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"I really want to be with all of you! I want to play! That's why I'm going to reincarnate! Then I'll be with everyone again."
— Menma
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"... Did you just say my father was Odin or did you develop some form of twisted humor all of a sudden?" Rudeus couldn't help but squint his eyes at the Phoenix Force.
"I never lie nor do I joke" The Phoenix calmly clarified, although Rudeus had his doubts on her last claim to never joke.
"I see. That explains the fact why I am sort of a god with my own divinity and stuff. But it still doesn't answer my question on why you don't want Odin to find out about me. What are you hiding 'mommy'?" Rudeus asked her with an impassive face.
"I can tell you all about it later but right now we need to save that girl unless you want your entire planet to get atomized." The Phoenix force skillfully diverted the topic for now.
"Tch, fine. Tell me what do I need to do." Rudeus couldn't ignore Jean's current condition even though he knew that his mommy dearest was just diverting the topic and buying time. He had to ignore his own curiosity for now and do something to revert Jean back to her normal healthy state. It didn't look like she could continue for much longer like this.
Also, he didn't want Jean to awkwardly stand there in her weak condition at the brink of death while he heard his sad backstory about his father from the Phoenix force.
"You cannot destroy the Dark Phoenix. It is way past that stage. It is a part of the human girl now. It is as much connected to the girl as she is connected to her. If you try to destroy the Dark Phoenix, it will always come back using its connection to her. So the only way to truly destroy it would be killing the girl as well so that the Dark Phoenix no longer has an avatar or a vessel to manifest..." The Phoenix force grimly stated.
Rudeus was of course going to oppose this method and just say no to it. He would much rather leave Jean in a desolate universe or alternate reality through a boom tube than kill her. He wasn't going to let any of his girls go through the sacrifice drama, ever. But before he could say anything, the Phoenix force spoke again.
"But there is another way to end the threat of the Dark Phoenix, that is for the girl to completely absorb its entire existence back into her own soul and assimilate it into herself, that way only one entity will exist in that physical body, the being who would win the battle of will and attrition. But that is extremely dangerous since there is a high chance of the Dark Phoenix winning instead of that girl as well. But whatever decision is chosen, it will have to be quick, before the abomination takes complete control of her. Its only because of my power that it hasn't devoured her yet." The golden bird revealed.
Rudeus was having trouble in answering. He of course wanted to choose the second option but it wasn't his decision to make. It was Jean's. So he just looked at Jean and waited for her to make the decision.
Jean who was listening to the entire conversation till now knew that she really only had one choice because though Rudeus was allowing her to 'choose', he wouldn't kill her or let her die on his watch even if she did choose the first option.
"I'll try my luck against the Dark Phoenix then." She said while thinking in her own mind 'Although I don't know if I'll be able to even last a single second in my current condition, I'll still try my best, for all the people that believe in me, for Rudeus.'
"Good. Then my so... Rudeus, you have to help her in overcoming the Dark Phoenix. Although, I can't directly intervene, you can while they face each other in a battle of attrition using their psionic energies and willpower. Those black rods of yours that you used previously could potentially determine the winner of this battle." The Phoenix gave him a clue to ensure Jean's victory.
'Black rods? Oh yeah, I guess I can use those since they seemed to work on her previously.' Rudeus remembered about the black receivers of his rinnegan. He didn't know if he could use his powers and his system inside this place but if the Phoenix was saying it then it should be true.
He looked at the Dark phoenix who was glaring at everyone present like it wanted nothing else than yell at them for their defiance to scheme against it and feed on their entrails but it couldn't speak at all for some reason. The Phoenix force had probably used its power to seal its mouth shut so that it could not scream. Rudeus did agree with this course of action since it really was annoying as its voice sounded like thousands of mental patients screaming all at once.
"Then I'll release the Dark Phoenix now. And remember girl, whatever happens from this point, it will not only determine your own destiny but also the fate of your realm and even the fate of my son since even a small butterfly can flap its wings and create the biggest of storms and you little girl are not just a butterfly but a mighty phoenix, cut from the same cloth as me." Rudeus's mommy gave her pep-talk.
"Wow, do you take motivational classes or something because that was pretty good." Rudeus joked while he went a little far away from Jean before leaving a little gift from him in her hands to make space for them to fight even though he was going to cheat and help Jean win.
"No, but having access to the memories of an infinite number of motivational speakers all over the multiverse can be considered a good training." Phoenix retorted back in her emotionless voice.
"And you said you never joked." Rudeus muttered to himself.
"Now, let begin then." As soon as she said that, the additional chains on the dark Phoenix began to snap apart like strings until only one chain remained, the one connecting it to jean.
However the moment it was free, instead of attacking Jean, it rushed towards Rudeus like a raptor in a fit of rage. It seemed to consider Rudeus a much bigger threat to its existence than Jean herself. However unfortunately for the fake phoenix, it could not even come close to Rudeus as it was stopped abruptly like somebody had tugged on its leash.
"Stay away from my BOYFRIEND." Jean used the few remaining vestiges of her power as she pulled the bird through the chain connecting them and stopped her from approaching Rudeus.
The New god took this chance and quickly casted a volley of black receivers shaped into rods which penetrated into the dark Phoenix's body as it released a painful screetch.
However he instead of draining power from the Dark phoenix and directly absorbing it, rerouted it into the original Jean whom he had already just given a small black receiver beforehand.
Within a few moments, the weakened Jean seemed to heal again and go back into her original prime form as she continued absorbing the psionic energies back from the dark Phoenix.
Now the Dark phoenix could no longer feed on her, she was instead the one feeding on it.
"Now, this feels much better. Let's see who wins now, you sick goddamn bird." Jean said with anger lacing her voice as she was determined to win this 'fairly' and show her true value by proving herself, now that Rudeus had leveled the playing field somewhat.
But she had no idea that this was just the start. Rudeus was now in the mood to cheat and cheat he will. After all, the one true God of cheating had just awakened.
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{A big shout-out to my new pátron 'Muscab Mumin' for joining the Divine Eminence tier on my Pátreon. Thanks for the support. ≧◠ᴥ◠≦✊}
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