The Shi'ar Galaxy (Earth designation: M33), near the D'Bari system…
Infinity.
She was known by many titles and nicknames.
The most popular of them were — depending on the person or entity thinking of her at the time — the "God(dess) Who Walks Amongst Men," the "First Child of the Seeker's Forge," the "Cosmic All" or simply the "Infinite One."
All those titles were — in their own way — correct.
But all twenty-six people — twenty-five Yizibajohei and one Terran — who had been given the First Gift of the Great Crystal of Power/Forge of the Seekers over the last two thousand years Earth-time had always known…they were something else.
THAT aspect of themselves could — in some ways — be seen as truly god-like.
Which is why those who became a living incarnation of Infinity were normally very laid-back people with generally peaceful, merciful and simply KIND natures that — as one Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore just said of the current incarnation of the Infinite One — would never really hurt a fly in the long term.
One simply HAD to be that way.
Being Gifted with the power to literally warp Reality Itself to one's mental command was to be master to a Gift that could shatter the COSMOS if it got out of control.
Besides — as Kasuga Ayumu would say it — doing THAT would really unleash a "bleh" day for all the innocent sentient beings in range of such an event.
So under normal circumstances, Infinity NEVER did something like that.
That ALSO meant that others who COULD do that normally faced her in a fight scene.
Like what was about to happen now…
Near the fourth world of D'Bari…
"Lord Praetor."
The grey-skinned leader of the Imperial Guard of the Shi'ar perked on hearing that polite voice, and then he turned to gaze on the captain of the battlecruiser that was carrying him and many of his friends through this allied system of the Imperium. "Yes, Captain, what is it?" Kallark of Strontos — known to friend and foe alike as Gladiator — then asked as he gave the younger Shi'ar a polite smile.
An apologetic smile came back to him. "As I said when you and your friends came aboard the ship, we are more than honoured that you are here. But I have to confess to basic curiosity as to WHY you asked us to come to this system, Lord Praetor."
Gladiator chuckled. "I myself am curious as to why, Captain."
Captain Kythran Jubčr blinked. "Excuse me?"
"We are here because Oracle has stated we should be here," the leader of the Imperial Guard stated as he waved to the pale grey-skinned humanoid woman nearby, who had placed herself with her friends off to one side of the ship's bridge so as to not interfere with operations. "She has sensed a powerful force coming this way from the direction of the X-Men's home planet and fears something terrible might happen. As was reported by the Starjammers after the incident with the M'Kraan Crystal, there are metahumans and paranormals on Earth with less-than-honourable intent towards their fellow humans."
"They seek to attack us?" the battlecruiser's first officer demanded.
"Perhaps. But this should NOT be seen as a reflection of the attitudes of Terrans as a whole," Gladiator cautioned. "Their society is still not politically or culturally united. While they possess powerful technology in their own right — and are quite chock-full of metahumans and paranormals, the chief of which being the Last Son of Krypton himself! — they have yet to really break out into space and begun settling colony worlds beyond their solar system. What is worse, there are many local powers around Earth that would seek to either control them or destroy them if they ever DID break out into space." A sigh. "If we ever intervened there…"
The people on the bridge — both the ship's crew and a dozen members of the Imperial Guard — all nodded. While the Shi'ar were a warrior race and had conquered many other worlds as they expanded their domain over the years and centuries, they also knew the horrid price such actions unleashed, especially on the weak and defenceless. Atop that, honour was a virtue amongst those who served the Imperium…and NO ONE in the Imperium, from the Majestrix Lilandra Neramani on down, would EVER forget what the group of naturally-born metahumans calling themselves the X-Men had done months before to prevent the mad Majestor D'Ken Neramani from unleashing the power of the M'Kraan Crystal on a universe that was not ready to have a NEUTRON GALAXY unleashed on it!
"Captain!"
"What is it?" the captain demanded of his chief sensory officer.
"New contact! A meta-humanoid just warped into the system," Horvath Éluke stated as he keyed controls at his station. "Bio-scan states she's Terran in origin. Moving to cross-match with known Terran metas…" A pause. "Oh, Sharra and K'ythri…!"
"What?!" Gladiator demanded.
The poor man was now as pale as a ghost. "The Phoenix…!"
Closing in on the D'Bari star…
She was the Child of Light and Darkness.
The Heiress of the power of the Nexus of All Realities.
The Queen of the White Hot Room.
She was Phoenix.
And right now, she was hungry.
And here was this nice G-type star close to the planet holding the M'Kraan Crystal, all available for her to consume and recharge herself.
Wonderful!
As the fiery image of her namesake formed around her, the being now in the physical form of a Terran woman christened Jean Grey could only smile.
Finally, she was FREE!
Free of those disgusting mental restraints her human-self had imposed on her since she had come to this galaxy some months before to deal with a fractured M'Kraan Crystal.
Free of those disgusting human morals and virtues imposed on her by her human-self.
Free of the hate, the prejudice, the need to disguise herself from her "fellow men" who almost always saw her as a freak of nature and kill her at the first opportunity.
Free of even HIM!
Free of EVERYTHING that had made Jean Grey the woman she was!
And it simply felt WONDERFUL!
But in doing that, she had been drained of energy.
Time for a little pick-me-up.
As she dove upon the D'Bari star so she could cause the core to begin an accelerated fusion process which could give her a massive boost of energy — and coincidentally cause said star to nova, but that was not relevant — Phoenix could only grin.
"Lunchtime…!" she purred…
…before a hand snared her by her right gauntlet…
…and she found herself PITCHED millions of kilometres AWAY from D'Bari!
Nearby…
"Second meta-humanoid contact!"
"Who?!" Gladiator demanded.
"Unknown, Lord Praetor! Bio-scan indicates she is also Terran, but…" A gasp. "Sharra and K'ythri…!" Éluke then exclaimed. "Mesonium…"
"A Jewel Warrior?!" the captain demanded, recognising the term used for the highly-dense transuranium element that was often seen as the "atom of the mind and soul."
"No, Milord Captain! A Jewel Warrior reads as a concentrated source of mesonium mated to a host humanoid body! This being has enough mesonium infused in her body to create over a DOZEN Power Jewels! And the energy she is producing…!"
"What?" Gladiator stated.
Éluke looked up. "It is as she was Galactus himself!"
Everyone on the bridge froze on hearing that…
Even if she was the Phoenix, there were certain things she still viewed through the human lens forced on her by the life of Jean Grey.
She wanted to have a meal.
There was a star waiting for her to consume.
Nice and simple.
Being pitched at HYPERSONIC speeds AWAY from her meal was NOT part of that equation!
Especially after colliding head-on with a class C planet akin to Mercury — it was the innermost of the D'Bari system worlds — at speeds that would crush a normal human!
Oh, yes.
That would simply NOT do!
As Phoenix shook her head of long, wavy red hair, she moved to look around, reaching out both with her enhanced eyesight and her telepathy to try to find who had been so RUDE as to literally THROW her right into a planet's surface!
That had HURT!
"Who dares…?!"
"Jean-chan…"
She blinked on hearing that voice call out to her in Japanese with a strong Ōsaka-ben accent, and then she turned to look behind her and up…
…to gaze into the face of a mere CHILD floating some metres off the ground.
"Infinity…" Phoenix spat out in contempt…
Approaching D'Bari I…
"The Infinite One…?"
"I believe so, Captain Jubčr," Vril Rokk of Borrim — known more commonly as Smasher — stated. "There are legends amongst my people — and of others throughout the Imperium — of a being the equal of the Devourer of Worlds that was said to hail from a planet that either IS the Forge of the First Race or orbits the Forge. And because of that, such a being would inherit a power even GREATER than any Jewel Warrior we know of or can imagine. But to become such a being, one must be a kind person." He then gazed on the woman called Oracle, born on the planet Shabsai. "Sybill, is this one…?"
"Yes, Vril," Oracle replied as her pale eyes teared. "A Terran girl from a land called 'Japan' — a land similar to your own Yusāru, K'ne…" — she gazed on K'ne Kiro, the red-skinned blonde horse-like humanoid called Hussar — "…that was found by a countryman her age and taken to the Forge…" She squeezed her eyes closed. "Oh, Eternity…such a beautiful soul, she has…and yet…"
"Yet what?" Gladiator asked.
A sigh. "Something is unlocking within her, Kallark…"
"Now, Jean-chan! WHY are you trying to eat a SUN?!"
Hearing that question, Phoenix smirked. "I'm hungry, girl!"
Infinity's eyes slightly narrowed; the only visible sign that the Goddess Who Walked Amongst Men was being more than just a somewhat spacey girl from Kansai now living in Tōkyō. "So what?! You could've chosen stars that DIDN'T have any planets orbiting them! Especially ones that are INHABITED! Look there!" she then bade, pointing.
Phoenix looked towards D'Bari IV…and then snorted. "So what?"
A sigh. "Jean-chan, look! Galan-kun's already got a bad enough rep for going out and consuming PLANETS with sentient species living on them! You want THAT?!"
"I don't CARE!" Phoenix snarled. "Ever since I merged with this pathetic human girl, I've been locked down and restrained by things that are NOT me! I HATED IT!" She then chuckled. "Then dear Jason Wyngarde came along and unlocked them, not even BEGINNING to suspect what he was doing or what he was doing it WITH! That was so nice of him! Pity he couldn't tolerate the gift I gave him for what he did for me!"
"Ya fried his brains out?!" Infinity demanded as her own mind picked up the image of the mutant hypnotist Jason Wyngarde (Mastermind) lying comatose on the floor of one of the upper levels of the Hellfire Club mansion in New York City. "That was mean!"
"Perhaps! But I'm BEYOND such petty thoughts now!" the other being thundered. "I am FIRE! I am LIFE INCARNATE! I am the PHOENIX! NOW STAND ASIDE, GIRL!
"I HUNGER!"
Energy exploded around her, the wings of her fiery namesake reaching up from the planet to the hapless star millions of kilometres away…
…before a bubble of pure white light exploded outward to CONSUME it!
"Sharra and K'ythri preserve us…!" Jubčr gasped.
"The Infinite One…the Cosmic All…"
Everyone on the bridge turned to stare wide-eyed at Oracle…
"Okay…I was being NICE!"
Phoenix — who had just been nearly ripped apart by that blast of whatever-it-was the other girl had struck her with — collapsed to the planet's surface some distance away from Infinity, whose brown eyes were now glowing with pure white light. As the Avatar of the Nexus of All Realities turned to stare wide-eyed at the other girl — which, when they had first encountered each other over a year before in Scotland when Infinity had come to help the X-Men deal with Moira MacTaggert's mutant son Kevin (Proteus), she had assumed was just a glorified psychokinetic with an even-sunny disposition — the Goddess Who Walked Amongst Men then smirked.
That smile had no humour in it.
"But I guess all my previous incarnations were right all along," Infinity stated, her own voice now booming like a raging typhoon crashing into a rocky shore. "Sometimes, there are just heels that gotta be put down like rabid canines!"
On feeling the FULL power of this being slowly pulse out from her body, Phoenix then shuddered as she staggered back, primal FEAR clawing up from her heart.
She was…
This was…
No…!
No!
NO!
"Ya wanna brag?! Fine, I'll brag!" the woman — born in one aspect as Kasuga Ayumu…and in another aspect as the immortal spirit of the omnipotent beings that were known to some alive today across the Universe as the First Race, the Seekers — then said as a wave of energy began to flow out of her body. "You call yourself Fire?! Life Incarnate?! I gotta news flash for you, Phoenix! That is just a very TINY bit of the sum of EXISTENCE Itself! You come from the Nexus of All Realities?! I AM All Reality! I am Life, Death, Fire, Ice and Endless SPACE and EVERYTHING IN-BETWEEN ALL OF THAT!
"I AM INFINITY!"
And as the Infinite Wave exploded, she then sighed.
"And you are NOT Jean Grey!"
Before Phoenix could teleport away, the Wave then slammed into her…!
"Gone!"
"Eh?! Jubčr gasped as he looked over. "What do you mean?!"
"Milord Captain! The Phoenix is GONE!" Éluke exclaimed. "Totally GONE! I…!" He then blinked as a new reading came over his systems. "Wait! It's still…!"
He stopped again. "What is it, Horvath?!" Jubčr demanded.
The younger officer looked up. "Milord Captain, the energy of the Phoenix has been TRAPPED within a crystal of pure mesonium I believe the Lady Infinity created! It bears the same type of composition as the M'Kraan Crystal itself! If that is so…!"
"Are you saying that the Phoenix AROSE from the Crystal?!" Gladiator demanded.
"I believe so, Lord Praetor! Given what Majestor D'Ken tried to do…!"
Silence fell as the people there considered that. "All the legends of the Phoenix Force are true!" Xyst Zharon of Stygos — known more commonly as Neutron — exclaimed. "We were FOOLS to trust such a creature even if it DID stop D'Ken from…!"
"ENOUGH!"
Everyone jolted before gazing on Oracle. They then all gaped on noting that the grey-skinned woman was in tears. "What is it, Sybill?" Gladiator asked as he moved to comfort.
"I overheard the Infinite One say something to the Phoenix before she trapped that thing, Kallark," Oracle stated. "That she was NOT the Terran woman Jean Grey that the other X-Men believe her to be! I sense…" She then blinked. "Oh, Fates…!"
"What?!" Smasher demanded.
A sniff. "Before we met them…the X-Men were in a terrible battle against those who fear them because their powers were natural gifts," Oracle stated. "In that battle — fought on a space-station over Earth — they were forced to flee in a shuttle that had no shielding against a solar storm that was coming. Jean Grey — the REAL Jean Grey! — used her powers to protect her friends and pilot the machine back…
"And when she was about to die…the Phoenix came for her."
As Oracle broke down and wept, Yatin Mazz, the Litzgabite matter-phaser known more commonly as "Astra," then gazed at her friends. "Who will tell the X-Men?"
The others exchanged looks as we…
Read the comments on this episode
(Posted Sat, 31 Mar 2012 22:23)
Questions? Problems? Suggestions?
Send a mail to addventure@bast-enterprises.de
or use the contact form.
らんま1/2 © Rumiko Takahashi
All other series and their characters are © by their respective creators or owners. No claims of ownership of these characters are implied by the authors of this Addventure, or should be inferred.
The Anime Addventure is a non-profit site.