Dark Phoenix: Into The Stranger Verse (Stranger Things)

CHAPTER 23-PART II

Chapter 23: Almost There Part II

SHE was eight years old when her powers first manifested.

The young Jean Grey thought she was going mad at first. Hearing voices in her mind, whispers that didn't go away no matter how many times she wished they would. However, it didn't take her long to figure out that the voices were not in hers, but in everyone else's head. She just happened to be the unwilling recipient of those thoughts.

She'd grown up in a world where mutants existed. They were every bit as human as anyone, but they possessed a unique genetic trait called the X-gene, and it caused their development of superhuman abilities that manifested at a young age.

Mutants were the evolutionary progeny of Homo sapiens, and they were generally assumed to be the next stage in human evolution after the exposure of their presence to society. With that being said, humans never truly accepted them. Perhaps it was from an instinct that urged them to battle their own extinction and protect themselves. And although mutants weren't hunted, they were still feared and unaccepted.

When Jean first spoke of her telepathy, some thought it was a beautiful ability to have, much like her mother believed. But she could never forget the look of fear and disapproval that flashed within her father's eyes at the news of his only daughter being one of them.

Ever since then she knew, what she had wasn't a gift. Not to her at the very least. So she suppressed it every time it tried to come out. In hope of being accepted by her father, and by society.

"Quiet." She'd mutter to herself every time her telepathy caught on someone's thoughts. She'd clench her eyes shut, pushing down on her mind, trying to tune out any of her psionic abilities.

She would later find out that it only made it more angry and uncontrollable.

The first proof came in the form of the car accident that took her family away from her.

It had been a month since Jean's mind-reading powers had first appeared, and she'd been suppressing them almost as long. As her mother drove, on their way to the park to have a picnic on this beautifully sunny day, Jean lost control.

"Quiet." She commanded herself, getting tired of the voices that invaded her mind on a daily basis. Indistinct sounds blared from the car radio mixing with the unwanted voices. She raised both arms, covering her ears with shaky hands in a futile attempt to calm her mind. But it didn't work, it never did, because the voices echoed deeply within her brain.

It wasn't just that. Something else was surging out, banging it's way out of her. She didn't know that she was suppressing another ability, an all too powerful one.

"QUIET!" She screamed. With the word of frustration leaving her lips, Jean willingly projected a concussive telekinetic force. Steering the car off the road that ultimately lead to her mother's death.

~~~

Hope came a knocking on Jean's door in the form of Professor Charles Xavier.

She had no memory of the car accident that miraculously left her unharmed, but she immediately knew that it took her parents' lives.

Jean had no idea where to go from there. No relatives, no means of living. She was completely alone and lost all hope. Until that man in a wheelchair approached her.