Changes Chapter 4
Hank helped Storm onto her feet. "Are you alright?", he asked worried since the shake had took them by surprise.
"Yeah, I guess so…", she said holding her head. "We never had so strong earthquakes…especially not twice in such a short period…"
"Well, at least you nobody can blame you", he joked.
"I think the Professor's right. Something's going on…", she said even more worried than before. Storm's eyes caught something on the outside and she quickly turned her heard towards it. "Oh my God…", she almost yelled and ran towards the door, leaving the other mutant behind her.
Hank watched her. "What's going on?", he asked puzzled and walked towards the window. "Oh no…"
Logan was still standing on the same spot, unable to move an inch. His mind as well as his heart was racing, hindering him to think properly.
"Logan!", he heard someone yelling behind him. Then he realized it. He saw the horrification in the face before him and turned around just in time to see Storm's eyes changing their color.
"Logan, get down!", she screamed again and raised her hand, ready to strike.
"No!", he yelled and jumped into the way. Soon, as a strong lightning bolt hit him, he felt the pain rushing through his entire body, knocking him off his feet and causing him to pass out.
Hank, who had gotten the Professor, arrived with him and the X-Men at the scenery, just in time to see Storm preparing her next attack.
"Get away from him!", she yelled angrily and caused the clouds to darken above them. Again an even stronger lightning bolt made its way from heaven into her hand. "I said get away!"
"Storm, wait!", Professor X shouted, but it was too late…
The bolt flew through the garden, burning the grass underneath it. A giant explosion sounded, strengthening the light of the bolt, blinding everyone who was watching the scene.
Rogue was taking hold of Bobby's arm in fear who gave her a quick glace and put an arm around her.
Anxiously, Hank and the Professor watched as the Phoenix eyes blackened and things began to float through the air. "Can't you do anything?", Beast asked and his eyes even widened as he saw the Phoenix raising to the air, right above the still unconscious Logan. Saw how her body was covered in blinding red flames.
"I'm afraid I can't…", Charles answered barely audible.
Helplessly, they had to watch as the Phoenix's eyes fixed on Storm. They felt the earth shaking again; saw the day turning into night… A whirlwind thicker than anything they had ever seen began to lock them up. The flames around her began to gather above herm creating a giant bird.
Storm watched it and backed away, heavily breathing. This had to be the end, she thought and saw how the giant firebird spread its wings above its master, ready to strike and swallow everything in its way…
"Bobby!", she heard Rogue scream. Soon he was in her right side, followed by Rogue, Hank and Kitty.
"No!", Storm shouted to drown the immense sound of the whirlwind. "She will kill you! Go!"
"No!", Bobby said. "We're one team. That's what you've taught us!"
"We stand together and fall together!", Rogue said, her eyes fixed on the beast before them.
In the meanwhile, the Professor had telepathically ordered those students inside the building to hide. He himself was shielded by Collossus. He had tried to talk to Phoenix mentally, but had known before that she would shield him off. He himself was breathing heavily as he watched the X-Man standing on one side and the Phoenix with its now giant firebird on the other.
"You won't kill again!", Hank hissed angrily, facing the beast before them.
Phoenix's inhuman eyes began to glow, feeding the firebird above her with her fury and rage.
Storm watched as trees around them began to disappear one after the next, just as it had happened before with the soldiers and mutants on Alcatraz after she rose. She felt the fear in every inch of her body, knowing that they could never win against her. She had been right. Her feelings hadn't betrayed her. And now she knew what had been going on: The Phoenix had returned to finish her business.
Storm, who was standing in front of the younger X-Men could feel her skin burning. The beast would burn her to ashes, she knew that, but she wouldn't go without giving her a fight, even if it was senseless. Again she raised her hand, laying all her rage and anger into her probably last strike, causing Bobby to do the same. Both of them pushed their power to its limits, but the more they tried, the more the firebird grew.
"It's useless! Your just feeding it with more power!", Kitty said.
Rogue watched as more things around them were caught into the whirlwind, thrown around and finally destroyed. Now she could imagine how the battle on Alcatraz must have been for her friends. She felt her fear growing stronger inside of her.
"Marie! Get away from there!", she heard the Professor in her head.
"No!"
"Marie…You have no power left within you. Get away…"
Rogue looked at her teacher and shook her head. "She's gonna kill us anyway. At least I die with my friends."
Professor X stared at her, but realized that she was not going to change her mind. And that she was right… Nothing could save them from the Phoenix. There was no mutant in this world that was in the possession of a power which could even slightly be compared to hers… He saw into the eyes of his former student. "Predator eyes…", he thought sadly. "The eyes of a killer…" He asked himself again if all this was his fault. If he could have prevented it…
Suddenly, the giant firebird shouted out an unbelievable shrill cry and he watched as it rose even higher, spreading its wings even more than before. The Phoenix raised both arms.
"That's it…", Storm said.
The giant bird opened its beak, its devilish eyes having a look on the X-Men who had anxiously moved closer together.
"She's gonna strike!", Kitty shouted. "Watch it!"
Rogue instinctively reached for Bobby's hand who put himself in front of her. Again the bird cried out loudly, while the Phoenix pointed towards the X-Men showing the bird were to go.
"Oh my God…", Hank said, backing away as the giant firebird flew directly towards them to hit them full frontal. He saw how it opened its beak widely to swallow them all at once…
"That's the end…", he said barely audible and swallowed.
They could hear the Professor scream but it already seemed so far away for them… Panicky, they moved even more closely together, trying to protect each other.
From the corner of her blinded eye, Rogue saw something moving underneath the Phoenix. "Logan!", she screamed as loud as she could, hoping that it was him she saw.
Slowly raising his head and trying to pull all his senses together, Logan opened his eyes. Shocked he watched ash a giant firebird flew towards his friends, burning everything in its way to ashes. "God…", he said looking up, fear making its way to his heart. It was happening again, he thought. His eyes met the ones of the Phoenix who was looking back at him with black eyes. The same eyes he had looked into before. "Jean!", he shouted despaired, hoping to reach her somehow. "Stop it! Please, stop it!"
"No!", she hissed violently.
Logan stood up, his eyes never leaving hers. "Please! You don't have to do this! No one wants to harm you! They don't know it was you before. Jean, please!" Anxiously, he looked towards the X-Men who were screaming in mortal fear.
"She attacked you!", the Phoenix said in her daemonic voice.
The Professor bent forward and frowned. Had he just heard correctly?
"She thought you were going to attack me. Jean, she didn't know it was you standing in front of me. Please, stop it!"
The bird slowed down, stopping in front of the X-Men, but still threatening them.
"She will do it again! All of them will!"
Logan shook his head. "No! No, they won't!" He swallowed, looking for words which might help him to convince her. "I won't let them. I'll protect you!"
She frowned and sank back to the ground. Her demonic face came closer to his. "And what makes you so sure you can do it?"
He breathed heavily. "I told you…", he said cautiously touching her face gently. "I would die for you, Jeannie…"
With a loud noise the firebird exploded, causing Storm and the others to scream. The bright light of the explosion forced them to shield their eyes. Instinctively, Logan had pulled Jean into his arms to protect her.
As they opened their eyes again, they saw him holding her tight. Slowly, the X-Men got up. "Is everyone all right?", Storm asked barely able to stand or breath. The others nodded. She looked towards the Professor who gave her a short sign to wait. She frowned and turned her head towards Logan, and then she understood what Professor X meant.
"It's over…ssht…it's over…", she heard Logan whispering and watched Jean taking hold on him. He had closed his eyes and tried to calm himself. At the same time he was stroking her back with one hand, trying to calm desperate sobs and holding her all over shaking body tight to his.
"I'm sorry…God, I'm so sorry!", Jean cried and clung to him as if she was drowning.
"It's okay", he said calmly. "Come on. I'll take you inside…" Cautiously, he pulled her up and carried her inside the house, the looks of the others following them.
Storm had reached the Professor, her eyes on Logan. "What the hell did just happen?", she asked still out of breath.
Bobby, Rogue and Kitty stopped next to her and where also looking at the mansion. The Professor turned his head smiling. "A simple thing…"
"What?", Ororo asked confused.
He turned his wheelchair and the other followed him. "She wanted to protect him."
"Sorry…what!", she asked again, thinking that she might have misunderstood him.
"But Storm didn't attack Logan…", Rogue said as confused as her teacher was.
"That's right. But she thought she did. She only saw Logan fell down to the ground and this was the point where her fear took over. She thought she had to protect him", he explained calmly.
"So she destroyed the whole garden here and wanted to kill us, just because she wanted to protect him?", Hank asked sarcastically, while shaking his head in disbelief. "That can't be true!"
The Professor still smiled. "I know it sounds unbelievable… But haven't you noticed that she only attacked you?"
"He's right!", Kitty finally said, turning towards the others. "If she intended to kill us ll, she could have killed Logan easily."
"While talking of him…You should check on him. Since his healing factor is as good as down, I think he took quiet a lot of damage from me", Storm said while climbing up the stairs.
"He said he's fine", the Professor answered and they knew he had contacted Logan telepathically. "We should leave the two of them alone right now. I don't think she will do any more damage today."
"I hope you're right!", Storm said while she closed the door.
"Oh and Ororo…please change it!", he said before disappearing into his rooms.
With a short glance to the outside, she figured what he was talking about. For a short moment her eyes went white and soon the sky cleared up again, leaving a red sky and a sun sinking at the horizon…
