Disclaimer: I dont own the X-men or Slayer
The Cry of the Phoenix
Chapter 11: Never Regret!
Tears fell down the eyes of Scott Summers, of anyone and everyone that was close to Jean. She would return but always she would die, only to rise again, but in order to rise again she would create chaos in the white-hot room. Rachel reached out into the flames, not wanting to give her mother up. Scott could only stay in his place, the grief overtaking him. Jean closed her eyes as the aura of the phoenix appeared around her. The Skrull stepped back in fear.
"Stay away…I SAID STAY AWAY!!" He yelled.
"You can't give it up…YOU CANT!!" The Black Phoenix yelled.
Soldier looked towards Rachel, who had fallen down to her fathers level. Then his eyes went to Slayer, who shook his head as his eye glowed. Sieg took a step but stopped when he felt Soldier's hand on his shoulder.
"You deceived my friends, impersonated my husband, you tried to break us apart, but you failed in your mission…you may have the Phoenix force but you can not control it!" Jean said as she pointed a finger at the Skrull.
The Phoenix symbol on his chest disappeared and his eyes ceased their glowing.
"You…are the first mutant of the Skrull race and you used your powers to conquer, that is why you have failed"
"SHUT UP!!" The Skrull yelled.
Slayer squeezed his hand until the palm went white and Sieg slammed his fist into the ground.
"Damn it, everything we did came down to nothing…Jean I'm so sorry!" Sieg moaned as tears flowed down his face.
"Looks like I was right! ALL'S YOU DO IS DIE ON YOUR FRIENDS!!!!" Emma yelled at Jean, equally as depressed as anyone else.
Sieg's sword reappeared and he stabbed it into the ground as his body returned to normal. He looked at Jean as she shined with the flames of the Phoenix.
"I'm so sorry Scott…I love you now and forever just as I love all of you my friends…but this is how things must be!" Jean said as she peacefully smiled with her eyes closed.
"NO!!!" Both Cyclops and the Skrull yelled.
"YOU STUPID WOMAN!!!!!"
Jean opened her eyes and much to her shock she saw Soldier holding her shoulders firmly, his form unaffected by the flames.
"IS THAT IT HUH! YOUR JUST GOING TO GIVE UP ON THE PEOPLE YOU LOVE! IF YOU REALLY LOVED THEM THEN YOU WOULD FIGHT TO KEEP THEM! DON'T ALWAYS RELY ON THE POWER OF THE PHOENIX! RELY ON YOUR OWN STRENGTH AND MORE IMPORTANTLY DON'T GIVE UP!!!! LOOK AT THEM LOOK AT THE PEOPLE YOU CLAIM TO LOVE AT THE MAN YOU CLAIM TO LOVE! DO YOU WANT TO SPEND THE REST OF YOUR LIFE WITH HIM!!!!"
Jean looked at Scott with tears in her eyes.
"I want to spend the rest of my life with him!" Jean said.
"What was that I couldn't hear you?" Soldier asked.
"I…I WANT TO SPEND THE REST OF MY LIFE WITH SCOTT SUMMERS!!!!"
"THEN PROVE IT!!!" Soldier roared.
The White Phoenix costume was replaced with Jean's Marvel Girl uniform. Soldier let go of Jean, who ran straight into Scott's arms.
"Ah how sweet, you can trade killing yourself to letting me kill you!" The Skrull chuckled. "Thanks Soldier!"
The Skrull fired a beam of the Phoenix's energy out of his hand, hitting Soldier in the back.
"SOLDIER!!" Sieg yelled as the masked mans form flew straight past them.
Wolverine and X-23 snarled before they ran at the Skrull Phoenix. He aimed the palm of his hand at the X-men, releasing a flurry of Phoenix fire. But much to the Skrulls surprise, the Black Phoenix intercepted the flames with his optic beams. The Skrull grinned before he fired a beam straight through the Black Phoenix's chest.
"Looks like all's you'll get from this whole experience is pain!" The Skrull laughed.
"Son of a bitch!" Slayer growled before he ran with Beast and Sieg.
Pixie's soul dagger appeared in her hand as she and Angel flew at the Skrull. Iceman threw several diamond shards at the Skrull, who laughed as he pulled the spikes out. The Skrull fired orange beams from his hands and eyes, hitting X-23 in the chest and Angel's wing. Rockslide, in his regular form ran at the Skrull, attempting to punch him round the face. But when Santo's fist made contact, he widened his eyes as the Skrull remained motionless as a statue.
"Fool…I AM NOW INVINCIBLE!!!" The Skrull yelled as he twitched his head.
With that single twitch, Santo was thrown back, his arms and legs crumbling to pieces as he slammed into Mercury. The Summers brothers fired at the Skrull, knocking him back a few feet with their combined power. Slayer and Sieg slashed the Skrull across the back and chest, but he merely slapped them away. Then he punched Wolverine in the stomach, sending him to the floor, vomiting out blood.
"This is unreal, all my life my fellow Skrulls have looked at me with disgust as a mutant, they feared me, spat on me but now with the power of the Phoenix I can rule not only this galaxy but the entire universe…I came to the Earth at the same time that a group of other Skrulls planned a secret invasion, I had no interest in their goals…but I played along and volunteered to impersonate Scott Summers, it was too easy capturing him and everyone of you senselessly believed that I was him, even when I acted out of character, the hypnotic abilities I absorbed from the Super Skrull and the psychic abilities of Xavier guaranteed a perfect act…you see X-men I am a Skrull mutant, I evolved beyond any of them, no tracker could identify me, no technology could detect me, and I used to think that no magic could uncover me, but alas I was wrong about that…anyway, my plan was very simple, to absorb the infinite power of the Phoenix, but absorbing Jean Grey's power was difficult so I strove to drive the full power of the Phoenix out through an affair with Emma Frost…but unfortunately Xorn ended my plan, with Jean Grey dead I just relied on absorbing the power of different X-men and super humans, and that meant being a super hero in order to get close to them…for a while at least it worked, and the nights with Frost were at least a bonus, when the Phoenix returned my hopes went up but again and again something kicked me in the ass and ruined my plans"
"YEAH WE GET IT YOU'RE AN ASSHOLE!!" Hellion yelled.
The Skrull quickly silenced the boy with a telekinetic punch to the chest. Beast leapt forward, but his kicks did nothing to even phase the Skrull before he was thrown aside. Pixie thrust her dagger forward, but the blade shattered upon contact with the Skrulls skin.
'God damn it, this guys invincible!' Sieg thought as Jean and Rachel tried to hit the Skrull with telepathic blasts before they were pushed into the arms of Cable and Scott.
"Now as I was saying, my efforts were ruined, so I continued with business and pleasure as usual…then came the mutant child…I sensed an essence of the Phoenix inside her, and I knew that that was a foreshadowing of a greater event to come, then came the invasion and after that came the present situation…however I rightly believed that absorbing the Phoenix force would be difficult so I thought if I couldn't become the Phoenix then I could at least control Jean Grey with her husband Scott Summers, I believe you call it black mail or hostage demands"
"Your plan has some considerable flaws!" Slayer said, glaring at the Skrull with his sword ready.
"I was just lucky you humans are so stupid!" The Skrull smiled.
Wolverine got up off the floor and stabbed both his claws into the Phoenix's chest.
"Who you calling stupid bub?"
The Skrull merely chuckled as he blasted Wolverine away, "Yes and that was so intelligent!" he said.
'This guys too powerful, it's over…I'm so sorry Celeste I broke my promise' Sieg thought, clutching his sword tightly.
"Now X-men, how should I use the force to kill you, or maybe I could turn you all into my slaves, I must admit I did enjoy my nights with Frost, she was certainly better than any Skrull woman and I was wondering whether any of the other women were as good" The Skrull grinned as he lifted the female members of the team up telepathically and got them into a line.
"You had a crush on Cyclops?" The Skrull asked Pixie, tracing a finger across her cheek.
Megan trembled in fear while the other X-men growled at the Skrulls actions. Soldier tried getting up off the floor, but fell to his bloody knees.
"Let me show you, what he's really like!" The Skrull grinned as he changed into Scott's form and cupped Megan's cheeks.
"YOU'RE A SICK BASTARD!!!" Ink yelled.
Soldier gathered the rest of his strength and threw his shield as hard as he could. The shield slammed into the Skrulls face, and much to his and everyone else's shock he was knocked away from Pixie. Each one of the X-women landed on the floor while the Skrull glared at Soldier. For a moment the Skrull thought he saw a fire in the masked mans eyes. The Skrull pulled his arm back, creating a flaming Phoenix wing.
'I'm sorry Celeste' Sieg thought as he closed his eyes.
The Skrull wrapped his wing around the entire X-men team. Black Phoenix widened his eyes as he watched the wing cover the X-men. He crawled across the floor and stretched his hands out towards the flames before he lowered his head. The Skrull proudly smirked as he released his hold, just imagining the twisted forms he had turned the X-men into with the Phoenix's power.
"WHAT!!!" The Skrull yelled in utter horror.
The X-men were intact, each one with a confused expression on their face. Even Sieg was confused, which only deepened when he looked at his crystallised sword. Suddenly the hilt of the sword began to shine and the X-men felt a great emotion run through their minds, even X-23 smiled at the sight of the shining sword. Sieg stared at his blade while the Skrull grinded his teeth together. As the Skrull pulled his fist back again the sword flashed and the Skrull was knocked back.
"I can't allow that!" A voice spoke.
A smile crossed Sieg's face as the hollow and ghostly image of the heroes' spirit within his sword appeared before him and the X-men. The hero maintained a confident pose, his arms crossed, obviously smiling behind his helmet.
"Sieg don't just give up like this…you've still got one trick up your sleeve!" The Spirit said, turning his head towards Sieg. "You all need to have faith in this boy, the only way you can have a hero is by having faith in someone"
"It doesn't matter if you know them, it doesn't matter whether they have flashy powers or a pretty costume, it doesn't matter whether they have a history of drug abuse or are the perfect image of a saint…If that man is trying to save you, then believe in him" Sieg said with the hero as he got up off the floor.
As the spirit disappeared back into the blade Sieg looked to Slayer, who nodded his head. The other X-men did their best to stand, while Rachel and Cable lifted Soldier over their shoulders. Sieg held his sword out in front of his face.
"What ever it is you have planned it wont work fool!" The Skrull said.
Suddenly, Slayer appeared in front of him, slashing him across the face with his enchanted blade.
"Whatever your going to do Sieg do it now!" Jack said.
"Just need a little bit more, come on guys, surely you can show a little more courage than this!!" Sieg growled as he held his sword above his head.
"YOU HEARD HIM PEOPLE!!!" Cyclops yelled as he ran at the Skrull.
The other X-men soon followed, attacking the Skrull alongside Slayer and Cyclops. Wolverine struck with his claws, Ororo cooked up a Storm while mother and daughter pushed the Skrull with their combined TK.
"This is it! THIS IS THE COURAGE I NEED!!!" Sieg yelled as his eyes shined the same red colour the sword did.
The Sword shattered to pieces as skin-tight black fabric replaced his clothes. Blue eye lenses appeared over his facemask and a crystal chest plate with shoulder guards and a long, tail like spine appeared on his body and back. Blue, red and grey armour plates covered his wrists and elbows, but left his black-gloved hands exposed, his left hand gauntlet had what was left of his hilt and blade running towards the edge of his elbow. His lower armour, except for his feet were then covered in blue, red and grey crystal armour. Victory Peace's eyes glowed as he looked towards the M'Kran crystal.
"Wait a second, he's gone mad stop him you fools!!" The Skrull said as he slapped Sunspot off of him.
Xavier, Emma, Jean and Rachel put their hands to their heads and suddenly the Skrull began screaming in pain. As Sieg began running forward, Slayer and Wolverine jumped towards the Skrull. The two men slashed him right in the chest as Sieg ran past.
"YOU FOOLS HE'LL DESTROY EVERYTHING!!!"
"Wrong bub" Logan smirked.
Cyclops and his brothers fired at the Skrull, knocking him back a few paces. Phoenix raptors appeared in front of Sieg's path. He chopped one of the phoenix aura's in half with his hand and knocked the other aside with a sweeping kick. Sieg continued running, squeezing his hand into a fist as he got closer and closer to the crystal.
"Shattering the crystal will destroy the universe, the universe that the Phoenix resides in, the White Hot room itself!" Jean said as she, Cable, Hellion and Rachel combined their telekinetic powers to deliver a crushing punch to the Skrull's stomach.
"The Phoenix is a mystery as is the crystal, whoever said that the whole universe had to be destroyed?" Cyclops asked before blasting the Skrull with his two brothers by his side.
"It ends now, the "destiny" of every omega level telepath ends, as does your megalomania!" Xavier said, looking at the Skrull defiantly alongside his X-men.
"No more sacrifices, no more rising again…the days of the Phoenix are over" Emma smiled as she deflected a blast that the Skrull aimed at Scott.
The Skrull stepped back in fear, looking over his shoulder as Sieg got closer and closer towards the crystal.
"Wait please think about this, the Phoenix is the fire of creation, of life and death itself!" The Skrull said.
Slayer stepped forward, his eye and sword glowing as he got closer and closer towards the Skrull.
"Your wrong, the Phoenix claims to be these things…but it isn't, the fire that you speak of is inside all of us, death waits for all of us but sometimes things will be revived, someone's goals or dreams may live on through another person, the love that two people share lives forever in people like Scott and Jean, faith in both humanity and god lies inside men and women like Kurt, even I continue the traditions and honour of so many warriors and of course with these "Young X-men" and little Jeannie the dream of Xavier and the X-men will live on" Slayer explained with a smile across his face. "But unfortunately bad things…no evil and dishonourable acts are continued through people like you, but you…your not eternal!!!"
The Skrull widened his eyes and Slayer yelled. He stabbed his mystical blade straight into the aliens heart. Sieg leapt at the crystal, however pillars appeared out of the ground, smashing him across the face. His helmet shattered and his mask torn as he knocked onto his back. With a lash of his armours tail, Sieg got back up. A beam fired out of the crystal, cracking Sieg's chest plate. Sieg skidded across the floor but ran at the crystal again.
"We sure about this plan guys?" Hellion asked.
"Shut up and keep believing in him Keller!" Laura threatened.
"Yes ma'am!" Julian gulped.
On Earth, a smile crossed Blindfolds face as for once her predictions were wrong. Celeste put her hands together and closed her eyes, thinking of Sieg's success. The Shiar bowed their heads in respect as the Phoenix aura's attacking their ships began to disappear. In the White Hot room the aura of the Phoenix appeared over the crystal.
"YOU FOOLS YOU CANT END THIS!!!" The Skrull yelled.
"He can do it!" Soldier said.
"GO FOR IT SIEG!!!" Slayer yelled.
Sieg growled as the flames shattered his chest plate and his left greave. His skin changed to a blue colour while his pupils disappeared. Sieg worked through the flames, a thin but tough blue barrier protecting him. He pulled his fist back and crashed his fist into the crystal, completely shattering it. The pieces of the crystal floated around the white-hot room, slowly disintegrating.
"I can feel it, the Phoenix is gone!" Jean said in astonishment.
"And Mr Green's dead!" Wolverine said, motioning to the lifeless corpse impaled by Slayer's sword.
Jack pulled his sword out of the carcass and turned to Sieg. In a flash of light, Sieg's regular appearance and clothing returned. Havok and Raza lifted Soldier onto their shoulders and gather in with the rest of the X-men, joined soon after by Sieg. With the White-hot room breaking apart around them, Pixie began chanting the teleportation spell. Her eyes widened when the spell didn't work.
"What's the hold up Megan?" Cessily asked.
"The teleportation spell doesn't work" Slayer said, having attempted the same spell.
"DAMN IT! AFTER ALL THAT WE STILL DIE!!!" Sieg yelled falling to his knees.
The X-men lowered their heads as the very walls of the White-hot room began to shatter just as the smaller pieces of the crystal remaining shattered. Jean and Scott looked at one another before they peacefully held one another.
"If this is the way we die, then this is how I want to spend my remaining time with you" Scott said as he kissed his wife's forehead.
Slayer drew his sword and stabbed it into the ground, closing his eyes in a silent prayer. The Black Phoenix stood far away from the group, looking at his hand as the fabric of his costume faded. He looked at Jean and Scott, so peaceful and in love and blocked the image of the X-men with his hand.
'My goals have been misguided; peace is not death, rather what you do with your life before death…I lost my loved ones and because I die with the White Hot room I can never see them again…but please! Please don't let them die because of my actions, please Phoenix, give me one gift after all Jean and I have done for you as the Phoenix's of the crown, the chance to save them, to redeem some of the harm we've done'
The X-men gasped as an orange ring appeared around them. Slayer looked towards the Black Phoenix, who had a smile on his face as the X-men disappeared. With the X-men gone, returned to their dimension the lone final member of the Phoenix corp. closed his tearful eyes.
"Thank you! Thank you so much!" He thanked the Phoenix, thanked the warrior and the hero and especially the lovers, who had showed him true peace.
He opened his eyes and a shocked expression crossed his face as he saw a man standing before him. The man wore an oversized blue coat, he had sandy blonde hair and dull grey eyes, but his grin caused the old Black Phoenix to smile.
"You!" he said.
The young man reached his hand out towards the Phoenix.
"Come on, they've been waiting for you!" He said.
The Black Phoenix took the mans hand and suddenly the White hot room disappeared, replaced with whiteness. He looked around, seeing no sign of the man that had pulled him into this place. Suddenly he heard a sound that bought tears of happiness to his eyes.
"Daddy!"
The Planet that had appeared in the Shiar galaxy disappeared and the X-men reappeared in James's ship. Jean and Scott both embraced one another warmly, while some members of the X-men thanked the Black Phoenix. Sieg looked out into space with a warm expression on his face. James threw off the scraps of his armour and returned to the pilot seat.
"So what do you guys say to going home?" He asked his passengers.
The X-men gave the mysterious billionaire a look, which to him meant, "What the hell do you think?"
Next Final Chapter: Returning home
Yep next up is the final chapter, hope everybody enjoyed the fic and thank you slickboy for letting me borrow Slayer. Next will feature more Sieg/Celeste and Jean/Scott love, the X-men go through some changes and unfortunately Cable meets an unfortunate fate (smiles with mischief)
Also featured will be some suprise guest stars both original and from the main marvel universe