All the disclaimers and restrictions from my last stories are in effect.
"Pull ... a goddamn RABBIT out of my HAT?!" I exclaim, "What the FUCK does that mean?!"
Cyclops stands aback for a moment before saying, "It's just an expression of speech, Ryan, I didn't mean for you to actually ..."
"STOP!" I yell, "Do you have any idea WHAT and WHO you are dealing with?"
Cyclops, Nick and the others fall silent at my outburst.
I continue, with the knowledge Phoenix imparts me, "We aren't just facing the Phoenix you have dealt with before! Don't you get it? Charles did! Your idea of the Phoenix is flawed! It's not just the 'goddess of creation' you thought possessed Jean that was benevolent and was then corrupted by her human emotion! This is an entity that has always lived in balance with itself. Every good act has been faced with an evil one. Everything it has done to provoke death has also brought about life. It's existence has been lived in the balance of Yin and Yang. The Phoenix is not what you think it is; it is evil and good; two faces of the same coin that come up equally on the other side for the whole of history, until now For the first time in the history of the cosmos, Phoenix, Janus, is split in two!"
What I have to say seems to have no effect on the people in front of me.
Exasperated, I exclaim, "Janus is now two! The goodness of this god embodies me, and the evil side empowers Liz, and is running rampant without its good side to temper it!"
"So you're saying we're fighting evil incarnate?" Cyclops asks.
"Pretty much!" I reply, "In every historic and religious situation we see a battle of good versus evil that is a mirror of Janus! Look at the Old Testament of the Bible. We see the horrible power and rules of the Jewish god Yawheh versus the promise of a forgiving god, Immanuel, who lavished love on his followers. Then, there is the battle from Immanuel against Satan, with the former saving those who believe in him against the latter, will reach paradise, while satan will bring the world to damnation. And that's just the Christian religions we're talking about, let alone those of Judaism and Islam. Yet each has their savior and demon, and we find it simply coincidence all these stories have the same theories that are bound by the same idea of a 'good' god and an 'evil' one?"
"What do you mean?" asks Cyclops.
"All these religions, these theologies, are based on the same idea of deities who are complete opposites. Is it THAT crazy to think they all represent the SAME diety, just explained in a different way?"
"But Jean showed love and sacrifice," retorts Cyclops, "How could she embody evil?"
I roll my eyes, "You ignored what I said. Janus, and Phoenix now, WAS both evil and good, but due to what Liz, and ..." I stammer for a moment, "Well, what I did,too ... well, now the two faces of the god are split, so while Jean was able to present the two faces of Janus, those no longer exist. Now it's only good and evil. If you want proof, look at this."
As I say this, I wave my hand in the air in front of me, and it shimmers into a newscast being shown across the world:
The stern looking newscaster says, "This just in, wreckage lays in the wake of a being that is criss-crossing the earth. We present you now with the last moments our reporter in London recorded before the transmission was cut short."
The image wavers for a second before it is replaced by a shaky video.
"We are at a loss to explain what is happening at this moment," a clipped British voice, off camera states as the image shows a burning city.
"But we think it has something to do with the threat we got recently from Tehran regarding ours and the American's promise of sanctions against their refusal to stop their nuclear program. This city has been laid waste by a power we can only assume is nuclear in nature."
We hear the familiar, and deadly cry, of the Phoenix.
"BOMBS!" the reporter cries as he ducks, "The bombs are closer now than they were, and ... OH ... MY ... GOD!"
He is silenced and turns, in awe, to his left, and as the camera pans with him, we can see the great Firebird glide towards him, leaving all in its wake in rubble, as its hatred flows through it and levels the countryside.
"God help us all ..."
And that's the last thing we see from the telecast before it is devastated by the power that confronts it.
"Dear lord!" Storm exclaims, "We must stop it."
"Yes, we must," I reply, "But not you ... me."
"You?" Storm asks, "How can you alone defeat this ... this, monstrosity?"
"Not alone. I need help, some volunteers. But those who must accomany me know who they are, isn't that right, Nick?"
Nick seems surprised to hear me call his name.
"ME?!" he gulps, "How am I supposed to help here? I can't face a god!"
"It's true," interrupts Cyclops, "You have a part to play in this, and a vital one, as do I."
"You trust me, then?" I ask.
"Yes," replies Cyclops.
"And you, Nick?"
Nick looks uncertain before replying, "No, not really. I don't see how I'm involved in this."
"You were there when I first showed the Phoenix' powers, and you possess a piece to this puzzle."
"I don't understand, or get this," he replies, "But I owe you, so I'm in."
"Good!" I reply, "We will need all the help we can get in this!"
I lift my arms, and as the Phoenix flows through me, I embrace her joyous power as it consumes me.
The gentle fire of her benevolence rises to form her true shape, and as I stream towards my final confrontation, we carry Nick and Cyclops with us.
"No," I murnur, "They won't, and you know that."
I smirk, slightly.
"I know, but if I fail, they are our only hope."
No, it has been decided now.
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