The Fury Of The Negative Phoenix
Thunder exploded through the air, plunging the yells of men into momentary silence as the rumble continued. The rain viciously hammered down upon the small base, soaking the soldiers that guarded the doors. Lightning split the sky, briefly illuminating the large metal building and the worried faces of the people manning the gun turrets.
"Incoming!" a distant cry signalled, causing the massive turrets to swivel heavily towards the sky and the men to scurry to their various battle stations.
In the distance, barely visible through the rain and darkness, a gigantic object loomed over the mountains with a low hum and sailed through the air towards them.
"Open fire!" the order was screamed across the courtyard.
With deafening blasts, the gun-turrets sent spheres of plasma hurtling through the air at the target. The shots disappeared into the night, only to be followed by wave after wave of similar bullets.
The SHIELD helli-carrier drew closer, veering slightly to avoid the full force of the attack. The plasma exploded against the underside of the flying base and sent shards of metal raining down upon the area below.
More stuttering blasts, and a hail of laser fire fell from the sky like the rain, cutting up thousands of the soldiers below. Helicopters were launched from the helli-carrier and the base beneath them soon had their defences crushed in the never-ending attack. Men from ropes dropped to the ground, splashing down onto the blood-stained ground before running towards any entrance they were able to find.
Desperate yells erupted from within the base's halls and as the laboratories were broken in to, the troops began to withdraw.
A tall man with an eye-patch and slightly greyed hair spoke calmly into the microphone attached to his uniform,
"The symbiote has been located, all men withdraw immediately, good job, soldiers."
The rain sub-sided, quietly revealing the scenes of destruction that were all that remained of the small base. In mere minutes, all personnel had been brutally killed and their workplaces had been demolished, their research stolen.
The worst part is, they left no survivors. No one would ever know the cause of the damage and death, for that was the way of SHIELD. They took what they wanted, and vanished into the sky without batting an eyelid.
It had not taken them long to suit-up and climb aboard the X-jet. Their mission was simple, and their objectives clear, yet no-one seemed sure of how they were going to go about liberating the stolen item.
"We're talking about SHIELD headquarters, here! How are we expected to even get in there? Let alone steal from them?" Sub-zero asked, waving his hands in gestures that exaggerated the madness of their task.
"We can get in easily, it's getting out again that you ought to be worried about," Shadow warned, staring out of the window at the dark clouds they were passing.
"Entity, you haven't said a word all day. You okay?" Phantom asked, leaning forwards to peer around to the front of the pilot's seat so that she could look at the silent mutant.
"I'm fine... just a little... shaken," he said quietly, not removing his attention from the flight.
"Why shaken?" she asked, raising an eyebrow but retaining a concerned look.
"Because we're breaking into SHIELD!" Sub-zero said again, almost yelling in dis-belief.
"It's not that," Entity said, flicking a switch to his left as the X-jet cloaked, disappearing from the sky with a fluid ripple and vanishing completely from any radar system in the world.
"Why the hell do we even need to get the symbiote back?!" Shadow asked, also leaning forwards, forcing himself into the conversation.
"Because we know that SHIELD want to use it as a weapon and they can't be allowed to try that again after what happened last time," Entity explained. As Phantom watched him, an expression crossed his face that she couldn't quite understand.
"This is a bit advanced for us, don'tcha think?" Shadow asked, switching his anxious stare between Sub-zero and Entity.
"No, two teams are going in, so it shouldn't be too hard," Entity informed.
"Two? Oooo, now I feel safe," Shadow commented, sarcastically he rolled his eyes and the familiar 'I-hate-you-all' expression appeared on his face.
"One team, consisting of Jean, Cyclops, Wolverine and Storm, are going to make sure that the reinforcements don't get here whilst the other team (That's us) goes after the symbiote," Entity explained, going over what Xavier had told him.
"So we go in, get the item, then get out," Shadow recited, making sure he had it right.
"Correct," Entity confirmed, dryly.
"What are we going to do with it once we're back home?" Phantom asked, a knowing expression crossing her face.
Entity fell silent, evidently with-holding information from them.
"Aha! I knew you were hiding something!" Phantom exclaimed, happy that she had discovered something else before anyone else had picked up on it. Her grin turned to an expectant look as she tried to pry more information.
"Xavier sent me a disk," Entity began to explain, not looking any of them in the eye, "It contained information that was stored on the computer that we downloaded years ago. The files contained information on the symbiote and after reading through it, Beast made a few... discoveries."
"Ah... what kind of discoveries?" Sub-zero asked, fixing Entity with a dis-approving glare.
"He found that the symbiote is able to grant it's host amplified telepathic abilities. Years ago, when the symbiote was on it's own, it was able to telepathically force a crowd of beings to commit suicide. Forcing something living to commit suicide, by the way, is extremely difficult because the survival instinct is strong," Entity continued to explain in a very down-to-Earth manner, with an expression one might expect from a scientist explaining quantum physics to a group of three-year-olds.
"Your point being?" Sub-zero asked, turning his gaze to the sky outside, the grim mood began pouring off him like a waterfall. His mind was racing. Angry questions were flying through his head as he wondered why he hadn't told them before.
"My point being, when it became Venom by bonding with Eddie Brock, who had no psychic potential what so ever, it was able to amplify it's telepathic powers so that it bypassed Spider-man's spider-sense and evoked fear in him," Entity stopped talking for a moment before continuing in a quieter voice,
"Beast and Xavier think, if the symbiote bonded with me, my telepathy would increase to a level that out did the Negative Phoenix... As a result, I'd be able to over-ride the thing's hold on me and maybe shut away the Negative Phoenix's personality permanently," he concluded, bracing himself for the reaction of the others.
"You think that thing's gonna help you? You do know that we're talking about the evil alien dude that keeps trying to kill people?!" Sub-zero asked, the anger clearly showing in his voice.
"Venom isn't evil, he just despises Spider-man. He has a twisted sense of morality and won't harm anyone unless they stand between him and Spidey," Entity defended, a slight tone of annoyance in the way he spoke.
"What the hell?! What makes you think that it'll work? How do you know he'll co-operate?" Sub-zero continued to grow more and more aggravated.
"Because I'm the perfect host for him. He currently survives without a host and can maintain a humanoid form but only if he feeds off of other life-forms as often as he can. My body draws an infinite stream of life-energy from the Negative Phoenix and that means, since Eddie Brock's dead, that I'm a both efficient and compatible host. If you still have any doubts, it may interest you to know that me and the symbiote have been communicating for the past few hours and it seems interested in the idea," Entity finished, forcing Sub-zero into a dumbfounded silence.
Phantom backed away slightly, not wanting to get involved whilst tension was high.
"Calm down guys," Shadow said, rolling his eyes.
Sub-zero and Entity had been growing further and further apart over the three years that they had been working together. Sub-zero always felt that Entity was hiding something and it was times like this that seemed to prove his theory.
"Tell me to calm down again and I'll freeze you solid," Sub-zero snapped, raising a fist, threateningly.
"Back off," Entity ordered, a warning tone in his voice.
"What are you gonna do about it?" Sub-zero asked Entity, folding his arms but ready for a fight.
"I'm going to ignore you for the rest of the journey in case you piss me off any further," Entity stated darkly, swerving the jet a little as they approached their target.
"Stop it! You're both acting like jerks!" Phantom yelled, silencing Sub-zero who had been opening his mouth to respond.
"Guys, you're seventeen and you're both acting like ten-year-olds," Shadow commented, shaking his head in dis-belief.
Just then, in the distance, they spotted the helli-carrier in all it's dark metal glory. Thin streams of smoke indicated battle-damage and shards of metal were still falling away from the hull. It was soon larger then a pinprick in the distance, and shortly after, Entity brought the jet to an unsteady landing on the surface of the vessel before un-buckling and climbing out as fast as he could.
Seconds later, the entire team dropped onto the soaked deck of the SHIELD base, nervous glances surveying the area.
"No troops... they must be taking a coffee break," Shadow quipped, much to the annoyance of the rest of the team.
"Lets find a way down," Sub-zero ordered, walking quickly to a nearby blast-door.
He sent a cone of ice at the door and as the thick, clear layer formed, Phantom leapt through to the other side. The sound of straining gears threatened to alert the guards to their presence, but after Shadow smashed the ice with a fist of ice energy, the sound stopped and the door slid effortlessly open.
"There was an 'open' switch on this side of the door," Phantom stated, smiling in a smart-ass fashion.
"Show off," muttered Shadow, following her down the dully-lit hallway.
A deep red light was all that illuminated them as the team carefully stepped down the corridor. Entity whipped a small computer-device from his belt and checked a holographic map of the base that illuminated his face in a dull green hue.
"The symbiote's in the lower chambers... it's never behind the first door, is it?" Entity said, returning the device to his belt and turning to check the hall behind them, in case they were being followed.
"It'd be too easy if it were," Shadow replied, poking his head round a corner to check for any sign of life, "You sure they only took care of reinforcements and not the whole crew?"
"There are people on board," Phantom warned, indicating down the hall opposite the direction Shadow had been checking.
Three men in SHIELD uniforms were leant against a wall, re-loading their weapons.
'BAMF!'
The three guards were reduced to one after Shadow appeared in front of them and kicked them in the face with a graceful backflip. The last one ran down the hall, straight into the rest of the team. Sub-zero lurched forwards and smacked him in the jaw before anyone else could get to him. As soon as he hit the ground, he froze in a thick layer of ice.
Sub-zero smirked and ran off down the passage, soon followed by the others. He stopped at a closed door and turned to Phantom.
"Wait," Entity said, as if hearing something, "Phantom, can you sink us through the floor?"
She considered the option for a few seconds before nodding slowly. She reached out and grabbed Entity's hand, reached behind her and grabbed Sub-zero's arm and Entity quickly grabbed Shadow's tail as they dropped down through the metal floor. Shadow felt his stomach lurch, but recovered as they landed and entire three floors below the one they were on to start with.
"Incoming," Sub-zero warned, rolling out of the way of the five-strong unit of SHIELD agents that were aiming at the teenagers that had just dropped through the cieling.
Phantom quickly turned intangible as they opened fire. The bullets whizzed harmlessly through her as she backed into the wall to her left. Shadow had teleported into the shadows where he ducked to avoid the incoming hail of bullets.
The only one that didn't move was Entity, who stood perfectly still as the bullets harmlessly bounced off the organic plating of his draconic chest. The agents stopped, staring with horrified eyes at the ferocious-looking dragon that now stood ahead of them. Entity took a step forwards, and they dropped their weapons to the floor with various clatters and raised their hands above their heads.
Entity couldn't help but smile a sharp-toothed grin as he watched them tremble. He stayed back, not wanting to make them panic, but instead used telekinesis to slam them into the wall behind them, effectively knocking them out, but keeping them alive. Death was not his to give.
The rest of the team emerged from their positions just as more units rolled out from the corner. They took aim and opened fire, just as Entity projected a telekinetic barrier around the team. Shadow teleported at them and kicked up at the front man's jaw, sending him into the air. He spun his whip-like tail at the legs of the next two soldiers and flipped them onto their backs. Teleporting to avoid the bullets of the next three, he retreated to the safety of the shadows.
Phantom rose up through the floor in front of the guard at the back of the formation and smiled, blasting his face with enough energy to sent him convulsing into the wall where the other soldiers had slumped to the ground. She turned and grabbed the two men in front of her by the backs of their necks and sent large amounts of electrical energy coursing through them, knocking them out.
Sub-zero slid at the feet of the next batch and tripped them up before freezing them in a block of ice. Cold, but not un-conscious, they tried to claw their way out, just as Sub-zero's fist smashed through the ice block and he continued by pinning them to the walls using spikes made from solid ice. As they stared at him with hateful eyes, he gagged them with parts of their own uniforms and backed up to examine his work.
"A true masterpiece," Shadow complimented, "Call it, 'GI Joe's Cool Friends' By Sub-zero."
Sub-zero grinned and ran to the end of the corridor,
"I suppose his jokes aren't always corny," he thought, surveying the passage ahead of them.
Entity ran past them and turned a sharp corner, his tail disappearing round the bend just as the others began to follow. They emerged in a large staircase leading down. The metal steps clanged loudly beneath their boots (and in Entity's case, claws) and it was a miracle that the entire base didn't know where they were.
About six flights down, they encountered a group of soldiers that had obviously been expecting their arrival. The second Entity emerged from the stairs, they opened fire, this time using rockets. Entity had no choice but to fold his large wings in front of him and brace for impact as the missiles hurtled at them.
Sub-zero managed to stop one by freezing it before it hit, but the others hit the ground in front of them with an explosions that sent the mutants slamming backwards into the hard metal wall behind them.
"Don't let them through!" came a commanding voice from up ahead.
It was instantly recognisable as the voice of Cornel Nick Fury, head of SHIELD operations. The team of mutants were on their hands and knees, recovering from the blast. As Sub-zero looked up, he spotted Fury taking an elevator at the end of the hall. In his hands he carried a conical flask that contained a thick black fluid.
"He's got it... h-he's got the symbiote!" Sub-zero spluttered, gritting his teeth as he picked himself up.
The soldiers raised their weapons again but they flipped out of their hands as if they had jumped. They were suddenly hammered into the sides of the corridor by and invisible force that held them there before allowing them to slump to the ground. Sub-zero turned to congratulate Entity on a good manoeuver but fell silent when he noticed his ally's dark expression.
Entity got to his feet slowly and began to walk down the corridor with a stride, not waiting for the rest of the team. He reached the elevator doors and, using his amplified strength that he gained in dragon-form, ripped them clean off to reveal the open elevator shaft.
"Hey! Wait up, can you?!" called Sub-zero, annoyed at his friend's sudden ignorance towards the others.
Entity turned sharply and fixed him with a glare. He reverted back to human form, his tail, wings and scales disappearing from sight.
"The symbiote is the only thing on this Earth that can give me my life back. The Negative Phoenix took my humanity away from me and I'm NOT going to let Nick Fury take away the only chance I have of getting it back!" Entity yelled, turning back to the elevator opening.
"Fuck you!" Sub-zero yelled back, his temper boiling over, "I've had it with you putting yourself before others! Give a damn about someone other then yourself for a change!"
Entity stopped still. An ominous silence fell upon them as Entity slowly turned back around.
"Myself before others?" he repeated, quietly, but loud enough for Sub-zero to hear, "That's what you think I was doing when I saved you from Sentinels all that time ago? That's what you think I was doing when I almost died saving you all from a nuclear meltdown? You think that I keep all of my emotions locked away out of selfishness?!"
Sub-zero backed away sightly as he realised the corridor was beginning to shudder.
"There are over six billion human beings on this planet and every second of every day I can hear them! Their thoughts are screaming through my head and they won't stop! I spend every moment of my life at constant war with myself... I spend every second of my life protecting you and the rest of the world from the Negative Phoenix and you turn around and accuse me of PUTTING MYSELF BEFORE OTHERS?!" Entity yelled in rage, a seething hatred burning in his eyes that Sub-zero had never seen before, "I CAN'T LIVE! I CAN'T HATE! I CAN'T LOVE!" He roared, bitter sadness was clearly audible in his shaking voice, "I'm scared... all the time... and so alone..." His speech collapsed, reducing the sound to pain-filled, anguished sobs that gradually lost more and more control, "It hurts...," he whispered to himself, falling to his knees and clutching his head in pain. He was struggling to keep control... but failing.
Sub-zero was lost for words, feelings flooding him that conflicted, and confused. He started to speak, wanting to undo what he'd said, but as soon as his lips moved, a blood-curdling roar filled his ears and he was slammed backwards with a forceful blast of telekinetic energy. The corridor groaned in strain and the walls began to buckle inwards and the metal dented and twisted out of shape.
Entity threw back his head and manic laughter reverberated within the team's skulls as their teammate's personality quickly altered. His eyes were perfectly white and seemed to burn with unseen energy. Black veins showed clearly on his face and a brilliant fire surrounded him, swirling in a violent inferno, melting the surrounding metal as it took the shape of a Phoenix.
With a psychotic laughter that sent fear into the hearts of the whole team, the Negative Phoenix blasted up through the top of the corridor, chasing the head of SHIELD.
Phantom, Shadow and Sub-zero stood with mixed expressions. Non of them were prepared for this, and now they had no idea how they should continue.
"What do we do?" Shadow asked after moments of stunned silence. His voice was little more then a whisper, and shook with the fear within him.
Sub-zero thought as quickly as he could, thinking through everything he knew abut the Phoenix.
"He could've killed all of us and Nick Fury without moving an inch, which means that he's toying with Nick first... We have to save Fury... he deserves it a thousand times over but it shouldn't be by one of us... least of all Matt," Sub-zero said, running his hands through his hair and staring around as if looking for some thing that might tell them what to do.
"He's not going to kill us..." Shadow stated, attempting to stay calm, " If he wanted to kill us, he would have done it already... which means that Entity still has some control over it."
"Which means the Negative Phoenix isn't at full strength...," Phantom added, frowning as her mind figured the situation out.
"But it's still more then a match for all of us,"Sub-zero finished, grabbing Phantom by the shoulders before asking her, "Can you get us to the top of the base?"
She stayed quiet, concentrating, before responding, "Yes, but hold on tight."
She grabbed them both and dove into the wall. Once inside the surface, she lifted upwards as fast as she could, propelling the three of them through the wall towards the top of the helli-carrier.
She began to tire quickly, and they began to slow down, but not before being able to climb weakly out of the floor and onto the damp surface that made up the deck of the SHIELD base.
Phantom, exhausted, collapsed, gasping for breath. The other two mutants shook themselves off and spent seconds getting used to the shuddering of the vessel.
Shadow, looking around, suddenly found himself staring down the barrel of Nick Fury's gun. He froze, unsure of what to do but merely coughing to get the other's attention.
"Looks like I've got myself some targets," Fury said, a smile spreading across his face.
"Listen, we're all in danger! You have to-," Phantom began, but Fury cut her off by firing into the air.
"Quiet, girlie!" he commanded, returning the gun to Shadow's head and examining their expressions. He seemed to be evaluating their threat level at the same time.
He stopped what he was doing when he realised that they weren't paying attention to him, but were staring at something behind him with looks of terror.
"Hey! Pay attention!" he barked, as they continued to stare, "Class ain't dismissed!"
Curious as to what they were staring at, he turned around and found himself staring into thepearl-white eyes of the Negative Phoenix, who was regarding him with a look of slight amusement. Immediately, he whipped the gun around and fired as many shots as he could at the mutant that had appeared behind him. He stopped firing when he realised that the bullets had stopped in mid-air, inches away from the Negative Phoenix's face.
The gun in his hands crumpled like paper, dropping to the floor with a heavy thud as it began to melt away.
"Think you're pretty clever, don't you?" Nick stated, swinging a fist at the now grinning being.
A small explosion of telekinetic energy sent Fury hurtling across the deck and into a large metal communications tower. The Negative Phoenix rose into the air, consumed by flames that illuminated the entire deck. The twisting fire formed itself into the shape of a phoenix and screamed with rage.
The whole helli-carrier shuddered, as if experiencing an artificial earthquake. The front end of the ship, which was behind the flaming being, began to tear itself apart with the sound of grinding metal. Huge plates of steel and iron were ripped up from the deck and sent spinning into the air, where they broke into smaller pieces.
The Negative Phoenix raised it's arms and laughed into the sky as the demolition continued, eyes wide with frenzied joy. Sections of the front of the ship were bending themselves off and then disintegrating, sending tiny fragments of metal spinning in a small hurricane around the entire base.
It was an incredible scene to watch, yet absolutely terrifying. The sound of screeching metal, rumbling and fire was all the European team could hear, and all they could do was watch and hope.
Nick Fury got up, still holding the symbiote canister, and dragged another weapon out of his belt. Loading it quickly, he aimed at the Negative Phoenix and fired, again and again.
The bullets were melting before they even got close as the expanding bubble of heat began to melt the floor. It was then that they heard the screaming. Looking up, SHIELD soldiers were being dragged out of the ship and slammed around. A sickening crack drew the attention of the team and they turned around to discover the body of a SHIELD agent, slammed into the deck with enough force to leave a dent, and to break his neck.
Huge explosions erupted from the belly of the helli-carrier and the roaring pillars of flame that emerged were twisted around the ship like a rope, by invisible hands.
Sub-zero spotted the X-jet, now de-cloaked, parked on the deck mere metres away.
"Shadow, get the symbiote, Phantom, come with me!" he called, running at the jet.
Shadow teleported and grabbed the flask from Fury, who attempted to swipe him with a fist. Before he could hit him though, Shadow teleported back and entered the jet, placing the flask in a small cupboard at the back of the vessel.
"Why are we in here?!" Phantom yelled, wondering how they were any better off.
"Two years ago, Matt created a set of gauntlets that could cut the Phoenix's abilities for a while. He keeps them in here just in case, and if we can find them, we might be able to knock him out for long enough to get him back to the mansion," explained Sub-zero, rummaging around in a small silver box, eventually pulling a pair of long gloves out of it.
"What if it doesn't work?" asked Shadow, staring from the gloves, to the devastation outside.
"It's worth a shot, and besides, he's a genius... it's got to work!" Sub-zero yelled, jumping back out onto the deck, "Steve! You need to get me closer to him!"
Shadow jumped out onto the deck, landing gracefully besides Sub-zero and grabbing him by the hand.
'BAMF!'
They were behind the Negative Phoenix, balanced dangerously on the edge of the deck that was tearing itself apart.
"I see you...," a voice spoke into his mind, cold and un-natural, almost daring him to try anything, "... have to hurry... no control... destroy..." the voice continued, but it was not the same. It seemed more human... but weak... straining.
Sub-zero aimed both gloves at the massive fire-bird and waited until he had a clear shot at the body of the Negative Phoenix. As he aimed, the deck shook violently, throwing both of them off of the ship. The wind whipped their outfits as they hurtled down, and Shadow's stomach felt as if it was in his throat. Though only falling for seconds, it seemed like centuries as their vision switched between sky and Earth, blending the two in a flurry of dark colour. Sub-zero was trying desperately to swivel himself around, for reasons that soon became apparent.
Sub-zero blasted his hands downwards and created a slope of ice which he was relieved to land on. Wasting no time, he swerved the ice-slide to his left and allowed Shadow to land on the slide with him. They were still dropping though, fast. This high up, an ice slide became tricky to maintain and began to break up quickly.
"Hold on!" Shadow called, grabbing Sub-zero and teleporting them both as far up as Shadow could get them.
Sub-zero reached out ad grabbed a wire that flailed in front of him. Yanking it hard, they both swung round and landed heavily on the deck once more. Not allowing for the same to happen twice, Sub-zero fired a blind shot up at the bird of flames and preyed.
Seconds passed and all of them felt the helli-carrier begin to go down. Obviously, the engines had just been ripped apart and the Negative Phoenix had been keeping the structure up. Now, with no support, the ship began to plummet towards the valley below, breaking up as it went. The structural integrity had been compromised by the telekinetic assault, and the vessel was now simply snapping apart.
The flames died down to reveal the still-flaming body of Entity, which sank slowly to the ground. Struggling to stay upright and orientated, Sub-zero made his way towards Entity's un-conscious form and, icing his hands up first, picked up his flaming body to carry it back to the jet as fast as he could.
The jet was already in the air. The engines were not active, but the falling helli-carrier had forced the Jet up and Sub-zero was forced to enter a partial ice-slide in order to jump aboard it. He had very little time left, and as he placed Entity's body down at the back, he climbed into the cockpit seat and took the controls. Phantom and Shadow had just managed to make it inside, but as they gazed out of the window, a new danger became apparent. The ground was racing closer and closer to them .
Manically flipping switches and yanking on the throttle, the jet pulled up just in time, avoiding the ground, but not the enormous shockwave that resulted from the helli-carrier ploughing into the earth.
The jet rocked from side to side as shrapnel pummelled the wings. Sub-zero increased the speed and flipped the jet around to fly home, racing into the sky to avoid more flying metal. Below them, thousands of escape pods were visible, floating to the ground with parachutes.
"At least they're not all dead," Sub-zero thought, wondering wether Fury had escaped in the nick of time...
"This is Sub-zero, requesting the medical bay be prepared immediately and the hangar doors opened! We have an emergency! Could Professor Xavier please make his way to the med lab?" Sub-zero asked over the com system.
"Thomas? What ever is the matter?" Beast asked in response as the Jet messily skidded to a halt in the hangar. The landing gear had never been engaged, thus it took some time for the jet to stop fully.
"The Negative Phoenix," he replied, dis-engaging the controls and lowering the landing ramp.
Phantom and Shadow climbed out and looked as the heavy damage that the jet had sustained. It was a miracle that it had lasted them this long. Most of the outer plating had been melted, and shards of metal jutted out in all directions from the wings. Pieces of the vessel were still dropping off.
Sub-zero climbed out last, carrying Entity in his arms. As he ran for the sub-basement, his mind kept re-playing what had taken place that day...
"...sorry... I'm so sorry... it didn't mean t-... I didn't... I'm sorry," he thought to himself, the thoughts transferred to words as he approached the med-lab doors.
"Sorry... sorry... it was my fault, I shouldn't have said that... shouldn't have said it ... I'm sorry!" he whimpered, tears streaking his face as he got angrier at himself. His breath began to become heavier as the strain of the trip bore down upon him.
He gritted his teeth to hold back a painful sob as he layed Matthew down on the bed. He was limp... almost frail... broken. Xavier arrived seconds later and, without saying a word, moved straight over to the body and pressed his fingers against the boy's temples.
Sub-zero left the room, unsure of what to do or say, beginning to run. He had no idea where he was going, but he needed to escape. Without realising it, he ran to his room, slamming the door behind him and collapsing to his knees in the middle of his dormitory. Tears soaked his cheeks and he slammed the ground, freezing it at the same time.
"I'm sorry...," he whispered, "I'm so, so sorry..."
Jean Grey walked silently into the medical laboratory, slowing down to observe the scene before her. Matthew lay still on the sleek surface of the table. His face was calm and peaceful, but no doubt his mind was a different story. Her memory brought back similar images, only it was herself in his position.
His mission clothes were gone, replaced by a black and silver version of the Phoenix's costume. It was alien to her... unnatural and it disturbed her to wonder why this version of the Phoenix was so much darker. The silver Phoenix across his chest rose and fell, the only indication that he was still alive.
"Professor?" she asked, quietly, standing the other side of the table.
"He destroyed SHIELD, Jean. They have lost half of their personnel and no doubt they are looking for someone to blame," he informed, his voice was serious but he remained calm.
"I got in touch with Colonel Fury. He's alive but he doesn't remember what happened," she explained, taking a seat beside the unconscious student, her red hair moved almost like water as she moved.
"For that, I suppose, we must be thankful... Many lives were lost today, Jean. I am unsure of how we should proceed," Xavier said, still concentrating on his telepathic interaction with Entity, though his expression was grim.
"It isn't his fault. He's too young to have this kind of responsibility," Jean said, placing a hand on the boy's forehead.
"Then are we at an agreement on what must be done?" Xavier asked, referring to a conversation that they'd had long ago.
Jean's bright green eyes seemed to lose their sparkle as she recalled what the Professor had spoken of. The very idea sent a cold spear into her stomach.
"Isn't there another way?" she asked, her voice was soft and hopeful, with a tone of desperation.
Xavier was silent for a moment before he spoke again, "There is one other way, yes. But it requires him to make the choice."
Realising what the Professor was referring to, Jean seemed to brighten up slightly,
"He made the choice. He told me before we left, during the briefing. We were having a telepathic conversation and he asked me about the symbiote theory... he said if there's any chance that he could have a normal life, he'd be willing to try it," she explained, brushing her long red hair out of her eyes.
"Then I think we'll be needing the symbiote. Find Beast and have him bring the subject here," Xavier ordered, sudden determination showing in his voice.
"You called?" Beast asked, walking into the lab holding a black substance in a container.
"Let me communicate with the being. We must be sure that this will not make things worse," Xavier said, taking the flask from Beast and closing his eyes. Beast regarded the man with a look of one who was observing utter insanity. It certainly seemed that way to him.
"Do you understand the current situation?" Xavier asked it first, listening for a response. The question hung in his mind for several seconds before it received any form of response.
"Yess,"came the reply. The voice was weaker then he had expected it to be, but never the less, he continued.
"Will you accept Matthew as your new host?" he asked, once again listening for the response.
"We accept, most enthusiastically,"it replied, a feeling of anticipation flowed through their link, indicating that the symbiote did indeed wish to bond. This was no surprise to him.
Xavier opened the flask and set it down next to the body. The black substance practically leapt from the container and latched onto Matthew's unconscious form.. It instantly began to spread out, coating the Negative Phoenix's costume completely and continuing to cover the young man's head.
It settled down, seemingly absorbed into the skin of it's new host. The costume had disappeared to be replaced by a black suit that covered Matthew from head to toe. A huge white spider logo spread across his chest, replacing the Negative Phoenix emblem and where his eyes were, elongated triangles appeared.
This was the beginning.
It's job was far from over yet...