Chương 28: 27. She deserves it all

K'un Lun, Seventy-Two Hours Ago

Hope is sitting on a platform for a rather beautiful fountain, lost in her thoughts of everything that has transpired since the arrival of the Phoenix on the moon, so she cannot admire the fountain.

The plan was so simple. The Phoenix was meant to be merged with her. She uses its power to restore mutant kind. And everything would be back to the way it was.

'Then again if it was that simple then me training since I could walk wasn't exactly necessary,' she thought to herself.

In reality, she should have known that none of her teachers could have taught her how to handle the Phoenix. Nobody could.

She is taken out of her head when she hears footsteps but doesn't turn to look. She already knows because she recognizes the feeling of whose powers she's imitating.

"I've been looking for you Hope," Wanda Maximoff says as she stops just behind her.

"You didn't have to look very far," the younger mutant responds without looking back, "Can't exactly go anywhere else. I have to stay hidden. If I come out then Cyclops and Frost will come and get me," she glares at the floor, "I'm sick of it."

"What?"

Hope gestures all around her, "This! All of this! I'm sick of constantly training for some destiny that I'm pretty sure I botched back at the moon! I'm sick of having to fight people who were my friends and mentors! And I'm sick of watching good people die for this!"

Wanda doesn't say anything for a few moments, letting the younger girl calm a bit, before asking, "You're talking about Spider-Man, aren't you?"

The younger woman sighs frustratingly, "I barely knew him. Hell, I didn't even know who he was underneath that mask of his. And yet despite that, I knew he was a really good guy."

Wanda crosses her arms, "Not many of us knew who he was underneath. He didn't trust most of us and frankly, I don't blame him."

Hope looks to the hex user curiously, "Who did he trust?"

Wanda shrugs as she recalls interactions she has seen, "Steve and Logan are the only avengers I know about. I believe the Fantastic Four know as well, but that is based on how Ben Grimm has been. And based on how he interacts with them, I also suspect Professor Xavier, Carol, and Doctor Strange know."

Hope Turns her gaze back to the ground in front of her, "I hate this."

"This kind of life is not easy. There come times when sacrifices have to be made. Spider-Man understood that. You shouldn't blame yourself."

As soon as Hope heard the hex girl say that her blood boils and she clenched her fists. She stands up and she says, "Your right. I shouldn't blame myself," she faces the older woman with a glare, "I should blame you!"

Wanda recoils at that, "What?"

"Everything that's happened is your fault!" Hope shouts as she begins to mimic Wanda's power, "You put mutants on the extinction list! You made them so desperate that they had to trust a power they can't hope to control! And made them put all their hopes on a little girl whose whole life revolved around training for some destiny she didn't even want!"

As she shouts, waves of chaos energy whip around the area around her as she charges up an attack.

"It's your fault my life turned out this way!"

Wanda summoned her powers to defend herself against Hope's attack. And while the young girl is copying her chaos magic, she does not have the same level of experience in controlling it. So as they clash the power is more spread out and erratic then concentrated.

And while Wanda gets pushed back, Hope gets thrown off her feet and lands in the fountain.

Wanda looks at the younger mutant with remorse as she says, "I blame myself more than you think. More than anyone believes. I hate myself every day for my part in what happened. For what's been happening."

Hope gets out of the water and glares at the older woman.

"I wish I could take it all back," Wanda continues as she watches the younger girl stalk towards her, "But I can't change the past. Right now, all I can do is try to fix what I.."

"SHUT UP!" Hope shouts as she blasts the woman again, only this time her own unique mimicked Phoenix power is mixed in with the chaos energy.

Wanda reacts in time to block it, but this time is unable to stop it entirely by hitting Hope directly. The Phoenix force and her own power mixed together make it difficult for her to bypass. As a result, she is blown back.

"I don't care if you blame yourself!" Hope shouts at her as he prepares to attack again, "You're the reason my life sucks! You're the reason people are suffering right now! And you're the reason my friend died!"

Wanda sees how angry Hope is, evident by all the power she is unleashing, so she'll defend herself but let her vent her frustration on her.

She deserves it after all.