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Provide a full summary of the comic book.

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New Year’s Evil
Twas a fortnight past New Year’s and all through Excalibur’s camp…many a creature were stirring…most inexplicably…a BAMF!
Where once sat a stuffed toy on Kitty “Shadowcat” Pryde’s bed, now leaps a wicked and clever creature, ’Bend…rend…twist and distend!’ it exclaims, while its fellow Bamfs grin in the darkness, revealed by their yellow eyes. ’Gonna capture Kitty’s dumb dragon…and hack off his head!’ the Bamf exclaims.
‘Hear that, Lockheed? We’re coming for ya!’ the Bamf exclaims, opening the door to the hallway of the residential wing of the Muir Island Research Center, and asks Lockheed who is flying past the room if he thought he could get away scot-free with Kitty’s heart. ‘Thought we’d let ya steal what was rightfully ours, huh?’ The leader of the Bamfs is flanked by the dozens of look-alikes, all exclaiming ‘Grab him!’, ‘Spear him and stab him!’, while the leader tells Lockheed that if they cannot have Kitty’s heart, no one can. Lockheed tries to pull the door closed, but the Bamfs teleport around him, ‘Payback time, punk!’ one of the exclaims. ‘You know what they say about that brimstone breath - it’s a bamf!’ and with that, the Bamfs teleport away with Lockheed.
Meanwhile, in the Holo-Suite, two old friends, Kitty “Shadowcat” Pryde and Kurt “Nightcrawler” Wagner are engaged in an old pastime reminiscent of their days as X-Men. The two founding members of Excalibur are clad in pirate outfits as they battle each other on a wooden pirate ship, with water beneath it, all created from the technology of the Holo-Suite. Kitty backs Nightcrawler onto the plank as the blue-furred leader of Excalibur asks Kitty if she still doesn’t want to talk about it. Kitty replies that she doesn’t, and lunges towards Kurt with her sword, only for Kurt to teleport behind her. ‘Hey! No fair teleporting!’ Shadowcat exclaims.
Kurt replies that all is fair on the high seas as it is in love on land, before reminding her that she could become intangible so his sword would pass harmlessly through her - if she was concentrating that is. Kurt snatches Kitty’s sword from her with one swift moment and tells her to pay attention to this training session, or to come clean about the funny mood she has been in these past weeks. Kurt trips Kitty up and she lands on her back on the plank, as Kurt darts over her, holding a small dagger to her throat, joking that or else she will have to taste his steel. ‘Laugh it up all you want, Elf, nothing’s wrong!’ Kitty exclaims.
Kurt lets Kitty sit up, reminding her that she is like a sister to him, and that he knows her better than she is giving him credit for. Kurt exclaims that something must have happened when Kitty went to work for SHIELD, and that she has not had the heart to tell Wisdom about it. ‘Have you?’ he asks. With the fake sun setting in the background, shimmering over the water, Kitty replies ‘I…nope…’. Kitty doesn’t look at Kurt as she remarks that she cannot tell Wisdom, as he will be devastated. ‘Probably a lot less now than if you wait, and he finds about it later…whatever “it” is’ Kurt points out.
Kitty covers her face with a hand as she reveals that the “it” is the fact that she met someone, a guy her own age named Rigby Fallon, someone who is a lot more like her than Pete Wisdom will ever be. Kurt asks Kitty if she is ashamed because she had feelings for Rigby, to which Kitty replies that the feelings weren’t so much for Rigby, but for the idea of him. Kitty explains that Rigby made her feel something she hasn’t felt in a long time, and certainly not since she and Wisdom started dating - young. ‘I see. So it’s more guilt, than shame’ Nightcrawler remarks, before pointing out that there is someone here who might be able to offer invaluable insight into such feelings.
At first Kitty is confused, but then she realizes who Kurt is referring to. ‘Not him! Anyone but him!’ she protests, exclaiming that Colossus is the absolute last person in the world who is going to give her relationship advice. Suddenly, the Holo-Suite is thrust into darkness, and Kitty informs Kurt that she didn’t program this “Pirate Kitty versus Captain Bloodcrawler” holo-adventure as a night scenario, and asks him if he did. ‘Nein!’ exclaims Kurt, when suddenly the plank vanishes, then the ship, ‘Right. Then this is very bad!’ Kitty exclaims as she and Kurt plummet to the water.
The computer announces that the safety interfaces have been disabled, adding the prolonged utilization of Holo-Suite protocols within the current parameters could lead to disorientation, dismemberment and death. ‘Do have a nice day’ the computer concludes. Kitty and Kurt resurface, bobbing about in the water and Kurt tells Kitty that he thought she ran a diagnostic before they started. Kitty replies that she did - twice - and theorizes that the new Stark Industry processors that she installed must have fritzed.
A holo-shark approaches Kitty, who becomes intangible, she is relieved that her phasing disrupts everything mechanical, otherwise she would be shark food! Kitty knows though, that the problem is the Holo-Suite uses both robotics and holography so lifelike that it is impossible to tell which is which. Kurt drives his sword into the fake-shark, knowing that he could teleport the two of them from this ersatz “Danger Room”, but Kitty would need to solidify first, and that would leave her vulnerable to attack. Kurt wishes that he could orient himself then perhaps see what is going on in the control booth - unaware of course that several little Bamfs are running about, pressing buttons and getting up to all sorts of mischief. ‘Oh, Jaws - dinner!’ one of them exclaims.
Just outside the Bamf-infested control booth, Wisdom leans against the wall smoking a cigarette, telling himself that Kitty has been acting rather dodgy lately, and that he hopes she isn’t ticked about that spat the two of them had before she left, as that wasn’t his fault. ‘Hmp. Women’. Pete grumbles, before approaching the control booth. The computer asks him to halt for tactile, vocal and retinal identification, and as he places his hand on the touch pad, Wisdom is asked to speak slowly and clearly. ‘Toss…off…ya…bloody…blighter’. Wisdom replies. ‘Identity confirmed. Welcome, Peter Wisdom’ the computer announces.
The door to the control booth opens and Wisdom enters - not seeing the Bamfs teleport away suddenly. However, Pete does smell brimstone and sulfur, and remembers that Nightcrawler had scheduled a workout before his, and suspects that Kurt just left. ‘I can’t believe this. Me…”working out!” Wisdom tells himself, recalling that there was a time when the only exercise he would stomach was a fast jaunt down to the pub with his mates back when he was still a “solo” act for the MI-6. But now he has to pull his weight as part of a team - a family. ‘The times, they are a’changin!’ Wisdom tells himself, before ordering the computer to run Wisdom program-alpha.
The computer replies that it is unable to comply as the previous program is still operable and safety protocols are deactivated. Wisdom spins around, concerned, he thinks that Kurt is not stupid enough to leave a program running and orders the computer to open the control booth shield. The computer complies and announces that the blast shield is open, enabling Wisdom to look down into the Holo-Suite, where he sees Kurt and Kitty tussling with the shark.
Kurt sees the control booth panel open and calls out to Wisdom, asking him to deactivate the program. ‘Schnell, man, SCHNELL!’ Nightcrawler exclaims. Wisdom begins tapping various keys in the control booth, ‘All right…I’m “schnelling!” I’m “schnelling”!’ Wisdom exclaims, before realizing that the manual override is busted, so plunges his mutant power “hot-knives” into the control booth.
Still thrashing about in the water, Kurt tells Kitty that it has been a pleasure knowing her. ‘Devoured by a holographic shark. How mortifying’ Kurt mutters, while Kitty just screams out to Peter. Suddenly, the water begins to slowly disappear, and the shark vanishes. ‘Yes, my love?’ Wisdom asks. ‘What the heck took you so long?’ Kitty snaps at him when Wisdom enters the Holo-Suite. ‘I’m sorry, were you thanking me?’ Wisdom asks Kitty, who angrily exclaims that they could have been killed in there.
Wisdom replies that there is no need to get all snitty, before commenting on her pirate outfit and telling her that it is very kinky, before asking her what is next. ‘Leia’s “slave girl” outfit?’ Kitty just harrumphs as she storms past Wisdom and out of the Holo-Suite. Wisdom turns to Kurt and asks him to level with him. ‘It’s not really me this time…is it?’ he asks. Kurt just turns away, replying that he wished he knew, and tells Pete that he is sorry. ‘Blast’ mutters Pete, tossing his cigarette away.
While Wisdom watches his relationship turn sour, his teammate the elemental Meggan takes the time to sort out the recent developments in her life. Developments both personal - and natural. Meggan sits on the snow covered ground outside, beneath tree, and begins talking to it. ‘Poor tree…all sick and withered. I’m sorry I wasn’t here to help you before you died’ she tells the tree. Meggan explains that she has been so wrapped up on her own problems, that has caused her to neglect the trees well-being. ‘Ridiculous boy problems’ Meggan adds.
‘Uh, Meggan…?’ asks Piotr “Colossus” Rasputin as he approaches his teammate, axe in hand. ‘Speaking of whom’ Meggan whispers to the tree, before spinning around and seeing Colossus raise the axe above his head, she asks him what he thinks he is doing with that axe. Colossus asks what it looks like he is doing, before explaining that he is going to cut down this infirm, old tree so that he can plant a new one in its place. ‘You’ll do no such thing!’ Meggan exclaims, telling him that this tree’s connection to the earth - alive - or dead - is no different than the connections human beings share with one another, and asks Colossus if he would extinguish a flame in winter simply because its fire burned less brightly?
Colossus asks Meggan to forgive his ignorance, as he is trying to understand why she doesn’t want him to cut down this dead tree, but that he is afraid her metaphor is lost on him, a “simple farm boy”. Meggan glances to the side as she explains to Colossus that she is talking about the two of them. About the emotions she sensed in him the day of Moira’s quarantine. Meggan takes flight, ‘The feelings you hold for me in your heart!’ she exclaims, adding that she mistook those feelings for genuine friendship, but now knows that they run much deeper than that. Meggan tells Colossus that he must know she can never reciprocate those feelings, before bidding him goodbye, and remarking that it is too bad they couldn’t be friends.
A forlorn Colossus stands with axe in hand still, thinking to himself that he doesn’t believe this, though admitting that the times he and Meggan have shared together, the adventures they have shared, have only made him care all the more for her. However, Colossus thinks to himself that his feelings for Meggan were platonic, nothing more than that, as he would be a fool to think he could capture the heart that already belonged to their absent teammate, Captain Britain. Colossus wonders though if he is not to blame, perhaps Meggan is the one whose feelings are misplaced.
Colossus wonders if perhaps he was just a convenient outlet for Meggan’s effusive attractions, and with Captain Britain’s return looming, Meggan doesn’t know how to reconcile the two. Piotr tells himself that what it comes down to though, is that he should have known better than to open his heart to soon - especially to a confused empath. Colossus frowns as he takes the axe and makes the first cut into the tree.
Nearby, the techno-organic Douglock is searching for Lockheed. ‘Come out, come out wherever you are!’ he exclaims, while thinking to himself that Shadowcat will go ballistic if he has lost that pet of hers. Douglock is unaware though that as he searches for the little purple dragon, some little blue demons are watching him! Darting about on the ledge overhanging Douglock, the Bamfs are trying to push a large boulder down onto Douglock. Douglock remarks that he knows he promised to watch Lockheed while Kitty was working out with Nightcrawler, but that he has seen the little scamp all morning.
‘We’re golden! It’s rock n’ roll time!’ one of the Bamfs exclaims as they get a large stick under the boulder and jump on it. ‘Aces, baby!’ another grins as the boulder tumbles from the ledge. Down below, Douglock’s external sensors register an oversized spherical mass approaching at an extremely high velocity, and wonders what it could be - ‘Somebody! Anybody! HELP!’ he shouts as he looks up and sees the boulder rolling down towards him. ‘Oh man, I’m a pancake…I’m a pancake!’ he exclaims, when suddenly, Colossus, who heard Douglock’s cries for help, smashes his metal form through the boulder.
Colossus tells himself that he needed this release, remarking that it is reassuring to see his organic steel hide is still useful protection against natural disasters, though it offers little reinforcement in the affairs of the heart. ‘I think I just soiled my techno-organic shorts…’ Douglock whispers, before asking Colossus once the boulder shards settle how in the world this could have happened. Colossus replies that he doesn’t know, but that he suspects the answer lies somewhere above them, atop that hill.
Douglock follows Colossus up the hill, where one of the Bamfs tells his fellows that the jig is up, and they all teleport away. Colossus detects the smell, and Douglock exclaims that it is the residue of Nightcrawler’s teleport, ‘Though for the life of me, I can’t imagine why he’s want to squash me like a grape with a five ton boulder!’ Douglock adds. Colossus pauses for a moment, before remarking ‘I’m no Wolverine, but my nose is telling me…we’ve got pests!’.
‘And a nasty breed at that, I’ll tell ye!’ Rahne “Wolfsbane” Sinclair exclaims via video-monitor, shortly as Kurt, Colossus, Meggan and Douglock gather. Dr. Moira MacTaggert, also via the video-communicator, remarks that she doesn’t understand how, but that whoever the culprit is, they have got Nightcrawler’s signature registering all over Muir Island. Moira informs Excalibur that now, a number of her most delicate systems will not stop glitching, and that a vial of the Legacy Virus nearly spilled when the computer testing it malfunctioned. Moira exclaims that if Wolfsbane hadn’t corrected the error in time, then the whole island would have been an instant hot zone.
Nightcrawler exclaims that something is not adding up here, reminding everyone that the teleport signature “bamf” is a unique characteristic to his mutant ability, and no other teleporter has ever demonstrated a similar trait. ‘It can’t be duplicated. That’s impossible!’ he remarks. Douglock shifts his form slightly as he remarks that, borrowing a page from the fictional super-sleuth of yore - Sherlock Holmes -“To explain the impossible, one must rule out all possibilities and accept whatever impossibility - however improbable - that remains as the solution to the mystery”. Wolfsbane asks “Douglock Holmes” what that might exactly be. ‘Elementary, my dear Wolfsbane - there’s more than one Nightcrawler on this island!’.
Colossus declares that is ridiculous, and turns to his best friend, asking him if he subscribes to that silly theory. Nightcrawler replies that he is afraid Douglock may be on to something, before pointing out that no mutant in the world can dupe Muir Island’s sophisticated bio-sensors into believe their teleport signature if his, and they have no evidence the intruder is even of this world. Colossus asks Kurt if he has a clue to its identity. ‘Not “its”…”their”!’ Kurt replies.
Wisdom, with another cigarette, leans against a door, telling himself that it is all that stands between him and never trusting another soul again. ‘And why?’ he asks himself - because the moment he started settling in around here, the one person who ever made him feel comfortable in the first place, who made him trust again, starts flaking out - and with no good reason. Wisdom doesn’t know what got into Kitty, but intends to find out. He is about to knock on her door, when suddenly, ‘Tell me you’ve seen Lockheed!’ Kitty exclaims as she phases part of the way through the door. ‘Lost your stupid pet again, have ya?’ Wisdom asks.
Wisdom enters the room as Kitty goes about looking under the bed, calling Wisdom apathetic, she informs him that she didn’t lose Lockheed, but Douglock did, as she asked him to look after Lockheed while she and Kurt worked out, since she knew that there was no point in asking Wisdom to look after Lockheed. ‘Note to self: Never trust an extra-terrestrial biological entity to babysit your dragon, even if it wears the face of your best friend!’ Kitty tells herself, while Wisdom thinks ‘Say it!’ to himself, pointing out that that it is going to blow things up out of proportion anyway, so he should just be a man and say it.
‘Pryde - Kitty…we need to talk’ Wisdom declares. ‘In a minute’ Kitty replies. ‘No, Kitty…now’ Wisdom exclaims. ‘I said…in a minute!’ Kitty retorts. Wisdom calls Kitty a “silly little girl” and tells her to grow up for a second and forget that bloody lizard, and to come out from under the bed. Dropping his cigarette to the ground, Wisdom stubs it out with his foot. ‘I said…we need to talk - NOW!’ he exclaims again.
‘Fine. Talk’ Kitty replies as she sits on the edge of her bed, not looking at Wisdom, she holds her wide-eyed Bamf doll on her lap. ‘Something happened while you were away…something you don’t want to face. I want to know what’ Wisdom declares. Kitty glances back at him, ‘No…you don’t’ she replies. ‘The blazes I don’t!’ Wisdom exclaims, turning to Kitty and asking who made her the authority on what he wants or doesn’t want. Wisdom points out that Kitty has been a stranger since the moment she came home, and he wants to know why.
Tears begin to fall from Kitty’s eyes, while Wisdom lights another cigarette. ‘Please don’t make me do this…’ Kitty whispers to Pete as she hangs her head, when, suddenly, ‘Yeah, “Witless”! Quit the third degree! She’s - urff - squeezing the life outta me!’ exclaims the Bamf, squashed in Kitty’s arms as it lunges upwards, before telling Kitty to grow a spine, ‘Ya used to have one!’ the Bamf remarks, before biting down into Kitty’s arm, causing Kitty to release the Bamf, who then scampers away to join its fellows.
‘Let me guess - Satan stuffed the stockings this year’ Wisdom mutters, before asking Kitty what those things are. ‘Bamfs!’ exclaims Kitty, looking at her bed where more of the creatures have appeared. Kitty explains that the Bamfs come from a place called the “Well at the Center of Time”, but that they are just fairy tale creatures, characters she created, figments of her imagination-  like something from a dream. ‘Ain’t no dream here, sweet-cheeks!’ one of the Bamfs exclaims. ‘We’re the real deal!’ another boasts. ‘Live and in color straight from the other side of reality!’ another exclaims. ‘And we’ve come for you!’.
‘Bamfs?!’ Moira, Wolfsbane and Douglock all ask at once. Colossus asks Nightcrawler if he means like the ones from the “fairy tale” Kitty told to lull his sister, Illyana, to sleep. ‘As Douglock said, “rule out the impossible”!’ Kurt remarks, while thinking to himself that if those miniature versions of him are to their usual tricks to win Kitty’s affection, then this won’t be as bad as he suspects. Kurt then teleports away, arriving in Kitty’s quarters. ‘Nope, it’s worse’ he tells himself, before asking Wisdom and Kitty if they are having a little pest problem in the dormitories.
Wisdom tells Kurt to get down here and help them exterminate these ruddy knock-offs. ‘Hey baby, how about a kiss?’ one of the Bamfs asks Kitty. Kurt asks Kitty what happened. ‘Don’t tell me you accidentally opened the dimensional door to the “Well at the Center of Time” again?!’ Kitty smacks one of the Bamfs in the face. ‘Absolutely not!’ she exclaims, informing Kurt that one minute she is cuddling up to her Bamf doll, and the next thing, they are up to their ears in irate blue Munchkins.
‘We know you love us best! Why won’t you admit it?’ one of the Bamfs asks. Kitty tells the Bamf that she is sorry, but she is already spoken for, and smacks it away. As the Bamf lands on the ground, another one suggests that he try roses next time. ‘Chicks dig them!’.
Wisdom starts up his “hot knives” and asks to be let at the Bamfs, as he is in a foul enough mood as it is now, and he could sure use some target practice to blow off some steam. ‘And maybe a few of their heads’ he adds quietly. But Nightcrawler tells him to stand down and suggests they see what they really want. Shadowcat points out that it is obvious, they want her. Kitty adds that it is because of these little maniacs that Lockheed has been such a basket case over the past few weeks. ‘I can’t imagine the terrible things they did to make my poor dragon so afraid…or why’.
Three angry Bamfs group together and one of them tells Kitty it is because she created them, gave them life, made them love her - but then she forgot about them, all because of some stupid mumbly-mouthed dragon. ‘It flaps its wings…bats its eyes…coos for you some, and wam! You’re fawning all over that slimy lizard instead of cuddling up with us!’ another of the Bamfs exclaims, while the third declares that for that insult to their tender affections, ‘Your friends are gonna die!’.
Colossus, Meggan and Douglock burst into the room, ‘Again? First, it’s Black Air…then the Sidri hunters…and now plush toys!’ exclaims Meggan. ‘Staying alive has become so tedious lately!’ she adds, while some of the Bamfs decide that it is time to make their exit. Colossus tells the creatures that they have had enough of the mischief and that they need to settle down so Excalibur can return them to where they belong. Meggan tosses several of the Bamfs aside, while Wisdom asks Colossus how he proposes they are going to do that. ‘Energy manipulation’ Nightcrawler exclaims, before Douglock exclaims that in theory, Meggan’s powers should be able to tap into that “well” that they spoke of, but only if she can discern the proper spatial relations between dimensions at near infinite points without causing a complete universal breakdown in the process.
Colossus remarks that it seems they have reached an impasse, and suggests to the Bamfs that they surrender. ‘Why don’t you?’ one of them exclaims, before boasting that they have the winning ace up their sleeves. Suddenly, Douglock extends a techno-organic tendril around one of the Bamfs’ necks. ‘Hey, boss!’ cries the Bamf for help, when suddenly…Nightmare appears! The villain has Lockheed lying on the ground, chained beside him and tells the Bamfs to settle down, as he is here, or more precisely, everywhere. ‘In the shadows, lurking under every child’s bed…in the dark, subconscious recesses of every human head…you will find me and my realm of horrors!’ Nightmare introduces himself to those in Excalibur who do not know him, and announces that they have something that he wants….


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Provide a full summary of the comic book.

[Assistant]
Preludes & Nightmares!
In Nightcrawler’s nightmare:
Winzeldorf, Germany - a quiet Bavarian hamlet…’This way, men, the monster went this way!’…where a lone man flees for his very life! An angry mob of Prime Sentinels calls out to a man climbing a building, warning him to come down or else they will burn him down, they hold their burning torches high. ‘Go away! Please! I have done nothing!’ the man calls back, when suddenly, Bastion appears. ‘I beg to differ. You’ve done far too much - Professor Charles Xavier!’ he shouts as the world’s foremost telepath is pulled to the ground.
Bastion holds a stake above Xavier, who pleads with him, exclaiming that he has devoted his life to a dream of peaceful co-existence between homo sapiens and homo superior. ‘”Peaceful co-existence”?’ Bastion quotes. ‘You’re delusional, old man!’ he exclaims, telling Xavier that his precious “dream” has caused more harm to humanity than good, and now it is high time he paid for his transgressions - with his life!
Sitting in a wheelchair nearby is Kurt “Nightcrawler” Wagner who watches the situation and thinks to himself that this is impossible, for the town and angry mob - it is almost an exact re-enactment of the night he was nearly burned at the stake as a demon. Only back then, it was Professor Xavier who saved him, and this time, their roles are reversed. ‘This nightmare can’t be real…can it?’ Kurt wonders before calling out to Bastion, declaring that he cannot destroy that man, or his dream. ‘I won’t let you!’ Kurt warns him.
‘No, Nightcrawler? Watch me!’ Bastion exclaims before whacking the stake into Professor X’s head. ‘NEIN!’ shouts Kurt, who leaps off the wheelchair with his usual acrobatic flair - only to fall flat on his front. ‘My legs! My powers! What happened to them?’ he wonders, crippled without them. Kurt struggles to crawl over to Xavier, though it is in vain, for by the time he arrives, it’s too late. ‘Mein Gott, Charles - I never knew you were in such grave danger!’ Kurt exclaims as he lies beside his beloved mentor. Bastion and the Prime Sentinels stand over Kurt who whispers that the X-Men never told him, he didn’t know.
Reality:
‘Harsh!’ grins one of the Nightcrawler look-alikes known as the Bamfs as he and his fellows watch Nightcrawler’s torment. ‘Play it again!’ another asks Nightmare, the wicked demon who sits on his throne, tormenting the European super team known as Excalibur, while Lockheed the dragon sits imprisoned in a small cage hanging over a fire. ‘What did I tell you boys? I get all the best channels!’ Nightmare exclaims. ‘Yeah! Rewind! Rewind!’ another of the Bamfs shouts. ‘Horror! Terror! Fear! Suffering! You want ‘em - I can bet your mortal souls Nightmare’s got ‘em!’ the demon boasts.
Nightmare tells the Bamfs that, too much guilt this early makes even him queasy, so he doesn’t want to watch Nightcrawler again. ‘Show the blonde bimbo next! She’s a hottie!’ one of the Bamfs cries out, referring to Meggan, but another exclaims ‘No, you imp-becile, show pretty Kitty! She’s the one we all want!’ The two Bamfs teleport onto Nightmare’s shoulders, and he pushes them off, telling them that he is driving here, and reminding them that they are just hired help. ‘Soon as I get into these freaks heads and find out everything I’m supposed to - you’re going back to where I found you!’ Nightmare informs them.
‘Holy buzz kill, Bamf-man!’ one of the Bamfs exclaims. ‘We don’t get no respect! No respect, I tell ya!’ another declares, while Nightmare makes a note to himself ‘Never hire fairy tale midgets’ before telling them to shut up, as the next show is starting!
In Colossus’ nightmare:
A group of people rush over and exclaim ‘Are you really the Piotr Rasputin? The world famous artist?!’ Colossus replies that he is. A young woman tells Piotr that his art is so expressive - ‘Why, the pain you must’ve suffered to create such masterpieces!’ she exclaims, before telling Piotr that it is about time the Louvre started recognizing his genius. ‘It screams volumes to the oppressed and insane!’ The woman pulls back her shirt and tells Piotr that he must sign her body. “To Bridget…love Piotr!” she asks, handing Piotr a marker.
Colossus smiles as he complies, while telling his fan that he is but a simple farm boy with a unique perspective on the world, adding that it would be his pleasure to sign so lovely a canvas, while thinking to himself ‘Finally, my art speaks to people in the ways I cannot! I’m changing the world with my soul…not with my fists!’ Colossus wishes that his family were here to share in his joy, when suddenly, deathly apparitions of Colossus’ parents, brother Mikhail and sister Illyana appear, all carrying shovels. ‘But we are here…we are always here!’ Mikhail exclaims. ‘In the darkest depths of your heart…in the shadowy chasm of your soul!’ young Illyana exclaims. ‘In life…and death!’ Colossus’ parents add.
Wide-eyed, Colossus asks his family if they see what he has done, what his art means to people. Illyana scowls as she informs her brother that they have not risen from the grave to admire their silly paintings. ‘We have come to bury you!’ they cry in unison. ‘Wait! I do not understand!’ Colossus exclaims as they rush towards him. Mikhail declares that the Rasputins are cursed. ‘Tragedy is the rule of our miserable lives!’ he adds as he smacks Colossus with his shovel, forcing him through the glass pyramid topping the imaginary replica of Paris’ celebrated Louvre Gallery, while remarking ‘And not even your bleeding artist’s heart can shield you from that curse…’.
Colossus is overwhelmed with a fear unlike any he has ever known - a fear elicited by these nightmarish ghouls mocking the memory of his dearly departed family: That for all his vaunted strength - all his struggles to make the world a better place for all people, regardless of race, creed or genetic predisposition…the voice of his art - his soul - his heart…is doomed to fall on deaf ears - transformed into his organic steel form, Colossus smacks into the ground.
The deathly versions of his family leap downwards, following him, while Mikhail remarks that transforming into his steely hide may have protected his brother from the fall, but nevertheless, his fate - like theirs - is sealed! Colossus looks at his so-called family and thinks to himself that, at first he was so selfishly rapt in this fantasy of what he wanted his life to be that he just denied the truth about his family - that his parents were murdered by the KGB, his elder brother went insane, becoming a murderer of their own kind, and his precious sister now rots in a grave too premature for her few years on this Earth thanks to the Legacy Virus. Colossus declares that he doesn’t know who - or what - they are, but that he has done penance for his family, and will not let them sully his family’s memory -.
Reality:
Nightmare changes the “channel” ‘Enough with the posturing hero and his guilty conscience!’ he exclaims, remarking that it is time for a different daytime, family drama. An image of Kitty “Shadowcat” Pryde appears and Nightmare remarks ‘There she is, Bamfs, your favorite lil’ minx in all her adolescent glory!’ ‘KITTY! KITTY! KITTY!’ one of the Bamfs cries out. ‘Mee-OWW!’ another exclaims. ‘Nuke the dragon and she’s ours!’ a third remarks. ‘
Ahhh, yes…”Lockheed” isn’t it?’ Nightmare remarks as he turns to the trapped dragon. ‘A ridiculous name for a mere figment of a little girl’s imagination - bet you’re wondering how you fit into tonight’s very special episode of Nightmare Theatre, eh, dragon?’ Nightmare asks. ‘Yeah’ Lockheed utters, only to be smacked in the face by one of the Bamfs, ‘Jokes on you, blinky - cuz ya don’t!’
A Bamf asks Lockheed if he remembers when they all helped pirate Kitty save the universe from the evil Phoenix demon. Another Bamf exclaims something about Kitty thinking it up for little Illyana when she was sick, while another tells Lockheed that he clearly didn’t get the message that Kitty was supposed to fall in love with them after that adventure, not Lockheed. Another Bamf exclaims that while Lockheed has been making time with Shadowcat in this world, they have been stuck in that ridiculous “Well at the Center of Time!”. ‘But guess what? We out! We about! And this time - Kitty’s going home with us, no doubt!’.
Two Bamfs teleport onto Nightmare’s shoulders and tell him to fork over the goods, exclaiming that they fulfilled their end of the deal, ‘You got Excalibur - now we want pretty Kitty!’ ‘Gonna take her back to the crib and show her how much we loves her!’ Nightmare tells the Bamfs to settle down, and motions to the monitor, asking them if they can’t see that Kitty is having a “moment”…
In Shadowcat’s nightmare:
Kitty Pryde leans against her bed, hands around her ears - the screaming and shouting rises up from the living room live vengeful ghosts - the same specters that haunted her at age thirteen. ‘Stop it please…just stop it!’ Kitty whispers. Before she phases thorough the floor, half of her body then sticks out in the room below, where she sees her parents fighting, again. Carmen Pryde shakes his fist at Teresa, asking her how she can ever expect him to trust her again. ‘ME?’ Teresa snaps back, declaring that if anyone betrayed a trust in this relationship, it was Carmen.
Kitty phases back up into her room and hugs a Garfield toy, ‘Stop it! Stopt it! Stop it!’ she screams, while wondering if suffering through her parents divorce the first time around wasn’t bad enough. Kitty tells herself to get a grip, reminding herself that she is not a kid anymore, and that this is clearly not happening, that this is just some stupid sick trick that someone is playing to mess with her head. ‘But who? And why?’ she wonders, pondering the possibility that this is to make her feel even more guilty about what she is doing to Pete. ‘In my heart, I betrayed his trust…just like my parents betrayed each others…’. Crying, Kitty wonders if that is her fate, to betray the people she loves so that she can end up like her parents. Miserable and alone….
Reality:
‘Kids today, so melodramatic!’ Nightmare jokes, remarking that Kitty is toting as much emotional baggage as the other two, before exclaiming that emotional baggage seems to be a recurring theme with ‘This “Douglock” doohickie as well!’, and Nightmare changes the “channel”.
In Douglock’s nightmare:
‘Traitor! You cannot leave us!’ the seething mass of techno-organic soup known as the Phalanx exclaims, while Douglock protests, declaring that he was created to exist separately, distinct from the collective consciousness. ’An individual!’ he exclaims.  The Phalanx picks up Douglock and holds him in the air - this alien is feared throughout the universe for assimilating millions of races - its presence has never been so frightening as it is now for this tormented boy who thought he had forever thrown off the chain’s of his people’s oppressive gestalt.
‘Prepare to be re-assimilated into our consciousness, “Douglock” - where you belong! The Phalanx shouts as it latches into Douglock, who screams….
Reality:
‘That’ll leave a mark!’ Nightmare exclaims, while remarking ‘Can’t change what you are, Dougie, and there’s no use trying - sooner ya learn that lesson, cyber boy - the better off you’ll be!’ Nightmare remarks that “the busty blonde bride” is about to discover that all the silky veils and taffeta in the world cannot hide the beast inside….
In Meggan’s nightmare:
Meggan stands alongside Captain Britain in a church filled with former teammates and friends, while Psylocke, Shadowcat, Wolfsbane and Rachel Summers stand at her side as her bridal party. The goddess Roma is conducting the ceremony, and asks Captain Britain of Earth-616 if he takes Meggan to be his lawfully wedded wife, to have and to hold in sickness and in health, for as long as they both shall live. ‘I do’ Captain Britain replies, on this what should be the happiest day in any young couple’s life. And for those gathered here today to honor this blessed union, it is indeed joyous to see their two friends finally becoming one.
‘Then by the power vested in me, as Universal Majestrex, I, Roma, hereby pronounce you husband and wife. You may now kiss the bride!’ Roma exclaims. Rachel, Rahne and Kitty all start blubbering, but for some, like Colossus, the joy is mixed with sorrow - not for themselves, but for the one whose shameful secret les in wait to be exposed. Brian tells Meggan that he has been gone for so long, and has missed her so much. ‘Brian, I -’ begins Meggan, but Brian interrupts, exclaiming that he has waited so patiently for this day when he would life this veil and she would be his alone, forever.
But the price to possess love’s many splendors is sometimes exacted by the secret currency of a guilty conscience - and that the truth beneath the veil is hideous to behold. ‘No, Brian - Don’t!’ Meggan exclaims as the veil is lifted, revealing not her elf-like form underneath, but a beastly creature!
Reality:
‘What the heck is that!?’ exclaims one of the Bamfs as they all laugh at Meggan. ‘That, amigos, is the form of a seriously angst-ridden empath! Oh, woe is she!’ one of the Bamfs mocks. Nightmare glares at Lockheed while remarking that the guiltier Meggan feels, the uglier she gets. ‘Magnificent!’ he exclaims, boasting that by the time he is finished with her, she will be so hideous that to look upon her will turn you to stone. ‘Unless, of course you surrender!’ Nightmare tells Lockheed, informing him that all he has to do is leave the key to Kitty’s heart with his companions here, and then he will release the rest of Excalibur from their torment, once he knows what makes them tick of course.
‘What do you say, dragon? Do we have a deal?’ Nightmare asks. Lockheed just grunts, folds his arms and looks away. ‘Clinging to the false hope your friends can defeat me - the master of dreams! Please. I have broken them all!’ Nightmare changes the channel again while remarking that only one tortured soul remains - the redoubtable Peter Wisdom. From within his “set” Wisdom looks up at Nightmare and remarks ‘Slumming it again, I see’ to which Nightmare remarks that he and Wisdom are old friends, and that you can always expect an award-winning performance from Peter.
Wisdom tells Nightmare to keep channel surfing, as “Oscar” has left the building and it is not going to get any more interesting than him just sitting here on the couch. Nightmare remarks that Wisdom is turning on the bravado full blast, before boasting that he has seen Wisdom bawl like a bottle less baby before, and asks what is different now. ‘I am!’ Wisdom exclaims as he bursts through the “screen”, cigarette and all. Nightmare keeps pressing his remote and telling Wisdom to get back in there, while one of the Bamfs exclaims ‘The jig is up!’ and they begin to scatter. ‘But my control of sub-conscious misery is absolute!’ Nightmare exclaims. ‘Past tense, pal!’ Wisdom replies as he snatches the remote and shoves Nightmare aside, telling him to ‘Park it’ while aiming the remote at the “screen” and declaring that it is time Nightmare learnt a little something about the people he thought he could crack here on Elm Street. ‘Ya ridiculous Freddy Krueger-wannabe!’
The channel changes and Wisdom asks Nightmare if he wants to see Meggan’s true form. ‘Feast yer eyes on this!’ he exclaims as Meggan’s most beautiful form appears on the screen. Wisdom remarks that just looking at her, it is easy to think she is some airhead, when in fact, she is one of the most “together” women he has ever met. Wisdom remarks that Meggan’s bohunk boyfriend takes off for God-knows-how-long, and what does Meggan do? Fall to pieces like some lovesick puppy? No, she keeps herself together by leaning on the people around her - her friends - her family.
On the screen, Meggan hovers over everyone, and Captain Britain and Colossus look at her in awe, while Wisdom remarks that sure, she and Colossus got cozy during Brian’s absence, but that she is a one-man-woman at heart, and Captain Britain is it. The on-screen Meggan lands in Captain Britain’s arms and they embrace, while Wisdom remarks that Meggan’s empathy might have confused her feelings towards Colossus some, but that confusion will disappear the moment she is back in Brian’s arms again - and this guilt-stricken nightmare will be nothing more than a faded bad dream. ‘Sorry old buy, but this round goes to Excalibur!’ Wisdom exclaims as he changes the channel again, ‘Hey I was watching that!’ Nightmare protests.
Wisdom exclaims that it is time for round two though, and Colossus and the deathly visions of his family appear, to which Nightmare exclaims that there is nothing more entertaining than watching a simple man’s dreams die. Wisdom tells Nightmare not to get to excited, and motions to Colossus on screen, who is pulling the plug on this broadcast by taking the shovels from his family. Wisdom remarks that Colossus has been plagued by his fair share of demons since becoming an X-Man, but that his heart is about as big and strong as the metal hide protecting it.
‘And he’ll use that strength to destroy all who oppose him! It’s in his eyes! The anger! The hatred!’ Nightmare exclaims. ‘You wish!’ Wisdom replies, admitting that although he has mixed feelings for Colossus, one thing he can say is that although Piotr wasn’t able to save his own family, he has long since buried his guilt over it - along with his demons. On screen, the deathly visions of Colossus’ family climb into a ditch, bidding Colossus goodbye, Illyana asks him not to forget them. ‘Never, little snow-flake’ Colossus replies. ‘Never’, before he begins painting, while Wisdom remarks that the world around him may declare war on his surrogate family, but Colossus has at last made peace, with himself.
Another channel switch, and Wisdom asks Nightmare if he is starting to see a pattern here. ‘Once is an incident, twice a coincident’ Nightmare replies. ‘and three time’s a pattern, watch!’ Wisdom exclaims, while on screen, Douglock, overwhelmed by the Phalanx appears, telling Douglock that his resistance is futile and that his identity will be reabsorbed into the collective. ‘But I have a life of my own now. A mind of my own. Feelings of my own!’ Douglock cries. ‘Feelings are irrelevant’ the collective replies, reminding Douglock that he is flesh of their techno-organic flesh, blood of their collectively-shared blood. ‘Such distinctions as you suggest do not exist within the collective’.
The Phalanx warns Douglock to surrender and recognize the majesty that is his birthright as penance for his treachery. ‘And it will be your hand that grants your friends a swift, merciful execution when we return to assimilate their world!’ Tangled in the Phalanx, Douglock shouts ‘NO! I’m not one of you! Not anymore!’ The Phalanx screams and retreats, exclaiming that they have been system-purged. Douglock declares that he has exorcised all traces of the Collective from within him, that the ties that bound him are severed. ‘I’m my own being now - my own person…so go find yourselves a new whipping boy!’
‘And cyber-boy makes three. Ready to say “uncle”?’ Wisdom asks Nightmare, who tells Wisdom that he never will, and to shut up and change the channel. Wisdom does, remarking that it is his pleasure, Nightcrawler appears on screen, with Bastion looming over him. Bastion declares that a better leader would have prevented this, suggesting that had Nightcrawler not segregated himself from his fellow freaks stateside, then Xavier might now be a free man. ‘Instead, he rots in a cold and lonely prison, locked away from his friends and loved ones, awaiting execution - and you, Kurt Wagner, are responsible for inscribing his death warrant!’
Anguish sweeps over Nightcrawler’s face. ‘Charles imprisoned? My fault? NO!’ Bastion hands Nightcrawler his sword, asking him to kindly seal the deed, Kurt takes the sword, and asks the Professor to forgive him for what he is about to do - but Kurt swings around, ‘The only dreams I’ll kill, monster…are yours!’ he exclaims as he beheads Bastion. Nightcrawler holds his sword high, declaring that he has pledged himself to the perpetuation of Charles Xavier’s dreams of peace and genetic co-existence, so he will not see them bled to death by the likes of a bigot like Bastion. ‘You wanted a war with mutant kind, Bastion…? Fine! Show your face again…and you’ll get one!’
Wisdom remarks that he has never seen Wagner so passionate before, and tells Nightmare he must have really struck a nerve. ‘Oh, believe me - I have struck several!’ Nightmare replies, suggesting Wisdom try the next channel and see. Wisdom changes the channel and Nightmare remarks that Wisdom will especially enjoy this broadcast. ‘Kitty…stop it, Nightmare. I don’t want to see this’ Wisdom remarks. ‘Sorry, chap, we’re live!’ Nightmare replies, remarking that he said before you cannot change who you are. ‘Strip away the many faces of Katherine Pryde - the precocious genius, the lithe dancer, the mutant heroine - even the deadly ninja - and your darling Shadowcat’s just a child!’
Kitty is on the screen, sobbing still, while Nightmare remarks that like all children forced to grow up too soon, she will someday becoming an emotional stray, destined to forever walk the shadowy gutters of love unrequited - and alone. This causes Lockheed to begin snuffling, while Nightmare grins behind Wisdom, remarking that their relationship is at a crux point. ‘Stay together and your “adult” world will soon become anathema to her. A constant mockery of a childhood prematurely lost. Nightmare remarks that, in time, Shadowcat will come to blame Wisdom, resent him - even hate him.
Nightmare declares that Wisdom will personify everything Kitty never really wanted. ‘Her life will have become a veritable nightmare…all because of you!’ the Bamfs all grin wickedly, while Shadowcat continues to cry. ‘Breaks the heart, don’t it!’ Nightmare exclaims before Wisdom turns the screen off. ‘Hey! House of Bile was on next!’ Nightmare exclaims, until Wisdom backs him up against the wall, ‘Bout as much as yer jaundiced mug!’ Wisdom exclaims, admitting that Nightmare almost had him for a moment, but he blew it. Wisdom remarks that Nightmare has been inside his head before and knows the baggage he has lugged over the years as well as Wisdom himself. ‘The guilt, the grief…and the regret that was born the day my Mum was killed because of me!’.
Wisdom continues, ‘The weighted conscience that continued to grow with every Black Air mission - until it became an uncontrollable beast of a nightmare when hundreds of innocent Ronsaphan citizens died by my hands. Wisdom blows some cigarette smoke out of his mouth in the form of a heart, then an arrow striking through the heart as he admits that it made him sick to his stomach, but that he beat his nightmares, meaning he beat Nightmare himself. Wisdom declares that he will beat Nightmare again, right now. ‘Why?’ he asks rhetorically, ‘Because no horror show you could possibly produce compares to the one that little lady is making me live through now’. Wisdom adds that the worst part is he cannot change the channel.
Nightmare coughs up a whole lot of cigarette smoke, before Wisdom aims one of his “hot knives” at Lockheed’s cage, freeing the purple dragon. ‘Show’s over!’ he exclaims, before Lockheed begins chasing the Bamfs around, blasting fire at them, the Bamfs claim that they didn’t mean any harm, that they were just playing with him. ‘Heh!’ Lockheed mutters.
Suddenly, Nightcrawler, Colossus, Shadowcat, Meggan and Douglock burst through the screen, with Nightcrawler exclaiming that they are free at last. Nightmare grins, telling the heroes not to bet on it, as the pleasure has been all his. He remarks that a mutual friend is going to benefit a great deal from what he has learned about them today. ‘Woe be it when I share this knowledge with him!’ Nightmare tells Excalibur never to forget that dreams are his door way into their minds. ‘Do try to keep them locked…if you can!’ Nightmare’s laughter and “screaming room” begins to fade away into Excalibur’s subconscious minds…and they once more find themselves in Kitty’s quarters, where they were first captured by Nightmare.
‘There you are, sweetie! I’ve been so worried about you!’ Kitty exclaims as she hugs Lockheed. Douglock thinks to himself that was such a curious experience, as he didn’t know he could dream. Meggan asks Kurt if that all really happened, to which Kurt replies that he prays not, for if any of those visions are genuine representations of reality and not just their subconscious phobias, then he fears for them all. Kitty remarks that even if they are real, then they have each other to lean on. ‘Like you, my best little buddy! You stood up to that big, bad demon and all those nasty Bamfs and saved the day for everyone!’ Kitty exclaims.
‘NAH NAH!’ Lockheed replies, before pointing at Wisdom. ‘What…? You mean…oh.’ Kitty mumbles looking at Wisdom. ‘YEAH YEAH!’ Lockheed replies before flying out of Kitty’s arms towards the others. ‘Surprised?’ Wisdom asks. ‘I - ummm…’ is all Kitty can say. Nightcrawler begins to usher the others out, remarking that is their cue, and something tells him Kitty and Wisdom need to talk….


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Current Events
Muir Island Research Center, Scotland, where the techno-organic member of Excalibur known as Douglock is busy tapping away at a computer. On some sort of crusade, the computer tells him Insufficient memory, unable to comply. ‘You archaic piece of Shi’ar junk!’ Douglock exclaims, boasting that his pinkie finger has more RAM than it. ‘Computers! Nothing but cold, calculating machines!’ he mutters, thinking that computers have no concept of emotion, and the lengths to which a person will go for someone they care about. ‘Not like me. Right now, I’ll do anything - even hack into the Muir Island genetic center mainframe if it’ll help Wolfsbane!’ Douglock thinks to himself.
Suddenly, the owner of the Research Center, world-renowned Doctor Moira MacTaggert appears on a monitor, angrily asking Douglock who told him he could go mucking about with the temperature controls, as it is as hot as blazes in the quarantine unit. Douglock jumps back in his chair, ‘Oh, um…er...hi, Dr. MacTaggert!’ he exclaims, remarking that he didn’t mean to do that, as he was just trying to contact Rahne. He then asks if he can speak to her. ‘fine. But hurry. We’ve got samples to study if we’re ever to cure the Legacy Virus!’ Moira snaps back.
Rahne “Wolfsbane” Sinclair appears on the screen, ‘I knoooow, Mum. I’ll only be a minute!’ she tells Moira, before exclaiming that Douglock would never do anything to disrupt her experiment. ‘Absolutely’ Douglock replies, while thinking to himself that Rahne is going to kill him for jeopardizing Moira’s self-imposed quarantine. One of Douglocks’ wires latches into the computer, as he thinks to himself that he cannot let his best friend on this planet risk contracting a deadly disease for the sake of an experiment.
Rahne remarks that she loves Lady Moira dearly, but that if she has to look at another holographic DNA helix, she thinks she will scream! Rahne then asks Douglock what life is like on the “outside” these days. Douglock smiles and tells Rahne that lots has happened since she jumped in there. ‘Where to begin…? Where to begin…? Oh I don’t know!’ Douglock exclaims, before beginning a recap on recent events for Rahne.
Meanwhile, deep beneath Muir in a docking bay, Piotr “Colossus” Rasputin stands before a blank canvas. ‘Lost your muse?’ the elemental Meggan asks her friend as she hovers behind him. Colossus turns, ‘Meggan. I didn’t know you were there’. He remarks. ‘Apparently. You’ve hardly said a word to me in days’ Meggan replies. Colossus points out that Meggan has hardly spoken to him also, ever since she accused him of harboring some secret “attraction”, she has been distant ever since.
Meggan replies that, as an empath, she simply reflects the emotions directed at her. ‘That is an excuse. We both know that!’ Colossus exclaims, before admitting that he has intentionally kept his distance of late, but only out of respect for their friendship. Colossus dips his brush in red paint and begins drawing on the canvas, while Meggan tells Colossus that, ever since Brian left, he has been the one friend she could turn to when she was down. Meggan remarks that when she needed Colossus the most, when the emotions got too confusing to handle alone, he wasn’t there for her.
‘You call that “respect”? Rubbish!’ Meggan exclaims before flying out a window, ‘RUBBISH!’ Colossus calls out to her, asking her to wait, but it is too late, she’s gone. Piotr turns back to his painting, telling himself that Meggan is right, that he should have helped her. ‘But how?’ he wonders, knowing that Captain Britain will return to her soon, so what right does he have to meddle in the affairs of Meggan’s heart? However, Piotr knows he is Meggan’s friend, and would like to be so again when this storm has blown over. Colossus looks at his painting - a woman walking through a brick wall, and remarks ‘Speaking of “stormy” relationships - I wonder how all fares for Katya and Wisdom?’.
Back in the comm.-room, Douglock and Rahne are still chatting. ‘So Meggan thought Piotr had a crush on her, when all along she’s the one who had a crush on him?’ Rahne asks, remarking that it is a veritable soap opera, like something on the MTV, before asking what was going on with Kitty and Wisdom. ‘Hey, don’t you want me to save the best gossip for last?’ Douglock asks, while thinking to himself ‘Or at least until I bypass the quarantine room’s intranet and crack the locks on the electro-magnetic door!’
Rahne tells Douglock to tell her about Nightcrawler then. ‘How’s everyone’s favorite fuzzy elf?’ she asks. Douglock replies that Kurt is up to his tail in “change”, remarking that it is like everything old is new for him again. ‘How so?’ Rahne asks curiously. ‘Well, just after we escaped from Nightmare’s “misery theatre”…’ Douglock begins.
Kurt “Nightcrawler” Wagner is in another of the communication rooms, ‘I cant get it out of my mind’ he thinks to himself, re-living the horrible image of Charles Xavier suffering because he wasn’t strong enough to protect him. Kurt remarks that although Excalibur never directly suffered the bigotry of Bastion and his genetophobic Operation Zero Tolerance, his abduction of Professor X is a stake through their hearts nonetheless. Kurt remarks that many of his fellow X-Men owe Xavier their lives, as does he, and wonders why they haven’t contacted Excalibur so that they might find their mentor together, as the family they once were.
Looking at the blank monitors, Kurt wonders if it is because their comm-system is down, unaware that the X-Men no longer have one thanks to Bastion. Kurt recalls something Cyclops once told him: “High-tech problems often require low-tech solutions” and reaches for the telephone. ‘Now to see who’s home at good old 1407 Graymalkin Lane!’
The phone rings at the Xavier Institute for Higher Learning: ‘Are you $%^&@#$ kidding me!?’ shouts the X-Man known as Marrow as she rushes for the phone, wondering what stupid “son of an up-worlder” calls at a time like this. Picking up the phone, the foul-mouthed young woman exclaims ‘Who the #$*^$$# is this!?’
Nightcrawler smiles, introducing himself as Kurt Wagner calling from Muir Island, he asks ‘Who’s this…?’ The reply he gets is blunt: ‘Marrow. What the %*#^@ do you want?’ she snaps. ‘Ah, you must be new. Be a darling and put one of the real X-Men on, would you?’ Kurt asks. ‘”Real” X-Men? “Real” X-Men? Why, you lousy moth -’ Marrow exclaims before shoving a bone through the X-Men’s telephone. ‘Oops. I’ll…uh…call back’ Kurt remarks.
Meanwhile, Moira calls out to Rahne, ‘Flirt time’s over, girl! Back to work with ye!’ she shouts as she grabs her foster daughter by the air, pulling her away from the monitor. ‘Ouch!’ Rahne exclaims, before shifting her form into a half-girl half-wolf and growling. ‘Don’t you be growling at me, young lass!’ Moira snaps. ‘Yes’M’ Rahne replies. ‘And if ye think morphing to your transitional lycanthrope state is gonna scare me a lick?’ Moira adds. ‘No’M’ Rahne replies. ‘I didn’t think so’ Moira remarks, before telling Douglock to be a good lad and get the thermometer sorted out so they can get on with their tests.
‘You got it, Doc!’ Douglock replies, while thinking to himself that is just the cover he needs. ‘If this works, that is’ Douglock thinks as he plugs himself into the computer. Moira and Rahne detect something wrong when and Rahne asks Douglock what he thinks he is doing. ‘Um…nothing!’ Douglock replies. Rahne tells him to be careful, otherwise he is likely to short out all their maintenance systems in here. ‘Hail Mary, full of grace…’ Moira thinks to herself, while Douglock leans back and grins, thinking ‘That’s the idea!’, all he has to do is convince the computer that they solved the Legacy mystery, the locking mechanism is disabled, and Rahne walks out of there as healthy as the day she walked in. ‘So, still curious to know the dirt on Kitty and Wisdom?’ Douglock asks smugly.
‘So this is it, huh?’ Kitty “Shadowcat” Pryde asks as she watches her lover and teammate, Pete Wisdom, packing his suitcases. Lockheed coos in Kitty’s arms, while Pete replies ‘Looks like it’ and closes his case. Lighting a cigarette with one of his “hot knives”, while Kitty asks him if he will be back, Wisdom replies ‘Depends’. ‘On?’ Kitty asks. ‘Dunno, Pryde. It just depends’. Kitty looks to the ground and tells Wisdom that is not fair, adding that they parted on a bad note as she was having doubts about their relationship.
Kitty tells Wisdom that nothing actually happened between her and Rigby Fallon, but she just felt something - something different than what she feels for Wisdom, mostly because Rigby is the same age as her, but nothing like what she and Pete share. ‘I’m not asking you to like it, but can’t you at least see my side?’ Kitty asks. ‘Why should I?’ Wisdom replies. Lockheed grins with satisfaction, while Kitty tells Pete that if he cannot answer that question for himself…her voice trails off, while Pete declares that perhaps this is for the best then.
He stubs another cigarette out into an already full ashtray and thinks to himself that he can imagine what Kitty is thinking right now, : “A chance at genuine happiness stares you dead in the face for the first time in your miserable life, and what do you do? Pack your bags. All because some ‘bird’ broke what’s left of your heart. Think you’re being a real man, sneaking out of my life - of Excalibur - as quietly as you snuck in? That’s no ‘man’ that’s a bloody coward. A real man doesn’t hide his feelings from his friends. He shares them, regardless of the consequences”.
Picking up his suitcase and jacket, Wisdom begins walking out of his quarters, thinking that if those are Kitty’s thoughts, she would be right, he should tell her how he feels. How much she hurt him, and how much he wants her to hurt for it. ‘It would be so easy…for a coward’. Wisdom decides that he should say something to Kitty, as he owes her that much. ‘You said you loved me’ he declares. Kitty frowns, then turns to Wisdom and they look at each other for a moment, before she hangs her head while Lockheed grins at Wisdom, who walks out the door. ‘I thought I did’ Kitty whispers while Lockheed consoles her.
‘Poor Kitty!’ exclaims Wolfsbane, while Moira remarks that it is such a shame. ‘And just when Mr. Wisdom was starting to tolerate me!’ Douglock adds, remarking that losing someone you love is pretty awful, whatever the circumstances. He asks Rahne if she agrees, and suddenly Rahne starts blushing, and is lost for words. ‘Feeling a little flush?’ Moira asks her daughter, who asks Douglock if he is sure he fixed the thermometer, as it is starting to warm up in the quarantine room all of a sudden. ‘Ahhh, young love’ Moira thinks to herself, before remarking that Rahne’s flushness is not due to the thermostat.
Douglock grins as he remarks that Dr. MacTaggert is probably right, and offers to double-check one last time to be sure, while thinking to himself ‘I knew it! I knew Rahne felt something for me! This is gonna be so great!’. Douglock latches himself into the computer again, ‘Finally! I’m in!’ he exclaims, while discovering that, according to the computer, he could have ended the quarantine weeks ago. He thought that data was purged from his memory. ‘But if it wasn’t? Oh, wow! This is incredible! Rahne and Dr. MacTaggert are gonna be doubly surprised!’ he thinks excitedly.
Wolfsbane hands Moira the latest batch of analyzed samples and remarks that it looks like she is still clean. ‘Thanks be to God for that!’ Moira exclaims, before they hug, while Moira declares that she hates the idea of Rahne being in here, risking infection just to help her mother feed her obsessions, but that she is glad she is in here with her. ‘For you, Mum? Anything!’ Rahne exclaims, when, suddenly, Quarantine parameters satisfied…electromagnetic locks disabled…experiment concluded. Announces the computer. Shocked, Moira exclaims that this cannot be happening, as her work is not finished yet. ‘It’s okay, Doc. I found what you’re looking for!’ Douglock exclaims as he enters the quarantine room as the door opens.
Douglock announces that important information about the Legacy Virus, the data Zero uploaded into him, is still buried deep inside his head somewhere. He exclaims that if they can access it, there will be no further need for testing, experiments, or quarantine. ‘And there’ll be no need for anyone to die searching for the cure, especially you, Rahne! Don’t you get it? I saved you…because I love you…!’ Douglock exclaims.
Furious, Wolfsbane exclaims that she doesn’t believe this, and tells Douglock that he is the one who doesn’t get it. Rahne points out that they might not be able to access that part of Douglock’s memory, and that if they do, the data might not even be available. ‘You’ve not only ruined weeks of hard work, but you’ve risked my Mum’s life, and for what? A stupid bloody crush!’ Wolfsbane exclaims before running off.
Douglock calls out to her, asking her to wait. ‘I only wanted to help…’ he whispers. Moira approaches Douglock and tells him that sometimes in life, you’re going to discover that despite your very best intentions, no good deed goes unpunished.
Meanwhile, Nightcrawler tells Colossus that it is more than just feeling “out of the loop”, but that it is like they don’t even count anymore, no even to the X-Men’s enemies. ‘Would you prefer Bastion crash through our door so that we could be “part of the action”?’ Colossus asks. Nightcrawler replies that he doesn’t, but that he cannot help but wonder what Excalibur has really done for mutant kind lately. Colossus smiles and remarks that they have done a great many things, perhaps not on the same scale as their Stateside comrades, but they have made a difference in their own way.
Kurt replies that perhaps he misses the good old days. ‘So your wardrobe change indicates’ Piotr remarks, motioning to Kurt’s classic duds. Kurt replies that he dusted off the old circus togs the other day. ‘Something about getting back to basics just felt right’. Suddenly, the communication system goes off, and Colossus remarks that is a password-protected line. Kurt adds that only trusted members of Professor Xavier’s clandestine “Mutant Underground” can access it.
In Israel, ‘The Password is “Cyberno”…confirm?’ a woman says into her communicator. ‘Confirmed…but who are you?’ Kurt asks. The woman replies that her civilian name is inconsequential, but that they can call her Sabra! Colossus exclaims that he remembers Sabra as the Israeli heroine from that Contest years ago. Kurt tells Sabra to pardon their surprise, before asking how she got this number. Sabra frowns as she replies that this is the line designated for underground communications. ‘Do the math’ she adds. Colossus asks Sabra if there is something Excalibur can do for her, to which Sabra replies ‘We shall see’ and announces that for the past three days, Israel has been under siege by a paranormal force so powerful even their own defense for is helpless to defeat it.
Sabra adds that they suspect the paranormal to be a mutant, a being possessed of not one, but three particular talents: telepathy, telekinesis and pyrotechnics. Sabra asks Nightcrawler and Colossus if they see the pattern forming, to which Kurt exclaims ‘Mein Gott…Legion!’
Meanwhile, out on the dock, Meggan sits on the edge and Wisdom comes up behind her, asking her if she is waiting for her ship to sail in. Meggan replies that every morning she sits here watching the trawlers come and go, hoping one of them will bring Brian back to her. ‘And every night, I get up and go back to me room. Alone’. Wisdom smiles, ‘That’s life, girl’ he replies, dropping his cigarette into the water. ‘Get used to it’ Meggan looks at Wisdom, ‘You don’t really believe that, Peter. Do you…?’ Meggan asks. ‘What do you think?’ Wisdom replies.
Meggan tells Wisdom that sometimes she thinks he puts on these crass, detached airs to keep people off balance and at arm’s length - so they won’t get close enough to see that behind the swearing and the cigarettes, he is really no different than them. ‘That you need…and want…their love and affection, and that you’ve got so much love inside you, just waiting to burst out’. Meggan tells Wisdom that perhaps it is because she is an empath that she senses this, but reminds him that he did ask her thoughts, and that’s them.
A small boat approaches the dock and Wisdom stands up, telling Meggan that next time he won’t ask, and excusing himself. ‘My ships’ about to sail…and so am I’. he declares, while standing on the back of the small boat and looking back up at the Muir Island Research Center, while Kitty Pryde looks out of a window, watching Wisdom leave, a tear rolls down her face….


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The Search, part 1
Muir Island, dawn, and the elemental Meggan greets the sun rise this morning as she has done for every other morning for the past week: seated on the edge of the docks, her eyes transfixed on the horizon, her empathic senses keening as far as they can. Searching. Searching for her beloved Captain Britain. Searching for signs of life, of human activity. A ship. A raft. A corpse. Anything. She is ever searching. Gulls flock around her as her ankle-length hair flows in the wind. Still there is nothing.
Meanwhile, halfway across the world, in the tropic wilds of Peru, the rest of Excalibur conducts a search of its own…. Inside the Midnight Runner, four members of Europe’s premiere super hero team hovers over a large compound which is protected by a large force field. ‘We’re breaking into that?’ the techno-organic Douglock asks, exclaiming that they are talking about an Operation Zero Tolerance here, ‘It’s a suicide run!’ he adds. Piotr “Colossus” Rasputin tells Douglock that the worst they will suffer is a broken bone or two. ‘Oh that’s reassuring’ Douglock mutters.
Kurt “Nightcrawler” Wagner, Excalibur’s leader, points out that if Professor Xavier is indeed trapped inside as the data Sabra provided them suggests, then it is up to them to liberate him as stealthily as possible. He asks his long time friend and teammate Kitty Pryde if she agrees, to which Kitty replies that she isn’t called “Shadowcat” simply for dressing the past. Colossus reminds Nightcrawler that Bastion proved to be as dangerous a foe as any the X-Men have ever faced, and asks if perhaps they should contact the X-Men. Kurt replies though that there isn’t time, and that they will have to handle this themselves, adding that they owe this to the Professor. ‘I owe it to him’.
Douglock informs everyone that the dome radiates an inordinate amount of psionic static with a distinct telekinetic undercurrent. Nightcrawler asks if he can punch a hole through it, to which Douglock replies that he cannot from this distance. Kurt remarks that psi-static and telekinesis were two of Onslaught’s attributes, to which Kitty reminds him that Onslaught was destroyed, as the Avengers and Fantastic Four saw to that, and it nearly cost them their lives. ‘Which is why I pray we find the Professor inside…and not his evil alter ego!’ Kurt exclaims.
The Midnight Runner is left to hover in the air, while a hatch opens and Kurt remarks that he doubts the red carpet will be rolled out for them, so suggests Colossus try not to attract any undue attention. ‘Of course’ Piotr replies, before dropping off the edge of the hatch, thinking to himself as he falls to the ground in his human form that Kurt is risking a lot with this mission, after all, he blames himself for the Professor’s unfortunate predicament. Piotr does understand Kurt’s feelings though, as the Professor is like a father to them all. ‘Without him, we would not be who we are today. I would be a simple Siberian farm boy - instead of the mutant outlaw Colossus!’ Piotr exclaims as he smacks into the ground, unharmed as he changed to his steel form at the last minute, before he radios to Kurt, informing him that he has touched down and will move in for a closer look.
Kitty radios back, warning Colossus to be careful. Colossus replies that the coast is clear, before exclaiming ’Bozhe moi!’ Nightcrawler teleports down with urgency, asking what is wrong, but sees for himself as Colossus motions to the Prime Sentinels lying on the ground, their bodies ripped open, a mixture of human innards and technology splattered everywhere. Colossus asks what could have done this. ‘Surely not the Professor!’ he exclaims. Kurt covers his mouth and remarks that they will find out for sure inside.
Colossus assures Kurt that he wants to see the Professor safe just as much as he does, but that he believes rushing headlong into the unknown is a mistake. ‘If Cyclops’ leadership has taught us anything, it’s -’ Piotr begins, until Kurt cuts him off, declaring that Cyclops is not here, so it is his call, before asking Piotr to radio to the others and get them to leave the Midnight Runner cloaked and join them down here. Kurt exclaims that he is going inside, hopefully with all of them. ‘Without if not’ he remarks, before teleporting past the force field.
Kitty drops to the ground easily by making herself intangible, reminding Colossus that Kurt has always been his own worst critic, but that he is really being hard on himself this time. She points out that prejudice against mutants and genetophobic groups like Zero Tolerance are no new fad. ‘It’s human nature to fear things we don’t understand’ Kitty adds, while Douglock stumbles down through the trees as the parachute he added to his form gets tangled. Suddenly, he becomes ensnared by a snake. ‘Down boy…uh…girl…whatever you are!’ he cries as the snake wraps itself around him.
While Douglock thrashes about in the branches, Kitty exclaims that they may be different than “normal” people, but that they are all fundamentally the same. Colossus replies that the few bad apples always spoil the bunch, to which Kitty declares that it is up to them to distinguish the good from the bad. ‘Any time you’re ready, Douglock…?’ Kitty adds as she turns to their troublesome teammate. ‘Jungles. I hate jungles!’ Douglock exclaims once he has freed himself from the snake. Kitty tells her friends to brace themselves, as she isn’t sure what effect this telekinetic force field is going to have when they phase through it. ‘Here’s hoping we make it through alive!’ she exclaims before grabbing Piotr and Douglock and jumping through. ‘I wanna go home!’ Douglock exclaims.
‘What? And face Rahne?’ Kitty asks Douglock as the trio emerge in some sort of hallway, reminding Douglock that Wolfsbane is still angry with him for ruining Moira’s experiment. ‘Good point!’ Douglock agrees. Colossus radios to Kurt, informing him that they are in, and ask him what his position is. Kurt replies that he is not exactly sure, as the passages are labyrinthine.
At his location, Kurt creeps along the ceiling, and reports that the architecture is incredible, that it is such a shame Bastion had to sully its ancient beauty with his presence. Kurt adds that the style reminds him of that ancient city on the Blue Area of the Moon. Colossus agrees, and via radio transmission remarks that they should pray they are not visited by a similar tragedy here as they were there, and that this search is a success. ‘Amen’ Kurt agrees, before informing his teammates that he has more eviscerated Prime Sentinels at his location, so he believes he is getting closer to something.
Kurt drops to the ground and wonders what exactly it is he is getting closer to, when suddenly ‘Heeelp…pleeease!’ comes a cry. Kurt radios to the others, asking if they heard it and exclaiming that it felt like a psi-call, so it could be the Professor. Colossus tells his friend to take it easy and not jump to conclusions. Kitty however tells Piotr that there was definitely something there, a familiar sensation, like the first time the Professor “spoke” into her mind, and remarks that maybe Kurt is right, perhaps Charles is here! Douglock announces that he will lock onto Nightcrawler’s situation, and tells Kurt to stay where he is. ‘Oh, I’m not going anywhere!’ Kurt replies as he is suddenly surrounded by…the Original X-Men???
Back in Scotland, Meggan continues to huddle on the edge of the dock. ‘Men. I’ll never understand them!’ she thinks to herself, deciding that Brian Braddock is a fool, going off to “find himself” without his powers. ‘Rubbish!’ Meggan thinks the time has come for Brian to settle down, but wonders if he doesn’t realize what is waiting for him here. ‘A beautiful girl with all the love in her heart just for him’….
Dr. Moira MacTaggert stares down at Meggan from inside her legendary Research Center, thinking that it is shameful how people hurt the ones they love the most. With a cup of coffee - possibly her own infamous brew - in her hands, Moira remarks that people get so caught in themselves, searching for some missing piece of a puzzle that they may never solve, that they forget what is really important. But Moira knows that it is easy for her to accuse Brian, after all, she is as guilty as he is. Moira turns and makes her way through the vast complex, deciding that it is time she started practizing what she preaches, she reminds herself that if it wasn’t for Douglock, she would still be holed up in her lab, searching in vain for a cure to the Legacy Virus.
Now though, Moira knows she can go on living her life instead of fretting it away, waiting for the disease to kill her. Moira decides that some traveling is due, and ponders the idea of going to the School for Gifted Youngsters in Massachusetts to visit Sean - Banshee - then they could jet away and go get lost on a tropical island somewhere, just the two of them. Strolling through the residential wing, Moira decides against it however, feeling that she cannot leave poor Rahne alone like this, not yet, and realizes that Rahne hasn’t come out of her room in days.
Moira knocks on her foster daughter’s door, the reply being ‘If that’s ye again ye asinine alien…? GO AWAY!’ Moira opens the door, ‘And who raised you to talk like that, young lassie? Certainly not I!’ Moira exclaims. Arms folded as she sits sullenly on her bed, Rahne apologizes to her mother. Moira asks Rahne if she is ever going to forgive Douglock, pointing out that she has. Rahne asks why she should, to which Moira quotes “To err is human…to forgive is divine”. Rahne starts sniffing and remarks that Moira sounds like Reverend Craig. ‘I do? Remind me not to say that again!’ Moira exclaims.
Moira explains to Rahne that Douglock was only doing what he thought he was right. ‘At the risk of your life!’ Rahne points, declaring that without a cure, Moira could die. Moira agrees, she could indeed go at anytime, but tells Rahne that is a fear she live with, not her. ‘I want you to live your life like the beautiful girl you are. I want you to be happy!’ Moira exclaims as she hugs Rahne, who asks ‘What about ye?’. Moira replies that since she discovered she was the first non-mutant to be infected with the Legacy Virus, her every waking hour has been spent searching for meaning. ‘To my past…my present…and whatever future I may or may not have. Know what I’ve found? Death is for the dead. May they rest in peace. Life…? Life is for the living’.
Back in Peru, Kitty radios to Kurt, asking him what is happening. ‘I do believe I’ve stepped in it, this time!’ Kurt replies, before leaping back onto the wall as Angel and the Beast lunge at him. ‘Ahh, the tried and true “high/low” combo. Talk about Danger Room 101!’ Kurt exclaims, while Cyclops tells Angel and the Beast to see to it that Nightcrawler does not escape. Beast exclaims that he has got him, but Kurt is too quick for him and he stumbles. ‘Hold still you blue freak!’ Angel shouts while Kurt somersaults through the air, telling the “Original X-Men” that, whoever they are, they will have to be more creative to catch the Xavier School’s “acrobatic achievement” record holder.
Kurt lands in front of Cyclops, who declares ‘We’re the X-Men, mutant. And unless you stop right there…you’re dead!’ Kurt leaps up into the air, dodging a powerful optic blast, he then runs along the ceiling, dodging more blasts while Cyclops exclaims that he is going to fast and cannot draw a bead on him. Kurt suggests that “Cyclops” go off and broods in a corner somewhere before someone gets hurt. ‘Namely me!’ Kurt thinks to himself, while deciding that these faux X-Men are nowhere near the coordinated fighting force the real Original X-Men were.
Nightcrawler realizes he can use this to his advantage, if only he knew whom he was using it against! Kurt decides to make another move before the erstwhile “Slim” Summers, as Cyclops was known then, can fire another optic beam, only to find himself covered in ice. Iceman slides up to Kurt on an ice-sled and exclaims ‘Freakin’ mutie degenerate! We should’ve slaughtered every last one of you when we had the chance!’ Suddenly, Marvel Girl warns him to back off, to which “Iceman” asks ‘Why? So you’ll have another guinea pig for your experiments?’ Marvel Girl frowns ‘Because I said so! I’m supervisor of this facility…and what I say goes!’ she exclaims as her form shifts into that of a Prime Sentinel!
Rather cold with all that ice around him, Kurt shivers ‘M-m-mein g-g-gott!’ You’re…’ the Prime Sentinels finish his sentence for him, declaring that they are the enforces of Bastion’s “final solution” the Prime Sentinels! The others shift back to their true forms also, just as Kitty Pryde phases up through the floor, telling Kurt to have no fear as the cavalry is here, she phases right up through one of the Prime Sentinels, who exclaims that his cybernetics is going haywire, and he cannot compensate.
Colossus and Douglock burst through a nearby wall, while the female Prime Sentinel exclaims ‘David! NO!’ and calls Kitty foolish, as her intangibility is disrupting David’s neural net, effectively killing him! Kitty leaps away, ‘”David”? But I never meant…’ she exclaims, while the Prime Sentinels tend to David, the woman tells Excalibur that they misunderstand, ‘We don’t want to fight you. We need your help!’ she exclaims. ‘You want our help?’ Colossus asks as he helps Nightcrawler down from the ice, while Douglock asks someone to correct him if he is wrong, but he thought the Prime Sentinels were the enemy.
(Shown with flashback illustrations)
The female Prime Sentinel replies that, under different circumstances, they would be enemies, but that this is a matter of life and death for all of them trapped here, human and mutant. She explains that this installation was initially founded as a research facility for an international team of cybernetically-enhanced doctors and scientists devoted to studying the mutant menace - err, question. The woman continues, revealing that once Bastion was captured, their raison d’etre took on a decidedly darker purpose.
The woman adds that, strategically secluded in these Peruvian highlands, they escaped detection by United Nations forces, so here, Zero Tolerance could persevere without interruption. She explains that they took the last remaining evacuees from the North American bases, and that by the time most of the transfers had arrived, they’d been beaten by the more militant base commanders that, and despite the powers the mutants possessed, they had not the capability, nor the will, to rebel. ‘Most…except one!’
(Present)
The woman explains that using their metamorphic abilities, they assumed an appearance that the mutant held here might find reassuring, anything to keep it from slaughtering them they way it did the others, but she knows that this ruse will not protect them for long. ‘Please, if there is any shred of human decency in you people, help us!’ she pleads. ‘You hunt us, you kill us. But when the tables turn, you want mercy?’ Nightcrawler asks, before declaring that, tempted as he is to leave the Prime Sentinels here to their fate, his conscience will not let him. ‘You see, we mutants are decent human beings. A pity you only realize that…after the damage is done!’.
Excalibur rush off to the location of the mutant, and arrive at a large door. Douglock points out that it might be rigged with explosives, which would certainly give the Prime Sentinels the opportunity to escape. ‘Not to mention blow us all to smithereens!’ he adds, before suggesting that there might be another way out of here, so they could leave and come back with the real X-Men. Kurt tells Douglock to focus, pointing out that they have come too far now to turn back. ‘I believe the Professor is being held prisoner on the other side of this door…and I’m not going home without him!’.
But, as Kurt reaches for the lock’s touch pad, he cries out as a psi-blast strikes his mind. The others feel it too, and Colossus exclaims that they must resist the pain at all costs. Kitty declares that her head feels like it is going to explode, before phasing as a large statue falls down. Kitty thinks it is bad enough her mind feels like it is being ripped in two, but the whole facility is being telekinetically torn apart. Shadowcat knows that Kurt is counting on them, and so is the Professor, so they cannot fail now.
Kitty knows that one bonus being naturally intangible has is that it is a great defense when the walls come crumbling down, not to mention it makes picking electronic locks a breeze! As she shoves her finger into the touch pad, she thinks ‘Eat your heart out Ororo!’, recalling how Storm used to be a lock pick, among other things. Kitty’s plan works, and the door begins to open, sliding apart, while a prayer escapes Kurt’s lips - a prayer that his search was not in vain. ‘Please! Someone! Help me!’ comes a telepathic cry. ‘Hang on, Professor! We’ve come for you! Everything’s going to be all right!’ Nightcrawler exclaims. But, as he and the others enter the chamber. ‘That’s not the Professor!’ Colossus exclaims. Indeed, for strapped to a table, all sorts of wires and devices strapped to him is…Mimic!
Dusk at Muir Island. The sun sinks towards the horizon as yet another day’s vigil comes to a fruitless end for Meggan. Tonight, she will dry her tears, and tomorrow, she will wait anew. And so it goes, as the first tear falls. Meggan gets to her feet and begins walking back along the dock. Sunrise. Sunset. They have become a mantra. A ritual. A tradition. Suddenly though, a horn sounds. ‘Huh?’ Meggan exclaims, turning to the water, suddenly engulfed in the trawler’s light as it nears the dock.
Constants in Meggan’s life upon which she can always depend. Someone jumps off the boat and onto the dock, tossing a sack. But, then again…so has Captain Britain. ‘Evening, luv…miss me?!’ the handsome hero asks. ‘BRIAN!’ Meggan exclaims, her tears now turned to tears of happiness, as the two lovers are now reunited….