AN: I feel I should preference this by saying that part of this made me uncomfortable to write. I made Shadow King a complete creep. It's not too bad, but just proceed with caution.
Chapter 11
Rachel's POV
If I had a dollar for every case I know of where mutant babies are forcefully aged at an alarming pace to be used as a human weapon, I would only have enough for a candy bar, but that is two more dollars than I should have.
I watch the girl in the epicenter of the storm. There is absolutely no doubt in my mind that it's Kendall. I mean, who else would look that much like Aunt Ororo without actually being Aunt Ororo. If this was one of Shadow King's illusions, she would not have such a strong psychic signature or one at all. He may be a talented illusionist, but he is not that good.
The problem we are facing now is that Shadow King's consciousness is making its final connection with Kendall's mind. She cannot control her powers, let alone fight the powerful being inhabiting her.
"That's a joke, right?" Uncle Logan asks.
Unfortunately, I do not have time to fully explain before Shadow King's psychic voice is echoing around us.
"The Phoenix's Spawn is correct, Wolverine. This is not an illusion. Kendall provides the perfect vessel for me to do my work. After all these years, I can finally do what I was called into existence to succeed!"
As he speaks, I feel reality starting to shift. I fight it, but the psychic attack is stronger than anticipated. He is drawing energy from Kendall's mind and body to increase his power. The world around me flickers between the wrecked labs and a wrecked mansion. I push it away, but it comes back again and again.
One foot stays planted in the real world. The other is pulled into the manipulated astral plane. Around me is the wreckage that will forever be ingrained in my mind. The mansion bombed, collapsed, and smoldered. I can still feel that deaf ringing in my ears from the explosion.
My parents had tried to return to the school as soon as they heard it was under attack, but the Sentinels were ruthless. The Professor had kept me safe to the best of his ability, and then the Sentinel dropped a missile into the school.
Crawling out from under the crispy remains of my grandfather figure is very traumatic. My arm is bloodied, burned, and blistered, but the Professor and his upturned wheelchair kept me shielded against the worst of the impact. The terror has since paralyzed me. I'm going to die. I'm going to die!.
Before my death comes, I'm pulled from the rubble and whisked to what I think will be safety. It isn't until after the sound of a gun is followed by falling, do I realize My Dad had been carrying me.
Now he lies on the grass, his ruby visor shattered, a gaping, bloody hole where his forehead and eyes used to be. Crimson pours out onto the grass.
I hear my mom screaming when their sacred, psychic rapport shattered. The pain of it nearly killed her as well. She stumbles towards us. I see it before she does, and before I can warn her or she can react, a second bullet takes her down. She collapses in slow motion, replying time and time again as the Great Jean Grey and Scott Summers lay side by side, taking their final breaths moments apart.
Blood, guts, fear, danger, death. I'm surrounded by it. I'm getting deeper and deeper. I'm drowning.
"Shadow King, Stop!" I shout, pushing back on his control after nearly caving. The scene fades into the black inkiness of the astral plane. I glare at the astral form of the Shadow King, a milky ghost of a shadow, piercing red eyes glaring right back at me.
"Impressive. You're one of the only ones who can fight me off. Which is why I chose Kendall instead of you to be my host. I knew the Phoenix would never share her precious slave willingly, and that I would need to draw power from something of similar strength to take it myself."
For a second, I fight my way back to reality, looking around at the scene of the X-Men and Wakandans struggling with their own illusions. Then I'm back to the Astral Plane. I keep my psychic shield thick and strong, with the downside being a noticeable strain it has on me. I have to keep him out of my mind before I can even attempt anything offensive. We maintain an even playing field when we are in the Astral Plane. In his illusions, I am at his mercy.
"The Great Rachel Grey. The Phoenix. You are fertile now. A woman. But you are still a child. A child with the power of a thousand universes residing in you. Your offspring could be gods. You could be a Goddess yourself, and yet you chose to protect these mortals? Pitiful. You could rise above it all at my side. The Phoenix and The Shadow King could be a force beyond measure. Our children would be indomitable."
His words make me crawl, and I feel hands starting to grope my body. I increase my barriers. His cackling laugh echoes through my head.
"Ah, so I've found a trigger. But what was it? Your womanhood? Or the power you would hold if you did not confine yourself to the cage your parents have put you in?"
"Shut up, you freak!" I snap, pushing the illusion away once again. I know the Shadow King is just trying to distract me from the battle, but it's deeply disturbing that he has even gone this route to get to me. Not even Vulcan sunk this low when he was torturing me. He was a creep, but not in a sexual way like Shadow King has turned.
He only laughs at me, and I feel him trying to force another illusion through my psychic shield. Then I feel him ease up on the power. Keeping my guard up, I flicker my consciousness out of the astral plane to check the situation at hand. And it is not good.
The elements are still going berserk. The only person who can overpower Kendall is curled into a ball on the floor. Aunt Ororo is pleading with someone to let her out of what I can assume is a tight space that Shadow King has convinced her she's in.
Besides her, the Wakandans aren't fairing much better. Logan is up against the wall, lashing out at something not there. Uncle Bobby is crying shards of ice in the fetal position, and My dad is frozen in pure terror at whatever he is seeing. I don't even know where Uncle Alex is.
The only one who isn't having a total hell of a time is My mom, who is managing to keep the illusions at bay for the most part and attempting to block the others from them. I want to lend a hand, but I have a larger battle ahead.
The heat that the Sentinel's beams produced scorched Uncle Logan's body. I'm sitting at my dead parents' sides as the epic fire leaves nothing but ashes and a red-hot adamantium skeleton.
I'm going to die.
I snap consciousness back to the astral plane before I get deeper into that hellscape. That's what I deserve for putting my guard down even for a second.
In front of me is the wispy form of The Shadow King. His appearance is morphing into something more humanoid with the more power he drains from Kendall. Beefy Limbs, broad shoulders, he looks like Anubis, with glowing red eyes giving my dad a run for his money.
We float around the void, glaring at each other and trying to find holes or faults in each other's psychic shields. His attacks are sporadic and messy, but they get stronger over time. I draw more strength from the Phoenix, her cosmic power increasing my guard against him.
But I'm not the only one with something lending strength. The Shadow King is draining Kendall of her energy and her developing powers. Every bolt of lightning and crash of thunder charges him, giving him the power to maintain his hold on everyone.
I know what I have to do.
I force my consciousness back to my body. Approaching Kendall, I have to use telekinesis to keep myself steady against the high winds. Once I have a close range of her brain, I hit her with a hefty psi-attack. She doesn't have the training to block it, and with the plucks of the right brainwaves, I render her unconscious.
Kendall's body drops, and she would have landed on her neck if I hadn't caught her with my mind. I lower her down the rest of the way. I know this is not pleasant for her, but she'll recover. She already has a fucked up life and she's just a few months old. A bit of unconsciousness followed by discombobulation and confusion when she wakes up is the least of her issues.
With her out of the battle, The Shadow King is left without his boosters. I hop back into the astral plane, pleased to see his astral form struggling to keep up with all the illusions. Even here, The Phoenix's beautiful, fiery glow lends me her strength. It encases my being like armor, and the real battle begins.
He is powerful, and so is his nightmare fuel. Whenever he can, he attempts to slip more of my memories and fears into the situation. I see flashes of my parents' bloody remains. So much blood. So much blood and fire.
Fire.
Fire made flesh.
Power Incarnate.
I'm no longer the one in control. I'm no longer the one fighting. I am frozen, weightless in the pool of black. Left to watch as the Phoenix and The Shadow King fight it out. It's an out-of-body experience in an already out-of-body environment. I already feel unattached to my physical being, and now this? I'm helpless as the two beings soar around me.
And then without warning our energies collide.
The pure cosmic power of the Phoenix mixes with the influential energy of the Shadow King. For what equally feels like a millisecond and a millennium; I am the most powerful being on earth. I am Unstoppable.
I was born with the Phoenix part of me. She is as natural to me as my telekinesis and telepathy. The Shadow King is not. He is a parasite. He is an evil spirit as old as dreams themselves. I cry out in agony as he tries to leech onto my powers. I try to push him away with my own telepathy, calling out for the Phoenix to lend me more strength.
But something is wrong.
Instead of being at my beck and call, the Phoenix leaves me to defend against him myself. Or so I think. It's a horrible realization when I realize what is actually happening.
The Phoenix isn't helping me, because she is helping Shadow King.
I yell out for her assistance, trying to use my own telepathy to regain control of the being. An overwhelming feeling of helplessness washes over me. I am a powerful telepath, but these are two very powerful beings. The Phoenix is responsible for the death of billions, and the Shadow King spawned from nightmares.
My energy is draining quickly. I've never felt this weak. For the first time since the Phoenix found me, I feel powerless. I'm that little girl again, waiting to be rescued, knowing everyone who cared to rescue me is dead.
"Get away from my daughter!"
My dulling consciousness gets sparked back to life as another essence enters the astral plane. My mom's powers outshine the Shadow King's with its pink glow. Her presence is a wave of warmth and protection.
Her psy-blasts attack both entities with a force I had only seen from my original universe's mom. In this universe, no one had come to the terms that she was the most powerful telepath. That is going to change after this.
I feel myself floating away from the situation. Although it seems to be happening in front of me, the battle is a thousand miles away. Three of the most powerful beings are fighting for custody of my body. Most importantly, my mind.
Is one of them draining me of my energy? Or did my previous attempts to fight them off do that? I don't know, but my senses are getting dim. The darkness of the astral plane fades into something even darker.
As I feel myself fade from existence, I realize something.
This is death.
To Be Continued...