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[Assistant]
The Rising Storm!
In Wakanda, the statue of the great Panther is brought down. The workers check all the statues after the destruction of the palace. Their king had enemies, one of them states. But he always faced them without fear. They saw the news reports. Who knows what might have happened next, if not for Ororo, Wakanda’s new queen?
Her people rejoice, one of her servants tells her. She thanks him, but part of her still wishes she’d come here by a different path. Her humility does her credit, he replies, but the course of all their lives are written by the hand of fate. Silently, she thinks that she refuses to be defined by the so-called laws of men or the whims of the gods.
Until recently, Storm stood alongside the X-Men, her closest friends. Until she murdered Wolverine. Kitty Pryde confronted her about it and clawed her face, a scar Storm still bears. The X-Men also discovered Storm was allied with a secret society calling itself the Consortium. With her former teammates on the verge of capturing her, the Consortium decided Storm had outlived her usefulness and tried to eliminate her. Storm took flight…
Flashback to months ago:
The night Storm fled the X-Men, the Consortium debates what to do. A blonde woman, Amelia Trask, announces they are tracking Storm from orbit. She is headed for Africa. Other members swear this is a disaster. Thanks to that wretched mutant, their entire New York operation has been jeopardized! Trask reminds them she warned them. So why is she holding back now? the man asks. They need to find a way to eliminate Storm.
Trask accuses them of trying to compound what is already a disaster. The Consortium has had a brilliant run. They’ve amassed power and influence through the world over the course of generations but, thanks to their foolishness, the secret’s out. The question is what to do about it. The man suggests she use her daughter’s Sentinel project. Trask considers that a mistake and calls him a fool. The X-Men rise to every challenge. She wonders if Storm is returning home or looking for something else.
The African nation of Wakanda:
The weather is going bad. King T’Challa aka the Black Panther is meeting with his advisors, one of whom informs him his enemy, Erik Killmonger, is active again. Some people never learn, he sighs. Can they now please talk about the education budget?
Suddenly, there is lightning and thunder and Storm breaks through the skylight. One of the Dora Milaje – the King’s guards – considers this an attack. T’Challa tells her to sheathe her blade. He has nothing to fear from one of his oldest friends.
The next day, the Black Panther receives a call from another old friend, Nick Fury, who warns him that Storm isn’t who he thinks she is. T’Challa asks Fury to give him a bit of credit. They’ve run the full spectrum of DNA scans and genetic analyses. Storm passed every test. Fine, but she still has to answer for what she’s done, Fury insists. T’Challa points out he has reports from Interpol and SHIELD itself that contradict Fury’s findings. Can he explain that? Fury replies he has a gut instinct. No less than he, T’Challa retorts. In his case though the instinct of a man in love, Fury accuses him. Freely admitted, T’Challa replies, is that so bad a thing? Fury asks him that he help them find the truth. T’Challa believes he already has.
Storm awakes in a luxurious bedchamber and hears voices arguing. It’s T’Challa with his sister and aunt. The women point out that the evidence against Storm is impressive. She was accused by a telepath. T’Challa firmly takes Storm’s side. As Storm eavesdrops, she silently recalls he promised he’d always defend her.
T’Challa sister muses she met her in Kenya before she joined the X-Men. She can’t believe what they say about her now. Their aunt points out that his feelings are blinding him. A panther must be guided by his feelings, he replies.
Storm knows he is a man of honor, and in love. She is told that she is given sanctuary, but must not leave Wakanda. Beyond that, a global fugitive warrant is in effect. Storm settles quickly in the life of Wakanda. She falls into the patterns of her days farther north from before she joined the X-Men. She cares for the land and protects the people from the elements that are beyond their control, as well as from those who see themselves as predators. So she helps the Black Panther capture one of his enemies: Killmonger. She prevents crime and settles disputes. She becomes a hero of Wakanda, second only to the Black Panther.
One day, he finds her on the veldt, musing. He tells her the family loves her, his sister adores her and the people worship her. And what does he say? she asks. His heart says what it said when they were young. She reminds him he didn’t listen to his heart. He wasn’t free to make a choice, he replies. He had obligations. She is not the girl she was back then, Ororo muses. He can see the cost of the path she chose etched across her face. It’s just a scar, he tells her. She retorts the one he left was no less deep. Always it seems she is hurt deepest by those she loves most. Not him, he protests. Especially him! She sees it in his eyes! There is something about her he cannot explain and will not trust!
T’Challa takes her hands and tells her she is wrong. A Panther learns to trust his instincts; a man must trust his heart. They kiss.
The Wakandans are happy to learn of the wedding plans. Fury is less so. He calls Everett Ross, asking him to talk sense into T’Challa. He tried, Ross replies. He’s a man in love and Storm has won the hearts of the Wakandan people.  This is going to end badly, Fury fears.
On the day of the wedding, Ororo asks her servants to get her wedding robes. As she checks herself in the mirror, Killmonger surprises her and puts a necklace around her neck that prevents her from using her powers. She sinks into his arms.
The Black Panther enters, shouting what has he done! Killmonger taunts that, when T’Challa is dead, she will sit beside him as his queen. Not while he lives! T’Challa vows. Killmonger throws Storm at him, then punches him. The Panther hits back, deciding his mistake was to deal with Killmonger by Avengers rules. He should have made him pay for his treachery with his life!
Pushing him against a pillar, Killmonger retorts his failure to do so is why the time has come for both his life and his lineage to end. He tosses him out of the window, shouting he killed his family and most of the government. He drags him up. T’Challa vows the people will fight him. They are sheep, he is told and Killmonger skewers him.
T’Challa is dead! he shouts. Wakana is his! To the conqueror the spoils!  Ororo waits as he steps inside. He has done what he promised? she asks. Killmonger replies T’Challa always knew this day would come between them; he just expected a different ending. He removes the power dampering device and hands her the knife.
He kept her helpless, Storm remarks. He doesn’t take chances, he replies. She was counting on that, she states. She loved T’Challa but stands second to no one! She will not share this throne! Not with the Black Panther and certainly not with his murderer! She stabs him and uses her weather powers to cause an explosion within the castle.
The devastation is immense the entire palace leveled. Finally, Storm is found. Immediately, she asks for the Black Panther. She shouts they were attacked by Killmonger. The workers inform her he is dead and notice she is wearing the royal signet. Storm explains that T’Challa and she exchanged their vows in private. He insisted they stand before the people as equals. When she sees his corpse, she cries. The workers believe her show and shout she should succeed him.
She protested, of course, but not too much and not for long. There was after all so much to do. The nation was in turmoil. The government had been savagely decimated. Storm went to work and now has her answer. Whatever others beyond those borders think of her, she is now a head of state and as such must be treated with respect and courtesy. In time she will have her revenge. Against the Consortium. Against Fury and Xavier and Sabretooth and especially against her “beloved” Kitten.
present:
The giant Panther statue is replaced with a statue of Storm.
That is a dream for tomorrow. For today, she finds it enough to simply be the Queen…


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[Assistant]
Southern Comfort
From inside the Blackbird, Nightcrawler informs Rogue that he is dropping from the stratosphere to 100,000 feet, while she is flying below under her own power. They are half an hour from the mansion to Mississippi, with nobody outside the X-Men’s circle any the wiser.
He hasn’t heard from Amanda Sefton in ages, he muses, then suddenly this call for help. What’s she doing down there? She is more a New York, London, Paris, Tokyo kind of woman. Only one sure way to find out, he figures.
Both arrive in the skies above Jackson, Mississippi, close to the address in the residential area Amanda gave Kurt. Rogue tells him to follow her. She knows where to hide the Blackbird. She grew up near here.
Outside, in the protected wilderness, Rogue admits she misses part of her life here. Especially her life with Destiny and Mystique. To the X-Men, they were villains but to her they were family.
Kurt knows the feeling. It was very much like that for him, growing up in the Jahrmarkt. Back then, Amanda was his best friend. It seemed natural that their relationship would grow into something more…What happened? Rogue asks. Kurt admits he is still not sure. Perhaps all the trouble, with him, her mother Margali, her poor dead brother and his best friend Stephan finally took its toll…
Flashback:
She was working more and more towards the end, Kurt recalls. He was busy saving the world, first with the X-Men, then Excalibur. They hardly sew each other. And when they were together, they didn’t even talk. He can’t even remember what their last fight was about. She just sounded so sad. He couldn’t bear it. All he really wanted was for her to go away. So she did.
The Present:
In a hidden alcove deep within Xavier’s mansion’s underground complex, Daisy Dugan is interviewing SHIELD agent Kramer. He’s been a very naughty lad, she chides him. Kramer retorts she is delusional. She points out there is evidence that he is a traitor. She has no idea what she is dealing with, he warns her. Kramer refuses to talk apart from taunting. She tells him they are talking treason and this is his only chance to get out of it, but the deal won’t stand for long. Kramer insists he get his lawyer. Daisy reminds him he is an operative of SHIELD. This is a matter of potentially global security. He has no rights.
She leaves the cell to inform Fury that Kramer is a toughie. He is a credit to his training, Fury replies. Now for round two…
Alone in the dark cell, Kramer protests he knows the law. What is she gonna do, walk away and leave him alone down here? No to worry, he ain’t alone, Sabretooth whispers into his ear.
Rogue and Nightcrawler are in the outskirts of downtown Jackson, Mississippi. Quiet town, Kurt observes. Rogue informs him life is gentler here than where Gambit hails from. Likely ‘cause New Orleans’ heritage is mostly Spanish and French. Kurt tells her to go. He wants to keep moving. Rogue reminisces that reminds her of Mystique. She always felt the need to keep moving like she was forever on the run.
Does he ever wonder about sharing the same pigmentation and eyes as Mystique? Could they share a connection? No more and no less than between Rogue and any other brunette Caucasian, he replies. Now, if she had a tail or similar hands and feet perhaps. Rogue calls him a smart aleck.
They walk up the porch of the house Kurt was told about. They wonder about Amanda staying here, which doesn’t really seem her style. There is no answer to Kurt’s knocks, so they teleport inside, where they are confronted by Mystique, who has been waiting for them. It certainly took them long enough to answer her summons, she criticizes.
At the Xavier Institute, Xavier and Beast are arguing about Mutant Burnout. Xavier informs Beast that he has already tried that route. Beast snarls at him to stay out of his head. He wants to see for himself! He doesn’t trust his findings? Xavier protests. Beast retorts he lied to them. Xavier tries to defend his actions. Moira MacTaggert finally intervenes and tells them to stop, repeating it forcefully when the men keep on arguing.
Hank announces that they are a team based on trust. Then be a team again she tells him. He found a way to forgive Jean for Dark Phoenix, why not Charles for this? Not comparable, Hank insists. Jean and Phoenix were two different beings. He hopes, Moira retorts, especially now. But suppose he is wrong?
Getting back on subject, Hank insists Charles lied. While searching and fighting with every ounce of his being to find a cure, Moira insists.
Charles apologizes. Hank snarls at him to stop being so rational, then leaves to try his best to break the Danger Room. Charles considers that a good sign. Action will vent his rage and restore his perspective. Then they can talk…
Back in Jackson, Kurt demands to know what Mystique has done to Amanda Sefton. Nothing, he is told. She believes Amanda is currently in mid-flight between Tokyo and London, unaware of this. Kurt insists that Amanda called him; her identity was confirmed by both X-Men and SHIELD scanners. Mystique feels flattered, and reminds him she is a shapeshifter who has fooled people for years…
Rogue wants to know what this is about. SHIELD told them Mystique was dead! Raven replies that the Shadow King sent Val Cooper to kill her. She thought it best to let the world believe she had succeeded.
During her time running Freedom Force, she began finding evidence of a clandestine organization calling itself the Consortium. They’d been systematically looting the archive files of DARPA. That in turn led to revelations about something being called Mutant Burnout. She began cross-referencing the data with Destiny’s archives and discovered she’d been tracking this phenomenon her whole life! Wolverine and Mystique seemed to be immune. When Mystique learned of Logan’s murder and that Storm was an agent of the Consortium, she knew she had to emerge from hiding.
This said, Mystique suggests a nearby place where they can talk. Nightcrawler asks “about what?” to which Mystique quips “Life the universe? Everything?” She has already lost Destiny. She won’t risk losing anyone else she loves.
What does she mean? Kurt insists. He can’t be that slow, she sighs. Rogue is bound to Destiny’s heart but he and her, their bond is blood. She is his mother…
In the X-Mansion, Daisy is playing good cop with another traitor SHIELD agent, Jakita. Who is her alpha contact? The woman is crying, claiming Daisy is making a mistake. Suddenly, Jakita swirls her around and soon has her foot on Daisy’s throat. She shuts to Fury that he must grant her free passage or she will crush Daisy’s neck.
Daisy grabs a knife, which is strapped to her waist, and shoves it into Jakita’s leg. Quickly, she overpowers the other woman and tells her to come clear or she will leave her with Sabretooth… a threat that turns out to be successful.
In Jackson, Rogue and Kurt demand answers. Mystique replies evasively, she had to get them away from Charles and Fury. Why, after all these years? Kurt asks. Raven replies she is trying to save their lives. Maybe Kurt doesn’t want her help! Rogue announces angrily. He doesn’t need it, Raven replies. He has Mystique’s natural immunity to Burnout. She came there to save Rogue.
She doesn’t feel like being saved, Rogue replies and tackles her. They fall out of the house through the wall. They fall into a car next to a gas tank which explodes.
Kurt looks out horrified. He only finds an unconscious Rogue, who isn’t breathing. He wonders how that is possible. She should be invulnerable. He doesn’t feel any pulse. He can only try mouth-to-mouth, aware how dangerous that is as physical contact will let her absorb his abilities but he hopes his life essence will jump-start her system.
Elsewhere, close to the conflagration, Mystique figures Rogue really must learn to think before she acts. She runs towards the two of them and stands back shocked. Kurt mutters he is all right but everything is out of balance. And really, he shouldn’t even be conscious. Why is she looking at him so strange? he asks, unaware that he now looks like an ordinary human being. She suggests he look at his hands. He now sees he has five fingers each and his skin is no longer blue. His tail is missing as well. They turn around to see that Rogue has inherited his physical appearance…


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[Assistant]
…Is More than Skin Deep!
Jackson Mississippi:
Nightcrawler tried to save the unconscious Rogue by giving her the kiss of life. The result was spectacular, as suddenly Nightcrawler has changed to look like a completely ordinary human. Is he all right? his mother Mystique asks. He examines that his skin in no longer blue and he has five fingers on each hand. What’s happened to Rogue? He exclaims.
She has taken on all of Nightcrawler’s attributes. What has she done? she angrily asks Mystique. Rogue complains everything is out of balance. This stupid tail has a mind of its own. For God’s sake, she has fangs!
Mystique orders her to get over it. She’s had wild transitions before. Regain control! And in time, just like before, it will pass. Except for her and Carol Danvers, Rogue reminds her. That transition was permanent! Has she ever considered that maybe that permanent change wasn’t just a freak accident? Mystique asks. Is she laying this on her? Rogue snarls. She’s doing what any mother would to protect her children, Mystique retorts. By showing up when she pleases and doing what she likes? Rogue scoffs. Sounds more like she’s playing with them like toys!
She cuts Raven off when she tries to defend herself and announces that, if Destiny were here, she would slap her face for what she’s done, right Kurt?
Kurt, however, still stares in amazement at his hands. He’s done this so often, he muses, using an image inducer. But that was always a lie. He only appeared different, his actual body remained unchanged. All his life people saw him as a monster. But if God made him that way, he told himself, there must be a reason. Perhaps to show people that form didn’t matter, only the way one chooses to live one’s life.
Is he trying to tell her something? Rogue asks. As difficult as it may be, this, for now, is their reality and they must learn to cope. Sometimes he is way too rational, she sighs.
Would she rather hit things? Mystique jokes. Oh yeah, starting with her! Rogue snarls. Every time she shows up, it creates trouble for Rogue and the X-Men! She was the one who decided to cut Rogue loose, remember? She sent her to Xavier. And it worked out for the best, so what’s her problem? Mystique retorts. She made hard choices to spare Rogue the horrors she’s seen in her life. In that she treated Rogue far better than she has Kurt.
Rogue suggests that she stop running from her responsibilities. A booming explosion interrupts their argument. The fire has spread to a building across the street and with the stairs blocked, the people on the upper floors are crying for help.
At Xavier’s, traitorous SHIELD agent Jakita sits in a cell. From the observation booth, Fury and Daisy Dugan are listening as Sabretooth leads the interrogation. He doesn’t understand about the Consortium! she bursts out when he mocks her. They have their hooks in everything! They are seriously interested in mutants and the X-Men, with an emphasis on Burnout. Storm became their primary asset to keep tabs on them, her information filled in their database. But she proved impossible to control.
Told them he’d get her to talk, Sabretooth tells Fury and Daisy. Question is what now? Fury tells him he doesn’t like his tone. Sabretooth doesn’t care. He points out that Fury trusted those agents, but it seems to him they were dirty for years. Sounds like the Consortium penetrated his house top to bottom. Fury admits he is right. But if the Consortium has truly infiltrated SHIELD, why haven’t they made a move yet?
Sabretooth suggests they find out. Time they are the ones who get nasty. Fury agrees and decides they go over the files again. The three traitor agents they found – Mike Brown, Larry Kramer, Jakita Sanders all have exemplary records, but there is no common element, except for their ties to Fury. Nick finds something. Each of them had a post to SHIELD’s UN bureau. Sabretooth suggests they pay them a visit and bring someone along. They decide upon Gambit.
In Jackson, Rogue blames Mystique for the mess. Sardonically, she reminds her daughter she punched first. Kurt breaks it up. The people need help! Rogue wants to rush in. Kurt tells her there isn’t time. The quickest way in is to teleport. Two bursts up to the window, then into the room. She’ll have a clear target every time. Just do it! She obeys.
Kurt hates feeling helpless on the sidelines. When he turns to Mystique, he finds her gone.
Rogue rematerializes in the burning building. She heads towards a mother and child who believe her to be a demon. She tries to convince them she is here to help. The fire cuts her way off and she is too weak to ‘port.
Thanks to the fire, Kurt can barely hear her transmission. He shouts at her to visualize the street and remember where she stood. Make sure the image is fixed in her mind, then teleport them all out. With no other choice, Rogue complies and they are safe.
She admits she is totally exhausted, but she can’t quit, the fire isn’t done yet. She flies upwards and leaves him to take care of the injured. He admits to himself she is adapting well and wonders how strange it is that the people don’t react with fear to him now. All his teammates flinched when they first saw him, except for Logan who, from the first, accepted him, going out of his way to be his friend. That was why he stayed, as much as Xavier’s faith in him.
He wonders how Logan would react to this. Probably telling him to deal with it. And is this truly any worse than what’s happen to Kitty with her claw? He wonders why he is thinking like this anyway. In time, their powers will revert and he will be as he’s always been.
Suddenly, he hears a scream. Rogue is nowhere to be found. He follows the noise and finds a woman trapped in her apartment. He shouts at her to use the fire escape but she is too frightened. But then the fire has spread to the floor below and the woman is trapped.
At Xavier’s, Moira MacTaggert and Jean Grey are drinking coffee. Moira reminisces that thing haves certainly changed. When she asks about Jean and Scott’s relationship, Jean tells her they came to an end. She died, he met someone else, married, had a child… but old habits die hard. They both tried to reclaim the past, with tragic consequences. So now they move on.
What about Hank? Moira asks and adds he loves her. He is… her friend, is all Jean has to say.
Elsewhere, Xavier asks Hank McCoy to enter his office before he can even knock. Hank points out this bothers him. Jean usually reacts with more consideration. Xavier apologizes… for this and many other things. Hank accepts. He is hell-bent on finding an answer to Burnout.
Xavier points out that saving mutantkind might make things worse, but Hank replies he wants his folks to have grandkids. If that’s too high a prize to ask for saving the omniverse, then maybe the omniverse doesn’t deserve to be saved.
Back in Jackson, the fire escape burns and falls. Grimly, Kurt begins to climb up the wall, finding his body doesn’t have the agility or strength he remembers but thanks to the inset bricks he has something to grip. He reaches the ledge and asks if the woman is all right. She admits she’s scared. So is he, he admits. But he’ll be brave if she shows him how. He calms the girl, takes her on his back and climbs down until he can jump the rest of the way.
Rogue asks if he is okay and asks what he was doing. He reminds her that helping those in need is natural for an X-Man. Powers or not. A photographer takes a picture of them. Hearing sirens, Kurt suggests they leave.
Alone, they worry. Rogue points out they should have reverted long ago. She wonders if her look is permanent. He knows the feeling but doesn’t have an answer. She could kill Mystique for this! Rogue sulks.
Kurt tells her she looks striking. He offers to reprogram his image inducer to make it easier for her to get around in public. The question is does she now possess Mystique’s immunity to Burnout? Did he lose it when he lost his powers? Rogue tells him he will be fine. Kurt reminds her Mystique did what she thought best for both of them. They may hate her methods, but can’t fault her goal. He just wishes she hadn’t left. There’s so much he wants to ask.
Rogue is sure she will show up again. Hatching another plan. She does nothing without reason. As of now, they are a family by blood. That’s no accident. She is sure Mystique has a plan. Question is, when the time comes and she reveals it, do they stand with her or against her?
Elsewhere, Mystique, with a satisfied smile, looks at the photo she has taken of her children.


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[Assistant]
Arctic Thunder!
The Consortium, location unknown:
Amelia Trask worries about Fury’s knowledge of their operations when she receives an urgent transmission by one Doctor Schiller, who wants to keep her abreast of their latest acquisition. They got some anomalous baseline readings. Does he consider this significant? Trask asks, while in the background a colleague mutters that they should just kill the mutie.
Schiller protests that would be a mistake. This subject’s interaction with the X-Men and Magneto, indeed the very nature of his powers, make it essential they investigate more deeply. They have never encountered anyone quite like Fabian Cortez, he remarks, looking at the emaciated mutant prisoner. He’d rather solve the mysteries before proceeding with the ultimate resolution. Trask decides to defer to his judgment and tells him to be quick about it.
Elsewhere, in Alaska, Scott Summers is going for a motorcycle ride with his son, Nathan. They take a break at a diner. When can he drive? Nate asks. When his feet reach the pedal, Scott tells his pouting son. They enter the diner where the waitress, Phoebe, recognizes them and chats with them.
That moment, three lowdown truckers enter and Phoebe already anticipates trouble. Scott whispers, asking if she needs help, but she tells him she can handle them. She tells the men to take a booth, but asks them to mind their manners and language. They have children present. Best they learn young how working folk talk, one of them mocks. Another sneers that they can behave like gentlemen if she makes it worth their while. Start with a smile and move up from there.
Nate looks questioningly at Scott, who tells him to let Phoebe handle it. Phoebe angrily tells the men to leave until they remember to behave better. The trucker goes for her throat.
Scott gets up, asking if there is a problem. Calling him “boy,” the trucker orders him to mind his business, then attacks with his fists. Scott dodges the blow and hits back, only to have the trucker’s stronger friend come at him. Still no problem. Scott easily takes care of him too and the third man runs.
Phoebe thanks him. First truckers down north always need a lesson, he tells her. Word will get around and the next crew will behave better. Phoebe tells them breakfast is on the house. Nate admiringly tells him how brave he was, while Scott replies he only did what was necessary.
Some hours later, Scott and Nate return home, where Scott’s brother, Alex aka Havok, and his girlfriend, Lorna Dane aka Polaris, have come for a surprise visit.
Later in the kitchen, Alex and Lorna tell the family what’s going on in Westchester while Nate is playing outside. No one knows how to deal with Burnout. What makes them think he knows any better? Scott asks. Alex reminds him they always counted on Scott to lead them. Scott retorts he has other priorities. Nate isn’t his only responsibility, Alex insists.
As the debate gets heated, their father, Corsair, asks both of them to give it a rest. Scott stresses he owes it to Nate and his mother to raise him safe. Their grandmother, Deborah, hears a noise from outside.
A giant airship is hovering above the house and two armored men grab Nate. Debora alerts the others and they run outside to see the departing vessel.
Scott figures he cannot fire his optic blast at it with Nate aboard. Corsair suggests the Starjammers can catch them, so Scott orders Polaris to get airborne and hold their foes’ attention till then.
Polaris flies after the vessel. She gets no sense of ferrous metals. Apparently, it is constructed of plastics and composite fiber, so she cannot affect it directly with her magnetic powers. She wonders how best to get creative. She tries to clog their air intakes with grit and pebbles, instead though she is fired at with a mix of solid gun shots and energy bolts. She generates a wall of magnetic energy to block the attack but finds her foes won’t quit. And she cannot simply smash the vehicle.
However, help arrives as the Starskimmer fires plasma bolts at the vessel to take out the guns and the fire supply. The Skimmer is positioned above the enemy vessel and Cyclops and Havok jump out, attacking with their powers and creating a hole in the hull.
The two enter and fight the armored guards. They go looking for Nate. Cyclops figures he recognizes that armor; these guys seem to be Consortium. He feels uncomfortable with the fact the X-Men know nothing about them.
They find the chamber where the shackled Nate is guarded. The guard attacks Cyclops, but the angry Cyclops takes him out with one blow.
Outside, Polaris uses the downed shields to make a mess of their computers and the ship goes down.
Scott freed Nate, Alex points out. It’s time to go. Scott blasts out a piece of hull, at which point they jump out and are aptly caught by Lorna. Scott asks her to give the ship a soft landing; he wants them alive.
A little later, Cyclops tells Corsair that he is hoping that the Starjammers can shield their prisoners from reprisals and get them to talk. Corsair remarks Scott sounds like he made a decision. He doesn’t want to go back for a whole lot of reasons, Scott admits. But he wants his son to grow up safe. That means rejoining the X-Men.
Corsair replies that he missed his sons’ lives. Now he has a chance to make amends. The Starjammers will keep the family safe. Scott thanks his father. He is glad he is home.


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[Assistant]
The Ties that Bind – part 1
Gambit, Sabretooth, Nick Fury and Daisy Dugan prepare for a special mission. Gambit criticizes the SHIELD agents for putting their trust in the wrong folks. That’s why he works alone, Sabes adds. Daisy insists most of SHIELD is made up of good people. They’ve been betrayed too.
Fury asks, how do they tell good from bad now? In a firefight, who is she going to shoot at? Daisy stammers, then claims she will figure it out. And that moment of hesitation will get her killed, he retorts. That’s the bind they are in.
Gambit suggests they just don‘t get into a shooting sitch. Why be squeamish? Sabes suggests. Let’s just kill everyone. What’s with the Cajun anyway? He thought they were gonna keep the party private.
Gambit asks if he remembers how this caper started. Sabretooth’d gone hunting the Consortium and he finds Gambit’s friend, ‘Ro. ‘Ro and Storm are supposed to be the same. Only they are not. Now they have two distinct people. One’s the ‘Ro Gambit remembers. The other convinced them she was the Storm they all have known for years and then betrayed them. What is the truth? Till they find that answer they are stuck with him.
Fury figures a thief can come in handy, especially where they are going. He shows them the Consortium is hiding their primary New York installation beneath the United Nations.
This hour of the night the East River is pretty quiet. Minimal traffic running on the FDR and no windows means it’s likely nobody watching from the highrises right across the river in Queens. Most of the onsite UN staff has been replaced and the construction crew won’t be back till morning. That gives them a clear field of operation. Their submarine comes up and they get inside the sewers.
Meanwhile, at the X-Men’s medical facility, Beast examines Rogue, who has permanently absorbed Nightcrawler’s powers and appearance. She complains that her body doesn’t feel right anymore. Kurt, now human-looking, tries to comfort her. Beast empathizes. It was a nightmare when he first transformed. But he got used to it. So will she. She has a tail that acts like it has a mind of its own, she complains.
Kurt muses that he is looking like everyone else for the first time in his life and his thoughts are that he can’t hide in the dark anymore or duel upside down with three swords. He always wondered what it would be like but in his heart and soul he was always happier to be different. He was special… unique.
He discusses the situation with Moira MacTaggert and admits he doesn’t understand how this happened. They only touched for a moment. Moira points out Rogue’s genetic structure is a mess. They’ve no way of determining her baseline.
That’s what they always thought, Beast remarks, but his readings here are remarkably consistent and surprisingly stable. In fact, the structural profile parallels Kurt’s model from the day he joined the X-Men. He doesn’t see any of the iterations always associated with Rogue, except perhaps for her ability to fly.
He asks her to trust him and touches her. Nothing happens. She got Kurt’s powers but lost hers.
Jean notices that Kurt doesn’t react to that statement; apparently he hasn’t drawn the logical conclusion. But he’s been keeping to himself since their return. One simple way to find out, she figures, moving towards him from behind.
Xavier telepathically stops her. If she is right and something happens to her, nobody will be able to help. She is the only one who is both telepath and telekinetic. That makes her better able to deal with a crisis. He’ll make the contact and she can watch his back.
Xavier touches Kurt’s hand. Both men groan. Kurt definitely displays Rogue’s absorption power.
Jean telekinetically separates them. Rogue catches Kurt but is immune to his new power. She tells the panicked Kurt to relax.
Moira silently notices how handsome Kurt is. He’s embarrassed to be reading her mind. He tells Jean he senses Scott’s thoughts upstairs.
Jean silently muses that right from the start Scott’s always been able to catch her by surprise. The only person in her life who’s ever been able to do that. She used to take that as fate’s way of telling her they were meant for each other. Then she met Logan, now Hank.
She enters Scott’s room and asks how his gran and Nate are. Without looking at her, he replies everyone’s fine. The Starjammers are protecting them.
She wonders if he is so angry with her about Logan.
He continues that Sikorsky got them some answers from the Consortium. They are like no enemy the X-Men have ever faced, outside of maybe the Shi’ar Empire. The Hellfire Club are billionnaire bad guys. The Consortium is more than that. They’ve been around longer; they are totally secret. No one knows about them but the X-Men.
He won’t let them threaten his son or any of the kids at the school or his friends. They want a fight, then the first thing he wants is to drag it out into the open, so they can see what they are up against.
Not much of a plan, Jean observes. Plans are easy, life is hard, he replies. He hesitates before saying he is sorry. No less than she. None of this is fair, he rails. To either of them, she agrees. He blames her for being too rational. Can’t she be more like Logan and throw him a punch? She wishes it were that easy. He decides they won’t do this today. Instead they’ll save the world like always.
In Manhattan, Sabretooth warns the others. He smells multiple scents coming. They are in a closed hallway with nowhere to hide. Hit them hard! Fury orders and they attack the armored soldiers who are soon down.
Wimps! Sabretooth scoffs. He asks Fury if he should kill them. Fury replies that this might trigger a sensor alarm. Better keep them sedated and cloaked off on the sidelines. Daisy hides them with an image inducer.
Sabretooth announces there are more scents ahead but now with armor. He doesn’t like the fact the complex is so light on security.
In the X-Men’s command center, Kitty is hacking computer files. ‘Ro asks if their SHIELD minders won’t notice. Kitty calms her. Not even Hank could. ‘Ro muses that sounds more like the Kitty she read about but there’s an edge to her now that scares her. She asks if Kitty is okay after what happened with Illyana. When she tried to morph her into Firecat? Kitty asks. Does that memory scare ’Ro? She probably would have beaten the Kitty she remembered. But because of what happened before Logan died she’s not that girl anymore. Black Magik thinks she is scary. She has no idea what scary really means…
Elsewhere in the house, Hank greets Scott and wants to talk about Jean. Scott tells him to change the subject and asks about Kitty. Hank explains the integration of claw and abilities from Wolverine is one thing, but he’s worried about the implications of her transformation into Firecat.
That was magic, yes? Scott asks. And the spell was broken? They’ve all been through things like that before. Hank warns him not to dismiss the situation so easily. The child’s taken a brutal succession of hits.
As have they all, Scott insists. Is what Kitty’s going through any different really from what just happened to Rogue and Kurt? To Logan? To Jean? To him? Right now, the X-Men need Kitty’s brain and her abilities. Logan always chose to trust her. Scott’s instinct is to follow his lead.
They join the two girls. He didn’t know ‘Ro could work computers. She’s a quick study, Kitty replies and asks ‘Ro to handle the briefing. She’ll keep focusing them in on Fury’s team.
‘Ro explains Remy disappeared with Fury, Daisy and Sabretooth. But before they left there was some sort of fight in the lower levels. There are prisoners in detention stasis. SHIELD agents. Kitty figures Fury is engaged in a private caper. They think he is going after the Consortium.
Scott asks Kitty to reverse engineer the link to see if they can find out anything about their physical dimensions. Kitty is already on it. ‘Ro develops a direct link. Cyclops addresses Fury who is not surprised and asks him to sync with his scan cam and record everything that happens. They are in a Consortium installation. They have a prisoner, someone the X-Men may remember. An emaciated, tortured Fabian Cortez.
Cortez weakly asks if they are here to mock. Fury tells Daisy he wants him alive. Sabretooth points out it’s a miracle he is still breathing. Cortez weakly tells them originally the Consortium invited him to join them but then the tests started. They didn’t care how much it hurt. And they wouldn’t let him die either. Shame on them, Remy mocks. They stole away his life, Cortez points out.
He did worse to Magneto and his boy! Sabretooth retorts. Seems to him fate balanced the scales.
Why is he still alive? Fury asks. Cortez explains it has to do with his power, about how it affects mutant powers. They wanted to harness it. Maybe they’ll make him a better offer. He accelerates mutant powers. He causes Burnout. Maybe he can cure it, too. He tells them to make their choice now; they are running out of time.
Sabretooth announces he didn’t sense them. Armed Consortium troops pop out of nowhere and surround them. Suggestions? Gambit asks. Just kill them all, Sabes replies. Works for him, Gambit agrees.


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[Assistant]
…Can Also Set Us Free! – part 2
Nick Fury and his team, consisting of Daisy Dugan, Sabretooth and Gambit, have infiltrated the underground headquarters of the Consortium beneath the United Nations. They found a clandestine hideaway and a prisoner: Fabian Cortez. That moment, Consortium soldiers come rushing in.
What now? Daisy asks. Sabretooth suggests they kill them. Works for him, Gambit agrees.
One of the guards orders them to drop their weapons. Sabretooth criticizes this as a mistake. They should have just started shooting. He asks Daisy if she has targets. Most of the bad guys are on their level, she informs the blind Sabretooth. She counts four on the level overhead. Leave them to her. He likes her style, Sabes admits.
They get a last warning, but Gambit and Fury assume the moment they drop their weapons they’ll be shot. The first guard fires… surprisingly at Cortez, hitting him in their chest. Fury orders Gambit to take out the shooter, then get Cortez clear.
Gambit sends an energized playing card at three agents while at the same time Daisy opens fire on her targets and Sabretooth hurls himself into the soldiers’ midst. Fury and Daisy fire at the others. Once Gambit has freed Cortez, Sabretooth takes the lead, following the scent of clean air.
At the Xavier School’s command center, the X-Men try to learn what happened via computers. Kitty announces that Fury’s group is still underground, making their way towards the 7–line subway tunnel. Cut west within 5 blocks, they are at Grand Central. Cyclops assumes the opposition will be there to block them and announces they will give their friends a hand.
In the underground:Sabretooth slams shut a door behind them. Daisy believes they are not following, but Sabretooth reminds her that those “mooks” have a knack for popping right out of nowhere. They reach train tracks. Sabes figures it’s a subway tunnel. He hears a train coming. He mockingly asks Fury which way to go. Across the river or uphill onto the island? They press against the wall as the train comes and passes them by.
Moments later, the Consortium soldiers have found them. Gambit hands Cortez to Fury and attacks, followed by Sabretooth and Daisy. One of the soldiers is about to shoot Sabretooth in the back, but Daisy gets him first. Sabretooth senses another train coming on the track Daisy is standing on. He tackles her to get her to safety. A Consortium soldier throws him back on the track. Sabretooth’s right hand is destroyed by the train, even as Daisy shoots the Consortium soldier.
Worried, she addresses him. Yes, it hurts, Creed cuts her off. Daisy apologizes and thanks him. Is there anything she can do? Lots, he grumbles, so be careful what she offers. Lucky for her, this ain’t the time or place. He reminds her he heals. She should be so lucky.
At the X-mansion, Rogue and Nightcrawler have trouble adjusting to their physical changes. Kurt misses his tail, feeling uncomfortable. For Rogue, it’s the other way round. She wants to crouch. Cyclops and Shadowcat join them and they take off in stealth mode.
In the meantime, the away team has made their way through the sewers into a Manhattan alley. Daisy is the last up to cover their backs. As the Consortium troops catch up, Daisy tells the others to hit the road. She’ll hold the line. She realizes she’s stuck and has to make ever shot count.
Suddenly, the fire stops. Rogue joins her and explains Jean is holding the bullets off. She pulls Daisy up to the Blackbird.
Later, the blind Sabretooth demands answers from Beast, who tells him there seems to be a critical difference between Sabretooth’s healing factor and Logan’s. Sabretooth’s is more mature but also seems to have its limits. He thinks Burnout is starting to have an effect on him. He doesn’t think his eyes are going to grow back and his hand is likely gone for good.
Has he lost his healing factor? Cyclops asks. It’s still better than theirs, Hank replies, just no longer so miraculous. Creed vows he won’t go down without a fight, and not until he’s made his boy’s killers pay for his life. Beast asks him if he knows what he’s saying. Sabretooth tells him not to be a fool. The way he is right now, he could still take Beast. He has other senses and, as for his hand, a smart fella like McCoy oughta be able to come up with a functional alternative.
Jean tells everyone Cortez is awake. He’s stabilized but has little time left. He wants to see Cyclops. Cortez weakly remarks that Cyclops probably thinks it’s funny the way things have turned out. Not much, he wanted to kill him himself, Scott replies, but he’ll spit on his grave. Cortez laughs weakly and explains SHIELD delivered him to the Consortium, who experimented on him. Are they supposed to feel sorry? Cyclops asks. Is this any worse than what Cortez did to Magneto? He trusted him! Jean said he had something to tell him. Cortez warns them they think they know what they are up against with the Consortium but they are wrong. It’s bigger and deadlier than they imagine. He met the man responsible for what was done to him. Their top guy.

The Consortium:A man talks to Amelia Trask, remarking Fury’s New York incursion was annoyingly effective. They secured significant data and liberated Cortez. She warned him. And he thought he could handle it as she could handle her daughter. Apparently they were both wrong. Amelia explains she has received a communication from her. Sigrid says she’s made a discovery that will prove of inestimable value to the Consortium. She wants a meeting. Does she trust her? the man asks. About as much as she does him, she retorts. He tells her to make the meet but take appropriate back-up and keep them posted about the results. What about Fury and the X-Men? She asks. Don’t worry about them, Tony Stark replies. He’s sure they’ll find some way to iron out the problem…


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A Plague on Both Your Houses! – Into that good night (part 1)
The Andes, South America:A Consortium plane lands in front of a cave. The men inform their superior, Dr. Amelia Trask, there is no sign of any hostiles. She replies her daughter’s instructions were specific. This is the time and the place for their rendezvous.
Suddenly, the men are taken down by energy charges coming from the cave. Sigrid Trask, covered in Sentinel armor, apologizes to her mother. There have been some changes. Does she like her friends? She refers to the Sentinels. Together they are going to give her the world…
At the X-Mansion:Fabian Cortez died during the night. Nick Fury announces he doesn’t believe what Cortez said. He was lying to the end. He’s known Tony Stark for years! Cyclops is less convinced. Fury insists Stark isn’t that kind of man. He helped found the Avengers. All true, Jean Grey agrees, but everything Cortez said is also true. He didn’t know telepaths could mind-read the dead. Jean replies he is talking to someone who tends to commute from one realm to the other. She found residual memory images of Stark among the Consortium hierarchy, who interrogated Cortez. Apparently, the man behind Earth’s greatest defenders also seems to be among the X-Men’s deadliest foes. So what do they do about it?
Make sure this is true first, Cyclops announces. He orders Kitty, ‘Ro and Kurt to look though the archives, see if they can find some information to prove or refute what Cortez told them. Beast announces both Stark and Iron Man have been his friends for years. What they are saying makes no sense, even for Stark at his worst. But he’s known Jean for longer and he trusts her, which means he’ll keep an open mind. Moira and he can perform a post-mortem on Cortez to see if they can find anything useful.
Is this for real? Daisy Dugan asks Fury and Cyclops. Fury muses it’s plausible. They are on their own. They know something’s not right within SHIELD and it’s beginning to look like the rot is dangerously extensive. That means events are being orchestrated by someone with power. As far as the outside world is concerned, they behave like they know nothing. And then what? Daisy asks. Cyclops has some ideas but wants to talk to Charles first. Fury asks for Jean to scan the agents on-site.
Daisy decides to look in on the injured Sabretooth, despite Fury’s warnings.
Alone, Fury makes a phone call to someone, asking for a favor…
At Sabretooth’s bedside, Daisy muses Fury is worried about her. That’s sweet but she isn‘t a sweet little girl. She’s a stone killer. She touches Sabretooth’s stump, musing he lost his hand because of her. She takes his other hand, admitting she’s never felt like this before. The responsible part knows she is making a mistake. Definitely not sure it will lead to any kind of happy ending. But she bets the trip is worth the ride…
In the medical bay, Beast, while looking through a microscope, muses aloud if Magneto is waiting for Cortez in the afterlife. Bet that’ll be an interesting conversation. He’s got a lot to answer for. He’s never understood people like Cortez. To be blessed with such fantastic abilities and the only thing he can do with them is harm. And it looks like this is just the beginning.
Xavier and Cyclops join him and Xavier notes Hank’s agitated thoughts. Can they help? Charles asks. Got any miracles handy? Hank replies bitterly. The Consortium wants mutants gone. And his and Moira’s research is leading him to conclude they may have found a way to succeed. Cortez’s power worked on a micro-molecular level, using skin to skin contact to infect his victims with a biological catalyst. These bond with the neural system very much like a disease, they then amplify the neural transmitters to the max, superseding the body’s natural safeguards and inhibitors.
Cyclops points out Cortez grabbed him and he didn’t burn out. Nor did Magneto at first, Xavier warns, but over the process of time the drain grew greater, the consequences more severe.
Hank suggests Rogue as an example. Her interaction with Cortez decimated the powers and mentalities she’d absorbed over the years, stripping her pretty much dry. For all they know, that may have set up what consequently happened between her and Nightcrawler. The key element is Cortez’s genetic structure. If the Consortium can replicate his power, they can burn them all dry. Presto: no more mutants! They have to assume the worst and proceed accordingly.
In the library, Kitty, ’Ro and Kurt are doing computer and book research. Kurt announces the Stark family fortune goes back generations. They have always been global captains of industry. But Tony was the first to actively evince a social conscience. ‘Ro points out the best lies should always be grounded in some truth. For all they know, that “social conscience” is telling him mutants need extermination.
So the next time they are called upon to save the world, do they take a pass? Kitty wonders. Works for her, ‘Ro replies. She finds something on April 13th 1956. It’s an article about Howard Stark’s holdings in South America and his meeting Bolivar Trask, later creator of the Sentinels, his friend…
Kurt realizes this explains how social scientist Trask was able to translate his vision into reality. The Sentinels came from his alliance with Stark International. He has to inform Scott!
In the Consortium base, Tony Stark discusses baseball with one of the employees until a guard informs him they have a problem: they have lost all contact with Dr. Trask’s transport. No voice, telemetry. The signals from the vehicle have gone silent. Shall he inform— He has told him, Tony interrupts. That will do for now. He asks to be kept posted on the status of the relief mission.
Tony muses Trask went looking for her wayward daughter and ran into trouble. Perhaps the time has come to move and take control…
In the X-Mansion, Kitty, Kurt and ‘Ro explain their findings to Scott. Howard Stark was strip-mining the Nazi intellectual elite. Stark was part of the secret team in WWII that sent the Howling Commandos and Logan after Trask’s father. He was instrumental in getting the Trask family to South America. As the son came of age, he bankrolled Bolivar’s research. Scott agrees but doesn’t believe that automatically implicates Tony Stark. Hank and Iron Man were teammates in the Avengers. He and Tony are friends. You can like one man and still despise the species, Kitty points pout. Fury joins them, announcing they have to talk. Scott asks Kitty to keep digging. He’ll have Jean establish a psi-link between the two groups.
Fury explains that he has a source at Stark’s. He has learned nothing about the Sentinel connection but there is a whole lot of buzz lately about something called Plague X. Shadow-ops project that was backburner for years until suddenly a few weeks ago it went into overdrive. As though they’d just found the key that all the components fit together. His spy passed along some information.
Beast examines the data. That’s not good, he finally announces. In effect, they are looking at an amplifier. The Consortium’s apparent goal is the elimination of mutants. Two problems: How to identify them and then how to efficiently do it. The “Eichmann” equation. How to apply industrial efficiency and cost effectiveness to the job of mass species extermination. But what’s good a gun, no matter how big its beam shoots in a straight line, it’s hoodwinked by the curvature of the globe?
He finds some of those components seem familiar. The last space shuttle missions carried a supply of private contract cargo in addition to the NASA payload. Supposedly, supplemental modification of the space station. He suggests the Consortium has an orbital platform. From a Lagrange point, the beam will cover the terrestrial hemisphere. All they have to do is pull the trigger and let Earth’s rotation do the rest. Give the weapon sufficient power, they’ll be able to punch through any shielding on the surface. That beam will affect every mutant on the globe – active and latent – just the same as if Cortez touched them directly. The energy that sustains their abilities will overload; given the power levels of some of them they’ll probably go up like organic supernovas and the collateral damage will be horrendous. But when the day is over the Consortium will have their heart’s desire. Every mutant who lives on this world will be no more.
In orbit on the station, a pensive Tony Stark stares at Earth, to be surprised by the return of Amelia Trask. Surprised she is still alive? she asks. How she did get up here? They tracked no approaching shuttles and the teleport grid has been silent as well. She has her ways, she smiles. She comes bearing good news. They can implement Plague X.
Tony protest they decided the risk was too great, even striking from up here in orbit. The X-Men have proven too formidable adversaries. Amelia agrees but has a solution. Let the X-Men come fight them. They will still die. She introduces her new chief of security, her daughter Sigrid and her associates – the Neo-Sentinels…


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Rise to the Challenge! – Into that good night (part 2)
Tony Stark is a jerk! a furious Kitty Pryde shouts and angrily asks her teammates and Nick Fury how they can just sit around talking. They have to get the word out to the Avengers and everyone else who ever trusted him!
Cyclops and Fury tell her to calm down. Cyclops summarizes that many of them counted Tony among their friends. But they can’t let emotions get the best of them. There will be time to deal with that later. The mission now is to save their species. Step one: they have to know what they are up against.
Cyclops asks Beast, who stresses that Scott is not being overly dramatic. Every single mutant is at risk if they fail. He’s continued to analyze the schematics of the Plague X weapon that Fury’s “Deep Throat” provided them with. The results are… disturbing to say the least.
He shows them a 3D image of the device. It’s essentially point and shoot. The good news is that given its experimental nature, the device is quite fragile. However it’s on the Consortium’s satellite. It has a vulnerability kind of like the Death Star. The projector is huge as is the station simply because the designers are thinking in planetary terms. Big gun for a big target. They need tremendous power for both their offensive weapon and for their local defenses. That power is nuclear. Eliminate the power by placing charges as indicated here – he shows them – you eliminate the weapon. The day hopefully is saved, he concludes.
Cyclops explains that they don’t have the time to prepare… to gather their friends and the Starjammers. For all they know, the Consortium is preparing right now to fire. They have to get up there now! Jean asks if he wants to go stealth the way they came against Magneto on Asteroid X. Not this time, he decides. They’ll be shorthanded as it is. He’d prefer her at the peak of her powers.
Kitty suggests the new X-plane that Kurt and Forge have been working on. Derived from Starjammer components, it flies like a rocket AND the thruster can get them there in no time. Cyclops tells her to get it ready to fly.
Fury announces that he feels as betrayed as they do and still hopes they are wrong about Tony. He saw something like this happen during WW II with the Japanese American internment camps at Manzanar. He hoped they’d learned their lesson and this would never happen again. He never dreamed they’d jump hard at something worse. This isn’t the America he signed up to defend. So he is with them, no matter the cost, to the end. Cyclops thanks him and hopes that when this is done it’ll represent something they will never have to do again.
‘Ro follows Gambit and Kitty and asks where her costume is. She is coming along, right? Gambit forbids it, making her angry. ‘Ro protests that Kitty is a kid and she’s going! Kitty points out that she has way more experience. And ’Ro’s powers are too unpredictable. On the satellite, they could do more harm than good. She asks her to look after the Professor. ‘Ro whispers she is afraid she will never see them again.
Soon they take off. Kurt points out it’s virtually impossible to sneak up on an orbital point as far out as a LaGrange point. They’ll see them coming. How do they get aboard without a fight?
Fury reveals his contact aboard the Consortium platform has given them clearance codes. As far as they are concerned, they are friendly. Kurt asks why the informant didn’t warn them of the Consortium sooner. It might have saved Logan’s life. Fury replies sometimes people make mistakes.
On the Consortium station, the staff notices the approaching spacecraft that is flashing proper clearances. However, Ziggy’s Sentinels recognize the crew as the X-Men. Amelia Trask gives order to blow them out of the sky. Tony Stark calls that a mistake. A staff member agrees they are too close. If they deflect their attack they may cripple the station. Tony suggests the Neo-Sentinels could attack them directly. Ziggy suggests instead they let the X-Men come aboard and greet them with a proper welcoming committee…
The X-Men land unhindered and are suspicious. Cyclops gives last instructions. Two basic teams: Fury should give his agent a heads-up for some help. Jean and Hank go for the generator to bring it down. The rest of them gets to make a ruckus. Get the bad guys’ attention and keep them busy, to let Hank achieve their objective.
Ziggy and her Sentinels gather around their ship, announcing their plan to kill them.
The X-Men attack the Sentinels while Hank and Jean make a run for it.
Fury faces Ziggy Trask and quickly realizes her armor puts her on a par with the robots.
Though still uncomfortable with her new teleportation power, Rogue nevertheless manages to teleport a Sentinel’s head off.
Kitty phases through a Sentinel’s energy blast and takes it with her new claw.
From the control room, Stark and Amelia Trask watch. Tony comments he expected better from these Sentinels. A guard asks if Amelia wants them to get involved. Amelia tells him to be patient. This is her daughter’s fight.
Another man alerts them to a problem. Two of the mutants are missing. Stark orders him to scan the station. He replies he scanned nothing. They must be cloaked but there are atmospheric anomalies that suggest they are heading for the power core. Shall he alert security or a Neo-Sentinel?
Amelia tells him to let the intruders be for now. The walls and blast doors are sealed and impervious to their super powers. Let them waste their time. When they give up, they’ll kill them later.
Beast and Jean reach a door to the core and wonder about the lack of guards. Hank examines the door and announces the entrance must be operated remotely. He can’t apply decent leverage.
Jean powers up but finds her telekinesis has no effect either. Beast figures some kind of sensor grid absorbs the kinetic force thrust against it and uses it to buttress the structure of the wall itself. The harder they try to breach the wall, the stronger it gets.
Elsewhere, Tony Stark wishes for his Iron Man armor. He had hoped it wouldn’t come to this. Trask and Stark are family. He draws two guns. Unsurprised, Amelia asks if he is showing his true colors. How totally unlike his father. She can’t really say she is surprised.
He should never have let things get this far, he replies. He orders the guards to lower their weapons or he will kill Mrs. Trask. Amelia tells them to obey. Tony orders them to unlock the vault door next.
Jean and Hank are surprised when the door suddenly opens. Guardian angel? Hank wonders. Works for her, Jean shrugs. Do they even need the explosives? Jena asks. Can’t she just use telekinesis to disrupt the power matrix and essentially pull the plug? He warns her that would make things worse. This was built by the same technological wizards that brought them the Sentinels. They have to assume redundancies galore. The bombs he designed turn the system against itself. But that’s why their placement and detonation demands absolute precision. There’s no margin for error. And did he mention, as icing on the cake, that this room stinks of radiation? She reminds him that’s pretty much how she became Phoenix and suggests they get to work.
In the control center, Tony announces this is over. Once the charges are set, they are calling the Avengers and evacuating this station. Smiling, Amelia tells him they will do no such thing.
The Sentinels identify Tony as a threat and call him an organic bionic hybrid. They take him out without lethal force. While Amelia is interested in the hybrid thing, there is no time at the moment. She gives orders to initiate the X-strike.
Back at the core, Jean asks how they are doing. She is using her TK to screen them both from radiation but the sooner they are out the happier she will be.
Any sign of the Sentinels? he asks. There isn’t any nearby. He wonders if they are susceptible to radiation. She reminds him the last batch of originals they fought came back after flying into the sun. He recalls the experience mutated their Master Mold. Almost done.
Suddenly, the order is given to initiate the operations system. Program Plague-X now active!
She tells him they’ve done their job, the charges are placed. Let’s get out! He can’t, Hank cries. If the charges blow while Plague X is running, it’ll create a huge energy surge through the beam matrix. Essentially, they’ll end up hitting Earth with all the energy in the reactor. Chances are it would strike the planet. He has to stay to make sure the firing system is disabled. The projector is offline until these charges go off.
But that means-- Jean stammers. He knows, but what the heck, nobody lives forever!


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The Last Waltz
Some time ago, at a resort in the South Pacific, two X-Men - Jean Grey and Wolverine - are chained up, with cloaked figures who work for 'The Hand' seemingly casting a spell on the two of them.
 Jean reflects that the first time she met Wolverine, she should have "run for the hills and never looked back". She recalls the time she actually tried to leave the X-Men, to find her own way without the X-Men, and attempted in vain to get her boyfriend Scott Summers, the field leader of the X-Men, to come with her. Scott was too invested in Professor Xavier's dream, and so she left, though only for a brief time. Jean recalls how "fate" brought her back to the X-Men, leading her to walking a path that turned "Marvel Girl", into "the Phoenix", which then left her dead for a time, and ultimately revived back to life.
She reflects how every time she looked into Wolverine's eyes, she found feelings in him, which she now feels in return.
 Wolverine exclaims that he "can't keep em outta my head!" due to the drugs given to him and Jean. Jean recognizes the combination of science and magic, one to subvert their minds and the other their souls. Jean thinks this must have been what the Hand did to fellow X-Man, Psylocke, months prior when they remade her body and attempted in vain to also transform her soul.
They struggle to refrain from succumbing to the enchantment and believe that there will likely be a physical metamorphosis to accompany the change. Jean worries that Logan won't be able to hold onto his own mind, due to his mortality and having limits to his healing factor, which will no doubt wear him down. Meanwhile Jean's telepathy has been blocked by the villains, preventing her from being able to call for help from the rest of the X-Men. She fears that she and Logan, are the only ones who can save themselves, much to their difficulty.
flashback.
Jean recalls how they were given the mission by director of S.H.I.E.L.D., Nick Fury, who notes that the X-Men have had a rough time lately, and that they're short handed, but it's a critical situation, and he needs the X-Men's help. Jean thinks that the word "rough" is putting it very lightly, considering the Professor, weeks ago, was able to walk, and is now a paraplegic once again, and the X-Men have no idea why. Fury states that proving how valuable they are might help them change some of the negativity the world feels towards them, and mutants in general. Cyclops notes that they've seen it before, though Fury warns him, that it's worse than what they've experienced before.
Cyclops is quick to dismiss the thought of the X-Men getting involved in S.H.I.E.L.D. business, reminding Fury that the mansion is in ruins, they’ve been through hell, and this time, he'll have to find somebody else to do his dirty work. Jean attempts to speak to him telepathically, only for Scott to verbalize his wish that she would stay out of his head, as he has made his decision, and that he needs to talk to Beast and figure out how they are going to rebuild the Mansion.
Jean apologizes for Scott's attitude that seems to have been building since X-Factor's confrontation with Apocalypse on the moon. Wolverine notes that he thought it had a happy ending, to which Professor X acknowledges the expectations that come from a happy ending, are expectations they feel obliged to fulfill, in Scott's case, not only expectations, but obligations, to his son, and to the mother of his son, Nathan. Logan states that that's life, and that Cyclops should learn to accept it.
Wolverine tells Fury that he'll have to make do with him “an’ the redhead", to which Fury informs them that they would have been his first choice, due to SHIELD’s lack of knowledge of the operation. Logan can use his senses, and Jean her telepathy to "scope out the scene". "Your job is reconnaisance," Fury states to Jean and Logan, advising them to leave the law enforcement to S.H.I.E.L.D., and in the best case scenario, think of it as a nice vacation. Jean thinks to herself, while Logan says aloud "We should be so lucky."
Some time later the pair are working undercover on the island. Jean feels like a slacker, because the rest of the X-Men are busy rebuilding the mansion, while they're having a seemingly wonderful time on a beautiful seashore. Logan states that "someone's gotta do it", before asking if Jean is getting any tender information via her telepathy of some of the patrons of the resort, only for her to respond with a simple "nada". She explains her mind is closed, and she can't sense a thing. Logan thinks somebody around here likes their privacy, to which Jean states that it's more then that, due to all the serveillance cameras all over the place, and all the staff wearing "wires". And with her telepathy blocked off, the two X-Men are cut off from their allies. Wolverine advises her to "have faith", noting that they won't be abandoned. Jean hopes he is right.
Later Jean and Logan are in bathing suits at the beach in the water. Jean asks if Logan doesn't like the water and Logan replies simply, "Nope." Jean comments that he looks pretty good in those trunks. Logan again, replies simply, "Whatever."
 Jean reminds him that they're supposed to be newly weds, and they're supposed to be on their honeymoon, so he should try smiling to make their cover seem more realistic. Logan asks if her telepathy is sensing anything yet. Jean replies that she still isn't getting any telepathic signals, and feels trapped inside her own head. She believes that they will have to rely on Logan's senses, and that she doesn't know how to feel after years of wondering what it would be like to have no telepathy.
The day goes on, and after spending the day following employees, Logan hints that he's found something, and that they should go on a "lover's stroll" to check it out after dark. Jean remarks that he's enjoying this. He comments that he can't imagine why.
The pair go for a walk, and Jean holds Logan's hand to Logan's surprise, saying they need to keep up appearances. Wolverine, flustered, states he followed some of the employees to a remote part of the island that has a sign reading "off limits", and is guarded by two resort employees.
They climb up into the mountains of the resort to try to get a better look at the hidden part of the island, as well as possibly getting out of range of whatever is blocking Jean’s telepathy. Jean notes that the view is gorgeous, but notes that her telepathy is still out. Logan wonders why she's so calm considering the loss of her telepathy. Jean informs him, that it's not so bad, and it's good to remember how most people live their lives, never knowing what others are thinking, and being free from the chatter for a little while is refreshing. Logan wonders if she's scared, with not knowing if something is going to happen to them Jean says "not really", besides she has Logan's senses to help watch out for trouble.
Logan warns Jean that sometimes his senses can get manipulated as well, to which Jean asks how? Suddenly Logan pulls Jean in for a passionate kiss. Jean pulls away, clearly shaken and confused, commenting that them being in a relationship was supposed to just be a show. In a near instantaneous appearance, ninjas of the Hand appear, telling the pair of X-Men, that they "coulda fooled us".
present:
Jean and Logan are chained up, with the Hand’s intention clearly being to transform Jean and Logan in a manner similar to what they tried to do to Psylocke. Jean thinks to herself that Logan has been through so much in the past months and he's far weaker than the last time, plus their connection to each other creates a vulnerability that they can't protect against.
She fears that they can't hold on much longer, when Psylocke, Nightcrawler, Shadowcat and Jubilee burst through the wall, coming to rescue their friends. Psylocke charges at the nijas, asking if they remember her, after what they did to her. Nightcrawler warns her to be careful, with Psylocke being shocked at his warning, retorting she's out for blood. Shadowcat looks on, surprised at Betsy's attitude, and finally realizes that the Hand left a psychological mark as well as a physical mark in the form of Psylocke's new body. Kitty goes to help Jean and Logan in order to prevent the same thing happening to them.
Jean warns Kitty to stay clear, that it isn't safe, and not to try to unchain them. Kitty reminds Jean that the words 'unsafe' and 'stay clear' have never meant anything to an X-Man. She tries to phase Logan and Jean free, only for Logan to suddenly attack Kitty and Jean. The transformation has begun, and Logan is now the Hand's personal assassin. Kitty, half unconscious, phases through the ground.
Psylocke and Nightcrawler, fighting the army of The Hand, notice something happened to Kitty, though Nightcrawler notes that they can't do much about that while they're fighting for their lives. Nightcrawler teleports behind one of his attackers to restrain him, while Psylocke continues to fight through the army, one after the other, commenting that she hopes they enjoy her psychic blade, though she wishes it was real. Nightcrawler asks if she would really kill them. Betsy says it's what they deserve.
Jubilee approches Wolverine, ignoring the orders of "the grownups", because Logan is her friend, and she owes him everything. "C'mon old man. Fight your way free of this , just like you did the last time, when you saved me from the Mandarin," Jubilee pleads. Wolverine ignores her and punches her across the face, shortly before unsheathing his claws to prepare to kill his friend. Jubilee begs him not to do it, when Psylocke appears to kick Logan across the face, saying that if he wants to pick on somebody, he should pick on her.
Wolverine mocks Psylocke's belief that she can defeat him, though Psylocke is confident in her martial arts training and can at least hold her own against Logan's adamantium claws. However, Wolverine eventually defeats her, claiming that her powers and skills are nothing, and that he is the "Master Assassin of The Hand", and with his claws he will claim her heart and soul, only for Nightcrawler's tail to wrap around Logan's wrist.
Kurt attempts to restrain his friend, teleporting whenever Logan tries to strike him, however Logan doubts Nightcrawler's ability to stop him, when he refuses to kill him. Nightcrawler gets surprised by Logan and punched in the stomach, winding him. Logan pins Kurt down and is about to strike the finishing blow.
Shadowcat phases down to an underground laboratory, where she sees two mysterious cloaked figures around a generator, chanting, and the generator and chanting seem to be in sync. Kitty feels it's calling to her, and she recalls it feels very similar to when Ogun cast a spell on her to make her his apprentice. She suspects that it may be what is controlling Jean and Logan, so she decides to try and phase through it, in order to disrupt the energy matrix, and maybe that'll set their friends free.
Nightcrawler begs Logan not to do this, that they're his friends, to which Wolverine responds that he is the Master Assassin, and that he has no friends. He intends to kill Kurt, when his claws are telekinetically restrained. Jean reveals herself to be back to full power, and tells him he's wrong on both counts. He is not the "Master Assassin of The Hand", and he does have friends. "One of whom loves you more then her own life!"
 Logan states that she's human, and when he cuts her, she'll bleed, "and then you'll scream!" Jean tells him that her heart reaches out to his, what exists between them will not be denied. Jean tells him "It brought me to you, now let it bring your true self back to life, and to me." Logan is freed from his Master Assassin persona, and returned to his friends.
Much later, after the heroes have tied up the mess, and their prisoners have been handed over to S.H.I.E.L.D., Kitty comments to Jean and Logan, that The Hand had things very well covered, since, “asfar as Fury and S.H.I.E.L.D. could tell, You guys were just fine." Logan comments that their friends "knew better" and Jubilee notes that they're not just team-mates, they're family. Nightcrawler adds that they felt something was amiss, and when Kitty couldn't raise them via comlink, nor Betsy via telepathy, they decided to check things out for themselves. Psylocke asks if Jean and Logan care for a lift home? Logan comments saying that they'll make their own way.
As Logan and Jean watch their friends fly home, Logan comments that Jean saved them, and Jean states he would've done the same for her, or any of the other X-Men. Logan states that "it's a whole lot more than that, Jean. You read minds, I read bodies, trust me I know." Jean blushes. Wolverine comments "See. Made ya blush."
Jean asks Logan "if we follow our hearts, how do we know it'll lead to a happy ending?" Logan simply states how he sees it, "Only one sure way to find out. Can you turn your back on the truth, Jean? Will you live the rest of your life as a lie, because you were afraid?" Jean responds with a one word answer.
"No."
Jean and Logan come together in a passionate embrace, with Jean acknowledging that "this is my choice."


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

[Assistant]
Can love find a way? (1st story)
But what about vengeance? (2nd story)
Chandilar, the Shi’ar capital planet, where a scientist informs Empress Lilandra that the evidence is incontrovertible. When Charles Xavier went trolling through the royal archives he left a miniscule breach in the cybernetic security wall that the War Skrulls were later able to exploit, with grievous cost to the empire.
Will both those names haunt them forever? Gladiator, Praetor of the Imperial Guard, sears. Lilandra orders him to have a care and reminds him that one of those names is that of her royal consort and her beloved. But the other while masquerading as Charles nearly brought down the empire.
The advisor asks whether they can be sure that when the X-Men came to their aid they liberated the right Charles Xavier. Regardless of what she believes, they have to be sure, Lilandra admits and orders Gladiator to alert the Imperial Guard. Once more they must return to Earth.
Summers Cove Alaska:
Enjoying the beautiful wilderness are Scott Summers and his guest Charles Xavier, who is surprised that Scott invited him here after all that happened, especially with Hank. And very… grateful.
It’s not like he hasn’t made his share of bonehead mistakes, Scott points out. The fact is he is who he is in large part because of Charles. He is as much his family as Alex and Corsair and his Gran. That means they help. Some wounds can’t be healed, Charles replies darkly. But you can learn to live with them, Scott insists.
That moment, Scott’s son Nate joins them, clearly excited, telling them he just saw the coolest thing. A snowball that hits Scott’s head soon makes it clear what Nate is referring to. Namely the arrival of Iceman on an iceslide, together with his girlfriend Opal Tanaka, teammate Archangel and his girlfriend Officer Charlotte Jones (complete with her X-Men uniform). Scott happily greets his friends, glad to see they finally accepted his invitation. Nate happily greets “Aunt” Charlotte, who states when a cop saves a boy’s life, especially on the moon, that makes an unbreakable bond between them.
Warren notes that Charles looks strained. He’s had better days, Charles admits and remarks that Warren isn’t using his image inducer. Warren replies that his friends see him as he is, with his true face, not as he wishes he might be.
As they head to the house, Nate asks Charlotte about her X-costume. Does she also have a codename? Detective lieutenant Foxy? Bobby suggests. His girlfriend Opal playfully warns him.
As they enter, Charlotte remarks that the first time she saw this place was when Scott and she brought Nate back from the moon. She is a city girl but she fell in love with it at first sight. Charles agrees.
Inside, already waiting are Scott’s grandmother, his brother Havok, Havok’s girlfriend Polaris and Starjammers Hepzibah and Sikorsky. They happily great each other when suddenly Nate gets a faraway look and announces he is hearing voices inside his head. They are really angry. They are coming… they are here!
Meanwhile at Xavier’s school, Jean Grey is in a video conference with her teammates Nightcrawler and Rogue. Those two inadvertently went through a power switch recently and are now spending time at Excalibur’s lighthouse, where Betsy Braddock and Kurt are helping Rogue trying to handle her new body.
How is everyone else? Rogue asks. All’s well, Jean tells them. Scott and the Professor are away. Nick Fury commandeered the professor’s office for a conference with Sabretooth. Remy’s in the Danger Room helping Kitty adapt to her claw while ‘Ro and Lockheed are keeping score.
Suddenly, however, all the X-Men at Xavier’s mansion, as well as Sabretooth, ‘Ro and Lockheed, are teleported away to find themselves in  what appears to be a spaceship which Kitty and Gambit recognize as the Starjammer. What the devil’s a Starjammer? Sabretooth inquires sourly. A starship sent by Scott’s father and his team of privateers, Jean translates. However, she isn’t detecting any thoughts aboard other than theirs. Either the ship is empty or the crew is cloaking themselves.
Gambit suggests they go to the bridge while Sabretooth snarls those fools better have a good explanation for this stunt. ‘Ro announces she and Lockheed will protect him.
On the bridge, they find Charlotte Jones, Scott’s grandmother, Nate, Opal and Sikorsky. Jean greets Charlotte and Sikorsky quickly explains matters. The Starjammer is submerged offshore within the fjord Summers Cove. The vessel’s tail is masquerading as its local lighthouse; in essence the starship is hidden in clear sight. Why are they here? Jean demands. Sikorsky continues that without warning the Shi’ar Imperial Guard appeared at the Summers family residence and attacked.
They are shown a hologram of Cyclops, Iceman, Archangel, Havok and Polaris fighting the Imperials, while Corsair and Hepzibah are already down. “Let’s give them a hand,” Jean decides but she is held back by a forcefield and a telepathic voice. Charles Xavier, who is also aboard, informs her she dare not show herself to the Shi’ar. As far as the empire is concerned, Lilandra saw Jean Grey die! They know nothing of her resurrection. If Jean reveals herself, they’ll assume the remanifestation of Dark Phoenix and react accordingly. This time, they’ll be sure to destroy their entire solar system.
Why are the Shi’ar even here? Jean asks exasperated. The X-Men saved their empire. She thought Charles was Lilandra’s consort. Charles fears he is at fault. While he was with the Shi’ar he searched their archives for any information that might help combat Mutant Burnout. Apparently, his actions allowed the Warskrulls’ clandestine access – with tragic results for the empire. They require he answer for his actions. But first they must stop the battle before anyone else is hurt. Jean will stay with him and telepathically coordinate things while the rest runs into battle.
They are teleported down. Heard they could use some help, Kitty deadpans. No way, they are totally kicking butt, Lorna replies, though the fact she lies exhausted on the ground belies her words. And with that the X-Men hurl themselves into the fray.
Blind and one-handed, Sabretooth still manages to take out Smasher, meaning that he now has to face the giant Titan who intends to stomp on him and squash him. Iceman freezes Titan’s lower leg to slow him down, telling Kitty she has to get Sabretooth out. Still, he wonders, why he is trying to save a guy who not so long ago was an enemy.
Kitty fights her impulse to use her claw and cut off Titan’s foot. But she decides her claw doesn’t define who she is. She manages to phase Sabretooth free.
Iceman finds himself facing the electrobolts of Flashfire but is saved by Havok’s plasma bolts. Havok finds himself under attack by treebranches come to life as a new member of the Guard attacks him. However, Archangel’s bionic wings cut through the branches.
Striking Gladiator, Cyclops tries at the same time to talk some sense into him, reminding him that barely a month ago the X-Men helped save their empire. Gladiator tells him their quarrel is not with him but with Xavier. He has betrayed the empress. That’s crazy! Cyclops protests. Charles loves her. But is he truly Charles? Gladiator points out. Suppose they have been deceived. How do they know he isn’t a Warskrull in disguise?
Havok warns Archangel who is still carrying him of Flashfire who is firing at them. They dodge but he hits the side of the lighthouse, revealing the Starjammer beneath.
Mrs. Summers tells Nate to stay under cover. Farther behind in the Starjammer, Xavier drags Jean aside. He warns her that she must not be seen and begs her to trust him.
Lilandra herself, accompanied by the telepath Oracle, who advises her it’s not safe, enters the structure. Lilandra retorts she counts on Oracle to protect her, though she should have nothing to fear from the man she loves… is that not right, Charles? she calls out though she does not see him. They are bound. She is no telepath, yet she senses his presence as she did from across the gulf of space even before they first met. Why does he hide from her? This battle has gone on long enough. Innocent lives have been hurt. Please let them bring this to an end!
She is going out there, Jean announces telepathically. Now she is talking like Kitty, Charles admonishes her. From his first student he expected better. She knows that showing herself will make things worse. This is not Jean’s moment nor is it her debt that must be paid…
Can Oracle lock in on Charles’ thoughts? Lilandra asks. She is not sure, the albino telepath replies. She senses a presence, but the psionic power signature is far greater than she would have expected even from Xavier.
They are nailed, Jean fears. They will have to fight! Not this time, Charles decides and wheels outside to meet Lilandra. Telepathically, he tells Jean what happened was his fault. He alone will take the responsibility and pay the price. He asks Lilandra to call off her Guard. He yields. Oracle protest there is someone else hiding but Lilalndra tells her to leave it, they have what they came for.
Outside, the fighting stops as Lilandra and Charles come outside. “Just say the word, boss,” Iceman suggests but Scott orders them to stand down and Charles thanks him.
From the beginning, he has taught them all to have the courage to take responsibility for their actions. It is fitting that the same rule applies for him. Is this why they saved the Shi’ar Empire? Scott asks bitterly, so they can kick the X-Men in the gut? Even heroes must abide by the rule of law, Lilandra replies. The crime may have been unwitting, but lives were lost because of it and must be answered for. Charles is her consort. He will not suffer. But he knows too much about their state – about its secrets and defenses. They dare not allow that knowledge to be seized by their adversaries. He will remain among the Shi’ar and with her from now until the ending of his life.
Is he sure about this? Scott asks Xavier. Will he start an interstellar war to save one man? Charles jokes. They were ready to do it for Jean, remember? Scott points out. Fortunately, the ending of his story is slightly happier, Charles points out. They all knew this day would come. It’s the most basic fact of life. His school and his dream are now Scott’s… he cannot imagine them in better hands.
Kitty hugs him. She knows where the starship’s parked. Maybe someday soon she and Lockheed will drop by for a surprise visit. They can all look up that space whale they rescued. That would be lovely Charles replies.
It is time, Lilandra urges. Charles wheels into the spaceship. Jean telepathically contacts him. Nothing more need be said, he tells her, especially, with so many minds around them. She loves him, Jean telepathically calls after him as the spaceship starts.
Now she and Nate can come out. It was the right call, Scott assures her. Just like Hank, she muses. Just like Logan. It was the only call, Scott insists. Her head agrees with him, but her heart just won’t stop breaking. Not the first time, he tells her, probably not for the last. It is the price they pay for the life they’ve chosen. They are the X-Men They fight for the world and for its future whether humanity likes them to or not.
2nd story:
Shortly after the battle in near Earth space. In a computer hall, a woman in communication with someone announces that she is stepping forward to claim her rightful position on the Consortium directorate. She awaits his report.
The commander explains they are using clandestine operatives within the SHIELD infrastructure to handle the mission. As far as the Americans are concerned, they are working for them. And the station itself? she asks. Trask’s weapons? The mutant neutralizer has been completely destroyed, she it told, as have the Neo-Sentinels. Of them, there is nothing left. The station crew was allowed the opportunity to evacuate. There are some casualties under the care of their medical personnel. Confirmed fatalities include Tony Stark and Hank McCoy. They were aboard the station when it blew.
What about the station? she asks. Total destruction, she is informed. She opens another channel, asking a doctor for good news. The doctor and his medical team tell her it’s a miracle the woman survived. Will she live? the woman asks. Impossible to say at this time but they are doing everything they can. The woman is sure their patient has fought too hard to give up. She requires a full work-up on her specs. She wishes to see precisely what this woman is made of.
Another channel, this time she addresses SHIELD’s G.W Bridge. He asks if she has any orders. She replies she thinks the time has come to remove both Director Fury and those accursed X-Men from the equation, for once an all. Listen carefully, this is how they’ll do it…
And so, in due course… Steve Rogers reads the Daily Bugle’s obituary on Tony Stark. He’s used to death, even the death of friends. But knowing a thing doesn’t make it any easier to bear, he muses. The Beast too, but this is different. He and Stark, Captain America and Iron Man, have been through so much together, he just though the man’s luck would never run out.
That moment, his cell phone beeps. It’s Jarvis’ caller idea. The Avengers’ butler informs him there is a priority call for the whole team.
Steve returns to Avengers Mansion, where Jarvis is expecting him. Jarvis explains that the communiqué came directly from command echelons of SHIELD, Deputy Director Bridge. Anyone call Fury? Steve asks. Given the presence of telepaths among the X-Men, it was felt this might be unwise, Jarvis replies. Changing into his Captain America uniform, Steve asks if Bridge is accusing the X-Men of murder? Jarvis evasively replies that his evidence seems formidable. Does he believe him? Cap asks. He is merely a… Jarvis begins. Don’t give him that, Steve retorts. Jarvis is as much a part of this team as he is. What does Jarvis think? That they need answers. A foolish move now will have tragic consequences.
Captain America joins the team, currently made up of himself, Hawkeye, the second Spider-Woman, Thor, Vision and the mutant twins, Quicksilver and the Scarlet Witch. They have all read the file, Steve begins. If it is to be believed, the X-Men are no longer to be trusted. Like they ever were? Hawkeye snorts. Hank was the only one of them ever to come out in the open and look what they did to him! The Scarlet Witch reminds Hawkeye that many of them have checkered pasts. And have the X-Men ever taken responsibility for it? Quicksilver retorts, they have not! Which is why the Avengers are going to confront them, Cap finishes, to find out the truth and, if necessary, make the X-Men answer for what they have done!