A/N: TMI BUT IM ON MY PERIOD GUYS SO YOU KNOW WHAT THAT MEANSSSS

✨ unnecessary angst ✨

✨ and a little bit of sexual tension ✨

So,

....Eden Sungilda Presents...

[spooky noises]

The Magnus Archives

—Episode 2: Hunger—

[CLICK]

???:
You wanted to see me?

ARCHIVIST:
Yes, thank you for coming Miguel. I thought it was time I called in that... favor. And to ask you how the investigation of miss Costello is going.

MIGUEL:
Well, it could be going better. I ran into another one of the Lightless Flame members and they weren't as chatty as you.

ARCHIVIST:
Ah yes, I assume that's where the burn on your arm came from?

[faint rustling]

MIGUEL:
I'm surprised you noticed it. But I guess your sight is better than mine.

ARCHIVIST:
Yes... I supposed that's saying much, considering. Every day I grow more and more despite my efforts to postpone the inevitable. Pretty soon you'll be talking to whoever Lyla replaces me with. Which is why I needed to talk to you.

MIGUEL:
I assume this case with Costello is bigger than you let on in your tapes...

Archivist:
Yes. I have suspicions that she might become an avatar for the desolation soon, if she hasn't already.

MIGUEL:
Well... [sigh] this is definitely becoming a shocking mess. It won't be easy for me to kill her if she becomes an avatar first.

ARCHIVIST:
Now now, there's no need to kill her. We talked about enlisting her first.

MIGUEL:
Yeah, you, a servant to the Eye, want to pair up with a servant of the Desolation?

ARCHIVIST:
Well no one certainly took me seriously when I enlisted your help.

MIGUEL:
Thats different. You found me when I was... well, when I was just beginning to change. Before the hunt became all I thirsted for. So many emotions are gone from me. What little humanity I have left feels... fragile. Like a thin thread waiting to be snapped.

ARCHIVIST:
I'm sure Peter would love the metaphor.

MIGUEL:
[softly] hah. I bet he would... But seriously, what is it you're after? Why do you want to get to her?

ARCHIVIST:
To try and prevent her from becoming like us.

MIGUEL:
You know that's not possible.

ARCHIVIST:
And why not?

MIGUEL:
[deep inhale] Because she's already started down that path. I heard the tapes you made for Peter. I listened to her case and read the files- the whole thing is too messy. The Osborne family is involved to top it off- you know if they find out that you're meddling in their affairs that they'll come for the institute.

ARCHIVIST:
Hmph, the Lonely is too god damn weak to stir the water with the Beholding.

MIGUEL:
Pfft, even being a hunter, I still would rather not get involved with them.

ARCHIVIST:
Miguel, please. She might be our one chance at... our plans, succeeding.

MIGUEL:
...
...fine. I'll continue looking for her. But what do you expect me to do when I find her? I'm a killer. Not a negotiator.

ARCHIVIST:
Maybe do the opposite then.

MIGUEL:
What?

ARCHIVIST:
If it's within your instincts to kill, follow a different instinct.

MIGUEL:
I don't have any other instinct besides killing and surviving. You forget my nature is to lose all sense of myself and become what humans truly are at the end of the day- an animal.

ARCHIVIST:
Animals don't just kill, Miguel. They eat, sleep, prey and... well.

MIGUEL:
Oh. Oh. No, absolutely out of the question. Are you out of your shocking mind?

ARCHIVIST:
I'm just saying, an animal's need to reproduce usually outweighs-

MIGUEL:
-You're out of your goddamn mind-

ARCHIVIST:
-all other instinct of survival. Attraction is better than malicious instinct. It doesn't even have to be sexual. See her has family maybe, someone to protect. Motivation to keep her alive. I heard it worked in a few Hunter statements.

MIGUEL:
It's still a stupid idea.

ARCHIVIST:
Maybe, but... I have a good sense about these things. You'll figure it out when you find her.

[chair scraping, footsteps.]

Hey, before you go, take a tape. For Peter to listen in. And oh, he wanted me to give you this lighter- don't touch it directly.

MIGUEL:
What is it for? I don't smoke. And you know I can see in the dark.

ARCHIVIST:

Oh, I know. This is for Esme. It's an item of the web, Peter will be able to bind her to it if all else fails. Once that's done though, the desolation will know it failed and will do everything it can to kill her. If she can't give the flame something, then it'll take from her.

[Miguel groans]

So in other words, get out of there quickly.

MIGUEL:
Well that's just great to know. [Creak as the door opens] Goodbye, Eden.

ARCHIVIST:
Good luck O'Hara.

[CLICK]

[.static.]

[CLICK]

[Techno music blaring. Crowd chatter- laughing]

MIGUEL:
Are you Esmerelda Costello?

ESMERELDA:

Who's asking?

MIGUEL:

I'm from the institute. I need you to come with... is that blood?

[faint rustling]

ESMERELDA:

[shaky] It's... it's mine, I didn't hurt anyone.

MIGUEL:

[deep inhale] you were smart for hiding where it's busy. How long have you been here?

ESMERELDA:

I.. I don't know. The days have blurred together. I've used the last of my money last week and I... I don't even feel hungry anymore.

MIGUEL:

Tell me what's been happening. I can't help you until I know how far it's gotten.

ESMERELDA:

How far what has gotten?

MIGUEL:
Your transformation.

[faint static distortion]

ESMERELDA:
I... How do I know I can trust you? You feel... feel wrong. It's not like the other man who approached me but you still give off... danger.

MIGUEL:
Trust your instincts. Who was the man who approached you?

ESMERELDA:
He... he was an older man. Silver fox type, you know. Made the room feel hotter. But the spiders died, so I trusted him. I was stupid.

MIGUEL:
That was most likely an avatar for the desolation. How long ago was that? What did he tell you?

ESMERELDA:
I just want to go home. Please. I can't live like this. Promise me I can go back.

MIGUEL:
I can't promise you that. But I can promise you I'm trying to help.

ESMERELDA:
Convince me of that. Prove it to me. Or I'll... well, they might just find another burnt corpse.

MIGUEL:
You won't do that.

ESMERELDA:
How can you be so sure?

MIGUEL:
Because you're still digging your nails into your palm. You didn't kill David Yudes either. At least not the real you.

ESMERELDA:

...

I still don't trust you.

MIGUEL:
Good. Don't trust me. You'll learn soon enough that you can't trust anyone.

[sounds of moving. A soft sigh.]

ESMERELDA:
What are you doing? Don't get close-

MIGUEL:
Relax. I'm just going to bandage your hand-

[sounds of flesh sizzling]

MIGUEL:

Ah Mmph-

ESMERELDA:

I told you not to touch me!

MIGUEL:

Shock, this isn't good. You're already hot?

ESMERELDA:

It hurts me too. I've tried everything to cool myself off but nothing works. I make the water scalding hot and end up melting any ice. Pretty soon this club's AC is going to go out.

MIGUEL:
For whatever reason the desolation wants you. We need to go.

ESMERELDA:
No, I don't even know who you are.

MIGUEL:
My name is Miguel O'Hara. There, let's go.

ESMERELDA:
[smack] keep your hands off me- just because it's my sleeve doesn't mean you can touch me.

MIGUEL:
I'm trying to help you- goddamnit, we're running out of time here!

ESMERELDA:
Go shag yourself.

[footsteps approaching, static]

Hey!

MIGUEL:
Oh for the love of-

PETER B. PARKER;
I had a feeling you'd have problems with her. Hi, Peter B. Parker is my name. You must be Esmerelda.

MIGUEL:
I have this covered-

ESMERELDA:
What the hell is going on?! It's you! The guy- the guy who showed up as pest control at my friend's flat!

MIGUEL:
Give the adults a moment to talk.

ESMERELDA:
Go to hell you as-

PETER:
-Let's not fight amongst ourselves here. I'm here to help you, Esme. Excuse my comrade here, he's a little cranky when he hasn't eaten.

ESMERELDA:
So sorry that I'm keeping him away from a bag of blood.

MIGUEL:
Hmph, you have the wrong person for that one.

PETER:
Esme we need you to come with us. They'll be here soon.

[static grows louder in the background]

ESMERELDA:
Oh god, what is this feeling-

MIGUEL:
Peter, we're out of time!

PETER:
Take her, I'll hold them off.

ESMERELDA:
What?!

[sounds of struggle, muffled yelling.]

MIGUEL:
Be careful Pete, Eden would hate me if I let you die.

PETER:
Hah. Death doesn't scare me. We all know it'll get us one way or another. I don't mind meeting it halfway if it means saving someone. Now go miggy, get out of here!

[CLICK]

...

[CLICK]

[sounds of fabric moving and more struggling.]

[pop of fabric]

[exhale]

ESMERELDA:

"Oh GOD why did you make me wear that bag on my head?! It was rancid!"

MIGUEL:
...

ESMERELDA:
... are you going to kill me?

MIGUEL:
I'm fighting the urge to.

ESMERELDA:
You're like me, aren't you? And that other guy.

MIGUEL:
I am, but not the exact same. The... the thing that's chosen you is called the desolation- the lightless flame. And I, what most call the hunt. Peter serves the web.

ESMERELDA:
How does... how does the institute tie into this? Was it my statement? Am I in trouble for talking about it? I promise I haven't told anyone else-

MIGUEL:
No. The institute is... the institute is one of many that serves the Eye. The Beholding. It sees everything- watches, and feeds off of the watched. Including your statement- but that's not the reason. The reason is the Eye's avatar, Eden, read your statement and decided that she saw something in you. Pun not intended.

ESMERELDA:
See what in me?

MIGUEL:
...Freedom.

ESMERELDA:
...

I'll tell you everything. I don't see how it could hurt me. I'm tired anyway...

...

The man's name wasn't given to me. He just, showed up a few days after I submitted my statement to the institute. He told me he had heard of 'an infestation of spiders' in my friend's flat. When I asked him if he was with pest control, he said 'something like that.' That should have tipped me off something was wrong, especially after the last guy who showed up- Peter, now that I know his name.

Peter had shown up as pest control too a day before, and I believed him- but whatever he did only seemed to make the spiders disappear for a couple hours before they came back. He was, odd. Too nice. His smile rubbed me the wrong way.

Anyway, when the next man came by, I had already been dealing with a cloud of spiders nested up in the corner of the kitchen. My roommate disputed my complaints and I was feeling desperate- even if he didn't give me a straight answer. I thought maybe I could, I could stop him, if he tried anything. So I let him in.

He... he had a sort of, bag with him. I didn't realize it until we walked inside my flat. He took out candles, and then a lighter. And then he told me I needed to give him something that I treasured the most. A possession that stood for... everything I loved.

It's an odd question. It's the sort of thing you don't really know what the answer is, like how you draw a blank when someone asks you to name any of your favorite movies. It should obviously be easy to answer- and yet it takes a moment for your brain to process. To scroll through the archives of memory and process the results.

But when he asked me that, I thought of my ballet career. Which is insane- because any normal person would say they love their family and friends, or the roof above their heads, or a gift- anything of proper meaning.

But I didn't have family anymore. And none of my friends believed in me either when it came down to it. I had been deserted. All I had left was dance. My passion.

I walked to my room's door, where a pair of my ballet shoes hung. My main pair. It's soles were worn and the color had practically faded- crinkles in the toe from how many times I had creased them. The interior was no better- and yet in that moment they looked in absolute, perfect condition. The sheen pink sparkling back at me as I gazed at it.

I then walked over to him, but kept the shoes firmly against my chest.

He then told me, if I wanted to live, I needed to die. I had to listen to his every word, his every direction, and follow it like a good dancer listens to her instructor.

And then he told me to burn my shoes. My ballet shoes- the pair I had always had. The pair that had touched so many stages. The pair that had been bathed in a dozen lights. The pair that had been mended by the same hands that clapped and cheered for me in the audience.

I walked into the kitchen. I set them on the stove. Felt my hand twist the dial. Heard the tik tik tik tik from the lighter as it tried to ignite the gas. And then felt the heat as the shoes slowly melted, then ignited.

Smoke soon after rose and smoked my vision- but I didn't even try to blink the dryness away. All I could do was stare at those shoes. The pink sparkling back at me. The blue and yellow tongues that lapped at the laces.

I could never do ballet again, I realized. Staring into those flames, I knew it wasn't my shoes burning away but my resolve. How could I dance for millions when I had been broken so easily by this complete stranger? Survive that kind of pressure if something so simple like this would impact my resolve.

I turned around and the man was still there, but I knew I couldn't partake in anything he asked me too. I knew I made a good decision as soon as I saw him draw a human silhouette on the floor, lay out the candles around it, and then looked at me with the lighter outstretched. Like I knew what needed to be done.

Even at my weakest as I ran through the street, my resolve was certain. Physically though, I couldn't last for long as my leg began to give out on me. I almost gave in when I realized I was back at the opera house, through the side of the building where the fire escape is.

David was there.

He was smoking. Taking a long drag without a care in the world. We weren't supposed to smoke- it was important to have good lungs or your career was over. He was probably a mixture of feeling cocky he had a lead role for the fifth time, and perhaps dealing with anxiety.

Either way, he just stared at me as soon as he noticed I was there. Like a mouse darting from the shadow. Even in that moment, he still looked at me like I was minuscule.

I don't remember much after that. It just... well, you know how the best moments of your life go by in a flash? When you try to look back at those memories it all feels muffled and blurred?

I think the best moment of my life was watching that cigarette burn David's lips. That smug smile crestfallen as his finger tips dropped to his side and his eyes widened in agony.

I remember the heat rising up in my fists and arms. The end of David's hair beginning to smoke. His eyes desperately watering, mouth parting in a groan as he clutched his clothes and tried to remove them. He ended up on the ground somehow. I don't know if he tripped or ended up throwing himself there. But slowly the groans grew to cries, and cries into screams.

And all the while I just stood there and watched. Watched the smoke grow into pillars as his body ignited in flames. Bellows echoing down the street but not a single person intervening.

I realized what was happening but I couldn't move. Not even my lungs seemed to expand as the fire choked for oxygen. I wanted to snap out of it. I looked for any bit of control I had left, and I felt my fingers twitch. So I focused on that, and dug my nails into my palm until the pain surged through my body and dragged me back to it.

I backed away and tried to look for something to put how the fire, but that's when I saw him. The man from before. Standing at the end of the alley way, with that blank face now smiling wickedly at me. His mouth opened, and somehow, above David's screams, I heard him speak.

Every flame needs fuel, Esmerelda. Every star needs someone expendable. You want to be freed from the web? You have to burn, or be burned.

And so I ran again. I felt miserable for it, but I felt like even if I stayed and attempted to help, David's fate had already been decided.

So I bounced from club to club, bar to bar, and any place that was open late at night and wouldn't judge my disgruntled appearance. And I've lived that way for awhile now.

[deep inhale] I... I don't know what to do. I can't even cry.

MIGUEL:

...if everything you said is true, you might have a chance. Better the Beholding than the Desolation.

ESMERALDA:
What... what does that even mean? [Miguel sighs] What is happening to me? [floor board creaking] Can't you just make it stop?

MIGUEL:
No, I can't. I suggest you get some rest, I'll keep watch.

ESMERALDA:
That's it? I just take a nap, sleep this off like a child gets over a nightmare? Where even am I?

MIGUEL:
Someplace safe. If you don't want to sleep, then just sit there and don't do anything.

ESMERALDA:
How am I supposed to trust you or your friend? You're all connected to whatever is doing this to me.

MIGUEL:
You either do or don't lady, that's the deal. Now can you shocking shut up for two seconds so I can pay attention?

ESMERALDA:
To what? You keep looking out that window- do you think it followed us?

MIGUEL:
I don't know.

ESMERALDA;
How do you not know?

[footsteps]

MIGUEL:
Can you shocking stay away from me?

[static distortion]

:

Esmerelda's feet didn't make it far as she stepped towards him, hand outreached for the blinds. With a wicked grip his hand quickly snatched her wrist away, and her nose crinkled for the smell of burnt flesh. He quickly let go in pain, before he grabbed her shoulder where she was covered and shoved her against the wall.

Miguel's eyes seemed to have darkened in the mere seconds of their exchange. Pupils large and like dark pits one could fall in, outlined by the red of impact that threatened to drown her.

He was dangerous- all her instincts had been screaming at her to run the moment he approached her- but something rooted her feet. She had to know. Know what was happening to her- and he was the only one who had told her anything. So she stayed, and now found herself caged between his arms and buried beneath a deafening silence.

The question, 'are you going to kill me?' sat on her tongue along with her breath, resolve shattered beneath her feet. The sound of his breath was haggard and rampant, the eyes that looked at her with such intensity morphing slowly beneath tensed brows.

The wall cracked behind her, but she didn't dare look at where the small rubble fell from. For whatever reason, she knew if she took her eyes away from him, she'd never be able to move them again.

"I told you. To stay..." he inhaled shakily, mist coating his eyes like condensation. The wall further groaned, before he finally moved away from her, turning his face.

Her eyes finally looked at the indented sheetrock on either side of her, deep claw like markings left behind where she assumed Miguel's hands had been. She quickly followed where he had went and found him sitting in a corner of the room, cradling his head between his knees and taking shaky breaths.

"W-what was that?" Should she say anything at all? She didn't know this guy- should she even care?

"Just keep away from me and don't worry about it." His words sounded almost like a growl that sent a shiver down her spine.

Her eyes glanced to his hand, and was surprised to see his skin had gone unblemished.

"You said that I was becoming this, 'servant' for the desolation, so what are you a servant of?" She sat on the ground cautiously, a good distance away from him.

Miguel lifted his head slightly, waves of hair falling across his forehead slick with sweat.

"The everchase, or the hunt. That's my patron if you wish to call it that. I honestly don't know what it is to me. A parasite would be a better term." Miguel paused. "I... I've been hunting other avatars for awhile now. Been killing vampires and other monsters for over five years. But I haven't killed anything recently, so it's been... difficult fighting the urge to kill you."

Esme stiffened. "You want to kill me?"

Miguel shook his head. "I don't want to kill you. I have to kill. It's an addiction." When he noticed her frightened expression he quickly added, "I'm not saying this to scare you- but to make you understand. Don't trust me- don't trust anyone. I may be your ally currently but I'm not your friend. At the end of the day you and I are just pawns in the game, and as soon as our masters change their mind, we'll be pit against each other."

Esmerelda swallowed, looking away. "Why does it have to be that way though? There has to be a way to free ourselves."

Miguel frowned. "That I can't answer for you. That's more of Eden's problem. Not mine. Im just here to escort you to her, as a favor."

[static distortion]

[sound of door creaking open, feminine and masculine voices in maniacal laughter.]

???:
WELL, isn't this a curious sight?!

MIGUEL:
Shock! Esme get behind me- Gwen stay away from her! What do you want?!

GWEN:
I can't visit my old friend? I see you have a new fledgling under your wing. What a cute pair you two make.

ESMERELDA:
W-what, what's going on? Where did that door come from?!

GWEN:
Oh don't worry about that. Stay put, wouldn't want anything to get burned. I'm just here to have a nice chat with Miguel. How's our friends at the institute? Still traitorous back stabbers?!

MIGUEL:
Gwen, you know none of us were involved in that-

GWEN:
No, Lyla was the one responsible, right? All of you just turned a blind eye to it! That's fine though. I'm a forgiving person. I just have one question.

[static grows louder]

Where is Miles?

MIGUEL:
Can't you find him? You're the one with the doors and secrets- agh!

ESMERELDA:
Miguel!

GWEN:
Very funny. You're the one that lost him to the lonely. You know very well I can't easily track him down with the Osbornes covering their tracks. They know how to evade me.

MIGUEL:
And how is that my problem?!

GWEN:
Right, because you're the selfish prick who wanted him gone. Is this the kind of guy you want to hang around, Esme?

ESMERELDA:
I-

MIGUEL:
Enough! Gwen, I'm sorry for everything that's happened to you, to Miles- but we're trying to fix it!

GWEN:
Hah. Save your empty apologies. I didn't come here for that, I came here to find out where Miles is.

MIGUEL:
I told you, I have no idea.

GWEN:
Then I guess I have no use for you.

MIGUEL:
Don't make me do this Gwen. You know I'll kill you.

[static]

ESMERALDA:
Stop- stop it!

[scream, sounds of an altercation, glass breaking]

[CLICK]
:
[tape rolling]
:
[CLICK]

[panting]

ESMERALDA:
I-Is she dead?

MIGUEL:
No. She'll be back. We need to leave, now.

ESMERALDA:
You're bleeding...

MIGUEL:
So are you.

[footsteps, door opening]

Thank you, for hitting her with the lamp. I didn't expect you to get involved.

ESMERALDA:
Well, even though you could kill me, the other girl was more of a wild card. So I'd rather deal with you.

MIGUEL:
Odd reasoning, but thank you anyway.

[car driving past]

We'll have to keep walking for awhile, the other safe location I have is a distance away.

ESMERALDA;
Thats fine. At least I'm not running.

[CLICK]

A/N: I might do a part three but I won't go much further with this AU for a bit until I'm done with some more chapters of FIREWEAVER considering I need a big buffer right now to get back to a consistent update schedule😂 .

But things that I wanna write about but don't have time to about this world- where to start?! I head canon Gwen Stacy exists as a Julia Montauk (which fits with Miguel being Trevor), but instead of the Hunt she would be the Spiral- mostly because they both have a policeman father, and they hated lying to him. But since Gwen heavily deceived her dad for at least a year or two of being spider-woman, I think she would be perfect at the spiral, which heavily ties into deceiving, tricking the mind to think "what is, isn't, and isn't, is."  This also works because she would hate the eye, who threatens to expose secrets. And our Gwen hates the spider society and Miguel, so it feels like a good reasoning in this universe she would hate the institute and Miguel.

In Gwen's version of Julia Montauk, her father quit the police force after her mother's "disappearance" to continue the dark's bidding in order to protect Gwen. After several years of him killing as a hunter, he was finally caught as the story goes. The place where it diverges, is that Gwen tried to find answers at the institute. When submitting a statement didn't satisfy her, she instead tried to work for them in order to have access to the archives and figure out the truth to her Father's murder spree and untimely death in incarceration, as well as her mother's disappearance.

Lyla, who in this universe is an actual person rather than AI, completely fits the role of Elias (or THE Magnus 🤭) Avatar of the Eye, since both counterparts are intelligent and knowledgeable. LYLA in ATSV has every single spider person's secret identities, knows at LEAST what universe they reside in, how to contact them, their powers, how long they've been a hero, etc. She got that ultra knowledge. And likewise would be the perfect head of the institute- and would not want any of the other entities to succeed.

Which is why she had Gwen tricked into stopping the Spiral's ritual, and tethering it to Gwen. She's kind of like Julia and Michael Shelley in one.

I had been thinking about Miles Morales entity for awhile, it was between the "Lonely" or the "Vast" considering how he doesn't want to be disconnected from his parents and friends, but also wanted to be a hero and make use of his powers, fear of insignificance. His desire to be able to travel across the multiverse to see Gwen and the other spider peeps, just so he can be with people who have things in common with him and know what it's like being spider-man. And after the release of his film short, "the spider within" which shows him dealing with anxiety, (panic attack?), and sleep paralysis, I knew right then that he was definitely "Lonely".

The Lucas family also feels fitting to be the Osbornes.

Tyler Stone for the sake of laziness I'm giving him to Jurgen Leitner as a more evil counterpart who thinks he can control the entities through the books, and hires people to test on them. Inherently maybe another servant of the eye? Desperate to gain more and more knowledge about the entities by watching his assistants lost one by one for the sake of his "studies". Perhaps selling books and artifacts in order to get more funding and also to see what happens to the people who use them. Seeks for power through knowledge.

I picked Peter B. Parker out of all the peters just for the sake of continuity with the spider verse movies 💀 It would be fun to fit in several Peter variants- a more experienced author could make it work considering the original maker of Magnus Archives used the name Michael and variations of Gerald for more than one character- but I am no experienced author and I lack that sort of patience. So I just picked Peter B. Parker as an Avatar of the Web, but his goal is a more heartfelt reason than Annabel's. I also think he's mixed with Spiders-man (Earth-11580) where he's just a bunch of spiders in a coat but Peter B's personality. 😂

The Osbornes for the sake of fitting in Esmerelda's story in too, includes Emiliana and Norman Osborne, and their firstborn Harry Osborne, and daughter Sophia Osborne. All servants with the Lonely, except Sophia who has displayed much of a temperament for it and was sent away to live with relatives and met Esmerelda as a teenagers. Norman is funding the Magnus Institute.

OH and honorable mentions to commemorate the X-Men '97 series, Jean Grey and Professor Xavier would be servants of the eye. Their telepathy powers just feels absolutely fitting with the eye. I have more reasoning but too lazy to write it all, gotta get to the other characters. I'll leave it open to you guys to interpret.

Scott Summers would be the spiral (basing it off this cool thing someone wrote on Reddit;
The Spiral consumes you. It takes you and makes you into its creation- the distortion, the man upon the stairs, and it's implied Doctor David. The fear of finding yourself one day becoming something unrecognisable or broken forever is one of the core fears of madness, after all.) Scott is shown wanting to fill in the professor's shoes, and as a teenager he was terrified of hurting someone with his powers. Becoming a monster- someone unrecognizable. He could possibly also be the desolation.

Storm would be the vast, just to give her back control over the sky and sea. I don't know much about her character which honestly surprised me since I've always considered her a favorite, but I guess that's because the last time I actually saw her on screen was when I was a kid.

Night crawler would be the dark, Jubilee the Lonely or buried, Wolverine (Logan) the Lonely or the flesh or end based on his powers, Rogue the corruption maybe? I think in this universe she'd be prone to toxic love and also she wouldn't be able to touch anyone. Gambit would be desolation or slaughter, and Beast would be the hunt.

Those are just my ideas, not set in stone, so feel free to comment your head canons and any other characters I haven't covered!

Thanks for reading!

~𝓔𝓭𝓮𝓷