American comics: Starting with mutants

"I do indeed possess all of her memories."

"but……"

"This feeling is very strange."

"I am indeed dead."

"But I felt like I hadn't died. After I stopped the flood of Lake Akali, I felt like I came to a place full of chaos and immortality. There was no concept of time there. I don't know how long I stayed there until I saw a ray of light."

"Light?"

Ethan was slightly taken aback when he heard this.

"What light?"

"I don't know, but after that light appeared, the energy that enveloped me also carried me to follow that light. When I opened my eyes again, I saw you."

"I?"

Ethan raised an eyebrow as he watched Jean calmly recount her memories: "So, you're not a clone, but Jean, the real Jean, just someone who has taken over a clone's body?"

This explains a problem quite well.

Jean is not just a mutant.

She is indeed a mutant with the ability to change her mind.

But she also comes from the primordial universe, born at the beginning of all things, is chaotic yet immortal, eternal yet impermanent, and is the inheritor of the Phoenix Force, one of the three oldest forces in the Marvel Universe.

and so……

Jean's condition is actually similar to Ethan's, but also different from Ethan's.

Ethan inherited the Black King's energy absorption mutant ability, but after he activated his cheat, he had already fused and sublimated his mutant ability with the cheat power into a superpower energy world independent of his mutant ability.

He will no longer be controlled by the X-Force Suppressor, but Jean will still be suppressed by it.

Because it's different from being completely subservient to Ethan's cheat power.

It wasn't that Jean chose the Phoenix Force, but rather that the Phoenix Force chose Jean.

But in any case, Jean, who possesses the power of the Phoenix, is theoretically invincible; her body might be, but her soul will not.

This explains why Jean, who was originally a clone, was considered by William Stryker to have mutant abilities far exceeding those of the original.

Therefore, Qin's state is more like a soul possession than a simple cloning.

only……

"If you were the piano."

"That……"

Ethan immediately thought of another question and looked at Jean with some curiosity: "Then why did you listen to William Stryker? Why didn't you try to contact Professor X?"

Jean, who had been calm, seemed to have a flash of black light in her eyes when Ethan mentioned the name Professor X.

"hiss!"

Ethan felt a sharp pain in his head and involuntarily gasped.

"The zither!"

"..."

Upon hearing Ethan's voice, the shadow in Qin's eyes disappeared, and she looked at Ethan, whose brows were furrowed.

"Feel sorry."

"fine."

Ethan pressed his right hand against his temple, trying to ease the pain in his head.

By combining the events at the end of the X-Men 2 timeline with the events in the X-Men 3 timeline, he had a pretty good idea of ​​Jean's current situation.

Jean Grey did indeed die when the Akali Lake Dam collapsed while she was covering the X-Men's escape.

However, because she was the possessor of the Phoenix Force, at the moment of Jean's death, she took Jean's soul into the world of the Phoenix Force.

After some time, Jean said she saw a light, and then the Phoenix Force brought her back to the real world.

and so……

The zither is still a zither, but it's not the same zither as before.

Just like the Doctor in the British TV series Doctor Who.

Each reborn Doctor retains the memories of the previous Doctors, but at the same time, their appearance, tone of voice, manner of speaking, and even personality may be completely different from their predecessors.

That's the state Qin is in right now.

The current Jean should have a personality dominated by Dark Phoenix.

Jean's emotions fluctuated as soon as he mentioned Professor X.

Ethan was able to clearly sense Jean's emotional state at that moment.

Conflict and aversion.

Ethan thought of the reason for Jean's corruption in X-Men 3. If nothing unexpected happens, the Jean we see now is the corrupted Jean.

That is—the Black Phoenix!

Ethan thought to himself, then shook his head with a wry smile.

Jean looked at Ethan quietly.

She could read Ethan's mind at that moment.

"Aren't you afraid I'll hurt you?"

"I'm not afraid."

Ethan laughed nonchalantly, looking at Jean with a smile: "Whether you are Jean Grey or Jean Six, you are the Jean I saw when I opened my eyes, and that's enough. Besides, if you wanted to hurt me, you would have done it already."

Qin remained silent for a while after hearing this.

"Feel sorry."

"You don't need to apologize to me."

Ethan got up from his computer chair, went to Jean, pulled her up from her seat, and then hugged her. He lowered his head, smelling the scent of Jean's fiery red hair, and said calmly, "You won't hurt me. I believe you, so you don't need to apologize to me. If you really feel sorry, could you please stop coming in and out of my consciousness so casually?"

Holding Qin in his arms, the power of the Black Phoenix in her eyes flowed into Ethan's energy world at a speed imperceptible to both of them, blending seamlessly with the phantom of the great sun, which was entirely outlined by the most brilliant energy.

Qin, nestled in Ethan's arms, slowly raised her head and quietly looked at him.

Eyes facing each other.

Qin slowly began to speak.

"no."

"...Why?"

"You're a liar."

"Where did I lie to you?"

"You said you'd get me out of here soon, but you're too late."

"..."

Ethan looked at the piano, which was calmly gazing at him, opened his mouth, and then gave a wry smile: "Okay, it was indeed my fault, but can you promise me one thing?"

Qin frowned slightly.

Ethan sighed. "I can allow you to wander around in my consciousness, but could you please stop running around?"

He sensed the chibi-style Qin running back and forth within his own consciousness, as he constructed the memory palace of this lifetime.

Just as he finished speaking, the Q-version Qin running around in the memory palace stopped, looked up, and then raised her little foot to gently kick the bookshelf next to her that Ethan used to store his memories of the experiments he had encountered in this life.

The bookshelf swayed, and Ethan gasped.

Qin was slightly taken aback, then hugged Ethan.

"Feel sorry."

"……fine."

Ethan looked at the piano pressed tightly against his chest, smiled slightly, and shook his head.

It doesn't matter if she's a fire phoenix or a black phoenix.

In a word.

They are all his phoenixes.

This is his Jean Grey.

The instrument that belongs to him.

This is enough.

……