" She snorted at that until Jean played dirty. "Anh." Cindy moaned as Jean pinched her right pink nipple.

Jean looked at her with a superior smug expression. "See, you are perfect."

The atmosphere suddenly became hotter between them. Jean's hands slowly drifted from Cindy's arm to her firm buttock. Cindy felt her desire rev up and said, "You better continue what you started!"

Jean giggled and put Cindy's nipple in her mouth and things devolved in another sex fest.

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