Chapter Four: The Change
Jean and Xavier could not believe their eyes. Marching in unison down the underground halls of the Xavier School were soldiers, dressed in the finest fashions of armored plastic, each bearing an insiginia on the chest of a burning pitchfork. The guns they carried had settings on them, from lowest, to stun, ranging to highest, for all out destruction.
Ororo lays down inside the doorway, alive, but injured. The soldiers say nothing as they surround both Xavier and Jean, taking them in arms, preventing them from fighting back. Both Charles and Jean understand that they must attempt to cooperate. Two soldiers holding Jean on both sides, restricting any movement at all. She attempts to go inside their minds, but they apparently seem to be wearing some sort of psychic blockers so that telepaths, such as Jean and Charles, cannot get inside their minds.
Being trapped within his own home, Chalres Xavier speaks out. "What do you want with us?" he asks. He, being an advanced telepath, isn't able to break through these soldiers shields. Just as Storm and Jean, he also has no idea what is going on here.
The soldier in front of Xavier takes the brunt force of his gun handle and slams it into Xaviers face. And yet still, they say nothing.
"Stop it!" Jean shouts. She can feel it in her now more than ever, the need to be free. To finally take control. But she fears it, and so holds it back. She cannot risk it, not with Scott so fragile, only feet away.
Scott.
Through the hall, behind the soldiers, she can see more, taking Scott out of his room, carrying his fragile body away from her. She cannot handle that!
"No!" Jean shouts. "Leave him be!" The feeling within her is growing stronger now, becoming almost unbearable. She wants to embrace it, if only to save Scott. She cannot live without him. She cannot bear the thought of them being apart.
"It's now or never, Jean..."
The soldiers behind them carry Scott away from her. She can see him disappearing back through the hall, towards the elevator. She has to do it now! She cannot wait anymore. One moment more caould mean everything. It is now or never. "Stop it now!" Jean shouts one more. She breaks free from the soldiers grasp and begins to run towards Scott. As she exits the room, the soldiers chase after her. The doors to the room close and seem to lock somehow.
Ororo lifts up and tries desperately to open the doors. She cannot leave Jean out there unprotected against a horde of soldiers. In the desperation of the moment they hear a shot ring out, followed by another and another. Storm steps away from the door in fear. She hears the Jean's screams stop, as is followed by the sound of a body hitting the floor.
"No!" Storm screams as she begins to bang on the door. "No..." She falls to her knees leaning against the door. She is alone now. Charles is still unconscious and to her fears, Jean is...Jean...
"You stay here," the soldier in charge tells another. "Give us enough time to get out of here, and then I want you to kill the rest."
"Agreed," the second soldier replies. As the other soldiers and the severly wounded X-Man disappear into the elevator shaft, the one left soldier looks down on the floor to the red head who tried to escape. She looks so fragile, so small. He feels a great swell of pity rise in him. This woman only tried to save the man, and for that reason, she is now dead. For that love, she died.
The doors of the hidden elevator swing open as the seven soldiers and comatose Cyclops exit and begin making their way to the front gate. They have succeeded. Or so they thought.
"Where ya'll think you're goin' with the big man, boys?" asks a girl, obviously from the South. "Ah don't believe his woman would much approve," she continues, "seein' as how he looks in a bad way."
The soldiers lunge at her, not wanting any blood shed on the upper levels, but somehow she is able to evade their reach as she seemingly levitates herself back a few feet. "Ya'll gonna' have to do better than that."
"Hey!" she shouts, as from behind her, a large soldier grabs ahold of her and pulls her back. Now able to manipulate some magnetic fields, she is able to use them to increase her muscle mass, enabling her to lift the man and throw him across her head at the other soldiers.
"Ya'll never gonna' learn, are ya?" She asks as she glides across the floor towards them. "If ya don't mind, Ah think Mr. Summers should stay here."
Another soldier comes from behind and hits the girl in the head. She reaches up to grab at him, but succumbs to the darkness enveloping her. She falls to the ground unconscious.
The soldiers have taken out every threat they could conceive at the moment. Their leader, Xavier was unconscious below, locked in a room with the one they call Stoem. This girl was out for the count. The other Students of this school aren't trained to defend the school, so they see no potential threat in them. And the Doctor, well...they took care of her for good.
They begin to carry Scott out of the room when they hear the elevator open, but no one seems to come out of it. The soldier who appears to be in charge orders one of them to go check it out. He walks slowly back towards the elevator, peeks in, but sees nothing. He turns back to the commanding officer and shrugs his shoulders. It is at that moment, an event beyond reason or understanding transpires. The soldier who went back to check the elevator screams out in pain, as if some unseen force has attacked him. From his ears, blood begins to pour, as it does from his nose. The other soldiers don't understand it, but somehow, it seems as though his brain has exploded. As the blood falls to the floor, it seems to take on a mind of it's own, as it spreads about in a path that, in end, makes an eagle. A raptor. A Firebird.
The soldiers begins to back away in fear. They don't understand what is going on here and, quite frankly, they are scared shitless. They try frantically to get to the door, but the closer they get, the further away it seems to appear. Just as they have reached the door, it slams closed and a chain from out of nowhere begins to wrap itself tightly around the door handles. They tear frantically at the chain, leaving Scott laying on the floor. The unseen force seems to lift Scott Summers, as well as the girl, Rogue, and pull them slowly towards the elevator. The soldiers are so scared at this point, they say to hell with it. They have to escape!
As soon as Scott and Rogue have disappeared into the elevator, the door shuts with a slight click. It is at that moment that the Firebird of blood begins to spark, as if coming to life. It seems to become transparent, as, astonishingly, a woman seems to fly upwards through it. They cannot believe their eyes by the woman that they see.
"I gave you fair warning to leave us alone," the woman spoke. It took the soldiers time to realize exactly who it was that stood before them. Her hair, which had been so tightly kept to her head was down. The blue shirt and jeans she wore had became black leather. Upon her chest was the insignia of a bird, a raptor, a firebird. Her eyes glowed as if they were embers fleeing from the flame. She didn't walk. She glided towards them. And as she grew closer, the soldiers found it harder and harder to concentrate. They didn't know why, but this woman was able to get into their minds, despite the psychic dampeners they were wearing.
"Now you are all going to pay!"
The voice. The whole time she had been coming for them, it had been speaking, but she didn't realize it. For the first time since she heard that voice, this time, she wasn't the only one. She held out her arms as if preparing for a big hug. Around her, the soldiers could see small liquid-like flames coming close into her. And it was then that they spoke.
The commanding officer took his role to play and spoke to the woman, "Just who the hell are you?"
She smiles at them as she raises her head high, unleashing the fire she had gathered around her. The flames begin to eat away at both armor and flesh.
"Go ahead, Jean...tell them who you are..."
She then speaks the last words these men will ever hear. "I am Phoenix!"
