HUMANITY’S SANCTION

Part III: The Domino Effect

By Ryan Krupienski

Author’s Note: The following story contains adult language and violence. Reader discretion is advised.

The Xavier Institute

Just hours ago, the main foyer of the mansion was torn through, leaving a gaping hole in the front of the X-Men’s home. Now, the rubble still lays all about the floor, and it’s not a simple mess that can be cleaned up easily, nor can the damage be repaired without some serious time and effort and, of course, money put into it. Well, that’d normally be the case… but lucky for the mutants that inhabit the estate, their home will be good as new in no time at all.

Jean Grey, Phoenix, one of the original X-Men, is perhaps the most powerful telekinetic on the face of the Earth, not to mention her vast telepathic abilities and the fact that she served as the template for a cosmic energy being that more or less unlocked Jean’s full potential, which was originally mistaken for the being’s own powers. For the past couple months, Jean’s noticed herself having tremendous mood swings, and just earlier today, it was finally witnessed by her friends and teammates when she lashed out at Marrow. Then there was the instance just an hour or two ago when she tore apart five Prime Sentinels with but a thought. These mood swings seem to be accompanied by bursts of energy that are especially astonishing to Jean’s longtime friend Henry McCoy, who observes her current display of telekinetic power as he’s never seen it before.

Telekinesis means ‘mind over matter’. Everything that exists, whether it be a human being, a plant, a picture on the wall, even the air we breathe, is made of up some form of matter, and that means, conceivably, Jean can manipulate reality as she sees fit. Of course, she herself has never displayed that kind of power; it’s almost unfathomable. Or is it?

Molecule by molecule, Jean latches onto the rubble lying around her with her mind, and closes her eyes to concentrate as she moves it all towards the hole in the front wall, slowly piecing everything back together as it was before the Prime Sentinels attacked. She can feel the strain on her mind, but it’s nowhere near as bad as she thought it’d be, and she keeps going. She can see it perfectly in her mind, how the front wall of the mansion looks; that’s a benefit of being a telepath, you remember everything perfectly. So now it’s just a matter of working from her own thoughts and reconstructing the wall exactly as it was.

As all the rubble comes together and reforms within the hole, a couple drops of sweat form on Jean’s forehead. The strain still isn’t too bad, and she opens her eyes to see that her task is finally completed. The wall, the doorway, the pictures, the light fixture, everything is back is place, just as it was. Jean hesitates a moment before letting the matter free of her mind, then exhales deeply as she lifts a hand to wipe her brow.

“Done,” she says, looking over her work. “I almost didn’t want to let go, I was afraid everything might fall apart again as soon as I did…”

“Jean,” Hank interjects, “do you realize what you’ve just done? You’ve never displayed this kind of power before! I emplore you to venture down to the med-lab with me… I must run some tests. This sudden increase in power is rather unsettling, especially considering you more or less fainted not too long ago.”

“Hank, just back off!” Jean snaps at her friend without really meaning to, but she’s tired of being coddled. She hates being the damsel in distress who’s always passing out, though she can feel now that those days are over. She knows Hank means well, they’ve been friends for so long, but she won’t be treated like a child, like she doesn’t know what she’s doing, how she’s feeling, or how far to push herself.

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to get all bitchy,” Jean says with a faint smile, turning to lock eyes with her blue-furred companion. She takes his hand in her own and he gives it a squeeze to signal his forgiveness. “It’s just that… I feel amazing, Hank! I feel better than ever. It’s like some parts of me that have been dormant for so long are finally awake… I don’t know why… I can’t even describe it.”

“I would never dare to imply that I’m more an expert on your powers and feelings than you,” Hank replies, “but you have to understand my astonishment at the feat you just performed. I would like to run some tests, at your behest, just to make sure there are no abnormalities.”

Jean nods and replies, “Alright, Hank. You’re right, that would be a good idea, just to be safe.”

“Shall we return to the lower levels, then? I also want to check in on the others, see how they’re doing…”

“You go ahead,” Jean says, “I’ll be along shortly.”

Hank nods and turns to head off down the hall, while Jean turns her attention back to the wall she just reconstructed, molecule by molecule, with her mind. She feels bad that she just lied to Hank, but there’s enough going on right now, she doesn’t need to burden him – or anyone else – with what might potentially be another problem. Unlike what she said to her friend, Jean doesn’t feel amazing, better than ever… she feels scared.

She also lied about not knowing how or why her powers are getting stronger… in fact, she has a very good idea of the cause. Him. Maybe it has something to do with the illusion he cast over her – over everyone – while his powers were amplified by the Legacy Virus. It has to, she thinks, because that’s when she had her first major burst of power – when she killed Sinister. After that is also when the mood swings started.

It all has to be connected somehow. She can even feel him in the back of her mind, doing all of this, but what she can’t figure out is… why? Why would he do this? Hasn’t he put her through enough?

Employing her telekinesis once more, Jean turns off the grand chandelier hanging from the tall ceiling above her, and just stands still in the darkness for a moment. Staring blankly into space, she softly says, “Jesus Christ, Charles… what are you doing to me…?”

Seattle, Washington

The vent gate flies off and away from the cold steel walls, and before any of the occupants of the massive holding cell room can look upwards to give notice, a dark female figure leaps forth into the air, a gun in each hand, blasting at anything that she perceives to be the enemy – namely, anyone not in one of the mutant containment cells. She’s got about one hundred feet before she hits the ground, too, so she better make each shot count.

Her mutant power is luck itself, meaning things usually turn out in her favor. Perhaps that’s why she gets so many good shots in, disabling several of the guards scattered about the floor before they even have a chance to reach for their weapons. As she falls towards the floor, guns still blazing, she has a hint of an urge to yell something out, to really let everyone know she’s here, and who she is, too. “Fire in the hole!”… that’s what Cable would probably say. “Domino’s arrived, boys, and your luck’s just run out!”… too campy. Much too campy. What is she, a human being or a comic book character?

Domino lands on the dirty concrete ground with no problem, and proceeds to disarm and neutralize the half-dozen other guards she missed while in the air. She can’t blame herself, really, there’s so many of them. Probably because he’s still in the room.

“CREED!” she yells into the air, her voice shrill with anger. She hears the loud clatter of footsteps behind her and turns to see her target high-tailing it out of the room, a small contingent of guards surrounding him on all sides. “Dammit,” she mutters, knowing she won’t be able to get at him. Not without following him, that is, and she can’t afford to do that now. She’s got to free the captives.

“The control panel!” comes a booming male voice from one of the higher-up mutant prisoners. Domino glances upward to see Michael McCain, Forearm, grasping onto the bars of his cage with all four of his hands, looking down at her. “Domino, hit the control panel by the exit!”

As two more human guards rush towards her, Domino turns her attention back to the exit and fires off the weapon in her right hand at the aforementioned control panel, then uses the same weapon to crack one of the oncoming men across the back of the head. As he falls to the ground, his partner leaps at Domino, but is downed with a swift, flawless roundhouse kick to his abdomen. As the two men moan in pain at Domino’s feet, all the cages holding the mutant captives short-circuit and open, freeing the prisoners at last. Those who can fly snatch non-flyers from the high up cells and bring them to the ground, while others climb down, help each other, and after several minutes, everyone is assembled on the floor, all eyes on Domino.

Before speaking, the former co-leader of X-Force takes a gander at the awesome assemblage of mutants. She recognizes – and dislikes – a lot of them, but they all know as well as she that this isn’t the time to bicker and fight amongst themselves. They’re all fighting a common enemy, and they’ve got to work together if they all want to get out of here alive.

Addressing the mass crowd around her, Domino’s voice echoes throughout the massive room as she says, “Alright people, listen up. We’re about a mile underground, and it’s not gonna be easy getting out considering there’s a whole freaking Prime Sentinel factory right above us. We’ve all got to work together to get out of here. So, quickly…”

Domino is cut off as the ceiling a hundred feet above the mutants begins to rumble violently, and moments later, it starts to split open. Within seconds, chunks of concrete are raining down on the assembly and manage to down several of the escapees, but a good number of them activate their mutant powers, either shielding themselves and others from the falling debris or obliterating it with energy blasts of various kinds.

The rest of the ceiling seems to merely disintegrate, but that’s hardly a good thing, as what the mutants see in the wake of its destruction chills them to the bone. A veritable army of Prime Sentinels – hundreds of them. Domino herself takes a deep breath and swallows hard, knowing things are about to get ugly. However, she’s feeling real lucky tonight.

Adjusting then tightening the grip on the weapons occupying her hands, she mutters, “Alright, you motherfuckers… come get some.”

The Blackbird

“How’re we doing time-wise, Mister Dalin?” Cecilia Reyes asks as she leans over the shoulder of the young Cuban man co-piloting the aircraft with Moonstar.

“ETA ten minutes, Miss Reyes,” Cameron replies somewhat sarcastically. He’s not really into formalities.

“You’re pretty good at this,” Moonstar comments to her co-pilot, letting her lips curl into a slight grin.

“I got my pilot’s license when I was seventeen, so I’ve got a lot of experience,” Cam replies, smiling at Dani.

Turning away from the cockpit, Cecilia returns to the gathering of X-Men in the passenger area of the plane. “Alright, ten minutes, people. Let’s hope the good Lord is with us tonight,” she says.

“Listen to this… Cookie Monster decides to stay behind instead of leading his team like he should, and his girlfriend thinks she’s in charge,” Marrow says with a sneer. She sits alone at the end of one of the bench seats lining the plane’s walls, scraping two bone daggers together in an effort to sharpen them.

“Zip it, perra, or so help me God…”

Cecilia is cut off by her teammate Kwannon, who places a calming hand on her shoulder. “Cecilia, I know she’s aggravating, but don’t get all riled up for nothing. Conserve your energy for the fight.” Kwannon turns to lock eyes with Marrow. “Marrow, please, behave yourself,” is all she says to the pink-skinned X-Man.

The bickering complete, Erica changes the subject and asks, “Cecilia, what did Henry say these uniforms were made out of again?”

“An amalgamation of leather, kevlar, and unstable molecules,” Cecilia says, referring to the new outfits: form-fitting black pants, gray, ribbed long-sleeve shirts with yellow X’s centered on the chest, knee-high black boots, black gloves, and black jackets with yellow X’s emblazoned on the shoulders. Save for Marrow, who’s opted to stick with her blue and green leotard, everyone onboard the aircraft wears the same uniform, and Cecilia can’t help but think that, for the first time since she’s met them, the X-Men look like a real team and not a bunch of crazy mutants trying to play super-hero.

“They’re impact-resistant, regulate body temperature, and, as you can tell, are much more comfortable than they look. Hank’s brilliant, I know,” Cecilia continues, grinning at the fact that the X-Men’s blue-furred genius is also the man she loves. She wishes he was here, though, and she can’t help but worry if more Prime Sentinels will attack the mansion while the rest of them are in Seattle.

“So how many of those Sentinels you think are gonna be waitin’ for us?” inquires Skin, who sits across from Marrow, his hands resting behind his head against the wall.

“The Friends Of Humanity have a whole Sentinel factory in their compound,” Erica informs, “so expect many times more than what we faced at the mansion.”

“Great,” Skin mutters, and he gazes around until he locks eyes with Marrow, who winks at him.

Marrow half-whispers to him, “Cheer up, Gumby Gray. It’ll be fun.”

“Hey, guys,” Moonstar calls from the cockpit, “Hank just called over the comm-link and I let him know we’re almost there. Good news – Ororo’s team is on their way to help us, though Kurt and Scanner will be heading for the mansion just in case.”

“So we’ve got back-up here and at home. Thank God,” Cecilia says, letting out a sigh of relief, though that relief is short-lived.

“Holy…!” Cameron doesn’t complete his sentence, instead he and all those up front just gaze in shock at the horde of Prime Sentinels that have suddenly popped into view, hovering in the sky all around the Blackbird and charging their weapons. “Shit, they’ve surrounded us!”

“Well then take us down, now!” Cecilia commands, and then she turns swiftly and motions for all the passengers to get up and follow her to the exit ramp. “Cam, Dani, you two get this pájaro on the ground… the rest of you, I’m gonna lower us down.”

“And just how the hell are you gonna do that?” Marrow says venomously, placing a clenched fist on her hip, as Kwannon opens the ramp.

Cecilia rolls her eyes as she transforms her body into green, translucent energy and uses it to start forming a riding platform, similar to one of Iceman’s ice-slides. “Like this, girlfriend. Now come on, let’s move!”

And with that, Cecilia and her four passengers cruise out of the Blackbird and through the air, down towards the Friends Of Humanity complex.

The Control Room

“Mister Creed!” calls the voice of a guard as he rushes into the safety room currently being occupied by his superior and a half-dozen armed men. “Mister Creed, the X-Men are here.”

“Well then release the fucking Sentinels!” Graydon says with a scowl on his face. “I want those freaks decimated!”

“Sentinels have already surrounded them, they’ll be disposed of in no time,” the guard assures, retaining his composure despite Creed’s intimidating presence.

“Excellent. Get back to your station,” Graydon orders. As the guard turns to leave the room, Creed calls out to him, “Oh, Cantera, if the mutant called Nightcrawler is among the X-Men, I want him brought to me… I’ll take him out myself.”

The Xavier Institute

Chris Bradley and Peter Valentino wander the underground second sub-basement level of the mansion, as Chris has been showing Peter all around the mansion for the past half-hour or so. They’ve just gotten off babysitting duty for Rachel, who’s now with her mother and Hank in the medlab, and Peter’s anxious to see every inch of the place he just might end up calling home from now on.

“This,” Chris says, as the two young men enter the control booth to the high-tech gymnasium on the other side of the reinforced glass panels, “is the Danger Room. It’s where everyone trains and learns to use their mutant powers. It uses hard-light holograms to make all these different battle scenarios… it’s pretty much like the ultimate video arcade brought to life.”

“‘Danger Room’? Heh, sweet,” Peter says with a chuckle. “So, don’t just tell me… I wanna see this for myself.”

Chris hesitates, knowing that he might get in trouble, but he doesn’t care… he knows how to work the Danger Room program just fine, he’s not some careless little kid. “Alright, so… what program should I do…” Chris says to himself, while Peter stands by patiently.

“How about Britney Spears being mauled to death by midgets with ice-picks?” Peter suggests, earning him a ‘what the hell?’ look from Chris. “What?”

“I think you found Bobby’s bong and took a few hits,” Chris says with a chuckle, shaking his head. “Here… I know what I’ll do…”

“I know a bong I’d like to hit,” Peter mumbles to himself, focusing on his new friend’s backside. Clearing his throat and moving his eyes elsewhere, he asks, “So who’s Bobby?”

“You’ll meet him once everyone gets home. He’s really great… kind of like an older brother to me. You’ll like him,” Chris says as he works on programming the Danger Room.

Peter asks, “Is he cute?”

Chris doesn’t know how to reply to that. “Um… I don’t know…”

“Oh, sorry… my bad,” the young shape-shifter apologizes. “Sometimes I say things without thinking.”

“It’s no biggie,” Chris says. “Okay, so here we go…”

In a matter of seconds, the bare, steel-walled room begins to be replaced by an amazingly detailed alien landscape that literally melts into existence, and Peter can only stare in awe at the sight before him. He’s never seen anything so incredible.

“Holy crap,” is the only response Chris gets, and he almost laughs at the goofy, dumbfounded look on Peter’s face. “That’s too freakin’ cool!”

“I know, right?” Chris responds. “I felt like I was on drugs the first time I saw it. You wanna go down there?”

“Hell yeah.”

Using the newly-installed elevator in the control booth, the two young men are lowered into a room several dozen feet below them, and then exit the room through a door that leads directly into the Danger Room, which now resembles a royal Shi’ar ballroom. Peter stands in awe, gazing all around him, astonished at how real everything is.

“So what’s this place supposed to be?” Peter asks.

“I think it’s the ballroom of the main Shi’ar citadel, but I’m not sure,” Chris says. “It’s Shi’ar something, though.”

“Shi’ar?”

“Yeah, some alien empire or whatever… Professor Xavier was shacked up with their empress for a while,” Chris says matter-of-factly.

“Aliens?” Peter half-exclaims. The surprises just keep coming. “You’ve met real aliens?”

Chris grins. “Well not me personally… but I’ll tell you everything I know…”

Seattle

Outside the former psychiatric hospital now serving as the homebase of the Friends Of Humanity, five X-Men face seemingly impossible odds – an army of dozens upon dozens of Prime Sentinels. All completely sentient, with their innate killer instincts at the forefront, guiding them in their mission to oblierate all of mutantkind. Cecilia Reyes, the women called Marrow and Kwannon, Angelo Espinosa, also called Skin, and Erica Shen are in for the fight of their lives, lives which may not last for much longer.

At the mansion, things were different – the fighting quarters were more enclosed, and the X-Men’s numbers were almost equal to the Sentinels. So they held back. Now, though, the situation is much more dire – there are possibly hundreds of mutants inside the Sentinel compound that are about to be exterminated, and the X-Men are the only ones who can stop that from happening. Therefore, they can’t hold back, not even a little. They have to fight as brutally as the cold-hearted machines surrounding them are going to.

Cecilia is the first to strike. Forming a spiked layer of armor around her body, and morphing her fists into large mallets, she instantly pummels through a dozen Prime Sentinels, all by herself. Growing up in the Bronx, she had to fight to survive every day, and now those lessons she learned on the streets are all flooding back to the forefront of her mind. Nothing and no one is going to stop her now, and she makes that crystal clear as she smashes through another handful of her would-be assailants, sending them flying into the air, fried circuits sparking in the dim moonlight.

Marrow’s entire life has been a never-ending battle, and being raised in a hellish dimension populated by demons where war is the way of life has made her into a force to be reckoned with. Using her enhanced strength, amazing fighting skills, and razor-sharp bone daggers, Marrow wastes no time in tearing into the cyborgs. None of them can even get a good shot in before being hacked to pieces by their target, and the entire time, Marrow wears a maliciously grin on her face. She’s loving every minute of this, though she’s hoping for something a bit more challenging and bit more dangerous to show up soon.

Kwannon has never been big on using her mutant abilities to fight, but now is not a time to act tough and rely solely on her extensive martial arts skills. She takes a small rod from her belt and presses the button in the middle of it, releasing two long, sharp-edge blades on either side. As it charges with a yellow-orange energy, Kwannon whips it around her head, instantly nailing four Prime Sentinels in one fell swoop. She proceeds to blast down some of the machines hovering above her in the air, then follows up with a few roundhouse kicks. It bothers her, how good it feels to be this ruthless, as these are the fighting tactics she learned from Sinister; he’s still not completely out of her system.

Skin’s been waiting for a way to channel all his pent-up rage in a positive way, and now his chance has come. As he pushes his powers to the limit, stretching farther and faster than ever before and wrapping his arms around the machines, he thinks back over the past couple months… his near-death experience with the Legacy Virus wasn’t pleasant, but for him, the entire situation with Paige and Jono still makes his blood boil. Second best. What a bitch. It was a great idea for him to leave the Massachusetts Academy, that was the first step in him getting over the situation; now, he just wants to kick some Prime Sentinel ass.

Erica is perhaps the most unique player currently on the field, being completely human. Using two plasma-energy guns given to her by Beast, she blasts down as many Prime Sentinels as she can, and she doesn’t let up, not even for a second. Watching her, one would think she has a personal stake in all of this, and she does – she watched her very own sister get gunned down by these monstrosities back when Operation Zero Tolerance was in effect. She’s vowed to do everything she can to make sure no more innocent people – human or mutant – die at the hands of these machines.

The five X-Men fight valiantly, and for the initial part of the battle, they do a hefty amount of damage and succeed in depleting the Prime Sentinels’ ranks significantly. The tables turn, though, as even more of the machines soar out of the Friends Of Humanity compound, and it seems for every one of them that’s been destroyed, two more have appeared to take their place.

“Just great,” Cecilia says, her eyes wide with worry, as the Sentinels in the sky hover above her and her teammates. Their weapons charged, the cyborgs rain down a storm of plasma energy on the mutants, and while Cecilia manages to shield herself along with Marrow and Kwannon, Skin and Erica are not so lucky, taking several hits that down them instantly.

“THERE’S TOO MANY OF THEM!” Kwannon yells over the deafening sound of the blasts striking against Cecilia’s psioplasmic force-field. “WE CAN’T TAKE THEM BY OURSELVES!”

“LOOKS LIKE WE WON’T HAVE TO!” Marrow shouts in response, motioning for her teammates to look up into the sky. What they see makes all three of them crack a smile: the Blackbird zooms through the air, shooting down Prime Sentinels left and right. The attack gives the three X-Men the opening they need to get to their fallen comrades, and they instantly take advantage of it, rushing to Erica and Skin, Cecilia extending her force-field to cover the two of them.

Kwannon leans down by both Skin and Erica and takes their pulse and checks to see if they’re still breathing. “They’re alive,” she finally says, and Cecilia takes a quick glance upward to see the Blackbird still hard at work, though they seem to be loosing their advantage over the Sentinels.

“Dammit, Storm, where are you?” Cecilia mutters before kneeling down by Erica. “Kwannon, the boy should be fine, Hank told me his skin is six feet thick, so the blasts won’t have hurt him as much… sit him up and get him one of the water supplement pills from your utility belt.”

“What about her?” Marrow asks, surprising her teammates with a hint of concern in her tone.

“The uniform saved her life, but she still took some damage. We need to get her out of here.”

“Well that obviously ain’t happenin’ anytime soon…”

“Guys, we’ve gotta land the Blackbird, the Sentinels have damaged it too much,” comes the voice of Moonstar over the small communicators imbedded in the X-Men’s gloves, “but don’t worry about us covering you, because the cavalry’s just arrived!”

“Dani, what are you talking about…” Kwannon’s question is answered as a large explosion emanates from the Friends Of Humanity compound, and the small squad of X-Men all turn their heads to see a billow of smoke pouring out of the building, followed by a sight that lifts all their spirits – a mass gathering of mutants charging forth, powers and tempers flaring, immediately unleashing themselves upon the Prime Sentinels.

“I bet they were all prisoners… I wonder how they escaped?” Kwannon ponders, as Cecilia turns her attention back to Erica.

“Who cares… Healer, drop the freakin’ shield, I’m goin’ back out there!” Cecilia does as she’s asked and opens a hole in her force-field to let Marrow out.

“I should go as well… you take care of them, Cecilia,” Kwannon says with a nod right before heading out after Marrow. The gap in the force-field closes back up, and Cecilia taps her wrist communicator.

“Dani, Cameron, if you can, try and land as close to me as possible… I have two wounded down here, and one of them needs immediate medical attention…”

“MARROW!”

The familiar man’s voice startles Marrow, and for a moment she stops hacking away at the Prime Sentinels and turns to see one of the few people on this planet she might actually call a friend – the former Morlock and Gene National called Ever.

“Ev… Ever?” she says with a gasp, not expecting to see him here. “Did those flatscans…?!”

“I’m fine, Sarah, I’m fine,” Ever says, reluctantly giving Marrow a hug. She pulls out quickly, not being one for sentiments. “Before you ask, some lady named Domino got us out… she’s a friend of the X-Men’s.”

“Figures,” Marrow says with a roll of her eyes. She turns to see a Prime Sentinel lunging for her and immediately throws a bone dagger right at it, piercing it through the chest. “Any more of us that got taken?”

Ever is silent for a moment, but Marrow’s impatient demeanor makes him talk. “Callisto… they… I’m sorry, but they killed her. That Creed guy did it himself.”

Marrow’s eyes literally fill with crimson red as the rage consuming her causes several blood vessels all throughout her body to pop, and she immediately storms off towards the compound. First Sabretooth helped slaughter her family… and now his filthy flatscan son has murdered the one woman who was the closest thing to a mother she’s ever had. He’s going to pay. Dearly.

“Marrow, WAIT!” Ever’s words fall upon deaf ears, though, and before he can start off after her, there is suddenly a small explosion behind him. He turns to see Sunpyre, her body charged with scorching-hot flame, three burnt husks of Prime Sentinels laying at her feet.

“I would suggest you help us and stop standing around gossiping!” she scolds him before returning to the fray.

Ever debates internally for mere seconds whether or not he should try and find Marrow, and finally decides to let her go. She’ll find Creed and kill him, he knows it. It’s no less than the madman deserves. Taking a deep breath and shaking all worry from his mind, the young man turns his full attention to the battle at hand and lets loose with his vast telepathic powers.

Inside

The angry, scowling man in the cheap suit glares hatefully at the display monitor imbedded in the room’s wall, watching as the mutants outside lay waste to his army of Prime Sentinels.

“GOD DAMMIT!”

The six guards inside the room all back away from the man who brought them together, who’s not a very happy camper at the moment. Things are falling apart, nothing is going as planned… and Graydon Creed is truly losing it.

“Those fucking shitbag mutants are going to die if I have to kill each and every last one of them myself!” Creed bellows, his words echoing throughout the room. He marches angrily towards one of the guards and grabs the man’s weapon from him, and then Graydon heads towards the room’s exit.

“I’m sorry, sir, but that’s not a good idea,” another guard says, stepping in front of his boss to block the exit. “You’re gonna get killed.”

No one tells Graydon Creed what to do, even if they mean well, and the Friends Of Humanity’s leader demonstrates that clearly as he opens fire on the guard, striking the man down with three bullets to the chest. The other guards shudder with fear and don’t dare to try and stop Creed, though in a few minutes, it won’t have mattered anyway.

Without warning, the vent gate embedded in the baren room’s ceiling right above the exit crashes to the floor, startling Graydon back several feet. He scowls angrily and readies his weapon, but before he even sees who the intruder is he finds himself impaled with two sharp bone daggers, one piercing him straight through the heart. The gun in his hand hits the floor just seconds before he does, and as the thick, crimson blood begins to flow from Creed’s dead body, the imposing, grisly form of Marrow drops down from the ventilation shaft.

“That was too easy,” Marrow snickers, pulling out two more bone daggers from her back. “Hey boys. Let’s dance.”

The five guards waste no time and open fire on the psychotic mutant, pumping her with enough bullets to kill dozens of men. Marrow’s shrieks can’t be heard over the loud sound of the gunfire, but from the expression on her face, one might almost think that she’s enjoying this.

After Marrow has fallen to the ground, the guards cease fire and step towards the X-Man with extreme caution; too bad that doesn’t mean much when dealing with this particular mutant. Before any of the men can react, Marrow jumps up from the floor and howls an inhuman howl, and begins to hack the five men to pieces, painting the cream-colored walls with their blood.

If she’s going down, she’s taking as many flatscans with her as possible.

“Cecilia!” Moonstar calls as she runs down the ramp of the Blackbird, Cameron right behind her. “How are they?”

Cameron rushes to his partner’s side, kneeling and taking her hand in his. “Erica? Erica, you okay?”

Erica manages a half-smile and squeezes the young man’s hand. “I’ll live, don’t worry,” she assures him.

Cecilia helps Skin to his feet, as a few familiar faces approach the X-Men – namely Domino, Forearm, and Ever. Domino immediately greets Moonstar, happy to see her old friend is alive and well.

“Looks like you’re back on the side of the angels,” Domino comments. “Good to see you, Dani. I expected the X-Men to show up at some point, I just wasn’t aware you’d signed up.”

“Long story,” Moonstar replies. “What’re you doing here? Did they capture you?”

“Are you kidding me?” Domino says with a grin. “Of course not. I’ve actually been investigating these people for months… and I finally got my chance to sneak in and bust everyone loose.”

“Good to see you again, Dani,” says the hulking Forearm as he walks up beside Domino.

“You too, Michael.” Moonstar’s reply is swift, as she doesn’t want to dwell on their past. “If you could, please help Cecilia with carrying my injured teammate onto the Blackbird.”

Forearm does as he’s asked while Moonstar, Domino, and Skin watch on as the mass assemblage of mutants finishes off the last of the Prime Sentinels. It’ll be a bittersweet victory, they know, as they can already see many dead mutant bodies sprewn about the landscape.

“Excuse me, we have to get inside,” Ever suddenly cuts in, grabbing the three individuals’ attention. “Graydon Creed’s still in there… and Marrow went after him!”

“Oh for crying out loud,” Moonstar says, frusterated. “Dom, and you,” she says, motioning towards Ever, “let’s get in there and find her before she does something stupid.”

Ten minutes later

Moonstar, Domino, and Ever rush down the massive corridors inside the Friends Of Humanity compound with no idea of exactly where they’re going. Ever’s been trying, but he can’t get a telepathic fix on Marrow, and though he doesn’t show it, that worries him.

“Wait,” Domino suddenly says, stopping her companions. “The safety room. It’s where they’d take Creed if he was in any danger.”

“How do we get there?” Moonstar asks intently.

Domino studies their surroundings for a moment and focuses on recalling the blue prints she studied of the facility. They don’t go to their left… that’ll take them back outside. Going straight ahead will take them to the underground areas, and that’s not where the safety room is, oddly enough. Domino suddenly takes off down the corridor to the right, and Moonstar and Ever follow suit. “This way!”

After a few minutes of running and turning corners, the trio arrives at a half-open steel door leading into a room with an awful stench inside. Ever pushes the door all the way open and he steps inside first, gazing around at the horror before him. It’s enough to make Moonstar and Domino throw up, but Ever’s seen this kind of mayhem all his life, so it doesn’t phase him as much.

The first body they see is Graydon Creed’s, two razor-sharp bone daggers impaled through his chest. That’s hardly the worst of it, though; around the rest of the room, blood and innards paint the walls, while severed limbs lay about the floor surrounded by pools of blood. Despite their condition, they are all recognizable as soldiers for the Friends Of Humanity.

The last of the deceased lies in the center of the room, lying in a pool of her own and the soldiers’ blood. Moonstar and company immediately rush to her side, but all they have to do is look at her to know who she is and that she’s not getting up.

Moonstar didn’t have any love for her, but to loose a teammate is still a shame. Taking a deep breath, Moonstar taps her wrist communicator and speaks into it, “Guys, it’s Dani… we found Creed and Marrow. They’re both dead.”

HUMANITY’S SANCTION

Epilogue: Ten O’Clock News

By Ryan Krupienski

“Good evening, everyone, I’m John Wei, and welcome to UBC news at ten. Our top story tonight – anti-mutant terrorism in America. Just days ago, on the outskirts of Seattle, Washington, a gruesome battle between the outlaw mutant X-Men and the organization known as the Friends Of Humanity erupted, resulting in casualties on both sides and mass destruction that is estimated as spreading over nearly a square mile of land.

The events took place right outside of Seattle at an abandoned psychiatric hospital. Formerly the Weissman Institute For The Criminally Insane, the hospital was formed in the late 1890’s, and was shut down in 1967 after losing its funding from the federal government. Details are sketchy at the present time, but authorities have confirmed that the Friends Of Humanity moved their operation into the building no less than eight months ago, and converted a mass portion of the building’s interior into holding cells for mutants. Reports indicate that the Friends’ operation was not sanctioned by any government agency, and all parties involved with the illegal kidnapping, abuse, and murder of the mutant captives could be facing sentences of life in prison.

However, the story gets deeper, darker, and more puzzling. Over the past month, reports of human-looking robots have been coming in all across the nation, and after the events in Seattle came to a close, authorities have been able to confirm that the reported entities are in fact Prime Sentinels, the machines once used by the defunct Operation: Zero Tolerance to hunt down and capture mutants. The Friends’ use of OZT technology has led investigators to believe that there may have been a prior connection between the two organizations, dating all the way back to Graydon Creed’s presidential campaign in 1996.

Speaking of the former presidential candidate, local police were shocked to find him among the many dead bodies sprewn about inside the building. In late 1996, Graydon Creed was assassinated on live national television while giving a campiagn speech, and the killer was believed to be a mutant. The coroner who examined the body at the scene determined that Creed had been dead for less than an hour, raising many questions about his supposed death five years ago. Mutant rights activists are out to prove that Creed in fact faked his own assassination as a means to strengthen anti-mutant sentiment and moved on to secretly work with the Friends Of Humanity, an organization he formed, behind the scenes.

Up until days ago, the nation was completely oblivious to the organization’s operation, save for the outlaw mutant group known as the X-Men. The mutant team carried out an assault on the Friends Of Humanity headquarters which ended less than thirty minutes before local authorities arrived. Among the mutants was former Avenger and world-renowned geneticist Henry McCoy, who spoke on behalf of his fellow mutants to authorities and the press. Apparently, the X-Men learned of the Friends’ activities through a sister organization that had been investigating the disappearance of mutants for the last several months. The X-Men and several of the freed mutant captives reportedly left the premises very soon after Seattle police arrived, and one eye witness claims the group took the body of a dead mutant, possibly one of their team members, with them.

Investigators are still sprawled all over the large crime scene, and have said it will take several more days to determine the approximate number of casualities. However, the estimate at this time is well over two-hundred, and some are afraid the death toll could reach as high as five-hundred once the bodies have all been collected. Mutants that did not leave the scene and that were gravely injured were rushed to Seattle hospitals for medical attention, close to three dozen total. And as for the Friends Of Humanity, about eleven members of the organization have been arrested so far, and Seattle police are busy looking for any fugitives that may have gotten away.

These events have caused an uproar across the nation, with anti-mutant sentiment dropping to an all-time low. Over the past two years, America’s attitude towards mutants has slowly been changing – it started in late 1999 when the X-Men and the fugitive Thunderbolts collaborated to take down the super-human Masters Of Evil, who were responsible for the bombing of the Sears Tower in Chicago. The X-Men were also involved in stopping a few random bank robberies in Chicago, and responsible for negating the threat of mutant terrorist Magneto once again, also in 1999. Now, with the Legacy Virus cured just months ago – reportedly by mutants – and with the recent anti-mutant terrorism, the general public is feeling more sympathetic towards the genetically gifted.

Authorities will be investigating the Friends Of Humanity’s entire operation for months to come, and don’t see that investigation ending anytime in the near future. But there is no question that countless mutants have been the victims of prejudice that is almost comparable to the Nazi’s treatment of the Jews back during World War Two. It is uncertain where we go from here, and what the long-term effects of this act of terrorism will be, but there is no doubt that the nation will have its eye on its mutant population for the time being. For even more reports on the recent mutant happenings, and to let us know what you think of all this, please log on to www.ubcnews.com.

And when we come back – Susan Miller has your five-day forecast…”

*CLICK*

Jean Grey sets the remote down next to her on the plush leather couch, sighing contently while still staring at the black television screen. On her other side sits her longtime friend Henry McCoy, in all his blue-furred glory; she turns to look at him and they lock eyes as Jean places her hand on top of his, and smiles warmly.

“Can you believe it?” Jean says. “Everything they just said… about us, about mutants… they’re not scapegoating us, making us out to be the bad guys, like they always have. Even in the newspapers…”

“I know,” Henry replies with a nod, “I’ve seen the headlines. It’s been nothing short of amazing. But we still have a long way to go, Jean, I hope you realize that.”

“I do, Hank, I do,” Jean answers. She moves her gaze down to her right hand, locking her eyes on her wedding ring, her smile fading slightly. “We have a lot of things to do. We have to get all these new students situated… figure out what we’re going to do with the likes of Unuscione and Forearm… have a burial for Marrow… find out where Charles and Scott have gone off to…”

Henry places a consoling hand on Jean’s shoulder, and she looks up and into his eyes once more. “Don’t worry, Jean,” he assures, giving his friend’s shoulder a gentle squeeze, “we’re going to find them. Scott will be back, and you’ll be a family again. He loves you and Rachel more than life itself, there’s no way he can stay away for long.”

“I… I know. Thank you, Hank,” Jean says softly, and she leans in to plant a friendly kiss on his blue-furred cheek. She pulls back and then rises from her seat on the couch, heading out of the room.

“Off to bed, then?” Henry asks, as he too stands up.

“No, I’m just going to go sit in Charles’ study for a while,” Jean replies, walking up the steps leading out of the room. “Good night.”

“Good night, Jean,” Henry says. He follows Jean’s lead and exits the room as well, heading in the opposite direction towards the grand staircase.

Jean quietly makes her way to her former teacher’s study, careful not to make any noises that would wake the mansion’s residents. Normally that wouldn’t be a problem, but considering the events of the past few days, everyone is extra tired and as a result turning in earlier than usual.

Jean arrives at the door to the study and uses her telekinesis to open it, and seconds later to turn on the small lamp atop the wide mahogany desk at the room’s center. As the door closes behind her, Jean makes her way to the desk and sits down in the plush leather chair behind it. She once again employs her telekinesis and opens the bottom drawer on the left side of the desk, and narrows her eyes as they move from tab to tab of the many manilla folders inside. She finds the one she wants, and lifts it out, setting it on the desk in front of her.

“Alright, Charles,” Jean says softly to herself as she opens the folder before her, “let’s see about this mutant rights charter of yours…”

NEXT, IN UNCANNY X-MEN #23: The Friends Of Humanity have been taken down, and now the X-Men are ready to deal with the rest of their problems. First up – find Cyclops! The X-Men’s leader is on the tail of an out-of-control Omega Red, who is on a desperate mission to regain his humanity, and a small squad of X-Men led by Phoenix are the only ones who can stop the situation from taking a deadly turn! Plus: Erica and Cameron say their goodbyes, and the X-Men gain a few new members! Guest-scripted by Ian Astheimer.