The television blared with a news report:
"We received an official statement last night about the Stark Industries explosion. Reports suggest that a robotic prototype malfunctioned and damaged the arc reactor. Fortunately, Tony Stark's personal bodyguard was present and managed to intervene..."
Tony Stark, the man of the hour, was lounging on his couch, flipping through a newspaper while chewing on an unlit cigar.
The front page featured a striking image of him standing in the middle of the street, suit-clad and unmistakably heroic.
"Iron Man," Tony mused, tapping the headline with amusement. "They're calling me Iron Man. Gotta say, I like it. Has a nice ring to it."
Beside him, Agent Coulson walked over and handed him a slip of paper.
"Here's your alibi. We have port papers that put you in Avalon all night, and sworn statements from 50 of your guests."
Tony raised an eyebrow. "Fifty? I expected it to just be me and Pepper. That would've been more my style."
He scanned the document briefly before looking up. "By the way, there's no mention of Obadiah Stane."
Coulson gave a knowing smirk. "We handled it. According to our records, he was taking a private jet to the island. You know, private jets tend to have... accidents."
"Of course," Tony replied, rolling his eyes. "Always convenient."
"Don't worry. We're professionals. Just stick to the script when you go on the news. That's all you need to do."
As Coulson finished, the doors to the media hall swung open, and Tony, escorted by his security detail, stepped inside to face the awaiting press.
He approached the podium, holding up a small note. "It's been a while since I've done one of these, so I figure I'll just stick to the script this time."
Before he could continue, a reporter abruptly cut in. "Um... It's been a while since I was in front of you. I figure I'll stick to the cards this time. There's been speculation that I was involved in the events that occurred on the freeway and the rooftop..."
A reporter named Christine interjected, "I'm sorry, Mr. Stark, but do you honestly expect us to believe that that was a bodyguard in a suit that conveniently appeared, despite the fact that you..."
Tony replied without ease, "I know that it's confusing. It is one thing to question the official story, and another thing entirely to make wild accusations, or insinuate that I'm a superhero."
"I never said you were a superhero." Christine pointed out,
Tony paused, before continuing
"Didn't? Well, good, because that would be outlandish and fantastic. I'm just not the hero type. Clearly. With this laundry list of character defects, all the mistakes I've made, largely public."
"Just stick to the cards, man." his friend, James Rhode beside him whispered.
A moment of hesitation passed before he looked back up, took a deep breath and raised the notes in his hand,
"The truth is—" he exhaled, look at the empty air for a microseconds, already thinking ahead of the consequences of what he plans to say,
With a newfound resolve, he look back at the reporters below him, and announce the world,
"I am Iron Man."
The room exploded with noise. Reporters shouted over each other, cameras flashed, and the media frenzy was in full force. It was chaos, pure and simple.
...
Meanwhile, in another office, Nick Fury sighed heavily and turned off the live broadcast.
He rubbed his temples in frustration. "Why do these guys always make my job harder?"
Across from him, a young man leaned back in his chair, arms crossed.
"You say 'these guys' like I had anything to do with it. Why are you dragging me into this?" he protested.
Fury shot him an unimpressed look. "Didn't you, I don't know, blow up an arc reactor?"
"By accident!" the young man, identified as Ethan, defended himself.
"Besides, Tony didn't care, so why do you?"
Fury gave him a deadpan stare. "Oh, I don't know. Maybe because you also took down a hydropower station?"
Ethan waved dismissively. "Professor X already smoothed things over with the President. The whole thing is being handled.
If anything, relations between mutants and the government are actually looking better because of it."
Fury sighed. "And what do you think about Tony?"
Ethan shrugged. "What's there to think? You really expect a guy like Tony Stark to sit back and work from the shadows like Batman?
Bitch, please. He was flying around the Middle East picking fights with warlords last week. This whole 'secret identity' thing was never gonna last."
Fury considered that for a moment before rubbing his face in exhaustion.
"Yeah. I know."
Ethan stood up, stretching. "Well, this has been fun, but I've got classes to get back to."
Fury raised an eyebrow. "You're leaving?"
"Of course. I'm a student, remember? Professor X just finished his meeting with the President today, so I need to help make sure everything runs smoothly back at the school, in case you didn't know, I'm the first Student Council President of Xavier's Institute. Also, I might grab lunch before I go—gotta say, S.H.I.E.L.D. cafeteria food is actually pretty decent."
As Ethan strolled out the door, Fury watched him go, then silently reached into his desk.
He pulled out a folder labeled "Avengers Initiative."
He frowned, staring at the words.
"A team of superheroes to defend the world, admired and trusted by the public... Can that really work?"
He wasn't sure.
The world wasn't a comic book.
It was messy, full of fear and mistrust.
Even now, the only true American hero was Captain America—a man who had been missing for seventy years.
And dead men, after all, were the easiest heroes to admire.
...
Jean blinked in confusion, staring at her surroundings.
"Where am I?"
A flicker of recognition crossed her face.
"Wait... this looks like a college."
Her thoughts sharpened as she took in the familiar yet distorted scene.
She stood before the gates of Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters, but something was terribly wrong.
The once-protected grounds lay in ruin.
The walls and iron gates had crumbled, buildings were reduced to rubble, and fires raged unchecked, painting the night with an eerie glow.
The air was thick with smoke, carrying the sickening stench of blood.
"What happened here?" Panic gripped her as she sprinted through the burning wreckage.
Bodies—so many bodies—some familiar, some not, littered the ground. Students, teachers, mutants she had known... all lifeless.
In the heart of the destruction, Professor X, Wolverine, Storm, and an unfamiliar figure lay motionless, seemingly defeated.
And at the center of it all stood a red-haired woman, gripping a helpless Cyclops by the throat.
Jean's breath hitched as the woman turned to face her.
It was her own face staring back at her. But the eyes—wild, merciless, and brimming with destruction—belonged to something else.
The woman smirked darkly.
Snap!
Cyclops' body went limp in her grip.
"No!" Jean screamed, bolting upright from the operating table.
A shockwave of raw energy pulsed outward, shaking the walls around her.
"Jean, calm down! You're safe!" A familiar voice cut through the chaos, firm yet soothing.
Jean's frantic gaze darted to Professor X. "Professor, you're... alive?"
Her breathing slowed as she spotted another figure behind him—Ethan.
A wave of relief cooled the fire in her veins.
"You just had a nightmare. We're all safe," Professor X reassured her, his voice laced with calm.
Jean shook her head, gripping the table's edge. "No, Professor. If I don't stop the Phoenix, that nightmare could become real."
"The Phoenix inside you broke free of its restraints, but Ethan managed to weaken it. Right now, it's too drained to resurface," Professor X explained.
"That gives us time to reinforce the psychic barriers."
Jean's eyes darkened.
"That won't work. You sealed it before, and it always breaks free. It's only a matter of time. The truth is... you should have let me die when the dam collapsed. I'm a danger to everyone."
She clutched her hair, despair creeping into her voice.
"That's nonsense." Ethan, silent until now, crossed his arms.
"Even if you'd given up, do you really think a flood could've killed you?"
Jean swallowed hard, unable to answer.
"That being said, I agree on one point—you can't keep sealing the Phoenix away, Professor." Ethan's gaze sharpened.
"You reinforced the seal once already, and it nearly cost you. Didn't you fall right into Stryker's trap after overexerting yourself?"
Professor X sighed, regret heavy in his eyes.
"The first seal was placed when Jean was a child. The Phoenix wasn't fully developed yet, making it easier to contain. Now... my power isn't enough to hold it back. But even a weak seal is better than nothing."
"Is it?" Ethan challenged. "Mutants already have it hard enough. Why suppress a level-five mutant's power when we need all the strength we can get?"
Professor X's brows furrowed. Magneto had said the same thing before.
"You don't understand, Jean isn't like the others. She struggles to control her power. She's dangerous—"
"Because you made her that way!" Ethan cut in.
"Professor, you of all people should know what the Phoenix really is. Mutant abilities are part of our DNA. You spent years repressing Jean's instincts, and that repression created something even worse—a second personality, warped and unstable."
As of now, Professor X and the others have no idea what the true nature of the Phoenix is, all they know is that she's a second personality of Jean that personified absolute power and destruction that Professor X tried to suppress.
Ethan couldn't just blurt out that a literal cosmic bird responsible for the creation and destruction of the universe is inside of Jean... Who would believe him? And if they did believe him, how would he explain how he knows about it?
Professor X remained silent, his face etched with sorrow.
He had treated his students like family, especially his first recruits—Jean, Scott, Ororo.
He had done everything to protect Jean.
But maybe... maybe he had only made things worse.
"You're right," he finally admitted, voice heavy. "This was my mistake."
"I'm not blaming you," Ethan said seriously.
"You made the best choice you could at the time. But now, we need a new solution."
Professor X regarded him, considering. "And what do you propose?"
Ethan paused for a second.
"Wait," he said to them as he left, only to come back not a minute later, with a book in hand,
"Magic."
Professor X sat up straighter, intrigue replacing resignation. "Magic? I'm confused..."
"I wasn't supposed to tell these to you guys, but considering the nature of our situation, I guess it's only logical to tell it. Magic is real."
Professor X and Jean looked at him with unamused eyes, causing him to sigh,
"Sorcerers. Individuals capable of manipulating different kinds of energies, universal, dimensional, etc. There is an organization in this world that protects the mundane from anything magical while remaining hidden from the public's eye for millennium,"
Professor X and Jean widened their eyes, seeing Ethan serious expression, took them out of their stupor.
Ethan, seeing their expression nodded.
"Unlike mutants, who are born with abilities, sorcerers tap into supernatural energies from other dimensions. But there's a catch—while they gain power, they are also at risk of corruption depending on the dimensions that they tap into. That's why every sorcerers must test their mind and will before tapping into these foreign energies, less they loss themselves from its power."
Professor X's eyes widened slightly as realization dawned.
"And the Phoenix inside Jean is... it like the foreign energy that they learn to tap into?"
Ethan snapped his fingers. "Bingo. Who better to teach her controlling her powers than those who use them every day for literally anything?"
He flipped open the notebook, revealing intricate symbols.
"This is a meditation exercise that can help you from tempering your will and mind. Jean, if you practice this, it could help."
Jean hesitated, staring at the strange markings. "I don't know anything about magic. How long would it even take to learn?"
Ethan chuckled. "With your psychic strength? Shouldn't take more than a few months."
Jean bit her lip, considering.
But Ethan's voice turned firm. "And don't worry about the Phoenix trying to take over in the meantime. If it does, I'll reason with it... or, you know, use physics."
Jean blinked, then let out a soft laugh. "Thank you, Ethan."
He grinned, though beneath it, concern flickered—not for Jean, but for himself.
Lately, he had studied his parents' notes, trying to grasp magic.
But no matter how hard he tried, he struggled to cast even a single spell properly.
Why?
Lack of talent?
Impossible—The Ancient One herself had acknowledged his potential.
So why was he stuck?
Next time he saw her, he would demand an answer.
Lost in thought, Ethan barely noticed Professor X watching him closely.
"Ethan," the older man finally said, "how exactly did you come across magic?"
Professor X wasn't against Ethan learning magic—if anything, he welcomed anything that strengthened his students.
But after narrowly escaping Magneto and Stryker, one thing was certain.
He was tired of people trying to steal his students.
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Word count: 2029
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