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X-Men: Evolution of the Heart: Chapter Twenty Eight
Author's note: This chapter concerns the whole Phoenix aspect of Jean that the cartoon never addressed. I have chosen Dark Phoenix to be the big villain in this series, not Apocalypse (don’t expect Apocalypse to be in this series). I have tried to take some aspects from the comic book and add them with a few concepts of my own. I also plan to add a new character that was inspired from another one of my stories. I hope you all like him!
Also, I've tried to make this so you can put in to the cartoon and not just this story. So you can think of this to maybe take place after the final episode 'Ascension'.
Enter the Darkness
"You sure this is where the reading was Chuck? It's in the middle of nowhere," said Logan as the X-jet sped through the empty Northern Canadian tundra.
"Cerebro has never been wrong before Logan. I'm sure this is the area...But I'm not sure what exactly caused it," responded the Professor as he and the others looked below at the barren wasteland that dominated the landscape.
"You think it could be Magneto again?" ventured Ororo as the jet began to slow down.
"I don't think so...Otherwise I would have detected some magnetic interference. Eric is always one to let people know who they're dealing with before encountering them...So I don't think it's him," said Xavier logically.
"Then who...Or what could it be?" asked Ororo as the jet touched down.
"I don't know..." responded the Professor.
In a way, that was a lie because something told him that he was about to encounter what Destiny had described. Even though he hadn't sensed it directly with Cerebro, his instinct told him all he needed to know. And from the looks of it, Xavier wasn't the only one with ominous feelings.
For some reason, Jean was feeling a strange sensation throughout her mind. It made her feel a strong pressure in her head that felt almost as bad as her dreams. It was not like all those times before when she had power surges...No, this was something very different. Suddenly, she felt the dream all over again. The flying...The flames...The feeling as if she was being ripped apart from within. She rubbed the temples of her head as she started to feel short of breath. Then...Scott placed a hand on her shoulder and it all stopped.
"Jean...Are you okay? Maybe you should sit this one out," said Scott, who noticed her disposition and gave her a concerned look.
"No...No I'm fine, really," said Jean, who sounded like she was trying to reassure herself just as much as she was trying to reassure Scott.
"Are you sure Jean? You're starting to make me worry," said Scott, hoping that she would listen to reason.
"I'm sure. I just...Need to focus, that's all," said Jean as she followed everyone out of the jet.
However, her words did little to ease Scott's fears. He still had a terrible feeling that something bad was going to happen. He tried to ignore it and write it off as simple paranoia, but he just couldn't...Not when it involved Jean. He just couldn't fight the feeling that something terrible was going to happen to her and there would be nothing he could do about it. The thought of anything bad Jean was something Scott had vowed to not let happen. But still...he just couldn't fight this strange feeling that was haunting his mind.
As the group stepped out in to the cold arctic air, they were greeted with a vast wasteland of nothingness. The thick clouds overhead all but blotted out the sun and the winds howled unabated across the land.
"What are we supposed to be lookin' for out here?" asked Rogue as she tried to stay warm from the cold winds.
"Beats me. I didn't know anything could even live out here," said Evan as the frozen tundra around him seemed totally devoid of life.
Then, a loud thundering noise was heard in the clouds above. But it was no ordinary thunder...It was almost like a loud roar. Jean once again felt the effects of the nightmare show again as she clenched the sides of her head in pain.
"What the..." said Logan as the shock from strange thunder took hold of the group.
Jean then fell to her knees in pain as she let out a loud yell of agony. Scott and Ororo immediately went to her side to help her up.
"Jean! Jean what's happening?! What's wrong?!" said Scott as he grew more concerned for her.
Then, she began speaking in a strange voice that didn't sound anything like her.
"SUCH POWER...SUCH POTENTIAL. CREATOR...AND DESTROYER OF WORLDS...I SHALL RISE AND UNLEASH MY WRATH ONCE MORE!"
"What's going on Professor? What is she talking about?" asked Kitty as she looked at her friend who seemed possessed by some strange force.
"It's coming...We have to get out of here now!" yelled the Professor even though he knew that may be a futile action.
Just then, Scott and Ororo saw something coming through the clouds above them. It was a strange dark-red flame that seemed to pulsate with a living presence. It took up a good portion of the sky as it started to head towards their position.
"Professor...What the hell is that!?" yelled Scott as he saw the mysterious flame come closer and closer towards them.
The Professor turned around to see the nearly blinding flames get closer towards them. Jean, who had been paralyzed for nearly a minute now, finally snapped out of it as she saw the flames head towards her. A sudden rush of fear overcame her, for these flames looked too familiar for comfort. She knew she had seen them before...In her dreams. Now it appeared that they were anything but a dream as she immediately took to the air and tried to get away.
"No...This can't be happening...This is all a bad dream!" said Jean to herself as she desperately tried to get away.
"Jean!" yelled Scott from the ground below as he saw her fly off.
The flames began to get closer and closer as Jean kept trying to fly away from them. She used her telekinesis in an attempt to deflect it away from her, but it only slowed the mysterious force...It didn't stop it. Then, Jean began to hear a voice in her head that seemed to be coming from the strange red flames.
"Come child of the Phoenix...Accept your destiny. You are the force of creation...And the bringer of destruction. Become the Phoenix...BECOME TRUE POWER!"
"NO!" yelled Jean as she began to strain herself and her powers by pushing the flames away from her, but they just kept coming.
The great flame soon surrounded her from all sides as she tried in vain to send the force away. The space between her and this sinister force got smaller and smaller as Jean kept trying to force it away. It was just like it was in her dream...Only this was no dream. Jean prayed that any moment she would wake up in her bed with Scott and this would all be over. But she would not awaken from this...For it was reality.
"No..." said Jean desperately as her powers had reached their limits, yet the fires of the Phoenix were nearly upon her. "AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"
Jean let out an agonizing scream that permanently burned itself in to Scott's mind as he watched in horror along with the rest of his friends. When the flames consumed her...Scott felt an intense surge of pain through the mind link he shared with Jean that was unlike anything he had ever felt. The scene was truly a nightmare as the flames engulfed and took over ever aspect of Jean Grey. Then, in a strange whirlwind of flames...The final shape of this divine entity took it's final form. With a loud roar, the fiery red embers of the Phoenix finally became the great holy bird of fire. The Phoenix then spread its wings in a mighty gesture, hinting the awakening from a long period of dormancy.
"At last...After so many eons of sleep...I LIVE!" yelled the Phoenix as its flames took up nearly the entire sky.
"Mien Gott..." said Kurt as others let out shocking gasps from what they had just witnessed.
"No...It's happened..." said the Professor as he watched the scene unfold alongside his flabbergasted students.
Through the use of his powers, the Professor desperately tried to find Jean within the fires of the Phoenix and help her suppress it. However, the holy bird was quick to notice this as it looked down upon the group of young mutants below.
"Insolent mortals," said the great bird casually as it unleashed a telekinetic shock wave that knocked the entire group down.
"JEAN!" yelled Scott as he rose quickly to his feet as if the blast that had been sent his way barely registered. "YOU'VE GOT TO FIGHT IT! TAKE CONTROL!"
"There is no more of this Jean...THERE IS ONLY I, DARK PHOENIX!"
"No..." said Scott as he frantically searched through the mind link he shared with Jean for her presence, but to no avail. It was as if she no longer existed...And a part of him was gone.
Before Scott could say anything else, he was forcefully knocked back by another blast from the Phoenix. This time he was almost knocked out cold. As the others rose to their feet, the flames of the Phoenix began to glow stronger with each passing second. They prepared for battle, but were still weary because this...Thing still had a part of their friend within it.
Their willingness to fight merely amused the Phoenix as it scoffed at their thoughts of futility.
"You dare to defy a deity?!"
"I don't care who you are bub!" bellowed Wolverine, "We won't let you hitch a ride in Jeannie's body without goin' through us!"
Ororo then, attempted to use her weather powers against the immortal fires of the Phoenix. Evan also began to launch spikes in to the flames. And even though he was tired, Professor Xavier attempted to use his psychic blasts to weaken the holy bird.
"Chuck...Can you reach her?" asked Wolverine through the maelstrom.
"I'm...Trying...But..."
The attack didn't even scratch the great Phoenix. Even the psychic powers of the Professor were unable to break through the intense holy fires surrounding it.
"Pathetic mortals...I grow weary of this..." said the Phoenix.
Then another, far more powerful, blast ripped through the air. It knocked Ororo to the ground as she and the rest of the team yelled out from the force of the blast. The Phoenix made it look effortless as it knocked the entire team down for the count. Then, the immortal bird began to descend closer to the ground towards the downed X-men. As it got closer, only Scott was still conscious as he regained part of his strength. However, Jean was nowhere to be found. Then...He felt something in the depths of his head. It was a voice...Jean's voice.
*Scott...Help...* but that's all the voice said, then Scott felt nothing more through the link.
*Jean...I don't know if you can hear me...But hang on. You can fight it...And we can help you...Just hang on...Please! I can't lose you...* said Scott weakly through his mind, but there was no response.
Just then, the fires of the Phoenix were close at hand as it stared down at the defeated mutants before it.
"What a waste...But no matter, for I shall put you all out of your misery with a mere thought..." said the Phoenix as it prepared to deliver the final blow.
Just then, a mysterious fog engulfed the X-men...But it wasn't from the Phoenix.
"What trickery is this!?" demanded the holy bird.
Then, a lone figure appeared in front of the X-men with a shining sword drawn and a strange glowing aura around him. He seemed to be the one controlling the mystical fog that had spread over the vast expanse around them.
"Another mortal? Someone who thinks they can defeat the likes of me?" scoffed the Phoenix as it didn't feel threatened by this new presence.
"It is not I that will defeat you..." responded the mysterious warrior as the fog around him engulfed the rest of the X-men and the X-jet as well. "It is the power of the ancient legend that will do you in."
Before the powerful deity could respond the warrior and the X-men disappeared in to the fog...Leaving the Phoenix alone, but undaunted.
"No matter...They shall all be cosmic dust soon enough. NOW...IT IS TIME TO REAFFIRM MY POWER AND UNLEASH THE FULL FORCE OF THE PHOENIX THROUGHOUT THE COSMOS!" bellowed the Phoenix as its flames soared in to the sky.
***
With soar muscles and an exhausted mind, the X-men began to arise from their collective unconscious states. Scott was the first to awaken as he saw where he and the rest of his friends were. They were all back at the mansion...Safe and sound. It was sunny and warm, but all was not right. Jean wasn't there...She was still gone. It hadn't been a dream like Scott had hoped. The emptiness in his mind was the dark confirmation of that. Then, the others started to come to.
"We...We're back home..." said Kitty as she rubbed her throbbing head.
"But how?" said Ororo as she went around and helped the others up from their unconscious state.
The Professor was the last to awaken, for he was still fatigued from using so much psychic power against the Phoenix. When he finally did come to, he was relieved that most of his students were okay, but Jean's absence was only a grim confirmation of what had happened. Xavier couldn't help but blame himself for this, for he could have at least convinced her to stay behind or let her know what they were up against...But it was too late now. As Jean's absence began to permeate through the crowd, all turned to the Professor for answers.
"Chuck...Back there, was that what I thought it was?" said Logan, who almost didn't believe what his eyes saw back in the arctic tundra.
"What do ya mean? Just what the hell was that thing anyway?" said Rogue who was rubbing her head from the fight.
More questions bombarded Xavier, but he was still at a loss for words over what happened to Jean. And from the looks of it, so was Scott.
*Charles...They have a right to know,* said Ororo with her mind through the array of questions.
Charles Xavier could only sigh in defeat, for his students had to know.
"My students...I'm sorry that you had to see this, but from what I know and what I've learned, that thing back there was no mutant...It was the Phoenix."
"But...That's impossible," said Kurt in disbelief, "Isn't that just a myth?"
"I wish it were Kurt," said the Professor as he continued, "As you all my know Jean hasn't been sleeping very well lately, and there's good reason for that. She has been plagued with nightmares about the very events that have just transpired and in those dreams, the Phoenix is always present and the outcome always the same. If any of you know your mythology, you know that the Phoenix is an ancient immortal God whose body is reborn every time from it's own ashes. This...Phoenix has been in cultures all over the world since the beginning of recorded history."
"So let me get this straight," said Evan, who couldn't believe what he was hearing, "We just went up against an actual GOD!?"
"And what about Jean?" said Scott, who still felt the emptiness inside his head without Jean. "Is she still alive?"
Professor Xavier did not have the answers his students deserved. He wished that he could tell them everything, but that was impossible for he just didn't know.
"I...Wish I could tell you all that you deserve to know, but I can't. From what I do know, it is clear that this is something that couldn't have been avoided. Jean's ever-increasing powers were the mediums the Phoenix must have needed. Now her body and mind are nothing more than a host for the Phoenix. It's a part of her now."
"But is there any way to save her?" asked Scott, still trying to cling on to whatever hope he could.
The Professor let out a deep sigh, for he had not discovered a way to stop this and now it looked as if he wasn't going to have the time to do so.
"I don't know Scott...Right now our only hope is to get through to whatever is left of Jean and help her suppress this monster herself. My powers were too weak last time, but with the help of Cerebro, maybe I can reach her...If she's still alive," said the Professor.
It wasn't much, but it was all the X-men had to go on now.
"Are you sure you want to go mind to mind with a living deity Charles?" reasoned Beast as his scientific mind immediately saw the dangers associated with such a plan. "Cerebro puts a great deal of strain on you as it is...Do you really want to push it any harder against something that has already showed us how strong it is?"
"It's the only way Hank. Right now...This is our best plan and we must see it through if we are to stop the Phoenix and save Jean."
As most of the X-men nodded in agreement, a new presence came over them. They couldn't see, hear, smell, or sense it. But it was there and it had something to say.
"If you think that is the best plan of action Professor Xavier...Then I'm afraid you are just deluding yourself and your students."
"Who's there!?" growled Logan as he unsheathed his claws and sniffed the air for the source of the new voice.
The rest of the X-Men looked around them feverishly; wondering where this deep toned voice was coming from. But as it was, they could find nothing. It was as if the voice had just come out of thin air. The Professor began to psychically scan the area, but found nothing.
"Don't bother trying to look for me," said the voice, "You couldn't find me even if I was right in front of you."
Logan let out a frustrated grunt as he kept trying to find wherever this voice was coming from.
"Who are you, and why are you here?" demanded the Professor, who was still unable to find anything psychically in the surrounding area.
"I'm here to stop you and your ‘X-men' from making a most fatal mistake..." said the voice.
"Mistake...What mistake?" said Ororo in to the air, still not knowing where this voice was coming from.
"A mistake that could end up costing BILLIONS of innocent lives if it happens. I'm trying to prevent you all from going on a course of action that will do more than just completely and utterly destroy the X-men and all that they stand for. I am trying to stop a terrible future from happening that could lead to the destruction of not just this world...But many other worlds as well."
There was a strong sense of urgency in this strange voice. Whoever it belonged to, it was clear that he wasn't joking around.
"What are you talking about bub! Show your self!" demanded Logan, who was growing more and more frustrated by his inability to smell this strange presence.
Then, a mysterious cloud of fog formed a strange whirlwind in front of them. It was the same strange fog that had gotten them home. They didn't know how or by whom, but something told the X-Men that they were about to find out.