A few days later,

Val, Mystique, and Charles were sitting in his office in the X-Mansion.

"So, this guy is supposed to be the world's first mutant?" Charles asked while staring at Apocalypse's photo in his hand, which Mystique took.

"Yep," Mystique answered while drinking some tea. "That's what the records found said.

"So how is he a threat?" Charles asked.

"He wants to form a new religion," Val said after gulping down the fresh tea from his cup.

"A religion? What religion is that?" Charles asked.

"His own religion, of course," Mystique answered.

Charles was confused and asked, "Which god will be worshiped in this new religion?"

"Himself", Mystique answered.

Now Charles looked really surprised. He said, "But isn't that blasphemy?"

"That's exactly what Apocalypse wants," Val answered.

"How can he do that?" Charles asked.

Val answered, "Power, of course. He has the power to kill every single person on this planet. He was a Pharaoh thousands of years ago and was worshiped like a God because of this power. So, he's developed a hardcore God complex since then. Whoever bows their head and worships him, they get to live, and those who refuse die."

"That's insane," Charles said, his voice full of disbelief.

"That's Apocalypse for you," Val said.

"And if we don't do anything, he'll destroy the whole world," Mystique added.

Charles sighed and massaged his forehead. He placed the photo on the table and murmured, "Why do these problems keep popping up? Every other day, something new. This time, it's a psychotic ancient mutant. Just when I thought we had time to relax."

"Problems?" Val laughed and teased, "What do you mean 'problems'? What do you need to do other than teach kids? You have the easy job here, Charles."

"Easy?" Charles said, "How is teaching a kid to control her world-ending powers 'easy'? I have to work hard on that."

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"A kid with world-ending power? What?" Val asked.

"Her name is Jean Grey. She's 15", Charles sighed and answered.

"Jean Grey?" Val repeated and thought, 'Ohh! So, she has finally reached here.'

"What happened?" Mystique asked.

"Ohh, nothing," Val shrugged.

Mystique and Charles stared at Val.

"I was just thinking about something," Val said.

"What did she do?" He asked Charles, who simply pointed at the small destroyed part of the school, which was being rebuilt, and said, "She did that. A few days back."

"Ohh!" Val said, asking, "How did that happen?"

"Her powers went berserk for a third time. Last time, it was during her sleep. Miraculously, nobody was injured. A few windows broke, and some part of the building was damaged a bit."

"And what happened to her?" Mystique asked.

"The first two times, I put her to sleep by telepathy. But I couldn't enter her mind the last time, and she lost control completely. Her body was lit up in flames. I tried to read her mind, but something was blocking me. It was something powerful. So powerful, in fact, that when I tried to push through it, a huge wave of telepathic energy pushed back against me, and I was knocked out. When I woke up, Hank told me she had fallen unconscious seconds after me. I tried to read her mind then and managed to enter. Whatever was blocking me before wasn't there now. She was okay, and there was no sign of any mental block."

Val listened to Charles and calmly sipped his tea while thinking, 'Jean's body was lit up in flames? Charles couldn't enter her mind? Something was blocking him? Something powerful that pushed him back and knocked him unconscious? Sounds like the Phoenix Force is already inside her. Interesting!'

Val's eyes glowed golden a little as he continued to listen.

"She woke up a few minutes after I did. She was scared, of course. And she apologized for everything. She's a good girl. It's not her fault, of course. She didn't ask for these powers, and we can't blame her for not knowing how to control them."

"You should probably teach her to control them before something terrible happens. And something terrible will definitely happen if her powers keep going berserk like this", Mystique suggested.

"I am trying. That's exactly why I can't leave now. If I do and she loses control again, nobody could put her to sleep, and the whole school would be burned down, " Charles said.

"Then you can send me. I can help her, too. I'm pretty good at controlling my powers.", Val said.

"Yes. That would be helpful. Having Starlance as her teacher would increase her confidence. She's a little depressed lately since she can't make friends because of her lack of control. Her classmates avoid her. They say she's a monster, but they don't know she's just a kid. They don't know that she has her own problems, " Charles said.

"Good.", Val said.

"Thanks, Val," Charles smiled.

"No problem," Val said with a smile and turned his attention to Mystique, quietly enjoying her tea.

"What's going on in S.H.I.E.L.D?" He asked.

Mystique took one last sip before placing the empty cup on the table and answering, "I'm glad you asked that. Director Carter issued special orders to the level 8 and above agents for the Apocalypse situation. They're not supposed to reveal these orders to anyone. But, whatever the orders are, it has gotten them panic-stricken. They are ordering the low-level agents. Everything is chaos in the headquarters. I have never seen them so afraid. The agents who were on break are being recalled. Even the ones who had been on a mission are being called back. Something big is going to happen. And it will happen soon."