7 Chapter 7 - Aftereffects and Special Encounter

The next few years were spent rebuilding the republic and the Jedi while attempting to eliminate the last remnants of the sith empire and the emperor's loyalists. Mikael spent his days in peace and quiet as he studied the force and recorded his own knowledge and experience. He hoped to leave the future generations with the tools needed to be prepared for any threats that may emerge after his time. But those days would not last forever.

The memories began to speed up as like a video on fast forward, stopping momentarily even now and then. The discovery of rumors of the dark weapon the loyalist was searching for, the hunt that led him to Nathema, the discovery of the thought Bomb and finally it stopped at the moment it exploded. He watched as it overwhelmed his barrier, as his flesh and bones seemingly melted away into nothing.

It should have ended there but it didn't. He saw the shimmering translucent form of himself. The galaxy seemed to grow still as the energy of all things on the planet and the entire system around it was being pulled into his ghostly form. He watched as streams of pure energy disappeared inside him as his form grew brighter and brighter. And then in a flash he was gone, the galaxy moved on as normal while the planet Nathema and the system it occupied, dead.

With a jolt Mikael's eyes snapped open to the sound of an alarm. He looked around and breathed a sigh of relief when he found he was still in his room. He looked at the clock that read [5:00am] before reaching over and silencing it. He got up and moved to freshen up in the bathroom. After a shower he walked back into his room as he turned on his tv.

"The strange freak thunderstorm appeared out of nowhere and covered our entire state and much our neighbors last night has just ended and disappeared without a trace just mere minutes ago. Meteorologists are baffled at the strange phenomena and are currently researching what they're calling a phantom storm. Fortunately no damage or losses have been reported."

Mikael's brow furrowed as he heard the report. He closed his eyes and extended his senses but that only caused him to knit his brow further. He could feel the ambient energy in the air and it was centered right at his bed where he was just sleeping. His eyes shifted left and right as he tried to figure out what exactly happened.

He remembered that his power had gone out of control before when he was sleeping and had vivid dreams but that only caused the things in his room to float and rotate around and even then that was decades ago when he was just starting as a padawan. He looked at his desk and focused on a pencil. He reached out and willed it to come to him. A brief moment later he had to duck his head out of the way as the pencil pierced right by his head and sank into his wall all the way up to its eraser.

He looked down at his hand and willed for a single spark between his fingers but jumped back in shock when his entire hand was instantly covered with lightning. He swiftly cut off the flow of power feeding the storm in his hand and it faded away although he could still feel a slight charge in the air.

"Oh, that's a problem. A big fucking problem." Mikael whispered as he realized what was happening. His power was no longer under his full control. He felt that if he compared his power before he returned to a lake then his power now was like the ocean. His control was no longer sufficient to contain his power. He needed to resolve this issue soon before a simple act of levitating a rock turns out to rips up a building instead.

Mikael quickly settled down on the floor as he began to meditate. He attempted to sense the well of power inside him and he found it. He was shocked when he found it, it was impossible to miss. It was like a bright sun that seemed to burn endlessly. He quickly set about putting up mental barriers in an attempt to restrict the amount of power he could draw at once. He knew he would need time to adapt to the sudden and massive increase in power reserves he now had. It took him nearly two and a half hours before he had restricted the power to where he could move an object without it immediately becoming a lethal projectile.

As he stood up to get dressed he saw that the clock read [7:35am]. He had about 20 minutes to grab breakfast and make it to school about five miles away. He quickly rushed down the stairs with his bag after he was ready grabbed an egg and cheese sandwich of the table and a couple strips of bacon and started heading out the door after giving his parents both a hug.

"Don't you want me to drive you to school?" His dad asked bewildered by Mikael's rush movement.

"I'm good thanks. I've been in a bed for two weeks I need the exercise." Mikael said as he threw on his shoes.

"Oh I'm gonna head to the store after school to replace my phone. Might be home late. Bye!" He added as he ran out the house.

"Call us when you do! And be home before 10!" Mikael heard his mother shout as he turned onto the sidewalk and began running.

When he didn't see anyone around Mikael willed the force to cloak his presence as he began to speed up. Quickly he rushed down the street as he weaved back and forth between the people leaving their houses for work leaving them no trace of his passing except for a sudden strong breeze.

"My goodness, this weather just keeps getting more and more abnormal" An old gray haired man with large glasses and a mustache complained unheard to Mikael as he passed by a comic book store where the man was sweeping the sidewalk outside his door.

As Mikael drew close to the school he slowed down around a corner and released the force cloak before slipping into a crowd of students. As he entered the building he looked at a clock upon the wall and saw that it read [7:45am].

'I left at 7:40, so 5 miles in under 5 minutes. Not as fast as I used to be but not bad, I should start training over as soon as possible.' He thought to himself when he felt a slight bump before hearing the sounds of books tumbling to the floor.

"Oh I'm so sorry. I wasn't paying attention to where I was going." A soft voice spoke out as Mikael turned around. He saw an unfamiliar but beautiful red haired girl as she kneeled down to pick up her books. Mikael kneeled down in front of her as he handed her another book that slid a bit out of her reach.

"Hi there, I'm Mikael. Mikael Argent, I don't believe I've seen you around before." Mikael said giving her a small smile. She stared blankly at him for a brief moment before she stuttered.

"I'm Jean. Jean Grey. Again I'm terribly sorry." She quickly stood up and rushed off down the hall. Mikael raised an eyebrow as he watched her run off. He had felt a slight nudge in his head when she stared at him as could sense that it wasn't intended. He could also feel a powerful source of energy stirring within her.

'Is her powers growing? If they are I should try to help her. But I should do so carefully, I really don't want to deal with Xavier right now.' Mikael thought to himself as he memorized her aura before heading to class.

The school day passed relatively uneventfully as it was filled mostly with the generic subjects and people asking how he was doing and what was it like being struck by lightning.

"Felt pretty good actually, it gave me abs. You should try yourself next."

"Wait really?"

"No genius it was fucking lightning not magic." That ended up being his response nearly every time. As he left the entrance of the school he felt a pulse of energy wash over the campus and he could immediately sense the familiar aura of Jean approaching. He watched as she rushed past him and away from the crowds of students clutching her head. He sensed her emotions in chaos and quickly set off after her.

He followed her until she stopped beneath a tree. She had one hand propping her up against the trunk as the other clutched her head. He approached slowly as he softly called out her name.

"Jean. Are you alright?"

"It's so loud, I can't focus."

"Jean, listen to my voice. Focus only on my voice." Mikael continued to approach until he stood right beside her. He placed one hand on her shoulder as he willed the force to form a barrier around them.

'Focus on my voice, Jean.' Mikael slowly projected his thoughts into her mind. Her head jolted up as she looked at him.

"You're like me."

{A/N: If you haven't guessed Jean is my top contender for the love interest. I thought of others but in the end Jean just feels right but hey that's just me. So anyway someone asked why Mikael couldn't just reach out and crush Kilgrave from across the city, the answer should be explained now. Yes Mikael could do it, however in his current state he is likely to crush the entire block in the process. Right now defensive and augmentation abilities are his safest abilities until he can readjust to his sudden power increase. Will it take long? Probably not, but it will still take some work. Which is also why Jean is introduced here. Two people adjusting to their own sudden power ups together.

Also good news I figured out how to do paragraph comments again. Apparently it was switched off somehow but it's working now so Imma post the version of Jean imagining here.

And I'll post some pics of Mikael's initial costume when he starts his superhero shenanigans here.}