Chapter 200: Issue #5
Later that night while he was sleeping, Jack suddenly felt a shift in his dream. He could immediately tell that someone had entered his mind and somehow bypassed all of his defenses without giving him a chance to react.
The scene shifted from Jack creating a myriad of weapons made of black ice to scare the first boy Valeria brought back home to him being in a location that was pitch black. At least initially.
Jack could see an orange light in the distance that was quickly getting larger. He strengthened his ears to notice that he heard a flapping sound and the faint cry of a bird.
"The Phoenix Force," Jack said to himself
Before it even got close enough for him to see, Jack could already tell what it was.
The creature began to get closer and closer while Jack felt the psychic presence of it become overwhelming.
The creature suddenly appeared above Jack and it was massive. But it did not attack him, simply letting Jack feel its overwhelming power.
"If you're not here for a fight, what do you want?" Jack asked, realizing that this Phoenix was nothing more than the feather he had thought he sealed away
"Protect. Grey. Danger. Shi'ar. Summers!" The Phoenix Shard spoke only 5 words, not even forming a full sentence but Jack could piece it together.
"You want me to protect Jean or Rachel? Which Summers is the issue? Why are the Shi'ar involved?" Jack asked three questions that could help him better understand what exactly the Phoenix Force wanted but it gave no answer.
Instead the shard let out a loud cry that broke Jack's mental defenses and startled him awake.
He moved do suddenly that Sue and Emma were awoke by him, scared that something had happened.
"Jack?" Sue asked
"Darling. What's wrong?" Emma could also see there was a problem and immediately sat up
"The Phoenix Force contacted me. It says that I need to protect either Jean or Rachel from one of the Summers and the Shi'ar," Jack told them what little he knew. Jack sent out a psychic pulse to check on Jean and Rachel but saw neither was in danger at the moment. He could also tell that there were no invaders, at least outside the normal ones, that were currently in the Solar System.
'It's not now. When does it happen? Soon? In a few years? Why couldn't that damn thing give me a proper prediction,' Jack complained in his mind as he had to come up with a plan.
He couldn't understand exactly when the danger would occur but he also couldn't just focus on Jean. Rachel was secure enough at the Future Foundation or in Okkara but Jean was far away. He couldn't keep monitoring her to see when she would be attacked.
Which left Jack with one choice and one he had mentally reprimanded the Illuminati for doing to the Skrull.
He needed to launch a preemptive strike.
Jack groaned as he fell to the bed before explaining his thoughts to Emma and Sue. Unlike he wa expecting, the two women did not encourage his idea but advised against it.
"That's not smart, Jack. We already found a few hundred Skrull disguised on Earth. Do we really want to feel the full wrath of the Shi'ar as well?" Sue explained her worry which Emma fully agreed with
"She's right. Preemptive strikes should be a last resort. Even if they are attacking, we don't know if it's just a small strike force of rogue members from the Shi'ar or the entire Shi'ar army," Emma explained her doubts. "If we strike first, we could be getting the latter when it would originally be the former."
"So we just wait for it to happen?" Jack asked incredulously to which both women nodded
"Our spies at the Institute will be alerted and keep a tighter watch on Jean. Meanwhile, Rachel is already staying off missions since she's pregnant. We can protect her here," Emma thought it through. Although she was not Jean's biggest fan, she didn't want to see the woman hurt. Especially if it meant pissing off the most powerful psionic entity in the multiverse.
Jack sighed before agreeing with them. He decided to just go over to the Institute and place a protection spell around it while giving his spies orders to keep a close watch on Jean.
Once everything was decided on he told both his fiancess with rest while he also laid back down. But while the duo dreamt, Jack was awake due to still feeling the presence of Phoenix Force on his mind.
'Such power. When will I be that powerful? To become a true force of nature?'
Jack sighed to himself before entering his inner world to train his powers. The realized that even though he had grown so powerful, he was still so small on the cosmic level.
After a night of intense training, Jack got out of bed to see how the Inquisitors were doing with their morning training.
But when he arrived, he was surprised to see an uninvited guest in the Danger Room.
Green energy surrounded a sentinels arm before tearing it off and slamming it into the body of another. While another fell through the floor of the holographic building as the wood beneath it began to rot.
Hellion and Wither turned and smiled at the girls or Laura qnd Melody in particular before they suddenly found themselves smiling at Jack.
Julian's smile froze before turning from playful to respectful as he looked up to Jack while Kevin immediatelylooked annoyed.
"Good morning, Mr. Frost. Just thought we'd get in some extra training this morning," Julian lied through his teeth
"Good that you want extra training but I wanted my squad to train alone. I'll schedule you both for 3 hours tonight," Jack's smile grew as Julian's face fell. "And tell your team too. If they ask why, just say that you both wanted 'extra training'."
Jack laughed before teleporting away his mood suddenly improving after seeing the looks of defeat on both teens' faces
Weekly Power Status
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Ranking 
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