The Professor cursed. How could he have been so foolish? The Phoenix was not gone, it was merely dormant. He had set up this challenge for Jean to win, to show Tom that he could not win every fight, but he had underestimated the boy.
He looked at the fiery red bird-shaped aura around the Phoenix. This was one fight Tom could not win.
Tom saw the Phoenix rise into the air, and knew that it would take a lot to stop it. Tom was not a praying person, but as he faced this powerful entity he knew he needed all the help he could get.
"God, if you're there, help me." he prayed.
The Phoenix immediately looked at him, and let out a cry.
Uh oh. This did not sound good. So much for his prayers.
The Phoenix then attacked him, flying towards Tom. It began trying to disintegrate his body. His healing factor prevented this, and his skin hardened, but the Phoenix was too strong for his mutation. The fiery red fire burnt within his cells, and Tom felt like he was going to die. He managed to absorb the heat within him, and forced it out. He remembered an old saying;
'Attack is the only defence.'
Then made his move. He unleashed his attack, a wave of blue force that shook the whole Mansion. The blue armour appeared around him, and he shot a beam of energy from his hand, straight at the Phoenix retaliated, shooting a fiery red beam at him, and the two beams met in the middle, causing a shockwave that shattered the glass in the control room. Tom let out a cry of desperation, and poured out everything he had into the beam, willing out his insides, concentrating on pushing back the Phoenix's fire.
The students stood, transfixed, staring at the scene unfolding in front of them. This was more than any battle they had seen. It was like the battle of two gods. The Professor looked on, and could see Tom struggling. He placed two fingers to his temple, and began trying to reach Jean telepathically.
The Phoenix began to struggle under the psychic attack, and began tearing apart the Danger Room. Pieces of debris flew at Tom, who managed to absorb them, powering his effort against the entity. His beam pressed on, and eventually broke though the Phoenix's shield of fire, and blasted Jean in the chest, sending her flying. Tom collapsed to his knees, and felt dizzy all of a sudden. The intense training and the powerful battle had taken its toll on him. He was completely exhausted.
Suddenly, the door of the Danger Room was blasted down by the tell-tale red beam of Cyclops, and the X-Men rushed in, spreading out, facing the Phoenix. The Professor managed to reach Jean, and she forced out the Phoenix Force.
However, this was far from the end of the entity. It formed a fiery red bird, and flew around the room, looking for a new telepath to host it. It stopped, and seemed to stare right at Emma Frost, the telepath who worked at the Mansion. It began to fly towards it, while the X-Men tried to attack it but their efforts just went straight through the fiery mass.
Tom saw this all, and watched his friends fight the force. He had to help somehow! He staggered forward, and began running right at Emma Frost, trying to reach her before the Phoenix did. His super-speed took effect, he flung himself in front of her, right as the fiery shape crashed into him, sending him to the ground. He absorbed the fire, and felt it fighting him, trying to posses him.
He could feel his insides burning, and forced himself to his feet. He had to keep the Phoenix away from his friends. These were the people who had taken him in when his family rejected him, these were his kind friends. He broke into a desperate run, as fire erupted from his body.
He shot blue energy in front of him, and saw it clear his path, destroying the walls. He ran, sweat leaking from every pore in his body, and carried on forward, looking out at the lake in front of him.
But the pressure on him was too much, and he began to see his vision cloud once again. He kept going, focusing on the good in his life. He remembered his mother's warmth, the love she had shown him. He remembered the kiss Angela had given him, remember feeling like nothing in the world mattered but the two of them. He remembered the final act of Colossus, as he had sacrificed himself to remain of Genosha.
The memories gave him strength, and he staggered on, reaching the grassy plains outside the Mansion. The sea was in sight, and he forced himself towards it, knowing he had to end the Phoenix, even if it meant ending himself.
He reached the edge of the cliff, and could feel the fire inside him trying to pull him back to the Mansion. But Tom persevered, and cast himself off the edge, down into the depths of the water.
He then let the Phoenix go, felt the fire disperse in the water, yet somehow carried on burning. The Phoenix rose to the surface of the water, and rose out, into the air. The whole of the Mansion seemed to tremble in fear.
The Phoenix regarded it for an agonising minute, then flew off, disappearing into the atmosphere.
Everyone seemed to breath a sigh of relief, as though in shock, still wondering what had happened.
Angela took a deep breath, recounting just what had happened in those last few torturous minutes where Tom had almost died. Then she realised.
"Tom!" she exclaimed, and began sprinting out of the Mansion, followed by Kate, Sophie and the rest of Tom's friends. They found the X-Men standing at the edge of the cliff, and pushed in front of them, looking at what was below. Their faces were grave and Angela feared the worst.
Tom's lifeless body floated on the surface of the water, facing down.
Bishop wandered through a forest, looking for the signs of the person known as the 'Lost Warrior'. This was the place described in Destiny's diary, the two trees with a clearing beyond.
Bishop stepped beyond the trees and into the clearing. This was the place where the Lost Warrior supposedly lay, but Bishop could see no sign of it. He stepped forward, then recoiled as a figure stepped out in front of him, materialising from thin air.
The figure wore ancient armour, and carried a golden sword.
"Welcome." the figure said. "I knew you would come."
"Who are you?" Bishop asked, startled at the man's sudden appearance.
"I call myself Hannibal." the man said.
"What is your real name?" Bishop demanded.
"That is of no importance." Hannibal stated simply. "Why did you come?"
"To find you." Bishop said.
Hannibal smiled. "Well done. You've found me. Now are you just going to go home and have a cup of tea?"
Bishop rolled his eyes. "I thought you were meant to save us from the Sentinels. Am I wrong?"
Hannibal raised an eyebrow. "Meant to? I am slave to no prophecy. However, it is boring standing here, waiting alone, so I will stay with you." he said.
Bishop smiled. "That was easier than I expected." he said, his relief obvious. "I thought there would be a catch."
Hannibal grinned. "Oh, there is a catch. You are weak. I will have to train you before I go with you."
Bishop narrowed his eyes. "I'm weak?" he spat.
Hannibal stared at him evenly. "Yes. You are weak. I will train you to make full use of your power."
"How would you even know my power?" Bishop asked, now irritated.
"It is obvious from the gun hanging by your belt that you can project out energy. You are not as powerful as me, as you have a limit, but the limit is high, so at least I have something to work with." Hannibal said, looking Bishop in the eye.
Bishop grew angry. Weak, was he? He pulled out his gun, and pointed it at Hannibal's head.
"Give me one reason why I shouldn't pull this trigger?" Bishop snarled at him.
"Please, do. I would love you to pull that trigger, and see that it won't make the slightest difference to my facial features." Hannibal said, grinning.
Bishop did so, and shot a red blast at Hannibal, who absorbed it without a flinch. He stared in amazement as Hannibal cupped his hand, and a flame of blue energy appeared there.
"You asked for my real name. I will give it to you, but you must tell no one." Hannibal said evenly.
"Okay. I won't tell anyone." Bishop said, cautious.
"My name ... is Thomas Blackhurst."
Tom stirred. He was in a bright place. He opened his eyes. There was nothing, just a white fog, stretching out as far as the eye could see. Then he saw a figure appear, a figure that walked towards him, until it came into focus. It wore red armour and had its face covered.
"Who are you?" Tom asked in wonder.
"So this is you. So young yet so powerful. I can now see why we created your kind." the being said.
"Who are you?" Tom repeated.
"My name is Gamiel. I have been watching you. There are many paths you may take in your life. I can show you them, if you wish." Gamiel said softly.
"Show me... the future?" Tom asked.
Gamiel frowned. "Possible futures, yes. But the future is not yet written for you. Whatever path you take could change it." Gamiel stated.
"Oh. Why are you here then? Where am I?" Tom asked, suddenly aware of where he was. "Am I dead?"
The being smiled. "No, you are not dead. I am contacting you through your mind. You are dreaming, so to speak. And as to why I am here? Well, does there need to be a reason. Can I not merely enjoy the pleasure of your company?" Gamiel mused.
"But anyway." Gamiel's face grew serious. "I cannot keep you for long. Your friend has not much time left. You will not remember any of this, until we meet again. Which I am sure we will. Good luck, Tom."
Tom was suddenly wide awake, sitting bolt upright. He had had a dream. He just couldn't remember it. He looked around. He was in the hospital bed that he had woke up in days earlier. The blue ape man physically jumped into the air in shock.
"But... you were dead!" the blue ape exclaimed. "Your heart stopped beating ... for one hour!" His eyes had expanded to the size of golf balls.
Tom remembered the Phoenix and his fight the previous day.
"Is everyone okay? Did the Phoenix hurt anyone?" Tom asked quickly. If it had, it would be his fault for unleashing it.
The blue ape smiled. "Don't worry Tom, everyone is fine. Though Jean has a slight headache. The whole school owes you their lives. The Phoenix could have caused incalculable damage if it had been allowed to reign free. You are somewhat of a hero." The ape man frowned. "In fact, they think you are dead at the moment, so let me go and tell them you are alive and well." he said, before lumbering off outside.
Tom thought. At least everyone was okay. But were they? There was a nagging feeling at the back of his mind that someone didn't have much time left.
The realisation hit him like a sledgehammer. Of course. Colossus.
Tom got out of the bed. He felt alive and well, he was not even tired. He needed to speak to the Professor. He walked to the door, before it crashed open and Sophie burst in. She ran up to him and crushed him in a hug.
"Thank God you're alive!" she said breathlessly, as though she had sprinted here. Actually, she probably had. Then the rest of his friends burst through the door and literally enveloped him in embraces.
When they let go, he was finally able to breathe.
"You were dead!" Josh said incredulously. "Even I couldn't heal you!"
"We were all getting ready for your funeral." Paul said. "It was dead depressing. At least all the girls will stop crying now."
Tom's eyes widened. "All the girls were crying?" he asked incredulously.
"We were not!" Megan protested, going red.
"They were." Josh whispered.
"I was so worried." Kate said. "We all were."
Just then, Angela rushed in, and clattered in to Tom, hugging him. By now, Tom's ribs were definitely broken. He hugged Angela back, and noticed her eyes were red, presumably from crying.
"I can't believe it." she whispered. Then she slapped him, hard, on the side of the face. Tom absorbed it, but it had taken him by surprise. He raised an eyebrow at her.
"Just checking you were real." she said casually.
Then they all froze. They stopped talking, and then walked outside, casting apologetic looks at Tom. Tom was bewildered, but this was explained when the Professor came in.
"Thomas Blackhurst," the Professor said, looking him in the eye, "I must say, your first week here has been quite eventful. You are either the bravest or the most foolish person I have ever seen. Possibly joint with Logan, actually. But what you did was unbelievable. Even I could not face the Phoenix Force and win. You will be something of a legend here. I commend you."
"Sir," Tom said eagerly, "Does that mean I can go and rescue Colossus?"
The Professor looked down. "I thought you wouldn't win. You were meant to be beaten, and let the X-Men rescue Colossus. But it seems I have no choice. I will take you with us." he said slowly.
Tom could not resist a smile. "Thank you, sir." he said, beaming at the Professor.
"No, Tom. Thank you."