-
- CYCLOPS
-
- PHOENIX
-
- THE BEAST
-
- ARCHANGEL
-
- SHADOWCAT
-
- PSYLOCKE
-
- CECILIA REYES
-
- HAZARD
-
- LONGSHOT
-
- DAZZLER
-
- MOJO
-
- MAJOR DOMO
X-MEN: THE MOVIE
Part I: Casting Call
By Ryan Krupienski
Roswell State Minimum Security Prison, Roswell, New Mexico.
In a dark, lone cell sits a man. His name is Carter Ryking, and he’s a mutant. He should be able to break out of this prison quite easily, but the authorities have seen to it that he’s unable to break free, thanks to an electronic power dampener he unwillingly wears around his neck that causes his mutant ability to discharge plasma energy to cease functioning, leaving him confined and powerless.
For most of his life, he’s felt that way… confined and powerless. When his mutant powers first manifested as a child, his own father placed him in a special hospital, where he was hooked up to machines and monitored like a lab rat. He stayed there for years… too many years, and when he finally broke free, it mattered not, because the X-Men stopped his rampage.
For the past few years, he’s been at this prison, waiting for an opportunity to escape. His freedom means more now than it ever did, for he recently discovered he’s infected with the deadly Legacy Virus. The way he sees it, if he’s going to die he’ll do it as a free man… and he’ll take as many people with him as possible.
Carter is unaware of events unfolding at that very moment, events that will in fact grant him his wish of freedom. At that moment, the mutant Master of Magnetism known as Magneto is battling the X-Men, and has just unleashed a magnetic pulse wave across the entire planet that’s so intense, it’s caused all electronic equipment to malfunction.
A tingling sensation goes through Carter’s body, as the wave sweeps through him and deadens the power-dampening device around his neck. It’s a sensation he hasn’t felt in a while, and he welcomes it, although he struggles to adapt to the sudden change. Of course, he can’t adapt that quickly…
What comes next are the wild calls of a man out of control, and the erruption of the power within him. Bright surges of energy zap out of Carter in every direction, turning everything within a one-mile radius into a smoldering crater.
For moments, there is only silence. Then… he emerges from the wreckage, a bit dizzy, but still able to walk. He looks around, surveying the damage he’d done.
‘My God… I did this?’ Carter thinks to himself, looking around in awe at the devastation before him. ‘It must be the Legacy Virus, amplifying my powers to higher, deadlier levels…’
Carter smiles evily, happy to finally be free, knowing that he has the power to cause more destruction than ever before. He lifts himself into the air, eyes glowing, and levitates high above the crater. He clutches the dampener around his neck, and tears it away as if it were made of paper. “I’M FREE! HAHA, I’M FREE!”
In the distance of the night sky, he faintly sees many tall buildings. No lights at all, but he expects that. He smiles once more, and sets out towards the city.
“And I’m not the only one who’s going to die…”
Hundreds of miles to the East, at the Worthington Estate in Chicago, Illinois, the faction of the X-Men under Cyclops’ leadership have gathered in the War Room on the sub-basement level of the mansion. It’s not as fancy as the War Room at the mansion in Westchester, but it’ll suffice with the less-powerful Cerebro unit and other Shi’ar equipment it has.
The room is dark, but thanks to the glow of Cyclops’ optic beam through his visor, the faces of Phoenix, Beast, Shadowcat, and Cecilia Reyes can still be seen. While Beast fiddles with some wires, the others watch on in hopes that he’ll succeed in restoring the power.
“Mmmm… okay… yup, that’s right… almost got it… EUREKA!” Beast’s exclamation is followed by many lights within the room flickering on. “Shi’ar backup generators… gotta love ’em!”
Phoenix sighs with relief. “Good thing you got the lights back on, Hank. Now maybe we can figure out what caused this.”
A loud beep comes from the Cerebro unit across from the group, and immediately they all rush over to see the cause of it. Beast takes the seat in front of the unit, and presses a few buttons on the control panel before him.
“Well, what is it?” Cyclops asks.
Beast’s eyes go wide. “Stars and garters… Scott, according to Cerebro, a magnetic pulse wave just swept across the entire planet. The location of its release is Siberia, and the culprit… is Magneto!”
The other X-Men, save Cecilia, gasp in shock. Magneto has been their greatest enemy for years, and after Xavier wiped his mind, they thought that maybe he was gone for good. However, a man named Joseph showed up during the Onslaught disaster, and as far as they all knew, he was Magneto, albeit de-aged and amnesiac. Joseph disappeared a while after Operation: Zero Tolerance was shut down, and the X-Men never knew what happened to him. Could Joseph have returned to his old ways and become Magneto once more? They don’t know, and at the moment, they don’t care. Their main concern is to stop him, no matter what.
“M-Magneto?!” Shadowcat exclaims. “I thought he…”
“So did we,” Beast interrupts, “and it’s not just him… I’m picking up the bio-signatures of many of his Acolytes, and of the other X-Men.” Beast continues studying the screen in front of him, and is shocked yet again by what he sees. “Fascinating… Cerebro’s picking up two energy signatures for Magneto.”
“What? That… that can only mean…”
“…That Joseph and Magneto are two separate people,” Phoenix says, finishing Cyclops’ sentence. “We have to get down there, help the others…”
“Jean, we’re not part of that team any longer. We’ve decided to go our own way… remember?” Cyclops replies.
“I can’t believe what I’m hearing!” Shadowcat says in a slightly angry tone, as she turns to face Cyclops. “We may have decided to take a different approach to the way we do things than the other team, but the fact is that they’re still our friends… still our family! We can’t refuse to help them just because of a disagreement! Magneto’s a mortal threat to everyone, and with that stunt he just pulled with the pulse wave, who knows what else he’ll do! We’ve got to put our differences aside, Cyclops, and help them! They need us!”
“I agree,” Cecilia chimes in. “Ororo, Bobby, all of them… they’d do the same for us. I’m with Kitty on this one.”
“Me too,” Beast agrees.
Phoenix turns to Cyclops, “I’m with them, Scott. Can you put your feud with Charles and Ororo aside long enough to help them deal with Magneto?”
Cyclops sighs, then replies, “You’re right, all of you… I’m sorry, I was out of line to even think that way.”
Before another word can be spoken, Cerebro starts beeping again. Beast turns his attention to the screen, and presse a fews buttons on the control panel. “Oh no…”
“Now what?” Cyclops asks impatiently.
“Well, Cerebro’s picked up another bio-signature, and the energy output from the designated mutant is immense. It’s coming from Roswell, New Mexico… our old friend, Hazard.”
“Hazard?” Shadowcat inquires.
“A childhood friend of Professor Xavier’s. The X-Men faced him before, when he broke out of a prison hospital near Las Cruces,” Cyclops replies. “We defeated him, and he was placed in a prison in Roswell, restrained with a device to dampen his powers. I guess this pulse wave shorted-out the dampener, and he broke free. If he’s lost control again… there’s no telling how much damage he could cause.”
Beast thinks for a moment, then suggests, “Well, perhaps it would be best if we deal with Hazard first. Once we detain him, we can head to Siberia and help the other X-Men in dealing with Magneto.”
“Sounds like a plan, Hank,” Cyclops says. “Jean, can you contact Warren and Betsy in New York? We’ll need all the man power we can get if we’re going to be dealing with Hazard.”
Phoenix nods, and closes her eyes. She gets a fix on the location of her teammates, and sends a message with the power of her mind.
One timezone to the East, at Warren Worthington’s loft in Soho…
{Warren! Betsy! We need you back in Chicago!} Phoenix’s telepathic message booms through the minds of Archangel and Psylocke, who are sitting together in the dark on a couch near the window, the moonlight being the only thing enabling them to see.
{Jean? What’s going on?} Archangel replies.
{There’s not much time to explain, but the short version is that Magneto just sent a magnetic pulse wave across the planet, and it effectively caused a worldwide blackout. We’ve got power here at the mansion thanks to the Shi’ar backup generators, and we were able to boot up Cerebro. We picked up Magneto’s signature, and we’re going to join the other X-Men in taking him down, but we have someone else to deal with first – Hazard.}
Psylocke immediately stands up, and morphs herself and Archangel into their X-Men uniforms using her Crimson Dawn abilities. “Let’s go, luv. I’ll teleport us back to the mansion.”
Archangel looks unsure, “I… I’m not going, Betsy. I’ve got to stay here, make sure the kids are all right. Once the lights come back on, I’ll have Melissa Bennett to deal with as well. You go… and tell the others I’ll be ready if they need me.”
“Okay, Warren… I’ll see you later,” Psylocke replies. Seconds later, she melts into a shadow beneath her feet, and disappears.
Meanwhile, in a completely different dimension, on a completely different world, someone’s watching the events unfolding on Earth… and is loving every second of it.
His name is Mojo. He’s of a race known as the Spineless Ones, and is the mad ruler of a world known as Mojoworld. Unlike Earth, Mojoworld is ruled by he who has the highest ratings… and Mojo is currently that ‘he’. In the past, he’s kidnapped the X-Men and used them as a form of entertainment, a very successful and popular one at that.
Recently, he turned his attention to a new franchise, the so-called Earth’s Mightiest Heroes – the Avengers. As he did with the X-Men, he created pint-sized doubles of the Avengers and dubbed them the Avengies, but with the current developments on Earth, Mojo has been inspired…
“DOMO!” Mojo bellows, calling for his assistant. He turns his massive, yellow body around to look for his faithful right-hand man, and finds him re-securing the restraints on two of Mojo’s greatest enemies, who also happen to be former X-Men – Longshot and Dazzler.
“Yes, your obesity?” Major Domo replies. He walks over to Mojo’s side, and looks at the monitor showing the X-Men. “The X-Men?”
“Yes, the X-Men! My greatest ratings success! I’ve been inspired, Domo… a worldwide blackout on Earth… two X-Men teams torn apart by philosophical differences… the leader of one team reluctant to help his friends… an out-of-control mutant in New Mexico… don’t you see?!?!” Mojo exclaims, flailing his arms in the air.
Domo ducks down to avoid a blubbery arm. “No, sir… I do not.”
“That’s because you lack vision, Domo! I have vision, which is why I reign supreme as ruler of Mojoworld! That, and because it’s my name on the place!” Mojo declares through his booming voice.
“But sir… I thought you were through with the X-Men. What about the Avengies?” Domo asked.
“Oh, the Avengies can wait! I just want one last feature with the X-Men!” Mojo says loudly. “Now, go fetch my most loyal of hoes… Spiral has work to do!”
As Mojo stares excitedly at the monitor, watching the X-Men, Longshot and Dazzler stand chained to the wall at the other end of the room.
‘Have to find a way out of here…’ thinks Longshot, ‘I can’t let Mojo bring any harm to the X-Men! I should’ve left immediately for Earth when Mojo came back, but instead I tried to defeat him and his army by myself. Now, it’s my fault that Alison and I are here as his prisoners, and if anything happens to our baby…’
Longshot turns his head to see his wife, Alison Blaire, a.k.a. Dazzler, unconscious. A look of worry washes over his face. He wants to speak to her, but the gag in his mouth will not allow that. ‘Don’t worry, I’ll get us out of here… I won’t let anything happen to you, or our baby…’
Back on Earth, at the Worthington Estate…
Phoenix stands alone, waving goodbye as the Blackbird fires up and zooms out of the Hangar Bay. The dock closes, and now she’s truly all alone in the mansion.
‘I wish I could have gone with them… but Hank and Cecilia are right, I shouldn’t be going into battle when I’m pregnant.’ Phoenix looks down at her stomach, and sees that her pregnancy is beginning to show a little. ‘Five more months… and I’ll be having two beautiful babies!’
Phoenix smiles, and begins to walk towards a door close to her, when all of a sudden…
“UUUHHH!” Phoenix cries out. She grabs her stomach, and falls to the floor. She curls up, trying to halt the pain that sweeps through her body. “No… no, stop… Scott… help me…”
No one can hear her cry for help. There’s no one even remotely nearby, and she’s too weak to send out a telepathic distress call. She’s all alone, in the Hangar Bay, in immense pain, curled up on the floor, fearing for her unborn childrens’ lives. She tries to get to her feet, but the effort is wasted. She falls back down to the ground, and falls unconscious.
Back in Mojoworld…
“Oh dear!” Mojo says sarcastically, having just witnessed Phoenix falling unconscious via computer monitor. “Let’s hope she doesn’t have a miscarriage, like Dixie did on All My Children… she should have listened to Tad… it’s not a good thing to have a baby if you’ve only got one kidney and a history of heart disease!”
Major Domo clears his throat from behind Mojo. “Your abundanceness, I have fetched Spiral,” he announces.
Mojo turns around to see Domo and Spiral. “Oh goodie!” he says gleefully. “Now, Spiral, girlfriend, when I tell you, you are to teleport the X-Men here to me. Got that?”
As Mojo speaks to Spiral, he reaches into her mind, grasping hold of it and bringing her into his sway. Her eyes glaze over as she loses her will to the media mogul. “Yes, my lord,” Spiral replies in a trance-like tone.
Mojo turns back to a monitor showing the X-Men in the Blackbird, gesturing for Domo and Spiral to do the same. “Now, let’s see where the X-Men go before I send you off to bring them here, Spiral… teleporting them away when they’re in mid-air would just be so boring! I mean, then their plane would crash, and we’ve definitely seen enough of that…”
Meanwhile, in Roswell, New Mexico, Hazard is wreaking havoc in any and all ways possible. He has no clue the X-Men are on their way to stop him, although he wouldn’t be suprised if they did show up. In fact, he’d welcome a chance to repay them for what they did to him.
People run amok throught the streets of Roswell, as Hazard unleashes intense plasma blasts, destroying everything in his path. The people are frightened, trying to escape from the mad mutant in their midst… but Hazard, on the other hand, is having the time of his life.
“That’s right, humans! Run for your lives! It’ll do you no good! I’m dying of this wretched virus, but I’m not dying alone!” Hazard yelles furiously.
A little girl and her dog run down a street past Hazard, catching his eye. The girl’s Japanese, about six years old, and the dog’s a terrier. They’re innocent, not knowing what’s happening or why. That matters not to Hazard. He smiles devilishly, and zaps the two with his plasma blasts. The girl screams, and when the smoke clears, all that’s left are the skeletons of the two.
“MAKIKO! NOOOO!” an older woman with a thick Japanese accent cries, running over to the remains of what was once her daughter. She begins to cry uncontrollably, then looks up at Hazard with watery eyes. “You… you killed… my Makiko!”
Hazard levitates over to the woman, and raises his hand to her face. “Yes… and now I’m going to kill you!”
Hazard grabs the woman’s head and electricutes her where she stands. Her flesh burns off, and her skeleton falls on top of her daughter’s. Hazard flies up into the sky, and as he ‘s about to zap a group of people below him, he hears the X-Men’s Blackbird jet zoom overhead.
Hazard smiles, “Ah, the X-Men… I’ll take great pleasure in killing you as well!”
The Blackbird lands at the airport runway not far from Hazard. The ramp opens, and out come Cyclops, Beast, Psylocke, Shadowcat, and Cecilia Reyes. Hazard flies over to greet them… in his own way.
“Dios mio!” Cecilia exclaims in horror, looking around at the damage Hazard has caused. “So much destruction… so many people dead…”
“Hazard’s lost control of his senses as well as his powers, it seems,” Cyclops says. “We’ve got to find him and take him down, hard!”
“Take your best shot, X-Man!”
The five X-Men look up, and see Hazard levitating above them. His eyes and fists are glowing furiously with energy, and his gray prison uniform is slightly torn on the right shoulder. “I’m so glad you could make it… you’re just in time to die!”
“Spread out!” Cyclops yells, just as Hazard sends a plasma blast towards the assembled mutants.
The others follow Cyclops’ command, and jump out of the way just in time. Cyclops wastes no time, instantly getting back on his feet and shooting Hazard down with a high-intensity optic blast.
“ARRGGH!” Hazard cries out. He falls to the ground, seemingly unconscious.
“Is he…?” Cecilia starts to say.
“I… I don’t know. If he is, I…”
“If he is, you just saved thousands of lives, Scott,” Beast breaks in. He kneels down by Hazard, checking his pulse. He looks up at the others and says, “He’s alive.”
“That’s right, you blue-furred freak!” Hazard shoutes angrily, zapping Beast into the air.
“Hank!” Cecilia cries, rushing to Beast’s landing spot.
Cyclops, Shadowcat, and Psylocke back away from Hazard, ready to attack. Cecilia helps Beast back to the rest of the X-Men, as Hazard returns to the air above them.
“Why, Ryking? Why all this? Why kill innocent people who’ve done nothing to you?” Cyclops shouts angrily.
“Why?” Hazard retorts. “Why am I doing this? It’s because I’ve got that blasted Legacy Virus! It’s because if I have to die, I’m not going alone!”
Beast walks to head of the group in an attempt to reason with Hazard. “Ryking, perhaps if you can calm down, you can come back with us to the mansion. I’ve been trying to come up with a cure for the Legacy Virus for some time now, and perhaps with a sample of your blood, I can…”
“NO! I’m not going to be a guinea pig any longer!” Hazard yells angrily. “I was a lab rat for my father all my life… never again!”
Just as Hazard wis about to zap Beast once more, Shadowcat grabs his arm from behind and phases him, effectively saving his life. Once Hazard’s attack ends, Psylocke leaps in the air and jump-kicks him in the jaw. Cyclops once again shoots an optic blast at him, but Hazard moves out of the way in time. Beast then grabbs Hazard’s ankles, and quickly tosses him to the ground.
Shadowcat runs to Hazard’s side, and phases her arm through his head. “Make one false move, and I’ll solidify my arm where it is,” she says coldly.
“I’ll take care of him,” Psylocke says, as she approaches Hazard and Shadowcat. “You can step away, Kitty.”
As Kitty backs off, Hazard begins to melt away into a shadow. “What… what are you doing?! No, stop! I won’t let you… AAAHHHHHH!”
The other X-Men watch in a mix awe and horror as Hazard disappears into a shadow, courtesy of Psylocke’s Crimson Dawn powers.
“Betsy, you didn’t…!”
“No, Scott, I did not kill him, if that’s what you’re thinking,” Psylocke says, interrupting Cyclops. “He is trapped in the dimension I pass through when I shadow-slip. He should survive… for a while…”
Back in Mojoworld…
“GOOD LORD! Did Psylocke just do that?! Oh my!” Mojo shrieks in mock horror. He then turns to Spiral, “Time to do your thing!” he orders.
Spiral nods in agreement, the blank, hypnotized expression still on her face as she begins to twirl around gracefully. A portal opens next to her seconds later, and she steps through it.
“You’ll never succeed, Mojo!” Longshot shouts from across the room, having somehow removed the gag from his mouth. “The X-Men have defeated you before, and they’ll do so again!”
Mojo makes his way over to Longshot, a curious look on his face. “Oh really? How are five lone X-Men supposed to defeat me, the great Mojo? You and disco girl over here couldn’t do it, even with the help of your rebel army! Face it, ‘Lucky One’… your luck’s run out!”
Back in New Mexico…
Their fight with Hazard is over. Although they don’t know whether Hazard is alive or not, the X-Men can now relax, knowing that he isn’t causing any more trouble any time soon.
“Alright, people, we’ve taken care of Hazard, now it’s time to get into the city and douse those fires and help the people who are injured. Let’s go!” Cyclops orders.
As the X-Men begin to rush towards the city, a bright portal appears in front of them. Spiral steps out, and immediately Psylocke lunges at her.
“You! I’ll kill you for all you’ve done to…”
Spiral twirls her arm at Psylocke, and the mutant ninja vanishes into thin air. “Not this time, sweets.” Spiral turns to the rest of the X-Men. “Time to go, mutants… you’re wanted on the set!”
Before any of the other X-Men can react, Spiral begins to spin around, and they disappear. Spiral walks back into the portal, and it closes.
Seconds later, in Mojoworld…
The five X-Men materialize in front of Mojo, who’s ecstatic to see them. With the exception of Cecilia, the X-Men knew where they are, and why they’re here.
“Welcome, X-Men!” Mojo bellows. “So glad you could make it!”
“Mojo!” Cyclops exclaims. “I thought you were dead! Longshot killed you!”
Mojo laughs, “Ha! I don’t kill so easily! Longshot over there,” Mojo continues, pointing to the imprisoned rebellion leader, “thought he killed me, but I’m back! Maybe if you survive the movie, we’ll do lunch and I’ll tell you all about it.”
Major Domo walks to Mojo’s side. “Oh obese one, are you sure you only want five X-Men? There’s so many more! You do remember that the audience particularly enjoyed Gambit, Wolverine, and Jubilee, don’t you?”
Mojo pretends not to hear Major Domo and, as usual, takes Domo’s idea and makes it his own. “Y’know, Domo, I just had a thought… why not bring a few other X-Men? Everyone did like Gambit, Wolverine, and Jubilee!” he shouts.
Domo sighs, “Glorious idea, sir…”
“Oh, there’s no time! Filming begins NOW! X-Men, to your sets!” Mojo turns to Spiral, and without a word, she teleports the X-Men away.
Mojo scuttles over to the control panel, which has five monitors, each showing one of the X-Men…
CYCLOPS
‘I haven’t been here in years…’ thinks Scott as he surveys his surroundings. ‘And I’m not happy about returning! The last time I was here, I was leading the X-Men in a mission against Count Nefaria and his Ani-Men.’
Cyclops looks around for a sign of another person, but doesn’t find anything. He doesn’t know what to expect… it looks like NORAD, but he knows it’s just another of Mojo’s ‘sets’.
‘I have to be prepared for anything… I also have to find a way out of here. Knowing Mojo, he’s not only planning to use the X-Men to boost his ratings, but he’s going to try and kill us as well.’
Cyclops begins to walk towards the massive mountain that’s many feet in front of him, when all of a sudden he’s struck down from behind. He falls to the ground, his back aching slightly.
“Well, that… hurt,” Cyclops says, attempting to make light of his situation. As he turns around, he says, “Alright, I’m ready for you now, whoever you…”
The truth is that Cyclops is NOT ready for the sight before his eyes. Mere seconds ago, he knew this is all Mojo’s doing, that nothing here is real… but those thoughts drift from his mind after he catches sight of the figure standing over him.
The man standing over him has a red and blue costume on, complete with a mask covering his eyes and a feather sticking out from his bandana. He looks at Cyclops as if he’s out for blood, wanting revenge.
Cyclops can only gape in awe at the man. “Thunderbird!”
BEAST
‘The Morlock Tunnels? Why am I here? Where are the other X-Men?’
Beast walks through the sewer water down to an intersection where four tunnels meet. He doen’t see anyone else… but he can’t help feeling he’s being followed.
“Hello?” Beast yells out. “Is there anyone here?”
Seconds later, there’s a response. “Why yes, my dubious doppleganger, someone is here… and that someone would be me!”
Beast doesn’t have to turn around to know who’s behind him… the voice alone gives it away, but he turns around anyway, only to find his evil counterpart from an alternate reality – the Dark Beast!
“Oh my stars and garters…”
SHADOWCAT
‘Hmm… this is weird. I know this is all fake, and that these are just sets created by Mojo… but why is it he made this representation of the Med-Lab look as it did before Bastion picked the mansion clean?’
Shadowcat wanders out of the room and walks into the next one. It has a bed, which does not look of this Earth. She takes a good look at the bed… and realizes it’s the one Illyana Rasputin had been lying in when she died.
Shadowcat can’t help but shed a tear. Mojo’s set brings back memories of the traumatic passing of her best friend, and even though it’s fake, it seems eerily real to her.
‘Alright, Kitty… pull yourself together. This is fake, all made by Mojo. I’ve gotta find a way out of here…’
Before Shadowcat finishes her thought, she hears the laughter of a little girl. She immediately perks up, and follows the sound around the corner into the hallway. There, on the floor, sits a little blonde-haired girl in a pink nightgown, holding a Bamf doll.
“Illyana?!” Shadowcat exclaims. She rushes over to the little girl, who greets her with a smile.
<“Katya! I am so glad you are here!”> Illyana replies. <“I have missed you so much!”>
Shadowcat gives in for a moment, and embraces Illyana. <“I’ve missed you too, Snowflake…”>
Shadowcat suddenly pulls away, realizing this is all fake. Just as she backs away from Illyana, the little girl begins to glow… and transform. Within seconds, the little girl has vanished, and has been replaced by an evil-looking horned demon.
“Oh… oh no… not you…” Shadowcat gasps.
The demon snarls at Shadowcat. “Yes, Katya – I, the Darkchylde!”
PSYLOCKE
Psylocke smiles, something she hasn’t done in a while, and hugs the bear tightly. “Oh, Alexander…”
Then, as the thought of Mojo and his intent to use the X-Men as his media puppets crosses Psylocke’s mind, she drops the bear. “You’re not real…” she starts, “none of this is…”
‘I must get out of here… find the others, stop Mojo… and Spiral. I just have to discover the source of this illusion, and nullify it…’
All of a sudden, the door of Betsy’s ‘room’ swings open. A dark-haired man clad in clothes a gypsy would wear stands in the doorway. That man is Jamie Braddock… Psylocke’s mentally-deranged mutant brother.
Psylocke laughs. “Oh, Mojo… you tried, but ultimately you failed in your attempt to trick me into believing this is my brother!”
“Luv, I am your brother… and I’m going to kill you!”
CECILIA REYES
‘What…? I’m back on Earth… but why? Not to mention I’m…’ Cecilia takes a good look at her location. ‘No… oh God, please, no…’
Cecilia drops to her knees and begins to cry uncontrollably as she realizes… this is the alleyway in which her father was killed twenty years ago. She’s never returned here since it happened… and she never intended to.
Cecilia lifts her head up, and sees a tall man walking towards her. He has a trenchcoat on, and his face is shrouded in the darkness of the shadows. Normally, Cecilia would get up and leave as quick as possible… but something seems familiar about this man.
Cecilia gets up and walks towards the man. “Cecilia… is it really you?” the man asks.
“What… do I know you? Who are you?” Cecilia asks. The words drift from her mouth as if she already knows the answer.
The man steps into the light. “You don’t even recognize… your own father?”
Cecilia leaps into the man’s arms with hesitation. “Papa… oh… it’s you, it’s really you!” She squeezes her father tight, and he returns the hug. She doesn’t realize it’s all an illusion… she isn’t prepared at all for this.
Cecilia’s father pushes her away sharply. “Cecilia… I know that you’re a mutant, and I have to say I’m very disappointed in you.”
“Disappointed? Papa, I…”
Cecilia’s father raises his fist and slaps Cecilia across the face. To her suprise, her forcefield doesn’t activate itself. Cecilia falls to the ground at her father’s feet.
“You’re a horrible excuse for a daughter, Cecilia! My Cecilia – a mutant! Well, I’ll just have to teach you a lesson, now won’t I?”
Back in Mojo’s control room…
“Look at that! It’s brilliant! The X-Men facing the ghosts of their past! How do I come up with this stuff?” Mojo says, shamelessly flattering himself.
Major Domo rolls his eyes, “Oh, I don’t know, it’s not like you have anyone helping you…”
Mojo smiles with evil delight, “The cameras are rolling, everyone… now, it’s time to broadcast to the world – the X-Men, in their final network appearance EVER! With the way this script works out… the X-Men won’t make it out alive!”
IN UNCANNY X-MEN #9: X-Men: The Movie Part 2! The X-Men’s Mojoworld adventure continues, as the X-Men battle against Mojo and his forces! While Mojo’s ratings soar to new heights, the X-Men must find a way off their movie sets, and stop Mojo’s army from invading Earth! And if that wasn’t enough, some very special guest stars show up! Plus: Phoenix and Angel, still back on Earth, fear that their teammates are dead!
-
- CECILIA REYES
-
- THE BEAST
MAD LOVE
By Jay Koutris
*KNOCK* *KNOCK* *KNOCK*
“Come in!” came the voice of Doctor Cecilia Reyes.
The door opened, and there stood Henry ‘Hank’ McCoy, the Beast. He was dressed in an expensive tuxedo. Cecilia was sitting at her nightstand, adjusting her lipstick. She saw Beast in her mirror.
“Well, Doctor McCoy, you’re looking…” Cecilia started.
“…Handsome? Smashing? You like the blue fur, don’t you?” Beast smiled, handing Cecilia a bouquet of flowers.
“You look great.” Cecilia smiled, accepting the flowers and kissing Beast.
Hank broke the kiss and looked at his watch. “Stars and Garters! We’re late!” he exclaimed.
“Late for wh…” Cecilia didn’t get the chance to finish the sentence as the Beast picked her up and started to carry her out of the room.
“Tonight, my sweet, we enjoy fine dining in one of Chicago’s classiest restaurants!” Beast said.
“Could I please put some shoes on?” Cecilia asked, and Beast put her down so she could slip on her high-heels.
Hank held her hand as he led her down the stairs into the main foyer. He opened the front door, and there was a stretched, white limousine in the driveway with a driver standing outside, holding the car door open. Cecilia cupped her hands over her mouth.
“Hank?! Where did you get this?” Cecilia asked in shock.
“Ah, how quickly they forget. A good friend of mine, perhaps you’ve heard of him – Warren Worthington? He owns the house you live in. Oh, of course, you’ve fought by his side on numerous occasions as the Avenging Angel! I guess you do know him. He’s in a wee bit of financial troubles, so he told me to enjoy this while it lasted!” Beast smiled.
“Well, McCoy, you’re a little better at romance than I expected!” Cecilia said, hugging Beast.
“Thank you, I think!” grinned Hank.
“Champagne? Fine wine?” Beast asked, holding out two bottles as he and Cecilia sat across from each other in the enormous limousine.
“Thank you,” Cecilia said, accepting the offer.
The two sat in a spacious limousine. It had a television, a video recorder, champagne, a telephone… you name it, this car probably has it.
“You’re positive you don’t want me using an image-inducer?” Beast asked, pouring Cecilia a glass of champagne.
“I’m going out with Doctor Henry McCoy, not a video game,” Cecilia assured.
“Thank goodness! That video game was a tough contender,” Beast joked, and Cecilia chuckled.
“Cheers!” Cecilia held out her glass.
“To a long-lasting relationship!” Beast declared.
The two clinked glasses and sipped their drinks. The car came to a stop, and the driver opened the door.
“Sir? Madame? We have arrived,” the driver said, opening the door.
“M’sieu? Are you ready to order?” the waiter asked, walking outside to the balcony where Beast and Cecilia sat, overlooking the lights of the Chicago night.
“Yes. I’d like to have the lobster, please,” Beast said.
“And for the lady?”
“I’ll have the same,” Cecilia responded.
“Very well,” the waiter said, retrieving the menus and heading off to the kitchen.
Beast and Cecilia chatted for a moment about recent events, like Phoenix’s pregnancy, and the destruction of Cecilia’s clinic. They were the only two sitting on the balcony overlooking Chicago. A couple, escorted by a waiter, came onto the balcony.
“Your seat, m’sieu,” the waiter said, pointing to a table behind Cecilia and Beast.
“Oh no… you’ll never drag me next to a mutie in a million years!” the man said.
“Excuse me?!” Cecilia turned around, outraged.
“You, lady, have got to be NUTS to go out with him!” the man said, pointing at Hank.
“Please don’t point…” Hank asked nicely.
“What’re you gonna do about it?” the man said, sizing himself up to the Beast.
“Jim, stop!” the man’s female companion pleaded.
“No! I’ve had enough of you stinkin’ muties being near us! Can’t you just live in the sewers or something? I won’t eat here with them! The food’s probably diseased now!”
“Moron! You can’t become a mutant! We’re not diseased! We were born this way! You think we can help it? It’s all in our DNA, but I guess you wouldn’t know what that is!” Cecilia shouted, pointing her finger in the man’s face.
The man slapped Cecilia’s finger away, and Beast’s face turned from blue to red. “Don’t touch her!” Hank roared, grabbing the man from the collar and launching him into a nearby vacant table.
The customers inside turned around and gasped as the waiter fled to call the police.
“Come on, let’s go!” Cecilia pulled on Beast’s arm, and they ran out of the restaurant.
They rode home in silence. As the driver pulled up to the Worthington Estate, the two stepped out, Beast tipped the driver, and they walked to the front door.
“Cecilia, I apologize. I assume I’ve ruined this dinner,” Hank said, his head down in shame.
“Of course not! That guy was out of line, and I would’ve done the same thing you did!” Cecilia said, pushing Beast’s head up with two fingers.
“Well, would you still like dinner?” Beast asked, lightening his mood.
“How?” Cecilia asked.
“Just come with me and stay pretty!” Beast said, sweeping Cecilia into his arms.
Beast ran down the steps they were standing on, jumped off of a tree, and planted Cecilia on the roof of the mansion using his incredible agility. Beast then jumped off of the roof and hurried into the house. He ran through the foyer and into the kitchen. Jean was in there, fixing herself a cup of coffee. Beast instantly threw the refrigerator door open and started rummaging through the food.
“Hank? It’s only eleven. Aren’t you supposed to be out with Cecilia?” Jean asked.
No response.
“Well I’ve heard of the midnight munchies, but…” Jean started.
“SorryJeangottagohaveanicenight!” Beast said as fast as possible, running out of the kitchen with loads of food in his hand.
He came to a screeching halt, and ran back into the kitchen, where he took the table-cloth off of the kitchen table, and continued out of the kitchen. He swung the front door open and returned to the roof, where Cecilia was waiting.
“When you said dinner, I didn’t think you were going to steal the grocery store!” Cecilia laughed.
“This, my dear, is going to work. We place the wool quilt onto the roof, place a few nutrients, grains, sugars, and liquids on the current area of consumption, add a small pyrotechnic, and voila! We have a romantic dinner!”
“And in English that means?” Cecilia asked.
“We put the table cloth on the roof, put some fruits, some bread and biscuits, and wine on the blanket, add a candle, and we have a romantic dinner as we look at the beautiful stars tonight.” Beast smiled.
“I have to say, Hank…” Cecilia started.
“That I’m better at this than you thought? I know. Heck, I’m better at this than I thought!” Hank grinned.
The two kissed, and then had dinner as they gazed at the beautiful stars and talked.
Recent Comments