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Chapter 25: From the Ashes

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The Dark Phoenix lifted an arm and with a flare of power, sent both Caliwone and Apocalypse crashing deep into the impenetrable pyramid. The Dark Phoenix raised her hand above her head and the ground erupted into a swirling cavalcade of rock and trees and dirt. With one final sweep of her hand, the pyramid imploded.

Caliwone flew out of the crushing pyramid at the last second and rushed the Dark Phoenix. Before he could reach her, Apocalypse popped in using Kurt's stolen powers directly between him and Jean. Deciding he would do just as well, Caliwone drove a side kick square into the back of Apocalypse's skull.

Apocalypse was thrown forward toward Jean, surprised despite the hostile environment. The Dark Phoenix raised her hands and shot Apocalypse into the ground. Caliwone raised his right hand and fired straight down, controlling his strength as to not harm anyone else. His attack disintegrated ground with absolute ease, cutting as if through warm butter.

The light faded. Caliwone looked up to see the Phoenix gazing with alien intensity at him. Caliwone smirked. As if he had never seen that before. Caliwone crouched, ready to face this threat. His icy blue eyes hardened as his resolve to end Jean's life no matter the cost set solid. Jean didn't move an inch, her body poised in complete ease in the air, yet her hair waved slowly behind her.

Caliwone didn't even bother trying to talk things out with her, simply allowed his aura to snap into place. With a flick of his arm, Caliwone fired a reddened blast that engulfed Jean in energy and smoke.

Like a giant bird spreading its wings, the Phoenix swept away the smoke to reveal herself unmoved. Caliwone watched her closely, skillfully looking for any clues about her powers or abilities. His sharp eyes racked across her face, noting the fading of her light greenish veins as she relaxed her powers and the fiery Phoenix projection vanished from around her.

Simple enough," Caliwone thought. Those veins on her face reach outward, become more defined as she flexes her powers. Caliwone smirked, now having the advantage in this fight. With that bit of intel on his enemy, he would be able to tell the instant she even thought about attacking. And with his newly enhanced speed, he would be more than fast enough to evade anything she could throw at him.

There was a rumble from the ground, emanating from spot Apocalypse had fallen. Fissures webbed outwards, shaking the ground under the heroes feet as they scrambled to find a better vantage point to watch the battle, since it was obvious that Caliwone was going to handle everything.

The hole Apocalypse temporarily inhabited, suddenly erupted upwards, throwing rocks and dirt high as the blue skinned Apocalypse grew, increasing his size and mass until he stood directly between Jean and Caliwone, who were both still floating in the air.

Caliwone rocketed back a little ways as Apocalypse shot up to their height, not due to fear or anything cowardly like that, but because Apocalypse's full attention was on Jean. He did not move toward her, threateningly or otherwise. Caliwone straightened, folding his arms across his chest. This could be both entertaining and insightful. Both of these powers were his enemy and so was willing to let them tear at each other's throats for a little while during which time he would be learning more about each's strengths.

Down on the ground, Logan gritted his teeth as he glared upwards at the towering Apocalypse and calmly raging Jean. Something wasn't right here. How could Jean be alive or have so much power all of a sudden? But there was no mistake that it was her. He had been able to pick up her sent since her arrival here. "Charles, what's happening here?"

Charles Xavier shook his head, uncertain of anything. "I don't know. When we passed by, I could sense that there was nobody left alive. I cannot explain how Jean is here right now, and with so much power."

"Jean," Scott wailed, still too weak to stand up.

"Trust me," a voice said from behind the group. "That isn't the Jean we know." The group turned as one to see Amara and Tabatha half carrying a badly injured Kurt between them.

"Are you alright?" Charles immediately asked of the two girls, Kurt's condition being rather clear as the two girls set him down.

"Were there any other survivors?" Logan demanded. "Maybe by the same way you guys did?"

Tabatha shook her head. "Trust me," she said. "Everyone else is gone." She knelt down next to the barely conscious Kurt. "Come on, blue boy. Stay with us."

"We were just lucky that we were sitting next to Nightcrawler when we were hit," Amara said as Kurt let out a small groan. "Even as that energy thing hit, Kurt reached out and grabbed as he was hit and teleported us to safety. As for Jean, well, she was pretty well splatte-" She faltered as she caught sight of Scott listening intently. "Well, try to get inside of her mind," Amara finished lamely, glad to be able to dump the responsibility of explaining what had happened off on someone else.

Charles nodded and turned his attention back to Jean as the Phoenix and Apocalypse finally exchanged first blows. He stretched out his mind, hoping to sense his student inside the shell of power. With what could have almost a physical blow, Xavier rocked back in his wheel chair as he tried to enter her mind. He wiped at his face, more than half expecting to find blood leaking from his eyes. There wasn't any.

"Charles," Logan demanded out of concern. "You alright?"

"Yes, yes, fine," Charles shrugged off. He placed his fingers to his head once more, this time very cautiously approaching her mind. He could sense her presence, like a blue flame in the distance, fading and flickering. It was small, threatening to blow out. Xavier frowned, not finding the source of the "wind" that was over taking her body. The power coming from Jean was certainly visible, but it was not the direct cause of her mental instability.

In his mind, Xavier pushed slowly forward, trying to reach out to that spark of blue fire that was Jean. Without any warning, that spark of blue turned red, flaring wildly out of control and attacked Xavier again. Charles gritted his teeth and held on inside the raging inferno. "Jean," he said, trying to communicate with her mentally. "Stay with me, Jean."

With suddenness that nearly made Xavier fall over, the torrent of pressure fell away. The inferno still raged but it was as if Charles suddenly became immune to its touch. Charles had the sudden unease feeling of being watched by something...alien. It was a cold feeling, as if raw emotions were all this being had to communicate with.

"What have you done with Jean?" Xavier asked, doing his best to speak with his emotions as well as words. The power seemed to hesitate a moment, as if not sure how to handle this human. There was a flash of emotions, most of them aggressive, and the words that accompanied them...

Xavier snapped out of his mental link, breathing hard. He stared up at Jean as she and Apocalypse continued to test each other's strengths before the real battle begun between them.

"Charles," Logan snapped, looking down at his friend.

"Jean," he struggled to say. "There is something inside her. I should have sensed it a long time ago. I did sense it. I just thought it was he powers developing. I can still sense Jean inside but she is being over powered by it."

"Professor," Scott said. "What is inside of her?"

"It calls itself the "Phoenix Force"," Charles said. "It is not a physical entity, something that can be pulled from her, yet a creature of astronomical power. At the same time, it is primitive, responding to raw emotions like happiness, sadness, anger."

"Let me guess," Logan spoke up, crossing his arms. "It always wakes up on the wrong side of the bed." the ground shook as Apocalypse fell heavily, adding a somewhat pointed exclamation point to the statement.

"So what can we do?" Rogue asked, looking as if she and her new powers wanted to give her a shot.

"We wait," Charles says. "Caliwone may be our only hope. I can only pray that we can tell him about Jean in time."

Apocalypse growled as he stood his over sized body up from the ground where this gnat of a mutant hovered, as if she was some kind of God. This would not stand. He threw his hand forward, done with playing. Like an arm made out of putty, his arm stretched outward, his fingers melding into a blade as it reached out.

The veins across Jeans face spread slightly, her eyes growing blacker as she reached out with her powers to eliminate this threat. Her arm raised and shot a blast of mental energy that was potent enough to be visible at apocalypse's incoming hand.

Apocalypse curved his arm, avoiding the attack with awkward looking flexibility, forcing his hand down to come at Jean's back. Jean turned, her face becoming more alien as her hair flung out. The bladed hand came to an abrupt and quivering stop a foot away from her, obviously straining to push forward. Jean slowly turned to give Apocalypse an alien glare that sent him sliding backwards with its force. With the hand still held firmly in a mental grip, the Dark Phoenix uprooted several trees and hurled them at Apocalypse's body.

The trees cut clean through him, branches and all to crash on the bare Earth left behind by the disappearance of the pyramid. Jean's face remained emotionless as Apocalypse gave a thunderous laugh. "Petty fool," Apocalypse gloated as the holes in his stomach closed without a scar. "You have no hope. Submit to me."

The hand being held in Jean's mental grip split apart, arching forward to impale Jean from behind. The tendrils stopped inches from Jean's back, halted again by the Dark Phoenix's powers. With an explosion of ash, Jean blew apart Apocalypse's arm at where the elbow should be. Apocalypse roared as the ash began eating away at both the end of the now detached arm and the stub that remained attached to Apocalypse.

With one last poof of flesh and ashes, the detached arm vanished into cosmic energy. Apocalypse, however, merely curled the stump in close to his body then threw it wide. A full grown arm pushed itself out through the stub, fully repaired and fully functional as Apocalypse reached forward, igniting Jean in fire. With his other hand, Apocalypse stabbed his fingers, each one turning sharp and pointed.

Just as the tips of his fingers penetrated the outer layer of fire, Jean threw her arms and legs wide. With a screech like a mystic bird, the flames spread open in fiery wings and Apocalypse flew back. He crashed into the tree's that surrounded the former pyramid, leaving a trail of destruction like a tornado as he came to a stop.

In a fiery display, the Dark Phoenix flew forward and, raising her arms above her head, rained fire from heaven. Any piece of human waste left in the atmosphere, any passing by chunk of rock or meteor was suddenly redirected through Earth's atmosphere and crashed simultaneously upon the ancient mutant.

All around, the forest burned, sending smoke and sulfur rising to blot out the high full moon that bathed the battleground in new light. Animals that survived the initial rain of death quickly ran for cover and for distance as the fire rapidly cut its way through the greenery.

Out of the way of the destructive power, Caliwone grimaced. The one thing he liked about this planet more than anything else was the forests and to see one burn like this almost pained him. He glanced over at the darkly glowing Phoenix who stared blankly at him from above Apocalypse's charred grave, as if reading his thoughts.

Caliwone smirked out of habit and turned his attention downward. Her battle wasn't yet over. And when it came to be his turn... Well, he wasn't too worried.

From the mound of torched land, light glowed, heavenly and pure. With no theatrics, Apocalypse rose, no longer his giant self, but returned to normal human standards. He settled himself on the ground and looked up calmly, waiting for Jean to either make a move or meet him on the ground. Slowly, the Dark Phoenix descended to face off on his terms.

Pyramid, China

With a crash, Juggernaut fell, shattering ground as his invincible body hit. Ichigo Kurosaki rested a foot on the downed brute and slung his sword over his back and looked around. There were no Hollows left, the huge support of Shinigami had tended to that and the only other guard was now under Ichigo's foot. The place was effectively routed.

From beside him, Ishida pushed up his glasses on his face. "That as surprisingly simple. I kind of hoped it would be more challenging." Chad nodded in silent agreement.

There was a sound of crunching gravel from behind Ichigo and his team. "Hey, great job," a man in a green get-up with bow and arrows said. "Especially for some kids."

Ishida seemed to ruffle slightly at being called kids, but his respect for fellow archers balanced things out. "Thank you," Ishida said. "But it was mostly Kurosaki," he finished, jabbing a thumb at Ichigo over his shoulder.

Green Arrow looked straight through Ichigo, making it clear he could not see him in Ichigo's Shinigami capacity, same as he couldn't have seen the Hollows.

"Right," Green Arrow said a little uncertainly. "Kurosaki?"

"He's a Shinigami," Chad put in.

"Shinigami," Arrow said. "I don't believe in death Gods, boys."

Ichigo snorted slightly, having once believed the same thing. "Uryu," Ichigo said and pointed to the ground beneath him. Ishida nodded understanding and simply pointed for Arrow. Ichigo sank his sword into the ground, splitting the rock. Arrow wouldn't be able to see Ichigo or his sword, but ground does not usually spilt that way on its own.

Arrow saw this, processed, then shrugged. "Just because you can't see it or believe in it doesn't mean it's not there," he conceded with a shrug. "Anyway, we are going to secure the pyramid so we need to make sure everyone's outta the way so nobody get surprised or hurt. Ishida raised his eyebrows slightly but didn't say anything.

From behind Arrow, a woman in all black with long blonde hair jogged over with Orihime following behind. "We're ready, Arrow," Dinah said.

"Well, you guys have fun with that," Ishida said, pushing his glasses back up his nose. "We are going in and find out what exactly this Apocalypse was planning to do. Orihime, you stay here and help tend to the wounded." Before Arrow could object, Ichigo and his team raced off toward the pyramid opening from which Juggernaut had exited.

Pyramid, Egypt

Batman stood, holding the gash in his side as Wonder Woman finished tying up Omega Red with her lasso and looked up toward the pyramid. He touched a finger to his ear, activating his comm. "This is team two," he said. "We have everything locked and secured here. I'm going in to check things out inside."

"But Bruce, you're hurt," Diana protested. "What if there are some defenses inside?"

"I can handle myself," Batman said and started off. "You are needed here to set up swept and perimeter after I go in."

"No," Diana said firmly, walking up and taking his free hand. "I am going too."

Batman looked up at her but found no room to push. "Fine," Batman said. "Everyone else, set up. We won't be long."

Taking a suddenly upset Bruce around his waist, Diana and Batman flew toward the open gate in the side of the pyramid.

Sphinx, Egypt

Superman listened for a moment as Batman's report came in over the soft moans of Killer Croc half buried in the sand. "Alright, good," he said, turning to J'onn. "That's three of the four pyramids under our control, what's happening with the Mexican one?"

"Reports are that Apocalypse is there personally battling another mutant there. There is also a report that Caliwone is there as well."

Superman nodded. "Excellent. Then we have this in the bag."

J'onn remanded silent, sure that things would not go that smooth. It never did.

Mexico, Battleground

Apocalypse struck forward, his hand sliding off of Jean's mental barrier, even as she countered with a mental blast of her own. Apocalypse spun his body, both to dodge her blast and strike with a back hand. Jean's shield deflected the attack and struck herself, gauging a slice out of the ground. Reversing his spin, Apocalypse kicked at Jean's center. The foot was deflected and Jean let flames erupt in all directions, ripping apart the ground.

Apocalypse ignored the fire, striking relentlessly. Jean took flight, forcing Apocalypse's attack to miss. He was hot on her trail, rocketing upward. If compared to anything but a Saiyan, the two were fast, easily disappearing out of sight in the night sky.

Apocalypse stretched his arms out again, successfully closing the gap between them. Jean reversed directions without warning, diving straight at Apocalypse. Fire spread from her, giving her the appearance of her namesake and cutting clean through Apocalypse before he could react.

Apocalypse continued to rise through momentum and by the time he reached his peak, his body was whole. This time it was Apocalypse who dove, using his full force to drive into Jean's shield, pushing for her throat.

Jean's personal field became visible under the stress, a fiery red sphere as Apocalypse forced his way inside it. Jean's eyes were still calm, still solid black with no white to give them the human touch. The veins on her face were spread deep, showing she was resisting with effort.

In a flash of light, the two crashed to Earth, Jean on one side, Apocalypse on the other as their combined powers vaporized the ground beneath them. Slowly, Apocalypse's hands inched forward toward her throat.

Jean's head tilted ever so slightly as she gazed at Apocalypse's constricted face. Like a great claw, her shield split, three talons high, one low to crush Apocalypse. Seeing this new threat, Apocalypse threw himself away and the claws sank into the ground instead.

With a flick of movement, Caliwone dropped neatly between them, arms raised to each side and blasted red power. The attack was so sudden, Apocalypse did not have time to defend. The energy swept over him, incinerating pieces of him while Jean simply stood unfazed. Realizing what had happened to Apocalypse, the Dark Phoenix rushed forward.

Seeing that this was his chance to end Apocalypse, Caliwone redirected his full attention to him and fired his Burst Rush. At the same time, Jean raised her arms above her head and swung them down. The combined powers joined and crushed the unprepared mutant. As the dust cleared, nothing could be seen of the all mighty Apocalypse.

Without pause, Jean fired a mental blast at Caliwone. Warned by the spreading of veins on her face, Caliwone vanished in front of the blast. Before the dust could settle, Caliwone's foot slammed into the mental shield the Phoenix Force provided from behind.

Jean whipped around to see where Caliwone was but he had already vanished. Her shield rippled with color again as Caliwone struck faster than lightning, vanishing again before she could turn.

Jean stopped, stretching out her mind to sense his locations. She whipped around again to find Caliwone standing just outside of her shield with arms crossed, waiting arrogantly for her to notice. She slowly straightened, the veins on her face pulsing slightly in rising anger.

Caliwone lifted a hand and flicked the shield. Red energy rippled across most of the field, telling Caliwone exactly how big it was. "Very nice," Caliwone said, meeting eyes once again. "I did not know that you held such potential, Jean Grey. But will you be able to defend against me forever? Your weakness is also one of your greatest strengths. You can only move as fast as you think."

Inside Caliwone's mind, a voice cut in. "Caliwone, this is Xavier. Jean is still in there. You must save her-" Seeing a moment to strike, Jean slammed Caliwone hard, sending him flying backwards into the still burning forest. Before the follow up attack could connect, he was already beside her, punching hard into her shield.

Vanishing a reappearing again on another side and driving a kick there. Little puffs of dirt clouded up as Caliwone passed, the mere motion of his body creating just enough turbulence in the air.

Jean spread her arms, for the first time emitting any kind of sound on her own. It was a terrible sound, completely alien and emotion. The effect was like a shock wave, spreading out in every direction at once. Caliwone was knocked back but recovered quickly, dodging down and to the side.

The instant his foot touched ground, the whole area erupted in ash, forcing Caliwone to move quickly. He smiled as he dashed forward again, staying one half step ahead of the attacks. Once upon a time, this kind of evasion would inevitably end with him making a mistake and tripping or something similar. Now, he was completely comfortable with his speed.

He pushed off one more spot before it too vanished and struck her shields. As he did so, he saw his opening. Moving quickly, he dodged above her and slammed down hard, forcing her and the shield to sink down further into the Earth. The ripples on her shield every time he hit spread across the shield dispersing the stress and releasing it. The shield recognized the ground as a conduit to release that energy and so recognized the ground as a non threat. That meant there was a hole in her shield while she was grounded.

Before Jean could read his mind and figure out his strategy, he concentrated energy into his palms. He landed like a fly on the ground and pushed the energy out. Just as Jean looked his way to destroy the area he inhabited, energy flooded upward, catching her completely unprotected. The shield shattered as Jean was lifted up, stripping her bare and bathing her in light.

She crashed to the ground and lay still in a huddled position for a moment before slowly floating herself upright. Energy particles drew themselves to her, slowly covering her in light from head to toe. The light faded, leaving Jean in a skin tight red suit with gold boots, gloves, and waist sash. Across her chest was an emblem of the famous Phoenix of legend in the same gold style.

"Cute," Caliwone sneered, disappointed that his attack had failed to kill her. Apparently, she was a lot tougher than he had given her credit for. Her shield winked back into place just as Caliwone relaunched his assault. This time, he only got two kicks in before she finally managed to catch up.

His foot was caught firmly in an iron grip, preventing his rapid elusiveness. Caliwone swallowed slightly as Jean turned her alien looking face directly onto his. Her veins slowly spread, building the anticipation before sending Caliwone hurtling backwards, cutting clean through the burning forest and out the other side and into the distant city. He skidded to a stop and let out a sigh. Standing, Caliwone started walking back to the burning forest.

China, Pyramid

"What do you see, Uryu?" Ichigo asked impatiently as Ishida worked his magic on decoding the encryption's and text as to Apocalypse's intentions. Ichigo glanced around impatiently. The innards of this pyramid were creepy, even to him. He may be a substitute Shinigami, he was still born and raised human.

"Here we go," Ishida said shifting slightly to get the glare of the screen out of his glasses. "Three pyramids at key places across the Earth, one base pyramid to run operations. Over time, continents have shifted and moved, slowly spreading his keys across the oceans. He must have been one heck of a strategist to set this kind of plan because the three pyramids are almost directly set. In fact," Ishida leaned in closer to look at the screen. "It says in just under one hundred years, they will all be perfectly set if continents continue at their present shift."

"So about his plan," Ichigo asked, more concerned with that than anything.

"Well," Ishida said, tapping away. "It would seem that he planned to manipulate the Earth's core in such a way to change climates and stuff. From what I heard about Apocalypse's last attempt, he tried to turn all humans into mutants. Looks like something similar here."

Ichigo scratched his head. "Apocalypse tried once before? You mean way back in Egypt?"

Ishida stared at him for a moment. "Clueless," he said. "Why he's trying to activate things now, I'm not sure. According to this, he needed an external power source. Something called an "Omega Class" mutant of some kind."

Probably the one fighting against Apocalypse right now," Chad spoke up. "I heard it from the Justice League as we ran in. The 'Golden Warrior' is there, too."

"I heard the same," Ishida said, pulling out a comm. "Snatched it from one of the downed Leaguers. My guess is that it was that Ms. Marvel girl who came back. Anyway, he probably needed that kind of power to get things charged. Maybe the pyramids are close enough to their spots to launch the plan. Who knows?"

"So, all we have to do is trash the pyramids and he can't do anything, right?" Ichigo asked.

"It's not that simple," Ishida said, still tapping away. "The pyramids themselves were mainly designed for his last attempt at take over and are now more bases than anything else. No, the real weapon must be buried underneath the pyramids somewhere, using them as a surface relay of some kind. So destroying the pyramids would be almost pointless. This plan seems to be the back-up should the initial plan fail, which it did eight years ago."

"So we destroy the ground under the pyramids," Ichigo said.

"I would guess that whatever technology that would put his plan into motion if it had the power now is probably better protected then the pyramids themselves and probably undetectable."

"We should inform the Justice League," Chad said.

"Right," Ishida said. "I'll call but let's get out of here." He put the comm. in his ear. "Justice League," he said, putting all he had learned in his English lessons into speech. "Do you hear me?"

Pyramid, Egypt

"Who is this," Batman said, trying hard to understand the words through this person's accent. "How did you get this frequency?"

"I got the comm. off of one of your hurt members," the boy said.

"Destroy it right now," Batman said firmly. "That is for League use only and not for children. Especially not during a crisis."

Irritation could clearly be sensed over the comm. "Fine, I won't tell you what we learned from the pyramid."

Batman paused a moment. "You're in there now? Tell me what you learned."

"No," the boy said.

"Look, if you know something, it's vital that you tell us."

"Say please."

Batman growled deep in his throat.

"If you know something, please tell us," Superman's voice came in, saving Batman from the embarrassment.

"Fine," the boy said. "It would be easier if I just sent everything over to you."

"That's fine," Batman said. "Mr. Terrific will supply you with that information. Is there anything we need to know now?"

"Not really," the boy said coolly. "Just make sure Apocalypse doesn't get hold of a powerful mutant. That's the only thing he needs to complete his plan."

"I don't think that's an issue," Superman said. "I just got word the Apocalypse is gone. Killed by Caliwone and another mutant."

"So it's over?" Flash piped in over the comm.

"Not...exactly," Superman said. "Caliwone and that other mutant are fighting now. She seems to be winning."

"Wait," Batman said, sounding very urgent very suddenly. "What type of mutant?"

"Telepathy and telekinesis," Flash reported.

"Don't let him fight!" Batman roared. "Mental attacks are extremely effective on him. Superman, get there!"

Mexico, Battleground

Jean floated slowly over to where the X Men and other heroes waited. All backed away in fear as she approached, knowing what she was capable of and Xavier's description of Jean's mind stability. Only Scott remained unmoved as she approached. Tears spilled down his face at seeing his wife alive. "Jean," he said, almost unbelieving as she came to a stop in front of him.

"Scott?" she said.

"Yes, I'm here." Jean reached out to him, her eyes becoming less black, and her face less alien. She closed the small distance between them and kissed him. Scott pulled her close, wrapping his arms around her as more tears of joy rained down. With his eyes closed, he could not see the veins slowly spreading as the kiss became more and more passionate.

"Scott!" Xavier yelled as fire slowly rose around her as her power and emotions grew. The Phoenix snapped her head up to look at the one who spoke, her face more alien than previously seen.

Logan saw what was about to happen and threw himself in front of Charles. Wolverine took the full brunt of the attack, knocking over Charles in his wheel chair and Magneto beside him as he hurtled backwards and into a side of a small rock cliff.

"Jean?" Scott asked. Jean snapped all of her attention back to Scott, her eyes solid black once more. The ground all around her turned to ash, digging a trench but before she could end Scott's life, Caliwone flew in at high speed and kicked. Her shield snapped up in time but the force of the kick still sent her sliding back away from Scott and the group. As Caliwone's foot touched ground, he fired an intense blast of blue energy, then rushed forward again.

"Caliwone, wait," Xavier said as Magneto used his powers of magnetism to right Charles and his wheel chair. But it was already too late.

Caliwone forced his body to move faster than his mind, denying her the option of reading it before he attacked and letting instinct take over. Jean took off into the air, not allowing Caliwone to pull the same trick twice to get around her shield. To Caliwone, that told him her shield could be over powered with no way now to release the stress on her shields.

Moving up high, Caliwone pulled his arm back, palm facing down. As Jean turned to look up at him, he fired his Buster Rifle dead on target. The wash of energy slammed into her shield, momentarily driving her back.

The Dark Phoenix reached her hands forward, focusing her power at combating this force even as Caliwone released his attacks maximum force upon her. On the ground, rocks broke free of the Earth, disintegrating in the air as the two super powers continued to battle it out.

"Caliwone," Xavier yelled into his mind. "Jean is still in there. She has been over taken. You can't kill her!"

"There's a problem, wheels," Caliwone answered, doing his best to split his attention. "This is my best here, and she's taking it. She will kill me if I try to fight her with any less resolve."

With another alien screech, Jean pushed forward, flying right up the stream of power toward Caliwone. Caliwone flew upwards, hoping that his attack would break her shield before she reached him. It didn't.

Caliwone broke off the attack and dove in for a fast strike. Jean was ready. A fiery claw reached upwards to grab Caliwone. Caliwone avoided the attempt and bull rushed the shield, trying to break through.

Before Caliwone could comprehend, Jean sent him crashing down to Earth. Ash lifted off of him as his shirt started to disintegrate. He ripped what remained of it off before it could spread to skin and start eating at him. Jean met him on the ground and reached forward.

Caliwone's head snapped back as she invaded his mind. It was like having the most painful sound in the universe screeching through your brain a hundred times louder than normal sound permits. He tried covering his ears but it was pointless. He fell to the ground, not able to stand the onslaught. As the mental attack continued, Jean lifted a hand and slammed him hard on the back of his head with another mental attack.

With a flash of gold, Caliwone lost both his transformation and his consciousness.

The X Men leapt into action as Caliwone hit the ground and lay still. Jean's shield deflected every attack with absolute ease, these mutants powerless to challenge her. Lifting her hands, everything around her swirled. Ash spread outward, wiping everything clean as she turned slowly. She would whip out everything, annihilate this planet and its inhabitants.

Caliwone's body rose, lifted by the amount of wind and power. Pietro ran over to him and grabbed hold before he could be annihilated and brought him back to relative safety. Rogue stepped forward, lifting a hand to block the wind from her eyes.

Jean focused on her, feeling the power of another Omega class mutant. Compared to the Phoenix Force, it was unimpressive, and so was not important. Before Rogue could do anything drastic, Scott ran forward and pressed himself against the shield. "Please, Jean. Don't do this!"

"All must perish," the Dark Phoenix spoke, her voice raspy and alien.

"No, they don't," Scott said. His visor shattered off of his face as Jean's contempt flashed through her emotions. "Look at me, Jean," Scott continued, his eyes closed to not let his powers loose. "I love you. Please, end the suffering and end the anger."

The Phoenix lifted a hand abruptly, palm out to blast... and hesitated. "Scott?" Jean said, her voice no longer raspy.

"JEAN!" he shouted.

A tear ran down her face. "Kill me, Scott!"

"We can figure this out, Jean," Scott yelled. "We can fix this!"

"No you cannot," the Phoenix said. Scott flew backwards as he was hit. All around, the swirling ash intensified, ready to be released onto the world.

Scott ran back up to her as close as he could get. "Jean!" Jean's face twisted slightly as Scott opened his eyes to see her. His own energy splashed across the shield but he didn't care. "Jean, let down your guard. Let me in. I want to help you."

"There is nothing you can do," the Phoenix snarled.

"Jean," Scott said, ignoring it. "I know you better than anyone ever has or ever will. I will always love you."

Jean's eyes snapped back to human as what had become their phrase reached to her heart. The tirade of ash and destruction ceased, everything falling back to Earth as Jean regained control. She clutched her head as Scott took hold of her. "Do it," Jean screamed. "Kill me know while you can!"

Xavier rushed over and put his hands on either side of Jean's head. "I can help you," he said urgently. "Work with me, Jean."

"I can't control it!" she screamed again.

"Yes, you can," Xavier coached. "Take control!"

Everybody else remained silent as they watched, unable to do anything. Gambit reached over and put an arm around Rogue as she rung her hands together.

"Alright, I've put up some mental barriers to help you control it," Xavier said cautiously. "But they are only temporary and even if they weren't, you are going to have to keep yourself in check. I can't block it all."

"It feels like my head is going to explode," Jean said. "I know everything this "Phoenix Force" knows," Jean said.

"You two are one being," Xavier said. "Merged into one being."

Jean stood and looked around. "I know what happened," she said sadly. "I couldn't stop it-"

"No one blames you," Logan said, not completely meeting her eyes.

"Doesn't matter," Jean said. "If I had the control, this wouldn't have happened. But I can fix some of it." Her eyes blackened but her features remained human. Light of fire rose, controlled this time. Her hands lifted above her head as she reached out with her new powers.

At the crash site of the Velocity, light engulfed the scene. Moments later, movement shifted the wreckage. Ororo, pushed aside chunks of ship to stand, holding her head and looking around. Wanda stood next to her and Ray, Colossus, Pyro next to them.

At the Xavier grounds, Kitty Pryde gasped as she phased up through the ground. Kitty reached down to the graves next to her and pulled Sam, Rahne, and Xi'an out, coughing and gasping for air as their lungs got re-use to breathing.

Jean lowered her hands and gazed into Scott's eyes. "I have to go," Jean said. "I am too dangerous. Even if these barriers could hold, if I ever slipped, people could die." She glanced around to find Caliwone as he regained consciousness. "I understand now how intoxicating power is and how easy it is to lose sight of what you believe in or what you want to protect. I applaud your self control and ability to handle it. I wish I were as strong as you."

"Jean, you don't have to go," Scott said, taking hold of her hand, his eyes closed again.

"Look at me, Scott," Jean said softly. "Trust me." Scott hesitated then opened his eyes. His eyes flickered once with energy then simply glowed as he looked into her eyes. "I will always love you," she said, a single tear slid down her cheek.

"Jean," Xavier said. "Where will you go?"

"It wouldn't be safe anywhere I go," Jean said with a smile. Light surrounded her and she lifted off, vanishing into the sky, streaking away toward the purest fire in the solar system.

Epilogue

Apocalypse lay on the ground, as close to death as it was possible for an immortal to be. He was weak, no longer strong enough to maintain his technological merger and so his body had reverted back to his Pharaoh form. He tried to sit up but couldn't manage it, his muscles and body tired and exhausted as he tried to recover from his injuries. He reached into a fold of pants and pulled out a small device. It took a lot of effort to push the button located on the top.

It only took seconds for his Vessel to warp next to him, leaving its normal tracks to come to his emergency beacon. With what seemed agonizing slowness, the Vessel opened revealing the Eye of Ages inside. He crawled inside and with painful effort, crawled into his pod. As the computer inside the Vessel acted upon his mental commands, he smiled. Humanity had passed his test once again. He had failed to charge his fail safe weapon but I did not matter. In one hundred years, he would pass his judgment upon the Earth.

With a flicker of light, the Vessel containing Apocalypse and the Eye of Ages fell once again through the cracks of time.

Renovations of the Xavier grounds were well underway as the students and staff filled into the mansion to begin the new term. Charles smiled as old friends joined new students. Parents had decided that what he had to offer was more than simple control over their powers, more than responsibility. Courage, the ability to make a stand against that which is wrong or unclear.

The world needs heroes, both those with and without super powers. So rare is it that the average individual will risk everything to stand up for what he believes in. Risk and pride both have prices that can be bought. The ability to risk one's own health and life is what makes people heroes. The world need more people like them.

A man walked up to Logan and shook his hand, a man that Charles already knew to be a New York Police Department Officer and mutant. He was pleased that a man of his leadership skills was joining the roster. As he looked down at the gathering families for orientation, he couldn't help but feel a sense of pride.

Caliwone sat in a tree, stretched out along a branch as Ororo played her piano for the crowd of new students and families. Kitty leaned against him, enjoying the music almost as much as Caliwone himself. He knew that his time here was coming to an end, and so did she.

In the mean time, he intended to enjoy the peace that was here for the moment. He may be a cold blooded Saiyan, but even he was tiring of friends and loved ones dying. A short break to enjoy life was a well deserved right.

"Cal," Kitty asked, shifting slightly as Ororo finished her song. "The Professor told me what happened to you after Slade killed me. What happened to you?"

Caliwone hesitated a moment. "Nothing," he said.

Kitty glanced up at him, hearing the hesitation. He wouldn't meet her eyes. "Don't lie to me," she said, half teasing. "I can tell you got a lot stronger. More than is natural even for you."

"I was training," he said at last. "I need to go back to finish down the road."

"For now, just stay with me," Kitty said. "And I'm glad you were able to get stronger. Otherwise Apocalypse and Jean would have killed you."

"I wasn't training to fight them," Caliwone said. "Something else. There will always be battles."

Slade turned to look up at the rising sun, just breaking over the trees as he reached the lip of his cave hideout. Despite Doomsday's failure and the unexpected arrival of the Phoenix Force, his ultimate goal was now closer than ever. He had everything he needed, including time.

He walked into his cave, his copper and black mask gaining a greenish quality as he came into range of the life support tank. Bubbles clouded its content but Slade knew that it was his destiny contained inside. Behind his mask, he smiled. Time was now on his side. Soon, the world would finally be unified, and he would be the most powerful man there is.

To be continued as Dragon Sagas: Book Three

Sorry it took me an extra day to get this one out (my chapter got deleted a third of the way through it and I had to restart it!)

Well, I hope Dragon Sagas: Book Two ended on a good note. Thanks everybody for supporting the story and reviewing.

As the same as last time, I am going to take a little break to have more of a life and to gain a buffer zone so I'm not writing chapters back to back. ;P

You may see me post other stories to so save me as a favorite author or author alert to keep up to date. Also, keep an eye on my profile for the next release date.

Thanks again and see you later!

The Dark Prince