Homelander: New Legacy

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It was through Mystique’s explanation that Roger finally understood what had happened.

Shortly after Roger and Hank had left, Apocalypse, accompanied by Psylocke, arrived at the mutant academy.

Just as Roger had guessed, the X-Men fought a life-or-death battle against Apocalypse. Though the process was difficult, they ultimately emerged victorious.

Apocalypse was completely obliterated by the awakened Phoenix, turning to ashes. Psylocke was captured by the X-Men and was now with the other students.

Up until this point, everything had proceeded normally.

The problem lay with Phoenix.

To stop Apocalypse and create an opportunity for the X-Men to attack him, Charles and Phoenix jointly invaded Apocalypse's mind, hoping that this would stop him from using his powers.

The process was extremely difficult. Though Apocalypse couldn't invade others' minds, he could influence the mutants attempting to invade his own. 

Moreover, with a mental strength honed over thousands of years, Apocalypse was far too powerful for Charles to control, even with Jean Grey’s help.

Fortunately, Phoenix’s power was immense, and when she stopped holding back, Apocalypse couldn’t last long against her and was completely obliterated, leaving no remains.

Initially, everyone thought that this battle was their victory, that Phoenix had taken down the troublesome Apocalypse, and the X-Men had triumphed.

But what no one expected was that, just before his death, Apocalypse had broken through the mental barriers Charles had placed in Phoenix’s mind, causing her to remember certain things.

Her memories had been altered by Charles.

And then...

It led to the scene Roger was now witnessing: Phoenix questioning Charles before leaving the academy without hesitation.

She was trying to recover the memories that Charles had sealed away. To regain them, Phoenix needed to find her father.

The father she believed had died, but who was, in fact, still alive.

"So, you messed with her memories again?" 

Roger's expression darkened as he looked at Charles after hearing Mystique’s recount.

"...Again?" 

Mystique asked, puzzled, glancing between Roger and Charles.

Roger explained, "About ten years ago, you must have encountered Wolverine, Logan, who traveled back in time. He should have spoken to Charles. 

"In the future, Jean becomes the Dark Phoenix because Charles sealed off parts of her memories and personality, causing a conflict within her that ultimately led Logan to kill her. 

"Before Logan left, he should have warned Charles to let Jean accept all of herself, so she wouldn’t repeat the same mistakes of the future... But it seems, Charles, you didn’t listen to him."

"I did listen," Charles defended himself. "I encouraged Jean to accept her powers, to embrace her other personality. Up until now, she has remained herself, there’s been no sign of the Dark Phoenix!"

"But you tampered with her memories."

"I know! But I didn’t want her to suffer too much! If you know about Logan and Jean, then you must also understand what Jean went through as a child!"

Charles shouted at Roger.

Roger didn’t respond to Charles immediately.

This was the storyline of the fourth film in the new X-Men series, X-Men: Dark Phoenix.

Roger enjoyed superhero movies, and he hadn’t missed any of the old or new X-Men series. Thanks to Charles’ reminder, he now remembered why Jean’s memories had been sealed.

As a child, Jean had already awakened her abilities. During a trip with her family, her powers surged uncontrollably due to her unstable emotions, causing her mother to lose consciousness and crash into an oncoming car.

Jean’s mother died as a result.

Perhaps young Jean couldn’t handle the truth, or perhaps Charles believed she shouldn’t know it. So, he sealed away those particular memories.

This was one of the catalysts at the start of Dark Phoenix.

However, because the plot of Dark Phoenix was so poorly received, Roger never really accepted it as the final installment of the X-Men series, so he didn’t recall much of its details. Charles’ reminder brought it back to him vaguely.

Yet, he still couldn’t agree with Charles' approach.

"Charles, you know," Roger sighed as he spoke to Charles, "To a child, phrases like 'I’m doing this for your own good' or 'You’ll understand me someday' are the most hated. They’re also the phrases I dislike the most.

"And right now, you’re exactly like those parents who keep saying 'It’s for your own good.'

"What makes you think sealing Jean’s memories was truly good for her? What makes you think she couldn’t handle the truth? And even if she really couldn’t, shouldn’t you have at least tried proper psychological counseling? You could have even brought in a professional therapist."

"…"

Charles remained silent.

Roger continued, "It’s not that you couldn’t bring someone in, or that you didn’t think of it. It’s just that you believed your abilities could solve everything, psychological issues, mental conflicts, because your telepathic powers make dealing with such things seem effortless. But human thoughts aren’t that simple, are they?

"Charles, you’re too arrogant."

Charles closed his eyes, accepting Roger’s criticism without a word of rebuttal.

After Roger’s words had subsided and some time had passed, Charles reopened his eyes and said to Roger:

"You can criticize me all you want, and I know I may have made a mistake, but… Jean is still out there… So, at least help us find her, okay?"

Charles was willing to take any blame from Roger, but he couldn’t let Jean stay out there alone.

Because, as he had told Roger the night before, Phoenix was dangerous, her powers were dangerous, and the darkness hidden deep inside her was dangerous too.

Charles feared that Jean might go astray because of this, and he feared that she might become the next threat that humanity would have to face.

So, Jean Grey had to be found and brought back. Whatever else happened, he would accept it.

Roger took a deep breath and let out a long sigh.

His emotions were not in the best place right now. His harsh words to Charles had partly been a result of that instability.

Initially, Roger thought that his biggest challenge in this world would be saving the people of Cairo or dealing with Apocalypse.

So, for the past two days, Roger had focused all his efforts on those issues.

Now that Apocalypse was gone, Roger realized that his real challenge was dealing with Phoenix, Jean Grey.

She was even more troublesome than Apocalypse. And worse, Roger couldn’t treat her like he had treated Apocalypse, because Jean Grey hadn’t done anything wrong yet. She was just a child who had run away after a disagreement.

Roger couldn’t treat a runaway child with violence, he wasn’t that kind of person. Especially when it wasn’t even the child’s fault, but rather the fault of her ‘parent.’

Roger just wanted to experience this era peacefully, but now he found himself caught up in a mess of events. Of course, his mood was far from good.

"I’ll go find her."

With a sigh, Roger finally agreed to Charles’ request.

Among everyone present, only Roger could find Jean quickly and bring her back. And as someone unassociated with the X-Mansion, he might be the only one who could get through to her.

"I… I’ll go too!"

Hearing Roger’s conversation with Charles, Cyclops stepped forward and spoke.

Cyclops had feelings for Jean, and now that she was gone, he was one of the most worried people apart from Charles.

Roger glanced back at Charles, who said to Cyclops:

"You stay here."

"Why? I can also, "

"I know you care about Jean, but this is not the right time."

Charles gently persuaded Cyclops, then turned to Roger and said:

"Please, take care of Jean."

"Charles, you’re not… Forget it."

Roger stared into Charles’ eyes, sensing a hidden intention, but he wasn’t sure of it and couldn’t ask directly right now.

So, in the end, he said nothing further. He simply gave Charles a long, searching look before taking off to find Jean Grey.

Before he left, Charles handed him the address of Jean’s father. He suspected that Jean had gone there to seek answers from him.

Following Charles’ directions, Roger flew quickly toward the place where Jean was likely to be.

But Roger was a step too late.

After her awakening, Jean’s flight speed had also increased significantly, and since the location wasn’t far from the X-Mansion, she had already met her father by the time Roger arrived. She was walking out of the house, looking dazed and heartbroken.

Roger landed softly, observing Jean’s lost expression. He asked her gently:

"Looks like you’ve learned what you came to find out."

"It’s you, the otherworldly Superman."

Jean Grey glanced at Roger, asking, "Did you… come to take me back?"

"That’s what Charles asked me to do. But it doesn’t seem like you want to go back, does it?"

"He lied to me..."

Jean whispered.

Seeing Jean’s state, Roger couldn’t help but sigh internally.

He wasn’t good at comforting people, especially not women. With Jean looking like this, he couldn’t think of a way to console her.

"So, you really don’t want to go back?"

"…"

Jean didn’t answer.

Roger rubbed his temples, then said to her:

"Honestly, I should probably be dragging you back by force right now... But, well, I’m not too happy with Charles myself."

Jean looked at Roger again.

He gave her a slight smile and said:

"We still have some time. How about I buy you a drink? Think of it as celebrating the hero who just saved the world."

Jean Grey didn’t want to return to the X Academy, and Roger wasn’t eager to go back either. So, instead of insisting, he decided to take the young Phoenix out for a walk, to help her clear her mind.

It could serve as a bit of relaxation after the intense battle.

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