Shout outs:
X00001: Thanks, and the final battle begins. And there might be a part where Sinister meets up with his team.
WerewolfLass: Thanks.
DemonRogue13: Thanks, and I'm sure he didn't.
Disclaimer: I don't own X-men Evolution...
=====================================================
It was all coming together in her head. The plan would be fair enough.
The body of Jean Grey, controlled by the Phoenix, floated high in the air while casually looking down at the three cloned mutants below her on the ground. Their uniforms were in shreds and they were weakened, but she had spared them. It wouldn't have taken Phoenix much to obliterate them, but she decided against it. They didn't matter.
However, as the fourth guy joined them, their thoughts flowed into Phoenix's mind. There were images of the guys fighting war-like. They were manning vehicles and assisting each other. She could sense that someone had used them, and that one of them even had a crush on a mutant known only as X23.
But a crush was pointless. Phoenix knew the love between Jean Grey and Scott Summers. It disgusted her, how they adored each other instead of trying to gain power. She did not understand it.
Taking off into the air, Phoenix made her way toward the largest bridge in Bayville. Due to her quick aerial speeds, she was there after only seconds. It seemed a good enough place for an epic battle. And that's how Phoenix planned to defeat the X-men and their allies. It would be hard and take longer then simply wiping them out, but she still wasn't fully in control. If she set out like that, using a great deal of her power, Jean Grey would surely resurface and ruin it all.
But the plan was simple. It wouldn't take much effort to draw all the X-men and the others from the different time periods. She could create a time pocket along the bridge, form it into her realm, and gather them their on it like a battlefield. It could all be done in minutes. And that's what Phoenix planned to do.
With a small amount of concentration, she centered her energies on the bridge, causing the rest of the scene in front of her to evanesce and fade away. Soon it was only the middle of the bridge and some of the bay beneath it that remained in her time pocket. The remaining clouds above gathered heavily and changed to an orange-gray hue. Orange lightning crackled above, and the waters turned choppy with great waves. The bridge was empty, as Phoenix reached out to all the mutants she wanted; the X-men, Brotherhood, and Acolytes. Sinister and his group would end up in their actual time period from which they had left, but Phoenix did not plan on having them join this time period. She could sense them, and that's when she reached out farther.
With a bright flashes and a whirl of cosmic flames, a large number of mutants appeared on the bridge; confused and surprised. They were all in their battle uniforms, all unscathed, even though some had been torn or ripped. Now they were all looking at Phoenix as she floated toward them. She reached the highest tip of the bridge, and looked down at the mutants. She could sense the tension, but they all seemed ready to fight. So she began.
"I've drawn you all here to finish this! It's time to fight! I've brought you all back from Sinister's mess up in time. And it's time to show me how strong you really are! Are you really able to fight against one of your own friends?"
Phoenix fell silent, leaving it at that. Her quick little speech had sparked their interest a little more. She sensed the least remorse from the Acolytes, then the Brotherhood, and then the X-men. It seemed Jean Grey had ties to lots of the mutants below her, but as inferior as Phoenix felt them to be, she knew they were sure that the only person they were going to fight was the Phoenix; not their beloved Jean Grey. It was time to test their limits.
The sky grew even darker, the lightning strikes giving and odd colors of glow. Below the bridge, the waters picked up in aggression, becoming more violent. A telekinetic wind picked up as well, wrapping around the bridge and the mutants like a weak cyclone. However, the bridge still occasionally shuddered, causing some of the mutants to have to hold their ground.
Scott Summers took the front of the pack, staring up intently through his ruby visor. His face was grim and resistant, ready to fight for what he believed in.
"This is your only warning, Phoenix. Give back Jean Grey and leave." His voice was solid and demanding, cool and controlled. The Phoenix smirked and slowly shook her head, as cosmic flames slowly enveloped around her.
"Jean Grey will always be a part of the Phoenix, and there is no way to separate her. I'm just as much a part of her as her own mind is. The threads cannot be broken."
By now, the cosmic flames had reached onto the Phoenix like a second skin, growing brighter by the second. After flashing and angry glare through her emerald eyes, a bright flash ensued.
Jean Grey's mane of red locks grew longer and thicker, piling up and draping onto her shoulders and in front of her face. Some sections of her tresses altered to either tints of maroon or magenta, while her bright green eyes glowed flaming orange. A crimson uniform now covered her, stretching out along her limps and still glowing with wisps of fire. A golden sash materialized around her, wrapping tightly around her waist with the knot toward her hip. An emblem of a golden phoenix shined brightly on her chest, as golden gloves and heels formed along her hands and feet. She had transformed, and the golden and crimson attire surged with the energy of the Phoenix. The now fiery eyes rested upon the mutants below.
"Show me what power you wield, mutants!! Will it even hold a candle to my power!! I have more power than you can even imagine!!!" The Phoenix bellowed, as Jean's voice had become heavier and more threatening. A few of the mutants below were fearful gazes, but quickly became replaced by solemn features. Phoenix did not sense their fear, but that didn't matter to her. Only power did.
Against her doubts, Scott Summers struck first, firing at the girl he loved who was being controlled by a powerful entity of greater strength than he had encountered as an X-men. The optic blast had been stopped without even a blink, and Scott soon found himself jerked backwards, where he crashed into some unsuspecting New Mutants.
So, they came in waves, combining their powers against her. There were lightning bolts, magnetic pulses, barrages of ice, electricity, and magma, as well as hexes, telepathic blows, and sonic air burst. However, they had all deflected or dodged by the Phoenix, who easily countered with a strong sweep of her hand that sent the ten closest mutants reeling backwards. Then their friends would join in, and the fighting soon commenced again.
Phoenix had to admit they had beaten her doubts of power, but none of them had even touched her with an attack. Nevertheless, after five minutes of the battling, most of the mutants were injured.
Lance, Bobby, Ray, and Sam had taken the worst hit, having been engulfed by one of Phoenix's flaming strikes. The upper halves of their uniforms were in shreds, baring almost all of their upper bodies and revealing burns of cosmic flames along their chests and backs. Amara and Jubilee had evaded most of the attacks, although their hair had been singed some by a narrowly dodged fireball. Sam, Remy, and Rahne had all been sent off they edge of the bridge once, before being saved by their aerial comrades. Most of the others were just sore or generally unharmed.
Scott moved up to the front again, as the fighting had temporarily halted. One of his sleeves was still attached, but it had a slit all the way up to his shoulder. The strips flailed in the wind, baring his muscular arm that was bulging due to the strain he was pushing through clenched fists. A gash had started to bleed on his cheek, and a large chunk of his uniform was missing, revealing most of his broad back. The ruby visor that covered his destructive eyes showed a small crack, as some optic energy leaked out slowly.
He stood tall and strong as he faced down the Phoenix, keep a solemn expression. With an intense glare, he seemed to be staring at her in hopes of blowing her away with an optic blast. However, a puff of smoke and the smell of brimstone caught her attention.
The "bamf" behind her told her who had tried a sneak attack. Phoenix spun around quickly, intent on beating Kurt Wagner with her TK. Only she didn't expect a pale hand to surge out onto her bare forehead. She caught a glimpse of Kurt Wagner dangling along a bar, holding onto Rogue. Then everything slipped away, as the Phoenix was drained by Rogue's powerful touch. And for the first time in the battle, she felt a sting of fear.
She feared that she would lose.
But then again, they had no idea what she could do inside Jean Grey's head. They'd follow her of course, to attempt to free Jean of the Phoenix's control.
But little did they know, the mindscape of Jean Grey belonged to Phoenix. It was her true realm, and the X-men would have to find her within it.
Or they could not win.
=====================================================
A/N: Only two chapters left! Boy has this been long. The next two chapters will deal with Jean Grey's mindscape, the Phoenix, and her friends. The last chapter will be more or less epilogue, with some nice Jott. Please review!