All the restrictions and warnings from my last stories are in effect,
"I'm ready to learn WHAT?!" I exclaim as I try to stand and fall over.
Charles catches me and sits me down again.
"Every so often," he begins, "evolution jumps forward in ways none of us can understand. You, dear Ryan, seem to have made that leap. You are neither homo sapien nor superior; you are the next step ... something no one could have comprehended. Magneto thought you were simply a tool he could take advantage of; we thought you were a weapon to keep at bay ... we were ALL wrong, you are unique, and I apologise for thinking you were simply a student who needed structure and guidance. I am simply at a loss to help a person such as you."
"So, I'm the 'atom bomb' of this generation?" I joke.
Xavier pauses and replies, "Well, yes, you may be. You are something different and beyond what we know, and you have certainly shown you can wreck havok; but you have also proven yourelf worthy by accepting sacrifice with no worry of consequence,"
"I pretty much committed suicide to save the life of my lover ... why is that worthy?" I ask, "I would think emotions such as that would render me useless ... I mean, it was those emotions that led us here!"
"No," Xavier begins, "it was selfishness that brought us to this point. You THOUGHT you were powerful enough to save your lover, which was what led you here! Pride led to his astral death, and humility led to his, and your, uprising; without that, and your acceptance of that, you would have failed."
"This kind of makes sense," I murmur, "the Poenix said as much."
"What do you mean?" Charles asks, eyebrows raised, "it is VERY important for us to know and understand the communication you have had with the Phoenix.
"I had a vision or something from the Phoenix awhile ago that said I would understand in time. That there was a truth I needed to learn. Perhaps this is it!" I exclaim,
Charles frowns and says, "Perhaps, but I think it is more than that. Phoenix is a god, as we understand it, and thus knows all, but does not always tell all. I think this is another riddle we need to unravel ..."
Charles' brow creases as he seems deep in thought before smiling and saying, "But enough, Ryan, you have been through a lot lately, and I think some rest is in store for you. We have accomplished a lot today, so please take your leave and spend some time relaxing with the other students; you have definitely earned it!"
"But I want to know what is going on, Professor!" I state.
"Now, now, you have been put through hell and come back victorious," Charles explains, "The body and mind can only take so much before it refuses to deal with more distress, and while you feel ready to face the challenges ahead, and there WILL be challenges, you need your rest to regain that which you lost. Take some time to relax; I will do what I can to help answer the questions still posed and provide you with what you seek."
I try to respond, but Charles waves me off, "Go have some fun, you deserve it!"
He, and his thoughts, seem quite firm about this, so I begrudgingly turn and take the elevator to the normal floors of the mansion.
The ride up is lonely, physically, but the influx of power and ideas presented by the Phoenix, newly reclaimed, echo in my head and resonate throughout me.
Yes, I am humbled and ready to do what it takes to learn from my mistakes, but I still hunger for action and resolution.
As if in response to my thoughts, the elevator suddenly shakes and shudders to a halt.
The lights go out.
Alarms sound as emergency beacons come to life and bathe the elevator in an unearthly red light as a mechanical voice states, "Please stay calm. There has been an interruption in service to this lift. Please do not attempt to exit as power will be restored shortly. We appreciate your patience, and rest assured, should power not be restored, help will be remitted shortly to extricate you from your predicament."
"Yeah, right," I mutter. I steady myself and reach out with the Phoenix to determine what is going on with the lift system. At first, it feels sluggish, almost as if working through quicksand, but as I push harder, it travels faster until the whole of the mansion is vivid in my mind. With a shock I realize, and see, that we are under attack from Magneto and his mutants!
In my mind's eye, I get a bird's eye view of the whole property and see the war being waged above me. Wolverine, Cyclops and Storm are battling on the basketball court against a good 20 mutants.
Iceman, Rogue, and Jubilee are holding back a strike team from the dormitories and all the teen mutants holed up there.
Xavier, below me, is rushing to Cerebro to do what he can to coordinate and strengthen his family facing the battle.
All of that rushes past me and into my mind in an instant, but what stands out like a beacon in the chaos, is the blinding influence of a familar presence above me. I focus the Phoenix on the controls of the lift, and as I strain, it starts to jerk upwards towards this power.
Moments later, I reach that floor, but the doors refuse to open. I gesture, but the doors stay stuck.
Anger flares within me without warning, and the doors explode outward.
SHIT! Didn't want that!
As the panels fly outwards, they are suddenly stopped and flung into the wall next to them.
Without that barrier, I can now audibly hear the sounds of battle around me: reality being rippled, explosions, screams of rage and pain ... but this is all muted by the sight in front of me.
Liz stands where the doors flew apart with a twisted smile scarring her beautiful face, "Ah, Ryan, I knew I would find you here. Still haven't learned to control your temper, I see."
I start to attack, but stop when I hear the Phoenix whisper to me --
this is how it must be, do not react
Instead I ask, "What do you want, Liz? Is it me?"
Liz laughs giddily, "You stupid boy! You already GAVE me what I want! You have nothing left for me! I just wanted to face you again so I could show you how complete your failure is!"
Liz simply winks, and her power throws me back and indents me to the wall of the lift.
I fall to the ground and nearly black out with the pain that inflicts my body, but I can deal with it compared to the agony I faced for my love, so I shake the webs from my head and stand, wearily, to my feet.
"Is ... is that ... your best?" I stammer.
Liz laughs and says, "Try THIS!" and unleashes hell on me.
Words can not describe the agony her assault leveled on me. Philosophers and prophets have done their best to describe eternal damnation, but their best efforts have nothing on the agony Liz unleashes upon me.
Time has lost meaning, and I have no idea how long the torment lasted, or how long I lay there before I stood up again, with blood leaking out of my nose, eyes, and mouth, and found the strength to ask, again, "I ... is ... th ... that it?! I have faced monsters far more powerful than you and emerged victorious! You and your hate are NOTHING!" I scream with all my might, "you WILL fall to us, and you KNOW that!"
Liz' eyes flare with fire, as I defy her, "Stupid, MORTAL, I WILL NEVER FALL!" she screams as fire surrounds her and she spreads her arms and rises through the rubble that was the House that Xavier Built. As she ascends, she begins to burn as fire flows around her and manifests itself as the firebird of the Dark Phoenix.
As she rises over the ashes of the battle, all involved stop their endeavors and gaze at the monstrosity before them.
As Dark Phoenix moves above the scene beloew her, she cries, "MY WILL IS ULTIMATE! ALL THAT IS AND WILL, SHALL BE DONE BY THE WILL OF PHOENIX!"
With that exclamation, Dark Phoenix screams and all on the ground are blown to their knees, as if in worship.
Dark Phoenix flies off and all that lies before her is leveled in the wake of her rage.
I am weak beyond belief, as I stagger to my feet and do my best to raise the wreckage before me to try to find Charles.
"Let me help you," a voice says to me.
I look over and see a bloodied Magneto to my right.
"I'm sorry," he says, "I had no idea, I just thought ..."
"STOP!" I say with as much strength as I have, "We need to help Charles now! Help me!"
The look of agony on Magneto's face is overwhelming as he nods, and uses his powers to help me move the wreckage of the school.
Hours go by, and we are all exhausted beyong belief, but we still dig, looking for Charles.
Suddenly, a shout goes up. He is found! We all rush to Charles, and help dig him free. He is weak and nearly unresponsive. In his delirium, he keeps calling for me.
I hobble over and say, "I'm here, Charles, what is it?"
He looks up, sees me, and smiles his ever enigmatic smile.
"You know," he murmurs.
"Know, know what?"
"What to do. You'll be fine now, even if I'm not here."
Charles puts his hand to my face, "You've always known, it's the understanding that is hard to do."
And with that, his hand falls and he stops breathing.
Tears, unbidden, fall from my eyes, as I am pushed away as mutants skilled in healing rush to his side and try to bring him back to life.
Bloody and broken as I am, I stand and limp away from the greatest man I have ever known.
Resolve tightens my thoughts as my place in this passion play clarify in my mind.
The stage is set.
The choice is made.
The Phoenix speaks:
it is done. death awaits you.
I apologize wholeheartedly for the amount of time it took to get this up! In my line of work, the holiday season kept me WAY too busy to update the story, and I just got too busy with work to set this all up! I thank all of you who still read this and were interested to see what happened next! I hope you enjoyed it, and I promise to have the next one up soon. This is all coming to an end, and quickly. Feedback, as always, at ender2155@gmail.com