Incoming Attack!

Back on Earth!

The air was shimmering with heat and psionic energy as the last ripple of Jean's telekinetic wave flattened the edge of the training plateu.

Shards of obsidian-like stone were dislodged by the force of her blast, scattered across the ground and over the cliffside. The simulation drones that had been used to monitor and help her with training were now molten debris, smoking.

"Did that feel good?" Maxim asked as he stared at Jean, who was slowly floating gently back to Earth, her hair billowing like it was caught in a gust of wind.

A faint trade of Phoenix Flames were flickering across her shoulders, a scenario that always occurred when her adrenaline surged as she still didn't have it under full control.

However, after a couple deep breaths, the flames dimmed.

Across from her, Maxim was standing and watching her with his arms crossed and his classic unreadable expression. He had stood back during most of the training session, using his powers to analyze her state and only stepping in when necessary.

Jean lowered her hands, breathing steadily, "Yeah, that did feel better," she said finally, brushing strands of hair from her damp forehead, "Cleaner. Like the power is listening to me more now."

Maxim gave a slow nod, stepping toward her as the destroyed drones were automatically swept off the plateau by ANGEL's distant hover-drones, "It is. You're commanding it, not just reacting to it. The Phoenix Force is always responding best to clarity of purpose, and you're beginning to realize yours."

Jean looked down at her fingers, then turned her gaze outward toward the distant sea. The sun had begun to dip low, painting the horizon in rich oranges and blood-rose reds. 

"You're a better teacher than I expected," she said with a crooked smile.

"I'm the best teacher you've had," Maxim said dryly, and for a moment, Jean laughed.

They sat on the edge of the plateau in silence for a while, feet dangling off the side, watching as the sun crept lower behind the clouds. The heat was thick, but comforting. In the stillness, the air seemed to carry unspoken truths between them.

Eventually, Maxim broke the silence.

"So," he said casually, flicking a pebble off the ledge, "when are you going to talk to Charles?"

Jean's smile faded. She didn't look at him, "I don't know."

"You do," Maxim replied, his voice soft, but insistent, "You've known since the moment you learned what he did. You've just been avoiding it."

Jean's lips pressed into a line. She sighed, folding her arms over her knees, "It's not that simple."

"It is," Maxim said, "He tampered with your mind. He sealed away something that was part of you. Worse, he tried to justify it by saying it was for your own good."

Jean's expression darkened, not in anger but in frustration, "He raised me. He taught me to control myself. He was there when no one else was. If I go to him now, if I confront him like this… I don't know what I'll say."

"You're afraid of what you'll do," Maxim said gently.

She looked at him, "I'm afraid of what I'll feel."

Maxim nodded slowly, his eyes never leaving hers, "You're stronger than you think. You always have been. That's why the Phoenix chose you in the first place. But you can't move forward while dragging chains behind you."

Jean looked away again, "I'm just… waiting for the right time."

"And how will you know when that is?"

"I'll feel it," she whispered.

There was a long pause between them and the suddenly, Maxim got an alert from A.N.G.E.L, asking him to head back to the command centre for something important.

"Then I hope you don't wait too long," Maxim said, standing, "Because time is not our ally."

Jean rose as well, dusting off her hands as they quickly moved back to the City.

They split up once arriving in the city as Maxim head to the command centre, the gleaming doors sliding open with a low hiss as he stepped inside.

"Maxim," A.N.G.E.L said as she noticed his entrance without preamble, "You need to see this."

Maxim crossed the chamber and stepped into the command ring, "I got your ping. What's going on?"

A.N.G.E.L brought up a three-dimensional projection of Madripoor, then zoomed out rapidly to encompass Earth's orbit, then the system, and finally the galaxy. "Approximately sixty-one minutes ago, the outer psionic perimeter surrounding Madripoor began experiencing focused pressure. Not brute force, more like precise probing. Intermittent, high-frequency scans targeting the metaphysical layer of our shields. Psionic in nature. Highly advanced."

Maxim's eyes narrowed, his tone low, "Who's responsible?"

A.N.G.E.L turned her gaze to him, data flowing like rivers across her skin, "Unknown. The signal origin lies beyond the galactic edge. Too distant for immediate triangulation. It is not Earthly in nature, nor Kree, Skrull, or even Asgardian. The technology does not match anything in any Earthly archives."

Maxim tilted his head slightly, the pieces beginning to stir in his mind "How far beyond the edge?"

"Far enough that the signal has traveled through several gravitational clusters to reach us." A.N.G.E.L responded.

Maxim exhaled slowly and stepped away from the holograms, thinking. The room dimmed slightly, mirroring the shift in his focus.

"Someone's hunting us," he murmured. "Not Madripoor. Me. No, Jean."

He paced silently, drawing connections in his mind. Psionic signal. Far beyond the galaxy. Advanced probing. Telepathic. Coordinated. It wasn't any of Earth's usual threats. This was something older, more alien.

The Phoenix.

It had to be. It had barely been a few days after the Phoenix Force had woken up, and suddenly an alien civilization was probing exactly where she was? It had to be connected.

He paused before a blank wall and gestured. A fresh screen blinked into existence, and he immediately began listing known cosmic powers and civilizations that had historically interacted with the Phoenix Force in the comics.

From the Kree, the Brood, the Celestials, the Watchers…

And then he realized, one word that made his jaw tense, a civilization that had all the motivation to do this.

Shi'ar.

A.N.G.E.L, still watching him closely, raised a brow. "Have you determined the most likely source?"

"Yes," Maxim said, voice clipped. "It's the Shi'ar Empire. They have a long history with the Phoenix. They try to destroy it every time they sense it."

He stepped forward, fingers flying across the air as he wrote down everything he remembered about the Shi'ar Empire from the comics.

"D'ken Neramani. The Majestor. The Empire would constantly try to kill Phoenix Hosts. In the comics, his sister worked with Professor X to dethrone him." Maxim said to himself.

A.N.G.E.L flickered again, zooming in on the outer shield readings. "They've stopped their scans now, but the last attempt caused a spike in dimensional friction across the psionic lattice. I've already begun reinforcing it."

Maxim's gaze lingered on the now-stable readings, "They're testing us. Seeing what kind of defenses we have. They'll escalate next. Probably a stealth team. Assassins. It's how they operate."

He turned toward the nearest console and brought up Madripoor's civilian protection grid, reinforcing it with a new security protocol keyed to non-Terran psi-signatures.

"Alert Jean," he said, "Quietly. Don't spook her. But I want her watched at all times. And I want a contingent of drones with full stealth sensors shadowing the palace for the next seventy-two hours."

"And what if they're already here?" A.N.G.E.L asked, her voice low.

"They're not," Maxim said, "If they were, I'd have felt them. Absolutely no-one enters this place without my knowledge. But they will be here soon."

But they will be."

He paused again, fingers twitching near his temple, his senses stretching outward into the Mindscape. His awareness brushed the edges of the wards he had carefully laid across the island, solid, unyielding, reinforced by the Mind Stone itself. And yet something had pressed against them like cold fingers scraping glass.

And somewhere far away, among the stars, ten armored warriors slipped from warp-space like black blades, streaking silently toward Earth.