Karna, James Moriarty, Magneto, and Ariki were already seated inside the Blackbird's dimly lit cabin, the hum of the engines vibrating faintly through the metal floor. The air was tense, the kind of silence that meant everyone was measuring each other.
James Moriarty, leaning back with his book balanced across his knees, broke it first.
"I must confess, Professor Xavier is not a man I could ever truly trust…" he said, twirling the handle of his book thoughtfully. "Not because of his morality—good and bad are but chess pieces on the board—but because of his powers. Should a man with such power ever become my enemy, my first move would be to remove him from the battlefield entirely."
Magneto chuckled lowly, though there was no humor in it.
"And yet… Charles is, at his core, a good man. Idealistic to a fault, but not without conviction."
Ariki glanced toward Moriarty. "Boss, I'm glad we came here. It's exactly as we expected—they're already looking at us like we don't belong."
Eric's mouth curved into something between a smirk and a sigh. "They never agree with us. They're too good for their own sake… and that's dangerous in this world."
The sound of boots echoed as the X-Men filed into the jet, the cold night air trailing behind them.
"Where's Charles?" Magneto asked, his voice calm but edged with curiosity.
Raven's reply was short. "He isn't coming with us."
A deep, rumbling laugh escaped Magneto's chest, but he didn't comment further—at least not aloud. Then, movement caught his attention. Quicksilver entered, stopping briefly when their eyes met.
For a heartbeat, father and son stood locked in silent recognition. Then, as if by unspoken agreement, they both looked away. The rift between them was a chasm neither was ready to bridge.
Ritsuka and Hakuno stepped aboard next, sliding into seats beside their own group—Karna, Moriarty, Magneto, and Ariki.
Colossus, seated near the cockpit, announced in his usual steady tone, "We are moving. Fourteen minutes until we reach Jean's location."
Emma Frost leaned forward, her diamond-hard eyes scanning the group. "Then we should start planning. We can't just walk up to her and hope for the best."
Ritsuka nodded slightly, his gaze calm but carrying weight. "I have two plans. Plan A depends on me and Hakuno. Plan B… depends on Quicksilver."
The speedster blinked, caught off guard. "…Me?"
Every head in the cabin turned toward him. Without further word, Ritsuka reached into the shadows at his feet—literally—and began pulling out lengths of glimmering chain, each link glowing faintly with an otherworldly light.
"These are the Fool's Chains," he explained, letting several coils spill onto the floor. The magic in them practically hummed against the skin. "You don't need to do anything flashy—just use them to tie up the D'Bari. Once everything is over, the chains will vanish and return to me. You won't have to worry about giving them back."
Quicksilver looked between the chains and Ritsuka, unsure whether to feel impressed or concerned.
"As for Plan A," Ritsuka continued, his voice steady but firm, "that's on me and Hakuno. I know this might not fit your usual way of doing things, but what's inside Jean isn't something you can talk down with the 'power of friendship' right now. We'll try to reach her… but if we fail, she could Jean herself because Jean cares too much for you—the X-Men. That's the very thing the Phoenix can use for her advantage."
Hakuno's tone was softer, but her words carried the same weight. "The rest of you—your job is to stop the police, government forces, and the D'Bari from interfering, also save people."
Nightcrawler tilted his head, puzzled. "Why stop them? If they know what's happening, they could help save the world."
Ritsuka's eyes sharpened. "No. That's exactly what you shouldn't do. Charles has spent years making you believe the Mutants' reputation is the most important thing—but in reality? People won't care about the truth. They'll care about fear. You can't make Jean the enemy of the world. That's suicide."
Hakuno added quickly, "And frankly, we don't want Hydra catching wind of the Phoenix. If they knew… it would be a disaster."
Even Magneto leaned forward slightly, smirking. "I agree with them. Announcing the Phoenix to the world? That would be the dumbest thing the X-Men could do."
The cabin fell into uneasy silence. The hum of the Blackbird's engines seemed louder than before, as if reminding them that time was running short.
Scott's voice broke the tense silence in the room.
"So…if the Phoenix is real, just like you said. Can we stop her in any way? And… is she good or evil?"
Ritsuka leaned back slightly, eyes narrowing in thought. He didn't answer right away, letting the question hang in the air long enough for the others to shift uncomfortably.
"Do you feel bad for the ants you step on?" he finally said. "Does that make you evil… cold… heartless? No. Same with the Phoenix. She doesn't care about humans. Whether she's good or evil… depends on your perspective. She's far older than any of us."
Scott's brow furrowed, but Ritsuka kept going.
"As for stopping her—no. She's already gone too far ahead. My only chance is to negotiate, to make a deal. From what I've gathered, she's worked with humans before. If I can talk to her… maybe we can save Jean."
Hakuno caught the subtle shift in his wording — save Jean, not stop the Phoenix. That choice of words sat heavy in her mind.
Emma crossed her legs, studying him with a smirk.
"Darling, I'm surprised. I was waiting for you to lie at least once, but you're brutally honest."
"I don't have anything I want badly enough to lie for," Ritsuka replied calmly. "But… if the situation demands it, I'll lie without hesitation."
Wolverine finally spoke up, his voice a low growl.
"We're at Jean's place. Didn't have much faith in you before, kid… but if you can bring her back, I'll believe you."
Ritsuka nodded, and the group split. Magneto and Ariki stayed behind with x-mens, muttering about putting the aliens down for good. Ritsuka and Hakuno broke off from the X-Men and approached Jean's house. Storm went with few X-Mens to save humans from possible fight.
The door slammed open before they could knock. A man came flying out, crashing into the yard.
Ritsuka caught him before he hit the ground.
The man's eyes were wild, his voice shaking with rage. "Jean… Bitch you killed my wife… you monster…" Then he went limp, unconscious.
Hakuno's voice was soft but urgent. "Jean?"
They both looked up. Jean was floating in the air, descending slowly to the ground. Her expression was cold, unreadable.
"Take everyone… away from me."
"They fear you… everyone does…" The voice came from her side. A smaller, fiery figure floated beside Jean, her form outlined in blazing light.
Ritsuka's eyes hardened. "Phoenix."
The entity looked at him briefly, then dismissed him with an indifferent glance.
She leaned closer to Jean.
"They fear what they don't understand," she whispered, her voice like burning embers. "They fear progress. They fear what you can become… and they want to suppress you. Just like Charles did… just like he will do."
Her eyes shifted toward Ritsuka, sharp and accusing.
"He's the same. Same behavior as Charles."
"Frankly?" Ritsuka said without flinching. "Charles is better than me. He wants to be a good man after living through his regrets."
Hakuno shot him a look that said, Seriously? That's what you believe.
The Phoenix's smile curled.
"It's not the truth. He has his own agenda, buried under a mask. Just like Charles. Just like your father. They all want your power."
The words began to repeat, her voice echoing unnaturally in Jean's mind.
They want your powers. They want your powers. They want your powers…
Over and over, louder and sharper until Jean's face twisted in pain.
Hakuno stepped forward. "You're doing something to her! Jean, don't listen—trust us! Scott loves you, he's waiting for you!"
"Stop… stop it!" Jean cried out, clutching her head, her voice breaking into a plea.
Ritsuka's voice cut through the chaos.
"Phoenix. It doesn't have to go this way. You can work with Jean—you've done it before, in other worlds. You don't have to take her body for yourself. We can all work together."
The Phoenix's expression shifted into one of cold amusement.
"Kneel."
Invisible force slammed into them. Hakuno and Ritsuka were driven to their knees, the ground cracking beneath them.
The Phoenix's fiery eyes bore into them, her voice dripping with ancient arrogance.
"You know things you shouldn't. Know your place, insect. This is not Earth-616 for me to care. Just another world. I'm tired of repeating the same farce across worlds. I am the embodiment of freedom… and I will follow my rules. Why would a goddess take orders from anyone?"
Her flames curled higher, licking the edges of the place like the breath of a star.
Ritsuka stood up and stepped forward, placing himself between Hakuno and the inferno, his gaze steady despite the oppressive heat.
"Too much freedom isn't good for anyone," he said, voice calm but firm. "Even the best of us… need limits."
The Phoenix tilted her head, her expression unreadable—then her voice dropped to a cold whisper.
"Jean… either surrender your life and body to me… or I kill them all and burn this world to ash."
Scott's voice cut through the tension like a desperate flare. "Jean! Don't give up!"
The Phoenix turned to him, her tone almost amused. Scott rushed towards them to help his friends Ritsuka and hakuno.
"Interesting… you're not nearly as irritating as your other selves in the parallel worlds I've visited. But you're still a native. Tell me, Jean—do you want to watch him turn to ash?"
But before Jean could answer, a sudden pulse of energy flared behind the Phoenix—a concussive blast catching her off-guard. The flames parted just enough to reveal a figure materializing from thin air, a stealth field fizzling and sparking before failing entirely.
The alien crashed to the ground, smoke trailing from a half-melted invisibility rig strapped to their chest.
"Vuk…?" Ritsuka muttered, recognizing the leader of the D'Bari survivors from the information he got from his skill.
The Phoenix's lip curled.
"Seriously? You should be grateful I left a handful of your kind alive. Did you truly think your primitive tech could bind my power?"
She didn't wait for a reply—her hand snapped out, flames coiling like serpents to devour the device in seconds.
Vuk staggered forward, eyes burning—not with fire, but grief.
"Monster! Murderer! What did we ever do to you? Our world thrived without war, without slaughter. We shared our energy to live—never taking more than we gave. We lived in balance with the stars… until you erased us. You call yourself a goddess?" His voice cracked. "You're nothing but a heartless force of destruction."
Ritsuka froze, the alien's words slicing deep. He could feel the weight of them, like the voices of the Lostbelts he'd destroyed—worlds that had looked to him as savior, only for him to be their executioner. His chest tightened. It's the same… again…
The Phoenix's tone didn't soften.
"Things die in the natural order. Do you rage against the earthquake? Curse the lightning? I am no different. I am the pulse of the cosmos, and you… will accept your fate."
Her gaze turned back to Jean. "Decide."
And then—everything blurred.
To everyone's shock, Ritsuka was suddenly in front of Jean, his hand already buried deep in her chest not to kill, but to pierce the Phoenix's spiritual tether.
"Jean!" Scott shouted, surging forward.
The Phoenix's scream shattered the air, her form flickering before vanishing in a swirl of golden flame. Jean collapsed into Scott's arms, gasping.
"I'm sorry… Ritsuka…"
Ritsuka smiled faintly, even as his legs gave out. "Don't worry. Leave everything… to me."
Both he and Jean fell unconscious.
Scott checked Jean frantically, relieved to find no mortal wound. But Hakuno was already kneeling beside Ritsuka, her brow furrowed.
"You really went and used the Gate Key inside the Phoenix Force itself…" She exhaled slowly. "Guess you're planning to summon a whole team in there to deal with her head-on."
Her voice softened for a moment, and she leaned down, pressing her lips briefly to his.
"Don't lose in there or I will come for you."
Scott looked up, confusion in his eyes. "What just happened?!"
Hakuno didn't flinch. "He's fighting her in the mental plane. Without harming Jean. The Phoenix can't blackmail her now but until he wins, both their bodies are vulnerable. So our job is to hold the line."
Vuk snarled, rage overcoming reason. "I'll take my revenge on your demon!" He charged Jean with the force of a meteor—
—only for Hakuno to catch his wrist mid-swing, pivot on her heel, and slam him into the floor so hard the ground cracked beneath them. The sickening crunch of bone echoed.
"You seriously think I'm a pushover heroine? You should be grateful to Ritsuka for saving your life's. " she asked coldly.
Before Vuk could recover, a gust of wind swept past them—Quicksilver, grinning.
"Man, these guys are loaded with tech, but zero combat training. Total playground fight out there." He used his speed to wrap Vuk in fool's chain in seconds.
Outside, the X-Men engaged the remaining D'Bari strike teams in three coordinated groups. Explosions of light, telekinetic bursts, and streaks of laser fire lit the battlefield.
Quicksilver glanced back at the two unconscious figures. "They out cold?"
Hakuno nodded. "He's fighting in her mind. We just have to buy him time—and deal with the government goons who finally decided to show up."
---
(White Hot Room)
The moment Ritsuka's eyes opened, he was met with blinding brilliance.
No shadows. No horizon. No sound except the faint hum of existence itself. The air felt weightless, yet carried the suffocating pressure of a place that had seen creation and destruction in equal measure.
A voice broke the stillness.
"Seriously… who are you?"
The words were sharp, dripping with disdain.
"You're blocking my way. You know things you shouldn't. In seven multiverse cycles, I've never met someone like you. And somehow, you reached this place—my place—without my permission. Not even Strange could pull that trick. So tell me… what are you hiding?"
Ritsuka turned, his gaze settling on a figure in the distance—wreathed in flame that defied mortal fire. A woman of searing light, her hair a storm of molten gold, her presence radiating both beauty and terror.
The Phoenix.
Ritsuka's tone was calm, his posture relaxed—too relaxed for someone in her realm.
"Phoenix," he said evenly, "I've come to bargain."
Her laugh was like the crackle of a dying star.
"No. You've come to die. This is my world. Here, I am omnipotent. And before you start getting clever—" she tilted her head with a smirk—"I've already sealed your powers. You're just a normal human now. Hehehe…"
Ritsuka met her gaze without flinching.
"I don't need powers to deal with you."
In less than a blink, she was in front of him. Her flaming hand closed around his throat, lifting him off the ground with effortless strength.
"I am light and life incarnate," she whispered like a hymn, "I am the Phoenix. And you are…?"
"Fujimaru Ritsuka."
Her eyes narrowed.
"Look into my eyes. I will read your memories—every part, every feeling, every secret. Burn you alive And when I'm done, there will be nothing left for you. Hehehe…"
"I'd like to see you try," Ritsuka replied, voice steady despite her grip.
"Last words?"
"You'll regret this. I warned you."
The Phoenix's fingers tightened as her mind brushed against his. Then—like a dam breaking—his memories poured into her.
She saw burning cities, worlds shattering under alien skies, countless faces fading into nothingness. She felt his guilt, sharp as broken glass. His pain—cold and relentless. The grief of a boy who carried the weight of lives and the silence of worlds erased. And beneath it all… a darkness. Ancient. Patient. Watching.
The omnipotent firebird staggered. Her consciousness faltered for a fraction of a second—an eternity in the White Hot Room.
"Huh…?"
The sound escaped her lips before she realized it.
She blinked, disoriented, looking around at her own realm. White ground, white sky—unchanged. Yet her grip slackened, and Ritsuka dropped lightly to his feet.
Phoenix touched her face, almost compulsively, as if ensuring it was still hers. She knew this sensation intimately—she had spent eons with nothing to touch but herself. Yet the act felt… different now. Wrong, somehow.
"Did you see what you wanted to see?" Ritsuka's voice was low, almost pitying.
Her gaze snapped back to him. Short black hair. Dark blue eyes like tempered steel. Clothes far too plain for someone who had just stared down a god.
For the first time in countless cycles, the Phoenix—host of infinite life and death—felt a tremor in her voice.
"…Ah."
And then, without warning, her composure shattered.
"No. NO. NOOOOOOOOOOOO!"
Her scream tore through the White Hot Room like a supernova. The flames around her writhed violently, flaring higher than the sky itself. Her roar was not merely sound—it was power, raw and unfiltered, reverberating through the marrow of existence.
But Ritsuka did not move. He simply stood there, staring her down, the faintest glimmer of something dangerous in his eyes.
Should she have not done that, she would have been crushed by the pressure—
By the terror.
By the menace.
By the despair.
She was a goddess, not some mortal. She had never felt emotions like this before.
But now—because of him—she had.
Phoenix's voice cracked into something raw and broken.
"I want to live! I want to live! I want to live! I want to live! I want to live! I want to live! I want to live! I want to live! I want to live! I want to live! I want to live!!!!"
Her head swung violently, her blazing form collapsing onto the white nothingness of her dimension's ground. She trembled—no, recoiled—as if trying to claw her way back from something unseen.
Because by linking with him—by reading his soul—Phoenix had experienced something no god should ever have to know.
Fear.
Real, unfiltered fear of death.
The incomplete tapestry of the Last Master's memories, which she had first dismissed as mere scraps of a cheap human life, now hit her like a supernova.
The cold loneliness of empty corridors in Chaldea.
The gut-wrenching weight of erasing whole Lostbelts, worlds filled with smiling faces who would never smile again.
The endless march toward a future that demanded his hands be stained for the sake of those who remained.
And above all—the iron will to keep moving forward, even when the path was nothing but blood and ash.
Phoenix had devoured countless lives across the universe, tasted the rise and fall of civilizations without a flicker of emotion. But this—this was different.
Her voice was trembling now.
"Something like that… something like that can never be withstood! That anguish! That loss! No way can it be endured! Impossible! Impossible, impossible! Absolutely impossible for a mere human!"
She glared at him, eyes burning like twin suns, yet her words quivered like a child's.
"Someone who can withstand that is not human! You're a monster…! A monster!"
For the first time in her existence, the Phoenix admitted it to herself. She could not. No—she would not endure something like that.
She was the light and life of the universe.
A cosmic constant.
The unstoppable tide of creation and destruction.
But right now, she was just a being—terrified.
And her voice dropped to a whisper, fragile as glass:
"I… I want to live."
The words became a flood, spilling over with desperation.
I want to live. I want to live. I want to live. I want to live. I want to live. I want to live. I want to live. I want to live. I want to live… I want to live… I want to live… I want to live…
Over and over, as if saying it enough times could erase what she'd seen in his heart.
Ritsuka's voice cut through her spiral—calm, steady, utterly human.
"That's why," he said, taking a step forward, his eyes locked on hers, "when you tried to read me…."
Her arms clutched tightly around her head, as if she could physically block out the terror clawing at her mind. The Phoenix—an eternal, cosmic flame that had devoured galaxies—was cowering. Her body trembled like a leaf in the wind, curling inward on itself.
The entity that had once looked down on creation now dared not raise her face. She could feel it—his presence—above her.
The weight of that gaze was worse than any black hole she had ever crossed, worse than the cold of a starless void. She didn't want to hear his voice. The sound alone would dig deeper into her soul than her mind could endure.
But not listening… felt even more dangerous.
Living with fear of death… was terrifying.
And so, trembling, she listened.
The voice descended like a blade, heavy with certainty. There was no anger in it—only a quiet, absolute truth.
"I warned you," Ritsuka Fujimaru said. His tone carried no pity, only inevitability. "That you'd definitely regret it."
For the first time since her birth in the primal fires of the cosmos, the Phoenix knew the fear of death.
Ritsuka stepped closer, his shadow falling over her. "Look at me," he said, and when she dared to lift her eyes, she found herself staring into deep, dark blue irises—eyes that reflected countless battles, countless graves.
"I'm scared of dying," he admitted, his voice calm, steady… but unbearably human. "That's an emotion you can't burn away. Every human has it. But mine… mine is greater than anyone's. The fear of death was so great… that I defeated many—too many—just to live another day."
Something in her core—older than suns, older than life itself—quivered. His words weren't bravado. They weren't a boast. They were fact.
"Humans…" Ritsuka's eyes narrowed slightly. "…are something you think you can destroy without consequence. You think we're fragile, Ture. But you shouldn't read someone's soul without thinking twice. Because sometimes—" his voice dropped to an icy whisper, "—you'll find a human who's been through a hell so deep it makes you break."
The Phoenix shuddered. She had broken.
"You said you are nature," Ritsuka continued, his voice now sharp enough to cut through the suffocating silence. "That everyone should accept their fate and stop fighting against you. But tell me…"
His eyes locked onto hers, unblinking. "Does nature… know the fear of death?"
Her mouth opened, but no answer came. Because right now—right now—she did know. She felt it, burning through her as if her own flames had turned against her.
"Then why," Ritsuka asked, his voice soft but merciless, "are you afraid of dying?"
The Phoenix, the so-called immortal force of life and rebirth, curled in on herself again, her cosmic pride crushed under the weight of a mortal's presence.
And there he stood.
The last Master of Chaldea.
The man who had faced gods, alien gods, and beasts from beyond time.
The man who, in this moment, had defeated the one of strongest cosmic entity—without a shred of power—armed only with the weight of his will.
---
Note; sorry for late chapter. But i worte a big chapter instead. Next chapter will be more amazing. I already told I took inspiration from Lotm, Rezero. And yes, phoenix arc will end in next chapter. Before you ask, don't Worry new fgo characters will appear in next chapter. And this arc will end with plot twist.
I really dislike comics phoenix. Her and death from comics aren't really my type. They never change but it's a part of their core. EVEN in this story she went too far to blackmail Jean and doesn't care about this world just because this world isn't 616. I will talk about 616 problem in future. Not now.