[Age Of Apocalypse] – Val Meets Jean

'Hmm...' Val rubbed his chin as he thought, 'S.H.I.E.L.D. is planning something big? What could it be?'

He kept that information in his mind and asked Mystique, "What about your relationship with Erik?"

Mystique glanced at him and asked with an innocent expression, "What relationship?"

Val rolled his eyes and answered, "Your love, of course. Don't pretend that nobody knows about your love affair with him."

Mystique dropped the innocent act and sighed. She turned her head and gazed outside the window. She sighed again and said, "It's complicated."

Val crossed his arms and asked, "What do you mean?"

Mystique turned her head towards Val and said, "We were in love. So much, in fact, that we were planning our wedding. But then, the betrayal came. The whole fucking bullshit about him being a terrorist, abuser and whatnot. Magazines, newspapers, TV, it was everywhere. And, he tried to fight it at first, but the constant harassment got to him, and he told me to be happy with somebody else."

She bent her head, clenched her fists, and continued, "He left me and hid in Poland. The cases, tabloids, everything died down instantly. I expected him to contact me, but he didn't. I investigated and found out that he started a family with somebody else. He moved on."

"But," She lifted her head and grinned evilly at Val, saying, "HE moved on, I didn't. I tracked him down and found out about his wife and daughter. One day, I changed my appearance to look like her and slept with him. Oh gosh! THAT was the BEST fuck of my life."

Val's eyes widened when he heard her, and he said, "You... are evil!"

Mystique laughed and said, "After so many years, I had him inside me. I couldn't help myself. I slept with him again and again. I think I may have a little Erik or a little Raven inside me. After so many years, I'm still a little obsessed with him."

"I can see that," Val said, causing her to laugh again.

"Oh, come on!" She said, "I had come back again. His stamina, his th-"

"Oh no! Please!" Charles cut her off and said, "Don't continue, please! The last thing I want to hear is my sister's sex life."

"Alright, fine," She grumbled and turned to Val, "So do y-"

* KNOCK *

* KNOCK *

* KNOCK *

Suddenly, somebody knocked, and all three turned to the door, wondering how it was.

Charles said, "Come in."

The door opened, and Kurt Wagner walked in and said, "I'm sorry for disturbing you, Professor."

"That's okay, Kurt," Charles said, "Is there anything wrong?"

"No," Kurt replied, "I wanted to inform you that me and my friends are going to the theatre right now."

"Theatre?" Charles asked.

"Yes, sir", Kurt replied.

"Oh!" Charles nodded and said, "You can go. But, be careful."

"Okay, Professor. Thank you."

Charles smiled at the polite boy.

Val asked Kurt, "You made friends here? So quickly? You arrived here a few days ago?!"

Kurt sheepishly smiled and scratched the back of his head.

Val smiled and got up, saying, "Let's go! I want to see who your new friends are."

. . .

Val walked with Kurt to the gates of the X-Mansion, where he saw four familiar people standing in front of a red car.

'Jubilee, Scott, Jean, and... Emma?!' Val thought.

He narrowed his eyes at them while thinking, 'Jean Grey is Sophie Turner, Jubilation Lee is Lana Condor, and Emma Frost is Natalie Dormer?! What's going on? They are still teenagers. This... is going to be so interesting. I fucking love this shit!'

"So, these must be your friends, Kurt?" Val smiled and asked him.

Kurt smiled widely, showing his fangs, and replied, "Yes, Sir!"

"S-S-Starlance!" Jubilee stuttered as her eyes widened.

"Hi!" Val smiled and shook her hand, "You must be..."

"Jubilation Lee!" Jubilee snapped out of shock that she was shaking Starlance's hand and blurted out her name.

Val patted her head and said, "Cute!"

Jubilee blushed at his compliment and thought, 'S-Starlance called me cute? S-Starlance called me cute! Kyaaaa!'

Val moved on to Scott and shook his hand, asking, "You are?"

"S-Scott Summers! " Scott replied and shook Val's hand, saying, "I'm Havok's brother!"

Val saw Scott puff his chest out while saying the last part and couldn't help but think, 'Is he beginning to develop his narcissism from such a young age? Sigh! This guy is meant to be like that in any universe.'

But he kept a smile on his face and said, "Good!"

He moved on to Emma, who quickly pulled down a bit of her top to reveal more of her cleavage. She looked at him seductively, smirked, and said, "I'm Emma Frost. But, you can call me 'anytime'."

Val glanced at her outstretched hand and back at her face and moved on while saying, "I'm not interested in little girls."

"Pfft-!" Jubilee and Kurt quickly covered their mouths as they struggled not to laugh at what happened while Scott looked at Emma, who was frozen in shock and sighed heavily.

Emma's outstretched hand trembled as she thought, 'Little... girl? Little girl? He called me a little girl? ME? A LITTLE GIRL?! MOTHERFUCKER! YOU OLD FUCK!'

She pulled her hand back and glanced at Val calmly with a smile, thinking, 'I'll show you who's a little girl! You old fucker! I'll show you! I swear I'll show YOUUU!'

On the other hand, Val moved on to Jean, who was nervously staring at the ground.

She saw Val stand before her and thought, 'Oh no! He's in front of me! THE Starlance is standing in front of me! Would I mess up my name? Would he think of me as an idiot? I don't want-'

She snapped out of her thoughts when she heard him say, "Hello! What's your name?"

She took a deep breath and stuttered, "J-Jean G-Grey."

She brought her hand forward to shake his hand. But, when her hand touched his...

* BZZ *

Suddenly, both felt a jolt of electricity and pulled their hands back.

Jean quickly glanced at her hand, thinking, 'What was that?'

Val, on the other hand, calmly stared at her. The shock did not affect him, but he sensed some energy coming from her and thought, 'Was that the Phoenix Force?' However, he calmly placed his hand in his pocket and said to divert the attention away from what had just happened, "Well, I won't make you wait for long. Go and enjoy your movie! Bye!!"

"B-Bye, Starlance," Scott said, and they all started walking to the car.

When Val was sure that none of them could see him, he took out his hand, looked at the tiny black mark on his palm, and thought, 'That was definitely the Phoenix Force. But what was that energy? I have never felt it before.'

"Hmm... Interesting," He murmured.

. . .

Meanwhile,

Inside the car,

"You are lucky, you know," Scott said to Emma as he drove the car, "You talked with Starlance. If I was him, I would've been charmed by you by now."

"Yeah, whatever," Emma said, her mood still sour from being called a little girl by Val.

Scott glanced at Jean in the backseat from the mirror and asked, "So, why did you become quiet after meeting Starlance?"

Jean snapped out of her daze and blushed as she replied, "N-nothing."

Scott glanced at her again, shrugged, and returned to the road.

"Aargh!" Emma grunted in anger and turned to Scott. She placed her hand on his thighs and stroked them seductively.

Scott gulped and glanced at her hands. He saw her move closer to him and whisper in his ear, "You don't think I'm a little girl, right?"

"Of course not!" Scott said, "Why would I think of yo-"

"Good!" She cut him off and sat back on her seat beside him.

She thought, 'This guy is such a sucker. But...' she glanced at him and thought, 'He will do for now.'

She placed her hands back and began stroking them.

Jean sat alone in the backseat of the car. She saw Emma flirting with Scott, Kurt, and Jubilee, arguing with each other in front of her about which movie they would watch, and glanced at her hand and thought, 'That jolt! What was that?'

She placed her hand on her chest, and suddenly, the same sadness and despair from when she was having the dream flooded her, making her think, 'Why? Why am I feeling sad again? What is this?'

She hid her face and bent her head down. Her hair covered her face, and tears flowed out of her eyes while the sadness increased.

'Why is this happening?'