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Starting Today	By : StarofChaos Category: X-Men - Animated Series (all) > Het - Male/Female Views: 12961 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own X-Men Evolution, or any of the characters from it. I make no money from from the writing of this story.

Chapter List
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O-o-o-o-O

Ecstasy.

Jean had never truly understood the meaning of the word before, but now she did. There had been pain and terror when the ceiling caved in, especially those last few seconds before everything went black, but when she awoke.......she understood now how sadomasochists could say there was no pleasure without pain. You could not appreciate one without the other. Her eyes reopened and while she couldn't say it was like opening them for the first time, but she had a new appreciation for the world. A force filled her body and mind, firing her soul and warming her like nothing had ever done before. Moving her body tentatively, she felt no pain; in fact she felt rejuvenated. Standing up from the rubble, she stretched, appreciating the new energy flowing through her.

*We are one now* said the voice in her mind.

*We are one* Jean smiled back her reply.

*You are the flame that will light the world*

*I am the flame that will light the world*

*You are the fire and the resurrection*

*I am the fire and the resurrection*

*You are......*

"I AM PHOENIX!" Jean screamed, and burst up out of the rubble of tunnel, into the sky.

O-o-o-o-O

Scott was struggling against Piotr and Logan, trying to break free to go down to the tunnels after Jean.

"LET ME GO!!" he yelled. "You bastards she's not dead!"

"Calm down Cyke" Logan said roughly. "That ceiling still ain't stable. Go over there and you could bring it down on yourself. We've lost two people already; we can't afford to lose anymore."

"How could you? How could you just leave her down there?"

"There's no way she could havrvivrvived that cave-in. I'm sorry, kid."

Scott let out a yell of frustration and slumped in their grasp, trying to hold back tears.

Rogue sat by Storm, who was slumped on the ground by Evan's body, seemingly in a state of shock. She hadn't said a word since she killed Harpoon; just brought her nephew's body to the surface and stayed by him, almost like she was guarding him. Having seen Mystique die in front of her, Rogue could sympathize somewhat with what Ororo was going through. She also wanted to make sure the older woman didn't flip out and start frying people again, though dow down she didn't think that would be a problem considering Evan's killer was dead, but you could never be too careful.

She was trying to keep her mind off the problem that was screaming in the back of her mind: Remy. She knew he was in trouble and that he needed her, but the X-Men needed her too and she would need their help to get Remy out of Essex's hands. She didn't think she'd be able to do it alone. She just hoped he could hang on until she could get to him. It wasn't easy though; just the thought of what that creep could be doing to him made her sick.

He wasn't the only one though. During the chaos of the battle and cave-in, Essex's hired guns had made off with two of the Morlocks; Leech and Plague. Rogue had seen Leech during the battle; he was just a little boy for heaven's sake. But his ability to cancel out other mutants' powers would make him an invaluable weapon to Essex. Plague's mutation of causing sickness in others was nothing to be looked over either. All three of them could be turned into something truly deadly. She and the X-Men couldn't let anything happen to them.

The others were coming to now slowly; the Morlocks were tending to each other's injuries while Callisto raged about Evan's death and the loss of her teammates. Kurt was awake now, and Kitty was holding him tightly as he cried, having just learned about Evan. Piotr was cleaning up the blood on John's head from where Wolverine had knocked him out, while Scaleface guarded them silently in her dragon form. Even though Rogue said that he was fighting with them now, they couldn't quite trust the Russian yet, and John was an unknown quantity entirely. Everyone's attention was grabbed when there was a deep rumble from the ruins of the tunnel, and amidst a blast of flying rock a ball of fire shot into the sky with a scream. People yelped and ducked as the debris flew everywhere, yet couldn't keep their eyes off the flame that had risen. The ball of fire rose high into the sky, tendrils of flame stretching out for a moment like the wings of a great bird, then sank back towards the earth, the flames slowly dying out to reveal....

Jean.

Uniform ripped and dirty, bloody and bruised, hair loose and tangled flowing out behind her, she looked.....well, exactly like someone who had gotten the worst end of a cave in. But other than the fact that she was still alive at all, there was a golden glow to her eyes and a new way that she held herself that told the people staring at her that something wasn't right.

Scott was the first one to react. Racing towards her, he stretched out his hand. "Jean! You're alive!" The relief and joy in his voice was as palpable as his grief had beeforefore. Just before he could reach her where she hovered over the ground though, her voice echoed out.

"Stop."

It wasn't Jean. Well, it was and wasn't. It was slightly deeper, with a more mature note to it that was noticeable to everyone. Scott stopped in his tracks, and spoke a little warily.

"Jean, what's happened? We thought you were......."

"You were right. The Jean that you knew is gone. I am Jean, but I am more than Jean now. I am Phoenix. The fire that never truly dies has arisen from my ashes."

*This is the power that I felt........* Rogue thought as she felt the little piece of Jean that was inside of her respond to the woman in front of them.

Phoenix turned and smiled. "That's correct Rogue. The power for my rebirth has been building for months now; I just needed a catalyst to spark the change. Now I am free and my universe will burn."

Pyro looked up dazedly from where he was sitting on the ground. "Burn baby burn!" he called out, a crazy gleam in his eyes. Wolverine glared at the Acolyte. Piotr sighed and covered John's mouth with his hand. He struggled, but he was no match for the powerful Russian.

*....never be cold again.......destroyer of worlds.......* the echo of Jean in Rogue's mind whispered.

"You're going to destroy entire planets", Rogue said. "Why?"

A cold smile formed on Phoenix's face. "It's my nature. What does fire do? It burns. Worlds will tremble before they fall."

Scott seemed to have recover from his shock. "What have you done with Jean?" he snarled.

"I've done nothing with her. She's known this was coming for months, and agreed to it. She kept her growing powers hidden from everyone, including Xavier. He is no longer the number one telepath on the planet; I am."

*I may have agreed to our union, but I never agreed to this* came a voice deep within Phoenix's psyche, the part that was still Jean. *I am still an X-Man, and the wholesale slaughter of worlds is not part of our contract!* the voice proclaimed forcefully.

*What did you think you were signing up for? Fuzzy bunnies and charity work? I don't think so.* Phoenix sent back at her.

*The legend of the Phoenix is a symbol of immortality and rebirth, in other words, LIFE. What you want is death, a mockery of everything your name stands for.*

*I will not listen to this! We are one now and our purpose will be the same.*

*NO!* Jean shouted within her.

Scott and the others looked on at her. "What's going on?" he asked.

"We seem to be having a difference of opinion", Rogue said, the power she absorbed from Jean allowing her to hear the internal conflict.

"What do you mean?"

"Well, Phoenix here wants to burn down the universe and Jean doesn't."

Hope flared in Scott's eyes. "So Jean's still in there?"

"Yeah but they've got a major debate going on........"

Scott wasn't listening. He ran towards Jean again and stopped just a few yards away.

"Jean, please, listen to me", he pleaded. "You've got to fight her. You can't let her control you like this."

Phoenix laughed. "Oh Scott, how sweet. Ever the devoted one. Do you really think she needs you now? Now that we have infinity at our fingertips? Human emotions are wasted now, tying her spirit down. Do you want your precious Jean tied down when she can fly free?"

He snarled. "She's not tied down, she's with family, people who her her. We just want her back!"

"Love? Who needs love? Love's a vampire, a killer of the soul. She's better off without it."

*No......I remember love.......*

Hearing that whisper, Rogue took a chance and connected her mind to Scott's briefly, so he could hear that trace of Jean still within Phoenix. He looked at her sharply, the anger he had been feeling towards her since the meeting this morning when they all found out about her and Remy fading a bit. Encouraged, he pressed on.

"No, you're wrong. It's helped make her the person she is. You chose her for a reason, didn't you? Well if you force her to go against her nature and do your bidding, you're going to destroy what made you seek her out in the first place."

"She will rise above the heavens." Phoenix retorted

*I will curse your name with every life we take*

"She'll sink in despair. Please don't do this."

*I will make our union a living hell instead of the partnership you intended it to be*

"Give her back to us. Please."

*You are supposed to be the fire and joy of life renewed, not the agony of death. Think of all the good we could do*

"Please."

"STOP!!!!!!!" Phoenix screamed, flaring up suddenly in a flash of light. Angrily, she shoved Scott away telekinetically and he flew several yards away to land against a pile of rubble.

"I CANNOT TAKE THIS ANYMORE!! You have not seen the last of me" she snarled and shot up into the sky, becoming a ball of fire once more that gradually winked out of sight.

Scott got up from where he landed, a little shaken, and looked up to where she had disappeared. "No" he whispered brokenly. Collecting himself, he started back towards the others. "We need to go after her" he said with determination.

Logan came up to him. "And how do you expect to do that? You sprout wings all of a sudden?"

"But....we can't just let her go like that, we have to get her back."

"Cyke, that lady ain't coming back unless she's good and ready, and nothing we can do is going to change that. Besides, Essex has two people that we have to get back before that sick fuck hurts them."

"Three. He has Remy, too." Rogue spoke up from behind them.

"Oh I bet. He was probably in on it with Essex all along." Scott spat out.

"How dare you!" she screamed. "He risked his life to help us. You don't know what we went through......." She stopped, determined not to cry in front of the eternal boy scout.

"Rogue......" Logan wasn't sure what to say. He didn't like Gambit, didn't like anyone who worked for Magneto actually, but he had always thought that he could trust Rogue's judgment and she seemed to be dead serious with this.

"Look", she sighed. "We can argue about who dislikes whom and all that other bullshit later. Right now let's just get them out of there. All we're doing now is giving Essex more time to play mad scientist."

"Right. Let's get am tam together. Rogue, Logan, you see who's well enough to come with us, I'll get the jet started." The other two nodded and went their separate ways.

Between them they were able to come up with a team of Piotr, Kitty, Kurt, Marrow, Feral and Thornn. The other Morlocks were staying behind to tend the wounded and keep guard on the injured prisoners, Pyro, Scrambler, Vertigo and Riptide. The last three were still out, but Piotr talked to John and he agreed to behave himself (as much as possible anyway) under the watchful eyes of Scaleface and Masque. Storm had hardly even glanced up during the entire fiasco with Phoenix, so caught up was she in her grief. Rogue wasn't sure if she was even aware of what was going on. She definitely wasn't in any condition to go on a mission.

Climbing the jet along with Rogue and Logan, the team settled into seats and Rogue gave Scott the location of Essex's lab outside of town. She told him about the human guards that had been there when she and Remy visited, but she wasn't sure what the security was like now. As the jet took off, Rogue looked out of the window into the sky.

*Hang on Remy, we're coming for you*

O-o-o-o-O

The first coherent thought that went through Remy's mind was: *God I hate hospitals*

The place where he found himself waking up had that hospital smell. That disinfectant and other things that you can't quite name but aren't really sure you want to know what they are smell The one everyone usually hates, including the people that work there. Still with his eyes closed, he tried to remember what the last thing he remembered was. If he remembered what that was, then it might give him an idea as to where he was now and why he was where he was now and that would give him a clue as to whether he really wanted to open his eyes or not. Ignorance really is bliss sometimes. *Now what do I remember........oh yeah.....kitchen....Mags....Pyro and his damn cartoons.....Essex.....oh shit now I remember.....* He really didn't think he wanted to open his eyes now, but in cases like this ignorance definitely was not bliss, and what you didn't know could hurt you. Cracking his eyelids open, the first thing he was was a ceiling. Well, so far not so good. He was lying down. He tried to move but discovered he couldn't. Raising his head he saw that he was strapped to a table in what looked like a lab. A very familiar lab. He recognized it as the lab he and Rogue and broken into not too long ago. *Guess I get to be a more formal guest now, neh?*

Remy's arms were strapped down but he managed to wiggle a hand towards his pocket and work out a playing card from one of the decks he thankfully always kept on him. Pulling it away from his body, he tried to charge it but was shocked when nothing happened. *What the hell?* He tried again. Still nothing. Somehow or another, Essex had managed to turn his powers off. Well, he was now as his brother would put it, "well and truly fucked" Just full of wisdom, Henri was. It certainly applied in this situation though.

He looked around a little, trying to familiarize himself with the place. There were several other tables in the room, all set up like his; though he seemed to be the only occupant at the moment. There were trays with instruments and different machines whose functions he couldn't figure out, and a large refrigerator at one end of the room. He doubted it was used for snacks though.

Voices in the hall cut off his investigation. His host, Essex, walked into the room, followed by Arclight, Scalphunter,, Prism and Blockbuster. Blockbuster carried an unconscious Magneto, while Prism and Scalphunter carried two mutants that Remy didn't recognize.

"Put them each down on a table." Essex said.

"Magneto too?" asked Blockbuster.

Essex smiled. "Yes. I look forward to the opportunity to experiment with his abilities."

The other mutant shrugged and strapped the Master of Magnetism down to one of the tables, while his teammates did the same with their cargo. When they were finished, Essex came over with a tray holding several syringes. He used them to give each mutant an injection, discarding the tray on a table when he was done. "There, that should take care of them. I still can't believe you only got two Morlocks though."

"The X-Men and Morlocks combined to give us a harder battle than we expected." Prism protested.

Essex snorted. "I should have figured as much, considering they had inside info, but still, that's no excuse for shoddy work."

Glancing over towards Remy, his cold little smile came back. "Speaking of inside info, I see my other guest has awakened. How are you enjoying your accommodations?"

"If you wanted to tie me up you should have just asked, homme, but to tell the truth you're not Remy's type."

"Even defeated you still feel the need to joke. Is it in your genes? Well I guess I'll find out when I go exploring in there, now won't I?"

"What are you talking about?" Remy asked, a little nervous, but trying not to let it show.

"Why I'm going to help you Remy. You have so much untapped potential, and I just want to bring it out of you. You'll thank me for it, really you will. Arclight, get the instrument tray ready." He said as he went to the sink and washed his hands.

"Thank you? I don't think so. You're a sick bastard and I'm going to make you wish you'd never met me." Remy snarled as he struggled on the table.

Essex came back over, now washed and gloved for whatever he planned to do. "Now the first thing I'll need to do is collect a small sample of brain tissue." Remy went white at this. "Now , now, it won't be much, not enough to damage anything. Nothing serious anyway" Essex said with a smirk. "It will only be a small incision, not enough to mess with that nice hair of yours. I'm sure the ladies would be up in arms if anything happened to it" he chuckled.

Picking up a small drill with a very fine bit on it, he paused. "I'd give you drugs but I can't risk the possibility of chemicals affecting the brain so we'll have to do this without anesthesia. I'm sure you understand."

At that moment Remy thought he'd never been so afraid in his life. It was like his worst nightmare come true. Every little kid who watches horror movies dreams about the mad scientist who comes and does horrible things to him, but this was no dream. This was really happening. *I won't scream, I won't scream* he thought to himself, but when that drill touched his head and turned on, bringing pain like he'd never known before, those thoughts were immediately gone and all he could do was scream.

O-o-o-o-O
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