"Five minutes till arrival," John announced from the cockpit for the rest of the crew.
The black jet crossed into New York state airspace.
After the clash with the Avengers, no air traffic controller asked them to identify themselves anymore — but no one scrambled military interceptors either. Lesson learned.
"Damn!" Cain grabbed his helmet. "We're actual idiots!"
John was about to snap at him, but kind-hearted Jane spoke first.
"What happened?" she asked, looking up from a book she'd found onboard.
"We just ran over the Avengers! We pissed right in Tony Stark's face!" Cain blurted out, unusually nervous. "We're real supervillains!"
"You didn't used to care about that," John shrugged.
"Nah, that part was awesome," giant grinned. "Like real villains — we kicked the tights off those clowns and rode off into the sunset. But damn! We had all the cards! We could've scored a huge payday!"
"Explain," Grandmaster said, frowning.
[I calculated every move in this scenario. Did I actually miss something?]
"It's obvious!" Juggernaut smirked. "We should've taken Cap's shield!"
John and Jane exchanged a look.
"That's dumb," said Ghost Rider.
"Agreed," said Thunderheart.
"You guys don't get it!" Cain scoffed. "Carrying Cap's shield around is like burning down a police station — it's a spit in the face to every lawman out there. It's badass!"
"And it'd also mark us for good," John snorted. "The Sorcerer Supreme and the rest of the magical community barely tolerate us as it is. If we go full villain, we'll have real archmages hunting us."
"Still sounds cool!" giant insisted.
"Fine. Let's say — just say — I somehow convinced Cap to trade government property and the symbol of hope for Tony's life."
[It'd be a damn hard sell and would almost definitely end in a fight — but I have to admit, it's possible.]
"Then what?" John asked. "Aside from the dumb bragging rights, what would we do with a useless shield? I don't know how to use it, and I'm not planning to learn. You? Have you looked in a mirror lately, Cain? Your head's bigger than that frisbee. And for Jane—"
"Not a chance," she said, lightning flickering in her eyes. "They're already accusing me of stealing the hammer. I'm not getting caught with Cap's shield too!"
[And Jane wouldn't let me do something like that anyway. Intimidating a cocky rich kid is one thing. Taking a hostage and demanding a real ransom is another. In this team, everyone's got a strong will and wildly different morals. I have to keep balancing us just to hold it all together.]
Cain opened his mouth to argue, but John cut him off.
"We've arrived," pilot said, checking the instruments. "We're over New York now, just need a landing point. Official airports are off-limits, but below us? Dead ground. You know what that means."
"Do I ever," Juggernaut grinned, pulling the yoke down.
///
"Your order's ready," the waitress said, setting down a plate of eggs and coffee, an apple pie with milk, and three massive burgers with double fries.
"You're a gem," John said, passing her a generous tip.
"Thank you so much!" she beamed, tucking the hundred-dollar bill away — not knowing it had belonged to a thug from the building next door just thirty minutes ago. "Enjoy your meal!"
[That smile was worth every cent.]
John set his skull-shaped mask on the table.
Jane removed her helmet and shook out her hair.
Cain, still helmeted, sank his teeth into a burger.
"Maybe we should've changed clothes," Jane said, breaking off a piece of pie. "Not saying we don't look amazing, but we're a bit... extravagant."
"Relax," John stirred his coffee. "We're in the superhero capital. This place is crawling with weirdos in masks and capes."
"There are more fans here than anime nerds in Japan," Cain said, cracking open a can of cola. "It's nuts."
"That's not what I mean," she nodded toward the window, where a guy walked by with an Iron Man-themed backpack. "After what we did yesterday..." she lowered her voice. "We attacked the Avengers. This city's full of surveillance cameras, and we're not even bothering to take our masks off. The Avengers could drop in on us any second."
"They won't," John said, casually eating scrambled eggs with one hand while scrolling through the news on a stolen phone with the other. "It's been a full day since the plane crash, and there's been zero news coverage. No bounty, no alerts. If we were just more mutants, they'd already be hunting us."
"But we're magical badasses!" Cain laughed. "They're scared of us!"
"Something like that," John sipped his coffee. "I'm guessing they dumped us into the Sorcerer Supreme's jurisdiction. As long as we don't make as much noise as we did yesterday, they'll leave us alone. Keep us under watch, sure — but no active moves. We've got that diplomatic immunity I mentioned."
"If you say so..." Thunderheart took a sip of milk. "Maybe the Avengers won't come after us. But what about the others? The solo types who don't check in with them? Spider-Man. Daredevil. Luke Cage. They might try to take us down."
"And how would they know we're us and not just some cosplayers?" John set the phone on the table. "Last time the internet tracked me, I was in Vegas, fighting Thor. Last known sighting of Juggernaut was in Peru. And you?" He looked at Jane. "The internet doesn't even know you exist. As long as we don't throw powers around in public, nobody's gonna recognize us."
"Aww, man," Cain slumped. "I really wanted the Fantastic Four to come after me. Been dying to find out who's stronger — Juggernaut or Thing. Guess I'll have to smash their house."
"We're not smashing houses!" John snapped. "We have a mission here. I'm not blowing it because you want to pick a fight."
"Chill, man. I'm sure we'll find something fun along the way," Juggernaut smirked. "Anyway, tell me — who are we here to recruit?"
"Lady Phoenix."
The name didn't get the reaction it should've. Clearly, Cain and Jane had never heard of the power and had no idea what kind of catastrophe it implied.
"Doc passed on the intel," John continued. "Two months ago, a meteor hit New York. Turned out to be a Crystal — like our artifacts. A high schooler named Mary Jane Watson picked it up and became the host of the Phoenix Force."
[At first I was surprised by the twist. I always thought some redhead telepath from the X-Men was supposed to become the Phoenix. Then I remembered how many things in this universe already don't match canon — and stopped caring.]
"So what can this Lady Phoenix do?" Cain asked, popping a fry in his mouth. "Like, which Infinity aspect is she tied to?"
Jane kept quietly eating her pie — she'd already heard all this from Strange.
"Phoenix is the complete opposite of Cyttorak," John said. "Your energy destroys. Hers restores."
[Dangerous ground. If Juggernaut finds out there's someone nearby who could cancel his powers, he might lose it.]
John glanced at Jane and got a small nod in return. They had rehearsed this speech.
"So, let me get this straight—we're getting another girl on the team?" giant grinned. "Sweet!"
[Whew. Dodged that bullet.]
"Typical," said Jane, now no longer the only lady on the squad, rolling her eyes. "At least now we'll have a medic."
"That's what I was thinking," John smiled. "Healing a damaged soul is no easy thing. Lady Phoenix might become our walking medkit. Maybe her magic could even stop our souls from falling apart."
Jane choked on her milk. Cain dropped his fries.
"Dude, are you serious?"
"It's just a theory," John raised his hands. "We find her, we test it."
"I'm in!" Juggernaut jumped to his feet, flipping the entire table.
Plates and glasses shattered. Food all over the floor. The table turned to splinters.
"Were you born in a pigsty?!" Jane crossed her arms, milk pooling at her boots. "Why the hell did you do that?"
"Sorry. Habit," Cain muttered. "Last two years, I've been wrecking places on instinct."
"Forgive my friend," John gave a sheepish smile to the cooks rushing in. "I'll pay for the damages."
Apologizing one last time, they hurried out of the café.
"So where do we find this Lady?" Cain asked as they stepped onto the street.
"Her name's Mary," John corrected. "Doc gave us the details—sixteen years old, red hair, green eyes."
"That narrows it down to, what, half the city?" Juggernaut snorted. "How are we supposed to find her?"
"She lives in that building," John pointed across the road. "The plan was to sit in the café and wait for her to get back from school. Now we're freezing our asses out here."
Jane zapped Cain with a bolt of lightning.
"Alright, I get it!" Juggernaut rubbed the burn on his fingers. "I messed up! Sorry again!"
They spent the rest of the afternoon sitting on a bench, each glued to their own phone.
"Guys," John finally looked up from the news. "Bad news."
"Let me guess—porn sites won't load?" Cain said without even looking up from the memes.
"What is it?" Jane stood, alert.
"I scanned every article for miracles or sudden recoveries," John said grimly. "Two months. Nothing."
"And?" Juggernaut didn't move.
"Phoenix needs to feed," he explained. "So either this schoolgirl's better at hiding than all of us combined… or Mary's trying to hold it back."
"Oh, shit," Cain groaned, finally turning off his phone.
"I don't get it," Jane said. "Why is that bad?"
"You've never gone berserk," Ghost Rider gave her a crooked smile.
"It's hell," Juggernaut frowned. "Happened to me when I attacked the X-School. No control. Just hunger to destroy. And you'll do anything to feed it."
"And there's no way to stop it?" Thunderheart tilted her head.
"I only know one," John said, holding up the Cross of Zarathos. "Give the monster inside exactly what it wants."
"I know another," Cain muttered, pulling out the Ruby of Cyttorak. "Hit it so hard it crawls back into its cage."
[Need to remember that. Might come in handy.]
"I see her," Jane pointed to a red-haired girl walking toward the building.
But John had already spotted the problem. A guy in a hoodie and jeans was walking beside her. He recognized him instantly.
"Shit."
"What?" Cain looked the same way.
"It's Spider-Man."
/////
Author's Note:
I'm not a fan of having a telepath on the team. And with Cain's distrust of mutants, there's no way he'd tolerate one around. So, no Jean Grey.
This time, the Phoenix Force belongs to Mary Jane Watson.
Let's see how this goes. I promise to give a solid in-universe explanation—without breaking canon—on why Mary deserves the power more than Jean.