Earth-717: X-Men Vol 3
Chapter 11: Sacrifice
Madelyne violently coughed as she clawed at the ground around her. She had landed on the edges of a pond near the park's perimeter fence. Her body was an unsightly mess, with her legs made of pure, unshaped mush and her face falling apart. The ends of her hair dripped against her back, and her left hand was now a bubbly stump.
Madelyne dug her right hand into the mud and pulled herself away from the water. The ends of her barely responsive legs dragged against the ground. She groaned and coughed again, and a smattering of small globs of grey liquid landed on the dirt in front of her. She gasped in horror as she realized that she was coughing out pieces of her own flesh.
Every cell in her body was in pain, with the amount of energy bombardment that she had sustained devastating her malleable physiology. Just like when she had been kidnapped by Sinister and melted inside of his experimental capsule, she felt trapped within her own horrifying body, but now it would be for the last time.
As she strained herself to continue crawling along the ground, she thought about how different her life had become ever since she had been taken on that fateful night. Back then, she had power, wealth, and all of the material possessions a person could ever ask for. She was respected by her peers, master of her own destiny, and had a whole future ahead of her.
Now, as she desperately clung to life as a misshapen monstrosity, she felt like that was a completely different lifetime.
After almost a whole minute of struggle, Madelyne finally managed to stand up. She was not on her feet, for her legs were a dress-shaped gelatinous mass, but from the waist up she still at least somewhat resembled her old self. She took a couple laboured breaths before looking up. She sighed as she watched Jean slowly lower herself out of the air, landing in front of her.
For a few seconds, Jean and Madelyne stared at each other. Despite everything that had happened between them, Jean did not seem to be filled with anger or contempt. Rather, she was frowning as she looked at what remained of Madelyne Pryor.
Madelyne cleared her throat.
"Jean."
"Madelyne."
Madelyne weakly chuckled, but Jean could tell that she was trying to stop herself from crying.
"Care to tell me what I'm thinking?"
The lines around Jean's eyes softened as she saw that Madelyne's right eye was slowly melting.
"You know I can't," said Jean.
"Then what?" asked Madelyne. "Have you come to gloat? Tell me how terrible of a person I am before I die?"
"No."
Madelyne moved her head back slightly.
"Why not?"
"Because I don't believe you are a terrible person."
Madelyne paused. She genuinely was not expecting that reaction from the woman standing in front of her. Jean had every reason in the world to hate her, but now Madelyne was confused. She waited for Jean to continue.
"I have spent so much time knowing the thoughts and feelings of others. Even if I'm not directly reading someone's mind, I can still sense them on the astral plane. So much feeling. So much pain."
Madelyne blinked a couple times as she listened to Jean speak.
"And I think that if I've learned something, anything, from all that experience, it's that I don't believe anyone is inherently better or worse than anyone else. We're all shaped by our experiences, and what we do are reactions to them. I don't try to prescribe, praise or condemn. Rather, I try to understand."
Madelyne sneered.
"How disgustingly admirable."
Jean ignored Madelyne's remark.
"You shy away from connection," she said. "But I don't think that's a failing on your part. There's something to be said for the power of empathy, and I'm not saying that just because I'm a telepath. Normal people can still sense others on the astral plane, even if ever so slightly. I can feel them all . . . . except you."
Madelyne frowned as she heard the truth in Jean's words.
"You were cut off from all that. That ability to connect and empathize with others? It was taken from you, and I believe that being removed from all that empathy, all the sensations on the astral plane that so many take for granted . . . . I think that has a lot to do with why we're here."
Madelyne held out her right arm.
"So what?" she asked. "Do I blame Sinister for all this?"
"I don't think it's that simple," said Jean. "What he did to you was terrible. Unforgivable. He changed you in a way you didn't deserve, but your ideology was still yours. For the most part. You were Madelyne Pryor before Sinister got his hands on you."
Jean momentarily glanced at the sky.
"I guess what I'm trying to say is that I know you need to be stopped, but I don't take any pleasure in it. I want you to know that you have my sympathies, for whatever they're worth."
"You know that I have to die," said Madelyne. "That you need to kill me."
"Yes."
"But you wish you didn't have to. It's not in your nature."
"Yes."
Madelyne looked to the ground for a moment as tears started to fall from her eyes.
"You know . . . . here I am, on death's door, face to face with the woman I was designed to emulate. To replace. And only now do I truly have . . . . clarity."
"It's a very human thing to experience, isn't it?"
Jean and Madelyne shared a brief smile.
"Yeah," said Madelyne.
Madelyne then frowned again as the tears fell down what remained of her cheeks.
"My mind has been tearing itself apart ever since that day. I want to be free of all this pain. Please . . . . do it."
Jean held out her left hand. Madelyne looked down at it before reaching out with her right. Jean took Madelyne's hand and gently held it as she stepped towards her. For a few seconds, they looked into each other's eyes, both of them knowing what was going to happen next. Jean then formed her right hand into a fist, and flames surrounded it.
Jean then punched through Madelyne's chest, causing the melting woman to hold her head back and gasp out for air. Jean closed her eyes as she held Madelyne close to her. Madelyne then rested her head on Jean's shoulder before wrapping her arms around the young woman.
"Thank you . . . ."
Jean felt a couple of tears fall out of the corners of her eyes. She then whispered into Madelyne's ear.
"You're welcome."
Jean pulled her fist back, and Madelyne's body fell to the floor. Her arms were out at her sides, and she was staring straight up at the sun. As she died, she looked at Jean Grey one last time. But for the first time in her life, she looked at a mutant and did not feel hatred stirring inside her heart. Instead, she felt something she had not felt for many years.
Compassion.
"Hold on, Professor!"
Scott narrowed his beam, making it as thin as he possibly could. Cutting through the panel atop the metallic orb, he then tore the panel off to reveal Xavier sitting inside. His eyes were still shut, with the device keeping him unconscious. Storm put her hand on Scott's shoulder.
"Allow me, Scott Summers. Rogue, assist me."
Storm and Rogue took hold of both sides of Xavier's wheelchair. Pulling upwards, the two flying women lifted Xavier out of the orb. Moira, who had parked the X-Jet next to the dome, was looking up at her husband and holding her hands together. Storm and Rogue gently deposited Xavier on the ground, and Moira rushed over to meet them.
Moira trembled as she gently rubbed Xavier's head with her hand.
"Is he . . . .?"
"He is unconscious, but alive," said Storm. "He will likely require a few minutes to recover from the effects of that device, but he will be fine."
Scott slid down the side of the dome and rejoined the rest of the team, who were now all looking at the Amplifier and the device inside.
"Do we blow it up?" asked Piotr.
"No good," said Logan. "That virus might still get out. Gotta shut it down."
"That will prove difficult," said Hank, pointing at the dome. "That locked door allows for access to the dome, but those lashes of energy would tear any of us apart before we could disable the device. The door is only meant to be used when the Amplifier is deactivated."
"Then deactivate it!" said Amanda.
"That can only be done at the main Project Pegasus facility, and only when all three project leads, including myself, activate our special key cards simultaneously. I highly doubt we have the time to perform such a procedure."
"Well ya'll can't just stand 'round and do nothing!" shouted Rogue.
"Perhaps I could short-circuit it with a lightning strike?" asked Storm.
"That might do more harm than good," said Scott. "We need to . . . ."
"Everyone stand aside."
The whole team looked behind them to see Jean landing. She then marched towards the door. Scott held out his arms.
"Jean, what are you doing?"
"I've listened to everyone, and I know how to deal with this. I tried to disable the device telekinetically, but the amount of energy in the Amplifier is interfering with the range of my powers. I'll need to go inside and disable it manually, using a force field to protect myself."
"What?!" shouted Scott. "No, you can't! That's suicide!"
"Please don't fight me, Scott. You know I'm the only one who can protect themselves from the energy. The rest of you would be ripped apart."
"Maybe not," said Logan. "I might be able to get there before . . . ."
"Can't take that chance," said Jean. "Without the Professor inside the device, the L-Virus will kill everyone on Earth. We don't have time to debate. I have to do this."
Scott shook his head.
"Jean, no! We can find another . . . ."
Jean interrupted Scott by pulling him in for a kiss. After a few passionate seconds, she then let go of him and forced him back with her telekinesis. She then formed a barrier around her body before using her powers to unlock the door to the dome. Using another force field to contain the energy within, she then stepped inside and closed the door behind her.
Scott ran up to the dome and slammed his fists against it in vain.
"NO!"
The rest of the team frowned as they watched Scott fall to his knees, sobbing. Moira walked up to him and wrapped her arms around his shoulders, holding him with all of the compassion she had. She had never had children of her own, but in that moment, she knew what it meant to be a mother who saw her child in grief. At the same time, Xavier awoke, and he needed only to sense the emotions of the people around him to understand the situation.
Jean trudged forward, holding her arms out at her sides as the torrents of energy lashed out at her. Every step was an agonizing endeavour, but she knew that if she did not achieve her goal, then the entire world would perish. It was her or everyone else, and in that scenario, she always knew the choice she would make.
As she arrived at the device, she could sense that it was only a few short seconds away from fully charging. Kneeling down beside it, she reached out with her telekinesis, carefully ensuring that she did not split her power too much for fear of accidentally lowering her barrier before the task was completed.
Jean could feel the minds of all of her friends thinking of her at that moment. To her, they had become the family she always wished she could have. But she couldn't help but be drawn to the thoughts of the man she loved.
"Jean, please . . . . not again . . . ."
Jean cried as she twisted the tubes inside of the device.
"I can't lose you again."
Jean crushed the entire device with her powers. However, this also broke the vials, causing the L-Virus to seep into the dome. Jean sighed with relief, knowing that the virus would be contained and eventually eradicated by the energy within the Amplifier. Still, while the rest of the world was now safe, it was not enough to save her.
She then looked up at Scott. As yellow cracks formed all over her skin, she smiled at him and spoke into his mind one last time.
"I will always love you."
As her body exploded, she heard the wailing bird once more.
The rest was silence.