Chapter 11

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"There's no honorable way to kill, no gentle way to destroy. There is nothing good in war. Except it's ending."

Abraham Lincoln

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'00:15' to demolition mode.

When Kitty and Colossus rushed like maniacs to call all the students and tell them to get out of the mansion, they had raced out the secret passage ways in a hurry to get away from their home that was about to explode. Colossus, Kitty, and Jubilee made sure that everyone was safe as they dodged the programmed defense system.

'00:05' to demolition mode.

Colossus hit the side of the wall that opened up into a passage way as he signaled for Jubilee and Kitty to come.

'00:01' to demolition mode.

The lights started flashing red as they made a beeping noise. Kitty quickly grabbed onto Piotr and Jubilee's hands as she closed her eyes with fear and tried to remember everything they were taught by the elders of the household. She knew she could do this. She had to do this.

Suddenly the explosion erupted as Kitty phased herself and everyone she was holding on to through anything and everything in the atmosphere. She held on tighter as she started phasing through the falling rocks and objects.

She could do this.

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Scott fluttered his eyes open as he sensed something in his whole body that made him shiver. Jean was here. He knew Jean was here.

He got up easily and knew he was somehow unharmed from the great fall. He tilted his head up to try and see any kind of light. But he could not. He had to get to her. He had to.

But how was he going to get out of here? "Come on, Scott," he said to himself. "You can do this." He looked around for any kind of dent in the rocks so he could climb up. To his surprise he found one. He jumped onto it and felt around for another crack so he could climb a little higher. One step at a time.

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Rogue and Bobby had not yet seen her. They had not been aware that she was living and breathing their air. They did not know if they should be joyful about this situation or not because at the moment she did not look too friendly.

"Who the hell are you?!?" Joe screamed with anger at the unexpected outrage. Phoenix just glanced at him to send him flying to the other side of the large room full of controls and scientific equipment. Joe landed on one set of controls as sparks flew from it and the lights began to flicker, which made the already grayish green room darker.

"I am Phoenix!" Jean yelled as she let out evil laughter.

"Jean, whah are ya doin this?" Rogue asked with confusion as she looked up at Jean and saw the visible sky. Phoenix just let out her hand to jolt Rogue back against Bobby and John. Rogue's glove hooked onto Bobby's front pockets and was pulled off of her hand as she struggled to get up. They suddenly felt another force field smack them in their backs to allow them to fumble for balance, causing Rogue's uncovered hand to aim towards Bobby and John's faces. All three of them fell into the little, yet deep pool of water that Joe arranged.

"Get the kids!" Storm exclaimed to Logan as he raced over to the little pool. He jumped in and dived to the bottom when he suddenly felt himself being lifted out of the water. Phoenix lifted him a little higher out of the water and threw him against the wall.

When Logan recovered he ran towards the table with unsheathed claws. He jumped on the table to allow himself to jump up higher to reach Jean in the air, but she just let out her hand to bring down a chain from the walls, wrap it around a still standing pipe and encircle it around Logan's neck in the air.

Storm watched Logan strangle and struggle to move his claws the right way. She lifted herself in the air and summoned lightning to try and slow her friend down. She was not intending on harming her in any way, but from what she was seeing, she needed to be stopped. So her eyes, glazed with white, shot lightning and summoned winds towards Phoenix as Phoenix simply burned it out with her finger and turned the lightning back at Storm as Storm fell to the ground.

Phoenix twisted and turned in her position in the air as she clenched her fists. "Where is he?!?" Phoenix questioned with anger as she lifted herself higher and raised her arms as if she was carrying something extremely heavy. The four walls of the facility's operation room exploded upwards and out towards the higher ground above the room.

A blue man and a blue woman were now revealed from behind all the debris that Phoenix removed in order to find who she was especially looking for. A bald man, another elder man lying spread out on the ground, and a tall, hairy man were also revealed in the now wide open room.

Phoenix let out an agonizing scream as her fierce power brought Jason tumbling down from the surface. He let out a scream as Phoenix stopped him from smashing to the ground with her hands.

"Well, well, well," Joe said as he picked himself up and looked at Jason with hatred in his eyes. "If it isn't Mutant 143. Have you finally come to see how I've grown?" Joe said with sarcasm as he neared Jason. "You couldn't even create an illusion to make me believe that you were a good father?"

Kurt watched everything happening in front of him and tried to contemplate it all. He quickly noticed Storm lying on the ground and Logan choking to death. He teleported towards Logan and grabbed his arms but it slipped from his fingers as he fell to the ground with a loud thud. He screamed in pain as he looked up to see Jean. He looked to his side to see Storm helpless on the ground. Her eyes opened slowly and weakly as Kurt muttered the words, "It's going to be alright. Everything vill be fine."

Logan quickly released the chains from his neck with his claws that were being held back by Jean when she was distracted. He fell to the ground coughing, but recovered quickly.

Mystique watched Kurt fall to the ground after saving Logan and quickly shape shifted into a bird to fly up to Phoenix. When she got there she shape shifted into herself and kicked her in the face. Phoenix immediately grabbed her neck and threw her downwards. "WHERE IS HE?!?" Phoenix screamed almost to herself as she searched the room.

Logan got up quickly and raced towards Mystique's falling body. He caught her slender body and looked at her for a moment before he set her down slowly and raced towards Rogue, John, and Bobby who were still in the water.

Kurt turned towards his mother and held her body in his arms. "Are you alright?" Kurt asked as Mystique released herself from his arms. He gave a little smile and tried to help Storm gain a little more consciousness.

Logan dove into the water and grabbed Rogue's arm to bring her to the surface. She tumbled over and released the water from her suffocating mouth. Logan dived back in to retrieve Bobby and John. Once they were alright he took a minute to catch his own breath as Phoenix raised him in the air and pulled on his body with non-visible forces. "Where is he?" she whispered with rage as Logan shook his head. Phoenix searched his mind, but to no avail and just dropped him towards Joe's machines under him.

"Logan!!!" Rogue exclaimed as she jumped him, to send them both tumbling behind the machines instead.

Phoenix searched everyone's minds but no one knew where he was. She had to get to him first. She could finish with them so easily, but she wanted to get rid of him first. Her head suddenly darted towards the little black corner that led downwards. She disappeared into thin air, leaving only a ray of light behind as it too dissolved in the air.

As soon as she left, everyone suddenly realized Joe and Jason in a hand-to-hand combat with each other.

"Jason," Professor Xavier whispered from the corner of the room near the helpless Magneto who Sabretooth was helping.

"Joe," Rogue said quickly with determination. "It doesn't have to be this way. You can end this feud right now and start a new beginning."

Joe turned to Rogue and laughed. He kicked his father towards the table that Rogue was lying in as Jason's hand touched the button to the side of the table to start the machines and to start the moving table. The machines drilled into Jason's skin more quickly than Rogue had witnessed before. Their little scene with Jean obviously changed the function of the controls.

Joe watched as Jason was crushed by the machines. Everyone watched in pity and horror as Joe gave a weird smile. "In order to defeat your enemy, you have to know your enemy," he said with a small laugh at how that worked out for him. He had killed a man that he did not know. His own father. "There's never an end," he said to Rogue and to himself as he grabbed a machine gun from the ground and shot himself.

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"There you are," Phoenix said with a laugh as she pointed to him to create a red force field around him and lift him from the rocks he was desperately climbing.

"Jean," Scott said innocently as he looked at her furious features. "What are you doing?"

"This," Phoenix said as she lifted him and herself out from the dark area and all the way up to the grassy area on the surface. Scott screamed with pain that was all over his body now. Phoenix entered his mind and caused a loud noise to echo within to give him mental pain.

She set him down harshly and removed his visor with her telekinetic powers. Scott's red beams darted towards the trees right when the visor was taken from him but he quickly shut his eyes to keep everyone around him safe. He did not want to harm Jean in any way. But the trees he had hit had come falling down on her as he shook his head with fear and reached for his visor. He placed it back on his face and saw the trees toppled over one another, but no Jean.

"No," Scott said as he turned around to see Storm flying up with the Professor and Kurt teleported with Logan. He turned back around to see Jean emerge from the trees without a scratch on her face. Scott quickly turned to his teammates and spoke without hesitation.

"There is a force inside her taking over her body. A powerful force," Scott said as he felt a rush of cool air fly through him.

"How the hell do you know that?!?" Logan yelled.

"I don't know."

"Cyclops, you are correct. The legends are true, the Phoenix dies and is reborn again. It seems to have inhabited Jean's body," Professor Xavier stated. "And the only way to stop it's destruction is to kill the body and mind that it shares." Professor Xavier frowned at the thought, but he knew it was the only way.

"What?!? Professor, no," Scott said as his eyebrows creased with fear.

"It is the only way to stop her from destroying everything in her path," Professor Xavier said painfully.

"It can't be. There is always another way!" Cyclops screamed, to his surprise. Professor Xavier just turned away grimly as Cyclops shook his head with fear.

But his back suddenly straightened as his jaw tightened and he walked away. Prepared for battle.

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Scott heard the words Professor Xavier had told him earlier. He knew he had to kill Jean to save everyone. But his hand would not move towards his visor. It could not. Instead, he got Jean's attention and looked at her for what seemed like a moment frozen in time. "If you want to kill me, do it!" Scott exclaimed as he held out his arms away from him and approached her slowly to look up and see her full of fury. "Go ahead. Kill me."

"THEN COME CLOSER YOU COWARD!!!" Phoenix screamed at the top of her lungs as her eyes flashed yellow and fire circled around her with rage. Scott did nothing but come closer.

"Kill me."

Phoenix screamed at the top of her lungs as she looked at Cyclops' face. She lifted her hands, where fire was sprouting out of, and leaned her fingers against her temples in pain. She felt her heart pierce with something she has never felt before. The images and voices ran through her head like a flash of lightning.

"You can run, but you can't hide," Scott said eerily with a laugh while Jean ran from him as her body trembled with fear.

"Shut up!" Scott exclaimed with cruelness. "Just shut up! You. You possess too much power. For that, we have to kill you. And I'm going to enjoy doing it too."

"But I can kill you," Jean exclaimed as she raised herself in the air and through the roof of the dreadful prison like room. Fire escaped her in the shape of the bird as it darted towards Scott.

"I love you," Jason said as he kissed her cheek.

"I love you too," Phoenix said.

She felt as if the images had just been a figment of her imagination. They were so blurry to her now. Her body started shaking uncontrollably as she held her hand to her heart and started falling.

She heard a sweet voice, a familiar one ring through her ears. It was so reassuring and loving. Everything she could see in front of her went black as her ears could not take in any voice in the background. Her heart sank and her head fell back. All she could hear was that one sweet voice.

"Scott, I keep feeling something terrible is about to happen," Jean said as Scott pulled her into his arms. So strong, so warm, so comforting.

"I'd never let anything happen to you," Scott whispered.

Jean began to fall as she felt the hot fire escape her and heard loud explosions in the air. She knew she was about to hit the ground but her body would not budge. It would not move an inch. Her muscles were relaxed because she felt something there.

Scott ran towards her falling body and caught it carefully as he fell to his knees. He looked at her as tears started to come out of his eyes.

"Funny to think you could get rid of me Jean," Scott said lightly. "I am you." She buried her face in Scott's chest and broke out in sobs. He held her closer than he ever has. His heart did not feel empty anymore and his body did not move. He did not want to think, he did not want to know, he did not want to see, hear, or smell. He just wanted to feel. He wanted to feel Jean in his arms.

His arms would not let go. Ever.

"I love you Jean," Scott finally said after the longest moments.

"I love you too," Jean said smoothly, like water running down a river. So natural, so real. She knew who she was now. In Scott's arms.

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The dark, gray sky hovered over their heads with intensity as the wet drops of rain started to fall. Slowly at first, but then with increasing speed over the fire and the crumbled material on the moist ground.

Everyone muttered nothing but silence as they stood with their hands dropped to their sides and their shoulders restless on their arms. Only the small sobs of Jean's voice could be heard in the echo of the silent and peaceful trees and the soft rain.

Mystique, Sabretooth, and Pyro did not utter a word or move an inch. For at that very moment they were speechless over the dead body of Magneto. He lye in a pool of blood that was flowing towards them by the rain.

Bobby held Rogue close as did Kurt to Storm. "There is always another way," Professor Xavier said with sadness dripping in his voice which echoed through everyone's minds. After those words were uttered, he looked towards Jean and Scott, who were holding each other closely and looking solemnly at Magneto's lifeless body. "There is always another way," he repeated a little louder this time.

The rain fell onto their heads with dullness as the Brotherhood and the X-men stood in silence. Echoing silence.

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"I tried to make peace with them but they simply refused it," the president said with a slight glare and hardness in his voice. "We will not be intimidated. They will not intimidate us."

Everyone in the crowd cheered for him loudly as he waited for them to calm down before he continued speaking. "They are unlike us. They have no emotions, no regard for the morals of human beings," the president said with cruelty. He looked down at his appointment paper quickly while the crowd cheered. He knew he had to make this speech quick for he had an appointment about the sentinels with a man called Graydon Creed. The new leader of the new and improved FoH. "I do not wish for anything but peace for our country. And great leaders throughout history made their nations prosperous through wars, as I will do."

The crowd went wild with cheers and screams as the president stepped down from the podium and waved to the crowd. He smiled at the clueless faces. He watched the happy faces as they followed his lead, oblivious of the truth behind their own president.

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God rest Eric Lensherr's soul.

Entry eleven- Day "no end" :

Hey there. Let me introduce myself again. I'm Rogue. I'm an X-man. Rogue the X-man, or X-woman. Doesn't that have a nice ring to it?

Before this day, I wouldn't believe there was hope for us living with the rest of the world. But Kurt says that God watches over all of us. He says that in a way God is blind. He can't see black from white, big from small, human from mutant. To him, everyone can have a place in Heaven, where everyone is loved.

Jason and Joe's hatred caused their own deaths. If this war with mutants and humans continues, hatred will kill us as well. But there will always be those people who disagree with the rightful thing. Those who cause ruin and destruction. Generation after generation. In all honesty, there is no end.

The mansion was destroyed…… but it's not about the home, it's about the people. Everyone's safe thanks to Kitty! And we are going to rebuild it from the ashes, just as Jean was.

Everyone has smiles on their faces because Jean's fate was not as we believed. Her fate is here, with us, with Scott. It was not her time to leave this world, and nothing can change that. She is destined to be part of the X-men. To help find peace and use our powers for good.

I'm looking at Jean right now. She looks as if she's leaped into her soul and found a piece of her that she didn't have before, that she didn't know of before, especially with Scott by her side. Don't they make the cutest couple?

Which brings me to me. I looked in the mirror today to see something twinkle in my eyes. Something that wasn't there before. A bright light that I haven't seen in me until now. Do you know why?

………Because today I hold my head high and smile at my name.

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The End……or so you think……