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Provide a full summary of the comic book.

[Assistant]
Dead Dirty Pool
Crouched on as rooftop, Rahne – still in her half-wolf phase – calls out to Jamie over her radio. Hearing nothing, she calls again, asking if she just heard gunfire. Jaime! Speak t’me!  Crouching himself, however behind the desk and under the window through which the shot was just fired, Jamie clutches the phone receiver to his ear, even as he timidly peers through the shattered glass. He tells her that he’s there, then adding that it’s nice to hear she was so worried – since he is a “mere” duplicate and not the original Jamie Madrox.
Dismissing his sarcasm, Rahne replies by thanking God and then telling him that that’s good enough. What happened, she then asks. Did someone shoot…? Yeah, he interrupts. Fortunately, the new glass he installed worked. It’s refractive – makes him look like he’s two inches to the left of where he is. As he reaches for his pistol, taped underneath the desk, he then adds that, ‘cause of his lousy luck, the shooter’s aim was off, so he got grazed. Still trying to digest this information, Rahne asks about the refractive glass, asking who uses such a thing. To her incredulity, he tells her Doc Savage.
Still worried, despite the craziness of the dupe’s statement, Rahne tells him that he’s coming back. The Madrox dupe interrupts, telling he to not. She’s got her own job and it’s under control there. Considering this, Rahne asks if the original will Jamie sense that he has been attacked, even though they’re in New York and he’s in Chicago. Probably, the dupe replies, loading the clip into the pistol. He’ll probably feel dizziness, maybe even black out briefly. But no major problem… unless, y’know, he falls into a pool or something.
Miles away, in Chicago, the original Jamie Madrox – now unconscious – continues to sink in the swimming pool, having just been suddenly rendered unconscious. This is the swimming pool of Sheila Desoto, a woman engaged to major criminal-type Edward Vance. She had been on the mind of a dupe of Madrox’s, who was stabbed nearly to death until he reabsorbed him. He came all the way there to Chicago to learn why he was so preoccupied with her. He found her swimming naked. A quick search had revealed no concealed weapons. She had then thrown herself at him, kissing him and called him James. Felt nice… felt adult. Felt “noir.” Then something had hit him, like a blackjack inside his head – and now he’s there. Floating in the womb, except without the promise of life.
Madrox wakes up when he hits the bottom of the pool, or at least that’s what he thinks it is. It’s hard to be sure, as he doesn’t know which way is up or down… and that’s even when he’s not at the bottom of a pool. Regaining his senses, thoughts flash through his mind. Lately, he’s had this constant sense of disorientation. Like he’s splitting in all directions. What’s that Groucho song? “Hello, I must be going.” He thinks for a moment how it’d be so easy to just… just rest there. Just… not go. For a few minutes. Just… rest… just…
No, thinks. Can’t rest. Gotta go. Up, down, no difference. Just go in some freakin’ direction. Swimming upward, Madrox comes across someone else in the pool – himself. A dupe? A fiction of his own mind? Madrox only considers that he’s there, now getting in his own way. The cold stare of his mirror tells Madrox what he thinks: he should just stay the hell down. However, Madrox rejoins silently, he’ll die if he does that. The dupe’s stare replies right back that it’s the least he deserves. Getting involved with some guy’s fiancé. It’s not right. It’s immoral and indecent and he should be punished. Maybe… maybe he’s right, the original Madrox considers. Or maybe not. Hard to say. Apparently he’s of two minds on the subject
Then he pictures Sheila… and relives his poor dupe’s last moments… and suddenly he makes up at least one of his minds, which is all he needs. Might be… too late. Lungs burning… world, if there is a world, spinning away. How can anyone… who’s learned as much as he has… about so many things… die… in such ignorance…? Or is true knowledge… knowing… how ignorant you really… are…?
Having thrust his opposite aside, Madrox ascends to the surface, taking in the night air with a Ahhh huchhhhhhh, half a cough, half a breath. A moment’s respite against the pool’s wall, however, is all he has, before a hand submerses. A moment passes with a flash, as Madrox considers his situation. Fingers… holding him… A dupe, he remembers, audited anatomy classes for six months… what’d he learn… about fingers…?
(flashback)
The bow-tied professor smiles before his class, while standing before a diagram of the bones of the human hand. The human hand, he explains, is comprised of twenty-seven bones… fourteen phalangeal bones become the fingers, three bones in each finger, two in the thumb… most easily broken are the little and ring finger…
(present)
Bingo… The hand holding Madrox’s head recoils in pain, as the little and ring fingers have been broken. Madrox, however, does not move, now floating unconscious in the pool. He is saved by the reach of a suited man, whom Sheila calls Eddie, thanking him for not letting him drown. Her thanks are cut short by Eddie, who tells her to shut up. As one of his two associates – not counting the one examining his now-broken fingers – checks on the unconscious Madrox, Eddie tell Sheila that the only reason she’s still sucking oxygen is because even he hasn’t figured out how much trouble she’s in.
Calling back to the man checking Madrox, Eddie instructs him to take and secure him in a supply closet or something. Then turning his attention to the injured subordinate, he tells him to get that hand fixed up, and then they’ll talk. That done, he returns his attention to Sheila, commanding her to tell him what was going on out there. When she replies with a nervous “nothing,” then adding that he surprised her, that’s all, Eddie calls her bluff, pointing out that she didn’t yell for help. She then adds that he had said he had a gun, but Eddie just turns away. Nothing happened, she swears unconvincingly. Sheila’s worries quickly turn to fear, as Eddie takes out from his jacket a small device –a switchblade. The fear turns to a smile, however, as the blade turns out to be a comb. As he uses it to fix his hair, Eddie replies that that’s good to know. That nothing happened.
In the supply closet, the two men argue. The first tells the other to not drop him. Impact causes him to duplicate. Receiving an incredulous “you’re kissing,” he confirms. Freakin’ mutants, the second bemoans. It’s always something. Considering this as he puts on the handcuffs, the second asks the first if the “duplicates” have powers. No, the first states. He’s just a guy who can turn into a bunch of guys. Whoooa, the second rejoins, as they leave the room. He’s sooo scared.
(Mutant Town, New York City)
On a rooftop, Guido scans a building a block away. In the same building, looking back – though his attention is aimed at a different locale – is the sniper, Clay. He is speaking to his accomplice, reporting that he can see “him” on the floor, moving slightly… He thinks he hit him… but it’s hard to be sure. His eyes still peeled on the window of XXX Investigations, Clay doesn’t see Guido bounding across the way, getting ready to jump from one building to the next.
Still reporting, Clay worries that, if he goes over there and he’s playing possum, he could be walking straight into a trap. Might be best to wait for a time… Clay’s words trail, as he sees a hulking shadow move near the window, almost as if caught in mid-jump. Clay looks up from his binoculars, immediately seeing the parabolic Guido, approaching his window. Time’s up, he quips.
Guido breaks through the window – as well as the brick surrounding it – without injury. Name’s Guido, he announces. Guido Carosella. Folks hereabouts, though… they call him “Strong Guy.” Asked to guess why, Clay quips back with shots from two revolvers, adding along the theory that his deodorant doesn’t hold up. Just a thought, he says.
The bullets bounce off of Guido, though not without stinging. Okay, he snipes, now you’re just tickin’ me off. To both Clay and Guido’s distraction, a voice comes from the other side of the wall, asking who is shooting over there. When told to calm down by Guido, that everything’s under control, she yells back that bullets are coming through her wall! More than a little flustered, Guido returns that they’re ricochets! And will she shut up so he can stop a bad guy…? Incensed, the woman yells back shut up?! just before firing a weapon of her own, the force of which rockets Guido out of the apartment and into the night sky. Clay looks at the ample-sized woman, as well as the giant cannon she has for a right arm, and does not move. While her husband rubs his temples and her son looks on in amazement, the woman calls out to the departed Guido, telling him that this is Mutant Town. They don’t shut up there.
Guido is propelled all the way back the XXX Investigations building, which he promptly bounces off of, eventually coming to rest on the pavement three stories below. The Madrox dupe is already there, barely missing being hit. He crouches down to the recovering Guido, asking him if he’s okay. Receiving a sarcastically toned whattayou think?, he supposes not. Guido rubs his head at this, snarking back that, yeah, he’s got the whole detective thing down. A new arrival changes their demeanor, as Guido groans that Agent Bishop is there. Greeting the two with an “evening gentlemen,” he succinctly notes that they have a bit if a situation there.
(Chicago)
Back in the supply closet, Madrox is awake and very much still handcuffed. Taking in his surroundings, he remarks to no one in particular that he lives a life of anticipation. Expect nothing, anticipate everything. He sends his dupes helter-skelter, everywhere. No rhyme, no reason. Studying horticulture, or the effects of fluoride, or being a circus clown. Y’never know. Now, in this case, he thinks, that summer he spent in Vegas with Penn & Teller and Ricky Jay… that was useful.
So, he thinks, analyzing the situation. Whatta they got? A Peerless model 700 cuffs… and Peerless model 703 leg iron. Pretty common type. Looking around, he thinks that he could produce a dupe to help out, but he’d show up with cuffs on him. Not much help there. Seeing something that will help, he uses his feet to knock over a shelf, dropping its content on the floor. From a box of paperclips, whose contents are now scattered on the floor, Madrox goes to work.
As he picks, he reassessed what’s going on. He’s got a bad guy. A damsel in distress. Am intrepid detective. Considering this, Madrox notes that he’s living the film noir, just as he wanted. Is he happy? Couldn’t say. Sometimes he thinks that, with all the complicated stuff he’s worked on learning… he’s totally lost touch with the simple stuff.
When Sheila was kissing him… this gorgeous naked girl… it’s not that he felt nothing. He felt excited by the moment… by the fact that she was attracted to him. But emotionally he was… he doesn’t know… disconnected. Because he kept thinking, well, he could be turned on by her. Or not be. Or love her. Or just fool around… And since he could go in all those directions… no single one seemed more important than the other. After a bit of work, the lock to the handcuff unlatches. A minute or so later, the other cuff then the leg irons follow, leaving him to approach the next obstacle: the door.
Door’s locked, he thinks, examining it. And the lock’s on the other side of the door. Okay. A problem. But not an insurmountable one. Sticking one finger underneath the door, through the crack between it and the floor, he tells himself that he’s gotta focus on the dupe showing up outside instead of in there. A single punch to the floor with his other hand, a duplicated of Madrox appears on the other side of the door, his finger likewise sticking underneath the crack of the door. Outstanding, Madrox congratulates himself.
Now calling to the dupe, Madrox tells him to hurry, open the door and let him out. Not receiving a reply, he asks if he’s there and if everything’s okay. Why isn’t he letting him out? Through the door, Madrox hears his dupe ask what the point is in letting him out. What’s the point of anything? Madrox runs his fingers along his temple, quietly swearing to himself.
You were thinking it yourself, the dupe explains. Exasperated, Madrox tells the duplicate to stay out of his head. He’s kidding, right, the dupe rejoins. He was thinking about how nothing matters. He was thinking about how nothing matters. He was right. So really why let him out of there? It doesn’t make any difference. Okay, okay, Madrox concedes. He was thinking that, but it was mixed in with all kinds of other stuff in his head. But then he pops out, and his luck he’s just one aspect of what’s on his mind. And all he can think is that nothing matters. He’s just “distilled downside.” He doesn’t have any mitigating factors I his head.
Asked by the dupe what “mitigating” factors, Madrox explains that, well, such as that the longer he’s stuck in there, the more danger he’s in. But, the dupe counters, if nothing matters, why does even his living make a difference? For that matter, how could they not have been ecstatic that Sheila was kissing them? Are they gay? Right, Madrox sighs. He’s not even mildly jovial.
Meanwhile, further down the hall, a card game is disturbed. Sitting at the table are both of Eddie’s muscle men. Hey, Max, one asks the other,  you hear voices in the hallway?
Seriously, Madrox tells his duplicate, he’s not gay. Why not, the dupe asks. If nothing makes any difference… He never said that, the original interrupts. But he thought it, the dupe counters. They’re shadings, for crying out loud! Madrox replies emphatically. There’s… Uh-oh, the dupe cuts off. Taken aback, Madrox wonders what “uh-oh” might mean. Outside, the dupe raises his hands to the two henchmen, one of whom is still holding his card hand.
Asked by one how he got out, the dupe replies that it doesn’t matter. They’re going to make it matter in a minute, freak, the other states. Trying to appeal to their logic, the dupe gives them a heads up, pointing out that, if they hit him, they’ll make more of him. Asked by the first if they strangle him, the dupe admits that that’ll work. Following all of this from the confines of the still-locked supply closet, the original Madrox yells at his dupe to shut up, which draws the attention of the first thug. Reaching for the handle and opening the door, he tells his partner that he thought they left him in there, hogtied! So who’s in there now?!?
As soon as the door is cracked open, the real Madrox rolls along the floor like a bowling ball, bursting through the door and knocking down the thug like a tenpin. Cards fly everywhere. As the other man, Max, reaches for his gun, the swift Madrox begins to rise to his feet, grabbing a playing card from the air as it falls. A swift flick of the wrist later causes the card to fly the short distance between Madrox’s hand to Max’s throat, slitting it like a sharp knife. Max looks on in astonishment, clutching his throat for a brief eternity, before collapsing to the floor in a pool of his own blood.
Even Madrox is stunned at the action, his mind racing at what just happened. He was just, he thinks, it was instinct… His composure restored, Madrox asks his dupe if he wants to see when nothing matters. That, he says, referring to Max, is when nothing matters. When you’re dead. And not a second before. Okay, he asks. As the dupe returns an unenthusiastic “okay,” Madrox pulls him close, reabsorbing the duplicate.
(Mutant Town)
As she has been for hours, Rahne – still in her half-wolf phase – continues her vigil. She holds her binoculars to her eyes, peering into a window across the street, even as she continues talking on her phone headset. You’re under arrest, now, she asks. Not officially, the Madrox duplicate replies. Just being questioned.
When Madrox then asks about their client, Rahne, reiterating the apparent lunacy of the case, rhetorically asks if he’s talking about the wife who thinks her quadriplegic husband is cheating on her via astral projection. Rather than deigning to answer, she tells him that the woman has issues. It’s the most spectacular waste of time she… Mo chreach! she suddenly shouts.
When Madrox bewilderedly asks “who?” Rahne tells him nobody – she means… He’s doing it, she reports. He’s leaving his body! Through the open window of the bedroom, a luminescent humanoid form rises from the sleeping form of the husband. Asked by Madrox if she can see him, Rahne confirms. It’s hazy and indistinct, but it’s there. Oblivious of being observed, the wraith begins to fly into the night sky, away from home. An inquisitive request from Madrox for an update elicits an annoyed response from Rhane. Telling him that she loves him like a brother, she says she needs him to shut up. Now focused completely on her quarry, Rhane goes bounding over rooftops into the night.
(Chicago)
Silently, Madrox makes his way down the hallway, trying not to alarm anyone else in the house that he has been freed, or the fate of his watchmen. Through an open door, he hears Eddie tells Sheila to shut up. When she does not, he repeats, adding that he has to take this call. Listening to this interchange, he thinks that it’s interesting that she calls him “Eddie” and his “James.” Considering this again, Madrox changes his mind. Not so interesting.
What is interesting is the language Eddie begins to speak. Plokho! Ochen plokho! Russian, Madrox finally decides. It’s Russian. Thinking back, Madrox remembers how his dupe hated that year and a half in Moscow. He wanted to know why he couldn’t be the one who went to learn Hawaiian. Focusing back on the present, as well as the conversation, Madrox tries not to think about having shoved that guy’s body in the closet or knocking his friend cold and tossing him in along too. He tries not to think about the blood or that he’s probably going to hell now. Just hear the words, he tells himself.
The conversation begins to come together, as Madrox interprets that he’s talking about… the plan? And… mutants? “The mutant problem has to be attended to. We can’t put it off any longer. It’s getting out of control.” So intent on the conversation is Madrox that he doesn’t detect the approach of Clay until his revolver is cocked at his head. Now very much aware, he hears Clay assume aloud that he’s the one responsible for the pool of blood in the hallway. Make a dupe…, he warns, trailing. Make the slightest move… and he’s dead.
Clay calls out to Eddie, addressing him as “Mr. Vance,” and then proceeds to lead Madrox into the spacious living room. Placing down the phone, Eddie is incredulous, asking what this is – amateur hour? When he asks Clay how he got out, the assassin replies that he couldn’t tell him. This leading to the next question on Eddie’s mind is what did he hear. Eddie posits the question directly to Madrox, asking what he heard. To this, Jamie replies “you talking in some foreign language.” Then asked if he knew what language it was, Madrox asks back how should he know? Does he look like a U.N. translator?
A voice from across the room warns Eddie not to believe him. He knows it was Russian, and he understood every word he said. When asked by Eddie how he knows, the Madrox duplicate – sporting two bandaged broken fingers – replies, because I understood every word you said.


[User]
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Provide a full summary of the comic book.

[Assistant]
The Bigger Heat
“Where are you?!” he yells over the roar of the flames. While most of the building is of concrete and steel, everything else has erupted into a fiery blaze, billowing black smoke and deadly orange flames. The man’s name is Jamie Madrox, the Multiple Man. Mutant-turned-private-detective. As a sideline, he sends his dupes into the world to learn things and then rejoin with him so their knowledge is his. That way, he can experience… well… everything. In this case, though, when it comes to learning first hand whether going up in flames is absolutely the worst way to die… it’s one thing that he has no burning desire to experience.
Over the roar of the flames, Madrox calls out, beckoning an unseen party to come on. They’ve got to get out of there! Rather than hearing a shout back, another noise is heard. A gunshot? Was that…? With so much wood breaking, it might have been… Madrox’s eyes turn upwards, as he hears the sound of more wood breaking from above him. Moments later, before he can even complete a swear, timber falls upon him trapping him.
The impact of the timber, while trapping Madrox, also creates a duplicate, who is very confused. Looking around and finding himself alone – unable to see the original Madrox beneath the timber – he asks aloud to no one in particular what he is doing there. Explanation comes from the still conscious original Madrox, who explains unseen that he is one of his dupes, created from the impact from the beam. Madrox then tells his dupe to pull him out from under the timber, but the dupe is still panicked. Seeing the fire around, he exclaims that there’s no time, and runs off.
Wonderful, he thinks to himself. He must have made a dupe who’s the incarnation of his sense of self-preservation… and naturally all he cares about is saving his own butt. Now alone again, Madrox resigns himself to creating a new dupe… but he can’t focus. Can’t hit anything… needs… Helllllp…, he mutters, as he slips into unconsciousness. A few hours ago, this wouldn’t have been where he would have pictured himself around now. A few hours ago…
(a few hours ago)
Madrox is in the study of Ed Vance, one of the richest, and most criminally connected, men in Chicago. Vance, who had been talking to some guy in Russian about his “mutant problem.” Nearby is his fiancée, Sheila, with whom he, or at least a dupe of his, had had some sort of relationship. He’d determined this through his keen detective training… and the fact that she’d run up to him naked and stuck her tongue in her mouth. Also there are some henchmen of Vance’s… a guy called “Clay,” whom he’s just met… but seems to be familiar somehow. And most bizarrely of all… a dupe of his, who, apparently…
Shoved me back under! Madrox accuses the dupe, who is sitting calmly in a chair, idly quaffing down his recently poured drink. It was you, Madrox then continues. Wasn’t it? At the pool. The dupe confirms with an unenthusiastic “yeah,” then rejoining that Madrox broke his freakin’ fingers. Holding up the recently splinted two fingers, the dupe tells Madrox that if he hadn’t passed out just when it happened, at least he’d’ve shared in the pain.
Sorry to disappoint you, Madrox quips back. Ignoring this, the dupe rises from his chair, moving into Madrox’s face. The dupe explains that he was made when Madrox thumped against the bottom of the pool, to which a slightly surprised Madrox remembers that the dupe had tried to drown him – he had thought he was imagining it. Imagining it, the dupe replies angrily. He had it coming! Fortunately, he continues, he convinced Mr. Vance there that he hates him almost as much as he does. Taking this in, Madrox crosses his arms in speculation. The dupe’s his, what?, self-loathing? To this, he adds that he must be the only detective who should’ve been issued a psychiatrist’s couch along with his license.
Angered even more by the jest, the duplicate spits back to Madrox that not everything’s about him. The fact is, he should never have gotten involved with her! And, deep down, he knows why! He just can’t face it. Hearing this, Eddie turns to Sheila, grabbing her arm and asking just how involved is she. What’s going on with the two of them? Sheila begins to protest, telling him that he’s hurting her, but Madrox interrupts, telling Eddie that there’s nothing going on between them. Noth… We’re married, Sheila shouts, interrupting him in turn. This exclamation startles Madrox for a moment and then, in his confusion, he asks “We… who, exactly?”
As Eddie turns away from her, rubbing his temple, Sheila explains to him that it was when he was out of town. She met James… He swept her off of her feet… It was… She never felt that way with anyone. Anyone. She knew it was insane, but when he suggested they drive to Maryland, get married, she just… she did it. She… Having had enough, Eddie turns back to Sheila and tells her to shut up. Shut. Up.
After a moment, Eddie stares down to the ground, while speaking to Clay. He tells the assassin to give “mirror boy” there a gun. When asked why, he replies that, if he shoots Madrox, it’s murder. If Madrox kills Madrox, it’s suicide. Without another word, Clay hands the dupe a revolver, instructing him not to get any ideas. If he aims it at anybody other than Madrox, he’s going down faster than a buck-an-hour floozy. Asked by Clay if he’s clear, the dupe replies crystal.
As ordered, the dupe raises the pistol to Madrox, who quickly points out that he really doesn’t want to do this. No, the dupe rejoins, he really does. ‘Cause, on some level, his level, he does too. And as long as he’s way over there, he can’t reabsorb him to stop him.
Once upon a time, what the duplicate says was true. But things have changed. More than he might realize. When Madrox absorbed the Shaolin dupe… a certain amount of… enlightenment… came with it. The Tao. The teachings. The understanding and acceptance of Yin and Yang. The following of the eightfold path. “Be your own light… your own refuge.” Thinking of all of these things, while looking at the barrel of the gun pointed at him, Madrox hears the dupe say, Good-bye, “dad.”, just as he begins to squeeze the trigger.
Before the trigger can be completely pulled, reality begins to unravel for the duplicate. His body begins to distort and elongate, much to the surprise of the dupe. Like a piece of taffy, the dupe’s body is stretched, its head extending the distance from where he stands to Madrox’s chest, even while the dupe’s feet remain in place. A moment later, the feet snap like a rubber band, also to Madrox’s chest, whereupon it has been summarily reabsorbed.
Completing his memory of the teachings learned by the Shaolin dupe, Madrox thinks of how he is his own light… and has shut himself off… and taken refuge within himself.
The dupe reabsorbing of the dupe having taken place in less than a second, the revolver it held immediately drops to the floor, where the half-cocked firearm discharges from the impact, ironically shooting Eddie Vance. As Eddie reels from this, Madrox takes advantage of the confusion, grabbing Sheila and running for the large windows. Over her protests, he announced that it’s time for the honeymoon and crashes through the window, falling to the ground over a story below.
The impact against the window having created a new duplicate – who didn’t have time to consider killing him – Madrox positions himself atop the recently created doppelganger, and uses him as a cushion for his and Sheila’s fall. Their subsequent trip down the steep hill is likewise cushioned with the duplicate create by the impact on the ground, then the impact from the bounce, and then the next one, and so on.
After a short few seconds, the two finally come to a rest. Rising to her feet, Sheila looks back at the few dozen Madrox duplicates, all in various states of injury from acting as cushions. As she begins to state that she’s going to be sick, Madrox tells her to save it. When she begins to speak again nonetheless, he reiterates coldly and then rises to face his small battalion of dupes. Just as he had done in the house, Madrox reaches out with his mind and reabsorbs the dupes, all at once and all from a distance. The feat is disorienting for Madrox, having never reabsorbed that many dpues in one shot before. It was like looking in a hundred different directions at once.
The effort causes Madrox to fall from his feet, but he is quickly picked back up by Sheila. Grabbing her hand, he leads her through the woods, hoping aloud that nobody has towed his rental car. Once they get some distance from the house, they’ll have a talk, he tells her.
(Mutant Town, New York)
Rahne, in her lycanthrope form, leaping from one rooftop to another. Over the phone headset she wears, she responds to the voice of Jamie Madrox, asking it is the original or…? Apologizing, the Madrox on the other end sarcastically laments that it’s just the dupe covering for him while he’s in Chicago. Changing the subject to his recent encounter with the local law enforcement, the dupe explains that Bishop is grilling them about the guy who took a shot at him. Give the guy a badge, the dupe snipes, he thinks he’s a cop.
Playing devil’s advocate, Rahne replies that it was not without reason, to which the dupe replies with a whatever. Now turning the subject to her, he asks if she’s still tracking their astral-projecting adulterer. Rahne replies with an aye. She had thought the Mrs. Campbell was daft… thinkin’ her paralyzed husband was astrally cheatin’ on her ‘cause her was callin’ out the name “Kim” in his sleep. But he really did send out some sorta ghost, so now she’s wonderin’…
Wait, Rahne suddenly states, interrupting her train of thought. “I think he’s comin’ t’roost.” Watching intently, Rahne sees the luminescent form of Mr. Campbell stop at one building and enter. “Yup!” she continues. He’s in. Which means his beloved “Kim” may be inside… Hearing this, the Madrox dupe tells her to check it out. Or, he jibes, is spying on a couple boinking going to be too much for a girl with her strict religious upbringing? Jesting back in kind, Rahne replies that he hasn’t spent a lot of time with her recently. Things change. All the while talking, Rahne shimmies down the side of the apartment building, along a pipe. Unaware of her precarious position, the dupe replies to Rahne’s statement that she doesn’t change. Not her. She’ll always be the sweet, repressed, virginal girl he remembers…
Bloody hell! the dupe hears over the phone, interrupting him. Asked by him what it is, Rahne can scarcely reply. Staring through the window into the bedroom inside, she sees the astral form of Mr. Campell, hovering over someone else in bed. Both individuals are highly aroused by their presence and proximity to each other. The general reason, however, for Rahne’s astonishment, is the fact that the person in the bed is a male. In the throes of passion, the man moans out Mr. Campell’s name, Ned.
Reporting back, Rahne tells the dupe that he’s with another guy. The “Kim” is a guy. Asked if she is sure, Rahne retorts that she could be more virginal than Mother Mary and she thinks she’d still know a man! Rahne’s shock turns into another type, as she realizes that she has been seen by Mr. Campbell. The dupe, however, tells her not to sweat it. He’s like a ghost, right? He can’t touch her or anyth…
Rahne doesn’t hear the end of the sentence, however, as the astral form of Ned Campbell accelerates at her, shooting through the window and knocking her off of the side of the building. Luckily, Rahne lands on her feet and immediately tries to make good her escape. Following closely behind, however, is Ned Campbell. Trying desperately to outrace him, Rahne sarcastically fires back at the Madrox dupe that there is a problem. A wee one!
(Chicago)
Madrox – the original one – drives his non-towed rental car down a wooded back road still outside the city. Look, “Mrs. Madrox,” he starts to Sheila, before things get out of hand… Stopping at his own words, Madrox starts again. Okay… more things get out of hand than it already is… there’s something she should know. Before he can even say the words, Sheila speaks them. I married a dupe of yours, didn’t I?, she asks.
Taken aback, Madrox fumbles a question as to how she knew. Sheila explains that, when she kissed him, he seemed surprised. He wouldn’t have been. Madrox compliments Sheila on her deduction, and then asks why she lied to Vance. She didn’t, she replies. She married James Madrox. That’s him. She…
Trailing off, she then states that she doesn’t pretend to understand how his power works, but… can he produce the… the man who loved her? Romanced her…? Replying simply yet coldly, Madrox informs Sheila that the man she married is dead. Somebody stabbed him. He dies in his… arms. His… mind. It’s hard to explain. Wide-eyed in horror, Sheila manages to mutter stabbed! Continuing, Madrox explains that his last memories led him to there… to her. He wants to find his killer.
Sheila replies that her guess would be Clay. He does all of Eddie’s dirty work. Eddie must have found out about them… Interrupting, Madrox asks, if that were true, then why was he acting surprised? He had no reason to pretend. Turning her head, Sheila replies that, yes, he did. Nowadays, he plays everything close to the vest… keeps trying to confuse everybody. When Madrox asks her if it has anything to do with his “mutant problem,” she replies that it does. Everything.
Asked to elaborate, Sheila says that he’s had sources telling him that, for the past year, a mutant’s been trying to clear out all the Chicago bosses so he, the mutants, could take over. Sources who have since disappeared, so Eddie’s taking it seriously. And other bosses have been going down the chute recently. Eddie blames this “mystery mutant.” He says it’s like the guy reads minds, knowing what everybody’s up to…
Madrox’s face changes, a realization having crossed his mind. Sheila asks what it is, and then asks why they are stopping at a motel. Pulling into the Sun N’ Sand motel, Madrox replies that it’s where he’s staying. She should go in and ask for a room key. He’s checked in under the name “Legion.” She’ll be safe enough there, he tells her. Repeating the word “Legion” and saying that she doesn’t understand, Madrox tells her not to sweat it.
Borrowing her cell phone, he makes a call to his friend, Stringer. Reaching him, Madrox informs him that he’s got to meet somewhere private. Now. He’s got a major story for him. Another Pulitzer, he swears. Hearing the response, Madrox replies no. Not at his place. Somebody might be watching. Hearing directions, Madrox repeats: Newspaper warehouse at the intersection of Ogden and Cermak? Yeah, he states, he can find that. He’s just to make sure nobody follows him.
Handed back her phone, Sheila asks what it’s all about. Replying vaguely, Madrox tells her that he’s having a few suspicions. Changing the subject back to her, her tells her to just stay tucked away. When he gets back, they’ll sort it all out. He swears. With that, he drives off, leaving Sheila in the parking lot, alone. Much later, Madrox would chastise himself for being such an idiot. So naïve. As if anything in his life could have been that simple.
(Mutant Town, New York)
Rahne races down the street, bounding over mailboxes and still pursued by the astral form of Ned Campbell. Snarling in anger, Mr. Campbell arms his arm around at Rahne. Though missing, it cleaves a lamppost, which he then proceeds it pick up and use it as a weapon. Rahne, meanwhile, is too panicked at escape to respond to the pleas of the Madrox dupe over her phone headset, asking her what is happening and for her to give him her location.
Rahne’s flight is given pause as she dodges the thrown lamppost. Effortlessly, she then turns the flight into fight, swiping at the unsuspecting Ned Campbell with her claws and a bloodthirsty-sounding roar. The swipe connects with Ned’s astral form, causing him to reel in pain. The luminescent form then begins to loose cohesion, morphing into a yellow, cloud, all the while screaming in pain.
Elsewhere, the sleeping form of Ned Campbell screams out in pain. Awakened by his side is his wife, who pleads with him to tell her what is wrong. Her fear turns to panic, as Ned suddenly is silenced and now immobile. Trying in vain to wake her now deceased husband, Mrs. Campbell cries out his name in vain.
Back on the street, Rahne watches as the luminescent cloud completely dissipates. More in astonishment than in the removal of the threat, Rahne returns from her lycanthrope form, back to her human one. As the realization of what just happened dawns on her, she mutters a quiet, uh-oh…
(Chicago)
At the newspaper warehouse at the intersection of Ogden and Cermak, Stringer tells Madrox that this had better be a spectacular story to make it worth his while. Oh, it’s a terrific story, Stringer, Madrox replies incredulously. It’s the story of a reporter who can read minds. And secretly used that power to great effect. Except nobody suspected that while he was using it to shut down criminal operations of guys like one “Mr. Carpetti”… he was really clearing the decks so that he could take over. What?! Stringer replies. Undeterred, Madrox points his finger in Stringer’s face and continues. So how were you going to get rid of Vance? Madrox asks him. Was Sheila there?
Having heard enough, Stringer asks Madrox is this is why he dragged him out of bed for. Some half-wit confrontation scene like out of one of his “noir” movies?! Yeah, he admits, he uses his mind-reading power to write about crime bosses! And crooked politicians and landlords and whoever else! But why would he want to take over the rackets? Asked by Madrox to tell him, Stringer spits back that it isn’t his theory, half-wit. Not receiving a response, Stringer presses, asking Madrox to explain it to him.
Up until this moment, when Stringer had said this, in some ways it had all still been a game to Madrox. Jamie Madrox, P.I., dodging death while dodging clues. Right up until the “fwooosh” from an unseen flare gun hit the rolls of blank newsprint. More “fwoooshes” follow, with more ignited rolls. And presto… instant death trap. Rolls of newsprints fall between Madrox and Stringer, separating them.
Idiot, Madrox thinks to himself. Putting his neck on the line is one thing… but no he’s dragged Stringer into this. Someone’s trying to kill them both, probably one of Vance’s people. Have to figure it out later, he tells himself.
A moment later, Madrox tries to see through the fire. “Where are you?!” he yells over the roar of the flames. While most of the building is of concrete and steel, everything else has erupted into a fiery blaze, billowing black smoke and deadly orange flames. Over the roar of the flames, Madrox calls out, beckoning the now-unseen Stringer to come on. They’ve got to get out of there!
Nearby, Stringer makes his way through the flames and black smoke. All the while, he continues to mutter bile at Madrox, swearing to God that he’ll kill him. Suddenly, Stringer is stopped in his tracks by another. Calling out to the person, Stringer tells them to stay back. The gun he pulls to defend himself is of no use. Though he is able to fire two shots, Stringer is stabbed in the chest by a blade-like talon. Stringer immediately collapses in a pool of his own blood.
The person at the other end of the talon – a woman – buttons her shirt back. The blade which she had used is now gone. From behind her, someone else – a man – tells her that it was nicely done. Her shirt now rebuttoned, Sheila thanks Clay for his compliment, and then orders him to go and find Madrox, and finish him. Before he can depart, however, Sheila gives him a parting thought: Please… try not to screw it up this time.


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Return of the Messiah
At the Xavier Institute, the mysterious mutant known at Joseph is researching what he believes to be his past as the nefarious master of magnetism, Magneto. He is determined to learn the truth of his past but finds that the X-Men have restricted his access to their files on Magneto. He tries a different approach and calls up information on Magneto’s former satellite fortress, Avalon. From this, he learns that a large part of Avalon crashed into the Andes mountain region of South America.
As he discovers this, Rogue catches him. She accuses him of being a liar and a fraud and chides herself for trusting him at all. Joseph says she’s being irrational and explains that he wasn’t trying to learn the X-Men’s secrets but the truth about Magneto and himself. Rogue tells him that he can’t do that as there is too great a risk that he will revert to his old ways if he learns the full truth of his past as Magneto. Joseph tries to reassure Rogue once again that he is not Magneto and wonders why the X-Men allow him to remain if they have such little trust and faith in him and his loyalties.Rogue admits that perhaps they keep him there out of fear that he will revert to his villainous ways and that it’s better to have him there where they can monitor him. Joseph argues that he can’t live with that kind of uncertainty and doubt hanging over him. He says that when Xavier wiped his mind, he denied him of his basic right of moral choice and that preventing him from learning his own past simply compounds this violation of self. Rogue can’t help but empathize with his plight since she also had to face the burden of her own villainous past. Rogue relents and lets Joseph go, wishing him luck in his search and silently hoping that he can handle the truths he uncovers. As Rogue leaves, she gets the sense that she’s being watched but she doesn’t stay long enough to notice as Amelia Voght arrives in a cloud of swirling mists.
Joseph makes his way to South American where he spends a week exploring the Andes Mountain region for signs of Avalon. When he finally finds a small piece of Avalon, the ground opens up beneath him and he falls into a hidden cave system. Inside, he finds a shrine of sorts composed of pieces of Avalon. As he examines a metal replica of Magneto’s helmeted face, a beam of energy lashes out at him. This is followed by an attack by a group of unseen Acolytes. He is immediately recognized but the Kleinstocks declare him an impostor. The Kleinstock Brothers suspect that he is a spy sent by Humanity’s Last Stand. Joseph asserts that he is a mutant like them and is seeking Avalon. An Acolyte called Orator steps forward and confirms that he is emanating mutant energies and welcomes Joseph. The gathered Acolytes, including Scanner and Cargill, stare at Joseph and wonder… is he their Lord?
Deep in the arctic, Exodus has founded New Avalon and gathered his own group of Acolytes. The mutants at New Avalon have linked together through technological means to create a field that shields them from both electronic and psionic detection. Exodus stands before a traitor to his cause: Amelia Voght. She is shackled and has somehow been rendered powerless before him.He asks her why a model Acolyte such as herself would oppose his grand design to follow in their Lord Magneto’s footsteps. She explains that the ascent of New Avalon will cause worldwide destruction and the deaths of countless innocents when it launches and creates a giant fissure in the arctic crust. Exodus callously says that it is a parting gift to those who tried to oppress mutantkind and nothing more than they deserve. Amelia boldly tells him that she thinks he’s insane. He assaults her with a psionic bolt and tells her that his spies have revealed her efforts to undermine him and her unauthorized jaunts out of New Avalon. He asks if she’s warned the X-Men of his plans and whether she is with him or against him. She clearly states that she is against his plans and Exodus pronounces that death is the punishment for defiance. He lashes out at her once again with his powers and she tries in vain to transmute her body into mist. As she does so, she is surrounded by an energy field and falls unconscious before she can see who it was that intervened on her behalf. Her last thought is that perhaps it is Charles Xavier, her former lover, who has come to her rescue.
Fabian Cortez arrives and is amused that Voght mistook him for her old flame. Exodus is shocked to see Cortez since he himself had killed the traitorous Acolyte. Cortez claims that he tasted death and was reborn. He tells Exodus that he has come to acknowledge him as his master and pledge his loyalty. Exodus responds with anger, saying that he has no use for a traitorous coward like Cortez. Cortez claims to be a changed man with no ill intent. He pleads for forgiveness from Exodus and the chance to atone for his past transgressions as well as plead for Voght’s life. Voght comes to and is surprised to hear Cortez’s plea. Exodus decides that he must ponder all of this and leaves the pair, forbidding Voght to leave New Avalon while he deliberates on both their fates.
In the Andes Mountains, Orator is giving an inspirational speech to his fellow Acolytes. In his speech, he expresses his hopefulness that they will soon find Avalon and implies that Joseph’s presence is a sign and that he may be their savior reborn. Joseph is becoming annoyed by the insistence of some of the Acolytes that he is Magneto and questions Orator’s assumption that Magneto is the leader they await.Joseph notes that his time with the X-Men has shown him another option to Magneto’s way. Scanner replies that the X-Men are idealists who don’t have to deal with the hostile and danger posed by groups like Humanity’s Last Stand. She mentions their newest technology: Razor units designed to carry out purges of mutantkind. She believes that Joseph is Magneto and his rhetoric is simply a means of testing their loyalty to his vision. Joseph emphatically denies this but his protests are cut short by the arrival of the Razors. The attack is brutal and merciless. Joseph is driven into the river by a molten blast and the overwhelmed Acolytes fight for their lives. When Joseph emerges from the waters, he shouts “ENOUGH!” Scanner declares once again that he is their Lord Magneto.
The Razor’s “pilot”, Armstrong reports to his leader Trask what they are facing. From the description, Trask suspects this may be Magneto reborn and orders his troops to destroy Magneto before word of his return can spread. The Razors focus their fire on Joseph, who retaliates with full force. This display of power drives the Razors into a swift retreat and convinces the Acolytes that Joseph is truly Magneto reborn. Scanner is foremost among those declaring him their Lord. When he again denies this, Cargill acknowledges that she understands and that they must keep his return a secret. Joseph is frustrated by their obstinate insistence that he is Magneto and refuses to lead them. He runs away, diving into the river and using his powers to propel himself away from his would-be disciples.
In New Avalon, Voght has been imprisoned in an energy field. She is being visited by Fabian Cortez, who espouses his feelings of being reborn and renewed. Voght is skeptical but is coming to believe that Cortez is sincere. She thanks him for persuading Exodus to spare her. He says it was nothing and confesses that he shares her fears about New Avalon’s ascension and the effects it will have on Earth. Desperate, Voght decides to trust in Cortez’s apparent change of heart. She tells Cortez about Joseph’s existence in the hopes that Joseph may be able to dissuade Exodus from his course of action.
Far from the incessant suggestions of the Acolytes, Joseph reflects on what he has learned of himself and Magneto on this journey so far. He acknowledges that he thinks of Magneto as a separate person, though he is uncertain if this is fact or simply his way of distancing himself from the legacy of Magneto. He cannot help but wonder what kind of man could inspire such blind fanaticism in his followers and fears that that identity may resurface if he continues to dig deeper.As he ponders this, he sense large amounts of metal nearby. It turns out to be the remains of Avalon that he had been searching for. He finds Magneto’s private chambers and as he enters, the computer recognizes him and calls him “master”. He discovers Magneto’s costume and helmet and inadvertently activates a message recorded by the Master of Magnetism. He listens to all of Magneto’s personal logs, which recount his war against humanity and numerous acts of destruction and violence. He is appalled by the horror and needless deaths.
As he questions his past, his thoughts are interrupted by the arrival of Cortez. Cortez calls him master, but Joseph corrects him and introduces himself. Joseph does not remember Cortez. Cortez explains that he was sent by Voght in the hopes that Joseph was Magneto and could convince his former disciple Exodus not to launch New Avalon and prevent the wanton destruction of the planet.Cortez lets Joseph off the hook easily, baiting Joseph to suggest the plan that Cortez had all along. Poor naïve Joseph takes the bait and offers to pretend to be Magneto in order to stop this disaster. Joseph admits that there is risk involved and that the X-Men may believe that their fears have been proven justified and that he has reverted to his former terrorist ways. Joseph admits that he is afraid that there may be some truth in their fears. Cortez feigns trying to dissuade Joseph from taking this risk. Joseph sees this as an opportunity to redress the crimes of Magneto by using his identity to save millions of lives. Joseph resolves to risk his sole in order to take responsibility for his past crimes as Magneto.


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Atonement
In the jungles of South America, Joseph addresses the Acolytes while dressed in the classic red and purple costume of Magneto. He declares himself to be Magneto. Moments later, he confesses to Fabian Cortez that he cannot abide this charade much longer. Cortez tries to reassure him and praises his performance so far. He offers to help him fine-tune the details of voice and body language that will perfect his masquerade and fool even Exodus. Lashing out in his frustration, Joseph uses his powers to destroy the computer banks holding Magnus’ journals.As Cortez reaches out to comfort Joseph, a group of Acolytes enter and demand that he keep his hands off of their Lord Magneto. Kamal and the Kleinstocks attack Cortez calling him a traitor for his previous attempt to kill Magneto. Joseph intercedes using the commanding voice of Magneto. He declares that he will decide if anyone is to die. Scanner is surprised and asks why Magneto would defend the man who tried to take his life rather than punish him, as he deserves. Joseph is surprised to learn this bit of information. Cargill asks boldly if he is truly Magneto or not. Joseph begins to confess that the trials of the past months have placed a strain on him but Cortez interrupts. He chastises Cargill for daring to question their liege. Cargill apologizes and says she merely wished to hear the truth of his identity from him directly. Joseph affirms once more that he is Magneto.
After dismissing the other Acolytes, Joseph confronts Cortez about his duplicity and the fact that he is not Magneto as he just claimed. Cortez begs for mercy claiming that he also nearly died and that experience changed him and that he is dedicated to atoning for those past crimes. He reminds Joseph that only together can they stop Exodus. Joseph sees that they are both seeking to make up for past mistakes but makes it clear to Cortez that there are to be no more lies. Joseph leaves and Cortez speaks to a small bird that is flitting nearby. He says that he only wants harmony between mutants and flatscans, but as he speaks he grabs the bird and crushes it in his hand.
Nearby Colonel Armstrong, commander of the Razor units, reports in to Trask about his progress. He reports that he has found Magneto and the Acolytes and asks for permission to attack. He is denied and Trask states that he has a better plan and orders Armstrong and his men to withdraw. He asks Armstrong to leave a remote heat seeker at that location and move back. Armstrong begs for the chance to exact his revenge on Magneto directly and Trask makes it clear that it’s too risky and Magneto might escape. Trask then confers with the general and they agree to strike with missiles in an hour’s time. Armstrong decides to defy orders and act on his own. He allows those men who wish to leave a chance to before he and the others attack.
Joseph is about to take his leave of the Acolytes and Cortez advises him to reconsider. The Acolytes wish to follow and he believes that ‘Magneto’ should lead them to New Avalon.
At New Avalon, Amelia Voght ponders her fate as Exodus’ Acolytes near completion of the massive space station. She is escorted to Exodus’ chambers by two Acolytes. He asks her where Cortez has gone and she says she knows nothing about it. He berates her for interfering with his plans to carry out Magneto’s legacy and assures her that her tactics will not stop him from learning the truth. He pulls out a bizarre alien creature and tells Voght that she will reveal all her secrets to him. Voght is horrified and asks what the creature is. Exodus explains that it is an alien parasite he retrieved from an asteroid. It feeds on its victim’s blood and regurgitates poison into the veins. It then lays eggs in the host’s blood vessels which eat their way of the host body when hatched, leading to a slow and agonizing death. Voght is horrified as Exodus places the creature on her chest. She admits to talking with Cortez and advising him to flee out of fear that Exodus would execute him. Exodus does not believe her and leaves the creature on her. As he turns to leave it plunges its barbed tail into her throat and she screams in pain.
The Acolytes are delighted to hear that Magneto will be leading them to New Avalon. They eagerly follow his lead but question what they will do about the armored Razors that attacked them. At Cortez’s prompting, Joseph declares that they will take the initiative and strike back at their enemies. The Acolytes eagerly follow but Cortez is growing uneasy with the ease at which Joseph slips into his role as Magneto and wonders if he is truly reverting to his former self.The Acolytes and Magneto attack the Razors in unison and Magneto makes short work of it with his vast electromagnetic powers. During the scuffle, the Acolyte called Orator is captured by gravely wounded Colonel Armstrong. He tries to use the Orator as a hostage but Joseph easily neutralizes his weapon. Cargill wants to kill Armstrong but Magneto forbids it. Armstrong rants about how Magneto killed his brothers before collapsing from his injuries. Cortez advises Magneto to leave him there to die but Joseph does not care what the Acolytes think and has had enough of pretending. He refuses to leave Armstrong there to die and carries him back to their refuge.
Inside, Joseph tries to scrub away his feelings of guilt and the shame of his lies, literally washing himself until his skin is raw. Despite the efforts of an Acolyte with healing powers, Colonel Armstrong is barely clinging to life. The embittered Armstrong accuses Magneto of keeping him alive as a bizarre form of torture and Joseph tries to assure him that this is not the case. He even offers to grant the man a dying wish if he can. Armstrong begs him to kill him and just get it over with. Joseph refuses and suggests that perhaps there is a message he might want relayed to someone. Armstrong merely curses at Joseph until he dies. Joseph finds the man’s wallet and sees that the hate-filled colonel had a wife and two young children. This only adds to Joseph’s feelings of remorse and guilt. His thoughts are interrupted by Cortez, who tells him that the Acolytes are growing restless and once more questioning him due to the way he spared the life of the soldier who attacked them.
Joseph berates the Acolytes for the fickleness. They are not satisfied when he denies he is Magneto and continue to question when he has embraced the role of savior. He challenges them to speak their minds openly. With some hesitation, Cargill expresses her concerns and says that it seemed out of character for Magneto to show mercy to a human who attacked them. Scanner chimes in and says that even when the man screamed at him he did not smite him as they expected. She quotes the man as wishing them all dead and saying it would happen “sooner than we think.” Joseph ponders what this might mean as four nuclear missiles speed towards them. Joseph senses something wrong and goes outside.He sees birds fleeing the area and recalls Armstrong’s dying words. Piecing it all together, Joseph realizes they are in grave danger. He orders the Acolytes to flee immediately. Seeing the missiles, Joseph realizes they are targeted on him. Using his magnetic powers, he opens a deep fissure in the ground and lures the missiles in behind him and deep underground. Once they are deep in the chasm, he propels himself out and seals the earth behind him. The missiles explode underground. This act once more rallies the Acolytes and they cheer Magneto on. Cortez however is still concerned with the growing ease Joseph has in switching on the Magneto persona but is still confident he can use Joseph’s shaky self-identity to his advantage.
With the Acolytes prepared to journey to New Avalon, Joseph provides them a transport by drawing precious metals from the earth itself and forging them into a sleek, high tech aircraft. This flashy display of power and arrogance puts to rest any lingering doubts the Acolytes may have had about Joseph’s claim to be Magneto reborn. Cortez commends Joseph on his performance, which prompts him to worry about the ease with which he now slips into the role of High Lord Magneto. In response to these nagging concerns, Joseph decides to make a detour to deal with unfinished business regarding Colonel Armstrong’s family.
In New Avalon, Exodus ceases his torture of Amelia Voght when he learns of Magneto’s apparent return and her story is corroborated. Exodus dismisses the threat that Joseph represents and Voght warns him not to underestimate Joseph’s mettle. Exodus remains confident that he can handle this pretender to Magneto’s throne and eagerly awaits his arrival.


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Kill Zone
Joseph pays a visit to the family of Colonel Julian Armstrong. Passing himself off as a representative of the government, Joseph relays the news of Armstrong’s death to his wife and two young sons. After a moment of shocked silence, Marion Armstrong and her eldest son Jake begin to ask for details. Jake in particularly is incensed and demands to know if his father died at the hands of mutants.Joseph is dumbfounded by the boy’s anguish and tries to explain that a mechanical malfunction was responsible for his father’s death. The boy refuses to believe this and continues to lay the blame on mutants. Joseph tries to break the cycle of anger and violence by telling the boys that their father’s dying wish was that they not follow the path of hatred that he had and that he wanted their lives to be different. Hearing this, Marion slaps Joseph and calls him a liar. Jake suggests angrily that maybe Joseph is a mutant himself and killed their father himself.From nowhere, a mob appears and chases Joseph off with anti-mutant epithets. Joseph turns on them and uses his powers to render their weapons useless. He chides them for their never-ending hatred and cows them into submission with the mere strength of his presence before disappearing into the skies. Joseph finds himself questioning whether their fear and hatred of him is justified.In New Avalon, Amelia Voght remains the unwilling prisoner of Exodus and is wracked with guilt over betraying Joseph to Exodus.Elsewhere, Exodus personally oversees the final preparations for New Avalon’s ascent. Despite his plot to destroy Joseph when he arrives at New Avalon, there is a part of Exodus that longs for the return of the true Magneto and that holds the hope that Joseph is truly his Lord reincarnated.En route to New Avalon, Joseph confesses to the Acolytes that he is not Magneto and that he finds the acts perpetrated by the Master of Magnetism abominable.After Joseph has gone, Cortez tries to convince the Acolytes that they are merely being tested once more by Magneto in a vain attempt to salvage his plans to pit Joseph and Exodus against each other. Cortez passes Magneto’s erratic behavior off as a side effect of his healing process following his assault by the X-Men and Xavier. Cortez then visits Joseph to bolster his confidence for the confrontation ahead.At the Armstrong home, the family receives a visit from Simon Trask and the general. They inform the family of the true details behind Julian Armstrong’s death and take a full report of Joseph’s visit. Both men are convinced that the mystery visitor was the man claiming to be Magneto and wonder why he would pay a visit to the Armstrongs. The general reports that their intel suggests the Acolytes are hiding out in the Arctic Ocean and that it’s only a matter of time before they are located and dealt with.On New Avalon, Exodus orders his Acolytes to prepare to attack the approaching vehicle carrying Joseph and the other Acolytes. Exodus’ followers reluctantly agree but at the last possible moment, Exodus rescinds his orders due to his small hope that Joseph may truly be Magneto reborn.The Acolytes once again fawn over Joseph and apologize for their lack of faith. As they approach New Avalon, Cortez reminds Joseph that any slip in his performance could prove fatal. He then tells Joseph that Magneto was in love with Voght and that Exodus will be expecting an open display of affection upon their reunion. This is a bold-faced lie on Cortez’ part but Joseph is unaware of this. As they approach, the cloaking field is dropped and New Avalon is revealed as it rises from the arctic plain. As New Avalon stands revealed, a satellite detects it and sends its location to Trask.Magneto boards New Avalon and is greeted by the Acolytes who are awed by his presence. Exodus tells Voght that Joseph is either an amazing performer or the genuine article before going to greet his “lord”. Magneto greets Exodus and immediately asserts his claim of leadership over the assembled Acolytes. Exodus promptly defers to Magneto and provides him with an update about the ascent of New Avalon. He includes the fact that millions will be killed as a result of the launch to test “Magneto”. He gives a tentative approval and leaves to complete further studies of New Avalon prior to its final launch. Exodus angrily challenges this delay and Magneto turns on him and rebukes him for daring to question his decision. He speaks forcefully and Exodus finds himself wondering if this is indeed the true Magneto due to the sheer force with which Joseph has spoken.Joseph goes to find Voght and greets her with words of great affection and a kiss. She is bewildered by this and Exodus sees it as well, just as Cortez intended. This tips Exodus off to Joseph’s masquerade and he strikes out at Joseph, enraged that he had allowed himself to be fooled even for a moment.Voght tries to warn Joseph but it is too late. In addition to physical blows, Joseph and Exodus forcefully share their disparate views of Magneto. Exodus sees Magneto as a righteous man of pure vision while Joseph sees him a violent and vengeful demagogue. Exodus calls on his followers to aid him in vanquishing the pretender to his Lord’s identity. Joseph’s own Acolytes fight back, still believing him to be the true Magneto. Joseph calls off his Acolytes, unwilling to see them consumed by the fighting. He stands alone against the combined might of Exodus and his Acolytes and is promptly expelled from New Avalon.The force of the expulsion drives Joseph through the ice and deep to the magnetic core of the planet itself. As he plunges deeper, he digs deep into his own mind in search of the power and resolve that Magneto possessed, a part of him truly desiring to be Magneto in order to fully deal with the guilt and hatred he feels for the man.On Avalon, Exodus rallies the Acolytes and prepares to lead them on the ascent to Avalon. Cortez, desperate to salvage some role in the new hierarchy, tells Exodus that he fabricated the story of Magneto’s love for Voght in order to test Joseph and expose him. Voght calls Cortez a liar and tries to make Exodus see that Cortez had hoped to pit Exodus against Joseph in an effort to eliminate them both. Exodus silences Amelia with a bolt of psionic energy. Cortez continues to try to win Exodus’ trust by disparaging Voght but Exodus coldly tells him that he is no fool and is well aware of his scheming ways and not to be trusted. Cortez calls for Voght’s execution for her betrayal. Exodus says that Voght’s punishment can wait until after he has had time to mourn the death of his dream that Magneto might return.That night, Cortez plots his next move and a way to eliminate Voght before she can cast further doubt on his loyalties. As he ponders this, Joseph returns at full power and demands to know why he lied to him about the affair with Voght. Cortez claims that Voght herself told him of the affair in an attempt to cover up his deceptions. He tries to convince Joseph that they can still succeed and convince Exodus that he is truly Magneto. Joseph interrupts and informs Cortez that this is no ruse. The Joseph aspect of his personality has been discarded and the one true Magneto has truly returned!


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[Assistant]
Spectres
Once again, the mutant called Joseph declares himself to be Magneto and claims that the part of him they knew as Joseph has been expunged. Exodus is seated next to the dais where Magneto stands and reminds those assembled that this impostor made the same claim earlier and that he had proved his claim to be false. Magneto says that Exodus should cease his blasphemy or face his wrath.Cortez smiles and is smugly satisfied to see Joseph and Exodus at each other’s throats. His plan to turn them against each other so that he himself may seize power is going exactly as he planned.Meanwhile, Amelia Voght holds onto a glimmer of hope that Joseph is still himself and merely pretending once more to be the Master of Magnetism reborn.Exodus calls out Joseph once more, commanding those Acolytes who are loyal to him to attack the pretender who is sullying Magneto’s memory. Joseph counters this by calling Exodus a coward and challenging him to face him one-on-one to prove his claims. Exodus sneers and says that he’s made another mistake in his performance as the true Magneto would have struck down he or any other Acolyte at the slightest sign of attack or dissent.Joseph cuts short his sentence with a blast of electricity. He laughs maniacally and says that Exodus is right, that Joseph had forgotten who he was and that he is now truly aware of himself and will prove it to those who still doubt.Exodus presses his attack by unleashing a psionic attack on Magneto. He thinks to himself that if this is truly his master reborn he can only know for sure through combat and that should he perish it would be worth it to verify this man’s identity.Cortez watches with glee and gloats to Amelia that once he is in power, he will fill her life with pain and misery unless she consents to be his consort. Amelia defiantly refuses and states clearly her utter disgust at the idea and her contempt for Cortez. Joseph and Exodus battle relentlessly causing even Voght to question whether Joseph has indeed convinced himself that he is Magneto.Their battle rages and Magneto lifts Exodus from the base and takes the battle outside and away from prying eyes. The two connect momentarily with the field that shields New Avalon’s presence from the outside world and during this brief disruption, the military forces hunting Magneto manage to ascertain New Avalon’s location. The general sends a squadron of fighter planes to deal with the perceived threat of New Avalon. While the General and Trask realize this is a suicide mission that will at best damage the Acolytes’ base and lead to the deaths of only a handful of Magneto’s followers, they deem the sacrifice of their troops as acceptable.Voght struggles to activate her mutant power and escape from Cortez. He encases her in an airless energy field and gives her one final chance to agree to his offer to become his concubine. She refuses once more, choosing death rather than a life of servitude under Cortez’s heel.His attempt to murder Voght is interrupted by the Kleinstocks and Cargill who insist that he release Voght immediately. He states that in Magneto’s absence he is in command. He fails to notice that behind him, Voght has transformed into mist and teleported away. She rematerializes directly in front of him and catches him off guard. She punches him in the face, knocking him unconscious in a single blow.Cargill tells Voght she’s glad that’s over and he had it coming. Voght assures her that it isn’t over yet, as the sounds of battle can still be heard outside.Joseph strikes at Exodus once more and the Acolyte finally falls. He weakly concedes defeat and asks Joseph to kill him so that the others’ faith in him will be assured. As Magneto ponders this, he hears the approaching jets. Exodus accuses Joseph of unleashing Humanity’s Last Stand upon them as part of his plan. Magneto darkly tells Exodus not to call him by that name. He is Magneto and he had nothing to do with bringing those fighters here. He extends his hand to Exodus and orders him to take his place at his side and help him in defeating this new threat. Exodus is clearly surprised by this response but rises and accepts that this is truly Magneto.Voght sees the entire thing and wonders if Joseph’s confusion is not the greater threat here. She follows them onto the vessel Joseph arrived in and can hear him listening to Magneto’s personal logs to bolster his charade. He hears her approach and she tells him there is no need for pretense with her. He tries to tell her that this is no pretense and that the burden of guilt he feels for Magneto’s actions is quite real.She tells him that he can’t change the past but must learn from it. She tells him that he is not Magneto and is not doomed to repeat the same mistakes. Joseph says that his interaction with Colonel Armstrong’s family has shown him that there is too deep a rift between humanity and mutantkind and the pain and hatred is too great to overcome. The only way he can deal with his culpability in all this is to embrace Magneto’s single-minded, righteous belief in his cause. He tells her that there is no escaping the past for him and that as Magneto, he will repel this latest attack on his people.Amelia feels pity for Joseph who has been overwrought by the revelations of the past several days. She is convinced that he has not truly reverted to being Magneto but knows there will be dire consequences if he continues to delude himself this way.At the military headquarters the general and Trask review the preliminary data projections of how New Avalon’s ascent will affect the planet. The general notes that with this data he can garner from the President and perhaps the United Nations and they can truly stop the Acolytes. Trask pulls a gun on the general and tells him to put the phone down.The general thinks that Trask is a traitor on the side of the mutants but Trask is enraged by this idea. He wants humanity to suffer this defeat because he believes the resulting destruction will galvanize humanity to combine forces and take direct action against mutantkind in a decisive manner. The fact that Humanity’s Last Stand attempted to stop it from happening will garner them support among these rising masses. He then shoots the general in the head.Magneto and Exodus fly onward to confront the approaching fighter jets. They fire upon the pair of mutants and Magneto easily repels them. Exodus expounds upon how joyful he is to see Magneto in battle once more. Magneto sends the missiles back at the jets all the while debating within his own mind whether he should kill those who would strike down him and his kind.At the last possible moment, he causes the missiles to swerve clear of the jet. Exodus immediately questions this and Magneto replies that it is best to capture and interrogate their foe to learn the humans’ plans for attack and any new weapons they may yet unleash on mutantkind.Amelia Voght watches this exchange, concerned that if Joseph does kill one of the fighter pilots it will push him over the edge. She transforms into mist and takes a daring risk as she tries to teleport into the cockpit of a moving jet.Joseph sees this and is alarmed but has no time to act. Amelia’s plan succeeds and she materializes inside the cockpit behind the pilot. She subdues the pilot and tries to eject him to safety. She then realizes that the jet is on a collision course with New Avalon.Joseph watches in horror as the jet crashes into the Acolytes’ new home. Lashing out in rage, Joseph diverts the remaining missiles into space and magnetically rips the engines form the remaining jets. He takes care to eject the pilots beforehand though.Joseph gathers the pilots and assures them that they will remain unharmed and be transported back to civilization and released. The pilots are dumbfounded, having expected to be tortured at the least if not killed outright. Joseph accepts that he can never be Magneto and has realized that he is not capable of casting aside his soul as easily as Magnus did.Amelia materializes to Joseph’s surprise and he expresses his relief that she escaped before the jet crashed. She says that it didn’t do the pilot much good since she was unable to save him in time. Joseph asks if there’s anything he can do for her. She approaches and shows him a photo of Magnus and his family before tragedy struck. She tells him of Magnus’ family history. She describes their time in Auschwitz and how he alone survived the camps. She tells the story of his marriage to Magda and the death of his daughter, Anya.As Joseph hears the sad details of Magnus’ early life, how he lost his family and drove his wife away in his grief-fueled murder of those who killed their daughter, his hatred and resentment of the man turns to pity and sorrow. He comes to understand a bit more what drove Magneto and in doing so, he realizes that he almost fell into the same trap of shutting up the pain and guilt he felt and allowing it to rule his life.He thanks Amelia and tells her that he owes it to the memory of Magneto to be true to himself, regardless of the tragic circumstances of his own life. Amelia tells him that he needs to be Magneto for a bit longer as they still must deal with New Avalon.As Magneto, Joseph goes before the Acolytes and announces that New Avalon is not yet ready to rise. He orders them to scatter about the globe and find the hope and salvation they sought from New Avalon within themselves and in the hearts of others. Exodus listens and is convinced once more that this is not Magneto. But he still has a lingering hope that some aspect of Magneto dwells within Joseph’s mind and will eventually emerge to lead them.Later, Amelia and Joseph go to check on Cortez only to find that he has escaped his imprisonment. Amelia suggests hunting for him but Joseph suggests that it is unlikely he could survive in the freezing cold. Joseph asks what Amelia will do now and suggests that she start anew with the X-Men. Amelia admits that she can never go back to the way things were with the Acolytes but also knows she’s not ready to choose Xavier’s path as her own. It’s too big a step for her…for now.Joseph returns to the Xavier Institute to find Rogue waiting for him. She is clearly pleased to see him but tries not to show it. She asks him how it went and he describes the emotional rollercoaster he experienced as he learned more and more about Magneto’s past. Through his trials, he has gained a sense of understanding and an inner peace. Rogue says she’s been debating whether she did the right thing in sending him off to find out Magneto’s past on his own, but now she feels it was worth the risk. Joseph tells her that he is glad to be back and she tells him that this is his home now.EPILOGUE:At the home of the Armstrongs, Marion Armstrong can’t sleep. She can’t help but think back on Joseph’s visit and try to make sense of it all. She can’t reconcile Joseph’s words about violence not being the answer with everyone else’s perception that he was there to terrorize and kill them. She goes to check on her boys and gently takes a toy gun from her son Jake’s hands. She thinks to herself that she doesn’t want to lose him too and perhaps it’s time to stop the cycle of violence and hatred. She decides to talk with Jake the next day and hopes that it’s not too late.


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[Assistant]
untitled
The homeless camp in Down Acres:What happens now? Samuel asks the SHIELD agents, who tell him that depends. Local authorities aren’t going to let them stay here. That option’s off the table. There are shelters. Social service will evaluate what’s in the best interest of the children. But he can help himself.
Helplessly, Samuel replies he doesn’t know where he went. They’d have to ask the men he attacked. Looking at the corpses, Agent Haines points out. They aren’t going to get much out of them. The man he aided… Magneto… is a wanted terrorist.
Samuels stammers he only gave him soup. If he could help them, he would! Smoothly, Agent Haines replies they feel the same way. They may have additional questions. In the meantime, an officer will be along to help him in moving off-site. But this is their home! he babbles.
Nighttime:He is not the man he once was, Magneto muses, having reached the complex. Once, he would have ripped this structure from the ground and cast it into space. Now he must use more conventional means to achieve his goals.
He opens a small hole in the fence to let him through, then reknits it. He takes out the alert and sneaks into the building where he opens the elevator door. He glides down the elevator shaft, aware that the complex spreads deep.
At the bottom, he crawls through an airshaft and peers outside into a lab, where he sees people being changed into makeshift Sentinels. Messy, he judges. Derivative of other lethal technologies. The inbred cousins of the Omega Sentinels. But engines of murder just the same. They’ve fought and defeated these machines so often they forget how dangerous they can be. Until they remind them…
Flashback:He remembers the destruction of Genosha at the hand of Sentinels. Genosha was meant to be a sanctuary. A nation of mutants living together in peace under his rule. Sixteen million mutants were massacred in a single attack. What was meant to be a safe haven became a mass grave.
Present:Because he blinked. He forgot for even a fleeting moment how deadly Sentinels and humankind can be. How many times did he warn Charles of making the same mistake?
He follows the airshaft. He sends a magnetic pulse through the facility, mapping his path and determining how far he must burrow to uncover the truth.
Dozens of governments around the world fund Sentinel research. But those proto-Sentinels are recreated by a private facility. Not only must they be stopped but he must find out who they are. Damn! he swears, sensing a huge Sentinel below him.
In a lab, a woman with glasses stands in front of three Omega Sentinels in the making and thanks them for their sacrifice. It will not be in vain, she promises as she turns to a computer screen.
She’s wrong, Magneto announces and reveals himself. Everything she’s doing, toying with the lives of mutants and humans alike… from what he’s seen… it’s all been an act of vanity.
She runs toward the alarm button. He hits her with a metallic object before she can reach it. What she’s doing here is finished, he announces.
The three Omega Sentinels activate and sense his mutant presence. One attacks with a tentacle, wounding him. Magneto impales him with a metal spear.
Don’t hurt her! the scientist pleads. Magneto confronts her, once the Sentinels are destroyed. He asks her name. Doctor Elizabeth Alain, she replies. She’s the project leader. So she’s in charge, he interrupts. Excellent. She’s the perfect person to help him. Horrified, she refuses. He can’t make her! He assures her he can, using this. He shows her a paper clip…
Soon, she obediently walks along a corridor followed by him. He asks what her agenda is. Why build Sentinels? Two Omega Sentinels run into them and identify Magneto.
Dr. Alain screams in pain as he moves the paperclip under her skin up her arm and she uses the override code to stop the Sentinels. He mocks it must shame her, her ideals cast aside so she can avoid discomfort. Admittedly, after she’s inflicted such misery on his people, even he finds it distasteful how quickly she rolled over.
Through a window, he looks down into a busy all and asks what this is. This is what they are working towards, she replies. They don’t want to harm mutants. They have no interest in genocide. They only want to be left alone. Those attacks… the mutants who were killed… those were oversights. One of their test subjects… Colton Hendry… slipped away. They should have worked harder to retrieve him. She understands that and is sorry. This is meant to be a peaceful refuge for humans… for those who fear mutants. Once the facility is complete, they will be protected.
Again, Magneto’s mind flashes back to the Sentinels’ massacre of Genosha.
When they discovered the decommissioned Mastermold, when they were directed to it, they knew they could create guardians to defend them if mutants wanted to ruin what they built. The Sentinels are only meant for protection. They don’t want to attack mutants!
Magneto remarks places such as this have protocols to enact, should something go wrong. Things have gone terribly wrong, so get to work, he orders. She sits down in front of the computers, insisting this is a refuge for humans. Where they couldn’t harm mutant and mutants couldn’t harm them. Is that so terrible?
Magneto remembers the dead on Genosha.
She refuses to do this. They’ve made mistakes but he can’t force her to demolish everything!
He drives the paperclip upward, killing her. He’s heard enough. He presses the right buttons to begin the complex’s self-destruction. The Master Mold terminates itself.
Magneto heads outside. Once he could have ripped the entire structure from the earth, sent it hurtling into space. Now it took a few strokes on a keyboard.
Still he wonders if he acted rashly. Not in destroying this mockery. He will not suffer such insults. But his anger and indignation might have gotten the better of him. He should have done more to find out which hand guided these cretins to the Master Mold’s resting place. But he’ll find them just the same. And no threat of death, no promise of salvation will spare them…


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[Assistant]
untitled
The Adirondack Mountains, a beautiful lakeside:Magneto is hiking. He chose this spot for a number of reasons. It’s secluded… hard to find, unless you know what you’re looking for… and peaceful. The mountains… the woods… the fresh air… They remind him that he is but a man and the world is so much bigger than any war he’s waging.
A stag runs past him. Magneto reaches a mountainside. He reaches out with his magnetic power to open a hidden doorway to a complex behind.
It has been a long time since he’s been here. Years. But there is an awakening as he strides the halls. The hidden switches, the flickering lights, the hum of generators springing to life. Here he is remembered.
Earlier:Elsewhere, a lonely street in a desert landscape:In the back of a bus sit several obvious-looking mutants. Two normal looking humans sit in the front seats. The man complains he hates being cooped up with them. He can smell them all the way up here. The woman replies they all have burdens to bear for the cause. The driver orders both to shut up. What they do… taking these mutants to the farm… is a great honor. They are shepherds guiding the flock. To complain about their duty is to complain about the will of God. Both look ashamed. And besides this will goes much more easily if they have no idea what awaits them.
What does await them is spiked barbed wire on the street. There’s a blowout and the driver brakes hard. Suddenly, the window is broken and the barbed wire slings itself around his neck. He is pulled out of the window by Magneto who is floating in the air.
The other two try to shoot him. Hold that thought, Magneto smirks and chokes the woman with the wire and has it tear through the man’s stomach. The mutants fear that he is going to kill them. Scornfully, he tells them if they won’t stand up for themselves, get out of the way.
He awakes the man and tells him they have much to discuss.
Present:The room beyond waits for him to enter. He reminds himself that, while nature might strengthen his spirit, it is just as vital to his efforts to strengthen his mettle, to sharpen the weapons he needs. He hesitates. The war has been taking a toll on him. He’s been kicked and stabbed and shot. He’s had his power ripped away from him, leaving him a shadow of the man he once was. He does not fear pain. But this is going to hurt.
Earlier:Nightime, the farm:The guards lie dead, killed by metal blades. Magneto stands in a lab looking at the partially dissected corpse of one Dawson Harris. He takes a data stick out of the computer.
In the corridor, he faces a group of armed Purifiers who accuse him of having killed the innocent. He retorts they have done the same. Luring mutant to this farm to dissect, murder and catalogue them.
One of the Purifiers announces the devil spawned mutantkind. They open fire on him. He manages to control their weapons making them fire on each other.
However, he weakens and one armed Purifier is still left standing, seeing this as a sign of the Lord. While he triumphs, Magneto manages to loosen a rotor blade and uses it to decapitate the Purifier.
Magneto stalks away. Those Purifiers fought because of misguided faith, but his course is clear.
Present:He downloads a list of names. This is why he fights. Thousands of names. The names of mutants who were taken violently from this world. Each and every one of them a scar to remind him… to fuel him.
And as he adds dozens more to the list, the fire of his anger only grows brighter. He carries the names with him wherever he goes. But this memorial is but the first he’ll raise. The dens of fear and loathing he ravages, the hate pits he leave in ruins, the graves he fills with the enemies of mutantkind. Those too are memorials, reminders to those who stand against him, of how small the world is in the face of his rage.


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untitled
Saranac Lake, NY:Dressed in civilian clothes, Magneto buys groceries and muses how easy it is to fall into ruts. There is comfort in the mundane. Catching a quick breakfast at local dinner. Buying groceries, staples that weather the road. Razors too. He found he now dislikes the feeling of stubble on his head. If he were someone else, someone ordinary, he might find security in the day to day grind but he is not ordinary. He recalls his deeds of frightening humanity. His face is just a disguise, a sheepskin to keep the herd from panicking because he is mutantkind’s salvation.
He browses in a bookstore, musing that when the mask falls away these people become casualties.
Carefully a tall auburn-haired woman with a leg brace follows him.
In the bookstore, a shifty-looking man enters the same aisle as Magneto and passes him a note.
The man leaves the store. The woman takes a photo of him with her cell phone. She turns around to find Magneto is no longer in the aisle. She enters the bookstore and finds his groceries abandoned in the aisle. Looking around, she leaves the store when suddenly she is grabbed and slammed into a wall.
Who is she? he demands coldly. Why is she following him? Straining for breath , the woman gurgles that she is a friend. Magneto doubts it. And he doesn’t have time for niceties. She asks him to wait. Instead, he announces he will coax some answers from her.
He manipulates her leg brace, turning it tighter. The woman groans. Her name is Briar Raleigh. She’s been following him since he arrived at his hidden retreat in the foothills. She has a theory about what he keeps there. They call it “the scrapbook.” She knows a lot of things and, if he lets her, she could work with him. Why? he asks. She explains she knows who he is and what he is capable of, once he tires of hiding out here.
Flashback:Briar recalls Magneto at full power attacking a city.
Present:That much anger, that much hate can’t stay hidden forever. He tires… and it will burn him up inside. They say he’s changed, that his powers are weakened. She bets he still remembers all the people he couldn’t help. Even when his abilities were at his peak. She doesn’t think his powers have anything to do with who he was. Who he still is.
Magneto has taken Briar to his hotel room. She smiles that the clock is ticking. It’s only a matter of a time before he cuts loose again in a big way. And he knows it. He looks at her silently and grimly. He knows what they say about idle hands, doesn’t he? Briar continues. He just needs something to keep his hands busy.
Magneto forcefully tells her he is not playing games. What does she think is happening here? “You tell me,” Briar grins. He is no more in the habit of inviting strange women into his hotel room than he is in the habit of accepting such offers, she continues. They must sense something special in one another. The least he could do is offer her a drink.
Nonplussed he replies he doesn’t have— Briar walks to a drawer and opens it, finding a bottle. She takes it the local liquor store didn’t have his usual brand. How would she know anything—
Briar pours them each a glass and muses: Hakushu Single malt, right? Although she guesses this dime store swill will get the job done. When he stares, she laughs. How helpful would she be if she didn’t do her research?
He puts down his glass, the content undrunk. He doesn’t remember asking for her help. To come here, admitting she’s been spying on him is a very dangerous play.
Not if she can prove her value, she retorts and puts a data disc on the table. The man he met at the bookstore… what name did he give him? Another wealthy bigot funneling petty cash to hate groups? Maybe a journalist who is going to write another fear-filled mutant expose?
And she can offer more? he challenges. She wouldn’t be here otherwise. For example, she can tell him almost anything about the SHIELD task force assigned to bring him in.
The disc shows images of those agents. He admits this is a start. Briar continues she figures he’d want something a bit more meaty. Something for those idle hands of his.
The next image shows the Marauders. She can tell him how to find them… how to hurt them. She knows he thinks he is a changed man. That his diminished powers make him damaged goods and that means he is trying a different approach. When she was hurt she had to go through months of physical therapy to walk again. Some days it seemed like an impossible fight. But if she’d changed her methods every time she had a setback, she wouldn’t be standing here.
They clink their glasses together as he observes it sounds like she wants a war. The war is the only thing they can be sure of, she retorts. She just wants to make sure the casualties are on the right side.
She doesn’t tell him what she remembers.
Flashback:A city that was attacked by Magneto. Paramedics and police find Briar, her leg crushed under a car. When asked about her family, she groans she doesn’t have a family anymore…