The lab was a disaster zone, a blend of high-tech gadgets, magical prototypes and half-finished experiments strewn across every flat surface. Lily stood in the middle of it all, her arms crossed tightly over her chest, lips pressed into a thin line that could've rivaled a thundercloud in intensity. James, ever the optimist, was grinning like a kid who'd just been told he could skip school for a week—right before his parents found out about the massive mess he'd made. Sirius, for his part, was lounging in a chair like he had all the time in the world, twirling a small device between his fingers like it was the latest fidget spinner.
Harry, standing off to the side, leaned against the workbench, arms crossed and eyebrow raised as if he were watching a slow-motion train wreck unfold. "You two seriously have no sense of subtlety, do you?" he muttered, a sarcastic grin spreading across his face. "Mini black hole bombs, pocket dimensions—are you two trying to get us all disintegrated?"
Lily whipped her head around at Harry, her eyes narrowing to slits as she shot him a look that could freeze time itself. "Not now, Harry," she snapped, her voice smooth but filled with the kind of quiet fury that made most people rethink their life choices. "We've got bigger problems than your sarcasm."
Harry pushed off the workbench, standing up straight. "Bigger problems? Like what?" He threw his hands up in exasperation, his grin still there but now tinged with genuine concern. "Fury's on his way, and I'm betting anything he's already in a mood. We've got black holes and dimensional rifts lying around, and you're worried about me being snarky?"
James, ever the man of charm and questionable decisions, grinned wider, clearly unbothered. "Ah, Harry, you worry too much," he said, clapping him on the back in a gesture that was both reassuring and deeply unsettling. "We've got everything under control. Fury won't even know what hit him."
Lily's eyes were now daggers, aimed squarely at James. "James," she said, her voice a lethal whisper. "Do you realize that Fury is already steaming about the cryogenic chamber incident? You're about two seconds away from turning his mood from 'mildly irritated' to 'nuclear meltdown.'"
Harry, feeling the need to lean in and save them all from imminent disaster, imitated Fury's voice with perfect precision, his tone dropping several levels into an exaggerated version of the famous growl. "Did you idiots really create black hole bomb?" Harry bellowed, hands on his hips, stance mimicking Fury's in the most ridiculous, over-the-top way. "You had one job, Potter! ONE JOB! And then you go and create this—" he waved a hand around the lab, "—a portable black hole? Really?!"
James, still wearing that grin like a badge of honor, blinked, unphased by Harry's Fury impersonation. "Come on, Harry. It's not like we made a black hole big enough to swallow the whole world. It's more like—what—pocket-sized destruction? Just a little mini-apocalypse for your convenience. Fury should be impressed by our efficiency."
Lily, who was now channeling the vibes of a mother trying not to strangle her children in public, clenched her fists. "Impressed? James, the man is going to implode on us the moment he finds out what you've been messing around with. And that's if we're lucky. If not? He'll probably just lock us all in a room with him for 'motivational talks'—you know, the kind where he yells and makes us feel like we're about to be escorted to the nearest volcano."
Sirius, who had been twiddling a small glowing orb as if it were the most fascinating thing in the room, finally looked up. "Okay, okay," he said, his grin still firmly in place. "So, Fury's a bit of a... volcano when he's pissed. But, honestly, what's the worst that could happen? We hide the bombs, stash the dimension-jumping stuff, and pretend nothing happened. I'm sure Fury won't find out. I mean, we've got shields, invisibility cloaks, and, uh—creative distractions."
Harry looked at him, raising an eyebrow. "Creative distractions? Like what, a dance party? Because, spoiler alert: Fury does not do 'fun.' He does 'intense interrogation' and 'ruthless fury.' Literally. It's in his job description."
James held up his hands in mock surrender. "Alright, alright! We'll hide the bombs. Jeez, no need to make it sound like we're preparing for the end of the world. It's just a couple of little experiments. Pocket-sized, remember?"
"Yeah, 'pocket-sized,'" Harry repeated, dragging the words out sarcastically. "Sure. Just like how 'subtle' is Dad's middle name."
Lily gave Harry a sharp look. "Now's not the time for your sarcasm, Harry. We've got to hide these things fast before Fury decides to find out what else we've been up to. We need to be quick. And for Merlin's sake, don't make any more 'creative distractions.' We're trying to survive here."
James smirked. "Well, you can't say I didn't try, right?"
"Try harder," Lily shot back, her eyes flashing with the intensity of someone who had been pushed to the brink. "Now, move, before we end up on Fury's 'most wanted' list."
Sirius, still grinning like an impish angel, grabbed a couple of the most obviously dangerous-looking gadgets, tossing them into a drawer. "Fine, fine," he said with a dramatic sigh. "We'll hide our dangerous toys in the deepest, darkest corners of the lab. Out of sight, out of mind. Just don't expect me to stop inventing next time, Lily."
Lily's lips curled into a sweet, too-polite smile. "I'm not asking you to stop inventing. Just... maybe use a little bit of common sense and, I don't know, maybe keep the world-killing tech to a minimum?"
James gave her a wounded look. "But Lily, where's the fun in that?"
Harry sighed, rubbing his temples. "Why do I feel like the universe is conspiring to make me the responsible one in this situation?"
"You've always been the responsible one, Harry," James said, his voice warm with affection. "It's why we need you here."
Harry paused, looking between the two of them. "Yeah, well, I was hoping I wouldn't need to save your hides from Fury. But here we are."
Lily smirked at him, finally relenting from her motherly glare. "You'll manage. You always do."
As the team scrambled to stash their dangerous creations, Harry took a deep breath, glancing at Lily. "You know, I really hope Fury has a sense of humor. Because if he doesn't, we might all end up in a world of trouble."
Lily raised an eyebrow. "If he doesn't, at least you won't have to deal with us anymore."
Harry's grin returned. "Fair point. I'd rather face Fury's wrath than deal with this mess on my own."
And with that, the team rushed to hide their chaos—knowing full well that no matter how much they cleaned up, the real storm was about to hit the moment Nick Fury walked through that door.
—
James and Sirius were in full panic mode—or as close to it as two overconfident pranksters could get without actually admitting to panic. The lab was a mess of bubbling potions, misplaced parchment, and several inventions that should've probably come with a warning label. Oh, and a black hole bomb. You know, just your average Wednesday morning.
"I swear, this is going to be fine," James muttered, eyes darting between the cluttered workspace and the door as though it were an escape route. "Just... a little tight squeeze, that's all. We've got this under control." He grinned, but the kind of grin that suggested he was a tiny bit more hopeful than confident. "It's just like hiding stuff in a drawer... except it's a magic drawer, and the stuff's... well, it might be dangerous. But hey, details, right?"
Sirius was busy shoving a large, wobbly contraption into the cabinet, his hands moving with the precision of someone who'd lost track of how many pranks they'd pulled off in their life. "Exactly. What could go wrong?" He paused to look up at James, eyes glinting. "I mean, we've gotten out of tighter situations, right?"
Lily—because of course she was standing at the door, arms crossed like a proper angry general—gave them a look that could probably freeze the sun in the sky. "Really? This is how you're hiding the black hole bomb?" Her voice was as sharp as her stare, and she was standing there like she'd just walked into an arena of chaos that she had no part in, but was very much about to fix.
James tried to act casual, even though the cabinet was now threatening to explode from the inside. "It's perfectly safe, Lil. Honestly. Look at the angle here. If I just—"
"If you don't stop talking about angles," Lily interrupted, "we're all going to meet Fury's wrath and that black hole bomb is going to be the least of our worries." She took another step forward, eyeing the cabinet like it was about to self-destruct any second. "James, do you ever think about consequences?"
James opened his mouth, but the response died on his lips when Lily gave him a pointed glare that could've stripped paint off a wall. Instead, he rubbed the back of his neck, shooting a helpless look at Sirius.
Sirius—being Sirius—shot back a grin that would've convinced anyone he was about to steal all their socks. "Hey, don't stress, Lil. You know what they say: life's a prank, and if it's not a prank, it's probably on fire." He winked and gestured dramatically to the cabinet. "This, my dear, is just part of the master plan. You don't need to see the genius at work. You just need to trust it'll all explode in the right direction."
Harry, who had been quietly observing the chaos unfold, muttered under his breath from his perch by the table, "Yeah, explode is the key word here. I've seen how these two handle 'plans.' It's a 50/50 chance of 'success' or 'total disaster.'"
Lily, without missing a beat, shot him a look that had the subtlety of a sledgehammer. "Glad you're on the same page, Harry. You might want to start a betting pool on how quickly we'll all be evaporated."
Sirius held up his hands in mock defense. "Okay, okay, before we all get super paranoid about the black hole bomb, I think we need to use this." He pulled out a tiny vial of green liquid, shaking it in front of them like it was the holy grail of last-minute solutions. "Time stop potion. We take five minutes, hide everything, and then poof, Fury walks in and thinks we're all just over-caffeinated geniuses."
Lily's eyes widened in disbelief. "Is that—"
"Yep," Sirius said with the pride of a cat who just knocked something off a shelf. "Time stop potion. Completely foolproof. We freeze time, hide the evidence, and then everything's back to normal. Fury will be none the wiser."
James gave Sirius a theatrical salute. "My hero. This is genius." He patted him on the back so hard that Sirius nearly fell into the black hole bomb. "Why didn't we think of this sooner?"
Lily narrowed her eyes, clearly weighing her options. "You two never think things through. Honestly, I—"
"Where's the fun in that?" James cut her off with a dramatic flourish. "If we spent all our time worrying, we wouldn't be living on the edge, Lil. You know you love it."
Sirius nodded enthusiastically, like he was trying to convince her they were merely misunderstood artists. "Exactly. You're just not appreciating the delicate balance of chaos and bad decisions we're creating here. It's an art form."
Lily wasn't convinced. She crossed her arms again, exhaling sharply. "You two are impossible. But fine. Do this," she pointed at the vial in Sirius's hand, "and if anything goes even slightly wrong, I'll transfigure you both into bunnies. And I'm not talking about cute, fluffy bunnies. I'm talking about the ones that bite."
Sirius's expression froze. "Bunnies?"
Lily didn't flinch. "You'd be amazed how terrifying bunnies can be when you've been in my shoes long enough."
James, ever the optimist, flashed a grin at Lily. "Ah, yes. Terrifying bunnies. That's the real nightmare, isn't it?"
"Trust me, you don't want to find out," Lily warned, though there was a hint of amusement in her tone. "You've got five minutes to make this work. Otherwise, I'm changing your name to Thumper."
Sirius's grin spread like wildfire. "You're not that cruel, Lily. Now, let's get to work, yeah?"
With that, he uncorked the vial with a flourish, and for a second, everything in the lab shimmered, as if the air itself was stretching out, pausing for a dramatic effect. Time froze. Not a breath moved. Not a single molecule dared to carry on its usual business.
"Alright," Sirius said, looking around with exaggerated confidence. "We've got, like, what, five minutes? That's more than enough to stash everything and look like we're totally innocent, right?"
Lily exhaled a frustrated sigh, though her eyes still sparkled with the sort of mischief that only someone as exasperated as she was could muster. "Fine. But the moment Fury walks through that door, you two are going to be on your best behavior. No more explosions. No more chaos. I swear, I'll transfigure you both into bunnies and leave you in a field to fend for yourselves."
"Deal," James said quickly, already grabbing random items and shoving them into cupboards as if he had no concept of what he was putting where. "You know, I'm starting to think this whole time-freezing thing could be pretty handy for, you know, taking over the world or something."
"No." Lily's tone was deadly serious.
As the seconds ticked away, James and Sirius, as usual, found a way to make the whole thing a bigger mess. But it was their mess, and if it meant surviving Fury, well, they'd somehow make it work—mostly by sheer luck.
And if it all went south? They'd always have the option of turning Fury's wrath into a blooper reel.
"Let's just hope this plan doesn't blow up in our faces," Harry muttered.
Sirius grinned. "Oh, Harry. If it does, that's the fun part."
—
The med bay was eerily quiet. Not the "you're-waiting-for-someone-to-jump-out-and-scare-you" kind of quiet, but the "someone's-about-to-ask-you-for-your-opinion-on-the-meaning-of-life" kind of quiet. The soft beeping of machines punctuated the stillness like some sort of robot Morse code. It was only broken by the occasional rustling of papers—because apparently, even in the middle of a top-secret government mission, paper still exists.
Andromeda Tonks was staring at the patient in front of her, a cool professional mask on her face. Well, that was mostly because she was trying really, really hard not to think about how the last time she'd been in a medical room like this, it had involved a lot more blood, a lot more screaming, and a lot less Kryogenically-frozen women trying to figure out how to punch Hydra in the face.
Erica Hayes. The name was almost as cool as her attitude. She was sprawled out on the bed, her body twitching like a cat who'd been thawed out of a deep sleep. Yeah, super fun, right? Ten years in cryogenic stasis, and now she's awake, ready to… what? Kick Hydra's ass? Sure, let's go with that.
Andromeda's eyes narrowed as she hovered over Erica, her hands moving over the girl's body with the practiced ease of someone who'd been doing this for years. Her fingers brushed over Erica's temple, just enough for the Legilimency spell to take root. The magic flowed like an invisible current, weaving into Erica's thoughts—just enough to check if Hydra had implanted any mental suggestions, triggers, or some kind of brainwashing. Spoiler alert: Andromeda was pretty sure Hydra didn't know who they were messing with when it came to her mind-reading skills.
"Vitals look good," Ted Tonks, her husband, chimed in. His voice was calm and steady—perfectly suited for a medical expert who wasn't freaking out at the sight of someone who had been frozen for ten years. His dark eyes darted to the monitors, tapping a few buttons like he was some sort of wizard with tech. He didn't even need to make eye contact with the machines anymore. They just obeyed him.
Andromeda gave a slight nod but kept her focus. "Still, this... this could go sideways in a second." Her fingers flexed. "Hydra doesn't play fair."
Ted gave her a look, as if to say, "You're the one who told me to stop being so dramatic." But then he returned to checking Erica's vitals, muttering, "Her brain's the bigger concern. Cryogenic stasis is great for freezing her body, but it doesn't exactly preserve her mental state. Could be a ticking time bomb in there."
The cold reality of what Ted just said didn't hit as hard as Andromeda's concern for what might have happened inside Erica's head during her long, frozen hiatus. It wasn't just about her physical health. She could be a walking weapon, but if Hydra had gotten to her mind, there was no telling what kind of power they could still wield over her.
Erica shifted on the bed, groggily blinking as her eyes darted from one face to another. The realization hit her a second later like a bucket of cold water: she wasn't in the freezing chamber anymore. She was—gasp—out of the ice!
And, of course, her first words were as dramatic as you'd expect from someone who'd just been thawed out after a decade of cold storage. "Hydra... They'll pay for what they did," she muttered, her voice hoarse, but the fire behind it was unmistakable. "I'm gonna rip them apart."
Her fists clenched, and Andromeda winced inwardly. Well, at least we know she's awake, Andromeda thought dryly.
Ted, with all the tact of someone who'd spent years working with the chaos of magical patients, cleared his throat. "Yeah, uh, not just yet, love. First, how about we make sure you're not a walking ice cube with anger issues, yeah?"
Andromeda shot him a quick glare before refocusing on Erica. She was barely holding herself together, but Andromeda could sense the raw emotion—the burning desire for vengeance. What she didn't sense was the telltale signs of Hydra's influence. No whispers, no hidden programming. Just a whole lot of pissed-off girl who'd been screwed over and wanted payback.
So, naturally, Andromeda whispered to herself, "No brainwashing, no Hydra puppeteer strings. Just pure, unfiltered rage." She gave Ted a quick glance and subtly nodded. No red flags.
Meanwhile, across the room, Natasha Romanoff was leaning against the wall with her arms crossed, her eyes never leaving the action. The woman was basically a professional at looking like she wasn't doing anything but was actually absorbing everything that was happening in the room.
"Anything?" Natasha's voice was barely a whisper, a slight dip in her tone betraying how much she did care about the answer.
Andromeda shot her a reassuring look, then subtly shook her head. No Hydra involvement. No evil brainwashing. Just a really, really mad girl who'd spent ten years freezing her butt off. "She's clean," Andromeda said softly. "She's not a weapon. They tried to make her one, but they failed."
Across the room, Peggy Carter, who had been silently watching the whole thing, nodded. She was a woman who took her time, but her gaze was piercing, the kind of look that told you that she didn't miss anything. "We'll need to ease her into it," Peggy said, her voice steady and firm. "She won't be much use if she can't control that rage. Vengeance is a powerful thing, but it's also a dangerous one."
Erica blinked again, as though her brain was still catching up. She had no idea who these people were, but they were definitely not Hydra. "Who are you people?" she rasped, her voice still shaking from the long hibernation. "Where's Hydra? I need to... I need to—"
"Slow down, kid," Natasha said, her tone gentle but pragmatic. "First, you need to focus on not breaking anything in here. Then we can talk about Hydra."
"Yeah, getting your revenge doesn't really work when you're still recovering," Peggy added, ever the pragmatist. "Start with a plan, then get revenge. Otherwise, you might just wind up getting yourself killed."
Erica gave them both a look, a flicker of doubt crossing her features. But she wasn't backing down. "Fine," she muttered, looking like she was still trying to figure out if she was being played or not. "But once I'm ready? Hydra won't know what hit them."
"That's the spirit," Peggy said with a small smile, giving Erica's shoulder a gentle squeeze. "We'll make sure you're ready."
"Yep," Natasha added with her own smirk, "we've all got retribution on our minds. But it's all about the execution." She paused for a second, clearly satisfied with her pun, then leaned back. "And besides, we'll make sure you don't do anything stupid while you're at it."
Ted, from his corner, finally spoke up. "I'll get the equipment ready for the next round of tests. But it's going to take time, okay? Rest first, then we'll talk about your revenge mission."
Andromeda's eyes softened slightly, but she couldn't help but smile. "We're here for you, Erica. Every step of the way."
And as the others stood around, the quiet hum of the med bay enveloping them, Erica Hayes realized something. For the first time in ten years, she wasn't alone anymore.
And maybe, just maybe, that was the first step to kicking Hydra's ass.
—
The problem with geniuses—and this was a universally acknowledged fact—was that when you put too many of them in one room, they tended to forget that the rest of the world wasn't running at 300 IQ with a built-in caffeine drip.
Case in point: Tony and Howard Stark.
Right now, father and son were fully in the zone, lost in their own personal science-fueled argument as they rapidly decrypted Hydra files, which JARVIS helpfully translated at lightspeed. They were moving at such a ridiculous pace that even Steve Rogers—who had fought in World War II, been frozen for seventy years, and still kept up with modern tech—looked like he was considering a timeout. Bucky Barnes had already checked out and was just leaning against the nearest workbench, arms crossed, watching the chaos unfold with mild amusement.
Gideon Adler, meanwhile, looked like he was enjoying a private show. He had that slight smirk on his face, the kind that made you wonder if he was silently judging you or just plotting something mildly nefarious for fun. (It was probably both.)
"Alright, let's break this down," Tony said, waving at the holo-screen in front of him like it had personally offended him. "Hydra gets their hands on a super-serum they didn't make themselves. The scientists who did make it—Erica Hayes' parents—were good people, so naturally, Hydra decided to kill them, steal their research, and then fail spectacularly at recreating it. Classic Hydra."
Howard sighed, rubbing his temples. "It's worse than that, son. The Hayes couple weren't just scientists—they were brilliant. Decades ahead of their time. And they saw Hydra coming a mile away, so they built in a safeguard. The serum is locked to Erica's DNA. No clones, no copies, no mass production."
Steve frowned. "So they tried to copy it and failed?"
"Oh, they tried," Howard confirmed, pulling up a file labeled FAILED CLONING ATTEMPTS – HIGHLY EXPLOSIVE.
Bucky, who had dealt with more than his fair share of Hydra nonsense, frowned. "If they couldn't mass-produce it, why not just—" He hesitated. "—clone Erica?"
This was a perfectly reasonable question. Unfortunately, it was being asked in a room with two Starks.
What followed was a verbal explosion of science jargon so convoluted that the lab itself seemed to vibrate under the sheer force of nerd power. Words like epigenetic sequencing, quantum enzyme degradation, and molecular resonance instability filled the air, to the point where even JARVIS sounded like he was struggling to keep up.
Rhodey, who had just walked in alongside Moody and Alexei, took approximately three seconds to decide he'd had enough. He smacked the nearest surface—a Stark-tech table that immediately responded, "Error: Unidentified user aggression detected. Recalibrating."
"Alright, time out," Rhodey said, rubbing his forehead. The leg braces Tony and Howard had built for him were a miracle of engineering, but breaking them in was a pain, and listening to the Stark duo do synchronized mad science at midnight wasn't helping. "Some of us weren't born into a family of certifiable lunatics. Dumb it down."
Howard huffed. Tony sighed. Then, in perfect unison:
"The serum is bonded to Erica on a fundamental level."
Rhodey gave them a look.
Tony rolled his eyes and really dumbed it down. "Trying to clone her results in an unstable product. And by unstable, I mean boom—lab gone, everyone dead unstable."
Bucky, whose history with Hydra was already enough of a nightmare, paled slightly. "Yeah. Okay. Bad idea."
"Very bad idea," Tony agreed.
Moody, arms crossed, let out a snort. His magical eye whirred as he scanned the room, landing on the files Stark was scrolling through. "So let me get this straight—Fury told you not to open the cryo chamber, and instead of listening, you cracked it open like a bloody Christmas present?"
Tony grinned. "Yes, sir."
Moody's expression darkened. "And now we're learning that Hydra's entire master plan for a new super-soldier fell apart because two decent scientists were smarter than them?"
"More or less," Howard said.
Alexei roared with laughter. "Ah! Classic! Hydra thinks they are gods but are always beaten by people with brains! This is why they are biggest idiots in history."
Gideon chuckled under his breath. "A little harsh, but not inaccurate."
Moody, still unimpressed, jabbed a finger at the holo-screen. "Right. And what did Hydra do to her after all their failures?"
The room went silent.
JARVIS, ever the world's most polite AI, answered in the same smooth tone one might use to inform someone they had a package at the door. "Cross-referencing decrypted files with known Hydra conditioning protocols. Results indicate that young Erica Hayes was subjected to extensive psychological indoctrination and experimental modification in an attempt to create a fully obedient asset."
Steve's jaw clenched. "They tried to weaponize her."
Moody's grip on his cane tightened. "Bastards."
Howard exhaled slowly, running a hand through his hair. "That girl didn't just survive cryo—she survived years of them trying to break her. And if she's still got her own mind after all that?" He gave a small, tired smirk. "Then Hydra failed again."
Tony folded his arms. "Yeah. And now, we make sure they never get another shot at her."
Rhodey clapped him on the shoulder. "Then let's get to work. I assume there's a plan?"
Tony smirked. "Oh, Rhodey. When don't I have a plan?"
Howard sighed. "I can think of at least ten times—"
"Dad. Not now."
Moody snorted. "If Fury doesn't kill you lot first, I'll be shocked."
Tony grinned. "Bring it on, Eyepatch. He wishes he was as good at breaking rules as me."
The war against Hydra wasn't over. But tonight? Tonight, they had a win. And with Erica waking up, the real fight was about to begin.
—
Meanwhile, Back in Kamar-Taj…
If you've ever wondered what it's like to study magic while sharing a room with three teenage girls, let me save you the trouble: it's chaos. Absolute, spell-slinging, hair-color-changing, indoor-thunderstorm-level chaos. And yet, somehow, the Ancient One thought this was a good idea.
Jean Grey, Ororo Munroe, and—don't even think about calling her Nymphadora—Tonks were supposed to be studying. Supposed to be.
Jean sat cross-legged on the floor, her red hair catching the dim candlelight as she glared at the ridiculously thick tome in front of her: The Eternal Cycle: Understanding the Phoenix Force. The book had major "I know things you don't, and I'm going to be really vague about it" energy, and Jean wasn't thrilled. Every few pages, she found something that basically translated to: Hey, so you might end existence by sneezing too hard. No pressure.
Ororo was curled up on her bed, gracefully flipping through Fundamentals of the Mystic Arts with the kind of calm that suggested she actually enjoyed this. Every now and then, the candles flickered or a soft breeze rustled the pages, which was an Ororo thing. Because, you know, when you're literally a weather goddess, your mood controls the atmosphere.
And then there was Tonks.
Tonks, who was currently upside down, legs hooked over the back of a chair, staring at A Novice's Guide to Dimensional Manipulation like it had personally offended her. Her hair—currently electric blue—shimmered and shifted to an aggressive red as she groaned.
"This is so boring," she announced dramatically, letting her book fall onto her face. "Why do we need to read about magic? Can't we just, I dunno, do magic?"
Jean, who was on page 247 of How Not to Accidentally Ignite the Universe, did not look up. "Because if we just start 'doing magic' without knowing how it works, someone's going to open a portal to the Dark Dimension." She flipped a page. "And then Dormammu gets cranky."
Ororo smirked. "Wouldn't want that."
Tonks, flipping herself right-side-up with the grace of someone who absolutely had not been paying attention in balance training, grinned. "I could take him."
Ororo didn't even look up from her book. "The same way you took on that levitation spell yesterday?"
Tonks gasped. "That wasn't my fault! The book said to channel your intent into the spell."
Jean did look up this time, giving her a deadpan stare. "Your intent was to 'make it float a little.' You launched it into orbit."
Tonks waved a hand dismissively. "Details."
Ororo let out a quiet chuckle and turned another page. "It's not that bad, Tonks. This book is actually pretty interesting."
Tonks flopped dramatically onto her stomach. "For you, maybe. You and Jean get all the cool magic. I get stuck with 'Basic spell formations and how not to explode yourself.'" She sighed heavily. "Jean's over here studying the Phoenix Force. That sounds cool."
Jean snorted. "Yeah, super cool. Did you know I've already destroyed a couple of galaxies in past incarnations?" She tapped the book with her finger. "Like, actual, real-life 'whoops, there goes an entire solar system' kind of destruction. This thing keeps calling me a cosmic firebird with god-tier annihilation potential."
Tonks blinked. "Wait. You have?"
Jean gave her a look. "Not me me. Phoenix-me. Past-life-me. Apparently, I'm technically all of them at once, because time doesn't work the way we think it does when you're a cosmic entity." She exhaled, rubbing her temples. "Which is a really fun thing to learn when you're just trying to get through your homework."
Tonks whistled. "Yikes."
Jean nodded. "Yeah. Big yikes."
Ororo leaned over, glancing at the book. "But it says you have control, right?"
Jean hesitated. "Technically, yeah. But it also says the Phoenix is me, and isn't me, and also exists outside time, and maybe is time? It's… complicated." She closed the book with a thump. "Basically, if I lose control, bad things happen. If I stay in control, slightly less bad things happen."
Tonks propped herself up on her elbows, grinning. "Sooo… the fate of the universe depends on you getting a grip?"
Jean groaned. "You're so good at making it sound worse."
Ororo smiled, shaking her head. "You'll be fine, Jean."
Jean wasn't entirely convinced, but she appreciated the vote of confidence.
Tonks, however, had already moved on. She sat up, her grin turning mischievous. "You know, we should totally test some of this stuff out."
Jean and Ororo immediately exchanged a look.
Ororo: "No."
Jean: "Absolutely not."
Tonks pouted. "You guys are no fun."
"Correction," Ororo said, turning back to her book. "We enjoy living."
Jean chuckled, shaking her head, while Tonks sighed dramatically and flopped onto her back.
For now, the trio went back to their reading.
But knowing Tonks? It was only a matter of time before something exploded.
---
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If you're passionate about fanfiction and love discussing stories, characters, and plot twists, then you're in the right place! I've created a Discord server dedicated to diving deep into the world of fanfiction, especially my own stories. Whether you're a reader, a writer, or just someone who enjoys a good tale, I welcome you to join us for lively discussions, feedback sessions, and maybe even some sneak peeks into upcoming chapters, along with artwork related to the stories. Let's nerd out together over our favorite fandoms and explore the endless possibilities of storytelling!
Click the link below to join the conversation:
https://discord.com/invite/HHHwRsB6wd
Can't wait to see you there!
If you appreciate my work and want to support me, consider buying me a cup of coffee. Your support helps me keep writing and bringing more stories to you. You can do so via PayPal here:
https://www.paypal.me/VikrantUtekar007
Or through my Buy Me a Coffee page:
https://www.buymeacoffee.com/vikired001s
Thank you for your support!