Disclaimer: I do not own the X-men (though I'd like to) or Slayer
The Cry of the Phoenix
Chapter 2: The dream of heroism
"X-MEN SCATTER!!" Cyclops yelled out as he shot one of the phoenix raptors in the chest.
Following their orders the X-men spread out, Beast jumped over a car, scooping two civilians up in is arms and rolling to dodge a burst of flame spat out by one of the raptors. Wolverine instead opted for the direct approach. Colossus picked the Canadian mutant up and threw him into the raptors. The flames burnt off his shirt but with a few quick slashes two of the raptors disappeared.
"BEAST DRAW THEIR ATTENTION AWAY FROM THE CIVILLIANS! DAZZLER FOCUS YOUR BLASTS WITH MINE! ARMOUR AND COLOSSUS YOU TWO PROTECT THE CIVILLIANS! STORM USE RAIN ON THE RAPTORS!!" Cyclops yelled out.
Each of the X-men followed their orders; Armour took a blast meant for a civilian while Storm pelted the raptors with intense hails of rain.
"Fools the heat we generate is so intense that it evaporates the water before it can even touch us" The Black Phoenix said, hovering above Storm.
"Then how about wind!" Ororo said with a smile.
A strong gust of wind sent the Phoenix flying towards the ground, leaving a crater in the middle of the bridge.
"My turn!" The Phoenix said casually before several cars around him began floating above the ground.
The seven cars suddenly flew towards Ororo, who flew to the left to avoid them, then she flew upwards and batted two away with a gust of wind before flying underneath another and smoothly rolling past the last of them. Storm widened her eyes as she came face to face with the masked Phoenix corp member. He grabbed her by the neck and squeezed firmly, the aura of the phoenix glowing around him.
"You were like a sister to her and you couldn't seek out the truth for her, you are but one on the list of those who will die for not seeing the truth" The Black Phoenix growled s Storm gasped for air.
Suddenly one of Dazzler's blasts flew into the Phoenix's back. The masked man simply turned around and flicked his wrist, sending Dazzler flying into one of the bridge wires. Storm struggled to get out of the Phoenix's grip until he finally let go, and turned his attention towards Scott. The Black Phoenix took flight towards Cyclops, the halo of the phoenix raptor blazing behind him. Cyclops fired a blast at the Phoenix, but the optic beam didn't even make the cosmic entity flinch. The masked Phoenix's eyes glowed an intense red colour and the X-men were astonished to see the Phoenix fire a beam identical to Scott's optic blast. Scott yelled as the beam slammed into his chest and pinned him against a car door.
"Scott are you all right?" Beast asked.
"You…were a first" The Black Phoenix began, floating in front of Hank as he tended to Scott. "You were the smartest of them all…and yet you couldn't see past deception!"
The Black Phoenix thrust his hand forward and sent Beast flying straight through the car door and onto the bonnet of a taxi. Then the Black Phoenix's flames became more intense and the rubble around him began to melt. He landed on the floor and thrust his hand forward. Colossus quickly threw Cyclops away and was engulfed in a blaze of fire. His steel skin was glowing a red-hot colour as he swung around and punched the Phoenix straight across the head. Though the punch appeared to make him reel back, it didn't actually hurt as the Phoenix looked at Colossus casually, he pulled his fist back and slammed it straight into the X-man's face, sending him careening through the air until he landed through the roof of a truck.
"This things power is unreal, I can actually feel the heat from the raptors when I punch them" Armour said, looking at the Phoenix with a look of fear.
"How goods your throwing arm kid?" Wolverine asked.
"This doesn't seem right" Armour muttered in embarrassment as she picked Wolverine up by his legs and threw him towards the Phoenix.
"FOOL!!" The Phoenix yelled, turning his head and blasting Wolverine with the same optic blast he used against Cyclops. "You claim to be the best there is but that didn't help you find the truth did it?" The Phoenix said in pure anger as he picked Wolverine up with telekinesis.
He held the X-man above the ground, spinning him around like a wheel before tearing bits of his skin off. Wolverine yelled out in pain but his healing factor allowed him to recover. The Black Phoenix pulled his arm back and threw Logan straight into Storm, sending both of them falling to the ground.
"Pathetic, you are all pathetic…not only could you not see, but you can't protect either" The Black Phoenix stated as he began hovering above the downed X-men.
His head suddenly turned towards the end of the bridge, as if he could sense the battle going on.
The countless people that Sieg now protected looked at him in shock; each one of them wondering if he was a member of the X-men or an Initiative hero. Sieg pulled on the collar of his shirt, which doubled as a mask to cover the bottom half of his face. He gripped his sword tightly as blue mist rose from his legs and abs. He rushed forward, leaving a blue trail behind him as he batted one of the raptors across the head with his blade. Then he picked up the little girl that the raptor tried to attack and jumped backwards.
Sieg landed near a small group of gathered people, ushering the girl towards them, he then threw his sword. The blade flew straight past the six raptors as they flew forward. Sieg moved at incredible speed, punching one of the raptors across the face, then kicking another in the chest. Blue energy surrounded his hands and feet as he blocked swipes and blasts from the cosmic entities. The red and grey sword flew back towards the raptors and into Sieg's hand. He swung his sword forward and unleashed a blade like wave, sending the phoenix raptors flying back.
"Ok, everybody stay back while I try to get you out of that dome, I don't know what it'll do if you approach it" Sieg said to the civilians as he landed in front of the escaping people.
He walked towards the wall of the dome and placed his hand on the surface. Nothing happened and it appeared to be a normal wall at least. Sieg stabbed his blade into the wall and began dragging it around, cutting a hole onto the dome. He motioned his hand for the people to get away and thus they scurried off. As soon as they left the dome the hole sealed itself up again.
Sieg merely grunted "I wasn't planning on leaving anyway" he said before he turned his head towards when the X-men had been fighting.
Sieg saw the Black Phoenix watching him and began running in that direction. More Phoenix raptors appeared to block his path. Ten flew towards him but were batted away by the energy that the sword generated. Sieg jumped into the air, leaving a trail of blue mist behind his feet. He stepped off of several of the phoenixes, jumping in between them like a pinball before he finally jumped towards the Black Phoenix. Sieg pulled his fist back and swung forwards. But suddenly he stopped in midair, being held in place by the Phoenix's TK.
"We have seen you before…you would do well to stay away, and die when everyone else dies…the chosen down there and the woman who caused the White Phoenix's suffering will die first"
"The White Phoenix" Sieg said curiously.
"You would have called her one of your heroes like the man down there, but he's no hero"
"You mean Cyclops, of course he's a hero" Sieg said in shock.
"He is no hero…no lover…no friend…no husband…no leader…he is but a deceiver"
"Deceiver...wait a second because he's with Emma Frost, what's wrong with moving on?"
"Ignorant child, you know nothing of the situation, of any situation, you charge recklessly without knowing the consequences"
Sieg growled at that comment "And what's wrong with being a little headstrong, I don't waste my time on What ifs, I'll act and fight as hard as I can!" he said as red energy surrounded his form.
He thrust his sword forward, launching a blue energy blast that engulfed the Phoenix. When the smoke cleared Sieg gasped in shock, as the man had remained unaffected by the blast.
"You cannot defeat fire and death incarnate!" The Phoenix growled before he extended his hand.
A golden light flew from the Phoenix's hand and Sieg suddenly began yelling out in agony. Never in his life had he felt the physical and mental pain that the Phoenix was causing him now. Images ran through his head, a boy sitting alone in a wrecked park, of a red and grey armoured figure and then of a band of X-men, the first X-men and Jean Grey. Then he heard voices!
"Leave me alone, I don't have time for you"
"Do you want to be bitter and alone for the rest of your life son?"
"MOVE KID!!"
"I NEED A DOCTOR HERE!!"
"Absolutely not we don't know how he'll react, it could compromise your identity as well"
"SHUT UP THIS KID ISNT GONNA DIE!!"
More and more memories flashed through his mind both images and the voices to go with them. He saw several of the X-men floating above the water, and to their astonishment a beautiful red haired woman flew out of the water, the fiery halo of the phoenix flashed behind her and her green and gold costume giving off a strange shine.
"Hear me X-men!! No longer am I the woman you knew! I am fire and life incarnate! Now and forever I AM PHOENIX!!"
Sieg continued to yell and more and more memories flashed through his mind. He saw the many happy times that two lovers shared, the people behind the masks of his heroes Marvel Girl and Cyclops. Both the good and the bad, and the final minutes.
"Live Scott…all I ever did was die on you"
The pain stopped and so did the flashes as Sieg crouched on the floor, puffing and panting as sweat dripped onto the floor. He contemplated the things he saw and looked over to Cyclops, not sure of how to react to the situation. Sieg leant on his sword and looked up at the Phoenix.
"So that's it huh…well I guess I could see why your angry, but that's no excuse for you to try and destroy everyone…if you got a problem then settle it with Summers alone" Sieg said, glaring in between Scott and the Phoenix.
"We shall have peace, AND TRUTH!!"
Once again Sieg felt himself being thrown back by the force of the Phoenix's telekinesis. He was slammed back first into the side of the car, and then smacked like a rag doll against the floor. Sieg yelled out as he was thrown into the air, spinning around and around until he fell onto the windshield of a taxi. He groaned as he rolled off the car and got up off the floor, stretching his stiff back and neck back and forth until he regained some movement. Sieg panted as blood ran down a cut on his forehead. A symbol of the phoenix suddenly appeared around his eye as he heard a voice call out to him.
Help me!
The symbol of the phoenix disappeared and Sieg's pupils changed to a red colour. Like paint the colour spread until Sieg's irises were completely red. Sieg gripped the sword in his hand tightly, growling as cracks spread across the blade and hilt. Suddenly the sword shattered and red, grey and gold armour began to cover Sieg's arms, the armour then spread to his face, creating a helmet with a diamond shaped visor, red hair burst out of the back of the helmet and a bone like spine ran down Sieg's back until it ended at his waist in the form of a long bladed red and grey tail that slammed against the ground as Sieg looked up at the black Phoenix. Plates opened on Sieg's arms, releasing air before a burst of red energy was released from his knuckles. The energy acted like a pair of wings or the fire from a rocket as it propelled him into the air.
Each one of the X-men looked in shock as the boy pulled his fist back. But much to their surprise and the Phoenix's instead he flew past him and towards the egg. The raptors flew towards him, trying to defend the egg, but each one of them was sliced in half by Sieg's huge tail. Sieg slammed his fist into the egg and the Phoenix widened his eyes as the armoured hand had gone straight through the egg. Sieg's tail cut off more pieces off the egg, allowing him to break through completely.
"That armour!" Wolverine said curiously.
"What is it Logan?" Colossus asked.
"Nothing, that kid reminds me of someone"
Sieg was only 17 and so he hadn't exactly seen the whole world, and he was astonished at the things in the egg. He swam for miles in what could only be described as red-hot orange yoke. Sounds disgusting but Sieg actually felt heavenly in here, that and he was actually too Naïve to even think about what he was swimming in. The egg itself seemed like a totally new world, as it was actually bigger outside than it was outside.
He raised his eyebrows as he looked on ahead, seeing a red bubble. Inside it, curled up into a ball was a red haired woman, her beautiful form covered by a white and gold phoenix uniform. Sieg didn't have time to admire her, nor was he really the kind of person to admire as he reached into the bubble and pulled on her shoulder. He ran a clawed gauntleted finger across her face, surprised that the person he was saving was in fact the beautiful X-woman he had seen in the vision, one of his favourite heroines Jean Grey.
"GIVE HER BACK!!"
Sieg widened his eyes at the sound of the thunderous voices surrounding him. He looked around and saw hundreds of men and women dressed in different coloured versions of the Phoenix uniform.
"Ok being attacked by an army of people dressed in clothing that looks very bad on men is something that doesn't happen to me very often…but where have I heard it before?" Sieg wondered, his voice giving off an echo through his helmet.
The Phoenix corps began to fly in around Sieg, fiery halo's hanging over their bodies as their eyes lit up in pure anger. Sieg lashed out with his tail, bashing several away before he began kicking his legs as fast as he could to get away. More members of the corps flew in the middle of his path. Sieg head butted one straight on the head, then punched and kicked the other two, all the while using his tail as a swimming fin. He backhanded one of the Phoenix's and then kicked another across the head. Kicking his legs and swinging his free arm Sieg swam closer and closer to the exit.
"Almost there, COME ON!!" Sieg yelled and with one more sweep of his legs he grabbed onto the edge of the Egg and pulled himself out.
But the Phoenix corp. members grabbed at the woman's legs. Sieg sat on the edge of the egg, pulling on the woman's arms.
"YOU DARE HOLD THE WHITE PHOENIX OF THE CROWN!!" A pink haired teen yelled.
"I'LL DARE ALL DAY NOW GET OFF!!" Sieg yelled, punching the Phoenix across the face before pulling the woman out of the corps grip.
Sieg dropped towards the ground; landing on his back in order to protect the woman he had just saved. The X-men all got up off the floor and looked at the woman Sieg carried in his arms. His armour and tail shattered, the small pieces reassembling into the red and grey sword, which was now stabbed into the ground.
"Jeannie!" Logan said.
Each of the X-men ran towards Sieg, who without thinking of his own injuries gave Jean to Logan.
"Hey red…red are you awake?" Logan asked, shaking Jean's peaceful form.
"She's breathing…thank the goddess" Storm said.
"She must had been in a state of suspended animation while in the egg" Hank theorised.
While all of the X-men gathered around Jean only Scott lingered, a neutral expression on his face. His eyes instead crossed to Sieg, the one person who heard Jean, or so he thought. He was more confused over this boy's motive, what he would achieve by helping them.
"Who the hell are you kid?" Logan asked, rather harshly.
Sieg merely closed his eyes and smiled, it was a funny thing of his. He would never ask for something in return, not even a thank you. Instead he grabbed his sword and leant on it for support and looked up at the black Phoenix.
"Hey X-men…you might want to get your friend out of here" Sieg said.
"What?" Cyclops said in confusion.
"You're really going to fight that thing?" Armour asked, pointing at the Black Phoenix.
"Yeah…buy you some time to get to that jet of yours" Sieg said, and without hesitation he ran and jumped towards the Phoenix.
"Foolish boy!" The masked Phoenix whispered before grabbing Sieg with the talon of his phoenix aura and throwing him into the ground.
Immediately Sieg got up and attacked again, but again and again and again he was thrown down by the Phoenix. And again and again and again he got up off the ground, astonishing the X-men with his resolve and determination.
"JUST STAY DOWN!!" The Phoenix yelled, firing an optic blast straight into Sieg's chest.
Beast jumped into the air, using his body to cushion Sieg as the force of the blast threw him back. Wolverine, Colossus and Armour began running towards the Phoenix while Dazzler blasted at him with her powers.
"Hank, is he ok?" Storm asked, looking over Sieg with Hank by her side.
"The cut above his eye isn't too much to worry about, he could have a concussion though from those hits he took" Hank said as he took out his light to look at Sieg's eyes.
But Sieg's eyes were better than Hank thought they would be. The boy immediately brushed Storm and Beast off of him as he got up off the floor.
"Listen child, I think you really need to take a breather, your bones could be cracking for all you know" Ororo said.
"They need help!" Sieg said, looking at the three X-men fighting the Phoenix.
Colossus was thrown to the floor by TK while the Phoenix punched Armour across the head. Wolverine tried slashing at the masked man, but ended up getting his mask and half his face burnt off. The Phoenix blasted Colossus with an optic blast, then his right hand crackled with gold electricity as he shocked Wolverine and used his free hand to control his Telekinesis in order to throw Dazzler, sending her rolling across the floor before hitting her head on the bumper of a car.
"What's the term they're using nowadays…owned!" Beast said.
"SHUT UP HANK!!" Logan yelled in between the pain.
Sieg dragged his sword across the floor as he rushed the Phoenix again, shooting a glare at Cyclops before jumping and slashing at the Phoenix with his blade. A bubble of telekinetic energy surrounded the masked man and Sieg slashed violently at the barrier. Armour came running in, slamming her fist into the Phoenix's bubble. Both young heroes hit the barrier at the same time, and both of them yelled in pain as gold electricity shocked them both. While Hisako laid out across the floor, Sieg leaned on his sword, struggling to make sure he didn't fall down again.
'Damn, it cant end here, there's got to be someone who can help, please I just need that power one more time…come on, give me that power once more!' Sieg thought as he faced down the Phoenix alone.
The flaming Halo of the Phoenix lit up around the masked man as he flew over Sieg and the fallen X-men. While the X-men were beaten, Sieg would never give up…but he needed just as much help as the X-men.
Next Chapter 3: Enter Slayer: Warriors Spirit Vs Cosmic Force
Hope everyone enjoyed the chapter, next one introduces Slayer for real
I originally thought it would take me two weeks to post this, but I had some free time and decided to work on this