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An organic Sentinel has just grown from what seemed to be Laurie Collins aka Wallflower and begins to threaten people. She can’t find a mind there, Emma Frost announces. Cyclops orders her to change to her diamond form. But it’s Laurie… she hesitates. She wouldn’t… Seeing the Sentinel reaching for her,  Emma decides just in time that she might, and changes to her diamond form.
The Sentinel swats her away and Emma lands in a store window, muttering that’s not dignified at all. That’s definitely not Laurie. She taught her manners. A tear in her eye belies her flippant attitude.
Surrounded by panicking people, Cyclops orders the team to put themselves between that thing and the people. The Sentinel reaches for him and Cyclops fires an optic blast through its hand.
Only one way to deal with a Sentinel, Wolverine reminds him. Up close and with something sharp! He tries to climb up to its head but it blasts him from its chest.
Where is he going? Abby Brand asks Beast as he begins moving. To the rescue, my little fruitbat, he replies and runs toward their plane. Brand follows.
Armor catches the still smoldering Wolverine. So how’s the whole I’ll just run up the monster and be the stabby hero thing working out for him? she asks. Shaddap, tiny, he mutters annoyed.
The Sentinel points toward the running crowd and fires missiles which turn out to be Brood warriors. They have barely landed when Storm furiously shouts “Brood” and electrocutes several of them.
Inside the jet’s cockpit, Brand orders Beast to keep the hands off the merchandise. He’s trying to reach the joystick, he explains, then admits that doesn’t sound good either. He touches a button and a harpoon is shot from the jet and embeds itself in the Sentinel’s head.
“Excellent!” Henry announces and tells Brand to brace herself. All engines to max burn! The jet flies ahead and the Sentinel is dragged along into the water.
Has he finally gone completely mad? Brand demands. Hank assures his “viridian sweetheart” he went quite insane many years ago. He assumed it was one of his more attractive features.
Cyclops fires an optic blast at a Brood that is fighting Armor. When another Brood tears at his shoulder, she returns the favor by flattening it. She thinks she’s going to hurl, she announces. Doing that while armored up would be a mistake, Cyclops offers.
In the meantime, Henry is still taking the Sentinel for walkies.
Wolverine, in a berserker state, tears through as many Brood as he can get his claws on. With the last one sliced apart, he finally calms down. What was that? Hisako asks. Sleazoid he replies curtly. Been a while since he wasted one of these.
In the bay, the Sentinel is trying to blast the jet. This isn’t good, Brand worries. They’re doing fine, Beast calms her. This vessel was designed by the most expensive Japanese sadists working in engineering today. Brand asks for the weapon systems. What weapon systems? Hank points out, it’s a rescue vessel. The Sentinel fires again and he admits this is not so good. Oh, he thinks? She asks sarcastically. With engines blowing out and no weapons? He has hair growing inside his skull, doesn’t he? They don’t need weapons, his little angel of death, he points out. They have science.
The jet fires small drones at the Sentinel’s face, then retracts the grapple. Now this is the part that should have worked instantly, Beast remarks. Nothing is happening, Brand points out. Well… a large Sentinel is thinking about eating them. That counts as something happening….
Suddenly, acid from the drones eats the Sentinel’s body until its head detonates and it falls.
There, remarkably simple, Henry gloats, if one applies a little science. And if she’s in the mood for more science, perhaps a quick experiment in the back before they return to shore and the plaudits of their peers…?
Two heliocpters with red X’es on the side bring the Sentinel’s remains to the X-Men’s headquarters in Marin. Armor asks who they are. Mutants sans frontières Henry explains. He’s borrowing some of their diagnostic teams to pick over the corpse of that thing. Warren keeps a full staff even with less than two hundred mutants extant now, so his specialists have a lot of free time.
In the medbay, Emma watches Scott dress his injuries. Is he sure there is nothing she can do, she asks, apart from leer? He’s fine, he assures her. And him? Emma asks Logan who holds a can of beer. He’s got his medicine right here, he replies. Make Summers take a painkiller though, will she? He’s fine, he said, Scott replies. See, Logan continues, he and Summers they’ve been banged up about the same since they started working together. But he’s got a healing factor. Comes with some pain reduction. Makes life easier. Scott hasn’t got either which is why he’s got scars and is why he always says “I’m fine” because he can say that through gritted teeth.
He empties the can, then crunches it. So, Emma should go on and get Scott a painkiller and don’t let him tell her it’ll take his edge off. Because when he has to sit around and heal, and Summers is toughing it out and not letting on that it hurts and he’s half dead already, he’s even more of a pain in Logan’s sack than usual. His point made, he tosses the empty can into the garbage.
Those were Brood, Cyclops states. Sure were, Wolverine agrees, never thought he’d see one of them ugly bastards again. Another invasion? Scott wonders. He thought Brand and her crew were supposed to notice things like that, Logan points out. They still don’t know what she was doing today, Scott remarks.
Brand and Beast enter. She replies she was getting a strike team and a landing boat shot out from under her in the orbit of Cruithne. She explains that Cruithne is a bit of rock that follows Earth like a drunken moon. Hard for them to continually image. Which is why someone put a base inside it. She’s getting that sinking feeling, Emma starts, Brand is involved with that… biological Sentinel, isn’t she?
The thing about spacelaunch is that it’s really hard to detect, Brand continues as Storm and Armor join them. Time was a spacelaunch would register on the Richter scale. But with all the weird technology on the loose these days things got out of hand pretty fast.
Scott gets up and demands to know what she is nottalking about or he will sic Emma on her brain.
After a moment, she admits that she is out of her jurisdiction. Way out. They know the deal. SHIELD handles everything under the atmosphere. SWORD handles everything over it. She didn’t hand over anything to SHIELD. She should have done, but she didn’t. There are people on Earth who enjoy the fact that mutants are an endangered species. This isn’t new to them. Exactly how many people enjoy it might be. She doesn’t know. Do they have any idea how many people are actively trying to exterminate them right now?
Abby… Beast begins. Look, she trying, okay? she snarls. She’s trying to explain something she’s been actively trying to contain for the past four months.
She looks down as she addresses Beast. They popped the locks on his computer network and found theoretical material that’s letting them do it. She’s been trying to contain this for months. They’ve got reanimated mutants as tools and they are engineering living missiles from alien DNA and they used his theoretical work to get there. That’s what she’s been trying not to say. They are using his work to try and exterminate them.


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untitled
Abigail Brand, director of SWORD, has just dropped a bombshell in the X-Men’s lap, namely that someone is trying to destroy the few remaining mutants in the world, using the Beast’s work. His work? the Beast asks, incredulous. His post M-Day work, Brand specifies, eyes still downcast.
That’s… not possible, Henry insists. Those files are under twenty three levels of security. Furthermore, the database was compartmentalized, so that breaching one set of files paced the additional locks on the others.
The man in question paid an awful lot of people, Brand explains. And, yes, when one set of files was breached, the shutters came down on the others. But the one set of files were full of him discussing the possibility of harvesting live X-genes from dead mutants.
What? Storm asks, disgusted. Henry explains that there was no guarantee that the whole “No more mutants” thing would apply to mutants who were already dead. He was desperate for a way to break the M-Day chain. He was considering anything and everything!
Brand remarks that the man question is a geneticist among other things. And although all the money in the world couldn’t buy him hackers enough to get through Henry’s security, that one file gave him the clues he needed.
Exhausted, she sits down. They estimate that within three weeks of the initial breach he had copies of everything in Henry’s darkest disk space. She wanted to get this all cleaned up without it ever reaching Henry’s door.
Who? Cyclops asks coolly. A man called Kaga, comes the reply. He needs more than that, Scott Summers insists but a coolly furious Emma Frost interrupts him as she stares down at Brand threateningly. That was one of her students. Exhumed. Re-animated. A meat puppet with an X- gene. With something hidden inside her.
He is running out of patience, Scott adds. Tell him what’s happening here!  Kaga is after mutants, Brand replies. They don’t know why, but they know it’s the intent. His control of information is nothing short of stunning. They don’t even have a photograph of him. They just have documents and physical statement evidence.
Oh, for--! Hisako interrupts. Why was she flying to Earth in a bit of spaceship? Answer that one first! Because she was trying to take out Kaga’s secret asteroid base which was full of aliens, comes the reply. That’s actually a cool job description, Armor admits. What are the aliens and what were they doing there?
They’re called the Brood, Wolverine answers, recalling all the times he fought them; they almost got them. He calls them sleazoids. The funny thing is he heard they were all dead! They were, Brand agrees. Are. She mentioned Kaga’s a geneticist. She guesses he got some Brood DNA somewhere along the way. Started growing them. Started redesigning  them. Not what they were expecting to find in his secret lab.
Well, what were they expecting to find? Armor asks. The next moment, the building shakes.
That was not her fault! Hisako shouts. It’s not like she said “What could possibly go wrong now?” or anything like that!
Cyclops orders Beast to set all surface cameras to intelligent threat detection and Beast reminds him he still has a regiment of medical staff up there. Today is proving to be a more surreal day than he had hoped for. Really? Seems like just another day in the X-Men to him, Scott retorts. A moment later, seeing the threat - a huge Brood Krakoa hybrid (having the poor MSF scientists on the run – he shouts for the X-Men to be topside in sixty seconds!
The X-Men are transported outside by an elevator. Okay, he’s actually less interested in what it is than how it got here, Cyclops announces. It was dropped, Brand explains. There’s three parts of the ionosphere they’ve been unable to look into, traveling belts of “rain fade.” They’ve probably been tethered to vehicles and hidden up there.
Enough! Cyclops announces, addressing Emma. He tells her he is good with the running away, but he’d like a little more order. Try to get everyone to flock in two directions, directly away from the thing. Oh certainly, she mocks, make a hundred people flock like birds. Would he like them to hop? Sing a tune?
Got a plan? Wolverine asks as he and Cyclops run toward the thing. “Not die” is the acerbic reply. Damn thing looks like Krakoa, Scott observes. Not something he ever needed to see again.
The hybrid begins working on the Bio-Sentinel. What’s it doing? he asks Beast. Henry explains that it’s trying to destroy the Sentinel and therefore the evidence. They can’t get any information from a meaty smear. They need the Sentinel more than some giant clone of Krakoa, right? Wolverine asks. Let him get in there and… No, he’s all done with this, Cyclops replies. His eyes begin to glow as he orders everyone back and unleashes his optic blasts fullscale…
That’s a little Damien Hirst, isn’t it? Henry observes. She can quite guarantee that Scott has never hear of Damian Hirst, Emma retorts. Which is a shame because she’s sure they could gouge the Tate Modern for a significant sum for this piece of modern art he’s just butchered into life.
Every time Scott does that, Wolverine remarks, he wonders how screwed up the world is that it put a frickin’ nuke inside the head of someone like Scott. He just gets sick of all the long fights and faffing around, you know, Cyce answers. He’s a nutbag, Wolverine informs him.
They look at the remains of the Brood-Krakoa hybrid only half of which remains. He’s an idiot! Scott shouts and runs toward it. ‘Cos he ain’t told him that before or anything, Logan retorts. Something dropped this thing on them, to trash the Bio-Sentinel. It’s not going to leave them the disposal machine as well as the Bio Sentinel. It’s going to come back!
The X-Men get down inside the building again as Cyclops orders them to the rescue vehicle, over Storm’s protest that it’s taken quite a beating. The X-Plane doesn’t have grapples, is his reply. He wants to board whatever vehicle he expects to come swooping down to capture this chopped up land leviathan? Emma asks. Not a land leviathan so much as land. Krakoa was an island, he corrects her. And yes he does.
How delightfully piratical! Emma replies. Also insane. The vessel takes off. He might be quite fetching in a ruby quartz eye-patch, she suggests. They are working now, Scott reminds her as he takes off.
The ship is strained. Just a little give in the airframe Scott remarks to Henry. If it gives any more, they’ll be outside, Henry fears. Oh my stars and garter, he exclaims. They have something on the radar the size which… well, it’s either Scott’s cloaked air vehicle or they are under attack by Long Island. It is the former and is about to dispose of the evidence.
Well, it’s certainly big enough, Beast observes. An ionospheric cruise carrier. Who are these people? Cyclops wonders. The cruiser grabs the Krakoa Sentinel hybrid.
The X-Men’s jet tosses a grappler at the ship and locks onto it. Cyclops explains he’s hoping there’s a control center or bridge he’s brought them next to. Gameplan: direct strike on that area!
He orders Wolverine to get down there and cut a hole through that hull. Yeah, cause he’s just the human frickin’ can opener, he mutters. Something he wants to say to his face? Cyclops asks. What’s the point? Logan mutters, and jumps out, beginning to slash at the hull.
Cyclops orders Armor up next to secure the entry point. She jumps down, telling Wolverine: Me: important. You: Fat. Shaddap, she is told. She jumps inside the hole into a strangely organic looking corridor. She doesn’t see any crew.
The others enter too. Emma doesn’t scan anything living aboard beyond them. Well, excepting Logan. He’s getting that stabby feeling coming on, he warns her.
Storm warns them that they are gaining altitude very quickly. Given that the seal over the hole Logan cut is imperfect, they are going to have trouble breathing soon.
Point taken, Cyclops agrees. Logan? Yeah, he replies and begins leading downwards one direction. Smell of death: this way.
They eventually find what looks like a robot head. Emma identifies him as Paradigm. She knew of him. Part of a rogue group modeled on her own student team. She never got to teach him. His mind could interface with information technology. They exposed him to the Phalanx, the cybernetic aliens… And that’s how they got into the X-Men’s computer system, Brand realizes. Part technokine human, part computronium- based lifeform. No security suite’s going to cope with that… Wirelessly cracked and hacked by a dead boy’s superbrain from twenty miles up, Beast muses.
He’s dead, Brand reminds him. A biological machine component. But they got the rest of Henry’s theory. And so they were looking at ways of bringing live X-genes back from beyond the grave. Because Beast was so desperate to save the mutant race that he actually did research on it. And he was using his own expertise to pack Bio-Sentinels inside reanimated X-Men as sleeper agents. Because he’s been waiting for them all to thin out enough to be sure of exterminating them. Retooling Brood and even Krakoa DNA as weapons. This is a gun that was first aimed at them at least ten years go. And they don’t even know his name. They’ve never met him. And the thing is… neither has she.
She wanted to defuse all this before it even got near them. Fists clenched, Cyclops orders Beast to connect Paradigm’s head to the plane’s onboard computer He wants direct control of this vessel before the air gets too thin. He would like to visit this person. And know his name. And kill him.


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Does he remember when they used to call mutants Children of the Atom? Beast asks Cyclops as they stand surrounded by their teammates. The prevailing theory is, in fact, that the increase in background radiation from atomic testing did actually trigger the boom in X-gene activation. Letting off a nuke or ten is about the only thing he didn’t try. Yes, he looked at ways of exhuming active X-genes from dead mutants. Yes, he looked at genetic grafts. He looked at anything. Anything to unlock the iron door of M-Day. Shamelessly.
His eyes dangerously aglow, Cyclops replies he doesn’t care if Henry secured his computer systems to the level of having God sit on them like a hen on an egg. He can’t believe he committed all that to writing. He must have known what kind of threat it represented. He sat there, every night, just conjuring absolute monstrosities in his imagination to try and bring back mutants. Writing them down was like building bombs!
Henry replies that security and defense are very high on Scott’s list now but, if he’s telling him that under his rule scientists are no longer allowed to write ideas down, in case someone else reads them? Then he thinks it’s maybe time to get off the plane. Figuratively speaking, of course, he adds, seeing as they are now on a hostile flying vessel.
That’s not—Cyclops begin. He gets it, Henry interrupts. Scott is the world’s best superhero. The tough guy who makes the tough calls, and what dear old Leonard Cohen called “the perfect man who kills.” And he’s kept his own counsel about a lot of it. Cyclops is working in reaction to a lot of things and trying not to repeat mistakes. Yes, he would rather some very determined people had not hacked his machines and looted data that is being used against them. But, he points at Scott’s face, Scott is not a stupid man. And the stresses he takes upon himself do not excuse ignorance. He does not get to tell Henry how to work. And this” I am the big dog who wants to know your name and then kill you twice” crap? He needs to get that under control. It impresses no one and disturbs his older friends.
Scott looks at him shocked and open-mouthed. Then both he and Henry begin to grin. “Big dog?” Scott repeats. Look, if he has to assert dominance in the feline terms of his mutancy, then he’s going to have to urinate on him… Hank threatens and Scott begins to laugh. He thought he asked Henry to catch him if he started brooding. He did, Henry admits but what happened was that all that loathing and distrust Scott previously turned inwards? He turned it outward on everyone else. He’s never been good at finding a balance. Scott is not this man. Henry has come around to the possibility that sometimes death is the only immediately feasible solution to a threat. He’s trying to be open-minded and realist, but Scott is not the man who takes murder as the first and only option. Stop acting like him! Okay okay, Scott agrees, please stop with the lecture now. Here endeth the lesson then, he hopes, Henry agrees. Well, here endeth him listening anyway, Scott replies. Point taken, but he is keeping all his options open, he warns.
Scott sends out the rest of the team, apart from himself and Henry. The team fans out. Wolverine sulks he hates being treated like a kid. That’s weird, Hisako grins, her lips didn’t’ move but the words came out anyway. They treat her like a kid because she’s eight years old or something, he replies. But he’s older than alla them put together. Emma yawns demonstratively as he continues that with Cyke it’s “you kids go for a walk, the grown-ups have to talk in private now.” It ain’t right. If this about knocking some of the weird out of Summers he’s all for that. And if this is finally about making McCoy shave his pelt, he’s good helping him out there too, because he’s breathing that crap in during molting season and—
Suddenly everything shakes. They couldn’t hear him, right? he asks while Emma shouts for the “bloody Brand woman.” Abigail insists it wasn’t her and they can’t prove anything. She was just looking around.
A moment later, the wall tears from the outside as a gigantic Brood / Sauron mix attacks the station. They should have expected that, Storm sighs. At this rate, one of Charles’ old wheelchairs crossed with Brood DNA will be along any moment. Someone is using their own history against them.
What is Brand still withholding from them? And why isn’t the air whistling out of here? Some sort of forcefield intrinsic to the structure? Brand suggests. Lets things in, doesn’t let their air out when the hull gets breached.
The Brood / Sauron hybrid lets out a giant tongue trying to grab them. History? Emma asks. It’s Sauron, Storm replies. She’d know that smell anywhere. Whatever the thing is, it’s mostly Sauron. She attacks. Running away, Emma asks Armor, that she’s been reading all history files like a good student: talk to her about Sauron. Karl Lykos, energy vampire and also the only known were-pteranodon, Hisako explains. She wonders when it was she stopped questioning statements like that, Emma sighs. So there’s a transformational trigger in its structure? she asks. Hisako guesses. But listen: Energy vampire. With every strike it’s going to suck juice out of the forcefield and they are gonna break up in midair!
Emma concentrates. “Here!” she announces suddenly. And switch! And the Sauron  / Brood hybrid suddenly turns human/ Brood hybrid, then falls. Emma too is about to fall but manages to keep back from the precipice, then chides Hisako for making a fuss.
Suddenly, the ship begins to move. Cyclops and Beast join them, demanding what in hell they have been doing. Unexcited, Emma explains they were attacked by a giant were pterodactyl. Hisako can tell them all about it. But now they seem to be dipping again and she can’t read another mind outside.
Henry explains it is a controlled descent. Much smoother than what happened before. He would suggest that they’ve reached the vessel’s point of origin.
Cyclops orders everyone back to their plane. He wants more mobility than riding with this thing provides. He’ll be with them in a minute. And what’s going to take a minute? Emma asks. Something he needs to take care of, Cyclops replies. Don’t read him and don’t argue with him. Emma kisses him, telling him he is a good man.
Alone, Cyclops turns to the head of Paradigm. He never knew him. But it’d be hard to deserve this. He’s sorry he can do more. He destroys the head with his optic blast.
He joins the others heading to the plane and asks Storm where they are. Northern Japan, she replies. Somewhere north of Nayoro, west of the Teshio River, at a guess. Quite remote. How can she possibly know that? Hisako marvels. She senses weather systems. They are all different. Imagine seeing the air all around the shape of a place. Sky topography.
The ship (and the plane on it) floats above a mountainous area. Do they have a plan? Brand asks. Yes, Cyclops replies. And the plan is? He’ll tell her later. He doesn’t have a plan, does he? Brand asks. Cyclops tells her to be quiet with a smile. They hover above a plain. Now what? Henry asks. They wait, Cyclops replies. Their antagonist has serious infrastructure. He has a feeling they are going to see a classic James-Bond-villain crazy man base make itself known in a few moments. He’s always up for a doctor crazy-pants volcano headquarters, Henry agrees.
This is the bit that really annoys him, Scott muses. All the things in this world that can be fixed with money? And every time it’s “well, I’ve got all this cash, but I bought myself an asteroid hideout instead.”
Looking out of the window, Henry remarks this is indeed classic. Disgusting, Scott mutters. Below them a door in the field opens, revealing an underground base, and the ship sinks down.
Peering outside the window, Hisako tells Emma it’s really cool that she and Mr. Summers wanted to take her someplace new, but she’d kind of like to go home now. That whole “what if Willy Wonka was an underground gene pervert” is not competing with Disneyland in her heart.
They land, surrounded by chained monstrosities in the making, Brood mixed with every other X-Men foe imaginable. This is the point at which he starts to regret bringing an unarmed rescue vessel here, Cyclops admits. What the hell is going on here? Someone really, really hates them, Brand spells out. Which is understandable. But this is some serious hate.
It’s got a point, Wolverine agrees. This stuff wasn’t built yesterday. They are looking at an armory that takes decades to fill. This ain’t just hate. This is an assassin’s toolbox. This is someone who’s been waiting for the right time, for a long time…
A decrepit old man in a wheelchair watches them on a screen. Here they come. All the beautiful mutants. “Children of the atom,” that’s what they used to be called. That’s where people first thought mutants come from. The increase of radiation in the environment from atomic weapon testing. Children of the atom. Sports of irradiated nature. They all have to die…


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untitled
As their ship is entering the base of their mystery enemy, Cyclops asks Beast that this is a rescue ship, right? Fire-proof? Of necessity. Find him something that’s going to burn, he orders. Being a rescue ship, Hank points out that it doesn’t come with an onboard flamethrower. He bets it launches flares, Cyclops points out. He’s in no doubt that they are being observed. So let’s sharpen their attention and see if they can get some doors opened. And hopefully avoid being boiled.
He presses a button and the ship fires flares against all the different Brood / other enemy hybrids which catch fire as the ship flies on. Beast observes that, sooner or later, something with fuel in it is going to explode and they are going to be dashed against a wall or, if they are lucky, gently steamed in a fireball…
Wait for it, Scott orders. And indeed, an automatic door opens. They couldn’t just watch all this burn, he explains. There had to be an egress for emergency crews at the very least. Yes, “at the very least,” as the actress said to the bishop, Hank agrees. That doesn’t look very wide and he is not certain what Scott intends to do with it. Does Emma have this corrupting influence on everyone? Scott sighs. Emma regally announces she is not sure what that means.
Cyclops orders everyone to the middle of the plane and warns Emma not to shift into her diamond form as that would change the onboard weight and they’d all die. Except her, he supposes.
They obey and the plane flies through the too narrow door, losing both wings in the process. It slides onwards. An army is ready and expects them. He supposes it won’t fly again anyway, Cyclops muses. He wants one of these people in a condition to talk. X-Men are go! He blasts part of the hull away and the X-Men attack.
Armor tells Emma she only hit her foe in the head once, meaning he can still be questioned. She is such a good girl, Emma praises her. She thinks a shopping trip as a reward when they get home? Please don’t make her go to the bondage store again, Hisako begs. Oh please, Emma scoffs as she reads the man’s mind. The pink collar was in her size, too. A moment later, her eyes widen and she calls for Scott. Two levels up, she orders. It’s not good. When is it ever good? he asks rhetorically, as he fires upward to create a hole, after which he orders Wolverine and Armor up.
Wolverine protests. Last time she tried that, he nearly ended up as a meat smoothie. Armoring up, Hisako tells him not to be such a baby. He’ll almost definitely probably won’t die… She throws him upward through the hole Scott created. Oh for-- he swears when he sees what’s there and calls for Storm, who follows and hits the soldiers there with lightning bolts then she uses her winds to sweep her teammates up too.
Wolverine reaches the command center where he sees one lone figure sitting in a wheelchair. Right, bored with this crap now, he announces and unsheathes his claws. He orders the figure to turn around or not, his call. Ain’t like he’s got a soft spot for bald guys in wheelchairs.
The chair turns around and they finally see him, a wizened old man, horribly deformed both in face and body. Take a good look at Kaga, he tells them. Is he not a most glamorous mutant? Child of the atom. His mother survived Hiroshima. Look at him! He raises his claw-like hand, explaining these are not just developmental abnormalities. He has base-pair sequence changes within his DNA. He is the textbook definition of a mutant. But see! he shouts enraged. Where is his costume? Where are his superpowers? Where are his adoring crowds and his beautiful girlfriends? Nowhere to be seen! Look at them! The good mutants. Even Dr. McCoy there is a handsome beast! Kaga laughs mirthlessly.
They call themselves outcasts and outsiders, but look at them: they look like movie stars. Their clothing reeks of boastful sexuality, the fashion wear of action heroes. Do they think they have been badly treated by the world? Imagine their parents retching every time they see them. He had no avuncular professor to tend his ego. He only had his mind. By the age of sixteen, he was patenting technology through fronts and beards. By twenty-one, he was having to use that money to fund new medical processes to keep his failing body alive.
Can they imagine the joy he felt when he heard that in America there was a mutant generation standing up against a world that hated and feared them? For the first time, he dreamed he might have a family somewhere and that together they might make a kind of life where they didn’t have to hide in basement. And then he saw them. Perfect men and women who pose and punch people uglier than themselves.
He’s been planning to kill them for a long time. Years and years of murder science. Stealing DNA and information and creating an army. When M-Day happened and their ranks were reduced to under two hundred, he knew his time had come. Just a little longer. Strike teams in space. Bombers in low orbit. Sleeper agents. He could wipe them out…
She’s sorry, Emma announces bored. Was he still talking? She’s afraid, she’s tuned him out. All this because he doesn’t like the way they look? Couldn’t he have just written them a nasty email?
What was she expecting? Kaga shoots back. A master plan? A scheme to turn off the sun? This is the real world! Hatred and disgust are good enough reason to want to kill people!
Storm begins to look startled as Cyclops, a look of disgust on his face, reaches for his visor and it begins to open. Scott… Beast begins. Cyclops closes it again. ”Your prisoner, Agent Brand,” he states curtly. Really? Brand asks surprised. Yeah, maybe she can rustle them up a ride back home, too.
If they do not kill him, he will kill them, Kaga threatens. He will find a way. For as long as he has left to live. No, he won’t Cyclops addresses him. He won’t kill Kaga. He’s going to do something worse. He’s going to see to it that Mutantes Sans Frontieres’s medical funding is used to take the best possible care of Kaga until he dies of natural causes. Does he understand? They are going to care for him. Forever. You bastard, Kaga hisses.
Yeah, it’s been said, Cyclops replies. He turns to the others. All this because they are not like him. Story of their lives, Wolverine states. Yeah, but seriously, there a people who hate them because they are not outcast enough? Well, he had cause, Logan states. Can’t say that of everyone who tried to waste them. Speakin’ of… he gave up kind of easily, eh? For a man who spent that long thinking of ways to put them in the dirt…. Yeah, Cyclops agrees and just says “Emma,” who tries to telepathically read Kaga and finds she can’t.
They think he did all this and didn’t create a way to block a telepath? he shouts. They think he did all this and didn’t plan for a day when they came for him?
 Konnichi wa, Armor greets him politely and tells him about her powers. She can create a forcefield around herself.  Stronger than bombs. Impervious to gas. A total defense against anything he’s going to do. If she strains, she can enclose him in it, too. So only she and he will live through whatever happens then. She walks up to him. As the surviving member of the team, she’ll follow Cyclops’ instructions to the letter. He will still live in her care. No matter what happens next, he loses. There will always be X-Men.
Kaga stares at her and cries in helpless fury, then presses a button on his chair. Nothing happens; whatever weaponry he has is disarmed. So, Wolverine slugs him one. Storm and Beast react with disgust. What? he ask. He’s in his sixties! they protest. He can’t just—Hey! Wheelchair of death here, he points out. He switched it off! Armor shouts and pushes him. They don’t know what else he has here. He’s a crazy old man, he remarks. He’s a disabled old man, Hisako shouts back. She says potato, he says crazy old man with a wheelchair of death!
Watching the display, Emma remarks to Brand that she was once worried that she wouldn’t be kind or mature enough to join the X-Men. She can see how that’d be a concern, Brand agrees.
Cyclops addresses her, asking if she could find a radio in here and call in to SWORD HQ. He can have Storm deal with the fire once she’s done scolding Wolverine.  What do they think his last resort was? A bomb? Probably, Brand agrees, why? He’s wondering if he could detonate it with Wolverine on top of it. Brand stares at him, mouth wide open in surprise.


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Monstrous part 1
Sea of Japan
A lone figure, his hands resting on a guardrail, stands out on the deck of a Roxxon freighter. Mentallo is his name, or at least that’s what he wants to go by when the head of Roxxon’s science team comes up top to join him. Gadsden jokes that that sounds just like a magician’s name. Mentallo continues to look out over the sea, pretending to be amused by the comment.
The oblivious Gadsden wants to know more about the island they’re traveling to, Kaibutsu Jima. “Monster Island,” Mentallo corrects him. Gadsden cautions him on using that name around the other men, as they’re already spooked. “As they should be,” Mentallo assures him.
The island, and all its wonders, lies before them. On the west bank giant crabs and shadowy dinosaur-like creatures roam the coast. On a nearby outcrop of rocks a rather long, serpentine creature splashes its tail in the water, the top half of its body obscured by the other side of the rocks. Near the large, billowing volcano at the center of the island there are dozens of circling pterodactyls.
Gadsden goes over the plan once more with Mentallo. First, they have to set off eleven exploratory detonations. Then their drill teams will bore deep into the ground to where the true treasure lies. Gadsden doesn’t need to remind him that if those detonations aren’t perfect the volcano will fully erupt, and the resulting tsumani would hit both Koreas, the Russian coast and most of Japan. Worst of all, Gadsden explains, all of Monster Island would be turned into a slag heap and they’d never be able to drill through to the billions of gallons of oil under the island.
The only reason Japan sold Roxxon the island, Gadsden explains, was because they didn’t think they would be crazy enough to drill it, plus they’re economy’s not the greatest. Mr. “diarrhea of the mouth” continues talking away, telling Mentallo how glad he is Roxxon picked him over of one of those grenade-popping merc squads they keep on retainer. He says it could’ve proven disastrous if they get attacked with all these explosives they’re carrying. Still staring out at the island Mentallo guarantees they will be attacked, but tells Gadsden not to worry as he has plenty of tricks up his sleeves.
Utopia, Danger Room
“Surprise,” Wolverine yells as he leaps, claws out, at a horde of Brood closing in on himself and Armor. Armor demands to know what he’s doing there as this was supposed to be her test. As she lands a Brood-puncturing kick Wolverine tells her they’re a team and they fight like a team. Ssssak--! go his claws as they penetrate a Brood’s elongated dome.
From the control room Emma and Scott watch the battle unfold. The ever sarcastic Emma asks if Wolverine’s statement to Armor was “ironic” or “hypocritical.” Cyclops said he told Wolverine to say that. In fact, the reason he sent in Wolverine was to force Armor to use her mostly defensive mutant power in conjunction with an offensive member of the team. “But more importantly…” he starts, leaving Emma to see for herself what he’s referring to.
Down below Wolverine barks for Armor to watch her back, but the brash upstart cuts him off screaming that she knows. “Seriously! I got this,” she cries out, but Wolverine warns her not to be overconfident as things can get tricky.
When Logan turns around his face is looking very Broodish. He backhands Armor and she is knocked off her feet and sent flying backward.
“…she needs to learn to keep her guard up,” Scott finishes. Emma asks how long this test will last and Scott says it depends on how much she can take, but he told Wolverine not to go too far. Emma guesses fifteen minutes and the two lovers exchange a look.
Back in the Danger Room the Brood are gone. It’s just Armor and Wolverine. He tells the kid this is her real test and she’s about to fail. They both stare at each other; Armor with a fierce look on her face.
WRUNCH!.
“Holy…” Scott utters, a shocked look stretched across his face, the sounds of the battle loud and clear in the control booth. The scene below is not what one would expect between the battle-hardened Wolverine and a nubile upstart. However, Hisako’s armor had somehow grown to gigantic proportions and Wolverine is squished like a bug up against the Danger Room wall by her outstretched hand.
At first the Hisako can’t understand how she accomplished that. Either does Wolverine who drops to the floor just as confused when she dissipates her armor form. Then it hits her, the cold hard truth. As if to verify her worries the cell phone on her hip starts to ring. Before she answers she tells Wolverine that someone is probably calling her to tell her someone died.
Monster Island
The boarding team slowly makes it’s way across the island. A giant roar startles the men and they begin frantically looking around the forested area for any sign of a monster. A sweaty Gadsden, water bottle in hand, asks his man Tyler how close they are to the detonation site. “Hold on, I’m…” is all he has time to say before the massive, taloned paw of a turtle-like creature plants itself right in front of them. Mentallo looks up at the creature unafraid and says, “Very close.”
Utopia, Danger Room
Tears streaming down her face Hisako relays the news to the trio of X-Men. Between sobs she tells them her mother and brother are both dead. The three adults look down with pity at the young girl.
Cyclops is the first to speak, expressing how sorry they are for her loss. Hisako continues rambling on bringing up how her father’s brother died when he was very young. “…It should’ve been me. I should’ve been there,” she mutters quietly.
“I beg your pardon?” Emma asks in response to Hisako’s words. Logan cautions her to stop right there and then takes Armor around the shoulder. He comforts her with words of solace and says if she needs anything they’re there for her. At first Hisako doesn’t know what to say, but then she asks for a ride to the airport. Scott refuses her request. Instead, he offers up the Blackbird… for all of them.
On board the X-Men’s jet Logan and Hisako sit side by side. She tells Logan they really didn’t have to accompany her, but he reminds her of what he said earlier, “X-Men are a team, but more’n that, we’re a family.” With that, the Blackbird leaves the hangar en route to Japan.
Monster Island
Gadsden orders his men to run, the monstrous turtle beast looks ferocious. Before taking off himself Gadsden grabs Mentallo by the shirt and asks why he’s not %$&@ protecting them. With a slight smile on his face Mentallo tells him that it was Roxxon, not he, who promised him protection.
Before the argument can continue a loud anguished scream cuts through the air. The two men turn just in time to see the upper torso of Barnes falling to the ground. The turtle monster, blood slavering from its mouth, growls as it closes in on Gadsden and Mentallo. Before it chomps down on another meal Mentallo holds out his arm towards the creature and yells, “STOP!”
The creature does as commanded. Then Mentallo turns and tells Gadsden to take the rest of the men out of there. Gadsden starts to ask Mentallo what he’ll be doing, but the mesmerizing mutant says he’ll be fine, that he has the situation under control.
Tokyo
The X-Men step out from a cab on a busy Tokyo street to find Hisako’s dad waiting for them. She introduces the rest of the gang to her dad. He gives them a curt “hello” and then Hisako takes leave with him.
Once they’re gone Emma comments on the dad’s brusqueness, but Scott reasons that everybody deals with grief in their own way. Logan hails a cab and when the driver asks if he’s American, he quickly responds “Canadian” and asks to be taken to the nearest bar.
Monster Island coast
The survivors are back onboard the ship. Gadsden grabs a radio and reports to Mentallo they’ve made it back. “Congratulations,” is all Mentallo says. Gadsden was expecting more and after a pause asks him if he’s coming since the operation is a bust. Mentallo disagrees, calling it a raging success. Gadsden has no idea what Mentallo’s getting at, but it’s obvious something screwy is going on. He radios back that they’re leaving.
His eyes flashing red Mentallo tells Gadsden he’s wrong about that. That’s when a huge leviathan freak of nature emerges from the water. It wraps one tentacle around the ship upheaving the large freighter and breaking it apart. All cargo and men go flailing overboard into the deadly waters.
Roxxon Corporate Headquarters, Dubai
Over a dozen people are seated on either side of a long, executive table in what looks like a boardroom. The shadowy figure running the meeting starts off by saying, “Gentlemen. We have a situation.”
Tokyo
The happy go-lucky cab driver tries making conversation with Logan, but he’s not in the mood. When asked if he’s visiting for business or pleasure, Logan replies, “Neither.” Before the one-sided conversation can go further the cab jumps slightly into the air jarring Logan from his seat. He tells the cabbie to watch the potholes, but the petrified man tells him it wasn’t a pothole.
The cabbie tries putting it into reverse, but doesn’t get far. He then takes off running on foot. Logan gets out of the car and yells after him, but when he turns around he sees what it was that scared the man. Staring up into the air he gives Emma a little telepathic nudge and asks her to look through his eyes to see what he sees. “An’ no… I ain’t started drinking yet,” he finishes.
What Logan sees, and what scared the cab driver into hysteria, is the giant, fire breathing form of Fin Fang Foom marching his way through the city streets. Eyes glowing amber yellow, his mouth flaming slightly with billowing smoke roiling past his head, the giant creature seems to look in the general direction of Mr. Wolverine.


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Monstrous part 2
(Tokyo, Japan)
Wolverine has a quick swig of alcohol to help relax himself. Emma Frost contacts him telepathically and informs him that she and Cyclops are two blocks away and closing fast. Is he ready? Logan pulls on his mask and snikts his claws. “Yeah,” he replies.
Now that Wolverine is in position, Scott and Emma’s car pulls up in the middle of the street. Frankly, there’s nowhere else to go as the giant dragon Fin Fang Foom is blocking their path; flames crackling from his huge mouth. Scott wonders if, given the circumstances, they should bring in Armor. Emma thinks not. She has enough to deal with right now.
(elsewhere)
It’s night time and Hisako is with her father. As they drive through the city, she says that she is sorry she wasn’t there. He replies that, if she were, she would have been in the car with them. “And I could have protected them,” she replies. He says perhaps, but she could have died, too. Hisako turns away, losing herself in her thoughts. They soon arrive at the family home where several other family members have already gathered.
Back in the city, Emma and Cyclops take cover behind a truck and Scott asks if the cops have cleared the buildings and streets. Emma says it’s all clear and Scott appreciates Japanese efficiency. When he asks if she can get inside its head, Emma replies that she’s tried but there’s nothing there… just a low-level hum that she cannot yet identify. Scott looks up as Fin Fang Foom’s shadow crosses their path. It appears to have identified them. They quickly take cover as it spews a wall of flame and acid. Up above, Wolverine leaps onto the giant’s back, sticking his claws into its thick hide. It responds by swatting him with its tail which is solid and covered in spikes. He calls down that they can jump in anytime, but he is smacked again in the face and begins to lose consciousness.
From the ground, Cyclops unleashes his optic blast, sending the giant into the air and rocketing backwards to the ground. It crashes down, tipping up cars and demolishing buildings as it does so. Emma doesn’t think it can be that easy and Wolverine confirms this. The creature gets up again quickly, tossing Wolverine off its back and into the air. It roars as it prepares to attack once more.
(meanwhile)
A low-level Roxxon junior executive receives a phone call and doesn’t like what he hears. He runs down the corridor asking where Director Brewer is. Brewer, it turns out, is seated at a large table with some of his employees, asking where the hell their ship is. A radio operator replies that there’s still no contact with the crew. Brewer doesn’t care about the crew. He cares about their damn ship. Someone asks if they can’t get somebody from the Tokyo refinery to do a flyby. The radio operator informs him that he’s trying, but he can’t get through. The phone towers seem to be overloaded for some reason. The junior exec appears and informs Director Brewer that he has some very important news. Brewer asks who the hell he is. He replies that his name is Duncan Clark, but he is then interrupted by the radio operator who tells Brewer that he has radio contact with the crew. He puts them on loud speaker.
Brewer is more than surprised when Mentallo’s voice comes over the radio. That’s what Mentallo was going for. Brewer asks to speak to Gasden, but Mentallo informs him that he’s otherwise occupied with being dead. “What?” barks Brewer. “What is the status of the mission?” Mentallo replies that the status has changed… quite dramatically. Monster Island is his. If Brewer wants it back it’s gonna cost him. A lot. He stands before several giant creatures including a gorilla, a turtle and an octopus. Brewer asks if he’s attempting to extort Roxxon. He then begins to laugh and puts his hands behind his head, relaxing into his chair. He tells Mentallo that the answer is no, of course. But, out of sheer curiosity, what did he plan to do if theu didn’t play ball? Mentallo says he takes it they haven’t got the news out of Tokyo yet. Clark leans over and informs Director Brewer that Tokyo is under attack… by a monster. Listening to that, Mentallo grins.
(elsewhere)
A young boy at the funeral sees events in Tokyo unfold on a portable device, but his father snatches it from his grasp and orders him to be quiet. This is a wake for friends of their family and it is an honor to be there. He will be respectful and he will obey. After the short service, his father walks up to Hisako and her father and shakes their hands. He offers his family’s condolences for which Hisako thanks him. He tells her father that he mourns their loss almost as if it was his own. For a father to lose his only son is a great tragedy. Hisako’s father says it is as she lets a tear trickle down her cheek.
She walks away but her father grabs her forearm and asks her to return with him. He cannot do this alone. She asks if he blames her for not being there. Does he not wish it was she who had died? Her father replies that she is being very selfish. She turns and heads inside where she finds many of the mourners gathered around a flat-screen television. A news report is showing live video of the X-Men battling a dragon-like monster in Downtown Tokyo. Her father stands behind her, arms folder. “Hisako?” he tells her. “Now is the time to stand with your family.
Back on Monster Island, Mentallo informs Brewer that he wants five-hundred million dollars. Brewer says that’s ridiculous and Mentallo agrees. He ups the figure to eight… in bearer bonds. He has twenty-four hours. He dispatches a courier to pick it up and a large flying creature takes off on his command. He tells Brewer that he is a smart guy. He suggests he keep it that way and give him what the #%%*@ wants, or Tokyo won’t be the only refinery he loses.
Brewer looks up at an advisor and asks about the Tokyo refinery. The guy informs him that they finally got through to them a few minutes ago and they’re still operational. Brewer says that Mentallo believes otherwise. Any ideas why? Another employee clicks on Brewer’s laptop and says Mentallo probably doesn’t know about them. Brewer looks at the screen and asks someone to get him a line to Tokyo. Their relationship with the X-Men has been strained to say the least, but that’s about to change. Vested interests aside, they’re about to become the good guys.
As Fin Fang Foom stomps through the city, the three X-Men realize this is going nowhere fast. It’s too big and strong for them. Scott says they should kill it. Three armed guys then appear and their leader identifies himself as Evan Graves, Deputy Chief of Ops in Tokyo. Before he can finish his sentence, Wolverine cuts him off and tells him that they know who he works for. Graves replies that there’s a few things he probably doesn’t know. For starters, are they familiar with a guy named Mentallo? The three X-Men look surprised and Graves takes that as a yes. He informs them that he’s the one controlling the monster that they and Roxxon currently have issues with. He would like to tell them where to find him.
Wolverine tells Scott, “You know what that means, right?” Scott replies that it means they’re going to Monster Island after they’re done there. Logan adds that the creature isn’t thinking for itself. Scott knows that a mental attack does them no good and asks Emma to diamond up. Logan asks Scott to listen to him, but Scott turns and replies no. He can listen to him. Emma’s going up the middle and they are taking the flanks. Wolverine simply replies that they cannot kill it, to which Scott asks if he’s suggesting they reason with it. Emma doesn’t think that’s possible. Wolverine replies that he isn’t suggesting anything. He’s just saying it ain’t his fault. He wonders if they could trap it somehow - lead it out into the harbor. “We could use the Blackbird to…”
As he speaks, Fin Fang Foom attacks, his massive mouth narrowly missing the three of them as they leap to safety. They are standing on a bridge which starts to rise higher and higher until suddenly it lists, sending the cards, bystanders and the X-Men tumbling down its slope. Scott manages to outstretch his hand to grab Wolverine, while a truck careens towards them along with Emma Frost. Cyclops realizes they’re all going over the edge when they are suddenly saved by a huge orange hand. Wolverine looks up and sees Armor, who floats visibly in the center of the torso of her now gigantic armor.
“What’re you doing here?” he asks. Hisako, in the middle of her armor, which stands as high as Fin Fang Foom, replies, “Standing. With my family.”


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Meanwhile part 1
(Pandora’s Box)
A fire fight is taking place between Abigail Brand and her S.W.O.R.D. agents and the invading Brood, who sweep through the orbital space station. Abigail wants more firepower and orders her men to retreat. She can see they’re losing this battle and dropping like flies. She asks Nelson to ready their ship for takeoff. He calls back to her saying he’ll cover her, but she asks him not to be an idiot. They can’t give the Brood a way out of there. They must cast off now! “That’s an order!”
A couple more agents are grabbed by the Brood using their long prehensile tentacles and Brand herself is pinned against a column, unable to move. Through gritted teeth, she orders Nelson to get out of there. He pauses a brief moment before realizing the inevitable. Pandora’s Box is lost. He seals off the hatch and engages liftoff. The escape craft detaches itself from Pandora’s Box and floats into space.
(Utopia, home of the X-Men, Earth)
Beast arrives at Utopia. Kitty Pryde, wearing her protective suit, tells him he has a lot of nerve. She’s going to slap him for just showing up like this. She approaches him and they hug.
She asks what if they’d been away? For a genius he’s remarkably stupid. “I’ve missed you too, Kitty,” he replies. She asks him if he’s okay. She knows things are weird between him and Scott, but he’s over in Japan. Hank says he knows. Under the circumstances he almost wishes he wasn’t. He’d be a big help against… the Brood. Kitty pretends she didn’t hear that, but Ororo points out to Hank that he is an agent of S.W.O.R.D. Surely the intergalactic police have procedures for dealing with parasitic races. Hank says they do. They’re based on the premise that if you’re infected, you’re expendable. Ororo says that this isn’t just about a Brood Queen and her ilk, then. Judging from his worry, she fears this involves Agent Brand.
Hank replies that she goes running headlong into these situations just to make him crazy. Colossus says that she does her duty without hesitation or fear. It’s one of the many reasons Hank loves her. “And we love you, Henry, “ adds Ororo. “We will do all we can to help.” Kitty says that includes herself and her broodling. She asks what happened.
Hank explains that S.W.O.R.D. conducts a great deal of scientific research relating to extraterrestrials. Some of it occurs on their primary headquarters, the Peak. But, being a Ridley Scott fan, Abigail had the sense to commission a separate space station for more hazardous experiments. They call it Pandora’s Box, where hope is sought among the universe’s horrors.
One example is that the staff there have been developing a method to remove a Brood larva from its host body without killing the host. He doesn’t have to tell them it isn’t easy, as the larvae bond with the host’s nervous system, but they actually succeeded. Unfortunately, that’s the end of the good news. Soon after the breakthrough, the Brood creatures they’d been studying achieved their own breakthrough. The Brood Queen broke loose and freed her warriors. They overran the facility. Pandora’s Box isn’t equipped with escape craft due to risks just like this. The moment their distress signal reached the peak, Brand led a rescue mission there, only for one man to return.
Hank adds that he left Abigail for dead, but he knows how tough she is. She’s tougher than a normal human. There are places on the craft she could hide in; safe rooms. If he didn’t think there was a strong possibility that she is alive, and others too, he wouldn’t be there. However, not everyone agrees with him. The Peak has its weapons aimed at Pandora’s Box in order to atomize it. He, though, convinced them that what’s in those scientist’s heads, not to mention Brand’s, is too valuable to give up without a fight. They decided to give him a chance.
He could enlist his Avengers team but there are too many politics involved there, not to mention they are supposed to be a covert organization. And, given the risks, he’d prefer people who have experience with the Brood. He knows he hasn’t got the right to ask, especially given what they’ve been through in the past…
Colossus interjects, telling him he has every right. All the more because they have been in Agent Brand’s place. And, adds Ororo, because they’re his friends. “Now stop with the puppy dog eyes,” adds Kitty, “And let’s go save your girlfriend already.”
(sometime later)
The X-Men’s craft approaches the Peak and Hank asks Kitty if she’s all right. He doesn’t want to make her uncomfortable but Lockheed has more experience fighting the Brood than anyone. He survived alone on their home planet for years, hunting them. They’re terrified of him. He just assumed she’d been in touch, as they haven’t really spoken at all since she returned to Earth. Kitty replies that, at first, she couldn’t communicate with anyone and, then, the way they left things made it awkward. She understands why Lockheed became a double agent for S.W.O.R.D. They helped his people and what they do is important. However, he was like her pet… her best friend. She felt betrayed that he kept all that from her. Then, she got trapped in a giant bullet and shot into space and, “bleah.” She guesses it’s time to put on her big girl pants and do this.
The X-Men board the Peak and they find Lockheed in the kitchen, clutching a bottle of booze. He seems surprised to see her. She tells him he’s looking well. He replies that she’s lost weight and she answers by pointing out that she hasn’t eaten in months. She starts to explain why she hasn’t been in touch but he tells her, in his own language, that she doesn’t have to explain. She’s been busy with important things. She asks him to wait a minute. She’s trapped in an intangible state. She’s been stuck in a tube, not out clubbing. What about him, anyway? They don’t have e-mail on the world’s most advanced space station? Lockheed replies that he’s not the one who got all huffy about him having a life that didn’t revolve around her. She says that’s not fair, and he knows it.
Kitty then turns back to Lockheed and asks if that’s whiskey he has. Is he drinking now? “Oh, here we go,” he quips. He reminds her that he is a hundred and seventy years old. He can drink if he wants to. “A bottle?” she replies. “That bottle’s almost empty!” He suggests that maybe it was that way when he got it. She snaps back, asking if that’s why he smells like Wolverine’s sideburns on Sunday morning. Lockheed asks what he’s supposed to do when his best friend won’t talk to him. She barks back, asking why she thinks he would want to talk to her when he’s up there with the people he walked away from her for.
Lockheed pushes his face up against the glass on her helmet and looks into her eyes. She gushes and he wraps his body around hers. He tells Kitty he missed her. She replies that she missed him too. “Ahem,” coughs Hank. “Much as I hate to intrude…” Kitty asks him not to apologize. She and Lockheed met fighting the Brood. This is like a trip down memory lane. She asks Lockheed to go get them some guns. Some big guns.
(soon)
On board the shuttlecraft approaching Pandora’s Box, the X-Men prepare themselves for a fight with some really big guns. Hank pilots the shuttle towards the docking station, unable to get a response to his hailing frequency. This suggests the facility remains under hostile control. They must be ready for an attack from the moment the hatch opens. MO<
Ororo asks if he realizes that by bringing a ship to Pandora’s Box, they could be giving them precisely what they want. Hank understands perfectly, but explains that this is why the ship will self-destruct if it scans any Brood or Brood-infected life-forms on board. He asks if everyone’s ready. He’s opening the hatch… Now!
The X-Men charge in, weapons at the ready, only to be faced with… nothing. Piotr admits he expected something. Ororo reckons if she were in the Brood’s place she would lure them aboard and spring an ambush. Hank says he can smell Abigail. Her scent is strong and tinged with fear. Ororo asks if he smells anything else. “The Brood,” he replies. Lockheed lets out a derisory sniff. “And death,” Hank adds. The X-Men enter a room where the dead bodies of S.W.O.R.D. agents lie all around. Ororo asks Hank if he can pinpoint the Brood’s location, but he explains that the scent is overpowering. It’s everywhere. Piotr says he’s forgotten how much he loathes the Brood.
They make their way carefully through the ship following Abigail’s trail. Hank points out the sector where they study radioactive materials. The doors there are reinforced and she could have taken refuge inside. Unfortunately, the only person with high enough security clearance to override the door is Abigail herself. Kitty wonders if she could phase through it, but Hank says it could short-circuit and lock in place. She suggests Piotr take care of it, but that might make a lot of noise. “Ahem”, coughs Lockheed. He presses a few buttons and the door opens. “You have security clearance?” asks Hank.
Inside they find Abigail and some of the crew. Hank hugs her. “You’re alive!” Abigail replies that at the moment she’s being crushed to death, and asks what the hell he’s doing there. He says he’s ignoring protocol like she did when she led her rescue mission. Ororo asks if everyone’s there. She replies that everyone’s there who’s not dead. Ororo suggests they move. They have to clear a path to their ship. Abigail pauses and informs them that they shouldn’t have come. There’s a reason they are all alive and that they were able to fight off the Brood and get in there. They didn’t want to kill them as they are too valuable. She puts her hands on Hank’s shoulders and tells him that they are infected. They are all hosts for the Brood. If he doesn’t leave now, soon they will be too.
Hank points out that they’ve developed a process to remove the larva. She can be cured. A S.W.O.R.D. scientist informs him that it’s not that simple. The necessary machinery is highly specialized and uses materials not found on Earth. Yes, he adds, they could build new ones, but not before the Brood larvae completely consumed them. If they leave there without the equipment they’re as good as dead.
Piotr points out that the Brood may have destroyed it, but Abigail thinks not. They need it. The Brood homeworld was destroyed during the Annihilation War. They’re on the brink of extinction and desperately need to reproduce. Using this process, she continues, the Brood could develop incubators, extracting the larva from the host and raising it to maturity… externally. This would allow them to reinfect a host multiple times. They must leave with the equipment or not at all. Fortunately for the X-Men, they aren’t in the same position. They can leave with their guns and she’ll call them if they win. Ororo gives her ‘the look’ and tells her that she is from royalty. For an insult like that she can have her head cut off. “Now… please lead the way.”
Soon, the team comes across a room which is smoking, yet reasonably intact. Both Abigail and Ororo try giving orders, but Ororo realizes that it’s Brand’s jurisdiction and lets her get on with it. Brand, though, reminds her that she’s infected with a baby slime monster. “Good point,” replies Ororo, and then she gives the order for the X-Men to watch the perimeter and for all S.W.O.R.D. personnel to prepare the equipment for travel. The employees get to work quickly and start connecting leads.
Hank asks Ororo, as she’d mentioned earlier, what she would do if she were the Brood. Would she wait for them to go deep into the facility and prepare the tech she needs for travel before attacking? She nervously asks what he smells. “Nothing good,” replies Hank. They look across the room through the smoke and see a plethora of glowing eyes, all intent on mayhem. Hank leads the charge, roaring, “They’re here,” as he bravely goes on the offensive. The rest join in, with Ororo taking to the air, Abigail grabbing what is frankly, a ridiculously big gun, and Lockheed relishing what he does best.
The battle rages hard, but the X-Men are a determined force. As Ororo calls for everyone to look out for the Brood Queen, she appears. Hank wants to get a move on as Brood soldiers threaten one of the scientists. Fortunately, the Russian giant Colossus isn’t averse to smashing their ugly faces in. The Brood Queen makes a move on Storm. She tells her that she has spirit and will make a fine Broodling, but Ororo replies that she believes that all life is sacred, but she would sooner die. She takes to the air once more and warns everyone not to let the Brood reach the perimeter.
Kitty fires her weapon and says they’ll do their best, but points out that Lockheed can’t breathe fire in close quarters; not without hurting friendlies. They can’t hold this position long. One of the scientists informs Agent Brand that they’ve completed the separation process but they can’t move it on their own. Hearing this, Colossus steps in. For him, moving it won’t be a problem. He can solve all their problems. He gives the equipment a big shove and rams it through the nearby wall as a scientist hangs on tight.
Abigail asks Storm to buy her some time. Hank tells Ororo that it was Abigail’s idea of deferring to her leadership and Storm welcomes the order. Now she needn’t fear damaging the machinery. She loathes the taste of canned air, but it reaches hurricane force quite quickly. She creates a strong wind but Colossus has other ideas. He picks up a massive, and probably incredibly heavy, piece of metal and slams it into the hole he just made shoving the machinery through the wall. It does the job, sealing the hole perfectly.
As they head towards their craft, Ororo mentions that they’ll need to change the settings to allow Brood-infected people in. Hank’s already thought of that and changed them, and this allows Abigail and her fellow S.W.O.R.D. agents to enter their ship. Hank jumps into the pilot’s seat and grabs the controls. “Initiating liftoff. Abigail, radio the Peak,” he asks. “Tell them to blast this place to ashes as soon as we’re clear.” Abigail tells Hank, “I’m sorry,” and removes her green shades to gaze upon him with her Brood’s eyes. “But I can’t let that happen.”


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Untitled (Monstrous part 3)
Clad in a psionic armor the size of a giant building, Armor has joined Cyclops, Emma Frost and Wolverine in their battle against Fin Fang Foom. Seeing the odds turning, Cyke decides upon a new plan and asks Armor to take the lead while they move to the rear flank. Their new goal is to take Foom out with a minimum of collateral damage. “Comparatively speaking,” adds Emma. “An’ if possible, without killin’ him,” Wolverine reminds them. Cyclops asks if she can handle that and Hisako replies that she’s confident that she can and she strikes the giant creature with a right hook which shakes him. As she pummels him, he responds with a fearsome wall of flame but Hisako continues her ferocious attack.
As the gigantic Armor continues to trade blows with the equally gigantic Fin Fang Foom, Wolverine asks if anyone else is wondering why she’s with them instead of at her mother and brother’s wake. Scott replies that it’s because she’s an X-Man, and that’s what they do. Wolverine counters that it might be true, but they don’t run away. Scott start to say she’s not running away, but he soon changes his mind when he sees tears streaming down her cheeks.
Logan tells him she wouldn’t be the first to run headlong into war just because staying at home is just too damn painful. Cyclops is sure she’ll make it through. She’s a survivor. “Exactly,” replies Logan. Her mother and brother are dead and she’s there, surviving. What he means is, they need to keep an eye on her to make sure she knows she’s not alone. She needs to know that they’ve all stood over a grave and wished it was them instead.
Emma doesn’t think that Armor has a death wish. She can tell that by what she’s seeing. The others look up and see Fin Fang Foom entangled in a prison of metal girders looking the worse for wear. Scott asks if that’s Tokyo Tower. “It used to be,” replies Emma. Armor asks if she did good and her fellow X-Men smile. Next stop is Monster Island.
(soon)
The Blackbird approaches Monster Island. A smoking volcano dominates the area. Scott asks Emma if she has a location on Mentallo. She concentrates but explains that his natural mental abilities are quite limited. He must be using an amplifier of some description, and a very powerful one at that. Scott asks if he’s on the island, to which Emma replies most definitely. The island is absolutely saturated with the signal that he’s broadcasting. That’s why she can’t pinpoint him. What he’s doing is quite rudimentary, but it’s amped to such a numbingly brutal level she can’t disrupt it. Psionically, it’s impenetrable.
Wolverine stands and reckons in that case, they’ll have to do it manually which is fine with him. Scott looks over a map of the island and says that the bad news is that Mentallo controls every monster on the island. Worse is that the island is nothing but monsters. Wolverine asks what the good news is. Cyke replies that the good news is that Mentallo’s control over them is limited to simple commands.
Down below, Mentallo sees the Blackbird roar overhead and grins. “Attack!”
A flock of giant bird-like creatures heads their way and attacks the ship. Wolverine identifies them as Screemies. He wants to get out there but, before he can, the ship rocks as their landing gear is crippled. Logan reckons their landing is pretty much gonna suck and warns Cyclops to watch out for a mountain straight ahead. Emma diamonds up once more and tells Scott that, since he is the only member of the team without a mutant ability to protect him from permanent and massive bodily injury, to give the controls to Wolverine and assume crash position…. because that’s not a mountain.
Down below, a monster rears up, spreading two enormous wings as it stands on its hind legs. It roars at the Blackbird as Cyclops asks Armor to assume crash position, but she has other plans. She lies on the floor and extends her armor to giant size, covering the entire Blackbird exterior. They then slam into the creature‘s torso, crash-landing on top of it. Once they stop, Armor reverts to her normal form as the others recover from being tossed around like rag dolls.
Logan asks Scott how he’s doing back there. He and Emma find him on the floor, bleeding from his mouth. “Not… unhh!… good,” he groans. Emma asks him to stop trying to move. He has several broken ribs. She asks how Armor’s doing. Wolverine checks her over and replies that her heart and pulse are good, but her breathing’s slow. He wonders if she’s in a coma or something. He asks Emma if she can get inside her head. Emma loses the diamond and says she’ll try, but as soon as she reverts she screams in agony. She sits down and explains that the psionic feedback from Mentallo was like her skull being beaten in with a hammer. Until they can find and destroy whatever is amplifying his power, she’ll have to remain in diamond form.
Logan realizes this means they can’t discover what’s happened to Armor, but Cyclops reckons she’s just been knocked for a loop. They’ve all made it through and there’s no reason she won’t do the same. Emma agrees. “Based on what?” asks Wolverine. “Experience,” Emma replies. She explains that though her mutant powers wouldn’t traditionally be classified as ‘psychic,’ there is a psychic component to it; the connection to her deceased relatives - the well from which her power is drawn. She adds that, when her mother and brother died, Armor received a sudden and very large influx of that power. As they’ve seen, that increase in power has allowed her to do things they’ve never seen before. But, that doesn’t mean her body’s physical ability to channel that power or her mind’s ability to safely control it has increased at the same rate. She believes that Armor has simply pushed herself too far in order to save them.
Scott asks Logan what his take on it is. He resigns himself to agreeing with Emma. What she says makes sense. He asks Logan to step outside. He wants to ask him a question. Once outside, Scott wraps a bandage round his torso to help support his ribcage. He asks Logan if he believes Hisako was trying to kill herself. Logan admits he doesn’t know. He asks Scott if he’s thinking about Jean. Scott tells him he’s thinking of Armor. “That so?” replies Logan. “Then why’re we talking outside?
They then hear loud booming noises, like footsteps. Logan reckons they’ve got to go and Cyke agrees. Wolverine, though, tells him he just means himself and Emma. Scott isn’t fit to travel anywhere. Cyclops hates it when Logan’s right. He tells Logan that he’ll use the Blackbird’s cloaking device. It should still be operational. From what Emma’s said, Mentallo seems to be focusing all of his amplified power outward. He’s not bringing anything in. “Like our thoughts, you mean?” asks Logan. “Exactly,” replies Scott. He doesn’t know what they’re thinking. More importantly, he doesn’t know how many of them there are. They should be safe in hiding. He asks Logan to keep him in the loop via traditional comms and then tells Emma there’s a new plan.
(soon)
Emma and Wolverine run through the jungle. She asks him what they were talking about and Logan quips that Scott was just reminding him to be a gentleman and keep his hands to himself. “You’re lying,” she replies. He asks what makes her say that. He thought she couldn’t read minds in her diamond form. “Experience,” she scowls.
They come to a natural stop and she asks what their plan is to take out Mentallo’s ability to broadcast once they track him down. He ponders a moment before slashing a tree with his claws. He reckons he’ll just cut his head off. That oughtta do it.
Inside a cave, Mentallo receives a call from Director Brewer. He informs him that his courier has arrived - a large dragon-like creature. Mentallo asks if the bearer bonds are prepped for travel. Brewer replies they’re in a heavy shipping container, but Mentallo replies that his creature is a big boy. He can handle it. He warns Brewer that if he opens the container and there’s anything other than eight hundred million in bearer bonds inside, he does realize what he will do, right? Brewer is pretty sure he does. “Good,” replies Mentallo, “Then I won’t have to waste time warning you not to do anything stupid? Like sending the X-Men after me!” Brewer tries to say he doesn’t know what he’s talking about, but Mentallo replies that there’s a lot he doesn’t know, but the X-Men… they don’t have a clue.
(back on Monster Island)
Emma complains that they’ve been going back and forth through the jungle for hours. Where is he? Logan replies that he’s working on it. He suddenly pauses and informs her that he has something. She asks if it’s Mentallo’s scent. “Nope,” he replies as they look up to see an enormous two-headed monster bearing down on them quickly. Emma tells Logan that she’s read about the monster. He should be careful as it can alter its size. Logan hears this mid-leap, which is too late to stop, as it shrinks quickly. He lands in a heap, only for Emma to grab him and start running.
 They come across a cave and they run inside where Logan soon picks up a scent; a human one. It’s got to be Mentallo. Unfortunately, Logan then realizes that the creature could have shrunk down and followed them inside. It didn’t, which means it wasn’t chasing them. It was herding them. They look into the cave and see Mentallo grinning at the surround by creatures. “Hi,” he smiles.


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Meanwhile part 2
(escape shuttle attached to Pandora’s Box, S.W.O.R.D. research satellite)
Abigail Brand and her fellow S.W.O.R.D. agents have been infected by the Brood. The X-Men are there to help, but first they have to deal with the problem in hand. Ororo wastes no time. She first apologizes for failing them and then zaps each of the agents with lightning, killing them instantly. Shadowcat realizes that Storm has the right idea and tells Lockheed that it’s scorched Earth time. Lockheed unleashes his fiery breath, killing more.
Abigail, however, has other plans. She points her gun at Beast’s temple and Hank informs his friends that she hasn’t fully changed yet. Colossus reminds him that he has a gun pointed at his head, but Abigail informs them that she’s only doing that so they’ll listen. She explains that her half-alien physiology lets her fight off the change, for a little while anyway. It’s not easy, she adds, and she’s not suggesting they turn her back on her, but they have to believe her when she says, “You can’t kill any more of the Brood.”
Piotr replies that they have no choice. They tried to save them but it was too late. It’s not too late for her. Kitty tells her that they’ll lift off and blow Pandora’s Box to atoms. They can get her back to the Peak and find a cure for her. Abigail asks them to listen. She is in touch with the Brood hive-mind and now knows what they know. She explains that their homeworld was destroyed but the whole picture is bigger than that. The Brood, awful as they are, served as natural predators for even worse species. Now, the interstellar ecosystem is out of whack. These other species are now breeding out of control and they’ll present a greater threat than the Brood ever did. She asks Hank to think, not as the Beast, an Avenger or an X-Man but as a scientist. Hank believes that, weirdly, she may be right. They have to save the Brood.
Kitty can’t believe this. This is the Brood they’re talking about. They don’t just kill to survive. They actually enjoy it. They sit and laugh while their kids eat people alive from the inside. Piotr agrees. Seldom has he encountered such irredeemable evil. He says they should let them die out and find alternative means to deal with the other species. Ororo tells Hank that few understand the intricacies of the natural order as she does, yet if they repopulate the Brood, every being they kill will be their responsibility.

Hank thinks not. He might have a solution - one that preserves the interstellar ecosystem without imperiling sentient beings. It will also keep them from committing genocide. But, he adds, it’s highly risky and depends on them all playing their parts precisely. He informs Abigail that, due to her compromised status, she can’t join in. Abigail understands. The chick with the evil baby in her brain doesn’t need to know. She allows them to talk privately.
(minutes later)
Hank has explained his grand plan. Colossus reckons it sounds mad but he has never failed them. He agrees to the idea. Ororo tells him they all do. Lockheed, however, pipes up and Kitty translates for him. She explains that Lockheed says the Brood are evil and, not only should they let them die, they should spit on their graves. He says that if the X-Men insist on doing this then he can’t be a part of it. He also won’t come to save them when they have baby Broodlings eating their livers. He’s leaving and he wants Kitty to go with him. She turns to her pet Dragon and tells him that she can’t. She knows it’s dangerous, but Hank and Abigail Brand are right. They have to try at least. And… she’s not leaving her friends. Lockheed replies that’s all she does before leaving her to join the others. Kitty sighs. “Bye again Dragon.”
Hank tries to say something to her, but she asks him not to mention it. She just asks him to make this something besides the suicide mission it sounds like. Piotr reverts to human form and places a comforting hand on her shoulder, telling her that they’ll get through this. As he speaks, he is knocked unconscious from behind and Kitty turns to see a giant Broodqueen standing there. She screams Piotr’s name and says this wasn’t part of the plan. The Broodqueen calls them stupid. Why return to a place where only death awaits? Perhaps, she adds, that by removing their means to escape, they seek to kill them while salvaging the station. Or perhaps… it doesn’t matter.
Hank looks up and sees the second Broodqueen. He wonders how this has happened. “Necessity,” she replies. They require young, so soldiers develop into Queens. Hank realizes that he’s boxed in and requires backup. He is then stabbed with one of the Broodqueen’s tendrils which injects him with their venom and then the X-Men find that they are surrounded. Abigail then storms in and informs Ororo that the Brood need them as incubators. However, they can’t hurt them too badly so they’ve got the upper hand. She struggles as she speaks, explaining that her head feels like it’s got needles stuck in it.
The Broodqueen grins and tells the ‘wicked child’ she is being punished. She says that like the others, Abigail is disobedient before the host is consumed. Ororo summons the wind, but the Broodqueen grabs her and smashes her into the ground, telling that if this were a real atmosphere then she might defeat them all. She may be Queen material.
With Hank and Ororo now captive and Abigail struggling against her infection, Kitty stands almost defenseless over the unconscious body of Colossus. The Broodqueen tells the others to take the captives to the stasis chamber before they shrug off the venom. When their young control their minds, they will use them to lure other humans with ships. In the meantime, she asks someone to transmit a message to their headquarters to inform them that they have hostages.
One of them asks about Kitty. The Broodqueen grabs her and replies that she will implant her with one of her young. Kitty replies defiantly that she the joke’s on her. Her body is intangible. She can’t be hurt. The Broodqueen says that in that case, she will expel her into space to drift alone for all eternity. She feels she is harmless. “Harmless…” replies Kitty. “Harmless little girl without a gun... Harmless little girl… trained to kill by Wolverine.” She flips around and kicks the Broodqueen in the face before asking Abigail if she’s still one of the good guys. “If I ever was,” she replies, adding that she’ll rouse the others.
Hank tells her that there’s no need. He kicks into life and pulls away from his captor. He informs her that their venom is unpleasant but tolerable. Any stronger and it would threaten their larva. The Broodqueen quickly orders her fellow Brood to retreat. They have already won and there is nothing to be gained in battle. All they need do is prevent their escape. In due time, their children will speak to them and their minds will be theirs.
As they depart, Abigail tells Hank that she’s right. So, why doesn’t he tell her why his master plan calls for allowing themselves to be infected with Brood eggs. “It was that obvious?” replies Hank. She replies that she can tell when he’s throwing a fight. Hank explains that the idea is for them to escape to the Peak and use the machine they sent back in the shuttle to remove the Brood larvae from them. Abigail figured as much. What she doesn’t get is how that changes anything. The Brood young will still end up as evil as the rest. “Hank reckons that won’t necessarily be the case. Once they’re extracted, he believes he can use the technology based on their Cerbera device to cut off their brains from the existing Brood hive-mind. That opens the way for more suitable role models.
He informs her that the Hulk has an ally - a Brood creature who is not like its peers. It understands friendship and honor. That Brood creature they fought was right. They’re doing what all beings faced with extinction do: evolving. They grow stronger, soldiers develop into Queens able to lay eggs, but there other types of evolution as well such as compassion. The ability to cooperate with other beings. To care about them making it possible to coexist.
He continues to say that before he turned on them, their former colleague Bishop told him that in his future there is a benign race of Brood in the universe. If they make this compassionate Brood creature the new template for a Brood hive-mind, they could create that race. Abigail scratches her head but admits that his idea isn’t completely insane. She points out one thing, however. They do not need to find this friend of the Hulk’s because there is a Brood creature with compassion right there on the station.
Having the Brood caterpillar inside her is a two-way street. She knows the things they do and, every now and then, a Brood creature exhibits kindness. They kill it, like the ancient Spartans putting down weak babies. Abigail relates how this Brood was born in one of their labs. Their scientists were curious to study it. When the other Brood escaped, some of them wanted to kill it, but the Broodqueen reasoned that in the face of extinction, all Brood were valuable. So, they left it in its stasis tube, unable to bring themselves to murder it but too disgusted to let it out. In Brood terms, she adds, it’s young, a teenager and a mutant of its species. If they free it and take it back with them, they could teach it caring and teamwork, leather pants and all the other cherished X-Men values. Ororo adds that it could pass those values on to every new Brood creature born.
Piotr points out that this might happen if they can rescue it and get it back to the Peak before the Brood larvae turn them into monsters. Hank doesn’t believe this should be an issue. Experience tells them that it takes the better part of a day for the Brood larva to take control of the host. They should have plenty of time. What will be difficult is fighting past the Brood to get out of there, but, one thing at a time. He asks Abigail if she can lead them to the Broodling.
(Soon)
Abigail leads the team through the station. Ororo sees the young Brood up ahead. Kitty reminds them that, before they do something they regret, this is a Brood creature.
It is compassionate by the standards of a Brood creature. What she means is that it might say thank you before chowing down on your spleen. Colossus asks her not to worry. They are a match for a single youth. They continue their path, and Kitty remarks that even without a solid nose the smell makes her want to hurl. She warns them to get ready. The Brood usually go for the throat.
They discover the stasis capsule broken and the young Brood standing there. It asks if they’ve come to kill it, but Storm assures it that they’ve come to set it free and give it a home. Beast contacts the Peak and requests an extraction ship, providing them with the nearest airlock to their location. His contact replies that the ship will be a drone, unmanned. They can’t lose any more men if his plan goes south. Hank understands and asks them to have medical crews standing by for larva extraction. As soon as she’s finished speaking, they look up to see a horde of Brood creatures in the shadows.
“I see you’ve met our wayward youth,” one says. Hank asks everyone to take it easy. They knew they would try and prevent them from leaving. Kitty says they can kill them, right? Now that they’re all playing surrogate mom? Hank replies that they can do, but only as a last resort. They’re still endangered. Kitty laughs and asks the Broodqueen if she can hear that. They still need an excuse to kill them. “So come on, give us one.” The Broodqueen replies that there is no ‘us.’ There is only her. Surprisingly, Beast, Colossus and Storm begin to change quickly. Even Abigail’s transformation rapidly increases. Kitty looks around, frightened, wondering what’s happening to them.
The Broodqueen explains that they are stronger and more fertile. Their young mature much faster. Hank and the others take on Brood attributes in the same manner that Abigail did and then turn on Kitty. Piotr grabs her by the throat and the Broodqueen asks him to dispose of her out of the airlock. He does as she asks and hurls her into open space. Kitty calls out as she floats away. “I can’t lose you. Not again…” As the Broodqueen asks for the airlock to be closed, a wall of flame engulfs the bay. Lockheed then appears, grabs Kitty and brings her back inside. She is quite pleased to see him. Lockeed tells her that he’s not going to say it, but then changes his mind. “All right, I’m going to say it. I told you so.”
The young hatchling smashes one of the other Brood over the head with the door to its stasis pod and tells the Broodqueen that she left him in the dark and the cold. They let it out. It isn’t one of them. “Very well tainted one,” replies the Broodqueen, “Then you can die with them.”