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wqintraining · 10 months

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NEW X-MEN: THE ANIMATED SERIES - SEASON 3, EPISODE 6

We open in the middle of the night at Frost International’s corporate HQ. Inside the dark halls, two uniformed and lightly armed guards are patrolling.

MINI MAX: “I’m just saying, I miss how things used to be.”

OUTLAW: “You LIKED dressing like a cyberpunk fascist and having your official job title be, “Henchman”?

MINI MAX: “No! But it beat having to tell people I’m a “Night Watchman”, and we used to get to carry those huge blasters, not non-lethal peashooters. I’ve been here 20 years, I know where all the skeletons are buried, I deserve a blaster!”

OUTLAW, begrudgingly: “I do miss the blasters.”

MINI MAX: “See? And “Henchwoman” was a pretty sexy title.”

OUTLAW: “What have I told you about calling me “sexy”?!”

MINI MAX: “That…you like it like every other woman?”

As Outlaw’s about to get pissed, the two hear something. She says they should go check that out, with Mini Max following her, but hoping it’s something; maybe it’ll prove they need their old weapons back.

The two arrive at the site of the noise, an executive office, but there’s no mess, or any sign of entry. Mini Max tells Outlaw to call this in. It may have just been the wind, but this could be another Mutant they’re dealing with. Outlaw agrees, and is about to call it in, before she sucker punches Mini Max, knocking him out with the butt of her gun.

Unseen from the front, Outlaw uncovers a secret vault in the office, punches in a code, and opens it. She takes out a folder, and shuts the vault.

Outlaw, folder not in hand, rubs her head in confusion, wondering what happened, and freaking out over their unconscious partner. They’re then hit by an electric shock, tazing them and knocking them out.

We see the folder being twirled around in the hand of a blue fingerless glove, as we hear the laughter of what sounds like a prepubescent boy.

Blue boots walk out of the building without setting off any alarms, jet boosters coming out of them, as the thief continues to laugh, flying off into the night

At the Jean Grey School, the school’s Gay/Straight Alliance is meeting. This club includes Mercury, Bling!, Anole, Specter, Pixie, Loa, Indra, Wolf Cub, the younger student Dryad, and two other younger students we haven’t seen before: a blonde boy covered in eyes, and a black boy with glasses.

The meeting is being run by Kitty, who’s dragged Iceman along, thinking it may be good for him, now that he’s embraced what he is, to hear what the kids have to say.

ICEMAN: “And why couldn’t we have just talked about this stuff?”

KITTY: “Cause I’m only here filling in for Karma. I’ve always liked girls…a girl…but I’ve never really vibed with, like, the queers.”

ICEMAN: “I’ve been gay for two minutes, but even I know that sounds bad. How are things going with “a girl” anyway?”

Kitty groans as she sinks into her chair.

KITTY: “Avoiding her. Magneto agreed to keep sending Magik on missions while I figure things out, and, unlike Scott and Emma, she actually listens to him.”

BOBBY: “Can’t dodge her forever.”

KITTY: “I can try!”

Specter, the club president, asks if anyone has something they want to talk about. Dryad knows this isn’t really the point of the club, but she wants to know if Pixie is really from Camelot.

PIXIE: “Sure am!” SPECTER: “And don’t worry. “The point” of the club is just to be a safe place.”

DRYAD: “Oh! Okay! So what’s it like? Are there unicorns? A beautiful queen?”

PIXIE, her cheerful smile not fading at all: “It’s a brutal dictatorship where everyone struggles to survive.”

DRYAD, face falling: “oh.”

Kitty and Bobby, all too familiar with this, share a laugh. As the younger kid with glasses asks with disbelief about Camelot being real, Bobby receives a telepathic message.

EMMA, telepathically: “Robert, a word?”

BOBBY: “In the middle of something. Can it wait?”

EMMA: “Not if you don’t want me to tell my brother about your self-revelation.”

BOBBY: “Oh, that is so not cool.”

EMMA: “Just come along. I require your assistance.”

Bobby sighs, begrudgingly telling her he’ll be right there.

KITTY: “Emma?”

BOBBY: “Yeah. How’d you know?” KITTY: “The faces you were making. They’re the same ones I make whenever I have to deal with her.” She pats him on the back. “Good luck, buddy!”

We cut to MIT, joining a dry physics lecture. Some students are taking notes diligently, while others have passed out. Among the latter group is a red-headed woman. At least until she gets a wakeup call.

MONET, telepathically: “Why are you even here, Theresa?”

Theresa groggily wakes up and sits up straight. She looks behind her and up a few rows, to see Monet doing something in her notebook.

THERESA: “Could ask you the same thing. I’m gettin valuable rest. You’re scribbling.”

MONET: “I am NOT scribbling.” She says this as we see her doodling smiling worms in a basket of apples. “And I don’t NEED to pay attention.”

THERESA, mockingly: “Oh yeah, Monet St. Croix is such a genius she doesn’t even need to study to be perfect.”

MONET, completely serious: “Yes. I’m glad you’ve finally realized this.”

Theresa sighs with annoyance as the class is let out.

Out in the hall, Monet and Theresa walk to their next destinations. Theresa asks if Monet is going to the Alpha Phi party that night.

MONET: “Why would I do that?”

THERESA: “I dunno. Bunch of snobby rich girls. Seems like your kinda people, and I figured the only two Mutants at this school could get some drinks together.”

MONET: “Even if I was going, I wouldn’t bring you. But by all means, try and get in on your own. Drunk bimbos who won’t get anything from this school but a future husband seem like YOUR people.”

THERESA, smiling with frustration: “It really hurts ye to be nice, doesn’t it?”

MONET: “No. I just prefer being honest.”

THERESA: “You must also love being alone then.”

Theresa walks away from an unphased Monet. Something else, however, is able to get a reaction out of her.

MONET: “What?!”

Monet approaches and pulls down a flyer promoting a lecture Roberto is giving at the school that night. The lecture is called: “Me, Myself, and I, featuring Roberto Da Costa: Building An Empire By Yourself”, and there’s a picture of him winking.

Monet, pissed, tears up the flyer.

On a highway in the middle of nowhere, Akihiro tears up the road on his motorcycle, bluetooth device in his ear.

AKIHIRO: “How are things going on your mission, my lady?”

SOFIA, sarcastically: “Awful. I just failed an English test.”

Akihiro laughs. And her friends?

SOFIA, laying on the beach: “Delighted to have me back. Confused that I’m dating your sister.”

We see Laura, uncomfortably happy, getting ice cream for them both at a nearby stand.

AKIHIRO: “You are wicked. If she knew the truth about you, she’d be honored.”

SOFIA, putting on a fake smile and switching to talking like her normal self as Laura brings her her ice cream: “She already is. Good luck with your mission.”

AKIHIRO: “I don’t need luck, my lady. I’ve been preparing for this my entire life.”

The music picks up and we see where he’s heading, as we momentarily cut to Logan drinking alone in a roadside bar.

In the Mission Room, Iceman arrives to find Emma and Cyclops waiting. What was so important? The Horsemen? Sinister? Dark Beast?

ICEMAN: “Oh god, please tell me it wasn’t Dark Beast.”

Scott tells him it, thankfully, isn’t anything too serious; there’s been enough of that lately. Emma fills him in on what’s happening: Over the last two weeks, her company has been robbed three times. Once from the corporate HQ, once from a domestic manufacturing facility, and once from an in-progress international shipment. In a normal month, her security is tight and competent enough to thwart any and all would-be thieves. Not only that, but at all three robberies, Mutant guards were present, and bested, and no sign that a thief was ever there was left behind. They don’t even remember anything.

EMMA: “And the strangest part? They haven’t stolen anything vital. Valuable, yes, but nothing irreplaceable or particularly damaging.”

Bobby gets from all that why she wouldn’t just take this to the cops, but is this really X-Men business? Emma counters that she can’t very well go after the ruffian mocking her with these robberies herself. That’s simply unprofessional. Cyclops volunteered, but she doesn’t want him working alone.

ICEMAN: “Alright, I guess I can help. Sounds like an inside job to me. Probably some disgruntled Mutant employee.”

EMMA: “Not possible. All of my employees are happy and well-compensated.”

ICEMAN: “You literally busted a strike three months ago.”

EMMA: “That is a slanderous description of what happened, and I will not stand for it.” Emma heads for the door. “Now, come along boys. The sooner we catch this annoyance, the sooner we can throw them in a hole.”

Bobby and Scott are left behind as she exits. Scott has a big grin on his face. Bobby is irritated.

SCOTT: “I love her.”

BOBBY: “And you’re why I don’t want a Frost into me.”

In a lecture hall at MIT, 23 year-old Roberto Da Costa is on stage sharing his life story with college students barely younger, or, in some cases, older than him. He’s clearly not taking this seriously, in full schemer mode as he walks around and speaks with a narcissistic swagger, and fluffing details of his past, such as saying he was the leader of the New Mutants, and that he was involved in his father’s business from a young age.

As Roberto goes on a brief tangent, speaking to the reasons he admired his father, and the reasons he needed to cut his own path, Monet enters, her sour sneer present. Roberto notices her almost immediately and quickly wiggles his fingers at her teasingly.

Monet, in a huff, tries to find a place to sit. She’s quietly called out to by a group of well-dressed black students, who mime an offer for her to sit with them, appearing friendly. There’s a mild but brief panic in Monet’s eyes as she turns away from them and finds a place to sit alone.

Roberto continues to speak about how, even among the enlightened minds sitting before him, there’s likely still a common thought: For all that he’s achieved, repeatedly helping to save the world, bringing back Da Costa International, to new heights even, and having hair most men can only dream of, wouldn’t he have been more successful if he wasn’t a Mutant?

ROBERTO: “But the truth is that I wouldn’t be nearly as successful if I wasn’t a Mutant. I may be a one-of-a-kind man, but I’m only the man I am because of my friends, my family, my community…” Roberto makes sure his eyes land on Monet. “My partners.” Monet rolls her eyes. “I am a Mutant and proud of it. And for any of you who are different or discriminated against in some way…” The screen behind Roberto displays footage of him at an outrageous and luxurious yacht party. “Make it your strength, and you can be as awesome as me!” The crowd applauds. Roberto whispers, “Well, almost as awesome.”

A short time later, as Roberto is taking off his makeup backstage, Monet approaches him from behind, and before he can get out two smarmy words, she tosses him against a wall.

MONET: “What the Hell are you doing here, Da Costa?”

In the bar, Logan asks the bartender if he has the time. The bartender asks him in turn if his phone is dead.

LOGAN: “Phone got eaten by the giants I was fighting before coming here.”

The bartender looks at him strangely, unsure if he’s making a joke.

On the street, we see a motorcycle racing down the road toward the bar.

Logan laughs, with the bartender awkwardly laughing with him.

LOGAN: “Yeah, I can never remember to keep that thing charged.”

BARTENDER: “Heh, I feel that.”

The motorcycle comes even closer.

BARTENDER: “You got anyone who can remind you? My wife’s always reminded me.”

LOGAN: “I look like the kinda guy with a wife?”

BARTENDER: “Don’t sell yourself short, guy.” Logan glares at him. “Err, sorry, I didn’t mean, um…”

The motorcycle has almost arrived.

LOGAN: “Don’t worry about it. Can I get a menu?”

BARTENDER: “Uhh, sure. Suddenly get hungry?”

LOGAN: “Something like that.”

The motorcycle parks out in front of the bar. Black boots step onto the ground.

LOGAN, looking at the menu: “Huh. Haven’t had python in a few decades.”

The door to the bar is opened and a bell rings, as sinister music plays…only for the music to turn triumphant as we pan up the person who’s just arrived. It isn’t Death; it’s Storm.

The bartender’s jaw drops at the sight of her, as he mumbles in confusion over what “a goddess like that” is doing here.

Storm comes right over to Logan, both happy to see one another, as she greets him and apologizes for being late. Logan reminds her he likes being alone.

STORM: “Please, Logan. None of us have believed that in years.”

She then kisses him on the lips before sitting down.

LOGAN, holding Ororo’s hand, the bartender frozen in shock: “Think we could get another menu?”

Jaw still on the floor, the bartender ever so slightly nods.

We cut to a port, where Cyclops and Iceman are on a Frost International freighter, with Scott explaining his plan to catch the thief. The thief has specifically been targeting specific locations at specific locations where Mutant guards were posted. Tonight, Emma has taken all her employed Mutant security off the schedule and put the two of them on it. Additionally, she’s anonymously leaked to New York’s criminal underworld what valuables are hidden on this shipment.

CYCLOPS, eating yogurt with a smile on his face: “From what we know about the thief, they won’t be able to resist the chance to show up two X-Men and steal them. And even if we aren’t prepared for their abilities, Emma’s just a mile away. Far enough to not be on the thief’s radar, but close enough to get a psychic lock on them.”

ICEMAN, casually using his powers to make an ice conveyor belt to help the deckhands move heavy cargo around: “Not a bad plan. You know you’ve been smiling a lot lately, right?”

CYCLOPS, yogurt in his mouth: “So?”

ICEMAN: “So, now that you’ve actually learned how to chill, the next time we get into some time travel nonsense and probably meet you and Emma’s daughter from a post-apocalyptic future, I want you to go tell your teen self to not ride my ass so much.”

CYCLOPS: “I dunno. I think you turned out pretty okay.”

ICEMAN, dusting off his hands as he finishes helping the crewmen: “I spent a year couch surfing and my entire life burying my trauma in denial of my real identity.”

CYCLOPS: “Yeah. So you’ve done about as well as the rest of us.”

ICEMAN, with a pained smile: “Jean’s gone and Warren’s dead. Only three of “us” left.”

Scott’s smile fades and he apologizes for them not really having talked about this or having found time to mourn. The two of them should call Hank and do something.

SCOTT: “Maybe Ororo even put in a good word so he won’t hate me.”

Bobby quietly laughs. Maybe.

Scott asks if there’s something else on his mind. Bobby opens his mouth to answer but chooses to just tell Scott it’s nothing. He’s just been thinking about some stuff is all. Scott knows not to push and accepts this.

A mile away in a restaurant, however, Emma taps her finger against her chin, listening in to their conversation and clearly wanting him to talk.

Back at MIT, Monet and Roberto walk through the halls of the building where Roberto was giving his speech, Roberto winking and blowing kisses at all the girls they pass by who are clearly into him.

Monet tells him she let him finish cleaning up like he requested. Now he needs to tell her why he’s here.

MONET, telepathically: “Aren’t our communications meant to be secret?”

BETO: “It would be a lot easier to keep them that way if your telepathy was strong enough for long distance.”

MONET: “YOU do not get to talk to me about power.”

Roberto faux-innocently raises his hands. He tells her he’s here because they need to discuss further investments. Da Costa International has grown fast - too fast. Without a massive influx of capital soon, it’s all going to fall apart.

ROBERTO: “Call me naive for not planning ahead for this, but it’s not as if I’ve done this before.”

He doesn’t expect another investment from Monet though. He just wants her to help him find new investors. Preferably ones with “certain ties” to their community.

MONET: “I thought that part of your plan was a poor joke.”

ROBERTO: “We’re preparing for desperate times. That means desperate measures.”

Monet sighs. She’ll see what she can do. Is that all?

Roberto cheerfully steps in front of Monet and tells her there’s actually one more thing they need to discuss.

MONET: “And what is that?”

ROBERTO, smirking flirtatiously: “Where I’m taking you for dinner tonight.”

Monet is surprised for a second, before smirking flirtatiously back at him. Roberto starts listing off possibilities, with Monet only chiming in to agree with how great each option sounds…only Roberto snaps back to reality to see he’s talking to himself, with people staring at him like he’s crazy.

ROBERTO, awkwardly scratching the back of his head: ‘Ha ha. I’m just…um…practicing method acting?”

Outside, Monet walks away from the building, smirking to herself.

MONET: “How is that for weak telepathy? Ha ha. Good one, Monet.”

At the bar, Logan and Ororo are sharing beers. Ororo has spent the last few weeks in England with Betsy, Rachel, and their family, wanting to look after Betsy in light of the years she and Warren had been together. Betsy insisted she was fine after the first couple days, but Storm stayed anyway. The others ended up dropping by too: Kurt, Pitor, Hank, Rogue and Remy. Lots of drinking, lots of stories, lots of laughs and tears. There was even a half-serious betting pool on how long it would take for Warren to come back. It was nice. Logan should have joined them.

Logan admits that does sound pretty good, but he’s been working. Slim’s been having him work on trying to track down the monsters responsible for this. He’s got Madrox and his team working on this too, but so far they haven’t gotten anywhere.

Logan also admits that he can’t help but wonder how things would be if the two of them had been runnings things like old times. From the start. Genosha and the Morlocks could maybe have been saved, the Horseman could have already been stopped…he still trusts Cyclops, against his better judgment, but…

ORORO: “But there is a reason I once ousted him.”

Logan nods and drinks. Plus, he’s done a good job with Laura, but things outside her control have messed her up more than ever. He should be there for her. Ororo doesn’t think he needs to worry there, for now at least. Kitty has been sending her pictures and giving her updates as always, and she seems very happy with her new girlfriend.

LOGAN: *Growls in protective dad* “Something about this whole Wind Dancer story doesn’t smell right.”

ORORO: “Her story is no more strange, nor a miracle, than my own. The truth will be revealed in time. For now, be happy for Laura. Sofia is a good girl - an X-Man. And she’s wanted this for a long time.”

Logan just growls again. Ororo, giggling, wraps her hand around Logan. Logan puts his beer down and takes her hand in his.

LOGAN: “You’ve been taking care of everyone else, like always. You remembering to take care of yourself?”

Ororo nods. As we see flashes of their dead bodies, Ororo speaks about how she cannot sleep without seeing the Morlocks. She was the leader of the most vulnerable Mutants, the ones most in need of protection, and she failed them. Not even by those who hate and fear mutants, but by the cruelest among them, who they are right to fear.

STORM: “Were the storms still mine to command, I would find Exodus myself and make him suffer a thousand fold for each and every death.”

LOGAN: “As if you need your powers to kick that bub’s ass.” Ororo dons a flattered smile as Logan looks as her lovingly. “You can take him, Magneto’s gonna want Pestillence, and I’ll take the head of whoever’s running this sick show now.”

Logan spins around, stands up, and catches a knife that was about to go through his head. Ororo also leaps to her feet, drawing her new weapons, Callisto’s knives, as the scared bartender hides behind the bar.

Akihiro, dressed like the other bar patrons, with a cowboy hat concealing his eyes, stands up from the table he’s been sitting at in the background this whole time.

AKIHIRO: “That…is something I will never allow to happen.”

Akihiro dramatically tosses his cowboy hat aside as he turns blue.

LOGAN, sneering: “Unless Apocalypse recruited more than one Japanese man with a bad haircut, I’m guessing you’re Death.”

AKIHIRO, grinning: “If you know that about me, then you know who else I am.”

LOGAN: “I know you say you’re my kid.” Logan drops the knife and pulls out his claws. “And I don’t care.”

AKIHIRO: “I wouldn’t have expected anything else.”

Akihiro pulls out his own claws as the two men stare each other down. This goes on until they, plus Ororo, rush toward each other.

At night on the freighter, Scott is eating dinner with the deckhands. They’d like to hear some X-Men stories, or maybe some embarrassing things about Ms. Frost, but he’s only interested in eagerly talking their ears off about the connections between the histories of nautical and aeronautical development.

DECKHAND #1, whispering as Scott rambles: “I’m so bored.”

DECKHAND #2: “We all are, but I’m not gonna be the idiot to disrespect the boss’s man. Just smile and nod.”

Outside, Iceman stands on a pillar of ice on the ocean.

EMMA, telepathically: “Robert?”

BOBBY, annoyed: “In the middle of keeping an eye out for YOUR thief.”

EMMA, seated in a theater: “Then I’ll keep this brief. What’s troubling you?”

Bobby, over-aggressively, insists there’s nothing wrong with him, but Emma reminds him of the obvious that he shouldn’t be lying to a telepath. Ever since his battle with Exodus, being around his mind has put butterflies in her stomach.

Bobby aggressively brings up that “maybe” it has something to do with his best friend and the Morlocks being killed, but Emma counters that they’ve *all* been dealing with those losses; this is something else. Iceman mutters in frustration that he knows she won’t let this go. He explains he’s been thinking about his new identity, even reading about it.

EMMA: “You? Reading?”

BOBBY: “I did go to college, Emma.”

EMMA: “So do liberal arts majors. Continue.”

Iceman brings up how he was just at the school’s SGA, but, like, why do they need one of those? Why does a school dedicated to protecting a minority need a “safe space” for its minority members? Why don’t they feel safe with everyone else?

ICEMAN: “We’re all Mutants. We should all share the same fights. But we don’t.”

Emma acknowledges she’s no expert in this regard either, and only went along with the club’s formation because Karma and Northstar wanted to start it, but if he wants to do more research and suggest changes they can implement to make their queer students feel more safe, the headmasters would of course be happy to listen to him. Bobby thanks her, but doesn’t seem too pleased with that response. He doesn’t think that’s enough.

Before the conversation continues, Iceman is called out to by a gravely voice.

Iceman turns around and sees a big, bald, stereotypical tough guy having flown up to him on jet boots. He smirks confidently.

ICEMAN: “Emma, I think I’ve got our thief.”

EMMA: “I see him, but I can’t get in his mind. I also can’t imagine my security being bested so easily by this neanderthal. Watch yourself.”

Bobby laughs that off. He beat Exodus, and he’s been asking Erik to spar with him. This guy’s gonna regret approaching him like this.

We cut back to the inside of the ship, where the deckhands all laugh at a dad pun from Scott. One of the deckhands from before says to his friend that they deserve extra pay for keeping this guy happy, before he, Cyclops, and the others, are all frozen. Once again, we hear pre-pubescent laughter.

Shortly later, Iceman wakes up on the floor, seeing the others having been frozen, and confused by what happened.

EMMA, standing up and heading out of the theater, frustrated: “You lost, Robert. And I don’t have the faintest idea how…but I will.”

On the quad at MIT at sunset, Monet quickly paces as she speaks on the phone, agreeing to certain things and telling the person she’s speaking to “No” about other matters. Monet eventually smiles as she tells the person she’s speaking to that that should cover everything; she looks forward to working with them.

As she smugly hangs up, Theresa comes racing up to her from behind, calling out her name, and asking her to wait up.

MONET: “You can fly, Siryn.”

THERESA: “Yes, but I try not to here. What are you in such a rush for? Not like you have anywhere to be.”

MONET: “I’m Monet St. Croix. I don’t do anything slow. What do you want?”

Theresa asks Monet if she’s going to the party. Monet asks her if she hit her head or if there just isn’t much in it; they already had this conversation.

THERESA, ready to rip Monet’s head off if she could: “Not the Alpha Phi party. Sunspot’s party!”

Monet’s eye twitches.

MONET: “His what?”

Theresa explains that Beto booked out a trendy new club near campus and all the students are invited. He had her send out a blast on the school’s socials, but she knows Monet isn’t on any of those. He’s plugging it as a mixer where soon-to-be-grads can speak to him directly about job opportunities.

Monet is more than a little peeved by him pulling a stunt like this when they’re supposedly in need of money but hides her contempt behind a stoic facade. She has two questions for Theresa: Why is she helping Beto, and why is she talking to her?

SIRYN: “Don’t you know? Sunspot and I go way back. X-Force back. And I’m talking to you…” Siryn leans forward and whispers into M’s here. “Because he wants his partner helping him spot potential.”

Monet’s eyes widen as Theresa steps back, smirking.

MONET, mouth slightly opened, telepathically: “You work for him.”

THERESA: “Technically, I work for both of you. Now come on! Let’s go get changed. Maybe you’ll be forced to make a friend.”

Theresa walks off. Monet seems angry, but once Theresa is out of sight, her expression turns somber.

At the bar, as the bartender and a few patrons cower in fear, Logan and Storm fight Death. Unlike Laura, both X-Men are more than capable of keeping up with the Horseman, the two fighting in perfect unison, Logan blocking all of Akihiro’s strikes, even if that means using his body as a shield so that Storm can slash him with her knives and, eventually, kick him back into a table.

Akihiro laughs. Guess he can’t play around with his food too much this time. He retracts his claws and coughs the Muramasa blade up, the sword flying out of his mouth as he catches the handle in his hand. As he does this, both his and Logan’s wounds heal. Logan flinches at the sight of Death’s healing factor.

AKIHIRO: “Ready to believe me…Father?”

With Logan uncertain of what’s going on, Storm makes the next move before Death can. Faced off against his large blade with only knives, Storm moves with the grace of a dancer as she parries and dodges, seeking an opening.

AKIHIRO: “Lady Akabba would be more than happy to return your weapon if you’d only kneel before her.”

STORM: “I kneel to no one.”

Storm manages to stab Akihiro in the heart. Logan jumps back in by feinting a punch, before kicking up a barstool and smacking Akihiro across the face with it. While Aki is hurt and falls over, he is able to slash Logan across the chest in retaliation.

Logan bends over from the pain as blood gushes out. Aki snickers.

AKIHIRO: “My sword, Muramasa, is no ordinary blade. If I so will it, it can kill anything. Even your Mutation cannot save you from it.” Storm comes to Logan’s side to check on him, as it becomes clear their current strategy isn’t getting them anywhere. “You know I get Sister not being interested in me. But do you really not care?” He sneers. “I suppose you care as little about me as you did about Itsu.”

The mention of that name appears to hurt Logan more than the gaping wound in him. Storm is just confused. Who is Itsu?

AKIHIRO: “Of course he wouldn’t mention her.” Aki stabs Muramasa in the floor and leans on it. “Maybe after you hear my story, goddess, you’ll realize you’re not standing among heroes.”

Logan and Storm brace for whatever he’s about to say.

In Emma’s car, she, Scott, and Bobby sit together in the back, embarrassed over their humiliating failure. Scott is being forced to sit away from the others because he’s still getting warmed up after being put on ice, and he’s sneezing frequently; Emma loves him, but not enough to tolerate sitting next to that.

All three X-Men are confused. Bobby has no memory of what happened, all Scott saw was Iceman freezing him, and for Emma, one second she was clearly in Bobby’s mind, the next it was all fuzzy.

ICEMAN: “I’m not saying I WANT a Horseman behind this, but it’d make it a lot less embarrassing than some two-bit thief.”

Emma thinks that while they shouldn’t be assuming anything like that, they were clearly overconfident. They won’t fall prey to that trap again.

EMMA: “Which I why the next move is to make ourselves the predators.”

She wasn’t able to get a mental lock on the thief they encountered, or see into their mind, initially, but she was able to once Iceman attacked Cyclops, and that was just a powerless human. While that may scream possession, if this was someone with abilities similar to Malice, but without the restriction of needing to be accepted in, the thief could have gone straight for her.

To dig further, she’s, as gently as possible, cut his mind open with a scalpel to look for any mental residue of what was done to him. And it wasn’t much, but she got something. Just the slightest taste of the mind behind all of this. And from that, although she can’t pinpoint the exact person, she has their location Right now, they’re seemingly back home at a cheap apartment complex in Astoria.

EMMA: “No doubt yucking it up at our expense while trying to find a buyer.”

And only one person there has psychic defenses. So, that’s where they’re going now.

SCOTT, sneezing: “If they’re just poor and desperate, maybe there’s a better way to handle this than a fight. You said yourself they’ve been deliberately stealing non-critical targets, and they’re probably a Mutant.”

EMMA: “It’s about the disrespect. This thief has a bone to pick with me, and I intend to find out why, and punish them appropriately. In any case, in your condition, I wasn’t going to ask you to work anyway.”

BOBBY: “No, you save that for the unions.”

EMMA, more offended than she lets on: “Listen you.”

Bobby laughs and tells them both not to worry. Get him to the apartment, point him to whoever’s got defenses, and he’ll decide if this is a mess to be cleaned up or if there’s a bad guy to beat. Emma and Scott both conceed this is fine.

We cut to a club in Cambridge, where a loud party is raging with hundreds of attendees. Roberto is DJing, wearing exceptionally douchy sunglasses indoors, with multiple girls hanging off him.

Monet and Theresa enter, both dressed to party, but while Theresa is excited by the turnout, and ready to have some fun since her work here is done, Monet is immediately uncomfortable. She moves forward slowly and hesitantly, with small steps and her arms held close to her body, as the lights, music, and people all bother her, something her face struggles to hide.

Monet, struggling to find a place on the dance floor where she isn’t being bumped into, just flies over to a wall.

MONET, telepathically: “I am never helping you again.”

ROBERTO, telepathically: “What? Don’t like the party? Or is this about Siryn? It’s not like I planted her. She just happened to be where I needed her.”

MONET: “Do not play. Why are you messing with me?”

ROBERTO: “I’m not messing with you. But I do like playing.”

We cut to Roberto, making out with one of the girls from before.

ROBERTO: “Hate me all you want, but don’t punish the baby. Now help me find candidates. I’m very busy with a particularly promising one as is.”

Monet rolls her eyes and forces herself back into the crowd with the riff raff. Roberto meanwhile asks the girl he’s making out with for her name.

With flashback visuals shown, Akihiro tells Storm and Logan his story. As a baby, he was left on the doorstep of a kind couple, one who couldn’t have kids of their own, in a small village in Japan. Growing up, he didn’t know who his parents were, his adoptive parents were the only ones he needed, but he did curse whichever one of them was a foreigner. The clear mixed nature of his birth made him an outcast, disregarded by the adults, and tormented constantly by his peers.

AKIHIRO: “Daken, they’d call me.”

He was insulted. He was beaten. His only comfort was that his parents loved him. But he didn’t even truly have that.

AKIHIRO: “I have more weapons than just those I inherited from you, Father.” Logan and Storm gasp as they turn their claws and knives on each other, slightly cutting each other’s necks. “Pheremones. They can make you do crazy things. They make you putty in my hand. And no mental defenses can help you.”

Unfortunately, as a child, he didn’t have control over this power. And, as he overheard one night, his father had put together that he and his mother only loved him when he was around.

AKIHIRO: “I believe I handled the situation from there well. I killed my father, was banished from the village that hated me so, and when my mother chased after me to assure me she loved me, I killed her too. Not too poor emotional maturity for a nine year old.”

Logan and Storm try to open their mouths to say something, but all they can do under Akihiro’s pheremones is grit their teeth, pant, and wait.

Aki explains that he wandered for a bit after that. He’d found his claws when he killed his mother, and it didn’t take too much longer to figure out the pheremones, at least the basics, and with him being the unacceptable mongrel he was, it only made sense to use these weapons to keep killing. He took assasination work where he could find it, training on his own to better use his weapons, and at age 12, he was recruited by The Hand.

AKIHIRO: “That didn’t last too long though. After only a few months, I was “Purchased”. By a man named Romulus.”

Logan tries to scream, but he still can’t open his mouth. Akihiro laughs. Yes, they do know each other, don’t they?

AKIHIRO: “Ogun too, right? He wasn’t around all that often, but he did help Romulus forge this…soulful blade.”

Logan is able to start shaking his body just a little in rage.

Romulus…was a bastard. He never knew much about him, other than he was powerful enough that the world’s deadliest assassins feared his name, and he rarely spoke to him. Romulus spoke to HIM plenty though. Reminding him what a monster he was as he trained him day and night. Akihiro had thought he’d become strong, even among the Hand, he’d trained and worked alongside elites, but Romulus put him in his place. He beat him, not fought him, and when he got up, Romulus would beat him back down.

AKIHIRO: “An endless, vicious cycle of suffering. One I was welcome to leave at any time. But one thing drove me to stay: the truth. The truth that you, Father, had killed my mother and abandoned me.”

LOGAN: “That’s not!--”

Is all Logan is able to get out against the effects of the pheremones. Akihiro tells him to spare him; he won’t fall for his lies. Not when he has another, far wiser, source.

We cut to a spacious, two-bedroom apartment. It isn’t a great place, but it’s been refurbished, and has clearly been decorated by a kid, with big, bright colors, video game and anime merch all over the place, and a big sound system. There’s also assorted, partially-dismantled weapons and tech all over the place.

The sound of a first person shooter being played is heard as we pan across the apartment. Finally, we see the thief, an average sized, brown-haired 14 year-old, seated on the couch playing video games in an oversized Dazzler nightshirt, eating chips. Notably for comic fans, they DON’T look like anyone from the comics. They call out for “Morgan” to come back them up. They’re getting killed out here!

“You have been antagonizing a former supervillain, so you really should be prepared for that.”

“Huh?!”

Condensation on the thief’s mountain dew bottle leaps off the surface and forms into Iceman, who immediately freezes them up to their head.

ICEMAN: “Soooo, you’re a kid. I lost to a kid. Surge and Hellion are gonna love that one. How about you cut me a break and make this easy by telling me what’s going on.”

The thief’s face cycles through various expressions of fear and excitement, until they sneer.

THIEF: “Dude…I think you just broke my stuff..”

In a flash, the thief and Bobby switch places. Bobby, in his human form, is trapped in a block of ice and put in a daze. The thief meanwhile stands where Iceman was just a moment ago, now in their own ice form.

THIEF: “Oh, this is SO cool! Pun DEFINITELY intended!”

The thief hums that if Iceman is here, then Cyclops and Emma Frost are probably close by too.

THIEF: “I should go say hi.” The thief enthusiastically conjures some snowballs and pelts Bobby in the face with them. “After I have some fun.”

The thief heads out the window, thinking they should go show these powers to Morgan and let him know they’re okay, since that jerk broke their phone and headset.

THIEF: “What kinda superhero doesn’t respect someone’s personal property?”

They make an icebridge in midair, having fun riding it around like a slip and slide as they build more and more of it. They make a note to themselves that this would make a great VR game.

The fun doesn’t last too long, however, as they’re blasted out of the sky by Cyclops’ optic beams, falling and being caught by Emma, via telekinesis. They’re dragged over through the air to Emma and a wrapped up Scott, panicking that “I’m not ready yet!”.

EMMA: “No.”

Sensing that the kid is about to use their powers again, now right in front of them, Emma is able to hit their mind with a blunt force she doesn’t usually like using to stop them from using their powers.

THIEF: “Ugggh. I don’t feel so good.”

Emma tells the thief she doesn’t like hurting children, but this one clearly sees her as an enemy.

EMMA: “You have been an irritating thorn in my side for long enough, but that ends tonight. I do not care if your parent is a disgruntled former employee of mine, if you're Shaw’s method of exacting mild revenge, or if you’re just a thrillseeker who wrongfully believed I made an easy target. I just want to know who you are before I decide what consequences await you.”

The thief’s face is filled with terror, but only for a moment, before the brightest smile and widest eyes take its place.

THIEF: “I…am your biggest fan.”

SCOTT & EMMA: “HUH?!”

Back at the party, Roberto has taken to the dance floor and is showing off to the students, moving with the grace of a ballerina. Some of the kids are into it and the kind of “cool boss” they want, while others find him cringe and are just playing along.

As he gets off the dance floor, he’s approached by Theresa who asks him where that came from.

ROBERTO: “Three years of Ms. Hunter’s ballet classes paid off.”

THERESA: “Who?”

ROBERTO: “Before your time.”

The two grunt twice, puffing out their chests, make X’s with their arms and shout, “X-FORCE!”

The two laugh over their old chant.

THERESA: “Why DID Cable have us doing that? And where even is the old guy these days?”

ROBERTO: ‘Both very good questions that I do not have answers to.”

As Roberto grabs a drink, he thanks Theresa for her help tonight. Theresa tells him not to mention it. If it were anyone else, she’d feel a little bad about messing with someone like this, but also…it’s Monet.

THERESA: “What’s all this about anyway?”

Roberto just flashes a smile. Theresa, annoyed, just nods and accepts that one.

THERESA: “I’m taking your word for it that you’re still one of the good guys. Please don’t let me down.”

ROBERTO, taking her hands: “Theresa Cassaday, I promise that I am just as much a hero as ever.”

Theresa seems won over, saying she knows. Now, why doesn’t he try teaching her to dance like him?

ROBERTO: “Sure thing. But don’t blame me if you end up looking more like Sam.”

We flashback to the past for the conclusion to Akihiro’s story, where an 18 year-old Aki is sparring Romulus, on the bookfoot, but after six years of training, managing to hold his own against the ancient master. At least until Romulus runs him through with a sword and breaks his neck.

ROMULUS: “Tt. Look at you. All that passion. All that natural potential. And still…just…Daken.”

Akihiro snaps his neck back into place and demands that he not be called that. Romulus responds by questioning why he’d prefer the name given to him by parents who hated him. Daken is who he is. Daken is what he is.

ROMULUS: “But perhaps that’s why you’re still not ready to face Logan.”

Akihiro gets up, claws out, and moves in to strike Romulus. Romulus is prepared to counter, when a wave of energy crashes through the house they’re in, annhilating Romulus, while avoiding Akihiro.

Akihiro stands stunned in silence at the death of the only man he’s known for a third of his life. Through the smoke, enters Apocalypse. Aki stands ready to fight, but he’s also smart enough to still be clearly afraid of the guy who just did THAT.

AKIHIRO: “Who are you? Why did you kill my master?!”

Apocalypse says nothing as he slowly marches toward him. Aki tries using his pheremones, but they have no effect on the modified External. Eventually, Apocalypse reaches him.

APOCALYPSE: “Because, son of Wolverine, you deserve better.”

Akihiro is confused as Apocalypse puts a hand on his shoulder. Apocalypse tells him who he is, and what he seeks. He then tells him that there are more Mutants walking the Earth today than there have been in thousands of years. It should be the duty of the few elders to properly nurture and educate the strong among the youthful masses. And yet, be it pacifist fools like Charles Xavier, or thuggish brutes like Romulus, each and every one is a failure.

APOCALYPSE: “You seek strength. You require guidance. In exchange for your loyalty, I can grant you both. When we are done, you will have the power to end your father’s life. And the world will be ours.”

A nervous Akihiro tells Apocalypse he has no idea what he’s talking about, but strong as he is, Romulus was right about him. Everyone in his life has been right. Apocalypse should look elsewhere.

Apocalypse laughs. He still values the opinions of humans? Of the dead? He still stands, he still lives, he is strong. Apocalypse does not make mistakes.

APOCALYPSE: “You are not Daken. But you can be something new.”

AKIHIRO: “And what’s that?”

APOCALYPSE, grinning: “What you are the best at.”

After another moment of trepidation, Akihiro smirks and shakes Apocalypse’s hand.

In the present, Akihiro somberly laments his life. Abandoned, betrayed, sold, tortured. Only to finally be given a home. A place where he was safe, and happy, and made stronger than ever. They may not recognize him as family anymore than Logan, but in all the ways that matter, he finally had a true father. And a true sister.

Akihiro cackles, perking back up to his normal self. He just LOVES the shock and pain in Logan’s eyes right now, as if he’s even capable of guilt. Or maybe he is! Still far, far too late.

AKIHIRO: “The only thing I still want to know is why. Why did you kill my mother?”

LOGAN, his jaw free to speak: “I’m sorry.” Akihiro scoffs. “No, not for killing her. Because I can tell you wouldn’t believe me if I told you I didn’t.”

Akihiro growls and rushes to decapitate Logan with Muramasa, the blade shining, but he’s shocked as Logan catches the blade in his claws.

AKIHIRO: “What?!”

LOGAN: “Every cell in our bodies can regenerate. I’m guessing neither of the bubs who raised you taught you to do it on command. And they’re regenerating faster than the pheremones can reach them.”

Logan sends Akihiro flying with a right-hook. WIth him knocked to the floor and distracted, Storm is able to regain control of herself as well.

STORM, impressed: “When did YOU learn how to do that?”

LOGAN: “I’ll introduce you to the guy that taught me if you can put up with lots of bad jokes.”

The two don’t have any longer to talk, as one of the bar patrons runs up to them as is nearly killed by their claws and knives. The two are able to avoid him, but the bartender and all the other patrons have stood up, and are ready to try the same thing.

Akihiro, controlling them all, says this isn’t over yet.

Back in New York, a confused Emma asks the thief to elaborate.

The thief laughs nervously. They can't believe this is really happening. Just one sec!

In another flash, Bobby appears in front of Scott and Emma, the thief gone. He's disoriented and a little woozy.

A moment later, the thief comes flying out of the apartment on jet boots, landing in front of the three X-Men.

THIEF: “Okay, so, my name is Escapade. Aaand, I have looked up to you for so long. I'm a Mutant, obviously, but I'm also a thief. A pretty dang good one for a kid, I'd say. And I thought, since you used to be a supervillain, and I'm kinda a supervillain, I could impress you by stealing from you. You know, showing that I'm better than everyone you employ…and two of the coolest X-Men, apparently! Like, I totally owned them both!” Escapade cringes. “Did it work?”

Emma takes a moment to respond as she sneers.

EMMA: “Leaving aside the numerous questions we still have, while I can commend your taste, your actions reek of arrogance, desperation, and a lack of foresight. I'm afraid, young man, that I still have no choice but to–”

ESCAPADE: “Young lady.”

EMMA: “Hmm?”

ESCAPADE: “You said “young man.” My real name is Shela Sexton. I'm a girl.”

The gears turn in Emma’s mind and her eyes light up, as a grin spreads across her face.

EMMA, with a complete change in tone: “Well, I suppose I can hardly fault an ambitious young woman for being a little rash, especially one with the talent you've shown.”

BOBBY: “Is she serious right now?”

SCOTT, smiling knowingly: “Oh yeah.”

SHELA: “ohmygodEmmaFrostcalledmetalented.”

EMMA: “Very. Now, why don't we take this conversation somewhere a bit nicer so we can learn all about you and your abilities, Escapade?”

SHELA: “Yes! Yes, of course!”

BOBBY: “I don't get it. Does she hate men that much, or does she just really support women?”

SCOTT, holding back laughter: “Keep guessing.”

Emma reaches out a hand to Shela. Shela, excited but nervous, takes it, as they all get into Emma’s car.

Back at the party, Monet takes in everyone laughing and drinking and having fun, and anxiously tries to decide who she should approach - and how.

Monet turns around and finds one of the young men who’d tried getting her to sit with his friends earlier in the day. He tells her she isn’t an easy person to talk to. Not on social media, almost never going to campus events, always running back to her room after class.

GUY: “Why hide such a pretty face?”

Monet weakens and softens a little, clearly attracted,

MONET: “I…don’t.”

GUY: “Huh?”

MONET, shaking her head: “Never mind.”

The guy takes the awkwardness in stride, and asks her if she’d like to come hang out with him and his friends. They’ve heard the stories, and they want to know how many of them are true.

MONET: “If they’re tales of my successes, they’re true. If no, I assure you they’re falsehoods.”

The guy laughs loving that confidence. Monet seems to get a little more confident, as she says she’d love to join them. She’s actually working for Roberto and is helping him scout new employees - is that something they’d be interested in?

The guy remains polite, but is a little offput. They’re really just here for the drinks and to have a good time, not the job opportunities. He’s actually planning on starting his own startup next year. Get around having to work for guys like Da Costa. Monet asks him what he means, with the guy quick to list off the many crimes and scandals of Emmanuel Da Costa.

Monet raises an eyebrow, and says that while Roberto is a pompous, arrogant, disrespectful idiot with delusions of grandeur, he isn’t his father. The guy tells her she doesn’t need to defend her boss, there’s not judgement here for taking the job. These people are the same.

MONET: “These people?”

GUY: “You know what I’m talking about.”

MONET: “It sounds like you’re talking about me.”

GUY: “I didn’t mean it that–”

MONET: “I’m sorry that I don’t drink, because I would love to throw one in your face right now. I’ll just have to settle for this.”

Monet’s eyes glow red, and she makes the guy telepathically imagine he’s having a drink thrown in his face.

Monet stomps off, muttering to herself how this happens, “every time”, and approaches the bar.

MONET: “You. Do you have any apples? I need something to crunch on.”

BARTENDER, surprised: “Actually, yes. We don’t usually, but a whole bag of them was left in the kitchen and we–”

MONET, intensely: “Get me one.”

The bartender holds his hands up defensively, and walks off to the kitchen. Monet taps her foot as she sets her eyes on a group of bombshell Alpha Phi girls, sitting together and skipping their own party in favor of this one. After getting her apple and taking a bite, she braces herself, and forces herself to don an awkward smile, Monet walks up to them.

Monet, doing her best attempt at what she thinks sorority girls talk like, gives a weak, fake compliment of their near identical blonde, straight hair, and informs them that she’s been asked to help Mr. Da Costa pick out applicants, already working for him.

MONET: “Would any of you…bitches?...be interested?”

There’s an awkward pause, before the sorority girls all start laughing.

SORORITY: “We are definitely interested, but, like…who are you?”

Monet introduces herself, giving her full name, and tries to continue pitching, only to be cut off by the girls as they all start mimicking her accent, incorrectly pronouncing her last name, and trying to guess how it’s spelled.

Monet clenches her fist in frustration at this, as teeny, tiny red spikes come out of her hand. Taking a breath, and forcing herself to keep smiling, she retracts the spikes, as the girls apologize for interrupting and ask her to continue.

MONET: “Actually…I believe I’ve seen enough.”

Monet stomps off, once again, but the spikes start coming back out as frustration and stress overwhelm Monet. Seething, she superspeeds over to Roberto, who’s in the middle of teaching Theresa to dance, and shoves him to the floor. She’s done here. And with him.

Monet superspeeds off, tears in her eyes, as Roberto gets up and apologizes to Theresa; he’s going to have to cut this party short.

Back at the bar, Logan and Death fight one-on-one. Despite Akihiro weilding the Muramasa blade, and Logan already being severely injured, Logan still has the upper hand.

Meanwhile, Storm is attacked by the pheromone-controlled bartender and patrons, all of whom chant, “Kill Me”, with Ororo forced to fight defensively to avoid hurting, or killing, any of them.

Akihiro gives a brief monologue, echoing Apocalypse’s words to him, about who the real Mutants trying to save the world are. Because it isn’t the X-Men. Who are they? The weak, the compromising, the unfaithful, the unholy, the manipulated children, and those who stand atop humanity’s own institutions, infected by their corruption. Only Lady Akabba understands what is best for their people!

STORM, knocking out a man as painlessly as she can: “I said I do not kneel. Did I stutter?”

Logan tells Akihiro that he isn’t going to explain himself; just from what Aki’s said, he can see, he can feel, how poisoned his mind has been.

LOGAN: “What I can do is say I’m sorry for letting this happen. And promise you I’ll get you out of this.”

Logan talking down to him only pushes Akihiro over the edge, screaming and swinging at him wildly. Storm, in the process of dodging broken beer bottles, bar stools, and a pool cue, wants to jump in, but Logan tells her there’s no need.

AKIHIRO, attacking: “No need? No need?! How dare you! I am Death! Hand elite! Apprentice of Romulus! Horseman of Apocalypse!”

Logan catches Akihiro’s sword in his hand, even as it slices it wide open.

LOGAN, to a shocked Death: “Yeah, I’ve been trained by some of those guys too.” Logan hits Akihiro across the face with a right hook, sending him flying back into a wall. He slumps over on the floor. “And I’m a lot older than you.”

The brainwashed men all fall over unconscious, as Storm catches her breath and approaches Logan.

STORM: “Not a terrible workout. How much of what he said was true?”

LOGAN: “Enough. He is mine.”

Akihiro pants, struggling to pick himself back up.

AKIHIRO: “No…not…YOURS!”

Akihiro’s eyes glow and, in an instant, Logan is reduced to a pile of dust. Storm freaks out, launching her knives at Death, but he knocks them aside with his sword.

AKIHIRO, with venom: “Don’t worry. He’s still alive. He can heal from that. I have.” He points Muramasa at Storm. “When he wakes up, tell him I’ll be waiting for a rematch.”

Storm cannot do anything but glare as Akihiro runs off, and the dust slowly starts clumping together.

We cut to a fancy restaurant, where Emma, Scott, Bobby, and Shela are all seated, dressed appropriately. Shela bounces in her seat with excitement, fawning over the dress Emma got for her.

SHELA, nervously shrinking as she notices people looking at her: “I think people are staring.”

EMMA: “Darling, you’re with me; of course they’re staring.”

Shela giggles.

The teachers prompt Shela to tell them her story while they look over the menu, which Shela agrees to do. Shela explains how she was a pretty normal kid growing up, and then when she was 5, she turned out to be a Mutant. It took her a few years to understand what her powers actually were though. She can “Swap Circumstances” with people. Location, powers, knowledge, skills, you name it. She even assumes your “position” in the world, while whoever she swapped with is left in a daze, powerless. Plus, as a side effect from how much she’s used the power, her mind’s pretty cluttered, so most telepaths can’t really touch her.

BOBBY: “That’s…insane.”

SCOTT: “Says the man who can freeze time.”

BOBBY: “You need to stop being quippy right now because it’s really starting to bug me.”

Emma is enthused by the potential of Shela’s abilities, and questions why she bothers with all the technology - and where she obtained it. Shela scratches the back of her head and admits her power has a lot of restrictions. Can’t swap with more than two people at once, there’s a limit on each swap, she has to be within pretty close range to swap with someone,

SHELA: “Plus, I wouldn’t call myself an expert with it. Taken a lot of practice to get as good as I am. Soooo, I use the villain tech I steal. Mutants aren’t the only game in town, and there are tons of buyers for this stuff. It’s win-win.”

Cyclops can’t say he approves of her lifestyle, but he isn’t about to judge considering the one big, remaining question: Who IS she?

Shela sighs. When she came out as a Mutant, her parents were totally cool with it. They’re actually big fans of Dazzler. Life went on. Then when she was 12, she realized she was Shela. Her parents didn’t accept that. Emma and Bobby’s faces fall, all too familiar with this tale. Shela goes on to say that, after she was kicked out of her house, she was on the street for a bit until she was found by an awesome woman named Jessie who got her into a support group she ran for other trans Mutant kids - ones with nowhere to go. She learned a lot about herself there, met her best bud Morgan, and, yeah, even learned a little about the criminal scene some of them were a part of to survive, and getting into being a thief from there. And thanks to being a thief, she’s been able to cut a decent little life for herself, help provide for everyone else in the group, and, you know, start really becoming herself.

SHELA, to Emma: “It’s where I learned all about you. When I decided I wanted to be just like you. Obviously still working on that. That’s why I wanted to impress you, but didn’t want to reveal myself just yet. Not till I was more me ”

Scott is happy for the kid, while Emma remains intrigued and impressed, praising Shela for what she’s been able to accomplish despite her circumstances, and telling her she thinks she’s moving along toward her goals and being herself just fine. Iceman is confused though. Why are there a bunch of homeless Mutant kids? The school is open to all.

SHELA, sipping a shirley temple: “The Xavier Institute wasn’t even publicly for Mutants until four years ago. And even when it was…for most of us, being Mutants wasn’t the problem. There isn’t a lot of faith that the X-Men are any better. Jessie REALLY hates you guys.”

While Bobby is visibly struck by this, Scott promises Shela that the Jean Grey School is, genuinely, welcome to all Mutants. They have a diverse student body, and even some girls like her.

CYCLOPS: “Kinda.”

Shela shakes her head. That’s great and all, but just look at who the X-Men are. None of them could ever really understand them.

Emma can barely contain her laughter as she lights Shela’s eyes up blue.

SHELA: “HUH?!!!”

SCOTT: “Aaaaand now, people really are staring.”

SHELA: “You’re…but I thought…how…huh?!”

BOBBY: “What’s going on?”

Emma rolls her eyes and lights Bobby’s eyes up too.

BEAT.

BOBBY: “Get the Hell out.”

Emma tells Shela that she can more than understand her. If her friends don’t wish to come to the school, that’s their choice, but they should know that they will be looked after and cared for if they do.

EMMA: “The world is scary and hard and full of hate.” Scott puts an arm around her. “But you won’t find those who love and accept you unless you’re willing to take risks.”

Bobby seems to be just as attentive to Emma’s words as Shela.

Emma has an offer for Escapade. Come enroll in the school and get caught up on her studies, which she’s sure she’s horribly behind on, and finish the current semester with them. By next year, her current squad will all be ready to be X-Men; she will then be able to give Escapade her full attention.

SHELA, in awe: “I think I’m dreaming.” She slaps herself with both hands. “No. No I’m not.”

EMMA: “You’ve done well for your friends, Escapade, but now I offer you a chance to fight for your people - all of your people.”

Shela looks at each of the kind X-Men, before enthusiastically cheering “YES!”

Scott and Emma cheer as well, happy to have her, as the waiter comes by. Emma tells him to bring the secret specials; they’re celebrating.

Shela, mouth moving as a mile a minute, talks about how excited and insane this all is, Scott and Emma amused, as Bobby looks away in contemplation.

Monet sits alone in her dorm room, curled up in a ball on her bed, not having changed out of her club outfit. She’s pouting and distressed, watching children’s cartoons (it’s not shown explicitly for legal reasons, but she’s clearly watching Bluey).

There’s a knock on the door. Monet shouts at Thesea to give her some privacy, but…

ROBERTO: “Sorry. Not Terry. May I please come in?”

MONET: “Absolutely not.”

ROBERTO: “I brought apples. Well, I brought them back from the bar. I knew they’re your favorite so I made sure they were stocked.”

Monet is visibly surprised by the gesture, and softly tells Beto to make whatever he has to say quick. Beto enters, juggling three apples, before tossing them all over to M, who sits up and effortlessly catches them.

Beto wanted to come check on her and see what happen at the party. Monet tells him it’s none of his business, but Beto counters that since she just quit and he’ll go bankrupt and likely get punched in the face by Kitty without her, it very much is his business.

ROBERTO: “And even if it wasn’t, you can’t stop me from worrying.”

Monet sighs. It was nothing. She just didn’t like the way he was toying with her. And then… She trails off, grumbling, before continuing.

MONET: “Genetically, I am perfection. But people are more than genetics.”

Socially, she’s never been a butterfly. Always being standoffish and turning people away with her attitude for one, but also generally struggling when isn’t just putting on her polite manners for show. Back when she was in school, Beast thought she could be Autistic, but, for personal reasons, she never saw a specialist about it.

Beto admits he had no idea. He wouldn’t have tossed her into the position if he’d known. He’d just thought she struggled with making friends and wanted to help her. That’s why he pushed Theresa toward trying to spend time with her, and why he did ALL of this tonight as a mingling opportunity she could control.

BETO: “I admit…I can get a little ahead of myself with my plans.”

MONET: “You…did this all for me?”

Beto sits down and explains like its obvious. Monet could have graduated from college early and immediately started her own amazingly successful business, while also being instantly welcomed onto the X-Men, because they’d be fools to say no, but she chose to put her faith in him. And that means a lot.

Monet is stunned, and actually smiles - but doesn’t thank him. She continues to say that she isn’t the only problem. It’s everyone else.

MONET: “I grew up largely isolated. On my own or with my family. Then with Generation X, I had Chamber, Husk, Skin, the idiot, and…Everett. But now I’m in the real world. Not in a familial or X-shaped bubble.”

SUNSPOT: “And you’re not a fan?”

MONET: “And there are so few like me.”

This isn’t even about she and Theresa being the only Mutants on campus. It’s about the girls of her class here being vapid idiots, and American racial politics putting her in a position where the people who look like her think she’s evil and should lose everything she has just because she was born rich. By race or by class, she’s alone. By species too, really. There’s a reason she left the superhero life behind. Maybe she overreacted a little earlier, but the onus shouldn’t be on her to adapt to them.

MONET: “I’m sure this doesn’t make any sense to you. You’re in the same position, but you have no difficulty making everyone love you.”

Roberto laughs. She should know what they say about assuming.

ROBERTO: “It’s only a good idea if you’re a precog.”

Monet giggles.

Beto tells her how, before all of this, he was a football player in Brazil. Naturally, a very talented one. Largely surrounded by the palest teammates and competitors you can imagine, but he never thought that mattered. Until one day it did. Things got ugly. He got his powers, becoming slightly more awesome than he already was.

BETO, obviously lying: “And that was the end of that miserable day. I joined the school shortly after.”

Still, it didn’t matter if it was Brazil or America, the types of people he was surrounded by were largely the same. Not the biggest deal, he loves his family. But he also never bothered with an environment like this. And he can understand how isolating it may be.

The sadness underneath Roberto’s smile is evident, but M is clueless as to what to say. So, she changes things up a little.

MONET: “I don’t need this place. It doesn’t deserve me. Allow me to move to France and control our day to day operations. You know I will be more effective than the drones you’ve been using.”

BETO, smirking: “One condition.” Monet looks at him, waiting. “You agree to lunch every weekend. So you aren’t all alone.”

Monet giggles again. And she forcefully grips Beto’s hands.

MONET: “It’s a date.”

Beto grins back at her, as the two lean in and kiss each other. The two continue kissing as Monet rolls onto her back, allowing Roberto to get on top of her, Beto already moving to take his suit jacket off.

MONET: “Wait.” Beto instantly stops. “I’ve never done this before. Go slow.”

BETO, smiling at peace, nods: “As you wish.”

We pan away as the two begin to make love.

In Lady Akabba’s throneroom, Exodus and Malice laugh at a pissed Akihiro. He barks back at them to knock it off.

MALICE: “All that grumbling about how much you hate Daddy, and you couldn’t even kill him.”

EXODUS: “This is what we get for working with a Beta.”

AKIHIRO, getting up close in Exodus’ face: “Beta or Omega, I wouldn’t need any powers to kill you.”

EXODUS: “Of course you wouldn’t. That’s what you have your big, long sword for, isn’t it?”

AKIHIRO: “Exactly, and unlike some people, I’m not afraid to use mine.”

With a tilt of her head, Malice sends Akihiro flying back against a wall.

MALICE, standing confident with Exodus: “You’ve been War’s pet since Lord Apocalypse fell. Do you think she’ll appreciate your efforts?” EXODUS: “Or will that heartless witch put her little Daken down?”

The two snicker over the idea of Lady Akabba killing Akihiro. Death gets even more pissed, shaking with rage and prepared to attack, when a flash of pink light engulfs the room.

Accompanied by a bowing Lila Cheyney, Lady Akkaba appears from the light. Sofia didn’t have time to change before this, so she enters her evil lair dressed in a cropped sweater and jeans, still attempting to appear in control through her posture and expressions, regardless. If nothing else, Famine and Pestillence do silence themselves.

SOFIA: “Leave us.”

Exodus and Malice are fine with this order, smirking at Akihiro on their way over to Lila, who teleports the three of them away, leaving only Sofia and Aki.

Akihiro kneels, but, as Sofia turns blue, she immediately tells him to get up; there’s no need for airs right now.

AKIHIRO, smirking: “I haven’t seen you dressed like that in a long time, my lady. It’s cute.”

SOFIA, smiling: “You never…how long were you stalking me before we spoke?”

Death cackles, with Sofia giggling and shaking her head along.

SOFIA: “I see. Now…what happened?”

Akihiro, ashamed, gives the honest truth. He challenged his father and Storm, and, despite his strength, his multiple weapons, and the Muramasa blade, he was outclassed, and only escaped with some semblance of victory through the power of Death - something his father will recover from.

AKIHIRO: “You trusted me to eliminate those who Lord Apocalypse feared most. And I failed.” He holds out the Muramasa blade. “If you wish to claim it, my life is yours.”

Sofia glares at Akihiro, Akihiro standing stalwart and brave in the face of potential death. Until Sofia laughs.

SOFIA: “Don’t be so over-dramatic.”

Akihiro is confused as Sofia saunters over to her throne. Is it an annoying set-up back that he failed? Yes. Bur she hardly expected him to succeed on his own. There is a REASON Apocalypse feared his father and Storm. Even with one’s relatively minimal strength, and the other not even needing her weapon to be strong, they, more than anyone else, always found a way to win.

SOFIA, sitting down and crossing her legs: “I allowed you to attempt this because it is personal to you. Because Logan deserves to pay for what he has done. I never expected you to win.”

Akihiro takes the ego blow, but nods along. He points out that maybe Selene had a point about her being soft; Lord Apocalypse would have certainly killed him for this.

Sofia narrows her eyes, and blows herself back over to Akihiro on the winds.

SOFIA: “Do you really believe that?”

AKIHIRO: “Of course. Failure is the greatest sign of weakness.”

SOFIA: “That is true. But it is equally true that Apocalypse loves his family. That is what this is all about.”

AKIHIRO: “I’m not–”

SOFIA: “Hush. Exodus and Malice are mere servants. Ones we will eventually do away with. I am Apocalypse’s heir, but you are also his child. The only difference between us is that my biological predecessors were homo-sapiens. Your father is a Mutant, a strong one, and, despicable as he is, that means something to Apocalypse. But we are both his children. Father loves us both.”

Akihiro cheers up and thanks his lady. He’s honored by her words. He then points out that if she sees him as a brother, then what does that make her relationship with Laura.

SOFIA, amused: “Necessary.”

As Sofia blows her lightning-bolt shaped sword off the wall and into her hand, she tells Akihiro that he will be the king of the new world. And he will earn that role.

SOFIA: “You will fight your father again. And you will kill him.” She points her sword at his neck. “When I was at my weakest, it was you who found me. You who brought me here. You who guided me to my inner strength. Now, I shall pay it back. I will make you as strong as you need to be.”

Akihiro nods with excitement, readying Muramasa.

AKIHIRO: “Thank you, my lady. I am ready.” Dramatic music swells. “But perhaps you should consider getting changed first.”

Sofia is stunted for a second, looking over her outfit. The two laugh together.

Back at Shela’s apartment building, Escapade is scurrying around the place packing, excitedly chattering on a new phone to Morgan about how she’s going to live with the X-Men. “No, not the mean ones!”

Outside in the hallway, Scott, Emma, and Bobby wait for her, all happy with how this has worked out. Their “thief problem” was never really a problem, they’ve got a promising new student, and they get to give a kid who desperately needs a real one a home. Emma adds that she’ll be looking into the rest of this support group Shela belongs to. They obviously won’t make them come to the school, but she and Shela can ideally at least allieve them of their fears.

Scott cracks a joke about the idea of Emma making children less scared, which Emma just nudges him for, but Bobby has a stronger reaction to know. He wants to know what’s up with Scott that’s got him so smiley and jokey lately. Their situation hasn’t gotten better, hell, it’s only gotten progressively worse, so why now is he like this? Where’s the drill sergeant he grew up with?

Scott shrugs and tells him he didn’t even realize he was acting differently, but he’s definitely been feeling better. And not just because he sleeps every night next to the most gorgeous woman in the world. Yes, things haven’t been going the X-Men or Mutantkind’s way. But that’s because, for most of that time, he was doing things the Professor’s way. Now? He’s finally found himself. And regardless of anything else, that makes him the happiest he’s ever been. And it makes him confident about the future.

Bobby processes this, happy for him, and guessing that makes sense.

BOBBY: “Okay. I got it.” Bobby smiles at the two. “I’m leaving the X-Men.”

Scott and Emma are both shocked, with Emma demanding an explanation. Bobby reminds her what he’s been thinking about. About his identity. About both parts of his identity. Their school for Mutants is one where those who are different even among the other kids still need their own place to feel safe. It’s one Shela and her friends never felt safe coming to. And he gets it. He’s met Mutants with problems with people like them…people like himself.

EMMA: “And you believe you will make the school safer for them by leaving?”

BOBBY: “No, I’m leaving that to you guys. I’m leaving because I want to close that gap. So long as I’m with the X-Men, I’m a Mutant first, to some, a Mutant only. You two keep on focusing on keeping everyone alive; I’m going to focus on bringing us all together.”

Scott and Emma do agree that that’s sweet, and well-meaning, but couldn’t he just ask Northstar to do this? The X-Men don’t want to lose one of their biggest guns. Bobby points out that it’s not like he’s cutting off contact. If they need him, he’ll be there. They *better* call him when they find the Horseman. Plus, they have Magneto, they already decided they were going to give Wind Dancer her spot back to keep a closer eye on her, and he’s sure Wolverine will want back in to protect her. They’ll be fine.

Emma begrudgingly accepts this resignation, commending him for striking out on his own. Bobby thanks her for this last year. He wouldn’t have found himself if she hadn’t dragged him back onto the X-Men.

SCOTT, shaking Bobby’s hand: “I’m proud of you, twerp.”

BOBBY: “One of the five strongest Mutants alive and about to be a solo hero, and I’m still a twerp to you?”

SCOTT: “Always will be.”

We close as we cut to the school, where Shela, now in her signature yellow and blue Escapade costume, eagerly walks down the halls of the Jean Grey School, dragging her luggage behind her. Opening a door, she says hello to Martha and Ernst.

SHELA, couldn’t be happier: “HI! I’m Escapade! And I’m your new roommate!”

-------------------------------------------------------------------------

CAST CHANGE:

ICEMAN AKA BOBBY DRAKE IS NO LONGER PART OF THE MAIN CAST.

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deadricsupremacy · 3 years

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new to tumblr 2

Introduction!

This is my second post about my introduction, the first one is all about Harry Potter. Now it’s the Marvel things you might want to know about me.

My favorite Avenger is Ant-Man

My favorite villain is Ghost

My favorite movies are: Ant-Man, Ant-Man and the Wasp, Thor: Ragnarok, Guardians of the Galaxy, GOTG Vol. 2 and 3, Black Panther, and Avengers: Endgame

All of my favorite characters: Scott Lang, Cassandra or Cassie Lang aka Peanut, Hope Pym queen, MADAM Pepper Potts, Natasha Romanoff or Natalia Alianovna Romanova such a poser, Yelena Belova muah, MISS Maria Hill, marry me Carol Danvers, Wanda Maximoff gorge, Gamora so hot, Nebula <3, Mantis tho, Xu Xialing such a badass, Katy Chen aka miss Chen Ruiwen, Kate Bishop so cute, Michelle Jones duh, Gwen Stacy ugh, Betty Brant, mommy Felicia Hardy, Cindy Moon another BEAUTIFUL spiderman’s ladyy, Valkyrie sheesh, THE SMARTEST Shuri, Okoye another badass, Nakia too, we don’t wanna forget about Thena, the powerful Sersi, My ghorl Ajak, the fastest Makkari, ALMOST FORGOT Jean Grey, another powerful Ororo Munroe, amazing Raven Darkhölme, my lovely Groot, and Loki Laufeyson or Odinson whatever. I just realized, these are all WOMEN with a hint of men

Favorite team? The Revengers obvi, but seriously the Rev— Avengers :))

My favorite Spider-Man is Andrew Garfield’s

But my favorite Peter Parker is Tom Holland’s

Tobey Maguire’s Spiderman is elite though, he got to keep his two love interests, Peter 1 and 3 could never lol

My favorite Eternal is Thena, such a queen wait no— a goddess

Favorite Revenger: Thor Odinson, he sorta carried with his jonathan-less I meant Mjolnir-less lightning thunder powers

Favorite Guardian of the Galaxy: Groot duh, Drax could work if only I could see him

Favorite Avenger in the Original 6: Iron Man in the MCU, Black Widow for the rest

Favorite possible next-gen Avenger: Spider-Man

Favorite mutant: Magneto and/or Storm

Favorite spiderling: Spider-Man Earth-120703

Favorite in the Fantastic Four: Human Torch, both cast be Captain America and Erik Killmonger lmao

Favorite MCU actor: Robert Downey Jr. aka RDJ no hesitations

If I were to have the ability of any marvel character (only one), I would either choose The One Above All because it’s a one ABOVE ALL, Doctor Strange because time ya know, or simply just Hawkeye ‘cause dude got aimbot and survived a war against aliens with a bow and some arrows (idc if it’s explosive), maybe Black Widow too ‘cause she’s Black Widow

I will choose the Time Stone out of all the six Infinity Stones if I have the chance to get one.

If I were given a chance to acquire one weapon out of all the weapons in Marvel, I will either choose the Infinity Gauntlet (with complete ∞ stones) or Spider-Man’s Nanotech suit by Tony Stark

I would like to be Pepper Potts, idk why

I made a fanfic with a Filipino OC named Gemma Gamata, she’s a spiderling and her alter ego is named Gamba

I want the Quinjet for myself

I’m crying

Don’t mind the songs ;) anyways- these are my account username from different platforms: deadricsupremacy

#things about me #marvel #ant man #Spotify #marvel fangirl

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kurtty-drabbles · 4 years

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Pirate au Redone (Part 4)

N/A: I think I´ll have to make a bonus part of this au later. This was a challenge to do and I hope I got it right.

@djinmer4 @dannybagpipesarecalling @bamfoftheundead @everykurt @muninandhugin

The ship has the name " Sesame" in big letter and font very eye-appealing and one lonely woman is watching the sky- seeing the birds flying by near the ship/yacht completely oblivious to the inner turmoil she carries in regards her new life- and the contemplation only stops when the Captain of the ship sits next to her offering her a drink-nothing alcoholic as she promised with a mischievous smile and a wink- and replies. "How life is treating so far, Kwannon?" and the Japanese woman has to pound this question for a minute or two.

"Captain Pryde" she humors the other woman even if she knows that pirates, well, real pirates, don´t have a yacht or aren´t so heroic as she´s lead to believe. "I have issues with Krakoa but I´m also ...thankfully for that abomination...look" she gestures her own hands and Captain Pryde follows the motion with her eyes calmly. "I´ve my body back...I´m not dead nor in some white woman´s body. I´m me again and ...this makes me think..." she trails off and Kitty Pryde encourages her to speak freely.

"I was born with nothing, I die with nothing and now I don´t even have the ''nothing'' anymore...Kitty, does God truly exist, or is this all a cosmic joke for him or her?" Kwannon question plug´s Kitty heart and she can remember a certain mutant who aside from loving piracy (among other things) and whose faith was something Kitty and him could talk freely-even through both have different religions it was also covered with a deeper respect for each other- and Kitty only answeres "I believe there is a God or even Gods...but, trying to understand them is a null point"

Kwannon nods but doesn´t seem to be a topic well- answered for her, yet, she´s gracious enough to change the topic. " You think we can trust her...of all people?" and Kitty narrow her eyes.

"Are you going to call her the pretender?"

"No...I´m just unsure of what to feel about her"

______________________________________________________________________________________________

Getting the title of the sorceress supreme from Dr. Strange is not something that will give any dark pleasure- Dr. Strange was a friend, if nothing else, and while his taste for women can be questionable at best, there´s no real pleasure in getting his tittle now- and Wanda Maximoff donning herself with the famous crimson cape is in agreement with its new master.

Tommy and Billy are working with her-Billy return from the space to learn his "twin" not only is working in a magic school but has some small traces of magic, and Billy, only respond by hugging his twin until the other threats to curse him for all eternity- and her magic school is now a real vision(sometimes, Wanda chuckles at this word. Sometimes, Wanda cries) with demons kids from Limbo and other parts of the globe or planes wanting safe heaven to learn magic.

The X-men used to be like that...or am I wrong?

The Sesame´s flag is in view and Wanda shakes her nostalgia away ("let the past in the past, Wanda") and is there watching as Captain Pryde is present and the one who is making an effort to go talk with Wanda-the rest of the crew looks unsure, she de-powered them not too long ago and not everyone is forgiving nor forgiving means friendship- and the two woman are now facing each other.

"You really are here..." Wanda´s tone is laced with surprise as she watches the yacht on the port and back to the captain. "Afraid of me?" she asked still impressed.

"I´m really here...Am I afraid of you? No, not really Wanda...Yet, I can´t ignore M day, I´d not blame you...in the full extension the others do...you were out of your mind and others try to take advantage...still, I won´t call you the pretender or any shit like that" Kitty responds with honest and while she´s never one to use swear words- and is something Terry Pryde installed on her since a young age- she feels this is an appropriate moment to use it.

Wanda only nods at her words. It is much better than she was expecting or hoping for. "Do you really want to do this? Krakoa isn´t supposed to be a paradise to all mutants?"

"The paradise is more for horror island than anything else...and while I think Utopia is still a pretentious name...is better than a cult on an alive island...Can you help us, Scarlet Witch?" Kitty asked sincerely now. Nothing is bounding Scarlet Witch to do this task.

Wanda closes her eyes and opens with now crimson. "I´m Scarlet Witch for a reason...and I´m sorry...for what the Avengers did"

"Apologies from them mean next to nothing"

___________________________________________________________________________________________

Kurt Wagner noticed the absence of Logan, Scott, Jean, and even Ororo and is surrounded by people who in the past-and, not a too long past- were his enemies. Looking at Apocalypse gazing at him with wraith in his eyes mixed with envy does make his stomach rumble. Prof X is speaking and to be frankly, Kurt is not interested in listening any more.

"This is a cult!" Kurt shouts ignoring Raven´s look- the woman may have given birth to him, but, she´s far from being a mother in any sense- and looks in disgust to the villains on the quiet council. "There´s only villains here. What type of paradise is this?"

And Prof X put an uncanny smile on his face-still wearing that helmet and Magneto is close by. As always- as he speaks in a leery way. "And that wouldn´t make you a villain as well? I know...I know what you did in some other universes. Nate may have used you as an avatar to live his wet dream, but, in other realities, you make you with a woman in front of your dead daughter´s cold corpse" and show the image to Kurt who denies this as being a trick.

"I´m not a monster. I´m not like this. I´m Kurt Wagner...and I refuse to be on this island" and tries to attack Prof X and is only meet with vines wrapped around his waist.

"Do you miss Kitty Pryde that much or are you just lonely?" Prof X sounds different now. "Because...I never thought you´re worth her time" and his golden eyes watch as each member on the clan is nothing more but vines. And Krakoa has made her decision to reject Kurt.

Sesame managed to fish Kurt Wagner with a bit help of luck- Kurt opens his golden eyes to see Kitty Pryde staring at him with a myriad of expressions. Concern is one of them- and Kurt breaks down crying as Kitty only hugs him.

_________________________________________________________________________________________

Doug Ramsey is not one to think of himself as a James Bond type of spy or archetype, yet, Captain Britain aka Betsy counts on him and Doug wants to do something, anything to help his fellow mutants. Doug uses his power unashamed and telepathically calls Betsy.

"We have to take as many mutants we can..." his eyes are watching the scene incredulous. "That story of Dr. Moira being a mutant? Well...is fake as much everything else in this island" and the call ends with Doug looking at the clones of every single X-men and the versions of Dr. Moira...It has the words written "the last clone" and it sends a shiver to his spine as the clone opens her eyes and speaks one line.

"I´m a mutant, just like you" and the others continue to do so.

__________________________________________________________________________________________

Queen Lilandra is looking at the New Mutants with a stoic expression enrobing her face and body language as well- The X-men aren´t enemies, per se, but aren´t allies and Queen Lilandra has a daughter she wants to prevent the X-men to ever meet- and Karma is the one to break the silence again.

"Where is Pheonix?"

"What do you mean? Pheonix has never left Earth...."

___________________________________________________________________________________________

Captain Britan and the Neo Excalibur are working to smuggle as many mutants they can from Krakoa- Doug can only calm the island for so long as he repeats his words to Neo Excalibur-and Rogue and Remy are running from the time. "Are they the real thing or ..." Rogue will later wonder if she jinxed this rescue mission as a good part of the mutants rescued...turned into green goo.

And Betsy takes a whiff in the air and screams. "Fire!" and Neo Excalibur runs away in their ship as Rogue can swear the shape of the fire is similar to...

No...it can´t be...

_________________________________________________________________________________________________

Madeline Pryor concludes her tale many days ago, yet, still feels as if is lingering on Scott and Jean´s mind and Jean is the one not taking the news well-the resistance against Krakoa is ever surprised to see Jean and Madeline in a semi civil way- as the New Mutants confirm Madeline´s tale and everything else.

"So...this is all because I´m a bad mother?" Jean asked almost laughing -not a joyful one, rather one devoid of any positive emotion- and Madeline is not taking pity on Jean.

"Is a way to see things...Look, I´m not the greatest example either...Nate became a monster" Madeline´s expression softened a little. She can feel sorry for Meggan if nothing else-she, among all the members of the resistance, can understand how cruel truly is when someone takes your ability to do anything for their own gain- and she continues not bothering to look at Jean. "You thought Nate as your own and ignored your own daughter...yet, Scott is the only one who seems to still remember her"

Jean says nothing as she watches Scott and Kitty talk -whatever is about Utopia or how to deal with Krakoa is not important right now- and she wonders why she never bothers to check on Rachel Grey.

Thanks to Scarlet Witch, Utopia is back and unlike Krakoa there´s a chance of organic change into a real country-Emma Frost is taking diplomacy like a fish to the water and all the surviving mutants have no more complaints in regards Scarlet Witch, at least, it appears so- and Captain Pryde looks at Nightcrawler who looks still befuddled by everything, yet, refuses to leave Kitty behind.

If Pheonix wants a fight...she´ll get one...but if Rachel wants revenge...can I give this to her?

#Pirate au redone au #kitty pryde #madeline pryor #Jean Grey #wanda maximoff #doug ramsey #Kurt Wanger #Kurtty yet #Scott Summers #I thought in the NEO scene for Moira #Which means the real Moira is dead #Sorry but is kinder than canon was to her #Rogue #Betsy Braddock #Utopia is back and is still a pretentious name #The Pheonix

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multiverseofmiracleshq · 5 years

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Upon learning that they would be able to make a move to save their captured teammates and strike out against the Phoenix Five, the remaining Avengers gathered together to debrief and strategize. They were joined by a few new mutant allies and a powerful but familiar face.

THIS IS THE OFFICIAL COMPLETE CHAT LOG COVERAGE OF THE IC

SAM WILSON: Things were rough. From the beginning there had been an expectation that this was going to be a difficult right, but this wasn’t just difficult. This was the impossible fight that they somehow had to make possible. Everyone in the debriefing room looked beaten and torn like they had seen better days – and they had. But at least they were alive at all. That was more than a lot of their friends could say. There were dents in his shield and a chunk missing from his wings but Sam Wilson was glad to stand before his remaining team at all. “I know it’s bad out there,” he cleared his throat. “More than half our team is gone. But we can’t quit now. We had some information piled on our current status. I know some of you are missin’ loved ones, but we need you to hold out to the end so we can get through everything. As it stands: the Asgardians have no leader. Odinson was taken hostage by Emma Frost and we lost Valkyrie on the moon to Wither. She’s in the med bay along with all of the other infected patients. Don’t touch them for any reason or you’ll get infected too. Prince Ahura is now King of the Inhumans after Namor killed Crystal. Other casualties include Lana Baumgartner and Nathan Summers at the hands of Magneto. Billy Kaplan was wounded by Magik but we managed to retrieve him from Antartica. Wolverine managed to survive a fight with the Phoenix Cyclops as well, but most of our fights against their hosts haven’t gone well. Confirmed hostages include Kate Bishop, Gwen Stacy, Scott Lang, Jessica Drew, Janet Van Dyne, Doctor Stephen Strange and Rikki Barnes among others. Susan Storm was last seen in Latveria but we’ve lost all communication since. We’ve also had some wins though. We evacuated the Hellfire Academy, Madripoor, Subterranea, Tymyr Peninsula and Wundagore Mountain. Our goal was never to take hostages but currently have the younger Scott Summers and Sebastian Shaw in custody. To those of you who have won your fights, congratulations. Our infirmary has filled up faster than we have room to accomodate. I know it’s a lot, but we don’t have a choice in all of this. Which brings me to my next point,” Sam sucked in a lungful of breath. “We have to bring more protection to Wanda and Jean if we’re going to beat the Phoenix. So far we’ve kept their location a secret but we’re running out of options. Carol and I have been talking and we trust you all enough to tell you that they’ve been in Citrusville, Florida. It’s the Nexus of all realities and we hope that’s enough to amplify their powers. Both Jeans and Wanda have been instructed not to leave but that clearly was not obeyed as last night the elder Jean Grey left Florida for Krakoa and hasn’t been seen since. We’re assuming her husband, Scott, has her so that’s one less option for solving this. Anyone have any suggestions?”

ERIK: “Jean and Wanda are not left defenseless.” Erik spoke up after Sam had finished. He had just been outed to the group as a murderer– which was completely true– but he steered clear of that topic for the moment. “The elder Jean trusted me with their safety, but I had not anticipated her departure.”

AHURA: Ahura sat at the table, arm in a brace from a sprain he received from his fight with Sebastian Shaw, who was currently held in his custody. He had his father and fallen king on one side and his cousin’s lead guard on his left. He did his best not to hold judgement on Dante for what happened to his cousin. “I understand stand that we’ve been trying to keep this as isolated and small scale as possible but I think we’ve all learned that’s not an option.” The new king spoke up. He was beginning to grow tired of Magneto and how everything appeared to revolve around Jean Grey to him, therefore he made it the center of everyone’s attention. “This is a war so let’s treat it like one. I have two armies currently at my disposal along with the most advanced inhuman technology, and I assure you both are eager to avenge their queen and those who died during the attack on Atillan. I’m sure the proud warriors of New Asgard feel the same and just seek a figure to lead them. What I’m saying is that it’s time for drastic measures and full scale offenses less we end up like the other half of our comrades.”

RIRI: “We were trying to do something.” It was the first time that Riri had left her room in over a week. She worked better alone and time kept slipping by. “Originally it was the create a vacuum to suck the Phoenix from its hosts. Still the plan, but we’re also trying to triangulate the locations of those who are missing. The mutants have to be holding them somewhere. Between all your murdering you didn’t happen to hear anything useful did you, Magneto?”

ERIK: “Not so much.” Erik winced, but his expressions remained steady. “There was not much chance of rumors reaching me since I was alone on Genosha. I was brought to Jean and Wanda and that’s the extent of my knowledge.”

LOGAN: “I’ll go after Jean.” Finally Logan spoke up. “She understands the Phoenix better than anyone. We need her.” And he needed to make sure she was okay.

CAROL: Carol was sitting near Sam, though she wasn’t participating as much as she should have been. Instead, she was slouched in her chair, picking at her lips, lost in thought. She’d been dealing with the guilt of allowing the Phoenix to possess the five mutants — she’d been trying to be pacifist instead of putting an end to it then and there, like she should have. Like she would have. But Carol had been trying to fill the shoes of Steve Rogers, and that meant going in with a steady head. “We screwed up.” She finally spoke, offering what input she thought was necessary, despite the leading conversation. “I hope you all understand that we have no friends on the other side right now.” She glanced at Erik, but let it pass. “If you’ve learned anything, it’s that they will stop at nothing to achieve their goals. That includes injuring and killing us. If you haven’t put your war paint on already, it’s time to start now.”

SAM WILSON: “No offense, buddy, but if she didn’t come back I’m not likin’ your odds and we’re short staffed as is.” The Captain folded his arms over his chest as he addressed Logan. He spoke once more after Carol finished. “Just in case it hasn’t been said, your majesty, we’re sorry for your loss. There’s too many of our men falling. The Asgardian’s don’t have a ruler but I’m betting they’re willing to avenge their King as well. Us having an army isn’t the problem. They just keep cutting them down. Who here’s gone up against a host? What do we know about what they can do one on one?”

LOGAN: Logan might have sided with the Avengers, but he wasn’t part of the team. He didn’t have to follow their orders. So he tucked the idea of going after Jean away for later. “I did.” He spoke up again. “He kept goin’ on and on about how all of us were wrong, and that the five of them were going to change the world. He was overpowered and overdramatic.”

SAM WILSON: “You and Val went up against Wither, Dr. Brashear. Only one of you is here so we know it didn’t go well, but did you notice anything?”

JOHNNY: "Sounds about right.“ Johnny said from his place at the table, where he absentmindedly toyed with a pen. "So how are we going to get them back?” he looked straight at Sam, expecting an answer. “And how will we find Sue?”

BUCKY: “Why don’t we ask someone who actually took a hostage?” Bucky spoke up and looked towards Lorna, pointing at her. “She was the one I fought in Wakanda. And she took Rikki with her.”

ADAM: “I got the chance to examine Mr. Ford’s powers in great detail. I’d never seen something quite like it. It was fascinating.” He responded leaning in over the table, some of his injuries still remained. “What I did learn is that his powers now cause the atomic corrosion of any state of matter, including in its negative state, down to the subatomic level. In theory he can destroy anything. Furthermore. I trapped him in one of my opaque light field generators I made in order to protect the earth from threats the like of a supernova or world ending astroid and he was able to burst forth in less than a minute.” In truth, adam had never felt so overpowered by an opponent.

REED: Reed glanced between Johnny and Sam as Sue was brought up. But before he could add something to the conversation, Bucky brought something new to the table. “Right to the source– that’s always the best course of action. That’s how we’ll find her. So–” He turned his attention to Lorna. “You’ve been awfully quiet during this conversation. But it’s come to light that you have valuable information.”

FRANKLIN: Franklin was sat next to his uncle Johnny. He was terrified about all of this. If this had just happened a little bit longer ago he probably could have just willed the phoenix into being a pigeon but now his mother was gone and his powers weren’t what they used to be. “I can’t find her. I keep willing it but I just can’t find her.” He said seemingly looking to the others for answers. “I’ve always been able to find my Mom since I was a baby and now. Now I just don’t know.”

LORNA: A call out. How lovely. Lorna had been mostly unsure about whether or not she should come. Word of her father switching sides hadn’t meant much to her. She had been working with Remy more than him anyway and all Erik had been as of late was a headache. If he had his little epiphany or whatever that was his own business. The only reason she was there was the mutants and the fact that they were no longer safe under the Phoenix Five. "No matter what your whack powers tell you, she’s alive. They all are. Even some of the dead ones. Not all of them, mind you. We can just say that sometimes things look worse than they are. Krakoa didn’t want them to harbor hostages on him, so they got creative. What do you know about the mutant who took Sue out? Her name’s Blink and she’s… Well, she used to a good friend of mine before this. Definitely not the type to teleport the air out or someone’s lungs like she did your mother.”

TOMMY: Tommy couldn’t handle looking at his dumb face any longer. Erik killed them and he was just supposed to sit here and act like everything was kosher. Not happening. Even if it was petty and childish it would be worth it. Time seemingly slowed for Tommy as he began weaving around to the opposite end of the table. Taking a firm grasp on Eriks nipples through his shirt and twisted with gusto before returning to his seat and acting like nothing happened.

GWEN: Trouble trouble trouble. He was trouble. Gwen had been doodling out the hanger battle from Civil War in beautiful stick figures when there was a slight breeze. Cackling slightly she shook her head at the mini speedsters antics while she kept drawing. Half of the Fantastic Four were here and she’d have to lock lips with one at some point.

ERIK: Doing his best to pay attention but also keep quiet, Erik suddenly was caught up in a sharp pain. He winced, taking in a sharp breath of surprise and then laying a hand over his chest in confusion.

HANK: “Quite frankly I don’t care about whose friend they were or how good of people you once found them to be. They’re threats not just to the planet but the galaxy.” Hank finally spoke up feeling annoyed. “I understand wanting to end things peacefully but as Captain America stated, we have no friends on the other side, so let’s not act like we do.” Hank replied as he began fussing with his toolbot as few items came together. “Back to the vacuum concept. It’s promising if it works and that’s a big if. However, there are band-aid solutions that we can use to by time, to name a few, Quantum realm, neutral zone, negative zone and microverse. Banishing even just one there may by us the time we need to perfect a solution and test the effects of what happens to the phoenix when it’s split up between dimensions.” He said ignoring the fact that there was sentient life in most of the places he suggested. He thought it would be best not to bring up the topic of creating a man made blackhole and taking the phoenix five into them in hopes of shredding them to pieces.

REED: Reed huffed in frustration. “The fact that they are dangerous to the world doesn’t need to be debated currently. We need the hostages back.” He shot Hank an annoyed glance before turning back to Lorna. “Her mutation allows her to create portals for teleportation, correct? I’m assuming you wouldn’t bring her up if she hadn’t played a bigger role in this than we are aware of.”

LORNA: “Of course not. And I’m not saying we should go easier on her because she was a friend. I’m saying that that thing looks like Blink but isn’t. I’m no Phoenix expert but if it did that to her I don’t know what to say about the others. Kevin was always a little more rough so I’m not as surprised. He and Clarice are more separate from Emma, Scott and Namor. They’re a team but I don’t think they’re as much in charge. Blink used her Phoenix powers to boost the mutation of Magik. Illyana controls Limbo so together they pulled part of the hell dimension to Earth. Consider it a nightmare realm. That’s where your friends are. Blink and Wither are currently guarding it and you saw what happened when he touches you. Maybe it doesn’t kill you at first but it doesn’t take long to spread completely. If you want your people back you have to get through both of them and Limbo. I’ve never liked humans or how our people have been treated, but too many of us agree that this isn’t the way to fix our problems. We’re making the world worse, not better. The entrance is Cape Dezhnev in the Bering Strait. As for the Phoenix vacuum, well, I think you’d have to talk to my darling big sister.”

TRAUMA: Trauma had been silent just about the whole meeting and finally decided to chime in. “I’ll go… Go to the Hell on earth or whatever you want to call it.” His powers were magical in nature and that’s all he really knew. Between that, his experience with fear, and being able to be the perfectly tailored opponent for any individual it felt like volunteering.

SAM WILSON: "I’m sure we can make a sign up sheet.“ Sam’s voice was wry. "We’re glad you’re here, Polaris. Gambit as well. This isn’t Avengers against X-Men anymore. It hasn’t been for a while. If we’re going to save the world we don’t have a choice but to work together here.”

REMY: “Speakin’ of X-men,” Remy was standing near Lorna as he spoke, hot on the heels of her words. “It’s come to our attention that us mutants don’ all share t'e same ideals as Emma, Scott, and Namor. I know it’s hard as hell to go against people like you in support of people who not only aren’ like you, but also don’ like you, so I don’ blame t'e mutants t'at fought for other mutants, even if it were under Emma and t'e rest. However, Lorna an’ I will be givin’ t'e mutants t'at are left a chance to leave the Phoenix behind. It won’ be easy, but as many as we can get to go against the Phoenix Five will be more t'an we currently have.”

LORNA: Her head inclined towards Remy in agreeance. “We can’t get you onto Krakoa, but we can help you rescue the hostages and let you know what we do. I understand my father has stopped being a raging prick and you have most of the Grey-Summers dynasty as well. Between them and Wolverine you’ve already got an important chunk of the mutant leadership.” Lips twitched at the thought of everyone they were forcing to work together. “So we do our part. What are you doing to stop the Phoenix? If you’re taking the Limbo guards out you better have a plan.”

SAM WILSON: “We don’t have as much of a plan as we should.” Sam admitted. “These last few weeks we went through a lot to keep Wanda and Jean’s location secret in Citrusville, but between one of the Jean’s bailing we’re making exception to our rules. Wanda?” He looked to the door to where he knew she was waiting. “Your turn.”

ERIK: What Erik responded with was almost an eye-roll, but not quite. It wasn’t that he was annoyed with people bringing up his horrible actions as of late, but it made him uncomfortable. “I wasn’t in my right mind. It does not excuse anything I have done, but that part of me is gone now. My mind has been made right again.” He glanced over to his daughter, trying to express how sincerely he felt about it all. “Things will be different from now on.” That was all he had to say for now– and he let the room focus on Wanda and the task at hand.

WANDA: Leaving Citrusville for the first time in weeks hadn’t been as freeing as Wanda would have hoped. Anxiety still knotted her gut and tensed her spine. She belonged back at the Nexus but instead she stood before the war battered group of familiar and foreign faces. It was a conscious choice to ignore her father, knowing that he had made choices she couldn’t condone but didn’t want to discuss. “Vacuuming the Phoenix will only work to a certain extent. I overheard Dr. Brashear say Kevin broke free quickly. It will do the same, and the power will condense itself.” It was hard to explain. Wanda wasn’t a scientist but this was something she felt. “If you go tomorrow to face two of them, send a group after a third. Isolate them. Jean and I will monitor the energy from Citrusville. We need more time.”

CAROL: “So we have two missions then,” Carol interjected. “Rescue the hostages and separate the Phoenix. We will send a team to rescue the hostages, and another to battle the Phoenix. Assignments will come at a later time, but be ready. As it’s been said, this is war.”

VISION: “It’s possible that we could track down the location of a Phoenix Five member.” From his place next to Wanda, Vis took a small step forward to address the room. “I’ve learned that it is best not to bore you all with the details, but there are methods at my disposal that could be utilized. But this meeting has gone on long enough– Wanda should be getting back.”

SAM WILSON: “Of course. We appreciate everyone takin’ time to come out at all, especially since it’s so bad outside.” People had families to protect while they could. “Lorna and Remy will be sticking around even though Erik will be going back to Citrusville with Wanda. Vis, if you could come see me after you drop them off that would be great. Assignments will be sent out tonight about where to go from here. We got any other questions before we wrap up?”

ERIK: “Let’s just be done.” Erik interjected before anyone else had a chance to answer Sam and keep them all here. He glanced back to Vis and Wanda and then swept himself quickly out of the room to wait for them outside.

SAM WILSON: "Your discretion will be appreciated.” Sam nodded his head towards the door. He waited a long moment before following behind. The lights clicked off and the latch turned. They made it through another day. Hopefully they’d be as lucky the next.

#event: avx #avx: versus #avx: versus debriefing #chatlog: versus debriefing #momevents

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formutantkind · 7 years

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Our roles are nothing more than how the times choose to cast us.

How has your character developed throughout season 2? What event specifically affected them?

Magneto only came onto the scene during season 2, but I like to think he’s been developing slowly but surely. His main focus has been his children, the twins and Lorna, and reconnecting with Jean Grey. The Skrulls were more an after thought for him, he was never truly concerned. Irritated perhaps, because they threatened Mutantkind, but if they killed homo-sapiens in the process, he was almost willing to let them. The Power Swap was interesting for him, but only insofar as it gave him yet another in with Lorna, bonding over the loss of their abilities. The biggest event that has effected him was taking Wanda to Europe, to the gravesite of his first daughter, telling her the truth of who he was -- and more importantly, who she was.

What important relationships changed due to the Skrull Invasion? If they were largely unaffected, do you believe anything could changed in the future?

None of Erik’s relationships changed, though fighting on the Skrull ship did allow him the opportunity to meet T’Challa and Tyrone. I think his relationship with these two might lead somewhere interesting, given that they worked so well together.

What relationships would you like to develop throughout season 3?

Danielle Moonstar. Not only is she a powerful mutant, but Danielle also sees the necessity of violence at times. While Erik considers the X-Force a pitiful half-measure, though not quite as useless as the X-Men themselves, he’s impressed that someone among their ranks had the wherewithal to form such a team. He’s hoping to fold them into the Brotherhood someday, and that starts with Danielle. @moonstarmiragc

Diana Prince. Erik and Diana had an impromptu meeting and got coffee together, and he finds her delightful. She seemed to enjoy his company too, but of course, he never revealed his identity to her, nor she to him. I think it’ll be interesting to see how these two react to each other in their alter egos, him as Magneto and her as Wonder Woman. @oflove-andwar

Elizabeth Braddock. As an Omega level mutant, Psylocke is always going to fascinate Magneto. Another member of the X-Force, and a powerful one at that. Erik is always looking to turn people to his side, through flattery and manipulation, though I suspect she won’t be one to fall for it. It’ll still be interesting to see him try. @shurayuki

Harleen Quinzel. Erik and Harley Quinn keep meeting briefly, but each time he grows more interested in her. I think these two could have an interesting relationship, and he might even tempt her to the dark side of things once more. I’d love for him to find out about her past, and for her to find out about his. @thatclownlady

Illyana Rasputin. The queen of an entire hell, Illyana would be a powerful ally to have, and Erik knows it. He’s sent Raven to her as well, and spoken to her himself, in an effort to convince her that her efforts are better spent with the Brotherhood. I can’t wait to see where this plot goes. @ruleroflimbo

Jean Grey. Jean was one of Erik’s first and most precious students. He always saw the potential in her, and he’s been delighted over the years to see that he wasn’t wrong. Jean is truly something special, a force to be reckoned with. And Erik truly believes that he is the only one who will give her the true opportunity to make a difference in the world. Despite their differences of opinion, these two still have a lot of respect for each other, and enough history to make this relationship endlessly fascinating. @lifeincarncte

June Moone. Erik has only recently learned about June and the Enchantress, and he’s made a promise to help her attempt to control the power within her. He doesn’t yet fully understand the Enchantress, but I imagine once he realizes, he’ll only be more interested in her. I’d love to see Erik actually talk to the Enchantress, one on one, and see where that conversation leads. @ancientenchantments

Kitty Pryde. Newly returned from space, Kitty Pryde is one of the most prized and powerful X-Men, and Erik knows that he will never truly sway her to his side. But he does have some level of respect for her, despite the clear disdain she has for him and his methods. I honestly have no idea where this will lead, but I want to see them interact more. @pridefulshadowcat

Laura Kinney. Erik hasn’t yet had the pleasure of meeting Laura, but I imagine he’s heard rumors of her. Her tactical capabilities and her power in a fight is something he’ll definitely crave, and I think he’ll probably explore a similar line of manipulation as with the Enchantress or Lorna -- offering to teach her, mentor her, help her embrace the ‘vicious’ side of her. @xtwcntythree

Lorna Dane. His youngest daughter, and the one most clearly like him. Now that she knows the truth about what happened to her family, and now that the Twins are rapidly turning against him, Erik is going to be all the more careful with Lorna. He needs her on his side, to claim that at least one of his children has seen the light. He’s been mentoring her, and he’s about to reveal the truth to her, hoping that she will take it much better than Wanda or Pietro did. @mistresscfmagnetism

Natasha Romanoff. Nat was the one who gained Magneto’s powers during the Power Swap. They haven’t spoken to each other before or since, but he knows the Black Widow and what she can do. He also knows that she was replaced by Skrulls during the Invasion. I imagine the conversations they could have now would be very poignant. @slcvicshadow

Raven Darkholme. Mystique, his beautiful, loyal Mystique. No one else has shown the same level of dedication and capability when it comes to carrying out the goals of the Brotherhood. This relationship isn’t romantic, it’s so much deeper than that. Erik knows that Mystique is the one person in the world who would never betray him or let him down, who will never fail to deliver what she promises. He has so much faith in her, but she’s earned every bit of it. He sees her, and she is one of the few to truly see him. He trusts her to carry out his goals, even if he were to perish. More importantly, he trusts her to end him if he ever strays from the path they’ve chosen. @thcmystique

Tandy Bowen and Tyrone Johnson. Erik met Cloak on the Skrull ship and was impressed with the boy’s aptitude and his bloodthirsty methods. He knows of both, and he’ll want to convince them to join up with him, since he still believes they are mutants. When he finds out they are not, his interest may wane, depending on a few factors. @lightfcrce @darkfcrces

Wanda Maximoff. Erik spent a great deal of time and energy in season 2 trying to worm his way into Wanda’s life, and manipulate her into trusting him. It nearly worked, because the respect he has for her is genuine, and the care he has for her stems beyond their familial relationship. But things are currently rocky, after his spat with Pietro, and the realization that he’s been lying to her for months. I don’t know where it will lead, but Erik still hopes that Wanda will see reason and come to trust him. @thcscarletwltch

Pietro Maximoff. Erik’s one and only son, and the only child for whom he feels nothing but disappointment. Perhaps it’s because he sees too much of himself in Pietro, though this would be more subconscious than anything else. On the surface, he’s disappointed by the boy’s behavior, his brash attitude, and furious that he’s jeopardized his plan for Wanda. I imagine there will be a lot more tense arguments between these two as the new season goes on. @gcttagofcst

Johnny Storm. Erik is undoubtedly not a fan of the Human Torch. Beyond his homo-sapien status, he’s also dating Wanda, and Erik doesn’t approve. He thinks she deserves much more than a ‘hot head’ like Johnny. He can’t deny the boy is powerful, but he considers him foolhardy. The two haven’t really had a chance to confront each other, but now that Wanda knows the truth and has presumably told Johnny, things could get very, very intersting. @cftorch

Scott Summers. In the RP, these two haven’t spoken yet, but there’s a lot of history between the X-Men and Magneto. Particularly with Scott being so close to Jean, I imagine there’d be a lot of tension to cover. So let’s get these two in a room together! @cyclxpswasright

Remy LeBeau. Gambit is another mutant that Erik hopes to one day sway over to his side. The boy’s petty thefts and tricks are a waste in Erik’s opinion, and he believes that Remy could be much more than that given the right direction. He was already rebuked once from offering that guidance, but he’s not done with Remy just yet. @turn-of-the-cards

T’Challa Udaku. The king of Wakanda was the other man on the ship that Erik met. Together with Cloak, they managed to free several prisoners, and they fought well together. I imagine these two meeting up again would be very interesting, as they both have a sort of begruding respect for one another. @blackpcnthcr

Tommy Shepherd. Erik has only recently met Tommy, but he’s already impressed with his capabilities. He sees him as a sort of improved Pietro, and would be very interested in getting closer to the boy. Test his loyalties. @speedyshcpherd

Tony Stark. Iron Man only challenged Erik once during season 2, and Erik feels that he definitely walked away the victor. But what’s not to love in a thread with a man who wears a metal suit and a man who controls that metal? I think these two could really push each other’s buttons as well, I want more. @the-m3chanic

Where would you like your character to go throughout season 3? Specifically, how will they react to Battleworld?

I think Erik will see Battleworld as an opportunity. A true test of ‘survival of the fittest,’ and Magneto always believes that Mutants are the fittest in any situation. While he’ll definitely want to overthrow Doom, he may not be eager to return to the world that has oppressed his people for so long. He might even see Battleworld as a chance to rule a dimension for himself, and allow mutants to prosper.

What specific plots would you like to explore during season 3? Remember, this is a great opportunity to form more connections and start arcs with each other!

I’ll definitely be continuing the storylines with each of Magneto’s children, because who doesn’t love a good dose of Magnodad.

In that same vein, Magneto will constantly be trying to convince any and all mutants to join the Brotherhood and fight with him. He’ll do this through manipulation, a sharp intelligence, and meticulous planning.

I also want to see Magneto pushing to place himself at the top of Battleworld. Overthrowing Doom for his own purposes, rather than with the goal of returning to 616 Earth. I think it’d be interesting if he maybe convinced the Panel or any of the superheroes teams that he’s willing to help, and then betrayed them at the last second.

#rebuildtask7 #task

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81scorp · 4 years

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Constructive criticism: X-Men 3

(Originally posted as an editorial on Deviantart on July 3, 2016)

Comicbook movies. More specifically: Superhero comicbookmovies. Rarely taken seriously because the material the are based on are rarely taken seriously. While Richard Donner`s Superman was successful and Tim Burton`s Batman managed to step away from the more campy and silver-age image that superhero comics are so heavily associated with, attempts to bring other franchises to the big screen didn`t work that well. Movies of this genre survived mostly by being "so bad it`s good". Attempts were made at making more serious Superhero comicbookmovies like "The Crow" or "Blade". But the wave of not only more comicbookmovies but also more serious comicbookmovies didn`t really take off until Bryan Singer`s X-Men. X-Men wasn`t perfect but it was a good start for the "let`s try to make a serious superhero comicbookmovie and not turn it into a big, campy, live-action saturday morning cartoon joke" genre. When it was time for a sequel the director, writer (or writers) and actors had gotten more familiar with the characters, the world they lived in and things seemed to work more smoothly. Then Bryan Singer left to work on Superman Returns. Brett Ratner took his place and followed the whims of the not-so-competent big suits at Fox. The result... could have been better. What should have been a story about Jean Grey`s transformation into the phoenix was turned into a story about a mutant-cure with the Phoenix Saga in the background. Jean Grey`s Phoenix thing was hinted at in the first movie. (After they stopped the machine Jean Grey gasped as if something had touched her mind. This is just not me interpreting things that aren`t necessarily there, it was confirmed by Singer or some other guy who worked on the first movie.) And it was STRONGLY forshadowed at the end of the second movie. How would I have done it differently? Well, since the story would focus more on the Phoenix thing I would change the title to something that reflected that. The best one I have so far is: X-Men: Birth of the Phoenix. Maybe not perfect, but atleast it`s Phoenix-y.

The Story It begins with young Scott and Jean having a romantic picnic together. Jean says that she`s had this idea about creating some kind of direct link between her mind and Scott`s, in case of a worst case scenario. Scott is OK with the idea and Jean creates the bond. We jump forward in time to the scene in X-Men 2 where Jean sacrifices herself, then cut to Scott waking up. It was a dream... and a memory. Logan and company are fighting in the Dangerroom. Prof X and Beast are watching from a control room. The name "Warren" is mentioned once. Prof X mentions that it is hard to read Kitty`s mind when she`s phasing, it could make it difficult to communicate with her when necessary in a fight. After their Dangerroom session Wolvie bumps into Scott in the hall. There`s a short conversation, like in the movie and they move on. Scott takes his motorbike to go somewhere and have some alone time. Ororo and Kitty goes downtown to buy some computer-stuff. Logan and Peter (Colossus that is) joins them as they want to get a little fresh air. Downtown: Kitty, Ororo,Pete and Logan get attacked by some kind of S.W.A.T team. They deal with their attackers easily but get knocked out by a psi-blast (from an unknown woman hiding in a van nearby). Prof X senses the psi-blast and tries to locate the source but the doors to the van are shut. (The van is very high-tech and with all the doors closed it`s like magneto`s helmet: telepathy-proof.) A second van has picked up the unconscious X-Men, but no one noticed Kitty because she stayed out of the fight. Also: she`s hard to find by a telepath when phasing. She sneaks aboard the second van and stays hidden. Scott is at his alone-time place: the lake where Jean sacrificed herself. Scott remembers the day they held a funeral for Jean. After the ceremony was over Prof X had a private conversation with him. He told Scott that when Jean first came to the school her mental powers were much stronger, too strong in fact for her to be able to control them, she also had a darker side. The Professor used his powers to make Jeans powers weaker and also helped keep her dark side under control. It`s not something he`s proud of but he sees what he did as a necessary evil. Her dark side and her stronger powers were coming back when she sacrificed herself at the lake. "But why didn`t she tell me through our mental bond?" Scott wondered. "You would probably have tried to stop her." Prof X assumed. "She made her choice Scott, she would probably have killed everyone onboard if she had stayed on the plane." Scott gave himself a minute to process what he`d just heard. We`re back in the present, Suddenly Scott gets a telepathic message from Prof X that fills him in on what has happened and that his help is needed. We get to see another memory: Jean, as a child, had a friend who got run over by a car. This was the moment when Jean`s telepathic powers were triggered and she experienced her friend`s death from her friend`s perspective. There was another girl there who witnessed the whole thing. She was about Jean`s age and she understood what it was like for Jean, because she had telepathic powers too. Her name was Emma Frost. Jean wakes up from her dream/memory. After a few seconds a grown up Emma Frost comes in to check up on Jean. Jean has partial amnesia, she doesn`t remember her time with the X-Men but she remembers her childhood with Emma. Emma was there for her and helped her pull herself together after her other friend had died. The two of them became best friends. Jeans telepathy feels a little sluggish, that`s why Emma`s there, to use her own telepathy to help Jean get her old telepathic strength back. (Jean was in a coma at the bottom of the lake and survived by subconsciously creating an airbubble with her telekinesis. Emma found her with her telepathy and hired two henchmen to dive down and pull her up.) Meanwhile: Prof X explains the situation to Scott, Kurt, Rogue and Bobby. The Prof and Beast will keep their yes open for anything that might tell them where the kidnapped X-Men are. Meanwhile, Bobby, Kurt, Scott and Rogue gets to be out on the field. Their first job is to find and, if possible, recruit a new mutant that has showed up in town. They may be young but they have showed, both in their previous adventures and in Dangerroom, that they are capable of handling serious situations. They leave to prepare themselves for their first mission, except Scott. He stays to have a private word with Prof X.

Scott: You called for me. You assume that I`m gonna come back and fight for you again just like that?

Prof X: Not assuming... more hoping. Even if he`s angry, Scott decides to come back and start fighting for the mutant cause again. ( It`s a kind of "The needs of the many"-logic). He feels that he has mourned enough, been inactive for a long time and needs to get his head back in the game again. So he joins Kurt, Bobby and Rogue in their mission. Meanwhile in an unknown location: Logan, Ororo and Pete are being held prisoners in a room with electronic handcuffs and high-tech collars that work as neural inhibitors that makes them groggy and unable to use their powers. A man called Pierce talks to a man called Shaw through speaker-phones. He leaves the room and Kitty comes out from her hideout. She sees her friends, tells them that she`s gonna go get help and runs away. A guard enters the room just in time to see her phase through a wall. He tells the other guards through his com-radio that there`s an intruder in the headquarters. Scott, Rogue, Kurt and Bobby have found the mutant that they were searching for at a nightclub. His name is Remy Lebeau, goes by the nickname Gambit and he has a cajun-accent. They try to persuade him to join them, he is cautious and thinks that they are some kind of police. The S.W.A.T team that works for the badguys bust into the nightclub. Scott, his gang and Gambit fights them. Scott and his gang also make sure to protect the innocent bystanders and help them escape. Rogue uses her absorbing powers to knock out one of the S.W.A.T guys. Prof Xavier`s school: The telephone rings, Beast answers. It`s Kitty calling. She knows where Logan, Pete and Ororo are imprisoned. She tells them where she`s calling from and that there is a S.W.A.T team chasing her. Beast alerts Scott and the gang through their wrist communicators. They are a little preoccupied fighting their own S.W.A.T team. Kurt volunteers to break away from the fight to find Kitty (since he`s a teleporter and can therefor travel much faster than the others). He finds Kitty and helps her to beat the men that are chasing her. Scott, Gambit and the rest of the gang beats the last S.W.A.T team members. Gambit, used to being a loner, is still cautious but has seen that Scott and his friends are good guys so he decides to stick with them, at least for a while. They know where the HQ of the badguys is thanks to Kitty and they have an idea what they can expect on the inside of it thanks to Rogue. Rogue also picked up a name from the S.W.A.T guy`s memory, she just doesn`t have a face to go with that name. The name is: White Queen. Somewhere else: Jean is alone in her room, practising her telekinesis on some objects. She remembers when the Professor came to her home and talked to her parents and that Emma had a bad feeling about him. Then came the day when she moved to Xavier`s school. Emma was there to say good bye and wave her of. She told Jean that she didn`t trust the Professor. After a couple of days on the school she found out that the Professor had discovered that her powers were greater than his and that he felt theatened by it. Xavier put mental blocks in her mind to weaken her powers and erased all her mories of Emma Frost. Jean snaps out of her flashback and returns to the present. She loses her concentration and the things that she levitates drops to the floor. She`s silent for a moment. Meanwhile: White Queen`s HQ: Storm is being interogated and tortured by a woman with telepathic powers. It`s the White Queen, and she`s Emma Frost! (Not a big surprise for those who are familiar with the comics.) Outside, the X-Men sneak into the HQ with help from Shadowcat (Kitty). They split up, Shadowcat goes to free her friends, the rest are there to attract the attention of the guards. Rogue has phasing powers just like Shadowcat now. (We see in a flashback that happened a minute ago that Rogue talked Kitty into letting her touch her, long enough to borrow her powers for a while but not long enough for her to faint.) Rogue looks at her wrist watch which is counting down how much time she has left before her powers wear off. (So she doesn`t try to run though a wall when she`s about to go solid. Also, she has learned enough about her powers to know how long she has to touch somone for her borrowed powers to last a certain amount of time.) Shadowcat finds and frees Wolvie. A guard stuns her with a tazer gun, Wolvie gets angry and SNIKTs him, more guards come, Wolvie frees Colossus and the two of them fight. Emma realizes that she can`t get any more info out of Storm. She releases Storm from her shackles and is about to put the power-dampening collar back on her and tell her guards to bring one of the other two mutants in for interogation. She sees on the surveillance monitors however that her guards are busy being beaten up by the X-Men. Rogue comes into the room through a wall behind Emma and grabs her face from behind. Emma frees herself from Rogue`s grip after a few seconds and knocks her out with a telepathic blast. Seeing her friend getting beaten gives Storm extra strength and attacks Emma with lightning. Slightly groggy from Rogue`s surprise attack and with her guards losing, Emma realises that she is not fit to fight and escapes through a secret door. The fight is over. Cyclops, Nightcrawler, Iceman and Gambit are united with Colossus (who carries an unconscious Kitty) Wolvie (who carries an unconscious Rogue) and a tired Storm. Beast arrives in the Blackbird to pick them up. Cyclops decides that they should not fly directly back to Prof X`s mansion but instead make a detour to some other place: Warren Worthingtons House. Warren Worthington (AKA: Angel) is a billionaire, supports Prof X financially and is a mutant. He used to be a member of the X-Men (and still is) but is now helping them indirectly with the financial stuff. Prof X joins them after an hour or so and he doesn`t like Scott`s decision to not return to the school and there is a small conflict between them. Rogue has awakened from her mindblast and remembers the memory fragments that she picked up from Emma`s mind. She tells her friends about something called the "Hellfire Club", a club of rich socialites with lots of power. Within this Club is something called "The Inner Circle", some kind of mutant Illuminati and... Jean is still alive! "Hellfire Club" sounds familiar to Warren. He`s a actually a member of it. (he inherited the membership along with the company from his father) he visited it once, didn`t like it and never went back. Scott uses Warrens connections with the Club to sneak in with Ororo, Pete and Rogue as guests in posh, civilian clothes. Nightcrawler and Wolvie enters through the sewers. Their backup team: Angel, Shadowcat, Beast, Iceman, Gambit and Prof X is hiding on the Blackbird which is in stealthmode a block away and they have radio-contact. Shaw, Pierce, Leeland and Emma sees Scott and company arrive through their security cameras. Inside the mansion Scott and Rogue starts looking for something that can give them answers, like a hidden door or something. They find Jean who knocks them out telepathically. Ororo and Peter are searching in the other end of the house and finds Shaw, who beats the crap out of them. Nightcrawler and Wolvie enters through the sewers and meets Pierce and Leeland. Pierce, who turns out to be a cyborg, defeats Nightcrawler and Leeland uses his gravity-manipulating powers on Woverine to make him fall through the floor and get washed away in the sewers. A few minutes later, Shaw, Emma, Leeland and Pierce celebrate their victory and congratulate themselves and their newest recruit Jean for a job well done. Somewhere in the sewers Wolverine gathers his strength and gets ready for a new round. Wolverine: OK suckers... You`ve taken yer best shot. Now it`s MY turn! Meanwhile: The backup team: The gang haven`t heard anything from Cyclops and the others, they are starting to get worried and prepare themselves for action. Prof X notices that Gambit is thinking about leaving the team and talks to him. Gambit is used to travel alone and has only hung with the X-Men for a day and even if the stuff they do is important he doesn`t know if he`s willing to die for their cause, something he suspects will happen if he stays with them. Prof X wants him to stay but he knows that the decision to leave or stay must be Gambit`s.Meanwhile: Hellfire Clubs HQ: far away from the festivities there is a guard walking around, making sure that everything is OK. He hears something, goes to investigate, gets SNIKTed by Wolvie. This attracts the reaction of a few other guards who goes to investigate, they are also defeated. Meanwhile: Pierce, Frost, Leeland, Jean and Shaw continues to celebrate their victory. Cyclops, Nightcrawler, Storm, Rogue and Colossus are wearing hightech handcuffs. Cyclops remembers his private link with Jean and tries to access her mind through it to hopefully pull her out of the brainwash. He ends up on the astralplane and meets Jean who doesn`t remember him but thinks that there`s something familiar about him. Emma notices that there`s something wrong, enters Jean`s mind, fights Cyclops and (almost) kills him. Cyclops collapses in the physical world but slowly gets back up on his feet. The shock of watching Cyclops (almost) die triggers some memories for Jean. Emma senses that Jean is breaking free of her mind control and the two of them start fighting on the astral plane. (In the physical world it looks as if they are just staring at eachother very intensily.) Wolvie breaks in through the door. Iceman, Angel and Beast crashes through a window. Shadowcat shows up through the floor and phases through the hightech handcuffs. Shaw presses a panic button that calls the guards and also sends a signal to the police. An awesome fight breaks out. Iceman is almost killed by a guard but is saved by Gambit who decided to stay. (Yay!) On the astral plane Jean has found out that Emma is NOT an old childhood friend who was always there for her when she needed it. Those were fake memories implanted by Emma. And Prof X put those mental blocks in her head to weaken her powers because she asked for it herself out of fear of what she could become. Emma`s plan was to turn Jean into The Inner Circle`s newest member: The Black Queen. Jean gets the upper hand and fries Emma`s brain. All the members of the Inner Circle and their guards are defeated, the police arrive, the X-Men runs away and flies off in the Blackbird.

Jean starts breathing heavily, Prof X tries to calm her down but it is too late. Her dark Phoenix side has awakened. She tears the Blackbird apart telekinetically. Angel saves Gambit and Prof X, Storm saves Wolverine, Colossus survives a fall from a high altitude and Iceman creates an ice-slide for the rest of the gang. Jean rearranges the molecules in her clothes to form a suit, her Phoenix suit from the comics with the red, gold, the bird symbol and everything. The X-Men reluctantly fight Jean while Prof X tries to reach her mind. Jean regains control of herself again but doesn`t know how long it will last. She kisses Cyclops, says goodbye to her friends and flies out into space. The next day or a few days later: Scott is back at the Lake where he first lost Jean, he is Joined by Prof X and they talk a little. Prof X, who managed to get a glimpse inside Jeans head, says that she had become to mutants what mutants are to people. Scott wonders what happened to her. Did she fly out into space to die or did she find some way to survive? The professor doesn`t know but he tells Scott that if he wants to come back to the school the doors are always open for him. Prof X then leaves Scott alone. Scott has a moment of silence, then he walks away. (To go his own way or to rejoin the X-Men? It should be left ambiguous.) The End BTW: In my version The Stromtroopers of the HFC don`t wear those sci-fi-ish outfits that they wore on the comics with those masks, but, as I said, they look like an ordinary S.W.A.T team with bulletproof vests and helmets with black visors over their faces. The employees at the HFC don`t wear rokoko outfits or fetishy maid outfits, the Inner Circle don`t wear 18th century-ish outfits but more contemporary clothing. And Emma`s and Jean`s Queen outfits don`t look so dominatrix-y. But like I said: Jean`s Phoenix outfit is comicbook accurate. Constructive criticism of my constructive criticism Whoa! Meta! On the fence: To many characters? There`s a rule in script writing that you shouldn`t have too many characters. My version has 12 characters (not counting Jean). Maybe I should have cut down on a few? Maybe remove Colossus completely since he doesn`t contribute much as a character? Limit Angel`s role to only have him tell them that he`s technically a member of the HFC and remove him from the final fight? Or maybe it works fine the way it is, but then again I`m probably biased. Those are my ideas and thoughts. Feel free to disagree.

#81scorp #x-men movies #last stand #constructive #criticism #editorial

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