Disclaimer: I dont own the X-men
The Cry of the Phoenix
Chapter 6: Reuniting
There was a mixture of reactions from the X-men in terms of the appearance of the unmasked Mutant Zero. She of course was the spitting image of Jean, considering she was one part of her. Most of the X-men such as Logan could only afford a few words to say.
"Jeannie!" Logan said, taking a step towards "Jean" only to be blocked by Soldier.
"As much as I would hate to disrupt this reunion, I'm afraid I have a mission to complete" Soldier said.
"Screw you and your mission bub" Logan growled, popping his claws out while Soldier pointed his hand guns at the X-man.
"Ok, how about we avoid another fight" Slayer suggested, to which Logan gave another growl.
"Please stop this, none of this is necessary" Jean said, stepping in between the two gruff men. "That and I don't want to see my old friends and my new friend fight" she added, looking in between Logan and Soldier as they dropped their aggressive stances.
And of course the younger X-men reacted to the situation with total ignorance.
"I thought she was dead" Rockslide said, being balanced between Anole and Greymalkin, who both sighed at their team mate.
It was then that the elevator doors opened, revealing Sunspot and Danielle Moonstar. They gasped as soon as they saw Jean, even though they had actually seen her downstairs.
"Hey what's the hold up, I do believe I have some valuable work that cant be disrup…" Hank paused as he pushed past Roberto and Dani, and laid eyes on the new Jean.
Emma scoffed as Hank immediately jumped at Jean, embracing her in a tight bear hug. Sieg smiled at the sight while Soldier looked away from the scene. Slayer noticed this reaction but said nothing, instead choosing to admire the view of two friends being reunited.
"Its good to see you too Hank, now could you please let me go, it's a little hard to breath" Jean said and hank smiled sheepishly as he put her down.
"Hey Jean, good to see you back…again" Bobby said, unsure of how to react to the situation, until Warren slapped him across the head.
The four original X-men all hugged one another; tears seemed to run down Jean's face as the others smiled. Cyclops however was speechless, and merely walked away. Sieg growled in anger, but was stopped from saying anything when Slayer gripped his shoulder. Soldier eyed Cyclops suspiciously, then turned a fierce gaze to Emma, who was obviously angered by Jean's return.
"Please, I want to see them" Jean said and Hank nodded.
"Wait, you've been ordered to return to the base, and I've been ordered to retrieve you" Soldier said, getting in Hank and Jean's way.
"Please Soldier, just put the mission behind you, do the right thing…like you used to do!" Jean said.
Soldier put a hand to his forehead, his eyes squinting as he felt someone sneaking around in his mind. In an amazing burst of speed he drew his pistol and fired. The bullet flew past Jean's head, and onto the wall just inches from Emma's head.
"Miss Frost…if you ever ever try to break into my mind again, then I promise…I'll put a bullet in your head" Soldier growled forcefully before he put the gun back in its holster.
The masked man walked past Jean and said "Don't get too comfortable" meaning that not only could Jean see her other fragments, but also that he needed some time to think. While Hank guided Jean into the elevator, the other X-men dispersed to do their own things. After a short wait, Storm and Angel followed them down the elevator along with Sieg, while Wolverine went straight to the kitchen. He reached into the fridge and pulled out a few beers.
"Need some company!" Logan looked to the doorway to see Slayer leaning against the edge.
The gruff Canadian threw a bottle at Slayer who caught it with ease. He pulled the cap off the bottle and downed at least a quarter of the beer without even relishing from the taste.
"I still remember that day" Logan said.
"Hmmm" Jack said curiously.
"The day Jean last died, we were winning the day you know, but everything for her was falling apart, I guess that's one reason why Xorn managed to get such a good shot in, her marriage was falling apart, she never found out who he chose" Logan explained.
"I think if Scott loved Jean as much as I once felt he did, then he would have chosen her" Jack said.
"Oh how wrong you could be darling"
The two men swung their heads round to glare at Emma. She leant cockily against the wall, a smile plastered across her face.
"You can't hide things from a telepath, and the thoughts that ran through Scott's head weren't just of Jean, they were of me too, in the end he chose me…and now we're both in love with one another" She explained before walking away.
'Cant hide things from a telepath my ass, you've been trying to get into my head all day bitch…maybe I should threaten to blow your head off like Soldier' Slayer thought.
Sieg walked through the corridors of the X-men's basement. Right behind Jean, Dani and Hank. He looked curiously at the glass walls, wondering whether the old mansion looked anything like this. Then his thoughts turned to his powers, and how he couldn't use them earlier. It was strange how he had never had this issue before, except for in the presence of Soldier. His eyes then drifted towards a trio of girls that reminded him of two things, Emma Frost minus the grin.
"How are they doing girls?" Hank asked the Stepford Cuckoos.
"There was a bit of activity on their brain monitors earlier, but right now their pulses are at a descent level and they're still unconscious" Mindee explained.
The three girls showed little if not any shock at the presence of the Mutant Zero Jean Grey. Sieg was confused by this and stayed with them while Hank and Dani guided the woman inside.
"Yes what is it?" The three girls asked.
"Well…um I hope you don't mind me asking but…why aren't you all giddy and shocked over Jean's return?" Sieg asked.
"We don't really get shocked anymore, and besides its Miss Grey, she always comes back" The three girls once again said.
"Okay…could you guys stop doing that, its kinda scary" Sieg said, smiling sheepishly.
"No!" They said and Sieg dropped his head. "Can we ask what troubles you?"
"Well…its just I'm with all these heroes, people I looked up to, I had always seen Jean Grey and Scott Summers as the perfect couple, sure Cyclops may have been stiff but he was a good leader and I looked up to him…but now I feel useless, I mean my powers weren't working earlier and I couldn't move a muscle against this Soldier guy!" Sieg explained.
"Show us" Phoebe said.
Sieg looked at the girls in shock as they began walking up the corridor. Out of pure curiosity he followed the girls to the training room. It was quite similar in layout and appearance to the danger room at the mansion. Sieg stood in the middle with the girls watching from the observation deck.
"Ok, show us what you can do" Celeste said as she pressed a button on the console.
The holographic simulators activated, turning the scenery into a cityscape surrounding. Sieg looked around, the city vaguely resembling a street in Manhattan he used to walk down. Hundreds of people suddenly began swarming past him. The boy shoved through the crowd until he got a good look at what he was up against. They looked like the original five X-men, but they were dressed in pure black clothing and each one of them had red glowing eyes.
"Who are these guys?" Sieg asked.
"We believe they were called Shadow-X" Mindee said.
The team suddenly ran at Sieg, who summoned his sword. He jumped up, landing on his hand and swinging round to land a kick on Angel's chest. Then Sieg back flipped to avoid a punch from Beast, only to be hit by a car that Marvel Girl was controlling with her TK. He skidded across the slippery floor, courtesy of Iceman. Sieg finally managed to jump onto his feet, deflecting an optic blast, which struck the flat end of Sieg's sword and flew straight into Beast. The young rebel hero swung his sword, creating a wave of energy that threw Iceman back. But Cyclops blasted Sieg in the chest, throwing him backwards until he hit the bonnet of a car.
"Damn this things awfully real for a simulation" Sieg said.
"Its strange we expected more of you Siegfried" Mindee said.
"Or should we call you Siegel?" Phoebe asked.
"You hold back your real power out of some misguided sense of respect for your hero, but remember he gave this power to you" Celeste explained.
"Isn't it about time you used it?" the three in one asked.
Sieg shook his head and ran at Shadow X again. He failed to notice Angel above him, who hit him round the back of the head. Dazed, Sieg was kicked across the head by Beast. Cyclops then blasted him in the chest, and Marvel Girl hit him a hundred different ways with her TK. Sieg's sword dropped to the floor as he flew straight into a ice blast from Iceman.
"Come on Sieg, you have the power, use it!" Sieg couldn't tell whether the voice he heard was the cuckoos or someone else's. But he knew that he couldn't lose, he had to make himself useful.
The members of Shadow-X and the Stepford Cuckoos looked in shock as the diamond that Sieg was in cased in began to shine. In an incredible explosion of light, the diamond blew up. Sieg stood amongst the remains, engulfed in an incredible aura of sparkling blue flame. His skin and hair changed to a blue colour as his hair spiked upwards. Then his pupils disappeared and his muscles expanded only slightly. In an amazing burst of speed, Sieg punched Iceman across the face, and then kneed Beast in the chest, knocking both of them out. He then head butted Angel and darted towards Cyclops, blocking an optic blast before delivering a devastating uppercut. Sieg yelled as he flew at Marvel Girl, punching her across the face and sending her flying into a building beside her. If the Cuckoos had emotion they would have had surprised expressions across their faces as Sieg stood in the middle of the danger room, growling uncontrollably as pieces of metallic armour covered his cheeks and elbows.
Sieg dropped to his knees, pounding his fists on the floor, cracking the armour that was covering his hands. He raised his fist once more until one of the Celeste gripped his wrist. The armour that would have covered Sieg's head shattered into pieces and the boy's hair and skin changed back to normal. He turned his head to the Cuckoos, who looked at him with neutral expressions on their faces.
"Do you mind me asking, why are you guys so emotionless?" Sieg asked.
"Our diamonds hearts contain a fragment of the Phoenix, with the fragments trapped in our hearts we are unable to feel emotion…if we had it we'd probably cry" The Cuckoos explained.
Sieg widened his eyes in shock, seeing that the girls were completely serious. He got off his knees and looked at the three girls. They raised their eyebrows only slightly as tears began falling down Sieg's face. He suddenly leapt forward, embracing the three girls in a tight hug.
"I'm so sorry, I promise you the next time I see the Phoenix I'll find out how to remove those fragments, and then I'll drive them away, that's a promise" Sieg said, wiping his eyes.
"Two illogical promises you cant keep" Phoebe said as Sieg walked back to the centre of the room.
"If I ever did things logically I'd be registered already, could you guys run a program for me, read my mind and you'll know what I want"
The three girls read Sieg's mind, and had they emotions then they would have smiled at the kind of training Sieg was thinking of.
Slayer sat in the living room, in a meditation pose with his eyes closed. In this state he blocked out all sounds, the bickering of Rockslide and Tattoo, the mild intelligent conversation coming from Logan, Piotr and Kurt and of course he didn't bat and eyelash even with Pixie flying around him. Cut off from the rest of the conscious world Slayer consciousness dived into a whole different world.
Now Jack Robinson sat in the main hall of a great temple, mosaic art of magnificent battles were beneath him while the statues of great warriors were around him. In front of him however was a figure dressed in armour similar to his. This warrior was a very bulky man, who would have stood at least nine feet. His head was covered by the darkness of a samurai helm.
"Yoshinto-sensei!" Jack said, bowing his head in respect.
The warrior spirit Yoshinto returned the bow.
"Jack…I have been expecting you ever since I felt the Phoenix appear" Yoshinto said, his voice calm and even, yet great and imposing at the same time.
"Do you know anything of how this has happened?" Jack asked his master.
"No, though I do have several theories, most of them revolve around Jean losing her control as the phoenix of the crown"
"And what about the masked Phoenix's plans, could he really destroy this reality?"
"Again I do not know for certain but I have theories, heart of reality must mean an object of considerable power with a connection to the Phoenix, even with the divine power they wield the corps do not have the strength to destroy this object, I sensed much sorrow inside this Black Phoenix, he seeks to destroy this object instead of triggering super novas throughout the universe, something which would be much easier for him" Yoshinto explained.
"If triggering super novas is so easy why is he insisting on the harder way?" Jack asked.
"I do not know…that is not all you wished to ask of me is it Jack?"
"No it isn't, I was wondering, this heroes spirit inside Sieg's sword, he entrusted me with united the pieces of Jean Grey, to be truthful I don't know how to do this" Jack said.
"I do have one spell, more of a ritual considering that it has been done affectively with more than one person, it'll bring the fragments of people's souls together, however in order for Mrs Summers to be complete she will need more than her fragments united, she'll need love"
"Well she won't get it from Cyclops" Jack said.
"Hmmm…there is more to Cyclops than meets the eye, I can't quite place my finger on it…anyway you could perform the ritual with the help of the Sorrow Jean and that girl Pixie" Yoshinto said.
"Ah yes, that girl lost a fraction of her soul in order to create her soul dagger and she has a small knowledge on magic, but does she really have what it takes to help me unite the fragments?" Jack asked.
"It is as the heroes spirit said, have faith, in others abilities and in the love that Scott and Jean must share, something is amiss in Frost and Scott's relationship, and you must find out the truth" Yoshinto said.
"Yes sensei!" Jack said as Yoshinto's world disappeared and he opened his eyes.
"BLEAGH!!" Jack yelled, falling back as he saw Rockslide up close and personal.
"Oh good, I thought you'd fallen asleep, this is the last time to be doing that" Santo said.
Jack looked around and saw that a few new faces were here already. He noticed Cannonball and Magma talking with Sunspot and Hellion sitting in the corner. Slayer got off the floor and walked towards Pixie.
"Excuse me Meggan, I was wondering how much do you want to learn about magic?" Slayer asked.
"Well I was thinking of more ways to defend myself ever since I was beaten by that mutant hate group, and more spells would be good, I can only do a teleportation spell but I've been thinking about how cool it would be if a I learned how to blow something up or how to make flowers like in that filler Bleach episode, Dr Strange said he'd teach me magic if I took an oath of silence but I decided he was too much of a stiff for me to do that…."
'I wonder why Strange asked for silence?' Jack thought sarcastically.
Soldier leant against the wall of the kitchen, ignoring the looks he got from both Dust and X-23.
"I do not mean to be rude but could you please cover that eye, it's intimidating for the others" Sooraya said.
The masked man ignored the Sunni girl while Laura growled.
"Was there something else you wanted to ask me?" Soldier asked.
"Yes I was wondering, when I was little I remember a time when thieves were quite frequent in my town, these weren't petty pickpockets but armed raiders, however these raiders were killed by a man dressed in similar clothes to you, I was wondering whether you were the masked man whom saved my life?"
Soldier paused before he answered with two simple words "My predecessor" he said before he walked out of the room.
He respected Dust's wishes, tearing off one of the cloths hanging off his belt and wrapping it around the side of his head. Soldier walked through the corridors of the Graymalkin building, as usual ignoring the looks he received from the other X-men. He was a black ops member and an agent of the Initiative so of course the X-men would be slightly nervous around him. The masked man stopped just a few inches from Slayer.
"Let me ask you, why do you wear that mask?" Jack asked.
"The same reason others do, to hide" Soldier said.
"Hide what, your face, your identity or perhaps your shame"
"We all wear masks, the only question is who are we prepared to let look underneath"
"And judging by your little talk with Frost I can only assume you wont let anyone right?" Jack asked with a smirk, still containing his amusement from how scared Emma had been.
"No one, the same applies to you as well Slayer, you walk a lonely road as I do, with nothing but our memories for company" Soldier said.
"You don't have to sound so depressing, I haven't just got memories, I've got happy memories filled with love and accomplishment, I'm sure you have too" Jack said.
"My memories aren't your business"
"Hey I don't want to get my head blown off I was just sparking a conversation, and asking you, what are you going to do when we reunite Jean?" The warrior asked.
"Reunite, I thought that Miss Grey's mind was merely damaged" Soldier said.
"Her fragments have been separated, once we bring them back together her mind will be healed as well as her emotions and powers"
"Powers, the power of the Phoenix?" Soldier asked.
"The guy in Sieg's sword…sorry the spirit in Sieg's sword told me to reunite the fragments of Jean Grey, I'm not sure what's supposed to happen but my theory is that with the White Phoenix restored then she'll go on to regain control of the Phoenix Corp" Slayer explained.
"Well if your going to do it then I wont stop you" Soldier said.
"Hang on aren't you supposed to be the guy who does his duty?" Jack asked.
"I'm not Stark of Gyrich I can see beyond duty, besides something tells me that allowing Jean to be complete is the right thing" Soldier said, before he walked past Slayer.
With a shrug Jack made his way down to the subbasement. Pixie and Jean waited around the two Phoenix's. With a nod the three of them began drawing out a rune underneath and around the beds that the two Phoenix's slept on. Jean sat in the centre of the rune, in between the two Phoenix's. She sat in a meditation stance while Pixie and Jack sat at the other ends of the room. They put their hands together and began pouring their magical energies into the rune, which glowed with a bright blue light.
Jean's eyes glowed an intense blue colour as she gasped, the magical energies pouring into her body. Pixie was outstanded by the power that she could wield as the entire room was lit up by the runes light. Hank had to close the door because of the lights intensity.
Across the universe, Rachel raised her head towards the direction of the Earth. For a moment her mind was taken away from Korvus's death, and she instead concentrated and smiled knowing that someone had returned. The members of the Corps all began opening their eyes wide as they drew flames from another sun. Their leader, the masked Phoenix calmly opened his eyes, he carried the Blade of the Phoenix and a single flame in both hands.
"Magic…it isn't enough, for there is no more love to awaken her, Quinton!" The Black Phoenix said.
With those words the green Phoenix with pink haired flew to his side.
"Though your power is limited you must go to Earth and take back the fragments, and if possible kill those responsible for all our suffering" The Black Phoenix ordered and the Quinton obeyed.
As Quinton flew back to egg with several phoenix raptors in tow. The Black Phoenix looked at the blade he carried and then at the small flame that represented every piece of the suns they had taken in the universe.
"The puzzle is almost complete, a mockery of its power, fractions of its life…soon we will have the power needed to end our suffering" The Black Phoenix said to himself. "When we are done, not even the X-men will stop us"
The Black Phoenix's eyes glowed a red colour as he turned around. In the distance were hundreds of Shiar ships.
"Why…Why…Why could you not spend your final moments…WITH THE PEOPLE YOU LOVED!!"
With that roar, flames engulfed the Shiar fleet.
Jean, Jack and Meggan yelled out as they felt the pain of the Shiar troops. They panted and sighed, for the spell didn't work. Jack dropped his head in disappointment, knowing that there was probably no way to unite Jean's fragments and wake them up, short of allowing Cyclops or Frost to touch them. Pixie and Slayer walked up to the main levels of the X-men's base. There they saw many of the X-men already in uniform including Hellion and Blindfold.
"Any luck?" Hank asked.
Jack shook his head and the others dropped theirs in disappointment. Soon after the doors opened again and Sieg walked out, being carried in between Mindee and Phoebe.
"What the hell were you guys doing in the danger room?" Logan asked.
"Training…very hard!" Sieg said with a smile.
"Woo man…looks like you went all Goku!"
The x-men quickly turned around towards the bearer of the voice. He was an average sized man, with brown hair and blue eyes. The man had sharp features along with tanned skin; he wore a pair of jeans with a brown leather jacket worn over a blue shirt.
"James!" Sieg said in shock.
"Better believe it Sieg" James said with a grin.
"How did you get past the alarms?" Emma demanded.
"Hang on a second I keep getting you mixed up…are you big tits McGee or Emma Frost?" James asked, to which Emma growled furiously.
'I think I'm going to like this guy' Jack and Logan thought with a grin.
"I'm a technopath, hence technology isn't really that big a deal for me…anyway I figured with a rather public announcement from the black Phoenix you guys would need some help, and considering the Initiative are pretty much never around when you need them I decided I'd come over and probably get in touch with some of my contacts" James explained.
"And who exactly are these contacts?" Soldier asked suspiciously.
"You'll find out later buddy"
"I'm not your friend"
"Sorry I must have…" But James's words were interrupted when an explosion shook the building.
The X-men and their allies watched, as a gold portal appeared, burning every inch of the living area. Hellion and Slayer combined their powers, covering the team in a barrier of TK and mystical energy as Phoenix fire engulfed the team. They survived, but Hellion was unconscious with a bleeding nose while Slayer was on his knees, just a little tired from shielding the others.
"I am here for the fragments!" The Quinton Quire Phoenix declared.
"If you want Jean then you'll have to go through me bub?" Wolverine growled, popping his claws out.
"I do not speak of the Phoenix of the crown but the other fragments"
"Other fragments" Soldier said curiously.
"Oh shit!" Sieg said as his eyes turned to the Cuckoos.
Sieg then ran ahead of the X-men towards Quinton. If Quinton tore the Phoenix fragments out of the girls hearts then there was a good chance they could get killed, and he wasn't about to let that happen.
Next Chapter 7: The Truth revealed
This is it, the big moment where Slayer's eye finally comes into play and Sieg's faith in the eternal love that Jean and Scott share finally helps the X-men see. The truth behind the psi-affair will be revealed. Some x-men will recover what they lost, or gain something new, while one man will lose everything, yet nothing as he sees what he truly had.
Hope everyone enjoyed the chapter!