Chapter 13
Phoenix stood over the body of Emma Frost feeling much better about herself, and not from the endless well of strength that was flowing through her veins. She'd exacted her revenge and it felt great.
There was only one person left.
Magneto hid his fear well but to a telepath, it was all too easy to see. He'd never faced someone of her strength and temperament before and Phoenix revelled in the new kind of power she now wielded.
That didn't stop Magneto from trying.
"How does it feel to be free?" he questioned. "To be able to stretch your mind and your abilities to their fullest extent?"
Phoenix saw through the attempt at manipulation. "Fabulous, probably as good as it will feel to watch you die."
"Please, Miss Grey. Killing is not in your nature." He'd switched tactics, finally understanding how much control Jean had over her teke and telepathy.
Phoenix saw through that too. "This is true," she conceded, "but exceptions can easily be made."
"They already have been," Magneto pointed out with a sweeping hand over the gathered. Dead lay everywhere, slaughtered by claws or dead from aneurisms. Phoenix and Wolverine had wreaked that havoc. Phoenix didn't dwell on it.
"You put them into battle," she began. "You are just as responsible for their deaths as I am."
"They wanted to go into battle, they wanted to fight for the right side."
"The right side is working for tolerance. It's a longer battle, but so much more rewarding."
"You're fighting against your own kind," Magneto countered.
Phoenix shook her head, advancing step by step. "We're fighting for what we believe in, for things that matter to us and a world dominated by mutants doesn't sound all that appealing."
Magneto retreated as she advanced, one step backwards for one step forwards, and it was starting to frustrate Phoenix. How was she supposed to battle a coward?
The decision was made for her when Wolverine flew at her. She dodged and winced, knowing this was going to be a tougher battle than she'd originally anticipated, especially since Magneto was essentially turning Wolverine against her.
"You'll have to kill him first," Magneto taunted.
"You really are a coward, you know," Phoenix responded, dodging Wolverine again before stopping Magneto's next attack with her mind.
"A coward? Or am I just resourceful."
"You don't fight your own battles," Phoenix pointed out. "You use dirty tricks to try and get supporters. You tried to kidnap my daughter to get me to fight for you. You're using Wolverine to save yourself in hopes that I'll do your dirty work for you."
"My dirty work? There's nothing dirty about it."
"When was the last time you really faced an opponent? When was the last time you took on someone else, one on one?" Phoenix asked, holding Wolverine stronger than Magneto could.
"My dear, that is not relevant here. And your charming professor does as much manipulating as I do."
"Admitting you have a problem is the first step towards fixing it," Phoenix teased, still holding Wolverine out of harms way, ignoring his loud growling at being used as a tool in this battle. Really, there was nothing she could do to break Magneto's hold.
"Enough."
Slowly, all eyes moved to settle on the small redhead that stood off to Phoenix's left. The girl's eyes were a coal black and power literally sparked over her skin, lightening bolts jumping and skimming the surface.
"What the hell?" Juggernaut questioned, having stood back to allow Magneto to battle Phoenix.
"This is stupid," another voice agreed, sounding like the first. All eyes shifted to Phoenix's right, where another redhead stood.
"Two?" Magneto questioned, suddenly much less courageous than he had been. He turned to face his top hands. "You said nothing about twins!"
"What you're doing is wrong," Michele spoke up, her voice sounding like that of an old woman, rather than the six-year-old girl.
"You're fighting against yourself," Jane agreed, stepping so she could grab her mother's hand if she wanted. Michele mirrored the move.
"You say you fight for mutant equality," Michele picked up. "You say you fight for mutant freedom, but freedom from what? All you're going to do is oppress those that you defeat. What difference is that from what we have now?"
"Mutants will have control. Silly girls, you have no idea how big this is," Magneto shot back scathingly, trying to push against Phoenix's hold on Wolverine to no avail.
Jane and Michele each raised a hand and watched Magneto crumple slightly. However, even they weren't strong enough, only six and not fully trained. He fought back against their power and the pressure on his mind. He didn't have enough strength, however, to keep his hold on Wolverine.
Phoenix lessened her push as Magneto's force lessened until she could carefully set Wolverine down on the ground where he crumpled immediately, unconscious. It gave her reprieve to focus on the battle her daughters were in.
"This is bigger than even you," Michele agreed, twisting her face in determination. "You have no clue how easy it will be for the non-mutants to overthrow you after a while."
"What are you talking about?" Magneto cackled.
"You rule like a tyrant," Jane pointed out. "It won't take long for your own people to start wanting to get rid of you and then it will only be a matter of time before they all join together against you."
"I will be a hero to all mutant kind," Magneto countered. "They will worship me for the work I've done."
"They'll hate you for being oppressive," Jane contradicted. "Even the mutants you 'saved' will hate the oppressive way you treat those under your rule."
"They will love me!" Magneto yelled, standing up straight with the rest of his strength.
Phoenix looked at him with hatred in her eyes. Then she too raised her hand, ready to crush him. "Never."
Magneto buckled under the combined pressure from all of the Grey women, his hands on his head. Phoenix, Michele and Jane felt many things from the older man as they swamped their minds, the fear from the Holocaust, the triumph he felt when he terrified the men around him, the moment he realized he had extraordinary powers… And his lack of understand of exactly what he'd put into motion, the effect he'd had.
Finally, he lay, unmoving, on the ground in front of them.
Ororo watched, standing on the edge of the line of X-men, awed at what was taking place in front of her eyes. How on earth Magneto was unable to withstand the telepathic and telekinetic attacks of Jean and her girls, but could from Xavier. It put into perspective the strength of the redheads.
She also watched all three of them collapse.
It took the X-men all of five minutes to gather up their fallen, including the unconscious Greys and Logan and return to the Blackbird for the journey home. She ended up beside Kurt on their journey, co-piloting beside him.
"They are powerful," he whispered, knowing the rest of the plane was either tending to the fallen or asleep in the seats.
"They are," she agreed, half of her brain focused on flying, the other half on the back of the plane and the constant scurrying Hank was doing. The big blue man had been in the battle for only the preliminary stages, not wanting to be too badly injured to help the rest. Now, he worked at making sure his comrades healed properly.
"I am so glad that's done," Kitty said, flopping down in the co-pilot's seat.
"For how long?" Ororo asked softly, staring ahead.
"With Magneto gone? A long time," Kitty replied, turning to look at Ororo, confusion in her eyes.
"No one's sure Magneto's dead," Ororo pointed out. By the time all of the commotion had cleared and all of the X-men, injured and healthy, had been returned to their transportation, Magneto was no where in sight. It gave Ororo goose bumps to think that he could still be alive and the Grey girls hadn't killed him.
"We can only celebrate one victory at a time," Kitty pointed out. "Let's focus on winning now and then we can work out how to make sure this peace lasts."
Ororo smiled at the younger woman. "That's pretty smart of you. You've been talking with Charles again."
Kitty blushed. "Maybe a bit," she agreed. The philosophical discussions between Kitty and the professor were legendary around the mansion, simply because they were entertaining to watch. Kitty had a very new way of looking at life where Xavier's was more classical. It never ceased to amaze anyone lucky enough to catch wind of it how often the younger came out on top.
"Next stop, home," Ororo said, steering the plane away from Alkali Lake and the poor memories it held.