Charles and the others were completely stunned.
They had never heard of something called the Phoenix Force, but they understood exactly what Leo meant by "the darling of the Universe."
If the girl standing before them was truly the darling of the entire cosmos… then her power must be beyond comprehension.
Maybe, just maybe, the Earth really could be wiped out with the flick of her fingers.
In the eyes of the Universe, their planet might be nothing more than a microbe.
"So… what kind of invincible existence is the Phoenix Force?" Wolverine asked, dumbfounded.
Charles, however, was thinking about something else entirely.
Power that vast—if it could be controlled—could become the hope of Mutants.
Could it really not be controlled?
Charles didn't want to believe that. If the Phoenix Force chose Jean, then there had to be a way to tame it.
He stared at Leo and asked seriously, "Mr. Leo, this should be good news for Mutants. She could be our future. Is this power truly uncontrollable?"
Part of him suspected Leo had other motives, but that didn't quite fit.
If Leo wanted to exploit Jean, why even tell them this?
That meant Leo wasn't trying to harm them. The contradiction made Charles uneasy.
Seeing their curiosity and suspicion, Leo decided to throw them a bone.
It wasn't just a whim. In the future, he'd need Mutants—a lot of them. Mutants, with their unlimited evolutionary potential, were an invaluable resource.
He finished the tea in his cup, leaned back, and began to speak slowly.
"The Phoenix Force was born at the dawn of the Universe—an existence that is chaotic yet immortal, eternal yet ever-changing."
"It is the child of the Universe itself. The embodiment of life and psychic power. It represents life, passion, and emotion."
"The Phoenix Force is the nexus of all existing and future psychic connections across the entire infinite Multiverse. It's the source of every mental power that has ever existed."
"It's also the vessel and master of all life and emotional energy throughout infinite realities."
Every word—Universe, chaos, eternity, source, Multiverse—sent chills through their bones.
The scale was too huge.
They had never even heard of most of these concepts, and Leo had only just started talking.
Their worldviews were already shattering.
The idea that an ignorant young girl was carrying a force capable of destroying and recreating Universes was horrifying.
Such power couldn't be controlled by mortals. It wouldn't obey anyone.
It would only seek a host… a slave.
The more they thought about it, the paler they became.
Clatter!
One of them trembled so hard the teacup slipped from their hand and shattered on the floor.
"Then… Earth," Charles stammered. "Is there… any hope left?"
Leo almost laughed at the look on their faces.
But he kept a straight face. This was exactly what he wanted—to scare them senseless.
If he wanted to infiltrate the Mutants, breaking their mental defenses was the first step.
"Hope?" Leo tilted his head. "That depends on Jean herself."
"The complete Phoenix Force has never fully appeared before. The largest fragment of the primordial force now rests inside Jean Grey."
"At her peak, she can borrow the Phoenix Force from other Multiverses."
"At that stage, she'll become the White Phoenix of the Crown. But reaching that level? It's… almost impossible."
"It's like raising Gu worms," Leo continued with a faint smile. "Many hosts of the Phoenix Force have died on their way to the top."
Charles and Logan understood instantly.
Mutual devouring. Power or death. No middle ground.
What would happen to their Universe if she lost?
They didn't want to think about it.
Leo pressed on, his voice deliberately calm:
"The Phoenix Force can manipulate dimensional coordinates and travel to any point in time or space."
"It can also delete one or more parallel Universes in an instant—like deleting a file."
Delete… a Universe?
FUCK.
Cold sweat trickled down their backs. This wasn't just power—it was godhood. Casual, effortless godhood.
Leo wasn't exaggerating. In the comics, when Jean Grey lost control as the Dark Phoenix on Earth-94042, she consumed her entire Universe.
On Earth-81727, she killed the X-Men and the Shi'ar Imperial Guard in seconds, then destroyed everything.
Even in a more grounded reality, her control over matter was at the subatomic level.
She could disassemble, reshape, and recreate anything—from a human cell to a galaxy.
She could twist causality itself. Rewrite reality. Ignore the laws of the cosmos.
Leo leaned forward slightly, voice low and deliberate:
"In one future I saw, Charles… you built a psychic cage to suppress Jean's outbursts. But you mistook the Phoenix Force for her emotions. Negative energy piled up—until it burst."
"The result? You all died. And Jean devoured the entire Universe."
Thump. Thump.
The sound of falling teacups echoed again.
Charles and Wolverine had gone pale as sheets.
Even Wolverine, the guy who never flinched, jolted at Leo's words.
They'd been well and truly shaken to the core.
The Phoenix Force wasn't just another power.
It was a cosmic nightmare.