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Childhood’s End - part 4
Eight weeks earlier:
Stryker and his Purifiers are combing a database for information. The huge datastream scrolls past on giant screens. The shattered figure of a robot of some sort hangs behind them and appears to be networked into the computer stations below. Stryker is searching for a specific name and asks his technicians to narrow the data to just the women on the list. Finally he spots the name he is looking for: Julia Cabot and asks that her file be pulled forward.
In a church in Westchester, a hooded figure lights a candle. He speaks to his lost love, Julia and tells her that he knows they’ll be reunited someday. The Reverend Styrker strides purposefully past the pews to the kneeling figure and states in a knowing voice that it has been almost a year since Julia’s death. The hooded man is surprised as Stryker notes that he has been coming here every Sunday to honor her memory. Rising, the man removes his hood to reveal Jay Guthrie AKA Icarus. Jay asks the Reverend how he knows this and who he is. Stryker simply replies that he is a servant of the Lord and assures Jay that Julia awaits him in Heaven and hears his prayers. Stryker then asks if Jay knew there was an angel there the day Julia died. Jay is confused and begins to weep. Stryker continues, telling Jay that God sent an angel to end her suffering and send her home to Him. Stryker tells Jay that there is an angel here today as well and that he is that angel as he pulls off his coat to reveal his crimson wings. He tells Jay that angels exist solely to serve God’s purpose and that he has come here to bring Jay a message from God.
The Present:
It is early morning at the Xavier Institute and already the headmasters are arguing. Emma points out that the world has become a much harsher place and their students have to be ready. Cyclops agrees but also wants to try and give them a chance to have a childhood. Emma thinks that it’s already to late given the decimation and it aftereffects. Emma expresses her fear that with their numbers thinned, their enemies will be emboldened. She tells Scott that she doesn’t want blood on her hands and will do whatever it takes to protect these kids. She hears a knock at the door and when she answers it, Jay’s bloodied and nearly unconscious body falls through the doorway.
Scott and Emma rush Jay to the infirmary and Emma telepathically calls for Elixir to join them immediately. They arrive at the medlab and Hank McCoy begins to assess Jay’s injuries when Josh arrives. He is shocked to see that Jay’s wings are gone. Jay wakes up and seeing Josh shouts for them all to get away and not to touch him. Hank and Scott try to restrain Jay and note that someone should go and get Jay’s siblings, Sam and Paige. Emma tries to lead Elixir out but he is insistent on staying to help Jay. He wants to know what’s happened to him and that the others need to know. Emma uses her telepathy to wipe Josh’s memories of Jay’s condition and asks him to join her in the Danger Room.
Emma telepathically orders all of the students who retain their powers to report to the Danger Room in uniform immediately. The kids are dismayed at this abrupt alert and the Cuckoos note that Frost is clearly upset and fear that her impromptu training session will end badly.
 Twenty-five students gather outside the Danger Room and Emma announces to them that everything is going to change effective immediately. No more squads or field days. The students are surprised, especially the Cuckoos. She says they are here to see what they’ve learned and where they now belong: on the battlefield or the sidelines. The exercise is every man for themselves and those who last the longest will train to be X-Men, the rest will not. She immediately excuses Wallflower, Ernst, Blindfold and Nezhno. Laurie tries to protest but Emma doesn’t give her the chance and demands that she leave.
 Mercury chimes in and asks about Kevin’s whereabouts and Dust notes that Icarus is missing too. Josh has a vague recollection of seeing Jay but Emma gives him little chance to piece things together. Josh wonders why he’s being included since he’s useless in a fight. Laurie encourages him not to give up. The others prepare for the test. Loa warns Victor not to use his tongue on her, Wolfcub wonders if Cyclops knows about all this and Santo and Onyxx are both stoked. Trance asks if she can leave her body outside and Pixie chides herself for not bringing her helmet. Dust expresses her concern about all this and Mercury reassures her. Hisako overhears and asks why they’re even worried since they’re Miss Frost’s students. Mercury says that means that They’ve actually learned something. Amidst all of this, X-23 just looks out of place. As they enter the Danger Room, Nori glares at Hellion with challenge in her eyes.
Before the session begins, Emma telepathically contacts Hellion and orders him to take X-23 out first no matter what it takes. He hesitates, remembering how Laura saved him during the Danger Cave scenario earlier. Emma asks if there’s a problem and he assures her there isn’t.
As the session begins, Santo attacks Hellion who blocks the blow with a TK shield. He berates Rockslide and tells him the Hellions are staying together. The battle is pitched. Match squares off against Anole. Rockslide takes down Wolfcub while Surge dispatches Bling. Mercury assaults Onyxx with her arms formed into blades, aided by X-23.  Mercury then turns her attack on Hisako.  Dust easily overwhelms Indra as X-23 finishes with Onyxx. Hellion shoves Loa out of the way as he makes a move on X-23. He is cut off by Surge, who sees this as the perfect time for these tow to settle the animosity between them.  Hellion says he doesn’t have time for her but Nori refuses to back down and goads Julian into attacking. Meanwhile, X-23 is everywhere and takes down Quill and match in one fluid motion. When Rockslide moves up to attack her from behind, she pops her foot claw and uses it to slice his arm off!
Emma uses her telepathy to freeze Laura in place, making her full away of what she’s done and taunting her telepathically. Seeing an opening, Julian breaks away from his struggle with Surge and moves to attack X-23. Just then, Onyxx recovers and barrels towards the two. Seeing that X is not moving out of the way, Hellion lifts her out of harm’s way. He reiterates that no one saves him and that they are now even. From the control booth, Emma glares at Julian for this betrayal and calls a halt to the exercise.
Still reeling, Onyxx asks if he won. Emma announces that Mercury, Dust, Hellion, Elixir, Rocksilde and Suge will now begin training as the New X-Men and that she will deal with the rest later. Hisako bitterly notes that it’s no surprise that Emma chose four Hellions to make the cut. Cyclops arrives with the Stepford Cuckoos, who obviously alerted him to Emma’s latest action. He insists that Laura be added to this group and tells Emma that they will discuss this “exercise” later. Emma announces that there will be an assembly in fifteen minutes for all mutant students and names Surge as the new team’s leader, to the shock of both Nori and Julian. The new team looks around and Elixir adds his two cents: “This is going to suck.”
The auditorium is nearly empty as Emma and the X-Men address the remaining mutant students. She asks them to look around and realize that they are all that is left. Elsewhere, Rev. Stryker addresses a crowd of thousands, emphasizing that they represent but a handful of God’s children. Miss Frost continues to say that most students knew only a world where mutants thrived and were on the rise, shaping culture and building their own local and global communities. She adds that their number has been reduced to the hundreds and the dangers posed to them all had grown exponentially. She tells them it is time to grow up and that their survival and the survival of mutantkind depend on it. She announces that the now human students are about to board a bus that takes them to a safer place and that now is their chance to say their good-byes.
 Meanwhile, Stryker claims that God stood by and watched as “Satan’s seeds” flourished, waiting for the faithful to act but they did not. He says to the clearly anti-mutant crowd that they have been given one last chance to act and finish the work that God himself has started for them. He leaves them with a choice to help end Satan’s reign or to turn their back on the Lord. As he leaves the stage, he orders his Purifers to assemble and informs them they have a bus to catch.
Shortly thereafter, the X-Men stand watch as the human students are led through the Morlock Tunnels to a waiting bus. There are many tears and questions among the students as they say their good-byes. Mercury hugs Dryad and tells her it’ll be okay. Surge assures Network that they’ll find them when the smoke has settled. Dj asks Hellion to say good-bye to the girls for him. Rubbermaid boards the bus and can’t believe this is happening. Finally, Tag boards and Julian waves a final goodbye. As the bus pulls away, smoke can be seen in the distance. In seconds, a missile can be seen hurtling towards the bus. Tag sees it as does X-23 who cries out “Ambush!” Her warning comes to late as the bus explodes!


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Crusade - part 1
(The Present)
Nightcrawler reads a passage from the Bible at a funeral ceremony for Brian Cruz, the former Hellion squad member codenamed Tag. Gathered together are the remaining staff and students at the Xavier Institute including the currently active X-Men. As Nightcrawler reads the passage, Wolverine, Cyclops and several other X-Men serve as pall bearers, bringing the casket to the gravesite. The casket is lowered as Kurt finishes the scripture and says a few brief words to those gathered.
 As the service concludes, Cyclops quietly asks Logan how these kids are supposed to deal with this. Logan pragmatically says that they’ll either learn or they’ll die. Scott asks what will happen to those responsible and Logan simply replies that they will just die. Scott says that that suits him just fine.
 Mercury looks down at the casket, tears streaming down her silver cheeks. Nightcrawler calls for those present to remember the life of those who have died as a means of keeping them forever with you. Cessily recalls what happened just days earlier.
(The Recent Past)
Mercury screams “NO!” as she watches the bus filled with her friends and former classmates at Xavier’s explode violently. As she staggers in shock, Surge powers up and is charging forward. She can’t believe this is happening as she spots Rubbermaid’s lifeless body among the wreckage. She calls for help as the gravity of the situation in front of her sinks in.
(The Present)
Kurt continues to offer words of support and condolence, saying that it is not the length of one’s life that determines its worth but how it is lived. He states that one must ask questions such as did they do more harm than good, did they make more friends than enemies and did they do all they could for those that they loved. This takes Rockslide back to the moment of the explosion as he thinks about these questions.
(The Recent Past)
As Surge calls for help, Rockslide is left dumbstruck. He falls to his knees, completely overwhelmed by the sight before him. Hellion looks back as he charges in to help and calls to Santo to get up.
(The Present)
At the graveside, Rockslide gives in to his feelings of guilt and helplessness and he too begins to cry.
 As Nightcrawler concludes his sermon, Julian stands stoically in profile, his jaw clenched against the emotions of the day. He remembers the explosion as well.
(The Recent Past)
Julian calls out “Brian!” as he sees the bus explode.  Sheathing himself in telekinetic energy, he flies into the wreckage and quickly spots Tag’s unconscious form. He tells Brian that he’s coming and drops his teke shield. As he reaches for Tag, another explosion hits and he is thrown forcefully away from Brian’s body.
(The Present)
Hellion’s face is badly scarred on the left side, his face red with burns and his eye swollen shut where the explosion hit him. Hellion continues to stand solid, his clenched fists and jaw the only betrayals of the emotions he holds in check.
  Nearby, X-23 leans against a tree and absorbs Nightcrawler’s comments about friendship and how the bond between friends is what makes us all human. This takes her back to the explosion.
(The Recent Past)
Using her claws, X-23 slashes through the wreckage to try to save those trapped inside. Behind her, the second explosion throws Hellion back but she proceeds into the inferno.  She hears a cry for help and turns to see DJ trapped in the wreckage. He sees her and says that she’s pretty. These are his final words. Elixir arrives at his side and tells him that he’s going to be fine but X-23 tells Josh that DJ is dead. Josh pushes Laura away and places his hands on DJ’s wounds. He tries to revive DJ but his efforts are in vain. He repeats over and over “I can fix you.”
(The Present)
At the graveside, Josh holds Wallflower’s hand. His face is clenched not with grief but with anger. Echoing his feelings are Nightcrawler’s words. He tells them that it is easy to focus their anger at the injustice of these deaths or their own failures. Laurie assures Josh that this wasn’t his fault. Nightcrawler’s says that they must have faith that from this darkness, light will come.
 Sooraya says her own prayers to Allah for her fallen teammate as she recalls what happened.
(The Recent Past)
Dust assumes her sand form and uses it to extinguish the flames around the wreckage. She uses a bit too much force and propels a piece of wreckage into Surge, injuring her arm. Dust assumes human form to help Noriko as Cannonball arrives on the scene to help. As Dust supports Surge and helps her up she sees the bodies of several students amidst the wreckage. Tears fill her eyes as she cries out “No!” She goes into shock and Mercury arrives to try and snap her out of it.  They are both surprised when a Sentinel arrives and illuminates the area. The Sentinel pilot begins to issue a warning and then stops when he sees the carnage below.
(The Present)
Nightcrawler finally closes his Bible and asks that God have mercy on all of their souls before saying a final “Amen.” Surge remains and stares at the headstone for a moment before voicing the question in all of their minds, “Why?” Forge steps up to comfort her telling her that there is no answer and that all they can do is be strong for those who are still with them. Surge asks how they are supposed to get past this and Forge tells her honestly that part of them never will. He says he has to return home to Dallas but that she can always reach him through her gauntlets if she needs him. He notes that all of his machines talk to each other and he’s always there to listen if she needs him. The two walk away from the gravesite together and as they move away, it becomes clear that this isn’t the only funeral happening as there are rows of open graves and caskets awaiting burial.
Inside the estate, Psylocke is having words with the officials in charge of the Sentinels and asks if this is the kind of protection they are here to provide. She notes that there are forty-two children dead and that they are burying fifteen of them because even in death their parents didn’t want them back. Sentinel squad leader, Alexander Lexington tells her this wasn’t their fault. Bishop tries to get Psylocke to back off but she won’t, questioning why they tolerate their presence at all if this is what they have to offer.
 Colonel Reyes steps up and tells Psylocke that their presence is not up for debate and that the X-Men chose to circumvent the Sentinels to smuggle the human students out. Bishop retorts that O*N*E would have not let them leave if they had gone through proper channels. Lex jumps in to say they’re here to help and Psylocke tells him they’ve done a brilliant job of that as Bishop holds her back.
 The squabbling is interrupted by Val Cooper who tells them that’s enough. She says that this was a terrible tragedy and they are all sympathetic to the loss the school has suffered and will help find those responsible. She adds that if anyone is to blame it’s Emma Frost.
In her office, Emma looks over the photos of the dead students. As she does so, she assumes her diamond form and drags her super-strong nails across the desktop, making a horrible sound as the nails rake across the grains of wood.
Hellion and Mercury walks back to the school together, both in disbelief about all that has happened. Julian says he’s going to go check on Sofia who wasn’t at the funeral. Mercury is surprised and tells Julian that Sofia left the day of the attack with her butler. Julian doesn’t believe her and thinks she’s joking. Cessily tries to apologize but it’s too late.
The other students process their grief in their own way. Nori finds comfort with David and tells him she can’t help but think that he could have been on that bus too. He assures he that he’s right here and not going anywhere. Santo takes his frustration out in a physical way, pounding the ground and fervently apologizes to Brian. Sooraya prays in her room as X-23 watches. Julian makes his way to Sofia’s room only to find that she is gone. He calls out her name and lashes out with his telekinesis, shattering her window.
In the infirmary, Paige tells Jay what has happened and he cannot believe it. Outside his room, Cyclops comforts Sam who admits that he couldn’t break the news to Jay and is relieved that Paige is there to do it. He says that Paige was always closer to Josh. Cannonball says that he was there when the explosion hit but couldn’t get there fast enough. He says he feels helpless, unable to help the kids who died or his brother. Scott tells him that he can’t blame himself. Sam notes that Jay isn’t getting any better and Scott says that they don’t know why Jay’s healing factor is inactive and that he still refuses to allow Elixir to heal him. Scott apologizes to Sam who is clearly upset.
The members of the newly-formed New X-Men squad gather and Emma comes to talk with them. She tells them she knows what they are going through and that they just want it all to go away. But this is their life and the X-Men must push on. She tells them to pull themselves together and meet her in the Danger Room for a training session. She adds that they have to be prepared because she fears this has only just begun.
At his church in New York City, Rev. Stryker prays to God and thanks Him for his strength and aid in vanquishing their enemies. His followers summon him to discuss his vision. They confirm that the predicted changes are as far-reaching as anticipated and as he predicted.  His follower notes that only a few obstacles remain and they have identified another as an Omega threat. Stryker is pleased as he says they now know who their next target must be. On the screen is a picture of Elixir and Wallflower.


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Crusade - part 2
A handful of students (Anole, Match, Indra, Pixie & Hisako) wait outside the Danger Room. Hisako is the only one not in uniform and asks the others if they didn’t get enough of the Danger Room when it tried to kill them. Match asks what’s going on and is shushed by Pixie who is trying to eavesdrop on the current training session. At that moment, Rockslide comes crashing through the wall and nearly bowls over Pixie and Match. He is missing a hand and looks downtrodden as he greets his fellow students before re-entering the Danger Room. Those outside look in and comment that Miss Frost is busy training her new team.
The New X-Men are facing off against the X-Man Colossus. Piotr informs Rockslide that he telegraphed his attack and dropped his hand, which he tosses at Santo. It hits him in the forehead and he meekly thanks the armor-plated X-Man. From the control booth, Emma provides simple instructions for this exercise: knock down Colossus. The New X-Men look confident as Piotr urges them to give it another try.
Outside the Institute, Matthew Risman, former assassin turned evangelical zealot trains the telescopic scope of his assault rifle on the school. He speaks into his communicator noting that the Sentinel units do not seem to detect his presence. His contact, Joseph notes that his implant is shielding him from the Sentinels and the campus’ telepaths as well. Stryker informs Matthew that his target will be in his sights within the hour. Stryker tells him to “Do the Lord proud.”
 At his headquarters in Salem Center, Stryker orders his men to review the “vision” stating that only a handful of “Satan’s children” stand between them and Paradise. He notes that their “guest” will be returning soon. Joseph asks if that’s wise given how they barely managed to salvage the device the last time and Stryker interrupts him harshly and reminds his follower that God himself speaks through him and is not to be questioned. He speaks of how this is all predestined and that nothing will prevent it. He reminds Joseph that this in not the time to lose faith. As he says this, the perspective shifts and we see Stryker and his team through filtered pink lenses. Over each “eye” is the word “OFFLINE”.
In the Danger Room, Colossus easily smacks Rockslide with an open hand and notes that his moves are clumsy. Elixir does his best to enter the fray by whacking Piotr in the back of the head with a small I-beam. Piotr grabs him by his shirt and hoists him in the air as he reprimands him for not using his powers to attack him. Josh asks what he expects him to do to stop him and Colossus replies that he above all the rest could stop him with a single touch. As Piotr tosses Elixir away he tells him until he starts to think clearly he will only be a threat to himself.
 As he does this, Surge jumps onto him and hits him with an electrical charge. Colossus does not even cry out a little and he tells Surge he’s been hurt by far worse and her concern should be for her teammates.
 As Surge tries to make sense of this warning, Colossus grabs her gauntlet and directs her attack at Mercury who was attempting to sneak up on him from behind. As Cessily cries out, X-23 leaps at him. Surge begs him to stop and Piotr tells her that their enemies will never stop. He then directs her electrical charge at X-23 who is forced back by the brunt of the attack.
 He tells Surge that she is running out of teammates and she asks what she’s supposed to do. He reminds her that she is the team’s leader and if she fails to fins a way, her friends will die.
Hearing this, Josh leaps onto Colossus’s back and yells at him to shut up. Piotr easily flips Josh over onto the ground and then pins him to a wall with a bent girder. Surge calls to Dust and Hellion to help and Hellion comments on the “bang-up job” she’s done so far as leader. Surge tells him he may not like her but to follow her lead and work together. Instead, he orders Dust to attack and she does. Piotr commends her on her abilities but tells her they are being put to poor use.
He punches into the ground and grabs a water line and uses it to overcome Dust with an aquatic attack. He tells her she chose to follow the wrong leader. Angered by this comment, Hellion attacks despite Surge’s urgings that they work together. Hellion proves to be no match for Colossus who pounds against his teke field and sends him flying into Surge.
Emma ends the session and tells the New X-Men that they are all dead. She thanks Colossus for his help and he notes that neither of them wishes to bury anymore students. As he turns to leave, he reverts to his human form and Josh attacks him from behind with a steel girder! Josh demands to know why he didn’t save the other students if he cared so much! He reminds Colossus that he once saved his life and demands to know why he couldn’t have saved theirs.
 The others are shocked by Josh’s angry attack. Emma responds by shifting to her diamond form and grasping Elixir forcefully by the neck. She threatens to erase every happy memory he’s ever had if he tries something like this again. As Colossus notes the blood on his neck from Josh’s attack, Emma tells Josh that he is off the team effective immediately. She tells the others that they will continue tomorrow and she expects much better from them.
In his workshop in Dallas, Forge is testing what appears to be some form of armor. He is clearly frustrated with his progress. The chest piece is engulfed in flames and sparks and he quickly extinguishes the small blaze. He curses and moves over to something that is draped with a cloth.
Outside the infirmary at the Institute, Laurie Collins has sought out Sam Guthrie to express her concern for Josh whose anger and frustration is getting the best of him. As they talk, Jay can be seen in the Med Lab where he is still refusing treatment following the loss of his wings. She tells Sam that with Dani gone she wasn’t sure who to turn to and Sam assures her that he’s there to help. She shares with Sam how much Josh has changed since the attack on the bus carrying the depowered students and that she’s really worried. As Laurie begins to cry, so does Sam as her pheromones project her intense feelings onto Cannonball. Sam realizes the effect she’s having on him and asks her to tone it down. He suggests that she talk with Josh herself and share how she feels about the changes she’s witnessed.
Sam and Laurie fail to notice when Jay leaves the infirmary. He makes his way to Sooraya’s room. She is surprised to see him up and about and urges him to return to the Med Lab. She tells him that h must let Josh heal him so that he has a chance of fully recovering from his grievous wounds. He ignores this and tells her that he thinks he’s done something terrible.
 He then realizes that X-23 is in the room and asks Dust if they can speak alone. Laura rises to leave and Sooraya thanks her. Jay takes Sooraya’s hands as he tries to explain that he was trying to save everyone and didn’t mean for this to happen. Sooraya doesn’t understand and he simply tells her that he’s going to figure out what went wrong and fix things. He then asks Dust to tell Paige and Sam that he loves them if he doesn’t return. She tells him that he is scaring her with this talk and he simply replies that she is a beautiful person.
 As he leaves, X-23 returns and takes a visible sniff of him as she passes. She promptly tells Dust not to trust him because he smells of death. Sooraya then realizes that Jay has handed her a crumpled piece of paper with an address in Salem Center scrawled on it.
Outside, Wallflower catches up to Elixir and tries to talk with him about what happened in the Danger Room. She asks what’s going on with him and why he’s shutting her out. She tries to accept the blame because she urged him to train but realizes that he’s too good to be a part of Miss Frost’s new team. She tries to explain that the violence and fighting isn’t him and that he’s meant to be a healer. He responds by asking why he can’t heal her arm if he’s so wonderful.
 She tells him that there’s nothing left there to heal because Wither held on for too long. She then tells him that her arm and what happened to the bus is not his fault. He gets angry and tells her that she has no place to tell him about the bus since she wasn’t there. She says that Sam told her how he tried to save everyone and he angrily tells her that everyone was already dead except DJ and he gave it all he could to try and save him and still failed. He explains that when DJ died a part of him died too. Now he feels cold, dead and empty and there’s a piece of him that he’ll never get back. He vows revenge on whoever did this to him and that it will be him who kills the one responsible. Laurie tries to protest and he tells her that she doesn’t know anything about him and to stay out of his way.
As the two argue, Laurie is being targeted by Matthew Risman, the Purifiers’ sniper. He shoots her in the back of the head. Her blood splatters across Josh’s face as she crumples to the ground.
Via telephone, Stryker commends Matthew on a job well done and tells him that once the Muslim (Dust) is eliminated the vision can come to pass. As he hangs up, he notes that they boy (Jay) has insured her arrival. As he awaits Jay, Dr. Abrams marvels at the fact that Jay is still alive after the surgery. Stryker warns him never to underestimate a mutant. That was a mistake he made once and never will again.  As Stryker leaves to greet Jay, his technicians begin to panic as their monitors signal a change in the mysterious device they have been using. The screen reads: “Mutant life signs detected – Target: Jay Guthrie – Protocol: Terminate Terminate Terminate”.
 Stryker greets Jay on the steps of the church and Jay immediately says that he had promised to help save his friends and questions the reverend. Stryker tells him that all will be explained and leads him inside. The technicians are now fully panicking and give orders to shut the device down and kill the power. Jay asks where Stryker is taking him and they enter the room where the device is. Stryker belays the order to shut down the device as he wants Jay to bear witness. As he does so the system begins to try and reboot.
 Stryker tells Jay that he is a part of the Lord’s plan and it’s time he see it for himself. Jay is shocked when he sees the cannibalized body of Nimrod stretched across the cross that looms over Stryker’s computers and connected to the system. As Jay enters, the Nimrod unit successfully reboots and comes online.


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Crusade - part 3
At his church in Salem Center, Reverend Stryker recounts the events that led up to his bloody crusade against mutants to his unknowing dupe, Jay Guthrie. His story begins some years ago at Mt. Haven…
Mt. Haven – Several years ago…
A containment tube is cracked open as the building around it collapses. The unconscious form of Reverend William Stryker falls out onto the ground below. The sentient artificial life-form known as Reverend Paul emerges from Stryker’s body with a look of shock or pain on its digitized “face”. Stryker himself appears to be in shock from the experience.
Stryker tells Jay how he was a soldier in God’s war against Satan until the X-Man, Kitty Pryde caused him to doubt his path. She convinced him to merge with the sentient A.I. Reverend Paul who was the spiritual leader of Mt. Haven. Once released from this merged form, Stryker believed that the Lord had punished him for wavering as he found that God no longer answered his prayers.
Dallas, Texas – Two Years before M-Day …
Stryker wandered for some time, eventually making his way back to his ministry in Dallas, Texas which had fallen into ruins. There he was about to take his own life when he looked up at the crucifix and saw the emerging form of the time-traveling Sentinel called Nimrod! Stryker saw this as a sign that God had not forsaken him but had sent him a gift to wage the war he had once abandoned. The Nimrod unit promptly collapsed upon materializing before Stryker.
Stryker tells Jay how he spent months studying the Nimrod device and specifically its historical records. As he studied the records of Nimrod’s future he became convinced that this was God’s will: a future where mutants were hunted and exterminated.
 But as he studied these visions of the future, they began to change as current events altered the course of this future history. Stryker notes that the growing mutant population was a significant cause of these shifts. Stryker then learned about the coming decimation referred to as M-Day. He explains that this was not going to be enough to insure the future he had witnessed and so he combed through future obituaries. He used this information to save the lives of those who had died in this possible future and recruited them as soldiers in his new crusade.
Stryker explains that he learned the identities of those mutants who could prevent Nimrod’s future from happening. Jay asks why he attacked the busload of former mutant students. Stryker explains that they would have gone out into the world and helped to bridge the gaps between humans and mutants by creating a more sympathetic world for mutants. Stryker calls them “demons in human skins” and states that Nimrod had no record of them. This is why Stryker needed Jay as an inside source of information at Xavier’s. Jay recalls the phone call he made to Stryker just days earlier, alerting him that a bus filled with former students was leaving the Institute. Stryker had led Jay to believe that they were in danger and only he could protect them.
Jay yells at Stryker who told him that if he returned his wings to God that he would see that his friends were saved. Stryker coldly responds that they had no souls to save to begin with. Jay points to Nimrod and tells Stryker that this isn’t God but a robot, a Sentinel! Stryker smiles and replies that God works in mysterious ways.
Meanwhile at the Xavier Institute, Sooraya is in her room asking Allah for strength in dealing with this latest series of events. X-23 asks why she prays and Sooraya tells her that she asks Allah for guidance as he is the creator of all things. X-23 replies that her creator was Dr. Sarah Kinney. Dust responds by saying that Allah created Dr. Kinney and that all destinies are guided by Allah. X-23 asks if God is responsible for her life and Sooraya replies that he is. X-23 adds that he made her a killer and made her kill her own mother then. Sooraya begins to object but instead explains that Allah’s wisdom is beyond their ability to comprehend and it is not for them to question or judge. Laura asks why and Dust says that she will explain later but now she must go to find Jay. X-23 immediately says that she’ll go too. Dust insists on doing it alone as she goes to the closet for the hood to her burqa. X-23 says it’s a trap and when Dust asks how she knows this, Laura replies because it’s what she would do. Dust says that Jay would not do that to her as they are friends and that she does not believe that Allah wishes for her to die. She adds that if anything does happen to her, then it is as it was meant to be.
In the headmaster’s office, Cyclops breaks the news to David Alleyne, formerly the mutant known as Prodigy that his parents have decided he should stay at the Institute. David is surprised and tries to protest but Scott explains that this is the safest place for him given the recent attacks on former mutants and that his parents are in agreement. David expresses his feelings of uselessness now that he’s powerless. Cyclops says that he’s sorry but the decision has been made. David notes that Xavier always wanted to admit human students; he just didn’t think he’d be the first.
Scott and David are interrupted by the arrival of the Beast who reports that there’s been another attack and they should both come with him immediately. Outside, Elixir is screaming out Laurie’s name as Surge cradles her lifeless body. Wolverine is holding a tearful Josh back by the wrists.
 Bishop orders everyone inside just as Cyclops and David arrive on the scene. They immediately see the fallen Wallflower and David goes to kneel by her side. Josh is insistent that Wolverine let him go and as he screams this at the hirsute X-Man energy crackles about his wrists, forcing Logan to release him. Logan is surprised to see what appear to be lesions or boils spring up on his hands and wrists where the energy discharge from Elixir zapped him.
 Josh runs to Laurie’s side as Cyclops tells Colossus and Wolverine that they need to get the kids inside. Josh cradles saying over and over again “I’m sorry” and “please don’t leave me”. As he says this, Cannonball arrives and is shocked to see that Laurie has been killed since he was just talking to her. He gathers his wits quickly and reports to Cyclops that he can’t find Jay. Upstairs in Dust and X-23’s room, a figure dressed in a burqa looks down at the scene below.
In Dallas, Forge continues his work on some type of robot. On the screens before him are Sentinel schematics and the television is airing a report about the Sentinel’s stationed at the Xavier Institute. The report notes that there has been a media blackout since the O*N*E began their protective patrols of the mutant haven in the wake of M-Day. As he listens, the tone of the report changes as they report movement of the Sentinels at the Institute.
At the church, Stryker plays the future visions of his friends and teammates recorded by Nimrod. The Sentinels stand over the Xavier Institute surrounded by flames. Rockslide has been shattered into rubble. Elixir is trapped amidst the flames. Mercury is hit with a high-voltage electrical tazer. Hellion has been mowed down by gunfire. Surge lies dead among the fiery ruins of the mansion. X-23 has been killed by a large number of crossbow bolts fires by Dr. Jack Abrams.
The scene shifts as Dust responds to these attacks. She transforms into a fierce sandstorm that flays the flesh from Stryker’s followers. She resumes her human form near X-23. Tears fill her eyes as she cries out “NO!” Jay demands to know why Stryker is showing him this. Stryker says that he wants Jay to understand the role he has played in this, God’s endgame.
 Stryker explains that in a previous vision it had been Wallflower who defeated his men and that once she was removed from the picture, Dust took her place as the sole mutant barring the future vision Nimrod had delivered to him. Stryker surmises that once Dust is dealt with, this future will come to pass. As he explains this, one of his men arrives to report that the subject is approaching. He smiles as he tells Jay that it is he who has delivered Dust to him.
Stryker orders that her arrival be put on the main monitor. Jay begs him not to do anything to Sooraya but Stryker gives the order to proceed. The monitor shows Dust being fired upon and falling to the ground, her body riddled with bullet holes. Jay cries out “NOOOOOO!” as he sees his friend fall. Immediately, Stryker asks to see the vision from Nimrod’s databanks. It still shows Dust standing tearfully over the bodies of his men. His technician, Jacob says he doesn’t understand why she is still there since every other change to the vision was instantaneous. Stryker tells him to give it a moment and not to doubt the Lord. Jacob begins to protest saying that in every other case the changes were immediate. Finally, the image changes and the picture of Dust fades.
 Stryker dismisses Jacob’s concerns and turns his attention to Jay who is sobbing on the floor. He takes out his gun and aims it at Jay. Stryker tells him he is about to reunite him with his beloved girlfriend Julia Cabot who is surely waiting for him in Hell for loving a mutant. Stryker tells Jay that her death was no accident and that it was he who led the men who killed her to the armored suits they wore when they attacked her and Jay near his home in Kentucky. Jay glares up at him defiantly and calls him a monster.
 Stryker fires at Jay who falls from the gunshot wound. Stryker comments on the arrogance of Satan to create a demon in the form of an angel. He calls on Jacob to follow him so that they can prepare for their final assault. As this scene plays out, the eyes of Nimrod seem to be alive and watching the whole affair, its brilliant pink lens focusing on the fallen form of Icarus.
The X-Men depart in teams escorted by a Sentinel each. Emma Frost, Bishop and Cannonball remain at the Institute along with a trio of Sentinels. In the Infirmary, David tries to console Josh who blames himself for Wallflower’s death. Rockslide and Mercury go to check on Dust who hasn’t been seen all day. Santo says that he can’t believe Sooraya is rooming with the clone and expresses his hate for her. He asks if Cessily hates her too and Cessily says that her name is Laura and no, she doesn’t hate her. She expresses her disbelief at all that has happened and Santo assures her that he’s not going to let anything happen to her.
 As Mercury knocks on Dust’s door, the sound of explosions can be heard outside. The courtyard is in flames as Stryker and his men approach. The Sentinels immediately order them to drop their weapons. Stryker refuses and powers up the gauntlet from the Nimrod unit that now adorns his right forearm. He sends out a cascade of energy that locks down all of the Sentinels’ systems. Inside, Lex calls out to the other operators on the grounds, Slayton and Skylark but they cannot respond. With the Sentinels disabled, Stryker raises his gauntlet and declares that tonight they will win the war between heaven and hell!


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Crusade - part 4
Dr. Henry McCoy races down a hallway in the Xavier Institute telepathically urged on by headmistress, Emma Frost. Beast informs Frost that he can hear multiple timers ticking down. As he relays this information, a blast goes off behind him and sends him flying forcefully through the air. The explosion knocks McCoy out as Emma tries to telepathically coordinate the X-Men’s defense of the mansion. She reports to Bishop that the intruders are masked from her telepathy and orders Cannonball to cover the main entrance. He reports that there are a lot of them, some headed for the 198 encampment. Emma telepathically orders the student body to remain in their rooms or suffer her eternal ire.
Outside, Bishop and Cannonball do their best to route Stryker’s Purifiers. Sam is hit by a blast from Stryker’s Nimrod gauntlet which disrupts his blast field. Stryker tells him that he was next on God’s list to be eliminated once the children are dealt with. With Stryker smiling over him, Sam is shot by Dr. Abrams. Emma feels Sam’s pain and through his eyes, sees that it is Stryker who is behind this attack.
At Stryker’s church, two of Stryker’s Purifiers (Paul and Joseph) dispose of Dust’s body. They note that they also have to deal with Icarus’ corpse when they return for the cleansing at the Xavier Institute. To their utter disbelief, Dust revives and attacks them. After killing one Purifier, “Dust” removes the hood of her burqa to reveal that she is really X-23 in disguise.
Inside, the remaining Purifiers sense that something is wrong since their compatriots are taking too long in disposing of Dust’s body. They’re also concerned about “the device” whose power levels are off the charts since the recent power surge.
 As they worry about this, Jay Guthrie lies bleeding on the floor from a gunshot wound to the head. He is still conscious and saying weakly how sorry he is. As the Purifiers try to figure out what’s going on, Nimrod activates. With a single blast of energy, he kills the Purifier named Jacob.
 Crackling with power, the Nimrod unit comes online and quickly identifies the Purifiers. It labels them as “Threat to Primary Objective” and proceeds to terminate them. Still near death, Jay cannot do anything to save himself and begs his beloved Julia for forgiveness for all he’s done. The Nimrod unit identifies Icarus and begins to move towards him, dragging its legless form across the floor with its upper body.
 Nimrod’s systems recommend “TERMINATION” but issue a systems warning that discharging its weapons would jeopardize its primary objective. It notes that its target is suffering from massive internal bleeding and that death is imminent. As it reaches Jay’s body it crackles with energy and decides to proceed with its Primary Objective.
At the Xavier Institute, Pixie and Anole are racing down the hall to see what’s going on. As they pass, they urge Quill to join them. Quill says that he thought they were supposed to stay in their rooms and that he heard gunshots. As he says this, a Purifier comes up behind him. The Purifier lifts his finger to his lips to silence the startled mutant before shooting him point-blank.
In the infirmary, Prodigy tells a grieving Elixir to stay with Laurie while he finds out what’s going on. As he enters the hallway, he comes across the Stepford Cuckoos who relay what little information they’ve managed to pick up telepathically. They report the same difficulty in identifying anything specific that Emma noted earlier. They can sense the screaming and fear but cannot perceive the threat itself.
 David thinks quickly and instructs them to look through the eyes of someone they know. As they enter Bishop’s mind, he is hurt on the battlefield and they cry out in pain. They share this with Prodigy and report that Cannonball is dying. They identify Stryker as the source of the attack and tell David that he is inside the school!
At the same moment, the Purifier called Mary has attacked Emma Frost and managed to pin her to the ground. Emma assumes her diamond form as Mary gloats that Stryker has prepared them against all of their “demon powers”. She takes out a blade made of vibranium and drives it into Emma’s shoulder. Emma bleeds but does not cry out. She glares up at Mary and vows that she will pay for that.
Mary reports in that she has “the teacher” and Stryker orders her to bring him Frost’s head. At that moment, Hellion arrives and telekinetically throws Mary across the room and away from Emma. Surge is with him and attacks the Purifiers at super-speed as they begin to fire on the students. Surge is hit in the back by a bullet. Mary turns her fire on Hellion who is shocked when the bullet passes through his telekinetic field and tears across his shoulder.
In Dallas, Forge is hard at work on his latest project and has programmed in its four primary directives: 1) Protect mutants 2) Protect humans 3) Destroy Sentinels 4) Preserve self. He is about to give it its designation when an alarm alerts him that the energy regulation gauntlets he built for Surge are about to be destroyed. He initiates a remote shutdown and prepares to teleport to the Xavier Institute. His computer system reports that all communications with the school are down, much to Forge’s dismay.
Back at the Institute, Dust wakes up on the floor of her bathroom. She is wearing only her undergarments and immediately realizes that X-23 must have subdued her to prevent her from going in search of Icarus. She opens the door to the hallway to see Rockslide and Mercury engaged in combat with a pair of Purifiers.
 Mercury warns her to get back and Rockslide is stunned to see her out of her burqa. One of the Purifiers sees her and is shocked to see that she’s alive. Dust assumes her sand form and unleashes her full fury against the Purifiers. As she travels through the hallway, her sandstorm flays the skin from their bones, killing them in a torrent of sand. One of them tries to report in to Stryker but is consumed by the sandstorm before he can relay a warning.
Stryker is receiving other field reports at the time from those encountering the 198. He reminds them that the 198 are not the primary target and to simply keep them engaged. He orders someone to get a visual report on Mary who has gone radio silent. Dr. Abrams says she’s either dead or engaged and Stryker encourages him once more to have faith, their victory is assured by God. He says that he has Frost and will find the healer (Elixir) and eliminate the rest of “the seven” while the Purifiers deal with the other students.
 Stryker’s confidence is shattered when he gets a report that Dust is alive. Stryker cannot believe it until he hears the reporting Purifier killed by Dust.  He tells Matthew to proceed with God’s plan as intended. Nearby, David and the Cuckoos overhear his orders.
Elsewhere, Surge is without her gauntlets and trying to reign in her errant energies as Hellion chides her. Mary arrives and aims her gun at Nori’s head. At that moment, X-23 arrives on the scene. X-23 is everywhere, poetry in motion. In seconds, she guts Mary and takes out the pair of Purifiers with her. She does this in a flurry of graceful moves that leaves her new teammates stunned. Covered in blood, she tells Sooraya that it was a trap. Dust asks if she took her place and Laura replies that she did not believe that Allah wanted Dust to die. With this brief reprieve, Hellion removes the blade from Emma’s shoulder. She thanks him and suggests they get going. One of the Purifiers is still alive and X-23 mercilessly drives one of her claws into the back of his head. The others are shocked, thinking she has killed him. In reality, she has merely disabled a psionic baffler device implanted at the base of his skull. She says that Icarus had one, too and that they smell like death.
 With this disabled, Ms. Frost is able to read his thoughts. She learns that Stryker has been behind their recent casualties from Jay’s wins to the bus explosion to the murder of Wallflower. She senses that there was something else hovering over all this, a “device” but the Purifier dies before she can clarify its full meaning. Unbeknownst to Emma, Elixir is nearby and hears the totality of her revelation.
Down the hall, Prodigy sends a psionic message to Emma via the Cuckoos. He asks for her help as they’ve been engaged by Stryker and Dr. Abrams.  David takes a bullet in the leg as Onyxx is taken out by Stryker’s Nimrod gauntlet. Stryker orders Abrams to find the Cuckoos and David and to kill them, especially Prodigy. He notes that Alleyne cannot be allowed to live. Abrams agrees and stalks off after the fleeing students. Onyxx moans as Stryker declares that he must fulfill his destiny.
 Frost and her team arrive to confront him. Stryker is surprised to see “the Muslim” still alive and wonders how this is possible. He has seen God’s vision and assured that she was killed himself. Dust shouts back at him that no God would condone the horror and hatred he has unleashed. She tells him that he is the abomination.
 Stryker rants that he is being tested and will not fail the Lord. He raises the Nimrod gauntlet and prepares to strike. He does not see the golden hand of Elixir as the young mutant healer reaches around and grabs Stryker’s face. Josh’s hands turn black as coal as boils spring up across Stryker’s face. Stryker cries out in pain as a tearful Elixir screams out that he killed them all. “Die, you bastard!” he cries out and Stryker falls dead. Josh cries out in shock, his entire body save his hair has turned from golden to deep ebony.
In the aftermath, O*N*E Soldiers and medical teams respond to and assess the situation. Colonel Reyes reports to Dr. Valerie Cooper that they lost nine soldiers, Cannonball and Onyxx are in critical condition and one student is dead. A coroner is shown pulling a sheet over Quill’s face as medics treat Cannonball. In addition, Emma Frost, Beast and Bishop sustained minor injuries. Several Purifiers managed to escape before the Sentinels re-activated, Matthew Risman was among those who fled. Val confirms that the incursion was stopped by Frost’s squad but that the one who killed Stryker is not doing so well. As they confer, technicians emerge with the Nimrod gauntlet and Cooper vows to find out exactly what it is.
Cyclops checks in on Emma and asks if she’s okay. Emma replies that every time she tries to save lives, she fails and now she has one more dead student.  Clearly, she is not okay.
Inside, the others watch over Elixir who is in a catatonic state of shock. They are surprised at this new application of Josh’s power and the physical changes it has wrought in their friend. David notes that he doesn’t think Josh was ever supposed to use his powers in that way, despite the potential. David wonders why Stryker struck with such certainty. Surge writes it off as complete insanity but Prodigy is not so sure.
Later, Forge checks in with Cyclops and tells him he’ll be there in a week and is bringing something he thinks Scott will like. Scott says he could use some good news and then asks if Forge is going to be coming to Ororo’s wedding. Forge replies that he can’t make it but sent a card. As he ends the transmission, the Nimrod unit arrives outside Forge’s Aerie. It declares that its primary objective is complete. It has found The Maker.


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Nimrod - part 1
A police officer nervously reports his findings at a crime scene. He explains that they were called in due to reports of gunfire and an explosion. Upon arriving, they found the dead bodies of two men who had been sliced up with a bladed weapon of some sort and a teenager who had been shot in the head. He notes the weird computers and other irregularities in this case and explains that this is why he called in for special assistance from the new “official superheroes”. Iron Man replies that the officer did the right thing. Joining him in his investigation is fellow New Avenger, Carol Danvers AKA Ms. Marvel.
Iron Man notes that the computers here are very basic and designed for downloading and displaying information and not processing it. Carol asks what could have done this and Iron Man replies that there is a distinctive energy signature that he is trying to trace. Carol notes that she hates mysteries and would rather just punch something.
 Tony gets a lock on the energy pattern and compares it to those found in his extensive databases but finds no match. He does find that whatever generated it moved from the cross to the ground and made its way to the body of the teenaged boy before taking flight towards the southwest. Carol wonders why the youngest victim was shot with a gun if this thing was equipped with a disintegrator ray.
 As Ms. Marvel goes to examine the body, she is shocked to find that he was just a kid. Near his hand, the letters N-I-M-R have been written in blood. Iron Man states the obvious; he was trying to tell them something before he died.
 Iron Man runs a facial recognition and finds that the boy has a file with O*N*E* and IDs him as a mutant named Joshua Guthrie. Carol recognizes the name and asks if there’s any data on family members. Iron Man replies with a role call of Jay’s mother and siblings. When Carol hears Sam’s name among them she immediately realizes that this young man is Cannonball’s younger brother and a student at the Xavier Institute!
 Iron Man suggests that the X-Men might have information about whoever did this and tells Carol that he’ll notify Valerie Cooper immediately. Carol asks him not to and volunteers to tell the X-Men personally, feeling that they shouldn’t get this kind of news from the military.
At the Xavier Institute, personnel from the Office of National Security clear the scene following the siege of the Institute by Rev. William Stryker and his Purifiers. The Beast is arguing with Colonel Reyes about the gauntlet seized from Stryker’s body. Dr. McCoy wants to study it but Reyes refuses, saying that O*N*E will handle it. He says he’d be a fool to hand a weapon capable of disabling his Sentinels to the X-Men.
 Beast tells him that he doesn’t think he’s a fool but perhaps delusional. He reminds Reyes of how his Sentinels fared against Vulcan and Apocalypse. Beast insists that they need to identify this technology and find out if there is more like it out there. Once again, Col. Reyes insists that O*N*E will handle it and Stryker too. He then notes that this is in the X-Men’s best interests since the public would not take kindly to learning that a mutant was responsible for the popular minister’s untimely death. Reyes states that they should be thanking him since the official story will be that he died of natural causes. As he says this, one of his men zips up the body bag containing Stryker’s corpse and says under his breath, “Natural causes, my butt.”
Outside, Mercury goes to check on Hellion who is looking out over the fires that burn on the estate grounds. She states that they stopped them but Julian is clearly not in a celebrating mood. Cessily asks how his side is and he says he’s fine but it’s clear to her from his tone that he’s lying. Cessily says that she knows Ms. Frost is upset with him and that’s why she made Nori the squad’s leader. She also says she sorry for how Sofia left without saying anything to anyone. She says that they all miss Brian and the others but that they’re in this together and it’s not his fault. He interrupts and tells that he’s heard that enough. He thought they could handle it but they were wrong.
 He stops talking as two O*N*E guards carry out Stryker’s body. One comments that a few Purifiers escaped and the other says “Good. They didn’t finish the job.” Julian hears this and tells Cessily that nobody could be ready for this kind of hate. Their talk is interrupted by the arrival of Ms. Marvel.
Inside, Dust, Cyclops, X-23 and the Stepford Cuckoos are inside Cerebra searching for Jay Guthrie. Mindee comments on how few mutants are left. She tells the others that she can’t sense him and that he’s either shielded or dead. Dust starts to blame herself for not going with him and X-23 assures her that had she gone she would be the one dead. Elsewhere, Colossus and a handful of students look out the window as Ms. Marvel arrives. Colossus sends a thought projection to the Cuckoos summoning Scott.
In the Infirmary, Elixir is in the throes of convulsions, his now ebony body straining against restraints. David is telling Noriko that whatever Josh did to Stryker had a physical effect on him as well and somehow altered his brain chemistry. This new condition is physical and not merely mental. They have tried calming him with sedatives with no success.
 Nori is wearing her old power-regulating gauntlets and asks what they can do. David says they just have to wait and hope that his mind heals itself.
 In the neighboring room, Husk is visiting Cannonball who is expected to make a full recovery. David shares with Nori that Beast told him that Sam is immortal and he admits that he wasn’t sure if McCoy was joking or not. Nori asks if he got a hold of Sofia and he replies that she’s back in Venezuela and doesn’t know what’s happened yet. Nori says that they have to do something to put an end to all this and states that forty-five of them are dead already. She starts to talk about losing Laurie too when Ms. Frost clears her throat. With her is Laurie’s mother, Gail Collins. David steps forward to try and offer some comforting words and Mrs. Collins slaps him across the face. Emma tries to comfort the woman as she leads her to Laurie’s body. David and Nori are both crying and leaning on each other for support as she walks away.
In the foyer of the Institute, Ms. Marvel is anxiously waiting for Cyclops. Rockslide is there trying to flirt with her by commenting on how great her costume is. Mercury quietly begs him to stop talking and when Scott finally arrives, Carol looks visibly relieved. As she hugs Scott she notes that she was worried that they may have already left for Storm’s wedding. He replies that given all that’s happened they probably won’t leave until the day of the big event.  Santo declares that she was clearly into him and once again, Cessily tells him to just shut up. Carol tells Scott that they should talk in private and he leads her to the headmasters’ office. Hellion wonders what that was all about and X-23 tells them that Ms. Marvel smells of Icarus and was with him. Hellion tells Mercury to go get David and Nori and the entire team assembles outside Scott’s office to eavesdrop. As Carol relates what happened to Scott, X-23 is listening and repeating each word to the others. She repeats how Carol and Iron Man were called to the scene and what they found. She hears them talk about the energy trail heading southwest and then how they found Jay Guthrie’s body.
When Laura announces that Jay is dead, the others are shocked. Dust begins to cry and Laura continues to describe the details of Jay’s condition. Hellion stops her and tells her that’s enough. David breaks down and Santo tries to comfort him. At that moment, Emma Frost arrives and tells them to return to their rooms and she will speak with them momentarily after she’s had a word with their guest.
Emma enters the headmasters’ office and immediately begins to lay into Ms. Marvel. She snidely asks how she’s progressing in her efforts to become the world’s greatest heroine and if she’s been on any talk shows lately. Scott tries to persuade Emma to hear Carol out. Emma apologizes for being late and explains that she was busy releasing another student’s body to a grieving mother. She tells Cyclops that she’s read Ms. Marvel’s mind and knows full well why she’s really there and it isn’t just to tell them about Jay’s death. Scott is surprised and turns to Carol for an explanation.
 Carol admits that while Jay’s death was the unfortunate impetus for her visit, she also wanted to talk to the X-Men about the Superhuman Registration Act. Emma interrupts and sarcastically notes that the “No” she gave to Tony Stark clearly didn’t carry weight with Carol since she and the X-Men are so very close.
Carol tries to explain her position on the Registration Act. She acknowledges that the government’s track record with mutants and registration has been one filled with persecution and even notes the situation in Genosha. But she emphasizes that what happened in Stamford has changed things and she hopes that the X-Men will work with them as they did during the House of M to make things right.
Again, Emma interrupts and reminds Carol that the X-Men were there in Stamford helping in rescue efforts. She asks where the Avengers were when they needed help. She asks where she was when forty-two of her students were killed in an exploding bus. She enters Carol’s mind, drawing both her and Cyclops into the scene following the explosion. Emma notes that the youngest student killed was named Amber and was only twelve years old. Carol is appalled and Cyclops asks Emma not to do this. Emma does not relent and asks Carol why she doesn’t see the Avengers helping to pull corpses from the rubble.
Emma then shifts the scene to the mass funeral held for the dead students. She describes the simple teenage hopes that Brian Cruz had when he was alive and asks once again why the Avengers weren’t there. She then projects their minds to show Ms. Marvel Lucinda Guthrie in Kentucky. She tells Carol how she has to call her and tell her that her son is dead and another lies in critical condition. She notes that Mrs. Guthrie sent her children to be safe and educated and instead they’ve sent one child home powerless and now another in a coffin. Emma snidely invites Ms. Marvel to join her in making the call to Mrs. Guthrie.
 Carol tries to interrupt this mental assault but Emma will not back down. She psychically transports Carol into the coffin of Max Jordan AKA Quill. She asks Carol where she was while zealots invaded their school and murdered the young mutant.
Emma finally returns Carol’s psyche to the office and tells her that this is what happens to mutants when people know where to find them. She tells Ms. Marvel that unless she’d like to grab a shovel and help them bury two more mutants, then they have no more business to discuss. Carol is dazed and tries to explain herself. She tells them that she just wanted to help. Emma coldly thanks her but tells her she’s a little too late.
Carol turns to Scott for support and he offers to walk her out. As they leave, Emma adds one final warning. She tells Ms. Marvel that if the war she is about to wage is anything like the one that mutantkind has endured that she’s going to need a lot of shovels. The door slams and Emma stands there for a moment. Her strong and angry façade finally cracks and tears roll down her pale cheeks. She falls to her knees, overwhelmed at the grief of losing two more of her precious students.
The New X-Men squad are together trying to comfort each other and figure out what may have happened. Mercury asks what “nimr” could be. Surge suggests that maybe Stryker brainwashed Jay somehow. David has the feeling they are missing something and asks Laura what she heard about the energy trail left behind near Jay’s body. She repeats the details she overheard and Santo says that he bets the chick from Medium could figure it out, which prompts someone to tell him to shut up. He goes on to suggest that she or the old lady from Murder She Wrote could help them figure it out. As he says this, David is recalling Stryker’s public comments about foresight, visions and destiny. He envisions the gauntlet Stryker wore and makes the connection with Nimrod.
In Dallas, the future Sentinel Nimrod confronts Forge and insists that he complete the repairs necessary to fully restore him. Forge refuses, willing to die rather than rebuild the damaged mutant hunter. Forge says there is nothing he can do to make him repair something designed to kill his people. Nimrod notes that he has sufficient energy for a single teleportation and one termination prior to total system failure.  Nimrod then points out the flaw in Forge’s statement by projecting an image of Africa, followed by coordinates as he locks onto his target. He IDs the target fully: Ororo Munroe AKA Storm and tells Forge that if he does not comply she will be terminated. Forge utters “no” at the thought of his former love in peril.


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Nimrod - part 2
(Dallas, Texas - Forge’s home at Eagle Plaza – Sixteen Years in the Future)
The landscape is painted neon pink as it is being viewed through the mechanical eyes of the mutant hunting menace known as Nimrod. Eagle Plaza is in the distance as Nimrod’s sensors begin targeting its next victims. It identifies four targets: The Maker, Storm and their two children Naze and Orora. As it assesses the threat levels of each target, it switches to full combat mode and draws closer.
 Inside, Storm is reading to her pre-adolescent daughter, Orora who has her mother’s distinctive hair and eyes. Nimrod targets Storm first since she poses the most significant threat. As Nimrod teleports into the building, alarms sound to announce his presence.
Forge is putting the baby to sleep and reacts immediately. Nearby, Ororo fiercely defends her daughter but is disintegrated by Nimrod just as Forge arrives. Nimrod grabs young Orora by the head and demands that the Maker “modify this unit” or watch as his offspring are terminated. Tears stream down Forge’s face as he agrees to the robot’s demands.
(Dallas, Texas - Forge’s home at Eagle Plaza –The Present)
The present day Forge is horrified by this vision and asks what he was forced into doing. The damaged Nimrod unit informs him that his future self installed time-travel capabilities that allowed it to travel into the past. Nimrod states that he arrived in this portion of the timeline 1.82 years ago. Forge doesn’t believe it, thinking himself incapable of designing such a device. But even as he thinks this, his mutant power kicks in and he begins mentally formulating the necessary plans to build a time machine. Nimrod again states its current demands: immediate repairs to full functional status.
At the Xavier Institute, David Alleyne explains his theory regarding Nimrod to the assembled X-Men, who are preparing to leave for Storm’s wedding to the Black Panther in Wakanda. David tells them that somehow Nimrod traveled back through time and fell into the hands of Rev. Stryker who used the gauntlet and Nimrod’s knowledge of the future to attack them.
 Cyclops tells David that Nimrod is gone and that all its subsequent iterations, Master Mold, Bastion, etc. have been destroyed. David suggests that maybe this is a Nimrod from a different timeline. Wolverine grumbles that he hates time travel and Cyclops brushes David’s concerns aside, stating that if Nimrod had returned he would have already attacked them. He assures David that they are not in any danger. Nori, flanked by her teammates, asks sarcastically “You’re joking, right?”
 As the X-Men board their jet to leave for Wakanda, David tries to push his point. Cyclops acknowledges the nightmare of the last several weeks but assures them that the O*N*E* Sentinels are there, Apocalypse is gone and Nimrod was destroyed. David snaps back “Just like Stryker was reformed?” Cyclops is stumped by this one and Wolverine can’t help but echo David’s comment with a simple “ouch”. Cyclops tells David that X-Force and Cable dealt with a version of Nimrod not too long ago and that he’ll ask Cable to investigate. He then assures David that they’ll discuss this further when the X-Men return.
Rockslide asks where Nezhno is going but the conversation quickly turns back to the way Cyclops blew David off. Cessily is just in disbelief that the X-Men would leave them there alone after all that’s happened. Rockslide is just ticked off that Nezhno gets to go to Storm’s wedding and they don’t. Mercury reminds him that Nezhno is Wakandan and that Storm is marrying the Black Panther. Rockslide fails to see the point and Mercury just tells him “Never mind” as the X-Jet takes off. As the team disperses, Hellion tells David not too worry, Miss Frost blew him off just the same when he approached her. He sarcastically adds that they’ll just have to sit around and wait for the killer robot to come and kill them.
At Eagle Plaza, Forge is working on Nimrod and asking it questions to try and buy some time. He asks why it took Nimrod so long to seek him out and the robot tells him that Eagle Plaza had moved. Forge is bewildered but then notices that the temporal devices inside Nimrod didn’t just send him back in time but shifted him to an alternate timeline as well. Instead of arriving at Forge’s home, Nimrod materialized in Rev. Stryker’s former church.
 The temporal displacement caused Nimrod’s systems to malfunction resulting in damage to its databases and a systems shutdown. By the time Nimrod managed to reboot itself, it had been damaged by Stryker’s men who had dismantled it partially and hooked it up to a computer system for analysis. Nimrod witnessed Stryker’s manipulation of Jay Guthrie and his plans to destroy the New X-Men. Altering its primary objectives, Nimrod planned to escape by manipulating Stryker into a direct conflict with the New X-Men. Nimrod was aware that this confrontation would lead to Stryker’s demise and manipulated the information it provided to Stryker in order to set-up the conflict that would lead to Stryker’s death.
Forge curses his future-alternate self for the unexpected “gift” he has sent to him. As he works on Nimrod, there is a momentary flux in the Nimrod unit’s chronal databases. Forge uses this moment to activate an alert of some sort but is quickly stopped by Nimrod who demands he proceed with repairs immediately.
 Back at the Xavier Institute, Surge is awoken from her sleep by an energy pulse in her gauntlets. She wakes to see a holographic projection of Forge being threatened by Nimrod in his lab. She immediately seeks out David to tell him what she’s seen.
Nori shows this image to the rest of the team and they break down what’s going on. David is furious at Cyclops for not heeding his warning. Mercury wonders why Nimrod would go after Forge when New York has more mutants to target. X-23 notes the damage apparent to Nimrod’s body and suggests that Forge is one of the few who could repair Nimrod. Dust suggests they tell someone and David says he’ll call the X-Men. Hellion reminds him that these same X-Men just blew them off and left them there to be picked off by Stryker’s men. Given this, he figures Forge is a goner.
 Surge refuses to leave it at that and tells them that they have to end this. Forty-seven of them are dead, the X-Men can’t save them, the O*N*E Sentinels are a joke and the Avengers just don’t care. She tells them it’s up to them. The X-Men are too far away and this Nimrod thing helped in some way to kill their friends. She tells them they’re going to save Forge themselves and take Nimrod down and they leave in fifteen minutes.
Dust prays for forgiveness for those she killed. Laura tells her that Stryker’s men would have killed her if she hadn’t killed them first and they would not have prayed for forgiveness. Dust replies that Jean Grey told her that X-Men do not kill. X-23 asks where Jean is now.
 Elsewhere, Mercury wakes up Anole and asks him to cover for them with O*N*E who will eventually question their sudden absence. Surge tries to dissuade David from joining them but he insists, despite his lack of powers. He tells her that they need him since he knows how to fly the Blackbird. Surge tells him she’s scared and he assures her that he’s going and will be there for her.
 Hellion and Rockslide arrive at the Blackbird’s hangar and question how they’re going to get past the O*N*E Sentinels. David and Nori arrive and David explains that they’re going to use an old tunnel exit that leads to a Cliffside over a mile and half from the estate. Rockslide asks how a geek like him deserves such a hot girlfriend. Hellion asks if it’s sealed and David says it’s nothing he can’t handle. Hellion remarks that when they get back they need to find themselves a teleporter.
Outside, the Sentinel pilots continue their patrols as the New X-Men strap in for their escape flight. David joins the team wearing an armored vest. Rockslide asks if he joined up with SWAT or something after losing his powers. David asks Santo if he’s ever heard of Doug Ramsey and Rockslide replies no. David says that that is why he’s wearing the vest.
X-23 adds that she brought guns, to which David replies “Wonderful”.
Hellion sheathes the Blackbird in a telekinetic field allowing it to punch its way through the obstructed exit to the X-Men’s former launch tunnel. As they hit open air, Surge asks if they’re being followed. Mercury chimes in that their headmasters are going to kill them for this. X-23 reports that there has been no reaction from the Sentinels. David is having second thoughts about their plan while Rockslide states the universal opinion of the O*N*E team’s effectiveness: “They suck on a weekly basis”. As he says this, a Sentinel pilot reports that six mutants just dropped off the grid.
In Dallas, Forge explains to Nimrod that he cannot complete repairs on Nimrod because his technology is simply too advanced and the damage too extensive. Fearing that the X-Men aren’t coming, Forge switches to “Plan B” and offers Nimrod a new body. He unveils a robotic form he had previously been working on and explains that he can transfer Nimrod’s artificial intelligence into this form. Nimrod has another chronal fluctuation and deems this solution acceptable. He notes that he will come back online in 27 minutes, three minutes after the arrival of the New X-Men. He retrieves data on these mutants as they approach. He verifies the identity of each and the time at which they will die.
 He identifies X-23 as Talon and notes that she will survive the longest from that moment at 38 minutes. He doesn’t note the presence of David Alleyne however. He agrees to Forge’s proposal and initiates the transfer.


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[Assistant]
Nimrod - part 3
In Dallas, Texas, Forge is overseeing the transferal of Nimrod’s artificial intelligence into a robotic form of his own creation. As the process continues, Nimrod makes comments about what is about to happen and will happen in the near future to Forge’s amazement. During the early stages of the transferal Nimrod detects the arrival of the New X-Men and begins to formulate a plan to terminate the junior X-Men.
Aboard the X-Jet, Surge asks David if everything is okay and X-23 notes that he clearly does not know how to fly the plane. He responds that he can operate the autopilot as an incessant beeping alarm sounds. The computer identifies a massive local power surge coming from Eagle Plaza and suggests evasive maneuvers. David has no time to respond as the X-Jet is hit by massive bolt of energy. David tries desperately to pull up but the plane is on a downward spiral. Nori orders Hellion to act and Keller does his best to telekinetically cushion their landing.
Back at the Xavier Institute, the New X-Men’s sudden disappearance is being investigated by O*N*E. They have summoned Victor Borkowski AKA Anole to an interrogation room and are grilling him about his classmates’ whereabouts. Anole covers for them admirably, suggesting they might be in the Danger Cave or kidnapped to another dimension. Col. Reyes does not believe a word and declares this a waste of time. Anole assures them that things like this happen to students all the time! He suggests that they could be in space or Asgard… maybe even kidnapped by Mojo and turned into babies. Exasperated, Dr. Cooper decides to call Cyclops.
In Dallas, the New X-Men crash outside Eagle Plaza and all manage to walk away from the less-than-stellar landing. Hellion and Rockslide simultaneously lay into David about the disastrous landing and he coolly tells Santo that next time he can fly. Naturally, Santo is stoked at the prospect. Amidst the smoke, the team notes that Nimrod knows they’re here now but are determined to proceed.
Inside, Forge believes the New X-Men are dead as Nimrod continues to transfer its systems into the new body Forge provided. As this continues, Nimrod experiences another temporal flux and notes that the New X-Men are still alive to Forge’s immense relief. To compensate for this shift in plans, Nimrod transfers its directives into Forge’s abandoned robotic prototypes and sends them to delay or kill the New X-Men. Forge rises to try and stop Nimrod but the newly re-programmed robots attack him. Nimrod’s transfer continues as the New X-Men make their way into Eagle Plaza.
Rockslide busts down the door and Nori chides him. She tells him that Nimrod may have believed them dead and his dramatic entrance may have blown the element of surprise. Mercury notes how dark it is and David takes it literally and suggests that the blast that disabled their plane may have caused a power outage. Cessily was referring to the décor. Surge generates an electrical charge to light their way and they suddenly sense a vibration in the building. X-23 notes that there are eleven targets moving towards them as one of the robots bursts through the ceiling and decks Rockslide. Surge charges up fully to illuminate the room as the robots surround the team.
Upstairs, Nimrod comes online fully within the robotic form created by Forge. As it initiates its termination protocols, Forge shouts out for it to activate the Forge Protocols and override the foreign programming. The new Nimrod unit falters as it encounters the contradictory protocols. It then clicks over to the Forge Protocols and its first directive: Protect Mutants. Forge orders it to drop the stasis field around him. The Maker smiles with satisfaction at the success of his back-up plan and suspects that the original Nimrod would be upset with its current status. Forge orders Nimrod to go into defensive mode and help the New X-Men.
Downstairs, the battle is in full swing as the kids try and stave off the multiple attacks of the robots. Nori threatens Hellion if he dares to leave David’s side for a moment. The robot attacking her explodes as the new Nimrod enters the fray.
 Santo notes the size of it and Nori orders the team to take it. This confuses Nimrod’s new directives. Again, Surge tells Julian to hang back and protect Prodigy.
 David realizes that something is amiss and asks if the newly arrived robot actually attacked Nori. X-23 slices into it and Dust and Rockslide join in the attack. Nimrod shifts to self-preservation mode and David hears its confusion.
 He yells to Surge to call off their assault as Mercury drives a sharpened appendage into Nimrod. As she does so, electricity surges through her. Forge arrives and tries to tell them to stop as Nimrod begins to reboot.
 Cessily is trapped in the electrical discharge and X-23 jumps in to free her. As Nimrod repairs itself it finds the foreign protocols and continues to reboot. As Surge checks on Cessily, Nimrod overwrites Forge’s new protocols and initiates a transformation into its original pink armored form. Forge explains what he did but it’s too late.
Nimrod comes online, identifies the mutants around him and commences its plan to terminate them. The building is then rocked by a massive explosion.


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Nimrod - part 4
At the Xavier Institute, Dr. Valerie Cooper coerces the Stepford Cuckoos to use Cerebra to track down their missing classmates, the New X-Men. One of the girls warns Val that she shouldn’t be in there and being in the Cerebra chamber while it’s in use could damage her mind. Dr. Cooper says she’ll take her chances and insists they locate the others. One of the sisters picks up the team’s thoughts in Texas and realizes they are under attack by Nimrod. She psionically informs Emma Frost who tells Cyclops that the New X-Men are defending Forge from an attack by Nimrod. She closes her eyes as she realizes that because they didn’t heed Surge’s warning, the New X-Men are about to die.
In Texas, the New X-Men and Forge have barely survived a cave-in caused by a massive explosion set off by Nimrod. Mercury and Rockslide hold the walls up as Nimrod ascertains their location and status.
 X-23 tells them that Nimrod is cutting a path to them as they speak. Hellion is dazed and Forge has a concussion. He tells the kids to run or it will kill them as it did his family in the future. He tells them it will kill them all and then head to the Institute to kill the rest of the remaining mutants. Surge declares that if this is the case, then they have to find a way to destroy it. David tells her that the X-Men couldn’t do that and there’s no way they’ll be able to. Surge says that they’ll delay it then so they can warn the X-Men and buy them time to evacuate the school.
As the reality of their situation sinks in, Nimrod draws closer. It bursts through the ceiling as Julian finally gets his bearings. Surge strikes it with multiple lightning attacks and yells at David to run. Forge echoes the sentiment but David holds tight. Nimrod processes the electricity and strikes back by erecting a solid energy field around itself that knocks everyone away.
Julian is staggered by the force and struggles to get to his feet. Nimrod takes aim at Hellion as Surge orders Rockslide to get up and help. Seeing his friend in danger, Rockslide remembers how he hesitated to act when the missiles hit the bus carrying his other good friend, Tag. He cries out, “Not again!” as he leaps in front of Julian and takes Nimrod's blast square in the chest. This shatters Rockslide’s body into a million pieces. A chunk of his face lands near Mercury’s feet. She cries out his name in anguish.
 Hellion curses at Nimrod and Surge tells him they have to hold it together. He tells her to back him up as he lashes out at Nimrod with a telekinetic attack. Surge leaps in from behind him and fights by his side.
Meanwhile, David makes his way to the Blackbird and bypasses the emergency crews to grab the stash of guns that X-23 brought along.
The battle rages on inside as X-23 joins the fray, slashing Nimrod with her claws. Dust attacks as well but Mercury is consumed with grief as she asks again and again why Santo isn’t reforming. Surge urges her to leave him and she and Hellion are hit by one of Nimrod’s blasts.
 Nimrod moves in to kill Surge and David arrives with a rifle and shoots Nimrod in the head. Nimrod targets David and alters his identification of David from a human and a non-threat to an enemy combatant.
 Surge tells him that that was a stupid move as he tries to help her to her feet. Nimrod powers up to kill both David and Nori.  At the last possible moment, Hellion flies in surrounded by his telekinetic field. Dust and Hellion keep Nimrod occupied while the others try to come up with an idea.
Surge gets to her feet desperately trying to think of a way to stop Nimrod. She feels it is her responsibility. David tells her they’ve got to go but she insists that there has to be a way to stop Nimrod. Forge tells her that they should leave this to the X-Men. Laura tells him that he shouldn’t be walking around with a concussion. Surge tells him there’s no time for that. He asks Forge if there could be some weakness in Nimrod’s new form that the original didn’t possess due to the transferal into a new body. Forge says that it’s completely integrated all of its original systems but then realizes that the one thing different than all the rest is the time travel equipment his future self installed.
  He tells them that if they can overload this device, it will destroy Nimrod from the inside out. Surge’s eyes spark with electricity as she says that she can do that. David tries to tell her it’s too dangerous, that she would have to breach Nimrod’s armor and keep him from self-repairing long enough to fry the device. He insists that Nori will be killed if she tries this. X-23 jumps in and tells him his plan is a sound one (which was not David’s intention at all). She volunteers to slice Nimrod open, Mercury volunteers to use her pliable form to keep it open. She is willing to do whatever it takes to destroy the machine that killed Santo. David tries to protest, but Surge has already removed her power-dampening gauntlets and is ready. She boldly declares that it has to end here.
Hellion and Dust are taken down as the other young women launch their plan of attack. X-23 slices open Nimrod’s chest and he fries her severely with a direct blast from his chest cannon. She hits the ground hard, her entire body burnt to a crisp.
 Nimrod initiates repairs but Mercury moves in from behind and shoves her oversized, claw-like hands into the opening and rips it open. Nimrod rises into the air and casts a shockweb around his form that begins to electrocute Cessily. She weakly says she can’t hold on but Surge assures her that she’s here as she rams her hands into Nimrod’s chest and discharges all of her energy.
 Mercury falls away but Nori continues her attack, praying that this works. Nori cries out in pain as Nimrod tries to compensate for the damage to its form and the temporal device in its chest cavity.
Nimrod realizes his form is in jeopardy as the temporal device overloads and his other systems fail. David calls out to Nori and Forge states the obvious: they have to get Surge out of there. Nori uses her final breath to tell David she loves him. As she begins to utter this, Julian tells her to shut up as he telekinetically pulls her free.
Nimrod disappears in a huge, pink implosion of temporal energies. As the dust clears, Hellion looks for his teammates. Forge is assisting Dust who complains of a burning feeling. Cessily is on her knees, desperately trying to gather up Rockslide’s pulverized form. She begs him to come back and apologizes for being so mean to him. Crying fiercely, she collapses in Hellion’s arms. He tells her that they’re going to be okay.  Nearby, the weak voice of Santo can be heard telling Cessily not to cry, that he hates it when she cries. She smiles through her tears as Santo’s face starts to reform amidst the dust and rubble. Santo asks if anyone’s seen his body. Julian uses his telekinesis to draw all the dust and rubble to where Santo’s face is reforming and in moments, Rockslide has reformed. However, he looks dramatically different. Where before his rock form was smooth and reminiscent of the Thing, he now has many jagged edges and rocky, oversized arms.
Santo points to the fallen form of X-23 and asks what happened to her. Hellion cries out her name as Dust cradles her charred body. Reaching out with his telekinesis, Julian levitates her body and insists that they have to get her to the Xavier Institute so that Josh can heal her. Surge tells him that she’s not healing but he insists that they have to get her help. David tells him that the Blackbird is wrecked and there’s no way to get her home in time. Julian clenches his jaw and announces that he’ll get her there. He takes to the sky with Laura in his arms. At that moment, the police arrive and tell everyone to freeze. The stunned officer asks who they are and Surge replies, “We’re X-Men.”
Julian flies across the sky, yelling at X-23 to stay with him. He tells her that she’s not leaving him too. At that moment, Emma Frost contacts him telepathically and he begs her to help him save Laura. He tells the headmistress that he can’t fly fast enough and Laura’s dying. Emma offers her apologies but says there’s nothing she can do. He begs her to do something but she tells him it’s too dangerous. He tells her emphatically that he doesn’t want to bury another friend.
She relents and tells him that she’s opening the part of his mind that controls his powers and that this may hurt. Hellion cries out as his power increases exponentially. He pours on the speed, shattering windows and eventually breaking the sound barrier. He tells Laura to stay with him. As he draws near to the Institute he reaches out with his telekinesis and effortlessly grabs an armored car which he maneuvers in front of him.  He comes into radar range of the O*N*E Sentinels mere seconds before he arrives at the Institute. He launches the armored car through the mid-section of the Sentinel and follows it through before crashing into the school. He zooms past his classmates and straight for the infirmary. The Stepford Cuckoos announce Hellion’s arrival to Dr. Cooper who orders in back-up.
Hellion lands forcefully in the infirmary and calls out to the still comatose Elixir to get up. He yanks him from his bed telekinetically and orders him to save Laura. He screams out “Heal her, dammit!” and grabs Josh by the throat. He tells him he’s not a murderer despite what he did to Stryker. He’s a healer.
 Josh comes to and says that he can’t. Julian tells him that just because he couldn’t save Wallflower doesn’t mean that he can’t save X-23. He shouts at him to save her! Josh reaches out to X-23 and they are bathed in golden energy. As Laura begins to heal, Elixir’s skin once more begins to turn golden though some black splotches remain. X-23 comes to and Julian asks if she’s okay. She smiles and says “Hi.” Josh replies with the same and Julian says weakly that he knew he could save her before passing out. The O*N*E soldiers arrive and order them not to move.
Elsewhere, the body of Reverend William Stryker is returned to his followers, thanks to the efforts of the same governor who pardoned him for the incident at Madison Square Garden that landed the Reverend in prison. The governor was one of many who owed Stryker his life, having been saved from death in a fiery plane crash via Nimrod’s visions of the future. The governor is appalled that “those monsters” would kill the reverend.
 Matthew Risman, the new leader of the Purifiers warns the governor not to underestimate the power of “Satan’s children”. He assures the governor that they will continue Stryker’s work and will not rest until the world has been purified.
 He leaves the governor and places a call to an unnamed scientist. Risman reports that they were unable to obtain “the sample” and that the scientist will have to handle that himself. The scientist says that they have someone who can handle it and asks if Risman transferred the money they agreed upon. Risman replies that he has and warns the scientist not to fail them. On the view screen, a female assassin named Kimura, clad in body armor and wielding numerous weapons, assures the Reverend that she can handle this.
Somewhen between the past and the present:
Nimrod’s form drifts about in time as it initiates repairs. Its databases have been wiped and it reaches out to connect to any available database. It makes contact and assimilates a new database. As it tries to initiate its temporal device, it malfunctions again further corrupting its memory systems. It backs up its prime directive: terminate all mutants before initiating a temporal jump. It arrives in a streamlined form in the past. It arrives near a man who is listening to a news report about mutants. Nimrod ascertains its location and realizes it has traveled to Manhattan which was not its intended location. The man listening to the radio is about to be mugged but Nimrod reacts and vaporizes his assailant. The would-be mugger drops a necklace into the mud nearby. Nimrod assists the man to his feet and assures him he’ll be okay. Nimrod’s programming kicks in and it concludes that mutants are a threat in this society and it should following its prime programming to seek them out and destroy them.