[X-Writers] X-Men #59
LEONE ATCHISON
X-Writers is a non-profit organisation. Many of the characters and
places featured in this story are copyright of Marvel Entertainment Group.
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X-Men #59 -- Breaking Up Is Hard To Do
Written for the X-Writers by Marty Blase
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Scott... where... am I? Why is it... so hard...
to think... remember... what happened to....
Scott took a deep breath and tried to think of the right things to say.
"You're not... that is, your body isn't here, Jean. Just your mind, your
astral self, scattered all across this part of the astral plane." Another
deep breath. "You're pulling yourself together just fine, Rachel's helping
you along as best as she can. And I'm right here."
He looked up from Rachel's hands, which held the sparkling firebird that
was Jean's mind now, to her face. He'd hoped he would see something
reassuring, something to strengthen his confidence that Jean would be all
right. All he saw there, though, was more uncertainty. Rachel was doing as
she thought best, but she barely knew what was happening now, much less what
might happen next.
She shrugged a little and mouthed a quick "I'm sorry" at him. Scott
frowned and looked down at the Jean-firebird once again.
My... memories, Scott... I don't know....
what happened to me... did I... die?...
"You... yes, Jean, you died, far below where we are now, in Antarctica."
Scott tried to remember all the details Magneto had told him, but his
emotions were getting in the way. He struggled all the same. "The Shadow
King had possessed you, corrupted your mind, forcing you to help him fight
the X-Men. But you were finally able to fight back, to turn his own
telepathy back on him. It cost you your life...."
Scott didn't want to go on. He looked at Rachel again, but she was
entirely focused on the tiny firebird in her hands. "Scott... I don't know
exactly how, but you're helping her. Maybe by reviving her memories you're
helping her to bring her own mind together on her own, or something.
Whatever it is, though, keep it up." She glanced up briefly. "For her,
Scott."
Scott reached out a steady hand, holding it just an inch from the
firebird, trying somehow to imbue it with his own strength. "Magneto was
under telepathic attack by the Shadow King. You jumped in and stopped him,
and you... you called the Phoenix to yourself again, and used it to destroy
him before the effort of containing that much raw power destroyed you as
well. Your mind was wiped out, Jean, and the Shadow King was gone for good.
You saved everyone, Jean."
I... he... destroyed, Scott? For good?
"Yes, Jean, for good. You did it yourself."
Do you... promise?...
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Marie wanted to help them, or to caution them, or to shout at them or
*something*. But some feeling, an emotion halfway between fear and respect
for their privacy, made her keep her distance. And the more she stalled and
thought about it, the more she realized that it was her fear casting the
majority vote.
This was ridiculous, she thought. She was an Acolyte of Magneto himself,
a mutant with powers and perceptions normal people never knew existed. She'd
helped the X-Men fight Sinister at their Mansion in New York and had...
...she had...
...she'd died, she finally said to herself. She'd fought one villain,
trying to help the X-Men in the best way she knew how, and her body had been
killed for it. Now she was nothing but a disembodied mind, an astral ghost
who needed nothing from Magneto and the others at all.
She looked again at the spot she'd seen Rachel and Scott vanish toward,
far below her. The colors and lights continued to swirl around, pulling
closer together, but the shadowy darkness that surrounded the colors was
pulling together as well. She couldn't say what it was, but something about
that sight made her *know* that it meant danger. And trouble.
And most of all, death.
She held her position, still watching. Rachel's one of the most powerful
telepaths on the planet, she told herself. And Scott's been an X-Man for
half his life. They could take care of themselves, whatever it was....
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"Of course I promise, Jean. You did it yourself, Magneto told me --
pushed yourself into the Shadow King like a living spear and destroyed him
completely. But you're still here, Jean. Just keep trying to focus, and
Rachel will help you bring yourself together again. You can do it."
Scott, I... I know... I remember more, now....
Scott smiled a little. "That's good, Jean. Just keep remembering, Rachel
says that it's helping you to...."
No, Scott... listen... The Shadow King,
when he... transformed me...
he put some of himself in me....
Scott shook his head, worried. "Rachel, do you know what she's talking
about?"
When she answered, Rachel's brow furrowed with each word. "I don't know,
Scott, I'm too busy concentrating... I'm so afraid she won't be able to hold
together on her own, I don't want to distract myself...."
It's all right, Rachel... I'm doing... better, now...
but you have to listen to me, to look....
Rachel looked up at Scott, and he nodded. Slowly, carefully, Rachel drew
her hands apart, and held her breath. The firebird sparkled a little and
then lifted itself into the space between them, turning and flapping slowly.
If Scott looked carefully, he could see flashed of deeper color all along
the bird's wings as it grew larger -- slowly at first, but visibly.
Scott and Rachel both let out a gasp of relief. The Scott spoke first.
"Jean, I... I wish you could see yourself now. It's so beautiful... like the
Phoenix force itself...."
SCOTT, LISTEN!!
He caught himself, but almost didn't. When she shouted, the firebird
flared up -- not just intensified, but actually *flared* -- and when Scott
and Rachel looked again, the firebird was noticably larger. Size was
entirely relative on the astral plane, but Scott would have said that she
was almost halfway to fully-grown now.
I'm sorry, Scott, I... that wasn't just me....
Rachel, I'm losing my focus, it's up to you...
you have to make him *see*....
Scott was visibly confused. "Rachel, what's she talking about? See what?
Is she not stabilizing, is that what she means?"
"I don't think so, I...." She cut herself off. "Hang on a minute, Scott.
Something she said, that it wasn't just her...."
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With that, Rachel closed her eyes and let the Phoenix force that still
resided within her grow and expand outward, through Scott and Jean, into the
entirety of the astral plane around them. She was expanding, feeling, as far
as she could, looking for some sort of confirmation that they were or
weren't alone.
Far away, above them all, she could see Marie and the others still
aboard Asteroid M. Below them was the scattered quasi-consciousnesses of
hundreds of animals moving through the Antarctic waters that were their
home. But there was something else, not really a focused mind but a
scattered one. Like Jean had been when they first came here, but not like
Jean. This was was much bigger, and very, very different....
Then, as Rachel watched, it began to pull together, far faster than Jean
had done. And it grew darker as it did so, turning the bright yellows and
whites of Jean's self into dark oranges and blackened crimson. Rachel drew a
little closer, trying to see what it could be, even as another part of her
mind screamed at her that she should grab Scott and run as fast as she could
in the opposite direction.
It drew together, tightly wrapping itself around the phoenix firebird
that represented Jean's consciousness, causing it to grow even larger than
before. Rachel saw a face, a dark scowl of anger and hatred, looking
directly up at her.
And then it spat something at her, something black and terrible and
painful, and as she felt herself falling toward it again she heard a cruel
laugh bubbling up like lava from its curled and scarred lips....
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"Oh, good Lord, no, anything but this..." Scott stammered as he moved
away from the transformed firebird. He, too, had seen the face, just as he
had seen Rachel shot down by it like a clay pigeon and collapse face-down on
the ground between them. And he, too, had recognized too late exactly what
it was. "Jean, are you still in there?" he called out desperately. "JEAN!?"
"OH, SHE'S IN HERE, CYCLOPS," the Shadow King replied with a snarl. His
voice sounded like rusty metal being dragged across broken glass. "IN FACT,
YOU COULD SAY THE TWO OF US ARE INSEPARABLE NOW. ISN'T THAT JUST THE MOST...
DELICIOUS IRONY YOU'VE EVER HEARD?"
The Shadow King stood up, towering over Scott like a falling building.
His astral "body" was an enormous black, rippling gargoyle that looked as if
it were made out of an animated tar pool. And deep inside its chest, where
its heart should have been, sat the flickering firebird of Jean's
consciousness.
"Uhhnnnn...." The voice was Rachel's, and she held her head as she tried
to stand up. The Shadow King looked down at her and grinned nastily. He
glanced at Scott again.
"INTERESTING. I'M GENUINELY SURPRISED SHE SURVIVED THAT PSI-BLAST OF
MINE TO RECOVER SO QUICKLY. LET'S SEE WHAT WE CAN DO TO REMEDY THAT, SHALL
WE?" With that he lifted one enormous foot into the air, positioned it
carfully, and slammed it down on top of Rachel as hard as he could.
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"Hello? Can you hear me in there?"
Yes, barely.... Farouk is powerful, and he's draining
so much of my own strength into himself that I
can barely hold together as I am now....
"Yes, I can see how weak you are. I'm sorry. Is there anything at all
that you can do?"
I... no, I'm sorry... if he could be weakened, I might
be able to stop him, but right now....
"Weakened? Like how? Does he have a hidden vulnerability, some way that
he can be defeated?"
Yes, he has one... but only one....
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Except that Rachel wasn't there anymore. Her astral form disappeared
just before impact and reappeared beside Scott. She was standing up straight
again, but just barely. Scott didn't have to guess how much the Shadow
King's first attack had hurt her, and he would be willing to bet that he had
plenty more pain coming for them both.
"Nice save, Rachel," Scott said out of the side of his mouth as they
both tried to step as far back as they could. "I don't suppose you could do
the same thing to him?"
"Don't try to be funny now, Scott," she whispered back. "That little
escape maneuver actually hurt me to do it. Which means you shouldn't count
on me being able to do it a second time."
"Well, what happened? How did the Shadow King use Jean to reintegrate
himself? Magneto told me that he had been totally destroyed by Jean when
they fought in the Savage Land...."
"AND SO I WAS, LITTLE MUTANT," came the Shadow King's voice from behind
them, "UNTIL YOU AND YOUR LITTLE TELEPATH HERE DECIDED TO REVERSE THE
SITATION FOR US BOTH."
Before they realized what was happening the Shadow King was grabbing
them from behind, holding each one in a single clawed hand so tightly that
it hurt. "I'M SURPRISED YOU DIDN'T SEE ME COMING, TO TELL THE TRUTH. BEFORE
YOU BOTH DIE, THEN, WOULD YOU LIKE TO TELL ME EXACTLY WHAT YOU WERE TRYING
TO DO? I'M MERELY CURIOUS, OF COURSE."
"We... were..." Rachel squirmed in the Shadow King's grip to try and
make it easier to breathe. "We were trying to save Jean. I detected her
scattered mind from... far away, and thought that maybe I... we, could save
what was left of her mind and bring her back. Back to life."
"AND YOU NEVER THOUGHT ABOUT WHAT SHE HAD DONE TO ME BEFORE SHE DIED, ON
THE ASTRAL PLANE? OR WHAT I DID TO HER LONG BEFORE THEN?"
Scott cut in. "Whe know full well what you did to her, Farouk," he
snapped. "You possessed her, twisted her mind around so that she'd serve you
as a sick and twisted version of yourself and fight the X-Men for you. But
it didn't work, did it? She turned that right back against you, didn't she?"
"INDEED?" the Shadow King asked with a wicked smile.
"Yes, 'indeed'. She was able to stop you by turning your own psionic
powers against you, in a single telepathic blast that destroyed you and then
burned her own mind out as a...."
And at that the Shadow King laughed, and Scott wished that his arms
weren't pinned so that he could at least cover his ears. The sound was
almost more painful than the Shadow King's grip itself. "OH, MY POOR,
PATHETIC MISTER SUMMERS. IS THAT WHAT THAT YOU THOUGHT? NO, NO, SHE
DESTROYED HERSELF, AND MERELY TOOK ME WITH HER."
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"I... I'm sorry, I don't know if I can...."
It's the only way. But first you need to weaken him,
distract him.... I don't know how, but please hurry....
"I... no, I can't. I'm sorry, but I just can't. Rachel, she's the
telepath, she'll be able to do something. I'm just not powerful enough, he'd
kill me...."
He'll do far worse than that if you don't. Please
trust me. But first I need you to remember something,
a message for my husband...
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"But, that doesn't make any sense..." Rachel intervened. She was having
trouble breathing as the Shadow King's grip tightened. "How could the
backlash from her own death have had any effect on you?"
"OH, I WAS THE ONE WHO WAS DISINTEGRATED FIRST, OF COURSE. PERHAPS I
MISPOKE. YOU SEE, WHEN I MADE YOUR DEAR JEAN INTO MY SHADOW QUEEN, I
'MARRIED' MYSELF TO HER IN MORE THAN THE OUTWARD SENSE. I JOINED MY POWER TO
HERS, LINKING OUR TELEPATHIC MINDS TO ACHIEVE A LEVEL OF STRENGTH WE HAD
NEVER REACHED BEFORE. PERHAPS IT WAS HER LINK TO THE PHOENIX THAT EMPOWERED
HER SO, OR PERHAPS NOT. EITHER WAY, IT WAS THAT LINK THAT EVENTUALLY DOOMED
US BOTH."
"You didn't count on her being able to call the Phoenix to herself again
to destroy you," Scott said.
"CORRECT. I THOUGHT I HAD TAINTED HER SOUL SO THOROUGHLY THAT THE
PHOENIX WOULD NEVER BE ABLE TO TOUCH HER AGAIN."
"Nice planning," said Rachel.
"YOU ARE HARDLY IN A POSITION TO CAST INSULTS. AS I SAID, WE WERE JOINED
TOO DEEPLY FOR HER TO SIMPLY END OUR 'RELATIONSHIP' THROUGH MY DEATH. SHE
KNEW WHEN SHE SLEW ME THAT I HAD AS MUCH OF HER IN ME AS THERE WAS OF ME IN
HER. BY DESTROYING MY ASTRAL BODY, SHE DESTROYED HERS AS WELL. IN THE BLAST,
WE WERE SCATTERED ACROSS THE ASTRAL PLANE TOGETHER.
"I WAS, IN TIME, ABLE TO REINTEGRATE MYSELF USING ONE OF MY REMAINING
HOST BODIES, THE GOOD SENATOR McKINNLEY. BUT WHEN THAT BODY WAS ALSO
DESTROYED, MY MIND WAS AGAIN SCATTERED, THIS TIME WITHOUT AN ANCHOR. BUT
JEAN AND I STILL SHARED OUR SPECIAL 'CONNECTION'. WHEN YOU BEGAN TO
REINTEGRATE HER MIND -- USING A PORTION OF THE PHOENIX FORCE, NO LESS -- I
SIMPLY DRIFTED ALONG FOR THE RIDE.
"I'M A LITTLE SURPRISED YOU DIDN'T SEE ME COMING, TO BE PERFECTLY
HONEST. I ALWAYS KNEW THAT XAVIER WAS AN IDEALISTIC FOOL, BUT I NEVER WOULD
HAVE DREAMED THAT HIS STUDENTS WOULD BE CAPABLE OF SOMETHING SO SIMPLE-
MINDED AS THIS."
"We were... trying to save Jean, Farouk." Scott said as the Shadow
King's hand squeezed around him suddenly. "We weren't trying to help you.
Surely you can see that...."
"OF COURSE I CAN. AND NOW I WOULD LIKE YOU TWO TO SEE SOMETHING. I NEED
YOUR LITTLE JEAN HERE TO SUSTAIN ME IN THIS NEW FORM, THANKS TO YOU TWO. BUT
I DON'T NEED HER IN ONE PIECE." He lowered Rachel and Scott to his chest,
allowing them a view of the firebird within his heart. As they watched, it
began to grow smaller. And smaller.
"BEFORE I DESTROY BOTH OF YOU, THEN, I'LL LET YOU WATCH AS YOUR FELLOW
X-MAN -- YOUR OWN WIFE, CYCLOPS -- IS DEVOURED SPARK BY FLICKERING SPARK.
WHEN THAT IS DONE, I WILL TAKE OVER YOUR OWN BODIES AND THOSE OF YOUR
SURVIVING FRIENDS ONE AFTER ANOTHER. AND THEN, SAFE AND PROTECTED ABOARD
YOUR ORBITAL SPACE STATION, I WILL BRING ABOUT A REIGN OF DEATH AND TERROR
ACROSS YOUR WORLD SUCH AS HAS NEVER EVEN BEEN IMAGINED...."
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*Now!*...
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If Scott had been suffering from the sound of the Shadow King's
laughter, then the screams were pure torture to his ears.
Neither he nor Rachel could see the cause, but suddenly the Shadow King
buckled backwards and fell to his knees. His hands opened he fell forward to
the ground, and Rachel and Scott were just able to jump free before being
crushed.
Only when they were a safe distance away did they see the cause of the
Shadow King's sudden weakness: a small, solitary figure hovering just behind
him, wearing a simple medival suit of armor and carrying a stylized
two-handed broadsword, the blade dripping a black ichor that could only be
what passed for the Shadow King's blood in his astral body.
"Marie?" Scott finally called out to her, after overcoming his initial
disbelief. "Is that you?"
"Yeah, it's me," she replied simply. She maintained her position above
the Shadow King's kneeling form. "One of the neat side effects of being an
astral body, fortunately, is that my appearance is limited only by my
imagination. Now just stay where you are, and hopefully this'll all be over
with in...."
"Marie, look out!" Scott shouted.
*SMACK!*
The blow came faster than any of them could react, least of all Marie
herself. The Shadow King's fist came up from below to knock her sideways out
of the air, some distance from Rachel and Scott. As the Shadow King stood up
slowly, they could see the wound Marie had inflicted on his back -- a long,
deep slice across the spine and shoulder that was now healing before their
eyes. In a matter of seconds the damage was completely gone.
the Shadow King boomed as he stomped toward Marie, now sprawled across
the ground and visibly winded from his attack. Her sword remained steady in
both hands, but her psionic armor flickered and faded as her concentration
waxed. "YOU PATHETIC... MEDDLING... HALF-ALIVE, WORTHLESS LITTLE WASTE!
I'LL SHRED YOUR SOUL WITH MY BARE HANDS AND DEVOUR WHAT'S LEFT OF IT
MYSELF!"
Scott whispered to Rachel, "Well, at least he's moving away from us.
That's probably supposed to count for something. Can you pull Marie over
here safely, keep us all out of his reach?"
"You don't ask for much, do you, Scott?" Rachel replied sarcastically,
but still she reached out with her mind and picked up Marie off the ground,
lifting her up and well out of the Shadow King's reach back toward them. She
put her down on her feet in front of them both.
"Nice surprise attack, Marie," Rachel said. To herself, she added, "but
if I'd thought psionic swords and battle armor were all we needed against
him, I would have created them myself."
"It was?" she said, a little uncertain. "I mean, thank you. Sorry. But I
was only doing what I was told," Marie replied, still holding her sword. "I
didn't think he'd recover that quickly, or I would have had the sense to
dodge."
"Told?" Scott asked. "By who? Did Magneto send you out here?"
"Of course not, I was outside the station anyways. It was Jean who
said...."
"Move it!!" Rachel shouted suddenly, pushing them both just far enough
forward to evade the Shadow King's fist as it slammed into the ground.
"YOU THREE ARE FAST BECOMING MORE TROUBLE THAN YOU'RE WORTH," the Shadow
King bellowed as they scattered out of his reach again. "DON'T YOU THINK I
COULD SIMPLY KILL YOU NOW AND INVADE YOUR SPACE STATION MYSELF?"
"No, Kingy, as a matter of fact you can't," Marie answered as she stood
back up. She flourished her sword amateurishly, but it appeared to be
growing longer and, if possible, more dangerous as she did so. "You're still
tied to the astral plane as long as Jean's inside you, isn't that right?
Until you can find a host body to take over. So all we really need to do is
stall you for now."
She rolled forward as the Shadow King brought a fist down again, just
dodging his blow and taking a neat slice out of his wrist as she lunged. He
grimaced in pain, but didn't shout again, he merely cradled his wrist in his
other hand until it was healed again. "STALL ME FOR WHAT, HALF-ALIVE?" he
demanded as he followed her with his formless eyes. "YOU CAN'T HOPE TO MATCH
ME STRENGTH FOR STRENGTH, NOT HERE ON THE ASTRAL PLANE. SO WHAT MEAGER PLAN
COULD YOU POSSIBLY HAVE IN MIND TO STALL *FOR*?"
"Rachel knows," she replied in a voice halfway between combative
confidence and fear for her life. "Don't you?"
"Know what?" Rachel called back. "I haven't the slightest...."
"Yes, you do," Marie said. "And so does Jean. You thought of it before,
as soon as the Shadow King appeared. Remember?"
The Shadow King hesitated as he tried to decide which of them should be
his first target. "REMEMBER WHAT? IF YOU'RE THINKING YOU CAN...."
"I... oh, God. Yes. Yes, I remember," Rachel answered a little
uncertainly. "But how did you...."
"Tell you later. Right now get out of the way and just do it. Scott!"
she shouted as she threw her sword in his direction. "You're with me for
now. C'mon!"
Scott caught the sword by the hilt and took a second to look it over.
Deadly, to be sure, although against the Shadow King's present form that
really didn't count for much. A second identical sword manifested itself in
Marie's open hand.
Is it my imagination, he thought as he glanced up, or is the Shadow King
getting larger?
"All right, then," he said finally, "let's get to it!"
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"Can you hear me again, Jean?" Rachel asked as she flew up and above the
others.
Yes, although he is making it difficult for me.
But the efforts of the others to distract him are
proving successful.
"This was all your plan, wasn't it? You've been talking with Marie."
Again, yes. She is a remarkable young woman when she
needs to be. Remember that about her, Rachel.
"I will, mom. So what do you need from me?"
I need your trust, Rachel, and your dedication to this
task. I know you don't want to do this, but it
really is the only way to stop him now.
"It can't be the only way, mom. We can break him up, scatter his astral
essence across the plane again like before...."
And he would reintegrate again in time, like
he always has before. He needs to be stopped, Rachel,
once and for all.
"I... I know."
Do you trust me, Rachel?
"Of course."
Then let's do it. And if it matters, now...
I love you, too.
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Fighting someone as powerful as the Shadow King with only a broadsword
was just as difficult as Scott had imagined it would be. But as long as he
and Marie never stood in the same place at once, they were able to stay just
ahead of his attacks, each dodging one blow while the other lunged and
stabbed. The Shadow King became steadily more and more infuriated with them
both, until he became too reckless to do anything but lunge and stomp at
them as they moved around.
"Enjoying yourself yet, Marie?" Scott called out during a momentary
rest. He stepped away from a clumsy kick and delivered a short slice to the
Shadow King's ankle. The wound healed almost immediately, but that didn't
stop the Shadow King from making a short yelp of pain.
"Time of my life, Scott," she replied as she flew up and out of the
Shadow King's reach, waiting until he turned his back again so she could
move in. "You used to do this every day back at Xavier's, I bet?"
"Well, that was usually in the Danger Room instead, but the general
situation was the same. Of course, none of the robots we fought in there
were nearly as ugly as this one."
"EEEEEEEEYAAAAAAAHHHHH!!!" the Shadow King raged as he swung wildly at
Marie. Scott could see another sword cut on his shoulder, already healing.
"I WILL TEAR YOUR LIMBS FROM YOUR ASTRAL CORPSE ONE BY ONE, MUTANTS! I
REFUSE TO BE OVERCOME BY MERE INSECTS IN MY OWN REALM!"
"Yeah, well," Marie taunted as she sailed in for another attack, "if
we're so 'mere', how come you're the one who needs uUHNNNN!"
Scott gritted his teeth as he watched Marie drop out of the air and be
crushed against the ground by the Shadow King's hand. Her weapon fell free
of her grip and clattered on the ground several feet out of her reach, then
faded and evaporated from view. Stupid, stupid, *stupid*, he scolded
himself. Marie's not an experienced fighter, I should never have distracted
her by talking to her....
"I SAID I NEEDED SCOTT AND RACHEL, GIRL. THEY'RE THE ONES WITH THE HOST
BODIES I NEED TO RETURN TO THEIR WORLD. BUT YOU...." He grinned on one side
of his mouth as he ground his hand against her back. Marie tried to bite
back her cries of pain, but she was barely successful.
"...YOU, GIRL, HAVE NO BODY, AND CONSEQUENTLY YOUR DEATH IS OF NO
CONCERN TO ME. I DOUBT IT IS OF NO CONCERN TO YOUR FRIENDS, HOWEVER." He
turned to look at Scott. "YIELD YOUR WEAPON, CYCLOPS, OR I WILL CRUSH HER
SLOWLY AND LET THE SOUND OF HER SCREAMS BE THE LAST THING YOU EVER HEAR."
"Scott... I can't... help me...." Marie stammered, trying to free one
arm for leverage. The Shadow King pinned her errant wrist with one thumb,
and she cried out again. Scott winced, but stood his ground.
"YOUR LAST CHANCE, CYCLOPS. DROP YOUR WEAPON, OR I WILL DESTROY YOU AS
WELL AND USE RACHEL'S BODY TO ESCAPE TO YOUR SPACE STATION INSTEAD."
Did someone mention my name?
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Imagine a balloon... no, make that a star, a binary neutron star,
draining all the matter and energy from its brighter twin as they
continually orbit around one another. The neutron star can do nothing but
devour, while the younger star can only radiate -- light and heat, spreading
through the coldness of space around it. But the neutron star changes all
that, taking everything it can from its twin, sucking in every last photon
and craving even more as it grows.
But in time, a critical mass is reached. The neutron star tries to
consume everything given it, until it is finally fed more than it can
handle. It tries to stop, but its mass is too great for such a thing to be
possible any more. And its twin continues to feed it, pouring even more
light and heated gasses into it, until the neutron star can take no more.
And the neutron star becomes a nova, exploding in a brilliant flare of light
and energy that will be seen in systems across the galaxy for billions of
years to come.
That is the sort of symmetry the Shadow King and Jean Grey have
achieved, and it is only now, when it is too late, that the Shadow King
realizes what has been done. Jean Grey's own power wasn't what the Shadow
King craved, but the near-infinite life-force of the Phoenix which sustained
her consciousness. Light and energy, pouring into the Shadow King's dense
black heart, making him hungrier for more with each passing minute.
But while he was busy swatting at Marie and Scott, Rachel had tapped
into the Phoenix once again and began pouring as much of that power directly
into Jean, embedded within the Shadow King himself. And it was only now, now
that he heard Rachel's voice coming from deep inside himself, that he
realized that he too was achieving critical mass....
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"NO... NO, I WILL NOT GO LIKE THIS... NOT THIS WAY...."
The Shadow King was clawing frantically at his own chest now, trying to
tear the firebird free. His body was swelling at every point, the firebird
within him growing larger by the second, so quickly now that even Scott and
Marie could see it happening.
"I... WILL... NOT... GO... LIKE... THIS!!!..."
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"Marie, where's Rachel?" Scott asked quickly as he handed back her
sword.
Marie took it in one hand and gripped it, then let it dissolve into
nothingness. She replied, "I... I'm not sure, Scott. Isn't she up there,
somewhere?..."
"I'm right here, guys," came Rachel's voice finally. She dived down from
far above the both of them and pivoted, hovering just in front of them both.
"But not for long. Shadow King's going critical, and we've got about twenty
seconds to get out of the astral plane before he goes up."
"Goes up?" Scott asked. "Rachel, what did you do to him? What did you do
to Jean?"
"Scott, I promise I'll tell you about it later, but we need to leave
*now*." She picked up Scott by both shoulders and looked down at Marie.
"Follow me, Marie. Hurry."
"But... I can't leave the astral plane! What am I supposed to do when
he... goes up?"
"Stay ahead of me, and just move. Once we're further away I think I can
use my own power to protect you from the blast."
"Blast!?" Scott interrupted angrily. "Rachel, what the hell did you...."
"Not now, Scott, *please*." She flew up and away, heading back toward
the points of grey light that identified Asteroid M and its inhabitants.
"Marie, let's scoot!"
She did, and when she did she flew faster and harder than she ever had
in her life.
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"...hear me? Rachel? Scott?"
"Jean!... no...." Scott flubbered as he opened his eyes a little. Alex,
Magnus, and Skids were all gathered around him with concerned looks on their
faces. Rachel was leaning against the wall right next to him, unmoving,
exactly where they'd been when their astral forms left their bodies.
"I said, can either of you hear me?" Alex repeated.
Scott held one ear in his hand and tried to stand up. "Calm down, I can
hear you just... whoah...." He reeled as he tried to get to his feet, but
Alex caught him. A second later he was standing against the wall, his
headache already fading. "Yeah, Alex, I'm fine. Thanks. How's Rachel,
though? And where's Marie?"
"Marie?" Alex asked quizzically. "She was taking a time-out outside the
other end of the station, last time I checked. Why?"
"No, she's not there... she was...."
"I'm right here, Alex," Marie said as she stepped through the wall
behind him. She was breathing a little hard -- odd, Scott thought, since her
astral body had no need for oxygen -- but otherwise she appeared unscathed.
The others turned to see her there, and then turned back to Rachel.
"Don't everyone greet me at once," Marie muttered under her breath.
"Scott, what were you two doing out there?" Alex said again. Is she
still out there with Jean, or something?"
Scott glanced at Marie, who only shrugged. "I... well, I don't know if
she...."
"I'm... all right, Scott," Rachel said groggily. She rubbed her eyes and
leaned against the wall with one hand, not even trying to stand up. Scott
tried to help her get to her feet, but Rachel swatted his hands away.
I didn't see the blast coming behind us, he thought, but I sure heard
it. Felt it, even. Whatever Rachel had to do to shield us from the edge of
that, it clearly took a lot out of her. Let her rest there as long as she
likes.
Skids kneeled down to her and asked, "What's the matter? Did you find
Jean out there, like you said? Is she okay?"
"That depends... a little... on how you look at it," Rachel replied with
closed eyes. "We'll tell you about it later. Right now, though, would it be
too much trouble to ask you three to get us something to eat?"
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When they were alone again, Scott and Marie sat down against the wall on
either side of Rachel. They breathed a collective sigh of relief and stared
away into nothing for a while. When the silence was finally broken, it was
Scott who spoke.
"Rachel..." he started hesitantly. She rolled her head to look at him,
and he continued. "Rachel, was there really no other way?"
She took another deep breath and looked away. "Scott, I wish I knew.
Maybe there was, but I sure couldn't see what it was. Jean told me and Marie
what she wanted us to do, and said it was the only way to stop him for good.
We believed her."
"And is there any chance he'll be able to reintegrate now, to pull
himself back together without Jean?"
"None whatsoever. When Jean... went... the Shadow King wasn't just
dispersed by the Phoenix force. He was completely destroyed. There's no
trace of him out there now, nothing at all. We'll never have to worry about
him again."
She paused, and turned her head back toward him. "I'm sorry, Scott. You
know I wanted her to be alive again as much as you did. But it was a choice
between her life and the world's, and... well, you would have done the same
thing. So would I. So would any of us."
"I know, Rachel. I know. It's just... I don't think I *could* have done
the same thing, if I'd been in your position. I just don't think I could
have done anything to let her die again."
"You couldn't have." It was Marie, and when she spoke both Rachel and
Scott leaned forward to look at her. Marie turned and saw the expressions on
their faces, and rethought her answer. "I mean, that's what Jean thought.
That you would try to save her, even if it meant giving the Shadow King the
opening he needed to go free. That's why she only talked to me and Rachel."
Scott licked his lips. "Did... she... say anything else, Marie? About
us?"
Marie nodded. "She gave me a message, Scott. Specifically for you. Hang
on a second...." She rolled her eyes in thought and spoke again, this time
from memory. "She said, 'I love you, Scott, and I know I can trust you. My
daughter was supposed to be the Shadow King's last curse upon us, but only
you can change that. When she is born, *you* must take care of her, not
Magnus. Because one day, everything will depend on her.'"
Scott blinked. "Her... daughter?" He looked at Rachel, who only looked
back at him. "How did she know it would be a... a girl?"
"I don't know, Scott. That's all she told me." Marie sat back and
crossed her arms over her knees. "I didn't even know you were going to have
a daughter, y'know. You and her, I mean. I guess belated congratulations are
in order."
"I..." Scott began, and then stopped. "Never mind. Thank you, Marie. For
everything."
<=><=><=><=><=><=><=><=><=><=><= EPILOGUE =><=><=><=><=><=><=><=><=><=><=>
About one hundred and twenty million miles
beyond Earth's orbit
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"Terlon!" a voice boomed as the door to the bridge opened. "What in the
name of Pa'rak Themself do you think you're doing, summoning me up here at
this hour? Are you incapable of navigating my ship through a simple asteroid
field by yourself?"
"My apologies, Bashar," Terlon replied humbly as he crossed his hands
over both shoulders in salute. "But I felt this would be something you would
want to hear with your own ears."
"What," Bashar asked sternly, "did you want me to hear?"
Terlon gestured to an officer standing behind a control panel on the
other side of the bridge. The officer nodded, and pressed a pair of lights
on his console. A speaker beside it crackled to life and began speaking to
them in a language none aboard could understand. But the content of the
message was unimportant. What the Bashar and Terlon both knew was that it
was the existance of the language itself that carried meaning.
Bashar smiled broadly and laughed. "I *knew* it! When was this
transmission picked up?"
"Only a few minutes ago, Bashar. I contacted you as soon as we were
certain of its origin."
"And was it where we expected it to be?"
"Exactly where we expected it, sir: the third world from this system's
sun. According to Callorr, messages similar to this one, but distinct, can
be found emanating from that world on almost every radio frequency. It's
what we've been looking for, Bashar -- unquestionable proof of intelligent
life and a technological civilization." Terlon tried to avoid looking too
pleased with himself, but the satisfaction of knowing what he now knew was
too much to contain.
"In that case, Terlon," Basher said firmly, "you know what to do next.
Prepare the troops and the shuttlecraft immediately, and run a triple-level
system check on all strategic and weapons systems. Make sure nothing is
overlooked." He turned to the officer at the console. "How long until we are
within orbital range of the third planet, Callorr?"
"At our current rate of deceleration, about one hundred fifty-seven
hours."
"And there are no similar radio messages coming from the fourth planet?"
"None whatsoever, Bashar. We've been scanning for days, but the fourth
planet is definitely lifeless."
"All right, then." Bashar turned back toward Terlon, who immediately
stood at attention for him. "Since we seem to have some time to spare before
our arrival, I'm going back to sleep. But I want those system checks
completed before I'm back here in the morning, Terlon. And I trust every
weapon on board this ship will be one-hundred percent charged and ready for
combat by then."
"Of course, Bashar."
Bashar puffed his chest and looked proudly around his bridge. The
officers there looked back at him, and one or two even smiled.
"Get yourselves ready, fellow Pa'rakii," he announced before turning
back toward the door to the corridor outside. "We're about to make first
contact!"
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