The Rise of the Blue Phoenix

Chapter 3: Jean Grey

Ashley woke up startled, but when she sat up, she nearly screamed, her prosthetic had been removed, but the pain was in her head, her arms, she never felt so much pain in her life. She felt as if her skin was on fire, screaming almost. She wanted to cry so badly from it, yet it was familiar. She felt this before.

With the Infinity Stones.

When Ashley had to crush her own hand to find the small shards from each of the Infinity Stones. Her mind was racing, she felt as if she could hear the sounds of every single person's mind, her breaths were uneven. Her hands were on her head, trying to stop the pulsing headache that started forming.

She screamed.

A nurse ran into her room. "Ms. Romanoff, please try and steady your breathing."

"Where's Bucky?" Ashley demanded. The nurse didn't reply, "Ms. Romanov, please-"

Ashley's breaths were caught in her throat. Her heart hammered against her chest. She ripped off all the tubes connected to her, the nurse trying to inject her with a serum. Ashley thought about how she never wanted the needle, and silently prayed that she had the ability to tell the woman to inject herself with the drug.

Startled, the nurse did so, her own curly blonde hair getting in her face. She then fell to the ground.

Ashley's breathing increased, she looked around for her hand and necklace, but they weren't there. Then, the door opened to reveal Bucky. "Ashley, it's okay, it's me, Bucky."

Ashley willed the nurse to get out of the room, and somehow, he did. "Bucky..." she sobbed, "I want to get out of here. Please!"

"I don't think so yet, Ashley, it's alright if I call you Ashley, right?" Wong said as he appeared from behind the door. Ashley nodded at him and stuttered a reply. "Why, Wong?"

A piercing noise was then heard, causing Ashley to cry out and fall down onto her knees, wincing. People's thoughts, memories, it's as if, if she reached deeper she could control their minds.

"I personally didn't know it was possible," Wong admitted shamefully.

"What are you talking about?"

"Ashley," Wong said as he stepped forward to look at her, "you have small pieces of the Infinity Stones in your blood." Ashley looked at Wong in shock, "And it seems to be taking effect. You were able to use the Mind Stone's Powers to knock out poor Velma here, but hey, now you're all better. She won't remember a thing."

"Basically, after a year, they are taking effect, and they are reacting somehow with the force inside you already. Your Phoenix. The Power Stone reacted with your own power so far," Bucky explained. He then turned towards the Sorcerer Supreme, "when would the other stones magic appear?"

"Hard to say, but it would definitely be at different times," Wong replied. Ashley frowned, hating how true this could be. "So, now I have to train on how to use these stones that strengthen my power?"

Wong and Bucky looked at each other. "Well, no, they fully reacted with each other already, you just have to control your magic and pray you don't..." Wong trailed off, imitating an explosion with his hands. Bucky stared at him with wide eyes, Ashley already focusing on something else as she got back on her feet. "Bucky, where's Morgan?"

"Pepper picked her up, and don't worry, you're still the godmother," Bucky replied. Ashley then thought about something else. "All this power... I've never asked for it. What if I spiral out of control? I can already read minds, now I can control people through their mind, find their memories, hear their thoughts; but like, several at once." Ashley sighed and hugged Bucky, her comfort person at this point, "and who was that woman? How is she stronger than me? It's as if Wanda and I were combined, and it was...even more powerful."

"Ms. Romanoff, there is someone waiting for you. Come alone. Code T." F.R.I.D.A.Y announced, causing Ashley to look at Bucky. "Where's my necklace and prosthetic?"

Bucky gave her both, letting her adjust her items as she brought a coat and walked out to the entrance of the facility. "F.R.I.D.A.Y, tell them I'm on my way."

At this she knew who it was. Code T, and her eyes widened as she smiled when she saw the hooded figure who was staying away from the glass. "Uncle Tony," she smiled and ran to hug him. He happily hugged her back; aside from Bruce and Clint, Tony was the closest to her. He treated her like a daughter, he was the one of the two only father figures to her. Tony wanted to cry every time he saw her, because of how much she grew, and how mature she'd become.

"Hey, I heard about today and had to rush over. We need to talk."

Ashley nodded and so with the help of F.R.I.D.A.Y kept the three Avengers away from the lab. Although, Wong knew of this secret, so for him it was just bad timing.

"So, this is what's going on. A couple of years ago, I met this, really attractive woman, called her Storm, and she had powers over the weather. She said she had a feeling there was someone here with powers, she called them 'mutants'. Your mother was terrified of losing you, but she didn't let it show. She lied right to her face. You were...twelve at the time, it was after the battle with Loki's army.

"Those 'mutants', are supernatural beings like you and the Maximoff siblings. Apparently, you and Wanda are both rank, or class or level five, the highest potential. But they are getting especially worried about you."

"So, the woman I fought..." Ashley trailed off. "Is a mutant." Tony finished. "Not just any mutant, though. This mutant is Jean Grey," Tony said, bringing up a picture of Jean Grey, Ashley looked at her in horror, reading All the crimes this woman had created. "She killed her own fiancé? And her own Professor? And she almost wiped out an entire city?"

"Ashley, Jean Grey has the Phoenix Force, and currently, the Dark Phoenix has a hold of her. That's what killed all those people," Tony said, looking at her with sad eyes.

"Phoenix Force..?" Ashley breathed out, looking at Tony with a frown, she could see the unhappy face he had.

"Ashley," Tony began, slowly, "there's one more thing, kid. Your blood seems to have traces of Jean and Scott's DNA..."

Ashley's breath hitched as she let Tony continue. "You're Scott Summers and Jean Grey's biological daughter."