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- CYCLOPS
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- DOMINO
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- COLOSSUS
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- KWANNON
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- EVER
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- JUBILEE
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- PROTEUS
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- MASTERMIND
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- CAMERON DALIN
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- THE BEAST
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- CECILIA REYES
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- NEAL SHAARA
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- ASTRID BLOOM
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- MYSTIQUE
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- SABRETOOTH
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- MESMERO
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- UNUSCIONE
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- NOCTURNE
PAST TENSE
Part VI: Back to the Future
By Ryan Krupienski
“This is Donald Stockwell for ABN News, with reports of a stunning development at the United Nations headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland. Less than an hour ago the emergency UN session, called to discuss the very real threat of an interstallar invasion by the alien Kree race, became an emergency situation of its own when the infamous mutant terrorist Raven Darkholme, who goes by the moniker Mystique, ambushed the meeting and took all of the delegates hostage. Apparenly taking the form of UN Secretary General Kofi Annan, Darkholme revealed herself after delivering portions of a speech Mister Annan was set to present. It is unknown whether the Secretary General is still alive at this time.
“Mystique is joined by four other mutant terrorists: Victor Creed, or Sabretooth, who has gone on savage killing sprees in the United States and Canada in the past, a woman said to be a former follower of Genoshan Vice President Erik Lensherr’s defunct religious cult, the Acolytes, and two unidentified men. They have announced themselves as the newest incarnation of the Brotherhood of Mutants, a longtime anti-human organization that seeks nothing short of global mutant domination. They have also announced their responsibility in the recent raid on a North Korean weapons facility, revealing they are in possession of more than a dozen nuclear warheads.
“This latest incident adds to an ever-increasing list of chaotic events that are happening around the globe. Thirty-six hours ago, a power failure at the super-human prison the Cube allowed the escape of Kree militant Noh-Varr. In a video address broadcast around the world less than twenty-four hours ago, Noh-Varr vowed to wage a holy war against the Earth and establish it as the capital of a rejuvinated Kree empire. He has already set the foundation for a new world power by stripping every country of its highest ranking officials. Currently among the hundreds of captives being held in an unknown location are President George Bush and British Prime Minister Tony Blair, considered widely to be the leaders of the free world. Many cabinet members, military generals, and scientific leaders are missing as well, leaving the governments of the world without much, if any, definitive leadership.
“In addition to the kidnappings, Noh-Varr has powered down maximum security prisons across the globe, allowing alarming numbers of convicted superhuman criminals to escape. Already law enforcement in every country is stretched thin, and many pillars of the super-powered hero community are nowhere to be found. The island nation of Genosha, which boasts a large and powerful mutant population, has apparently been sealed off by an impenetrable energy barrier that is preventing anyone or anything, including communications, from going in to or coming out of the country.
“These are times of uncertainty, and humanity as a whole is, without a doubt, facing what is perhaps the most dangerous threat ever to our freedom, to our very existence. While we all fear and wonder what fate awaits us in the near future, the most prevalent question on everybody’s mind is…
“Where are the heroes?”
The Xavier Institute; War Room
Henry McCoy paced back and forth before the gathering of mutants sitting at the oval-shaped table in the room that was just a tad bit tore up at the moment. Looking at the damage was still unsettling to Henry, as he couldn’t help but think about the imposter posing as his best friend he’d battled mere hours ago. Pile on the fact that the Kree were preparing an invasion, escaped supervillains were running rampant around the world, and the X-Men, Avengers, and Fantastic Four were nowhere to be found… and you had a man with a heavy load at hand.
Henry stopped pacing and turned his attention to the group of people giving him audience: his wife, Dr. Cecilia Reyes; the school’s core teaching staff of Dani Moonstar, Xi’an Coy Manh, Rahne Sinclair, and Amara Aguilla; Neal Shaara, a recent arrival who was still finding his place at the mansion; and Astrid Bloom, who had only arrived thirty minutes ago after Henry sent her an emergency message. The blue-furred headmaster’s eyes widened with embarassement as he realized that he hadn’t even introduced Astrid to the others yet.
“My apologies, as you can see I’m somewhat deep in thought,” Henry addressed the group. He motioned toward Astrid and continued, “Everyone, this is Astrid Bloom, an old colleague of mine. She’s a licensed psychiatrist and a very powerful telepath. I called her in to help with our… situation.”
“Quite alright, Henry,” Astrid replied in her British accent, nodding and smiling at her old friend. “I took the liberty of introducing myself to everyone telepathically, and your wife has updated me on everything that’s going on. I think we’re all on the same page.”
“What we need now is a plan,” Dani said, moving her gaze from Astrid to Hank. “And I think we should have every reason to believe that the other X-Men are still alive.”
“I concur wholeheartedly with that assessment, Danielle,” Henry replied. “Though we have much at stake, we have to face the reality of the situation. The seven of us will not be able to quell an alien invasion, round up of hundreds of convicted super-criminals, and defuse however many nuclear bombs Mystique has planted around the world. We need help. We can hope that the Avengers, among others, will resurface at some point, but we can’t afford to simply wait and see. We must take action, and I believe a systematic approach will work best.”
“We find the X-Men, stop Mystique, then go after Noh-Varr?” Neal asked almost rhetorically. To him it was a surprise to be speaking the words; he felt as if he were a sci-fi movie or something of the sort. Even after his time at Skye Isle, it was all still so new to him.
“Makes sense to me,” Xi’an added with a shrug of her shoulders. “I guess if we don’t stop Mystique first, there really won’t be a planet left for the Kree to invade anyway.”
“When do we leave?” Amara asked.
“You,” Henry said, looking at Amara, then Rahne, then Xi’an, and finally Dani, “are not going anywhere. Even in these dire times we must follow protocol – no less than four trained X-Men on the premises at all times.”
“That’s outrageous!” Amara protested, leaning forward and placing her hands on the table.
“Rules are rules,” Dani told her friend. “Who’s going to watch after the kids? What if this place gets hit?”
“While I’m sure a lot of the kids could fend for themselves, most of them can’t,” Xi’an said. “We’re responsible for them. End of story.”
“I dinnae like it either, ‘Mara, but it must be done,” Rahne said.
Amara quickly calmed herself again and simply nodded her head. “Of course.”
“With thanks to Miss Sophia Frost, who was the one to originally alert us of the infiltrator, we know where our teammates are,” Henry informed them as he pressed a button at the edge of the table and activated a holographic projector at its center. “Or, at least, where they should be.”
“What do you mean?” Cecilia inquired.
“According to what Sophia pulled from the imposter’s mind, Mystique and her team are – or were, I suppose – operating out of an abandoned military facility in South Korea. Not very far from their last-known coordinates in North Korea,” Henry revealed. The holopagraphic map zoomed in and pinpointed the two locations.
“Sneaky, indeed,” Astrid quipped.
“I can only assume at this point that the rest of the X-Men are being held there, and that the base was outfitted with technology that’s able to block out Cerebro,” Henry continued. “So, that will be our first stop.”
“But Hank, the jet…?” Dani began to say.
Henry raised a paw to quiet the young woman. “Not safe to fly, I know. And it would indeed take too long, even flying at the super-sonic speeds it is capable of. So I’ve devised an alternative, with technology left to us by our dear friend Nathan Summers. We’ll be bodysliding there.”
Just the word made Neal a little nervous, though he didn’t show it. “Dumb question, but what’s bodysliding?”
“An instantaneous means of transporting from any point on the earth to another,” Henry explained. “Simply put, teleportation. I’ve created a unit with enough battery power to get us to the other side of the world and back again, with our teammates in tow. I’ve got another currently charging for when we go to Switzerland.”
“Hank, don’t you think it might be a good idea to sit this one out? You’re injured,” Dani said, referring to the man’s bandaged shoulder. “I can go in your place.”
“I appreciate the concern, but no. If for any reason the teleporters malfunction… well, I’m the only one who can fix them,” Henry bluntly stated. “And I highly doubt we’ll run into any opposition. The Brotherhood have already made their move.”
Henry looked away for a moment, dejected; it all was a heavy burden to bear, and he was trying his best to keep it all together. He knew he had to, though… for his friends, his family, for the world.
“Well, if there’s nothing else, I think we needn’t waste any more time,” Henry said after a few moments of silence. “Cecilia, Neal, Astrid… if you’ll please come with me…”
The Palaias des Nations; Geneva, Switzerland
Victor Creed took great joy in terrorizing people, though he preferred techniques that he wasn’t able to employ at the moment. The thought of, yet again, being more or less under the control of someone else enraged him, but one talent he’d mastered over the years was patience. He knew it would be over soon. How and when remained to be seen.
For him, though, he enjoyed striking fear into the hearts of men, women, and children in those moments just before he slaughtered them. There was a whole stadium room full of human beings that he could tear into, if only Mystique wasn’t keeping him on a short leash. She had to put on her big show, dramatize it all. He knew it would ultimately be her undoing if she wasn’t careful. Certainly there were a plethora of megalomaniacs who had fallen into the same trap.
So while Mystique went on with her posturing, Sabretooth surveyed the large conference room, utilizing all his senses in making sure that no one was up to something. He could smell the fear, feel every trembling body, hear every terrified whisper. The audience knew that he and his cohorts in the Brotherhood were serious, but what were they more frightened of – a band of evil mutants, or an interstellar warlord? Perhaps it was the combination of both.
“This is boring,” came the voice of Nocturne, who stood right at Mystique’s side near the main podium. “Can’t we at least kill a few of them?”
“Oh no, they’re all still casting their votes,” Mystique said with a slight chuckle. “After they’re tallied, though…”
“I’ve got to say, great idea,” Mesmero commented from behind his two teammates. “Forcing them to choose who gets blown up first!”
Almost everyone in the room was finished filling out their makeshift ballots, which Unuscione and a few mind-controlled soldiers were busy collecting. Mystique had been serious when she asked for a vote, and fully intended to follow through with it. She was surprised that no one had yet objected, but what she didn’t know – or perhaps what she didn’t care to acknowledge – was that most of her hostages were holding tightly to the hope that help would arrive in the not too distant future.
“Absolutely not!” one man with a thick Chinese accent proclaimed as he stood up. “I will not! I will not participate in this madness!”
“Then you won’t live,” Mystique stated bluntly. She casually looked to Sabretooth, who grinned just a little as he received his que.
The Chinese man swallowed hard as the hulking, feral mutant approached him, and while he didn’t want to die, he wouldn’t sacrifice his convictions either. Sabretooth took the man by his collar and lifted him several feet in the air, pulling him close.
“Thanks,” Sabretooth said before plunging his adamantium claws into the man’s abdomen. He retracted them moments later and blood and innards splattered forth from the wound. The blood hit several other delegates and there were a few mortified screams as the Chinese man’s lifeless, mutilated body fell to the ground with a hard thud.
“The polls are closing, so make your decision quickly, ladies and gentlemen,” Mystique announced. “Consider this your final warning.”
South Korea
Inside a wide open space underground, below an old, abandoned building mere miles from the North Korean border, silence was interrupted by a soft humming sound. A unique, bright energy signature appeared, followed by the faint silhouettes of four individuals. There was a quick, brilliant flash, and suddenly those individuals became corporeal. Henry McCoy, Cecilia Reyes, Neal Shaara, and Astrid Bloom stood together, all clad in black leather and kevlar uniforms. Each one had some unique characteristics about them, but the yellow X’s and piping all clearly designated the quartet as a team.
“That was… quite a sensation,” Astrid said, rubbing her eyes in an attempt to recover from the disorientation of the ride. “And I still can’t believe I’m wearing this uniform. Not my colors at all.”
“Perhaps if you take me up on my offer to stay at the mansion, we can work on designing a uniform better suited to your personal tastes,” Henry replied as he, too, took a moment to regain his composure. It had been a long time since he’d done any bodysliding, and he’d forgotten how intense it could be.
“Wow, that was… fast,” Neal said in awe.
“And nauseating,” Cecilia quipped. She took a look around the room they’d arrived in, and noticed a plethora of computer consoles that were all turned off. She then turned around to see a wall covered in flat-screen television monitors, displaying the various news of the chaos happening around the world.
“Stars and garters,” Henry said as he turned around as well. “Precise coordinates, indeed…”
“We’re in their command center, then, I take it?” Astrid asked rhetorically. She concentrated for a moment, reaching out with her mind to anyone else who may have been inside the compound. It was an odd feeling, not having millions of active thoughts filtering through her mind at any given moment, but on the other hand, she was able to better focus her search.
“Anything?” Neal asked, while Henry made his way over to one of the computer terminals.
“Not yet…” Astrid’s words trailed off as she suddenly felt a few stray thoughts penetrate her mind. Nothing she could hold on to for long, but it was enough to verify an identity. “Ah, someone… in immense pain… is his name Piotr…? And someone else… thinking about ‘Bobby’…”
“Jubilee,” Cecilia said with a solemn sigh. “Hank, she probably doesn’t…”
“I know,” Henry said as he continued to attempt to access the Brotherhood’s systems. “And I dread the thought of telling her.”
“Well, I lost them. Sorry. There must be some kind of device that’s dampening my telepathy,” Astrid told them.
“Yes, it appears there are several such devices in operation… one dampening mutant abilities, another blocking out systems such as Cerebro… and… oh my word…”
Cecilia stepped up to her husband’s side and glanced at the monitor of the computer he was working at. “What is it?”
“All of this information…” Henry began to say. “It’s telling me everything… locations of every Brotherhood cell around the world, locations of every nuclear weapon Mystique has planted… I need to download this.”
“Where are the others?” Neal questioned. “Perhaps Cecilia and I can go help them.”
“Yes, of course,” Henry obliged. He tapped several keys, bringing up schematics for the compound. “Hmph… we’re a mile underground, it seems. Let’s see… holding cells…”
As more information began appearing on the screen, Henry’s eyes suddenly widened with horror, as the ground beneath his and his teammates’ feet began to shake.
“Bloody hell… what’s going on?” Astrid wondered aloud as she looked around nervously.
“Their insurance policy was just activated,” Henry said as the wall displaying the television monitors was blasted apart.
Neal took a step back, startled. “What is that…?”
The familiar purple metal figures standing two stories high emerged from behind the smoke, and the four X-Men jumped into a battle stance. To Neal and Astrid this was more or less the unknown, but for Cecilia and Henry this was a terrifying surprise.
“Just what we needed,” Cecilia muttered, “Sentinels…”
Elsewhere inside
Jubilation Lee was startled by the loud booming sounds erupting all around her, and immediately stood up and approached the bars of her holding cell. In the next cell over her cousin, Anna Hong, did the same. They both wondered – could help finally have arrived?
Both women felt a warm sensation rush through their bodies, as if something inside of them had been reawakened, and Jubilee could tell instantly that her powers had returned to her. She wasted no time in blasting her way out of her holding cell, and proceeded to then free her cousin as well. Kwannon greeted the younger woman with a brief hug, then the two turned their attention back to the matter at hand.
“Something’s up,” Jubilee said. “We gotta find the others and get out o-”
Jubilee was cut off by a grand explosion that tore apart half of the room she and Kwannon were in, and they were horrified to see a Sentinel towering over them. They backed away to avoid the rubble flying about as the Sentinel advanced on them.
[Designates Jubilee and Kwannon acquired. Command terminate,] came the machine’s cold, lifeless voice.Kwannon begged to differ with the robot’s assessment, and immediately retrieved one of the steel bars lying on the ground. The bar began to glow with a yellow-orange energy, and in mere seconds that energy shot out and blasted the Sentinel right through its head, causing it to stumble backwards. Kwannon barely used her mutant ability but when she did, it certainly came in handy.
“I keep forgetting you can do that…” Jubilee commented.
Suddenly another Sentinel appeared, holding out its open hand towards the two X-Men. Kwannon’s eyes widened in horror as the orifice on the robot’s palm began to glow, and a beam of concussive energy shot out at the mutants.
“GET DOWN!” Kwannon shouted as she grabbed Jubilee and pushed her out of the energy blast’s path.
In one of the neighboring holding cell rooms, Ever protected himself and Mastermind from Sentinel attacks with a telekinetic barrier. He could feel himself starting to slip, though… pretty soon he’d have to power off, or run the risk of tearing the entire complex down on his and his teammates’ heads.
“What the hell are Sentinels doing here?!” Mastermind exclaimed, doing her best not to show her fear. “Ever, we have to…”
“I know, just stay close!” Ever said as he started to lead Mastermind out of the confined area and into the open. The Sentinels were relentless, however, and barraged his shield with a myriad of explosives and energy blasts. He really didn’t know how much longer he could keep it up.
The two X-Men managed to get out of the small room into a more open area that, while having a tall ceiling, wasn’t very large. Ever didn’t quite know what to do next; Mastermind was basically useless in this fight, and his telepathy wouldn’t be of any help either. Finding the other X-Men was really their only option.
Mastermind’s heart skipped a beat as even more Sentinels arrived on the scene, and more of the walls around them were torn apart. At that point there had to be more than a dozen of the machines surrounding her and Ever.
“Bloody fucking shit…” Mastermind cursed under her breath. “I’m sorry if I’m being rude, but can’t you do anything more?!”
Ever decided to take a chance and dropped his shield in favor of a more direct utilization of his telekinesis. He grabbed hold of three of the Sentinels and ravaged their internal systems, but seconds later the remaining machines struck back and caused a powerful explosion beneath his and Mastermind’s feet.
Cyclops could barely move at all, thanks to his multiple bullet wounds, but his adrenaline had kicked into overdrive, as it was the only way he and the two others in his presence would survive. Colossus and Cameron lay unconscious on the ground, both mortally wounded; Colossus had a shredded abdomen, and Cameron was missing an arm. Courtesy of Sabretooth, Cyclops was sure.
Cyclops looked up at the several Sentinels closing in on him and blew them away with his optic blasts. It had to have been days since he’d last been in the sun, so he was surprised that he still had any energy left.
The robots were gone for a moment and Cyclops tried using the x-ray function of his visor to locate anymore of his teammates through the walls, but the visor was offline, as was his communicator. He knew more Sentinels were on their way, and he also knew he could only hold them off for so long. He couldn’t move himself or his injured teammates, and it didn’t seem like there was anywhere else to go.
Suddenly more Sentinels approached, and launched several tendrils at Cyclops, Colossus, and Cameron. Just as one was snaking its way towards Cyclops’ neck, an unseen force struck at the robots from behind and they were torn apart. Cyclops saw Cecilia stride through her handywork and quickly approach him as the last of the blasted metal fell to the ground.
“You don’t know how… glad I am to… see you,” Cyclops managed to say through heavy pants. “What’s going on?”
“What’s going on is that we’re getting you and the others out of here. Me, Neal, Hank, and a friend of his,” Cecilia told him. She turned her attention to Colossus and Cameron, and she gasped. “Oh God…” She kneeled down to quickly assess each man’s wounds.
“We’ve got to help them… get them out of… here…” Cyclops struggled to say.
“This is bad,” Cecilia said as she erected her forcefield around herself and the three men. “This is really bad…”
Proteus watched in horror as Domino failed to dodge one of the Sentinel’s energy blasts in time and was struck down with great force. Even though their powers had apparently returned to them, luck was not a factor for his teammate at the moment.
The young X-Man trembled in fear as the Sentinels turned their attention to him and proceeded to corner him. He didn’t know what to do; he didn’t have telekinesis or any sort of energy blasts or super-strength. His powers were pretty much useless, and more than anything he hated that feeling.
As Proteus prepared for the worst, a searing hot blast of fiery plasma blew a hole right through one of the Sentinels, and in the following moments the rest of the robots in the vicinity shared the same fate. Neal Shaara came into view, and Proteus felt a wave of relief wash through his body.
“Are you alright?” Neal asked as he approached Proteus. “Peter, right?”
“Yeah… Neal?” Proteus said, and Neal nodded. They’d seen each other at the mansion a of couple times since Neal arrived but had never been officially introduced.
“Let’s get you out of here,” Neal told him. “Henry and the others are freeing everyone else. Of course we didn’t anticipate this little surprise…”
“Yeah, Mystique is full of those,” Proteus said, blushing slightly. He felt like an idiot for getting butterflies in his stomach in the midst of the a life-or-death battle, but he was getting a vibe from Neal. He pushed those thoughts from his mind as he turned his attention to Domino, who was slowly picking herself up off the floor.
“About time the cavalry showed up,” Domino quipped as Proteus help her to her feet. “Let’s get moving.”
The three mutants moved together out of the confined area and out into the open space that was littered with Sentinel parts and crawling with plenty of operational ones. Neal blasted several more of the robots to bits as Proteus and Domino followed right behind him.
In jest, Domino whispered, “I’m glad you stopped flirting long enough to help me out.”
“Hey!” Proteus said quietly, turning slighty red again. “I was not flirting.”
Domino grinned. “Whatever.”
“Beatrice! Peter! Thank goodness!” came the voice of the Beast as he and Astrid rushed in their direction. Also converging with the group were Mastermind, Ever, and Cecilia, with Cyclops, Colossus, and Cameron in tow.
“I never thought I’d say this but you all are a sight for sore eyes,” Mastermind said as she glanced at her teammates.
“Hank, these guys are hurt pretty bad,” Cecilia said, motioning toward the unconscious forms of Cyclops, Colossus, and Cameron, all of whom were carefully contained inside a makeshift ‘stretcher’ courtesy of her forcefield.
“Cameron… what did they do to him…?” Proteus gasped in horror as he saw that his friend was missing an arm.
“We need to get back to the mansion ASAP, these guys are in bad shape,” Cecilia insisted.
“We’re a few people short…” Ever started to say.
Suddenly a loud explosion was heard behind the group and they turned to see a massive beam of condensed, neon-colored energy tear through the wall and send dozens of Sentinel parts flying through the air. Moments later Jubilee and Kwannon emerged and quickly joined with their team.
“Was that you, Jubilation?” Beast inquired, in awe of the power display he’d just witnessed.
“Yeah… pretty impressive, huh?” Jubilee said. “You guys showed up just in time.”
“I think we’re all set then, everyone’s here,” Astrid observed, looking around at the group.
Jubilee glared at Astrid. “Um, no. We’re one short.” She looked at Beast and asked, “Who’s she?”
“Astrid Bloom. I’m an old friend of Henry’s,” Astrid replied.
“Hi,” Jubilee said curtly before turning back to Beast. “We’re still missing Bobby.”
Beast sighed and looked down, ready to activate the bodysliding device. “There’s something I have to tell you, all of you, but not here,” he said as he activated the teleporter. There was a brilliant flash of light, and seconds later, all thirteen mutants were gone.
The Xavier Institute; Later
Jubilee sat alone in the War Room, deep in thought, going over in her mind everything that was happening. She was glad to be home, glad her and her teammates had finally been rescued, though she’d just about fried a circuit from the shock of everything that had happened in the few short days she’d been in captivity. It wasn’t enough that Mystique and friends were holding hundreds of UN delegates hostage, but there was a pending alien invasion, and superhuman prison breaks going on across the globe. It seemed as though the ‘dry spell’ was over with for the forseeable future.
Cyclops, Domino, Colossus, and Cameron were all badly wounded, but Cecilia and Hank had managed to stabilize them. Of course Hank wasn’t saying much as far as Bobby was concerned. He had a legitimate reason for being occupied, of course, but she wished someone could give her some answers. Bobby was missing, and she was worried. Everyone was. It seemed to her that a few of her teammates thought the situation was a bit worse than that, though.
Jubilee refused to cave in to her deepest fears, though; she was going to stay strong. She had a job to do. She had to help save the world, again. She was just waiting for some sort of direction… what was the game plan as far as Mystique was concerned? Who was going to go on the mission? When were they leaving? She knew if she really put her mind to it she could come up with something, but she didn’t want to step on anyone’s toes, nor did she think that anyone would truly take her seriously.
Suddenly, the door to the room slid open, and in walked several of Jubilee’s teammates. Domino, Kwannon, Ever, Mastermind, Proteus, Neal, and Astrid all filed in, quickly taking a seat at the table. Domino was clearly in pain and in no condition to go on any mission, but she stood at the head of the table to give the briefing anyway.
“Okay, we have to make this fast, the clock’s ticking,” Domino told her teammates after clearing her throat. “I’m going to give you the basic rundown, but I won’t be able to join you. Doctor’s orders.”
“I’m sure we’ll manage,” Mastermind said somewhat snidely, but Domino ignored the comment.
“Basically it’s going to be you seven. Now, you outnumber the Brotherhood, but obviously the last time we tussled that didn’t really make a difference. So we’re going to beat them at their own game. They’re enhanced with psi-proof devices, they’ve got most of the power bases covered, and let’s face it, they’re a lot more ruthless than they used to be. Not to mention they’re in possession of enough nuclear weapons to kill every living thing on this planet ten times over. So in a nutshell, we have to be careful. We have to be a little… sneaky.” Domino looked at Mastermind and Proteus. “That’s where you two come in.”
“Why not just have Ever cave the ceiling in on all them?” Jubilee suggested. “Bada-bing, bada-boom. Done.”
“If only it were that simple,” Domino said with a shrug of her shoulders. “But it’s not. So, like I said – sneaky. We have to work ourselves around them, catch them by surprise. Listen carefully…”
The Palaias des Nations
Mystique stood next to a group of men who were busy tallying up all of the votes collected from the hostages. It was the moment she’d been waiting for – they were finished, and now the fun was about to truly begin.
“Thank you,” Mystique said as one of the men handed her a piece of paper with the final results. She threw her head back and laughed out loud upon reading it, and continued to smile from ear to ear.
“The United States of America,” she announced, crumbling the paper in her hand. “The whole world truly has turned against them, hasn’t it? Excellent.”
“Mother may I?” Nocturne said sarcastically, referring to the device he held in his hands. It was the remote detonator for all of the weapons that had been planted around the world, and he’d been aching to finally use it.
“This… this is crazy!” came the voice of a female delegate, supposedly American or Canadian by the sound of her accent. “If you do this… if you detonate all those bombs… no one, not even mutants, will survive!”
“That’s where you’re wrong,” Unuscione said as she stepped up next to Mystique. “The strong will survive, and they will inherit the Earth.”
“RAVEN!”
The female voiced, tinged with a southern accent, caught the attention of everyone in the room, particularly Mystique. The blue-skinned metamorph looked around until she locked eyes on the source, who was making her way through the crowd toward the stage.
“Rogue?” Mystique said, cautiously eyeing her foster daughter. This had to be a trap, but then again, Rogue had left the X-Men a long time ago… perhaps she was finally coming back to her true family?
“Mama,” Rogue said, stopping about ten feet away from Mystique, “what… what are you doing?”
“Something that many have tried to do in the past, something that has to be done,” Mystique answered. She sighed softly and shook her head, disappointed that Rogue was sticking to the side of the angels.
“Please, stop this,” Rogue pleaded, looking at her mother with sad, desperate eyes. “You don’t need to do this. I know you don’t really want to hurt anyone. You’re better than this.”
“Are you outta yer fuckin’ mind, girlie?” Sabretooth interjected, moving in slowly on the former X-Man.
“I think it is you who is mentally unhinged, herr Sabretooth,” came another voice from a cloud of dark smoke smelling of sulfur and brimstone. Another former X-Man, Nightcrawler, materialized right next to his would-be sister. Mystique kept it to herself but at that moment she knew something was going on; it was just a little too convenient for her missing children to suddenly pop up. Perhaps this ‘Rogue’ and ‘Nightcrawler’ weren’t even real. She decided, however, that she would indulge whomever was behind it for the moment.
“This is pretty lame…” Mesmero muttered from his position a dozen or so feet behind Mystique.
“You have to stop this,” Nightcrawler pleaded. “Please… if there is any semblence of humanity left in you…”
“Dearest Kurt,” Mystique told him, “I’m not human. I’m a mutant. The same goes for you. Is it really so complicated?”
“Mommy…?” The meek voice came from behind Mystique, and when she turned around she almost jumped from the shock. There stood her other son, only he was a young boy and not the psychotic leader of the Friends of Humanity he’d grown up to be.
“Graydon,” Mystique said, staring coldly at the child. Sabretooth growled as he caught sight of his biggest disappointment; this wasn’t funny anymore, now he was getting seriously ticked off.
“Mommy, please… don’t hurt me…” Graydon cried softly, tears streaming down his cheeks. “Please don’t… don’t let daddy beat me… I promise I can try and be a mutant… I promise I’ll try harder…”
“OH… NO!” Mystique shouted angrily, turning away from the, at least in her eyes, ghastly sight. “This is just a bit too over the top…”
“Come on out and play, X-Bitches! We know it’s you doin’ this!” Sabretooth yelled out, looking around the room for any sign of his enemies. It was frustrating him to no end that he couldn’t pick up any scents or the like; someone was messing with his mind.
Quiet chatter erupted among the various hostages, who didn’t know exactly what was going on, but many were filled with a renewed sense of hope. They knew it was better to stay still and stay quiet, though; the attention was already off of them, no need to draw it back.
“Victor! C’mon baby, you know all thems X-Men peoples is gone… ya KILLED ‘EM GOOD back there!” came a bubbly, almost ditzy voice from behind Sabretooth. He turned to see a familiar voluptuous blonde standing there in a very tight, skimpy outfit, batting her eyes at him.
“Birdie…” Sabretooth said, his eyes widening in awe. She was his former sort-of girlfriend, who he killed in a murderous rage. She’d always been able to satisfy him in ways no one else could thanks to her unique telepathic abilities, and deep down he’d always regretted, for his own selfish reasons, what he’d done to her.
“You guys are NOT actually falling for this!” Mesmero said in a huff, throwing his hands up in disbelief. “Don’t be fucking retarded!”
“Vincent, you watch your damn mouth!” said an old Italian woman’s voice, and Mesmero was stunned when his deceased mother suddenly appeared before him, dressed in a hospital gown and those damn hot rollers in her hair. “I am very, very, very, VERY disappointed in you! You have no shame! My son, a terrorist! I’m gonna be turning over in my grave!”
“YOU WERE CREMATED!!!” Mesmero shouted at his mother, who just continued to stare at him and shake her head.
“And you, Carmella…” Unuscione was shocked to hear the voice, and shocked even more when she turned and saw her father, Unus the Untouchable, standing before her. The tall, dark, imposing man stodd perfectly still with his arms crossed. “I know I’ve done my fair share of bad deeds, but mass murder? This is insane.”
Unuscione swallowed a lump in her throat and said, “You bastards…”
“Enough is enough! Show yourselves, or I’ll starting shooting one of these humans in the head every fifteen seconds,” Mystique demanded, now ignoring all of the illusions around her. They were almost convincing, but not enough to truly get to her.
Yet.
“Raven.”
Mystique’s heart skipped a beat when she heard the voice. An old woman, the one person in the world who Mystique cared about more than anyone and anything. Not that it mattered anymore, because that woman was long gone.
Mystique took a deep breath as she turned slowly and caught sight the voice’s owner. She looked well, she looked beautiful as ever, and she was smiling warmly. “Irene… no…”
“Raven, I love you,” Irene Adler replied, holding out her hands to Mystique. The woman otherwise known as Destiny took a step forward, and her smile faded as she got closer. “Raven, this is not how it is supposed to be. This is… wrong.”
“Irene, I… I love you too, but this is… this is for us! For YOU!” Mystique pleaded with her deceased lover.
Destiny lowered her head. “You think this is what I wanted?”
Mystique was suddenly shaken from her fantasy and reality set in, and it was enough to send her into a murderous rampage. She would make whoever was doing this pay dearly.
“THAT’S IT! Every fifteen seconds… starting now!” Mystique vowed. She unholstered one of her guns and pointed it at the head of a male delegate in the front row, but before she could pull the trigger, she was knocked down from behind.
Destiny followed up with the initial assault by kicking the gun from Mystique’s hand, while all of the other illusions faded away, replaced by members of the X-Men. The battle started immediately, as the X-Men wasted no time in ambushing the Brotherhood. Meanwhile ‘Destiny’ began to melt away, replaced by the visage of Proteus.
“You…” Mystique said as she rose to her feet. “I will kill you for that…”
“You’re welcome to try, crackhead,” Proteus snapped.
Mystique lunged at Proteus, at the same time yelling, “NOCTURNE, DETONATE THEM ALL!”
Nocturne prepared to do as he was told, except he couldn’t get the device to power on. He was startled when Ever appeared in front of him and telekinetically pulled the remote from his hands.
“Whoops, sorry I broke your toy,” Ever said as he slammed Nocturne against the wall hard enough to render him temporarily unconscious.
Meanwhile Kwannon engaged Mesmero, who was getting frusterated that he couldn’t take control of the woman’s mind, or any of the X-Men’s for that matter. They were prepared this time, but that didn’t mean they were going to win.
“OW!” Mesmero cried out as Kwannon struck him in the side of the head with a roundhouse kick that sent him stumbling backwards.
Kwannon followed through with a swift punch to the other side of his face, followed by a leg sweep that sent him to the ground. She retrieved her lance and placed one of the blades by Mesmero’s neck. “Don’t. Move.”
Nearby, Neal was firing blast after blast of solar plasma at Unuscione, but it wasn’t garnering any sort of results; her psionic exoskeleton was practically impenetrable. He had been managing to keep her at bay, but she was starting to close in on him, even though he kept backing away.
As the various fights raged on, Astrid reached out with her mind to all of the delegates inside the large meeting hall. {Everyone please exit the building calmly. We will take care of the situation. There is absolutely no need to panic.}
As the crowd began complying with Astrid’s orders, she turned her attention back to trying to work her way through the Brotherhood’s psionic defenses. It was incredibly frustrating; she’d never encountered a mind in her life that she couldn’t break in to.
“AAAHHH!” Neal yelled out as Unuscione’s exoskeleton began closing around him. He could feel himself being suffocated, his circulation being cut off, and then suddenly it all stopped.
“Not this time,” Ever said as he confronted Unuscione and removed Neal from her grasp with his telekinesis. He then pushed her back and to her shock, her exoskeleton began shrinking. He was certainly in better control of his powers than the last time they clashed.
“Nnnhhh…” Unuscione struggled against Ever’s power, and started pushing back with all her might. She laughed as she resumed dominance over the X-Man, who was getting visibly annoyed.
“NO!” Ever cried out, and to his surprise he managed to knock Unuscione off her feet. The force of the attack, however, destroyed her exoskeleton, shattering it hard against her body and in effect sending her flying backwards. She was down and out, finally.
“Thanks,” Neal said as he caught his breath.
“No probl-”
Ever was cut off as the form of Proteus came flying through the air towards him, crashing into him and sending both X-Men to the ground. Mystique marched forward and aimed her gun at Neal, but he quickly blasted the weapon out of her hand. He sent several more plasma blasts her way, but she managed to duck each and every one.
Besides Mystique the only member of the Brotherhood left standing was Sabretooth, and he’d been busy with Jubilee and Kwannon. Both women knew there wasn’t much either could do to hurt him, but they had at least kept him occupied while his teammates were taken care of. How they would actually defeat him, they weren’t quite sure of yet.
Neal and Mystique continued to go back and forth and when Neal caught sight of Sabretooth, he decided to divert his attention. He sent a powerful plasma blast in the feral mutant’s direction, and it hit an unaware Sabretooth square in the back of his head. Creed howled out in pain, but it didn’t end there, as Jubilee gave Neal a quick thumbs-up then seconded the motion with an energy blast of her own.
Mystique took the opportunity to ambush Neal and successfully struck him down, but the shapeshifter got her own unwelcome surprise when Kwannon lunged at her. The X-Man showed no mercy as she kicked Mystique in the abdomen, uppercut her, then slashed at her with her lance. The attack left Mystique disoriented and with a large cut on the side of her face.
“Are you ready to give up, or shall I continue?” Kwannon asked, still poised for battle.
Mystique smiled and shook her head. “Stupid little X-Man. You’re as delusional as the rest of them.”
“I wouldn’t be questioning anyone’s mental health if I were you,” Kwannon retorted.
Just as Mystique seemed ready to engage Kwannon once more, she clutched her head in pain and slowly sank to the ground. She couldn’t believe it, but they’d gotten inside of her mind; she was completely defenseless now.
{All of you naughty little boys and girls just go to sleep now. First, though, enjoy what I like to call my psionic atom bomb.}
All of the Brotherhood members save for Unuscione were standing up, just barely, and trying their best to resist the attack. Astrid proved to be too strong, however, and showed no signs of letting up, nor any mercy. Sabretooth was proving most difficult to get a real grip on, but he was incapacitated enough to keep him from attacking the other X-Men.
Jubilee looked on as Sabretooth fought against the telepathic attack and just shook her head in disgust. “You’re a big fucking loser, you know that?”
“An’ yer boyfriend’s dead as a doorknob… y’know that?” Sabretooth snarled at her. “I sliced him up real… nnnhhh… REAL good, just like I did… ta Logan. One of these days… I’m gonna get yer pretty little ass too!”
Jubilee’s heart almost stopped beating upon hearing Sabretooth’s proclamation, and although she couldn’t be sure if it was true, he’d for sure had a hand in killing Logan. Jubilee’s hands began to glow fiercely with neon-colored energy and just as she was about to let loose with enough power to fry the skin off of Sabretooth’s adamantium bones, the feral man began to melt away into a pitch-black liquid shadow underneath his feet.
Jubilee looked around and saw that the same was happening to Mesmero, Unuscione, and Nocturne. Within seconds they were gone, leaving Mystique alone with the X-Men.
Mystique fell to the ground, out cold, after a few more moments, and Kwannon, Jubilee, and Astrid gathered around her. “Well, look at that. They left without her,” Astrid said, amused by the transpiration.
Ever and Mastermind approached the group, while Neal offered Proteus his hand and pulled him up. Proteus smiled as he said, “Thanks.”
“My pleasure,” Neal said, smiling back at the young man.
As the team regrouped around their unconsciousness nemesis, a sense of relief came over them all. Most of the Brotherhood had gotten away, however the X-Men had managed to not only foil their plans, but capture their leader in the process. If only they didn’t have other, even bigger things to worry about…
“Wake this bitch up! I wanna know what she did to Bobby!” Jubilee demanded, as her eyes began to well up with tears. She looked at Astrid and repeated, “I said wake her up!”
“Jubilee, please…” Kwannon started to say, placing her arms around her cousin, who began to sob uncontrollably. She felt pathetic for losing it in front of the team, but she couldn’t help it. Sabretooth’s comments had gotten to her.
“Let’s… go home,” Astrid said, retrieving the bodysliding device from a pouch on the side of her uniform. In a brilliant flash of light, the seven X-Men disappeared with Mystique in tow, all wondering what task would be waiting for them next.
Epilogue 1
The buzzing in their heads had stopped but it took a moment for each of the men to regain their composure. Unuscione was still not awake, and Nocturne kneeled down to her side to get a closer look at his teammate.
“Oh my,” Nocturne said as he checked Unuscione’s pulse, “she’s dead…”
Without warning, Nocturne felt a sharp, stabbing pain in the back of his head, and he fell over almost instantly, his body draping itself over Unuscione’s. Sabretooth, whose face was almost done healing the wounds inflicted by Neal and Jubilee, retrieved his claws from Nocturne’s skull and spit on the young man, letting out a small laugh.
“An’ now so are you, stupid little punk…”
“Hmph. If you hadn’t done it, I probably would have,” Mesmero said, surveying Sabretooth’s handywork. “So, now what?”
“What am I, your boss or somethin’?” Sabretooth asked.
“Well, hey, I don’t know if you’re thinking of sticking to this gig, or what,” Mesmero said with a slight shrug. “I mean, personally, I think Mystique can go to hell. I’m done with her bullshit.”
“You ain’t the only one who wanted out,” Sabretooth told his teammate. “Too bad it ain’t Raven’s body lyin’ over there instead o’ Unuscione’s. Carmella was a pretty decent broad…”
“Yeah, she gave good head,” Mesmero said, earning a baffled look from Sabretooth. “What?” the green-skinned man said. “She really did.”
Sabretooth chuckled and smiled, glad that his ex-wife had been beaten at her own game. He’d been an unwilling pawn in her schemes from the beginning, and while he had tried to make the best of it at first, he’d gotten to his breaking point a long time ago. Now that he was free of her, he could finally turn his attention to more important matters.
Mesmero, too, couldn’t help but laugh; Mystique had gotten what she deserved. She played him from the moment he signed on with the Brotherhood and made it basically impossible for him to leave or have almost any sort of free will. The tables had turned, and he felt incredibly vindicated. He could only imagine what kind of punishment she’d be facing for everything she’d done.
“Well,” Mesmero said, resuming the conversation, “I guess this is goodbye then. Been a blast, Vic.”
Sabretooth didn’t say anything at first, instead he moved over to an old wooden desk and retrieved a manilla folder from one of its drawers. On the cover it said ‘Project X-23: Classified’.
“I got somethin’ kinda big about to be goin’ on, y’know,” Sabretooth mentioned as he walked back over to Mesmero. “Not that we’re friends or anything like that, but yer powers might come in handy. So if you want, you could tag along.”
Mesmero’s curiosity was piqued, and he asked, “What exactly would we be doing?”
As Sabretooth handed the folder to Mesmero he said, “We’re gonna go find my daughter.”
Epilogue 2
His name was St. John Allerdyce, otherwise known as Pyro, but for the past six months he’d lived under the guise of the deceased X-Man Bobby Drake. At his old friend Mystique’s behest, Pyro underwent extensive gene therapy to have his whole genetic structure altered, essentially remaking himself into the Iceman. Mystique assured him it was temporary and could be easily reversed… now, he wasn’t not so sure, and the thought of being stuck in Drake’s form permanently made him sick to his stomach.
He wanted his body back… his eyes, his hair, his voice, his smile, his personal odor… everything. And of course he was certainly better endowed than Drake, another depressing feature he’d been living with. More than anything he wanted his powers back. He hated the cold, he hated the constant shiver that ran up and down his spine. It was enough to drive him completely insane.
The ice sled collapsed beneath Pyro as he lost his concentration, his will, his mind, and as he crumbled to his feet he howled out into the night. He couldn’t take it anymore. Either he had to be put back the way he was before, or he’d have to put himself out of his misery.
[Hello.]The voice came out of nowhere, and Pyro looked around casually for its source. It was female, very mechanical, very seductive. Not one that he recognized.
“Who’s there?” Pyro asked in the American accent that he hated.
[You’re not well, but I can make it better,] the voice said. A figure stepped out of the shadows and into the light, a woman who looked like she was made out of liquid metal. She didn’t look human… she looked like something far beyond mutant, even.“Who… are you?” Pyro asked her.
[I am a friend. I came to help you,] the woman said. [I know you have been betrayed. I know your trust in others is not strong. But rest assured, I can give you what you want. I can make you whole again, Saint John Allerdyce.]“How do you know…?”
[It’s my job to know everything about everyone,] the woman replied. [Shall I put you back the way you were, Saint John Allerdyce?]Pyro looked at the woman for a moment, staring into her blank, lifeless eyes. She came off as a cross between the Terminator and one of the Stepford Wives – it was pretty unsettling. However, she claimed to be able to change him back… no one else was stepping up to do the job. What did he have to lose?
“Alright,” Pyro said as he rose to his feet, standing to face the woman. “Just tell me, what’s your name?”
[I am Eva,] she told him. [Welcome, Saint John Allerdyce, to Weapon Plus.]Epilogue 3
Cecilia had done and seen it all in her time as an ER doctor, so the sight of the wounds didn’t phase her, rather it was knowing that it was her friends who were suffering that made her uneasy. Though she wasn’t as close with them as her husband, they were still family to her, which made her more determined to make sure they pulled through their injuries alive. Cameron she had a good feeling about, but she wasn’t quite so sure about Piotr.
Henry had been bed-ridden for a short while and Cecilia had made sure he stayed there. He’d started pouring over the information retrieved from the Brotherhood’s base, and while his wife knew it was important work, she also knew that the man still needed to recover from the wounds inflicted by the imposter Iceman. She knew there would be emotional reprocussions as well, for all of them, but for the moment they were all trying to stay focused on what came next.
“He’s comatose,” Henry said, looking down at Piotr.
Cecilia nodded. “He hasn’t woken up or even wiggled a toe or anything. He’s barely stable. Honestly, if not for the Shi’ar tech in this place, he’d have been dead hours ago.”
“Thank you,” Henry said as he reached across the bed and took Cecilia’s hands in his large, brutish paws. “It means the world that you are taking such good care of them.”
“I wouldn’t be much of a doctor if I wasn’t, would I?” Cecilia quipped, giving her husband a warm smile. “And you… you, I want back in bed. Those files from the Brotherhood can wait for a minute, okay? Scott and Domino are up and doing their whole strategy thing, Mystique’s on lockdown, and all those bombs are safe and sound with us. You need to get some rest. Your computer will still be there when you wake up, and you can leave Noh-Varr to the oth-”
Cecilia stopped abruptly as a strange sound began to emanate throughout the room, followed by a bright light filling the space. A portal of swirling pink energy appeared ten feet from the foot of Piotr’s bed, and seconds later a young woman with wavy blonde hair stepped through, followed by a tall Algerian with much darker features. The last young lady had deep lavender skin and bright hair to match the portal, and as soon as she stepped through it, the gateway began to fizzle away behind her.
“Stars and garters… you’re alive!” Henry exclaimed, lifting his glasses from his face and wiping them off quickly before putting them back on. He was absolutely flabbergasted , in a good way of course, as the appearances were out of the blue and definitely unexpected.
“Doctor McCoy?” said the blonde in a slight southern drawl, and Henry nodded. They smiled at each other and the blue-furred man met Paige Guthrie for a quick hug.
“Girls, you’re alive! This is stupendous!” Henry said happily, moving his eyes from Paige to Monet St. Croix, and finally to Clarice Ferguson. The three young women had been presumed possibly dead for two years, yet here they were in the flesh.
“Sorry if I ported us into an area we’re not supposed to be… in…” Clarice’s eyes narrowed in shock as she caught sight of Piotr laying in the infirmary bed. “What happened to Mister Rasputin…?”
“Doctors,” Monet said, acknowledging Cecilia then Henry, “we have a lot to… discuss. First we have to find Jubilee and Angelo. Are they alright? Did Emma get to them?”
“Monet, we have much to-”
“ALL X-MEN TO THE WAR ROOM IMMEDIATELY!”
The booming voice of Scott Summers over the mansion’s intercomm system went away as quickly as it came, and Henry looked at the three returnees then his wife. Cecilia said, “Guess the question and answer session is gonna have to wait… go on, I’ll stay here with Pete and Cameron.”
Henry nodded, then looked back at Paige, Monet, and Clarice. “Girls, I apologize, we’re very… occupied at the moment. If I can show you upstairs, the staff can…”
“Doctor, if there’s an emergency, by all means,” Monet interjected, “we’re here to help.”
NEXT: The women of Generation X are back, but there’s no time for reunions quite yet as the mutants must travel to the maximum security mega-prison known as the Void! Some of the world’s most dangerous masterminds, including Yellow Claw, Arnim Zola, and the Purple Man, threaten to spread fear and chaos around the world and it’s up to the X-Men to stop them! The action continues in Uncanny X-Men 2005 Annual, guest-starring War Machine, Sunfire, and Shang-Chi!
Author’s Notes
Well, I hit a block when I started this issue many months ago, and for a long time it just sat there collecting dust. Then all of a sudden after two months… bam. It was *thisclose* to being done! It took me a little while longer to decide how to close out the issue, and finally, voila.
Anyway, this officially wraps up the first new storyarc and, as you can see, I’ve gone back to the original numbering for the series. I thought it would be a neat idea, since I’ve come this far with the series, and plus I’m really going to be taking things back to the original concept of a more proactive and more aggressive X-Men that I never really followed through with anyway.
I’ve also got a new logo, which I’m very proud of. The old one just had to go! And, we’ve got some new faces tossed in… Neal Shaara and Astrid Bloom will be regular cast members, and there is a LOT in store for them. Already some hints as to what in this issue.
I’ve set the stage for a lot of crazy storylines I’ve got planned. Of course there is going to be a LOT of fallout from Iceman’s death, there will be quite a few old faces returning as a result. Jubilee is in for one heck of a ride, let me tell you. Mystique too, for that matter.
I’m also looking forward very much to the upcoming storyline with X-23. I can tell you now that things are not what they seem, and that it’s definitely not going to be like Marvel’s take on the character. Clones… bah!
Also expect to see lots of developments with Monet, Husk, and Blink now that they’ve finally arrived at the mansion, after their return in the latest issue of Generation X! I have been waiting to bring them in at just the right moment.
I won’t go into anymore details, but trust me when I say there is a LOT about to go down, starting with the 2005 annual, which is the tie-in to the “Empire” storyline inAvengers. That one will be here sometime next month, making way for all-new regular UXM in November!
So this is my 50th issue (well, technically 56th counting all the annuals and specials and such)… I hope you enjoyed it. Hopefully I have enough stories left in me for another 50… at least 25, I’m positive 😉
Thanks for reading,
~Ryan
9/28/05
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