Vicki Kamida - Dark Phoenix (X-men)

A BULLSEYE BOOK PUBLISHED BY RANDOM HOUSE, INC.

Copyright 1995 by Marvel Entertainment Group, Inc.

Based upon Uncanny X-Men #100, 101 copyright 1976, Uncanny X-Men #129-137 copyright 1980, and X-MEN The Dark Phoenix Saga copyright 1984, 1990, 1991 by Marvel Entertainment Group, Inc.

MARVEL COMICS and X-MEN are registered trademarks of Marvel Entertainment Group, Inc.

ISBN: 0-679-87072-5

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Bullseye Books

The X-Men were on their way home from a top-secret mission in outer space. Suddenly the flight control computer in their spacecraft stopped working.

We've lost control! cried Cyclops, the leader of the team. Time for emergency action! Let's get to the life-cell, people. Now!

Their shuttle was headed toward a highly radioactive solar flare. The X-Men were still thirty minutes away from the Earth's atmosphere. Their only chance for survival was to shut themselves into the shuttle's shielded life-cell and ride out the crash.

Bad idea, bub, said Wolverine. We can't pilot the ship and hide out in the life-cell.

Wolverine's right, Jean Grey agreed. Most of us can stay inside the life-cell. But someone's got to guide this ship personally!

But the pilot would be destroyed by the flare, Storm pointed out.

They were hurtling closer and closer to the flare. Its orange glow filled up the cockpit.

No one here can be exposed to that flare, said Colossus, and live to tell the tale.

Wrong, Peter, Jean said, using his real name. I'll pilot the ship and survive.

All the X-Men had mutant superpowers. Cyclops, or Scott Summers, could aim powerful blasts from his eyes. He wore a ruby quartz visor to hold back the beams.

Wolverine, or Logan, was short, squat, and strong. He had razor-sharp metal claws that shot out from his hands. His skeleton was reinforced with the superstrong metal adamantium. He could recover from almost any fight in minutes because of his mutant healing factor.

Colossus, Peter Rasputin, became very powerful when he transformed his body into steel.

Storm, whose real name was Ororo, had the ability to fly high above the earth and control the weather.

Jean Grey was a telepath, which meant she could read minds. Jean also had the power of telekinesis she could move objects and people without touching them.

I can hold off the solar flare while I guide us back to Earth, Jean said. No problem.

Just how do you plan to survive the heat? Cyclops asked. And the radiation?

My telekinetic powers will screen out the radiation, Jean told him. I'll be alright!

But for how long? Cyclops asked. Even you can't handle that much

Jean placed her hand on Scott's head. Cyclops let out a cry and dropped to the floor.

He's out cold! Wolverine cried.

Jean, I'm frightened, Storm said. What you've planned

Will save our lives, Jean interrupted. By the time Scott wakes up, I'll be landing this heap back on Earth!

I hope you're right, Storm said. May the gods protect you, Jean Grey.

While the X-Men climbed into the life-cell, Jean stepped into the cockpit of the spacecraft. She shielded the hull of the ship with her powerful telekinesis. The solar flare was only a minute away. It was getting hot in the cockpit.

Jean drew in a deep breath. Beyond the deadly flare lay their home. But right now the X-Mansion seemed very far away. She didn't want to admit it, but she was scared. Would she be able to protect the ship from the flare?

Taking a deep breath, she flew straight toward it. The light blinded her, but she kept a firm hold on the controls.

Twenty minutes were left before they entered the Earth's atmosphere. The strain was incredible. She couldn't take much more of it. Her screen was starting to give way the radiation was getting through she was burning up

Scott! Logan! Jean cried out, unable to stand it one second longer. Help me!

And then everything went black.

Inside the life-cell, the X-Men watched the radiation sensors soar off the scales. They knew Jean's life was in danger. They held hands, waiting for the shuttle to explode.

But it came through the flare in one piece.

We made it! Jean must be alive! Cyclops cried, studying the life-cell's control panels.

Not so fast, said Wolverine. We still have to make it through the landing. Hold on!

Jolt after frightening jolt, the spacecraft crashed down the runway. Wreckage scattered in all directions across Kennedy Airport. The shuttle flew out into the waters surrounding New York City and started to sink.

But the X-Men didn't give up. Underwater, they struggled to free themselves from the wrecked craft. One by one, they made their way to the surface.

We're alive! Cyclops shouted.

All except the hero who got us down, Storm said, swimming over to her teammates.

I'm going back for Jean! Cyclops cried.

Colossus reached out to stop him. You can't save Jean. The radiation must have

Cyclops! Storm cried. Look over there!

Suddenly, the sea around the crash site burst into flames. The waters exploded as Jean Grey emerged from the fire. Only she didn't look like Jean at all. Her costume was different, and her eyes glowed red!

Hear me, X-Men! she cried, shooting up toward the sky. I am no longer Jean Grey! Now and forever I am Phoenix!

Oh, no! cried Jean Grey. Not again!

A moment earlier, she'd been standing in her home, Professor Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters. Jean and her fellow X-Men had just finished a training session in the Danger Room.

But now, suddenly, everything had changed. She was standing on the deck of an old-fashioned ship the kind that sailed the oceans two hundred years ago! She was wearing a long, ruffled gown. Her long red hair was curled and piled high on top of her head.

Is something troubling you, Jean? I thought I heard you cry out.

The man talking to her had long brown hair, a beard, and intense green eyes. She wasn't sure how she knew his name. But somehow she knew he was called Jason Wyngarde.

I know we've had a rough passage, my darling, said Wyngarde, but we'll be in New York soon. And then you'll be mine forever!

Wyngarde took Jean's face in his hands and gazed at her longingly.

Yes, Jason, my darling! Jean said.

Ever since she'd survived the radiation flare, Jean had been experiencing strange time-slips. One moment she'd be living her normal life in the present. And then suddenly she'd be living a totally different life two hundred years earlier! Wyngarde was always there when she entered her past life. What in the world was happening to her? How could she be living in the present