X-Men 186: They're Possessed!

Page 1 (Wolverine)

We’re back in Storm’s room inside Forge’s apartments in Dallas. The room is lit only by the light of the curtained window. Storm starts awake, spinning out of bed holding a knife in a fighting stance. Seeing the figure in the shadows she relaxes. “Forge told me that his security system was decades ahead of the state of the art,” she says with a smile

"Oh, it's top-notch. However." Logan half-smiles back. "How you doin'? Didn't mean to startle ya, figured it might be a good time to make sure all was on the up and up."

She puts the knife down, "It is, as far as I can tell. I think I should keep using the Richards' as a, what's the term, 'cut-out'? To protect the X-Men just in case Forge isn't being truthful or his government contacts have compromised his communications."

"Physically, I'm healing. The immediate effect of the power neutralizer left me with what appears to be a bad case of sunburn - an entirely new and unpleasant experience for me. Mentally, spiritually, I..." Her teammate has seen Storm cry before, in sorrow at Jean Grey's funeral, in joy at Scott Summers' wedding, in appreciation the beauty of a particular ballet or sunrise. But this moment of alloyed rage and loss, struggled to be held in and tamped down lest it tear her to pieces, is new and painful.

He looks politely away until she's gotten herself back under control.

She recovers herself after a second, "How is Rogue? Have you found her?"

"She kinda found us. Still not all there, so we're not sure what was going on, but she's home and taken care of. Let me tell you what we got, and maybe we can figure out what some o' the holes look like, if not the pieces that go inta 'em?" He provides her with a succinct run-down of what (little) Rogue said while she was conscious and what (even less) Charlie had been able to pull from her thoughts since then.

Storm nods, “That fits around my memories. I found Rogue and, as a gesture of good faith, voluntarily offered myself up for her power, just as you did in Japan. When I regained consciousness, Rogue was trying to rescue a riverboat caught in a squall that she had called up while fighting off a small military unit. I moved to assist her, and they shot me with a power neutralizer. I lost consciousness at that point.”

“Rogue didn’t deny attacking the helicarrier or rescuing Rossi, but the SHIELD is trying to pin the murder of one of their agents on her. Rogue swears the man had been shot before she got there, and that they had been trying to beat information out of Rossi. Have you found Rossi?”

"He ain't turned up. That story's got more holes in it than ten pounds of cheese. Rogue wouldn't shoot anybody she had a mind to take down, and whoever she rescued Rossi from, I'd bet a case of beer it wasn't SHIELD."

“Well, they were on the helicarrier… do you suspect SHIELD is compromised somehow?”

"Kinda looks that way at first blush, but I'll try not to jump to conclusions. Just once, tho'. There's been carriers lost before. Infiltrations." He prowls the room, studying it almost subconsciously.

Storm resumes her tale, “Forge, my host, is a mutant who can reverse engineer and redesign technology. He’s been working on replicating Rom’s weapons for the Army’s fight against the Dire Wraiths. By his way of things someone named Gyrich pulled strings at the DOD to steal his prototype Analyzer and Neutralizer – both of which work on mutants as well as aliens, it turns out – to use on Rogue. Forge, again, by his account, is assisting me to salve his conscience.”

"Can't say I'm thrilled 'bout the sound of that weapon. Do you believe him?"

She hesitates, and then nods, “So far. There is one thing you could check for me – visit Clairton, West Virginia, where we met Rom, and see what the city looks like. According to Forge the Wraiths wiped it out, which is what got the government and Forge involved. Once you know, pass it along to the Richards for my next call.”

"So, we got one dead agent, killed by perps unknown -- the not-SHIELD guys who were beating up on Rossi? Their enemy, or one of their own that caused 'em a problem? We got one agent that looks like he's run for cover, hard. We got this Gyrich fellow we don't know much about mixing the government into things -- Carol knew him, Hank knows him, seems to be just a name. For now. Oh, and we got Kree, unless Rogue was farther off her head than we figure. One hell of a stew."

Storm nods. “Indeed. Do you need me to come back now to assist? I think I can accomplish more here, both for myself and finding out more through Forge’s contacts, than I can with the team.”

"Sounds good. You keep in touch, though. We'll let you know anything we find on our end." He wants to tell her to get better quickly, but doesn't want to upset her by referring to it.

Later, past the military cordon surrounding the remains of Clairton, WV, Logan lights a cigar. "Flamin' awesome. Just what we need."

Pages 2-4 (Everyone)

A Haunting Halloween Tale
Written by Myles "Nightcrawler" Corcoran
Penciled by Rebecca "Wolverine" Stevenson
Inked by Lisa "Colossus" Padol
Colored by Kris "Sprite" Keegan
Lettered by Joshua "Rachel Summers" Kronengold
Edited by Brian Rogers
Rachel Rogers, Editor in Chief

"I was born into a world that feared mutants, grew up here, as the world slowly turned against us, but it started earlier.

"In 1983, 18 months ago from today, the Mutant Registration act was passed – with overwhelming support – after the assassination of Senator Kelly by the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants. It only started with registration. Soon – all too soon, mutants who refused to register were being fined, arrested, jailed – disappeared.

"And mutant protests and violent action only made things get worse, made the public hate and fear mutants even more, and support harsher and worse measures and vote greater funding to the organization controlling the Sentinels. The X-Men, as open mutants, spear-headed the political fight against the measures, while showing their credibility as law abiding mutants by registering. It wasn't enough.

"In 1991, when I was 4, the Sentinels attacked Xavier's School for the Gifted and killed nearly everyone. The rest of us...scattered, keeping in contact as much as we could, and fighting back.

"But things only got worse. The Sentinels had only one goal – to fight mutants. And what was happening – all the arrests, all the persecution, only partially satisfied their programming. So they took over the country, through both legal and extra-legal means, and set up ‘mutant re-education camps’ where they experimented on and executed and co-opted mutants into working for them. It became a crime – one worthy of being sent to the camps – not only to be an unlicensed mutant, but even to be a mutant at all who wasn't already working for them, or even to shelter a non-cooperative mutant. The public hated the measures, feared the Sentinels – but they hated and feared us even more.

"Over time, I lost everyone I loved, everyone who cared for me, one by one, and in groups, as the Sentinels hunted us, tracked us, sent us to the camps. In the end, the only one free was Logan, working with the Canadian resistance. I'd been captured, and was in the same camp as Kate – Ariel, Ororo, Peter, Franklin, and Magnus. We were helpless, our powers shut down by inhibitor collars, as the Sentinels' hold on the world only grew stronger. But we had time to plan – and I had one card I hadn't played. So when the time was right, where we escaped, shut down the inhibitor collars and I sent Kate's mind back in time, hoping she could prevent the assassination of Senator Kelly – prevent our whole timeline from happening. During this, Logan, Ororo, Peter and Franklin launched a last ditch assault on the Sentinel's North American headquarters in the Baxter Building. It failed, they died.

"Kate's mind returned, saying she had succeeded, but whatever happened, we were still here. Maybe I failed – maybe I'd turned our timeline into an alternative timeline; I'm not sure. And we were separated, and the Sentinels – in numbers and power I couldn't possibly beat, was closing in. So I gathered up everything I had, and pushed against time, hoping it would be enough. I was trying to jump here.

"But I ended up at the Baxter Building – the headquarters of the Sentinels, instead."

"Fraulein, who built the Sentinels? You mentioned an organization controlling them. Who are they? Do they exist today?" Kurt asks. "And, if they exist in our timeline, surely we must investigate them. We saved Senator Kelly, but God forbid that we have merely delayed Rachel's future. We must know!"

"I don't know; their origin was still shrouded in secrecy when I left. They were clearly commissioned by a government organization; they certainly took orders from the government for a few years before the coup. But we think they were probably originally constructed by private contractors. And, of course, if Kelly wasn't assassinated, then anything could be different."

Kurt looks to Professor Xavier with concern etched on his dark features; his memories of a hunting mob in Germany all too vivid to leave him unconcerned about the rule of the fearful majority. "Professor, have we any way of finding out who is financing Senator Kelly's Mutant Registration Act? I've always understood in politics you 'follow the money', nicht wahr? It wouldn't be much of a stretch to believe Kelly's industrial backers would have investments in the Sentinel building programs."

"Worse, Storm's recent encounter with a power neutralizing weapon may be part of a larger plot against mutants."

Xavier looks distracted by the content of Rachel's tale, and Logan's enhanced senses let him hear the professor mutter "Perhaps Magnus was right."

The question jolts him out of his reverie, "We can check. Kelly might not need much by way of funding; he was a popular senator in a safe seat from a farm state before this issue. I suspect he'll remain one afterwards. Still, it could not hurt to look into who is donating to his campaign.

"I have done a cursory scan of the Senator's mind. He truly believes in his cause and is operating from what he feels are good motives, even though we know they are mostly founded on fear." Charles sighs, "He is no Reverend Stryker* with artificial shields to hide his thoughts from me while he plots our extinction. He's just a man who's scared because the world is shifting under his feet."

[*Ed see Marvel Graphic Novel: God Loves, Man Kills.]

He pauses for a moment, and then gives a thin smile, "I think that rather than being the focus of the conspiracy the good Senator from Kansas is a tool of it."

Rachel thinks, "Kelly is behind the Mutant Registration Act? But...was my work for naught? Is there any way to avoid fate?" She does her best to hide her tears of near-despair.

Kurt nods. "If not the senator then some other route then? Would Hank have access, as an Avenger?"

Xavier shakes his head, "Hank is working with Warren out with the Defenders right now, so his Avengers clearance is currently suspended. In addition, the information gleaned from Rogue's psyche indicates that Gyrich, who was or is the Avenger's political liaison, is directly involved in this."

"Seems like we keep coming back to that fellow. We find him, we find some answers," Logan says.

Xavier nods, “Indeed.”

He then continues, “I fear that the events of the last few years have moved past me. When I founded this school it was with two goals: the first to provide save shelter and training for Mutants so that they could learn to use their powers, to live with humans without fear. The second was the awareness that I would need agents to protect humans from evil mutants. I thought I would have years and I had weeks, but the X-Men persevered and succeeded in the second goal. That’s what we’ve always done, but it wasn’t until recently that I returned to my original goal and started bringing in young new mutants unsure of their powers, and started training them not as future X-Men but simply as people.

“And in between my first class of students and now – to be honest even between the day when I recruited the three of you,” Xavier looks from Nightcrawler to Wolverine to Colossus, “and now – the players changed. No longer is it just Magneto and I facing off against each other, with a scattering of confused or evil mutants. The Hellfire Club, the Morlocks, Mystique’s ‘Brotherhood’, and that’s just in North America. I’m sure that the Soviets have replaced Pitor Phobos’ team somehow. Everyone is jockeying for power behind the scenes and in this I’ve been entirely too reactive. The X-Men win every battle, but Xavier’s School is losing the war.

The professor is clearly angry with himself as he continues. “Too many mutants have never been contacted by our school only to be recruited elsewhere. How many Hellions does Emma Frost have in being trained to believe in mutants as commodities or rulers with no in between? How many are huddling under the tunnels of Manhattan being fed Callisto’s nihilistic worldview?”

“Rachel’s future places the failures of my attentions in sharp relief. It is time for me, for all of us, to start looking at the larger board.” Xavier self-anger is being transmuted, as it always does, into a passion for action.

"All right." As always in favor of action, Logan grins. "Let's get offensive."

Kitty, who's been watching all this quietly, covers a smile at Logan's choice of words.

Kurt nods in agreement. "Ja, I am uneasy waiting for the next shoe to drop. But where do we start?"

Logan shrugs. "We try to find Gyrich. He seems to be the only human point of contact we have. We can try to get in touch with Rossi, who probably knows something - if we can find him. Maybe we can draw him out, if we can convince him he'll be safe." And hope we can carry through -- doesn't always end well.

"With the Morlocks?" says Colossus. "Callisto is right. They need to eat. Without raiding anyone."

The professor smiles at the difference in response between two of his students, “Both excellent ideas. I’m afraid if Mr. Gyrich is actively working against us that none of us would be effectively able to track his movements once we locate him, and even looking for him might exacerbate the problem. However, I think I have some resources that I can pull off of their nearly completed task to start hunting our hunter.”

“Concerning Mr. Rossi, I think I need to reach out to him telepathically and confirm that he is well and reassure him of our goodwill. If he’s outside of my range, Wolverine, I will give you a starting point – I trust that you feel comfortable finding him with that?” The professor looks at Wolverine for an unnecessary but polite confirmation.

"You bet."

The Professor turns to Colossus, “You’re right of course. Despite how we first met them and our rocky relations there’s no reason for the Morlocks to remain enemies. Indeed, you would be dead without the assistance of their healer. You’re the obvious choice for opening up more formal and hopefully less contentious relations with them, if you feel comfortable doing so.”

Colossus's thought balloon reads, "Comfortable? No, but..." He nods, not looking at Kitty even more than the current norm.

Logan chimes in, "Can we work on reverse-engineering these weapons? We know what they did, and that they're supposedly meant for use against Wraiths. Can we come up with an operating principle, and a defense? This is no suppressor, it's messed 'Roro up bad."

Xavier nods again, “We certainly should, but for now let’s see how much Storm can learn at the source. Now that I know where she is I should be able to manage brief telepathic updates through this Forge’s shielding. The strain will be considerable but I think well worth it for the chance of turning this man into an ally.”

That nets a nod and a scowl. "I know she knows what she's doing but... I can't trust that fellow."

Finally the Professor looks to Kitty, “Sprite, you said that while you were a prisoner at the Massachusetts Academy that they have their own ‘Combat Room’ that looked like ours prior to our recent rebuilding with Shi’ar technology*?”

[ED: See New Mutants 14-17]

"That's right."

“I suspect that’s exactly what it was, and that the Hellfire Club successfully compromised our systems at some point. I want you to go through everything – every system every connection, every transmission out of the house, to see if we are still being monitored in any way, or indeed even vulnerable to be monitored. If our current security is intact, strengthen it.” The professor smiles again, “If it’s breached in any way, isolate it…so that we can start lying to them.”

"Yes, Professor!" Kitty says eagerly.

"What do you want to do with me?" Rachel asks. "I'm not an X-man -- though I probably would have been if the school wasn’t destroyed. I want to avert the future I came from -- or one like it -- as much as anyone--I know what's at stake, but I can understand if you're not willing to trust me."

"It's not a matter of trust, child," the Professor explains in a friendly tone, "it's a question of capabilities, and as of right now I have no idea what yours are. Trust me when I say once I know where you're best suited to help I shall not hesitate to put you to work."

"And how do you propose to find out?" Rachel asks.

"Same as every other student," The Professor says, "I'm going to push you until you grow, kicking and screaming, into your full potential."

Kurt smiles at Rachel. "Welcome to the X-Men, Rachel. Soon they will make you learn baseball and make you face the Danger Room. I know this. Don't worry, the Danger Room is by far the easier to understand."

page 5 (Kurt)

Shortly after the events near the Baxter Building, Kurt Wagner is dressed neatly in a pair of dark trousers and a wine-colored polo-neck sweater, incongruously clinging to the side of a building in Manhattan overlooking Central Park South. The wind whips through his blue-black hair and ruffles his fur. He clutches a bottle of something bubbly and a pair of long-stemmed wine glasses in his free hand. In a blink he disappears.

To reappear inside the apartment building opposite in a nicely appointed living room. The apartment of one Amanda Sefton. The window frames the building opposite on which Kurt until moments ago was perched.

"Meine Schatz, tonight you shall have the undivided attention of Herr Wagner!"

Aforementioned Fraulein Sefton, looking weary, is in the process of unbuttoning her blouse. Behind her one can follow her trail from the doorway (her overnight bag), down the short entry hall (her coat), towards the kitchen (one shoe), to the right of the kitchen island (her other shoe), the kitchen island (her stewardess cap and a pot of water heating for tea), to the left of the kitchen island (her hose) and eventually to her current position, which is heading in to draw a bath.

Her face brightens considerably at the unusual arrival, “Oh, thank God. Give me a foot rub and I’m yours forever.”

Kurt puts the champagne and glasses swiftly on the nearest level surface.

"Is that all takes?" Kurt flexes his fingers with exaggerated care. "These hands are at your service, Amanda, my love."

He vaults neatly across the room and lands with cat-like grace beside Amanda. "Shall I run you a bath and attend your feet while it draws?"

"Yes. Dammit after having to deal with a pair gropy petro-sheiks from Bahrain all day in first class I deserve a little pampering." She gives him a quick kiss and the pushes him lightly towards the bathroom. "I'll be right there" she points to the couch, "when you get out. Go. Use mama's special bath salts in the turquoise container behind the spare towels on the top shelf."

By the time Kurt gets back out he finds Amanda has stripped off her outer layers, reattached her hose to her garters and is lounging in a clearly provocative pose on the couch. "I realized you might have been off saving the world this week, so I figured you deserved a little pampering too."

A discreet time later....

Still in the tub (which is full of Mama Gypsy's Magic Comics Code Bubbles that have the same effect as Rachel's thought balloons from last ish. Though for the fan service Kurt's chest of acrobat's muscles is well visible) Amanda is graciously accepting getting her back scrubbed and massaged.

"Mmmmmmmmmm... Much as I love travelling I sure love coming home," she says. "Oh, before I forget, Candy Southern says 'Hi'. Did you know that Warren has her running his latest stab at a super-hero team? The Defenders?"

"The Defenders? Ach, all the good names are taken it seems. Poor Warren doesn't seem able to put down the hero's mantle. Candy will find he's not exactly a hands-off boss."

"I don’t doubt it. She calls me every once in a while to chat about our boyfriend's particular career insanities. At least with you it's a real school, you teach kids, it's doing something. With Warren, well, I get the feeling he's trying to relive his youth. But he's lousy at follow through, and now Candy's trying to hold it together for him."

"Anyway, we got to saying that we really need to set up an annual meeting of her, me, maybe Mariko if she doesn't think that'd be too weird, and just commiserate. I'd invite Maddy too, but I like being the one with the least life-confusion-due-to-my-mutant-super-hero-boyfriend/husband stories. Settled as they are up in Alaska I doubt she's got any super-hero weirdness lingering around that could mess with their relationship."

Kurt grins and flicks some bubbles in Amanda's direction. "Amanda dearest, you clearly haven't spent much time in Scott's company. If you think Warren has a hero complex, Scott puts him in the shade. Herr Summers will find a foe to fight if only a local oil baron or an uppity moose." Kurt's tail snakes over the side of the bath and snares a towel from the rail nearby, smoothly covering his lower regions as he stands up in the bath. Wrapping the towel about himself he continues, "Should I be hurt that my girlfriend has the least confusion in her life due to her magnificent mutant male?" He vaults from the bath to perch on the toilet cistern. "I must provide you with more patented X-Men insanities to share with your girlfriends." The cistern shifts suddenly under his weight with an ominous sound and Kurt steps forward to plant his foot in the bowl.

"Scheiße!"

Amanda starts laughing madly before falling backward, completely submerging herself and continuing to kick her heels against the tub. After a couple more seconds she emerges again. "Well *that* was heroic." she starts giggling again. "Actually, I shouldn't talk - 6 months ago, last time we were going this, you dumped Candy into my tub 'cause the Morlocks attacked her. 3 months ago at Lincoln Center I was helping hold off the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants. I can do without the appearance of Tidy-Bowl Man tonight to wreak his vengeance on you." Amanda stands up and accepts a proffered towel. "Besides, I'm not at all confused by my magnificent mutant male. In many ways he's completely predictable. But I'll take the predictability of coming home to champagne and foot rubs on occasion."

The next morning....

Snug under the warm blankets of Amanda's bed, the couple cuddle, lit by the dim streetlight seeping through the curtains. "Leibchen, I know I joked earlier about Scott, but something has happened that will doubtless trouble him. A girl, Rachel, has appeared. A girl from the future. Or perhaps, God willing, a future not to come. She is Scott's daughter, Amanda, and she fled a horrifying future."

His voice low, Kurt begins to recount the story of the events of Days of Future Past. (Ed ref., Uncanny X-Men 141-142)

The light at the window brightens before Kurt reaches the end of the tale. "And so, Amanda, now we have this girl at the mansion. Kitty knew her before. Or rather will have known her. Ach, it is so confusing!"

Amanda listens to Kurt's story with growing concern. "But Rachel being here at all..." She shakes her head, "This is like one of Mama's riddles, where in order to understand how a spell works you have to mentally thread a needle, but with a live snake."

She gives Kurt a kiss, "But there's one other thing Mama taught me, and that's to live in the now part of the Way, and that controls where the later part goes. So we just have to make sure it not happens by actions in the now." She starts giggling. "Plus, once you tell Scott what's going on it means I can invite Maddy to the party! My boyfriend's least weird again!"

After giggling in stress relief for a few more minutes she gets serious. "You are going to tell Scott, right?"

Kurt considers this. "Ja, I imagine we will. I would have said Storm would make that decision, but she's... on a leave of absence, you might say."

A worried expression settles on Kurt's face. "Storm tells us she has lost her powers, Amanda. I don't know if it's temporary or, God forbid, permanent. She needs space and time to recover. I only hope Rachel's arrival doesn't take that from her."

He rubs his eyes. "Not that Rachel is to blame. She's a fugitive, running from a future that terrifies me. Is her presence her a sign that future has been diverted? Or cemented?" He shivers, despite the warm covers on the bed.

Page 6-7 (Rachel and Peter)

Days after her arrival, Peter again drives the school’s car into the city so that the time-shifted mutant can familiarize herself with the present day. At Rachel’s direction their path takes them back to the Port Authority area, where NYC’s hard working and very experienced maintenance crews have already repaired the damage from the previous week’s fight.

Rachel is dressed in one of her mother's sweater and pencil skirt combinations. The lavender sweater goes well enough with her hair, but on her, it seems more severe than it would on Jean.

"So..." says Peter, "In your world, your... mother, did she teach you?"

Rachel shakes her head. "My parents -- and the professor, and your sister -- were killed when the school was destroyed by Sentinels. I grew up with my grandparents--until I had to leave to make sure they weren't targets. I miss them. My parents--where are they? They weren't at the school! I would like to meet them some day."

"Your father is in Alaska," says Peter, carefully.

"And my mother's still dead, I see. I didn't think she stayed dead this long, in fact, I'm sure she didn't."

The streets around the Port Authority in daylight are in the aggregate no better or worse than at night: while their dilapidated state shows through more clearly their denizens are not quite so seedy in the early morning. The only building that appears cared for is the classically constructed Catholic Church on which Nightcrawler, Rachel and Callisto spoke.

Rachel's scans of the area have some problems locating Wren, but eventually she does find the girl's thoughts, extremely muffled, coming from the room where Rachel first met her. Wren is either asleep, on drugs, or more likely both.

"She's asleep," Rachel says, "and probably on something. This way."

The trip through the apartment building shows that it does not improve with daylight, but the stairs are all intact, as is the door to Wren's room.

Peter looks to Rachel for guidance, the young Russian having not the faintest idea how one enters a courtesan's room, particularly when that courtesan is an abused, underage girl who is younger than his own sister.

Rachel, naturally, enters without knocking, and looks over her former benefactor, and looks over her mind and body to see if there's any way to bring her out of her stupor.

There are two other girls present, presumably Socorro and Ruby. One is Black, the other Latino; both appear to be of an age with Wren and in similar condition. It would be the act of a second to telepathically rouse Wren or any one of them.

Wake up, Wren

The girl's eyes flutter open, followed by a "Woah. Rachel! Great to see you." Her eyes, glassy and guileless as ever, flick over to Peter and back, "Mickey told me that things between you and Gabe didn't work out but I see you found somebody. That's great."

"Uh - I -" says Peter, blushing as he takes in the implications of "found somebody".

"Gabe? Oh, Mickey told us he had to take off for a bit. Personal business, he said, and he'd be looking after us," she looks confused for a second, "he Mickey, not he Gabe."

Rachel can easily see Wren's surface thoughts and the girl is being honest - she had never seen Gabe again, and the transition of the second in command taking over hadn't resulted in any undue hardship for the girls of Gabe's stable. Of course, things hadn't gotten any better either.

"I found some friends," Rachel says, "Look, Wren, you're a nice girl, and there's a lot more to the world than all this," she gestures broadly at the flat, the other drugged girls, and so on. "I think I can help; offer a way out, but you have to be willing to let me help."

Wren looks exceedingly confused. "Help how? What do you mean?" her mind is still foggy from the drugs, but Rachel can easily see her blinkered worldview; Wren literally can't see anything different from this.

"Just relax, Wren," Rachel says, looking compassionate, "I'll do what I can."

A few minutes later, Rachel opens her eyes, and smiles sadly at Peter. "She'll go to a shelter when she wakes up, and I've broken some of the feedback mechanisms that keep her coming back to the drugs or make her think this is the safest place for her. Beyond that...she needs more help than I can give."

Page 8 (Peter)

Making his way into the subway system, Peter once again locates the secret door that leads down to the Morlock tunnels that Kitty found six months ago. It clicks open invitingly under his fingers, swinging silently aside

The stairs down are still lovely pieces of Gilded Age craftsmanship, with carvings on the walls and brass fixtures on the elaborate ironwork railings.

Eventually he gets close enough to the Alley to know that the Morlocks must be aware of his presence, and shortly after that he spies Callisto sitting on an outcropping about 20 feet off the floor some 30 feet away from him.

“Can I help you?”

"I... We were wondering how we could help you," says Peter. "So that you won't need to raid during the winter."

Callisto stares at him, dumbfounded, for a few minutes and then she starts laughing.

Once she recovers she looks at him again, "You're serious. You really believed me up there? Of COURSE we're going to raid the surface, Colossus. Storm never even outlawed it."

She hops down off of her perch to his level, "She said, and I quote, that the Morlocks couldn't treat New Yorkers as prey. We can not attack them -- for money or for sport -- we can't steal their children to swell our ranks and we can't kill them. She never said anything about stealing food or clothes. Just attacking people. I've stuck to that."

She makes a face and spits, "'Steal their children to swell our ranks.' Arrogant, condescending witch." She then starts to walk away.

After a second she looks back, "Well, are you coming, Peter? Want to see how the baby-stealing evil Morlocks you're going to save really live?"

He blinks, experiencing conversational vertigo, then follows mutely.

She leads him down into the Alley, the miles long enormous bomb shelter/train station/storage area that someone constructed under New York at the turn of the century and then forgot about. The last time Peter was here it was to rescue a kidnapped comrade - Angel - and the feel then was dark and militant. Now, walking through it as a visitor at the side of the community's former leader, it's a very different experience. Not welcoming, certainly, but not hostile either.

"See that group of Baby-Stealers over there?" She points to a group individuals clustered around one of the storage drum fires - while the depth of the Alley keeps it from ever getting too cold, it also is never really warm - who are all pale skinned and with somewhat vacant expressions. "Caliban, Sunder and I found those wretches a little over a year ago in one of the side tunnels. They were worshipping some gross mutant albino who had proclaimed himself god king of the underworld. Had a pet alligator, apparently, but some costume had killed it a few months earlier. He had them eating rats and, I suspect, people.*"

[*Ed: See Daredevil 180 for the origins of this sordid tale]

"Fat bastard wouldn't listen to reason. We brought his prisoners here, Healer took care of the goiters and tumors and scurvy they were sporting." Callisto shrugs, "They're still a little moony, set up their own prayer circle and whatnot, worshiping their fallen god, but they see Sunder as some sort of second coming."

She keeps walking, "I got a bag lady with a background in social work - how's that for ironic? - talking them back to normal. Over there," She gestures to a girl with scarlet skin, "That's Lettie. Born in Michigan, kinda got disowned when she turned bright red all over. Seems her mutant power is that she can shift the light spectrum down a few notches. Not useful - odd how your Prof never picked her up for the X Team - but enough to make her an outcast. Caliban and Plague found her hiding out in the Port Authority, stealing luggage to get by."

She turns to look at him, challenging, "There's more than three hundred of us now, some mutant, most not, all outcasts. I got over three hundred mouths to feed, men, women and children. How're you gonna save us from our thieving ways, Colossus? You gonna punch something?"

Peter folds his arms, and, if there's a wall, leans against it.

"Does it matter?" he says. "You're going to raid the surface anyway. You were always going to do it, and there isn't even a rule against it." He looks around the Alley. "Maybe Storm didn't just forget to make one. It seems to be working out well for you, so I suppose the joke is on me for thinking you needed help."

Peter almost misses it, but there's a flash on her face - a tiny brief moment of real hurt - before the reflexive sardonic anger covers it and she responds, "I guess so. So why don't you head back up to your jailbait, and don't let the train hit you in the ass on the way out."

She turns then, and starts heading over to a group of men straining to maneuver... dear lord is that a whole limousine sans wheels?

Callisto's body is a tight angry line as she yells out "What are you idiots doing?" and clearly she's trying to ignore Peter just as much as Kitty has been.

Peter finds himself smiling. "Would you like me to punch it for you?"

Callisto shoots him a glare that could melt lead, "If you're not going to leave then keep these idiots from getting a hernia. It goes down there," She points to a spot more than a hundred yards in the distance, "and don't break any of it."

Colossus shrugs and picks up the limousine, carefully.

The other Morlocks, freed of their burden, hustle down to that spot.

She falls into step beside him until they reach a side tunnel where Colossus can see a small auto repair shop.

Callisto sniffs the air near the car when he puts it down, reaches in and pulls out a small bag of white powder which she promptly pours down the shop sink. "Idiots. Gouk, there's a mini bar in there you can clean out and put in storage, and some caviar and lox. Make sure the fish gets to Miss P., she'll likely need the protein."

Colossus's thought balloon reads "If that powder is what I think it is, they could make money selling it. Storm didn't think to make any rules about that. But, Callisto won't do that."

"Do you need it disassembled?" he asks.

"You gonna punch it?" Callisto responds, then adds "Naah, a couple of us used to work in a chop shop up above."

She looks at one of the other Morlocks. "Shuffle, make sure the gasoline and the engine get down to the electrical shops. Harriet in the pantry will take the air condition and refrigeration units. I'm pretty sure we need a new radio in the nursery, and I think I saw a TV screen back there too. Any of the long parts go to Yorick at the manufacturing shop and see what we can get for the rest overhead."

Shuffle nods and motions to the others to get to work.

"Wait," Callsito adds, "Where's Sunder? Why wasn't he carrying this?"

"He said he saw something in the back forty, was gonna go check it out."

"Dammit," Callisto swears, and then takes off at a fast trot leaving Colossus to follow, or not.

He follows.

She's clearly got a destination in mind, and by and large people move out of her way, but she's stopped three times with questions for things - what do we do with this, how do we handle that - and in each case she either gives concise orders in a biting tone or directs the questioner to someone else with a sardonic comment.

Once she stops on her own, with a small child who is looking a little forlorn playing with a raggedy doll. She leans down, "Sally, I have an important thing I need you to do."

Sally looks up, eyes wide, and nods.

"Go to Caliban's rooms and tell him I need him in the back forty. Can you do that?"

Sally bites her lip and then shakes her head a little.

"Is Caliban too scary?"

She nods a little.

"Is he as scary as me?"

She bites her lip and shakes her head a little

"But you're talking to me. If you're brave enough to do that you're brave enough to talk to him. So go."

Sally gets up whispers "Back forty."

Caliban nods, and then gives the girl a swat on her backside to get her moving.

[BR: the general sense Peter should get is that she's a Kolkhoz brigadir, albeit dipped in vinegar. feel free to respond here. ]

[LP: Oh right-- what's a Kolkhoz brigadir?]

[BR: A Kolkhoz is a Soviet centralized farm. The families were organized into Brigades, and the Brigadir was the one in charge.]

Eventually she reaches a round tunnel exiting the alley, and past it Peter can hear the sloshing sound of water flowing, but not the scent of sewage.

She stops and sniffs the air. "Dammit." she leans down and runs her finger along the stone, coming up with something viscus. "Dammit dammit dammit."

"What do I punch?" says Peter, quietly.

"I don't know yet," She starts walking into the tunnel, which Peter sees is marked 'Hudson Access 40'. "Might be a lost mutant, might be a deep undersea war beast left behind from one of Namor's attacks on the city." Her stance has shifted to more of a crouch, and she's strapped on her slingshot.

The tunnel gets darker to the point where Colossus can barely see as Callisto leads him down a maze of dark passages, all alike. Suddenly it brightens as it approaches a light source: the flashlight held limply in Sunders hand. The big mutant is slumped against a wall, wet with salt water and blood, holding a crowbar sized length of iron in his other hand.

"Found it," He grunts, then shoots Peter a suspicious look.

Callisto isn't even looking at him, instead scanning the area "That's great you idiot. Do you know what it is?"

"Rubbery."

"Caliban is here," Says a voice right behind Peter. He looks up at Peter with undisguised hope in his eyes. "Is the Spritechild here?

"No, but she is well," says Peter. "I will tell her you asked about her."

[LP: While he is trying to figure out what's out there, he doesn't have Callisto's senses, and anyway, that doesn't fit well into this panel.]

"Quit mooning, Caliban," Callisto sneers. "There's something else in these tunnels. Is it a mutant?"

Caliban shakes his head, "Caliban, Callisto, Sunder and Steelpeter are the only mutants here."

"Good. You should be strong enough to help Sunder out of here. Sunder, get Healer to boost you up, round up the rest of the mutants and you and Caliban guard the Back Forty entrance," She says, her voice suddenly calm and, dare we think it, friendly?

Sunder looks like he's about to object, then nods. Caliban voices his concerns instead, "Caliban is not a fighter..." he begins.

"Listen, if this thing gets past me into the tunnels it’s going to be wounded, angry and start lashing out at people," Her voice is still light and friendly, as is her stance (which is very strange to see). "So you are going to get near every mutant you can, boost your strength as much as you can, and if it comes out you're going to crush it. Understand?"

Caliban nods.

"Good. Sunder, hand me the crowbar. Now get out of here." She looks at Peter, "You don't need to breathe, right?"

"Not in this form."

"Good. grab that rope over there and when we get to the waterway tether yourself to a wall hook. The current can get fierce." while her face, stance and voice are all friendly and non-threatening her eyes are steely. "That thing doesn't get out of here by the water. You got that?"

Colossus nods, taking the rope. "Apart from rubbery and not getting out of here by the water, what do I need to know about it?"

"It's eaten three Morlocks over the last few years," she says happily, "It's amphibious. Some undersea nitwit used it as part of an attack on the city, and it ended up settling in the tunnels around the Hudson. It's trained to work with people, which is why I'm not looking or sounding at all like I'm about to kill it. And it's watching us. Now go down that tunnel and block the damn exit."

“Sounds good," says Peter, keeping his tone conversational. He heads down the tunnel.

Since she handed him the light it's easy enough to find the entrance, and to tether himself off and wait.

After a few minutes he hears the distinct sounds of conflict from down the tunnel, including a pair of simultaneous primal roars which, if pressed, Peter would not be able to identify which originated in Callisto's throat. After a few seconds there's a hideous wet sound of something penetrating flesh, followed by the noise of a body hitting stone with some force. Almost immediately after that Colossus sees a batrachian menace flailing down the passage at him, one bulbous eye cut away, it's head frills broken snapped or sliced off, it's leechlike mouth wide and howling in pain, it pale red body marred by the bright red streaks of facial and neck wounds. Its torso is humanoid with long, clawed arms, but the lower half of the body is snakelike.

Colossus has never seen anything like it in his life.*

[*ED but you have if you've read Fantastic Four #219!]

It's movement is highly erratic, and with one flailing stroke it reveals why - the crowbar is stuck wholly through its body at the point where the torso shifts into coils, and it's clear that the blow has cleanly severed it's spine, but reflex action is snapping the coils back and forth in a swimming motion driving it towards Colossus, and the river entrance past him.

Colossus moves to block the creature, bracing for impact. He's ready to get into an underwater wrestling match, if need be.

The creature slams into him in its attempt to reach the water, but fails to overbalance the Russian or avoid its grasp. Colossus gets a firm grip on the things torso and begins to squeeze. Its serpentine tail flails around Colossus legs, sending both of them into the water, where we watch the rope uncoil, grow taught and then nothing for a panel before Colossus pulls himself out of the water, dragging the clearly deceased creature behind him.

Callisto is already in the room - her left arm is hanging limply, and Peter can see a long gash through the muscles of her upper arm that is slowly oozing rather than gushing blood. She has her knife in her other hand, but sheathes it when she sees Colossus bringing the body out.

"You ain't useless, I'll give you that," she says, and then turns to walk back to the others, trusting Peter to follow.

Once they're back out with the others, Peter can see Sunder and Caliban at the tunnel entrance. There are a score of other Morlocks forming a secondary perimeter. When the pair emerge with the body a ragged cheer comes up.

"Shut it," Callisto growls. "We should'a caught this thing a year ago before Hazel got killed. Sunder, get the body to a charnel pit and burn it."

Healer moves cautiously over to Callisto's side to work on her arm but she pushes him off for a minute to look at Colossus.

"Who rules here, me or Storm?"

Pages 9-10 (Wolverine, Rachel and Nightcrawler)

The Danger Room - thanks to the introduction of Shi'ar holographic, matter replication and gravity warping technology, is capable of replicating any environment you can think of. For today, however, it is in its most basic setting - the beige walls covered with an eccentric pattern of right angles, each indicating a place where a concealed weapon or trap might extend to torment a mutant whose mind is not on their training. The floor contains a variety of gymnastic and exercise equipment, but the focus of attention is a set of mats in the center of the room.

Standing on those mats are Wolverine and the woman calling herself Rachel Summers. Watching from the control room is Nightcrawler, ready to program changes into the room as requested.

Rachel is dressed in a green miniskirt with yellow gloves, boots, and mask. "This was gone by the time my powers developed," she says, looking around, "So I never got to..."

Logan is in costume, his stance casual. "What was your training like, then?"

"We did what we could, when we could. We had to run a lot, but when we had some space, time to rest...we trained. We needed to be ready."

Rachel lashes out with a kick, not bothering to give warning first.

He avoids it effortlessly.

"When we had more time, we set up devices, scenarios, took turns running things and playing opposition."

Logan feints to her left and strikes for her shoulder.

Her surface level telepathy lets her see the feint for what it was and move out of the way of his actual attack. She's fast enough so that his blow misses, and even if he'd been moving at full speed it would only have grazed her sleeve.

"Sometimes, we'd need a scenario with some more teeth, so someone with the juice would take on the role of "Danger Room."

Turning, Rachel grabs Logan's still extended arm and smoothly flips him over her shoulder, but between the weight of his adamantium-laced bones and his own reflexes, he lands on his feet, right on the edge of the mat.

"Sounds like fun ta me," he grins. "We've run a bit like that now and again. More of a realistic scenario than all of the toys." Not bad. Fast--physically at least. Wonder if she'll bite on a pattern?

Wolverine moves in on her, crowding her space and tossing a quick sequence of jabs into her midsection. Rachel blocks backs away from the first, blocks the second and sidesteps the third to keep from being driven off the mat. It's only at the last second that her telepathy tells her this is a set up, letting her leap over the low right leg sweep that would've sent her tumbling onto her face.

The pair pause for a minute with Wolverine in one of his characteristic low crouches and Rachel recovering her balance from the desperate, TK fueled jump just out of his reach.

Rachel grins, then charges, executing a telekinetically aided forward flip just at the last minute to avoid Logan's expected parry, instead kicking out with both feet at his chest for a solid hit, then reversing the flip and landing on her feet.

The kick forces Wolverine into a backward tumble, but he bounces back up with no worries.

"Hey, this is fun, but any time you want me to try playing 'Danger Room,' just say the word," she says. "It was usually me, Ororo, or Magnus, once we met up with him, who set up and ran the scenario. Magnus was the hardest, of course, even if he did claim he'd slowed down a lot."

Wolverine charges forward, which he does, launching another punch at her midsection and again Rachel moves out of the way, but this time she's not fast enough to do anything about the follow-up, an open palm strike that sends her flying, bouncing once and skidding to the very edge of the mat.

"Met up with Magnus? When was... is that?" Flamin' alternate timelines.

The pair circle one another, scoping out stances, cataloguing responses.

Wolverine easily notices two things: first, that Rachel seamlessly integrates her powers into her fighting - even without consciously using her TK it is still augmenting her strength and endurance and her telepathy is letting her see feints and patterns just before they happen - just like Jeanie used to. Second, while he's still not sure that he trained her he's pretty damn positive that Scott didn't. Her style has none of Cyclops' smooth alternating between judo-inspired close grabs and strikes that keep his opponents off balance and vulnerable to his optic blasts.

"A lot happened around then; maybe twenty five years from now? He's a villain now, isn't he? We had a lot less to disagree on, particularly once the Sentinels took over. The worst had already happened. But it's not an alternate timeline; or at least it wasn't; this is my past."

"Right. Not what you'd call a villain villain. He's got his good points. I guess."

With an almost imperceptible nod Wolverine gives Nightcrawler the sign to move to "Phase II" - not that he knows that Phase II might be....

Up in the control room Kurt flexes his fingers and cracks his knuckles like a virtuoso pianist. He stabs at a couple of buttons and pushes a slider up half-way.

Below a series of small panels in the wall nearest the pair and a flurry of darts issue forth, spraying the area.

This elementary danger is avoided without even the appearance of motion on Logan's part.

A lightshow springs to life around Rachel as her telekinesis blocks the sudden threat.

Across the room a tall, narrow door opens and a rolling hoop emerges, scintillating with electricity across its surface. Wolverine will realize that using his claws on it would give him a powerful electric shock. The hoop rapidly, switching direction in moment to moment, as it speeds towards Rachel.

Rachel jumps straight up

Rachel's leap is much higher than it would have been normally, but not fast enough - the hoop's edge catches her head on, it's electromagnetic fields flipping her inside it for a second where the electrical arc catches her full on before spitting her out in its wake.

Both Wolverine and Nightcrawler have "Ouch!" looks on their faces as the Danger Room claims another student-victim.

Page 11-12 (Kitty and Peter)

A pensive Ilyana Rasputin is sitting with Dani Moonstar in Dani’s room. She’s clutching a pillow to her chest. “You promised you wouldn’t tell anyone.”

“And I haven’t,” Dani replies. “I’m telling you as your friend that you need to tell someone. I can’t help you. Maybe they know someone who can.”

“You’re one to talk – what’s up with you and the bear-hunting simulations?”

“You’re deflecting, and it won’t work. You have to tell them.”

“But you don’t understand… I ki…I did things….” Ilyana is biting her lip now, near crying.

“I know, or at least I can guess. But whatever it was that happened to you, it’s not over. It’s tearing you apart right now, Ilyana. He’s your brother, and he’s the most instinctively caring men I’ve ever met. She’s your best friend.” Dani makes a face, “And she’s a genius, much as I hate to admit it. I think just being able to discuss it with someone else will help share the load a little. They love you and nothing that you did, or was done to you, is going to change that” Dani takes her friend’s hand and pulls her up. “Now come on. You go see Peter, and I’ll get Kitty.”

“You think Peter’s caring?” Ilyana asks while rising. “Even after what happened with Kitty?”

“Yeah. I don’t know his side of it. I don’t know what happened out there,” Dani gestures up to space in some vague sense. “But I do think he only goes wrong when he thinks too much about it. Like his soul knows the right answers but his brain keeps getting in the way.”

Ilyana nods, “Yeah, that’s about right.” She turns to head to where Peter is.

“Plus, he has a really cute butt,” Dani adds before running down the hall to find Kitty.

Ilyana finds Peter in his room, sketching. His drawing table is full of pictures of people – Kitty, the healer from Beyonder’s world, Rachel, and even Memento.

<Translated from the Russian>

“Peter, can I talk to you for a few minutes? Downstairs?” it’s obvious to him that there is something eating at his sister, and that this is serious.

"Of course," says Peter, putting down his pencil and standing to follow her.

Ilyana leads him downstairs to the informal sitting room and gestures for him to take a seat. She’s biting her lip again, a nervous habit Peter had noted years ago. She sits too, but is clearly waiting for something else. After a few seconds she says ‘I’m just waiting for Kitty. I need to talk to both of you.”

Meanwhile

Dani locates Kitty in her room, at the computer. “Kitty, you got a minute? Ilyana wants to talk to you downstairs,” the New Mutant asks her. Again, the tone is serious.

"Hmmm?" Kitty says distractedly. "Downstairs? Okay. One sec." She saves her work and joins Dani at the door. "What's up?"

"Ilyana wants to talk to you and Peter," Dani's face is guarded, one that Kitty recognizes as someone who knows more than she is at liberty to divulge. "She's in the sitting room," the girl adds, obviously not wanting to risk getting grilled during their short walk downstairs and hoping to be able to escape as soon as possible.

"Oh," Kitty says, and also thinks, "I *told* her not to get involved!"

Inside the informal sitting room Kitty finds Peter and Ilyana; her friend is clearly upset about something.

Peter is sitting near Ilyana, which means Kitty has the advantage of deciding how to position herself relative to him. He's mentally bracing himself, having what is probably a completely incorrect idea about just what his sister would want to talk to both him and Kitty about.

Kitty's thoughts go: If I sit next to him I won't have to look at him ... but I don't want to sit next to him ... Stop it, Kitty, this is *not* mature at all!

And she plunks herself down next to Ilyana, a little harder than is strictly necessary. "Well, I'm here."

"Thanks," Ilyana says, and then, "Thanks," again to Dani as the other girl closes the door, leaving the trio alone. She looks back and forth between the other two for a second, clearly struggling to put something into words but knowing that she's committed now and there's no way to back out without some awkward questions.

"I'm evil," she says finally. "I'm the demon queen of limbo and I'm evil."

Tears start streaming down her cheeks. "Kitty, I'm so sorry I killed you."

"Huh?" Kitty says, her expression all astonishment.

"Ilyana?" says Peter, confused. "Kitty is here." He gestures in a clearly-she-isn't-dead sort of way.

"No, you don't..." she swallows hard, wipes her eyes and continues, "Do you remember in Belasco's limbo there were the remnants of another group of X-Men? Peter, you and Wolverine had been killed, Kurt had turned evil and Storm had become a sorceress and helped you escape? But you never saw Kitty. There was one. She called herself Cat."

"Belasco had twisted her too, though not as badly has he had Kurt. She trained me to swordfight and then tried to storm Belasco's tower with me to help me escape. We..." She puts her head down, and whispers, "failed. And she was captured, and twisted into a demon. I had to kill her, you. And then I had to kill Storm."

"She was you, Kitty. I loved you like a sister and I drove a sword through your chest. I'm so sorry." The tears are streaming down her face again.

For the reader's benefit, a still-surprised Kitty thinks: *Oh! So when she disappeared and came back so much older ... she really lived all those years!*

Next she leans forward with one hand on Ilyana's shoulder, looking rather helpless as she says, "Ilyana, I ..."

And then she gives up on trying to use words and pulls her friend into a hug.

Ilyana is sobbing in her arms, but is still struggling to get something out, to say something that she feels need to be said but can only bring herself to whisper.

"I needed to kill you, you were killing Storm," she whispers, too low for her brother to hear, "I'm sorry because I enjoyed it."

Peter starts to reach for his sister, but stops himself, not wanting to crowd Kitty or Ilyana and Kitty. "This does not make you a demon," he says.

Kitty, deeply worried, says, "Ilyana ... that doesn't make you less human."

Ilyana returns Kitty's hug almost hard enough to hurt, and looks up at Peter with eyes welling with tears and gratitude. "I'm so scared. I'm so scared."

Once Ilyana has had a chance to calm down she sits again and starts to talk. Now that she's broken the dam it’s easier for her, but easier is a far way from easy - she's still shaking at points, and quiet at others, working through the words.

"Once you left Limbo, when I was alone with Belasco, he started...cutting off parts of my soul and twisting them," she opens her gold locket and shows the pentagram inside with three of the five settings full of blood red stones. "That's 3/5ths of my soul, warped. He taught me sorcery, then I was rescued by Storm and Cat and Storm taught me more sorcery, then Cat taught me to fight. She tried to help me escape but it just brought me back into Belsaco's clutches and twisted Cat into something inhuman.

"He made the second stone then, and taught me more magic. I spent years learning from him, plotting how I was going to overthrow him. I was eleven. I was an idiot. Then my mutant powers arrived, and everything changed. Remember the stepping disks in Limbo, the ones that moved people through space and time? My power is that I can summon them. These days I shift in and out of Limbo for a second to get anywhere on Earth, but the farther I go in space the more erratic I am in time. Back then I could only use them to reach other places in Limbo.

"It was enough. I had an edge. I escaped Belasco's tower, then returned with some unspecified plan to find him battling Storm, who was trying to rescue me. You attacked her," Ilyana looks at Kitty, "and to save her life I had to kill you. But it was too late. Belasco was ready to take Storm's soul and consign it to eternal torment. I had to kill Storm too, before he could do that, to save her soul. In the space of a moment I had killed my two closest friends.

"I fled. I tried to escape Limbo, back home to Russia, and Belasco blocked me again, and took another part of my soul out as punishment. Then he left me in Storm's garden, where everything save the oak that was her magical focus had died with her passing. I spent two years there trying to master Storm's magic only to realize that I never could. I can never make things grow, or heal, or live. I can only twist things, break them, command them, and... kill them. Storm's focus was an oak. Mine is this..." she summons her soulsword, the weapon Kitty saw her create earlier, which is without a doubt the most frightening length of steel either of them have ever seen. The whole of it radiates menace, and the idea that if Merlin were to stick this sword into a stone the planet would die rather than shelter it.

"I summoned a stepping disk to Belasco and challenged him with this. It was easy. The sword is fatal to enchantments and beings of magic. But I realized that if I killed Belasco he would have won, I would have become irredeemably evil. So I banished him. Then I brought myself back in time and space to where you lost your grip on me Kitty, so you could rescue me." She smiles ruefully, "and then I started lying."

She swallows hard, "I lied about not remembering what happened to me. I arranged that scene in the Danger Room on the day Rogue joined the X-Men because I didn't know how else to broach the topic, but then I couldn't figure out how to go forward. And lying came so easily. Then S'ym, Belasco's enforcer, attacked the mansion while the X-Men were out. He defeated the Professor and the New Mutants, but I lured him away and then threatened him with," she gestures to the sword, "and he surrendered, agreed that I was the Darkchilde queen of Limbo. I sent him back to enforce my rule, then altered Stevie and the New Mutants memories of the event, even the Professor's, so no one would question what happened, or go into too much detail with the X-Men.

"But that explanation left all of them knowing I could summon the disks, so I started hanging out with the New Mutants more, which is how we were able try to rescue you from the White Queen, Kitty." She laughs, "I could have made them forget, but I let them know I was a sorceress, mostly because it makes Rhane scared. And that's fun. What am I that I think that's fun?"

"Anyway during the rescue Dani and I escaped from the Queen by jumping to Limbo. Dani saw me there, saw S'ym working for me, and I started confiding in her. And then the dreams started. Joyful nightmares where I remember killing Cat and reveling in it. Where killing Storm wasn't a necessity but an expedience. Where I see how Rhane looks at Sam and Sam looks at Amara and think about how I can break that and twist that and drive poor sweet Rhane over the edge...."

She starts crying again, "I'm evil. And I can't stop myself. And I don't know what to do."

"This does not make sense," says Peter, slowly. He's still sitting in the same chair (which means it's up to Kitty whether to avoid him more or not, though this might not actually be anyone's priority at the moment.) "I think... I think someone is trying to make us believe some things that are not true."

His thought balloon reads, "Could this be some plot of Mastermind?"

And then, probably in the next panel, his thought balloon reads, "We could look at each _part_ of the story, to find out which ones are _true_. If those gems really _are_ pieces of her soul, perhaps they could be restored? But... if this _is_ one of Mastermind's plots, how can we be sure that what we learn is true?"*

"And I think... whoever is trying to make you believe these things, he wants you to feel badly about yourself, Ilyana."

Peter clenches his fist, trying to stay calm for his sister, but starting a slow boil as he thinks about all of the things that Ilyana went through, whether they are things that "really" happened, or things that were real enough inside her own mind.

"Peter's right," Kitty says carefully. "Some of what you've been told can't be true. And if someone's trying to make you believe you're evil, then ... you must not be, right?"

Ilyana looks confused by this line of reasoning, “wait, what? But these things did happen to me. That time must have passed, since I’m not a child any more. And I am thinking these thoughts. And even the Professor can’t contact my mind, so it’s not like anyone else is influencing me…. What do you mean ‘not true’?”

Patiently, Kitty says, "I'm not saying the things didn't happen, Ilyana, I'm saying ... maybe *some* parts of it aren't what you think."

Peter nods agreement.

"Here's something we can test pretty easily. Those stepping discs are magical, right? But the Professor's research shows that mutant powers can't do magic. They're two different things. So either you're somehow using magic to control the disks, or you're manifesting a mutant power that way because it's familiar."

"If we get one of the little Cerebro units, and you try calling one of those disks, that'll tell us which it is."

Peter continues, "And... maybe someone we can trust, someone who knows about magic, can look at these stones. If they are pieces of your soul, and if they _are_ warped from what they were meant to be, maybe there is some way to restore them."

Kitty nods vigorously.

Ilyana nods. "Kitty, can you go get the unit?" It would, of course, be easier for them all to go, but Ilyana is a right mess at the moment, and understandably doesn't want to be seen.

"Good. Be right back," Kitty says, and goes out through the door (literally).

Ilyana turns to Peter in her absence, "I don't want to tell anyone else. I... I'm worried that other people might not understand. I can trust you and Kitty, but please don't make me tell anyone else yet."

"All right," says Peter.

She looks grim, "It's so hard, but now that the New Mutants know I'm a sorceress I have these strong urges to...control them. To make them do things, twist them. It's like the evil part of me wants to make it so hard for me to get help that it will make me manipulate or hurt anyone I do trust with this. I know I could never hurt you, Pitor, or Kitty, but I'm afraid of hurting someone else. The more people who know, the harder it gets."

"Ilyana," says Peter, gently, "when I first found out I was a mutant, there were things I wanted to do. Wrong things. I have not done them. Neither have you." He hugs his sister tightly. "It is going to be all right. I promise."

Kitty returns then, one of the smaller Cerebro units in tow, both the programming ‘base’ and the wrist-borne remote.

"Here we go!" she says, looking at the wrist unit. "Let's just start with a baseline ... like, how many mutants are in this room?"

The unit clearly registers three passive (i.e. not engaged in using their powers) mutant brainwaves.

"See?" Kitty says briskly, showing the readout to Ilyana (and Peter, if he wants to try to look). "That's us, not using our powers."

"Now, I'll phase out ... see how the display changes?"

One of the three wavelengths shows a marked increase in both frequency and amplitude.

"Okay, now I'll stop phasing and you summon one of those disks, Ilyana."

She does so, engulfing a chair and sending it to the other side of the room. The second wavelength on Cerebro shows an increase similar to Kitty's when phasing, but with slightly greater amplitude.

"So, these disks are not magic, then?" says Peter.

"Yup," Kitty says. "Ilyana, did somebody tell you they were magic? Or did you assume they were?"

"I just... assumed," she says. "But wait, the disks have to be magic, they were there in Limbo before my mutant powers emerged. Right?"

Kitty says, "Well ... how much does 'before' and 'after' mean with these things?"

“Hold on,” Ilyana pauses for a second, “You’re saying that all the stepping disks in Limbo, ever, came from me?”

“How is that possible?" says Peter.

"They move through time, too," Kitty replies.

Then she takes Ilyana's hands and says, "We can figure this out, sestrenku.* I don't believe you're evil, and I *do* believe you have a lot of friends who can help you. It'll be all right."

[*ED Little Sister, in Russian]

Pages 13-14 (Aside - Storm)

We’re back in Forge’s apartment. Storm is still living there, and it’s clear from their stances that the two of them have become comfortable with each other, but also clearly not intimate. The room has the same appearance as last time we saw it - old wood and small windows. The couple is sitting on the couch and chair in the living area.

“Forge,” Storm says, “I’m curious. The rest of your spaces – the kitchen, your labs, even the hallways – have the look of a 22nd century Spartan, but this room and my living spaces are full of old English respectability. Why?”

Forge smiles back, “Mostly to make you comfortable. Most people find my aesthetic sensibilities a trifle off-putting, and I was afraid that with the loss of your powers that might be doubly so.”

Storm quirks an eyebrow, “’Aesthetic sensibilities?’ And what prey tell are those?”

Forge pushes a button on his portable console and the room changes drastically: the hardwood stairs melt away, revealing barely colored Lucite steps with transparent supports that make them appear to be floating in air; the exterior walls disappear entirely, becoming floor to ceiling windows with a breathtaking view of downtown Dallas; the floor becomes a semi-transparent window over what appears to be a bio-diversity farm; even the chairs change to chrome tube designs.

“Oh” Storm says as she approaches the windows. “It’s wonderful.”

“I was afraid that since you could no longer fly…” Forge begins, and then trails off.

“Maybe in the first day or so this would have been disconcerting, but I have adjusted, I think. But I’ve always suffered from claustrophobia. This open space is much more to my liking than the previous closeness.”

She turns back to him “it has been weeks since your Neutralizer stripped me of my powers – weeks of poking and scanning. Are you any closer to determining how to undo that damage?”

“Come with me and I’ll show you the progress,” he leads her into what is obviously his lab space, which shares the future Spartan aesthetic – lots of wall size liquid crystal displays, holograms and the like with a small number of ergonomic chairs, a cubical desk that would be what you’d get if you fed an Apple Cube the food of the gods and fused it with an ergonomic keyboard and finally a table with dimensions that obviously mean it could double as a human sized scanning bed.

With a click on his handheld the plain white walls are filled with tastefully edited images of Storm’s body, her bones, her neurology, a close up of her skull and other medically important looking things. “These are the scans of your body, its natural circulatory and neural flows and a breakdown of your genetic code. “

“Now, Rom’s Analyzer acts by looking for rare element levels present in Dire Wraith bodies regardless of the shape they take. I wasn’t able to duplicate that since I don’t even know what those elements are or in what combination, but I was able to extrapolate the idea of unchanging elements into brainwave patters. You may not know this but we mutants have brain-wave patterns that are distinct and unique from normal humans.”

Since she’s behind him Forge can’t see her smirk a little about how proud he is concerning his shocking ‘discovery’. “You don’t say.”

Forge nods, “It’s true, and my version of the analyzer works on that principle, picking up people who aren’t baseline humans. Rom’s neutralizer hones in on those essential salts and uses them as the focus of a targeted energy pulse that pushes the target into a different dimension. I’m nowhere near that, but mine can hone in on the different brainwaves, the things that let the Wraiths control their shape shifting, and overloads those. For the Wraiths it should generate an instant full body carcinogenic effect.”

He points pushes a button and part of the image of her nervous system expands “Looking at what it did to you the neutralizer worked in that it focused on the anomalous brainwaves and overloaded them. Now, for all the impressive effects you’ve generated over time your baseline mutant power is the ability to sense and manipulate atmospheric kinetic and electrical energy patterns. That’s why you seemed to explode – and melted your boots.”

Storm sighs, “All very interesting, but that does it mean?”

Forge settles into a chair, fiddling with his cane, “The effect generated severe neurological damage to the part of your brain and your nervous system that generate and control your powers. Under normal circumstances neurological damage is very slow to heal, if it heals at all. There are things we can’t try –any bionic replacements that could duplicate what is essentially a unique cell structure are sadly beyond me – and some thing we can – I’ve been researching some direct cell therapies, either biological injections or direct energy stimulation to promote cell growth,” he pauses but then presses ahead with the bad news, “but all I can promise you is that if they come back it will take you a long time to learn to use them again, like someone with a spinal injury learning how to walk again.”

Storm face is looking a little more hopeful, “I’m not afraid of hard work. But that’s if they come back.”

“If.” Forge replies. “I won’t lie to you. At weeks into the problem all I can promise is if and that I’ll keep trying.”

Forge’s handheld beeps. He checks the display. “Secure call, but it concerns you. Stand right here,” he points to a space in the floor, “and the cameras won’t pick you up.” He then pushes a button. Storm’s medical displays disappear to be replaced by the SHIELD insignia, and then a picture of a freckled man with glasses and short cut red-blond hair in a SHIELD blue jumpsuit.

“Hello Forge. Agent Sitwell here. ”

“Jasper, how are you?”

“Well. I’ve done the digging you asked me to do. No one knows where Rogue is, or Michael Rossi, but I’ve passed along your concerns to the director. She’s still wanted for the murder of one of our men and trashing the Helicarrier, so I don’t know how much along anecdotal exculpatory information from another potentially suspect individual helped.”

“Potentially suspect?” Forge fumes, “Reed Richards vouches for Storm, for pity’s sake! That doesn’t count for anything?”

Jasper sighs, ‘Forge, no one is moving to make any charges against Storm, and yes, Director Fury is taking her account into consideration. But Storm wasn’t here when the attack took place. She’s passing along unsubstantiated information in defense of someone who, let’s be clear here, she got into a fight with in the middle of the Pentagon not too long ago. Unfortunately Rogue’s attack knocked out our security cameras so we can’t see what happened to the agents guarding Mr. Rossi. Right now Fury just wants Rogue for questioning. If your guest knows where she is…?”

Seeing her shake her head Forge replies, “She doesn’t. But I’ll tell her about it if she wants to pass it on in case the X-Men do. What about the other issue?”

Jasper signs again, a man delivering bad news to a friend, “Your neutralizer has been officially disavowed. Darkholm is still kicking up a stink at DARPA but the official DOD line is that it didn’t exist, and that certainly army soldiers weren’t operating on US soil firing potshots with it. Val Cooper at National Security is playing along. But this looks like an iceberg tip - Gyrich is tied into something that I can only see the edges of. You’re not cleared for any of that, however.”

Forge’s anger is clear in his voice, “You realize that until I get that Neutralizer back and all the notes Gyrich’s people made on it confirmed destroyed all of my work for you and DARPA is on hold. I’ll break all the contracts and have my company shut down if I have to….”

Jasper looks at him calmly, “Really. I’ll call the Wraith Hunter Commandos and tell them that the weapons they need are on hold. I’m sure that will go over well.”

“Damn it Jasper, my work to save our planet is instead being used to attack my own people! What would you have me do?”

“I don’t know Forge. And what I do know, you’re not cleared for. I’ll pass along your statement to Fury. But I’ll ask that you keep working on what we need, in secret if you have to, so that as soon as this clears up you can deliver it. You saw the ruins of Clairton. You know what we’re up against. Good luck with your guest. Sitwell out.”

The screen blinks out, again replaced with Storms medical data. Storm moves to lay a hand on Forge’s arm and he forestalls her, still clearly fuming. “I’m sorry. I’m doing all I can.”

“I know” Storm says. “I know.”

Page 15 (Aside – New Mutants)

A brief exterior shot of the mansion shows a bucolic autumn day with three of the New Mutants – Sam (Cannonball) Guthrie, Roberto (Sunspot) DaCosta and Rhane (Wolfsbane) Sinclair playing a game of improvised Tag/Hide and Seek in on the mansion’s grounds – powers allowed. As such Rhane is perpetually ‘It’ since in her wolf form there’d be no way the others could hide from her.

There is a panel of Rhane sprinting madly past one of the mansion’s bay windows, Roberto in hot pursuit, while through the window we can see the other three New Mutants curled up on various chairs’. Dani (Psyche) Moonstar is engrossed in a book on contemporary tactics for hunting bear with bows, Amara (Magma) Aquila is working through Gibbon – maintaining a running list of all the places where his analysis of Rome is at odds with her culture’s teachings – and Ilyana (Magik) Rasputin is gazing out the window, watching the others play, lost in thought.

After a few minutes Ilyana moves over to Dani and whispers, “OK, so what’s the with bear hunting?”

“No comment.”

“C’mon, what’s with the bear hunting?” Ilyana needles her, “I’m curious.”

Dani sighs, “Bow hunting, especially something as difficult as bears, keeps your mind focused – knock, wait, aim, draw, release. My power demands that. I lose focus and I can accidentally hurt people. This is a way I can focus my consciousness while keeping up my family’s traditions.”

While they’re talking Amara stops what she’s doing, closes her book, gets up and exits the room, heading down into the infirmary. Rogue is there, still comatose, but Amara ignores her, instead going to the medicine cabinet for a some pills that she crushes into a powder and pours into a small sachet, secreting that in her pocket. She then fills two syringes with something else from the medicine cabinet before cleaning up and exiting.

She heads to the kitchen and brews some hot chocolate, then decants it into a ceramic chocolate pot while adding the powder from the sachet. The syringes are placed in a folded tea towel above the refrigerator. Finally she heats up and spices some wine, which she places next to the pot.

Returning to her chair in the library – Alone now as Dani and Ilyana have moved somewhere else in the house – Amara writes a note, places it on the table, opens her book and goes back to reading. After a few seconds she looks up, sees that she’s alone and picks up the note.

“Amara, we didn’t want to disturb your reading, but we made some hot chocolate. It’s in the kitchen. Why don’t you bring some to the Professor? P.S. – we know you don’t like chocolate, which is why we mulled some wine for you! – Ilyana”

“How thoughtful,” Amara says, and rises to follow her friends’ suggestion.

Said friends are down in the Danger Room, where the room is in its default exercise mode with the addition of an archery target at the far end. Dani is practicing with a bow and Ilyana is watching. The Cheyenne girl knocks an arrow, smoothly brings up the bow into a drawn position and fires, scoring a solid hit on the target.

“Breathing and muscles, patience and immediacy,” Dani says. “They help me focus.”

“Magic’s not much different,” Ilyana says. “I have to meditate a lot, and if I lose focus on something mid-way, well….”

Dani nods, “I remember chasing the smoke demons around the whole mansion, thanks*. I’ll stick to archery.”

[*ED: see New Mutants #15]

As they’re talking Roberto, still a bit flush from running around outside, enters the room, selects one Wolverine’s 300 lb weights from the rack and, shifting to his jet-black-with-floating-dot-aura Sunspot mode, carries it out of the room with a jaunty wave.

The girls stare at him…

“What was that…?” Dani asks, just as Ilyana says “I don’t want to know.”

The pair dissolve into laughter.

Page 16 (Aside – Xavier)

The Professor is in his study, sitting down, clearly focused, and in the “visible only to people with telepathy” transparent yellow linework is an image of Michael Rossi sitting in one of the chairs next to him. The general sense should be that the Professor has made telepathic contact with the missing Colonel.

Colonel Rossi, I hope that you’re well.

Rossi replies, I’m well enough. Still breathing, at least. What do you want?

Just to talk, and to offer sanctuary if you need it.

Rossi glowers at him, If you still have Rogue under your roof then, no, thanks.

Realizing this isn’t the time to defend his least popular charge, Xavier changes the subject, What happened to you since the Viper incident?* You said you were going to investigate the Sentinel attack on the New Mutants and then you broke all contact.

[ED: see New Mutants #5 and #2 respectively]

I needed to. I couldn’t continue to play the dead man if I was seen with you, and your school was under surveillance. Still is, I suspect.

[Start flashback panels]

Back when I was with Air Force Intel I’d been assigned as the liaison to Stephen Lang’s ‘Project Armageddon’. When it was clear that the idea of capturing the X-Men had driven Lang out of his wits I headed back to Washington, where my report would have scuttled the project. Lang blew up my plane, killed 27 other people aboard, but I lived through it*. I’m still not sure how.

[ED see X-Men 96]

After that I decided to become an unofficial Mutant Hunter Hunter. It seemed the best way to ameliorate my failure to stop Lang. That led me to find Project Widewake, the latest iteration Armageddon, but without the end of the world overtones. Wideawake is tasked with keeping an eye on mutants anywhere in the US and having a means to combat them. It’s headed by a guy named Henry Peter Gyrich, who used to be a real hard-core security-obsessed Avengers liaison. Gyrich is an OK guy for an utterly inflexible prig. If his orders are to watch, he watches. When he gets orders to apprehend, he’ll apprehend. If he’s told to attack, he’ll attack. Not a moment sooner, and he’ll never confuse any of those options.

Combat mutants how? Xavier asks, knowing the answer

How else? Those sentinels. Shaw Industries is building new ones for them. Shaw is tied in with some organization called the Hellfire Club.

I know them Xavier grumbles

I figured you did, since the X-Men attacked their New York clubhouse a few years back. Anyway, the Hellfire Club were the group that made up the difference between the monies Lang needed and what he appropriated from the government for his Sentinels. And now they’re having Shaw build them.

Anyway, the only thread I could find to really pull on was a hint that the Hellfire Club had also infiltrated SHIELD. So I did the same, following their trail to have something tangible against the Club. he grimaced, and I messed up, got caught. A couple of SHIELD agents were way outside protocol, not turning me in, trying to beat something out of me, and I lost consciousness. That was when Rogue rescued me.

You don’t recall anything more? The Professor asks, as if this weren’t enough.

Just one thing – I know you wiped out the X-Men’s presence in the government databases, but Wideawake has you again. Dacosta’s very public manifestation in Rio made it possible to track him to you. There’s no internal surveillance of the mansion and the files are really sketchy, but Gyrich is watching the school.

Is he now, Xavier says. And no doubt the Hellfire Club is watching him. Thank you Colonel Rossi. I’m implanting a secure phone number for you to reach us at if you ever need assistance. You’ve been a good friend to us, Colonel.

Rossi shrugs, I just did my job, Professor. Right now I need to vanish for a while, recover and reestablish my bona fides as a dead man. If you speak with Carol, the real Carol, tell her I said ‘hi’.

I shall. The professor sends, and then stands up. He takes a deep breath, opens the curtains and looks out at his students before transmitting, Kurt, could you join me in my study?

Page 17 (Nightcrawler)

Having received a telepathic request from the professor, Nightcrawler arrives in his study. The room is brightly lit with natural light from the open curtains on the window behind his desk, and there’s the heart-warming sight of the professor standing, leaning on the window frame with one hand and looking out over the school grounds. He turns at Nightcrawler’s entry and Kurt can’t help but see the fatigue on his face.

“Ah, Kurt. I wanted to talk to you for a moment. As we’re adopting a more forward leaning stance I need you to keep an eye on us. On me.” Xavier looks grim as he continues, “I’m sure you remember the incident shortly after you joined the school when my, lets call it ‘dark side’ slipped a little? It confronted you with projections of my original students bent on world domination.* I have to fight some, every day, to keep that side of me in check. With my powers its too easy force the world to change rather than convince people they need to learn.”

“Magnus and I are not so different, really. But for a change in our past I could have been him, he could have been me.”

Kurt expresses surprise, and searches for word. "No, Herr Professor, that is easy to say, but not so. Magneto has chosen his path and you yours, and you've expressed your devotion to it every day of your life. I do not believe a simple change in your pasts would have made you into someone like Magneto."

"Herr Professor, in your heart you have love for your fellow men, be they mutant or human."

Xavier sighs, “Magneto’s childhood was a horror, while my great travail was a cold stepfather and angry step-brother. Lets us just say that having seen his path I understand why he began as he did, even as I believe my way to be better, and hope that he will someday agree….”

Xavier stops for a moment when there’s a knock at the door. “Yes,” he says.

Amara comes in bearing a tray with a chocolate pot and some cups, “Revered teacher, we thought you might like some hot chocolate.”

“Thank you, Amara. That was very kind.” The young Nova Roman places the chocolate service on the table between Kurt and the Professor and bows in a manner appropriate to her station vis-à-vis her teachers and then departs.

Xavier pours a cup, hands it to Kurt, and then pours himself one. “I need you, Kurt, to occasionally remind me of myself, and of my moral limitations even when I am not near my physical ones.”

"No man is perfect, Herr Professor, and God sees this. It is not being perfect that counts, it is the effort. Wanting to and trying to love one's fellows, that God sees and it pleases him."

“Thank you Kurt,” the professor smiles, “But while God’s eyes may be on me he has a tendency to be oblique in his communication. I’d feel more comfortable if you too kept your eyes on me, just in case.”

With that Xavier spends the next several minutes laying out his recent communication with Rossi, and how evidence is mounting to implicate the Hellfire Club in the creation of the new Sentinels.

Kurt starts to suddenly feel woozy, for no discernable cause. The room begins to spin and he has just enough time to see Xavier collapse, overturning the table and upending the chocolate pot.

Kurt staggers up from his chair. He mutters "Was ist... das Gift!" and pitches forward on to the plush carpet.

Page 18 (Kitty)

Kitty is in her room, suffering the burden of being a genius in needing to keep up both her regular studies and do the additional security work the professor asked of her a few weeks back. Her exhaustive research of the manor’s computers and communication lines revealed no sign of tampering. This is not an enormous surprise, as the mansion was torn down and rebuilt a year ago. It was that incident that, in part, led them to live on Magneto’s raised island for a time, which in turn led to Ilyana’s kidnapping by Bleasco.

Kitty is typing away on the keyboard (SFX: tik-tik-tak). A 'speech bubble' shows us that she's using some kind of chat function and talking to at least two others:

    TESLA: and that should do it

    COGENT: Thanks

    CRYPTO35: need a white hat test?

    COGENT: no thanks.  no idea when

Plus a thought bubble from Kitty: Like I trust you, Crypto, you fink.

There’s a knock on her half open door, and the lanky form of Sam Guthrie sticks his head in.

“Kitty, do you got a minute? I’m stuck on something on the mainframe….” He seems sheepish bout having to ask, especially about having to ask her given her previous animosity towards the ‘X-babies’. That’s obvious in his stance as he sidles into the room.

"One sec," Kitty says. (SFX: tiktik-tik-tik)

The computer screen is blank as she turns to face Sam, looking a little distracted. "Sure, Sam, what's the problem?"

"The Prof's got us writing and running some programs on the mainframe, and every time I do it I run into this glitch." He rubs the back of his neck, "Just can't seem to get the hang of it. I was hoping you could point out where I'm goin' wrong. It's in the tutorial files."

"Okay," Kitty says, and smiles. "One thing practice teaches is all the ways things can go wrong."

She turns back to her terminal and starts calling up the tutorials.

As Kitty accesses the files Sam closes her door and then leans over her shoulder to see the computer terminal. Without warning he grabs the back of her head and slams it into the screen, shattering it. The blinding pain and the unexpected nature of the attack leave her stunned for several seconds, unable to muster the concentration to phase. With a malefic grin Guthrie calmly and smoothly yanks her arm up, pulls the cap off of a palmed syringe with his teeth and injects her.

Through a supreme act of will she’s able to turn intangible mid-injection for a split second, phasing out of his grip and preventing half of the drug, whatever it is, from entering her system. Even still, the drugs effects are rapid and she’s quickly becoming dizzy and losing focus.

Kitty's thought balloons say: "Oooo. ... got to ... focus ..."

Fortunately, she's practiced handling uncontrolled falls. A lot. Her body automatically curls into a compact ball as she lets gravity (perhaps aided a bit by her phasing-movement abilities) carry her to the floor - and through it.

She hits the floor, still solid, chair skittering away from her, and feels her assailant grab at her, getting a hold of the end of her long autumn skirt with one hand and her head with the other. Then her focus returns, just for a second, and she falls through the floor, trying desperately to hold on to the phase until she's sure she's free.

It almost works.

In her room Guthire has a confused look on his face, holding on to a piece of Kitty's skirt with one hand, the trailing threads of her hair with the other. Both are embedded in the solid floor. He gives them a tug and they don't move.

His malefic smile comes back. "Entombed in the floor; rather fitting."

Page 19 (Wolverine)

In the mid afternoon Wolverine is getting ready to head out when the noise in the foyer makes it clear that the new Mutants are being a trifle too rowdy. The afternoon’s game of tag has moved inside, with Roberto Dacosta fleeing from a lupine Rhane Sinclair. The boy’s actually doing a good job of keeping ahead of the wolf, showing the footwork skills that made him and up and coming prospect in Brazil’s fiercely competitive Football leagues.

Just before Rhane can catch up with him the boy activates his power and leaps, clearing the distance to the second floor balcony, ducking around and past Logan into the storage room as the wolf-girl has to double back and take the stairs at full tilt.

"Hey, keep it outside! There's expensive stuff in there."

As Wolverine turns back from Roberto he discovers that Rhane has smoothly and entirely unexpectedly shifted path. If he were any other person this negligible warning would have been for naught, but being whom he is he manages to pull away just enough to prevent Wolfsbane’s jaws from entirely removing his throat.

That isn’t enough to save him entirely, as he’s still bleeding fiercely from several severed veins and arteries – though he’s saved his carotid – and is mute from the loss of his trachea. Pain and reflexes make him double over, one arm to his neck, the other warding off the wolf, claws extended. Past experience tells him he’ll be fine if he can just get a few minutes to hold his neck in place and staunch the bleeding.

He doesn’t get it. As Wolverine is struggling to get back to his feet Sunspot, behind him, pulls a three hundred pound weightlifting bar out of the storage room and hammers the Canadian mutant with it across the head.

Months ago, when the X-Men first tangled with the new Mutants Wolverine commented that if the kids had the skill to match their spunk they’d be dangerous. Somehow, in the absence of any real time for training, they have it. It’s been decades since he’s been this seamlessly ambushed, and he’s barely holding on to consciousness as Sunspot wraps the iron bar with its three hundred pounds of weight around his body and the hurls him across the storage room, out the second floor window and into the pool, where he sinks like a stone, the blood from his throat threading past his vision in the water.

Page 20 (Rachel)

The brisk autumn afternoon has given Rachel a chance to meander the property to see how much has changed from her youth that hasn’t yet occurred, and how much she remembers of that. This takes her to the communications tower by Graymalkin Lane along the property line to Breakstone Lake, then along the shoreline to the cove, where her telekinesis lets her walk across the choppy water to the far side of the cove’s natural breakwater. It’s a sizable amount of concentration, but she’s holding herself stable while walking forward.

She reaches the far side and settles again onto solid ground, taking a second to look out back at the manor grounds, spotting one of the younger students watching the lake from between the dock house and the Japanese gardens before turning herself to see the sun just touching the horizon, reflecting beautifully across Breakstone Lake. The cold spray from the wind-driven waves is invigorating, just as it was standing her with her parents, 22 years and a lifetime ago.

She never sees the earthquake coming. Suddenly the breakwater heaves beneath her feet sending her tumbling forward, just as a wave of red hot material slams into her back. Before she can concentrate to restore her levitation field she slams into the water, bitingly cold, forcing its way into her lungs as the chop send her scraping against the now jagged breakwater. The water’s sole advantage is that it puts out the blistering fire on her back, but replaced it with an inexplicable weight, dragging her further down into the cold dark lake.

Page 21 (Colossus)

Colossus, who has spent the day so far in his room, turning previous pencil sketches into a painting, steps out from his room on his way to the kitchen to get something to drink. His muscles stiff from the strain he is in the middle of an impressive stretch when he hears a roar behind him, evidence that Sam Guthire is not following the Professor’s orders and using his occasionally uncontrollable power in the house.

He turns his head to see where the boy is but has no time to react when Cannonball barrels into him at full speed. Were Peter not in prime physical condition, not his size and strength, the blow would have snapped his spine. As it stands he’s momentarily stunned and he and his attacker continue their flight down the corridor towards the far wall. Years of training are all that let him shift to his armored form before the impact, otherwise he would surely have been killed.

In the open air outside Cannonball executes a smooth upward turn then a sudden 170 degree arc towards the ground. Colossus attempt to grab the boys arms or somehow get control of the situation are stymied by Cannonball’s in-flight force field, which is of such thickness to prevent a grip.

Colossus has time to see cannonball’s fellow New Mutant Amara in her Magma form on the ground near where they’re heading before his assailant pushes him away, leaving him in free fall. At Magma’s direction the ground under him opens up as he falls deeper and deeper into the Earth towards a glowing lava flow under Magma’s direction. After a second that’s the only light visible as the Earth above him closes up.

Page 22 (Aside – Storm)

Storm slips out of Forge’s apartments and, after picking the lock on the stairs, makes for the street.

“As he said, there are no real locks here, no bars,” she thinks with a grin, “I could probably even use the elevator, but its more fun to stay in practice.”

Once on the street she picks a random direction, enters a random office building and picks a random pay phone. “I know I told Logan I’d keep using communication through the Richards, but the Professors mindsend told me this was a safe number that would be rerouted; add that to the random phone and we should be safe enough.”

“Be honest with yourself, Ororo. It’s been three weeks and you’d just like to hear Kitty’s voice.”

The phone in her hand rings once, twice, three times and then is answered with a click.

“Hello?”

Ororo recognized the voice as Rhane Sinclar. “Good afternoon. It’s Storm. Could I speak to Kitty please?”

“I’m sorry, Storm” says the voice through the phone before we cut to a shot of the inside of the mansion, where Rhane, Amara, Sam and Roberto are all standing in the foyer, wearing the same malefic grin. “The X-Men are Dead.”