บท 69: Times Up :)
Homelander hovered in the night sky above Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters, his figure looming over the X-Men, who were preparing to leave.
Midnight cloaked the mansion in darkness, but Homelander's presence brought a tangible weight to the air, making the temperature drop.
He didn't need to announce himself—his arrival was enough.
Wolverine, usually the first to charge into any confrontation, stood frozen.
His instincts screamed at him, the animal within sensing an undeniable predator.
Logan's eyes narrowed, but he didn't move, knowing deep down that attacking Homelander was beyond reckless.
"Wow. Now, that's a sight," Homelander said, grinning down at the group. "The legendary X-Men, about to run off and protect the President like the good little soldiers. You guys sure play the hero quite well, even if for the wrong reasons." His tone was laced with sarcasm, as though the entire situation amused him.
Scott Summers, mature and seasoned as leader of the X-Men, raised a hand to his visor but didn't fire. He knew better than to act impulsively. His voice was firm but calm. "What do you want, Homelander?"
"What do I want? Oh, Scott, you know, just making sure no one interferes with my little countdown. Seven days, right? Almost there, about an hour left . And here you all are, about to go play babysitter for the President." Homelander folded his arms, hovering effortlessly, his gaze cold. "It's cute, really. You all think you're stopping some grand disaster."
Jean Grey stood nervous, sensing that the little monster who had chained her down helplessly that day had grown even stronger.
Her link with the Phoenix stirred uneasily within her, almost whispering at the edge of her consciousness.
Scott spoke again, his voice steady. "We're not here to fight you. But we won't let you hurt anyone either."
"Hurt anyone?" Homelander chuckled darkly, his eyes flashing. "See, that's where you're wrong. This isn't about hurting people. It's about setting things right. The government's been playing god long enough. Its simply about time they meet a real one." His expression became more serious.
" But let's not kid ourselves, Scott. I'm not like your old buddy Magneto. I don't care about grand speeches or mutantkind's survival. I'm just fixing what's broken."
Wolverine finally spoke, his gruff voice filled with caution. "You're no different from Magneto. Just another guy who thinks he's better than the rest of us."
Homelander turned to Logan, eyes narrowing. "Really, Logan? You think I'm the same as him?" He leaned forward slightly, floating a little closer. "Please I would've never lost to a bunch of half assed mutants who don't even function as a team properly so many times."
Jean took a step forward thinking she could do shit with him practically possesing aabsolute control over her . "We won't let you—"
Homelander cut her off, his smile widening. "Oh, Jean. My sweet, sweet little bird. You know, I never should've let you go."
His voice turned almost affectionate, which made the rest of the X-Men confused. " The Phoenix? She's mine now. You can hate me all you want, Jean, but the Phoenix... well, she knows where she belongs."
Jean's eyes flared with power, but the Phoenix within her stirred differently this time, quiet, almost acquiescent to Homelander's presence. It unnerved her.
He smirked, turning his gaze to the rest of the team. "You see, that's the thing. I don't have time to play games. I'm giving you one chance to back off and let this happen. Otherwise…" He shrugged, his casual nature underscoring the threat.
"You can't just waltz in here and give orders," Scott said, determination in his voice. "We protect people."
"You protect people?" Homelander laughed. "Oh, right. I forgot. The X-Men, saviors of the mutant race, forever the heroes." His expression darkened slightly. "Though i think you Couldn't stop from having five year olds from being cut apart like fucking animals in a slaughter-house."
There was a long pause as the X-Men stood ashamed knowing he was saying the absolute truth.
Then, without warning, Homelander looked at Jean, his smile fading, replaced by cold calculation. "Jean. Hold them till i finish my "talk" with those shitheads in DC."
Jean's eyes widened as she felt the Phoenix respond.
Against her will, the Phoenix exerted its will over her, making her powers surge. With a cry of defiance, Jean tried to resist, but the Phoenix… it obeyed him.
She screamed as her telekinetic grip suddenly locked the rest of the X-Men in place, their bodies frozen in mid-motion.
Wolverine growled in frustration, struggling against the invisible force holding him. "Jean, what the hell!"
Homelander hovered above them, smirking. "This is how things are now. You had your chance to play along, but instead, you wanted to play hero. So here's your reward."
Jean, trembling with the effort of fighting the Phoenix, glared at Homelander. "You… monster!"
He tilted his head, his expression unreadable. "Monster? Maybe. But you see, Jean, the Phoenix doesn't think so. She likes me. And why wouldn't she? I'm basically more of her chosen one than her own avatar."
He chuckled softly. "You can hate me all you want, but the truth is, you can't stop me. None of you can."
With that, Homelander's gaze drifted towards the horizon, as if already bored with the confrontation. "I'll give you one more piece of advice: stay out of my way. I've got a world to fix. And believe me, you don't want to be in my path when I do."
He paused, a glint of amusement in his eyes. "Oh, and if you see Chuck? Tell him to stay out of my head. It's a mess in there, and he won't like what he finds."
And with a final booming laugh, Homelander shot into the sky, leaving the X-Men in a state of shock and fury as they tried to free themselves from the Phoenix's grip.
Jean, still trembling, looked down at her hands, horrified and resigned at what she was doing.
The Phoenix obeyed him, not her.
It had been the case ever since that day.
Flashback
Jean Grey stood at the edge of the clearing in Mystic Falls, her eyes narrowed with suspicion as she scanned the area.
The faint psionic call she'd been tracking had led her here, away from her teammates. She hadn't told them about this—there was no need.
If she couldn't handle it herself, they wouldn't stand much of a chance either. Yet, something about the enormity of the signal had her worried. Not for herself, but for them.
In the moonlight, she saw him. A boy stood with his back to her, staring up at the moon as if in deep contemplation. He hadn't turned around, yet he spoke to her, his voice calm, almost inviting.
"Welcome, Phoenix."
Jean froze at the name. He hadn't asked who she was; he *knew*. He didn't even bother with introductions—he simply addressed her by the cosmic force she wielded.
"Why do you think anyone would create this cosmic hodgepodge known as the universe?" he asked, turning slightly, his voice filled with a strange curiosity. His back still toward her, he sounded like someone who had thought about this question for far too long. "I wonder if the Phoenix knows."
Jean's telepathic senses probed the boy's mind gently, but it was like running into a wall of iron. No fear, no hesitation. Her guard faltered. Maybe he was just a mutant, like her, searching for answers in this confusing world.
But something felt... wrong.
The boy finally turned around and looked at her with pity in his eyes. Before she could react, the world around her shifted. Her telepathic defenses snapped up too late.
Pain shot through her body.
Blood-red arrows pierced her from nowhere, sinking deep into her skin. Jean gasped, her hand reaching out as if to summon her telekinetic powers, but her body was frozen. Her mind screamed in defiance, but it was as if something else had already taken control. She looked up, meeting the boy's eyes again, but they weren't innocent anymore.
They were the eyes of a predator.
Niklaus walked toward her slowly, his steps heavy with menace. His eyes were bleeding slightly, a disturbing glow flickering within them. Behind him, a wave of blood surged like a living thing, crawling forward with intent.
She realized too late that this wasn't some ordinary mutant. This was something else, something far darker.
The blood washed over her, and she felt a horrifying shift inside. Her connection to the Phoenix flared, the ancient cosmic force roaring to life within her, but it was... different. The fire within her struggled against a new force—an order so absolute, so powerful, that it stripped her of control. Every command, every decision, fell into his hands.
Homelander's power surged through her, a New Order that broke her will with an ease she hadn't thought possible. For a fleeting moment, the Phoenix Force took control of Jean's body, blazing in defiance, but then it stopped. The flames receded. It walked towards him—*towards* him—and kissed Niklaus on the forehead, as if in acknowledgment.
And just like that, the Phoenix relinquished its host, leaving Jean to fall into his control.
Homelander stared at her, confused. For all his power, this submission from the Phoenix didn't make sense to him. But as he watched Jean fall under his sway, he couldn't help but feel satisfied.
The Phoenix had chosen. And so had he.
And Jean Grey—once a powerful force of nature—was now his.
---
High above the Pentagon, Homelander floated with arms crossed, observing the nearly deserted building below.
The bulk of its workers had fled, terrified, after being offered a convenient "security" escape route under Vought's protection.
They'd taken it without hesitation, thinking they'd be safer avoiding military security.
Little did they know, Vought was simply guiding them into a slaughterhouse.
Still, he would destroy the Pentagon, symbolically, of course.
With a casual flick of his wrist, the air behind him began to shimmer and distort.
A magnificent golden Eastern dragon, made entirely of pure energy, materialized behind him, its vast body coiling through the air.
The sky darkened, drawing countless cameras and onlookers toward the ominous spectacle.
Golden lightning crackled across the horizon as if the heavens themselves were reacting to Homelander's power.
The dragon's immense form was still hidden from the masses below, but a distant roar echoed through the atmosphere.
Moments later, a colossal dragon's head emerged from the thick clouds, its glowing eyes locked on the Pentagon.
Homelander's voice, calm and even, yet carrying a weight that made the air tremble, spread across the city, reaching everyone's ears.
"Dragon Dive."
With that, destruction descended.
Countless smaller dragons rained down from the sky, each a fiery manifestation of plasma, striking the Pentagon with devastating force.
Explosions rocked the structure, reducing it to flaming rubble as the firestorm consumed it.
Homelander hovered, watching with cold satisfaction as the iconic building was obliterated, reduced to nothing but ruins.
He smirked slightly to himself, finding it amusing that he had just pulled off a move reminiscent of Killua's grandpa from Hunter x Hunter. He made a mental note to use it again— 'kinda awesome,' he thought.
Surveying the scene, he casually glanced at the nearest camera capturing the event.
With a subtle shift of his gaze, he launched himself toward his next target, the so-called "rat" of a president.
---
Noir stalked the dimly lit corridors of Mister Sinister's hidden laboratory, a silent shadow blending with the darkness.
The villain's fortress was filled with sinister machines, tanks of experimental mutants, and technology centuries ahead of its time.
The flickering red lights failed to catch Noir's presence as he moved like a phantom through the halls, each step noiseless.
Sinister had been on Vought's radar for some time—an elusive figure dabbling in genetics and manipulation, always plotting in the shadows.
But today was an end to many such people , he would face the deadliest of Vought's creations.
Noir's limiters were off. No restraints. No holding back.
Sinister, aware that something was wrong, tapped into every system in his lab, locking down security measures, releasing mutant guards, and activating deadly automated defenses. "You're persistent," his voice echoed through the room as Noir stepped into the heart of the lab.
Noir didn't respond, his eyes scanning the room for Sinister's whereabouts.
He knew the villain was a genius and that this wouldn't be a simple kill.
Suddenly, an explosion rocked the facility as multiple mutants rushed Noir, claws, and energy blasts cutting through the air.
Noir's body moved with grace, dodging effortlessly and slicing through them with surgical precision.
His black armour glistened with blood as he cut down each enemy without emotion.
From above, Mister Sinister appeared, cloaked in a dark aura of his immense power. "You think you can defeat me, Vought's lapdog?"
Sinister snarled, unleashing a torrent of psychic energy towards Noir. The energy crackled through the room like lightning, bending space and distorting reality around them.
Noir stood unmoved, the psychic attack barely making him flinch.
He walked forward, his eyes locked on Sinister, his hand gripping the cursed blade at his side.
"Interesting," Sinister said, eyes narrowing. "You were always a threat , but now...it seems i underestimated tour potential."
He unleashed more of his powers: tendrils of dark energy spiraled toward Noir, aiming to tear him apart at a molecular level, while reality itself bent and twisted around the assassin.
Noir's movements were methodical, swift, and precise.
He evaded the tendrils with an ease that made it seem as if Sinister's most powerful abilities were mere child's play.
As he drew closer, Sinister desperately hurled an array of his powers—genetic manipulation, telekinesis, and energy blasts—all of it crumbling against Noir's unstoppable approach.
"You... can't... stop me!" Sinister's voice faltered, frustration mounting as none of his powers were enough to even stall Noir's advance.
With a speed that Sinister couldn't register, Noir was upon him.
The cursed blade shimmered with a malevolent glow as it cleaved through Sinister's form, slicing the villain clean in half.
Though noir knew it was but clone but that was enough.
The curse on the blade activated, absorbing Sinister's soul into itself, leaving no trace of the man who had tormented countless lives.
All sinister clones fell at the same time.
Noir stood over Sinister's lifeless body, the cursed sword humming with the energy of the absorbed soul.
As Noir sheathed the sword, he muttered to the empty room, "The force my creator crippled..." His voice was low, almost mechanical.
"He's come to his senses now."
With Sinister defeated, Noir turned and vanished into the shadows, leaving behind only death and silence.
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