They were born mutants--possessing powers of a genetic origin which made them outcasts of society. But one man -- Professor Charles Xavier -- brought them together to learn to use their unique gifts in the service of a world that hates and fears them...
Marvel 2000 Proudly Presents...
UNCANNY X-MEN
ISSUE 3
"DEATH OF A DREAM"
PART 6
BY
COREY WIEGEL
FROM A STORY ORIGINALLY BY
GWYNA
ISSUE 3
"DEATH OF A DREAM"
PART 6
BY
COREY WIEGEL
FROM A STORY ORIGINALLY BY
GWYNA
The Victorian-style bay and bow windows behind Professor X's desk exploded inward as a body missile kicked through it. Shattered glass and splintered wood rained across the floor. Angel, wrapped in his wings, landed in a squat in his mentor's study. He flexed his wings outward as he stood up to shake off the glass and splinters caught in them in.
At the center of the room, he saw Professor X slumped over in his golden hover chair. Phoenix and Psylocke had collapsed out of their chairs and lay sprawled out on the floor.
“Oh no...” Angel gasped. He immediately leaped over his mentor's desk, carried quickly with a powerful flap of his wings, and landed a few feet away from his teammates. He checked on Professor X first, shaking him by the shoulders and turning his head to face him. “Professor? Wake-up! Professor!”
Professor X's body remained limp in his hover chair. He was breathing lightly but was otherwise motionless. When Angel looked to Phoenix and Psylocke, he noticed the shadows surrounding the room began to waver and distort, as if they were bodies of ink quivering to life.
“What the hell...?” Angel murmured to himself. His eyes shot to each corner of the room as familiar black figures formed from the shadows and surrounded him. The shadows were almost perfect black duplicates of Beast, Rogue, Shadowcat, and Psylocke, each with glowing yellow eyes and red Crimson Dawn tattoos over their left eyes.
Collectively, they growled in the voice of Amahl Farouk.
“To me, my Shadow X-Men!”
Angel flexed his wings and clenched his fists in preparation to fight, but the shadows overwhelmed him in an instant and he cried out in agony.
At the center of the room, he saw Professor X slumped over in his golden hover chair. Phoenix and Psylocke had collapsed out of their chairs and lay sprawled out on the floor.
“Oh no...” Angel gasped. He immediately leaped over his mentor's desk, carried quickly with a powerful flap of his wings, and landed a few feet away from his teammates. He checked on Professor X first, shaking him by the shoulders and turning his head to face him. “Professor? Wake-up! Professor!”
Professor X's body remained limp in his hover chair. He was breathing lightly but was otherwise motionless. When Angel looked to Phoenix and Psylocke, he noticed the shadows surrounding the room began to waver and distort, as if they were bodies of ink quivering to life.
“What the hell...?” Angel murmured to himself. His eyes shot to each corner of the room as familiar black figures formed from the shadows and surrounded him. The shadows were almost perfect black duplicates of Beast, Rogue, Shadowcat, and Psylocke, each with glowing yellow eyes and red Crimson Dawn tattoos over their left eyes.
Collectively, they growled in the voice of Amahl Farouk.
“To me, my Shadow X-Men!”
Angel flexed his wings and clenched his fists in preparation to fight, but the shadows overwhelmed him in an instant and he cried out in agony.
**********
Demonic laughter roared across the Astral Plane, causing cold shivers to run down the spine of Professor X and Phoenix in their astral forms. Powerful explosions of psychic energy accompanied the howling that sent them fleeing in separate directions. As they took to the dark and gaseous space that made up the Astral Plane, they weaved and dodged powerful bursts and electrifying streams of raw telepathic power, narrowly avoiding their foe's crippling attacks.
Only moments ago, the Astral Plane was a peaceful and ethereal plane of existence with distant stars and interstellar clouds of brilliant colors illuminating the plane. It rapidly became something much different upon the emergence of the Shadow King from Psylocke's psyche.
“How did this happen?!” Phoenix cried out as her and Professor X swooped through the endless ocean of shadows. A blast of psychic energy arched towards her from on high, which Professor X swiftly intercepted. He erected a telepathic shield to absorb and deflect the attack.
“The Shadow King must have bided his time within Psylocke's psychic prison by mastering her Crimson Dawn abilities,” Professor X speculated. “This would explain how he escaped the moment we ascended to the Astral Plane and was able to shield himself from our detection.”
“If that's true then he could be even more powerful than we could possibly imagine.”
“Precisely,” Professor X said. On the horizon of their line of sight, the Shadow King raced towards them in his astral form, appearing as an ancient monster covered in spiked armor. “Our time is short. We must make our stand here.”
Professor X took a battle stance as he bolstered his psychic defenses. Roman armor appeared across his astral form, complete with sword, shield, helmet, and cape. Phoenix followed his lead but instead took the appearance of a Celtic warrior armed with a spear in one hand and a battle ax in the other. Within moments, the Shadow King crashed towards them like a fiery rocket, causing them to pivot at the last second out of the way of his attack and counter with their weapons.
Professor X hacked and slashed at the Shadow King with his sword while Phoenix flanked him from behind and on high, throwing spears into his back, one manifesting in her hand after the other.
The Shadow King roared as the simultaneous attacks began to penetrate his defenses. He swung his powerful arms at Professor X rapidly, slashing at him with his razor sharp claws, but Professor X braced himself against the attacks with his shield. Overwhelmed by the sheer force of the Shadow King's attacks, Professor X grit his teeth and called out, “Jean!”
With her psychic spears being shrugged off by the Shadow King, Phoenix swooped down toward his monstrous form and drew her psychic battle ax back for a savage attack meant for his neck. Almost instinctively, the Shadow King reached back and caught her by the blade before it could strike, swinging her by the ax into Professor X's shield. The surprise counter attack threw both of the X-Men off guard. They collapsed into each other on impact, their psychic weapons and armor dissipating as their concentration was broken.
“FOOLS!” the Shadow Kings scoffed as he shrugged off their attacks. “Not only are you fighting me in my own domain, but I wield the power of the Crimson Dawn as well!”
Professor X and Phoenix regrouped as the Shadow King moved upon them. Phoenix threw her hands out to unleash a powerful psychic blast, forcing the Shadow King to stumble backwards. Professor X simultaneously put his hands to his temples and projected a powerful psychic attack of his own into the Shadow King's psyche, causing the monstrosity of psychic energy to cry out in pain as his form seemed to violently shake apart.
“Crimson Dawn or not, you can't hold us back forever!” Phoenix yelled over their attacks. “Give up, Farouk! Let Psylocke go and leave this plane of existence!”
It seemed to them as if they had thrown him off guard, but his battle cry slowly turned into a chuckle.
“Oh, child, your naivete has always been so refreshing,” the Shadow King said as he returned to form. Professor X and Phoenix ceased their attacks, in awe of his resilience. “Shadow X-Men! Attack!”
Their four teammates emerged from the shadows as suddenly as the Shadow King commanded. Psylocke led the charge with the swing of her psychic sword at Professor X from behind.
“Professor!” Phoenix gasped as she summoned her psychic armor and weapons. Way ahead of his student, Professor X's form seemed to reverse itself so that he was facing Psylocke, fully armored and armed with shield and sword. He deflected her sword with his shield and sent a side kick into her abdomen as it opened up.
Beast propelled himself on all fours across the battle field, leaping and flipping into a ball in the air. Phoenix leaped above where he would crash only split seconds later only for Angel to collide into her back, spear tackling her out of the air.
“Oof!” Phoenix cried out. She twisted around in Angel's grasp as they descended to face him. He reached back to punch her across the face, but she grabbed his head by the temples before he could and unleashed a powerful psychic attack in his mind, causing him to scream in agony. Phoenix then broke out of Angel's grasp and let him crash to the ground.
Beast moved quickly, flipping from feet to hands and launching himself feet first at Phoenix as she recovered from Angel's attack. She side stepped the attack as fast she flew through their all the while manifesting a psychic spear and stabbing it into the Beast's side. As he dropped midair, she summoned a psychic ax and prepared to swing it into his neck.
“Careful, Jean!” Professor X called out across the battle field as he simultaneously fought off Psylocke's attacks, sword to sword, while blocking and evading Shadowcat's flying fists and feet. “They may look like mere shadows of our teammates, but I can sense their psyches. The Shadow King has possessed them with his psychic power combined with that of the Crimson Dawn!”
Phoenix let her psychic ax dissipate and instead grabbed a hold of the Beast with telekinetic energy, lifting him high in the air and launching him into Angel as he flew towards them. The two collided with enough force to stun them, but not for long.
“How do we stop them without seriously hurting them then?!” Phoenix asked.
“It's quite simple, my dear,” the Shadow King said as he suddenly appeared behind Phoenix. “You can't.”
Before Phoenix could react to his taunts, the Shadow King raised both of his massive arms in the air and dropped his fists down on her. Phoenix screamed at the top of her lungs as she was engulfed in a massive explosion of psychic energy.
“JEAN!” Professor X yelled. It was then Psylocke and Shadowcat overwhelmed him, breaking through his defenses and striking him with multiple blows of fist, foot, and sword.
When the psychic energy faded, Phoenix was gone, having disintegrated into nothing but faint psychic residue that slowly disappeared.
Beast and Angel closed the distance between their shadow teammates and helped them surround Professor X as he was attacked. Their mentor dropped to his knees as his psychic armor and weapons faded, weakened from their attacks and the grief he felt for his first student.
“Very good, my Shadow X-Men,” the Shadow King said as he approached Professor X as his shadow warriors made way for him. He raised his hands and psychic tendrils emerged from the shadows of the Astral Plane, wrapping around Professor X in the image of shackles and bondage complete with gag. “Your beloved Jean Grey has fallen. To whose destruction would you like a front seat to next?”
Professor X groaned as he struggled against the Shadow King's psychic restraints, but it was no use. Psychic stone and bars manifested around Professor X in the form of an ancient prison cell, then rose high in the form of a platform on a tower. The Shadow King couldn't help but laugh in victory.
“Oh, Farouk,” a woman's voice echoed throughout the Astral Plane. It sent shivers down the Shadow King's spine. “Your naivete has always been so refreshing.”
“No! It can't be...!” the Shadow King protested as he scanned his surroundings and his Shadow X-Men took a defensive stance.
“Oh, but it is,” the voice continued. “The Phoenix's gaze burns through all lies.”
One by one, the Shadow X-Men erupted into flames as if they were spontaneously combusting, but it wasn't Professor X's students who cried out in pain. It was the Shadow King!
Phoenix appeared above them as the Shadow King's piercing screams filled the Astral Plane, lit aflame by the avatar of the Phoenix. The Shadow X-Men collapsed as they burned away into nothing along with the Shadow King's control over them. Phoenix then reached out with an open hand and seized the prison tower that held Professor X with her psychic power. As she clenched her fist, the tower rapidly collapsed and crumbled into nothing, lowering the freed Professor X to her side.
“Jean!” Professor X said as he marveled at her display of power. “Or should I say...?”
“It's quite alright, professor,” Phoenix reassured him. “It's me. This... is my power...”
Professor X nodded his head, sensing that she was in fact not possessed by another being, but noting that her power had suddenly exceeded what it had been when they arrived in the Astral Plane. How could this be if it were not the power of the Phoenix Force itself? Still, their work was not done and the Shadow King was still there, albeit trembling before them.
“This isn't over!” the Shadow King spat in defiance. “As long as there are shadows, I will forever haunt this realm and your – “
“Enough of you,” Phoenix said with spite in her voice. “Let this be the last time we ever have to deal with the likes of you.” Professor X joined his psychic power with hers. Flames erupted across the Astral Plane and expanded rapidly, consuming the Shadow King's influence. The Shadow King roared in agony until he, too, was consumed by their power in a bright white light.
Only moments ago, the Astral Plane was a peaceful and ethereal plane of existence with distant stars and interstellar clouds of brilliant colors illuminating the plane. It rapidly became something much different upon the emergence of the Shadow King from Psylocke's psyche.
“How did this happen?!” Phoenix cried out as her and Professor X swooped through the endless ocean of shadows. A blast of psychic energy arched towards her from on high, which Professor X swiftly intercepted. He erected a telepathic shield to absorb and deflect the attack.
“The Shadow King must have bided his time within Psylocke's psychic prison by mastering her Crimson Dawn abilities,” Professor X speculated. “This would explain how he escaped the moment we ascended to the Astral Plane and was able to shield himself from our detection.”
“If that's true then he could be even more powerful than we could possibly imagine.”
“Precisely,” Professor X said. On the horizon of their line of sight, the Shadow King raced towards them in his astral form, appearing as an ancient monster covered in spiked armor. “Our time is short. We must make our stand here.”
Professor X took a battle stance as he bolstered his psychic defenses. Roman armor appeared across his astral form, complete with sword, shield, helmet, and cape. Phoenix followed his lead but instead took the appearance of a Celtic warrior armed with a spear in one hand and a battle ax in the other. Within moments, the Shadow King crashed towards them like a fiery rocket, causing them to pivot at the last second out of the way of his attack and counter with their weapons.
Professor X hacked and slashed at the Shadow King with his sword while Phoenix flanked him from behind and on high, throwing spears into his back, one manifesting in her hand after the other.
The Shadow King roared as the simultaneous attacks began to penetrate his defenses. He swung his powerful arms at Professor X rapidly, slashing at him with his razor sharp claws, but Professor X braced himself against the attacks with his shield. Overwhelmed by the sheer force of the Shadow King's attacks, Professor X grit his teeth and called out, “Jean!”
With her psychic spears being shrugged off by the Shadow King, Phoenix swooped down toward his monstrous form and drew her psychic battle ax back for a savage attack meant for his neck. Almost instinctively, the Shadow King reached back and caught her by the blade before it could strike, swinging her by the ax into Professor X's shield. The surprise counter attack threw both of the X-Men off guard. They collapsed into each other on impact, their psychic weapons and armor dissipating as their concentration was broken.
“FOOLS!” the Shadow Kings scoffed as he shrugged off their attacks. “Not only are you fighting me in my own domain, but I wield the power of the Crimson Dawn as well!”
Professor X and Phoenix regrouped as the Shadow King moved upon them. Phoenix threw her hands out to unleash a powerful psychic blast, forcing the Shadow King to stumble backwards. Professor X simultaneously put his hands to his temples and projected a powerful psychic attack of his own into the Shadow King's psyche, causing the monstrosity of psychic energy to cry out in pain as his form seemed to violently shake apart.
“Crimson Dawn or not, you can't hold us back forever!” Phoenix yelled over their attacks. “Give up, Farouk! Let Psylocke go and leave this plane of existence!”
It seemed to them as if they had thrown him off guard, but his battle cry slowly turned into a chuckle.
“Oh, child, your naivete has always been so refreshing,” the Shadow King said as he returned to form. Professor X and Phoenix ceased their attacks, in awe of his resilience. “Shadow X-Men! Attack!”
Their four teammates emerged from the shadows as suddenly as the Shadow King commanded. Psylocke led the charge with the swing of her psychic sword at Professor X from behind.
“Professor!” Phoenix gasped as she summoned her psychic armor and weapons. Way ahead of his student, Professor X's form seemed to reverse itself so that he was facing Psylocke, fully armored and armed with shield and sword. He deflected her sword with his shield and sent a side kick into her abdomen as it opened up.
Beast propelled himself on all fours across the battle field, leaping and flipping into a ball in the air. Phoenix leaped above where he would crash only split seconds later only for Angel to collide into her back, spear tackling her out of the air.
“Oof!” Phoenix cried out. She twisted around in Angel's grasp as they descended to face him. He reached back to punch her across the face, but she grabbed his head by the temples before he could and unleashed a powerful psychic attack in his mind, causing him to scream in agony. Phoenix then broke out of Angel's grasp and let him crash to the ground.
Beast moved quickly, flipping from feet to hands and launching himself feet first at Phoenix as she recovered from Angel's attack. She side stepped the attack as fast she flew through their all the while manifesting a psychic spear and stabbing it into the Beast's side. As he dropped midair, she summoned a psychic ax and prepared to swing it into his neck.
“Careful, Jean!” Professor X called out across the battle field as he simultaneously fought off Psylocke's attacks, sword to sword, while blocking and evading Shadowcat's flying fists and feet. “They may look like mere shadows of our teammates, but I can sense their psyches. The Shadow King has possessed them with his psychic power combined with that of the Crimson Dawn!”
Phoenix let her psychic ax dissipate and instead grabbed a hold of the Beast with telekinetic energy, lifting him high in the air and launching him into Angel as he flew towards them. The two collided with enough force to stun them, but not for long.
“How do we stop them without seriously hurting them then?!” Phoenix asked.
“It's quite simple, my dear,” the Shadow King said as he suddenly appeared behind Phoenix. “You can't.”
Before Phoenix could react to his taunts, the Shadow King raised both of his massive arms in the air and dropped his fists down on her. Phoenix screamed at the top of her lungs as she was engulfed in a massive explosion of psychic energy.
“JEAN!” Professor X yelled. It was then Psylocke and Shadowcat overwhelmed him, breaking through his defenses and striking him with multiple blows of fist, foot, and sword.
When the psychic energy faded, Phoenix was gone, having disintegrated into nothing but faint psychic residue that slowly disappeared.
Beast and Angel closed the distance between their shadow teammates and helped them surround Professor X as he was attacked. Their mentor dropped to his knees as his psychic armor and weapons faded, weakened from their attacks and the grief he felt for his first student.
“Very good, my Shadow X-Men,” the Shadow King said as he approached Professor X as his shadow warriors made way for him. He raised his hands and psychic tendrils emerged from the shadows of the Astral Plane, wrapping around Professor X in the image of shackles and bondage complete with gag. “Your beloved Jean Grey has fallen. To whose destruction would you like a front seat to next?”
Professor X groaned as he struggled against the Shadow King's psychic restraints, but it was no use. Psychic stone and bars manifested around Professor X in the form of an ancient prison cell, then rose high in the form of a platform on a tower. The Shadow King couldn't help but laugh in victory.
“Oh, Farouk,” a woman's voice echoed throughout the Astral Plane. It sent shivers down the Shadow King's spine. “Your naivete has always been so refreshing.”
“No! It can't be...!” the Shadow King protested as he scanned his surroundings and his Shadow X-Men took a defensive stance.
“Oh, but it is,” the voice continued. “The Phoenix's gaze burns through all lies.”
One by one, the Shadow X-Men erupted into flames as if they were spontaneously combusting, but it wasn't Professor X's students who cried out in pain. It was the Shadow King!
Phoenix appeared above them as the Shadow King's piercing screams filled the Astral Plane, lit aflame by the avatar of the Phoenix. The Shadow X-Men collapsed as they burned away into nothing along with the Shadow King's control over them. Phoenix then reached out with an open hand and seized the prison tower that held Professor X with her psychic power. As she clenched her fist, the tower rapidly collapsed and crumbled into nothing, lowering the freed Professor X to her side.
“Jean!” Professor X said as he marveled at her display of power. “Or should I say...?”
“It's quite alright, professor,” Phoenix reassured him. “It's me. This... is my power...”
Professor X nodded his head, sensing that she was in fact not possessed by another being, but noting that her power had suddenly exceeded what it had been when they arrived in the Astral Plane. How could this be if it were not the power of the Phoenix Force itself? Still, their work was not done and the Shadow King was still there, albeit trembling before them.
“This isn't over!” the Shadow King spat in defiance. “As long as there are shadows, I will forever haunt this realm and your – “
“Enough of you,” Phoenix said with spite in her voice. “Let this be the last time we ever have to deal with the likes of you.” Professor X joined his psychic power with hers. Flames erupted across the Astral Plane and expanded rapidly, consuming the Shadow King's influence. The Shadow King roared in agony until he, too, was consumed by their power in a bright white light.
**********
The unnatural eclipse that seemed to wash the Xavier Institute in shadow was lifting and light gradually broke into the room from the windows. Psylocke's eyes began to flicker open as she awakened. She winced as her eyes adjusted to the sudden change and then a blue face and messy long blonde hair came into focus. A gentle hand touched her head as she started to come to.
“Mm... Warren...?”
It was Angel. He was knelt over her and softly stroking her cheek.
“Elizabeth...”
Psylocke sat up from the floor and the two embraced warmly. After a few longing heartbeats, they loosened their embrace and stared deeply into each other's eyes.
“Please,” a playful voice interrupted their reunion. “Elizabeth was her father's name. Call her Betsy, lover boy.”
Professor X and Phoenix smiled at the two from across the study as the room became fully lit from the sunset. They approached Psylocke and Angel as the two stood up together.
“Did it work?” Warren asked. “Is he gone?”
“I believe so,” Professor X replied. “Jean and I can no longer sense the Shadow King in Psylocke's mind, nor are there any traces of his influence over her.”
“What about on the Astral Plane?” Psylocke asked.
“Nothing,” Phoenix answered. Psylocke and Angel let out a collective sigh as they instinctively joined hands with each other.
“Does that mean he's finally gone for good?” Angel asked. Phoenix glanced to Professor X and bit her lip. Professor X peered down and steepled his index fingers.
“That... is a little more difficult to say with certainty...”
Psylocke and Angel exchanged concerned looks. Before either could ask what their mentor meant by that, the door to the study burst open in a blur of gold and blue.
“Professor!” the young woman said. “Oh, thank God, you're all back!”
The four looked to Shadowcat. She was flushed and breathing heavily. Professor X maneuvered his hover chair towards her, his brow furrowed with concern.
“What is it, Kitty?”
“The Blackbird's coming in hot with casualties!” Shadowcat exclaimed. “It's Gambit!”
“Mm... Warren...?”
It was Angel. He was knelt over her and softly stroking her cheek.
“Elizabeth...”
Psylocke sat up from the floor and the two embraced warmly. After a few longing heartbeats, they loosened their embrace and stared deeply into each other's eyes.
“Please,” a playful voice interrupted their reunion. “Elizabeth was her father's name. Call her Betsy, lover boy.”
Professor X and Phoenix smiled at the two from across the study as the room became fully lit from the sunset. They approached Psylocke and Angel as the two stood up together.
“Did it work?” Warren asked. “Is he gone?”
“I believe so,” Professor X replied. “Jean and I can no longer sense the Shadow King in Psylocke's mind, nor are there any traces of his influence over her.”
“What about on the Astral Plane?” Psylocke asked.
“Nothing,” Phoenix answered. Psylocke and Angel let out a collective sigh as they instinctively joined hands with each other.
“Does that mean he's finally gone for good?” Angel asked. Phoenix glanced to Professor X and bit her lip. Professor X peered down and steepled his index fingers.
“That... is a little more difficult to say with certainty...”
Psylocke and Angel exchanged concerned looks. Before either could ask what their mentor meant by that, the door to the study burst open in a blur of gold and blue.
“Professor!” the young woman said. “Oh, thank God, you're all back!”
The four looked to Shadowcat. She was flushed and breathing heavily. Professor X maneuvered his hover chair towards her, his brow furrowed with concern.
“What is it, Kitty?”
“The Blackbird's coming in hot with casualties!” Shadowcat exclaimed. “It's Gambit!”
NEXT ISSUE: Head over to X-Men #4 by Dino Pollard for “DEATH OF A DREAM,” Part Seven