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Here Comes Tomorrow - part 2
(flashback)On the shore of their city, the Proud People calmly stand ready for battle. Not alone, they are joined by Tom Skylark and his robotic partner, the Sentinel known as Rover. From across the waves that lap upon their shore, the Proud People hear the bellowing words, demanding that they surrender the Starlit City. This… is how they died.
Hovering above the waters, some distance from shore, a figure clad head to toe in white calls out to the Proud People. The figure wields a spear, which seems to possess technological traits. His stationary position upon the sea is the result of similar technology, a luminous jetpack. Upon the figure’s chest is an emblem of an angel. Now, having delivered his ultimatum, the figure announces that he is Apollyon the destroyer and he commands them. He is justly named for his swift wrath, he continues. Homo perfectus has come; herald of the Beast almighty!
Some distance away, a mighty baleen whale named Mer-Max speaks telepathically to the Proud People. In a thick Scottish brogue, he tells his friends that he has to dive for Megamerica and shut down his “far-speaking.” On his last words, he informs them that armies of Crawlers are approaching on an ancient ship… and for them to take care of themselves. Back at the shore, Apollyon reaches out his hand menacingly, demanding that they surrender the Phoenix egg.
Hearing this, a hammer-wielding man shouts back, brandishing his weapon. Identifying himself as the Maker, he informs Apollyon that these Intereuropa islands are free. His ship will go no further. Nearby, Tom Skylark watches the proceedings. He stands atop a building, so as to not only give himself a better view but to put him at eye level with Rover. When Rover announces his assessment of the situation with a monotone destroy, Tom rejoins that he will have his chance soon enough. He just doesn’t like the way this is all shaping up. Suddenly noticing something, Tom rhetorically asks what is all that appearing around Apollyon.
Still offshore, Apollyon replies to the Maker’s statement, explaining that he misunderstands him. He gives him the endless armies of the Beast. As Apollyon speaks, hundreds of Crawlers appear out of brimstone clouds, having teleported from the approaching ship. These crawlers, unlike some others, bear giant feathery wings and begin to close the gap between Apollyon and the shore. Calling out his orders, Apollyon commands the Crawlers to die for them. In their huddled thousands… die.
Back at his lookout point, Tom Skylark places his helmet upon his head, all the while telling Rover that he can’t do this. He can’t fly out on everybody… Trying to ease Tom’s fears, one of the Proud People, a young woman, finishes the task of affixing the Phoenix egg on the back of Rover and tells him to get it to safety… or she’ll tell his mum.
Another youth, a redheaded girl with a seemingly innocuous walking stick calls out to one of her compatriots on a flying automobile. Yelling to the “driver,” Brian, she tells him to walk out for the Crawlers. Responding with a smirk, he asks her if she really thinks so. To this, he adds that his magic car is more than a match for any winged monkey-man. Less than a moment later, Brian thinks twice about what he just said, quietly stating that he didn’t mean that in a speciesist way…
Brian’s worries turn to fear as he notices that the approaching Crawlers have reached his car and have begun to tear it apart. As his car begins a nosedive, the redheaded girl informs Tom and Rover that the Phoenix egg is secure. Go, Rover! Go! Her order given, she jumps into battle with her partner, who asks if she remembers how they said they’d live forever…
Behind them, Rover gently encloses Tom in his two palms. This task completed, it activates its boot-rockets and begins to ascend into the night sky, leaving the Proud People and the attacking Crawlers behind. Watching this blood fest through Rover’s open fingers, Tom asks that may the Lord help them all. Growing ever more distant to Tom’s eyes, the Proud People fight on, though hopelessly outnumbered. Slowly and inexorably, they fall to the relentless assault of the Crawlers.
(present)Recounting the story, Tom informs his audience that plumes of sulphur, miles high, drifted north ahead of the Crawler hordes… That’s how he ended up at the Institute, since they happened to ask. Having heard the whole tale now, one of the gathered kids asks if it is make-believe or real. Well, Tom replies, he’s only gone and lost the bleedin’ egg they all died for, hasn’t he? Does the shame on his face look like make-believe?
Another of the children, a juvenile with a third eye in his forehead, tells the nearby E.V.A. that humans are creepy. Hearing this, Tom tells the first youth, a young girl, that he’s only joking. Some brave people go down in the fight but good always wins in the end. Replying with sheer innocence, the young girl asks Tom if he’s totally sure. Current statistical thinking, she informs him, suggests otherwise.
Story-time now over, the children return to their play, leaving behind a confused Tom Skylark. Making a joke at E.V.A., he asks her if children aren’t lovely at that age. Now in her female android form, E.V.A. informs Tom that they’ve had to change their plans, obviously. Everyone’s preparing for the worst. They have to attack the Beast directly now. Immediately. The Three-In-One has spoken and his presence in their X-Men until would be most valued. Adding a final note, she tells Tom that he can have his antique Sentinel back, disinfected, of course.
His mind back to what happened before, Tom apologizes again about losing the egg. This said, he tells E.V.A. that he’s good with machines. He gets on with them and… well… he can tell she’s unhappy. Unfulfilled, like. Sensing Tom’s intentions, E.V.A. replies that the sensations and processes he knows as “feelings” are interpreted very differently by her conscious network, whatever he might think. Since Fantomex and… and what happened… she’s denied herself intimate contact with another nervous system.
Taken aback, Tom reminds E.V.A. that he’s only a human being… one of the last few thousand left in the whole world. He’s about to get intimate with extinction. He can say what he likes. To this, E.V.A. stammers out an apology, stating that she hopes it won’t come to that. What, Tom rejoins. Intimacy or death?
Calling out to Rover, Tom asks his “useless great lump of scrap” if he is alright. Towering high above Tom and E.V.A., Rover continues his self-repair, welding close a wound, and replies with a slurred dest… RRR… Hearing this, E.V.A. jokes to Tom that Rover sounds almost heartbroken – she thinks he loves Tom. To this, Tom replies simply that Rover doesn’t have a heart. Enough now having been said, E.V.A. suggests to Tom that they go. The others are waiting and the hour grows late.
In the Cerebra chamber, the three remaining Stepford Cuckoos sisters, now called the Three-In-One, chant in unison. Whole genomes will be enslaved. Evolution will grind to a halt. The future will belong to mass-produced biological conformity. All their struggles will have been in vain. If the Phoenix chooses to serve the Beast… if he chooses to attack them with her power at his disposal… there will be no tomorrow.
As the sisters chant their information, Logan stands nearby, moving in the slow motion movements of Tai Chi. Ignoring Logan’s movements, just as he seems to be ignoring them, the Three-In-One state that the Phoenix Egg is there at the end of all things. So it is written. So it has come to pass.
Wooo, spooky, announces Cassandra Nova Xavier, as she enters the chamber. She’s afraid that it’s much worse than that. Consider this, she states: what happens when the Beast codes Phoenix traits into his armies? Or into himself? They can’t attack Transatlantis soon enough, she says. The X-Men, champions of genetic diversity… Charles would have been so proud.
Turning her head in thought, Cassandra considers something for a moment. She tells the sisters that she had dreams. Dreams with them in it… This was never meant to be, was it? Something went terribly wrong… To this, she asks the girls to tell her the truth. What do they really see when they look at the future without flinching. A fire from beyond, they reply. Consuming fire. The judgment of the Phoenix. Finally speaking, now that his exercises are done, Logan tells the ladies that, “talking’s done.”
On the rain-soaked tarmac, standing in the shadow of the X-Plane, Cassandra addresses her “troops.” She is dressed in her English safari outfit, including the hardhat. In her hands she holds the transparent sphere containing the brain of Martha Johansson. Speaking to her troops, Cassandra informs them that the menace of the Beast unites them all… mutants, men, machines… and, she continues, gesturing to what she holds in her hands, let them not forget dear old Martha’s marvellous brain. The engine of their war-glider. Now, she states in conclusion, who are they waiting for?
Almost in jest, the Beak asks “Missis Xavier” to guess, but then promptly notices the approaching Logan. As the former X-Man nears, Cassandra takes a moment to instruct “Tito” to call her Cassandra Nova. It’s so what her brother would have wanted. The group assembled, Logan, Cassandra (who carries Martha), Beak, E.V.A., Tom Skylark and Rover walk toward the X-plane, cheered on by the crowd.
In his island fortress in Transatlantis, the Beast announces that the Proud People lie on dissecting tables. Intereuropa island is being converted for genetic processing… and their ships are preparing to set sail for Megamerica. All is as it should be.
Placing his goggles down upon his eyes, the Beast moves toward his genetic forge. Calling out to Apollyon, the Beast informs him that he pulled this parasite from the head of a Crawler… it was trying to reproduce there, in his thoughts. As he places the beaker over the open flame of his forge, the Beast hears Apollyon talk about their remaining enemies: the Megamerica nations and the Termid tribes of the Panafrican Basin… The Beast, however, silences him, explaining that this is a delicate and dangerous work. He thinks he’ll call them “feeders.”
Returning to a different subject, Apollyon wrings his hands in nervousness, telling the Beast that he is the last and the greatest of his U-Men. He was made to be perfect. In reply, the Beasts states that, as this fallen world is, so must he be. When this world is perfected, then he will turn his attention to him, Apollyon. But until then… Still not satisfies, Apollyon whispers his lament, asking if he must remain broken, unfinished. Can’t he have frontal lobe grafts? All his life he’s dreamed of Phoenix grafts…
Unmoved, the Beast replies that paradise advances, one step at a time. Returning his attention to his now heated “feeder,” the Beast announces that they evolved only recently to fill a specialized niche. He begins to move the beaker toward a containment sphere, which holds captive a young woman of the Proud People. Calling her Corona, princess of the Proud People, the Beast says that, surely, a high-level, inquiring telepathic intellect like hers finds this filthy creature as fascinating as it finds her. His malicious joke made, he presses the feeder through the containment sphere.
Immediately, the bulbous creature sprouts forth dozens of tentacles, which begin to burrow themselves into Corona’s brain. Snarling that he is not so proud now, the Beast states that fifteen seconds after the feeder implants its larvae, they begin to eat the thoughts of the host. Imagine such traits in a Crawler. This experiment now concluded, the Beast orders Apollyon to follow; the time of the hatching draws near!
Entering a new chamber, the Beast finds the Phoenix Egg on a center pedestal. The luminescent egg in the center glows ever brighter and brighter, as it is fed by the optic blasts of numerous Crawlers, which hangs from various positions in the chamber. As they pour on more and more energy, the Beast yells for more, ordering the egg to incubate! Incubate! Arise!
Suddenly, the egg explodes in flame, turning the entire chamber into an inferno. When the flames subside, only the Beast is left, aside from that which was in the egg. Returning to his feet, the Beast likewise orders the silvery being at the center of the flames to likewise arise. He welcomes it back from the ashes… weapon of cosmic war in human form. In nervous, halting words, the Beast welcomes it to his world.
From the wavelands of the Pacificate to the deserts of Panafrika. From Extralia to Megamerica. Older than life, older than the oldest thing, he is. Undying Beast. Reaching out his clawed hand, the Beast tells the silvery creature that he has waited for it for three billion years. When the creature takes the Beast’s hand, it causes it to burn. However, rather than recoil, the Beast uses his other hand to clasp the creature’s, which has now emerged to be a woman.
Now speaking, the woman apologizes in an ethereal voice. She was in the crown… in the white hot room… in… what… what is she? Did she have something to fix, something that was dying? How long has it been since… since…
Finally looking into the Beast’s eyes and recognizing his animalistic visage, the woman asks if he is Henry. “Is it you?” Hearing this, the Beast repeats the name of Henry, almost in remembrance himself. And Beast, he adds. But… he has another name now. Cradling the now inert and unconscious yet still-flaming woman, the Beast tells his ultimate soldier, his destroyer of worlds, to call him… Sublime.


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Here Comes Tomorrow - part 3: We All Have to Die Sometime
(150 years from today)The area of the world known as Panafrika, the gigantic, insectoid Terminds herd their cattle through the desolate landscape to their city built on the mountainside. Though lacking all appearance of intelligent beings, their insect bodies owing more to the long extinct dinosaurs rather than tiny invertebrates, the six-legged creatures speak in their clicking tongue, depicting their true intellect.
High above, a few of their flying brethren escort a humanoid, who is able to soar without wings. They escort the humanoid into their city from the air, answering the questions he asks in their clicking language with their own. While some distance away, the man sees a bright light through his helmet, which has been manufactured to look like the proportionately-sized eyes of an insect. The light, he sees, originates from a flaming woman who has appeared before the Termid queen, who lounges upon a throne of eggs she has laid. The human has only time to speak her name, Phoenix, before the entire area is obliterated by her fiery fury.
Amid the white-hot remains of what was once the city, the flaming woman hovers, her legs crossed as if she were sitting on a floor. A short distance before her, a skull speaks to her, explaining that, as X-Men ambassador to the Multitude, he has to… The skull’s voice trails, as it comes to a startling realization. Asked by the skull if he is dead, Phoenix explains that he’s undergoing radical atomic deconstruction. She has suspended the process so that she can study it.
Continuing, she tells the X-Man, calling him Bumbleboy, that his physical body is too frail to survive the experience but his consciousness is healthy and will shortly experience total absorption into the white hot room. Bumbleboy’s skull stammers out a response, stating that it’s not so bad once you get used to it. Like he’s done this before… or he’s still doing it again… or… Phoenix interrupts him, explaining that he was always there, waiting for himself to arrive.
(Transatlantis)In his laboratory, the Beast explains that it was 530 million years ago… an explosion of outlandish new species, all fighting for dominance of the Cambrain oceans, all gone within a short span of millennia. Thanks, to him, he states… if he recalls correctly.
Continuing his story, the Beast tells Apollyon that, now, the human flame has all but guttered, Mother Nature squats and labors and brings forth another obscene parade of unknown, experimental lifeforms. He stood alone against the tide of gross creation… until now, Apollyon. Until Phoenix! Apollyon explains. Once, he would have delivered his wrath to the Termids, he tells the “Great Beast.” Once he…
Interrupting his U-Man, the Beast rejoins that his allies are carefully selected. Some, like him, are strong messengers of a better world to come. Others play host to primordial powers he will never comprehend… while some are simply blind predators, stillborn in the sewers of nightmare, like this feeder here. Its name evoked, a small, multi-limbed creature begins to emerge from a glowing beaker.
Turning his back to this latest experiment and moving to another chamber, the Beast continues, stating that each, from the highest to the lowest, has a part to play in the final purification of things. Apollyon should try not to overestimate his own role. Following his master, Apollyon cries out that, if Phoenix’s memory returns, she will betray him in an instant. He should graft her brain to his before she uses it against him! Now speaking more softly, Apollyon asks how many times does he have to beg him to make him whole?
Entering a new chamber, massive in size and containing thousands of still gestating Crawlers, Beast asks Apollyon if he were to lead the charge against Xavier’s Institute, where would the irony be then? She was their last hope! Their redeemer, the Phoenix from the ashes! Instead, she will erase them all… his black, annihilating bride. There can be no resistance to the power they have woken.
Approaching a spherical device, which opens like a clamshell, revealing a Crawler, the Beast command the computers to load feeder traits. After a moment of energy courses through the Crawler, the Beast commands that it on its feet. He declares that it was bred for strength, not survival. It must go do its short life’s work in his name… deliver his vengeance! The process begun, the Beast announces that he who controls the genepool controls the future. Begin the day, he commands. Send in his ships.
(The Institute)Inside the Cerebra chamber, one of the Three-In-One wears the Cerebra helmet and has an awful realization. Something bad has happened in Panafrika, she informs her sisters - a flaw in creation. Worrying about her sister, one of the others warns Celeste that her synapses are fusing again. Telling this sister, Phoebe, that she felt it too, the third sister says she senses wings of black flame. Crawler incoming!
With an explosion of brimstone and a loud bamf!, a crowd of Institute citizens are blown off their feet with the arrival of a teleporting Crawler. Unlike the previous ones, lithe in appearance, this one is hulking and muscular, and takes in his arrival with guttural grunts.
As the Crawler takes in his surroundings, the populace takes stock of the new arrival. One young woman, named Koo-Koo, realizes that the creature burst both lungs coming through the shield. Why’d it do that? Not caring, a young man tells her to get her telepathy out of its mind. They don’t know where it’s been! Beginning to form a sphere of energy, which he calls a plasmasphere, the man asks that they let him handle it. Koo-Koo, however, is unsure, as she realizes that something came through its eyes… She remembers.
As the Crawler now begins to growl, sparking with energy, another citizen yells out to the rest to get inside; mindshield up! Obeying the order to enter a shelter, Koo-Koo disobeys the other, still staring at the Crawler, muttering to herself. He fell… he fell like that time… on his knees… that day they all fell on the stairs. Confused, another citizen looks at Koo-Koo as if she has lost her mind, asking her what he is talking about. With new, vacant eyes, Koo-Koo replies that she can still smell those stairs. They were soooo hungry…
(Transatlantis)In the Beast’s tower fortress, Phoenix makes her report, stating that the Extinction Sequence was carried out swiftly and painlessly… as instructed. The Termid species had an inbuilt genetic obsolescence… no future, no loss. Now holding up the skull of Bumbleboy, Phoenix states that these creatures are different.
Holding the skull up to her face, Phoenix instructs it to tell the Beast what he told her. “X-Men.” As he drops the skull into the Beast’s waiting hand, she asks, “What is X-Men?” At first, the skull is confused but, upon reaching the clawed hand of the Beast, it says it remembers. The memory is forever silenced, however, as the Beast crushes it with his hand.
In answer to Phoenix’s question, the Beast states that they are their enemies. The diverse, the strange ones, the crooked masses of Megamerica, forever breeding and multiplying into new and more lethal forms. He told her about them. Xavier’s men.
Hearing this, Phoenix states that she thinks that she came out of the egg too soon. The incubation, she tells “Henry,” is very important. She’s not sure if what she’s doing is… is correct procedure. Wasn’t he a doctor once? Or was that… was that someone else?
Giving a short growl, the Beasts bellows that swarming millions… each faster, stronger, more adaptive, more immune than the last. Giving birth to creatures like her, introducing cosmic strands into the global genebase. The mutants, he tells her, have become immortal, unstoppable supermen if left unchecked. He had to make them fight. He had to protect himself somehow. He refuses death! He denies extinction!
(the Atlantic Ocean)Rising from the water as if in flight, a gigantic baleen whale rises into the air, releases its lungs of stale air, and returns to the medium of the ocean, where it lives its life. Unlike other whales that do the same, however, this is the mutant known as Mer-Max, who telepathically calls out in a Scottish brogue with an “Endangered species alert!” and asks where’s its rendezvous.
Once again in the water, Mer-Max tries to dive, in order to avoid the explosions of the depth charges fired at him. Calling out again telepathically, Mer-Max declares that he is tired and sore and out of porpoise jokes. Is there anybody out there? High above, a ship of the Beast’s Crawlers cackle with laughter, as one of their number fires a harpoon and line at the mutant, missing him only slightly. Having been missed only barely, Mer-Max telepathically declares that they’ll make tallow and soap of him. Help!
As Crawlers, carried aloft with leathery wings, begin to approach with harpoon guns, another telepathic voice asks whoever heard of an 80-ton crybaby whale? Hearing this, the host of Crawlers pause their hunt and look back into the darkened horizon, which is obscured by storm-clouded night. Psychic screamers, begins the voice, save the whale.
Out of the night, the X-plane roars, scattering the host of airborne Crawlers like ninepins. Even the Crawlers aboard the nearby ship hold their ears in pain, deafened by the sound of the jet. Following the plane from the dark of the night, Rover holds out its palm-weapon, aimed at the Crawlers, and announces his intentions with a definitive destroy.
Aboard the X-plane, Cassandra Nova eyes her “co-pilot,” Martha Johansson, and notes their situation. Martha, with her deluxe Alzheimer’s, her in a synthetic alien body that’s light years from the nearest bloody spare part. The old team’s still got wiggle, eh? As Martha’s container is hooked into the controls of the plane, so is Cassandra, from her synthetic body’s fingers attached to the controls. She tells Martha to engage the artillery. Asked a silent question, Cassandra tells Martha that, of course, she can still call her Ernst. He was her favorite artist. “Europe after the rain;” she still loves that one. Like some sad memory of a future that never happened.
Nearby, another pair of X-Men, Tito “the Beak” and Logan approach the Crawler ship by air. As they near, the Beak asks Logan if he gets to do the “fastball special.” Given a quick “yep” by Logan, Tito asks in turn if he knows how much the fastball special means to him. When Logan orders him to just do it, Tito does so, now declaring that he’s ready to kick the grim reaper’s boo-tay! Seconds later, Logan arrives on the deck of the ship and begins to swiftly make short work of every Crawler in his claws’ reach. His fight is likewise joined by the arrival of Rover, Tom Skylark and E.V.A., all of whom begin to make their way through the host of Crawlers.
The battle soon gives way to a pause, during which Tom and E.V.A. exchange hugs. This does not go unnoticed by Rover, who bellows out a confused and interrogative destroy? Rover’s gaze goes unnoticed by Tom, who asks E.V.A. to listen to him – this could be the last bleedin’ day of his life and… and, well, he has to tell her something just in case… Despite E.V.A.’s protestations, Tom continues, telling her that she just saved his life and…
Tom halts his intentions as he notices small clouds of purple brimstone appear around Rover, who is oblivious to all but Tom and E.V.A.’s embrace. Calling out to his partner, Tom tells him to watch it, calling him a dozy great dummy. Rover manages only to give another interrogative destroy before a horde of leather-winged Crawlers, armed with energy weapons, appear around his head and begin to fire. Rover’s head begins to crackle with released energy and his legs buckle. As he falls to the deck of the ship, Rover managed to call out a final word, which is Tommmmmm.
Standing among the corpses of Crawlers, who, until just recently, had held the room, Logan reports that the bridge is secure. Further, he tells them to inform the Institute that they ain’t got nothing to worry about if this leaky ol’ whaler’s the pride of the invasion fleet. That said, he asks where’re his telepaths.
Outside, Tom watches with tear-filled eyes, as Rover falls over the side of the ship and into the ocean. Yelling into his watch, which acts as a communicator, Tom orders Rover to respond. Realizing that that is impossible, he begins to sob, pleading with him repeatedly to come back. Fathoms below and descending, Rover uncontrollably dives deeper. His processor is barely able to compute his situation; error not error… leave error… error not error.
Nearby, Tito announces that he isn’t going to get far without them – Martha left a bad station-wagon-sized hole in the boat. They’re all going to be a submarine double act if they hand around too long. Suddenly, Tito notices something one the horizon and asks that he is looking at. His words are not heard by E.V.A. or Tom, who is emotionally venting about how, all his life, Rover raised him… he brought him food when he was a baby… she wouldn’t understand. Trying her best to comfort Tom, E.V.A. tells him to not blame himself…
Watching this from the bridge, Logan mutters to himself that this is never easy, is it? Calling out to Beak, he asks where’s all that light coming from. Visual! Mocking the order of “visual,” Tito asks if he knows the old bombastic battle plan, with all seven of them X-Men storming Transatlantis and saving the world from the menace of genetic tyranny… well, it looked a whole lot better before the sun came up.
Looking over the horizon, Tito sees dozens of heavily armed vessels approaching, from which thousands of winged Crawlers are flying toward their position. Brandishing his claws, ready for battle, Logan states that that ain’t the sun. This said, he tells all the X-Men to make peace with God.
(the Institute)Still in the Cerebra chamber, trying their best to do what they can, the Three-In-One take stock of the situation. What have they missed, asks one. There’s something… The Phoenix can do anything, another states. She can… she can blind Cerebra? There’s a hole, the third declares. Just a little hole at first… a hurt with one remedy…
Outside the chamber, one of the Institute’s defenders declares that they need everybody on the wall. He also orders for somebody to let those telepaths out of the bunker. Another defender, a woman with Angelic wings on her back, asks for someone to send a couple of there. There’s some kind of weird scar in the atmosphere somewhere… can’t anyone else feel it? Descending to the ground, she looks into the sky, telling people that she needs some telepaths to confirm a luminous presence… coming this way. Oh, Professor, she whispers to herself, look after them in their hour of need. Take care of your people.
Suddenly, rain begins to pour from the sky but it immediately causes disgust from the people on which it falls. Speaking through the rainy night, a telepathic voice states that something just climbed into its face… it can’t… Suddenly, the angelic female makes a realization: the rain that falls is not water, but blood. Blood which now cascades off of the giant statue of Xavier. Suddenly, the crowd goes mad and begins to claws at he woman, who tries in vain to ascend into the sky. Feeder. Mind. Eat. cries out telepathic voices. Feeder. Hungry Feeder. Grow.
Inside the Cerebra chamber, the Three-In-One reel at the mental attack. And it all comes crashing down, one states. Splitting hole, another yells. Sew it up… before… before… Phoenix fire. X-Men emergency, the third yells. It wants to eat the world and they can’t stop it!
Is that so, Logan asks, staring up at the fiery visage floating before him. It is the Phoenix, her entire body aflame and her hair a blazing inferno. She is naked, save for leggings and a Phoenix emblem, which covers her bosom, and gloves, which extend past her elbow. Looking up at this visage of death reborn, Logan gives a playful “Mornin’, Jeannie,” and states that he sees she came dressed for a tussle…


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Here Comes Tomorrow - part 4: Rescue… and Emergency
(3 billion years ago)The cataclysmic primal screams of the newborn Earth woke them. And they knew themselves as one mind. Self-aware, immortal. Sublime.
They were “dominant species.” When carbon slime colonies and bacterial mats gorged themselves on abundant hydrogen and were idiot emperors of the dawnworld, they hid and they thrived in the undergrowth of tangled DNA. They bartered their genetic innovations with increasingly more organized lifeforms… plants, insects, lizards, mammals. They were “dominant species.” Primordial sequence. Alpha gene. Sublime.
(present)Looking at a small vial of purple liquid, the Beast continues his self-history, explaining that even humanity, the “crown of creation,” had no defense against them… he imagined he ruled the world. But they lived inside him… invisible, unchallenged, unrecognized… until the birth of the mutant children. Until Homo superior. A new lifeform, born in a marvelous collision of radiant atoms and broken chromosomes. These mutants, with their potential to breed strong, invulnerable offspring, were the first real threat to their eternal dominion.
Taking his eyes off of the vial and onto Apollyon, who lies curled in a fetal position on the floor, the Beast asks if he’s listening to this. Trying to return to his feet, Apollyon reminds the Beast that he promised an end to his pain! He said he would be made whole! Ignoring his U-Man, the Beast continues, stating that he had to infect them with aggression, had to divert their great energies into mindless conflict. Locked in perpetual struggle, they could never breed, their population could never grow to threaten them with extinction.
Finally managing to rise, Apollyon calls upon “Great Beast,” and points out that he’s served him for so long as his swift messenger. He’s endured agonies of mind and body… he’s longed to take off this spacesuit and walk, naked and free, on perfected soil. Let him taste the Phoenix blood and feel again.
Still ignoring his servant, the Beasts states that the supermen fight and die and return in a meaningless shadowplay because they make them do it. Finally speaking to Apollyon and his fears, the Beast tells him to have patience. Their eugenic Eden is almost born, when all will be as they will it.
In his laboratory, the Beast finishes his preparations for his latest machine. Carefully, he places the small vial of purple liquid in a slot. The precious blood of the Phoenix, he announces. The ultimate mutation. Telekinetic godhood… in a jar, at last.
Seeing this, Apollyon yells out in protest, reminding the Beast that he promised it was for him, not for himself! Him! He promised! Standing in the middle of chamber, bare-chested and surrounded by robotically controlled limbs with syringes of Phoenix blood, the Beast growls his response, announcing to Apollyon that he lied! He will never be whole! The power is his alone! One rule! Survival of the… The Beast is unable to finish his sentence, as the robotic limbs insert themselves and inject their contents into his body. In the glorious pain of victory, the Beast growls uncontrollably.
(mid-Atlantic drift)Shining like a beacon, the Phoenix hovers over the deck of the vessel Logan’s X-Men have commandeered, along with the rest of the X-Men. Pleading her case, Phoenix explains that the “kindly Beast” is trying to help them pass with dignity. Extinction is part of the cycle of natural growth and death. New life will come.
Addressing the Phoenix as Jeannie, Logan asks her to give him a break with the hoo-ha. Hank was a doctor, he reminds her. Does “destroy all intelligent life” sound like the sort of idea he’d come up with? The Beast lied to her, he states. That ain’t Henry McCoy; it’s just what’s left of his body. Pondering Logan’s words, Phoenix states that it is strange – he seems representative of a potentially viable species…
Jokingly, Logan replies that it’s nice of her to notice. Her boss has been trying to stop mutants from spreading since they started… He was behind all the U-Men and the Super-Sentinels and nano-viruses and drugs. This said, he tells “Jeannie” to look into his mind. He dares her. X-Men, says Phoenix, speaking the word as if she just learned it. The Beast told her X-Men were lethal variant lifeforms, spreading like… like a genetic sickness across the planet… but… she came to fix something that was dying…
Elsewhere on the deck, E.V.A. calls out to Tom Skylark, who is still looking over the side of the railing, where his friend, Rover, fell into the ocean just minutes before. Calling out to Tom, E.V.A. tells him that the Phoenix is assuming a psychic attack posture. When he replies with a barely vocal “big deal,” E.V.A. rejoins that they have to be ready. For what, he asks. It’s all over. Rover saw them together and… and he thought he was all set to dump him for the latest model and it’s all… nobody knows what they’ve been through, the two of them. He’s nothing without him. The game’s up.
Still trying to make sense to Phoenix, Logan continues his conversation. He tells her that, while these kids don’t know what’s what, she and he, they’ve seen it all before. She ain’t there as anybody’s servant… she’s the Phoenix. She’s an A-grade telekinetic talent tapped into a cosmic power source. But she’s still Jean Grey-Summers.
Taking this in, Phoenix tells Logan that he has such a tricky, intricate mind. Don’t… The words of Phoenix trail as she considers something that popped into her mind, almost as if someone else put it there. Scott? she asks. Logan?
From behind her, the X-plane arrives, screaming through the air with technological fury. Inside the cockpit, Cassandra Nova gently touches the containment vessel holding Martha Johansson’s brain. Telling her to be steady, Cassandra informs Martha that her Shi’ar files tell her the Phoenix consciousness accesses its human host via the so-called Crown Chakra port at the top of the skull.
Speaking now more in retrospect, Cassandra states that she saw it all coming. They’re all going to die but it’s for a good cause… and if she’s learned anything at the Xavier Institute… it’s that a good cause always gives a meaning to a bad death. Returning to the task at hand, Cassandra orders Martha to unplug the Crown.
Phoenix reels from the attack until, suddenly, her flames disappear and she falls to the ground, helpless. Luckily, she is caught by the waiting Logan, who tells her he’s got her. No longer aflame, she is once more Jean, acting as if she was just awoken from a dream, trying to gather her bearings. Stammering out her train of thought, she tells Logan that she was in this huge place… how long? Telling her to shh, Logan replies that it’s been 150 years since they last saw her face. 150? she repeats in horror. Oh, no. What… what happened?
Recalling the events that shaped the last century and a half, Logan tells her that Magneto killed her, under orders he never understood. Scott lost his heart and his chance. Hank tried his best, re-opening and running the school, but it all fell apart, like it always does. Then, Hank tried “Kick” one night… that was long before anyone realized Hypercortisone-D was Sublime’s new aerosol form. And by that time, Hank was gone, replaced by smart bacteria and global disease. Humanity died… and they all went to war in the ruins. It’s been a heck of a time.
Still aboard the X-plane, Cassandra revels in their accomplishment. Smiling broadly, she admits to Martha that she loves being in her mind. Everything, she says, is so colorful and exciting in the cartoon world of No-Girl. No-Girl’s brains, Cassandra’s beauty… they’ve never really been appreciated in that “Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid” way, have they? Suddenly, Cassandra notices something out of the corner of her eye. Emitting a helpless, oh, dear, Cassandra says to no one in particular Not like this. Half a moment later, the Shi’ar android body she inhabited so long ago from the Superguardian called Stuff explodes violently, ending Cassandra Nova. Only the protected brain of Martha Johansson survives, thrown from the destroyed plane and bounces on the deck of the ship to the X-Men’s surprise.
(Xavier Institute)At the portal of the Cerebra chamber, the Three-In-One know that the end is near. It’s all going dark, one states. Everyone screaming. Cerebra is afraid, the second adds. Something’s eating at her mind, speaks the third. Their fate now clear, the three sisters make their final decision. “Well,” they say in unison, “I’ll tell you what… it’s not having us for dessert.” With this, the three sisters, Stepford Cuckoos Version 01, 03 & 04 – Weapon XIV – activate their consciousness self-destruct… Each bringing one of their hands together in the spirit of their name, the Three-In-One give their final testament: Triplets rule! Their declaration is followed by the sounds of the angry mob, which bursts through the door leading to the Cerebra chamber and the three sisters.
Over the Atlantic, the X-Men stand before their true enemy, the Beast. Now filled with the traits of the Phoenix, the Beast hovers before his last adversaries to his dominion. Held aloft by the power of the Phoenix, he needs no technology to defy gravity. At long last, the power comes from within. Snarling in his triumph, the Beast informs Logan and the now de-powered Jean that he drowned the last whale. He can do anything now.
Asking if that is so, Tito takes to the air on his winged limbs, still clutching his ever-present baseball bat. Spanning the distance from the ship’s deck to his foe, he asks the Beast if he can shut his mouth and hold still while he spreads his brains out like jelly-on-rye. Rather than waste words in a retort, the Beast merely raises a clawed hand and gestures with a growl. Immediately, Tito’s ascent is halted, as his feathered form becomes a ball of flame.
Grinning toothily, the Beast plays with the energy at his fingertips, informing his now helpless X-Men that here is evolution’s end. All life if his. “All creatures great and small.” His.
Watching this sight from below, Tom Skylark calls out to his old mate, Rover. He doesn’t care how many fathoms down he’s sinking, he knows he can hear him. You get up here right now, Rover! Cause, he continues, finally seeing that he has drawn the attention of the Beast, he’s as good as dead as the rest of them. Now feeling the Beast’s Phoenix Force energy swirling around his helpless form, Tom asks him what it’s all about. Why does there always have to be people like him? Angered by his imminent demise, he yells out his final order, Stop all the mad bleedin’ chat and give me a straight answer! Finally deigning to answer, the Beast informs Tom that he will build his future on his bones.
The Beast’s future, however, is temporarily delayed with the arrival of Rover, who emerges violently from the bowels of the ship through the deck with an emphatic Destroy! Knocked to his feet, the Beast shirks off this most temporary of setbacks and extends his hand. All matter responds to his slightest whim, he announces. His new senses.
Rather than giving the Beast time to counter-attack, E.V.A. launches an offensive, transforming her arms into cannons and firing them at point blank. The Beast is swift, however, and quickly grabs E.V.A.’s arms, re-transforming them with his newfound power. With a snarl, he asks her if she can feel these thoughts they made entering her soul, rewriting it. Bio-software! Command execute! Generate trash codes!
As E.V.A.’s body begins to lose all cohesion, becoming slivers of silvery metal without shape or form, the Beast orders her software to give him an uncontrolled explosion of useless body parts… Nnaaaauurr… an unstoppable cancer storm! Now speaking to E.V.A. directly, he addresses her as Weapon Thirteen and tells her that he created her once… he can unmake her now.
Nearby, Logan makes his way to Tito’s nearly inert form. Finding his comrade barely alive, Logan hears him begin to ramble about his failure, stating that he knew he’d mess up. His granddad, he states, is going to be laughing down at him… he never could live up to a hero like that… a legacy like that. Holding his dying friend’s hand, Logan replies that Tito’s about three feet taller than his granddad. If only he knew.
Sensing the final moment has come, Logan tells Tito to let himself go. He did good. Fly. The moment passed, Logan gives the mental command to unsheathe his claws from his forearms and stares back at the Beast. Continuing his statement to the passed Tito, Logan tells him that he doesn’t want to be around for what’s coming down.
Emerging from the flames, Logan surprises the Beast, slashing at his torso with his claws, cutting him deeply. As he continues his attack, snidely telling his furry foe to stitch that, Logan does not hear Jean’s warnings of not letting Sublime contaminate him. To not fight.
Despite his wounds, which even include his eyes being gauged out, Sublime calls Logan a little speck and asks him if he thought he would live forever. He can turn off his healing gene! Waving his hand, Sublime/Beast forces Logan off of his feet, while playfully stating, “like so.” With a thud, Logan lands on the ripped deck of the ship, just out of arm’s reach of Martha Johansson’s brain case. Her own containment vessel cracked, Martha’s life’s blood is draining, ending her life as well. As a final gesture of hope, Logan addresses her by her old name, No-Girl, and asks her for help. Instead, Martha informs Logan that it’s all right now. They’re going to the white room now.
Elsewhere, having turned his attention back to the Phoenix creature, Sublime offers a new deal. With her talents and an endless army of Crawlers, they will set their mark on all of creation! They will remake God in their image! And sit on the throne high above the universe… Really? Jean replies. Actually, she counters, what’s happening there is a coordinated disinfection. Her friends were only keeping him busy. Now speaking with the voice of Phoenix, Jean tells Sublime to be calm. His time has come. He must accept the judgment of the Phoenix. Did you really think you would live forever, little speck?
Stretching out her hand, Jean order “Sublime” to show himself. On command, the sentient bacteria violently and involuntarily extricates itself from the body of the Beast, making its way to Jean’s cupped hands. Clutching the three billion year old enemy of evolution in her hand, Jean playfully asks, surgery complete?
Nearby, the Beast, Sublime’s host for the past century and a half, tries to come to grips with his newfound freedom. Finally managing to speak, Henry McCoy tells Jean that he feels awful. Speaking softly, he tells her he tried to save the human genome but… but there was no one left to run the school… He lost it. Bowing his head in shame, he continues to ramble, telling her he’s so glad to see her again and that he can’t believe he managed to live so long with his asthma.
With sudden finality, McCoy’s words come to a close, as his head separates from his body. The energy disc which caused the decapitation promptly returns to the hand of the one who threw it: Apollyon. Yelling out in triumph, the U-Man declares that the Beast is dead! All is perfected! Perfected! Basking in his dementia, Apollyon removes his mask and breathing apparatus. Though all features have been removed by surgery and grafts, Apollyon does not go unrecognized, as the dying E.V.A. asks in halting words if it is he… Fantomex?
Approaching the dying E.V.A., Tom tries to attend her, even as she attempts in vain to recompose herself. Seeing his teammate more of a puddle of silvery metal than an android, Tom remarks to her what a bloody smash-up this turned out to be. Unable for form a complete thought, much less sentence, E.V.A. rambles on about what she thought… what she heard… Tom apologizes to her about what he said. He can make it better, her tells her. He’s good with machines.
Nearby, finding his long life finally coming to an end, Logan remarks to himself that has peace at last. Lying in a pool of his own blood, he states that it had to be something like this. His own mind how failing, he tells an unseen companion that he’s been in there before… that echo… Does she mind if he… mind if he hands it over to her now?
The reality that exists on the vessel in the Atlantic Ocean gives way to a new one. It is a reality of purple energy and smooth surfaces, upon which half-constructed towers of metal are built. Floating through this surreal existence, her attention still captivated by the glowing bacteria known as Sublime, is Jean… the Phoenix. She is clad in her old Phoenix costume, which is now white and yellow in color.
Still studying that which was Sublime, Jean/Phoenix states that it is some kind of intelligent bacterial colony gone rogue… she… had to amputate the whole future. Phoen/////ix disinf////ection suc///cessf///ul, an unearthly voice responds.
What now? she asks. ////this is now, she hears in response. Is… is this the future? You los////t con////centration///// became emoti///onally/// engaged/// Shock///almost k///illed it Will//// patient die unless///internal heart dam/////age repa////ired
But it didn’t deserve to end like that, she replies. Her friends don’t deserve that. No! comes the response. Tur///n ar////ound No en///d y///et. Th////ere! Tu////rn!
Her fascination now over, Jean releases the luminescent bacteria, which slowly begins to float away in the void. Here before/// always///, the voice begins again. //Hospi///tal///white h////ot. Now he////al wound///make bet////ter future grow///quick///
In understanding, Jean replies that it’s right. She lost her concentration. Turning to a new direction, she states, “in there.” Hea///rt g////ot stu///ck, the voice then adds. Tur////n.
Entering this new place, Jean finds it full of people, all clad in the uniform of the Phoenix. Each different in color, each Phoenix is different in appearance as well. Both male and female in gender, few are human in appearance, many seeming to be from alien worlds.
Telekin////etic control of all th/ose ato////ms at on////ce is////n’t as////eas///y as it s////ound/////s in tr////ain////ing, the voice states. ///not even for as White Ph///oenix of the Crow////n.
Now surrounded by her fellow Phoenixes, Jean finds a new form of energy in her palms, this one glowing with a purple hue. Qu////ick/// now////, the voice states. /////It lost its parents when unit////y br////oke out a////cros////s the meg////asys////tems. Eyeing this energy with fascination, Jean asks if she had to fix something that was dying. What is it? she asks. As the energy coalesces into the form of a swirling galaxy, Jean hears the voice answer. A b////adly wound//ed orphan un//////iverse… Ph///oenix///// work.
The beauty of the tiny galaxy bringing a tear to her eye, Jean asks what it is suppose to mean. Th////at H////enry’s hear////t is brok////en//// it rejoins, that Scott suc////cumbs to lonel////iness and doubt/// that all is lost unless///
Thoughts begin to echo through the void from times past. Every diamond has its flaw. Gus was a good dog. Are these words from the future?
Jean’s attention is suddenly diverted by a voice. She turns to see a young man with his head shaved on the side and the remaining hair dyed pink, much like from an insane pop-art masterpiece. He, too, wears a Phoenix uniform, his green in color. Stating that it’s what they said, in that way they’ve got, he quotes, “If you want it to grow a new future to replace the one you just cut away… you have to water it with your heart’s blood.” This said, the shadow Quentin Quire adds that they said he was to tell her to hurry. When asked by Jean if they have met, the youth replies “hundreds of time,” and begins to depart with the rest of the Phoenixes, rising into the infinite sky, deeper into the void. As he departs, he tells Jean that, if it were just him, he’d let it die.
Hearing this, Jean replies no… it’s just… A smile suddenly crosses Jean’s lips, as she realizes something special in the tiny galaxy, swirling in her hands. “Ha,” she says to herself. “Live, Scott.” As she so commands, a tiny Phoenix rises from the dying, orphaned universe. In the voice that fills the void, it repeats Jean’s command. Live.
(Now)Standing behind Scott, as he stares single-mindedly down at the grave of Jean, Emma mocks that it must be getting rather tedious, Scott dear, these reruns of his grief.
When Scott snaps back that it isn’t funny, Emma agrees that it is, and he knows it. Replying no once more, he says aloud the name of Magneto, followed by Xorn… this last year, he says in exasperation. His eyes were opened, he tells her. Something about them, the X-Men, makes others want to kill them and nothing they do makes a difference. Difference to what? Emma counters. To people? For God’s sake, she asks Scott, who cares about them?
Switching subjects, Emma bluntly tells Scott that she wants to open the school. His eyes still cast down at the grave, Scott replies that it’s over. Even Professor X has retired, he tells her. The costumes, the heroics… done. As Scott begins to walk away, Emma calls out to him, telling him that she and he, together… think of what marvelous teachers they could be to a new generation of gifted bloody brats. They could inspire them to greatness!
Catching up to Scott, she asks him to imagine what they could do for one another. Doesn’t he want to inherit the Earth? After pausing for a moment, Scott turns back and kisses Emma deeply. “…Yes,” he answers.


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Bright New Mourning - part 1
It is a moment captured in time. The morning sun basks its rays on a graveyard, its grounds now covered by autumn’s leaves. Standing among the leaf-covered graves are two people, former enemies who had recently become allies and even more recently have become much more. Illustrating this transition with actions, rather than words, Emma Frost cranes her neck up to Scott Summers’ and kisses him deeply. More importantly, at least to her, is that he kisses her back.
Finally pulling back, Emma remains close, her gloved fingers traipsing over his face. Playfully calling him Mister Summers, Emma tells him that he does that so well. The words have an unintended effect on Scott, who pulls back from their embrace and stares down at the ground in deep thought. When asked what is wrong, he replies that it’s all right, he just…
Halting him front his exit, Emma tells Scott that they’re not doing anything wrong. Jean’s gone, she reminds him, and there’s nothing bad about what they did, before or now. Scott replies that he knows, he just… he feels uneasy with everyone coming… for Jean’s memorial; especially given all the other trauma everyone’s been through lately.
As they make their way down from the hilltop graveyard, they see the remains of the Xavier Institute, now in ruins. Examining the remains is Hank McCoy, who is almost lost in thought. Regarding his two teammates entering the grounds, arm-in-arm, he asks if they were paying their respects. After Emma snidely rejoins that Scott was, Scott changes the subject, asking Hank if Professor Xavier is planning on rebuilding the school. Placing his hands in his pockets, Hank replies that, oddly, he’s left that up to them. The Professor’s gone to Genosha with Logan, he then adds, and he’s not sure he’s ever coming back.
Taken aback, Emma declares that he has to come back. He can’t close the school. Well, Hank rejoins, that was the impression he got. The recent horror with Magneto left him drained and lost. He may have had enough of being exposed and constantly on the defensive. Undeterred, Emma suggests that they move the school. Someplace secret and safe, where no one knows they’re mutants. They don’t need Xavier; she has money and they can run things themselves…
Interrupting Emma, Scott replies no. Telling Hank that he knows he doesn’t speak for him, he’s not interested in running a school. He thinks he feels like Charles does… it’s time to move on. His eyes downcast, Hank replies that, as much as he understands the need for the school to continue, he’d be lying if he said his experiments wouldn’t take priority. Whether he means to or not, he tells Scott, he believes that he does speak for him as well.
Bitterly spitting out a fine, Emma tells the two that they can sit in the hot tub while she runs the school, but the Institute is too important. They can’t just let it end. To this, Scott replies that they can and, honestly, he thinks they should. But what about the children, she retorts. Who will teach them? Who will protect them? They can return home, Scott replies, to their families, who should be the ones protecting them, anyway. Or stay at the temporary X-Corp building in Salem Center where they are now. They’re safe there. Here, they’re just a target.
Moving forward, Scott takes Emma’s hands in his and suggests that they let someone else run the operation, not them. They deserve some time for each other… a life away from all of this. And he deserves some time for a life… a life… a life with someone he cares for. Taking in these words, Emma repeats them, even as she begins to understand their implications. Someone he…, she stammers. “Someone” he…
Without saying a word, Emma casts her head down in thought. Raising it back up, she withdraws her hands from Scott’s and backs away. There are things more important than a life with “someone,” she tells him. Without another word, she walks to her car, a silver-white Lamborghini.
Watching her depart with Scott, Hank places his pawed hands on Scott’s shoulders. Telling Scott that he knows he likes Emma, he asks if he doesn’t think it’s a bit… disrespectful to have these displays with her… to kiss her at Jean’s gravesite? With a cold response, Scott asks back if it isn’t hypocrisy to pretend he feels otherwise? Walking away and examining a ruined piece of the Institute, Scott then adds that, if Jean is still “around,” either as a ghost or in heaven or otherwise, she knows what he’s doing anyway. Whether in agreement or not wishing to argue, Hank tells Scott that he supposes he’s right. And hopefully, he adds, Jean is still “around,” as he says. She was Phoenix after all. Lost in thought as he looks over the grounds, Scott replies with a simple, “yes.”
Scott’s moment of reflection ends with the sound of Emma’s Lamborghini driving off. Joking that it looks like his ride is leaving, Scott asks Hank if he can give him a ride back into town, to which he receives a prompt, of course. Returning to the subject of the school, Scott asks his friend if he really thinks the Professor won’t come back; won’t rebuild. Repeating what he said before, Hank states that the experience with Magneto seems to have taken a serious toll on him. To this, Hank reminds Scott that it came on the heels of what they all went through with the school riot and Cassandra Nova. Even before Magneto she nearly destroyed…
With his customary exclamation of “Oh, my stars and garters,” Hank comes to the same realization Scott does, as seen by the looks of horror on Scott’s face. Quickly, the two begin to make their ways into the bowels of the demolished Institute. Finally entering a chamber by removing the door leading to it from the hinge, Hank rhetorically asks Scott that she’s still got to be in there, right? In response, Scott reminds him that the backup generators should have kept the forcefield up, but Magneto destroyed so much. Finally replying that he doesn’t know, Scott tells Hank that his guess is as good as his.
Arriving into Salem Center, Emma Frost still fumes at Scott’s words. She is not just “someone,” she informs the non-present Scott, then adding that she will not just abandon these students, especially not her… Emma’s words trail as she drives past a local theater, where the prefix “un” has been spray-painted on sign, changing the welcome in “Mutants Welcome” to unwelcome. This sight gives way to a worse one, which causes Emma’s eyes to open wide. “…my girls,” she finally says, finishing her statement. The sight she now beholds with horror is the multi-floored building of the X-Corp’s building in Salem Center, which is now aflame.
Leaping from her vehicle, Emma calls out to the gathered crowd, among which are several masked individuals who clearly have something to do with the fire. Yelling out to them, she declares that this place is a school, a sanctuary for children! What is wrong with them? Seeing them continues to ignore her, Emma decides to change tactics, placing her hands upon her head and announces, Erotic overload for all!
Emma’s attack is thwarted by the sharp aim of a rioter, who throws a rock and strikes her on the temple, knocking her out. Another rioter chides the first, asking how he does he know that was a mutant. Pointing to Emma’s revealing costume, the first retorts that she’s either that or a prostitute, the ways she dresses. To this, he then adds that he doesn’t was them in his town, either. Regaining consciousness, Emma tries to telepathically call for help. Scott, she mentally calls.
Walking through the bowels of the Institute, Scott asks Hank if he said something. Replying no, Hank then suggests that the eeriness of the place is getting to him. Isn’t it strange, he then adds, how something that was so familiar can become so alien now? He’s not even sure what part of the sub-basement they’re in. To this, Scott states that it doesn’t help knowing that some of the people who used to be down there were usually trying to kill them.
Finally gathering his bearings, Scott informs Hank that Cassandra’s cell would be this way. It’s looks like… The control console for the Danger Room, Hank finishes, turning on the lights of the chamber. The place now illuminated, he tells Scott that Cassandra’s cell would be on the other end to the right. If the control room is still where it used to be, Scott counters. Surveying the damage even here, Scott tells Hank that Magneto must have run through there like a tornado. Nothing seems to be where he remembers it. To this, he wonders what other surprises they’ll find down there. Leading his teammate down the tunnel toward Cassandra’s cell, Hank tells Scott that he knows Xavier… it’s always an adventure. As the two proceed down the darkened passage, they do not see the robot that begins to stir in the control room and rise to its feet.
As Emma continues to struggle in and out of consciousness, her inert form is dragged down the hallway of the X-Corp building by two young girls. A third, completing the triplets, notes Emma’s latest struggle with awareness and states with glee that she’s awake. See! She told them she wasn’t dead! In clarification, one of the others states that she didn’t say that Miss Frost was dead, she said she looked dead. In disagreement, the third sister replies that she did not. She reminds her that, when they had said “let’s go get her,” she said “She’s dead! Leave her in the street!”
Leading the group through the hallway, which continues to fill up with smoke, a man tells the children to focus. Finally winning the battle of consciousness, Emma tries to rise to her own feet and agrees. Can they please stop the pointless bickering? She is alive but they’re pushing her closer to death with their squabbling. Having arrived to a spacious room, the man tries to assist with Emma’s recovery. Now fully erect, she asks the man who he might be. She doesn’t believe she’s had the pleasure. Introducing himself, the man states that he’s the assistant mayor of the city – Salem Center. And he’s afraid the mayor and he may be largely responsible for the violent outbreak.
With great force, the robot pushes Cyclops’ face into the wall and then proceeds to take a swift at the Beast. Using his agility to avoid the strike, Hank calls out to Scott, asking if he’s all right. Still alive but very much in the grasp of the robot, Cyclops yells back at Hank, telling him to stop asking if he’s all right and do something!
With the robot’s next strike, the Beast leaps upon its back. When the robot batters Cyclops’ head again, the Beast is able to maneuver himself into position and informs his teammate that he thinks he can shut the system down, provided it’s running remotely. Still in the robot’s thrall, Cyclops retorts that he doesn’t need a play-by-play!
The Beast’s pulling of a group of wires, however, does not finish the job, and the robot counter-attacks by extending its telescopic legs, launching the three to the ceiling. The move causes the Beast to be violently rammed against the chamber’s ceiling but he remains uninjured, even going so far as to chidingly comment that “that’s gonna leave a mark.” The still-helpless Cyclops, his head still in the robot’s grip, informs Hank that his jokes aren’t helping. As he continues to pull wires, the Beast rejoin by asking if it’s his fault that his powers are useless unless he can turn and face the thing?
Useless? Cyclops repeats. His face currently being held upward, Cyclops lets out an optic blast, which impacts upon the precariously balanced ceiling, causing it to collapse. The robot and two X-Men can only watch as a ton of debris falls upon their heads.
Continuing his story as they look out a window, watching the rioters continue on the street below, the assistant mayor informs Emma that the mayor and he called a town meeting to head off some fears among the citizens that had been growing since Magneto’s attack on New York. There had been some isolated incidents of violence against mutants – mutants fighting back – and he wanted to stop things before they got serious. But then, Emma chimes in, everyone together brought things instantly to a head – is that it? Of course it did, one of the Stepford Cuckoos state. Group Dynamics 101.
Watching the scene outside the window, Emma tells the girls that it seems her mental gifts seem a bit diminished since that charming blow to the head. She doubts she could affect all of these people and calm them by herself. So, she concludes, is there a back way out? In angry response, one of the girls asks if she doesn’t think that they would have taken it already if there was.
Turning to the girl, Phoebe, Emma tells her to not raise her voice to her. She knows her and her sisters have lost all respect for her but that’s no cause to be rude, is there? Perhaps she should remain locked in puberty until she learns some manners, eh? When Phoebe stands her ground and states that she doesn’t scare her, Emma smiles a devilish smile and tells Phoebe to give her time. Give her time.
Now turning away from the window, Emma once again tries to call out telepathically for Scott. Not receiving a response, she continues, telling him that it is she, Emma, and she needs his assistance, if he pleases. Miles away, her telepathic words go unheard, as both Scott Summer and Hank McCoy lies motionless beneath the wreckage that was once the Xavier Institute.


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Bright New Mourning - part 2
Flanked by two of her former students, Phoebe and Celeste, Emma Frost sits on the floor of the room, her back against the wall. With the rest of her students, as well as the assistant mayor of Salem Center, she is trapped in a building set aflame by rioters still mulling about outside. Having finished her latest attempt, Emma tells her students that he doesn’t know if she’s getting through to Scott. The bashing she took on the head is really making speaking telepathically rather inconvenient.
Speaking for herself and her sisters, Celeste asks Emma if they can help. She states that, while their powers are diminished with fewer Cuckoos, they can put some pleasant thoughts into the mob’s heads. It might slow them down. The offer bringing a smile to her face, Emma tells Celeste that that would be lovely and thanks her. It’s good, she says, to see that they recognize that, by coming back to her, together they can be an unstoppable force. In contradiction, Celeste rejoins that they’re not back with her. In fact, they still completely disapprove of her, but this is about survival.
The second sister, Phoebe, regards the third sister, Mindee, standing some distance away, noting that she still finds her too upsetting even to be near. Noticing Mindee then move into the arms of a young man, Phoebe adds that she thinks she’s using it as an excuse to cuddle with Germaine, who they all know has no real interest in her other than that she’s pretty.
Ignoring Mindee and her actions, Emma creeps back to the open window and cautiously looks outside. Whatever it takes to win, she states wryly to her “beautiful angels.” Only Esme ever really completely understood… though she tried very hard to teach them all that concept. Gazing down at the mob, which has seemed to grow larger and more violent, Emma re-states the lesson: “Against all odds… whatever it takes to win.” Now speaking to herself, almost in a whisper, Emma calls out to Scott, asking where he is.
Trapped beneath the rubble that was once the Xavier Institute, Hank McCoy, the Beast, gradually returns to consciousness. Locating his friend through his groans, Cyclops calls out to Hank, asking if he is all right. Not getting a response, Cyclops hastens his approach, asking him to please be all right.
Finally opening his eyes, the Beast immediately asks Scott why he did that. Not understanding at first, Cyclops asks if he meant about blasting to roof. He had to, he states, he… Stating that, yes, he meant blasting to roof, Hank tells him that he could have killed them. Moving his thumb and forefinger of a pawed hand to a point where they are almost touching, he tells Scott that he was this close - this close - to disconnecting the robot’s remote power… and he nearly crushed them both. He’s never known him to be so foolishly impulsive.
Stammering out a defense with an expressionless face, Scott finally but simplistically states that it worked. Repeating the phrase as he rises to his feet, the Beast asks Scott if he thinks that’s a good enough reason to do something. Replying defensively, Cyclops asks Beast in turn if he’s instructing him on what’s impulsive and what’s considered.
Now dusting himself off, the Beast remarks on how interesting it is the way things change. To this, he then thanks Cyclops for helping him up, to which Cyclops gives a standard, you’re welcome. Hank recoils in a mock laughter, noting the sarcastic comment to a sarcastic reply. Careful, he tells “Mister Summers,” that’s dangerously close to humor from someone such as himself.
Sensing the hostility, Scott asks Hank what his problem is. Replying with even more hostility, Hank rejoins that he doesn’t know, does he have a problem? When Scott counters that he’s say he does, Hank then states that he must have one. Finally saying what it is, Hank tells Scott that he’s angry. More angry than he realized. As Scott begins to apologize about blasting the ceiling, explaining that the robot was crushing his neck, Hank interrupts – it’s about Jean. Taken aback by this, Scott looks on in silence, his face as expressionless as ever.
Explaining further, Hank reminds Scott that he was married to her, which implies certain commitments. He likes Emma, Hank tells Scott, but he betrayed a friend. Someone he loved. And this is very hard for him to say… but he doesn’t like him very much right now. His piece said, Hank leaves the room, leaving behind a very silent and stationary Scott Summers.
Trying his best to hold back the rioters, with the help of his partner, a Salem Center policeman calls out to a rioter by name, Jeremy, and tells him to hold it. Replying back to the officer, calling him by his name, Dean, Jeremy replies that the people in the building killed thousands in New York and… Interrupting Jeremy’s rant, Dean states that it wasn’t these people. It was their kind, Jeremy counters. With their mutant powers! Weapons, all of them! Weapons to use against them!
Undeterred, Dean calls out to the whole crowd, telling them to stop throwing things and calm down, all of them. What they are doing is against the law. Another rioter, a woman, yells to Dean that they took her and Judy Jenkins into their school and performed experiments on them! That was against the law! They used mind probes and locked them in the basement and tortured them! In agreement, another rioter yells that they have a right to be safe in their hometown. Another yells that they don’t want to be afraid anymore.
Having had enough, Dean draws his sidearm, yelling back to the people that none of that’s been proven. And most of that has never been brought to their attention – so this is what they do… Dean’s words are interrupted by his partner, who orders once again for the crowd to stop throwing things. The moment gives way to a sudden rush by the mob, which storms past the two officers, pushing them down and walking over them. The crowd breaks through the building’s front door, chanting out over and over again, No more mutants! No more mutants!.
Hearing these noises from their room upstairs, the assistant mayor declares the obvious: they’ve rushed the building. When one of the students shudders in utter panic and asks what they’re going to do, Emma replies that she doesn’t know. With a sudden thought, Emma asks the girls how did they get through the crowd to rescue her outside. Speaking up, even as Mindee continues to clutch at his side, Germaine states that it was he. He made them move with his fire powers. Replying that she sees, Emma adds that perhaps his powers are too destructive in this situation. When Germaine counters that the mob is trying to kill them, Emma states that they can’t reduce themselves to their level, can they?
Ignoring Mindee as she responds to Emma’s statement with a why not?, another Cuckoo informs Emma that she’s made contact with Mister Summers and has appraised him of the situation. She then adds that he’s outside the building with Dr. McCoy. Told that she can now see them out of the window, Emma does so and voices her thanks.
Arriving by vehicle onto the scene, Cyclops asks the Beast if he has any suggestions. Replying with a simple, yep, the Beast leaps from the Humvee and tells his partner to follow his lead. In a manner by which few could indeed follow, Cyclops not being one of them, the Beast leaps over the heads of the mob, still entering the building, and follows his contact with the building’s side by leaping to a streetlight post and swinging to the upper level where Emma and the students are holding up. As he approaches the window with great velocity, the Beast yells out for everyone to back away from the window, which he crashes through seconds later.
Not missing a beat, nor wasting a moment, the Beast declares that he can take two or three people at a time. Hearing this, the assistant mayor tells him that the children are first. Gathering up two such children, the Beast stands on the windowsill, about to jump to the pavement, several stories below. As Cyclops calls up that he will take them to the jeep if he just gets them to him, the Beast yells out a playful ready or not and makes his leap.
Hank’s powerful leg muscles easily absorb the shock of the impact and he proceeds to hand the two children to Cyclops, telling them all to run to the jeep. Even as he prepares to make another trip, a man at the tail end of the mob realizes what is going on and tells the others that they’re getting away. Seeing this, Hank informs Cyclops that he’s going to need a few more minutes; there’s a lot more people up there, and one of them is quite large. As the Beast makes another series of leaps to get to the upper floor, Cyclops calmly states that he’ll do what he can.
Now incensed, the crowd begins to charge Cyclops, telling to each other to get him! and to stop the kids!, accompanied by the earlier chant, no more mutants! Their advance is halted suddenly and forcefully by the scarlet optic blasts emitted from Cyclops’ visor. Having felt the impact of the blasts, the crowd begins to disperse, one rioter telling that the mutant has lasers in his eyes. Calmly, Cyclops informs them that they’re not laser, they’re force beams. And if they all stay back, no one will get…
The crack of two gunshots ring through the air, followed by three more. Reeling from the impact of being shot, Cyclops is thrown from his feet to the pavement. Calling out to the Beast, Emma asks what happened and if those were gunshots. Is Scott all right? Not receiving the immediate denial, Emma proceeds to yell out Scott’s name, as she races to the window. Forgetting Germaine and Mindee, whom he was about to take outside, the Beast holds Emma back, telling the others to get back inside.
A new situation is heralded by Germaine, as he draws Emma’s attention to the door, which has been broken through, allowing the mob to enter. Even as the crowd declares to the larger mob that they’re in that room, Germaine extends his hand, telling Mindee that he’ll protect her. Emma’s protestations go unheard as Germaine brings forth flames from thin air, separating the entering mob from the other students.
Her composure now restored by a new crisis, Emma tells Hank to get her girls out of there and to take the mayor as well. She will see to Germaine. Mindee’s protests of not leaving Germaine are ignored, as the Beasts, complies, leaping out of the window with her and the assistant mayor.
Surrounded by flames and now alone, save for Germaine and those who wish them harm, Emma switches to her diamond form and calmly removes her fur coat. Now, enough is enough, she tells the mob. The first attack, however, does not against her but against Germaine, and Emma is only able to impotently yell out his name as she sees a rioter hit the youth over the head with a baseball bat.
Outside, other rioters continue, encouraging the flames to burn down the building. Still, other try to overturn nearby parked cars. A safe distance away from these people, as they are held back by Cyclops’ optic blasts, Mindee continues to yell out for Germaine. Trying to hold the youth back, Hank calls out to Cyclops inquisitively. When Cyclops replies with instructions for him to get the kids to the car, the Beast points out the obvious: he’s been shot. Ignoring this fact, Cyclops repeats his order for them to move, all the while covering their flank.
Inside the burning building, Emma presses her own attack, punching one of the mob with her diamond fist. Thought invulnerable, Emma is nonetheless pulled down by the weight of her attackers. Calling the rioters unwashed peasants, she tells them to let go of her and get off the boy. Ignoring her warnings, the mob throws her against the window, shattering it, and proceeds to hold her outside of it, as if to drop her to the street below.
Emma’s declaration to the mob that she will fry their skulls when her head clears is heard by the Beast and Cyclops on the street below. Her further warnings are ignored and the mob tosses her out of the window. Rather than hitting the pavement, however, she is caught by Cyclops. Quickly getting back onto her feet, Emma returns to the burning building, informing Cyclops that there’s still a child in there. He should stay and keep her girls safe.
In the room above, one of the rioters makes a personally horrific discovery, announcing to the rest that the boy is dead. Beginning to stammer, he states defensively that he never intended to… Another rioter disagrees, saying that he did. At this moment, another rioter makes another discovery, that the building’s on fire and they have to get out. Still another realizes that the door is blocked, while another notes that the flames are too high. Finally making their way to the same window they tossed Emma out moments before, the group calls out for somebody to help them. Seeing this from the street below, the Beast says a mocking oh, wonderful and tells the others to stay there.
Suddenly, a new exit is made to the room, as the diamond foot of Emma Frost kicks open the door. Unaffected by the flames, she walks through them, her demeanor as searing as the temperature. Looking up at this former focus of hate, one of the mob asks her to help them… please? Snarling a response, Emma spits out a bile-filled help you? Now incensed, she strides through the remaining flames separating her from them and grabs the former rioters by their clothes. As they state in panicked voices that they didn’t mean to kill him, Emma takes them to the window and dangles them out.
Before another action can be taken, Emma hears her name being called out. She sees, clutching the side of the building outside the window, the Beast, who innocently and inquisitively states that she wanted to hand those people to her, didn’t she? To take them down to safety? Emma’s pause causes the Beast to once more say her name, questioningly. After another moment passes, Emma clearly deciding her course of action, she finally replies, of course. That’s exactly what she intended to do.
On the street below, Mindee continues her panicked vigil, repeatedly asking no one in particular for them to please let him be okay. When Cyclops speaks up, beginning to tell her that he knows how difficult this is, Mindee snap back, asking if he does. Then why was he with Miss Frost while his wife was dying? she asks. The shocked Cyclops finds himself unable to respond.
Mindee’s disgust quickly gives way to sorrow, as she sees Emma walk from the building’s entrance holding the inert body of Germaine. As Mindee sobs uncontrollably, Emma tells Cyclops to leave Xavier’s if he wants to… but she’s staying. These children, she tells him, need a safe place to live. People to take care of them while they learn to take care of themselves. Now placing Germaine’s corpse into Cyclops’ arms, she tells him that, if he feels differently, she doesn’t want to hear it. Tell it to him. Her piece said, Emma walks away.
(several days later)The service concluded, the X-Men walk back down the hill, back to the Institute, which is currently under re-construction. Finding himself now alone at Jean’s grave, Scott Summers tells his wife hello. Searching for his words, he tells her that they’ve rebuilt the school. He still feels it’s dangerous to be there but, as Juggernaut so eloquently pointed out, “So? Let ‘em come.”
Faltering in his speech, Scott admits that he’s thought about this so long but he still doesn’t know what to say. He realizes he did something wrong… but he doesn’t know if he would have done them differently. Could they have worked it out? Did he act impulsively? Did he hurt her? Did she even care, anymore?
Still staring at her grave, Scott admits to Jean that he guesses he always thought he knew what she would say, and that gave him the excuse to find the answers he wanted elsewhere. But that’s not what he promised when he married her, was it? He promised to honor her, didn’t he? And honoring her should have meant facing her with his doubts. Part of him thinks he’ll be able to, someday. She is the Phoenix, after all.
Now raising his head, Scott states that, so, for what it’s worth, he’s sorry if he hurt her. He loved her too much to ever want that.
His goodbye and apology now made, Scott Summers leaves the gravesite and follows his friends and teammates to the school below. Trying to leave behind more than what was interred in the sacred ground, Scott speaks to himself. It’s time to start over. Behind him a tiny Phoenix raptor appears over the headstone.


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

[Assistant]
Heroes and Villains - part 1
Philadelphia, a presentation is going on at Independence Hall, attended by many civilians, a presenter delivers his speech, declaring that it was in the assembly room of this building that the Declaration of Independence was adopted on July 4th 1776. Suddenly, someone boasts ’And it is here that the enslavement of the human race begins, on this day - the day of the new Brotherhood of Mutants!’
The civilians run and push past each other as they try to escape the barrage of the oncoming Brotherhood. The groups leader, Exodus, introduces himself as the power and the way, as he was first disciple to Magneto, and that he is here to ensure that Magneto’s dream - the end of human tyranny - shall be fulfilled. Exodus hovers a quintet of people who have not run from the oncoming brotherhood - five of the X-Men! Havok! Wolverine! Polaris! Iceman! Rogue!
‘Blah blah blah,’ says Havok, who exclaims that it is he who has the better power, and the bigger way, before declaring he is leader of the X-Men, disciple to Xavier, and here to make certain his goal and dream are fulfilled - ’By kicking your…’ Havok unleashes a blast of raw solar energy, knocking Exodus back, while the other X-Men engage in battle with the rest of the Brotherhood.
Wolverine faces off tooth and claw against his arch nemesis, Sabretooth, who asks Wolverine if he cannot go anywhere without running into him. ’No’ replies Logan as he slashes Victor Creed’s face. Logan asks Creed what it is that made him join up with these jerks, to which Sabretooth replies ’The benefits’ as he skewers Logan through the stomach. Creed is about to continue, saying ’Like stickin’ -’ when Logan cuts him off, and tells him to ‘Stick this, Creed’ as he, „sticks“ him with his adamantium claws.
Rogue flies onto Avalanche’s rock sled that he has created to move around quickly on, when he suddenly turns around and grabs her, asking her if she wants to ‘shake things up’ for old times sake. Dominic uses his vibrational abilities to shake Rogue who starts foaming at the mouth, and calling her ’Babe’ tells her that it is too bad she doesn’t hang with the Brotherhood anymore, for then he wouldn’t have to - Rogue cuts him off by kneeing him in the stomach and using magnetic powers lifting him over her heard. ‘Wouldn’t have to do what, Avalanche?’ she sarcastically remarks ‘Forget the fact that I can siphon off other mutants’ powers? Like those of my dear teammate Polaris? Rogue tosses Avalanche to the ground below, where he lands with a very loud CHUD. “Babe.“ mocks Rogue before calling him a loser. ‘And here I thought you might need help, Rogue! Silly me!’ exclaims Polaris as she and Rogue High-five each other.
Elsewhere on the “battle field“ a huge talking elephant has the handsome Bobby Drake a.k.a. Iceman firmly in his grasp, and as Bobby tries to freeze him, the elephant informs him that he has impervious skin. ‘You sure?’ asks the jokester X-Man, before asking if he minds if he can try anyway. ‘I’m sorry, I didn’t catch your name’ Bobby declares as the ice just snaps off the large elephant. ‘Mammomax’ the elephant replies. ‘Umm…okay. And let me guess, your mutant power is death breath, right?’ asks Iceman after falling victim to the mutant’s mouth odor when he opened his mouth. Mammomax reveals that his power is digestive acids, which Iceman mocks, before grabbing Mammomax’s large tongue and freezing it. Mammomax drops Iceman, who stands before the elephant and jokes that he obviously isn’t so impervious on the inside, before telling him he must feel stupid right about now.
Suddenly, the hideously deformed Black Tom Cassidy, who pretty much is a tree with a mouth and eyes and lots of tentacles stands before some of the fleeing civilians, blocking their paths. He declares that the new Brotherhood’s inaugural attack would not be very effective without victims, and raises a giant hand - branch-hand - to crush them, when suddenly the young blue-furred mutant from another reality, Nocturne, leaps in and pulls the three humans to safety.
Black Tom asks her what she is doing, to which the newcomer asks him if she wasn’t supposed to do that. She tells the humans to run away, quickly, but Black Tom uses his newfound abilities to leap back in front of them and he reminds Nocturne that she is supposed to be on his side. Havok comes up behind Tom and suggests to the villain that Nocturne is looking for more intelligent companionship. Trapping Havok in his mass of vines, Black Tom tells him he has done something very stupid, when the handsome X-Man calls to his teammates, telling them to get down, and unleashing a massive blast of energy, tearing Tom apart, and creating a gaping crater in the middle of the city.
‘Nice work, Alex. I bet Philadelphia is really glad the X-Men showed up,’ Bobby mocks. Logan groans that this is not one of his better days as Rogue helps him up, his costume torn to shreds after his catfight with Sabretooth. Rogue tells Logan that it was not any of their better days, to which Iceman declares that it especially wasn’t for Havok, who unbalanced the rest of them long enough for the new Brotherhood to get away - and before they could even learn what the Brotherhood’s angle is. Havok declares that he will accept the blame for letting the Brotherhood get away, but vows that they will learn what their angle is.
Later, at the Xavier Institute for Higher Learning, Salem Centre, Westchester, New York, Sammy “Squidboy“ Pare stops some other students in the hallway and asks them if they have seen Juggernaut. A student replies that they haven’t seen Juggernaut since last night, which is when the five X-Men return, and Iceman, who has always had it out for Juggernaut, exclaims that he also wants to know where Juggernaut is, as they just fought some old buddies of his and they could have used him. Havok asks Bobby to calm down and reminds him that Cain is not required to come on missions if he doesn’t want to, but Bobby snaps back that that is wrong, and tells Alex that he should know it, for part of the Juggernaut’s parole agreement was that he be available to this team and have his presence accounted for, at all times.
Havok asks Bobby to listen, but the hot-headed original X-Man declares that he wont and storms off, threatening to report Cain to the authorities if his whereabouts cannot be accounted for in the next five minutes. The X-Men watch Bobby leave as Carter Ghazikhanian, the son of the school nurse, rushes up to Havok, his mother’s boyfriend. Lorna watches as Alex picks Carter up, and Carter tells Alex that he is bored without him. ‘Oh brother,’ moans Squidboy.
In the infirmary, Rogue sits by her injured lover and teammate Gambit, who was blinded on their last mission in China. Rogue asks him how many times she has to say she is sorry, to which Gambit whines that he finally gets his powers back, then she goes and costs him his eyes. ‘Maybe next you could amputate a leg or two, then laugh when I fall over,’ Gambit snaps bitterly. Rogue stares at him, ‘Why, I…’ she doesn’t finish her sentence, instead she looks away from Remy then gets up an leaves. ‘Honey, you still there?’ asks Gambit.
Havok enters the infirmary carrying Carter and walking up to Annie Ghazikhanian, the school nurse and his lover, he asks her if Gambit is still mad at the world. Annie tells Alex that it is part of the healing process, and not a pleasant one, before asking him where he and his X-squad were. Havok replies that they were in a little scuffle with some bad mutants in Philly - a new Brotherhood. Annie exclaims that she hopes the authorities have them all locked up - when she realizes something is wrong. ‘Well…’ Alex begins, but he doesn’t need to finish his sentence.
Annie tells Alex that she cannot keep going through this, what with people getting hurt all the time - him getting hurt, but most importantly, Carter’s safety is in jeopardy. Concerned, Alex asks Annie if there is someplace safe she can go for a few days. She asks Alex if he is expecting the Brotherhood to come to their home, and when he doesn’t reply, she looks downcast and informs Alex that there is someplace safe she can go.
Outside, Squidboy’s mother rushes up to him and tells him that she has been looking all over for him. Sammy tells his mother to ‘get lost’ as he is looking for Cain. Mrs. Pare tells her son that she is looking for Cain too, before asking him how dare he talk to her like that. Sammy asks his mother why she is looking for Cain, and his mother tells him that she wanted to talk to him about this before she talked to Cain, so how would he feel if she and Cain went out on a date, and maybe started seeing each other. Sammy asks his mother if Cain asked her out, to which Mrs. Pare replies no, but that she might to the asking. After all, she reminds Sammy that Cain did save their lives, and he is kinda cute.
Sammy’s mother asks Sammy if it is okay with him if she and Cain started dating, to which Sammy hesitantly asks his mother not to do it, as she is going to embarrass him. Mrs. Pare tells Sammy that she will not embarrass him and asks him if he wants her to be alone for the rest of her life. Sammy doesn’t reply, and just begins to walk across the large field. His mother calls to him, telling him not to walk away from her, ‘ooh that stupid kid!’
Meanwhile, in the room of the sultry Lorna Dane, one of the most powerful mutants in existence, she sits cross-legged, hovering, in some meditation. A knock at the door, but Lorna doesn’t look up, she just tells Annie to come in. Annie and Carter enter the room, and Annie asks Lorna how she knew it was her, to which Lorna, still not physically acknowledging Annie, replies that she sensed her magnetic field through the door. ‘Oh. Right. Sure’ Annie replies before apologizing for bothering Lorna, and asking her to look after Alex for her, as she is leaving and will not be coming back.
A silence, before Lorna turns to Annie and says ‘what?’ with sincerity, Annie asks Lorna to tell Alex that she is sorry, but that she cannot stay here anymore, for the safety of her son is more important than Alex, or whatever he gets out of living at this school. Lorna tells Annie that Alex loves her, she certainly knows it, and asks Annie if she knows what her leaving will do to him. Annie replies that it will do the same thing she is doing to herself, but that her son is the most important thing in her life, and it comes down to her or the X-Men - ‘which do you think Alex would chose?’ Annie asks Lorna. Lorna says nothing, before giving a half-smile and telling Annie to take care of herself. Annie smiles back, ‘you too, Lorna, goodbye’. She closes the door behind her.
Elsewhere, the Brotherhood huddle around a campfire and Sabretooth complains to Exodus that someone tipped the X-Men off, he suggests it was Nocturne since she is the only one they know nothing about. Exodus reminds Sabretooth that Nocturne is from another dimension, and besides, she has never left his side since he brought her here. He tells Sabretooth that if no one else could have done it, then there must be another explanation as to how the X-Men learned their plans.
Black Tom Cassidy tells them that they must now see the value of his plan to attack them in their home, to which Exodus replies that he does, as they need to remove the potential threat. However he knows that the Institute is well guarded and asks them how they attack the X-Men in their own fortress without some kind of edge. Black Tom boasts that that is the beauty of working with him, for he has had a plan in motion to give them an edge for quite some time now…’Haven’t I, Cain?’ Tom asks as the Juggernaut enters the campsite grinning.