The Ultimate Evolution

Sheyan remarked ruthlessly, “Your approach is simply running away, professor. Even if the integration fails, it’s still a better option than to let history run its course! If we don’t change history, Jean will be seriously injured in less than a week and she’ll be swallowed up by her alternate personality. When that happens, not only will we lose Jean and Scott, we’ll also have a new enemy in the Dark Phoenix, a powerful Class 5 mutant! But if we do as I plan, even in the worst case scenario, Scott will still be alive and we won’t have to face a powerful enemy like the Dark Phoenix!”

Professor X was silent for a long time. He then said, “None of us can decide the lives of others. If we preserve the status quo, the situation you say may not necessarily come to pass as long as we protect Jean carefully. As long as the main personality is not severely injured, my mental cage can last for at least a hundred years.”

“You’re right. Jean, Scott, you decide what to do. It’s your own destiny,” said Sheyan.

Scott cried out, “I’ll definitely protect you, Jean. Don’t take the risk!”

Jean’s face was pale. She lowered her head and did not speak for a long time. When she raised her head back up, there was a resolute light in her eyes.

“I choose to integrate… Even with the mental cage in place, I can still occasionally feel her loneliness, her pain. I didn’t know what it’s like before, but now I know; I know that there’s another me who’s suffering so much!”

“But…but…” Scott stuttered with a pained expression.

“…Believe in me, Scott. I’ll definitely make it through! ” Jean told him earnestly.

***

Jean’s words were firm and she sounded very determined, but there were many things in the world that could not be accomplished just by having determination. Determination may sometimes be a necessary factor for success, but it was by no means a decisive factor.

The integration of a dual personality was a very difficult process, not to mention that the main personality of Jean was far weaker than the secondary personality of Dark Phoenix. Furthermore, the latter had been locked up in the mental cage for so many years, so she would definitely do everything in her power to break out! If Professor X was not there to help, there was probably more than 99% chance of Jean being gobbled up as soon as Dark Phoenix was set free!

“So… When will we perform the personality integration?” Scott asked.

“The sooner the better, of course,” murmured Professor X.

“I happen to know that the vampire Jasper Whitlock Hale has similar abilities in this area. Maybe he can help? …And there’s also something else which I’m not sure if I should tell you guys,” Sheyan suddenly said.

“Tell us. As it stands, the success rate of the personality integration is no more than 30% even with my help. Even if the vampire is willing to help us, the success rate only reaches 40%, and that’s already the most optimistic estimate. Feel free to tell us anything that may be remotely helpful,” Professor X spoke in a calm voice.

Sheyan beckoned and called Old Charlie over.

“There’s actually a devil in my servant’s brain, and this devil….”

The more Professor X and Scott listened to Sheyan’s explanation, the more surprised they became. Professor X finally understood Sheyan’s intention in the end.

“So you’re saying that you want us to implant the fear of Freddy in people’s hearts to push his power to a new height, so that he can enter the scene of the integration between Jean and Dark Phoenix to help?”

“Basically, yes,” said Sheyan calmly, “It’s impossible for Jean to remain awake when she tries to merge with Dark Phoenix! That’s basically Freddy’s home court. He’ll be able to help a lot more than you think! ”

“Most importantly, in the original future timeline, Freddy’s not involved in Jean’s life. Don’t forget that what we’re trying to do is to change the future here. If an X factor like Freddy joins, the probability of success will certainly increase.”

To be honest, Sheyan had originally planned to heal Jean first, then ask for her help on this condition, but he suddenly saw the light. With this new plan, Freddy would become powerful regardless of whether Jean’s integration succeeded or failed!

“So, I just need to plant some fear in the hearts of the audience? You’re sure the fear won’t hurt those people?” asked Professor X uncertainly after a while.

“Most women will be scared when they think of snakes, and I’ve never heard of this fear hurting anyone,” replied Sheyan with a wry smile.

Professor X finally nodded. “So it’s only a fear of that degree. That should be easily done. From a psychological point of view, it’s only a simple replacement problem. Everyone has something they fear deep down in their hearts. Some people are afraid of the dark, some hate flies and maggots, some are afraid of snakes like you said, and some are scared of ghosts. It’ll be difficult to deepen the fear in the hearts of the audiences on a large scale, but it won’t be too difficult to replace their existing targets of fear with terrifying images of Freddy.”

“Does that mean….you agree to my proposal, professor?” asked Sheyan uncertainly.

Professor X said after a moment of silence, “I’ll bring you a tape in ten minutes. Take the tape to New York’s largest radio station and play it there. You’ll only need to broadcast it for five minutes. There are at least four figures in the radio station who have the authority to do this; you only need to persuade one of them. I suggest you hand this job over to the vampires. They move fast and can escape quickly. As long as they don’t meet with a premeditated attack, there should be no problem.”

Here, Professor X paused for a moment before he said to Sheyan, “But I have no prior contact with Jasper Whitlock Hale. I can’t find any reason to convince him to help us….”

Sheyan knew that this was the part where he should contribute to his end of the bargain, so he told Professor X without any hesitation, “I’m acquainted with the Cullen family. Let me take care of it.”

Professor X sighed. “Alright. I’m going to take a short rest to make sure that my brain will be in peak condition. Well begin in three hours, Jean.”

***

Three hours passed in the blink of an eye.

Because Professor X had to rest, Magneto took over the duty to defend the base. Magneto’s way of protecting the base was beyond anyone’s imagination. With the help of a helicopter, he sprayed metal powder all over the base. Then, he simply closed his eyes and remained still. He could perceive everything that was happening in and around the base through the changes in the metal powder. To him, metals were just like limbs he extended out. It was an amazing method.

The first to arrive was Jasper. Unexpectedly, Sheyan had easily managed to persuade him. It turned out that his power had reached a critical juncture, but there was no one in the Cullen family who could teach him. To be honest, who else in the world was qualified to teach him in this aspect other than Professor X? Therefore, convincing Jasper did not take much effort.

On the contrary, Old Charlie arrived rather late. His face was pale and he looked exhausted. He was wearing a pair of sunglasses.

It was absolutely no easy task to be Freddy’s medium after Freddy’s power soared, especially considering that Old Charlie was just an ordinary person!

If he were to take his sunglasses off, they would be able to see that his eyes were bloodshot, but the twisted blood vessels were black in colour! There was also a vague feeling of Freddy’s madness in his eyes! Even more bizarre was that his shadow had completely turned into Freddy’s form, a malnourished figure with claws and a fedora.

In fact, if the surroundings were quiet enough, they would be able to hear Old Charlie’s thick, muddy breathing that was like the greedy growl of the Cerberus in the deepest depths of hell, a growl filled with hunger and desire!

“Are you all right?” Sheyan inquired.

Old Charlie suddenly revealed a rare smile. “I’m fine. I often find myself tormented by memories of the past recently, the work of that little kid, Freddy. It caused me a bit of trouble, but this degree of pain is just right as a pleasant distraction,” he said.

Sheyan was quiet for a moment.

“I can tell that you have a sad past. Fine, if you can’t endure it anymore, just let me know.”

“Something trifle like this is nothing to worry about,” replied Old Charlie dismissively.

Now that everyone had arrived, they went over to Professor X’s workshop. Surprisingly, Prince Dracula, another big shot in the base, was also present. His face was solemn. Professor X’s unique and powerful brainwave amplifier, Cerebro, had also been moved there.

Professor X sat on it and spoke to Jean earnestly, “I’m asking you one last time. Are you sure you want to do this? Once the mental cage is unlocked, it’ll impossible to re-seal her again. And, Jean, the moment I sense that the integration has failed and you’re being swallowed, we’ll…kill you without hesitation.”

Jean pursed her lips tight. She looked outside towards Scott and nodded forcefully.

“Okay.” Professor X closed his eyes to activate the Cerebro, and the Cerebro started to flash continuously. “Three, two, one! Begin!”

The next second, a powerful force enshrouded the place. The force could not be seen nor touched, but everyone could clearly sense its existence. They could feel the force gently wrapping around Jean’s head, presumably in the process of canceling the mental cage.

Jean slowly dropped to the ground and fell unconscious.

The temperature in the room suddenly spiked. Jean Grey’s left face twisted, but her right face remained calm. Her long hair flew up behind her, and there was a dark flame burning on it!!

“I, the dark flame of the Phoenix, is finally free! I’ll fill this world with destruction and hatred! I’ll let the wind carry the burning smell of sulphur and the breath of madness… You, who are you? I remember your aura! It was your mental cage that had kept me imprisoned for thirteen years!”

But at that moment, a strange laughter was suddenly heard – Freddy’s hysterical laughter. The harsh, ear-piercing noise sounded like a knife cutting through glass, only it was magnified a thousand times!

Following that, the Dark Phoenix actually let out a cry of anguish!

Freddy, who had become a lot stronger, could not suppress his boiling desire to kill. He had immediately attacked Dark Phoenix! What’s more, it seemed like he had actually caused heavy injury to the Dark Phoenix alternate personality with the first blow!

This evil king of darkness was finally baring his sharp fangs after gaining enough resources!!