X-Men 195: Hate & Hellfire

Page 1-3: Gyrich

The first page is the image of a giant Sentinel head, with Gyrich and General Larson* standing on a platform next to the head; they are only as large as its cheek.

[* ED: the commanding officer when the X-Men invaded NORAD in issue 193]

"Big son-of-a-gun, isn’t he?” the General says with pride in his voice. “Stands 4 meters higher than the regular model, and they aren’t short. The entire body is made out of high impact ceramics and plastics, the circuitry is some of that freaky nonmetallic superconductor that Shaw Industries provided. Not hard to guess who you’re aiming this one at, Henry!”

"I’m not ‘aiming’ them at anyone, general,” Gyrich says, “These are a law enforcement tools. It’s not like the government has a list of targets.”

Credits Box: Targeted are
Written by Myles "Nightcrawler" Corcoran 
Penciled by Samantha "Rogue" Mullaney
Inked by Lisa "Colossus" Padol
Colored by Kris "Ariel"" Keegan
Lettered by Joshua "Phoenix" Kronengold
Edited by Brian Rogers
Rachel Rogers, Editor in Chief

“It’s just my job to make sure everyone thinks twice about targeting us….”

We cut to pages 2-3, which are a two-panel spread showing the rest of the construction floor which has dozens of Sentinels. This is the same room as the last panel of Issue 193, but the situation has gotten a lot worse. There are more of them, and a lot more under construction. The one they’re next to is the biggest but there are Sentinels ranging from a mere 4 meters out to the 7-meter models that are most common. If you squint just right, you can barely make out a sliver-grey 2.5-meter model that’s half constructed.

“Well,” Larson says, “This ought to make them think twice. The problem is that we’re stalled right now. It took almost everything we had to get this Master Model up and running, and delays from the Shaw plants are keeping us from meeting the rest of the production timeline. The only one that’s still under construction is the Neuro-Imaging Metal Regenerative Organic Design one, and that’s pretty much building itself.”

Gyrich says “Sebastian’s a personal friend, but I can’t let his profit margin get in the way of this. The nice thing about an under the radar project like this is he’s not exactly going to drag us into court for a Youngstown v. Sawyer* violation.”

[*ED: for those not up on your labor law, Youngstown Sheet & Tube Co. v. Sawyer is the Supreme Court case that limited the power of the President of the United States to seize private property. Yeah, this is gonna end well]

Page 4: Ariel

Kitty and Doug are in their ‘war room’, one of the spaces in the mansion’s sub-basement that is now covered with photos, graphs, flip charts and various other indicators of the work being done on the PR campaign. Kitty is pouring over some computer-generated overlays of the survey data while Doug is looking at various ad layouts.

The phone rings and Doug snags it. “Xavier’s, Doug Ramsey speaking. Yes, hello Mr. Von Der Donk. Uh huh. I see. We’ll certainly set something up. Of course. Thank you very much.”

He looks at Kitty with a sly grin. “You want the good news or the great news?”

She smiles. "Let's go with the dramatic reveal."

“OK, the good news is that the PR firm has opened discussions with Bill Moyers*. Nothing definite yet, but he’s interested enough to be talking.

[* ED: Moyers and his wife don’t form Public Affairs Television until 1986, so he hasn’t started doing his larger documentaries yet]

“That’s the good news. The Great news? That idea you had about Benetton? Well, the photographer, Oliviero Toscani has carte blanche on their ad campaign. And he wants to include us.”

"Wow!" Kitty says, then looks worried again. "So now all we have to do is talk some people into it ... hoo boy."

"Hey, who doesn't want to be famous? OK dumb question. But we should be able to find someone. Mrs. Maximoff might, but she's already pretty high profile which defeats the purpose. Maybe one of the Morlocks?"

Mixed feelings about the Morlocks are very evident in Kitty's expression. "Maybe. I think we'll have to ask a bunch of people."

“What have you got over there?” Doug points to the papers. “Something about it is eating you.”

"Well, we're already seeing some positive results in the polls, overall," Kitty says. "Though that could just be some random fluctuation. I'll be happier when we've got a few more weeks' data."

She brings a bar chart up on her computer screen - the reader can't actually make out the words on it, but the way one of the bars is much shorter than the others stands out. "But New York is down. And when you dig down, it's really the city."

A map comes up on the screen - representing greater New York, though how accurate is depends on what the artist wants to do. There's a red spot in the middle of it. "And it's worst in Manhattan, less worse in the boroughs, and fading out toward positive the farther you get. It's weird, especially since there hasn't been anything negative in the news."

She looks seriously at Doug. "It makes me wonder if one of the Morlocks are up to something. Or the Hellfire Club, I suppose. I think we should talk to the Professor ... and to Peter."

"Now that's just... strange," Doug agrees. "Hey, can you overlay that with the transit map?"

Once Kitty does so, she can see what's he's getting at: the reduction isn't a radius to the city so much as it as an aspect of commuting. The few areas nearby where the residents are NOT normally going into the city the results aren't as clear.

"It’s like people are getting, I dunno, infected with something when they're in New York...?" Doug lets the ominous through trail off.

"I think we'd better investigate," Kitty says. "Starting with Rachel, she's been in the City a lot lately."

Page 5: Ariel and Phoenix

Rachel is returning from her day at Maxwell's agency, briefcase in hand, hair up (except for a stray lock that has escaped its confinement and is happily resting along her breastbone), when Doug and Kitty approach her. "Rachel," Doug asks her, "Do you have a minute?"

"Unless it's immediate, let me change first, and after that I'm all yours."

“OK, we’re down in the war room,” Doug tells her. Even without her telepathy Doug’s body language is making it clear that there’s something wrong.

Later:

Inside the war room Rachel is looking over the maps and survey results that have been occupying the kid’s attention.

“It looks like a sort of emotional infection. The city is just making people… hate,” Doug says. “You’re in Manhattan a lot, and working with the ad firm. Do you have any idea what’s going on?”

Rachel thinks, "Something messing with people's minds? Oh, no. I still haven't found any clues as to whether the Professor was tampered with or not, and he's been away so often--I don't want to panic, but I have to tell them!"

Having won (and lost) a discussion with herself, she says, "I don't know any more than you do. But I do have a worst-case idea. After that planet came through, when the Professor was out cold, there was an assault on my shields by a demon who claimed to be responsible for the attack. I thought I'd repelled him, but he implied he'd gotten through--and the worst thing is that if he did, the Professor is so strong that I wouldn't know!

"The Professor has been spending a lot of time in the city, and doing some kind of heavy psychic work while he was there. I know he can't be responsible for whatever is causing people to hate mutants more than ever -- but what if he is? What if that thing got to him!"

Kitty looks shocked, and then frowns. "Those demons are really good liars," she says. "Have you asked the Professor what he's been working on, and whether you could help?"

"I haven't," Rachel says, "he usually asks me to keep up defenses here when he leaves. But I'll ask. Any other ideas? I know the Hellfire club sometimes tries to gain power by increasing hostility--could this be their work?"

"I doubt it," Kitty says, chewing her lip. "They try to inspire fear, and pretend the common byproduct of hate doesn't matter, and we're not really seeing that combination."

"The only other thing I can think of is an out-of-control Morlock or some unaffiliated mutant, but surely you or the Professor would've noticed that? Or *maybe,*" she says, looking hopeful, "it's something really, I dunno, *mundane,* like a bunch of negative advertisements in the subway!"

"I suppose," Rachel says, "But I think I'd have noticed them! I haven't noticed anything on the 4 line. Or any other, really. And a TV spot would hit more than just NYC. I fear it's going to be something stranger--whether or not it's close to home."

"Oh," Kitty says, looking disappointed. "It would've been nice and simple, anyway ..."

Page 6: Ariel, Phoenix, Colossus

We have another shot in the war room: Kitty, Doug, Rachel and Peter are all in the room. Rachel is in her casual cloths but with her hair up in her work style. Doug is dressed in a causal/formal, the visual language he’s adopted for the war room work of slacks, a dress shirt and a sport coat. Kitty’s look is, consciously or unconsciously mirroring Doug’s , with a jeans and blouse/sweater combination. Peter is the odd man out in his team costume.

Kitty is addressing the group, “We're not talking about a big media blitz; that could be counter-productive, I think - it would appear self-serving.” She shrugs, “Which of course it would be, but still. It might also attract too much attention. Taking advantage of positive press opportunities when they arrive is fine, of course, but full-page ads in the Times are right out.”

“Not to mention pricy,” Doug adds.

Kitty continues, “So what we want is subtle but active - seeking out journalists nationwide who may be sympathetic or simply neutral, and arranging for them to do 'human interest' pieces on a variety of mutants, including non-threatening and handicapped ones. Maybe an appearance of a prominent mutant on a morning news or late-night talk show, or arrange for a piece on a hard-to-find retired ‘activist.’.”

Doug picks up the thread, knowing Kitty won’t want to sing her own praises “Prominent mutants are thin on the ground, but Kitty was able to score a hit there – Hank McCoy, Beast, is good friends with Simon Williams, aka Wonder Man. Wonder Man is a C list Hollywood celebrity who just joined the West Coast Avengers and got a big publicity hit. Kitty talked to Hank who talked to Simon who talked to McMahon. There’s a good chance that a Hank and Simon will be sitting down next to Johnny Carson sometime in the next few weeks. It’s not pure mutant but it does put our other blue furry buddy in the national spotlight.”

"We," Rachel says, "the firm, I mean, do also have Wanda's contact information, on top of Ilyana studying with her. We should be able to get her onto the talk show circuit; maybe she'll even take her brother along."

"Wanda's brother, you mean?" says Colossus, not entirely sure she doesn't mean Ilyana doing a talk show and dragging him along.

Rachel nods. There’s a panel where everyone pictures Quicksilver deigning to appear on a talk show, they shake their heads and move on.

Kitty adds “Plus Von Der Donk got us a phone call with Bill Moyers.” She takes a deep breath, “Huge. But I have to sell it.”

Kitty continues, “Next, make contact with marketers for youth-oriented products and see if they can be talked into including a mutant or two in ad campaigns,”

Doug nods to Rachel, “Which our illustrious PR firm has done. Benetton’s on board, but Toscani needs someone for the shoot. We want someone who’s clearly mutant but non-threatening, he wants someone photogenic but not a model.”

Kitty continues, looking at Peter, “I can see Scarlett doing that…”

"I... can ask," says Peter, a little dubious, but willing to make the attempt.

"Getting the marketers to include mutants is almost the easy part," Rachel says, "since the public is almost as fascinated by us as they are afraid of us. But we need to focus on mutants that are already in the public eye or willing to be, since coming out as a mutant makes you a target."

Kitty says, while the others look appropriately somber, "Let's hope we can change that. But it won't be fast."

Kitty continues, “We want to drag in as many other "activist" groups as we can – the Defenders are on board, obviously, and the Avengers PR people are receptive, but if people have other ideas…?

"The FF," Rachel says. "They're not mutants, and they're hugely popular -- but Franklin is, and is known to be, a mutant. I can bring it up during next week's visit."

Doug nods, “that would work. Heck, having Johnny Storm doing a PSA about his nephew being a mutant might carry some weight.”

“Finally, Doug and I are working the hacker and newsgroup community.” Kitty finishes.

Doug shrugs, ‘It’s not much for public relations, but they’re a good nationwide alarm system. It might give us a heads up if something is about to go awry otherwise out of the public eye.”

Rachel clears her throat, “What if--We could find some up and coming screenwriters with open minds, who could use some extra funding--particularly if their work is already inclusive. Fictional mutants are less threatening than real ones, and it's less of a risk for an actor to play a mutant (whether or not they're actually a mutant) than it is for a mutant to go public with their powers. If people get used to laughing at, laughing at, and feeling worried for mutants, even fictional ones, they'll be less inclined to assume the worst for the real ones, too."

"Do we know any mutants like that who are actors?" says Peter. "Or who might want to be actors?"

"Dazzler," Rachel says, "She hides her mutant powers, of course--but that might make her a good lead playing a fictional mutant; it might be a boost for her singing career, too."

[BR: I love the idea of Alison playing a mutant in a movie without revealing that she’s a mutant at first. – it makes a much better plot than the Dazzler, the Movie graphic novel.]

Doug nods, “It could work – she’s, ahem, between labels right now. Let me do some digging on possible screenwriters that the Worthington Foundation might bankroll.”

After all that we have the triptych across the bottom of the page. First panel is Colossus sitting, elbow on table, chin resting on the back of his hand, looking thoughtful in a strategizing sort of way. Rachel is jotting notes down on a pad. Kitty is looking over her shoulder, perhaps making an additional comment.

Second panel, Colossus is pacing, perhaps walking past some posted chart or other, head turning from it to the table where the others are sitting, as if about to make a point or ask a question, and spotting something about how Doug and Kate are interacting - they're sitting shoulder to shoulder, both looking at some papers or other. Rachel is standing and typing something on one of the computer panels while a handful of papers and a coffee cup float in the air next to her.

Third panel, Colossus is standing, looking at Doug and Kate thoughtfully, in a more wistful, not strategizing, sort of way. Rachel is holding up a set of charts telekinetically, pointing out something to Kitty and Doug. Kitty is casually leaning on Doug's shoulder while she says something with an intense, animated expression.

Page 7: Rossi

Inside what is most likely a hunting lodge Michael Rossi sitting at a table, alone, cleaning his gun. Not to worry, there is another gun on the table next to him. We see him go through the stops with meticulous precision, occasionally looking up at a file folder that contains a handful of pictures, some of the X-Men, most of the New Mutants in their original configuration. Once he finishes reassembling the gun he holsters it, then picks up the top shot of the younger mutants – it’s a candid shot of them clowning around shortly after the team was formed, taken with a telephoto lens – and looks at it for another panel before putting it back in the folder. He stands, holsters his other gun, and shrugs on a coat. We get a shot of the cabin and see that it is immaculate, with the only signs of his presence being the folder, the duffel bag by the door and himself. Glancing around one last time he shoves the folder into his jacket and exits the room.

Six Months playing dead after Rogue pulled me off the Heli-Carrier. Six months before that of peeling the Hellfire Club’s onion. Based on a bunch of kids I knew for what? Three months?

Of course it was over four years I’d been playing dead after Scott Lang tried to kill me, again over a bunch of kids I‘d never met. I barely remember a lot of those four years – journals, self-hypnosis, nothing has helped with the Swiss cheese memories I have after the accident up until the X-Men disappeared and I started keeping watch on Wideawake. I should have asked Charles to look into it, but it, heh, slipped my mind.

Regardless, I’ve spent more of the last decade playing dead then I have playing alive. Why? Because it’s not right to target kids just for being who they are. Because if someone is going to start up extermination camps, or start treating people as commodities, it’s not going to be on my watch.

No other reason. And with six months out of sight I think I can take another crack at burning this whole thing down.

Funny. At this point my life looks as empty as this cabin I ‘borrowed’. But as long as I can keep those kids safe, it’s full enough. I miss you, Carol. Godspeed up there in the stars.

Page 8-10: Colossus, Rogue

Rogue is thinking “Damnit Ace! I never thought there'd *be* a time I couldn't find you. ... Hope you got *someone* watching your back.”

Peter, having just left the PR War Room, also has a lot on his mind.

Peter's thought balloon: They are... working well together. I should be happy for them both.

His expression suggests he is not particularly happy.

The pair, both lost in their own thoughts, nearly collide in the hallway.

Rogue flinches back "Careful Peter! If you touch my bare skin to yours I'll absorb your psyche and powers and I'm not sure the Mansion can take it."

"I'm sorry," says Peter. "I should have been paying more attention."

Rogue says "No big deal big guy. I must have been half a world away. Guess we've all got things on our minds these days huh?"

Colossus just nods.

Ilyana turns the corner with speed, her hands full of office supplies that she scrambles to keep hold off when she too nearly collides in the hallway.

"Woah, sorry!" she says. As she takes a moment to straighten her papers and floppy disks, she glances between the two X-Men. "Glum and Glummer. You know what you two need? A workout. Yeah... something to take your mind off your troubles. A chance to relax, stretch out, and have a little fun. An opportunity to test your powers in a non-threatening environment..."

"You want us to go to the Danger Room," says Peter, a small smile on his lips. It's hard for him to resist his sister's attempts to cheer him up.

Rogue: a slow smile forms on her face (best place for it I guess ed.) "Sure kid. Let's go thump ourselves happy. What do you say Illyana? Wanna help me find your big bro's tickly spots?"

"Oh, it's not my brother I'm thinking of," she says as she wends her right arm around Peter's arm and her left around Rogue's, skipping as the pulls them towards the danger room - her papers and disks are floating along in front of her in a ball of eldritch energy and bouncing like a puppy as it shares her exuberance. Peter can see his sister has a grin, as if contemplating a wicked joke.

Next panel is the New Mutants - Psyche (with her bow), Wolfsbane, Magma, Cannonball and Sunspot - in uniform standing in the center danger room that has been made to look like a deep, old growth forest. At about twice head height the limbs of the trees start over overlap, making the upper levels of the space increasingly maze like through the branches.

"Mixing things up a little bit today, team..." Ilyana says through the loudspeaker.

"Rather than you trying to get across the room to hit the button..." one knot on one tree on the very far side of the room has a bright red apple embedded in it, which when you look at it right is clearly a bright red 'push me' marker, “you are trying to stop your adversaries from getting across and pushing the button. The adversaries in this case are..."

The lights illuminate the far wall of the room, revealing a vastly oversized Tin Man and a freshly stuffed Scarecrow.

"Wait," Cannonball asks, "We’re the flying monkeys?"

"Time to prove her wrong, flyboy," Sunspot says with a grin, "I'm thinking five on two, we got this in the bag!"

Inside the hologram overlay of the Scarecrow costume Rogue hears Illyana's voice through a communicator, "Please don't fly for a little bit. it breaks the image!"

Peter's thought balloon reads, "This is -not- what I was expecting." Using his communicator (which I assume means the New Mutants (except for Ilyana) can't hear), he asks Rogue, "Any thoughts? Even if you don't want to absorb her powers, you may want to take Psyche down first."

Seeing the Scarecrow and Tin Woodsman standing still, and perhaps goaded by Sunspot, Cannonball decides to make a move, launching himself up through the trees, shattering branches before him. He doubtless hopes to make use of one of the maneuvers Nightcrawler has been teaching him about shutting down his power and summersaulting or spinning from one of the branches to rapidly change direction and angle his attack on the Ozian menaces but the moment he stops blasting the tree limbs converge, wrapping around him and leaving him, at least for the moment, trapped.

"Hey!" Cannonball yells.

"I can’t believe he didn't see that coming..." Psyche mutters, before turning to Wolfsbane. It's clear that some sort of communication occurs between the girl and the lupine mutant, and the Scottish wolf zips into the trees, vanishing into the underbrush.

"Everyone else, wait for them to come to us...." Psyche says, as Magma powers up, her body now casting a red orange glow over the immediate area.

Rogue whispers "Let's shamble a bit." stomps forward a couple of steps in a distinctly non-flying manner. "Wolfsbane is a problem. She can scent us, unless Ilyana had thought of that. Toss her into a tree?"

"Yes," says Colossus, getting ready. "We may have to move quickly after that. They won't think we're robots for long."

Rogue adopts a sotto voce "grr argh!" before she deepens her voice a bit and hums "we're off to see the wizard". The Scarecrow moves slowly forward, best shambling gait, and keeps all senses alert for Wolfsbane

Colossus tries to sing along with Rogue. (Odds are Ilyana can make up for any signing deficiencies.)

The New Mutants grimace at the singing - likely more at the absurdity of the situation than the quality of Colossus & Rogue’s voices.

"Right," Psyche says when the pair start skipping forward, and she launches an arrow into what would be the knee joint of the Tin Man. Peter barely feels it as it careens off. "That would have been nice. Any ideas?"

From over her head Cannonball says "The Scarecrow has a problem with fire!"

"Magma, care to test?" Psyche says.

The Nova Roman nods and launches a blast of red hot magma at the Scarecrow. Rogue's seventh sense kicks in and she ducks bonelessly under the attack.

"Let's try this!" Sunspot says, and with two steps he reaches the tree holding Cannonball, activates his power and rips it from the floor. With two shakes he dislodges the New Mutants’ co leader into an unceremonious pile on the floor and then lobs the tree towards the two yellow brick travelers.

“ok,” Rogue whispers as she decides to 'take the hit' and pretend to go down like a dumb robot. She ships forward ahead of the Tin Woodsman and digs her fingers into the tree just before it hits her, absorbing the hit with her own strength and flight and deflecting it away from Colossus. She takes no damage from the maneuver but is apparently out of commission.

“Ha!” Sunspot yells. “No problem!”

“Yeah right. Have you met Ilyana before?” Psyche says. “That would be way too easy.”

Colossus pauses to scan the woods around them and spots a quick moving shape at ground level. Unless his sister programmed in lions and tigers and bears that leaves only one possibility....

The Tin Man skips off the road into the woods, ducking under a swinging tree limb as he does so.

"Ha, he's running!" Sunspot crows, "Didn't see that coming, did you!"

"Wait..." Psyche says, holding up an arm.

We cut back to a scene where a wolf is jumping out of the woods at the tin man as he brandishes his axe. It's a very pin up/speed lines moment, missing only Kirby dots. Then the flat of the axe catches the wolf in her torso and sends her flying across the yellow brick road into the upper tree limbs, which quickly engulf her.

"Oh %^&!" Psyche finishes.

Before Psyche can do anything else the tree holding down the Scarecrow shifts slightly and then stands up! More precisely the Scarecrow stands up holding the tree to its back, and the tree's still writhing limbs reach out towards Psyche.

"You have got to be..." The Cheyenne girl mutters as she dives for cover, rolling low behind another tree to keep out of the reach of the branches. While the branches overhead seem to only go after anyone who has attained a certain altitude the uprooted tree branches are aiming for anyone. In this case they're questing around the tree that Psyche is using for cover. "Rhane, any time would be good...."

"I canno' get free in time," the Scots girl says. Holding on to consciousness she has abandoned her fully lupine form for the hybrid state and is trying to extricate herself from the tree limbs, albeit with little success.

"Magma!" Psyche yells again as the limbs get closer, but Amara is hesitating on the shot, afraid her powers will splash over onto the girl she's trying to protect.

Desperately Psyche nocks and arrow and scrambles backward, hoping to get a clear shot on the Scarecrow and do something. Rogue can see the girl isn't so much scared as very, very determined and frustrated at the inappropriateness of her power.

"'Berto, Maneuver 5 - lets tie them up!" Cannonball says as he rolls himself onto his belly and takes off, staying just a few inches above the floor and leaving a scorch mark behind him as he rockets towards the Tin Man. The boy catches the metallic menace below the knees. Peter feels the impact even if it doesn't hurt him and feels himself lifted in the air as Cannonball arches his body to gain some lift.

"Man, is he heavy! I thought he was hollow!" Cannonball yells in midair. As with the last time the two fought Cannonball manages to push Colossus off, sending the Tin Man down towards the yellow brick road.

Rogue is continuing her pursuit of 'Dorothy' when she feels something yank against her from behind - Sunspot has grabbed the roots of the tree she's using to menace Psyche and with a mighty heave has sent it, and Rogue, spinning off balance and into the path of the rapidly descending Tin Man. Colossus slams into the tree breaking several branches but getting well entangled in the rest. Rogue is knocked several steps back off the road towards where they started but is still sanding, and holding the now somewhat denuded arboreal menace.

"Take that, Leafy!" Sunspot says.

"Looks like we got a new first down," Cannonball adds, "But I got a nasty feeling they ain't out of tricks yet."

"Let me hold them off," Magma says, clearly grateful that she isn't shooting near her friends. She lays down a stream her eponymous power that sets up a veritable wall of heat and flame across the yellow brick road between the New Mutants and the Ozian interlopers.

Psyche stands up and launches her nocked arrow at a branch holding Wolfsbane. The tree gives a 'yelp' and drops the wolf girl, who is a full wolf, albeit a very bruised one, by the time she hits the ground. Peter and Rogue can see the New Mutants looking significantly less cocky than before through the wall of flame, but still determined.

Rogue says "how 'bout you use the tree to flip me at them Petey? We can keep the flying under wraps a bit longer that way. How's the holo for flying now Ilyana anyway?"

"They still haven't figured it out," Ilyana says, "so I'd keep it secret."

Colossus nods. His thought balloon: "We do not have to _win_. We just need to make this difficult enough to challenge them."

It is accompanied by a smaller thought balloon: "We do not _have_ to lose, either... Just as long as they're not discouraged."

The New Mutants look determined, not discouraged, which he takes as a good sign.

The Tin Man swings his axe, breaking enough entangling limbs to free himself, and as soon as he has his feet on the floor flips the tree like a crude catapult, launching the Scarecrow over the wall of flame and into the line of New Mutants.

"Aaaaaaah!" the kids yell as the Scarecrow flies towards them with disarming speed.

Rogue subtly angles her trajectory to catch Psyche amidships. In a flurry of straw the pair go down in a heap from which the Scarecrow effortlessly bounces back up, that same happy grin on his face. Psyche, on the other hand, does not get up.

"I am so gonna have nightmares about this..." Cannonball mutters. "OK team, form up on me and GET HIM!"

Cannonball flies straight up, stops blasting and does a creditable 180 degree tumble to come more or less directly down into the Scarecrow. Cannonball continues to blast after the hit, using the force of his rocket propulsion to keep Rogue 'pinned' to the floor around her midsection. "I'm still invulnerable! Knock the stuffing out of him!"

Magma, ascertaining that the pair are far enough away from Psyche to not risk hurting her, starts to do just that, laying down a stream of hot magma over the Scarecrows legs while Sunspot races over and delivers a staggering blow to the straw-filled figure's still smiling face.

Rogue reaches down and grabs Cannonball, yanking him upward. The jackhammer pressure of his rocket power pounds up her chest but she dislodges the youth, her last yank sending him flying into an unsuspecting Sunspot.

"Oh No!" Cannonball yells as he slams into his friend. In a few seconds both are half buried under a smashed tree. Berto's solar powered strength protected him from the worst of it but both boys are shaken and bruised.

Rogue flexes her legs and the cooling magma explodes off of her, forcing Amara to shield her face from the pumice-like chunks. By the time the Nova Roman looks up the Scarecrow is on top of her, ginning its dopey grin. And wrapping its arms around her in a tight, but undamaging bear hug. Rogue can feel the heat of the girl's aura but he's not up high enough to hurt her... yet.

"Aaah!" Magma yells, clearly not sure what to do. There's a lot of room for sympathy with the girl as her power is potent but has to be so tightly reined in.

Colossus/the Tin man, meanwhile, sees that they're ignoring him and thinks "Sloppy." He walks through the wall of flame and past the conflict. None of the New Mutants pay attention to him save Wolfsbane, who raises her haunches and growls as he walks by.

Once Colossus is past him Wolfsbane laps over to Psyche, licking her friend’s cheek and projecting Dani, Dani you have to get up! It's the X-Men! They're not robots

Ooh, my stomach hurts. The scarecrow packs a mean wallop...wait, what? Dani's head clears and she looks past Wolfsbase to where the Tin Man is approaching the button. Well that changes everything.

The glow appears around her head that indicates her using her power, and Colossus is about to get a nasty surprise...

BR: and said surprise shows up in one of our artists favorite triptychs. It's a row of three panels where Colossus in the middle one]

Colossus stands with a look of horror on his face as he's caught between two imperatives. The button is right there, next to his hand, but he has clearly forgotten its existence and the he's supposed to push it.

The first panel shows Rogue on fire, somehow lit from Magma's power and screaming in agony. The New Mutants are cheering, because all they see is the hologram of the Scarecrow, which is superimposed on Rogue, but translucent. All of the danger rooms failsafe programs have clearly broken - or did Ilyana turn them off for some reason? - and Rogue is doomed unless Colossus acts

The third panel shows Callisto sitting on the floor of her office, like a puppet suddenly gone limp. Masque has just sealed her mouth closed and is starting to seal her nostrils.

"The Morlocks don't need a leader who's gone soft," he says, finishing his work and leaving.

Callisto's eyes show her terror as she begins to asphyxiate.

During Colossus momentary paralysis Dani stands up and says to the other New Mutants, "It's Rogue and Colossus. That's why we're getting our butts kicked. Cannonball, Sunspot, pull it together and get Magma free somehow. We need her to build a wall between Colossus and the Button...."

Rogue sees that Magma has heard the first part of Dani's speech and the fear of the unknown vanishes from the girls eyes, replaced with the anger of a duped noblewoman. Then Amaras eyes flash with the glint of a 'brilliant' idea.

Uh Oh Carol warns in Rogue's head. Back away!

Rogue's fraction of a second hesitation is enough for Amara to plant her teeth into the Scarecrow's cheek. She doesn't penetrate Rogue's skin, of course, but the lip to cheek contact immediately trigger's Rogue's mutation.

Over her life Rogue has drained people's psyche by accident, on purpose when she was prepared for it and when the target has willingly initiated the transfer. This is the first time someone has forced their psyche into hers as an attack and it is, to say the least, disorienting. Amara's psyche is in a towering rage at Ilyana's deception, her own fear and her current helpless state and Rogue can feel that hammering into her. In addition Amara's powers as Magma are tied to the girl’s emotions and the sudden rush of geo- and -thermokinetic ability threatens, quite possibly, everyone in the mansion.

At the moment of contact Rogue feels Amara's psyche pour into her like a flood. "You miserable Plebain! How dare you?! HOW DARE YOU!" the Nova Roman's high dudgeon is all but overpowering. It's the mental equivalent of throwing herself at Rogue kicking and biting and eye gouging.

Keep it together, Rogue, or you'll wreck the mansion! Carol yells

Outside Rogue's mind Psyche says "Oh $#!^. OK, time for plan, um, D, I think. Berto, give me a wall."

The highly bruised New Mutant uproots another tree and shoves it between the unresponsive Colossus and the button.

In the real world Rogue has released Amara and taken two steps backward, making sure the young girl doesn't get scorched by her own power. Then her knees buckle and she drops to the ground, slowly melting the ground under her as she struggles to keep Magma's powers contained. Inside Rogue's mind Amara is continuing to bite, kick, scratch and otherwise pummel Rogue's sense of self. Rogue's mental construct _can't_ resist because she's too busy not causing an earthquake that would flatten the building and crush everyone in it. Her senses are extended out, however faintly, into the entire tectonic plate and her emotional turmoil is already being mirrors in a slight tremor.

"How dare you even touch someone of the house of Aquilla you... you... pedestrian!" Rogue feels Amara's 'fists' pummeling her 'back' "Your arrogance knows no bounds! Attacking me, almost making me lose face before my ancestors, I will see you buried before you can..."

"Hey kid," we see from off panel, then a new panel with Ms. Marvel in it "Zip it."

Danvers' personification grabs hold of Amara and quickly executes a painful wrist lock that leaves the New Mutant immobilized. "Rogue, you got this?"

Rogue holds up one hand while she controls her breathing, finally saying, “yeah, thanks.”

Colossus looks from an asphyxiating Callisto to a burning Rogue. In the next panel, we see the actual burning Rogue as a sort of transparent overlay on the vision Colossus sees (assuming this is sort of how it works with Psyche's power when one's starting to realize something's up).

Colossus looks back to Callisto in the next panel. The panel after that looks almost the same -- except that, now, he looks confused, rather than horrified.

"Wait..." says his thought balloon. "How can Callisto be... in the Danger Room? Oh... Psyche must..."

And then back to Rogue, who is actually on fire. It takes him a few seconds to figure out that this burning Rogue is real and start towards her, slowly piecing together what Amara did (slow by fast standards, not special snowflake standards).

As Colossus starts to move forward, he sees the New Mutants watching the scene in horrified fascination, except for Dani, who is looking at him.

"I'm willing to call it a draw," She says. "You?"

Colossus nods wordlessly.

The whurr of the danger Room shutting down is audible, and we see the hologram fade off of Rogue and Colossus.

"Your sister is evil," Dani tells him with a grin when it's clear Rogue is recovering. "Clever as all get out, though. Having you guys under the makeup was inspired."

Rogue is able to recover by herself at this point, having had help from the Carol persona. Colossus helps her to her feet.

“I’m not evil,” Ilyana says from above. “I’m wicked.”

Page 11: Nightcrawler

Kurt is outside the mansion, having just finished up another training session with Mirage, Wolfsbane and Wolverine.

The girls are improving. I suspect Wolverine has been coaching them on the quiet, Kurt thinks to himself as he tries to work out a kink in his back with something less than his usual flexibility.

There's a bit of a sly look between Logan and Dani that would seem to back that up. "Kids runnin' ya ragged, Fuzzy?" Logan asks.

Before deciding to take up the issue with Logan, Kurt sees Xavier strides over towards them, having just come back to from the city. “Good afternoon, all. Kurt, do you have a moment?”

"Herr Professor, of course. Your study? I would like a moment to freshen up after that training session with Rahne and Dani. And Wolverine," he adds a little pointedly.

"Of course," Xavier says. "Glad to see you taking advantage of all the school has to offer, girls. Logan probably has enough free time to start tutoring you in Japanese and Russian. And perhaps some basic security counter measures."

Logan looks just a little put out by the sudden slicing into his free time, but Dani leaps on the chance, "Lockpicking? Great! When do we start!"

Back in Xavier's study Kurt sees that Charles has laid things out for their regular counseling session. Xavier seems more energized, and with his normally sharp features that makes him look somewhat primal.

"I hope Logan doesn't mind too much, but he seemed a little smug about the wringer he'd been having the girls send you through," Xavier says, pouring the tea. "To be honest I think Dani has probably wrung all she can out of those classes for now - she needs some time for the skills to settle in before we push her more in that area. I am indebted to you for the way that you've taken her, and prodded Logan to take both of them, under your wing for field training. Dani doesn't respond to you with the same obstinate pride that she does me."

"I knew Logan must have been coaching Dani on the quiet. She and Rahne have improved in leaps and bounds. Rahne's still diffident and unsure of herself, but you're right; Dani would benefit from actual field training and time for that training to bed in."

Kurt accepts the tea gratefully and blows softly across his cup.

"I'm sure Dani respects you, Herr Professor. But you must know that you cut a somewhat forbidden figure at times. Dani wants to prove herself worthy to lead her team and she will be I have no doubt.

"You might occasionally set high standards," Kurt adds with a small smile, "but I'm sure that's only to provoke the best from your students."

"But Herr Professor, there is something else on your mind. You are eager to discuss something. I don't need to be a telepath to see that. "

"All too true," Xavier says with a dangerous grin, "I need to bring you up to date with the Hellfire Club project to make sure you're prepared for what comes next."

"As you know, I have stepped up our engagement against Mr. Shaw, Ms. Frost and company. Leaking information about Harry Leland's legality-skirting business practices led to the collapse of his personal fortune and the faking of his death by the UK's Resources Control eXecutive for their own investigation of the Hellfire Club's activities. I've also introduced some delays into Shaw Industries' construction of the Sentinels which is slowing Wideawake's entire process.

"There is the ongoing issue of the other members of the Club. Mr. DaCosta is not a threat or, alas, an opportunity. Not a mutant himself he's in a subordinate position whether he admits it or not, and his personal pride makes his relationship to Roberto as much a liability as an asset. Still, I'm comfortable that he won't act against us at this time and will cut his ties as the organization starts to crumble.

“Ms. Coy Mahn is our responsibility, but with extensive effort and thanks to the Shi'ar map of her psyche that Logan and Ororo helped me procure* I believe I am now ready to exorcize Trahn from her consciousness, assuming I can be in her proximity while Trahn is under stress.

[* Captain Exposition says: See issue 188]

“Finally, the X-Men have two taps into the Hellfire Club's communication network, both through the Massachusetts Academy and through Coy Mahn's west coast operations. Those revealed that James Proudstar's actions last month*, and Shaw's response to them, have started a potential breach between Shaw and Frost. This is a breach I intend to exploit.

[* Infodump Lad, Captain Exposition's Sidekick Says: See issue 193]

"Via Cerebro I have detected a powerful mutant very close to evidencing her powers in the greater New York area. Obviously, the X-Men need to contact her and assist her in this transition.

"Miss Frost is going to do the same. The Hellfire Club is hoping to repeat our first encounter, ambushing the X-Men when we move to meet the girl. Coy Mahn is in New York to assist with this attack, and the Hellfire Club has moved other resources in place.

"It is my intention, then to spring the trap with an ambush of our own and, having drawn them out, take that moment of stressing Tran's psyche to effect Karma's cure. Ideally Miss Frost will also see that Shaw is placing another potential asset of hers - a new student at her academy - at risk as part of this trap. Shaw has not substantially changed since their initial assault on us, but I believe Miss Frost's time as a mentor to the Hellions has altered her perspective. Hopefully we can play on that, but regardless the Hellfire Club will be drawn into an open attack, Coy Mahn will be removed from their control and their presumed bait will be brought under our protection."

Kurt considers this new information for a moment. "Freeing Xi'an from the Hellfire Club is a worthy goal, Herr Professor. I am worried though. Does not this plan place both Xi'an and the young mutant in jeopardy? I do not trust the Hellfire Club to exercise restraint and honestly the X-Men often bring collateral damage in their wake. Can we be sure to minimize the danger to the two young mutants?"

"Xi'an is in jeopardy, regardless, unfortunately. As long as Tran is controlling her body she is in a constant state of legal, physical and mental risk. And his situation is well entrenched enough that I don't see any other way to save Xi'an without a maneuver such as this. I'm more concerned about the danger her presence places on the rest of the X-Men. Karma's power is very potent and incredibly dangerous. Engaging Tran at all is a risk, but it's one we have to take to rescue Xi'an.

"As for the young mutant, here the teacher has to look to his students. The Hellfire Club is already aware of the girl - to my regret Frost found her first - and their move to recruit her has been delayed at Shaw's insistence to set up their ambush. Kitty's work in hacking into their systems has provided us this opening, but trying to move the girl out of danger earlier may just spring the trap earlier. She is currently under light surveillance by Hellfire agents and the White Queen is monitoring her surroundings for the X-Men's thought patterns."

"That said, the Hellfire Club must be dealt a decisive blow. We need to break them and their power base, not just for what they have done to us in the past but for what they are in the process of doing now, and the future that will entail." As the says this the professor looks passionate on this course, full of a directed anger, in a display of emotion that Kurt has never seen from him before.

"You clearly have examined the possibilities, Herr Professor, and I trust your judgement. I would be more comfortable were the two missions separate and distinct however. Is there no opportunity to distract the White Queen and rescue the girl?"

“For me to have a reasonable chance of helping Xi’an it would have to be right before the rest of the trap is sprung,” the Professor says. “Otherwise the Hellfire Club will simply pull out of their operation. Perhaps a move to rescue the girl on one side and a direct assault on our part on Karma’s position on the other, but if Tran does not feel he is operating from a position of security his power could easily turn lethal….”

The professor's face assumes a curious expression for a moment, and then he says "I do have one idea...."

Before Kurt can query his perceptions blink. He is still in the chair but the Professor is now refreshing Kurt's tea.

"I apologize for that, Kurt. Something occurred to me that might serve to help us extricate the girl, but I can't risk Miss Frost plucking it from your head. She is quite capable, in her own way. Therefore, I had to erase the memory of our conversation from your mind."

He hands Kurt the re-heated cup - How long had the professor erased that it had time to go cold? - and then a folded sheet of paper.

Inside the sheet is a note in Kurt's own hand, in German, reading "The plan is good. You'll like it."

Kurt blinks and then nods slowly. "It's good, Herr Professor, I think. Ja, it's odd but surprisingly painless."

He accepts the cup and busies himself with drinking from it, trying to remain composed.

Page 12: Nightcrawler and Phoenix

Nightcrawler approaches Phoenix apparently in passing in the corridors of the mansion.

With forced jollity he asks, "Hey, Rachel, have you a moment to humour a paranoid team lead?"

In parallel Kurt tries to project carefully (and quietly), Any possibility of a private mind link, I've something to discuss.

"You look tense," Rachel says, "come to the gym; I'll give you a backrub."

Kurt accepts gratefully. "Ja, that is a wonderful idea, Rachel."

[Cut to the gym.]

With Rachel's hands on his shoulders, Kurt feels himself slipping away, until...

Kurt and Rachel are in a tunnel--one we might recognize from previous images [See New Mutants #26] of Rachel with the DoFP New Mutants. "This is in my own memories--about as private as I can manage," Rachel says. "About what you had in mind?"

"Perfect. Unsettling but perfect."

He gazes around the tunnel, taking in the details of dust and decay.

"Rachel, I'm worried about the Professor. It may be nothing, but his recent behaviour has been troubling. More aggressive than I've come to expect from him. More ruthless. Today, something happened that took me aback. We were discussing a plan to rescue Xi'an from her brother and the Hellfire Club, and we arrived at a plan. Only I don't remember the details because I agreed with the Professor to have him alter my memory of our discussion to stop Emma Frost from accessing my memories and tipping our hand too soon.

"I know I agreed to the process, and I echo the Professor's concern, but it is so out of keeping with him. I cannot remember a time when he has done such a thing before."

Kurt laughs ruefully. "Of course, I cannot remember that which is no longer in my memory."

He pauses then as an awful realization dawns. "Rachel, could you look into my memory? Can you see traces of ..., I don't know, how does one find what is not there? Are there signs of ...'modifications' before?"

"We'll, let's see." Rachel vanishes, leaving Kurt alone in the steam tunnel.

A few minutes later, she returns. "No, whatever the Professor did, he did it well. I can't find traces of his recent work you say you know he did, much less something earlier."

"Well, that's good, isn't it?" Kurt asks more for reassurance than confirmation.

"Have you had any impression of a change in the Professor's manner or behavior lately? This recent move to destabilize the Hellfire Club seems to be warranted, but somehow out of keeping with Charles's usual approach. More aggressive, more ruthless perhaps."

Kurt shakes his head and smiles mirthlessly, showing his sharp, pointed teeth. "I pray that I'm just a team leader worrying over nothing. God in heaven, how did Cyclops do this for so long?"

"It is good, in its fashion." The Rachel who says this is more akin to the short-haired waif who arrived in New York a few scant months ago than her usual outward visage. "But while there's nothing I can be sure of, there are things that concern me. The Professor has been spending a lot of energy in New York and hasn't yet told me what it's for--energy that might correlate with a change in the attitude of New Yorkers to mutants for the worse. That doesn't line up well with your worries, though--even if something awful happened to him, he'd hardly pursue two opposing plans at once. But let me tell you about what happened after we failed to stop that planet coming through..."

Page 13: Hellfire Club

We’re at the HQ of the Hellfire Club, where the various members are sitting at their table discussing the upcoming venture.

“Have they taken the bait?” Shaw asks.

“Confirmed,” says Forge. “I’ve taken control of the tap you have to their systems* and can confirm from their computer chatter that Xavier has located the same mutant as the White Queen and they are preparing to make a recruitment move tonight.”

• Ed: waaay back in issue 110!

“I just don’t understand why their destruction is so critical,” Forge continues.

“It’s not destruction,” Emma purrs, “its deconstruction. Xavier’s organization has been a thorn in our plans for a more logically structured society and will continue to be so. Ordinarily we would quietly take them over and redirect them, but Xavier’s powers make that impossible. So instead we break the organization and redirect the pieces to more profitable use.”

Overlaying this are editorial boxes, one white on black for Shaw, the other black on white for Frost,

Frost: It’s tedious having to keep Forge assuaged.

Shaw: Not for much longer, Emma. Once he’s bound to us by the blood in this attack, he’ll be more…pliable.

“I know it sounds dangerous,” Da Costa informs him, “But it’s necessary. The students can be transferred to a more prestigious academy,” he nods towards Emma “and many of the adults will accept the most logical offshore offer with your old friend.”

Frost: Not a word I’d use for him. He has considerable defenses.

Shaw: Losing confidence in your abilities?

Frost: Not at all. Your manipulation of Gyrich sent him right into our hands, and I’ve scanned him deeply enough to insure that. But I fear that in Coy Mahn and Forge you’ve replaced Leland and Pierce with creatures that have sharper fangs.

Forge nods, “I’ve done takeover before. Let’s just make sure it’s as painless as possible.”

Shaw: Nothing I can’t handle. And keeping him assuaged has stopped you from pursuing your outvoted argument about the girl, for which I am grateful.

Coy Mahn adopts a wicked grin, “Of course. Anything else would put one of Miss Frost’s future students at risk.”

Shaw: Ouch. What does he think he’s doing?

Frost: Bearing fangs, I expect. I’ll make sure Forge’s delicate sensibilities aren’t ruffled with a mental tickle

Emma smiles back, “Angelica will be under my protection the whole time, of course, and she’ll be rapidly removed from the scene. Just make sure your work is ready, Forge.”

Forge nods, the concerned look leaving his features, “Other than re-establishing our electronic infiltration and upgrading all of your knight’s armor, you mean? Of course.”

Emma gets a slightly blank look on her face for a second, then recovers. “Excellent. Then if you’ll excuse me I’ll meet you at the field of battle.” And she winks out of existence.

DaCosta gasps, “She was never here!”

Shaw: What was that?

Emma: I lost my contact with Angelica for a second, but I have her again. I have to keep a light touch to not alert Xavier, but I have her again.

Shaw smiles broadly, “She was here in spirit, if you want to get philosophical about it. It’s time for us to move ourselves. Gentlemen?” he raises a toast, “To our LAST conflict with the X-Men.”

Shaw: And our ultimate hostile takeover.

Page 14-17: X-Men vs. Hellfire Club

It's a crisp, clear late afternoon on the first week of March, and an ongoing cold snap has is scheduled to break in the next week. It's possibly the last great ice skating day of 1985, and the good people at the Wollman Skating rink (subsidized by Stark Industries*) are taking advantage of that. New Yorkers of all sorts are gliding around on the ice with varying levels of grace and speed.

[* Ed: yes, the Wollman rink closed in 1980 for repairs, which didn't get completed until Donald Trump kicked in money in 1986, but a) I need the space and b) I don't want to have anything named after him if I can help it.]

In that crowd is a teenage girl with fiery red hair, clearly enjoying herself, perhaps for the first time in some time. Off to one side is Emma Frost in her usual designer white clothing sanding alongside a tall, careworn man wearing clothing that just screams being his 'one good suit'.

"Thank you so much, Miss Frost. I can't imagine that this trip into New York City was necessary, but I can tell you we sure appreciate it."

"Nonsense, Mr. Jones. I had to meet your daughter before I could bring her into my school, and it is much more convenient to fly you both into the city. The Academy's isolation provides many advantages, but air transport isn't one of them."

She smiles as warm a smile as she can manage, "I have to say your daughter is remarkable. She'll make a fine addition to the student body."

Bartholomew Jones nods his head, "She's a wonder, she is. But without the scholarship you're offering I'd never to..."

"The Massachusetts Academy keeps an eye out for special students, Mr. Jones, and we'll do whatever we need to in order to give them the best possible education. Our founding charter is quite clear on that."

Through this discussion we've been seeing Angelica flit around inside the crowd, but during that panel she's not where the eye would track her to be.

Frost turns to scan the crowd while Mr. Jones talks, and in the next panel

Angelica is visible again, probably having executed some turn out of our line of site.

"I do appreciate it. When are we heading up to the school?" Jones asks

"Hrm?" Frost glances back at him, "Tomorrow morning. I've arranged for a car to pick us up, and we'll have plenty of time to chat, Angelica and I, on the way up." She glances at her watch "In fact, I have to head back to the hotel to take a call. Please feel free to stay here as long as you like, and sign off dinner to your room."

She gestures to her chauffeur, a solidly built Latino man in a suit that more clearly says 'executive assistant' than 'driver', "Jose will be here to assist you if you need anything."

In a long shot of Frost walking away from the rink, we see Kitty in the foreground. She's gliding along on the ice, not looking toward Frost. She is wearing white skates, black leggings and a short, pleated black skirt, a light brown plaid jacket with some red in it, a red scarf mostly hiding her mouth and nose, and a familiar black headband.

In a greyed out flashback shot we see Kitty and Doug, with Doug nodding at the outfit

"It will blend nicely; I wish you'd lose the headband..." he says

Kitty gives an enigmatic smile, "No, I definitely need to keep what I have in the headband."

Back to the present, a close up of Kitty, where the observant reader can make out the tiny nub of her low-profile communications gear, which is reporting: "Window is opening. Wait for news."

Cut to Kurt, who is barely visible in some shadows; he is using Kitty's borrowed binocular gear from a rooftop outside the park.

Nightcrawler lowers the binoculars to speak softly into his comm mic. "Nothing suspicious to report. Which is in itself suspicious. Ach, take care, liebchen. Ms. Frost is ruthless."

Here we have a greyed-out panel with Kurt and Rachel in the kitchen, laying out the plan...

Kurt has some small jars arrayed on a food tray. "Assume Peter is the salt cellar...."

"We'll want me near Peter, so I can protect him--and vice versa," Rachel says, moving the salt shaker a little "but not with him, I think. If he uncloaks, I don't want it to lose my disguise--or vice versa."

Back to the present, we see Rachel is, somewhat uncharacteristically, disguised as a bag lady, with a kerchief and grey wig disguising her distinctive hair, and a shawl and a hunch disguising her characteristic Summers height and slenderness. "Please, sir, may I have a quarter so I can get something to eat," she cries, seeing Jose, obviously well-to-do, approach, and muttering under her breath. "Jose's definitely a threat--he's a capable spy and bodyguard, and who knows what else," she says over the link. "Peter, -don't- do anything fancy; if you get his attention, he'll almost certainly make you."

Next is Peter, who at first we just see his back as he is handing out nuts to someone whose clothes have seen better days Peter is thinking about all the people who go hungry, as it's not just a thought that would occur to him, but a fairly common sentiment this season, and hopefully boring. He's also dropping some of his own money into the cashbox and handing a bag or three of hot nuts to one of the less conspicuous Morlocks (who's not there for backup, just for the atmospheric detail -- er, I mean, to get a bit of extra food in exchange for making the selling act look good, as it's not so much that the Morlocks won't take handouts ever as that they do have their pride and Peter's not a total idiot) (and of course, there's no way this could complicate Peter's life or the mission, nope).

Greyed out flashback panel

Peter holding the beard "It feels... disrespectful," he says, dubiously.

Back to the present, Peter turns, and we see him with a fake nose and Lenin beard, bearskin hat and jacket designed to make his bulk look like part of the clothing and not his conspicuous size.

Via whatever channel he has, whether that's telepathy of subvocalizing to radio or Rachel: "That truck off center drive is positioned to intercept. Kitty, if the Joneses took a different route, that might be better. There are probably knights inside. Nightcrawler, do you think it's better to try to take them out preemptively or to make them come to us? They are in the area with fewest civilians."

He'll scan again to see if there is additional back-up he missed the first time (besides Jose).

Nightcrawler replies, "We need to hold back until we can make the double play for both the young mutant and Xi'an. Until we have a visual on Coy Manh we have to play this pretty delicately."

Nightcrawler does a quick check in with the others. "Any sign of the Inner Circle yet? We know this is a trap; where are they hoping to spring it?"

We have another grayed out panel with Logan in downtown Manhattan, standing in a place where he can see the Hellfire Club's building. He's scenting the air and things Huh? I sure hope that's not who I think it is...

The camera pans over to Logan, who is moving around the edge of the park all but invisibly blending into the crowd. "I got 'em - at least Frost and Shaw anyway. Frost's limo just circled the block, and I can scent the big guy inside. They're more or less right under Nightcrawler's perch."

He stops to let some people past, eyeing the rest of the park. "Karma ain't with them. She's probably doin' the same lookout thing 'Crawler is, waiting to pick off a target. There's another scent from the limo, someone who was in it, that's familiar but I can't quite place. Male, and my instinct tells me it's trouble. That's another variable."

"I figure they'll hit Kitty from the truck with their Knights when they make her, try to smoke out her support, and then try to hammer us against the mooks. Shame Charlie's unknown master plan means we have to start by takin' some lumps."

"Rogue, Darlin' you close enough to keep the Knight's busy once they pop their heads out?"

From his perch Kurt can see Logan continuing to move, putting himself in a position to do just that.

[BR: here's where we have Rogue, in the group of people watching the ink, not too far away from Mr. Jones.]

We're back to the greyed kitchen scene, where the camera has shifted to show Logan and Rogue at the table as well. By this point the kitchen table has had a white tablecloth laid out over it with things shoved under it to catch the height differences of the park, with a shallow platter taking the part of the skating rink, and so on. It's pretty clear that what was meant to be a 5 minute discussion has gotten well out of hand.

Rogue is placing a small jar of mustard near the platter that indicates the skating rink, "I'll be here, keeping an eye on the subjects and Kitty. I should be fast enough to interpose on any attack and protect the civilians from here."

Rogue mutters "Sure am. If we don't want to wait for them to pop out I could just toss the whole van into the east river...."

[BR: Finally, the attention pans back to Kitty, who has from her position 'made' a couple more people who look very suspicious to her some distance away from the rink. They're loitering at the edge of a copse of trees and are carrying duffel long bags that, while they're padded enough to look full, could be carrying anything from sniper rifles or katanas to what have you in them.]

Adjusting her scarf, Kitty murmurs, "Two people with long bags, by the trees on Path A."

"Keep an eye out on those," Rachel says, "They're Karma's. Although I may be able to attack him through them if we need to distract him."

Kitty, nods, heading off the ice to ditch the skates a little ahead of the Jones girl. No need to twist an ankle while running....

xxxxxxxxx

Nightcrawler, via comms: "Aerial, no time like the present. Proceed to make contact with the girl. Everyone else, on your toes. Things are going to heat up."

Thought bubble: "I hate sending Kitty into the lion's den like this. The Professor's plan had better work."

Kitty is able to glance back over her shoulder and see the Jones' start their walk towards the hotel, along the predicted path. She can also see Jose with them, albeit a step or two behind. It's clear that the Jones' are not entirely comfortable with his subservient/bodyguard status but don't know how to broach it.

A little less than halfway to the street, a lull in the number of people using this path seems to present the best opportunity to start the conversation. "Countdown," Kitty mutters into her microphone, then slows and turns, pulling down her scarf so it doesn't cover quite so much of her face. "Hello, Mr. Jones, Angelica," she says, smiling cheerfully at them.

"It's nice to see that Ms. Frost has maybe given up on recruitment by kidnapping."

Both stop short, and the red headed girl looks worried, glancing around and taking a tight grip on her dad's arm with her left arm. Her right arm is free, and to Kitty's eye it looks almost like the girl is keeping it free for combat reasons - does she know about her mutation? If so, what is it, and does it have a combat application?

Mr. Jones's face goes from confused to angry to concerned in very rapid succession, and Kitty sees her opportunity to make her argument.

Kitty maintains a relaxed posture, with both of her hands fully in view. "I admit I hold a grudge about the kidnapping thing," she continues confidentially. "But I'm sure you can see how it's part of why I don't like Ms. Frost's ethics or her attitude - never mind her plans."

"Plans? What plans? What do you mean, 'Kidnapping'?" Mr. Jones looks at Kitty, then at is daughter and back "Who's going to try to take us? Her?"

"Daddy," Angelica says, "I think we should listen to her..."

That's when Juan catches up with the stopped Jones family and prepares to interpose himself and end the conversation - though it might be too late for that.

A short distance away Rogue feels a pressure from her Seventh Sense. "Knights in the van are about to move. I'm going to take out the van now."

"No, let them come out," Xavier whispers over the coms, the first evidence that he's been paying attention "They need to be seen, but move to protect the civilians."

Nightcrawler via comms to Rogue says, "Hold fire until the Hellfire Knights make the first move, then hit them hard."

We have some panels here with a thicker black border, showing Emma and Sebastian in the limo.

"I've lost contact with the Jones'. The girl got fuzzy a while back and now they've both vanished, it's like they're in some sort of psi-bubble." Emma says. She concentrates for a moment, then smiles "I can see through Jose's eyes. It's the Pryde girl."

Shaw finishes taking off his coat, folding it neatly on the seat beside him "Excellent. Let's draw her support out, shall we?" he depresses a button on a small control panel set in the limo, activating a screen that is clearly running mounted cameras from the Knight armor in the van. "Knight team, go."

Shaw then pushes down his ruffled collar to reveal a thin black band around his neck. Touching it with one finger and his features blur. He looks in a mirror and smiles, "I shall have to thank Forge again for this. It will be nice to not have to wait in the shadows."

Back to Kitty

"She doesn't like people to know they have choices," Kitty says, "does she, Mr. Gutierrez?"

"I recommend you step back, Mr. Jones. This troubled girl has been stalking Miss Frost for some time," Jose says, laying his hand on Jones' other arm to interpose himself. "Unhappy with being expelled due to her violent outbursts."

Jones is clearly reluctant to be led, but for all of his working man strength Jose is clearly more practiced and directs/forces the man back a step.

"Daddy, I'm scared," Angelica says, her voice quavering. "Don't let him take us away..."

Kitty is still seeing an edge of combat readiness in her stance, even as her face and voice are on the edge of panic.

Logan has moved to a position near the Knight's van. "Once the Knights are out of the van I'm taking the van out," he mutters through the coms, flicking the remains of his cigarette neatly into a garbage can some 10 feet away.

Having got her sandwich, Bag Lady Rachel heads vaguely towards the Karma-possessed people, hoping to put them under the gun once the gloves come off.

Ariel turns and hops gracefully onto the seat of a bench by the side of the path, deliberately presenting a prominent target that isn't in line with the Joneses. As soon as her feet have made a normal clunking sound on the wood, she goes intangible. "I just want to talk," she says, hands spread in a gesture of openness and honesty.

"No need for any coercion here."

Jose looks briefly taken aback by Kitty's lack of response before moving to get the Jones' slightly further back. "Please keep back sir. The girl is more dangerous than she looks...Explosives. She's used explosives before."

Kitty is sure that Jose was just fed that line, either telepathically or from an earpiece, to give him a fig leaf of cover for what's going to happen.

Jose has just managed to interpose himself completely, blocking Jones' line of sight, when all hell breaks loose.

First, the street lights that are casting a reassuring glow over the early twilight switch off. Next the doors of the van pop open and, as expected, three of the crimson-armored Hellfire Knights leap out. Two of them fire their overlarge, arm mounted energy weapons at Kitty, one being a flame blast and the other a concussive force bolt. The combined beams rip the concrete and wood park bench to shreds, spreading burning shrapnel along their arc of fire. Kitty can feel the tug of the force bolt as it passes through her - if concentrated into a tight enough stream or repurposed into a stable sphere it might function like a force field and work against her phasing.

She's able to determine which of the knights fired that bolt, and given that each knight comes equipped with specialized system she can figure that this is the one she's in the most danger from.

"Daddy, they shot her!" Angelica yells, "Jose's men shot her!" Angelica is pointing past Jose at what just happened, making sure her dad sees what happened before grabbing his arm to flee.

Logan sprints forward from his position, taking a quick leap onto the hood of the stationary van and running along it, dragging one arm low behind him, claws extended. The blades slice easily through the vehicles radiator, engine block, windshield, roof and through the delicate electronic equipment at the back of the van. We see the inside of the van for a second with the two technicians ducking madly out of the way as their command and control equipment shorts out in a fire of sparks.

Wolverine is about to leap from the back of the van onto one of the Knights when the people in the drivers and passengers' seats both step out and fire some sort of energy weapons at him. He drops to the ground, his coat smoking, before he looks up at them with a feral grin. Both shooters have ditched their coats and revealed the distinctive blue and red uniforms/battle suits of Hellfire Club security.

"Payback time, runt" the driver says.

"You guys again," Wolverine says, his grin widening. "Elf, I'll be back on line in a minute. Old business."

[BR: if you don't recognize these guys they're the hellfire club security that Wolverine sliced up back around issue 132/133 who were rebuilt as cyborgs and appeared in the New Mutants Graphic Novel. They'll keep the NPC Logan out of the fight for on round, two tops.]

Kurt is still waiting in the shadows, watching through the binoculars and sticking to the plan.

The girl in green takes off at impossible acceleration slamming the last of the three Knights to come out of the van with a shoulder tackle that lets her get her arms around him, then executes a dizzying 90 degree turn straight up. In keeping her grip on him her arms leave nice indentations in the armor.

"These fellas can't fly," she says through the comm, "so I'm just gonna drop him off somewhere out of the way and come right back."

The knight in Rogue's arms suddenly lights up with a crackle of ozone giving off an enormous charge of direct current, linking the two of them together with the electrical flow.

"Nnnggggh!" Rogue yells, contorting with the pain as she tries to rip her hands free. Her flight stalls out as the two plummet to the earth, landing with a hard thud on the sidewalk of fifth avenue.

"Ow," she says as she stands up out of the crater, "Sugah that wasn't nice at all." Of the two it looks like the Knight took the worst of that exchange.

Two things to note here: first, that Kurt can see, is that she landed just yards from Shaw & Frost's limo. Second is that while she was up in the air the long shot of the street showed a growing crowd of people in front of and around 890 Fifth avenue, AKA the Avengers Mansion.

In a close-up frame, we see Kitty's hands in the act of extending her collapsible baton. From off-panel, her word balloon says: "And here's Ms. Frost's private army."

Next frame shows Kitty hovering in mid-air, her mask in place (it was tucked into her scarf) and in a dramatic pose: one leg pointed toward the ground, the other held up with bent knee, as if she's about to kick something. Her baton is held out in both hands, parallel to the ground, in a blocking position. Dialogue: "I don't like them much either."

Beyond her, the Joneses starting to hustle away, but looking back over their shoulders toward her and the Knights?

The knight with the concussion ray takes aim at Ariel in all her bravado and fires. The beam misses and Kitty leaps clear and vanishes into the ground, gaining cover in a way that only she can.

The knight with the flame thrower attachment turns from Kitty and looks back towards the van, probably trying to figure out what happened to his communications network. Seeing Wolverine takes aim and unleashes a stream of flame at the diminutive Canadian. Wolverine leaps clear ones and then continues to do so as the flaming spray tracks him for fifteen feet or so until he doubles back over the flame and alights on a large rock. "Take a number bub," He snarls, "I'll get to you in a minute."

Colossus too sticks to the plain, holding his position.

The first of the two people that Phoenix identified as being possessed by Karma hefts the bag under his arm and quietly walks away from his companion - a not terribly surprising action considering the chaos erupting a hundred yards or so away.

The second one turns her head to look at where Rogue landed, and Phoenix can feel a surge of psychic power reach out to the girl in green.

Deftly and subtly, she studies the power, then traces it back to its source!

She finds Karma, dressed in the traditional archaic garb of the club, standing in the very hotel on 59th street that was to house the Jones' that night. Hir is looking out the window onto the park, slight smile on hir face, holding a snifter of brandy in one hand.

Back on 5th avenue an energy corona appears around Rogue's head as Karma's psychic assault hits. This freezes Rogue in place for several seconds as she struggles to maintain control, but in the end the combined willpower of both women forces off the mental assault.

"Nnnnh-Ghaaaaah!" She shouts as she breaks free, "You Stay Outta My Head!"

End of round one.

Pages 17-18: X-Men vs. Hellfire Club

Wolverine leaps from the park bench, slamming into one of the two cyborgs who had attacked him, sending both of them through the driver's side door and into the cab of the truck. We have a panel of watching the open rear of the truck as it rocks back and forth and we see the panicked faces of the two techs who are still cowering in the back of the truck, and then a third panel in which the cyborg, missing one forearm (his right arm terminates in a smoking, hissing cybernetic stump) and parts of his armor, comes flying out of the other side of the truck, landing in a moaning leap at the feet of the other Cyborg. Finally, we see a shot of Wolverine crouched in the passenger side door way, claws extended.

"Next."

That moment of bravado doesn't last too long with a yellow-orange wave of energy erupting around his head. We the readers can see the astral floating head of the White Queen nearby, making it clear who's launching this brutal violent assault. Wolverine falls forward, hits the ground on his hands and knees and raises one hand to his head in an unconscious and futile attempt to ward off the pain.

The uninjured cyborg helps his companion to his feet as the White Queen sends Kill him now, while he's immobilized

The unwounded one says "I'm gonna enjoy this" and slams the butt of his rifle into Wolverine's kidney.

The other one jams the hissing, spitting arm into the prone man's skull, causing a galvanizing electric shock across the whole of his metal skeleton. "Didn't expect me to still be up, huh?" he says as he grinds the connection in, "well the new White Bishop fixed us up real good - good enough to plant you into the ground."

Back on 5th Avenue Rogue has just finished fighting off Karma's psychic assault when she feels someone lay a rough hand on her shoulder and lift her with greater than human strength. Instinct makes her turn in midair with her flight and deliver a nasty kick to her assailants' ribs. She hears nothing more than a mild grunt and tries to get a good look at the man holding her. He's in breaches, a rightly collared ruffled shirt and has a face that's nothing more than a blur.

Realizing who she's dealing with she moves to head butt him, hoping that just an instant of skin to skin contact would take Shaw out of the fight, only to find that the burring effect is being caused by a sophisticated force field that negates her attack.

"You'll have to do better than that, dear," The Black King says before he slams her while body into the pavement, expanding the existing crater so that, while shallow, it now runs nearly the width of the street. He lifts her and slams her down again.

"I can, sugah..." Rogue says, but this time she landed well enough to lurch to one foot and knee and launch an punch at Shaw, hoping to at least knock him backward and get some space. Shaw's too quick, too damn quick, and counter punches, their fists slamming into one another with a shockwave that shatters windows along 5th avenue.

People are running screaming from the crude explosion but by some strange coincidence they had already been moving around area, almost as if guided by a benevolent telepathic hand to keep them clear of danger.

We see Shaw standing over Rogue, looking completely unruffled as the X-Man is kneeling on the ground, barely conscious, cradling her hand. We can also see Emma's limo is pulling away south down 5th Avenue, out of that conflict zone.

Now. Xavier transmits to the X-Men.

As soon as she has the go signal Phoenix takes off, pushing herself off of the ground and accelerating rapidly, using her telepathy to know where people are going to be and avoiding them as she stays low and nearly upright. She can feel several people she passes think that she's Quicksilver, a not unreasonable assumption this close to the Avengers mansion when someone shoots past them at 60 miles an hour. In those people she can also feel... hatred -a potentially unnatural overlay of hatred towards the presumed mutant in their midst - but at the speed she's moving none of them have time to act on it.

She zips across the street and into the back of the hotel currently housing Karma, and as she slows down a housekeeping uniform is flying across the wall, coming apart and re-stitching itself around her and a hotel delivery cart rolls conveniently into her hands.

Before Ariel can act we see Karma, watching the fight from above and through the eyes of hir possessed bodies. The one that moved away from Colossus location is scanning the area and finally spies a head popping up from the ground to get her bearings.

"There you are," Coy Mahn says with both hir own and that borrowed body, and again psychic force lashes out. Kitty can feel a pressure in her mind, weighing down on her thoughts, and a buzzing from the device she has built into her headband.

Cut to a grey panel flashback panel, with Kitty in the engineering lab alongside Nightcrawler

Kurt is looking at the loose loop of wires and circuits that Kitty is finishing welding. "Are you sure this will work, leibling?"

Kitty smiles her 'I can be just a little bit evil' smile and replies, "Yup. Cannonball was smart enough to bring back the remains of the psi-blocker that Eric the Red had used to hold the Professor captive*. I can repair that using the blueprints Beast left behind when he jury rigged the headband to try to shut down Jean Grey's powers. Combine them and I've got an anti-psi blocker guaranteed to Give Miss Frost a nasty headache."

[* ED see the most recent New Mutants annual!]

She slides the gizmo into a pocket sown on the inside of a headband and puts the whole thing on.

"How do I look?"

Back to the present: That buzzing increases, then increases again, and the heat from the overloading system becomes noticeable against her scalp. Just when there was a real chance that the machine would overload the assault ends.

Emma, the girl has some sort of protective field, Karma sends over the psychic link. I suspect it's mechanical, but I'll claim her once she's more exposed

Yes, I've felt it too," the White Queen replies. "Once Wolverine is down and the Jones secured, I'll assist you - I'd love for another chance to peel that brat’s mind.

No need, Karma takes another sip of brandy, a slight grimace of irritation on hir's face at the presumption hesh would need help. There were times hesh absolutely loathed that woman. A burst of pure hatred flares up in hir mind, but hesh pushes it down. I can more than handle my end of things.

Nightcrawler murmurs to himself, "Sorry 'bout this, Logan but we need the Inner Circle down or out of the picture now."

He disappears in a cloud of brimstone smoke and appears to grab the Black King and port away.

Nightcrawler appears behind Shaw and immediately throws himself backwards, anticipating the Black King's hyped up physical power. Good thing he did because Shaw spins with a punch - perhaps having been warned by the White Queen's telepathic viewing of the scene or by the faintest whiff of brimstone. Regardless Shaw's punch flies well over Nightcrawler's head, though it leaves things looking, for a second, that the X-Man is lying prone and vulnerable before the might of the leader of the Hellfire Club.

Then Nightcrawler's right foot closes around Shaw's ankle and the pair vanish.

Kurt feels the familiar stomach-churning pain of a double teleport and much to his dismay it looks as if the transport hasn't hindered Shaw at all. The big man is already levering himself to reach out and grab Nightcrawler to prevent being dropped, but Kurt's just too canny for that, pushing himself away from Shaw as he lets go with his foot. The pair tumble in space for a moment before they're too far apart for an attack.

Having already does the math Nightcrawler had appeared far enough from the East River channel to not risk hitting himself, but too close for Shaw to meaningfully direct his descent. He sees the Black King flatten his body to aim himself somewhat and make the most of the kinetic energy of the impact before vanishing back to Central Park.

Prof says the Joneses will be okay, Kitty thinks, so I just have to get the distance right ...

The intangible girl ducks back under the ground and speeds through it toward Wolverine and his assailants, popping up silently a short distance behind them. From there it's only a short distance to grab Wolverine and then drag them both underground again - not-so-incidentally passing through both of the Cyborgs on the way on the way.

As Ariel passes through the crowd Wolverine visibly recovers even as she grabs him - the psi-blocker catching him in its radius - and both Cyborgs collapse, electrical sparks dancing around their bodies.

Thank, kiddo, Wolverine tell her. I'm figurin' they got reboot systems to keep em more alive than they would have been when I finished with em."

Kitty can feel that Logan is extremely tense, and his face and thoughts are both very, very angry.

Jose continues to chivvy the Jones family along, expertly herding their rush up to the door of Frost’s limo, which opens at his approach. Mr. Jones tries to take a swing at Jose but is blocked by his daughter grabbing his arm.

“Daddy, don’t. We better do what they say! I don’t want you to get hurt.”

Her warning is well founded as Jose as a look of growing rage on his face – it’s pretty clear that if Jones had completed that swing Jose would have beaten him to a pulp. The car pulls away, leaving Jose there – apparently, he’s got some other assignment.

Inside the car we see Miss Frost looking out the window. Mr. Jones is in a state of equilibrium between terror and rage , Angelica less so – certainly more calm under fire than her father.

“Shhh,” Frost says to them dismissively. “I told them it was an error to embroil you in this. I’m truly sorry for everything but I promise you won’t even remember it.”

Colossus sprints the short distance to the knight an prepares to deliver his sonic clap to disorient the man in the armor when he hears the Professors voice in his head,

Colossus, strike the knight as hard as you can. Do not worry about killing the driver.

Colossus closes the gap to the Knight getting ready to electrocute Rogue and hammers the figure with all the strength and momentum his osmium steel body can muster, years of training with the professor outweighing any misgivings concerning Rachel's earlier warnings.

His fist goes completely through the crimson form, revealing the whole to be a robot and not a man in an armored suit. The contraption tries to spin its arm around to man an attack on Colossus but short circuits before it can do so.

Well done, the professor sends. I had detected the telltale signs of the thought transmission technology Thunderbird had used. These drones are being controlled remotely. Alas I don't have time to find their source.

Rogue is cradling her arm, clearly stunned and hovering on unconsciousness.

The second knight places his gun hand onto the ground and fires. The concussive wave ripples across the park, like a stone dropped in a still pond. On the surface this means cracks breaking through the ice of the skating rink – fortunately now bereft of people – Colossus nut cart overturning and fleeing people tripping and falling.

Under the ground Ariel and Wolverine are buffeted by the force wave, taking a bruising blow. Ariel keeps her hands on Wolverine and her concentration intact but it’s a close thing – if she gets hit by that again while submerged there could be some painful fusing with the ground.

The third knight really doesn’t have a target, so he’s keeping an eye on the ground, sweeping his gun arm back and forth waiting for Ariel to reappear.

Both of the people Karma is possessing are staying in the area, keeping an eye out. Since the crowds have thinned out from the fight one of them has removed the long thin object from the duffel and it turns out to be an elaborate, high tech rifle of unknown origin or function.

Page 19: Wolverine v. Forge

Buffeted by the concussion cannon Wolverine sends better get us topside, kiddo.

The pair pop into sight again off to one side, with Kitty saying, "Up and down?" and Wolverine grinning wickedly in response.

“Aim me for that storefront and then take care of Frost,” he says, pointing to a plywood covered storefront on 5th Avenue , “There’s someone in there I got to talk to.”

The plywood bears a sign saying “Coming Soon: Rime & Reason, fine women’s clothing.” That triggers a connection in Kitty’s brain – that clothing company is part of Frost International’s larger holdings. She rockets upward, spins and then releases Wolverine at a trajectory that has him hurtling through the clear blue sky and smashing through the plywood, claws first.

Something screwy’s going on, Wolverines’ thought box reads messin’ with my head. I gotta get away from Kitty before I take it out on her. But I do know who to take it out on

Behind the plywood are a couple more Hellfire Club security people, both of whom go down from having two hundred pounds of metal laced angry Canadian slam into them. Wolverine rolls up and takes a look at the rest of the room: three interface consoles for the Club goons who were running the knights, two of them still occupied, the third has stood up and is reaching for a gun. Past them is a figure in the stylized antiquated dress of the Inner Circle.

“Wolverine… wait!” Forge says

“Forge, you got Storm to trust you, you bastard, but that ain’t gonna save you from me,” is Logan’s growled response as he leaps across the room.

Forge slaps a button on the panel next to him and dives for cover, but Wolverine spends a few seconds venting his considerable aggression on the security guy who had been operating Knight One and was foolish enough to draw down on the Canadian mutant. His bravado doesn’t last terribly long, and can count himself lucky that he’s not dead.

Forge’s button unshackled one of the other security guys from his Knight rig, and upon seeing what was happening to his co-worker he tries to make a run for it. Unfortunately, that too draws Wolverines attention. With a snarl and a leap Wolverine knocks the guy to the ground head putts him hard on the back of the head to keep him still and prepares to slash him open.

Something’s…something’s inside my head. Gotta keep it together… Logan thinks in one of his editorial boxes as he stops his murderous rage and stands up, slowly turning to take in the rest of the room.

In the room are four Forges, each pointing a large high-tech gun at him. “Stand down, Wolverine. You won’t like what these guns can do.”

Logan snarls “Yer kiddin’, right?” and leaps through one of the images, jumping off the control panel, through a false holographic wall and spinning to face the actual Forge.

“I been in your house, bub. I saw all your hologram tech. Did you really think this was gonna confuse me?”

“No,” Forge responds, “I just needed to get you back here away from the others.”

And with that a set of lasers traces across Wolverine, scoring him with a score of small cuts, before their beams stabilize into a cage around him. “Those were set at the lowest level initially,” Forge says, “just to get your attention, They’re ten times more powerful now. Now then, let’s talk.”

I hate it when people try to cage me, I hate it when they monologue at me and I freakin. Hate. This. Guy. appears in one of Logan’s boxes as he snarls at the cage. He’s still sayin’ something but I ain’t listening.

Wolverine crouches down and jumps, slashing two gashes into the ceiling before grabbing the now dangling metal and swinging through on it across the lasers, the metal being melted to slag as it absorbs the heat of the beams

He lands on the far side of the cage and slashes out again at the sunned Forge, taking three fingers off the man’s cybernetic left hand.

Dear God, he’s trying to kill me, Forge realizes as Wolverine bears down on him, knocking the Native American technician to the ground.

One chance… he thinks as Wolverines arm goes up to spear Forge with his claws, and Forge leans into the attack, slapping something he’d pulled from his belt onto the side of Wolverine’s head.

It adheres to Logan’s head and before he can deliver the fatal stroke he screams, clutching at his skull.

Forge scrambles to get out from underneath him, Jeeze, he weighs a ton. I have to get out of here, he thinks as he staggers to his feet and stumbles out the back door, sparks coming from his mutilated hand.

Page 20: Phoenix

Karma is still watching the fight, directing hir various bodies. *knock knock* "Room service!"

"Oh for pity's sake, of all the times for them to be efficient," Coy Mahn says, sending the body of hir bodyguard from the suite's other room to open the door. The burly man does so, checking first to confirm that it really is a hotel employee, and ushers the thin girl with the red hair pinned back under her cap into the room, pushing her tray ahead of her.

"Dinner is served, gentlemen," she says. Then we have a close up on her eyes

At which point Than experiences a burning/drowning sequence that's an exact parallel (a projection, in fact) of the drowning experience Rachel went through when she got attacked by the possessed Magma during Tran's attack on the X-Men.

Tran gasps for breath and drops to his knees, scrabbling at the burning pain on his back. Need air he thinks, as he feels the chill of the water seep into his skin.

What? Frost sends back from outside.

That outside contact is enough to make Tran realize that he hasn't been teleported, that these events aren't real, and he starts constructing a psychic shield to protect him from this assault. The two bodies in the park snap back to their own control and promptly panic and flee the fight scene with everyone else; the bodyguard in the room looks stunned. That's still not enough power, and even though his conscious mind knows the effect isn't real his sister's body is turning against him, demanding air, warmth, to get the burning mass off his back, anything to survive.

Phoenix is deliberately pressing her advantage – while her own psychic attack is nowhere near as well developed as Karma’s the combination of surprise and the dual hit of psychic combat and transmitted traumatic memory is, or should be, more than enough to keep Karma on the ropes.

That’s when karma’s bodyguard looks around and yells “Boss! Coy, get in here!*” and pulls his firearm, getting ready to club the maid over the head with the butt of his pistol. Phoenix can hear let another confused bodyguard approaching from the other room.

[*ED: In Vietnamese, of course]

The guard delivers what should be an incapacitating blow to Phoenix head but the time-displaced mutant is only slightly staggered. The other bodyguard comes in at a run, and proceeds to fire his automatic pistol at her.

"No." The red-haired figure says a single word, and her clothes explode in all directions, revealing the gold and green (but Bondage gladiator-revealing) Phoenix costume underneath. The guard stands dumbfounded as his bullets stop in mid-air, then drop to the ground.

"Get out," Phoenix says, and the guards fly through the air, through the other room [non-lethal attack, but aside from that...].

Both men yelp as they fly through the room, and slam hard into the back wall of the room they came from. The door they passed through slams shut behind them.

"Now, where was I?"

Phoenix turns her attention back to find that Karma has regained hir psychic equilibrium. The Vietnamese mutant hits her with a jackhammer of a psychic blow. Almost too late Phoenix remembers that Xi'an once used her psionic power to _completely disintegrate her brother's body_. Another shot like that and Rachel would be suffering the same fate - the mental blow is sufficient to lift her off the floor and into the wall, sending cracks into the plaster around her. Coy Mahn is likewise standing up and then stepping into the air, hovering in place.

"You were dying, little girl," Karma tells her. "So thoroughly it will be as if you never had been."

Phoenix slides from the wall into a crouch. "My past is gone; I'm already halfway there. But I've got no plans to go the rest of the way." She stands, and her eyes flash red, before the contents of the room rise in a concerted assault against the Vietnamese mutant, almost obscuring his/her from view.

The first things to hit hir - an ashtray, a lamp and the desk's pen and pencil set - shatter against the glowing energy field surrounding Karma's levitating form, and hesh gives a little grin. These are followed by the metal service tray with its cutlery, a chair, a couch, the desk, and finally the queen bed from the other room. Karma is almost completely buried and Phoenix hears a satisfying grunt of pain when the bed hits.

"Enough!" Karma shouts, hir own limited TK proving sufficient to extricate her from the contents of the room in a dignified if not explosive fashion. "You're impressive. I would love to keep you around as a spare form, but I'm afraid that you're just powerful enough that you could be a risk."

For all hir bluster, Karma's clothes are ripped, hir arm is being held at an odd angle and there's a thin trickle of blood coming down her face from a slash on her temple. Hesh is clearly wounded, but it might well not matter - Rachel can feel the initial power of Karma's assault hasn't slacked at all, and is working her way through Rachel's mental defenses. Her telekinetic awareness of her own body makes it clear the attack is physical as well as psychic as the bonds that hold her atoms together are starting to come loose under the strain.

Phoenix is forced back under the assault into the hotel-room closet, opened as part of her own assault on Karma, and the phoenix aura that's been surrounding her is snuffed, momentarily, between the darkness of the now-empty closet and Karma's assault. Then, in that artificial darkness, Phoenix's eyes appear, two slits of glowing orange, as spacetime itself accedes to the red-haired psychic's power, before she steps out of the closet, the Phoenix Effect aura red and thick about her. "JUST POWERFUL ENOUGH?" she says, her voice crackling with power, "YOU AIN'T SEEN NOTHING, YET."

pages 21-22: Ariel, Colossus and Nightcrawler

Ariel, Colossus and Nightcrawler hear Xavier in their heads, We’re moving in on our true objective here, so both Phoenix and I will be preoccupied. I trust you’ll be able to wrap this up quickly. and with that the whole of his telepathic energy is directed elsewhere, leaving the X-Men reliant on their com units. What’s left behind in the mental silence is a lingering wave of resentment over his high-handed treatment.*

On ground level Colossus is standing over the remains of a Hellfire Club robot. He can make out the other two robot Knights in the park, and see that the civilian population had fled from the area. He also hears gunfire from that direction.

It looks like two techs inside the club’s van are… shooting at the knights? In retaliation the flamethrower-wielding knight is getting ready to roast the technicians.

Overhead Ariel, having already launched Wolverine, is able to see Frost’s limo pulling away from the park, but can also see a group of pedestrians assaulting the taxicab two cars behind the limo that had been involved in a minor fender bender with the car in front of it – people are pulling on the taxi’s doors and one person has climbed onto the hood with a crowbar and looks ready to smash the windshield and quite possibly the driver.

Nightcrawler, having just reappeared from the East River, has the clearest view of what’s happening from his high perch: the crowd around the Avengers mansion has doubled in size and several people are now holding picket signs and more dangerous implements of protest. The people in the park are either fleeing or coalescing into pockets of violent conflict. As he turns his head, he can see flames breaking out all across the city.

The sun is setting on one of the greatest cities in the world, and it appears to be taking all vestiges of civilization with it.

Kitty thinks: Ooooh! Does he have to leave *now*??

But then, getting a grip on herself, she makes sure she knows where the concussion-gun knight is, and then swoops down and rescues the (presumably ungrateful) cabbie, dropping him off with some rhododendrons between him and the angry crowd.

The cabbie, once down, takes a swing at her intangible form, yelling “Lousy Mutie!” Ariel can feel a strong welling up of hate - to take that ungrateful cabbie and phase him into something solid and let go - but her years of mental training with the X-Men let her resist the outside impulse.

The concussion bolt Knight is frozen in place, but she, like Colossus, can see the flame thrower Knight in a conflict with the Hellfire Club techies.

"What?" Colossus thinks as he stares at the internal conflict.

Over the secure comms, Nightcrawler relays what he sees from his vantage point. "X-Men! We need to end this quickly. Something is happening to the civilians. The city is erupting into chaos!"

He 'ports quickly to ground level to disarm a particularly burly looking man attempting to remodel some unfortunate's face with a STOP sign.

Both fellows, upon seeing him, lunge out for him with a murderous rage in their eyes. Kurt dodges the clumsy attack with ease and can take comfort in the fact that the man he saved is now safe, having found common cause with his attacker in hating someone else.

We see the Knight level his flamethrower at the techs, "Stupid tech geeks, I have always hated you guys..."

Just as he fires Colossus reaches the scene and interposes himself, blocking the flames with his nigh-invulnerable osmium metal body. Taking advantage of the Knight's momentary confusion Colossus reaches out and crunches the weapon arm, reducing the entire thing to a mass of flame and smoking circuits. Seconds later the entire robot explodes - again Colossus body is sufficient to guard the techs inside the van from any damage.

Not that the techs seem appreciative, as they open fire with small energy pistols on the Russian.

Shrugging, Colossus grabs the side of the van and tilts the whole thing over, laying the back opening flat on the ground and caging both men inside.

Jose Gutierrez, at this point as consumed with pure hatred as everyone else in the city, pulls a high-tech pistol from under his coat and opens fire on Ariel, the gyrojet rounds tracking to her position, passing through her harmlessly and then exploding - equally harmlessly.

I could ignore him, Ariel thinks, scowling, but he might hurt somebody with that gun.

With that, she swoops down and attempts to grab the weapon away from him.

He yanks his hand back to get away from her attempt to grab it and, in so doing, swings the thing through her body. The high tech missile guidance system in it immediately shorts out, making its heads up targeting display go blank. He screams in frustration and hurls the weapon at her as she flies away.

Back in Miss Frost’s limo, which has cleared away from the park and is moving West bound, the White Queen is having problems of her own.

“Coy mahn? Shaw? What the hell is going on in this city,” she says, mostly to herself. Jones senior is still being held back by his daughter, his fear of Emma being overridden by a growing hate, but Angelica looks disturbingly calm given what’s happening.

“I’m sorry, I don’t have time for you right now,” Emma says to the Joneses, a nimbus of psychic power forming around her head to, likely, put both her prisoners to sleep while she continues to control her driver and navigate them out of this madhouse.

“Wait!” Angelica says, “I have one thing to tell you…”

A three-and-a half-foot length of the most terrifying weapon ever forged appears in her hand, its presence suddenly and completely overwhelming Emma’s already strained defenses.

“Charles Xavier says he warned you.” The illusion drops and Angelica is replaced by a pale skinned, blond girl in silver armor, her helmet bearing a set of ram’s horns.

Emma scrambles backwards madly in a panic, lever the door open and falls out of the moving limo onto the street. “Aaaaahhhgh!” The white queen is up and running with an undignified limp, her white jacket stained with blood and oil, and she limps into a side street.

“Damn it!” she yells once she recovers herself from the soulswords fear-effect. “Xaaaaaaaavier!”

Back at the limo Magik smiles a thin smile and then she and Mr. Jones vanish in a stepping disk of light.

We cut back to the White Queen, who is working her way out of the immediate fight scene and seeing the madness has extended even further. A car pulls up in front of her and the door levers upward, revealing Forge inside. “Emma, get in. This whole action is a mess….”

Emma gets in the car and it pulls away.

Back at the park, Kurt yells over the comms "Phoenix, Professor! We need Xi'an locked down now, or we need to withdraw. Innocents are in danger."

Kurt can feel the Professor’s presence back in their minds – in this case we actually see the long-lost floating Xavier head – and it’s clear there’s a real struggle going on. Kurt, we’ve spent months arranging this opportunity to rescue Xi’an – if we don’t act now…

But he can’t argue against the reality of Nightcrawler’s observation. The emotional stress of having to weigh the life of a woman he had promised to protect against the chaos around them is clear inside Kurt’s mind.

This is when the top third of the hotel is covered by a Phoenix Effect, lighting up the park.

Kitty: Whoah. Bet it won't take long now!

Colossus turns from the van and freezes for a panel, as he sees the Phoenix Effect.

Nightcrawler sees the Phoenix Effect lightshow and crosses himself involuntarily. "Gott im Himmel! Rachel, no!"

[BR: Myles just gave us such a great ending panel that we’re closing the issue here and re-opening mid fight.]