[1 week ter]

  It's been one week sihe atta NY. At present, I finally kiss my dream of a peaceful and fun life, goodbye.

  I 't take it anymore. Between the crowd outside the school ting my name and the endless barrage of interviews I refuse to attend, my head is about to explode. Jean keeps remindio stay calm, but who the hell stay calm with those cult followers swarming outside? I 't possibly brainwash them all.

  The Phoenix Force—the so-called ic gift—has ruined any ce of normalcy I had left. And it's not just the outsiders. The students at the school act like I'm a demigod walking among mortals. Jubilee won't crack a joke, Pixie trying too hard to act like I do, and even Logan, of all people, keeps his usual snark to himself. It's suffog.

  Jean says it's because they're afraid of me. They saw what I could do. But I didn't have a choice back then. I had to save them. I didn't think things through. It just... happened.

  Oh, the date with Gwen was also celed because the pce we were supposed to meet was destroyed. My new house was also destroyed. Then to make things worse, fug cults! Those iards are making cults and calling themselves, 'Children of Aron'. I'm like what the fuot to mention the stant rants of God and savior, messenger of God... Finally, there was Lady Death, her obsession with me was kinda hot but dangerous. Heck, at this point, I don't even want to use the Phoenix Force again.

  As for SHIELD, well, I have no idea. I haven't met anyone so far.

  Sigh!

  All in all, my life has bee a living hell, even if I could somehow get some pead quiet, I know that I am going to hear the same shit again. So muy peaceful life...

  I opened my palm and summohe new power I absorbed from her. It's like a purple fme with a bck mist, swirling around. It's easy to trol for now and it's freaking cold. Even with my ice power, I could feel the chill that the fme gave off. Lady Death called it Death Aura. And I'm pretty sure I don't have to expin what it does.

  Well, I wao test it out anyway. So, I took a bottle and pced it on the desk.

  "Alright, here we go," I said to myself as I extended my palm, covered ih Aura, and just like Phoenix Force, it came so naturally. I fired it toward the bottle.

  The bottle immediately disied.

  "What the...?" I blinked, watg the dust disperse. I wasn't expeg it to work on non-living things, sidering its was freaking OP. "Hakai!" I said jokingly while disiing the wall clock. I'm pretty sure there is that smirk on my face right now.

  I wonder how powerful I am now. This is actually kind of exg.

  I walked to the windoeeked outside. Yeah, those annoying cultists are swarming around the school even in the middle of the night. Dang! Just go away.

  My eyes nd on the small mirror by the dresser. Azazel's ability… right.

  I roll my shoulders, letting the familiar sensation of his shapeshifting powers spread through me. My face shifts, my features melting into something unreizable. Green eyes instead of brown, shorter hair, broader jawline. By the time I'm done, I look like someone who could blend into a crowd without a sed gnce.

  Perfect.

  , teleportation. Azazel's power is straightforward and effit. A crag noise fills the room as a faint red glow envelopes me. I picture the subway station in my head. One hop, and I'm out.

  When I nd, it's cold, damp, ay. The hum of fluorest lights echoes faintly. The ptform is deserted, just as I hoped. No fanatio reporters, no curious people. Just silence.

  I let out a breath I didn't realize I was holding.

  Finally.

  The faint glow of a flickering streetlight looked kinda ominous, you know, from those horror movies and the air was cold. I know, I have power. Just for today, I want to feel it all. I just want to take a walk. The area was eerily quiet, the kind of quiet that follows devastation. The city was still rec from the Chitauri attack. The scars of that battle stretched across every block, visible in the colpsed buildings, half-cleared rubble, and the t es w through the night.

  The streets were lined with temporary barricades and stru equipment. Makeshift scaffolding g to the remains of buildings, their skeletal frameworks reag out toward the sky. A few stru crews were still w despite the te hour, their floodlights casting long shadows across the debris.

  As I walked, I noticed several pop-up shops set up in the cleared areas. They were nothing fancy—just a few carts as selling hot drinks, basic supplies, and whatever goods their owners could salvage. One shop had a hand-painted sign reading "Hot Coffee & Sandwiches - Pay What You ." The aroma of brewing coffee mingled with the faint st of ash and dust that lingered in the air.

  A middle-aged vendor with graying hair stood behind one of the carts, p coffee for a couple of stru workers. They looked as tired as I felt, their faces streaked with grime and exhaustion. The vendnced up as I approached, his eyes narrowing briefly before softening.

  He must have noticed something familiar about me. Sigh! Nah, I'm just being paranoid. He gave me a nod aured to his cart.

  "Coffee? Sandwich?" His voice was rough, but there was kindness in his tone.

  I hesitated for a moment before nodding. "Coffee. Bck."

  He poured the steaming liquid into a chipped mug and ha to me. "Rough night?"

  "Something like that," I muttered, ing my hands around the mug. The warmth seeped into my fingers, a stark trast to the chill of the Death Aura still lingering in my mind. I paid the guy.

  The vendor studied me for a sed. "You one of those volunteers? The ones helping up after... you know."

  I shook my head. "No, just passing through."

  He grunted in uanding. "Well, whatever brings you here, stay safe. City's still dangerous at night, especially with all the... weird stuff going on."

  "Thanks." I sipped the coffee, the bitterness grounding me in the moment.

  As I stood there, a low rumble reached my ears—a distant sound of heavy maery, likely the es clearing debris. But beh it, I caught something else. Voices. Angry, desperate, and far too close for fort.

  I turned my head slightly, my senses sharpening. Around the er, a group of people was arguing, their words harsh and frantic. I couldn't make out everything, but one phrase stood out: "Children of Aron."

  I felt my stomach twist. Not here too. I set the coffee down on the cart and muttered a quick thanks to the vendor before heading toward the voices, keeping to the shadows.

  Peeking around the er, I saw a small group of people huddled together, their faces lit by the glow of a makeshift altar. At its ter was a crude drawing of… me. My face, surrounded by fmes, with the words "Savior of Mankind" scrawled beh it in what looked like red paint—or worse.

  One of them, a woman with wild eyes and a tattered coat, eaking fervently. "He's our hope, uide! Aron will lead us to salvation. We must spread his word!"

  Another person, a younger man, seemed less vinced. "But what if he doesn't want this? What if—"

  The woman cut him off, her voice rising. "It doesn't matter what he wants! It's what the world needs!"

  I felt a headache brewing. This was beyond ridiculous. These people didn't know me, didn't know the chaos I was barely holding together. A, here they were, building shrines and ting my name.

  I stepped into the light, my altered appearance shielding me from immediate reition. "What the hell are you all doing?" I asked, my voice sharp.

  They froze, their heads snapping toward me. The woman's eyes narrowed. "Who are you to question our faith?"

  "I'm just someone who thinks worshipping a random stranger in the middle of a ruined city is a terrible idea," I shot back.

  The younger maated, lookiween me and the woman. "Maybe he's right. Maybe we're—"

  "Silehe woman barked, her fervor intensifying. "Aron's power is undeniable! You've seen what he do!"

  I used my telepathy to send them bae. "Go home!" I said with a anding tohey stared at me with wide eyes before nodding and walking away. I let out a breath ahe area.

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