MOST PEOPLE THINK that black is the color of evil and death.

But, for Anastasia Xavier, the color symbolized power, strength, and control... things she knew she possessed as of that moment.

It was for that reason why she decided to wear black when they arrived in the city of New York. Yes, they... for standing behind her were several mutants from Genosha, her younger brother, and her godfather, Hank. Anastasia carefully surveyed the vicinity of the area they were in before turning her gaze towards the people who came with her.

Upon hearing her plan of fighting Jean, some Genoshans, specifically her father's associates, immediately joined her. They all believed that she had the right to take all of that cosmic force from Jean since she had better control over it. Fueled by this confidence they have in her, Anastasia passed by the mansion earlier to gather some materials for her plan, but unfortunately, she was caught by her godfather sneaking in the laboratory. Left with no choice, she informed him of what she was going to do and to her surprise, Hank eagerly provided what she needed and told her he was coming with her to avenge Raven's death.

Anastasia nodded to them as she looked once again at the several buildings in front of them. According to one of her biological father's informant, Jean was currently staying at the second building at their right along with someone, possibly hiding. She could feel the fragment of the force inside of her reach out to the rest of its whole. Anastasia release a soft sigh. Earlier that evening, the Phoenix explained to her earlier what really happened during their incident in outer space.

It told her that it was split into two when it both struck them and Jean absorbed the entity's darkness while Anastasia received its light. The two of them were now like the Yin and Yang of the Phoenix force, one represented the goodness and the other the evilness.

The fragment inside of her also warned that absorbing the full power of the force would result to Jean's demise and even though Anastasia didn't want it to happen, she believed there was no other way. Jean was now absolutely corrupted by the other half of the force and there was little they could do for her. It was only a matter of time before she finally destroys them all.

The young female felt the presence of her godfather beside her. Hank was determined to avenge Raven's death, his anger peaking. "Is everyone ready?" she asked, checking her earpiece. She had an idea what would transpire later on. She knew the X-Men would come for them. Anastasia was more than certain that by now, they already heard her plan of killing Jean.

"All present and accounted for."

"Good."

Just as they were about to finally to move, Anastasia felt an utterly familiar presence appear behind them. "Ana, stop this right now."

So, it begins.

Half-smiling, the young female spun around, raising her eyebrow. "Papa," she greeted, eyeing the team that came with him. Her aunt Valerie stood beside her legal father, her expression anxious. She sighed. "I knew you were all coming here. So," She wrung her hands together. "are you here to stop me or her?"

"Ana, I'm sorry for what Jean did. But, I can't let you go in there. I cannot let you go through with your plan."

"It's just a matter of time again before she loses control and hurts someone again. Who knows what she will do next? Are we just going to sit around and watch her destroy the world?"

"If we do this here, now, they'll see us as monsters, Ana. Violent freaks, fighting on the streets of New York."

Anastasia fixed her eyes on the ground, releasing a breath. "We've always been monsters in their eyes, papa. When did society truly and wholeheartedly accepted us?"

"Anastasia," started Valerie, stepping forward. The young woman's eyes fluttered over to her. She had always considered her as a second mother and knew whatever words would come out of her would be true. "Jean is still not beyond help. If you fight her now, you'll only provoke whatever that force is inside the two of you and you'll both unleash a deadly chaos. Think of the casualties, the future consequences of your actions."

The young woman held her head high despite being struck by what she said. Obviously, if she fought Jean now, the Phoenix force inside of her will fight back. But, she refused to listen and she knew Valerie knew this as well.

"If you do this, we will lose everything, Ana! Everything our families worked hard for will be gone." Jacob tried to reason, standing beside his parents.

"I'm sorry, Jake, but haven't we already?" retorted the young woman. "Look at how fast the government dropped the peace agreement. The President currently no longer wants to do anything with us. They don't want to help us, but we save their asses all the damn time." She coldly continued, sneering.

"Damn it, Ana! Your father's homeland will be gone. Everything your family cared about."

"Save it, Charles." mumbled Hank just as Anastasia noticed him curl his hands into fists.

"If you kill her, her blood will be on your hands. You will live with that guilt for all your life. It will haunt you for the rest of your days. I don't want that to happen." Her legal father appealed, wheeling himself a bit forward.

Anastasia stared at him for a moment, tilting her head to the side. "At least, I will live knowing what I've done saved millions. If she has to die so that all of us will live, then so be it."

"If you touch her, I will fucking kill you."

"I don't need to touch her in order to kill her, Scott, so your threat is invalid." She shrugged.

"You're starting to sound like your father."

The girl paused for a moment, taking a moment to ponder over it. She took a deep breath, fixing her eyes on the man that raised her for years. "I am and I am not ashamed of it. I've pushed away my real father for years, but now, I've realized that he and I are the same."

"Don't do this, Ana." pleaded Charles. "Killing her isn't the solution to this! Killing Jean will not bring Raven back! It won't wake your mother and Peter from their coma! It won't change anything!" He yelled. "Please."

"You lost your sister to her!" growled Alex, narrowing his eyes. "She killed Raven! She hurt mom and Peter! Until when are you going to realize that she is dangerous? When all of us are on our knees? Begging to be spared?"

Charles was about to answer back when she held her hand up to stop him. "You repressed her trauma from her childhood and now it has resurfaced. But, it isn't the main reason why she's the way she is now. Jean has now fallen into the destructive impulses of the Phoenix entity. Day by day, she's becoming too strong to control, papa. I feel it. I feel her hunger for power and destruction." She explained. "This Phoenix entity inside of me is the light and life of this universe while Jean is its darkness and death. She can't be saved anymore."

"There must be some way -- "

"Enough!" bellowed Anastasia, her eyes glowing a bright gold and her hair billowing behind her gracefully. "I've had enough of this pointless conversation! You will answer my question, professor... are you with me or are you against me?"

Charles hesitated for a moment and shook his head. "You know my answer to that."

"I'm hurt. I am your daughter." She curled her fingers slowly as her the glow in her eyes intensified. "Well, legally speaking."

"I didn't raise you like this."

"I am only preventing another tragedy, and this is for Raven, my mom, and my brother Peter." She looked at her hands. "The Lehnsherr family never forgets who it wronged them."

"Anastasia, please -- "

"My decision is final," She declared. "I will either take that force and control it or destroy it myself and if you continue stand in my way tonight..." Anastasia looked at each of them, her blue eyes filled with deadly determination. "I will do the same to all of you."

"You all don't want to do this."

There was moment of pause between them all before Hank lifted his head and replied to Valerie, "Yeah, we do."

Then, all pandemonium broke loose.

Anastasia watched her godfather transform into his Beast form and ran towards the street with murder in his mind. "No!" yelled Scott as he shot the metal gate fence Hank jumped on with his optic blast. Ariki reacted quickly by swatting Scott's hand away from his visor with one of his hair braids, officially starting the fight.

"Stick with the plan?" asked Selene, one of Erik's associates, as she pulled out her knife.

"Remove the king's defenses." Anastasia remembered Erik's words from their recent chess game.

"Stick with the plan."

And with that, she spun around and levitated herself up in the air, following Hank. Her associates already knew what to do even her own brother had a role in it. Just as Anastasia landed of the hotel where Jean was in, Jacob blocked her way.

"I cannot let you hurt Jean, Ana."

The brunette only rolled her eyes. "I really don't get why you guys are so obsessed with protecting her." She exasperated. "It's annoying me."

"I'm not protecting her." He remarked. "I'm not even here for her. I'm here for you! I'm preventing you from staining your hands with her blood."

"I've already decided that I will when I arrived here, Jacob." She proclaimed as she closed his airway, causing him struggle breathing. Her friend dropped to his knees, holding his throat. Anastasia walked past him and was about to enter the hotel when a strong seismic wave struck her back and she crashed on the ground, hard. Anastasia groaned, feeling the harsh impact, but she didn't let this deter her. Scowling, she pushed herself up and faced Jacob who had just gathered his breath, fists raised.

"Ana, I don't want to fight you."

Catching a glimpse of her mutant accomplices on the roofs, she raised herself in the air, bringing some cars with her. "Too bad, I want to."

Throwing her hand forward, she hurled all the vehicles at him and he rolled across the ground, dodging them all. He fired several concussive waves at her, but she easily evaded them all. The two exchanged attacks like no tomorrow, causing devastating mayhem around them. Anastasia continued to retaliate until she got him in a position where she wanted him to be... in the line of fire.

Suddenly, the new, powerful leader was hit by a bolt of lightning, causing her to  be thrown over to a brick wall, sliding down. Glancing up, she caught sight of Storm standing meters away from her. "I honestly thought it would be harder to put you down, Ana. Is that really all you've got?"

Standing up, Anastasia wiped the blood off from her chin and subtly looked up once again at the roofs. One mutant was positioned perfectly between her and Storm. Such perfect timing. She thought then slightly rolled her eyes.

"Please, my father always told me to put my pawns first." Her ruby red lips curled into a smirk as she reached out to her earpiece and muttered, "Fire."

Instantaneously, several shots were fired from the roofs, all coming from the other Genoshan mutants that joined Anastasia. The young woman's mouth was drawn back into a smirk of triumph when Storm was finally pierced with the dart-like shot that was filled with the mutation-suppressing serum her godfather synthesized.

Anastasia's ears were filled with gasps coming from Charles and the X-Men. Their mutations were now rendered dormant, meaning they were powerless as of the moment. "You really shouldn't have let Valerie out of your sight, guys." She uttered, walking past Storm and turning to observe everyone lose their powers even the teleporter, Kurt. "What? Didn't see that coming?"

"What did you do?" screamed Scott, as he tried to turn on his visor, but nothing was happening.

"Relax," Anastasia started, twisting the bracelet in her wrist. "You'll only be powerless for an hour... which gives me enough time to deal with Jean without you guys interfering." At this, Alex handed her an oil bucket. "Thank you, bro." She smiled. "You see, this was my plan. knew you weren't going to stop fighting me, so I had to render you all powerless. Obviously, Aunt Valerie was going to see it coming and she will put up her forcefield and block it all." The young brunette opened the bucket and poured the gasoline in the hotel's staircase.

"So, I had to scatter you all and distract her away from the fight so I can unleash my secondary attack. In my dad's words, remove the defenders especially the King's." She then winked at Charles. "Without his defensive forces, the King is in serious trouble and it will lead to immediate checkmate." She recited just as she emptied her oil bucket.

"This isn't some game, Ana. Where's Valerie?" Charles questioned as she watched him regain his ability to walk.

"Oh, some of my associates are distracting her, papa. Don't worry, she's safe. I believe she's just there at the end of the street." Anastasia casually replied, fishing out her lighter.

"I will kill you!"

"Oh, but how? You're powerless, Scott. My guys here will beat you to a pulp before you even reach me." informed the young female, giving everyone a winning smile before frowning again. "Don't let them out of your sight."

"Yes, ma'am."

"You're making a mistake." warned Storm, but the girl brushed it off.

Anastasia raised her burning lighter and looking at them once again, she proclaimed, "There's only one ending tonight, everyone. Either she dies or I do!"

And with that, the leader dropped the lighter, causing the path where she poured gasoline over to ignite. It created a barrier around the entrance of the hotel, blocking anyone who dares to come inside. All of the other mutants who joined her cause stood outside and inside of the raging fire, ready to defend if necessary.

Satisfied, she spun on her heel and left them all reeling. Anastasia was determined to end Jean's rampage and control all of the remaining Phoenix force herself. She knew fighting its dark side would result to deadly outcomes, but Anastasia was more than determined to make sure she comes out on top.

Tonight, the sky will fall.

━━━━━━━━

ELEANOR WASN'T GOING to lie. The Nightmare Realm was terrifying as fuck.

Nathaniel was right in saying that the demons they have encountered in the dream were just the first wave.

For immediately upon their entry on the next dimension, several creatures of the dark attacked them all concurrently. Hounds, ghouls, ghosts, demons, and many more dark entities that a human can ever think of mercilessly assaulted them. It was like a grand welcome to hell if Eleanor was going to be honest.

The three of them worked their through the realm, fending off the creatures of the dark. Nathaniel almost effortlessly annihilated every beast that had come their way. His power to control the darkness displaying itself around the dimension. It was as if it was his home all along.

Erica was as fast as Nathaniel in combat, each slice and stab she had done with her spear made of pure light force amazed Eleanor. It was them she realized that if the two of them lived, they were surely a force to be reckoned with.

Just as Eleanor beheaded another demon, a roughly humanoid creature with an almost-hairless mottled, decaying hide stretched tight over its bones jumped right at her. She averted her body to her left and elbowed the monster before blasting it with her powers.

"Are we just going to keep on killing these assholes until we get to the wall, Natty?" screamed the brunette. "Because I'm really thinking..." She uttered just as she hurled another scarlet orb towards her current opponent. "of just erasing this realm's existence!"

"No, mom! Don't do that!" yelled Nathaniel in response as he killed another ghoul. "You can't just wipe things out from existence! You'll cause an imbalance in the universe if you keep on doing that! It will create a chain reaction that will lead to the death of the entire cosmos!"

"What?"

Erica brought her hands together, weaving a misty cloud of light force. "There are laws we have to follow, mom. There are people -- no matter how evil they are that need to exist. When you erase someone's actuality, you're not only removing them from your universe, but all throughout the multiverse and that has deadly consequences. You can kill them, but avoid erasing them. Alright?"

Nathaniel nodded, grunting. "Erica and I don't know how to elaborate it further, but we were told that it was like this: light cannot exist without darkness. It's a balance."

Just as he said this, a black, fluid-like cloud circled them for a moment. "Stay away from it!" alerted Nathaniel as he tried to disintegrate the cloud, but it only avoided him. Not a second later, it reached Eleanor and she was soon brought into another evocation of the past.

It was only a month after Egypt and everyone was adjusting to the new situation especially her children who had just discovered the truth about their paternity.

The clock had just struck twelve and Eleanor was more than certain that she was the only one who was awake for no mind was active at the moment. She decided to stay up late in order to finish her lesson plans since they were one of the many things that was destroyed when the mansion was blown to bits.

A soft sigh escaped her lips as she rubbed her temples. She was exhausted and her body was already screaming for her to sleep. As the brunette turned around a corridor, an overwhelming feeling of anguish filled her mind and heart. Her hand reached out to the wall beside her as she tried to steady herself. The feeling was too strong that her vision blurred for a moment.

It was coming from Erik.

Pushing the overpowering surge of emotions away from her mind, she ran over to his bedroom and blasted his door open. Frantically looking aroun, Eleanor saw all of the metal objects in his room hovering in the air as Erik laid in his bed, wildly tossing his head back and forth.

"Erik?" She warily called for him and almost instantly, various images flashed before her vision. His daughter, Nina, dead in his arms and him screaming to the heavens for his loss. Eleanor felt his pain and his grief altogether and it was overwhelming.

"Erik?" She rushed over to him. "Wake up, wake up!" The woman slapped his cheek. "Come on, wake up, Erik! Erik!" Another painful scream filled his ears and Eleanor placed her hand on his cheek, closing her eyes to reach into the deepest depths of his mind. "I command you to wake up!"

Instantaneously, Erik bolted upright, gasping. "It's okay, it's okay." panted Eleanor as she ran her thumb over his cheek. His eyes were red and watery and he was still catching his breath. "Look at me, look at me. You're safe, you're okay. You're here with me."

"I-I saw Nina."

Eleanor shut her eyes,