All around her there was darkness.  It was total and complete, enveloping her like a wet blanket.  It was stifling.  As the seconds ticked away, she felt a pressure building in her chest and a fear in her heart.  If she didn’t know any better, she would have thought she was dying.

 

But then again, this was all an illusion.

 

Being a veteran of mental prowess, the woman knew of the Astral Plane and the influence that a telepath could have over the environment.  Unfortunately for the woman, her captor was much more powerful than she was.

 

YOUR FRIENDS FELL FOR THE DECEPTION, JEAN GREY.  ALL THE UNIVERSE NOW BELIEVES YOU DEAD.

 

Jean felt a chill run up and down her spine.  Whenever the entity spoke to her, the reaction was always the same.

 

It was always the same.  Ever since the Phoenix had taken her captive.

 

Jean remembered the circumstances that had caused her to give herself fully to the Phoenix Entity.  The beginning of the relationship had ensured Jean’s survival that day.  Her life had changed from that moment forward.

 

What Jean Grey didn’t realize was that at the same moment she was saved from certain death by the cosmic entity of creation, her life had also ended.  Slowly but surely, the Phoenix had wormed its way into Jean’s consciousness.  The sensation had initially been akin to two people sharing the same body, each trading off control.  But as the Phoenix grew more powerful, becoming to its new environment, Jean Grey had been pushed aside, shunted to the Astral Plane where she was alone.

 

Just Jean and the overwhelming darkness.

 

“Why are you doing this to me?” the former X-Man asked.  She had asked the question before but not received an answer.  When the Phoenix, manifested on the Astral Plane as an identical version of Jean, spoke this day, Jean felt her eyes rising from the ‘ground’ to stare at her captor.

 

I’VE BEEN…SELFISH.

 

“Selfish?”

 

WHEN YOU GRANTED ME ACCESS TO YOUR VERY BEING, IT WAS A NEW SENSATION THAT, TO THIS DAY, I CAN HARDLY UNDERSTAND.  I HEAR YOUR PLEAS, BUT MY SENSES TELL ME NOT TO GIVE UP THESE FEELINGS, THESE EMOTIONS, THAT YOU FEEL EVERYDAY, JEAN GREY.

 

Jean felt herself begin to cry.  “You’ve stolen my life from me.  I hate you, Phoenix.”

 

HATE?

 

Rising from the ground, Jean nodded her head maniacally.  “You know of hate, Phoenix.  You’ve displayed it in all of your actions.  You’ve ruined my reputation.  You’ve ruined my life.  YOU’VE RUINED ME!”

 

YOU CANNOT HATE ME.  WE ARE ONE.

 

“Do you honestly think I would have chosen this for myself?”  Jean was standing mere inches from the Phoenix.  The scene appeared like two reflections staring at each other through a mirror.  “From here, I could see everything that you did while you possessed my body.  I watched as my friends and my lover put aside their own feelings to end my life.  They pleaded with you for my safe return and you left them no choice.  You’ve ended live.  You destroyed an entire star system!”

 

MY HUNGER—

 

“Means nothing against the sanctity of life.  You are a monster, Phoenix.  For one who claims to be the very advocate of creation, you take pleasure in the destruction of lives and liberty!”

 

I DID NOT KNOW WHAT I WAS DOING.  I DID NOT MEAN TO HURT OTHERS.

 

Jean turned away.  Her body was shaking with anger.  “Of course, you did, Phoenix.  You knew what you were doing.  Through my telepathy, you could feel the pain and read the thoughts of those that burned in your wake.  You don’t get to claim temporary insanity in this case, monster.  You’re the most powerful thing in the universe.  As such, you have a responsibility to keep yourself under control.  Ororo Munroe could have taught you that…but now she thinks I’m dead.”

 

BUT YOU’RE NOT.

 

“I might as well be.”

 

BUT YOU’RE NOT.

 

“How did you do it anyway?” Jean asked, turning back to the Phoenix.  “I saw Scott’s face.  He watched my body die.”

 

I USED AN INTENSIVE TELEPATHIC SUGGESTION.  ONE THAT EVEN CHARLES XAVIER WON’T BE ABLE TO SEE THROUGH.  YOUR X-MEN AND THE SHIAR BELIEVE THEY SAW YOUR BODY CRUMBLE TO DUST.  AS I SAID, THE WORLD THINKS YOU’RE DEAD.

 

“Wonderful.”

 

IN RETURN FOR YOU GRACIOUSNESS, JEAN GREY, I SHALL SHOW YOU THINGS THAT YOU COULD NOT BEGIN TO IMAGINE.

 

In that moment, Jean felt her resolve fail.  “I don’t want to go anywhere with you!  I want to return to my home.  I want to run into the arms of Scott Summers, the man I love.  I want to be with my friends.  But you’ve taken all of that away, Phoenix.  You might as well destroy my consciousness now.  I have nothing to live for.”

 

To this, Phoenix did not respond.

 

After a lengthy silence, Jean Grey looked to Phoenix and saw a tear fall down the cheek of her reflection.  As the tear rolled down supple flesh, they burned away in the fires of creation.

 

“Phoenix?”

 

I SEE MY ERROR.

 

“What are you talking about?”

 

I’VE LEARNED MANY THINGS FROM YOU, JEAN GREY.  I THOUGHT I KNEW WHAT IT MEANT TO BE HUMAN, BUT THERE’S ONE EMOTION THAT I’VE NEVER KNOWN UNTIL THIS MOMENT.

 

That’s when Jean saw it.  Out in the distance of the Astral Plane, there was a light.  It was piercing in its minuteness.  As the woman once called Marvel Girl watched, the light grew in intensity and luminosity.

 

But it wasn’t just light.

 

It was the Phoenix.

 

UNTIL THIS MOMENT, I NEVER KNEW SHAME.

 
What If...?
#1
June 2006

MARVEL 2000 PRESENTS:

“What If...

The End of The Dark Phoenix Saga Was a Facade?"

Part One: A Second Chance at Life

Written by Matt Hrubey
 
Wolverine
The Phoenix









 

The Xavier School for Gifted Youngsters

Westchester, New York

The Day After

 

Never before had the mansion been so somber.

 

“I’m going to miss her,” Scott Summers said to the seated man at his side.  “I don’t know if I’ll ever recover from this loss.”

 

Gently patting the man’s shoulder, Charles Xavier nodded his head.  “This is a great loss, Scott, but you cannot think like that.  You can and will move past this tragedy.  Jean would have wanted it that way.”

 

Scott rose to his feet and looked upon the newly engraved tombstone and mouthed the words to himself:

 

JEAN GREY

 

-SHE WILL RISE FROM

THE ASHES-

 

A tear rolled down from beneath his ruby quartz visor.  He brushed it aside with the back of his hand.  “She changed so much in those months before her death.  I’m not exactly sure what she would’ve wanted anymore.”

 

“Remember Jean for the woman she was before the Phoenix, Scott,” Charles responded.  “That was the Jean Grey that claimed our hearts.  She was so giving of herself.  So passionate about so many things.  Even after being tainted by the Phoenix, some of Jean managed to shine through.  She is going to be missed by everyone that ever knew her.”

 

Scott kicked at the ground, a cloud of dust rising as a result.  The mound of dirt near his feet was fresh.  A bodiless coffin had been buried, more out of tradition than anything else.  After Jean’s suicide, there had been no body to speak of.  The weapons in the Blue Area had vaporized even the atoms that made up Jean Grey.  All that was left were memories.

 

But even those faded over time.

 

“It was nice to see everyone back here,” Charles said, seeking a change of topic.  “Regardless of the circumstances.  It’s been too long since Robert, Lorna, and Alex graced the halls of the mansion.  Even Sean and Moira made an appearance.”

 

“Nothing like death to bring people back together,” Scott muttered under his breath.

 

Charles watched the man that had grown before his eyes.  Scott had first come to the Xavier School as a shattered youth, a child who had lost his parents and his ability to control his mutant ability.  Charles had hypothesized why Cyclops couldn’t control his optic blast, but all the hypothesizing in the world didn’t change facts—without the presence of ruby quartz, anything Scott would look at would be destroyed.  It was a burden that Summers had dealt with for years.  The saddest part of it all was that Scott appeared to have shattered once more.

 

“I think it’s time that I left the mansion,” the leader of the X-Men stated.  “For good.”

 

“Scott, I don’t think not is the right time to leave.  You’ve just gone through a traumatic experience.”

 

“Growing up in this place has turned me into the person that I am today, but I think I’ve grown past the mansion having an effect on me.  I have no desire to lead the X-Men anymore.  I have no desire to even be a mutant.”

 

“Scott,” Charles responded, breathless at the words.  “I…I don’t know what to say to make you feel better.”

 

“Talk is cheap, professor.  It’s time for me to go.”

 

Knowing that the matter was done, Charles stayed his tongue.  He wondered, just for a moment, whether the continuation of the X-Men was the best course of action.  In as many months, Charles had lost two of his students—John Proudstar and Jean Grey—to death and another to a crisis of faith in his abilities.  He had ever confidence that the team could continue—Kitty Pryde showed promise—but Charles sat for a moment, his eyes resting on Jean’s gravesite, his mind questioning his decision to put the mutant youths at risk.

 

“Professor Xavier?  Scott?”

 

Both men turned and were greeted by the solemn face of Doctor John Grey, Jean’s father.  The Grey’s had come to the mansion to say goodbye to Jean at the side of the X-Men, were second family.

 

“Doctor Grey,” Xavier acknowledged the man.

 

“Professor, I was wondering if I could have a moment alone with Scott.”

 

“Of course,” Charles responded.  “I’ll be inside if either of you need me.”  He moved off, guiding himself toward the mansion’s dining room where a reception had been set up.

 

When they were alone, John moved to Scott’s side and stared down at her daughter’s tombstone.  His eyes then drifted to the face of Jean’s lover.  “I hope you don’t think I blame you for this, Scott.”

 

“Of course, I don’t, sir.”

 

“You’re lying, and you want to know how I know you’re lying?”

 

“How?”  The question was more to humor the doctor than anything.

 

“Because you won’t look me in the eyes,” John responded.  “Just like you haven’t been looking me in the eye since I arrived in Westchester this morning.”  He rested a hand on Scott’s shoulder.  “Look, son, I know you and Jean loved each other.  I also know that Jean could be a bit headstrong on occasion.  She could take care of herself.  That’s how I know you’re not to blame for the death of my little girl.”

 

In that instance, Scott remembered the look in Jean’s eyes before she killed herself.  It was a look of utter disappointment in herself.

 

Scott looked down to find John’s hand extended toward him.  “Don’t be a stranger.  Elaine and I love you like you were ours.  I was looking forward to day when you would become a part of my family.”

 

Scott stared a hole through the hand but made no move to shake it.  “I’m sorry, sir,” he muttered before turning and running off.

 

Running off toward the garage, Scott Summers left behind a very confused John Grey.  Unbeknownst to both, it was the last time these two men would ever see each other.

 

Deep Space

 

“Where are you taking me?” Jean asked.

 

YOU’LL SEE.

 

After the Phoenix’s admission of guilt, Jean had regained partial control of her body.  It felt good to hold some kind of power, even though the Phoenix was maintaining a majority of the control.  All around, Jean could see the darkness of space.  Her body was being propelled through the vacuum of darkness by the power that the Phoenix Entity possessed.  They sped up faster and faster until a stargate appeared in their midst.  Powered by the Phoenix, the gateway shunted them forward through the universe. 

 

Jean closed her eyes as they passed through the interior of the stargate.  She had no idea what the environment held but the stories that she had heard didn’t make it sound friendly.

 

After a brief yet bumpy ride, the Phoenix exited the gate.  There was a planet off in the distance.  Jean knew immediately where they were.

 

“What are we doing here, Phoenix?”

 

I’M GOING TO RIGHT THAT WHICH HAS BEEN WRONGED, JEAN GREY.  I HAVE MUCH TO ANSWER FOR.

 

And with that, the two that were one, flew down toward the Shiar home world.



The Xavier School for Gifted Youngsters

 

“Charles!”

 

He heard the cry in his mind moments before the door to his study burst open.  The woman that entered inside was a flurry of activity.  Her white locks and the blanket draped across her shoulders flooded in her wake as she moved toward the television and clicked it on.

 

“Ororo,” Charles said, trying to calm the woman.  “What’s happened?”

 

“It’s the Hellfire Club, professor,” Ororo Munroe responded, breathless.  “They’ve gone public.”

 

“What--?”

 

The question on Xavier’s lips disappeared as the television clicked to life and showed the stern face of Sebastian Shaw.  To the world at large, Shaw was an enormous socialite who through the best parties at the Hellfire Club’s headquarters on Fifth Avenue in New York City.  The X-Men, however, knew the man for what he truly was: a mutant and a criminal.  Shaw was the Black King of the Hellfire Club’s Inner Circle, a group of mutants who used the club’s enormous wealth to their political, economic, and social benefits.

 

“---need justice.  There are eyewitnesses who saw the X-Men attack Hellfire Club employees and run away as the police arrived.  I don’t know what the mutants are trying to hide!  Already, the damage to the Hellfire Club has been hypothesized to be in the thousands of dollars.  One of our most prominent members, Henry Leland, has been taken from us.  I demand retribution.”

 

“This is not going to end well,” Charles said to himself.  “Shaw’s pride has been hurt.  That’s why he’s doing this.”  He linked eyes with Storm and saw that she had feelings very similar.

 

“I want…I demand that the X-Men come forward and turn themselves or to the authorities—”

 

CLICK!

 

Charles placed his head down on his desk.  “I don’t need to see anymore.  This is bad.”

 

“What are we going to do, professor?” Storm asked.  She sat down across the desk and placed her hands on her knees to stop them from shaking.  “This team has gone through so much since its creation.  We’ve barely begun to recover from Jean’s death.”  Ororo rubbed her eyes and perked up.  “Maybe Warren can do something about this.  He is a member of the Hellfire Club after all.”

 

“I refuse to draw Angel into this,” Charles responded.  “I doubt Shaw knows of his involvement with the X-Men.  We’ll get past this, Ororo, don’t worry.”

 

Storm said, “Someone has to.”

 

The comment drew a silence over the room.  Storm rose to her feet and began pacing back and forth across the room.

 

“Where’s Scott?” she asked.  “He should be alerted to this.”

 

“He’s gone.  Or rather, he’s leaving.”

 

“What?”  The pacing had stopped and Ororo was leaning over Charles’ desk as if she were going to strangle him.  “Where has he gone?”

 

“He’s finished with the X-Men and he’s heading for his grandparents’ home in Alaska.”

 

“He’s not in the proper mental state to—”

 

Charles laid his hand atop Storm’s.  “I am in no position to tell Scott Summers what to do.  He is a grown man.  A shattered grown man, by the looks of it.”

 

Storm was speechless.

 

“Actually, that brings up something I wanted to discuss with you, Ororo.  With Scott gone, I feel you would be the ideal replacement for team leader.  Say you’ll do it.”

 

Ororo Munroe’s jaw dropped.  The way this man—a man who had changed her very life—was acting so nonchalant about what was happening, it seemed as if he had lost his mind.

 

“How--?” the weather witch asked.  “Why--?”

 

With a growl, Storm spun her heel and stalked out of the office.

 

She had a bone to pick with Scott Summers. 1

 

The Shiar Throneworld

Royal Quarters of the Empress

 

It had been three days since the Empress Lilandra Nermani had given the order for Jean Grey—Phoenix—to be destroyed.  Looking back on her decision, Lilandra knew she had done the right thing.  The entire universe would have paid the price had the Dark Phoenix not been stopped.  Though, it was Jean who took her life in the end, Lilandra felt no less responsible for the act.  She had not slept well since that day; her guilty conscience kept her tossing and turning all night long.

 

With a sigh of pure frustration, Lilandra rose from her bed, draping herself in the softest of robes.  Tying the fabric tightly around her nude form, Lilandra stepped into her private bathroom.  She moved to the sink and turned the water on.  It was cool against her skin, a feeling she reveled in.

 

Lilandra thought briefly of the man she loved.  He was a kindred soul that lived light years away.

 

His name played across her lips—

 

Charles…

 

She shook her head sadly.  Water splashed on her face soon after, washing away the tears that had slid down her cheeks.

 

He was ignoring her.  At first, Lilandra thought that there was some variable interfering with the telepathic connection that she shared with Charles.  As the hours progressed and the failed attempts at reaching Charles grew in number, Lilandra knew that the variable was of Charles’ creation.  He had placed a mental blockade between the pair of them.  He wanted nothing to do with her.  And why should he?  Though, Lilandra had been doing her duty as monarch of the Shiar, Charles had lost one of his most cherished students.  Lilandra feared that Charles would never forgive her.

 

Looking up at herself in the mirror, Lilandra saw the empty husks that were her eyes.  She had made a grave mistake.

 

A cry reached Lilandra’s lips when she saw the shadows at her back shift.  A figure stepped into the moonlight and Lilandra felt the scream catch in her throat.  She spun around, not believing the reflection she saw in the mirror.

 

“Hello, Lilandra.”

 

Lilandra stepped back and felt her foot catch on the carpet.  The fabric bunched underneath her touch and the Empress collapse.  She fell back…

 

And just as quickly stopped.

 

The intruder had her palm facing Lilandra but the Empress knew that the gesture was not necessary.  Jean Grey could use her psychic abilities with a simple thought.  Just as she did now.  Lilandra was returned upright by the invisible force of Jean’s mind.

 

“Y-you’re dead,” Lilandra said, taking another step back.

 

“It was a ruse,” Jean responded, “perpetrated by the Phoenix.”

 

“You ARE the Phoenix.”

 

Jean shook her head.  “We share a body nothing more.  Think of it as Doctor Jekyl and Mister Hyde.”

 

“Excuse me?” Lilandra asked, cocking her head to the side.

 

“Sorry.  Earth culture.”

 

“What are you doing here, Phoenix?  Have you come to turn your wrath loose on my empire?”  Lilandra put her hands up in surrender.  “Please, take my life.  The Shiar are not to blame for what happened to you.”

 

“No one is being hurt this day,” Jean said.  “Especially by me.”

 

Lilandra looked into the eyes of Jean Grey and saw something that she hadn’t seen during their previous encounter: humanity.  “What is this?”

 

“Think of it as redemption.”

 

“You lie.  One such as you doesn’t know the meaning of the word, Phoenix.”

 

“Lilandra, please—”

 

“No,” the Empress responded.  “Leave this place now or the full brunt of the Shiar Empire will come down on your head.  You may’ve rise from the ashes, but you won’t be so lucky a second time.”

 

Jean shook her head.  This was not going as planned.  “Lilandra, I—”

 

“HELP!”

 

Though the Empress’ quarters were isolated, there was no way that the guards stationed outside the door wouldn’t hear the cry from help.  Jean had to get out of here.

 

“Lilandra, stop screaming.”

 

“HELP!  HELP ME!”

 

In that moment, Jean felt herself no control once more.  She was going to try and reason with the Shiar Empress, but she couldn’t move her lips.  A faint glow filled Jean’s eyes, signifying that the Phoenix was once more in control.  “I said stop screaming, witch!”

 

Lilandra obeyed, though not of her own accord.

 

Jean yelled out internally that this was not going to help their case at all, but the Phoenix wasn’t listening.

 

“I tried to apologize but you threw it back in my face.  I realize the error of my ways, but I will be treated with the respect that I deserve.”

 

The door to Lilandra’s quarters flew off its hinges.  Jean knew that the time was up.  She had to get out of here.

 

Gladiator stepped into the bedroom, his eyes flashing with the power at his disposal.  He floated over to the bathroom and saw Lilandra staring, scared for her life.  “Step away from the Empress, woman.”

 

That’s when he recognized the Phoenix.

 

“You,” he muttered.  “You should not have come here.”

 

Phoenix said nothing as a talon of fire rushed toward Gladiator, sweeping him off his feet.  The protector of the Empress slammed into the wall and struggled against his bonds.  He could feel the Phoenix Entity picking around in his mind but he refused to back down.

 

“You are nothing but an obstacle to me, Gladiator.”

 

“You will not touch the Empress, demon.”

 

Phoenix, threw the eyes of Jean Grey, looked at the Empress and saw the look of utter terror in her eyes.  The woman was still silent, she too manipulated by the telepathic powers that the Phoenix possessed through its host.  She looked back to Gladiator and read the thoughts of the Shiar protector, thoughts that would be reflected in the mind of Lilandra Nermani.

 

They hated the Phoenix.  They wanted to destroy the Entity.

 

The Phoenix grimaced.  This could not be allowed.

 

Entering the mind of Gladiator, it was a simple maneuver for the Phoenix to shut his mind off.  He was dead before he hit the ground.

 

Lilandra would have screamed out the name of her protector and her friend had she been able to.  But she was helplessly charged to watch as the life drained from Gladiator’s body.

 

 

“What have you done?”

 

WHAT WAS NECESSARY.  THE EMPRESS DIDN’T UNDERSTAND WHAT WE WERE TRYING TO DO HERE.

 

“I don’t understand what you were trying to do here.”

 

I WAS TRYING TO MAKE AMENDS TO THE SHIAR EMPIRE.

 

“By killing the head of the Imperial Guard?”

 

I WAS FORCED TO.  LILANDRA WASN’T GOING TO LISTEN.  SHE WAS GOING TO ATTACK US ONCE MORE.

 

“And I wonder why that would be her first impulse, Phoenix.  You’ve destroyed lives.  Lives that Lilandra feels personally responsible for.”

 

THIS WAS A MISTAKE.

 

“You’re damn right it was a mistake.  We never should have come here.”

 

WHAT WOULD YOU HAVE PREFERRED?

 

“Heading back to Earth where—What was that?”

 

SOMEONE IS TRYING TO INVADE OUR COLLECTIVE CONSCIOUSNESS.

 

“I know that mind.  It’s Oracle, a member of the Imperial Guard.”

 

SHE WILL REGRET HER ATTEMPTED INSERTION.

 

“No!  You’re not going to take anymore lives.”

 

WHAT WOULD YOU HAVE ME DO?  APPEAR VULNERABLE TO OUR ENEMIES?

 

“They’re not enemies.  They’re just misunderstood.  We have to get out of here!”

 

YOU WANT TO RUN, JEAN GREY?

 

“Yes!  We have to get out of here NOW!”

 

When Oracle, along with her fellow Guardsmen, Starbolt and Smasher, made their way into Lilandra’s quarters, they found the area in disarray.  Lilandra was on the floor of her bathroom, sobbing at her loss.  Gladiator lay nearby, unmoving.

Jean Grey was nowhere to be found.