The air crackled with tension as Lin Fan faced Jean Grey. Even unconscious, the potential of the Phoenix Force within her hummed like a sleeping dragon. He could feel it—raw, untamed power just waiting to be unleashed.
Before he could reach her, the ground shook. Colossus landed like a meteor, his metal body gleaming under the dim light. Without hesitation, the massive mutant wrapped his arms around Lin Fan in a crushing grip.
Lin Fan sighed. "You guys never learn, do you?"
With a single, casual punch, the air itself seemed to rupture.
CRACK!
Colossus's indestructible frame shattered like cheap tin. Metal fragments rained down as Lin Fan stepped through the wreckage, his boots crunching over twisted steel. Jean lay motionless ahead, her red hair splayed across the dirt.
"Stop."
The voice was weak but firm. Professor X struggled to stay upright, his face pale with exhaustion. "You don't have to do this. We can—"
"Talk? Negotiate?" Lin Fan cut him off with a dry laugh. "You've been hiding the truth from her for years, Charles. You don't get to play the peacemaker now."
He raised the Infinity Gauntlet. The Mind Gem pulsed with an eerie yellow glow.
The older X-Men members tensed. The younger ones just looked confused.
"You don't understand what you're doing!" Professor X shouted, desperation creeping into his voice. "If you awaken that power—"
Lin Fan ignored him. He pressed the Gauntlet against Jean's forehead. The Gem's energy slithered into her mind like liquid lightning, tearing through decades of mental barriers.
Memories flooded in.
A car ride. The blaring horns. The crushing weight of noise in her skull. Then—screaming metal, breaking glass. Her mother's lifeless eyes.
Jean's eyes flew open. They weren't green anymore. Just endless black.
"I killed her," she whispered, voice trembling. "It was me."
Lin Fan leaned closer. "No. It was the power they made you fear. The power they locked away." His voice dropped to a whisper. "But you don't have to be afraid anymore."
Something inside Jean snapped.
Heat exploded outward. Her hair ignited, strands twisting into living flames. Wings of fire erupted from her back, scattering embers across the battlefield.
"JEAN!" Cyclops' scream cut through the chaos.
Too late.
The ground split open. A pillar of fire erupted skyward, twisting into a monstrous tornado. The air itself screamed as molecules were torn apart. Trees, debris, even light—everything near the maelstrom dissolved into nothingness.
Lin Fan stood at the center of it all, untouched. The flames parted around him like he was carved from stone.
A slow smile spread across his face.
"Now we're getting somewhere."
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