At this moment, a swirling orb of energy shone in the void—half red, half white.
Lin Fan stood just ten meters away from the Dark Phoenix, and he was closing in fast. Unlike Jean Grey's calm yet strained stance, Lin Fan pushed forward without pause.
Each step he took brought a heavier clash between the demonic energy inside him and the raw power of the Phoenix Force. It was like ink spilling into the sea—small at first, but capable of changing everything.
Lin Fan had made his move.
He was going to drain the Dark Phoenix—not by overpowering her in strength, but by wearing her down. His own demonic power, limitless in its own right, was being used to slowly exhaust the Phoenix Force.
Though the Phoenix is nearly infinite, using it across dimensions places an enormous mental strain on the host. And while the Dark Phoenix is a powerful and paranoid entity with unmatched willpower, even it has a limit.
And when that willpower breaks?
The Phoenix Force becomes unclaimed. Jean Grey and the Dark Phoenix would both fall unconscious—leaving the Phoenix vulnerable.
That was Lin Fan's goal.
---
With five meters left between them, a flicker of fatigue crossed Jean's face.
At four meters, her glowing eyes dimmed.
Three meters—her face grew gaunt, sunken from the pressure.
At two meters—her eyes closed completely.
Then—
BOOM.
Lin Fan surged forward, piercing through the final stretch of space between them. He now stood directly in front of the unconscious Dark Phoenix.
Her mind was gone. Both Jean Grey and the Phoenix persona had fallen silent.
But the Phoenix Force still burned fiercely around her.
Lin Fan knew—this was his chance.
He raised his hands like claws, reaching toward the blazing aura surrounding Jean's body. Then came a blinding flash—the Demon Light Cannon roared to life, and Lin Fan began ripping through the Phoenix's defensive shell.
There were no more barriers between them.
---
Two searing beams of white light burst from Lin Fan's eyes, lighting up the void. They pierced forward like twin blades, reaching Jean Grey's unconscious form.
To absorb the Phoenix Force, Lin Fan had to connect to it on a psychic level. The Phoenix is a force of will, not just power—and to tap into it, a mental bridge had to be built.
That's where the Mind Stone came in.
Using its influence, Lin Fan forged a link between his soul and the Phoenix.
The connection was made.
"The Phoenix Force…" he muttered.
The beams of light turned from white to a glowing crimson. The Phoenix Force began to move—drawn from Jean Grey's body and into Lin Fan's own cells.
His Majin cells—demonic, ever-evolving—latched onto the cosmic energy, pulling it in.
They weren't just absorbing it.
They were changing.
Under the power of the Phoenix, Lin Fan's body transformed. Every muscle fiber compressed and tightened. The density of his cells increased. His entire form began shifting under the heat of rebirth.
On his back, a flaming Phoenix tattoo appeared—its wings stretched as if ready to soar.
A faint phantom of the Phoenix itself hovered behind him.
Meanwhile, Jean's Phoenix aura grew weaker—fading visibly with each passing second.
Lin Fan had entered the peak phase of devouring the Phoenix Force.
The red energy surrounding the two of them swelled larger and larger until it could be seen from Earth. From the planet's surface, it looked like a second sun had appeared in the sky.
---
On Earth, a young girl sat in her stroller, staring upward.
"Mom! Look!" she said excitedly. "The moon turned into the sun again!"
She pointed toward the sky with a big smile, her blond hair catching the sunlight.
But her mother wasn't smiling. Her eyes were wide with fear.
She clutched the cross around her neck and whispered a quiet prayer.
"O merciful Lord, forgive us. Calm your wrath, and I shall praise you all the more."
To her, that second sun was no miracle.
It was judgment.
---
Scenes like this unfolded around the world.
The second sun—blazing, red, and unnatural—threw the entire planet into chaos.
People panicked.
Online theories spread like wildfire.
Doomsday Prophecies
Meteor Impact Theories
Alien Invasion
The Second Coming
Double-Star Cosmology
The world was in shock.
---
Meanwhile, back at the Xavier Institute—the school for mutants where all this began—a Quinjet descended onto the lawn, scorched black by earlier Phoenix flames.
The jet's hatch opened.
Several heroes stepped out, clad in armor and combat suits.
Iron Man.
Captain America.
Spider-Man.
Hulk.
And others.
The Avengers had arrived.
And they were ready.
---