"JEAN!" Xavier called out urgently for any sign of the telepath. Rogue cackled harshly. "JEAN! Do you hear me!?"
"Do not weep for ash, for that's all that's left of your beloved Jean." She sneered at their broken faces. "The worst has only begun, you're all next." She said, pointing a menacing finger at the rest of the team.
"Jean…" Scott uttered in disbelief, shaking.
"We have to go, before we all die!' said Mystique, shaking her head in disbelief . Scott's fist shattered the ground.
"Artemis I'm going to destroy you. Hear me, there will be nothing left of you." seethed Scott, slowly rising to his feet. The rest of the X-Men eased behind him. "You're gonna pay for what you've done. All of it."
"I'm not afraid of you. I fear nothing, I have no reason to." He said with a smug smile. "Not with the Phoenix by my side." He said, motioning to Rogue right beside him.
"YOU SHOULD!" boomed a voice. With a shrill cry, the flames dispersed to reveal Jean surrounded by a psychic force field. "I'm not going down, not that easy!" Jean cried angrily. A look of surprise and fear crossed Rogue's features for a moment, but a smile took over.
"Well then, good. I looked forward to more of a challenge." Said Rogue smugly. Jean said nothing, focused intently on Rogue. "Oh, trying to probe my mind? How cute. You aren't ready for the vast darkness ." Rogue warned.
A bead of sweat trailed down Jean's forehead but she said nothing. "Silly little girl, PHOENIX IN-" Rogue stopped short buckling and collapsing to her knees. "No…. What's…. Happening…." She panted. Rogue fought an unseen battle, struggling not to be dragged to her feet. "No... NO."
Wolverine inched forward. "What's wrong with her?" he wondered breathlessly
. "Rogue's body can't sustain the Phoenix. She's losing power." Jean answered, watching her sadly.
"Losing… Power….? I AM POWER!" Rogue shouted, pushing a flaming bird towards Jean, but she deflected it with her force field.
"Rogue's body is dying, and without a host you'll be sent away into space to search for another avatar, Phoenix." Said Jean matter-of-factly.
"I'll drag all of you to hell first!" Phoenix roared, staggering to her feet. 'Rogue, I know you're in there. I know you're tired but you've got to keep fighting… Say something…. Anything…' Jean struggled to find any sign of her.
"Rogue's not there anymore… Search all you want!" said Rogue rabidly, desperate to keep Jean from finding her.
"Jean…" came a meek voice in her mind.
"Rogue! Listen to me, you've got to reject Dark Phoenix. Tell her this is your body and you want it back, you can do it. You can fight her!" Jean cried aloud desperately.
Rogue clutched her head in agony. "Ahhh, AHHH STOP IT!" a radial burst of flames erupted from the girl pushing everyone away from her. Jean tumbled to the ground in a heap. "HAHAHA! TO THINK YOU COULD GET IN TOUCH WITH ROGUE? THERE IS ONLY DARK PHOENIX!" Rogue roared, hovering in the sky.
Scott helped Jean to her feet in an instant, watching as Rogue created a thunderstorm. "LET THERE BE RAIN!" she cried, as sheets of rain began to pour on everything.
"You were wrong, Jean. Phoenix is at the height of her power. " said Artemis, drenched in the downpour.
"DODGE THIS!" Rogue cackled, hurling searing fireballs towards all the X-men. Kurt grabbed on to Kitty and Logan and ported quickly out of the way, while Jean safely moved the professor and Mystique while encasing herself and Scott in a shield.
"Rogue! I know you're exhausted but you've got to claim your body as your own!" Jean called desperately from her force field.
"SILENCE!" Rogue shouted hurling a fireball at her. Storm used a quick acting whirlwind to blow it away.
"Come on kid," Logan joined. "You've got more fight in ya, I know it. Show the bitch what you're made of! Break free!" he shouted to her.
"Keep cheering Rogue on!" Xavier demanded urgently.
"What? No! Silence them Phoenix, destroy them!" Artemis cried urgently. Rogue clutched her head in agony, her pupils fading from white to green and back again. "Phoenix! Destroy them!" Artemis demanded angrily as he watched his one true chance at revenge slowly slip away.
"Rogue, time and time again you've shown me that you're the strongest person I know. Keep doing that, set yourself free!" Scott called. It was Scott's voice that broke though to Rogue first.
"Ah… Ah… I Can't! I CAN'T!" she shrieked, flying into the sky, a trail of flames behind her.
"She's doing it! She's sending the Phoenix away!" Xavier cried, pointing to her figure.
Rogue curled up into a ball, engulfed in flames. "PHOENIX… LEAVE ME!" she cried at last, sending the flaming bird forward and out of her body. It seemed to happen in slow motion. Her eyes returned to green and then her heavy lids fell, as her body sank from the skies like a rock. "ROGUE!" Logan roared as her frail body began to plummet.
With a deft hand, Jean caught Rogue's descent her telekinesis and gently lowered her to the ground where the X-Men crowded her. "NO! You ruined everything… I'll.. I'll…." Artemis stuttered, his sanity slowly fading.
"No, Artemis. You're finished." Said Scott, walking away from him to see how Rogue was doing.
"I'll make you ALL pay!" Artemis cried. He leapt forward, his arms open.
"TAKE ME! OH GREAT PHOENIX! USE ME AS YOU AVATAR, YOUR VESSEL TO DO THOU'S WILL!" he begged the skies.
"ARTEMIS, NO! SHE WILL DESTROY YOU!" Xavier warned, his hand outstretched to his former prodigy. It was too late. The flames dove into Artemis, encasing him in glowing embers. "I now have the powers I deserve!" he cried in elation. "I'LL CREATE THIS WORLD ANEW! I'LL-" Artemis stopped talking as the flames over took him.
Artemis cackled like the mad man he was, raising into the sky. "NOW, I am fire and life incarnate. Xavier, prepare to meet your very end!" he cried, shooting a stream of flames at the professor.
"PROFESSOR!" Jean cried, quickly encasing him in a psychic shield. She grunted with the strain. "I can't… Hold it…." She struggled, one hand pressing on her temple.
"Hang in there Jean!" Scott demanded. Suddenly, Artemis' cackle ceased., the flames growing out of control and soon engulfing him.
"No… NO, STOP PHOENIX. WHAT ARE YOU DOING?" he cried as he was engulfed by the white hot flames.
"YOU CANNOT HANDLE ME!" another voice said, as he went up in smoke.
"NO… NO!" Artemis' frame disappeared into ash, the Phoenix literally burning him inside out. There was a stunned silence. Xavier bowed his head. "He was nowhere near strong enough to contain the Phoenix force…. And it destroyed him in the end." He said with a quiet sigh. "No matter how evil or twisted he became, he was my first student, hopefully the last of casualties from this dark turn of events."
"I don't think he's the last… Charles." said Mystique morosely, as they watched Logan touch his skin to Rogue's in vain. He gave a heavy sigh.
"We're too late…. She… She couldn't hang on." Said Logan quietly, cradling her soft form in a tight embrace. Everyone was silent. Logan set Rogue down and suddenly slammed his fist into the ground, roaring in anger and heart break. "Why, god damn it! Why her?! Why always her!" He snarled at nobody in particular, tears flinging form his eyes.
Kurt said nothing, so hurt his face was devoid of any emotion at all. He turned and began to stalk toward Mystique, Kitty and Bobby chasing after him. "Kurt…" Kitty sobbed
. "Kurt, don't. Just don't!" she cried out, her voice shaking. Kurt only shook his head.
"I'm gonna do vas I should've done long ago…. Phased my motha into a wall and leave her there so she never hurts any of us again." He said flatly, grabbing onto Mystique's arm.
"Kurt…" Xavier said softly. Kurt grabbed it but did nothing. Mystique didn't protest.
"…It's what I deserve." She said quietly.
Kurt burst into sudden sobs. "I hate you so much." He sobbed, clutching to her suddenly. Mystique bit her lip as tears welled in her eyes too. A sudden light formed around Jean, as her normal uniform change from her X-men uniform to a light green. "Professor… Scott?" she cried unsurely as the light began to glow brighter and brighter. A mighty bird's call shrieked as Jean was completely enveloped in a glow.
Everyone watched in awe as who they thought was Jean appeared afterwards, her straight red hair now curly and full. Her body was clad in a uniform uneasily similar to Dark Phoenix, but instead was colored a hopeful green instead of malevolent red. Her striking green eyes opened with a warm sigh, as she looked over everyone. "..Jean, is that you?" Xavier asked in confusion. She shook her head with a warm smile.
"No, forgive me. I am the Phoenix."
