Marvel: Visionary’s Dawn

Knowledge is power, but when you know too much, it changes you irreversibly. 

The thought clung to Adam long into the night, as he lay in bed, still awake, contemplating what to do about Sublime. Resting beside him on the folds of the silky-smooth mattress was a mystical divination book.

He'd long abandoned mercy; wrestling with it at first, and then, over time, he began planning Sublime's end like a surgeon removing a tumor, precise, calculated, without damaging the vital organs around it.

That's how he drew parallels with what the hive mind had done by infecting thousands of innocent people.

Amidst the darkness, his eyes shone, illusory, a multi-colored nebula swimming through a sea of gold. He pondered what to do, maybe he could command through a thought that'd exterminate every last cell through the hive mind psychic link.

Or he could simply shift the narrative, render their effect on people null, take away their psychic link, and after that, they'll exist just like any other bacteria with no way to affect humans. Its whisper would be lost within a microscopic world.

He'd save thousands upon thousands in an instant, and in the process, get rid of an entity that survived for billions of years. 

But.. he didn't like it; there were too many U-Men of the Homo Perfectus movement who had done too much, slaughtered and vivisected hundreds of mutants. What he had seen made him no longer satisfied with just an instant magical solution, despite his ability. 

Adam didn't want to turn off the light and kill it silently; he wanted it to tremble as he crept in the dark, his presence felt, a dark hand behind the curtains.

''Only my kingdom remained,'' He muttered. He'd reached the final part of his training, forming his divine kingdom.

''The hunter becoming the prey… I like to see the irony in that,'' Eyes still shining, he smiled, calmly, but if anyone were to see it, they'd be disturbed.

Adam lifted his hand up and let the necklace he bought from Monako dangle up there, its gems shining faintly with an amber color. He hadn't tried any divination yet. Tonight seemed like a good night for peering into the yet to come.

The knowledge from the ancient divination tome beside him detailed various methods of foretelling the future. One that relied on the vision of cosmic entities, which he was vehemently against, as he didn't want to attract any unwanted presence.

Another one was through spells; the effect was mediocre at best, depending on the caster, and the fragments of destiny or the future echoes lost in the astral plane and other dimensions, that is, if anyone was lucky enough to come across them.

While anchoring his thoughts on Sublime, Adam muttered a short incantation. Nothing happened at first, yet as time went by, the air within the room became still and heavy like a suffocating mire. A subtle pull fell on him, and he didn't resist, allowing the visions to consume him.

Echoes of Sublime, his evolution across the ages flashed quickly through his mind, and he, as a spectator, stood silently by as a witness. How it hid, fed, and parasited on different creatures through long years.

His vision changed once again to the present. Showing nothing of importance except a facility in China; there was no presence of Sublime cells there, otherwise, he would have known about it, but it was a connection worth investigating.

The visions kept coming, images of mutants dead and dismembered, blood transfusion, U-Men, operation blocks, The X-Men, and too much of Jean Grey, whose powers acted as a beacon to Sublime's hive mind.

He sighed in disappointment. He thought that maybe he could glimpse the future, but it seemed that this spell didn't work that way. He doubted other sorcerers would be able to see as much as he did without the reliance on his vast spirituality and his connection to the astral plane.

But he was also puzzled, because the visions showed too much about Jean; it was stalking her through the news, press, and government agencies it managed to infiltrate, especially one hidden facility that made him realize how much this bacterial hive mind hid.

Once the esoteric visions vanished, Adam moved and sat on the bed. He thought back to the redhead girl; he didn't uncover anything that revealed what Sublime intended to do with her through the connection he kept on it.

Jean's visions raised too many questions, too vivid, too targeted. Why her? Yet at the same time, it could be reduced to simply her being a dangerous mutant, and Sublime needed her out of the way for his plans.

''Should I try divination on Jean?'' Adam muttered through the room's silence, tightly grasping the necklace.

A second later, he smiled wryly and shook his head. 

''Yeah, let's forget about that.'' He muttered more to himself than the room. He didn't want anything to do with the phoenix. No tempting thoughts would make him do something so dangerous.

 Adam stashed the necklace inside his nightstand drawer, pulled the light blanket on himself, and turned to sleep.

A few seconds passed by, and he fell into sleep, his visionary thoughts spiraled beyond mortal comprehension.

He opened his eyes, he was no longer in his room; in fact, he wasn't even looking like a human. He was a giant, slender dragon with silver scales, four clawed limbs, a long tail, and wings that stretched double his body's length.

The inscription and the runes on the scales seemed to fuse and change with the black void beyond space and time. Incomprehensible to mortal minds.

A glaring burning light, reflected off them. He was less than a speck of dust before the phoenix, a fiery, raptor blazing against the void.

Adam stared at it, and something stirred within him. He allowed himself to change, no longer the dragon; he became an immense humanoid being of light, a quarter or less of its size. He was still small compared to it.

It was understandable; this was the phoenix's true body, no longer constrained by a mortal shell such as Jean. And he manifested similarly, a mere look at his form would induce insanity.

Aside from the sound of the phoenix burning, the void induced another change; his spirituality spilled, unending, yet no matter how he did, he couldn't push away the sense of conflicting oppression: destruction, creation, which was the nature of the phoenix.

Unless he evolved beyond a Visionary, he could never reach its power scope that spanned the entire multiverse. Its essence simply dwarfed his.

Adam didn't want to confront this cosmic being. But he couldn't stop his hidden nature, the concepts he embodied, thoughts, and imagination from running wild, as colors and chaotic mist, nascent to creation, engulfed the void. A thought from him would turn them into anything. Which was similar to the nature of the phoenix.

Staring at the cosmic entity, a gentle voice suddenly echoed within the confines of the void.

''The cycle of rebirth, an echo of a former need.''

''The future ripples with change, no longer determined.''

''The choice is yours, guide the change, or let it be, predetermined.''

Adam widened his eyes as it spoke, yet he couldn't understand what it was alluding to. The light giant lifted its head to ask a question. 

The words didn't echo, as a push made him descend back to where he was, accompanied by visions about Jean, and her near death, under the hand of a man wearing an old heavy metal helmet. That looked more like a punishment than a means of protection. 

Adam opened his eyes and immediately sat on the bed. He didn't flinch at its vastness; he was more or less complex and similar to it. No, he sat, analyzing the visions and the phoenix's words.

Jean would die, that was certain, by the hands of a man who was under the influence of Sublime; this was a future the phoenix saw, and conveyed to him, it didn't demand actions, and simply left the choice in his hand, would he continue being the change that swept through that universe, or comply with what was already destined.

The choice was his, and by eliminating Sublime, he'd avert the tragedy waiting to strike the X-Men.

Minutes passed, he got up, put on his slippers, and went out of the room to Charles'. Light was spilling from under the door. He knocked and waited.

A few seconds later, the professor's voice.

''Come in.'' 

He entered, closed the door, and an hour later, he exited, having already discussed what happened and what he was going to do. 

Although the professor didn't like his methods, he didn't vehemently oppose them as he thought he'd do; the man was reluctant, but was willing to turn a blind eye.

He let Adam do his thing, having long figured that he could never shake him from his path, only guide him and try his best to mitigate the damage.

___________________________________

The next morning, light passed softly through the tree outside into the kitchen, layering gently swinging shadows. Rogue hummed an old song that her mother figure of her aunt, taught her.

She held a spatula, carefully stirring a large pan of scrambled eggs mixed with finely chopped spring onions, while glancing from time to time at the sausages bubbling in their grease in another pan.

She wore blue jeans, a pink apron on top of a tight black long-sleeved shirt that covered most of her skin. 

Jean and Scott sat to the side on the long table, chuckling and speaking in a hushed tone. No one could mistake the love in their eyes as they looked at each other. It looked like they had a wonderful night.

On the other side of the table sat Adam, wearing a black casual suit from top to bottom, nothing fancy, but it worked well with his blonde hair and his golden eyes.

Next to him sat Martha Johansson, who had taken the mansion as her home. She had been delighted by the fact that she was welcome to stay, but she didn't expect the homework she used to dread would one day come back again, as she sat scribbling absent-mindedly in a notebook.

''Can't believe I have to do this again,'' She muttered, pouting, then glanced at Adam, her telepathic powers brushing past his mind, trying to read his thoughts, but he didn't react and merely smiled, amused.

''Why am I the only one doing homework? It's summer for God's sake…'' She asked out loud, slammed her pencil on the table, and slumped back on her chair.

''You've missed school for a long time, little girl, you have to make up for it,'' said Scott, smiling with his hands around Jean. He found her situation reminiscent of the time he used to run away with Bobby, only to find the professor waiting when they returned, with double the homework.

''But I'm not stupid, I'm a telepath, I'm sure I can catch up when school starts,'' She pouted.

Jean, on the other hand, chuckled, ''Being a telepath doesn't automatically mean you've a photographic memory or a super processor for a brain, you've got to work that muscle first before you can flex it.''

''Isn't that right?'' She asked, looking at Adam, who stopped reading a portal's mystical book and thought about it for a second.

''I'm not like you, my brain works differently.'' He shrugged his shoulders and continued reading.

''Either way,'' Jean shook her head and gently smiled ''you must do it, that's what happens when you live in the same house as the headmaster.''

''Been there, done that,'' Scott sighed, ''get on with it, you don't want the professor to scold you, right?''

Martha seemed to struggle before deflating and resuming her work. Adam smiled. The girl seemed to be recovering quite well, despite what she fell into, which brightened his day a little.

Well, if he was being honest with himself, if there was anyone who made him feel warm, it was without doubt Rogue. She always tried to include him in her life and what she wanted to do, and after a time, it became a habit, where the first one to cross her mind when she wanted to do something was Adam.

He kept staring at her, at he well-honed body, her dark brown hair, and the silver strands that peeked slightly above her head.

Adam smiled slightly, and perhaps, as if she noticed his gaze, Rogue looked back. When she saw him looking at her, she froze for a second, then smiled, radiating warmth he could've sworn he felt brush on his skin.

''Watchu looking at, Hon?'' She turned off the stove, picked the pans carefully with a kitchen towel, and laid them on the table on top of the heat-absorbing rock-like plates.

''You,'' Adam bluntly replied.

Rogue carefully gave everyone their portions of toast, eggs, and sausages. When she reached Adam, she stopped, gave him a serious look, and asked.

''And? You like what you see? Think well before you answer, this will determine how much breakfast you'll get,''

Adam set his book aside, grinned, and leaned back on his chair.

''Well, Anna, I gotta say the view looks pretty good, almost as good as this breakfast smells,''

Rogue wordlessly stared at him. She wasn't someone to blush, but she thought that maybe she shouldn't have worn a tight shirt in the summer. She didn't reply and started filling up his plate.

On the other hand, little Martha stared at them with shifty eyes, something was going on, she thought.

''She's biased,'' Scott whispered to Jean as he stared at Adam's plate, which was getting much bigger than his.

''Let her be… eat with me, I doubt I'll be able to finish it alone.'' Jean pushed her plate next to him and kissed him softly on the cheeks. That was enough for Scott to forget about what happened as he started wolfing down his and his wife's plates.

Time passed quietly, accompanied by the sound of utensils clicking on the plates. And when Adam just finished his large portion, the professor entered silently without uttering a word.

Jean, his long-time student, noticed something was different about him today.

''Good morning, Charles, something on your mind?'' She asked hesitatingly.

Her voice seemed to snap Charles's focus back. He stared at her for a moment, then shook his head.

''Nothing Jean, just had trouble falling asleep,'' He replied, withholding what's truly on his mind.

''Alright,'' Jean replied and exchanged a suspicious look with Scott.

''Professor, I'm going to head out, Rogue is coming with me,'' Adam said, standing up.

''Do what you must, but be careful,'' Charles gave him a deep look, something passed between their eyes, a message, before the professor took his place on the table.

''Ready?'' Adam asked Rogue, who took off her apron and nodded.

''We won't be late for lunch.'' He glanced at everyone before lifting his hand and drawing a circle in the air, where a fiery circle immediately formed, allowing everyone to see the woods on the other side. Adam and Rogue didn't waste time and stepped through. A second later, the portal closed behind them.

Charles watched Adam vanish into the woods through fire, he wondered.. Was he guiding him still, and was it the right thing to do? From what Adam told him, what he was about to do was nothing pleasant, but he promised to keep innocents away, which comforted him a little.

''Did he just open a portal?'' Jean asked.

''He'd taken quite a fancy to sorcery, just like Magik,'' Charles shook his head and replied.

Scott stared at Charles, then asked, ''Why weren't we informed about their mission, cause they don't like they're going on a date either.''

''Eat with me, and let me explain,'' The professor sighed, then started explaining what they were gonna do and why Adam was the only one capable of doing it, after all, it wasn't Charles' plan from the start, yet in the end, he didn't speak about the visions Adam saw.

Now was not the time; he knew for sure that if he told Scott about it, he'd set hell loose.

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Thanks for reading, everyone.