Everyone stands in awe at the majestic glory of the Phoenix. With Apocalypse also distracted, the rest of the X-Men regain control of themselves. Beast asks Storm if she’s ok. Storm is pleased that she’s back to her old self again. Thing is happy too seeing as how they don’t have to fight the X-Men anymore.
Iceman asks Rogue what happened. Rogue surmises Apocalypse is distracted. Sure enough, Phoenix unleashes a powerful attack against Apocalypse. He reels forward, spittle leaping from his mouth. Charles cringes as his giant enemy is pushed toward him.
Director Danvers orders all available S.H.I.E.L.D. personnel to start a search and rescue until the battle between the “firebird” and Apocalypse is finished. She wants them to locate any survivors and get them medical attention.
Storm and Toad check on the Professor. He claims to be ok and that Jean saved him just in time. Cyclops tries joining the fight, but Wolverine holds him back. He tells Slim he’s only going to get in the way.
Apocalypse turns to face the Phoenix. He tells her he senses the great power within and that he intends to take it. Phoenix tells him he faces a god, not the mere children he’s laid waste to. She calls him a fool and tells him a physical contest is beneath her, but she will do so if needed. She tells him to make the choice.
Apocalypse yells out as he attacks with a full frontal assault. He’s knocked back as quickly as he came. Phoenix calls him pitiful. She lands on the ground and tells Apocalypse she knows he thinks he’s an ageless being returned to life—destined to rule them all, but he’s wrong. Apocalypse gets to his knees and tells her he will command her as he commands all.
Phoenix calls him a weak, frightened creature, drawing upon immense evil to survive. She tells him she will purge him of that evil. With that, the winds swirl around Apocalypse. His armor begins melting and dripping off in splotches. Phoenix looks on as Apocalypse’s shell withers. He cries out in agony and she yields for a moment.
Phoenix tells Apocalypse he felt a small taste of her power. Apocalypse coughs weakly, still on his knees. Then from out of nowhere he pools his energy together and cold cocks Phoenix. She’s taken by surprise and sent reeling through the air. Apocalypse tells her she underestimates him. Phoenix smiles and says that’s a mistake she won’t make again. She unleashes her full fury on Apocalypse.
Everyone in the area can’t help but watch as Apocalypse literally falls apart in front of them. Phoenix pours it on, more and more, telling Apocalypse to die. Wolverine asks Cyclops if he has a plan. Cyke asks what he means by that. Wolverine asks how they’re going to defeat the Phoenix once she defeats Apocalypse.
Apocalypse begs for his life. The all-powerful mutant, who thought himself superior to all, humbled before the power of the Phoenix. Phoenix keeps on the pressure. Apocalypse asks her to stop twice more. With Apocalypse utterly defeated, Phoenix finally acquiesces. Apocalypse falls over. Phoenix calls him pathetic. When the smoke dissipates Sinister is all that is left.
Xavier approaches Phoenix. “Jean,” he calls out. “I am Jean and I am not Jean. I am both and I am neither,” she replies. Cyclops rushes over and asks what she means by that. Phoenix says Jean is still there, but she’s changed, merged with the Phoenix. She says she’s the world-shaper, the bringer of change and there’s much she must do. Cyclops asks what she means by that. Phoenix says she’s leaving.
Scott asks her why. Phoenix admits a part of her still cares about him, about all of them, but emotion is beneath her and her priorities are elsewhere. She has lots of work to do and she has been gone too long. She explains there’s much damage that needs to be undone, damage caused by Charles Xavier. She points at him as she says this.
Xavier is taken aback by this. Phoenix explains he’s the reason all this happened. She tells Charles he’s the most powerful mutant on the planet and he should have done more and that all the work he has accomplished has been undone by this. She tells Charles he should be ashamed of himself. She tells him there’s so much he can accomplish. Xavier looks at her and asks what she expects him to do. She places her hands on his head and tells him to start over.
A bright, white nothingness envelops them. Xavier suddenly finds himself in his office back at the mansion. He turns on the television and switches to the news. Scott comes bursting in through the office door. He tells the Professor Jean is nowhere to be found. Xavier says he knows this. He can’t detect her presence anywhere.
Scott can’t believe she’d just teleport them all back to the Institute after defeating Apocalypse and disappear. Charles disagrees; she did way more than that. They turn their attention to the newscast where the reporter goes on about the sunny, beautiful day it’s been in Manhattan.
In the living room Iceman and Rogue are watching the same newscast. They can’t believe it’s like nothing ever happened, and they seem to be the only ones who remember it.
In another room, Angel and Dazzler hook up, both expressing their feelings toward each other and how much they’ve missed one another.
In the kitchen, Wolverine tells Pyro how his arm feels too good to be true. There aren’t any aches or pains. Pyro asks Wolverine if he thinks they’ll let him stay at the mansion. Without Bishop around he has nowhere else to go.
Elsewhere, Syndicate and Psylocke talk about Bishop and how he said he was married to Psylocke in the future. Psylocke replies that with future-Bishop dead, it’s all just too much for her to think about.
Still elsewhere, Beast asks Storm if she’s all right. Storm confides it all feels like a dream and she’s afraid she’s going to wake back up with the world falling apart all around her. She asks Hank to hold her.
Pyro asks Wolverine if Cable is gone. Wolverine says not completely.
Back in Xavier’s office, Cyclops explains he’s called the Triskelion, but hasn’t received a call back yet. He’s also talked to Reed Richards who has no recollection of the events. He called Colossus too, still living with Jean-Paul in Chicago, and he has no clue what’s going on and still thought the Professor was dead. Lastly, he had Psylocke try to contact Nightcrawler without any luck, so it seems as though they’re the only people that remember Apocalypse’s/Sinister’s attack.
Charles seems lost in thought. He strokes Mystique and asks Scott to call a meeting and have everyone gather in the conference room in ten minutes.
Ten minutes later, the X-people are gathered in the conference room. With all attention on him Charles says everything is different now. They’ve faced their greatest threat and lived through it. And even though they’ve lost Jean, for now at least, she’s given them something very special—a second chance.
Xavier explains Jean became the Phoenix, something he’s not too familiar with. He says he’s going to Lilandra from the Church of Enlightenment to learn more. What he does know is the Phoenix is an agent of change, driven to bring about a rebirth, literal or not, to this world. He smiles and says as X-Men they’re going to help her. They’re going to change the world.
