Phoenix

The Phoenix gently soared through the empty void of space on wings born of cosmic flame. But as the primal force of creation journeyed valiantly through uncharted regions of the cosmos, the mind of its mortal host — the Omega-level telepath called Jean Grey — was adrift amid thoughts of her home planet. Earth.

It had been years since Jean had left her fellow Mutants behind on Krakoa, traveling to the far reaches of the galaxy to share the Phoenix’s spark of creation with worlds in need. But even though it had only been a relatively short time, especially when compared to the Phoenix’s epic lifespan, it still felt like an eternity since Jean had last seen her old friends. At first, she had maintained her telepathic rapport with her paramour, Scott Summers, as a way to retain a bit of her own humanity. But that bond was suddenly severed when a temporal storm ripped across reality. After that unfortunate event, try as she might, Jean could no longer contact any of her allies on the living island she had once called home. It was as if they had simply vanished into the timestream… and not even the all-powerful Phoenix could find any traces of them.

Despite all evidence suggesting that the X-Men were lost and gone forever, Jean never gave up faith that her Mutant brethren would one day return. And finally, years later, that spark of hope within her had ignited into a flame as bright as the Phoenix Force itself. Just days ago, in the silence of deep space, Jean was shocked to hear a familiar voice echo in her mind. There was no mistaking that it belonged to Magneto, and it uttered a phrase she had longed to hear for ages:

“To me, my X-Men.”

Spending so many years bonded to a force of nature as old as the universe itself, Jean had learned firsthand that time worked in the most mysterious of ways. So it didn’t really surprise Jean that the source of that voice was coming from seventy light years further than the distance between her and Earth. Had Magneto and Krakoa been teleported to the far reaches of the universe? Or had they somehow jumped forward decades into the future? Jean didn’t know… but she knew she had to find the answer.

Reaching out across time and space with her mental powers, Jean was soon able to confirm her suspicions. Somewhere in the future, Krakoa had finally returned. And along with it, many of her dearest friends. Ororo. Erik. Illyana. Emma. And Logan! But where was Scott…? Jean vowed to find out and wasn’t willing to waste another second. She spread the Phoenix’s flaming wings and changed her trajectory, heading straight toward the planet of her birth. But the universe, it seemed, had other plans…

Before she could make any progress toward Earth, the Phoenix alerted Jean of an impending crisis on the other side of the galaxy. A massive star was dying, and it was up to the Phoenix to revive it before it was fully extinguished. Billions of lives on the surrounding planets hung in the balance, so a proper welcome home for her Mutant brothers and sisters would have to wait just a little longer.

As soon as the Phoenix reached the fading sun, both she and Jean felt an icy chill run through them. They could immediately tell that this star wasn’t dying due to natural causes. Its brilliance was being snuffed out by an external force, almost as if a dark, unseen hand was trying to crush the star’s light within its grip. Jean had never felt anything like it before… but the Phoenix had, eons ago. There was a dark god, born at the dawn of existence who had sought to extinguish every flame in the cosmos — from the stars to the Phoenix herself. He called himself the King in Black. But others knew him as Knull.

As the Phoenix spoke Knull’s name, Jean could feel her partner shudder. And that made Jean shudder as well, since she had never felt anything akin to fear in the Phoenix Force before. But she knew that they couldn’t let fear stop them from their current mission. There were innocent lives on the line. Without hesitation, Jean dove into the very heart of the sun, calling upon the full fury of the Phoenix to reignite its plasma. In the process, the dark tendrils that had ensnared the star were incinerated. In a split second, Jean had saved dozens of inhabited worlds, just as she and the Phoenix had done together on so many occasions over the years. But there was no time to celebrate. If Knull had indeed returned, the Phoenix warned, then a single star system meant next to nothing compared to the death and destruction he could cause. If Knull had his way, every species in this reality would soon be on the brink of extinction.

Jean Grey wasn’t about to let some self-proclaimed king unleash his reign of terror on the universe. The Phoenix agreed, telling Jean about Knull’s last known whereabouts — the world known as Klyntar. What was once Knull’s greatest creation had ironically become his eternal prison when his own symbiotic offspring trapped him within the planet’s core. Since the universe hadn’t already been completely shrouded in his darkness, it was likely that Knull was still there, subtly spreading his influence as he worked on a way to finally escape.

Klyntar was light years away, but fortunately, the Phoenix knew a short cut. The Divine Space was a plane of reality that only those with vast cosmic power could access and traverse. The Phoenix entered this ethereal realm with ease, but soon realized that she and her host were not alone. There, within the sacred plane, was a gathering of god-like beings, each of them bearing the stench of Knull’s oblivion. Somehow, he had corrupted these majestic beings, and they had taken refuge in the Divine Space. But had they gone there to escape Knull’s influence or to plan their next attack in their dark lord’s name? The Phoenix soon had her answer.

“You burn with the fury of a million suns,” growled Bast, the Wakandan Panther Goddess. “You do not belong in our master’s glorious oblivion. Your flames must be smothered!”

“I’d like to see you try,” Jean Grey said with a smile.

As the Phoenix let out a cry that echoed through the Divine Space, Bast lunged at the firebird with her claws bared and her jaws open wide.

“You will be extinguished!” Bast roared, her claws slashing straight through the Phoenix’s fiery wings.

“I am fire and life incarnate,” the Phoenix responded, her voice echoing from her host while her wings instantly reformed, as if Bast had never touched her at all. “Today, only the darkness shall be burnt away.”

Summoning every remaining ounce of her strength, the Phoenix released a burst of cleansing cosmic flame that washed over Bast and the other dark deities, instantly purging the corruption from them. Bast licked her wounds, but then joined the grateful gods as they bowed in reverence to the Phoenix. Reborn anew, they departed the Divine Space to return to their home pantheons.

Jean Grey and the Phoenix were now alone and exhausted. Either of their recent acts of heroism would have been more than enough to diminish their power significantly, but performing both of these epic feats back-to-back had reduced the Phoenix’s dazzling flames to a mere flicker. If they hoped to reach Klyntar with enough might to take on Knull, Jean knew that they needed to rest and recover. Luckily, the Divine Space was more than just a cosmic shortcut. This realm was also teeming with primordial forces that would help restore the Phoenix to her full glory in nearly no time at all.

As she floated in this peaceful plane, Jean closed her eyes and let her mind drift once more. But this time, she wasn’t sensing her friends back on Earth. Instead, thanks to the strange energies flowing through the Divine Space, she found herself catching brief glimpses of the past, the present, and… the future? A strange image formed in her mind, as real as anything she had ever experienced before. She was enveloped in a flood of scarlet energy — a raw, chaotic power that seemed to somehow simultaneously oppose and compliment the Phoenix Force. She could feel the Phoenix fighting against it at first, but eventually embracing it. The two forces reached a perfect balance, condensing into a burning scarlet crown that perched on Jean’s head.

Jean’s eyes shot open, and she reached up… but even though she could still feel the weight of the scarlet crown, it was gone. Even so, Jean knew that this had been more than just a dream. It was a vision of what was to come. And though she didn’t know exactly what it meant, she had a feeling that she would find out soon enough.

Jean didn’t know how long she had been lost in this dream state. It could have been mere moments or countless days. But in that time, the Phoenix Force had thankfully been restored to full power. Without a word shared between them, they exited the Divine Space together, leaving a glowing trail of celestial fire in their wake. They would have to reach Klyntar soon if they wished to stop Knull… and they would have to hope that no one with motives less noble than theirs reached that world before they did…