She seemed normal to everyone else and everyone was happy to see it. I was too. Until I sensed it. The fury. The anger. The danger. She was a threat to me and everyone that I held dear. She wasn't the same as she was before. She was different. I could sense her evil because it matched my own. And I wasn't going to give her the chance to unleash it and hurt anyone that I held dear to me. I looked around seeing how happy everyone was and I then looked at my father's and Logan. What I was about to do was going to drive a wedge between me and everyone that I cared about. But it had to be done.
I went over to Jean since everyone else had already gotten their greetings and hugs in. I now got mine.
I put my arms around her and she returned my hug I closed my eyes "I'm sorry." I said out loud.
Then I used my powers I took a step back and placed my hand over her heart she looked at me and before anyone could even realize what I was doing it was already done. I used my powers of control to stop her heart she gasped and then fell to the floor dead. I looked down at her and tears gathered in my eyes. Just because I had chosen to kill her didn't mean that I wanted to. But it had to be done. I backed away as everyone panicked. Charles Xavier chose then to tell everyone "Enough. There's nothing we can do for her. She's dead. Terra stopped her heart." Xavier said and I stood my ground as he turned to me "It's alright Terra. It was an accident. You didn't mean to hurt her." he said gently and that's when my brother came to my side. Fire formed in his hand and he forced Xavier's chair to go backwards several inches he stood like a guard next to me "Terra doesn't make accidents like that. She meant to kill Jean. She stopped Jean's heart on purpose. And the first person who tries to harm her will die. I don't want to hurt any of you. But that doesn't mean that I won't. She killed Jean for a reason. So before you all condemn her why not try asking her why she did it." Mason said angrily the fire ball still in his hand clearly ready to start attacking if anyone came near me. Pyro stepped forward and I knew that he was probably the only one around that could get away with it. Our father gave him a warning look " Mason..Back off. Now. No one is going to hurt Terra. But we have every right to be confused and upset about this." Pyro said trying to reason with Mason.
Mason slowly began to make his way to the door with me safely behind him. "We're going now. Don't try to stop us." he said at this point I objected "What? Why? We don't have to go Mason." I said.
"Are you kidding me? You just killed one of their beloved X Men. They'll hate you now. I won't let you be mistreated by anyone here. They won't care why you did it. But they will hold it against you Terra." Mason said still backing us towards the door.
Xavier got involved then "Mason stop. Please. We don't hate Terra. No one here does. And I can read everyone here. Everyone except for you and Terra. Don't shut me out. Let me help you. All I can get off of anyone is sadness and confusion. We already thought Jean was dead once. Now she is dead. But your right. Terra doesn't make mistakes when it comes to her powers. And she killed Jean for a reason. Now I want to know what that reason is. And we all have a right to know. There's no need to run away. No one is angry. You can trust me." Xavier said.
"Why should I?" Mason snapped.
"Because your parents trust me. Trust works both ways. I trust the both of you. And I trust that Terra had a good reason for killing Jean because I know Terra is a good person. She has great power and she wouldn't just kill someone for hell of it." Xavier said and he smiled gently at me now.
"Terra can you please tell us why?" he asked.
I was hiding behind Mason's back but I stuck my head out to say "She was different. she was bad." I said trying to think of how to explain it.
"What do you mean she was bad?" Xavier asked his tone still gentle.
"She was bad. She was dangerous. She was a threat. She would have hurt a lot of people. She wasn't Jean. Not the same Jean. She was bad. There was anger. Rage. Fury. Evil. I had to stop her from hurting people." I said my tone had a bit of a whine in it.
Xavier sat back in his chair and seemed to pale for a moment then he said "The pheonix. Of course. Being buried under the water she must have wrapped herself in a telekinetic cocoon and that's how she survived. But using all the energy unleashed the bad side of her. There was a side of Jean. A very dangerous side. A side that lacked the will for control. Just like with Terra I created a barrier to cage the bad or evil part of Jean. And Terra has always been able to sense it. It's why you never seemed to be able to like Jean even when you tried. Because you could sense the danger. The threat. I never told you why you couldn't accept her. But when Jean returned here you sensed that Phoenix on a whole new level because it was free. You did the only thing you could think of to stop it. You killed Jean. And I'm proud that you did it the way you did. You stopped her heart. She felt no pain. She didn't see it coming. It was a merciful kill. I'm grateful for that. If any of my X Men or my students ever needed to be stopped in that way I would want it to be like that. Done with Mercy." Xavier said and I believed what he was saying.
Then he turned gentle eyes to Mason "Mason it's alright. No one is going to hurt Terra. You don't need to run. Your both safe here." Xavier said.
Our father Bobby took a step and it put Mason on edge I got in front of Mason and grabbed his arm the fire instantly died because he didn't want to risk hurting me. "Stop. Be calm." I commanded using my powers of control to control his emotions and calm his worry. He took a deep breath and let it out. And then his gaze was gentle again and he turned apologetic eyes to Xavier "Sorry." he mumbled and sounded exactly like our Pyro father.
Storm went over to Jean's body and picked it up and carried it away. Now I was filled with worry. What if she came back again? What if stopping her heart wasn't enough? I let go of my brother and trailed after Storm. I wasn't going to take my eyes off that body.
She was laid on a table and Hank was there now and he checked her and pronounced her dead. Storm came over to me "Honey come on. We don't need to be here right now." she said.
"I can't leave her." I said from where I had made a perch for myself.
"She's gone Terra. There's no reason to stay. She's dead. Come on." Storm said offering her hand to me.
I began to get annoyed "Your not listening. I can't leave her. I have to be sure." I said in a deadly tone that I had never heard from myself before.
"You have to be sure of what?" Storm asked me.
"I have to be sure she won't come back again. I have to be sure that she's gone." I said not taking my eyes off of Jeans body.
"Terra she's dead. Last time she wasn't really dead. This time she is. She has no heart beat. She has no pulse. She's dead. You don't have to worry. She can't hurt anyone. No one is in danger. The danger is gone." Storm said.
I looked up at her I could feel my pupils dilate and I used my controlling power to make her leave "Go! Get out! Now! Leave me!" I ordered and she backed away from me she tried to fight it but in the end I was too strong and she was forced to leave the room.
I sighed to calm myself down. I looked at the body again. I had to be sure. And there was only one true way to be sure. I looked at Hank "Leave us. Now." I ordered and he walked out the door.
I went over to the body. "I'm sorry." I said again and then I put my hand on her heart this time but I used my powers to set my hand on fire. My flames didn't hurt me. I set her on fire and watched her body burn to ashes. And I was sorry but It was the only way to be sure that she was dead.
Problem was that once I chose to use the power of Fire I couldn't always control myself. I backed away as objects on the table and on the walls began to move. I began to panic because I knew it was me doing it. Things began to fly around the room crashing against walls and breaking and I grabbed the sides of my face in an attempt to stop it but it didn't work.
The doors slammed shut and bolted locking me in it was the last thing I did and it was done in an attempt to keep everyone safe from me.
The more things crashed around the louder it go.
"Terra. Terra listen to me. Terra concentrate." I heard Xavier talking to me telepathically. I could hear them by the door now.
"Terra you must stop." Xavier told me.
"I can't!" I whined.
"Try Terra. You must try. You can stop. You just have to want it bad enough." he told me.
I felt the heat in me rising. "Terra no! Terra stop! Concentrate! You have to concentrate. You have to stop. Mason don't!" That last part was yelled at my brother as he used his power of fire to blast the door down and he then attacked me. He shoved me and then I lunged at him and he slapped me hard enough to land me on the floor and as soon as he did that it stopped. The objects dropped and I starred up at him in shock that he had just slapped me. Then I realized that the shock had gained my control back. He helped me up as I had one hand glued to the cheek that he had slapped. He pried my hand away and took my chin turning my face so that he could see the red mark on my face. He felt guilty for hitting me and I knew he did. I hugged him. "Thank you." I said because he had helped me stop. He had thought of a way to help me get control again. I didn't care that he had used violence to do it. Though when we separated and we turned his arm around my shoulder we stopped because both of our father's and Logan were there with disapproving looks on their faces. "that's twice today that you used your powers sparky." Logan said with his arms crossed.
"Don't you dare be mad at him! he helped me!" I raised my voice.
"Yes but Mason won't always be there to get your attention in another direction so that you can stop. You must learn to control yourself. You took the risk by using your Pyro powers to burn Jean's body. You knew the risks. Storm tried to tell you that Jean was already dead. There was no need to burn her body." Xavier said.
"It was the only way to be sure." I said.
"No. It wasn't, You could have trusted what we were telling you. Trust that we know what we're doing. We are the adults. It's not your job to protect us. We take care of ourselves and you children." Xavier said.
"You couldn't sense her. You didn't realize she was dangerous. I couldn't just wait until you figured it out. By then she might have hurt people." I said.
"That's not what I mean. You have a habit of trying to protect us because you have a lot of power. Even when your on missions you tend to keep everyone in your sight and you interfere if they appear to need help. You don't trust that we can protect ourselves. You are very powerful but you are still a child. Your 14. We have experiences and skills that you don't. When you hurl yourself at an enemy without thinking and only use your powers and you assassination skills your putting yourself at risk. That's why your brother and You aren't often allowed on missions. You take risks to protect everyone else." Xavier said and we both already knew that part.
It was instinct for us to protect them. Because they had helped us. They gave us a real childhood and a life. We felt that we owed it to them. And we were skilled fighters. Trained in the deadly arts. We barely ever got to use them. The only time we were allowed to go on missions was if Logan and Scott both went too. They tended to be the only people we would take orders from. We obeyed them. We obeyed Logan because he tended to bust our butts if we didn't. And we obeyed Scott because he would do the same.
We trusted them enough to give them that much control in our lives. We gave the same trust to Pyro and Bobby. But no one else.
That was pretty much the first time I willingly used my powers to kill or hurt someone.