[Age Of Apocalypse] – The Strange Dream

Later in the night, Jean and the rest of the kids were having dinner in the school dining hall. Jean was eating her dinner quietly and secretly glancing at Scott, who was talking and smiling with a few other boys while having his dinner.

'He's just a liar and a hypocrite! He's a total asshole.' She thought.

"Are you alright, Jean?" Angel Salvadore asked when she saw her expression, which was filled with disgust.

"Oh. Yes, Ms. Salvadore. I'm just not feeling good. I'll be fine," Jean replied.

Angel placed a hand on her forehead and said, "Hmm. It doesn't seem that you have a fever."

"It's not a fever, ma'am. Just not feeling good.", Jean said.

"Okay, then. You should rest for today, " Angel rubbed her head while smiling and walked away to check on other students.

Jean smiled and nodded. She focused on her dinner when she saw Emma walking up to Scott and talking to him with a seductive smile. She didn't pay any attention to it but soon realized that the two were flirting and looking at each other while talking.

"Fucking slut!" Jean muttered under her breath and clenched her fists.

A few minutes later, Emma walked towards the exit of the dining hall with a smirk on her face. When she reached the door, she turned her head and glanced at Jean. They stared at each other, and Emma smirked at her.

"That bitch is asking for it!" Jean whispered to herself. But she took a deep breath and calmed herself, thinking, 'Whatever! She can fuck Scott. I don't give a fuck. She can do whatever the hell she wants. Fuck that bitch! I'll not care. Not. A. Fucking. Bit.'

When the dinner finished, Jean went to her room, changed, lay on her bed, and looked up at the ceiling while thinking, 'Will I always find a fucking liar? This world is full of hypocrites and liars. Will I never find a person who's genuine with me? Someone who I can trust and love. Someone who's not a fucking hypocrite. Does such a person even exist? Sigh! I don't think so. My life is so sad.'

She closed her eyes and fell asleep.

In her dream, she saw a weird blue-skinned man wearing grey armor hovering in the air on Earth. He had purple glowing eyes. He raised his hand and released a purple beam, which shot at the people below him. People were screaming and running for their lives. They were panicking. A huge cloud of smoke covered the sky, and everything was destroyed. There was death and destruction everywhere. The ground was filled with blood and the lifeless bodies of innocent people.

Jean was watching all of this in horror.

"Help! Please, help me!", A woman yelled while running towards the blue-skinned man.

He raised his hand and shot another beam, and the woman was obliterated, leaving nothing but ash.

"No! No! Stop, please!" Jean screamed, but no one would listen.

The man shot another beam, destroying the houses in its path.

"Stop, please stop!" Jean screamed at the top of her lungs, but her screams fell on deaf ears.

The man looked at the death and destruction he caused and laughed like a madman. He raised his hand and shot another beam, creating a huge fireball in the sky, burning the place. Then, four people appeared and kneeled behind him.

"What are your orders, Master?" One of them asked.

"Go forth, My Horsemen! Kill anyone who doesn't bend the knee and spare everyone who does!" The blue-skinned man ordered with a sinister laugh.

"Yes, Master," the four said.

The next second, they disappeared and started killing people by the dozens. They killed with a sinister smile. They loved the destruction they caused.

Jean was horrified and scared. She couldn't understand what she was seeing. She looked around and saw a dead Charles with his body torn apart, a dead Hank, Banshee, Angel, Havok, and Gambit. She also saw the headless bodies of Mystique and Peggy. She saw Eric lying on the ground, and his limbs were missing.

Then, something happened that made her blood freeze.

The blue-skinned man had a leash on his right hand, and he pulled on it, revealing a man with a downcast, emotionless face. He had a slave collar on his neck, and a huge glowing purple seed was sticking out of his chest. His clothes were dirty, and he had blood on his hands.

"Look, boy! Look at what we did! I destroyed the idiots. Isn't it fun? Huh?" The blue-skinned man said while shaking him.

The man didn't respond.

The blue-skinned man laughed hysterically and grabbed the man's hair. He made the man look at the death and destruction, said, "Look! You caused all of this! Not me! It was you! Hahaha!" and started laughing hysterically.

"You will be my next host! I will wipe out your consciousness and rebuild my kingdom. Those who will bend the knee will live, while those who don't will die! Hahaha! And all of this will be possible because of you. It will be your power that will help me to take over this planet."

Then, she saw the blue-skinned man release a purple beam from his hand, which held the man's hair. Blood began seeping out of the man's eyes, nose, mouth, and ears when suddenly,

* SPLAT *

The man's head exploded like a balloon, splattering the blue-skinned man's arm and face with blood.

"HAHAHAHAHA!" the blue-skinned man laughed while holding his belly. He snapped his fingers, and the man's head was reconstructed and resurrected. He turned and looked at the horizon.

Then, the scene began to change. She saw the blue-skinned man standing on the top of the world while wearing the man's clothes. He was sitting on a throne made of bones and skulls. She saw people bowing and kneeling to him, calling him Master and God. She saw the world was filled with chaos, destruction, and death.

All these emotions swirled in her mind, and she saw flashes of a fiery woman saying, "H... He's... t... the... o... one... H... He's... wh... what... y... you... are... sear.... searching.... f... for... D... Don't... l... let... t... this... h... happen.... D... Don't.... re... repeat.... t.... the.... same.... m...mistake... w.... we... did... eons... ago..."

She couldn't understand what the fiery woman was saying but knew she was outraged. And, she screamed while her eyes glowed fiery red, "GIVE HIM BACK! GIVE HIM BACK TO ME!"

. . .

* BOOOM *

Charles turned around in his office and looked at the explosion in the west part of the school. He moved his wheelchair forward and looked outside the window. His eyes widened when he realized, 'That's Jean's room!'

He turned around and got out of his office. He saw Hank in his Beast form running towards the explosion site outside.

"Hank, take me there!" He said.

"Right," Hank bent down, grabbed his wheelchair, and ran towards the explosion site as fast as he could. They were joined by Angel, Banshee, Havok, and Gambit, who was in his underwear and a cane in his hand.

Gambit asked, "What the hell happened, Prof? Where's the fire?"

"That was Jean's room," Charles answered, and everybody was shocked.

"Fuck!"

Soon, they reached the explosion site and saw a crater shaped like a dome, and everything inside the area was reduced to ashes. There was a lot of smoke, and the place was filled with the smell of something burning. Thankfully, the rooms beside her were empty.

Everyone was shocked.

"Is she alright?" Banshee asked with a concerned voice.

"I'm not sure, Sean. Let's wait till the smoke clears," Charles replied.

Everyone waited with worried looks. A few minutes later, the smoke cleared and revealed a levitating Jean Grey, surrounded by a red aura and yellow flames covering her body. Her hair was floating up in the air. The only thing that wasn't affected by the explosion was her bed and a few clothes. The rest were burned to ashes. She was breathing heavily, an expression of pure rage on her face.

"Is she alright, Professor?" Angel asked while flying in the air.

"I can't feel her telepathic presence, so I don't know," Charles said.

"We should take her to the infirmary," Hank suggested.

"No!" Charles stopped Hank from entering her room. He looked at her and said in a grave tone, "Her powers have gone berserk!"

"So?" Hank said, "I can take whatever she might throw at me."

"You are underestimating her, Hank," Charles said, "She's... more powerful than me."

"WHAT!?"

"This is impossible, Prof! You are the most powerful telepath in the world," Banshee said.

"Yeah, what are ya talking about, Prof?" Gambit added.

Charles looked at him and said, "Yes, she's more powerful than me. I wanted to reveal it after she learned to control her powers, but... we have to improvise."

He looked back at Jean and continued, "If you touch her right now, I can't guarantee you would left alive. The only way is to telepathically try to calm her down."

He put his hand on his temple and focused his powers on Jean. He tried to enter her mind, but he couldn't, no matter how much he tried. Then, he tried to calm her down when suddenly, a huge wave of telepathic energy hit Charles as if somebody backhanded him telepathically, and he was thrown out of his wheelchair.

"PROFESSOR!" Everyone ran to him and helped him get back in his wheelchair.

"Professor! Are you okay? What happened?" Angel asked.

But Charles didn't respond since he was unconscious. They looked back at Jean; her red aura had dimmed, and the flames were extinguished. She was still levitating in the air, but blood was seeping out her mouth and nose. Her body shook violently, and then, her eyes rolled back as she lost consciousness and started falling.

"NO!" Angel flew and grabbed her before she could fall. She landed gently and carried her bridal style.

"Hank, take the Professor to the infirmary, and I will take Jean!" Angel ordered.

. . .

"HAAAH!"

Jean woke up with a loud scream and saw her lying in a hospital bed. She was sweating and breathing heavily. She looked around and saw she was in the Infirmary of the School.

'What happened?' She thought and remembered the nightmare, 'Oh, it was a dream. Just a fucking dream. Thank god! It was just a nightmare.'

She sighed and looked at the IV attached to her right arm. She looked at her hands.

'Why am I here? And why was there an IV connected to me? Why am I naked? Why am I in a hospital gown? What is happening?' She asked herself.

"Oh, you are awake," A familiar voice brought her out of her thoughts.

She looked to the left and saw Charles in his wheelchair with a gauze bandage wrapped around his head.

"Prof? What happened? Why am I here?" Jean asked.

Charles moved his wheelchair forward and said, "Do you remember what happened, Jean?"

Jean thought for a moment and answered, "No."

"Last night, there was an explosion in your room," Charles started explaining, "When we went to see what was going on, we saw you floating in the air surrounded by a red aura. Your hair was floating, and there were flames surrounding you."

"Did I hurt anybody?"

"Thankfully, no. Everybody's safe. You didn't harm anybody."

"Oh, that's good," Jean sighed in relief.

"D-Did I do that?" She asked hesitantly while glancing at the bandage on his head.

"Yes," Charles answered, "It was you."

"Oh, god! Prof, I'm so sorry!" Jean apologized.

"Don't worry, Jean. It's not a big deal," Charles assured her.

"But," He said sternly, "Your powers have gone berserk again. Your training will increase. Do you understand?"

"Yes, Professor," Jean nodded.

"Good," Charles smiled and added, "I've taken care of everything. No need to worry. It was an accident."

"Rest as much as you want," Charles said, wheeling out of the room.

Jean sighed and gazed at the ceiling. She thought, 'Why does this shit keep happening to me? Sigh! Whatever. At least I didn't harm anybody. I'm glad for that. But, I've gotta control these damn powers.'

Her thoughts turned to the dream, and she thought about the mysterious man. The same sadness and despair she felt in the dream returned, and she clutched her chest and thought, 'W-Why? Why am I feeling so sad? So... lonely? Who is this man?'

She touched her eyes and realized that tears were streaming down her face, and she thought, 'I am crying?! Why? Because of that... man?'

'Who is he?'