"Battle of the X's, Pt. 2"
by Adam (WiSeGuY9)

Part 2


Cyclops' head was spinning. He was starting to regain consciousness, but it seemed like his mind didn't want to. He was trying to remember what had happened. Images flowed through his psyche, Jean wanting to become more powerful and taking her old alias as the Phoenix, then being distressed over losing her powers, and one final image coming into his mind, one that he couldn't grasp. It kept wriggling from him like a recently caught fish that he was trying to hold in his fist. Then, in a flash, it came to him. This morning Jean had miraculously regained her powers, but it had come with a taxing price.

Apparently, he thought, the sudden snapping back of her powers had driven her insane. He remembered her weeping on the carpet, and when he had tried to comfort her, she had driven him off with a powerful telekinetic blast. He could now feel his broken leg, remembering the feeling of being whisked through the air and slamming into the wooden walls of the house. As he had lay there, he watched her rising, black flames engulfing her and finally shooting off into the distance. She had spoken something right then, something he was trying to get at but was again failing.

And then he heard it. Jean was talking, saying the same thing she had said earlier.

"...do not call me phoenix any longer. From now on my name shall be, the SHADOW QUEEN!" Yes, that was it. And then, suddenly, all the memories of what happened afterwards started to pour out of him. She had looked at him on the floor, he had felt so helpless right then, debating whether to shoot his wife with his optical blasts, but luckily (or maybe unluckily) she had made the first move. She had grabbed his head with solid psionic energy and tossed him about. Had he done nothing then? No, he remembered trying to aim and shoot her, just enough to knock her out. But the blast never made it to her body, it had been dissipated by her TK powers. After that it was just a blur as she had tied him up to a psionic altar and drenched her psychic venom into his mind, putting him out cold.

But now, somehow he could regain his mind, perhaps her powers dwindled after a while. But how long had it been since he was put to sleep? Hours, days, maybe even months that he could have been unconscious. But by then Jean would have been long gone, and he had distinctly heard her voice a few minutes ago. He thought about his next move, and suddenly realized his eyes were still closed. Could he open them without sending off his blasts and alerting her? But maybe she was using her powers and already knew that he was awake. Nothing to do but try.

He squinted his eyes open a crack, just to check. Nothing happened, no whizzing sound of the shots or their deafening impact. He opened them a bit further, and could now see. There was a face plate over his eyes, resembling an astronaut's helmet, that kept his powers in check. It was also psionicaly made, as was the floating altar he was laced into. He could peek around the room, only using his eyes and never turning his head, lest he draw attention to himself. But there was little attention focused on him to begin with, as he could plainly see his teammates were all spellbound by Jean's presence. His teammates being Storm, Rogue, Shadowcat, and Marrow, of course. But he could see that they were each grasping someone and forcing them to kneel. He couldn't make out the faces at first but suddenly he could plainly see it was the rest of the X-men, Wolverine, Colossus, Nightcrawler, and Gambit!


Somewhere on the astral plain there are two women, flying at high speed towards their destination and not quite sure of what they will find there. These two are Emma Frost and Betsy Braddock and right now they are bickering.

"I'm not quite sure I understand what's going on. If you could just fill me in I might be tempted to help you," asks Emma.

"There's not enough time, I'll explain it all later," answers Betsy stubbornly. Of course, Emma Frost is not one to be ignored.

"I really think you should tell me now," she says coldly, suddenly stopping her flight, "And then we can discuss whether there is enough time or not."

"Oh," scowls Betsy, stopping as well, "Listen, all you need to know is that the Shadow King has taken over the mind of the most powerful telepath on earth and is plotting to take over the world. Now you can decide whether or not there's enough time to do anything but I really need to go and save the planet." She resumes her flight. Emma catches up to her and continues her interrogation.

"Now, once again, which telepath did you say he got?"

"Jean Grey Summers."

"And why not Xavier?"

"I'm not quite sure."

"And we're the only ones who are going to stop her?"

"Yes."

"But why not bring along Xavier, or Nate Grey, or even Cable?"

"They are all men."

"Does that matter?"

"Yes, somehow Jean and the Shadow King's powers are augmented and they have the ability to null male mutant powers."

"I see, and this doesn't affect females?"

"No, but if their male counterpart is present, she can take over female minds."

"Male counterpart?"

"It's something like a soul mate, except it constantly changes. For example, all the current X-men and X-women are counterparts, and you and I have one too."

"Oh really, who?"

"I have Warren and you have Sean."

"Sean," she began to laugh, "That's crazy, we're not close at all."

"Maybe not in your minds, but in your hearts. And if I hadn't gotten you away from him when I did, you would have been under the control of the Shadow Queen."

Emma continued to laugh hysterically, "That is so incredibly stupid. You have no idea what your talking about. The Shadow Queen, ha ha ha."

"The Shadow Queen is Jean and the Shadow King combined, and it is very serious."

"Oh, I see," she said trying to control her laughing, "Anyway, your saying that basically we're going into unknown danger against a telepath twice as powerful as the both of us combined who can nullify men's powers and take over women's minds? Are you insane?!" Emma yells.

"Yes, you're right, and no I'm not. And besides we're here."

The two women emerged from the astral plain, falling a few short feet to the snow-covered ground. They crept closer to the cabin and Betsy said, "If we physically go in, we'll be killed instantly. We need a plan."

"I know how to get in," announced Emma. She told Betsy her plan.


Inside Scott was feeling a bit nervous as he watched things unfold. Apparently his wife had gone completely insane and was currently addressing the X-people as if she were a ruler of some sort.

"Tie up the X-men," she ordered to Marrow. "They will be the beginnings of my army, and since you four have done my bidding so well you will be appointed my generals."

"What is the use of an army when you can take control of minds my queen?" Storm boldly asks .

"My powers are ever changing, but as so far I can only use them on mutants. I have already taken control of the X-men and as we speak others are doing my bidding. The Scarlet Witch is after Quicksilver, Polaris hunts down Iceman, the children of Generation X and X-force are succumbing to my call, and many more mutants, people that were once on the teams and those who were not, are attacking each other. It is beautiful."

"What of the powerful ones who have no counterparts? Xavier and others like him." asks Storm again being bold enough to directly ask her Queen.

"Xavier is a fool. Many have said this before, but only I know it to be true. He is distraught with his dream and he has added many psychic barriers to his mind since Onslaught. He should be easy to control. And since my powers grow with each man captured I will be able to use him to mutate my powers further. Very soon I can set my sights on Sue Richards, Janet Van Dyne, and other superhuman females."

With this last note she begins to cackle fiendishly, and Cyclops has a chill sent down his spine. He is worried about Jean, his wife, his lover, and what she might do to the world. But then there is a strange prodding in his head. He feels a voice then an entity, no wait, two. They begin to speak to him.

"Scott, we need your help, you are the only one who can reach her," one says hauntingly. He knows that particular voice, he has heard it before.

"Oh shut up, you don't have to be so dramatic about it," comes the other voice, one that he knows for sure.

"Emma Frost, and, and, um...Betsy! That's it! Wait, what are you two doing in my head?"

"Only you have a psychic rapport with Jean, we need to use it to stop her."

"Oh, of course, I should have tried that! But maybe it's not there anymore, I'm not quite sure if she shut it down yet."

"We'll have to try anyway. I'll go to try and get to her mind, Emma you stay here and fill Scott in on the situation."

She left, feeling herself fly down a psychic tunnel. Betsy could feel all around her the dark energies emanating from Jean. She felt scared, feeling like they could attack her at any moment and rearrange her mind, an experience she has felt several times, and did not wish to feel it again. She tried to push on, knowing that she was safe as long as Angel didn't arrive. Then she felt something hard. A giant wall, placed in the rapport to prevent any intruders like herself. She tried to attack it several times before giving up and returning to Scott.

"Did you get through?" asked Emma and Scott simultaneously as she entered.

"No, there's a barrier."

"Damn," said Scott, "But there may be another way. If you two can free me from these bonds, I should be able to surprise Jean and knock her down."

"Great thinking," said Betsy already starting a small psychic attack on the altar. Emma did the same and after a minute Scott was free.

He hit the carpet with a small thud. His eyes were closed, but he knew exactly where Jean was. He turned towards he a softly as he could, he paused for a moment to whisper a quiet Sorry, and then opened his eyes to allow a small beam to poke through. It shot through the air and hit directly on the small of Jean's back.

She shrieked in pain, staggering to the floor and falling unconscious for just one moment. But that moment was all it took to free the X-men. They stood up, dazed but ready for a brawl. Wolverine popped out one set of claws and brandished them around. His teammates lines up next to him, Nightcrawler to his left, and Colossus and Gambit to his right. Their opponents, the X-women, still under the Shadow Queen's influence, lined up opposite to them, also ready to strike. This was going to be one hellava FIGHT!!!

To be continued...