THE EX-FACTOR

By Ryan Krupienski

Yesterday evening…

“You wanted to see me, Jean?”

Jean Grey-Summers, sitting at her vanity, turns to face Kitty Pryde, who has just entered the room. “Yes, I did. I’m going out tonight.”

“I… can see that,” Kitty says, a bit shocked to see Jean wearing a small black dress due to the fact that she’s almost seven months pregnant. “Where exactly are you going?”

“I’m… going to meet Logan.”

“Logan?!” Kitty exclaims. “Where?”

“He’s opening up a Princess Bar here in Chicago, and he wants me to meet him tonight for the grand opening. We need to work some things out.” Jean turns back to the mirror, and touches up her make-up a bit.

Kitty starts towards the door. “I’ll come with you… I haven’t seen Logan for a while either. I can be ready in…”

“No, Kitty… the reason I called you is because I need you to hold the fort down here while I’m gone tonight,” Jean replies. “Everything seems to be going wrong today… for starters, Betsy’s gone.”

“She is?” Kitty asks curiously. “Does Warren know?”

“Not yet… he departed for New York earlier this morning, and left a note for us. He’s got that Melissa Bennett woman to deal with. I just don’t know how I’m going to tell him when he gets back…”

“I’m sure you’ll find a way,” Kitty reassures, sitting down next to Jean on the wide, padded stool. “Anything else I should know about?”

Jean thinks for a moment, then replies, “Hank and Cecilia are having some problems… Trish Tilby’s sudden reappearance really upset Cecilia. They’ll need time to work everything out. And then there’s Scott… everything seems to be going wrong for him. I know he feels responsible for leaving Longshot behind on Mojoworld, even if it was Betsy’s fault. She really took a bite out of him this morning.”

“So he doesn’t know you’re going to see Logan?”

“No… and that’s why I need you here. I need you to not only look after the others, but cover for me. If Scott asks where I am, tell him my mother drove in to the city and I’m meeting her for dinner. I’ll eventually tell Scott that I met with Logan, but not now… I don’t want to upset him any more.”

Kitty stands up and reaches for Jean’s purse, then hands it to her. “You can count on me.”

“Thanks, Kitty,” Jean replies, giving Kitty a quick hug. She starts for the door, and Kitty follows. “I better get going.”

The two women walk out of the room, down a long hallway, and down the grand twirling staircase. Jean opens the front door, revealing a limo ready to take her to the Princess Bar. “Take it easy, Jean… you’re pregnant, you know! And give Logan my best.”

Jean nods, and enters the limo. Kitty waves as the limo drives off, feeling, for the first time in a while, as if something is finally going to be okay. ‘Jean’s incredible… after all she’s been through, she’s still doing everything she can to keep her husband happy and help maintain the X-Men. And now she’s out to close the rift between our two teams… a rift that never should have been created in the first place.’

That was yesterday.

Today.

Her name is Cecilia Reyes. For years, she’s dedicated her life to saving those of others, and has done so on more occasions than she can remember. Her skills as a doctor have always come in handy… even the mutant psioplasmic forcefield that surrounds her body can be used to save lives. But neither can be used to save her own.

As Cecilia walks through the beautiful gardens of the Worthington Estate, on which Autumn has made its presence known, she remembers all that has happened recently. Battling a duplicate of her father, which she at first thought was her real father… that had really done a number on her. She’s not accustomed to the life of X-Man as well as the others, and doesn’t anticipate such things to happen.

Another thing she didn’t anticipate was the return of someone else… namely, Trish Tilby. In Cecilia’s eyes, Hank lied to her. Yes, Cecilia knew about Hank and Trish being an item before, but she thought that they had broken up seeing as how Hank had professed his love to Cecilia. Now, Cecilia’s convinced that Hank lied to her, and still has feelings for Trish… and that’s ripping her heart out.

‘I never took Hank for the type of person who would do something like this… he’s been lying to me all this time! I fell for it… how could I be such a fool?’ Cecilia pauses her thoughts, and takes a few more steps through the garden. She lets out a sigh and hangs her head down, but then…

‘Wait a minute! What am I doing?!’ Cecilia thinks, a new confidence growing inside of her. ‘I’m moping over a man lying to me… why?! I don’t need Hank in my life… I don’t need any man in my life! I need to stop feeling sorry for myself, stop acting like this… this isn’t me!’

Cecilia turns towards the mansion, ready to face one of her ‘demons’. She’s going to settle this thing with Hank… once and for all!

Worthington Industries Main Office, New York City.

Warren Worthington III is very nervous. Today is the day, the day on which a decision will be made… a decision that could change Warren’s entire life for the worse. Ever since he rejoined the X-Men full-time, Warren has had less and less time to devote to running Worthington Industries, and thanks to that, the stock has dropped immensely. That’s bad news, especially for him and the nine primary stock holders of the company. In fact, the reason Warren is here today, in this position, is because of one of those nine people.

Her name is Melissa Bennett. For years, she’s been one of the major stock holders of Worthington Industries. She’s worked with its current CEO, Warren Worthington III, several times in the past. Now, seeing as how the company is in dire straights, she’s decided to use it to her advantage in an attempt to usurp the title of CEO from Warren. While she claims that she’s doing it for the company, Warren knows that’s not true… she’s greedy and selfish, and wants the highest position this company has to offer.

The remaining eight stock holders have a decision to make… they must decide whether to keep Warren in his position of CEO, or to hand it over to Melissa. The two have drafted up their plans for a stronger, more productive Worthington Industries, and will present these to the board members in order to get their votes.

Warren takes a deep breath, takes a sip of his water, and gets up from his seat. Six board members, three sitting on either side of the table, and Melissa Bennett, sitting at the other end of the table, become silent and give Warren their attention. “Thank you all for coming. It seems we have two absences, but we’ll have to do this without them. I’ll begin with a presentation of my proposal for a stronger, more financially productive Worthington Industries.”

Warren turns to the presentation boards he has prepared, and picks up a laser pointer. He’s going a bit slow, due to the fact that something else is on his mind at the moment. ‘I’m shocked that Betsy isn’t here… I left a note for everyone back in Chicago, and Betsy surely would have read it! I was really counting on her support,’ Warren thinks. ‘And the Professor… he’s one of the board members, but he’s not here either! With no one to really back me up, this is going to be tough… but I’ll get through this. I’m not going to let Melissa Bennett steal away the company that’s been in my family for three generations!’

The Worthington Estate.

Hank McCoy is not having a good day. Yesterday was no day at the park either. His old flame, Trish Tilby, showed up in Chicago, effectively straining things between him and his current love interest, Cecilia Reyes. He tried to talk to Cecilia, but couldn’t get through to her. Now, he must try to talk to Trish… before she walks out of his life for good.

“Get out of my way, McCoy! I stayed here for one night because I had nowhere else to go… but I’m leaving now, so you may as well accept it!” Trish says impatiently.

“Trish, please… let me explain what happened before you leave,” Hank pleads, blocking the front doors in order to keep Trish inside. “You have some explaining to do as well.”

Trish sighs, and slowly puts her suitcase down on the floor. “You’re… you’re right, you know. That’s one thing I always loved about you… you were always right.”

“That was before… not any longer.” Hank looks down, trying to figure out what to say. “Trish, I…”

“Don’t, Hank,” Trish starts, “Don’t say anything. This is all my fault…”

Hank raises an eyebrow. “Did I just hear Trish Tilby admit she was wrong? Wonders may very well never cease… but in all honesty, this is as much my fault as it is yours. We both messed up.”

“Yes, we did… but there’s no reason we can’t fix things up.” Trish reaches over and kisses Hank, holding the position long enough for Cecilia to walk into the foyer.

Cecilia’s first instinct is to run out of the room, but she decides to see how this plays out… she can tell that Hank didn’t kissed Trish, but that it’s the other way around. Cecilia makes her way behind the large left post of the grand staircase, and watches to see what will develop.

Hank indulges in Trish’s kiss, but pulls away soon after. Trish looks puzzled. “Hank, what is it?”

“Trish, you know what it is…”

“Her. Cecilia.” Trish says the name with a tone of disgust layering her voice.

“Trish… I called you for months on end, left you more messages than I can remember. You never returned any of them… I assumed things between us were over. Then, with the X-Men splitting up… it was hard being at odds with dear friends, and with the race for a cure to the Legacy Virus hanging over my head… I guess I needed someone. Someone to love, someone to love me. Cecilia turned out to be that someone.”

A tear rolls down Trish’s cheek. “And… you still love her?”

“Yes… I do. Too much to lose her,” Hank admits, feeling guilty for hurting Trish. “I still have feelings for you, Trish, I always will… but the spark between us… it’s not there anymore. I don’t feel for you as I feel for Cecilia.”

“That… that I can’t believe, Hank. We’ve been through so much, and now you’re willing to just throw it all away? I know I messed up… I was gone for a long time, and I never contacted you…”

Hank eyes Trish suspiciously. “Trish… where were you? If it is something that needs to be kept confidential, you know you can trust me…”

“No, Hank… I can’t tell you. I can’t explain why… I just can’t.”

Hank and Trish both lower their heads. They know this is it… and neither of them is too happy about that. Hank makes the first move, and embraces Trish.

“I’ll always love you, Trish… but it just wasn’t meant to be. I hope that we can still be friends.”

Trish pulls away and stares into Hank’s eyes. “Always, Blue… always.”

The two hug once more, as the honk of a horn comes from outside. Hank and Trish pull away, as Trish grabs her bags. Hank opens the door, and Trish walks out. She looks him in the eyes once more. “Goodbye, Hank,” she says with a smile. She turns, and heads towards the taxi.

The taxi speeds off, and Hank closes the door. He sighs, and starts towards the staircase, just as Cecilia comes out from her impromptu hiding spot.

“Cecilia…? I assume you heard all that…”

Cecilia walks swiftly over to Hank and hugs him. “I’m so sorry… I should have given you a chance to explain…”

“It’s okay…”

Cecilia pulls away. “No, it’s not, Hank. I should have given you a chance to explain… and I didn’t.”

Beast smiles, and the two embrace once more. “It’s alright, my dear… we’ve worked it out, and now, it looks like everything’s going to be fine…”

Back in New York…

“…And that, ladies and gentlemen, is my proposal for Worthington Industries in the year two thousand. Thank you.”

Melissa Bennett takes her seat, as the board members give applause for her presentaion. She looks at Warren, a grin plastered on her face. Warren responds with a cold stare. Both of them have finished their presentations, and now all they have to do is wait for a decision to be made.

“All board members please fill out your ballots now,” the secretary sitting at a table in the corner says. The board members comply, and cast their vote on the cards in front of them. The secretary comes and gathers them, and brings them back to her desk. Seconds later, she stands up once more, ready to announce the results.

“It’s a tie… there were three votes each for Mister Worthington and Miss Bennett,” the secretary announces. Everyone is shocked… most of all Melissa. She was sure that she had won over all the board members, but apparently she was wrong.

“A tie which must be broken,” says the voice of a man near the door. Everyone turns to see who it is, and to their suprise, and Warren’s relief, it’s none other than Professor Charles Xavier himself. “I apologize for my tardiness. I have read the full reports of both Mister Worthington and Miss Bennett’s plans, sent to me earlier this month… and now I believe the only thing left for me to do is vote.”

Meanwhile, on the streets of Chicago…

Kitty Pryde walks down the cluttered streets of the Windy City, taking some time to relax and get some fresh air – something she doesn’t get to do very often.

‘I really wish I could have gone with Jean to see Logan last night… but I was needed more at the mansion, to keep an eye on everyone. In a way, I’m glad I stayed… I got to spend a little time with Alison and the baby.’ A smile forms on Kitty’s face as she thought back to her ‘play session’ with little Rebecca Blaire. She loves babies, always has.

Kitty continues down the sidewalk, trying her best not to push anyone in her quest to reach the crosswalk. She can always phase… but she’s pretty sure that people wouldn’t appreciate someone, much less a mutant, walking right through them. Maybe if she was the Vision it would be different… he’s an Avenger, hailed as a hero by millions. But Kitty… she’s a mutant, an object of fear and hate in a world that she’s fought to protect time after time.

Just as Kitty reaches the crosswalk, a loud explosion can be heard from several blocks away. She turns her head swiftly to the side, only to be greeted with the sight of scared civillians running towards her and a trail of smoke coming from the top of a building she can’t quite see. Knowing the crowd will be too frazzled to notice her, Kitty phases and starts running towards the location where the explosion occurred. She arrives minutes later, catching the view of a large hole in the front wall of a bank. Policemen arrive on the scene and back Kitty away from the building, and she runs around to an alley where she quickly strips off her streets clothes, revealing her X-Men uniform underneath.

‘I don’t know who broke into that bank, but I think it’s safe to say that whoever he or she is, they’ve got some sort of super-human abilities!’ Kitty renders her body intangible and dashes through the alley wall, eventually arriving in the lobby of the bank. She looks around and sees no sign of anyone, but can hear snickering coming from the bank’s vault, which is wide open behind the reception desk.

‘The vault’s open… the bad guy must be in there. Here goes nothing!’

Kitty runs behind the reception desk and into the vault, only to be greeted by a man wearing green and silver armor. “Hold it right there, hotshot!”

The man spins around, a look of suprise on his face. “What the…? Oh great, not you again!”

“Whirlwind! The X-Men and the Thunderbolts… we took you in along with the rest of the Masters of Evil! How are you here, now?”

Whirlwind grins. “Somethin’ called breakin’ out, bimbo!” He charges towards Kitty, his hands gripping several bags of money, but goes right through her thanks to the fact that she’s remained phased since entering the bank. He turns around, now angry, and almost attempts to charge at Kitty again. He then grins once more. “Aw heck, what’s the point? I got my loot… I’m outta here!”

Whirlwind begins to spin around and quickly heads towards the ceiling of the vault, shocked to discover that a hole has already been made. Before he knows what hit him, a smaller man jumps on his back and swiftly knocks him unconscious with a whack to the head. Whirlwind falls to the ground, as the man leaps down to face Shadowcat.

Shadowcat is shocked, happy, and relieved all at the same time… and only one man can make her feel like that all at once.

“Been a while, punkin’.”

Kitty smiles and dashes into the man’s arms. “Same here, Logan!”

New York.

Charles Xavier is a powerful man. He’s the most powerful mutant telepath on Earth, able to play with minds as a child would play with silly putty. Right now, he’ has a different kind of power, the power to decide the future of Worthington Industries by choosing who will be its CEO… Warren Worthington III, it’s current CEO, and Xavier’s former student, or Melissa Bennett, a vicious businesswoman devoid of morals who wishes to take over the company for her own purposes.

In the past, Xavier wouldn’t have even had to think about who he’d choose, and would vote for Warren in an instant. But after Warren joined Cyclops in forming a splinter team of X-Men, one that directly went against Xavier’s beliefs, Xavier lost much respect for him, having felt betrayed. Now, Warren wants… needs… Xavier’s help… but what has Warren done for Xavier? ‘Betrayed’ him, that’s what. And Xavier can’t forget that… no matter how hard he tries.

“For the past several months, Worthington Industries’ stock has dropped dramatically, causing myself and the other primary stock holders to lose quite a large sum of money. In recent weeks, it has slowly begun to climb up, having made an increase of nine points, but that is still nowhere near where it once was. Mister Worthington and Miss Bennett both have very different ideas as to how to bring Worthington Industries back to its past glory, and after reading through both proposals, I must admit I’m finding it hard to make a decision.”

Xavier glances at Warren, a serious, almost angry look on his face. He turns away, looking around at Melissa and the other board members. “However, after much deliberation and consideration as to how my decision would affect the future of this company, I finally chose who I thought best suited for the role of CEO. Although Warren has run this company successfully for years on end, his recent performance as its CEO has been quite lack-luster…”

Warren’s heart stops. He can’t believe what he’s hearing. “No…”

“This company needs new blood, someone who will look out for its best interests and those of all who are connected to it in one way or another. Therefore, I’ve decided to vote for Melissa Bennett for CEO of Worthington Industries.”

Melissa smiles with delight, and turns to see the look on Warren’s ghost-white face. She gets up from her seat and walks over to Xavier. “Charles, you’ve made the right choice, and I promise I won’t let you down.”

Xavier looks up at Melissa and replies, “I’ve no doubt that you’ll do a fine job, Melissa.” He shakes her hand, and smiles at her. He then takes a few minutes to chat with a couple of the other board members, while Warren remains seated, uneasily taking in what’s just happened.

“Warren, Warren… face it, the better man won. Or should I say woman?” Melissa tilts her head back and lets out a laugh, then starts towards the door. “Do be a dear and have your office – correction, my office – cleared out by Monday. Ciao!”

Melissa exits the room, followed by all others save for Warren and Xavier. Warren stands up and stares at Xavier for what seems like an eternity.

“How could you do this to me, Professor? You know how important this company is to me… my grandfather and father spent years building this company to what it is today, and I put in quite a bit of effort myself. And now, in one fell swoop… it’s gone. It’s all gone. Melissa Bennett’s in control now…”

“…And you have no one to blame but yourself,” Xavier says, finishing Warren’s sentence for him. “Let me remind you, Warren… it was you who asked me to be on the board of this company… I agreed, and in return, I expected you to fulfill your duty as CEO in a way that would profit the company and all who hold stock in it. As of late, you’ve not been doing that.”

“And you know why, Professor! After the X-Men split, everything changed… we all had to adjust to the fact that there were two teams of X-Men, each with their own way of doing things, that don’t exactly like each other very much. I know we’ve had our differences, and that you’re not happy with Scott’s ideas, but I was counting on you to help me out here… not betray me.”

“And what about you, Warren? You, Betsy, Scott, Jean, Hank, Peter, Kitty, even Cecilia… you all betrayed me! You…”

“We decided to think for ourselves, that’s what we did! Everything always has to be your way… heck, you can fake your own death, transform into Onslaught, disappear without telling any of us where you are, but when your students try to think for themselves, I guess that’s just crossing the line, isn’t it?”

Xavier knows Warren is right… but refuses to admit it. He has done what he’s done, handing over the title of CEO to Melissa Bennett, out of a desire to get back at Warren. “Goodbye, Warren. Give my regards to Alison.”

A dumbfounded look crosses Warren’s face as Xavier wheels towards the door and out of the room. ‘Alison…?’ he thinks to himself. ‘Dazzler! Of course… she just arrived with the others back from Mojoworld! But how would Charles know? Did he read my mind…?’

Warren quickly disregards Xavier’s final words, and turns his attention back to what just transpired. He still can’t believe it… Melissa Bennett now has control of Worthington Industries… his company! He still can’t comprehend why Xavier did what he did… he isn’t one to hold grudges, to have a taste for revenge.

‘I don’t know what’s up with the Professor… I don’t want to believe that he did this to get revenge on me for choosing to join Scott’s team. I can’t help but wonder… did something happened to him? I better tell Scott and Jean…’

Warren lets out a sigh, and starts towards the door. He arrives at the door, turns the lights off, and leaves the room. He’s heading towards his office… an office that now belongs to Melissa Bennett. As does the entire company.

Back in Chicago…

Shadowcat backs away from Wolverine, still smiling. “Logan… what are you doing here?!”

“Savin’ yer butt, as usual,” Wolverine jokes. “Seriously, though… I was just down the street when all o’this happened, so I rushed down here as fast I could. An’ as it turns out, you beat me to it.”

Shadowcat looks down at the unconscious Whirlwind, dreading the thought that he could have escaped again. “Well, thanks for the help… he was about to fly out of here, and let’s face it, my phasing power can only do so much.”

“Ya did the best you could, Kitty. You unknowningly kept ‘im occupied while I made that little hole in the ceiling to leap down through,” Wolverine continues, pointing up to the aforementioned hole, “an’ now he’s out cold.”

“Guess we should turn him over to the cops…”

The two X-Men hear a shuffle to the side of them, which happens to be a squad of police officers running into the vault, their pistols aimed at Shadowcat and Wolverine. “Freeze! Hands up!”

Wolverine snarls, unsheathing his bone claws, but Shadowcat holds him back… the officers are about to fire, just as a police officer familiar with the heroics of the X-Men walks in. “Guns down, boys and girls! These are the good guys.”

Shadowcat walks over to the officer, a medium-height black woman whom she met a while ago. “Lieutenant Davis… it’s good to see you again.”

“Likewise… Shadowcat, isn’t it?” Lieutenant Davis replies. She turns to Wolverine, taken aback by his feral demeanor. “Excuse me, I don’t believe we’ve met…”

“Name’s Wolverine.”

Lieutenant Davis smiles slightly and nods, turning back to Shadowcat. “Well, looks like you X-Men stopped the bad guys again. Thanks… we owe you, big time. We never would have nailed this fool without your help.”

“The X-Men are here to help out whenever we’re needed,” Shadowcat replies with a smile.

Lieutenant Davis excuses herself, going to oversee the apprehension of Whirlwind, as Shadowcat and Wolverine turn to face each other.

“Friend o’yours?” Wolverine asks.

“You could say that… me and the rest of the X-Men met her back when we battled the Masters of Evil alongside the Thunderbolts.”

“I heard about that… you’ll have to tell me that story someday.”

Shadowcat knows that Wolverine is about to make his exit… but she doesn’t want him to. She has too much to talk to him about, too much she wants to say. “Logan… it’s been a while since we’ve seen each other. Let’s go somewhere, just the two of us. I know a great coffee shop…”

“Ferget it, Kitty. We’re not going to any coffee shop,” Wolverine interrupts, his words coming out in a somewhat cruel manner.

Shadowcat feels her heart sink. “Logan… is something wrong? Are you upset with me?”

Wolverine grins at Shadowcat. “Give a guy a chance to finish his sentence ‘fore you go makin’ assumptions.” He puts his arm around Shadowcat, and starts walking towards the vault door. “The reason we’re not going to that coffee shop is because we’re going to the new Princess Bar instead. Nothin’ but the best fer you, punkin’.”

Shadowcat smiles and kisses Wolverine on the cheek, as the two walk side-by-side out of the bank and down the street towards the Princess Bar.

“So, why don’t ya tell me what’s new?”

“Well, we just got back from the Mojoverse a couple days ago. Alison had her baby…” Shadowcat starts.

Wolverine rolls his eyes. “Geez Louise, you women’re havin’ babies like crazy! Next thing ya know, Rogue’s gonna be havin’ triplets…”

NEXT ISSUE: At long last – the revelation of the 3rd Summers Brother! Learn about the tragic origin of this mysterious individual and how it all ties into Cyclops and Havok’s childhood, as one of the greatest dangling plotlines in X-Men history is finally put to rest! Plus: A meeting between Gambit and the mysterious Chyna, and Cyclops prepares for Apocalypse!