Jean Grey never even felt the needle.
She was returning from a late training session, tired, distracted, mentally replaying a psychic exercise she hadn't quite mastered. My operatives—hand‑picked, void‑minded, and trained specifically to resist telepathic detection—moved like shadows between the outer trees of the estate.
A silenced dart struck her neck.
She gasped, stumbled, and her vision snapped into brilliant fractals of failing psychic focus. Before she could even project a warning, two more darts embedded in her shoulder. Her telepathy fizzled, then shut down completely.
She collapsed into waiting arms.
The cuffs of SCP‑148 were clasped around her wrists before her head even hit the ground—cold, shimmering restraints forged from "Telekill Alloy," a substance that nullified psionic energy and telepathy with brutal efficiency. On someone like Jean Grey, it hit like a wall.
She didn't dream.She didn't resist.She simply… went still.
My operatives placed her inside a containment capsule disguised as a Brotherhood extraction pod—one Magneto's people were known to use. They left scorch marks, traces of EM disruption, and signatures consistent with electromagnetic abduction.
A perfect frame‑job.
By the time the X‑Men found the scene, every piece of evidence would scream one name:
Magneto.
The capsule was carried into the cave—SCP‑7905, the gateway between worlds. My men passed through the stone archway and returned to our world, descending into the hidden freight lift that led to Site 999.
Jean Grey, host of the Phoenix Force—the cosmic fire that once burned entire galaxies—was lowered into an isolation chamber lined with SCP‑148, null‑fields, and dimensional stabilizers.
Even unconscious, she radiated power.Even suppressed, she radiated danger.
But she was here.On my turf.In my world.
Doctor Bright stared down at her through the glass, humming thoughtfully.
Doctor Clef cracked his knuckles."We sure this is worth pissing off the two strongest mutants on the planet?"
I smiled.
"Jean Grey isn't just a mutant. She's the potential host of the Phoenix Force—one of the most powerful cosmic entities in existence."
I tapped the reinforced glass.
"And now she's ours."
Clef whistled.Bright groaned."And Xavier's going to find out."
"He'll find what we want him to find," I replied. "And when Magneto retaliates, Xavier will come running to us for help. The Foundation becomes the only force capable of maintaining balance."
I turned away from the containment chamber.
"This is chess, gentlemen. And the Phoenix is the queen."
Behind me, Jean stirred—just a twitch, just a whisper of cosmic awareness trying to wake up.
But the Telekill cuffs held.For now.
"Prepare the Phoenix protocols," I ordered.
Site 999 hummed to life.The real work was just beginning.