[Aron's first person POV]

  I am at Xavier's school after 1 month as promised. Beside me were, Jean, Kitty, Psylocke, Jubilee, Wanda and Pietro. I wonder if the Professor told everyohere the truth. That maniputing bastard. Sigh... I just hope the mutants there uand that I'm on their side but we were greeted at the gate by the X-Men team. Storm, Scott, Logan, Colossus, and some students stood ready. Before them was the Professor with a grim expression. They looked as if they were ready to fight.

  "Wow! Is this how you greet your old friends?" I asked with a chuckle.

  Jean stepped forward. Her eyes were on the Professor, the man who maniputed her entire life and even repced her memories with fake ones. I could feel her anger, but she was in trol of it. "Did you tell the truth?" She asked in a calm tone.

  The Professor frowned. "Yes, Jean. I told them the truth."

  "But not everything," Jean said with a hint of sadness.

  She read the minds of everyone present there like open books and so did I. Baldy only told them about trying to help Jea that power within her from taking trol and causing a big catastrophe, and he old them about what he had doo Jean's memories. Surprisingly, he removed Blink's memories of that day to prevent her from speaking the truth to all. And he old them about the data he was colleg from all the mutants, their strength, their weakness. This maniputive old bastard... I was beginning to get really pissed off.

  "You old fucker," I flicked my fingers, maniputing the iron in the Professor's blood to cripple his legs once again. "I've had enough of your bullshit."

  "Argg!" Charles colpsed to the ground and Logan caught him immediately.

  "Aron... What are you doing?" Storm asked, fused and frightened. She and everyone were looking at me as if I had gone crazy.

  I used my telepathy to show everyone present at the school the truth. Jean's memories, our versation about it, how Trask got his hands oa he was colleg and nning to use it against our kind, the development of sehat he knew, yet did nothing to stop them and many more. The people he could have saved, the crimes he could have stopped, the experiments he could have stopped and saved tless... I showed them everything. The look on X-men and the other students were horrified as they saw how the Professor lied and maniputed their trust in him for his selfish reasons.

  "I... I never knew," Logan muttered. "You... What have you done?" His eyes were on the Professor who was lying on the ground, squirming in pain.

  "Of course, none of you knew," Jean said as she looked down at the patheti before her. "A little memory manipution every now and then was enough to keep you all in line."

  "This 't be true!" Storm shouted, uo believe that the man who had been her friend for decades would do something like this.

  Emma walked towards Jean, looking her in the eye. She used her power to peek into Jean's memories, which she allowed. After a few seds, she turned around, fag the students and the X-men.

  "They are telling the truth. I see marks of mental manipution in Jean's memories," Emma said. "And on yours. At first, I thought it was to help you fet your bad memories, but... too many fake memories. It's as if he tried to mold everyoo his puppets. Some of you must feel flicted, but the truth is before your eyes."

  Storm, Cyclops, Wolverine, and the others looked shocked by her revetion. "How could he..." Storm shook her head in disbelief. "There must be an expnation. Charles...?" She looked to the Professor for answers, but the man was still writhing on the ground.

  Everyoood frozen as the truth unraveled before their eyes. Every face reflected betrayal, disbelief, and anger. I khat breaking their faith in the Professor would hurt, but it was necessary. He had to be stopped.

  However, something was wrong. I could just feel it. The Professor y on the ground, his face twisted in pain, but his expression held a flicker of something else. Fear? No, it was deeper than that... something primal, almost predatory.

  Jea beside him, her fiery red hair glowing faintly with the aura of the Phoenix Force. "You don't deserve this school's trust anymore," she said coldly.

  But then the air ged. A ripple of psychiergy shot out from Charles's body like a shockwave, washing over everyone. I felt it trying to burrow into my mind but I was immune, yet I could feel the intense power. It was not his power I could just tell, yet it had the same energy wavelength. It's hard to expin, but this power is somewhat simir to his ow wasn't his power. How is this possible? I shielded everyone's mind instantly. Emma sensing the power turanic diamond form.

  "Damn it, he's trying to take trol of them!" I yelled, my voice cutting through the rising chaos.

  Jean's head soward the Professor. Her golden eyes fred as the Phoenix Force surged, cutting off the Professor's power. "No," she growled, her voice yered with the Phoenix's ic resonance. "You will not touch them!"

  "Hahahahaha!" The Professor suddenly began to ugh loudly like a madman.

  His ughter sent shivers down everyone's spine. All the students present there who saw their respected teacher, ughing like a maniac felt something was wrong. Even Storm, Logan, Cyclops, and Colossus felt the same.

  "Hahaha!" His head snapped up, his eyes glowing an eerie, unnatural blue. The air around us grew cold, and an uling smile spread across his fae that didn't belong to Charles Xavier.

  "Mind Possession," I muttered.

  "What the hell?" Logan growled. He had drawn his cws, his animal instincts already pig up the sudden shift imosphere.

  "Ah, clever little children," a cold, feminine voice echoed from his lips, though it was distorted and inhuman. "You've pulled back the curtain, but you've only just begun to see the truth."

  "What... the hell?" uttered, raising his visor instinctively.

  The Professor's body rose into the air, his limbs hanging limply like a puppet on strings. "You think your petty rebellion against this sanctimonious fool matters? Charles was never in trol... not truly. His weakness made him the perfect vessel for me, for me. Cassandra Nova, his owwin sister."

  "Cassandra Nova?! But that's impossible. Charles said she died at birth," Storm said in fusion.

  "Dead? He tried to kill me in our mother's womb causio have a miscarriage. I was decred stillborn... dead. They threw me into the sewer, but luckily I survived and waited... Waited for years as my body grew, thanks to my mutation, while he pyed with his toy school, pretending to care for mutants. Savior from the outside, a monster from the inside. But my dear brother was too stupid, too o see the bigger picture. He was too weak. It was too easy to take over his feeble mind. Then I had a thought. Why not use this ce? I used this school and the X-Men for my own be. And I have enjoyed pying with the chess pieces so much! So many puppets to and, ahey're all too weak to matter."

  I could feel everyone's anger...

  "Charles..." Storm was the only one who still believed there must be a ce.

  "Dead," Cassandra Nova said with a cold smirk. "Long gone by my hands."

  "YOU MONSTER!" Logan charged, cws at the ready to strike, but they simply passed through her. "You killed the professor?"

  "My dear Logan, how gullible you are." The woman within Charles smiled cruelly. "Don't tell me you thought that crippled, old man was still in charge? How silly."

  "Yes, how silly," I blinked before the Prof and grabbed his throat. "...for you to reveal everything. I'm pretty sure you have uploaded your mind elsewhere as a precaution. So, it really is a waste of time to talk to you anymore," I looked at Storm and the rest of the mutants. "Tell me, what do you wao do with these mowins?"

  "Do what o be done," Storm said coldly. She wasional anymore. Her thoughts were calm. "That monster doesn't deserve to live after everything he has done."

  "That's all I o hear," I used my Phoenix Force to burn down the monster, sloainfully. And I was expeg some screams, but instead...

  "Ahahahaha! How does it feel to be betrayed by your savior? Hahahaha!" The Cassandra monster ughed, "I never cared for the X-Men, this school, and this mutant race! Hahaha, you think Trask is the only one who build those maes? Think again! Very soon all humans and mutants will bey sves. I'll bee their new God, not you..."

  "I'll find you and I'll kill you. There is nowhere in this world you hide from me," I promised with my voice resonating with the Phoenix Force.

  "We'll just see about that, won't we? You think your Phoenix Force is invincible? Think again," Cassandra's voice began to distort, and soon enough... Charles's body turo ashes in front of my eyes, "The ime we meet, boy, I'll break your mind and take over your body and then kill your friends and family with your own hands."

  With those final words, his ashes drifted to the ground like snow.

  "Yeah, we'll just see about that," I muttered.

  Everyoood there for a moment without uttering a single sound, but then Jubilee began to sob. "ould he do this to us?" She muttered.

  Jean ed an arm around her and pulled her in close. "It's okay," she whispered softly, tears dripping from her eyes. "Don't shed tears for a monster, Jubilee. He is not worthy of it. Don't think about it a's just move forward from this moment."

  Storm was staring at the pce where Charles Xavier stood mere minutes ago with an expressionless look, but deep down I knew she was flicted. This is what happens when you believe in someone. "I want all of you to gather in the tral hall for a meeting. Call back those who are outside." she finally said and walked away with Scott and Logan by her side.

  After an hour or so, the students gathered in the hall along with the X-men. Storm and everyoook seats at the podium before the students while we, the guests sat on one side. The entire school resent. There was one new face. It was Mystique, who was out, so she had no clue about the revetion.

  "We have some unfortunate o share with all of you. It will affect this school in many ways but you'll have to trust us. Professor Xavier... your former Professor Xavier was he mahought he was," Storm began to say while her eyes roamed over everyone, and she expined everything. She told them how their Professor with Cassandra in trol of his mind was responsible for the data theft that Trask Industries had used against mutant-kind, how he was secretly making moves to create an army of mindless mutants in a way, how he lied to his friends for decades, how he maniputed all their lives and many other things. It wasn't an easy topic for her.

  After she finished, everyo there in stunned silence for a moment before the hall broke into an uproar. The students were the first oo react. It took a while, but she finally got them to calm down, though only slightly.

  "What now, Storm?" Pixie asked in a voice that was barely a whisper.

  Storm's gaze moved from the students to the rest of the mutants gathered before her. She hesitated a moment, and I could tell how flicted she felt. Her thoughts were messy and she was sad. After a moment, however, she lifted her head to meet everyone's eyes, and her expression firmed with a quiet strength that reminded me of the real Storm. She turoward me.

  "Without you, Cassandra would have succeeded and the eant race would have been doomed to death or svery." She smiled. "Thank you."

  "It's what friends do. And I know how hard it is for you all to accept what happened and to move forward without the Professor, so I have a proposal that help all of us move past this situation and unite," I said and looked around. Everyone's gaze was on me. I tinued, "Genosha. I'll free the mutants there and end svery forever. After that, we'll move there and create our mutant safe haven and form our own try. How about it? Are you all willing to join me iing a pce where mutants live without fear and in safety?"

  I could sense how many of them were in agreement with the pn. Most were. I could read their minds easily.

  "That's an impossible dream. No one enter Genosha," Scott said, his fa expressionless mask. He looked calm, but on the inside, he was not. "The shield around it is impregnable and I've been there on our first raid. Lost my brother and many friends there. It's a nightmare. Their teology and their power, it's in a league of its own."

  "What if I told you it's not?" I smiled as I took a few steps forward to the podium. "I'll free them all and then we'll move there. Those who want to stay back are free to do so and those who want to join me are also free to do so. Finally, after everything is over, I'll create a new force like the Shield and the Avengers. With our numbers and ifts, we'll stop crimes on the ground level that the heroes overlook or don't want to look at. We will protect both humans and mutants without discrimination. So, take your time and think carefully. It's a big decision after all. Dismissed."

  Everyone slowly dispersed. I khat their lives would be forever ged by this. It will be hard, but the deust be their own, so I will not use my powers to influeheir mind. That's one of the main reasons why I want them to make this decision on their own. I will give them enough time to make their decision.

  Meanwhile, Storm called me aside into the Professor's office.

  "How are you doing, Aron?" She asked.

  "I should be the one asking you that. And Storm, it's ok to cry," I walked over to her and hugged her tightly as she began to sob on my shoulder. I just stood there for her, letting her emotions flow.

  "It feels as if someone ripped my heart out. I... I..." She stammered as her body trembled in my embrace.

  I said nothing as she vented out everything she had bottled inside her, her sorrow, her sadness, her anger, and all... After a while, she calmed down a bit, and I wiped her tears as she smiled faintly.

  "I never got to say goodbye..." Her words were like a whisper.

  I frowned a little and cupped her cheek and looked into her eyes, "It wasn't your fault."

  "I know... It's just..." She closed her eyes and exhaled slowly, and looked into my eyes, "It's so hard. To think Charles was like that... I noticed some ges, but I refused to accept it as reality, and he used that. He... Charles found me... I was nothing but a street ur back then... I thought he saved me... Now, all of it was fake. His smiles, his hugs, his words of fort... Fake!"

  She fell onto the sofa behind her as her body trembled with sorrow, but no tears came from her eyes.

  "Storm," I said as I walked to her and pced a hand on her shoulder. I don't know what to say. I ain't good with these types of situations.

  "I'm alright, Aron. I o be strong for everyone now, so don't worry," She forced a smile as she stood up. "I'll pull up the files we have on Genosha."

  After she left, I stood there for a moment, thinking about what Cassandra Nova said. I know that lunatic wasn't joking. Gotta be careful or I'll end up like one of those poor bastards she took over. Still, what kind of power still exists oh that could threaten the Phoenix Force? The Infinity Stones? Or, some kind of a power...

  Sigh! So many storylio remember. Fuck! Let's take a little break and think.

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