29. Avengers Assemble

"-Imagine what they can do if they work together."

Those were the words Hope heard Stark say to the Captain about her and Wanda. As reluctant as the young mutant messiah is in working with the Scarlet Witch, she has to if she wants to save the world.

'It's almost time,' she hears Iron Fists' voice in her head.

Hope looks to Wanda as the older woman does the same. They both nod at each other in determination and understanding. Right now it's not about them, but the rest of the world.

As they both tense up and prepare to jump in when told to, Hope's mind wanders to what will happen if she's still not ready to inherit the Phoenix Force. Will it find someone else? Someone who frankly will do worse than Scott and them did?

She shakes her head and tries to reassure herself, 'I am ready. I've been ready. I've been training my whole life for this.'

Those words give her pause as she recalls the last time she said those words out loud. Doubt begins to deep into her.

'Now!'

Her musing is cut short when she hears Cap shout in her head. She and Wanda travel down to a crater that had just gotten made when Nova tackled Cyclops out of the sky with the force of a shooting star.

The cosmically powered mutant rises from the crater with his hand around the young Nova's throat.

"How pathetic," Scott says to him, "Did you honestly think your power can actually contest with the power that can destroy whole galaxies in an instant?"

"Actually," Hope says as she cracks her knuckles in her palm while she mimics the Phoenix force power, "I think he was just making sure you stayed for the real party to get started."

Cyclops turns in time to receive a chaos energy blast to the face courtesy of one Wanda Maximoff. Hope then charges in and punches him just as Maximoff stops her attack. Another blast of energy followed by a punch to the face and the possessed X-men leader staggers back.

The two mutant heroes continue their assault with such synergy that Cyclops is having difficulty finding an opportunity to counter them. The flames of the Phoenix flicker on and off as his mind begins to clear.

'I wanted to make the world better than it was.'

"Avengers Assemble!"

He hears a shout before he feels something knock him upside his head.

'To see my children, my friends, my people live in a world where instead of facing scorn and resentment, they would use their gifts to make the world a better place to live in.'

He tries to shake himself out of his daze but then feels three metal knives, that he knows very well who they belong to, slash him across his chest. He heals almost as quickly as it happens but the pain lingers for some reason.

'Where did I lose track of that?'

He feels some energy hit him square in the chest and gets sent back a few paces. He opens his eyes and looks up to see Iron Man was responsible for the attack.

'Did I forget why I set out to do this in the first place?'

"P-Please," Scott tries to call out, "Please kill me before I-"

'Or was this the only inevitable outcome?'

"GRRAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!"

The entire landscape around him catches on fire. The heroes that were attacking him ceased their advance and shield themselves from the intense heat.

Hope tries to power through by going down on her knees and grabbing the ground with one hand while using the other to cover her face. As she does so, doubt begins to seep into her again. She sees how dangerous the power of the Phoenix is. How easily it can corrupt even the best of men.

'It's my destiny to inherit it,' she thinks to herself as she clenched her fist and attempts to power through. She tried to mimic both the Phoenix and Wanda's power to attack Cyclops, but the power keeps flickering on and off in her hand.

'Why can't I do this!?' Hope thinks to herself, 'I've done it before! Hell, I've been doing this since the battle started!' Worry begins to seep in now. Is she still not ready? Is this a sign that she can't yet handle the power of the Phoenix? If that's the case will she ever be ready for it?

"Hope."

She hears a voice call out to her. The rushing winds in her ears begin to stop as the world starts to slow down.

"Hope."

That voice again. A very familiar voice, calls out to her. An ethereal image begins to form and she cannot believe who she sees.

Spider-Man. Standing right in front of her. She is stunned silent.

"Hope, you must go to the Dagobah system."

Aaand stunned silence is gone. And her shocked expression is replaced with one of annoyance.

"Okay," she says as she gets up from the ground, "at first I thought Scott or my mind were playing tricks on me, but I don't think either one is capable of coming up with something this genuinely annoying."

Spider-Man looks to the leader of the mutants, "Well Scott has no sense of humor. Even after years of knowing me," Hope rolls her eyes at his boast before he gestures to her, "As for you, I've never even seen you smile."

The young mutant messiah crosses her arms, a little offended at the statement, before she asks, "Where did you come from?"

"Blame my parents."

"I meant how are you here?"

"Well when a boy and a girl love each other very much-"

Hope angrily asks, "I meant how are you alive again!?"