FINAL SEEDS

By Ryan Krupienski

The Xavier Institute; Jean Grey’s Office

She sits at her desk, alone in her office, waiting. She hasn’t been waiting long, but she’s already starting to lose her patience. She’s eager to do this, to finally have this talk. This… confrontation?

Today, Cassandra Nova Xavier returns.

The headmistress is on her way, albeit running a little late. Maybe she’s doing so on purpose? Maybe she knows this talk is potentially going to get ugly? It’s not intended to be. Jean Grey sighs, and with her telekinesis, snatches up a handful of paperclips from a small tray on top of the desk. She melds them together into a ball of metal, then reshapes that into a small maquette of a familiar creature. Her namesake, the Phoenix.

As Jean sets her spontaneous piece of art down on her desk, the doors to her office open, and in walks the petite form of a bald, older woman. Jean didn’t sense her coming, and that’s one thing that’s always unsettled her about Cassandra – the fact that she’s practically blind to the mind’s eye. Cassandra once explained it as a side-effect of her telepathic abilities, but was she telling the truth? Ever since the incident in Washington, Jean’s grown a bit weary of the reliability of what Cassandra’s told her.

“Jean, I’m back,” Cassandra says, offering a warm smile. Jean can’t help but rise from her seat and meet Cassandra half-way from the door to give her a hug. “It’s good to see you. It’s good to be home.”

“Welcome back,” is all Jean says, and she walks back to sit down behind her desk. Cassandra follows suit and takes a seat across from Jean.

“I trust everything’s been running smoothly while I’ve been away?” Cassandra asks, and Jean nods.

“Everything’s fine. We currently have a good portion of the team away on an important mission, but other than that, things are pretty calm around here,” Jean tells her. “It’s too bad you missed Hank and Cecilia’s wedding.”

“Oh, yes, I know,” Cassandra sighs, “I really regret that I couldn’t be here. I was hoping to get back before they left for their honeymoon, but I suppose I’ll see them when they return.”

“Well, you have an excuse,” Jean says. “You’ve been busy… Barbara Walters, Connie Chung, Oprah, Regis and Kelly, Sharon Osborne… you’ve been all over the place.”

Cassandra smiles. “Yes, I have,” she says. “All for a good cause, though. I can’t complain, and I think this kind of positive, up-front publicity of our school and our campaign will go a long ways in helping us.”

Jean takes a deep breath and leans back in her seat. “Telling lies is going to help us? I’m not so sure…”

“White lies, Jean,” Cassandra says. “Bending the truth ever so slightly… for the good of a peaceful future.”

“Telling someone they look nice when they don’t is a white lie, Cassandra,” Jean retorts. “Telling the whole world that you’re someone else… stealing their identity… that doesn’t constitute a ‘white lie’ to me.”

Cassandra gives Jean a curious look. “I… I thought we talked this over? I thought you understood why I did what I did?”

“When we talked, Cassandra, I was also in the process of mourning one of my oldest and dearest friends,” Jean says. “I wasn’t exactly in my right mind, and then you just took off…”

“So you’ve been doing a lot of thinking in my absence,” Cassandra says matter-of-factly.

“A lot,” Jean tells her, and the redhead stands from her seat. “I’m not so sure I can trust you anymore, to be honest.”

Cassandra is visibly taken aback, and she too stands up. “How can I help you to trust me again?”

“Stop lying,” Jean says sharply. “Tell the truth.”

“I have been,” Cassandra says. Her lips briefly curl into a grin, and she shrugs her shoulders. “Well, maybe not completely…”

Without warning, bright flames shoot out from Jean’s body, taking the shape of a large bird. Cassandra’s eyes widen and she backs away a little, as the Phoenix consumes the desk before it and moves towards the elder woman.

{Your game is over now, Cassandra,} she hears Jean’s voice say in her mind. {You’re going to tell me the honest truth… or I’m going to pry it out of you, no matter what the cost!}

The War Room

He stands at the head of the room, with eleven sets of eyes fixed firmly on him. Scott Summers has gathered his teammates – those that are still here – for a special meeting. His wife and the school’s recently-appointed headmistress are due to arrive shortly… he hopes they hurry up, though, because he’s been waiting for this moment for too long now.

Ororo Munroe, Bobby Drake, Piotr Rasputin, Warren Worthington III, Alison Blaire, Anna Hong, Sean Cassidy, Cameron Dalin, Danielle Moonstar, Angelo Espinosa, and the woman known otherwise as Stacy are all present, some sitting in the chairs that surround the large meeting table and the rest standing nearby. None of them know why they’re here, and Scott hasn’t offered any explanation as of yet. In fact, he hasn’t said much of anything at all… he’s just been standing in front of the group, staring intently at the room’s door.

After a few more minutes of the silent treatment from their leader, one of the X-Men decides they’ve had enough. “Earth to Scott,” Warren calls out, and Scott turns his head to look at his blue-skinned friend. “Maybe you could tell us what’s going on here? Some of us do have things to do…”

“This is important,” Scott replies. “We’ll start the meeting soon, we just have to wait for a couple more people to arrive.”

“And lucky Jubilee gets to go shopping with her new best buddy,” Bobby sighs. Anna smiles at him and lets out a small laugh.

“Who?” Warren asks, all the attention turning back to him and Scott. “Jean, obviously… wait, is this about Cassandra?”

Scott remains steadfast as he gives his answer. “Yes, it is,” he admits. “Cassandra’s back today. And now that things have settled down around here, I think it’s the perfect time for us – for all of us – to confront her about this lie she’s been circulating around the world.”

“Okay, I’m sorry, but I have to say this, please don’t hurt me,” Bobby says, interrupting Scott. All eyes in the room land on the Iceman, and he continues, “Now, really… is what she’s doing really so bad? People are more tolerant of mutants now than they ever have been, thanks to the school going public and the campaign launching and especially now with Cassandra out there telling her story… she’s making people realize what we’ve known all along, that we’re all human…”

“Bobby, her whole story is a lie!” Scott snaps. “And this whole public acceptance of mutants started with the Friends of Humanity massacring about two hundred of us in Seattle… this whole thing stinks.”

“Scott,” Ororo says, “I think you’re being too negative about all of this. I thought you were proud of the accomplishments that Jean has made on the mutant rights campaign?”

“Of course I am, Ororo, but Cassandra’s taken it and changed it into something to use to her own advantage,” Scott tells her. “She’s polluted the campaign with her lies, and she’s used Jean to worm her way into our home!”

“She’s helping us!” Bobby yells out. “For crying out loud, stop being an idiot! Stop projecting your hate for Charles Xavier onto his sister!”

“Bobby, I don’t understand where all this support for Cassandra is suddenly coming from…” Warren begins to say.

“Actually, I think he has a point,” Dani chimes in. “I don’t know why you all think she’s so horrible.”

“I don’t think she’s horrible,” Alison says. “I don’t think she’s fantastic, but I think she can do a lot of good…”

“Please, that woman has ‘liar’ written all over herself,” Stacy quips with a roll of her eyes.

Angelo nods. “Yeah, and she gives me the creeps…”

“She’s done a lot of good, comrades,” Piotr says. “I don’t think we need to be so judgemental…”

“Will all of you SHUT UP!” Scott shouts, and the room goes silent. “This is unacceptable! It’s also exactly what Cassandra wants, for us to be divided, fighting amongst ourselves… we have to present a united front when we confront her!”

“And what about those of us who disagree with you?” Bobby says, crossing his arms indignantly. “We don’t get to show our support for her? You know what… screw you, Summers. I’ve had it with your attitude!”

Taken aback at Bobby’s outburst, Scott silently watches as his longtime friend marches out of the room. He turns his now-glowing red eyes to the rest of the his teammates, who all have looks of surprise on their faces as well.

“Anyone else want to throw a hissy fit and storm out of here?” No one answers or moves a muscle, and Scott moves his eyes back to the door.

The Summers’ Bedroom

He grabs the door knob tentatively, contemplating whether or not to actually enter the room. His heart is beating a million miles a minute, yet he’s not here to see anyone… he knows the room is empty, and he’s only here to drop something off. Then he’s leaving; he has his bags packed and a taxi on its way to take him to JFK airport.

Chris Bradley has been trying to keep a low profile for the past several months, and he’s done a good job of it, yet nothing’s really changed. In particular, his feelings for one Jean Grey-Summers… he’s still in love with her, and he still doesn’t know how to get past those feelings.

So he has to leave. He’s packed his things up, and he’s going to go back to his parents and sister. He can’t live like this anymore, centering his life around someone who won’t, who can’t, do the same. He’s tired of being the babysitter, when all he really wants to do is hold Jean in his arms. This situation isn’t fair to him… it’s not fair to Jean, either. It’s not fair for him to continue to expect for her to eventually notice him as a man, moreso as a man who can and will love her.

She needs to know how he feels, though… he has to tell her. That’s the only way he’ll ever have closure. However, he doesn’t intend to talk to her face-to-face… he could never. The verbal rejection would be too much for him. Instead, Chris has put his feelings in words, writing Jean a letter that he intends for her to read after he’s long gone.

The young man finally gathers the nerve to open the door and make his way into the room. It’s dark, with only a hint of moonlight making it possible to navigate the room without turning the lights on. Chris walks quickly over to the nightstand which he knows belongs to Jean, and opens the top drawer to place the envelope inside. He doesn’t want Scott to find it, at least not before Jean… this whole situation is already awkward enough.

After his mission is complete, Chris lets out a solemn sigh and makes his way back to the door and out of the room. He takes a final look inside before closing the door, then looks down and picks up his other bags. He stands still for a moment, looking around the hallway, around the place that has been his home for some time now… and for a split second, he almost considers not leaving; he loves it here. He just can’t stand to stay any longer.

Little does he know that decision will soon be taken out of his hands.

{Chris…}

Chris is startled as he hears Jean’s voice in his mind. He freaks out, thinking she knows what he’s done and wants to talk to him.

{Chris, you can’t leave,} Jean’s voice says again, and Chris gulps nervously. Suddenly, his nerves calm and his eyes glaze over. He drops his bags, and begins making his way towards the grand staircase.

{You aren’t going anywhere, Chris,} the voice says again. {I need you…}

New York City

Peter Valentino is shocked, even a little appalled. Yes, he knew beforehand that these kinds of places existed… he just never knew of all the different kinds of merchandise they carried. He’s intrigued, but he’s also incredibly scared. Some of the things here just look painful.

He stands next to Jubilation Lee, who’s talking to a large, black woman standing on the other side of a wide, glass counter. He can’t believe what he’s hearing.

“Yeah, that’s right, the Party Crasher… you know, the one with the wheels,” Jubilee says, and the woman nods knowingly.

“Oh, girl, we done run all outta them,” the woman says. “But we got these other ones over thurr…”

The woman points to a group of shelves behind Jubilee at the other side of the store. “It’s called the Dirty Talker, and that’s what it do… it talks. We got ones for men and women of allpersuasions.”

“Oh, a talking one!” Jubilee says, grabbing Peter’s arm excitedly. “How about that?!”

Peter looks at the woman behind the counter and she winks at him. “Go on now, go get yourself a toy. A’ight?”

Jubilee wastes no time and begins dragging her companion to the other end of the store. “Since you can’t have Cyclops,” she says with a slight chuckle, “you need something else to get you through those lonely nights.”

“My hand’s never disappointed me…” Peter quips. “But come on… this is obscene! And I don’t like Scott, okay?”

“Well that’s what Cameron said,” Jubilee says. “That’s what you told him.”

“What else could I say?” Peter sighs, and Jubilee stops and turns to look at him.

Jubilee’s eyes widen with delight. “Oh! My! Holy! Shit!”

Peter can’t help but smile, and Jubilee gives him a friendly hug. She pets his cheek gently and says, “Don’t worry, honey, one of these days you’ll be able to tell Cameron that you love him soooo much.”

Peter rolls his eyes and replies, “Whatever. Can we just get this over with?”

“Oh, fine, party pooper,” Jubilee huffs. “Let’s find that vibrator and get a move on… we still have to go to Coach…”

Jean Grey’s Office

{Enough of the lies, Cassandra!} Phoenix says as the fiery bird surrounding her body grows brighter and larger. {This masquerade ends right now!}

Cassandra does not flinch, instead a blasé look crosses her face and she sighs. “You’re right, Jean, it does end now. I’m personally tired of it.”

Suddenly, the Phoenix Raptor fizzles away, and Jean finds that she can no longer access any of her powers. It’s as if someone flipped a switch and turned them off. She looks at Cassandra, and her eyes widen in horror. “You…”

“A word to the wise,” Cassandra says, standing her ground. “Stay in control of your emotions at all times. Losing that control makes you more succeptible to powerful telepaths.” She narrows her eyes and Jean drops to her knees. “Like myself.”

“Cassandra…” Jean gasps, trying with all her might to struggle against the unseen force of the older woman’s powers. “Why are you doing this?”

“Because you’re a liability now,” Cassandra plainly states. “It seems my influence over you has waned in my absence, and I can’t have you ruining everything I’m working to accomplish. Not now.”

“I am not your puppet!” Jean yells in response, but Cassandra does not take kindly to the outburst and instigates a sharp, painful attack on Phoenix’s mind. Jean screams in pain, while Cassandra simply moves closer.

“Now listen to me,” Cassandra begins, “I’m going to tell you what you want to know. The fact is, I am Charles Xavier’s twin sister… and he does not know I exist. Though if he’s even still alive, he surely knows by now.”

“You… bitch…” Jean says through clenched teeth. Cassandra pays the comment no attention and uses her telekinesis to lift Jean into the air.

“I’m not going to kill you, or any of your teammates, for that matter,” Cassandra says, putting forth no effort to sound sincere. “I need you. I need all of you… though you, my dear, are now a threat to everything I’m trying to do. With your Phoenix abilities resurfacing, and especially with my control over you having slipped, you’re the one who could actually bring all of my plans crashing down. I simply can’t have that.”

“I’ll… stop you…”

“Wolverine, on the other hand…” Cassandra begins. She sighs and continues, “Well, he was just too much of a wild card. I had to do it. You will see, though, that it was for the best.”

Still clutching her head in pain, tears well up in Jean’s eyes upon hearing Cassandra’s latest confession. She’s in such pain, and so angry, so confused… it’s impossible for her to concentrate.

“I’ve grown quite fond of you,” Cassandra tells Jean. “You’re a beautiful woman… you’re a loving mother and wife, you’re intelligent, you’re powerful… I must say I was surprised at how easy it was to worm my way into your mind, even if you did leave the door wide open. You don’t even realize how long it’s been, have you? Much longer than you think…”

Jean screams again, this time her husband’s name, at the top of her lungs, but Cassandra just laughs. “They can’t hear you, my dear. I’ve sealed this room in a sound-proof telekinetic barrier. It’s just you and myself. Back to my point, though… I can’t have you getting in the way. The Phoenix is too wild, untamed, not even I could hope to control it… and I won’t kill you, because like I said, I’ve grown quite fond of you. I have to shut you down, Jean… you need to go to sleep.”

In a split second, Jean’s body goes limp and she falls unconscious within Cassandra’s telekinetic hold. The bald woman positions Jean to be floating on her back, and wraps her body into a green-tinted crystalline material that seems to materialize out of thin air. She sets the coccoon on the floor, and walks over and kneels down next to it.

“I’m sorry it had to be this way. One day, I hope you can be a part of the future I’m going to build for us,” Cassandra says, placing a hand on top of the coccoon. Using Jean’s voice, Cassandra telepathically calls out to a different individual. {Come to my office, Chris… come be with me.}

Cassandra stands up and looks around the room, and in the blink of an eye, the mess left by the destroyed desk is cleaned up. Satisfied, Cassandra turns around and heads for the door. “Now for the rest of them…”

The Bahamas

On a remote island beach reserved solely for the newlyweds, Cecilia Reyes-McCoy stands in the sand, under the stars, waiting for her husband Henry McCoy to join her. It’s been like a dream being here these past few days, and Cecilia looks forward to the next couple weeks of it. After the ordeal they’ve been through, the husband and wife decided they deserved a good long break from the crazy life of the Xavier Institute.

As Cecilia looks out over the ocean and into the distance, a tall, muscular man with black hair comes up behind her and places his hands around her waist. “Beautiful, isn’t it?” Henry says as he kisses his wife on the shoulder.

“Incredibly,” Cecilia says, smiling and turning to face her husband. “Took you long enough.”

“Well, when I receive the opportunity to change into my human form, I like to admire myself in the mirror,” Henry jokes, and Cecilia rolls her eyes. “You look ravishing.”

Cecilia grins, and teases, “Well, then, ravish me. In a nice way.”

Henry snatches Cecilia up in his arms and she lets out a startled yelp. “T’would be my pleasure.”

As Cecilia rests in Henry’s arms, she says, “You know, I wonder how everyone’s doing at the institute…”

“Hush,” Henry tells her. “You know the rules, my love… no phones, no computers, no communications with the mansion whatsoever… we’re not even supposed to think about it.”

“I know,” Cecilia says, “I know. I guess I just have a funny feeling being away is all.”

Henry smiles at her. “There are upwards of twenty X-Men on active duty, my love,” he says to her between kisses. “I’m sure everything is absolutely fine…”

The Xavier Institute; War Room

Scott Summers sighs discontently as he looks at his watch yet again. “Where the hell are they…?”

As if on cue, the room’s metal door slides open and in walks Cassandra. Everyone perks up as the woman walks towards Scott, stopping mere feet away from him. “Good evening, everyone,” she says as she looks around the room.

“Where’s Jean?” Scott asks as the door slides shut.

“Oh, I’m afraid she won’t be joining us. She isn’t feeling well,” Cassandra explains.

“I talked to her less than an hour ago, she was fine,” Scott says, his eyes starting to glow with a faint red energy. “What did you do?”

“Always jumping to conclusions!” Cassandra snaps, placing her hands on her hips. “What kind of example is that going to set for your children?”

“Fine, you’re here, we can get this meeting going,” Scott says. “In a nutshell, I don’t trust you. I don’t like you, I think you’re a liar, and I want you out. Tonight.”

Cassandra cocks an eyebrow. “Oh?” she says. “And I suppose everyone else here is in agreement with you?”

Scott looks over his teammates, knowing some actually support Cassandra, but as he looks into each of their eyes, he notices something… different. He can’t explain it, but he suddenly has the feeling that he’s very, very alone in this room.

“I’m sorry, Scott, I truly did not want it to be this way,” Cassandra says, reaching out a hand to him that he backs away from. “I didn’t want to have to resort to mind control.”

“I knew it!” Scott yells out, and instantly he lashes out at Cassandra with a barrage of optic energy. He keeps the attack going for several seconds, and is shocked to find Cassandra still standing when he stops.

“Have you forgotten who my brother is?” Cassandra scoffs. “I’ll have you know, I’m much more powerful than he is.”

“What have you done with my wife?!” Scott demands, a scowl now firmly fixed on his face.

“She is fine, I assure you.” Cassandra starts to move closer to Scott, and as she does, he seems to calm down. His eyes glaze over, the red in them fading back to natural brown. “You will be their leader, Scott. What Charles failed to accomplish after so many years… I will finally make the dream come true. With you, the X-Men, the school, the campaign… with all of these resources at my disposal, I am finally going to bridge the gap between the human and mutant races. We will all live in peace. This I promise you.”

Scott does not respond to any of what Cassandra has said. She continues, “Now, I have a question for you, Cyclops. Who is your teacher, your mentor, the one whom you respect above all others? Who is your leader?”

Moving his eyes to look into Cassandra’s, Scott answers, “You are, Professor X.”

NEXT: Check out X-Men 2.0 #12, then be back here next month for part one of the crossover that will rock the X-Men’s world!

I wrote this issue all in one day… I just breezed on through it. Can you tell? Personally, I’m quite proud of how it turned out. Hopefully it was an enjoyable, if not somewhat predictable, read for you. It was sort of a given that Cassandra had an ulterior motive from the get-go, but let me say that this storyline is not going to be what you might expect. Cassandra is not a typical maniacal villain – you’ll see what I mean! Her true origin and motives will be revealed in the coming months, most definitely.

So, yeah, follow the action into X-Men 2.0 #12, and then next month… SuperNova begins!!!!

~Ryan
12/02/03