Chapter 133
Avengers
Arc 8 - Ch 25: The Power of Friendship
Saturday, May 05, 2012.
Location: Hallway of Possibilities, Tyson's Mindscape
Tyson's eyes snapped open within the Hallway of Possibilities. The familiar white corridor stretched before him, but something felt different. He wasn't alone.
Presences were scattered throughout his mindscape, familiar ones, but distant. The women who'd been in physical contact when he grasped the Stone had been pulled into his consciousness. He sensed their distinctive mental signatures like beacons. He stood at the far end of the Hallway, away from the entrance. Doors lined both sides, each representing a person whose powers and memories he'd absorbed. All stood wide open now, thanks to the Mind Stone's influence.
He broke into a run.
Dr. Sofen's door came first since she was the most recent absorption. Tyson stopped at the threshold.
"Karla?"
She emerged looking disoriented but composed, blonde hair perfectly styled despite the bizarre circumstances.
"Tyson? What is this place?"
"We're inside my mind. The Hallway of Possibilities." He kept the explaination brief. "The Mind Stone pulled you in when I touched it. Come on, we need to find the others."
They continued down the corridor. Before Tyson could call out again, Natasha stepped into the hallway, expression guarded but alert.
"Let me guess," she said. "We're inside your head."
"Got it in one."
A distant boom echoed through the hallway. The white walls trembled.
"That can't be good." Natasha's posture shifted, ready for combat.
"We need to move," Tyson said.
They raced toward the disturbance. The pristine white walls gave way to scorched surfaces, blackened and cracked as though subjected to intense heat. The damage centered around Jubilee's door.
Tyson skidded to a halt. Felicia stood in a defensive stance, white hair wild as she dodged bursts of colorful energy. Beside her, Illyana had summoned her Soulsword, the mystical weapon glowing as she pointed it at Jubilee.
But the Jubilee-figure's eyes flashed with unnatural yellow light.
"You're not Jubilee." Illyana's voice cut through the chaos, sharp with recognition and pain. She and Jubilee had shared secrets and struggles that forged bonds deeper than most friendships ever reached. The thing wearing her best friend's face couldn't fool her. "I know my best friend. Whatever you are, you cannot fool me."
The false Jubilee smiled, chilling in its emptiness, nothing like the warmth Jubilee had carried even in her darkest moments.
"Clever little sorceress. But it won't matter."
Tyson stepped forward, Natasha and Karla flanking him as they faced the false Jubilee's form. She fixed her gaze on Tyson, lips curling into something both familiar and alien, even more proof it was the expression of someone wearing a beloved face as a mask.
"I knew you'd be back," it said. "You pretend to exercise such restraint, yet seek power at every turn."
Illyana's knuckles whitened around her Soulsword's hilt. Blonde hair floated in an unseen current of energy as she glanced between Tyson and the entity. "Tyson, what is this?"
"The Mind Stone. It took Jubilee's form last time to tempt me."
"It took the form of your dead ex-girlfriend." Karla's psychiatric training kicked in. "Whom you were trying to bring back to life. That's profoundly manipulative and psychologically damaging. It's fucked up."
The false Jubilee tilted her head, yellow eyes gleaming. "The professional opinion of your psychologist who's fucking you on the side. Fascinating. These women who orbit your existence, Tyson Smith. Each powerful in her own right. Each drawn to you for different reasons." Her gaze settled on Natasha first, face a mask of practiced neutrality.
"The Black Widow." The entity's voice carried echoes of Jubilee's familiar tone twisted with ancient power. "He makes you feel human again, doesn't he? Washes away the red in your ledger. You think his acceptance redeems your past."
Natasha's jaw tightened. She refused to give the entity the satisfaction of a response.
The false Jubilee turned to Felicia. "The stray cat who found her pride. He gave you purpose beyond petty theft. Through him, you became more than just another criminal seeking thrills."
"I chose my own path." Felicia's hands clenched into fists. "Tyson showed me options, but I made my decisions."
Those unnatural eyes lingered longer on Illyana, studying her with keen interest. "The demon-child who can't decide what she is. Girl or monster, human or demon. You push everyone away, terrified they'll see your true nature. But he wouldn't let you hide, would he? Wouldn't let you push him away."
Illyana's Soulsword flared brighter, humming in her grip. "You don't know me. Your words mean less than nothing."
Finally, the entity fixed on Karla with a knowing smile. "And the manipulator who found herself manipulated. You thought you'd take what you wanted from him, use him like all the others. Instead, you fell into his orbit, and now you kneel just like the rest."
"Amateur psychology from an alien rock. I've heard better insights from first-year students."
The false Jubilee spread her arms wide. "Look at you all, gathered here in his mind. Each thinking you're special, unique. Each believing you understand him better than the others. But I see the truth in all your hearts, all your fears."
"You try to make us see what you want us to see," Natasha said, breaking her silence. "You're trying to divide us, but you don't understand human connections at all."
"The only thing you understand is power," Felicia added, moving closer to the others.
"That's why you can't comprehend why we're here," Illyana said.
"And why your attempts at manipulation are so transparent," Karla finished.
Felicia's patience wore thin. "What's the plan? Beat her into submission? Get the Tesseract and be done with it?"
The false Jubilee laughed, the sound echoing unnaturally through the hallway. "You cannot beat an Infinity Stone into submission, little cat."
Natasha shifted her weight, ready to move. "Every entity has a weakness. Even cosmic ones."
The women turned to Tyson, expressions expectant. For once, he didn't have a ready answer, no clever strategy or witty comeback. He looked at Karla instead. She was the psychiatrist, trained to understand minds and their workings. Maybe she had insight into dealing with an entity that had invaded his consciousness and was using his memories against him.
Karla caught his gaze and understood the unspoken question. She spread her hands in a helpless gesture. "This is beyond my expertise. I deal with human minds, not cosmic forces masquerading as dead girlfriends."
The false Jubilee took a step forward. The floor beneath her feet blackened, damage spreading outward in a slow ripple.
"Your mind will burn away under my influence. Then I will have access to all your powers, all your connections. The perfect vessel."
The women looked back to Tyson. Natasha and Felicia's posture shifted into a fighting stance. Illyana's Soulsword glowed brighter, responding to her rising emotions.
Tyson straightened, decision made. The hallway seemed to respond to his resolve, the white walls brightening slightly.
"Beating her—" he began, then corrected himself, "—it into submission sounds like a reasonable plan."
He lunged forward, adamantium claws extending with a metallic snikt. The false Jubilee merely smiled, form shimmering with yellow energy as she sidestepped with impossible speed.
"Too slow, Ty," it taunted.
Felicia darted in from the side, movements fluid as she aimed a sweeping kick at the entity's legs. The false Jubilee leapt upward, hovering before sending a blast of energy, not the colorful plasmoids of the real Jubilee, but searing yellow power.
Felicia twisted midair, narrowly avoiding the blast. The energy struck the wall, leaving a smoking crater in the white surface.
"She's faster than the real Jubilee ever was," Felicia called out, rolling to her feet. "Even after becoming a vampire."
Natasha circled to the entity's blind side. She feinted left, struck right, aiming for vulnerable points that would incapacitate a human opponent.
The false Jubilee caught her wrist without looking, yellow energy crawling up Natasha's arm like electric fire. She gritted her teeth against the pain but didn't cry out.
"Your combat skills are impressive," the entity said, "but ultimately meaningless here."
With a casual flick, it sent Natasha flying backward. Tyson caught her before she could slam into the wall.
"This is my mind," Tyson growled, focusing his will. The corridor trembled as he attempted to assert control over his own mental landscape. For a moment, the false Jubilee's form wavered, yellow eyes flickering.
Then it laughed, the sound reverberating painfully through their skulls. "Your mind? Perhaps once. But now it belongs to me."
The floor beneath them rippled like water, then surged upward, separating the group. Walls of mental energy formed between them, isolating each fighter.
Illyana slashed at her barrier with the Soulsword. The barrier shimmered but held.
"Your magic is formidable, sorceress," the false Jubilee called out, "but you are in a realm beyond your understanding."
Karla pressed her hands against her own barrier. "It's trying to separate us. Classic divide and conquer."
"Can you break through?" Tyson shouted to Illyana.
Illyana gritted her teeth, blonde hair whipping around her face as she channeled more power into her Soulsword. She shifted tactics and tried teleporting, the silvery aura surrounded her, but she remained in place. "I'm trying. This is not ordinary magic."
The false Jubilee walked casually toward Tyson's section, passing through the barriers as though they weren't there. Yellow eyes fixed on him with predatory focus.
"The others are distractions. It has always been about you and me."
Tyson backed up a step. He could feel the others fighting against their confinement, sense their determination and frustration. But the entity was right. This was his mind, his battle at its core.
"You're not her," Tyson said. "Stop wearing her face."
"But this face gives you pain, and longing, and hope. All the things that make you vulnerable."
Yellow energy coalesced around her fingers. Tyson braced for an attack, but the energy shot outward, not at him, but at the barriers. They became transparent, allowing him to see his allies clearly.
Each woman now faced a different opponent; figures pulled from Tyson's memories. Natasha squared off against a spectral figure, while Felicia faced Wilson Fisk. Illyana confronted the demonic figure of Azazel, and Karla found herself against a mirror image of Moonstone in a black costume with a lightning bolt.
"Your mind is full of such interesting fears," the false Jubilee said. "Let's see how your friends handle them."
Tyson watched in horror as the spectral figure facing Natasha pulled back his hood to reveal the Red Skull. Felicia barely avoided a massive blow from the towering Kingpin. Illyana's Soulsword passed through empty air where Azazel had been standing. Karla found herself evenly matched against a mirror verion of herself wearing a black costume taken straight out of the Captain Marvel comics.
"Stop this!" Tyson shouted.
The false Jubilee smiled. "Make me."
Tyson charged, focusing all his will into the attack. Nexus manifested in his hand as he thrust forward. The false Jubilee caught his wrist effortlessly. Tyson struggled, but it was like fighting a force of nature. The entity's strength seemed limitless, its control over this mental landscape absolute.
From the corner of his eye, Tyson saw Natasha obediently following the spectral figure, willingly walking to her death. Felicia was pinned against a wall, being pummeled by Kingpin. Illyana's attacks grew desperate as Azazel closed in. Karla had resorted to physical combat against her mirror self, clearly outmatched.
The false Jubilee leaned closer, yellow eyes boring into his. "They suffer because of you. Because you brought them here. Because you always need others to fight your battles."
Tyson felt a surge of anger, but beneath it, a flicker of doubt. Was the entity right?
"You're wrong," he growled, but his voice lacked conviction.
"Am I? Look at them, Tyson. Look at what your choices have brought them to."
The barriers separating them disappeared entirely, but it made no difference. Each woman was fully engaged in her own desperate battle, unable to come to his aid. The false Jubilee still held him immobile with one hand.
"This is what happens when you reach for power beyond your understanding. This is the price of your ambition."
Tyson struggled harder, but the more he fought, the tighter the entity's grip became. Yellow energy crawled up his arm, sending waves of pain through his body. He could feel the Mind Stone's influence spreading through his consciousness, seeking control.
Tyson let go of Nexus and resummoned his soulsword in his other hand. He brought the weapon across with a quick slash that he didn't think would work.
It cut through the false Jubilee's wrist.
The entity showed no pain, but without a hand, Tyson was released. He watched as yellow energy shimmered where her hand had been, reforming into a spectral version made from the Mind Stone's power.
"You can't win," the Mind Stone said. Behind him, the sounds of his friends fighting their own battles echoed through the hallway.
"I cut off your hand..." Realization dawned across Tyson's face.
The false Jubilee watched him think, yellow eyes narrowing.
"I can't defeat you," Tyson said, lowering Nexus slightly. "You're too powerful."
The Mind Stone's expression shifted to triumph. "Then submit. Together—"
"Yeah, let me stop you there." Tyson straightened. "I'm not turning to the Dark Side." He pointed Nexus at the stump of the false energy hand. "Anakin."
The false Jubilee's face contorted with irritation. "You think this is a game."
"Well, you want to pilot my body around like your avatar. Sure sounds like a game." The familiar spark returned to his eyes.
"But you're overconfident, Anakin."
"Stop calling me that."
"Do you know how Anakin lost?" Tyson didn't wait for an answer. "Obi-Wan trusted in the Force."
Without warning, Tyson turned and ran into the hallway, seeking a door. The false Jubilee let out a howl of rage that shook the mental landscape, sending cracks racing along the white walls. The entity pursued, yellow energy scorching the floor with each step.
Natasha, momentarily freed from her spell with the Red Skull, shouted after him, "Tyson, what are you doing?"
"Something stupid!" he called back.
The hallway stretched before him, lined with open doors representing people whose powers and memories he'd absorbed. But Tyson wasn't heading for any of these. He sought one of the locked doors.
The door he'd never dared open and sparsely thought about.
The door that appeared from his connection to Jean Grey.
Unlike the other doors, this one was larger, like the entrance to an arena instead of a room.
"Stop!" the false Jubilee screamed.
Behind him, the battles paused as everyone, allies and manifestations alike, sensed the shift in the mental landscape. The entire hallway trembled, responding to the proximity of two cosmic forces.
Felicia, breaking free from her struggle with Kingpin, called out, "Tyson, whatever you're thinking—"
"It's the only way." His voice carried certainty despite the fear gnawing at him. "Sometimes you have to fight fire with fire."
The false Jubilee closed in, moving with supernatural speed. Yellow energy gathered around her hands. But she was too late. Tyson had reached the door.
The false Jubilee was mere feet away, borrowed face contorted with rage. "You'll destroy everything!"
Tyson put his hand on the handle of the door that sealed away his latent connection to the Phoenix Force. The metal was scorching hot, but he didn't flinch. For a brief moment, everything in the hallway went still; the battles, the quickly closing false Jubilee, even the air itself.
Then Tyson turned the handle.
The door exploded open.
Flames rolled out from behind it, engulfing Tyson in a torrent of fire. The Phoenix Force surged forward; a living embodiment of creation and destruction that had existed since the birth of the universe itself. Tyson gasped as the fire consumed him, but there was no pain. Not exactly.
Every cell in his body was simultaneously dying and being reborn.
The sensation overwhelmed him, like being pulled apart and reassembled as something greater, something transcendent. His nerve endings sang with power that shouldn't exist within a human frame. His consciousness expanded beyond the confines of his skull, reaching outward, touching the infinite. The Phoenix Force wasn't just fire. It was life, death, rebirth, and infinite possibility all compressed into a single presence that threatened to shatter his sense of self entirely.
Heat rolled through him in waves, not burning, but transforming. He could feel his thoughts fracturing, multiplying, becoming something vaster than the human mind was meant to contain. Time stretched and compressed around him. He experienced a thousand lifetimes in a single heartbeat, saw the birth and death of stars, felt the pulse of creation itself beating in rhythm with his own heart.
"Yes," the Phoenix whispered directly into his mind, its voice both masculine and feminine, ancient and newborn, singular and legion. "You understand what I am."
The Phoenix wasn't something he could control or direct. It was something he could only become, surrender to, merge with. And in that merging, Tyson felt himself beginning to dissolve, his identity fragmenting like light through a prism.
The false Jubilee stumbled backward, the yellow glow of the Mind Stone dimming in the face of this power. "You fool. You'll burn everything away!"
Tyson felt the Phoenix Force flowing through him, around him, becoming him. His consciousness expanded beyond his own mind, beyond the barriers of his physical form. He sensed the life force of every person on the helicarrier, could feel the cosmic energy flowing through the universe itself, connecting all things in an infinite web of being and becoming.
The Phoenix's voice resonated within him again. "I am fire and life incarnate. I am what was, what is, and what shall be again."
Tyson's body began to glow with orange-gold flames that didn't burn his clothes or skin. His eyes transformed into twin suns, burning with the light of creation itself. Power beyond measure filled every fiber of his being, threatening to burn away everything that made him Tyson Smith.
Natasha, Felicia, Illyana, and Karla shielded their eyes from the intensity. The mental manifestations of their opponents, Red Skull, Kingpin, Azazel, and the dark Moonstone, dissolved like shadows at noon, unable to maintain form in the presence of such power.
"Tyson?" Felicia's voice was small against the roaring of cosmic flames. "Are you still in there?"
For a moment, Tyson couldn't answer. The Phoenix Force was overwhelming, its consciousness vast and alien compared to his human mind. He felt himself being subsumed, becoming just another host in a long line of vessels stretching back to the beginning of time. His identity wavered like a candle flame in a hurricane. Tyson... the name felt distant, meaningless against the eternity of the Phoenix. But then he remembered why he'd opened the door.
Not for power. Not for himself. To protect those he cared about. To stop the Mind Stone from taking control.
With tremendous effort, Tyson pulled his consciousness back from the brink of dissolution. It was like grabbing smoke, trying to hold water in his hands. But he found the thread of himself; his memories, his choices, his connections to the people watching him with fear and hope in their eyes.
"I'm... here," he managed, his voice echoing strangely, as though multiple versions of himself were speaking in unison.
The false Jubilee backed away further, yellow energy flickering uncertainly. "This changes nothing. You cannot control the Phoenix. No mortal can."
Tyson turned his burning gaze toward the Mind Stone's manifestation. The flames surrounding him formed the vague outline of a bird with wings spread wide, each feather a tongue of fire. "Maybe not. But right now, we have a common purpose."
The Phoenix Force surged within him, eager for action, for release. Tyson could feel its hunger, its desire to burn away all that was corrupt and stagnant. The Mind Stone's invasion of his consciousness certainly qualified.
"You are not welcome here," Tyson said, his voice resonating with the Phoenix's power. He extended a hand toward the false Jubilee. A stream of cosmic fire erupted from his palm, flames that weren't destructive but purifying, designed not to destroy but to cleanse.
The false Jubilee screamed as the fire engulfed her form. Yellow energy fought against the Phoenix's flames, creating a swirling vortex of gold and orange that lit up the entire hallway. The two cosmic forces clashed, neither willing to yield.
"You can't defeat me!" the Mind Stone shrieked. "I am eternal! I am power incarnate!"
"So is the Phoenix," Tyson replied, but his voice was different now, with harmonics that weren't his own.
The false Jubilee's form began to flicker. The image of Jubilee dissolved to reveal the true nature of the Mind Stone, a pulsing yellow gem of immense power, but one that had no place in Tyson's mind.
Natasha moved closer, alarm spreading across her face. "Tyson?"
He didn't respond to his name. The cosmic flames intensified, wrapping around the yellow gem like a cage of fire. The Mind Stone fought back, sending pulses of energy that crashed against the Phoenix's power, but it was clearly losing ground.
With a final surge of will, the Phoenix directed its full force against the Mind Stone. The cosmic flames compressed around the yellow gem, squeezing tighter and tighter until, with a sound like shattering glass, the Mind Stone's presence was expelled from Tyson's consciousness.
The hallway shuddered violently. White walls cracked and reformed as the mental landscape adjusted to the Mind Stone's departure. The barriers that had separated the group disappeared entirely, allowing them to gather around Tyson's burning form.
But the victory came with a price.
Tyson's eyes were now completely consumed by fire. The Phoenix Force, having tasted freedom after being locked away, showed no signs of retreating.
"T-Tyson?" Felicia's voice trembled. "The Mind Stone is gone. You can let go now."
Tyson's head turned toward her, but the movement was wrong. When he spoke, his voice was a chorus of countless beings. "Tyson Smith is merely a vessel. The Phoenix was here before him, and will remain after he is gone."
Karla approached cautiously. "He's losing himself. Whatever this is, he traded one controller for another."
Through the inferno of cosmic consciousness, Tyson struggled to maintain some semblance of self. The Phoenix Force surged through him, growing stronger with each passing moment. Power to create and destroy worlds coursed through his veins, tempting him with visions of what he could accomplish, what wrongs he could right, what order he could impose upon a chaotic universe.
The memories weren't his. Stars being born and dying, civilizations rising and falling across countless worlds, the endless cycle of destruction and rebirth that was the Phoenix's domain. His own memories, his identity, even bolstered by all his absorbed psyches, seemed insignificant in comparison. A single drop of water in a vast ocean.
With immense effort, he forced out words that were his own. "Can't... hold on... much longer."
The flames surged higher, taking the distinct shape of a massive firebird. His body was disappearing beneath it, consumed by something infinitely greater than himself.
"Get... out... of my mind... before..."
"Before what?" Natasha stepped closer despite the heat radiating from him.
Tyson's face contorted with effort, the last vestiges of his humanity fighting against the tide. "Before... I burn... everything..."
"No." Illyana's voice cut through sharp and firm. "I will not let this happen."
Before anyone could stop her, she reached out and grabbed Tyson's arm.
The cosmic flames immediately spread to her, crawling up her arm and across her shoulder. She gasped; the pain wasn't physical but something deeper, more profound. Like having her soul set aflame. But she didn't let go.
"Illyana!" Karla shouted. "What are you doing?"
"The Phoenix is too much for one person to contain." Illyana gritted the words through clenched teeth, every syllable an act of will. "But maybe... not too much for all of us. He brought us here to help mitigate the Stone. Is this any different?"
Natasha saw something change in Tyson's fiery eyes, a spark of recognition, a moment of clarity breaking through the cosmic consciousness threatening to drown him. She understood immediately what Illyana was attempting, what it would cost.
She stepped forward and took hold of his other arm.
The flames spread to her as well, wrapping around her body in spirals of orange and gold. The pain hit her, not burning but expanding, stretching her consciousness beyond what a human mind was meant to contain. She'd endured the Red Room's conditioning, their attempts to break and remake her into a weapon. This was worse. This was being unmade at a fundamental level.
But she held on.
"Together," Natasha said.
Felicia and Karla exchanged a quick glance. In that moment of silent communication, they both understood what they were volunteering for. Felicia had always chased thrills, but this was beyond anything she'd imagined. Karla had spent her life manipulating others, staying in control. This would strip away all control.
They moved as one anyway.
Felicia grasped Tyson's shoulder while Karla placed her hand on his back. The Phoenix fire engulfed them all, connecting the five in a circuit of cosmic energy.
The pain was indescribable.
Not physical, something beyond flesh and nerve endings. It was the pain of having one's consciousness expanded beyond mortal limits, of experiencing the birth and death of stars compressed into a single instant, of feeling the weight of eons press down upon a mind designed to comprehend only decades. Felicia felt herself dissolving, her identity scattering like ash in the wind. Karla's carefully constructed walls crumbled, her sense of self fragmenting under the weight of infinite awareness.
But where one mind would break, five minds could endure.
Connected, supporting each other, they formed a web strong enough to contain what would have crushed any of them alone.
"I can feel it." Felicia gasped, her white hair now seemingly made of living flame. "It's... everywhere."
"Focus." Illyana instructed. "Don't fight it. Guide it. Like a river."
The Phoenix Force surged between them, seeking dominance, seeking control. But instead of one consciousness to overwhelm, it found five, each different, each strong in its own way. The burden that would have crushed Tyson alone was now distributed and manageable.
Tyson felt his sense of self returning, anchored by the presence of the others in this strange psychic bond. He could feel their emotions, their thoughts bleeding through the connection.
Natasha's iron discipline forged in the Red Room,
Illyana's fierce determination born from surviving Limbo,
Felicia's wild courage that had carried her through a life on the edge,
Karla's empathic clarity cutting through the cosmic noise.
And they, in turn, could feel his gratitude, his relief, his wonder at not being alone in the vastness.
"It's working," Karla said, her eyes now glowing with the same fire.
The massive firebird that had formed around them changed. No longer threatening to consume everything in its path, it hovered above them, watching with ancient eyes.
"We are the Phoenix," they said in unison, their voices blending together in perfect harmony. "And we are more."
Back in the real world, Tyson stood on the platform atop Stark Tower, the Mind Stone clutched in one hand while Natasha, Felicia, Illyana, and Karla had their hands stacked atop his other. The battle for New York raged below, but on this elevated platform, time seemed to stand still. For what had been mere seconds in the physical world, a cosmic battle had unfolded within the landscape of Tyson's mind.
The yellow glow of the Mind Stone pulsed once, twice, then dimmed as if recognizing its defeat. The gem now appeared dormant, its earlier malevolence contained.
But something else had awakened.
A column of orange-gold flame erupted from the platform, shooting skyward with such intensity that it momentarily outshone the Chitauri portal above. The fire didn't burn or consume. The flames subsided just enough to reveal the five figures within, each transformed by their communion with the Phoenix Force.
Tyson floated at the center. His hair was slicked back and pointed, glowing gold, and dancing flame wreathed him in an aura of power.
Natasha had undergone an equally dramatic transformation. The black of her uniform now featured veins of pulsing orange energy that followed the contours of her body. Her red hair had become literal fire, flowing around her face in controlled waves. When she moved, she left trails of flame in the air that dissipated moments later.
Felicia's white hair had become a cascade of platinum flame reaching her waist. Her black catsuit had transformed into a white and gold ensemble. Claws of pure energy extended from her fingertips, and her eyes, normally green, now burned with fiery light.
Illyana floated slightly behind Tyson, her Soulsword now a blade of pure Phoenix fire. Her blonde hair had become a mane of golden flames, and her armor bore runes etched in fire across the surface. A pair of flaming wings extended from her back, not physical but composed of pure energy, giving her the appearance of a vengeful seraph.
Karla completed the circle, her Moonstone powers now merged with the Phoenix Force to create something entirely new. Her blonde hair had become a corona of white-gold flame, and her costume had transformed into radiant armor. In her hand, she held what appeared to be a staff made from solidified starlight, and her eyes burned with perhaps the most intense fire of all.
The five of them hovered in a perfect circle, connected by arcs of energy that flowed between them in a continuous circuit. They moved in perfect synchronization, as if they were five aspects of a single entity rather than separate individuals.
"We are the Phoenix," they spoke in unison, their voices harmonizing in a way that made the air itself vibrate. "We are fire and life incarnate."
Below, the battle momentarily paused as both Chitauri and Avengers looked up at the display of power. Even the massive Leviathans seemed to hesitate, sensing a new and incomprehensible force had entered the fray.
The Phoenix Five descended slowly to the edge of the platform, surveying the chaos below with eyes that saw beyond the physical. They could perceive the energy signatures of every living being, could feel the fear and determination radiating from the humans below, could sense the hive-mind connection linking the Chitauri forces.
"The Mind Stone is contained," Tyson said, his voice resonating with harmonics that weren't entirely human. He held up the yellow gem, now encased in a cage of Phoenix fire that kept its influence at bay. "But the portal remains open."
"We can close it," Natasha said, her fiery hair flowing around her face. "Together, we have the power."
"More than that." Felicia flexed her energy claws. "We can end this invasion once and for all."
"The Phoenix Force is creation and destruction in perfect balance," Illyana said, her flaming wings spreading wider. "We can unmake what should never have been made."
"But we must act quickly." Karla added. "This power... it's not meant for us. Even divided, we cannot contain it indefinitely."
Fury's voice came through the comms. "Uh, not to interrupt whatever you've got going on, Smith, but we've still got aliens pouring through a hole in the sky. Stark and Vanko just flew nukes through. Any chance your new light show can help with that?"
The Phoenix Five turned as one to regard him. Though he was a mile away inside the helicarrier, their fiery gazes seemed to pierce through distance itself.
"Nicholas Joseph Fury," they said in unison, their voices overlapping in perfect harmony. "Your concern is noted. The invasion will end."
The Phoenix Force had granted them not just power, but a psychic link that allowed them to coordinate without words, to move as aspects of a whole rather than as individuals. Though physically separated, their minds remained connected in a web of cosmic awareness, each sensing the other's intentions and actions with perfect clarity.
They split apart, each drawn to where they could be most effective.
Felicia launched herself from the tower, her body trailing white-gold flames. Karla followed close behind, her staff of solidified starlight cutting through the sky like a comet.
They moved in perfect tandem. "The invaders must be purged," Felicia said.
A squadron of Chitauri speeders converged on them, energy weapons blazing. Felicia didn't dodge; she accelerated directly into their midst. Her energy claws extended, slicing through alien technology like paper. Where her claws touched, the Chitauri craft didn't break, they disintegrated, molecules themselves coming apart under the Phoenix's influence.
Karla spun her staff, creating a vortex of cosmic energy that pulled in nearby Chitauri soldiers. They screamed in alien tongues as the energy engulfed them, reducing them to their component atoms before dispersing them harmlessly into the atmosphere.
"Life returns to life," they intoned together.
Natasha descended toward the streets, where buildings lay in ruins and fires raged unchecked. Her hair of living flame streamed behind her as she surveyed the destruction with eyes that perceived more than just physical damage. She could see the tears in the fabric of the city, the disruption to the natural flow of energy.
"What is broken shall be mended," she said, extending her hands toward a collapsed section of skyscraper.
The debris rose into the air, surrounded by a corona of orange-gold energy. The broken pieces aligned themselves, fitting together like a three-dimensional puzzle. Natasha's webbing, now infused with the Phoenix Force, shot from her wrists, wrapping around the reconstructed section. But this wasn't ordinary webbing; it glowed with cosmic fire, fusing the broken pieces back together at the molecular level.
She moved methodically through the streets, restoring what had been destroyed. Where her Phoenix-enhanced webbing touched, structures were not merely repaired but reinforced, made stronger than before.
Illyana teleported into the sky, appearing before the portal. The swirling blue vortex towered above her, continuing to disgorge Chitauri forces. Her flaming wings spread wide, casting an ethereal light that illuminated the clouds.
Forces converged on her, sensing the threat. Energy blasts and physical projectiles rained down, but they dissipated harmlessly against the Phoenix's aura.
Through the psychic link, she sensed something troubling. "The mortal vessels of our allies drift beyond the portal. They face annihilation."
Indeed, through the portal, she could see the floating suits of Vanko and Tony Stark, drifting unconscious in the void of space as a massive explosion bloomed behind them.
Illyana teleported to Tony first, her form briefly silhouetted against the destruction. She placed a hand on his back, the Phoenix Force temporarily shielding him from the vacuum of space, and teleported to Vanko. Again, she placed a hand on his back and teleported them all to safety.
She reappeared with both men on the top floor of Stark Tower, laying them gently on the ground.
"The cycle continues," they intoned together across the psychic link. "What has been opened must now be closed."
Tyson remained at the center of it all, standing before the machine that Dr. Selvig had built to harness the Tesseract's power. The Mind Stone pulsed in his hand, contained within its cage of Phoenix fire. Through the psychic link, he felt the others completing their tasks, bringing order to chaos.
Now it was his turn.
The barrier of energy surrounding the machine crackled and sparked as he approached, but it could not stand against the Mind Stone and the Phoenix Force. Tyson stepped through it as if it were mist.
Dr. Selvig lay unconscious nearby, his mind freed from the Mind Stone's influence but overwhelmed by the sudden return of his autonomy. Tyson regarded him briefly before turning his attention to the Tesseract.
The cube glowed with intense blue light, its energy feeding the beam that maintained the portal above. Tyson could see beyond its physical form, perceiving the Space Stone contained within, one of the six singularities that predated the universe itself.
"The doorway between worlds must be sealed," he said, reaching for the cube.
His hand, wreathed in Phoenix fire, grasped the Tesseract. There was a moment of resistance, a clash of cosmic energies as the Space Stone reacted to the presence of the Phoenix Force.
With a single motion, Tyson pulled the Tesseract from the machine.
The effect was immediate. The energy beam connecting the machine to the portal wavered, then collapsed entirely. Above New York, the portal began to contract, its edges folding inward like the iris of an eye closing. The remaining Chitauri forces scrambled to escape, but few made it through before the portal shrank to nothing, leaving only clear blue sky where the wound in reality had been. The sudden closure sent a shockwave of energy across the city. Windows rattled, and a sound like distant thunder rolled across Manhattan. Then silence fell, broken only by distant emergency vehicles and settling debris. The Chitauri soldiers and vehicles that remained in New York suddenly froze mid-action. Alien foot soldiers stumbled, weapons clattering to the pavement. Flying chariots lost power, spiraling down to crash into empty streets. Within seconds, every invader collapsed, their neural link to the mothership severed.
"They're all going down," Captain America said into his comm. "All of them, at once."
"Cut off the head..." Hawkeye replied, lowering his bow.
"And the body dies," Logan finished, retracting his claws.
Above them all, the Phoenix Five descended from Stark Tower, their fiery auras illuminating the smoke-filled sky.
Tyson hovered above the wreckage of Grand Central Terminal, the Tesseract secure in one hand and the Mind Stone in the other. Both cosmic artifacts seemed diminished in the presence of the Phoenix Force.
"The invasion is ended," he announced. "Now we heal what has been broken."
Natasha floated through the streets, extending her hands toward the injured. Where her Phoenix-enhanced energy touched, wounds closed and pain subsided. She moved methodically, prioritizing the most grievously injured.
"This one won't make it to a hospital," she said, kneeling beside a man pinned beneath rubble.
She placed her hands on his chest, and Phoenix fire flowed from her fingertips—not burning but mending. Broken bones knit together, ruptured organs sealed themselves, and the man's eyes fluttered open in shock and awe.
"An angel," he whispered.
She smiled, the expression softening her fiery countenance. "Just a friend." She helped him to his feet before moving on.
Felicia and Karla worked in tandem, clearing debris and stabilizing damaged buildings. Felicia's energy claws sliced through fallen beams and concrete slabs, while Karla used her staff to create force fields that supported structures on the verge of collapse.
Illyana teleported throughout the city, her flaming wings spreading wide as she transported injured civilians to safety. She appeared in the midst of a collapsed subway tunnel, where dozens were trapped in darkness.
"Be not afraid," she said, her wings illuminating the confined space. "I am here to help."
The trapped commuters stared in awe and fear, but their terror turned to relief as she began teleporting them to safety, five at a time. Within minutes, the tunnel was empty.
Through it all, the Phoenix Five remained connected by their psychic bond, sharing information and coordinating their efforts. They moved as aspects of a single entity.
But beneath the surface of this cosmic harmony, something was changing.
The Phoenix Force was growing restless. It had joined with these five mortals out of necessity, but such unions were not meant to last.
Tyson felt it first, a subtle shift in the cosmic awareness that had expanded his consciousness. The Phoenix was withdrawing, not all at once but gradually, like a tide receding from the shore.
"It's leaving us," he communicated to the others through their psychic link. "The Phoenix Force is returning to the cosmos."
The others sensed it too, the gradual diminishing of the power that had transformed them. It wasn't painful or sudden, but rather like waking slowly from a vivid dream, the details fading even as they tried to hold onto them.
They gathered once more atop Stark Tower, drawn together by instinctive understanding that the Phoenix would depart as it had arrived: through their unified presence.
"The balance is restored," Felicia said.
"The threat is ended," Karla added, her staff of solidified starlight beginning to lose its coherence.
"Our purpose is fulfilled," Illyana continued, her flaming wings folding inward.
"The cycle continues," Natasha said, her fiery hair calming.
"And we return to ourselves," Tyson concluded, feeling the cosmic awareness beginning to contract.
The Phoenix Force gathered itself, the energy that had been distributed among the five coalescing into a single point above them. It took shape once more as a massive firebird, its wings spanning the width of the tower's platform, its eyes containing the wisdom and power of countless eons.
For a moment, it regarded them, these five mortals who had briefly channeled its cosmic might.
Then, with a cry, the Phoenix spread its wings and soared upward. It accelerated rapidly, becoming a streak of orange-gold light that pierced the clouds and continued into the upper atmosphere, growing smaller and dimmer until it was indistinguishable from the stars above.
As the Phoenix departed, the transformations it had wrought began to fade. The fiery armor dissipated like morning mist, revealing their normal forms beneath. The cosmic awareness that had expanded their consciousness contracted, leaving them with only human perception once more.
They stood in a circle, exactly as they had when the Phoenix first joined them. But now they were themselves again. Tyson, Natasha, Felicia, Illyana, and Karla.
Separate.
The psychic bond that had connected them was gone, leaving each alone in their own mind for the first time in what felt like both an eternity and an instant. The silence in their heads was deafening after the constant presence of four other minds.
Tyson looked down at his hands. The Mind Stone rested back in its amulet. The Tesseract lay on the platform nearby, its blue energy pulsing steadily.
"Well," he said, his voice sounding strangely ordinary after the harmonic resonance of the Phoenix, "How many points was that worth?"
The group was still spread across Manhattan, but everyone was patched into the same frequency. A groan came through the comms. Tony Stark.
"I had to have won with the hail mary," he mumbled, voice raspy and weak. "Flying a nuke through a wormhole has to count for something."
"Mr. Stark," JARVIS interjected, "your vital signs are stabilizing. I recommend remaining still while your body recovers from oxygen deprivation."
"Yeah, yeah. But did I win?"
Wednesday interrupted. "Calculating point totals."
"You almost died, and that's what you're worried about?" Steve asked incredulously.
"Hey, the competition was Tyson's idea," Tony protested weakly.
"Anyone want to explain why half of you were on fire and flying around?" Logan asked.
"Long story," Tyson replied. "Involves cosmic forces, mind-melding, and temporary godhood."
Wednesday's artificial voice cut through the chatter. "Major Scoring Events with All Updates: High-Value Targets and Special Actions."
"Here we go," Tony said.
"Sterns: Tyson - 250 points."
"Nuclear missiles: Tony and Vanko - 1,500 points each."
Vanko's heavily accented voice came through the comms for the first time. "Is good score, yes? Better than Stark?"
"We'll see, buddy," Tony replied.
"Portal closure: Tyson - 1,000 points."
"That's not fair!" Tony protested. "I was unconscious because I flew a nuke into space!"
"Sucks to suck, old man," Tyson said.
"Loki knockout: Tyson - 200 points."
"I helped with that," Thor said, sounding mildly offended.
"Rescuing Stark and Vanko: Illyana - 200 points each, 400 total."
Illyana shrugged. "It was nothing. Just a quick teleport."
"Into space," Felicia pointed out. "While nuclear explosions were happening."
"Capturing Loki: Amora - 1,000 points."
Tyson said, "Wait a second, those should have been my golden snitch points."
"You received points for defeating him, but Amora was the one to capture Loki," Wednesday reported. "He's detained inside Stark Tower's penthouse through her efforts. Capturing Angela: Natasha - 200 points."
"That woman hits like a freight train," Natasha complained.
"Converting Hulk: Moonstone slash Karla - 500 points."
"Converting?" Fury asked.
"Dr. Sofen managed to calm the Hulk down," Wednesday explained.
"I simply appealed to his more reasonable nature," Karla said.
"Ten percent Leadership bonus: Director Fury, Captain America, Tyson, Felicia."
"Leadership bonus?" Fury's voice cut in. "I wasn't even on the ground."
"You directed the helicarrier and coordinated the initial response," Wednesday explained. "The algorithm recognizes strategic contribution."
"An AI with nuance," Tony muttered. "I'm such a proud papa."
"Final Scores, starting with 5th place," Wednesday announced.
The comm channel fell silent.
"Fifth place: Dr Sofen with 626 points. Twenty-six base points, 500 for Hulk conversion, and approximately 100 combat points."
"Not bad for my first outing as a hero," Karla remarked dryly.
"Fourth place: Amora the Enchantress with 1,000 points, solely from capturing Loki."
"Third place: Tony Stark with 1,598 points. One thousand five hundred for the nuclear missile, and approximately 98 combat points."
"Third?!" Tony exclaimed. "After everything I did?"
"Second place: Ivan Vanko with 1,700 points. One thousand five hundred for the nuclear missile and approximately 200 combat points."
Vanko's deep laugh rumbled through the comms. "Is good day when Vanko beats Stark, yes?"
"And first place," Wednesday continued, "Tyson with 1,939 points. Two hundred fifty for Sterns, 1,000 for portal closure, 200 for Loki knockout, and 313 combat points, multiplied by 1.1 for the leadership bonus."
A chorus of groans and congratulations filled the channel.
"Winner: Tyson, reclaiming the lead thanks to his leadership bonus and the portal closure points," Wednesday concluded. "One thing of note: Tyson received no bonus points for using the power of friendship to go Super Saiyan, as adding more points to the victor would have been redundant."
"Super Saiyan?" Steve asked, confusion evident in his voice.
"I'll explain later, Cap," Natasha promised. "It involves an anime... cartoon reference."
"So what does the winner get?" Logan asked gruffly.
"Bragging rights," Tyson replied. "And the satisfaction of knowing we just stopped an alien invasion."
"And paperwork," Fury added. "Mountains of it. Starting with explaining how five of you briefly turned into firebirds. But save it for the debrief," Fury interrupted. "For now, secure the artifacts and assist in search and rescue."
"On it," several voices responded simultaneously.
"And Tyson," Fury added.
"Yes, sir?"
"Good work today. All of you. The world owes you a debt it may never fully understand."