Chapter 364: [468] - Jean's Journey

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Inside the transport plane carrying the rescued mutants and the young X-Men, they were flying back to Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters in Westchester County.

The rescued mutants clustered together.

The young X-Men did the same.

But right now, every single pair of eyes in the cabin was glued to the cockpit—specifically, to the family of three, Quicksilver, and Mystique, who was acting as the main pilot.

Jean sat in the co-pilot's seat, helping Mystique fly the transport they had essentially "borrowed" from the Alkali Lake Dam facility.

Wanda, meanwhile, was staring at this Earth's Pietro, picking up the conversation they had left unfinished.

"Magneto... is your father? Isn't your father Ilya?"

"I don't know how things work in your universe, but here, Ilya is our stepdad," Pietro shook his head, looking at Wanda.

Wanda frowned. "But your mother is Marina?"

Pietro nodded.

"Yeah."

"...Alright." Hearing that, Wanda nodded, slowly digesting the information.

It wasn't her first time dealing with the multiverse. She knew the rules varied from reality to reality. She just hadn't expected that in this world, she and Quicksilver were the children of this Erik 'Magneto' guy.

It was... weird. But Wanda could accept it.

After all, that was only true for 'this' Earth's Pietro and Wanda. It had nothing to do with her.

Just like Jean had said—this Pietro wasn't her real uncle. By the same logic, their biological father wasn't Wanda's biological father.

Still, because of that massive difference, Wanda quickly lost the urge to track down and meet her alternate self in this world.

With her curiosity fading, the conversation between her and Pietro gradually died down.

Canada wasn't far from the US. Guided by Mystique and Jean, the transport plane soon began its descent. As the first light of dawn broke over the horizon, the jet touched down vertically on the lawns of Xavier's School.

Even though the main mansion had been reduced to rubble from the explosion, the annex buildings were still intact.

Under the guidance of Mystique and Beast, the rescued mutants were quickly assigned to rooms to rest.

Hawk and Wanda followed Jean up to her room on the third floor of the annex.

The room wasn't huge, but it had everything she needed. More importantly, it was incredibly neat and meticulously organized.

Hawk looked around like a typical father inspecting his daughter's first apartment. He nodded approvingly at Jean.

"Not bad. Takes after me."

"..."

Watching Hawk puff up with pride, Wanda couldn't help but remember all those weekends back in their universe when she had to go over to 521A Palm Street just to clean up his mess of an apartment. She honestly had no idea where the hell he got the nerve to say "takes after me."

Still, Wanda kept the thought to herself and didn't call him out on his nonsense.

Men were like that. When they were out and about, nothing mattered more than their pride.

How did the saying go? A man can lose his shirt in public, but he can never lose face.

So... Wanda graciously played along, nodding. "It really is kept well. When your dad and I were on our way here, we were worried you might be struggling. But it looks like you're doing alright."

At the very least, Jean's room had all the essentials. Wanda, having just stepped out of the bedroom area, had felt the blankets on the bed. The texture was soft—clearly high-quality fabric.

Thinking about this, Wanda looked at Hawk. "This Professor X seems like a decent guy."

Hawk nodded. "Yeah."

Credit where credit was due.

You could call Professor X a bleeding-heart saint, but you couldn't call him evil. Because if Charles Xavier were truly a bad person, he wouldn't have an entire following of mutants willing to die for him.

Just like Mahatma Gandhi. The non-violent non-cooperation movement. People could criticize his methods all they wanted, but it didn't change the fact that the Indian people hailed him as a 'Mahatma'—a Great Soul.

At the very least, in the eyes of his followers, he was worth following.

Hearing Wanda's praise, Jean's eyes lit up. "He really is, Mom. The Professor is a good person."

Since the topic had shifted to Professor X, Hawk and Wanda were genuinely curious about what Jean had gone through after landing in this universe.

Jean sat down and began recounting her experiences.

"I don't even know how I ended up here."

"It was that day... when I got grabbed by that bad guy who was bigger than a planet."

"I didn't fight back at first. I made him think I was powerless. Then, when he wasn't paying attention, I pushed all my energy out, just like I did the first time I went looking for Daddy in the woods."

"I thought I'd land somewhere close to Daddy."

"But... when I opened my eyes again, I was here."

Recalling her initial arrival on this Earth, Jean couldn't help but curl her lips into a wry smile. In fact, thinking back on some of her early struggles almost made her laugh.

Simply put. She hit a few bumps in the road early on, but nothing she couldn't handle.

When Jean first dropped into this reality, she was only five or six years old. But there was no denying that Wanda had raised her well, and Jean was naturally brilliant.

First, she figured out that the year was the late 1960s. Even though she didn't understand what had happened, she didn't panic. After confirming that neither her mom's nor her dad's energy signatures existed in this New York City, she walked straight into a social welfare orphanage.

When Hawk used to tuck her in at night, he had told her stories about his own childhood on the streets.

Plus, the social climate of the US in the late 1960s wasn't nearly as cynical as the modern era. It was the golden age of the American Dream.

So Jean was quickly taken in by the orphanage and soon placed with a foster family.

Their last name was Grey.

Worried that the Celestials might track her down, the clever little girl only gave her first name—Jean. She never mentioned her real last name, and she had no objections when her foster parents started calling her Jean Grey.

Mom and Dad had always told her: there's no such thing as a free lunch in this world.

She figured that once her parents found her, she'd just ask them to find a way to repay her foster family for taking care of her.

That was her plan. Until—

Magneto attacked the White House. That event exposed the existence of 'mutants' to the entire world. Coincidentally, around that same time, Mrs. Grey walked in on Jean accidentally using her telekinesis.

Mr. and Mrs. Grey were decent people. Even though they were terrified of Jean being a mutant, they didn't kick her out onto the streets.

However, watching the endless news reports of mutant destruction on TV, the Greys firmly decided they couldn't keep her in their home.

Right around that time, a young Professor X knocked on their door.

When Jean had used her telekinesis, Professor X had been hooked up to Cerebro. He sensed the indescribable, crushing weight of her psychic energy. After doing some investigating, he found out the Greys were struggling with what to do with Jean and paid them a visit.

Then... the moment Jean saw Professor X, the two of them shared a telepathic exchange.

To earn her trust, the Professor completely opened his mind to her. She saw his sadness, his pain, his regrets, and his genuine desire for peace. The only things missing were violence and malice. Her intuition told her this Professor X was a good man.

In turn, Professor X looked into Jean's mind and saw her past, including exactly how she had arrived in this universe.

So, Professor X brought Jean back to Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters, just like he had taken in Mystique all those years ago.

For the past ten years, Jean had lived at the school. With the Professor's help, she learned how to control and wield the immense psychic energy that continued to grow stronger as she aged.

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Speaking of her psychic energy. Jean couldn't help but look at her parents sitting together on the couch and complain, "Why didn't you guys teach me how to control it back then? The Professor actually said that if he hadn't found me, the growing energy inside me probably would have torn me apart."

"..." Hawk and Wanda, who had been completely engrossed in her story, exchanged a guilty look at their daughter's sudden accusation.

Hawk looked at Jean. "My power doesn't need to be controlled. It adapts to you automatically. The energy you're struggling with is what you inherited from your mother. Blame her."

Hearing Hawk pass the buck so seamlessly, Wanda wasn't having it. She shot him a withering glare. "Oh, like I knew what to do? You're the one who said we didn't need to worry about Jean! You explicitly said your energy would guide her naturally!"

So much for saving his pride in public. This was a completely different matter.

The two of them stared each other down.

Watching them bicker, Jean couldn't help but burst out laughing. "Alright, alright. I'm fine now, aren't I? Besides, look at me. I grew up pretty great, didn't I?"

"You did."

"She gets that from me." Watching their beautiful, elegant daughter spin around with her arms wide to show off, Hawk and Wanda spoke in perfect unison.

Then... they looked at each other again and burst into a warm, shared smile.

Wanda met Jean's eyes, smiling warmly, before turning to Hawk. "Well then. It sounds like we really owe this Professor X our thanks."

Hawk didn't say a word, just nodded his agreement.

Hearing this, Jean opened her mouth. But just as she was about to speak...

Suddenly.

Her body violently swayed.

Hawk's brow furrowed. He vanished from the couch, instantly appearing beside Jean and catching her before she could fall.

Wanda's crimson Chaos Magic flared, reaching out to soothe the sudden, violent spike in Jean's mental energy.

A moment later, leaning weakly against Hawk's shoulder, Jean snapped her eyes open.

"It's the Professor's voice!"

"..."

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