Immediately the X Men went into an attack formation. The rest of the mutants just did what their instincts told them.
"Distract her, boys and girls! We got to give Rama-Tut the chance to take out Apocalypse!" Rogue shouted as she began to formulate a battle plan.
Okay, Scott and the X Men will focus on weakening her mentally and physically. Magneto and the Prof will help meh with mah part of the plan. The Brotherhood will keep the Hellfire goons from attackin' us while we figh' Jean. The Acolytes can help Rama-Tut wit' Apocalypse. Rogue sent this thought to everyone on the battlefield and within seconds they were all going to task.
Lance corralled his housemates (those that weren't already fighting the military) and attacked the faceless mercenaries that had surrounded them by that point. Boom Boom was throwing small balls of explosive energy left and right, taking out a good number of enemies but coming close to taking out friends as well.
"Damnit, Tabby! Watch it! You almost hit me!"
Boom Boom laughed, thoroughly enjoying herself. "Sorry, Lance! You looked just like these bozos for a second! Must be that blank face!"
"Shut up and get on with it!" Lance replied as he released a large tremor that was slamming the hordes of attackers back against the ground. At the same time he was causing large cracks to form in the ground around them, completely blocking the reinforcements one of the already fallen had called.
Lance dusted himself off, obviously proud. He turned to comment to Boom Boom but as he did he caught sight of something else. The men trapped on the other sides of the cracked ground were already thinking of a way to get across. They had cut down a tree and were laying it across. "Damnit, no one knows when to give up. Alright, losers! Back to it!"
Back near the Dark Phoenix, the X Men were at their peak. Between Iceman's large spears of ice being thrown at her and Magma's rising tides of magma from deep within the earth (that just happened to erupt right under Dark Phoenix and not go anywhere near any of the X Men), the Dark Phoenix had her hands preoccupied. Even as she used her powerful telekinesis to levitate herself up she was blocking the ammunition of the X Men. Scott had opened his visor as far as it would go, while Wolverine and Storm were both working in conjunction to try and get an electrical charge to the Dark Phoenix, one large enough to at the very least knock her out.
Wolverine was pushing himself through the flames that surrounded the Dark Phoenix, flames that no amount of rain from Storm was going to cause to abate. He could feel the force of the Dark Phoenix focus on him and unwillingly he felt himself slow. Wolverine let out a mild roar as he felt the berserker seek control. No, he would not give in. He had better control of himself than that, but it didn't stop the burning inside him seeking escape in bloodshed. Even as Wolverine realized that the burning wasn't the berserker, his blood began to spill. The Dark Phoenix was using the full force of her power to remove the admantium from his skeleton and she knew the pain he felt was immense. She laughed as he screamed, a high girly scream better suited to several of the females around him.
The Dark Phoenix felt the pang of concern from the flying mutant overhead and reached up with her telepathy and forced her way in. Sorting through the white haired African's memories she found what she was looking for. The Dark Phoenix began to stimulate the memory that terrified Ororo at night, the memory of a small child buried in the rubble of the house that had killed her parents only seconds before. Ororo began to scream as her claustrophobia kicked in. She couldn't breathe, there was too much dust everywhere, and there was such a weight on her chest. Storm began to fall from the sky, plummeting with great speed as she lost control over her powers and the weather began to run amuck.
Hailstones the size of hubcaps began to barrel down on the battle below. At the same time a large electrical storm formed overhead. Lightning sparked down every couple of seconds, and the Professor began to call the students into the relative safety of the house. What few faceless attackers remained had long run off under the onslaught of the storm. Magneto used his abilities to bring Ororo and Logan in before they were injured. As tornadoes began to land, the military too ran off.
Outside, Dark Phoenix laughed, delighting in the feeling of power floating in the air. Such unrestrained rage! Glorious! Then it hit her, the attack, purely mental this time. She turned in mid-air and looked into the dark house. Yes, there it was.
For the first time since they'd arrived in this time, she spoke. "Charles Xavier? You think to attack a god! You do not know WHO YOU ARE FUCKING WITH!" The Dark Phoenix reached out with her mental abilities, long ago evolved past the professor's, and pulled him from his mind and onto the astral plain.
"Hello, Professor." The Dark Phoenix said calmly as she looked around the room she'd pulled from his mind.
"Hello, Jean. Why did you…"
"Choose this place? I didn't. You did. This is where you felt you failed the most you know? Yours son. I was there. And you did fail. It's your fault David is what he is. Maybe if you hadn't let you dream…" The professor covered his ears as her words began to resonate louder and louder in the room. "…get in the way of your family he wouldn't have fractured mentally and become what he is…A MONSTER!"
"NO! It wasn't my fault!"
"Yes, it was. All on you professor. What do you expect though? You couldn't even save your lover's life though."
"Amelia was not my fault!"
Dark Phoenix laughed as the professor fell to his knees. In the astral plain he could walk, not that he was. No, he was too simple to understand the complexities of this place. "She died because you told her to help you. Guess what, you can't walk, but she's not alive! HA!"
The professor finally scrounged up some emotion. "It was an accident. It was an accident." He repeated this to himself. Dark Phoenix could feel him rally energy.
"Keep telling yourself that. Maybe you'll start to believe it yourself."
The professor screamed and without realizing it formed a scythe in his hands. For a second it reminded the Dark Phoenix of something, a memory from long ago. Then he was on her and it was time to do battle. Dark Phoenix formed a large sword in her own hand and began to parry his attacks. Within seconds they were head to head and ready to kill each other.
Dark Phoenix gritted her teeth at him. "What's the matter Charles…being weak bothering you?" With out a second thought, she slid her sword out from under where his scythe had pinned it and slid it home into his heart. His shocked eyes flew to her's and Dark Phoenix felt wetness on her face. Reaching up with a hand already red with blood, not real though as this is the astral plain, she touched her face. Tears. Why would she cry? She cared nothing for this mutant.
Professor Xavier reached up and touched her cheek as well. He let out one wheezy "Jean" before he disappeared into the real world. Why did her heart hurt? Why did she feel like her heart was breaking? Dark Phoenix decided she didn't like this emotion. She didn't like it all.
Back in the real world, only a matter of seconds had passed. The professor went slack then jerked around before slacking down once again. Magneto rushed over and felt for a pulse. He jerked away from the body as if burned.
"He's dead."
"Then it's time. Ah hope y'all are ready for the show."
Just so you know, I've moved away from my obsession with the Killers. I'm back on Papa Roach. Currently, I'm lovin' "Blood" and "Not Listening." Just so you know what's motivating me to write these chapters. I always have a specific song for each chapter to inspire me. Weird, huh?