"Can we really succeed in this operation?" Wanda asked again, a trace of uncertainty lingering in her voice.
"There's no need to overthink it," Shin replied calmly, glancing at her. "You should have more confidence in yourself. Give it another ten years, and Galactus might seem trivial to you."
"Who knows, maybe the superheroes on Earth will start using him as a sparring partner just to boost their status."
Wanda couldn't help but laugh, covering her mouth. "That's outrageous! There's no way I could become that powerful."
"I'm serious," Shin insisted while drawing stellar energy from his body. "If it weren't for the interference of Chthon with your Chaos Magic, I'd have already helped you raise your strength."
Just like how he had once divided Jean Grey into two to allow her to manage the Phoenix Force more effectively, Shin had considered a similar solution for Wanda. This method offered a practical way to control vast energies that otherwise overwhelmed their users. However, the potential for improvement in this ability still exists.
"Help me improve? What do you mean by that?" Wanda blinked, genuinely confused.
"Same principle as with Jean. I'd split you into twins. That way, your connection to Chaos Magic would be divided into two points of access instead of one. It's like releasing pressure through two valves instead of one. Much easier to control."
"Wait! Jean's not a natural twin, isn't she?" Wanda asked in surprise, a flicker of suspicion in her eyes. "Why did you split her like that?"
"Because the Phoenix Force was destabilizing her," Shin explained bluntly. "She was teetering on the edge of losing control. And the Phoenix Force, when it slips out of control, is even more dangerous than Chaos Magic."
He continued, "Chaos Magic is unpredictable and reality-warping but Phoenix Force affects the psyche. It's tied to life and emotion across the multiverse. When it loses balance, it burns everything it desires. It doesn't just change reality, it incinerates it."
"In other words, if Jean loses control, the whole planet could be turned to ash."
"...Fine," Wanda murmured, nodding reluctantly. "I believe you. But still, it feels unfair. So they're stronger than me because they had... help?"
Shin couldn't help but chuckle. The rivalry between Scarlet Witch and Phoenix was almost instinctual. With their similar power levels, temperaments, and even appearances, they were natural rivals neither purely enemies nor fully allies.
Wanda's interruption brought Shin back to another idea he had recently been pondering. Using the power of the Munch-Munch Fruit, he could, in theory, fuse the two Jean Greys back into one unified being.
After all, the two shared the same mind and memories, copied from the original Jean. Once reunited, their synchronization might allow her to wield the Phoenix Force with even greater mastery.
Still, Shin knew this would only go so far. Unless Jean either embraced the Dark Phoenix transformation, essentially allowing the Phoenix to take full control, or achieved unity with it to become the White Phoenix, her growth would always be capped.
It was like a Jinchūriki in the ninja world. Gaining more control over the Tailed Beast's chakra allowed for incremental power boosts, but true transformation only came through a pact a full spiritual agreement between the host and the Tailed Beast.
In that analogy, the Dark Phoenix was the tailed beast dominating the host, while the White Phoenix was the result of harmony between them.
By contrast, Wanda's situation was more rigid. Chaos Magic already had a will—Chthon's. Unless she could defeat and replace Chthon as the ruler of Chaos Magic, she'd never reach a similar level of harmony with her power source.
This was why Shin hesitated to perform the same "twinning" process on her. Without a fundamental change in the source of her power, the risks far outweighed the potential benefits.
Then, abruptly, a flicker of understanding surged through him. Shin's eyes narrowed, and he looked up toward the ceiling.
"...That feeling..."
"The beacon I placed on the board is gone!" Tony Stark blurted, face darkening.
"My magical seal disappeared as well," Doctor Doom added.
"The quantum communicator just lost signal," Hank Pym muttered grimly. "Seems like Norrin Radd really blew himself up."
Despite the Silver Surfer's unwillingness to destroy himself, the scientists had clearly prepared failsafes, contingency traps set into the very core of his cosmic board. If he didn't destroy it, they would.
Of course, these backdoors were never as efficient as a true self-destruction. But they were still enough to neutralize a threat.
Reed Richards' eyes swept across the room. "You all really went through with it…"
Though he had a reputation for creating more problems than solutions with his experiments, Reed still held a stronger moral compass than most of the others. Of the original group, only he and Bruce Banner hadn't planted sabotages in the Silver Surfer's equipment.
The others? Well, paranoia ran deep.
Tony, scarred by his cave ordeal and betrayal by Obadiah Stane, had grown increasingly distrustful and paranoid, bordering on the mindset of Batman.
Hank Pym was arguably worse. He had authorized the destruction of his protégé's research to prevent misuse an act that spoke volumes about his "ends justify the means" ideology.
And Doctor Doom? It would be more surprising if he hadn't left traps.
Hulk, sitting quietly as he sharpened his massive axe, glanced at them all and let out a snort.
"Twisted. Absolutely twisted."
Due to the butterfly effect caused by Shin's intervention, even the Hulk had grown smarter. With Bruce Banner's memories and increasing integration, his development had accelerated dramatically.
"Can you determine the exact coordinates?" General Ross cut in, his military instinct pushing aside moral concerns.
"I anticipated this," Reed answered. "When we designed the quantum bomb, we built it to emit cosmic energy intense enough to resonate with my space-time machine. The resulting shockwave creates a brief wormhole, just large enough for us to pass through."
"Then what are we waiting for?" Ross stood at once. "Let's move."
Reed didn't argue. He strode to a nearby control panel that looked more like a command throne than a machine, pressing a few buttons. With a thunderous hum, a shimmering vortex formed before them, spinning like molten glass.
Through the mirror-like wormhole, they glimpsed a realm bathed in fire. Explosions echoed faintly across the distance.
Reed handed out several small, box-shaped devices. "These are space-walking modules. They generate Earth-like temperature and air pressure fields, so even heroes who can't normally survive in space will be fine."
The group prepared to step through the wormhole into chaos, into fire, and possibly into their final confrontation.
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