She never thought a day so perfect could be hers. Bright blue skies, the gleaming sun, a warm breeze, grass as green as could be. Her dress was a dream… a strapless number made of the finest white silk and lined along the sides up to the bust with diamonds. A matching veil to top it off, but then there was her other ‘accessory’ – the bulge protruding from her abdomen. More than anything it was most definitely her favorite; whereas most women would hate to be so obviously with child on their wedding day, she loved it. How could she not?

Everyone she loved and cared about was there, Logan being a notable exception. He was there in spirit, though, just like the professor, and her parents. There were so many people waiting for her; dozens upon dozens of her friends – her family – filled the seats that were neatly arranged around the altar that had been erected near the lake on the estate grounds. They were anxious to see her, and she was anxious to show herself. She wanted the whole world to see how happy she was.

She stood behind the large floral arrangements with her bouqet cusped neatly in her hands, and in a split second her wait was over. The violins began to play and she knew it was time. She turned to see Piotr, dressed handsomely in his tuxedo, who extended his arm to her. She smiled and looped her arm through his, and he asked her, “Are you ready, Jubilee?”

She nodded at him and with that they walked through the archway. Everyone stood from their seats and watched in awe as Jubilee was escorted down the aisle. Illyana had just finished sprinkling the path with rose petals, and was now waiting up ahead at the altar. As she and Piotr walked, Jubilee looked around at everyone; so many faces, so many people who mattered to her, even in the smallest of ways. All of them had their eyes glued to her, smiling and silently cheering her on.

As they reached the end of the aisle Jubilee saw her bridesmaids – Monet, Paige, and Clarice – waiting for her as well as Anna, her maid of honor, all with smiles on their faces. She then noticed the groomsmen – Scott, Warren, Alex – and Hank, the best man, standing on the opposite side. They all regarded her with smiles as well. That’s all anyone could do, really; it was a perfect, happy day.

Then Jubilee’s eyes met with Bobby’s. He looked so incredibly handsome, so incredibly eager, and so ready to make out with her right then and there. She had to admit she couldn’t wait until the vows were over either and she could kiss her husband for the first time.

Jubilee came to a stop right by Bobby and they both gave each other an excited, knowing look. This was it, what they’d been waiting for, what they’d wanted for so long. Having their daughter on the way, having her there in a sense, made the occasion even more special. It was truly perfect in every way possible. Nothing could ruin this, nothing could bring her down off this high.

After passing her bouqet off to her maid of honor Jubilee joined hands with Bobby, who gave hers a slight squeeze. The guests became seated again, and Jubilee and Bobby turned their attention to Kurt, who was ready to begin officiating the ceremony for them.

“Friends and family, we are gathered here on this beautiful day to celebrate love,” Kurt began, speaking in his refined German accent. “We are here to bear witness as Robert and Jubilation dedicate themselves to each other in life and in love. We are here to celebrate as they come together and fulfill a dream they have shared for some time now.”

Jubilee could hear a woman sobbing and turned to see Bobby’s mother, Madeline, trying her best not to let her emotions overwhelm her. Madeline and Jubilee locked eyes, and the elder woman blew a kiss. Jubilee smiled at her, then turned back to Bobby.

“I assume we have no objections to this union?” Kurt asked with a hint of sarcasm, and there was a faint chuckle from the audience.

“Hey fuzzy elf guy…”

Jubilee’s heart stopped cold as the sound of the man’s low, gutteral voice hit her ears. What was he doing here? Was it real? Maybe she was just hallucinating…

Imagining things she was not. Jubilee turned her head to see Victor Creed coming down the aisle, dressed in a tuxedo very similar to the groom’s. He wore a wicked grin on his face that showed off his razor-sharp adamantium teeth. He eyed Jubilee as if she were prey as he continued, “I object. This pussy Iceboy ain’t a real man. How can he take care o’ my sweet thing here?”

“No…” was all Jubilee could say at first, as fear and anger began teething inside of her. What did Creed think he was doing, crashing her wedding like this? And why wasn’t anyone doing anything about it.

That’s when she noticed – everyone was gone. Everyone in the audience, Kurt, the bridesmaids, the groomsmen… everyone was gone except for her, Bobby, and Creed. The wind was starting to blow violently, and the sky was quickly graying. Her perfect day, her perfect world… it was all fading away.

“YOU STAY AWAY FROM HER!” Bobby yelled at Creed as he transformed his body into ice and approached the much larger man.

“Or whatcha gonna do, Drake? Throw ice cubes at me?” Creed retorted with a laugh. “You ain’t much good fer nothin’ anymore.”

Just as Bobby was about to take a swing at Creed, it became very clear to anyone watching that he suddenly didn’t feel so good. His face drooped and he keeled over, then small drops of blood began to escape from his mouth, nose, and eyes. Creed just stood there looking amused as Bobby started to convulse, followed by steam starting to rise off his body.

Jubilee’s heart may as well have burst into a million pieces at that moment as her would-be husband suddenly ignited into flames and let out painful cry that didn’t even sound human. She began to sob uncontrollably and barely managed to call out Bobby’s name, but it was no use. He continued to burn and melt away and all she could do was watch in horror.

Creed started on his way towards Jubilee, who slowly stepped backwards and wondered how she could escape, how she could save her baby from this monster. What would he do to her? Why was she so frozen, unable to defend herself or her unborn child? She was utterly and completely defenseless.

“There’s my girl…” Creed more or less growled, pressing one of his hands to Jubilee’s face. His adamantium-laced fingertips cut gently against her cheek to draw blood, mixing with the tears that were streaming from her eyes. Creed retracted his hand and licked the blood from his claws, then said, “So I’m thinkin’, babe…”

Jubilee trembled even more as Creed placed a hand on her abdomen and began massaging it. “If you an’ me are gonna be together, it should just be us. Nothin’ gettin’ in the way.” Creed then stabbed his index and middle fingers through Jubilee right at her navel, and she gasped as she felt the tiny life inside of her fade away. At that moment, any will she had left to live died with her child.

Creed moved his hand up and grabbed Jubilee by the neck, pulling her much closer to him. He took in her scent and moaned with pleasure, as her abdomen continued to burn with an unbearable pain. This was it; there was nothing left to do but die.

“Come to poppa, Jubesy…”

Jubilee’s eyes shot open and she sat up so fast that could have almost ejected herself from her bed. Just like every other night, her body and her sheets were drenched with a cold sweat, her heart was pounding, and after a mere couple of seconds… reality set in.

Her dream world turned into a nightmare. No Bobby… no wedding… no baby. Things that she didn’t truly know she wanted so badly until they were all gone. Things she never dreamed could be hers, that were torn away from her so painfully, so unjustly. Why did it always happen? Why did she always lose the people she loved the most?

It had been the same every night for the past week. Every single night; the same nightmare, the same reality check, the same uncontrollable tears.

She couldn’t take it anymore; how much could one person bear? As far as Jubilation Lee was concerned, her life was over…

MOURNING LIGHT

By Ryan Krupienski

It was a mildly cold and not very sunny day, as was the norm for the time of year in Westchester County. It had been over a week since the sun had come out at all, and it couldn’t have been more ironic as there was a gloomy, dejected mood blanketing the Xavier Institute. Who could blame them, after losing yet another one of their own?

Henry ‘Hank’ McCoy and Warren Worthington III had been walking the grounds of the lavish estate and catching up, but they came to a stand-still when from a couple dozen feet away they saw William and Madeline Drake at the grave of their son, Bobby. The Drakes had come in a rush when they found out what had happened to their only child and needless to say, they were devastated. Madeline had barely been able to keep herself from crying, as she was doing at that moment, kneeling down on the ground before the gravestone.

They always knew this could happen. They worried for so long, agonized every time they knew their son was embroiled in some sort of dangerous situation. Yet regardless of over ten years of such fearfulness, the Drakes had never truly prepared themselves for it. They were never ready and never would be ready to say goodbye to their son. Perhaps most difficult of all for them was the fact that there was no body; they weren’t even able to at least see Bobby one last time.

As Madeline wept quietly and William stood behind her with his hands on her shoulders, Hank and Warren watched on with solemn expressions. This wasn’t unlike the scene they witnessed years ago, when Jean’s parents mourned her death. What was different, however, was the fact that Bobby wasn’t embued with some cosmic energy force that had a penchant for resurrecting itself – Bobby had been powerful, no doubt, but he’d never been immortal.

Warren shook his head and let out a small sigh. “I can’t imagine how they must be feeling right now,” he commented. “They lost their only child.”

“It’s going to take a while for them to accept it… if they ever do,” Hank added. “Contrary to what we see now, however, I think Bobby’s death is hitting his father the hardest.”

“That would make sense… he’s probably kicking himself every which way for all the crap he gave Bobby over the years,” Warren replied, a hint of anger in his tone as he spoke. Yet he wasn’t really angry at the elder Drake, rather he was angry at the fact that after having made amends and bonded with his son, William had it all torn away from him. Bobby had it torn away, too.

And for what?

“I just can’t believe this… deception went on for so long,” Hank lamented, shaking his head. “I can’t believe that for six months, I fell for an act. I couldn’t tell the difference between my best friend and an imposter.”

“You can’t beat yourself up over this, Hank. No one could have known,” Warren told his longtime friend. “You, Scott, Jubilee, even me – no one. Mystique planned it incredibly well. I have to at least give her credit for that…”

“Still, I just…” Hank’s words trailed off into silence and he let out a sigh. He’d been so angry at himself this past week, and kept going over in his mind how it was possible that he, the ‘genius’ of the X-Men, had been so deceived. More than any of them, he should have figured it out before the situation became what it did.

“Just take it easy on yourself, okay?” Warren asked of the blue-furred man. “Promise me you’ll take it easy.”

“I won’t beat myself up too much, if that’s what you mean,” Hank retorted with a slight nod of his head. “However, there is much work to be done. I’m still in the process of analyzing the DNA sample I obtained from the imposter during our scuffle. I’m hoping that I’ll be able to uncover the doppleganger’s identity… even though the doubling process was so incredibly perfect and concise that even Cerebro couldn’t tell the difference, I’m sure there’s something far below the surface that will show the truth.”

“And of course it’s so very convenient that the guy has dropped off the radar,” Warren quipped. “What if you don’t find what you’re looking for, Hank?”

Hank was silent for a moment, thinking of the other source of information that was currently at the X-Men’s disposal. Albeit, she wasn’t being cooperative in the least, but she was bound to cave in at some point. And if she didn’t, they certainly had other methods of extracting the information from her, whether she liked it or not.

“I have a feeling we’ll be acquiring the answers we seek,” Hank said, his tone rather ambiguous, “one way or another.” Before Warren had a chance to question what the blue-furred man meant, Hank continued, “And then there is the matter of our young friends who have miraculously returned from the great beyond…”

“Monet, Paige, and Clarice… not so far-fetched. We never knew for sure what happened to them, even if it has been almost two years,” Warren commented. “But Illyana…?”

The two men turned their heads to look at the large stone cross that marked the grave of Illyana Rasputin. Years ago, the girl had contracted the Legacy Virus, and after a months-long fight with the disease, she ultimately passed away. It had been one of the most heartbreaking times the X-Men ever faced; losing a teammate was always difficult, but Illyana’s death had hit them harder than anyone else’s. She was only a little girl, an innocent little girl who had been through hell all because of her family’s association with the X-Men, and in the end they could do nothing to save her.

But now she was back, inexplicably returned from the dead. It was something to celebrate, but also in the X-Men’s experience something to be leery of.

“Illyana’s return is a complete and utter mystery to me,” Hank acknowledged as he and Warren slowly stepped towards the girl’s grave. “All the tests I have run indicate that it is indeed Illyana, that she’s a healthy young girl with no traces of the Legacy Virus and an active X-factor gene.”

“Do you think she could one of those doubles?” Warren asked. “I mean, after what happened with Bobby…”

“I already ran a comparative analysis against the imposter’s DNA and found none of the ‘red flags’ associated with this doubling process,” Hank answered. “Unless she is some sort of clone, which while highly doubtful isn’t entirely impossible. The most puzzling things however are that she seems to have the same accelerated aging factor as Miss Sophia Frost, and she’s also completely invisible to detection by Cerebro.”

“Well you always did enjoy a good mystery,” Warren remarked, a small grin forming on his face. “I’m sure you’ll figure everything out. You always do, Hank.”

“Most of the time, at least,” Hank replied. “Though what’s most mind-boggling of all is that, odd as it seems, there may be a connection between Illyana and our young ladies of Generation X.”

Curious, Warren cocked an eyebrow and asked, “What makes you think that?”

“Just as with Illyana, the three of them don’t register on Cerebro either,” Hank answered. “And with their returns being so close…”

Warren decided to abruptly switch the topic before his friend could go on; there was a question burning inside his mind and there was only person he felt could possibly answer it. And with all this talk of resurrection, he couldn’t help but ask it. “Hank, do you think it’s possible that Bobby’s still alive?”

Hank was somewhat taken aback by the inquiry; he knew that many of the others were probably wondering the same thing, but based on what little knowledge they had regarding the circumstances of Bobby’s death, it didn’t seem likely that there was anything to be optimistic about. However, being a scientist, Hank had more or less an obligation to keep an open mind. He also knew that, at times, such a task was easier said than done.

“To be perfectly honest? I… I don’t think so.” Hank hung his head then; he truly did miss Bobby. It didn’t seem quite real to him yet, it hadn’t sunk completely in. He knew it wouldn’t be long though. “I suppose that anything is possible in this crazy life we live, and us X-Men do have a penchant for rising from the eternal slumber. Of course, keep in mind that there are plenty of us who haven’t.”

“No body, Hank,” Warren said matter-of-factly. “That’s a reason to hold onto hope.”

“Six months and no word from him either,” Hank retorted. “Not only that, but Mystique is very thorough. She wouldn’t have had any reason to let Bobby live, especially if he could potentially escape and compromise her plans. And according to the files from the Brotherhood’s computers that I’ve been analyzing, she didn’t spare his life.” He felt badly now, as it seemed he was thinking of every reason to convince Warren that their friend was truly dead, yet Hank had asked himself all the same questions. “I know you, and everyone else, want to believe otherwise, Warren… but I cannot and will not administer false hope. Especially not to Bobby’s parents, or to Jubilee.”

Warren nodded in understanding. “I know, Hank. I’m sorry, I just…”

“You’ve nothing to be sorry for, my friend,” Hank said, dismissing the winged man’s apology. “It’s a difficult thing to accept, I know. The fact, though, is that Bobby didn’t have an ‘out’; no Phoenix Force, no healing factor or teleporation ability… no capacity to transfer his mind to another body, no connection to another dimension as Illyana has.” He paused a moment before continuing, “I don’t have all the answers – that I can say for certain. I can also say with a good amount of certainty that, as much as we would both like the believe otherwise… Bobby is gone.”

The two original X-Men turned their attention back to William and Madeline Drake, who were still standing at their son’s grave. Madeline hadn’t stopped crying, and William continued to hold her close. The elder Drake briefly turned to look at Warren and Hank and regarded them with a somber expression and nod, and the two mutants returned the favor. As William’s attention moved back to his wife, Warren and Hank turned towards each other.

“I’ve got an idea. How about a trip into town, to Harry’s?” Warren suggested. “For old time’s sake.”

“An outstanding idea,” Hank agreed. “I can’t think of a better way to honor Bobby’s memory.”

Hundreds of feet below ground, within the inner sanctum of the X-Men’s operations, Scott Summers stood inside a relatively small room that was dimly-lit and practically barren. It was a perfect square with four twelve-foot long walls and the only object inside was a chair that was rooted to the floor at the room’s center. In the chair sat a woman with deep indigo skin and vibrant red hair; she was strapped down by metal brackets across her abdomen, wrists, and ankles. Scott had quite the bone to pick with the woman, and it went far beyond any problems he’d had with her in the past.

Her name was Raven Darkholme, but she was much better known to the world as the mutant shapeshifter Mystique. In her many decades of life, she’d been many things – spy, freedom fighter, mother – but at the present she was a terrorist, and up until recently she’d been the leader of the new Brotherhood of Mutants. Not anymore, though; her latest schemes were foiled, just in the nick of time, by the X-Men, and the members of her core team were either dead or had abandoned her. She wasn’t surprised, as she didn’t exactly treat them well, but if they ever crossed paths again she certainly would show them no mercy.

Raven had been in that room for a week, however, and every single day of that week, Scott had come in to ‘talk’ to her. Each day, they ran through an almost identical routine, and today didn’t look to be any different.

“Hmmm, wearing your cute little sunglasses today, are we Mister Summers?” Raven commented, giving the first X-Man a smarmy look as she spoke. “Did you lose control of your optic blasts again or are you just trying to intimidate me?”

“Your time’s running out, Mystique,” Scott said, ignoring his enemy’s attempt to antagonize him. “You only have a few more days until we remand you to UN custody. Believe me… compared to what they’ll do to you, we’re treating you like royalty.”

“Oh yes, I’m sure… they’ll have all their little gadgets to torture me with, all their little mind games to play… same old same old,” Raven said, faking a yawn.

“Where are the rest of the cells?” Scott asked, getting to the point.

“What, you couldn’t crack open my files and find that out on your own?” Raven asked, feigning sympathy as she contorted her face into a mock frown. “Poor wittle X-Man. It must kill you to have to come to Auntie Raven for help.”

“We have the location of three cells, actually,” Scott informed her. “But we know there are more, and you’re going to tell us where they are.”

“Yes, and your wife is going to ditch her job and come running back into your arms,” Raven said. She let out an evil snicker, knowing full well that the comment got under Summers’ skin, even if it didn’t show.

“We can do this the easy way, or the hard way,” Scott said, continuing to walk in a circle around his captive with his hands folded neatly behind his back. “Like I said, time is running out. After you’re handed over to the United Nations, you’ll likely be tried in a world court for crimes against humanity, and more than likely you’re going to be executed.”

“Scare tactics don’t work on me, X-Man,” Raven spat at him. “I’d say nice try, but I’d be lying.”

“Let me remind you that I have other tools at my disposal to get whatever information I want out of you,” Scott retorted.

“Oooooh…” Raven said with a phoney gasp. “YES. I know of what you speak. THEM…”

“This isn’t a game, Mystique!” Scott exclaimed. He ripped his glasses off to reveal his naked eyes, which were glowing furiously with crimson red energy. He leaned in close to the woman and continued, “I’m tired of your bullshit! I have half a mind to blow your head off right here and now!”

“Well that’s your problem right there, the problem with all you X-Men – you have half a mind,” Mystique laughed, ecstatic that she finally managed to get a rise out of Cyclops after all these days. “Though your friend, Bobby Drake… I think he was probably the most feebleminded of you all…”

Just then Raven felt a sharp pain across the side of her face as Scott slapped her with all the force he could muster. He was tiring very quickly of her, but she’d really ticked him off by mentioning Bobby, and in such a derogatory manner to boot. He hated that he’d lost control of his emotions, but at this point it didn’t seem to matter – she wasn’t going to cooperate. Good thing for him, then, that he had other options he could explore.

“Oh, touchy subject?” Raven said, grinning wickedly. “As the kids say these days, ‘my bad’. But I have to tell you that it was just too easy… killing him, that is. Victor was verythorough, I can assure you.”

“I can assure you that my telepaths will be very thorough when they go digging through your mind,” Scott told her, now having regained his composure. “And if they happen to fry your brain or even kill you…” He paused for a moment, then shrugged and added, “So be it.”

“Hmph,” Raven responded followed by a stifled laugh. “X-Men? Kill? Methinks not. Methinks… you are all a bunch of human-loving cowards. You don’t have the stomach for it.” A menacing look came onto her face as she continued, “I, on the other hand…”

“You tried to detonate half a dozen nuclear warheads and kill half the Earth’s population,” Scott interrupted. “You, and a number of other people, are crossing the line more and more each time you pull one of your little stunts… and quite frankly, enough is enough. Any sense of security you have right now because you think the X-Men are ‘too good’ to stoop to even a fraction of your level…?”

The two locked eyes for a moment, staring each other down with cold, hard expressions on their faces.

“I would throw those preconceived notions out the window,” Scott finally said. “I’ll be back tomorrow, which will be your last chance to cooperate. After that… well, you know the rest.”

As Raven scoffed at the man’s last words, Scott put his sunglasses back on and stared at her for one final moment. He then turned around and tapped his wrist, activating a control that opened the sliding door that blended with the walls when closed. Raven was left alone in the room, wondering what her next move would be.

Upon exiting Mystique’s holding cell, Scott almost collided with Domino. The black-haired, white-skinned woman backed up a little bit and said, “Sorry, I was walking a little fast.”

“In a rush?” Scott asked her.

“To find you, actually,” Domino replied. “To stop you from going back in there.”

“What?” Scott questioned, a confused look on his face. “Why?”

“Because you need to give it a rest,” Domino told him as the two started to walk through the brightly-light metal hallways. “Six days in a row now and all that’s been accomplished is Mystique getting under your skin.”

Scott eyed his co-leader curiously and then posed the question, “Were you watching my conversation?”

“No,” Domino responded, and he knew she was telling the truth, “but I don’t need to. I can already tell that she’s ticked you off royally.”

“How?”

“You’re wearing those damn sunglasses.”

Scott sighed; he supposed Domino would notice subtle things, as paying attention to detail was a trait that all good commanders had in common. Apparently neither of them had paid enough attention to the details, though, and as a result they had a spy in their midst for over six months. He couldn’t blame Domino, as she hadn’t known Bobby for almost fifteen years as he did, but Scott didn’t know how he’d missed it. Was he just too focused on other things the whole time, or were the Brotherhood just that good? Neither option was really much to his liking.

Scott removed his ruby quartz glasses and looked Domino square in the eye, asking her, “Is that better?”

“It’s a start,” Domino expressed. “But I’ve got another idea.”

“Which is?”

“How about you and your daughter go on a little vacation,” Domino suggested. “Take Rachel and get out of this crazy place for a while, before the stress eats you alive.”

“And where do you suggest that I go?” Scott inquired, almost seeming open to the idea. Some time alone with his daughter wouldm’t at all be a bad thing.

“Genosha,” Domino told him. “Go see your wife. I think it’s about time.”

Just then Scott’s mind flooded itself with every excuse he could conjure up for not being able to leave. He couldn’t abandon his team now, not while they were recovering from the blow of Bobby’s death, and not while the trail to the rest of the Brotherhood cells was still warm. Not to mention all the other leads they had yet to explore. For him to take off now, it just wouldn’t be appropriate.

“Well, I can see that the words ‘Genosha’ and ‘wife’ seem to have triggered a sudden opposition to my idea…”

“There’s just too much to be done still,” Scott said. “I can’t go anywhere, not now.”

“Summers, you haven’t seen your wife is more than half a year,” Domino said with a great amount of force. “Her showing up at Drake’s funeral in her astral form does notcount. You need to-”

“I think I know what I need, thank you,” Scott replied, cutting the woman off. “Like I said, too much to do.”

It was at that moment that Domino decided she’d have to finally put her foot down. She’d been at the mansion and been a part of the X-Men long enough, and there was a damn good reason she’d been co-leading the team ever since she got there. Kurt had been a pleasure to work with, Scott on the other hand was a mixed bag; she had the utmost of respect for him and really admired his leadership abilities, however his attitude at times wasn’t so great. She was especially tired of his pussy-footing around the topic of his wife. She wasn’t a close personal friend of Scott, but nonetheless she did care about him, and was going to do what she had to do.

“Okay, Summers, you wanna play hardball?” Domino asked more rhetorically. “Fine. Here’s the deal – you’re going to go upstairs, pack a couple weeks’ worth of clothing for you and your daughter, and you’re going to get on the next flight to Avalon.”

“I just told you I-”

“And I’m telling you otherwise!” Domino retorted, pointing an authoritative finger at the brown-haired man. “We’ve got enough people on this team with some sort of emotional baggage and quite frankly it’s going to start hurting us. That we can’t afford, especially not with all the work we’ve still yet to do.” She knew that taking things from more of a business angle would make it harder for Scott to argue and as such easier for her to convince him. “You need to deal with this already. It’s been long enough.”

“I suppose that you’ll need to take a trip to Egypt to see Ororo, then?” Scott questioned.

“I may still miss her, but Ororo and I weren’t together on and off for over a decade, we never got married, we never had children,” Domino pointed out. “Big difference. And if you’re thinking of telling me ‘no’ again, so help me I’ll tie you up and have Colossus fastball special your ass onto that plane.”

Scott was silent for a moment as he realized that Domino was not going to back down, not this time. He was mad at her for butting into his personal affairs, but she was right – it wasn’t good for the team for him to leave such things up in the air. Bobby’s death had cut him deeply and the lingering, unresolved issues with Jean only stressed him out further. That was more than evident after he lost control with Mystique just a short while ago.

“So is that a yes, then?” Domino asked.

“Fine,” Scott answered her, “I’ll go. But if you need me…”

“Not to crush your ego but I’m a big girl, I can hold down the fort,” Domino quipped, her lips curling into a small grin. “Don’t worry about a thing. Just focus on your family.”

With that, Domino decided her work was done and started on her way in the direction of the War Room, but she didn’t get far before Scott called out to her. “Bea?” he said.

“Yeah?”

“Thank you. I needed that,” he said. “I appreciate it.”

“You’re welcome,” she returned. “Now stop wasting time… go see your wife.”

Peter Valentino was sitting alone at a large wooden table inside one of the mansion’s rather spacious libraries, with only his thoughts and the book in his hands to keep him company. It was lunchtime and all the students and staff were either out in the courtyard or in the cafeteria. Peter wasn’t all that hungry, nor was he particularly in the mood to be around other people at the moment. He just wanted some solitude, and although his bedroom would seem the most logical place to have that, he could only stay up there for so long.

There were so many things on his mind, so many things he couldn’t get away from, but he felt he had to try. Video games only did so much, and the Danger Room was unavailable, so he figured a good book might do the trick. He was only a few dozen pages into the read, however, and already his interest was starting to wane. Not that it wasn’t a good book – he just couldn’t seem to focus.

Bobby Drake and Cameron Dalin had been two of the best friends that Peter had ever had. They never judged him because of who he was, and they were always around when he needed them. Cameron had literally saved his life, back when he was targeted for extermination by the Friends of Humanity; Bobby had helped show him the ropes when he first joined the X-Men. Now they were both gone – Bobby was dead, murdered by the Brotherhood, and Cameron was gone, having left a short and simple goodbye note behind.

He knew he was anything but alone, however Peter couldn’t help but feel that way to a degree. He also couldn’t help but feel useless. He had no words to comfort one of the other few close friends he had – Jubilee – and he had no knowledge or ability that would really help the X-Men to bring the rest of the Brotherhood to justice. He was just a regular guy from the suburbs of Cleveland who had a 3.0 GPA and the power to make himself look like other people. No psionic abilities, no secret knowledge, no special black-ops training, no nothing. He knew his teammates didn’t expect anything more from him, but he couldn’t help but wonder… if he was no good for anything, why even be there?

He had no intentions of leaving, especially not at such a time. There was too much going on, too much work to be done, and even in his miniscule way, he had to help. How, he wasn’t sure, but he would stick around to find out. He wondered why Cameron took off, though; it didn’t make any sense. He just hoped his friend was okay.

Peter sighed discontently as he realized that his efforts to distract himself were in vain, and decided that he may as well go find something else to do. As he stood from his seat and closed the book in his hands, he heard footsteps behind him, the sound getting closer with each passing second. He figured lunch was over and that students were about to start filtering back in, but as he turned around he was surprised to see Neal Shaara walking towards him.

Every time Peter saw Neal, he couldn’t help but feel a bit flustered. The Indian man, who was only slightly older than the shapeshifter, had a quiet, humble confidence about him that really intrigued Peter. Of course there was also the fact that he was incredibly handsome – an unconventional handsomeness in some ways. Neal was very different, in a good way of course, from any other man that Peter had ever met, and he liked that. Of course with his luck, he figured he ought not to think too much into things.

“Peter,” Neal said, regarding him with a nod of the head, “I didn’t expect to run into you here.”

“Why, you didn’t think I could read?” Peter replied with a small laugh, though his attempt at humor ended up sounding more like a defensive comeback. At that moment he mentally kicked himself for the remark. “Sorry,” he quickly said, “that was… rude.”

“No problem,” Neal said with a smile, and Peter could have just fainted then and there – did he have to smile like that?

He thought to himself for a moment, wondering how shallow he was if of all things a gorgeous man would get his mind off what was troubling him.

“So, umm… what’s up?” Peter asked, not knowing what else to say.

Chuckling inwardly at yet another one of the strange American phrases he’d been hearing a lot of, Neal responded, “I just came to see what the library had to offer. It’s nice and quiet in here, isn’t it?”

“Yeah, it is…” Peter’s words just trailed off into silence, as he really didn’t know what else to say. He figured it might just be better to keep his mouth shut rather than say something stupid.

“So I’m assuming you do know how to read,” Neal joked as he glanced at the book in Peter’s hands. “Greek mythology? Interesting.”

“Yeah, I…” Peter hesitated for a moment but then decided to stop doubting himself; what could he possibly say wrong? “I’ve always been into all the mythological stuff, ever since I was a kid. It’s just always really fascinated me.”

Looking at the younger man, Neal could tell many things about him – on the surface, he seemed a little tense, almost nervous; Neal didn’t know why. Beyond that, though, Peter seemed very sad. He had a look of uncertainty in his eyes, something there that indicated he felt somewhat lost. Neal had never been one to pry, but he’d always been one to help.

“How are you doing, Peter?” Neal asked.

With a shrug of his shoulders Peter responded, “Just, you know, hanging in there. Like everyone else.”

“You all have had a lot of that to do in the past year, from what I’m told,” Neal said. “You lost your teammate Logan, then your professor, and now your teammate Bobby is gone as well.”

“Honestly, I barely knew Wolverine. I mean, it was sad that he died, but I just felt bad for everyone else more than anything,” Peter explained, getting more comfortable in the conversation. “And Professor Xavier… I only met him once. Nice guy, but same as with Logan – I barely knew him.” Peter then averted his eyes, and Neal noticed the slightest hint of a frown on the younger man’s face.

“I was friends with Bobby, though. That… just sucks,” he continued. “It really, really sucks…”

“I’m sorry,” Neal said, and Peter could tell he was being sincere. “It’s always difficult when we lose people we care about.” Neal then decided that he may as well reach out to Peter; if he was going to be staying at the mansion indefinitely, it would serve him well to make friends beyond Dani and Xi’an. Not to mention his feeling that Peter could use a friend as well.

“We don’t know each other very well,” Neal told him, “but if you ever need to talk… I may not be able to help, but I can certainly listen.”

Peter smiled appreciatively and considered the offer for a moment, but decided it was best he declined, at least for now. He wasn’t really up for a lengthy conversation. “Thanks. I’ll definitely keep that in mind.”

Just then, there were three quick, successive beeps and Peter immediately knew where they were coming from. He reached into his pocket and retrieved his cell phone, then flipped it open to see he had a new voicemail message waiting for him. He rolled his eyes when he saw the name on the caller ID; he really wasn’t in the mood for that particular person at the moment.

“Well, I have a call to make,” Peter said, holding up his phone for Neal to see. “I guess I’ll see you around?”

“Yes,” Neal replied, “see you around.”

The Danger Room

She’d been so busy channeling her grief into crying, into her nightmares… it never seemed to end. She was devastated beyond words over her boyfriend’s death, and she knew she would be for a long time. She’d been robbed of a true chance at happiness, a real life for herself. What hurt more than losing him, however, was realizing that she spent six months with a man she only thought was Bobby Drake. It killed her to think that she kissed, slept with, and said ‘I love you’ to a complete stranger. How could she have been tricked so easily?

The ache in her heart showed no signs of mending, however, it was only a matter of time before the third part of the equation reared its ugly head. The first had been her complete and utter denial, which she’d managed to pull off long enough for the mission at the Void. That was over now, but in addition to still being heartbroken…

…Jubilee was also majorly pissed off.

She was so incredibly angry at the situation, at the fact that Bobby was gone, but what made her the maddest was that he’d died long before she even realized it. She kept going over and over in her mind different events from the past several months, thinking there must have been clues in there somewhere, but there were none she could remember. She’d been especially thrown off when the double had proposed to her.

She’d never know if the real Bobby would have done the same.

Jubilee wanted revenge so badly she could taste it. She wanted to get back at them all for what they’d done – Mystique, for engineering the plot; Sabretooth, for killing Bobby; and the imposter, whoever he was, for deceiving her, for taking advantage of her, for using her as a means to spy on and hurt the people she cared about. In some ways it was too much for her mind to process, the logistics of it all. The only concept she could easily wrap her head around was rectifying the situation as best she could.

Mystique was at the mansion, but Cyclops and Domino had her on lockdown, and more specifically the woman was unaccessible to Jubilee. Five minutes alone with the Brotherhood’s leader was all she wanted, really, but she knew she’d never get it. Sabretooth was a different story, as he was still out there, still running loose… still commiting more atrocities by the day, she was sure.

And the double… he’d escaped as well. No one knew where he was, nobody even knew who he was for that matter. Mystique knew, but she’d more than likely never give the information up willingly, and there was no telling if a telepathic venture into her twisted mind would get the X-Men all the data they desired.

So to deal with the tremendous levels of rage that had finally boiled to the surface, Jubilee decided that some time in the Danger Room was in order. She was in a simple workout uniform consisting of black stretch pants and a tank top, with her long hair pulled back into a ponytail to keep it out of the way. She also wore an angry scowl on her face, an expression that didn’t show any signs of leaving anytime soon.

The training scenario she’d selected was in the process of activating, with the room’s natural state not changing but a league of androids similar to the Prime Sentinels being generated by hard-light lasers. She’d reserved the room for several hours and had a multitude of sequences she planned to run through which would not exclude her ultimate targets; she just decided she’d work up to a big finish.

As her hands began to glow brilliantly with a neon-colored energy, Jubilee watched the holographically-created robots fully materialize and then turn their attention to her. There were dozens of them, and they wasted no time in fully surrounding the young Chinese woman in a large circle. She stood her ground, and waited silently while looking around at her opponents. All their eyes were aglow and their stances gave hint to the fact that they were nanoseconds away from launching their attack.

Jubilee didn’t give them the chance, however, and instead struck the first blow as she fired off a colorful beam of atomic energy that tore through six of the droids, effectively reducing them to piles of scrap metal. The rest of the robots attacked then, running and diving at Jubilee with incredible speed. They were out for blood now, but unfortunately for them, so was she.

As the machines closed in, Jubilee fired off a few more blasts of energy and toppled many more before switching over to hand-to-hand combat. When she did, she first elbowed one robot in the face while at the same time kicking another in the abdomen, then she jumped, placed her hand on top of one of her opponents’ heads, and vaulted over it. She followed up with a swift quick in the back that sent the droid crashing into several of its brethen.

The other robots started opening fire on Jubilee with their repulsor rays, and she easily dodged the attacks through a series of back-flips. After several moments, she stopped and barraged the machines with another round of neon-colored energy blasts, this time spreading the discharge out wider in a wave formation. The result knocked down nearly a dozen androids at once, but there were still many more left to be dealt with.

Jubilee hadn’t lost an ounce of her momentum and was more than ready to demolish the next round of robots, but she was caught off-guard when a blur passed through the crowd of machines and took several of them down. She saw a double-edged lance swinging through the air and moments later saw the woman wielding it – her cousin, Anna Hong.

Anna stopped for barely two seconds to look at Jubilee and ask, “Mind if I join you?”

Jubilee didn’t have a chance to answer as the robots closed in on both women, and instead of showing her frustration at her cousin’s intrusion into her session, she kept going with more attacks on the sentries. More energy blasts, more jabs, more kicks, more evasion tactics. It all came together flawlessly, and it was at times like these that Jubilee really understood how Logan had always been so composed in combat even when he was in one of his ‘berserker rages’.

Anna had come to the Danger Room for an entirely different reason than Jubilee, in fact knowing full well that the younger woman was already in there. She wanted to make sure that her cousin was okay and that she wasn’t alone all the time as she had been the past week – by choice, of course. She felt so horrible for Jubilee, and wished she could take all the hurt away. Anna understood all too well what Jubilee was going through, but didn’t know how to get through to her. Jubilee’s life had been so much more tumultuous, and though the two were alike in many ways, the way they dealt with tragedy couldn’t have been more different.

After Anna decapitated a couple more of the robots, Jubilee suddenly brought the sequence to a halt. “End program,” she called out.

The Danger Room complied, and in a matter of seconds, all of the androids, functioning and destroyed alike, dissipated into nothingness, leaving just the two female X-Men within the open metal space. Jubilee took a few deep breaths and dabbed her forehead with her arm to stop the sweat from pouring down her face, while Anna put her lance away then started walking towards her.

“You were impressive,” Anna complimented her cousin.

“Thanks,” Jubilee said almost dismissively. She didn’t look at Anna, instead she opted to glance aimlessly around the room.

“How are you doing, Jubilee?” Anna then asked, although she knew in many ways it was a dumb question, but it had to be asked anyway.

Jubilee moved her eyes to glare at Anna and replied, “I was fine until you busted in on my training session. What gives?”

“I… was worried,” Anna admitted, though she had first contemplated a little white lie. Honesty was always best in her eyes, however. “I’ve barely seen you this last week, Jubilee. You’ve been closing yourself off from everyone. I just wanted to see how you were holding up.”

“Yeah, well, I don’t need you checking up on me,” Jubilee snapped back with a roll of her eyes. “I’m not a little girl, I can take care of myself.”

“I know that, but…”

“But what?” Jubilee interrupted. “But you just needed to come and see for yourself how much of a mess I am? Give me your pity, a pat on the back, tell me it’ll ‘be okay’? Thanks, but no thanks.”

“Jubilee, that’s not…”

“It’s exactly what you and everyone else were doing at the beginning and what you all have been trying to do for the past week! Why do you think I’ve been keeping to myself?” Jubilee asked rhetorically. “Because I don’t want or need to be coddled!”

“You’re in a lot of pain and I’m sorry,” Anna told her, keeping her cool even though Jubilee was in the process of losing her own. “You can’t keep this is up, though. It’s not going to do you any good to seclude yourself from the world and bottle up your emotions.”

“No, you know what’s not doing me any good?” Jubilee countered. “What’s not doing me any good is seeing people look at me with those expressions on their faces… ‘oh, poor Jubilee’… ‘poor thing, I feel sooooo bad for her’… ‘poor kid, she lost her boyfriend’. Why talk to people when I already know what they’re thinking and what they’re going to say?”

“Because you need to talk about it,” Anna responded. “I know, in part, what you’re going through, Jubilee. And I hate it. I want to help.”

Anna was right – she did know what Jubilee was going through in a lot of ways, and Jubilee couldn’t deny that fact. Anna had lost her son many years ago, and somehow pulled through it a stronger woman. Jubilee didn’t know how she did it, nor did she think that she’d be able to do the same.

“You wanna help me?” Jubilee asked, calmer now. “Tell me Bobby is alive and that this is all just a messed up dream. That the past six months, I wasn’t really hooked up with some fake just pretending to him. Tell me that I didn’t get engaged to and almost have a baby with a stranger who wanted to kill us all.”

Of course, Anna could not tell Jubilee any of those things, as much as she wished she could. All she could do was be there for cousin, lend her ear, give a shoulder to cry on, support Jubilee in any which way possible. For the life of her, though, she just couldn’t figure out what the girl needed that wasn’t outside the realm of possibility.

“I know, as if, right?” Jubilee quipped, looking down at the ground the back up at Anna. “You know what I do want, though? Something that’s not impossible?”

Anna had a feeling she knew what Jubilee was going to say, but decided to humor her. “What is it?”

“Mystique’s head detached from her body. That bitch deserves to die,” Jubilee answered, her voice so full of hate and vitriol that it almost sounded like a different person speaking. “And Creed. And the scumbag who impersonated Bobby. They deserve to die, too… slowly and painfully.”

It was certainly understandable to Anna, Jubilee wanting revenge – who wouldn’t? And it wasn’t even the words that Jubilee was speaking so much as the way she was saying them… she seemed very different. The boisterous, happy-go-lucky young woman she’d reunited with was fading away, much more so than after Xavier or Logan passed away. It was a strong indication to Anna of just how much Jubilee loved Bobby and how hard it was for her to be without him.

Suddenly and without warning, Jubilee’s eyes welled up with tears, and a she let out a few soft sobs. She just couldn’t hold it in any longer; she’d tried to mask her pain entirely with anger and it hadn’t worked very well at all. She knew Anna cared, and she hated that she’d been so cold to her; she hated herself as well, for many reasons.

“Jubilee…” Anna said her cousin’s name then came right up to her side and took the younger woman into her arms. “It’s okay. I’m here.”

“Anna, I…” Jubilee was finding it hard to catch her breath, but she needed to get this out. She needed to tell someone. “I’m… I’m so ashamed of myself…”

“You have nothing to be ashamed of,” Anna consoled her, gently rubbing Jubilee’s back. “Nothing at all.”

“Except for… except for the fact that I slept with and got engaged to a stranger,” Jubilee cried softly, her wet eyes closed tightly. “And… and I…”

“Jubilee, that is not your fault. Nobody knew,” Anna assured her.

“That’s not all,” Jubilee said, taking a deep breath and pulling away from Anna’s embrace. She wiped the tears from her eyes, and decided that she needed to sit down. Anna followed suit as Jubilee continued, “I’m a horrible person.”

“Why would you say – why would you even think such a thing?” Anna asked, almost as if to scold her cousin.

“When I miscarried, I…” Jubilee paused for a moment; it was proving harder to talk about the topic than she’d thought. “When I miscarried,” she started again, “I was so… depressed. I never thought in a million years that I’d have or even want kids. But for that short time I had that baby inside of me… I was actually really happy about it.”

Anna sighed, remembering back to Jubilee’s brief pregnancy; it really had been a happy time, a time that was painfully cut short. However, with Bobby by her side – or so she had thought – Jubilee had gotten through it.

“I remember how happy you were,” Anna said, smiling. “I was so excited for you.”

A guilty look crossed Jubilee’s face as she continued, “Well… after I found out the truth, after this whole imposter thing was blown wide open… I thought back to that. I thought back to how I almost brought that man’s baby into this world. And I…”

Anna took one of Jubilee’s hands and gave it a squeeze, and decided to stay silent; she’d let her get out what she needed to say.

“My God, Anna, I… I’m actually happy that I miscarried,” Jubilee finally said, swallowing back a lump in her throat in an effort to stop herself from shedding anymore tears. It was successful for the moment as she finished, “What kind of monster am I to be feeling that way?”

“Jubilee, you’ve been through a lot,” Anna said as she pulled her cousin close in an embrace. “You’re not a monster. You’re dealing with a great loss… it’s natural for your emotions to be all over the place.”

“But I…”

“Shhh,” Anna told her, and all Jubilee could do was begin to cry again. “It’s alright. I’m here, I’m always here. You’ll get through this, I promise….”

Location Undisclosed

Victor Creed had just had the time of his life, tearing his way through at least two dozen armed men by his count. They’d all shot round after round at him and while many had hit their mark, Creed was akin to a super-soldier, one with a highly accelerated healing factor and a skeleton laced thick with the most indestructible metal on the face of the planet. He wasn’t invincible or unstoppable, but he was very close behind that.

The very tall, very muscular man surveyed his work, which was sprewn about the complex floors in the form of dead, mangled bodies; snapped necks, severed limbs, flesh wounds, crushed skulls, and the like. There indeed was nothing he wouldn’t do, especially now… when he was looking for his daughter.

He’d come a long way and left a trail of bodies behind him, and all the hard work was paying off. He, along with his partner-in-crime Mesmero, had stormed this facility in hopes that the girl would be here, but no such luck. Mesmero was elsewhere, scouting the rest of the complex for any other clues, but Sabretooth had apparently already found what they were looking for.

Creed tapped several keys on the computer’s control panel with his razor-sharp adamantium claws and watched the monitor before him as it sifted through what seemed like hundreds, if not thousands, of files. The guards at the base hadn’t locked their systems back up before they started attacking the two former Brotherhood members and thus it had been so incredibly easy for Creed to simply navigate to the appropriate menu and run a search. Of course, he certainly was capable of a little hacking when necessary; contrary to popular belief, he wasn’t an unintelligent man.

The search was over, and the computer displayed a file on its monitor that left Sabretooth in a sort of awe. The file was labeled X-23, and show on the left-hand side a picture of a young girl who couldn’t have been more than twelve years old. She looked incredibly feral, a trait obviously inherited from her father, but Creed noticed the girl had dark black hair and slightly Asian features; he wondered who were mother was?

Towards the bottom right of the screen there was a small list labeled ‘Related Subjects’, and Sabretooth’s curiosity was piqued momentarily as he read the items on that list. X-21, X-22, going all the way to X-29. Weapon X really had been busy, and he had to wonder just how large a size their operation had grown to.

Creed pushed the thoughts from his mind and returned focus to the subject at hand. He slid a small disk into the computer terminal and prompted the machine to copy the information. He then reached a hand up to his ear and pressed the button on the small earpiece he wore. “We’re done here,” he said.

“Oh yeah? What’d you find?” came the response from Mesmero.

“Our next stop,” Sabretooth said, a malicious grin on his face. “I just found out exactly where my little girl is… it’s time to cut her loose.”

NEXT ISSUE: At last – Cyclops and Phoenix reunite! Will the X-Men’s leader and Genosha’s president be able to rekindle their love, or could this be the end for the classic couple? Meanwhile, the girls of Generation X make an important decision, and Beast makes a shocking discovery regarding Mystique. Plus: one of the X-Men’s most sinister foes returns!